Five Nations, of themselves, were a sufficient bulwark against encroachments from Canada; and in the summer of 1686, a party of English traders, favored by the Senecas, penetrated even to Michilimackinac.

"The welfare of my service "— such were the instructions of Louis XIV. to the governor of New France requires that the number of the Iroquois should be diminished as much as possible. They are strong and robust, and can be made useful as galley-slaves. Do what you can to take a large number of them prisoners of war, and ship them for France." By open hostilities, no captives could be made; and, in 1687, Lamberville, the missionary among the Onondagas, was unconsciously employed to decoy the Iroquois chiefs into the fort on Ontario. Invited to negotiate a treaty, they assemble without distrust, are surprised, put in irons, hurried to Quebec, and thence to Europe; and the warrior hunters of the Five Nations, who used to roam from Hudson's Bay to Carolina, were chained to the oar in the galleys of Marseilles.

Meantime the old men of the Onondagas summoned Lamberville to their presence. "We have much reason," said an aged chief, "to treat thee as an enemy, but we know thee too well. Thou hast betrayed us; but treason was not in thy heart. Fly, therefore, for when our young braves shall have sung their war-song, they will listen to no voice but the swelling voice of their anger." And trusty guides conducted the missionary through by-paths into a place of security. The noble forbearance was due to the counsel of Garonkonthié.

An incursion into the country of the Senecas followed. The savages retired into remoter forests; of the country which was overrun without resistance, possession was taken by the French, and a fort erected at Niagara. France seemed to have gained firm possession of Western New York. But as the French army withdrew, the wilderness remained to its old inhabitants. The Senecas, in their turn, made a descent upon

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their still feebler enemy; and the Onondagas threatened war. "Onondio has stolen our sachems; he has broken," said they, “the covenant of peace; and Dongan, at the solicitation of the French, offered himself as mediator, but only on condition that the kidnapped chiefs should be ransomed, the fort in the Iroquois country razed, and the spoils of the Senecas restored.

The negotiations fail; and, in 1688, Haaskouaun, the Seneca chief, advances with five hundred warriors to dictate the terms of peace. “I have always loved the French," said the proud chieftain to the foes whom he scorned. "Our warriors proposed to come and burn your forts, your houses, your granges, and your corn; to weaken you by famine, and then to overwhelm you. I am come to tell Onondio he can escape this misery, if within four days he will yield to the terms which Corlaer has proposed."

Twelve hundred Iroquois were already on Lake St. Francis; in two days they could reach Montreal. The haughty condescension of the Seneca chief was accepted, the ransom of the Iroquois chiefs conceded, and the whole country south of the lakes rescued from the dominion of Canada. In the chain of events, New York owes its present northern boundary to the valor of the Five Nations. But for them Canada would have embraced the basin of the St. Lawrence.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION.

DURING these events, James II. had, in a treaty with Louis XIV., made it a condition of amity between the colonies of the two states, that neither should assist the Indian tribes with whom the other might be at war.

Thus did the king of England ignorantly abandon his allies. Yet, with all his faults, James II. had a strong sentiment of English nationality; and, in consolidating the northern colonies, he hoped to engage the energies of New England in defence of the whole English frontier.

The alarm of Massachusetts at the loss of its charter in 1685, had been increased by the news that Kirke, afterwards infamous for military massacres in the west of England, was destined for its governor. It was a relief to find that Joseph Dudley, a degenerate son of the colony, was intrusted for a season with the highest powers of magistracy over the country from Narraganset to Nova Scotia. The general court, in session at his arrival, in May, 1686, dissolved their assembly, and returned in sadness to their homes. The charter government was publicly displaced by the arbitrary commission, popular representation abolished, and the press subjected to the censorship of Randolph.

In December, Sir Edmund Andros, glittering in scarlet and lace, landed at Boston, as governor of all New England. How unlike Penn at Newcastle! He was authorized to remove and appoint members of his council, and, with their consent, to make laws, lay taxes, and control the militia of the country. He was instructed to tolerate no printing-press, to encourage Episcopacy, and to sustain authority by force. From New York came West as secretary; and in the council, four subservient members, of whom but one was a New England man, alone commanded his attention. The other members of the council formed a fruitless but united opposition. "His excellency," said Randolph, "has to do with a perverse people."

A series of measures followed, the most vexatious and tyrannical to which men of English descent were ever exposed. The schools of learning, formerly so well taken care of, were allowed to go to decay. The religious institutions were impaired by abolishing the methods of their support. A town meeting was allowed

1686.]

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only for the choice of town officers. The vote by ballot was rejected. To a committee from Lynn, Andros said plainly, "There is no such thing as a town in the whole country." To assemble in town meeting for de

liberation was an act of sedition or a riot.

Personal

liberty and the customs of the country were disregarded. None might leave the country without a special permit. Probate fees were increased almost twenty-fold. To the scrupulous Puritans, the idolatrous custom of laying the hand on the Bible, in taking an oath, operated as a widely-disfranchising test.

The Episcopal service had never yet been performed within Massachusetts Bay, except by the chaplain of the hated commission of 1665. Its day of liberty was come. In December, 1686, Andros demanded one of the meeting-houses for the church. The wrongs of a century crowded on the memories of the Puritans as they answered, "We cannot with a good conscience consent." Goodman Needham declared he would not ring the bell; but at the appointed hour the bell rung; and the love of liberty did not expire, even though, in a Boston meeting-house, the Common Prayer was read in a surplice. By-and-by, the people were desired to contribute towards erecting a church. "The bishops," answered Sewall, and wisely, "would have thought strange to have been asked to contribute towards setting up New England churches."

At the instance and with the special concurrence of James II., a tax of a penny in the pound, and a poll-tax of twenty pence, with a subsequent increase of duties, were laid by Andros and his council. The towns generally refused payment. Wilbore, of Taunton, was imprisoned for writing a protest. To the people of Ipswich, in town meeting, John Wise, the minister, advised resistance; and he and the selectmen were arraigned before the council. The writ of habeas corpus was withheld. The prisoners pleaded Magna Charta. "Do not think," replied one of the judges, "the laws of England follow you to the ends of the earth." And in his

charge to the packed jury, Dudley spoke plainly: "Worthy gentlemen, we expect a good verdict from you.” The verdict followed; and after imprisonment came heavy fines and partial disfranchisements.

Oppression threatened the country with ruin, and the oppressors, quoting an opinion current among the mercantile monopolists of England, answered without disguise, "It is not for his majesty's interest you should thrive."

The taxes, in amount not grievous, were for public purposes. But the lean wolves of tyranny were themselves hungry for spoils. In 1680, Randolph had hinted that "the Bostoneers have no right to government or land, but are usurpers." King James did indeed command, that "their several properties, according to their ancient records," should be granted them; the fee for the grants was the excuse for extortion. "All the inhabitants,” wrote Randolph, exultingly, "must take new grants of their lands, which will bring in vast profits." Indeed, there was not money enough in the country to pay the exorbitant fees which were demanded.

It

The colonists pleaded their charter; but grants under the charter were declared void by its forfeiture. Lynde, of Charlestown, produced an Indian deed. was pronounced "worth no more than the scratch of a bear's paw." Lands were held, not by a feudal tenure, but under grants from the general court to towns, and from towns to individuals. The town of Lynn produced its records; they were slighted as not worth a rush." Others pleaded possession and use of the land. "You take possession," it was answered, "for the king." "The men of Massachusetts did much quote Lord Coke;" but, defeated in argument by Andros, who was a good lawyer, John Higginson, minister of Salem, went back from the common law of England to the book of Genesis, and, remembering that God gave the earth to the sons of Adam, to be subdued and replenished, declared that the people of New England held their lands "by the grand charter from God." The