The latter tribe fell upon a party of twenty men under Captains Wheeler and Hutchinson, (August 12,) killing nearly all of them They then proceeded to Brookfield, which but for timely alarm from the fugitives, would have been completely surprised. It was be sieged two days, partially fired, and various expedients adopted to force an entrance. The arrival of reinforcements for the garrison obliged the besiegers to retire.

On the 5th of September, a battle was fought at Deerfield, in which twenty-six Indians were killed and ten colonists. Six days after, the Indians burned the town. Hadley, south of Deerfield, was, on the same day, (the Sabbath,) attacked by a party of the enemy. A singular incident occurred here. While the inhabitants were collected in terror and confusion, an unknown person, of venerable aspect, suddenly appeared, and after restoring order, led them against the Indians, who were speedily dispersed. The leader then suddenly disappeared. Of course, the inhabitants considered him a special messenger from heaven; but it was afterwards ascertained to have been William Goffe, the proscribed judge of Charles I.

On the 28th, a sanguinary conflict took place on a small stream south of Deerfield. Eighty young men, under Captain Lathrop, were surrounded by a thousand Indians, and, with but a few exceptions, massacred. During the action, Captain Mosey, with seventy men, arrived from Deerfield; but, after a struggle of several hours, was driven back. The battle was finally terminated by a reinforcement of a hundred colonists, and sixty friendly Indians. From this occurrence, the stream of water was subsequently known as Bloody Brook. On the 15th of October, Springfield was attacked and burned by the savages; but most of the inhabitants had, through timely warning, been enabled to escape. Hatfield was next assaulted, (October 29,) but without success. Immediately after, Philip induced the Narragansetts to join him, notwithstanding their treaty with the colonists.

Hitherto the colonists had acted in small bands, without any definite plan; but the successes of their formidable enemy soon caused a union for mutual defence. Massachusetts, Plymouth Bay, and Connecticut, raised fifteen hundred men, under Governor Winslow, who, with a number of friendly Indians, proceeded against the Narragansetts. On the 28th of December, the forces of the three colonies were united at Petaquamscot, and marched through a deep snow, toward the enemy, who was encamped at about fifteen miles'

distance, in a large swamp. The English arrived there at about one o'clock in the afternoon, and immediately marched forward in quest of the enemy's camp. The whole army entered the swamp, following the Indians as they retreated into their fortress. On attacking this, they were at first driven back; but, in a second attempt, they carried the fortification, fired the wigwams, and massacred all within reach. Numbers of women and children perished in the flames. The fugitives fled to a neighbouring swamp. Their loss has been estimated at a thousand, and that of the colonists two hundred and thirty. The Narragansett warriors afterward proceeded to the Nipmuck country.

Although this action was a severe blow to the enemy, yet Philip was by no means disheartened. By his influence, the more northern tribes were brought down upon the settlements, and the war became more general than ever. But the spirit of the colonists was fully aroused, and almost every attempt of the Indians was promptly and successfully resisted. Hunted from place to place, and disheartened by continual defeat, they began to come in by small parties and surrender. Philip was compelled to fly from the Mohawks, among whom he had taken refuge; and now with a large party he lurked near Mount Hope. Here, on the 2d of August, he was surprised by Captain Church, a hundred and thirty of his men killed, and his wife and son taken prisoners. He himself barely escaped. The wretched prince now sought to secrete himself in the depths of a

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swamp, but was betrayed by a deserter belonging to his own tribe. When the colonists surrounded the place, (August 22,) he attempted to escape by flight, but was shot by a friendly Indian. His death broke up the confederacy, although some of the northern Indians continued hostile, until 1678.

In 1680, New Hampshire was separated from Massachusetts, and erected into a separate province-a measure which seems to have been unpopular with both colonies. Soon after, Charles II. declared the Massachusetts charter forfeited, in consequence of the stand taken by that province, in opposition to his commercial restrictions. This was followed by similar attacks on the neighbouring colonies; but in the midst of his arbitrary schemes the king died. His successor followed the same policy, deprived the provinces of their charters, and appointed Sir Edmond Andros royal governor of New England. This gentleman rendered himself so obnoxious by his arbitrary measures, as to receive the title of New England's tyrant; and when, in April, 1689, news reached Boston of the accession of the Prince of Orange, he was thrown into prison, with his officers, and subsequently sent under arrest to England. This was followed by a return to the charter governments.

URING King William's war, New York and New England united in an expedition against Canada. Massachusetts furnished the naval, and her sister province the land forces; but the enterprise failed, in consequence of the return of the latter troops, and the arrival of a large French army at Quebec. To pay the expenses of the expedition,

bills of credit were issued for the first time in America. In 1692, a royal government was established in New England, by which the Plymouth Bay colony was united to Massachusetts, and New Hampshire erected into a separate colony.

When Massachusetts, having nobly struggled through political difficulties, seemed approaching a tranquil state, a drama opened, whose scenes, though peculiarly painful, may yet afford a useful lesson to the student of history. The belief in witches-wicked beings endued with supernatural power by the great enemy of

mankind-was at one time general throughout Europe; and gave way very slowly before the progress of light and civilization. James I. placed much of his learned pride in the skill with which he traced the signs of a witch; such discoveries being always followed by the most inhuman persecutions against these unhappy persons. The Puritans and Presbyterians, however opposite in other matters, were not in this respect much wiser; hence the New Englanders went out with this belief, which still prevailed among the most learned of their countrymen.

MONG the first cases of this delusion was that of a daughter and niece of Mr. Paris, minister of Salem. These children were afflicted with a sense of choking, and as though pins were stuck into the skin, accompanied with inability to speak, and hysteric contortions of the limbs. Unable to suggest

a remedy, the physicians at length declared their patients "under an evil hand." An Indian domestic, falling under suspicion, was immediately thrown into prison. Mr. Burroughs, a respectable clergyman, was executed, because he denied the existence of witches. Soon, no age, sex, or condition was spared, and the cases became so numerous that the prisons of Salem could no longer contain the crowds of suspected persons. The whole colony was filled with distress and fear. The principal people formed themselves into an association to meet "this dreadful assault from hell." They appointed a solemn fast, that the Lord might be induced "to rebuke Satan, and show light to his people in this day of darkness;" following which was a series of trials, that relentlessly denounced death on all found guilty of this fearful charge.

Nothing is more astonishing than the confessions of the suspected persons. They display a superstition and fanaticism, together with a state of society which requires the most undoubted evidence to be believed. The colony was reduced to a dreadful condition. Nineteen had suffered death; eight more were under sentence; one hundred and fifty were in prison, and fresh crowds were continually thrust in. Charges were brought against persons of the first consequence; no man's character, property, nor life were for a moment secure; and even those most active in prosecuting, learned, with horror, that their own spectres were beginning to walk abroad, commit ting actions that would bring them to a fatal end. A feeling was at length aroused that matters had gone too far; and soon after an assembly of ministers, convened by the governor, went far toward discountenancing capital punishment on witches. Of fifty-six cases presented at the ensuing sessions, thirty were ignored by the grand jury, and but three of the remainder condemned. Immediately after, with the general concurrence of the people, the governor threw open the prison doors, and stopped all further proceedings.

Massachusetts, from this time until the Seven Years' War, enjoyed, like the other colonies, a course of prosperity, chequered only by some internal agitations. She took a very active part in the military operations of successive wars waged by the British against the French colonies and their Indian allies.

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EANWHILE the domestic affairs of the province ceased to exhibit those violent fluctuations which had hitherto distracted it. Lord Bellamont, who went out as governor in 1699, was extremely popular; and it was to the great regret of the people he was transferred to New York, after fourteen months' administration. He was succeeded by Dudley, who, on account of his peculiar opinions on government, seems to have been no great favourite. After twelve years he was succeeded by Colonel Shute.

In 1727, he was succeeded by Burnet, a very accomplished per son, and who, at New York, had made himself extremely acceptable. Under him, however, the question of income came to a crisis. The Assembly, much mortified by having, under the charter of William, been deprived of the choice of a governor, endeavoured to keep him still under their influence by granting his salary only from year to year, and varying its amount according as he had given satisfaction. This arrangement was very disagreeable to him, and still more to the ministry at home, against whose power it was directly levelled. Burnet, relying on their support, pressed with great vehemence for a permanent salary; but it was strenuously resisted, and the controversy was suspended by his death in 1729. The cabinet then sent out Belcher, who had formerly acted as their agent, but with distinct instructions to insist on this point, which, it was hoped, his great popularity might gain. He does not, however, seem to have entered on the undertaking very heartily; and when the Assembly passed a liberal vote, he obtained permission to accept it. Though