their children. And to stimulate the provinces to liberal appropriations, as occasion might require, Parliament voted £115,000 sterling, to be distributed at the King's pleasure, among the northern and middle provinces, of which New Jersey received five thousand pounds.

XXV. Though France and England had been engaged in the warmest hostilities, in America, since 1754, the peace was not openly and avowedly broken in Europe, until May, of the present year. The events in America, in 1754, had determined each to despatch considerable reinforcements to the colonies. The French, understanding that orders had been given to Boscawen, to intercept their squadron, declared they would consider the first gun fired as a declaration of war; and their minister was recalled from London, in consequence of an attack upon their fleet, by that admiral. The British government instantly issued letters of marque, under which a large number of French merchant ships, and seven thousand French sailors, were captured. A blow which had great effect upon the subsequent operations of the war, in Europe and America.

XXVI. Either from want of confidence in the military talents of General Shirley, or that, he might give them information on American affairs, the ministry removed him from his command, and summoned him to England. General Abercrombie succeeded him; with whom came out two additional regiments. But the chief direction of the war was soon after given to the Earl of Loudon, who was appointed governor of Virginia, and colonel of the royal American regiment, which had been lately formed from the German emigrants.

XXVII. In the mean time, Sir William Johnson had succeeded, by the mediation of the Six Nations, in disposing the Shawanese and Delawares to an accommodation. Hostilities against them were suspended, and the treaty of peace was soon after ratified at Easton. This was the withdrawal of one painful thorn from the side of the colonies; and the chastisement inflicted by Colonel Armstrong of Pennsylvania,* by the destruction of the den of the horde, at Kittanning, soon extracted another. The conflagration of that town, and slaughter of the Indian families there, was a severe stroke upon the savages. Hitherto, the English had not assailed them in their towns, and they fancied, would not venture to approach them. But, now, though urged by unquenchable thirst of vengeance to retaliate the blow, they dreaded, that, in their absence on war parties, their wigwams might be reduced to ashes. Such of them as belonged to Kittanning, and had escaped the carnage, refused to settle again on the east of Fort Du Quesne; resolving to place that fortress and the French garrison between themselves and the English.

XXVIII. Of the many enterprises resolved on by General Shirley, several were unattempted; none were successful. Notwithstanding the exertions in the northern provinces, the recruiting service moved heavily. Much time was lost by the change of commanders; and the season for operation was nearly half spent, before the arrival of Lord Loudon. No preparations were made against Fort Du Quesne. The colonies of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, far from pursuing offensive measures, were unable to protect themselves. The expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, was confided to General Winslow, who had won golden opinions during his last campaign, in Nova Scotia. Seven thousand provincialists had assembled near Lake George, but their number was reduced by subtractions for the garrisons in their rear. Winslow refused to proceed without reinforcements; and though soon after strengthened by some British troops, under General Abercrombie,

September 8th, 1756.

he was perplexed and embarrassed by disputes relative to rank, which grew out of this junction. The regulations of the crown, on this subject, had given great offence in America; and such was the reluctance of the provincialists to serve under British officers, that, in the present case, in order to enable the troops to act, separately, the Americans were withdrawn from the garrisons to the army, and their places supplied with British forces. The expedition to Ontario was rendered hopeless by the successes of the French under Montcalm, who had captured the forts of Ontario and Oswego, situate on either side of the Onondago river, at its junction with the lake. These forts in the country of the Six Nations, he, with sound policy, destroyed, in their presence. At the capture of Oswego, Colonel Schuyler, and half the Jersey regiment, which formed part of the garrison, were made prisoners and sent to Canada; from whence they were not released, until the end of the campaign, and then on parole, not to serve for eighteen months. The regiment was, however, recruited to its original state of five hundred men, at the expense of the province, early in the ensuing spring.

Discouraged and disconcerted by these events, Loudon relinquished all offensive operations, and disposed his troops for the defence of the frontier. Renewed efforts to increase his force were rendered abortive by the appearance of the small-pox at Albany. The troops which were on the march from New England, and the army at Lake George, were panic-struck by the irruption of an enemy more dreadful than the French; and it became necessary to garrison all the posts with British troops, and to discharge the provincialists, excepting one regiment raised in New York. Thus terminated, for a second time, in defeat and utter disappointment, the sanguine hopes, formed by the colonists, of a brilliant and successful campaign. Much labour had been employed, and much money expended, in collecting, by land, from a great distance, troops, provisions, and military stores, at Albany, and in transporting them through an almost unsettled country, to Lake George; yet not an effort had been made to drive the invaders even from their outposts at Ticonderoga.

XXIX. The treaty with Teedyuscung, had neutralized the Delaware and Shawanese tribes on the Susquehanna, but the country was still exposed to the inroads of the French and western Indians, who, growing confident from the late disasters of the English, roamed, in small parties, avoiding or attacking the forts and armed provincialists, as they judged most safe. The counties of Cumberland, Lancaster, Berks, and Northampton, in Pennsyl vania, and, occasionally, a part of Sussex, in New Jersey, were, during the spring and summer months of 1757, kept in continual alarm, and some of the scalping parties penetrated to within thirty miles of Philadelphia. Many of these wretches paid with their lives, the just penalty of their temerity. But their sufferings were not comparable with those of the unfortunate inhabitants. Incessant anxiety pervaded every family in the districts we have named; their slumber was broken by the yell of demons, or by dread of attack, scarce less horrible than their actual presence. The ground was ploughed, the seed sown, and the harvest gathered, under the fear of the tomahawk and rifle. Women visiting their sick neighbours, were shot or captured; children, driving home cattle from the field, were killed and scalped; whilst the enemy, dastardly as cruel, shrunk from every equality of force. Many of the richest neighbourhoods were deserted, and property of every kind abandoned: extraordinary heroism was frequently displayed by men, women, and children, in defence of themselves and their homes, and in pursuit of, and combat with, the enemy. There was certainly great want of ability and energy in the constituted authorities, British and Provin- : cial. United councils, and well directed efforts, would have driven the bar

barians to their savage haunts, and repeated the chastisement, administered at Kittanning, until they sued for peace. The Assembly of New Jersey, however, was not regardless of the danger and sufferings of her frontier citizens, and kept on foot, for their protection, a body of rangers, consisting of one hundred and twenty men, under Captain Gardiner; who, though they could not prevent occasional invasions of the foe, gave as much security to the frontier as circumstances would admit.

XXX. Lord Loudon, in the middle of January, summoned the Governors of the New England provinces to New York. In no very good humour he attributed to them, the disasters of the late campaign. "Their enterprise against Crown Point," he said, "had not been timely communicated to the ministry; their troops were inferior to his expectations, disposed to insubordination, and less numerous than had been promised; the true state of the forts and garrisons had not been reported to him, and the provincial Legislatures had given him votes, instead of men and money." He concluded this reprimand with a requisition for additional troops from New England, New York, and New Jersey. The spirit of the colonists, however, was not to be broken by misfortune, caused by the incapacity of the ministry of the parent state, and her delegated satraps, nor to be perverted by unmerited reproaches. His demands were, generally, complied with; and he was placed, in the spring, at the head of a respectable army, to tempt his fortune under his own star. The New England provinces exerted themselves greatly at this time, and authorized a draft, or conscription, should their quotas not be completed by voluntary enlistment. The force required from New Jersey was one thousand men; but the Assembly conceiving five hundred to be their full proportion, refused to do more than complete their regiment; and in an answer to the proposal of Governor Belcher, that they should, also, authorize a draft, they peremptorily declared by a vote of 12, to 7, "that they were determined not to oblige or compel any of the inhabitants by force, to serve as soldiers."

XXXI. The failures of the past year were attributed to the multiplied objects of the campaign, and the consequent division of the forces. Unity of design, and concentration of the troops, it was presumed, would ensure success. It was therefore resolved, that Louisburg should be attacked; and Halifax was fixed as the rendezvous of the fleet and army. Early in July, Admiral Holburn arrived there with a large squadron of ships and five thousand land forces; and after many delays, was joined by Lord Loudon, with six thousand regulars. Much was properly anticipated from this formidable armament, but the procrastination of the commander-in-chief doomed the country to severe disappointment. For before his preparations were completed, the French had occupied Louisburg with a superior force, despatched from Brest, against which his lordship was not disposed to make an effort.

XXXII. The enemy, however, was not slow to avail himself of the advantages which might accrue to him by the withdrawal of the British troops from the northern frontiers of New York. Montcalm, at the head of nine thousand men, drawn principally from Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and the neighbouring forts, witth some Canadians and Indians, invested Castle William on the southern shore of Lake George. The place was garrisoned by three thousand men, including the unfortunate Jersey regiment, was well fortified and supplied with necessaries, but Colonel Monroe was compelled to surrender it within six days after its investment. Montcalm's triumph was stained by the barbarities of his Indian allies, and though he exerted himself to protect his prisoners, the massacre of many of them will ever be coupled with his name. Major-general Webb made strenuous exertions to relieve the fort by arousing the militia of New York and New Jersey. From the latter province, one thousand men were despatched, and three thousand were

put in readiness to march, should they be required. By these reinforcements he was enabled to hold Fort Edward, check the progress of the enemy, who retired when he had learned the return of Loudon to New York. The New Jersey regiment with other prisoners were released, and returned to New York under parole, not to serve again during eighteen months, and being thus rendered useless, were, at the instance of the Assembly, disbanded. This regiment, since the capture of Colonel Schuyler, had been commanded by Colonel Parker.

XXXIII. On August 31, 1757, died Governor Jonathan Belcher, in the 76th year of his age. His health had been so infirm, during the preceding two years, that he summoned the Assembly to attend him at Elizabethtown, much to their dissatisfaction. The House seemed apprehensive of being made a mere satellite of the Executive, to revolve around him, in whatever sphere he chose to move, and they therefore attended Governors Morris and Belcher, even when illness prevented these officers from getting to Burlington, or to Amboy with great reluctance; protesting at all times, that their acquiescence should not be drawn into precedent; and they explicitly refused to adjourn from Burlington to Trenton, on the request of his successor Mr. Readington, although his health also required this indulgence.

Governor Belcher was a native of New England, and inherited, in early youth an abundant fortune, which enabled him to visit Europe, and to mingle extensively in good society, until lavish expenditure dissipated his wealth. He joined the popular side in the colony of Massachusetts, in the long contest with Governor Burnet, on the question of fixing his salary, for an inde finite time, and was sent as an agent of the Assembly to represent their views to the King. Upon the death of Governor Burnet he was appointed to succeed him, and then maintained the pretension of his predecessor, which he had been employed to repel, and with the like ill success. His administration at Boston was distinguished by his taste for ostentation, and his imperious deportment, and he finally so disgusted the influential men of that government, by rejecting several respectable persons nominated to the council, that they successfully united to effect his removal. He afterwards remained several years unemployed, until he was named to the government of New Jersey. "He was now advanced in age, yet lively, diligent in his station, and circumspect in his conduct, religious, generous and affable. He affected splendour, at least equal to his rank and fortune: but was a man of worth and honour, and though, in his last years under great debility of body from a stroke of the palsy, he bore up with firmness and resignation, and went through the business of his government, in the most difficult part of the war, with unremitting zeal in the duties of his office."*

XXXIV. By the death of Mr. Belcher, the administration of the govern ment again devolved on Mr. John Reading, the first named of the counsellors; who being aged and infirm, at first refused, and finally assumed, its duties with great reluctance. For the space of more than a month, the government was directed by the whole council, at whose instance, on the application of Lord Loudon, the Assembly voted one hundred rangers, to be employed on the frontiers during the winter season.†

* Smith's Hist. of N. J. 438.

The captain of this company received six shillings, the lieutenants five, serjeants four, corporals three and six pence, and the private soldier three shillings per day. And each officer and soldier was furnished at colonial expense, with a blanket, a half thick under jacket, a kersey jacket lapelled, buckskin breeches, two check shirts, two pair of shoes, two pair of stockings, a leather cap, and a hatchet; and 20 shillings was allowed to the captain for each private he should enlist.

CHAPTER IX.

Containing Events from the Presidency of Mr. Reading to the repeal of the Stamp Act from the year 1746 to the year 1766.-I. Influence of Mr. Pitt and his Policy upon Colonial Affairs-New hopes infused into the Colonists.-II. Successful Attack of the English upon the Northern Forts.-III. Capture of Fort Du Quesne by General Forbes.-IV. Cheerful and ready aid of the Colonies.V. New Jersey supplies one thousand Men, and builds Barracks for the King's Troops.-VI. President Reading superseded by the arrival of Governor Bernard-His treaty with the Indians-Succeeded by Thomas Boone-He, by Josiah Hardy-He, by William Franklin, the last of the Royal Governors.-VII. Efficient Preparations for the Campaign of 1759.-VIII. Conquest of the French Colonies in North America.-IX. Honourable share of the Provincialists in this Result.-X. Treaty of Peace with France and Spain.-XI. New Confederacy and Hostilities of the Indians-Six hundred Troops raised by New Jersey-XII. Impressions on the English Ministry, by the Wealth and Power displayed in America.-XIII. Proposition of Mr. Grenville to tax the Colonies.-XIV. Consideration of the Principles relating to Colonial Taxation.-XV. Mr. Grenville commmunicates his purpose to the Colonial Agents in London.-XVI. Views taken by Colonies of this Proposition.-XVII. Propositions by several of the Colonies to raise Money, rejected by Mr. Grenville.-XVIII. Act of Parliament for Tax on Colonial Imports and Exports.-XIX. Effect of the Measures in America-Proceedings of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.-XX. Stamp Act passed-Its reception in the Colonies.-XXI. Temporary suspension of legal proceedings and of the publication of Newspapers.-XXII. Anti-Importation Associations.-XXIII. Organization of the "Sons of Liberty."-XXIV. Proposition of Massachusetts for assembling a Congress of Deputies from the ColoniesAction of New Jersey on this proposition.-XXV. Proceedings of the Congress-Messrs. Ruggles of Massachusetts, and Ogden of New Jersey, refuse to join in a General Petition.-XXVI. The Assembly of New Jersey approve the Proceedings of Congress-adopts Resolutions condemnatory of the Stamp Act.XXVII. Efforts in England for Repeal of the Stamp Act.-XXIX. Inquiry before the House of Commons-Repeal of the Stamp Act.

I. With the opening of the year 1758, a new era dawned upon the colonies, which were roused from a state of apathy by the voice of William Pitt. The enterprise, judgment, and firmness, which had raised England from the depths of humility, were now employed for the reduction of the American continent. The plan of the campaign was wisely matured, and committed for execution, to men who had reputations to lose and fortunes to gain. Loudon was recalled. Abercrombie commanded in chief, with Amherst for his second, aided by Brigadiers Wolfe and Forbes. The fleet, consisting altogether of one hundred and fifty sail, was commanded by Boscawen.

II. The designated objects of the campaign were Louisburg, the forts on the lakes, and Fort du Quesne. Major-general Amherst, with twelve thousand men, aided by the fleet, laid siege to the first, early in June; and captured it, after an obstinate defence of seven weeks. General Abercrombie, with seven thousand regulars and ten thousand colonial troops, undertook the expedition against the northern forts. He first attempted that at Ticonderoga, which had been reared by the French in 1756, on the narrow neck, of land dividing Lake George from Lake Champlain. Its position, strong by nature, was well secured by art, and by a garrison of five thousand men. Relying on his superior force, the British general made his attack without artillery, which, from the badness of the roads, could not keep pace with the army. He was repulsed with the loss of two thousand men, chiefly killed; among whom were Brigadier-general Lord Howe, and many other officers of distinction. Though still superior to the enemy, he made a hasty retreat;

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