Connecticut but Advice being dispatch'd unto the Towns upon Connecticut-River a party immediately Salley'd out after the Spoilers and leaving their Horses at the Entrance of a Swamp whither by their Track they had followed them they come upon the Secure Adversary and kill'd the most of them and Recovered the Captives with their Plunder and Returning home had some Reward for so brisk an Action But now the Indians in the East probably Disheartened by the Forts Erecting that were like to prove a sore Annoyance to them in their Enterprizes and by the Fear of wanting Ammunition with other Provisions which the French were not so Able just now to dispence unto them and by a presumption that an Arrâ—y of Maqua's part of those Terrible Cannibals to the West-ward whereof 't is affirm'd by those who have published the Stories of their Travels among them That they have destroy'd no less than Two Million Salvages of other Nations about them through their being Supplyed with Fire-Arms before Hundreds of other Nations lying between them the River Meschasippi was come into their Country because they found some of their Squa's killed upon a Whortle berry Plain and all the Charms of the French Fryar then Resident among them could not hinder them from Suing to the English for Peace And the English being so involved in Debts that they Scarce knew how to prosecute the War any further took some Notice of their Suit Accordingly a Peace was made upon the Ensuing Articles Province of the Massachusetts Bay in new-New-England The Submission and Agreement of the Eastern Indians at Fort William Henry in Pemmaquid the 11th day of August in the Fifth year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lord and Lady William and Mary by the Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King and Queen Defenders of the Faith c. 1693. WHereas a Bloody War ha's for some years now past been made and carryed on by the Indians within the Eastern parts of the said Province against Their Majesties Subjects the English through the Instigation and Influences of the French and being sensible of the Miseries which we and our People are reduced unto by adhearing to their ill Council We whose names are hereunto Subscribed being Sagamores and Chief Captains of all the Indians belonging to the several Rivers of Penobscote and Kennebeck Amanascogin and Saco parts of the said Province of the Massachusetts Bay within Their said Majesties Soveraignty Having made Application unto his Excellency Sir William Phipps Captain General Governour in Chief in and over the said Province that the War may be put to an end Do lay down our Arms and cast our selves upon Their said Majesties Grace and Favour And each of us respectively for our selves and in the Name with the free consent of all the Indians belonging unto the several Rivers aforesaid and of all other Indians within the said Province of and from Merrimack River unto the most Easterly Bounds of the said Province hereby acknowledging our hearty Subjection and Obedience unto the Crown of England and do solemnly Covenant Pâ—omise and Agree to and wiâ—h the said Sir William Phipps and his Successors in the place of Captain General and Governour in Chief of the aforesaid Province or Territory on Their said Majesties behalf in manner following viz. That at all time and times for ever from and after the date of these Presents we will cease and forbear all acts of Hostility towards the Subjects of the Crown of England and not offer the least hurt or violence to them or any of them in their Persons or Estate But will henceforward hold and maintain a firm and constant Amity and Friendship with all the English Item We abandon and forsake the French Interest will not in any wise adhere to joyn with aid or assist them in their Wars or Designs against the English nor countenance succour or conceal any of the Enemy Indians of Canada or other places that shall happen to come to any of our Plantations within the English Territory but secure them if in our power and deliver them up unto the English That all English Captives in the hands or power of any of the Indians within the Limits aforesaid shall with all possible speed be set at liberty and returned home without any Ransome or Payment to be made or given for them or any of them That Their Majesties Subjects the English shall and may peaceably and quietly enter upon improve and for ever enjoy all and singular their Rights of Lands and former Settlements and possessions within the Eastern parts of the said Province of the Massachusetts-Bay without any pretentions or claims by us or any other Indianâ— and be in no wise molested interrupted or disturbed therein That all Trade and Commerce which hereafter may be allowed between the English and Indians shall be under such Management and Regulation as may be stated by an Act of the General Assembly or as the Governour of the said Province for the time being with the Advice and Consent of the Council shall see cause to Direct and Limit If any controversy or difference at any time hereafter happen to arise between any of the English and Indians for any â—eal or supposed wrong or injury done on one side or the other no private Revenge shall be taken by the Indians for the same but proper Application be made to Their Majesties Government upon the place for Remedy thereof in a due course of Justice we hereby submitting our selves to be ruled and governed by Their Majesties Laws and desire to have the benefit of the same For the more full manifestation of our sincerity and integrity in all that which we have herein before Covenanted and Promised we do deliver unto Sir William Phipps Their Majesties Governour as aforesaid Ahassombamett Brother to Edgeremett Wenong ahewitt Cousin to Madockawando and Edgeremett and Bagatawawongon also Sheepscoat John to abide and remain in the Custody of the English where the Governour shall direct as Hostages or Pledges for our Fidelity and true performance of all and every the foregoing Articles reserving Liberty to exchange them in some reasonable time for a like number to the acceptance of the Governour and Council of the said Province so they be persons of as good account and esteem amongst the Indians as those which are to be exchanged In Testimony whereof we have hereunto set our several Marks and Seals the Day and Year first above written The above written Instrument was deliberately read over and the several Articles and Clauses thereof Interpreted unto the Indians who said they well understood and consented thereto and was then Signed Sealed Delivered in the Presence of us John Wing Nicholas Manning Benjamin Jackson Egeremeâ—t Madockawando Wessambomett of Navidgwock Wenohson of Teconnet in behalf of Moxis Ketterramogis of Narridgwock Ahanquit of Penobscot Bomaseen Nitamemet Webenes Awansomeck Robin Doney Madaumbis Paquaharet alias Nathaniel Inrerpreters John Hornybrook John
September 1689. Such were the Obscure Measures taken at that Time of Day that the Rise of this War hath been as dark as that of the River Nilus only the Generality of Thinking People through the Country can Remember When and Why every one did foretel A War If any Wild English for there are such as well as of another Nation did then Begin to Provoke and Affront the Indians yet those Indians had a fairer way to come by Right than that of Blood shed nothing worthy of or calling for any Such Revenge was done unto them The most Injured of them all if there were any Such were afterwards dismissed by the English with Favours that were then Admirable even to Our selves and These too instead of Surrendring the Persons did increase the Numbers of the Murderers But upon the REVOLUTION of the Government April 1689. the State of the War became wholly New and we are more arrived unto Righteousness as the Light and Justice as the Noon day A great Sachim of the East we then immediately Applied our selves unto and with no small Expences to our selves we Engaged Him to Employ his Interest for a Good Understanding between us the party of Indians then in Hostility against us This was the Likely the Only way of coming at those Wandring Salvages But That very Sachim now treacherously of an Embassador became a Traitor and annexed himself with his People to the Heard of our Enemies which have since been Ravaging Pillaging and Murdering at a rate which we ought to count Intolerable The Penacook Indians of whom we were Jealous we likewise Treated with and while we were by our Kindnesses and Courtesies Endeavouring to render them utterly Inexcusable if ever they sought our Harm Even Then did These also by some Evil Instigation the Devils no doubt quickly Surprize a Plantation where they had been Civilly treated a Day or Two before Commit at once more Plunder and Murder than can be heard with any patience Reader Having so placed these Three Accounts as to defend my Teeth I think I may safely proceed with our Story But because Tacitus teaches us to distinguish between the meer Occasions and the real Causes of a War it may be some will go a little Higher up in their Enquiries They will Enquire whether no body Seized a parcel of Wines that were Landed at a French Plantation to the East ward Whether an Order were not obtained from the King of England at the Instance of the French Embassador to Restore these Wines Whether upon the Vexation of this Order we none of us ran a New Line for the Bounds of the Province Whether we did not contrive our New Line so as to take in the Country of Monsieur St. Casteen Whether Monsieur St. Casteen flying from our Encroachments we did not Seize upon his Arms and Goods and bring them away to Pemmaquid And Who were the We which did these things And whether the Indians who were Extremely under the Influence of St. Casteen that had Married a Sagamores Daughter among them did not from this very Moment begin to be obstreperous And whether all the Sober English in the Country did not from this very Moment foretel a War But for any Answer to all these Enquiries I will be my self a Tacitus ARTICLE II. The first Acts of Hostility between the Indians and the English WHen one Capt. Sargeant had Seized some of the principal Indians about Saco by order of Justice Blackman presently the Indians fell to Seizing as many of the English as they could catch Capt. Rowden with many more in one place and Capt. Gendal with sundry more in another place particularly fell into the Hands of these desperate Man catchers Rowden with many of his Folks never got out of their Cruel Hands but Gendal with his got a Release one can scarce tell How upon the Return of those which had been detain'd in Boston Hitherto there was no Spilling of Blood But some Time in September following this Capt. Gendal went up with Souldiers and others to a place above Casco called North Yarmouth having Orders to build Stockado's on both sides the River for Defence of the place in case of any Sudden Invasion While they were at work an English Captive came to 'em with Information that Seventy or Eighty of the Enemy were just coming upon 'em and he advised 'em To yeeld quietly that they might Save their Lives The Souldiers that went thither from the Southward being terrifyed at this Report Ran with an Hasty Terror to get over the River but with more Hast than Good Speed for they ran directly into the Hands of the Indians The Indians dragging along these their Prisoners with 'em came up towards the Casconians who having but a very Little Time to Consult yet in this Time Resolved First That they would not be Seized by the Salvages Next That they would free their Friends out of the Hands of the Salvages if it were possible Thirdly That if it were possible they would use all other Force upon the Salvages without coming to down right Fight Accordingly They laid hold on their Neighbours whom the Salvages had Seized and this with so much Dexterity that they cleared them all Except one or Two whereof the whole Number was about a Dozen But in the Scuffle one Sturdy and Surly Indian held his prey so fast that one Benedict Pulcifer gave the Mastiff a Blow with the Edge of his Broad Ax upon the Shoulder upon which they fell to 't with a Vengeance and Fired their Guns on both sides till some on both sides were Slain These were as one may call them The Scower-pit of a long War to follow At last the English Victoriously chased away the Salvageâ— and Returned safely unto the other side of the River And Thus was the Vein of New England first opened that afterwards Bled for Ten years together The Skirmish being over Capt. Gendal in the Evening passed over the River in a Canoo with none but a Servant but Landing where the Enemy lay hid in the Bushes they were both Slain immediately And the same Evening one Ryal with another man fell unawares into the Hands of the Enemy Ryal was afterwards Ransomed by Monsieur St. Casteen but the other man was barbarously Butchered Soon after this the Enemy went Eastward unto a place call'd Merry-Meeting from the Concourse of diverse Rivers there where several English had a Sad Meeting with them for they were killed several of them even in Cold Blood after the Indians had Seized upon their Houses their Persons And about this Time the Town call'd Sheepscote was entred by these Rapacious Wolves who burnt all the Houses of the Town save Two or Three The People saved themselves by getting into the Fort all but one Man who going out of the Fort for to Treat with 'em was Treacherously Assassinated Thus the place which was counted The Garden of the East was infested by Serpents and a Sword Expell'd the
poor Inhabitants Little more Spoil was done by the Salvages before Winter Except only that at a place called Kennebunk near Winter harbour they cut off Two Families to wit Barrows and Bussies but Winter coming on the Serpents retired into their Holes When Summer comes Reader look for Tornadoes enough to over-set a greater Vessel than little New-England ARTICLE III. The First Expedition of the English against the Indians WHen the Keeper of the Wild Beasts at Florence ha's entertain'd the Spectators with their Encounters on the Stage he ha's this Device to make 'em Retire into the several Dens of their Seraglio He ha's a fearful Machin of Wood made like a Greâ—t Green Dragon which a man within it roules upon Wheels and holding out a Couple of Lighted Torches at the Eyes of it frights the fiercest Beast of them all into the Cell that belongs unto him Sir Edmond Andros the Governour of New-England that he might Express his Resolutions to force the Wild Beasts of the East into order in the Winter now comeing on turned upon them as Effectual a Machin as the Green Dragon of Florence that is to say An Army of near a Thousand men With this Army he marched himself in Person into the Caucasaean Regions where he built a Fort at Pemmaquid and another Fort at Pechypscot Falls besides the Fort at Sheepscote He and his Army underwent no little Hard ship thus in the Depth of Winter to Expose themselves unto the Circumstances of a Campaign in all the Bleak Winds and Thick Snows of that Northern Country But it was Hop'd That Good Forts being thus Garrison'd with Stout Hearts in several Convenient places â—he Indians might be kept from their usual Retreats both for Planting and for Fishing and lye open also to perpetual Incursions from the English in the fittest seasons thereof And it was Thought by the most sensible this method would in a little while compel the Enemy to Submit unto any Terms albeit others considering the Vast Woods of the Wilderness and the French on the back of these Woods fancied that this was but a project to Hedge in the Cuckow However partly the Army and partly the Winter frighted the Salvages into their Inaccessible Dens yet not one of the Indians was killed but Sickness Service kill'd it may be more of our English than there were Indians then in Hostility against them The News of matters approaching towards a REVOLUTION in England caused the Governour to Return unto Boston in the Spring upon his Return there fell out several odd Events with Rumours whereof I have now nothing to say but That I love my Eyes too well to mention them Some of the Souldiers took Advantage from the Absence of the Governour to desert their Stations in the Army and tho' this Action was by Good men generally condemned as an Evil Action yet their Friends began to gather together here and there in Little Bodies to protect them from the Governour concerning whom abundance of odd Stories then buzz'd about the Country made 'em to imagine that he had carried 'em out only to Sacrifice ' em Some of the principal Gentlemen in Boston consulting what was to be done in this Extraordinary Juncture They Agreed that altho' New-England had as much to Justify a Revolution as old yet they would if it were possible extinguish all Essayes in the people towards an Insurrection in daily hopes of Orders from England for our Safety but that if the Country people by any unrestrainable Violences pushed the business on so far as to make a Revolution unavoidable Then to prevent the Shedding of Blood by an ungoverned Mobile some of the Gentlemen present should appear at the Head of it with a Declaration accordingly prepared He that Reads the Narrative of Grievances under the Male Administrations of the Government then Tyrannizing Written and Signed by the Chief Gentlemen of the Governours Council will not wonder at it that a Revolution was now rendred indeed unavoidable It was a Government whereof Ned Randolph a Bird of their own Feather confess'd as we find in one of his published Letters That they were as Arbitrary as the Great Turk And for such a Government a better Similitude cannot perhaps be thought on than that of Monsr Souligne 'T is like the Condition of persons possessed with Evil Spirits which will go an Hundred Leagues in less time than others can Ten but at the Journies End find themselves to be so Bruised that they never can Recover it The Revolution and ye Tories a Just one was accordingly Made on the Eighteenth of April which Their Majesties then happily Seated on the British Throne kindly Accepted and Approved The Governour and Magistrates of the Massachusetts Colony which were in power Three years and Half before a period often observed did some Time after this Resume their places and apply themselves to such Acts of Government as Emergencies made necessary for them Fortifyed with a Letter from the King to Authorize and Empower them in their Administrations Thus they waited for further Directions from the Authority of England and such a Settlement as would most Conduce which were the words of the Kings Letter bearing Date Aug. 12 1689. to the Security and Satisfaction of the Subjects in that Colony ARTICLE IV. A Flame Spreading upon the best Endeavours to Quench it IT was hop'd the War would now come to an Immediate End but the Great God who Creates that Evil had further Intentions to Chastise a Sinful People by those who are not a People The Government sent Capt. Greenleaf to treat with the Indians at Penacook who answered him with fair pretences and Promises of Amity They procured an Interview with some of the more Eastern Sagamores who not only promised Friendship themselves but also undertook to make our Enemies become our Friends They sent unto the Souldiers yet remaining at Pemmaquid for to keep their Post Engaging to them that they should not want their Pay But all this care was defeated by Methods of Mischiefs too deep for our present penetration The Salvages began to Renew their Hostilities at Saco Falls in the Beginning of April on a Lords day morning some while before the Revolution The Penacook Indians were all this while peaceably Conversant at Quochecho and so long as that Conversation continued the Inhabitants were very Secure of any Danger not only from those Cut-throats but also from their Brethren Happy had it been for those Honest People if their Fear had made so much Hast as my Pen ha's done to call 'em Cut throats For the Penacookian joining with the Saconian Indians hovered about Quochecho where one Mesandowit a Sagamore being that Night kindly Entertained by Major Richard Waldein horribly betray'd his kind Host with the Neighbours into the hands of Murderers Above an Hundred some say Five Hundred of the Indians about break of Day having Surprized the Secure and Silent English they particularly rushed into the Garrison of the
and then flang it into the River So he Returned unto the miserable Mother telling her She was now eased of her Burden and must walk faster than she did before RELATION IV. MAry Ferguson taken Captive by the Indians at Saâ—mon Falls declares that another Maid of about Fifteen or Sixteen years of Age taken at the same Time had a Great Burden Imposed on her Being over born with her Burden she burst out into Tears telling her Indian Master That she could go no further Whereupon he immediately took off her Burden and leading her aside into the Bushes he cut off her Head and Scalping it he ran about Laughing and Bâ—agging what an Act he had now done and showing the Scalp unto the rest he told them They should all be Served so if they were not patient In fine when the Children of the English Captives Cryed at any Time so that the were not presently quieted the manner of the Indians was to dash out their Brains against a Tree And very often when the Indians were on or near the Water they took the Small Childreâ— and held 'em under Water till they had near Drowned them and then gave 'em unto their Distressed Mothers to quiet ' em And the Indians in their â—rolicks would Whip and Beat the Small Children until they set 'em into grievous out cryes and then throw 'em to their Amazed Mothers for them to quiet 'em again as well as they could This was Indian Captivity Reader A Modern Traveller assures us that at the Villa Ludovisia not far from Rome tâ—eâ—e is to be seen the Body of a Petrified Man and that he himself saw by a piece of the mans Leg Broken for Satiâ—â—action both the Bone and the Stone Crusted over it All that I will say is That if thou canst Read these passages without Relenting Bowels thou thy self art as really Petrified as the man at Villa Ludovisia Nescio tu quibus es Lector Lecturus Ocellis Hoc Scio quod Siccis Scribere non potui ARTICLE VIII A Little Account of the Greatest Action that ever New England Attempted I have Read or Heard That when the Insufferable Abuses which the English Nation suffered from the Abbeys were in the Parliament complained of the Total Dissolution of those Abbeys was much forwarded by a Speech of a Gentleman in the House of Commons to this purpose That his own House had been much annoy'd by Rooks building in a Tree near unto it and that he had used many ineffectual ways to disturb and disroost these mischievous Rooks until at Last he found out an infallible way to be delivered from the Rooks and that was to cut down the Tree that Lodged ' em The Distresses into which New-Engâ—and was now fallen made this very comparison to be thought of The Indian Rooks grievously infested the Countrey and while the Country was only on the Defensive Part their Men were Thinned their Towns were Broken and their Treasures consumed without any Hope of seeing an End of these Troublesome Tragedies The French Colonies to the Northward were the Tree in which those Rooks had their Nests and the French having in person first fallen upon the English of new-New-England it was thought that the New-Englanders might very justly take this Occasion to Reduce those French Colonies under the English Government and so at once take away from all the Rooks for ever all that gave 'em any Advantage to Infest us Accordingly a Naval Force with about Seven Hundred men under the Conduct of Sr. William Phips was dispatch'd away to L'accady and Nova Scotia This Fleet setting Sail from New-England April 28. 1690. in a Fortnight Arrived at Port-Royal and Sir William having the Fort Surrendred unto him took Possession of that Province for the Crown of England But this was only a step towards a far greater Action There was no Speech about the Methods of Safety made which did not conclude with a Delenda est Carthago It was become the concurring Resolution of all New-England with New-York that a vigorous Attack should be made upon Canada at once both by Sea and Land A Fleet of Thirty Two Sail under the Command of Sr. William Phips was Equipp'd at Boston and began their Voyage Aug. 9. and the whole Matter was put into Form with so much Contrivance and Caution and Courage that nothing but an Evident Hand of Heaven was likely to have given such a Defeat unto it as ha's been indeed generally and Remarkably given unto all the Colonies of America when they have Invaded one another If this Expedition did miscarry and if Canada proved unto New England what it prov'd unto the Spaniards when at their Deserting it they call'd it Il Capo de Nada or The Cape of Nothing whence the Name Canada there is no New Englander but what will mentain that it was with a less Disgraceful miscarriage than what baffled every one of those that were made in this War against the French Islands by more powerful Fleets of those who were forward Enough to Reproach New-England I am sure he that Reads the Account of what was done at Martineco in the Relation of the Voyage of M. de Gennes lately published must be very easy in his Reflections upon what was done at Canada And I will add That if the New-England men return'd re infecta from Canada yet they did not leave Two Hundred men behind them to the mercy of the French as they who most Reproached New England soon after did at Guadalupa The fuller Narrative of these memorable Things the Reader may find written in The Life of Sir William Phipps lately published of whâ—ch I must here give this Attestation That as my Acquaintance with the Author gives me Assurance of his being as Willing to Retract a Mistake as unwilling to Commit one and of his Care in whatever he writes to be able to make the profession of Oecolampadius Nolui aliquid Scribere quod improbaturum putem Christum So I have Compared this Narrative with the Journals of the Expedition and I find the most Contested passages of the Story nor did I ever hear of any more than one or two little circumstantial passages contested as carrying a sound a little too Rhetorical but I say I find them to be the very Express Words thereof contained in those Journals and more than so that very credible Persons concerned therein have readily offered their Depositions upon Oath to the Truth of what is Written So I take my leave of that History and of Sir William Phipps the Memorable Subject of that History whom I leave under this EPITAPH Bonus non est qui non ad Invidiam usque Bonus est A Digression REader since we can give no better an Account of the Last English Expedition to Canada why may we not for a Minute or Two Refresh our selves with a Story of an Old one In the very year when the Massachusett-Colony began the English Attempted the Conquest of Canada and
though the First Attempt miscarried the Second prospered The Story of it makes a Chapter in Father Hennepins Account of the Vast Country lately discovered betwixt Canada and Mexico and this is the Sum of it While a Colony was forming it self at Canada an English Fleet was Equipp'd in the year 1628. under the Command of Admiral Kirk with a Design to take Possession of that Country In their Vogage having taken a French Ship at the Isle Percee they Sailed up the River as far as Tadousac where they found a Bark in which they set ashore some Souldiers to Seize on Cape Tourment And here a Couple of Salvages discovering them ran away to advise the people of Quebeck that the English were approaching When the Fleet arrived the Admiral Summoned the Town to Surrender by a Letter to Monsieur Champelin the Governour But the Governour notwithstanding his being so Surprised with the Invasion made such a Resolute Answer that the English though as the Historian says they are a People that will sooner Dy than quit what they once undertake did conclude the Fort Quebeck was in a much better Condition for Defence than it really was and therefore desisting from any further Attempt at this Time they returned into England with Resolution further to pursue their Design at a more favourable Opportunity Accordingly on July 19. 1629. in the Morning the English Fleet appear'd again over against the Great Bay of Quebeck at the point of the Isle of Orleans which Fleet Consisted of Three men of War and Six other Vessels Admiral Kirk sending a Summons form'd in very Civil Expressions for the Surrender of the Place the miserable State of the Country which had been by the English Interceptions hindred of Supplies from France for Two years together oblig'd the Sieur Champelin to make a softer Answer than he did before He sent Father Joseph Le Caron aboard the Admiral to treat about the Surrender and none of his Demands for Fifteen Dayes and then for Five Dayes Time to Consider on 't could obtain any longer Time than till the Evening to prepare their Articles Upon the Delivery of this Message a Council was held wherein some urged that the English had no more than Two Hundred men of Regular Troops aboard and some others which had not much of the Air of Souldiers and that the Courage of the Inhabitants was much to be relied upon and therefore it was best for to run the risk of a Siege But Monsieur Champelin apprehending the Bravery of the English remonstrated unto the Council that it was better to make a Surrender on Good Terms than be all out in pieces by an unreasonable Endeavour to Defend themselves Upon this the Articles regulating all matters were got ready and Father Joseph had his Commission to carry them aboard the English Admiral where the Signing of them was defeâ—r'd until To Morrow On July 20. the Articles of Capitulation were Signed on both sides and the English being Landed were put in possession of Canada by the Governour of it The French Inhabitants who were then in the Country had twenty Crowns a piece given them the rest of their Effects remained unto the Conquerers but those who were willing to stay were favoured by the English with great Advantages The Fleet set Sail again for England Sept. 14. and arrived at Plymouth Octo. 18. in that year ARTICLE IX Casco Lost WHen the Indians at last perceived that the New Englanders were upon a Likely Design to Swallow up the French Territories the Prospect of it began to have the same Operation upon them that the Success of the Design would have made Perpetual that is to Dispirit them for giving the New Englanders any further Molestations Nevertheless Before and Until they were thoroughly Advised of what was a doing and likely to be done they did molest the Country with some Tragical Efforts of their Fury Captain James Convers was Marching through the vast Wilderness to Albany with some Forces which the Massachusets Colony were willing to send by Land besides what they did send by Sea unto Quebeck for the Assistence of the Army in the West that was to go from thence over the Lake and there fall upon Mount Real but unhappy Tidings out of the East required the Diversion of those Forces thither About the Beginning of May the French and Indians between Four and Five Hundred were seen at Casco in a great Fleet of Canoo's passing over the Bay but not Seeing or Hearing any more of them for Two or Three Weeks together the Casconians flattered themselves with Hopes That they were gone another way But about May 16 those Hopes were over For one Gresson a Scotchman then going out Early sell into the mouths of these Hungry Salvages It proved no kindness to Casco tho' it proved a great one to himself that a Commander so qualified as Captain Willard was called off Two or Three Dayes before But The Officers of the place now concluding that the whole Army of the Enemy were watching for an Advantage to Surprize the Town Resolved that they would keep a Strict watch for Two or Three dayes to make some further Discovery before they Salley'd forth Notwithstanding this one Lieut. Clark with near Thirty of their Stoutest young men would venture out as far as the Top of an Hill in the Entrance of the Wood half a mile distant from the Town The out-let from the Town to the Wood was thro' a Lane that had a Fence on each side which had a certain Block-house at one End of it and the English were Suspicious when they came to Enter the Lane that the Indians were lying behind the Fence because the Cattel stood staring that way and would not pass into the Wood as they use to do This mettlesome Company then ran up to the Fence with an Huzzab thinking thereby to discourage the Enemy if they should be lurking there but the Enemy were so well prepared for them that they answered them with an horrible Vengeance which kill'd the Lieutenant with Thirteen more upon the Spot and the rest escaped with much ado unto one of the Garrisons The Enemy then coming into Town beset all the Garrisons at once Except the Fort which were manfully Defended so long as their Ammunition lasted but That being spent without a prospect of a Recruit they quitted all the Four Garrisons and by the Advantage of the Night got into the Fort. Upon this the Enemy Setting the Town on Fire bent their whole Force against the Fort which had hard by it a deep Gully that contributed not a little unto the Ruin of it For the Besiegers getting into that Gully lay below the Danger of our Guns Here the Enemy began their Mine which was carried so near the Walls that the English who by Fighting Five Dayes and Four Nights had the greatest part of their men killed and wounded Captain Lawrence mortally among the rest began a parley with them Articles were Agreed That they
while that Lieutenant Fletcher with his Two Sons that should have Guarded them went a Fowling and by doing so they likewise sell into the Snare The Indians carrying these Three Captives down the River in one of their Canoes Lieutenant Larabe that was abroad with a Scout way-laid them and Firing on the Foremost of the Canooes that had Three men in it they all Three fell and sank in the River of Death Several were kill'd aboard the other Canooes and the rest ran their Canooes ashore and Escaped on the other side of the River and one of the Fâ—etchers when all the Indians with him were killed was Delivered out of the Hands which had made a prisoner of him tho his poor Father afterwards Dyed among them Hereupon Major March with his Army took a Voyage farther Eastward having several Transport Vessels to accommodate them Arriving at Casco-Bay they did upon the Ninth of September come as occult as they could further East among the Islands near a place called Corbins Sounds and Landed before Day at a place called Damascotta River where before Half of them were well got ashore and drawn up the scarce-yet-expected Enemy Entertained them with a Volley and an Huzza None of ours were Hurt but Major March Repaid 'em in their own Leaden Coin and it was no sooner Light but a Considerable Battel Ensued The Commanders of the Transport-Vessels were persons of such a mettle that they could not with any patience forbear going ashore to take a part of their Neighbours Fare but the Enemy seeing things operate this way fled into their Fleet of Canooes which hitherto Lay out of sight and got off as fast and as well as they could leaving some of their Dead behind them which they never do but when under extream Disadvantages Our Army thus beat 'em off with the Loss of about a Dozen men whereof One was the worthy Captain Dymmock of Barnstable and about as many Wounded whereof one was Captain Phillips of Charlstown and in this Action Captain Whiting a young Gentleman of much Worth and Hope Courageously acting his part as Commander of the Forces the Helpers of the War which the Colony of Connecticut had Charitably lent unto this Expedition had his Life remarkably rescued from a Bullet grazing the Top of his Head But there was a Singular Providence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the whole of this matter For by the seasonable Arrival and Encounter of our Army an horrible Descent of Indians which probably might have laid whole Plantations Desolate was most happily Defeated And at the same Time the Signal Hand of Heaven gave a Defeat unto the purposes of the French Squadrons at Sea so that they had something else to do than to Visit the Coast of New-England ARTICLE XXVII The End of the Year and we hope of the War O Thou Sword of the Wilderness When wilt thou be quiet On Sept. 11. A party of the Enemy came upon the Town of Lancaster then prepared for Mischief by a wonderful Security and they did no little Mischief unto it Near Twenty were killed and among the rest Mr. John Whiting the Pastor of the Church there Five were carryed Captive Two or Three Houses were burnt and several Old People in them Captain Brown with Fifty men pursued them till the Night Stop't their pursuit but it seems a Strange Dog or two unknown to the Company did by their Barking alarm the Enemy to Rise in the Night and Strip and Scalp an English Captive-Woman and fly so far into the Woods that after Two Dayes Bootless Labour our men Returned November arrived before any farther Blood shed and then t' was only of one man in the Woods at Oyster-River December arrived with the welcome Tidings of a Peace concluded between England and France which made us Hope that there would be little more of any Blood shed at all The Winter was the Severest that ever was in the memory of man And yet February must not pass without a Stroke upon Pemmaquid Chub whom the Government had mercifully permitted after his Examination to Retire unâ—o his Habitation in Andover As much out of the way as to Andover there came above Thirty Indians about the middle of February as if their Errand had been for a Vengeance upon Chub whom with his Wife they now Massâ—cred there They Took Two or Three House and Slew Three or Four Persons and Mr. Thomas Barnard the worthy Minister of the place very narrowly Escaped their Fury But in the midst of their Fury there was one piece of Mercy the like whereof had never been seen before For they had got Colonel Dudley Bradstreet with his Family into their Hands but perceiving the Town Mustering to follow them their Hearts were so changed that they dismissed their Captives without any further Damage unto their Persons Returning back by Haverhil they kill'd a couple and a couple they Took with some Remarkable circumstances worthy to be made a distinct History But Reader we are now in Hast for to have our present History come unto an End and though the end of this Year did not altogether prove the end of the War for on May 9. 1698. the Indians Murdered an old man at Spruce-Creek and carryed away Three Sons of that old man and wounded a man at York yet we were not without prospect of our Troubles growing towards a period and even in that very Murder at Spruce-creek there fell out one thing that might a little encourage our Hopes concerning it The Murderer was a famous kind of a Giant among the Indians a Fellow Reputed Seven Foot High This Fellow kill'd the poor old man in cold Blood after he had Surrendred himself a Prisoner But behold Before many Hours were out this famous and bloody Fellow accidently Shot himself to Death by his Gun going off when he was foolishly pulling a Canoo to the Shore with it The last Bloody Action that can have a Room in our Story is This The Indians though sometimes it hath been much doubted What Indians have in this War made several Descents upon some of the upper Towns that were our most Northerly Settlements upon Connecticut River But the Pious and Honest People in those Towns have always given them a brave Repulse and had a notable Experience of the Divine Favour to them in their preservations Deerfield ha's been an Extraordinary Instance of Courage in keeping their Station though they have lived all this while in a very Pihahiroth and their worthy Pastor Mr. John Williams deserves the Thanks of all this Province for his Encouraging them all the ways Imaginable to Stand their ground Once the Enemy was like to have Surprised them into a grievous Desolation but he with his Praying and Valiant little Flock mâ—st happily Repelled them And now about the middle of July 1698. a little before Sun set Four Indians killed a Man and a Boy in Hatfield Meadows and carried away Two Boys into Captivity The Advice coming to
England and do solemnly Renew Ratify and Confirm all and every of the Articles and Agreements contained in the aforesaid Recited Commission And in Testimimony thereof we the said Sagamores Captains and principal men have hereunto set our several Marks and Seals at Casco Bay near Mares-point the Seventh Day of January in the Tenth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King WILLIAM the Third Annoque Domini 1698 9. Subscribed by Moxus and a Great Number more In the presencee of James Convers Cyprian Southack John Gills Interpreter And Scodook alias Sampson At this Time also the Indians Restored as many of the English Captives in their Hands as were able to Travel above an Hundred Miles in this terrible Season of the year from their Head-quarters down to the Sea-side giving all possible satisfaction for the Restoration of the rest as Early in the Spring as there could be any Travelling The Condition of these Captives has afforded many very Remarkable Things whereof 't is a thousand pitties that so many are lost But because one of the Two Gentlemen Employ'd as Commissioners for the Treaty with the Indians took certain Minutes of Remarkable Things from some of the Captives I am willing to give the Reader a Tast of them At Mares point in Casco-Bay Jan. 14. 1698 9. THe Captives informed me That the Indians have Three Forts at Narridgawog and Narrackomagog and Amassacanty And at each of these Forts they have a Chappel and have Images in them They informed me That Three Captives in one Wigwam were Starved to Death last Winter Mary Fairbanks and Samuel Hutching and some other Captives told me That Jonathan Hutching belonging to Spruce-Creek a Lad fourteen years old They met him crying for want of Victuals for in Two or Three Dayes he had nothing to Eat Afterward as he was going to fetch some Wood he felt something hard in his Bosome He put in his Hand and unto his Astonishment he found there Two Great Large Ears of Indian Corn which were very well Roasted He Eat them and knew not how they came unto â—im Some other of the Captives told me That one Mary Catter which person we now brought home with us belonging to Kittery her Master and many other Indians came down to Casco-Bay There seeing some Sloops or Shallops they thought they were the English coming upon them and ran away into the Woods and left the said Mary Catter very Sick in the Wigwam without any thing at all to Eat They staid away many dayes but left a Fire in the Wigwam She Lay wishing for something to Eat and at length in came a Turtle She got That and Eat it but afterwards began to Despair of out living the Famine which was Returned upon her At length when she was very Hungry in came a Partridge She took a Stick and Struck it and Drest it and Eat it And by that Time she was Hungry again her Master came to look after her They tell of several of the Indians that have kill'd themselves with their own Guns in taking them out of their Canooes Assacombuit sent Thomasin Rouse a Child of about Ten years old unto the Water-side to carry something The Child cryed He took a Stick and struck her down She lay for Dead He took her up and Threw her into the water Some Indians not far off ran in and fetch'd her out This Child we have now brought Home with us This Assacombuit hath killed and Taken this War they tell me an Hundred and Fifty Men Women and Children A Bloody Devil Thus the Paper of Minutes The Reader now ha's nothing but Peace before him Doubtless he comforts himself with Hopes of Times better to Live in than to Write of BUt that which yet more assures a Break of Day after a long and sad Night unto us is That the Best King at this Day upon Earth and the Greatest Monarch that ever Sway'd the Scepter of Great Britain hath Commission'd a Noble Person who hath in him an Illustrious Image of His own Royal Vertues to take the Government of these Provinces and he is accordingly Arrived now near our Horizon When the Schools of the Jews delivered That there were Three Great Gifts of the Good God unto the world The Law the Rain and the Light R. Zeira added I pray let us take in Peace for a Fourth All these Four Gifts of God are now Enjoy'd by New-England But I must now ask That our Hope of a Fifth may be added unto the Number which is A GOVERNOUR of Signalized Vertues To the truly Noble Earl of BELLOMONT the whole English Nation must own it self Endebted while it is a Nation for the most Generous and Successful Zeal with which he Laboured for those Acts of Parliament by Assenting whereunto the Mighty WILLIAM hath Irradiated England with Blessings that it never saw before His Happy Reign Blessings richly worth all the Expences of a Revolution England owes no less Immortal Statues unto the Earl of Bellomont than Ireland unto his Illustrious Ancestors But the Continent of America must now Share in the Influences of that Noble Person whose Merits have been Signalized on the most famous Islands of Europe and the Greatest Person that ever set foot on the English Continent of America is now Arrived unto it We are now satisfying our selves in the Expectations of the Great and Good Influences to be derived from the Conduct of a Governour in whom there will meet Virtus et Summa potestas And now Reader I will conclude our History of the Indian War in Terms like those used by the Syrian Writer at the Conclusion of his Book Finis per Auxilium Domini Nostri Jesu Christi mense Duodecimo per manus peccatoris pauperis et Errantis ARTICLE XXIX Quakers Encountred FOr the present then we have done with the Indians But while the Indians have been thus molesting us we have suffered Molestations of another sort from another sort of Enemies which may with very good Reason be cast into the same History with them If the Indians have chosen to prey upon the Frontiers and Out-Skirts of the Province the Quakers have chosen the very same Frontiers and Out-Skirts for their more Spiritual Assaults and finding little Success elsewhere they have been Labouring incessantly and sometimes not unsuccessfully to Enchant and Poison the Souls of poor people in the very places where the Bodies and Estates of the people have presently after been devoured by the Salvages But that which makes it the more agreeable to allow the Quakers an Article in our History of the Indians is That a certain silly Scribbler the very First-born of Non-sensicality and a First-born too that one might Salute as the Martyr Polycarp once did the wicked Marcion One Tom Maule at this Time Living in Salem hath exposed unto the Publick a Volumn of Nonsensical Blasphemies and Haeresies wherein he sets himself to Defend the Indians in their Bloody Villanies and Revile the Countrey for Defending
Dolorous Ejulations I am one that hath been Afflicted by the Rod of the Wrath of God A Great King of Persia having by Death lost the nearest Relation he had in the world and being too passionate a Mourner for his Loss an Ingenious man undertook to Raise the Dead Relation unto Life again if the King would but furnish him in one point that he apprehended necessary It was demanded What that was and it was replied Furnish me but with the Names of Three persons who have never met with any Sadness and Sorrow and by Writing those Names on the Monument of the Dead I 'l bring the Dead person to Life Truly The Ten Years of our War have set many Ten Hundreds of persons a Mourning over their Dead Friends we have seen every where The Mourners go about the Streets Now I durst make you this offer that if you can find Three persons who have met with no matter of Sadness and Sorrow in these Ten Years with the Names of them we 'l fetch your Dead Friends to Life again It 't was said in Job 21.17 God Distributeth Sorrows in His Anger You may Observe a marvellous Distribution of Sorrows made among us by the Anger of God And here first I say nothing of that Amazing Time when the Evil Angels in a praeternatural and in an unparallel'd manner being Let Loose among us God cast upon us the Fierceness of His Anger Wrath and Indignation and Trouble It was the Threatning of God against a people which He had call'd His Children in Deut. 32.23 24. I will Heap Mischiefs upon them I will Spend my Arrows upon them they shall be Devoured with a Bitter Destruction What was the Bitter Destruction thus Threatned unto an Apostatizing People I remember the famous Jew Onkelos renders it They shall be vexed with Evil Spirits and indeed that Sense well agrees with what follows I will send upon them the poison of the Serpents of the Dust Syrs For our Apostasy which is the very Sin of the Evil Spirits the God of Heaven a while ago turned in the Armies of Hell upon us and in that matchless Dispensation of God we underwent a Bitter Destruction from the poison of the Serpents of the Dust But there are other points not a few wherein the Great God hath Heaped Mischiefs upon us and fulfill'd unto us that Holy Commination Ezek. 7.26 Mischief shall come upon mischief What shall I say While the Lord of Hosts hath been against us the Hosts of Lord have been so too All the Elements have as it were been up in Arms against us Particularly You may Observe That Epidemical Sicknesses have in these years been once and again upon us wherein the Angels of Death have Shot the Arrows of Death into such as could not be reached by the Bullets of the Indian Enemy This one Town did in one year loose I suppose at least Six or Seven Hundred of its People by one contagious Mortality And tho' of about Three and Twenty Hundred men that we Employ'd in one Action we did in that Action loose hardly Thirty men yet how many Hundreds did afterwards miserably perish Again You may Observe That the Harvest hath once and again grievously failed in these years and we have been Struck thro' with the Terrible Famine almost as much as if the Indian Enemy had been all the while Skulking about our Fields The very Course of Nature hath been altered among us A Lamentable cry for Bread Bread hath been heard in our Streets The Towns that formerly Supplyed other places with Grain had now been Famished if other places had not sent in a Supply to Them and had a black prospect of being Famished notwithstanding that Supply Once more You may Observe That the Sea hath in these years been Swallowing up our Neighbours and their Estates far more than the Sword of the Wilderness Alas The Devouring Displeasure of God hath said concerning us Though they go to hide themselves from my Sight afar off upon the Sea Thence will I command the Serpent and he shall bite them And here hath it been Enough that our Vessels enough to make an huge Fleet have been taken by the French Enemy A certain Writer hath computed it That in only the First Two or Three years of the War the English Nation lost unto the French more than Fifteen Millions of Pounds Sterling But no part of the English Nation hath been more frequently or sensibly prey'd upon by the French than what hath gone out of New England ever since the War began I say Ha's this been Enough No The wrath of God said This is not Enough I appeal to you that have been Owners of Vessels or Sailors in them whether horrible Shipwracks have not been multiplied since the War began very much more than ever they were before Ah Lord How many of us have Shed Rivers of Tears over our dear Friends that have been Buried in the Ocean Moreover You may Observe That in these years those very Things which were intended for our Defence have oftentimes been so much Improved for our Damage that it was hard for us to say which was the Greater the Defence or the Damage which we had from them It was a Lamentable Time with the Jewes when that Curse came upon them That which should have been for their Welfare Let it become a Trap pour out thine Indignation upon them Truly The Indignation of God hath been poured out upon us in this Fruit of the Curse no less frequently then sensibly that some things which should have been for our Welfare have at the same time served also to Entrap the Persons and Interests of many people into sore Inconveniencies There is no need of Explaining this Article They that have been under this Indignation of God know the Explaining of it Finally You may Observe What Untimely Ends and what Surprizing Fates have come upon our Sons in these Years of the Wrath of the Right-Hand of the Most High When Craesus was in War taken by Cyrus this Captive made unto the Conqueror this Remark upon the Difference between Peace and War O Syr I see that in a time of Peace the Sons Bury their Fathers but in a Time of War the Fathers Bury their Sons Truly Sirs our Time of War has in Various Wayes of Mortality been Embittered with this Remark The Fathers have been Burying their Sons all the Countrey over Many of us have had our Sons even those very Sons of whom we said This same shall Comfort us We have had them violently snatch'd away from us and Cropt in the very Flower of their Youth and they have Left us deploring Oh my Son with all my Heart could I have Dyed for thee my Son my Son But in the midst of these Deplorable Things God hath given up several of our Sons into the Hands of the Fierce Monsters of Africa Mahometan Turks and Moors and Devils are at this Day oppressing many of our Sons with a
Slavery wherein they Wish for Death and cannot find it a Slavery from whence they cry and write unto us It had been Good for us that we had never been Born Quis talia fando Temperet a Lacrymis Thus as Job sometimes complained Chap. 10.17 Thou Renewest thy Witnesses against me and increasest thine Indignation upon me Changes and War are against me Thus in our Long War we have seen those Changes on all Hands and in all Kinds which have witnessed against us the Dreadful Indignation of God God Threatned His people so I read it Amos 2.13 Behold I will press your place as a full Cart presses the Sheaf 'T is an Allusion to the old way of Threshing the Corn by drawing a Loaden Cart with Wheels over the Corn. 9. d. You shall undergo Tribulation Ah New-England Thou hast been under such a Tribulation Syrs Have you not Observed these things But you must wisely Observe them And a wise Observation of these things will cause you to see That the War which hath been upon us hath been a War of GOD. The Indians have been but a small part of those Armies which the Great GOD hath been bringing out against us for Ten Years together and we may conclude that all the Land have been more or less concerned in those Crimes for which the Almighty GOD hath been with these Armies managing His Controvesy with us Our Confession must be Peccavimus omnes We have all gone astray But shall we not upon this Observation take up some Resolution If we are Wise we fhall thus Resolve 'T is Time 'T is Time 'T is High-Time for us to make our Peaee with God Oh Let us not go on to Harden our selves against God we are not Stronger than He But let us all Fly to the Lord Jesus Corist who is our Peace and so lay down the Arms of Rebellion that God may be Reconciled unto us VII In the WAR that hath been upon us Whoso is wise may Observe those Dispensations of Heaven towards us that have carryed more than Ordinary Humiliations in them It was said concerning Miriam the Type of the Now Leprous and out-cast Church of Israel The Lord hasten that Seventh Day wherein it shall be Restored Numb 12.14 If her Father had Spit in her Face should she not be Ashamed Ah New England Thy Father hath been Spitting in thy Face with most Humbling Dispensations God hath been bringing of thee down to Sit in the Dust When the War commenced New-England might say My God will Humble me For First Shall our Heavenly Father put a Rod into the Hands of base Indians and bid Them to Scourge His Children Oh! the Humiliation of such Rebellious Children Oh! the Provocation that certainly such Sons and such Daughters have given Him It was a very Humbling thing that the Lord Threatned unto His Provoking Sons Daughters in Deut. 32.21 I will move them to Jealousy with those which are not a People I will provoke them to Anger with a Foolish Nation Should a Child of yours be Refractory and you Sir should bid a Negro or an Indian Slave in your House Go Take that Child and Scourge him till you fetch Blood of him Surely this would be to Humble him unto the Uttermost Thus doth thy God Humble thee O New-England by putting thee over into the Vile Hands of those which are not a People but a Foolish Nation Again Who are they by whose means we are now crying out We are Brought very Low When the most High God was determined Effectually to Humble His People he said in Jer. 37.10 Though ye had Smitten the whole Army of the Caldeans that fight against you and there remained but wounded men among them yet should they Rise up every man in his Tent and burn this City with Fire Truly we had Smitten the whole Army of the Indians that Fought against us Three and Twenty years ago from one end of the Land unto the other only there were left a few Wounded men among them in the East and now they have Risen up every man and have set the whole Country on Fire Certainly A more Humbling matter cannot be Related Moreover Is it not a very Humbling Thing That when about an Hundred Indians durst Begin a War upon all these Populous Colonies an Army of a Thousand English raised must not kill one of them all but instead thereof more of our Souldiers perish by Sickness and Hardship than we had Enemies then in the world Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That when the Number of our Enemies afterwards Increased yet an Handful of them should for so many Summers together continue our Unconquered Spoilers and put us to such Vast Charges that if we could have Bought them for an Hundred Pound an Head we should have made a Saving Bargain of it Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That we should have had several fair Opportunities to have brought this War unto a Final Period but we should still by some fatal Oversight let Slip those Opportunities Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humling Thing That whatever Expeditions we have undertaken for the most part we have come off Loosers and indeed but plunged our selves into deeper Straits by our Undertakings Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That more than One or Two of our Forts have been Surrendred and one of them that was almost Impregnable given away with a most Shameful Surrender by one that hath since Received Something of what he Deserved Thus Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That we should have Evil pursuing of us at such a rate that in other Lands afar off and on the Exchange in London Strangers have made this Reflection Doubtless New-England is a Countrey in Ill Terms with Heaven But so Our God has Humbled us What shall I say Is it not a very Humbling Thing That when Peace is Restored unto the whole English Nation and when Peace is Enjoy'd by all America poor new-New-England should be the Only Land still Embroil'd in War But thus Our God Thou hast Humbled us and shown us great and sore Troubles and brought us down into the Depths of the Earth O my dear People How can I Observe these Things and not like Joshua now fall to the Earth on my Face before the Lord and say What shall I say But if you will wisely observe these Things you will now get up and Sanctify your selves and put away the accursed thing from among you O New-English Israel Certainly The High and Lofty One who dwells in the High and Holy place Expects that we should be a very Humbled People I beseech you Sirs Observing these Things let us in all the Methods of Repentance Humble our selves under the Mighty Hand of God After such Humbling Things as have befallen us God forbid that it should be said of us as in Jer.