13 - Life of Washington, Volume 1 by John James Marshall

Dive into the remarkable life of George Washington, as depicted by his equally impressive biographer, Marshall. Influenced by the greatness of Washington himself, Marshall evolved into a figure of similar stature. Over a period of nearly 25 years, Marshall dedicated his deepest thoughts to capturing Washingtons life and accomplishments. Thanks to his intimate understanding of his subject, first-hand knowledge of events, and exceptional writing skills, Marshall has given us a true masterpiece.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eleven of the Life of Washington, Volume one by
John Marshall. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
Chapter eleven. General Braddock arrives. Convention of Governors and plan
of the campaign. French expel from Nova Scotia and inhabitants transplanted.

(00:24):
Expedition against Fort Ducaine, Battle of Monongahela defeating death of
General Braddock. Expedition against Crown Point dis Gal defeated, Expedition
against na Agar frontiers distressed by the Indians. Meeting of
the Governors at New York planned for the campaign of
seventeen fifty six. Lord Louden arrives. Moncom takes Oswego. Lord

(00:49):
Louden abandons offensive operations. Small parks breaks out in Albany.
Campaign of seventeen fifty seven opened. Admiral Holborn arrives at Halifa,
is joined by the Earl of Lowden. Expedition against Louisbourg relinquished.
Lord Louden returns to New York. Fort William Henry taken.
Controversy between Lord Louden and the Assembly of Massachusetts seventeen

(01:14):
fifty five, the establishment of the Post on the Ohio
and the action at the Little Meadows, being considered by
the British government as the commencement of war in America.
The resolution to send a few regiments to that country
was immediately taken General Braddock, and early in the year
General Bradock embarked at Cork at the head of a

(01:36):
respectable body of troops destined for the colonies. An active
offensive campaign being meditated. General Braddock con being the governors
of the several provinces on the fourteenth of April in Virginia,
who resolved to carry on three expeditions. Plan of the campaign.
The first and most important was against Fort Ducaine. This

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was to be conducted by General Braddock in person at
the head of the British troops, with such aids as
could be drawn from Maryland and Virginia. The second, against
Niagara and Fort Frontignac, was to be conducted by Governor Shirley.
The American Regulars, consisting of Shirley and Pepperrell's regiments, constituted
the principal force destined for the reduction of these places.

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The third was against ground Point. This originated with Massachusetts
and was to be prosecuted entirely, with Colonial troops to
be raised by the provinces of New England and by
New York. It was to be commanded by Colonel William
Johnson of the latter province. While preparations were making for
the several enterprises, an expedition which had been previously concerted

(02:41):
by the government of Massachusetts, was carried on against the
French in Nova Scotia. It has been already stated that
the limits of this province remained unsettled, while the commissioners
of the two crowns were supporting the claims of their
respective sovereigns and fruitless memorials. The French occupied the country
in content and established military posts for its defense. Against

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these posts, this enterprise was to be conducted. On the
twentieth of May. The troops of Massachusetts, together with Shirley's
and Pepperrell's regiments, amounting in the whole to about three
thousand men, embarked at Boston under the command of Lieutenant
Colonel Winslow. The fleet anchored about five miles from Fort Lawrence,
where reinforcement was received of three hundred British troops and

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a small train of artillery. The whole army commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Moncton. Immediately after landing marched against Beaux seizure
the principal post held by the French in that country.
At the River Mussaquek, which the French considered as the
western boundary of Nova Scotia, some slight works had been
thrown up with the intention of disputing its passage. After

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a short conflict, the river was passed with the loss
of only one man, and in five days beau Chazur capitulated.
French expelled from Nova Scotia. Other small places fell in succession,
and in the course of the month of June, with
the loss of only three men killed, the English acquired
complete possession of the whole province of Nova Scotia. The

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recovery of this province was followed by one of those
distressing measures which involve individuals in indiscriminate ruin and aggravate
the calamities of war. Nova Scotia, having been originally settled
by France, its inhabitants were cheaply of that nation. In
the Treaty of Utrecht, it was stipulated for the colonists
that they should be permitted to hold their lands on

(04:33):
condition of taking the oes of allegiance to their new sovereign.
With this condition, they refused to comply unless permitted to
qualify with a proviso that they should not be required
to bear arms in defense of the province. Though this qualification,
to which the commanding Officer of the British forces acceded,
was afterwards disallowed by the crowd. Yet the French inhabitants

(04:56):
continued to consider themselves as neutrals. Their devotion to France. However,
it would not permit them to conform their conduct to
the character they had assumed in all the contests for
the possession of their country. They were influenced by their
wishes rather than their duty, and three hundred of them
were captured with the Garrison of beau Sejour. Their continuance

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in their country during the obstinate conflict which was commencing, would,
it was feared, in danger of the colony, and to
expel them from it, leaving them at liberty to choose
their place of residence, would be to reinforce the French.
In Canada, a council was held by the Executive of
Nova Scotia, aided by the Admirals Boscawen and Morty, for

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the purpose of deciding on the destiny of these unfortunate people.
The inhabitants transported, and the severe policy was adopted of
removing them from their homes and dispersing them through the
other British colonies. This harsh measure was immediately put in execution,
and the miserable inhabitants of Nova Scotia were in one

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instant reduced by ease and contentment to a state of beggary.
Their lands immovables, with the exception of their money and
household furniture, were declared to be forfeited to the Crown,
and to prevent their return, the country was laid waste
and their houses reduced to ashes. As soon as the
Convention of Governors had separated, General Braddock proceeded from Alexandria

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to Afford at Wills Creek, afterwards called Fort Cumberland at
that time the most western post in Virginia or Maryland,
from which place the army destined against Fort Ducaine was
to commence its march. The difficulties of obtaining wagons and
other necessary supplies for the expedition, and delays occasion by
opening a road through an excessively rough country, excited apprehensions

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that time would be afforded the enemy to collect in
such force at Fort Ducaine as to put the success
of the enterprise into some hazard. Under the influence of
this consideration, it was determined to select twelve hundred men
who should be led by the General in person to
the point of destiny. The residue of the army, under
the command of Colonel Dunbar, was to follow with the

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baggage by slow and easy marches. This disposition being made
brought it pressed forward to his object in the competence
that he could find no enemy capable of opposing him,
and reached the Monongahila on the eighth of July. As
the army approached Fort Dukain, the general was cautioned of
the danger to which the character of his enemy and

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the face of the country exposed him, and was advised
to advance the provincial companies in his front for the
purpose of scouring the woods and discovering ambus goods. But
he held both his enemy and the provincials into much
contempt to follow this salutary council three under British troops,
comprehending the grenadiers and light infantry, commanded by Colonel Gage,

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composed his van, and he followed at some distance with
the artillery and the main body of the army divided
into small columns. Within seven miles of Fort Ducain. Immediately
after crossing the Monongahila the second time, in an open
wood thick set with high grass, as he was pressing
for it without fear of danger, his front received an
unexpected fire from an invisible enemy. Battle of Monongahela. The

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van was thrown into some confusion, but the general having
ordered up the main body and the commanding officer of
the enemy having fallen, the attack was suspended and the
assailants were supposed to be dispersed. This delusion was soon dissipated.
The attack was renewed with increased fury. The van fell
back on the main body, and the whole army was

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thrown into utter confusion. The general possessed personal courage in
an eminent degree, but was without experience in that species
of war in which he was engaged, and seems not
to have been endowed with that rare fertility of genius
which adapts itself to the existing state of things and
invents expedients fitted to the emergency. In the impending crisis,

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he was peculiarly unfortunate in his choice of measures. Neither
advancing nor retreating, he exerted his utmost powers to form
his broken troops under an incessant and galling fire on
the very ground where they had been attacked. In his
fruitless efforts to restore order, every officer on horseback, except
mister Washington, one of his aides de camp, was killed

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or wounded at length. After losing three horses, the general
himself received a mortal wound, upon which his regulars fled
in terror and confusion. Fortunately, the Indian enemy was arrested
by the plunder found on the field, and the pursuit
was soon given over. The provincials exhibited an unexpected degree
of courage and were among the last to leave the

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field death of Braddock. The defeated troops fled precipitately to
the camp of Dunbar, where Braddock expired of his wounds.
Their panic was communicated to the residue of the army,
as if affairs had become desperate. All the stores, except
those necessary for immediate use, were destroyed, and the British
troops were marched to Philadelphia, where they went into quarters.

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The western parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia were left
exposed to the incursions of the savages. The frontier settlements
were generally broken up, and the inhabitants were driven into
the interior. So excessive was the alarm that even the
people of the interior entertained apprehensions for their safety, and
many supposed that the sea board itself was insecure. The

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two northern expeditions, though not so disastrous as that against
Fort Ducaine, were neither of them successful. That against Crown
Point was so retarded by those causes of delay to
which military operations conducted by distinct governments are always exposed,
that the army was not ready to move until the
last of August. At length, General Johnson reached the south

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end of Lake George on his way to Ticonderoga, of
which he designed to take possession. An armament fitted out
in the port of Breast for Canada had eluded a
British squadron, which was stationed off the banks of Newfoundland
to intercept it. With the loss of two ships of war,
had entered the Saint Lawrence. After arriving at Quebec, the
Baron Diascal, who commanded the French forces resolved without loss

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of time to proceed against the English. At the head
of about twelve hundred regulars and about six hundred Canadians
and Indians, he marched against Oswego. On hearing of this movement,
General Johnson applied for reinforcements, and eight hundred men were
ordered by Massachusetts to his assistance. An additional body of
two thousand men was directed to be raised for the

(11:31):
same object in the neighboring colonies also determined to furnish reinforcements.
Diascu did not wait for their arrival. Perceiving that Johnson
was approaching Late George, and being informed that the provincials
were without artillery, he determined to postpone his designs upon
Oswego and to attack them in their camp. On being
informed that Diascal was approaching, Johnson detached Colonel Williams with

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about one thousand men to reconorder and skirmish with him.
This office ser met the French about four miles from
the American camp and immediately engaged them. He fell early
in the action, and his party was soon overpowered and
put to flight. Diascout defeated a second detachment sent in
aid of the first experienced the same fate, and both

(12:16):
were closely pursued to the main body, who were posted
behind a brust work of fallen trees. At this critical moment,
within about one hundred and fifty yards of this work,
the French halted for a short time. This interval having
given the Americans an opportunity to recover from the first alarm,
they determined on a resolute defense. When the assailants advanced

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to the charge, they were received with firmness. The militia
and savages fled, and Discout was under the necessity of
ordering his regulars to retreat. A close and ardent pursuit ensued,
and the general himself, being mortally wounded and left alone,
was taken prisoner. During the engagement, a scouting party from
Fort Edward, under Captains Folsom and McGinnis, in with the

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baggage of the enemy and routed the guard which had
been placed over it. Soon afterwards, the retreating army of
Diascal approached and was gallantly attacked by the Americans. This
unexpected attack from an enemy whose numbers were unknown completed
the confusion of the defeated army, which, abandoning its baggage,
fled towards the posts on the lake. The repulse of

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Diascal magnified into a splendid victory, had some tendency to
remove the depression of spirits occasioned by the defeat of Braddock,
and to inspire the provincials with more confidence in themselves.
General Johnson, who was wounded in the engagement, received very
solid testimonials of the gratitude and liberality of his country.
Five thousand pounds sterling and the title of Baronet were

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the rewards of his service. This success was not improved,
the hopes and expectations of the public were not gratified,
and the residue of the campaign was spent in fortifying
the camp. Massachusetts pressed the winter campaign, but when her
commissioners met those of Connecticut and the Lieutenant Governor and
Council of New York, it was unanimously agreed that the

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army under General Johnson should be discharged, except six hundred
men to garrison Fort Edward on the great carrying place
between the Hudson and Lake George, and Fort William Henry
on that lake. The French took possession of Ticonderoga and
fortified it. Expedition against nat Agra the expedition against Niagra
and Fort Frontnac was also defeated by delays in making

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the preparations necessary for its prosecution. Sureley did not reach
Oswego till late in August. After ascertaining the state of
the garrison, he determined to abandon that part of the
enterprise which respected Fort Frontignac, and to proceed against ni Agra.
While employed in the embarkation of his troops on the lake,
the rain set in with such violence as to suspend

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his operations until the season was so far advanced that
the attempt against nt Agra was also relinked, which then
surely returned to Albany. Thus terminated the campaign of seventeen
fifty five. It opened with so decided a superiority of
force on the part of the English, as to promise
the most important advantages. But if we accept the expulsion

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of the French from Nova Scotia, no single enterprise was
ground with success. Great exertions were made by the northern colonies,
but their efforts were productive of no benefit from the
want of one general superintending authority in their councils, which
could contemplate and control the different parts of the system,
which could combine all their operations and direct them with

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effect towards the attainment of the object pursuit everything failed.
Such delays and deficiencies were experienced that though a considerable
force was in motion, it could not be brought to
the point against which it was to act until the
season for action was over, nor execute the plans which
were concerted until the opportunity had passed away. General Braddock's

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grave showing the monument recently erected. It is not generally
appreciated that this British commander was chosen to have the
expedition to destroy the French power in America in seventeen
fifty four to five because of his distinguished army record.
In the Battle of Fontanc for instance, he was colonel
in command of the famous Coalstream Guards who covered themselves

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with glory, and shortly before embarking for America, he was
made major general of the line. Braddock had won his
promotion solely through gallantry, and at a time when at
lieutenant colonel c in this crack British regiment sold for
five thousand pounds Sterling. Despite his fatal mistake in not
heeding the advice of his aid Washington in conducting his

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expedition against Fort Ducaine Pittsburgh, Braddock regarded Washington and Franklin
as the greatest men in the colonies. Meeting the French
and Indians on July nine, seventeen fifty five, the British
were routed and Bradock was fatally wounded after having four
horses shot under him, dying four days later at Great Meadows,
where he is buried. He bequeathed his favorite surviving horse

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and body servant to Washington, then a colonel. The system
adopted by the British Cabinet for conducting the war in
America left two the colonial governments to determine what number
of men each should bring into the field, but required
them to support their own troops and to contribute to
the support of those sent from Great Britain to their assistance.
But this system could not be enforced. The requisitions of

(17:23):
the Minister were adopted, rejected, or modified at the discretion
of the government on which they were made, and as
no rule of apportionment had been adopted, each colony was
inclined to consider itself as having contributed more than its
equal share towards the general object, and as having received
less than its just proportion of the attention and protection

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of the mother country. This temper produced a slow and
reluctant compliance on the part of some, which enfeebled and
disconcerted enterprises, for the execution of which the resources of
several were to be combined distress of the frontiers. In
the meantime, the whole front tear. As far as North
Carolina was exposed to the depredations of the savages, who

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were almost universally under the influence of the French. Their
bloody incursions were made in all directions of many settlements
were entirely broken up. It is a curious and singular
fact that while hostilities were thus carried on by France
and England against each other in America, the relations of
peace and amity were preserved between them and Europe. Each

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nation had, in consequence of the military operations in seventeen
fifty four, determined to fit out a considerable armament to
aid the efforts made in its colonies. And when it
was understood that Admiral Boscawen was ordered to intercept that
of France, the Duc de Mirapois, the French ambassador at London,
complained of the proposed measure and gave formal notice that

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the King his Master would consider the first gun fired
at sea as a declaration of war. On receiving intelligence
of the capture of a part of the Squadron bescawin
the French minister at the Court of Saint James was
recalled without using an audience of lead, upon which letters
of mark and reprisal were issued by the British government.
This prompt and vigorous measure had much influence on the war,

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which was declared in form the following spring. General Shirley,
on his return to Aubany after the close of the
campaign in seventeen fifty five, received a commission appointing him
Commander in chief of the King's forces in North America.
A meeting of all the governors was immediately called at
New York for the purpose of concerting a plan for
the ensuing campaign. Operations equally extensive with those proposed for

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the preceding campaign were again contemplated. To ensure their success.
It was determined to raise ten thousand men for the
expedition against Ground, point six thousand for that against nat Agra,
and three thousand for that against Fort Duquine, to favor
the operations of this formidable force. It was farther determined
that two thousand men should advance up the Kennebec, destroy

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the settlement on the Chaudier, and descending to the mouth
of that river, keep all that part Canada in alarm.
In the meantime, it was proposed to take advantage of
the season, when the lake should be frozen, to seize
Ticonderoga in order to facilitate the enterprise against Crown Point.
This project was defeated by the unusual mildness of the winter,

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and about the middle of January General Shirley repaired to
Boston in order to make the necessary preparations for the
ensuing campaign. Such was a solicitude to accomplish the objects
in contemplation, and so deep in interest did the colonists
take in the war, that every nerve was strained to
raise and equip the number of men required. Seventeen fifty
six command bestowed on Lord Louden. Having made in Massachusetts

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all the preparations for the next campaign, so far as
depended on the government, Shirley repaired to Albany, where he
was superseded by Major General Abercrombie, who soon afterwards yielded
the command to the Earl of Louden. Early in the
year that nobleman had been appointed to the command of
all His Majesty's forces in North America, and extensive powers

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civil as well as military, had been conferred on him,
but he did not arrive at Albany until Midsummer. In
the spring, the provincial troops destined for the expedition against
ground Point were assembled in the neighborhood of Lake George.
They were found not much to exceed seven thousand men,
and even this number was to be reduced in order
to garrison posts in the rear, this armor being too

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weak to accomplish its object. Major General Winslow, who commanded it,
declared himself unable to proceed on the expedition without reinforcements.
The arrival of a body of British troops with General
Abercrombie removed this difficulty, but another occurred, which, still farther,
suspended the enterprise. The regulations respecting rank had given great

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disgust in America and had rendered it disagreeable and difficult
to carry on any military operations which required a junction
of British and provincial troops. When consulted on this delicate subject.
Winslow assured General Abercrombie of his apprehensions that if the
result of the junction should be to place their provincial
troops under British officers, it would produce general discontent and

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perhaps desertion. His officers concurred in this opinion, and it
was finally agreed that British troops should succeed the provincials
in the posts then occupied by them, so as to
enable the whole colonial force to proceed under Winslow against
Crown point. On the arrival of the Earl of Loudon
this subject was revived. The question was seriously propounded whether

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the troops in the several colonies of New England, armed
with His Majesty's arms, would, in obedience to his commands
signified to them, act in conjunction with his European troops
or under the command of his commander in chief. The
colonial officers answered this question the affirmative, but entreated it
as a favor of his lordship, as the New England
troops had been raised on particular terms, that he would

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permit them, so far as might consist with His Majesty's service,
to act separately. This request was succeeded to, but before
the army could be put in motion, the attention both
of the Europeans and provincials was directed to their own defense.
Montcomb takes Oswego. Monsieur de Montcomb, a naval officer who
succeeded Discau in the command of the French troops in Canada,

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sought to compensate by superior activity for the inferiority of
his force. While the British and Americans were adjusting their
difficulties respecting rank and deliberating whether to attack nat Agra
or Fort Ducaine, Montcom advanced, at the head of about
five thousand Europeans, Canadians and Indians against Oswego. In three days,
he brought up his artillery and opened a battery which

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played on the fort with considerable effect. Colonel Mercer, the
commanding officer, was killed, and in a few hours the
place was declared by the engineers to be no longer tenable.
The garrison, consisting of the regiments of Shirley and Pepperrell,
amounting to sixteen hundred men, supplied with provisions for five months,
capitulated and became prisoners of war. A respectable naval armament

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then on the lake was also captured. The fort at
Oswego had been erected in the country of the Five Nations,
and had been viewed by them with some degree of jealousy,
woncom actuated by a wise policy, destroyed in their presence,
declaring at the same time that the French wished only
to enable them to preserve their neutrality, and would therefore
make no other use of the rights of conquest than

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to demolish the fortresses which the English had erected in
their country to overawe them. The British general, disconcerted at
this untoward event, abandoned all his plans of offensive operations.
General Winslow was ordered to relinquish his intended expedition and
to fortify his camp and endeavor to prevent the enemy
from penetrating into the country by the way of South

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Bay or Wood Creek. Major General Webb, with fourteen hundred men,
was posted at the Great Carrying Place, and to secure
his rear, Sir William Johnson, with one thousand militia, was
stationed at the German Flats. These dispositions being made, the
colonies were strenuously urged to reinforce the army. It was
represented to them that should any disaster befall Winslow, the

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enemy might be enabled to over run the country, unless
opposed by a force much superior to that in the
field small pox in Albany. During this state of apprehensive inactivity,
the small pox broke out in Aubany. This enemy was
more a dreaded by the provincials than Montcalm himself. So
great was the alarm that it was found necessary to
garrison the posts in that quarter entirely with British troops,

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and to discharge all the Provincials except that regiment raised
in New York. Thus terminated for a second time in
defeat and utter disappointment. The sanguine hopes which the colonists
had formed of a brilliant and successful campaign. After all
their expensive and laborious preparations, not an effort had been
made to drive the invaders of the country, even from
their outposts at Ticonderoga. The expedition to Lake Ontario had

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not been commenced, and no preparations had been made for
that against Fort Ducaine. The colonies of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia,
far from contemplating offensive operations, had been unable to defend themselves,
and their fronts were exposed to all the horrors of
Indian warfare. The expedition of the Kennebec was also abandoned.
Thus no one enterprise contemplated at the opening of the

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campaign was carried into execution. Seventeen fifty seven, about the
middle of January, the governors of the northern provinces were
convened in a military council at Boston. The Earl of
Louden opened his proposition to them, with the speech in
which he attributed all the disasters that had been sustained
to the colonies, and in which he proposed that New
England should raise four thousand men for the ensuing campaign.

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Requisitions proportionably large were also made on New York and
New Jersey campaign of seventeen fifty seven. The ill success
which had thus far attended the combined arms of Great
Britain and her colonies did not discourage them. Their exertions
to bring a powerful force into the field were repeated,
and the winter was employed in preparations for the ensuing campaign.

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The recquisitions of Lord Louden were complied with, and he
found himself in the spring at the head of a
respectable army some important enterprise against Canada. When the armament
expected from Yorkshire are rife was eagerly anticipated, and the
most sanguine hopes of success were again entertained. Admiral Holborn
arrives Is, joined by Lord Lauden. In the beginning of July.

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Admiral Holborn reached Halifax with a powerful squadron and reinforcement
of five thousand British troops commanded by George Viscount Howe,
and on the sixth of the same month, the Earl
of Loudon sailed from New York with six thousand regulars.
A junction of these formidable armaments was effected without opposition,
and the Louden colonists looked forward with confidence for decisive

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blow which would shake the power of France and America.
The expedition against louis Burg relinquished. The plan of this
campaign varied from that which had been adopted in the
preceding years. The vast and complex movements heretofore proposed were
no longer contemplated, and defensive operations were to be confined
to a single object, leaving the posts and the lakes

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strongly garrisoned. The British General determined to direct his whole
disposable force against louis Bourg, and fixed on Halifax as
the place of rendezvous for the fleet and all army.
After assembling the land and naval forces at this place,
information was received that a fleet had lately arrived from France,
and that louis Burg was so powerfully defended as to
render any attempt upon it hopeless. In consequence of this intelligence,

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the enterprise was deferred until the next year. The General
and Admiral returned to New York in August, and the
provincials were dismissed. The French general, feeling no apprehension Fort
louis Burg, determined to avail himself of the absence of
a large part of the British force and to obtain
complete possession of Lake George. With an army collected chiefly

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from the garrisons of Crown Point, ticonder Roga and the
adjacent forts, amounting with the addition of Indians and Canadians
to nine thousand men. The Marquis de mont Comb laid
siege to Fort William Henry. That place was well fortified
and garrison by three thousand men, and derived additional security
from an army of four thousand men at Fort Edwards
under the command of Major General Webb Fort William Henry taken.

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Notwithstanding the strength of the place and its means of defense,
Montcalm urged his approaches with so much vigor that articles
of capitulation surrendering the fort, artillery instores and stipulating that
the garrison should not serve against his most Christian Majesty
or his allies for the space of eighteen months were
signed within six days after its investment. When this important

(29:17):
place was surrendered, the commander in chief had not returned
from Halifax. General web alarmed Fort Edward, applied for reinforcements,
and the utmost exertions were made to furnish the aids
he required. The return of the army to New York
on the last of August dispelled all fear of an
invasion and enabled the General, who contemplated no farther active operations,

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to dismiss the provincials. Unsuccessful in all his attempts to
gather laurels from the common enemy, the Earl of Loudon
engaged in a controversy with Massachusetts, in the commencement of
which he displayed a degree of vigor, which had been
kept in reserve for two campaigns. This controversy is thus
stated by mister Mineaux. Upon information from the Governor that

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a regis of Highlanders was expected in Boston, the General
Court provided barracks for the accommodation of one thousand men
at Castle Island. Soon afterwards, several officers arrived from Nova
Scotia to recruit their regiments. Finding it impracticable to perform
this service while in the barracks at the Castle, they
applied to the Justices of the Peace to quarter and

(30:20):
billet them, as provided by Act of Parliament. The Justices
refused to grant this request on the principle that the
Act did not extend to the colonies. When informed of
this refusal, Lord Laudon addressed a letter to the Justices
insisting peremptorily on the right as the Act did, in
his opinion, extend to America and to every part of
the King's dominions where the necessities of the people should

(30:43):
oblige him to send his troops. He concluded a long
dissertation on the question in the following decisive terms, that,
having used gentleness and patience, and confuted their arguments without effect,
they having returned to their first mistaken plant. There Not
complying would lay him under the ness of taking measures
to prevent the whole continent from being thrown into a

(31:03):
state of confusion, as nothing was wanting to set things right,
but the justices doing their duty, for no act of
the Assembly was necessary or wanting for it. He had
ordered the messenger to remain only forty eight hours in Boston,
and if on his return he found things not settled,
he would instantly order into Boston the three battalions from
New York, Long Island and Connecticut, And if more were wanting,

(31:25):
he had two in the Jerseys at hand, besides those
in Pennsylvania. As public business obliged him to take another route.
He had no more time left to settle this material affair,
and must take the necessary steps before his departure in
case they were not done by themselves. The General Court
passed a law for the purpose of removing the inconveniences
of which the officers complained, but this law not equaling

(31:48):
the expectations of Lord Loudon. He communicated his dissatisfaction in
a letter to the Government, which was laid before the
Assembly who answered by an address to His Excellency, in
which the spirit of their fathers seemed to revive. They
again asserted that the Act of Parliament did not extend
to the colonies, that they had for this reason enlarged
the barracks that the castle, and passed the law for

(32:10):
the benefit of recruiting parties as near the Act of
Parliament as the circumstances of the country would admit. Thus
such a law was necessary to give power to the magistrates,
that they were willing to make it whenever His Majesty's
troops were necessary for their defense. They asserted their natural
rights as Englishmen, that by the Royal Charter, the powers
and privileges of civil government were granted to them, that

(32:32):
their enjoyment of these was their support under all burdens,
and would animate them to resist an invading enemy to
the last. If their adherents do their rights and privileges
should in any measure less in the esteem which His
Lordship had concealed for them, it would be their great misfortune,
but that they would have the satisfaction of reflecting them
both in their words and actions. They had been governed

(32:53):
by a sense of duty to his majesty and faithfulness
to the trust committed to them. This address, being forwarded
to Lord Loud, effected to rely on their removing all
difficulties in future, and not only countermanded the march of
the troops, but condescended to make some conciliatory observations respecting
the zeal of the province in his Majesty's service. For
these the two houses made an ample return in a

(33:15):
message to the Governor, in which they disavowed any intention
of lessening their dependence on Parliament and expressed to acknowledged
the authority of all acts which concerned and extended to
the colonies. This explicit vowal of sentiments so different from
those which Massachusetts had long cherished respecting her connection with
the mother country, would induce a belief that she had
recently become more colonial in her opinions. This was probably

(33:39):
the fact, but mister Minou, who may be presumed to
have been personally acquainted with the transaction, does not attribute
to that cause entirely. The conciliating temper manifested at the
close of a contest which had commenced with such appearances
of asperity. Massachusetts had made large advances for the prosecution
of the war, for which she expected reimbursements from Parliament.

(34:00):
Was not willing at such a juncture to make impressions
unfavorable to the success of her claims. End of Chapter eleven,