But war was again imminent. As early as 1709 it had been considered advisable to build a line of defences across Boston neck, and up to 1718 much money had been spent upon it. The peaceful aspect of the affairs at that moment had been an inducement to disband the watch which they had kept there; but in 1721 it had been again set. Gov. Phillips, of Nova Scotia, had been in Boston to talk over the situation at the eastward, for the warnings of Rasle rendered a continuance of quiet doubtful. The younger Castin had been seized and taken to Boston,[244] and bloodshed could hardly be averted; for though peace existed between England and France, there was little question but the encroachments and ravages of the Indians were instigated from Quebec. Sewall tried to arrest the progress of events, and published his _Memorial relating to the Kennebec Indians_,—an argument for persuasion rather than for force. On July 25, 1722, Gov. Shute and his council declared war against the eastern Indians, and a harrowing struggle began.[245] On the 1st of January, 1723, guns at the Castle before sunrise told the town that Shute had sailed for England, and when the people were astir Boston Light was sinking behind him. He went to arraign the colony in person before the Privy Council, and never returned to his government. The conduct of affairs, meanwhile, fell to Dummer, the lieutenant-governor, who made Cotton Mather inexpressibly happy by what the divine called his wise and good administration. * * * * * [Illustration: BOSTON LIGHT AND THE PROVINCE SLOOP. Sketched from an old mezzotint, “W. Burgis del. and fecit,” and inscribed: “To the merchants of Boston this view of the Light House is most humbly presented By their Humble Serv^t, W^m. Burgis.” Its date is probably not far from 1712. See _Boston Record Commissioners’ Reports_, vii. 97.] New Hampshire had been included in Shute’s commission, but Vaughan, the lieutenant-governor, claimed that during Shute’s stay in Boston his direct authority lapsed, and his lieutenant was the resident executive. The strife and bickering which followed this assumption had been among Shute’s tribulations, which were somewhat mitigated when influence at London secured the displacement of Vaughan by John Wentworth.[246]