1695. Martha's Vineyard, Elizabeth Islands, and the islands called Noman's Land, with all the dependencies formerly belonging to Duke's county, into one county, by the name of Duke's County.1 French repair Fort Frontenac. Governor makes pre Five Na The Five Nations refusing to accede to the terms proposed by the French, count Frontenac resolved to force them to submission. Having previously sent out 300 men, in the hope of surprising them on their hunting place between Lake Erie and Catarocuay Lake, and at the same time to view the old French fort there; he, in the summer of this year, sent out a considerable body of French and Indians, to repair the fortifications at Catarocuay. The work was successfully executed; and the fort, after its repair, was called by its former name, Fort Frontenac.2 Governor Fletcher, going to Albany in September, made a speech to the Five Nations, in which he blamed them for being sents to the asleep, when they suffered the French to take possession of Catarocuay, and advised them to invest the place with their parties, so as to prevent them from receiving any supply of provisions. This advice was accompanied with a considerable present.3 tions. English invade Hispaniola. Scotch trading company. Death of Sir Captain Wilmot, with 1200 land forces, made an attempt on the French settlements in Hispaniola. His approach toward Cape Francois intimidating the inhabitants, they immediately blew up the fort, fired the town, and retreated in the night, with the utmost precipitation. The English the next morning found there 40 pieces of cannon, and plundered the town. They next attacked Port au Paix, which was, in like manner, abandoned by the French; who were intercepted in their retreat, and almost all their officers either slain, or taken prisoners.4 The Scotch parliament passed an act for erecting a company to trade to Africa, and the East and West Indies. The company was formed, and obtained letters patent from the king.5 Sir William Phips died of a malignant fever in London, on W. Phips. the 18th of February, at the age of 45 years; and was honorably interred in the church of St. Mary Woolnoth." 1 Massachusetts Laws. Neal, N. Eng. i. 220. 2 Colden, 180, 182, 188. The French found Catarocuay Fort in a better condition than they expected, "the Indians having neglected to demolish and level the bastions; and probably they had not instruments sufficient to do it." See A. D. 1678, 1679. 3 Colden, 182. Smith, N. York, 87. Fletcher gave the Indians 1000 pounds of powder, 2000 pounds of lead, 57 fusees, 100 hatchets, 348 knives, and 2000 flints, beside clothing and other articles. 4 Wynne, ii. 460, 461. 5 Univ. Hist. xxxix. 159; xli. 374. 6 Mather, Magnal. b. 2. 37-75. Hutchinson, i. 397; ii. 85. Adams, N. Eng. 166. He was born in 1650 at Pemaquid, where he kept sheep until he was 18 1696. ment in THE freemen of the province and territories of Pennsylvania, Third frame convened in assembly, having presented a remonstrance to gover- of govern nor Markham, complaining of the breach of their chartered Pennsylprivileges; a bill of settlement, prepared and passed by the vania. assembly, was approved by the governor. This was the third frame of government in Pennsylvania. A money bill for raising £300, for the support of government, and the relief of the distressed Indians above Albany, was passed by the same legislature.1 for 1696. The French ministry limited their views, for the campaign of French prothis year, to three objects; the expulsion of the English from ject of the their posts at Newfoundland, Pemaquid, and Hudson's Bay.2 campaign The expedition against Pemaquid was committed by the king to Iberville and Bonaventure, who anchored on the 7th of August at Pentagoet, where their force was augmented by the junction of the baron de St. Castine, with 200 Indians. Castine and these auxiliaries went forward in canoes, and the French in their vessels; and on the 14th they invested the fort. In a few hours, Iberville sent a summons of surrender to Chubb, the commander of the fort, whose answer was, "that if the sea were covered with French vessels, and the land with Indians, yet he would not years old, and then he commenced an apprenticeship to a shipcarpenter. When he became of age, he set up his trade, and built a ship at Sheepscote. He afterward followed the sea; and hearing of a Spanish wreck near Bahama, he gave such an account of it in England, that, in 1683, he was appointed commander of one of the king's frigates, and went in search of it; but without success. The duke of Albemarle fitted him out soon after on a second voyage, and he brought home (in 1687) a treasure of near £300,000; his own share of which was about £16,000. This event introduced him to men of rank and fortune; and he was made a knight by king James II. He is characterized as an honest and a pious man; but through the influence of a low education, and a passionate temper, he did not always preserve the dignity of a chief magistrate. He was a man of great enterprise and industry; and to these properties, together with a series of propitious incidents, rather than to any uncommon talents, is his promotion to the first office in his country to be ascribed. Mather says, that Sir William Phips, supposing that he had gained sufficient information of the place of Bovadilla's shipwreck, in which was lost "an entire table of gold of 3310 pounds weight," intended, on his dismission from his government, to go in search of it; but death prevented the enterprise. See A. d. 1502. 1 Proud, i. 409-415. By this charter, or frame of government, the council was to consist of two members only from each county, and the assembly of four; making in all 12 members of council, and 24 of the assembly. [See A. D. 1683.] It was afterward sanctioned by some other laws; and continued in force until the year 1701. 2 Charlevoix, Nouv. France, ii. 160. It appears, that the expedition of Pemaquid was to be at the expense of the king, and the two others at the expense of the Company of the North. Ibid. Pemaquid fort was considered as controlling all Acadie; "du Fort de Pemkuit, d'ou ils tenoient toute l'Acadie en échec." 1696. give up the fort." The Indians now began their fire, which was returned by the musketry and a few cannon from the fort; and in this indecisive exercise the first day was brought to a close. The next day, before three in the afternoon, Iberville had raised his batteries, and thrown five bombs into the fort, to the terror of the garrison. Castine, finding some way of conveying a letter into the fort, gave notice to the besieged, that, if they waited Pemaquid until an assault, they would have to do with savages, and must French, and expect no quarter; for he had seen the king's order to give none. destroyed. This menace produced its effect. The garrison, consisting of Fort at taken by the 80 men, obliged the commander to capitulate. The conditions of the capitulation, demanded by Chubb, were, that no person should be plundered; that he and all his men should be sent to Boston, and exchanged for French and Indian prisoners; and that the French should insure them protection against the fury of the Indians. All these conditions were acceded to.1 The celebrated fort, which had cost the Massachusetts colony immense sums of money, was now demolished by the captors.2 The French, having destroyed all settlements in Nova Scotia, laid waste. excepting those of St. John's, Bonavista, and Carbonier harbour,3 made preparations for the reduction of the English posts in Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland; but these parts of the grand project were not carried into full effect until the subsequent year.a Nova Scotia 1 Hutchinson says, "that the fort was surrendered upon the terms offered by the French;" but Charlevoix, that the terms were first demanded by the English. "Les conditions, qu'il [Chubb] demanda &c. Tout cela fut accordé.” The article of security against the Indians, Hutchinson indeed says, was required by the garrison; and he assigns this reason for it: "They were conscious of their own cruelty and barbarity, and feared revenge. In the month of February before, Egeremet, a chief of the Machias Indians, Toxus, chief of the Norridgewocks, Abenquid, a sagamore of the same tribe, and several other Indians, came to the fort to treat upon an exchange of prisoners. Chubb, with some of the garrison, fell upon the Indians in the midst of the treaty, when they thought themselves most secure, murdered Egeremet and Abenquid with two others. Toxus, and some others, escaped." Mather [Magnal. b. 7. 93.] informs us, that, about the middle of February following, there came above 30 Indians to Andover, "as if their errand had been for a vengeance upon Chubb, whom (with his wife) they now massacred there." 2 Charlevoix, Nouv. France, ii. 178, 179. Minot, Mass. i. 70. Mather, [Magnal. b. 7. 90.] says, Chubb surrendered this fort "with an unaccountable baseness;" and adds, "there were 95 men double armed in the fort, which might have defended it against nine times as many assailants." The French historian is less severe: "Le Fort de Pemkuit n'étoit pas une aussi bonne place, qu'il le paroissoit; toutefois il est certain que, si'il eut été défendu par de braves gens, le succès du siége eût pu être douteux, ou du moins il en eût coûte bien du sang pour s'en rendre maître." Dr. Mather seems not to have properly estimated the force of the assailants; and he makes no mention of their cannon and mortars. Hutchinson [ii. 92, 93.] says, " after all, there is room to doubt whether a better garrison could have withstood that force, until relief might have been afforded from Boston." 3 Univ. Hist. xxxix. 251. 4 Charlevoix, Nouv. France, ii. liv. xvi. The English, in the mean time, took Fort Bourbon [Nelson], 1696. at Hudson's Bay; and sent the garrison prisoners to France.1 There were, at this period, 130 churches, and 100,000 souls, Progress of in New England.2 N. England and The city of New York contained 594 houses, and 6000 in- N. York. habitants. The shipping of New York consisted of 40 ships, 62 sloops, and 60 boats.3 An episcopal church was built, this year, in the city of New York, and called Trinity church. The Reformed Protestant Dutch church of that city was incorporated.1 The first edifice for a congregational church in Newport, on Church in Rhode Island, was erected; and public worship was maintained Newport. in it by Mr. Nathaniel Clap.5 There were in New England 30 Indian churches. Indian churches. of trade and King William erected a new and standing council for commerce and plantations, commonly styled, the Lords Commission- New board ers for Trade and Plantations. With this board the governors plantations. of the American colonies were obliged to hold a constant correspondence, for the improvement of their respective governments; and to this board they transmitted the journals of their councils and assemblies, the accounts of the collectors of customs and naval officers, and similar articles of official intelligence.7 relative to The English parliament passed an act for preventing frauds Parliamenand regulating abuses in the Plantation Trade. It enacted, tary acts "that all ships trading to or from our Asian, African, or plantations American Plantations or settlements, shall be English, Irish, or plantation built; and that their cargoes shall be either English, Irish, or plantation property, and registered as such." The same act, in consideration, that the English North American colonies had of late become of much greater consequence than formerly, further enacted, "that no charter proprietor of lands on the continent of America shall sell or otherwise dispose of their lands to any but natural-born subjects, without the king's license in council for that purpose." To keep the proprietary gov 1 Univ. Hist. xl. 110. See next year. Anderson [ii. 627.] says, king William sent out two ships of war and some land forces, by which all the English forts in Hudson's Bay were retaken. See Charlevoix, Nouv. France, ii 202. 2 President Stiles, Christian Union, 111. 3 Chalmers, 598. The number of houses in the city increased in 18 years from 343 to 594; and the number of inhabitants from 3430 to 6000. Ibid. 4 Smith, N. York, 189. Trinity church was enlarged in 1737. Ibid. 5 Callender, Century Discourse. See A. D. 1720. 6 Stiles. Literary Diary. The statement of "Mr. Rawson, appointed to visit all New England.' 7 Anderson, ii. 622, 623. From A. D. 1673, when the former standing council of commerce was dropped, until this time, all disputes and regulations relative to commerce and colonies, were usually referred to committees of the privy council. This new board consisted of a first lord commissioner, who was usually a peer of the realm, and seven other commissioners, with a yearly salary of £1000 each. Ibid. 1696. ernments in America the more under due subjection to the crown and kingdom of England, it also enacted, "that all governors nominated by such proprietors, shall be allowed and approved of by the crown, and shall take the like oaths as are taken by the governors of the regal colonies, before they shall enter on their respective governments." By another clause in the same statute it was enacted, "that on no pretence whatever any kind of goods from the English American plantations shall hereafter be put on shore either in the kingdoms of Ireland or Scotland, without being first landed in England, and having also paid the duties there; under forfeiture of ship and cargo.' The parliament also passed an act, declaring that all by-laws, usages, and customs, which shall be in practice in any of the plantations, repugnant to any law made in the kingdom relative to the said plantations, Parliamen- shall be void and of no effect. Although no design, on the part of the ministry, of taxing any of the colonies at so early a period as this, can be ascertained; yet, about this time, a pamphlet was published, recommending the laying of a parliamentary tax on one of them. This pamphlet was answered by two others, which totally denied the power of taxing the colonies, because they had no representation in parliament, to give consent.2 tary tax recommend ed. Gov. Archdale is suc ceeded by Governor Archdale resided but one year in Carolina. On returning to England, he laid before the proprietors a statement of gov. Blake, the situation of their concerns; and, on his representation, they were induced to a modification of the government, adapting it more to their own interests, as well as to the condition of the colonists. He was succeeded in the government by Joseph Blake.3 Act in fa vour of the French Pro testants, & all aliens; The French Protestant refugees in Carolina, having cleared land for raising the necessaries of life and successfully encountered the difficulties of the first state of colonization, petitioned the legislature to be incorporated with the freemen of the colony. An act was accordingly passed for making all aliens, then inhabitants, free; for enabling them to hold lands, and to claim the same as heirs to their ancestors, provided they either had petitioned, or should, within three months, petition governor Blake for these 1 Anderson, ii. 625. The Union, in 1707, rendered void this last article, so far as it respected Scotland. 2 Gordon, i. 87, Lett. ii. The pamphlets against taxation were much read, and no answer was given to them, no censure passed upon them; nor were men startled at the doctrine, as either new, or illegal, or derogatory to the rights of parliament. Ib. Lord Camden's speech in April, 1766. 3 Archdale's Carolina. Ramsay, Hist. S. Car. i. 47-49. Jennison's MS. Biography. Governor Archdale was a friend to toleration and equal rights; and when the assembly of Carolina passed laws, establishing the church of England, and prohibiting dissenters from holding a seat in the house, he warmly remonstrated against them. In his "Carolina" he remarks: "If the extraordinary fertility and pleasantness of the country had not been an alluring and binding obligation to most Dissenters there settled, they had left the High Church to have been a prey to the wolves and bears, Indians and Foreign Enemies." |