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troops, and supplies, to co-operate by land, in the reduction of Canada, as has been noticed under New-Hampshire. The colonies, as far south as Pennsylvania, met the requisition with cheerfulness, and furnished the men, &c.

Connecticut raised her quota of men with great expedition, and the hearts of the colony, as well as of NewEngland were engaged in the enterprise. The colonial troops were ready in May, 1709, assembled at Albany, and took the field, under the command of General Nicholson; but the time had not yet arrived for so great a deliverance ; God by his special providence, called the fleet to a differ ent service in Europe, and the enterprise failed, as has been noticed.

The failure of this expedition was oppressive to the colonies, in expense, in the loss of men by sickness, and in the boldness the enemy assumed in their ravages; yet all this was borne with firmness, and they agreed to call a convention of the governors of the several colonies, to meet at Rehoboth in Massachusetts, to settle a plan for the further prosecution of the reduction of Canada, and to petition her majesty for her support, with a fleet and armament. General Nicholson, with several of his principal officers, met in the convention, and assisted with their advice. The council resolved that a petition be presented to her majesty, expressing the alacrity with which the colonies had engaged in the expedition the last year, as well as their disposition to engage in a new expedition, for the same purpose, this year; and praying her majesty to furnish a fleet and armament acordingly. This resolution met the approbation of the general assembly, in October; they also united in a petition from the colony of Connecticut, and chose Governor Saltonstall as their special agent, to present it to her majesty.* The first bills of Connect

* Governor Saltonstall declined the agency, and the petition was sent forward to her Majesty.

icut were emitted at this time, to meet the exigencies of the colony

Under all this pressure of the war, the settlements progressed, and the towns of Hebron, Killingly, and Ridgefield, were incorporated in 1607, 8, and 9.

This expediton against Canada, began to lay that foundation of union in interest, and effort, between New-England, New-York, and the colonies to the south, which has grown up with their settlements, in the support of the common cause. These ravages of the enemy were a sore calamity, when considered in themselves; but when considered in their effects, in producing that union of interest, in defence and support of the common cause in New-England, and in rendering their discordant interests subservient to the public good, this curse became a blessing, and laid the foundation of all those blessings of national union, which have grown out of it, and will continue to grow out of it, so long as our national union shall be preserved. The ravages of the common enemy upon the frontiers, taught our fathers the necessity of union; may their descendants, to the latest generation, remember the blessings that have flowed from it, as well as the curses that flowed from an enemy's frontier, and frown forever, with indignation, upon the man who should presume to favour a division of this union. May they also remember that such a division, wherever it might fall, would open an enemy's frontier, as extensive, as lasting, and as bloody, as the conflicting passions of man could be made to effect. That the scenes of Europe, would be acted over again in America, and her fields would be drenched in blood.

The assembly of New-York were unanimous in an address to her majesty, upon the subject of a new armament from England, and sent the illustrious Colonel Schuyler, as their agent, to present it. General Nicholson went over to England, to support the cause of the colonies, and an

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armament was obtained in the spring, against Port Royal, as has been noticed. General Nicholson was appointed to the command of this expedition: Connecticut furnished her quota of men, transports and supplies, and the expedition was crowned with success, October 22d, 1710.

Upon the reduction of Port Royal, its name was changed to Annapolis Royal, in honor of her majesty. The success of this expedition filled the hearts of the people with joy; and their joy flowed in grateful emotions to God their protector and deliverer; and to the queen for her kind and benevolent care of her colonies.

Flushed with the success of this expedition, General Nicholson repaired again to England, to solicit her majesty for a fleet and armament against Quebec; and in June, 1711, he returned to Boston, with tidings that a fleet and armament would shortly follow him. Her majesty made an immediate requisition of men, &c. upon the colonies of New-England, New-York, New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania, to support an expedition against Canada, together with a supply of provisions for the armament from England, for ten days. A congress of the several governors of these colonies assembled at New-London, agreeable to appointment, and the general courts of Massachusetts and Connecticut were convened. The fleet arrived-joy beamed in every countenance; the assembly voted to raise three hundred and sixty men, as the quota of the colony, and transport them to Albany, with military supplies for the expedition; together with an address of gratitude to her majesty. They also appointed a special committee to express the thanks of the assembly to his Excellency General Nicholson, for his services in behalf of the colonies, and to congratulate him upon his late success against Port Royal, and to assure him of their cordial support. The convention at New-London, entered cordially and unanimously into the requisitions of her majesty, and all was joy, effort, and enterprise throughout the colonies.

In one month the whole expedition was ready. The fleet sailed from Boston July 30th, with the armament from England, and the levies from the eastern colonies ; and in five days after this, the troops of Connecticut, New-York, and New-Jersey, were reviewed by General Nicholson at Albany. Such unity, energy, and dispatch, had never been witnessed in New England. To exterminate the French from Canada, was to extinguish the torch that set fire to their dwellings, and bury the hatchet, and the scalping knife, that butchered their he roes, and shed the blood of the aged, the infant, and the mother; and convert into friends the merciless savages, who by their ravages laid waste their cornfields, as well as their dwellings, and dragged their families into captivity; but God had not yet prepared his church for these bless ings; he had yet many favours to bestow upon them, which were destined to flow through their sufferings. Discord, and division in the fundamental doctrines of their religion, distracted the church ;* and this religious discord, would have caused their political discord, if they had been delivered from the pressure of the common enemy.

The strength of the expedition, in all its parts, was considered adequate to the magnitude of the object, and every heart flowed with anxious confidence in its success; but a cloud soon overshadowed the brightest prospects. The fleet entered the St. Lawrence the 14th of August; on the 22d, it was inveloped in a thick fog, in the midst of a gale, that shattered their fleet, dashed their transports against the rocks, and buried a great part of the armament in the sea. The admiral abandoned the enterprise, and set sail for England; and the remnant of the provincial armament re

*See Cotton Mather's Magnalia, and Trumbull's History of Connecticut, upon the New-England Synod, and upon the Connecticut Synod, or assembly of ministers. These religious controversies interested the passions and feelings of the churches, as well as the people, as strongly as the ravages of the enemy.

VOL. I.

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turned to their homes. The fleet arrived in England October 9th, when a 70 gun ship blew up with the loss of her crew, and their numerous friends, who were on board to welcome their return.

Such a succession of disasters strongly agitated the public mind, both in England and America, and parties accused each other with violence; but the church saw "that the lot was cast into the lap, and the whole disposal thereof was of the Lord."

The enemy took courage and renewed his ravages, and the whole country was in a state of alarm. A special assembly was convened in November, to unite with the other colonies, in sending out their pilots to England, to explain to her majesty the causes of the late disasters, and to petition her majesty for another fleet and armament, for the same purpose. This mission passed without notice. At the same time Connecticut ordered the Superior Court, to hold circular sessions in the several county towns, to try the causes of the several counties. New-Town and Coventry were incorporated this year. In 1712, New-Milford was incorporated, and in 1713, the long contested boundary lines, between Connecticut, Massachusetts, and RhodeIsland, were amicably settled, by commissioners, from each of the colonies. This year the peace of Utrecht hushed the storm in Europe, and gave some repose to the colonies.

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