Chapter IX (2)

In order to understand the military transactions of the English company in India, the reader will take notice, that immediately after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, mons. Dupleix, who commanded for the French in that country, began by his intrigues to sow the seeds of dissension among the nabobs, that he might be the better able to fish in troubled waters. Nizam Almuluck, the mogul’s viceroy of Decan, having the right of nominating a governor of the Carnatic, now more generally known by the name of the nabob of Arcot, appointed Anaverdy Khan to that office, in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-five. The viceroy dying, was succeeded in his viceroyalty, or subaship, by his second son Nazirzing, whom the mogul confirmed. He was opposed in his pretensions by his own cousin Muzapherzing, who had recourse to the assistance of M. Dupleix, and obtained from him a reinforcement of Europeans and artillery, in consideration of many presents and promises, which he fulfilled in the sequel. Thus reinforced, and joined by one Chunda Saib, an active Indian chief, he took the field against his kinsman Nazirzing, who was supported by a body of English troops under colonel Laurence. The French, dreading an engagement, retired in the night; and Muzapherzing, seeing himself abandoned by all his own troops, appealed to the clemency of his cousin, who spared his life, but detained him as a state prisoner. In this situation, he formed a conspiracy against his kinsman’s life, with Nazirzing’s prime minister, and the nabobs of Cadupab and Condaneor, then in his camp; and the conspirators were encouraged in their scheme by Dupleix and Chunda Saib, who had retired to Pondicherry. Thus stimulated, they murdered Nazirzing in his camp, and proclaimed Muzapherzing viceroy of Decan. In the tents of the murdered viceroy they found an immense treasure, of which a great share fell to M. Dupleix, whom Muzapherzing the usurper at this time associated in the government. By virtue of this association, the Frenchman assumed the state and formalities of an eastern prince; and he and his colleague Muzapherzing appointed Chunda Saib nabob of Arcot; Anaverdy Khan, the late nabob, had been, in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, defeated and slain by Muzapherzing and Chunda Saib, with the assistance of their French auxiliaries; and his son Mahommed Ali Khan had put himself under the protection of the English at Madras, and was confirmed by Nazirzing, as his father’s successor in the nabobship, or government of Arcot. This government, therefore, was disputed between Mahommed Ali Khan, appointed by the legal viceroy Nazirzing, supported by the English company, and Chunda Saib, nominated by the usurper Muzapherzing, and protected by Dupleix, who commanded at Pondicherry. Muzapherzing did not long survive his usurpation. In the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-one, the same nabobs who had promoted him to his kinsman’s place, thinking themselves ill rewarded for their services, fell upon him suddenly, routed his troops, and put him to death: and next day the chiefs of the army proclaimed Sallabatzing, brother to Nazirzing, viceroy of Decan; on the other hand, the mogul appointed Gauzedy Khan, who was the elder brother of Sallabatzing; and this prince confirmed Mahommed Ali Khan in the government of Arcot; but the affairs of the mogul’s court were then in such confusion, that he could not spare an army to support the nomination he had made. Chunda Saib, nabob of Arcot, having been deposed by the great mogul, who placed Anaverdy Khan in his room, ha resolved to recover his government by force, and had recourse to the French general at Pondicherry, who reinforced him with two thousand sepoys, or soldiers of the country, sixty caffrees, and four hundred and twenty French troops, on condition that, if he proved successful in his enterprise, he should cede to the French the town of Velur, in the neighbourhood of Pondicherry, with its dependencies, consisting of forty-five villages. Thus reinforced, he defeated his rival Anaverdy Khan, who lost his life in the engagement, reassumed the government of Arcot, and punctually performed the conditions which had been stipulated by his French allies.

MAHOMMED ALI KHAN SUPPORTED BY THE ENGLISH.

Mahommed Ali Khan, at the death of his father, had fled to Tiruchirapalli,* and solicited the assistance of the English, who favoured him with a reinforcement of money, men, and ammunition, under the conduct of major Laurence, a brave and experienced officer.

* Tiruchirapalli, commonly called Triehinoply, situated near
tha river Cauveri, above two hundred miles to the southward
of Madras, is the capital of a small kingdom belonging to
the government of Arcot, and hounded on the east by the
kingdom of Tanjore.

By dint of this supply, he gained some advantages over the enemy, who were obliged to retreat; but no decisive blow was given. Mahommed afterwards repaired in person to fort St. David’s, to demand more powerful succours, alleging that his fate was connected with the interest of the English company, which in time would be obliged to abandon the whole coast, should they allow the enemy to proceed in their conquests. In consequence of these representations, he received another strong reinforcement, under the command of captain Cope; but nothing of importance was attempted, and the English auxiliaries retired. Then Mahommed was attacked by the enemy, who obtained a complete victory over him. Finding it impossible to maintain his footing by his own strength, he entered into a close alliance with the English, and ceded to them some commercial points which had been long in dispute. Then they detached captain Cope to put Tiruchirapalli in a posture of defence; while captain de Gingins, a Swiss officer, marched at the head of four hundred Europeans to the nabob’s assistance. The two armies being pretty equal in strength, lay encamped in sight of each other a whole month; during which nothing happened but a few skirmishes, which generally terminated to the advantage of the English auxiliaries. In order to make a diversion, and divide the French forces, the company resolved to send a detachment into the province of Arcot; and this was one of the first occasions upon which the extraordinary talents of Mr. Clive were displayed. He had entered into the service of the East India company as a writer, and Avas considered as a person very indifferently qualified for succeeding in any civil station of life. He now offered his service in a military capacity, and actually began his march to Arcot, at the head of two hundred and ten Europeans, with five hundred sepoys.*

* The sepoys are the mercenaries of the country, who are
hired as soldiers occasionally by all parties.

MR. CLIVE TAKES ARCOT.

Such was the resolution, secrecy, and despatch, with which he conducted this enterprise, that the enemy knew nothing of his motions until he was in possession of the capital, which he took without opposition. The inhabitants, expecting to be plundered, offered him a large sum to spare their city; but they derived their security from the generosity and discretion of the conqueror. He refused the proffered ransom, and issued a proclamation, intimating, that those who were willing to remain in their houses should be protected from insult and injury, and the rest have leave to retire with all their effects, except provisions, for which he promised to pay the full value. By this sage conduct he conciliated the affection of the people so entirely, that even those who quitted the place supplied him with exact intelligence of the enemy’s designs, when he was besieged in the sequel. The town was in a little time invested by Rajah Saib, son of Chunda Saib, at the head of a numerous army, and the operations of the siege were conducted by European engineers. Though their approaches were retarded by the repeated and resolute sallies of Mr. Clive, they at length effected two breaches supposed to be practicable; and on the fourteenth day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-one, gave a general assault. Mr. Clive, having received intimation of their design, had made such preparations for their reception, that they were repulsed in every quarter with great loss, and obliged to raise the siege with the utmost precipitation.

This gallant Englishman, not contented with the reputation he had acquired from his noble defence, was no sooner reinforced by a detachment under captain Kirkpatrick from Trichinopoly, than he marched in pursuit of the enemy, whom he overtook in the plains of Arani. There, on the third day of December, he attacked them with irresistible impetuosity; and, after an obstinate dispute, obtained a complete victory at a very small expense. The forts of Timery, Caujeveram, and Arani, surrendered to the terror of his name, rather than to the force of his arms; and he returned to Fort St. David’s in triumph. He had enjoyed a very few weeks of repose, when he was summoned to the field by fresh incursions of the enemy. In the beginning of the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two, he marched with a small detachment to Madras, where he was joined by a reinforcement from Bengal, the whole number not exceeding three hundred Europeans, and assembled a body of the natives, that he might have at least the appearance of an army. With these he proceeded to Koveripauk, about fifteen miles from Ar-cot, where he found the French and Indians, consisting of fifteen hundred sepoys, seventeen hundred horse, a body of natives, and one hundred and fifty Europeans, with eight pieces of cannon. Though they were advantageously posted and intrenched, and the day was already far advanced, Mr. Clive advanced against them with his usual intrepidity; but the victory remained for some time in suspense. It was now dark, and the battle doubtful, when Mr. Clive sent round a detachment to fall in the rear of the French battery. This attack was executed with great resolution, while the English in front entered the entrenchments with their bayonets fixed; and, though very little tinctured with discipline, displayed the spirit and activity of hardy veterans. This double attack disconcerted the enemy in such a manner, that they soon desisted from all opposition. A considerable carnage ensued; yet the greater part of the enemy, both horse and foot, saved themselves by flight, under cover of the darkness. The French, to a man, threw down their arms, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war; and all the cannon and baggage fell into the hands of the victor.

MR. CLIVE REDUCES THREE FORTS, &c.

The province of Arcot being thus cleared of the enemy, Mr. Clive with his forces returned to Fort St. David’s, where he found major Laurence just arrived from England,* to take upon him the command of the troops in the company’s service.

* Major Laurence had sailed for England in the year 1750.

On the eighteenth day of March, this officer, accompanied by Mr. Clive, took the field, and was joined by captain de Gingins at Tiruchirapalli. From hence he detached Mr. Clive with four hundred European soldiers, a few Mahratta horse, and a body of sepoys, to cut off the enemy’s retreat to Pondicherry. In the course of this expedition he dislodged a strong body of the foe posted at Samiaveram, and obliged Chunda Saib to throw a body of troops into a strong fortified temple, or pagoda, upon the river Koleroon, which was immediately invested. The commanding officer, in attempting to escape, was slain with some others, and the rest surrendered at discretion. They were still in possession of another fortified temple, which he also besieged in form, and reduced by capitulation. Having subdued these forts, he marched directly to Volconda, whither he understood the French commander d’Anteuil had retired. He found that officer intrenched in a village, from whence he drove him with precipitation, and made himself master of the French cannon. The enemy attempted to save themselves in a neighbouring fort; but the gates being shut against them by the governor, who was apprehensive that they would be followed pell-mell by the English, Mr. Clive attacked them with great fury, and made a considerable slaughter; but his humanity being shocked at this carnage, he sent a flag of truce to the vanquished, with terms of capitulation, which they readily embraced. These articles imported, that D’Anteuil, and three other officers, should remain prisoners on parole for one year; that the garrison should be exchanged, and the money and stores be delivered to the nabob whom the English supported.

CHUNDA SAIB TAKEN AND PUT TO DEATH.

During these transactions, Chunda Saib lay encamped with an army of thirty thousand men at Syrinham, an island in the neighbourhood of Tiruchirapalli, which he longed eagerly to possess. Hither major Laurence marched with his Indian allies,* and took his measures so well, that the enemy’s provisions were entirely intercepted.

* His army consisted of twelve hundred Europeans and
Topasses in battalions, two thousand sepoys, with the forces
of the nabob, the kings of Tanjore, Muissack, and the
Mahrattas; amounting to fifteen hundred horse and ten
thousand infantry. Topasses are descendants from the
Portuguese. The Mahrattas are native Indians of a very
numerous and powerful nation, which hath more than once
given law to the mogul.

Chunda Saib, in attempting to fly, was taken prisoner by the nabob of Tanjore, an ally of the English company, who ordered his head to be struck off, in order to prevent the disputes which otherwise would have arisen among the captors. *

* Chunda Saib demanded leave of the Tanjore general to pass
through his camp to Tanjore, and this request was granted;
but instead of being allowed to pass, he was detained
prisoner, and as the allies could not agree about the manner
in which he should be disposed of, some of the Tanjore
officers, of their own accord, ended the dispute by cutting
off his head.

The main body of the army being attacked by major Laurence, and totally defeated, the island of Syrinham was surrendered, and about a thousand European French soldiers, under the command of Mr. Law, nephew to the famous Law who schemed the Mississippi company, fell into the hands of the conquerors, including thirty officers, with forty pieces of cannon, and ten mortars. M. Dupleix, though exceedingly mortified by this disaster, resolved to maintain the cause which he had espoused. He proclaimed Rajah Saib, the son of Chunda Saib, nabob of Arcot; and afterwards pretended that he himself had received from the mogul sanids or commissions, appointing him governor of all the Carnatic, from the river Kristnah to the sea; but these sanids appeared in the sequel to be forged. In order to complete the comedy, a supposed messenger from Delhi was received at Pondicherry as ambassador from the mogul. Dupleix, mounted on an elephant, preceded by music and dancing women, in the oriental manner, received in public his commission from the hands of the pretended ambassador. He affected the eastern state, kept his Durbar or court, where he appeared sitting cross-legged on a sofa, and received presents as prince of the country from his own council, as well as from the natives. In the meantime, hostilities continued between the forces of the two companies, as auxiliaries to the contending nabobs. The English, under major Kinnier, made an unsuccessful attempt upon Gingee, a strong town situated to the west of Pondicherry. Major Laurence defeated a strong body of French and natives, commanded by Dupleix’s nephew, M. de Kerjean, in the neighbourhood of Pondicherry, and took him prisoner, together with fifteen officers; after this success, Mr. Clive reduced the forts of Cove-long and Chengalput, the last very strong, situated about forty miles to the southward of Madras. On the other hand, M. Dupleix intercepted at sea captain Schaub, with his whole Swiss company, whom he detained prisoners at Pondicherry, although the two nations were not at war with each other. During these transactions, Sallabatzing, with a body of French under M. de Bussy, advanced towards Aurengabad, which was the seat of government; but he was opposed by a chief of the Mahrattas, at the head of a numerous army. In the meantime, Gauzedy Khan, the elder brother of Sallabatzing, whom the mogul had appointed viceroy of Decan, took possession of his government at Aurengabad, where, in fourteen days after his arrival, he was poisoned by his own sister. The mogul immediately appointed his son Schah Abadin Khan to succeed his father; and this prince actually raised an army to come and take possession; but the mogul’s affairs requiring his presence at Delhi, he was obliged to postpone his design, so that Sallabatzing was left without a competitor, and made a present to the French of all the English settlements to the northward. Thus concluded the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two. Next campaign was chiefly confined to the neighbourhood of Trichinopoly, where major Laurence made several vigorous attacks upon the enemy’s army, and obtained many advantages; which, however, did not prove decisive, because he was so much out-numbered that he could never follow his blow.

CONVENTION BETWEEN THE EAST INDIA COMPANIES OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

In the course of this year, the mogul was deposed by his general Schah Abadin Khan, the viceroy of Decan, who raised to the throne Allum Geer, another prince of the blood. In the succeeding year, a negotiation was Bet on foot by Mr. Saunders, governor of Madras, and M. Dupleix; and conferences were opened at Sadrass, a Dutch settlement between Pondicherry and Fort St. George; but this proved abortive; and many other gallant efforts were made by major Laurence in the territory of Trichinopoly, which still continued to be the scene of action. In the course of this year admiral Watson arrived on the coast of Coromandel with a squadron of ships of war, having on board a regiment commanded by colonel Aldercroon; at the same time the ships from France brought over to Pondicherry the sieur Godeheu, commissary-general and governor-general of all their settlements, at whose arrival Dupleix departed for Europe. The new governor immediately wrote a letter to Mr. Saunders, professing the most pacific inclinations, and proposing a suspension of arms between the two companies until their disputes could be amicably adjusted. This proposal was very agreeable to the governor and council at Madras, and a cessation of arms actually took place in the month of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four. Deputies being sent to Pondicherry, a provisional treaty and truce were concluded, on condition that neither of the two companies should for the future interfere in any difference that might arise between the princes of the country. The other articles related to the places and settlements that should be retained or possessed by the respective companies, until fresh orders relating to this agreement should arrive from the courts of London and Versailles, transmitted by the two East India companies of France and England. Until such orders should arrive, it was stipulated that neither nation should be allowed to procure any new grant or cession, or to build forts for the defence of new establishments; and that they should not proceed to any cession, retrocession, or evacuation of what they then possessed; but every thing should remain on the footing of _uti possidetis_. How pacific soever the sentiments of the French subjects might have been at this period in the East Indies, certain it is, the designs of the French governors in America were altogether hostile, and their conduct hastening towards a rupture, which kindled up a bloody war in every division of the globe.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA.

As this war may be termed a native of America, and the principal scenes of it were acted on that continent, we shall, for the information of the reader, sketch out the situation of the then British colonies as they bordered on each other, and extended along the sea coast, from the gulf of St. Lawrence as far south as the country of Florida. We shall enumerate the Indian nations that lie scattered about their confines, and delineate the manner in which the French hemmed them in by a surprising line of fortifications. Should we comprehend Hudson’s Bay, with the adjacent countries, and the banks of Newfoundland, in this geographical detail, we might affirm that Great Britain at that time possessed a territory along the sea-coast, extending seventeen hundred miles in a direct line, from the sixtieth to the thirty-first degree of northern latitude; but as these two countries were not concerned in this dispute, we shall advance from the northward to the southern side of the gulf of St. Lawrence; and beginning with Acadia or Nova Scotia, describe our settlements as they lie in a southerly direction, as far as the gulf of Florida. This great tract of country, stretching fifteen degrees of latitude, is washed on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; the southern boundary is Spanish Florida; but to the westward the limits are uncertain, some affirming that the jurisdiction of the colonies penetrates through the whole continent, as far as the South Sea; while others, with more moderation, think they are naturally bounded by the river Illinois that runs into the Mississippi, and in a manner connects that river with the chain of lakes known by the names of Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, the three first communicating with each other, and the last discharging itself into the river St. Lawrence, which, running by Montreal and Quebec, issues into the bay of the same denomination, forming the northern boundary of Nova Scotia. The French, who had no legal claim to any lands on the south side of this river, nevertheless, with an insolence of ambition peculiar to themselves, not only extended their forts from the source of the St. Lawrence, through an immense tract of that country, as far as the Mississippi, which disembogues itself into the gulf of Florida; but also, by a series of unparalleled encroachments, endeavoured to contract the English colonies within such narrow limits as would have cut off almost one half of their possessions. As we have already given a geographical description of Nova Scotia, and mentioned the particulars of the new settlement of Halifax, we shall now only observe, that it is surrounded on three sides by the sea, the gulf, and river of St. Lawrence; that its original boundary to the west was the river Pentagoet; but it is now contracted within the river St. Croix, because the crown of Great Britain did, in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-three, grant to the duke of York the territory of Sagadahack, stretching from St. Croix to the river of this name; which was in the sequel, by an express charter from the crown, annexed to the province of Massachusett’s Bay, one of the four governments of New England. This country, situated next to Nova Scotia, lies between the forty-first and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, extending near three hundred miles in length, and about two hundred in breadth, if we bound it by those tracts which the French possessed: no part of the settlements of this country, however, stretches above sixty miles from the sea. The summer is here intensely hot, and the winter proportionably severe; nevertheless, the climate is healthy, and the sky generally serene. The soil is not favourable to any of the European kinds of grain; but produces great plenty of maize, which the people bake into bread, and brew into beer, though their favourite drink is made of molasses hopped, and impregnated with the tops of the spruce-fir, which is a native of this country. The ground raises good flax and tolerable hemp. Here are great herds of black cattle, some of them very large in size, a vast number of excellent hogs, a breed of small horses, graceful, swift, and hardy; and large flocks of sheep, whose wool, though not so fine as that of England, is manufactured with great success.

New England is composed of the four provinces known by the names of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It is bounded on the south by New York, extending northerly on both sides of the river Hudson, about two hundred miles into the country possessed by the Indians of the Five Nations, whom the French distinguish by the name of the Irroquois; but in breadth this province does not exceed fifty miles, though it comprehends Long Island, lying to the southward of Connecticut. The capital, which derives from the province the name of New York, is situated on an excellent harbour in the island of Manahatton, extending fourteen miles in length, and five in breadth, at the mouth of the noble river Hudson, which is navigable for above two hundred miles. At the distance of one hundred and fifty miles from New York, stands the town of Albany, upon the same river. In this place all the treaties and other transactions were negotiated between the English and the Irroquois, a confederacy of five Indian nations, who, by their union, courage, and military skill, had reduced a great number of other Indian tribes, and subdued a territory more extensive than the whole kingdom of France. They were about fourscore years ago able to bring ten thousand warriors into the field; but now their number is so greatly diminished by wars, epidemical diseases, and the use of spirituous liquors, that they cannot raise above fifteen hundred men, even though they have admitted into their confederacy the nation of the Tuscaroras, whom the English drove from the confines of Carolina. The Mohawk Indians inhabit the country advanced from Albany. The northern extremities of New Hampshire and New York are divided by the lakes Champlain and Sacrament, between which the French had raised the fort of Crown Point.

Contiguous to New York, and lying along the coast, in a southerly direction, is the small province of New Jersey, bounded on the west by the river Delaware, which divides it from Pennsylvania, extending about one hundred and fifty miles in length, but in breadth not more than one third of that extent. The climate, soil, and produce of these two provinces, as well as of Pennsylvania, are similar. They yield great quantities of grain, sheep, horses, hogs, and horned cattle; all kinds of poultry and game in great abundance; vegetables of every sort in perfection, and excellent fruit, particularly peaches and melons. Their vast forests abound with oak, ash, beech, chesnut, cedar, walnut-tree, cypress, hickory, sassafras, and pine; but the timber is not counted so fit for shipping as that of New England and Nova Scotia. These provinces produce great quantities of flax and hemp. New York affords mines of iron, and very rich copper ore is found in New Jersey.

Pennsylvania, lying to the southward of New York and New Jersey, is bounded on the other side by Maryland, stretching two hundred and fifty miles in length, two hundred in breadth, and having no communication with the sea, except by the mouth of the river Delaware. This province was originally settled by Quakers, under the auspices of the celebrated William Penn, whose descendants are still proprietaries of the country. Philadelphia, the capital, stands on a tongue of land at the confluence of the two navigable rivers, the Delaware and Sculkel, disposed in the form of a regular oblong, and designed by the original plan to extend from the one to the other. The streets, which are broad, spacious, and uniform, cross each other at right angles, leaving proper spaces for churches, markets, and other public edifices. The houses are neatly built of brick, the quays spacious and magnificent, the warehouses large and numerous, and the docks commodious and well contrived for ship building. Pennsylvania is understood to extend as far northerly as the banks of the lake Erie, where the French erected a fort. They also raised another at some distance to the southward of the Riviere-au-Beuf, and made other encroachments on this colony.

Adjoining to part of Pennsylvania, on the sea-coast, lies the province of Maryland, a tract of land situated along the bay of Chesapeak, in length about one hundred and forty miles, and nearly of the same breadth, bounded on the north by Pennsylvania, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and by the river Potowmack on the south. This country was first planted with Roman catholics by lord Baltimore, to whom Charles II. granted it by patent. In the sequel, however, people of all religions were admitted into this settlement, and indulged with liberty of conscience, and at present the reigning religion is that of the English church. The climate is very sultry in summer, and not very salubrious. The soil is fruitful, and produces a great quantity of tobacca, which the people cultivate as their staple commodity. The seat of government is established at Annapolis, a small town beautifully situated on the river Patuxent.

Tracing the sea-coast still southerly, the next settlement is Virginia, watered on the north by the river Potowmack, which is the boundary between this and the colony last described, having the bay of Chesapeak to the east, bounded on the south by Carolina, and extending westward without any prescribed limits, though the plantations have reached no farther than the great Allegany mountains; so that the province, as now possessed, stretches in length above two hundred and forty miles, and in breadth not above two hundred, lying between the fifty-fifth and fortieth degrees of latitude. In sailing to Virginia, navigators steer through a strait formed by two points, called the Capes, into the bay of Chesapeak, a large inlet that runs three hundred miles into the country from south to north, covered from the Atlantic Ocean by the eastern side of Maryland, and a small portion of Virginia on the same peninsula. This noble bay is about eighteen miles broad for a considerable space, and seven at its narrowest part, yielding generally nine fathoms depth of water; on both sides it receives many navigable rivers, those on the Virginia side being known by the names of James River, York River, the Rappahannock, and Potowmack. This country, especially towards the sea, lies very low and swampy, and the soil is extremely fertile. The air and weather are variable, the heats of summer excessive, the frosts of winter sudden, and intensely cold; so that, upon the whole, the climate is neither very agreeable nor healthy, the people being particularly subject to agues and pleuritic disorders. The province abounds with vast forests of timber; the plains are covered with a surprising luxuriancy of vegetables, flowers, and flowering shrubs, diffusing the most delicious fragrance. The ground yields plenty of corn, and every sort of fruit in great abundance and perfection. Horned cattle and hogs have here multiplied to admiration, since they were first imported from Europe. The animals, natives of this and the neighbouring countries, are deer, panthers or tigers, bears, wolves, foxes, squirrels, racoons, and creatures called opossums, with an infinite variety of beautiful birds, and a diversity of serpents, among which the rattlesnake is the most remarkable.

Virginia is bounded to the south by the two Carolinas, situated between the forty-sixth and thirty-first degrees of latitude; the length amounting to upwards of four hundred miles, and the breadth extending near three hundred, as far as the Indian nations called the Catawbas, the Creeks, and Cherokees. The country of Carolina is divided into two governments, of which the most northern is the most inconsiderable. The climate in both is the same, as well as the soil: the first is warm, though not unhealthy; the last extremely fertile, yielding every thing in plenty which is produced in Virginia, besides abundance of excellent oranges, and some commodities which are not found to the northward. North Carolina, though not so opulent, is more populous than the southern part. The colonists of North Carolina carry on a considerable traffic in tar, pitch, turpentine, staves, shingles, lumber, corn, peas, pork, and beef; tobacco, deer skins, indigo, wheat, rice, bee’s-wax, tallow, bacon, and hog’s-lard, cotton, and squared timber; live cattle, with the skins of beaver, racoon, fox, minx, wild-cat, and otter. South Carolina is much better cultivated; the people are more civilized, and the commerce more important. The capital of this province, called Charles Town, is finely situated at the confluence of two navigable rivers, having the advantage of a commodious harbour. Their trade, exclusive of the articles we have already mentioned as common to this government and that of North Carolina, consists of two chief staple commodities, rice and indigo, which they cultivate with great success; and they have likewise made some progress in the culture of silk.

The most southern of all our settlements on this coast is Georgia, extending about sixty miles from north to South, along the sea-shore; but widening in the inland parts to above one hundred and fifty, and stretching almost three hundred from the sea to the Apalachian mountains. This country differs very little from that of South Carolina, with which it borders; yet the summer is here more hot, and the soil not so fertile. Savannah, the capital, stands commodiously for trade, about ten miles from the sea, on a river of the same name, navigable with large boats two hundred miles farther up to the second town called Augusta, a place that flourishes by the Indian trade of skins, which the inhabitants carry on with their neighbours the Creeks, the Chickesaws, and the Cherokees, who are the most numerous and powerful tribes in America. Georgia is bounded on the south by the river Attamaha, at no great distance from the Spanish fort of St. Augustine.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

THE FRENCH SURPRISE LOG’S TOWN.

Having thus exhibited a succinct view of the British colonies in North America, for the information of the reader, we shall now resume the thread of our history, and particularize the transactions by which the present year was distinguished on this extensive continent. The government of England having received nothing but evasive answers from the court of France, touching the complaints that were made of the encroachments in America, despatched orders to all the governors of that country to repel force by force, and drive the French from their settlements on the river Ohio. Accordingly, the provinces of Virginia and Pennsylvania took this important affair into their consideration; but while they deliberated, the French vigorously prosecuted their designs on the other side of the mountains. They surprised Log’s Town, which the Virginians had built upon the Ohio; made themselves masters of the Block-house and Truck-house, where they found skins and other commodities to the amount of twenty thousand pounds, and destroyed all the British traders, except two who found means to escape. At the same time, M. de Contrecour, with a thousand men and eighteen pieces of cannon, arrived in three hundred canoes from Venango, a fort they had raised on the banks of the Ohio, and reduced by surprise a British fort which the Virginians had built on the forks of the Monangahela, that runs into the same river.

CONFERENCE WITH THE INDIANS.

These hostilities were followed by divers skirmishes between the people of the two nations, which were fought with various success. At length the governors of the English settlements received orders from England to form a political confederacy for their mutual defence; and the governor of New York was directed to confer with the chiefs of the Six Nations, with a view to detach them from the French interest by dint of promises and presents of value, sent over for that purpose. A congress was accordingly appointed at Albany, to which place the governor of New York repaired, accompanied by commissioners from all the other British settlements; but a very small number of Indians arrived, and even these seemed to be indifferent to the advances and exhortations that were made by the English orator. The truth is, the French had artfully weaned them from their attachment to the subjects of Great Britain. Nevertheless, they accepted the presents, renewed their treaties with the king of England, and even demanded his assistance in driving the French from the posts and possessions they had usurped within the Indian territories. It was in consequence of the measures here taken, that colonel Washington was detached from Virginia with four hundred men, and occupied a post on the banks of the river Ohio, where he threw up some works, and erected a kind of occasional fort, in hopes of being able to defend himself in that situation, until he should be joined by a reinforcement from New York, which, how ever, did not arrive.

COLONEL WASHINGTON DEFEATED AND TAKEN BY THE FRENCH.

While he remained in this situation, de Viller, a French commander, at the head of nine hundred men, being on his march to dislodge Washington, detached one Jamonville, an inferior officer, with a small party, and a formal summons to colonel Washington, requiring him to quit the fort, which he pretended was built on ground belonging to the French, or their allies. So little regard was paid to this intimation, that the English fell upon this party, and, as the French affirm, without the least provocation, either slew or took the whole detachment. De Viller, incensed at these unprovoked hostilities, marched up to the attack, which Washington for some time sustained under manifold disadvantages. At length, however, he surrendered the fort upon capitulation, for the performance of which he left two officers as hostages in the hands of the French; and in his retreat was terribly harassed by the Indians, who plundered his baggage, and massacred his people. This event was no sooner known in England, than the British ambassador at Paris received directions to complain of it to the French ministry, as an open violation of the peace; but this representation had no effect.

DIVISIONS AMONG THE BRITISH COLONIES.

Both nations by this time foresaw that a rupture would be inevitable, and each resolved to make suitable preparations. France continued to send reinforcements of men, and supplies of ammunition to Quebec, for the prosecution of her ambitious projects; and the ministry of Great Britain transmitted salutary cautions to the governors of the provinces in North America, exhorting them to join their endeavours for repelling the incursions of the enemy. Such an union as seemed necessary for their common preservation was not easily effected. The different colonies were divided by different views and interests, both religious and political; besides, every settlement was distracted into factions, formed by the governor and the demagogues of the assembly; in other words, an opposition like that in parliament, and a continual struggle between the liberties of the people and the prerogative of the proprietor, whether sovereign or subject. Mr. Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia, having demanded a certain perquisite or fee for every patent he should pass for land, the assembly voted his demand illegal, arbitrary, and oppressive. They declared that every man who paid it should be deemed an enemy to his country, and sent over an agent to London to solicit the suppression of this imposition. The representatives of the people in Pennsylvania wasted the time in vain deliberations and violent disputes with their proprietors, while the enemy infested their frontiers. The colony of New York was filled with discontent and animosity. Sir Danvers Osborn, who had been appointed governor of this province, died immediately after his arrival at New York, and the instructions he had received were exposed to public censure. The preamble inveighed severely against the want of duty, allegiance, loyalty, and unanimity, which had lately appeared so notorious in the assembly of that province, who had violated the royal commission and instructions, by assuming to themselves the power to dispose of public money in the laws which they had occasionally passed. This gentleman was, therefore, directed to insist upon the reformation of all those public abuses, and upon the establishment of a certain supply for the service of the government, as well as upon the settlement of a salary for himself. Moreover, his majesty, in these instructions, signified his will and pleasure, that all money raised for the supply and support of government, or upon any emergency for immediate service, should be disposed of and applied properly to the use for which it might be granted, by warrant from the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the council of the province, and no otherwise; that, nevertheless, the assembly should be permitted, from time to time, to view and examine the accounts of money disposed of, by virtue of laws which they had enacted; that if any member of the council, or officer holding place of trust or profit within the government, should, in any manner whatever, give his assent to, or in anywise advise or concur with the assembly in passing any act or vote, whereby the royal prerogative might be lessened or impaired, or any money be raised or disposed of for the public service, contrary to, or inconsistent with, the method prescribed by these instructions, the governor should forthwith remove or suspend such counsellor or officer so offending, and give an immediate account of his proceedings to the commissioners of trade and plantations. These were peremptory injunctions, which plainly proved that the ministry was determined to support the prerogative with a high hand; but it must be owned, at the same time, that abundance of provocation had been given by the insolent opposition of some turbulent individuals, who had exerted all their influence in disturbing and distressing the views and designs of the government. While the British colonies in America were, by these divisions, in a great measure disabled from making vigorous efforts against the common enemy, the administration at home began to exert itself for their defence.. Officers were appointed for two regiments, consisting of two battalions each, to be raised in America, and commanded by sir William Pepperel and governor Shirley, who had enjoyed the same command in the last war, and a body of troops was destined for the same service.

HEREDITARY PRINCE OF HESSE-CASSEL PROFESSES THE CATHOLIC RELIGION.

The most remarkable incident that marked this year on the continent of Europe, was the conversion of the hereditary prince of Hesse-Cassel, who had espoused the princess Mary of England. He now declared himself a Roman-catholic, and was supposed to have been cajoled to this profession by the promises of certain powers, who flattered his ambition, in order to weaken the protestant interest in Germany. His father, though deeply affected by his son’s apostacy, did not fail to take immediate measures for preventing the evil consequences which might otherwise have flowed from his defection. He forthwith, assembled the states of the landgraviate, in order to take such measures as might appear necessary to maintain the religion, laws, and constitution of the country; and the prince was laid under certain restrictions, which he did not find it an easy task to set aside. It was enacted, that when the regency should devolve to him by succession, he should not have it in his power to alter the established laws, or grant any church to persons of the Roman communion, for the public exercise of their religion; and that he should be excluded from all share in the education of his sons, the eldest of whom should be put in possession of the country of Hanau upon his father’s accession to the regency of the landgraviate. These resolutions were guaranteed by the kings of Prussia and Denmark, by the maritime powers, and the evangelic body of the empire.

PARLIAMENT OF PARIS RECALLED FROM EXILE.

The exile of the parliament of Paris, far from having intimidated the other tribunals from performing what they apprehended to be their duty, served only to inflame the discontents of the people, and to animate all the courts of justice to a full exertion of their authority. The chatelot continued to prosecute those priests, who refused the sacrament to persons whose consciences would not allow them to subscribe to the bull Unigenitus, even after three of their members were sent to the Bastile. The same prosecutions were carried on, and bold remonstrances published by, the parliaments of Aix and Rouen. In a word, the whole kingdom was filled with such confusion as threatened a total suppression of justice, in a general spirit of disaffection and universal anarchy. The prelates, meanwhile, seemed to triumph in the combustion they had raised. They entered into associations to support each other; they intrigued at court, and harassed the king with insolent declarations, till he grew tired of their proceedings, and opened his eyes to the fatal consequences of their pride and obstinacy. He even took an opportunity of exhorting the archbishop of Paris to act more suitably to the character of a clergyman. He recalled the parliament from exile, and they returned in triumph, amidst the acclamations of the people, who celebrated their arrival at Paris with the most extravagant demonstrations of joy; and the archbishop, notwithstanding the king’s express declaration to the contrary, still persisting in countenancing the recusant priests, was banished to Conflans-sous-Charenton.

AFFAIRS OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

In Spain, the interest of Great Britain was so warmly espoused, and so powerfully supported by Mr. Wall, who had been resident in England, that the French party, though countenanced by the queen-mother, and sustained with all the influence of the marquis de la Ensenada, the prime minister, was totally defeated. The king being convinced that it would be for the interest of his subjects to live on good terms with England, and well apprized of Ensenada’s intrigues, ordered that minister to be arrested and confined, and bestowed upon Mr. Wall the best part of his employments. Nevertheless, the Spaniards in the West Indies continued to oppress the subjects of Great Britain, employed in cutting logwood in the bay of Honduras; and representations on this head being made to the court of Madrid, the dispute was amicably adjusted between Mr. Wall and sir Benjamin Keene, the British ambassador. While the interest of Britain thus triumphed in Spain, it seemed to lose ground at the court of Lisbon. His Portuguese majesty had formed vast projects of an active commerce, and even established an East India company; in the meantime he could not help manifesting his chagrin at the great quantities of gold which were yearly exported from his dominions, as the balance due from his subjects on English commodities. In his endeavours to check this traffic, which he deemed so detrimental to his subjects, he inflicted hardships on the British merchants settled at Lisbon: some were imprisoned on frivolous pretences; others deprived of their property, and obliged to quit the kingdom. He insisted upon laying an imposition of two per cent, on all the Portuguese gold that should be exported; but the profits of the trade would not bear such an exaction. Meanwhile, there being a scarcity of corn in Portugal, the kingdom was supplied from England; and the people having nothing but gold to purchase this necessary supply, the king saw the necessity of conniving at the exportation of his coin, and the trade reverted into its former channel.

SESSION OPENED.

On the fourteenth day of November, the king of Great Britain opened the session of parliament with an harangue, which intimated nothing of an approaching rupture. He said, that the general state of affairs in Europe had undergone very little alteration since their last meeting; that he had lately received the strongest assurances from his good brother the king of Spain, of friendship and confidence, which he would cultivate with harmony and good faith. He declared his principal view should be to strengthen the foundation, and secure the duration of a general peace; to improve the present advantages of it for promoting the trade of his good subjects, and protecting those possessions which constituted one great source of their wealth and commerce. Finally, he exhorted them to complete their plan for appropriating the forfeited estates in the highlands to the service of the public. He probably avoided mentioning the encroachments of France, that he might supply no handle for debates on the address, which was carried in both houses almost without opposition. The government seemed determined to humble the insolence of the French councils; and this disposition was so agreeable to the people in general, that they grudged no expense, and heartily concurred with the demands of the ministry.

The commons granted for the service of the ensuing year, four millions seventy-three thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine pounds; one million of that sum expressly given to enable his majesty to augment his forces by land and sea. Thirty-two thousand pounds were allotted as a subsidy to the king of Poland, and twenty thousand to the elector of Bavaria. These gratifications met with little or no opposition in the committee of supply; because it was taken for granted, that, in case of a rupture, France would endeavour to avail herself of her superiority by land, by invading his Britannic majesty’s German dominions; and therefore it might be necessary to secure the assistance of such allies on the continent. That they prognosticated aright, with respect to the designs of that ambitious power, will soon appear in the course of this history; which will also demonstrate how little dependence is to be placed upon the professed attachment of subsidiary princes. The supplies were raised by the standing branches of the revenue, the land-tax and malt-tax, and a lottery for one million; one hundred thousand pounds of it to be deducted for the service of the public, and the remaining nine hundred thousand to be charged on the produce of the sinking-fund, at the rate of three per cent, per annum, to commence from the fifth day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six. The civil transactions of this session were confined to a few objects. Divers new regulations were made for encouraging and improving the whale and white herring fishery, as well as for finishing and putting in a proper state of defence a new fort, lately built at Anamabo on the coast of Africa.

BILL IN BEHALF OF CHELSEA PENSIONERS.

Mr. Pitt, the paymaster-general of the forces, brought in a bill, which will ever remain a standing monument of his humanity. The poor disabled veterans who enjoyed the pension of Chelsea hospital, were so iniquitously oppressed by a set of miscreants, who supplied them with money per advance, at the most exorbitant rates of usury, that many of them, with their families, were in danger of starving; and the intention of government in granting such a comfortable subsistence, was in a great measure defeated. Mr. Pitt, perceiving that this evil originally flowed from the delay of the first payment, which the pensioner could not touch till the expiration of a whole year after he had been put upon the list, removed this necessity of borrowing, by providing in the bill, that half a year’s pension should be advanced half a year before it is due; and the practice of usury was effectually prevented by a clause, enacting, that all contracts should be void by which any pension might be mortgaged. This humane regulation was unanimously approved, and having passed through both houses with uncommon expedition, received the royal assent.