and Mr. Dudley, while he remained in office. He would probably never have been governor had it depended on the free suffrages of the people. Rev. Increase Mather and his learned son accused him of insincerity and covetousness; and complained that his avarice led him to render unrighteous judgments.

In 1702 war was declared between England and France, and the English settlements in Maine and in the western parts of the province were threatened by the Indians, who were always under the influence of the French priests, and ready to fall upon the English, at the earliest notice of hostilities. The governor held a conference with a delegation from Penobscot, Norridgewock, Amariscoggin, and other eastern tribes, who promised to maintain peace and amity with Massachusetts; but soon after, in junction with the French from Canada, they attacked the settlements between Portsmouth and Casco Bay, and captured and slew more than one hundred of the inhabitants. About a year after, the Indians fell upon Deerfield and Northfield, on Connecticut River, when the people had no warning of their approach, and destroyed several dwelling houses by fire, slew upwards of forty, and made prisoners of one hundred and twelve. Lancaster was attacked the same year, several of the people were slain and the residue found shelter in the garrison. This was the second assault and slaughter made by the Indians on that town. In 1704, an expedition against the French and Indians at the eastward, was fitted out at Boston, under command of Col. Benjamin Church, who was an officer against Philip in 1675. sisted of 500 men, and he attacked the French in Nova Scotia, (or Acadie) and the Indians of the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes, who had been then recently committing outrages on the English.

It con

This war continued with varied and unequal exertions, for several years; and in 1707, an expedition was prepared for attacking Port Royal in Acadie, consisting of two regiments, under Col. March, and conveyed by the province galley and a British sloop of war. Some attempts were made on the fort, but no very serious or vigorous assault; and the enterprise was abandoned, for want of a sufficient force, as was alleged by the officers, but, as others believed, for want of concert and resolution in the besiegers. The expense to the province, of this unfortunate expedition, was £22,000; for which, in its condition, at that period, added to its previous debt, it was very difficult to provide. The credit of the province suffered by the issue of a great amount of paper money, which

was intended to sustain it. As in all such cases, the bills depreciated in value, in a short time, as there were no means for their redemption by specie.

In 1708, the French and Indians made attacks on several frontier towns and settlements. Haverill was surprised by a party of Indians; several houses were burnt, and the minister and about forty of the inhabitants were killed.

An expedition was planned, the following season, to go against Canada and Acadie. A squadron was to be sent from England to Boston, and Massachusetts was to furnish 1000 men. Due preparations were made in the Province; but the naval force, expected from England, did not arrive; being then required for the protection of Portugal. The plan was revived in 1710, but was prosecuted only in part. Port Royal was attacked, and surrended to the combined forces from England and Massachusetts; the latter having furnished four regiments, except that a small portion was from the adjoining colonies. After the capture of Port Royal, the place received the name of Annapolis, in honor of Queen Anne.

The design to dispossess the French of the places they held on the borders of New England was not relinquished; for they were considered dangerous neighbors, and they had great influence with the Indians, to incite them to almost continual hostility. The English government was also desirous of depriving the French of their territory, and of weakening their power, in North America. Another attempt was accordingly made against Canada in 1711, by order of the British government. There were fifteen ships of war, and transports with seven regiments of veteran English troops employed, besides the men furnished by Massachusetts and New York; making in the whole 6500. A large force, raised in the colonies, and chiefly in Massachusetts, proceeded also against Canada by the way of the lakes, under command of General Nicholson. But this expedition, like the former in 1690, proved unsuccessful. The weather was unfavorable, the pilots proved unskilful, and several of the transports with troops were lost, to the number of 1700. The commander of the naval expedition saw fit to abandon it; and Nicholson, on receiving the intelligence, at Lake George, retired, with the men who were advancing towards Montreal. As Massachusetts had a large number of men in this expedition, the debt of the province was much increased; and the people were hard pressed by the great amount of public taxes. The General Court attempted to afford relief to debtors, by a law to prevent oppressions, and by making the bills, issued by the

province, a legal tender in all cases. Paper was then generally in circulation, instead of specie. But the effect of such a

great issue of paper, resorted to in seasons of peculiar exigency, to pay the debts of the province, was eventually unfavorable both to the people and to the public credit. The general assembly might justly order, that the bills, issued by their authority, should be received in payment to the government, but to require individuals to receive them, when depreciated, to discharge bona fide demands, was considered by many an arbitrary and unjustifiable measure. By the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, the French ceded Nova Scotia and other places east of Kennebec to Great Britain; and the eastern Indians sought for peace with the English, and signed articles of friendship and submission to them. During this year, the boundary line between Massachusetts and Connecticut was perambulated and marked out; and soon after was accepted and confirmed as correct by both those govern

ments.

After eighty years had elapsed from the first date of the English settlements in Massachusetts, the province had become respectable for its population, enterprise, intelligence and wealth. New England, and especially Massachusetts, by far the most extensive and populous, began to be regarded with interest, if not with jealousy, by foreign countries; and the inhabitants manifested, on their part, a desire to be acquainted with the affairs of England and Europe, generally, as well as of the middle and southern colonies in British America. Such increase of population and trade must naturally call for a publication, of the common character of newspapers. A paper of this kind was established in Boston, in 1704, printed by Samuel Greene, with the title of "Boston News-Letter." This paper was so much encouraged, that, in a few years, the number of subscribers was nearly one thousand. A second paper was published in 1720, called the "Boston Gazette." The third was established in 1721, called the "New England Courant," and conducted by an older brother of the celebrated Benjamin Franklin. The clergy were described as bigoted and arbitrary, by the editor, or some writer in the paper; and in 1722, the general court passed a severe censure upon it.

The council exercised the supreme executive power of the province, for a short time, after the death of Governor Dudley. William Tailer, the lieutenant governor, also performed the duty of chief magistrate, for a few months, at this period; and in 1716, Governor Shute arrived from England, with a commission from the crown. He was a well educated man, of a

mild spirit, and of accomplished manners; and what particularly rendered him acceptable to the people, was the attachment of himself and family to the dissenters. After he had been in the chair two years, he was eulogized, by some intelligent individuals, perhaps his personal friends, as a liberal and faithful magistrate. Yet it appears he had some political enemies; but towards them even, his behavior was conciliating and magnanimous. It was high praise, to say of him, as one did, that the people would have chosen him for their governor, in preference to any native citizen. And yet, after he had been in the administration a few years more, he was engaged in a dispute with the House of Representatives, as to his right to negative their choice of speaker, and as to the encroachments made on the public lands, by which the spars, reserved by the crown for the English navy, were taken or destroyed by the people.*

In 1717, Governor Shute met the sachems of several eastern tribes, at Arowsick Island, near the mouth of Kennebec River, and renewed the treaty of 1713; which was observed by them with a good degree of faith, for about five years, when they commenced hostilities in Maine, by the encouragement, if not at the direct instance of the French. The people, in the new settlements in that territory, were long exposed to the barbarities of the Indians, and suffered greatly in their property; and many lives were lost in these savage attacks. It is justly a matter of surprise, that they attempted settlements far remote from all efficient and seasonable protection from the government, when the aboriginals had manifested such deadly hostility against them. There are no proofs that the people in that part of the country committed acts of injustice or aggression on the natives; and there was no other cause to be assigned for their work of destruction, than that false statements were made to them of the views and designs of the English.†

At this period, a fort was built on Georges River, a few leagues east of Pemaquid, for the protection of the settlements then extending in that part of the province. The Norridgewock and Penobscot tribes, aided, at times, by those of Passamaquoddy, and of some within the limits of Canada, made frequent irruptions on the English settlements; and although several treaties were made with them, from the year 1700 to

* Cotton Mather said the people of Massachusetts were sincerely loyal at this time; but they chose to show it rather by praying for the health of the king than by drinking it.

In a letter of Governor Shute to Ralle, the Jesuit, he says, "the English had not entered on land without a fair and honest purchase of the Indians, and that they had deeds to show for it."

1724, they disregarded them, as their spirit of revenge or desire for plunder, or a wish to gratify the catholic priests, prompted. In 1724, an attack was made on them at Norridgewock, one of their chief places of rendezvous; many of them were slain, and their fortress destroyed. From this period, they were far less feared, and appeared less disposed as well as less able to injure the English in that quarter.

In his desire to retain the favor of the general court, or from his native mildness of character, Governor Shute consented to an act to lay a duty on West India products, on wines, on English manufactures, and on the tonnage of British vessels. For this, he was censured by the ministry in England, as not duly supporting the prerogative of the crown. The law was the more offensive to the English government, as it was passed on occasion, if not in retaliation, of an act of parliament, for raising a revenue in the province by imposts, which had always been opposed by Massachusetts. The general court rescinded the act, and acknowledged that the objections to the measure, by the British ministry, were just and proper. On the other hand, he maintained the prerogative and right of his sovereign very decidedly; and thus afterward exposed himself to censure in the province. He gave his negative, as he supposed the charter authorized, to one of the counsellors chosen by the general court. The latter insisted that he was duly elected, and therefore entitled to a seat at the council board. They said, they sent up the names of those they had chosen, for the information of the governor, rather than for his consent or concurrence. There was frequently a want of union and action between him and the representatives. On one occasion, he dissolved the house, for their opposition to his directions; and they adjourned for a week, without asking his consent, or giving him notice. They also appointed a time for a public fast, which had before been done by the governor and council; and claimed the right of appointing some officers, which had always been the prerogative of the executive.* When he first entered on the administration of the government, he approved of the paper money policy; but soon became satisfied of the evils it produced, and opposed it.

When Governor Shute went to England, in 1723, he com

* When the governor issued a proclamation for the public fast, at this time, he said, "by the advice of council, and on motion of the house of representatives." But this did not conciliate them. They omitted Mr. Belcher, and others, from the council, because they were friends of the governor. In other instances, also, towards the close of his administration, the leaders in the house opposed him, pretending that he was disposed to support the prerogatives of the crown to the prejudice of the rights of the province. They also claimed the right to appoint the attorney general.