cated a person on suspicion of witchcraft, and who was hung, four years afterwards, recalled the sentence," that it might not stand against her to all generations." In conclusion it may be remarked, that no people on earth are now more enlightened on this subject than are the people of America. Nothing of a similar kind has since existed, and probably never will exist. Stories of wonder, founded upon ancient tradition, or upon a midnight adventure, sometimes awe the village circle on a winter's night, but the succeeding day chases away every ghost, and lulls every fear. It becomes the present generation to advert with gratitude to their freedom from those delusions which distressed and agitated their ancestors, rather than to bestow invectives upon them, since they could plead in palliation of their error-the spirit of the age in which they lived. Sec. 4. Scarcely were the colonies relieved from the oppression of king James, before they were visited with troubles of a nature still more distressing. The revolution, which followed the accession of William and Mary, had indeed restored their liberties, but it involved them in a war both with the French and Indians, which continued from 1690, to the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, commonly called "King William's War." King James, on leaving England, fled to France. Louis XIV., king of France, attempting to support him, kindled the flame of war between his own country and England. The subjects of Louis, in Canada, of course directed their arms against the colonies of New-England and New-York, and instigated the Indians to join them in their hostilities. Count Frontenac, a brave and enterprising of ficer, was now the governor of Canada. Inflamed with the resentment which had kindled in the bosom of his master, Louis XIV. of France, against William, for his treatment of Jarnes, he fitted out three expeditions, in the dead of winter, against the American colonies-one against NewYork, a second against New-Hampshire, and a third against the province of Maine. Each of these parties, in the execution of their orders, marked their progress with plunder, fire, and death. The party destined against New-York, consisting of about three hundred men, in February, fell upon Schenectady, a village on the Mohawk. The season was cold, and the snow so deep, that it was deemed impossible for an enemy to approach. The attack was made in the dead of the night, while the inhabitants were in a profound sleep. Not a sentinel was awake to announce the approaching danger. Care had been taken, by a division of the enemy, to attack almost every house in the same moment, When the preparations were ready, on a preconcerted signal, the appalling war whoop was begun; houses were broken open and set on fire; men and women were dragged from their beds, and, with their sleeping infants, were inhumanly murdered. Sixty persons perished in the massacre, thirty were made prisoners, while the rest of the inhabitants, mostly naked, fled through a deep snow, either suffering extremely, or perishing in the cold. The second party, directing their course to New-Hampshire, burned Salmon Falls, killing thirty of the bravest men, and carrying fifty-four of the inhabitants into a miserable captivity. The third party, proceeding from Quebec, destroyed the settlement of Casco, in Maine, and killed and captured one hundred people. Sec. 5. Roused by these proceedings of the French, the colony of Massachusetts resolved to attack the enemy in turn. Accordingly an expedition consisting of seven vessels, and eight hundred men, under command of Sir William Phipps, sailed for the reduction of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, which was easily and speedily effected. A second expedition, under the same commander, was soon after resolved upon by the colonies of New-York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, united, for the reduction of Montreal and Quebec. A combination of unfortunate circumstances, however, defeated the design, and the expedition, after encountering numerous hardships and disasters, returned. The plan was, for the troops of New-York and Connecticut, consisting of about two thousand, to penetrate into Canada, by Lake Champlain, and to attack Montreal, at the same time that the naval armament, consisting of between thirty and forty vessels, with a similar number of men, should invest Quebec. The troops destined for Montreal not being supplied, either with boats or provisions, sufficient for crossing the lake, were obliged to return. The naval expedition did not reach Quebec until October. After spending several days in consultation, the landing of the troops was effected, and they began their march for the town. At the same time the ships were drawn up; but the attack, both by land and water, was alike unsuccessful. The troops were soon after re-embarked, and the weather, proving tempestuous, scattered the fleet, and terminated the expedition. The success of the expedition had been so confidently cal culated upon, that provision had not been made for the payment of the troops; there was danger, therefore, of a mutiny. In this extremity, Massachusetts issued bills of credit, as a substitute for money; the first emission of the kind in the American colonies. Sir William Phipps, to whom the above expeditions were entrusted, was a native of New-England. The extraordinary incidents of his life will serve to exhibit the powerful spirit of personal enterprise which the peculiar circumstances of the colonies called forth. The place of his birth, which happened in 1650, was a small plantation, on the river Kennebeck, at that time nearly the limit of the English settlements on the east. His father was a gun-smith, who had a family of twenty-six children by one wife, twenty-one of whom were sons, of which William was nearly the youngest. His father dying while he was quite a lad, he lived with his mother until his eighteenth year, during which time he was chiefly concerned in the care of sheep. Contrary to the wishes of his friends, he now indented himself as an apprentice to a shipcarpenter, for four years, in which time he became master of his art. Upon the expiration of his service, he went to Boston, where he followed his trade about a year, during which he learned to read and write, and in which time he was respectably married. Failing of that success in his trade, which his enterprising genius coveted, he turned his attention to the sea, and * during his first voyage, hearing of a Spanish wreck near |