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Book Second.

FROM

THE ACCESSION OF WILLIAM III.

TO THE

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

1689-1776.

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Accession of William III. Its important effects War with France

accession

Intercolonial war - Seizure of Andros at Boston Course pursued by Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, and New York, on the occasion of William's “Protestant Revolution" in Maryland Jacob Leisler His career and judicial murder Opening of the war-Attack on Dover - Frontenac governor of Canada - Destruction of Schenectady - War party sent against Salmon Falls - Narrative of a sufferer- Attempt at conquest of Canada - Entirely unsuccessful— Effects -Paper money - Domestic tragedies in New York and Massachusetts New Charter of Massachusetts - Witchcraft delusion - Development and Progress-Salem the principal scene Strange history — Frontier warfare Oyster River, Pemaquid fort, Haverhill disasters - Brave Mrs. Dustin- Last year of the war-Peace of Ryswick.

1689.

THE accession of William III. is a marked event in the history of England, and more or less directly had an important bearing upon the development and progress of the American colonies. There can be no doubt that there was then a crisis in the affairs of England which had to be met; a state of things which required all the combined wisdom and energy of the patriots and statesmen of that day, to save the country from the tremendous evils which threatened to crush and destroy every vestige of constitutional freedom. It was then to be de

termined, whether despotism together with the dynasty of the ill-fated Stuarts, or the liberty of law and order in the supremacy of the legislature, was to prevail. The crisis was met, and the question was settled for all future time; and the dethronement of James II. and the election of the Prince of Orange to the throne declared to be vacant, both established the parliament as supreme and overturned for ever all pretence on the part of the sovereign to irresponsible exercise of royal prerogative and power. "By resolving that James II. had abdicated," says Mr.

Bancroft, "the representatives of the English people assumed to sit in judgment on its kings. By declaring the throne vacant, they annihilated the principle of legitimacy. By disfranchising a dynasty for professing the Roman faith, they not only exerted the power of interpreting the original contract, but of introducing into it new conditions. By electing a king, they made themselves his constituents; and the parliament of England became the fountain of sovereignty for the English world."

But although the accession of William was of so great importance to the mother country, the colonies did not share, to the extent which they hoped and expected, in the benefits of a change of rulers. "By strengthening the parliament"-to use Mr. Hildreth's language -"and increasing the influence of the manufacturing class, the English Revolution exposed the American plantations to increased danger of mercantile and parliamentary tyranny, of which, in the acts of trade, they already had a foretaste a tyranny, far more energetic, persevering, grasping, and more to be dreaded than any probable exercise of merely regal authority." The policy of William and the parliament was not favorable to the best interests of the colonies; and it was not long before it was discovered that the being rid of the despotism of royal prerogative afforded no guarantee against the despotism of parliament. William, with very high ideas of prerogative in his own case, does not seem ever to have abated any of the pretensions and claims of his predecessors on the throne; and although

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it is true that the toleration of all Protestant sects became an established line of policy as well in the colonies as at home, it is equally true that the bitterness of party rancor against the Roman Catholics was greatly increased by the dethronement of James. The war with France, which broke out soon after William's accession, roused to their highest pitch both national and religious differences; and the colonies, as a matter of course, became involved in a ruinous conflict with their French neighbors in Canada, entailing upon themselves very heavy expenses and debts, and causing a fearful sacrifice of human life.

Both parties were at the first eager for the strife. New England, not less than the French colonists, entertained schemes of conquest and advancement. The latter purposed to monopolize the western fur trade, secure uninterrupted passage through Lake Erie to the Mississippi, and cut off the English from the cod fishery on the banks of Newfoundland; while the former hoped, and apparently not without reason, to be able to deprive the French of all the advantages which they possessed, and even expel them entirely from the country. Both parties, too, nationally and religiously enemies, were prepared to engage in the bloody strife with unpitying hearts and unmistakable ferocity.

Before entering, however, upon the details of the intercolonial wars, we ask the reader's attention to several matters which preceded these in the regular order of time.

Early in April of this year (1689), news of the landing of William of

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