a ship to transport the French Protestants, would be a profitable adventure.

Whether a vessel was sent, or not, we are unable to determine. The difficulty of escaping from the kingdom, by any means whatever, must have been extreme, and attended with the utmost peril. Every attempt must have been made in the very face of the edict, which prohibited a departure from the realm on the severest penalties. One of the articles of the edict of revocation was: "And we do most straitly again repeat our prohibitions unto all our subjects of the pretended Reformed religion, that neither they nor their wives nor children do depart our kingdom,-countries, or lands of our dominion, nor transport their goods and effects, on pain, for men so offending, of their being sent to the gallies, and of confisca tion of bodies and goods for the women."

It is certain, however, that a considerable number of Protestants by some means effected their escape from France, and came over to America; and authentic papers, in our possession, seem to imply, that their transportation and settlement were provided for by men of the first distinction in New England.

By the records of the town of Oxford, it appears, that, in the year 1682, the General Court of Massachusetts granted to Joseph Dudley, afterwards Governor of the province, William Stoughton, afterwards lieutenant governor and commander in chief, Major Robert Thompson, and their associates, a tract of land in the northwesterly part of the province, now known by the name of OXFORD, in the county of Worcester. This tract was "of eight miles square, and situated in the Nipmug country," so called from a tribe of Indians, of that name, in its vicinity. Soon after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the proprietors "brought over thirty French Protestant families into this country, and settled them upon the easternmost part or end of the said tract of land-"* In an original MS." Delineation of the town of Oxford," lying before me, it is laid out in lots in the names of the original proprietors. Between eleven and twelve thousand acres, at the east end, were "severed, granted, and set apart for a village called Oxford, for the said families."t

* Oxford Town Records. These Records, reciting the grounds of forfeiture in 1713, say: "The said Joseph Dudley and their associates in the year 168- brought over 30 French Protestant families," leaving the year uncertain. The Rev. Mr. Whitney, in his History of the County of Worcester, says, it was "in the year 1686."

+ See APPENDIx, B.

and kingdoms opened their arms to receive them. Abbadie, Ancillon, and others fled to Berlin; Basnage, Claude, Du Bosc, and many others, to Holland; Allix, with many of his brethren to England; very many families, to Geneva; and no inconsiderable number, to America.

It was while the storm was bursting upon them, in the year preceding the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, that the Prostestants of Rochelle looked towards America, for an asylum. At an earlier period, indeed, they had applied to the Massachusetts government for this purpose; and, although they did not then avail themselves of the liberty given them, they were now encouraged by the remembrance of it. So early as the year 1662, "John Touton, a French doctor and inhabitant of Rochel in France, made application to the court" of Massachusetts, "in behalf of himself and other Protestants expelled from their habitations on account of their religion, that they might have liberty to inhabit there, which was readily granted to them." Their state, it would seem, was tolerable at that time, and they endured it; but at the time of the revocation, it was evidently insupportable. As they drew nigh that crisis, there were harbingers of "the windy storm and tempest." A declaration against the Protestants in 1681, was the forerunner of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In 1682, the Assembly of the clergy of France issued a "warning to the pretended Reformed," for so they styled the Huguenots, "to return to the bosom of the church." This menace, with the portentous indications accompanying and following it, must have been sufficient to warn the Protestants of the impending danger, and to incite them to concert measures for escaping it. The asylum which had been solicited and promised twenty years before, was again sought, and a renewed application made for it, in New England.

By a "Letter, written from Rochel, the 1st of October, 1684," to some person in Massachusetts, it appears, that some Protestants in that city were robbed, their temple razed, their ministers banished, their goods confiscated, and a fine imposed; that they were not allowed to become "masters in any trade or skill;" that they were in daily expectation to have soldiers put in their houses, and their children taken from them. The writer observes, that this country, New England, was in such high estimation, that many Protestants were intending to come to it; inquires what advantage they can have here, and particularly "the boors," who were accustomed to agriculture; and suggests, that the sending over of

a ship to transport the French Protestants, would be a profitable adventure.

Whether a vessel was sent, or not, we are unable to determine. The difficulty of escaping from the kingdom, by any means whatever, must have been extreme, and attended with the utmost peril. Every attempt must have been made in the very face of the edict, which prohibited a departure from the realm on the severest penalties. One of the articles of the edict of revocation was: "And we do most straitly again repeat our prohibitions unto all our subjects of the pretended Reformed religion, that neither they nor their wives nor children do depart our kingdom,-countries, or lands of our dominion, nor transport their goods and effects, on pain, for men so offending, of their being sent to the gallies, and of confiscation of bodies and goods for the women."

It is certain, however, that a considerable number of Protestants by some means effected their escape from France, and came over to America; and authentic papers, in our possession, seem to imply, that their transportation and settlement were provided for by men of the first distinction in New England.

By the records of the town of Oxford, it appears, that, in the year 1682, the General Court of Massachusetts granted to Joseph Dudley, afterwards Governor of the province, William Stoughton, afterwards lieutenant governor and commander in chief, Major Robert Thompson, and their associates, a tract of land in the northwesterly part of the province, now known by the name of Oxford, in the county of Worcester. This tract was "of eight miles square, and situated in the Nipmug country," so called from a tribe of Indians, of that name, in its vicinity. Soon after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the proprietors "brought over thirty French Protestant families into this country, and settled them upon the easternmost part or end of the said tract of land."* In an original MS." Delineation of the town of Oxford," lying before me, it is laid out in lots in the names of the original proprietors. Between eleven and twelve thousand acres, at the east end, were 66 severed, granted, and set apart for a village called Oxford, for the said families."t

* Oxford Town Records. These Records, reciting the grounds of forfeiture in 1713, say: "The said Joseph Dudley and their associates in the year 168- brought over 30 French Protestant families," leaving the year uncertain. The Rev. Mr. Whitney, in his History of the County of Worcester, says, it was "in the year 1686."

+ See APPENDIX, B.

These imperfect notices are all that we have been able to discover, of the time and the manner of the transportation of the French Protestants to New England. How long they continued on their plantation, what were their occupations, and what their progress in improvements, we have not been able precisely to ascertain. It appears, however, that the united body of settlers continued ten years at least, on the plantation; that they erected fortifications upon it; that they sat up a grist mill and a malt mill; that they planted vineyards and orchards-remains of which are still to be seen; and that they acquired the right of representation in the provincial legislature. Of this last fact, the public records preserve the evidence; for in the year 1693, an act was passed by the Massachusetts government, empowering Oxford to send a representative to the General Court.*

Every thing concerning this interesting colony of exiles has hitherto been learnt from tradition, with the illustrations derived from scanty records and original manuscripts. Many of these manuscripts, which are generally written in the French language, were in the possession of Mr. Andrew Sigourney, of Oxford, and the rest were principally procured by Mr. Sigourney for the compilation of this Memoir.t

The oldest Manuscript that I have seen, is an original paper, containing "Articles of Agreement between Caleb Church of Watertown, mill-wright, and Gabriel Bernon of Boston, merchant," concluded in March, 1689, by which the said Church covenants, and agrees to "erect a corn or grist mill, in the village of Oxford.” This instrument was sealed and delivered in presence of J. Berrand Du Tuffeau. "THO. DUDLEY."

Church's acknowledgment of a receipt "in full following our bargain," is signed at "Boston, 4th Februarii, 168 9 the witnesses of which were Peter Basset and Gabriel Depont. The pa

90

* Mr. Whitney, who takes a very slight notice of the French settlement in Oxford, mentions this act, as appearing" by the records in Secretary's office of the Commonwealth."

+Mr. Andrew Sigourney is a descendant from the first of that name whe was among the original French settlers of Oxford. To his kindness I am indebted for nearly all my materials for this part of the Memoir. After giving me every facility at Oxford, in aid of my inquiries and researches, he made a journey to Providence for the sole purpose of procuring for me the Bernon papers, which he brought to me at Cambridge. These papers were in the possession of Philip Allen, Esq. of Providence, who married into the Bernon family; and who has since indulged me with the MSS. to the extent of my wishes.

per is endorsed, "Contract de Mr. Church pour le Moulin de New Oxford."

We can clearly trace the French plantation down to the year 1696; at which time it was broken up by an incursion of the Indians. By original manuscripts, dated that year and at subsequent periods, it appears, that Gabriel Bernon, a merchant, of an ancient and respectable family in Rochelle, was undertaker for the Planta tion, and expended large sums for its accommodation and improveAn original paper in French, signed at Boston, in 1696, by the principal settlers, certifies this fact in behalf of Mr. Bernon; and subjoins a declaration, that the massacre of Mr. Johnson, and of his three children by the Indians was the melancholy cause of his losses, and of the abandonment of the place.*

ment.

Upon the dispersion of the French settlers from Oxford, it appears, that many, if not most of them, came to Boston. From the distinction which many of the families attained in the metropolis it may be fairly inferred, that they approved themselves to the citizens, whose hospitality they experienced, and to whose encouragement and patronage they must have been greatly indebted for their subsequent prosperity. They appear to have adhered to the principles, and, so far as they were able, to have maintained the institutions of religion, according to the Reformed church in France. It was for their religion that they suffered in their native country; and to enjoy its privileges, unmolested, they fled into the wilderness. While at Oxford, they enjoyed the ministrations of a French Protestant minister. Of their religious affairs, however, we have no distinct account, until their settlement in Boston, after the Indian Massacre in 1696.

It is well known that the French refugees had a church of their own in Boston, where they, for many years, attended divine service. The Rev. Peter Daille was their first minister; and he was highly esteemed. He was succeeded by the Rev. Andrew Le Mercier, who is described as "a worthy character." He was the author of "The Church History of Geneva, and a Political and Geographical Account of that Republic," printed at Boston, in 1732. By intermarriages and otherwise, it appears that, in process of time, the French families became so blended with the other inhabitants of the town, as to render a separate and distinct religious service either unnecessary, or impracticable; for, in the life time of Mr. +See APPENDIX, D.

*See APPENDIX, C.