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1676.

report of a musket is heard; a full volley follows: and CHAP. Philip, half naked, is seen hastily fleeing. An Englishman covets the honor of shooting him. His gun misses fire. And the ball of an Indian pierces his heart. He falls! Philip of Mount Hope will sound the war-whoop no more! The body of the chieftain lies stretched upon the ground, and the desolating war is brought to a close.1 Shall we publish the record, that the son of the chieftain was sold as a slave? Shall we detail the particulars of the capture of Anawan? The Indians never recovered from the blow. Their power was broken, and they were rapidly dispersed. They fought to the last for the land of their sires, but what could they effect against the power of the English?

The aggregate of suffering remains to be told. At least thirteen towns were wholly destroyed, and a large number of others sustained much damage. Six hundred of the colonists fell upon the battle field, and many of the survivors bore with them to the grave marks of their desperate and bloody encounters. There was scarcely a family in which some one had not suffered. Connecticut escaped with very little loss. Upon Massachusetts and Plymouth the principal burden fell. The whole expense of the war, including losses and disbursements, cannot be computed at less than half a million of dollars:- a large sum for those days, and as great in proportion as the cost of our national struggle for independence. More than six hundred buildings were consumed by fire. It was years before some towns recovered, and were rebuilt.2

We have no disposition to detract in the least from the merits of our fathers, or to reflect upon their conduct as unusually culpable. Doubtless, to their minds, the war was justifiable. Yet in vindicating them from misappre

1

Hubbard, Mather, Church, &c. * Trumbull, 1. 350–1.

448

GENERAL REFLECTIONS.

CHAP. hension, let us not forget that the tale of the savage has never been told. It is true that

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1676.

"Small slights, contempt, neglect, unmixed with hate,

Make up in number what they want in weight,"

And of these, the Indians experienced enough. No one, who possesses the benevolent spirit which the gospel commends, can fail to be deeply interested in the fate of these sons of the forest - the original occupants of the soil, possessing, with all their vices, many estimable traits; sharing the feelings which are common to all hearts; moved by the passions which agitate every breast. Yet that is, in our estimation, a mawkish sentimentalism, which lavishes upon them the most glowing eulogiums for the purpose of tarnishing the luster of Puritanism. It should never be forgotten that they were an uncivilized race, and that their survivors yet remain such; and all, who contrast the condition of this continent in the middle of the nineteenth century, with its condition at the opening of the seventeenth century, will readily concede that the change which has been wrought here by the introduction of a new race, and the influence which the New World has exerted upon the Old, the lessons of political wisdom which have here been taught, the advancement which has been made in the arts and the sciences, and especially the problems of spiritual interest which have here been successfully developed, are monuments to the memory of the men who settled these wilds, sufficiently glorious, and sufficiently praiseworthy, to atone for those errors, which the history of all ages teaches us have been common to mankind, and from which no nation or people, however enlightened or intelligent, and in the enjoyment of the most brilliant and widely diffused advantages, has been wholly exempt.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE CHARTER.

XVII.

1671.

THE defeat of the Commission of 1664, did not relieve CHAP. the colonists permanently from the interference of Charles and his Ministers of State. On the contrary, a new Council for Plantations was appointed; and at its first meeting "at May 26, the Earl of Bristol's house in Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Field," the affairs of America were discussed, and there were great debates," in which the King himself took part, "in what style to write to New England." It was believed by the Monarch that Massachusetts, the principal colony, was "rich and strong," and "able to contest with all other Plantations about them;" and he was not without fears of "their breaking off from all dependence" on the English nation. Hence the proposition of a "menacing letter," favored by some of the Council, was opposed by those "who better understood the peevish and touchy humor of that colony;" and, after several days deliberation, it was concluded that, if any paper was sent, it should be June 6. "conciliatory." The representations of Cartwright, one of the old Commissioners, had, doubtless, a powerful influence in leading to the adoption of this course; for, when summoned to "give a relation of the country," he drew a Jun. 21. picture so alarming to the courtiers, that all thoughts of "threatening" the colonists were abandoned, and nothing was recommended beyond a "letter of amnesty," which July 4. was prepared, and eventually "agreed to be sent.” 1

450

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1671

1

COMMISSIONERS TO BE SENT TO THE COLONIES.

CHAP. Yet many were reluctant to relinquish the attempt to conquer the spirit of a people whose very refractoriness Aug. 3. stung their pride; and the proposition was made that an Agent or Deputy should be sent over, under the pretext of adjusting boundaries, but in reality to ascertain the true state of the country, and "whether they were of such power as to be able to resist his Majesty, and declare for themselves, as independent of the crown."1 Col. Middleton was of opinion, that the best way to proceed was by force of arms; and declared, that the people might easily be "curbed by a few of his Majesty's first rate frigates, to spoil their trade with the Islands;" but more pacific councils prevailed, and it was decided to adhere to the former conclusion, and to "advise his Majesty to send Commissioners with a formal commission for adjusting boundaries."

1671-2.

It was easier, however, to adopt such a conclusion, than Feb. 12, to carry it into effect; and six months later, the Council was found deliberating on "some fit person to go to inspect their actions in New England, and from time to time to report how that people stood affected." In truth, the Court was emasculated of its manliness by its lechery, and had not the courage to provoke once more the defiant spirit before which it had already quailed. No agents, therefore, Sept., were sent to the colonies; and in the following fall, the Council for Plantations was constituted a Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations; and, having appointed a Committee to "examine the laws of his Majesty's several Plantations and Colonies in the West Indies," with this step their proceedings terminated for a season. 2

1672.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts continued without opposition to enjoy the rich blessings of a peaceable government;

The date of the report of the Council for Plantations, is Aug. 12, 1671, in 4 M. H. Coll., 2. 285.

2 Evelyn, 1. 434-59; Hubbard, 732; Bancroft, 2. 90-1.

1

1

DEATH OF THE FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND.

451

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.1672.

exercised her jurisdiction in New Hampshire and Maine; CHAP. and was even projecting settlements further to the eastward, in the province of Acadia. The French, on the one side, were removed from her neighborhood, and the Dutch, on the other, were no longer feared. There was no limit, therefore, to the extension of her commerce. Acting as the carrier for nearly all the other colonies, her trade was as extensive as she could reasonably desire. Vessels from many nations might be seen in her harbors. No custom house was established. The laws of Navigation were practically inoperative. Wealth was fast flowing into the coffers of her merchants. And industry and contentment everywhere prevailed. 1

1

In the midst of this plenty, the chiefs of the colonies were gathered to the grave. Wilson, of Boston, "orthodox in judgment," yet "zealous against known evils;" Flint, of Bramtree, a "man of known piety, gravity, and integrity;" Mitchell, of Cambridge, the "stay of New England," and the "gem of the churches; " Allen, of Dedham, revered as a pastor; the younger Eliot, "endowed with gifts of nature and grace;" Mather, of Dorchester, a "solid and grave divine;" the thrice honored Davenport, the pride of two colonies; Symmes,, of Charlestown, an accomplished scholar; the tolerant Willoughby, beloved as a magistrate; the upright Bellingham, "a foe to bribes, but rich in charity;" the excellent Prince, long Governor of Plymouth; and others of the patriarchs and men of esteem, were among those who departed, lamenting not so much that their career was thus ended, as that they were "born too soon to see New England in its most flourishing state.'

Happy for them that they did not survive longer, for

1 Hutchinson, 1. 246-7; Chalmers, Ann., 400, 433-4; Josselyn, in 2 M. H. Coll., vol. 3.

Morton's Mem., Anno. 1665, et seq.; Hubbard, 604-7; Hutchinson, 1. 237-8.