The great Indian conflict of fifteen years before had, it
is true, formed good partisan chiefs, and proved that the New England
yeoman, defending his family and his hearth, was not to be surpassed
in stubborn fighting; but, since Andros and his soldiers had been
driven out, there was scarcely a single man in the colony of the
slightest training or experience in regular war. Up to this moment,
New England had never asked help of the mother country. When thousands
of savages burst on her defenceless settlements, she had conquered
safety and peace with her own blood and her own slender resources; but
now, as the proposed capture of Quebec would inure to the profit of
the British crown, Bradstreet and his council thought it not unfitting
to ask for a supply of arms and ammunition, of which they were in
great need. [Footnote: _Bradstreet and Council to the Earl of
Shrewsbury, 29 Mar., 1690; Danforth to Sir H. Ashurst, 1 April,
1690._] The request was refused, and no aid of any kind came from the
English government, whose resources were engrossed by the Irish war.
While waiting for the reply, the colonial authorities urged on their
preparations, in the hope that the plunder of Quebec would pay the
expenses of its conquest. Humility was not among the New England
virtues, and it was thought a sin to doubt that God would give his
chosen people the victory over papists and idolaters; yet no pains
were spared to ensure the divine favor.
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