The New Hampshire Gazette

BOSTON, October

YESTERDAY the Great and General Court or Assembly of the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, met at the Court-House in this Town, being the Time to which it was prorogued; when his Excellency the Governor was pleased to open this second Session of the present Assembly with the following SPEECH to both Houses, viz.

Gentlemen of the Council, and House of Representatives,

AFTER our devout and most unfeigned Thanks to Almighty GOD that He hath given us the Victory, I do most heartily congratulate you on the Blessings that must be the Consequence of it.

By the Reduction of the Island Cape Breton, and its Dependencies, the Key of the Enemy's Only Port is given to us: We have again the uninterrupted Possession of the North-American Seas, and the Powers of Trade are again restored to His Majesty's Subjects.

By the Measures taking in Consequence of this grand Stroke, the Enemy must be totally shut out from any Possessions on the Coast of Atlantick, from Labrador to Florida.

By the Destruction of Fort Frontenac, and the Enemy's whole Naval Force, their Stores and Magazines at Cadarqui, the Dominion of the Lakes, which, sooner or later, must be the Dominion of America, is again restored to the British Empire.

By the good Work now in Hand, the very Gates of Canada must, we trust in GOD, be put into our Hands: We have received a Check, which has somewhat delayed Matters, and no Wonder that we should at the Post which the Enemy defends as their very Gates: But we have put our Hand again to the Plough, and if we do not look back, it must go over the very Foundation of the Enemy's Country.

His Majesty's most gracious Promises have been a great Encouragement to you, and the very Foundation that enabled you to make the Efforts you have done. His Majesty hath recommended to Parliament the Service you engaged in the Year 1756; and you will see they have accordingly granted £.27,380 19s. 11d. 1-2d Sterling to reimburse you the Expences you incurred in supplying Provisions to the Troops that Campaign. This gracious and paternal Regard in His Majesty; this kind and affectionate Attention in the Parliament of Great-Britain to the Interest of this Province, cannot but affect us with the warmest Gratitude; and be an earnest, a certain Assurance, that we shall never fail of receiving from thence, a Compensation for our Services in proportion to the Spirit with which at any Time we shall exert them.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

As it is your Method, and what is thought prudent for a young Country, to make a Temporary Provision for the Troops which you may from Time to Time as Occasion may arise, and the Service may require, I must recommend to your Consideration such further Provision as the present State of the Service may require--For the Troops with General ABERCROMBIE; For the Forts on the Frontiers; For the Ship King George.

There have some Expences arisen by sending of Such of our Soldiers to the Army as the Officers did not collect and take with them when they march'd.; and some by sending back such as they suffered to return. As the General Court have done so much to assist and support the Levies both in their Grants and in the Laws they provided, sure 'tis but Justice that if there be any by whose Faults these Expences have arisen, they should bear them.

I cannot here omit making my publick Acknowledgments to his Honour the Lieut. Governor for the Labour he took, and the Effects his Labours had, in stopping some Evils that were arising from these Faults.

Having been informed, that Numbers of our People, who have been dismissed from the Service as unfit by Sickness for farther Duty, were lying upon the Roads in great Want and Distress: As Duty towards Distress, but especially to Distress brought on by serving the Publick requires, I have with the Advice of His Majesty's Council sent forward Mr. Foye to see that such as are real Objects of publick Care, be taken care of properly, and on proper Terms, and that such as are not, be not suffered to loiter upon the Road, but be sent to their respective Places,

by which I should hope on One Hand, that none who are in Distress will be neglected, and on the other, that such endless Accounts as have been sent in on these Occasions, may be avoided.

Being also applied to in very pressing Terms, that the Sick of our Troops were dying for want of Medicines proper for Camp Disorders. I could not suffer the People to die, while I examined the Propriety of this fresh Application, tho' so much had been already granted Some such Medicines therefore have been sent to Our People.

Gentlemen of the Council, and House of Representatives.

Amidst the Blessings that have attended the General Service, I must acquaint you, that the Enemy, unable to resist, and not daring to withstand these Operations, where the general Forces are collected, have by several Attempts turn'd their Arms against the Eastern and Western Frontiers of this Province, by its Situation, alone uncovered with the general Operations and weakened by the Numbers we have sent off to that service. I received Information from Brigadier Monckton, commanding in Nova-Scotia, that the Enemy, in Conjunction with the Indians of St. Johns and Penobscot, were meditating an Attempt against George's Fort, and the Settlements there.-- The Attempt was made; but by the Measures taken to oppose it, I have the Pleasure to acquaint you that the Attempt was without Effect. I had some Men at the Castle, which were intended for the Western Forces: These with Stores and Ammunition were thrown into George's Fort as a Reinforcement. The fitting out the Sloop Massachusetts (already in the Pay of this Government) as a Tender to the King George, is all the Expence the Government will incur on this Occasion:

THE State and Situation of our Frontiers become every Day more and more critical. I must therefore earnestly recommend them to your most serious Consideration. - I shall direct the Secretary to lay before you all Papers relating to the Matters of your Consideration.

October 3, 1758.

F. Pownall.