The New Hampshire Gazette

BOSTON, March 27.

Thursday last His Excellency our Governor was pleas'd to send the following Message to both Houses.

Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives,

I Perceive that an Opinion prevails abroad, and perhaps it is too well grounded, that in some former Expeditions, Sums of Money have been given to some of the Colonels for their Recommendations to Commissions in their Regiments. I have an Abhorrence of such Practices, and unless some Care is taken to prevent them for the future, I am afraid of very bad Consequences. The only Rule of my Conduct in appointing Officers is the Fitness of Men for the Service; and for their Characters I must depend on other People, as I have not a personal Knowledge of a Sufficient Number. But if these Characters can be purchased with Money,—what a Situation are we in? I recommend this Affair to your Speedy and serious Consideration.

Council Chamber,

T. Pownall.

March 23d. 1758.

To which Message the two Houses returned the following Answer.

May it please your Excellency,

His Majesty's Council and the House of Representatives beg leave to express their hearty and unfeigned Gratitude for that Zeal shewn by your Excellency against Bribery and Corruption: for your declared abhorrence of them, and your earnest desires that care may be taken to prevent any Enormities of that Kind. And they do assure your Excellency they are desirous to join in their Endeavours with You, that as much as may be, Crimes so reproachful to any People may not be found among us, or that the Perpetrators of them may be brought to condign Punishment, and have accordingly prepared a Bill for those Purposes, which we doubt not will meet with your Excellency's Approbation.

The good Time is at Length arrived, when we may retrieve the Mistakes we have committed in the Conduct of the present War. We have endeavoured at an immense Charge, only to lop the Branches, without laying the Ax to the Root of the Tree. A united and vigorous Attempt upon Canada has been long desir'd and expected, as the best Method to decide the Contest between us and our perfidious Enemies; and to dry up the Source of those Calamities which we have severely felt from the French and their Savage Allies.

Agreeable to our Wishes, we are now call'd upon to carry the War into the Heart of the Enemy's Country; and if we exert ourselves with Spirit, such a Spirit as New England has discovered upon some former Occasions, we have the fairest Prospect, by the Blessing of Heaven, of destroying at a Blow, that Power that has so long harassed us, and threatened our Destruction, Delenda est Carthago; Canada must be destroyed, is the Voice of the Sovereign; Let it be propagated along our Coast; let it penetrate our Woods--Let it echo from our Hills and Vales, and rouse the Sons of New-England to Arms.

Never had a People more to fight for and defend than we; never was a Call to Action more strong and piercing. Can we forbear to rise at once and make a united and animated Effort to secure to ourselves and to our Posterity, all that is worth possessing? --Is there a Man among us, who can look with Indifference upon the present Crisis? Is there a Man whose Bosom does not glow with an honest Ardor, to defend his inestimable Right as a British Subject; his Religion as a Protestant; and the fair Inheritance which our Fathers have transmitted to us? -to vindicate the Honor of the best of Kings, and to revenge the Encroachments, the Insults, the Breach of Treaties, and the unexampled Cruelties we have so long endured.--What Numbers of our Ancestors in former Days, and our Brethren more lately; what Numbers of tender Women and innocent Children, have pined away in a miserable Captivity; or been murdered and Scalped by the French and their Indians, whom they support and stimulate to practise these Barbarities.--

But perhaps the Time is coming, when righteous Heaven will regard Sighs that have been sent from gloomy Dungeons, Prayers prefer'd in Bitterness of Soul, and the Cry of Blood, shed like Water, in Violation of plighted Faith, & in a Manner shocking to Humanity.

If War is in any Circumstances lawful; if it was ever right; if it was ever noble for a People to secure their Lives, their Privileges and Possessions, by totally subduing a lawless and inhuman Enemy; certainly we must be justified, we must be applauded, and may hope for the Aid of Heaven, in attempting the Conquest of Canada: A Conquest to which we are provoked by every Motive that can warm a brave and generous Heart.

And if ever we engage in this most important and glorious Enterprize, when can we expect so favourable an Opportunity as the Present? Our gracious Sovereign has provided a large Armament, both by Sea and Land, to co-operate with us; the Discouragement of which the Provincial Officers have justly complain'd is now taken away; & they are advanc'd to an equal Rank with the British: An Honor which it is hoped they will prove themselves worthy to wear. The British Ministry and Nation are ardently intent upon this grand Design; and freely contribute the largest Supplies to support and effectuate it. -In short, the Spirit of the Mother Country, and the Assistance it affords us upon this Occasion, equal if not exceed our most sanguine Expectations.

-But amidst all these occurring Circumstances, so adapted to raise the most pleasing Hopes; it is Pity that by forgetting divine Providence and multiplying our Sins, we should provoke Heaven again to disappoint us: Of what Importance is it that we all reform our Manners, we have lately and very seasonably been reminded by a Proclamation from the Government. It is hoped then, that the People of New-England will engage in this Enterprize, with that Spirit of Piety, as well as true Bravery, which has formerly succeeded our Attempts, and rais'd our Reputation.- Our Duty is plain, to exert ourselves with the utmost Vigour, upon the present Occasion; --the grand Event is at the Disposal of Heaven. If we religiously perform the first, we may hope the best for the latter.

So agreeable were the Contents of Mr. Secretary Pitt's Letter, which was laid before the Court by his Excellency, that the House unanimously voted a Compliance with what was recommended; and notwithstanding such great Numbers of our People have lately entered into the King's Service, as Soldiers, Rangers, Battoe Men, Ship and House Carpenters, and Boat-Builders; yet such was the Zeal of our Government, that they voted to raise 7000 Men for the present Expedition.

On Wednesday last a Subscription was set on Foot by the General Court, to borrow a Sum of Money to pay the Bounty given by the Government to encourage the Inlisting of Soldiers for the present Expedition; when, notwithstanding the unhappy Circumstances of this Metropolis, and the enormous Taxes already paid, which amounts to 13s. and 6d. per Pound, on the Incomes of Estates, the Gentlemen of the Town engaged in it with such Alacrity, that in less than twenty-four Hours, there was subscribed near Twenty Thousand Pounds Sterling. And as the Gentlemen from all other Parts of the Province likewise engage in it with the same Spirit, it is expected the Sum wanted is already or will soon be compleated.