Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/188

164 opened the General Court with formal speeches, copies of which were delivered to the two Houses and afterward printed. We give an extract or two, as illustrating the style and manner of proceeding, as well as the sentiments of the new governor. His first speech, a very long one by the by, concluded in these terms: "I should be wanting to you and myself too, if I did not put you in mind of the indispensable duty and respect we owe the king, for being the glorious instrument of our deliverance from the odious fetters and chains of popery and tyranny, which have almost overwhelmed our consciences and subverted all our civil rights. There is something that is godlike in what the king hath done for us. The works of redemption and preservation come next to that of creation. I would not be misunderstood, so as to be thought to rob God of the glory of that stupendous act of his providence, in bringing to pass the late happy and wonderful revolution in England. His blessed work it was, without doubt, and He was pleased to make King William, immediately, the author and instrument of it. Ever since the year 1602, England has had a succession of kings, who have been aliens in this respect, that they have not fought our battles nor been in our interests, but have been, in an unnatural manner plotting and contriving to undermine and subvert our religion, laws, and liberties, till God was pleased, by His infinite power and mercy and goodness, to give us a true English king in the person of his present majesty, who has, upon all occasions, hazarded his royal person in the fronts of our battles, and where there was most danger; he has restored to our nation the almost lost character of bravery and valor; and, what is most valuable of all, his majesty is entirely in the interest of his people. It is therefore our duty and interest to pray to God, in the most fervent manner, that He would bless our great King William with a long and prosperous reign over us, to which I am persuaded, you that are present and all good people will heartily say, Amen." His last speech has more in the same strain: "The parting with Canada to the French, and the eastern country called Acadia or Nova Scotia, with the noble fishery on that coast, were most execrable treacheries to England, and intended, without doubt, to serve the ends of popery. It is too well known what interest that king favored who parted with Nova Scotia, and of what religion he died."

The noted pirates or buccaneers having been deprived of French and English support, by the remonstrances of Spain, were compelled in a great measure to give up their lawless mode of life. Some of them settled at the west end of Hayti; others stuck to the old trade, and in various places they were received and even winked at by the colonial authorities. A company was formed, King William himself taking shares, to cruise for recapturing the rich prizes which the pirates had made. Curiously enough as it seems to us now, the famous Captain Kidd, was put in command of a ship fitted out for this purpose. Kidd, at that time, bore a good character;