_The Rising Storms of War._
Aristocracy--Anecdote--Conflicting laws of
Nations--Franklin's scheme of colonization--Proposal of the
British Court--The foresight of Franklin--Braddock's
campaign--Remonstrances of Franklin and
Washington--Franklin's interviews with Braddock--Franklin's
efficiency--Confidence of Braddock--The conflict with the
Proprietaries--The non-resistant Quakers--Fate of the
Moravian villages--The winter campaign--The camp of
Gaudenhutton--Anecdote--Renewal of the strife with the
Proprietaries--Franklin recalled to assist the
Assembly--Destruction of the Fort--Claim of the
Proprietaries--The great controversy.
With increasing wealth the spirit of aristocratic exclusiveness gained
strength in the higher circles of Philadelphia. Some of the more
opulent families planned for a series of dancing entertainments during
the winter. It was proposed among other rules that no mechanic, or
mechanic's wife or daughter, should be invited. The rules were shown
to Franklin. He glanced his eye over them and pithily remarked,
"Why these rules would exclude God Almighty!"
"How so?" inquired the manager.
"Because," Franklin replied, "the Almighty, as all know, is the
greatest mechanic in the universe. In six days he made all things."
The obnoxious article was stricken out.
The following incident, narrated by Franklin, illustrates a very
important principle in political economy, which those are apt to
ignore, who denounce all the elegancies and luxuries of life.
Mrs. Franklin received some small favor from the captain of a little
coaster, which ran between Cape May and Philadelphia. He declined to
receive any remuneration for his trifling services. Mrs. Franklin,
learning that he had a pretty daughter, sent her a new-fashioned
Philadelphia cap or bonnet. Three years after, the captain called
again at the house of Mr. Franklin. A very plain but intelligent
farmer accompanied him. The captain expressed his thanks to Mrs.
Franklin for the gift she had sent his daughter, and rather
discourteously added,
"But it proved a dear cap to our congregation. When my daughter
appeared with it at meeting, it was so much admired that all the girls
resolved to get such caps from Philadelphia. And my wife and I
computed that the whole could not have cost less than a hundred
pounds."
The farmer, with far higher intelligence, said, "This is true; but
you do not tell the whole story. I think the cap was nevertheless an
advantage to us. It was the first thing that put our girls upon
knitting worsted mittens, for sale at Philadelphia, that they might
have wherewithal to buy caps and ribbons there. And you know that that
industry has continued and is likely to continue and increase, to a
much greater value, and answer better purposes."
"Thus by a profitable exchange, the industrious girls at Cape May had
pretty bonnets, and the girls at Philadelphia had warm mittens."
For seventy-five years it had been the constant design of the British
government to drive the French from North America. England claimed the
whole country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, because her ships had
first sailed along the Atlantic coast. It was one of the recognized
laws of nations that a newly discovered region belonged to the nation
who had first raised upon it its flag.
France, admitting the claim of England to the Atlantic coast, asserted
her right to the great valleys of the interior, those of the Ohio and
the Mississippi, because her boatmen had first discovered those
magnificent rivers, had explored them throughout, and had established
upon them her trading and military posts. It was a recognized law of
nations, that the power which discovered, explored, and took
possession of a new river, was the rightful possessor of the valley
which that river watered. Thus the conflict of claims originated.
To add to the intensity of the insane strife, which caused an amount
of blood and misery which no tongue can tell, religious bitterness was
aroused, and the French Roman Catholic was arrayed against the British
Protestant.
Three wars, bloody and woful, had already ravaged this continent. We
have before alluded to the menace of a new war in the year 1754, and
to Franklin's mission to Albany to enlist the chiefs of the Six
Nations to become allies of the English. We have also alluded to the
plan, which Franklin drew up on this journey, for the union of the
colonies, and which was rejected. The wisdom of this plan was,
however, subsequently developed by the fact that it was remarkably
like that by which eventually the colonies were bound together as a
nation.
Assuming that the English were right in their claim for the whole
continent, Franklin urged the eminently wise measure of establishing
strong colonies, in villages of a hundred families each, on the
luxuriant banks of the western rivers. But the haughty British
government would receive no instructions from American provincials.
Governor Shirley, of Boston, showed Mr. Franklin a plan, drawn up in
England, for conducting the war. It developed consummate ignorance of
the difficulties of carrying on war in the pathless wilderness; and
also a great disregard of the political rights of the American
citizens. According to this document, the British court was to
originate and execute all the measures for the conduct of the war; and
the British Parliament was to assess whatever tax it deemed expedient
upon the American people to defray the expenses. The Americans were to
have no representation in Parliament, and no voice whatever in
deciding upon the sum which they were to pay.
Franklin examined the document carefully, and returned it with his
written objections. In this remarkable paper, he anticipated the
arguments which our most distinguished statesmen and logicians urged
against the Stamp Act--against Taxation without Representation. A
brief extract from this important paper, will give the reader some
idea of its character:
"The colonists are Englishmen. The accident of living in a
colony deprives them of no right secured by Magna Charta. The
people in the colonies, who are to feel the immediate
mischiefs of invasion and conquest by an enemy, in the loss
of their estates, lives and liberties, are likely to be
better judges of the quantity of forces necessary to be
raised and maintained, and supported, and of their own
ability to bear the expense, than the Parliament of England,
at so great a distance. Compelling the colonists to pay money
without their consent, would be rather like raising
contributions in an enemy's country, than taxing of
Englishmen for their own public benefit. It would be treating
them as a conquered people, and not as true British
subjects."
At length the brave, but self-conceited and haughty General Braddock
came with his army of British Regulars. Frenchmen, Indians, and
Americans, he alike regarded with contempt. His troops were
rendezvoused at Fredericktown, in Maryland. A bridle path led through
the wilderness to this place, from Philadelphia, a distance of a
hundred and twenty miles.
Intelligent American gentlemen were much alarmed, by the reckless and
perilous measures which the ignorant British general declared his
intention to pursue. He became very angry with Pennsylvanians, because
they were so unwilling to fall in with his plans. It was said that, in
his anger, he manifested more desire to ravage Pennsylvania than to
defeat the French.
The Assembly at Philadelphia appointed a commission, consisting of
Benjamin Franklin and his son, a resolute, insubordinate man of thirty
years, and of the Governors of New York and Massachusetts, to visit
the arrogant British officer, and to endeavor, in some way, to
influence him to wiser measures. It was the middle of April, a
beautiful season in that climate, of swelling buds, and opening
leaves.
Each of the four gentlemen was attended by servants, as was customary
in those days. They were all finely mounted. Joyfully they rode along,
seeking entertainment each night at the residence of some planter. A
courier was always sent forward to announce their coming, and the
planter, accompanied by one or two of his servants, would generally
ride forward a few miles to meet them, and escort them to his
hospitable home.
Franklin was received by Gen. Braddock with the condescension with
which, in that day, English gentlemen were ever accustomed to regard
Americans of whatever name or note. The little army, which was to
march upon Fort Duquesne, was to traverse the dreary and pathless
ridges and ravines of the Alleghany mountains, and force their way
through a tangled wilderness, for a distance of several hundred miles.
During all this march they were hourly exposed to be attacked by an
overpowering force of French and Indians. The French could easily
descend to the Ohio, in their boats from Canada, and nearly all the
Indians of this vast interior, were in alliance with them.
Braddock insisted upon encumbering his march with heavily laden
wagons, which were to penetrate savage regions through which he must,
every mile, construct his road. There was a young American in the camp
by the name of George Washington. He was a man of the highest rank,
and of commanding influence, having obtained much experience in Indian
warfare. Modestly, but warmly, he remonstrated against this folly. He
not only feared, but was fully assured that such a measure would lead
to the inevitable destruction of the army. He urged that pack horses
only should be employed, and as few of them as possible; and that thus
they should hurry along as rapidly and in as compact a mass as they
could.
But Braddock was inexorable. He demanded his two hundred and fifty
wagons, and a large train of pack horses, to be laden with sumptuous
provisions for his officers. The farmers of Maryland and Virginia were
reluctant to expose the few wagons and teams they had, to such
inevitable destruction. Neither had they any confidence that the
British Government would ever remunerate them in case of their loss.
Four-wheeled vehicles were very scarce in the colonies. There were
many people who had never seen one. The general, after exhausting all
his efforts, could obtain but twenty-four. One day as he was giving
vent to his indignation, Franklin suggested that it would probably be
much more easy to obtain wagons in the more densely settled parts of
Pennsylvania. Braddock immediately urged him to undertake the
enterprise. Unwisely, we think, he consented. With his son he hastened
to Pennsylvania, and selected Lancaster, York, and Carlisle as his
centres of operation.
Whatever Franklin undertook, he was pretty sure to accomplish. In
twenty days he obtained one hundred and fifty four-horse wagons, and
two hundred and fifty-nine pack-horses. He did not accomplish this
feat however, until he had exhausted all the money which Braddock had
furnished him, had spent over a thousand dollars of his own money, and
had given bonds for the safe return of horses and wagons, whose money
value was estimated at one hundred thousand dollars.
Braddock was lavish in his compliments. Franklin dined with him daily.
The idea seemed never to have entered Braddock's mind that British
Regulars, under his command, could ever be seriously annoyed by bands
of French and Indians. He said one day,
"After taking Fort Duquesne, I shall go to Niagara. Having taken that,
if the season will permit, I shall proceed to Fort Frontenac. Fort
Duquesne can hardly detain me more than three or four days."
Franklin, who was well aware that Braddock was entering upon a far
more formidable campaign than he anticipated, ventured very modestly
to suggest,
"To be sure, sir, if you arrive well before Duquesne with the fine
troops so well provided with artillery, the fort, though completely
fortified, and assisted with a very strong garrison, can probably make
but a short resistance. The only danger I apprehend of obstruction to
your march, is of ambuscades of the Indians, who, by constant
practice, are dexterous in laying and executing them. And the slender
line, near four miles long, which your army must make, may expose it
to be attacked by surprise in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread
into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot come up in
time to support each other."
Braddock smiled derisively, at this ignorance of a benighted American.
"These savages may indeed," he said, "be a formidable enemy to your
raw American militia. But upon the king's regular and disciplined
troops, it is impossible that they should make any impression."
Colonel Washington regarded the wagons, and the long array of
pack-horses, as so many nuisances, arresting the rapidity of their
march, and inviting attacks which it would be impossible to repel. At
length the army was in motion. The progress was very slow. Franklin
was continually forwarding supplies; and even advanced between six and
seven thousand dollars, from his own purse, to expedite purchases. A
part of this he never received back.
The attack upon Braddock's army, and its terrible defeat soon came. A
minute account of the conflict is given in the Life of George
Washington, one of the volumes of this series. The teamsters cut the
traces of their horses, mounted the swiftest, and, in the frenzy of
their panic, rushed for home. The other horses and the wagons, with
their abounding supplies, were left to magnify the triumph of the
exultant Indians. Disastrous as was the campaign, Franklin obtained
much credit for the efficient services he had rendered.
War, with all its horrors, had now penetrated the beautiful region of
Pennsylvania, which had enjoyed eighty years of peace, through the
Christian philanthropy of William Penn. Nearly all of the Indians,
beyond the mountains, were allies of the French. The news of
Braddock's defeat reached Philadelphia about the middle of July, 1755.
Immediately a violent conflict arose between the royalist governor
Morris, and the Colonial Assembly. The Legislative body voted liberal
taxes for the public defence. But very justly it was enacted that
these taxes should be assessed impartially upon all estates alike,
upon those of the wealthy Proprietaries, as well as upon the
few hundred acres which were owned by the humble farmers. The
Proprietaries, consisting of two of the sons of William Penn, revolted
against this. The Governor, appointed by them, as their agent of
course, united with them in opposition. For many weeks the conflict
between the Assembly and the Governor as agent of the Proprietaries,
raged fiercely. Under these circumstances no military supplies could
be voted, and the peril of the community was very great.
Franklin warmly espoused and eloquently advocated the claim of the
Assembly. During the months of July and August, the Indians, satiated
with the vast plunder of Braddock's camp, made no attempt to cross the
Alleghanies, in predatory excursions against the more settled portions
of Pennsylvania. But September and October ushered in scenes of horror
and carnage, too awful to be depicted. Villages were laid in ashes,
cottages were burned, families tomahawked and scalped, women and
children carried into captivity, and many poor creatures perished at
the stake, in the endurance of all the tortures which savage ingenuity
could devise.
And still the Quakers, adhering to their principle of non-resistance,
refused to contribute any money, or in any way to unite in any
military organization for self-defence. But in candor it must be
admitted, that had the principles of the Quakers been adopted by the
British court, this whole disastrous war might have been avoided. It
was a war of invasion commenced by the English. They were determined,
by force of arms, to drive the French out of the magnificent valleys
beyond the mountains. In the conflict which ensued, both parties
enlisted all the savages they could, as allies. Will not England at
the judgment be held responsible for this war and its woes?
To rouse the Quakers to a sense of shame, the bodies of a whole
murdered family, mutilated and gory, were brought to Philadelphia and
paraded through all its streets, in an open wagon. In November, as the
Indians, often led by French officers, were sweeping the frontier in
all directions, killing, burning, destroying, the antagonistic parties
in the Assembly, for a time laid aside their quarrels, and with the
exception of the Quakers, adopted vigorous military measures. The
Quakers were generally the most opulent people in the State. It is not
strange that the common people should be reluctant to volunteer to
defend the property of the Quakers, since they refused either to
shoulder a musket, or to contribute a dollar.
The pen of Franklin rendered wonderful service in this crisis. With
his accustomed toleration, he could make allowance for the frailties
of conscience-bound men. He wrote a very witty pamphlet which was very
widely read, and produced a powerful impression. Its character may be
inferred from the following brief quotation:
"'For my part,' says A., 'I am no coward; but hang me if I
fight to save the Quakers.'
"'That is to say,' B. replied, 'you will not pump the
sinking ship, because it will save the rats as well as
yourselves.'"
The dialogue ends with the following admirable words:
"O! my friends, the glory of serving and saving others is
superior to the advantage of being served and secured. Let
us resolutely and generously unite in our country's cause,
in which to die is the sweetest of all deaths; and may the
God of armies bless our honest endeavors."
The colonists of Pennsylvania now generally rushed to arms. There
were, on the frontiers, several flourishing Moravian villages. They
were occupied by a peculiarly industrious and religious people. The
traveller through their quiet streets heard, morning and evening, the
voice of prayer ascending from many firesides, and the melody of
Christian hymns. Guadenhutton, perhaps the most flourishing of them,
was attacked by the Indians, burned, and the inhabitants all massacred
or carried into captivity. Terrible was the panic in the other
villages. They were liable at any day, to experience the same fate.
Under these circumstances the Governor raised five hundred and forty
volunteers, and placed them under the command of Franklin, with the
title of General. He was to lead them, as rapidly as possible, to
Northampton county, for the protection of these people. His son,
William, was his aid-de-camp. He proved an efficient and valiant
soldier.
It was the middle of December when this heroic little band commenced
its march. Snow whitened the hills. Wintry gales swept the bleak
plains, and moaned through the forests. The roads were almost
impassable. Fierce storms often entirely arrested their march. The
wilderness was very thinly inhabited. It required the toil of a month,
for Franklin to force his way through these many obstructions to the
base of his operations, though it was distant not more than ninety
miles.
The troops moved very cautiously to guard against ambush. The
philosopher, Franklin, though he had never received a military
education, and was quite inexperienced in military affairs, was the
last man to be drawn into such a net as that in which the army of
Braddock was destroyed.
Franklin, as a philosopher, could appreciate the powerful influence of
religious motives upon the mind. Rev. Mr. Beatty was his chaplain,
whose worth of character Franklin appreciated. Before commencing their
march, all the troops were assembled for a religious service. After an
earnest exhortation to fidelity and duty, a fervent prayer was
offered.
The march was conducted with great regularity. First, scouts advanced
in a semi-circular line, ranging the woods. Then came the advanced
guard, at a few hundred paces behind. The centre followed, with all
the wagons and baggage. Then came the rear guard, with scouts on each
flank, and spies on every hill.
Upon reaching Guadenhutton, an awful scene of desolation and carnage
met the eye. The once happy village presented now but a revolting
expanse of blackened ruins. The mangled bodies of the dead strewed the
ground, mutilated alike by the savages and the howling wolves.
Franklin ordered huts immediately to be reared to protect his troops
from the inclemency of the weather. No man knew better than he, how to
make them comfortable and cheerful with the least expense.
A fort was promptly constructed, which he called Fort Allen, and which
could easily repel any attack the Indians might make, unless they
approached with formidable French artillery. There were many
indications that the Indians, in large numbers, were hovering around,
watching all their movements. But the sagacity of Franklin baffled
them. They kept concealed without any attack. The savages were very
cautious men; they would seldom engage in a battle, unless they were
sure of victory.
A trifling incident occurred at this time, worthy of record as
illustrative of the shrewdness of General Franklin.
The chaplain complained that the men were remiss in attending prayers.
Franklin suggested that though it might not be exactly consistent with
the dignity of the chaplain to become himself the steward of the rum,
still, if he would order it to be distributed immediately after
prayers, he would probably have all the men gathering around him.
"He liked the thought," Franklin wrote, "under took the task, and
with the help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed
it to satisfaction. Never were prayers more generally and more
punctually attended. So that I think this method preferable to the
punishment inflicted by some military laws for non-attendance on
divine worship."
Bitter quarrels were renewed in the Assembly. The presence of Franklin
was indispensable to allay the strife. Governor Morris wrote
entreating him immediately to return to Philadelphia. It so happened
at this time, that Col. Clapham, a New England soldier of experience
and high repute, visited the camp at Guadenhutton. Franklin placed him
in command, and warmly commending him to the confidence of the troops,
hurried home. He reached Philadelphia on the 10th of February, 1756,
after two months' service in the field. Universal applause greeted
him. Several military companies, in Philadelphia, united in a regiment
of about twelve hundred men. Franklin was promptly elected their
colonel, which office he accepted.
In tracing the disasters of war, it is interesting to observe how many
of those disasters are owing to unpardonable folly. Some months after
Franklin's departure, on a cold, bleak day in November, a large part
of the garrison, unmindful of danger, were skating, like school-boys
on the Lehigh river. The vigilant Indians saw their opportunity. Like
howling wolves they made a rush upon the fort, entered its open
gates, and killed or captured all its inmates. The skaters fled into
the woods. They were pursued. Some were killed or captured. Some
perished miserably of cold and starvation. Probably a few escaped. The
triumphant savages, having plundered the fort and the dwellings of all
their contents, applied the torch, and again Guadenhutton was reduced
to a pile of ashes.
The controversy which arose between the Governor and the Assembly
became acrimonious in the extreme. The principles there contended for,
involved the very existence of anything like American liberty. For
fifteen years the pen and voice of Franklin were influential in this
controversy. He probably did more than any other man to prepare the
colonists to resist the despotism of the British court, and to
proclaim their independence.
On the 5th of January, 1681, King Charles the Second had conferred
upon William Penn twenty-six million acres of the "best land in the
universe." This land was in the New World, and received the name of
Pennsylvania. In return for this grant, Penn agreed to pay annually,
at Windsor Castle, two beaver skins, and one-fifth of the gold and
silver which the province might yield. He also promised to govern the
province in conformity with the laws of England.
He could treat with the savages, appoint ordinary magistrates, and
pardon petty crimes. But he could lay no tax, and impose no law
without consent of the freemen of the province, represented in the
Assembly.
Of this whole wide realm, Penn was the absolute proprietor. He refused
to sell a single acre, absolutely, but in all the sales reserved for
himself what may be called a ground-rent. Immense tracts were sold at
forty shillings, about ten dollars, for one hundred acres, reserving a
rent of one shilling for each hundred acres. He also reserved,
entirely to himself, various portions of the territory which promised
to become the site of important cities and villages. All these rights
descended to the heirs of William Penn.
Seventy-four years passed away, when the estate thus founded, was
estimated to be worth ten millions sterling, and popular belief
affirmed that it produced a revenue of one hundred thousand pounds.
Penn, when he died, bequeathed the province to his three sons, John,
Thomas, and Richard. To John he gave a double part, or one-half of
Pennsylvania. John died and left his half to Thomas, who thus became
proprietor of three-fourths of the province, while Richard held
one-fourth. Thus there were but two proprietors, Thomas and Richard
Penn. They were both weak men; resided in England, were thoroughly
imbued with Tory principles, and, in the consciousness of their vast
estates, assumed to be lords and princes.
They ruled their province by a deputy-governor. His position was
indeed no sinecure. The two proprietaries, who appointed him, could at
any time deprive him of office. The Assembly could refuse to vote his
salary, and if he displeased the king of England, he might lose, not
only his office, but his head.
The controversy which had arisen, in consequence of these involvements
between the proprietaries and the people, engrossed universal
attention. During the four years between 1754 and 1758, the ravaged
colony of Pennsylvania had raised the sum of two hundred and eighteen
thousand pounds sterling, (over a million of dollars,) for defending
its borders. And still the two lordly proprietaries demanded that
their vast possessions should be entirely exempt from taxation.
To an earnest remonstrance of the Assembly, they returned an insulting
answer, in which they said,
"We are no more bound to pay taxes than any other chief governor of
the King's colonies. Your agitation of this matter is a new trick to
secure your re-election. We advise you to show us the respect due to
the rank which the crown has been pleased to bestow upon us. The
people of Pennsylvania, in ordinary times, are so lightly taxed, that
they hardly know that they are taxed. What fools you are to be
agitating this dangerous topic of American taxation. It is beneath the
dignity of the Assembly to make trouble about such small sums of
money. We do not deny that you have been at some expense in pacifying
the Indians, but that is no affair of ours. We already give the
province a larger sum per annum, than our share of the taxes would
amount to. One of us, for example, sent over four hundred pounds'
worth of cannon, for the defence of our city of Philadelphia."
Such was their answer. It was conveyed in sixteen sentences which were
numbered and which were very similar to the ones we have given. The
communication excited great displeasure. It was considered alike false
and insolent. Even the tranquil mind of Franklin was fired with
indignation. He replied to the document with a power of eloquence and
logic which carried the convictions of nearly all the colonists.