92 Industrial Experiments in Colonial America. 



of £5 for every tree so marked. The governor tried to get this 

 act passed in Massachusetts, but, although it went through the 

 Council, it failed to pass the Assembly.^ 



Owing to the nature of his office and, possibly also, to the 

 arbitrary manner in which he defended the " king's preroga- 

 tive" in the woods, Bridger came to be very much disliked. 

 Mr. Mico had a special grudge against him, and, according to 

 Bridger's story, threatened to turn him out if it cost £10,000." 

 Another of his enemies, John Phillips, charged him with bribery 

 and corruption in selling privileges to the people to cut trees 

 and allowing others to send masts out of the country without 

 a license.'^ To make his position more secure, Bridger sug- 

 gested to the Board of Trade a plan by which he could serve 

 several ends at once. If he could be made Lieut. Governor of 

 New Hampshire and Captain of Fort Ann, with sixty men, a 

 lieutenant and an ensign, he proposed to set forty men to work 

 in the woods part of the time, at 12 pence per day in addition 

 to their wages as soldiers; by this means he would engage to 

 make from 1,500 to 2,000 barrels of tar a year. The position, 

 moreover, would give him greater authority in his office as sur- 

 veyor. Under the present circumstances, he complained, his 

 life was threatened, for he was in danger of being shot if he went 

 into the woods.* 



Bridger had now held his office for ten years, and there was 

 talk of his removal. Fearing that in spite of his protests, the 

 slander of his enemies was gaining credence with the Board of 

 Trade, he returned to England in January, 171 5, to counteract 

 the movement against him and petition for the renewal of his 

 commission.'"' Colonel Burgess, who expected to go over to 



iCopy of Act of Massachusetts Bay, B. T. New Eng., S: 10. 



2Mr. Bridger to the Board of Trade, Feb. 1710, B. T. New Eng,, 

 S: 89. 



^Memorial against Mr. Bridger from John Phillips, B. T. New 

 Eng., Entry Bk. H., Aug. i, 1710. 



iMr. Bridger to the Board of Trade, B. T. New Eng., T: 32. 



^Memorandum that Bridger's petition for the renewal of his com- 

 mission has been referred to the Board of Trade, B. T. New Eng., 

 V: 50. 



