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ODD FELLOWS' LIBRARY
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THE
NEW WORLD;
EMBRACING
AMERICAN HISTORY.
HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL, A, M,
VOI,. II.
The English in America. History of the Foundation of the several
Provinces: their Colonial Government: Resistance to England.
The American Revolution. History of the United States.
Canada. The Sandwich Islands, etc., etc.
WITH
NUMEROUS BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS,
DRAWN AND COLOREL AFTER NATURE,
XMBtUriKO PORTRAITS, SCEXERT, CURIOSITIES, CITIES, PUBLIC EDIFICES, ETC., ETC,
HURLBUT, KELLOGG & CO.,
AMERICAN SUBSCRIPTION PUBLISHING HOUSE,
^802.
1-6
^M
v.
ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OP CONGRESS IK THE TEAK I860,
BY HURLBUT, KELLOGG, CO.
CONTENTS,
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA.
EARLY VOYAGES AND ATTEMPTS AT COLONIZATION.
CHAPTER I. PAiB
Sebastian Cabot His Youth His First Voyage, ami Discovery of North America; His Second Voy-
age, and Futile Attempt at Colonization; Obscure Interval in liiy Lite; ho serves In Spain: Ilia
Expedition under Henry VIII.; Appointed Grand Pilot of Spain; His Expedition to South Amer-
ica ; His Return to England, Services, Old Age, and Death, 17
CHAPT2R II.
Tbe " Dominus Vobiscum " Failure and Misfortune ; Improvement of the English Marine; Martin
Frobisher His Voyage in Search of a North-west Paetuige; Diminutive Equipments of the Early
Discoverers ; Supposed Discovery of Gold Ore ; Second Expedition of Frobisher ; Surveys ; Con-
teal with the Esquimaux; His Third Expedition ; its Failure, 22
CHAPTER III.
English Enterprise; Drako; Sir Humphrey Gilbert; His First Attempt to Colonize America; Sir
Walter Raleigh ; Sir Humphrey Sails fur America ; Shipwrecks and Misfortunes ; the Return Voy-
age; Tempests; Loss of Sir Humphrey and his Crow, <6
CHAPTER IT.
The Patent of Raleigh ; he Dispatches Amidas and Biirlow to Carolina their Report ; the Country
named Virginia; Voyages of Davis, &c. ; Second Expedition of Rideiirh, under Lane; Settlement
at Roanoke; Folly and Cruelty of the English ; the Indiana; Massacre by the English; Failure and
Return of the Expedition, 89
CHAPTER y.
Small Settlement planted by Crenville at Roanoke Destroyed by the Indians; Third Expedition of
Raleigh; First Englivh Child in America; Loss and Supposed Destruction of the Ronuoke Colony ;
Misfortunes of Raleigh; Tardiness and Ill-fortune of English Enterprise; Reflections, 32
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I.
Memoir of Captnin John Smith ; His Youthful Adventures and Services ; he turns Hormit,; His Ad-
ventures in France ; he is flung Overboard ; Sen-fight ; Travels in Italy ; His Campaign nihilist the
Turks ; Siege of Regnll ; the Three Turks' Heads ; Smith sent a Slave to Tartary his Wonderful
Escape; Subsequent Adventures; Returns to England, 90
CHAPTER II.
Virginian Colonization Revived ; Patent of James I. ; Ill-assorted Company of Settlers ; the Expedi-
tion Sails for America; Accidentally enters James River; Ill-treatment of Smith; Intercourse with
the Indians; Jamestown Founded; Excursion of Smith and Newport; Powhatan; the Indiana of
Virginia, *
CHAPTER III.
Trial and Vindication of Smith ; Famine and Terrible Mortality; Smith, by his Exertions, supports
the Colony ; Treachery of his Associates ; Dealings with tlio Indians ; Idle and Miserable Colonists, 4C
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV. FA01
Expedition and Capture of Smith his Strange Ad ventures among the Indians; Conjurations performed
over him; he is Carried to Powhatan; His Life Saved by Pocnhontas; Strange Masquerade of
Pownatan; Release and Return of Smith, 49
CHAPTER V.
Privations of the Colonists; Relieved by Pocahontas ; Arrival of Newport from England; Intercourse
and Traffic with Powhatan; Blue Beads for Crown Jewels; Imaginary Gold Mine; Smith's Voyage
in the Chesapeake; Interviews with numerous Native Tribes; Sling-ray Point; His Return, 53
CHAPTER VI.
Smith made President; he Resumes the Survey; the Susquehannas; Adventures with the Indians;
Remarkable Feat of Survey ; Return to Jamestown ; Arrival of Newport; Absurd Instructions of
the English Company; tho Coronation of Powhatan; Unsuccessful Attempt of Newport to find the
South Sea,.., 54
CHAPTER VII.
Plot against Smith; His Letter to the Company; His Efforts to Support the Colony; Expedition to
Surprise Powhatan ; Artful Speeches, and Mutual Treachery ; the English again Saved by Pocahontas,
59
CHAPTER VIII.
Tbe Plot at Pamunkey Defeated by the Daring and Energy of Smilh ; the Colony Supplied ; Smith
Poisoned; His Unbcrupulous Policy; His Fight with the King of Paspahegh; "Pretty Accidents"
among the Indians, 01
CHAPTER IX.
Idleness of the Settlers ; Eloquent Speech and Vigorous Policy of Smilh ; the New Virginia Company;
Unjust Assumption of Power; Smith Deposed; Great Expedition dispatched from England 111-
forlunu; Arrival of Numerous Immigrants; Anarchy; Smith Rcassumes the Presiucncy, 64
CHAPTER X.
Futile Attempts at Founding New Settlements; Folly and Obstinacy of the Colonists; Smith terribly
Injured; He Returns to England; His Services to the Colony; Awful Suffering and Mortality after
his Departure, C7
CHAPTER XI. ,
Memoir of Smith, continued and concluded; His Voyage to New England, and Surveys; His Second
Expedition; His Adventures among the Pirates his Escape; His Great Exertions for the Settle-
ment of New England; Interesting Interview between Smith and Pocahontas in England; Last
Years of Smilh , His Death; His Character and Achievements, 69
CHAPTER XII.
Arrival of Gules ; Miserable Condition of the Colony ; Jamestown Deserted ; Arrival of Lord Dela-
ware of Sir Thomas Dale; Exertions of the Company; Incre:ised Immigration; the Culture of
Tobacco introduced, and Eagerly Pursued ; Tyranny of Argall his Displacement; Great Accession
of Immigrants; Wives purchased with Tobacco; Liberal Concessions to the Colonists, 77
CHAPTER XIII.
Wyatt Governor; Negro Slavery introduced ; Death of Powhalan and Succession of Opechancanough ;
Plot Devised by the Latter; Terrible Massacre of the English; Depression of the Colony; Usurpa-
tion of the Patent by James 1. ; Prudent Policy toward the Colonists, 80
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
Unsuccessful Attempts of the Plymouth Company to Settle New England ; Persecution of the Non-
conformists; Retreat of Robinson's Congregation to Holland their High Character their Resolu-
tion to Plant a Colony their Loyally and Courage Departure from Delft Haven, 83
CCTAPTIR II.
Stormy Voyage of the Pilgrims to America ; they Arrive at Oap Cod nre Compelled to Disembark
Institute a Republic ; their Simple Constitution ; Carver elected Governor; Absence of Personal
Ambition among the Puritan Settlers, ty
CHA.PTTTR III.
Dreary Appearance of New England; Exploring Party ; Strange Injustice to the Indians; The Voyage
to Plymouth Harbour; Skirmish with the Suvatres; Settlement .if Plymouth Founded; Groat Suf-
fering and Mortality among the Pilgrims, . gfc
CONTENTS. 7
CHAPTER IV. PA01
The Indiana of Now England thinned by Pestilence ; the Peq'uots, Narragansette, and other Tribes;
Extraordinary Opinions of the English concerning them; Bigoted Accounts of the Ancient Histo-
rian:*, etc., 91
CHAPTER V.
Samoset " Welcome, Englishmen;" the Visit of Mossasoit; Treaty and Alliance; Mortality among
the Colonists ; Death of Governor Carver ; Duel, and itd Punishment ; Visit to Massasoit to lyan-
outdi ; Affecting Incident, 95
CHAPTER VI.
Arrival of the Fortune; Challenge from Canonicus his Superstitious Dread; Plymouth Fortified;
U'eston's Colony at Weymouth its Miserable Condition; Mussasoit 111 cured by the English;
Dangerous Plot Revealed, 96
CHAPTER VII.
Expedition of Standish to VVeymouth; During Policy; Sliuighter of the Conspiring Indians; the Col-
ony of Weston Broken up ; Privations and Sufferings at Ply tnouth Drought Seasonable Supply of
Rain ; Additional Arrival, 10)
CHAPTER VIII.
New Settlements Founded; New Hampshire and Maine; Endicott's Company; the Revellers of
Merry Mount Broken up by the Puritans; Settlement of Massachusetts; Foundation of Boston;
Great Emigration ; Mortality and Suffering, 104
CHAPTER IX.
Character of the Founders of Massachusetts; Regulations for Public Morality for Apparel, etc.;
Amusing Penalties ; Intolerance in Religion; Commencement of Persecution, 11)7
CHAPTER X.
Rev. Roeer Williams; His Liberal Opinions; he is Persecuted by the Authorities of Massachusetts;
Expelled from that Province; takes Refuge in the Wilderness; Founds Providence Plantations and
the State of Rhode Island, 109
CHAPTER XI.
Settlement of Connecticut by Plymouth by Massachusetts; Hardships of the Colonists; Foundation
of Hartford,etc ; Emigration under Hooker New Haven Founded; Commencement of the Poquot
War; Influence of Roger Williams, 112
CHAPTER XII.
The Peqnot War, continued; the Attack on Wethersfleld ; Expedition under Mason; Surprise and
Storming of the Pequot Fort Terrible Slaughter and Conflagration ; Final Defeat and Destruction
ol the Tribe; Barbarous Exultation of the- Em ly Historians; Reflections, 1U
THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND.
CHAPTKR I.
Sir George Culvert his Schemes for Settlements in America he Obtains the Grant of Maryland
Founds a Colony there; Settlement ot St. Mary's ; Relations with the, Indians; Expulsion of Clay-
borne; Discontent and Insurrection ; Protestant Settlers; Act for the Toleration of all Christian beets, lib
CHAPTER II.
Arbitrary System of Ix>rd Baltimore ; Disaffection of the Protestant Settlers; Interference of the Vir-
k'miu Commissioners; Affairs in England; Triumph of the Protestants; Repeal of Toleration;
Civil \Viir; Victory of the Protestants; Fenduli'a Insurrection hie Success and Fin:d Kiiln ; Toler-
ation Restored, 131
VTRGIKIA CONTINUED.
CHAPTER I.
Bcign of Charles 1. his Views of Virginia ; Yeardley, Governor Went Hanrey his IK-|>osition bj
the People he is Supported by the Crown ; Wyatt ; Sir U'illium Berkeley, Governor; Loyalty of
the Colony ; Persecution of Dbtcenters; Second Indian Conspiracy and Massacre; Opcrhanoanough
a Prisoner his Speech Murdered by a Soldier ; Reduction of the Indian*. ; Triumph of the Purl-
Una in England ; Royalist Emigration to Virginia ; Loyalty of the Province, 134
3 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II. PAOJi
Act for (he Reduction of Virginia ; the Navigation Act ; Moderation of the Purliament ; Submission
of the Province ; Bennett, Governor Diggs Mathews ; Jealousy of the Assembly against Foreign
Interference ; Freedom and Prosperity of Virginia under the Commonwealth ; Death of Cromwell ;
Berkeley, Governor ; Restoration of Charles II. ; its 111 Effect on the Province, 127
NEW ENGLAND CONTTNTJED.
CHAPTER I.
Inimical Measures adopted in England ; Spirit of Massachusetts Threat of Revolt ; the English Rev-
olution; Industry and Prosperity of New England its Independence; New Hampshire Annexed
to Massachusetts ; Formation of the New England Confederacy, 130
CHAPTER II.
Uncas and Miantonimo ; Defeat nnd Death of the Latter; Discredit to the English ; Rhode Island
its Liberties Guaranteed by the Parliament; Letter to Sir Henry Vane ; Remarkable Freedom En-
joyed there; Maine Annexed by Massachusetts, 1D3
CHAPTER III.
Opposition to the Massachusetts Authorities ; Parliamentary Encroachment Resisted and Relinquished ;
New England Favoured by Cromwell; Bigoted and Intolerant Laws of Massachusetts; Persecution
of Baptists; the Quakers Persecution of them Four Executed their Courage and Fortitude;
Apologists for the Hangings; Reflections, 138
CHAPTER IV.
Education in Massachusetts; Harvard College; Restoration of Charles II.; Oppressive Enactments
concerning Commerce; Attitude of the Colonies; Winthrop, the Younger; Connecticut obtains
a Charter her Freedom und Prosperity, 141
CHAPTER V.
The Charter of Rhode Island ; Civil and Religious Liberty ; Careless and Extensive Grants of Charles
II.; the Attitude of Massachusetts Distrust of the Restoration; Requisitions of Charles II. ; Ap-
pointment of a Commission ; Alarm of the Colony, 143
CHAPTER VI.
Remonstrance of Massachusetts ; Doings of the Commissioners their Disputes with the Authorities
their Discomfiture and Return to England; Successful Resistance of Ma<isachusetts ; Inertness of
the Crown; Prosperity and Trade of the Province, 145
CHAPTER VII.
Condition of the New England Indians Conversion of some of them their Numbers and Strength ;
the Pokanokets ; Metacomet, or King Philip his Grievances Dissimulation Scheme for the De-
struction of the English ; Captain Church his Character, etc. he Disconcerts an Intrigue of Philip, 147
CHAPTER VIII.
Commencement of Philip's War; Exploit of Church; Retreat of the Indians; Philip Rouses the
Tribes; Destruction of Towns, etc ; the Attack on Hadley Repulsed by Goffe; Great Losses of the
English ; Springfield Burned, 150
CHAPTER IX.
Philip's War, continued ; Destruction of the Narragansett Fort Terrible Massacre ; Malignant Exul-
tation of the Early Historians; Indian Successes; Capture and Death of Canonchet his Heroism
and Magnanimity ; Diplomacy of Church, 153
CHAPTER X.
Philip's War, continued; Successful Campaign of Church ; Defeat and Capture of the Savages; Phil-
ip's Despair he Retreats to Mount Hope is Defeated and Slain Barbarous Exposure of his Re-
mainshis Character. 15*
CHAPTER XI.
Philip's War, concluded ; Capture of Annawon and his Warriors, by Church ; Romantic Incidents;
Summary of the War; Philip's Son; Barbarous Policy of the Victors; Murderous Advice; the
Character of the Puritans ; Reflections, IS)
CHAPTER XII.
Renewed Interference of the Crown in Massachusetts ; Severance of New Hampshire Attempt to
Tyrannize there its Failure; Action of Massachusetts; Proceedings against its Charter ; Vain Op-
position and Remonstrance; the Charter Annulled, 161
CONTENTS'.
SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS.
Failure to Plant Colonies In the South ; Emigration from Virginia to North Carolina from Barbadnea
to South Carolina ; the Patent of Charles II. ; Legislation of Locke and Shuftesbury ; Cumbrous
System of Government; Discontent of the Settlers ; Insurrection in North Carolina; Sothel deposed
by the People ; Charleston Founded ; Constitution of Locke Relinquished, 164
VIRGINIA CONTINUED.
CHAPTER I.
Retrograde Movements In Virginia ; Revival of Intolerance and Oppression ; Grant of Virginia to
Culpepperand Arlington; Popular Discontent; Indian War; Murder of the Chiefs; Insurrection
under Bacon; Triumph of the People, 1GB
OHAPTIR II.
The Popular Assembly; Measures of Reform; Opposition and Treachery of Berkeley; Civil War;
Triumph of the Insurgents; Jamestown Burned; Death of Bacon hie Character ; Ruin of the Pop-
ular Cause ; Numerous Executions; Death of Berkeley ; Administration of Culpepper, etc., 170
THE SETTLEMENT OF DELAWARE.
Tlio First Dutch Colony in Delaware its Destruction; Swedes and Finns under Minuit; Conquest
of the Swedish Settlements by the Dutch, under Stuyvesant; Delaware under the Duko of York
under Penn; Disputes with Maryland concerning Boundaries; Separation of Delaware from
Pennsylvania, .' 174
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY
Conquest by the English ; Nichols, Berkeley, and Carteret ; Emigration from New England ; Sale of
West New Jersey to the Quakers ; Fenwick, Byllingo, and Penn ; Quaker Settlement* ; Remarki.bly
Free Constitution; Friendly Dealings with the Indians; Usurpation of Andros its Defeat; East
New Jersey, 178
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.
CHAPTER I.
William Penn his Youth he turns Quaker is Expelled from College and Home Imprisoned for
his Opinions Severity of his Father Fresh Imprisonment Exertions in Behalf of his Sect ho
Engages in the Settlement of New Jersey, 179
CHAFTXB II.
Penn obtains from Charles II. the Grant of Pennsylvania his Admirable Proclamation to the Set-
tiers he Repairs to America Gains Possession of Delaware Honourable Dealings with the In-
dianstheir Attachment to him ; the Great Treaty, 181
CHAPTSR III.
Liberal Legislation of Pennsylvania; Penn Founds Philadelphia its Rapid Increase; Formnlion of
a Constitution ; Grent Emigration from Europe ; Growth of the Province ; Penn returns to England ;
His Subsequent Career, 184
THE NORTHERN COLONIES CONTINUED.
CHAPTER I.
Sir Edmund Andros Commissioned by the Duke of York his Attempt* to Extend his Authority over
Connecticut ; Thomas Dongan ; Union of the Colonies under a Royal Governor ; Andros appointed
Governor-general ; Oppression in the Colonies ; Proceedings against Connecticut and Rhode Island ;
Andros'H Visit to Connecticut; Preservation of the Charter; the Northern Provinces forced to Sub-
mission; Doings in New England upon the Occurrence of the Revolution of 1688, 187
CHAPTKH II.
New York Subsequent to the Revolution of 16(38 ; Assumption of Authority by Jacob Leisler Oppo-
sition by the Council; Indian Incursions ; Arrival of Kloughtcr as Governor; Trial and Execution
of Ixtislcr and Milbouruo; Colonel Fletcher his Futile Attempt to Enforce Authority in Connecti-
cut; Church Difficulties; Bellamont's Peaceable Administration; Captain Kidd, the Pirate, 191
10 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III. TAOX
New Charier of Massachusetts; Trials for Witchcraft in Salem; First Execution; P&rris and his
Family; Court of Examination at Salera; Cotton Mather; Arrival of Phipps; Numerous Execu-
tions; Confessions; Cruelties Inflicted ; Change in Public Opinion, 19*
CHAPTER IV.
Controversy Concerning Revenue ; Suspected Negro Revolt in New York Mock-trials of the Accused
Barbarous- Punishments; Connecticut the Saybrook Platform ; Massachusetts Burning of Deer-
field Difficulties between the Governors and Assemblies; New Hampshire Attack on Cocnuco
Eastern Indian War; Rhode Island its Commercia 1 Prosperity; New Jersey- -Opposition to Arbi-
trary Taxation Scotch Immigration Prosperity of the Colony its Union with New York, 187
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES CONTINUED.
CHAPTER I.
Charter of the Colony of Georgia ; First Arrival of Colonists; Settlement of Savannah ; Indian Nego-
tiations; Mary Musgrove; Cession of Indian Claims; Character of Immigrants to Georgia; Traffic
la Negroes Prohibited ; Frcderica Founded ; War with Spain, 203
CHAPTER II.
Oglethorpo's Expedition against St. Augustine Siege of the Town Failure and Return of the Ex-
pedition ; Spanish Invasion in 1742; Defence of Frederica; Stratagem of Oglethorpe; Thomas
Bosomworth his Intrigues with the Indians Litigation with the Colony ; Georgia a Royal Province, 909
CHAPTER III.
South Carolina Religious Controversies Archdale's Administration Moore's Expedition against
St. Augustine Invasion of Indian Territory French Fleet on the Coast Culture of Rice Indian
Conspiracy Revolt against the Proprietors the Charter declared Forfeit South Carolina a Royal
Province ; North Ciirolina Political Disturbances a Prosperous Anarchy Separation from South
Carolina, 209
CHAPTER IV.
Virginia under Royal Governors State of the Colony Church Controversies; Pennsylvania a Royal
Province the Proprietor Reinstated Policy of Penn; Delaware Death of Penn his Successors;
Maryland ils Catholic Population Government of the Association Oppressive Enactments- -the
Proprietors Restored, . 2 ) S
INDIAN WARS, ETC.
CHAPTER I.
Commencement of the Cherokee War Treaty at Fort St. George Siege of that Fort Murder of
Hostages Montgomery's Campaign Destruction of the Lower Cherokee Settlements Retreat-
Massacre of the Garrison of Fort Loudon the Towns of the Middle Cherokees destroyed by the
Forces under Grant, 213
CHAPTER II.
English Occupation of the Western Trading Posts ; Conspiracy of the North-western Tribes, tinder
Pontiac; Destruction of the English Forts; Taking of Michillimackinac; Siege of Detroit; Loss
Ot Bloody-run ; Close of the War ; Massacre of the Canestoga Indians, 819
EUROPEAN COLONIAL POLICY.
Spanish and English Restrictions upon Trade and Commerce; Contraband Traffic; the u Assiento"
Treaty ; the Slave-trade its General Popularity Causes which lead to the Abolition of Slavery
Manner of Procuring Negroes from Africa Profit of the Trade Numbers brought over English
Law upon the Subject of Slavery ; Introduction of White Apprentices, or " Redemptioners," 525
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER I.
General Rights of Colonies ; Early Causes of Complaint in America; Arbitrary Custom Laws; Illegal
Conduct of English Officials ; Acts in Regulation of Trade ; Expenses of the Late Wars in Acunr-
tca; the " Sugar-act ;" Opposition and Remonstrance in the Colonies, .-*..--. 287
CONTENTS. H
CHAPTER II. PAOB
The Stamp Act Argument in the House of Commons Passage of the Bill its Effect in the Colonies ;
Resolutions in the Virginia Assembly ; Patrick Henry ; Proceedings in Massachusetts Popular
Tumults Resignation of the Stamp Officers, 330
CHAPTER III.
Session of the First American Congress Moderate Tone of its Proceedings Concurrence of the Sep-
arate Colonies; the Stamp Act Nugatory; the English Ministry; Debate in Parliament; Speech
of Pitt Examination of Franklin; Repeal of the Stamp Act, 334
CHAPTER IT.
Interval of Quiet; New Taxes on Importations; Non-importation Agreement; Circular of Massachu-
setts ; Riots at Boston ; Assemblies Dissolved ; Troops Ordered to Boston ; Measures of the British
Government ; Fatal Encounter between the Troops and Populace at Boston ; Concessions of
Parliament, 236
CHAPTER V.
Party Spirit in the Colonies; Whig and Tory; the Regulators of North Carolina; Hutchinson, Gov-
ernor of Massachusetts ; Destruction of theGaspee; System of Political Cummuniciilion between
the Colonies ; Tea dispatched to America by the East India Company ; Refusal of the Colonists to
Receive it; Violent Proceedings at Boston Closure of the Port; Extension of Canada, 43
OHAPTBB VI.
Gage, Governor of Massachusetts Military Preparations Minute-men ; Distress in Boston Sympa-
thy of other Towns; Convention Proposed by Virginia Delegates Chosen by the Colonies; the
Continental Congress Resolutions and Declaration Adopted; Violent Measures of Parliament,. 248
CHAPTER VII.
Warlike Preparations in Massachusetts; Troops dispatched to Seize Military Stores; First B'ood
Shed nt Lexington ; Disastrous Retreat of the British to Boston ; Proceedings in the Neighbouring
Colonies; Boston Besieged by the Provincials; Concurrence of the Southern Colonies; Second
Session of Congress ; Appointment of Officers ; Seizmo of Crown Point and Ticoiidoroga, 249
CHAPTER VIII.
Condition of tho British Army in Boston; Battle of Hunker Hill; Washington at the Camp; Con-
gressional Proceedings; the Indian Tribts; Joseph Brant; Military Preparation!) in the Separate
Colonies, 953
CHA.PTKK IX.
Vacillating Policy of England ; Provisions by Congress for Carrying on the War; Naval Operations;
Expedition against Canada : Siege of Fort St. John ; Allen's Attempt upon Montreal ; the City Oc-
cupied by Montgomery ; March towards Quebec, 257
CB AFTER X.
Arnold's Expedition against Quebec Passage of the Wilderness Failure of Provisions Defect ion
of Kims, with his Command Arrival at the Canadian .Settlements Proclamations Arnold at th
Heights of Abraham Union with Montgomery Attack on Quebec Death of Montgomery Mor-
gan's Rifle Corps American Forces drawn off, OQO
CHAPTER XI.
Warlike Preparations In England ; Germtm Mercenaries ; Proceedings of Congress Enlistments
Issue of Bills Defences in New York; Condition ol the British in Boston; Occupation of Dor-
ches'.er Heights; Evacuation of the City; Hopkins' Cruise among the Bahama*; Affairs at the
South; Attack upon Charleston ; Retreat of the American Troops from Canada, 86)
CHAPTER XII.
State of Feel ing in the Colonies; Paine's Writings ; Debates in Congress; the Declaration of Inde-
pendence its Effect upon the People; the British at Stuten Island ; Proclamation of General and
of Admiral Howe, >it jj(p
CHAPTER XIII.
Landing of :he British on Long Island ; Battle of Brooklyn ; the American Forces Driven from Long
Island ; Occupation of New Yoik by the British ; Washington's Encampment at Harlem Height*
at White Plains, Storming of Fort Washington ; the Retreat through New Jersey; Capture of
General Lee; Condition of Prisoners; Lake Champlain Destruction of the American Vewels;
Generosity of Carleton; Rhode Island Seized by the British, 870
|2 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XTV. PAO
Congress at Baltirmre; Army Organization; Powers Conferred upon Washington; Passage of the
Delaware, and Recovery of Trenton; Battle of Princeton; End of the Campaign; Marauding Par-
ties ; Negotiation with European Powers ; Foreign Officers in the American Service, 274
CHAPTER XV.
Expeditions against Peekskill and Danbury ; British Plan of Campaign ; Howe's Departure from New
York; Burgoyne's Army his Proclamation; Siege of Ticonderoga ; Retreat of St. Clair ; Burgoyue
on the Hudson ; Siege of Fort Schuyler ; Battle of Bcnnington ; Indian Warfare, 278
CHAPTER XVI.
Buttles at Behmus' Heights; Burgoyne's Retreat to Saratoga his Surrender; Detention of Prisoners ;
Expedition from Now York up the Hudson; Howe's March upon Philadelphia; Battle at Brandy-
wine Creek; British Occupation of Philadelphia; Battle of Germantown ; Reduction of Forts Mif-
flin and Mercer ; Winter-quarters at Valley Forge, 281
CHAPTER XVII.
Difficulties of Congress ; Articles of Confederation ; Recommendations to the States ; Intrigues against
Washington ; Treaties with France; British Commissioners in America; Evacuation of Philadel-
phia; Battle of Monmouth; Arrival of a French Fleet; Attempt on Newport; Winter-quarters;
Marauding Expeditions; Destruction of Wyoming, 285
CHAPTER XVIII.
Invasion of Georgia; Occupation of Savannah ; British Division under Prevost ; Lincoln in Command
at tho South ; Defeat of Ashe at Briar Creek ; Attack on Charleston ; Sullivan's Campaign against
the Iroquois ; Naval Operations of France and England ; Attempt at a Recovery of Savannah ; Fur-
ther Naval Proceedings Paul Jones ; Condition of the American Array 290
CHAPTER XIX.
Siege of Charleston Surrender of the City ; South Carolina Occupied by the British ; Tarleton'g Le-
gion his Victory at Waxhaws ; Corn wullis in Command ; Defeat of the Americans at Camden ;
Guerilla Operations of Sumpter and Marion; Invasion of North Carolina; Ferguson's Defeat at
King's Mountain, 294
CHAPTER XX.
Northern Operations ; Springfleld Burned ; Arrival of the French Fleet and Forces Blockade at New-
port ; Treason of Arnold ; Trial and Execution of Major Andr* ; Causes of Arnold's Defection ; In-
dian Ravages Invasion of the Mohawk Valley by Johnson and Brant, 298
CHAPTER XXI.
Revolt of the Pennsylvania Troops; Arnold's Expedition into Virginia; Greene in Command of the
Southern Army ; Morgan's Detachment Battle of Cowpens Pursuit of Morgan by Cornwnllis
Passage of the Catawba Retreat into Virginia Battle of Guilford Court-house; Greene's March
ipto South Carolina ; Cornwallis in Virginia ; Battle at Hobkirk's Hill ; Seizure of British Forts by
Marion and Lee, 1 301
CHAPTER XXII.
War between England and Holland; Seizure and Plunder of St. Eustatius; the Armed Neutrality;
Recovery of West Florida by Spain ; Continental Currency ; Plan for the Recovery of New York ;
Virginia Ravaged by Phillips and Cornwallis; Encampments at Yorktown and Gloucester Point;
Washington's March Southward ; Attack on New London and Groton ; Campaign in South Caro-
lina; Battle near Eutaw Springs, 305
CHAPTER XXIII.
French Fleet in the Chesapeake ; Siege of Yorktown ; Surrender of Cornwallis ; Winter-quarters ;
Proceedings in the English Parliament; Negotiations for Peace; Terms of Treaty; Cessation of
Hostilities ; Disaffection in the Continental Army ; Evacuation of New York ; Position of the
United States, 308
THE UNITED STATES.
CHAPTER I.
Position of the Union at the Conclusion of Peace ; Existing Difficulties with Great Britain ; Weakness
of Congress ; Local Disturbances Shay's Rebellion ; Convention for Enlarging Congressional Pow-
ers Opposing Interests of tho States; the Present Constitution Federal Legislature Powers of
Congress Restrictions Limit of State.Powers the Executive the Judiciary Mutual Guarantee*
Amendments, , 313
CONTENTS. 13
CHAPTXK It. PA3
Ratification of the Constitution by the States; Washington Elected President; the First Ccngresa
Provisions for Revenue Formation of a Cabinet Power of Removal from Office; Washington's
Tour through New England ; Second Session of Congress Debate respecting the Public Debt
Foreign Liabilities Public Certificates Assumption of Slate Debts tho Public Debt Funded
Miscellaneous Enactments ; Constitution Ratified by Rhode Island, 319
CHAPTER III.
Indian Negotiations the Creeks the North-western Tribes ; Harmtir's Unsuccessful Campaign ; Third
Session of Congress the Excise Law a National Bank ; Settlement of Kentucky its Admiss.ou
to the Union; Admission of Vermont ; Site of the Federal Capitol ; the North-western Indians St.
Clair'a Expedition his Disastrous Defeat ; Political Parlies; the Census, 323
CHAPTER IV.
Washington's Second Term his Disinclination to Office; the French Revolution its Political Influ-
ence in the United States; Arrival of Genet, as Minister of Ihe French Republic his Proceedings
at Charleston ; Neutral Position of the United Slates; Commercial Restrictions by France and Eng-
land ; Impressment of American Seamen; Retirement of Jefferson ; Algerine Depredations, 327
CHAPTXR v.
American Politics ; Debate in Congress upon Foreign Relations ; Further Aggressions of England :
Commission of Jay as Ambassador Extraordinary to Great lirituin; Relief of Immigrants from St.
Domingo; the Neutrality Laws; Resistance to the Excise Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania
its Forcible Suppression Opinions of the Republican Party, 331
CHAPTKR VI.
General Wayne's Campaign against the North-western Indians; Defeat of the Confederate Tribes at
the Miami Rapids; Naturalization Laws; the Democratic Clubs; Hamilton's Resignation; the
British Treaty its Ratification Popular Indignation ; Randolph's Resignation, 33S
CHAPTER VII.
Indian Treaty at Fort Greenville ; Treaties with Algiers and Spain the Mississippi Opened to Amer-
can Trade; Debate in Congress upon Jay's British Treaty; Tennessee Admitted into the Union;
French Proceedings in Respect to the Treaty ; American Ministers to France; Washington's Re-
tirement from Office Slanders upon his Character ; John Adams Elected President, 339
CHAPTER Till.
Treatment of United Stalest' Ambassadors in France; Hostile Preparations in America; New Em-
bassy Refusal of the Directory to Receive the American Ministers; Negotiations with Talleyrand;
Extravagant Demands and Injurious Decrees of the Directory ; Return of the Ambassadors; Action
of Congress Military Preparations Alien and Sedition Laws Land-tax, etc., 341
CHAPTER IX.
Pacific Movements in France ; Mission of Murray ; Naval Engagements ; Death of Washington ; Na-
poleon First Consul ; Treaty with France; First Session of Congress at Washington; Presidential
Election Jefferson President, and Burr Vice-president; Party Removal from Office ; Economical
Reform* ; Ohio Admitted into the Union ; Transfer of Louisiana to the United States, 345
CHAPTER X.
American Fleet in the Mediterranean ; Expedition of Ealon and Unmet against Tripoli ; Treaty con-
cluded; Jefiursou's Reelection; Burr's Duel with Hamilton his Western Euterpriae bis Trial,... 349
CHAPTXR XI.
English Aggressions; Failure of Negotiation; Attack on tho Frigate Chesapeake; Embargo; Non-
intercoura Act; Abolition of iho Slave-trade; John Randolph; West Florida; Concessions of
Napoleon; liritish Cruisers Ihe Liltlo Belt; Tecumseh EUkwatawa HattJeof Tippecanoe; East
Florida ; Depuration of War, 353
CHAI'TKR III.
Riots at Baltimore ; Hull's Invasion of Canada : Repeal of the Orders in Council Impressment ; N;t-
Tal Operations ; Madison's Reelection; North-western Campaign Defeat of Winchester ; Attack
on York; the British on Lake Cbamplain, CNM
CHAPTXR XIII.
Naval Affairs Perry's Victory on Lake Erie ; Harrison's Canadian Campaign ; the Niagara Frontlet ;
the Creek War Jackson's Campaign ; Negotiations for Peace ; Brown's Invasion of Canada BaUKt
of Uridgewater ; Occupation 1,1 the nir*.i|H-.ike Buttle, of Bladensburgh Seizure of Washington
Destruction of Public Buildings AtUck on Baltimore, .. 308
14 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV. FAO1
Operations on the- Coast of Maine ; Attack on Plattsburgh Battle of Lake Champlaiu ; Naval Af-
fairs Lafitte ; Negotiation at Ghent ; the Hartford Convention ; Treaty of Peace ; Jackson's Ue-
feiice of New Orleans Battle of January 8; Naval Engagements, 378
CHAPTER XV.
War with Algiers; Tariff National Bank; Monroe, President; Jackson's Seminole Campaign;
Cession of Florida by Spain ; Admission of Missouri the Compromise ; Monroe's Second Term ;
Administration of John Quincy Adams; Election of Andrew Jackson ; the Tariff; Nullification
iu South Carolina ; the United States' Bunk ; Indian Removals ; Black Hawk; the Cherokees,.. 361
CHAPTER XVI.
The Seminole War ; Early History of the Florida Indians; War of 1818; Indian Treaty of 1823
of 1832; RefiiRul of the Seminoles to Remove; Destruction of Dade's Detachment; Military
Operations of Generals Scott and Jessup ; Unsatisfactory Results of Negotiation ; Expeditions of
Colonels Taylor and Harney ; Gradual Cessation of Hostilities; Recent Difficulties, 380
CHAPTER XVII.
Administration of Van Buren Financial Pressure the Sub-treasuryCanadian Revolt the North-
eastern Boundary the Affair of the Amistad; Harrison and Tyler Bankrupt Law Preemption
the Veto Power Tariff; Admission of Texas, 395
CHAPTER XVIII.
Texas as a Spanish Province Grant to Moses Austin Colonization Difficulties of the Settlers ;
Revolution in Mexico Bustarnente First Revolutionary Movements in Texas Santa Anna's Pres-
idency his Usurpation ; Second Texan Campaign Success of the Patriots Invasion by Santa
Anna Battle of San Jucinto Independence Established, 400
CHAPTER XIX.
Administration of James K. Polk; Annexation of Texas; the North-western Boundary ; Discovery
and History of the Territory of Oregon; Voyage of Juan de Fuca Discovery of the Columbia-
Trading Establishments Journey of Lewis and Clarke Astoria Destruction of the Tonquin;
War with Great Britain Boundary Treaties Settlement of the Country, 408
CHAPTER xx.
Alteration in the Tariff; Acquisition of California Early History of that Province the Jesuit Mis-
sions in the Peninsula the Dominicans; Upper California the Franciscan Missionary Establish-
ment the Mexican Revolution Attempts at Colonization, 413
CHAPTER XXI.
Exploration of New California Colonel Fremont's Survey of the South Pass Overland Expedition
of 1843-4 the Great Salt Lake Return Route Terrible Passage of the Sierra Nevada Captain
Suiter's Settlement Subsequent Expeditions of Fremont; the Gold Discoveries in California,.... 418
CHAPTER XXII.
The Mormons ; Administrations of Zachary Taylor and Millnrd Fillmore Admission of California
Into the Union Debate upon the Slavery Question the Compromise Expeditions of NarcUso
Lopez ; Statistics ; Franklin Pierce President Japan the Nebraska Question, 425
CHAPTER XXIII.
Administration of James Buchanan Republican Party Know Nothings Growth of Slavery question
Dred Scott decision Kansas troubles Utah War William Walker's invasions of California and Nicara-
gua Walker shot Financial Panic of 1857 California Overland Mail Revival of 1858 Treaty with
Paraguay Cuba San Juan Prince of Wales in America Japanese embassy John Brown Nominating
Conventions, 1860 Election of Lincoln and Hamlin Secession ; Confederate States of America Growth
of the Union '. ^ 433
NEW BRUNSWICK.
CHAPTER I.
Area English Settlement French Discovery Grant to Alexander De La Tour and Charnisse Bay Chal-
leurs settled Enaud at Bay Chaleurs Pirates Spread of French settlements Davidson at Miramichi St.
John settled Attack on Miramachi Micmacs Attack the Viper Ferocity of Martin Gov. Carleton. 449
CHAPTER II.
Progress after the American War Colonial System of 1806-7 Duties on timber Great Fire of 1825 Loss
ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOLUME II.
MM
EXTERIOR VIEW of the Crystal Palace, New York Frontispiece 8
Flags of Various Nations, appropriately colored 15, 16
Portrait of Captain John Smith, the Founder of Virginia 49
Portrait of Roger Williams, the Founder of Rhode Island 110
Emigration of Hooker and his Party to Hartford 113
Portrait of King Philip, in hit Aboriginal Costume ISO
The Settlers of New England going to Church 151
Portrait of Captain Benjamin Church, the Indian Fighter 158
The Treaty of William Penn with the Indians 183
William Penn, the Founder of Pennsylvania 190
Settlers in the Forest 223
Group of English Statesmen embracing Portraits of George III., Lord North, the Earl of Chatham,
Marquis of Rockingham, and Lord Bute 230
Group of American Statesmen embracing Portraits of Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry. Samuel
Adams, John Hancock, James Otis, and Gouverneiir Morris 831
Congress (Independence) Hall, Philadelphia . -. S47
Fancuil Hall, Boston 847
Defence of the Redoubt at Bunker-Hill 354
Full-length Portrait of Joseph Brant (Thayendancgea; 256
View of the Highlands on the Hudson S71
The Encampment at Valley Forge 986
Engagement of the French Fleet, under D'Estalng, and the British Fleet, under Byron 893
Engagement between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis 304
The Capture of Major Andre - 399
TUe Battle of the Cowpens 3u3
Equestrian Portrait of Lord Cornwallls 311
Full-length Portrait of Red Jacket, the Famous Settees Chief 327
Portrait of George Washington, First President of the United States 335
Portrait of John Adams, Second President of the United States 343
Portrait of Tho^s* Jefferson, Third President of the United States 350
Portrait of James Madison, Fourth President of the United States 359
The Battle of Lake Erie , 367
Portrait of the Celebrated Indian Chief Tecumseh, in full Costume 370
Equestrian Portrait of General Andrew Jackson 379
The Capitol at Washington 375
The Smithsonian Institute, Washington City 375
Portrait of James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States 388
VOL. IV. 30
16
1LLUSTKATIOH8.
Portrait of John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States 33
Portrait of Andrew Jackson, Seventh President of the United States, frem tke last painting taken pre-
vious to kit decease 390
Portrait of Martin Van Buren, Eighth President of the United States 391
Full-length Portrait of Osceola, the Florida Chief. 394
Group of Portraits of American Statesmen embracing Daniel Webster, John C. Calhouu, Henry Clay,
and Lewis Cass 399
Portrait of William H. Harrison, Ninth President of the United States .- 408
Portrait of John Tyler, Tenth President of the United States 407
Portrait of James K. Polk, Eleventh President of the United States 410
View of the City of San Francisco 413
Overland Emigration, an Animated Scene 419
Pass of the Sierra Nevada 420
Miners at Work in the Gold-Diggings of California 423
Portrait of Zachary Taylor, Twelfth President of the United States 428
Portrait of Millard Fillmore, Thirteenth President of the United States 430
Portrait of Franklin Pierce, Fourteenth President of the United States 432
Village of Kaawatoa, on Kealakekua Bay 434
deals or Coats of Arms of the Several States and of the United States, with full and particular de-
criptiojus of the significance of each 430
Peru.
Hayti.
Buenos Ayres.
Chili.
Venezuela.
Mexico.
Bolivia.
AMERICAN COMMODORE
New Grenada. American .lack.
Brazil.
United Statet
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA.
at (Moui^iton.
CTT A D T 17 13 T
M 2* JT * A ft X.
SEBASTIAN CABOT: HIS YOUTH: HIS PIRST VOYAGE, AND DISCO?'
ERY OP NORTH AMERICA. - HIS SECOND VOYAGE, AND PUTILB
ATTEMPT AT COLONIZATION. OBSCURE INTERVAL IN HIS
LIFE. HE SERVES IN SPAIN. HIS EXPEDITION UNDER
HENRY VIII. APPOINTED GRAND PILOT OF SPAIN. -
HIS EXPEDITION TO SOUTH AMERICA. HIS RETURN
TO ENGLAND, SERVICES, OLD AGE, AND DEATH.
ENGLAND, the first to discover the American continent, was,
strangely enough, the last to plant her colonies on its shores. Be-
tween a solitary brilliant effort of early enterprise and those late and
feeble endeavours destined to eventuate in such mighty results, there
was destined to intervene the barren interregnum of nearly a century
of torpidity and ignorance, of imprudence and disaster. The scanty
resources of her marine, and the lives of her most enterprising dis-
coverers, for ages, were lavished in futile efforts to reach the shores
of India by passing to the north of Asia, or in yet more hopeless
attempts at the North-west Passage. After briefly describing the
particulars of her first memorable achievement, and the unimportant
movements in the same direction by which it was succeeded, we may
pass, with little interruption, to the tardy and unprosperous beginning
18 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
of an empire, whose rise and progress are utterly without a parallel
in the history of the world.
That achievement, indeed, as in the more remarkable instance of
Columbus, and in that of Magellan, of Vespucius, of Verrazano, and
of Hudson, was mainly due to the genius and enterprise of one who,
if not of foreign birth, was of foreign origin and education, seeking,
in a strange land, the means of displaying his genius and courage
in effecting grand discoveries. Sebastian Cabot, the son of an emi-
nent Venetian merchant, was born at Bristol in England, about the
year 1477. Being removed to Venice at the early age of four, he
there received, for the age, an excellent education, and became espe-
cially imbued with the taste for maritime enterprise. Keturning to
England yet a youth, his ambition, like that of others of his family,
was strongly kindled by tidings of the grand discovery of Columbus,
then the chief event of the day. "By this fame and report," he
says, " there increased in my heart a great flame of desire to attempt
some notable thing."
An ambition so laudable has seldom been gratified at such an early
age; and a more "notable thing" than the young adventurer proba-
bly dreamed of, was destined, while he was yet a boy, to immortalize
his name. Henry VII., whose far-sighted policy had looked with
immediate favour on the scheme of Columbus, and who had narrowly
missed the first claim to America, in March, 1496, at the instance of
John Cabot, granted to him and his three sons Lewis, Sebastian, and
Sancius a patent " to sail to all parts, country s, and seas, of the
East, of the West, and of the North, to seek and find out whatsoever
isles, countries, regions, or provinces of the heathen and infidels,
whatsoever they may be, and in what part of the world soever they
be, which before this time have been unknown to all Christians."
The main object of this expedition was the enterprising attempt, so
often since repeated, first from ignorance of climate and geography,
and latterly from sheer English hardihood and perseverance, to find
a North-west passage to the shores of India.
Sebastian, though as yet only a youth of nineteen, was entrusted
with the command of the expedition, which consisted of five ships,
and in the spring of 1497, accompanied by his father, took his
departure from the port of Bristol. After stopping at Iceland, they
held on to the westward, and on the 24th of June, beheld the land
stretching before them, being portions of the coasts of Labrador and
Newfoundland. Little exultation seems to have been awakened by
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 19
this momentous discovery of a continent. "After certayne dayes,"
Bays Sebastian, "I found that the land ranne toward the North,
which was to mee a great displeasure, * * not thinking
to find any other land than Cathay" (China). He entered, however,
it would seem, one of the channels which lead into Hudson's Bay,
and thought himself (like Hudson, a century later) fairly in the
desired track ; but after keeping westward for several days, the crews,
discouraged by the length of the voyage and the failure of provi-
sion, insisted on return. Compelled to yield, he put about, and after
coasting along shore for some way to the southward, made his way
to England. Not long afterwards, John Cabot expired.
In the spring of 1498, Sebastian, anxious to found a colony, took
with him three hundred men, and again set sail for the region he had
discovered. These unfortunate people he landed on the bleak and
inhospitable coast of Labrador, that they might form a settlement
there, and then with the squadron renewed his search for the North-
west Passage. The particulars of this unsuccessful attempt are not
recorded ; but on his return to the station, he found that the settlers
had suffered miserably from cold and exposure, though, in that high
northern latitude, "the dayes were very longe, and in a manner
without nyght" A number had already perished, and the rest,
refusing to remain any longer in these inclement regions, were taken
on board, and carried back to England. In the return voyage, he
coasted along the Atlantic sea-board of North America as far as
Florida.
From this time until the year 1512, very little is known of the
career of Cabot; though, it is said, deprived of the aid of the crown,
he fitted out vessels at his own charges, and made "great discoveries,"
in a more southerly direction. In that year we find him employed
by Ferdinand of Spain, and, not long after, a member of the Council
of the Indies. He was also entrusted with the command of a fresh
expedition to seek the Westerly Passage; but this project failing,
from the death of his patron, in 1516, he returned to England, where
he was received with favour by Henry VIII. From that country
he made a fresh expedition to the north-west, attaining the sixty-
seventh degree of north latitude, and making fresh surveys in Hud-
son's Bay; but from the severity of the season, the mutinous dispo-
sition of his crews, and the timidity of Sir Thomas Pert, who com-
manded under him, ("whose faint heart was the cause that the voyage
took none effect,") was compelled to return to England, his purpose
20 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
onaccomplished. In 1518, lie was recalled to Spain by Charles Y v
then on the throne of that country, and received the honourable and
responsible appointment of Chief Pilot.
In April of 1526, he set forth, with three ships, on a voyage to
the Pacific by the strait of Magellan; but, through mutiny and ship-
wreck, his project was disconcerted, and he devoted himself to inland
exploration. He passed up the La Plata and the Paraguay, and,
during an absence of five years, added materially to a knowledge of
the geography of those regions, as well as of their natural wealth
and resources. In 1531, he returned to Spain, and resumed his
office of Chief Pilot, being then fifty- three years of age. Despite his
many misfortunes, his reputation as a discoverer and navigator was
great. "He is so valiant a man," says a contemporary, "and so well
practiced in all things pertaining to navigations and the science of
cosmographie, that at this present he hath not his like in all Spaine,
insomuch that for his vertues he is preferred above all other Pilots
that saile to the West Indies, who may not passe thither without hia
license, and is therefore called Pilote Maggioro, (that is, Grand Pilot.)"
"I found him," says another, "a very gentle and courteous person,
who entertained mee friendly, and showed mee many things, and
among other a large mappe of the world" at that time, doubtless,
a great curiosity, and which certainly would be none the less such
now. The learned and enterprising seem to have found delight in
his society, and as, with increasing age, he gradually relinquished
his more active occupations, a serene tranquillity, relieved from mo-
notony by the interest of his office, rewarded the more arduous
achievements of his youth and manhood. "After this," he writes,
" I made many other voyages, which I now pretermit, and waxing
olde, I give myself to rest from such travels, because there are now
many young and lustie pilots and mariners of good experience, by
whose forwardness I do rejoyce in the fruit of my labors and rest in
the charge of this office as you see."
Aged as the discoverer was when he wrote this letter, his work
was far from finished; the promotion of English enterprise and the
ouilding up of a marine mightier than the world has ever seen, being
reserved as the crowning laurel of his long and useful life. In 154:8,
being then seventy years old, he revisited his native country, where
he met with much favour from the young king, Edward VI. It has
been said that he was appointecTlo the office of Grand Pilot of Eng-
'and an office which, in the unprosperoua condition" of foreign
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA, 21
commerce, must, at this time, have been almost a sinecure. lie cer-
tainly received a handsome pension. His reputation for maritime
skill, (as well perhaps as the jealousy of the Spanish court,) is
evinced in a formal demand made by Charles V., that "Sebastian
Cabote, Grand Pilot of the Emperor's Indies, then in England, might
be sent over to Spain, as a very necessary man for the Emperor,
whose servant he was and had a pension of him." This peremptory
recall was, however, disregarded.
His arrival in London gave a fresh stimulus to the almost decayed
spirit of English enterprise. The chief men of that port, we are
told, began "first of all to deal and consult diligently" with the aged
pilot ; and by his advice three vessels were fitted out for an expedi-
tion to the north-east. This little squadron, which sailed in May,
1553, under the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, was regarded
with a curiosity which indicates the infancy of maritime enterprise
in the nation whose exploits in that direction have since been utterly
unapproachable by those of any other. As it floated down the
Thames, says old Hakluyt, "being come neere to Greenwich (where
the court then lay) presently on the news thereof, the courtiers came
running out, and the common people flockt together, standing very
thick upon the shoare ; the privie counsell, they lookt out at the win-
dows of the court, and the rest ranne up to the toppes of the towers."
This expedition resulted in the destruction of Sir Hugh and most
of his people, who perished on the dreary coast of Lapland; but one
of the vessels, commanded by Richard Chancellor, succeeded in
pushing her way far eastward through the Arctic seas, and laid the
foundation of a prosperous commerce between England and Russia.
We find Cabot, in extreme old age, still the active patron of
English enterprise an$ commerce; which, by his vigorous and intel-
ligent direction, was gradually placed on a substantial and lucrative
basis. A pleasant description of his demeanour is given by one of
the company of a small vessel, which, with his friends (when eighty
years old) he visited at Gravesend. "They went on shore," says the
narrator, "giving to our mariners right liberal rewards; and the good
olde gentleman, master Cabota, gave to the poor most liberall almes,
wishing them to pray for the good fortune and prosperous success
of the Search- Thrift, our pinesse. And then at the signe of the
Christopher, hee and his friends banketed, and made mee, and them
tLat were in the company great cheere; and so very joy that he had
to see the towardness of our intended discovery, he entered into the
22 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
dance himselfe, among the rest of the young and lusty company;
which being ended, hee and his friends departed, most gently com-
mending us to the governance of Almighty God" The most elaborate
description could hardly present a more agreeable picture of hale,
cheerful, and benevolent old age, than is suggested by this little
incident, thus casually recorded.
After the accession of Mary, this aged and useful servant of the
crown spent the brief remainder of his days in neglect and obscurity.
It mattered little to him, however, for his work was done. "On his
death-bed, says an eye-witness, 'he spake flightily ' of a certain divine
revelation (which he might disclose to no man) for the infallible
ascertainment of the longitude. With his last thoughts thus amused
by visions so suited to his mind and his past life, the Discoverer of
North America died calmly it is supposed in the city of London;
but the date of his death, and the place where his remains are laid,
have long been lost even to tradition."
L ii .n, i i Ju it i i.
THE "DOMINUS VOBISCUM:" FAILURE AND MISFORTUNE.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE E'NGLISH MARINE. MARTIN FRO-
BISHER: HIS VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.
DIMINUTIVE EQUIPMENTS OF THE EARLY DISCOV-
ERERS. SUPPOSED DISCOVERY OF GOLD ORE.
SECOND EXPEDITION OF FROBISHER. SURYEI8.
CONTEST WITH THE ESQUIMAUX. HIS THIRD
EXPEDITION. ITS FAILURE.
THE voyage of Cabot, under Henry VIIL, in 1517, in search of a
North-west Passage, is the only one made by the English, in that
direction, for ten years, of which any record has survived. In 1527,
two ships, the " Dominus Vbbiscum" ("the Lord be with you") and
another were dispatched by the same sovereign to the northern
coasts of America. "Divers cunning men," one being a canon ol
St Paul's, went on this expedition, which, however, one of the
vessels being wrecked, resulted in nothing of importance. The fact,
indeed, that a letter, describing the voyage, was forwarded home
THE ENGLISH IN AMEBICA. 23
from the harbour of St. John's, Newfoundland, would seem to indi-
cate that some intercourse already existed with those parts probably
by fishing vessels, which, in emulation of the early Bretons, may
have resorted thither.
Nine years afterwards, (1536,) another voyage was made in the
same direction by a company of adventurers, many of whom were
young lawyers from the Inns of Court, and gentlemen of good
family. They were reduced to a wretched condition, and even, it
is said, resorted to cannibalism, devouring one another; at last,
obtaining by stratagem, at Newfoundland, a French ship, well fur-
nished with supplies, they made their way home, whither they were
soon followed (in the ship they had left) by the French crew, clam-
orous for redress. It would appear, from laws passed not long after
for the protection of the fisheries at Newfoundland, that this branch
of national industry had already made a fair beginning; and only
a few years later, from thirty to fifty English vessels, it is said, came
annually to that region.
The fate of Willoughby, in seeking a north-east passage, in 1553,
and the success of his officer, Chancellor, in discovering a sea-route
to Russia, and opening a lucrative commerce with that empire, have
already been mentioned. The English marine, under the auspices
of Cabot, rapidly increased in extent, and the English mariners in
skill and boldness; and the brilliant reign of Elizabeth, so fertile in
every department of greatness, was illustrated by numerous naval
exploits, both in war and attempted discovery. The attention of
the learned and enterprising was revived to the scheme of effecting
a North-west Passage an undertaking, in the language of Martin
Frobisher, " the only thing of the world, yet left undone, whereby a
notable mind might become fortunate and famous."
For fifteen years, that navigator, afterwards so famous in almost
every sea, vainly sought the means of pursuing his grand design ;
and it was not until 1576, that by the favour of the Earl of War-
wick, he was enabled to fit out a little flotilla of three vessels, the
largest of which was only thirty-five tons, and the smallest but ten.
With this slender equipment, on the 19th of June, 1576, he sailed
from Yarmouth on his long-cherished enterprise. "In reviewing the
history of these early expeditions, the most casual reader must be
struck with the humble and insignificant means with which the grand-
est enterprises were attempted and often accomplished. Columbus,
amid the storms of a most tempestuous winter, made his way back to
24 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Europe, after his great discovery, in an open caravel ; Hudson, with
only ten men, undertook 'to find a passage to India by way of the
north pole;' and the good Sir Humphrey Gilbert, after voyaging
safely to Newfoundland in his little Squirrel, (of only ten tons,) was
finally whelmed in a tremendous gale beneath the 'pyramid-like'
seas of the Atlantic."
On the llth of July, this little squadron came to the southern
extremity of Greenland, and, keeping to the westward, on the 18th
of August again made land on some part, it is probable, of the coast
of Labrador. Here the voyagers fell in with parties of Esquimaux,
who came off to the vessels in their seal-skin boats ; and five of the
crew, who too rashly went ashore with them, were carried off, and
could not be recovered. This land was named by Frobisher " Meta
Incognita." One of his little vessels was swallowed up by the sea,
and another deserted him ; yet he pressed on, and made considerable
surveys in those dreary regions. On his return to England, certain
bits of glittering stone which he had found there were confidently
pronounced by the English goldsmiths to be no other than gold ore.
The announcement of this fancied discovery of the precious metal
stimulated the nation to fresh enterprise, and even relaxed the strings
of the royal purse (in general most reluctantly unloosed) to a slight
disbursement. With a ship of an hundred and eighty tons, furnished
by the queen, and called the Ayde (Aid), and with two smaller ves-
sels, on the 26th of May, 1577, he again set forth in quest of gold
mines and the North-west Passage.
He passed Friesland, and thence, stretching over to Labrador,
sailed up the straits which still bears his name, and which he sup-
posed to be a channel dividing Asia and America. A plenty of the
glittering trash which had deluded him was found, and stowed aboard
the ship; and for thirty leagues he made his way up the strait, con-
fidently supposing that it led to the Indian ocean. In some boats
of the Esquimaux, various European articles were found, probably
belonging to the mariners who had been lost on the preceding voy-
age. To recover these or to revenge their death, he engaged in
hostilities with the savages, who fought with much desperation,
flinging themselves, when mortally wounded, into the sea. A num-
ber of them having been slain, the rest took refuge among the clffFs,
all the men of the party making their escape. "Two women," says
the journal of the voyage, "not being so apt to escape as the men
were, the one being olde, the other encombred with a yong childe,
THE ENGLISH IN AMEEICA.
25
wo tooke. The olde wretch, whom divers of our Saylers supposed
to be eyther the Divell or a witch, had her buskins plucked off, to
see if she were cloven-footed, and for her ougly hewe and deformitie,
we let her goe; the yong woman and the childe we brought away."
All attempts to recover the lost mariners proved fruitless, and on
the 21st of August, ice having begun to form around the ships, Fro-
bisher perceived the danger of attempting to remain or proceed.
Accordingly, he put about, and with his vessels freighted with two
hundred tons of shining earth, returned to England.
Wonderful to state, the fallacy of the imagined El Dorado was
not yet discovered. The ore was pronounced genuine by men of
science, and, as usual where the thirst for gold is fairly awakened,
men flocked in crowds to join a fresh expedition. Fifteen ships,
with preparations for a settlement, were fitted out, and, under com-
mand of Frobisher, on the 31st of May, 1578, again sailed for the
land of imagined treasure. After encountering much danger from
storms and icebergs, the fleet entered a great strait leading westward,
probably the chief entrance to Hudson's Bay. Finding that he was
not in the passage he had formerly entered, in the region of imagined
gold, Frobisher put about; but was so long in getting to the desired
locality that winter almost set in before he arrived there; his sailors
and colonists, disheartened by the length of the voyage, clamoured
for return; one ship, laden with supplies, deserted; and, compelled
to abandon his plans for colonization and discovery, the admiral,
freighting his ships with the supposed treasure, returned to England.
By this time, its worthlessness had been fairly discovered; and
though he eagerly besought the means at least for continuing his
attempts at the North-west Passage, the public and the crown, dis-
couraged by their losses and misfortunes, refused to lend him further
assistance. The remainder of his life was passed in naval warfare
and adventure, which perpetuate his name as a bold leader and skil-
ful navigator. 'He died in 1694, of a wound which he received in
an expedition to the French coast.
26 AMEBICA ILLUSTRATED.
u JUt .n, A i jci ii JtJtx.
ENGLISH ENTERPRISE. DRAKE. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT
HIS FIRST ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE AMERICA. SIR WAL-
TER RALEIGH. SIR HUMPHREY SAILS FOR AMERICA
SHIPWRECKS AND MISFORTUNES. THE RETURN VOYAGE.
TEVPESTS. LOSS OF SIR HUMPHREY AND HIS CREW.
ENGLAND, in the midst of continued loss and misfortune by her
attempts at discovery, at mining, and at colonization in the New
World, was now fairly embarked in her grand career of naval enter-
prise the wealth and renown acquired by her daring mariners in
their half-chivalrous, half-piratical expeditions against the Spaniards
of America serving to keep alive the national interest in that region,
and a knowledge of the Western Continent being incidentally but
materially promoted by their cruises. At the same time that Fro-
bisher was making his unsuccessful voyages in search of gold and
of the North-west Passage, Francis Drake, a mariner of similar and
yet greater renown, after his memorable passage of the straits of
Magellan, was engaged in a survey of the western coast of North
America, in the course of which he touched on the shores of Oregon,
which he named New Albion.
The example of enterpise, stimulated by motives purer and more
honourable than those of either, was not long in presenting itsel
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man of high character and amiable temper,-
both a soldier and a civilian, had interested himself much in the daring
but futile voyages of his countrymen in search of a North-west Pass-
age. He had even written a treatise, founded on the testimony and
opinion of "many learned men and painfull travellers," "to proove
by experience of sundrie men's travels the opening of some part of
this North-west Passage; whereby good hope remaineth of the rest."
No words could have phrased more effectually that expectant longing,
which now for three centuries has beset men of courage, of enter-
prise and inquiry, to solve the grand problem "the one thing yet
left undone upon the earth whereby a notable mind might be made
famous and fortunate" of a communication between the two oceans.
That terrible problem, whose final solution we have just witnessed,
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 27
will ever remain burdened with the saddest associations, both ancient
and modern, of heroic courage and indefatigable perseverance doomed
to repeated suffering, disappointment, and destruction.
In the year 1578 he obtained from Elizabeth a patent, conferring
sole jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over a very extensive
territory in America, not precisely located, on condition that he
should plant a colony there within six years. His half-brother, the
famous Sir Walter Raleigh, then twenty-six years of age, his imagin-
ation fired by the narratives of Columbus, of Cortes, and of other
famous pioneers of the New World, also engaged in the enterprise.
This expedition, delayed and weakened by various misfortunes,
finally sailed with only two vessels, one of which was captured by
the Spaniards; the crew of the other returned without effecting any
thing in the way of settlement.
An interval of several years elapsed, during which Ealeigh rose
high in the royal favour; and in 1583, the brothers renewed their
enterprise, Sir Humphrey, in person, commanding the expedition.
The queen, to express her favour, at his departure bestowed on him
an anchor of gold, with a great pearl set in it, which, during the
remainder of his life, he wore, with allowable complacency, on his
breast. The fleet consisted of five sail, the largest of which, the Ealeigh,
was furnished by the famous man after whom it was named. There
Arere two hundred and sixty men on board, including mechanics and
mineralogists; and a learned Hungarian, named Parmenius, was taken
as the chronologer of the expedition. There was also provided, says
one of the commanders, "Musike in great variety; not omitting the
least toyes, as Morris-dancers, hobby-horse, and the like conceits, to
delight the savage people, whom we intended to win by all faire
meanes possible."
Soon after their departure, the Kaleigh, on account of an infectious
disease, put back; and Sir Humphrey, with the remainder of the
fleet, kept on to Newfoundland. At St. John's Harbour, at that
island, he summoned the Spanish and Portuguese fishermen to wit-
ness the ceremony of taking possession in the name of the English
sovereign an operation which he performed by digging a turf, and
setting up a pillar, to which the arms of England were affixed.
Silver ore, as it was supposed, was discovered, and was taken aboard
the vessels, one of which was abandoned, while with the remainder
Sir Humphrey pursued his voyage along the coast towards the south.
On his way, the largest ship remaining, with the ore, was wrecked,
28
AMEBICA ILLUSTRATED.
and a hundred souls perished, including the Hungarian. Return
was now considered necessary, and in the midst of terrible storms
and tempests, the prows were turned homeward. "Sir Humphrey
had chosen to sail in a little tender, called the Squirrel, a mere cockle-
shell in size ' too small to pass through the ocean sea at that season
of the year.' In vain did the officers of the Hinde, the larger vessel,
entreat him, in this dangerous weather, to shift his flag aboard their
ship. He came on board, for a convivial meeting, but returned to
his slender craft, saying, ' I will not desert my little company, with
whom I have passed so many storms and perils.'
"The weather grew heavier and heavier; the oldest sailors de-
claring that they had never seen such seas ' breaking very high, 1
says a spectator, 'and pyramid-wise' the very worst sea that is
known. Lights were burned at night, and the little Squirrel, for a
long time, was seen gallantly contending with the waves, which
almost ingulphed her. Once she came so near that they of the Hinde
could see Sir Humphrey sitting by the mainmast, with a book in his
hand, reading. He looked up, and cried cheerily, 'We are as necre
to Heaven by sea as by land.' But the seas broke over her more
heavily; about midnight, all at once, the lights were extinguished;
and in the morning nothing was seen of the good Sir Humphrey or
his little ship. She had doubtless been whelmed by the toppling
down of some huge pyramid of water. Such was the melancholy
but honourable end of one ef the worthiest and most persevering
patrons of English enterprise. He perished in the pursuance of his
own exalted maxim : ' That he is not worthy to live at all, who, for
fear or danger of death, shunneth his country's service or his own
honor; for death is inevitable and fame immortal.'"*
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
THE ENGLISH INAMERICA. 29
C H A P I ,& H Iv.
THB PATENT OP RALEIGH. HE DISPATCHES AMIDA8 AUO
BARLOW TO CAROLINA: THEIR REPORT. THE COUNTRY
NAMED VIRGINIA. VOYAGES OF DAVIS, ETC. SECOND EX-
PEDITION OF RALEIGH, UNDER LANE. SETTLEMENT AT
ROANOKB. FOLLY AND CRUELTY OF THE ENGLISH.
THE INDIANS. MASSACRE BY THE ENGLISH.
FAILURE AND RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION.
RALEIGH, whose enterprising spirit was dismayed neither by the
loss of his brother, nor the wreck and failure of the late expedition,
immediately resolved to renew the attempt, and secure to himself
the glory of the first founder of an English settlement in America.
To one so high in the queen's favour, letters patent, of the most liberal
nature, were readily issued, granting him power to colonize, with
almost unlimited personal jurisdiction, "such remote, heathen, and
barbarous lands as are not actually possessed by any Christians, or
inhabited by any Christian people." No particular region was spe-
cified as the subject of this indefinite grant; but, warned by the fate
of former enterprises, he had resolved to plant his settlement in the
milder regions of the south. The very year after the loss of Sir
Humphrey, on the 27th of April, 1584, he dispatched two vessels,
well provided with men and supplies, under two experienced cap-
tains, Amidas and Barlow, to the American coast.
Taking the circuitous route of the Canaries and the West Indies,
(which, strange to say, for many years was considered the only prac-
ticable track,) after a voyage of two months, they arrived off the
shores of Carolina. For more than a hundred miles they sailed
along the coast, seeking a harbour, and on the 13th of July, entered
Ocracoke Inlet. Here they landed on an island, delighted with the
softness of the climate and the beauty of the vegetation, and took
formal possession of the country in the name of Elizabeth. The
natives, at first shy and timid, proved gentle and friendly, and on
the island of Roanoke the voyagers were entertained with much
hospitality at the residence of the chief. After making some brief
survey of the coast, they returned to England, where the glowing
description which they gave of the beauties of the region, encouraged
30 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
the projector, and revived fresh enterprise in the nation. In honour
of his patroness, Raleigh bestowed on the newly discovered region,
the name of Virginia a name, like that of Florida and of Louis-
iana, originally applied to a tract far more extensive than even the
broad and beautiful state by which it is now borne.
A fresh stimulus, at this time, was given to the North-Western enter-
prise, and the voyages of Davis, in 1585, 6, 7, though unsuccessful in
accomplishing their design, added greatly to the geographical knowl-
edge of the dreary seas and coasts in that direction. The voyages and
discoveries of the famous Henry Hudson, resulting in his own de-
struction, but in the eternal commemoration of his name, occurred
a few years later. (See "The Dutch in America.")
The year after the return of his pioneer-vessels, (1585,) Raleigh,
then in the full tide of court favour and increasing wealth, fitted out
a fresh expedition, of seven vessels, with an hundred and eight col-
onists, under command of Ralph (afterwards Sir Ralph) Lane, des-
tined for the shores of Carolina. His friend, Sir Richard Grenville,
one of the bravest and choicest spirits of the age, commanded the
fleet, which, on the 9th of April, set sail from Plymouth. Taking
the usual circuitous route, it passed through Ocracoke Inlet to the
island of Roanoke; and Grenville, with Lane and others, made a
tour of exploration. They were well entertained by the natives
whom they encountered in return for which, as usual with the
European adventurers, provoked by slight injury, they took cruel
and indiscriminate revenge. "At Aquascogoe," says Sir Ralph,
"the Indians stole a Silver Cup, wherefore we burnt the towne, and
spoyled their corne," &c., &c. What an exceedingly low standard
of morality, of policy, of common decency even, do acts like these,
recorded a hundred times by their authors with the most naive un-
consciousness, exhibit !
The settlers, under Lane, left on the island of Roanoke, at first
were all enjoyment at the serenity of the climate and beauty of the
country. "It is the goodliest soil," says their governor, "under the
cope of heaven ; the most pleasing territory of the world ; the con-
tinent is of a huge and unknown greatness, and well peopled and
towned, though savagely." The native culture of tobacco, of maize,
and the potato, was observed with much interest; an interest which
would have been redoubled, could the visitors have foreseen the vast
magnitude and importance which the production of these articles
was destined one day to assume.
THE ENGLISH 1 >i AMERICA. 31
A more particular observation of the Indians than had hitherto
been made, was taken by the colonists, \vh<> describe them as gener-
ally a feeble, inoffensive race, dwelling in small villages, and forming
tribes of no great separate importance. Master lleriot, who espe-
cially devoted himself to the subject, travelled among them, and
endeavoured to indoctrinate them with some idea of Christianity.
They manifested much reverence for the Bible which he displayed to
them, kissing it and hugging it to their breasts, and doubtless con-
sidering it "a great medicine." They had a species of belief in the
Divine Existence and the immortality of the soul; and the travellei
tells a pleasant story of one of them who had been buried for dead,
but was afterwards exhumed and revived. According to the Indians,
the recovered patient "showed that although his body had laine dead
in the grave, yet his soule lived, and had travailed far in a long
broad way, on both sides whereof grewe more sweete, fayre, and
delicate trees and fruits than ever he had scene before; at length he
came to the most brave and fayre houses, neere which he met his
Father, that was dead long agoe, who gave him charge to goe b^cke
to shew his friends what good there was to doe, to injoy the pleasures
of that place ; which when hee had done, hee should come again."
Allured by fanciful and perhaps misunderstood tales concerning
great treasures at the source of the Eoanoke, Lane, with a number
of his people, ascended its rapid stream. Their provisions were
soon exhausted, yet they pressed on, "seeing they had yet a dog,
that, being boyled with saxafras leaves, would richly feede them in
their return," but accomplished nothing of their object, and returned
disappointed. A most outrageous deed was presently perpetrated.
The neighboring Indians, it is said, jealous of the intrusion of the
strangers, had conspired against them, and Lane, with others, desir-
ing an interview with King Wingina, the principal chief of that
region, treacherously attacked and massacred him and his attendants
In June, 1586, the famous Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet of twenty-
three ships, came to anchor off the island ; and, though that ener-
getic commander did every thing in his power to encourage the
colonists, and to furnish them with all necessary supplies, yet,
desponding of success, they desired to return to their homes. Ao
cordingly, he took them aboard his fleet, and carried them to Eng-
land the principal result of their American sojourn being the
introduction to that country of the custom of smoking tobacco,
which they had learned of the Indians.
VOL IV. 31
32 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
CHAPTER 7.
8MALL SETTLEMENT PLANTED BY GRENYILLE AT ROANOKE DB-
STROYED BY THE INDIANS. THIRD EXPEDITION OF RALEIGH.
FIRST ENGLISH CHILD IN AMERICA. LOSS AND SUP
POSED DESTRUCTION OF THE ROANOKE COLONY.
MISFORTUNES OF RALEIGH. TARDINESS AND ILL-
FORTUNE OF ENGLISH ENTERPRISE. REFLECTIONS.
ONLY a few days after the hasty and ill-advised departure of Lane
and his people, a vessel, dispatched by Raleigh, with abundant sup-
plies, arrived at the deserted settlement; and soon afterwards, Gren-
ville, with three more ships, also well supplied, came to the same
place. He left fifteen men on the island; but the next comers found
there only the ruins of their fort and dwellings, amid which human
bones, the evidence of Indian hostility, lay bleaching.
Raleigh, on learning of the desertion of his settlement, with inde-
fatigable industry, set to work afresh; and in April, 1587, dispatched
another expedition, with especial provision for the cultivation of the
land, and with a number of women, that the comforts of a home might
be early established. In July, the fleet arrived at Roanoke, where
the sad evidences of the destruction of Grenville's men were ob-
served; and, though the projector had ordered that the new settle-
ment should be founded on Chesapeake Bay, yet, on account of the
impatience of the naval commander, the governor, White, and his
people disembarked on the island. Indian hostilities were soon
renewed in the murder of one of the settlers and the latter, attack-
ing a party of the natives by night, found too late that they belonged
to a friendly tribe. On the 18th of August, 1587, Virginia Dare,
the first child born of English parents in the United States, was
ushered into a brief and ill-fated being.
White, by the urgent request of the colonists, consisting, at his
departure, of an hundred and eighteen persons, of whom seventeen
were women, and two children, returned to England in one of the
vessels, to provide further supplies. But the momentous events just
then occurring in the equipment and defeat of the Spanish Armada (
retarded the desired assistance; and Raleigh, who had expended
THE ENGLSH IN AMERICA. JJ3
forty thousand pounds of bis estate in the vain attempt to colonise
"Virginia, was compelled to relinquish the enterprise to others as-
signing certain of his rights to a company of London merchants.
Such delay, however, occurred, -in fitting out a fresh expedition,
that it was not until 1590 that White returned to Eoanoke; but the
settlers had disappeared; and though Kaleigh, it is said, sent to
search for them on five several occasions, no trace of the fate of this
lost colony has ever been found. Probably, like the former, it
perished. from Indian hostility.
Strangely enough, all the efforts of one of the most intelligent,
weal thy, .and persevering men of England to effect a settlement in
America proved ineffectual. Sir Walter Raleigh, besides his re-
peated efforts in behalf of Virginian colonization, had aided the north-
west voyages, destined to end in results alike futile, and, in his old
age, broken down by imprisonment and suffering, headed an equally
fruitless expedition to the Orinoco and the tropical coasts of Gui-
ana. Whatever his errors as a courtier and a favourite, history
will do him justice as a statesman, a soldier, a mariner, a discoverer,
and a founder of colonization the most brilliant character of a
remarkable age; and America, in especial, will always look back
with reverence and affection on the earliest and most persevering
promoter of her welfare a man whose faults were those of the time,
whose virtues were his own; and who, in addition to the shining
attributes of a head to plan and a hand to execute, possessed the
more endearing quality of a heart to feel and to commiserate.
Such repeated loss and mortality had now made men wary ot
undertaking American colonization. "All hopes of Virginia thus
abandoned," says a later adventurer, "it lay dead and obscured from
1590 to this year 1602." In March of that year Bartholomew Gosnold,
under the advice of Kaleigh, tried the experiment of sailing directly
to America, instead of taking the circuitous route of the Canaries and
West Indies. Singular to relate, the experiment succeeded; and
after a voyage of seven weeks, in a small vessel, the navigator came
to Massachusetts. He landed on Cape Cod, nd on the Vineyard
islands, and having freighted his little bark with sassafras obtained
by traffic from the Indians, returned in June to England. Enterprise,
stimulated by his success, was renewed, in the diminutive vessels
of the day, and much of the eastern sea-board was surveyed. Such
voyages, familiarizing navigators with the coast and the most desira-
ble localities, prepared the vvuy for fresh attempts at settlement
34: AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
While her rivals, long ere this time, had succeeded in gaining a
permanent footing on the shores of the New World, and had con-
quered or founded wealthy empires in the south, England, her claims
and her endeavours chiefly confined to the more barren and incle-
ment regions of* the north, had as yet reaped nothing but loss and
misfortune from her enterprise in the New World. Not a single
spot on that vast continent now mostly peopled by her children, was
the settled habitation of an Englishman. " In reviewing the history
of American colonization, the mind is at first struck with the won-
derful brilliancy and rapidity of Spanish discovery and conquest
during the first century of their career ; an impression naturally fol-
lowed by the reflection that in the end no substantial advantage has
accrued to the nation whose enterprise laid open the pathway to the
New World, and whose valour and genius were the first to avail
themselves of its tempting opportunities. Extermination of the
native inhabitants, bigoted exclusion of foreigners, and, in the end,
outrageous oppression of her own dependencies, have marked, almost
without exception, the colonial administration of Spain, and have
finally resulted in its nearly complete annihilation. Her once numer-
ous provinces, alienated by mismanagement and tyranny, have
found, in republican anarchy, a questionable relief from parental
misrule; while that beautiful island, almost the solitary jewel in her
crown, and only proving, by its exception, the general rule of her
losses, is held by a tenure so insecure as hardly to deserve the name
of possession.
"For an hundred and ten years, the rival nations of France and
England hardly took a step in the same direction, or, if they did,
under circumstances of such gross ignorance and infatuation, as were
almost certain to preclude the possibility of success. The various
and widely-severed colonies of France, founded, through a century
of misfortunes and discouragements, by ardent and indefatigable
servants of the crown, have, with one or two insignificant exceptions,
slipped from her hands not from any want of loyalty or national
affection in the provincial inhabitants, but from the feebleness of
the French marine, ever unable to compete with that of her haughty
rival, and quite inefficient for the protection and retention of dis-
tant colonies.
"England, the last to enter on the noble enterprise of peopling
the New Hemisphere, but finally bringing to the task a spirit of
progress, a love of freedom, and a strength of principle, unknown to
THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. 35
her predecessors, I/as founded, amid disastrous and unpromising
beginnings, an empire mightier and more enduring than all or any
of its compeers; lost, indeed, for the most part, to her private aggrand-
izement, but not to the honour of her name or the best interests of
mankind; an empire already prosperous beyond all-example in his-
tory, and destined, it is probable, at no distant day, to unite under
its genial protection every league of that vast continent stretching
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the tropical forests of Darien
to the eternal snows of the Arctic Circle."*
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA.
u i A ir i Ju xi x.
MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. HIS YOUTHFUL ADVEN-
TURES AND SERVICES. HE TURNS HERMIT. HIS ADVEN-
TURES IN FRANCE. HE IS FLUNG OVERBOARD. SEA-
FIGHT. TRAVELS IN ITALY. HIS CAMPAIGN AGAINST
THE TURKS. SIEGE OF REtiALL. THE THREE
TURKS' HEADS. SMITH SENT A SLAVE TO TAR-
TARY: HIS WONDERFUL ESCAPE. SUBSEQUENT
ADVENTURES. RETURNS TO ENGLAND.
No account of American, and still less of Virginian colonization,
would be complete without some memoir of that remarkable man to
whoso unwearied personal exertions the foundation of an English
commonwealth in this country is almost entirely due. Romance
would hardly venture to imagine adventures more marvellous, or
courage more chivalrous than his ; and when to a temper the most
sprightly, adventurous, and enterprising of his day, were added the
unsurpassed qualities of judgment, of perseverance, of fortitude, and
of forbearance, the result could hardly fail to be a character of no
ordinary greatness, and the work of his life a work destined in some
manner to affect the interests of mankind. His extraordinary
career, fortunately detailed, in good part, with modest quaintness,
by his own pen, will ever remain the delight of youth, and the
admiration of the historical reader.
Captain John Smith, incomparably the greatest and most famous
of English adventurers in America, was born of a good family at
Willoughby, Lincolnshire, in 1579. His mind, from childhood, set
on adventure and travel, at the age of thirteen, he secretly sold his
books and satchel, and was about going off to sea, when interrupted
by the death of his father. His guardians apprenticed him to a
merchant of Lynn, whom, in consequence of refusal to gratify his
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 37
taste for the sea, he speedily quitted, and with his young patron, the
son of Lord Willoughby, went into France. Thence he repaired to
the Netherlands, then engaged in their struggle against Spanish
tyranny; and served some three or four years under Captain Dux-
bury an Englishman, commanding, it would seem, in the service
of Prince Maurice. He sailed to Scotland, but was shipwrecked at
Holy Isle, and finding no chance of preferment at the Scottish court,
again betook himself to Willoughby. Here, by one of those freaks
common to ardent and imaginative }'outh, he chose to turn hermit
though rather after the fashion of Friar Tuck than the recluse of
Warkworth. In a great wood, far from the town, he built himself a
shelter of boughs, where, without bedding, or any of the conveni-
ences of civilized life, he made his abode. In the curt language of
his narrative, (which, like Cojsar's, runs in the third person,) "His
studie was Machiavills Art of Warre, and Marcus Aurelius; his exer-
cise a good horse, with his lance and ring; his food was thought to be
more of venison than anything else; * * * Long these pleasures
could not content him, but hee returned again e to the Low Coun-
tries" intending to make his way to the east of Germany, then
distracted with Turkish warfare, and fight on the side of Christen
dom. At this time he was only nineteen.
Taking ship for France, he was despoiled of all his baggage by,
four sharpers, and, selling his cloak to pay for his passage, landing
in Picardy, went in pursuit of them, lleduced to great distress and
poverty, "wandering from port to port to finde some man of warre,
he spent that he had, and in a Forest, neere dead with griefe and
cold, a rich Farmer found him by a faire Fountaine under a tree.
This kinde Pesant releeved him againe, to his content." Not long
after, passing through a forest, he fell in with Cursell, one of hia
despoilers. "His piercing injuries had so small patience, as without
any word they both drew, and in a short time Cursell fell to the
ground, when from an old ruinated Tower the inhabitants seeing
them, were satisfied, when they heard Cursell confesse what had
formerly passed." We next find the youthful adventurer enjoying
the hospitality of a noble earl (who had known him in England) at
his chateau in Brittany; whence, apparently better supplied, he
travelled over much of France, surveying fortresses and other nota-
ble objects of examination.
At Marseilles, by ill-fortune, he embarked on board a vessel
freighted with "a route of pilgrims, of divers nations," going to
38 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Rome, and put to sea. Compelled by tempests, the ship anchored
under the Isle of St. Mary, off Nice, where the "inhumane Provin-
cialls," concluding that Smith, in his double capacity of Englishman
and heretic was their Jonah, set upon him, "hourely cursing him,"
he tells us, "not onely for a Huguenoit but his Nation they swore
were all Pyrats, and so vildly railed on his dread sovereigne Queene
Elizabeth, and that they never should have faire weather as long as
hee was aboard them ; their disputations grew to that passion " (stim-
ulated, perhaps, by the liberal use of a staff, with which the gallant
Captain requited their assaults) "that they threw him overboard, yet
God brought him to that little Isle, where was no inhabitants but a
few kine and goats." With his customary good-luck, however, next
morning he was taken on board of the Britaine, a French ship, and
handsomely entertained by the captain. Sailing to Alexandria, the
ship discharged her freight, and thence passed over to the northern
coasts. Meeting with a large Venetian argosy, the French captain
hailed her, and was answered by a shot which lost him a man. A
naval battle, contested with great fury, and lasting for some hours,
with all the horrors of broadsides, boarding, danger of conflagration,
&c., ensued ; but after the argosy had lost twenty men and was ready
to sink, she yielded. All was now active exertion in stopping her
leaks and transferring her cargo to the victor. "The Silkes, Vel-
vets, Cloth of Gold, and Tissue, Pyasters, Chicqueenes, and Sultanies,
(which is gold and silver,) they unloaded in four and twenty houres,
was wonderfull, whereof having sufficient, and tired with toile, they
cast her off with her company, with as much good merchandize as
would have fraughted another Britaine, that was but two hundred
Tunnes, shee foure or five hundred." As a reward for his valour
in this desperate engagement, Smith received five hundred cbic-
queenes "and a little box God sent him" (he piously adds) "worth
neere as much more."
Landing in Piedmont, he travelled through much of Italy, spent
some time in surveying the rugged and picturesque coast of Albania
and Dalmatia, and, eager for a chance to fight against the Turks,
finally made his way to Gratz, in Syria, where was the court of the
Archduke Ferdinand, of Austria. No time could have been more
propitious to his hopes. The memorable war with the Great Turk,
Mahomet II., was then in full contest, and the young adventurer,
Introduced by some of his countrymen to the high officers of the
.mperial service, soon found an ample field for the display of his
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 39
courage and military genius. At the siege of Olympcha, soon alter
he joined the army, by an ingenious system of telegraphic firea he
concerted a plan with the garrison, by which the Turks, with great
slaughter, were compelled to raise the siege. lie now received the
command of two hundred and fifty men in the regiment of the
famous Earl Meldritch, and executed other ingenious devices against
the enemy, which, in his biography, are quaintly titled "An excel-
lent stratagem by Smith; another not much worse;" "A pretty
stratagem of fire-works by Smith," &c., &c. One of these con-
trivances, at the siege of Stowlle-Wesenburg, (1601,) consisted of a
great number of bombs or grenades, prepared with all manner of
explosive and combustible materials, wHich, by means of great
slings, he flung into the thickest of the besieged. "At midnight,
upon the alarum," ho says, "it was a feareful sight to behold the short
flaming course of their flight in the aire, but presently after their
fall, the lamentable noise of the miserably slaughtered Turkes was
most wonderful to heare." This town, which the latter had held for
nearly sixty years, was finally taken by storm, "with such a mer-
cilesse execution as was most pitifull to behold." Soon after they
were again defeated with the loss of six thousand men, in a battle on
the plains of Girke, and Smith, half of whose regiment was cut to
pieces, as he says, " had his horse slaine under him and himself sore
wounded; but he was not long unmounted, for tfiere was choice
enough of horses that wanted masters"
The Christian army, seventeen thousand strong, under Prince
Moyses and Earl Meldritch, laid siege to Regal 1, a strong and almost
impregnable town in the mountains of Transylvania, garrisoned
by a large force of "Turks, Tartars, Bandittoes, Rennegadoes, and
such like." The work of making trenches and batteries went on
but slowly, and the Turks, jeering at their enemies, would ask if
their artillery was in pawn, and complain that they were growing fat
for want of exercise. A message presently arrived from the fort,
that "to delight the Ladies, who did long to see some court-like
pastime, the Lord Tusbashaw did defie any captain that had the com-
mand of a company that durst combate with him for his Ilead."
So many of the Christian officers were eager to undertake the duel,
that the matter was decided by lot, and the peril and honour of the
adventure fell to our young friend Smith. At a given signal, the
adversaries, in full view of both armies "the Rampiers all beset
with faire Dames" tilted against each other with equal courage
40 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
and fury, but with better advantage to the Christian, who ran his
enemy through helmet and brain, and nimbly alighting, cut off hia
bead, which he presented to the Prince General.
One Grualgro, " the vowed friend " of the fallen chief, resolved to
avenge his fall or share his fate; and a second encounter, the next
day, came off, with equal success to Smith, who unhorsed his enemy
and speedily possessed himself of his head. Unsatisfied with his
unusual good fortune and renown, the young champion, in turn,
sent a .courteous message that the ladies might have the heads of
their two servants, and his own besides, if any Turk of proper
degree would come and take them. This audacious challenge, ac-
cepted by one Bonny Mylgro, had nearly proved the death of our
hero, who, by a blow of his opponent's battle-axe, lost his own and
was nearly unhorsed. The Turks set up a tremendous shout of
applause from the ramparts, yet Smith, to use his own language,
"what by the readinesse of his horse, and his judgment and dexter-
itie in such a businesse, beyond all men's expectation, by God's
assistance, not onely avoided the Turke's violence, but having drawne
his Faulcheon, pierced the Turke so under the Culets, thorow backe
and body, that, although he alighted from his horse, hee stood not
long ere hee lost his head, as the rest had done." Great rejoicing
took place in the Christian army, and Smith was complimented and
exalted to the skies. The town, after a desperate defence, was taken
by storm, and the Turks entrenched themselves in the castle. "The
Earle, remembering his father's death, battered it with all the ord-
nance in the towne, and the next day took it; all he found could
bear Armes he put to the sword, and set their heads upon stakes
round about the walls, as they had used the Christians when they
tooke it." This was certainly rather an indifferent school for the
cultivation of humanity or refinement; yet Smith seems never to
have become infected with the cruelty of the age, or to have en-
gaged in these sanguinary scenes with any motive beyond that of
the renown to be acquired by gallant deeds of arms, and the idea, in
his day not altogether groundless, that a blow struck in behalf of
Christendom against the invading ranks of the infidels, was a
meritorious work.
Sigismund of Transylvania, on repairing to the army, was so
pleased with this last exploit of the young soldier, that "with great
honour he .gave him three Turkes* Heads in a Shield for his Arrnes.
by patent under his hand and scale, with an oathe ever to weare
TI1E SETTLEMENT OF VIEG1NIA. 4.^
them in his Colours, his picture in Gould, and three hundred Ducats
yeerely for a pension." This patent was afterwards admitted and
recorded in the Herald's College of England.
Fortune finally turned against the Christians, whose army r in the
terrible battle of Rotenton, overwhelmed by superior numbers, was
almost entirely cut to pieces. " In this bloudy field," says our author,
"neere 30,000 lay, some headlesse, armelesse, and leglesse, all cut
and mangled ; where breathing their last, they gave this knowledge
to the world, that for the lives of so few, the Crym-Tartar never paid
dearer." Among the victims were a number of adventurous Eng-
lishmen, fighting for renown, who all "did what men could doe,
and when they could do no more, left there -their bodies in testimonie
of their mindes. * B u t Smith" (continues that
gentleman) "among the slaughtered dead bodies and many a gasp-
ing soule, with toile and wounds lay groaning among the rest."
Captured and cured of his wounds, he was sold with many more
as a slave at Axapolis; and his purchaser, a certain Bashaw Bogall,
sent him on to Constantinople as a present to his young mistress,
with the assurance that he was a Bohemian lord, 'the trophy of his
personal prowess. The lady, like most whom the gallant captain
encountered, at once experienced a tender interest for his welfare;
and fearing lest he should be sold out of the family, dispatched him,
with a letter of recommendation, to her brother, the Bashaw of
Nalbritz, in Tartary, near the sea of Azof. This kindly manoeuvre,
however, served him nothing; for the ferocious Turk, apprehending
the true state of the case, took all imaginable pains in persecuting
him. Y\ r ith his head and beard shaved "so bare as his hand," a
great iron ring rivetted about his neck, and a rough garment of hair
and hide, the unfortunate Smith underwent a slavery, "so bad, a
dog could hardly have lived to endure," and was finally made
thresher at a lonely grange of his master, more than a league from
the house. The result, in his own brief language, was, that "the
Bashaw, as he used often to visit his granges, visited him, and took
occasion so to beat, spume, and revile him, that, forgetting all reason,
he beat out the TymouSs braines with his threshing-bat, for they
have no flaites; and seeing his estate could be no worse than it was,
clothed himself in his clothes, hid his body under the straw, filled his
knapsacke with corne, mounted his horse, and ranne into the desart
at all adventure." For some days he wandered in the wilderness,
but finally, lighting upon the high road from Tartary to Russia,
4:2 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
made his way, after a journey of sixteen days, to Ecopolis, a Russian
post on the Don. Here he was kindly received, and on his return
to Transylvania, "glutted with content and neere drowned with joy,"
great rejoicing took place at his escape and the manner of it, both
so characteristic of his temper. At Prague, whither he repaired,
Sigisrnund presented him with fifteen hundred ducats, equipped with
which he travelled through Germany, France, and Spain, viewing
notable places and adding to his extensive information. In a French
ship he sailed to Africa, meaning to take part in the civil wars in
Morocco; "but by reason of the uncertaintie, and the perfidious,
treacherous, bloudy murthers rather than warre, among those per-
fidious, barbarous Moores" changed his purpose. Passing an evening
aboard the ship, a gale of wind compelled her to run to sea, and the
captain's taste for adventure was presently gratified by "a brave sea-
fight," lasting for t\vo days, with a couple of Spanish men-of-war.
They were finally beaten off, with a loss, it was supposed, of a hun-
dred men. In an action so desperate, the services of Smith, it may
well be supposed, were not without an opportunity for their full
appreciation. Not long after (1604) he returned to England.
tj 1 <n> Jt & ju xi Jt i.
VIRGINIAN COLONIZATION REVIVED. PATENT OP JAMES I. ILL-
ASSORTED COMPANY OF SETTLERS. THE EXPEDITION SAILS FOR
AMERICA. ACCIDENTALLY ENTERS JAMES RIVER. ILL
TREATMENT OF SMITH. INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS.
JAMESTOWN FOUNDED. EXCURSION OP SMITH AND
NEWPORT. I'OWHATAN. THE INDIANS OP VIRGINIA.
SOON after the return of Smith, he became acquainted with Captain
Gosnold, whose voyage has already been mentioned; and the scheme
of Virginian colonization was again revived. Sir'Ferdinand Gorges,
Sir John Pophafn, chief justice of England, and other persons of
rank arid influence, were persuaded to take an interest in their plan;
and thus in April, 1606, the king (James I.) was induced to issue
letters patent to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers and others,
granting them all the territory on the eastern sea-"board of North
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 43
America, between thirty-four and forty-five degrees north latitude.
Two companies, one of Londoners and the other of gentlemen,
&c., from the West of England, were formed, the first to colonize
the southern and the latter the northern portion of the grant; but
with a strict proviso, dictated by the foolish jealousy of James, that
a hundred miles of wilderness should intervene between their re-
spective settlements. As the first of these only succeeded in their
design, our account will be restricted chiefly to their operations.
On the 19th of December, 1606, three small vessels, commanded
by Captain Christopher Newport, and carrying an hundred and five
colonists, sailed from Black wall for Virginia. Forty -eight of this
number were enrolled as gentlemen, and twelve as labourers an
ominous proportion for the prosperity of the projected settle-
ment. Gosnold and Smith, Edward Wingfield, a merchant, George
Percy, and the Rev. Robert Hunt, were the principal persons of the
expedition.
Delayed by contrary winds, the little fleet, bearing the germ of the
American commonwealth, was six weeks in sight of England; and
when it finally got to sea, took the old circuitous route of the Cana-
ries and West Indies. By the folly of James, sealed instructions,
in a box not to be opened till their arrival, had been provided, nam-
ing the authorities of the colony. Dissension thus sprung up early
in the voyage, and at the Canaries, Smith, accused, by the absurd
jealousy of some, of conspiring to make himself "king of Virginia,"
was put in confinement. They steered for Roanoke, but by a piece
of excellent disappointment, were carried by a storm past the place
of their destination, and entered Chesapeake Bay. Naming the
headlands Cape Henry and Cape Charles, in honour of the king's sons,
they sailed up the James River about forty miles, and went on shore,
delighted with all they saw. " We passed through excellent ground,"
says one of them, " full of flowers of divers kinds and colours, and
as goodly trees as I have seen, as cedar, cypress, and other kinds;
going a little further we came to a little plat of ground, full of fine
and beautiful strawberries, four times bigger and better than ours
of England." "Heaven and earth," says the enthusiastic Smith,
"seemed never to have agreed better to frame a place for man's
commodious and delightful habitation."
The very day of their arrival, the settlers perceived certain hostile
savages, "creeping on all foures, from the hils like Beares," but
put them to flight by a discharge of muskets. At Point Comfort,
44 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
however, and other places, they were kindly received by the natives,
who gave them corn-bread, pipes and tobacco, and held a dance in
honour of them. The chief of the Eappahannas, who, with a con-
siderable attendance, came to meet them, "entertained us," says the
journal, "in so modest a proud fashion, as though he had been a
prince of civill government, holding his countenance without any
laughter or any such ill behaviour. He caused his mat to be spread
on the ground, where he sat down with great majesty, taking a pipe
of tobacco, the rest of his company standing around him."
Having made considerable survey of the shores of the river, the
little colony of Englishmen chose for the site of their settlement a
peninsula on the northern bank, and called it Jamestown, in honour
of the sovereign. It was now an hundred and nine years since
Cabot, sailing by these shores, had conferred on England the con-
ventional right to so great a part of the North American continent;
yet this was the first successful attempt of that nation to plant a
colony in the "Western Hemisphere. That it did not speedily share
the fate of its predecessors, is almost entirely due to the admirable
courage, sagacity, and patience of a man greatly wronged and abused,
in its very inception.
On opening the sealed box, it was found that a council of seven,
including Wingfield, Gosnold, Newport, and Smith, were appointed
to govern the colony; but the last, the only reliable man of the
whole company, by the paltry jealousy of his associates, was set
aside; "the Councell was sworne, Mr. Wingfield was chosen Presi-
dent, and an Oration made, why Captaine Smith was not admitted
of the Councell as the rest." His zeal for the promotion of the
scheme unquenched by this unworthy treatment, the excluded coun-
cillor set forth with Newport on an expedition of further survey.
In the course of this voyage, much was learned concerning the
Indians of the adjoining regions. Of forty-three native tribes, dwell-
ing between the mountains and the sea, about thirty, numbering, it
is said, eight thousand souls, were under the rale of a powerful chief-
tain, named Wahunsonacock, but whose customary title, derived,
like that of a European grandee, from his principal" residence, was
Powhatan. The names of Tuscaloosa, Quigaltanqui, and those of
many other native American chiefs, identical with their towns or
principalities, indicate the prevalence of the usage. His residence
of Powhatan was at the Falls of James Eiver, at the site of Rich-
mond, and that of Werowocomoco on the north side of York Eiver.
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 45
Ascending the first-named stream, after a voyage of six days, the
explorers came to the falls, where they were courteously received
by the great chief just mentioned "of personage," says Smith, "a
tall, well proportioned man, with a sower looke, his head some what
gray, his beard so thinne it seemeth none at all, his age neere sixtie;
of a very able and hardy body to endure any labor. * * It
is strange," he presently proceeds, "to see with what great feare and
adoration all these people doe obey this Powhatan. For at his feete
the} r present whatsoever he commandeth, and at the least frowne of
his brow, their greatest spirits will tremble with feare ; and no mar-
veil, for he is very tyrannous and terrible in punishing such as
offend him. * * Yet when he listeth, his will is a law and must
be obeyed; not onely as a king, but halfe as a God they esteeme him."
The Indians of Virginia, dwelling in a milder clime, and on a
/nore fertile soil, seem to have possessed more of the comforts of life
than those of New England. They lived by the chase, by fishing,
and, to a considerable extent, by plantation. Their clothing was of
furs, but they were very hardy and able to endure cold. Their
children, from infancy, they used to wash in the rivers, "and by
paintings and ointments so tanne their skinnes, that after a yeare or
two no weather will hurte them." The customary passion of sav-
ages for personal picturing, seems, indeed, to have had full sway,
the favourite colour being red. "Many other formes of painting
they use, but he is the most gallant that is the most monstrous
to behold."
They were a warlike people, and were often engaged in feud with
their neighbours. Smith gives a curious account of a great sham-
fight, which Powhatan's warriors, at Mattapanient, once performed
for his diversion. Two parties, each of a hundred, approached each
other in warlike array, "all duly keeping their orders, yet leaping
and singing after their accustomed tune, which they only vse in
Warres. Vpon the first flight of arrowes, they gave such horrible
should and schreeches, as so many infernall hell-hounds could not
have made them more terrible. When they had spent their arrowes,
they joyned together prettily, charging and retiring, every ranke
seconding the other. As they got advantage, they catched their
enemies by the hay re of the head, and down came he that was taken.
LI is cnerny with his wooden sword seemed to beate out his braiaes,
and still they crept to the rear to maintain the skirmish. * * *
All their actions, voyces, and gestures, both in charging and retiring,
46 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
were so strained to the height of their qualitie and nature, that the
strangeness thereof made it seeme very delightfull."
Little that is definite seems to have been ascertained concerning
their religious belief the uncouth ceremonies of the Powwow, and
the manifestations of a savage taste being directly construed into
an explicit Satanism. "Their chief God they worship," says the
3aptain, "is the Devill. Him they call Okee, and serve him more of
feare than love. They say they have conferrence with him, and
fashion themselves as neare to his shape as they can imagine. In
their Temples they have his image evill-favoredly carved, in such
manner as the deformitie may well suit with such a God. * *
Upon the top of certain red sandy hils in the woodes, there are three
great houses filled with Images of their Kinges and Devills, and
Tornbes of their predecessors. This place they count so holy as
none but the Priests and Kinrs dare come into them." Their reli-
o
gious ceremonies were sufficiently fantastic and barbarous. Their
chief priest, horrid in a head-dress of the skins of snakes and other
reptiles, made invocations before the circle of worshippers "with
broken sentences, by starts and strange passions, and at every pause
the rest give a short groane" probably the Indian "ugh," denoting
assent. "And in this lamentable ignorance," he continues, "doe
these poore Soules sacrifice themselves to the Devill, not knowing
their Creator; and we had not language sufficient, so plainly to ex-
press it as to make them understand it, which God grant they may."
U & *ft * #> JQ 1$ iJti.
TRIAL AND VINDICATION OP SMITH. FAMINE AND TERRIBL
MORTALITY. SMITH, BY HIS EXERTIONS, SUPPORTS THE
COLONY. TREACHERY OF HIS ASSOCIATES. DEALINGS
WITH THE INDIANS. IDLE AND MISERABLE COLONISTS.
WHILE the party of survey was absent, an attack had been made
by the Indians on the colonists, one of whom was killed, and many
others were wounded, and Jamestown was therefore fortified with
palisades and artillery. Captain Smith, on his return, to silence the
slanders of his enemies, demanded a public trial ; in which his inno-
C / P T A I JV J O II j\T SMITH,
r II E FOUND EH OF VIRGINIA.
BORN AT W1LLOUGHBY. LINCOLNSHIRE. 1.V79: LANDED IN VIRGINIA. 1607; DIED 1631
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 4.7
eence and the malice of his detractors was so apparent, that he was
restored to his seat in the Council, and Wingfield was adjudged to
pay him damages in goods to the value, of two hundred pounds,
which, however, Smith put into the store-house, for the public use.
On the 15th of June, Newport, with the vessels, returned to Eng-
land. His departure was the signal for immediate distress and
privation. The company, with wretched improvidence, had neg-
lected to supply sufficient stores for a colony just landed in the
wilderness, and even during the stay of the fleet, many of the unfor-
tunate settlers had been reduced for support to biscuits pilfered by
the sailors from the ship-stores, and sparingly dealt out to the hungry
applicants " for saxefras, furres, or love." A regular famine at once
set in, a daily pint of wheat or barley, all alive with insects, being
the only allowance. "Had we been as free," says one of them,
"from all sinnes as gluttony and drunkenness, we might have been
canonized as saints; but our President would never have been acT-
mitted, for ingrossing to his private, Oatemeale, Sacke, Oyle, Aquavitce,
Beefe, Egges, and what not but the Kettell. * * Our drinke
was water, our lodginges Castles in the Ayre."
During the summer, fifty of the company, of whom Gosnold waa
one, had died from the diseases incident to a change of climate and
aggravated by privation and exposure. Wingfield, with a cowardly
and treacherous policy, attempted to seize the pinnace and desert
the settlement, "which," proceeds the old narrator, "so moved our
dead Spirits as we deposed him." When this famine and distress
was at its height, the neighbouring Indians, who heretofore had
refused to impart their store, suddenly changing their resolution,
brought abundant supplies of fruits and provision a seasonable
relief, ascribed by the colonists to the direct interposition of God.
The council was now reduced to three, consisting of Katcliffe, the
nominal president, Martin, and Smith; but the two first, "or weake
judgment in dangers and lesse industry in peace," shifted the entire
management and care of the colony on the shoulders of their sturdy
associate. Those shoulders were amply strong enough to bear it.
With the greatest diligence, he set to work to supply the wants of
the settlers, and to provide them with shelter against the winter.
"By his owne example, good words, and faire promises, he set some
to mow, others to binde thatch, some to build houses, others to
thatch, alwayes bearing the greatest taske for his owne share, so
that, in short time, he provided most of them lodgings, neglecting any
VOL. IV. 32
48 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
for himselfe" This labour accomplished, and the people beginning
to suffer again from want of food, he set forth in a boat, with five
or six others, to gain supplies by traffic with the more distant In-
dians. The latter, however, with rude inhospitality, "scorned him,"
he says, "as a famished man, and would in derision offer him a
handfull of corne, a peece of bread, for their swords and muskets,
and such like proportions also for their apparell." These uncivil
taunts brought on hostilities, and the captain, in a skirmish, got
possession of their Okee or god, to ransom which, they were fain to
load the English boat with plenty of corn, turkeys, and venison.
Smith, in return, gave them beads, copper, and hatchets, and a
friendship was struck up with that curious suddenness which seems
alike to distinguish savage enmity or amity.
In spite of Smith's unwearied exertions, to supply the settlers
with food, we are told, "yet what he carefully provided, the rest
carelesly spent. The Spaniard never more
greedily desired gold than he victuall, nor his Souldiers more to
abandon the country than he to keepe it." Of the ill-assorted com-
pany, he says, there were "many meerely projecting, verball and
idle contemplators, and those so devoted 'to pure idlenesse, that
though they had lived in Virginia two or three years, lordly, neces-
sitie itselfe could not compell them to passe the Peninsula or the
Palisadoes of lames Towne. * Our ingenious Verbalists
were no lesse plague to us in Virginia than the Locusts to the Egyp-
tians." Because they did not find Taverns and Alehouses at every
turn, he says, nor feather beds and down pillows, they thought of
nothing but present comfort and speedy return. Wingfield and
others seized the pinnace, and would have fled to England, but
Smith by force of arms compelled them to remain, and one of the
malcontents was killed in the attempt.
TUE SETTLEMENT OF \IBGIN1A. 49
CHAPTER IVo
EXPEDITION AND CAPTURE OF SMITH: HIS STRANGE ADVENTURES
AMONG THE INDIANS. CONJURATIONS PERFORMED OVER HIM.
HE IS CARRIED TO POWHATAN. HIS LIFE SAVED BY
POCAIIONTAS STRANGE MASQUERADE OF POWHATAN.
RELEASE AND RETURN OF SMITH.
PROCEEDING up the Chickahominy, Captain Smith at last procured
by traffic such abundant supplies of provision, that the empty stom-
achs of the mutineers no longer cried out for return to England.
In another expedition, in the same direction, he experienced that
memorable adventure, the rival of romance and the brightest orna-
ment of American colonial history.
Having left his canoe, with two companions, on the bank of a
stream, he struck off twenty miles further into the wilderness to
reach its head waters. The crew of his barge, which he had left
further down the river, were attacked by a great body of warriors,
under Opechancanough, king of Pamunkey, the brother of Powhatan.
Only one of them, however, was captured, who, after having been
compelled to inform the savages of the route taken by Captain Smith,
was barbarously put to death. His two companions, sleeping by
their canoe, were the next victims, and finally the whole force, two
hundred strong, came up with Smith himself. Binding his guide
before him, as a shield against their arrows, the captain fought with
equal coolness and desperation. He killed three of the enemy and
wounded many more; but finally, getting fast in a morass, became
so benumbed with cold, that, rather than freeze, he threw away his
deadly weapons, and yielded himself prisoner.
The Indians drew him out, and chafed his benumbed limbs before
a fire. His presence of mind unfailing, he pulled forth a little
compass, set in ivory, which he gave the chief. " At the sight of
this strange little engine, with its trembling vibrations, apparently
instinct with life, the wonder of his captors knew no bounds; and
Smith, taking advantage of their interest, began forthwith to enchain
with philosophy the attention of his savage auditors." To use his
own words, " when he demonstrated by that Globe-like lewell, the
rounduesse of the earth and skies, the spheare of the Sunne,
50 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Moone, and Starres, and how the Sunne did chase the night round
about the world continually; the greatnesse of the Sea and Land,
the diversitie of Nations, varietie of complexions, and how. we were
to them Antipodes, and many such-like matters, they stood as all
amazed with admiration."
Having tried his nerve by tying him to a tree, and all making
ready to shoot at him, they led him in triumph to Orapaks, a town
a few miles from Powhatan, where a hideous war-dance was per-
formed about him, and where, from the overweening hospitality of
his hosts, he began to fear that he was to be fattened for sacrifice.
Fully appreciating his valour, they made him great offers if he would
assist them in an intended attack on Jamestown ; but Smith, having
written a note to his friends, warning them of the danger, and de-
siring certain articles, persuaded the Indians to take it thither, and
leave it in sight of the colonists. To their utter amazement, they
found in the same spot, on the following day, the very articles that
Smith had promised them, and all, in wonder, concluded, "that
either he coulde divine or the paper could speake."
He was next taken to Pamunkey, where such strange and fantas-
tical conjurations were enacted over him, that he felt, he says, as if
translated to the infernal regions. This mystical ceremony lasted
for three days; after which, the tribe entertained him with much
kindness. They had procured a bag of gunpowder, which they
were carefully keeping to plant the next spring, supposing it to be
a species of seed. At last he was taken to Werowocomoco, where
Powhatan, "with more than two hundred of his grim courtiers,
dressed in their greatest braveries," was awaiting him. As he
entered, the whole court rose, in respect for their valiant captive,
and gave a great shout. He was served in the most honourable man-
ner, the Indian queen of Appamatuck waiting on nim in person.
What followed cannot be better given than in his own language or
that of some one who heard it from his own lips. "Having feasted
him in the best barbarous manner they could, a long consultation
was held; but the conclusion was, two great stones were brought
before Powhatan; then as many as could layd hands on him, dragged
him to them, and thereon layd his head, and being ready with their
clubs to beate out hisbraines, Pocahontas, the King's dearest daughter,
when no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her arms, and layd
her owne upon his to save him from death; whereat the Emperour
was contented he should live."
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 5^
"In all history there is no incident more dramatic and touching.
After the lapse of more than two centuries, familiarized, but unhack-
neyed by repetition, it still remains the most charming and pic-
turesque scene in the, whole range of American annals. Its heroine,
'the darling of history' (then only a child of ten) still warmly
lives in the love and remembrance of a whole people, and stands,
the redeeming spirit of her race to hallow it with a kinder memory
than that of warfare and revenge." This memorable transaction,
moreover, is of great interest as one of those comparatively rare
incidents where the feelings and passions bring about an event of high
historical importance. Certainly this was such, for the entire weight
of the colony, for a long time afterwards, rested on the brave heart,
the sagacious head, and the manly arm of Smith. Had he been
removed, especially in this critical juncture, the settlers, without
doubt, would immediately have abandoned the idea of preserving the
colony, and have made their way homeward with all practicable speed.
The generosity of the chief did not stop half way. The release
of his captive was resolved on, and was communicated in a fashion
characteristic enough. "Two dayes after," the captain tells us,
"Powhatan having disguised himself in the most fearefullest manner
he could, caused Capt. Smith to be brought forth to a great house in
the woodes, and there upon a mat by the fire to be left alone"
(another experiment on his nerves). "Not long after from behinde
a mat that divided the house, was made the most dolefullest noyse
he ever heard; then Powhatan, more like a devill than a man, with
some two hundred more as blacke as himself, came unto him and
told him now they were friends, and presently he should goe to
lames Towne, to send him two great gunnes and a gryndstone, for
which he would give him the country of Capahowosick, and for ever
esteeme him as his son Nantaquoud" In a memorial, many years
afterwards addressed to the queen in behalf of Pocahontas, Smith,
recapitulating the kindnesses which he had received from the House
of Powhatan, especially commemorates that of this son, whom he
describes as "the most manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit I ever saw
in a Salvage." Accordingly he was dispatched to the settlement with
an escort of twelve guides, and was received with great rejoicing;
but the messengers, finding two cannons and a millstone "somewhat
too heavy," were fain to return with presents better fitted for their
transportation.
52 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
CHAPTER ?.
PRIVATIONS OF THE COLONISTS. RELIEVED BY POCAHOK-
TAS. ARRIVAL OP NEWPORT FROM ENGLAND. INTER-
COURSE AND TRAFFIC WITH POWHATAN. BLUE BEADS
FOR CROWN JEWELS. IMAGINARY GOLD-MINE.
SMITH'S VOYAGE IN THE CHESAPEAKE. INTER-
VIEWS WITH NUMEROUS NATIVE TRIBES. STING-
RAY POINT. HIS RETURN.
DURING the six weeks' captivity of Smith, the miserable little rem-
nant of the colony, by quarrels and improvidence, was all in confu-
sion, and he was again compelled to use force to keep a number
from deserting in the pinnace. The malcontents next hatched up a
ridiculous scheme for his execution on account of the loss of his
companions, saying that, by the Levitical law, he was responsible for
their lives: "but he quickly tooke such order with such Lawyers
that he layd them by the heels," (i. e. in prison) "till he sent some
of them prisoners for England." The colony, indeed, would have
perished of hunger, but for the generosity of Pocahontas, (and per-
haps Powhatan,) who with her attendants carried food to Jamestown
every four or five days. Through her influence many other Indians
brought provision as presents, or, if they sold it, made the captain fix
his own price, "so had he inchanted these poore soules, being their
prisoner."
Of two ships, dispatched by th'e company, with a reinforcement of
a hundred men, to Virginia, one only under Newport reached her
destination, in the latter part of the year 1607. A brisk traffic was
now carried on with the Indians; and at the request of Powhatan,
Smith and Newport made him a visit. "With many pretty dis-
courses to renew their old acquaintance," says the original narrative,
"this great King and our Captaine passed their time.
Three or foure days more we spent in feasting, dauncing, and trading,
wherein Powliatan carried himself so proudly, yet discreetly, (in his
salvage manner) as made us all admire his naturall gifts." Newport,
however, proved no match for him at a bargain, and the colonists
would have received but a pitiful supply of provision for their goods,
but for the astuteness of Smith, who contrived, as if by accident, to
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 53
display before the chief several flashy ornaments. The fancy of his
majesty was wonderfully struck with certain blue beads. "A long
time he importunately desired them, but Smith seemed so much the
more to affect them, as being composed of a most rare substance of
the colour of the skyes, and not to be worne but by the greatest
kings in the world. This made him halfe madde to be the owner of
sucn strange le wells; so that ere we departed," says the narrator,
"for a pound or two of blew beades, he brought over my king for
2 or 300 Bushells-of corne; yet parted good friends." Other royal
families were supplied with crown jewels at similar rates, and the
blue beads were held in such veneration that none, except of the
blood-royal, were permitted to wear them.
After their return, a fresh misfortune befell the colony in the sup-
posed discovery of a bed of gold which probably was yellow mica
or iron pyrites and to the gathering of which the foolish colonists,
with great eagerness, betook themselves, despite the passionate re-
monstrances of Smith. "Never," he says, "anything did more tor-
ment him than to see all necessary business neglected to fraught such
a drunken ship" (Newport's) "with so much gilded durt." In the
spring of 1608, the other vessel, the Phoenix, which had been blown
by a tempest to the West Indies, arrived with abundant supplies of
provisions. She was dispatched home with a load of cedar, the first
fruit reaped by England from the natural wealth of the vast region
she was attempting to occupy.
Under the active management of Smith, the colonists now set
themselves busily to work at building and planting, and the colony,
though somewhat menaced by the dubious conduct of the Indians,
kept in check only by the resolute conduct of the same energetic
leader, began to stand on a basis of rational prosperity. On the 2d
of June, the indefatigable captain, with fourteen companions, set forth
in a barge on a voyage of discovery, and especially for the purpose
of exploring Chesapeake Bay. "Some visions of a South Sea to be
attained and a new channel opened to the wealthy regions of India
nwy have mingled, it is probable, with the more practical intention
of reducing these great waters and their shores within the limits of
geography." In the course of this survey along the eastern shore,
many Indians were encountered, at first timid or hostile, and finally
friendly and confiding. After a fortnight of incessant labour and
exposure, at the mouth of the Patapsco, his crew strongly petitioned
for return. The weather had been stormy and disastrous, their
54 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
shirts had been taken to make sails, and several of them were sick.
With much regret, their leader consented, and on the 16th of June
discovered the river Potomac, which he ascended for thirty miles.
Here, we are told, probably with extraordinary exaggeration, the
voyagers found "all the woods layd with ambuscadoes to the number
of three or foure thousand Salvages,(!) so strangely paynted, grimed,
and disguised, shouting, yelling, and crying, as so many spirits from
hell could not have showed more terrible." In spite of this vehe-
ment demonstration, they presently entered into friendly intercourse
with the English.
On their return the latter were liberally supplied with game by
the Indians whom they encountered, and found fish so plenty that
they attempted to catch them with a frying-pan; but found that
instrument better suited for their disposal out of the water than in
it. At the mouth of the Rappahanock, at Sting-Ray Point, (the
name of which still commemorates the incident,) the gallant captain,
having speared a fish with his sword, and taking it off "(not knowing
her condition) " was grievously stung; and such alarming symptoms
ensued that, concluding his end was at hand, he gave directions for
his funeral, and had his grave prepared in an island hard by; yet by
means of "a precious oyle" applied by Russell the surgeon, recov-
ered so far that he had his revenge of the fish by eating a piece of
it for his supper. On the 21st of July the expedition returned tc
Jamestown, having made extensive surveys, and acquired much
knowledge of the tribes inhabiting the shores of the Chesapeake.
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIKGINIA. 55
CHAPTER VI.
SMITH MADE PRESIDENT. HE RESUMES THE SU1VEY. THE
SUSQDEHANNAS. ADVENTURES WITH THE INDIANS
REMARKABLE FEAT OP SURVEY. RETURN TO JAMES-
TOWN. ARRIVAL OF NEWPORT. ABSURD INSTRUC-
TIONS OF THE ENGLISH COMPANY. THE CORONATION
OF POWHATAN. UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT OP
NEWPORT TO FIND THE SOUTH SEA.
WHILE Smith was absent, the colony, as a matter of course, had
fallen into miserable disorder and anarchy. "The silly President,"
Ratcliffe, had so ill-treated the colonists, especially those last arrived,
that, in the words of the old chronicler, "had we not arrived, they
had strangely tormented him with revenge : but the good Newes of
our Discovery, and the good hope we had, by the Salvages' relation,
that our Bay stretched into the South Sea (!) or somewhat neare it,
appeased their fury." Katcliffe was forthwith deposed from office,
and Smith elected in his place "the place which, from the first,
had been due to his superior judgment and experience, and which
had been amply earned by his untiring devotion to the service of
the colony."
Fonder of enterprise than of ease or official dignity, at the end of
three days, having appointed a discreet deputy to fill his place, the
new president, with twelve companions, resumed his expedition of
survey. He first cruised to the Patapsco, having a friendly inter-
view on the way with a party of the powerful tribe of Massawomecs,
from the north; and on the river Tockwogh, hearing of another
tribe, called the Susquehannas, of giant-like stature, sent an invita-
tion to them to come and meet him. Accordingly, sixty warriors,
of herculean frame, soon presented themselves before him. "Such
great and well proportioned men," he says, "are seldome scene, for
they seemed like Giants to the English, yet seemed of a honest and
simple disposition, with much adoe restrained from adoring us as
gods. For their language, it may well beseeme their pro-
portions, sounding from them as a voyce in a vault. * The picture
of the greatest of them is signified in the Mappe, the calfe of whose
leg was three-quarters of a yard about, and all the rest of his limbs
56 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
so answerable to that proportion, that he seemed the goodliest man
we ever beheld." These splendid savages were fittingly dressed in
the skins of wolves and bears, so worn as much to resemble the
natural ferocious appearance of the animals.
Their veneration for Smith, whose reputation had doubtless pre-
ceded him, was almost unbounded. "There seems to have been a
natural dignity, kindness, and manhood in his demeanor, which
invariably was sufficient to overawe or conciliate the rudest tribes
which he encountered." "Our order," says the journal of the voy-
age, "was daily to have prayer, with a Psalme, at which solemnitie
the poor Salvages much wondred; our Prayers being done, a while
they were busied with a consultation till they had contrived their
businesse. Then they began in a most passionate manner to hold
vp their handes to the Sunne, with a most fearefull Song, then
embracing our Captaine, they began to adore him in like manner;
though he rebuked them, yet they proceeded till their Song was
finished; which done, with a most strange furious action and a hell-
ish voyce, began an Oration of their loves; that ended, with a great
painted Beares skin they covered him; then one ready with a great
chayne of white Beades, weighing at least six or seaven poundes.
hung it about his necke, the others had 18 mantles, made of divers
kinds of skinnes, sowed together; all these, with many other toyes,
they layed at his feete, stroking their ceremonious hands about his
necke, to be their Governour and Protector."
Passing up the Kappahannock, the voyagers were attacked by
hostile savages, who, "accommodating themselves with branches/'
showered volleys of arrows on their barge. One of these, being
wounded, was taken by the English, and was asked why his people
showed such enmity to peaceful strangers to which, says the nar-
rative, "the poore Salvage mildly answered that they heard we were
a people come from under the world to take their world from them.
* * Then we asked him what was beyond the mountains, he
answered the Sunne ; but of anything els he knew nothing, because
the woodes were not burnt."
In the course of this protracted expedition, Smith completed the
survey of the shores of Chesapeake Bay, of which he made an ac-
curate chart, and acquired much other useful information. A brief
but interesting account of the country and the various tribes encoun-
tered, was also drawn up, and on the 7th of September, after an
absence of three months, (excepting the short visit in July, when he
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIEGINIA. 57
was made president,) and a voyage of some three thousand miles,
he returned to Jamestown with his little craft deeply laden with
provisions. Three days after he was formally invested with hia
office and title. Sickness had prevailed, and many more of the
unfortunate settlers had perished in his absence.
Captain Newport soon arrived again, bringing seventy additional
colonists, some of them persons of consideration. Two English-
women, a Mrs. Forrest and maid, were the first females who came
to the colony, and there were also eight Poles or Germans, sent to
make tar, glass, and potash. The English company, irritated and
disappointed in the failure of their extravagant expectations, had
ordered the unfortunate captain "not to returne without a lumpe of
golde, a certaintie of the. South Sea, or one of the lost companie sent
out by Sir Walter Raleigh." Accordingly, he had brought a great
barge, built in separate pieces, which was to be carried over the
mountains of the West, (the Blue Ridge,) and thence launched into
some river flowing into the Pacific 1 "If he had burnt her to ashes,"
writes Smith, indignantly remonstrating with the company, "one
might have carried her in a bag (but as she is, five hundred cannot)
to a navigable place above the Falls. And for him at that time to
find in the South Sea a Mine of Golde, or any of them sent by Sir
Walter Raleigh! at our Consultation I told them was as likely
as the rest."
To propitiate Powhatan, and thus secure a free passage to the
Pacific and the gold mine, these gentlemen had dispatched to him
certain royalties, consisting of a basin and ewer, a bed and furniture,
a chair of state, a suit of scarlet, a cloak and a crown the latter
purporting to be a present from his fellow-sovereign, the king of
England. Smith, after vainly protesting against these absurdities,
finding the new-comers resolute to prosecute their plan, did his best
to aid them. He posted, with only four attendants, to Werowoco-
moco, where, in the absence of Powhatan, Pocahontas, with thirty
of her maidens, entertained him with a quaint masquerade and a
feast, "of all the Salvage dainties they could devise," and treated
him with the highest honour and affection. The chief, on his arrival,
being invited to proceed to Jamestown and be invested with his
regalia, " was taken with a sudden fit of dignity or suspicion,'' and to
the courteous urgency of Smith, replied, "If your king have sent
me Presents, I also am a King, and this is my land ; eight days I
will stay to receive them. Your Father" (Newport) "is to come to
9
58 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
rne, not I to him, nor yet to your fort, neither will I bite at such a
bait. * * As for any salt water beyond the mountains, the
Relations you have had from my people are false," and sitting down,
he began to draw maps, on the ground, of all the adjacent regions.
Smith and Newport, to humour his obstinacy, accordingly, with
the presents and a guard of fifty men, repaired to Werowocomoco.
The solemn coronation of Powhatan, which took place the day after
their arrival, is described with much dry humour in the old narrative.
His majesty seems to have had some conception of the humbug of
the_thing, or perhaps a strong distrust of the English, or a dread
of necromancy. His furniture having been properly set up, we are
told, "his scarlet Cloke and Apparell were with much adoe put on
him, being perswaded by NamontacJc* they would not hurt him;
but a foule trouble there was to make him kneele to receive his
Crowne, he neither knowing the maiesty nor meaning of a Crowne
nor bending of the knee, endured so many perswasions, examples,
and instructions as tyred them all; at last, by leaning hard on his
shoulders, he a little stooped, and three, having the Crowne in their
hands, put it on his head, when, by the warning of a Pistoll, the
Boats were prepared with such a volley of shot, that the King started
up in a horrible feare, till he saw that all was well."
This august ceremony accomplished, Newport, despite the warn-
ings of the king, with one hundred and twenty men, in "his great
five-peeced barge," set forth to ascend the James River in quest of
his lump of gold and the South Sea. The boat was stopped by the
Falls, and the company, after getting by land about forty miles fur-
ther, and suffering much from toil and exposure, were compelled to
return to Jamestown. On their arrival, Captain Smith set them at
work at various useful occupations, such as cutting down trees and
hewing timber, taking the lead himself, and making labour pleasant
by good-nature and merriment.
* Newport, on his former visit, had presented Powhatan with a boy named Salvage,
and the chief, in return, had given him "Namoritack, his trustie servant, and one of &
snrewd, subtile capacitie."
TUB SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 59
CHAPTER ?IL
PLOT AGAINST SMITH. HIS LETTER TO THE COMPANY. HIS
EFFORTS TO SUPPORT THE COLONY. EXPEDITION TO SUR-
PRISE POWHATAN. ARTFUL SPEECHES, AND MUTUAL
TREACHERY. THE ENGLISH AGAIN SAVED BY POCAHONTAS.
To meet the scarcity of provisions, which again menaced the
colony, Smith again ascended the Chickahominy, and brought back
a great store of corn. Newport and Ratcliffe, in his absence, had
plotted to depose him ; but, we are told, "their homes were so much
too short to effect it, as they themselves more narrowly escaped a
greater mischiefe." He finally dispatched home a ship freighted with
the products of the country, and in a letter to the company, besought
a supply of mechanics and labourers. Complaining of the misrep-
resentations of Newport, he adds, "Now that you should know I
have made you as great a discovery as he, for a lesse charge than
he spendeth you every meale, I have sent you this Mappe of the
Bay and Rivers, with an annexed Relation of the Countries and
Nations that inhabit them, as you may see." They had complained
that they were kept in ignorance of the country, to which he stiffly
replies, "I desire but to know what either you or these here doe
know, but what I have learned to tell you, at the continuall hazard
of my life."
In the ensuing winter, scarcity again prevailed, and the president,
by repeated excursions among* the Indians, sleeping, with his attend-
ants, in the snow, gained a scanty and precarious supply. The
colony at length being in danger of starvation, he came to the rash
and unscrupulous resolution of seizing the stores of Powhatan and
making prisoner of that chief himself. On the 29th of December,
he set forth up the river, with three boats and forty-six volunteers,
and on his way dispatched Mr. Sicklemore, ("a very valiant, honest,
and painefull Souldier,") with two more, on an unsuccessful search
for ihe lost colony of Raleigh. Arriving at "W erowocomoco, he was
well entertained by Powhatan, who, however, was well apprized of
his hostile intention, having been informed of it by the Germans,
who had been sent to build him a house. Much parley ensued, each
professing much friendship, and endeavouring to take the other at a
60 AMEKICA ILLUSTBATED.
disadvantage, and Powhatan made a set speech, " expostulating tlie
difference between Peace and Warre."
"Captaine Smith," he said, "you may understand that, having
scene the death of all my people thrice, and not any one living of
those three generations but myselfe, I know the difference of Peace
and Warre better than any in my country. But now I am old, and
ere long must die. Think you I am so simple
as not to know it is better to eate good meate, lye well, and sleep
quietly with my women and children, laugh and be merry with you,
have copper, hatchets, or what I want, being your friend; than be
forced to flye from all, to lye cold in the woods, feede upon Acornes,
rootes, and such trash, and be so hunted by you that I can neither
rest, eate, nor sleepe; but my tyred men must watch, and if a twig
but breake, every one cryeth, 'there commeth Captaine /Smith? then
must I fly I know not whither, and thus with miserable feare end
my miserable life." He then endeavoured to persuade the English
to lay aside their arms, intending to surprise them ; and on their
refusal, heaving a deep sigh, "breathed his mind once more," in art-
ful persuasions to the same effect, and- reminded Smith how he had
always called him his father. "I call you father, indeed," said his
guest, "and as a father you shall see I will love you; but the small
care you have of such a childe, caused my men to perswade me to
looke to myselfe."
Meanwhile, he privately sent for his soldiers at the boats to land
quickly and surprise the chief; but the latter, forewarned of their
movements, retreated into the woods, and his warriors, in great
number, closed around the house. But Smith, rushing among them
with sword and target, made good his exit, and Powhatan, says the
narrative, "to excuse his flight and the sudden coming of this multi-
tude, sent our Captaine a great bracelet and a chaine of pearl, by an
ancient Oratour," who had charge, with plausible explanations, to
smooth the affair over. The captain had purchased a quantity of corn,
which the Indians carried to his barge, and prepared to pass the
night in the village. Powhatan, "bursting with desire to have his
head," meanwhile, laid a deep plot for the destruction of the intruders.
"Notwithstanding," continues the old narrative, "the eteruall all
seeing God did prevent him, and by a strange meanes. For Poca-
h'ontas, his dearest iewell and daughter, in that darke night came
through the irksome woodes, and told our Captaine great cheare
should be sent us by and by; but Powhatan and all the power he
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIKGINIA. ft
could make would after come kill us all, if they that brought it
could not kill us with our owne weapons when we were at supper.
Therefore, if we would live, shee wished us presently to be gone.
Such things as she delighted in he would have given her; but with
the teares running downe her cheekes, she said she durst not bo
scene to have any, for if Powhatan should know it, she were but
dead ; so shee ramie away by herselfe as she came."
In the evening, according to the plot, a number of savages, bear-
ing great platters of venison and other refreshments, came to the
quarters of the English. With much civility, they requested the
latter to put out the matches of their guns, alleging that the smoke
made them sick; but the intended victims only redoubled their pre-
cautions against surprise, and Powhatan, who sent messenger after
messenger to learn the state of affairs, at length despaired of finding
them off their guard, and relinquished his dusign. The next morn-
ing the uninvited visitors took their departure. " It certainly cannot
be regretted that this attempt of Smith to seize the person and
property of the chief who had formerly spared his life should have
been unsuccessful."
CHAPTER VIII.
THE PLOT AT PAMUNKEY: DEFEATED BIT THE DARING AND
ENERGY OP SMITH. THE COLONY SUPPLIED. SMITH
POISONED. HIS UNSCRUPULOUS POLICY. HIS FIGHT
WITH THE KING OF PASPAHEGH. "PRETTY AC-
CIDENTS" AMONG THE INDIANS.
AT Pamunkey, the seat of Opechancanough, whither they next
repaired, liberal entertainment was provided for the English, and a
plot for their destruction was again concerted. At the house of
that chief, Smith, with only fifteen companions, was finally sur-
rounded by a force of seven hundred armed warriors; his host,
"with a strained cheerfulnesse," holding him engaged in talk the
while. On seeing his situation, the captain, in a stirring little speech,
exhorted his people "to fight like men and not die like sheepe," and
then, telling his treacherous host, "I see your plot to murder me,
82 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
but I feare it not," defied him to single combat. Besides Iris life, he
offered to stake on the issue any amount of copper against the same
value in corn "and our Game," he said, "shall be, the Conquerour
take all." But the chief, declining this handsome proposal, endeav-
oured to induce his guest to venture forth, on pretence of bestowing
on him a rich present, thirty of the savages lying in ambush behind
a great log to shoot him.
Apprized of this design, the incensed captain, "in a rage snatched
the king by his long locke in the middest of his men," clapped a
pistol to his breast, and led him forth before the multitude of his
warriors. The chief then "bestowed his presents in good sadnesse,"
his people, fearing for his life, making no resistance; and Smith
"still holding the King by the hayre," addressed the assembled
savages with stern reproaches. "If you shoote but one Arrow," he
concluded, "to shed one drop of bloud of any of my men, or steale
the leaste of these Beades and Copper which I spurne here before
me with my foote; you shall see I will not cease revenge (if once I
begin) so long as I can heare to find one of your Nation that will
not deny the name of Pamaunk. I am not now at Rassaweak, half
drowned with myre, where you tooke me prisoner. You promised
to fraught my ship ere I departed, and so you shall, or I will loade
her with your dead carcasses." This "angry parle," however, he
ended more mildly, offering the release of their chief and his own
friendship, if they would fulfil their agreements. Struck, it would
seem, with equal awe and admiration, the Indians laid aside their
weapons, and began to bring in great store of provisions, and sin-
gularly enough, yet, from repeated experience, not improbably, they
appear to have fulfilled their agreement with real cordiality.
Meanwhile, affairs at Jamestown had gone ill, Scrivener, the
deputy, with ten others, having been drowned, on a stormy day, in
a boat. The life of the messenger sent with the disastrous tidings
to Werowocomoco, was only saved by the compassion of Pocahontas.
who contrived to hide him from the executioners. The contest of
their wits was presently renewed between Smith and Powhatan, the
former endeavouring to surprise that chief and seize his store of
provisions, (a plan again defeated by "those damned Dutchmen,"
says the indignant narrator,) and the latter leaving no means untried
to take the life of his redoubted foe. His people not daring to attack
the English openly, an attempt was made to poison them, which,
however, only had the effect to make Smith and some others disa
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. (53
greeably but not dangerously sick. " Wecuttanow, a stout young
fellow, knowing he was suspected of bringing this present of poyson,
with fortie or fiftie of his chiefe companions, (seeing the President
with but a few men at Potauncok,) so proudly braved it, as though
he expected to incounter a revenge. Which the President perceiv-
ing, in the midst of his company did not onely beate, but spume
him like a dogge, as scorning to doe him any worse mischiefe."
The company finally returned to Jamestown with five hundred
bushels of corn, obtained by long foraging and traffic among the
various tribes. A portion, we regret to say, was wrested by violence
from its possessors, and it is to be lamented that Smith, who cer-
tainly had a generous and compassionate heart, should have suffered
considerations of policy or reprisal to commit him in acts which
doubtless leave a shade upon his memory. The old chronicler of the
expedition, however, seems to have viewed the matter in a very dif-
ferent light, and even takes much pains to exculpate the party from
the charge of blameable moderation, which, he fears, "the blind
world's ignorant censure " might impute to them. " These temporizing
proceedings," he says, "to some may seem too charitable, to such a
daily daring, trecherous people; to others not pleasing that we
washed not the ground with their blouds, nor showed such strange
inventions in mangling, murdering, ransacking, and destroying (aa
did the Spanyards) the simple bodies of such ignorant soules."
The dread of starvation removed by this abundant supply, Smith
set the colonists at work at various useful occupations, keeping a
table of their merits or demerits, and strictly enforcing the required
tasks "for there was no excuse could prevaile to deceive him."
Fresh troubles with the savages, excited by the Germans, soon broke
out, and Smith, incautiously travelling alone, with no weapon but
his sword, again had occasion to show all his manhood in defending
his head. An ambuscade of forty warriors had been prepared to
intercept him. "By the way he incountred the King of Paspahegh,
a most stout strong Salvage, whose perswasions not being able to
perswade him to his Ambush, seeing him onely armed but with a
faucheon" (falchion) "attempted to have shot him, but the President
prevented his shooting by grapling with him, and the Salvage aft
well prevented his drawing his faucheon, and perforce bore him into
the River to have drowned him. Long they struggled in the water,
till the President got such a hold on his throat, he had nearo stran-
gled the King; but having drawne his faucheon to cut off his head,
VOL. IV. 33
64 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
seeing how pitifully lie begged his life, he led him prisoner to lames
Towne and put him in chaynes." Encounters with the hostile
tribe, resulting in a more sanguinary manner, were finally ended
by treaty. The Indians had been eager, by theft or under-handed
dealings, to procure arms and ammunition; but it so happened
that in drying a quantity of gun-powder on a piece of armour over
the fire, it exploded, to their terrible injury, so that by "this and
many such pretty Accidents," we are told, they took a wholesome
distrust of the dangerous commodity, and adopted an attitude of con-
ciliation toward the colonists.
\J OU'Jj t/nil tL Ul JLl iLb Of c60k o
IDLENESS OF THE SETTLERS. ELOQUENT SPEECH AND VIQOROU8
POLICY OF SMITH. THE NEW VIRGINIA COMPANY. UNJUST
ASSUMPTION OF POWER. SMITH DEPOSED. GREAT EX-
PEDITION DISPATCHED FROM ENGLAND: ILL-FORTUNE.
ARRIVAL OF NUMEROUS IMMIGRANTS. ANARCHY.
SMITH REASSUMES THE PRESIDENCY.
BY the energy of their brave and industrious president, the Yir
ginian colonists had been amply supplied with food and shelter; and
additional buildings and more extended agriculture betokened the
prosperity of the settlement. Destruction of their store, by rotting
and the rats, renewed former privations, and reawakened the old
mutinous and discontented spirit. By the assistance of the In-
dians, and by fishing and gathering the natural products of the
country, a number of the more industrious continued to keep the
settlement from starvation. "But such was the strange condition
of some 150, that had they not been forced, nolens volens, to gather
and prepare their victuall, they would all have starved or eaten one
another." "These distracted Gluttonous Loyterers" would fain have
sold to the Indians every utensil of labour or defence, for a pittance
of corn, and omitted no means of cunning and mutinous demeanour
to compel the president to break up the settlement and return to
England.
Out of patience at their ill -behaviour, he finally resorted to severe
measures. In a summary manner he punished the chief ringleader,
THE SETTLEMENT OF V1KGINIA.
65
"one Dyer, a most crafty fellow and his ancient Maligner," and
made a speech of severe admonition, evidently carefully modelled on
his favourite classics, to the rest. "Fellow-soldiers," he said, "I did
little think any so false to report, or so many to be so simple as
to be perswaded, that I either intend to starve you, or that Powhatar,
at this present hath corne for himselfe, much lesse for you; or that
[ \uld not have it, if I knew where it were to be had. Neithei
did I thinke any so malitious as I now see a great many; yet it shall
not so passionate me but I will doe my best for my most maligner.
But dream no longer of this vaine hope from Powhatan, nor that I
will longer forbeare to force you from your Idlenesse, and punish
you if you rayle. But if I find any more runners for Newfoundland
with the Pinnace, let them assuredly looke to arive at the Gallows.
" You cannot deny but that by the hazard of my life many a time
I have savd yours, when (might your own wills have prevailed)
you would nave starved. But I protest by that God that made me,
since necessitie hath not power to force you to gather for yourselves
those fruites the earth doth yeeld, you shall not onely gather for
your selves, but for those that are sicke. As yet, I never had more
from the store than the worst of you; and all my English extraor-
dinary provision that I have, you shall see me divide it among
the sicke.
"And this Salvage trash you so scornefully repine at, being put
in your mouths, your stomachs can digest it. If you would have
better, you should have brought it ; and therefore I will take a course
that you shall provide what is to be had. The sicke shall not starve,
but share equally of all our labors, and he that gathereth not every
day as much as I doe, the next day shall be set beyond the river,
and be banished from the Fort as a drone, till he amend his condi-
tions or starve."
This stern and summary policy had the required effect, and the
colonists set to work collecting the natural fruits of the country with
such diligence that their condition was speedily improved. In the
spring of 1609, Captain Samuel Argall (afterwards governor) arrived
in a vessel well loaded with supplies, which the settlers converted
j their own use, restitution being afterwards made. This arrival
Drought tidings of an important character.
Disappointed and irritated by what they considered the inexcusa-
ble neglect of their agents in failing to discover a gold mine or a
passage to the Pacific, the Virginia Company visited the whole
66 , AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
weight of their displeasure on the head of Captain Smith. " His
necessarily firm and rigorous rule had made him many enemies;
and the bluntness and plain-spoken truth of his communications had
shocked the dignity of the authorities at home. They resolved to
depose him from the command of the colony, which his almost un-
aided exertions had so repeatedly preserved from destruction, and
the true value of which their short-sighted rapacity prevented them
from appreciating."
To gratify persons of wealth and influence who had joined the
company, in May, 1609, a new charter was obtained, granting abso-
lute power of control over Virginia to the patentees, and unjustly
depriving the colonists of even the shadow of self-government. Lord
Delaware was appointed captain-general, and a host of inferior offi-
cers, with high-sounding titles, were also created for the benefit of
the poverty-stricken colony. In the same month, nine ships, com-
manded by Newport, and carrying five hundred people, under
command of Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, sailed from
England, leaving Delaware to follow with fresh recruits. These three
dignitaries, by a singular piece of folly, all embarked in the same ship,
with all their papers, and a great part of the provisions. In the
latter part of July, this vessel, "in the tayle of a Hericano " (hurricane)
was driven from the squadron and wrecked on the Bermudas. An-
other foundered at sea, and the rest, in most miserable plight, and
without any general commander, arrived finally at Jamestown.
Their arrival was the signal for fresh disorders. Most of the new
emigrants, it would seem, were in a manner the refuse of the com-
munity "much fitter to spoil a commonwealth than to raise or
maintain one." In "this lewd company," it is said, were "many
unruly Gallants, packed thither by their friends to escape ill-desti-
nies" broken down gentlemen, bankrupt tradesmen, and decayed
serving-men. Smith having been deposed by the authorities, and
their officers having been shipwrecked on the Bermudas, there was
no regular government, and the people soon fell into a state of an-
archy, setting up and pulling down their authorities almost daily,
and modelling the government after their changeable caprice and
fancy. In this strait, the more sensible entreated Smith to resume
the command, seeing that no one had yet arrived to displace him.
He consented with reluctance, and a vigorous exertion of his wonted
authority soon reduced these unruly spirits to something like order
and obedience.
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA.
u ii ii. i A Ju ii iA) o
FUTILE ATTEMPTS AT POUNDING NEW SETTLEMENTS. POLLY
AND OBSTINACY OP THE COLONISTS. SMITH TERRIBLY
INJURED. HE RETURNS TO ENGLAND. HIS SER-
VICES TO THE COLONY. AWFUL SUFFERING AND
MORTALITY AFTER HIS DEPARTURE.
JAMESTOWN being overcrowded, it was now thought best to plant
other settlements, and a hundred and twenty men, under Martin,
attempted to found a colony at Nansemond; but from the inefficiency
of their commander and the hostility of the Indians, the scheme
proved a complete failure. A like number, under Captain West,
proceeded to the Falls of James Eiver, where they pitched upon a
spot exposed to inundations and other inconveniences. To provide
them a better locality, Smith agreed with Powhatan for the purchase
of his town of the same name, hard by, with its fort and all the
houses: "but both this excellent place and those good conditions
did these furies refuse, contemning both him, his kinde care and
authoritie." To persuade them to reason, he repaired thither with
only five companions, but was compelled by their violence to betake
himself to his barge, where, for nine days, he waited, hoping to find
them more sensible, and much troubled at hearing the continual
complaints of their violence and injustice made by the neighbouring
Indians. He finally sailed down the river, but was presently re-
called by news that the savages had attacked them and killed a
number. Hastening back, he found them submissive enough, and
removed them to the quarters he had selected, at Powhatan, where,
indeed, they did not long remain, resuming, with strange obstinacy,
their ill-chosen position.
The captain, as he returned, met with terrible injury from the
explosion of a bag of gun-powder, which caught fire while he was
asleep, burning him severely, and setting fire to his clothes. He
jumped overboard to quench them, and was with difficulty saved
from drowning. Carried in this wretched condition, for a hundred
miles, to Jamestown, without the aid of surgery, he was laid pros-
trate on a bed of sickness, and some of the malcontents, it is said,
"seeing the President unable to stand, and neere bereft of his senses
C8 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
by reason of his torment, plotted to murder him in his bed. But
his heart did faile him that should have given fire to that merci-
lesse pistoll."
The president, his active and energetic career thus lamentably
arrested, and knowing that the arrival of any of the delayed officials
would at once supplant his authority, now resolved to proceed to
England for surgical aid. Early in the autumn of 1609, he set sail,
leaving at Jamestown and the other Virginia posts four hundred
and ninety people, well supplied with arms, provision, and the
means of cultivation and improvement.
"It is almost impossible to over-estimate the services of this remark-
able man in laying the foundation of the American empire. The
brilliant feats of arms which he so often performed, and the deadly
perils which he so often encountered, are little in comparison with
the untiring zeal, the ever-watchful foresight, and the sagacious
policy, by which, for years, he sustained, on his single arm, the
entire weight of the existence of the colony. Incompetency of his
employers, mutiny among his followers, the hostility of powerful
tribes, sickness, privations, and famine itself, were all remedied or
conquered by his almost unaided exertions.
"Rude and violent as he often was toward the offending natives,
no white man, perhaps, ever so far conciliated the favour and gained
the respect of the Indian race. His very name, long after, was a
spell of power among them, and had he remained in Virginia a few
years longer, the memorable massacre which, in 1622, proved an
almost fatal blow to the settlements in that country, would, it is
probable, never have been perpetrated. The wretched condition of
the colony, immediately after his departure, may be given in the
rude but graphic language of one who shared its misfortunes.
"'Now we all found the losse of Captaine Smith, yea, his greatest
maligners could now curse his losse; as for corne, provision, and
contribution from the Salvages, we had nothing but mortall wounds,
with clubs and arrows; as for our Hogs, Hens, Goates, Sheepe,
Horse, or what lived, our commanders, officers, and the Salvages
daily consumed them, (some small proportion sometimes we tasted,)
till_all was devoured; then swords, arms, pieces, or anything we
traded with the Salvages, whose cruell fingers were so oft im-
brewed in our blouds, that, what by their crueltie, our Governour's
indiscretion and the losse of our ships, of five hundred, within six
moneths after Captaine Smith's departure, there remained not past
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. (59
sixtie men, women, and children, most miserable and poore crea-
tures; and those were preserved, for the most part, by r.x>tes, herbes,
walnuts, acornes, now and then a little fish; they that had starch, in
such extremities made no small use of it; yea, even the very skinnes
of our Horses. Nay, so great was our famine, that a Salvage we
slew and buried, the poorer sort tooke him up againe and eate him,
and so did divers one another, boyled and stewed with rootes and
herbes; and one amongst the rest did kille his wife, powdered"
(pickled) "her, and had eaten part of her before it was knowne, for
which hee was executed as hee well deserved * * This was that
time, which still to this day we call 'the starving time'; it were too
vile to say, and scarce to bee beleeved what we endured ; but the
occasion was cure own, for want of providence, Industrie, and
government.'
"Such are the trials, sufferings, and privations, amid which, too
often, the foundation of a commonwealth in the wilderness must be
laid misfortunes at times hardly avoidable, but, as in the present
case, infinitely aggravated by the want of a firm, sagacious, and
resolute Head."*
t <ut ft * * & M A i .
MEMOIR OF SMITH, CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED. HIS YOYAGB
TO NEW ENGLAND AND SURVEYS. HIS SECOND EXPEDITION.
HIS ADVENTURES AMONG THE PIRATES: HIS ESCAPE.
HIS GRI;AT EXERTIONS FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF
NEW ENGLAND. INTERESTING INTERVIEW BETWEEN
SMITH AND POCAHONTAS IN 'ENGLAND. LAST
YEARS OF SMITH. HIS DEATH. HIS CHAR-
ACTER AND ACHIEVEMENTS.
HAVING given a brief account of the early adventures of Captain
Smith, (whose life, more nearly than that of any other man, seems
to connect the fortunes of the Old World with the New,) having
remarked to what admirable purpose his training in the rough school
of war, of travel, and of adversity served in his career as a colonist,
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
70 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
it may not be amiss to give a few particulars of the remainder of his
active and useful life especially as that life, to its end, was mainly
and unweariedly devoted to the task of promoting American dis-
covery and colonization. In March of 1614, we again find him, in
company with some merchants of London, fitting out an expedition
to New England, in two vessels, one of which he commanded in
person. By the last of April, he arrived at the island of Manhegin,
on the coast of Maine, where he built seven boats, and made an
unsuccessful attempt at whale-fishing. The crews, with much better
success, were therefore set to work at catching and curing cod, while
Smith, with eight men, in a small boat, surveyed and mapped out
the coast, from Penobscot to Cape Cod. In his chart, he had mostly
given the original Indian names, but, with a natural desire to com-
memorate his own adventures, had inserted a few others drawn from
that fertile source. Cape Ann was called Cape Tragabigzanda, in
honour of his young mistress of Constantinople, and the Isles of
Shoals were laid down as "The 3 Turkes' Heads." At his request,
however, Prince (afterwards king) Charles, changed most of these
names to those of English localities, which are still retained.
Having procured by traffic an immense quantity of beaver and
other furs from the Indians, (with whom, also, he had two fights,)
in August he returned to England, leaving his consort, Captain
Thomas Hunt, to continue the fishing and carry the cargo to Spain.
That scoundrel, at his departure, in the words of Smith, "betraied
foure and twentie of those poore Salvages aboord his Ship, and most
dishonestly and inhumanely, for their' kind treatment of me and all
our men, carried them with him to MaUgo" (Malaga), "and there for
a little private gaine sold those silly Salvages for rials of eight; but
this vilde act kept him ever after from any more imploiment to those
parts." To this cruel nd treacherous act, as to those of a similar
nature, committed by the French in their voyages to Canada, may
be attributed much of the hostility experienced by later comers in
settling the country.
At Plymouth, to which Smith next came, he found the people
still "interested in the dead patent of this unregarded countrey"
(New England), and was easily induced to undertake a voyage for
the company of that port, rejecting, with honourable promptitude,
the proposals of the Virginia Company, who would now gladly have
availed themselves of his services. In March, 1615, he sailed for
America with two small vessels, on a voyage which was but one
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 71
series of misfortunes. His ship being wrecked and dismasted, he
was compelled to put back, and in June, in a little vessel of only
sixty tons, resumed the enterprise. Falling in with an English
pirate of thirty-six guns, he defied her so bravely with only four,
that the crew were amazed until they recognized Smith, with whom
some of them had served years before, probably in the Eastern wars.
They begged him to take the command of their ship (which they
had seized at Tunis,) but he declined the offer, and pursued his voy-
age. Near Fayal, he had a fight with two French pirates, whom he
compelled his crew to resist, threatening to blow up the vessel rather
than yield, as long as there was a charge of powder left aboard.
Escaping from this danger, at Flores he was captured by four French
men-of-war, the commander of which, despite his commission under
the Great Seal of England, plundered his little vessel, and then dis-
missed her, reserving Smith, as a precaution against his revenge,
as a prisoner. During the whole summer, these rovers cruised about,
capturing and plundering many vessels, keeping Smith a prisoner
in the cabin, when they took any English vessels, but gladly avail-
ing themselves of his courage and seamanship in their fights with
the Spaniards.
The very different light in which the worthy captain regarded
these several transactions, may best be inferred from his own de-
scription of the capture of two prizes of the different nations. " The
next wee tooke," he says (in a journal, which, with a particular
description of New England, he wrote aboard the Frenchman), " was
a small Englishman of Poole, from Newfound land: the great Cabben
at this present was my Prison, from whence I could see them pillage
these poore men of all they had and halfe their fishe; when hee was
gone they sold his poore clothes at the Main Mast by an outcry,"
(auction), "which scarce gave each man seven pence a peece." Mark
the change in his tone in narrating the capture of a rich Spanish
Galleon "a West Indies man of warre, a forenoone wee fought with
her and then tooke her, with one thousand, one Hundred Hides,
fiftie chests of Cutchanele, fourteene coffers of wedges of Silver, eight
thousand Rialls of Eight, and six coffers of the king of Springs
treasure, besides tiie good pillage and rich Coffers of many rich Passen-
gers. Two moneths they kept me in this manner to manage their
fights against the Spaniards and bee a prisoner when they tooke any
English." The very imperfect tone of public morality at this age
is sufficiently evinced in the complacency with which Smith justly
72 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
regarded as an uncommonly honest and upright man views these
scenes of piratical plunder always provided that the subject of them
were not an Englishman.
His captors promised him ten thousand crowns as the reward of
his skill and valour; yet when they arrived at Rochelle, knowing
his determined character, and dreading his vengeance, still kept him
prisoner. In a terrible storm, however, which drove them all under
hatches, (and which, that same night, destroyed the ship, with half
her company), he made his escape in a small boat, and, after being
driven to sea and enduring great peril and suffering, was found, half
dead, by some Fowlers, on an oozy island, and was brought ashore
and kindly relieved.
Eeturning home, he published a book on New England, which he
had written to beguile the weariness of his captivity, and, with
extraordinary activity, travelling through the west of England, dis-
tributed seven thousand copies of it among people of note and influ-
ence. "But all," he says, "availed no more than to hew rocks with
Oyster shells." He received, however, an abundance of promises of
aid in the enterprise of settling -that country, and was invested by
the Plymouth company with the title of " Admiral of New England."
These encouragements all ended in words, no active steps being taken
for the furtherance of the object which he had so much at heart.
A most interesting interview between Smith and Pocahontas, about
this time, is recorded. That noble-hearted princess, despite the great
affection which her father bore to her, had incurred his displeasure
by her repeated acts of kindness in behalf of the English, and was
living exiled from his court, under the protection of Japazaws, chief
of the Potomacs. That treacherous dignitary, bribed by a copper
kettle, entrapped her on board the vessel of Captain Argall, who,
notwithstanding her tears and lamentations, made her prisoner, and
took her to Jamestown informing her father that she could be ran-
somed only by the delivery of numerous arms, &c., which his people
had stolen from the English. "This vnwelcome newes," says the
chronicler, "much troubled Powhatan, because hee loved both hia
daughter and our commodities well." After an alternation of war
and negotiation, the matter was at last happily settled in a manner
more agreeable than either.
"Long before this," continues the narrative, "Master lohn Eolfe.
an honest Gentleman and of good behavior, had beene in love with
Pocahontas, and she with him, which resolution Sir Thomas Dale
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 73
well approved; the bruit (report) of this mariage soon came to the
knowledge of Powhatan, a thing acceptable unto him, as appeared
by his sudden consent, for within ten daies, he sent Opaekisco, an
old Vncle of hers, and two of his sons, to see the manner of the
mariage, and to doe in that behalfe what they were requested, for
the confirmation thereof, as his deputie; which was accordingly done
about the first of A prill," (1613), "and ever since we have had
friendly trade and commerce " (intercourse) " with Powhatan himselfe,
as all his subjects."
In 1616, the Lady Rebecca (as she was now christened), with her
husband and child, accompanied Sir Thomas to England. She had
learned English, and adopted Christianity, and "was become," says
the narrator, with unconscious national satire, "very formall and
civill after our English manner." Captain Smith, on learning of
her arrival, lost no time in commending her to the attention of per-
sons of influence, and, in a studied memorial to the queen, recapitu-
lated the many services rendered by Pocahontas to himself and to
the Virginian colony, and besought her favour for the interesting
stranger. "During the time of two or three yeeres, she, next under
God," he says, "was still the instrument to preserve this colonie from
death, famine, and utter confusion, which, if in those days it had
once been dissolved, Virginia might have laine as it was at our
first arrivall to this day."
Unhappily, on account of the ridiculous jealousy of James L, (who,
it is said, exhibited much indignation against Eolfe, for having pre-
sumed, being a subject, to intermarry with the blood-royal) the
captain, when he went to see her, fearing, by too great familiarity,
to prejudice her interest- at court, thought best to salute her with
ceremonious gravity. At this strange reception, her affectionate heart
was at once grieved and indignant. With a species of Indian sul-
lenness, and "without any word," he says, "she turned about, ob-
scured her face, as not seeming well-contented. In that humour,"
he continues, "her husband, with divers others, we all left her two
or three houres," (how could he!) "repenting myself to have writ
shce could speake English. * * But not long after she
began to talke, and remembered mee well what courtesies shoe had
done; saying, 'You did promise Powhatan what was yours should
bee his, and he the like to you; you called him father, being in his
land a stranger, and by the same reason so must I doe you ;' which
though I would have excused, that I durst not allow of that title,
7-i AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
because she was a King's daughter, with a well set countenance she
said, 'Were you not afraid to come into my father's countrie and
cause feare in him and all his people (but mee), and feare you here
I should call you father? I tell you then I will, and you shall call
mee childe, and so I will bee for ever and ever your countryman.' "
This prudent conduct of Smith and her other friends, it would
seem, allayed the absurd jealousy of James; for, he continues, "it
pleased both the King and Queene's maiesty honorably to esteeme
ner, accompanied by that honorable Lady, the Lady De la Warre,
and that honorable Lord, her husband, and divers other persons of
good quality, both publikely at the maskes and otherwise, to her
great satisfaction and content, which doubtless she would have de-
served, had she ever lived to arrive in Virginia." She died at
Gravesend, on her way home, in the following year, at the age of
twenty-two, leaving a son, from whom a numerous race of descend-
ants have been derived. "Among them was the celebrated John
Randolph of Roanoke -justly prouder of his descent from the old
imperial race of Powhatan, illustrated by the more gentle heroism of
his daughter, than he could have been of the noblest derivation from
European ancestry."
In 1617, Captain Smith had been assured by the Plymouth Com-
pany that he should be sent out, with a fleet of twenty ships, to
found a colony in New England; but this promise never was ful-
filled, though he was unwearied in his exertions to incite his coun-
trymen to American enterprise. When, in 1622, news came of the
terrible massacre devised by Opechancanough, (see chapter XIII.) he
proposed to the Virginia Company that if they would but allow
him an hundred and thirty men, "to imploy onely in ranging the
Countries and tormenting" (harassing) "the Salvages," their whole
territory should be kept in peace and security; but they rejected
the offer, as involving a necessity for too great expense. Another
terrible massacre, a few years later, was the result of this short-
sighted policy.
In the following year, we find the captain before a royal commis-
sion, giving his evidence and opinion concerning the unfortunate
colony with much shrewdness, candour, and charity. Of the last few
years of his life little is known. He lived, it is believed, in quiet
repose in the city of London, employed chiefly in writing and pub-
lishing. He was engaged on a "History of the Sea," when, in 1631,
4eath closed a career in which utility and romance were perhaps
THE SETTLEMENT OF V1KGINIA. 75
more closely and continuously united than in any other of which a
record has survived.
"In the whole history of adventure, discovery, and exploration,
there are few names more honourable or more deservedly famous
than that of Captain John Smith. To us he has always appeared
(to his very name and title) the finest and most perfect exemplar of
a bold Englishman that ever figured on the stage of the world. In
his character, bravery, fortitude, sagacity, and sound common sense
were so happily tempered and united as to command instinctive
respect; while the tolerably -infused tincture of impetuosity, preju-
dice, and self-will, seems only to lend a piquancy to his worthier
traits, and more finely to set off the national characteristics. His
love of enterprise and his daring, chivalrous spirit, were tempered
with a judgment, moderation, and humanity, which, in so rough a
career, have never been surpassed. The cutter-off of Turks' heads,
the desperate Indian fighter, and the sworn foe to the Spaniard is
all compassion and sympathy when the 'Silly Salvages' are kidnap-
ped by his treacherous countryman, or when the 'poore clothes' of
'a small Englishman' are sold by outcry at the main-mast of a pirate.
"In early youth, his grand passion was for fighting and renown,
no matter on what field, so that a man of honour might engage. In
maturer years, the noble passion for founding nations and spreading
civilization took a yet firmer possession of his soul. 'Who,' he ex-
claims in his manly address to the idlers of England, 'who can
desire more content that hath small means, or only his merit, to
advance his fortunes, than to tread and plant that ground he hath
purchased by the hazard of his life; if hee have but the taste of
vertue and magnanimitie, what to such a mind caji bee more pleas-
ant than planting and building a foundation for his posterity, got
from the rude earth by God's blessing and his owne industry, with-
out prejudice to any; if hee have any graine of faitlj. or zeale in
Religion, what can hee doe lesse hurtfull to any or more agreeable
to God, than to seeke to convert those poore Salvages to know
Christ and humanity, whose labors, with discretion, will triply
reward thy charge and paine; what so truly sutes with honor and
honesty as the discovering things vnknowne, erecting Towues, peo-
pling countries, informing the ignorant, reforming things unjust,
teaching vertue and gaiue to our native mother Country; to find
imploirnent for those that are idle, because they know not what
to doe; so farre from wronging any, as to cause posterity to re-
76 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED
member them, and remembering thee, ever honor that remembrance
with praise.'
"The full merits of Smith, as the earliest and most indefatigable
promoter of the colonization of New England, have never been ade-
quately appreciated. By his personal exertions in the survey, delin-
eation, and description of that neglected region, and by the continual
publications which, at great pains and expense, he industriously cir-
culated in England, he awakened the public interest in an enterprise
which, otherwise, for many years might have been slighted and
deferred. He lived to see the foundations of a great nation firmly
laid, both at the south and the north, and, though like many other
great projectors and labourers in the same field of action, he reaped
no personal advantage (but rather much loss) from his exertion and
enterprise, he continued, to the day of his death, to regard the two
colonies with the fond partiality of a parent, and to do all he could
for their advancement. 'By that acquaintance I have with them,' he
writes, 'I call them my Children, for they have beene my Wife, my
Hawks, Hounds, my Cards, my Dice, and in totall, my best content,
as indifferent to my heart as my left hand to my right. And not-
withstanding all those miracles of disasters which have crossed both
them and me, yet, were there not an Englishman remaining (as, God
be thanked, notwithstanding the massacre, there are some thousands);
I would yet begin againe with as small meanes as I did at first, not
that I have any secret encouragement, (I protest) more than lament-
able experience,' &c.
"It only remains to add that, although, so far as we are informed,
never married, the gallant captain was, and deservedly, a general
favourite with the ladies. There seems to have been a certain man-
hood and kindliness in his very look, which, almost at a glance,
conciliated to him the good- will of the fairer and weaker portion of
humanity. These favours, so flattering to the natural vanity of ina,n,
he bears worthily, and with no offence to the givers, ever speaking
with the utmost modesty and gratitude of the kindness he had so
often experienced at their hands. His acknowledgment to the sex
(introduced in his dedication to the Duchess of Kichmond) reminds
us of the celebrated eulogy pronounced by Ledyard. 'I confesse,'
he writes, 'my hand, though able to wield a weapon among the
Barbarous, yet well may tremble in handling a pen before so many
ludicious * * Yet my comfort is, that heretofore honorable and
vertuous Ladies, and comparable but among them selves, have offered
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIKGINIA.
77
me rescue and protection in my greatest dangers ; even in forraine
parts I have felt reliefe from that sex. The beauteous Lady Traga-
bigzanda, when I was a slave to the Turkes, did all she could to
secure me ' (i. e. make me secure). ' When I overcame the Bashaw
of Nulbriiz, in Tartaria, the charitable Lady Callamata supplied my
necessities. In the vtmost of many extremities that blessed Poka-
hontas, the great King's daughter of Virginia, oft saved my life.
When I escaped the crueltie of Pirats and most furious stormes, a
long time alone in a small Boat at Sea, and driven ashore in France,
the good Lady Madam Ghanoyes bountifully Asisted me.' "
tt **'&'* l ** JLlIo
ARRIVAL OP GATES. MISERABLE CONDITION OF THE COLONY.
JAMESTOWN DESERTED. ARRIVAL OP LORD DELAWARE:
OP SIR THOMAS DALE. EXERTIONS OP THE COMPANY.
INCREASED IMMIGRATION. THE CULTURE OP TOBACCO
INTRODUCED, AND EAGERLY PURSUED. TYRANNY OP
ARGALL: HIS DISPLACEMENT. GREAT ACCESSION OF
IMMIGRANTS. WIVES PURCHASED WITH TOBACCO.
LIBERAL CONCESSIONS TO THE COLONISTS.
THE lamentable condition of the Virginian colony, after the de-
parture of Smith, has been described. Thirty of the settlers, seizing
a ship, had turned pirates, and the greater part of the remainder
perished of famine, disease or Indian hostility. When Sir Thomas
Gates and his companions, who had been wrecked on Bermuda,
arrived at Virginia in vessels of their own construction, (May 24th,
1610,) out of four hundred and ninety, whom Smith had left, only
sixty remained, and those in a condition of such misery that their
end was almost at hand. There seemed no alternative but to sail
with all speed for Newfoundland, and there seek assistance from the
fishermen; and, accordingly, early in June, (resisting the miserable
desire of the settlers to fire their deserted dwellings,) Gates, with
his people and the relics of the Virginian colony, proceeded down
the river.
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
78 AMEBICA ILLUSTRATED.
The very next morning (June 10th, 1610) they learned that Lord
Delaware had arrived on the coast with supplies, and, putting about,
returned with all speed to Jamestown. The new governor, a man
of high character and good judgment, by his wholesome rule, and
by the supplies which he brought, soon restored comparative com-
fort to the little colony, which, at this time, including the company
of Gates and his own emigrants, did not exceed two hundred souls ;
but on account of illness, was compelled, the same year, to quit
Virginia, leaving the administration in the hands of Mr. Percy. In
May of the next yeal|^1611,) Sir Thomas Dale, dispatched thither
with fresh supplies, arrived, and assumed the government.
Sir Thomas Gates, who had also repaired to England, by his
urgent representations, excited the company to fresh exertions,
and in August of the same year, with six ships, tearing three hun-
dred more emigrants and a hundred cattle, he arrived at Jamestown,
and assumed the office of governor. The colony now numbered
seven hundred.
In 1612, by a fresh patent, the Bermudas and all other islands
within three hundred leagues of Virginia, were included in that
province, and lotteries were authorized for the benefit of the com-
pany. The prosperity of the colony improved, and its peaceful
relations with the Indians seemed secured by the marriage of Holfe
and Pocahontas, which took place about this time a propitious
event, rqsulting in the alliance not only of Powhatan and his people,
but of the Chickahominies and/other tribes.
In the account of Acadia, mention has been made of the atrocious
and piratical expedition from Virginia, under Captain Samuel Ar-
gall, destroying the little colony of Port Royal, the first settlement
of the French in North America. That unprincipled commander,
on his return, also entered the harbour of Manhattan (New York),
and enforced a show of submission from the little colony of Hol-
landers inhabiting the island of that name. In 1614, Sir Thomas,
appointing Dale as governor, returned to England; and the latter,
two years afterwards, leaving in turn George Yeardley as deputy,
followed the example. By far the most memorable fact in this
stage of the colony's progress, is the commencement of the culture of
tobacco, the use of which, adopted from the Indians, had been intro-
duced into England. With such industry did the prospect of a
profitable reward for labour inspire the colonists, that the very
streets of Jamestown were planted with tobacco.
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 79
In 1617, the office of deputy-governor was conferred by the com-
pany on that rash and ittlscrupulous man, Samuel Argall ; and the
death of Lord Delaware who, embarking with a considerable com-
pany, the same year, for Virginia, died on the voyage left his
natural tyranny and arrogance without a check. The colonists, ere
Jung, were, in effect, completely enslaved by their arbitrary governor,
who used his office only as a means for his private aggrandizement,
and their very lives were in danger from his fury. But on the report
of these excesses reaching England, the culprit, after a spirited con-
test between the different factions in the company, was displaced,
and Yeardley, whose mild and benevolent temper had made him
popular with the settlers, was appointed to the command. His just
and considerate rule soon restored quiet.
The company, desirous to avoid such abuses for the future, had
checked the authority of the governor by that of the council, and
actually admitted the colonists to a species of self-government. The
governor, with the council, and certain representatives of the people,
were permitted to enact some laws, which, however, were not to be
valid, unless ratified by the corporation at home. The officers of
the company, and in especial, Sir Edwm Sandys, the treasurer, sup-
ported by the liberal party, now used great exertions for the increase
of the colony and the extension of its liberties. In 1619, there were
only six hundred settlers in Virginia, and during a single year that
energetic officer dispatched thither more than twelve hundred addi-
tional emigrants. An hundred and fifty young women, of good
character, were shipped to the province, and were married with great
readiness the husbands paying the company each an hundred and
twenty pounds of tobacco or more, for the expense of their trans-
portation. By 1621., three thousand five hundred emigrants had
reached Virginia; and, in the same year, with liberality and fore-
sight, rare indeed for the age, the company made an ordinance
conferring on that province a settled and, in a manner, independent
government. The governor and council, indeed, were to be ap-
pointed by the company, but a legislative assembly was to be chosen
by the people, with power to enact laws, subject to the approval of
the company those emanating from London, in like manner, to be
valid only on ratification by the assembly. Courts of law, strictly
following those of England, were required to be instituted, and the
great blessing of civil liberty as great, perhaps, as that enjoyed by
Englishmen at home was secured to the first American colony. This
VOL IV. 34
80 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
magnanimous concession, due to the generous efforts of Southamp-
ton, Sandys, and others of the liberal party, was one of the first and
most important fruits of that spirit of progress at that time just
beginning to make itself felt in the English councils.
u JbJi iH> i il Ju it <A>
WYATT GOVERNOR. NEGRO SLAVERY INTRODUCED. DEATH
OF POWHATAN AND SUCCESSION OP P EC H ANC A N OUGJI.
PLOT DEVISED BY THE LATTER. TERRIBLE MASSACRE
OP THE ENGLISH. DEPRESSION OF T'HE COLONY.
USURPATION OF THE PATENT BY JAMES I. PRU-
DENT POLICY TOWARD THE COLONISTS.
SIR FRANCIS WTATT, bearing the invaluable gift of a constitution,
arrived in Virginia, as governor, in 1621. The year previous, un-
happily, had been distinguished by the first introduction of slavery
into the colony a Dutch vessel having entered the James River,
and brought twenty negroes for sale. For a long time, indeed, this
nefarious traffic made little progress being principally carried on
by the people who commenced it. and being rather connived at than
favoured by the government of the province.
The agricultural progress of Virginia had been grievously 'retarded
by unsuccessful efforts at the production of wine and silk articles
of luxury, the least suited to a new territory and a sparse population.
The profitable culture of tobacco, and its sudden importance as the
staple of Virginian agriculture, have been noticed; and that of
cotton, first commenced as an experiment, in 1621, marks an era in
the history of American agriculture vastly more important yet.
King Powhatan, who, after the English alliance of his daughter,
had been the firm friend of the colonists, died full of years, in 1618,
the year after the death of Pocahontas. Opechancanough, hia
younger brother, succeeded him in the government of thirty tribes
which he had ruled. Apprehensions of Indian hostility, from a long
interval of peace, had gradually died out, and the settlers, eager for
the cultivation of tobacco, continually pushed their plantations further
into the wilderness and more remote from mutual aid. So completely
THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. Ql
was apprehension allayed, that fire-arms, to furnish which to tho
savages had formerly been denounced as an offence worthy of death,
were now freely supplied them for hunting and fowling.
It is not easy to arrive at the causes which induced the Indian
population, apparently so friendly and confiding, to resolve on an
indiscriminate massacre of the English. Doubtless, like all other
native tribes, they were jealous of continual intrusions on their
ancient domain. It is said, also, that Opechancanough was mortally
offended by the killing of one of his favourite councillors, called
"Jack of the Feather." He may also have remembered, with deep
vindictiveness, how Captain Smith, many years before, had held him
" by the hayre of his head " before his assembled warriors. Certainly,
with almost incredible secrecy and concert, he and his people plotted
the destruction of the whites. On the 22d of March, 1622, about
noon, the Indians, who, up to the last motnent, maintained the ap-
pearance of cordiality and friendship, suddenly and simultaneously
fell on the English settlements in every quarter. In a single hour,
three hundred and forty-seven of the colonists, including six of the
council, were massacred; and Jamestown, with some adjoining plan-?
tations, was saved only by the timely warning of an Indian who
wished to rescue an English friend from the intended extermination.
The savages, who seem to have manifested extraordinary ferocity, in
many instances, rose from the very tables which had been spread
for their dinners, to murder their unsuspecting hosts. "Neither
yet," says the old chronicler, " did these beasts spare those among
the rest well knowne unto them, from whom they had daily received
many benefits, but spitefully also massacred them, without any re-
morse or pitie; being in this more fell than Lions and Dragons,
which (as Histories record) have preserved their Benefactors; such
is the force of good deeds, though done to cruell Beasts, to take
hurmmitie upon them; but these miscreants put on a more unnatur-
all brutishnesse than beasts," &c.
Great discouragement fell on the afflicted colony. The plantations
were reduced to a tenth of their number. Sickness prevailed, and
the planters were compelled to direct their attention from agriculture
to war with the enemy. The mother-country, with honoi,
promptitude, contributed liberally to the aid and comfort of the
unfortunate settlers.
The company, which had expended great sums in planting and
sustaining the colony, but which had reaped no profit from its enter
32 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
prise, was now of importance chiefly as the theatre of debate between
the liberal and arbitrary factions. To suppress the former, soon
became an object of royal jealousy, and, in 1622, the king made an
unsuccessful attempt to control the election of a treasurer. In the
following year, afte^r the pretence of legal investigation, the patent
was declared forfeited, and the king resumed the authority into his
own hands. This transaction, though committed under the guise
of law, cannot be regarded otherwise than as a piece of royal usurpa-
tion, dictated by jealousy at the republican tendencies of the majority
of the company. The foreign government of Virginia was now
placed in the hands of a committee of partisans of the court, which
was invested with the same powers as. the late Virginia Company.
This change, however, brought no immediate disadvantage to the
colonists, whose liberties were, though not expressly, suffered to
remain on the same footing as before. Sir Francis Wyatt was con-
rirrned in the office of governor.
Having thus described the tardy and unprosperous settlement of
Virginia, and the final dissolution of the company to whose efforts
its existence as a colony was due, we leave, for the present, the
ensuing particulars of its early history, to relate that of the common-
wealth next founded on these shores a commonwealth whose hon-
our, to all time, will be, that it was founded on principle rather
than on profit, and from its very inception, preferred liberty, though
with exile and suffering, to unjust restraint, though sweetened with
the comforts of country and of home.
THE SETTLEMENT OF NE ENGLAND.
u
a ft i
UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS OF THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY TO
SETTLE NEW ENGLAND. PERSECUTION OF THE NON-CON-
FORMISTS. RETREAT OF ROBINSON'S CONGREGATION TO
HOLLAND: THEIR HIGH CHARACTER: THEIR RESOLU-
TION TO PLANT A COLONY: THEIR LOYALTY AND
COURAGE: DEPARTURE FROM DELFT HAYEN.
THE patent issued by James I. for the formation of two com-
panies to settle North America has been mentioned, and the planta-
tion of a colony in Virginia by the first of them described. The
other, of weaker resources and less enterprise, experienced in their
attempts to settle New England only a succession of miserable fail-
ures. Their first vessel, in 1606, was captured by the Spaniards.
In the following year, two others, bearing forty-five emigrants, were
again dispatched thither, and, in August, came to the mouth of the
Kennebec. A small village, slightly fortified, was built, and, in the
beginning of winter, the ships returned. The season proved exceed-
ingly severe; part of their provisions were lost by a fire; their
governor, George Popham, died; and when, the next year, the
vessels returned with supplies, the colonists had become so discour-
aged as to resolve on forsaking the plantation. Thus, the first
attempt at a settlement in New England was nipped in the bud.
The discouragement caused by this ill-success was in some
measure allayed by the enterprise and exertions of Smith, who, in
1614, surveyed and mapped out a great portion of the coast of
Northern Virginia, on which he first bestowed the title of New
England. The crime of his partner, Hunt, in kidnapping a number
of the Indians, and selling them as slaves in Spain, has been men-
tioned, as well as the strenuous but unavailing exertions of Smith,
for years afterwards, to effect the colonization of these neglected
84 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
regions. Great schemes, indeed, were formed, and lavish promises
were made by the Plymouth Company ; and the honourable title of
"Admiral of New England," bestowed, in perpetuity, on Smith,
seemed to indicate a confidence in great ultimate success. All, how-
ever, vanished in mere words, though the company, in 1620, -pro-
cured from the king a renewal of their patent, with such almost
unlimited powers of government and extent of territory as had never
before been conferred by the crown on any subject or association.
The settlement of New England was due to a spirit more earnest
and an aim more honourable than even those by which its warmest
promoters had hitherto been actuated..
The persecution of non-conformists, commenced in the reign of
Elizabeth, was carried, under that of James I., to such an unen-
durable extreme, that a voluntary exile from England seemed at
last 'the only resource of the aggrieved party. Even this forlorn
alternative, under the despotic rule of the Ilouse of Stewart, was
denied them ; and great suffering and long separation were endured
by those who sought to fly the country. In 1608, the congregation
of the Rev. John Robinson, an eminent preacher of the Independent
Church, after several unsuccessful attempts, attended with ill-usage
and separation, contrived to get clear of England. They settled at
Leyden, under the more humane and liberal government of Holland,
and during a protracted residence at that city, by their good conduct,
gained universal respect. "These English," said the magistrates,
"have lived amongst us ten years, and yet we never had any suit
or accusation against any of them."
Their church, which, at the end of that time, numbered three
hundred communicants, was of a strictly independent government;
and, to their honour, a provision of their creed declared a doctrine
rare, and, indeed, almost unheard of at the day that ecclesiastical
censure should involve no temporal penalty. Their cause and their
doctrines, defended by the learning and eloquence of their pastor,
were viewed with general respect and sympathy.
Wedded to industry, no less by necessity than principle, they had
learned mechanical arts, and honestly, though hardly, supported
their families. They never, indeed, became in any way assimilated
with the Dutch in language or in manners, and ever cherished an
affectionate feeling for the land from which they had been so rudely
driven. The dissoluteness of manners prevalent among certain
classes of the community in which they were settled, filled them with
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. $5
apprehension for the morals of their children; and it was at last con-
sidered advisable by them to seek a permanent asylum and a national
home, even if it could only be found in some yet untrodden wilder-
ness. It was proposed by the more enterprising, that they should
seek "some of those unpeopled countries of America, which are
fruitfull and fit for habitation, being devoid of all civill inhabitants,
where there are only salvage and brutish people, which, range up
and down little otherwise than the wild beasts."
To this scheme the more timid of the company opposed many
objections, and especially the cruelty of the savages, and their hor-
rible treatment of their prisoners. " It was answered," says Bradford,*
"that all great and honorable actions were accompanied with great
difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answer-
able courages. It was granted the dangers were great, but not
desperate, and the difficulties were many, but not invincible. It
might be that some of the things feared might never befall them;
others, by providence, care, and the use of good means, might in a
great measure be prevented; and all of them, through the help of
God, by patience and fortitude, might either be borne or overcome."
This noble reply appears to have silenced the objectors; for, after
several days passed in prayer and humiliation, it was resolved that
the little congregation of exiles should seek a final home, whether
for life or death, in the American wilderness.
On learning their determination, the Dutch, who held their cour-
age and virtue in high esteem, were anxiously desirous that the
proposed settlement should be made in the name of their own nation,
and made handsome offers to that end; but the love of country pre-
vailed, and it was resolved that wherever the company might found
a state, it should be but one more province for the crown, to which,
in despite of its wanton oppression, they were still blindly, but
loyally attached. The most eligible spot, if permission could be
obtained to remove thither, seemed some uninhabited part of that
vast and indefinite tract, then known as Virginia. Through the
influence of Sandys, permission to settle was obtained from the Vir-
ginia Company, and through that of the tolerant Archbishop Usher,
a sort of tacit connivance at their scheme was wrung from the king.
On the most hard and exhorbitant terms, absorbing the labours and
profits of the projected colony for seven years, the requisite means
were obtained from a company of London merchants. A little ship,
* Second governor of Plymouth colony.
86 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
called the Speedwell, of sixty tons, had been purchased, and another
the May-Flower, of one hundred and eighty, had been hired in Eng-
land. The first of these was brought to Delft Haven, a port a little
south of Leyden, whither, on the 21st of July, 1622, a portion of
the congregation, who were to sail, accompanied by most of the
remainder, repaired. "So they left that pleasant and goodly city,
which had been their resting place near twelve years. But they
knew they were Pilgrims, and looked not much on those things,
but lifted their eyes to heaven, their dearest country, and quieted
their spirits. * * * The .next day, the wind being fair, they
went on board, and their friends with them; when, truly doleful
was the sight of that sad and mournful parting; to see what sighs,
and sobs, and prayers did sound amongst them ; what tears did gush
from every eye and pithy speeches pierced each other's heart; that
sundry of the Dutch strangers that stood on the quay as spectators,
could not refrain from tears." Their pastor, Robinson, who, with
a portion of his people, remained, "falling down on his knees, and
they all with him, with watery cheeks commended them, with most
fervent prayers, to the Lord and his blessing; and then, with mutual
embraces and many tears, they took their leaves of one another,
which proved to be their last leave to many of them."*
kJ iLJj wA> (L tL Ju iLu Jj Jj o
TORilY VOYAGE OF THE PILGRIMS TO AMERICA. THEY
ARRIVE AT CAPE COD: ARE COMPELLED TO DISEMBARK:
INSTITUTE A REPUBLIC. THEIR SIMPLE CONSTITUTION.
CARTER ELECTED GOVERNOR. ABSENCE OP PER-
SONAL AMBITION AMONG THE PURITAN SETTLERS.
THE Ma} r -Flower and the Speedwell, carrying an hundred and
twenty passengers, on the 5th of August, 1620, sailed from South-
ampton in company. Compelled, by a leak in the latter, they DUI
back into Dartmouth, whence, on the 21st, they again took their
departure. After getting a hundred leagues to sea, they were again
obliged, through the timidity of her captain and some of the com-
* Bradford's History of Plymouth Colony.
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 37
pany, to return to Plymouth. Here they disembarked the few who
were too fearful to see the adventure to an end, and on the 6th of
September, the remainder, one hundred and one in number, going
aboard the May-Flower, bade their final farewell to England. The
weather, for a time pleasant, at length, with the approach of winter,
became adverse, bringing "many contrary winds and fierce storms,
with which their ship was shrewdly shaken." The May-Flower
began to leak, and one of her main beams bent and cracked. Despite
these discouragements, it was resolved to hold on. One of the pas-
sengers, by good fortune, had taken among his effects a large screw,
" by means of which the said beam was brought into his place again.
And so," continues the pilgrim journalist, "after many boisterous
stormes, in which they could make no sail^-fcut were forced to lie at
hull for 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."
On the 10th of November, after a weary passage of sixty- three
days, the ship doubled the extremity of Cape Cod, and anchored in
a good harbour, on which Provincetown now stands. It had been
agreed that the pilgrims should be landed somewhere in the neigh-
bourhood of the Hudson } but the captain of the May-Flower, bribed,
it is said, by the Dutch, who were jealous of intrusion on their ter-
ritories, pleading the low state of the provision as an excuse, insisted
on landing them immediately. Being compelled to comply, and
finding themselves without the limits of the Virginia C6mpany's
jurisdiction, and thus destitute of a government, they at once set to
work to construct one; and, on the very day after their arrival,
(November llth,) with a reservation of allegiance to the crown, pro-
ceeded to erect a democracy in its simplest and most explicit sense.
All the men of the company, forty -one in number, signed the fol-
lowing brief but comprehensive instrument:
"In the name of God, amen ; we, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects
of our dread sovereign, King James, having undertaken, for the glory of God and
advancement of the Christian faith, and honoi of our king and country, a voyage to
plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly
and mutually, in the presence of God und one of another, covenant and combine our-
selves together, into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and
furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame
such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to
time, as shall be thought most convenient for the good of the colony. Unto which
we promise all due obedience and submission,"
88 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Such was the plain and simple form of the first written constitu-
tion, emanating from the popular will, ever adopted in America. Ii
may be regarded as the basis of that vast superstructure of freedom
which has since been gradually reared in the Western Hemisphere.
Mr. John Carver, a gentleman of high integrity and amiable char-
acter, and one of the chief promoters of the enterprise, was forthwith
chosen governor an office which, in the present juncture of affairs,
could have offered little temptation to ambition. "In the early his-
tory of New England, it may be remarked, we do not find, as in
that of nearly all other European settlements, the name of any one
man greatly conspicuous above his companions, or exclusively, iden-
tified with the foundation of the commonwealth. The names of
Cortes and Pizarro, of Champlain and Penn and Smith, are each
inseparably associated with the history of the countries whose desti-
nies, for good or evil, they had so large a share in shaping; while,
in the less ambitious annals of Puritan colonization, the memories
of Carver, Bradford, and Winslow of Endicott and Winthrop of
Standish, Mason, and Church, with those of many other associate wor-
thies, are fused and blended with the common history of the country,
"The cause of this distinction is not difficult to define. Principle,
rather than personal ambition, whether of the more selfish or gener-
ous kind, was the main spring and prompting motive of the actors
who figured in those once neglected scenes of enterprise; and all
thought of private advancement or renown was for the time merged
in a spirit of community, such as only the strong prompting of reli-
gious enthusiasm can maintain."
O iLJj UfO> U W JLl JL 6 UJ Jl Jl O
DREARY APPEARANCE OP NEW ENGLAND. EXPLORING PARTY.
STRANGE INJUSTICE TO THE INDIANS. THE VOYAGE TO
PLYMOUTH HARBOUR. SKIRMISH WITH THE SAVAGES.
SETTLEMENT OP PLYMOUTH FOUNDED. GREAT SUF-
FERING AND MORTALITY AMONG THE PILGRIMS.
(TRGED by the impatience of the master of the May-Flower, the
little band of exiles busied themselves in finding a place for immedi
ate disembarkation and settlement. Nothing could have been more
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND yg
dreary or desolate than the appearance of the country they had
touched on of a stern and sombre character in the pleasantest sea-
son, and now doubly severe in the gloom of an approaching winter.
"Which way soever," says one of them, "they turned their eyes
(save upward to the Heaven) they could have little solace or content
in respect of any outward objects. For summer being done, all
things stand for them to look upon with a weather-beaten face; and
the whole country being full of woods and thickets, represented a
wild and Salvage hue. If they looked behind them, there was the
mighty ocean which they had passed, and was now a main bar and
gulf to separate them from all the civil parts of the world. * * *
May and ought not the children of these fathers rightly to say,
'Our fathers were Englishmen, which came over this great ocean and
were ready to perish in this wilderness. But they cried unto the
Lord, and he heard their voice and looked on their adversity.' And
let them therefore praise the Lord, because he is good, and his mer-
cies endure forever."
On the 15th, sixteen volunteers were permitted to go on shore,
under command of Captain Miles Standish, who had served in the
wars of Holland, and who was the only soldier by profession in the
whole company. This redoubtable warrior (the Mr. Greatheart of
the Progress of these Pilgrims) was a man little in stature, but re-
markably strong and active, and of the most fiery and resolute
courage. The company marched inland for ten miles, following a
party of Indians, whom they could not overtake. Weary and thirsty,
they came at last to a spring, where, says one, "we sat us down and
drank our first New England water, with as much delight as ever
we drank drink in all our lives." They found and examined an
Indian grave, carefully replacing the articles deposited there, "think-
ing it would be odious unto them to ransack their sepulchres." From
a subterranean store-house, however, which they discovered, they
thought fit to carry off a supply of provisions, among which were
"six and thirty goodly ears of corn, some yellow and some red, and
others mixed with blue, which was a very goodly sight." Repara-
tion was afterwards made to the owners, and, it is said, that the
grain thus obtained, preserved for seed, eventually secured the
colony from famine. In other expeditions of survey, both store-
houses and wigwams were "ransacked," and the simple wealth of
the absent Indians unjustly appropriated though, with the saving
clause of intended restitution. "Some of iJie best things wee toofo."
90 AMEKICA ILLUSTKATED.
remarks the narrator, with that happy unconsciousness of impiopri-
ety which, almost throughout our colonial history, marks the record
of violence, of fraud, or of spoliation committed on the natives.
The adjoining regions having been partially explored, at a con-
sultation, it was thought best by some, for the convenience of fishing
and other advantages, to settle on Cape Cod; but the pilot, Mr.
Coppin, suggesting that there was a good harbour on the western
side of the bay, it was resolved to examine it. On the 6th of Decem-
ber, a bitter cold day, Carver, Winslow, Bradford, Standish, and
fourteen more, embarked in the shallop, and followed the coast south-
ward. The spray, falling on their clothes, froze instantly, "and
made them many times like coats of iron." On the morning of the
second day of their voyage, while at prayers on the shore, they were
assailed with arrows by .a party of savages. Muskets were discharged
in return, but no serious result seems to have ensued on either side.
The Indians finally retreated, leaving, among other trophies, eighteen
arrows, " headed with brass, some with harts' horns, and others with
eagles' claws." "The cry of our enemies," says one of the pilgrims,
"was dreadful. Their note was after this manner, 'woach, woach,
ha ha hach woach? " This peculiar succession of sounds has descended
to our own day, as the war-whoop of certain native tribes.
All that day, the voyagers sailed swiftly, with a fair wind, along
the coast; but toward night, .the weather grew heavier, and the
rudder breaking from its hinges, they had much ado to scud before
the wind, steering with oars. "The seas were grown so great that
we were much troubled and in great danger; and night grew on.
Anon, Master Coppin bade us be of good cheer, he saw the harbour.
As we drew near, the gale being stiff, and we bearing great sail to
get in, split our mast into three pieces, and were like to have cast
away our shallop. Yet, by God's mercy, recovering ourselves, we
had the flood with us, and struck into the harbour."
This harbour, already surveyed and named by Captain John
Smith, was that of Plymouth. The location appeared so favourable
that it was resolved to plant the settlement there, and, accordingly,
the party of survey having returned to Cape Cod, on the 16th, the
ship, with all her company (except one who had died at sea, and
four who had died at the cape), came into the harbour. " On the
22d of December, 1620, a day for ever memorable in the annals of
America, the little band of Pilgrims landed on that rock, now, like
the Stone of Mecca, the object of enthusiastic pilgrimage to their
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND QJ
descendants." A site was selected for the town, and timber being
cut, nineteen houses, with all possible dispatch, were erected: but,
so severe was the season, and so great the unavoidable exposure,
(especially in wading on the shallows, to and from their barge,) that,
before the end of February, twenty-five more of them had perished
of disease and privation.
CHAPTER 1?.
THE INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND: THINNED BY PESTILENCE
THE PEQUOTS, NAUR AGANSETTS, AND OTHER TRIBES.
EXTRAORDINARY OPINIONS OF THE ENGLISH CON-
CERNING THEM. BIGOTED ACCOUNTS OF THE
ANCIENT HISTORIANS, ETC.
BY a desolating pestilence, which, not long before their arrival,
had swept New England, the country around Plymouth had been, in
great measure, denuded of its original inhabitants. Many powerful
tribes had been almost annihilated, and others reduced to a fraction
of their original numbers. The most considerable nations yet sur-
viving, were those of the Pequots and Narragansetts, often ^t war
with each other, and with other neighbouring tribes. The former,
whose chief stronghold was on a commanding eminence in Groton,
in the east of Connecticut, numbered, says Roger Williams, thirty
thousand souls. This, undoubtedly, is an excessive exaggeration.
The latter, a noble and magnanimous people, dwelt in the state of
Rhode Island, where, it is said, they numbered five thousand war-
riors. The Pokanokets, a confederacy of smaller tribes, including
the Wampanoags, Pocassets, Sogkonates, and many others, dwelt
in Eastern Massachusetts, and on the upper waters of Narragansett
Bay. Before the ravages of the pestilence, they are said to have
comprised three thousand warriors ; but afterwards only five hun-
dred. The Massachusetts, dwelling around the Bay of that name,
had formerly been a great people, but, from the same cause, were
reduced to a mere remnant. These tribes mostly acknowledged the
Bupremacy of Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, whose chief seat
was at Mount Hope, near the present town of Bristol. The Paw-
92
AMEKICA ILLUSTKATED.
tuckets, who, we are told, had also numbered three thousand war
riors, had been almost completely exterminated. Many small clans,
mostly dwelling in the westward of Connecticut and Massachusetts,
are not included in this estimate.
All these tribes, except the Pequots and Narragansetts, were
tributary to the Mohawks, inhabiting the east of New York, one of
the fiercest and most powerful of the celebrated Five Nations. " Two
old Mohawks," says Dr. Trumbull, "every year or two might be
seen issuing their orders, and collecting their tribute, with as much
authority and haughtiness as a Eoman dictator." Any disobedience
of their commands was speedily punished by an avenging war-party,
which cut off the offenders without mercy. The Mohawks, it is
said, would sometimes pursue their victims into the houses of the
English, yelling, "We are come! we are come to suck your blood,"
and slaying them on the very hearth-stone. This powerful league,
however, long at mortal feud with the French of Canada, regarded
the English, as rivals of the latter, with complacency, and never
offered any molestation to their persons or property.
"It was now just a century since the Conquest of Mexico, by
Cortes, had first brought the races of Europe into direct collision
with those of the Western Continent. In that interval, the Keform-
ation had arisen, had spread, and had produced perhaps its finest
fruit in the little band of self-devoted exiles* who sought in the wil-
derness a foothold for civil and religious freedom. As a matter of
course, the world was more enlightened, yet, strange to say, hardly
a step had yet been taken in the direction of the fairest and no-
blest result to which enlightenment can tend the acknowledgment
of the universal humanity and brotherhood of all mankind. Our
pious forefathers, like the Spaniards of the century before, still
* Some idea of the noble spirit of tolerance which distinguished the first exiled
Puritans may be gathered from the farewell address of their pastor, breathing senti-
ments infinitely in advance of his age, and even, in some degree, of our own. "I
charge you," he says, "before God and his blessed angels, that you follow mo no
further than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more
truth yet to break out of his Holy Word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition
of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present
no further than the instruments of their reformation. Luther and Calvin were
great and shining lights in their time, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel
of God. I beseech you, remember it 'tis an article of your church covenant that
you be ready to receive whatever truth is made known to you from the written word
of God."
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 93
regarded the dwellers of the New World as the direct offspring or
certainly the direct worshippers of Satan, and as enjoying all the
familiarity to which his most favoured proteges could be entitled.
Nothing is more strange than to read the opinions and conclusions
on this subject of the men of that age men otherwise just, saga-
cious, and, for their day, liberal in the extreme."
According to one of the early historians of New England, the
aborigines, on learning of the arrival of the pilgrims, took extraor-
dinary pains to exorcise the advent of Christianity. "They got," he
says, "all the powaws of the country, who, for three days together,
in a horid and devilish manner, did curse and execrate them with
their conjurations, which assembly and service they held in a dark
and dismal swamp. Behold how Satan labored to hinder the gospel
from coming into New England."
In his "Good News from New England," Governor Winslow, with
a sort of ludicrous reiteration, dwells on the same point. " Another
power they worship," he informs us, "whom they call Hobbamock,
and to the northward of us Ilobbamoqui; this, as far as we can con-
ceive, is the devil. * This Hobbamock appears in sundry
forms unto them, as in the shape of a man, a deer, a fawn, an eagle,
&c., but most ordinarily a snake. He appears not to all, but the
chiefest and most judicious among them; though all of them strive
to attain to that hellish height of honor, * * The paniesses
are men of great courage and wisdom, and to these the devil .appear-
eth more familiarly than to others, and, as we conceive, maketh cov-
enant with them to preserve them from death by wounds with arrows,
knives, hatchets, &c. And to the end that they may
have store of these, they train up the most forward and likeliest boys,
from their childhood, in great hardness, and make them abstain from
dainty meat, observing divers orders prescribed, to the end that,
when they are of age, the devil may appear to them. * * Also
they beat their shins with sticks, and cause them to run through
bushes, stumps, and brambles, to make them hardy and acceptable
to the devil, that in time he may appear to them."
Hear the reverend William Hubbard, the painful historian of New
England, only a few years before the commencement of the eighteenth
century. He concludes a dissertation on the origin of the Indians iu
the following lucid and summary manner: "Mr. Mode's opinion
about the passage of the natives into this remote region, carryes the
greatest probability of truth with it; of whose conjecture it may be
94: AMEKICA ILLTJSTKATED.
said, in a sense, as sometimes of Achithopell's counsell in those dayes,
that itt was as the oracle of God. His conceitt is, that when the
devill was putt out of his throne in the other parts of the world, and
that the mouth of all his oracles was stopt in Europe, Asia, and Afri-
ca, hee seduced a company of silly wretches to follow his conduct"
(guidance) "into this unknowne part of the world, where hee might
lye hid, and not be disturbed in the idolatrous and abominable, or
rather diabolicall service hee expected from those his followers; for
here are no footsteps of any religion before the English came, but
meerely diabolicall * * and so uncouth, as if it were framed and
devised by the devill himselfe, and 'tis transacted by them they used
to call pawwowes, by some kind of familiarity with Satan, to whom
they used to resort for. counsell in all kinde of evills, both corporall
and civill."
"To opinions such as these, the result of ignorance and prejudice,
must doubtless be attributed a large measure of that cruel and un-
charitable spirit, which dictated not only the wrongs and massacres
committed on the natives, but the still more unpleasing exultation
over their sufferings and extermination, which glows with an infer-
nal light in the pages of the chronicles of the day, and especially in
those of the reverend historians, Hubbard and Mather.
"Continually on the alert against the assaults of the infernal
enemy, our fathers saw his finger in witchcraft, in Indian warfare,
and in many another annoyance, the result of natural causes. Anger
and hatred were thus aroused hatred, indeed, of an imaginary foe,
but still hatred, bitter, personal, and vindictive to a degree which
we can hardly conceive, and which found its gratification in ven-
geance on the supposed agents of the invisible Tormentor.
"It could hardly, perhaps, be expected that men engaged in the
deadly terrors of savage warfare should have much sympathy for
their vanquished enemies especially when regarded as children of
the devil; yet the daring ferocity of the Indian-fighters, occasionally
relieved by a touch of good feeling and humanity, is far more agree-
able to contemplate than the venomous spirit exhibited by the hon-
ourable and reverend recorders of their deeds, whose minds, imbued
with the wretched notion of Satanic agency, seem actually to revel
in the torment, destruction, and assured damnation of their unfortu-
nate foes. In this particular, we perceive a superstition strangely
variant from that of the Spaniard, who, while slaying and tormenting
the miserable bodies of the aborigines, was ever anxious, even at the
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 95
stake or the gallows, that their souls might escape the eternal penalty,
and be admitted to the same heaven which he expected to enjoy in
person."*
CHAPTER ?.
8AMOSBT: "WELCOME, ENGLISHMEN." THE VISIT OF MASSA-
SOIT. TREATY AND ALLIANCE. MORTALITY AMONG THE
COLONISTS. DEATH OF GOVERNOR CARVER. DUEL, AND
ITS PUNISHMENT. VISIT TO MASSASOIT: TO IYAN-
OUGH. AFFECTING INCIDENT.
THE first Indian with whom the settlers of Plymouth had any
communication, was one Samoset, a sagamore or petty chief, who
had learned a little English from the traders of Manhegin, and who,
on the 16th of March, 1621, entered the little settlement, and saluted
the pilgrims with the ever-memorable words, " Welcome, Englishmen."
A friendly intercourse, by his means, was immediately established
with the neighbouring Indians, who heretofore had held cautiously
aloof. One whom he brought on a subsequent visit, was Squanto,
the only surviving native of Patuxet, the country around Plymouth.
He was one of the twenty-four whom "that wicked varlet Hunt"
had kidnapped, and, having been at London, and learned English,
he proved of great value as an interpreter. He brought information
that Massasoit, the greatest sachem of the adjoining regions, with
many of his subjects, was close at hand. That chief, attended by
sixty men, presently appeared on the hill above Plymouth, and
Edward Winslow, with the interpreters, was sent to meet him.
"We sent to the king," says the old historian, "a pair of knives,
with a copper chain and a jewel at it. To Quadequina" (his brother)
" we sent likewise a knife, and a jewel to hang in his ear, and withal
a pot of strong waters." In compliance with a friendly invitation,
Massasoit, leaving Winslow as a hostage, descended the hill, and,
with twenty attendants, came to one of the houses, where prepara-
tion had been made to receive him.
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
VOL. IY. 36
96 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Governor Carver, with the sound of drum and trumpet, presently
entered, and the two dignitaries were soon in convivial and political
harmony. "After salutations, our governor kissing his hand, the
king kissed him, and so they sat down. The governor called for
some strong waters, and drank to him, and he drank a great draught,"
&c., &c. An interview thus propitiously commenced, soon ripened
into treaty and alliance alliance faithfully observed by both parties
for more than fifty years; and the sachem (influenced, it is to be
feared, a trifle overmuch by the vigorous draught he had imbibed)
"acknowledged himself content to become the subject of our sover-
eign lord, the king aforesaid, his heirs and successors; and gave unto
them all the lands adjacent to them and to their heirs forever. * *
All which the king seemed to like well, and it was applauded of his
followers. All the while he sat by the governor, he trembled with
fear. In his person he is a very lusty man, in his best years, of an
able body, grave of countenance and spare of speech; in his attire,
little or nothing differing from the rest of his followers, only in a
great chain of white bone beads about his neck; and at it, behind
his neck, hangs a little bag of tobacco, which he drank and gave us
to drink," (i. e. smoke.)
Under the instruction of Squanto and Samoset, the English, with
the coming on of spring, applied themselves to fishing and to the
agriculture suitable to the country. Twenty acres of Indian corn
were planted. Thirteen more of the colonists died during March,
reducing them to half of their original number, and the May-Flower,
half of whose crew was also dead, on the fifth of April, sailed for
England. ' On the following day, died good Governor Carver, who,
while toiling in the unwonted heat of an American sun, had received
a mortal coup de soleil. " His care and pains were so great for the
common good, as therewith, it is thought, he oppressed himself and
shortened his days." Such is the brief but honourable epitaph of
the first New England executive. William Bradford, a young man,
but ardent and energetic, was elected to succeed him. Under his
rule the first punishment was inflicted in the colony. Two servants
of Mr. Hopkins, for fighting a duel, with sword and dagger, were
adjudged, by general vote, to be tied, neck and heels together, and
so to remain twenty-four hours; but the judges, moved by the ex
cruciating tortures of the culprits (both of whom had been wouudea
in their duello) released them within an hour, on promise of bettei
carriage for the future.
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 97
Winslow and Hopkins, setting forth, in July, on a visit to Massa-
soit, passed through many fields well cleared and ready for cultiva-
tion, but depopulated by the' pestilence, numerous skeletons still
bleaching on the ground. Massasoit, though friendly and hospitable,
was ill-prepared for the reception of company, the royal larder, it
seems, just then, being wofully unsupplied. Two fish, which the
poor king caught with his own hands, were all the refreshment he
could offer them. Agreements for traffic were made, and the chiefj
turning to his assembled subjects, made a long oration, "the meaning
whereof," says Winslow, " was, as far as we could learn, thus, ' Was
not he, Massasoyt, commander of the country round about them?
Was not such a town his and the people of it? and should they not
bring their skins unto us?' To which they answered, they were his,
and would be at peace with us, and bring their skins to us. After
this manner he named at least thirty places, and their answer was as
aforesaid to every one; so that, as it was delightful, it was tedious
unto us. This being ended, he lighted tobacco for us, and fell to
discoursing of England and of the King's Majesty, marvelling that
he would live without a wife." After a friendly sojourn of some
days, the envoys returned, leaving the chief "both grieved and
ashamed that he could no better entertain them."
A party of the English, searching for a lost child, (who was found,
and well cared for by the Indians,) put into Cummaquid, (Barn-
stable,) the seat of the sachem lyanough, "a man not exceeding
twenty-six years of age, but very personable, gentle, courteous, and
fair conditioned; indeed, not like a savage, saving for his attire.
His entertainment was answerable to his parts, and his cheer plenti-
ful and various. One thing," proceeds the narrator, "was very
grievous to us at this place. There was an old woman, whom we
judged to be no less than a hundred years old, which came to see
us, because she never saw English; yet could not behold us without
breaking out into great passion," (emotion,) "weeping and crying
excessively. We demanding the reason o it, they told us she had
three sons, who, when Master Hunt was in these parts, went aboard
his ship to trade with him, and he carried them captives into Spain,
(for Tisquantum, " (Squanto) " was at that time carried away also,)
by which means she was deprived of the comfort of her children in
her old age. We told them we were sorry that any Englishman
should give them that offence, that Hunt was a bad man, and that
all the English that heard it condemned him for the same; but for
98 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
us, we would not offer them any such injury, though it would gain
us all the skins in the country. So we gave her some small trifles,
which somewhat appeased her."
CH APT EH VI.
ARRIVAL OF THE FORTUNE. CHALLENGE FROM CANONICUS:
HIS SUPERSTITIOUS DREAD. PLYMOUTH- FORTIFIED.
WESTON'S COLONY AT WEYMOUTH: ITS MISERABLE CON-
DITION. MASSASOIT ILL: CURED BY THE ENOLISfl.
DANGEROUS PLOT REVEALED.
A SMALL vessel, called the Fortune, in November, 1621, arrived
at Plymouth, bringing thirty-five additional emigrants not enough,
indeed, to replace those who had already perished of privation and
exposure and bringing neither arms nor provision to the weak and
hungry colonists. That the settlement, in its infancy, was not
speedily cut off, was due only to the friendliness of Massasoit and
other chiefs, and to the courageous attitude of the few Englishmen
who remained alive. By the energy and promptitude of Standish, a
germ of native hostility was suppressed, and many petty chieftains
even subscribed their marks to an acknowledgment of allegiance to
the king of England. One Hobbamock, a noted paniese or warrior
of Massasoit, came to live with the English, and during the rest of
his life, was faithful to their service.
Canonicus, the great sachem of the Narragansetts, who, at one
time, had sent a friendly message to the colonists, for some unknown
reason perhaps the arrival of the additional emigrants changing
his policy, assumed an attitude of open hostility. He sent a mes-
senger to Plymouth, who, without any explanation, presented "a
bundle of new arrows, lapped in a rattlesnake's skin." The English,
amazed at this odd present, were informed by Squanto, "that it im-
ported enmity, and was no better than a challenge." On hearing
this, the governor, with much spirit, drawing forth the arrows, stuffed
the skin, in turn, with powder and shot, and sent it back, adding
a bold message of defiance. The hostile chief, his superstition
awakened by the mysterious contents of the skin, declined taking
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 99
up the gauntlet he had so hastily thrown down " insomuch as he
would not once touch the powder and shot, nor suffer it to stay in
his house or country. Whereupon, the messenger refusing it, an-
other took it up; and having been posted from place to place a long
time, at length it came whole back again." Vigilance being thus
awakened among the colonists, they fortified the town, and under
the direction of Standish, observed strict rules of discipline. Squanto
also thought proper to do his part, by informing his countrymen
that the Englislf had the plague buried in their store-house, and
could let it loose on the whole country, if they had a mind.
In the summer of 1622, two vessels were dispatched from Eng-
land by a Mr. Weston, which landed at Wessagussct (Weymouth)
some fifty or sixty idle and profligate emigrants. By their shiftless-
ness, and the encroachments of the neighbouring savages, (who soon
saw of what stuff they were made,) they were reduced ere long to a
woeful condition. In March of the same spring, a messenger was
dispatched to Plymouth with "a pitiful narration of their lamentable
and weak estate, and of the Indians' carriages," (demeanour,) " whose
boldness increased abundantly, insomuch that the victuals they got,
they would take out of their pots, and eat before their faces; yea, if
in anything they gainsaid them, they were ready to hold a knife at
their breasts; that, to give tfierii content, they had hanged one of i/iem,
tiiat stole tlie Indians corn, and yet they regarded it not; that one of
their company was turned salvage; that their people had mostly
forsaken the town, and made their rendezvous where they got their
victual, because they would not take the pains to bring it home ;
that they had sold their clothes for corn, and were ready to starve
both with cold and hunger also, because they could not endure to
get victuals by reason of their nakedness."
These disagreeable tidings of Indian hostility were presently
alarmingly confirmed. News arriving that Massasoit was mortally
ill, Winslow, with Hobbamock and another companion, was dis-
patched to his assistance, with such simple remedies as the poverty
of the colony could afford. The goodness of the chief and the at-
tachment of his followers was evidenced by the grief of flobbamock,
who, on the way, "manifesting a troubled spirit, brake forth into
these speeches: Neen womasu sagamusl Neen womasu sagamus!
&c. 'My loving sachem, my loving sachem 1 Many have I known,
but never any like thee.' And turning him to me" (Winslow)
"said, whilst I lived I should never see his like among the Indians;
100 AMEKICA ILLUSTKATED.
saying he was no liar, he was not bloody and cruel, like other In-
dians; in anger and passion he was soon reclaimed; easy to be
reconciled toward such as had offended him; ruled by reason iu
such measure that he would not scorn the advice of mean." (humble)
"men; and that he governed his men better with few strokes than
others did with many; truly loving where he loved; yea, he feared
we had not a faithful friend left among the Indians; showing how
he oft times restrained their malice, &c., continuing a long speech,
with such signs of lamentation and unfeigned sorrow, as it would
have made the hardest heart relent."
Arriving at Pokanoket, the visitors, with difficulty, forced their
way into the king's house, which was so crowded with Indians, that,
although the latter did their best to make a passage, it was no easy
matter. This assembly was performing incantations for his relief,
"making such a hellish noise," says Winslow, "as it distempered us
that were well, and therefore unlike to ease him that was sick."
His sight was quite gone, but on hearing who had come, he put forth
his hand, and took that of the Englishman. "Then he said twice,
though very inwardly," (faintly,) "Keen Winsnowf which is to say,
'Art thou Winslow'? I answered Ahhe, that is yes. Then he
doubled these words, Malta neen wonckanet namen, Winsnowf that
is to say, 'Oh, Winslow, I shall never see thee again.'" Despite
the unfavourable circumstances, his guest contrived to get down his
throat a "confection of many comfortable conserves," which wrought
so effectually that the patient soon began to mend apace. The other
sick in his village was also physicked and tended by the good Wins-
low; and Massasoit, finding himself recovering, "broke forth into the
following speeches, 'Now I see the English are my friends and love
me; and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they have
showed me.' " In gratitude, he revealed a formidable plot among
the Massachusetts and other tribes, which he had lately been solicited
to join, for the destruction of the two settlements of Plymouth and
Wessagusset.
Followed by the blessings of the whole village, the Englishmen
returned, lodging on their way, at Mattapoiset, with the sachem
Caunbitant, whose attitude had been dubious, and whom they wished
to conciliate. "By the way," says our old traveller, "I had much
conference with him, so likewise at his house, he being a notable
politician, yet full of merry jests and squibs, and never better pleased
than when the like are returned again upon him." The people of
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. |Q^
this town Winslow endeavoured to impress with the truths of reli-
gion, and especially of the ten commandments; "all which they
hearkened unto with great attention; and liked well of; only the
seventh commandment they excepted against, thinking there were
many inconveniences in it."
CHAPTER VII.
EXPEDITION OF 8TANDISH TO WEYMOUTH. DARING POLICY.
SLAUGHTER OF THE CONSPIRING INDIANS. THE COL-
ONY OF WESTON BROKEN UP. PRIVATIONS AND SUF-
FERINGS AT PLYMOUTH: DROUGHT: SEASONABLE
SUPPLY OF RAIN. ADDITIONAL ARRIVAL.
THE information given by Massasoit being confirmed by farther
evidence, it was resolved, with extraordinary boldness, to take the
offensive, and strike a deadly blow at the heads of the conspiracy.
Captain Standish, with only eight companions, set forth for Wessa-
gusset, to protect the people there, and especially to get the head of
one of the chief conspirators " Wittawamut, a notable insulting
villain, who had formerly imbued his hands in the blood of French
and English, and had oft boasted of his own valor and derided their
weakness, especially because, as he said, they died crying, making sour
faces, more like children than men." The captain, on arriving there,
warned the settlers of their danger, and collected them within the
town. An Indian spy, who presently entered, under pretence of
trading in furs, reported to his people that, though he spoke
smoothly, "he saw by his eyes that he was angry in his heart."
Seeing their plot discovered, the conspiring chiefs made no attempt
to conceal their enmity. " One Pecksuot, who was a paniese, being a
man of notable spirit," told Hobbamock, who had come with the
party, that they had heard that Standish was come to kill them
"tell him," he said, "we know it, but fear him not, neither will we
elmn him; but let him begin when he dare, he shall not take us at
unawares."
One or two at a time, the savages would present themselves, whet-
ting their knives before the captain's face, and making other men-
102 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
acing gestures. "Amongst the rest, Wittawaraut bragged of the
excellency of his knife. On the end of the handle was pictured a
woman's face, 'but,' said he, 'I have another at home that hath killed
both French and English, and that hath a man's face on it; and by
and by these two must marry.' Further he said of that knife he
there had, Hannaim namen, hannaim michen, matta cuts, that is to
say, 'By and by it should see, and by and by it should eat, but not
speak ' * * These things the captain observed, yet bare with
patience for the present.
"On the next day, seeing he could not get many together at once,
and this Pecksuot and Wittawarnut being both together, with an-
other man, and a youth of some eighteen years of age (which was
brother to Wittawamut, and, villain-like, trod in his steps) and hav-
ing about as many of his own company in a room with them, gave
the word to his men, and the door having been fast shut, began,
himself with Pecksuot, and snatching his own knife from his neck,
though with much struggling, killed him therewith, (the point
whereof he had made as sharp as a needle and ground the back also
to an edge.) Wittawamut and the other man the rest killed, and
took the youth, whom the captain caused to be hanged. But it is
incredible how many wounds these two pineses" (panieses) "received
before they died, not making any fearful noise, but catching at their
weapons and striving to the last." Three more were killed by the
same party, and in a fight in the woods (in which Hobbamock took
an active part) the Indians were defeated and put to flight.
The news of these successes was received with much joy at Ply-
mouth, and the head of Wittawamut, a grisly token of vengeance,
was affixed to the fort at that place. The worthy Robinson, indeed,
received the account of this sanguinary (though perhaps necessary)
affair, with great grief and mortification. "Would," he writes la-
men tingly to his exiled people, "that you had converted some of
them before you killed any."
Weston's colony, which had proved so miserably unfitted for the
country, was now completely broken up; a part of the settlers pro-
ceeding to Manhegin, and the rest accompanying Standish to Ply-
mouth. They might probably have remained in security where they
were; for such an impression did this fierce and energetic conduct
make on the hostile savages, that, for fifty years they made no
further attempts against the English.
The summer of 1623 brought grievous famine and distress, the
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.
103
colonists being compelled to search the woods for nuts and the sea
sands for clams, as their only sustenance. Once, it is said, a pint of
corn being the entire stock of provisions in the town, it was divided,
giving five kernels to each an incident since commemorated, by a
similar division at the entertainments of their descendants, in the
same venerated spot. A long drought also threatened the destruc-
tion of the crops, to secure which all their little store of com had
been planted. These sufferings they bore with extraordinary forti-
tude and cheerfulness; and finally set aside a day of fasting and
humiliation, and prayer for relief to God, "if our continuance there
might any way stand with his glory and our good" a sublime and
touching sentiment. Toward the close of the day, clouds gathered,
"and on the next morning," says the narrator, with quaint eloquence,
"distilled such soft, sweet, and moderate showers of rain, continuing
some fourteen days and mixed with such seasonable weather, as it
were hard to say whether our withered corn, or our drooping affec-
tions, were most quickened and revived; such was the bounty and
goodness of our God."
The Indians were greatly surprised at this unlooked-for result, and
especially, according to Winslow, at "the difference between their
conjuration, and our invocation to God for rain; theirs being mixed
with such storms and tempests, as sometimes, instead of doing them
good, it layeth the corn flat on the ground, to their prejudice; but
ours in so gentle and seasonable a manner, as they had never ob-
served the like." The harvest proved plentiful, and all fear of
starvation was allayed. In July and August of the same summer,
two ships, with sixty additional settlers, arrived. In a letter sent by
those who yet remained, was the following prophetic and consoling
sentiment: "Let it not be grievous to you that you have been the
instruments to break the ice for others who come after you with less
difficulty; the honor shall be yours to the world 1 s end: we bear you
always in our breasts, and our hearty affection is toward you all, as
are the hearts of hundreds more who never saw your faces."
104
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
CHAPTER ? 1 11.
NEW SETTLEMENTS FOUNDED: NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE
ENDICOTT'S COMPANY. THE REVELLERS OF MERRY
MOUNT: BROKEN UP BY THE PURITANS. SETTLEMENT OF
MASSACHUSETTS. FOUNDATION OF BOSTON. GREAT
EMIGRATION. MORTALITY AND SUFFERING.
THE progress of the Plymouth colony was slow, but sure, and
although the original settlement, at the end of ten years, numbered
but three hundred souls, at an early day, it began to send offshoots
into the adjoining regions. In 1625, their admirable pastor, Eobin-
son, died at Leyden, having been prevented from emigrating by an
adverse influence in England. The remainder of his congregation,
as soon as practicable, joined their brethren in America. Enterprise,
directed to the same region, was revived in the mother-country.
New patents were issued to Gorges and other projectors, and settle-
ments, as early as 1623, were made on the banks of the Piscataqua.
Portsmouth and Dover were settled, and the foundation of New
Hampshire was thus permanently laid. That of Maine was not long
in succeeding, the temporary trading and fishing stations on its coast
being gradually converted to permanent occupation. Eoger Conant,
a man of extraordinary courage and perseverance, with only three
companions, laid the foundation of a settlement at Naumkeag (now
Salem) near Cape Ann. Preparations for a Puritan emigration, on
an extensive scale, were made in England ; and in the summer of
1628, John Endicott, a man of brave and religious, but rugged and
bigoted nature, with about a hundred companions, arrived at the
diminutive outpost of Salem. The vigorous and practical spirit of
Puritanism, as well as its more gloomy and ascetic qualifications,
were not long in making their demonstration.
" A small settlement, -named Mount Wollaston, (Quincy), had fallen
into the hands of one Thomas Morton, described as 'a petty fogging
attorney of Furnival's Inn,' who, with a crew of dissolute compan
ions, lived there in much excess and licentiousness. He changed
the name of the place to Merry Mount ('as if this jollity could have
lasted always') and, besides selling fire-arms to the Indians, kept a
haunt for all the idle serving men and lewd companions in the coun-
try. Thus they lived for some time, 'vainly quamng and drinking
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 1Q5
both wiiie and strong liquors in great excess (as some have reported,
ten pound's worth in a morning) setting up a May-pole, drinking
and dancing about it, and frisking about it like so many fairies, or
furies rather yea, and 'worse practices. The
said Morton, likewise, to show his poetry, composed sundry rhymes
and verses, some tending to lasciviousness, and others to the detrac-
tion and scandal of some persons' names, which he affixed to his idle
or idol May-pole.'
"These dissolute courses received their first check from 'that
worthy gentleman, Mr. John Endicott,' who, soon after the founda-
tion of his settlement, paid them a visit, cut down their May-pole,
read them a terrible lecture, and once more changed the name of
their abode, calling it Mount Dagon. The whole community was
finally broken up by a small force dispatched from Plymouth, under
Captain Standish. This party seized Morton, and 'demolished hia
house, that it might no longer be a roost for such unclean birds.'
The culprit was sent over seas. 'Notwithstanding, in England he
got free again, and wrote an infamous and scurrilous book against
many of the godly and chief men of the country, full of lies and
slanders, and full fraught with profane calumnies against their names
and persons and the ways of God.' Eeturning imprudently to Bos-
ton, he was imprisoned 'for the aforesaid book and other things/
and finally 'being grown old in wickedness, at last ended his life in
Piscataqua.' "*
Many persons of wealth and eminence of the Puritan party having
formed the design of emigration, a charter, in 1629, was obtained
from the king for the formation of a new company, under the title
of the "Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New
England." In the latter part of June, that same year, two hundred
more emigrants, dispatched by this corporation, arrived at Salem, and
a new settlement was founded at Charlestown. During the months
of June and July, 1630, eleven ships, bearing a great number of
emigrants, arrived in Massachusetts Bay. At this time, the only
person living on the peninsula of Shawmut (the site of the present
city of Boston) was an Episcopal clergyman, the Eev. "^illiam Black-
stone, who, on account of ecclesiastical scruples, had quitted Eng-
land, and betaken himself to the American wilderness. lie had
built a cottage and planted an orchard. The new comers first
settled at Charlestown, where a small colony had already been estab-
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
106 AMEEICA ILLUSTEATED.
lished; but, on the invitation of Mr. Blackstone, and attracted by
the natural advantages of the place, their governor, the celebrated
John Winthrop, with other persons of distinction, removed thither.
The principal place of the plantation was, accordingly, erected on
that admirable locality, which, in all the wide region of which it is
the metropolis, could hardly find a rival, in beauty or convenience.
In the course of the year, five more vessels, with more emigrants,
making the number fifteen hundred, arrived. Buildings were erected
with all possible dispatch, but such were the numbers, that proper
shelter for all was unobtainable. Before December, two hun-
dred had died of disease occasioned by their hardships, and more
than a hundred had retreated to England. These sufferings were
endured with much fortitude by the survivors. "We here enjoy
God and Jesus Christ," wrote Winthrop (who had lost a son) to his
wife, "and is not this enough? I would not have altered my course,
though I had foreseen all these afflictions. I never had more peace
of mind." Despite these discouragements, the spirit of enterprise
was fairly awakened in the Puritan party, and during the next few
years, such numbers continued to flock to the new colony, that an
Order in Council was issued by the king to restrain the emigration.
Nevertheless, for a long time, great numbers of the persecuted faction
resorted to Massachusetts the year 1685 being especially memorable
for the arrival of a large company, among whom were the afterwards
celebrated Hugh Peters (chaplain to Cromwell) and Mr. (afterwards
Sir Henry) Vane, who, the year after his arrival, was elected gov-
ernor. It is said that Hampden, Cromwell, and Pym, (three names
the most formidable in the great revolution,) had also embarked,
but, by an order of court, were constrained to remain, to the de-
struction of the power and the person that withheld them.
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.
u M ** * * i x tA> .
CHARACTER OF THE FOUNDERS OF MASSACHUSETTS. REGU-
LATIONS FOR PUBLIC MORALITY: FOR APPAREL, ETC.
AMUSING PENALTIES. INTOLERANCE IN RELIGION.
COMMENCEMENT OF PERSECUTION.
"THE wealth and importance of this new community were com-
mensurate with the growing power of the Puritan party. That
party, originally so humble and depressed, was already beginning
to uplift its voice in the councils of the English nation, and to pro-
voke fresh and suicidal efforts of that arbitrary power, which was
destined, ere long, to fall, with such terrible circumstances, before it.
Accordingly, the men who now transferred their fortunes to the
New World, though aiming, as earnestly as their predecessors, at
the foundation of a religious commonwealth, brought with them
somewhat'of that insolence which is always the handmaid of new
prosperity. ' Their characters,' says the candid and judicious Baylies,
'were more elevated, but their dispositions were less kindly, and
their tempers more austere, sour, and domineering than those of their
Plymouth brethren^ They had brought themselves to a positive con-
viction of their own evangelical purity and perfect godliness, and
therefore they tolerated not even the slightest difference in theolo-
gical opinions.' They were composed, in short, of that stuff which,
according to circumstances, makes a martyr or a persecutor; and,
unfortunately for their reputation, the latter had opportunity for
development. This, however, can hardly be laid at the door of
their faith. Having power to persecute, they persecuted ; and where
is the religious community, which, having such power, ever forbore
to use it? Until, indeed, aroused by opposition (which did not
occur for many years, the arbitrary and intolerant spirit of the author-
ities, for the most part, lay dormant, only indulging itself in muni-
cipal regulations and fantastic penalties, rather fitted to provoke
mirth than indignation."*
Though the sweeping generalities and searching particulars of a
"Maine Law," never suggested themselves to the legislation of our
forefathers, acts for the restraint of intemperance were not wanting.
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
108
AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
As early as 1634, we find a traveller complaining that if a gentleman
went into either of the two public houses in Boston, he was followed
by an officer appointed for the purpose, who watched his potations
narrowly, and when of opinion that he had enough, would counter-
mand his orders, and cut off all further supply "beyond which,''
says our author, bitterly, "he could not get one drop!" Another
ordinance enjoined on all constables to keep special watch over all
"common coasters, unprofitable fowlers, and tobacco takers." But
when the clergy began to use the inhibited weed, the severity of
this provision was relaxed. Vanity in dress was severely repre-
hended, especially "immoderate great sleeves, slash apparel, and
long- wigs." Any one who should "give offence to his neighbor by
the excessive length of his hair," might be arraigned before the
General Court, and compelled to remove the obnoxious surplusage.
No regular system of law, common or statute, being adopted at
first, sentences of punishment were framed according to the ingenious
fancy of the court. These sentences, gravely perpetuated in the
records, sound oddly enough to modern jurisprudence. Josias
Plaistowe, for stealing, is fined, and doomed thereafter to. be called
Josias, "and not Mr. as he formerly used to be." "Mrs. Cornish,
found suspicious of incontinency," is (probably in default of suffi-
cient evidence for conviction) "seriously admonished to take heed."
Mr. Robert Shorthose, who had thought proper to swear by the blood
of God, is adjudged to have his tongue put in a cleft stick, and so to
remain for half an hour. Edward Palmer, who had made a new
pair of stocks for the town, for presenting the extortionate bill of
two pounds and upward, is sentenced to pay a fine of five, and for
one hour personally to test the efficacy of his own handiwork a
salutary warning to all public creditors. Nothing seems to have
been more sharply repressed than any question of the authority of
the court. In 1632, according to the record, "Thomas Knower was
set in the bilboes for threatening ye court, that if he should be pun-
ished, he would have it tried in England, whether he was lawfully
punished or no."
Religious conformity, at first not enforced to a sanguinary extreme,
was a regular part of the political system. All persons, under pain
of a fine, were compelled to attend meeting. Mr. Painter, it seems,
"on a .sudden turned Anabaptist," and would not have his child
baptised, "Whereupon," says Governor Winthrop, with delightful
discrimination between an opinion and the expression of it, " because
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.
he was very poor, so as no other but corporal punishment could be
fastened on him, he was ordered to be whipped, not for his opinion,
but for reproaching the Lord's Ordinance. He endured his punish-
ment with much obstinacy, and said, boastingly, that God had mar-
vellously assisted him." Hugh Bretts, for heresy, was ordered to
be gone out of the jurisdiction, "and not return again, on pain of
being hanged." By a piece of intolerance, quite as unjustifiable as
any which the Puritans themselves had endured in England, restraint
was laid on the consciences of the Indians, who, under penalty of
five pounds, were forbidden to worship the devil, or to practice any of
the religious rites of their forefathers. It was ordered, moreover, at
a later day, that if any negro slaves should take refuge among them,
as many Indians should be "captivated" in their place.
L Jii A ir i & ii JL.
KEY. ROGER WILLIAMS. HIS LIBERAL OPINIONS. HE IS
PERSECUTED BY THE AUTHORITIES OF MASSACHUSETTS.
EXPELLED FROM THAT PROVINCE. TAKES REFUGE IN
THE WILDERNESS. FOUNDS PROVIDENCE PLANTA-
TIONS AND THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
INTOLERANCE in the province of Massachusetts, ere long, was the
exciting cause of fresh schemes of colonization. Roger Williams, a
clergyman of liberal opinions in religion and enlightened views in
politics, in 1631, attracted by the expectation of tolerance in the
newly-peopled wilderness, made his way to Boston. He was first
settled at Salem, but on account of the illiberal hostility of the Massa-
chusetts authorities, who had some ide;a of his sentiments, removed
to Plymouth, where he was appointed assistant minister, and by his
piety and eloquence, became much endeared to the people. From
benevolent motives, he took much pains to learn the language and
manners and to conciliate the affections of the neighbouring Indians.
"God was pleased," he says, "to give me a painful, patient spirit, to
lodge with them in their filthy, smoky holes, even while I lived in
Plymouth and Salem, to gain their tongue." Massasoit and the two
great sachems of the Narragansetts (Canonicus and his nephew Mi-
110 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
antonimo) accorded him their friendship that of the latter eventu-
ally proving of no small moment to the prosperity and even the
existence of the New England colonies. He resided two years in
Plymouth, and then moved again to Salem, followed .by a considera-
ble number of his congregation.
There (August, 1634) he was regularly installed as pastor, and by
his liberal preaching speedily revived the prejudice and hostility of
the authorities. In that day, it was considered a startling novelty
to declare that a man was the proper guardian of his own religious
belief, and that the state had no right to intermeddle with it. In
reading the terrible history of martyrdom, three reigns before this,
we do not find many objections raised to the practice of burning men
alive, abstractly considered but the question was debated with
intense earnestness as to what shade of opinion was fittest to be re-
pressed by the flames. Probably a good many tenets might have been
enumerated, which nearly all parties in the English Church would
have united in denouncing as worthy of punishment. Yet, doubtless,
it was well for mankind that martyrdoms, though on points ostensibly
the most trifling and immaterial, should have been bravely undergone;
for, if it had once been established that death and suffering would
make men belie the faith that was in them, self-will and error, and
consequent misfortune to the race, would have found the means for
their eternal perpetuation. To the end of time, the only rule would
have been that of the naturally violent, self-willed, and cruel. But
then, and long after, it was considered allowable, by nearly all sects
of Christians, to repress opinions of some sort by the strong arm of
the law. It was, therefore, to the no small annoyance of the Massa-
chusetts magistrates, as a reflection on their systematic intolerance,
that the preacher boldly announced " that no human power had the
right to intermeddle in matters of conscience ; and that neither church,
nor state, nor bishop, nor priest, nor king, may prescribe the smallest
iota of religious faith. For this, he maintained, a man is responsible
to God alone." Especially he deprecated the unjust laws compelling
universal attendance at meeting and a compulsory support of the
clergy, affirming that the civil power "extends only to the bodies
an.d goods, and outward estates of men," and maintaining that with
their belief "the civil magistrate may not intermeddle, even to stop
a church from apostacy and heresy."
He had frequently been censured by the authorities or vexatiously
summoned before them ; and on the promulgation of these incendiary
R O O K R IV I /, 1. I Jl M S
THE FOUNDER OF HHOtlB ISLAND.
BOHN IN A I K.s. 1S05 . ARR1VKD IN NEW ENGLAND ICT1 , FOUNDED
\SX: IUKH 100
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
By his influence with the Narragansett sachems, land and the per-
mission to settle had been obtained; and this influence, two years
after the foundation of Providence, was again exerted in behalf of a
large number of persons, expelled from Massachusetts as heretics,
but "lovingly entertained" at the new colony of religious freedom.
On very moderate terms he procured for them a grant of the beauti-
ful island of Ehode Island, which has since given its name to the
entire state, and a very flourishing settlement soon sprang up there.
"It was not price or money," he writes, many years afterwards, "that
could have purchased Rhode Island. It was obtained by love; by
the love and favor which that honorable gentleman Sir Henry Vane
and myself had with the great sachem Miantonimo, about the league
which I procured between the Massachusetts English and the Nar-
ragansetts, in the Pequot war." (That war, with the causes which
originated it, and the important influence of Williams, in behalf of
the English, will presently be recounted.)
tt {**** Jb l A JL *
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT BY PLYMOUTH: BY MASSACHU-
SETTS. HARDSHIPS OF THE COLONISTS. FOUNDATION OF
HARTFORD, ETC. EMIGRATION UNDER HOOXER: NEW
HAVEN FOUNDED. COMMENCEMENT OF THE PEQUOT
WAR. INFLUENCE OF ROGER WILLIAMS.
A SETTLEMENT on the fertile banks of the Connecticut river had
been projected at an early day, and the flourishing commonwealth
of Massachusetts had been urged to undertake it; but the authorities
of that province, deterred by many opposing circumstances, especially
the dread of Indian hostility, had deferred or neglected it. With
more courage and enterprise, the little colony of Plymouth undertook
the task. Thence, in October of 1633, William Holmes sailed for
the Connecticut in a vessel, carrying the frame of a house, and a
small number of men, to establish a trading post, and perhaps a
plantation. Passing up that river, he was warned off by the Dutch,
who had a small fort at what is now known as Hartford, but sailed
on, and built his house a few miles above, a little below the junction
of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers.
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.
113
The example thus set, emigration from Massachusetts rapidly fol-
lowed. In October, 1635, a company of sixty men, women, and
children took up their march westward from Massachusetts. These
people, their supplies cut off by the freezing of the river, suffered
great hardships, and numbers betook themselves to the coast. In
May, the next year, a much larger emigration occurred a hundred
colonists, under the Rev. Thomas Hooker, a divine eminent for his
eloquence and piety, proceeding overland in the same direction. A
numerous drove of cattle, the milk of which sustained them on the
way, was driven before them. Small settlements had already been
made at Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor, and a form of gov-
ernment had been instituted at an early day. By the end of the year
1636, about eight hundred settlers had made their way to the banks
of the Connecticut.
Not long afterwards (April, 1638) a new colony of Puritans was
founded at New Haven, under the two friends, Theophilus Eaton,
and the Rev. John Davenport, the former of whom, until his death,
for twenty years held by election the office of governor. Villages
and plantations, springing from this source, spread rapidly along the
shores of Long Island Sound. An Indian war, the first in New
England, almost immediately after the foundation of the settlements
on the Connecticut, menaced their destruction. To avenge certain
murders committed, years before, by the Pequots, Massachusetts had
dispatched an expedition by sea, which committed wanton and indis-
criminate reprisals. Hostilities thus precipitated, a murderous war-
fare ensued. Cotton Mather, indeed, sees fit to ascribe the whole
matter, as usual, to the direct intervention of the enemy. "Two
colonies of churches," he says, "being thus brought forth, and a third
conceived, within the bounds of New England, it was time for the
devil to take the alarum, and make some attempt in opposition to
the possession which the Lord Jesus Christ was going to have of these
utmost parts of the earth. These parts- were then covered with nations
of barbarous Indians and infidels, in whom the prince of the power of
the air did work as a spirit; nor could it be expected that nations of
wretches, whose whole religion was the most explicit sort of devil-
worship should not be acted by the devil to engage in some early
and bloody action, for the extinction of a plantation so contrary to
his interests, as that of New England was."
Whatever the cause, the whole weight of Indian hostility and
resentment fell on the feeble settlements of Connecticut The Pe-
114 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
quots kept constant watch to surprise all stragglers, and frequently
put their captives to death with the most cruel torments. A small
fort had been erected by the English at Saybrook, near the mouth
of the river, and the little garrison, under their governor, Gardiner,
held out against the besieging savages with much resolution. Sas-
sacus, the principal sachem of the hostile tribe, now used every ex-
ertion to gain the alliance of his old enemies, the Narragansetts,
sending ambassadors to Canonicus and Miantonimo, urging every
motive of policy and self-preservation for the relinquishment of their
feud and uniting their arms against the common enemy. This piece
of diplomacy was defeated by the agency of Eoger Williams, whose
influence with those great sachems has been already mentioned,
and who, at the request of the Massachusetts authorities, promptly
set forth in his canoe, and made his way, in a dangerous storm, to the
Narragansett court. There he stayed for three days, countervailing
by his persuasions the arguments of the Pequot ambassadors, whose
hands were still reeking with the blood of his countrymen, and
"from whom he nightly looked for their bloody knives at his throat
also." These persuasions, combined with ancient enmity, outweighed
the influence of the Pequots, and Canonicus entered into league with
the English.
lj JuiL iLat J> iL JLl it wai tL X o
THE PEQUOT WAR, CONTINUED. THE ATTACK ON WETHERS-
FIELD. EXPEDITION UNDER MASON. SURPRISE AND STORM-
ING OF THE PEQUOT FORT: TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER AND
CONFLAGRATION. FINAL DEFEAT AND DESTRUCTION
OF THE TRIBE. BARBAROUS EXULTATION OF THE
EARLY HISTORIANS. REFLECTIONS.
IN April, 1637, the Pequots attacked the little town of Wethers-
field, and killed nine of the settlers. The English now saw the
necessity for immediate and energetic action. Ninety men were
speedily equipped, and put under the command of Captain John
Mason, an active soldier, and a party of seventy Mohegan Indians,
headed by the notorious Uncas, (then in revolt against his chief and
TUB SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.
kinsman, Sassacus,) were persuaded to join the expedition. Letters,
entreating aid, were dispatched to Massachusetts. Early in May,
the allied force proceeded down the river, and at Saybrook, set sail
for the country of the Narragansetts, intending to take the enemy
by surprise. Though apprized that a force from Massachusetts was
on the way to join him, Mason, fearing lest the Pequots should learn
of his design, resolved to strike a blow without delay. Strengthened
by a considerable force of native allies, he marched westward from
the Narragansett country, with great secrecy, and on the 5th of
June, a little before daylight, came to " Pequot Hill," (in the present
town of Groton,) on which the strongest fort of the enemy was
situated.
The barking of a dog gave the first alarm to the unsuspecting
garrison, who, though taken by surprise, and startled from profound
slumber, hastily snatched their rude weapons, and fought with much
courage. Mason, wearied at the length of the contest, at last cried,
"We must burn them I" and snatching up a brand, set fire to the
matting in one of the wigwams. The whole village was composed
of the driest and most combustible materials, and the flames, urged
by a strong wind, spread swiftly through the fort. The warriors
continued to shoot until their bowstrings were snapped by the heat,
and then mostly perished in the flames, or were shot down, in at-
tempting to escape over the palisades. Women, children, and old
people met the same terrible fate. It seems certain that at least four
hundred perished, and possibly many more. "It was supposed,"
says Dr. Increase Mather, "that no less than 500 or 600 Pequot
souls were brought down to hell that day." The reverend gentle-
man, it would seem, took an especial comfort in considering the
future torment of the enemy; for elsewhere, he tells of "two and
twenty Indian captains, slain all of them and brought down to hell
in one day," and of a certain chief, who sneered at the religion of
the English, "and withal, added a hideous blasphemy, immediately
upon which a bullet took him in the head, and dashed out his brains,
sending his cursed soul in a moment amongst the devils and blas-
phemers in hell forever." Prevalency of Prayer, page 7.
Perhaps we cannot better arrive at a knowledge of the state of pub-
lic sentiment in that day, and, indeed, for half a century afterward,
than by perusing a few more of these precious extracts from the old
New England historians.
"It was a fearful sight," says Mr. Morton, (New England's Memo-
116 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
rial,) "to see them thus frying in the fire, and the streams of blood
quenching the same; and horrible was the stink and scent thereof;
but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise
thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to
enclose their enemies in their hands," &c. The Pequots from other
villages, on hearing the disastrous tidings, hastened in numbers to the
scene, and their very natural anguish is mocked by Cotton Mather in a
strain of satire as dull as it is wicked. "When they came to see the
ashes of their friends " he says, "mingled with the ashes of the fort,
and the bodies of their countrymen so terribly barbikew'd, where the
English had been doing a good morning's work, they howl'd, they
roar'd, they stamp'd, they tore their hair; and though they did not
swear (for they knew not how) yet they cwrs'df, and were the pictures
of so many devils in desparation." Is not the feeling which prompted
this truly diabolical sentence identical with that which animates the
red warrior when beholding his foe consuming at the stake or run-
ning the gauntlet through innumerable blows?
Separated into small bodies, the Pequots were speedily cut off,
in detail, by the victors. Closely pursued by their allied 'enemies, a
portion retreated westward, and finally, in a swamp at Fairfield,
after a brave defence, were completely routed. Most of the warriors
were slain, and the women and children were made slaves, a portion
being shipped to the West Indies. Sassacus, and a small body of
his warriors, took refuge among the Mohawks ; but* were put to
death by that inimical tribe. Several hundred of the broken nation,
on one occasion, were taken by the English in the Narragansett
country. "The men among them," says the Eeverend William
Holland, "to the number of 30, were turned presently into Charon's
ferry boat, under the command of Skipper Gallop, who dispatched
them a little without the harbour." "Twos found," says Eeverend
Cotton Mather, "the quickest way to feed the fishes with em." The
women and children were enslaved. Thus thinned by massacre and
transportation, the forlorn relics of the tribe thereafter remained in
entire subjection to the victors.
"In reading accounts like these, it seems hard to determine which
is the savage and which the child of civilization and the hasty
conclusion would be, that, except in the possession of fire-arms to
defeat the Indians, and of letters to record their destruction, the
authors and approvers of such deeds were but little in advance of
the unhappy race, whose extermination left room for their own
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.
increase and prosperity. But until our own day is free from the
disgrace of scenes parallel in cruelty, enacted by those who have had
the advantage of two centuries of civilization, it ill becomes us to
question with too great severity the deeds of men struggling for
existence, in the wilderness, not only with a savage foe, but with all
those hardships and uncertainties which render the heart of man
fierce, callous, and unscrupulous in the means of self-preservation.
The most disagreeable part of the whole business, as we have re-
marked before, is the fiendish exultation of the learned historians,
who, sitting in their arm-chairs at Boston and Ipswich, record with
godless sneers and chuckles, the defeat and sufferings of the savage
patriots of the soil.
"These gentlemen, possessed with a happy conviction of their
own righteousness, appear to have thought that the Lord, as a mat-
ter of course, was on their side, and that only the Adversary or his
agents could be arrayed against them. A long course of ecclesias-
tical dictation had made them as infallible, in their ''conceit,' as so
many popes ; and a constant handling of Jewish scriptures had sup-
plied them with a vast number of historical texts, all susceptible of
excellent application in behalf of their position. These were the
wars of the Lord; the extirpation of the uncircumcised occupants of
the Promised Land ; crusades against Edomites, Philistines, and Og,
king of Bashan; and any severity toward the vanquished, or any
elation at their defeat, might find an easy precedent in the extermin-
ating policy of priests and prophets, and the paeans of victory chanted
over their fallen foes."*
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND.
Vj iL Jb Jj u> tL iu <X* Jj u J
SIR GEORGE CAIVERT: HIS SCHEMES FOR SETTLEMENTS 1H
AMERICA: HE OBTAINS THE GRANT OF MARYLAND: FOUNDS
A COLONY THERE. SETTLEMENT OF ST. MARY'S.
RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS. EXPULSION OF
CLAYBORNE. DISCONTENT AND INSURRECTION.
PROTESTANT SETTLERS. ACT FOR THE
TOLERATION OF ALL CHRISTIAN SECTS.
SIR GEORGE CALVERT, a secretary of state under James L, having
conscientiously become a Catholic, and finding, in the adoption of
this proscribed faith, an insuperable bar to political ambition at
home, had, from an early day, directed his exertions to the enter-
prise of peopling and governing new regions in America. He had
made strenuous and protracted, but unavailing endeavours to found a
permanent and prosperous settlement on the rugged shores of New-
foundland; and, finally, turned his attention to the milder and more
fertile regions of Virginia. His desire to plant a colony there being
thwarted by the prejudice of the authorities against his faith, he
returned to England, where his court-favour, despite this obstacle,
being good, he obtained from the crown the grant of an extensive
region northward of the southern bank of the Potomac, and extend-
ing to the fortieth degree of north latitude.
Over this wide tract, almost unlimited personal jurisdiction was
conferred on him, with some reservation in favour of self-government
oy the settlers ; and the title of Lord Baltimore, which he received
at the same time, was an additional proof of the royal favour. In
honour of the queen, Henrietta Maria, he bestowed on the region of
his projected colony the name of Maryland. Before the final ratifi-
cation of the charter, he died, but his rights were confirmed to his
BOH Cecil, the second Lord Baltimore, who devoted himself with
THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. H9
much energy to the completion of his father's plan. In November,
1633, he dispatched his brother, Leonard Calvert, with about two
hundred emigrants, mostly Catholics, in two vessels, the Ark and
Dove, to found the projected settlement. This company first touched
at Point Comfort, in Virginia, where, though with no sinceie cor-
diality, they were courteously received by the authorities; and in
March of the following year, proceeded to the Potomac.
Intercourse, generally friendly, was established with the natives
inhabiting its shores; and, on the St. Mary's, at an Indian town, called
Yoacomoco, (afterwards St. Mary's,) it was resolved to plant a settle-
ment. The chief received the emigrants with extraordinary kindness
and hospitality, and for hatchets, hoes, and other European articles,
they obtained not only a large tract of land, but half of the village
itself, with the corn growing adjacent, and were thus at once pro-
vided with comfortable shelter. This peaceful and friendly intercourse
with the native inhabitants continued for nearly ten years, when it
was interrupted by hostilities. These, after a continuance of two
years, were ended by treaty, and a long interval of peace succeeded.
Only a few years after the establishment of the new colony, its
tranquillity was disturbed by a species of civil warfare. Captain
William Clayborne, who had planted a trading establishment on
Kent Island, opposite to the settlements of Lord Baltimore, and who
had expended large sums on the enterprise, was summoned by the
proprietary to yield it up, as lying within the limits of his patent.
Despite forcible remonstrance, both from Virginia and the English
government, Baltimore resolved to enforce this obnoxious claim by
an appeal to arms. After a number of hostile encounters, the plant-
ation on the isle of Kent was carried by a night assault., and its
tenants were made prisoners or put to flight. On the complaint of
Clayborne, the king (July, 1638) strongly reprehended these violent
proceedings, but, on account of the liberal political opinions of the
injured party, the Commissioners of Plantations decided that, "con-
cerning the violences and wrongs by the said Clayborne and the
rest complained of, they found no cause at all to relieve them," &c.
Founded, as the new colony was, by a sect persecuted in England,
it did not imitate the example of other settlements originating in a
similar cause, but allowed free liberty of conscience and of worship
to all, at least of the Christian faith. The overbearing claims of the
proprietor to almost complete personal jurisdiction, however, occa-
sioned much discontent and uneasiness, and, in 1645, excited an
120 AMERICA ILLUSTEATED.
actual insurrection, by which Calvert, the governor, was compelled
to retreat into Virginia. The government of the proprietor, a year
or two afterwards, was reinstated an amnesty being granted for all
political offences.' In 1649, the year of the king's execution, the
people, taking advantage of the success of the revolutionary party in
England, wrung from Lord Baltimore- an act by which some portion
of legislative power was secured to their deputies.
To increase the population of his province, that nobleman now
began to invite Protestant settlers, both from New England and
Virginia. The former, strongly prejudiced, declined the invitation,
but from the latter, on account of the arbitrary spirit of the author-
ities, great numbers migrated to Maryland. In 1649, the Catholic
assembly, to their honour, passed a statute, explicitly declaring
(what had always been matter of custom in the province) perfect
freedom in matters of Christian faith. " Whereas the enforcing of
the conscience in matters of religion," proclaims this liberal enact-
ment, "hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence in
those commonwealths where it has been practised, and for the more
quiet and peaceable government of this province, and the better to
preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person
within this province, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be
any ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced for his or her reli-
gion, in the free exercise thereof." The object sought in the explicit
enactment of this statute was, doubtless, as well to attract and con
ciliate Protestant emigration, as for self-protection in event of the
Catholics themselves falling into the minority.
THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND.
U *i ** > * 3 *i * !
ARBITRARY SYSTEM OF LORD BALTIMORE. DISAFFECTION
OP THE PROTESTANT SETTLERS. I NTERFEREN CE OP THE
TIROINIA COMMISSIONERS. AFFAIRS IN ENGLAND.
TRIUMPH OP THE PROTESTANTS. REPEAL OF TOLERA-
TION. CIYIL WAR. VICTORY OF THE PROTESTANTS.
FENDALL'S INSURRECTION: HIS SUCCESS AND
FINAL EUIN. TOLERATION RESTORED.
THE Virginian settlers, imbued with a spirit of political liberty,
were surprised and grieved, ere long, at being required to take an
oath of allegiance to Lord Baltimore, couched in terms of such arro-
gance, as appeared to them "far too high for him, and strangely
unsuitable to the present liberty which God hath given to English
subjects." The proprietor sternly rejected any modification of the
obnoxious form, and ordered Stone, his governor, to enforce forfeit-
ure and banishment against all who should fail within three months
to comply with his requisition. But that functionary thought it
imprudent to carry out such an arbitrary ordinance, and, accord-
ingly, deferred its execution.
A commission had been appointed to reduce Virginia under the
parliamentary rule, and it so happened that Bennet and Clayborne,
both at enmity with the proprietary, had the principal control of its
transactions. The former being made governor, and the latter sec-
retary of Virginia, they speedily found occasion to interfere in the
affairs of Maryland. After considerable debate with Stone, they so
far modified their demands as only to claim the nomination of most
of the colonial officers. Baltimore, exceedingly indignant, sought
redress from the revolutionary party, which he had endeavoured by
all means to conciliate; and it is supposed that he obtained some
secret promise of countenance from the Protector; for, in 1654, he
sent word to his governor to resist the proceedings of the commis-
sion at all hazards, to displace their officers, and to expel from the
province all who would .not take the disputed oath of allegiance.
Stone, accordingly, feeling confident, it would seem, in the support
of some high authority, proceeded, with much impetuosity, to put
these obnoxious instructions into force.
122 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Three months of negotiation ensued, when the commission, re-
solving to carry matters with a high hand, set forth for Maryland,
and issued, a proclamation deposing him, and declaring Cromwell the
head of the government. With a strong force of Protestants, they
advanced against the governor, who, on his part, could gather but a
comparatively small and timid levy of the opposite sect and faction.
In despair of success, he resigned his authority into the hands of the
two commissioners, who, thereupon, appointed ten others, to adminis-
ter affairs in the several departments. By an edict, the same sum-
mer, they deprived the Catholics of their elective franchise ; and the
next assembly, strongly Protestant, repealed the act for universal
toleration, so far as the obnoxious religion was concerned.
Though this bigoted act was not carried to the extreme of actual
persecution, it naturally produced great resentment in the minds of
the aggrieved sect. To be thus excluded, at least by the law, from
the province they had founded, and to see their religion, a refuge for
which had induced them to undertake their exile, proscribed by
aliens, was more than human patience could endure. The Catholics
and others attached to the house of Baltimore, rallied around the
governor, and soon presented a formidable attitude. They seized
on the public records at Patuxent, reduced a considerable tract of
country to submission, and advanced upon the chief station of the
Protestant party, at Providence, in Anne Arundel. Overawed at
these formidable demonstrations, the latter made overtures of peace,
and even of submission, but receiving no answer, resolved to fight
the quarrel out. In March, 1655, the Catholic force, two hundred
and fifty strong, sailed up the Severn and disembarked. Their ene-
mies, less than half that number, made a desperate stand against
them, and battle was joined with cries of "Hey for St. Mary !" and
"God is our strength!" After a sharp but brief contest, victory fell
to the weaker but more valiant party of Puritans; Stone, with his
chief officers, being made captive, and all the rest of his force except
five being killed or made prisoners. Baggage, artillery, and a store of
beads and relics, and similar "trash wherein they trusted," also fell into
the hands of the victors. The life of the defeated leader was hardly
saved from the vengeance of his enemies, and four of the chief per-
sons of his party were tried by a council of war, and were executed.
Not long after these events, Josias Fendall, an active partisan of
the Baltimore faction, rallying the Catholics, raised a counter-insur
rection, which was suppressed, not without difficulty. The proprie-
THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 123
tnry, pleased with his exertions, now appointed him governor, and
he gained possession of the district of St. Mary's. By March, 1658,
by his policy and address, he contrived to have the authority of
Baltimore and of himself acknowledged throughout the province.
Eeligious freedom, and the relinquishment of the obnoxious claims
of the proprietary, were among the conditions on which this agree-
ment was founded.
When, in March, 1660, tidings of the Restoration of Charles II.,
came to Maryland, the assembly, supposing that Baltimore, on ac-
count of his intrigues with the revolutionary party, would be a
mark for the royal displeasure, hastily and prematurely disowned
his authority, substituting their own, in the king's name. But the
proprietor, easily making his peace at court, was fully reinstated in
his privileges, and speedily sent out his brother, Philip Calvert, as
governor. Fendall, who had been implicated in the proceedings of
the assembly, was tried and convicted of high treason, but was suf-
fered to escape with comparatively slight punishment. For a sub-
sequent insurrectionary movement, he was fined, imprisoned, and
banished from the colony.
The population of the province, at this time, (1660,) has been
variously estimated at from eight to twelve thousand. The Quakers,
who had experienced such persecution in other colonies (see New
England, &c.) resorted there in considerable numbers, and were
tolerated in the exercise of their worship.
VIRGINIA,
CONTINUED.
u ii col i Jt Ji jTi I
SEIGN OP CHARLES I.: HIS VIEWS OF VIRGINIA. YEARDLBI,
30VERNOR: WEST: HARVEY: HIS DEPOSITION BI THE PEOPLE:
HE IS SUPPORTED BY THE CROWN. WYATT. SIR WIL-
LIAM BERKELEY, GOVERNOR. LOYALTY OF THE COL-
ONY. PERSECUTION OF DISSENTERS. SECOND INDIAN
CONSPIRACY AND MASSACRE. OPECH ANCANOUGH
A PRISONER: HIS SPEECH: MURDERED BY A
SOLDIER. REDUCTION OF THE INDIANS.
TRIUMPH OF THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND.
ROYALIST EMIGRATION TO VIRGINIA.
LOYALTY OF THE PROVINCE.
THE main object of Charles I., from the time of his accession to
the throne, in governing Virginia, seems to have been to derive as
great a pecuniary profit from it as possible. Sufficiently arbitrary
in his domestic policy, he probably regarded any republican spirit
in this weak and distant colony as too inconsiderable to deserve his
attention; while, continually seeking the means of supporting a
government without the necessity of resorting to parliament for
supplies, his only anxiety was to derive as large a revenue as pos-
sible from the importation of tobacco. When Wyatt, in 1626,
returned to England, Sir George Yeardley, the author, as it were,
of Virginia's political freedom, was appointed governor. Under his
just and equal administration, the province prospered and increased
greatly in numbers; as many as a thousand emigrants arriving in a
single year. He died in 1627, leaving a high character, and a
memory revered by the people. Francis West was elected his
successor, as governor, by the council, which, in such case, was
authorized to fill the vacancy. John Harvey, who, soon after, was
VIKGINIA. 125
appointed by the king to that office, and who arrived in Virginia in
1629, appears, by his system of favouritism, to have excited much
discontent in the province, which, nevertheless, by its popular form
of government, enjoyed a good share of prosperity and freedom. A
remarkable order and steadiness seems to have characterized its
early legislation.
The cession to Lord Baltimore of a large tract, which the Virgin-
ians had always been accustomed to consider as lying within their
own jurisdiction, created no little alarm and uneasiness. Harvey,
however, who was a strong partisan of the crown, when Clayborne,
defeated and outlawed in Maryland, took refuge in Virginia, so far
from taking advantage of the opportunity to exert an influence over
the sister province, sent the fugitive a prisoner to England. The
people, and the majority of the council, indignant at this act, sum-
marily deposed the governor, appointing Captain John "West in his
place, till the king's pleasure could be known. Supported by the
royal favour, however, he reassumed his office, which he continued
to hold until 1639, when he was replaced by Sir Francis Wyatt.
Two years afterwards, (February, 1642,) Sir William Berkeley, in
turn appointed to that office, arrived in Virginia, where, by his cor-
dial agreement with the legislature, many improvements were made
in the civil code, and important acts were passed for the benefit of
the colony.
To a province like Virginia, alike prosperous and loyal, the
triumph of the popular and Puritan party in England brought no
satisfaction. On the contrary, to mark its attachment to the estab-
lished -church, the colonial government even went to the length of
instituting a religious persecution (the first in Virginia) in its behalf
an especial order being issued in 1643, by the council, for the
banishment of non-conformists, and the silencing of all except Epis-
copal preaching.
Hostility with the Indians, long confined to sudden forays and
petty skirmishes, in the next year ripened to a general war. Re-
membering the sanguinary success of their former attempt, the
savages, with profound secrecy, again concerted a simultaneous
attack on the intruders. On the 18th of" April, 1644, the frontier
settlement? were assaulted, and some three hundred of the colonists
fell victims; but the assailants, losing heart, their design only com-
menced, returned to the forests, where their enemies were not long
in pursuing them. In this war, Opechancanough, so long the terror
126 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
of the whites, was made prisoner. He was now in extreme old age,
being unable to raise his eyelids, which, when he desired to see,
were opened by his attendants. Being brought before the governor,
a spectacle for the eager curiosity of the crowd, he said, haughtily,
"Had Sir "William Berkeley fallen into my hands, I would not have
exposed him thus to the gaze of my people." A ruffianly soldier,
to avenge, it is said, some former grievance, extinguished, by a cow-
ardly murder, the feeble spark of life yet lingering in his frame.
These successes were followed up with much vigour, repeated incur-
sions being made against the Indians; and, in 1646, peace was
concluded with Necotowanee, their chief, (the successor of Opechan-
canough,) on terms of submission and cession of territory.
This difficulty, (the last with the natives in their immediate vicin-
ity,) thus overcome, the Virginian settlements continued to increase
and prosper. In the winter of 1648, more than thirty vessels, at
one time, were trading in their ports. The number of colonists had
risen to twenty thousand; and the triumph of the Puritans in
England, compelling the opposite party to exile, brought about an
emigration of numerous loyalists and cavaliers, some of them men
of distinction. The loyalty of the province, confirmed by this means,
stood firm for the House of Stuart. Immediately after the execu-
tion of Charles, the government of Virginia had recognized his son,
and the latter, from his retreat in Berda, had sent to Berkeley a new
commission; and that officer, in 1651, wrote to the king, with ardent
expressions of attachment and fidelity, and even hinting the advisa-
bility of his taking refuge in his American colonies. It was deemed
possible, by the over-sanguine cavaliers, that this little province^
the last to submit to the commonwealth, might make a successful
stand for royalty against the entire power of England.
VIRGINIA. 127
u J> .Hi i X Jj ii 1 i .
ACT FOR THE REDUCTION OF VIRGINIA. THE NAVIGATION
ACT MODERATION OF THE PARLIAMENT. SUBMISSION OP
THE PROVINCE. BENNETT, GOVERNOR: DIGGS: MATHEWS.
JEALOUSY OF THE ASSEMBLY AGAINST FOREIGN IN-
TERFERENCE. FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY OF VIR-
GINIA UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH. DEATH OF
CROMWELL. BERKELEY, GOVERNOR. RE-
STORATION OF CHARLES II. ITS ILL
. EFFECT ON THE PROVINCE.
THE Parliament, triumphant over its enemies at home, at last turned
its attention to the refractory province of Virginia. The council of
state was empowered to reduce it to obedience; and the "Navigation
Act," passed in 1651, deprived it, nominally, at least, in common
with the other English colonies, of foreign trade, except that earned
on by English vessels. Considering the bold front of opposition
which Virginia had exhibited to the popular government of England,
the measures adopted were characterized by singular moderation
and leniency. Two of the three commissioners, appointed for the
reduction of the province, were Virginians; and they had charge to
use all mild and persuasive means before resorting to force. The
liberties of the colony were amply secured, in case of peace, and the
Virginians, not feeling called on to contend for the claims of a
dethroned monarch to the extreme of actual resistance, on learning
the moderate nature of the parliamentary commission, laid aside all
thought of resistance. Full power of self-government, and equal
privileges with Englishmen at home, were provided for the colony;
but the influence of the dominant party, and the submission or
assent of the colonists, were sufficiently evinced in the election of
Richard Bennett, a strong revolutionist, by the burgesses, to the
office of governor. On his retirement, in 1655, Edward Diggs
received the same office at the hands of the assembly Cromwell,
during his tenure of power, never interfering with the right exer-
cised by the Virginians of choosing their own officers.
In 1658, an old planter, named Samuel Mathews, described as one
who "kept a good house, lived bravely, and was a true lover of
VOL. IV. 37
128
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Virginia," was chosen to the same post. Becoming, ere long, in-
volved in a dispute with the assembly, he announced his intention
of referring the matters in issue to the decision of the Protector.
Alarmed at the prospect of dependence on a foreign authority, that
body proceeded to make a bold and startling declaration of the pop-
ular sovereignty, and actually deposed Mathews, whom they had
lately elected. Having thus vindicated their dignity, they forthwith
reinstated him in office, while he submitted to' their requirements
with a readiness which sufficiently shows that, whatever the tem-
porary disagreement, no serious ill-feeling had existed between
the executive and legislative powers. The spirit of public liberty,
by this bold demonstration, gained a great accession of strength
and firmness.
On the death of the Protector, the assembly of burgesses, after
private deliberation, resolved to acknowledge his son, Eichard
Cromwell, as the head of the English government; and when, by
his resignation and the death of their governor, (1660,) the destinies
of Virginia seemed fallen entirely in their hands, they resolved that
the supreme power should be lodged in their own body, and that
all writs should issue in its name, "until there shall arrive from
England a commission, which the assembly itself shall judge to be
lawful." The prospect of the Eestoration was hailed with joy by
Virginia, and the election of Sir William Berkeley to the office of
governor, was an earnest of its renewed loyalty. That faithful
adherent to the House of Stuart, in accepting the office, however,
expressly acknowledged the authority of the assembly, of which, he
said, he was but a servant, and waited eagerly for news of the
reerection of the monarchy.
During the civil wars, the parliamentary government, and the
Protectorate, Virginia had been steadily gaining, by precedent, for-
tifications to her system of self-government. Commerce was free,
(for the Navigation Act soon became a dead letter,) and religious
toleration (except to the Quakers, a sect at that time almost univer-
sally proscribed) was fully established. Universal suffrage of free-
men prevailed, and in consequence of the fertility of the soil, and
the high price commanded by the staple production, tobacco, re-
markable prosperity prevailed. These advantages, unalloyed by
any act of oppression by the home government, had rendered the
province one of the most desirable places of residence in America.
The elevation of Charles II. to the throne of his fathers, marked by
VIRGINIA. 129
the northern colonies with such gloomy forebodings, was received
with exultation by Virginia. Berkeley at once reassumed his official
functions, under the royal authority, and, in the king's name, sum-
moned an assembly, which, from its loyalist composition, clearly
indicated the prevalent sympathy of the colony. With strange
indifference to the blessings the country had enjoyed under self-
government, the dominant party at once proceeded to pass acts of
an arbitrary and intolerant nature. Suffrage was restricted to free-
holders and householders, the English Church was exclusively rees-
tablished, and the persecution of dissenters, which had before
compelled them to seek refuge in other colonies, was renewed. The
assembly, like the Long Parliament, made its sitting, in a manner,
perpetual, the members retaining their seats for more than ten years,
and, finally, dissolving only when compelled by necessity The
restoration of arbitrary power was systematically pursued.
The reerection of the monarchy, to which Virginia had looked
with such sanguine hope, was presently the means of inflicting great
evil on the colony. The provisions of the Navigation Act, restrict-
ing all commerce to the parent-country, had been evaded or disre-
garded at an early day by the American provinces, and had latterly
fallen into complete disuse. This obnoxious statute was now reen-
acted with increased strictness, and enforced with practical rigour
the influence of the London merchants, who derived great profits
from the monopoly, proving sufficient to outweigh all the complaints
and remonstrances .of the colonists. In vain did Berkeley, deputed
by the Virginians, repair to court, and urge on the ear of the king,
with all the influence which his ancient loyalty could command, the
disastrous effects produced on the province by this arbitrary restriction
of its growing intercourse with European nations, and complain that
the disloyal colonies of New England were suffered to set the act in
question at nought, while the faithful province of Virginia was
forced to a strict compliance. His remonstrances availed nothing,
and tli us the first fruit which Virginia reaped from the Eestoration,
long cherished with such ardent expectation, was the infliction of a
monopoly calculated greatly to retard her progress and impair her
prosperity.
NE ENGLAND,
CONTINUED.
x.
INIMICAL MEASURES ADOPTED IN ENGLAND. - SPIRIT 0?
MASSACHUSETTS: THREAT OP REVOLT. THE ENGLISH
REVOLUTION. INDUSTRY AND PROSPERITY OF NEW
ENGLAND: ITS INDEPENDENCE. NEW HAMPSHIRE
ANNEXED TO MASSACHUSETTS. FORMATION
OF THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERACY.
THE first blow aimed by the English crown at the growing spirit
of mingled freedom and intolerance in New England, was the
appointment of a commission, consisting of the Archbishop of Can-
terbury and others, with full power to establish a government there,
both ecclesiastical and civil, and to revoke any charter, the provisions
of which might seem to infringe on the royal prerogative. (April,
1634.) The news of this invidious ordinance awakened universal
alarm and indignation. A general spirit of resistance was evinced,
and hasty provision was made for the. fortification and defence of
Massachusetts. All the clergy of the province, assembled at Boston,
unanimously agreed to resist the imposition of a foreign governor.
"We ought," they declared, "to defend our lawful possessions, if we
are able; if not, to avoid and protract." A fresh intrigue, directed
against the peace of the new commonwealth, was that of the Ply-
mouth Company, which surrendered its charter into the king's
hands, its members hoping to obtain extensive private grants, and
using all their influence to get that of the Massachusetts Company
revoked. Legal proceedings were commenced against the latter.
but the death of Mason, the patentee of New Hampshire, and the
prime mover of these inimical proceedings, prevented them from
being carried to the extreme.
NEW ENGLAND.
The .council, in 1688, demanded of Winthrop, that the patent
should be given up; but the authorities, in reply, urged strong
demonstrances against the projected arbitrary enforcement. It was
backed, indeed, by a judgment from the Court of King's Bench, but
such judgment had been obtained by the intrigues of their enemies,
and doubtless owed its origin to royal dictation or influence. They
concluded their reply with an implied threat of independence in
case matters were forced to an extremity. "If the patent be taken
from us," they declare, "the common people will conceive that his
majesty hath cast them off, and that hereby they are freed from their
subjection and allegiance, and therefore will be ready to confederate
themselves under a new government, for their necessary safety and
subsistence, which will be of dangerous example unto other planta-
tions, and perilous to ourselves, of incurring his majesty's dis-
pleasure." This covert menace of revolution, it may be imagined,
was encouraged by the growing power and influence of the Puritan
party in England, where, indeed, the authority of the sovereign was
already beginning to find sufficient employment in suppressing the
popular movement, without crossing the ocean to seek a sparsely-
peopled wilderness. In fact, numbers, who, in the day of persecu-
tion, had sought refuge in America, now hastened back to England to
take their share in the extraordinary events which were there begin-
ning to transpire. "By the year 1640, the tide of emigration, which,
for many years, had flowed steadily to New England, gradually ceased.
The ascendency of the Puritan party in England soon removed the
grievous wrongs and disabilities under which that numerous body
had once laboured, and the temptation to share the success of the
triumphant faction at home was greater than that to retreat into the
wilderness which had been its refuge when weak and persecuted by
its destined victims."
More than twenty thousand emigrants, however, before the year
1640, had arrived in New England, and by their extraordinary
industry and enterprise, prosperity and comfort had been developed
to a degree which, considering the asperity of the climate and
country,' seemed hardly possible. Little more than ten years had
elapsed since the foundation of the Massachusetts colony, yet in
that interval, says Mr. Bancroft, fifty towns and villages had been
planted, and nearly as many churches had been built; and for-
eign commerce, in furs, timber, grain, and fish, had already been
established on a permanent base. Nay, the manufacture of cotton
132 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
(the staple being supplied from Barbadoes) had already made a
commencement.
As a matter of course, the Long Parliament, the Puritan and
revolutionary element of which was so greatly in the ascendant,
looked with warm sympathy to the New England colonists; but the
latter seem to have avoided, at first, any decided commitment of
themselves either to the political or ecclesiastical strife which at this
time raged in England. From this distracted condition of the
mother-country, and the favour of the dominant party, they came to
possess, what they enjoyed for nearly twenty years, the blessings of
actual independence and self-government. This, however, must be
understood in the restricted sense of partial suffrage, and of the
entirely preponderate influence of "the church" over that of "the
people." The most important political event of 1642, was the an-
nexation to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts of the neighbouring
settlements of New Hampshire, which, it was claimed, fell within
the patent of the former, and the inhabitants of which, by their own
action, confirmed the claim, and were admitted, on equal terms with
the Massachusetts people, as an integral portion of that province.
As early as 1637, immediately after the dangers of the Pequot
war had shown the necessity of union, a confederacy of the New
England colonies had been proposed, and in the following year had
again been discussed, but on account of the jealousy of Connecticut,
had been deferred. The latter province, however, wishing assist-
ance against the encroachments of the Dutch, at length renewed the
negotiation; and in 1643, the states of Massachusetts, Plymouth,
Connecticut and New Haven, formed a union for mutual aid and
protection "the first germ of that mighty confederacy which now
numbers more millions than its original did thousands, and which,
from a bleak corner of New England, has extended, for twenty
degrees of latitude, over the thousand leagues of mountain, forest,
and prarie, that divide the two oceans."
The chief objects of this alliance were protection against hostile
savages, resistance to Dutch and French encroachment, and tho
fortification of the degree of civil and religious liberty which the
several colonies had obtained or permitted. Two commissionera
from each colony (none but church members being eligible to the
office) were to manage the affairs of the federal government, and to
have the control of peace and war, of making public improvements,
and, generally, of any matters which might properly pertain to the
NEW ENGLAND. 133
government of a confederation. These powers, apparently so exten-
sive, were held in check by the dependence of this central authority
on the separate states for the means of carrying its enactments into
effect. Neither the people of New Hampshire, nor those of Rhode
Island or of Providence Plantations, although they desired it, were
admitted to this league, which, indeed, was doubtless more harmo-
nious than it could have been, had opinions more liberal in politics,
or more tolerant in religion, been permitted to mingle in its councils.
u X* ** * 1 1 *i 11.
UNCA8 AND MIANTONIMO. DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE LATTER
DISCREDIT TO THE ENGLISH. RHODE ISLAND: ITS LIBER-
TIES GUARANTEED BY THE PARLIAMENT. LETTER TO SIR
HENRY VANE. REMARKABLE FREEDOM ENJOYED THERE.
MAINE ANNEXED BY MASSACHUSETTS.
A TRAGEDY, purely native in its origin and execution, but in
which the English authorities contrived to play a very discreditable
part, was enacted in 1643. Miantonimo, the Narragansett sachem,
accused by Uncas, the Mohegan, of hostility to the colonies, had
been compelled to appear in an ignominious manner at Boston, and
had met with much humiliation at the hands of the English. To
revenge himself on his accuser, despite a peace, guarantied by the
latter, with a thousand warriors he attacked the hostile tribe. De-
feated by the superior strategy of his rival, and taken prisoner, he
was conducted to Hartford, where Uncas, with a moderation which
might seem surprising, but for the result which he probably consid-
ered as certain, referred the destiny of his captive to the Commis-
sioners of the Confederacy. These, acting under advice and counsel
of the clergy, so far from interposing in behalf of mercy, and actu-
ated, doubtless, by jealousy of the tribe of the defeated chief, decided
that he might lawfully be put to death, and delivered him into tho
hands of the victor. The latter, with his brother, "Wawequa, and
other Indians, and accompanied by two white men, led his prisoner
along a solitary pathway, in which, at a silent signal from Uncas,
Wawequa, stepping up behind, sunk his tomahawk in the brain of
134 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
the victim. The revengeful chief, it is said, cut a morsel of flesh
from the shoulder of his enemy, and ate it, saying that it was "the
sweetest meat he ever eat; it made his heart strong." The tribe of
the fallen chief, who were warmly attached to him, lamented deeply
over his unhappy fate, and complained with bitterness that large
quantities of wampum, which they had sent to the Mohegans as a
ransom for his life, had been retained, while the life of their leader,
which it should have purchased, was treacherously taken. His
brother, Pessacus, who succeeded to the command, took signal
revenge on the enemy, and, but for the interposition of the English,
would doubtless have inflicted on Uncas the same fate as that which
the latter had wreaked on the chief of the Narragansetts.
While the other New England provinces, secure in union, and
holding their political existence and possession of their territories
either by royal charter, or purchase from the original grantees, pre-
sented an almost unassailable front to foreign interference, Rhode
Island, whose only tenure of possession was that derived from the
native chieftains, had cause alike to dread the ambition and en-
croachment of her powerful neighbours, and acts of usurpation on
the part of the government at home. To place on a more secure
basis the state he had founded, Williams, in 1643, sailed for Eng-
land, and pleaded the cause of freedom before the parliamentary
authorities. By the influence of Sir Henry Vane, who was now a
member of the council for the government of America, and by the
reputation which his own exertions had already acquired for him, a
charter, insuring extraordinary freedom of civil government, was
granted to Rhode Island by the parliament. On his return, he was
welcomed with enthusiastic gratitude by the citizens, and the people
of Providence, in an eloquent letter of thanks to Sir Henry Yane,
expressed their acknowledgment of his continual kindness and pro-
tection. "From the first beginning," declares this admirably- written
document, "you have been a noble and true friend to an outcast
and despised people; we have ever reaped the sweet fruits of your
constant loving kindness and favor. We have long been free from
the iron yoke of wolvish bishops; we have sitten dry from the
streams of blood, spilt by the wars in our native country. We have
not felt the new chains of the presbyterian tyrants, nor in this colony
have we been consumed by the over-zealous fire of the (so called)
godly Christian magistrates. We have not known what an excise
means ; we have almost forgotten what tithes are. We have long
NEW ENGLAND. 135
drank of the cup of as great liberties as any people that we can
hear of, under the whole heaven. When we are gone, our posterity
and children after us shall read in our town records your loving
kindness to us, and our real endeavor after peace and righteousness."
A more honourable testimonial, or one more gratifying to a pure and
benevolent mind, has seldem been offered by a state to its benefactor.
The good people of Khode Island, in possession of their coveted
privileges, did not abuse them. Our liberty, they had boasted, shall
not degenerate into an anarchy. Nor was this an idle vaunt. Al-
though a very great diversity of creeds, some wild and fanatical
enough, it is said, had taken refuge in the asylum from American
persecution, and, though perfect freedom of debate prevailed, and
was sometimes exercised stormily enough, the legislation of the little
state was characterized by singular good sense and impartiality.
Williams, who made another voyage to England to repel a menaced
assault on its franchises, ever fostered the popular spirit, and despite
the earnest wishes of the assembly, refused to obtain or accept from
the English authorities the appointment of himself as governor his
wise prescience dreading any unnecessary commitment of the affairs
of the state to a foreign, even though a friendly power.
In Maine, disputes arising between the agents of rival patentees,
and no settlement of the question being issued from England, the
inhabitants of several towns, by their own action, erected an inde-
pendent government, and Massachusetts, ever willing to extend its
influence, whether by force or invitation, over its neighbours,
decided that the territory in question came within her own jurisdic-
tion. Commissioners were dispatched there, and the whole country
was speedily, with the consent of its inhabitants, brought under the
government of the more powerful province. This summary change,
however, appears to have been generally satisfactory to the residents.
136 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
U il cii u, JQ It i X X.
OPPOSITION TO THE MASSACHUSETTS AUTHORITIES. PARLIA
MENTARY ENCROACHMENT RESISTED AND RELINQUISHED.
NEW ENGLAND FAVOURED BY CROMWELL. BIGOTED AND
INTOLERANT LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS. PERSECUTION OF
BAPTISTS. THE QUAKERS: PERSECUTION OF THEM: FOUR
EXECUTED: THEIR COURAGE AND FORTITUDE.
APOLOGISTS FOR THE HANGINGS. REFLECTIONS.
THE authorities of Massachusetts, in close league with the clergy,
the elders, and the more intolerant church party, were not long in
awaking a spirit of opposition among the partisans of a more liberal
and tolerant policy. At an early day, indeed, that party had shown
much jealousy of any thing like a prescriptive government or dicta-
tion in elections, and when it had been proposed that the office of
governor should be held for life, it was forthwith resolved by the
deputies, that no magisterial office should be held for more than a
year. A direct collision between the two parties had occurred in
1645, on a question of small moment in itself, but involving the
legal extent of the authority of the magistrates. A small majority
of the deputies to the general court held that, from the assumption
of power by these authorities, the liberty of the people was in dan-
ger; the rest, and, of course, nearly all the magistrates themselves,
resolved that "authority was overmuch slighted," and that there
was danger of "a mere democracy." The popular party, by the
enactment of a law on the point in question, obtained a nominal
triumph, but the magistrates, the governor (Winthrop) and the
clergy retained their ascendency in the government, and circum-
stances favouring their purpose, were even enabled to extend their
actual power.
In November, 1646, at an assembly of the general court of Mas-
sachusetts, a firm stand was made by the government of that colony
against threatened encroachments by the parliament on its inde-
pendence. A vehement and eloquent remonstrance was forwarded
to England, where Winslow, their agent, and Sir Henry Vane, who,
despite some unkind usage, was still a fast friend of the liberty of
. the colonies, exerted all their influence against the anticipated dan-
NEW ENGLAND. 137
-
ger. The parliament, possessed of the true circumstances, confirmed
their liberties and refused to listen to appeals from their justice.
When, a few years afterwards, the supreme power became vested in
Cromwell, as Protector, that great man, with a natural sympathy
both for their virtues and their errors, looked with uncommon
favour on the rugged colonists of New England. He favoured their
commerce, allowed them full independence of self-government, and
was even willing to extend their political power by a gift of the
rich island of Jamaica, which had been wrested by him from the
Spaniards. The Protectorate, without doubt, was the golden age of
New England liberty.
The Massachusetts authorities, hardened by their triumph over
the popular party, and provoked by opposition, ere long, by their
sanguinary persecutions, inflicted on New England the darkest stain
which her character had ever sustained. Sharp laws against both
infidelity and heresy were enacted the penalty of death being
denounced against such as should deny the infallability of any part
of the Bible anabaptism being made a penal offence and absence
from meeting being punishable by fine.
Had the whole community been entirely united in opinion, these
bigoted laws might have remained simply an expression of the
intolerance of those who contrived them. But a strong party in
favour of full liberty of conscience already existed in New England,
and in Plymouth, the proposition was even made for toleration to
all, " without exception against Turk, Jew, Papist, Arian,," &c., &c.
The opponents of this plan contrived, by protracting, to defeat it;
but it was evidently popular with the citizens, for, writes Winslow
to Winthrop, "You would have admired to see how sweet this car-
rion relished to the palate of most of them." (Bancroft.)
The magnates, the elders, the clergy, and the church generally, it
would seem, were of opinion, that the sharp arm of the law should
be used to restrain all dissent from their own views. Clarke, of
Rhode Island, a Baptist, having attempted to preach at Lynn, was
seized, and compelled to attend the Congregational meeting, where,
says Mr. Bancroft, "he expressed his aversion by a harmless inde-
corum, which yet would have been without excuse, had his presence
been voluntary." Heavy fines and severe whippings were used to
repress the spread of the dreaded heresy. (1651.)
An obstacle to conformity far more formidable, and one irrepressi-
ble by persecution, was soon found in the fanatical courage of the
138 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
then rapidly increasing sect of Quakers a sect, in external demean-
our and popular consideration, almost the reverse of that which
bears the title in our own day. An enthusiastic and purely self-
abnegating zeal for their faith, caused them voluntarily and gratui-
tously to expose themselves to the extremest dangers of persecution ;
and at the time we write of, they were pretty generally proscribed
throughout the Christian world. Two women of this persuasion,
arriving at Boston in 1656, were seized at once, kept in close con-
finement for five weeks, and then, their books having been burned
by the hangman, were expelled from the province. One of them,
Mary Fisher, soon after, set forth alone to deliver a message to the
Great Turk, an errand which she actually performed at Adrianople
the sanctity attached to her supposed insanity, protecting her from
any wrong or insult. Many others of the obnoxious sect were sent
back to England, or otherwise banished; and when, the next year,
some of them returned, imprisonment and whipping were freely
resorted to. Fines were imposed upon any who should attend the
Quaker meetings or entertain any of the Quakers; and loss of ears and
boring the tongue with a hot iron were provided for the obstinate.
As a natural consequence, a people so fearless, and even so enam-
oured, as it were, of persecution, soon flocked in numbers to Massa-
chusetts ; and the general court of that province, with a rash and
cruel persistance in their policy of exclusion, enacted that death
should be the penalty of returning from banishment. This san-
guinary decree, precipitated by the turbulent and eccentric demean-
our of some of the proscribed zealots, was, in 1659, carried into
execution on the persons of Mary Dyer, who had returned, and of
Stephenson and Robinson, who had come, as voluntary martyrs, to
shame, with their blood, the cruelty of the authorities. At the place
of execution the woman was reprieved, but answered with spirit,
" Let me perish with my brethren, unless you will annul your wicked
law." She was sent out of the colony, but, returning, also perished
by the hands of the hangman. William Leddra, who was offered
his life, on condition of promising to keep away, refused the proffer,
and was also hanged. At the very time of his trial, Christison, also
banished on pain of death, boldly returned, and entered the court;
he was adjudged to die, but told his persecutors, truly enough, that
for every one they hanged, five more would come to glut them with
bloodshed.
Awed, it would seem, by the determination of the sufferers, and
NEW ENGLAND. 139
yielding to popular opinion, which was shocked at these cruelties,
the magistrates finally paused in their sanguinary career. The life
of Christison was spared, and he, with many others, was released
from prison. A royal order, not long after, prohibited the repetition
of these extreme atrocities, though the minor devices of persecution
were still freely resorted to.
It is extraordinary what pains have been taken by many of our
writers to clear the skirts of their ancestors of the stain attaching to
the most undeniable persecution on record. "It was in self-de-
fence," thus the ablest and most accurate of American historians
commences an elaborate apology for these transactions, "that Puri-
tanism in America began those transient persecutions of which the
excesses shall find in me no apologist." Not to dwell on the several
inconsistencies, and even the contradictions in terms involved in
this affirmation, it may be said confidently, that such a plea could be
admissible, even on the odious ground of necessity, only where some
natural right of the oppressors was in danger of infringement.
Though the Quakers, or some of them, indeed railed at the worship
of the Puritans, and even denied their right to self-government,
surely it cannot be pretended that the principle of freedom was in
any way endangered by the mere denunciation of a feeble few,
then almost universally proscribed, and utterly destitute of political
influence. But the argument evidently is, that, by retiring from
the rest of the civilized world, and erecting a commonwealth by
themselves, the Puritans had acquired a species of claim, if opposed,
to infringe the natural right of others; that, having established a
certain order of things, they were entitled to use, or, at least, were
excusable in using, for its maintainance, means at which the natural
sense of right in man revolts.
It has been as seduously attempted to shift the blame from the
shoulders of the persecutors to those of their victims. "But for
them." (the Quakers,) says the same authority, "the country had
been guiltless of blood!" The same may be said of the sufferers
under any martyrdom, nay, under any crime or oppression. But
for Pryniie and his fellows, the mutilators of Charles would have
bad a sinecure; but for Servetus, the black cloak of Geneva might
have remained uncrimsoned with the smoking blood of vivo-crema-
tion ; but for Joan Boucher, the memory of Cranmer had descended
to us that of a martyr only, and not a relentless woman-burner;
but for Cranmer himself, Rome had been spared her archest deed of
140 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
combined treachery and cruelty. No persecution, of course, can
exist without its legitimate prey. That prey is, almost invariably,
a small, but brave and stubborn minority, which, by its unbending
opposition, inflames to madness the pride, the self-will, the passion
of long-accustomed power. But methinks it rather hard that those
who bravely surrendered their lives, in defiance of a wicked law,
should have the dishonour of the transaction laid at their door, and
be accused, at this day, of shaming with their blood the posterity
of their murderers.
Nor is it fair to assume that the Quakers used any greater measure
of provocation to their oppressors than has often been customary
even with the most undeniable martyrs. The spirit of man, when
sought to be crushed by superior physical power, will at least assert
itself in bold and defiant words; and whatever the extravagances
committed by some wrong-headed zealots among them, the demean-
our of the victims, at least on their trial, seems to have been charac-
terized by remarkable dignity and decency. The plain fact so
plain that its assertion is almost superfluous seems to be, that the
early rulers of Massachusetts were men of extraordinary force of
character, bigoted, self-willed, and unusually disposed to tyrannize.
They had resolved to have their own way, at whatever cost, even
to the shedding of blood. The people against whom their cruel
and tyrannical laws were directed, were few in number, but pos-
sessed by a spirit of daring, enthusiasm, and stubbornness, such as
the world has seldom witnessed. They resolved that these sanguin-
ary statutes, whose existence proclaimed them felons, by the very
shame and horror of their execution should be annulled; and in
laying down their lives in accomplishment of this purpose, they
certainly earned as fairly the crown of martyrdom as any of the
multitudes who, for conscience, for independence, for fame, or for sal-
vation, had trodden the same thorny path before them.
NEW ENGLAND. 141
CHAPTER IV.
EDUCATION IN MASSACHUSETTS. HARVARD COLLEGE. RE-
STORATION OP CHARLES II. OPPRESSIVE ENACTMENTS CON-
CERNING COMMERCE. ATTITUDE OF THE COLONIES.
WINTHROP, THE YOUNGER. CONNECTICUT OBTAINS
A CHARTER: HER FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY
WITH our forefathers, in nearly all the New England states, edu-
cation, from the first, was a subject of solicitous care. Provision
was made that all children in Massachusetts should at least learn to
read and write, and schools of a higher character were not long in
succeeding. Only a few years after the arrival of the Puritans in
Massachusetts, John Harvard, dying there, by the bequest of his
library and of half his estate, founded that admirable university
which still commemorates his name, and which has exercised such
extraordinary influence, from the first, in promoting the intelligence
and refining the manners of New England. Fostered by the care
of the state, and at times assisted by the neighbouring provinces, it
enjoyed a continually increasing prosperity and usefulness.
The restoration of Charles II. to the throne of England was the
signal for a renewal of those more obnoxious claims of sovereignty
over the American colonies, which had either been relinquished or
suffered to fall into disuse by the government of the commonwealth.
The Navigation Act (the child of that government indeed, but, in
its original, not designed rigidly to fetter their commerce) was re'en-
acted, with new and oppressive provisions; a monopoly being
secured to English merchants, English ships, and English navigators,
in the entire foreign intercourse of those provinces. The exporta-
tion of a long list of articles, including tobacco, sugar, cotton, and
other produce, was prohibited excepting to England; and ere long
the importation of any European goods, except those supplied by
English merchants, was in like manner made illegal. Commercial
intercourse between the northern and southern colonies was bur-
dened with oppressive duties; and, by degrees, the very manufacture
of articles which might compete with that of the home country in
foreign trade, or even in furnishing their own supplies, was also for
bidden. Such was the oppressive system, the commencement of
142 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
which signalized to the colonists the restoration of English mon
archy, and which, finally pursued to an extreme incompatible with
their growing strength and spirit of independence, resulted in the
loss to England of the most splendid provinces ever founded by the
enterprise of her sons, or reared into greatness by their genius and
industry.
While Massachusetts, both its political and moral prepossessions
shocked by the prospect of the elevation of a character like that of
the new king to the sovereignty of England, waited, with a species
of sullen expectancy, the event of the change, and even meditated
opposition, in case a royal governor should be sent to rule over it;
the other New England colonies, weaker in numbers, and less deter-
mined in spirit, proclaimed the new sovereign with alacrity, and
hastened to conciliate his favour. Winthrop the younger, a man
of high character, and of most engaging address, was dispatched to
London on the part of Connecticut, to obtain from the king a patent
of that province for the hardy adventurers who, as yet, held it only
by native conquest and purchase, and by the assignment of the
representatives of the Earl of Warwick. Aided by some court
influence, this emissary obtained an audience with Charles, who was
so agreeably impressed with his character and demeanour, that he
granted an ample charter to the petitioners. Hartford and New
Haven were connected in one colony, and this vast patent extended
westward across the entire continent, including in its limits the
already numerous and prosperous settlements of the Dutch on the
banks of the Hudson. By the same liberal instrument, complete
independence, excepting the reservation of allegiance to the crown,
was secured to the colonists. All power, both civil and criminal,
judicial and executive, elective and legislative, was lodged in their
own hands a constitution more completely independent in effect,
could hardly have been framed by the most ardent lover of liberty.
Winthrop, after this successful result of his mission, returned to the
province, where,, in gratitude for his services, the office of chief
magistrate, for fourteen years, by annual election, was conferred on
him. Under these favourable auspices, the colony of Connecticut
commenced a career of continual increase, of rational prosperity, and
of tranquil happiness. The care for popular education, which has
always characterized her legislation, was manifested at an early day
Common schools always existed, and the higher wants of the intel-
lect, by the beginning of the next century, were provided for in the
NEW ENGLAND.
foundation of an institution, the modesty and humbleness of whose
origin contrast strongly with the strength and prosperity of its
subsequent career the college of Yale.
New England, said Mr. Webster, contained in its system three
institutions which alone would have sufficed to make it free the
Town Meeting, the Congregational Church, and the Common School
institutions which still flourish in a nearer approach to perfection,
the independent form of church government being confined to no
shade of belief, in its privileges or its support. The peace and pros-
perity of Connecticut, founded on domestic harmony and freedom
from foreign interference, remained for a century, uninterrupted by
any serious disturbance.
CHAPTER ?.
THE CHARTER DP RHODE ISLAND. CIYIL AND RELTGIOtJS LIB-
ERTY. CARELESS AND EXTENSIVE GRANTS OF CHARLES
II. THE ATTITUDE OP MASSACHUSETTS: DISTRUST
OP THE RESTORATION. REQUISITIONS OP
CHARLES II. APPOINTMENT OF A COM-
MISSION. ALARM OF THE COLONY.
ROGER WILLIAMS, having visited England, and obtained the
sanction of parliament to the existence of the infant state he had
founded, in 1652 returned to New England, leaving, as his agent,
John Clarke, a man of great worth and indefatigable patience. This-
efficient emissary obtained from the crown, on the Restoration, the
permission, earnestly besought by the colonists of Rhode Island, " to
hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state
may stand, and best be maintained with a full liberty of religious
concernments." Powers of self-government, as ample as those
granted to Connecticut, were secured to the little province, and, to
gratify the benevolent request of the petitioners, it was expressly
provided, that "no person within the said colony, at any time here-
Uler, shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in
question, for any difference of opinion in matters of religion ; every
person may at all times freely and fully enjoy his own judgment and
VOL. IV. 38
144 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
conscience in matters of religious concernment." Under this ancient
charter, which has been in existence to our own day, Khode Island
enjoyed uncommon political blessings, both civil and religious. Its
first benefit was the protection of that feeble colony against the am-
bitious encroachments of Massachusetts, which was desirous of
extending its jurisdiction over its weaker neighbours, and which
was effectually checked by this direct action of the crown. Khode
Island, at the time of this foundation of her political existence, num-
bered only between two and three thousand souls.
An extraordinary mixture of liberality and carelessness charac-
terized the king's whole management of his North American prov-
inces. To his brother James, and to several favourites and courtiers,
he gave immense grants of territory, comprising nearly all the best
part of the North American continent that to William Penn, laying
the foundation of a commonwealth of peace, being almost the only
one whose origin was of a purer nature than mere personal rapacity
or ambition.
Until it was absolutely certain that the commonwealth was at an
end, and that the House of Stuart was reinstated on the throne,
Massachusetts hesitated to commit itself to any decided recognition
of sovereignty. But when, in the fall of 1661, the news of that
event arrived, the general court, knowing that the province would
be readily exposed to odium with the new government, hastened to
prepare addresses to the crown and parliament. They stated plainly
the religious scruples which had induced the Puritans to quit their
country, averring that they were " true men, fearing God and the
King," and praying that Charles, himself so lately in exile, would
feel a sympathy for men suffering the same misfortune. The agent
of the province was instructed to make what interest he could with
the court and parliament, and, especially, to resist the allowance of
appeals from the colonial government to that of England.
Upon this point, however, the new government seemed resolved
to insist; and the general court, in view of a probable collision, with
much boldness, published a declaration of rights, claiming for the
province the entire power of appointing all its officers, of exercising
all powers of government, legislative, executive, and judicial, and the
right of resisting any infringement of its liberties, as theretofore
enjoyed. Little more than a nominal allegiance to the crown was
acknowledged; and when, in 1661, the Restoration was publicly
proclaimed, it was done with much coldness and apathy.
NEW ENGLAND. 145
Messengers were dispatched to England to sustain the interests
of the province, with instructions to persuade the king of its loyalty,
and to parry, if possible, any attempt upon its liberties. They were
only in a measure successful. The charter was confirmed, but the
king demanded, with some reason, that the laws should be adminis-
tered in his name, that the oath of allegiance should be taken, that
the Church of England should be tolerated; and that none, except
a property restriction, should be continued on the elective franchise.
The latter of these demands, striking more closely than any other
at the religious government and the prejudices of the colonists, ex-
cited the greatest discontent; and a stricter censorship was held over
all except the established religion.
Stimulated by rumours, partly true and partly false, of the dis-
loyal spirit of the province, (it was even rumoured that Goffe and
Whalley, who had lately come over, and were in hiding, had raised
an army against the crown,) the English sovereign proceeded to
appoint a, commission of four persons to investigate matters in New
England, and to use a very discretionary authority in settling its
affairs. On the news of this obnoxious measure reaching Boston,
hasty measures were adopted for precaution and defence. The
safety of the charter, and restraint upon the landing of soldiers, were
especially provided for ; and in view of the impending trials of the
Commonwealth, a day of solemn prayer and fasting was appointed.
CHAPTER VI.
REMONSTRANCE OF MASSACHUSETTS DOINGS OP THIS COMMIS-
SIONERS: THEIR DISPUTES WITH THE AUTHORITIES: THEIR
DISCOMFITURE AND RETURN TO ENGLAND. SUCCESSFUL
RESISTANCE OF MASSACHUSETTS. INERTNESS OF THE
CROWN. PROSPERITY AND TRADE OF THE PROVINCE.
THE fleet, dispatched from England for the reduction of Man-
hattan and other Dutch settlements (see "New Netherlands") in
July, 1664, arrived at Boston, bearing the commissioners. The
general court, promptly assembled, in token of their loyalty, agreed
146 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
to levy a force in assistance of the expedition ; and, while the fleet
was busied at Manhattan, prepared a forcible and eloquent remon-
strance, addressed to the king. Eeciting the privileges of their
charter, the sacrifices they had made to obtain it, and the liberties
they had enjoyed tinder it; they foretold the trouble and ruin which
any persistance in controlling the affairs of the colony would occa-
sion. "God knows," they say, "our greatest ambition is to live a
quiet life, in a corner of the world." Any thing but their liberties,
they declared, they were willing to offer in testimony of their loyalty.
Meanwhile, the commissioners, not caring to make themselves unne-
cessarily odious, had busied themselves, in harmony with the colonists,
in settling certain matters in Connecticut and Ehode Island the "du-
tifulness and obedience" of which former, they averred, was "set off
with the more lustre by the contrary deportment of Massachusetts."
Plymouth, which was promised a separate charter, if it would sub-
mit the nomination of its governor to the commissioners, protested
much loyalty, but declined the intermeddling proposition.
These gentlemen, returning to Boston, demanded that all the men
should be assembled to hear the king's message; but their requisi-
tion was refused, though they denounced as traitors those who
opposed the proceeding. The Massachusetts authorities refused to
state directly whether they would obey the commission or not; and
the members of it, to try their power, gave notice that they would
hold a court for the trial of a cause to which the colony was a party.
But the general court, by sound of trumpet, and proclamation of a
herald, forbade all persons to take part in their proceedings. Foiled
in this point, the visitors proceeded to intermeddle in the affairs of
Maine and New Hampshire. The court, with equal promptitude
and fearlessness, met them by an order to the inhabitants of the
latter to forbear obeying or abetting them, at their peril. In Maine,
indeed, they set up a royal government; but not long after thuir
departure, Massachusetts, by force of arms, reestablished its authority
there. They finally returned to England in much wrath and disap-
pointment, without having accomplished any permanent alteration
in the condition of the provinces.
The king, in very natural displeasure, now summoned (1666) some
of the chief persons of Massachusetts to appear before him, and
answer for the doings of that refractory province. The general
court, which met to consider this demand, after protracted prayer,
refused compliance, declaring that they had already expressed their
NEW ENGLAND.
views in writing, "so that the ablest person among us could not
declare our case more fully."
In all this peremptory resistance, and almost defiance of the
authority of the crown, there was no lack of patriotic feeling, or of
affection for the mother-country; for very effective assistance, in
provisions and materials, was rendered to the English navy, in the
contest with France, commencing at this time; and whether from
fear or negligence, the king, immersed in sensuality, took no active
measures to vindicate his claims. After much discussion in the
council, it was considered that the refractory colony was too strong
to meddle with ; that it might, at a moment's warning, throw off its
allegiance ; and that the safest policy was to overlook its transgres-
sions, and wait a more favourable opportunity for enforcing the
obnoxious claims.
Meanwhile, the province, left to its own management, by the
enterprise and industry for which its people have ever been distin-
guished, prospered in an extraordinary degree. Foreign commerce
(for the Navigation Act was set at naught) sprung up with surprising
rapidity; fish and furs were exported in quantities; and lumber,
which, by the then recent invention of saw-mills, was prepared with
unaccustomed ease from the almost exhaustless forests of Maine and
New Hampshire, had already assumed high importance as an article
of traffic.
.CHAPTER VII.
CONDITION OF THE NEW ENGLAND INDIANS: CONVERSION
OF SOME OF THEM: THEIR NUMBERS AND STRENGTH.
THE POKANOKETS. METACOMET. OR KING PHILIP:
HIS GRIEVANCES: DISSIMULATION: SCHEME FOR THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE ENGLISH. CAPTAIN
CHURCH: HIS CHARACTER, ETC.: HE DIS-
CONCERTS AN INTRIGUE OF PHILIP.
THOUGH liable to the imputation of blame, for too persistent en-
croachment, even under the guise of purchase, upon the domains of
the native tribes adjoining them, the English colonists, to their
credit, were sincerely desirous of civilizing and converting their
148 AMEKICA ILLUSTEATKD.
Indian neighbours. Many of the latter, by the praiseworthy pains
of their white friends, had learned to read and write, and one of
them even graduated at the university of Cambridge. The mission
ary labours of the admirable John Eliot and of the two Mayhews,
had been crowned with much success in their conversion. The for-
mer, with wonderful patience and diligence, had even prepared and
published, for their benefit, a translation of the Bible, in the Indian
tongue. The race for whose salvation this pious and laborious
monument of learning was erected, has passed entirely away. The
Bible may still be found on the shelf of an ancient library, but no
man living is able to peruse it. Around Boston, and on the cape
and its adjoining islands, villages of "praying Indians" had been
established, and friendship with the settlers had been thus confirmed
and strengthened. But the powerful tribe of the Narragansetts, and
that of the Pokanokets, at this time (1675) nearly as numerous, still
clung, with a jealous fidelity, to the religion of their fathers.
In 1675, the number of Indians in New England was roughly
computed at fifty thousand. Unprincipled traders had supplied
them with fire-arms, which they had learned to use with deadly
accuracy, and the possession of which gave them a dangerous con-
Rciousness of power. Confined, in a good measure, by the continual
extension of the English settlements, to peninsulas and necks of land
on the coast, many of the tribes began to suffer from insufficient
room to procure their customary subsistence.
On the death of Massasoit, the earliest and firmest friend of the
English, his son, Wamsutta, or, as he was called by the latter, Alex-
ander, succeeded him in the sway of the Pokanokets. Only a few
months after his accession, on some vague suspicion, he was seized
by a party of English, and carried prisoner into Plymouth, where,
in a few days, he died of a fever, brought on by anger and irritation.
His brother, Metacomet, more commonly known as the famous King
Philip, succeeded to the throne, and, from profound policy, main-
tained an appearance of great friendship for the whites. For nine
years, with extraordinary dissimulation, though cherishing feelings
of revenge for the death of his brother, and the encroachments on
his territory, he maintained the appearance of amity. Some disputes,
indeed, caused by the latter grievance, as early as 1671, had occur-
red; and Philip, strangely enough, subscribed a set of articles,
yielding almost every point in question, and, in a manner, "deliver-
ing himself, body and soul, into the hands of the Plymouth axithor-
NEW ENGLAND.
itics. His motive, doubtless, was to blind his enemies as to the
extent and dangerous nature of the conspiracy he was meditating.
His plan was nothing less than the complete extermination of the
whites, and in its prosecution he displayed a policy, courage, acd
perseverance, which, in a savage, have never been surpassed. To
knit the clans of New England, immemonally dissevered by tra-
ditional feud and enmity, into a confederacy against a foe so terrible
as the English, might well have seemed to the most sanguine a hope-
less task ; yet such was the object to which Philip bent all his policy
and energy, and in which, to a great extent, he succeeded." Argu-
ment, persuasion, and menace, were each, in turn, applied with the
utmost adroitness.
In the spring of 1675, he sent six ambassadors to Awashonks,
queen of the Sogkonates, demanding, on pain of his own vengeance,
an.d of exposure (by an artful device) to the resentment of the Eng-
lish themselves, that the tribe should join his league. A solemn
dance was appointed, to decide the question, and Awashonks, that
the opposite party might not be unrepresented, sent for her neigh-
bour, Captain Benjamin Church, the only white man in her domains.
This celebrated man, one of the most famous Indian fighters in New
Eugland history, had just settled in the wilderness of Sogkonate.
" He was a man of undaunted courage, of a sagacity fitted to cope
with the wiliest tactics of Indian warfare, and, withal, of a kindly
and generous disposition, which, except when engaged in immediate
hostilities, seem to .have secured for him the respect and attachment
of the wild tribes which he so often encountered. His narrative,*
written in his old age, by his son, from his own notes and dictation,
is one of the choicest fragments of original history in our possession.
As a literary performance, it is just respectable; but for vividness
of detail and strength of expression, it is something more, and may
well be entitled to rank with such rude but stirring productions as
the 'True Conquest' of Bernal Diaz, and the 'True Adventures' of
Captain John Smith."
On his arrival, a grand council was held, at which the six Wam-
panoags appeared in great state, making, says Church, "a formidable
appearance, with their faces painted, and their hair trimmed back in
comb fashion, with their powder-horns and shot-bags at their backs,
which among that nation is the posture and figure of preparedness
for war." A fierce discussion ensued, and a privy counsellor, named
* "The Entertaining History of King Philip's War."
150 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
Little Eyes, attempted to draw Church aside, TO privately dispatch
hinfy but was prevented by others. The Englishman, with great
boldness, advised Awashonks, "to knock those six Mount Hopes*
on the head, and shelter herself under the protection of the English
Upon which, the Mount Hopes were for the present dumb." He
then sharply rebuked them, as faithless wretches, thirsting for the
blood of their neighbours, and assured them, that if they would have
war, he should prove a sharp thorn in their sides. The queen and
her people, overmastered by his eloquence and energy, dismissed the
embassy, and, for a time, observed neutrality, if not fidelity.
LfiAirliiiH v I i i.
COMMENCEMENT OF PHILIP'S WAR. EXPLOIT OF CHURCH
RETREAT OF THE INDIANS. PHILIP ROUSES THE TRIBES.
DESTRUCTION OF TOWNS, ETC. THE ATTACK ON
HAD'LEY: REPULSED BY GOFFE. GREAT LOSSES
OF THE ENGLISH. SPRINGFIELD BURNED.
IT was soon evident that Philip was preparing for active war. He
sent all the women and children of his tribe into the Narragansett
country, and held a great dance, lasting for several weeks, with all
the warriors of his neighbourhood. The first blow was struck on
the 24th of June, in an attack on the little town of Swansey. Nine
of the settlers were killed, and the rest fled, while the Indians fired
their deserted dwellings. Soldiers were sent from Massachusetts,
and Church, with a company from Plymouth, hastened to the fron-
tier. Philip was compelled to flee, but only to ravage the country
in other remote spots. Church, with only nineteen men, holding on
in pursuit, at last, on the site of the present town of Tiverton, fell
in with three hundred of the enemy. "The hill," he tells us,
"seemed to move, being covered over with Indians, with their
bright guns glittering in the sun, and running in a circumference
with a design to surround them." From a place of vantage, the
English defended themselves with much courage and desperation
till taken off by a vessel which came to their aid, covering theii
* So called, from Mount Hope, the favourite seat of Philip.
PHILIP.
THE S E T T L E R S OF JV E W E Jf O L A JV D OO/JVO TO CHURCH,
IN THE TIME OF THE INDIAN WARS
NEW ENGLAND.
embarkation with her fire. When all were on board but Church,
that daring man, who had left his hat and cutlass by a spring, de-
clared he would never leave them as trophies for the enemy. Load-
ing his gun with his last charge of powder, he went back, and brought
them off, amid a shower of bullets, some of which grazed his person.
The English forces, at last uniting, after some indecisive engage-
ments, compelled Philip and his warriors to take refuge in a great
swamp at Pocasset; their camp, consisting of a hundred new wig-
wams, being deserted. A great number of Indians, who had sur-
rendered under fair promises, were treacherously transported as
slaves a piece of perfidious cruelty against which Church vainly
remonstrated. That active officer, if permitted, could at this time,
probably, by a close pursuit of the Indians, have ended the war, but
he was continually thwarted and embarrassed by the inactivity and
obstinacy of his superiors.
Defeated, with a loss of thirty warriors, in another engagement,
Philip fled westward, and excited the remoter tribes to warfare.
Numbers of the English were killed, and several flourishing villages
on the frontier were burned. In Brookfield, however, a small force,
under Captain Wheeler, besieged in a building, held out for two
days against several hundred savages, who, after losing, it is said,
eighty of their number, were compelled by the arrival of reinforce-
ments to raise the siege. "From this time, an almost continual suc-
cession of Indian attacks and massacres occurred, and town after
town was laid in ashes. Aided by the continually exciting causes
of enmity, developed by war with a foe so indefinite as 'the Indians,'
Philip had succeeded in awaking a general hostility among the
numerous tribes of the frontier. It was supposed that he was present
at many of the scenes of midnight assault and massacre which, at
that time, filled New England with alarm; but it is certain that he
was seldom recognised. Once, it is said, he was seen at a successful
attack, riding on a black horse, leaping fences, and exulting in the
scene of destruction ; and again, that he once ordered an arm-chair
to be brought forth, that he might enjoy at his ease the conflagra-
tion of a village."
On the 1st of September, a simultaneous attack was made on
Hadley and Deerfield, the latter of which was mostly destroyed.
The people of Iladley assembled at their meeting-house, armed as
usual ; but, taken by surprise at the unexpected assault of the savages,
would probably have been overwhelmed, but for an unexpected
152 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
assistance. An old man, with long white hair, dressed in the fash-
ion of a former day, suddenly appeared, and assumed the command.
By his courage and skillful strategy, he put the enemy to flight, and
then disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as he came. Many
of the people supposed him to be an angel, providentially sent to
their aid; but he was, in reality, Major-General Goffe, one of the
regicide judges, who, with his companion, Whalley, had been con-
cealed for ten years in the cellar of Mr. Eussell, minister of the town.
" There are few incidents in history more striking than that of the
old soldier, so long immured in this dismal habitation, roused once
more by the clash of arms and the discharge of musketry, to mingle,
for the last time, in the half-forgotten scenes of combat, and then
shrinking back for ever into the gloom and twilight of his subter-
ranean abode."
Thirty-six men, dispatched to the relief of Northfield, (where a
number of the people had been slain,) were mostly cut off by an am-
buscade, and a hundred more, consisting of the finest young men
in the country, marching to Deerfield, under Captain Lathrop, sur-
rounded by an overwhelming force of the enemy, after a desperate
defence, were all killed, except seven or eight. Thirty houses were
burned at Springfield, together with "the brave library" of Rev.
Pelatiah Glover, which had once been carried to a place of safety
"but the said minister, a great student, and an helluo Ubrorum, being
impatient for want of his books, brought them back, to his great
sorrow, for a bonfire for the proud insulting enemy. Of all the mis-
chiefs," continues Rev. Mr. Hubbard, ("Indian Wars,") "done by
the said enemy before that day, the burning of this said town of
Springfield did more than any other discover the said actors to be
the children of the devil, full of all subtlety and malice," &c., &c. The
sympathy of the learned and studious may well travel back a couple
of centuries, to condole with the unfortunate scholar, widowed of hia
library his loss irreparable bookless in the American wildernefia
NEW ENGLAND.
L li A ir i iii ii i A.
PflfLIP'S WAR, CONTINUED. DESTRUCTION OP THE 5AR-
RAOANSETT PORT: TERRIBLE MASSACRE. MALIGNANT
EXULTATION OF THE EARLY HISTORIANS. INDIAN SUC-
CESSES. CAPTURE AND DEATH OP CANONCHET: HIS
HEROISM AND MAGNANIMITY. DIPLOMACY OP CHURCH.
Ax Hatfield, in October, the garrison and town's people beat off
a body of seven or eight hundred savages who attacked the place;
and during the beginning of the ensuing winter, little was done by
either party, the Indians suffering greatly from want and exposure.
Philip and his warriors, it was supposed, had taken refuge with the
Narragan setts. The English now resolved to crush this latter tribe,
as the most easily accessible, on account of the shelter they had
afforded to the enemy. Five hundred soldiers, under command of
Josias Winslow, governor of Plymouth, were dispatched against the
devoted tribe, and on the afternoon of December 19th, a bitter win-
ter's day, after a forced march, arrived at their principal fort. It
was built on a plateau of elevated ground in a great swamp, and
the only access to it was by the trunk of a large tree, lying in the
water. Across this bridge of peril, the assailants, with much loss,
made their way, and after a desperate battle within, lasting for some
hours, firing the fort, renewed the terrible tragedy of Groton. Seven
hundred of the Narragansett warriors are said to have fallen in the
fight, and nearly half that number afterwards perished of their
wounds. "The number of old men, women, and children," says
Rev. Mr. Hubbard, "that perished either by fire, or that were
starved with cold and hunger, none could tell." "They were ready,"
he narrates, in a strain of disgusting levity, "to dress their dinner,
but our sudden and unexpected assault put them beside that work,
making their cook-roorns too hot for them at that time when they
and their mitchen fried together: And probably some of them eat
their suppers in a colder place that night, most of their provisions
as well as huts being consumed by fire, and those that were left
alive forced to hide themselves in a cedar swamp, not far off, where
they had nothing to defend them from the cold but boughs of spruce
and pine trees!"
154: AMERICA ILLUSTEATED.
The defeated nation did not fall unavenged, eighty of the English
being slain outright, and an hundred and fifty wounded, many of
whom perished on the return march, rendered terrible by the sever-
ity of the season, and the want of proper supplies. Canonchet, (the
son of Miantonimo,) the brave young sachem of the Narragansetts,
with the relics of his force, took refuge in the west, where, in con-
cert with Philip, he planned schemes of vengeful reprisal. Lan-
caster and Medfield (the latter only twenty miles from Boston) were
burned, and nearly a hundred of the settlers were killed or carried
off. Portions of Providence and Weymouth were also destroyed,
and two companies, each of fifty men, were successively "swallowed
up " by the victorious enemy.
The first check to this spirited renewal of the war, was the cap-
ture of the brave Canonchet, who, having raised a force of many
hundred men, to ensure provision for their support, had ventured
eastward with a few warriors, to procure seed for plantation. He
was shot at Stonington, having "refused to purchase his life by pro-
curing the submission of his injured tribe; and met his death with
the highest courage and fortitude a true patriot, and a hero, whose
soul, to judge from his brief sayings, was cast in an almost class-
ical mould."
"This," says Mr. Hubbard, "was the confusion" (confounding)
"of a damned wretch, that had often opened his mouth to blas-
pheme the name of the living God, and those that make profession
thereof. He was told at large of his breach of faith, and how he
had boasted that lie would not deliver up a Wampanoag nor the paring
of a Wampanoag's nail, that he would burn the English alive in
their houses ; to which he replied, others were as forward for the war
as himself, and he desired to hear no more thereof. And when he waa
told his sentence was to die, he said, he liked it well, that he should
die before his heart was soft, or he had spoken anything unworthy of him-
self. He told the English before they put him to death, that the
killing him would not end tfie war; but it was a considerable 'step
thereunto."
In the spring of 1676, the war continued to rage, several desperate
actions being fought, with alternate success part of Plymouth and
other towns being burned, and great loss resulting to both parties.
The Indians, indeed, suffered grievously from cold and hunger; and
a force of cavalry, from Connecticut, aided by a body of Mohegans,
was very effectually employed against them. Two hundred were
NEW ENGLAND. 155
made prisoners on one occasion; five or six hundred surrendered on
a doubtful promise of mercy; and many migrated to me west.
Philip and his people still held out, and kept the settlements in
continual dread of attack. His final defeat and destruction was due
to the energy of Captain (afterwards colonel) Church, who had per-
formed active service during the war, and who, immediately on
recovering from, his wounds, devoted himself to the task of bringing
it to an end.
The Sogkonates, at this time, were in alliance with Philip, and
to detach them from the hostile league, with only a single companion
the captain boldly ventured into their country. He narrowly
escaped with his life from the vengeance of some of them, but, by
his persuasions and arguments, at last so completely won the confi-
dence of the tribe, that the chief warrior rose, and placed himself
and all the rest at his disposal, saying, "We will help you to Philip's
head, ere the Indian corn be ripe." With an extraordinary savage
pantomime, the clan performed the ceremony of swearing allegiance
to their new commander, and the desertion of these allies, we are
told, "broke Philip's heart as soon as he understood it, so as he
never rejoiced after, or had success in any of his designs."
CTT A D T 1 P T> "T
ii til IT X Jj xi iAt
PHILIP'S WAR, CONTINUED. SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN OP
CHURCH. DEFEAT AND CAPTURE OF THE SAVAGES.
PHILIP'S DESPAIR: HE RETREATS TO MOUNT HOPE: IS
DEFEATED AND SLAIN: BARBAROUS EXPOSURE
DP HIS REMAINS: HIS CHARACTER.
WITH an English force, and a considerable number of Indian war-
riors. Church, in June, 1676, commenced an active campaign against
the enemy, scouring the woods in all directions, and killing or
making prisoners of great numbers of the hostile savages. /'In the
midst of this uncompromising warfare, we find him exhibiting a
humanity and good faith uncommon at the time, using every exer-
tion, to prevent torture and cruelty, and vehemently protesting
against any ill usage of the natives who surrendered. Once he fell
156 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
in with Little Eyes, (who would have killed him at Awashonk'a
dance,) and his Indians wished him to be revenged. 'But the Cap-
tain told them it was not Englishmen's fashion to seek revenge/ and
took especial care for his safety and protection." The finest of his
captives he selected for his own service, and, singular to state, such
was the fascination of his manner, and his acquaintance with the
Indian character, that he generally converted these recruits into
devoted followers.
Pursuing the enemy into the Narragan.sett's country, "he came
to Taunton river, over which the Indians had felled a large tree for
the purpose of crossing. On the stump, at the opposite side, sat a
solitary warrior. Church quietly raised his gun, but was prevented
from firing by the suggestion that it was a friend. The Indian,
aroused by the noise, looked up. It was Philip himself, musing
drearily, no doubt, on the fallen fortunes of his race. Ere a gun
could again be levelled, he sprang up, and bounded like a deer into
the forest." Closely following his track, the English at last came/
up with the relics of the enemy, who were posted in a swamp. The
latter, after a sharp skirmish, were defeated, and an hundred and
seventy-three, including women and children, were taken captive.
Philip and most of his warriors escaped, but his wife and child were
among the prisoners. The latter described his condition as forlorn
in the extreme, and said, that after this last misfortune, he was
quite inconsolable.
"The unhappy sachem, after seeing his followers, one after an-
other, fall before the English, or desert his failing cause, had betaken
himself, like some wild animal hard driven by the hunters, to his
ancient haunt, the former residence of his father, the friendly Mas-
sasoit. In all the pleasant region washed by the circling Narragan-
sett, there is no spot more beautiful than that miniature mountain,
the home of the old sachems of the Wampanoags. But with what
feelings the last of their number, a fugitive before inveterate foes
and recreant followers, looked on the pleasant habitation of his
fathers, may more easily be imagined than described. Still, he
sternly rejected all proposals for peace, and even slew one of his
own followers, who had ventured to speak of treaty with the Eng-
lish. The brother of this victim, naturally enraged and alienated
from his cause, at once deserted to the enemy, and gave the informa-
tion which led to his final ruin.
"A few brave warriors yet remained faithful to him, and with
NW ENGLAND. 157
these and their women and children, he had taken refuge in a swamp
hard by the mountain, on a little spot of rising ground. In that
troubled night, the last of his life, the sachem, we are told, had
dreamed of his betrayal,* and awaking early, was recounting the
vision to his companions, when the foe came suddenly upon him.
His old enemy, Church, who was familiar with the ground, coming
up quietly in the darkness of night, had posted his followers, both
English and Indian, so as, if possible, to prevent any from escaping.
The result was almost immediate. After several volleys had been
rapidly fired, Philip, attempting to gain a secure position, came in
range of an ambush, and was instantly shot through the heart by
one Alderman, an Indian under Church's command. He fell on his
face with his gun under him, and died without a struggle. (August
12, 1676.)"-}- Most of the warriors, under old Annawon, Philip's
chief captain, made their escape.
The body of the unfortunate sachem was drawn from the swamp,
a spectacle of exultation for "the army;" and Church, following the
barbarous fashion of the time, declared "that, forasmuch as he had
caused many an Englishman's body to be unburied and to rot above
ground, no one of his bones should be buried." "This Agag" says
Cotton Mather, spitefully enough, "was now cut into quarters, which
were then hanged up, while his head was carried in triumph to
Plymouth, where it arrived on the very day that the church there
was keeping a solemn thanksgiving to God. God sent 'em the head
of a leviathan for a thanksgiving feast." The festivity of the modern
observance of the same name, it is certain, could hardly be enhanced
by the arrival of a human head, even though it were that of a brave
and inveterate foe.
"The ghastly relic was long exposed in that town, an object of
mingled horror and satisfaction to the citizens; and when the flesh
was fallen away, and the dry jaw could be rattled with the skull, a
grave historian records with satisfaction his odious trifling with the
remains, which, in their life-time, he would not havo dared to ap-
proach 'for all below the moon.' The only reward allotted to the
victors was a bounty of thirty shillings on the head of every slain
Indian ; and Church, with some reason, complains that Philip's was
* Mr. Hubbard, for a wonder, does not fully adopt this account, hut dismisses it
parenthetically, " (whether the devil appeared to him in a dream that night, as he did
wnto Saul (!) foreboding his tragical end, it matters not,") Sic., &.C.
i Discoverers, &c., of America.
158 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
rated no higher than the rest The sinewy right hand of the sachem,
much scarred by the bursting of a pistol, was given to Alderman, 'to
show to such gentlemen as would bestow gratuities upon him ; and
accordingly he got many a penny by it.'*
"Thus died Philip of Pokanoket, the last sachem of the Wampa-
noags, the originator and the head of that terrible confederacy which
so long kept New England in dread and consternation, and which,
at one time, seemed almost to threaten its entire destruction. He
was, undoubtedly, a man far superior to the generality of his race, in
boldness, sagacity, and policy; his powers of persuasion were extra-
ordinary; and the terrifying results of his enmity sufficiently evinced
the ambitious nature of his scheme, and the genius with which it
was conducted. The division and barbarous exposure of his remains
entailed disgrace, not on him, but on the authors of the profanation;
his sufferings and the injuries of his family have awakened in suc-
ceeding generations somewhat of that sympathy which is always due
to misfortune; and though the defeated leader of a ruined confed-
eration, his name, more than that of any other of the Indian race,
has always excited the interest, if not the admiration of mankind."!
u ii cil ir i Jli il J* !
PHILIP'S WAR, CONCLUDED. CAPTURE OP ANNAWON AND
HIS WARRIORS, BY CHURCH. ROMANTIC INCIDENTS.
SUMMARY OF THE WAR. PHILIP'S SON. BARBAROUS
POLICY OP THE VICTORS. MURDEROUS ADVICE.
THE CHARACTER OP THE PURITANS. REFLECTIONS.
CHURCH, with a small force, followed closely on the track of
Annawon and the few warriors whom death and desertion had yet
left to maintain the ruined cause of the Pokanokets; and, after long
and wearisome pursuit, at length learned from a captive the place of
his. retreat. In his eagerness to surprise the foe (who never camped
two nights in the same place), with only half a dozen friendly In
dians, he set forth, with extraordinary boldness, on the adventure,
* " Church's " Entertaining History." \ Discoverers, &c , of America.
CJlPTJIlJf H t :JV./.1 JU /A" CHURCH,
THB INDIAN FIGHTER.
BOKN 16IO. OVKKCAMK MfTACOMfcT (KING PIIIIIP). AI.'GDST 12. 167S ;
JANUARY 17 m
NEW ENGLAND. 159
The bivouac of the fugitives was in a place of remarkable security
and difficulty of access, yet the captain, with his allies, lowering
themselves by bushes over the face of a precipitous rock, took the
enemy, mostly sleeping, by surprise, and secured their guns, which
were all stacked together at the head of Annawon. That redoubted
warrior, his weapons lost, surrendered, and the rest followed his
example, Church promising to use all his influence in behalf of their
lives. "I am come to sup with you," he said, pleasantly, to Anna-
won, and the latter bidding his women prepare a meal, the two cap-
tains feasted together in perfect harmony.
Did these limits allow, it would be pleasing to dwell on the
romantic incidents of this most wonderful surprise; how the <vhole
company, wearied with pursuit and flight, were soon wrapped in
slumber, all but the two leaders, who lay looking at each other by
the glimmering light of the embers; how Annawon arose and dis-
appeared in the darkness, but ere long returned, bearing a powder-
horn, a scarlet blanket, and two splendid belts of wampum, the
regalia of the unfortunate Philip; how he solemnly invested Church
with these royalties, as the victor over the last of the hostile tribe;
and how, in the words of the captain, "they spent the remainder of
the night in discourse, and Annawon gave an account of what
mighty success he had formerly in wars against many nations of
Indians, when he served Asuhmequin," (Massasoit,) "Philip's father."
This exploit ended Philip's war a war which, though it lasted
only a year and a half, seemed almost to threaten the destruction of
New England. Thirteen towns had been laid in ashes, and many
others partially destroyed, six hundred dwellings, in all, being
burned by the enemy. Six hundred Englishmen had lost their
lives, and the prosperity of the whole country had been, grievously
checked and retarded. But if misfortune was experienced by the
victors, utter ruin and almost annihilation awaited the vanquished.
In war, in conflagration, by starvation and cold, such vast numbers
had perished, that the effective force of the hostile tribes was com-
pletely broken, and many of them were nearly extinguished. With
the great number of prisoners, and the almost equally numerous
portion, who surrendered on the promise or in the hope of mercy, a
cruel and barbarous policy was adopted. The chief warriors were
put to death; among them, Annawon, whose life Church vainly
endeavoured to save, as well from good faith and humanity, as for
the value of his services in future warfare. The rest, with the
VOL. IV. 39
160 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
women and children, were made slaves, most of them, being trans-
ported and sold in the West Indies.
"In regard to the son of Philip, (a child only nine years old,) the
authorities seem to have been greatly exercised in spirit. There
were so many nice precedents for his execution to be found in
Scripture, and security, as well as vengeance, would be satisfied by
the destruction of the whole house of their dreaded enemy. Nothing
can better show the venomous spirit of the times, or the depraving
influence of a barbarous theology, than the following extract from
a letter, written by Eev. Increase Mather, the minister of Boston, to
his friend, Mr. Cotton: 'If it had not been out of my mind, when I
was writing, I should have said something about Philip's son. It
is necessary that some effectual course should be taken about him. He
makes me think of Hadad, who was a little child when his father (the
chief sachem of the Edomites) was killed by Jbab, and had not others
fled away with him, I am apt to think, that David would have taken
a course that Hadad should never have proved a scourge to the next
generation.' More humane counsels, however, prevailed, and the
poor child was only shipped as a slave to Bermuda 1
"Incidents, such as these, commonly suppressed by popular writers,
are not uselessly recalled, in obtaining a just view of the spirit of
the past. With all honour to the truly-great and respectable quali-
ties of our New England ancestors to their courage, their con-
stancy, their morality, and their devotion it is useless to disguise
the fact that, in the grand essentials of charity and humanity, they
were no wise in advance of their age, and in the less essential, but
not less desirable articles of amenity and magnanimity, most de-
cidedly behind it. But a certain infusion of disagreeable qualities
seems alrnqst an inseparable constituent of that earnestness, which
alone can successfully contend with great obstacles, either human or
natural with civil tyranny and religious persecution with the
privations and dangers of the wilderness, and the unsparing enmity
of its savage inhabitants.
"The communities, founded by men thus strongly but imperfectly
moulded, have, with the genial influence of time, and by the admira-
ble elements of freedom contained in their origin, gradually grown
into a commonwealth, freer from the errors which disgraced their
founders than any other on the face of the earth. Their prejudice
has become principle, their superstition has refined into religion;
and their very bigotry has softened down to liberality. While
NEW ENGLAND.
enjoying the results of this ameliorating process, their descendants
may well be charitable to those whose footsteps not only broke
through the tangled recesses of the actual forest, but who, in tread-
ing pathways through the moral wilderness, occasionally stum-
bled, or left behind them a track too rugged or too tortuous to be
followed."*
u ** A .* * fi *) i&> I io
RENEWED INTERFERENCE OP THE CROWN IN MASSACHU-
SETTS. SEVERANCE OP NEW HAMPSHIRE: ATTEMPT TO
TYRANNIZE THERE: ITS FAILURE. ACTION OF MAS-
SACHUSETTS. PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ITS CHARTER.
VAIN OPPOSITION AND REMONSTRANCE.
THE CHARTER ANNULLED.
THE English government, gaining courage from the gradual estab-
lishment of arbitrary power at home, and still desirous to curb
the growing spirit of independence in Massachusetts, in 1676, dis-
patched thither Edward Eundolph as its special agent. This func-
tionary was coldly received by the provincial authorities, who again
explicitly denied the right of the crown or the parliament to inter-
meddle with its government. Eeturning, after a sojourn of only
six weeks, to England, he excited the jealousy and inflamed the
cupidity of the court by very exaggerated accounts of its wealth and
population. By a decision of the privy council, the claim of Mas-
sachusetts, certainly rather untenable, to jurisdiction over Maine and
New Hampshire, was set aside. Nevertheless, by purchase from the
heirs of the patentee (Gorges) she speedily again got possession of
great part of the former province; and, whereas it had formerly
been considered an integral part of her dominion, it was now gov-
erned as a mere colony of Massachusetts, the officers being appointed
by those of that state. This change naturally led to much discon-
tent, the manifestation of which, however, was forcibly suppressed
by the new claimant of sovereignty.
In New Hampshire, severed from Massachusetts, a direct royal
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
162 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
government was set up, the offices of president, &c., being filled b/
the act of the crown. A popular assembly was allowed, which, at
its first meeting (1680), took occasion to assert the independence of
the province, declaring that no law or ordinance should be valid
unless "made by the assembly and approved by the people." The
patentee, at issue with the colonists on matters of title, procured for
himself the authority of appointing a governor. Cranfield, the per-
son selected, a man of rapacious and arbitrary disposition, hastened
to the infant colony, in strong hopes of making a fortune at the
expense of its inhabitants. Disappointed in his expectations, he
committed a thousand rash and tyrannical acts, continually inter-
fering in matters beyond his authority, both civil and religious, and
striving, on false and impudent pretexts, to wring money from the
slenderly-filled purses of the settlers. To these exactions the assem-
bly and people opposed as determined a resistance a resistance
which the latter finally carried to the extreme of openly maltreating
his officers; and, with his hopes of plunder and profit almost quite
ungratified, he returned to England, bearing a malicious report of
the condition of the province.
In view of the prospective danger to the liberties of Massachusetts,
a general synod of all the churches was convoked, while the general
court, by some formal enactments, in testimony of its loyalty, sought
to avert the royal displeasure. The king's arms were put up on the
court-house, and two or three acts in support of the royal dignity
were passed; and, though the Navigation Act was expressly de-
clared illegal and not binding, the general court, by an act of its
own, rendered its provisions valid and effective. The king, who
certainly exhibited considerable moderation, twice again dispatched
a message of remonstrance to Massachusetts on its opposition to the
home-government, and it was evident that extreme measures would
finally be resorted to. The province, in 1682, dispatched agents to
England to defend its interests ; and, if possible, to bribe the king
into protecting them. Their mission was in vain; and that the
charter was in danger, was evident from the systematic warfare
against civic corporations then being waged by the court in England.
Great agitation pervaded the province. Maine was surrendered, but
it was resolved to hold the charter as long as possible.
Legal proceedings were commenced against its holders in the
English courts; and the judges, in those times, being generally mere
creatures of the crown, only one issue could be looked for. The
NEW ENGLAND. 163
king, at this juncture, once more suggested the wisdom of a direct
submission, promising, on that condition, his favov.j, and as little
infringement on their charter as might consist with the right of his
government. Judging from the fate of the civic corporations in
England, (for even London had been compelled to succumb before
the royal power,) the prospect of successful resistance in the courts
of law appeared entirely hopeless. The governor and magistrates
accordingly resolved at last to try the effect of an unqualified sub-
mission, and throw themselves on the king's forbearance. A
proposal that agents, to receive the royal commands, should be dis-
patched to England, was sent in to the house of deputies; but that
more popular body, after an animated debate of a fortnight, refused,
by their own act, to sanction the surrender of their liberties. The
successful opposition of former times was recalled, and it was even
urged as a matter of religion not voluntarily to put the state into
the hands of a power inimical to its professed faith. "With extraor-
dinary firmness and spirit, they resolved to make no voluntary
sacrifice, and only to fall, as a body politic, before the pressure of
superior power. The latter result must have been foreseen. Re-
monstrance to the king proved fruitless; and in June, 1684, the
English judges, then, as from the earliest times, mere agents to effect
the pleasure of the crown, declared the charter forfeited. Thus, for
a time, fell the independence of Massachusetts an independence, it
must be owned, at times, ungraciously asserted and arbitrarily exer-
cised; but of which the main defects lay in the fact that it was an
independence rather in name than in fact; the authority of the
magistrates, and the overshadowing influence of the church, consti-
tuting a species of mingled aristocracy and theocracy sufficiently
repugnant to more enlightened ideas of freedom. Yet, doubtless,
even this imperfect form of liberty and self-government was in the
highest degree useful in training the minds of the colonists to a
jealousy of foreign power, and fostering the germ of a firmer and
more liberal national spirit.
SETTLEMENT OF THE CAKOLINAS.
FAILURE TO PLANT COLONIES IN THE SOUTH. EMIGRATION
PROM VIRGINIA TO NORTH CAROLINA: FROM BARBADOES TO
SOUTH CAROLINA. THE PATENT OF CHARLES II.
LEGISLATION OF LOCKE AND SHAFTESBURT. CUM-
BROUS SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. DISCONTENT OF
THE SETTLERS. INSURRECTION IN NORTH
CAROLINA. SOTHEL DEPOSED BY THE PEO-
PLE. CHARLESTON FOUNDED. CON-
STITUTION OF LOCKE RELINQUISHED.
THE first attempt of the English to found a settlement in America
had been made in the mild regions lying south of Virginia. The
disastrous failure of that attempt (Raleigh's), combined with the diffi-
culty of access and a dread of Spanish cruelty, had retarded any
further effort in the same direction ; and while the bleaker and less
fertile provinces of the north were rapidly filling up with continued
emigration, no enterprise was directed to the rich soil and genial
climate of the south. Sir Robert Heath, in 1630, indeed, obtained
of Charles I. a patent for the foundation of a colony there ; but this
instrument, from his failure to effect a settlement, became forfeited.
Colonists from Virginia, between the years 1640 and 1650, suffer-
ing from religious intolerance, took refuge beyond the borders of
that province, and formed settlements on the northern shores of
Albemarle Sound since known as North Carolina. By the fertility
of the soil and the mildness of the winters, they soon lived in ease,
their cattle and swine finding subsistence in the natural products of
the country; and their numbers were yearly increased by fresh
emigration. Some adventurers from Massachusetts, in 1661, made
an attempt to found a settlement near Cape Fear; but the experi-
ment proved unsuccessful. Thgir places were, however, supplied
by a party of emigrants from Barbadoes, who proceeded to the same
SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS.
region, and planted a colony there, selecting as their governor Sir
John Yeomans, one of their number.
Among the lavish grants which distinguished the administration
of Charles II., was one, in 1663, to the Duke of Albemarle (Gen
Monk), Lord Ashley Cooper (afterwards the famous Earl of Shaftes-
bury), to Berkely, the governor of Virginia, and others, conveying
to them all Carolina, from the thirty-sixth degree of latitude to the
river San Matheo. The patentees, desirous to people their vast ter-
ritory, gave much encouragement to those who had already settled
there, assuring them of considerable political privileges; and Berkely,
bringing additional emigrants from Virginia to North Carolina,
settled them under the popular rule of Drummond.
By a fresh patent, issued in 1665, the proprietors, their claims
extended westward across the entire continent, were empowered to
create titles and to institute orders of nobility. This singular priv-
ilege was granted, in order that an elaborate constitution, devised
by Shaftesbury and the celebrated Locke, might be carried into
effect. By this extraordinary instrument, the fruit, doubtless, of
painful ingenuity and labour, a system of government was set up,
entirely without a precedent in the history of legislation. Its main
feature was a hereditary landed aristocracy, dependent on property
alone for its right to rule. The territory was divided into counties,
of four hundred and eighty thousand acres each, in each of which
were to be appointed one landgrave, or earl, and two caciques, or
barons. All power was lodged in the holders of real estate, and the
proprietors were always to continue exactly eight in number, neither
more nor less. With a childish minuteness, the details of pedigree,
of fashion, and ceremony, were made the especial province of one
of these dignitaries. Such was the constitution, carefully elaborated
by the most philosophical mind of the age, which yet, from the
un familiarity of its author with the practical workings of political
machinery, and the needs of a new country, never took practical
effect, and soon lapsed into neglect and abrogation.
The colonists at Albemarle, who had already adopted a simple
code of laws for their own government, received with much disgust
the aristocratic and complicated system which the proprietors had
devised; and the latter, not to increase the popular discontent, did
not press the immediate adoption of all its particulars. They in-
sis.tcd, however, on establishing a provisional government, but with-
out success; for the people, dissatisfied, imprisoned their collector
166 AMERICA ILLUSTBATED.
and other officers, seized the public funds, and took all the functions
of government into their own hands. Their chief leader, who pro-
ceeded to England to defend their cause, was there tried for treason,
and was acquitted only by the eloquence and influence of Shaftes-
bury, who considered the insurrection as rather a dispute among
the colonists themselves than a revolution against the home gov-
ernment.
The better to carry out their obnoxious constitution, the proprie-
tors next sent out Seth Sothel, one of their own number, as gov-
ernor. This man, corrupt and greedy, for six years mismanaged
the affairs of the province, enriching himself by bribes and extortion.
At the end of that time the people put him under arrest, and the
assembly tried him and banished him from the province. The pro-
prietors, however ill pleased at the independence of that body,
could not deny the justice of the sentence. They approved the
measure, and appointed Philip Ludwell as his successor.
In 1670, they dispatched a body of emigrants, under William
Sayle, to Port Royal, in South Carolina. In the following year,
dissatisfied with the situation, he removed the settlement to the
neck of land lying between the rivers Ashley and Cooper, where he
founded a settlement named Charleston, in honour of the king, and
since known as one of the fairest and wealthiest of southern cities.
At his death, which occurred not long after, Sir John Yeomans,
already, for some years, governor at Cape Fear, was appointed in
his place; and the new settlement gradually absorbed into itself the
colonists from that region. A separate government thus established
over the two colonies, the names of North and South Carolina came
into common usage.
Yeomans, accused of converting his office into an instrument for
his own profit, was replaced by West, under whose popular rule the
colony continued to increase and prosper. The proprietors, indeed,
reaped no fruits from their enterprise, having expended large sums
without getting any return. Dutch emigrants, both from New York
and the mother-country, attracted by the mildness of the climate
and the political freedom enjoyed by the settlers, resorted to South
Carolina; and the oppression of the French Protestants, under
Louis XIV., also induced numbers of the persecuted sect to take
refuge there.
In 1686, James Colleton, a brother of one of the proprietors, was
appointed governor, with the title of landgrave. Popular discon-
SETTLEMENT OF THE CAEOL1NAS. -[(ft
tent, especially at the elaborate and aristocratic system devised by
Locke, was not long in making its demonstration; and the new
governor was soon involved in disputes with the colonists. An
assembly, elected expressly to resist him, met in 1687; and three
years afterwards, an act was passed for his banishment from the
province. The English revolution of 1688 had saved the proprie-
tors from a seizure of their charter by the crown. On learning
these news, they sent out Ludwell to examine the affairs of Caro-
lina, and to report grievances. Such was the discontent manifested
toward the constitution, that it was thought wisest to relinquish it;
and, accordingly, in 1693, the whole cumbrous system, with its
child's-play at nobility, and its attempt to create institutions which
can be made respectable only by long usage and national association,
was entirely abrogated and done away.
VIRGINIA,
CONTINUED.
u A! ^il ir i Ji it i .
RETROGRADE MOVEMENTS IN VIRGINIA. REVIVAL OF INTOL-
ERANCE AND OPPRESSION. GRANT OF VIRGINIA TO CQL-
PEPPER AND ARLINGTON. POPULAR DISCONTENT.
INDIAN WAR. MURDER OF THE CHIEFS. INSURREC-
TION UNDER BACON. TRIUMPH OF THE PEOPLE.
THE unfavourable effect of the Kestoration on Virginia has been
mentioned. The renewal and enforcement of the Navigation Act
fettered her rapidly increasing commerce, and the triumph of roy-
alty at home was followed by that of tyranny and intolerance in
the provincial government. The great number of servants, or
slaves, in effect, for a term of years, who had been brought from
England, even after their emancipation, constituted an inferior and
uneducated class, easily kept down by an aristocracy of masters and
slaveholders, whose power in the state was continually on the
increase. There seems to have been even a systematic desire among
the government party to keep a portion of the colonists in depend-
ent ignorance. Berkeley thanks God that free-schools or printing
presses were unknown in Virginia, and says he hopes there will be
none this hundred years; "for learning," he sagely remarks, "has
brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and
printing hath divulged them," &c. Negro slavery, by this time
considerably on the increase, was absolute, the control of the master
being almost unfettered by any law of restraint.
The Episcopal church was established as the religion of the state ;
and persecution of dissenters, especially of Baptists and Quakers,
was revived. The assembly of burgesses appropriated extortionate
sums for their own pay, as legislators, and, by refusing, for many
years, to dissolve, set up a species of prescriptive government, little
V1EGINIA. 169
short of actual usurpation. The fruit of the royal triumph, in the
domestic economy of Virginia, was, in short, as accurately summed
up by an elegant historian "a political revolution, opposed to the
principles of popular liberty and the progress of humanity. An
assembly continuing for an indefinite period at the pleasure of the
governor, and decreeing to its members extravagant and burden-
some emoluments; a royal governor, whose salary was established
by a permanent system of taxation ; a constituency restricted and
diminished; religious liberty taken away almost as soon as it had
been won; arbitrary taxation in the counties by irresponsible
magistrates; a hostility to popular education and to the press;
these were the changes which, in about ten years, were effected in a
province that had begun to enjoy the benefits of a virtual independ-
ence and a gradually ameliorating legislation."
Fresh misfortune awaited the colony in the rash liberality of
Charles, who, in 1673, bestowed on Lord Culpepper and the Earl
of Arlington, (the latter connected with him by a discreditable
tie,) the entire control of Virginia for a term of thirty-one years.
The assembly, on learning the news, fearing for the safety of their
estates, dispatched agents to remonstrate with the crown, and to
endeavour to obtain a charter for the colonial government; but their
efforts, after a year's trial, proved ineffectual.
The oppression to which the people of Virginia, after the restora-
tion of loyal and aristocratic power, were subjected, at last drove
them into open resistance. Discontented gatherings and a tendency
to revolt had prevailed for some time; and, considering that the
outrageous taxes levied by their rulers swallowed up nearly all their
earnings and profits, it is remarkable how long they endured the
usurpation of the authorities. An Indian war was the first cause of
insurrection. Hostilities were carried on with the Susquehannahs
and other tribes, both in Virginia and Maryland, and on one occa-
sion, six chiefs, presenting themselves to treat of peace, were mur-
dered by the enraged settlers. Berkeley, irascible, cruel, and tyran-
nical, was not without feelings of honor. On hearing of the crime,
he exclaimed, "If they had killed my father, and my mother, and
all my friends, yet if they had come to treat of peace, they ought to
have gone in peaca "
The savages, their passions inflamed to madness at this piece of
cruelty and ill faith, renewed hostilities with much fury, attacking
the English plantations in V irginia, and wreaking a tenfold revengo
170 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
for the loss of their chiefs. The movement spread, and the people -
their lives, by the insufficiency of the government, constantly ex-
posed demanded the permission to carry on the war themselves.
But Berkeley, ever despising the popular opinion, and his interest, it
is said, being enlisted in behalf of peace by a monopoly of the
beaver-trade, which he held, stubbornly refused his consent. A
general insurrection ' was the result. Under Nathaniel Bacon, an
English planter, of wealth and influence, of high courage and inde-
pendence, five hundred men assembled in arms, resolved on a cam-
paign against the enemy. Berkeley, enraged, proclaimed them
rebels, and was levying forces to suppress the movement, when a
fresh and formidable insurrection of the people, who demanded the
immediate dissolution of the assembly, compelled him to desist, and
return to Jamestown. With almost the entire force of the people
arrayed against them, the governor and the aristocracy were com-
pelled to yield. The assembly, which had so long sat an incubus
on the province, was dissolved, and on the election of a new one,
Bacon (successful in his Indian campaign) and a majority of his
partisans were returned as members. The successful leader ac-
knowledged his error in acting without a commission, and, to the
universal joy of the people, was appointed commander-in-chief.
\J 01 iL liAj J> (L J_l JTb Jr JL
THE POPULAR ASSEMBLY. MEASURES OP REFORM. OPPOSITION
AND TREACHERY OF BERKELEY. CIVIL WAR. TRIUMPH OF
THE INSURGENTS. JAMESTOWN BURNED. DEATH OF BA-
CON: HIS CHARACTER. RUIN OF THE POPULAR CAUSE.
NUMEROUS EXECUTIONS DEATH OF BERKELEY. .
ADMINISTRATION OF CULPEPPER, ETC.
THE new assembly, with a rational and moderate zeal for reform,
proceeded to pass many salutary acts, restricting the magistrates in
their arbitrary and extortionate course, providing for the purity of
elections, curtailing exorbitant fees and salaries, taking precautions
against the spread of intemperance, and finally, by a general am-
nesty, extinguishing, it was hoped, the seeds of civil conflagration,
VIRGINIA. 171
The demeanour of the governor was dubious, and Bacon, leaving
Jamestown, presently returned, at the head of five hundred deter-
mined men, in whose presence resistance was in vain. Berkeley
advanced to meet them, and, baring his breast, exclaimed, " A fair
mark shoot 1" but Bacon told him that not a hair of his head or any
man's should be hurt; and the passionate old governor, yielding to
necessity, issued the required commission for war against the In-
dians, and, with the council and assembly, even dispatched to Eng-
land high commendations of the loyalty and patriotism of his rival.
How insincere were his intentions is evident from the fact that,
just as the province was regaining confidence, and Bacon com-
mencing a campaign against the enemy, he repaired to Gloucester
county, and again proclaimed him a traitor. The latter, in turn,
summoned a convention of the principal persons of the colony at Wil-
liumsburgh, when all present took oath to maintain the Indian war,
and, if necessary, to support their leader against the governor him-
self. The latter was endeavouring to levy an army on the eastern
shore of the Chesapeake, and, on the advice of Drurnmond, who had
been governor of North Carolina, the governor's term having ex-
pired, his retreat was held as an abdication, and a convention of the
people was summoned for the settlement of the government. By
the promise of plunder, and of freedom to the servants of his oppo-
nents, Berkeley gathered, in Accomack, a large force, of the baser
sort, with which, transported in fifteen vessels, he sailed for James-
town. Landing, he fell on his knees, returning thanks to God, and
forthwith again proclaimed Bacon and his followers traitors.
The latter, after having made a successful expedition against the
Indians, had disbanded his troops; but, on learning these tidings,
with a small, but trusty body of followers, at once marched upon
the capital. The ignoble forces of the governor showed more dis-
position for plunder than fighting; and he was compelled to evacu-
ate Jamestown by night, and take refuge, with his people, aboard
the fleet. Bacon entered the deserted town the next day, and, as it
was doubtful how long he could retain possession, it was resolved
to burn it. This was accordingly done, some of his chief adherents
firing their own houses, and the little capital, for seventy years the
chief, nay, almost the only town in Virginia, was laid in ashes. The
half-ruined church, still standing, is all that attests to the passing
voyager the former existence of the earliest of American settlements.
After further and signal successes, the career of the insurgents
172 AMERICA ILLUSTBATED.
was brought to a sudden end by the untimely death of their gallant
leader, who, on the 1st of October, 1676, perished of a disease con-
tracted by exposure to the damp nights of that unhealthy region.
His memory, if tarnished by some errors, will always be held in
high respect, as that of the first leader in the cause of American
independence. He was, it seems, brave in the field, eloquent in
council, magnanimous, honourable. The liberal and moderate legis-
lation of the party which he headed bears witness to his talent for
government. The enthusiastic affection of his friends and followers
evinces his amiable nature. That he was forced into insurrection
and continued civil warfare was, doubtless, the fruit 'of the tyranny
of the ascendant faction, and the ill faith of the arbitrary governor
at its bead.
With Bacon expired the hope and success of the revolutionary
party. Without a leader of talent or influence sufficient to combine
them, the isolated and disorganized sections of that party were, in
turn, defeated, and severally suppressed by the loyalists. Berkeley
was restored to power, and, by frequent and merciless executions,
evinced the natural cruelty of his disposition, and the tyrannical
sentiment of the cause which he headed. Drummond, and more
than twenty others, were hanged ; and nothing but a remonstrance
from the assembly finally availed to stay the hand of the execu-
tioner. Charles II. learned with much indignation of the sanguinary
proceedings of his governor, and said that the old fool had taken
more lives in the wilderness of Virginia than himself had for the
murder of his father. In a proclamation, he severely censured these
atrocities, and when Berkeley, not long after, returned to England,
public opinion condemned him with equal severity. His death,
which took place soon after his arrival, was probably hastened by a
sense of the condemnation of the sovereign and the people.
As usual on the suppression of any popular movement, the futile
insurrection in Virginia only entailed fresh evils on the country,
being made the pretext for refusing it a charter, and continuing its
dependence on the crown. All the late acts of the reformed assem-
bly were repealed, and all the ancient grievances and oppressions
were reinstated. No printing was allowed, and freedom of speech
was curtailed by grievous penalties. Excessive and arbitrary taxes
were levied by the authorities, and the condition of the people,
especially the poorer classes, was again that of subjection and
oppression.
VIRGINIA. 173
Not long after the departure of Berkeley, Lord Culpepper, one of
the two patentees of Virginia, a man of grasping and avaricious
nature, obtained from the crown an appointment as governor of
that province for life. He arrived in 1680, desirous of nothing but
of turning his office to profitable account. His salary was doubled,
and, to the great grief of the planters, he had a law passed for levy-
ing a perpetual export duty of two shillings on every hogshead of
tobacco. After remaining in Virginia but a few months, just long
enough to look out for his pecuniary interests, he took his departure
for England. The misery of the province, consequent on its late
disturbed condition, on the restriction of commerce, and the low
price of its staple product, tobacco, produced disorder. Kiot and
insubordination prevailed, and were suppressed by executions. Cul-
pepper returned for a few months to reap all possible advantages
from his patent, at the expense of the suffering colonists.
In 1684, the obnoxious grant was annulled, and the government
of Virginia was resumed by the crown. Effingham, the first royal
governor, used his office only as a means of procuring petty emolu-
ments, and thus rendered himself contemptible in the eyes of the
people. The accession of James II., in the following year, and the
ill-fated rebellion of Monmouth, increased the population of Vir-
ginia, by a number of convicts, who, on the suppression of that
movement, were bestowed by the king on his favourites, and by
them, with shameless venality, were sold into slavery in America.
Under the arbitrary rule of the new sovereign, scarcely a shadow
of self-government was allowed to the people of Virginia. A feel-
ing of resistance being manifested in the assembly, that body was
dissolved; but the people, a spirit of liberty reawakened, assumed
an attitude so insurrectionary, that the governor, destitute of a
force adequate to suppress it, was compelled to temporize, and to
forego any attempts at renewed oppression.
THE FIRST DUTCH COLONY IN DELAWARE: ITS DESTRUCTION.
SWEDES AND FINNS UNDER MINUIT. CONQUEST OF THE
SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS BY THE DUTCH, UNDER 8TUY
VE8ANT. DELAWARE UNDER THE DUKE OF YORK:
UNDER PENN. DISPUTES WITH MARYLAND CON-
CERNING BOUNDARIES. SEPARATION OF
DELAWARE FROM PENNSYLVANIA.
THE disastrous attempt of the Dutch, under De Yriez, in 1631, to
found a settlement in Delaware, has been described. ("Dutch in
America.") The unfortunate little colony left by that navigator
near the site of Lewistown, numbering only thirty-four souls, was
cut off by the Indians, to avenge the death of a chief, whose life had
been sacrificed to the implacable sulkiness of the governor, Gillis
Osset. De Vriez, returning from Holland the next year, found nc
relics of the settlement, except the bones of his countrymen, which
lay bleaching pn the shore.
The next enterprise in the same direction was that of a small body
.of Swedes and Finns, who, in 1638, under Minuit, (some time gov-
ernor of the Dutch at Manhattan, and afterwards in the service of
Christina of Sweden,) landed near Cape Henlopen, purchased lana
of the natives, and built a fort not far from the present site of Wil-
mington. Attracted by tidings of the mildness and fertility of New
Sweden, for so the country was called, Swedish and Finnish emi-
grants hastened in numbers to the province. A new fort was built
on an island below Philadelphia. The claims of 'the Dutch were
resisted, and English adventurers were not allowed to settle. The
building of Fort Casimir, by the former people, and its treacherous
seizure by Kisingh, the Swedish governor, have been described in
their appropriate place, as well as the conquest of New Sweden by
Peter Stuyvesant, the doughty governor of the New Netherlands.
The Dutch company, stimulated by aggression, and fearing little
from the distracted and feebly-governed kingdom of Sweden, had
THE SETTLEMENT OF DELAWARE.
175
ordered their officer, " to revenge their wrong, to drive the Swedes
from the river, or compel their submission." Accordingly, in Sep-
tember, 1655, with a force of six hundred men, Stuyvesaut sailed
up the Delaware, on an avowed errand of conquest. Before a force,
comparatively so formidable, the feeble colonies of Sweden, after a
national existence of only seventeen years, were speedily compelled
to succumb. The forts were reduced ; a portion of the Swedes were
sent to Europe, and the remainder, on taking the oath of allegiance,
were suffered to remain. Many of their descendants are still living
in Delaware.
On the conquest of the New Netherlands by the English, in 1664,
the Dutch and Swedish settlements of Delaware came under the
authority of the Duke of York. Disputes respecting boundaries
soon arose. Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of Maryland, had
claimed all the region on the west side of the Delaware as included
in his grant; and incursions had been made from that province for
the purpose of repelling settlers from the disputed territory. Wil-
liam Penn, the grant of Pennsylvania obtained, desirous of extend-
ing his coast line, (it was "more for love of the water," he said, "than
of the land,") procured from the duke a cession of all the land for
twelve miles around Newcastle, and all lying between that and the
sea. On his arrival in America, (1682,) solemn possession of the
territory was given to him by the duke's agent, at that town, and
Penn addressed a multitude of his new subjects Swedes, Dutch, and
English who had assembled to witness the ceremony, promising to
all freedom, both civil and religious, and recommending virtue,
religion, and sobriety of life.
The claim of Baltimore, still asserted, was for some time the sub-
ject of negotiation the two proprietors at first exhibiting a polite,
and afterwards a rather acrimonious pertinacity in maintaining their
respective pretensions; but, in 1685, it was decided invalid by the
Lords of Trade and the Plantations; and the boundary of the rival
patentees was fixed by a pacific agreement. The three counties
which Penn called his "Territories," and which now constitute the
state of Delaware, for twenty years sent their delegates to the gen-
eral assembly of Pennsylvania; but, in 1703, dissatisfied with the
action of that body, procured permission to act by a legislature of
their own; the proprietor, however, retaining his claims, and the
same governor exercising executive functions over both Pennsyl-
vania and Delaware.
VOL IV. 40
THE SETTLEMEIT OF NE JERSEY.
CONQUEST BY THE ENGLISH. NICHOLS, BERKELEY, AND CAB-
TERET. EMIGRATION PROM NEW ENGLAND. SALE OF WEST
NEW JERSEY TO THE QUAKERS. FENWICK, BYLLINGB,
AND PENN. QUAKER SETTLEMENTS. REMARKABLY
FREE CONSTITUTION. FRIENDLY DEALINGS WITH
THE INDIANS. USURPATION OF ANDROS: ITS
DEFEAT. EAST NEW JERSEY.
AFTER the conquest of the New Netherlands by the English, in
1664, Nichols, the first governor, encouraged the emigration of his
countrymen from the adjoining settlements of New England and
Long Island into the regions south of Manhattan ; and settlements
were made at Elizabeth town, Newark, and other localities. The
Duke of York, the patentee of the whole country, in the very year
of the conquest, assigned to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret
the territories lying between the Hudson and the Delaware. In
compliment to the latter, who, during the civil contests in England,
had held the island of Jersey for the royal party, the country
received its present name.
Philip Carteret, appointed governor by the new proprietors, came
over the next year, and selected Elizabethtown as the capital of the
province. By offering favourable terms, he induced many to emi-
grate thither from New England, and the population of the colony
continued to increase. A question concerning the titles issued by
Nichols, combined with other causes of discontent, in 1672, excited
a popular movement against the governor, which, however, was
finally quieted by concessions from the proprietors.
Berkeley, disappointed in his expectation of profitable returns, in
1674, for the inconsiderable sum of a thousand pounds, sold his
share of New Jersey to the Quakers, who were eager for an oppor-
tunity to purchase in the New World a refuge for their proscribed
THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY. ^77
faith and persons, yhe assignment was made to John Fenwick in
trust for Edward Byllinge, whose affairs were embarrassed. A dis-
pute between these two was settled by the intervention of William
Penn; and, in 1675, the former, with a large company of Friends,
sailed for the Delaware. At a place which he called Salem, near
Elsingburg, he established a settlement, and, by agreement with Sir
George Carteret, the western portion of the province thenceforward
called West New Jersey was set off and separated as the share of
the new proprietors. Penn and two others, being made the assigns
of Byllinge, as trustees for his creditors, divided the country into
one hundred shares, which they set up for sale. All the purchasers
made vigorous efforts to promote the growth of the province ; and,
in 1677, a large number of emigrants, mostly Quakers, came over
and settled in and around Burlington.
The constitution, which, under the benevolent auspices of Quaker-
ism, was adopted the same year, was of a nature extraordinarily
liberal and democratic, considering the age. Perfect freedom of
conscience and religion; universal suffrage by ballot; universal
eligibility to office; strict accountability of representatives to their
constituents; direct election of justices, &c., by the people; extraor-
dinary privileges of jury; non-imprisonment for debt, and prohibi-
tion of slavery; such were the grand principles on which rested
the earliest legislation of the Friends in the Old or the New World.
Lands were purchased of the Indians, whose rights were especially
protected by law, and the chiefs, gathered in council at Burlington,
pledged a perpetual league and friendship with the peaceful coiners.
"You are our brothers," they said, "and we will live like brothers
with you. We will have a broad path for you and us to walk in.
If an Englishman falls asleep in this path, the Indian shall pass him
by, and say, 'He is an Englishman; he is asleep; let him alone.'
The path shall be plain ; there shall not be in it a stump to hurt
the feet."
The tranquillity of this happy province was first disturbed by the
violent interference of Andros, the governor of the Duke of York,
who forcibly exacted customs of ships trading to the new colony,
levied taxes on the inhabitants, and carried matters with a high
hand when resisted. On the remonstrance of the people, most forci-
bly and eloquently set forth, the duke consented to refer the matter
of jurisdiction to an impartial commission. By this the claims of
his governor were pronounced illegal, and the liberties of New
178 AMEEICA ILLTJSTKATED.
Jersey were fully confirmed. An attempt of Byllinge, as propri
etor, to assume undue rights, was resisted with equal success, and
the Quakers, by advice of Penn, amending their constitution, elected
a governor for themselves.
In 1682, East New Jersey was purchased by Penn and a number
of others, from the heirs of Carteret. Robert Barclay, conspicuous
for his defence of the Quakers, was appointed governor, and strong
inducements to emigration were held forth. The cruelties enacted
.at this time against the Presbyterians of Scotland, caused numbers
of that persecuted people to avail themselves of the opportunity for
a refuge across the Atlantic. Their coming contributed materially
to the well-being of the country industry, endurance, and piety,
being distinguishing traits in their character; and the two Jerseys,
not many years afterwards reunited under a single government,
owed much of their prosperity to the elements of virtue in the per-
secuted sects by which they were peopled.
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.
u X* ** & * Jn i .
WILLIAM PENN: HIS YOUTH: HE TURNS QUAKER: IS EXPELLED
FROM COLLEGE AND HOME: IMPRISONED POR HIS OPINIONS:
SEVERITY OF HIS FATHER: FRESH IMPRISONMENT: EXER-
TIONS IN BEHALF OF HIS SECT: HE ENGAGES IN THE
SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY.
i
WILLIAM PENN, son of the distinguished admiral of the same
name, was born at London on the 14th of October, 1644. At the
early age of fifteen, he was placed at the University of Oxford,
where, being of a temperament naturally religious and enthusiastic,
he became deeply impressed by the teachings of Loe, a prominent
member of the then almost universally persecuted sect of Quakers.
For implication with this obnoxious community, and for resistance
to the college authorities, (it has even been said that Penn and his
friends tore the surplices of the students over their heads, when an
order for the wearing of those garments had been issued,) he and
several of his associates were expelled. His father, a man loyal,
choleric, and prejudiced, unable to reclaim him by persuasion or
argument from his eccentric views, turned him out of doors; but,
afterwards, a partial reconciliation being effected, supplied him with
the means for foreign travel, hoping, probably, that change of scene
and adventure might dissipate his fantastic notions. Turning aside
from his journey, the youth engaged in the study of theology at
Saumur; whence he returned to England, and commenced that of
the law at Lincoln's Inn. Distinguished by purity of life rather
than by asceticism of manners, he made a figure corresponding with
his social position; was esteemed a young gentleman of fashion,
skilled in courtly and even martial accomplishments.
On coming of age, he was dispatched by his father to Ireland, to
180 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
take charge of his estates there, and falling in with his Quaker
friend, Loe, at a meeting in Cork, all his old impressions readily
revived. Imprisoned for attending the proscribed assemblies, but
finally released through the favour of the lord-lieutenant, he returned
home, where his father, grieved to the soul, used every exertion to
change his persuasion. The old admiral, who now probably began
to respect the stuff his son was made of, at last even offered to com-
promise matters so far as to agree that William might wear his hat
any where except in presence of himself, of the king, and the king's
brother but even these easy terms of capitulation were refused, and
he was again driven from the paternal roof.
lie now became openly a preacher of the persecuted sect, which
he defended in several publications an offence for which he was
committed to the Tower, and kept close prisoner for some months.
In this, as well as his other difficulties, his judges seem to have been
entirely at a loss for the motives which could induce a youth of
fortune and family to connect himself with a cause so ignominious
from the poverty, and so dangerous from the persecution which
attended it. Discharged from prison, he returned to Ireland, where
he busied himself in comforting his imprisoned brethren, and in
procuring their release. He was again committed for public preach-
ing, his trial creating no little excitement; but his father paid the
fine which the young Quaker, from motives of principle, had refused
to settle, and thus procured his discharge. A complete reconcilia-
tion took place, the brave and magnanimous old seaman finally
appreciating the traits of courage, of honour, and of independence
which his son inherited, though displayed in a field of action so dif-
ferent from his own. "Son William," he said on his death-bed, "if
you and your friends keep to your plain way of living and preach-
ing, you will make an end of the priests."
By the death of his father, Penn came into possession of an estate
of fifteen hundred pounds a year, and, in 1672, was married to a
woman in every way worthy of him one distinguished by beauty,
intelligence, principle, and sweetness of temper. He continued to
preach and to write in behalf of the oppressed sect whose cause he
had espoused; and the productions of his pen, characterized by
simplicity, eloquence, and sound argument, laid a strong hold on
public sentiment.
His first action in regard to settlements in the New World, was
in 1676, when, having served as arbitrator between Byllinge and
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Fen wick, he became one of the trustees of the former proprietor in
Western New Jersey. He drew up a plan of government for that
province. Eeligious toleration, trial by jury, and non-imprisonment
for debt, were its main constitutional features. In the following
year, large numbers of Quakers resorted there from England, and
the province soon became a favourite refuge for that oppressed peo-
ple. Penn, whose efforts were still unwearied in behalf of his suf-
fering brethren, continued, with all his energy, to defend their
cause at home, and to aid them in their emigration to the land of
freedom and toleration. ,
N
JT X lb Xi IX.
PENN OBTAINS FROM CHARLES II. THE GRANT OF PENNSYL-
VANIA: HIS ADMIRABLE PROCLAMATION TO THE SETTLERS:
HE REPAIRS TO AMERICA: GAINS POSSESSION OF DELA-
WARE: HONOURABLE DEALINGS WITH THE INDIANS:
THEIR ATTACHMENT TO HIM. THE GREAT TREATY.
His designs enlarged by successful experience, and his enterprise
aiming at the foundation of a commonwealth more free and perfect
than any the world had yet witnessed, in 1680 Penn made applica-
tion to the crown for a share of the American territory then distri-
buted by Charles II. with such a lavish hand among ambitious or prof-
ligate courtiers. If his proscribed opinions were calculated to retard
his suit, his personal address and fortunate circumstances were equally
suited to favour it. A large sum of money, due to his father from
the government, he offered as the price of the desired grant. In
March, 1681, a strong opposition overcome, he obtained from the
king the patent of a vast tract of territory, containing three degrees
of latitude and five of longitude.
In naming his province, his modesty prevented any allusion to
himself. He "suggested Sylvania, on account of its woods, but they
would still add Penn to it." The king, it is said, was pleased espc
dally to command and sanction this compliment. The vast tracts
of Pennsylvania, thus appropriately titled, he was to hold by the
payment of two beaver-skins yearly to the crown, and one-fifth of
182 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
any precious metals discovered there. Yery extensive powers of
government were conferred on him personally; powers of which he
never availed himself for purposes of selfish profit; and which he
used or surrendered only to further the establishment of complete
freedom, justice, and toleration over his vast domain. The more
effectually to carry out his extensive scheme, he now relinquished
the care of the affairs of New Jersey, which province, under his
judicious management, had continually improved, both in increase
and prosperity. His brief and admirable proclamation to the colo-
nists (Swedes and others), who had already settled in the limits of
his grant, cannot be too highly extolled for its simplicity, directness,
and honesty. "My Friends" he said, "I wish you all happiness,
here and hereafter. These are to lett you to know, that it hath pleased
God in his Providence to cast you in my Lott and Care. It is a
business, that, though I never undertook before, yet God has given
me an understanding of my duty and an honest heart to do it up-
rightly. I hope you will not be trgubled at your chainge and the
king's choice ; for you are now fixt, at the mercy of no Governour
that comes to make his fortune great. You shall be governed by
laws of your own makeing, and live a free, and, if you will, a sober
and industreous people. I shall not usurp the right of any, nor
oppress his person. God has furnisht me with a better resolution,
and has given me his grace to keep it. In short, whatever sober
and free men can reasonably desire for the security and improvement
of their own happiness, I shall heartily comply with I beseech
God to direct you in the way of righteousness, and therein prosper
you and your children after you. I am your true friend, Wm.
Penn." (April, 1681.)
Fresh emigrants were speedily forwarded to the land of refuge;
and Penn, with noble self-denial and thought for the common good,
rejected a great offer made to him, by a private company, for a
monopoly (very common at the time) of Indian traffic. A system
of government was devised, to be submitted to the approval of the
settlers themselves; and by a grant procured from the Duke of
York, the territory of the present state of Delaware was added tc
the already vast domain of Pennsylvania. TVith many of his friends
and neighbours, of the proscribed persuasion, the proprietor set sail
for America; and after a tedious voyage and numerous deaths on
board, on the 27th of October, 1682, arrived at Newcastle.
The next day, great numbers of the original settlers Swedes.
Tilt: TKK.1TY OP PKJV.Y WITH T H K 1 -V l> i Jl JV A .
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 133
Dutch, and English assembled at that town ; and ceremonious legal
possession of Delaware was delivered to Penn by the agent of the
Duke of York. Kecommending peace and sobriety to the inhabit-
ants, the proprietor journeyed th/ough the settlements of his grant,
and visited his friends in the neighbouring provinces.
With a conscientious regard to the rights of the native inhabit-
ants, seldom evinced by European founders of colonies, he had
made strict provision in the articles of emigration and settlement
for the protection of the Indians against either fraud or violence.
The goods employed in traffic with them, were to be rigidly exam-
ined, to test their quality, " that the said Indians might neither be
abused nor provoked ;" and any difference between the two races
was to be decided by a jury of twelve, half Indians and half white
men. On his return to the Delaware (1683), occurred that memor-
able treaty, the delight of history, the favourite theme of art, and
the perpetual honour of the faith and truthfulness of both the par-
ties concerned in it.
With a few of his Quaker friends, he met the delegation, itself
numerous, from the several tribes with whom the new settlers were
to live as neighbours, or to mingle in traffic, or in the chase. Be-
neath a spreading elm at Shakamaxon, hard by the present city of
Philadelphia then a lonely river bank, covered with pines in sim-
ple and truthful words, he addressed the assembled Algonquins,
impressing the advantages of just and loving dealing, and of constant
peace and friendship. "I will not call you children," he said, "for
parents sometimes chide their children too severely; nor brothers
only ; for brothers differ. The friendship between me and you I
will not compare to a chain ; for that the rains might rust, or the
falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man's body
were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood."
In reply, the chiefs said, "We will live in love with William Penn
and his children as long as the sun and moon shall endure." Pres-
ents were exchanged, and the wampum-belts, in commemoration of
the event, were given.
No oath confirmed this simple treaty, made in the free forest, by
the lonely river, beneath the arching sky, between the wild tribes
of America and a people proscribed in civilized Europe as the ene-
mies of society. No deeds were signed, no record of the compact,
except the simple wampum, was preserved. But it was never
broken. The hands of the savages were never imbrued with
184 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Quaker blood ; and, while their descendants inhabited the same laud,
peace and good-will ever prevailed between them.
"In the following year," to use the language of an elegant his-
torian, "Penn often met the Indians in council and at their fes-
tivals. He visited them in their cabins, shared the hospitable
banquet of hominy and roasted acorns, and laughed and frolicked,
and practised athletic games with the light-hearted, mirthful, con-
fiding red men. He spoke to them of religion, and found that the
tawny skin did not exclude the instinct of a Deity. 'The poor sav-
age people believed in God and the soul without the aid of meta-
physics.' He touched the secret springs of sympathy, and succeeding
generations on the Susquehannah acknowledged his loveliness."
Vj JjJj tOw u U) iXJ iw 6 w w ui
LIBERAL LEGISLATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. PENN FOUNP*
PHILADELPHIA: ITS RAPID INCREASE. FORMATION OF A
CONSTITUTION. GREAT EMIGRATION FROM EUROPE.
GROWTH OF THE PROVINCE. PENN RETURNS
TO ENGLAND. HIS SUBSEQUENT CAREER.
A POPULAR convention, assembled at Chester, in December, 1682,
was entrusted with the settlement of the government. Under the
just and liberal spirit of the proscribed society of Friends, extraor-
dinary improvements in legislation appeared. Primogeniture waa
abolished, and equal suffrage was secured to all tax-payers. No tax
could be levied except by force of law. Murder alone, at a time
when capital offences, on the English statute-books, were almost
without number, was to be punished by death. The punishment
for other offences was mild and reasonable. The original settlers
Swedes, Finns, and Dutch were assured of the same rights as Eng-
lishmen. The benevolent proprietor, rejoicing in his success in
founding a free community, and amply repaid for his sacrifices and
exertions by the gratitude of his people, concluded the work of
legislation, as usual, with words of religious counsel and exhortation.
In the first months of 1683, he selected for the site of his capita]
that admirable location, close by the scene of his treaty, lying be-
THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 185
twecn the Schuylkill and the Delaware. Here he laid out and founded
the city of Philadelphia a city which sprung into existence with
a rapidity and prosperity unprecedented at the day, and almost
rivalling the Aladdin-like structures in our western regions, which
seem the growth of a night the work of enchantment. In August
of that year, it consisted of but three or four cottages. Within two
years it contained six hundred houses.
Immediately after its selection, indeed, (March, 1683) a convention
was assembled there for the purpose of forming a constitution. By
that instrument it was provided that a council and assembly should
be elected by the people, the first for three years, and the latter for
one. The initiative of laws was reserved to the governor and coun-
cil, and their ratification depended on the assembly, directly repre-
senting the action of the people. The governor was allowed a
negative voice on the action of the council. The people received the
charter, so unexpectedly liberal, with gratitude and exultation; but
the former of these feelings, always short-lived with communities,
was, not long after, merged in the eager desire to establish a still
more complete form of democracy.
When the tidings of this unexampled generosity and tolerance on
the part of the proprietor reached Europe, numbers, especially of
the persecuted, from the British isles, from Holland, and from Ger-
many, flocked across the seas to share in the blessings provided by
the forethought and magnanimity of a single man. The sudden
growth of Philadelphia has been mentioned. That of the whole
province was on a corresponding scale outri vailing even the rapid
increase of New England. " I must, without vanity, say," affirms
Penn, with just pride, " I have led the greatest colony into America
that ever any man did upon a private credit, and the most prosper-
ous beginnings that ever were in it are to be found among us." His
humane and glorious mission in the New World accomplished, the
executive power entrusted to a commission of the council, the gen-
erous founder of Pennsylvania took an affecting leave of the people
who owed him so deep a debt of gratitude. Tender remembrance
and pious counsel mingled in his last words. "I have been with
you,'' he said, "cared over you, and served you, with unfeigned
love; and you are beloved of me and dear to me beyond utterance.
You are come to a quiet land, and liberty and authority
are in your own hands. Rule for Him under whom the princes of thia
world will one day esteem it an honour to govern in their places."
186 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Keturned to England, (1684,) Penn employed his fortune, his influ-
ence, his eloquence, in behalf of the oppressed. Thanks to his
name, his successful enterprise, and the respect which high integrity
will ever command, his voice at court was potential. At his inter-
cession, many hundreds of his unfortunate brethren were released
from the prisons in which they had been so long immured. The
eagerness of the new sovereign (James II.) to secure immunity for
his fellow-communicants, the Catholics, led him to listen favourably
to applications in behalf of other dissenters from the Establishment
Penn, in advance of all who sought either exclusive supremacy or
mere toleration for their respective creeds, boldly contended for
unlimited freedom of conscience, and won immortal honour by the
wisdom, the logic, and the eloquence with which his writings in
behalf of that grand object continually abound.
The first fruit of his generous concessions to the colonists, was
the display of a rather turbulent spirit of freedom. His legislators,
new to their business, soon became involved in quarrels with the
executive, and evinced much jealousy even of the limited share of
power and profit which the single-minded proprietor had reserved
as his own. "The maker of the first Pennsylvania almanac was
censured for publishing Penn as a lord. The assembly originated
bills -without scruple ; they attempted a new organization of the
judiciary; they alarmed the merchants by their lenity towards
debtors; they would vote no taxes; they claimed the right of in-
specting the records, and displacing the officers of the -courts; they
expelled a member who reminded them of their contravening the
provisions of their charter." These tokens of ingratitude, leading,
indeed, to no disastrous results, must have borne somewhat heavily
on the heart of the benefactor of the province that benefactor, who,
having expended his estate in delivering the oppressed and found-
ing a nation, and having relinquished in favour of his people the vast
profits which avarice, or even common custom might have grasped,
found himself, in old age, confined for debt within the rules of the
Fleet prison. But a steadfast hope and a serene conscience, the
prompters and supporters of his n^le career, were equally his con-
solers under its unprosperous personal termination. His fame,
emerging from the clouds of envy and detraction, shines, century
after century, with a purer and more steady ray. His memory
will ever be cherished by mankind as that of one of the wisest,
worthiest, and least selfish of their race.
THE NORTHERN COLONIES,
CONTINUED.
u ll iii i X Ji ii Jt.
SIR EDMUND ANDROS COMMISSIONED BY THE DUKE OF YORK: HI8
ATTEMPTS TO EXTEND HIS AUTHORITY OVER CONNECTICUT
THOMAS DONGAN. UNION OP THE COLONIES UNDER A
EOYAL GOVERNOR. ANDROS APPOINTED GOVERNOR-
GENERAL. OPPRESSION IN THE COLONIES. PRO-
CEEDINGS AGAINST CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND.
ANDROS'S VISIT TO CONNECTICUT. PRESER-
VATION OF THE CHARTER. THE NORTHERN
PROVINCES FORCED TO SUBMISSION. DOINGS
IN NEW ENGLAND UPON THE OCCURRENCE
OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1688.
AT the period of the recession to England of the territories of the
New Netherlands, after a brief possession by the Dutch, in 1673-4,
James, Duke of York, procured a new royal patent, by which his
former rights of proprietorship were secured to him, with enlarged
governmental powers. He chose a fit emissary for the furtherance
of his arbitrary intentions respecting his New England territory, in
the person of Major Edmund Andros, who came over in the autumn
of 1674, armed with nearly absolute authority, and entered upon
the exercise of his office as governor at New York, in the month of
October.
The people of Connecticut, justly proud of the privileges bestowed
upon them in the charter obtained from Charles II., by the exertions
of Winthrop, made open resistance to the attempt by Andros to
extend his jurisdiction over their territory as far as the Connecticut
river, which he claimed to be the boundary of New York. The
188 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
patent of the duke certainly covered this district, and extended
eastward as far as the Kennebec. The year after his appointment,
the governor, with several armed vessels, made a demonstration
upon the fort at Saybrook, but such was the aspect of determination
on the part of the colonial militia, and such the tone of a protest
forwarded by the assembly then in session at Hartford, that he judged
it prudent to withdraw.
At a later period, after the accession of James II. to the throne of
England, the policy of uniting the New England colonies, and sub
jecting them to the sway of the royal governor, was more energet
ically pursued. Andros was superseded, in 1683, by Colonel Thomas
Dongan, a man of more enlarged views, and generally far more
acceptable to the colonists than his predecessor: During the three
years of this administration, the principal events of political interest
are connected with the history of that powerful aboriginal confed-
eracy, known as the Six Nations.
Upon the demise of the crown, in 1685, the new monarch, with
characteristic tyranny and short-sightedness, determined on push-
ing forward his scheme for a union of the provinces. The charter
of Massachusetts was annulled by legal process in the English
courts, New Hampshire having been previously separated feom that
colony, and constituted a royal province, in opposition to the wishes
of its inhabitants. Writs of Quo Warranto were also issued against
the authorities of Connecticut and Rhode Island, requiring them to
appear and show by " what warrant " they exercised powers of gov-
ernment. Joseph Dudley, a native of the country, was temporarily
placed at the head of affairs in the eastern colonies, but was super-
seded at the close of the year 1686 by Andros, now Sir Edmund,
who came out as Governor-General of New England, and in whom,
assisted by a royal council, were vested all powers, legislative and
executive. He brought with bin a small body of regular troops,
then, for the first time, quartered upon the, New England colonies.
Andros is spoken of as a man of undoubted abilities and attain-
ments; and he appears to have possessed a spirit of military pride
which led him to respect an open and bold opposition. The prin-
cipal acts of tyranny which rendered his administration unpopular,
were in direct accordance with instructions from the English court.
E'ower, such as his, can safely be entrusted with no man.
Among other grievances, the liberty of the press was abolished,
and the unpopular Edward Eandolph, who had previously been
THE NOBTHERN COLONIES. 189
Bent out as inspector of customs, was appointed censor. The reli-
gious privileges and prejudices of the colonists by various regu-
lations were invaded or outraged. In Massachusetts, marriages were
required to be celebrated by a clergyman of the Episcopal Church,
to the great disgust and inconvenience of the population. Even the
Act of Toleration, by which dissenters in general were freed from
former disabilities, was looked upon with suspicion, as being but
one step taken by a Catholic monarch towards the final establish-
ment of his own church.
An assessment of taxes, by the governor and council, was at first
met by a general refusal and resistance; but the levy was enforced,
and obstinate defaulters were punished with severity by fines and
imprisonment. A favourite and most productive method of extor-
tion, was the impeachment of titles to lands held under the old
grants from towns or from the general assemblies, and ruinous fees
were exacted from those who were thus compelled to procure new
patents from the royal officials.
Legal process against the governments of Connecticut and Ehode
Island had been stayed upon the transmission of memorials to the
king, which had been construed into submission to the royal pleasure;
but the charters of these provinces had not been formally surren-
dered. In January of 1687, Sir Edmund proceeded in person to
Rhode Island, and put an end to the existing government. He
destroyed the public seal, and, without material opposition, estab-
lished the royal authority, as represented by himself and his creatures.
The General Assembly of Connecticut, being in session during the
month of October following, was visited by the governor-general,
who came, with an armed force, to compel a surrender of the charter,
and to dissolve the provincial government. The treasured docu-
ment was produced, and the question was discussed at great length.
Night came on, and, as ii, was evident that Andros was fully
determined to enforce his claims, a plan was concerted by which the
instrument that had assured a free government to Connecticut was at
least preserved, although rendered, for the time being, of no effect.
The lights were extinguished, and, in the darkness and confusion
which ensued, Captain Wadsworth, of Hartford, seized upon the
charter, and, making his way out of the assembly-room, succeeded
in depositing it unseen in a place of security, viz: the hollow of a
huge oak. This tree is still living, and forms an object no less
interesting from its antiquity, (being one of the few denizens of the
190 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
aboriginal forest now standing in the thickly -settled portions of New
England,) and from the great size of its gnarled and picturesque
trunk, than from its association with the incident above related.
The original charter is still preserved at the secretary's office, in
Hartford.
Andros met with no further opposition, and all New England,
with New York and New Jersey, finally submitted to his dictation.
He maintained his position until the revolution of 1688, by which
William and Mary gained possession of the throne of England. An
unprofitable eastern expedition against the French and Indians,
under the Baron of St. Castine, was among the most noticeable
events of the latter portion of his administration.
Upon receipt of the first definite intelligence of the revolution,
the people of Boston rose in mass. Andros, his Secretary Ran-
dolph, and other officials, were seized and thrown into prison. The
venerable Simon Bradstreet, former governor of the colony, was put
at the head of a provisional government.
The whole of New England followed the example of Massa-
chusetts. Connecticut and Rhode Island were reorganized under
their violated charters, and all the other colonies, in resuming their
old forms of government, rejoiced over the forced abdication of the
king, and the establishment of a Protestant succession.
Andros was sent to England, and the various charges against
him were examined by William and his council. It appeared, how-
ever, that he had in no material instance exceeded the powers
expressly bestowed upon him, and the complaints were dismissed.
Connecticut and Rhode Island received the royal confirmation of
their old charters; but Massachusetts was less fortunate, having made
defence in the proceedings under the quo warranto, to final judg
ment, which, it was decided, could only be reversed on writ of error
/r//./. i ,i M /-f.-V.V
T II r. F O V N II r. R OF I' K N N s v I V ,\ N I A
A'l LONDON. (K-IOltKi; H. |A.| : KOHN DKP I'llll.ADKI.I'MIA. 1(K1 : DIKI) Jlil.V :) ITtfl
THE NOKTHEEN COLONIES.
U **&** & X 1.
NBW YORK SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1S88 AS-
SUMPTION OF AUTHORITY BY JACOB LEISLER: OPPOSITION BY
THE COUNCIL. INDIAN INCURSIONS. ARRIVAL OF
8LOUOHTER AS GOVERNOR. TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF
LEIS.LER AND MILBOURNE. COLONEL FLETCHER: HIS
FUTILE ATTEMPT TO ENFORCE AUTHORITY IN
CONNECTICUT. CHURCH DIFFICULTIES. BEL-
LAMONT'S PEACEABLE ADMINISTRATION.
CAPTAIN KIDD, THE PIRATE.
IN New York, the first news of the English revolution created
great confusion and terror. Yague reports of intended outrages on
the part of the Catholics excited the populace, and hastened a move-
ment which proved fatal to its leaders. Jacob Leisler, a captain of
militia, and a Dutch merchant of wealth and respectability, was pre-
vailed upon to take command of a body of insurgents, and to seize
upon the fort. The lieutenant-governor, Colonel Francis Nicholson,
fled the country, and Leisler, at the head of a "committee of safety,"
assumed the administration of government, in opposition to the
regular municipal authorities. The news of the accession of William
and Mary having arrived, he made public proclamation of loyalty
to the new sovereigns, and dispatched a letter to them, rendering an
account of his proceedings, with a detail of the causes which had
rendered such action necessary or expedient. In the month of
August, Milbourne, a son-in-law of Leisler, came over from England,
and received the appointment of secretary by the self-constituted
government. The members of the old council, having retreated to
Albany, there proclaimed their intended adherence to the new suc-
cession, and their denunciation of the rebellious Leisler. The people
of Albany, in convention, determined to await a direct appointment
by the crown, and, having conferred on Major Schuyler the com-
mand of the fort, refused to submit to the requirements, or yield to
the persuasions of Milbourne, who, with a force of fifty men, had
come to demand possession in the name of his superior.
In December (1689) came out a royal commission, directed to
Nicholson, "or such as, for the time being, takes care for preserving
VOL. IV. 41
192 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
the peace, and administering the laws," &c. Leisler adopted this
as his own warrant for the exercise of the powers he had assumed.
Insecure in his position, and opposed by a powerful party, the
governor was unable some say incompetent to make necess; ~v
preparations for the protection of the northern frontier. War existed
between England and France, and parties of French and Indians,
sent out by Frontenac, the Canadian governor, ravaged the country.
In an attack upon Schenectady, some sixty of the inhabitants were
slain, twenty-five were carried into captivity, and many who escaped
suffered every extremity from exposure during their flight towards
Albany. An expedition against Canada, undertaken by New York,
Connecticut, and Massachusetts, from want of timely cooperation
between the different parties, proved a complete failure.
Leisler succeeded in silencing the open opposition at Albany,
but his supremacy was destined to be of short duration. Henry
Sloughter, with a commission from the crown, came out as gov-
ernor in March, 1691. A certain Captain Ingoldsby had landed at
New York with troops three months previous, had announced this
appointment, and claimed possession of the fort. Leisler refused tc
surrender the place, and, on the arrival of Sloughter, by order of
that official, was arrested, together with Milbourne, and several
members of his council.
The first steps taken by the governor, were to appoint a special
court for the trial of the prisoners, and to issue warrants for an
assembly, or council, to assist him in the administration. The result
was what might be expected from the character of Sloughter, and
the arbitrary nature of the proceedings. The accused were convicted
of high-treason, and sentenced to death. The council concurred
with the sentence, and the governor, at first hesitating to push mat-
ters to such an extremity, finally signed the death-warrants of Leisler
and Milbourne. It has been said that his assent was obtained dur-
ing a fit of intoxication. The victims perished on the gallows, in
the month of May (1691). They met their fate with a composure
and in a Christian spirit which must have enlisted general sympathy.
Their heirs afterwards received their estates, the attainder being
reversed, and the vain ceremonial of funeral honours was performed
over the bodies of the unfortunate governor and his secretary.
Colonel Fletcher succeeded Sloughter in 1692, the latter having
died suddenly, after holding office about four months. He was
commissioned by the crown as commander of the militia of New
THE NOKTHEEN COLONIES. 193
Jersey and Connecticut, and in the following year proceeded to
Hartford for tne purpose of enforcing his military claims. The
Connecticut authorities refused to submit to his demands, as being
opposed to privileges secured to them by charter. The militia com-
panies were assembled, but when Fletcher ordered the reading of
his commission, Captain William Wadsworth, the principal officer,
caused the drums to be beat, and, adding to this violence a personal
threat, "that he would make day -light shine through him," so over-
awed the colonel, that he desisted from the attempt to take command,
and the next day set out for New York.
Fletcher held office until 1698. He had much controversy with
the assembly respecting laws for the settlement of clergymen. Fa-
vouring the English Church, he was greatly exasperated when the
house, after providing for the appointment of ministers to be elected
by their parishioners, refused to add an amendment by which the
sanction of the governor was required to their settlement. He pro-
rogued the assembly forthwith, accusing the members, in his fare-
well speech, as being possessed of "a stubborn ill-temper."
Lord Bellamont, who succeeded him in 1698, as governor of the
northern colonies, (with the exception of Connecticut and Rhode
Island,) was a man of noble and generous" disposition, and through-
out his three years' administration gave general satisfaction to the
people. It was at this time that the notorious Captain Kidd ob-
tained a commission from the crown to cruise after pirates, with
which the seas were infested. He was furnished with a vessel by
Bellamont and others, for this purpose, it being supposed that great
treasures might be recovered by the capture of these outlaws, and
by ferreting out their places of retreat. The treachery of Kidd, his
subsequent piratical exploits, his audacious appearance in public, his
capture, and execution, mingled with many fabulous and exaggerated
accounts of adventure, have ever since been favourite themes for
rude nautical songs and tales. The search for treasures which he
was supposed to have buried, has been continued even to the
present day.
194:
AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
<j JoJj ix/Aj J7 J> Ju iL b JL <L J> e
NEW CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS. TRIALS FOR WITCH-
CRAFT IN SALEM. FIRST EXECUTION. PARRIS AND HIS
FAMILY. COURT OF EXAMINATION AT SALEM. COTTON
MATHER. ARRIVAL OF PHIPPS. NUMEROUS EXE-
CUTIONS. CONFESSIONS. CRUELTIES INFLICTED.
CHANGE IN PUBLIC OPINION.
IN Massachusetts, after the Revolution, a regular government was
established under a new charter, brought out by Sir William Phipps,
in 1692, which included under one government with that province
the colony of Plymouth, and the partially conquered wilderness
eastward to the mouth of the St. Lawrence.
This year is memorable in the history of New England, as the
period when a fatal delusion, a superstitious terror, and a bloody
fanaticism, resulted in acts which reflected an indelible disgrace upon
the eastern colonies. We cannot, perhaps, at this date, arrive at
satisfactory conclusions respecting the reputed witchcraft at Salem.
Withjn the last few years a belief in manifestations as strange, and
as apparently supernatural as those recorded by Mather and other
early historians, has been steadily gaining ground: it numbers
among its converts men of every condition, and of every variety of
intellectual culture and endowment; and were the same interpreta-
tion, as in the seventeenth century, put upon the experiments
whereby the phenomena are developed now, and were the same
necessity felt for literal obedience to the Hebrew law, scenes more
horrible than those we are now about to record, would be renewed
in our midst.
We cannot, however, give the actors in those disgraceful pro-
ceedings credit for entire honesty and sincerity. Even granting
that a foundation for suspicion and accusation was laid by the occur-
rence of events so unaccountable, that, in that age, reference to the
devil and his familiars as their originators was but a natural ex-
planation of the mystery, we can discover too much evidence of
private malice, of duplicity, and misrepresentation, to allow of much
room for charity towards those who took an active part in the per-
secutions, or those who endeavoured to justify or gloss over
their crimes.
THE NORTHERN COLONIES.
195
The first prosecutions for witchcraft took place several years pre-
vious to the time of which we are now speaking. An unfortunate
old Irish woman, named Glover, was executed as a witch in 1688.
Her accusation appears to have resulted from personal pique, but
she was a Catholic, she spoke indifferent English, and her broken
answers were easily interpreted against her.
The first case that occurred in 1692, was that of an Indian woman,
named Tituba, a servant in the house of Samuel Parris, minister of
Salem. A daughter and a niece of the latter, of the ages respect-
ively of about nine and twelve, became afflicted with strange con-
vulsions, and complained of pains and torments unexplainable by
the faculty. They were pronounced bewitched, and Tituba was
flogged by her master into a confession that she was the guilty party.
Without undertaking to reason upon the cause of the phenomena,
to what extent some strange sympathetic mental delusion (such as
has from time to time been observed in all ages), may have pre-
vailed, how far men in their sober senses may have become the
dupes of artful children, or what really unaccountable physical
manifestations may have taken place, we can only give the facts as
they actually occurred.
Accusations multiplied with the number of the supposed possessed
or afflicted persons. They extended from the poor and helpless to
those of good standing and reputation, and a universal panic was
excited, which finally worked its own cure. Meantime, a special
court was convened at Salem (now Danvers) meeting-house, in the
month of April, and the trials formally commenced. The accusers
were personally confronted with their supposed tormentors, and
added to their former declarations what appeared, to the prejudiced
and excited court, direct and convincing evidence.
For minute accounts of the proceedings throughout these trials,
as well as for experiments carried out at great length upon the pos-
sessed, in a spirit of philosophical inquiry, see the writings of Cotton
Mather. He appears to have been a firm believer in the reality of
these diabolical manifestations, but such was his dogmatic obstinacy,
and his excessive self-esteem, that he never could or would confess
to having been deceived. In reading his works, while we laugh at
his absurdities, we cannot restrain feelings of the strongest indigna-
tion at his cruelty, bigotry, and intolerance. As a historian, he is
notoriously fallacious, but we may believe that he saw, or thought
he saw, the things which he describes as coming under his personal
196 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
observation, for he could scarcely appear in a more unamiable light
than that in which he is exhibited upon his own testimony.
In the midst of the excitement (May 14th) Governor Phippa
arrived, and assumed his office. He entered at once into the spirit
of persecution, and ordered into irons the unfortunates with whom
the jails were crowded.
Several sessions of the special court were held during the summer,
and by the close of September no less than twenty persons, of various
ages and of both sexes, had perished on the gallows as witches or ne-
cromancers. Among the most noted of these, was George Burroughs,
formerly minister at Salem, and a rival of his successor, the infamous
Parris. His demeanour on the scaffold was so strongly indicative of
innocence, and such was the effect produced by his prayers and
dying address, that it is said that the execution might have been pre-
vented by the spectators if Cotton Mather had not made his way
through the throng on horseback, and exerted his usual influence
over the people, by vituperation against the victim of superstition.
The principal point made against Burroughs, was his denial of the
reality of the supposed witchcraft. So strong, indeed, was the pop-
ular prejudice, that those only of the accused could hope for favour
or safety who were willing to minister to it by confessions and self-
accusations.
The wildest absurdities respecting diabolical witch-meetings and
incantations thus received corroboration. There was no difficulty in
finding evidence against those who refused to confess, provided they
had come, from any cause, to be in bad odour, or had personal enemies.
The trials, as far as any form of law or rules of evidence are concerned,
were the merest mockery; for whatever contradictions in testi-
mony might occur, they were easily explained by the hypothesis
that this was only an attempt by the devil to bewilder the witness
by taking away his memory, or by making further false impressions.
In various instances, direct and cruel bodily torture was resorted to,
in order to extort confession. One old man of eighty or ninety,
named Giles Cory, refused to plead, and was barbarously pressed to
death, being subjected to the "peine forte et dure" as provided by the
law of England. We must recollect, however, in passing judgment
upon all these acts, that, provided their premises were correct, the
early colonists only carried out principles universally received, and
acted upon for ages, in the parent country. And yet there are
those who speak of the degeneracy of modern times, and presume
THE NOETHERN COLONIES. 197
to draw comparisons unfavourable to the present age, between the
existing state of public morals and theology, and that of a former
generation.
The first public intimation of any change in feeling or opinion
respecting the Salem murders appears in a remonstrance sent in to
the general court, at its October session, by the minister of Andover
and his parishioners. The special court was then and there abol-
ished, and the interval between that period and the month of Janu-
ary, (1693,) when the regular criminal court was to sit, allowed
time for reflection on the part of the excited populace. When the
new cases came before a grand jury, twenty-six indictments (out of
fifty-six) were found true bills, but upon trial, there were but three
convictions. Even those found guilty were reprieved, and finally
set at liberty.
Mather himself, giving his own ideas, or endorsing those of an-
other, confesses that the matter might have been carried too far; for,
he says: "at last it was evidently seen that there must be a stop
put, or the generation of the children of God would fall under that
condemnation." And again: "It cannot be imagin'd that in a
place of so much knowledge, so many, in so small a compass of
land, should so abominably leap into the devil's lap all at once."
CHAPTER IV.
CONTROVERSY CONCERNING REVENUE. SUSPECTED NEGRO REVOLT
IN NEW YORK: MOCK-TRIALS OP THE ACCUSED: BARBAROUS
PUNISHMENTS. CONNECTICUT: THE SAYBROOK PLATFORM.
MASSACHUSETTS: BURNING OF DEERFIELD: DIFFICULTIES
BETWEEN THE GOVERNORS AND ASSEMBLIES. NEW
HAMPSHIRE: ATTACK ON COCHECO: EASTERN IN-
DIAN WAR. RHODE ISLAND: ITS COMMERCIAL
PROSPERITY. NEW JERSEY: OPPOSITION TO
ARBITRARY TAXATION: SCOTCH IMMIGRA-
TION: PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY: ITS
UNION WITH NEW YORK.
WITH the commencement of the eighteenth century a series of
movements and conflicts commenced in the colonies, the tendency
198 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
of which was directly and steadily towards the establishment of those
principles which resulted in their final independence. In New York,
under the governments of the reckless and profligate Lord Corn-
bury, of Hunter, of Cosby, and Clark, vexed questions arose
respecting the collection and application of the colonial revenues.
The public monies had been so scandalously appropriated or misap-
plied by Cornbury, that, under his successors, care was taken by the
assembly to secure the country against similar loss by the dishonesty
or incompetency of the executive. The result was an almost con-
stant altercation between the house and the governor's council. The
attempt by the latter to alter or amend the fiscal provisions of the
former was met by determined resistance, and again and again was
the assembly dissolved by the governor.
During the administration of Clark, who, as senior member of the
council, took the office of lieutenant-governor upon the death of
Crosby, in 1736, the assembly made express declaration, in an address
to the governor, of the principles by which their legislation should
be governed, in the following language: "We therefore beg leave
to Ife plain with your honour, and hope you will not take it amiss
when we tell you, that you are not to expect that we will either
raise sums unfit to be raised, or put what we shall raise into the
power of a governor to misapply, if we can prevent it; nor shall we
make up any other deficiencies than what we conceive are fit and
just to be paid; nor continue what support or revenue we shall
raise, for any longer time than one year" (a provision for securing
an annual session of the assembly); "nor do we think it convenient
to do even that, until such laws are passe*d as we conceive necessary
for the inhabitants of the colony," &c.
In the year 1741, scenes occurred in New York of a character
strikingly illustrative of the truth, that the extreme of cruelty is
generally the offspring of terror and cowardice. A number of fires
took place at short intervals, and although many of them were
plainly attributable to accident, suspicion arose that a plot had
been formed by the negroes, of whom between one and two thousand
were there held as slaves, to destroy and plunder the city. The
testimony of two infamous informers, given in the one instance to
secure a reward, and in the other, to escape punishment after con-
viction of a crime, gave form and directness to the accusation. As
early as 1712, a panic somewhat similar had resulted in the death
of nineteen victims of popular rage and terror, and the old feeling
THE NOBTHEBN COLONIES. ^99
was now revived with tenfold virulence. A great number of arrests
were speedily made, and when the trials came on, so strong was
the public prejudice that, of the eight lawyers who then constituted
the- entire legal fraternity of the city, none would lend his services
in the defence of a prisoner. "All assisted by turns on behalf of
the prosecutions. The prisoners, who had no counsel, were tried
and convicted upon most insufficient evidence. The lawyers vied
with each other in heaping all sorts of abuse on their heads, and
Chief-Justice Delancey, in passing sentence, vied with the lawyers.
Many confessed, to save their lives, and then accused others. Thir-
teen unhappy convicts were burned at the stake, eighteen were
hanged, and seventy-one transported."*
Two of the victims were white men; the others were partly slaves
and partly free blacks. One of the whites appears to have been
condemned rather from the circumstance that he was a Catholic,
and, as such, obnoxious to popular prejudice, than from any respect-
able evidence of guilt. There is no probability that any plot had
been formed, although some of those who received punishment may
have been guilty of incendiarism.
The history of Connecticut, during the first half of the eighteenth
century, presents little of historical importance, except its connec-
tion with the other provinces in military operations, elsewhere
briefly described. The most important local measure of the period
was the establishment of "the Say brook Platform," by an eccle-
siastical convention, called in 1708, by a legislative act. "At a
subsequent session of the legislature, it was enacted that all the
churches united according to the Platform, should be owned as
established by law, allowing, however, to other churches the right
of exercising worship and discipline in their own way, according to
their consciences.''!
In the frontier war with the French and Indians, which lingered
through the latter portion of the seventeenth century, and after a
short interval of peace, broke out again in 1704, the border towns
of Massachusetts suffered severely. In February of the latter year,
a party of three hundred French and Indians, the former under
command of Hertel de Rouville, attacked the town of Deerfield in
the night. The place had been partially protected by palisades, and
about twenty soldiers were quartered there, but these had been
* Hildreth's History of the United States.
f Kale's History of the United States.
200 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
grossly negligent in not mounting guard, and the surprise was com-
plete. The popular narrative of Mr. Williams, the minister, gives
a vivid description of the calamity. "Not long before the break of
day," he says, " the enemy came in like a flood upon us, our watch
being unfaithful." The inhabitants made what resistance they could,
but such was the suddenness of the assault, and the superiority of
the enemy's force, that the strife was soon at an end. The town
was burned ; forty -seven of its defenders perished on the spot ; and a
great number of prisoners men, women, and children were marched
off through a deep snow towards Canada "nineteen of whom,"
says the narrator, "were afterwards murdered by the way, and two
starved to death near Coos, in a time of great scarcity or famine
the Indians underwent there." Mrs. Williams was among the vic-
tims on the route. Those who finally reached their place of 'destina-
tion, were kept prisoners for several years. Fifty-seven of them
were sent back to Boston in 1706.
The operations against Canada, in which the New England colo-
nies were jointly engaged, during the few years succeeding this
period, have already been described in the history of the French
Canadian settlements. The long-continued war had greatly checked
the growth of the exposed colonies, and, at the conclusion of peace
in 1713, Massachusetts was left burdened with a heavy debt.
For many years thereafter, the general assembly of this colony
was in continual controversy with a succession of royal governors
respecting the establishment of a fixed salary, which should render
the position of the latter more independent. The demand for thia
measure was firmly refused, and it was finally settled that the gov-
ernor should be paid only by an annual appropriation.
For the important colonial expedition against Canada in 1745,
and the fall of Louisburg, see the articles upon Acadia, the settle-
ment and -history of Canada, &c., under the title of the French in
America.
We find little of public interest to record of the sparsely populated
colony of New Hampshire from the time of its separation from Mas-
sachusetts, at the close of Andros' administration, up to the events
which immediately preceded the American revolution. Many
strange tales are told of incidents connected with the Indian wars,
the frontier position of the colony rendering it peculiarly liable to
hostile incursion. Among these is the account given of the attack
upon Cocheco, or Dover, in 1689. One Major Waldron had com
THE NORTHEEN COLONIES. 201
mand of a garrison sufficient to protect the post, if due care had been
taken to guard against surprise.
The enemy were let in, in the night, by two squaws who had
obtained permission to sleep in the fortified houses. " The English
were completely overpowered, fifty-two were killed or carried away
captive; among the former was Major Waldron. The old warrior
(he was eighty years of age) defended himself with astonishing
strength and courage, but was finally struck down from behind.
Bruised and mangled, he was placed in a chair upon a table, and
the savages, gathering round, glutted their long-cherished vengeance
by cutting and torturing the helpless captive. He was in bad odour
with the Indians for having, as they alleged, defrauded them in for-
mer trading transactions. It was reported among them that he used
to ' count his fist as weighing a pound, also that his accounts were
not crossed out according to agreement.' Placed, as above-mentioned,
upon a table, some of them ' in turns gashed his naked breast, say-
ing, I cross out my account. Then, cutting a joint from his finger,
would say: will your fist weigh a pound now?' They continued
these cruelties until he fainted from loss of blood, when they dis-
patched him."*
The expeditions of this period against the eastern Indians and
French, are described in the quaint narrative of Colonel Benjamin
Church, who closed his military career in these services. In the three
years' Indian war, which broke out in 1722, the settlements in New
Hampshire were constantly endangered, and on many occasions
suffered severely from savage depredations. Of all the events of
the war, none was more celebrated in its time, than the expedition
under Captain John Lovewell, and the fight at Pigwacket, on the
Saco, in which he and more than half his companions perished.
The colony of Rhode Island, under the charter of 1663, resumed
upon the deposition of Andros, continued to prosper. Its position
secured it against danger from Indian invasion, and its excellent
harbours gave opportunity to the enterprising population for exten-
sive commercial operations. A large back country was supplied
with foreign goods from Newport. It is even said to have been a
matter of serious question, in early times, whether New York could
ever compete with this prosperous sea-port; so true it is that a
stimulus to enterprise and exertion is far more important to the
welfare of a country than the greatest natural advantages. The
* Indian Races in America.
202 AMEKICA ILLUSTEATED.
rugged soil of New England has nourished a race, the field of whose
exertions is boundless: the inhabitants of the barren island of Nan
tucket have been, so to speak, driven to employ their energies in
enterprise, than which none has proved more permanently profitable.
New Jersey was among the foremost and most earnest of the
northern colonies, in resistance to. arbitrary power on the part of
her governors. The imposition of a duty, and the levy of a tax by
Andros, when he was first commissioned by the Duke of York, was
the occasion of a remonstrance, in which the standing claim, that
taxes should not be imposed without the people's assent, was
strongly and successfully urged.
Under the management of Penn and his associates, a new impetus
was given to the prosperity of the colony by" the immigration of a
vast number of the persecuted Presbyterians from Scotland. They
formed a sober and industrious population, well fitted to mingle
upon terms of sympathy and brotherhood with the Quaker inhabit-
ants and the descendants of the Puritans, by whom the country
was peopled. Glowing accounts are given of the rapidity with which
the lands were brought under cultivation, of the efficient means
which were taken to secure the blessings of free education, and of
the general thrift and prosperity of the colony.
New Jersey, together with New York and the New England colo-
nies, was brought under the domination of Sir Edmund Andros in
1688. For many years after the revolution of that date, its affairs
remained in an unsettled state; but in 1702, a surrender of their
legislative powers by the proprietors, resulted in the temporary
union of the province with New York, then under the government
of Cornbuiy.
GOT. SALTONSTALL. This appears to be the proper place to give some account of a
man who wielded, for many years, an influence in the colony equaled only by that of our
first Wiutbrop. Gurdon Saftcnstall was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1666, and
graduated at Harvard in 1684. He was ordained at New London, on the 25th of
November, 1691. His reputation soon spread through the colony, and his influence over
the clergy finally became almost absolute. They appeared to regard him with sentiments
akin to idolatry. The structure of his mind and character was such as led him inevitaNy
to cling to strict ecclesiastical discipline, and, feeling few of the infirmities of our nature,
ho had little patience with the faults of others. His personal appearance, as has imn
before remarked, was so striking and imposing that the Earl of liellamont regarded him
as better representing the English nobleman than any other gentleman whom he had seen
in America. He was more inclined to synods and formulas than any other minister of
that day in the New England colonies. The Saybrook platform was stamped with his
seal, and was for the most part an embodiment of 'his views. In an episcopal country he
would have made a bishop, in whose presence the lesser lights would scarcely have been
seen to twinkle.
On the death of Gov. Pitz John "Winthrop, in 1707, ho was chosen governor of the
colony, and continued in office until his death, which took place on the 20th of Septem-
ber, 1724. Ifoltister's History of Connecticut.
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES,
CONTINUED.
u '****
CHARTER OF THE COLONY OP GEORGIA. - FIRST ARRIVAL OP
COLONISTS. - SETTLEMENT OF SAVANNAH. - INDIAN NEGO-
TIATIONS. - MARY MUSGROVE. - CESSION OF INDIAN
CLAIMS. - CHARACTER OF IMMIGRANTS TO GEORGIA.
- TRAFFIC IN NEGROES PROHIBITED. - FRED-
ERICA FOUNDED. - WAR WITH SPAIN.
As late as the year 1732, when plans for the settlement of the coun-
try included between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers were first
actively undertaken, the whole district, together with the adjoining
territory, now included in the state of Georgia, remained untenanted,
except by savages, and a debatable ground between the English
colonies and those of Spain. In the month of June, in the year
above-mentioned, James Oglethorpe, with twenty associates, in Eng-
land, obtained a charter from George II., for the foundation of a
colony in this unoccupied region the special object of the grantees
being to provide an asylum for poor and imprisoned debtors, for the
subjects of religious persecutions, and for all standing in need of
charity, who might, by removal to a new country, be rendered
eventually self-dependent, useful, and prosperous.
The leader in this enterprise was a soldier and a scholar, and,
although yet a young man, was possessed of experience in public
life, and maturity of judgment, which well qualified him for his
responsible undertaking. lie had been for several years engaged in
efforts for the amelioration of the condition of the multitudes con-
fined for debt, in Great Britain, and his exertions had awakened
much attention among the benevolent and philanthropic. lie met
with a ready response to his call for funds to aid in the transporta-
tion and establishment of the members of his new colony.
204: AMERICA ILLUSTEATED.
Oglethorpe sailed for America in November, 1732, with one
hundred and thirteen emigrants. He first landed at Charleston,
where provisions were provided by the inhabitants for the present
support of the voyagers, and boats for their conveyance to their
new homes.
The site occupied by the present city of Savannah, on Yamacraw
Bluff, was fixed upon for the first settlement. Elevated above the
surrounding level, a few miles from the entrance of the river, this
position commands a beautiful and extensive view in the direction
of the sea. A tribe of the Muscogees, or Lower Creeks, dwelt in
the vicinity. These "were peaceably disposed towards the white
settlers, but the governor of the infant colony thought it advisable
to put himself upon safe ground as regarded the Indian claims.
He therefore secured the services of a half-breed woman, named
Mary Musgrove, who could speak English, and, by her mediation,
brought about a conference with the chiefs of the tribe.
Mary had formerly married a white trader from Carolina. Be-
sides her usefulness as an interpreter, she had such influence over
her tribe, that Oglethorpe thought it worth his while to purchase
her services at the rate of one hundred pounds a year. She be-
came, afterwards, a source of no little danger and annoyance to the
English.
Fifty chiefs of the Creek nation were assembled at the place of
conference, and Tomochichi, the most noted among those then
known to the settlers, made an amicable speech, proffering, at the
same time, a present of a buffalo-skin, adorned with eagles' feathers."*
By the terms of the treaty, the king of England was acknowledged
by the Indians as their sovereign, and provisions were made for the
preservation of peace and quiet' between them and the settlers.
"The lands lying between the Savannah and Altamaha were
made over to the English, with all the islands on that coast, except
St. Catharine's and two others, which were reserved for the use of
the Indians as bathing and fishing stations. A tract was also set
apart for the latter to encamp upon when they visited their white
friends, a little above the Yamacraw Bluff."
The liberal offers of the patrons and proprietors of the new col-
ony of Georgia religious freedom, (to the exclusion, however, of
Papists,) personal security, free grants of land, free passage, and a
temporary supply of provision proved strong inducements to
* Indian Races of America.
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. 205
immigration. Not only the poor outcasts who had gladly availed
themselves of the assistance of the charitable, thronged to the settle-
ment, but a thrifty and industrious population poured in from
Scotland, Switzerland, and Germany. A considerable body of
Moravians, from the latter country, arrived in March, 173-i, and
with the assistance cordially proffered by Oglethorpe, commenced a
settlement at the mouth of Ebenezer creek, which empties into the
Savannah, a considerable distance above the capital. The Scotch,
who arrived in the following year, settled at Darien, called by them
New Inverness.
In February, 1736, the governor, returning from England, whither
he hail voyaged to procure contributions and recruits tor his colony,
brought with him about three hundred immigrants. A portion
of these were Moravians, and among them was the celebrated John
Wesley, who came out fired with religious zeal for the conversion
of the Indians.
A general spirit of good-will, peace, and content, seemed to per-
vade the community. The powers of government were, it is true,
vested in the truatees, under the charter, but these benevolent indi-
viduals, who received no emoluments for their services, appear to
have had the interests of the colony at heart. A vain attempt was
made, indeed, to secure the settlement against the evils of slavery,
the importation of negroes being forbidden ; but within a few years
the inhabitants became convinced that the condition of their neigh-
bours, who availed themselves of the labour of blacks, was more
prosperous and promising than their own, and the natural result
of this conclusion, was the permanent establishment of the present
servile system.
In February, (1736,) the town of Frederica, on St. Simon's Island,
was laid out, under the superintendence of the governor, in person,
advantage being taken of an old Indian clearing in that local it}'.
From St. Simon's, Oglethorpe extended his journey southward,
through the inland channels, which border the whole coast, taking
possession of the country in the name of the king, and marking out
sites for defensive posts. The English claim included all north of the
St. John's, while, on the other hand, the Spaniards asserted title to
the whole of Georgia, and even included in their demands a portion
of South Carolina, limiting their territory by St. Helena Sound.
These, and" other conflicting claims, resulted in war between the
two nations. Oglethorpe having received a military commission
206 AMEEICA ILLUSTEATED.
as brigadier-general over the forces of Georgia and South Carolina,
busied himself in precautionary measures for the defence of the
colonies. The fort at Frederica was completed and strengthened, as
forming one of the most important strongholds on the coast. His
special attention was devoted to a confirmation of the good-will of
the natives, among whom Spanish agents had been for some time
occupied in sowing distrust and suspicion. The Creeks, however,
still retained the greatest personal attachment to Oglethorpe. He
was among the few officials who kept faith with them, and they
could not fail to appreciate his heartiness and sincerity. In 1739,
he attended a great meeting of the chiefs, far in the interior, on the
Chattahoochee, where he smoked the calumet of peace with the
assembly, and renewed the old treaties of friendship and mutual
protection.
u uiiL ix/ii <L X JLi iLl X X
OGLETHORPE'S EXPEDITION AGAINST ST. AUGUSTINE: SIEGE
OP THE TOWN: FAILURE AND RETURN OP THE EXPEDITION.
SPANISH INVASION IN 1742. DEFENCE OF FRED-
ERICA. STRATAGEM OF OGLETHORPE. THOMAS
BOSOMWORTH: HIS INTRIGUES WITH THE IN-
DIANS: LITIGATION WITH THE COLONY.
GEORGIA A ROYAL PROVINCE.
"WiTH the commencement of the year 1740, an expedition was
undertaken by General Oglethorpe against St. Augustine. He
readily reduced two small Spanish outposts, and encamped his
forces in the vicinity until he could procure reinforcements from
Carolina. These arrived about the close of May, and, with no less
than one thousand regular troops and militia, and a considerable
body of Creek allies, he laid siege to the town. The undertaking
resulted in disappointment. St. Augustine was well garrisoned and
fortified; the besieging troops were reduced in numbers and effi-
ciency by desertion and by the diseases incident to the season, and
the general was compelled to raise the siege and to retreat into
Georgia.
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. 207
No further hostile demonstration, of any importance, was made
by either colony for a space of two years, at the end of which
period the inhabitants of Carolina and Georgia were alarmed by
reports of the approach of a large Spanish fleet. The force em-
barked at the West Indies for the conquest of the Southern English
colonies, is set down at some three thousand men; the fleet num-
bered over thirty sail. Oglethorpe, who could procure no aid from
Carolina, exhibited great bravery, energy, and good generalship in
the defence of Georgia. He reinforced the garrison at Fort Wil-
liam, on Cumberland island, already beset by the enemy, and then
betook himself, with his main force greatly inferior to that of the
assailants to his most defensible position, at Frederica.
Thither he was pursued by the Spanish fleet, which entered the
inlet on the 5th of July, (1742,) in spite of the English batteries,
and effected a landing on the island. Fortunately, the only road
leading to Frederica, was defensible, being flanked by a swamp on
one side and a thick forest on the other. Several attempts to force
a passage were met by an obstinate and successful resistance. Some
days later, by a pretended dispatch, designedly allowed to fall into
the hands of the enemy, Oglethorpe succeeded in deceiving the
Spanish commander into a belief that large reinforcements were
momentarily expected from Carolina. This idea was strengthened
by the appearance of some small vessels off the coast.
The Spaniards made one more vain attack upon the position of
the English, and then reembarked the invasion having proved
as fruitless as that against St. Augustine, in 1740. Oglethorpe bade
a final adieu to the colonies in the year following these events. He
lived to a venerable old age, respected and admired for every qual-
ity, moral and personal, that can command esteem and conciliate
good-will.
After his departure, the provisions against slavery soon became a
dead letter, and there were not wanting, advocates of the system
among the most noted religionists of the day. George Whitefield,
whose preaching had already given him a wide celebrity, expressed
himself in its favour, trusting that the negro race might be benefited
by translation from a savage life to the society of Christians. The
number of white colonists, at this period, was probably not far from
three thousand.
"The year 1749 was memorable for a most audacious attempt on
the part of one Thomas Bosomworth to aggrandize himself by
VOL.
208 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
attaining a supremacy over the Creeks. He had been, formerly, a
chaplain in Oglethorpe's regiment, and had married Mary Mus-
grove, his half-breed interpreter. In December, of 1747, this man
fell in with a company of chiefs, belonging to the nation, then on
a visit to Frederica; and persuaded them to sign certain articles,
acknowledging one of their number, named Malatche Opiya Meco,
as rightful king over the whole Creek nation. Bosomworth then
procured from Malatche a conveyance, for certain considerations
among other things, a large quantity of ammunition and clothing
of the islands formerly owned by the Indians, to himself and his
wife Mary, their heirs and assigns, 'as long as the sun shall shine,
or the waters run in the rivers, for ever.' This deed was regularly
witnessed, proved before a justice of the peace, and recorded in due
form. Bosomworth made some efforts to stock and improve these
islands, but, his ambition becoming aroused by success in his first
intrigue, he entered upon one much more extensive. By his per-
suasions, his wife now made the extraordinary claim that she was
Malatche's elder sister, and entitled to regal authority over the
whole Creek territory."*
No matter how shallow a claim may be, if openly and obstinately
persisted in, it will generally obtain credit with some. A great dis-
turbance ensued, and, at one time, the town of Savannah was in no
small danger from the Indians of Mary's party, who appeared in
defence of her asserted rights. A long and wearisome litigation in
the courts of Great Britain was maintained by Bosomworth and his
brother, Adam, the Indian agent in Carolina, with the colony of
Georgia. Final decision was not rendered until 1759, when Mary
and her husband had their title to St. Catharine's island confirmed.
They passed the remainder of their lives in quiet possession of the
property.
Prior to this period, in 1754, a royal government had succeeded
the surrender of their chartered rights by the trustees. The colony
was not exempt from the usual difficulties, jealousies, discontent, and
hardships which so generally beset new settlements, and to which
Georgia was peculiarly exposed from the heterogeneous character
of its inhabitants. The only important events in which she bore a
part during the further continuance of the colonial system, are con-
nected with the Cherokee wars, of which a brief account will be
given hereafter.
* Indian Races of America.
THE SOUTHEBN COLONIES. 209
u xi A r x Ji ii i i i.
SOUTH CAROLINA: RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSIES: ARCHDALE'8
ADMINISTRATION: MOORE'S EXPEDITION AGAINST ST. AUGUS-
TINE: INVASION OP INDIAN TERRITORY: FRENCH PLEET
ON THE COAST: CULTURE OF RICE: INDIAN CONSPIRACY:
REVOLT AGAINST THE PROPRIETORS: THE CHARTER
DECLARED FORFEIT: SOUTH CAROLINA A ROYAL
PROVINCE. NORTH CAROLINA: POLITICAL DIS-
TURBANCES: A PROSPEROUS ANARCHY: SEP-
ARATION FROM SOUTH CAROLINA.
FROM the period of the revolution, in 1688, until about the close
of the century, South Carolina, although steadily increasing in pop-
ulation, wealth, and political importance, was much disturbed by
religious dissensions. The sober and peaceable Huguenots were in
favour with the colonial proprietors, but a strong opposition arose
in the province to the admission of these foreigners to equal privi-
leges with those of English descent and attached to the established
church. This controversy distracted, in a greater or less degree, the
successive administrations of Sothel, Ludwell, and Smith. The
appointment of John Archdale, a Quaker, and a man of generosity and
liberality, in the year 1695, gave promise of a better state of things.
This worthy governor, by moderate but effective regulations, suc-
ceeded in quieting the turbulent factions of the colony, and in con-
ciliating, by protection and kind offices, the neighbouring tribes of
Indians and the Spanish colonists of Florida. The dangerous
shoals of Cape Fear, lying nearly out of sight of the low shore, have
always been the dread of navigators upon the coast, and in these
early times the want of proper instruments for determining the
longitude, rendered their condition much more perilous. It was no
small blessing to the unfortunate mariners who, at this period, from
time to time, suffered shipwreck on the cape, to meet with kind
treatment, shelter, and assistance from the coast ^Indians. From
first to last, the aborigines of America have shown themselves ready
to reciprocate kindness and good-will. In almost every instance
when they have made unprovoked attacks upon the whites, the
cause can be traced to some error or misconception.
210 AMEEICA ILLUSTEATED.
When Archdale left the colony, former dissensions were revived,
although he still exerted all his influence with the proprietors for
the maintenance of religious liberty. The appointment of James
Moore, represented as a grasping and selfish man, to the office of
governor, was little conducive to quiet and prosperity.
Under his administration, Avar having broken out between Eng-
land and Spain, a colonial expedition was planned against St. Au-
gustine. Bound on this enterprise, Moore sailed for Florida, in the
month of September, 1702, at the head of about six hundred volun-
teers. He succeeded in capturing the town, but the strong military
fortress constituted a safe and defensible place of retreat for the
Spaniards. While waiting the arrival of artillery for the reduction
of the fort, several Spanish vessels arrived off the harbour, and
Moore was obliged to beat a retreat by land, leaving his vessels,
stores, &c., to the enemy. The expense of the fruitless undertaking
was defrayed by a large issue of colonial bills of credit.
In the month of December, of the same year, Governor Moore
retrieved his credit as a general, by a successful march through the
extensive intervening wilderness, and a descent upon the Indians
and Spanish, on the coast of Appalache. The hostile settlements
of that whole neighbourhood were broken up. The Spaniards were
enabled to defend the fort of Ayavalla, but the assailants burned
the adjoining church. Between one and two hundred Indians were
carried off captives, to be afterwards sold as slaves.
In 1706, the Episcopal establishment was extended to South Car-
olina, but the condition of dissenters was, at the same time, rendered
more safe by a definite toleration in their religion, and security of
their civil rights. Sir Nathaniel Johnson at this time held the
office of governor, and had an opportunity to distinguish himself by
a brave and determined defence of the coast against a French fleet
sent out from Cuba to invade the country. The enemy met with
heavy loss at every attempt to land, and one of their vessels fell
into the hands of the colonists.
The culture of rice, introduced a number of years previous, had
by this time become extensive, and proved a source of profit to the
planter unequalled by any previous agricultural enterprise. Indigo,
an article which has been of late years neglected, was also found a
profitable crop by the early planters of the southern colonies.
In the spring of 1715, the machinations of the French and Span-
iards stirred up a most dangerous conspiracy of the Yemasees,
i
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES.
TJches, and other Southern tribes, against the English settlements.
The detached and unprotected villages and plantations of the fron-
tier were ravaged, and some four hundred of the inhabitants per-
ished, or were reserved for the worse fate of prisoners to the savages.
The main body of the Indian confederates was finally defeated by
the colonial forces, under Governor Charles Craven, near the
Sulkiebachie.
The neglect of the proprietors to furnish any means of defence for
the colony, their refusal to make remuneration for the heavy expense
of the late Indian war, oppressive regulations, opposition to neces-
sary enactments, and the maintenance in office of obnoxious indi-
viduals, resulted in a popular out-break against their authority.
The assembly, in 1719, chose James Moore as governor, and openly
defied the proprietary officers. In the year following, the matter
was examined into by the English government; the charter to the
proprietors was declared forfeited; and Francis Nicholson received
the appointment of governor. The colony continued, thenceforth, a
royal province. All the claims of the proprietors to rent and other
perquisites were, some years later, acquired by purchase on the part
of the crown. Friendly relations with the neighbouring Indian
tribes were solemnly established in 1730. The Cherokees, at a
great council held at Nequassee, in the Tennessee valley, concluded
and signed, by the marks of their principal chiefs, a treaty of alli-
ance with the English. Seven of their number were taken to Eng-
land, that their reports, on their return, might impress the tribe with
some adequate conception of the number and power of their allies.
The scattered population of North Carolina, which was first in-
cluded under the same grant with the southern province, was
governed, if government it could be called, by a deputy from the
governor of South Carolina. The greatest freedom of opinion and
liberty of action prevailed, but affairs went on very quietly until
the beginning of the eighteenth century, when an attempt at the
establishment of the Church of England aroused an extremely hos-
tile spirit among the Quakers and other dissenters, who constituted
no small portion of the inhabitants. A conflict of claims, in 1705,
between Glover and Gary, for the executive office the one being
chosen directly by the proprietors, the other by the governor of
South Carolina gave fresh impetus to a party strife theretofore
unknown in the colony.
For a number of years, the community appears to have existed
212 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
almost without law ; but an immigration of industrious and frugal
Swiss, Germans, and other Europeans, continued to extend civiliza-
tion through the comparatively barren district. The province was
already noted for its large exportation of lumber, pitch, tar, and
turpentine. In 1729, when, as before mentioned, the disputes be-
tween the inhabitants of Carolina and the proprietors were settled
by an assumption, or purchase, of the rights of the latter by the
crown, North Carolina was first constituted an entirely separate
province, the governor being selected by royal appointment, and the
legislative assembly being chosen by the people.
CHAPTER 17.
VIRGINIA UNDER ROYAL GOVERNORS: STATE OF THE COLONY:
CHURCH CONTROVERSIES. PENNSYLVANIA A ROYAL PROV-
INCE: THE PROPRIETOR REINSTATED: POLICY OP PENN.
DELAWARE: DEATH OF PENN: HIS SUCCESSORS.
MARYLAND: ITS CATHOLIC POPULATION: GOVERN-
MENT OF THE ASSOCIATION: OPPRESSIVE EN-
ACTMENTS: THE PROPRIETORS RESTORED.
VIRGINIA, subsequent to the English revolution, remained a
royal province during her continuance as a colony. Legislation was
confided to a governor appointed by the crown, assisted by a council
of his own nomination, and to an assembly elected by the people.
The first successive incumbents of the highest office in the province
were Francis Nicholson and Sir Edmund Andros ; the same whose
tyranny and exactions had previously exasperated the New Eng-
land colonies.
These officials were invested with high, and even arbitrary pow-
ers, but the character of the people with whom they had to deal,
compelled moderation in their exercise. The population, although
quite numerous, was extensively scattered, and the isolated position
of the planters and farmers tended to develop a strong sense of per-
sonal freedom and independence. The administration of govern-
ment was not carried on without considerable conflict between the
different departments, but no very serious difficulties arose. The
THE SOUTHEBN COLONIES. 213
Church of England was the established religious system, so far as
any parochial system could be established over so wide an extent
of scattered hamlets or detached plantations. Tobacco was the great
staple production of the province, and served for the principal cir-
culating medium. Taxes and church dues were specifically payable
in tobacco. From a complaint, on the part of the clergy, that they
were made losers by a legislative provision for compounding the
latter assessment by a payment in paper money, arose that cele-
brated controversy relative to the "parson's money," in which the
eloquence of Patrick Henry, then a young advocate, prevailed
against a plain legal claim (1763).
Pennsylvania, in consequence of domestic disturbance, fomented
by George Keith, a seceding Quaker, and because of suspicions
which had fallen upon the proprietor, was subjected, in 1693, to a
governor holding commission from the crown, and became, for a
short period, a royal province. Benjamin Fletcher, governor of
New York, received the appointment. His brief administration
was marked only by strife with the assembly. In the summer of
the following year, Penn, having regained the favour of the king,
was reinstated in his colonial rights.
In reestablishing his prerogatives, with a new settlement of the
government of his colony, after restoration of the proprietary gov-
ernment, William Penn took every precaution to secure the full
acquiescence of the inhabitants. The powers of the governor a
deputy of the proprietor were not very dissimilar to those now
conferred upon the governor of either of the independent states.
The council was simply advisory, and the principal legislation was
confided to the popular assembly.
The inhabitants of the present state of Delaware, then known as
"The Territories," conceiving that they were insufficiently repre-
sented, had, some years previous, moved for a separation. This
had been accorded by the proprietor, but the two provinces were
reunited during Fletcher's administration. A final separation was
effected in 1702. The governor of Pennsylvania still retained a
nominal authority, but the new assembly had, in effect, entire con-
trol over the province of Delaware.
Although Penn had ever pursued a far more generous policy
than any other of the colonial proprietors, and, with opportunities
for enriching himself which few would have had the self-denial to
neglect, was growing old in poverty, all could not shield him from
214: AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
suspicion and ill-will on the part of a portion of the colonists
" From various causes, principally a neglect of his own interests in
extending civilization in America, he became so far involved, that
he was for a time compelled to reside within the rules of the Fleet
Prison. In 1709 he mortgaged his province of Pennsylvania to
relieve himself from the pressure of debt. During the last six years
of his life his bodily and mental faculties were greatly impaired; he
died, after a gradual decline, on the 30th of July, 1718." His rights
as proprietor were exercised, subsequent to his death, by his widow
and afterwards by his sons. This form of government was continued
until the commencement of the American revolution.
The province of Maryland, on the accession of William and
Mary, was under the administration of deputies commissioned by
the proprietor, Lord Baltimore, (son of the original patentee.) So
large a number of the inhabitants were of the Catholic persuasion
the proprietor holding to the same faith that, although the English
church had been already established, it was hardly to be expected
that a Protestant succession in England should be looked upon with
general favour in the colony.
The proprietary government neglected to conform to the new
order of things until compelled by a self-constituted association of
the colonists. A provisional government was formed, which ob-
tained the royal sanction, and existed until 1692, when a governor
was appointed directly by the crown. Maryland became a royal
province, and remained such for a period of twenty-three years.
The general assembly confirmed the church establishment, and many
disenfranchising regulations were passed for the suppression of
papacy. Catholics were not only compelled to contribute to the
support of the established church, but were subjected to the mosi
galling disabilities. The legal successors of the proprietor were
restored to their rights in 1715, and maintained their authority until
the, general overthrow of the old governments at the revolution.
INDIAN AES, ETC.
U M b* * X J$ *1 A .
COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHEROKEE WAR: TREATY AT FORT
ST. GEORGE: SIEGE OF THAT FORT: MURDER OF HOSTAGES:
MONTGOMERY'S CAMPAIGN: DESTRUCTION OF THE LOVER
CHEROKEE SETTLEMENTS: RETREAT: MASSACRE 0*
THE GARRISON OF FORT LOUDON: THE TOWNS
OF THE MIDDLE CHEROKEES DESTROYED
BY THE FORCES UNDER GRANT.
HAVING thus given a brief sketch of the affairs of the separate
colonies, up to the occurrence of events which called for their united
action, we may revert to matters of more general concern, in which
the provinces, irrespective of political connection, were only united
by a common necessity. The most important transactions in which
the northern colonies were jointly engaged, were the early Indian
wars, and the protracted contests with the French and Indians. Of
these we have already spoken, as far as our limits would permit, in
treating of English colonization, and of the French in America. It
remains to notice, in military affairs, the Indian campaigns in the
south and west, and to touch upon some topics of general interest to
the colonies, before proceeding to the causes of discontent and the
political issues which resulted in the war of the revolution.
After the abandonment of Fort Duquesne, by the French, a party
of Cherokee Indians, who, during the campaign, had served in the
English army, under General Forbes, set out upon their return to
their own tribes and country. Impelled by necessity, they commit-
ted various depredations upon the property of the German settlers
in Virginia, In some instances, they made use of horses which they
found at large in the woods, and, as they were nearly destitute of
216 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
provisions, we may suppose that they occasionally made free with
whatever might supply their wants.
These injuries were revenged by the backwoodsmen in the most
violent and cruel manner. If we may credit Adair, an historian
who had greater opportunities than any other writer of his time to
acquaint himself with Indian character and the history of the south-
ern tribes, they indulged their malice by tormenting and scalping
their victims. He adds, that " those murderers were so audacious
as to impose the scalps on the government for those of the French
Indians; and that they actually obtained the premiums allowed at
that time by law in such a ease."
These outrages were not immediately resented by the nation, but
after vain application for redress, and the experience of further
wrongs and insults, the revengeful spirit of the Indian was fully
aroused. The French and their Creek allies took the opportunity
to lend their influence in exciting hostility. A war-party was ac-
cordingly dispatched to commence retaliation upon the western set-
tlements of North Carolina. Many of the whites were put to death,
and much injury was done upon the frontier.
These events took place in 1759, and, as it was now evident that
a general disaffection existed among the Cherokees, active exertions
were made by the governor of South Carolina, William Lyttleton,
to avert the calamities of an Indian war, as well as to prepare
measures for defence in case of extremity. A conference was
brought about, towards the close of the year, at Fort St. George, on
the Savannah. Six of the Indian chiefs, claiming authority to act
for the tribe, appeared, and concluded a treaty of peace, surrender-
ing thirty-two hostages, as security for their good faith.
This treaty was not considered binding by the nation, and a
formidable body of Indians, led by Occonostota, a noted war-chief,
laid siege to this fort in the month of February (1760). Coytmore,
the commander of the garrison, who had, by some former transac-
tions, acquired the special ill-will of the natives, was decoyed with-
out the works, and shot by concealed marksmen. Several of his
companions were wounded. The Indian hostages, from their place
of confinement . within the fort, hearing the report of fire-arms,
shouted encouragement to their people. An order was accordingly
given to put them in irons. To this they refused submission, making
desperate resistance, and wounding three of the soldiers who were
endeavouring to carry out the order. It was then concluded to put
INDIAN WARS. 217
them all to death, which was done accordingly, in a manner as
cowardly as the design was base, viz: by firing down upon them,
through a hole in the roof.
The whole frontier was, immediately subsequent to this outrage,
involved in a general war. The British commander-in-chief of the
regular forces in America, detached a regiment of Scotch Highland
ers, under Colonel Montgomery, with other troops from New York,
to the seat of disturbance. The legislatures of North and South
Carolina offered premiums for scalps, and raised sums of money to
purchase the assistance of the Creeks and other southern tribes.
In the course of the spring, Colonel Montgomery, with the regular
and provincial troops under his command, overran the whole terri-
tory of the Lower Cherokees, laying waste every Indian settlement.
The towns of Keowee and Estatoe, the latter containing two hundred
houses, were destroyed, together with great quantities of stored pro-
visions. Before the end of the campaign, there was not an Indian
village left east of the Blue Ridge.
The Cherokees, instead of being disheartened by their reverses,
refused to listen to any overtures of pacification, and prepared them-
selves to resist the advance of the troops into the interior. Near
their principal town of Etchoe, they prepared an ambush in a nar-
now pass, where a muddy stream took its course between high and
steep banks, nearly impassable from tangled undergrowth. In
forcing this defile, the assailants met with heavy loss, and the com-
mander, seeing that the Indians had made a new stand a little in
advance, and were determined to resist to the last, concluded to
retreat. This was in the month of June.
Immediately upon his return to the coast, Montgomery, in pursu-
ance of orders, sailed for New York, leaving Major Hamilton, with
but a small force, for the protection of the exposed districts. The
failure of this second expedition revived the spirits of the Indians,
and spread universal terror and consternation among the colonists
of the frontier. At Fort Loudon, the garrison under Captain Stu-
art, after sustaining a long siege, evacuated the place, upon condi-
tions conceded by Occonostota, of free and safe passage to Fort St.
George, or into Virginia. They had not, however, proceeded far,
before they were set upon by the enemy, and all killed or taken
prisoners.
Captain Stuart owed his life and liberty to the benevolence of
an old chief, named Atakullakulla, a man of great influence in his
218 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
tribe, and peaceably disposed towards the colonists. The safety ol
Fort St. George was secured by a timely warning from Stuart of
an intended attack by the Indians. An attitude of hostility was
still maintained by the Cherokees, and constant efforts were made
by French agents among them to avert any prospect of a peaceable
settlement of difficulties.
In the spring of 1761, a force of more than two thousand British
regulars, provincial troops, and friendly Indians, under command of
Colonel James Grant, was marched into the interior. Old Attakulla-
kulla made vain interposition in behalf of his people. On the 10th
of June, a desperate effort was made by the main body of the Indians
to check the advance of the enemy. The battle took place near the
spot whither Montgomery had penetrated on his last expedition.
The Cherokees were totally defeated; the town of Etchoe was
burned ; and "all the other towns in the middle settlement, fourteen
in number, shared the same fate: the corn, cattle, and other stores
of the enemy, were likewise destroyed, and those miserable savages,
with their families, were driven to seek shelter and subsistence
among the barren mountains."*
The Indians were, of course, obliged to accept such terms as their
conquerors saw fit to impose, but it does not appear that any ungen-
erous advantage was taken of their helpless condition. Indeed, after
the conclusion of peace, efforts were made for the protection of the
Indians in their landed rights, and to regulate the traffic with them
so as to secure them against deception.
The whole of the southern tribes remained, comparatively, at peace
with the colonies from this period until they became involved in the
general Indian wars of the early part of the present century. "By
a steady increase of numbers, and the adventurous spirit of pioneers,
the white settlers every where made advances upon the Indian terri-
tory. Sometimes large acquisitions would be made by a government
purchase ; but, to no small extent, the opinion that the occupation
of a few roving savages could give no natural title to lands, as
opposed to the claims of those who had reclaimed, enclosed, and
improved the wilderness, satisfied the consciences of the encroachers.
The argument in favour of this conclusion is by no means without
force; but who can take upon himself to draw the line of demarca-
tion which shall decide, upon any principles of universal application,
the bounds of so artificial a right as the ownership of land?"f
* McCall's History of Georgia. 1 Indian Races of America.
INDIAN WARS. 219
\j iLui cii) iL X JJ iLb iL X
ENGLISH OCCUPATION OP THE WESTERN TRADING POSTS.
CONSPIRACY OF THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES, UNDIR PON-
TIAC. DESTRUCTION OF THE ENGLISH FORTS. TAKING
OF MICHILLIMACKINAC. SIEGE OF DETROIT. LOSS
AT BLOODY-RUN. CLOSE OF THE WAR. MASSA-
CRE OF THE CANESTOGA INDIANS.
BY treaty, in 1760, the extended line of stations upon the western
lakes, belonging to the French, were to be put into possession of the
English. The long friendship that had subsisted between the
former and the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, &c., who inhab-
ited the country, caused these tribes to look with jealous eyes upon
the proposed English occupation. They were united in a sort of
confederation, at the head of which, in influence and authority,
was Pontiac, the renowned Ottawa chief. Although he had formed
the determination of restoring his old allies, the French, to the pos-
session of their established trading posts, this bold, but crafty
leader, suffered the first English detachment, under Major Rogers,
to enter the country without molestation. In an interview, held
with the commanding officer, he exhibited the pride and dignity of
a monarch, expressly asserting his own rights of territory.
His plans being perfected, and the cooperation of other tribes
among them, the Miamis, Sacs and Foxes, Hurons, and Shawanees
being secured, the month of June, 1763, was appointed for a simul-
taneous attack upon all the English strongholds at the west. So
extensive were the preparations for this outbreak, that entire secresy
could not be preserved respecting it, and intimation was, from, time
to time, given by white traders of the storm that was brewing.
Either these reports were not fully credited, or the garrisons felt
themselves strong enough to defy any attack from the Indians, for
no extraordinary precautions were taken for defence.
When the blow fell, the Indians appeared in such numbers that,
although divided into as many parties as there were points of attack,
they overpowered the garrisons, and destroyed the works of nearly
all the English forts. Nine of these were taken by force or fraud,
and the defenders slain or carried away captive. The manner in
220 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
which Michillimackinac was seized, is thus described: "Hundreds
of Indians, mostly Chippewas and Sacs, had been loitering about the
place for some days previous, and, on the 4th of June, they pro-
ceeded to celebrate the king's birth-day by a great game at ball.
This sport, carried on, as usual, with noise and tumult, threw the
garrison off their guard, at the same time that it afforded a pretext
for clambering into the fort. The ball was several times, as if by
accident, knocked within the pickets, the whole gang rushing in
pursuit of it with shouts. At a favourable moment, they fell upon
the English, dispersed and unsuspicious of intended harm, and be-
fore any effectual resistance could be made, murdered and scalped
seventy of the number. The remainder, being twenty men, were
taken captive."*
Early in May, Pontiac, in person, with a chosen body of warriors,
laid siege to Detroit, the principal military post and trading station
at the far west. The place was garrisoned by an hundred and thirty
men, of whom Major Gladwyn had command. A plan was formed
by the Indians to gain admission within the fort, on pretence of a
conference, and then, with concealed weapons, (rifles, shortened, so as
to be hid by the blanket,) to fall upon the garrison at a disadvantage,
admit the main body from without, and, after a general massacre, to
seize upon the valuable stores collected for protection. This device
was betrayed to Gladwyn by a squaw to whom he had shown some
kindness. The Indians were accordingly admitted without hesita-
tion, but the troops were drawn up ready for an attack. Pontiac
"heard the drums beat, and saw every soldier's musket levelled,
and the swords of the officers drawn and ready for use. Major
Gladwyn, stepping to the warrior nearest him, lifted his blanket, and
disclosed the shortened rifle. He then upbraided the sachem for
his intended villany, and, taking no advantage of the opportunity
for securing him, gave proof of his own high-minded sense of honour
by dismissing the whole party unharmed."
This magnanimity availed but little. The Indians, to the number
of nearly a thousand, laid close siege to the fort, and, for months, it
was only by hard fighting, and with heavy loss, that provisions and
stores could be furnished from without. Many of the captives taken
by the Indians, were put to death with savage barbarity. Three
hundred men, commanded by a Captain Dalyell, were sent to Detroit
to reinforce the garrison, in the month of July. With this additional
* Indian Races of America.
INDIAN WA'ES. 22 J
force it was thought practicable to commence offensive operations.
A sally was made accordingly, but Pontiac had by some means gained
intelligence of what was about to take place, and had .prepared an
ambush near the bridge over Bloody-Run. Instead of surprising the
enemy, the- whites were taken at a complete disadvantage, and
retired with the loss, in killed and wounded, of more than one
hundred men.
All throughout the north-western frontier, from the lakes to the
Ohio river, this conspiracy of the Indian tribes spread desolation
and distress for a whole year. Of the great leader of the confedera-
tion, we learn very little after his operations against Detroit. In
the summer of 1764, a powerful force, under General Bradstreet,
was marched into the Indian territory, and, by force or treaty, peace
was established with the various tribes of the north-west.
Connected with the events of Pontiac's war, is the account of a
barbarous outrage committed at Canestoga, near Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania. The settlers of this portion of the country were less exposed
to savage incursions than those established further towards the north-
west, but the reports constantly received of Indian massacres upon
the frontier, excited their minds to the highest pitch of fear and
hatred towards the natives. Heckewelder speaks as follows of the
character of but too many of the rough pioneers of the western
wilderness : " I have yet to notice a class of people generally known
to us by the name of ' backwood's-men,' many of whom, acting up
to a pretended belief that ' an Indian had no more soul than a buf-
falo;' and that to kill either is the same thing; have, from time to
time, by their conduct, brought great trouble and bloodshed on the
country. Such, then, I wish to caution not to sport in that manner
with the lives of God's creatures. * * Believe that a time will
come when you must account for such vile deeds 1 When those who
have fallen a sacrifice to your wickedness, will be called forth in
judgment against you! Nay, when your own descendants will tes-
tify against you." The truth of this prediction is strikingly manifest
from the popular feeling at the present day respecting the Indians,
their rights, and the treatment which they experienced at the hands
of the early settlers.
At Canestoga, a small and peaceable body of Indians had been
long established, under the care and teaching of the Moravian mis-
sion. As far as appears, they had not the slightest connection with
the general conspiracy, nor had they given any provocation for the
222 AMERICA. ILLUSTRATED..
wanton attack which was made upon them. A mob of more than
fifty men, from Paxton, fell upon the settlement, in November, 1763.
A portion of the inhabitants fled to Lancaster, where they sought
an asylum in the jail-yards. Those who were left at Canestoga
men, women, and children fourteen in number, were brutally
murdered. The white savages, their cruelty unsatiated, then has-
tened to Lancaster, and, breaking open the jail, completed their work
of destruction. From fifteen to twenty perished in the jail-yard,
where they were seen by one whose account has reached us. "Men,
women, and children, spread about the prison-yard; shot scalped
hacked and cut to pieces."
JONATHAN EDWARDS. In 1735 there began a most remarkable religious awakening
under the preaching of the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, at Northampton, which has
since been designated as the " great revival."* It spread into many towns in Connecticut,
and the feeling and interest manifested on the great themes of religion were intense and
absorbing. This appears to have been followed by a period of great religious declension
and formality, until 1740, when a still more general and extraordinary revival commenced,
which spread throughout New England and some of the more southern and western
colonies. Childhood, manhood, old age the learned and the ignorant the moralist and
the skeptic men of wealth and the highest official position, as well as paupers and out-
casts were numbered among its converts. We are told that even the Indians, on whom
no impression could previously be made, became humble inquirers after the truth.
Among the most zealous and efficient laborers in the work were "Whitefield, Edwards,
and Tennant, from abroad ; and Wheelock, Bellamy, Pomeroy, Mills, Graham, Meacham,
"Whitman, and Farrand, among the pastors of Connecticut. Many of the clergy of the
colony, however, strenuously opposed the measures employed and the effects produced ;
and many of the magistrates and other leading men joined with them in denouncing the
"itinerating clergy" and their converts as enthusiasts, new lights, and ranters. Laws
were passed, with severe penalties, against any clergyman or exhorter who should attempt
to preach in any parish or town without the express desire of the pastor or people
thereof.
* At the request of Dr. Watts and other English divines, Mr. Edwards wrote a narrative
of the "great revival," which was published in London, and has since been frequently
republished.
SXTTLERS IJf THE FOREST.
EUBOPEAI COLONIAL POLICY.
SPANISH AND ENGLISH RESTRICTIONS UPON TRADE AND COM-
MERCE. CONTRABAND TRAFFIC. THE "ASSIENTO" TREATY.
THE SLAVE-TRADE: ITS GENERAL POPULARITY: CAUSES
WHICH LEAD TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY: MANNER OF
PROCURING NEGROES FROM AFRICA: PROFIT OF THE
TRADE: NUMBERS BROUGHT OVER: ENGLISH LAW UPON
THE SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. INTRODUCTION Of
WHITE APPRENTICES, OR "REDEMPTIONERS."
IT is difficult, at the present day, to comprehend the blindness ot
the European nations to their own interests, and those of their colo-
nies, as exhibited in the prohibitions and restrictions once universally
imposed upon trade and commerce. Experienced politicians must
have foreseen the probable tendency of that short-sighted policy
which, for the sake of present gain, was willing to destroy all identity
between the parent states and their colonies, and to alienate the
affections of a vast population, whose loyalty, gratitude, and friend-
ship, by the exercise of a little forbearance, might have been retained
for many generations.
We have had occasion, elsewhere, to speak more particularly of
the insufferable tyranny of Spain in all the dealings with her colo-
nies : in those of England, although the domestic privileges of the
community were not so openly and grossly violated, there yet ex-
isted restraints on manufactures and trade, which, considering the
difference in natural character, were hardly less galling. The most
jealous care was taken to discourage the development of all internal
resources which might interfere with British manufacture or pro-
duce; British vessels must be employed, and an English market
sought, regardless of the interests of the merchant and the require-
ments of trade. Individual selfishness alone can account for the
pursuance of such a policy, and we must conclude that those in
VOL. IV. 43
224 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
power foresaw the consequences of their proceedings, but trusted to
reap the benefits in their own persons, leaving retribution to be
visited upon their posterity.
The temptations held out to the contraband trader were suffi-
ciently great for the incurrence of heavy risks, and the connivance
of the home government at such irregularities, so far as they only
affected the interest of a rival nation, gave special impetus to their
commission. Severities practised upon offenders when detected,
and mutual hostility engendered by continual conflict of claims,
resulted in wars between the old countries, the burden of which fell
most heavily upon the infant colonies, whose whole energies were
required to overcome the natural difficulties of their situation.
By the "assiento" treaty, the privileges of which were made over
to the celebrated South Sea Company, Spain conceded to England
a limited right to transport slaves into the colonies of the former
nation. This gave great impetus to the traffic, and so far was the
community blinded by present interest to the claims of humanity
and true policy, that it was generally "accounted a genteel employ-
ment," reflecting no discredit upon those who systematically pursued
it. It is a singular thing how far the opinions of men, and how
much farther their conduct, receive direction from custom. How-
ever much we may condemn the evils of a system, before denouncing
its individual supporters, we should do well to inquire what would
have been our own course of conduct had we passed our lives subject
to the same influences, and dependent upon the same interests.
Statistics of the proportion of those who have freed their slaves,
during their own lives, from conscientious scruples, as compared with
the whole slave-holding population, would furnish every man with
a fair criterion for estimating the extent of his own disinterestedness.
The treatment of slaves is, of course, as variant as the character of
their owners, but where the institution of slavery exists, all, with a
few rare exceptions, who can avail themselves of its convenience,
openly support it.
In the Northern United States it existed until the influx of free
labourers reduced the value of slave-labour, and created a major-
ity in the community of those whose interests were directly opposed
to the continuance of the system. We may venture to predict that
no other influence than this will ever avail to produce a similar
result in the southern states. Self-interest, when directly appealed
to, must ever prevail with the majority, until mankind shall have
COLONIAL POLICY. 225
made an advance in benevolence and a sense of justice, beyond any
present indications.
The manner of procuring negroes on the African coast, and of
their conveyance to the shores of America, has undergone no mate-
rial change from the period of their first introduction to the present
day. The extent of coast upon which they can be procured, and
the convenience of legal markets, have indeed been curtailed ; but
the unfortunates now brought over to the island of Cuba, are pro-
cured by the same species of traffic, confined in the same limited
space on their passage, and subject to the same sufferings from short
allowance and tempestuous weather, as in former times. Still are
children kidnapped by strangers or sold by their relations; the same
rude regulations still render one negro a slave to his fellow in his
native land;* one tribe may yet, as of old, make war upon another,
upon the annual unfolding of a certain flower, for the sake of pro-
curing prisoners.
The trade, carried on mostly by British merchants, proved as
profitable to the ship-owners as acceptable to the colonists. It is
computed that no less than three hundred thousand negroes were
imported into the original states during their continuance as colonies.
A vastly larger number were brought over in English bottoms, to
the French and Spanish colonies. Mr. Bancroft's estimate is as fol-
lows : " We shall not err very much, if, for the century previous to
the prohibition of the slave-trade by the American congress, in
1776, we assume the number imported by the English into the
Spanish, French, and English West Indies, as well as the English
continental colonies, to have been, collectively, nearly three mil-
lions ; to which are to be added more than a quarter of a million
purchased in Africa, and thrown into the Atlantic on the passage.
The gross returns to English merchants for the whole traffic in that
number of slaves, may have been not far from four hundred millions
of dollars."
The question as to the exact bearing of the laws of England upon
* A negro having a lien upon his own brother, for a debt, or some other cause,
brought him on board a slaver, and concluded a bargain for him. As the vendor,
however, was about to leave the vessel, he was informed that he might keep his
brother company, and was presently clapped under hatches with the rest. The
Rev. John Newton, who was long engaged in the slave-trade, as master of a vessel,
says: "It often happens that the man who sells another on board a ship, is himself
bonght and sold in the same manner, and perhaps in the same vessel, before the
week is ended."
226
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
the subject of slavery, was long a questio vexata. The institution
had a gradual origin by custom, scarcely recognized, and never
directly supported by legislative enactments. In the courts great
difference of opinion prevailed, but the general legality of the system
was maintained by their decisions, it being declared a valid custom.
As has been remarked, such a custom would hardly possess all the
requisites for validity laid down by Blackstone, viz: that it should
be a "good custom," for "malus ILSUS abolendus es;"'that it should
have existed "so long that the memory of man runneth not to the
contrary;" that it should have been "continued," without inter-
ruption; that it should be "peaceable," "reasonable," "certain,"
"compulsory," and "consistent."
About the middle of the past century, the slave-trade, freed from
restrictive laws, recognized in its legality by decisions of courts, and
open to everyadventurer, flourished to an extent never known before
or since. The trade was the object of special attention to the British
government, by which the forts on the coast of Africa were main-
tained. Slaves were even allowed to be taken to England, and the
right of their masters to hold them in servitude on British soil was
definitely acknowledged by the most able judicial authorities.
Notwithstanding the immense importation of negroes, the constant
call for labourers was met, especially in Virginia and Pennsylvania,
by the immigration of apprentices, or " redemptioners," being whites
of the poorer class, who were bound to service for a term of years.
To these, grants of land and temporary supplies were secured by
law at the end of their term, but during its continuance they were
substantially in the condition of slaves.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
u 1 lii i i jcj il, Jt .
GENERAL RIGHTS OF COLONIES. EARLY CAUSES OF COMPLAINT
IN AMERICA. ARBITRARY CUSTOM LAWS. ILLEGAL
CONDUCT OF ENGLISH OFFICIALS. ACTS IN REGULA-
TION OF TRADE. EXPENSES OF THE LATE WARS IN
AMERICA. THE "SUGAR- ACT." OPPOSITION
AND REMONSTRANCE IN THE COLONIES.
How have words been multiplied in vain attempts to apply prin-
ciples of abstract right to political movements, and how much more
vainly has the search been made for principles of universal applica-
tion in that uncertain code of maxims known as the law of nations.
In a question between two communities, there is usually no tribunal,
and they must severally do what is "right in their own eyes," pro-
vided it be, at the same time, practicable. Of all political questions,
perhaps the most unsettled, is that concerning the rights of colonies.
It was said by Ilutcheson, in 1755,* that colonies "have a right
to be released from the dominion of the parent state," "whenever
they are so increased in numbers and strength as to be sufficient by
themselves for all the good ends of a political union." Simply, that
whenever they have the will, and, in their own opinion, the power,
to stand alone, the right follows, of course. The case is similar to
that of a child seeking release from parental control : in a state of
nature he will do this when he has attained sufficient strength and
self-dependence; but, for convenience and certainty, a time has been
arbitrarily set by society for his emancipation. As regards states,
no such time has been, or can be established, because its occurrence
must always depend upon questions of fact, for the decision of
which there is, as before mentioned, no tribunal. The question must
* Bancroft's History of the United States.
228 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
always remain merely a question of ability, until the Utopian theory
of an international code and court shall have been reduced to
practice.
The opinion of the world has seldom, if ever, been called to be
passed upon the violent rupture of the connection between a parent
state and its colony, while the inhabitants of the latter were in the
enjoyment of equal privileges and favour with those of the former.
A feeling of affection and natural pride commonly causes them to
cling to the land of their parentage until a long course of extortion
and oppression has rendered the tie too onerous to be endured.
In America, the English colonies had submitted not, it is true,
without murmurs to the most arbitrary restrictions upon manufac-
tures in which they might profitably have engaged, imposed simply
to compel importation from England. A steady, and, in most cases,
an effectual stand had been made against the reiterated demand of a
fixed salary for the royal governors. Burdensome restrictions upon
foreign trade were protested against, and extensively evaded by
contraband traffic. This gave occasion for arbitrary proceedings by
the officers of the customs in searching for smuggled goods. Their
conduct, in this respect, appearing to be illegal, they sought the aid
of the superior courts of law, and " writs of assistance," in the nature
of search-warrants, were accordingly issued. The power of the court
to issue these writs was called in question, and tested in Massachu-
chusetts, in 1761. The eloquent James Otis, and the learned jurist,
Oxenbridge Thatcher, argued successfully against their validity.
The question, by this time, had come to be widely agitated, as to
the probable tendency of the continual encroachments upon the lib-
erties of the colonies. The legislatures of the different provinces,
elected by a system more nearly Approaching universal suffrage
than any ever known in England, indulged in freedom of thought
and expression, denounced as treasonable and rebellious in the parent-
country. The duties and imposts which had been submitted to for
along term of years as being "regulations of trade," for the protection
of the British "West India islands, and other collateral purposes, and,
therefore, within the proper jurisdiction of the board of trade, when
directed immediately towards the enlargement of revenue, excited
universal disaffection and indignation.
The recent wars had enormously increased the public debt, and
English politicians were busily engaged in framing schemes by
which the American colonies should share the burden of expense
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 29
incurred, as was averred, expressly for their benefit. On the other
hand, it was claimed that the colonies had already contributed more
than their proportion towards thes$ expenses; that, being frequently
the seat of war, they had, in other respects, felt its calamities far
more heavily than the people of England ; and that the latter coun-
try, by reason of its immense income from the restricted colonial
trade, was as directly and pecuniarily interested in maintaining and
protecting the provinces from foreign encroachment as were the
inhabitants themselves.
It was, moreover, evident that it would be impossible for any man
to foretell to what extremes government might eventually proceed
in the imposition of taxes upon a distant community, in no way
represented in the legislature, whose condition and capabilities could
never be fully understood in England, and whose growing resources
would indubitably be met by a still more rapid increase of exaction.
What had been accomplished, had been by sufferance, and under
protest; it remained for the open extension of duties for revenue
purposes, and the attempted imposition of a direct tax, to rouse to
flame the discontent already kindled.
In the spring of 176-i, George Grenville, chancellor of the exche-
quer, introduced and carried an act in alteration of the former rate
of imposts upon West India goods, &c., by which, while the duties
on certain articles were reduced, the restrictions were extended to
French and East India produce, and to various foreign articles of
luxury. The anticipated difficulty of enforcing the new tariff, was
met by a provision extending the powers and jurisdiction of the
courts of admiralty. At the same time, he laid before parliament a
proposal, to be acted upon at a future session, for the enlargement
of the revenue by the collection of duties upon stamped paper.
There seems, at this period, to have been scarcely the shadow of
opposition in the British legislature, to the general principle of the
right to impose discretionary taxes upon the colonies. One principal
object in the scheme for levying a direct and additional assessment,
was to provide means for the permanent support of a military estab-
lishment in America ; thus to compel the people to furnish means
for their own enslavement, and for the enforcing of whatever future
tyrannical enactments might result from the necessities or avarice of
the British government.
The "sugar-act," as the new law respecting customs was called,
excited the utmost dissatisfaction, especially in he northern colonies
230 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
a feeling heightened and extended by the intimation of the intended
stamp act, which accompanied its passage. The subject was dis-
cussed in the colonial legislatures, and letters of instruction were
prepared foy their agents in England, breathing the strongest spirit
of opposition. In these debates, in the petitions and remonstrances
forwarded to the home government, and in the writings of Otis,
Thatcher, and other distinguished or rising politicians, the same
principles were strenuously maintained and ably argued. Appeals
to every man's individual sense of justice; reference to rights secured
by magna charta, by the special charters of the provinces, and by
the maxims of English common law; and representations of the
extent to which experience had shown that the colonies would
assume their just share of the burden of government, were urged
with zeal, energy, and ability.
Few, if any, yet spoke of open resistance to the power of parlia-
ment, but succeeding events proved that public sentiment must
have been rapidly preparing for such an extremity.
kj cLcL budi tL iL uLl wu Jj JL o
IHE STAMP ACT: ARGUMENT IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: PASS
AGE OF THE BILL: ITS EFFECT IN THE COLONIES. RESOLU-
TIONS IN THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY. PATRICK HENRY.
PROCEEDINGS IN MASSACHUSETTS: POPULAR TUMULTS:
RESIGNATION OF THE STAMP OFFICERS.
IN the month of February, 1765, the important act, providing for
the increase of revenue by stamp duties in America, was introduced
into the House of Commons. By its provisions all legal documents,
promissory notes, deeds, commercial papers, official certificates, &c.,
&c., must be written upon paper that had received a government
stamp, and on which fixed duties had been paid. Of all that was
said in argument upon the merits of the bill, nothing excited more
general attention, in the community, than a short speech by Colonel
Isaac Barre".
This member had seen service in America, during the French war,
ind, familiar himself with the character and condition of the people,
GEORGE 111. A A' D HIS MIJflSTfR*.
a r R i <> r > or r u t: K i: r o I. v r I o JVT
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 231
he expressed a becoming disgust at the ignorance in regard to the
colonies which characterized the speeches of several supporters of the
bill. The eloquent Charles Townshend spoke in its favour, and con-
cluded his remarks with an inquiry, whether the colonists could
presume to refuse aid to the parent-country, by whose protection
they. alone had maintained their existence, and arrived at a position
of comparative wealth and importance.
Barrel rose, and, with great animation, exposed the fallacy of the
declaration. He pointed out briefly the real origin of emigration to
America, the unaided efforts and sufferings of the early colonists in
establishing a civilized community in the wilderness, the neglect
that they had experienced at the hands of the home government,
their readiness in taking up arms in a national cause, their expenses
and their losses by the continued wars. "I claim," continued he,
"to know more of America than most of you, having seen and been
conversant with that country. The people, I believe, are as truly
loyal as any subjects the king has ; but a people jealous of their lib-
erties, and who will vindicate them if ever they should be violated."
The stamp act passed the house of commons on the 27th of Feb-
ruary ; a few days later, the house of lords concurred -without debate;
and the bill received a quasi assent from the deranged intellect of
George III. To make the obnoxious measure more tolerable, it
was provided that all revenues to be derived from it, should be
expended exclusively for colonial purposes. Other conciliatory
enactments, in the form of bounties upon importations, and the
removal of sundry burdensome restrictions, were also resorted to as
an offset to the first imposition of a direct tax. It was generally
supposed, in England, that the measure would be carried out with-
out a sign of forcible opposition.
The tone of public procedures in the colonies, upon receipt of
intelligence that the act had passed, was generally moderate; but the
passions and indignation of the people, fully aroused, were only
awaiting fit opportunity to break forth in overt resistance. In Vir-
ginia, the legislature was in session at the time, but its leading mem-
bers held aloof from taking active measures in opposition. It was
reserved for a young man, who had but recently taken his seat in
the house, to introduce and support a series of resolutions, setting
forth colonial rights, and protesting against their proposed invasion.
It is a singular fact, concerning those who, in all times, have possessed
to its greatest extent the wonderful gift of eloquence, that little or uoth-
232 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
ing has been recorded which may enable us to judge of their powers,
excepting the effect of their speeches. An audience carried away by
admiration and sympathetic excitement, is in no condition to remem-
ber and perpetuate the form of expression by which the tumult of
feeling is aroused. It has been reserved for those who, like Cicero,
have nicely remodelled their productions to meet the cool criticism
of a reader, to be held up as patterns for imitation. The flow of
forcible and unpremeditated words, by which a crowd of men, pos-
sessing every variety of character and temperament, is moved to
unanimity, if here and there reported in detached sentences, loses
all the force lent by the occasion, the state of mind of the auditory,
and the manner of the speaker.
Such has been the case, in many instances, with the most cele-
brated efforts of Burr, Randolph, and others; such, upon the occa-
sion of which we have just spoken, was that of Patrick Henry. We
are only told that, in tones of bold warning, he broke forth, in the
heat of argument, with the expressions: "Caesar had his Brutus
Charles the First his Cromwell and George the Third" (here he
was interrupted by a cry of Treason 1 from the speaker and many
members, but he firmly continued) "may profit by their example.
If that be treason, make the most of it!"
The resolutions were passed, after vehement debate: the conclud-
ing section, which read as follows, by a majority of one only: "Re-
solved, therefore, that the General Assembly of this colony have the
sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabit-
ants of this colony ; and that every attempt to vest such power in
any person or persons whatsoever, other than the general assembly
aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as
American freedom." This resolution was afterwards struck out
upon a reconsideration, during the absence of Henry, but it had
already gone abroad, and was circulated throughout the colonies.
In Massachusetts, a more important measure was adopted, at the
suggestion of James Otis. Letters were dispatched to the general
assemblies of all the separate colonies, requesting and advising the
appointment of a committee from each, to meet at New York in the
ensuing month of October, and deliberate upon what could be done
for the general good of the country. No allusion was made to any
proposed union for purposes of resistance, other than the organization
of a "united representation to implore relief." The call was first
responded to by the legislature of South Carolina.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 33
By this time, the speeches of Barre", of Henry, of Otis, and others,
the Virginia resolutions, the call of Massachusetts, and the reiterated
arguments of political writers on both sides the question, were
familiar to the whole people of America, and occupied universal
attention. A question, at first committed to the management of the
learned and intelligent, assumed a new aspect when brought home
to the minds of an excited populace.
Those residents of the colonies who had favoured the passage of
the act, and those who had received appointment to the office of
distribution of stamps, first felt the weight of lawless popular indig-
nation. It seemed to be generally determined that all the stamp
officers should be compelled to resign, by personal violence, should
persuasion fail.
The first of a succession of mad scenes conducted, however, sys-
tematically, and with deliberate purpose took place at Boston, on
the 14th of August, (1765.) Andrew Oliver, the appointed stamp
distributor, was hung in effigy upon a noted tree, known as the
Boston elm. In the evening, the image was burned, with the frag-
ments of a building, supposed to be in process of erection for a
stamp office, in the presence of an immense concourse. Oliver per-
ceived, from the demeanour of the crowd, that his only safety con-
sisted in compliance with the popular demand, and he resigned his
office accordingly.
The office of the court of admiralty, rendered obnoxious by the
provisions of the "sugar act," was next attacked. On the night of
the 26th, the records were destroyed, and the house of Story, comp-
troller of customs, was broken open, and his furniture demolished.
Hutchinson, the lieutenant-governor, suffered similar outrage upon
his property on the same night. This officer had become unpopular
from various circumstances, but the principal cry against him, at
this time, was for having favoured the stamp act.
The example of Massachusetts was followed in Rhode Island, New
York, and New Jersey, and with similar results. The stamp dis-
tributor of Maryland fled from popular violence to New York.
On many of these occasions, the active agents were not the most
respectable portion of the community, but, except where they over-
stepped the bounds of reason, and wantonly invaded private prop-
erty, their proceedings met with general favour. All attempts ut
bringing individuals of the rioters to account for the outrages com-
mitted, were soon abandoned.
234 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
The other colonies exhibited the same state of public sentiment,
and the officers commissioned to distribute stamps, either declined
serving, or gave such public pledges as satisfied the people. It was
olain that no stamps would be allowed to be sold. Ingersoll, the
stamp officer for Connecticut, at first refused to submit to the popu-
lar requisition, announcing his intention of submitting the matter to
the general assembly. He was on his way to Hartford, for that
purpose, when he was intercepted, near Wethersfield, by a body of
some hundreds of the substantial inhabitants of the colony, who, in
military array, although armed only with staves, required of him
an immediate resignation. The object of the company was to avoid
the disagreeable consequences of any action by the assembly as the
colony might be held responsible for its public acts, while, as indi-
viduals, they felt little apprehension of any dangerous results from
their proceedings. Ingersoll betrayed no unworthy pusillanimity;
but when he perceived the determination of the people to prevent
him from communicating with the assembly, and even to proceed
to personal violence, should he refuse to accede to their demands,
he signed a written resignation, and, at the direction of the crowd,
shouted for "Liberty and property."
Of the packages of stamped paper which arrived in the country,
some were seized and destroyed by the populace, and the rest re-
mained packed and unnoticed.
\j iLJ> ii>ij J> X Jj ilo i JL <I>
SESSION OF THE FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS: MODERATE TONE
OF ITS PROCEEDINGS: CONCURRENCE OF THE SEPARATE
COLONIES. THE STAMP ACT NUGATORY. THE ENG-
LISH MINISTRY. DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT. SPEECH
OF PITT. EXAMINATION OF FRANKLIN.
REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT.
i
ON the 7th of October, 1765, the first American congress assem-
bled at New York. A regular delegation was present from six of
the colonies, viz: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Penn-
sylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina: New York, Delaware, and
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 235
New Jersey were also represented, although not by a regular ap-
pointment of their houses of assembly. The legislature of North
Carolina, not having been in session, could make no delegation, but
the cooperation of this colony, as well as that of New Hampshire,
could be depended upon, in the work to be accomplished. The
assent of Georgia was obtained during the session.
It was agreed that the votes should be taken by colonies, neither
claiming preeminence by virtue of superior extent or population.
The congress sat about three weeks, during which time a declaration
of rights, and petitions and memorials to the king and parliament,
were drawn up, debated, and finally agreed to, nearly unanimously.
All question of proposed admission to representation in the English
parliament was abandoned as impracticable, and the colonies, without
menace or unseemly violence, recapitulated the claims so often
urged, that, by natural right, by rnagna charta, and their own private
charters, the right of taxation, as well as that of the management
of all internal government, was vested in their own houses of assem-
bly. The infringement of the right of trial by jury, in the extension
of admiralty jurisdiction, by the provisions of the sugar act, was
also animadverted upon.
The spirit of the resolutions and memorials adopted by congress,
met with a hearty response from the people. The New York mer-
chants agreed to discontinue all importation from England until the
repeal of the obnoxious act. Their example was followed exten-
sively in many of the other colonies, and plans were set on foot for
the encouragement and support of domestic manufactures, and for
devising substitutes for articles of luxury, comfort, or necessity,
hitherto imported from, the old country. Several of the colonial
legislatures cornmented upon and approved the doings of the con-
gress of deputies, and those few members who had stood aloof from
or opposed the proceedings, received tokens of marked displeasure
from their fellow-members and constituents.
All attempts to enforce the stamp act (which was to go into oper-
ation on the 1st of November) proved utterly vain. Business was
conducted without the use of the stamps, in defiance of the restrict-
ive provisions of the law, and where this could not be done in
safety, as in some of the courts, various evasions were resorted to,
and suits were continued or referred to arbitrament As yet, all
efforts pointed simply to the repeal of the law, and a modification of
the obnoxious features of the provisions for the levy of customs.
236 AMEE1CA ILLUSTRATED.
News of these proceedings, and of the turn of public affairs m
America, reached England during the administration of Rocking-
ham. Grenville and his companions in the cabinet, who might
have felt bound to make use of every expedient, violent or politic,
for the maintenance of an act so deliberately framed, and passed
with so little opposition as the one in question, were out of office,
and the new incumbents were in a position to look dispassionately
at the consequences of persistance in carrying out the arbitrary
principles recently adopted. The question was, indeed, argued
rather as one of policy than of right, for the great majority in par-
liament, and in the cabinet, had hitherto looked upon the power of
the former to lay and enforce discretionary taxes as beyond dispute.
It was easy to point to the gross inequality of representation in
England, where populous towns and districts had no share in the
electoral privilege, for precedents. The colonies of the continental
nations of Europe presumed to make no question as to the right
and power of the home governments to impose burdens far heavier,
and of a far more arbitrary and oppressive character, than those now
complained of; and it would be to the last degree humiliating to
England, if, while deaf to the respectful entreaties of the provinces,
she should be swayed from her course by the first threats of forcible
opposition.
In December, (1765,) parliament met, and the whole subject was
reconsidered and debated at length. No determinate conclusion was
arrived at during the short session, and an adjournment for a few
weeks gave opportunity for the transmission of further intelligence
from the seat of disturbance. It became matter of notoriety that,
in America, the power of parliament was universally questioned,
often defied, and that people began to speak "in the most familiar
manner" of the possibility of open rupture, and the probable con-
sequences of war with the parent-country.
At the January session, the aged William Pitt was present, and,
notwithstanding his infirm health, took. an open stand in opposition
to the Grenville schemes of taxation and to all direct taxation of
the colonies by parliament arguing the questions at issue with his
usual power and perspicuity. He pointed out the sophistry of the
supporters of the measures under examination ; in reply to invec-
tives, he uttered the most biting sarcasms; and, in plain terms, free
from technicalities, he maintained the rights of the colonies, and
approved their opposition. "I rejoice," said he, "that America has
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 237
resisted. If its millions of inhabitants had submitted, taxes would
soon have been laid on Ireland; and if ever this nation should have
a tyrant for its king, six millions of freemen, so dead to all the feel-
ings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would be fit
instruments to make slaves of the rest."
That America could effectually resist the power of England, he
thought grossly improbable. "In a good cause, on a sound bottom,"
he proceeded, "the force of this country can crush America to
atoms." * * "The will of parliament, properly signified, must
for ever keep the colonies dependent upon the sovereign kingdom
of Great Britain. But, on this ground of the stamp act, when so
many here will think it a crying injustice, I am one who will lift up
my hands against it. In such a cause your success would be haz-
ardous. America, if she fell, would fall like the strong man ; she
would embrace the pillars of the state, and pull down the constitu-
tion along with her."*
He coupled these strong denunciations of the proposed direct
taxation with complete approval of the exercise of jurisdiction by
parliament over all matters of trade and the regulation of manufac-
tures, claiming to perceive "a plain distinction between taxes levied
for the purposes of raising revenue, and duties imposed for the regu-
lation of trade for the accommodation of the subject, although, in the
consequences, some revenue may accidentally arise from the latter."
A large majority, both of the commons and of the house of lords,
still favoured the English claims in their broadest extent, and a
resolution was prepared, declaring that the powers of the king and
parliament, in legislating for the colonies, were absolutely without
limit. When the question of the stamp act was brought directly
before the house of lords, those opposed to repeal, prevailed by a
small majority. In the other house, the motion to repeal was con-
sidered, rather as a question of present policy, than as a test of
future rights and powers. Benjamin Franklin, at this time one of
the most prominent among the public supporters of freedom in
America, underwent a long examination at the bar of the house.
His clear and lucid exposition of the American claims, his accurate
statistical knowledge, and his acquaintance with the character, spirit,
and local politics of the colonies, enabled him to throw much light
upon the question, and appear to have produced a powerful effect.
He positively insisted that the enforcement of the stamp act was
Bancroft.
238 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
physically impossible. "Suppose," said he, "a military force sent
into America; they will find nobody in arms. What are they then
to do? They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do
without them. They will not find a rebellion: they may, indeed,
make one." When the attempt was made to remove all distinction
between direct taxes and imposts on importations, by the suggestion
that these were often articles necessary for life; he replied, "The
people may refuse commodities, of which the duty makes a part of
the price; but an internal tax is forced from them without their
consent." And again: "I do not know a single article imported
into the northern colonies, but what they can either do without or
make themselves."*
The repeal coupled, however, with the declaration before referred
to, that parliament still retained absolute power in this as in all other
colonial legislation was carried by a very decided majority. The
house of lords reluctantly concurred, and the bill received the royal
assent on the 18th of March, 1766. The result gave great satisfac-
tion to the commercial portion of the inhabitants of England ; and
the receipt of the intelligence in America was a signal for universal
acclamation and rejoicing.
CHAPTER IV.
INTERVAL OF QUIET. NEW TAXES ON IMPORTATIONS.
NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT. CIRCULAR OF MAS-
SACHUSETTS. RIOTS AT BOSTON. ASSEMBLIES DIS-
SOLVED. TROOPS ORDERED TO BOSTON. MEASURES
OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. FATAL ENCOUN-
TER BETWEEN THE TROOPS AND POPULACE AT
BOSTON. CONCESSIONS OF PARLIAMENT.
A SHORT period of comparative repose ensued upon the settlement
of the stamp question. Those who had suffered in the popular dis-
turbances in New York and Massachusetts, were indemnified for
their losses by the acts of the general assemblies. In the latter
colony, however, this concession to the royalists was accompanied
* Bancroft
THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION. 239
by a general act of amnesty for the protection of the individual
rioters. The "sugar act," somewhat modified during the late session
of parliament, still remained a bone of contention.
Under the Pitt administration, which succeeded that of Rocking-
ham, Townshend, Grenville's staunchest supporter, held the office
of chancellor of the exchequer. In this capacity, he introduced and
carried through a new system of duties for the colonies, by which
imposts were laid upon various articles hitherto exempt. A portion
of these were of British production, as paints, paper, glass, &c. A
specific duty of three pence a pound was laid on tea. The bill was,
avowedly, for the sole purpose of obtaining revenue by indirect or
external taxation. This and other odious measures, previously
passed, respecting the maintenance of a standing army, and the
quartering of troops upon the inhabitants during their removal from
place to place, stirred up all former ill feelings. The ground was
now generally taken by political agitators in America, that a tax on
importations, if for revenue purposes merely, was no more defensible
than a direct tax.
In October, 1767, a movement was commenced at Boston, at a
public meeting, for the encouragement of native manufactures, ana
the organization of a system of non-importation from England. A
more important step was taken at the session of the general assem-
bly for Massachusetts, in the year succeeding; a circular-letter being,
by a vote of the house, prepared, and dispatched to all the othei
colonial legislatures, urging the necessity for union in support of the
rights of the provinces.
Foremost in these popular proceedings, were two men of widely
different character, age, and worldly condition. Samuel Adams,
the poor but uncompromising patriot, whose bold, energetic and
able disquisitions upon American rights and policy had already
gained him wide celebrity, and John Hancock, who possessed youth,
fortune, and an ardent temperament. A small vessel belonging to
the latter was seized, in the month of June, 1768, as having been
engaged in smuggling wines from Madeira. This gave occasion for
an outbreak, and the commissioners of revenue officers recently
appointed by parliament, for the superintendence of customs, &c.
were forced to seek protection from the mob in one of the forts of
the harbour.
The assembly of Massachusetts was required by the governor,
Bernard, to rescind the circular before mentioned, and, upon refusal
VOL. IV.
240 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
by a large vote, was dissolved. A favourable reception of tlie rebel-
lious message, produced similar results in Virginia, Maryland, and
Georgia. The New York assembly, proving refractory upon the
question of quartering British troops, was also dismissed by the
governor. In Massachusetts, the inhabitants of the several towns,
unable to speak through legal representatives, elected delegates to a
convention, whose proceedings, if unaccompanied with legitimate
authority, might, at least, show to the world the true sentiments of
the people.
For enforcing the revenue laws, as well as for the preservation of
order in the turbulent city of Boston, General Gage, commander-in-
chief of the British forces in America, ordered thither two regiments
of regulars from Halifax. He had received previous instructions to
this effect from government, but it was not then supposed that so
large a force would be necessary to effect the purpose. The author-
ities refused to provide quarters for the troops, alleging that there
was accommodation for them at the regular barracks; but Gage
was determined to quarter them within the town, and accordingly a
portion encamped on the common, and most of the others took
possession of the state-house. Cannon were planted in front, and
an ostentatious display of military force served to enrage and em
bitter the feelings of the inhabitants.
Accommodations for the soldiery could only be procured by an
appropriation of the army funds, which was accordingly made,
and full accounts of the fractious spirit of the colony were forwarded
to England. The news excited a great degree of public indignation ;
parliament proceeded to pass resolutions of censure against the colo-
nies, and a matter of graver importance voted instructions to the
respective governors, for the seizure and transportation to England,
for trial, of the leaders in disloyalty.
The legislature of Virginia, at the session in May, 1769, remon-
strated against this infringement of the rights of persons, which,
although sanctioned by an ancient law respecting treasons committed
abroad, was opposed to all principles of liberty and justice. Reso-
lutions upon this topic, embracing also a general proclamation of
colonial rights, were transmitted to the other colonies. The conse-
quence was a speedy dissolution of the assembly by the governor,
Lord Botetourt. The non-importation agreement was, shortly after
this, extensively adopted, both in Virginia and other of the south-
ern provinces.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 241
The Massashusetts legislature, at the same period, refused posi-
tively to appropriate funds for the army expenses. Requisition was
made for the removal of the troops, and upon the governor's re-
sponse that this was beyond the pale of his authority, all legislative
business was stayed, with the exception of indignant discussion of
the public wrongs. In March of the following year, the mutual
hatred between the citizens of Boston and the hired soldiery quar-
tered among them, aggravated by insults and injuries on cither side,
broke out in open hostilities- On the evening of the 5th of the
month, a small body of soldiers, commanded by a Captain Preston,
was attacked by a mob, and, without orders from their officer, fired
upon the crowd, in self-defence. Four persons were killed by the
discharge, and a number were wounded. The rage of the citizens, at
this occurrence, was so great, that it was deemed advisable to remove
the troops from the town to the barracks at Castle William. This
being effected, those who had perished in the riot were buried with
great ceremony, the whole population taking part in the exercises of
the occasion, as if in commemoration of some national calamity.
The soldiers implicated in the alleged massacre were indicted for
murder. They received a fair and impartial trial, being ably defended
by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, both of whom were known as
ardent advocates of the popular cause. Conclusive evidence was
found against two only of the accused; these were convicted of man-
slaughter, and received but a light punishment.
In New York, the temporary ascendency of the " moderate party"
resulted in submission to the requisitions of the quartering act, but
the same state of feeling existed there as in Boston between the
troops and the populace.
Some concession was made by parliament, in 1770, to the demands
of the colonies and the petitions of the English merchants. The
duties on articles of British produce, &c., included in the list of com-
modities taxable under the regulations introduced by Townshend,
were all removed, on motion of Lord North, with the exception of
that on tea. This was retained simply as an assertion of principle;
for, while parliament evidently desired to conciliate and assist the
American colonies, it was plain that the great majority of the people
of England and their representatives still retained all their former
ideas respecting the sovereign power of the home government.
242
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
CHAPTER 7.
PARTY SPIRIT IN THE COLONIES. WHIG AND TORT. THE
REGUIATORS OF NORTH CAROLINA. HUTCHINSON, GOVERNOR
OF MASSACHUSETTS. DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE.
SYSTEM OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
THE COLONIES. TEA DISPATCHED TO AMERICA BY
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. REFUSAL OF THE
COLONISTS TO RECEIVE IT. VIOLENT PRO-
CEEDINGS AT BOSTON: CLOSURE OF THE
PORT. EXTENSION OF CANADA.
THE bitterness of party spirit, by this time, throughout the colo-
nies, was added to that of jealousy and resistance to oppression. The
loyalists, under the name of tories, and the whigs, who constituted
the popular party, looked upon each other with distrust and indig-
nation. Between neighbours and former friends, and between
members of the same family, a strife was engendered, rancorous in
proportion to the depth of either party's convictions.
The names of whig and tory were applied, at this period, to two
parties in the Carolinas; the first, self-styled regulators, who origin-
ally organized themselves as a party for the summary punishment
of criminals, in a country where the population was sparse, and the
course of justice tardy; the second, their opponents, known also by
other titles. In North Carolina, those calling themselves "regu-
lators," consisted of ignorant inhabitants of the more barren dis-
tricts, and were simply combined to resist all civil authority. The
difficulties which arose from the existence of such a party, resulted
in actual, though brief, civil war. In May, 1771, "Governor Tryon,
at the head of a body of volunteers, marched into the disaffected
counties. The regulators assembled in arms, and an action was
fought at Alamance, on the Haw, near the head-waters of Cape
Fear river, in which some two hundred were left dead upon the
field. Out of a large number taken prisoners, six were executed for
high treason."* The good-will of this turbulent faction was concil-
iated by a subsequent governor, Joseph Martin.
In the north, causes of discontent with English authority were
* Hildreth's History of the United States.
THE AMERICAN KEVOLUTION. 243
multiplied, notwithstanding the concessions of parliament. Hutch-
inson, upon receiving the appointment of governor of Massachusetts,
in 1771, was made independent of the colony by the settlement upon
him of a large salary to be paid by the crown. This gave great dis-
satisfaction, inasmuch as the governor and colony were no longer
bound by a common interest. The measure, it is true, had been
provoked by a neglect on the part of the assembly to make the
usual appropriation for the governor's salary.
Fulfilment of the non-importation agreement had been gradually
relaxed in most of the colonies, except in regard to the one article
of tea, which, being alone retained of that list made out for revenue
purposes merely, stood as a representative of all the rest. The old
regulations of trade, as provided for in the "sugar act," were still
enforced, and a number of vessels, armed for the revenue service,
were employed on the coast. One of these, named the Gaspee, had
become particularly obnoxious to the people of Ehode Island. She
interfered most inconveniently in their smuggling transactions; and
her officers, moreover, in carrying out their instructions, had, by
arrogance and arbitrary conduct, excited popular ill-will. While
stationed in Narragansett Bay, this vessel; by a stratagem, \vas
decoyed upon a shoal, and, as she lay aground, was attacked and
burned by a party from Providence, on the night of June 10th,
1772. Great efforts were made to secure the punishment of the
perpetrators of this act of violence, but they were so shielded by the
favour of the people, that no conclusive evidence could be obtained
against them, although they were identified by common report.
The appointment of a special court for their trial, and the offer of a
large reward for evidence, alike failed to bring the offenders to
punishment.
Agitation of political questions, throughout this period, was con-
tinually kept up by private associations and corresponding commit-
tees of different towns and districts. This movement, originating
in New England, led to a more general system of union, in conse-
quence of action by the Virginia legislature. A copy of the pro-
ceedings in the Massachusetts assembly, in which the controversy
with the governor also involved general discussion of grievances,
having been forwarded to that body, a committee was regularly
appointed to inquire into the questions at issue, and to communicate
thereupon with the other colonies. The assembly was, in conse-
quence, dissolved by the governor, but the committee proceeded,
244 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
notwithstanding, to fulfil their instructions. This example was
followed by the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hamp-
shire, Ehode Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Such an organ
ization proved of inestimable service at the commencement of the
contest upon which the country was about to enter. A publication,
by Doctor Franklin, then agent for Massachusetts, as well as for
several other of the colonies, in England, of certain letters written
by Hutchinson and other loyalists, excited great indignation. These
letters, which were never intended to meet the public eye, spoke
contemptuously of the popular party, and recommended stringent
measures for coercion.
Opportunity was not long wanting for open demonstration of the
true state of feeling in the colonies. As already mentioned, the
agreement to import no tea had been generally observed, and the
East India Company, receiving no orders from American merchants,
made the necessary arrangements for carrying on the trade by their
own agents. Consignees were appointed in the more important sea-
ports, and a number of vessels were freighted and dispatched. In
New York and Philadelphia, these agents, alarmed at the threats
of the people, thought it the part of safety not to enter upon the
duties of their appointment, and the vessels were obliged to return
to England with their cargoes. In Boston the consignees refused
to resign their agency, and in the midst of the excitement attendant
upon their contumacy, several vessels arrived loaded with tea.
A considerable body of citizens stationed themselves as a watch,
to preclude the possibility of a secret landing, and the captain and
consignees were notified that the only safe course for them to pur-
sue, was immediately to comply with the popular demand, that the
tea be sent back to England. But upon application at the custom-
house, no clearance could be effected without a landing of the cargo,
and the governor refused a permit to pass the defensive works of
the castle.
The citizens held repeated mass meetings, in which the question
was fully discussed, and nearly unanimous resolutions were adopted
to resist to the last extremity all attempts at landing the tea. They
were in session (December 16th, 1773) when the definitive reply of
the governor, respecting a pass, was received. " A violent commo-
tion instantly ensued. A person disguised after the manner of the
Indians, who was in the gallery, shouted at this juncture the cry
of war: the meeting was dissolved in the twinkling of an eye. The
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 245
multitude rushed in mass to Griffin's wharf. About twenty persons,
also disguised as Indians, then made their appearance; all either
masters of ships, carpenters, or caulkers. They went on board the
ships laden with tea. In less than two hours, three hundred and
forty chests were staved, and emptied in the sea. They were not
interrupted: the surrounding multitude on shore served them as a
safe guard. The affair was conducted without tumult: no damage
was done to the ships, or to any other effects whatever."*
The consequence of these acts of violence was the immediate
passage, by parliament, of the act known as the "Boston port bill,"
by which the port was closed against all importations, the custom-
house being removed to Salem. This restriction Avas not to be
removed until full compensation should be made for the damage
done by the populace. On motion of North, a further enactment
passed, by a very large majority, for giving the appointment of all
civil and judicial officers in Massachusetts directly to the crown.
It was also enacted that, at any future prosecution for " homicide
or other capital offence" committed in support of lawful authority,
the governor might send the accused out of the colony for trial,
either to another province, or to England, if it appeared to him
necessary so to afford security against popular prejudice.
In anticipation of the possible result of such violent measures,
acts were passed for the further regulation of government in Canada,
the bounds of which province were extended "so as to embrace
the territory situated between the lakes, the river Ohio, and the
Mississippi."
*Oti'fiotta.
246 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
CHAPTER VI.
OAGE, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: MILITARY PREPARA-
TIONS: MINUTE-MEN. DISTRESS IN BOSTON: SYMPATHY OP
OTHER TOWNS. CONVENTION PROPOSED BY VIRGINIA: DEL-
EGATES CHOSEN BY THE COLONIES. THE CONTINENTAL
CONGRESS: RESOLUTIONS AND DECLARATION ADOPTED.
VIOLENT MEASURES OP PARLIAMENT.
IN May, 1774, General Gage, having received the appointment
of governor of Massachusetts, in place of Hutchinson, arrived in
Boston. He was, personally, held in much greater esteem than his
predecessor, and met with a suitable reception, notwithstanding the
general state of disorder and indignation at the speedy enforcement
of the port bill, which was to go into operation on the 1st of June.
A number of regiments of regulars were concentrated at the town
for the purpose of overawing the inhabitants, and, under the direc-
tions of the general, defensive works were erected on the neck by
which the peninsula of Boston is connected with the main land.
These precautions were by no means premature or unnecessary,
for, every where throughout the colony, appearances grew more and
more ominous. The new officers, of royal appointment, were im-
peded in the exercise of their duties, by threats or violence ; the
organization and training of the militia was carried on with great
zeal and perseverance ; meetings were every where held, and reso-
lutions were passed breathing the spirit of the most determined
resistance. At a general meeting of Massachusetts delegates, at
Salem, of which Hancock was president, "They enrolled twelve
thousand of the militia, whom they called minute-men; that is, sol-
diers that must hold themselves in readiness to march at a minute's
notice." Directions were openly and boldly given for the storing
of provisions, the collection of ammunition, &c., as if the country
were already involved in civil war.
The city of Boston necessarily suffered severely from the total
cutting off of its commercial resources. The most hearty sympathy
was expressed by the towns of Massachusetts, and by the other col-
onies, both in the form of resolutions of encouragement, and, more
substantially, by subscriptions for the relief of the poor. At Salem
din^ was comm!ncd ic 1741. and win gircn nv P*i*r Knnui1 to the
town of Boston, for a Town-Hall and Market-place It ia celebrated a* being the
cene of many of the urly debates upon the great que.ticn. *t issue betweea
England and the Coloniee
THE AMERICAN EEVOLDTION. 247
and Marblehead, the merchants proffered the use of their warehouses
to the Boston importers, and the inhabitants of the former made
public profession of their determination not to take advantage of
the position in which they were placed, to enrich themselves at the
expense of those who had exposed their property and personal
safety for the general good.
In the neighbouring colonies, the same state of affairs existed as
in Massachusetts. Not only were the people busily engaged in pre-
paring arms and ammunition, but, in several instances, they vio-
lently plundered the public stores. The legislative assemblies
generally responded to the exigency of the occasion, by resolutions
of sympathy and encouragement. In Virginia, it was resolved, that
attempts to coerce one colony to submit to measures which all had
expressed a common interest in opposing, were to be resisted by
the others, and it was recommended that an annual convention
should be held by deputies from all the colonies, to take counsel for
the general good.
In accordance with this proposal, all the colonies except Georgia
made choice of delegates, in number from two to seven, according
to the population of each, who were to convene at Philadelphia.
At the same time, resolutions to cease all commerce with Great
Britain were renewed. Agreements to that effect were signed by
immense numbers, and those who did not readily concur with
the proposal, were effectually overawed by a threat of the publica-
tion of their names. A time was fixed for the agreement to go into
operation. The state of public feeling was also demonstrated by
acts of violence committed upon the persons of obnoxious tories,
many of whom were "tarred and feathered," or otherwise so perse-
cuted as to be obliged to place themselves under the protection of
the authorities at the fortified posts.
The continental congress met at Philadelphia, on the 5th of Sep-
tember, 1774. All were present except the deputies from South
Carolina, who arrived on the 14th. Of the fifty-three delegates to
this convention, nearly all were men of property and high standing
in society : many of them as Patrick Henry of Virginia, Samuel and
John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and
others were already celebrated for eloquence, legal attainments, or
for an active share in the first patriotic movements. It was no
assembly of reckless political adventurers, but consisted of men who
truly represented the intelligent portion of the community, and who
248
AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
felt that their own good fame, their lives, property, and persona]
safety depended upon the performance of their duty to their con-
stituents, in a manner as prudent and cautious, as firm and uncom-
promising. It was agreed that each colony should have but one
vote, and the proceedings of the assembly were only to be made
public so far as permitted by its own resolutions. The session was
held with closed doors.
The first proceedings were the adoption of resolutions expressive
of approval of those passed by the Massachusetts convention; a
declaration of rights, accompanied by a specific enumeration of the
instances in which these had been infringed by the British govern-
ment ; and a more efficient organization of the system of non-im-
portation, which was to go into general operation on the 1st of the
ensuing December, and to which was appended an agreement not
to export goods to England or its dependencies, if, at a future period,
redress should not have been obtained for injuries already commit-
ted. Incidentally to this agreement, the importation of slaves was
condemned, and was prohibited by the articles of compact.
A petition to the king, and addresses, letters, and memorials to
the people of Great Britain, and of the northern American provinces,
were subsequently prepared, debated, and adopted. An unavailing
communication had been previously addressed to General Gage,
remonstrating against the military operations at Boston. Congress
adjourned in the latter part of October, after providing for a future
meeting, to take place in the following year.
During the winter, the colonies had opportunity to express their
separate opinion upon the doings of Congress, either by their assem-
blies or by popular conventions. The acts passed generally met
with hearty approval and concurrence. The sect of Quakers, at
their yearly meeting, carrying out their principles of peace, con-
demned every thing that should tend to bring down upon the coun-
try the calamities of war ; but, on the other hand, the eloquence and
ardour of New England divines, especially of the Congregational
societies, were lent, with little scruple or concealment, to the popular
cause. The association for non-intercourse with England experi-
enced more opposition in New York than elsewhere : the tories of
that colony, by reason of wealth, influence, and numbers, occupied
a more independent position than in* either of the other provinces,
and the self-interest of the large number of those dependent upon
the commerce of New York, strengthened their opposition.
THE AMEKICAN KEVOLUTION.
249
The parliament of Great Britain, upon receipt of intelligence con-
cerning the American congress and the disorderly state of affairs in
America, determined on violent coercive measures. The concil-
iatory and moderate policy of the elder Pitt was rejected; Franklin
and the other colonial agents were refused a hearing; and, as a pun-
ishment to the colonies for their resistance to authority and refusal
to import goods from Great Britain, all other foreign trade, except
that to the British West Indies, was absolutely prohibit^, as was
also the prosecution of the fisheries on the banks. A large military
and naval reinforcement was also ordered to America. A provision
was, indeed, made for the exemption from taxation of any colony
which should, by its own act, appropriate a "sufficient" sum for the
necessary expenses of government and defence. In the new restric-
tions upon trade, exceptions were introduced in favour of New
York and North Carolina, these being considered the most loyal
and amenable of the colonies. The acts were passed in both houses
by large majorities, notwithstanding the able argument of eloquent
opponents, and a crowd of petitions from merchants, manufacturers,
and inhabitants of other colonies, whose interests were directly de-
pendent upon prosperous commerce with America.
L ii A ir i
v i 1.
WARLIKE PREPARATIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS. TROO 8 DIS-
PATCHED TO SEIZE MILITARY STORES. FIRST BLOOD "SHED
AT LEXINGTON. DISASTROUS RETREAT OP THE BRITISH TO
BOSTON. PROCEEDINGS IN THE NEIGHBOURING COLONIES.
BOSTON BESIEGED BY THE PROVINCIALS. CONCUR-
RENCE OF THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. SECOND SESSION
OF CONGRESS. APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS.
SEIZURE OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA.
THE inhabitants of Massachusetts, denounced as rebels by the late
acts of parliament, cut off from all sources of former prosperity, and
insulted by the presence of overbearing military officials and sol-
diery, wore now ready for any extremity. It was with no small
difficulty that supplies could be procured for the troops at Boston,
250
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
and the commanding officer heard, with alarm, of the unceasing pre-
parations for war that were going on in all the neighbouring dis-
tricts. The precarious position of the inhabitants of Boston excited
universal concern, and various plans were suggested /or their relief.
Among others, it is said to have been seriously proposed, that "a
valuation should be made of the houses and furniture belonging to
the inhabitants, that the city should then be fired, and that all the
losses should be reimbursed from the public treasure." The pro-
vincial congress of Massachusetts ordered the procurement of large
quantities of ammunition and arms, which, as fast as they could be
collected, were privately stored at different depots in the country
towns. Cannon, balls, &c., were smuggled out of Boston, over the
fortified neck, in manure-carts, and various other devices were suc-
cessfully resorted to for deceiving the guard.
General Gage, having now nearly three thousand men under his
immediate command, thought that the time had arrived for a forcible
check upon the movements of the rebels. He had learned that arms
and ammunition, belonging to the provincials, were collected in
large quantities at Concord, about eighteen miles from Boston. These
he determined to seize, and, having taken every precaution to pre-
vent intelligence of the movement from being known, he dispatched
several companies of grenadiers and light infantry, numbering about
eight hundred men, upon this service, on the night of April 18th,
(1775.) Doctor Joseph Warren, one of the most prominent of the
Boston patriots, had, by some means, become acquainted with the
intended attack, and sent messengers forthwith to spread the news
through the country.
Early on the following morning the troops, commanded by Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Smith, entered Lexington, a few miles from Concord.
A company of provincial militia, to the number of little more than
seventy, was under arms upon the green, near the meeting-house.
Major Pitcairn, leader of the van-guard, called out, "Disperse, rebels!
lay down your arms and disperse." The order not being obeyed,
he immediately discharged a pistol, and, waving his sword, gave
the command to fire. Several fell at the first volley, and, although
the militia immediately retreated, they were fired upon in the act of
dispersing. Eight were killed.
The troops then marched on to Concord. At that town the min-
ute-men endeavoured to keep possession of a bridge, but were
charged and driven from their position. The object of the expedi-
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 251
lion was accomplished, by the destruction of a quantity of ammuni-
tion and provisions, and the spiking and dismounting of two pieces
of artillery. By this time the whole country was up in arms, and,
as the troops cpmmenced their retreat, they were exposed to a gall-
ing and destructive fire from places of concealment on either side of
the road, while a large and constantly increasing force of the provin-
cials hung upon their rear.
To protect the retreat, General Gage had, fortunately for the
expedition, sent on a reinforcement of sixteen companies, who met
the first detachment at Lexington. Wearied by their long night
march and the fatigues of the morning, and with their ammunition
nearly spent, the whole of the first detachment, it was thought, might
have perished or fallen into the enemies' hands but for the aid thus
opportunely afforded. After resting and recruiting their strength,
the whole army marched towards Boston.
Harassed throughout the entire distance by an irregular but
deadly fire from concealed marksmen, the worn-out troops reached
Charlestown about sunset. They had sustained a loss, in killed and
wounded, of not far from three hundred men : the provincials lost
les. c than one-third of that number. What added to the difficulty
of the march, was the intense heat of the weather, and a high wind,
which raised clouds of dust
The first blood had now been shed; the country was actually
involved in war; and Massachusetts called upon the other colonies
for assistance. Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island,
made response by raising troops and commissioning officers. In
anticipation of this more regular levy, a large army of volunteers
had collected and encamped around Boston. Generals Ward and
Thomas received the highest commission under the provision of the
Massachusetts provincial legislature. The volunteers from Connec-
ticut were commanded by General Putnam, an old soldier, and a
true man of the times. There was no difficulty, at this period, in
pro3uring men : more, indeed, flocked in than could be supported,
and upon the arrival of the regular provincial forces, great num-
bers of the volunteers disbanded and returned home. The universal
indignation was increased by reports of British cruelties during
the brief period of hostilities. These stories, it is said, the leaders
of the people "never failed to propagate and exaggerate, in every
place, repeating them with words of extreme vehemence, and
painting them in the most vivid colours," thereby producing "an
252 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
incredible fermentation, and a frantic rage in the minds of the
inhabitants."
The middle and southern colonies, as soon as the news of the
opening of the campaign in the north could reach them, generally
gave expression to the popular feeling of sympathy with the patriots,
and of their conviction that the questions in dispute were of com-
mon interest. Military organizations, associations for purposes of
defence, and seizures of public stores and funds for the popular
cause, were the order of the day.
On the 10th of May, (1775,) in accordance with former provisions,
the continental congress assembled, the second time, at Philadelphia.
Peyton Eandolph, of Virginia, who had presided at the first meeting,
was reelected; but upon his departure to attend the meeting of the
Virginia assembly, his place was taken by Thomas Jefferson. The
first proceedings were to prepare a further petition to the king, and
addresses to the inhabitants of Great Britain and the American col-
onies. It was then voted, that war had been commenced by England,
and that active measures should be taken for defence; but, at the
same time, a nominal allegiance was professed to the parent-country.
Continental officers were next chosen the office of commander-
in-chief being bestowed upon George Washington, one of the mem-
bers from Virginia; Artemas Ward, Philip Sehuyler, Israel Putnam,
and Charles Lee, were chosen major-generals; Horatio Gates re-
ceived the appointment of adjutant-general. The two officers last
mentioned had both held commissions in the British service.
These proceedings occupied some time, and, meanwhile, important
scenes were enacting at the seat of war. On the very day that con-
gress assembled, a bold and successful adventure was achieved by a
volunteer force of the "Green Mountain Boys," commanded by Ethan
Allen, one of the most active and enterprising of the popular leaders
at the north. At Crown Point and Ticonderoga, fortified posts upon
Lake Champlain, on the Canadian frontier, it was known that there
was great store of artillery and ammunition, and a design was formed
simultaneously in Connecticut and Vermont to accomplish its seizure.
Colonel Benedict Arnold, of New Haven, at the time connected with
the besieging army at Boston, was commissioned by the former. He
is described as having been "possessed by nature of an extraordinary
force of genius, a restless character, and an intrepidity bordering upon
prodigy." Finding that Allen had already raised a force for the same
object, Arnold joined the expedition as a subordinate.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 253
The garrisons at the forts were grossly insufficient in numbers
for their defence, and were, moreover, taken completely by surprise.
When the commander of Ticonderoga, roused from sleep, and sum-
moned by Allen to surrender, "in the name of the Great Jehovah
and the Continental Congress," was informed that he was "prisoner
of America, he was much confused, and repeated, several times,
' What does this mean?' " About two hundred and twenty pieces of
artillery, with a great quantity of ammunition, and a number of
howitzers and mortars, were secured at these two posts. Proceeding
down the Sorel in a schooner, Arnold surprised and captured a
British corvette which lay at Fort St. John. The captured fortresses
on Champlain were garrisoned and put under his command.
CHAPTER 111.
CONDITION OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN BOSTON. BATTLE OF
BUNKER HILL. WASHINGTON AT THE CAMP. CON-
GRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. THE INDIAN TRIBES.
JOSEPH BRANT. MILITARY PREPARATIONS
IN THE SEPARATE COLONIES.
EARLY in June, the British forces in Boston had been increased
by fresh arrivals of troops, under Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and
Clinton, to more than ten thousand disciplined soldiers. It was
with great difficulty that supplies of provisions could be procured
for so large an army, beleaguered as was the town by a superior,
although undisciplined force of the provincials. General Gage,
therefore, first issued a proclamation of free pardon to all who would
lay aside their attitude of rebellion, and submit to the royal author-
ity, excepting, however, the prime movers of sedition, John Han-
cock and Samuel Adams. He then formed a plan to penetrate the
enemies' lines, and open a free communication with the country.
The intended movement became known to the American com-
manders, and orders were immediately given for the erection of
fortifications on Bunker hill, an elevation commanding the neck.
Colonel William Prescott, with a body of one thousand rnen, was
commissioned upon this service, on the night of the 16th of June.
254 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Mistaking his point of destination, this officer commenced operations
at Breed's hill, a position nearer to the town, and overlooking
Charlestown, at that time a place of considerable size. Labouring
with great diligence and silence, the provincials had thrown up,
before day-break, a low earthen redoubt in the form of a square,
sufficiently substantial to afford some protection for the troops.
As soon as these operations- were discovered from the harbour, a
tremendous fire was opened upon the works from the men-of-war
which lay at anchor, from the city artillery, and from floating bat-
teries. Notwithstanding the storm of shells and balls, the provincials
continued their labour, and carried a trench and embankment from
the redoubt down the north-eastern slope of the hill, nearly to the
water's edge. A reinforcement of several companies had, meanwhile,
been thrown into the intrenchment. As the height commanded
the city, it was absolutely necessary to prevent the establishment of a
battery there, in order to maintain possession of Boston; Gage, there-
fore, determined upon an immediate attempt to storm the redoubt.
Three thousand men were transported from the city to the foot of
the hill, in boats. Major-General Howe and General Pigot were in
command. The most exposed point was the interval between the
trench and Mystic river, at the north-east : this was partially defended
by a temporary breast- work of hay and fencing stuff. " The troops
of Massachusetts occupied Charlestown, the redoubt, and part of the
trench ; those of Connecticut, commanded by Captain Nolton, and
those of New Hampshire, under Colonel Starke, the rest of the
trench." Generals Putnam and Warren were both present, and
assisting in the directions of the defence. The troops were very
scantily furnished with ammunition, and very few had bayonets.
Towards the middle of the afternoon, the arrangements for attack
being perfected, the regulars marched up the hill; their officers were
surprised at the silence from within the redoubt, for the provincials
reserved their fire until a very near approach of the enemy. When
the word was at last given, so heavy and destructive was the dis-
charge, that the British fell back in disorder, and retreated to the foot
of the hill. A second charge, to which the troops were, with diffi-
culty, marshalled, resulted in a similar disaster. The number of
officers who fell in these two first attempts is astonishing. "General
Howe remained for some time alone upon the field of battle; all the
officers who surrounded him were killed or wounded."
The town of Charlestown had been fired by order of Gage, at the
THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 255
time of the first repulse, and, consisting chiefly of woo3en buildings,
was soon reduced to ashes. The scene had new become one of
intense interest. Every hill and house-top from which a view of the
field could be obtained, was thronged with spectators. General
Clinton, who had witnessed the second charge from Cop's hill, a
neighbouring height, hastened up, with additional forces. The col-
umns were again formed, and marched up to the redoubt, suffering
little from the slackened fire of the provincials, whose powder was
now nearly spent. At the same time, the lateral trench was swept
by several pieces of artillery, which the British had succeeded in
posting at its extremity.
From three several quarters, the regulars poured into the enclosed
space of the redoubt, from which the Americans were driven at the
point of the bayonet, defending themselves lustily with their muskets
clubbed. Their retreat was effected, with little further loss, across
Charlestown neck, although the passage was exposed to a heavy fire
from the floating batteries, and from one of the armed vessels. The
English immediately fortified Bunker hill, to secure command of
the neck for the future.
In this battle more than one-third of the entire British force were
either killed or wounded. The loss of the provincials a little ex-
ceeded four hundred and fifty. Doctor Joseph Warren, recently
commissioned as a general officer, perished during the retreat. He
was shot down, it is said, by an English officer, who borrowed a
musket from a private for the purpose.
The provincial congress of Massachusetts had, ere this, declared
the colony absolved from all allegiance to Gage, who, in the resolution,
was pronounced "a public enemy." After communication with the
continental congress, a provisional government was organized, con-
sisting of town deputies and a council. It was, indeed, plain to all
that there was no choice between a sanguinary contest and a humil-
iating submission. In England, the popular feeling, where net
affected by the personal interest of commerce, was most decidedly
inimical to the rebellious colonies, who had presumed to defy the
power and question the authority of the British government, and
the coercive measures adopted met with general approbation. It is
true that there were not a few who foresaw the possible consequences"
of the war, and deprecated the violence that might cause the loss of
England's most valuable foreign possession ; others, of yet more lib-
eral sentiments, felt and expressed a noble sympathy with their
VOL. IV. 45
256 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
transatlantic brethren throughout the long and arduous struggle
upon which they had now entered.
About the 1st of July, General Washington arrived at the camp,
near Boston, and assumed command. The presence of an experi-
enced commander-in-chief was absolutely requisite in the existing
state of the army. About fourteen thousand men, new to the disci-
pline of a camp, and very insufficiently provided with necessary
accommodations, stores, and ammunition, were posted so as to guard
the approaches to the city: this line extended over a space of not far
from twelve miles. Washington's head-quarters were at Cambridge.
Generals Ward and Lee were stationed at Roxbury and Prospect
hill. The latter position had been fortified by the provincials im-
mediately subsequent to the battle at Breed's hill.
The more important congressional proceedings during the months
of June and July, in addition to those already briefly mentioned, were
the issue of bills of credit, redeemable by apportionment among the
colonies, to the amount of three millions of dollars; the establish-
ment of a post-office system (at the head of which was Benjamin
Franklin); and the commission of emissaries to treat with the Indian
tribes. These, and various minor arrangements, being concluded,
congress adjourned until September. The attempt, to gain over the
powerful confederacy of the Six Nations, proved a signal failure,
except so far as related to the tribe of the Oneidas, over whom Mr.
Kirkland, a missionary, had great influence. The munificence and
crafty policy of the English Indian agent, Sir William Johnson, had
for many } 7 ears secured the admiration and affection of the rest of
the Iroquois; and, upon his death, they proved equally loyal to his
son-in-law and successor, Guy Johnson. Their most celebrated chief,
Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, who had been brought up and edu-
cated und v er Sir William's patronage, received a commission in the
British service, and took, as we shall have occasion to notice, an
important part in border hostilities. The character of Brant has
been generally mistaken by historians, and it is only by the research
of modern writers that his abilities and good qualities have been
brought to light, and the popular slanders, which pronounced him a
monster of cruelty, refuted.
The spirit which actuated the general congress was also evinced
in the separate colonies, either by popular movements, or the action
of .the provincial assemblies. The authority of the royal governors
was, in many instances, set at naught: troops were raised, and
1 S K I' 11 I! It .1 X T T If .1 Y r. JV /> .* A' F. (I F. .1 .
THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 57
colonial bills were issued to defray the expense of their maintenance.
As heretofore, the greatest conflict of public opinion was in New
York, where the loyalists were enabled to make a stronger stand
than elsewhere. The members for New York, at the late session of
congress, were chosen, not by the assembly, but by a self-organized
provincial congress elected by the people at large.
u M & * * ci M * *L<t
f ACILLATItfG POLICY OF ENGLAND. PROVISIONS BY CONGRESS
FOR CARRYING ON THE WAR. NAVAL OPERATIONS. EXPE-
DITION AGAINST CANADA. SIEGE OF FORT ST. JOHN.
ALLEN'S ATTEMPT UPON MONTREAL. THE CITY OCCU-
PIED BY MONTGOMERY. MARCH TOWARDS QUEBEC.
THERE is much wisdom in the criticism of Botta, upon the gen-
eral policy of the British government during these early hostilities.
In speaking of Gage, he says: "He arrived in America accompanied
with general affection: he left it abhorred; perhaps less through his
own fault than that of the ministers, who, in place of rigorous
decrees, should have sent powerful armies; or instead of armies,
conciliatory conditions, consonant with the opinions of Americans.
But men commonly know neither how to exert all their force, nor
to surmount the shame of descending to an accommodation: hence
delays, hesitations, and half measures, so often prove the ruin of
enterprises." ( Otis 1 Translation.)
The whole proceedings of the British military and naval forces at
this time were calculated rather to annoy and enrage, than to over-
awe. There were many cruisers busied upon the coast in hinder-
ing the American commerce, and in procuring supplies for the
beleaguered garrison at Boston. The sea-port towns suffered from
their depredations ; and, in one especial instance, the action of the
provincials in preventing the procurance of provisions, &c., by a
British vessel, was punished by bombardment. This was at Fal-
mouth, afterwards Portland, which was destroyed in the month of
October (1775).
Congress was at this time in session, having come together early
258 AMERICA ILLUSTEATED.
in the preceding month. Delegates from all the original thirteen
colonies were present ; Georgia had elected deputies since the last
meeting. The principal attention of this body was necessarily
directed to the maintenance of the army, the difficulty of procuring
ammunition and military stores being very great. Privileges of
trade were granted to vessels in which gun-powder should be im-
ported, and ships were dispatched to distant foreign ports, even to
the coast of Guinea, for the purchase of this grand desideratum of
modern warfare.
The three New England colonies, at an early period in the war,
commenced retaliations upon British commerce, for the injuries com-
mitted at sea. The first step taken by the Massachusetts assembly,
was to direct the arming of several vessels to protect the sea-coast.
From this they proceeded to authorize private adventure, by the
issue of letters-of-marque, and the allowance of reprisals. Courts of
admiralty were also instituted to decide prize claims. The priva-
teers thus commissioned were, however, restricted to the seizure of
vessels containing supplies for "the soldiers who made war against
the Americans."
The general congress adopted, soon after, substantially the same
course. A fleet of thirteen vessels was ordered to be fitted out in
the jiorthern and middle colonies. Continental courts of admiralty
were also created, and the public vessels received a general com-
mission to "capture all those which should attempt to lend assist-
ance to the enemy, in any mode whatever." It is singular to
observe the manner in which congress, previous to the declaration
of independence, while adopting every measure of open hostility,
still aimed at a nominal distinction between rebellion against the
British government and the resistance of illegal demands still pro-
fessing loyalty to the king, but denouncing his civil and military
officials in the colonies as public enemies.
In the autumn of 1775, a plan was consummated for the invasion
of Canada. It was supposed that the French inhabitants of that
province would rejoice at an opportunity for successful resistance to
an authority always galling to their national pride, and recently
rendered more odious by the arbitrary provisions of the "Quebec
act." The regular force at this time stationed in Canada was very
Bmall, and the opportunity seemed peculiarly favourable for a bold
and unexpected offensive demonstration. Information had also
been received by congress, that, with the opening of spring, the
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 259
British government "was to make a grand effort in this province;
that numerous forces, arms, and munitions, would be poured into it,
in order to attack the colonies in the back: an operation which, if
not seasonably prevented, might have fatal consequences."
A detachment of three thousand men, from New York and New
England, under command of General Schuyler, was ordered to pen
etrate Canada by the route of Lake Champlain, passing down the
Sorel to the St. Lawrence. Brigadier-Generals Montgomery and
Wooster held subordinate commands; but, upon the detention of
Schuyler at Albany, by sickness, the direction of the expedition
devolved upon the former.
General Carleton, governor of Canada, receiving intimation of the
approach of the enemy, endeavoured to secure the entrance of the
Sorel, by dispatching thither several armed vessels; but the Ameri-
cans were in advance of the movement. Montgomery entered the
river, and, landing his forces, laid siege to Fort St. John, which
commanded the passage, and was garrisoned by a considerable force.
Advance parties were sent, by land, into the neighbouring Canadian
districts, to circulate a proclamation of the Americans, setting forth
the object of the invasion, and calling upon the inhabitants to join
in driving the British garrisons from the country.
Many, accordingly, enlisted, and the scouting parties were gener-
ally received with kindness and hospitality. Arms and provisions
were also furnished by the Canadians. Colonel Ethan Allen and
Major Brown, in command of one of these advanced detachments,
undertook the bold enterprise of an assault upon Montreal. Brown
was unable to pass the river in time to cooperate with Allen, and the
latter, at the head of a very small party, .was overpowered by a
superior force, under command of Governor Carleton. He was sent
to England in irons.
Carleton next endeavoured to relieve Fort St. John, but, on his
way thither, he met with so warm, a reception from troops posted
upon the river-bank, that a retreat was ordered. The fort surren-
dered on the 3d of November. A number of pieces of artillery fell
into the hands of the Americans, and a considerable supply of
shells and balls, but the provisions and powder of the garrison were
nearly spent.
Upon the approach of the invading forces, Carletcn fled from Mon
treal, which was untenable against a superior force, and Montgomery
entered the city, without opposition, on the 13th. lie took great
260 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
pains to conciliate the inhabitants, and succeeded in raising a body
of volunteers to supply, in some measure, the diminution of his
forces, by the return home of those whose term of service had ex-
pired. A necessary supply of warm clothing was also procured to
protect the troops from the severity of the approaching winter. The
establishment of garrisons at the captured posts, together with the
defection alluded to, had reduced the effective force of the invaders
to about three hundred men; but, with this handful of troops, Mont-
gomery commenced his march towards Quebec, exposed to the rigours
of a Canadian winter.
u ii til IT 1 Ji it tA, .
ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC: PASSAGE OF THJB
WILDERNESS: FAILURE OF PROVISIONS: DEFECTION OF ENOS,
WITH HIS COMMAND: ARRIVAL AT THE CANADIAN SET-
TLEMENTS: PROCLAMATIONS: ARNOLD AT THE HEIGHTS
OF ABRAHAM: UNION WITH MONTGOMERY: ATTACK
ON QUEBEC: DEATH OF MONTGOMERY: MORGAN'S
RIFLE CORPS. AMERICAN FORCES DRAWN OFF.
IN accordance with the plan of the campaign, while Montgomery
seized upon Montreal, Quebec was to be attacked from a most unex-
pected quarter. Fourteen companies, amounting to about eleven
hundred men, were put, under command of Colonel Arnold, in the
month of September, with instructions to force a passage through
the wilderness, by proceeding up the Kennebec river, in Maine,
thence across the mountains to the head waters of the Chaudiere, and
down that stream to its entry into the St. Lawrence, near Quebec.
To estimate the difficulties of such an undertaking, it must be
considered that the whole route lay through an uninhabited country;
that every natural obstacle of a rough, uncultivated region, must be
overcome; that no provisions could be procured on the way; and
that all supplies, arms, and camp furniture, must be transported by
hand around the portages, or unnavigable places on the rivers, and
over the highlands to be passed before reaching the Chaudiere.
As the detachment approached the sources of the Kennebec, the
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 261
supply of provisions was nearly exhausted. The soldiers, woin out
by exposure, hardship, and toil, and compelled to resort to crude
and unnatural aliment, suffered much from sickness. Colonel Enos,
being in command of one division of the army, was ordered to select
the sick and unserviceable, who were to be sent back to Boston.
This officer accordingly withdrew his entire command a species of
desertion, which was afterwards excused upon a trial by court-mar-
tial, on the ground that provision for the sustenance of the whole
body could not by possibility have been procured.
Before reaching the Chaudiere, the scant remains of food were
divided among the soldiers, and, at a distance of thirty miles from
any settlement, the whole store was exhausted. A small scouting
party, led by Arnold in person, succeeded in procuring a sufficient
quantity of provision to recruit the strength of their companions,
and enable them to continue their march. Upon reaching the Can-
adian settlements, after more than a month spent in the wilderness,
Arnold issued proclamations, drawn up by the commander-in-chief
of the American army, disclaiming all hostile intent towards the
people of Canada, and exhorting them to join as brothers in a cause
of common interest.
The Americans were hospitably received and entertained; and,
pursuing their march, they arrived, on the 9jh of November, at
Point Levy, nearly opposite the Canadian capital, on the right bank
of the St. Lawrence. Unfortunately for the success of the expedi-
tion, no boats could be procured for the transportation of the army
across the river.
"It is easy to imagine the stupor of surprise which seized the
inhabitants of Quebec, at the apparition of these troops. They could
not comprehend by what way, or in what mode, they had trans-
ported themselves into this region. This enterprise appeared to
them not merely marvellous, but miraculous; and if Arnold, in this
first moment, had been able to cross the river, and fall upon Quebec,
he would have taken it without difficulty."*
Opportunity was given, by the delay thus occasioned, for strength-
ening the defences, and for organizing the citizen-soldiery. On the
night of the 13th of November, Arnold crossed the river, and ascended
the heights at the spot memorable as the scene of the decisive en-
gagement between the French and English in th.>, late war. The
American general had hoped to come upon the city by surprise, but
Otis' Botla.
262 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
he ascertained, upon a nearer approach, that the garriscn was under
arms and on the alert. His own ardent feelings impelled him to an
immediate assault, but he abandoned the rash design upon consid-
eration of the unserviceable condition of the arms of his troops, and
their very scanty stock of ammunition. He drew off his forces, and
retired to Point au Tremble, twenty miles from the city, there to
await the arrival of Montgomery.
The two detachments met on the 1st of December. United, they
formed a body of less than one thousand men, but with these the
commanding officer determined to attack the capital. Carleton had,
in the mean time, made his way to the anticipated scene of conflict,
and so disposed his available force of regulars and of the provincial
militia, as to constitute an adequate garrison. Arriving at Quebec,
on the 5th, Montgomery summoned the city to surrender, but the
demand was treated with contempt, and the bearer of the flag was
fired upon. For several days, the general then attempted to produce
an impression by playing upon the city with a few pieces of artillery,
planted behind an embankment of ice.
The weather now became intensely cold, and frequent and heavy
falls of snow added to the discomfort and suffering of the invaders.
The small-pox, moreover, broke out among them, and spread, in
spite of all practicable precautions. Every day the chances of suc-
cess were diminishing, and it was decided to assault the city without
further delay. The little army, in two divisions, led by Montgom-
ery and Arnold, made the attack before day-light, on the 31st of
December. The garrison had obtained intimation of the design, and
preparations were completed for the reception of the enemy. Mont-
gomery was killed, at the first discharge of artillery, and his division
fell back. Arnold entered the city from the opposite quarter, march-
ing at the head of his troops. Upon approaching a barricade, de-
fended by two pieces of artillery, he received a severe wound, in the
leg from a musket-ball, which entirely disabled \im. The barricade
was forced by the exertions of the intrepid and active Morgan, com-
mander of the rifle corps; but further defences appeared, well
guarded. A heavy fire, opened upon their front and. rear, compelled
the little band of assailants to disperse, and seek shelter in the build-
ings. Some three hundred of them fell into the hands of the enemy.
The remainder of the army of invasion was drawn off, and encamped
a few miles from the city.
THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 263
tt ****** *b Xi JL *
WARLIKE PREPARATIONS IN ENGLAND. GERMAN MERCENA-
RIES. PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS: ENLISTMENTS: ISSUE OF
BILLS: DEFENCES IN NEW YORK. CONDITION OF THE BRIT-
ISH IN BOSTON. OCCUPATION OF DORCHESTER HEIGHTS.
. EVACUATION OF THE CITY. HOPKINS' CRUISE
AMONG THE BAHAMAS. AFFAIRS AT THE SOUTH.
ATTACK UPON CHARLESTON. RETREAT OP
THE AMERICAN TROOPS FROM CANADA.
THE state of feeling in England at the aspect of American affairs,
in the autumn of 1775, was one of mingled mortification, at the bold
position taken and maintained by the colonies, and discontent with a
ministry which had "done too much to irritate, too little to subdue."
Believing that the time for the adoption of conciliatory policy had
passed, the government treated the late petition of congress with
contempt, and hastened forward measures for increasing the regular
force in America. Enlistments were encouraged throughout the
United Kingdom, and, by arrangement with the German princes,
seventeen thousand mercenaries were engaged to serve in America.
The whole force expected to be raised, including those enlisted in
Canada, was, numerically, over fifty thousand.
The colonies were proclaimed as being in a state of rebellion;
intercourse with them was forbidden, and the effects of the inhabit-
ants were declared liable to seizure. In the case of vessels captured
under this act, an infamous provision was added, by which the Amer-
ican crews were made liable to impressment and compulsory service
on board British armed vessels. Notwithstanding a vehement and
eloquent opposition, these measures were sanctioned by a large ma-
jority in parliament. The chief command of the army in America
was conferred upon General Howe, in place of Gage, who had been
recalled. The brother of the former, Admiral Lord Howe, com-
manded the fleet destined to cooperate with the land forces against
the rebellious colonies.
The continental congress, meanwhile, had not been idle. The
most important proceedings related to the details of enlisting regular
forces, by apportionment among the provinces. Great numbers of
the troops stationed before Boston, unaccustomed to the hardship?
264 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
and tedium of military life, had become completely disheartened;
and, upon expiration of the short term of their enlistment, refused to
continue longer with the army upon any promises, or any repre-
sentations of necessity. To meet the increasing expenses of the
war, an additional issue of three millions in bills of credit was re-
solved upon, redeemable, like the former, by instalments, payments
to commence at the expiration of eight years. .
Precautions were also taken, at the opening of the year 1776, for
the defence of the city of New York, where the number and influ-
ence of. the tories rendered dependence upon the local militia un-
safe. Troops from New Jersey and Connecticut were introduced
into the city, and the command was bestowed upon General Lee.
Many acts of violence were committed at this time upon the persons
and property of adherents to the royal cause.
At Boston, the British garrison suffered much hardship through-
out the winter, from deficiency of fuel and provision. Many English
vessels, freighted with stores, were taken by the colonial privateers,
and others were lost on the coast. The army, encompassed by a
superior force, was entirely unabl to carry on any offensive opera-
tions against the enemy. As spring approached, it appeared neces-
sary, to congress and to the officers of the continental army, that a
decisive blow should be struck in this quarter, that the besieging
forces might be free to act wherever occasion should require.
The heights of Dorchester commanded the city and harbour from
the southward, and the attention of the commander-in-chief was
directed to the occupation of that important position. On the night
of March 4th, 1776, a force of about two thousand, men well pro-
vided with carts of fascines, &c., and all necessary working imple-
ments, was dispatched upon this service. A cannonade was kept
up from batteries sufficiently near to throw shells into the city ; and,
favoured by the darkness of the night and the direction of the wind,
the troops accomplished the important movement without discovery
or suspicion. By day-light, when the British garrison first had inti-
mation of the proceeding, substantial works had been already erected,
and the business of intrenchment and fortification was going on with
uninterrupted ardour.
A storm opportunely prevented the British general from crossing
with his forces to attack the redoubt, and the delay thus incurred
gave sufficient time for completing the intrench men ts, and making
all needful preparations for defence, and for a bombardment of the
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 265
city. Howe saw that his position was untenable, and avowed his
determination to evacuate the city quietly, if undisturbed in his
retreat. Some of the principal inhabitants of Boston waited upon
General Washington, with representations of the condition of the
city, and requests that he would comply with this proposal. His
assent was obtained, and the whole British army, crowded on board
of ships and transports which lay in the harbour, was allowed to set
sail unmolested. The place of their destination was unknown to the
Americans, and it was feared that a descent would be made upon
some other portion of the coast. Fifteen hundred of the inhabitants
of the city, who, having openly taken part with the loyalists, feared
to remain after the evacuation, embarked with the British troops,
leaving their property subject to seizure and confiscation.
The fleet sailed for Halifax, the condition of the troops being
entirely incompatible with any immediate hostile demonstration.
Washington entered the city with his army, on the 27th of March,
and was received with great enthusiasm and rejoicing. The em-
barkation of the British troops had occupied nearly a fortnight,
during which period, the inhabitants had suffered considerable injury
from the depredations of the more lawless and disorderly, who wan-
tonly destroyed great quantities of provisions, &c. The British
artillery and munitions of war were abandoned to the Americans,
whether by private agreement, as a condition upon which a peace-
able evacuation was permitted, or because of insufficient means of
transportation, does not distinctly appear. Two hundred and fifty
pieces of artillery mostly spiked were secured at Boston and the
neighbouring fortifications.
Ere this period, congress had commenced operations at sea. Two
frigates, three corvettes, and a number of gun-sloops were fitted out
and manned. With eight of these vessels, Commodore Hopkins
sailed upon a cruise among the Bahamas, in the month of February.
The special object was the seizure of munitions of war known to be
stored there. At New Providence a seasonable supply of gun-pow-
der, to the amount of one hundred and fifty kegs, was secured.
The southern colonies, meanwhile, were not exempt from the
calamities of war. The coasts of Virginia were harassed by a force
under Lord Dunmore, the former governor, who, at the commence-
ment of the year, made an attack upon the thriving town of Norfolk.
A portion of the place was burned by the attacking party, and the
remainder was fired by its defenders when no longer tenable. In
266 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
North Carolina severe contests took place, in the month of February,
between the provincials and loyalists.
It was supposed in England that if a strong force were once landed
m the southern colonies, those of the inhabitants who favoured the
royal cause would hasten to join it, and that a permanent stand
might be effected in that quarter. In North Carolina, the tory inter-
est was known to have many adherents. A considerable fleet, with
more than two thousand soldiers on board, was, therefore, sent, under
command of Sir Peter Parker, to seize upon the more important
sea-ports. The squadron was joined by Sir Henry Clinton, who
took command of the land forces: the city of Charleston was selected
as the first point of attack.
Timely notice of these preparations had been obtained by the
Americans, and a fort was erected on Sullivan's island to protect
the harbour. General Lee was entrusted with the principal com-
mand. On the 28th of June, the British fleet entered the harbour,
and commenced bombarding the fort. A small regiment, under
Colonel Moultrie, was stationed at that important post. The fire
was returned with great effect, and the plans of the admiral being
thwarted by the grounding of several of his vessels, the attempt was
abandoned. No landing was effected, and the fleet set sail for New
York, the appointed rendezvous for the reinforcements ordered from
England and the German states.
Every thing had been prepared at the city of Charleston to give
the invaders a warm reception. Great numbers of the militia had
been called in to increase the garrison, and such measures were taken
for the defence of the place as time and opportunity permitted.
The enemy's loss, during the cannonade, could not have been much
less than two hundred ; that of the garrison at the fort was very trifling.
In Canada, the American forces effected nothing. Reinforcements
were repeatedly sent out to the camp, but when British forces began
to pour into the country, the troops, after several disastrous attempts
to retrieve their fortune, were drawn off, and retreated homeward
by Lake Champlain. The loss of several valuable officers, of a great
number of men, and a great expenditure of money not continental
bills, but hard cash were the only results of the Canadian expedi-
tion, concerning which such sanguine expectations had been formed.
The remnant of the army of invasion returned in miserable plight,
nearly destitute, and, worse than all, utterly discouraged and
dispirited.
THE AMEKICAN REVOLUTION. 267
kJ JLiL Wai <L Ju JLj iL i/oj JL Jr
RTATB OP FEELING IN THE COLONIES. PAINB'S WRITINGS
DEBATES IN CONGRESS. THE DECLARATION OF INDE-
PENDENCE: ITS EFFECT UPON THE PEOPLE. THE
BRITISH AT STATEN ISLAND. PROCLAMATION
OF GENERAL AND OF ADMIRAL HOWE.
THE formation of independent systems of government in the sep-
arate colonies, familiarized the minds of the American people with
the idea of a permanent disconnection with the British government.
While the thought of state sovereignty was flattering to the pride
of the -provincials, it was evident that, without some established
political connection, no great national object could be obtained.
Long before the revolution, it is said that the chiefs and orators of
the Iroquois, or Six Nations, advised the adoption, by the colonies,
of a federal union similar to their own, proving, from their individ-
ual experience, the practicability of union for all purposes of common
interest, without infringement of the rights of each distinct tribe.
In the winter of 1776, a work, entitled " Common Sense" written
by Thomas Paine, an Englishman, residing in Pennsylvania, made
its appearance. By shrewd reasoning, logical argument, and popu-
lar declamation, the author endeavoured to establish the practica-
bility, and even necessity, of American independence, at the same
time that he excited the feelings of the people, by a vivid represent-
ation of the disgrace and misery that must follow close upon submis-
sion to England. The book was extensively circulated, and exercised,
beyond question, a most powerful influence.
The late action of parliament, in the employment of Hessian mer-
cenaries to serve in America, and the enlistment of the Indian border
tribes in favour of the royal cause, produced a storm of popular
indignation. The petition of congress had been spurned with dis-
dain; no measures but those of force had met with favour in
England; and it was now plain that nothing was left to the colonies
but an open declaration to the world of their determination to sunder
for ever all ties with a government whose protection had only been
extended for selfish ends.
"At this epoch," says an early writer, "America was found in a
268 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
strange situation, and actually unheard of till then. The war she
had carried on with so much vigour, now, for more than a year, was
directed against a king to whom she incessantly renewed her pro-
testations of obedience; and the same men who committed all the
acts of rebellion; would by no means be called rebels. In all the
tribunals justice was still administered in the name of the king;
and in the churches prayers were continually repeated for the pre-
servation and happiness of that prince, whose authority was not only
entirely rejected, but also fought against with incredible obstinacy."
The first step taken by congress in furtherance of the popular
cause, was a recommendation to such of the colonies as had not
already adopted a provisional, independent, civil government, to
proceed to the establishment of "such governments as, according to
the opinion of the representatives of the people, should be most
conducive to the happiness of their constituents, and of America in
general." This proposal was generally acted upon, and, in many
instances, the congressional delegates were formally invested by the
colonial assemblies with power to act upon the anticipated question.
A motion in favour of American independence was made in con-
gress on the 7th of June, and, on the following day, was debated
with great ability and eloquence. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia,
who advocated the motion, and John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania,
who argued in opposition, were the principal speakers. The decision
of the question was postponed until July, that full opportunity
might be given to the members to receive instructions from their
constituents.
On the 4th of July, 1776, that memorable instrument, known as
the "Declaration of In deepen dence," was signed by delegates from
the thirteen original colonies, thenceforth the United States of
America. It was understood to have been principally drawn up by
Thomas Jefferson, who, with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin.
Roger Sherman, and Philip Livingston, had been appointed to pre-
pare it, previous to the late adjournment.
The preamble commences: "When in the course of human
events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another, and to assume,
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent
regard to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare
the causes which impel them to the separation." Then follow a
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 269
declaration of rights, natural and political, a forcible recapitulation
of wrongs inflicted by the British government, with a reference to
the neglect or contempt with which all petitions for redress had
been received, and, in conclusion, it is boldly asserted, "that these
united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent
states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British
crown, and that all political connexion between them and the State
of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." The sense
of personal responsibility felt by the fifty-five members who signed
the document, is expressed in the closing words: "And, for the
support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our
fortunes, and our sacred honour."
In all the principal cities, the intelligence of this act of congress
was received with the most extravagant expressions of joy. The
exultation of the army was boundless, and the populace, mad
with excitement, celebrated the event with noisy demonstrations.
Royal statues and insignia were every where thrown down and
destroyed. At New York, an image of George III., formed, by a
felicitous propriety, of lead, was converted into musket-balls. The
condition of all acknowledged or suspected tories was lamentable,
and to correct and moderate the excesses committed upon this class
of inhabitants, congress took the matter in hand, instituting commit-
tees to exert a constraining power over those who were suspected
of favouring the enemy. "The most obnoxious tories had already
emigrated; and, for the present, the new governments contented
themselves with admonitions, fines, recognizances to keep the peace,
and prohibitions to go beyond certain limits."*
The recommencement of hostilities was followed by a long suc-
cession of most disheartening reverses. The British forces had
already effected a landing upon Staten Island, where they encamped
and opened communications with the loyalists in the adjoining prov-
inces. Strengthened by arrivals from England, and by the return
northward of the troops embarked under Sir Peter Parker, for the
southern expedition, to a force of more than twenty thousand men,
General Howe prepared for a descent upon New York. An attempt
to open negotiations with congress, and with the commander-in-chief
of the American army, had previously failed, from the refusal of the
British officials to treat otherwise than as with private individuals.
* Hildreth.
270
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
The result of an interview, afterwards brought about, between Gen-
eral and Admiral Howe, and deputies commissioned by congress,
was only to convince the former that no terms would be listened to
which they were empowered to grant.
The two brothers Howe were commissioned by the king to grant
discretionary pardon to all in the colonies who would consent to
renew their allegiance. Proclamations were issued in accordance
with this commission, calling upon all loyal subjects to separate
themselves from the rebels, and representing to the malcontents the
desperate condition to which further resistance must reduce them,
while, on the other hand, submission would ensure present safety,
and the royal promise for a future redress of all grievances.
Jt Jt i
LANDING OF THE BRITISH ON LONG ISLAND. BATTLE 0?
BROOKLYN. THE AMERICAN FORCES DRIVEN FROM LONG
ISLAND. OCCUPATION OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH.
WASHINGTON'S ENCAMPMENT AT HARLEM HEIGHTS:
AT WHITE PLAINS. STORMING OF FORT WASHING-
TON. THE RETREAT THROUGH NEW JERSEY.
CAPTURE OF GENERAL LEE. CONDITION OF
PRISONERS. LAKE CHAMPLAIN: DESTRUC-
TION OF THE AMERICAN VESSELS. GEN-
EROSITY OF CARLETON. RHODE ISLAND
SEIZED BY THE BRITISH;
ANTICIPATING an attack by way of Long Island, General Wash-
ington posted a force of about nine thousand men, under General
Putnam, at Brooklyn. The approach to the American camp from
the point where the British were expected to land, was by four
roads, two leading over the intervening hills, and the others, less
direct, deviating in opposite directions, one along the western shore,
the other eastward. These avenues, owing to some misapprehension
or bad management, were insufficiently guarded.
The British having landed on the 22d of August (1776), com-
menced their march towards Brooklyn, on the night of the 26th
Upon the first intelligence of their approach, two divisions of the
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 271
American army, under Sullivan and Stirling, were dispatched to
repel the advance over the hills and by the western road. The
opposing forces were already engaged, when the Americans were
thrown into confusion by an attack in the rear Clinton, with the
most efficient portion of his troops, having made a detour for that
purpose, by the unguarded eastern approach. Stirling's division,
by hard fighting, mostly regained the camp, but that of Sullivan
was destroyed or compelled to surrender. Both these generals were
made prisoners, together with not far from one thousand of theii
men. A heavy loss was also sustained in killed and wounded.
On the night of the 29th, the American troops effected a retreat
across the East river, to New York, leaving the enemy in possession
of Long Island. The main force of the continentals was now en-
camped at the heights of Harlem, or within the city of New York.
The British had control of the surrounding waters, the defences
erected upon the Hudson having proved insufficient to prevent a
passage up the river. Under protection of a heavy fire from the
shipping, a landing upon the island was effected by General Howe
on the 15th of September. The troops drawn up in opposition, fled
in the most cowardly manner, and an evacuation of the city was
rendered absolutely necessary. The Americans sustained severe
loss in artillery and stores, which, upon their hasty retreat, were
abandoned to the enemy.
Washington's forces, securely posted upon the heights of Harlem,
awaited the movements of the British. The latter kept possession
of the North river, and made advances down the northern shore of
the Sound. It became necessary to occupy a position further north,
to avoid being cut off- from supplies, and a new carnp was formed,
accordingly, at White Plains. The enemy gained a further advan-
tage in a partial engagement on the 28th of October, in which a
detachment of between one and two thousand Americans was driven
from its position near the main camp, with great loss.
Forts Washington and Lee, which were intended to command the
passage of the Hudson, being situated upon opposite banks of the
river, a few miles above New York, were the next objects of attack.
They had been strongly garrisoned, when the main body of the
American army moved northward. Tjie first of these was taken
by storm, not without severe loss on the part of the assailants,
and two thousand prisoners were secured. Fort Lee was soon
after hastily evacuated ; the artillery of both strongholds, to-
VOL. IV.-46
272 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
gether with a great amount of valuable stores, was lost to the
Americans.
This was in the middle of November: the continental army,
reduced by these losses, by desertion, and by the expiration of the
terms of enlistment, to between three and four thousand men, was
driven from post to post in New Jersey. Slowly retiring before a
greatly superior force, Washington occupied in succession the towns
of Newark, Brunswick, Princeton, Sterling, and Trenton. His
troops, disheartened by defeat, and worn out by marching and ex-
posure, were in a condition of miserable destitution, while the pur-
suers were well supplied with the necessaries and conveniences of a
campaign.
Lord Cornwallis, with an overwhelming force, continued to press
upon the retreating army, and, on the 2d of December, Washington
transported his troops across the Delaware, taking the usual precau-
tions to arrest the progress of the pursuers by the destruction of
bridges and the removal of boats. The British took possession of
Trenton and the adjoining country, but neglected to push their
advantage by an immediate passage of the river.
Washington, anxious to recruit his forces, had issued orders to
other divisions of the army to join him with all expedition. General
Lee, fro*n a spirit of insubordination or self-sufficiency, was dilatory
in obeying the order. Avoiding the British army, by a detour,
he occupied the highlands at the westward, apparently in hopes of
effecting some bold manoeuvre on his own account. Exposing him-
self carelessly, with an insufficient guard, he was betrayed by tories,
and fell into the hands of the enemy. The refusal of the British
authorities to consider him a prisoner of war, on the ground that,
having been an officer in the English service, he was only to be
looked upon as a traitor, led to retaliation upon prisoners in the
hands of the Americans. Exchanges were impeded, and a sense of
mutual injury led to lamentable results.
Of the American prisoners in New York, it is said that, "they
were shut up in churches, and in other places, exposed to all the
inclemencies of the air. They were not allowed sufficient nourish-
ment; their fare was scanted, even of coarse bread, and certain ali-
ments which excited disgust. The sick were confined with the
healthy, both equally a prey to the most shocking defect of cleanli-
ness. * * A confined and impure air engendered mortal diseases
more than fifteen hundred of these unfortunate men perished in a
THE AMEEICAN BEVOLUTION. 273
few weeks." Lee was afterwards exchanged for General Prescott,
who was surprised and captured at his quarters, on Rhode Island,
by a small party of Americans.
During the autumn of 1776, and the early portion of the ensuing
winter, fortune seemed to frown upon the American cause in every
quarter. At the north, the possession of Lake Champlain was an
object of eager contention. Both parties busied themselves in the
construction of vessels, for which the British, under Carleton, had
far greater facilities than the Americans. The little squadron of the
latter, commanded by Arnold, was defeated on the 6th and 7th of
October. One of the vessels was taken, and the others were de-
stroyed, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. The
Americans, however, still held Fort Ticonderoga.
The British, having possession of the lake, made no further attempt
upon the American fortifications, but mostly retired to Montreal, a
garrison being left at Isle au Noix. It is pleasing to revert to acts
of kindness and generosity in the midst of scenes calculated to arouse
every bad passion in the minds of men. Such are recorded of
Carleton, of whom it is said, that "prior to his retreat, from the
singular courtesy and humanity of his character, he sent to their
homes the American officers who had fallen into his power, adminis-
tering generously to all their wants. He exercised the same humanity
towards the common soldiers. The greater part were almost naked:
he caused them to be completely clothed, and set them at liberty,
after having taken their oath that they would not serve against the
armies of the king." (Botla.)
E:irly in December, the British secured another important position
in New England. A fleet, under Sir Peter Parker, with large forces
of English and Hessians, commanded by General Clinton, entered
Narragansett Bay. The island of Ehode Island, with those of Con-
anicut and Prudence, were occupied without resistance; the ex-
cellent harbour of Newport afforded admirable facilities for future
operations by sea; and, as the entrance to the bay was commanded,
the American squadron, under Commodore Hopkins, together with
a number of private armed vessels, was prevented from putting to
pea,- and rendered, for the time, useless.
So dark were the prospects of the patriots, at this crisis, that many
among the most sanguine were discouraged; and, of the wavering,
and of those who> at heart, favoured the royal cause, great numbers
availed themselves of the offers proclaimed by the Howes, by ac-
274 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
knowledging allegiance to the king, and the acceptance of a British
protection. Allen and Galloway, former members of the continental
congress, from Pennsylvania, were among the number of those who
thus avowed their disapproval of the revolution, or their distrust in
the ability of its advocates to carry out the great design.
CHAPTER 11?.
CONGRESS AT BALTIMORE. ARMY ORGANIZATION. POWERS
CONFERRED UPON WASHINGTON. PASSAGE OF THE DELA-
WARE, AND RECOVERY OF TRENTON. BATTLE OF PRINCE-
TON. END OF THE CAMPAIGN. MARAUDING PARTIES
NEGOTIATION WITH EUROPEAN POWERS. FOR-
EIGN OFFICERS IN THE AMERICAN SERVICE.
CONGRESS, being in session at Philadelphia when the continental
army was driven across the Delaware, found itself in too dangerous
proximity to the British army, and an adjournment to Baltimore
Speedily followed the establishment of the latter at Trenton. The
details of military organization necessarily occupied almost the un-
divided attention of this body. The straits to which the continental
army was reduced, by the diminution of its numbers, consequent
upon the expiration of terms of enlistment, rendered the establish-
ment of a more permanent force a matter of pressing necessity.
This measure had, all along, been vehemently urged by Washington,
who had fully experienced the difficulty of preserving discipline in
an army whose materials were subject to constant change. Pro-
vision, therefore, was made for the enlistment, by apportionment
among the provinces, of troops to serve during the war, or for a
iperiod of three years. The first, in addition to a present bounty
in money, were to receive each one hundred acres of public land
n retiring from service.
Absolute discretionary powers were, at the same time, bestowed
upon the cornmander-in-chief, for the six months succeeding, "to call
into service the militia of the several states; to form such magazines
of provisions, and in such places as he should think proper; to dis-
place and appoint all officers under the rank of brigadier-general,
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 276
and to fill up all vacancies in every other department in the Amer-
ican armies; to take, wherever he might be, whatever he might
want for the use of the army, if the inhabitants would not sell it,
allowing a reasonable price for the same; to arrest and confine per-
sons who refused to take the continental currency, or were otherwise
disaffected to the American cause; returning to the states of which
they were citizens their names and the nature of their offences, with
the proofs to substantiate them." Very large additional issues of
paper money had been made during the session, and the most
stringent regulations soon followed to enforce its receipt.
Never were the powers of a dictator more worthily bestowed than
in this instance. General Washington exhibited, in the melancholy
state of affairs consequent upon the capture of New York, an energy
corresponding to the requirements of his position. The army had
been reinforced by the arrival of Lee's division, under Sullivan, and
by the militia from the adjoining counties. Thus strengthened, he
determined to enter at once upon offensive operations.
The enemy's, force being widely extended along the left bank of
the Delaware, a division of fifteen hundred men, mostly Hessians,
under Ralle, constituted the entire army of occupation at Trenton.
On the night of December 2oth, Washington crossed the river, with
twenty-five hundred men, nine miles above the city. The cold was
severe, and the stream being blocked with floating ice, nearly the
whole night was consumed in the business of transportation.
At four o'clock, on the following morning, the army was put in
motion, in two divisions one following the river, the other proceed-
ing by the Pennington road, further to the left. Although it proved
impracticable, from the state of the roads, and the difficulty of a
night march rendered doubly arduous by an inclement wintry
storm to arrive before day, the surprise was no less complete.
The Hessians were overpowered, and driven in on all sides; their
retreat was cut off in the direction of Princeton; their commander
was slain ; and two-thirds of the whole force surrendered at discre-
tion. The remainder escaped by the Bordentown road. The Amer-
cans rCcrossed the river, with their prisoners, having sustained but
a trifling loss only about ten, in killed and wounded.
A few days subsequent, Washington having again occupied Tren-
ton, a powerful army, under Cornwallis, approached the town from
the direction of Princeton. One-half of the American forces were
undisciplined militia, and all were ill prepared for the hardships of a
276
AMERICA ILLUSTEATED.
winter campaign. A general engagement would have been hazard-
ous in the extreme, and, at a council of the American officers, it
was concluded to make an attempt at turning the enemies' flank.
Precautions were taken to leave the impression that active prepara-
tions were in process for intrenchment, while the main army (on the
night of January 2d, 1777,) silently defiled upon the Allentown
road, towards Princeton.
At the latter place, three British regiments, left in the rear by
Cornwallis, were encountered. One of these, after some hard fight-
ing, pushed on towards Trenton : the other two, having sustained
considerable loss, retreated to Brunswick. Some three hundred
prisoners were taken by the Americans.
The British, at Trenton, deceived by the continuance through the
night of the patrol within the American lines, and by the camp-fires,
which had been replenished before the march commenced, had no
intimation of the state of affairs until they heard the sound of artil-
lery in their rear. Cornwallis immediately marched for Brunswick
to protect his military stores at that place, and Washington, still
anxious to avoid a general engagement, moved towards Morristown,
where 'he established the army in winter-quarters.
Nearly the whole of New Jersey was thus recovered from the
enemy, and detachments were quartered at different points to retain
possession. Through the remainder of the winter and spring, neither
army was engaged in any general military operation. The British
army was stationed at Amboy and Brunswick, suffering no small
inconvenience from failure of provisions. Frightful outrages were
committed by smalj. marauding parties of soldiery. The Hessians,
in particular, were stigmatized as monsters of cruelty. A bloody
retaliation was not slow to follow, and many of the loyalists of New
Jersey, even such as had held aloof from all share in political
controversy, and could be accused of no overt act of opposition to
the patriots, too often were compelled to suffer for wrongs in which
they had no share.
While the national forces were thus in comparative repose, the
calamities of a state of war were still widely felt. Privateers
scoured the sea, and their crews and commanders, growing bolder
by experience, pushed their adventures in waters where, at first,
it was deemed rashness to intrude. Prizes taken by American
vessels were disposed of without trouble in France. Old national
feelings of jealousy and antipathy caused the government of that
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 277
country to wink at irregularities which operated onlp to the injury
of her rival.
Congress had not failed, ere this, to commission ambassadors to
various European courts, to solicit political aid and acknowledgment
of the independence of the states. Those who filled this important
office at the court of France, were Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane,
and Arthur Lee. The favour with which the American claims were
regarded in that quarter was manifest, and had been substantially
shown, even before the declaration of independence, by an ingenious
and secret operation for furnishing military supplies to the colonies.
These had been forwarded to islands in the West Indies, as by
private adventure, thence to be dispatched for the use of the colonies.
France, however, was not as yet prepared to enter into open contro-
versy with England, by an acknowledgment of the independent
existence of the American republic.
Many military officers, from France and other European nations,
were anxious to procure commissions in the American service.
Many were sent over through the agency of Mr. Deane, in the ex-
pectation of receiving high commissions. Some of these proved
worthy of the confidence placed in them, particularly those em-
ployed in the engineer department ; others, although doubtless men
of capacity and competent military education, were entirely unfitted
to deal with a soldiery of the character of the continental army.
Among those whose services were accepted, the most celebrated, were
the German Baron de Kalb, the Polish officers Kosciusko and
Pulaski, and the young Marquis de la Fayette. The latter came
over from France at his own expense, and volunteered to serve
without pay. He was made major-general, and became the intimate
friend and companion of the commander-m-chie
Gov. TRUMBULL. Pre-eminent in the roll of our pt triots and statesmen stands the name
of Joncfyan Trumbull. His position as governor of the state during the war, united with
that rare combination of powers which made him second only to Washington in executive
abilities, not second even to him in the maturity of his wisdom and the depth of his
moral nature, and greatly his superior in intellectual culture, constituted him the principal
character in our colony and state during the period occupied by his administration. It is
true of Trumbull. as of "Washington, that the perfect symmetry of his character has
induced many to lose sight of the vast scale on which it was constructed, and the eleva-
tion with which it towers above the level of other public men of that day. The term
"Brother Jonathan" was frequently applied by Washington to Governor Trumbull.
When he wanted honest counsel and wise, he would say, " Let us consult Brother Jona-
than." Such was the origin of the name as applied to the nation. HoUifter's History o/
Connecticut.
278 AMEBICA ILLUSTRATED.
uiiAirAJuJu AY.
EXPEDITIONS AGAINST PEEKSKILL AND DANBURY. BRITISH
PLAN OP CAMPAIGN. HOWE'S DEPARTURE FROM NEW YORK.
LUKGOYNE'S ARMY: HIS PROCLAMATION. SIEGE OF
TICONDEROGA. RETREAT OF ST. CLATR. BURGOYNE
ON THE HUDSON. SIEGE OF FORT 8CHUYLER.
BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. INDIAN WARFARE.
THE spring of 1777 passed by without any important operation
on the part of either of the main contending armies. The English
succeeded in destroying large quantities of American stores at Peeks-
Kill, on the Hudson, and at Danbury, in the western part of Con-
necticut. The latter expedition was intrusted to governor, then
General Tryon, with a detachment of no less than two thousand
men. His retreat was not accomplished without loss, the militia of
the vicinity, under Arnold and Wooster, harassing him by repeated
attacks. Wooster received a fatal wound in one of these encounters.
The bravery of Arnold, on this occasion, was highly commended,
and rewarded by promotion.
On the other hand, a small force from Connecticut, crossing over
to Long Island, proceeded to Sag-harbour, destroyed British stores
and vessels, and took nearly a hundred prisoners.
The important events of the summer and autumn, transpiring in
different portions of the country, and connected with distinct mill
tary operations, must be examined without reference to the date of
their occurrence. The British plan of campaign was, that Howe's
army should engage the attention of the main body of the continent-
als, threatening Philadelphia and other important towns in the
middle states, while a powerful force, under Burgoyne, was to invade
New England, seizing and occupying the military posts on Cham-
plain and the Hudson, effecting a junction with the forces at New
York, and cutting off communication between the north and south.
Howe, after various manoeuvres, intended to bring about a gen-
eral engagement the result of which could hardly be doubtful,
considering the difference in numbers and equipments between the
opposing forces crossed over to Staten Island, embarked with six-
THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 279
teen thousand men, and made sail, in the month of July, "without
any intimation of his destination having transpired.
In Canada, Burgoyne, who had received the chief command f
the army of the north, commenced preparations in May. He \<s&
enabled to marshal a fine army of seven thousand regulars, British
and Germans, an artillery corps of five hundred, and seven hundred
Canadians, destined for the various duties of rangers, woodmen, &c
In addition to this, a grand meeting of the Iroquois Indians was
called, and their services were secured by additional promises of
reward and protection. A flaming proclamation was next issued,
for the encouragement of the New England loyalists, and the intim-
idation of the rebels. He promised protection to those who should
"quietly pursue their occupations," and full pay for all that should
be furnished for the army; the contumacious were threatened with
the ''thousands of Indians that were under his direction," and whose
fury was to be let loose upon those who should take part against
the king.
Passing the lake, Burgoyne laid siege to Ticonderoga, at the com-
mencement of the month of July. The garrison, under St. Clair,
was entirely insufficient for the protection of the fort. It numbered,
including militia, about three thousand men, but the works were
very extensive, and the troops were ill provided with arms. A
retreat was effected on the night of the 5th, but the Americans were
unable to gain sufficient time upon the enemy. The baggage and
stores were dispatched up Wood Creek, towards Skeenesborough,
now Whitehall, which place was appointed for general rendezvous.
A bridge and other obstructions were soon removed by the British,
and free passage was opened to the creek. The boats containing
the stores were pursued and captured.
The army, retreating in the same direction by land, was hotly
pursued by a detachment of the enemy, under General Fraser. The
rear division was overtaken, on the 7th of July, and completely
routed. The main body, led by St. Clair, reached General Schuy-
lers head-quarters, at Fort Edward, on the Hudson river, after a
toilsome march over rough roads through the wilderness.
Notwithstanding every effort made to delay and obstruct the
advance of the enemy, by blocking up the forest-roads, and choking
the channel of the narrow creek which connects with the southern
extremity of Lake Champlain, Burgoyne penetrated to the Hudson,
before the close of the month. Evacuating Fort Edward, on the
280 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
approach of the British, General Schuyler retreated to Saratoga,
thence to Stillwater, and, the enemy continuing to press onward, he
finally encamped near the mouth of the Mohawk.
These disasters, at the north, were popularly attributed to incompe-
tently on the part of the commanding officers, who were accordingly
superseded by Generals Gates, Arnold, and Lincoln. Reinforcements,
including the body of riflemen, under the redoubted Morgan, were
also ordered, in all haste, to the seat of war at the north.
Before proceeding down the river, Burgoyne was desirous of col-
lecting stores and provisions at his camp on the Hudson, by the
route laid open from the head of Lake Champlain. Meanwhile, two
excursions were planned and attempted at the west and east. Gen-
eral Barry St. Leger, with several companies of regulars, and a large
body of Indians, under command of Joseph Brant, early in August,
besieged Fort Schuyler, an important military post, situated near the
head-waters of the Mohawk. General Herkimer, with nearly a
thousand of the provincial militia, endeavoured to relieve the fort,
but fell into an ambuscade prepared by Brant with his followers
and an English detachment. A bloody but indecisive engagement
ensued, known as the "battle of Oriskany." Hcrkimer was killed,
together with several hundred of his followers. The enemy's loss
was probably about the same ; and, although no communication was
opened with the fort, the commandant, Willett, was enabled to
make a sally, and to plunder the British encampment of stores and
provisions.
A detachment, principally Hessians, under Colonel Baum, was also
dispatched by Burgoyne, to procure cattle and other plunder in the
eastern settlements. The seizure of stores accumulated at Benning-
ton, was the special object of the expedition. Colonel Stark, having
command of the militia in that quarter, learning the approach of the
enemy, made every effort to prepare for resistance.
Baum, rinding himself opposed by a superior force, halted near
the town, and commenced throwing up intrenchments. On the
16th of August, he was attacked, and utterly defeated by the pro-
vincials. Reinforcements arrived simultaneously on either side
Colonel "Warner making his appearance with a regiment of conti-
nental troops, from Manchester, at the same time that a strong force,
under Colonel Breyman, sent to support Baum's division, was en-
gaged with the American militia. The Americans maintained their
advantage; the British effected a retreat at nightfall, having sustained
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 281
a loss of about eight hundred in killed and prisoners. A most sea-
sonable supply of arms and artillery fell into the hands of the pro-
vincials. Of the latter, only about sixty were killed or wounded.
A few days later, Arnold relieved Fort Schuyler, and seized upon
the tents and stores of the besieging army, abandoned in hasty
retreat. Many of the Iroquois allies of the English became dis-
heartened at these reverses, and drew off. Generally, however, they
were proof against the efforts of agents in behalf of the Americana
to secure their services, or promises of neutrality. Outrages com-
mitted by the savages on the march, their cruelty to prisoners, and
their ferocious manner of warfare, excited universal indignation
against Burgoyne, who was considered responsible for all the enor-
mities committed. We are informed that he used what influence
he possessed over the chiefs, to induce conformity with the rules of
civilized warfare; but what would previous exhortation or threats
avail, in the midst of the dangers and excitement of actual conflict?
The check given to the British at Bennington and Fort Schuyler,
gave great encouragement to the Americans; and it was now seen
that the provincial militia, under brave and energetic commanders,
was a more effective force than it had generally been considered.
u * ** IT * Xi JLVx.
BATTLES AT BEHMUS' HEIGHTS. BURGOYNE'S RETREAT TO
SARATOGA: HIS SURRENDER. DETENTION OF PRISONERS.
EXPEDITION FROM NEW YORK UP THE HUDSON.
"HOWE'S MARCH UPON PHILADELPHIA. BATTLE AT
BRANDYWINE CREEK. BRITISH OCCUPATION OF
PHILADELPHIA. BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN.
REDUCTION OF FORTS MIFFLIN AND MERCER.
WINTER-QUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE
BURGOYNE, having procured provisions for a month's campaign,
crossed the Hudson, and continued his progress southward. The
American army, numbering about six thousand men, and com-
manded by General Gates, lay encamped upon Behmus' heights, on
the west bank of the river. The place presented natural facilities
282 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
for defence, of which due advantage had been taken in the disposi-
tion of the camp, and the formation of batteries and intrenchments.
On the 19th of September, an indecisive battle was fought, in
which, although the British remained masters of the field, at night-
tall, they sustained much the heaviest loss, the number of killed
and wounded on either side being, respectively, less than three
hundred and over five hundred. Two days previous to this event,
communication with Canada had been cut off, by the surprise and
capture of the British forts on Lake George, so that nothing but
brilliant success could now enable Burgoyne to maintain himself in.
the enemy's country. He anxiously awaited promised reinforce-
ments from New York.
On the 7th of October, the British troops again offered battle.
The American forces had been increased by new recruits, and, exhil-
erated by the remembrance of recent successes, and the reputed
destitution of the 1 enemy, they fought with courage and impetuosity.
Arnold exhibited his usual energy and bravery. The enemy were
driven back to their camp, and a portion of their intrenchments was
forced and held by a Massachusetts regiment, under Colonel Brooks.
Burgoyne drew off his forces during the night, and took up a
new position, which he held during the day ensuing. On the 9th
he retreated to Saratoga. He was here, in a manner, surrounded
by the Americans, who jpd occupied the only passes by which a
retreat northward could be effected, and who pressed upon him in
his position, the British camp being within reach of their artillery.
Provisions could no longer be procured, and the supply on hand was
nearly expended. Communications were therefore opened, and a
capitulation was agreed upon, by the terms of which the whole
British army, to the number of more than five thousand men be-
came prisoners-of-war.
It was agreed that they should be allowed to leave the country
but that none of them should serve further in the war, unless made
subjects of exchange for American prisoners. All their artillery,
arms, and munitions of war, fell into the hands of the Americans.
Upon various pretexts, a compliance with the agreement for the
embarkation of these prisoners, was delayed and evaded by congress.
Burgoyne was permitted to sail for England, but his army was
detained, a" resolution being passed that no further action should be
taken upon the premises, until the Saratoga convention should be
expressly ratified by the British government, and a notification to
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
283
that effect be forwarded to the American congress. The result was,
th?t none of these prisoners obtained their liberty except by regular
exchange.
The forces dispatched by Clinton, from New York, to force a
passage up the Hudson, and cooperate with Burgoyne, although
unable to effect the main purpose of the expedition, did much mis-
chief to the Americans. Obstacles to navigation, in the shape of
huge chains, sunken impediments, &c., were successfully overcome,
and the forts on the Highlands were stormed or abandoned. All
the artillery at these important strongholds became prize to the
enemy. A great amount of damage was wantonly inflicted upon
the Settlements near the river. Not content with plunder, the in-
vaders burned and destroyed every thing within their reach.
We will now revert to the operations of the main continental
army, guided by Washington in person. Towards the close of
August (1777), Admiral Howe entered the Chesapeake, and disem-
barked the entire force on board his fleet at Elk Ferry, the nearest
available landing to the city of Philadelphia, which was now obvi-
ously the object of attack. Upon the first intimation of the enemy's
approach, Washington had marched to intercept his advance, and
had taken up his quarters at Wilmingtpn, on Brandy wine creek, in
the direct route from Elk Ferry to Philadelphia. He had collected
a force of fifteen thousand men ; that of the British was superior in
numbers, and in far better condition for service.
On the llth of September, the American army, having taken a
new position on the left bank of the creek, was attacked by the
enemy. Cornwallis, by a circuit, and by passage of the creek a con-
siderable distance up the stream, succeeded in turning the American
flank. Sullivan's division, in that quarter, was driven in, and, at
the same time, a division, under Kniphausen, crossed the shallow
river, and fell upon the central division of Washington's army. The
latter was defeated, with a loss of not far from twelve hundred men.
That of the enemy was reported to be six hundred. A retreat was
effected to Chester, and thence, passing through Philadelphia, the
army marched to Germantown, where an encampment was formed.
In the action on the Brandywine, several foreign officers distin-
guished themselves. La Fayette was wounded in the engage
ment. The services of Count Pulaski were rewarded by immediate
promotion.
On the 16th, Washington crossed the Schuylkill, and endeavoured
284: AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
to check the advance of the enemy. A violent rain storm came on
just as the armies were engaging, by which the arms and ammuni-
tion of the Americans were rendered unserviceable: they, therefore,
retreated, and encamped on the left bank of the river, some distance
above Philadelphia. A portion of the army, under Wayne, endeav-
oured to gain the enemy's rear; but, on the night of the 20th, the
position of its encampment became known to the British commander,
and it was attacked and driven off with heavy loss.
A few days later, Howe crossed the Schuylkill farther down, and
entered Philadelphia without opposition. Congress, having extended
and enlarged the (Dictatorial powers confided to the commander-in-
chief, and, having passed laws rendering it a capital offence for resi-
dents in the vicinity of towns occupied by the enemy to furnish
them with provisions, &c., had adjourned to Lancaster. The princi-
pal British camp was formed at Germantown.
Communication was not yet opened between the city and the tide-
waters of the bay, strong fortifications and obstructions having been
planted by the Americans at the entrance of the Schuylkill from
the Delaware. While a portion of the enemy's force was detached
to make an attempt upon these works, and to protect the transport-
ation of stores, by land, from Chester, Washington undertook to
surprise the main body at Germantown. The very circumstances
that enabled him to come upon the enemy unperceived, proved dis-
astrous for the success of the enterprise. The morning of the 4th
of October, when the attack was made, was unusually dark and
foggy. The American troops, after a long and toilsome march, fell
upon the British camp about sunrise. All, for a time, was confu-
sion, in which the assailants gained a temporary advantage. The
British soon rallied, and availed themselves of the protection afforded
by the buildings to form, and to pour a heavy fire upon their oppo-
nents. The Americans were driven off, with a loss of more than a
thousand men ; that of the British was less than two-thirds of that
number.
It now became all important for the army of occupation at Phila-
delphia, to reduce the forts by which it was cut off from the fleet in
the Delaware. The first attempt was made upon Fort Mercer, on
lied bank, which was defended by troops from flhode Island, under
Greene. The storming party consisted of twelve hundred Hessians,
led by Count Donop. A complete repulse, with the loss of four
hundred of the assailants, including the commanding officer, demon-
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 285
strated the necessity for more deliberate and systematic approaches.
Batteries were erected to play upon Fort Mifflin, situated upon, a
low mud-flat, which was reduced, after a brave defence of several
days. The ships-of-war were now enabled to bring their guns to
bear with effect upon Fort Mercer, and its evacuation soon followed.
Thus, on the 16th of November, the British secured complete com-
mand of the approaches to Philadelphia by water.
Washington soon after retired with his army to a strong position
at Valley Forge, on the right bank of the Schuylkill, twenty miles
above Philadelphia. Here he established winter-quarters for the
troops, consisting of regularly arranged rows of cabins. The greatest
destitution and misery existed in the army, most of the men being
ill supplied with clothing especially shoes and provisions were
often to be procured only by forcible seizure. The supply was very
irregular, and, at times, the condition of the camp fell little short
of actual famine.
L/Jntiiiiiiiiii A V Jt i.
DIFFICULTIES OF CONGRESS. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE STATES. INTRIGUES AGAINST
WASHINGTON. TREATIES WITH FRANCE. BRITISH COM-
MISSIONERS IN AMERICA. EVACUATION OF PHILA-
DELPHIA. BATTLE OF MONMOUTH- ARRIVAL OF
A FRENCH FLEET. ATTEMPT ON NEWPORT.--
WINTER-QUARTERS. MARAUDING EXPEDI-
TIONS. DESTRUCTION OF WYOMING.
IT were difficult to conceive a more embarrassing position than
that of the continental congress at this juncture. The army was
reduced in numbers, dispirited, discouraged, and in a condition of
physical want and suffering. The immense issue of paper money,
amounting already to thirty or forty millions, had necessarily induced
so rapid a depreciation in its value, that it was not available for
purchases, at a higher rate than twenty-five per cent, upon its
nominal value ; and yet there appeared no resource for government,
other than continued issues. Loans could be effected but slowly,
286 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
and to amounts miserably insufficient for the exigencies of the occa
sion. The numerous laws and regulations for fixing and establishing
the prices of goods, for rendering distinction between gold and con-
tinental bills a penal offence, and for the preventing of "forestalling
and engrossing," (viz: the buying up and retention of necessaries
on speculation,) were exceedingly difficult to enforce, and were
generally evaded, or made a handle for the gratification of private
enmity.
Congress had already submitted a series of "Articles of Confeder-
ation" to the separate states, which were subjects of long and vex-
atious dispute; a great hesitation being felt at the relinquishment
of individual sovereignty, in exchange for the benefits and perma-
nency of a centralized government. It was now earnestly recom-
mended that available funds should be raised by the states, resort
being had for this purpose to direct taxation, to meet the expenses
of the coming year ; that stringent provisions the arbitrary nature of
which was acknowledged and lamented should be enforced against
forestallers and engrossers, by seizure of the accumulated property;
to be paid for at specified rates in continental money, and for general
regulation of trade; and that the property of absent loyalists be
confiscated for public purposes.
The series of disasters which had befallen the main army, had
given rise to doubts in the minds of many, as to the vigour and
capacity of the commander-in-chief. Occasion was taken by those
among the officers of the army and leading politicians, who were
jealous of his ascendancy, to conspire for effecting his removal
from office. This movement failed to affect the general popularity
of Washington, or to shake the confidence of congress in his abilities
or patriotism.
The close of January, 1778, was marked by the conclusion of two
separate treaties with France. No event since the commencement
of the war had given such strength to the patriotic cause as this.
The independence of the states was acknowledged, and a treaty for
trade and commerce negotiated. Still more important were the
provisions of the second treaty, which contained stipulations for
mutual defence, in anticipation of the course which England, if con-
sistent in her plans, must necessarily adopt.
News of the negotiation of these treaties, was brought over to
America in the spring, about the same time that intelligence waa
transmitted of a willingness on the part of the British government
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 287
to effect a reconciliation with the colonies, by the renunciation of
all claims to impose taxes, &c. The three commissioners, deputed
to conduct negotiations for this purpose, after a vain address to
congress, in which the most liberal offers were made in behalf of
the crown, resorted to every species of intrigue to bring about their
ends. Manifestoes, calculated to excite prejudice against the French,
appeals to the separate states, slurs upon the motives and principles
of the leading patriots, and even the more reprehensible course of
attempting the integrity of individuals by the oifer of bribes; all
resulted in signal failure. The treaties were ratified by congress,
and no proposal for any thing short of absolute independence was
longer entertained.
In parliament it was now openly advocated that submission to
the necessities of the case, by an acknowledgment of American inde-
pendence, would only be a timely anticipation of an inevitable result.
National pride, and a jealousy of French interference prevailed,
however, against every argument founded upon policy or right:
the British minister was recalled from Paris, and the attention of
government was devoted to the detail of warlike operations. Sir
William Howe, recalled at his own request, was superseded in the
chief command by Sir Henry Clinton. Orders were given for an
abandonment of the positions at and near Philadelphia, and a con-
centration of forces at New York.
The evacuation of Philadelphia was effected on the 18th of June,
the principal stores and baggage of the army having been for-
warded to New York by sea. The American forces were immedi-
ately put in motion, to harass the enemy in the rear, and to watch
for a favourable opportunity for a general engagement. Such an
occasion presented itself, in the estimation of Washington, on the
28th, the enemy being encamped near Monmouth court-house. At
the council in which an attack was decided upon, General Lee, then
second in command, had opposed the plan. He was now intrusted
with the command of the advance.
Early in the morning, .upon the first movement of the British,
who were about to take up their line of march towards New York,
Lee received orders from his superior to open the attack. Coming
up with the main army, Washington met the advance in full
retreat, and pressed upon by the enemy. In the heat of the moment,
he addressed Lee with terms of reproach, which rankled in the
remembrance of that proud and eccentric officer, but which did not
VOL. IV.-47
288 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
prevent him from lending his utmost exertions, at the time, in car-
rying out the orders of the commander-in-chief.
During the remainder of the action, which lasted until nightfall,
neither party obtained any decisive advantage. The British sus-
tained the heavier loss, their killed and wounded amounting to
about three hundred men; that of the Americans, probably, fell
short of two hundred. The former continued their retreat during
the night, and pushed on unmolested to the Navesink highlands,
where they occupied an unassailable position. It does not appear
that General Lee was guilty of any dereliction from duty in this
engagement: his retreat, at the commencement, was before a supe-
rior force, the British having assumed an offensive attitude with
remarkable promptitude and good order, and his own position being
unfavourable from the nature of the ground. In consequence of
two disrespectful letters, subsequently written to Washington, re-
specting the affair, as well as for alleged disobedience of orders,
and an unnecessary retreat, he was tried by a court-martial, and
suspended from command for the term of one year. He took no
further part in the war.
Early in July, a powerful French fleet, commanded by Count
D'Estaing, arrived on the coast, bringing over the French ambassa-
dor, Gerard, and about four thousand troops. Washington's army
had, by this time, moved towards the Hudson, and, to cooperate
with the French fleet in a proposed attack upon New York, now
crossed over to White Plains. The British forces had removed
from Navesink to the city.
The larger French men-of-war, from their great draught of water,
could not be safely taken into New York harbour, and it was
determined to commence operations by an attempt at the recovery
of Newport, still in the possession of the British, and protected by
a force of six thousand men. A violent storm disconcerted the
arrangements for a joint attack by land and sea. D'Estaing, in
endeavouring to engage the English fleet, suffered so much injury
in his shipping, that he was compelled to sail for Boston to repair
damages. The American forces, under Sullivan, which had landed
on Rhode Island, and advanced towards Newport, were compelled
to abandon the attempt. In this retreat, they were pursued and
attacked by the enemy, whom they repulsed, not without consider-
able loss on both sides.
The remaining events of the year, although replete with local
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 289
interest, were of little importance, as connected with the result of
the war. The French fleet, on the approach of winter, sailed for
the West Indies, and the main continental army went into win-
ter-quarters for the season, in New Jersey and the western portion
of Connecticut, their line extending across the Hudson at West Point.
The head-quarters of the Commander-in-chief was at Middlebrook.
At no period of the war were evidences given of more bitter and
relentless enmity between the patriots and loyalists', than during the
summer and autumn of 1778. The predatory excursions of the
British troops were also marked by unusual ferocity and needless
cruelty. Not content with plunder, they generally glutted their
malice by wanton destruction of all that they were unable to re-
move. In the month of July, a party of about three hundred tories
and regulars, with a still larger number of Indians, under command
of Colonel John Butler, marched into Pennsylvania from western
New Y"ork, and ravaged the beautiful valley of Wyoming. It has
been usually reported that Joseph Brant headed the Indians in this
excursion. This seems to be an error: it is true, that throughout
no small portion of the war, he and his warriors were a terror to the
north-western frontier. He was faithful to the last to the cause
which he had espoused, and his name came to be coupled with
everv tale of Indian violence and outrage. From all that we can
V
learn, Brant was of a more humane disposition than many of his
white associates, even among those who held high positions in
the army.
At Wyoming, although the destruction of the settlement was
principally effected by the ferocious and uncontrollable horde of
Indians, the most revolting instances of blood-thirsty cruelty occur-
red in combat between the whites. In addition to the party strife
between whig and tory, this community had been long distracted
by bitter enmity between two distinct classes of settlers, holding
their estates, respectively, under the conflicting grants of Connecticut
and Pennsylvania. Opportunity was taken at the time of this inva-
sion for the revenge of old family and clannish quarrels.
Upon a rfioccupation of Philadelphia, the severe and sanguinary
enactments against those who should assist the enemy, were enforced
against some of the prominent tories. Two Quakers, convicted of
treason under the laws lately enacted, were executed.
290 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
CHAPTER I VIII.
INVASION OF GEORGIA. OCCUPATION OF SAfANNAh. BRITISH
DIVISION UNDER PREVOST. LINCOLN IN COMMAND AT TUB
SOUTH. DEFEAT OF ASHE AT BRIAR CREEK. ATTACK
ON CHARLESTON. SULLIVAN'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE
IROUUOIS. NAVAL OPERATIONS OF FRANCE AND ENG-
LAND. ATTEMPT AT A RECOVERY OF SAVANNAH.
FURTHER NAVAL PROCEEDINGS: PAUL JONES.
CONDITION OF THE AMERICAN ARMY.
UPON the departure of D'Estaing for the West Indies, the Eng
lish fleet, under Admiral Byron, immediately made sail in pursuit.
It was resolved, at the same time, to open a winter campaign in a
new quarter, and a large force of English and German troops, under
command of Colonel Campbell, was embarked at New York for an
expedition against Georgia.
The continental forces stationed at Savannah, amounting to less
than a thousand men, were under command of the American General
Howe. Upon the approach of Campbell, who arrived on the coast
at the close of December, 1778, a defensible position was taken for
the purpose of intercepting his advance. The British, in greatly
superior force, were successful in turning the American flank. A
negro piloted one detachment through a swamp, between which and
the river the continental army was stationed. In an engagement
which ensued, the Americans were completely routed ; five or six
hundred were taken prisoners or killed. The British loss was
trifling, and their success was rewarded by an immediate occupation
of Savannah.
Campbell was soon joined by General Prevost, who, in accord-
ance with the plan of the southern campaign, had been ordered to
march from his quarters in Florida, to assume command in Georgia,
and cooperate with the troops from New York. Georgia thus fell
into the hands of the British.
At this period, General Lincoln, by whom Howe had been super-
seded in command, arrived in South Carolina, and took command
of the continental army at the south. The regular forces under his
sommand, together with militia from North Carolina, were sufficient
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 291
to hold the enemy in check, and prevent a passage of the Savannah.
There existed, however, an uninterrupted communication between
the British head-quarters and the interior, where a strong tory
interest predominated, and where the Indian tribes were generally
favourable to the royal cause.
Lincoln commenced active operations by detaching fifteen hun-
dred men, under General Ashe, to occupy an intermediate position,
and intercept this communication. Ashe crossed the river near
Augusta, from which the, British retired towards the capital, and
passing down the right bank, posted his forces on Briar creek, in
the present county of Scriven.
In this position, the flank of the American army was again suc-
cessfully turned by the enemy. Prevost made a distant, but rapid
circuit, and falling upon the rear, gained a complete victory. A
great number of the Americans were killed or taken prisoners, and
the remainder were dispersed.
Lincoln's head-quarters were at Purisburg, about fifteen miles
above Savannah, on the Carolina side of the river. In the month
of April, 1779, leaving a portion of the militia at this post, he
marched up the river, with the intention of effecting a passage, and
making a descent on the British encampments. While on the route,
he received intelligence that Prevost had taken the opportunity to
cross the river, and was in full march upon Charleston. Lincoln
immediately hurried to its defence, and arrived in time to save the
city. The British army retreated, carrying away a large amount
of plunder, gathered on the march, and taking with them an im-
mense number of slaves, seized upon the coast plantations. The
concluding events of the campaign took place in the month of June,
by which time the season was unfit for further military operations.
During the preceding month of May, the coast of Virginia, and
all districts easily accessible by the larger rivers, were ravaged by
a detachment of between two and three thousand men, sent out by
Clinton from New York. There was no military force to oppose
these marauders, and, with scarce a show of resistance, they carried
out the general orders to burn and destroy the property of the rebel-
lious colonists. Not only vessels belonging to the confederacy, but
a fleet of merchant vessels were burned or sunk in the rivers and
bay. A great amount of plunder Was seized and carried off, but its
value bore no proportion to that of the property destroyed.
The most noticeable military operations of the summer, were the
292 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
expedition against the Iroquois, and the contests for the possession
of the American fortifications at Verplank's Point and Stony Point,
on the Hudson. Much damage was done by a marauding expedition
down Long Island Sound, led by General Tryon. On the north-
eastern coast, the Americans also met with heavy loss in an unsuc-
cessful expedition against a military post of the enemy on the
Penobscot.
The Indian campaign of the season was conducted by General
Sullivan. With a force of five thousand men, concentrated at Tioga,
he entered the territory of the Six Nations. The Indians, under
Brant, assisted by a body of tories, commanded by the Butlers and
by Sir John and Guy Johnson, made a strong stand at Newtown,
on the bank of the Chemung river, but their position was not tena-
ble against a force so superior as that now brought to bear upon
them. No further resistance was offered to the advance of the in-
vaders, and the month of September was occupied in the destruction
of Indian villages and harvests.
"These Indian tribes had made no little advance in the arts of
civilization. The Mohawks had mostly fled to Canada in the early
times of the revolution, but others of the Iroquois, particularly the
Cayugas and Senecas, had continued to cultivate their fields and
maintain possession of the homes of their forefathers. Immense
orchards of apple and other fruit trees were growing luxuriantly
around the habitations, but all fell beneath the axe of the destroyers.
The movement of so large a body of troops was necessarily slow,
and, as no precautions were taken to conceal their operations, the
Indians were every where enabled to escape to the woods. It must
have been with feelings of the bitterest rage and despair that they
saw the labour of so many years rendered useless, and thought of
the coming winter, which must overtake them, a wandering and
destitute people, who must perish, or rely for aid upon their Can-
adian allies."*
The French and English fleets, under D'Estaing and Bjjron, were
occupied during the winter, spring, and summer of this year, at the
West Indies, and in the convoy of fleets of merchant vessels, bound
homeward from the islands belonging to these nations respect-
ively. The most important naval engagement of this period,
was upon the occasion of the capture of the island of Grenada,
by D'Estaing, in the month of July. In this action, the British
* The Iroquois. "Indian Races of America."
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
293
sustained a very heavy loss, both in men and in damage done to
their ships.
D'Estaing appeared on the coast of Georgia in the month follow-
ing, with the design of cooperating with the continental forces in an
effort to recover the territory then in occupation of the enemy.
Siege was laid to Savannah by the French and American forces, in
September, and was continued until October 9th, when an attempt
was made to storm the British outworks, and take the town by
assault. A most gallant defence was made, and the assailants were
driven off with the loss of more than a thousand men. This disas-
trous failure is attributed to the impatience and impetuosity of the
French admiral, who had become weary of the protracted operations
of a regular siege. He immediately afterwards returned to the
West Indies.
Notwithstanding the powerful aid already furnished by France,
and the expected assistance of Spain that nation, during the sum-
mer, having virtually declared war against England the affairs of the
United States were, at this period, far from prosperous. The
finances of the confederacy were in a most ruinous condition; con-
tinental paper money was nearly worthless, from the enormous issue,
already amounting to more than one hundred and fifty millions,
from the distant period when payment was provided for, and
from the great uncertainty of any future redemption. The main
army, suffering from insufficient and irregular supplies, and unoccu-
pied in any important movement, was reduced in numbers, and
dispirited by a series of reverses. Recruits were obtained with
difficulty, and, to maintain a respectable force, resort was necessa-
rily had to a draught upon the militia. Throughout the year,
neither Washington nor the British commander-in-chief considered
it advisable to measure the strength of their respective forces in any
general engagement.
At sea, operations against England were mostly conducted by the
fleets of France and Spain. The small naval force of the states had
little opportunity for. any effective service. Privateers were still in
a measure successful, and it was in revenge for injuries committed
upon Brttish commerce by this class of vessels, that the seaports on
Long Island Sound were plundered and burned, as before men-
tioned. The daring achievements of John Paul Jones, a Scotchman,
holding a commission from congress as a naval commander, were
matters of wide celebrity. In September, 1779, being in command
294 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
of a French and American squadron, fitted out from France, he fell
in with a British fleet of merchant vessels, under convoy of two
vessels of war. The larger of these, a frigate of forty-four guns,
named the Serapis, engaged the Bonne Homme Eichard, com-
manded by Jones, and carrying forty-two guns.
The combat was conducted, for the most part, while the ships
were lashed together, each pouring in a heavy fire and making des
perate attempts to carry the enemy by boarding. Both vessels
repeatedly took fire during the engagement, and, when the Serapis
finally struck, the Bonne Homme Richard was in a sinking condi-
tion, and was presently abandoned.
The American army quartered for the winter near "West Point,
on the Hudson, and in the neighbourhood of Morristown, New
Jersey was with great difficulty furnished with provisions, and was
poorly prepared to eitcounter the inclemencies of the season, much
less to operate against troops superior in numbers and discipline,
and better provided with needful supplies and munitions of war.
3T 4
8IEGE OF CHARLESTON: SURRENDER OF THE CITY. SOUTH
CAROLINA OCCUPIED BY THE BRITISH. - TARLETON'S LE-
GION: HIS VICTORY AT WAXHAWS. - CORNWALL IS IN
COMMAND. - DEFEAT OF THE AMERICANS AT CAMDEN. -
GUERILLA OPERATIONS OF SUMPTER AND MARION. -
INVASION OF NORTH CAROLINA. FERGUSON'S
DEFEAT AT KING'S MOUNTAIN.
THE year 1780 was, almost throughout, a season of distress,
defeat and disaster, for the continental armies. The principal
theatre of action was at the south. In the month of February,
General Clinton, with a large force brought from New York in
December, sailed from Savannah, upon an expedition against
Charleston. Blockading the harbour with his fleet, he landed his
troops on the island of St. John's, and prepared to lay siege to
the city.
General Lincoln, in concert with Governor Eutledge, made every
B
? 2
5 "<
K ?.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 295
exertion to increase the garrison, and to erect defensive works.
Rutledge. in pursuance of extensive discretionary powers conferred
upon him by the legislature, compelled the service of a grea; num-
ber of negro slaves for this purpose. The forces finally concentrated
at Charleston amounted to about seven thousand, but more than
half of these were inhabitants of the city, and a considerable portion
of the remainder were militia from North Carolina.
In the month of April, Clinton's fleet passed Fort Moultrie, on
Sullivan's island, without material damage, and entered the har-
bour. Works were constructed for the prosecution of the siege by
regular military approaches; communication from the north was cut
off by a detachment of British troops; Fort Moultrie was taken by
the enemy; and before the middle of May, it was plain that the city
was no longer tenable. A capitulation was proposed and accepted:
the militia were to return home upon parole; the regular conti-
nental soldiers to become prisoners of war; and the British were
to have possession of the city, the public stores, &c.
Clinton did not fail to follow up his advantage, by taking secure
positions for his troops at the more important posts throughout the
state. His most efficient force for carrying on the skirmishing and
irregular warfare which attended the occupation of South Carolina,
was a legion of cavalry, under command of Colonel Tarleton, an
officer of great energy and ability.
During the siege, this corps defeated two regiments of the Ameri-
can forces, at Monk's Corner, thirty miles from Charleston, and,
about the close of the month following, the like success attended an
attack upon Buford's regiment, from Virginia. The victory was
gained at Waxhaws, in the northern part of the state, whither
Tarleton had hastened by a forced march. The Americans were
completely routed, and a bloody massacre ensued. No quarter was
given, and more than three hundred were killed or taken prisoners,
while the assailants lost but eighteen men.
Clinton resorted to violent measures for the maintenance of British
rule in South Carolina. Administration of the oath of allegiance to
malcontents, rendered compulsory by confiscations and other pun-
ishments, and a careful organization of the tories, gave a general
aspect of -quiet submission to the country. Kepistance was out of
the question, but the patriotic portion of the inhabitants looked
anxiously for promised aid from the north.
Eegiments from Delaware and Maryland, led by Baron De Kalb,
296 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
were on march for the scene of action, but their progress was slow
on account of difficulty in procuring provisions. In the month of
July, they were reinforced by General Gates, to whom the chief
command at the south had recently been intrusted. A Virginia
regiment, the only remaining continental force in that quarter,
effected a junction with the army, which now amounted to five or
six thousand men. In the month of August, a most unfortunate
season for a southern campaign, Gates reached Clermont, near Cam-
den, S. C., where he encamped on the 14th.
Cornwallis was, at this period, in command of the British forces
at the south, Clinton having returned to New York. Such troops
as he could raise to oppose the advance of Gates, were encamped
at Camden.
A simultaneous attempt at a surprise, on the part of both armies,
led to an unexpected night encounter. After some unimportant
skirmishing, the respective leaders occupied themselves in prepara-
tions fot" a decisive battle. The fighting recommenced at day-break:
the British, although outnumbered in the ratio of about two to one,
were completely victorious. The American militia fled at the first
charge, but the regular forces, under De Kalb, fought bravely, until
the fall of their leader. Nearly two thousand of the Americans were
killed or taken prisoners, during the engagement, or in their dis-
astrous and confused retreat. The enemy lost but a little over three
hundred men.
A few days subsequent to this battle, a body of patriots, raised
and commanded by Colonel Sumpter, which had done much damage
to the British outposts, by an irregular warfare, was attacked by
Tarleton and his legion, some distance farther up the Catawba.
Sumpter's forces were surprised and utterly routed; a number of
British prisoners were set at liberty, and four or five hundred of the
Americans were killed, or fell into the hands of the enemy.
No course was now left to the patriots but submission, or the life
of outlaws. A number of prisoners, convicted of treason in having
borne arms against the king, after professing allegiance, or accepting
British protection, were executed, by order of the British com-
mander. Those who, not being implicated in the open hostilities,
had favoured the patriotic cause, were punished by seizure of their
property for the use of the army. The few who still maintained a
hostile attitude, were obliged to resort, for safety, to forests and
marshes inaccessible to any but those familiar with the country.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 29?
Sumpter, notwithstanding his defeat, had again collected a band of
followers, and established himself in the mountainous inland coun-
try, whence he made incursions upon the enemy.
General Marion, who had held a continental commission, as colo-
nel, did distinguished service in this species of warfare. His haunt3
were the swamps of the Lower Pedee ; and such was the security
of his place of retreat, and the celerity of his movements, that his
plans could never be anticipated. He would suddenly appear, at
night, with his band of rough and rudely-armed horsemen, in the
midst of a British encampment, and before the alarm was fairly
given, would be beyond the reach of pursuit, having accomplished
the purpose of his incursion whether it were the release of prison-
e'rs or the collection of booty.
The tide of British successes began to turn in the month of Octo-
ber. Cornwallis had made extensive preparations for an invasion
of North Carolina; Major Ferguson, with a considerable body of
troops, effected a junction with the tories in the western portion of
that state. A superior force of militia and volunteers, including
many from Virginia, was collected by the patriots of that vicinity to
oppose the invasion. Retreating hastily before their advance, Fer-
guson took a position on King's mountain, at the border of South
Carolina.
An attack was made by the Americans, in three columns, from
opposite quarters. Notwithstanding repeated repulses, they returned
again and again to the charge; and, finally, Ferguson having fallen,
with a great number of his men, the remainder, numbering about
eight hundred, surrendered at discretion. The victors immediately
gratified a spirit of retaliation for the severity of the English, by put-
ting to death a number of particularly obnoxious tories, found among
the prisoners. Cornwallis, who had already entered North Carolina,
retreated southward upon receiving intelligence of Ferguson's de-
feat Large reinforcements from New York arrived in Charleston
earlv in the winter.
298 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
U (li cii X X ill ii, At the
NORTHERN OPERATIONS. SPRINGFIELD BURNED- - ARRIVAL
OF THE FRENCH FLEET AND FORCES: BLOCKADE AT NEW-
PORT. - TREASON OF ARNOLD. - TRIAL AND EXECUTION
0? MAJOR ANDRE. CAUSES OF ARNOLD'S DEFECTION.
INDIAN RAVAGES: INVASION OF THE MOHA.WK
VALLEY BY JOHNSON AND BRANT.
AT the north, little was effected by either army during the spring
and summer of 1780. The British, from New York, made two
incursions into New Jersey, in the month of June. Upon the first
of these occasions nothing was accomplished, but upon the second,
the village of Springfield, garrisoned by a continental force, under
Greene, was destroyed. The main American army remained in the
vicinity of its previous winter-quarters, occupied only in opposing
a check to the marauding expeditions of the enemy. Such was the
destitution at the camp, that some of the troops were driven to open
expressions of mutiny.
Great expectations were formed upon the reported approach of a
French fleet and army; which arrived in the month of July, at New-
port, then abandoned by the British. Six thousand troops, under
Count Kochambeau, were brought over, and preparations were made
by Washington for active operations against New York. Unfortu-
nately, the British, having received accessions to the naval force on
the coast, were enabled to blockade the French fleet in the harboui
of Newport. The whole army of auxiliaries, together with a body
of American militia, was, therefore, kept idle, being necessarily
employed in defence of the shipping in harbour.
Between the lines of the British and Continental armies, above
New York, an intervening space, occupied by neither, formed a
convenient resort for lawless depredators, who took advantage of
the distracted state of affairs, for purposes of private plunder. To
cut off the supply of provisions from the British army, cattle were
made liable to seizure, upon the road to New York, within certain
limits, in this debatable ground, and arrests of suspicious charac-
ters were permitted and encouraged.
On the 23d of September, three New York militia-men, named
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 99
Paulding, Williams, and Van Wert, were watching the road near
Tarry town, from a place of concealment. They stopped a solitary
horseman, who, supposing them to be of his own party, announced
himself as a British officer. Discovering them to be Americans, he
made large offers of reward if he might be allowed to pass. These
were refused; and, upon searching his person, papers were found
concealed in his boots. He was carried by his captors before the
American Colonel Jamison. The papers secured were found to con-
tain plans of the fortifications at West Point, with the numbers of
the garrison, and descriptions of the defences.
Notice was immediately dispatched to Arnold, who commanded
at that post, and also to Washington, then on his return from Hart-
ford to head-quarters. The former, upon the receipt of the intelli-
gence, instantly hastened to the river, and, taking his barge, went
on board the British sloop-of-war Vulture, which lay at anchor a
little below the forts.
A scheme of treachery was now apparent, and the whole plan
was soon exposed by the confessions of the captive at Tarrytown,
who proved to be Major Andre", adjutant-general of the British
army, a young m,an universally admired for talents and courage,
and beloved for his amiable and gentlemanly disposition. It ap-
peared that Arnold had, for some time past, been in communication
with Sir Henry Clinton, and that the command at West Point had
been solicited and obtained by him, with the sole object of its sur-
render to the enemy.
To treat with him for this purpose, Andre" had proceeded up the
Hudson in the Vulture, and a meeting was effected. From some
unforeseen difficulty, he was unable to return on board, and was
compelled to pass the night at a house within the American lines.
Attempting to make his way to New York by land, in disguise,
and bearing a pass from Arnold, he was arrested in the manner
before related.
Upon a trial by court-martial, he was condemned as a spy, and
suffered death, in accordance with the severe requirements of mar-
tial law, notwithstanding the vehement exertions of Clinton for his
release, and the general sympathy in his behalf, awakened by his
high character and noble demeanour.
Arnold's disaffection appears to have resulted, principally, from
pecuniary embarrassments, the consequence of his own reckless
extravagance. He thought himself neglected in some early military
300 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
appointments, and, subsequently, the partial disallowance of an un-
reasonable claim upon congress, made by him in relation to the
expenses of the Canadian expedition, mortified and enraged him.
He had also been tried by court-martial for alleged peculation in
his management of public funds, while in command at Philadelphia,
and had received a reprimand from the commander-in-chief.
No officer in the American army exhibited more remarkable
abilities as a commander than Arnold, and in personal prowess and
courage, he was, perhaps, unequalled by any of his associates. His
important services had induced his countrymen to look with leniency
upon failings which would have endangered the popularity of an-
other. In proportion to the former complacency of the community,
was their indignation at this exhibition of unprincipled depravity
an indignation destined to be immeasurably heightened by the sub-
sequent conduct of its object, who devoted his brilliant talents to the
service of the enemy, in active warfare against his countrymen.
The autumn passed away with no farther warlike incidents 01
much public importance. A savage guerilla contest desolated por-
tions of the Carolinas ; and at the north-west, the exasperated Iro-
quois still continued to send out war-parties for the plunder and
destruction of the frontier settlements. In October, the valley of
the Mohawk was desolated by a mixed party of whites, under John-
son, and Indians led by Brant and the Seneca half-breed, Corn
Planter. A letter, written by Brant on this occasion, speaks with
indignation at cruelties practised by his associates, particularly the
Butlers, whose names are connected with every atrocity in the con
duct of this predatory warfare.
EZRA STILES. In 1777, the Rev. Ezra Stiles, D. D., a native of North Haven, and
formerly a tutor in the college, was chosen president of the institution, and remained in
office until his death, May 12, 1795. He was one of the most learned and patriotic men
of the age. He appears to have been one of the first persons in the country who antic-
ipated and predicted the independence of the American colonies. In 1772 he wrote to a
friend : "When Heaven shall have doubled our millions a few times more, it will not be
in the power of our enemies to chastise us with scorpions." In 1774 he addressed one of
his English correspondents as follows: "If oppression proceeds, despotism may force an
annual congress ; and a public spirit of enterprise may originate an American Hagna
Char la and Bill of Rights, supported with such intrepid and persevering importunity as
even sovereignty may hereafter judge it not wise to withstand. There will be a Runny-
mede in America." The Rev. Richard Price, in allusion to a letter received by him from
Dr. Stiles, just at the beginning of the Revolution, assures us that ho "predicted in it the
very event in which the war has issued ; particularly the conversion of the colonies into
so many distinct and independent states, united under congress." He published several
ordination, funeral, and other occasional sermons, and the " History of the three Judges
of King Charles I. "Whalley, Gofle, and DLxwell." HoUisier's History of Connecticut.
THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION.
U X ** * Ju jCi A JL i
REVOLT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA TROOPS. ARNOLD'S EXPE-
DITION INTO VIRGINIA. GREENE IN COMMAND OP THE
SOUTHERN ARMY. MORGAN'S DETACHMENT: BATTLE OP
COWPENS: PURSUIT OF MORGAN BY CORNWALLIS: PASSAGE
OF THE CATAWBA: RETREAT INTO VIRGINIA: BATTLE OF
GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE. GREENE'S MARCH INTO
SOUTH CAROLINA. CORNWALLIS IN VIRGINIA.
BATTLE AT HOBKIRK'S HILL. SEIZURE
OF BRITISH FORTS BY MARION AND LEE.
THE year 1781 opened unpromisingly for the Americans. A
dangerous disaffection in the camp at Morristown broke out at this
period in open revolt. The causes of complaint, were unpaid arrear-
ages, and a dispute respecting the terms of enlistment. , The regi-
ments from 'Pennsylvania claimed their discharge at the end of a
three years' term, although, according to the representation of their
officers, the whole period of the war was included in their engage-
ment to serve.
Thirteen hundred men, defying the authority of their command-
ers, one of whom was killed in the attempt to reduce them to obe-
dience, marched off, under arms, in the direction of Philadelphia,
with the expressed purpose of compelling compliance with their
demands. General Wayne in vain attempted to recall them to a
sense of duty, and was forced to content himself with procuring
such supplies for their use on the march as should preclude the
necessity for plundering the inhabitants. At Princeton, commis-
sioners from congress, and from the state authorities, held a confer-
ence with the malcontents, and, after some discussion, the main
points in dispute were yielded by the former. Several messengers,
sent by Sir Henry Clinton to persuade the mutineers, by handsome
offers, to enlist in the king's army, were seized and hanged as spies.
A similar outbreak among the New Jersey troops, was quelled by
force two of the ringleaders being shot. These movements had
the effect to rouse congress and the states to a sense of the necessities
of the army, and a large sum of money was promptly raised, in
specie, for part payment of arrearages.
302
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Early in January, Arnold, who had received, as the reward of his
intended treachery, the sum of ten thousand pounds, and a commis-
sion as a brigadier-general in the British army, commenced active
operations in Virginia. He passed up James river, with a consider
able force, and after plundering Richmond, and doing much damage
by the destruction of buildings, together with valuable public stores,
he entered upon the occupation of Portsmouth.
A great effort was made to outnumber and overpower this detach-
ment. La Fayette, with a body of troops from New England and
New Jersey, was dispatched against it; and the French fleet, then
free to put to sea, made sail for the Chesapeake, for the purpose of
cutting off retreat. This movement was anticipated by the British
squadron, which took possession of the bay, after an engagement
with, and discomfiture of the enemy.
The command of the continental army at the south, previous to
this period, had been conferred upon General Greene, in place of
Gates, recalled. The small force under his command, consisted of
but two thousand men, notwithstanding endeavours made, during
the early part of the winter, to procure recruits from Virginia and
elsewhere. Against a detachment of about one thousand of these
troops, under General Morgan, while on their march into western
South Carolina, Cornwallis dispatched Tarleton, with a force about
equal in numbers. His own plan was to intercept communication
between the divisions of the American army, by marching north-
ward from his camp at Winnsborough.
Hotly pursued by Tarleton, whose movements were always rapid
and prompt, Morgan made a stand at the Cowpens, in the present
county of Spartanburgh, near the North Carolina border. Deceived
by a pretended or apparent retreat of the advanced lines, the British
rushed to the attack without due precaution for the preservation of
order, and when they found themselves coolly withstood by the
continentals, who poured in a heavy and destructive fire at close-
quarters, their line was broken, and a complete rout ensued. More
than half of the entire force were taken prisoners or killed. The
battle was fought on the 17th of January, 1781.
Marching with great celerity, Morgan gained the fords of Catawba
on the 29th, his object being to take his prisoners to a place of secu-
rity in Virginia. Immediately after the battle at Cowpens, Tarleton,
with the remainder of his detachment, effected a junction with Corn-
wallis. Strengthened by reinforcements from Charleston, under
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 303
Leslie, the whole army was put in rapid motion to intercept or over-
take the victorious continentals. Morgan had effected a passage of
the Catawba but two hours before the arrival of Cornwallis' advance
upon the bank.
Night coming on, a sudden rise of water delayed the pursuing
army, and secured the escape of the Americans. General Greene,
with a few attendants, joined this division on the 31st, and assumed
command. As soon as the British could pass the river, (on the 1st
of February,) the pursuit recommenced. The Americans reached
the Yadkin, with the enemy close upon their rear, and there a piece
of good fortune, similar to that experienced at the Catawba, checked
pursuit for a time, and gave opportunity for a junction of the two
divisions of the army at Guilford court-house.
The endeavour of Cornwallis was now to cut off their retreat into
Virginia, at the ford of Dan river. The retreating army still suc-
ceeded in maintaining its advanced position, and reached Virginia
in safety, leaving the British masters of the Carolinas. In the long
and rapid march from South Carolina, the American troops suffered
severely from over-fatigue, and from the insufficiency of clothing
suitable to the severity of the season.
Cornwallis took up his quarters at Hillsborough, and resorted to
measures similar to those enforced in South Carolina, for organizing
and encouraging the tories, and for the punishment and humiliation
of the patriots. The latter were not slow in retaliation whenever
opportunity offered. Greene, having received some addition to his
army from the Virginia militia, reentered North Carolina. He at
first contented himself with checking the movements of the tories.
A part}' of these, numbering two or three hundred, falling in with a
detachment of cavalry, under the American Colonel Lee, supposed
it to be Tarleton's legion, and, in perfect confidence, exposed their
own character and position. They were all massacred on the spot.
Largely reinforced by volunteers from Virginia and North Caro-
lina, Greene finally offered battle near Guilford court-house, on the
loth of March. His forces out-numbered those of the enemy in the
ratio of more than two to one, but a large portion of them were
inexperienced volunteers and militia. The latter were of little or
no service in the engagement, many of them throwing down their
arms, and dispersing at the first discharge. The continental troops
exhibited both courage and firmness, but were finally driven from
their position at the point of the bayonet, and made an orderly
VOL. IV. 48
304 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
retreat. Tlie loss on both sides was heavy, but that of the victors
was the greatest, amounting to more than five hundred. The British
troops were in a state of extreme suffering from want of food and
from the fatigues of the engagement; advantage could not, therefore,
be taken of the victory.
No pursuit was ordered, and Cornwallis, finding great difficulty
in procuring supplies for his army, took up his march down Capo
Fear river, towards Wilmington. In the month of April, General
Greene, with nearly two thousand men, marched into South Carolina,
where the British army of occupation was so far reduced by the
detachment for invasion of North Carolina, that a fair opportunity
offered for a recovery of the state, or, at least, for compelling Corn-
wallis to move southward for its protection. The latter general,
instead of adopting that policy, marched into Virginia, and united
his forces with those before sent into the country, under Arnold,
and now commanded by Phillips.
The state of affairs in the Carolinas, throughout these campaigns,
was that of civil war in its worst and most ferocious aspect. Such
disregard for human life was, perhaps, exhibited at no other period,
and in no other quarter, during the war. Whigs and tories rivalled
each other in sanguinary retribution for mutual wrongs. It is im-
possible to ascertain, with any approach to certainty, the number of
those who perished in skirmishes, at the hands of the lawless mobs,
or victims of private malice, in this fratricidal contest, but it must
have been very large, and by some is computed by thousands.
Greene, entering South Carolina, posted himself upon Hobkirk'a
hill, in the vicinity of Carnden, then occupied by an inferior force
of the enemy, under Lord Rawdon. His cavalry was on march, by
a detour, to join the partisan forces of Marion, and intercept com-
munication with Charleston. He was attacked at his position on
the 25th of April. The Americans fought bravely, but were unable
to resist the charge of the British bayonet. Obliged to retreat,
Greene fell back to Rugely's mills, several miles distant.
The mounted forces, under Marion and Lee, succeeded in occupy-
ing the passes on the north of the Santee, and in seizing upon several
defensive posts. Sumpter and his followers were no less successful
in attacks upon detached garrisons, stationed to maintain lines of
communication. Forts Watson and Motte, with Orangeburgh,
Georgetown, and Augusta, were soon in the hands of the Ameri-
cans. The British fort, "Ninety-Six," held out against every effort
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. gQ5
to take it by siege or storm. The heat of the season suspended
further active operations. The great effort of the campaign had
been so far accomplished, that the British had been obliged to con-
centrate their forces, and abandon further attempts at extended
occupation.
L ii A i A 1 ii A JL x x.
WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND HOLLAND. SEIZURE AND PLUN-
DER OF ST. EUSTATIUS. THE ARMED NEUTRALITY. RECOV-
ERY OF WEST FLORIDA BY SPAIN. CONTINENTAL CUR-
RENCY. PLAN FOR THE RECOVERY OF NEW YORK.
VIRGINIA RAVAGED BY PHILLIPS AND CORNWALLIS.
ENCAMPMENTS AT YORKTOWN AND GLOUCESTER
POINT. WASHINGTON'S MARCH SOUTHWARD.
ATTACK ON NEW LONDON AND OROTON.
CAMPAIGN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. BAT-
TLE NEAR EUTAW SPRINGS.
BEYOND the limits of tfye United States, during the winter and
spring, important events had transpired, at which, although con-
nected with the difficulties between England and her colonies, we
can barely glance. During the autumn of 1780, the British govern-
ment obtained information of a correspondence between the United
States and Holland relative to a commercial treaty. An arrogant
demand upon the latter for explanation or atonement, not receiving
the attention required, was soon followed by a declaration of war.
The opportunity presented for the acquisition of an enormous booty,
was too tempting to be resisted, and, doubtless, occasioned this pre-
cipitancy of action. The Dutch possessions in the West Indies were
seized by a fleet, under Rodney, in the month of February, 1781. At
the island of St. Eustatius, an immense number of ships and an accu-
mulation of merchandise, valued at fifteen millions of dollars, were
taken as lawful prize. This island had been one of the principal
places of deposit for goods intended to be shipped to the United States.
England was thus involved in war with France and Holland.
Her claim of the right to interfere with the commerce of neutral
nations, had also caused the formation of a coalition by the principal
806 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
northern powers of Europe, known as the "Armed Neutrality," for
the purpose of mutual protection in their commercial rights against
the injurious assumptions of Great Britain.
Spain, besides uniting her powerful fleet to that of France,
for operation against the common enemy, took the occasion to
recover the settlements of West Florida from the British. This was
effected in the spring of 1781, by a force from Louisiana, under
Galvez, the Spanish governor, with the cooperation of a fleet from
Havana.
An important change, introduced by congress during the summer
of this year, in the conduct of financial operations, by which the
government refused to deal further with the depreciated paper cur-
rency, rendered this entirely worthless. Much of the paper was
taken up by individual states by which it was to be redeemed
according to the provisions accompanying its issue at an enormous
depreciation, as an equivalent for taxes, but an immense amount
remained upon the hands of private holders. Various schemes for
replacing it, at its market value, by a "new tenor" of bills, bearing
interest, proved failures, as nothing, at this period, could sustain the
value of any public issue, either by the union, or by states in their
separate capacity. Nearly all of the latter had pursued a course
similar to that of the confederation, in this respect, and their paper
had experienced a steady and hopeless decline in value.
At the opening of the campaign of 1781, extensive preparations
were made by the United States for a systematic effort at the recov-
ery of New York. For this purpose, forces were gradually concen-
trated in that vicinity; but the events of the spring and summer
gave a new aspect to the campaign, and changed the scene of action.
The British forces, under Phillips, in Virginia, greatly outnum-
bered any which, at that time, could be brought to oppose them.
The only effective American troops in this quarter, were La Fayette's
continentals. Phillips, with little opposition, sent detachments up
the James and Appamattox rivers, and plundered and destroyed
property to the amount of millions. Joined by the forces of Corn-
wallis, in the month of May, and by troops sent round from New-
York, the army of invasion amounted to about eight thousand me
that of the Americans, in Virginia, including raw recruits an!
militia, little exceeded three thousand. A little later, the Pennsyl-
vania regiments, under Wayne, effected a junction with La Fayette's
army, increasing it to about four thousand.
THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 3Q7
Cornwallis, after destroj'ing a valuable collection of arms and
stores at the armory on the James river, in Fluvanna, and driving
the state legislature precipitately from Charlottesville, then the place
of session, moved with his whole army towards the coast. lie had
received instructions to this effect from Clinton, who, having ob-
tained intimation of the intended attack upon New York, desired
to dispose the Virginia division where it could be made available in
case of necessity.
Early in August, a position was accordingly taken at Yorktown and
Gloucester Point, on either side of York river, at its debouchement
into Chesapeake bay. Every effort was made to strengthen and
fortify these posts: a considerable naval force was also at hand in
the river and bay, to cooperate in any future movement.
The northern army, under Washington, was joined by the French
forces, so long stationed at Newport, in the month of July. While
preparations were actively going on to prosecute the siege of New
York, information was received that a powerful French fleet from
the West Indies, commanded by Count de Grasse, was momentarily
expected in the Chesapeake. Determined to seize so favourable an
opportunity for the annihilation of the army of Cornwallis, Wash-
ington abandoned, for the time, his designs against New York, and
hastened to put the main army en route for the south. He was care-
ful to conceal this change of operations from the enemy, and so suc-
cessfully was the movement planned and conducted, that Clinton
had no intimation of the new turn of affairs until the army was safe
from interception or pursuit.
Advantage was now taken of the withdrawal of the continental
and French armies, for an expedition into Connecticut. The traitor
Arnold, to whom the command was intrusted, shaped his course for
New London. On the morning of September 6th, a fleet of twenty-
four sail was seen off the harbour. About sixteen hundred troops
were landed, in two divisions, one led by Arnold in person, on the
New London side, the other by Colonel Eyre, at Groton.
Fort Gr is wold, on the heights at the latter place, was garrisoned
by one hundred and sixty volunteers, commanded by Colonel
Ledyard. With the expectation of receiving an immediate rein-
forcement of militia, it was determined to defend the post. This
expectation proved vain; the fort was carried by storm, and moat
of the garrison, in accordance with the cruel usage of war, were
cut to pieces for defending an untenable position. An eye- wit
808 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
ness* thus describes the catastrophe: "Colonel Ledyard, seeing the
enemy within the fort, gave orders to cease firing, and to throw
down our arms, as the fort had surrendered. We did so, but they
continued firing in platoons upon those who were retreating to the
magazine and barrack-rooms for safety. At this moment, the rene-
gado colonel commanding, cried out, 'Who commands this garri-
son?' Colonel Ledyard, who was standing near me, answered, 'I did,
sir, but you. do now,' at the same time stepping forward, handing
him his sword, with point towards himself." The narrator was, at
this moment, wounded by a bayonet thrust ; he continues: " The first
person I saw afterwards, was my brave commander, a corpse by my
side, having been run through the body with his own sword by the
savage renegado. Never was a scene of more brutal, wanton carnage
than now took place. The enemy were still firing on us by platoons,
and in the barrack-rooms. * * All this time the bayonet waa
freely used, even on those who were helplessly wounded, and in the
agonies of death." Those of the wounded who escaped the general
massacre, were treated with great brutality and neglect.
Arnold's division met with similar success in the attack upon New
London. The town was plundered, and, at the same time, set on
fire, and reduced to ashes. Nothing farther was attempted: the
country adjacent presented little temptation to the marauders, and
they* immediately reembarked, and set sail for New York with their
booty and a number of prisoners.
While these events were taking place at the north, General Greene
had been actively engaged in preparing for the renewal of hostilities
in Carolina. Towards the close of August, having procured rein-
forcements of militia, and a supply of horses for his cavalry corps,
he left his quarters among the hills of the Santee, and marched in
pursuit of the enemy, then under command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Stewart. An indecisive and bloody battle was fought, on the 8th
of September, in the neighbourhood of Eutaw Springs. The Amer-
ican forces rather exceeded those of the enemy in point of numbers,
amounting to more than two thousand men.
After this engagement, Greene drew off his forces to his former
place of encampment, at the Santee hills; the British moved towards
Charleston. The latter, although so frequently victorious through-
out these southern campaigns, and although favoured by a large
party among the inhabitants, had failed to gain any important
* Stephen Hempstead.
THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION. 3Q9
advantage by their conquests. It was comparatively easy to over-
Pin the country, and to inflict incalculable injury upon the property
of the scattered population; but they always left enemies in their
rear, and the obstinacy of the Anglo Saxon disposition, duly inher-
ited by the Americans, and losing nothing of its force by translation
to the New World, continually strengthened the antagonistic spirit
of the people. The operations of Stewart were thenceforth confined
to the vicinity of Charleston.
\J J><I> till iL ui Jj Jib tbOtl ido vL X X
FRENCH FLEET IN THE CHESAPEAKE. SIEGE OF YORKTOWX
SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. WINTER-QUARTERS.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT. NEGO-
TIATIONS FOR PEACE. TERMS OF TREATY. CESSA-
TION OF HOSTILITIES. DISAFFECTION IN THE
CONTINENTAL ARMY. EVACUATION OF NEW YORK
POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES.
ABOUT the 1st of September, 1781, after a long series of manoeu-
vres, in which he wisely avoided any general engagement with the
British fleet, the Count de Grasse brought twenty-four ships of the
line safely into the Chesapeake, thus securing complete possession
of the bay, and precluding all possibility of Cornwallis' effecting a
retreat by sea. The fleet was soon after joined by the French
squadron from Newport, commanded by Du Barras.
The American army, concentrated for the purpose of hxying siege
to Yorktown, including continentals, militia, the French previously
stationed at Newport, and those newly landed by De Grasse,
amounted to sixteen thousand men. That of Cornwallis did not
exceed eight thousand. After detaching a force to hold in check
the British at Gloucester Point, Washington entered vigorously
upon the systematic prosecution of the siege. The first works were
thrown up on the night of the 6th of October: three days after-
wards, they were so far completed that heavy artillery was planted,
and brought to bear, at a distance of but six hundred yards from the
British line. A second parallel was commenced on the night of the
llth, at an intermediate distance between the first and the enemy's
810 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
position. The work Could not be safely carried on, in consequence
of a heavy fire from two advanced redoubts, which were, therefore,
stormed, and connected with the second line of fortifications. This
service was accomplished by two distinct detachments, one Ameri-
can, the other French the efforts of either were thus stimulated by
an ardent spirit of emulation.
The Americans, being well supplied with battering artillery, now
opened so heavy a fire upon the British fortifications as to disable
many of the guns, and effect breaches in the works. Yorktown was
no longer tenable, and Cornwallis, on the evening of October 16th,
endeavoured to escape by crossing to Gloucester Point. Failing in
the attempt to transport his troops over the river, in consequence
of a severe storm, he had no resource but a capitulation. Proposals
to this effect were made on the day following, and the terms were
speedily arranged. The whole British army, more than seven
thousand men, became prisoners of war; the naval force surrendered
to the French admiral.
This victory was the crowning event of the war. Although hos-
tilities still lingered throughout the succeeding year, prior to the
conclusion of negotiations for peace, they involved no extensive
military operations. A partisan warfare still desolated some of the
southern and western districts, and the frontier was, from time to
time, harassed by incursions of the savages. The main French and
continental armies went into winter-quarters in November. Greene,
with the remains of the southern army, took a station in the neigh-
bourhood of Charleston, to restrain foraging expeditions of the enemy.
The tone adopted by the British ministry at the winter session of
parliament, 1781-2, gave no token of any probable concessions to
the American demands. In the house of commons, after repeated
failures, a motion passed, at the close of February, calling for the
adoption of measures which should put an end to hostilities. A
change in the cabinet, at this juncture, favoured the projects of the
friends of peace. Negotiations were speedily opened with Adams,
the American minister at Holland, and with Franklin, then in France,
for a pacific arrangement. With these ministers were associated
John Jay of New York, and Henry Laurens of South Carolina.
Mr. Richard Oswald conducted the preliminary arrangements in
behalf of Great Britain: Franklin and Jay, in the absence of the
other commissioners, opened the negotiation at Paris in the month
of April, 1782.
F.QURSTHIAJf PORTRAIT Of LORD C O K JV W A I. I. I a .
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 811
Jealousy of secret influence unfavourable to the interests of the
United States, on the part of the French minister, induced the
American commissioners to depart from their instructions requiring
that he should take part in their negotiations, and a provisional
treaty was signed, without his intervention, at the close of the fol-
lowing autumn. This great delay resulted from the difficulty of
settling questions of boundary, of the privileges of fishery on the
northern coast, and of the rights of tory refugees. In favour of the
latter, the American commissioners would agree to nothing farther
than a proposed recommendation from congress to the states, that
confiscations should cease, that restitution should be made for former
seizures, and certain personal privileges, as to right of residence,
should be conceded. The former customs relative to the Newfound-
land fisheries were substantially confirmed; and, respecting bound-
ary, the states retained their former territory, extending westward
to the Mississippi, and southward to latitude thirty-one leaving
Spain in possession of the wilderness at the west, and of the mouth
of the great river. England retained the Canadas: toward the north-
west the extent of the American claims remained still unascertained.
The treaty was not made definitive until September of the follow-
ing year, its conclusion being contingent upon an establishment of
peace between France and England, by virtue of the former treaty
of alliance between France and the United States. At the first
opening of pacific negotiation in April, ministers from all the belli-
gerent nations of Europe had met for the purpose of concluding
arrangements for a general peace. These were settled in the spring
of 1783, and, upon the transmission of the intelligence to America,
a formal proclamation was made by congress, of a termination of
hostilities.
During the spring of 1782, an alarming disaffection exhibited
itself among some portions of the continental army, arising from an
anticipated failure in payment of their arrearages. This feeling ex-
tended to many of the officers, and, but for the firmness and wisdom
of the commander-in-chief, might have led to lamentable results.
The army was disbanded, by order of congress, in the month of
November; and, within a few weeks, an evacuation of New York
and its adjacent strongholds was completed by the British.
On Christmas day, in the following month, General Washington
appeared before congress, in session at Annapolis, and tendered a
resignation of his commission as commander-in-chief.
312 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
The war was now at an end; the United States, acknowledged
independent by the nations of Europe, were free to adopt a form of
government of their own choosing, untrammelled by the restrictions
of ancient customs or the claims of hereditary right. But the posi-
tion of the country, if no longer critical, was embarrassing in the
extreme. The burden of an enormous debt, the poverty consequent
upon the expenditure of little short of two hundred millions of
dollars in carrying on the war, the failure of public credit, the exist-
ence of sectional jealousies, the great territorial extent of the coun-
try, the mixture of races all combined to oppose obstacles to the
establishment of a new and complicated scheme of government
BISHOP SEABURY. As soon as peace was restored, the clergy of Connecticut and those
of New York held a private meeting in that city, and choseAhe Rev. Dr. Learning bishop
of the diocese of Connecticut. Dr. Learning did not accept the place assigned him ; and,
on the 2 1st of April, 1783, a second vote resulted in the unanimous choice of Dr. Sea-
bury. A letter was immediately addressed to the archbishop of York, reiterating the old
request that an American bishop might be consecrated. " The person," say they, " whom
we have prevailed upon to offer himself to your grace is the Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury,
who has been the society's worthy missionary for many years. He was born and edu-
cated in Connecticut ; he is every way qualified for the episcopal office, and for the discharge
of those duties peculiar to it in the present trying and dangerous times."
The archbishop of York raising objections, he repaired to Scotland, where, on the 14th
of November, 1784, the ceremonial took place at Aberdeen, under the direction of Robert
Kilgour, bishop of Aberdeen, Primus, with the assistance of Arthur Petrie, of Ross and
Moray, and John Skinner, coadjutor of Bishop Kilgour. It was an occasion of the deep-
est interest, and called forth many warm congratulations and fervent prayers.
Thus, by the kindly aid of Scotland, after a struggle of so many years, the victory over
English exclusiveness was won, and Connecticut, let us rather say the western world, had,
at last, a bishop.
Hastening homeward, with a heart buoyant as the wave that floated and the wind that
wafted him, Bishop Seabury repaired immediately to New London, and, on the 3d of
August, 1785, entered upon the discharge of his high and responsible duties. Nobly did
this great and good man lay wide and deep the walls that were to stand around the dio-
cese of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Brave without any ostentatious show of moral
courage, modest without the least abatement of self-possession or firmness, with all the
lofty zeal of a martyr tempered with tho forbearance that is the fruit only of Christian
charity; discreet in counsel, with a hand that never trembled in executing his ripe pur-
poses ; never advancing faster than he could fortify his progress, Bishop Seabury had no
superior, probably no equal, among the episcopal dignitaries of his generation. Hollister's
History of Connecticut.
THE UNITED STATES.
u X* A * * **t A ^
POSITION OP THB UNION AT THE CONCLUSION OP PEACE.
EXISTING DIFFICULTIES WITH GREAT BRITAIN. : WEAKNESS
OF CONGRESS. LOCAL DISTURBANCES: SHAY'S REBELLION.
CONVENTION FOR ENLARGING CONGRESSIONAL POWERS:
OPPOSING INTERESTS OF THE STATES. THE PRESENT
CONSTITUTION: FEDERAL LEGISLATURE: POWERS OF
CONGRESS: RESTRICTIONS: LIMIT OF STATE POW-
ERS: THE EXECUTIVE: THE JUDICIARY: MU-
TUAL GUARANTEES: AMENDMENTS.
FOR several years immediately following the establishment of
American independence, the affairs of the country remained in con-
fusion, from the incapacity of congress, under the old articles of con-
federation, to bind the states by its dealings with foreign powers.
Restrictions upon commerce, which the congress had no power to
mitigate by treaty, retarded the development of the national re-
sources. The West India trade, so lucrative before the war, even
under the old "sugar act," was now cut off. The mouth of the
Mississippi was closed, by Spain, to all entrance or egress of Amer-
ican vessels, leaving the growing settlements of the west without
the means for disposing of their produce.
Great Britain could hardly be expected to look with favour upon
the confederation, and in defiance of the provisions of the treaty,
she maintained possession of the strongholds on the western lakes.
The reason given for this retention, was a non-compliance, on the
part of the Union, with provisions securing to British subjects the
right to recover debts contracted before the war. Many minor pointa
of dispute also remained unsettled. With respect to the losses sus-
tained by the loyalists, in consequence of confiscations, the recom-
314 AMEKICA ILLUSTKATED.
mendation of congress had as little effect upon the action of the
states in this as in most other particulars. A great number of these
claims to indemnity were subsequently examined and partially sat-
isfied by act of parliament.
The weakness of congress was made repeatedly the subject of
earnest exhortation to the states and the people. Unless its powers
could be enlarged, and a willingness be induced, on the part of the
states, to abandon some portion of their sovereignty for the sake of
greater centralization of power, there seemed but faint prospects of
future prosperity. At the commencement of the year 1786, an effort
was made to bring about a convention from the states, for the pur-
pose of establishing a general commercial system, but the attempt
fell through for want of full representation. Those members who
attended, earnestly recommended a meeting of delegates from all the
states, to alter and amend the articles of confederation, so as to define,
confirm and enlarge the jurisdiction of the central government. This
proposal received the sanction of congress in the month of February
of the following year.
If the power of congress was fast becoming a nullity, since a
change of circumstances had diminished the respect paid to its
decrees and recommendations during the dangers of actual war, the
state authorities experienced nearly equal difficulties in carrying on
the necessary operations of government. The people were in a con-
dition of great destitution and distress. Scarce able to procure the
necessaries of life, they were continually called upon to provide
funds for public purposes, and, as these were collected by direct
taxation, the burden, if in reality no greater than that attached to
imposts, was more severely felt by the individual. Nothing was more
natural than that they should attribute their suffering and poverty
to mal-administration of state affairs, nor that a popular cry should
be raised for impolitic or impracticable schemes of amendment.
In the autumn of 1786, this feeling broke out into open rebellion
in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The most extensive and
dangerous outbreak occurred in the latter state. One Daniel Shays,
who had held office in the continental army, headed the movement,
and, before any effective steps were taken to suppress it, collected
an armed body of malcontents, about a thousand in number. The
immediate object appeared to be the obstruction of the sessions of
the courts. A greatly superior force of militia was called out, and
put under command of General Lincoln. The rebellion was quelled
THE UNITED STATES. 315
with very little bloodshed, and those concerned in it, in accordance
with good policy, were treated with lenity.
The convention, for the purpose of remodelling the powers of con
gress, met at Philadelphia on the 14th of May, 1787. Delegates
were present, or arrived soon after the opening of the assembly, from
eleven states, Khode Island and New Hampshire having alone neg-
lected to make choice of members. The number commissioned by
each state, was about the same as that of its representatives in
congress. Washington was chosen president, on motion of Robert
Morris a distinguished financier, to whom the management of the
monetary affairs of government had been principally entrusted for
several years, during the period of greatest difficulties, before and
subsequent to the close of the war.
Among the members of the convention, were many who had
taken part in most of the great political movements from the com-
mencement of the contest with England. Franklin, Rutledge, Sher-
man, Livingston, Gerry, and others of the early patriots, were
present; the existing congress was largely represented; and the
general character of those assembled, was marked by zeal, earnest-
ness, and ability.
The proceedings were not made public for a period of more than
thirty years. It was wisely concluded that harmony of feeling would
be promoted by the promulgation of the results arrived at, unaccom-
panied by discussions in which the opposing interests of the different
states were set forth and enlarged upon. It wa*s found easier to pre-
pare an entirely new constitution, than to alter and amend the old
articles of confederation so as to meet the exigencies of the times.
Various plans were framed and rejected, and it was not until the
middle of September, that a scheme was completed which the con-
vention was willing to send forth to the people for ratification.
The claims of the smaller states to equal representation with the
larger, the commercial interests of the north as opposed to those of
agriculture in the south, the apportionment of representatives, the
modes of election, the character of the two proposed legislative
bodies, the authority and duties of the executive, the general limita-
tion of congressional powers, the formation of a judiciary department,
and many minor details, gave rise to long, and, frequently, to excited
debate. Prominent among the vexed questions of the day, were
those growing out of a difference of opinion and interest with respect
to tne institution of slavery. Upon this topic, while some northern
316 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
members especially Gouverneur Morris inveighed against the sys-
tem with extreme warmth, those from the southern states supported
its interests with less heat, but greater determination.
The Constitution of the United States, as it at present exists, (with
the exception of a few amendments, chiefly relative to the rights of
persons, to the manner of choosing president and vice-president, and
to the release of the separate states from liability to be sued in the
federal courts by citizens of any other state or foreign nation,) was
signed on the 17th of September, 1787, by thirty-eight members of
the convention, representing twelve pf the original states. New
Hampshire had chosen delegates during the session; Rhode Island
alone took no share in the proceedings.
By the provisions of this instrument, all legislation is committed
to a senate and house of representatives. The first consists of two
members from each state their election to be made by the legisla-
ture. They are chosen for six years, but are so classified that one-
third of the whole number are elected every second year. The
second is composed of members chosen for two years, by the people,
in proportion to the population, (originally one for every thirty
thousand, with a provision securing to- each state at least one repre-
sentative,) in computing which, three-fifths of all slaves are included.
The word slave is avoided by circumlocution. As an offset to this
concession to the slave-holding states, direct taxes are decreed to be
apportioned in the same manner.
Bills, in order to become laws, must pass both houses, and receive
the s'gnature of the president, or, in case of his refusal, must be
reconsidered and approved by a two-thirds vote in each house. The
house of representatives has the privilege of originating all revenue
bills. Provisions are made, for an annual session on the first Mon-
day in December, for the conduct of proceedings, trial of impeach-
ments, rules relative to adjournment, discipline of members, supply
of vacancies, census returns, and other details; after which the gen-
eral powers of the federal legislature are enumerated substantially
as follows:
Congress is empowered to levy uniform taxes, duties, imposts, and
excises; to regulate foreign commerce, and commerce between the
states; to coin money, and provide punishments for counterfeiting'
to establish a post-office system; to make regulations respecting
copy-rights and patents; to create inferior federal courts, and pass
laws for tho punishment of offences on the high seas ; to declare war,
THE UNITED STATES.
and to raise and support armies and a navy; to provide faff requisi-
tions upon the militia in case of public necessity; to exercise juris-
diction over the district occupied as the seat of government; and,
generally, to provide for the common welfare and defence.
Finally: "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other pow-
ers vested by this constitution in the government of the United
States, or in any department or officer thereof."
Congress was restrained from prohibiting the importation of slaves
prior to the year 1808. There exist, moreover, general restrictions
forbidding the suspension of the privilege of habeas corpus, except in
times of public danger, the passage of ex post facto laws, the imposi-
tion of export duties, the requisition of duties, clearances, or entries,
in commerce between the states, the draught of public funds except
to meet regular appropriations, and the grant of any title of nobility.
By section X., "No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money;
emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a
tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto
law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title
of nobility." The power to levy imposts is confined to provisions
of absolute necessity for the execution of inspection laws. States
are also prohibited from maintaining armed vessels or a standing
army, and from engaging in hostilities, except in cases of invasion
or imminent danger.
The executive power is vested in a president, who, together with
a vice-president, is chosen for four years, by electors from all the
states, equal in number to the entire representation in both houses
of congress. These electors meet in their several states, and forward
returns of their ballotings to the federal seat of government. The
votes for president and vice-president are taken separately. If no
candidate has a majority of all the electoral votes, in the case of
president, the house of representatives, voting by states, elects to that
office one of the three candidates who have received the greatest
number of votes. On failure to elect a vice-president, the senate
makes choice from the two highest numbers on the list.
The vice-president, virtute officii, is president of the senate, and
upon the death or disability of the president, he succeeds to his
duties and responsibilities. In case of further lapse, congress has
power to declare upon what officer the presidency shall devolve.
318 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
The president is Commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the
United States, including the militia, when in service of the Union,
He may grant reprieves or pardons for offences against the laws of
the United States. With the concurrence of two-thirds of the senate,
he is empowered to make treaties; and all public ministers, judges
of the supreme court, and other officials of the United States, whose
appointment is not otherwise provided for, are chosen by the senate
upon his nomination. He may fill vacancies in the senate, occurring
during recess, for one term only. He is generally charged with the
execution of the laws, the commission of officers, and the reception
of foreign ambassadors.
The judicial power of the United States is vested in one supreme
court, and in courts established by act of congress. The judges of
both hold office during good behaviour. Their jurisdiction extends
to all cases in law or equity arising under the constitution, or the
laws of the United States, &c. ; to cases affecting foreign ministers;
to matters of admiralty; to cases where the United States is a party;
to controversies between different states, between citizens of different
states, or those claiming under grants of different states, and between
citizens and foreign states, citizens or subjects. The original juris-
diction of the supreme court is confined to cases affecting foreign
ministers, and cases where a state is a party.
A republican government is guaranteed to each state, and the
United States is pledged to protect each of them against invasion
and domestic violence. Each state is bound to give full faith to
the public acts of the others, and to accord equal privileges with
its own citizens to all citizens of the United States. Fugitives from
justice are to be delivered up, on requisition of the executive of
the state where the crime has been committed: those "held to ser-
vice or labour in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into
another," shall be restored "on claim of the party to whom such
service or labour may be due."
Amendments to the constitution are to be proposed by two-thirds
of both houses of congress, or by a convention called on application
of two-thirds of the states; to be ratified by the legislatures of three-
fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths
thereof, according to the decision of congress. In conclusion debts
of the old confederation are assumed ; the United States constitution
and laws are declared supreme; and an oath to support the constitu-
tion is required of public officers, either in the service of the Union
Q U f S T It 1 Jt JV PORTRAIT Of G E Jf K R A /. W A S H I JV O T O ^V .
THE UNITED STATES.
or of individual states. The original establishment of the constitution
was contingent upon its ratification by nine states, upon which event
it was to be binding "upon the states so ratifying the same."
i Jt .
RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION BY THE STATES. WASH-
INGTON ELECTED PRESIDENT. - THE FIRST CONGRESS: PRO-
VISIONS FOR REVENUE: FORMATION OF A CABINET: POWER
OF REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. WASHINGTON'S TOUR
THROUGH NEW ENGLAND. SECOND SESSION OF
CONGRESS: DEBATE RESPECTING THE PUBLIC
DEBT: FOREIGN LIABILITIES: PUBLIC CERTIFI-
CATES: ASSUMPTION OF STATE DEBTS: THE
PUBLIC DEBT FUNDED: MISCELLANEOUS
ENACTMENTS. CONSTITUTION RATI-
FIED BY RHODE ISLAND.
THE new constitution, upon its reference by congress to conven-
tions of the separate states, gave rise to great discussion and dispute.
Two political parties were formed, taking issue upon the subject of
its adoption; those in favour of the measure received the title of
federalists. However great might be the disapproval of some of the
details of the new system, by individual states, sections or parties,
it was altogether outweighed by a perception of its general import-
ance. This is sufficiently manifest from the circumstance that it
received unconditional ratification in eleven states before the close
of the following summer. North Carolina appended conditions to an
acceptance; and Rhode Island, as she had taken no share in the
constitutional convention, still continued recusant.
Upon a meeting of the presidential electors, George Washington
was unanimously elected first president of the United States. In
accordance with the original provisions of the constitution, the recip-
ient of the next highest number of votes, John Adams, was elected
to the office of vice-president.
Some delay occurring in the arrival of a quorum of members to
the first congress (the city of New York being the place of session),
VOL. IV 49
320 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
the president was not inaugurated until the 30th of April, 1789:
the fourth of the month preceding had been appointed for this par-
pose. In the full flush of success and popularity, with all eyes turned
upon him as the man whose firmness and political integrity fitted
him no less for civil office than for military command, he felt great
reluctance at entering upon this new sphere of duties.
Immediately upon organization of congress, the business of provi-
sion for the expenses of government, and for the payment or funding
of the public debt, was opened. It was readily penceived that the
most available method of raising revenue was by the imposition of
customs upon importations. A tonnage duty upon foreign vessels
was at the same time proposed and carried, not without great oppo-
sition from the purely agricultural states, who were jealous of a pro-
vision which would directly protect and encourage the interests of
the commercial portion of the Union, at the same time producing, as
they conceived, an injurious effect upon the price of freights. An
attempt to draw a distinction between those European nations who
had previously entered into commercial arrangements with the
United States, and those who had refused so to do, by extending
superior privileges to the commerce of the former, was approved in
the house, but defeated in the senate.
The operations of government were next systematized by the reg-
ular organization of distinct departments for the management of the
treasury, of state affairs, foreign and domestic, and of war; an
arrangement analagous to the regular European cabinet system. The
first incumbents of these offices were Alexander Hamilton, Thomas
Jefferson, and General Henry Knox. John Jay, Franklin's former
colleague in diplomacy at the French court, was chosen chief-justice.
An important prerogative, upon a point in respect to which the con-
stitution was silent, after much debate, was secured to the president.
This consisted in the power to remove from office, without action of
the senate, either of the heads of department, and other officials
whose appointment was by presidential nomination.
Upon the adjournment of congress, towards the close of September,
the president undertook an excursion through the New England
states. It is said that when he first forsook the retirement of private
life to enter upon the duties of his office, his "progress from his seat
of Mount Vernon to Philadelphia was a triumphant procession, such
as few conquerors have known." Throughout this northern tour the
popular expression of admiration and gratitude was carried to an
THE UNITED STATES. 321
extent still greater. This enthusiastic reception must have been the
more grateful to Washington from the consciousness that it was sim-
ply a tribute to the acknowledged worth of his character and the
value of his public services. He had never mingled with the people
upon terms of familiarity: of a reserved and dignified demeanour,
he had never courted popularity by any of the arts of a demagogue,
nor was he gifted with that versatility which has enabled other great
men to secure unbounded personal attachment by accommodating
themselves to every class of people into whose society they might
be thrown.
The second session of congress was held in the month of January,
1790. During the recess, North Carolina had ratified the federal
constitution, and, in common with the other states, had ceded to the
Union her claims upon a great extent of western territory
The secretary of the treasury, Mr. Hamilton, on the opening of
congress, made a written report upon the state of the public debt.
Long and vehement discussions ensued, and the subject was from
time to time postponed and resumed throughout a period of six
months. Little opposition was made to provisions for the full pay-
ment of foreign debts, amounting to about twelve millions of dollars;
but when the questions arose respecting the funding of the depreci-
ated certificates of debt held against the federal government, and the
assumption of liabilities incurred by the separate states in carrying
on the war, a vast variety of opinion was found to exist.
A large party was opposed to the redemption of the public securi-
ties at a rate above their marketable value, being what the holders
had, for the most part, paid for them, and which was now less than
one-sixth of their nominal value. The principal expenses of the
war had been defrayed by the issue of paper money to the amount
of two hundred millions, or thereabout, and the subsequent redemp-
tion of the major portion of it, at the rate of forty for one. It was
claimed that the speculators who now claimed by public certificates
deserved no better terms than those who held the old continental
currency, originally forced upon its holders by penal enactments.
The idea was also enlarged upon that the existence of a great
funded debt would render the central government too powerful for
the interests and sovereignty of the states, by making its support a
matter of pecuniary interest to so large a portion of the population.
The party styling itself republican, in opposition to the federalists,
strongly maintained this ground of objection. The same argument
322
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
was urged against the assumption of state debts. This clause of the
proposed financial arrangement was rejected upon the first trial in
the house, but was afterwards carried, as we are led to believe, by a
somewhat corrupt political bargain. The votes of two members
were changed by a promised arrangement respecting the location of
the future seat of government, which was fixed for ten years at Phil-
adelphia, and thenceforth at some spot upon the Potomac arrange-
ments to be made by the president for a commission to decide upon
the precise spot.
According to the bill, as formerly enacted, a loan was to be effected
for the payment of the foreign debt in full ; the domestic debt was
to be funded by the receipt of subscriptions in certificates at their
nominal value, and in old Continental bills at the rate of one hun-
dred for one 1 Certificates for arrearages of interest were to be re-
newed by others bearing three per cent, interest; those for the
principal being entitled to six per cent. The debts of the individual
states were specifically assumed, to the amount of twenty-one millions
five hundred thousand dollars; for which a loan was to be opened,
receivable in state certificates for debts incurred to meet the expenses
of the war, or directly issued for services during hostilities.
In pursuance of constitutional provisions, congress, at this session,
passed laws regulating the naturalization of foreigners, the grant of
patents and copy-rights, the duties and privileges of seamen, and the
manner of trading and negotiating with the Indian tribes. Provi-
sions were also made for establishing regular diplomatic intercourse
with foreign nations. Various crimes against the United States were
defined, and punishments affixed to their commission. A small
standing army was organized, and specific appropriations were made
to meet all necessary civil and military expenses of the current year.
In the month of May, Rhode Island had finally ratified the consti-
tution, and representatives from that state took their seats in congress
during the session.
THE UNITED STATES.
L ii A i 1 iii K ill.
INDIAN NEGOTIATIONS: THE CREEKS: THE NORTH-WESTBRH
TRIBES. HARMAR'S UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN. THIRD
SESSION OF CONGRESS: THE EXCISE LAW: A NATIONAL
BANK. SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY: ITS ADMISSION
TO THE UNION. ADMISSION OF VERMOJs'T. SITE OP
THE FEDERAL CAPITOL. THE NORTH-WES1-
ERN INDIANS: ST. GLAIR'S EXPEDITION:
HIS DISASTROUS DEFEAT. POLITICAL
PARTIES. THE CENSUS.
EARLY attempts were made, under authority of the federal gov-
ernment, to effect amicable arrangements with the great Indian tribes
of the west and south, by which the continued disputes between them
and the frontier settlers might be set at rest. Friendly relations were
established with the Creeks; their principal chief, M'Gillivray, a half-
breed, with several of his tribe, was escorted to New York, the
temporary capital, for the purpose of concluding terms of treaty.
The president held a personal conference with these wild warriors,
who departed highly satisfied with presents, promised annuities, and
guaranties of possession in their lands. The concessions accorded to
the Indians by this arrangement gave great dissatisfaction to some of
the inhabitants of Georgia.
With the north-western tribes no arrangements could be made.
Stimulated by British agents, they claimed exclusive right to all
their old territories north of the Ohio. They still retained former
feelings of hostility, and cherished hopes of revenge for the destruc-
tion of their towns on the Miami, Old and New Chilicothe, Peccaway,
Willis' Towns, &c., laid waste by an expedition under General Clarke
nine years previous. In the autumn of 1790, more than a thousand
men, under General Harmar, were dispatched upon an Indian cam-
paign in the north-western territory. In every skirmish with the
natives, the latter had the advantage from their superior knowledge
of the country. They avoided any general engagement, but, by
laying ambuscades for detached parties, succeeded in cutting off a
large number of the whites. The expedition was signally unsuccessful
At the third session of congress, in December, 1791, one of the
324 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
earliest subjects of debate was a proposition to increase the revenue
by additional duties upon spirituous liquors, and by the establish-
ment of an excise upon those of domestic manufacture. A bill for
this purpose finally passed not without very violent opposition.
Another, and more important source of contention, was the institution
of a national bank. This was strenuously opposed, both upon
grounds of public policy, and the alleged defect of constitutional
power in congress for the organization of such an establishment.
The measure was carried, in spite of all opposition: a bank was
chartered, with a capital often millions of dollars, one-fifth of which
was to be subscribed for by the United States. Private stockholders
had the privilege of paying three-fourths of their subscriptions in
United States' stocks.
The only further proceedings of importance during the session,
were the adoption of resolutions for an increase ,f the army, in
anticipation of an Indian war, and the admission of two new states
into the Union. The settlement of Kentucky had been commenced,
not long before the breaking out of the revolutionary war, by the
bold and enterprising pioneer, Daniel Boone, who, with a few asso-
ciates, allured by the fertility and beauty of the country, had ven-
tured to brave the dangers of an isolated position in the remote
wilderness. Indian traders, in early times, reported of this country,
that "No Indians dwelt there, but the various tribes made it their
hunting-ground, and in their encounters, waged such fierce and
desperate battles, that the whole region was known among them by
the name of 'The Dark and Bloody Ground.'"
Kentucky had increased so fast in population, that it was judged
expedient, both by the inhabitants and by the legislature of Vir-
ginia, in the territory of which state it was included, that the
former should be set off as a separate state. A convention, called
for the consideration of the question, had fixed upon the 1st of June,
1792, as the period for the commencement of the new organization,
contingent upon the action of congress. The assent of the latter was
given, prospectively.
Between Vermont and New York, a contention of some standing
had existed. The latter claimed jurisdiction over the former, as
included within her own territory; Vermont resisted, and organized
a separate government. An accommodation was effected at the
time of which we are now speaking, and Vermont was admitted as
a new state on the 18th of February (1791).
THE UNITED STATES. 325
The president, in the course of the spring, made an excursion
Inrough some of the southern states, and, on his route, made selection
m accordance with provisions before mentioned of a site for the
federal capital. A city was laid out, for this purpqse, upon a grand
scale, and much speculative enterprise was displayed in the purchase
of lands and erection of buildings. The increase of the city, and,
consequently, of the value of property within its extensive iimit,
have fallen far short of the sanguine expectations of its founders.
Great commercial facilities can alone build up large cities in *a
new country.
During the summer of this year, several attempts were made to
check the depredations of the Indians on the Ohio, but nothing was
accomplished further than the destruction of a few villages and corn-
fields. Expeditions on so small a scale only served to irritate the
savages, and to render the condition of the frontier more unsafe.
Upon the conclusion of peace with Great Britain, a considerable
portion of the Iroquois retired into Canada, where lands were appro-
priated to their use on Grand river; those remaining within the
limits of the United States, by solemn treaty, at Fort Stanwix, ceded
their claims in eastern New York. The noted Seneca chief and
orator, Red-Jacket, strenuously opposed this treaty, but was over-
ruled by the influence of his superior in age and authority, O'Bail,
or Corn-Planter. The Six Nations continued in communication
with the western tribes, and were generally inimical to the Amer-
ican settlers.
In the autumn of 1791, General Arthur St. Clair, with more than
two thousand men, marched from Fort Washington, the site of the
present city of Cincinnati, into the Indian territory. Having estab-
lished and garrisoned two forts, on his route, he encamped fifteen
miles from the Indian towns, on the Miami, on the 3d of November.
The movements of the army had been slow, and the confederate
tribes of the west Hurons, Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Mia-
mies, Delawares, Shawanees, Iroquois, and others under the guid-
ance of Michikinaqua (Little Turtle), and, as is supposed, of Joseph
Brant, had full opportunity to collect their warriors and form their
plans for defence.
"Before the rising of the sun, on the following day (November
4th), the savages fell upon the camp of the whites. Never was a
more decisive victory obtained. In vain did the American general
and his officers exert themselves to maintain order, and to rally the
326
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
bewildered troops. The Indians, firing from covert, thinned the
ranks, and picked off the officers by a continuous and murderous
discharge. A disorderly retreat was the result: artillery, baggage,
and no small portion of the arms of the militia, fell into tne hands of
the exultant pursuers. Fort Jefferson was nearly thirty miles dis-
tant, and thither the defeated army directed its flight. The Indians
followed close upon the fugitives, cutting down and destroying at
will, until, as is reported, one of their chiefs called out to them 'to
stop, as they had killed enough.'
"The temptation offered by the plunder to be obtained at the
camp, induced the Indians to return, and the remnant of the invading
army reached Fort Jefferson about sun-set. The loss, in this battle,
on the part of the whites, was no less than eight hundred and ninety-
four in killed, wounded, and missing. Thirty-eight officers and five
hundred and ninety-three non-commissioned officers and privates were
slain or missing. The Indians lost but few of their men judging
from a comparison of the different accounts, not much over fifty."*
Upon the coming together of congress, in October of 1791, the
condition of Indian affairs was brought before that body, and repre-
sentations of the necessity for an increase in the army were urged
Party spirit, at this time, was growing more virulent; the republicans,
at the head of whom stood Secretary Jefferson, eyed the movements
of the federalists with great suspicion, continually discovering or
imagining a tendency towards a monarchical system in all their
plans and operations. Of Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, and
leader of the federal party, an English writer observes: "Each step,
indeed, which this minister took, seemed in the traces of British
policy ; and, however salutary or requisite they may have been, he
certainly showed little caution in the manner of adopting, success-
ively, the several parts of machinery belonging to a monarchical
government."
A strong effort was made at this session, to increase the number
of members in the house of representatives, by including in the
computation of population the fractional remainder which existed in
each state after a division by thirty thousand. The bill passed both
houses, but, being sent back with objections, by the president, was
reconsidered and lost. The census returns of the first enumeration
of the population, exhibited a total of 3,921,326, of which nearly
seven hundred thousand were slaves.
* Indian Races of America.
RED JACKET.
THE UNITED STATES.
CHAPTER IV.
WASHINGTON'S SECOND TERM: HIS DISINCLINATION TO OFFICE
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: ITS POLITICAL INFLUENCE
IN THE UNITED STATES. ARRIVAL OF GENET, AS MIN-
ISTER OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC: HIS PROCEEDINGS AT
CHARLESTON. NEUTRAL POSITION OF THE UNITED
STATES. COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS BY FRANCE
AND ENGLAND. IMPRESSMENT OF AMERICAN
SEAMEN. RETIREMENT OF JEFFERSON. -
ALGERINE DEPREDATIONS.
AT the election of president and vice-president, for the term com-
mencing in March, 1793, Washington was reelected without a shadow
of opposition. He felt great disinclination to continue longer in
office, and only consented to comply with the wishes of the electors
and the people, for the purpose of calming the turbulence of the
great political parties. His high character and popularity could
not shield him entirely from the animadversions of those of the
republican party who suspected him of aristocratic predilections. It
is said that, on one occasion, subsequent to his reelection, in an out-
break of feeling, excited by some personal attack, he declared, "that
he had never repented but once the having slipped the moment of
resigning his office, and that was every moment since; that by God
he had rather be in his grave than in his present situation; that he
had rather be on his farm than be made emperor of the world ; and
yet that they were charging him with wanting to be a king."
In opposition to Adams, the candidate for vice-president, the
republicans set up George Clinton: the federalists obtained the
larger vote. This defeat aggravated the rancour of some of the
leading liberals, and it was with difficulty that the influence of the
president could calm unseemly strife between the opposing heads of
departments.
At this period, a new and important element in the political con-
troversy of America, arose from a difference in feeling and sympathy
excited by the stormy events of the French revolution. It became
a matter of deep interest to inquire how far the United Stages should
328 AMEBICA ILLUSTKATED.
allow themselves to be implicated in the general agitation which
threatened Europe. One of the first questions to be decided was,
what force did a treaty, concluded with the king of France, possess
upon the overthrow of his government, and under the rule of the
republic. Popular enthusiasm was strongly aroused in favour of
ihe revolution, a feeling not to be effectually damped by intelligence
of the blood-thirsty fanaticism which was exhibited by too many of
its supporters.
The arrival at Charleston (in the month of April, 1793) of Genet,
the first ambassador commissioned by the republic to negotiate with
the United States, rendered some decisive action imperative. After
consultation with the cabinet, in which views diametrically opposite
were entertained by the leaders of the opposite parties, the president
issued a proclamation of neutrality, expressly forbidding citizens
of the United States to fit out vessels for the purpose of lend-
ing aid to either of the belligerent nations, or in any other manner
to take share in hostilities so long as this neutral position should be
maintained.
The French minister was enthusiastically received at Charleston,
where he spent some time in the preparation of two cruisers, to the
commanders of which he filled out commissions, under authority of
the republic, to prey upon British commerce. After this high-
handed proceeding, Genet travelled by land to Philadelphia, wel-
comed at every town, on his passage, by the most flattering exhibition
of popular feeling. His conduct at Charleston, after a cabinet
consultation, was declared illegal by government; the service of
American citizens, under French commissions, was pronounced a
public offence; and restitution was ordered of prizes taken in Amer-
ican waters.
So far was the French minister encouraged by the sympathy of
the powerful republican party, that, in many instances, he set at
nought the claims and decisions distinctly made by the American
government. His reception by the president was courteous, but the
avowed neutrality of the United States was carefully guarded in all
diplomatic intercourse. Disinclination to break with an old and
powerful ally, the force of national antipathies and predilections, and
the influence of the popular feeling, checked that exertion of execu-
tive power which the occasion seemed to require. Privateers were
fitted out at various ports in the United States; numerous prizes
were brought in openly, and condemned by the decisions of the
THE UNITED STATES. 329
French consuls, acting under powers granted by Geiietj on behalf
of his own government.
In one case, a British vessel, the Little Sarah, seized by the
French frigate in which Genet had first come over from France, was
fitted out as a privateer at Philadelphia, and, after being rechristened,
the Little Democrat, proceeded to sea, notwithstanding a promise,
virtual or expressed, on the part of that minister, that she should
remain until the claims of those interested in the vessel could bo
adjusted.
The government moderately, but firmly, persisted in maintaining
a neutral position, and in respecting the rights of Great Britain.
Toward the close of the summer, guaranty of indemnity was formally
announced for all losses by British owners from previous illegal
seizures within the waters of the United States, the distance thence-
forth protected being fixed at one league from shore, and including,
of course, all bays and harbours within the federal jurisdiction.
The French government, at the same time, was required to give up
all prizes already illegally taken, and a direct requisition was made
for a recall of the arrogant Genet.
The violence and insolence of- this official had greatly diminished
the popular favour which greeted him on his first arrival. The
wiser and more far-sighted politicians looked upon him as a danger-
ous man; his course of conduct tended to involve the states ia
unnecessary difficulties with England; and he was, undoubtedly,
engaged in machinations for the organization of expeditions against
the Spanish possessions in Louisiana and Florida. Any movement
towards the effecting of a free exit from the Mississippi met with
great favour from the settlers on the western waters.
To add to other difficulties in maintaining a position of neutrality,
the commerce of the states began to suffer severely from the effect
of regulations instituted both by France and England respecting the
rights of neutrals to carry on trade with the enemy. By the law of
nations, supplies destined for a blockaded port may be liable to
seizure; but the declaration that all the ports of an enemy are in a
state of blockade, affords but a shallow excuse for the plunder of a
neutral nation. Against Great Britain another cause of complaint
existed, if of less political importance than this interference with
trade, yet of a nature to excite far greater bitterness of private ani-
mosity. This was the continual impressment of British seamen,
serving on board of American vessels, and either through error or
330
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
pretended mistake the seizure of Americans, by the same arbitrary
and summary powers. It is fully established that many citizens of
the states were subjected to this indignity and outrage.
Shortly after the coming together of congress in December, 1793,
Jefferson retired from office, and was succeeded as secretary of state
by Eandolph, former attorney-general. A report upon the com-
mercial relations of the United States, carefully prepared by the
retiring secretary, and exhibiting his political views respecting the
policy to be pursued towards France and England, was submitted
to the consideration of congress. This document urged a discrimi-
nation in favour of France, and met with the more favourable
reception in consideration of both real and fancied aggressions on
the part of England. Among other grounds of dissatisfaction the
continuance of Indian disturbances at the north-west was prominent,
these being attributed to the influence of British emissaries, encour-
aged by the Canadian governors.
The first important action of congress related to the means to be
adopted for opposing a check upon the depredations of piratical
cruisers from Algiers and other portions of the Barbary states, by
which the navigation of the Mediterranean was rendered unsafe, and
for the release of prisoners taken by the pirates, and still held in
captivity. A considerable sum of money was appropriated for the
purpose of purchasing terms of treaty, while, at the same time, in
anticipation of a failure in this attempt, congress ordered the prepar-
ation of a naval armament adequate to enforce the claims of the
United States.
THE UNITED STATES.
831
CHAPTER v.
AMERICAN POLITICS. DEBATE IN CONGRESS UPON POREIGM
RELATIONS. FURTHER AGGRESSIONS OP ENGLAND. COM-
MISSION OF JAY AS AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDJNART TO
GREAT BRITAIN. RELIEF OF IMMIGRANTS FROM ST.
DOMINGO. THE NEUTRALITY LAWS. RESISTANCE
TO THE EXCISE: REBELLION IN WESTERN PENN-
SYLVANIA: ITS FORCIBLE SUPPRESSION: OPIN-
IONS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
THE introduction, by Mr. Madison, of resolutions in support of
the views entertained in Jefferson's report, gave rise to lengthy and
vehement discussion. The two great parties had taken issue upon
the subject of the policy to be pursued towards France and England:
the sympathy of the democratic republicans was exclusively extended
towards the former nation, while the federalists, questioning the sta.
bility and good faith of the new republic, were anxious to avoid
serious collision with the government of Great Britain.
Smith, of South Carolina, took the lead of .the opposition, and
argued at length upon the futility as well as injustice of any attempt
at governing the foreign policy of England by a discriminating scale
of duties and tonnage. The resolutions, by virtue of which the
commerce of nations under no commercial treaty with the United
States was to be subjected to restrictions or burdens not extended
to others, passed by a small majority. They were avowedly aimed
at the trade with England. "Of the efficacy of these commercial
restrictions," says Mr. Hildreth, "as a means of coercing Great Brit-
ain, Madison and his party entertained very extravagant ideas, of
which they had afterward ample opportunity to be cured. What,
indeed, could be more extravagant than the statement that Great
Britain imported necessaries from us, and we only luxuries from her,
repeated over and over again by the representatives of a state whose
chief export was tobacco, and whose imports were principally cloth-
ing, tools, and other manufactured articles of daily use and necessity?
In all these commercial struggles, nothing is more certain than that
the richest party can endure the longest, and is sure to triumph in
the end."
332 AMEBICA ILLUSTKATED.
The measures adopted against Great Britain were rendered still
more popular upon the arrival of intelligence that orders had been
issued by the admiralty in November previous, by which neutral
srade with French colonies was as arbitrarily dealt with as that with
France direct. It was also reported that the British governor' of
Lower Canada, Lord Dorchester, at an Indian council, had delivered
an address breathing a hostile spirit towards the United States.
The anticipated danger was met by appropriations on rather a
small scale, considering the supposed necessities of the case for for-
tifying various sea-ports, and for organization and training of the
militia. A temporary embargo was also decided upon. So strong
was the hostile feeling, that a motion was made, and warmly urged,
for the sequestration of debts due to British creditors, for the pur-
pose of applying them to indemnify those who had sustained losses
by seizure of property under the obnoxious laws restraining neutral
trade. It was also proposed that all trade with Great Britain should
cease until reparation should be made for these illegal seizures, and
until an evacuation of the western military posts should be ordered.
The English ministry, on the other hand, seemed to incline to
pacific and conciliatory measures, being "too fully and deeply occu-
pied with treasons at home, and the menace of invasion from abroad,
to answer this waspishness of America in a similar tone. On the
contrary, the last obnoxious order of the admiralty was recalled, and
the federal party were able to rally, and entertain hopes of avoiding
a rupture."
Washington was anxious to preserve peaceable relations with
Great Britain, and, foreseeing the possible results of heated and
angry debate in congress, with the recurrence of successive hostile
enactments passed upon the spur of the occasion, and insufficiently
digested, he fixed upon a plan to set the matter temporarily at rest.
In the month of April, 179-1, he proposed to the senate the appoint
ment of a minister extraordinary, empowered to negotiate for the
settlement of all existing difficulties with England, and nominated,
for this mission, Chief-Justice Jay. The nomination was confirmed,
by a very close vote.
These were times of great political excitement. Every arrivai
from Europe brought news replete with interest, and having a bear-
ing upon American politics more direct than we can well appreciate
at th> present time. The more violent of the republican party imi
itated the French organization of political clubs, and in the midst
THE UNITED STATES. 333
of the "Keign of Terror," were so far blinded by party zeai as to
rejoice over intelligence of proceedings which, if brought nearer
home, would have excited unmingled horror and disgust Others,
more moderate, yet with equal sympathy for a nation involved like
our own, in a strife between the people and their hereditary tyrants,
lamented over the violence which by reaction must eventually pre-
judice the cause of liberty and of equal rights.
In anticipation of conquest by the English, the French officials at
St. Domingo had issued a proclamation by which the slaves on that
island were set free. The country became" generally unsafe for
whites, and many, abandoning all their effects, sailed for the United
States. A bill introduced for the relief of these unfortunate immi-
grants called forth much argument .upon the constitutional limits of
the power of congress. No authority can be discovered in the con-
stitution for any appropriation for mere purposes of charity, except
by a forced implication under the general provisions for foreign
intercourse. The measure was, notwithstanding, carried, by virtue
of its popularity, and has formed a precedent acted upon at a much
later period, upon the occasion of the famine in Ireland. Fifteen
thousand dollars were appropriated for the relief of the French
immigrants.
Another act, passed at this session, of great present interest, was
called forth by the continued efforts of French agents to organize
expeditions against the Spanish possessions of Louisiana. The
anxiety of the western settlers to obtain possession of the Mississippi
rendered it an easy matter to collect adventurers upon such an enter-
prise, if winked at by government. A bill to restrain American
citizens from engaging in hostilities with friendly nations passed
both houses early in June. A fine of one thousand dollars and three
years' imprisonment were made the penalty for entrance into foreign
military service by any persons within the jurisdiction of the United
States. This provision was specially aimed at those who should
unlawfully enlist recruits; the penalty awarded against those whom
^they had seduced from allegiance being remitted upon conviction of
the former, consequent on their information.
The equipment of vessels, and the organization of expeditions
within the United States, for the purpose of carrying on hostilities
against any country at peace with the confederation, subjected the
offender to a still heavier fine, with the same term of imprisonment.
To secure promptitude in the suppression of such unlawful enter-
334 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
prise, the president was expressly authorized to exert his powers as
commander-in-chief of the military forces of the United States, and
in case of necessity to call out the militia.
A serious civil disturbance took place in western Pennsylvania
during the summer. The law imposing excise duties on spirituous
liquors of domestic manufacture had been, from the first, particularly
obnoxious in this section of the country, the difficulty of getting
grain to market rendering its consumption for purposes of distil-
lation a matter of great convenience and profit. Process being
issued against certain distillers who had neglected to conform to the
provisions of the act, the civil officials were resisted, and the
rioters, adopting an offensive attitude, assailed the house of the
inspector.
The spirit of insurrection rapidly spread throughout the western
counties, and the people, inflamed by the speeches and influence of
demagogues, set the laws at defiance, maltreated its officers, and held
public meetings for organizing a regular system of resistance. The
mails were intercepted to cut off communication with the seat of
government, and the friends of order and obedience to the laws were
completely overawed in all the disaffected districts.
The leaders of this insurrection became the more insolent and
exacting from the mild measures at first resorted to for allaying the
tumult, and the president found it necessary to exert his constitu-
tional powers for the support of the laws. A requisition was made for
fifteen thousand militia, from Pennsylvania and the adjoining states:
an overpowering force was marched into the western counties, and
every symptom of rebellion speedily disappeared. Those who had
taken the most active part in the outbreak made their escape : many
arrests were made, but great leniency was exhibited towards the few
found guilty upon trial.
It was the opinion of the republican party in general, that this
demonstration was uncalled for by the exigency of the circumstances.
Jefferson, in a letter, says of the dbings of the rebels: " We know of
none which, according to the definitions of the law, have been any
thing more than riotous. * * The information of our militia
returned from the westward is uniform, that, though the people there
let them pass quietly, they were objects of their laughter, not of their
fear; that one thousand men could have cut off their whole force in
a thousand places of the Alleghany; that their detestation of the
excise law is universal, and has now associated to it a detestation ol
THE UNITED STATES. 335
the government; and that separation, which, perhaps, was a very
distant and problematical event, is now near, and certain, and .deter-
mined in the mind of every man."
U * Mb T *. > *l VI,
GENERAL WAYNE'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NORTH-WESTERN
INDIANS. DEFEAT OF THE CON FEDERATE TRIBES AT THE
MIAMI RAPIDS. NATURALIZATION LAWS. THE DEM.O-
CRATIC CLUBS. HAMILTON'S RESIGNATION. THE
BRITISH TREATY: ITS RATIFICATION: POPULAR IN-
DIGNATION. RANDOLPH'S RESIGNATION
THE north-western Indians, unmolested by any important military
expedition since their signal victory over St. Clair, had grown con-
tinually more insolent and exacting in their demands. The progress
of western settlements was impeded by savage inroads: the natives
considered all white emigrants from the east as encroachers, and,
rendered confident by late successes, seemed rather to court hostili-
ties. It finally became essential to oppose a forcible check to
their ravages. To guard against the possibility of a second defeat,
the campaign of 1794 was preceded by the fortification of military
posts at Greenville, on the Miami, and at the spot rendered memora-
ble by St. Glair's defeat. The latter was named Fort Recovery.
The preceding winter and spring were occupied in these works,
and in the collection of an army, the command of which was be-
stowed upon General Wayne. On the 30th of June, 1794, the
strength of the position at Fort Recovery was tested by a fierce
attack on the part of the Indians, assisted by a number of whites
English or Canadians. The place was successfully defended, al-
though not without heavy loss.
In the month of August active operations were commenced.
"When the army was once put in motion, important and decisive
events rapidly succeeded. The march was directed into the heart of
the Indian settlements on the Miami, now called Maumee, a river
emptying into the western extremity of Lake Erie. Where the
beautiful stream Au Glaise empties into the river, a fort was imme-
TOL. IV. 50
336 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
diately erected, and named Fort Defiance. From this post General
Wayne sent emissaries to invite the hostile nations to negotiation,
but the pride and rancour of the Indians prevented any favourable
results. Little Turtle, indeed, seemed to forebode the impending
storm, and advised the acceptance of the terms offered. 'The
Americans,' said he, 'are now led by a chief who never sleeps: the
night and the day are alike to him. Think well of it.
There is something whispers me it would be prudent to listen to his
offers of peace.'"* Wayne was commonly called by the Indians
the "Black Snake:" another soubriquet, bestowed upon him by his
own followers, was that of "Mad Anthony."
The American camp was posted in the midst of such extensive
and highly cultivated fields of corn as excited the admiration and
astonishment of the invaders. The country "presented for miles
the appearance of a single village, and rich corn-fields spread on
either side." The Indians had retreated down the river from their
settlement, upon the advance of the army, and had taken up a
position in the immediate vicinity of a British fort, near the Miami
rapids. This 'was one of those posts retained by Great Britain in
defiance of former treaties, and constituted, as was generally be-
lieved, a de"pot where the Indians could procure arms and counsel,
if not direct assistance.
General Wayne attacked the enemy in their position, on the 20th-
of August. The Indians fought bravely: skilled in the use of fire-
arms, and somewhat familiar with the tactics of modern warfare,
they were far different opponents from what they had been in earlier
times. Their array, however, was broken by a charge of bayonets,
and an entire rout ensued. The powerful confederacy was, for the
time, annihilated; and the Americans, retracing their steps, spent
some time in laying waste the fields and settlements of the wretched
savages. Garrisons were posted at the forts within the Indian dis-
tricts, and the army retired to Greenville for winter-quarters.
The more important proceedings of congress, at the winter session
of 1794-5, related to the naturalization laws which were estab-
lished as at present, requiring five years' residence in the United
States, a declaration of intention three years previous to the final
application, and one years' residence in the state where the petition
is granted; and the establishment of a system for the appropria-
tion of surplus revenue for the reduction of the national debt.
* Indian Races of America.
THE UNITED STATES. 337
A lengthy and excited debate arose early in the session, upon the
question as to what action should be taken in reply to certain re-
marks in a message of the president, relative to the democratic
clubs. In adverting to the circumstances attendant upon the excise
tumults, Washington alluded to these associations, as "self-created
societies," whose influence had been perniciously extended in oppo
sition to the power and authority of government. The senate
concurred in this denunciation ; the house of representatives com-
promised the matter in dispute by a general resolution, condemning
the action of individuals or societies, which should have resulted in
misrepresentations of the proceedings of government, or have coun-
tenanced resistance to lawful authority.
It was at this session that Alexander Hamilton resigned his office
as secretary of the treasury, and General Knox that of secretary of
war. Oliver Wolcott, an officer connected with the treasury depart-
ment, succeeded the former the place of the latter was occupied by
Timothy Pickering, former post-master general. It is said that the
principal motive for retirement, on the part of both these distin-
guished officials, was pecuniary necessity, the pay awarded for their
public services being grossly inadequate.
A special session of the senate was called early in June, 1795, to
deliberate upon a treaty recently arranged between Jay, the Ameri-
can ambassador extraordinary, and the British minister, Lord Gren-
ville. Great Britain, it was found, would consent to few concessions;
the most objectionable of her claims were still insisted upon, or left
open ; and the commercial privileges yielded to America were gen-
erally accompanied by onerous restrictions or conditions. She agreed
to give up possession of the western posts upon security for payment
of debts due to British subjects before the revolution. A reciprocal
agreement provided for indemnity in all cases of illegal seizures.
With respect to freedom of commerce, the right to trade with the
British West Indies was restricted to vessels not exceeding seventy
tons measurement, a privilege counterbalanced by a prohibition of
any exportation of articles similar to those produced in those colo-
nies, from America to Europe. A wide discretion was still claimed
respecting the right to seize supplies destined for any country with
which England should be engaged in hostilities. Such articles as
were not clearly "contraband of war," were, it is true, to be paid for
if seized. No indemnity could be procured for those who had suf-
fered loss from the abduction of slaves by the British during the
338 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
war; an! the right to impress subjects of the king, if found on
board American vessels, was insisted upon, and remained undecided.
Goods belonging to an enemy were still claimed by England to be
liable to seizure on board the vessels of a neutral.
The treaty was approved by a two-thirds vote of the senate, (ob-
jection being taken to the article relating to the West India trade,
upon which action was suspended,) and received the ratification of
the president on the 14th day of August, notwithstanding a storm
of popular indignation, which had broken out upon its publication.
The terms agreed upon fell so far short of the expectations or wishes
of the people, that meetings were every where held, and violent
denunciatory resolutions passed. A memorial accompanied the rat-
ification, protesting against the claim, enforced by recent orders of
admiralty, respecting the indiscriminate seizure of provisions which
might be destined for the relief of an enemy.
At this time, certain private communications between Mr. Ed-
mund Eandolph, the secretary of state' and Fauchet, the successor
of Genet as ambassador from France, having come to the knowledge
of the British government by an intercepted dispatch, had been made
known to the president. The tendency of these disclosures was to
reflect upon the secretary an imputation of double-dealing, and of
some unwarrantable propositions. He accordingly resigned his office,
at the same time entering into an elaborate defence of his conduct,
and indignantly denying the validity of conclusions adopted by his
political opponents. A discussion of the merits of the case is en-
tirely beyond our limits, and it may, indeed, be doubted whether
we have means for arriving at a determinate opinion respecting
the affair.
THE UNITED STATES.
339
CHAPTER ?!!.
1HDIAN TREATY AT FORT GREENVILLE. TREATIES WITH
ALGIERS AND SPAIN: THE MISSISSIPPI OPENED TO AMERICAN
TRADE. DEBATE IN CONGRESS UPON JAY'S BRITISH
TREATY. TENNESSEE ADMITTED INTO THE UNION.
FRENCH PROCEEDINGS IN RESPECT TO THE
TREATY. AMERICAN MINISTERS TO FRANCE.
WASHINGTON'S RETIREMENT FROM OF-
FICE: SLANDERS UPON HIS CHARACTER.
JOHN ADAMS ELECTED PRESIDENT.
THE Indians of the north-west, finally convinced of the superior
power of the United States, and learning that their old allies, the
British, were about to evacuate the western military posts, expressed
a willingness to treat pacifically. A great meeting was brought
about at Fort Greenville at the beginning of August, 1795, at which
General Wayne, on behalf of the United States, entered into a defi-
nite agreement with the principal chiefs respecting future bounda-
ries, &c. The Indians gave up all claim to an immense tract included
in the present state of Ohio, together with other lands farther west.
Before the next session of congress very important treaties were
also negotiated with the Dey of Algiers* and with the Spanish gov-
ernment. In common with several European nations, the United
States submitted to tho disgraceful imposition of a heavy tribute,
in order to secure safety for her- commerce from the attacks of the
Algerine corsairs, and for the release of prisoners still held in. cap-
livitj^, victims of former piracies. With Spain more honourable
arrangements were established. The boundaries of her provinces
of Florida and Louisiana were assigned, and free navigation through-
out the Mississippi was secured to the citizens of the United States.
These several treaties having been ratified by the senate and
president, together with that concluded with Great Britain, were
brought before the house of representatives, at its winter session,
for the purpose of such action being taken, and such appropriations
made, as should give them full effect. Those relating to Indian
affairs, Algiers, and Spain, were readily disposed of: the English
treaty called forth all the fury of the opposition. A previous refusal
3-iO AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
by the president, on grounds of public policy, upon a call from the
house, to lay before that body the diplomatic correspondence, &c n
relative to this treaty, had a tendency to aggravate party violence.
The question was debated from April 15th, 1796, until the close
of the month. The whole effect of treaties; whether they became
binding when ratified, or whether concurrence of the house by
necessary appropriations was requisite before the national faith could
be considered pledged; and an application of general principles
to this particular treaty, formed abundant theme for argument and
declamation. A compromise was finally effected, by a passage of
the appropriations, as being a matter of present expediency, without
any decision of the general position in dispute.
On the 1st of June, just at the close of the session, the state of
Tennessee was admitted into the Union. The population of that ter-
ritory already amounted to about eighty thousand, including negroes.
The conclusion of Jay's British treaty excited great dissatisfaction
in France. The Directory, indignant that America should have
yielded to the British claims respecting the seizure of. French prop-
erty on board neutral vessels, declared that France was no longer
bound by the stipulations of her former treaty with the United
States, and, on the 2d of July, 1796, an order 'was promulgated,
"authorizing the ships-of-war of the republic to treat neutral vessels
in the same manner in which they suffered themselves to be treated
by the English."
Great numbers of American vessels were seized and confiscated
under this decree. Mr. Monroe, minister to France, at this period
was a member of the republican party, and, as such, warmly fa-
voured the interests of that nation. lie had met with an enthusiastic
reception, and, through him, a formal exchange of flags had been
effected between France and the United States, as a token of mutual
respect and amity. With the intention of adopting a stronger tone
towards the government of the republic, Washington appointed
Charles C. Pinckney of South Carolina, in place of Monroe. The
new envoy sailed for France in September.
As the period of his second term of office approached, President
Washington, in a farewell address, announced his determination to
retire from public life. This valedictory was issued in the month
of September, 1796. Throughout his administration his conduct
had been marked by firmness and integrity; but his leaning towards
the principles of the federalists was an unpardonable sin in the
THE UNITED STATES. o^
opinion of too many of the opposition. Every species of abuse had
been heaped upon him by ranters in the republican party; ambitious
personal views, disregard for popular rights, a tyrannical disposition,
and even peculations upon the public funds, were attributed to him.
The grossest misrepresentations reflecting upon his character were
circulated; 4 his enemies did not even scruple at the publication of
forged letters for the purpose of alienating the affection and respect
of the people from their former idol.
Time has exposed these falsehoods, and the vituperation of polit-
ical opponents is forgotten. The acrimony of party zeal has ceased
to blind men's minds to the true character of Washington; no man
in public life has left behind him a more unblemished reputation,
and few have attained equal eminence as a commander and a
statesman.
At the second presidential election, the great political parties put
forward, as their respective candidates, John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson. Seventy votes were necessary to a choice; Adams re-
ceived seventy-one, and the republican candidate sixty-nine by virtue
of which he entered upon the office of vice-president. The inaugu-
ration took place in the 9th of March, 1797. Washington retired
to his estate at Mount Vernon, where he passed the remainder
of his life.
C H A F T i T I I/I.
TREATMENT OP UNITED STATES' AMBASSADORS IN FRANCE.
HOSTILE PREPARATIONS IN AMERICA. NEW EMBASSY: RE-
FUSAL OF THE DIRECTORY TO RECEIVE THE AMERICAN
MINISTERS. NEGOTIATIONS WITH TALLEYRAND.
EXTRAVAGANT DEMANDS AND INJURIOUS DECREES OP
THE DIRECTORY. RETURN OF THE AMBASSADORS.
ACTION OF CONGRESS: MILITARY PREPARATIONS:
ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS LAND-TAX, ETC.
THE administration of Mr. Adams opened with serious and per-
plexing difficulties connected with our relations towards France.
Soon after the inauguration, dispatches arrived from Pinckney,
setting forth the injurious reception that he had met with on the
342 AMEEICA ILLUSTEATED.
part of the Directory. Monroe, upon presentation of his own letters
of recall, and those relative to the new appointment, was notified
that France would receive no other ambassador from the United
States until redress should be made for the grievances before com-
plained of as connected with the British treaty.
The retiring minister, at his last audience, was dismissed by the
president, Barras, in a speech as flattering to him as insulting to his
country. Pinckney could not even obtain a necessary protection
for continuing in tne country until further orders from home. He
was compelled to leave France, and proceeded, accordingly, to
Holland.
The late astonishing successes which had attended her arms upon
the continent, caused the existing government of France to under-
value the importance of preserving friendly relations with the
American republic; and the tone adopted by the Directory was of
a character calculated to strengthen the federal party in the states.
New and offensive decrees relative to American commerce 'speedily
followed.
President Adams, in a forcible address to congress, set forth the
conduct of the French government, as opposed to all rules of na-
tional courtesy and right: he recommended the formation of a
naval force, with other measures for defence of the commerce of the
country, and inveighed against the interference of France with the
internal politics of the United States, exhibited in various endeav-
ours to influence the elections, and alienate the people from the
government. After long debate in the house, appropriations were
made, and loans authorized for the purpose of carrying out the
views of the president, and arrangements were made for a draught
of militia from the several states in case of emergency.
A new embassy was commissioned, consisting of three persons
Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry to make a further attempt at the
opening of pacific negotiations. The envoys proceeded to France,
and arrived in Paris early in October, 1797. The Directory refused
to receive them, but an irregular negotiation was commenced through
the intervention of some agents of Talleyrand, then minister for
foreign affairs, and protracted, without important issue, until April
of the following year. During this period, the American ambassa-
dors were officially authorized to remain at the capital, and, from
time to time, held interviews with Talleyrand or his creatures.
The point most insisted on by the latter, was the necessity for
JOHN ADAMS,
SKCOND TKKS1DENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BOBN IM 1735 PRESIDENT IN 1797. SERVED 4 TB1RS
DJ CD JULY 4, 18U6
THE UNITED STATES. 343
opening the way to a complete arrangement, by a douceur or bribe
of about two hundred and forty thousand dollars, for the benefit of
the minister and directory, and the effecting a loan to the French
government of a further sum. This rapacious scheme was urged
with the most unblushing effrontery. "The main point," said the
Frenchmen, "is ilfaut de V argent ilfaut beaucoup cTargent.' 1 Some-
thing in hand, at least, they urged, should be paid them, unnl the
matter could be finally arranged. In vain did the envoys protest
that they possessed no shadow of authority for such proceedings
or undertakings; the matter was again and again reverted to,
and suggestions, unworthy of any but the most venal and cor-
rupt, were made respecting the manner in which it might be
brought about.
The demands of the Directory, as finally communicated by Tal-
leyrand, could not be listened to for a moment. If granted, they
would necessarily involve the United States in an immediate war,
for not only was the loan insisted upon, but also an annulment
of the late treaty with Great Britain. Desirous to terrify, or force
compliance with their unreasonable demands, the government had,
during the winter, greatly extended the grounds upon which Amer-
ican vessels were held liable to seizure. It was declared that all
produce of any dependency of Great Britain, without regard to
existing ownership, should be lawful prize, if found on board a
neutral vessel.
After experiencing every slight and indignity, two of the Ameri-
can commissioners, Marshall and Pirickncy, returned to the states;
Gerry, through whom, individually, many of the previous commu-
nications had been made by Talleyrand, and with whom, as being
the only republican on the commission, it was intimated that farther
negotiations might be continued, remained at Paris.
This treatment of the United States' ambassadors could not fail to
weaken the influence of the Gallican party in America. The out-
rageous demands of France, and the character of the late commercial
decrees, could not be sustained by the most ardent of her adherents
on this side the water. Congress being in session, April, 1798, dis-
patches containing a history of the negotiation were brought up for
consideration. The most active measures were at once taken to
prepare for contingent hostilities, and to furnish present protection
to American shipping. Large sums were appropriated for the pur-
chase of munitions of war, for the increase of the naval force, and
344 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
for fortifications. A new cabinet department was created for the
management of naval affairs.
A succession of important and decisive measures were passed
during the spring and summer. Without a direct declaration of war
with France, orders were issued for a cessation of all commercial
intercourse with that country; former treaties were declared to be
of no further effect; the capture of any armed French vessels was
authorized, if by private adventure, and directed, on the part of
the United States' navy. The latter was greatly increased, and large
appropriations were made for building new vessels and enlisting a
corps of marines.
Powers were bestowed upon the president, to enlist an army of
ten thousand men, in case of urgent necessity, and to immediately
appoint military officers, and make arrangements for the enrolment
and training of volunteers, in anticipation of such contingency. He
also received discretionary authority to order from the country any
foreigner who should be suspected of dangerous designs against
government; and, in case of hostilities, to banish or arrest all per-
sons belonging to the nation against which war should be declared.
To meet the heavy expense of these defensive measures, a tax
was laid upon slaves and real estate. As a check upon the violence
of the more turbulent portion of the opposition, and a restraint upon
foreign intrigue, an act was passed defining and affixing punishment
to seditious or treasonable conspiracies for opposing the authority
of government, and to the issuing of any libel upon congress, the
executive, or the measures of government, as well as any false and
malicious publication, having a tendency to excite domestic disaf-
fection, or to aid or encourage the designs of any hostile nation.
These acts met with a very strong opposition in congress ; but
the federal party was in a decided majority, and generally succeeded
in carrying the measures introduced by its leaders.
The office of commander-in-chief of the provisional army was be-
stowed upon Washington: his acceptance was conditional that his
services should be required only in case of emergency.
THE UNITED STATES. 345
u il iil i x ji xi Jt JL,
FAGIPIC MOVEMENTS IN FRANCE. MISSION OP MURRAY,
NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. DEATH OF WASHINGTON. NAPO-
LEON FIRST CONSUL. TREATY WITH FRANCE. FIRST
SESSION OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON. PRESI-
DENTIAL ELECTION: JEFFERSON PRESIDENT, AND
BURR VICE-PRESIDENT. PARTY REMOVAL FROM
OFFICE. ECONOMICAL REFORMS. OHIO AD-
MITTED INTO THE UNION. TRANSFER OF
LOUISIANA TO THE UNITED STATES.
THE Director}', finding all efforts to involve the United States in
war with England likely to prove futile, and learning by experi-
ence, that in naval operations the retaliatory measures lately adopted
in America, would tell severely upon French commerce, adopted a
more pacific and conciliatory course. Shortly before the departure
of Gerry, which took place in August, 1798, Talleyrand communi-
cated to him the willingness of government to receive a minister
from the United States, if choice should be made of one free from
prejudice against the interests of France; and, at the same time,
renounced all the more objectionable preliminaries to negotiations,
before so pertinaciously urged. About the same time, decrees were
passed for securing American vessels against unauthorized seizures
by French privateers.
In answer to these overtures, the senate, upon nomination of
President Adams, in February of 1799, appointed Mr. Murray, min-
ister at the Hague, jointly with Judge, Marshall and Patrick Henry,
to undertake a new mission to France, a condition being annexed
that intimation must be given by that nation of a favourable reception
before they should enter the French territory. General Davie, of
North Carolina, took the place of Henry, who declined serving ou
account of bodily infirmities.
These negotiations were slowly perfected, and, in the interim,
many encounters took place at sea, between private armed vessels
of the two nations. Those employed in the American merchant ser-
vice, generally availed themselves of the permission accorded by
congress to carry arms, and the spirit of privateering, perhaps to
346 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
be considered a national predilection, was gratified by the seizure
of many prizes. In February, 1799, an action was fought at sea,
near the island of St. Kitt's, between the United States frigate Con-
stellation, and the French frigate L'Insurgente, in which the latter
after a severe contest, was captured, and sent a prize to America.
Upon communication through Talleyrand, of the readiness of the
government to receive American envoys, Marshall and Davie were
directed, by the president, to embark forthwith, notwithstanding
vehement objections from a portion of the cabinet, grounded upon
the uncertainty of affairs in France, consequential upon a recent
change in the Directory.
The death of General Washington, which occurred on the 14th
of December, 1799, silenced, for a brief period, the clamour of party
contention, and all, except a few among the most violent and pre-
judiced of his former opponents, united to honour his memory by
public testimonials of respect and gratitude.
The new revolution of affairs in France, and the elevation of Na-
poleon to the office of First Consul, occurring at this epoch, augured
favourably for the establishment of permanent peace with France.
Meanwhile, the national pride of the United States was farther
gratified by intelligence of the prowess of the Constellation in an-
other engagement with the French frigate La Vengeance, a vessel
of greatly superior force. Although the latter escaped, in conse-
quence of the loss of a mast by the Constellation, she was so much
damaged that she was condemned upon arrival at port. The loss
of men on board the French vessel was four times greater than that
suffered by the Americans, amounting to about one hundred and
sixty in killed and wounded. The engagement took place in Feb-
ruary, 1800.
The United States' ambassadors were received by the First Consul,
with distinguished consideration, in the ensuing month of March.
Talleyrand was still at the head of the department for foreign affairs,
but a special commission, in which he had no share, was appointed
to treat on the part of the French government. Bound down by
stringent instructions, the envoys could enter into no conclusive
arrangement, but a temporary convention was agreed upon, that,
until the negotiation could be completed and a new treaty entered
into, the ships of either nation were to be safe from seizure under
the late unreasonable decrees.
Provision was also made for reconveyance of prizes not already
THE UNITED STATES. 347
condemned, and of captured national vessels, and preliminary agree-
ments were arranged for the future discharge of private claims against
either government. These results were not arrived at before the
month of October of the same year. They afterwards formed the
basis for the conclusion of a satisfactory treaty.
When congress came together in November, the pub'ic buildings
at Washington were sufficiently advanced to serve the purposes
designed, and the session was held accordingly at the new capitol.
The approaching presidential election was the all-absorbing topic of
interest, inasmuch as a grand trial of strength was expected between
the two political parties. President Adams had lost popularity by
the strong measures adopted in anticipation of war with France, his
course not appearing justified by the subsequent turn of events.
The respective candidates for the offices of president and vice-
president, were Adams and Pinckney, on the side of the federals;
while Jefferson, and the talented but intriguing and unprincipled
Colonel Aaron Burr, stood forth as representatives of the republicans.
The latter were successful, but as they received an equal number of
votes, by the existing constitutional regulation, selection devolved
upon the house of representatives. The votes were taken by states,
and it was not until after thirty-five divisions, that either candidate
could secure a majority. The contest terminated at the thirty-sixth
balloting, on the 17th of February, 1801. Jefferson obtained the
majority, and was declared president accordingly. Burr entered
upon the office of vice-president.
With the accession of Jefferson commenced that system of removal
from office of political opponents to the administration, which, with
a greater or less degree of personal favoritism, has been the estab-
lished policy upon every succeeding revolution of parties. The
changes arbitrarily introduced by the new president were mostly
such as were absolutely essential for the establishment of a necessary
unanimity in the departments, and a cordial cooperation in the new
principles of government. The displacement of certain federal in-
cumbents of inferior offices, gave occasion for great complaint, as
being uncalled for, and the result of mere party prejudice. With
our present experience of what may result from a retaliatory spirit,
we must loo ( k upon these removals by Jefferson as being conducted
with distinguished moderation.
The introduction of economical reform in the expenses of
government received the first attention of the new administration.
34:8 AMEEICA ILLl STRATED.
The navy was reduced, and its place, to a certain extent, supplied by
gun-boats, built for harbour defence the inefficiency of which, after-
wards demonstrated, gave occasion for much ridicule. In respect to
matters more particularly within the cognizance of a landsman and
one unacquainted with the practical conduct of military affairs, the
economical policy of Jefferson was wisely and judiciously enforced.
The obnoxious excise laws, and the land-tax, were repealed, by
means of which a great number of petty but expensive offices were
annulled; additional federal courts, created under the former admin-
istration, were done away with; and provision was made for the
reduction and eventual payment of the public debt the existence
of which was supposed to give undue influence to the treasury
department.
In 1802, the state of Ohio, whither a great influx of emigrants had
poured since the partial extinguishment of the Indian title, was
admitted into the Union by act of congress, and commenced its
separate existence as a sovereign state early in the following spring.
The transfer of the immense territory of Louisiana from Spain to
France, and the negotiation through which its purchase was effected,
by the United States in 1803, have been already detailed in that
portion of this work devoted to the French settlements in America.
No event could have been of greater importance to our western states
and territories than this. The possession by any foreign nation of
the outlet to the main channel of communication to this vast region,
must have caused continual conflict of interest, and endangered the
preservation of friendly relations between the parties concerned.
Experience had shown that the binding force of treaties "Vas insuffi-
cient to secure our citizens in their stipulated rights, while the mouth
of the Mississippi was commanded by the agents of European powers.
THE UNITED STATES. 349
U Ld> .H. i L JU it
AMERICAN FLEET IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. EXPEDITION 0?
EATON AND HAMET AGAINST TRIPOLI. TREATY CONCLUDED.
JEFFERSON'S REELECTION. BURR'S DUEL WITH BAM-
ILTON:HIS WESTERN ENTERPRISE: HIS TRIAL.
THE most interesting events, connected with foreign affairs, during
the first term of Jefferson's presidency, are those relating 'to difficul-
ties still existing with the Barbary states. That the maritime nations
of Europe, and the United States in pursuance of their example,
should have so long submitted to the degradation of purchasing
peace from the piratical barbarians of northern Africa, seems utterly
unaccountable, particularly as such concessions only aggravated their
insolence, and encouraged them, from time to time, to increase their
demands.
An American frigate, commanded by Bainbridge, in the autumn
of the year 1800, was compelled by the Dey of Algiers to serve as
a transport for the transmission of presents, &c., to Constantinople;
the remonstrances of the captain were met by the most arrogant and
insolent expressions of superiority.
The state of Tripoli, in the year following this event, commenced
open hostilities against American commerce the reigning prince
having become dissatisfied with the terms upon which his favour
had been bought. In the summer of 1802 a squadron under com-
mand of Commodore Morris was dispatched against the belligerent
nation. A partial blockade and some unimportant captures were
the only advantages gained during this season.
During the summer of the following year a larger naval force
under Commodore Preble arrived in the Mediterranean, and pro-
ceeded to blockade the harbour of Tripoli. The frigate Philadelphia,
commanded by Bainbridge, arrived first at the station. Unfortu-
nately, while in pursuit of a Tripolitan vessel, she struck upon a rock.
Vuin efforts were made to lighten and heave her off, during which
operation she was surrounded by gun-boats of the enemy. The
frigate heeled so far that her guns were useless, and she became a
prize to the Tripolitans. They got her off safely, and took her into
350 AMERICA ILLUSTEATED.
the harbour, making prisoners of all on board. The officers alone
were exempted from a condition of slavery.
This capture gave occasion for a brilliant exploit. Lieutenant
Decatur, with a small vessel recently taken from the enemy, and
manned by volunteers from the American frigate Enterprise, then
lying at Syracuse, undertook to destroy the Philadelphia. On the
night of February 16th, 1804, the Tripolitan crew on board the
frigate were hailed in their own language from a small craft, appar-
ently of their nation, whose approach was regarded without suspicion.
Under the excuse that she had lost her anchors, the stranger was
permitted to come alongside and make fast to the ship. Her true
character was immediately ascertained: the Americans, rushing on
board, in the confusion attendant upon the first alarm, drove the crew
overboard, fired the vessel, and effected a safe retreat.
An achievement of a still more remarkable and romantic character
was accomplished in the following year by William Eaton, Consul
for the United States at Tunis. Jessuf, the Bashaw of Tripoli, was
a younger brother; he had driven Hamet, the rightful incumbent of
the throne, into exile; and with the latter, Eaton, by authority from
the United States, entered into correspondence for the purpose of
planning a land expedition from Egypt into Tripoli, and expelling
the usurper.
A little band of Arabs, Tripolitan refugees of Hamet's party, and
Christian adventurers, numbering in all only about four hundred
men, set out from the vicinity of Alexandria, early in the spring of
1805. The passage of the intervening desert was not completed
until the latter part of April, the march being attended with extreme
suffering and destitution. The invaders arriving at Derne, with the
cooperation of American vessels lying in the harbour, took forcible
possession of the town, and held it against the main Tripolitan force,
by Avhich they were attacked a fortnight later.
While thus in the full tide of success, the hopes of Hamet and his
enterprising ally were crushed by the conclusion of a treaty between
the United States and Tripoli, by which Jessuf was left in undisturbed
possession of his sovereignty. A large sum was paid for the ransom
of captives remaining in the power of the bashaw, after the accom-
plishment of an equal exchange for those prisoners taken by the
Americans.
Prior to the conclusion of these events, a new presidential election
in the United States, had resulted in Jefferson's continuance in office
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
T1IIKI) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IK 1743 AT BHADWELL ALBEMARLE COUNTT. VA ; ELECTJD
PRJCBIDBNT IN ;eoi. BY A MAJORITY OF I SERVED P TEARS
TIBD JULY 4 1W2S
THE UNITED STATES.
tor a second term. George Clinton of New York was chosen vice-
president in place of Burr. The latter, in the summer of 1804, en-
raged against Hamilton on account of influence brought to bear
against him as candidate for the office of governor of New York,
sought a quarrel with his political opponent, whicL resulted in a
duel. Hamilton* fell mortally wounded at the first fire. The cir-
cumstance that Burr was the aggressor, as well as the challenging
party, with a general suspicion of his previous integrity and good
faith, aroused such public indignation that he was obliged to leave
the state. Politically dead in the United States, he turned his atten-
tion thenceforth to deeper and more desperate intrigues, to which,
a little anticipating the order of events, we may here advert.
In concert with one Blennerhasset, an Irishman of considerable
property, who had established himself upon an island in the Ohio
river near Marietta, Burr, it would appear, formed magnificent
schemes for revolutionizing the western country, and the establish-
ment of a separate government, as well as for an invasion of the
Spanish province of Mexico. By personal interviews with leading
men who were supposed to be disaffected towards the administration,
by mysterious letters, calculated to arouse cupidity and excite indefi-
nite hopes, and by negotiations through agents in whom he placed
very variant degrees of confidence, he succeeded in exciting a state of
feverish anticipation of some great, but indeterminate political change,
about to take place.
Being a man of consummate abilities, and of a remarkably pleasing
address, he acquired great influence over those with whom he held
familiar intercourse, and while he could mould inferior minds to his
own views, he was always able to conceal his own true purposes.
Perhaps no political intrigue ever occupied such universal attention,
as the one of which we are speaking, without its purport eventually
becoming more clearly apparent
When Burr first began to collect forces, it was under the guise
of procuring emigrants to occupy a tract on the Ouachita, in Louis-
iana, to which he had purchased a doubtful claim. In December,
1806, with about one hundred men who were probably as- much
in the dark as to the true destination and purposes of the expedition
as the public at large he passed down the Ohio in a number of
covered flat-boats. The agents of government were on the alert,
and his projects were by this time universally canvassed, and entered
more or less into the political controversies of the day.
VOL. IV. 51
352
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
At Natchez, Burr submitted to the requisitions of the territorial
civil authorities, and the charges against him were investigated
by the intervention of a grand jury at Washington, the capital of
the Mississippi territory. Nothing could be established by any
direct evidence, and he was acquitted. Meanwhile, General Wil-
kinson, the military commander at New Orleans, to whom Burr had
previously made many overtures, had arbitrarily arrested several
of the agents commissioned by the latter, and was enforcing a
species of martial law, in anticipation of the expected invasion or
revolution.
Further conduct of the expedition was unsafe, and Burr, dis-
missing his followers, attempted to make his escape into Florida
He was arrested near the Tombigbee river, and taken prisoner to
Richmond, where he was bailed, upon the charge of violating the
neutrality law, by enlisting forces to invade a peaceful nation. He
was subsequently indicted by a grand jury for high treason in levy-
ing war against the United States. The trial, after much delay in
vexatious preliminaries, took place in August, 1807, Chief-Justice
Marshall presiding. Sufficient evidence could not be obtained to
sustain the charge, and a verdict of acquittal followed. The same
result attended the trial upon the charge of a violation of the neu-
trality act.
All concerned were held amenable to the provisions of the latter
law in any district where an overt act, falling within its prohibi-
tions, should have been committed. Held to bail in Ohio, upon the
same accusation, Burr and Blennerhasset both forfeited their bonds.
The former soon after sailed for Europe, and passed many years
in fruitless endeavours to carry out schemes of personal aggrandize-
ment in France and England. He returned to spend the latter
years of his life in the obscure practice of law in his own state.
THE UNITED STATES.
853
u li A ir x
Jt .
ENGLISH AGGRESSIONS. - FAILURE OP NEGOTIATION. ATTACI
ON THE FRIG'ATE CHESAPEAKE. EMBARGO. NON-TNTER-
COURSE ACT. - ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. - JOHN
RANDOLPH. WEST FLORIDA. - CONCESSIONS OF NAPO-
LEON. BRITISH CRUISERS: THE LITTLE BELT.
TECUMSEH: ELSKWATAWA: BATTLE OP TIPPECANOE.
EAST FLORIDA. - DECLARATION OF WAR.
THROUGHOUT the closing term of Jefferson's administration, the
disturbed state of affairs in Europe was disastrously felt in America;
in carrying out schemes of mutual aggression, the two great belliger-
ent powers were utterly regardless of the rights and interests of
neutral nations. "It was in vain that the government of the United
States expostulated with them. To England it denied having sub-
mitted to the decrees of the French ruler; and to the latter it rep-
resented the indefeasible rights of neutrals. 'Join with me in
bringing England to reason,' was the reply of Bonaparte, who was
blind to all objects and reasons, except that of humbling his arch-
enemy. America was, in consequence, left to choose which of the
belligerents she should take for foes, since both at once might prove
too powerful for her, and neutrality, persevered in, only exposed her
vessels to capture, without retaliation to the disadvantages, in fact,
without the advantages of war." "The great powers of the land
and sea, unable to measure their strength, since each was predom-
inant on its own element, came to vent their blows on America."*
When, by the Berlin decree, of November, 1806, the emperor, in
retaliation for a similar assumption in respect to France, had
pronounced Great Britain to be in a state of blockade, and the gov-
ernment of the latter had extended her former decree to all the
dependencies and allies of France, the commerce of the United
States was, in effect, annihilated. There were not, however, want-
ing causes for a strong discrimination, in the minds of the Ameri-
cans, between the spirit and motives which actuated the several
aggressing nations.
The conduct of the naval officers in the British service, generally
* Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia.
354 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
insolent and overbearing towards the American marine, had been
growing more and more intolerable. The impressment of seamen
from United States' merchant vessels continued and increased, not-
withstanding the remonstrances of government, and a representa-
tion of the fact, that many American citizens were thus enslaved for
foreign service.
In hopes to effect some modification in the former treaty, by
which these illegal seizures might be checked, and the commerce of
America be freed from the more oppressive restrictions, Messrs.
Monroe and Pinckney were commissioned as ambassadors to Eng-
land in 1806. They arranged a treaty accordingly, but, as nothing
was yielded by the British government respecting the more import-
ant points of controversy, the president, without communicating with
the senate, refused to ratify.
While attempts at negotiation failed, the course pursued by the
English cruisers, in carrying out their instructions to watch the
American coast, assumed an appearance more than ever offensive.
A direct attack upon a national vessel, finally called for some deci-
sive action. The Chesapeake, an American frigate, was dispatched
in the month of June, 1807, to the Mediterranean. Just without
the capes of the Chesapeake, she was hailed by the Leopard, an
English man-of-war. Upon heaving to, a boat soon came along-
side, and a message was delivered from the captain of the Leopard,
demanding permission to search for certain deserters, known or sus-
pected to be on board the American vessel. Specific orders to this
effect had been given by the British Admiral Berkeley.
The demand not being complied with, the Leopard, having taken
a favourable position, without further parley, first fired two succes-
sive single shots, the first, across the bows of the Chesapeake, and
then poured in several broadsides, by which three men were killed,
a number wounded, and much damage was done to the vessel. The
commander, Barren, his ship not being ready for action, was unable
to resist, and therefore struck his flag. Several officers from the
Leopard then came on board; the crew of the Chesapeake were
examined, and four were taken away prisoners, as deserters from
the British service. One of them was afterwards hanged for de-
sertion; the three others (coloured men) proved to be American
citizens. The Chesapeake immediately returned to Norfolk.
President Jefferson promptly issued a proclamation, ordering all
British armed vessels to leave the waters of the United States, and
THE UNITED STATES. 355
prohibiting further intercourse with them. Demand was made upon
the British government for redress, and for future guarantee that
American vessels should be no longer searched for purposes of
impressment. The attack on the Chesapeake being totally inex-
cusable, although similar acts had been previously committed, on
several occasions, by British vessels was at once disavowed, and
full reparation was tendered; but upon the other point, no concession
whatever was made. New and more stringent orders instead, were
issued for the siezure of British mariners in foreign service; and, in
case such should be known to be on board national vessels of a
neutral, precise instructions were given to make report thereof to
the British admiralty.
Congress was called together at an earlier day than the regular
commencement of the session, and, after nfuch discussion, a general
embargo was laid (December, 1807), to continue indefinitely, by
which American vessels were prohibited from leaving port. The
enforcement of this system, however necessary, occasioned great
commercial distress, and gave much dissatisfaction in New England.
The embargo was, to a certain extent, evaded by the more adven-
turous; but the retaliatory decrees of France and England had been
extended to such an extreme of exclusion, that no vessel trading
.to Europe or the West Indies could be safe from seizure.
The prospect of an amicable arrangement appeared less than ever.
Throughout the year 1808, nothing was heard but complaints of
the oppressive embargo. At the winter session of congress, in
1808-9, the whole subject was debated, and, in place of the embargo,
a prohibition of intercourse with France and England was concluded
upon trade with other countries of Europe being left open. A pro-
vision was also appended, giving the president power to suspend
this restriction as to either nation which should conform to the
requisitions of the United States, by a withdrawal of the obnoxious
edicts or orders in council. This change was accomplished just
before the close of Jefferson's administration. In accordance with
the example of Washington, he had declined being a candidate for
a third presidential term. The republican party, retaining their
ascendancy, elected James Madison, lute secretary of state, to the
office of president: Clinton was again chosen vice-president
One very important event, not noticed in the order of its occur-
rence, was the passage, by congress, of an act prohibiting the intro-
duction of slaves after the 1st of January, 1808 the constitutional
856 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
limit within which no restraining law could be enacted, upon this
subject, other than the imposition of a specified duty upon all im-
ported. Severe penalties were affixed to the direct importation of
slaves, attaching, although in less degree, to the buyer who should
be cognizant of the illegal introduction ; and the transportation of
slaves by sea from one port to another in the United States, was
regulated and restrained. Slaves thenceforth imported, were to be
seized, arid to "remain subject to any regulation or disposal, not
contrary to the provisions of this act, which might be made by the
respective states and territories."
In the debate upon this subject, a prominent part was taken, in
behalf of the slave-holding interest, by John Randolph, a young
member from Virginia, whose remarkable talents and brilliant ora-
tory might have given him a position of great eminence, but for a
singular vein of misanthropic eccentricity which pervaded his whole
character, and for an unparalleled degree of habitual insolence and
assumption. Belonging originally to the republican party, he was
of the number of those who seceded from the principles adopted by
the administration, and during Jefferson's closing term, headed a
powerful opposition to the measures adopted in retaliation for Brit-
ish aggression.
The first communications opened with Great Britain, after Madi-
son's inauguration, gave promise of a speedy settlement of difficulties.
Mr. Erskine, the British minister, over-stepping the limits of his
instructions from Secretary Canning, stipulated on behalf of his
government, that the odious commercial orders in council should
be withdrawn, as to United States' vessels, upon revocation of the
nan-intercourse act. The president, in conformity with the powers
expressly conferred upon him, suspended the act accordingly.
Several' preliminary conditions, upon which he had received spe-
cial instructions, were entirely neglected by Erskine in this nego-
tiation. The most important of these related to a matter long in
dispute, viz: whether, in time of war, a neutral could carry on a
trade with one of the belligerent parties, of a character prohibited
by such nation in time of peace.
Erskine's stipulations were, therefore, disavowed, and non-inter-
course was reestablished. Provisions were made by the Biiiisn
government in favour of such vessels as might have availed them-,
selves of the temporary removal of restrictions. Mutual recrimina
tions in respect to this affair, aggravated the hostile dispositions of
THE UNITED STATES. 357
the two governments. On the one hand, it was suggested that the
United States had been cognizant of the true nature of the instruc-
tions given to the British ambassador, while, on the other, the refusal
of the ministry to ratify the arrangement concluded, was looked
upon as "an act of capricious hostility." Mr. Jackson', successor to
Mr. Erskine, upon a renewal of negotiation, conducted the corres-
pondence in a manner so offensive, that his recall was demanded,
and all diplomatic intercourse, for the time, was suspended.
During the autumn of 1810, the settlers in that portion of West
Florida bordering on the Mississippi, following the example of
other Spanish American colonies, took advantage of the embarrassed
position of the home government to rebel against the Spanish au-
thorities. This district was soon after occupied by the United
States, under claim of title, by virtue of former treaties of transfer.
Upon the expiration of the non-intercourse act, in 1810, propositions
were made by the United States to France and England for a re-
moval of the onerous restrictions upon trade. To either nation
which should comply with this requisition, the inducement of exclu-
sive commercial intercourse was held out. Napoleon, willing to
yield a point in his rigid continental system, for the purpose of
securing the friendship of the United States, and a matter still
more to his taste of involving them in war with England, gave
notice, through his ministers, that American vessels should be free
from the operation of the sweeping decrees of Berlin and Milan.
Commerce was at once opened with France; but the British gov-
ernment, affecting to consider the suspension of the French decrees
as irregular, temporary, and illusive, declined yielding to the re-
quirements of the United States. On the contrary, national jealousy
being aroused by the prospect of an advantageous trade between
this country and France, renewed vigilance was exercised, and a
more rigorous search instituted by the numerous British cruisers on
the American coast.
The sloop-of-war Little Belt, commanded by Captain Bingham,
while engaged in this service, fell in with the American frigate Pres-
ident, under Commodore Rodgers. The English vessel at first bore
down upon the American, until discovering that the latter was of
greater force, and that her signals were not answered, she stood
away. Pursued by the President, she hove to, and both vessels
hailed, as appears, nearly simultaneously. Neither replied except
by a second hail. Upon this some shots were fired accounts being
358
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
contradictory as to which vessel commenced soon succeeded by a
general cannonade on either side, in which the Little Belt was nearly
disabled, and lost more than thirty of her crew in killed and wounded,
Such discrepancy prevails in the accounts given of this transaction,
that we are somewhat at a loss in forming conclusions respecting
its merits.
At a special session of congress, in the autumn of 1811, the presi
dent set forth, in a message to that body *the futility of all attempts
at negotiation with Great Britain, the enormous injury to American
commerce effected by her exclusive system, the vast number of ves-
sels in the United States' merchant service which had fallen a prey to
her cruisers, and the generally aggressive and ungenerous policy
pursued by her government. "With this evidence," proceeded the
address, "of hostile inflexibility, in trampling upon rights which no
independent nation can relinquish, congress will feel the duty of
putting the United States into an armour and an attitude de
manded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit
and expectations."
This call was responded to, by a decided majority, in a similar
spirit. Appropriations were made, and loans authorized, for the
enlargement of the army, for fortifications, and the accumulation of
military stores. The navy was ordered to be increased, and pro-
visions were made for organizing a militia force. The existence of
serious disturbances at the north-west, attributed, in some measure,
to British influence over the Indian tribes, added to the hostile feel-
ing entertained towards Great Britain.
A new confederacy had been long forming in that quarter,
under the direction, and through the intrigues of "the celebrated
Tecumseh and his brother Elskwatawa, or the Prophet. The
former, at this period, was engaged in gaining over the tribes of the
southern states to unite in a magnificent enterprise for the recovery
of the entire valley of the Mississippi from the whites. The pro-
phet was established on the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Wa-
bash, where a horde of his followers encamped about him, and kept
the country in terror by their depredations.
To check these ravages, Governor Harrison, with a force of about
nine hundred men, regulars, militia, and volunteers, marched up
the Wabash from Fort Harrison, at the close of October (1811).
He encamped on the 5th of November, within nine miles of the
prophet's town, and attempted to negotiate with the Indian chief.
V
JAMES MAD ISO X,
FOUHTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN 1751. NEAR PORT ROYAL. VA..; PRESIDENT IN 1809; SERVED
8 TSARS- DIED JUNE 38. 1836
THE UNITED STATES. 359
The latter proposed a truce, for the purpose of a conference to take
place on the day following. This pacific overture was merely in-
tended to disarm suspicion. On the following morning, a little
before day-break the time always selected by the Indians, for a
surprise the whole force under command of the prophet, fell upon
the American encampment.
Fortunately, due precautions had been taken for a timely alarm,
and for the preservation of order in case of a night attack. Although
the Indians fought with astonishing fury and determination, they
were finally driven off and dispersed, not without a loss, on the
part of the whites, of one hundred and fifty in killed and wounded.
The American troops immediately proceeded to the Indian settlement,
and accomplished its entire destruction.
Certain disclosures, communicated to congress by a message of the
president, in March, 1812, relative to the secret agency of one John
Henry, who, several years previous, had been commissioned by> the
governor of Canada to attempt negotiation with the New England
federalists, excited great indignation among the war party. It would
appear that for a time undue importance was attached to this affair.
The president paid a large sum of money from the secret service fund,
to secure the correspondence between Henry and his employer. The
principal matter of the communications related to the extent to which
the anti-war party might be willing to push their opposition, and the
possibility or probability of a secession from the Union by the com-
mercial states of the north, in the event of their political defeat.
In the month of April, an important accession to the southern in-
terest resulted from the admission of the new state of Louisiana,
including that portion of West Florida already occupied by the
United States. The Spanish possessions in East Florida were en-
dangered, at the same period, by an outbreak encouraged and pro-
moted by the American general, Matthews. A strong party in
congress even a majority in the house was in favour of taking
forcible possession of this territory; but a bill for that purpose was
lost in the senate.
A prospect of speedy hostilities with America, gave rise to a strong
opposition in the British parliament, to the measures of government;
and strenuous exertions were made to effect a compliance with the
principal requisitions of the United States. These movements on
the part of the friends of peace and of the rights of neutrals, it has
been said, might have terminated in such concession as would have
360 AMERICA ILLUSTEATED.
satisfied the latter, if patience, had been a little farther extended.
At the close of May, 1812, recent intelligence having been received
from England, and no prospect appearing of a disposition on the part
of government to yield the questions in dispute, President Madison
sent in a message recommending immediate declaration of war.
The senate promptly concurred with the recommendation; in the
house, the question, after about a fortnight's consideration, resulted
in the same conclusion. The debate was conducted with closed
doors. On the 18th of June, war was formally declared with Great
Britain. To this act most strenuous opposition was made by the
federal party. In those portions of the United States most depend-
ant upon commerce, a violent outcry was raised against a measure,
which, although specially called for by foreign aggressions upon
their rights and interest, threatened to increase their present diffi-
culties, while it imposed upon the country at large an enormous
burden of additional expense.
u oil i/l r JL Jci i iA> x .
RIOTS AT BALTIMORE. HULL'S INVASION OP CANADA. RE-
PEAL 1 OF THE ORDERS IN COUNCIL: IMPRESSMENT. NAVAL
OPERATIONS. MADISON'S REELECTION. NORTH-WEST-
ERN CAMPAIGN: .DEFEAT OF W I NC H ESTER. ATTACK
ON YORK. THE BRITISH ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN!
WHILE expressions of indignation and regret were every where
heard throughout those portions of the country where the war was
unpopular, and signs of public mourning appeared in the flags of a
useless shipping hoisted at half-mast, the war-party in other districts
exhibited still more violent feeling. At Baltimore, the most disgrace-
ful scenes of brutal outrage occurred, in connection with the suppres-
sion by a mob of a federal news-paper, which persisted in opposing
popular opinion. The editor, Hanson, with a number of friends, in
defence of his house, attacked by an infuriate populace, fired upon
the assailants, one of whom was killed.
The municipal authorities at last appeared, with an armed force,
and, to appease the mob, Hanson and his companions consented to
TIIEUNITED STATES.
361
be taken to prison, to answer to any charge that might be substan-
tiated against them. The following night the jail was broken into,
and a number of these prisoners, foiling into the hands of the rioters,
were most barbarously beaten, wounded, and tormented. One of
the number, General Lingan, an old revolutionary soldier, died under
their hands; the others were left for dead, and some never recovered
from the injuries received. The perpetrators of this cowardly and
villanous outrage received no punishment; some of the foremost in
the transaction were tried and acquitted by ajury of the neighbourhood.
Upon the organization of the new army, the chief command was
bestowed upon General Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, an officer
of the revolution. At the south, Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina,
was created major-general, and invested with the chief command in
that quarter. The first attention of the government was directed to
an expedition into Canada, where, it was believed, the disaffection of
the inhabitants towards Great Britain would render it easy to obtain
a foothold. A force of nearly two thousand men, under Brigadier-
General Hull, governor of the territory of Michigan, entered Canada
West on the 12th of July, crossing over from Detroit to Sandwich.
The first object of attack was the British fort at Maiden, near the
debouchement of Detroit river the strait connecting Lakes St. Chxir
and Erie. Owing to delay on the part of Hull, opportunity was
given for strengthening the garrison at this place.
While the army remained inactive, about the middle of July, the
American fort at Michilimackinac fell into the hands of the enemy,
and, shortly after, communication by the land route with Ohio, was
entirely cut off by a party of Indians under Tecumseh. Hull there-
fore recrossed the river, with his entire force, and occupied Detroit.
General Proctor, in command at Maiden, was enabled to cooperate
with his Indian allies, and renewed attempts on the part of the
Americans to force a passage of the road, only resulted in heavy loss.
Toward the middle of August, General Brock, governor of Lower
Canada, having hastened to the scene of action, assumed command,
and advanced upon Detroit with his whole army of British and In
dians, amounting, in all, to over twelve hundred men. The Amer
icans, occupying a defensible position, entertained little fears of being
able to sustain themselves; but what was the astonishment and in-
dignation of the army, when General Hull, as the enemy approached
to the assault, entered into a parley, and arranged terms of surrender
All the regulars and volunteers in the American army became pris-
862 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
oners of war, the militia being paroled, and the whole territory of
Michigan fell into the hands of the British.
So heavy a loss, and so disgraceful a reverse, at this first opening
of the campaign, could not be patiently endured. Every species of
opprobrium was heaped upon the commanding officer, to whose in-
decision or weakness the failure was wholly attributed. Put upon
trial, by court martial, long afterwards, he was convicted of cow-
ardice; but his character, at the present day, stands free from asper-
sions thrown out in the heat of disappointment, and his failings
principally over-caution, and a want of that promptness and energy
which are so necessary in a military leader are looked upon with
greater leniency.
The result of this campaign, unfortunately for the American inter-
ests, was to give ' facilities for an easy and constant communication
between the British and the confederate tribes of the north-west.
The latter were never more dangerous enemies than at this period,
provided, as they were, with arms by their English allies, led by a
chief of surpassing abilities as a military leader, and excited by su-
perstitious confidence in their Prophet Elskwatawa.
Upon a change of the British ministry, in the month of June, of
this year, a repeal of the orders in council as to American vessels
was brought about, and it was trusted that negotiations might now
be opened for a peaceful settlement of difficulties. The American
government, however, declined all proposals for a suspension ot
hostilities, not based upon a proposed adjustment of other claims
against England. The matter of the right of impressment was as
far as ever from settlement; the British absolutely refused to yield
the point; and the grievance complained of had now become more
than ever intolerable. The number of native born American citizens
rendering compulsor}'- service in the British navy cannot be ascer-
tained, but those who claimed exemption on this ground numbered
between three and four thousand. The great majority of these were
doubtless foreigners, but their right to protection, if not British sub-
jects, was as clear as in the case of native or naturalized citizens.
While all the acts of the American government continued to
breathe a warlike spirit, many obstacles were experienced in the prac-
tical operations of the campaign. It was difficult to procure recruits
by voluntary enlistment, and in the raising of a militia force, con-
tinual opposition was met by state claims of sovereignty. By a sin-
gular transmutation, the federalists at this crisis were the sticklers
THE UNITED STATES. 353
for state rights, as opposed to the military authority of the president,
and the acts of congress. Several states refused to comply with the
requisitions of government, upon the ground that no necessity of the
kind contemplated by the act respecting draughts of militia, could
be said to exist that there was no call to "execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections, or repel invasion." Questions respect-
ing the employment of the militia in foreign territory, and their claim
to be commanded by their own officers, if of superior rank to any
regular officer present, gave rise to great difficulty and dissension.
At the west, early in the autumn, a force of about ten thousand
men was collected for the defence of the frontier, and for operations
againstdhe British and Indians. Governor Harrison was appointed
to the chief command. The impracticable nature of the roads, and
the difficulty of maintaining an army in the wilderness, impeded the
movement of any large body of troops, and nothing was effected,
during the remainder of the year, further than the destruction of
several Indian villages, by detached parties.
Upon the waters which separate Canada from New York, a still
larger force than that under Harrison was stationed at various points
from Niagara to Lake Champlain. On the 13th of October, a party
of less than three hundred men, led by Colonel Van Rensselaer,
crossed Niagara river and stormed the British fort at Queenstown.
They were to have been supported by a large force, sufficient to
maintain possession, and resist any reinforcements that could be
brought up by the enemy, but during the embarkation, the principal
portion of the militia, at first loud in protestations of eagerness to
invade the enemy's territory, taken with a panic, refused to cross.
In an attempt at recovering the fort, the brave General Brock fell,
while leading his men to the assault
Notwithstanding their success at the first onset, the event proved
disastrous to the Americans. A strong reinforcement under General
Sheafe came to the assistance of the enemy, and the whole invading
division, amounting with those brought across during the contest to
more than a thousand men, thrown into confusion, and cut off from re-
treat, was forced to surrender. Nothing further, of any importance,
was accomplished upon the frontier, during the remainder of the year.
The flaming proclamation of General Smyth, and the patriotic ardour
expressed by the militia and volunteers who composed the principal
portion of the army of the north, alike ended in smoke. While the
soldiers accused their commanders of a lack of energy, and inveighed
364 AMERICA ILLUSTBATED.
against vexatious delays and general mismanagement, the latter bad
abundant ground of complaint in tbe turbulence and insubordination
of the new recruits.
Experience having proved the necessity of establishing a marine
force on the lakes, in order to effect any thing in Canada, a movement
for this purpose was commenced in the month of September pre-
vious, at Sackett's Harbour, under direction of Captain Chauncey.
At this port, situated at the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario, the
keei of a ship was laid, and a number of trading schooners were
purchased and armed. A small sloop of war, named the Oneida,
had been previously fitted out, and was also under Chauncey's com-
mand. With this little fleet, some bold excursions were ma(fe on the
lake, a British armed vessel was driven into Kingston harbour, and
several small prizes were taken. The new ship, of twenty-four
guns, was completed in November, and was called the Madison.
Lieutenant Elliot, furnished by Chauncey with a detachment of
seamen, in the month of October, succeeded in capturing two small
armed vessels belonging to the enemy, and lying in Niagara river.
He also commenced preparations for future operations on Lake Erie,
by collecting trading vessels at Black Eock, and providing them with
suitable armament.
While the foundation was thus laid for further brilliant successes
on the lakes, successive reports of the unexpected prowess of the
little United States' navy consisting of but seven frigates, (fit for
service), two sloops of war, five brigs, and a fleet of gun-boats gave
rise to great exultation throughout the country.
The first naval engagement of importance, took place on the 19th
of August. The American frigate Constitution, Captain Hull, cruis-
ing off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, fell in with the Guerriere, a
British frigate of thirty-eight guns, commanded by Captain Dacres.
The former, receiving successive broadsides from the Guerriere,
bore down in silence until close at hand, when she opened such an
effective fire as soon to disable and cripple the enemy. The en-
gagement lasted only about half an hour, partly at close quarters,
and when the Constitution finally cast off, all the masts of the
Guerriere had gone by the board. The latter presently struck,
but she had received irreparable injury, and was set on fire after a
transfer of her crew to the Constitution. This victory was attri-
buted by the English to superiority in force. The Constitution,
according to their account, a nominally mounting but forty-four guns,
THE UNITED STATES.
365
was, in reality, little short of a seventy-four." The disparity was
by no means as great as represented, and could not account for the
result of the engagement. The truth seems to be, that in this as in
subsequent affairs, the American vessels were manoeuvred in a
masterly manner, and that their fire was given with better aim than
that of their antagonists.
The United States' sloop-of-war Wasp, under Captain Jones, in
chase of a British fleet of merchant vessels, in the month of October,
encountered the Frolic, a brig of superior force, acting as convoy.
After a most destructive and desperate engagement, the British
vessel was carried by boarding. The loss on board of the latter,
was about eighty in killed and wounded; the Americans lost but
ten. The Wasp was so much crippled in her rigging, that, to-
gether with her prize, she was shortly after captured by a British
seventy-four.
A few days later the frigate United States, commanded by Deca-
tur, captured the British frigate Macedonian, in the vicinity of the
Western Islands. The American vessel was somewhat superior in
force, but, as in the case of the Guerriere, not sufficiently so to
account for the rapidity with which she disabled her opponent, nor
for the fact, that of her crew, only twelve were killed or wounded,
while the loss of the Macedonian was more than one hundred. The
prize was taken into New York in safety.
During the summer and autumn, the Americans lost two brigs-of-
war, the Nautilus, and the Vixen, both taken, without resistance,
by superior force. On the 29th of December, the Constitution,
under command of Bainbridge, engaged the British frigate Java, of
thirty-eight gun?. The contest, commencing at a distance, and end-
ing at close-quarters, continued for several hours, when the Java,
being entirely dismasted, struck. She was so far crippled, that it
was judged expedient to destroy her.
While the national pride was gratified by these victories, numer-
ous privateers, mostly fitted out from New England ports, met with
great success in plundering the British merchant vessels, homeward
bound from the Indies. Many valuable prizes were taken not
without some hard fighting, in cases where the trading vessels
were armed.
The period of a presidential election recurring in 1812, Madison,
was re'elected. Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, minister to France
in 1797, was elevated to the vice-presidency, by the votes of the
366 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
war-party. Notwithstanding a violent opposition, perseverance in
hostile measures met with the approbation and support of a majority
in congress, and appropriations were made, and acts passed, for the
increase of the national force, and for large additions to the navy.
Military operations were renewed at the north-west, early in the
winter. Several Indian villages were destroyed in December, but
nothing of importance was accomplished. During the month fol-
lowing, a detachment of Kentucky troops, under General Winches-
ter, was sent forward by Harrison to take a position at the Miami
rapids. A body of nearly seven hundred of these pushed on to
Frenchtown, on the Raisin, then occupied by British and Indians.
The first attack was successful ; the enemy were driven from the
town, and the Americans were reinforced by the arrival of Win-
chester with additional troops.
On the 22d, General Proctor, having crossed over from Maiden,
with a strong force of regulars and Indians, fell upon and totally
defeated the American detachment. The commanding officer was
taken prisoner early in the engagement, while a portion of the Amer-
ican troops yet maintained a defensible position. The general
ordered a surrender, upon promises of protection against the sav-
ages. Instead of fulfilling his undertaking in this respect, Proctor
marched back towards Maiden, with such prisoners as were able to
travel, leaving the wounded unprotected at the scene of combat.
On the following day, no small portion of these were scalped, tom-
ahawked, or burned alive in the houses where they lay disabled,
by a party of Indians. Harrison, discontinuing offensive operations,
fortified himself at Fort Meigs, on the rapids.
In the month of April, 1813, he was besieged at this post, by' a
British and Indian force, under Proctor. Eelieved by the arrival
of reinforcements from Kentucky, led by General Clay, he succeeded
in holding the position, but a considerable body of these fresh forces
was utterly defeated, after driving the British from a position where
batteries were erected to bear upon Fort Meigs. This disaster is
attributed to the circumstance, that, instead of maintaining orderly
possession of the works, they commenced an irregular skirmish with
detached parties of Indians in the surrounding forest.
On the New York frontier, nothing important was effected by
either party until the spring was far advanced. Near the close of
April, a detachment of sixteen hundred men embarked on board
Chauncey's Ontario squadron, for the purpose of an attack upon the
THE UNITED STATES. g(J7
Canadian town of York. The place, defended by a garrison of six
to eight hundred men, was carried by storm, but at the moment of
success, the magazine blew up, destroying a large number of the
assailants. The American commander, General Pike, was among
the killed.
The squadron returning to Sackett's harbour, took on board fresh
forces, under the immediate command of Dearborn, and immediately
sailed for the entrance of Niagara river. All the British forts in
the vicinity were seized, the principal portion of the garrisons
retreating to the heights on Burlington bay the western extremity
of Lake Ontario. In an attempt at pursuit, a few days later, a
detachment of the Americans sustained considerable loss, and two
of their generals, Chandler and Winder, were taken prisoners. The
division was presently recalled to Fort George, one of the recently
acquired posts on the Niagara. A second expedition against the
enemy resulted in the loss of an entire detachment of six hundred
men, under Colonel Boerstler.
A vigorous attack upon the American post at Sackett's Harbour,
in the latter part of May, was repulsed by the garrison, aided by
New York militia, under General Brown. On Lake Champlain the
British were more successful. By the creation of a superior naval
force, they obtained command of those waters, and did much in-
jury to the neighbouring settlements. Plattsburgh, on the western
shore of the lake, was plundered and destroyed, "in revenge," it
was said, "for the affair of York;" the latter having been a second
time invaded by an American force, under Colonel Scott.
INTERNAL IMPROVKMENTS. Now York, headed by her great statesman. Do Witt Clin-
ton, has tho honor of taking the lead in internal improvements, from which enterprise 8he
is now reaping an ample reward in her commercial pre-eminence and wealth. In 1817
was commenced the great work of connecting the waters of t.e Atlantic with the great
lakes, by breaking tho soil for the Erie and Hudson Canal, whioii is 3(U miles long, and
(originally) forty feot wide. It was completed in 1825, at a cost of at out $7,000,000.
VOL. IV. 52,
868 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
L ii A ir i Ji id All l.
NATAL AFFAIRS: PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE. HAR-
RISON'S CANADIAN CAMPAIGN. THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
THE CREEK WAR: JACKSON'S CAMPAIGN. NEGOTIA-
TIONS FOR PEACE. BROWN'S INVASION OF CANADA:
BATTLE OF BRI J)G E WATE R. OCCUPATION OX THE
CHESAPEAKE: BATTLE OF BL ADEN SBURGH: SEIZ-
URE OF WASHINGTON: DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC
BUILDINGS: ATTACK ON BALTIMORE.
FROM the opening of the campaign of 1813, the British naval
force on the coast, considerably augmented, maintained a partial
blockade of many American seaports. Several ships-of-war, enter-
ing the Chesapeake, cut off all ingress or egress for American ves-
sels, and, landing parties at different points, did much damage, and
kept the neighbouring country in a state of anxiety and alarm.
Upon the ocean, the credit of the American navy, notwithstand-.
ing some severe reverses, was fully maintained. The sloop-of-war
Hornet, under Captain Lawrence, in the month of February, en-
gaged and sunk the British brig Peacock of nearly equal force, off
the coast of Demerara. After the latter had struck her flag, it waa
ascertained that she was settling fast. The sea was rough, and,
although every exertion was made to save the crew, she went
down with twelve men on board, three of whom were Americans,
belonging to the Hornet.
Captain Lawrence was afterwards promoted to the command of
the ill-fated Chesapeake, then lying in Boston harbour. On the
1st day of June, the British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, appear-
ing off the port, Lawrence got his vessel under weigh and made
sail, to answer the implied challenge. The ships were of equal
force, but the American frigate laboured under the disadvantage of
having on board an ill-disciplined crew, and a deficiency of compe-
tent officers. An engagement watched from shore with intense
interest took place late in the afternoon. The Chesapeake, par-
tially crippled during a heavy fire at close-quarters, was carried by
boarding, her commander lying, at the time, mortally wounded
While he retained possession of his faculties, he refused to order the
THE UNITED STATES. 359
flag to be struck, and among his last words, was the expression,
"Don't give up the ship."
In the course of the summer, the American sloop-of-war Argus,
after taking a great number of prizes in the British channel, was
captured by the English sloop-of-war Pelican. Captain Porter, in
command of the second class frigate Essex, did valuable service in
the Pacific during the summer and autumn of 1812. The operations
of American whalers had been interrupted, and rendered precarious
by the general commission and arming as privateers of those vessels
from Great Britain, that were engaged in a similar occupation.
Many of the latter were made prizes by Porter, and effectual pro-
tection was extended to American shipping.
The Essex was attacked, in the month of December following,
while at anchor in the neutral port of Valparaiso, by two British
vessels of war, the Phoebe and Cherub, and, after a severe engage-
ment, was compelled to strike. The enemy, having heavier guns,
were enabled to keep up a destructive fire at a distance too great
for those of the Essex to be effective.
Operations of far greater importance, meanwhile, had taken place
on the great lakes. On Lake Erie a squadron of nine vessels, mostly
small craft, carrying in all fifty-four guns, was put under command
of Commodore Perry. The British fleet at the lake, under Barclay,
consisted of six vessels, the whole number of guns on board being
sixty-three. There was no great disparity in the number of men
on either side, but those of the American fleet are said to have been
better selected and more capable seamen.
An engagement took place, on the 10th of September, in the
open lake, between Maiden and Sandusky. The wind was very
light, and Perry, advancing unsupported, in the Lawrence, uas
exposed to a heavy and disabling fire from the long guns of the
enemy. His vessel was completely crippled before the others could
come up, and the commodore was compelled to abandon her. In
an open boat, exposed to a heavy fire, he went on board the Ni-
agara. The wind having freshened, the whole squadron was soon
brought up to support the larger vessels, and the action continued,
with such energy and effect, that the British fleet was compelled
to surrender.
This victory was no less a cause for national rejoicing as another
instance of superiority upon the water, than for the great importance
of its results. The command of Lake Erie rendered practicable the
370 AMEKICA ILLUSTRATED.
transportation of forces to any given point upon an extensive front-
ier, and made it equally imprevisable by the enemy. At the close
of the month, Harrison and his army were conveyed across the
lake to Maiden, which was abandoned by Proctor at his approach.
The retreating army, pursued up Thames river, made a stand on
the 5th of October, near Moravian town, above the forks. Including
his Indian allies, led by Tecumseh, Proctor commanded a force of
about two thousand eight hundred men ; that of Harrison was rather
inferior in numbers. The British were posted on the right bank,
between the river and extensive swamps the latter occupied by
Indians. The attack was commenced by the charge of a mounted
regiment under Colonel Johnson; the British line was broken, and
a complete victory obtained by the Americans. The Indians in the
swamp held their ground until the fall of their leader who, it is
said, was shot with a pistol by Colonel Johnson.
The greater portion of the British regular force surrendered, as
prisoners of war. The great north-western Indian confederacy was
broken up by this event, and the separate tribes sent in deputations
suing for peace. Treaties were subsequently ratified with most
of them.
During the autumn, extensive preparations were made at the
north for an attack on Montreal. Dearborn had been succeeded in
the chief command by General Wilkinson. Much difference of
opinion existed between the latter and the secretary of war, General
Armstrong, and to this circumstance the ill-success of the expedition
has been partially attributed. A force of seven or eight thousand
men, concentrated at Grenadier island, was to descend the St.
Lawrence and cooperate with a division of four thousand, under
General Hampton, ordered to march from Plattsburgh, on Lake Cham-
plain. The advance of this latter portion of the army was checked
by a few militia, whose force was overrated by the American gen-
eral; and, the approach of winter adding to the difficulties of a
campaign, a retreat was ordered, and the army returned to its
former quarters.
Wilkinson pushed down the St. Lawrence, greatly annoyed by
the enemy, who followed in the wake of his flotilla with gun-boats,
and who occupied every convenient stand, on the shore, from which
they might command the passage. It became necessary to land a
large detachment, to follow the course of the river by land, and
open a way for the boats. On the llth of November, quite a severe
T EC U M S F. II.
THE UNITED STATES.
engagement took place between this division and a body of the
enemy, at Chrysler's farm, in which the Americans lost between
three and four hundred men.
Arriving at St. Regis, Wilkinson learned the failure of Hampton's
attempt at forming a junction with the main force. The lateness
of the season was unfavourable for further action, and, although
Montreal was defended by a very small force, it was decided to
abandon the expedition. The main army went into winter-quarters
at French mills.
The frontier, left unprotected by the withdrawal of the regular
troops from the garrisoned posts, and by the expiration of the term
of service of militia and volunteers, suffered severely from the rav-
ages of the enemy. General M'Clure, compelled to abandon Fort
George, on the Niagara, set fire to the village of Newark, which was
reduced to ashes, and its inhabitants were left without a shelter,
in the inclement month of December. His instructions were to take
this course, if necessary for the defence of the fort; but the circum-
stances warranted no such outrage, and, in retaliation, the Indian
allies of the British were encouraged to plunder and lay waste the
frontier villages on the American side. On the 30th of December,
the towns of Black Rock and Buffalo were entirely destroyed by an
invading party of the enemy.
Meanwhile, the machinations of Tecumseh had produced their
full effect at the south. The formidable Creek confederacy had
commenced open war upon the white settlers. The first important
blow struck, was at Fort Mimms, on the Alabama river, in the
Tensaw settlement, which was sacked on the 30th of August, by a
large body of Indians, under the noted chief Weatherford. The
garrison, one hundred and sixty in number, with more than a hun-
dred inhabitants of the neighbourhood, of every age and sex, who
had sought protection at the fort, were nearly all killed in the fight,
or perished in the burning buildings.
A large force was raised in Tennessee, and put under command
of General Jackson, for the purpose of checking the ravages of the
Indians. Marching into the Creek territory in the month of Octo-
ber, Jackson beat up the enemy's quarters at Tallussahachee creek,
a tributary of the Coosa, and relieved a post occupied by friendly
Indians at Talladega, further down the stream, destroying several
hundred of the hostile party. In other engagements, the Creeks
were worsted, but their spirit seemed unconquerable, and, as they
872 AMEEICA ILLUSTBATED.
had formed an idea that no quarter would be given them, they
fought with great courage and desperation.
Little was accomplished during the winter, on account of the
extreme difficulty of maintaining an army in the wilderness. The
skill and energy displayed by General Jackson, in preserving dis-
cipline, and securing supplies for his troops under these trying cir-
cumstances, gained him even greater reputation than his brilliant
achievements in actual warfare. In the month of March, 1814,
about one thousand of the Creek warriors fortified themselves at
the Great IIorse-Shoe-Bend, in the Tallapoosie.
On the 27th, they were surrounded and attacked by a vastly
superior force of whites and friendly Indians. They fought with
fury to the last, firing perhaps through ignorance upon the bearer
of a flag, who was sent forward by Jackson to propose a surrender.
More than half their number were killed in the attack; great num-
bers perished in the river, and but a handful of the whole number
effected their escape. Very few of the men were taken prisoners,
but, after the battle, several hundred women and children were
secured. The various tribes, after this event, were ready to con-
clude a peace, and to confine themselves within their territory, east-
ward from the Coosa.
At the winter session of congress, 1813-14, the exigencies of the
war were met by the adoption of new schemes for procuring funds.
Direct taxes, loans, additional duties, &c., were resorted to. The
war-party, still in the ascendency, favoured the views of the presi-
dent, and, upon his recommendation, an embargo was laid upon all
goods, produce, &c., which could be of service to the enemy. Im-
portations of British goods were also expressly prohibited.
Early in January, a proposition to treat for peace, was received
from England, and commissioners were appointed to proceed to
Gottingen for the purpose. Previous offers of mediation, made by
the Emperor of Russia, had been repeatedly proposed to the British
government, and as often rejected. Intelligence of Napoleon's
reverses, brought over at the same time with the British peace em-
bassy, was not without its influence, in fortifying the policy of
pacific measures.
No military movements of importance, took place at the north
during the winter and spring. Toward the close of March, General
Wilkinson marched from Plattsburgh across the Canadian boundary,
with a force of four thousand men, but the invasion resulted in
u E y r it i A A- i' u v .^ / r o /' o K A- >;
. J A c A- * u A- .
THE UNITED STATES. 373
nothing but loss and defeat. He soon after resigned his commission,
and was succeeded by General Izard.
At the instance of the American generals, Brown and Scott, a
new army of invasion was collected in the vicinity of Niagara,
Between three and four thousand men were transported across the
river at Buffalo, on the night of July 2d, and after accomplishing
the seizure of Fort Erie, pushed on towards Chippewa, in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the Falls, where a British army, of equal
force, commanded by General Riall, lay encamped. A severe
engagement took place on the 5th, in which the British were de-
feated, with a loss of five hundred men. Riall retreated to Burling-
ton heights. A few weeks later he was joined by large additional
forces from York, under General Drummond.
The American army, marching towards Queenstown, (July 25th,}
encountered the enemy at Bridgewater, hard by the Falls of Niagara.
Although the British had taken a position in which their artillery,
posted upon a hill, could command the field, and although the day
was nearly spent, the Americans commenced an attack without
hesitation.
A regiment under Major Jessup, making a detour, came upon the
rear of the enemy, while General Scott, with the advanced division
of the army, attacked in front. The main force coming up, the
battle became general, and a bloody and desperate conflict was
waged through half the night, by the light of the moon. The
British battery, which had at first proved terribly destructive, was
gallantly stormed by Colonel Miller, with a battalion from the artil-
lery corps. Possession of the hill was maintained against repeated
assaults until the fighting ceased.
The Americans kept temporary possession of the field, and there-
fore claimed the victory. The loss on either side was heavy, amount-
ing to seven or eight hundred. The British general Riall was
wounded, and taken prisoner by Jessup's detachment. Generals
Brown and Scott were both so severely wounded as to incapacitate
them from present service, and General Ripley assumed command.
Little advantage was gained in the engagement, further than as I?
inspired general confidence in the cnpacity of the American officers,
and the bravery of the troops. The battle has commonly received
its designation from the neighbouring locality of "Lundy's Lane.''
It was impossible to remove the cannon from the British battery, and
they were therefore recovered upon the departure of the Americana
574 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
The latter retreated to Fort Erie, where they strer gthened their
position in anticipation of siege by a superior force. The post was
beset accordingly on the 4th of August, by General Drummond,
with over four thousand men. On the 15th, an attempt to carry it
by storm was signally repulsed. In September, General Brown
reassumed command of the forces at Fort Erie, and, as the siege had
continued for more than a month, and supplies were with difficulty
to be procured, he attempted a sortie. So skillfully and boldly was
the movement conducted, that the British guns were spiked, their
magazines blown up, and some four or five hundred prisoners taken.
The whole loss of the besiegers fell little short of a thousand men;
that of the sallying party was about five hundred. Drummond
shortly after drew off his forces.
Relieved from the burden of maintaining war upon the European
continent, and with abundance of veteran troops, and a powerful
navy, at liberty for transatlantic service, Great Britain commenced
more directly offensive operations in America. A fleet commanded
by Admiral Cochrane entered the Chesapeake, and, passing up
Patuxent river, reached Benedict on the 19th of August (1814),
Between four and five thousand troops, mostly trained in the school of
continental service, were landed at this point, and, under command
of General Eoss, took up their line of march towards Washington.
As the army approached Marlborough, the American fleet of
gun-boats, &c., lying at that place, was destroyed, to prevent its
seizure by the enemy. General Winder, of Baltimore, who held
command in that quarter, with 'a thousand regulars, and authority
to call out the militia within a specified district, made what prepara-
tions were practicable to resist the British advance. The whole
force that he was enabled to collect and arm, fell short of four
thousand men, and these were in the most unserviceable and un-
disciplined condition what stand could they be expected to make
against a superior force of the "veterans of the Peninsula?"
The British march was unopposed, until the army, on the 24th,
reached Bladensburgh, six miles from the capitol, on the East bank
of the Potomac. Here the American forces were posted on the
right bank, the bridge over the stream being commanded by several
pieces of artillery, in charge of Commodore Barney, who was pres-
ent with his corps of five hundred marines, before attached to the
flotilla destroyed at Marlborough. This body of men fought bravely
and obstinately, holding the enemy in check after the militia had
THE UNITED STATES.
375
been routed and dispersed. Their flank was finally turne-1, and
they were compelled to join in a general retreat. The loss on the
part of the Americans was but about fifty in killed and wounded.
Abandoning the capitol to the enemy, Winder drew off his forces
to the heights of Georgetown, and, on the evening of the day of
the battle, the British army entered Washington, and burned the
capitol, the president's house, and most of the public buildings.
This malicious destruction of valuable libraries, records, &c., is
stigmatized by one of their own writers as "a piece of Vandalism
that covered the expedition with disgrace ;" it was excused as being
in retaliation for the burning, by the Americans, of the Canadian
Parliament House at York.
On the night of the 25th, after accomplishing some further injury
not entirely confined to public property the invading army was
drawn off, and marched back towards Benedict. A reembarkation
was effected on the 30th. Meantime, some of the larger vessels
having entered the Potomac, made their way up to Alexandria;
where all the shipping in port was seized, and a large amount of
provisions and valuable stores was exacted from the inhabitants.
The vicinity of Baltimore was the next scene of operations by the
armament in the Chesapeake. The inhabitants of that city, fore-
warned of danger, were prepared for defence. Ross landed at
North Point, at the entrance of Patapsco river, fifteen miles from
the city, on the 12th of September, with a force of five thousand
men. The defence was conducted by General Smith. An advanced
detachment of three thousand men, under General Striker, was
compelled to retire before the invading columns; but in the first
melde Ross was killed, and the command devolved on Colonel
Brooke.
Owing to the-shallowness of the entrance of the harbour, and the
gallant defence of the protecting forts, M'Henry and Covington, the
British fleet was unable to cooperate with the land forces, and the
city appearing too well defended to render an attack advisable, the
attempt was abandoned. The troops re'embarked on the nighi of
the 13th, and shortly after, the fleet sailed for the South.
376 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
CHAPTER XI?.
OPERATIONS ON THE COAST OF MAINE. ATTACK ON PLATT8-
BURGH: BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. NAVAL AFFAIRS:
LAFITTE. NEGOTIATION AT GHENT. THE HART-
FORD CONVENTION. TREATY OF PEACE. JACK-
SON'S DEFENCE OF NEW ORLEANS: BATTLE OF
JANUARY 8. NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS.
IN pursuance of their plans of offence, the British made a descent,
in September, (1814), upon the coast of Maine. They took nominal
possession of all the eastern district, and seized upon several towns
and villages on Penobscot bay; but the most substantial injury
inflicted upon the Americans in this quarter was the destruction of
the frigate John Adams. This vessel was pursued up Penobscot
river by a strong detachment, and, after an attempt at defence, was
set on fire, by order of her commander, to prevent her falling into
the enemy's hands.
At the same tirqe, Plattsburgh, on Champlain, was threatened by
a powerful array of land and naval forces. The former consisted of
iwelve thousand disciplined troops, mostly veteran soldiers, com-
manded by Governor George Prevost; the latter under Commo-
dore Downie, numbered sixteen vessels, the largest carrying thirty-
seven guns; the whole flotilla, including gun-boats, mounted nearly
one hundred guns, and had on board about a thousand men.
Plattsburgh was defended by about six thousand troops regulars
and militia from adjoining states and by the squadron under Com-
modore M'Donough, which was anchored at the entrance of the
harbour. The American fleet was slightly inferior to that of the
British, both in number of vessels, of guns, and of men on board.
The Saranac river divided the opposing land forces; the British had
been occupied for some days previous to the general engagement,
strengthening their position on the left bank.
On the morning of September 11, an attack was commenced by
the enemy both by land and water. M'Donough's squadron, lying
in a favourable position, had an advantage at the commencement of
THE UNITED STATES. gy;
the engagement, which was maintained until its "lose. The prin-
cipal encounter, by which the fortune of the day was decided, took
place between the Saratoga, the American flag ship, and the Confi-
ance, commanded by Downie. Pouring in a succession of broadsides,
the guns of either, on the exposed side, were mostly silenced. Both
vessels then attempted to take new positions, by which their other
guns might be made available. The Saratoga succeeded; but the
British ship, failing to accomplish the intended movement, lay help-
lessly exposed to a raking fire, and was forced to strike. Between
eleven and twelve o'clock, the whole fleet having followed this
example, the engagement ceased. The gun-boats, however, made
their escape, while the attention of the Americans was occupied
in securing their prizes.
Meanwhile, the land division, attempting to ford the Saranac, met
with a severe and decided repulse; and upon the conclusion of the
naval engagement, a retreat was ordered. The expedition thus
ended in signal failure and defeat. The loss of the British in killed,
wounded, prisoners, and deserters, is said to have exceeded two
thousand men.
During the autumn, the British navy obtained entire command of
the sea-coast; and in the Ontario, a large ship, recently fitted out at
Kingston, kept possession of the lake. The Wasp and the Peacock
were the last American armed vessels upon service abroad at this
season. The first of these, after taking many prizes, among others,
two British national vessels, foundered at sea, or went to pieces on
some unknown coast, as she was never afterwards heard from. The
Peacock, eluding the blockade, came safe to port, having made a
successful cruise, and captured a number of merchant vessels.
Another piece of service was accomplished in the month of Oto-
ber, by an expedition under Commodore Patterson, against a settle-
ment of French rovers, who harboured at Barataria bay, a short
distance westward from the mouth of the Mississippi. These out-
laws professed to cruise exclusively against Spanish commerce, but
they were considered as little other than pirates. One of their
number was the noted Lafitte, concerning whom as many improba-
ble tales have been told as those connected with the piracies of Kidd.
Ten vessels, belonging to this fraternity, were seized, after being
deserted by their crews.
About this time arrived reports from the commissioners appointed
to treat for peace. Negotiations had been opened at Ghent, but the
878 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
demands of Great Britain were too extravagant to require a moment's
consideration. Among other requisitions, the United States were
called upon to forego any future acquisition of Indian lands at the
north-west; to abstain from providing for frontier defence by forts,
or a flotilla on the lakes ; to cede a portion of the north-eastern ter-
ritory to Great Britain; and to give up their privileges respecting
the coast fishery.
The friends of the administration, at this juncture, were alarmed
and indignant at a movement in New England, which threatened a
more serious rupture between different sections' of the Union than
any that had preceded it. In response to a call by the legislature of
Massachusetts, delegates were appointed from all the New England
states in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, chosen
directly by the legislatures to meet at Hartford on the loth of De-
cember, for the purpose of devising and proposing such amendments
to the constitution as might secure rights of representation, &c., to the
northern states, equal to such as were enjoyed by those of the south,
and for general consultation upon the "danger to which the eastern
section of the Union" was "exposed by the course of the war."
Notwithstanding a vast amount of obloquy, and wide-spread accusa-
tion of treasonable designs, the convention met accordingly, and, after
a secret session of between two and three weeks, the delegates submit-
ted an address to the New England legislatures, setting forth the con-
clusions at which they had arrived. These, in addition to a recitation
of grievances, related principally to the disputed question respecting
the power of the federal government over the militia; and to the
measures requisite for local defence against the enemy. The pro-
posed constitutional amendments were chiefly advisory that the
power of congress in respect to warlike measures should be curtailed
by the requirement of a two-thirds vote, ard that slaves should be ex-
cluded in the representative computation. The general tone of the
document was more moderate and less treasonable than had been
anticipated.
The cessation of war in Europe having removed all substantial
occasion for further collision of interest between Great Britain and
the United States, the former abated her demands, and a treaty of
peace was signed at Ghent in the month of December. The claims
respecting impressment and right of search were left undecided, aa
only relating to a state of war which it were unnecessary to antici-
pate; privileges formerly enjoyed by the United States' fishermen
THE UNITED STATES. 379
on the British American coast, and a right of navigation iii the Mis-
sissippi, before secured to Great Britain, were abandoned; in all
other respects the parties remained in statu quo.
This joyful intelligence did not reach the United States until Feb-
ruary, a period when the whole nation was rejoicing over the most
brilliant piece of success that had attended its arms on land, through-
out the war. In the month of November, General Jackson, being in
occupation of Pensacola, temporarily seized from the Spanish au-
thorities on account of the landing of British forces in that quarter,
obtained information of an intended attack upon New Orleans.
After forwarding orders for raising militia, and for other defensive
preparations, he repaired thither in person, and arrived, with a small
force of regulars, on the 1st of December.
With all the ardour and energy of his character, he engaged in
the difficult work of organizing an army, from materials the most in-
congruous and ill-suited to regular military operations. Men of
different nations and colour, utterly unused to the discipline of a
camp; convicts from the prisons; a portion of those pirates or pri-
vateers previously ousted from Baraturia; were marshalled and put
in such condition for service as time and circumstances would admit.
The work of throwing up fortifications was carried on with uninter-
mitting ardour.
In the midst of these preparations, and before the arrival of troops
expected from Kentucky and Tennessee, upon which the general
placed his chief reliance, a British fleet appeared at the entrance of
Lake Borgne. This was the squadron recently occupying the Ches-
apeake, together with other vessels from England, bringing over
large reinforcements of troops. The whole force, including sailors
and marines, exceeded fifteen thousand men. Most of the troops
had been disciplined and inured to service in the continental war.
The American flotilla of gun-boats on the lake made a gallant de-
fence, but was finally captured, and the main British force, passing
up in boats, effected a landing at the western shore.
The advanced division of two thousand men, after gaining the
bank of the Mississippi, fifteen miles below the city, commenced its
march up the river. On the night of December 23d, a spirited attack
was made by the Americans upon this detachment, a schooner in
the river opening fire at the same time that the engagement com-
mencvxi on shore. The British, attaining a defensible position, finally
mainta, vd their ground, and the assailants drew off.
380 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Reinforcements had meanwhile arrived from Tennessee and Mis
sissippi, until the force at New Orleans amounted to about five thou-
sand men. The emergency of the occasion, and the disturbed
condition of the city, induced Jackson to proclaim martial law, and
to take such measures as should prevent the legislative assembly
from counteracting his plans of defence by any offers of capitulation.
The governor, Claibourne, had submitted to Jackson's authority, and,
entering with zeal into the plans of the general, he anticipated the
danger of any such movement, by a forcible dissolution of the
assembly.
The day following the first engagement, Jackson had taken a
position some four miles below the city, on the left bank, where a
trench was carried across the entire strip of dry land from the river
bank down the gradual declivity to the swamp. The embankment
was enlarged and strengthened by piles of movables, cotton bales,
&c. An armed vessel, lying in the river, was so stationed as to flank
the ditch and command the approach from below: works were also
erected on the opposite bank of the Mississippi.
The enemy attempted to storm these fortifications on the 28th,
and failing in that, they erected batteries to play upon the American
works. A heavy cannonade on both sides, on the 1st of January
(1815), resulted in the silencing of the British guns. On the 4th,
reinforcements arrived from Kentucky.
An interval of a few days was then spent in preparations for a
decisive assault. A canal was cut by which a number of boats were
transported from the lake to the river, for the purpose of carrying
over a detachment to the right bank. This was effected on the night
of the 7th, and on the morning of the following day, the main army,
under command of Sir Edward Packenlmm, assaulted the American
entrenchments. The desperate character of an attack, at such fearful
disadvantage, is evident from the result. The Americans, firing
from covert, lost less than twenty men in killed and wounded, while
the loss of the enemy was not far from two thousand men. Among
the slain was General Packenham, who fell leading his men to the
charge.
The detachment on the right bank, in the full tide of success,
having driven from their entrenchments and defeated a greatly su-
perior force, was recalled, when the fortune of the day was decided,
and the whole army, retreating unmolested to the lake, reembarked.
The only success that attended this expedition was the subsequent
THE UNITED STATES. 381
capture of Fort Bowyer, at Mobile, which, being garrisoned by less
than four hundred men, surrendered on the 18th of February.
Several naval engagements took place before news of the peace
could be generally circulated. On the 15th of January the frigate
President, commanded by Decatur, attempting to get to sea from
New York, was intercepted by the British blockading squadron, and
after a sharp engagement with the Endymion, a frigate of forty guns,
was compelled to strike by the advance of other vessels to the sup-
port of the enemy. The Constitution, in the month of February,
made prize in a single action of the Cyane and the Levant, carrying
respectively twenty-four and eighteen guns. This was accomplished
by adroit manoeuvring, so as to keep beyond reach of their guns,
while her own, of heavier metal, could tell with destructive effect.
The Hornet and Peacock each captured a British national vessel.
The Nautilus, taken by the latter on the 30th of June, 1815, was
immediately restored, upon communication of intelligence, satisfac-
tory to the commander of the Hornet, that peace had been concluded.
v .
WAR WITH ALGIERS. TARIFF: NATIONAL BANK. - MONROE,
PRESIDENT. --JACKSON'S SEMINOLE CAMPAIGN. CESSION
OP FLORIDA BY SPAIN. - ADMISSION OP MISSOURI: THE
COMPROMISE. - MONROE'S SECOND TERM. - ADMINIS-
TRATION OF JOHN QUINCT ADAMS. - ELECTION OF
ANDREW JACKSON. - THE TARIFF. - NULLIFI-
CATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. - THE UNITED
STATES' BANK. - INDIAN REMOVALS. -
BLACK HAWK. THE CHEROKEE'S.
ALMOST immediately after the conclusion of peace with Great
Britain, the attention of congress being directed by the president to
late outrages upon our commerce by Barbary cruisers, war was de-
clared against Algiers. A squadron of ten vessels, commanded by
Decatur to be followed by another under Bainbridge was dis-
patched to the Mediterranean in the month of May following. The
capture of two armed vessels, one of them being the largest in his
382 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
navy, so alarmed the dey, that he at once concluded a treaty DJ
which the United States were for ever freed from the disgraceful
payment of tribute, and all American prisoners were freed without
ransom. His vessels were gratuitously returned to him.
From Algiers, Decatur sailed for Tunis and Tripoli, both of which
nations were compelled to furnish indemnity for the sufferance of
capture by the British of United States' vessels, while in their ports.
His whole mission accomplished, the commodore joined Bain-
bridge at Gibralter.
At the next session of congress, 1815-16, a long and vehement
discussion arose respecting the establishment of the new tariff. All
the opposing interests of the producer and manufacturer were brought
to bear upon the question. As finally settled, a judicious discrimina-
tion was made between those articles which could be produced or
manufactured in perfection at home, and those, being at the same
time articles of necessity, for which we must still be partially or
wholly dependent upon foreign nations.
A new national bank, upon specie-paying principles, and having
a capital of thirty-five millions, mostly to be subscribed for in United
States' stocks, was also established at this session. The Union was
extended, toward the close of the year, by the admission of Indiana,
as a separate state. The presidential election again recurring, James
Monroe, secretary of state under Madison, was elected to the highest
office, and Daniel D. Tompkins to that of vice-president. The inau-
guration took place on the 4th of March, 1817.
During the year, additional treaties were effected with most of the
western Indians, by which their title was extinguished to large dis-
tricts, at this time fast filling up with an enterprising population
from the east. At the south, trouble was already brewing between
the Seminoles and the white settlers. Spain still retaining her title
to both Bast and West Florida, the chastisement of the Indians by
pursuing them into a foreign jurisdiction became a delicate matter,
but the necessities of the case seeming to require some action, Gen-
eral Jackson, with a large force of Tennessee volunteers, was dis
patched against them. The operations of the campaign in regard to
the conquest of Indian territory, will be found briefly recapitulated
in a subsequent chapter. A high handed proceedure of the general,
in the trial by court martial, and execution of two British subjects,
Arbuthnot and Ambrister, for inciting the Indians to war, and lending
them aid and assistance, has been heavily censured. The seizure of
JAMES MONROE,
FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITKD STATES.
BORN APRIL *8. 1768. IN WESTMORELAND COONTT. VA : FRR8IDEXT
MARfFM 1M7 SERVED S TKAKB DI-ED JULY 4 1M1
THE UNITED STATES. 383
the Spanish capital, Pensacola, and the fort of St. Marks, in West
Florida, also accomplished during this winter campaign, gave occa-
sion for much injurious comment abroad upon American policy.
The latter event took place early in 1818.
Charges of having exceeded his authority by these unwarrantable
acts were brought against Jackson, and the whole subject of the
Seininole campaign was debated at length in congress. He was
finally sustained by a decided majority in his conduct of the affairs in
question. The desire of government to maintain peaceful relations
with Spain, and to acquire the Floridas by amicable treaty, had been
apparent from the whole policy pursued by the United States during
the struggle of the former country with her revolted American col-
onies. The forces of the United States had also been employed,
during the year preceding, to expel from Amelia island, on the coast
of East Florida, a band of lawless adventurers, who, while threat-
ening the Spanish possessions on the main, were engaged in the
slave trade, in smuggling, and in general depredation.
A treaty, providing for the cession of Florida, was finally concluded
with Spain toward the close of the year 1820, the United States thus
obtaining an acquisition to its territory of greater importance in
respect to position than to intrinsic value. Meanwhile, increasing
prosperity attended upon the enterprise of individuals in extending
civilization at the west and south. Mississippi, Illinois, and Alabama
had been consecutively admitted to the Union the first in 1817,
the second in 1818, and the third in 1819. Communication with
the west had been rendered practicable by the opening of the Cum-
berland road, a national work, carried out in consequence of arrange-
ments made with the state of Ohio, as a consideration for the cession
of western lands. The power of congress in respect to internal
improvements, other than those necessarily connected with public
enterprise, as the construction of military roads, the erection of
light-houses, the improvement of harbours, &c., has never been sat-
isfactorily decided.
The most important question brought before congress at its sessions
in 1820 and 1821, was upon the admission of the territory of Mis-
souri into the Union as a sovereign state. The introduction of an
amendment providing for the exclusion of slavery within its limits,
as the condition upon which the application for admission should be
entertained, gave occasion for the most excited and angry discussion
that had yet resulted from any issue taken between the north and
VOL. IV. 53
884 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
the south. The matter was finally adjusted, bj admission of the new
state, with no further restriction than that no act should be passed
by its legislature in contravention of the constitutional rights of cit-
izens emigrating thither from other states. This proviso was called
for by a clause in a constitution formed by the people of the terri-
tory, providing for the future exclusion of free negroes and
mulattoes.
On the other hand, those opposed to the extension of southern in-
fluence and institutions, succeeded, by a large majority, in appending
to the bill a proviso that thenceforth slavery should be prohibited in
the territory of the United States lying north of the parallel of thirty-
six degrees thirty minutes, the northern boundary of the present
state of Arkansas. The separation of Maine from Massachusetts,
and its admission to the Union was effected during the discussion of
the Missouri question.
Mr. Monroe, shortly after his entry upon a second official term, in
1821, appointed Andrew Jackson to the office of governor of the
new territory of Florida. In dealing with the Spanish officials whom
he was called upon to supersede, the proceedings of the general were,
as usual, rather high handed. The keys of the capitol at Pensacola
were formally delivered up by Jose Cavalla, the Spanish governor,
on the seventh of July; a refusal or neglect on his part to deliver
over certain public documents led to his temporary arrest by order
of Jackson.
The principal political events during the closing term of Monroe's
administration, were the recognition of the independence of the
republics of South America; a treaty with England for the more
effectual suppression of the slave trade; a settlement of the boundary
on the Pacific, which should limit future settlements by Russia or
the United States; and a protective modification of the tariff. The
last measure was not carried without vehement opposition.
In 182-i, the venerable La Fayette, upon express invitation ex-
tended by congress, visited the United States, where he spent
nearly an entire year in making a general tour of the country.
Throughout his journey he met with the most enthusiastic reception,
and, ere his departure, he received substantial tokens of the gratitude
of the nation, in the grant of a township of land, and the sum of
two hundred thousand dollars, by appropriation of congress.
The ascendency of republican principles, as opposed to the doc-
t)ines of the original federal party, was sufficiently evinced by the
I
JO If .V QUINCY ADAMS,
SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN 1707; PRESIDENT IN 182*; SERVED 4 TEARS. DIED FEB W. 1848
THE UNITED STATES. 385
triumphant election of three successive republican presidents, and
the retention of office by each of them, for a term of eight years. At
the election in 1824, new elements entered into the political contro-
versy. Candidates were brought forward from the four great sec-
tions of the Union : New England was represented by John Quincy
Adams, son of the second president; Virginia by Mr. Crawford;
the south by Andrew Jackson; and the west by Henry Clay.
Adams and Jackson were the prominent candidates, but, as neither
obtained a majority, the election devolved, a second time, upon the
house of representatives. The former was chosen president, although
Jackson had received a larger number of popular votes.
During the four years of Adams' administration, the country
remained at peace with all foreign nations. The messages to con-
gress and other public addresses of the president, excited general
admiration by their ability, and the dignity, integrity, and firm-
ness which they exhibited. In accordance with principles set forth
in his inaugural address, President Adams displayed great mod-
eration in the exercise of his powers of removal, considering it a
matter of gross impropriety that the offices of government should
be bestowed as rewards for party services, or as mere tokens of
personal favour.
Toward the close of this administration, the revival of the dispute
respecting a protective tariff renewed all the former antagonism,
between the north and the south. The law passed relative to this
subject, was finally so altered and amended as to favour the interests
of the manufacturing states. The presidential election, recurring at
this period, gave occasion for a display of party violence and ani-
mosity seldom before witnessed in America. The result was the
choice of Andrew Jackson for president, and of John C. Calhoun,
of South Carolina, for vice-president. The inauguration took place
March 4th, 1829.
A writer in Lardner's Cyclopaedia, says of this result, "Jackson
had been the rude soldier; ever ready to outstep the bounds of
legality; fierce in his manners and declarations; breathing war and
defiance. The fears that his election would prove the signal, not
only of hostilities with foreign powers, but usurpation or violence
at home, were general; yet the same popular breath that wafted
Jackson to the presidency, impressed upon him at the same time so
strong a sense of his duty, that metal in the furnace could not take
a newer or softer temper than the new president." That he had,
886 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
however, lost nothing of his former firmness, is evident from the
whole course of his administration.
The late amendment in the tariff produced great excitement
and opposition throughout the southern states. South Carolina
took the lead in denouncing the alleged partiality of the system,
and in maintaining the principles of a forcible assertion of rights
on the part of those states aggrieved by its operation. The
speech of Hayne, in the United States senate, upon this topic, called
forth from the great orator and statesman, Daniel Webster, a
reply which has ever been considered one of his ablest and most
forcible efforts.
When this feeling finally broke out into an open determination, on
the part of the state of South Carolina, as expressed by a convention
called by a majority of its electors, to resist the authority of the
United States in the collection of revenues, the president took a
firm and decided position. By his proclamation of December 10th,
1832, he expressed a fixed determination to fulfil the duties of the
executive, by carrying out the laws of the United States at all
hazards. At the same time, no unnecessary violence of language
was made use of, but the state of South Carolina was called upon
in persuasive and moderate tones to preclude the necessity for coer-
cive measures, by a voluntary renunciation of the treasonable doc-
trines recently made manifest.
Immediate preparations were commenced for warlike operations
should such prove inevitable by garrisoning and strengthening
the forts at the entrance of the harbour of Charleston. The party
in South Carolina opposed to the attempted nullification of the laws
of the United States, being a large minority, made renewed exertions,
at this crisis, to avert the threatened calamity. A modification of
the tarjff, introduced and carried in congress by Mr. Clay, by way
of compromise, allayed the angry feeling at the south, and put an
end to threats of secession.
Jackson was reelected at the close of his first term, Martin Van
Buren being, at the same time, chosen vice-president. During the
whole period of his retention of office, the credit of the country was
maintained with foreign nations. In July, 1831, an arrangement,
long postponed, was concluded with France, by which a specified
indemnity was secured for former depredations upon American
commerce. The most important domestic transactions of this admin-
istration related to Indian affairs. Those which aroused the greatest
THE UNITED STATES. 387
degree of party strife were connected with the proceedings of the
president concerning the United States Bank.
Deeming this institution, if not of unconstitutional inception, at
least a dangerous agent for the management of fiscal concerns, he
made use of the veto power to annul the action of congress granting
a renewal of its charter. In the year following, (1833), the president
ordered a withdrawal of the public funds from this bank, then their
place of deposit ; they were subsequently intrusted to certain state
banks "pet banks," as they were denominated by the opposition.
In carrying out this measure, during a recess of congress, Jackson
removed from the office of secretary of the treasury, Mr. Duane, who
had declined to second his views, and appointed Mr. Taney. A
vote of censure was passed by the senate relative to this prodeed-
ing on the part of the executive, but was afterwards expunged,
(January 16th, 1837.)
To the president's hostility towards the bank, many have attri-
buted its ultimate downfall, and, in no small measure, the commercial
crisis which gave so ruinous but perhaps beneficial a check to
the speculative mania of the period. The effect of the failure of that
institution, has, doubtless, been exaggerated, and, for the cause, we
must look rather to the misconduct of its managers, and to immense
losses sustained by the refusal, upon various pretexts, of several
states to make good their liabilities.
The subject of the removal of the Indian tribes to lands westward
of the Mississippi, was long a matter of great difficulty, and, in the
districts where these races were located, of engrossing interest. The
standing ground of contention was a disavowal by the Indians of
the authority of those chiefs who undertook to treat in behalf of
the tribes. In 1831, a portion of the tribe of Sacs, of Illinois, headed
by their chief, Black Hawk, refused to remove from their settlements
on Rock river. They were expelled by force, although without
bloodshed, but, in the year following, numbers of them returned to
their old quarters.
Blood was first shed by the whites it appears, upon very insufli
cient occasion; and, the war once commenced, Black Hawk and
his warriors were signally successful in several skirmishes. Finally,
worn out by fatigue, hard fare, and exposure, they were cut off and
mercilessly massacred by a large force, under General Atkinson.
Black Hawk made his escape, but subsequently surrendered himself
to the United States' authorities. He was detained as a hostage
388 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
until Jane, 1833, when he was set at liberty. In company with
other Indian chiefs, he visited many of the eastern cities, every
where exciting much attention and curiosity.
Many of the southern tribes were induced to emigrate peaceably ;
the greatest difficulty was in dealing with the Cherokees and Semi-
noles. The former, to the number of about eighteen thousand, were
mostly located in the northern part of Georgia. They had made
great advances in civilization, and were governed by a legislation
of their own. The United States had stipulated, in 1802, with the
state of Georgia, to extinguish the title of the Cherokees to lands
within that jurisdiction, "as early as the same could be peaceably
obtained upon reasonable terms."
Efforts to effect a removal of the tribe had been partially success-
ful, but the Georgia legislature, impatient at delay, in 1824, passed
sundry acts pronounced unconstitutional by many able jurists
encroaching upon the rights and personal privileges of the Indians.
Finding their position insecure, a large party of the Cherokees,
headed by Major Eidge, favoured an emigration of the whole nation.
Those of this opinion attended a council, called in 1835, and con-
cluded a treaty with J. T. Schermerhorn, commissioner on the part
of the United States, by which it was agreed that, upon the receipt
of reasonable compensation for the losses necessarily sustained upon
removal, the whole tribe should emigrate westward of the Mississippi.
A military force was called into requisition to compel submission
to the terms of this treaty; but the Indians, although denying the
authority of those who had undertaken to act for the tribe, made no
overt resistance. The Georgian Cherokees, removed to the western
territory, have continued to prosper, pursuing the arts of agriculture,
and improving in civilization and education. The Choctaws, Chick-
asaws, and Creeks, occupying separate tracts assigned them west of
the Mississippi, have also, to a greater or less extent, adopted the
customs of the whites.
THE UNITED STATES. 339
CX A D T 1 7? X) V^rT
1 A IT Ju *t A Y *
IBB 8EM1NOLE WAR. EARLY HISTORY OP THE FLORIDA IN-
DIANS. WAR OF 1818. INDIAN TREATY OF 1823: OF 1832.
REFUSAL OF THE SEMINOLES TO REMOVE. DESTRUCTION
OF DADE'S DETACHMENT. MILITARY OPERATIONS OF
GENERALS SCOTT AND JESSUP. UNSATISFACTORY
RESULTS OF NEGOTIATION. EXPEDITIONS OF COL-
ONELS TAYLOR AND HARNEY. GRADUAL CESSA-
TION OP HOSTILITIES. RECENT DIFFICULTIES.
FROM the time of the conquest by De Soto, to the acquisition of
the territory of Florida by the United States, the peninsula contin-
ued a theatre for scenes of desultory but ferocious warfare. In the
bloody contests between the French and Spanish settlers, the unfor-
tunate aborigines were ruinously involved; their agricultural pur-
suits were interrupted, and their numbers were greatly reduced by
warfare, and the want attendant upon their unsettled condition.
According to their usual custom, the Spaniards, while they con-
tinued to oppress and destroy the original proprietors of the soil,
were not wanting in endeavours to promote their spiritual welfare.
From St. Augustine, numbers of zealous ecclesiastics were sent forth
among the Indians. Both within the limits of the present state of
Florida, and far in the wilderness of the north and west, these wor-
thy missionaries devoted their lives to the instruction of the natives
in their religious faith, and in the arts of civilization.
At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the principal
tribes of Florida were the hostile nations of the Yemasses and the
Appalachees; but after the northern portion of the peninsula was
overrun by the invading forces of Governor Moore, of South Caro-
lina, these reduced and scattered natives united and moved farther
southward. From this period they were known as Seminoles (" wan-
derers"). Causes of quarrel continued to exist between them and
the white settlers of the border: fugitive slaves from the northern
plantations found an asylum among the Indians, and mutual wrongs
and outrages kept alive the old feelings of hostility. At the period
of the cession of Florida to the United States, the Indians had flour-
ishing settlements in West Florida, particularly upon the St. Marks
390 AMERICA ILLUSTKATED.
and Oscilla rivers, and in the vicinity of the lake of Miccosukie
Their inroads had become so frequent and dangerous, that it was
determined to break up their quarters in this region, and in March of
1818, these settlements were laid waste by an army of several thou-
sand men, under General Jackson, and the inhabitants were driven
to East Florida and into the interior. Five years later, on the 18th
of September, 1823, a treaty, known as the treaty of Moultrie creek,
was effected by United States' commissioners with upwards of thirty
of the Seminole chiefs, the principal provisions of which were for
confining the Indians to a specified district in the interior. Mutual
complaints were still made by the Indians and frontier whites of
reciprocal injuries, and the removal of the Seminoles from Florida
was strenuously advocated.
In 1832, on the 8th of May, another conference was held by
United States' agents with about fifteen of the Indian chiefe, at
Payne's landing, on the Ocklawaha river. A grant of lands west of
the Mississippi was promised by the United States, together with
a pecuniary compensation for the loss attendant upon the abandon-
ment of their old settlements, if the Indians would consent to remove;
an offer which the Seminole chiefs accepted in behalf of their people,
conditionally upon the new lands proving acceptable upon examin-
ation, by some of their own emissaries. The removal was to take
place in three years' time. The nation at large was averse to this
treaty, and as the time for its completion drew near, no disposition
was evinced to abide by it. The warriors, denying the authority
of the chiefs who had undertaken to bind them, or dissatisfied with
the report of the deputation, commenced a systematic purchase and
accumulation of arms and military stores, with the determination to
maintain possession of the homes of their forefathers.
Open hostilities commenced in the month of October, 1835, when
two Indians were killed in a fray near Miccosukie. Their death
was revenged by the murder of the mail carrier between Tampa
Bay and Fort King, whose mangled body was found, shortly after,
upon the road between the stations. The disposition of the Indians
was further manifested by their putting to death two chiefs, named
John Hicks and Charley Amathla, who had favoured the treaty
of Payne's landing. Prominent a/nong the belligerent party, was
the young quadroon, Osceola, commonly called by the name of his
supposed father, an Englishman, named Powel.
The numbers and warlike character of the Seminoles, seem to
ANDREW JACKSON
%
SEVENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN 1787 : PRESIDENT IN 1829 ; bERV F D H Y K A RS . Dl KO ,1 UNF 4
FKUM THE LAST 1'Al.NTINU TAKE.N 1'J.tVlul.* TO His DtCKA.sK.
M \ A' T I .\ V A .\ li I' It /: A 7 ,
K1CIITH PliKSlDfclNT OF THK UNITKI) STATKS.
bi'KN ,N I7b^ ; INSTvALLED INTO OFFICE IN 1B37 SERV Kl) 4 Y EAilS
THE UNITED STATES. 391
have been greatly underrated, and the lamentable result of tne first
important engagement excited universal astonishment. Major Dade,
with more than one hundred men, including a company of dinted
States' infantry, set out from Tampa Bay, in the month of December,
to join the forces of General Clinch, at Fort King, in the interior.
Not far from the forks of the Ouithlacoochee, the command was
beset by a large body of Indians, led by Micanopy, the principal
Seminole chief, and his brother-in-law, Jumper. The troops defended
themselves with great resolution and bravery, and succeeded in
repelling the enemy, and in erecting a slight barricade of pine-logs;
but their opponents were in sufficient force to be able to surround
and pick them off at their leisure, firing from behind the trees and
from their lurking places among the wire-grass. Having, as they
supposed, destroyed the entire company, the Indians retired; but
shortly afterward a party of negroes arrived at the spot on horse-
back, and finished the murderous work by knocking the wounded
men on the head. Only three of the whole detachment ever reached
a place of safety : these had been left for dead upon the field.
The war had now fairly commenced, and the destruction of iso-
lated and exposed plantations speedily followed. Various skirmishes
took place, and on the 31st of the month, Osceola, at the head of
about six hundred Indians, attacked a body of two hundred regular
troops, and a company of Florida volunteers, under command of
General Clinch, while on their march from Fort Drane towards his
own head-quarters. The Indians were defeated, but not without
the loss of over fifty men on the part of the whites. Throughout
the remainder of the winter, the Seminoles continued their ravages;
the plantations of the interior were mostly destroyed, after being
abandoned by their occupants. The settlements of all East Florida
were in a condition of great danger and distress. The noted Philip,
with a powerful body of warriors, conducted the most important
operations in that quarter, and destroyed New Smyrna, upon Mos-
quito inlet, together with the plantations on Halifax river.
The following spring (1836) was memorable for General Scott's
campaign in Florida. With a strong force, he penetrated the north-
ern Seminole districts, sweeping the country in three columns. It
was plain, however, that the Indians had no idea of attempting to
cope with such formidable enemies in open warfare. They easily
avoided coming to any general engagement, and a troublesome, but
unimportant skirmishing comprised all the belligerent operations of
392 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
the campaign. As the season advanced, the unheal thin ess of the
climate prevented active operations: volunteers were discharged,
forts were evacuated, and the savages were at liberty during the
whole summer to continue a desultory system of murder and plunder.
In September, a large army, under Governor Call, was again marched
against the subtle and fugitive enemy, and they were again driven
southward towards the impenetrable asylum offered to them by the
unexplored and marshy wilderness of the Everglades. There were,
at this time, several hundred Creek auxiliaries in the United States'
service in Florida, headed by their chiefs, Paddy Carr and Jem Boy.
With a mixed array of these friendly Indians and white soldiery,
Colonel Lane undertook a campaign to the southward, in the month
of October. He drove the Seminoles from the villages where they
had hitherto dwelt secure and unmolested, and defeated and dis-
persed those who attempted to oppose his progress.
In the following month two engagements took place on the bor-
ders of the extensive Wahoo swamp. The American army concen-
trated in that vicinity numbered more than two thousand men, a
force sufficient to overwhelm the undisciplined enemy in open field,
but unable, nevertheless, to effect any thing of importance in a district
where the Indians could so readily betake themseves to places of
retreat and concealment.
Within a few weeks after these events, the main body of the Sem-
inoles were ascertained to have deserted their old haunts, and to
have moved southward towards the Everglades. On the 22d of
January, (1837,) General Jessup, then commander-in-chief of the
forces in Florida, started in pursuit, with a strong force. A number
of prisoners were taken at the encampment of the Seminole chief
Osuchee, on Ahapopka lake, at the source of the Ocklawaha, and the
trail of the fugitives was followed southward. A considerable force
of Indian warriors was dispersed, and driven to take refuge in the
morass upon the Hatchee Lustee creek, and on the following day,
being the 28th of the month, a prisoner was sent to propose to the
Seminole chiefs a meeting for conference. This was finally brought
about by the influence of Abraham, a quick-witted negro, who offi-
ciated as Micanopy's chief counsellor. The 18th of February was
appointed for a meeting to be held at Fort Bade, on the Big Ouith-
lacoochee. Thus ended the campaign, and the invading army pro-
ceeded northward.
A truce had been agreed upon until the time for concluding the
THE UNITED STATES. 393
treaty, but information as to this arrangement was not disseminated
with sufficient promptness to put an immediate stop to hostilities.
Philip, with some hundreds of his warriors, made a vain attack upon
the encampment at Lake Monroe, in command of Colonel Fanning,
and garrisoned by regulars, volunteers, and a party of Creeks. When
the meeting appointed at Fort Dade was, after some delays, brought
about, the treaty of Payne's Landing was, in effect, renewed, and
days were fixed for the assembling of the Indians at Tampa Bay, in
order to embark on board government vessels. It was soon apparent,
however, that they had no idea of leaving the country. The war-
like and subtle Osceola exerted his influence over the old King
Micanopy, to prevent compliance with the treaty, and either by force
or persuasion induced him' to withdraw, with his followers, from
Tampa Bay to the interior. The spring had passed away, and
nothing was accomplished; the heat of summer began to tell upon
the troops, and Forts Mellon and Yolusia were abandoned; so that
throughout the south-eastern portion of the peninsula the Indians had
undisputed possession of the whole country.
In the month of September, active operations were renewed.
Philip, his son, the Chief Uchee Billy, and about one hundred of
their company, were captured near St. Augustine, and other notable
warriors, weary of hopeless warfare, surrendered themselves in other
districts. Troops had been poured into Florida until the United
States' force amounted to between eight and nine thousand men,
but notwithstanding this overwhelming preponderance of numbers
over those of the Indians, no prospect of a termination of the war
seemed open. Under these circumstances, the repeated breaches of
faith on the part of the Indians, appeared to the commander-in-chief
a sufficient excuse for treating them as savages unworthy the protec-
tion afforded by the rules of civilized warfare. Osceola, Alligator,
and six others in authority among the natives were seized, together
with many of their followers, near Fort Peyton, whither they had
come for the purpose of a parley.
The next expedition of importance was that of Colonel Zachary
Taylor, who led a force of about six hundred men into the heart of
the enemy's country. He pushed his way to the borders of the
Everglades, and encountered the objects of his search on the eastern
shore of Kissimee lake. Thus attacked in their own quarters, and
in a manner at bay, the savages fought desperately. They main-
tained their ground with determined courage, and although finally
89-4 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
defeated and driven into the swamps, their loss was smaller than
that of their assailants. Twenty-eight of Colonel Taylor's party
were killed, an 3 no less than one hundred and eleven were wounded.
In the course of the ensuing winter great numbers of the Indians,
worn out by exposure and famine, and hopeless of maintaining their
ground, surrendered at discretion. These were, for the most part,
shipped westward. Although no longer acting in combined and
systematic warfare, those who remained continued to scour the coun-
try, and to murder and plunder wherever opportunity offered. This
state of things continued through the years of 1838, '9, and '40.
In December of the latter year, Colonel Harney penetrated the Ever-
glades by means of boats, and surprised the encampment of the
chief Chaikika. The details of the various marauding expeditions
of the Indians, and their skirmishes with detached bodies of troops
would occupy too much space for further recital. The war did not
end by any coup de. main. The savages were gradually so far
reduced in numbers by capture or surrender that they ceased to be
formidable. Four hundred were shipped westward in the year 1842.
Those who still remain in possession of the interior of Southern
Florida, number, as is supposed, from, three to five hundred. With
this feeble remnant of the powerful nation which it cost such
immense expenditure of life and treasure to subdue, difficulties
have recently been renewed, and there is too much reason to fear
that our nation will again be disgraced by a war in which the power
of the United States may be exerted in vain endeavours to ferret
out and extirpate a few miserable savages from an unknown and
unexplored wilderness.
THE UNITED STATES. 395
L ii A ir i <& ii A.VXX.
ADMINISTRATION OF TAN BUREN: FINANCIAL PRESSURE: THB
SUB-TREASURY: CANADIAN REVOLT: THE NORTH-EASTERN
BOUNDARY: THE AFFAIR OF THB A MIST AD. HARRISON
AND TYLER: BANKRUPT LAW: PREEMPTION: THE VETO
POWER: TARIFF. ADMISSION OF TEXAS.
MARTIN VAN BUREN was elected president, and Richard M.
Johnson vice-president, for the term commencing March 4th, 1837.
This year was memorable for the most remarkable and extensive
pecuniary pressure ever felt by the country, except when directly
subjected to the burden of war. In compliance with a circular
order issued from the treasury department in 1835, government
dues were demanded to be paid in gold or silver. Specie was thus
drawn from circulation to a vast extent, and a general stoppage of
payment was resorted to. by the banks, as the only remedy for the
unceasing drain upon their resources. This procedure was directly
encouraged by the legislatures of several states.
At a special session of congress, held in September, the president,
with the concurrence of Mr. Woodbury, secretary of the treasury,
representing the existing impossibility of compliance with the act of
congress, which required a deposit of the public moneys in specie-
paying banks, proposed a new plan for the security of these funds,
known as the "sub-treasury" scheme. This was the establishment
of separate places of deposit in different parts of the Union, so dis-
tributed as to diminish the expense and risk of transportation of
specie the intention of government still remaining to insist upon
adherence to the principles upon which the specie circular was based.
A bill for this purpose was carried in the senate, but failed in the
house. To meet the expenses of government, treasury notes were
ordered to be issued, and an instalment of the surplus revenue,
already ordered for distribution among the states, was retained. It
was long before the mercantile community recovered from the unset-
tled state of affairs at this period. The banks did not resume specie
payments until August of the year following, when an agreement
for that purpose went into operation simultaneously throughout
the principal states. Meanwhile, the ruin of thousands had been
396 A.MEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
accomplished, and general distrust and uncertainty attended all
commercial transactions.
In December, 1837, certain of the inhabitants of the northern
frontier became involved in the Canadian revolt which, broke out in
that year. A large number of those favouring the insurgents occu-
pied and fortified Navy island, in the Niagara river. The steamer
Caroline, employed to convey stores, &c., to the island, was seized at
Schlosser, on the American shore, on the night of December 29th, by
a party from the Canadian shore, was set on fire, and sent over the
foils. One man attached to the steamer, named Durfee, was killed in
the fray, others were wounded, and several were said to be missing.
The interference of Americans with Canadian affairs received no
countenance from government, but the irregular manner in which
retaliation was conducted, and the invasion of our territory by the
attack on the Caroline, were matters of difficult adjustment.
In the year 1838, serious difficulties arose upon the north-eastern
border of New England. The boundary line between the British
provinces and the state of Maine was unsettled, and negotiation was
then in progress for its final establishment. The state authorities,
unwilling to await the protracted action of the general government,
resorted to forcible measures for the arrest of encroachment, by
individuals, upon that portion of the disputed territory then under
their actual jurisdiction.
The state land-agent, despatched, with a small company, to put
a stop to the cutting of timber by these trespassers, was taken pris-
oner by the latter, and carried into New Brunswick. Other officials
were promptly commissioned to maintain the rights claimed by the
state, and, with a body of armed men, proceeded to the scene of
disturbance. The consequence of such belligerent movements nat-
urally was to create great excitement on the border, which soon
extended throughout the United States. In the discussion of the
question, by correspondence between the governors of Maine and
New Brunswick, much exacerbation of feeling was evident.
The matter was laid before congress, in the month of February,
in a message from the president, and such action was taken as
resulted in averting the threatened hostilities, and in preserving the
existing occupation of either party until the whole question in dis-
pute could be definitely settled. General Scott was specially com
missioned to proceed to the debatable ground, and take measures
for preventing any further collision. Necessary precautions were
UNITED STATES. 397
allowed to be taken by the authorities of the state of Maine to guard
against a continuance of depredation, in the interim; but this was
directed to be accomplished by the civil authority, without the inter-
vention of an armed force.
One of the most noticeable occurrences during the following year,
(1839,) as connected with our foreign relations, was the seizure of
the Spanish schooner Amistad. She was captured and brought
into New London in the month of August, by a United States'
vessel, under the following circumstances: "On board of her were
two white men, Spaniards, Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez, and fifty-
four African negroes, under command of one of their own number,
whose name was Cinquez. The Amistad, it appeared from subse-
quent investigations, had sailed from Havana, in the island of Cuba,
for another port in the West India islands, with a cargo of mer-
chandise, and the Africans on board, claimed as slaves by the two
Spaniards, Ruiz and Montez. After having been four nights at sea,
the negroes rose upon the whites, killed the captain and crew, took
possession of the schooner, and, in endeavouring to return to Africa,
were at length found conveyed to the shores of Long Island."*
Proceedings were instituted against these negroes in the courts of
the United States, upon charges of piracy and murder; and also at
the suit of the Spanish claimants, Ruiz and Montez. No bill was
found against them by the grand-jury, to which the criminal charge
was referred; and the question of civil right was finally established
in their favour by the supreme court. As native Africans, born
free, they were restored to liberty, and finally sent back to their own
country. Previous to their departure, great efforts were made by
individuals to give them some insight into the advantages of civil-
ization, and such instruction as time and opportunity might admit.
The natural inclination of the savage for the free, unfettered life to
which he has been accustomed, to a certain extent disappointed the
expectations of those who had interested themselves in this matter.
The decision of the federal courts, and the consequent enlargement
of the negroes, gave great offence to the Spanish government, and a
claim, on behalf of the owners of the vessel and cargo, has been
repeatedly pressed in the conduct of later negotiations.
At the close of a four years' term, Van Buren was succeeded by
William Henry Harrison, whose popularity at the west had remained
undiminished from the period of his military services in the frontier
* Book of the United States.
398 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
war with the British and Indians. The inauguration took place on
the 4th of March, 1841. One month later, April 4th, the death of
President Harrison gave occasion, for the first time, for the applica-
tion of the constitutional provision for such contingency. . The vice-
president, John Tyler, of Virginia, entered upon the vacant office.
A special session of congress, called by Harrison during his brief
administration, was held at the close of May. During the summer
several important acts were passed, mostly having reference to the
disturbed state of financial affairs still existing. A general bank-
rupt law was the first of these; a measure in which congress took
upon itself the responsibility of an act retrospective in its character,
and in gross violation of contracts. The general dissatisfaction of
the people at its unjust operation, was evinced by its repeal at the
regular session of 1842-3. Next came the repeal of the sub-treasury
law, which had been finally carried through during the previous
term. Provision was made for an increase of revenue by additional
duties on importations.
To encourage the occupation and improvement of public lands,
a right of preemption, at the lowest government prices, was secured
to actual settlers upon unappropriated lands, limited, in extent, to
one hundred and sixty acres for each individual or family, according
to particular provisions. A bill, incorporating a national bank,
expressly for the purpose of providing a fit agency for the transaction
of the monetary affairs of government, passed both houses of con-
gress; but, to the astonishment and indignation of the party then in
the ascendant, it received the presidential veto on the 16th of
August. The grounds of objection, submitted by Mr. Tyler, were
the absence of constitutional power in congress to create such an
institution. Brought up a second time, under a new name, and with
greater restrictions in its operation, the bill was again defeated by
the president, and, as a two-thirds vote could not be obtained in it?
favour, the measure fell through.
In the summer of 1842, the return of an exploring expedition,
fitted out from the United States, under command of Wilkes, four
years previous, excited universal interest. The discovery and coast-
ing, for more than a thousand miles, of the Antarctic continent; the
assiduous prosecution of philosophical researches, by the naturalists
connected with the expedition; and the great addition to the generai
fund of information respecting countries remote and seldom visited,
were matters of national pride and gratification.
STJTESMBM
THE UNITED STATES. 399
In the month of August of this year, the long-disputed question
respecting the north-eastern boundary, was finally adjusted. The
negotiations were conducted, on the part of Great Britain, by Lord
Ashburton, specially commissioned for this purpose, and, on the part
of the United States, by Mr. Webster, then secretary of state. This
treaty also related to other matters in dispute, or of mutual conve-
nience and necessity. Among these, were regulations for the extra-
dition of fugitives from justice, and stipulations for joint operations
in suppressing the slave-trade.
About this time, a further revision of the tariff took place, by
which an ad valorem duty of thirty per font, was laid upon articles
not specially excepted, and protective imposts were affixed to others
specifically designated. As at first carried, the bill did not meet the
views of the president, and he did not scruple to make further use
of his veto power. After some alterations, with difficulty sustained
in congress, it received his assent. The feeling of the house of rep-
resentatives, respecting the course adopted by the president, was
severely expressed in the report of a committee to which the last
veto was referred. Mr. Tyler, on the other hand, responded by an
indignant protest against the apparent attempt to impugn his motives
or to fetter his constitutional prerogative.
Near the close of his official career, in January, 1845, President
Tyler succeeded in carrying out a measure of vast future conse-
quence. This was the passage of a joint resolution by congress,
providing for the admission gf the revolutionized state of Texas
into the confederacy of the United States. The terms of admission,
cession of public territory, &c., were left open for future negotiation.
A cursory view of the early history of this territory, as a Mexican
province, and the course of events leading to the establishment of its
independence, will form a subject for our separate consideration,
VOL. IT. 4
400 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
u i A ir i Ji Jti Avxii.
TEXAS AS A SPANISH PROVINCE: GRANT TO MOSES AUSTIN
COLONIZATION: DIFFICULTIES OF THE SETTLERS. REVOLU-
TION IN MEXICO: BUSTAMENTE: FIRST REVOLUTIONARY
MOVEMENTS IN TEXAS: SANTA ANNA'S PRESIDENCY:
HIS USURPATION. .SECOND TEXAN CAMPAIGN:
SUCCESS OF THE PATRIOTS: INVASION BY SANTA
ANNA: BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO: INDEPEND-
ENCE ESTABLISHED.
THE extensive and fertile province of Texas received but little
attention in the early days of Mexican conquest by the Spaniards.
It presented no inducement to the gold-hunter, and the invaders
were of a different mould from those in after-times destined to
develop its unsurpassed agricultural resources. The colonists who
succeeded the original adventurers from Spain, were in equal degree
neglectful of the field for industry and. successful enterprise opened
for them in the rolling prairies and rich bottom-lands of Texas.
The few white inhabitants of the province resided, for the most part,
in or about the small Spanish towns of Nacogdoches and San Anto-
nio. Prior to the revolution in Mexico, the face of this whole
country was scarcely -changed from its original aspect, notwithstand-
ing the remarkable facility with which it can be brought under
cultivation.
A little before the downfall of Spanish power upon the western
continent, in the month of January, 1821, Moses Austin, a citizen
of Connecticut, concluded a negotiation opened with the colonial
government for the purpose of commencing a colonization of the
coast district. A tract of land was assigned, extending one hundred
miles upon the coast, and still farther inland, into which Austin
contracted to introduce three hundred families of immigrants, each
family to be secured in possession of a square league of land, and to
be allowed extensive specified privileges of exemption from taxation,
and the right to free importation of commodities otherwise taxable,
"The privilege and distinction of carrying out this important
undertaking devolved upon Stephen F. Austin, a son of the original
grantee. After many unsuccessful attempts to induce the embarka-
THE UNITED STATES. 401
tion of eastern capitcil in the new settlements, he proceeded to Texas,
accompanied by such adventurers, with their families, as he could
persuade to try their fortunes in the new country. Others had
engaged to follow at a convenient opportunity. The emigrants
reached the Brazos river in the month of December (1821). From
various causes, their condition was trying and precarious: two ves-
sels, freighted with provisions and supplies, had been sent out from
New Orleans, but one of these was lost, and the cargo of the other
was plundered by the Carancahuas, or Coast Indians.
"In addition to their sufferings from destitution and from savage
depredations, a new source of anxiety arage in the uncertainty of the
tenure by which they held their lands; as the Spanish yoke had
now been thrown off by Mexico. In order to obtain a confirmation
of the former grant, from the existing government, Austin pro-
ceeded, in person, to the city of Mexico, and presented the claims
of his colony to the authorities. Such delays were experienced from
the unsettled state of affairs in the new republic, that it was moVe
than a year from the time of his departure before he returned to
relieve the apprehension of his associates, by the intelligence that
the old contract was ratified by the Mexican congress.''*
While the title to the coast grant remained in abeyance, colonists
from the United 'States hesitated to stake their fortunes upon the
uncertain action of the republic, and many of them returned home,
completely disheartened. Others occupied the unsettled tract ex-
tending from the bank of the Sabine to the Brazos, forming the
nucleus of the present thrifty and prosperous settlements in that
quarter.
The return of Austin gave a new impetus to the operations of the
colony. The formidable Carancahua Indians, whose inroads had
kept the settlers in continual alarm, throughout the period of his
absence, were, by his energetic action, extirpated or overawed, and
gave little further trouble to the white inhabitants.
Texas was incorporated with Coahuila as a separate state, under
the republican system; but all political influence remained, for the
time, in the hands of the latter province, on account of its larger
population. The inhabitants of Coahuila, of Spanish descent, felt
little fnitornity towards the settlers from the United States. The
latter, nevertheless, in their isolated position, had nothing of which
to complain in their treatment by the central government, prioi to
* Discoverers, Pioneers, &c., of America
402 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
the administration of Bustamente. They enjoyed perfect immu-
nity from any religious restrictions, and were, at least, allowed the
privilege of self-protection, both as to person and property. In
1830, their numbers had increased to nearly thirty thousand.
Bustamente, who owed his authority to military usurpation, exhib-
ited a total disregard of the rights of the Texan colonists, either as
occupants under the grant of the republic, or as peaceable immi-
grants engaged in the improvement of unappropriated public lands,
in accordance with liberal provisions of former colonization laws.
These laws were repealed; the title to lands already appropriated
and improved, was called in question; and detachments of armed
troops were stationed at various points, to check any resistance to
the establishment of a new order of government.
To maintain more efficient control over the inhabitants, the dic-
tator ordered the erection of forts at Nacogdoches, Anahuac, and
Velasco, which were garrisoned, and placed under command of mili-
tafy officials. These precautions first taken, a series of tyrannical and
arbitrary proceedings against the inhabitants commenced. " Citizens
were arrested and confined, in several instances, upon vague charges
of disaffection to the existing government; the civil authority in
several of the municipalities was declared to be superseded, and in
all totally disregarded; in short, the inhabitants of Texas found
themselves, in the midst of peace, suddenly subjected to martial law,
administered by officers who appeared to have been sent there for
no other purpose than to make war upon the rights secured to them
by the constitution of the country.
"The inhabitants, scattered over a wide extent of country in iso-
lated settlements and single plantations, and, as yet, without roads
or bridges to shorten or facilitate an intercourse between them, were
not immediately made acquainted with the nature and extent of
these outrages upon their rights. They were not of a mettle, how-
ever, to surrender them without an effort for redress."*
A meeting was called, and it was resolved that the wisest and,
indeed, safest policy was an immediate resort to arms. On the 2-ith
of June, (1832,) John Austin, at the head of sixty volunteers, at-
tacked the fort at Velasco, garrisoned by one hundred and fifty men.
His first movement was to seize upon a schooner, lying in the river,
on board of which he embarked his little company, and, anchoring
opposite the fort, opened fire upon it with a small cannon. The fire
* Niles' Historical View of Texas.
THE UNITED STATES. 403
from the fort was almost entirely ineffective, and the garrison, making
a sally, attempted to gain possession of the vessel by boarding.
They were driven off, with considerable loss. On the following
morning the fort was evacuated; the troops, delivering up their arms
to the assailants, were allowed to retire unmolested.
The garrison at Anahuac, espousing the cause of Bustamente's
opponents in Mexico, abandoned the fort to the Texan insurgents.
At Nacogdoches, the Mexican stronghold was forcibly seized by the
inhabitants of the neighbourhood, and the garrison, attempting to
escape by a night march, were pursued, and their retreat was cut
off by a handful of mounted Texans. Over-estimating the force of
their opponents, the Mexicans agreed upon a capitulation, and de-
livered up their arms.
Fortunately for the inhabitants of Texas, the downfall of Busta-
mente put an end, for the time, to this unequal contest with the
central government. His successful competitor, General Santa Anna,
was elevated to the presidency, and the course adopted during the
early portion of his administration gave promise of a better state of
affairs. Previous to this period, a vast number of grants had been
obtained from the Mexican government, by enterprising individuals
from Europe and the United States, upon conditions analogous to
those imposed upon Austin; but, in most cases, the grantees were
unable to fulfil their part of the contracts. The attention of the
public, however, was turned to the richness of the country by the
representations of these speculators, and a constant immigration was
the result.
The year 1832 was memorable for renewed hostilities with the
Indians of the interior, and for the ravages of the cholera among
the white settlers. Notwithstanding these reverses, the popu-
lation continued rapidly to increase, and, in the following year,
proposals were set on foot for effecting a separation of this province
from Coahuila, and its erection into a new state in the Mexican
confederacy.
A petition to this effect was presented by Austin to the Mexican
congress, but its consideration was neglected and postponed. Impa-
tient at delay, and, as is said, considering that some active demon-
stration on the part of the Texans might "advance, rather than
prejudice their claim," he wrote to his constituents, advising the call
of a convention for the organization of a state government. Upon
his way homeward, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Mexican
f
404: AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
authorities, who had obtained information respecting this letter,
upon an accusation of carrying on a treasonable correspondence.
The ambitious projects of Santa Anna, aiming at the establishment
of military supremacy over the republic, were crowned with success
in 1834. The provinces of Zacatecas and Texas alone exhibited a
contumacious disposition. The former was reduced to submission
by the most sanguinary violence, and its unfortunate inhabitants
were subjected to martial law, and placed under the domination of
military officials. A similar course was resolved upon in relation
to Texas, but the result proved how far the Mexican authorities had
miscalculated the temper and capacity of the iaardy immigrants who
composed its population.
Troops were sent into the province, and an order was issued by
the commanding officer, General Cos, for the surrender of all col-
lections of arms. The inhabitants, while they scorned to comply
with the requisition, awaited some overt act of military usurpation
prior to any armed combination for resistance. A meeting of dele-
gates was called, to hold their session on the 15th of October, and
consult as to the most advisable course to be pursued. The first
attempt by the Mexican authorities to disarm the Texans, was made
at Gonzales, on the Guadaloupe, near the north-western limit of the
American settlements. One hundred and fifty mounted men, dis-
patched to take possession of a piece of artillery at this remote vil-
lage, were opposed and driven off by the inhabitants and those who
had assembled for their assistance, on the 30th of September (1835).
Strengthened by reinforcements to a company of five hundred men,
the Texans at Gonzales, under command of Austin, prepared to
march upon San Antonio de Bexar.
About this time, the Mexican fortress at La Bahia, or Goliad,
on the San Antonio river, was seized by an independent party
of Texans. The garrison, completely surprised by a night at-
tack, were easily overpowered, and a most seasonable supply of
arms, ammunition, and stores, was secured for the use of the
insurgents.
Considerable time was occupied by the main body of the Texan
army in preparations for the reduction of San Antonio, where Gen-
eral Cos was posted with a strong force. Before the commencement
of active operations in that quarter, the Texan delegation assembled,
and organized a temporary government. Henry Smith received the
appointment of governor; Stephen F. Austin was deputed to pro
THE UNITED STATES. 405
care aid from the United States, and Samuel Houston was chosen
commander-in-chief of the forces.
"General Houston, previous to his connexion with the fortunes of
Texas, had led a life of such strange vicissitudes, as must develop
all the powers and energies of man. As soldier, lawyer, and legis-
lator, he had exhibited unusual acumen and steady self-reliance.
Equally at home in an Indian wigwam or in the halls of cougreSs,
he had spent years among the aborigines of the country, sharing
their rude accommodations, and pursuing their primitive avocations.
By this intimate communion, he acquired not only a sympathy with
that unfortunate race, which has ever appeared in all his dealings
with them, but an influence and control over their affections and
conduct, incomparably greater than that attained by any other
living man.
"Having removed to Texas, he entered heart and soul into the
early movements of the patriots, and so fully secured the confidence
and respect of his associates, that, at the most dangerous period in
the history of the country, he was appointed, as before mentioned,
to the supreme military command."*
Upon the departure of General Austin to fulfil the duties of his
commission, the command of the army encamped before San Antonio
devolved upon Colonel Burleson. On the 5th of December, an attack
was commenced upon the town. The contest continued for four
days, at the end of which time, the fort of the Alamo was alone ten-
able by the besieged. General Cos, therefore, consented to capitu-
late: the Mexican officers were paroled, and their troops were
disbanded or drawn off. Thus the last Mexican stronghold in
Texas fell into the hands of the patriots; that at Lepanticlan, on the
Nueces, having previously surrendered to a volunteer party of Texans.
Great interest was excited, throughout the United States, by
reports of the position of affairs in Texas, and many adventurers,
mostly young and active men, made their way to the scene of action
during the winter ensuing, and proffered their services in the revo-
lutionary cause. Months passed by in uncertainty as to the manner
in which Santa Anna would open the campaign. He finally made
his appearance, towards the close of February, 1836, with an army
of eight thousand men. The right division, undej: General Urea^
advanced along the coast, while the left, commanded by Santa Anna
in person, marched through the interior, in the direction of San
* Discoverers, &c., of America.
406 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Antonio. The whole force of the Texans in actual service at thw
crisis, is said' not to have exceeded five hundred men.
The first intelligence of the invasion was coupled with the report
that a company of the revolutionists, under Colonels Grant and
Johnson, who had undertaken an expedition against Matamoras, on
the Rio Grande, had been cut off by the advancing army. Santa
Aftina, arriving at San Antonio, took possession of the place, but the
Texan garrison, occupying the strong fort of the Alamo, refused to
capitulate. In expectation of relief from without, they had deter-
mined to defend the post to the last. " No very accurate details
have been given of the manner in which this band 'of brave men
was destroyed, but it appears that, after a long and desperate defence,
the fort was stormed by an overwhelming force, and the garrison
perished to a man, either slain in the conflict, or put to death for
defending an untenable post."
A detachment was immediately marched from San Antonio against
Goliad. The Texans there in occupation, under Colonel Fannin, on
their retreat towards Victoria, were pursued and surrounded by a
vastly superior force. The whole party surrendered to the enemy
upon favourable terms of capitulation. A few days later, on the
27th of March, these prisoners, with others who had fallen into the
hands of the invaders, to the number of more than four hundred,
were brutally massacred.
While these events were in progress, the Texan delegates had
again assembled, and unanimously agreed upon a declaration of
independence. A state constitution was formed, and, together with
a general declaration of rights, received the signatures of the mem-
bers on the 17th of March, 1836.
In the month of April, Santa Anna pushed forward to Harrisburg,
the temporary capital, with the design of seizing upon the officers
of government. "Failing in this, he burned the town, and pro
ceeded down Galveston bay, towards New Washington, where was
a depot of military stores. On his return towards Lynch's ferry, on
the San Jacinto, with the intention of pressing on to Anahuac, he
encountered the Texan army, ready to give battle.
" The patriot army consisted of less than eight hundred men, of
all ranks and occupations, most of them undisciplined, and ignorant
of military afYairs. The Mexicans, as reinforced by five hundred
troops, under Cos, on the morning of April 21st, (the day of battle,)
numbered nearly or quite sixteen hundred, most of whom were
WILLIAM H. HARRISON,
NINTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN 1773 INSTALLED INTO OFFICE IN 1841 DIED APRIL*
OF THE SAMF YEAR
./0//A TYLER,
TENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED SPATES.
BORN IN 1790; SUCCEEDED TO THE PRESIDENCY BY VIRTUE OF HIS
OFFICE AS VICE PRESIDENT. ON THE DEATH OF W. H HARRISON
IN 1P41 ; BKRVED THE REMAINDER OF THF TERM
THE UNITED STATES. 407
veteran troops, under the command of officers of skill and experi-
ence. Both armies, after a preliminary skirmish, encamped, on the
night of the 20th, upon the right bank of the San Jacinto, just below
the mouth of Buffalo bayou. The action commenced at half-past
three, P. M., by a most impetuous attack on the part of the Texans,
who rushed on, to the war-cry of 'Remember the Alamo!' The
rout of the Mexicans was complete, and the pursuit of the fugitives
continued until night-fall."*
According to General Houston's official report, the loss of the
Texans, in killed and wounded, was but twenty-five. Nearly the
entire Mexican force was destroyed, or surrendered to the victors.
Generals Santa Anna and Cos were both taken prisoners, the first
on the day succeeding that of the battle, the other on the 25th.
Nothing further was attempted by the division of the Mexican
army under Urea. The whole country was abandoned to the pos-
session of the revolutionists, and the new constitution went quietly
into effect. General Houston was elected first president of the
republic. The constant increase of immigration, subsequent to the
establishment of independence, rendered any attempt at a forcible
recovery of the valuable province every year more hopeless : but the
Mexican government yielded nothing of its claims, and the conse-
quences of a recognition of Texan independence by the United
States have been already narrated.
Do. FISK. In 1831 he was appointed to and accepted the presidency of the Wesleyan
University, in Middletown, Connecticut. In 1835 and 1836 he made the tour of Europe,
an account of which he afterward published in a large octavo volume. While in Europe,
h was appointed by the general conference of 1836 its delegate to the Wesleyan meth-
odist conference in England ; and, at the same conference, he was also elected bishop of
the methodist episcopal church of the United States.
Dr. Fisk possessed a clear, vigorous, and well-balanced mind, regular and handsome
features, an expressive countenance, a stately figure, and a pleasing address. Perhaps,
when unembarrassed, he came as near to the perfection of a Christian pulpit orator 93
any that can be found among the ministers of the sanctuary. Bangs' Hist., iv., 313 317.
Discoverers, &c., of America.
408 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
u id. /i jr A Ji ii iAj i JL .
ADMINISTRATION OP JAMES K. POLK. ANNEXATION OP TEXAS
THE NORTH-WESTERN BOUNDARY. DISCOVERT AND HIS-
TORY OF THE TERRITORY OF OREGON. VOYAGE OF JUAN
DE FUCA: DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA: TRADING
ESTABLISHMENTS: JOURNEY OF LEWIS AND CLARKE:
ASTORIA: DESTRUCTION OF THE TONQUIN: WAR
WITH GREAT BRITAIN: BOUNDARY TREATIES:
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY.
IN the month, of March, 1845, James K. Polk, of Tennessee,
succeeded to the presidency, George M. Dallas being vice-president.
At the congressional session, commencing December 1st, 1845, vari-
ous acts were passed, the influence of which upon the future destinies
of the country is incalculable. Among the first of these, was the
final joint resolution, by virtue of which Texas became one of the
United States, and the burden of maintaining her independence was
assumed by the confederacy. Hostilities with Mexico followed, con-
nected with which, are most matters of interest occurring throughout
this administration. An account of all the material events of the
war has been already given, under the title of Mexico.
In the summer of 1846, the vexed question respecting conflicting
claims of the United States and Great Britain to jurisdiction in the
territory of Oregon was finally set at rest. The forty-ninth parallel
was fixed as our northern boundary, extending westward to the
channel between Vancouver's island and the main, thence through
the straits of Fuca to the Pacific. Free navigation of the channel
and straits, and of the north branch of the Columbia to the ocean,
was secured to subjects or citizens of either nation.
A brief account of the discovery, settlement, and previous history
of this extensive and valuable territory, in the present connection,
may not appear unprofitable or out of place.
In early times it was commonly supposed that a free communica-
tion existed between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in latitude no
farther north than the northern limits of the territory of Oregon.
Vague reports, corroborative of this theory, were given by advent-
urous mariners, whom chance or the desire of exploration threw
THE UNITED STATES. 409
upon the north-western coast. The most remarkable of these early
narratives is that of Juan de Fuca, a Cephalonian pilot, who sailed
under a commission from the governor of Mexico, upon a northern
voyage of discovery, in 1592.
Five years previous, this celebrated navigator, while on a voyage
from Manilla to the Spanish provinces in America, was captured near
the coast, by the bucaniers under Cavendish. The vessel in which
he sailed was fired, but not entirely destroyed, and the crew were
set on shore upon the peninsula of Old California. Regaining pos-
session of their abandoned craft, they managed to refit her and to
continue their voyage, with the loss of all their effects.
The Mexican governor took Juan de Fuca under his patronage,
and availed himself of his experience in nautical affairs, in the pros-
ecution of exploration at the north. The first voyage was unsuc-
cessful, nothing being seen of the reported "straits of Anian," through
which it was believed a passage might be effected to the Atlantic.
The second expedition is chronicled as follows by Purchas, upon the
authority of Michael Lock the elder:
"He followed his course, in that voyage, west and north-west in
the South Sea, all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California,
and the Indies, now called North America, (all which voyage he sig-
nified to me in a great map, and a sea-card of my own, which I laid
before him,) until he came to the latitude of forty-seven degrees;
and that there, finding that the land trended north and north-east,
with a broad inlet of sea between forty-seven and forty-eight degrees
of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than twenty
days, and found that land trending still sometimes north-west, and
north-east, and north, and also east and south-eastward, and very
much broader sea than was at the said entrance, and that he passed
by divers islands in that sailing; and that, at the entrance of this
said strait, there is, on the north-west coast thereof, a great head-land
or island, with an exceeding high pinnacle, or spired rock, like a
pillar, thereupon.
"Also he said that he went on land in divers places, and that he
saw some people on land, clad in beast's skins; and that the land is
very fruitful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other things, like
Nova Spania.
'' And also he said that he, being entered thus far into the said
strait, and being come into the North Sea already, and finding the
sea wide enough every where, and to be about thirty or forty leagues
410 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
wide in the mouth of the straits where he entered, he thought he
had now well discharged his office; and that, not being armed to re-
sist the force of the savage people that might happen, he therefore
set sail, and returned homewards again towards Nova Spania, where
he arrived at Acapulco, Anno 1592, hoping to be rewarded by the
viceroy for his service done in the said voyage."*
The true name of this navigator is said to have been Apostolos
Valerianos, but the inlet, of which, if not the discoverer, he was the
first authentic explorer, has ever since borne his more popular ap-
pellation. The straits of Juan de Fuca were not again entered or
noticed for nearly two centuries from the time of the Greek pilot.
In 1787, the account above given, which had been long discredited,
was in part corroborated, and its errors were pointed out, by the re-
port of Captain Berkeley, an Englishman, commanding a vessel in
the service of the Austrian East India Company.
Twelve years before this period, August 15, 1775, Bruno Heceta.
commander of an exploring expedition fitted out from San Bias, dis-
covered the mouth of the Columbia river; but he failed to notice
the entrance of the straits. Captain Cook, during his last voyage,
in the year 1778, just previous to his second and fatal visit to the
Sandwich Islands, made an unsuccessful examination of the coast, in
search after the reported inlet.
Within a few years from this time a valuable traffic in furs, to be
used in the China trade, was opened with the natives of the north-
west coast. Two vessels, the Felice and the . Iphigenia, sailed upon
this enterprise from Macao in 1788, under Portuguese colours, but
subject to the general management of John Meares, a British lieu-
tenant. Before the departure of these vessels from the coast, the
Columbia and Washington, fitted out at Boston, in the United States,
upon similar service, entered Nootka sound. In 1792, the first of
these, under command of Captain Gray, passed up the river discovered
by Heceta. It has ever since borne the name of the vessel, and to
G ray must be ascribed the honour of being the first to prove its ex-
istence, as this was only conjectured by the first discoverer, from the
strong current setting out of the bay.
Conflicting claims respecting exclusive rights upon the north-west
coast, by virtue of discovery and occupation, were long maintained
by different European powers; and after the cession by Spain to the
United States of the immense territory then called Louisiana, the
* Greenhow's History of Oregon and California.
JAMES K. FOLK,
ELEVENTH 1'HESIDEKT OF T1IE UNITED STATES
BORV IN i79ft PRESIDENT IN 164* . SERVtD 4 YEARS ; DIED JTTKS 1*.
THE UNlThi> &TATE8.
latter power became involved in a similar controversy with Great
Britain. During the year subsequent to this event, 1804, a party of
thirty or forty men, under command of Captains Lewis mid Clarke,
was despatched by the United States' government upon a journey of
overland exploration from the Mississippi to the Pacific.
The adventurers passed the winter near the Mandan villages, far
up the Missouri, and in the spring of 1805 pursued their voyage up
the river in canoes and "periogues." Deriving their principal sup-
port from the game brought in by their hunters, they slowly worked
their way against the current, and passed the great falls or rapids of
the Missouri in the month of July. At this point they were obliged
to build light canoes in which to continue their voyage. Entering
the Jefferson fork, about the close of the month, they kept on their
course until the river, no longer navigable, had dwindled to a brook,
and on the 12th of August its utmost source was discovered.
Passing the dividing ridge, the advanced party reached "a hand-
some bold creek of clear cold water, running to the westward."
After enduring the utmost hardships in the dangerous passage of
the mountains, the travellers struck the Kooskooskee, and resumed
their journey by water. They reached the mouth of the Columbia
early in November. Nothing was heard from the expedition until
its return to St. Louis on the 23d of September, 1806. The account
published by the leaders of the expedition is replete with interest,
and marked by an agreeable simplicity of style.
Great interest was excited throughout the United States by the
long-expected report, and plans were soon after set on foot for the
formation of a permanent establishment, for trading purposes, upon
the Pacific coast. A company, styled the Pacific Fur Company, was
formed under the auspices of John Jacob Astor, of New York, in
1810, and vessels were at once fitted out upon the enterprise. The
settlement of Astoria at Point George, on the south bank of the Co-
lumbia, was commenced during the summer of 181 1. This under-
taking, at first prosperous, resulted in misfortune. The Tonquin,
the first vessel sent out, while engaged in trade near the straits of
Fuca, was plundered by the Indians, and blown up. All on board
perished, with the exception of an Indian interpreter, who, after a
captivity of two years, made his way to Astoria, and gave the first
intelligence of the disaster.
The war between Great Britain and the United States breaking
out at this period, the resident partners of the American Company
412
AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED.
effected a sale of the whole establishment and stores to the" British
North-west Company. The occupants under this transfer continued
to carry on the trade in furs after the reestablishment of the authority
of the United States over that portion of the north-west territory.
"By the treaty of 1818, the territories west of the Rocky moun-
tains, claimed by the United States or Great Britain, were to */e
jointly occupied by citizens of either country, for a period of ten
years. Upon the expiration of this term (in 1828), the arrangement
was renewed, and indefinitely extended; one year's notice to be
given by either government prior to any future assertion of sole
sovereignty.
"As the attention of the United States became aroused by the
progress of emigration to Oregon, the necessity for some definitive
settlement of the boundary question began to be universally felt.
Subsequent to the explorations and surveys under Colonel Fremont,
elsewhere narrated, great numbers of settlers, during the summers of
IS-iS and 1844, pursued the overland' route, and settled in the Wil-
lamet valley. The number of American emigrants in Oregon at the
close of the latter yoar, is computed at more than three thousand,
and great sympathy was felt for them throughout the Union, in con-
sideration of the hardships they had endured, and the uncertainty
of their position while the right of jurisdiction over the country re-
mained unsettled."*
After the final settlement of the boundary question, in 1846, as
before mentioned, emigration received a new impetus. Although
lying in a high latitude, the climate of the territory of Oregon is by
no means severe. Owing to its situation upon the western shore of
a large continent, like the countries of western Europe, it is subject
to no such extremes of temperature as those felt in the New England
states. The soil is extremely fertile, and the surface of the country
is beautifully diversified with mountains, plains, hills, and streams.
The population, as exhibited in the census returns of 1850, numbered
thirteen thousand three hundred and twenty-three.
* Discoverers, &c., of Acserica.
THE UNITED STATES.
U ****** Ct *i A Ao
*
ALTERATION IN THE TARIPF. ACQUISITION OP CALIFORNIA:
EARLY HISTORY OP THAT PROVINCE: THE JESUIT MISSIONS
IN THE PENINSULA: THE DOMINICANS. UPPER CALI-
FORNIA: THE FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY ESTABLISH-
MENT: THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION: ATTEMPTS
AT COLONIZATION.
A LITTLE before the close of the session of congress, in the summer
of 1846, the views of the political party then in the ascendency,
respecting duties on importations, were carried out by revision and
alteration of the tariff of 1842. Material reduction was made in
the protective duties established by the former bill.
Upon the conclusion of peace with Mexico, the acquisition of
California gave a new direction to speculative enterprise throughout
the Union -especially at the extreme west and upon the sea-board.
The existence of a gold deposit in the bed of the American fork of
the Sacramento, was first discovered in the spring of 1848. "From
this period every thing connected with the California settlements
took a new aspect. The villages which had sprang up since the
acquisition of the country by the United States, were mostly de-
serted; the crops were left ungathered; the crews of the vessels
lying in port deserted; labour could be procured only at the most
exorbitant prices ; in short, nearly the whole male population had
hurried to the mines, and, regardless of hardship, fatigue, exposure,
and sickness, were engaged in the all-absorbing pursuit of gold."
An unexampled increase of population, within the short period
of two years, converted a wilderness, uninhabited save by roving sav-
ages and the occupants of a few small towns or trading-posts, into
an important and prosperous state. The history of its settlement L*
more like a tale of romance than a record of realities.
Throughout the continuance of Spanish or Mexican dominion over
the Californias, those provinces were looked upon as of little im-
portance, and chiefly interesting as a field for missionary enterprise.
The peninsula of Old California was discovered, in 1534, by Grijalva,
sailing upon a voyage of discovery under commission from Cortez.
414 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
The gulf which separates it from the main was soon after explored,
and at different times unsuccessful attempts were made to plant col-
onies at several locations. The peninsula was barren and mountain-
ous, and nothing was imagined of the undeveloped wealth and
resources of the country farther north.
In California, as in many other portions of America, the pioneers
of settlement and civilization were the fraternity of Jesuits. These
indefatigable propagandists of the faith commenced operations upon
either shore of the Gulf of California, towards the close of the sev-
enteenth century. Upon the main, a settlement was founded by the
learned and zealous Father Kiihn before his departure for America
a professor of mathematics at Ingoldstadt. Father Salvatierra, also
a member of the order, at the same time established the missionary
station of Loreto at the bay of San Dionisio, upon the peninsula.
He took with him six soldiers as a slight protection against attack
on the part of the natives.
The Indians had little reason to look with favour upon any further
encroachment upon their territory. For a long period the coast had
seldom been visited, except by those engaged in the pearl fishery, in
the pursuit of which occupation it had been the common custom to
compel the service of the natives, great numbers of whom had per-
ished in this dangerous avocation. Salvatierra and his associates in
the missionary work made great and finally successful exertions to
procure from the home government the enactment of laws for the
protection of their adopted people from this species of slavery.
At San Dionisio a chapel was erected to "Our Lady of Loreto,"
and the good father made use of all means in his power to excite the
interest, arouse the curiosity, and conciliate the good-will of his an-
ticipated proselytes. He met at first with very unfavourable returns:
the Indians, after plundering him of his horse and goats, finally col-
lected in force, and attempted the destruction of the establishment.
They were driven off by the fire-arms of the soldiers.
The efforts of Salvatierra and Kiihn were worthily seconded by
Fathers Ugarte and Francisco Piccolo. The latter, in the autumn of
1699, two years from the formation of the first Jesuit settlement,
founded the mission of San Xavier, on the* Pacific coast. From this
station, as well as that at San Dionisio, the missionaries extended
their operations among the natives by making long journeys on
horseback throughout a great extent of the peninsula, acquainting
themselves with the resources and geography of the country, preach-
THE UNITED STATES. 415
ing to the Indians in their own language, and endeavouring by every
means to gain their confidence and good-will.
Ugarte came over from Mexico in 1701. "He took up his abode
with the Indians, without a single companion, among the mountains
south-west of Loreto, and, by the force of example and rewards,
stimulated his wild associates to shake off their natural sloth, and
aid him in erecting dwellings and a chapel for public worship. He
was of a robust frame and hardy constitution, and was always fore-
most to undertake the labour and drudgery attendant upon the form-
ation of the settlement. His greatest trouble, at first, was from an
unconquerable tendency on the part of his auditors to jeer and laugh
at his religious exercises, but the infliction of summary chastisement
upon the strongest and most contumacious among them, speedily
quelled their levity.
"This excellent and energetic ecclesiastic did not confine himself
to a care for the souls of his flock ; he taught them the cultivation
of the soil ; he introduced the domestic animals of Europe ; and even
brought over a weaver to teach the arts of spinning and manufacturing
the wool obtained from his sheep. Slowly but steadily the missions
continued to prosper; the fickle-minded aborigines were subdued
and restrained by force or kindness as occasion required; and the
general tenor of the lives of those engaged in the work of the mis-
sions, gave evidence that their motives were pure, and that they had
the interests of their proselytes at heart."*
The difficulties encountered by these pioneers of civilization were
increased by the conduct of too many of those who accompanied
them from Mexico, or who afterwards came over to engage in secular
employment at the stations. "The land was so barren," says Green-
how, "that it scarcely yielded the means of sustaining life to the
most industrious agriculturalist, for which reason the settlements
were all located near the sea, in order that the necessary food might
be procured by fishing; and the persons employed in their service,
being drawn from the most miserable classes in Mexico, were always
indolent and insubordinate, and generally preferred loitering on the
shore, in search of pearls, to engaging in the regular labours required
for the support of settlers in a new region."
The grand order of the Jesuits having gradually fallen into sus-
picion with the "great powers of Europe, its members were subjected
to persecution and banishment in the territories, successively, of
* Discoverers, &.c., of America.
VOL. IV. 55
416 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Portugal, France, and Spain. In the year 1767, they were expelled
from California, and the country becoming a Mexican province, the
missionaries were superseded by Franciscans, and the civil authority
of Mexico was extended over the settlements. The missionary sta-
tions on the peninsula were, at this time, sixteen in number. Domin-
ican friars took the place of the Jesuits, and, pursuing a far different
policy towards the natives from that carried out by their predeces-
sors, soon destroyed the confidence of the inhabitants, and frustrated
the plans for their improvement, before so promising. The Indians
of Old California are, at the present day, few in number, and still in
the condition of the savage.
Turning their attention from the barren mountains of the penin-
sula to the extensive and fertile region of Upper or New California,
the Franciscans, with the aid and countenance of the Marquis de
Croix, viceroy of Mexico, founded a settlement at San Diego, in
1769. From this^tation, a party was shortly after sent to explore
and take formal possession of the country further north. They
proceeded by land as far as the harbour of San Francisco, upon
which they bestowed its present appellation, and returned to make
report at San Diego, in January of the following year.
This exploring party had been specially commissioned to establish
a settlement upon the bay of Monterey, but upon the journey they
failed to recognise that locality from its description by early voy-
agers. A few months subsequent to their return, the service was
accomplished by another expedition, under direction of Father
Junipero Serra. A portion of the adventurers proceeded by sea,
the voyage from San Diego to Monterey occupying no less than
forty-six days; another party made the journey in a less space of
time, by laud, and were found by the voyagers, engaged in building
and other preparations for a settlement. "On the 31st of May,"
saj's Serra, "by the favour of God, after rather a painful voyage of
a month and a half, the packet San Antonio, commanded by Don
Juan Perez, arrived and anchored in this horrible port of Monterey,
which is unaltered in any degree from what it was when visited by
the expedition of Don Seb.astian Viscayno, in the year 1603."
The missions in Upper California received special patronage from
the Spanish crown, and a large fund was raised for their support, in
Mexico, by voluntary contributions of the pious. Many valuable
legacies were also funded for this purpose, and the temporal affairs
of the enterprise were, for a series of years, in a prosperous condi-
THE UNITED STATES. 417
lion. The spiritual progress of the Indians was, however, by no
means in conformity with the great apparent success of the missions.
The influence and authority of the ecclesiastics was established
throughout the line of coast their head-quarters being at San
Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and San Gabriel but their iriflu-
dnce appears to have availed little towards the actual improvement
or civilization of the natives. The church acquired extensive titles
to the more valuable lands, and, instead of favouring the immigra-
tion of whites, threw obstacles in' the way of colonization by civil-
ians. The clergy, content with a nominal or outward compliance
with the forms of their church, preferred to retain their undivided
supremacy over the natives, and feared the consequence of the
introduction of free settlers.
They did not attain this commanding position without first en-
during great hardships and suffering, and exposing themselves to
continual personal danger. Their property, in the early days of
the missions, was pilfered by the natives on every occasion, and, from
time to time, they were forced to resort to the "secular arm" in
defending their lives against hostile attacks. Upon one occasion, a
large body of Indians fell upon the settlement at San Diego, and,
after a hard struggle, were driven off by the handful of whites there
in occupation. They shortly after sued for peace, and begged the
Spanish surgeon to visit and assist those of their number who had
been wounded in the conflict. This aid was cheerfully and readily
afforded.
Upon the general overthrow of the old order of things, at the
period of the Mexican revolution, the privileges and powers of the
Californian hierarchy were curtailed, and its resources in Mexico
cut off by sequestration of the sums appropriated for the salaries of
the priesthood. Measures were also taken to effect an emancipation
of the natives, but so completely incompetent did they appear to
the management of property, and so much disposed to return to the
savage life of their forefathers, that it was judged expedient, for the
time, to allow matters to continue much in their old position. The
church in California was, at this period, so amply endowed by
monopolies, and the acquisition of real estate, that it was no longer
dependent upon supplies from abroad.
A movement was afterwards set on foot in Mexico, for the fur-
therance of colonization in California by the entire removal of the
missionaries, and a sequestration of their lands and effects. A law
418 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
was actually passed for this purpose, in the Mexican congress, and
great numbers of emigrants, allured by the favourable offers of govern-
ment, were soon en route for the land of promise. All their expecta-
tions failed upon the attainment of Santa Anna to political supremacy.
His regard for the interests of the church, or his policy of securing
the favour of so powerful a portion of the community, induced him
to take immediate steps for the protection of the property and priv-
ileges of the Californian priesthood, and, in consequence, to check
the progress of immigration.
CTJ A Z) HP 7? T) *V* *V T
ii cH. JT X Jo Ii A A X.
EXPLORATION OF NEW CALIFORNIA: COLONEL FREMONT'8
SURVEY OF THE SOUTH PASS: OVERLAND EXPEDITION OF
1843-4: THE GREAT SALT LAKE: RETURN ROUTE: TERRIBLE
PASSAGE OF THE SIERRA NEVADA: CAPTAIN SUTTER'S
SETTLEMENT: SUBSEQUENT EXPEDITIONS OF FREMONT.
THE GOLD DISCOVERIES IN CALIFORNIA.
THE adventurous expedition of Lewis and Clarke first gave to the
world any satisfactory account of the character of the wilderness
intervening between the western settlements of the United States and
the Pacific sea-board. Before the accomplishment of their remarka-
ble journey, all that was known of that territory was gathered from
the Indians, and from the white traders, or trappers, who had pene-
trated the country in different directions, and at different times.
A long interval elapsed between this first achievement and the
undertaking of any systematic survey of a practicable route for emi-
grants. In 1842, the services of the Hon. John Charles Fremont,
who was at that time commissioned as a lieutenant in the United
States' corps of topographical engineers, were called into requisition
for this purpose. He had been previously engaged in the prosecu-
tion of surveys in the north-western territory, and his instructions,
at the time of which we are now speaking, were to make an exam-
ination of the country, and to report upon an advisable route from
the frontier settlements of Missouri to the Great South Pass then
THE UNITED STATES. 419
considered the most practicable, if not the only available passage
through the Rocky mountains.
With a company of twenty-five men, principally Canadian or
Creole voyageurs, under the guidance of Christopher Carson then
familiarly and extensively known at the west, and now of world-
wide celebrity, as " Kit Carson " Fremont took his departure from
a post a few miles above the mouth of the Kansas river, on the
10th of June. The party was provided with eight carts, drawn by
mules, for the transportation of camp-equipage, surveying instru-
ments, &c., and four oxen were taken for provision. The men were
all mounted, and well provided with arms.
The line of march lay north-westerly from the Kansas to the
Platte, a distance exceeding three hundred miles, which was trav-
ersed in sixteen days. Following the course of the South Fork,
the party reached Fort St. Vrain, at the eastern foot of the Eocky
mountains, on the 10th of July, one month from the day of depart-
ure. They arrived at the South Pass near the middle of August,
and entered at once upon the principal business of the expedition.
By accurate astronomical observations, the true position of this
important passage was laid down; scientific investigations of the
geological formation of the country were made ; and a correct sur-
vey of the whole locality was carefully prepared. The information
brought back by the expedition, and widely disseminated through
the press, by act of congress, was of inestimable value to those
embarking upon the adventure of overland emigration to the shores
of the Pacific.
The exploring expedition, under Commander "Wilkes, returned,
as before mentioned, in the month of June (18-42). In addition to
an accurate survey of the north-western coast, expeditions inland
had been undertaken by those connected with the enterprise, both
in Oregon and California; and it was considered desirable to connect
the results of these observations with those established by the ex-
ploration of the South Pass. Colonel Fremont was again commis-
sioned by government as commander of the expedition proposed.
The Great South Pass lies immediately in the direct line of travel
from Missouri to the Columbia river; but it was hoped that a route
might be opened further south, which would present less formid-
able obstacles as a general thoroughfare. The party collected for
this service consisted, in all, of forty men, numbers of whom had
shared with Fremont the fatigues and hardships of the preceding
420 AMEEICA ILLUSTKATED
year. They set out upon their perilous journey on the 29th of
May, 1843.
"A detour through the mountains brought them upon the waters
of the Bear river, which they followed to its debouchement into the
Great Salt Lake. In a frail boat of inflated India-rubber cloth, a
partial survey was effected of this remarkable phenomenon of nature,
concerning which the only knowledge before obtained had been
from the wild reports of the Indians, and hunters who had occa-
sionally visited it. Little did the adventurous explorers dream of
the change that a few years would bring about upon those remote
and desolate shores. The party left their camp by the lake on the
12th of September, and, proceeding northward, reached the plains
of the Columbia on the 18th, 'in sight of the famous Three Buttes,
a well-known land-mark in the country, distant about forty-five miles.'
"In the month of November, having reached Fort Vancouver,
and fully accomplished the duties assigned him, Colonel Fremont
set out on his return by a new and dangerous route. Nothing but
a perusal of the journal of the expedition can convey an adequate
idea of the dangers and difficulties attendant upon the remainder
of this enterprise, in which the complete circuit was made of that
immense and unexplored basin lying between the Sierra Nevada
and the Wahsatch, or Bear river range of the Eocky mountains; a
region thus laid down in Fremont's chart: 'The Great Basin : diam-
eter 11 of latitude: elevation above the sea, between four and five
thousand feet: surrounded by lofty mountains: contents almost
unknown, but believed to be filled with rivers and lakes which
have no communication with the sea, deserts and oases which have
never been explored, and savage tribes which no traveller has seen
or described.' "
This journey of more than three thousand miles, through a wilder-
ness inhabited only by roving Indians, and in the face of the most
appalling natural obstacles, called forth the exercise of heroism,
fortitude, and bodily endurance, of which few men would be found
capable. The passage of the Sierra Nevada, which occupied several
weeks at the close of the winter and in the early spring, was the
most dangerous and trying achievement of this unparalleled march.
In the midst of snow and ice, pushing their way by an unknown
route through stupendous mountains, in uncertainty as to the for-
tunes of each succeeding day, and suffering the extremes of desti-
tution and exposure, the hardy adventurers pressed forward with
THE UNITED STATES. 421
invincible courage and resolution. The flesh of their mules and
horses was their only resort for subsistence, and these animals were
reduced to a miserable condition from the impossibility of procuring
any other food than a little dried and frost-bitten herbage, here and
there exposed.
When they had at last successfully passed the mountain range, and,
following the course of the Kio de los Americanos, from its southern
sources toward the Sacramento, had reached a more hospitable
region, it was found that two of the party were labouring under an
aberration of mind, from the effects of anxiety and hardship. "One
of them, Derosier, who had stayed behind for the purpose of bring-
ing up a favourite horse of Colonel Fremont, on rejoining the party,
in the words of the narrative, 'came in, and sitting down by the fire,
began to tell us where he had been. He imagined he had been
gone several days, and thought we were still at the camp where he
had left us; and we were pained to see that his mind was deranged.
Times were severe wlien stout men lost their minds
from extremity of suffering when horses died and when mules
and horses, ready to die of starvation, were killed .for food. Yet
there was no murmuring or hesitation.'"
On the 6th of March, the advance party arrived at the Indian
settlements, a few miles from the confluence of the American fork
with the Sacramento, and had the satisfaction of learning their
position from an Indian cow-herd in the employment of Captain
Sutter. At the establishment of this enterprising pioneer of the
American Californian settlements known as Sutler's fort the
party was hospitably received and entertained.
"Captain Sutter emigrated to this country from the western part
of Missouri, in 1838-9, and formed the first settlement in the valley,
on a large grant of land which he obtained from the Mexican gov-
ernment. He had, at first, some trouble with the Indians ; but, by
the occasional exercise of well-timed authority, he has succeeded an
converting them into a peaceable and industrious people. The
ditches around his extensive wheat-fields; the making of the sun-
dried bricks, of which his fort is constructed ; the ploughing, har-
rowing, and other agricultural operations, are entirely the work of
these Indians, for which they receive a very moderate compensation
principally in shirts, blankets, and other articles of clothing."*
At the fort, was a garrison of forty Indians ; and about thirty whito
* Fremont's Narrative.
422 AMEKICA ILLUSTEATED.
men, of various trades and occupations, were in Sutter's employment
Immense fields of grain, numerous work-shops, and vessels lying in
the river, attested the wealth and enterprise of the proprietor.
Fremont and his company took their departure from this vicinity
on the 24th of March, and reached the village of Kanzas, on the
Missouri, on the 31st of July, 1844.
Upon his second overland expedition to the Pacific, undertaken
in 1845, while engaged, in accordance with his instructions, in sci-
entific exploration, Colonel Fremont received intelligence of the
existence of war between Mexico and the United States. He imme-
diately enlisted a mounted force, and, commencing active military
operations, met with distinguished success. The difficulties in which
he became involved, in consequence of conflicting claims of his
superiors, have been before alluded to.
At a still later period, his restless spirit of enterprise induced him
to undertake a private adventure for the discovery of a southern
and more direct land-route to California. For this purpose, he col-
lected a company of about thirty men, and, provided with more than
one hundred mules, commenced his journey westward. The incle-
mency of the season proved disastrous. Upon the Sierra San Juan,
being overtaken by snow-storms and severe weather, the party lost
their entire stock of mules, and many of their number perished from
cold and starvation before their indomitable leader could procure
them aid and sustenance. He proceeded on foot to Santa Fe, where
he met with ready assistance. With renewed outfit, he persever-
ingly accomplished the purpose of the expedition, and made his way,
by the southern route, to the Californian settlements.
Almost simultaneously with the cession of California to the United
States, by virtue of the treaty concluded at Guadalupe Hidalgo,
occurred the astonishing developments of unexpected mineral wealth
in the new territory. "That these treasures should have remained
so long concealed from the occupants of the territory seems unac-
countable, when we consider the proverbial keenness of the Spaniard
in the search for native gold, and the experience acquired by cen-
turies of practical operations in the mines of Mexico and Peru. The
fact only proves how completely the country was neglected by the
more enterprising and efficient portion of the community.
"The first discovery of gold in California, in sufficient quantity
to excite public attention, was made in the spring of 1848, by Mr.
James Marshall, who had been employed by Captain John A. Sut-
THE UNITED STATES. 423
ler to erect a saw-mill upon the south branch of the Rio de los
Americanos, or American fork, a tributary of the Sacramento, flow-
ing from the eastward. The location of the mill was about fifty
miles from New Helvetia, or Suiter's fort.
" One of the earliest authentic reports of the commencement and
progress of the mining enterprise, is a letter of Colonel E. B. Mason,
governor of California, to the adjutant-general, at Washington, dated
August, 1848. In describing his first visit to the diggings, he says:
' As we ascended the south branch of the American fork, the country
became more broken and mountainous, and at the saw-mills, twenty-
five miles below Sutter's, the hills rise to about a thousand feet
above the level of the Sacramento plain. Here a species of pine
occurs, which led to the discovery of the gold.
'"Captain Sutter, feeling the great want of lumber, contracted,
in September last, with a Mr. Marshall, to build a saw-mill at that
place. It was erected in the course of the last winter and spring
a dam and race constructed; but when the water was let on the
wheel, the tail-race was found too narrow to allow the water to escape
with sufficient rapidity. Mr. Marshall, to save labour, 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, as Mr. Marshall
was walking down the race to the deposit of mud, he observed some
glittering particles at its upper edge; he gathered a few, examined
them, and became satisfied of their value. He then went to the fort,
told Captain Sutter of his discovery, and they agreed to keep it
secret until a certain grist-mill of Sutter's was finished. It, however,
got out, and spread like magic.
"'Remarkable success attended the labours of the first explorers,
and, in a few weeks, hundreds of men were drawn thither. At the
time of my first visit, but little more than three months after its first
discovery, it was estimated that upwards of four thousand people
were employed.'"
In this exciting pursuit the utmost improvidence was exhibited,
and the necessary consequence was a sudden and unprecedented ad-
vance in the prices of all articles of common necessity. Upon the
first intelligence of the position of affairs in California, received in
the states, speculators entered eagerly into the business of shipping
thither supplies of clothing, provisions, &c. Before these stores
could reach their place of destination, by the circuitous route of Cape
424 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
Horn, much real destitution was felt, and, although the yield of the
washings was exceedingly rich, the chief profits of the mining oper
ations were appropriated by those who were enabled to cater, at the
most exorbitant and fabulous rates, for the physical wants of the
labourers at the mines.
The cargoes which first arrived at San Francisco yielded enormous
returns ; but in some articles the market was speedily overstocked,
and heavy losses were sustained by those whose adventures failed to
correspond with the demand. One cause of great embarrassment to
ship-owners was the impossibility of obtaining a crew for the return
voyage. Previous contracts, forfeiture of wages already earned, and
extravagant offers, generally failed to outweigh the strong temptation
held out to the able-bodied labourers at the mines.
It is a most satisfactory reflection that other and far more im-
portant ends than the collection of gold will be accomplished by the
settlement of California. The soil is, in many locations, exceedingly
productive ; and when, with the increasing population, labour shall
have been applied to the development of the agricultural resources
of the country, the new state will be entirely self-dependent. Not
only as a producing country, but as a great commercial depot, Cali-
fornia bids fair to rival the most wealthy and prosperous of the
United States. There can be but little doubt concerning the estab-
lishment, in the course of a few years, of a railroad line which shall
directly unite the Atlantic and Pacific, traversing the whole breadth
of the continent. With the accomplishment of this undertaking
will commence a new era in commerce, and the wealth of eastern
Asia will reach the civilized world by a new mode of transit. Al-
ready has a road been more than half completed, by which freight
will be transported across the Isthmus, and the necessity for the long
and hazardous voyage round the Cape, or the Horn, be obviated : at
Tehuantapec facilities offer for a route still more direct; but when
the great overland line, carried through in spite of all natural obsta-
cles, shall once be fairly established, it must take the principal share
of travel and transportation. When we consider the rapidity with
which our western settlements have extended, with no facilities for
the conveyance of produce to a market other than the natural ad-
vantages of navigable streams, we can scarcely be guilty of extrava-
gance, in whatever terms we may speak of the future growth and
development of the region to be traversed by the Atlantic and
Pacific railroad.
THE UNITED STATES. 425
The population of California, as given by the census of 1850,
amounted, in round numbers, to two hundred and fourteen thousand ;
but so shifting was its character, and so constant the influx of emi-
gration, that this estimate was scarcely more than conjectural, and a
new census has been accordingly ordered.
CXT A D T 1 T? "D *w V T T
A & * * & A A A X 1.
THE MORMONS. ADMINISTRATIONS OP JACHART TAILOR AND
MILLARD FILLMORE: ADMISSION OF CALIFORNIA INTO THE
UNION: DEBATE UPON THE SLAVERY QUESTION: THE COM-
PROMISE: EXPEDITIONS OF NARCISSO LOPEZ. STATIS-
TICS. FRANKLIN PIERCE PRESIDENT: JAPAN: THE
NEBRASKA QUESTION.
THE year preceding the discovery of gold in California, a move-
ment was set on foot for the establishment of a settlement upon the
border of that region described by Fremont as the "Great Basin"
of the west. The character of the expedition, the motives and ex-
pectations of those engaged in it, its visible effects, and probable
future consequences., stand in strange and striking contrast to the
peculiarly mercenary characteristics of Californian emigration and
progress.
Driven by persecution from their settlement at Nauvoo, the Mor-
mons, in 1846, established themselves temporarily in Iowa, and af-
terwards farther westward, upon the bank of the Missouri. Their
object.appeared to be the attainment of a situation so isolated as to
allow of the free development of their peculiar system, and yet suf-
ficiently productive to supply all the necessities of an independent
community.
The present age has witnessed no religious or sectarian delusion
of so gross a character, and yet so ably and enthusiastically supported.
"Its late origin presents to the view all that is low and disgusting in
bare-faced trickery and imposture; but its present position, attained
and upheld by fanaticism and sensuality, two of the most effective
agents which can render evil powerful and error contagious, has
assumed a character in some sort respectable and undeniably for-
426 AMEKICA ILLUSTEATED.
midable. Persecution has had its customary effect, in investing its
victims with dignity, in arousing all their powers of resistance, and
in awakening the sympathies of all averse to injustice.
"In other ages, this dangerous form of a religious mania would
have had its legitimate manifestation in crusades against property,
and in the foundation of a new state and church on the ruins of some
weaker and less vigorous structure of superstition; at present, its
more honourable and profitable mission is to afford a field of harm-
less action for uneasy spirits, and to build up a new nation in the
remotest wilderness.
"It can hardly be doubted that the polygamy
allowed by the new religion is, with a certain class of minds, a very
powerful incentive for conversion to its tenets, and a strong prompter
to fierceness and resolution in defending them. But this of itself is
entirely unsatisfactory in explanation of that stern and eager enthu-
siasm which, beyond any of our times, has distinguished the present
manifestation. Men who wish for several wives will do much to
obtain them, and to keep them, but hardly what the Mormons have
done and are doing. It is an article of faith not exactly suited to
the production of heroes or of martyrs; and that the elements of
such, in great numbers, may be found in the Mormon ranks, no man
conversant with their history will deny. A spirit of deeper and
more respectable error the spirit of faith and fanaticism, almost
invariably fierce, vehement, and enduring, in proportion to the folly
and puerility of its creed has been the main-spring of this extra-
ordinary movement, and remains a problem, as insoluble as any of
the same class which have preceded it."*
The progress of the Mormons westward was delayed and embar-
rassed by a requisition promptly and honourably complied with
for five hundred of their number, to serve in the Mexican war.
After a winter of great destitution and suffering, occasioned by this
withdrawal of the most efficient portion of their community, the
exiles fitted out an advance party to explore the country and fix
upon a location for the future settlement. By the route of the
South Pass, these pioneers made their way across the mountains, and
directed their course towards the valley of the Great Salt Lake. They
reached their place of destination in the month of July, 1847. A
settlement was immediately commenced, and the site of a capital
was chosen.
* Discoverers, &c., of America
ZACHAHV TAYLOR,
TWELFTH PRESIDENT OF THB UNITED STATES.
BORN IK 1764 ; IfTSTALLED INTO OTFICR 1S49 ; SBUV^D UKTIL HIS DBATS
WHICH TOOK PLACE JULY 0. 18SO.
THE UNITED STATES. 427
Before the setting in of winter, several thousands of the sect had
emigrated to the valley. The lateness of their arrival, and the im-
practicability of transporting any considerable store of provisions
across the wilderness, rendered the winter of 1847-8 a season of
destitution little short of starvation; but nothing could abate the
energy or damp the enthusiasm of this singular people. The work
of building and agricultural preparation was unintermitted, and an
abundant harvest, during the summer following, rewarded their
exertions.
From their capital, on the lake, the Mormons have steadily pur-
sued a system of colonization by fitting out expeditions for explora-
tion and settlement. These are particularly extended towards the
Pacific coast. According to the Eeport of Captain Stansbury: "It
is the ultimate object of the Mormons, by means of stations, wherever
the nature of the country will admit of their settling in numbers
sufficient for self-defence, to establish a line of communication with
the Pacific, so as to afford aid to their brethren coming from abroad,
while on their pilgrimage to the land of promise. These stations
will gradually become connected by farms and smaller settlements,
wherever practicable, until the greater part of the way will exhibit one
long line of cultivated fields, from the Mormon capital to San Diego."
The colony, self-incorporated in 1849 as the state of Deseret, now
contains more than twenty thousand inhabitants; missionaries are
successfully engaged in various parts of the world in procuring
proselytes to the faith; and the community is constantly increasing
in power and importance. Their president, Brigham Young, con-
firmed in authority as governor of the territory by the United States'
government, is recognised by his people as invested with power
nearly absolute, both spiritual and temporal; and, in the entire ad-
ministration of civil affairs, the government is a perfect hierarchy.
How far these extraordinary regulations may eventually clash with
the authority of the federal government is, as yet, uncertain ; but
the disregard and indignity sustained by the territorial judges and
secretary first commissioned by the executive of the United States,
are ominous of future contumacy.
One noticeable effect of the war with Mexico, has been to bring
forward a host of aspirants to political eminence, the prestige of
whose military achievements has too often served to distract atten-
tion from their gross incompetency for the management of public
affairs. This remark, happily, does not apply to many successful
428 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
candidates for popular favour, whose worth and abilities might have
remained unappreciated, but for the eclat of their services in the war.
The influence of the national fondness for military renown, was
brought to bear upon the presidential election of 1848. The candi-
dates of the respective parties were Lewis Cass, of Michigan, and '
Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana. General Taylor, receiving the electoral
majority, was inaugurated on the 5th of March ensuing. Millard
Fillmore, of New York, was chosen vice-president.
At the congressional session of 1849-50, the application of Cali-
fornia for admission to the Union, in connection with the necessity
for organizing a territorial government in Utah and New Mexico,
gave rise to the most violent and protracted debate. A proviso,
previously introduced by Mr. Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, relative
to the exclusion of slavery in the formation of new states, being
insisted upon by members from the free states, the whole question
was made a theme for angry and extravagant declamation. Several
months passed without the accomplishment of any important legis-
lation, the time of congress being taken up by stormy and unprofit-
able debate too often by disgraceful personal controversies.
Early in May, a committee of northern and southern members,
of which Mr. Clay was chairman, appointed to digest some scheme
of mutal concession respecting the vexed question of slavery, and
its application to the measures in contemplation, made report. In
the compromise thus proposed, very little was conceded to the claims
of the members from free states. During its discussion, and before
final action upon either of its separate items, a change of administra-
tion took place. President Taylor died on the 9th of July, 1850.
and was succeeded by the vice-president, Mr. Fillmore.
The compromise measures were separately discussed and adopted,
substantially as reported by the committee. Before the close of Sep-
tember, the territories of New Mexico and Utah were organized
without anti-slavery restrictions; California was admitted into the
Union ; the Texan boundary at the north-west was established ; a
bill was carried containing specific provisions for the recapture of
fugitive slaves; and, in the District of Columbia, over which con-
gress exercises exclusive jurisdiction, the slave-trade was formally
abolished.
During the summer and autumn of 1851, great excitement was
caused throughout the Union, particularly in the southern states,
by the events connected with an attempt at the overthrow of Scan
THE UNITED STATES. 429
ish power in Cuba. General Narcisso Lopez, one of the principal
persons implicated in an unsuccessful revolutionary movement in
the island, in 1848, upon the failure of that enterprise, escaped to
this country, and engaged in the preparation of plans for an expe-
dition, to proceed from the United States, and cooperate with the
efforts of the disaffected party in Cuba.
That such an undertaking was on foot soon became generally
known, and a proclamation was issued by the president, strongly
condemning the illegal movement, and denouncing those engaged
in it as liable to severe penalties under the existing laws of the
country. The expedition, however, was favoured by a large party
in the community, and Lopez, having enlisted and embarked a
force of more than six hundred men, sailed for the coast of Yuca-
tan. With the principal portion of his followers, he then proceeded,
in the steamer Creole, to the port of Cardenas, on the north shore
of Cuba, where a landing was effected on the 19th of July, 1850.
After some sharp skirmishing with the Spanish troops posted in
that quarter, the invading party obtained complete possession of the
town, and the general was fully expectant that the revolutionary
party of Creoles would hasten to join his standard. It was, however,
soon evident that they were unwilling to share in what appeared a
desperate undertaking; and, as large forces from Havana and Ma-
tanzas might be momentarily expected upon the scene of action,
a rgembarkation was effected, and the invaders returned to the
United States.
In no wise discouraged by the result of the first expedition, Lopez
continued his correspondence with the revolutionists, and, gaining
renewed confidence from their representations, again enlisted a small
body of adventurers, mostly citizens of the United States, for the
purpose of a second invasion.
On the night of August llth, 1851, with about four hundred fol-
lowers, he landed at Playitas, some sixty miles westward from
Havana. Leaving one hundred and twenty men, under Colonel
Crittenden, in charge of the baggage, Lopez marched his forces to
Las Pozas, a distance of ten miles. At this place, they were attacked
on the day following by a body of eight hundred Spanish troops.
The assailants were repulsed with heavy loss, and, on the succeeding
day, about forty of Crittenden's party effected a junction with the
main body. Most of the others were taken prisoners, and shot.
Victorious against enormous 8dds in a second battle, but failing
430 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
to receive accessions to their force from among the Creoles, Lopez
and his followers were soon broken down by fatigue, exposure, and
famine. The general voluntarily surrendered himself to the enemy.
He could scarce hope for mercy from a government, for the over-
throw of which he had so long devoted his whole energies. He was
executed on the 1st of September, by the infamous garotte meeting
his fate with calmness and dignity, and exclaiming, with his latest
breath, "I die for my beloved Cuba!"
No further imminent danger being apprehended, and a sufficient
example having been already made by the summary vengeance
taken upon the leader and the men of Crittenden's detachment, the
other prisoners were leniently dealt with. They received a pardon
from the Spanish government, after a short imprisonment.
The Captain-General of Cuba, at this period, was Don Jos6 de la
Concha; a man who, although of a stern and unyielding disposition,
enjoys a far higher reputation for integrity than most of those who
have held a similar position in the island. His recent restoration to
office, in place of Pezuela, has caused much apparent enthusiasm
among the inhabitants.
The few years that have elapsed since the close of the Mexican
war, have witnessed a vast change in the aspect and resources of
the United States and their territory. A frequent and regular com-
munication with the Old World has been established by lines of
ocean steamers, and the tide of immigration pours in unceasingly.
The population of the eastern states, notwithstanding the constant
and enormous drain occasioned by the opening of a new field for
enterprise and exertion at the far west, is steadily on the increase.
The influx of gold from California and Australia has added greatly
to the nominal value of every species of property, and has given
facilities, unfortunately too extensive, for speculations and extra-
vagant undertakings.
The number of states, by the admission of California, was increased
to thirty-one. Arkansas became a state in 1835 ; Michigan, the
twenty-sixth, in 1837; Florida, Iowa, and Wisconsin, in 1845, '6,
and '7, consecutively. The total population of the United States
and territories, judging from the mean ratio of increase for the past
sixty years, must, at the present time, (1854,) considerably exceed
twenty-five millions. The entire slave population, at the census of
1850, amounted to 3,178,055. The value of domestic products ex-
ported during the year ending June 30th, 1853, was $213,417,697,
MILLARD FILL MO RE,
THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN 1600. SUCCEEDED TO THE PRESIDENCY BY VIRTUE OF HIS
OFTICEA8 VICE PRESIDENT. ON THE DEATH OK ZACHARY TATI OR
IN 1650; SERVED DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE TERM.
FRANKLIN PIERCE,
FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN X HAMPSHIRE. HOV. K. 1&04 : IK<STALLEI) INTO OTTICB IN 186
THE UNITED STATES. 431
that of foreign commodities exported during the same period, was
$17,558,460, making a total of $230,976,157. The importations of
this year, were valued at $276,978,647.
For the last ten years, more than 1,400 vessels, upon an average,
have been yearly constructed in the states and territories. The total
tonnage exhibited by the returns in 1853, in tons, and ninety-fifths,
was 4,407,010 43.
Franklin Pierce, president of the United States, was inaugurated
on the 4th of March, 1853. Since his accession, the country has
remained at peace with other nations, and in a condition of general
prosperity. The most noticeable event connected with our foreign
relations, at this time, is the successful negotiation of a treaty with
Japan, by which the ancient restrictive policy of that populous and
wealthy empire has been materially relaxed.
The action of congress, at the session of 1853-4, in organizing the
territories of Nebraska and Kansas, upon principles directly in
contravention of the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, has
produced a degree of excitement, and an alienation between the slave-
holding and free states, the result of which yet remains to be seen.
It has been said that, at the period of the election of the younger
Adams to the presidency, "party differences in America had, in
fact, ceased to be founded on principle; and, as such differences
mfist always exist, they came to base themselves upon personal
attachments and antipathies, as well as upon territorial divisions."
A change somewhat similar may be observed at the present time.
So great has been the assimilation of sentiment upon points formerly
n direct controversy between the two great parties into which the
country was divided, and so many causes of division have occurred
upon other questions, that former lines of political separation are
scarcely recognisable. The old party issues are dead; and a more
dangerous source of contention has arisen.
We can perceive scarce a semblance of that personal animosity,
a few years since so disgracefully prominent, which animated indi-
viduals of the opposing parties, and entered into every transaction,
public or private, however disconnected with the fancied grounds
of dispute. In its place has arisen a spirit of sectional opposition,
if less obtrusive and disgusting, yet far more stern and formidable.
More formidable, because no longer based upon a mere antagonistic
party feeling, but aroused by the direct appeal of interest; and be-
cause it is difficult to foresee by what stroke of policy, or what course
VOL. IV. 56
432 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
of events the mooted point can be finally set at rest, and the demon
of discord exorcised.
Our chief, if not our only hope, must lie in the reflection, that a
still stronger and more universal tie of interest will preclude such
hasty or unreasonable action, by either party for the time in the
ascendant, as could lead to open rupture between different sections
of the Union. Such a reflection may be less flattering to the na-
tional pride, but is far more reasonable, as a ground for favourable
anticipation, than any recurrence to feelings of patriotism, or even
of political honour.
While none could more earnestly deprecate the madness of seces-
sion, or of a voluntary partition of the confederacy, we can but say
of the American Union, as Lord Crewe says of the name of De
Vere, in his celebrated opinion concerning the earldom of Oxford:
"Time hath its revolutions; there must be a period and an end to
all temporal things -finis rerum; an end of names and dignities,
and whatsoever is terrene, and why not of De Yere? * *
And yet let the name and dignity of De Vere stand so long as it
pleaseth God."
JAMESBUCIIANAN
FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN 1791 INSTALLED INTO OFFICE IN 186?
CANADA.
THE province of Canada embraces a wide and extremely diversi-
fied section of country, extending between latitude 42 and 53
North and longitude 64 and 90 West, and comprising an area of
346,863 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Hudson's
Bay Territory ; on the west by Lakes Superior and Huron ; on the
south by Lakes Erie and Ontario ; and on the east by the River and
Gulf of St. Lawrence, New Brunswick, and a portion of the Uni-
ted States, viz. : the States of New York, Vermont, New Hamp-
shire, and Maine.
The province of Canada, called the province of Quebec prior to
1791, was in that year divided into the two provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada, under distinct governments, but in 1840 they were
re-united by an Act of the Imperial Legislature. Lower Canada
formerly was comprised between 45 and 52 of North Latitude,
embracing an area of 205,853 square miles, exclusive of the sur-
face occupied by the River St. Lrfwrence, and a portion of the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, embracing 52,000 square miles. The romanti-
cally situated city of Quebec contains a population of 50,000. It is
the great shipping depot of the Canada lumber trade, and has also
a large trade in ship building.
The island of Montreal, thirty-two miles long by ten broad, lies
between the Ottawa and St. Lawrence, and contains the city of
Montreal, the commercial emporium of Canada, with a population
of 70,000. The soil on this island, as well as on Isle Jsus, is ac-
counted good, and many of the farms are conducted on scientific
principles, and with great profit, in consequence of their proximity
to the local market of the city of Montreal.
To the south of the St. Lawrence are the populous districts of
Gaspi6 and Bonaventure, a tract more properly belonging to New
Brunswick than to Lower Canada.
The section of the country known by the name of the Eastern
434 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
Townships, and which are properly so called, comprises that great
extent of habitable and fertile country between the Chambly and
Chaudiere Rivers in one direction, and between the frontier lines
of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and the Seigniories of the
Districts of Montreal, Saint Francis, Three Rivers, and part of
Quebec, in the other. This territory promises to become the rich-
est, the most populous, and the most flourishing part of Lower Can-
ada; not only on account of its climate, milder than that, of the
shores of the St. Lawrence, of the immense extent of excellent and
fertile soil which it includes, and of its abundant streams of water,
but also because, while bordering on the territory of the L T nited
States, it is traversed by the main lines of communication between
the two countries: namely, the railroad from Montreal to Richmond,
and from Richmond to Portland, on the Atlantic; and by that from
Richmond to Quebec, forming part of the Grand Trunk line. The
six great counties of Sherbrooke, Stanstead, Shefford, Missisquoi,
Drummond, and Megantic, contain about 4,886,400 acres of land.
Upper Canada is divided into three great natural sections, viz. :
the eastern, central, and western the eastern containing the trian-
gular territory between the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa the cen-
tral having nearly a square form, extending from Lake Ontario on
the south to Lake Nipissing on the north, and stretching from the
latter lake to the Ottawa eastward and the third, comprising an
irregular triangular peninsula, inclosed nearly by Lakes Ontario,
Erie, St. Clair, and Huron, and the channels by which these are
connected. ,The counties of Glengary, Stormont, Dundas, Leeds,
and Grenville, Prescott, Russell, Lanark, Renfrew, and Carl ton, are
situated in the eastern section. The counties of Frontenac, Len-
nox, Addington, Hastings, Prince Edward, Northumberland, Dur-
ham, Peterborough, the four Ridings of York and Sincoe, comprise
the central section. The western section, which includes the coun-
ties of Halton, Wentworth, Lincoln, Welland, Haldimand, Norfolk,
Middlesex, Kent, Essex, Huron, Waterloo, and Oxford, is advancing
with great rapidity, and attracting the greater share of the emigra-
tion, and is, in many respects, the garden of Western Canada. Its
surface is remarkably level, containing scarcely a hill, and its inte-
rior is traversed by several fine rivers the Welland, Grand River,
Thames, and Sydenham.
The St. Lawrence is the pride of the Canadian people, and the
highway down which are poured, to the ocean, their surplus pro-
CANADA. 435
ducts. Emerging from Lake Ontario at Kingston, it pursues its
course, widening occasionally into expanses of lakes, till it expends
its waters, previously swollen near Montreal by the river Ottawa, in
the great Gulf of the St. Lawrence. Its extreme course, from
Lake Ontario, is over 600 miles, and its width varies from three-
quarters of a mile to twenty-five miles.
There are five great lakes intimately connected with each other,
viz.: Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario, which
embrace an area of 100,000 square miles. Lake Superior is the
largest inland lake in the world. Lake Ontario is connected with
Lake Erie by the Niagara River, 35 miles long, broken in its course
by the Falls of Niagara. Its area is about 7,000 square miles. A
ship canal has been constructed, on the American side, between
Lakes Superior and Huron, at the Sault St. Marie, to overcome an
interruption to the navigation of a mile and a half in extent.
The Lakes afford profitable fisheries, and the country of the Lakes
seems formed to be one of the richest agricultural regions in
America. The fisheries are carried on chiefly in the south-west
of Prince Edward County, on Lake Ontario and on Lake Huron,
and in 1852 produced 11,884 barrels, principally of white fish and
salmon trout. The waters of Lakes Huron and Superior are
teeming with life, and on the north shore of Lake Superior alone,
30,000 barrels might be yearly put up for market.
The forests of Canada are extremely valuable and a source of
great revenue. In 1852 the products of the forest exported,
during that year, were valued at 1,351,713 9s. Id. and of this
large amount the region of the Ottawa furnished a considerable
proportion. The timber which is most extensively exported is
that of the white pine tree a species of wood of which Canada
possesses inexhaustible quantities. It is easily wrought, compari-
tively free from knots, and very durable. It is much used for th
decks of vessels and also for their lower masts. It is exported to
Britain in the shape of masts, deals, laths, and squared timber. In
the process of settling, clearings are made, and the wood is thrown
into heaps and burned, and from which large quantities of pot
and pearl ashes are manufactured and exported, the price of which
often greatly assists the settler in meeting the first cost of his land.
Pot and pearl ashes to the value of 232,004/. were exported in 1852.
436 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
The mineral resources of Canada are especially valuable and are
being rapidly developed.
The manufactures of the Province are yet in their infancy, but
are annually increasing in variety and extent, and rising in impor-
tance. Lower Canada, especially, is admirably adapted for the
extension of manufactures. " The long winter, in which compara-
tively few of the departments of out-door agricultural labor can be
engaged in, and the peculiarly appropriate character of the indus-
trious French Canadians of the interior, adapting them for such
occupations, render it very desirable that the facilities afforded by
the abundant water powers and comparative cheapness and plenti-
fulness of labor, capable of becoming skilled, should, to a large
extent, be taken advantage of. We shall then see, from one of its
fertile valleys to another, a chain of thronging factories extended ;
and the clang of the heavy hammer, and the jar of the machinery,
and the busy hum of human industry will mingle with, and be heard
high above the rapid splash and echoing fall of the many streams
which, now lavish of power, invite the labor of the artisan. The
clog of the Seignorial Tenure, in Lower Canada, has, to some
extent, impeded the progress of this branch of industry ; but as it
may be now regarded among the things that were, it is predicted
that the day is not far distant when Canada and Lower Canada
especially will be largely engaged in various manufactures, and
add important contributions in this way to the common wealth."
New branches of productive industry ai*e continually arising, and
new manufactures are carried on. For instance, the banks of the
Lachine Canal at Montreal, are being clustered with busy manufac-
tories. A large sugar refinery has been erected. An India-rubber
manufactory is in active operation, and paint mills, axe factories,
machine shops, nail and spike factories, &c., have been built. Ship
building is a very important trade in and about the city of Quebec,
and gives employment to a very large number of hands, while the
colonial built vessels, for build and strength, have acquired a high
reputation. In the year 1843, there were built at Quebec 48 ves-
sels ; tonnage, 13,785 ; while in 1853, there were 76 vessels ; tonnage,
51,637 ; showing a large and decided increase. The average annual
value of vessels built at Quebec, has been estimated at 500,000.
The commerce of Canada is being extended and developed with
giant strides. It has passed the period of infancy and attained a
magnitude which may, perhaps, at first view seem disproportioned
CANADA. 437
to the youth of the country ; for it is to be borne in mind that in
1782, what now constitutes the fertile, wealth, and populous West-
ern Canada, with a population of over a million, was a wilderness.
The total value of the imports into Canada in the year 1853,
was 7,995,359 Is. Id. Of this amount 4,622,280 3s. Wd. was
imported f:om Britain, 158,164 19s. Id. from the British North
American Colonies, and 2,945,556 17s. from the United States ;
the residue from other sources. For the same year the exports of
the Province were 5,950,325 15s. \d. currency, of which 2,866-
351 19s. 4d. were exported from Great Britain, 2,681,363 15s. 8d.
to the United States, 345,116 7s. lid. to the other North Ameri-
can Colonies, and 5,045 16s. lid. to the British West Indies. Of
the imports, the total amount of goods paying duty was 7,551,381
3s. 6d. of which 4,556,383 15s. 8d. were from Britain, and 2,664-
145 11s. 5d. from the United States. In 1852 the exports were
3,826,901 15s. 5d. and the imports 5,071,623 3s. lid. showing
an immense advance in the commerce of 1853 over the previous
year, amounting, taking both imports and exports together, to 57 per
cent. In 1849 the nett revenue from Custom duties was 412,737
3s. Qd. ; in 1852 it was 705,622 19s. Qd.; but in 1853 it was 986-
597 16s. lOd. currency.
The total value of the exported produce of the mines of Canada,
was, in 1853, 27,339, of which copper ore furnished 23,020. The
total export of the produce of the fisheries was 85,000 13s. 8d.
The produce of the forest, which was exported in 1853, is large,
there having been exports from that source to the value of 2,355-
255 2s. 3d. of which 1,682,125 12s. Id. found their way to Brit-
ain, and 652,534 5s. 4d. to the United States. Of animals and
their produce the export was 342,631 7s. Vegetable food consti-
tuted the second leading export, viz.: 1,995,095 15s. Qd. of which
1,219,861 14s. Qd. was exported to the United States, 502,160
4s. 8d. to Britain, and 273,068 16s. Id. to the other British North
American Colonies. The export of manufactures was 35,106 9s.
to which is to be added for ships built at Quebec during the year,
say 620,187 10s. currency; the total value of exports from sea ports
being 3,266,716 2s. lid. and from inland ports 2,236,341 7s. Qd.
From the seaward ports there were exported from Quebec,
2.443,457 ; Montreal, 746,050 ; Gaspe", 32,667 ; New Carlisle,
29,942; and from Amherst, 14,597. In the year 1853 there
arrived at the port of Quebec 1,351 vessels, with a tonnage of
438
AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
570.738. In the same year 1,406 vessels departed from this port.
In the same year 243 vessels arrived at the inland port of Montreal,
at the foot of the canal navigation. In 1817 the first Canadian
steamers on Lake Ontario were built. In 1818 there was only
one steamer on Lake Erie, and forty sailing vessels above Niagaia
Falls. Now there are hundreds. The inward tonnage of Lake and
river steamers, in 1853, was 2,175,241 British, and 1.102,239 Ameri-
can ; in all, 3,277,480. In the same year the tonnage inwards of
sailing vessels was 544,509 ; the outward tonnage of steamers was
3,076,509. Of these 2..070.117 were British, and 1,006,392 Ameri-
can, and of sailing vessels 571,814. The total inward and outward
tonnage being 7,470,312. There were built within the Province, in
1853, 136 sailing vessels, with a tonnage of 57,722.
The trade between the Canadas and the United States is very
large, and will be immensely stimulated by the Reciprocity Treaty.
In 1849 the exports to the United States were $1,481,082 ; and the
imports from, $4,243,724. In 1853, the exports to the United
States were 2,681,363 15s. 8d. or $10,726,455, and the imports
from ditto were 2,945,536 175. or $11,782,147; thus showing a
surprising extension of the Reciprocity Treaty trade.
This treaty, in the first place, opens up to the Americans the right
to use the sea fisheries in the British waters, the salmon and river
fisheries being excluded from its operation. Secondly, ii provides
that the following articles, the growth and produce of the British
Colonies, or of the United States, shall be admitted into each coun-
try free of duty, grain, flour, breadstufFs of all kinds, animals of all
kinds, fresh, smoked and salted meats, cotton, wool, seeds and vege-
tables, undried and dried fruits, fish, products offish and of all other
creatures living in the water, poultry, eggs, hides, furs, skins or tails,
undressed ; stone or marble in its crude state, slate, butter, cheese,
tallow, lard, horns, manures, ores of metal of all kinds, coal, pitch,
tar, turpentine, ashes, timber and lumber of all kinds, firewood,
plants, shrubs, trees, felts and wools, oil, broom corn, and bark ; gyp-
sum, ground or unground; hewn or. wrought or un wrought burr or
grindstones ; dyestuffs, flax, hemp and tow, unmanufactured ; unman-
ufactured tobacco, rags. And thirdly, it throws open the navigation
of the St. Lawrence and the canals, during the will of the British
government, to American citizens, while it accords to the British
and Canadian people the right to navigate Lake Michigan.
It is asserted that no country in the world is possessed of more
CANADA. 4S9
important and extensive canals or a more magnificent system of in-
land navigation, than is Canada. They are the channels of a great
trade, and afford large revenues.
As the navigation of the St. Lawrence is ice-locked during the
winter season, the means of speedy communication with the sea
boaid and with the various parts of the interior are especially impor-
tant. In Canada, at present, there are three great lines suggested
by, and accommodated to, strongly marked natural divisions of the
country, to which the others will prove tributaries or feeders. The
first of these great lines is the Grand Trunk Railway, which it is
proposed to run through Canada from east to west, spanning the St.
Lawrence at Montreal, by the gigantic Victoria Bridge.
The second is the Great Western line, traversing one of the most
fertile sections of Canada, and now in steady operation, and show-
ing large and increasing returns of traffic.
The third is the Ottawa Valley line, composed of various links,
and designed to extend, in the meantime, from the city of Mon-
treal to Pembroke, and eventually to Lake Huron and the Sault St.
Marie ; the distance from Montreal to the Georgian Bay being, by
the Ottawa, about 400 miles, against 1,000 by the St. Lawrence.
The growth of the Press of Canada has been steady and rapid.
The first newspaper established in Canada was the Quebec Gazette,
still existing. The founder of it, Mr. Brown, brought his press
from Philadelphia, in 17G3. The total number of newspapers pub-
lished in both sections of the Province in 1854 was 157.
The aggregate sum raised for all educational purposes in Western
Canada was, in 1853, the noble sum of 199,674 Is. 5d. being an
increase on any preceding year of 23,598 2s. 5c/. The aggregate
sum raised for the erection and repairs of school-houses, was 80,730
11s. IQd The number of pupils in attendance was, in the aggre-
gate, 194,730 ; the increase during the year being 15,149. A recent
feature of the system is the establishment of school libraries, selected
br the Superintendent, and the issue of school maps. When the
report issued, 90,000 volumes of general information had thus been
circulated. The number of schools was, in 1853, 3,127; and of
these 1,052 were free. 2,117 lectures were delivered during the
year, in schools, on subjects connected with the system.
The collegiate institutions of Canada are, The University of
Queen's College, situated at Kingston; Trinity College, Toronto
Victoria College, at Cobourg, on Lake Ontario; The College of
VOL. IV. 57.
440 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED.
Regispolis is situated at Kingston, and is maintained and carried on
under the superintendence of the Roman Catholic Bishop of that city.
Population of Western Canada by origin. Canadians, not of
French origin, 526,093 ; England and Wales, 82,699 ; Ireland,
176,267 ; Scotland, 75,81 1; Canadian French, 26,417 ; United States,
43,732 ; from the countries, 20,995 ; making a total of 952,004.
Religious Census. Church of England, 223,190 ; Rome, 167,695 ;
Methodists, 207,656; Presbyterians, 204,148; Baptists, 43,353 ;
Lutherans, 12,089 ; other creeds, 91,872. Churches. Church of
England, 226; Rome, 135; Presbyterian, 257 ; Methodist, 471 ;
Quaker, 18; Lutheran, 22; Congregationalist, 84 ; Baptist, 116;
Bible Christians, 46 ; other places of worship, 185 ; total, 1,159.
Population of Lower Canada by origin. Canadians, not French
origin, 669,528; Canadians, of French origin, 125,580; Eng-
land and Wales, 11,230 ; Ireland, 51,499; Scotland, 14,565; Uni-
ted States, 12,482; other countries, 5,377; total, 890,261.
Religious Creeds. Church of Rome. 746,860 ; England, 45,402 ,
Methodists, 21,183; Presbyterians, 33,535; Baptists, 4,433 ; other'
creeds, 38,782. Churches. Roman Catholic, 340 ; Church of Eng-
land, 111; Presbyterian, 57; Methodist, 60; Congregationalist, 20 ,
Jew's Synagogue, 1 ; or one place of worship for every 1,459 inhab-
itants, including only those churches returned on the census list.
The revenue of Canada, derived from Custom duties, has been
augmenting rapidly, as the annual statements indicate. Gross Rev-
enue in 1849, 444,547 5s. Id. ; in 1850, 615,694 13s. Id. ; in 1851,
737,439 Os. 2d.; in 1852, 739,263 12s. 9d.; and in 1853.
1,029,782 15s. 4d.
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
NEARLY midway between the eastern and western continents,
and a little southward of the tropic of Cancer, is situated the Sand-
wich or Hawaiian group of islands. They are twelve in number,
of which eight are inhabited, the others being barren rocks. Hawaii,
the largest and most southerly, has a triangular form, each side
measuring eighty or ninety miles. The others, of which the most
considerable are Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, andt Kaui, form a
chain extending north-westerly from Hawaii, a distance of between
three and four hundred miles.
These islands are of volcanic origin, and like others of that class,
when subjected to the heat of a tropical sun, present to'the eyu the
most beautiful and romantic contrast of lofty mountains, fertile val-
leys, precipices of rugged rock or lava, and plains rich with the most
luxuriant vegetation. For equability of climate, variety of produc-
tion, and beauty of natural scenery, perhaps no spot on earth can
offer superior advantages.
Vague reports, gathered from native tradition, or from ancient
charts, seem to establish the fact that these islands were visited by
Spanish vessels, during the early periods of American discovery and
colonization; but the first distinct account of them appears in the
journal of Captain Cook's last voyage of discovery. On the morn-
ing of January 18th, 1778, land u as made at the western extremity
of the group, and, on the day following, as the ships drew near shore,
the natives carne off in canoes. They called the island Atooi, since,
by a change in orthography and a more correct analysis of the lan-
guage, written Kaui. Upon the occasion of this first visit, one of
the natives was shot, for thieving, but a friendly intercourse was,
notwithstanding, maintained, and after a stay of a fortnight, the
ships sailed for the north-west coast of America.
Upon his return, near the close of the year, Captain Cook discov-
ered ard landed at Hawaii. He remained among the islands until
442 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
February, 1779. On the 14th of that month, in the attempt to com-
pel restitution of a stolen boat, by seizure of the king of Hawaii,
Kalaniopuu, he lost his life. A great crowd of the natives, suspi
cious of his design, gathered round the king's house. Finding it
impracticable to carry out his original plan, Cook attempted to reem-
bark on board his boat with the guard which had accompanied him
on shore. Stones were thrown and shots fired; and, just at the edge*
of the water, the commander was stabbed in the back with an iron
dagger, which one of the islanders had before obtained by barter.
The scene of this fatal event was the landing at Kealekeakua bay,
on the western coast of Hawaii.
The islands were not again visited until La Perouse touched there
in 1786. After that time, vessels occasionally put in for water and
fresh provisions, and in 1792 and 1794 Vancouver made some stay
at the group, and by every method strove to conciliate the chiefs,'
and establish a friendly feeling towards foreigners. The violence of
the latter, and the treachery of the natives had, upon several occa-
sions, resulted in hostility and bloodshed.
Meanwhile, an important change was in progress in the govern-
ment of the islands. Kalaniopuu died in 1780, and his nephew,
Kamehameha, a young chief of great enterprise and intelligence,
commenced a career of conquest and diplomacy, which he pursued
with such perseverance and vigour, that, in 1796, he had obtained
unquestioned sovereignty over the entire group. Throughout his
reign, which lasted until his death in May 1819, he pursued an
honourable and sagacious policy towards strangers, encouraging
trade, and protecting the persons and property of those who visited
his dominions. His son Liholiho succeeded to the kingdom, assum-
ing the title of Kamehameha II.
Popular faith in the old system of idolatry had been weakened
by long intercourse with civilized nations; and the new king, shortly
after his accession, set the example to his people of an open breach
of the rigid restrictions of the tabu, by which, for ages, the conduct
of the natives had been regulated in every occupation of life, under
the most severe and cruel penalties. In the year following, 1820, the
first missionaries from America arrived at the islands. Great inter-
est had been awakened in the United States, by the aptness and
capacity exhibited by several Hawaiian youths, whose instruction
had been undertaken by the American board of missions.
In 1824, Liholiho, with his wife, Kamamali, visited England.
f*
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
They were feted, and treated with great attention by the king and
nobtiity, but within a month of their landing, both died of the
measles. Upon receipt of this intelligence at the islands, Kaui-
keaouli, a younger brother of the deceased monarch, was proclaimed
king, and still retains the title, as Kamehameha III. lie was, at
that period, a minor, and government was carried on by a joint
regency, consisting of the favourite queen of Kamehameha I., Kaa-
humanu, and an old chief, Kalaimoku, a man of great sagacity and
experience, who, from his position as premier to the former king,
was commonly known as Billy Pitt.
From the time of their first arrival, the influence of the protestant
missionaries has been maintained in spite of the most vehement
opposition. While, on the one hand, the success of their efforts in
producing a true and beneficial reform among the licentious, besot-
ted, and careless islanders, has been grossly exaggerated; on the
other, the most false and injurious calumnies have been circulated
and believed respecting their conduct and motives. That they have,
in various instances, encouraged the native rulers in the enforcement
of restrictive laws ill-suited to the character of the people; and that
they have, in effect, exercised a species of hierarchal authority little
consonant with civil and religious liberty, is but too apparent; but
it must be considered that the difficulties of their position appeared
to require strong measures.
The introduction of Catholic priests, in 1827, gave occasion for a
persecution, with which the Protestant missionaries have been un-
justly charged. Many proselytes were made to the new faith before
the native authorities took the matter in hand. The use of external
symbols appeared to the king and his counsellors to savour too
much of the abrogated worship of idols, and the most stringent
edicts were sent forth and enforced against the Catholic form of
worship. The priests were compelled to leave the islands, and the
natives who persisted in following their instructions were very
harshly dealt with. In 1839, a compulsory treaty, enforced by a
powerful naval armament, was entered into between France and the
Hawaiian government, by which general right of residence and reli-
gious toleration were secured to French subjects.
The future destiny of the Sandwich islands is becoming a matter
of daily increasing interest to the great maritime nations of the
world. The aboriginal inhabitants are fast dwindling away, with
the advance of civilization, and the influx of foreigners. They were
444 AMEEICA ILLUSTRATED
computed, by Captain Cook, at a rough estimate, to number about
100,000. Since the first regular enumeration, the decrease has been
constant. In 1832, the census returns exhibited a total of 130,313;
that of 1848, gave but 80,641. During the past year, (1853,) the
small-pox carried off great numbers. As a separate nation, they
must soon cease to exist, and the question of future sovereignty over
the islands will become of grave importance. No other depot exists,
throughout an immense expanse of ocean, for vessels engaged in
:he whaling enterprise in the North Pacific; and the opening of a
new channel of trade with the East Indies, by the settlement of Cal-
ifornia, has rendered the possible acquisition of the Hawaiian islands
by the United States a subject for serious discussion.
Their position is important, from its remarkable isolation. Lying
in mid-ocean, some two thousand miles from any other habitable
shore, directly in the track of a vast number of trading vessels, and
central to the most extensive and valuable whaling ground in the
world, their value as mere stopping- places, for purposes of refitting,
of secure harbourage, and the procurance of water and fresh pro-
visions, is at once manifest. In addition to these advantages, the
islands offer peculiar facilities for the formation of an extensive
naval and military stronghold. The harbours, with the exception
of those suited to vessels of light draught of water, are few in num-
ber, and capable of being fortified in such a manner as to defy
attack, while the nature of the coast, bold and precipitous, or de-
fended from approach by surf-beaten reefs of coral, would preclude
the practicability of landing forces in the rear of the fortifications..
Such an establishment, once in the occupation of a powerful
nation, would operate to exclude the marine of any hostile state from
safe or convenient navigation of the North Pacific. The principal
harbour is at Honolulu, on the south side of the island of Oahu : at
most of the other ports, large vessels lie in open roadsteads, where
they can at most seasons ride in safety, under the lee of the land, or
in positions where they can calculate with certainty upon the direc-
tion of the wind, and the consequent facility for getting under weigh.
Even under the limited and imperfect system of cultivation thua
far adopted, the agricultural products of the islands are by no means
inconsiderable. During the year 1852, the total amount of supplies
furnished to merchant vessels, whalers, and national vessels, was
valued, by computation, at nearly one hundred and thirty thousand
dollars. According to custom-house returns, the value of the entire
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 445
exportation of that year was set down at upwards of six hundred
thousand dollars, and the importations of that period were of a con-
siderably larger amount.
With an industrious population of whites, the operations of agri-
culture might be very greatly extended. The character of the soil
is generally that of a rich compost of volcanic debris and vegetable
mould. It is well suited for the cultivation not only of most trop-
ical productions, but of fruits and grain generally considered pecu-
liarly adapted to a temperate climate. The most astonishing yield
is in the article of kalo, or taro, the root of an esculent species of
arum, which has always formed the principal article of food among
the natives. It is said that a patch of land forty feet square, planted
with this root, will produce sufficient support for one person.
The cultivation of sugar has been attended with profit and success;
cotton is raised without difficulty in certain locations; bananas and
plantains, more valuable to the poorer classes in a tropical country
than the potato in our own climate, grow in the greatest luxuriance,
and, requiring little labour of cultivation, yield an enormous return.
Maize, wheat, rice, coffee, indigo, tobacco, vegetable oils, ginger,. &c.,
can be produced in abundance. The list might be extended by the
enumeration of most of our own garden vegetables and fruits.
Amon-g the spontaneous productions of the forest, sandal-wood has
been the chief article of export, but many beautiml varieties of or-
namental woods, suitable for cabinet purposes, exist, and might be
made a source of profit.
A system ef irrigation, for which many facilities are presented,
might great!/ increase the extent of fertile territory, as the contin-
ued droughts experienced at certain seasons constitute a serious
drawback to the operations of the agriculturalist. Of the few arti-
cles of domestic manufacture, the most considerable is that of salt,
procured by evaporation. It is of the best quality, and can be pro-
duced in the greatest abundance.
An advocate of the acquisition of the islands by the United States,
remarks of the question, (substantially,) that it is one u of necessity,
of time, and of justice. By necessity, is to be understood not au
absolute and indispensable need, but that clear, strong, legible con-
venience and fitness whicli the common understanding sees and
feels; 8'fld when this convenience and fitness shall be apparent,
and ir.e parties declare themselves ready and willing for the con-
ct'OJ, the time will be propitious, and the justice unquestionable,
446 AMERICA ILLUSTRATED.
I
for no question can well arise as to the right of other nations
to interfere."
The European maritime powers look with great jealousy upon
certain movements, already in progress upon the islands, and aiming
at peaceable annexation to the United States, by the operation of
treaty with the native government. In a memorial to the king,
dated September 1st, 1853, the French and British consuls made
vehement protest against the scheme, as being in contravention of
former treaties with their respective governments. The intrinsic
value of the islands, especially considered in relation to their im-
portance for a naval and commercial station, as the native dynasty
totters to its fall, may yet give rise to a disastrous contest for their
possession.
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