New England writers describe him as honest in private dealings; but,
in accordance with his coarse nature, he seems to have thought that
any thing is fair in war. On the other hand, he was warmly patriotic,
and was almost as ready to serve New England as to serve himself.
[Footnote: An excellent account of Phips will be found in Professor
Bowen's biographical notice, already cited. His Life by Cotton Mather
is excessively eulogistic.]
When he returned from Port Royal, he found Boston alive with martial
preparation. A bold enterprise was afoot. Massachusetts of her own
motion had resolved to attempt the conquest of Quebec. She and her
sister colonies had not yet recovered from the exhaustion of Philip's
war, and still less from the disorders that attended the expulsion of
the royal governor and his adherents. The public treasury was empty,
and the recent expeditions against the eastern Indians had been
supported by private subscription. Worse yet, New England had no
competent military commander. The Puritan gentlemen of the original
emigration, some of whom were as well fitted for military as for civil
leadership, had passed from the stage; and, by a tendency which
circumstances made inevitable, they had left none behind them equally
qualified.
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