Production Note
Cornell University Library
produced this volume to preserve
the informational content of the
deteriorated original. The best
available copy of the original has
been used to create this digital
copy. It was scanned bitonally at
600 dots per inch resolution and
compressed prior to storage using
ITU Group 4 compression. Conversion
of this material to digital files
was	supported by the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Digital file copyright by Cornell
University Library 1995.
This volume has been scanned
as part of The Making of America
Project, a cooperative endeavor
undertaken to preserve and enhance
access to historical material from
the nineteenth century.THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.“ Three millions of people, the genuine descendants of a
valiant and pious ancestry, driven to those deserts by the narrow
maxims of superstitious tyranny, cannot be conquered. And is
the spirit of tyrannous persecution never to be repealed ? Are
the brave sons of those brave forefathers to inherit their sufferings
as they have inherited their virtues ?91
Earl Chatham : House of Lords, Jan. 20, 1775.
u For my own part, I care little for the natural imperfections
of such men. It is superfluous to defend the founders of New
England. A vain and thankless task is his who attempts to
underestimate their virtues, or to detract from the majestic pro-
portions of the gray fathers of the people. Their personal faults
passed with them into the grave ; their just principles and noble
actions survived\ and blossomed into a living harvest of sacred
and immortal memory
George Lunt : Three Eras of New England.THE “ MAYFLOWER ” AT PLYMOUTH,THE
Pilgrim Republic
^tetoncal Hebieto
OF THE
COLONY OF NEW PLYMOUTH
WITH
SKETCHES OF THE RISE OF OTHER NEW ENGLAND SETTLEMENTS,
THE HISTORY OF CONGREGATIONALISM, AND THE
CREEDS OF THE PERIOD
BY
JOHN A. GOODWIN
“ A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors, will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants*'
Macaulay: History of England
BOSTON
TICKNOR AND COMPANY
LONDON: TRUBNER AND CO.
1888
' A ~f
r;M'rni
Copyright, 1879,
By John A. Goodwin;
and 1888, by William B. Goodwin.
All rights reserved.
SKtttfcemtg Press:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U. S, A.Co tfre jftemorp
OF
BRADFORD, STANDISH, AND WINSLOW,
THE WISE, THE BRAVE, THE ABLE,
TRIUMVIRS
OF
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC,
THIS RECORD OF THEIR SUCCESSFUL WORK
£s Urtricateto.tEDITOR’S PREFACE.
HORTLY after the completion of the manuscript of this book,
its Author laid down his pen forever. Though not full of
years, yet honored and esteemed by all who knew him, on the twenty-
first day of September, 1884, he found that which he had ever sought,
— “ More Light,” — in the presence of the immortal Forefathers and
their eternal Leader.
Mr. Goodwin, though long an enthusiastic student and an acknowl-
edged authority on the subject of Pilgrim History, was better known
to the generality of persons as a public speaker and official, a parlia-
mentarian, a journalist, and to some few also as the teacher, mariner,
and traveller that he was in early life ; all of which varied experiences
proved of rare value in later historical researches. Himself a descend-
ant from many of the Pilgrim band, he came by birthright to the
desire that a broader justice should be awarded those sufferers for
conscience’ sake, “ without whose lives his had not been; ” and
bringing to the task no mere scholastic zeal or, as is so common, an
enthusiasm warped by partiality and egotism, he quietly wrought-out
together this his magnum opus and the declining years of a goodly
and gracious life.
Few historians have given a more loving zeal to a more worthy
subject than this “ beloved disciple ” of the Fathers; for after de-
cades of careful, conscientious study and recording, the final strength
of his very life was expended in a last visit to that green Plymouth
mount where sleep so many of his ancestors, and where associations
dearest to his heart ever most thickly clustered.
While he modestly terms this work “ merely an historical review
it is in fact a very complete and inclusive outline-history in popular
form of the Pilgrims in their English birthplace and early home, how
they fared at their Dutch refuge, and their subsequent developmentX
EDITOR’S PREFACE.
on our Massachusetts shores into a permanent, and, for those times,
far-advanced community. The subsequent affairs of that Pilgrim
Republic and Mother-Colony of New England are given with consid-
erable fulness down to its enforced merging with the Bay Colony in
1692. There is also a great amount of miscellaneous and concurrent
information concerning other New England colonies and settlements,
the Witchcraft excitement, Philip's War, and the ideas, manners, and
theological divisions of those and later times, much of which is diffi-
cult or well-nigh impossible for the general student and reader to
search out for himself, digest, and put into a coherent or lucid
condensation even for private use. Mr. Goodwin was himself con-
versant with everything extant (valuable and otherwise) concerning
this subject, and was thoroughly competent to sift and collate the
varied mass. His necessity of contraction, to cover so large a field in
a small space, may at times oblige the extra-critical student to “ read
between the lines" for delicate distinctions and non-obvious points.
In its present form many notes, current facts, and presumptions
appear in this work (notably in Chapters X. and XI.) which have
been added in the course of preparation for printing; but the clear
and well-pondered deductions and explicit statements of the Author
have not been interfered with: hence the time of the History’s com-
pilation and completion, as well as that of the assemblage of those
premises upon which its decisions are based, must be considered as
briefly prior to the time of the Author’s death.
Our desire of fidelity to the original manuscript will account for
the non-mention of a few excellent and worthy works of the last
three years, and a lack of quotations from the same; as well as an
apparent neglect to correct, or at least to challenge, the erroneous
statements of a far greater number whose historical unreliability is
their most remarkable characteristic.
Lowell, Mass.,
January, 1888.PREFACE.
This book is not expected to meet the wants of the ex-
haustive historical student, who must labor long and patiently
upon that fragmentary and widely dispersed literature which
bears the stamp of original authority, and should rest content
with no second-hand statements and conclusions. The vol-
ume is for the mere reader, — for him who lacks opportunity
or disposition to collect and collate the disconnected facts
and make therefrom his own deductions. For such a person,
there is not in print any one volume which tells the story of
the Pilgrim Fathers with a near approach to completeness
and accuracy. Steele’s “ Life of Brewster ” begins the work
admirably; but its special subject soon restricts it, and brings
it to an early close.
Indeed, it is only within thirty years that any one since
those who enjoyed personal intercourse with the Pilgrims or
their children, could have written with much fulness or exact-
ness of the Pilgrims’ life in England or Holland, or upon the
troubles that beset the fitting-out of the “ Mayflower.” Gov-
ernor Bradford laid down his pen in 1650. For nearly two
hundred years, little or nothing material was added to the
annals of his times; his history was lost for almost a century,
and his papers mostly destroyed. Such facts as continued
extant were soon so interwoven with errors and absurd tra-
ditions that the Pilgrim Fathers of popular fame differedXll
PREFACE.
widely from the men of the “ Mayflower.” The chief sources
of information on this subject are now as follows: —
ORIGINAL AUTHORITIES.
Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606 to 1646 (published
1856).
Mourt’s Relation, Winslow’s Relation, Winslow’s Brief Narration, with
other papers, and notes, in Young’s Chronicles of the Pilgrims, 1606
to 1624 (published 1841).
Mourt’s Relation, verbatim, edited by Rev. H. M. Dexter, D.D., with
notes (published 1865).
Bradford’s Letter-Book (Mass. Hist. Coll., first series, vol. iii.).
Plymouth Records, and Plymouth Colony Laws.
Founders of New Plymouth, by Rev. Joseph Hunter, London (pub-
lished 1849).
Many papers in the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Collections, and
in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.
King Philip’s War, by Colonel Church, edited by Dr. Dexter.
. SECONDARY AUTHORITIES.
New England’s Memorial, by Nathaniel Morton (1669).
Hubbard’s History of New England (1684).
Prince’s Annals, by Rev. Thomas Prince, D.D. (1736).
History of Massachusetts, by Governor Hutchinson, vol. ii. (1767).
Historical Memoir of New Plymouth, by Hon. F. Baylies (1831).
Life of William Brewster, by Rev. A. Steele (1851).
Track of the Hidden Church. Rev. Dr. Waddington, of London
(Bost. ed., 1863).
The English Colonization of America in the Seventeenth Century.
Rev. E. D. Neill (London, 1871).
History of New England, vol. i., by Hon. John G. Palfrey (i860).
History of Massachusetts, by*Rev. J. S. Barry (1855).
History of Plymouth by Thacher (2d ed., 1835), Bridgewater by
Mitchell, Duxbury by Winsor, Scituate by Deane, Hanover by Barry,
and many other town-histories, especially those in Freeman’s History
of Cape Cod and in Baylies’ Memoir.
Lecture by Benjamin Scott, Chamberlain of the City of London,
delivered at London, 1866.PREFACE.
xiii
Russell’s Guide to Plymouth (1846), and his Pilgrim Memorials,
(1851).
The Pilgrim Fathers; or, Founders of New England, by W. H. Bartlett,
London, 1866.
History of Congregationalism, by Rev. H. M. Dexter, D.D., Boston,
1881.
Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth, Hon. Wm. T. Davis, Boston, 1883.
Several works might be named in a list of tertiary authori-
ties, if such were desirable. It is a singular fact that we have
no educational work on the subject, even for academies and
colleges, that could claim mention in such a list. Neither is
Mather’s “ Magnalia ” worthy to rank as an authority,1 nor
in Pilgrim history is Drake’s “ Book of the Indians,” with its
prejudices. Bancroft’s United States has much valuable
matter bearing on our subject, but it was written before the
discoveries of the last thirty years, and therefore cannot
have the admirable fulness and the great accuracy of Palfrey.
Roger Williams, Major Gookin, Colonel Church, and others,
have contributed some few items to Plymouth history; but
1 The historical medley of Cotton Mather ... is beneath criticism. . . .
Hubbard deserves little credit. — Palfrey, yt Mass. Hist. Coll., ix. 173.
Mather never cultivated precision . . . and his word must seldom be taken
as exact truth. — Savages Bio. Die., i. 463. Savage terms the “Magnalia”
poor authority, showing Mather’s “ voracious appetite and ill-digestion of learn-
ing.” Appleton’s Encyclopaedia calls the “Magnalia” “ a chaotic collection of
materials.”
Until it was printed, it was held in high estimation.— Young, Chron. Mass.,
on Hubbard's Hist.
It is too certain that his (Hubbard’s) unsupported statements are not always
to be taken without allowance. —Palfrey's N. E., iii. 153.
Hubbard’s “ History of New England,” till 1649, when Winthrop’s narrative
closes, is little else than a copy of that work, and for later years is good for
nothing. — Ibid.
Pastor Cotton of Plymouth, in 1677, said of Hubbard’s then new “Narrative
of the Indian Wars,” “it might have been filled with marginal notes of erratas. . . .
Our governor and magistrates had some cursory perusal of the book; the mis-
takes are judged to be many more than the truths in it. Hubbard complained
of this criticism, but Cotton re-affirmed it.” Pastor Shove of Taunton, the same
year, said of the book, “things are strangely falsified.” — 4th Mass. Hist. Coll..
viii. 232-9.
Hubbard, after 1650, has few facts. — Gov. Hutchinson.XIV
PREFACE.
there is nothing of appreciable value from them that is not
embodied in some of the authorities above cited. This latter
remark might be made of Thacher’s “ History of Plymouth,”
and of most others mentioned as secondary authorities.
Governor Bradford is the supreme authority. His History
extends from 1606 to 1646, and under the date of 1650 it
has a notice of each of the hundred and two passengers
in the “ Mayflower.” His manuscript was used by Morton,
Hubbard, Mather, Prince, and Hutchinson. It was finally
deposited in the New England Library, which was kept in
the tower of the Old South Meeting-house at Boston. About
the time of the occupation of this edifice by the British troops
on the opening of the Revolution this document disappeared,
and with it were lost Bradford’s Letter-Book and several
small volumes written by him, together with a Pencil-Book
kept by his son, the deputy-governor. The loss of these
manuscripts was long deplored by historical writers, and
intense regret felt that no better use had been made of them
by the compilers above named.
Near the close of the last century, however, James Clark,
of Boston, found the remains of the Letter-Book in a baker’s
shop at Halifax, N. S., where three hundred and thirty-eight
of its leaves had been used as wrapping-paper. The rescued
portion is printed in the first series, vol. iii. of the Massachu-
setts Historical Society’s Collections (1794). The smaller
books have never been found.
In 1855 J. W. Thornton lent to Mr. Barry a small his-
torical volume by the Lord Bishop of Oxford (Wilberforce),
which contained various extracts known to be from Bradford,
but credited to a “ MS. History of the Plantation of Plymouth
. . . in the Fulham Library.” Various other quotations from
the same source were made, but they were not recognized
as any portion of the Governor’s known works. Dr. Drake
and other antiquaries inferring that this manuscript must bePREFACE.
XV
Bradford’s long-lost History, Charles Deane, the enthusiastic
secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society, at once
communicated with Rev. Joseph Hunter, of London, and soon
obtained and caused to be printed a verbatim copy of this
invaluable work. One Anderson, of England, in his " History
of the Church of England in the Colonies,” had, seven years
before, mentioned and abused Bradford’s manuscript; it is a
fact not very complimentary to Mr. Anderson that his work,
in the main candid and learned, attracted so little attention
that this portion of it caught the eye of no historical student.
While Bradford’s History is invaluable, it covers much less
than half the lifetime of the Colony, and makes many serious
omissions of details, and even of topics. It is quite necessary
that in connection with it should be read: —
(i) Mourt’s Relation, and Winslow’s writings. The former
is a daily Journal by Governor Bradford, extending from the
discovery of land by the " Mayflower,” Nov. 20, 1620, to the
re-election of Carver, April 2, 1621; also of four narratives
by Governor Winslow, detailing the chief subsequent opera-
tions down to the return of the " Fortune,” Dec. 21, 1621.
That ship carried home this Relation, which was printed in
London in 1622. Its preface is signed " G. Mourt,” supposed
to be a printer’s error for G. Mourton (Morton). As it did
not bear its authors’ names, not having been intended for pub-
lication, it took the name of "Mourt’s Relation.” In 1624
John Smith quoted largely from it, and in 1625 Purchas
inserted about half of it, with many errors, in his “ Pilgrims.”
In 1802 the Massachusetts Historical Society reprinted this
half in vol. viii. (first series) of their Collections, and in 1822
in vol. xix. they reprinted an inaccurate copy of the remaining
parts. In 1841, in "Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers,”
Dr. Young gave the first complete reprint of the work that
ever appeared. In 1849 Dr. G. B. Cheever published an
edition of it, but lessened the value of his book by not
bXVI
PREFACE.
properly separating his own concurrent matter from the
original. In 1865 Dr. Dexter edited the first verbatim
reprint, which was as nearly facsimile as might be, and
added many very valuable notes.
(2) “ Chronicles of the Pilgrims ” also contains Winslow's
Relation, or “ Good News from New England,” which brings
the narrative from the end of Mourt down to the return of
the “ Anne” on Sept. 20, 1623. This latter work, printed at
London in 1624, was mutilated by Purchas like its prede-
cessor, and was reprinted in imperfect halves in the Historical
Collections at the same time with the fragments of Mourt.
Dr. Young has given as above the only full reprint of this
book. He also adds Winslow's “ Brief Narration,” never
before republished. This was printed in London in 1646,
and was full of reminiscences of Leyden, including Robinson’s
farewell address to the Pilgrims. Dr. Young adds Cushman's
Discourse, Bradford’s Dialogue, and various lesser matters, all
of which are elucidated by rich and copious notes by himself
and Dr. Freeman. Recent discoveries have left these notes
in much need of a general revision; but Dr. Young's loving
labors are entitled to grateful recollection, and his Chronicles
to rank as a vade-mecum with every student of New England
history.
The Plymouth Records and the Plymouth Laws have been
reprinted in admirable form by the State of Massachusetts,
and are widely distributed in first-class libraries.
“ The Founders of New Plymouth,” by Rev. Joseph Hunter,
Deputy-Keeper of the Rolls in the Tower of London, was the
first book to make known the fact that Scrooby was the
original seat of the Pilgrim Church, and that Elder Brewster
resided at that place as a Government officer.
Morton's Memorial was written under the auspices of the
Colonial authorities. Morton came to Plymouth in 1623 at
about the age of eleven, and grew to manhood in the familyPREFACE.
XVII
of his uncle, Governor Bradford; in 1645 he became the
secretary of the Colony, and so served for forty years.
Besides his own resources, he had in 1669 the full use of
his uncle's papers and the most free communication with
John Howland and wife, John Alden and wife, Mrs. Susanna
Winslow, George Soule, Mrs. Mary (Allerton) Cushman, Mrs.
Mary (Chilton) Winslow, and others of the “ Mayflower's ”
company. A history of the greatest value was therefore to
be expected from his industrious and faithful pen. It is truly
astonishing that the meagre result should have satisfied either
his patrons or himself. His book is made up of a short
series of unskilful abridgments from Bradford, with some
trifling additions, interspersed with fearful accounts of comets
foretelling great disasters, of lightning-strokes as punishment
for particular sins, and of the blasting of the wheat crop to
punish the owners for wearing too good clothes and drinking
too freely. In the absence of Bradford’s History, the Memo-
rial enjoyed a high reputation, on account of what Morton
honestly professed to borrow from the former; but now it
has little value except to show the very worthy secretary's
inadequacy to his undertaking.
Hubbard's History was also highly considered by the last
generation, but it was shown by the printing of Winthrop's
Journal that the author had pilfered from that work nearly
all the reliable portion of his book, save some little from
Bradford.1 Dr. Prince’s Annals are made up of admirable
but brief selections, duly credited; but they substantially
leave Plymouth matters at 1629. Hutchinson treats the
subject candidly and clearly, so far as he may, in the appendix
to his second volume.
Dr. Palfrey, whose work is one of the best historical pro-
ductions extant, in the narrow space which such a treatise
can give to a single subject, contains.as good an account of
1 See note, page xiii.XV111
PREFACE.
Plymouth Colony as could well be put in the same number
of lines. Barry, with equal advantages, might have done as
well; but his account of the Pilgrims, with many excellencies,
is inexcusably careless and inaccurate.
Judge Baynes' Historical Memoir, in two volumes, exhibits
much research, and it was of great repute until the recent
developments of the subject. The want of Mourt and Wins-
low in a perfect condition, and of Bradford and Hunter, made
it impracticable for him to write with great accuracy, and the
desire to appear impartial seems to have led him to make
some harsh criticisms without sufficient grounds. But while
the earlier part of his work is marked by omissions and mis-
conceptions, his summary of Plymouth legislation and the
acts of the Confederacy, his various town histories and his
account of Philip’s War, with other events of the last years of
the Colony, render his work of much value for reference. It
is a pity that he could not have lived to rewrite his “ Memoir ”
in the light of recent discoveries, and to construct it accord-
ing to the present ideas of book-making; his volumes contain
nearly one thousand octavo pages, arranged in four parts,
each paged independently of the others, and accompanied by
no explanatory titles and no index. Dr. Drake has recently
added a supplementary book and an index; but the difficul-
ties of reference are still great.
Freeman’s “ History of Cape Cod,” in its early Pilgrim mat-
ters is deficient, erroneous, and prejudiced; but his biogra-
phies and town-histories are worthy of much praise. The
other works named are of widely different degrees of merit;
the student can neither spare them, nor unquestionably rely
upon them. But to all adverse criticism is an exception to be
taken in behalf of the too scanty and all too modest contribu-
tions of Dr. Dexter. It is most earnestly hoped that he may
yet be able to cover this entire ground in the formal HiStory
which he is so pre-eminently fitted to give to the world.PREFACE.
xix
It is evident that there is no one of these many books that
will give the general reader even a moderately full and accu-
rate account of the origin, development, and close of the
Pilgrim Republic. The present author has felt that this want
should be supplied, and for years has waited for some abler
pen than his to perform the work. He has made a careful
study and comparison of all accessible authorities, endeavor-
ing to verify or refute every statement made at second hand,
and has diffidently combined the results. He claims to be
only a compiler, not a discoverer; for though he has for many
years traversed the Old Colony, by land and by sea, he has
found nothing hitherto unknown. Doubtless, in neglected
places are still resting Pilgrim letters, records, legal papers,
and account-books, which would connect into a chain various
detached links of history; but none of them have rewarded
the author's search. How well he has brought together his
scattered materials, and how wisely he has culled from them,
students alone can judge. Having so freely expressed his
opinion on many authors still quite popular, he must expect
some ungentleness of criticism upon himself, and will cheer-
fully submit to the reproof of those who have studied the
subject as carefully as he himself has.
The original writers of high and equal authority have
sometimes made contradictory statements, which the author
has endeavored to settle by the circumstantial evidence in the
case; in each instance he has satisfied himself, at least, before
adopting either version. Those familiar with only one of the
authorities may be at first prompt to differ with him, but by
comparison of the originals will be led to take the same view.
The dates given have been raised to New Style, — which
fact may lead some readers to think them wrong. There
seems no good reason for continuing the old misreckoning,
but many strong ones for correcting it. For instance, the hard-
ships of the Pilgrims at Cape Cod are better appreciated ifXX
PREFACE.
the date of their arrival is given as November 21st instead
of the nth. So, too, Carver’s reputed sunstroke seems less
improbable if assigned to April 16th than to the 6th. Robin-
son and the others who remained at Leyden used the new
style in their correspondence, thus adopting the custom of
Holland; and the same system was of course followed by
the Dutch traders at New York in their intercourse with
Plymouth. Most writers have been led into a mixture of the
two styles; it has therefore been thought desirable that the
correct dating should be adopted throughout. Many good
writers, while perplexing their readers with an obsolete and
erroneous reckoning, have themselves become so confused as
to put the English dates of the seventeenth century eleven
days behind the new style, whereas ten days is the proper
allowance. Every one, until within the present generation,
set the landing of the Pilgrims on December 22d, N. S., in-
stead of December 21st; nor is the error yet understood by
all those who annually commemorate the event.1
1 Old Style and New Style. — As to the error of dating “ Forefathers’
Day ” December 22d, N. s., instead of the 21st, the explanation is simple. In
A. D. 325 the calendar was set right (?). The world then went on allowing 365J
days to each year, which was an over-allowance of 11 minutes 10J seconds. This
small error became so large by constant growth that in 725 the calendar was
between three and four days behind the true reckoning as shown by the sun.
At the Norman invasion the difference had increased to six days; at the dis-
covery of America by Columbus it was nine days. In 1582 the Pope, finding
all fixed ecclesiastical observances falling ten days behind their seasons, called
upon his philosophers for a remedy. By their advice ten days were added to
the calendar, and future errors guarded against by this rule: “ Years ending with
two ciphers are not to be leap years, except when the number is an exact mul-
tiple of 400.” The new system was soon adopted by the nations of Continental
Europe, save Russia and Turkey. It has, however, been found that even by this
method the calendar would be a day behind at about the year 5500; and that
imminent disaster has been relegated to an exceedingly remote future by this
addition to the above rule: “ When a year is an exact multiple of 4000, it is not
to be a leap-year.”
The English are reputed formerly to have been a people strongly inclined to
their own ways, — a trait which may account for their retaining their erroneous
calendar in preference to countenancing an innovation. Hence, when the Pil-
grim explorers first landed on Plymouth Rock, their English reckoning made
the day Dec. 11, 1620; but the sun then reaching his winter solstice, showed itPREFACE.
XXI
It has not been thought desirable to make such frequent
reference to authorities as would be expected in a work
which should claim to be a formal history. It may be here
stated that every portion of Bradford’s and of Winslow’s
writings has been laid under contribution, as also have the
Plymouth Records. In fact, Mourt’s Relation and Winslow’s
Relation have been transferred to these pages almost bodily,
though the constant addition of matter from other sources
prevents extensive quotations.
Through the first half of the volume an effort has been
made to keep all matters in their chronological order; in the
latter portion it has been thought better to proceed accord-
ing to detached subjects rather than succession of dates.
The first half may be thought by some to be too much filled
with occurrences that in ordinary lives would be considered
trivial ; but nothing can be trivial which relates to the
to really be the 2ist. By making a leap-year of 1700, this national miscount was
increased to eleven days. At length, in 1752, by order of Parliament, the new
calendar was adopted for Great Britain and her Colonies, by calling the day next
after September 2d the 14th.
At the same time the beginning of the year was changed from March 25th
to January 1st, — a change which had been partially anticipated for a long time,
by giving dates from January 1st to March 24th inclusive, as follows: Jan. 8,
1704-5, or Jan. 8, 170$.
Matters of that sort were then rarely studied, even by educated men. It is
altogether probable that in 1769 not a person in the Old Colony knew much
more of the case than that the old style had been turned into the European new
style by the addition of eleven days. So they most easily fell into the error of
supposing this allowance of eleven days to be what mathematicians call a “ con-
stant quantity,” which would bring all old dates to the new reckoning prescribed
by law. Is it impertinent to ask if the educated men of to-day have a much
clearer idea of the subject? The day which according to the old calendars
would appear as December nth is by correct reckoning as follows for the
successive centuries: —
A. D. 325 .. .	, . . Dec.	nth	A. D. 1220 . .				Dec. 18th
420 .. ,	u	12th	1320 . .				“ 19th
520 .. .	«	13th	1420 . .				“ 20th
620 • . ,		14th	1520 . ..				“ 2ISt
720 . . .		15th	1620 . .				“ 21 St
820 . . .	ti	15th	1720 . .				“ 22(1
920 . . ,		16th	1820 . •				" 23d
1020 . . .	U	17th	1920 . •				“ 24th
1120 . . .	<«	18th	2020 • •				“ 24thxxii
PREFACE.
voyage of the “ Mayflower ” or the first four years1 experi-
ence of the Colony. There is importance in every event
which in any degree affected the question whether the set-
tlement should be maintained or abandoned; for reading
between the lines of that question there is seen within it
another, as to whether posterity should behold an Anglo-
Saxon state on the American continent. Had Plymouth
been deserted by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1621-22, Massachu-
setts Bay would have remained desolate, and even Virginia
would doubtless have been abandoned. Then, before new
colonization could be organized, France would have made
good her claim by pushing down our Atlantic coast until she
met Spain ascending from the south, — unless, indeed, Holland
had retained her hold at the centre. Without her neglected
children in New England, Britain would not have become
mistress of Canada, nor would that Protestantism which she
encouraged, nor that which she persecuted, have found a
home in the New World; neither would she have felt the
reflex influence which has had no small share in imbuing
her government with the spirit of liberty, humanity, and con-
tinued progress, — an influence widely felt on both continents.
Such were some of the momentous issues that were largely
decided by the apparently little things which make up the
Pilgrim history. More than a century ago (1767) Sir
Thomas Hutchinson, our Tory Governor, whose tastes would
not have led him to an undue estimation of the uncourtly
and unchartered settlers at Plymouth, thus spoke of them in
his History: —
“ These were the founders of the Colony of New Plymouth. The
settlement of this Colony occasioned the settlement of Massachusetts
Bay, which was the source of all the other Colonies in New England.
Virginia was in a dying state, and seemed to revive and flourish from
the example of New England.
“ I am not preserving from oblivion the names of heroes whosePREFACE.
xxiii
chief merit is the overthrow of cities, provinces, and empires, but the
names of the founders of a flourishing town and colony, if not of the
whole British Empire in America.”
Surely the minutiae of such lives are like the grains of
sand which form continents and the drops of water which
make the sea along their shores. The author regrets not
that he has given so much space to little things, but that he
had not a larger fund of them to draw upon.CONTENTS.
Pagb
Editor’s Preface.............................................. ix
Author’s Preface. — Pilgrim History. Books. Original and
Secondary Authorities. Tertiary and Unreliable Writers. Brad-
ford the Supreme Authority. Misadventures of his Mms.
“ Mourt’s Relation ” and Winslow’s Writings. “ Young’s Chroni-
cles.” Winslow’s Relation. Plymouth Records and Laws.
Hunter’s “Founders of New Plymouth.” Morton’s “Memo-
rial.” Hubbard’s History. Winthrop’s Journal. Prince’s An-
nals. Palfrey’s New England. Bay lies’ Memoir. Freeman’s
“ History of Cape Cod.” Dr. Dexter. Bases of this Work.
New Style and Old Style. Sources of Information of and
Chronological Arrangement of this Work. Importance of Ply-
mouth’s Settlement. Autograph of Author..................xi-xxiii
CHAPTER I.
General Ignorance concerning the Pilgrims. Pilgrims not Puritans.
Facts concerning Pilgrims and their Ways frequently misstated.
Capital Crimes. Pilgrims’ Creed. Liberality. Ignorance of
the Period. Torturing. Beheading. Burning, etc. Narrow-
ness and Religious Bigotry...........................1-6
CHAPTER II. (1564-1606.)
English Conformists, Nonconformists, and Separatists. Puritans,
Religious and Political. The Puritans were Episcopalians.
4 Divine Right. Puritans’ Characteristics. General Fanaticism.
Prevalent Error in Misuse of term “ Puritan.” The Separatists.
Their Church and its Customs. Martyrs. Persecution. Puri-
tan Advantages. Differences between Puritans and Separatists.
Robert Brown, his Operations and Persecution. Brownists.
Copping and Thacker. Persecution of “ Brownists ” or Separa-
tists. The Separatists Dispersed. Gainsborough. Scrooby . 7-16XXVI
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III. (1566-1608.)
Roman Roads in England. The Northern Road. Posting Service.
Duties of the “Post.” Charges. Mode of Travel. Basset
Lawe. Scrooby. Wm. Brewster and his Family.. Brewster in
Holland. Davison’s Persecution. Brewster as “ Post.” Trav-
elling Expenses. The old Bishop’s Palace at Scrooby. Scrooby
Post-office. Bawtry. Brewster’s religious work at Scrooby.
Austerfield. William Bradford. His Life and Training. The
Carpenters. Ecclesiastical Persecution,—its Fruits. Gainsbo-
rough and Scrooby Congregations. John Robinson. Flight to
Holland. Boston. Fines and Exactions. Grimsby Common.
Bradford in Holland. Amsterdam. Clifton, Robinson, Brews-
, ter. The Pilgrims all in Holland.......................17-29
CHAPTER IV. (1609-20.)
Getting acclimated to Dutch Ways and Occupations. Amsterdam
Congregations. Separatist Churches and their Officials. Pastor
John Smith. Removal to Leyden. Occupations of the Pilgrims.
Brewster’s Calling. His English Grammar. Books printed by
him. His Anglo-Dutch Persecution. Robinson’s Church. Dea-
cons, etc. Dutch Toleration. The Pilgrim’s Church-estate and
Building. Robinson’s Ability and its General Recognition. Pil-
grim Honesty. The “ Walloons.” Edward Winslow. Robinson’s
Toleration. Independency. Marriages. Poverty. Discontent.
Discussing Sites for Emigration. Guiana. Dread of Spain.
Leyden’s Danger. Jamestown. The Virginia Companies. A
“ Charter.” The Seven Articles. Reasons for Emigration.
Sandys’ Doubts. Efforts to procure a Charter. The Virginia
(Wincob) Patent. Zealand. Manhattan. Weston. “The Ad-
venturers.” The Emigrating Body. Weston and Cushman
making trouble. The Ships “Mayflower” and “Speedwell.”
The Farewell Fast, Feasting, and Services. Robinson’s Lib-
eral Council. Delfthaven. Parting Salutations, etc. . . . 30-49
CHAPTER V. (1620.)
The Departure from Delfthaven. The “Speedwell” joins the
“Mayflower” at Southampton. Financial Troubles. Weston
and Cushman’s Disobedience. Articles of Agreement. Disagree-
ment with Weston............................ 50-54CONTENTS.
xxvil
CHAPTER VI. (1620.)
The First Start. Delays. Return of the “Speedwell.” Cush-
man’s Weakness. The “Speedwell’s” Condition. Reynolds’s
and Jones’s Trickery. The “ Mayflower” at Plymouth. Third,
and Final Departure. Mid-ocean Storms. John Howland. First
Death (William Button). “ Servant ” defined. First Birth (Ocea-
nus Hopkins). Cape Cod. Jones, his Villiany and Bribery by
the Dutch. Abandoning the Virginia Company’s Territory.
Cape Cod Shoals. The Compact and its Signers. John Carver
confirmed Governor. Adams on the Compact. Provincetown.
Length of Voyage..................................55-^66
CHAPTER VII. (1620.)
Landing on the Cape. Trees and Soil. Sandiness of the Cape.
First Sunday. The Shallop. Difficulty of Landing. Washing.
Cod-fish. First Cape Cod Exploration. Myles Standish. Ste-
phen Hopkins. Map of First Two Explorations. Indians.
The Indian Grave and Corn (Maize). Pamet River Region.
Return to the Ship. The Second Exploration. Hard Weather.
East Harbor. The Pamet. The European’s Grave and its Con-
tents. The French Wreck on the Cape. Indian Wigwams and
their Contents. Return. Birth of Peregrine White. Peregrine
White. The Pamet Region. New England Harbors. Mano-
met. John Billington and his Sons. The Third Exploration.
Deaths. The Exploring Company. Edward Tilley. Map of
Third Exploration (Cape Cod Section). Indian Attack. Fire-
arms. Fight with the Nausets. Indian Arrows. Coming into
Plymouth Harbor. Clark’s Island. Pulpit Rock. Plymouth’s
Name. First Sunday. Landing of the Pilgrims. Plymouth
Rock and its Identity. The Blaskowitz Map..............67-94
CHAPTER VIII. (1620.)
Return to the “ Mayflower.” Death of Mrs. Bradford and James
Chilton. The “ Mayflower” enters Plymouth Harbor. Map of
the Harbor. The Gurnet. Saquish. “Brown’s Island.” Ply-
mouth Beach. The “ Mayflower’s ” Arrival. Champlain’s Map.
Examining Local Fauna and Flora. Storms and Discomfort.
End of the Year. Difference between Old and New Reckoning
95-102CONTENTS.
xxviii
CHAPTER IX. (1621.)
Building Operations. Christmas Observances. Indian Alarm.
Division into Families. Village Streets and Lots assigned.
Map of first Laying-Out of Plymouth. Death of Martin. Bill-
ington Sea. The First Building. Thatched Roofs. Bradford’s
Illness. Religious Belief in “ Means.” Browne and Goodman
lost. Snows. Common House on Fire. The Pilgrim Church
Building. Cole’s Hill Burials. Sickness and Death. Indian
Appearances and Alarms. Cannon mounted. Nursing the Sick.
Cole’s Hill sown with Grain. Spring Vegetables sown. Samo-
set, his Origin, Name, and History. The Indian	Return
of Samoset with other Indians. Their Costumes (?) and Habits.
Tobacco. “Nocake.” “Mayflower’s” Passengers all landed.
Samoset and Tisquantum. Tisquantum and Dermer. Massa-
soit’s Coming. Quadequina. The Pilgrim’s Treaty with the In-
dians. Its Importance and Strength. Massasoit’s Personale.
Indian Matters. Laws and Ordinances. Amelioration of the
Colony’s Circumstances..........................103-28
CHAPTER X. (1600-21.)
The Aborigines of New England. Indian Characteristics. Indian
Women. Their Treatment, Character, etc. Indian Knowledge
and Religion. Disappearance of the Natives. The Abenakis,
Tarrantines, Nipmucks, Connecticut Indians, Mohawks. The
Five Confederacies. The Grand Sachem. The Pequod Nation
and their Character. The Mohegans. Uncas. The Narragan-
set Nation. Canonicus. Roger Williams’ Land. The Paw-
tucket Confederacy. Passaconaway. The Wamesits, Naum-
keags, Agawams, Penacooks, Piscataways and Accomintas
(Sacos ?). Wamesit. The Tarrantine Foray. John Eliot. The
Great Plague. The Great Plague and its Effects. The Massa-
chusetts Confederacy. Massasoit’s Authority. The Massa-
chusetts, Nashuas, Nashobas, Nonanturns, Punkapoags, and
Neponsets. The Pokanoket Confederacy. Sowams. The
Wampanoags, Pocassets, Saconets, Namaskets, Agawaywarns,
Manomets, Sakatuckets, Mattakees, Nobsquassets, Monamoys,
and Nausets. The Patuxets. Freaks of the Plague. Indian
Population....................................................129-3 7CONTENTS.
XXIX
CHAPTER XI. (986-1621.)
Early Explorers of New England. The Norsemen — Bjorne, Leif,
Eric. Vineland, — Thorwald, his Explorations and Death.
“ Krossaness,” the Gurnet. Thorfin Karlsefne, Gudrid, and
Snorre. Freydis. Bishop Eric. Prince Madoc. Adam of
Bremen. The Sagas. Dighton Rock and its Inscription.
“Great Ireland.” The Maine Rock. Newport Tower. The
Skeleton in Armor. Norse suffixes. Columbus. The Cabots.
“Norumbega.” The Newfoundland Fisheries. Gosnold and
Gilbert’s Exploration. Gosnold’s Fort. His Status and Rights.
Cobham. Gosnold’s Return. Pring and Browne. Pring’s
Explorations and Notes. Pring. at Plymouth. DeMonts and
Champlain. Port Royal. Champlain’s Map of Plymouth
Harbor. The Archangel. Weymouth. His captured Indians.
Gorges and Popham. Their Colony. Gilbert. Gorges’s
Attempts. Hudson. Blok. New Netherlands. Smith and
his Expeditions. Smith’s Map of New England. Smith’s local
Names. His Departure. Hunt and his Seizure of Natives.
Brawnde. Gorges. Dermer and Rocroft. Dermer’s Expedi-
tion with Tisquantum. Dermer’s Remarks on Plymouth. His
Attacks, Capture, and Death. Gorges. The Plymouth Com-
pany. The Council for New England, and its Grant. Ply-
mouth’s Vigor..........................................138-54
CHAPTER XII. (1621.)
The “Mayflower” goes home. Roughness of her Crew. The
“ Mayflower’s ” Subsequent History. Her Name. The Slaver.
Isolation of Plymouth. Spring. Planting and Cultivation.
Fish. Carver’s Efforts and Death. Bones Exposed on Cole’s
Hill. William Bradford, Governor. Isaac Allerton, Assistant.
The Council and Court. Laws. Town-meeting. Billington
punished. Dotey and Lister’s Duel. Corn, Planting and Ferti-
lizing. Tisquantum’s Character and Value ......	155-62
CHAPTER XIII. (1621.)
Winslow’s Four Narratives. A Visit to Massasoit by Winslow,
Hopkins, and Tisquantum. Namasket (Middleborough). Mon-
taup and Sowams. Food. Winslow and Hopkins’ Reception.XXX
CONTENTS.
Massasoit’s Speech. Scarcity of Food. Indian Beds. Gam-
bling. Indian Lullabies. Tockamahamon. Expedition to Nau-
set (Eastham). John Billington, Jr., lost. Canacum and
Aspinet. Iyanough. The Voyage to Nauset. Indian Alarms.
Expedition to Middleborough (Namasket), — Corbitant’s Threats.
Tisquantum and Hobomok captured. Standish moves on Namas-
ket. Indians Overawed. A Trip to Boston Harbor, — Names
Given to Points. Obbatinewat. The Squaw-sachem. Nane-
pashmet. The Indian Women. Trading. Beaver and its
value . .......................................163-78
CHAPTER XIV. (1621.)
New England Thanksgiving established. Sociability of the Pil-
grims. Winter Climate. Edward Winslow marries Mrs. White
(The First Plymouth Marriage). Civil Marriage the Rule .	179-81
CHAPTER XV. (1621.)
Errors as to the 1 Mayflower’s ” Passenger List. The Pilgrims’
given Names. Descriptive List of “ Mayflower’s ” Passengers.
Their Age and date of Death. England and Leyden Pilgrims.
List by Families. Changes made by the “First Sickness.”
Biographical notes on the First-comers............. 182-88
CHAPTER XVI. (1621.)
Arrival of the “Fortune.” List of her Passengers. The New-
comers and what became of them. “ Cushman’s Sermon.” The
Debatable “Articles.” Justice towards the Indians. The
“ Fortune’s ” Lading, Departure, and Disaster. Weston’s With-
drawal and Wrong-doing. Bradford’s Letter to Weston. The
“Adventurer’s” Neglect, The “Peirce” Patent and its Mis-
adventures .................................. .	189-97
CHAPTER XVII. (1622.)
The Narragansetts uneasy. An Indian Challenge from Canonicus.
Fortifying. Military Organization. Standish as Commander.
Starting for Boston Harbor for Corn. False Indian Alarm. Un-
reliability of the Indian Nature. Tisquantum’s Plans. The
Boston Trip. Massasoit’s Wrath against Tisquantum. The
Culprit’s Escape...............................198-203CONTENTS.
xxxi
CHAPTER XVIII. (1622).
The “ Sparrow’s ” Shallop. Weston’s Impudence and Lies. Priva-
tion. Food. Clams. Weston’s Men. Huddleston’s Letter.
The Virginia Massacre. Starvation. The Hill-fort. The
“ Charity ” and the “ Swan.” Weston’s Colonists. Weymouth.
The “ Discovery.” Weymouth Disorder. A Mutual expedition
in the “ Swan ” for Corn. Tisquantum’s Death. Complaints of
Weymouth. Loss of “ Swan.” Carrying Corn overland. Can-
acum. Indian Justice...........................204-11
CHAPTER XIX. (1623.)
Hard Times. Standish’s Trip to Nauset. Standish’s Corn-trip to
Barnstable. Indian Plots and their Frustration. The Sandwich
Trip. Wituwamat. Standish’s Danger................212-15
CHAPTER XX. (1623.)
The Wonderful Cure of Massasoit. Winslow and “ Hamden ” sent
as Messengers. John Hampden. In the Pocasset Country. Re-
ception by Corbitant’s Wife. Hobomok’s Tribute to Massasoit.
Indian Medical Treatment. Winslow is greeted by, and treats
Massasoit. Winslow’s Kindness. Indian Theology .	.	216-22
CHAPTER XXI. (1623.)
The Great Indian Conspiracy. Privation and Demoralization at
Weymouth. Troubles with the Indians. Massasoit’s Disclosure
of the Indian Plot. Wituwamat Unmasked. Decision to crush
the Conspirators. Standish’s Force. Pratt. Standish’s Expedi-
tion to Weymouth. Indian Insolence. Pecksuot and Wituwa-
mat with five others killed. The Plot confessed. Abandoning
the Weymouth Settlement. Displaying Heads. The New Fort,
etc. Obtakiest Cautioned. Participants in the Conspiracy.
Terror of the Plotters. Robinson’s Letter. His Impractical
Humanity.................................... 223-34
CHAPTER XXII. (1623.)
Weston comes to Plymouth. His Misadventures, Illicit Assistance,
and Ingratitude. Peirce’s “Patent,” and his Schemes. TheXXX11
CONTENTS.
“ Paragon.” The Adventurers. The “ Plantation,” with Admiral
West. Fighting the Fishermen. David Thompson and his Set-
tlements. Governor-General Gorges and his Council. Weston’s
Arrests, Rescues, and Death. Gorges’s Return. Rev. William
Morrell, his Powers, Visit, and Poem.................. 235~39
CHAPTER XXIII. (1623.)
A coming Famine. Labor in common. A new Allotment of
Ground. The Spring Drought. Prayer and Fasting for Rain.
The Famine. Privation. Living on Shell-fish. Coming of the
“Anne” and “Little James.” List of Comers in the “Anne”
and “ Little James.” Condition and Disappointment of the New-
comers. Biographical Notes. “ Particulars ” and “Generals.”
Lading the “ Anne.” Marriages : Bradford, Alden, Eaton, Stan-
dish, Howland, and Brown. Bradford and the Carpenters.
Bradford and Dorothy May. The Widow Southworth. The
“ Paragon ” and “ Swan.” Houses burned. Laws and Orders.
Trial by Jury established.........................240-51
CHAPTER XXIV. (1623.)
The Pinnace “ Little James.” An “ Unlucky Ship.” Wrecked in
Maine. The “James ” raised, sails for London, seized for debt,
returns, sails again. Captured by a Pirate. Standish’s Escape.
Fletcher’s Ruin. Elections. Re-election of Governor Bradford.
His Council. Ship “ Charity.” Land at Cape Ann. Baker.
Sherley. Letter from Robinson. Puritan Intriguing. The
Shipwright and the Salter. Robinson’s Farewell. The First
Cattle. Land Allotment of 1624. Statistics.........252-58
CHAPTER XXV. (1624.)
The Puritan Conspiracy (Oldham and Lyford’s). Oldham. “ Par-
ticulars ” vs. “Generals.” Intriguing. The “Charity” comes.
Complaints of the Colony. Bradford’s Rejoinder. Oldham’s
Confession. John Lyford. Plotting Adventurers. Lyford’s
False Servility. His “ Congregational ” Tricks. He joins Old-
ham. Lyford’s Mischievous Letters intercepted. Oldham’s
Insubordination. Lyford’s Demonstration. Lyford and Old-CONTENTS.
xxxiii
ham tried. Lyford overwhelmed. The Liberality of the Pilgrim
Church proven. Lyford’s Plans. The Pair banished. Lyford’s
Duplicity. Mrs. Lyford’s Revelations. Conant. Oldham’s In-
solent Return. Arrival of the “Jacob.” Lyford unmasked.
The Gloucester Settlement. Oldham’s After-life and Death.
John Gallop. Salem founded. Lyford’s End. The Church of
England’s Wasted Opportunity............................259-76
CHAPTER XXVI. (1624.)
Bradford “Williams.” Alden’s Daughter. Marriage of Thomas
Prence. Marriages. George Morton and Family. Winslow in
the “Jacob.” Adventurers’ Disaffection. Coming of Goods
and Cattle. The Cushmans. Sherley. Peirce’s Intriguing.
Hewes seizes the Gloucester Fishing Stage. A Compromise 277-80
CHAPTER XXVII. (1625.)
Standish goes to England to buy out the Adventurers. The Plagues
at London. Deaths of James I., Prince Maurice, Robert Cush-
man, and Pastor John Robinson. Robinson’s Burial in the
“ Peterschurch.” His Wife and Children. Churches at Ley-
den Mistaken for the Pilgrim’s Church Edifice. Tribute to
Robinson’s Character. Death of Mrs. Brewster. Her Son 281-86
CHAPTER XXVIII. (1626-7.)
Business. Buying out the Monhegan Post with Thompson. Aller-
ton goes to England and buys out the “Adventurers.” List
of “Adventurers.” Remodelling the Colony to “Purchasers.”
The Manomet Trading-post. The Cape Cod Ship-canal and its
History.................................................287-91
CHAPTER XXIX. (1627.)
The Cattle-Division. List of Households and their Members.
Special Trades. Land Distribution. Cattle Notes. Complete
List of Colonists in 1627, and the Ships they came on. The
Dead and Absent. Christian Names classified. Their Simpli-
city. Middle Names.............................. 292-301xxxiv
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXX. (1627.)
The Public Debt to the “Adventurers.” The “Undertakers.”
Allerton goes to England. The Kennebec Trade. London
“Undertakers.” The Dutch on the Hudson. De Rasi&res’ Let-
ter. Dutch Amenities. Bradford’s Letter. Wampum and its
Manufacture. De Rasi£res’ Description of Plymouth, etc.
Moral Superiority of the Pilgrims..............302-10
CHAPTER XXXI. (1626-1865.)
The Wreck of the “ Sparrowhawk.” Assistance from Plymouth.
The Passengers come to Plymouth. Fells’ Misdemeanor. De-
parture for Virginia. Uncovering the Ship. Structure of the
“Sparrowhawk.” The “Somerset”......................311-15
CHAPTER XXXII. (1628.)
Morton of Merry Mount. Wollaston and his Colonists. Morton’s
Unruly Commune. He arms the Indians. New England Settle-
ments of 1628. The Plymouth Forces take Morton Prisoner,
and send him to England. Expenses of the Merry Mount Ex-
pedition. Allerton brings back Morton. “The New English
Canaan.” Morton, at Plymouth. His Death.........316-21
CHAPTER XXXIII. (1628.)
The Kennebec Trading-house. Allerton’s dishonest Double-deal-
ing. Richard Warren and his Descendants. The “ Massachu-
setts Bay Company” established. Coinage. New England an
“ Island.” Endicott’s Rule. Sickness at Salem. Dr. Fuller.
Theology. The Bay Puritans’ Change from Episcopacy. Dis-
like of Separatism. The Massachusetts Synod. Spread of Con-
gregationalism. Virginia Settlers. Rev. Ralph Smith rejected
by the Bay, accepted by Plymouth. Plymouth’s Liberality. Two
Ralph Smiths......................................322-30
CHAPTER XXXIV. (1629-30.)
The “Mayflower” and “Lion” Immigrants. Their Expenses.
Allerton complained of. Robinson’s Widow and Family .	331,32CONTENTS.
XXXV
CHAPTER XXXV. (1630.)
Allerton’s Duplicity. He establishes the Penobscot (Castine)
Trading-post. Ashley. Willet. Ashley arrested. The French
Raid the Castine-post. Sickness at the Bay. Dr. Fuller.
Lack of Good Food. A Fast-Day. Massachusetts Surgeons.
Wages............................................ 333-36
CHAPTER XXXVI. (1630.)
A New Patent. The Old “ Peirce Patent.” Boundaries of Ply-
mouth. The “ Warwick Patent.” Formalities of its Reception.
The Bay Charter. Plymouth’s Efforts for a Royal Charter.
The “Handmaid” Immigrants. Eddys. Indian Raids. Jus-
tice and Kindness of the Settlers to the Indians. Garrett’s
Disaster.......................................... 337-41
CHAPTER XXXVII. (1630.)
Billington’s Bad Reputation. He murders Newcomen. Doubts
as to his Execution. Plymouth’s First Execution. Billington’s
Widow. “Natural Children” defined. Francis Billington.
The Billington Family. The Commemorative Nomenclature of
Plymouth . .....................................342-45
CHAPTER XXXVIII. (1631.)
Allerton’s False-dealing. His Dismissal. His Maine Trading.
His Commercial Disasters. His Home and Death in New
Haven. Roger Williams and his History. Coming to Salem,
thence to Plymouth. John Eliot. Bay Reception of Mrs.
Winthrop. Autograph of Isaac Allerton .......	346-49
CHAPTER XXXIX. (1630-1.)
Sir Christopher Gardiner. His Wives’ Complaints of him. He
flees. His Capture by Plymouth. Thomas Purchase and his
Wife. Gardiner’s Enmity to Boston. His Obscurity . .	350-52XXXVI
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XL. (1631-2.)
Boston’s Social Character. The Bay censures Plymouth. Brad-
ford’s Caustic Reply. John Phillips. John Pickworth. Richard
Church. Indian Incursions and Strife....................... .	353—57
CHAPTER XLI. (1632-40.)
Governor Winthrop and Pastor Wilson visit Plymouth. Ply-
mouth’s form of Church-service. Early Music and Modes of
Singing. Winthrop’s Return. His Bigotry. “ Hue’s Cross.”
Wreck of the “ Lion.” Plymouth People found New Settlements.
Duxbury. Scituate. Greene’s River. Rexham-Marshfield.
Barnstable, Sandwich, Yarmouth, and Taunton..............358-63
CHAPTER XLII. (1633.)
Roger Williams’s Return to Salem. His Character, Intolerance,
and Assurance. Reason for his Banishment. His Good Points.
Very little of a Baptist. His Views on Baptism. He goes to
Seekonk; crosses to Providence. Williams friendly with
Liberal Plymouth. Winthrop of Connecticut. In England.
His bitter Books. Chosen Governor. The Williams Apple-
tree. Plymouth’s Connecticut River Trading-post. Defying
the Dutch. At Windsor. Attacked by the Dutch. A great In-
dian Pestilence. Indian Mortality. Stone’s Piracy. Mean-
ness of the Bay. Norton’s Men killed by Pequods. Sherley’s
Losses. Autograph of Roger Williams................364-75
CHAPTER XLIII. (1633.)
Winslow Governor. Repairing the Fort. Statistics. Seventeen-
year Locusts. Superstition. An Infectious Disease. Deaths:
Mrs. Allerton, Eaton, Browne, Adams, Wright, Cuthbertsons,
Blossom, Masterson, Thorp, Hending, Henckford, Ring, and
Fuller. Samuel Fuller. His Friendship for Williams, and
Goodly Life. Plymouth Physicians .	...............376-80
CHAPTER XLIV. (1634.)
Hocking’s Interference on the Kennebec. He shoots Talbot and
is killed in Return. Meddlesome Interference of the Bay.CONTENTS.
XXXV11
Plymouth’s Indignation. Standish as Envoy. Insolent High-
handedness. Plymouth vindicated. Bay Meanness. Winslow
as Massachusetts Envoy to England. Losses to Plymouth
through Massachusetts............................381-86
CHAPTER XLV. (1635.)
Willet at Castine robbed by D’Aulney and expelled. His getting
Home. The Great Storm. Wreck of the “Angel Gabriel.
Mathers. Thatcher’s Wreck. The Thatchers. The Girling
Attack on Castine. Indifference of Massachusetts .	.	.	387-90
CHAPTER XLVI. (1635.)
Emigration of Bay Churches to Connecticut. Elder Goodwin.
They seize Plymouth’s Land. A high-handed Outrage. Ply-
mouth’s just and Christian Return. Emigrants’ Sufferings.
The Cambridge Migration. Massachusetts’Dishonesty. .	391-96
CHAPTER XLVII. (1635.)
Sherley’s Dishonest Accounts. His Associates, Andrews and
Beauchamp. Their Demands. Sherley’s Dismissal. Pastors:
Smith, Glover, Norton, and Reynor. Revised Laws. Laws.
Measures. No criminal Laws. Punishments..............397-400
CHAPTER XLVIII. (1636.)
A New System of Laws and its Preparation. Inability to write.
Town Representation. The General Court. Elections. Deputies,
Proxies, etc. Voters. Freeman. The Oath of Fidelity . 401-405
CHAPTER XLIX. (1638.)
Peach. His Associates. Their Murder of an Indian. Arrest of
the Fugitive Murderers. Their Trial and Sentence. Dorothy
Temple. Hopkins disciplined. Dorothy’s Troubles .	. . 406-408
CHAPTER L. (1639-40.)
Establishing Boundaries between Massachusetts and Plymouth.
Settling with the London Partners, — Sheriey, Andrews, and
Beauchamp. The Nauset Re-movement. Settling Eastham.
Cromwell’s and Voyse‘s Difficulties and Deaths ....	409-13XXXV111
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER LI. (1643.)
The New England Confederation. Statistics. Immigration.
Church-membership. Voting. Rhode Island. Massachusetts
in the Confederacy. Characteristics of the Confederacy. De-
cadence of Plymouth History in Interest........414-18
*	CHAPTER LII. (1636-76.)
Samuel Gorton; his Character and Theology ........419,20
CHAPTER LI 11. (1644.)
Charles Chauncey and his Persecution in England. Chauncey at
Plymouth. His “Baptist” and other Novelties. At Scituate.
Wetlierell at Scituate. Chauncey’s Adversities. Harvard Col-
lege’s Beginning. President Dunster and the Introduction of
Printing. First Printing-office and first Books printed. Dun-
ster against Infant-Baptism. He goes to Scituate. Chauncey
comes to Harvard. Dunster’s burial in “ President’s Corner.”
Chauncey’s Trials at Harvard. His Freaks. Caleb Cheeshateau-
muck. Chauncey’s Death ....................................421-29
/
CHAPTER LIV. (Circ. 1600-1700.)
William Brewster. His Age and Death. Settling the Estate.
His Family. His Property, Character, and Gifts. Stephen
Hopkins. His Trip to Bermuda and early Insubordination.
His Prominence. His Various Appearances before the Court.
Liquor-dealing. His Family, Character, Standing, Property, and
House. John Atwood. His Family and Property. John
Jenney, Miller. Grist-mills in the Old Colony. Jenney’s Offices.
Mill Matters. Lumber. Ship-building. William Paddy.
William Thomas. His Character and Family. John Lothrop.
His Independency and Persecution in London. His Wife’s
Death. Settlers at Scituate. Barnstable and its “ First ” Con-
gregational Church. The Lothrop Family.....................430-41
CHAPTER LV. {Circ. 1600-1700.)
The Pilgrim Triumvirs: Edward Winslow. His Last Trip to
England, Book Writing, and Growth of Illiberality. Winslow’s
Labors in England. Appointed Governor of Hispaniola. HisCONTENTS.
XXXIX
Death at Sea. His Ancestors, Family, Descendants, and Gover-
norships. Myles Standish. His Early Incidents. His House
in Duxbury. Captain’s Hill. His Expedition against the Dutch.
His Death and Burial. His Grave. His Family. His Officers
and Avocations. Alexander Standish marries Sarah Alden.
Standish’s Library and other Effects. The Standish Family
and Myles’ descent. His Character. William Bradford. His
Death, Offices, History and Writings, Decline in Liberality,
etc.....................................................442-59
CHAPTER LVI. (1624-61.)
Governor Bradford’s Widow. Her Death. The Carpenters,—
Alexander, Mary, Agnes (or Anna), Juliana, and Priscilla.
Constant Southworth. Captain Thomas Southworth. The
South worth Family. Faunces. The Bradford Children,—
John, William, Mercy, and Joseph. Major William Bradford.
His Head-stone. Thomas and Mary Cushman and their Family.
Elder Faunce. Ephraim Spooner. Secretary Morton. His
“ Memorial.” Captain William Peirce and his Career. Massa-
soit. His Names and Children. Alexander and Philip. Death
of the last “ Mayflower ” Passengers, — Cooke, Soule, Dotey, et
als. Litigation........................................460-76
CHAPTER LVII. (1661-64.)
Thomas Prence. His Family. The Kennebec. “ Plymouth Com-
pany.” Endeavors to suppress Quaker Intrusions and Dis-
turbances. Henry and Arthur Howland.........................477-90
CHAPTER LVIII. (Circ. 1600-1700.)
Witchcraft. A General Belief in it. Comparative Moderation in
New England. The Two Plymouth Cases, — Mrs. Holmes
and Mary Woodworth. Public Education, — Schools, etc. The
King’s Commissioners and Letters.......................491-500
CHAPTER LIX. {Circ. 1623-1723.)
Timothy Hatherly. Christopher Winter. James Cudworth, — his
Military Services. Isaac Robinson. John Howland, and the
Howland Family....................................... 501-509xl
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER LX. (Circ. 1635-85.)
William Blackstone. His Migration and Family. Samuel New-
man. John Brown and his Troubles. James Brown. Thomas
Willet. Hezekiah Willet. John Myles. . Richard Williams.
Elizabeth Pool. The Leonards, and Old Colony Iron Work-
ing ....................................................... 510-29
CHAPTER LXI. (1628-62.)
Clergymen of Plymouth Colony: John Cotton, Jr.; Ralph Part-
ridge; John Holmes; Ichabod Wiswall; Thomas Walley; Jon-
athan Russell: William Leveredge; Captain Tupper; Richard
Bourne; John Smith; George Shove; Samuel Danforth; Mar-
maduke Matthews; John Miller; Thomas Thornton; Richard
Blinman; Edward Bulkley; Samuel Arnold; James Keith;
Theodore Edson ; Samuel Treat; John Mayo; Thomas Crosby;
John Sassamon (“ Martyr ”). The Mayhews : Thomas, Thomas,
Jr., John, Experience, and Zachariah. Hiacomes ....	530-39
CHAPTER LXII. (1670-76.)
Josiah Winslow. His Governorship and Refinement The Char-
ter. Winslow’s Death. Sachem Alexander and his Sudden
Death...................................................540-43
CHAPTER LXIII. (1632-1732.)
Sachem Philip’s War. Peaceable Policy of the Whites, and their
just Treatment of the Indians. Philip’s Pettiness and Igno-
rance; his Character is generally Misconceived. His Poverty
of Resources. General Carelessness of the Whites (Swansea;
Deerfield; Springfield; Medfield; Groton; Lancaster; Clarke’s
Garrison, etc.). Swansea. Pocasset Swamp. Newman and
the Mohegans’ Attack. The Nipmucks join Philip’s Wampa-
noags. Church’s Counsel disregarded. Losses of the Whites.
Church recalled, and his Successes. Philip killed. Anawan
taken. Great Expense of the War. English Indifference. Aid
from Ireland. Struggle for Philip’s Lands. Selling the Cap-
tives. The “ Praying Indians.” Statistics of Population . 544-63CONTENTS.
x!i
CHAPTER LXIV. {Circ. 1620-92.)
Benjamin Church. His Parents. His Military Services and Dis-
honest Treatment by Massachusetts. His Death. John Alden
and His Family. Captain John Alden. Thomas Hinckley.
His Governorship and Position in Andros’ Council. Andros’
Tyranny and Deposition. Debility of Plymouth Colony. Merg-
ing with the Bay into “ Massachusetts ”..........564-74
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. (Circ. 1620-1692+.)
Earthquakes. Comets. Lightning. Aurora Borealis. Climate.
Buildings, Houses, etc. Food. Cotton, Wool, and Crops.
Ship-building. Clothing. Pewter vs. Earthen. Funeral Mat-
ters? Verdict of a Coroner’s Jury. Indian Warrant. Win-
throp’s Supernaturalism. Wolves and other Wild Animals.
Small-Pox. Marriage Celebrations. Divorces. Matrimonial
Impediments. Delayed Marriages. Capital Cases. Treason.
Various Court-Cases. Card-Playing. Church Items. Church
Troubles. Formation of Counties. Variations of Spelling.
The Pilgrim Society; its Hall and Monuments...... 577~6i5
INDEX . .
617LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Seal of Plymouth Colony................................Front Cover
The “ Mayflower ” at Plymouth (from Halsall’s painting) . Frontispiece
Forefathers’ Rock and Cole’s Hill...................Opposite page i
Map, — Routes of First and Second Explorations on Cape Cod . .	71
Map, — Route of Third Exploration (Cape Cod portion) ....	84
Map, — Plymouth Harbor...........................................96
Map, — Mouth of Plymouth Harbor (from Champlain’s) .	.	.98, 147
View of Model of the “ Mayflower ”.............................102
Bradford’s Plan of First Settlement of Plymouth................106
Map of First Settlement of Plymouth (amplified from Bradford) .	106
Map of New England, Southern portion (from Capt. John Smith’s) 150
Map of New England in 1634 (Wood’s)..............Opposite page 362
Gravestone of Major William Bradford.............................467
Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth...........................................613
Autographs .	... x, xxiii, 349, 375, 430, 442, 446, 454, 470, 477, 540forefather’s rock and cole’s hill.THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The ignorance still existing on this subject is almost incredible. We
find men of education who seem to have no exact information respecting
the Pilgrim Fathers. . . . Quarterly-reviewers, members of Parlia-
ment, Christian divines, and ecclesiastical historians speak of them with
the same complacent disregard of facts. . . . The only remedy is more
light!—Hidden Church {Rev. Dr. Waddington, London, i860).
THE above criticism, written for Old England, is not
inapplicable to New England, even to that region
which counts Plymouth Rock among its choicest treasures;
for those celebrations of “ Forefathers' Day” are altogether
exceptional in which no enthusiastic orator exhibits a mis-
understanding of some of the following elementary facts:
The Pilgrim Fathers, the founders of our Plymouth, the
pioneer Colony of New England, were not Puritans. They
never were called by that name, either by themselves or their
contemporaries. They were Separatists, slightingly called
Brownists, and in time became known as Independents or
Congregationalists. As Separatists they were oppressed and
maligned by the Puritans. They did not restrict voting or
office-holding to their church-members. They heartily wel-
comed to their little State all men of other sects, or of no
sects, who adhered to the essentials of Christianity and were
ready tp conform to the local laws and customs.1
1 They were in advance of their brethren in England; much in advance of
. . . their sister Colony of Massachusetts, with whom, in this respect, they have
been unjustly classed. — Steele's Life of Brewster, p. 395.
We must take the point of view afforded by the civilization of their time.2
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
The territory of New Plymouth was absolutely their private
domain; they had obtained the title from the King’s grantees,
and also by purchase from the natives at prices deemed fair
by each contracting party. “With a great price” obtained
they “ freedom to worship God ” as their consciences dictated,
and they did not invite their former persecutors to come in
and revive hostilities in this new home. Their church was
very dear to them, and zealots who intruded for the purpose
of warring against it were ordered to seek other fields. An-
other great motive for their removal to the wilderness had
been the rearing of their children apart from the evil com-
munications of the Old World; and of all who desired to
share their domicile they consistently required a conformity
to their standard of the proprieties of life. In short, they
sought to found an asylum for persecuted Congregationalism;
and they never professed to establish an arena for the enemies
of that order. No person had any claim to share their
private estate without the consent of its owners.
They treated the Indians of their Colony with scrupulous
justice, protecting them from their enemies, relieving them
from distress, and requiring their rights to be respected by
others.
Though their laws would now be harsh, they were generally
mild for that age, and were usually administered with a degree
of reason and mercy not before known to governments.1
... We must extend to them the same justice we shall have occasion to ask
from posterity. — IV. H. Prescott.
The Plymouth Colony was more tolerant than the later Colony of Massa-
chusetts Bay. — T. IV. Higginson, Harper’s Magazine, July, 1880.
Church-of-England people and Baptists dwelt continuously in Plymouth in
peace, except such as openly sought to overturn the Independent churches.
Visitors of all beliefs and no belief were entertained, to their host’s subsequent
privation, for months together, so hospitable were they.—Steele's Brewster.
[But this excellent author is led by Thacker into the misstatement that Plymouth
restricted voting and office-holding to church-members.]
1 At the accession of James I. England made 31 crimes capital. This num-
ber gradually increased to 223! Massachusetts Bay made 13 crimes capital;
and the Virginia Colony had 17, including Unitarianism, sacrilege, adultery,
defrauding the public treasury, false-witness, and the third offence of refusing
to attend public worship! Connecticut surpassed Massachusetts; but her so-
called “ Blue Laws ” are fictitious, being the work of one Peters, who had beenINTRODUCTORY.
3
They never punished, or even committed any person as a
witch.
Roger Williams always had the free range of their Colony,
and freedom of speech in it.
Though their faith was positive and strong, they laid down
no formal creed. John Robinson taught them that “ the
Lord had more truth and light yet to break forth out of his
holy word,”1 and their covenant was “ to walk in all his
ways made known, or to be made known, unto them.”2 At
the Lord's table they communed with pious Episcopalians,
with Calvinists of the ^French and Dutch Churches, and with
Presbyterians, and recognized the spiritual fraternity of all
who hold the faith.
The following review, sometimes minute and sometimes
very general, will aim to present the Pilgrim Fathers in the
light of recent discoveries and developments. Impartiality
will require that some things be recorded which the pane-
gyrist would rather ignore and the sectarian distort. Yet the
plain facts will doubtless lead the candid reader to the con-
clusion that the Pilgrim Fathers were great in their goodness,
and wise beyond their generation; that in an era of super-
stition they groped, not unsuccessfully, for something better;
and however small their own advance, they bequeathed to
their successors the spirit of inquiry and progress. Men
must be judged by the age in which they lived and by the
special influences which surrounded them; thus before form-
ing an estimate of the Pilgrims it becomes necessary to
consider the condition of their mother-country, the leader of
intelligence in that generation.
In 1620, when the “Mayflower” sailed from England, the
world was practically, if not entirely, ignorant of steam-power,
electricity, photography, chemistry, geology, the barometer,
thermometer, and pendulum, and of a vast number of prin-
ciples, inventions, and appliances essential to modern life and
expelled from that Colony. Plymouth had only five classes of capital crime;
and of these she actually punished but two.
1 Chron, Pil., 397.	2 Bradford’s Hist., 9.4
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
comfort, even in the lowest social sphere. The philosophy
of gravitation was awaiting its far-off Newton; the learned
world was divided between the Ptolemaic and the Copernican
theories of the solar system. Of the functions of the stomach,
brain, and nerves, the skin and kidneys, nothing was known.
Harvey, following Servetus, was preparing to demonstrate
the circulation of the blood; but the best medical men of the
day had not mastered it. Charms, amulets, incantations, mag-
ical preparations, and the touch of the king’s hand,1 were
common in the medical treatment of even the most learned
divines and statesmen;2 astrology and alchemy were common
pursuits of the erudite, while divination and necromancy had
no lack of believers in all circles of life. The mental re-
sources of the less-educated classes must have been few
indeed, when even the scanty science known was not gener-
ally diffused among the learned, when there were no secular
lectures, no newspapers, no public mails, and no public
vehicles.
Cruelty to man and beast was common; judicial sentences
were often barbarous in the extreme, and their most cruel
infliction, on men and women alike, drew dense crowds of
eager spectators from the refined and select as well as from
the coarse and low.3 * * * * 8 The King set at naught even the laws
1	Particularly, scrofula, or “ King’s-evil,” w;as supposed to be curable by the
royal touch. Edward the Confessor began the practice in 1058. Charles II.
touched 92,107 persons, and according to Dr. Wiseman, court physician, they
were nearly all cured. Good Queen Anne announced officially in the “ London
Gazette” of March 12, 1712, that she would “touch” publicly. This “faith
cure ” was dropped as a royal custom by George I., 1714.
2	In Elizabeth’s time the sick in high life swallowed “salts of gold” and
powdered diamonds, coral, pearls, and many such things, for medicines. Pov-
erty was fortunate in having to limit itself to herbs, and these were gathered
with incantations and under certain planets or phases of the moon (New Eng-
landers have not yet entirely lost a reverence for the latter). Bleeding was
resorted to under almost all circumstances, but the operation was performed
by barbers, not surgeons. The Queen herself gave great attention and obe-
dience to her astrologer, Dr. Dee. Palmistry ranked as a science, and learned
professors triumphantly answered sceptics by quoting scripturally: “ He hath
placed signs in the hands of all men, that every man may know his work.” For
long afterward, anatomical researches were thought sacrilegious, and the elemen-
tary facts of geology blasphemous.
8 The law for burning heretics was not repealed in England until 1677, andINTRODUCTORY.
5
to which he had given his specific approval, and the pulpit
declared that no earthly restraint could be placed upon him,
with or without his consent. With no authority of law, the
government was in the habit of torturing suspected people,
to wring from them evidence against themselves and their
friends; prisoners charged with felony were not allowed to
have counsel, nor had they the privilege of calling sworn or
reluctant witnesses; juries were often driven by the menaces
of judges to convict those whom they had already declared
“ not guilty; ” the treatment of common prisoners was horri-
ble, and the ravages of jail-fever were frequent and terrible.
Under Elizabeth, learned and pious men had been hanged
for advocating Congregationalism; and under James, exem-
plary and able scholars were burned alive for holding to
then not because it was thought wrong, but for fear that in the coming reign
James II. might apply it to Protestants. The penalty of pressing to death
(in legal phraseology “ the Peine Forte et Dure”) a prisoner who would not
plead, existed in England in 1770. The form of execution in Elizabeth’s time,
and which continued to be the penalty for treason until 1814, was as follows :
The victim was placed in a cart with a rope around his neck ; as the cart started,
the executioner caught the swinging man, and, cutting him down, removed the
noose. The prisoner then, while in full possession of his senses, was disembowelled
and made to see his intestines burning in a fire by his side; next his still beating
heart was pulled out and burned, his body quartered, and his head set up on
London Bridge or some other public place. Elizabeth at one time had three
hundred heads exposed over the entrance to the bridge, while the Tower and
Temple Bar had each a like horrible display (see p. 230, Chapter XXI.). The
Queen was not satisfied with this savage process, but, in the case of Babington
and thirteen other young Roman Catholic gentlemen, desired some punishment
more severe. Her judges deciding that this would be illegal, the Virgin Queen in-
sisted that the established form be protracted “ to the extremity of pain.” Her
ferocity was gratified as to the first seven; but the spectators, filled with pity,
compelled the executioner to let the others hang until dead, before mutilation.
By a law of Nature, cruelty grows with indulgence. In Elizabeth’s era bar-
barity soon extended from Roman Catholics to such Protestants as offended the
government. Amputation of ears and hands, boring the tongue with a red-hot iron,
branding cheeks and foreheads, fearful scourgings, and exposure in the pillory to
every abuse short of murder, were the lot of hundreds not of sufficient impor-
tance for the rack and the quartering-block. Nor was the stake yet obsolete.
^ In 1575 two Dutch Baptists of London were burned alive. The Dutch Church
there pleaded for them, and Fox, the martyrologist, begged the Queen at least to
substitute some milder death; but Elizabeth refused, and so incurred the full
responsibility for the cruelty. Afterward at least three persons were burned as
Unitarians. She who delighted her early maidenhood with bear and dog fights
showed little mercy in her later years.6
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
Unitarianism. The idea of private judgment was almost
everywhere denied, and the toleration1 of religious differ-
ences was as widely denounced by persons of every shade of
opinion. Christianity had made but slight progress; the
religion which bore its name and used its terms being much
nearer to Judaism, and drawing its inspiration from the
Pentateuch rather than from the Gospels. All sorts and
conditions of men were swayed by superstition, especially a
dread of witchcraft, of ghosts, of comets, and of a personal,
material devil and his visitations. This summary might be
much extended; but enough has been said to indicate the
standard by which the Pilgrim Fathers are to be measured.
If in some respects they merely made their portion of New
England conform to Old England, they are not therefrom
open to special credit or censure, for such was to be expected
of good, common men; but so far as they rose above the
influences under which they had been reared, and gave the
world something better, they are entitled to no common meed
of praise. It is eulogy enough to say that while in many
respects they were like the world which had reared them,
in others they were self-advanced from it.
1 In 1634 Lord Baltimore, the Roman Catholic patron, offered full toleration
in Maryland for Protestants, except that Unitarians were punishable with
death.CHAPTER II.
English Conformists. — Nonconformists, or Puritans. — Separatists.—
Brownists. — Arrogance of the English Church. — Sufferings of the
Separatists. — Robert Brown. — Persecutions.
V\ 7HEN, in 1603, James I. became king of England, he
* * found his Protestant subjects divided into three
classes, — Conformists, or High Ritualists; Nonconformists,
or Broad-Church Puritans; and Separatists, popularly called
Brownists. The Conformists and the Puritans both adhered
to the Church of England, and were struggling for its control.
The leading Conformists had recently begun to claim more
than human authority for their Church polity and ceremonies;
the King, its earthly head, they pronounced Christ's vice-
gerent, supreme in State as well as Church, so that neither
people nor parliament had any rights or privileges which he
might not take away at his pleasure, even such as he had
solemnly confirmed by seal or oath.1 To this party belonged
the King, with most of his courtiers and placemen, the higher
clergy, most of the nobility, and nearly all the lowest grades
of society.
The Puritans objected to some of the ceremonies of the
Church, such as the ring in marriage, the sign of the cross in
baptism, the promises of godparents, the showy vestments,
1 So late as 1683, on the day of Lord Russell’s execution, Oxford University
declared “ submission and obedience, clear, absolute, and without exception,” to
be the badge and character of the Church of England. She also went through
the puerile ceremony of burning sundry books of Knox, Milton, and Baxter
which advocated the rights of the people. Yet in 1688, when her Church was
threatened by the lawful King, this grand old University was in the front rank
of rebellion, and tendered her college plate toward the invader’s expenses as he
marched against “ the Lord’s anointed,” as she had recently expressed it.8
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1603.
bowing in the creed, receiving evil-livers to the communion,
repetitions, and to kneeling at communion as if still adoring
the Host, instead of assuming an ordinary attitude as did
the apostles at the Last Supper. The majority of the
lower clergy and middle classes are said to have favored
Puritanism. But the sharp, despotic measures against these
clerics soon called together a great political party, which
cared less for the theological points involved than for the
defence of liberty and law. Thus there were religious Puri-
tans and political Puritans, two great sections, of which each
considered the other’s purpose secondary to its own, but to
nothing else. The Puritan clergy were gradually hunted out,
and were ruined by illegal fines and exactions; 1 but the
political Puritans formed the majority of the House of Com-
mons throughout the entire reign of James I. As these
members must all have been of the Church of England,
this is an illustration of the fact that the Puritans were
Episcopalians.
Under Elizabeth, several leading members of her court had
been numbered with the Puritans, such as Leicester, Burleigh,
Walsingham, Davison, Essex, Raleigh, Hatton, Sir Nicholas
Bacon, and the poet Spenser. Archbishop Grindal and the
Bishops of Winchester, Durham, and Norwich had favored a
partial adoption of their views; 2 but Elizabeth and James
were proof against every influence adverse to the extreme
ritualism which was linked with such slavish doctrines as to
the rights of the Crown. James was a despot, — fickle, lying,
and craven, but also cruel and treacherous. The High Ritu-
alists supported him to the full, and from their pulpits de-
nounced eternal damnation on those who should question,
even in Parliament, the propriety of anything he might choose
to do.
Of the Puritans, Hume, the Tory historian, feels obliged to
record: “ So absolute was the authority of the Crown that
1	In 1604 three hundred were “ silenced.”
2	Whitgift despairingly said that the Queen was the only one at court who
stood squarely by him.1600-1644]
PURITANS.
9
the precious spark of liberty had been kindled and was pre-
served by the Puritans alone; and it is to this sect that the
English owe the whole freedom of their constitution/'1
Dr. Palfrey says of them: “The rank, the wealth, the
chivalry, the genius, the social refinement and elegancies of
the time were largely represented in [their] ranks." And of
their adherence to the Church of England and their policy
of reforming it from within, he adds that they opposed sepa-
ration from the Church as a deadly sin; for in their plan “ The
seamless garment was to be cleansed, but by no means to be
rent."
Dr. Neal says that the Puritan body took form in 1564, and
dissolved in 1644. During that term of eighty years the
Puritans were ever “ in and of the Church of England; " as
Dr. Prince says in his Annals (1736), those who left the
Episcopal Church “ lost the name of Puritans and received
that of the Separatists." 2 For several years before their dis-
bandment the Puritans practised some passable conformity;
for Laud was able to report in the latter part of his domination
that there was substantially no nonconformity in the kingdom.
After 1644 some of the Puritans were found fighting for the
king; some were in the armies of Cromwell; but many were
arrayed in the Presbyterian ranks against him.3 Since that
time no body or class of men has been properly called by
the name of “ Puritans," and the title has become as com-
pletely bygone as “ Lollards," “ Hussites," or “ Crusaders."
The demoralized writers of the Restoration were as igno-
rant of English history as they were contemptuous of con-
1	Lord Bacon says: “ The wrongs of the Puritans may hardly be dissembled
or excused.”
2	Vol. i. p. 235 (ed. of 1736).
8 Among the Parliamentary commanders and naval men at the outset were
scarce any but Nonconformists; there were also Nonconformists in the King’s
army. See Magnalia, Book iii., “ Remarks.” It mentions, also, “ That part
of the Church of England which took up arms in the old cause of the Long
Parliament.”
In 1695 Archbishop Tillotson expressed to Increase Mather his “resentments
of the great injury which had been done to the first planters of New England,
and his great dislike of Archbishop Laud’s spirit toward them.” (See as
above.)IO
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1600-1644.
stitutional rights and of religion in daily life. They knew that
the defence of religion and law had formerly been led by the
Puritans, and with equal malice and ignorance applied that
name to all who were above the servile and immoral senti-
ments then in vogue at court. Especially did the wits and
dramatists revel in caricatures of zealots and canting knaves
whom they called Puritans, though in truth there was plenty
of fanaticism worthy of caricature had it been confined to
their own classes. The times were fruitful in fanatics of every
^ degree, but of few more dangerous than the mad Cavaliers,
who were eager to sacrifice liberty, law, and religion to and
even beyond the caprice of their licentious king. The name
% “ Puritan ” being thus misapplied for many years in these
productions of the favored few which a tyrannical censorship
allowed to be published, the reconstructed literature of a
better era carelessly continued its use as synonymous with
Dissenter, and more especially with advanced religious stern-
ness and sourness. This misuse has extended to the present
day, and into it have fallen even such historians as Mahon
and Macaulay. Both these writers, however, late in life, had
their attention called to the matter, and seeing their error,
began to distinguish between the Puritans and the New Eng-
land Pilgrims.1 Until recently, the modern historical writers
of our own country have made the same confusion of terms,
and not many of them have even yet taken pains to inform
themselves on the subject. Excepting two grammar-school
books, the author is not aware (1883) of any so-called His-
^ tory of the United States which is correct in this respect. It
is surprising that Bancroft and Palfrey are not also exceptions.
The admirable text of the latter clearly sets forth the facts;
but the learned writer was so influenced by the force of ex-
ample as to overlook the logical conclusion which he had
3 In the vestibule of the House of Lords is a fine painting, by Cope, of the
sailing of the “ Mayflower.” It was formerly inscribed, “ Departure of a Puritan
Family for New England.” Lords Macaulay and Stanhope (Mahon) gave a
hearing to the artist and others interested; and-seeing their own habitual error
in confounding Puritan with Separatist and Dissenter, they, as Commissioners on
Decorations, changed “ A Puritan Family ” to “ The Pilgrim Fathers.”SEPARATISTS.
II
1567.]
made plain, and curiously remarks, “ I have been struck by
the fact that the word 4 Puritan * scarcely occurs in our old
writings.” He did not see the reason to be that the Pilgrims
of Plymouth were not called Puritans by anybody of their
generation, and that the men of Massachusetts Bay “ lost the
name,” as Dr. Prince says, when they finally separated from
the Church of England.1
The Separatists, unlike the Puritans, had no connection
with the National Church, and the more rigid of them even
denied that Church to be scriptural, or its ministrations to be
valid. They held that any convenient number of believers
might form themselves into a church, and make or unmake
their officers as they saw fit. Over the spiritual affairs of
such a church there could be no legitimate authority short
of its Heavenly Head, — no bishop, director, superintendent,
council, synod, court, or sovereign. Other churches of the
same faith might not, unasked, even offer it advice, and they
were not to be asked as churches, but as detached brethren.
Even the pastors had no official standing outside of their own
parishes; but when they spoke to other churches, they were
invited to do so like any visiting lay brethren. In funda-
mental doctrines Ritualists, Puritans, and Separatists agreed;
their differences were over matters of discipline.
Among the Marian martyrs were Separatists. Under
Elizabeth a London congregation of them was cruelly per-
secuted in 1567-69; but while men and women died of the
horrors of their prisons, none recanted. Such prisoners were
given no clothing, bedding, fuel, or food. Outside charity
was their only support, and the donations from that source
came through the hands of jailers, who often stole the better
part of what was given. Group after group, the Separatists
it
V
1 The settlers at Massachusetts Bay “were Puritans, — Nonconformists, but
not Separatists ; differing in this respect from the colonists of New Plymouth.”
— Dr. Young, Chron. of Mass. p. 299.
The first settlers of Massachusetts Bay had apparently no intention at the
outset of separating from the Church of England. . . . The same thing is true
of the settlers of the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies, who sought to be
free, not from the Anglican Church, but from its errors and abuses. — Appletorts
EncyCongregationalism.12
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[i59°-
V were swept into prisons, where not only did they meet with
terrible privations, but from the entire disregard of all sanitary
precautions the horrors of pestilence were more than frequent.
Governor Bradford refers to a printed list of some eighteen
Separatists dying of jail-fever in London between 1586 and
1592, and quotes from a petition of sixty of the survivors that
they may not be “ murdered ” by “ hunger and cold, and
stifled in loathsome dungeons; ” he adds that many died
from the hardships of their prisons.1
While Separatist men and women were freely thrown into
such murderous imprisonment, but few of the Puritans were
confined for their nonconformity; these few were mostly or
entirely clergymen, whose prison life was made mild through
the interest and wealth of their partisans, and was generally
brief. The released Puritans were helped to congenial places
as teachers, wardens, librarians, guardians, trustees, and pri-
vate chaplains, or to other positions controlled by their
friends. Bradford says that the Puritans had another great
advantage over the Separatists: the latter had not only
“ harder measure ” from the same persecuting prelatists, but
encountered the hostility and “ sharp invectives ” of the Puri-
tan preachers themselves (“ the forward ministers”), who not
only stirred up against them the people at home, but so
prejudiced the Reformed clergy of other countries that while
Puritan refugees found a cordial reception there, the Separa-
tists met with no favor. Thus the ejected Puritan clergy were
mostly well cared for at home; but the unfriended Separatists,
deprived of a livelihood, were compelled to fly to other and
uncongenial lands, or “ else might have perished in prisons.” 2
1	George Johnson, a Cambridge “M.A.,” and son of the Mayor of Rich-
mond (Yorkshire), was confined in London as a Separatist for six months in the
most dark and unwholesome part of “The Clink.” Sometimes for two days and
nights he had no sustenance of any kind; while for twenty days he had no bed-
ding but a straw mat, and no change of linen. His brother, the eminent preacher
and scholar, was imprisoned at the same time.
1 From 1660 to 1688 there were recorded sixty thousand Nonconformists and
| Dissenters who were thrown into English prisons ; and of these more than five
thousand died of privation and disease.
2	Bradford’s Dialogue ; Chron. Pil., pp. 436-440. In the preface to the Dialogue
Secretary Morton speaks of “ some estrangedness ” remaining among the sue-1580.] PILGRIMS AND SEPARATISTS NOT PURITANS.
13
This high testimony is of itself quite proof enough that the
Puritans were markedly distinct from the Separatists, and
were indeed hostile to them.1
In 1580 Robert Brown2 made a furious Separatist crusade
cessors of those formerly “ forced to sustain the name of Puritans and Brown-
ists.” He also mentions that Manton, preaching before the Commons in the
time of the Commonwealth, referred to the name “ Puritans ” as one used formerly,
but no longer; the preacher then specifying the various bodies of anti-prelatists
existing, — as Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, and Independents. In that
presence he could not have spoken of the “ late Puritans ” if the name was still
extant; for had there then been any so-called Puritans, their leaders would have
been before him.
1	Many persons use . . . “ Pilgrims ” and “ Puritans ” as meaning the same
thing; but this is only a confused use of language. —Rev. I. N. Tarbox, D.D.,
No. 1, Trans. O. C. Soc., Taunton, Mass.
The Puritan was a nationalist, believing that a Christian nation is a Christian
church; . . . while the Pilgrim was a Separatist from all national churches. —
Dr. Leonard Bacon.
The Pilgrims were Separatists, having openly withdrawn from the National
Church. . . . The Massachusetts Colonists were Puritans, connected with the
National Church. — Barry's Hist. Mass. i. 149.
As to the Pilgrim Fathers, the Puritans they could not conform to. — Hutch-
inson's Hist. Mass. (a. d. 1767).
Arnold’s History of Rhode Island says that the Pilgrims were distinct from
the Puritans in England, and preserved a distinction in America, and that they
“ were more liberal in feeling and more tolerant in practice than the Puritans of
Massachusetts Bay.”
Benjamin Scott, F.R.S., Chamberlain of the City of London, in a lecture to
the Quakers there, says of the Pilgrims : “ They did not persecute for conscience*
sake either Roger Williams, the Friends, or any other person;” for “they
were neither Puritans nor persecutors.”
The Puritans disowned and disclaimed the form of discipline of the Separ-
atists.— Hibbard's Hist., p. 118.
The Puritans “ walked in a distinct path. . . . Their offence was rather at the
ceremonies than at the discipline and government” of the Church of England.
The Brownists put the rule of the Church into the hands of the people, “being
contented the elders should sit in the saddle, provided they might hold the
bridle,” as is said. —Ibid., p. 181 (a. D. 1684).
We (i. e. the Puritans) suffer for separating in the Church; you (/. e. the
Separatists), out of the Church. — Sprint, 1608. (See Prince, i. 236.)
Archbishop Abbott (1610-1627) “shows no mercy to those of the Separa-
tion,” but grows indulgent to the Puritans. — Prince, i. 238.
Coleman, Burton, and others imprisoned as Puritans, in a petition to the
Privy Council disclaim all sympathy with Separatists, saying, “We abhor these,
and we punish them.”
In 1753 the famous John Wesley published a Dictionary, in which he defines
“ Puritan ” : “ An old, strict Church of England man.”
2	Brown was born about 1549, being a son of Anthony Brown, Esq., of Fol-
thorp, Rutlandshire. He was educated at Cambridge, and became a school-
master at Southwark and lecturer at Islington before he “came out” in 1580.f /
14
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1580-1630.
through Northern England, and issued several books. Slow
communication and the friendship of his kinsman, the great
Burleigh, tided him over his first indictment by Bishop
Freake, and secured him some temporary immunity; but the
next year persecution became so hot that, with a flock some
time gathered at Norwich, he fled to Middleberg in Holland.
After some years he returned (1589) and renewed work; but
soon re-entering the Established Church, obtained in 1591 the
rural rectorate of Oundle, Northamptonshire, which he held
till his death in 1630. The Churchmen believed and spread
gross slanders against the fiery schismatic. Lacking the
means of information now common (but often disregarded),
they supposed him to have originated the movement, which
in fact antedated him by a generation, and so termed the
new sect Brownists, — a misnomic term which pedants like
Hubbard and courtiers like Hutchinson have repeated in
New England historical literature. The Separatists, after
Brown’s desertion, also in their turn gave credit to calumnies
against him, and regarded the title of “ Brownist ” as an es-
pecial insult. Yet, more than two centuries after the recant-
ing pastor’s death the historian of Congregationalism finds
him to have been a bold, able man, apparently sincere, and
of a fair character.1
Brown’s raid greatly embittered the controversy, already
marked by vituperation and coarseness on both sides. But
the hierarchy held the power, and finding the pestiferous
dungeon and unlimited abuse ineffective, it tried the gallows.
For circulating Brown’s books two worthy Separatist preach-
ers, John Copping and Elias Thacker (Thacher?), were
hanged, after a trial in which they were cruelly abused by
1 Brown said that he had been in thirty-two different dungeons, in some of
which he could not see his hand at noon-day. This must be overstated; for
with thirty-two separate commitments and releases he could hardly have had
any of’ his year of active persecution left for preaching.
One tradition says that the violence of his temper was such that at the age
of eighty he was sent to Northampton jail (where he died) for assault on a con-
stable. (See next paragraph.)
I doubt if any other man was ever more lied about or misunderstood.—
Rev. Dr. Dexter to the Author.SEPARATISTS.
1593-]
IS
the notorious Judge Popham.1 Bradford says they replied to
Popham’s menaces with this conciliatory triplet: —
“ My Lord, your face we fear not,
And for your threats we care not,
And to come to your read-service we dare not! ”
This was their answer to an offer of life if they would con-
form. Before each was “ turned off,” a bonfire of his V
“ Brownist ” books was made before the scaffold. The same
year another preacher, William Dennis, of Thetford, “ a godly
man,” was hanged for a similar cause. In 1593-4 three ,
Cambridge scholars, John Penry2 and John Greenwood, !
together with Henry Barrow, a lawyer, one of Elizabeth's ‘
former courtiers, were hanged for teaching Separatist doc-
trines.3 To strengthen the case against Greenwood and
Barrow, some unworthy Puritan ministers visited them in
prison for the purpose of betraying their conversation to the ^
prelatic prosecutors.4 Burleigh and other high nobles in-
terceded in vain for these prisoners; indeed, some official
recorded in the “ State-Paper Office ” 5 that the execution was ^
through “the malice.of the bishops.” The warrant is also
there, and, sad to say, the first signature is Archbishop j
Whitgift’s; less strangely appears among the others Judge ■
Popham’s. This ecclesiastico-judicial slaughter was so re-
pugnant to the public and to Parliament that the persecutors
then substituted banishment, under penalty of death in case
of a return, as the punishment for Separatism.6
The sect was never large. In 1593 Raleigh estimated it
at “ near twenty thousand; ” but this was probably a phi-
1	Born 1531, died 1607.
2	A Welshman, whose correct name was Ap Henry.
3	In 1594 John Clerk (Clark), mayor of St. Albans, on a charge that before
Penry’s arrest he “ did there promise to pray for him.”
4	The Hidden Church ; also Punchard’s History of Congregationalism, iii. 116.
5	Founded in 1578.
6	Of this law Hon. W. T. Davis, of Plymouth, says : “ The new law, passed
by a Puritan Commons, contributed in no small degree . . . to sweep Separatism
out of England. The Puritans could not tolerate any opposition to the old idea
of ecclesiastical unity, and were willing to go as far as the farthest in suppressing
it.” — Harper's Magazine, January, 1882.16
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1605.
v lanthropic exaggeration, as he was then trying to demonstrate
the impracticability of the bill for their banishment. It may
be doubted that they exceeded a quarter of that number.
Through the united pressure of prelates, Puritans, and
placemen, the Separatists were dispersed. Many sought the
protection of obscurity, but most contrived to conform far
enough to escape special notice. The sect rapidly dimin-
ished, and at the accession of James I. there is supposed to
vhave been in the whole kingdom but one of their churches in
operation. That was some hundred and fifty miles from the
capital, at Gainsborough, and was in charge of a pastor of
“ right eminent parts,” who bore the neither marked nor un-
English name of John Smith. Some twelve miles to the west,
around the hamlet of Scrooby, this body had a few scattered
friends who remained there when in 1605-1606 the Gains-
borough flock fled to Amsterdam. That deserted and then
1 unnoticed fragment gives rise to this volume; for it became
\ the Church of the Pilgrim Fathers, and sowed rare seed,
i whence sprang modern Congregationalism.CHAPTER III.
The Great Northern Road. — Post-Offices. — Conveyances. — Basset
Lawe. — Scrooby. — Brewster’s Rise and Career. — Austerfield. —
William Bradford. — Clifton. — Robinson. — Trying to emigrate to
Holland. — Betrayed.— Boston. — Second Attempt to start for Hol-
land.— Its Failure. —Arrival in the New Country.
HE direct land-route between London and the “ North
Country” was formerly by the Great Northern Road,
— a very ancient way, which ran from the capital to Berwick,
some three hundred miles. Its southern half was mostly an
old Roman road, which in its turn followed the general route
of the still more ancient British highways, known later as
^Ermyn Street and West Ermyn Street, to which the Great
Northern Railway now closely conforms for more than a
hundred miles. Under Elizabeth there were upon this route
twenty-five “ post-offices ” or stations, each in charge of a
postmaster, usually termed “ the post.”1 This officer was
not greatly busied with postal matters, as the mails were then
only accessible to those connected with the court; but as
there were no side-routes, he kept a post-rider to deliver
packets to a great distance on his east or west. This court-
service, dating from the thirteenth century, continued until
1644, when Prideaux, postmaster-general of the Common-
wealth, threw the mails open to the public, with a weekly
delivery to all parts of the country.2 Until then, common
people sent their letters by travelling friends and by drovers,
pedlers, freighters, coasters, and even by routine beggars.
1	From Newcastle was a branch to Carlisle, with three more post-offices on
itj Hunter errs by counting this branch into the main line.
2	The population of all England was then about that of the present London
\	—something over four millions.
2// /
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1530-1570.
* 18
The chief duty of the “post” was to furnish horses to
travellers, and for centuries the government kept this profit-
able monopoly to itself. A traveller could only hire a~pri-
r vate horse when the “post” was unable in half an hour to
I supply him. The rates in the seventeenth century were 4d. v
for a guide to the next station, and 3d. a mile for each horse, ^
—	a large charge for the horse. Wheeled vehicles in Eliza-
beth’s time were not employed for travel or traffic. As the
latter was done by the aid of pack-animals, some bulky and
ponderous articles were used only at places accessible by
j water; as, for instance, Newcastle coal, which was long known v
I in London and southern England as “ sea-coal.” The con-
veyance of passengers was by horseback, except that in some
extreme cases a horse-litter might be had (yet the famous
Wolsey, in his last sickness, rode along the Great Northern
Road on the back of a mule). The guide was in charge of
the horses, and on reaching the end of his stage took them
I back with the return passengers, if any there were; his ser-
J vices as guide were also necessary, for the “ great ” road was
j so little like a modern thoroughfare that in the open country ^
j strangers often lost their way, to say nothing of the dangers
\ of molestation to a lone traveller.1
At about midway of this Great Northern Road the “ Hun-
dred”2 of Basset Lawe filled the northeast corner of Notting-
hamshire, which there meets both Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
In Basset Lawe, near this junction, was the hamlet of Scrooby,
—	a post-station. Under Elizabeth, the “ post” was William
1	This court posting-service was originated by Edward IV. {temp. 1461-1483)
to obtain war news from Scotland. He. had horsemen in waiting at every twenty
miles ; but so bad were the roads that the best speed of the message was only
two hundred miles in two days. In 1484 Richard III., who tried to make his
reign beneficent, increased his brother’s posting-system, but seems not to have
extended it to the West; for with prompt notice of Richmond’s movements he
would probably have repelled him, and by a long, intelligent reign have earned
a far higher place among England’s rulers than is due to his rival usurper,
Henry VII.
2	The “ Hundred” (North of England “ Wappentake”) is a Danish instru-
ction. It is supposed the “ Hundreds,” or subdivisions of the Shire, were .so
called from the number of families in each at the time the counties were origi-
nally divided by Alfred, — about 897.1566-1587.]
WILLIAM BREWSTER.
19
Brewster, — probably the one who in the subsidy of 1571 was
rated as of Scrooby-cum-Ranskill.1 The vicar of Sutton and
rector of Scrooby was then Henry Brewster, who after thirty-
eight years service was in 1598 succeeded by his son James
(died 1614). These may have been the brother and nephew
of the “ post.” The latter had a son, William, Jr., whose sig-
nature is, so far as may be, a general facsimile of James’s,—
a circumstance which suggests co-education.
This William Brewster the younger became the famous
Elder Brewster of Plymouth. He was born in 1566-7, and
must have been young when he went to Cambridge Uni-
versity ; there, Bradford says, he “ spent some small time,”
his stay being perhaps the shorter on account of previous
training. While still in his nonage he left college and entered
the service of Secretary of State Davison, —a religious gentle-
man, who soon found him given to serious thoughts, and who,
by a kindred feeling, was led to “ esteem him rather as a son
than a servant ”(?), and to employ him in preference to his
fellow-clerks in matters of trust and confidence.. In 1585
Davison, as ambassador to Holland, took young Brewster
with him, giving him the sight of a brave people in arms for
national and religious freedom. As security for a loan to the
Dutch, the English ambassador received the keys of three of
their strong places; and these highly valued tokens he in-
trusted to Brewster, who so strongly felt the responsibility
as to sleep with the big keys under his pillow.2 On leaving
Holland, Davison was presented by the States-General with
a gold chain or regalia, and this he directed Brewster to wear
as they returned to Elizabeth’s court. This brilliant life was
of short duration.
Not two years after this embassy Elizabeth signed the
death-warrant of Mary Queen of Scots. When execution
had been done (Feb. 18, 1587), the English Queen sought to
1	For goods of annual value of £3.	^
2	This loan was ^750,000. In 1616 James I., trying to raise money without
"leave of Parliament, remitted the debt for one third its face. This justly
enraged his Puritan subjects.20
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1590.
*
avert its odium1 by pretending that some official had abused
his authority; and to convince doubters, made a victim of
Davison, throwing him into the Tower and putting his prop-
' erty into her own capacious pocket by a fine of ten thousand
^ marks. Burleigh, Essex, and others vainly pleaded for the
secretary as a most faithful and valuable servant, who, they
nobly said, had only acted in concurrence with themselves.
But it was two years before he was released, and all the
pecuniary justice he ever obtained was a pension of ^100
a year.
In adversity Brewster faithfully adhered to his patron,
devoting himself to his service in all possible ways; but the
^ time coming when no further aid was practicable, the attache',
then hardly twenty-one years old, turned away from the
treacherous attractions of that court where Davison’s power-
ful friends could have greatly advanced his favorite protege’,
and returning to little Scrooby, acted as an assistant to his
father in the duties of the “ post.” It is strange that Bradford
should have said no more of his great friend’s occupation
or place of retirement than “he wente and lived in ye
country.”
In 1590, the senior Brewster dying, his son sought the
vacant office; but it was given to Samuel Bevercotes. Davison,
however, had sufficient influence with Postmaster-General Stan-
hope 2 3 to secure a reconsideration and the final appointment
of Brewster. The pay was 20d. a day, until in 1603 it became
2s? If Brewster had the profits from entertaining travellers,
v his income may have ranged from ^40 to £50 a year, — a larger
sum than probably was paid to most of the established clergy
in his vicinity.4 Hunter has exhumed an interesting voucher
1	A great deal of sentimental sympathy is wasted over the unhappy fates of
Mary and Charles Stuart, — generally increasing in amount in ratio with the
'v sympathizer’s lack of acquaintance with their character.
2	The first regular Postmaster-General of England was Sir Thomas Randolph,
appointed 1581; died 1590. In 1533, Sir Brian Tuke had some such title.
3	Master (?) mechanics then were paid is. a day, ordinary clerks about 4*/.,
and State secretaries $s. 6d. But money was worth at least five times as much
as now for most purposes.
4	E. D. Neill’s English Civilization, etc.1590.] THE OLD BISHOPS’ PALACE AT SCROOBY.
21
\
of Brewster’s business. In 1603 Sir Timothy Hatton, the
archbishop’s son, journeyed to London, and in his account-
book made this entry while going south: “Paid the post at
Scrooby, conveyance to Tuxford, 10s.; for a candle, supper,
and breakfast, js. lod.” He probably lodged with Brewster,
and included the charge under the head of “ candle.” On
his return he entered: “Paid at Scrooby, conveyance to
Doncaster, 8s,; for burnt sack, bread, beer, and sugar to
wine, 2s.; to hostler, 3d.” This time he merely had a lunch.
Tuxford is nine or ten miles south of Scrooby, and Doncaster
nine miles north. It is not evident from this account what
the distance was then reckoned to be, nor what rate was
charged.
Of Brewster’s dwelling, Bradford casually calls it “ a manor
of ye bishops,” but does not suggest in what part of the king-
dom it was. From this slight clew Hunter discovered it to
be the ancient palace at Scrooby, that hunting-seat of the
archbishops of York, situated at Hatfield Chase, a branch of
Sherwood Forest, so charming to the readers of “ Ivanhoe.”
The palace mentioned in Domesday Book was mainly built
of timber; but its front was of brick, approached by a broad
flight of stone steps; it contained two court-yards, and was
defended by a moat. For centuries the Northern primates
had there gathered the gay and noble in the hunting season,
and their halls had witnessed through many generations such,
not painfully subdued, wassail as even a prelate’s table might
then permit after the chase. Queen Margaret had stopped
x there in 1503 while journeying towards the Scottish crown-
matrimonial, and in 1541 her brother, Henry VIII., had lodged
there. In 1530 the great Wolsey in his disgrace, but still
primate of York, spent here a portion of the last year of his
life; on Sundays he officiated in some of the little churches
near by, and on week days, proud and imperious no longer,
visited and relieved the poor cottagers; in the garden of the
palace he planted a mulberry-tree, which Brewster must have
enjoyed, and which in its decay stood until blown down in
1879. Under the graver manners of Protestantism the good22
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1607.
V primates Grindal and Sandys hardly needed a hunting-seat,
and they were probably glad to put this property in charge
of the senior Brewster as a man of official character; their
successors, Piers and Hutton, did so intrust it to the younger
Brewster. Hunter supposed that Sandys alienated this estate •
to his son, who leased it to Brewster; but Dexter finds the
latter to have been merely agent for the archbishop of the
v time, and the premises still belonging to the See of York.
^ Brewster left office Sept. 30, 1607 (o. s.), and his place
was filled successively by Francis Hall, John Nelson, William
Nelson, and Edward Wright; in the latter’s time, during the
Commonwealth, the post-station was removed to the little *
market-town of Bawtry, about a mile to the northward; and
(1658) a public wagon was provided to carry passengers from ^
London to Bawtry, in three days, for 30s} No private person
i thereabouts could afford to maintain the “ manor of the
bishops,” and as decay could only be stayed by costly repairs,
the edifice was taken down, and its materials sold to make
many smaller structures. By 1673 it had so thoroughly
ceased to be, that the historian Thoroton then mentioned
Scrooby as where “ within memory stood a very fair palace.”
When in 1849 Hunter discovered the connection of Scrooby
with religious events now to be mentioned, the loyal descend-
ants of the Pilgrim Fathers became intensely interested. In
^ 1851 Rev. Dr. Henry M. Dexter, of Boston, Mass., made a
pilgrimage to the place; this he repeated in 1865, 1871 (when
; he spent a month there), 1877, and 1880. Nothing remained
• of the famous edifice, but the line of the moat was visible in
\ the meadow close by the railway-station on the bank of the
f little Byton, a branch of the near-by and well-named River
\ Idle. A large brick house which was in some way connected
1 In 1763 there was but one stage-coach between London and Edinburgh. It
made a trip monthly, taking a fortnight each way (fare £4).
In 18S0 market-fairs were held at Bawtry (Yorkshire) June nth, November
16th, and November 23d. A branch of the Yorkshire Banking Company was there
then, and the population was 930. Bawtry is nearly midway between Scrooby
and Austerfield, but a little to one side. All three were on the Great Northern
Road, though only Scrooby and Bawtry are on the Great Northern Railway.i6oo.]
BREWSTER'S CHURCH-WORK. — BRADFORD.
23
with the manor, is still inhabited, and in the roof of its more
modern cow-house the enthusiastic visitor discovered fifty- 1
four carved oak beams of various sizes, which were evidently ||
relics of the departed palace. In 1855 Hon. J. G. Palfrey
made a loving visit there, as have many New Englanders in ^
later years.	""
Brewster, as “ post ” at Scrooby, might have lived in ease
as well as dignity; but he became very industrious in building
^ up the Episcopal congregations in a wide region, persuading
the people to secure learned and pious clergy, of whom many
rural parishes had been made destitute by the removal of
Puritan incumbents. He also induced them to put their
neglected church edifices in good condition and to become
active in filling them; he often aided poor parishes with
money, giving beyond his means. Basset Lawe thus had a 1
religious awakening through Brewster’s zeal, which was ably
seconded by some of the young Puritan-Episcopal clergy,
chief among whom were Richard Bernard, of Worksop,
Thomas Toller, and Robert Gifford; these zealous Puritans
remained clergymen of the Church of England till their
deaths in old age. Vicar Brewster of Sutton probably left v
the fine little church at Scrooby to a curate unequal to the re- ^
quirements of postmaster William Brewster; for on Sundays |
the latter was wont to walk four miles through the fields to 1
Babworth, where preached Richard Clifton.1 On his way 1
Brewster was joined by several friends; and while returning,
spent the time in social discussion with them of the day’s ^
exercises. In time there was a most interesting addition to -
this group.
Two* miles and a half north of Scrooby, by a path along
the meadows of the Idle, and also on the Great Northern
Road, lies the Yorkshire village of Austerfield. There, at
the subsidy of 1575, the only laymen of sufficient property .
to be rated were William Bradford (“ Bradfourth ”) and John
Hanson, — two of those small landholders known as yeomen,
once so important a section of the English commons, coming
1 Settled there 1586, set. 33.24
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1602.


X
next to the gentry, but now hardly known as a class. In
1584 their children, William Bradford, Jr., and Alice Hanson,
were married; and on March 29, 1590 (n. S.), there was born
and baptized a third William of the name, — the future gov-
ernor of the “ Pilgrim Republic.” 1 The child’s father died
the next year, and his guardianship fell to two uncles, worthy
but plodding men. As the lad had some inherited land, they
intended him for agriculture; but his health being poor, he
seems to have been allowed to indulge his natural desire
for study. We often hear of Bradford’s lack of educational
advantages from writers who, misinformed or uninformed,
think that his early life was spent in the tillage of those pat-
rimonial acres, and to a vain effort at marriage into a neigh-
boring family of “ Carpenters,” supposed to rank as his social
superiors. But, in fact, the records show that there was no
such Carpenter family in that region.2 Bradford represented
the two leading families of Austerfield; he had barely reached
the age of eighteen when he became an exile from England,
and his scholarly character very strongly implies close study
and good training irTyouth.
At about his twelfth year, from a study of the Geneva
Bible Bradford became a religious inquirer. His soul wanted
something more than he could get from the stolid incumbent
of his ancestral parish; but from his uncles he had little sym-
pathy, and from his young friends he received coarse ridicule.
Mather says the inhabitants of Austerfield were “ a most
ignorant and licentious people, and like unto their priest.”
Soon the eager lad found his way to Brewster. Sunday
mornings he followed the meadow-paths to Scrooby, and
thence accompanied his friend to Babworth and Clifton. As
the grave, middle-aged courtier and the earnest, confiding
*s
1	The Austerfield church having a modern font, Dr. Dexter made a search for
5^ I the discarded one, at which Bradford must have been christened. He traced it
I to the poultry-yard of an old lady, who used it for watering her fowls. It was
f a good-sized stone, rudely excavated. Being reclaimed and placed as a relic in
I the church chancel, theTthrifty Philistine in charge shortly offered it for sale, and
| it finally, by purchase, found its way to the Congregational Church of Rev. Dr.^
; Little at Chicago. (See Gen. Reg., xx. 90.)
2	See Chap. XXIV.i6o6.] ECCLESIASTICAL PERSECUTION. — SEPARATION.	2$
youth paced along their fragrant pathway, little did they look
like the Moses and Aaron who were to establish the ark of
the covenant in a Canaan yet to be conquered from the Trans-
atlantic wilderness.
Bradford found in Brewster not only religious sympathy,
but also secular instruction; his friend was a born teacher,
and was rarely qualified to pass beyond the meagre range of ^
text-books and make his pupil familiar with the affairs of
^ camps, courts, and countries. The youth, who had a fond-
ness for history and antiquities, must have found no little
enjoyment and profit in studying the Scrooby palace in its **
decaying grandeur, especially with the expositions of its
learned master.
When the boy had reached sixteen years there came a
rude change. Prelatical persecution had become active in
Basset Lawe. Some of the clergymen whom Brewster had
with such sacrifice procured for neglected parishes were
driven from their pulpits, while many others were harassed %
and threatened. At first Brewster merely claimed that the
upper church-officials were exceeding their lawful powers;
but under a continuance of persecution soon came to ques-
tion the rightfulness of such powers, even though legal. If I
the Church of England had then changed into the Church I ■
she is to-day, doubtless Brewster and Bradford would have I
lived and died in her communion amid the scenes of their I
youth; probably, too, New England and Canada would have f
s been to-day a colony of France. But the prelatic persecution
was madly continued, and it finally repelled many talented
and pious laborers from the Church.
As Puritans, the Scrooby reformers had been obnoxious to x
the ruling powers; now they made themselves vastly more so >
by becoming Separatists.
The outlying members of the former Gainsborough flock
were still around Scrooby. A Separatist congregation was
gathered, and Clifton, who seems to have been ejected from ^
Babworth for nonconformity, became the pastor. Brewster
was early in this movement, and with him came his youthful2 6
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1607.
friend Bradford. Soon, as junior pastor, was secured John
Robinson, a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity from
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, who had been a clergy-
man in the Established Church near Norwich, being deprived
for non-ritualism. He was then thirty years old (1606). His
great ability and worth are attested even by Baillie, who in a
severe attack upon this Church says: “ Mr. Robinson, their
pastor, was a man of excellent parts, and the most learned,
polished, and modest spirit that ever that sect enjoyed. He
ruined the rigid Separation, allowing the lawfulness of com-
municating with the Church of England in the Word and
prayer, though not in the sacraments and discipline.”
Bradford says that Brewster was “ a special stay and help ”
to this flock, which ordinarily met for worship in the halls of
his old manor-house, where “ with great love he entertained
them . . . making provision for them to his great charge.”
(Probably many came with horses from a distance.) Even
the seclusion and quasi-official protection of the “ post ” and
his manor-house could not long hide this congregation from
the informers, and meetings were at times held elsewhere.
At length, in the autumn of 1607, the pursuit was so persistent
that the Church determined on flight to Holland. Brewster
left his office at the end of the third quarter of that year,
and his comrades, turning their leases and little holdings into
cash, packed their movable goods for a start; but the King,
to prevent such emigrations, had closed the ports against
all who had not his license to depart. As Bradford says,
“ Though they could not stay, yet were they not suffered to
go.” He adds that they were forced to bribe mariners and
give exorbitant prices for secret conveyance; yet were they
betrayed, to their great suffering and loss, as he illustrates by
two cases.
A large company of them hired an entire ship, which was
to meet them at Boston, forty miles from Scrooby. The
captain having kept them waiting beyond the stipulated time,
at great expense, finally took them and their goods on board
during the night; but having bargained with the catchpoles1608.]	ATTEMPTS TO FLEE TO HOLLAND.	27
to prove false, the passengers and their effects were at once
seized and hurried ashore. While in the boats the officers
robbed the people of their money, the men being examined
to their very shirts, and the women searched “ further than
became modesty,” while their keepsakes, books, and other
little effects were stolen or scattered. The Boston magis-
trates, however, were very courteous, and would have dis-
charged the victims if possible; but that could only be done
by a higher power.1 After a month’s imprisonment most of
these people were dismissed; but Brewster, Bradford, and five
others of “ ye principall ” were kept in prison for the assizes,
with a result not stated. This robbery by unworthy minions
of an unworthy law fell severely upon the company, and it
left the largest loser, the great-hearted Brewster, so nearly
destitute that for some years in Holland he lived in sad pov-
erty and toil, — he who had once kept the keys of Dutch
cities, and feasted with princes and ambassadors.
The next spring (1608) 2 some of this company and others
agreed with a Dutch vessel, then at Hull, to call for them at
Grimsby Common, — a tract of unoccupied land near the mouth
of the Humber. All were there at the time; but the women
and children having been sent with the goods in a shallop,
and reaching the place first, had on account of severe sea-
sickness persuaded the boatmen to run over night into a still
creek, where next morning, on the arrival of the others, the
shallop lay aground at ebb tide. The only means of embark-
ing was the ship’s one small boat; so Bradford and a few
helpers went on board by this to be ready to receive the
1	Boston (England) was inclined to liberality, and a few years later was noted
for Nonconformity, though not for Dissent. Hutchinson credits it with perhaps
contributing more among the leading families at Massachusetts Bay than any
other place, except London. Some of its emigrants were the vicar John Cotton,
and Governors Dudley, Bellingham, and Leverett, and Magistrate Coddington,
afterwards Governor of Rhode Island.
In 1607 Boston petitioned Parliament to be classed “ among the decayed
towns.” In 1621 the crosses were secretly cut out from her official maces.
The mayor himself was suspected of the act, but a sharp investigation failed to
find proof. In 1624 John Cotton, the vicar, was held to answer for letting some
of his people receive in the communion standing.
2	After an unusually severe winter. — Prince, i. 23.28	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1608.
others. Before a second load could be brought, there ap-
peared in the distance a great crowd of horse and foot with
bills and guns, for the tipstaves had raised a posse to seize
the fugitives.
The Dutch skipper, fearing for himself, put to sea with his
few passengers, some of whom had no money with them, and
none had sufficient clothing, while their effects lay in the
stranded barque, exposed to the rabble which was bearing
down on their families and friends. They appealed with
tears to the captain to return them to the shore; but that
frightened mariner, as Bradford says, “ swore his countries
oath ‘ sacremente/ . . . waiged his Ancor, hoysed sayles,
& away.” Quickly arose a great storm, and for seven days
the unhappy voyagers saw neither sun, moon, nor stars.
The sailors gave themselves up as lost; once, as the ship
plunged beneath the wave-crests, they went into a panic with
shrieks and cries. Yet that little knot of English yeomen, all
unused to the sea, preserved their calmness even when the
water “ ran into their mouths and ears; ” and as the terrified
sailors cried, “ We sink ! We sink ! ” Bradford and his friends
were heard repeating, “ Yet, Lord, thou canst save ! Yet, Lord,
thou canst save ! ”
When the storm ended, the iron-bound coast of Norway
was close under their lee; the ship having been blown some
four hundred miles northward of her course, and a trip of two
hundred miles lengthened to nearly one thousand. When,
in two weeks from Grimsby, she reached Flushing, the hardy
mariners of that port wondered at her survival. On landing,
through some malicious hint to the magistrates that Bradford
was escaping from English justice, he was arrested, though at
once discharged when it appeared that he was only a religious
refugee. The exiles then went to Amsterdam.
The people left on Grimsby Common had short time for
action. The men would incur fines, costs, and official rob-
bery, which would end all present hope of emigration. It
was therefore decided that they must escape along the shore,
leaving the youths and servants to aid the women and chil-i6o8.]
THE PILGRIMS REUNITED IN HOLLAND.
29
dren. Those who remained were soon captured and dragged
from one justice (?) to another, the women distracted between
concern for their fugitive husbands and brothers, and their
“ poor little ones hanging about them, crying for fear and ^
quaking with cold; ” but as no one could censure the women j
for following their husbands, children their parents, or ser- j
vants their employers, these poor people, after undergoing
much misery, were dismissed. It was fortunate that the men
had escaped, for there would have been small hesitation in
punishing them ruinously. Of the fate of the goods in the ^
shallop, nothing is said.
There were many other “ notable passages and troubles ”
which winnowed out the less courageous and steadfast of the
fugitives, but drew in others. In various ways the constant
ones were sent over to Amsterdam, the rear of the column
being guarded by the brave patriarchs of the flock, — Clifton,
Robinson, and Brewster. A stay in England was especially
dangerous for this Idoratian three; but they held their ground
until there were no more to be helped across, and then they
followed.1
In August, 1608, like the Children of Israel on the Arabian **
shore, this reunited band of pilgrims stood by the banks of
the Zuyder Zee and poured out songs of praise for their
deliverance. But sadness mingled in their joy. For England
they had an abiding love; her language and usages, her
traditions and history, her hills and meadows, the homes of [
their youth and the graves of their dead, were interwoven i
with their thoughts and affections. The religious freedom of
Holland they could only enjoy as foreigners; and though
their mother-land had been to them merciless beyond endu-
rance, their hearts would continue untravelled until they could
beat in a new England more truly English than England %
herself.
1 In 1608 Archbishop Matthew of York ordered a fine for non-appearance
before his court against William Brewster, Richard Jackson, and Robert v
Rochester. They probably were then all at Amsterdam, — a very good place
to be in, under the circumstances.CHAPTER IV.
In a Strange Land. — Separatists at Amsterdam. — Separatist Churches
and their Officials. — Removal to Leyden. — The Pilgrims’ Vocations.
—	Their Church under Robinson. — Robinson’s Distinction. — His
Liberality. — Marriages. — Reasonable Desires for Further Emigration.
—	Projects. — The Seven Articles. — Invoking English Patronage. —
Failure to secure Help from the Virginia Company. — Manhattan
Offers. — The “ Adventurers’ ” Offers. — “ Mayflower ” and “ Speed-
well” engaged. — The Farewell Tryst. — Departure from Leyden.
THE rural fugitives from Basset Lawe found much matter
of marvel in their new abiding-place. The memorable
war between Holland and Spain was then in progress, and
the sight of fleets and armies in motion and walled towns
fully garrisoned, mingled strangely with evidences of a world-
wide commerce pursued through novel methods of business
and labor by a dense and thrifty population, whose manners
and language could not but prove uncongenial to most of
our immigrants, who, like true Britons, took but unkindly to
a foreign tongue, regarding it as an impracticable jargon.
Yet their heavy losses by robbery and excessive charges
required them promptly to find such work as they could do.
Even the gentle Brewster had nothing left of his former com-
petence ; and he who had helped so many in his prosperity
had now to resort to such drudgery as could be found by
one unused to any handicraft, and practically ignorant of his
employer’s language. But in due time the Anglo-Saxon
“ pluck,” which had made the emigration possible, secured to
all a well-earned comfort.
At Amsterdam were two Separatist congregations. The
chief was that banished from London in 1593, after the exe-1609]
REMOVAL TO LEYDEN.
31
cution of Greenwood, its sub-pastor or teacher. It still had
its former learned pastor, Johnson, while the martyr’s place
was filled by Ainsworth, one of the first Hebrew scholars of
his day; it also had four ruling elders (with no pastoral
authority), three deacons, and a deaconess. Bradford says
the latter was “ an ancient widow” who was specially mindful
of the sick, assigning the young women as watchers and
nurses, and was also in charge of relief for the sick poor; he
adds: “ She usually sat in a convenient place in the congre-
gation with a little birchen rod in her hand, and kept little
children in great awe from disturbing the congregation.”1
The communicants numbered three hundred, and their church
at first impressed the new comers by its “ order and beauty.” 2
The other body was that already noticed as escaping from
Gainsborough, and leaving behind those ex-members around
Scrooby. Its dauntless and eminent pastor, John Smith,
whom persecution could not move, was becoming so wild
and changeable in a state of freedom that his society was
breaking to pieces, and its divisions affecting the elder
Church.3
The new comers determined to leave this scene of strife
before it should involve their own serene circle; so about
May, 1609, some nine months after their arrival, they removed
to Leyden,4 a city of “ sweete situation ” on the Old Rhine,
about twenty-two miles southwest of Amsterdam. Brave
Clifton, who then ranked as “ a reverend old man,” though
but fifty-six years old, had worn out before his time, and now
retired from service, himself and family remaining with John-
1	In 1753, on Cape Cod, the town of Truro appointed a man “to take care
of and chastise the boys who play in meeting.”
2	Chron. Pil., pp. 445-456.
3	Smith subsequently denounced the liberality of Robinson’s Church, which
he elegantly termed “ as very a harlot as either her mother, the Church of Eng-
land, or her grandmother, Rome.”—Bishop HalPs Works, vii. 385; ix. 409.
4	The Lugdunum Batavorum of the Romans, from dialectic Luijkduin (Keltic
liiijk, an end ; dun, a hill) ; in the period of which we write, the second city of
Holland, and fast becoming the “ Manchester ” of the times. Its population
was increasing through refugees from France and the Spanish States. In 1640
it had one hundred thousand inhabitants; in 1750, seventy thousand; in 1800,
thirty thousand ; since when it has happily increased.32
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1609.
son’s people at Amsterdam.1 The Scrooby band at this
second hegira numbered about one hundred persons. Their
canal journey to Leyden must have brought them new won-
ders, especially as they floated through Harlem, over the site
of its most horrible tragedy, — not unlikely to be repeated, —
and again as they sailed in among the thirty islands, on which
was built “ the Venice of the North.”2 In this manufacturing
^'city unskilled labor was far less remunerative than in the /
world’s great seaport which they had just left. As most
f had expected, they injured themselves in a business point of
f view; but this was the price they readily paid for harmony.3
Yet such people would not be long in learning new things.
Brewster’s son Jonathan became a ribbon-weaver; John
Tilley a silk-worker; William White a “ wool-carder,” and
Robert Cushman a “ wool-comber; ” Degory Priest a hatter;
John Jenney a brewer; William Jepson and Francis Eaton,
carpenters;4 while Bradford apprenticed himself to a French
fustian, bombazine, or baize-maker, and finally carried on the
manufacture for himself with some success. Dexter thinks
many became weavers of baize and serge, — a large local
business, — while others were twine-spinners, masons, cabinet-
makers, bakers, and tailors, and some were known as “ mer-
chants.” All were busy; but business was so hard that
constant labor enabled few to earn more than a bare living.
Brewster for a time was subjected 'to especial hardship,
which he bore with his old-time cheerfulness and dignity.
After several years he was employed by some German and
Danish students at the University to teach them English.
1 He died there 1616.
*	2 A title now more frequently applied to Amsterdam (three hundred bridges),
and sometimes to Stockholm. Leyden had over one hundred and forty-five
bridges, mostly of stone.
3	George Sumner rather zealously contends that the Pilgrims must have
j found Leyden much better for their industries; but Bradford twice says the
' contrary.
4	It is not certain that all these persons were among the Pilgrims at their
arrival in Leyden, though there is little doubt of it. Among the “ merchants,”
or traders, are not unlikely to have been John Carver, Edward Southworth, and
George Morton.1619.] BREWSTER’S PRINTING AND ITS DANGERS.
33
They were of high families, and made liberal employers.
Neither the teacher nor the class could talk in the other’s
language; but this apparent obstacle to school exercises
yielded before the then ubiquitous Latin. No English gram-
mar was available, but Brewster constructed one upon the
Latin model. One of these original text-books would now
be an educational curiosity, cheaply purchased by the anni-
hilation of some scores of its successors in that field. Sub-
sequently he was set up as a printer, his work consisting
largely of such theological books as might not be safely
published in England. His Cartwright’s Commentary (1617),
of 795 pages, in Latin, i^in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, and also
in the pastor’s library of the original church there. In Pil-
grim Hall is also his “ Cartwright’s Confutation of the Rhe-
mists’ Translation” (1618), 837 pages folio.1
In 1619 the English Government complained that Brews-
ter’s books were “ vented underhand ” in their country, and
asked that he be delivered up for trial in England. Strange
v it is that the Dutch should have descended to such a viola-
tion of the rights of asylum, m Brewster for eleven years had
been an industrious and peaceful resident of Holland, and
was still pursuing a calling useful and entirely lawful there.
But the Dutch, anxious to strengthen their English alliance
against Spain, promptly sacrificed principle and relf-respect.
The English ambassador, Sir Dudley Carleton,2 wrote home
that Brewster had been seized; but soon after had to ex-
plain that the drunken “ Schout ” 3 employed had by mistake
arrested one Thomas Brewer, and that the longed-for Brew-
ster had disappeared with all his effects. In fact, William
Brewster was in London, which, in the state of detective
skill then, was a very safe place for an obscure fugitive.
There he remained until the sailing of the “ Mayflower ”
1	Dr. Dexter has both these works, and seven other smaller books from
Brewster’s press.
2	He became Lord Dorchester, and was zealous in helping along the charter
for the Puritan Colony at Massachusetts Bay. This again indicates the hostility
of Puritans vs. Separatists. Lord Dorchester died 1632.
3	Anglice, “ deputy sheriff.”
334
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1611.
\
(which he helped fit-out), except that during the time he
visited Scrooby.
The Pilgrim Church continued to grow under Robinson as
sole clergyman. On reaching Leyden, Brewster had been
made ruling elder, and three deacons had been ordained;
probably John Carver and Samuel Fuller were two of the
latter.1 The ruling elder, in the pastor’s absence, was to
preach, but he could not baptize or administer the Lord’s
Supper; he drew no salary, and was only an upper deacon.2
The pastor administered the Lord’s Supper every Sunday,
and preached three times a week.
Holland in her long war for freedom had learned the
^ pecuniary value of able-bodied inhabitants, — a lesson which
% England and France did not comprehend. Hence, loyal
Papists, Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Baptists, English
Ritualists, and Puritans were not only provided with places
of worship, but received a partial stipend for their clergy.
But as the Separatists were especially obnoxious to the King
v of England, the obsequious Dutch completely ignored them;
they were let alone and left alone. Hence the Pilgrim flock
had to provide its own temple. A large house on Klok
Street3 was bought by four of the people, the deed showing
that on May 5, 1611, it was sold for 8,000 florins ($3,200) to
“Jan Rabnits,” preacher of the English communion, William
Jepson, Henry Wood, and Reynulph Tschickens (Dickens or
Tickens4). As values now are, this price would be nearly
$16,000. The next estate on one side was held by William
Symonds, — probably one of the flock. In 1865 Dexter found
|	1 Deacons continued to be ordained as in the parent Church, including the
- laying on of hands, until, in 1716, Pastor Little of Plymouth disused the cere-
mony, at the election of Thomas Foster and John Atwood. This much troubled
the older people, as also did his baptizing a sick child in private at its home, in-
stead of in church. This excellent pastor served at Plymouth 1699-1723, and was
the first minister interred on Burial Hill (aged 47), where his gravestone is still
seen. After his death the ordination of deacons was for a time resumed. ,
2	At Plymouth Brewster wore a gown and bjjjds. These articles appear in
his inventory, together with his violet coat, green waistcoat, and sword.
3	“ Klok-steeg” (literal translation, “ Bell Lane”); an expressive Angliciza-
tion, “ Belfry Street.”
4	The same year Dickens (?) married Jane White, a sister of Mrs. Robinson.
THE CHURCH-HOUSE AT LEYDEN.
35
this lot to measure but twenty-five feet on the street, while it
was one hundred and twenty-five feet deep ; a little back from
the street it spread over what would have been the gardens
of both the adjoining houses. On the rear it was bounded
by the “ Faldye Baggu ” cloister, where now is the University
library. If one visiting the latter steps into the second alcove
to the left of the entrance, he will see under the window
Robinson’s garden, now in fine condition and full of flowers.
The house has long since given way to the French Walloon
Church; but with the cordial consent of the custodians of this
edifice, Dr. Dexter (aided by Prof. G. E. Day, of Yale) placed
on its front a marble slab with this inscription: —
On this spot lived,
taught, and died,
John Robinson.
1611-1625.
Every American, of whatever creed or name, who visits
Leyden may well pause before that marble tablet as before
the shrine of a saint.
It is supposed that this house (which Winslow calls “ large ”)
was not only the dwelling of the pastor and a general place
of resort for the congregation, but was also their house of
worship. Certainly for the latter purpose they occupied no
public edifice, nor is the existence of their society mentioned
in the Leyden Records beyond the reference to Robinson’s
clerical function. It seems, from Dexter’s discoveries, that in
the great garden of this house William Jepson built twenty-
one cabins, in which it is presumed the poorer members of
the flock lived, possibly in a co-operative way. Near this
hive was the great St. Peter’s Church, and yet closer was
the University. Soon new members came, and the congrega-
tion cannot have been smaller than five hundred, — a number
for which even the large house was hardly sufficient, though
no allusion is made to any other.1
1 Bradford says (Chron. Pil., pp. 455, 456), in his “ Dialogue,” that “they
were sometimes not much fewer ” than three hundred communicants. The
whole congregation must have been much larger.36
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1615.
To this community Robinson was a faithful father. He
seems to have had much secular ability, and to have taken
general charge of the little business affairs of his less promi-
nent parishioners, besides seeing that all differences were
promptly composed. He was a great leader, — untiring,
sagacious, and good. In a few years the University began to
appreciate him, and extended to him its freedom, which
brought privileges and perquisites;1 and it was thought that
but for fear of King James he would have had some greats
preferment. In the contest between the divinity professors,
Episcopius2 the Arminian, and Polyander the Calvinist, the
latter, when getting worsted, insisted that Robinson should
meet the Arminian in debate. Robinson reluctantly con-
sented, and held several public discussions in Latin before ^
the men of the University and others. Bradford describes
Robinson as “ terrible to the Arminians,” and Winslow as-
cribes wonderful success to him; but they were hardly im-
partial witnesses. When one recalls the tragic end of this
’ I controversy, he can but regret that Robinson, however
" innocently, was connected with any part of it.3
For several years the Pilgrim community moved quietly
along. The Dutch found that these people, however poor,
always promptly paid their debts and did their work honor-
ably; hence their custom was sought, their work preferred,
^ and the traders were ever ready to loan them money. Law-
suits were unknown. Shortly before the emigration of 1620
the magistrates of Leyden said to some French Protestants
(Walloons i) : “ These English have lived amongst us now
•this twelve years, and yet we never had any suit or accusation
come against any of them; but your strifes and quarrels are
continual.” So attractive was this Pilgrim community that
v 1 Exemption from municipal control, half a tun of beer every month, and ten
x gallons of wine every three months.
2	Simon Bisschop, born 1593, died 1643.
3	Episcopius was stoned nearly to death, and later, at the famous, or infamous,
Synod of Dort, was insulted by the narrow Calvinists, expelled from the Church, x
and banished.
4	French immigrants to the southern Belgic provinces, calling themselves
“ Gaulois.” They settled on the River Waal; hence were called by the Dutch
0 Waalsche,”— English corruption, “ Walloons.”1616.] WINSLOW. —ECCLESIASTICAL LIBERALITY.	37
in 1617 Edward Winslow, a young Englishman of talent and /
education, chancing to visit Leyden in his travels, was so
charmed with the manner of life in Robinson’s flock that he
became a member; the next year he made the tie stronger v
by marrying Elizabeth Barker, and he is supposed to have ~
also joined Brewster in his printing business.
In time Robinson’s views softened, and instead of regarding j
his parent, the English Church, as unchristian, and its ordi- ?
nances as nullities, he invited to communion all its members J
who professed piety, as well as Presbyterians, Lutherans, and ■
all sects of French, Swiss, and Dutch Protestants.1 His
Church, which at one time was called “ Semi-Separatist,” and
not infrequently was given the offensive name of “ Brownist,”
began to be known as the “ Independent.” In America,
“Congregational” is the term in universal popular use, but
in England “ Independent ” is still common. In the two
Amsterdam Churches rigid Separatism had resulted in vio-
lent quarrels; their congregations dwindled, and in time
those members who did not return to England merged into
the Dutch population so thoroughly that their very names v
disappeared. But when Robinson began to advocate liberal- f
ized views, he was rudely assailed by his former Amsterdam
friends as a backslider, tainted with “ the harlotry of Episco-
pacy; ” while his still earlier associates, Bernard and Toller,
with other strong Puritans like Ames and Hildersham, de- v
nounced his Independency as based on separation from the
Church of England. There ensued a strong tractarian con-
troversy, which on neither side abounded in courtesy or ^
charity. It is safe to say that Robinson was inferior to none
of his opponents in vigor and acumen.
As years passed, many changes came to this people. In
1611	Isaac Allerton married Mary Norris from Newbury; in
1612	Samuel Fuller and Agnes Carpenter,2 George Morton
1	Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Hist., v. 389. See also Prince's Annals.
2	His second marriage. His first wife was Elsie Glascock. In 1617 he was
married a third time, his wife then being Bridget, daughter of Mrs. “ Joos Lee,” v
— as the Dutch clerk rendered it.3§
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1617.
and Juliana Carpenter, William White and Anna Fuller, were
married; in 1613 Edward Southworth became the husband
of Alice Carpenter; and in the same year William Bradford,
N then twenty-three, sailed up to Amsterdam and brought back
as his wife Dorothy May, who was only sixteen. At least
nineteen other marriages took place before 1617. Some of
the oldest died; and those who had come to Leyden as chil-
dren, succeeded them as heads of families. Yet the Colony’s
condition was unsatisfactory.
By 1617 it was found that few with their constant and hard
labor could earn more than a fairly comfortable living; pro-
vision for old age and reverses was impossible, and the chil-
dren were deprived of proper education, many of the young
being obliged to work prematurely, to the hindrance of their
physical growth, — a lot which most of them cheerfully met
for their parents’ sake, but which to their elders was a source
of much grief. So hard was this life that many later comers
returned to England, choosing the risk of imprisonment there
to the constant toil which in Holland would only earn a bare
support during a man’s best years. Hence the congregation
fell away one half from its largest size.
The young, too, were naturally acquiring a home-feeling J
for Holland; some entered her army or went to sea in her
s ships, and others had found the daughters of the land fair to
look upon. Soon they would become Dutch in tastes and
** V habits,' and the third generation would be likely not only to
| lose the English language and character, but to allow the
H precious fire to die out on the Pilgrim altar. In the Nether-
lands, as in the other Continental countries, Sunday was made
a day of recreation and jollity; and the Pilgrim lads (the
younger portion of whom had never known any other public
practice) were naturally growing into the ways of the country.
There was, too, much license among the Dutch youth, which
was contagious, and had already made some moral wrecks.
The welfare of the children especially demanded a removal;
and did not the Lord’s service require them to go where they
might do something towards extending the light of the gospeli6i7]	DISCUSSING SITES FOR EMIGRATION.	39
in “ remote parts of the world,” says Bradford, — “ yea, though
they should be but even as stepping-stones to others, for the
performing of so great a work.”
But whither? Raleigh and Harcourt had printed glowing
accounts of Guiana, and some of the Leyden flock regarded
that as the land of promise: its fertile soil required little
labor; its spontaneous fruits matured every month in the
year; slightly built dwellings and the cheapest of clothing
sufficed; and while raising surplus crops for exportation,
there would be leisure for hunting up the gold of which v
Raleigh saw such plain traces. The cooler heads replied
that English constitutions must yield to such a climate, or at
least lose their vigor; neither air nor water would suit them,
and they could not hope for health. But surely fatal to the
plan was the fact that the Spaniards claimed that region, and ^
would exterminate a friendless and Protestant English plan-
tation quite as cruelly as they had the French Colony in
Florida, which was countenanced by its National Government.
At length the Guiana1 project was sensibly dismissed, though
very reluctantly by some.
The dread of the Spaniards was among the reasons for Y
leaving Leyden and the Netherlands. For more than thirty
years had the sturdy Dutchmen warred most nobly against
the Spanish tyrants, and had so far sustained themselves that
a twelve-years’ truce had been declared in 1609, at about the
time our Pilgrims came to Leyden, where the memories of its I
terrible siege were still fresh, and of which its University was u
and is a grand memorial. The truce was about to close, and
vast preparations were being made for a renewal of the most
tragic conflict of European history, worthy to be known as the ^
“ Eighty Years’ War,” — a contest between one of the least of
Continental powers on the one hand, and on the other of the
most powerful dominion of the age; a contest which has
eternally written in blood the shame and barbarity of the
1 The “ Dictionary of National Biography” (L. Stephen, Ed.) has, under arti-
cle ‘‘William Bradford,” among others, the extraordinary and stupid error of s
substituting “ Guinea” for Guiana.40
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1618.
Spanish bigot, and the glory of those heroic dwellers midst
the dykes and fens of the resultant Dutch republic.
Leyden was not unlikely to feel the enemy’s renewed rage,
and even, this time, to be overwhelmed by it. The desired
home must be one far away from this demoniac foe. Still,
some were so angered at the rejection of the tempting Guiana
suggestion that they doggedly held aloof from all further
plans. A project for joining the Colony at Jamestown, Vir- v
ginia, was overruled; for Separatists must expect less immu-
nity there than in England. Finally, the majority voted to
settle in that region, but on a distinct grant.
The North Virginia Company was then in a collapsed con-
dition, and the sister corporation alone was known as “ The
Virginia Company.” Its territory extended from 340 to 41°^
north latitude, or from Cape Fear to Long Island Sound, and N
reaching a hundred miles inland; upon this, with great ex-
pense and many years’ labor, the Company had succeeded in
planting but one colony, and that a precarious one. Its
members were therefore very willing to make any concessions
which would establish a self-supporting plantation. Through
one of their officers, Sir Edwin Sandys, they promised a tract
of land, with all the rights of local government possessed by
the Virginia Company itself. Sir Robert Naunton, the leading
Secretary of State, undertook to get from the King a charter
confirming these privileges, as well as religious liberty.
James heard the case with interest, and spoke favorably; he
also asked from what source profits could arise there, and
being told “ fishing,” he replied: “ So God have my soul,
’tis an honest trade; ’twas the apostles’ own calling! ” But
by the next interview the fickle monarch had changed,1 and x
referred the applicants to his prelates. Archbishop Abbott,
a moderate and excellent man, was an open favorer of the
Puritans; but from him Separatists had little to hope.
To clear up some misrepresented points, the following
remarkably liberal and somewhat surprising document was
then sent from Leyden: —
1 “ Rex erat Elizabeth, sed erat regina Jacobus ! ”i6i8.]
THE SEVEN ARTICLES.
41
THE SEVEN ARTICLES.
Seven Articles which the Church at Leyden sent to the Council of
England to be considered of, in respect of their judgments, occasioned
about their going to Virginia; anno 1618 : —
1.	To the confession of faith published in the name of the Church
of England, and to every article thereof, we do, with the Reformed
Churches where we live, and also elsewhere, assent wholly.
2.	As we do acknowledge the doctrine of faith there taught, so do
we the fruits and effects of the same doctrine, to the begetting of
saving faith in thousands in the land, Conformists and Reformists as
they are called, with whom also as with our brethren we do desire to
keep spiritual communion in peace, and will practise on our parts all
lawful things.
3.	The King’s Majesty we acknowledge for supreme governor in
his dominion, in all causes and over all persons; and that none may
declare or appeal from his authority or judgment in any cause what-
ever, but that in all things obedience is due unto him, either active if
the thing commanded be not against God’s Word, or passive if it be,
except pardon can be obtained.
4.	We judge it lawful for His Majesty to appoint bishops, civil over-
seers, or officers in authority under him in the several provinces,
dioceses, congregations, or parishes, to oversee the parishes and gov-
ern them civilly according to the laws of the land, unto whom in all
things they are to give an account, and by them to be ordered accord-
ing to godliness.
5.	The authority of the present bishops in the land we do acknowl-
edge, so far as the same is indeed derived from His Majesty unto
them, and as they proceed in his name, whom we will also therein
honor in all things, and him in them.
6.	We believe that no synod, classis, convocation, or assembly of
ecclesiastical officers hath any power at all, but as the same by the
magistrate given unto them.
7.	Lastly, we desire to give unto all superiors due honor to preserve
the unity of the spirit with all that fear God; to have peace with all
men what in us lieth, and wherein we err to be instructed by any.
John Robinson,
William Brewster.42
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1618.
Sandys wrote back that the Seven Articles had given the
Virginia Company such “ good degree of satisfaction ” that
they would “ set forward your desire in the best sort that may
be; ” and he received from the pastor and the elder a very
courteous reply, which concluded with these five reasons for
the proposed emigration: —
1.	We verily believe and trust the Lord is with us, unto whom and
whose service^we have given ourselves in many trials; and that he
will graciously prosper our endeavors according to the simplicity of our
hearts therein.
2.	We are well weaned from the delicate milk of our mother coun-
try, and inured to the difficulties of a strange and hard land, which
yet in a great part we have by patience overcome.
3.	The people are, for the body of them, industrious and frugal, we
think we may safely say, as any company of people in the world.
4.	We are knit together in a body in a most strict and sacred bond
and covenant of the Lord, of the violation whereof we make great
conscience, and by virtue whereof we do hold ourselves straightly tied
to all care of each other's good, and of the whole by every one, and so
mutually.
5.	Lastly, it is not with us as with other men whom small things
can discourage, or small discontentments cause to wish themselves
home again. We know our entertainment in England and Holland;
we shall much prejudice both our arts and means by removal; if we
should be driven to return, we should not hope to recover our present
helps and comforts, neither indeed look ever for ourselves to attain
unto the like in any other place during our lives, which are now
drawing towards their periods.
Early in 1618 Sir John Wolstenholme,1 a wealthy merchant
in the Virginia Company, undertook to procure the Arch-
bishop's consent to the desired charter. The prelate seems,
naturally enough, to have objected to the creation and dis-
missal of the clergy by a vote of the congregation, and Sir
John wrote privately to Leyden for some concession; but
Robinson and Brewster could but adhere to the Congrega-
1 Bradford writes it phonetically “ Worssenham.”GRANT OF THE PATENT.
43
1619.]
tional way of church government, referring to the French
Protestants as an example. Sir John suppressed this letter,
as calculated to injure their cause, though he felt justified in
reporting that both the King and the Primate had consented
to the desired privileges; but the only result was bitter
disappointment.
Some of the Leyden congregation were discouraged at this
failure, and thought themselves worse off than if nothing had
been done; for now the King in some fit of ill-will could ^
charge them with positive defiance. But answer was made
that James was not unfriendly to their enterprise, though he
had reasons of state for not openly indorsing it. He had said
he would “ connive at them and not molest them, provided*
they carried themselves peaceably; ” and if this promise was
no protection from his caprice, neither would be “ a seal as *
broad as the house-floor.”
Through 1618-1619 Carver, Cushman, and Brewster, or two
of them, were active at London; but the King’s tyrannical
interference had so confused the affairs of the Virginia Com-
pany that it was difficult to conclude anything. At length,
on June 19, 1619 (n. S.), on motion of the Earl of Lincoln,
there was granted a patent of land near the northern limits
of the Virginia territory. By advice, the patent was not
issued directly to the Separatists who were then non-resident
in England, but it ran in the name of John Wincob (or Win- -
kop), a member of the Lincoln household who intended to ,
join the emigration; he is no more heard of in that connec- j
tion, however, but without doubt he is the Puritan minister of j
his name who preached in London at Easter, 1632, two of his |
brothers preaching the same day at the same place. Probably
he could not reconcile himself to the Congregational form of „
government, for the Puritan clergy were not at all disinclined «
to magnify their office and guard its tenure. For some
reason this patent was given up in a few months.
While matters were in doubt, some Dutch capitalists would,
if they had consented, have colonized the Leyden exiles on
Zealand, near Flushing, giving them an ample outfit; but44	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1620.
this would have left them to be Dutch citizens, which their
British instincts forbade. Early in 1620 the traders to Man-
hattan (New York), where was as yet no settlement, were also
ready to transport the entire congregation to that trading-
post, providing cattle and furnishing protection as long as
needed, but leaving the Colony to self-management in its
internal affairs. This proposition was not to be lightly
rejected; but while it was under consideration, one Thomas
Weston, of London, came to Leyden, offering, if the Manhat-
tan idea might be dismissed, to furnish all the funds required.
He finally connected with him some seventy English mer-
chants and others, who as a matter of speculation took stock
#at £10 a share for promoting this emigration, on the basis of
a division of the Colony’s possessions and earnings at the end
• of seven years between the stockholders and the inhabitants.
These merchants are mentioned in Pilgrim history as “ The
Adventurers.” Shortly, articles were signed by both parties,
Weston acting for the Adventurers.
A fast day was then held at Leyden, Robinson preaching
from the text: “And David’s men said unto him, See, we
be afraid here in Judah: how much more if we come to
Keilah against the hosts of the Philistines? Then David
asked counsel of the Lord again” (1 Sam. xxiii. 3-4)}
As only some eighty or ninety of the flock could go at
first, they were selected from volunteers, with due regard to
age and fitness; they were to take the “elder” with them,
while the pastor would remain with the majority at Leyden;
each body to be a distinct Church, with Robinson as the
official pastor of both, and membership to be interchangeable
for those passing from one country to the other. Those who
were to go, had turned their property into money, and were
^ awaiting the word. The Wincob patent had been superseded
"on Feb. 12, 1620, by one running to John Peirce (one of the
Adventurers), which conveyed, with self-governing powers,
a tract of land to be selected by the planters near the mouth
of the Hudson. So little did the body of the Adventurers
1 The Pilgrims used the “ Geneva Bible ” after “ King James’s ” appeared.DISPUTE WITH CUSHMAN.
45
1620.]
know of_the Pilgrims, that they long termed them “ Mr. ^
Peirce’s Company.” 1
The crisis drawing near, Weston began to be captious, ^
urging inaction until a projected New England Company
should be chartered, so that the settlement might be made
under that body; but it was too late for a change. Several
friends in England were to join the emigration, and one of
their number, Christopher Martin, of Billerica2 (Essex), was
made co-agent with Carver and Cushman. The new member
was violently opposed by Cushman; but being fully sustained ^
by Carver, it is probable that he was quite right. There was
much dissatisfaction at Leyden with Cushman’s course, and
some pithy correspondence ensued, especially when, in vio-
lation of his instructions, he consented to Weston’s making *•
serious changes in the articles of their contract. A few weeks
before the parting members left Leyden, Robinson wrote to
Carver that but two mistakes had been made, one of which
was “ that we employed Robert Cushman, who is known f
(though a good man, & of special abilities in his kind), yet \
most unfit to deal for other men, by reason of his singularity
and too great indifferency for any conditions; and for (to
speak truly) that we have had nothing from him but terms
[z. e., phrases, talk] and presumptions.” Cushman says that
there came over to him “ many quirimonies ” and charges of
“ lording it over my brethren, and making conditions fitter
for thieves and bond-slaves than honest men; ” and he v
actually defends his policy of making it impracticable to v
build any good houses in the new colony, because he would
prevent luxury there ! Sundry sharp passages occurred
between him and Fuller, Winslow, Bradford, and Allerton,
acting together. Still, the correspondence manifested Cush-
man’s devotedness to the common cause, and the probably
1	The events of 1623-1624 indicate that, judging the emigrants from Pierce \
and Weston, the Adventurers supposed them to be of the Puritan wing of the J
Episcopal Church, and became disaffected on finding them to be Separatists.
See Chap. XXVI.	^	~	~~
2	Now by execrable taste spelled “ Billericay,” Bradford quaintly wrote
it "Billirike.”46
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
I
accidental results showed that his acts which were most con-
demned might well have been approved.
As spring waned, Thomas N^gh went from Leyden to
confer with the agents. He soon returned with a pilot
(doubtless Robert Coppin), who was to conduct the Conti-
nental party to England. In June John Turner was sent, and
he soon returned with a petulant letter from Cushman, which,
however, announced that the ship “Mayflower5’ had been
selected, and in two weeks would probably leave London for
Southampton. This vessel (Thomas Jones, master) was rated
at a hundred and eighty tons, — equal to about a hun-
dred and twenty tons of the present rating, which is much
less than the tonnage of our medium coasting-schooners, and
not a tenth of that sometimes seen among them. Yet she
was called “ a fine ship,” and was larger than most of the ^
vessels then crossing the Atlantic.1
In the “ Mayflower55 from London were to come the Eng-
lish comrades, including a Rev. Mr. Crabbe. Cushman said
that £1200 could be raised for the voyage, but that this would
not be enough by £400, though no more could be had.
A sixty-ton pinnace, the “ Speedwell,55 had been bought ^
for the Adventurers and fitted out in Holland. She
was to take the Leyden people to Southampton, and with
a proper number of the whole body was to accompany the
“ Mayflower55 across the Atlantic, and then remain with the
Colony, Reynolds, her master, and his crew being engaged
for a year.
It was on or near the last day of July (N. S.) that the
Leyden people kept a farewell fast. Robinson’s text was
^Tiappy indeed for tl^atJELhi.ne valley: “And there at the river
by Ahava, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble our-
selves before our God, and seek of him a right way for us,
and for all our children, and all our substance ” (Ezra
viii. 21). Bradford says that on this text the pastor “ spent a
1 In 1577 Drake’s famous circumnavigation was made in the “Pelican” (120
tons), accompanied by four lesser craft. In 1587 there were not in all England’s
fleet more than five merchant-vessels exceeding two hundred tons.ROBINSON’S FAREWELL COUNSEL.
47
1620.]
good part of the day very profitably/’ Communion was of
course a part of the exercises. Nevertheless, it was probably
in the latter part of that same day that those who were to
stay provided at the pastor’s house a feast for the departing.
Bradford does not allude to this festival, but says that after
the fast “ the rest of the time was spent in pouring out
prayers to the Lord with great fervency, mixed with abund-
ance of tears; ” but Winslow not only mentions the feast,
but says: —
“ We refreshed ourselves, after tears, with singing of psalms, making
joyful melody in our hearts as well as with the voice, there being
many of our congregation very expert in music; and indeed it was
the sweetest melody that ever mine ears heard.”
Winslow also gives the substance of certain farewell counsel
from their pastor. Robinson charged them most solemnly to
follow him no farther than they found him to follow Christ,
and to hold themselves as ready to receive new truth from
any other messenger as they had hitherto been to accept it
from himself. He assured them that much further light was
to come from the gospel; “ for,” said he, “ it is not possible
the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick
antichristian darkness, and that the full perfection of knowl-
edge should break forth at once.” He advised them to shake
off the name of “ Brownist,” then usually applied to them,
but which does not seem to have been so generally intended
as a term of contempt as the sensitive pastor supposed. He
further urged that they study union with the moderate and
pious portion of the Church of England, for the latter when
in freedom would come to have no difference with them; he
also recommended them to take another pastor when some
fit one should offer.1 This “ counsel ” was of wonderful
1 He bewailed the condition of the Reformed Churches as having come to
a period in their religion, and would go no farther than their former leaders.
Luther and Calvin were precious lights in their times ; yet God had not revealed
his whole will to them, and were they now living, they would be as ready and
willing to embrace further light as that they had received. (See Chron. Pil.,
pp. 396-399-)48
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l620.
liberality for that age of bigotry, and was well worthy of
Y\ a place in the farewell discourse; but Winslow, the only
authority on it, does not mention it as a part of that, or indeed
of apy other sermon, — perhaps it was merely a portion of the
goodly convocation following the solemnities.
It seems to have been late oajie evening of the., same day ^
that both sections of the congregation set out for Delfthaven,
some fourteen miles distant. The canal route between Ley-
den and Delfthaven was much in 1620 as we find it now. '
The channel was full to the brim, elevating the boats so that -
the travellers had a view of an immense plain, along which '
grazed a constant succession of neat-cattle, standing deep in ^
verdure. Almost countless hamlets and farmsteads were to
be seen, near and far; and occasionally along the banks of
the canal (kanaal) were ranged rich, elaborate, and fantastic
v country-houses (buiten plasten), with their geometrical flower-
gardens, marked off by white walks of pounded shells, with
gaudily-painted barriers, often supported by gilded posts,
while around was a profusion of the rarest tulips, flaunting
above the plebeian flowers. The view was like a brilliant
diorama, leagues in length. About the middle of the route
the canal ran between the two ancient fortalices known as the
I Gates of Delft, and then it passed through the centre of that ^
city, already important, but destined in a few years to become
far more so through its adoption of the keramic art, of which
at the time of this emigration it scarcely knew the rudest J
forms. Our company probably hired one or more large canal-
boats for conveying the passengers with their goods, and v
thus had an opportunity for farewell conversations or for v
v repose. They also brought extra provisions; for on reaching
Delfthaven those who were to remain, once more gave a feast N
to the departing Pilgrims and friends from Amsterdam who
had come to join in the parting salutations. Winslow says
that this festival also was followed by abundant tears, and
was closed in the morning with a prayer by the pastor.
Bradford merely says of the whole trip and the exercises
following it: —DEPARTURE FROM LEYDEN.
49
1620.]
u That night was spent with little sleep by the most, but with'*
friendly entertainment and Christian discourse, and other real expres-
sions of true Christian love.”
The emigrants, however, absorbed by the things which were
before, cannot have left Leyden without emotion. That still /
was the home of the greater part of the congregation; within
her walls many of them had passed from youth to adult life;
there not a few had married; there had most of the children
been born, and many of the worn-out exiles been buried.
In their memories Leyden must always be cherished, and
her peace be remembered in their prayers. Bradford never
wrote a finer sentence than this, which ends his story of the
departure: —
“ So they left that goodly and pleasant city which had been their \ **
resting-place near twelve years; but they knew they were Pilgrims, i
and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the \
heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits.”1
1 The hypercritics who query why these people should be called “ Pilgrims99
will see that they applied the term to themselves.
4CHAPTER V.
Departure from Delfthaven. — Joining the “ Mayflower.” — Disputes. —
‘‘Articles of Agreement.” — Embarrassments.
THAT midsummer night at Delfthaven quickly passed,
and the morning brought a memorable sight. The
goods had been stowed in the “ Speedwell,” which with sails
hoisted to a favorable wind was tugging at her warps, im-
patient to be gone. On the pier beside her were gathered
some two hundred men, women, and children who had not
until now felt the full pain of parting. Husbands were leav-
ing wives, parents children, and dear friends one another.
Those who stayed were to find almost half the seats vacant in
the sanctuary, and more than half the life and light gone from
daily life. Those who were to go must in any event face a
host of unfamiliar dangers, fearful at best with terrible possi-
bilities of shipwreck, starvation, pestilence, massacre, and
savage torture. Not all could meet again; how many
chances that for all this was the last interview on earth!
Sobs, broken prayers, and utterances of affection were heard
on every side, none being too strong to join in them. Even
Dutch strangers, drawn near by curiosity and not compre-
hending the English words, understood the language of
humanity and were moved to manly tears. A quarter of a
century later the people of Delfthaven preserved the memory
of this scene.
Time and tide called, but no one could say the last word.
At length the pastor fell on his knees, as did all the others,
and with streaming eyes entreated God's special protection
for the dear departing. The company arose; but unable toDEPARTURE FROM HOLLAND.
51
1620.]
speak “for.the abundance of sorrow,” they silently em-
braced each other, and the weeping voyagers passed on board
their ship,1 which at once swung away from her pier. As she
passed down the channel, those on board fired a parting
volley with their small arms, followed by three cannon. The
hull was wrapped in smoke, through which was seen at the
stern the white flag of England, doubly bisected by the great
red cross of St. George, — a token that the emigrants had at
last resumed their dearly-loved nationality; far above at the
main was seen the Union Jack, of new device, surmounted by
the long pennant which Ijke a radiant finger pointed pro-
phetically to the mysterious West. When the smoke had
lifted, those on ship and those on shore extended their hands
toward one another, and then with one accord lifted them to
heaven. With this mute but most affecting salutation the
embarkation of the Pilgrims passed into history.
A pleasant trip brought the “ Speedwell” to Southampton,
where for a week the “ Mayflower ” had been receiving her
stores and outfit. Greetings were exchanged with the Eng-
lish comrades who had come in the larger ship, and the
passengers were assigned, — ninety to the “ Mayflower,” and
thirty to the “ Speedwell.” To prevent suspicion of favor-
itism, some of the leaders went in the narrow cabin of the
“ Speedwell,” Martin being “ governor ” of her passengers,
and Cushman his assistant. In the “ Mayflower ” the “ gov-
ernor ” was the third of the agents, Carver.
The financial troubles were not over. Some who had
promised, refused to contribute because the destination was
not Guiana; several, because it was not Jamestown; others,
because it was not at all under the Virginia Company; and
1 Bradford says, in a general way, that the parting prayer was on board the
vessel, and Weir’s celebrated painting in the United States Capitol so gives it;
but Winslow differs. As the vessel was not much bigger than one of our little
forty-ton coasters, and was lumbered up with the household belongings, etc., of
more than eighty emigrants, it seems much more probable that the larger number
joining in these exercises, as Winslow says, were onjhe pier,^—certainly more
than a majority. This review therefore here follows Winslow, though in most
matters Bradford is the supreme authority.52
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l620.
yet some, because the expedition would not wait until it
could go out under the anticipated “ Council for New Eng-
land.” It was only by the efforts of his friend Cushman that
Weston had been led even measurably to fulfil his promises.
Weston, presumably for his own profit, had insisted that the
“ Mayflower” should be victualled at London, and Cushman
had consented; but Carver and Martin, directed from Leyden,
had selected Southampton. This enraged Weston, as he saw
his quiet little commissions vanish into thin air. He now
demanded the assent of the emigrants to two very serious
changes in the articles. Cushman^contrary to express orders
from his employers, had agreed to these alterations; but the
Leyden exiles had charged their departing friends not to
confirm his unwarranted action.
The articles as doctored by Weston and Cushman, were
as follows: —
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
1.	The Adventurers and Planters do agree that every person that
goeth, being aged sixteen years and upward, be rated at ^10, and
£10 to be accounted a single share.
2.	That he that goeth in person and furnishes himself out with £10,
either in money or other provisions, be accounted as having ^20 in
stock, and in the division shall receive a double share.
3.	The persons transported and the Adventurers shall continue
their joint stock and partnership together the space of seven years
(except some unexpected impediment do cause the whole Company
to agree otherwise), during which time all profits and benefits that are
got by trade, traffic, trucking, fishing, or any other means of any per-
son or persons, remain still in the common stock until the division.
4.	That at their coming there, they choose out such a number of
fit persons as may furnish their ships and boats for fishing upon the
sea; employing the rest in their several faculties upon the land, as
building houses, tilling and planting the ground, and making such
commodities as shall be most useful for the Colony.
5.	That at the end of the seven years the capital and profits, viz.;
the houses, lands, goods, and chattels, be equally divided betwixt
the Adventurers and Planters; which done, every man shall be freeARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
53
1620.]
from other of them of any debt or detriment concerning the
adventure.
6.	Whosoever cometh to the Colony hereafter, or putteth any into
the stock, shall at the end of the seven years be allowed proportionably
to the time of his so doing.
7.	He that shall carry his wife and children, or servants, shall be
allowed for every person now aged sixteen years and upward, a single
share in the division; or if they be between ten years old and sixteen,
then two of them to be reckoned for a person, both in transportation
and division.
8.	That such children as now go and are under the age of ten
years, have no other share in the division but fifty acres of unmanured
land.
9.	That such persons as die before the seven years be expired,
their executors to have their part or share at the division, proportion-
ably to their life in the colony.
10.	That all such persons as are of this Colony are to have their
meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock and
goods of said company.
An° : 1620, July 1.
By the changes two provisions had been stricken out,— 1st,
that at the end of the seven years each planter should own
the house and garden land occupied by him; and 2d, that
he should during the seven years work four days in each
week for the Colony, and have two for himself and family.
To the first provision, originally proposed by Weston
himself, the Pilgrims attached much importance. Robinson
urged that the house and lot could prove but a trifling benefit
to the Adventurers, while the prospective ownership would
be a great encouragement to the planter, who, he said, “ would
with singular care make it comfortable with borrowed hours
from his sleep.” He also claimed it to be unfit for such men
as Deacon Carver to “ serve a new apprenticeship of seven
years, and not a day’s freedom.” Others protested that some
time in each week for domestic affairs was a privilege not
denied to “ Wallachian serfs.” Cushman declared that but
for agreement to these changes he could not have drawn a54
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
penny from the Adventurers, and that the necessities were
so pressing that he could not wait to hear from Leyden. On
the other side it was alleged that not one quarter of the
Adventurers desired the alterations.
Weston was told that the original agreement, fairly and
deliberately made, must stand, as those at Leyden had so
decided. Upon this he left the Pilgrims in anger, telling
them to “ look to stand on their own legs.” He refused to
disburse ;£ 100 required for port charges and some deficien-
cies of equipment, and never gave any further aid. Still, the
Pilgrims long remembered him with kindness for the assist-
ance rendered at first.
The poor emigrants were forced to sell some eighty firkins '
of butter to raise £60 to “ clear the port,” and to dispense
with things still lacking. They had little butter left, no oil,
not a piece of leather to mend a shoe-sole, nor a sword for
each man, nor nearly enough muskets and other means of
defence. But for these lackings they cared far less than that
an old though mercenary friend should have left them in
wrath, charging them, however falsely, with injustice. In their
troubles they could expect no further help from man, but
set sail in perfect confidence of receiving it from a higher
source.CHAPTER VI.
Leaving England. — The “ Speedwell’s ” alleged Defects. — The Cap-
tain’s Knavery. — The Voyage. —Jones, and his Duplicity. — Land.—
The “ Compact.”
AUGUST 15 (N. S.), 1620, the two transports dropping
down Southampton Water, passed by the rocky Isle of
Wight into the English Channel. A long-continued favora-
ble wind had been lost by the delay, and now their way was
slow. When four days out, Captain Reynolds reported the
“ Speedwell ” as leaking very dangerously. After a consul-
tation between him and Captain Jones it was decided to bear
up for Dartmouth. That port was reached about August 23d.
Ten days were spent in discharging and re-stowing the
“ Speedwell ” and repairing her from stem to stern, although
no serious defects were found. Then, with assurance of her
seaworthiness, the voyage was resumed. When three hun-
dred miles beyond Land’s End, Reynolds again reported his
craft leaking, and alleged that he could scarcely keep her
afloat with constant pumping. After another consultation
they put back as far as Plymouth. There another survey
was had, but no special leak found, though Reynolds and his
crew continued positive that the vessel was not seaworthy.
Time being of vital importance, it was decided to return the
“ Speedwell ” to the Adventurers at London. Eighteen of
her passengers went back in her, the other twelve crowding
into the “ Mayflower.”
Most of the eighteen who were left behind consented
through fear or discontent. To these a few were added who
were in failing health or had large families of small children.56
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l620.
The returning ones were probably of those who joined in
England, and had not yet acquired the Pilgrim spirit. As
the emigrants from Leyden were selected from volunteers, we ^
can hardly suppose any of them to have been among the
faint-hearted. The reader will learn with pain that among
those who withdrew through fear and discouragement was
' Cushman with his family. While at Dartmouth he had writ-
ten to his friend Edward Southworth, of London, speaking
most despairingly of his own health, expressing discontent
and even ill-feeling about the voyage, and indulging in dismal
forebodings. He even declared that its success would be a
miracle, and that Mr. Southworth must be prepared for dis-
astrous tidings any day, although Cushman counted upon his
own early death in any event. Bradford deals tenderly with
Cushman’s weaknesses, and says of this letter: “Though it
discover some infirmities in him (as who under temptation is
free?), yet after this he continued to be a special instrument
for their good, and to do the offices of a loving friend and
faithful brother unto them, and partaker of much comfort
with them.” 1
It should here be noticed that when the “ Speedwell ”
reached London no serious trouble was found. Her masts
were too long and heavy; but these changed, she was thor-
oughly seaworthy, and afterwards made several Atlantic voy-
ages.2 The fact was that Reynolds, like his men, repented
of his bargain to stay a year in the Colony, and by collusion —
and knavery made it appear impossible to make the voyage.
His lesson was probably taught him by those Dutch mer-
chants who were anxious that no emigrants should go to the
Hudson except under their control, and enforced by them
with a bribe. Bradford charges him with dealing “ falsely,”
and Jones of the “ Mayflower” will also be seen to be guilty
of fraudulent dealings with those merchants for the same
purpose. Perhaps the two captains acted together, their
1	Deacon Thomas Blossom was sent back in the “ Speedwell ” with a son
who died before his father finally came to Plymouth, — some ten years later.
2	A vessel of this name was sailing between England and Boston in 1656.1620.]
FINAL DEPARTURE.
57
consultations as to the “ Speedwell’s ” condition being a part
of their joint knavery.
It is not known when the flotilla reached Plymouth. The
tarry there was certainly short. There was time enough,
however, for some of the residents to entertain the harassed
Pilgrims, who gratefully referred to the hospitality long after-
ward. It was fortunate for the overloaded “ Mayflower” that
she had fine weather while lying at anchor there and while
beginning her new voyage; for the port of Plymouth was ■v
then only a shallow, open bay, with no protection.1 In
southwesterly gales its waters rose into enormous waves, with
such depressions between that ships while anchored some-
times struck the bottom of the harbor and were dashed in
pieces. Ordinarily the beach was strewn with the timbers ^
and the dead mariners of at least ten vessels a year. More
than two centuries after the visit of the Pilgrims a fine break-
water, a mile long, was built across the mouth of the harbor,
making it safe in all weathers; while off its entrance Smeaton’s
wonderful tower beaconed the once terrible Eddystone. The
completion of the breakwater was celebrated as a matter of
national importance, and in connection with the event this
visit of the Pilgrim Fathers was noticed by the people of
that ancient port as among their pleasant and honorable
associations.2
September 16th, after another parting, the '‘Mayflower” ,
made her thjynd and final departure. A fine wind from
E. N. E. bore them rapidly out of sight of the land they so
loved, and continued until they were near the middle of the
Atlantic. The crowded passengers were in excellent health,
excepting temporary but severe sea-sickness, though from
this many were exempt. Jones seems to have been an un- j
sympathizing man, and his sailors exceptionally coarse and
brutal. As the poor passengers lay prostrated, a stout young
seaman was in the habit of adding to their sufferings by
1 This estuary was called “ The Catwater.”
v 2 May 18, 1882, the Eddystone lighthouse was opened ; and at the dedication "
tributes were again paid to the Pilgrims and their Rock.58	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1620.
abusive language; and when gently reproved, would violently
curse and blaspheme, expressing the hope that he should soon
throw the bodies of half the passengers into the sea. Yet
in a few days this man sickened and died, so that he was the
first to go to an ocean grave. It is not strange that his asso-
ciates saw in his fate both retribution and warning.
When nearly half way across, the “Mayflower” encoun-
tered a succession of terrible storms. She was “ shrewdly
shaken,” and the seams of her upper works were so badly
opened that the unfortunate emigrants, whom the storms
confined below the deck, had to endure wet garments and
bedding for many days. This, combined with bad air, lack
of exercise, and an unusual, unwholesome diet, rapidly under-
mined their health. Had the Adventurers and Reynolds
treated them fairly, their voyage would have been two months
earlier, when the weather would have been favorable. Cruel
indeed were the results of the cupidity which had hindered
them.
In one of these storms a main beam of the ship was sprung,
which greatly alarmed the crew and led to thoughts of return-
ing. The Pilgrim leaders had a conference with the officers,
in which Jones vouched for the strength of the vessel below
her bearings, and the carpenter agreed to make her strong N
above if the main beam could be replaced. As it was no
farther to America than to Europe, and as the matter of
wages was pending, the timid mariners consented to go on.
The forethought of the Colonists was now apparent, for one
of them produced so unusual an implement as a great iron N
jack-screw, which he had brought from Leyden; this soon
crowded the beam home. The decks were re-caulked, and
care taken not to carry a press of sail.
Still the storms continued, sometimes forcing the battered
“Mayflower” to “lie to” for days. On one of these occa-
sions, John Howland, “ a lusty young man,” came on deck,
when in a “ seel ” of the ship he was licked up by a wave and
carried overboard. The coil of the topsail-halyards had also ^
been washed over, and trailed in the sea. Howland being1620.)
LAND SIGHTED.
59
fortunate enough to catch this, though the waves rolled over
him fathoms deep, kept his grip until hauled alongside, where
he was safely fished up with a boat-hook. A short illness
was the result; but John was reserved for many a year of
noble service to the Colony.
Although the seeds of death had been planted in many
bosoms, only one passenger died during the voyage. This was
William Button, servant of Dr. Fuller, the Pilgrim surgeon.
The extended meaning then given to the word “ servant/’ and
the fact that Fuller brought none of his family, lead to the
supposition that Button was rather a student or professional
apprentice than a domestic. For instance, Howland is men-
tioned as “ servant” to Carver; but a man of Howland’s
character and standing would hardly have “ served ” except
as secretary or general man-of-aflairs. So Brewster is de- j
scribed by Bradford as having been in youth the “ servant”
of Davison, — by which is clearly meant what we should call a
“ private secretary.”
Poor Button finished his pilgrimage November 16th. The
passenger list of one hundred and two was kept good, how-
ever, for Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins at about that time
became the parents of a son, who, from his birthplace, was
named Oceanus Hopkins, and in after life became a sailor.
Thus attended by the angels of life and of death, the weary
u Mayflower ” neared her goal.
On the morning of November 20th (n. S.), as Bradford’s
account shows the day to have been (though he squarely
states the 9th O. S. [or 19th N. S.]), there came at daybreak
the electric sound of “ Land ho! ”1 Hills beautifully wooded,
1 When did the “ Mayflower ” sight land ? Bradford says, in “ Mourt,” “ the
9th of November ” (/.*., old style), “ and upon the nth of November we came to
an anchor.” Yet this narrative does not account for the intervening day and
night. In his History, however, he mentions the discovery of land, and adds
(p. 77): “ And ye next day they gott into ye Cape-harbour, wher they ridd in
saftie; ” and he afterward says (p. 80): “ Being thus arrived at Cape-Codd
ye 11. of November,” etc. (It further appears that the anchoring was on Sat-
urday afternoon; and the almanac shows that Saturday was the nth, o. s.)
As “ Mourt ” and the History are contradictory, the author follows the latter, —
which is not only more carefully prepared, but balances the time consumed with6o
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
sloping to the water’s edge, made a charming contrast to the
monotony of the ocean view, and caused a delight which is
rarely inspired by a view of the Truro shore late in Novem-
ber. Jones said that he thought the land to be Cape Cod. .
The villain might have spoken with certainty, for he had kept
faith with the Dutch merchants who bribed him to carry the
Pilgrims far to the north of Manhattan.1
the work performed; while “ Mourt ” seems to ignore a day and a night. Novem-
ber 20th (n. s.) is therefore taken to be the date of making land, and “ye next
day,” November 21st, as the time of anchoring and going ashore on the Cape.
1 Did Jones betray the Pilgrims ? The only witness is Morton, secretary of
Plymouth Colony, who in 1669, in his Memorial, saicT: “ But some of the Dutch
having notice of their intention, and having thoughts about the same time of
erecting a plantation there likewise, they fraudulently hired the said Jones, by
delays while they were in England, and now under pretence of the shoals, to dis-
appoint them in their going thither.” He adds: “ Of this plot between the
Dutch and Mr. Jones I have had late and certain intelligence.” This statement
is clear and strong. There is no evidence against it, and the known circumstances
are in its favor. Yet Moulton, Broadhead, Hildreth, and Dr. Young have in turn
sought to discredit it. The latter is especially zealous, and says that if Mor-
ton’s information “ had been early intelligence, it would have been more certain.”
This is a wild remark. For example, the world within a half-century has gained
much more of certain information concerning the Tudor and Stuart sovereigns
and of the contemporary affairs of Holland and Spain than it had before. On
Dr. Young’s favorite subject — this very one, the Pilgrims — the amount of cer-^
tain information discovered more than two hundred years after the death of *
Elder Brewster is very great, and in the Doctor’s own eyes would have been of *,
inestimable value. Bradford and Winslow say nothing of Jones’s fraud; the
objectors therefore assume that they did not know of it, and that if it had existed
they would have known of it far better than their successor, Morton. But in
1665 the English, having subjugated the Dutch at New York, established as the
first mayor of that place Thomas Willett, a prominent officer of Plymouth. From
boyhood to manhood he had lived among the Dutch at Leyden, and was selected
because in taste, sympathy, and language he was nearly as much Dutch as Eng-
lish, and so especially acceptable to the conquered people. He now came into
possession of the secret letters, records, and accounts of the Dutch founders and
rulers. He was just the one to ferret out anything in these archives which con- v
cerned his fellows at Plymouth, and to transmit it to his old associate, the colonial
secretary. Thus Morton could get intelligence inaccessible at an early date,
and which moreover was certain because late. Morton had no lack of weaknesses,
but his veracity is above question.
Some of their neighbors in Holland having a mind themselves to settle a
plantation there, secretly and sinfully contracted with the master of the ship
... to put a trick upon them. — Magnalia, book i. chap. ii. [This work, of small
value when uncorroborated, is worth something as confirmatory evidence.]
The Dutch by “ under-contrivance . . . subtly deprived ” the Pilgrims of
their “birthright of the land.” — Hubbard, 1684.
Who was Jones? It is but recently that his first name or early history hasARRIVAL AT CAPE COD.
6l
1620.]
Soon it was generally known that the land was really near
the end of the already noted Cape. The ship was at once
headed S. S. E., to pass around to the Hudson. After run-
ning that course half a day, she found herself in the shoals
and currents off the elbow of the Cape. Many attempts were
made to pass through, until toward evening, the wind hauling
ahead, the ship with some difficulty sailed back to clear water
to pass the night.1 These waters had been navigated by
been known. In 1617 the coming Earl of Warwick sent two ships to the East
Indies. One was the “ Lion,” under Captain Thomas Jones. Like many others,
these ships, under pretence of cruising against pirates, did a little piracy them-
selves. The famous Martin Pring, sent in the “ Royal James ” to suppress
buccaneering, caught the “ Lion” and her consort pursuing a junk, and after a
bloody action, in which the “ Lion ” was burned, with several of her crew, he
sent Jones home a prisoner in the “ Bull; ” but Warwick obtained his release.
January, 1620 (n. S.), the East India Company complained of Jones for hiring
away their men for the Danish service. Jones was again arrested; but Warwick
obtained his release on the ground that he was engaged to take a cargo of cattle
to Virginia. The next month Jones sailed thither in the “ Falcon ” (150 tons),
^ with thirty-six passengers, four mares, and fifty-twro kine.
Just before that the Virginia Company had John Clark in Ireland buying
cattle for Virginia. As this was the only cattle-ship in a long period, we can
^pretty surely identify Clark as the master’s mate of the “ Mayflower,” who, Cush-
man says, “ went last year to Virginia with a ship of kine.” As 1620 did not
begin until March 25th, a ship sailing in February would have gone out in 1619.
Jones and Clark could easily have made the voyage in time to engage for the
“Mayflower.” Six months after Jones’s trip in the latter he took the “Discov-
ery ” (60 tons) to Virginia, and then northward, trading along the coast. The
Council for New England complained of him to the Virginia Company for robbing
the natives. In 1622 he stopped at Plymouth on his way home, and takihg ad-
vantage of the distress there, was extortionate in his prices. In July, 1625, he
appeared at Virginia in possession of a Spanish frigate, which he said had been
captured by one Powell under a Dutch commission, but was thought a resump-
tion of his old buccaneering practices. Before investigation he sickened and
died. (See Rev. E. D. Neill in N. Y. Hist. Mag., January, 1869; N. E. Gen.
and Hist. Reg., xxviii. 314.)
In November, 1621, Clark seems to have come to Virginia as pilot of the
“ Flying Hart ” with the senior Gookin’s cattle, and in 1623 as master of the
“ Providence,” dying soon after his arrival. In 1612 he was captured by the Span-
ish while at Virginia.
1 Professor Agassiz and Amos Otis — high authority certainly — think the
shoals which the “ Mayflower” encountered were off Nauset Beach (Eastham);
Drs. Freeman and Young think them those off Monamoy. There seems no rea-
son to doubt the latter conclusion. Archer’s Relation of Gosnold’s discovery of
the Cape says Tucker’s Terror and Point Care were twelve leagues from the end
of the Cape. From Highland Light to Pollock Rip, at the very elbow of the
Cape, is just about twelve leagues; Nauset Beach is hardly half that distance.
The “ Mayflower ” stood southerly for half a day, with apparently a good breeze,62
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
Gosnold, Smith, and various English and French explorers,
whose descriptions and charts must have been familiar to a
veteran master like Jones. He doubtless magnified the
danger of the passage, and managed to have only such efforts
made as were sure to fail. Of course he knew that by stand-
ing well out, and then southward in the clear sea, he would be
able to bear up for the Hudson. His professed inability to
devise any way for getting south of the Cape, is strong proof
of guilt. Reaching deep water, an anxious consultation was
held. The apparent danger of the southern passage, lateness
of the season, and indications of disease, led the Pilgrims to
decide on putting into Cape Cod Harbor (now Provincetown),
and there keeping the ship until a suitable place for settle-
ment could be found in the neighborhood by means of the
shallop. Thus they felt obliged to abandon the idea of
living in the Virginia Company’s territory under the patent
considered so valuable. The “ Mayflower ” thereupon fell
off, and headed for the point of the Cape.
The next day the leaders learned that some persons were
advancing the idea that there would be an end of all author-
ity as soon as the company should land. The Virginia Com-
pany had no rights in New England, and of course their
patent could confer none; neither did any other body exer-
cise authority there. The King made a general claim to the
whole territory, but had delegated no power to the Pilgrims,
not even authorizing them to enter the country. It was
therefore asserted that as soon as they had left the ship
every one would be his own master, and that all government
would be at an end. It was true that, landing beyond the
before she came to the shoals, and she ought to have made twelve leagues
These shoals must be the same with what Bradford in 1622 calls “the shoal of
Cape Cod,” south of Chatham (Hist., p. 128), and which Winslow mentions
(Chron. Pil., p. 300).
Many years after this voyage Bradford (Hist., p. 77) describes the point off
which the “ Mayflower” found these shoals as that which Gosnold “called Point
Care and Tucker’s Terror; but the French and Dutch to this day call it Mala-
bar.” Archer speaks of Gosnold’s doubling this point. He would not have used
that expression if the “ Concord ” had merely given a wide berth to a shoal
making out from Nauset.THE AGREEMENT.
63
1620.")
limits of the Virginia Company, the Pilgrims would lose such
rights as they might claim to derive from their patent, and
would be outside of all established authority. They indeed
recognized James I. as their sovereign, but he ignored them.
The moment they landed north of 410 north latitude, they
would become waifs and estrays, save that they would still be
^ a voluntary church. The leaders were equal to the emer-
gency. If England had no government for them, they would
make one for themselves. If none had any claim to especial
privileges, all should stand equal, and be bound by such laws
of equal bearing as the majority should adopt. If the world
would not provide them with a civil organization, they would
present the world with a new system, of a simplicity and
excellence hitherto unknown. Not that they fully compre-
hended the logic of their own ideas, but that in this un-
foreseen emergency they instinctively laid hold on great
^ principles hitherto unrevealed to the nations of the earth.
, The Swiss republic was an aristocracy of birth, the Dutch
I republic an aristocracy of wealth. Our English yeomen and
artisans could not have founded the one or the other; but the
i twelve leaders who were distinguished among their follows by
| the then significant title of “ master ” would have been com-
j mended by the best English and Continental sentiment of
* their day if they had claimed official and social superiority.
1 Their nobility showed itself in anticipating the day when
; “just and equal laws,” adopted and administered by the
people, should govern great nations.
The adult males of the company were summoned to the
“ Mayflower’s ” cabin, the necessities of the case explained,
and the following document was drawn up and signed by all
the men of the company, as follows (those in italics had the
title of “ Master,” or “ Mr.”) : —
In ye name of God, Amen ! We whose names are under-writen,
the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by ye
grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender
of ye faith, &c., haveing undertaken, for ye glorie of God and advance-64
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
mente of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king and countrie, a
voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe
by these presents solemnly and mutualy in ye presence of God, and
one of another, covenant and combine our selves togeather into a civill
body politick, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance
of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute, and
frame such just and equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and
offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and con-
venient for ye generall good of ye Colonie, unto which we promise all
due submission and obedience.
In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed our names at
Cap-Codd ye n. of November, in ye year of ye raigne of our sover-
aigne lord, King James, of England, France, & Ireland ye eight-
eenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie-fourth. An°. Dom. 1620.1
John Carver,	Edward Tilley,	Degory Priest,
William Bradford,	John Tilley,	Thomas Williams,
Edward Winslow,
William Brewster,
Isaac Alter ton,
Myles Standish,
John Alden,
Samuel Fuller,
Christopher Martin,
William Mullins,
William White,
Richard Warren,
John Howland,
Stephen Hopkins,
Francis Cook,
Thomas Rogers,
Thomas Tinker,
John Rigdale,
Edward Fuller,
John Turner,
Francis Eaton,
James Chilton,
John Crackston,
John Billington,
Moses Fletcher,
John Goodman,
Gilbert Winslow,
Edmund Margeson,
Peter Brown,
Richard Britteridge,
George Soule,
Richard Clarke,
Richard Gardiner,
John Allerton,
Thomas English,
Edward Dotey,
Edward Lister.2
Thus in a few minutes was this little unorganized group of
adventurers converted into a commonwealth. The first act
of the citizens of the new-made State was to confirm John
Carver as governor till their next New Year’s Day (March
25th).3 It is probable that this business was not ended until
1	Bradford gives no list of signers ; this is adapted from Morton.
2	Total, 41.
3	Bradford says that after making this compact, “ they chose, or rather con-
firmed, John Carver their governor for that year ” (p. 93): and in “ Mourt ” he
relates that on the 23d of the next March, Carver was chosen “ our governor for
this year.” Many learned and skilful writers have endeavored to show that the1620.]
ARRIVAL AT PROVINCETOWN.
65
the ship had reached her anchorage, and that Provincetown
may justly claim to be the birthplace of that “ free and equal ”
government which now spans the continent.1
Of this compact John Quincy Adams remarked, in 1802 :
“ This is perhaps the only instance in human history of that posi-
tive, original social compact which speculative philosophers have
imagined as the only legitimate source of government. Here was a
unanimous and personal assent by all the individuals of the commu-
nity to the association, by which they became a nation. . . . The set-
tlers of all the former European colonies had contented themselves
with the powers conferred upon them by their respective charters,
without looking beyond the seal of the royal parchment for the
measure of their rights and the rule of their duties. The founders
of Plymouth had.been impelled by the peculiarities of their situa-
tion to examine the subject with deeper and more comprehensive
research.”
While this important matter was in progress, the “ May-
flower ” had doubled the Cape, and headed for a time toward
the east along Long Point, finally luffing to an anchorage a
furlong within this Point and about a mile from the site of
Provincetown.
The voyage between Plymouth, England, and Cape Cod
lasted sixty-seven days. But the company had been ninety-
nine days on the passage from Southampton, and the greater
word “ confirmed " was not the one intended, and either that one of these elec-
tions did not happen, or the second was the confirmatory one. The two state-
ments are not only consistent, but are easily explained. At Southampton there
was appointed a “ governor,” with one or more assistants, for each ship. For
the “ Speedwell ” were selected Martin and Cushman, — two of the agents who
had attended to fitting-out the expedition. What more sure than that for
governor in the other ship should be taken the remaining agent, especially as he
was deacon of the emigrating church, the confidential friend of Robinson, and
one of the foremost members ? On the voyage he was the only governor, and it
was quite a matter of course that upon the adoption of a new frame of govern-
ment he should be “ confirmed ** for the rest of that year, and that on March 23d,
he should be elected for the ensuing year, which began on March 25th.
1 This was the birthplace of popular constitutional liberty. — Bancroft's U. S.,
i. 310.
It was here that the government based on the will of the governed was first
established on the American coast. — North American Rev., 1., 336.
566	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1620.
| portion had passed one hundred and thirty-three days in
\ cramped-up quarters on shipboard since they had given that
! parting salute to their friends in the harbor of Delfthaven.
A month longer of this life must be endured, amid the rigors
of a New England winter, and some ten weeks drag away
before all the women and children can be provided for on
shore. Yet not all of them, even then; for there be many
patient waiters who will be taken from the ship by the grim
ferry-man and conveyed to a landing which mortal feet can
never tread.CHAPTER VII.
Landing on Cape Cod. — Soil and Vegetation.—The Shallop. — Two
Cape Explorations. — Peregrine White. — A Third Coasting Explora-
tion, extending to Plymouth, which is examined. — Clark’s Island. —
The Rock.
HERE is a tradition that the “ Mayflower ” was driven
into her harbor by a storm; but she seems to have
had pleasant weather, for immediately after anchoring, sixteen
well-armed men went on shore to explore, and others to pro-
cure fire-wood. The explorers climbed the hills and ascer-
tained the shape of that portion of the Cape. They reported
that the land consisted of hills of sand, which reminded them
of the dunes of Holland, except that these were better, be-
cause covered with fine black earth, a “spit” deep, in which
grew forests of oak, pine, sassafras, juniper, birch, and holly,
with some ash and walnut, while grape-vines abounded. The
woods were like a grove or park, being so free from under-
brush that a person might ride a horse in any direction.
They afterwards found that this was due to the savages, who
burned the country over every spring and fall to destroy the
undergrowth, which hindered their hunting.
The other party had been attracted by the wood they called
juniper. This was really the rejd cedar, which resembles its
cousin, the European savin, from which are gathered the
medicinal berries called juniper. The red cedar, like the
famed sandalwood, “ sheds its perfume on the axe that slays
it,” and is very fragrant while burning. It at once became
the favorite fuel.1 (The salt-boilers have long since extermi-
nated the trees and made “ Wood End ” a misnomer, and the
1 The “ camphire ” of Solomon’s Song (i. 14 and iv. 13), which some con-
found with the “ camphor,” but which is the sweet-smelling cypress, reminds one
of the “ juniper ” of our fathers.68
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620. V
) unprotected black soil has been succeeded by drifting sand.
\ To save the harbor from ruin, Government has adopted the
\ Dutch practice of sowing the sand with beach-grass (Psamma
| arenaria), which grows readily and prevents drifting. In the
| eastern part of Provincetown, near Snow’s Hill and along the
1 railroad, is now a fine little grove showing a great variety of
trees, under which we still find the rich black earth that once
extended through the town.1)	^
The first morning which greeted the Pilgrims in their port
of refuge was that of Sunday, November 22. With heartfelt
thankfulness for preservation from the dangers of the sea, they
held their worship and sang “ the Lord’s song in a strange
land.” On Monday morning worldly cares returned. Jones
was very impatient of delay on the coast at that time of year;
he refused to move his ship until they should have fixed their
place of settlement and found him another safe harbor. Some
of his company even proposed that the passengers and stores
be set on shore, and the “Mayflower” started for home;
but it does not appear that Jones was inclined to any such
outrageous proceeding.
The Pilgrims at once prepared to explore the coast in their
own shallop, — a sloop-rigged craft of twelve to fifteen tons, S
which they had brought between decks, having been obliged
to take her partly to pieces for stowage. It was supposed
that their carpenters would trim her up in six days; but parts
had been so strained during the voyage that seventeen days
were required.2 In the mean time the people went on shore
for exercise, while many were engaged in helving and fitting
1	Even midst the streets of Provincetown the sand formerly blew about in J
uncomfortable drifts, and no slight trouble and expense have been incurred in
giving those most travelled a durable veneering of various more stable materials.
The writer himself once heard a tradesman on the main street of that siliceous
town cautioning his shop-boy not to sweep the imported earth sidewalkToo
vigorously, lest he make a hole therein to the sand below.
2	In 1605, on the Maine coast, Weymouth had a shallop which he “brought -
in pieces out of England.” Bradford’s History says the Pilgrims’ shallop was
“ stowed in quarters in the ship; ” and Mourt says that they were “ forced to cut *
her down in bestowing her betwixt decks,” and “ she was much opened by the
people’s lying in her.”^1620.]
CAPE COD.
69
tools and getting out timber for another shallop. From Wood
End around to the east side of the harbor, the flats extend
from the shore, and at low water it is very shallow for a long
way out. The Pilgrims, when going ashore and returning,
were forced to wade for “ a bowshot or two,” though they
availed themselves as far as possible of the greater depth at
high water. Many of the more active and frolicsome often
exposed themselves by jumping from the boat and wading
ashore unnecessarily; and the resulting coughs and colds most
disastrously affected systems already impregnated with the
scurvy of sea-life.
The women, like good housewives, were anxious to dispose
of the accumulated washing. There was a bank in front of
the present village of Provincetown, between which and the
shore was a large pool of fresh water. Dr. Dexter finds that
here was the washing done, while the busy matrons were ex-
posed to the weather of the last of November. The bank
has disappeared, and the site of the pool is now a part of the
harbor; but at times may be found near the wharves some of
the black earth which once formed the ridge.
The voyagers tried for cod and other fish, but found none
except a few left by the tide. They evidently fished entirely
in the harbor; for outside there would have been some cod
at that season, the supply increasing till spring. Gosnold
found them so abundant in May, 1602, that he named the
Cape for them. John Smith changed the name in 1614 to
Cape James, in honor of the King; but the abounding cod-
fish weighed more strongly with the public, and the old name
prevailed. The great muscle-clam was found, and its rude
pearls made it an object of interest to the visitors; but its meat
caused them “ to cast and scour ” in a manner at first alarm-
ing. Along the shores was the “ greatest store of fowl that
we ever saw,” — an abundance which long characterized Prov-
incetown winters, but has been reduced by pursuit. Our
travellers were the most astonished^ at the whales which
played about them, and much regretted their lack of whaling
gear; for the crew declared that, if equipped, they might70
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
easily secure ^3000 to ^4000 worth of oil for a return
cargo.
As they entered the harbor, they had noticed on the Cape
shore, some five miles to the southeast, what looked like the
mouth of a river. Thinking that there might perhaps be a
good place for their plantation, and weary of waiting for the
shallop to be made seaworthy, some of the more daring
desired to explore the region by the toilsome land route
through forests and swamps. The great hazard of such a
journey, in pathless and unknown regions where savage foes
might be lurking, led the more prudent to urge waiting for
the shallop; but the volunteers were so eager that finally the
journey was “ rather permitted than approved.”
THE FIRST EXPLORATION.
Wednesday, November 25th, there were set on shore six-
teen men, each with a musket, sword, and corselet,1 all under
the command of Captain Myles Standish, to whom were
joined as advisers, William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins, and
Edward Tilley. Standish’s name now first appears in the
\ record. He was not a member of the Pilgrim church, and
was a scion of a distinguished English family, including in its
genealogy a Roman Catholic bishop, besides several knights,
and which still held large estates. The first known of him
with certainty is that while a youth he received from Eliza-
beth a commission in the English army in Holland. As the
first mention of him in the Pilgrims’ journal is as “ Captain ”
^ Standish, such was probably his army rank. Skill and bra-
! very, joined to a perfect devotion to the interests of his new
j associates, made him of priceless value as their military leader
i and as a civil officer. Stephen Hopkins was one of those
who joined the “ Mayflower ” from London, his family in-
cluding eight persons. He long was prominent in the Colony,
being often associated with Standish. Edward Tilley’s days
1 Strictly, “ breast armor,” but loosely applied to cuirass armor; *. e.f breast
and back.CAPE COD.—THE FIRST EXPLORATION.
71
1620.J
were to be very few in the land; he appears to have been of
1
0
1
ROUTES OF THE FIRST TWO EXPLORATIONS.
the Leyden band, and this appointment shows him a person
held in esteem.72
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
On landing, the party of twenty proceeded along the shore
for a mile. They then saw six people with a dog coming
towards them. Supposing this to be a party already ashore
with Jones, they kept on; but the others on seeing them ran
into the woods, whistling the dog after them and showing
themselves to be Indians. Fearing that the narrow beach
might be ambushed, the explorers also turned into the open
forest and continued their way. The Indians thereupon left
the wood to the northward, running away over the sand at
the back of the hills. As the explorers followed, hoping to
open communication, they saw by the footprints that the
savages had come the same way by which they were return-
ing; also, that in their retreat they had run up a hill (prob- */
ably “ Negro Head ”) to reconnoitre.
Night coming on, the explorers encamped near the present
eastern boundary of Provincetown. They built a barricade
of logs and boughs, making it the height of a man and shaped
like a horseshoe, the open end to the leeward. In the middle
a fire was kept. Three of the number stood as sentries during
the time occupied by the burning of six inches of match on
their muskets, and then were relieved.
Thursday, November 26th, the march was resumed at day-
break. The Indian footprints were followed around East
Harbor nearly to the outer shore, whence they led into a
wood from which the underbrush had not been burned, while
the surface was broken into a tiresome succession of hills and
valleys, as may be seen by the traveller through the region
north of East Harbor village, Truro. The woods have long ^
since disappeared, giving place to bleakness and sterility, and
the present generation is doing itself credit by persevering
efforts to restore the trees.1 But our Pilgrims were obliged to
force their way up hill and down, through a dense thicket
which tore their very armor apart.
1 The traveller of to day will there see the unusual (for New England) sight
of large patches of pine-land with the trees set out in prim orchard style, form-
ing regular lines and squares. So jealous has it been necessary for the dwellers
in this modern desert to become for their boscage and herbage, that some years
ago persons were fined for climbing the artificially scrub*clad hillocks or walking
over the unstable sward (?).1620.]
CAPE COD. —THE FIRST EXPLORATION.
73
They were also much troubled by thirst, having brought
only some biscuit and Dutch cheese, with a “ little bottle of
aqua vita!' Since leaving the “ Mayflower ” they had found
no fresh water, and on this second day their sufferings were
intense. At about io A. M. they came to the deep valley
which now holds the sad remains of the once-thriving village ^
of East Harbor. The hollow was overgrown with brush,
“ wood-gaile,” and long grass; through the tangle were sev-
eral little paths, along one of which they saw a deer disap-
pearing. Here they found abundant and excellent springs, ^
which accounted for the deer-paths. This was their first ^
draught of New England water. It would have been thought
good at any time; but in their exhausted condition they %
declared it “ as pleasant unto them as wine or beer had been |
in fore-time.” They then turned to the inner shore, and soon
reached a point on the great circle of the harbor, only four
miles across the water from the anchorage of the “ May-
flower.” Here, as they had promised, they made a fire to
notify the ship of their safety.
A mile south of this valley they came to another, containing
a fine pond, which now gives its name to the Truro hamlet of
Pond Village. A mile to the east is the elevation on which
stands the famous Highland Light. This was found to be a
haunt of wild fowl and deer, and continued so for a century
and a half afterwards. It also abounded in sassafras, — a plant
to which the Europeans then ascribed extraordinary medici—
nal virtues. As the roots sold in England for three shillings j
a pound, ships were glad to load home with it, and explorers '
always rejoiced at finding the bush.1 Farther south were
indications of the former cultivation of maize. At length a
little path was found leading to several peculiar heaps of
sand. One of these, covered with old mats, was crowned
with a great wooden mortar, and had an earthen pot at one
end. Wondering what it might be, the explorers dug into it
1 Champlain (1604-1607) found no sassafras east of Portland, Me. It was
then worth in France fifty livres per pound,—about $9.25, — the equivalent of
forty dollars or more now.74
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
and found the decayed fragments of a bow with arrows.
Judging the place to be a grave, they carefully replaced its
covering, that they might not give offence by disturbing a
sepulchre.
Stubble from the last season’s corn was next found, but no
indications of the cultivators. The strawberry-plant abounded
in every direction, and there were many walnut-trees full of
nuts and festooned with grape-vines. Soon were discovered
the traces of a civilized person’s house, near which were a
pile of planks and a great kettle from some ship.
Not far away was a heap of sand which had been recently
patted over with hands. Examination showed it to contain a
small, old basket of shelled corn, while farther down was a
large, new basket, round and narrowed at the top, holding
three to four bushels of maize, including thirty-six whole ears,
some yellow, some red, and some mixed with blue, such as N
one sees often in the Cape Cod granaries of to-day. The
Pilgrims were intensely interested. They had never before
seen Indian corn, but they were aware that their main
dependence would be their annual crop of it. They had
become exceedingly anxious over the necessity of obtaining
some seed, and the improbability of being able to get any in
season. This which they had found could be worth to its
owner only its commercial price, but to the Pilgrims it was,
under the circumstances, of inestimable value. If they should
take it for their seed, they could improve the earliest inter-
course with the savages to find the owner and reimburse him
beyond his own estimate of justice. If they left the deposit
untouched, they might and probably would be unable to
obtain a supply in time for the planting season; the lack of
this crop might reduce the Colony to starvation, or the aban-
donment of their settlement. The result proved that the
settlers would, without their corn-crop, have been placed in
this very dilemma. After “ much consultation ” the explor-
ers, as they record in their Diary, “ concluded to take the
kettle and as much of the corn as we could carry away with
us; and when our shallop came, if we could find any of the1620.3
CAPE COD. —THE FIRST EXPLORATION.
75
people and come to parley with them, we would give them
the kettle again and satisfy them for their corn.” All the
ears were placed in the kettle, which was then filled as full
of loose corn as two men could easily carry on a staff. After
empty pockets had been filled, the rest of the com was
reburied.
In this case the Pilgrims were governed by necessity, — a law
unto itself, — and wronged no one; for the next summer they
succeeded, after anxious inquiry, in finding and fully satisfy-
ing the owner, even paying him double price. But Judge
Baylies, a friendly critic, calls their course “ inexcusable; ”
though he afterwards says it “was probably the means of
saving the Colony from starvation, for the grain was all used
for planting, and from its product they derived at one time
their sole support.” This second statement shows the first to
be itself “ inexcusable.”1
Not far to the south the explorers discovered the rivulet
which they had from the start intended to reach. It was the
stream now called Pamet River (pronounced Paw-met).
Close by was the ruin of a rude fortification, evidently made
by Europeans. The river had two arms, divided at the
mouth by a high, sandy hill. The farther branch extended
nearly across the Cape, but two canoes lay ready for use on
the shores of the central peninsula. Farther journeying,
however, was out of the question. The party had strict
orders not to be gone more than two nights; so it became
necessary to leave the examination of the Pamet valley to
another time. Retracing their steps as far as the present
Pond Village, they made a barricade and mounted guard.
That night was very rainy, affording little rest to the jaded
and unsheltered travellers.
Friday, November 27th, the party finding the kettle too
burdensome, concealed it in the pond; they also put in order
their muskets, which had been disabled by the rain. While
marching towards home, they found a sapling bent over a
1 Rev. Mr. Slafter, in his admirable edition of Champlain’s voyages to our
coast, makes some very unjust remarks upon this affair.76	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1620.
spot where some acorns were scattered. Stephen Hopkins
knew that it was a deer-trap, and kept his comrades away
^ from it; but Bradford, who brought up the rear, not hearing
his caution, went to examine the affair, upon which the sap-
ling flying up, he was caught by the leg, but not hurt. This
entrapping of the grave young counsellor of the party must
" have created a good deal of mirth, in which Bradford was
likely to take a leading part. It was fortunate for him that
the trap was not powerful, for the Indians often made them so
I strong that moose, bears, and wolves were tossed; and some
1 years afterwards a straying horse was found suspended in the
j air by one. The noose around Bradford’s leg was a cord neatly
made from the wild hemp of the region, and it was carried
^ along, as valuable for the imitation of the rope-makers.
The travellers afterwards started up three bucks, which
were soon out of reach; and weary Bradford had enough
humor to make a comment on the greater advantage of
having one deer than of seeing three. Partridges1 and great
flocks of wild geese and ducks also tantalized the party. As
the toilsome march drew towards its end, the explorers saved
distance by wading creeks, instead of going around. At
length, in the early darkness of that season, they came to the
“ Mayflower’s ” landing-place, and gave notice of their pres-
ence by a discharge of musketry. The anxious Carver, with
Jones and a large party, were already on shore near by, and
came to meet them. Bradford says: “And thus we came
weary and welcome home, and delivered our corn into the
store to be kept for seed; for we knew not how to come by
any, and therefore were very glad, purposing so soon as we
could meet with any of the inhabitants of that place, to make
them large satisfaction.”
THE SECOND EXPLORATION.
For the next ten days nothing noteworthy happened. At
length the shallop could be used, though two days would be
1 Ruffed grouse ? — Dr. Dexter.1620.] CAPE COD. —THE SECOND EXPLORATION.	77
needed to finish her; and the anxious Pilgrims determined to
send her as she was, with twenty-four explorers, to the Pamet.
Jones volunteered to accompany them in his long-boat with
nine sailors, and the Pilgrims, as a sort of peace-offering,
made him, instead of Standish, leader of the expedition.
Monday, December 7th (n. S.), the shallop and the long-
boat put off. They at once encountered heavy seas with
head-winds, and Jones (or some one else) used little judg-
ment in prosecuting the voyage. The shallop was forced to
shelter over night in East Harbor, while her inmates, wading
ashore in a freezing snow-storm, marched five miles to find a /
shelter from the cutting wind.1 They must have missed the
hollow (East Harbor village) where the former party found
water, and struggled on in the chilling tempest to Great
Hollow. The distance was estimated by them at two miles
more than it was, so toilsome was the way. The exposure
told upon the enfeebled systems of some to such an extent ^
that Bradford says they “ took the original of their death
here.”
Before noon of the second day (December 8th) the party
was re-embarked and brought to the Pamet. This entrance,
which they named Cold Harbor, was found too shallow for
ships, although there was and still is twelve feet depth at
high water. Through half a foot of snow the explorers
tramped up and down the diluvial hills and valleys, until
when within a mile of the Atlantic shore Jones himself
clamored for a halt. A pine-grove offered a good place for
their barricade, while three fat geese and six ducks well sup-
plemented the ship’s rations, and were eaten with “ soldiers’
stomachs.”
The Pamet proving still salt or “ brackish,” some who
wished to settle there were for following it up to the fresh
water at its head; but they were outvoted by those who dis-
1 East Harbor has recently been closed by a costly scientific dike, built by
the State to preserve the main harbor, which was in danger of filling with sand
from the ocean’s breaking through into East Harbor. The railroad now tra-
verses the dike, and the enclosed space will soon become solid land.78
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l620.
liked the rough surface and poor harbor. The next morning
(December 9th) they went to the deposit of corn found by
the first party and removed the remainder, as well as a neigh-
boring store, together with some beans. They now had
about ten bushels of seed, — a quantity ample for their spring
planting. The ground was covered with snow, so that but
for their first discovery while the ground was bare, they
would not now have found the corn at all. The earth was
also frozen, so that they had to chop into it a foot with their /
swords before they could dig. Their side-arms must have y
been pretty substantial weapons to withstand this usage.
Jones, who had become homesick, now returned to the
ship with fifteen of the men and the corn. The next day he
sent back the shallop with a new crew. The eighteen who
bivouacked a second night at the Pamet began the day
(December 10th) by following a deer-path, supposing it a
trail which wrould lead to the Indian dwellings, and returning
to the river made an astonishing discovery. They found a
large mound covered with boards, and to ascertain its char-
acter carefully dug into it. First appeared a bow between
two mats; next came a finely carved and painted board,
three fourths of a yard long, having upon it three prongs ^
like the points of a crown or the tines of a trident.1 With
the bow there were bowls, trays, dishes, and trinkets. Last
came a large and a small bundle. The first contained a great
quantity of fine, pungent red powder, in which were the
bones of a man, with the skull still clothed with fine yellow
Jpir. By his side was a knife, a pack-needle, and a few iron
articles, all bound up in *a pair of cloth breeches and a sailor’s
canvas cassock. The small package had the bones of a child,
packed in the same pungent but not offensive powder. The
child’s limbs were bound around with bracelets and strings of
fine white beads, while alongside were many curious little
1 Was not this part of a “ fleur-de-lys ” ? Roger Ludlow, of Dorchester, while
digging his cellar (1631), found at a foot from the surface two French coins
of 1596. Were these brought by the sailor rescued at the bay by Dermer ? ^
Thomas Morton’s account of a French ship and crew destroyed at Boston Bay
was doubtless an inaccurate version of the Cape Cod affair.1620.]	CAPE COD. —THE SECOND EXPLORATION.	79
matters and a small bow. Some few small things were taken
as samples for the information of those on ship-board; but,
unlike explorers and investigators of the present day, the
\ party carefully replaced nearly all of them, and neatly re-
\ covered the grave.
This tomb was the subject of much wonder. The hair
showed the man not to have been an Indian. Some thought
him to have been a European who had been buried by the \
natives with especial honor, while others thought he might [
have been slain and buried in this way as a triumph over
him. Dr. Dexter has advanced the idea that the body was ^
that of some Norse explorer. It does not appear that the
Pilgrims ever afterwards troubled themselves about the matter.
They, however, learned facts which solved various puzzles
besetting them at this time.
^ About 1616 a French fishing-ship was wrecked on Cape
Cod. Her Inmates reached the shore, bringing their pro-
visions and many other matters. The natives remembered
the atrocious act of Captain Thomas Hunt, who in 1614 had ^
kidnapped seven of their number and twenty natives from
the mainland, carrying them to Europe as slaves. Knowing
no difference in white men as to such matters, they pursued
the poor French mariners with untiring hostility, waylaying
and slaying them at every turn. Soon only three whites sur-J
vived. These were captured, and were sent from tribe to \
tribe to be made subjects of amusement or contempt. The
j poor fellows were treated worse than slaves for a time; but
at length one was allowed to marry into the tribe. He be-
came a father, but did not long live to enjoy his new digni-
ties, nor did his child survive. In the summer of 1619 Captain
Dermer rescued the two survivors, finding one at Middleboro’ ^
(Namasket), and the other at Massachusetts Bay. This story
accounts for the ship’s kettle, the hut of planks, the attempt
at a European fortification, the honored grave containing a
body of European appearance with nautical relics, and the
child buried in the same place. (The subsequent discovery
of a ship’s bucket is explainable in the same manner.)8o
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
On returning to the shallop the explorers found that the
newly arrived sailors had ferreted out two Indian dwellings.
Bradford with seven others thereupon proceeded to examine
them. The wigwams had been recently occupied. Each
was made of long saplings bent over in an arch and crossing,
both ends being stuck in the earth. The structure was thus
rounded on the top, and formed a circle on the ground. It
was snugly covered with mats on the outside, and lined with
neater and finer mats. A little place for a fire was in the
centre, the smoke finding its way out at the top by a large
hole, easily closed by a mat if desired. Though the door
was only three feet high, there was sufficient height within
for a man to stand upright, and for several to lie about the
fire. These houses were well provided with wooden bowls,
trays, and dishes, earthen pots, small baskets made of crab-
shells, and a great variety of big and little woven baskets.
There was also a ship’s bucket, without a bail, but retaining
its iron ears. There were three deer’s heads, one not long
dead, and in a neighboring hollow tree was some venison,
which was even too “gamey” for the English stomach of
that day. There were also fragments of fish, baskets of
parched acorns, sedge and rushes for mat-making, silk-grass,
tobacco-seed, and seeds of unknown kinds. A few specimens
were selected from the knick-knacks, with the understanding
that when the shallop returned, a variety of goods should be
left in these wigwams, both in payment for what had been
* taken, and for the purpose of establishing peace and traffic.
Late on December 10th (Thursday), the explorers were once
more in the “ Mayflower,” making their report. During their
/absence a son had been born to Mr. and Mrs. William
White, and in token of the pilgrimage then in progress, the
little stranger was named Peregrine. He was destined to
“ Qujtlive every member of the company into which he was
born; and after a youth unduly gay for his day and genera-
tion, even in the next century, long after Plymouth Colony
had been merged in Massachusetts, a fine, hearty-looking
veteran of Marshfield used to be pointed out with great1620.]	CAPE COD. — THE SECOND EXPLORATION.
81
respect as Captain Peregrine White, the first English child
born in New England.1
The Pamet region offered a fine harbor for boats at least;
it had corn-land obviously good, fish and great whales
abounded along the shore, suggesting a profitable situation
for oil, bone, and dried fish, it seemed healthful, and the
promontory between the rivers was easy to defend. Sickness
was increasing, and a pestilence was feared unless the com-
pany should soon debark. Therefore some insisted that a
* settlement be at once begun. It was answered that a ship-
harbor must be found, and if a colony were now planted, its
position would eventually be changed to a better place yet to
be discovered. The headland in the Pamet had no supply of
water, and furnishing that even in time of peace would be
severe labor. In 1616 Captain John Smith, in connection with
his map of New England, had overmuch praised the harbor
of Agawam (now Ipswich),2 and many of the people, attracted
by his description, were for an expedition to that point.
Others opposed going so far. Coppin, one of the two pilots,
said that across the bay was a fine harbor at the mouth of a
large river, called 4 Thievish Harbor * because when he was
there a native stole a harping-iron 3 from his ship; he advised
an expedition to that point.
1	In 1632 Peregrine White went to Marshfield with his stepfather’s family;
in 1636 he volunteered for the Pequod war ; 1642 he was “ ancient-bearer ”
(or ensign) of the “train-band; ” 1648 he married Sarah, daughter of William
^Bassett, and was fined for the premature opening of his family record (she died
1711). He was very attentive to his mother, visiting her daily in her later years.
He made these visits on a black horse, and wore a coat with buyjqns the size of
a silver dollar. He was “ vigorous and of a comely aspect to the last.” In
1665, at the request of the King’s Commissioners, the General Court gave two
^hundred acres of land to him, as the first white native of New England. His
^estate is still in the family, being now held by J. A. White. It is two and a half
miles north of the Webster place (Marshfield). He joined the Church in his
^seventy-eighth year, and died at Marshfield 1704, aged eighty-four. His descend-
ants are many and honorable. One of them (George W. French, of Bridgewater)
has the veteran’s spy-glass, — an instrument much shattered, but still containing
' fine lenses. (The inventory of Lieutenant Samuel Nash, of Duxbury, 1684, men-
tions a “ perspective glass.” Such glasses were invented 1609, only eleven years
before Peregrine’s birth, by Galileo, who was taking refuge in Holland while the
Pilgrims were there.)
2 Smith writes it “ Augoam.”	3 Harpoon.
682
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
Every fair day the dwellers at Provincetown see a beautiful
blue mount in their western horizon. This is the height of
Manomet, on the south side of Plymouth Harbor. It rises
three hundred and ninety-six feet, and is a famous landmark
for navigators from all parts of the bay. Coppin’s vaguely
remembered harbor may have been Boston, Ipswich, New-
buryport, or Portsmouth; but he conjectured that it might be
near this constantly seen headland. It was therefore decided
that a new expedition should follow the shore, looking for an
eligible harbor, and if not sooner finding one, should examine
that supposed to be near Manomet, but should not push
beyond.
Tuesday, December 15th, weather prevented the start; and
the “Mayflower” with her company had that day a narrow
escape from disaster and probable destruction. At London
some of the Adventurers, for secret purposes, had foijted into
the ship a profane, ruffianly fellow named John Billington,
with his wife and two sons, John Jr., and Francis. The atten-
tion of the leaders was absorbed until the ship was at sea;
then, when Billington’s intrusion became understood, it was
too late to return him. On the day named, one of these
mischievous boys went into the stateroom of his parents in
their absence; finding a loaded gun, he fired it in the little
apartment, where was a small cask half full of loose powder,
while close by, and within four feet of the stateroom, was the
cabin fire, around which the people were gathered on account
of the cold. Had an explosion taken place, the loss of life
must have been great, the ship might have been so shattered
as to sink, and if not, would hardly have escaped taking fire.
But their journal well says, “ By God’s mercy, no harm was
done.”
THE THIRD EXPLORATION.
Next day, December 16th, the weather was still severe;
but progress was possible, and every moment must be im-
proved. The mortality had begun. On the 14th died Edward
Thompson, a youth in the employ of William White, and620.]
CAPE COD. —THE THIRD EXPLORATION.
83
now on the 16th Jasper More was dying. He was one of four
orphans whom the kind-hearted Pilgrims had adopted. Rich-
ard, the eldest, had found a home with Elder Brewster, as
also had a brother whose name is not given; little Ellen was
fortunate in the care of Mrs. Winslow; Jasper had been taken
by the childless Carvers. Richard alone survived the winter,
and he became the head of a Duxbury family. Those who
were setting forth must have had sad forebodings as to the
vacant places they should find on their return. The voyage,
too, might be of fearful peril to themselves as the frail, over-
loaded shallop coasted in a tempestuous winter along unknown
shores inhabited by wild beasts and savages.
“Ten of their principal men” had been selected from vol-
unteers, as Bradford says; and the names recorded in Mourt
are Captain Standish, Governor Carver, William Bradford,
Edward Winslow, John Tilley, Edward Tilley, and John How-
land from Leyden; with Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins,
and Edward Dotey (Doten) from the London section. The
Pilgrims also took of their own seamen John Allerton and
Thomas English. Jones sent three of his seamen, with the
two mates and pilots, Clarke and Coppin. The master-gun-
ner of the “ Mayflower ” also by importunity got into the
party, for he had been much taken by the Indian curiosities
brought in, and had hope of traffic with the natives. The
party thus consisted of eighteen, — twelve of the passengers,
and six of Jones’s men. Bradford seems to have been the
journalist, as he had been of the previous expeditions.
It was late on Wednesday before the shallop left the ship.
Owing to a northeasterly wind, it was necessary to row the
heavy craft until she could stretch by Long Point. During
this protracted effort Edward Tilley became insensible from
cold, while the gunner was “ sick unto death,” in which state
he continued till the next day. It is probable that Tilley
would not permit himself to be carried back to the ship; but
he should have been returned by force, if need be, for he had
already contributed his entire strength to the work of explo-
ration, and now he (with his brother) was giving his life.
/84
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
ROUTE OF A PORTION OF THE THIRD EXPLORATION.CAPE COD. —THE THIRD EXPLORATION.
8s
1620.]
After the shallop could make sail, the exposure was still
great. The waves broke over the passengers and immediately
froze, so that their journal says their clothes were like unto
coats of iron. At length a long course of “full and by ”
brought them under the lee of the Truro shore, and they
became comparatively comfortable.
After coasting along the inner side of the Cape for about
twenty miles, they came to the point now known as Billings-
gate; the present islands were then connected, forming a
part of the mainland. Doubling this point, the explorers
were charmed with Wellfleet Bay, — a sheet of water a league
across, and more than twice as long. On the Eastham beach
a group of Indians were busy about a great black thing; but
seeing the shallop, ran inland. The craft put ashore near the
present camp-meeting landing. It is unnecessary to tell a |
voyager to that region that the Pilgrims had much trouble to 1
get near the shore. A shoal, bare at low water, reaches a
mile out, while at high water it is only a very light boat that —
comes within a long jumping distance of the strand. The
explorers slept with unusual precautions, for the camp-fire of *
the savages could be seen not five miles away.
In the morning eight men took the shallop, and the other
ten examined the land. Their course was first northerly, up
Wellfleet Bay. They found here a harbor with over thirty
feet of water. Indian Brook, between Eastham and Wellfleet,
and Cook’s Brook, farther south, interested the land party,
for these were the first “ becks ” they had seen in the country. ^
At different places along the beach they found three medium-
sized grampuses, about eighteen feet long, and clothed with
two inches of blubber.1 But finding Wellfleet Bay not suit-
able for settlement, both parties turned about to the south.
In due time the spot was reached where the Indians had
been seen the previous night. It appeared that they had
T
1 The grampus (from French “ Grand^m&^n ”) is a remarkable cetacean often
half the size of a Greenland whale, it Seing from fifteen to thirty feet in length,
and from two to three in diameter; they are sometimes cast on the Cape over
twenty feet long, and having a “ blanket ” of blubber four_inches thick.86	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[162a
been stripping a grampus. The shore party at ten o’clock
started on the track of the Indians, and lost sight of the
shallop, which contained their dinner. Old corn-land was dis-
covered, but no houses. At length they came to a great
burial-place; one part of it was surrounded by palisades set
close together. Some of the graves were paled around, and
others had a frame like a wigwam nicely built over them, but
not matted. Outside the enclosure the graves were much
more simple. None of these sepulchres were disturbed.
Farther on were a few frames of houses now deserted, and a
deposit of acorns in the ground; but the most careful search
did not reveal any inhabitants, — a matter much regretted, for
the explorers were anxious to establish friendly relations and
pay their debts. At sunset the party returned to the beach,
and by good luck found the shallop within hailing distance.
The men on shore, though hungry and weary, repaired to a !
neighboring creek, where they built a barricade and laid in I
their night’s stock of fuel, before the tide allowed the shallop
to come to them. Their camp-fire was always a matter of
difficulty, for the Indian fires every six months, in destroying /
the underbrush of the woods, licked up all the dry wood also, ^
and rendered fuel scarce.
At about midnight a hideous cry rang through the woods
beside them, and their sentries shouted, “ Arm! Arm! ”
Two muskets were fired, and the noise ceased. Coppin, or
some other person who had been on the coast before, quieted
the alarm by declaring this noise to be from wolves or foxes,
such as he had often heard in Newfoundland. The remainder
of the night passed without incident, and the weary explorers
doubtless slept soundly; for although it was past the middle
of December and they lay in the open air, they make no
mention of suffering from the cold. Their disadvantages
were partly offset by a season, for the most part, wonderfully
mild. Had the winter been of the severer sort, such as occur
at brief intervals, their toils and perils would have been
terribly increased.
Friday, December 18th, was an eventful day. At 5 A. M.,1620.]
CAPE COD. —THE THIRD EXPLORATION.
8 7
nearly two hours and a half before sunrise, the party was
called, that the full advantage of high water might be had.
Some who thought their guns damp, fired and reloaded them
as an ordinary precaution. After public prayer, the break-
fast not being ready, the greater number carried their weap-
ons from the barricade down to the creek and piled them on
the beach, where they would be ready when the shallop
should come up to high-water mark; but Standish, Bradford, f ^
and two others declared that they would not part with their \
arms on any account, although they saw no cause for \
precaution.
After the explorers had settled down in the barricade, eating
breakfast around their fire, the woods all at once rang with a
terrible yell, and a sentinel rushed in, crying, “ They are men !
Indians! Indians! ” The careless ones who had disarmed
themselves, now ran to recover their weapons. Standish’s ^
military progressiveness was here illustrated. All his asso- *
ciatesT had matchlocks, such as were used by the British \
army till at least seventy years later; the matches were extin-
guished, and there must be a perilous delay before many could
be lighted. But Standish had a “ snaphance,” or a gun with
a sort of flint-lock; and advancing to the open end of the ^
barricade, he delivered his fire while his three associates were **■
lighting their matches at the camp-fire.1 From the beginning,
1 The practical use of mq^kets dates from about 1470, —a century later than
the use of cannon. In 1629 the Massachusetts officers in England wrote to En-
dicott: “We have followed your advice, and sent most of our guns snaphance,
^bastard-musket bore.” Yet matchlocks prevailed; for in 1631 it was ordered
at the Bay that every man who has a musket keep one pound of powder, twenty
bullets, and two fathoms of match.
In 1661 the Marquis of Worcester patented breechloading firearms ; but
they were first put in practical use by the British Major Ferguson, who had de-
^ vised for his corps a rifle of that sort, which did our men much damage at
^ Brandywine in 1777. (See Gen. Reg., xxxviii. 240, 351.) Yet in 1688, when the
I finely equipped soldiers of the Prince of Orange advanced on St. James’s Palace,
I they “ had their matches lighted ” [their bayonets were daggers, which, after
^ firing, they were to insert in the muzzles of their guns]. — Macaulay's Eng.
Strange to say, in 1645, forty-three years before this time, when the best
troops of England and Holland were thus adhering to matchlocks, Standish was
N marching to the support ofTJncas, and his forty Plymouth soldiers were “well
^ armed all with snaphance peeces.” — Bradford?s Hist., 434.88
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
arrows had been flying thickly around the whites, but no one
had been injured.
The great majority of the party had run to recover their
weapons and protect the shallop, for the preservation of the
little craft was a prime essential. The two divisions were out
of each other’s sight. When, therefore, the four at the barri-
cade, by firing in alternate couples, had caused the savages to
fall back, they anxiously shouted for those in the shallop, not
knowing but they had been cut off, or at least the craft and
weapons destroyed. Back, out of the semi-darkness, came
the cheering answer: “Well, well, every one!” “Be of
good courage! ” Three of their guns, probably on board,
were fired, and there was a call for coals to light the other
matches. One at the barricade (very likely Bradford him-
self) seized a huge blazing firebrand, and throwing it over his
shoulder, darted out through the dim light among the bushes
and supplied the want. This sudden apparition terrified the
Indians greatly.
There was one stout fellow, probably the Indian leader,
who took a position behind a tree within half musket-shot of
the English, whence he deliberately shot three arrows, which
were all seen and skilfully avoided by the persons aimed at.
Three shots were fired at him without his flinching. But one,
taking more careful aim, struck the tree close by this chiefs
head, throwing a shower of bark and splinters about his ears,
upon which the savage gave a terrific “ shrike ” and fled, fol-
lowed by his whole support. The Indians numbered from
thirty to fifty, and were screened by the darkness of the
woods, while the English were exposed by their fire or posi-
tion on the beach. It is very remarkable that in what was
really a sharp skirmish no white man was wounded, though
the coats hanging in the barricade were shot through and
through, and that no Indian is known to have been injured.
When the men first ran out to regain their arms, the
Indians, with terrible cries, swept around them; but some who
were clad in armor and had cutlasses, made a dash and caused
the savages to fall back. By the time the arms were regained,1620.] cape cod.—the third exploration.	89
the Indians with renewed courage were again ready for a
charge, and were only deterred by a sharp fire. Their war-
cry is represented by Bradford to have been “ Woach, woach, '
ha ha hach woach! ” These words are not Indian, nor is
their intended sound quite evident. It is unfortunate that no
one has yet explained the explanation.
Six men being left to guard the shallop, the remaining
twelve pursued the flying savages a quarter of a mile. Then,
that the latter might understand that the English claimed a
victory, the whites shouted in concert several times and fired
two muskets. This defiance was thought necessary to dis-
courage the natives from future assaults. Returning, the
whites picked up eighteen arrows, which they afterwards sent
by Jones to their friends in England.1 The arrows were
headed, some with brass, some with deer’s horn, and others
with eagle’s claws. The brass may have come from the
French wreck, for these were the Nausets, the only inhabi-
tants from Chatham to Provincetown. There evidently was
little or no traffic between the tribes, wampum being unknown
\ in that whole region; otherwise, quartz and flint arrow-heads
j would have found their way from the mainland, where their
manufacture was a regular trade, and was one of the few in-
dustrial pursuits not deemed disgraceful to men. The dilu-
vium of the Cape affording no good mineral for the purpose,
the arrow-heads were made as described.
The place of this attack was unquestionably Great Meadow
Creek (Herring River), in Eastham. Morton has named
another place; but it is one which the land party could not
have reached in time to encamp when they did. After a
prayer of thanksgiving for their deliverance, the travellers
1 Mourt says that doubtless many more arrows were shot, “for these we
found were almost covered with leaves.” This seems to mean that the ground
was then free from snow, and the arrows buried themselves in the surface-layer
of dead leaves. Dr. Dexter, in his “Mourt” (note 191), is certainly ingenious
in the theory that the meaning is that the arrows in flying through the air strung
themselves with the dead foliage still on the trees. If so, how did the “many
more ” arrows get lost, Doctor ? The Indians at such close quarters would not
have aimed so high.90
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
named the spot “ The First Encounter.” 1 They then stood
away before an easterly and southerly wind. Manomet was
some forty-five miles distant by a coasting route, and the
explorers intended to reconnoitre the intervening shore.
After two hours it began to snow and be rough, to which
fact Young attributes their not putting in at Barnstable Har-
bor, where he thinks it highly probable they otherwise would
have settled. The waves became so violent by the middle of
the afternoon that the hinges of the rudder were broken, and
the steering had to be done by two men with oars. At length
Coppin, looking ahead through the storm, announced that
he saw the harbor to which they were bound. A press of
sail was carried, so as to bring the craft in before dark; but
the gale increasing, its mast split in three pieces, the sail
dragged overboard, and the shallop narrowly escaped foun-
dering. Fortunately, they were near the entrance of Plymouth
Harbor; and having the flood-tide with them, easily rowed in
by Manomet.
As they made an entrance the excited Coppin shouted,
“ The Lord be merciful unto us, for my eyes never saw this
place before! ” Then he and Clark undertook to run the
craft ashore between Saquish and the Gurnet, in a cove full
of breakers, where destruction would have been swift and
sure; but a stout, cool-headed sailor who held one of the
steering oars, bade the rowers, if they were men, to pull her
head to port, or they were lost. He was promptly obeyed;
upon which he told them to give way, for he saw a fair sound
before them, and doubted not to find a safe anchorage. These
words inspirited his comrades; and though it was dark and
rainy, he soon had them fast in a sheltered position between
Clark’s Island and Saquish Head, which was then also an
island.2
1	This was only three miles from the point on the Atlantic side where, in
1605, Indians murdered one of Champlain’s men for the sake of the kettle in
which he was getting water. The French chastised them for this.
2	Dr. Dexter (“ Mourt,” n. 196) thinks the wind was northeast, and that the
cove was on the south side of the harbor. But I do not think the heavy shallop
could have been rowed in the teeth of a gale from Warren’s Cove over Brown’s1620.] THE THIRD EXPLORATION.— CLARK’S ISLAND.
91
The explorers were now safe; but they and their equipments
were wet through. They did not dare to land in the dark-
ness, for fear of savages, except a few of the more venture-
some, who succeeded, after great effort, in kindling a fire on
Clark’s Island in the rain. About midnight, however, the
wind shifted to the northwest, with a freezing temperature that
drove all the company to the watch-fire. Such was their rude
welcome to Plymouth Harbor. (This place, nearly five years
before, had been named Plymouth by Captain John Smith.
Of course the Pilgrims had his map, which was common in
England, and on that the name and position were distinctly
set down, and from the discussion upon Ipswich it appears
that they had studied his narrative.1 The story that their new
home was named from a grateful recollection of Plymouth,
England, is pleasant but unfounded. They found the place
named to their hand, and began using the name during the
first year of their residence. In time the town was known as
Plymouth, and the whole Colony as New Plymouth.)
Saturday, December 19th, rose bright and warm. The
explorers at daylight found themselves in a safe position on
a small, uninhabited island, abundantly wooded with their
favorite red-cedar. They then or soon after named the
place Clark’s Island, from the master’s mate, because he was
the first to land upon it.2 They proceeded to repair the
Island shoal to Clark’s Island. A northeast gale there at that time of year is
pretty sure to blow itself out; but a southeast one, with rain or snow, is yet
surer to whirl into the northwest, with clear cold weather. By the latter test,
the gale was southeast, and, by Mourt, the shallop in entering the harbor bore
up northward, and by continuing that course would have been cast away.
1	See map, Chapter XI.
2	Clark’s Island contains eighty-four and a quarter acres, and is of good soil.
Crops of figs are matured there every year in the open air. Near the middie of
the island is a huge boulder, formerly called “ Election Rock,” from the picnic
parties held there on the ancient election holiday. Of late years a story, taking
f the form of tradition, has averred that under the shelter of this rock the Pilgrims
held this Sunday’s wmrship. Some members of the Massachusetts Historical
Society have therefore cut on the rock’s perpendicular southern face the words
from Mourt, “ON THE SABBOTH DAY WEE RESTED.” The boulder is
now called “ Pulpit Rock.” While this tradition is groundless and of modern
origin, the author in many a twilight hour has found it very full of sermons,
especially when its late veteran owner, “ The Lord of the Isle,” Edward F. Wat-
son (colloquially known as “ Uncle Ed.”), has acted as expounder.92
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
¥

shallop and put the arms in order. By the end of the mild,
bright day they were once more in good trim and ready to
advance. Time was of exceeding value to them. How many **
in their situation would not have felt justified in examining
the harbor, even on Sunday? Like Moses, they could see
their promised land; unlike his case, an hour’s sail would
take them into it. But their historian says: “ And this being
the last day of ye weeke, they prepared ther to keepe ye
Sabath;” and Mourt’s Journal simply states: “ On the Sab-
both day wee rested.” Much has been eloquently and poeti- ^
cally said concerning the worship of the Pilgrim explorers
on that famous Sunday, but the two quotations above given
comprise all that can be known concerning it.
Monday, Dec. 21, N. S. (11, O. S.), was the birthday of New
England ; for then was the technical landing of the Pilgrims at /
Plymouth. Bradford (“ History,” pp. 87, 88) says of this day:
“ On Monday they sounded the harbor and found it fit for
shipping; and marched into the land and found divers corn-
fields and little running brooks, — a place (as they supposed)
fit for situation; at least it was the best they could find.”
For situation, the explorers required four conditions, — a
ship-harbor, cleared land, an abundance of good water, and
natural defences. Various places, like Pamet, offered some
of these; but in all that region the only sufficient combination
of the four was at Plymouth. The harbor, if not excellent,
was truly “ the best they could find ” between Cape Cod
Harbor (Provincetown) and Boston Bay; there were the
broad cornfields left by the Patuxets only three years before
(the only cleared land known to have been thereabouts) ;
while a deliciously pure water filtering from the sandy back-
ground danced across the fields to the sea, forming the only
group of brooks around Plymouth Bay; the site was pro-
tected on the east by the harbor, on the south by a great
brook in a ravine, on the west by an abrupt hill of a hundred
and sixty-five feet elevation, and on the remaining side was
an open field ready for a palisade which would be covered by
cannon on the hill.1620.] THE THIRD EXPLORATION. — PLYMOUTH ROCK. 93
Venters of “ historic doubts ” have advanced the idea that
this first landing was in some other direction from Clark's
Island; but a careful study of the topography concerned,
aided by records, clearly demonstrates the fact that it was at*
Plymouth, and at the very site of the present village. The i
Pilgrims themselves described the event to the future Elder i
Faunce, who was twenty-seven years old when he followed to
the grave John Howland, the last survivor of this exploring
party; in his old age the elder sat by the Rock before a j
great assembly, and as he watered the relic with his tears, \
repeated clearly to the people of 1741 the account which the *
Fathers had given him.1 If the question had not been settled
by the local physical geography, it would have been by this
testimony of an associate of the Pilgrims.
The shallow water gave few opportunities for landing dry-
shod from the heavy shallop. For miles along that diluvial
shore but one rock was to be seen, and that was a sienitic
1 There is a curious piece of evidence as to the opinion on this point of Ply-
mouth in the provincial era. In 1774, Blaskowitz, one of the King's deputy-
surveyors for North America, presented Edward Winslow, Jr., with a fine and
accurate pen-and-ink map of Plymouth Harbor. Winslow (Pilgrim Edward's
great-great grandson) was one of the original members of the Old Colony Club
when in 1769 it held the first celebration of “the landing/’ and he was its first *
orator. Two notes on the map were made evidently by himself or family.
At Clark’s Island is written: “On this island the pious Settlers of this Ancient
Town first landed, Dec’r 8, O. s., 1620, & here kept their first Christian Sabbath.”
The site of Plymouth Rock is marked with a “ I,” and near by is this note:
“No. 1. — The place where the settlers above-mentioned first landed upon the
main, Dec. 22, N. s., 1620, upon a large rock,” etc. Many of Winslow's asso-
ciates must have been present when Elder Faunce formally identified the Rock,
and declared what he had been told by the Forefathers themselves of the landing
upon it. The minute made by Winslow, or at least transmitted by him, must be
received, until impeached, as the declaration of Elder Faunce. The error as to
December 22d for December 21st has been explained (p. xvi). The fact is un-
mistakable that Winslow meant to state that the explorers at Clark's Island De-
cember 8th, 9th, 10th (o. S.), on the nth (o. s.) landed on Plymouth Rock, and
that this landing is what his club was formed to commemorate. Winslow’s idea
must have been the idea of the club. What could be more absurd than to claim
that in note “ No. 1,” the words “ settlers above-mentioned ” do not mean those
just mentioned as landing on Clark’s Island “ Dec. 8, o. s., 1620 ” ? This map
is preserved in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, and is a relic of great value. The U. S.
Coast Survey has reproduced its technical part, omitting the historical notes,
and on the same sheet it gives Champlain’s chart of 1605 and the recent one by
the Coast Survey itself.94
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
boulder, itself a travel-worn pilgrim from some far-off* north- ^
land. It weighed perhaps half a dozen tons, and its irregular
top-surface offered a convenient landing-place. Directly be-
hind it rose a bluff (Cole’s Hill) some thirty feet high, from
the edge of which for a fifth of a mile along a protecting
stream (Town Brook), the recently tilled fields sloped gently ^
back to the sharply defined foot of the main hill at the rear. *-
In dim and prehistoric ages “ Forefathers’ Rock” had been 1
reft from its parent ledge by icy Nature; wrapped in the j
chill embrace of some mighty floe or berg of the glacial j
epoch, it had been slowly borne for centuries over mountain j
and valley, until, guided by the Divine Hand, it found at last I
a resting-place between land and water where in future eons \
it was to be so greatly needed, and where it was to become J
the most noted boulder in Christendom. On that rockless !
strand it had patiently awaited the great day which should, j
though unconsciously, make it forever famous as the stepping- ;
stone of New England civilization.1	‘
1 A rock of almost the same size and character was glacially “ dropped ” into
v Town Brook, near its mouth, and not seven hundred and fifty feet from the his-
toric boulder. In December, 1881, Government raised it and took it away for
use as a buoy-rock at Boston. The only other storied boulder about Plymouth
is the Clark’s Island “ Pulpit Rock.” There is, however, on the southeasterly
shore of the same isle a small boulder which bears strange-looking oval black
marks, of traditionally diabolical origin. These impressions we have heard
delicately alluded to as “ the old woman’s foot-prints,” — thereby avoiding the
faintest suspicion of profanity. They are very frequently called “ Mary Chilton’s
Footprints.”CHAPTER VIII.
The “ Mayflower’’ reaches Plymouth. — Plymouth Harbor. — The Gur-
net, Saquish, Brown’s Island, etc. — Plymouth’s Natural Characteristics.
PROBABLY the sounding and exploring filled out the
21st (the shortest day of the year), and sent the weary
party to another night’s rest at Clark’s Island. In due time
they sailed for their ship, the high land near which she lay
being in favorable weather visible from the hill at the Ply-
mouth site they had chosen as “ the best.” Their return trip
of twenty-five miles deviated but slightly from the forty-
second parallel of latitude.1
As, after a week’s suspense, the people in the “ Mayflower ”
sighted the returning shallop, they must have most anxiously
counted and re-counted the heads of its party, to see if all had
survived their perils; joyful must have been the welcome as
the wanderers came over the gangway. Yet two who should
have, been among the foremost to greet the returning, were
missing. On the 17th, while Bradford was toiling through
the wilds of Eastham, his wife Dorothy had fallen over-
board from the ship, or a boat alongside, finding a watery
grave; and the next day, James Chilton’s wife and daughter
closed his eyes forever. On many others disease was telling
steadily. Still, courage was unabated, and the good news of
the explorers gave much comfort.
On December 25th the “ Mayflower” sailed for the new
harbor; but when within six miles of its entrance, the wind
coming-ahead, she was forced back to her old anchorage.
December 26th, the passage was successfully made; but half
1 End of Cape Cod, 420 4' N., 70° 14' W.; Saquish is on the forty-second
parallel.96
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
an hour after arrival the wind again shifted, so that with a
little delay the ship would have been once more driven back
to Cape Cod.
As she finally ploughed her way into Plymouth Harbor, the
most eager curiosity must have prevailed. Four or five miles
under her lee rose the beautiful mount of “ Hither Manomet,”
around whose base the waves had brought from sea and land
Jtljrpof
Plymouth
bay
Scale 21 Miles
perlhch
PLYMOUTH HARBOR (SCALE MILES PER INCH).
a long range of boulders, upon which in northeasterly gales,
such as may have been then blowing, it was literally true
that —
“ The breaking waves dashed high,
On a stern and rock-bound coast.”1620.]
THE GURNET. — SAQUISH. — DISTANCES.
97
On the right, not a mile away, rose the promontory of the
Gurnet, then covered with trees, growing perhaps over the
grave of the bold Norse chieftain, Thorwald, who in 1004
was buried on this headland, or some similar one near by,
and his grave marked at each end with the Christian cross.
The woods long ago disappeared, and now this outpost shows
its twin lighthouses standing in the centre of Fort Andrew’s
verdant ruins, while near by is the life-saving station.1
Farther in came Saquish Head, also well wooded, but now
having only one tree, while its green slopes are crowned by
the remains of Fort Standish. Saquish then being an island,
the long, graceful sweep of Stage Cove between it and the
Gurnet was broken by a channel.2 Just within Saquish, with
its exhaustless clam-banks, lay Clark’s Island, — doubly inter-
esting to the emigrants" from the shelter it had given their
brethren. Beyond, stretching to the right, appeared the bay
of Duxbury and nook of Kingston, between which rose the
symmetrical slope of Captain’s Hill; on the left, beyond the
1	The Gurnet lights are a hundred and two feet above low water, and show at
twelve and a half miles. The white towers, which are of shingled wood, are
seventy-two feet tall. In 1768 the Province built the first lighthouse there, cost-
ing £660. This being burned in 1801, the present structures were erected in
1803. In 1776 a fort was built on the Gurnet, and armed with six guns of from
six pounds to twelve pounds calibre. Light as they were, they not unsuccess-
fully exchanged shots with the British frigate “ Niger/’ In 1812-1815 some
forty-two-pounders were provided. In the Civil War the work was heavily armed,
and was then named Fort Andrew, from the Governor of the State.
From the Gurnet to Elisha’s Point directly across the harbor’s mouth is three
and three quarter miles. Yet during the Rebellion an artillery sergeant stationed
at the Gurnet persisted to the author that the distance was seven miles, and that
he had the exact range. Other official authority asserted the course from the Gur-
net to Plymouth Rock to be seven miles ; but it does not much exceed five, and
an air-line is four and three quarter miles. So difficult is it to obtain accurate
information on very simple matters ! From the Gurnet to Saquish is one and
three quarter miles (air-line) — two miles by beach ; from Clark’s Island to the
Rock the boat-course is three and a half miles, and to the mouth of Jones River
almost the same; from the Rock to Jones River is three and a quarter miles,
and to the shore at the foot of Captain’s Hill four miles. See note 6, p. 99.
2	B. M. Watson has a deed (1712) which calls Saquish an island. J. M.
Watson, of Clark’s Island, has often shown the author the probable line of the
insulating creek; and Captain Hall, of the Gurnet, has also pointed him to a
place where in great storms the water even now breaks over and separates the
two heads. See Wood’s map (1634), which gives two islands; also next note.
798
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l620.
shoal now called Brown’s Island,1 was the wonderful natural
^ breakwater known as Plymouth Beach, then clothed with
trees and vines which have long since been vandalized.
Within the Beach, half-way between the Rock and the
excellent anchorage called the “ Cow-Yard,” the “ Mayflower ”
^ came to rest. Her bulwarks had been rent, her timbers
I sprung, and her hull battered; but with her work nobly
I performed and her name made immortal, she now reposed
j peacefully at the goal. Freedom’s ark had reached its ^
i Ararat.2
1	Not far outside Beach Point begins the shoal called Brown's Island, which
extends seaward beyond the Gurnet. For some three miles the water at low
tide on this flat varies from six to
twenty-four inches, and parts are
often bare. The practical ship-
channel from the Gurnet to the
Cow-Yard does not average more
than half a mile in width. At its
inner end there is a fine anchorage,
with deep water, — the average tide
being 9.3 feet, the extreme tide
12.8.
Champlain gives Saquish as an
island, omitting “ Brown’s ” as such.
The latter never was a true island.
Bradford himself speaks of it as
“ ye flats that lye without, caled
Brown's Hands,” and Secretary
Morton mentions it as “ a flat.”
The evidence is very clear that the
A PORTION OF CHAMPLAIN'S SKETCH (1605) tW°	f°U"* b-V ^ Pi,#ri,mS
[showing the mouth of Plymouth were Clark s and Saquish, and that
those “ old inhabitants ” who have
0	,, T ,	, seen stumps on Brown’s Island saw
Saquish; 3. Clark’s Island;	. .	1	.
4. Brown’s Island, a shoal (where Champlain’s ship nothing more than mental or actual .
grounded); 5. Plymouth Beach.	driftwood ; for the shoal is probably
larger than it ever was before. This
subject has received so much attention here partly for the vindication of Dr. -
Young, whose similar conclusion (Chron. Pil., p. 161) has been disputed.
2	Plymouth Beach, which is three miles long on its east shore, stretches be-
fore the town at about a mile’s distance. It is a very interesting formation, and
of the highest value to the harbor. Mourt says the “ Mayflower ” “ lay a mile
and almost a half off.” From the Rock to the point of the beach is one and*
three quarter miles (by channel), and to the Cow-Yard anchorage is two and a
half miles. So the ship must have lain considerably within Beach Point. At
the vicinity indicated there is now from fourteen to twenty-four feet depth at
low water, — ample for the “ Mayflower,” almost in ballast.
harbor].
1. The Gurnet;CHOOSING A SITE.
99
1620.]
The next day, being Sunday, was devoted to worship and
rest; yet curious eyes must have been peering over that
ship’s rail during much of the day.
Monday, December 28th, the position of the settlement
was to be decided by the whole company. Accordingly, the
men landed at some point near their ship, and proceeded by
way of the woods. They took note that with an occasional
oak there were the pine, walnut, beech, ash, birch, hazel,
holly, poplar (which they called “ asp,” from aspen), wild-
cherry, wild-plum, and a profusion of grape-vines; they
also found the highly prized sassafras.1 Coming to the open
land, they discovered abundant strawberry plants,2 with yar-
row, sorrel, carvel,3 brooklime, liverwort, watercress and
wild leeks, onions,4 flax, and hemp,5 of fair quality. There
were (naturally) good beds of sand and gravel, and also fine
pottery clay, which would wash like soap. The old Patuxet
cornfields were ready for cultivation, and had a rich black
soil, “ a spit deep,” like that at the Cape. Along the shore
were wild-fowl of many kinds, with cod, skate, herring, and
what the Pilgrims called a “ turbot ” (probably a flounder, or
young halibut) ; there were also the largest and best of mus-
cles and clams, with traces of crabs and lobsters. A whole day
was spent at this point, though a score of miles of harbor shore
remained to be visited.6 Evidently the leaders were holding
their comrades there, and trying to demonstrate the fitness
1	The chestnut and elm are not mentioned as found at Plymouth ; but Wins-
low discovered great chestnut-trees in the Taunton region six months later, and
now elms of over a century’s growth shade Leyden Street.
2	Roger Williams says that in the Providence territory were enough wild
strawberries within a few miles to fill a ship. “Wood’s Prospect ” states that
at Massachusetts Bay this fruit was found two inches in circumference, and one
could gather half a bushel in a forenoon.
3	Chervil, Anthriscus Cerefolium.
4	Probaby the Allium Canadense.
5	The Apocynum Cannabinum. Captain John Smith mentions “a kind or
two of ‘flax,’ wherewith they make nets, lines, and ropes both small and great,
very strong for their quantities.” Morton says “there is hemp, that naturally
groweth, finer than our hemp of England.”
6	Historian John Oldmixon (1673-1742) makes a glorious blunder when he
states that “the Harbour [Plymouth] was a Bay larger than Cape Cod, and two
fine Islands, Rhode Island and Elizabeth Island, in it! ”	(Citron. /V/., 164.)IOO
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
of the place. Of course this first site examined would be that
‘s which had been approved on December 21st by Governor
Carver, Captain Standish, and Masters Bradford, Winslow,
Warren, and Hopkins; for the decision of such men would
have received the first and fullest consideration. In fact, the
Pilgrims' journal says that at this place, so closely inspected,
were “ four or five small brooks of very sweet fresh water, ^
that all ran into the sea.” As has been shown, this group of x
brooks identifies the region as that about Plymouth Rock,
for not more than three such streams can be found elsewhere
in the entire circuit of that inland bay, and these are widely
detached. The visits of the 21st and the 28th were both to
the same place, and that place the present Plymouth.
Tuesday, December 29th, as some wished to look farther, the
party went to “ discover ” at Kingston, where they sailed three
miles up a river and found they had only gained half a mile.
S With unthought-of humor and still more unintentional satire,
I they named this crooked stream Jones River for their cap-
j tain, whose knavery was unsuspected and whose good-will
J was much desired. Some, who wished to settle at Kingston,
were overruled because of the forest, which could not be
cleared in time for planting; furthermore, the site was not
naturally defensible. Clark’s Island was advocated as a safe
position; but that was rejected because thickly wooded and
poorly watered. Here again is seen what a place required to
be “ fit for situation.”
Wednesday, December 30th, it was agreed to seek Divine
guidance, and after re-examining two localities, to settle the
^ matter by vote.1 The result, Bradford says, — in Mourt, — was
the “ conclusion by most voices to set on the main land, on
THE FIRST PLACE.” This last expression seems to mean that
the settlement was on the first place which had been under
consideration throughout. No one of information doubts
that the place now selected was at Plymouth Rock.
Their home having been selected, some twenty of the more
1 We could not now take time for further search or consideration, our
victuals being much spent, especially our beer. — Mourt.i620-I.]
THE DATE OF LANDING.
IOI
enthusiastic, that very afternoon, built a barricade and deter-
mined to begin sleeping on shore. The others left them there,
agreeing to bring food in the morning, and prepare with them
for building. It would seem that the weather had been
pleasant ever since the first landing of the shallop at Clark’s
Island. The enumeration of herbs and soils by the explorers
shows that the ground was bare, and probably not even
frozen.1 A very disagreeable change was at hand. That
night there arose a tempest of great severity. The shore
party, having had no time to prepare a roof, were drenched
through, and were forced to sit in the pouring rain all the
long winter night.
Thursday, December 31st, the shallop was unable to reach
the shore with food until near noon, and she then could not
make her way back to the ship. The latter was obliged to
keep three anchors down, so tremendous was the wind. In
the midst of the storm one of the Pilgrims, named Richard
Britteridge, died on board; but no messages of life or death
could pass between ship and shore.
Thus ended the last day of December, as time is now reck-
oned, and with it, on the wings of the tempest, passed away
the notable year of 1620. But to our ancestors, with their
“ old style ” calendar, that day was only “ December 21st; ” and
as their new year began on March 25th, their first day of Jan-
uary was no more to them than the first day of any especially
unattractive month.2 So what to us would be full of interest
1	Lossing (Piet. Field-Book of the Revolution) theatrically invents eighteen
*“ inches of snow to accompany the landing. The critical observations of the ex-
plorers as to soil, herbs, roots, the washing qualities of the clay, etc., made a
week later (December 28th, N. s.), indicate not only bare but unfrozen ground.
Mourt makes no mention of snow at Plymouth village that entire winter. After
the storm on the day of the First Encounter (December i8th),the only reference
to snow at any place is that which Brown and Goodman encountered some eight
miles away from Plymouth January 22d (n. S.). Snow is commonly very light
at Plymouth, and few persons keep sleighs.
2	At the Conquest the English year began at Christmas. January 1st was not
the legal New Year’s Day until 1752 ; but the public had partially recognized it
for generations before. Sewall mentions that in 1700-1 January 1st (o. S.) was
ushered in by four trumpeters on Boston Common, in honor of the new year.
(See note on page xvi, Preface.)102
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620-1.
as New Year’s Day, was to them only the 22d of December,
and the year of 1620 was but three quarters finished. It
made small difference to them just then. They were not
holiday-keepers at any time; and with the tremendous respon-
sibilities which taxed their energies to the utmost, their only
surcease of labor could be on the holy day when they gath-
ered weekly to seek further strength from that Source which
they had ever found so bountiful. Thus the landing of the
Pilgrim explorers was on December 21st, N. S., and the per-
manent landing was on December 20th, O. S., or December
30th, N. S.; yet the affluence of historical error which attends
Pilgrim history has not spared even these simple dates.CHAPTER IX.
Building and Land Allotments. — Indian Alarms. — Pestilence and Prom-
ise.— Coming of Samoset. — Reception of Massasoit, and Treaty.
TANUARY i, 1621 (n.S.), on board the “Mayflower,”
^ which was madly rolling and straining at her anchors
in the middle of the storm, there came to Isaac and Mary ^
Allerton a son who did not survive his birth.
Saturday, January 2d, the work of building the town actually
began. All who were able, went on shore and spent the day
felling and carrying building materials; but tugging timber
an eighth to a quarter of a mile must have been severe work
for their debilitated bodies. Sunday, the shore-guard of some
twenty men were alarmed by an outcry of unseen savages,
and anxiously prepared to sustain an assault; but soon all
became quiet. The next morning, those afloat returned to
their labor. Some felled, some rived, and some carried; and
their journal says: “ So no man rested all that day.” These
words are significant; for it was December 25th by their reck- -
oning, and that day their native land was in a tumult of *
Christmas festivity.
As this day of the year had been selected by the Pope for j
Christmas observance, and from his Church had descended to !
l
that of England, the Separatists and Independents denounced j
it as a part of antichrist; and their opposition was most ;
unfortunately intensified by the general license and excess of 1
the day. The prejudice against celebrating Christmas long
continued in the Old Colony. Within fifty years, descen-
dants of that land, though living elsewhere and professing „
great theological liberality, have been known to distinguish
the day by an excess of disregard, even enforcing an ostenta-104
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
v tious simplicity at the family table. The gradual disappear-
ance of this prejudice is one of the happy signs of the growth
of Christian charity. Christmas is now welcomed by people
of every branch of the Church Universal, and a regard for its
associations is each year extending more widely through the
“ many mansions ” in the earthly house of our Father.1
As the day drew to a close, another outcry of Indians was
heard, causing all to fall to arms; but nothing further came
of it beyond additional care imposed on the weary settlers.
At night, as usual, some twenty were left to “ keep the court
of guard ” on shore, and the others returned to the ship.
That morning Jones, finding his stock of beer fast diminish-
ing, and determined to keep enough for his voyage home,
had refused to serve out any to the passengers. The latter
were ill content with plain water for hard-working men accus-
tomed to more liberal cheer. But in the evening, as Bradford
and his tired comrades were resting around the cabin fire,
^ the buccaneer captain’s heart warmed a little at the recol-
lection of the festivities at home, and he entertained them
with beer in abundance. Thereafter, those on board were
occasionally supplied with it, but those on shore received
none. Beer was a very important article of diet. Tea, cof-
fee, chocolate, and cocoa were then unknown to the English;
our settlers had no cider, and not even milk or whey. Beer
was the substitute for all these, and its withdrawal was a posi-
tive hardship, especially as the people were still confined
almost entirely to ship’s provisions.2
January 5th ended with a heavy storm of wind and rain,
which continued through the following day, once more cutting
off communication and preventing work. On the 7th, labor
was resumed, and the company divided into nineteen families.
1	In 1659 Massachusetts Bay forbade keeping “ any such day as Christmas,
either by forbearing to labor, or feasting, or any other way,” under penalty of
five shillings. Plymouth never had any such contemptible law. Christmas
v “ ales ” and “ mummings ” would hardly have been permitted there ; but any one
x might freely have feasted and observed the day in any manner not intruding
upon those who did not wish to keep it.
2	See note, p. 100.1621.] THE FIRST STREET AND LAND ALLOTMENTS. 105
The households of Carver and Hopkins had comprised eight
each; but the first was now reduced, by a death, to seven:
Brewster’s and Allerton’s numbered six each. The single
men were assigned to the different families, according to the
greatest convenience of all. Each family was to build its
own house, and to have a plot three rods long and half a rod
broad, for each of its members. The choice of location was
determined by lot, and then the homesteads were staked out.
The village was to be built in the form of a single street, run-
ning from the water back to the foot of Fort Hill, and parallel
with the high bank of the stream, with room for the house-
lots on each side of the way. This rivulet is now called Town ^
Brook. The street was first called The Street; then succes- )
sively First Street, Great Street, and Broad Street, until, in j
1823, it received its present name of Leyden Street. The I
street is still there, passing between its “ two rows of houses ”
from the sea-side to the hill; the latter no longer teems with
artillery, but it is thickly studded with the graves of seven
generations who in turn walked the street below. As the
visitor traverses this avenue and recalls the scenes it has wit-
nessed, he must be insensitive indeed if he does not feel the
thrill that comes from treading on “ hallowed ground.” It
would be interesting to see a full plan of the allotments. If
the modest Pilgrims could have imagined the interest with
which their posterity would regard their minutest movements,
they might, perhaps, have left us something far more satis- ^
factory than the fragmentary accounts we have. Yet even j ^
then, the first and second generations of their successors I
might in their astonishing indifference have exposed such )
memorials to the same destruction that has swept away much j
of what actually was handed down. (Not only written and
printed documents, but, as will be seen, such material things
as weapons and armor — even the battle-sword and corselet
of Myles Standish — were stupidly lost.)
But we have a partial sketch of the new street. The first
entry in the records of the Colony is a very incomplete plan
of it, in Bradford’s handwriting, as follows: —iq6	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
“ The Meersteads and Garden-plotes of those which came first,
layed out 1620.
The No7'th side.
South side.
Peter Brown
John Goodman
Mr. Brewster
Hige way.
John Billington
Mr. Isaak Allerton
Francis Cooke
Edward Winslow
A plan, more fully drawn, would probably be as follows:
Old Cct'nj'izlcls.EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
107
1621.]
After two days of rain (which prevented work) and a quiet
Sunday, labor was resumed on Monday, the nth. The dis-
tance between the ship and the landing was no small dis-
advantage, for a trip of a mile and a half was of itself a waste
of time; but the frequent necessity of waiting for the tide
increased the trouble. A vessel of eighty tons might have
lain near the shore; but one of one hundred and eighty could *
not safely do so. This day death took Degory Priest, who J
had left his wife and children behind to follow him when he
should have their new home ready.
The next day a party, sent to gather the dry swamp-grass
for thatching the roofs, found recent cornfields and saw the
smoke of great camp-fires. The following day Standish took
five men and boldly went into the wilderness to the place
where the fires had been seen; he was determined to estab-
l^h, if possible, a friendly intercourse with the natives, none
of whom had yet been visible around Plymouth. Some old
wigwams were found, but no inhabitants. It is recorded that,
coming home, they shot an “ eagle,” which was excellent v
meat, hardly to be told from mutton; upon which Baylies
remarks: “ So grateful was the flesh of this nauseous bird to v
these famished men.” But the Colonists were not famished,
for they had plenty of food until their harvest renewed the
supply. They must have slain some great sea-fowl of good *
flavor, and from want of familiarity have supposed it to be a
species of eagle; for, with their European experience, they i
probably knew as little about eagles as they soon after f
showed they did about lions.	1
The next day a sailor found a live herring on the beach
(Jones appropriated it for his supper), which encouraged
the Pilgrims to hope for the speedy coming-in of these fish.
By a remarkable oversight, they brought no fish-hooks of _
moderate size, and Kad been unable to take cod or lesser fish
since the first.1 Their hooks must have been very large.
January 16th word came from the ship that Mr. Martin could
1 Some years before the obstruction of Town Brook, tom-cod were abundant
in December, eels and smelts coming into the brooks earlier.io8
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
live but a few days, and that Governor Carver must see him
about his accounts. Rev. Dr. Cheever absurdly supposes
that “ his accounts ” meant the preparation of his mind for
^ death, thus forgetting that Mr. Martin was the treasurer of v
the company, and that Governor Carver was its civil, not its
religious, leader. The sad visit was made on Sunday; Mon-
day Martin was no more.1
On Monday, the 18th, all able to work were busy. Jones
sent some of his men in the shallop for fish, and they had
a narrow escape from a sudden storm; but at night brought
in a great cod and three seals. The seals still abound in v
those waters, and are to be seen basking on the beaches or
amusing the visitor by the curious scrutiny they give his
boat.
The same day one of the Billingtons went with a master’s
mate to explore the fine lakelet now called Billington Sea. '
I They were disappointed at finding this not to be a branch of
j Narraganset Bay or of the Hudson, which latter was then
I supposed to be a great strait making New England an
\ island.2	^	X
1	Of Martin little is known; but as agent to satisfy such men as Warren, v
Hopkins, and Mullins, he must have been able and trusty. The March before
the “ Mayflower ” sailed he was cited by the Archdeacon of Chelmsford for
“ suffering his son to answer me . . . that his * father ’ gave him his name.” The
same day the Archdeacon complained of Solomon Prower of Billerica for refus- ^
ing to answer him “ unless questioned from some catechism.” Prower (who died
January 2) was a member of Martin's family, and is described by the vague term
“servant.” He doubtless was something more,and had been taught Separatism
along with young Martin, who did not come in the “ Mayflower.” Many his- s
tories call Prower the son of Martin.
2	The author too much fears seeming presumptuous to squarely assume that
John Billington, Sr., was the discoverer. Bradford, in “ Mourt,” says it was
Francis Billington; but in the record of a month earlier he called a boy “ one
of Francis Billington's sons,” when he unmistakably should have said “ one of
John Billington’s sons.” Editors especially are aware that when a writer has
made such an error once, the probabilities are strong that he will repeat it if the ,,
name soon recurs. Probably the copy of Mourt’s Relation which eventually
reached the printer was hastily made from the original by or for Cushman, at
Plymouth, on his visit in 1621 ; and these two errors, with others, may be due
to the transcriber. Something of this sort is more probable than that a master's
mate while “ in some fear ” of encountering Indians should go into the wilder-
ness with only a little boy for his guide and companion, or that Bradford should
record the distance of various points as according to “ their estimation,” or men-THATCHED ROOFS.
109
1621.]
The first building erected was one twenty feet square, for
common use until all were privately housed, and for meetings ^
afterwards. Its walls (begun January 4th), probably of rudely
squared logs, were by January 19th ready for the roof. Some
were set to making mortar and “ pointing-up ” the crevices,
while others gathered and laid the thatch of swamp-grass, ^
of which, after the English fashion, all their roofs were con- -
structed. The Forefathers are often pitied because they had §
no better shelter than these thatched roofs; but at that very |
time many thousands of the urban houses of England were S
so covered: they abounded in such thriving ,towns as York, !
Worcester, Gloucester, Shrewsbury, and Nottingham, often $
forming whole streets. Since 1600 the elite of London had *
regularly gathered^ under “ the thatched roof of the Rose ;
v Theatre,” and in 1613 the Globe Theatre, while Shakspere 5
himself was a lessee, had been burned because the ignited \
wad pf a gun used in the play (“ Henry VIII.”) lodged in the \
thatched roof In 1688, when William III. landed at Torbay, }
his lodging was in a thatched house, above which the banner \
of his headquarters was displayed. The settlers, therefore, \
must have held their roofing in no low estimation.1
tion what “ they found ” and “they saw,” and their risk as “ they were but two
persons.” Had Clark gone with only a small boy, the estimates and observa-
f tions would have been attributed to him rather than to the two as equals. There
( is little room to doubt that Plymouth in naming her lovely lake unwittingly com- ^
\ memorated Billington, her first malefactor.
The tendency to repeat a slip of the pen, as suggested above, is shown in
Winthrop’s History, where he calls his fellow-governor Sir Robert Berkley,
instead of Sir William, and soon does so a second time.
Billington Sea is the source of Town Bcpok, which was in 1621 a highway for v
marvellous crowds of alewives in their season. Several excellent mill-sites have
t been established along its course, and the passage of the fish impeded. The
I “ Sea ” is still a secluded spot, the deer coming to drink of its waters, while the
! wood-duck is found around its shores, and occasionally an eagle may be seen
1 soaring far above it. Near by ran the path by which the natives came from the
interior to fish around Plymouth, and which was long used by the whites in their
trips to Middleborough and westward. B. M. Watson informs the author that
this path in entering Plymouth not only crossed his beautiful estate of “ Hillside,”
but passed nearly or quite over the site of his house.
1 Plymouth is remarkably well watered. Between the beach and Jones River
i eight streams empty into the harbor, while scattered about the township are
\ some two hundred ponds, with a total surface of about three thousand acres.
-	1 See AppenHix, T< Building, etc.”IIO	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
Frost and rain hindered work nearly half the time in each
week; but the house was speedily finished. The tired workers
x could now rest and sleep in an English house; but the beds
' of twenty men covered the entire floor at night. The com-
pletion of any portion of the village was a source of especial
satisfaction, from the fear that the community would soon
become unable to continue building, and yet need houses for
the sick and dying.
Bradford had been foremost in all undertakings; he was
already suffering with rheumatic pains in his ankles as the
result of his exposures, when on January 21 he was seized
while at work with a terrible pain in “ his hucklebone,” or
hip, which attack was so severe that death was momentarily
expected; he says, “ he grew a little better towards night,
and in time, through God’s mercy in the use of means, re-
covered.” Here is seen one phase of the sensible Pilgrim
faith. They believed most fully in God’s interference in the
affairs of daily life through “ special providences,” more par-
ticularly in answer to prayer; but this came, not by any
phenomenal suspension of the laws of Nature or change in
their mode of operation, but by a blessing on ordinary means
faithfully and earnestly used. They were less inclined to
pray that God would work out plans for their benefit than
that He would bless their own efforts. If Elder Brewster
prayed for protection against enemies, he took good care
that his gun was ready and his sword sharp, so that he might
do his part towards securing the blessing asked.
January 22d and 23d were unhappy days. Four men were
sent to cut thatch along Town Brook. At noon two of them,
Peter Browne and John Goodman, told their comrades to
bind what was cut, and then to join them at a place a mile
and a half from the village, and half a mile short of Billington
Sea. When the others repaired to the spot they could find
nothing of Browne and Goodman, nor obtain any response to
their shouts. Full of alarm, they reported the mattter at the
plantation. Although the rain was now heavy, the gallant
Carver at once took four men and made a search; but could1621.]	BROWNE AND GOODMAN LOST.	Ill
find no trace of the lost ones. A fear then arose that they
had been captured by Indians. The next morning twelve
armed explorers scoured the vicinity, but had to return with-
out tidings. Of course great gloom spread through the
circle so mysteriously broken.
It afterwards appeared that the two lost men, on reaching
the appointed place, took their dinner in their hands and,
while eating, strolled to a little pond. They had with them
a spaniel and a large female mastiff.1 At the pond a deer
had come to drink. The dogs pursued it, the men following.
The excited chase led far to the south; and when the deer, as
was to be expected, escaped, the men realized that they were
lost. The rain was then pouring, so that they could not see
far; they had not learned to tell the north from the south
side of a tree by its moss, and their dogs were at fault, or not
allowed to act on their instincts. So long as light lasted, the
poor fellows tramped about in the woods. At dark it became
snowy and freezing. They were thinly clad and had no food,
nor any weapons but their sickles. They searched in vain
for some old wigwam. In the night two wild beasts, which
they supposed to be lions, began to roar or howl, while a
third, nearer still, kept up a response. The only refuge from
the beasts, if they should make an attack, was in a tree. So
the men stood by the trunk of one, ready to climb if it should
become necessary, but delaying until then because of the
exposure to the piercing wind, and also to save their dogs.
The brave mastiff was already anxious to rush at the nearest
beast, and was with difficulty held by the neck, the men fear-
ing that the “Hon ” would destroy her. At length the wild
beasts departed, and the men spent the rest of the night
walking up and down to keep from freezing.
The late sunrise of that Saturday morning must have been
long indeed in coming to our shivering, famished, and fatigued
1 Martin Pring at Plymouth, 1603, had two great “ mastive dogges,” named
“Fool” and “ Gallant,” the former being trained to carry a half-pike in his
mouth. The Indians were more afraid of these dogs than of twenty men. —
American Magazine of History,112
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
1621.
estrays, who probably then took the sun for a guide. They
passed many of the lakelets just mentioned, and eight miles
southwest from town struck a plain six miles long, which had
been burned over by the Indians. In the afternoon from a
hill-top they got a glimpse of the sea and of two islands
which they recognized as those at Plymouth, and by night
reached home, when just ready to sink from their sufferings.
Goodman’s feet were in such condition that his shoes had to
be cut from them, and he to be carefully nursed. Those on
shore were much rejoiced at this return; but those on board,
not knowing of it, were very sorrowful till the next day. It
is worthy of notice that in this case we have the first mention
of snow since the cruise of the shallop, more than a month
before. There probably was no snow at Plymouth during
that time, the many storms taking the form of rain. The
winter, with its exceptional mildness, though very blustering,
was of no greater severity — perhaps of less — than the
settlers had been accustomed to.1
The next day was Sunday (January 24th) ; and as the greater
part of the men were now stopping on shore, it had been
arranged that all able to leave the ship should come to wor-
ship in the new common-house. The morning opened with
a high wind, during which, more than an hour before sunrise,
those in the ship saw that the common-house was on fire.
They had come on board the previous night, supposing that
the two lost men had been captured by the savages; the lat-
ter, they now feared, emboldened by success, had entered the
settlement and set the building on fire. Anxious as they
were to join their comrades and find the true state of things,
it was three quarters of an hour before the tide would permit.
On arriving they were relieved by learning that Browne and
Goodman had returned and that the fire had caught from a
spark lodging in the thatch. The framework of the roof
was in good condition. The house had been full of beds,
and the muskets were all there, loaded; Carver and Bradford
1 In 1631 Dudley of Massachusetts Bay wrote to the Countess of Lincoln that
the winter of 1620-1 was “ a calm winter, such as was never seen here since.”1621.}	WOLVES. —CHURCH SERVICES.	113
were both sick in bed, but escaped with all speed. The dry
thatch naturally burned with a flash, while the high wind -
swept the cinders away from the building, so that the loss of ^
the thatching was the chief damage.
Monday the rain poured all day long on the shore people
in their roofless house; then followed three days of bright,
mild weather, in which they “ wrought cheerfully; " then
another rainy day. In the evening, the weather clearing,
Goodman tried to take some exercise with his frost-bitten
feet. The little spaniel kept him company, and when but a
short way from home, was pursued by two great wolves. It j
took refuge between Goodman's lame feet, while he picked j
up a stick, which he threw at them, hitting one and causing }
both to run away. He then found a piece of paling, with ■
which he stood at guard, while the wolves, returning, sat a
long time “ on their tails, grinning at him," and hoping to [
secure the dog, but finally sneaked away. The next day the
Colonists built a shed for storing their coarser provisions, and
on Sunday, January 31st, they were able for the first time to
hold undisturbed a regular service in their common-house. /
The sanctuary on Leyden Street, or on the summit at its j
head, has been duly opened on the first day of every week \
from that day to this, and the voice of public prayer and j
praise has continued unbroken to the ninth generation.
The first week of February work went actively on. Among
other matters, their “ hogsheads of meal " (probably rye) /
were brought ashore and put in the store-house. It was
expedient to grind the finer grains before shipping, and to
have the meal “ so hard trod" in the cask that “you shall ^
need an adze or hatchet to work it out with" {Winslow),
The second week was mingled wet and cold, the rain caus-
ing much of the fresh clay “ daubing " between the imper-
fectly joined logs of their houses to fall out. On the 9th
or 10th Jones saw from the ship the retreating forms of two
Indians who had been reconnoitring from Clark’s Island;
these were the only natives that had been actually seen since
the “ First Encounter."
8THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
114
[1621.
^ The little houses grew apace, but the number of prospec-
tive occupants steadily diminished. The bluff overlooking
the Rock had been set apart as a burial-place at the point
now known as Cole’s Hill.1 The mortality was more than
four a week. Husband and wife, parent and child, employer
and servant, the robust and the delicate, were borne away in
constant succession. By the end of their February, thirty-
one had died. One of the first cottages finished had to be
taken for a hospital; in the effort to keep it warm, its thatched
roof was set on fire one cold day, but the flames were checked
before much harm had been done. Even Captain Jones
showed an intermittent sympathy, for on the 19th, having
been shooting and killed five geese, he sent them to the sick.
The lack of proper medicines, delicacies, and conveniences
must have been distressing, although Surgeon Fuller seems
to have been unusually intelligent and skilful.2
Jones in his hunting excursion found a dead deer from
which the Indians had cut the horns, leaving the carcass.
A week later a Colonist, while lying in wait for game,
was startled to see twelve natives pass close by his hiding-
place and proceed towards the plantation. He hurried
home and gave the alarm, upon which the men were called
from work and put under arms; but nothing further was
1 The oldest house in Plymouth village (1883) is the “Leach House,” on
Summer Street; it was built in 1679. The Bunch of Grapes tavern, on Main
Street, was long ago made into an “ L ” for Dr. Warren’s former house, where
it still is.
Judge Sewall says in his Diary (1697): “ I lodge at Cole’s ; the house was built
by Governor Winslow, and is the oldest in Plymouth.” W. T. Davis, in a note
to the author, says that Cole was a “ vintner,” and kept a tavern on the lot as-
signed Elder Brewster in 1621 ; and on this land is the house of the late Hon.
Thomas Russell (father of the late Judge Thomas Russell, president of the Pil-
grim Society). This Cole must have been the son of James Cole who about
1633 built the first house on the bluff, from which it was called Cole’s Hill.
James kept a tavern from 1638 to 1660.
2	The only salt then made in England was by evaporation ; this was much
used in its crude state, and was very impure, and promotive of scurvy and con-
sumption. The rich used salt from France. Rock-salt was not found in England
until 1660, and was not worked until long after. The Pilgrims, from living on
food cured with the sea-salt of the times, contracted scorbutic diseases, which
doubtless gave the fatal character to much of their winter’s sickness.1621.]	INDIAN ALARMS. — THE ARTILLERY.	115
seen. Standish and Cooke, on coming home, left their
tools in the woods, and on returning, found that the savages
had taken the implements. These various indications that
the Indians were lurking about the village led to the prompt
adoption of a military organization, distinct from the civil
government, on Saturday, February 27th, at a meeting of
the people in the common house, Myles Standish being
chosen captain, with full authority as commandant. But fur-
ther proceedings were interrupted by the appearance of two
Indians on Strawberry Hill (Watson’s Hill),1 an eminence
corresponding to Fort Hill, but on the other side of Town
Brook, though not a quarter of a mile from The Street.
Each party made signs to the other to come to them, but
neither moved. At length the Colonists stood to their arms,
while Standish and Hopkins crossed the brook to parley with
the strangers. They took only one gun with them, and this
they laid upon the ground in token of peace; but the savages
disappeared behind the hill, where by the noise a multitude
seemed to be gathered, though no more were seen.
Standish at once set about placing artillery on the Fort
Hill platform, so as to command the approaches to the vil-
lage. On March 3d Jones and his men aided in landing five
cannon and getting them into place. The largest was a
“ saker,” a gun of ten feet length, weighing about eighteen
hundred pounds, and having a bore of four inches; this
indicates something near a four-pound ball. The next was
a “ minion,” a gun of a thousand pounds weight and a ball of
between three and four pounds. The third gun is uncertain,
but was probably a “ minion,” or else was a “ falcon,” —
about a two-pounder. The two small pieces were “ bases,”
throwing balls of perhaps half a pound. When the heavy
day’s work was done, the men received proper entertainment.
Jones contributed a very fat goose, and his hosts added a
mallard, a fat crane, and a dried neat’s tongue. This little
cordiality on the part of the sea-captain much pleased the
Colonists, who seem ordinarily to have stood in some awe of
1 Its Indian name was CantaugcanteestTHE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
116
[1621.
him; and their journal adds to its mention of this supper:
“ and so we were kindly and friendly together.”
While the able-bodied men were thus laboring for their
common safety, the invalids still dropped away. On the day
| the great guns were mounted, William White and William
? Mullins, with two of less note, were added to the dead. Four
days later Mrs. Mary Allerton was laid in the burial plot on
Cole’s Hill, where a month earlier Standish had stood beside
the grave of his fair young wife. About the middle of
March the mortality began to abate; but it had nearly halved —
the company, and was destined to exactly do so before it
ended. At one time there were but seven well persons; and
these, Bradford says, tended the sick with the utmost faithful-
ness and kindness, washing their loathsome linen, cooking
their food, and performing duties “ which dainty and queazy
stomachs cannot endure to hear named. Two of these seven
were Mr. William Brewster, their reverend elder, and Myles
Standish, their captain and military commander, unto whom
myself and many others were much beholden in our low and
sick condition. And yet the Lord so upheld these persons
that they were not at all infected.” Governor Carver was for
most or all the time able to join these devoted laborers.
Bradford adds that many who died, while they had any
strength remaining, used it in ministering to those yet farther
gone. He adds: “ I doubt not but their recompense is with
the Lord.” Fearing that the savages, seeing by the graves
r from afar how much the settlement was reduced, might be
| emboldened to make an attack, the mounds on Cole’s Hill ^
l were smoothed down and the spot sowed with grain.1
The 13th of March was warm at noon, and “ the birds sang
1 This tradition has passed through only two hands: Elder Faunce trans-
mitted it to Deacon Spooner, who gave it permanent form; and Elder Faunce ^
heard it from the Pilgrims themselves. One can have little patience with those
careless writers who say that these graves were planted with Indian corn. The
N Pilgrims retained the English usage of calling all grain “ corn” (The English
to-day use this word as a family name for corn, oats, barley, wheat, rye, etc.)
Planting maize (Indian corn) would have involved waiting until late spring, and
would not have been done before the treaty with Massasoit had rendered such
precaution needless.1621.]	SPRING GARDENING. — AN INDIAN.	117
>/
in the woods most pleasantly,” — an entry which shows that
the sick journalist appreciated the charms of Nature; but
the day ended with heavy thunder, the first that the Colonists
had heard since their arrival. On the 17th some garden
seeds were sown. The sickness was rapidly abating, and the
spirits of all felt the genial influence of spring.1
Friday, March 26th, was a momentous day. On that fair,
warm morning the men met at the common house to finish
the business interrupted, four weeks before, by the appear-
ance of savages on Watson’s Hill, and for which they had not
since been able to spare time from the sick and their labors.
Now they met with an astonishing interruption. While they
were deliberating they saw a solitary Indian coming down
Leyden Street; he advanced with a bold air and gave them
the good old English greeting of “ Welcome ! ” The histo-
rians usually put into his mouth the words “ Welcome, (Eng-
lishmen ! ” but the second word was no part of his salutation.
He would have entered the common house, but was stopped,
from fear that he was a spy. He said in broken English,
which the settlers easily understood, that he did not belong
in that region, but was a sachem of Monhegan,2 where he had
1	Unfortunately the kinds of seed are not given. The native bean, squash,
and pumpkin were probably planted in the hills with the maize; certainly the
bean was, and it climbed upon the corn-stalks. (The indigenous beans are said
to have been of the “ Sieva ” variety. Champlain called the native beans of
Cape Cod “ Brazilian beans.”) The potato does not appear to have been culti-
vated at Plymouth until the next century. The cucumber was not then in com-
mon use in England. It had been under Edward III., but became disused, and
was forgotten for a century; though reintroduced long before 1621, it had not
become generally known.
The steward's account for the Commencement dinner at Harvard College in
T7°3 gives us a glimpse of the vegetables then provided for good tables. He
bought only carrots and turnips : but for fruits there were apples, oranges, and
cherries; for drinks, wine, beer, and cider. In 1708, at President Leverett's
installation, the vegetables were parsnips, onions, cranberries, and potatoes (though
the latter were probably sweet potatoes, which had been known in Boston
since imported from the West Indies by William Peirce, seventy years before).
At this dinner there were wine and a little beer, but no cider, its place being
taken by two pounds tobacco (2s.) and four dozen pipes (2s. Sot.).
2	Monhegan, or Mohegan (Indian, Muhekanneuk, from maingan, a wolf), is an
island on the Maine coast between the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, and is
about twelve miles from the shore. It was an early resort of English fishermen.Il8	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
learned his English from fishing-vessels. He proved his
statement by giving the names of most of the captains who v
fished on the Maine coast. He said that he came to Cape
Cod with Captain Dermer the year before, and had remained
eight months on a visit; he could reach home by sea in one
day with a good breeze, but it would take five days to go
by land. He described the native tribes far and near, their
sachems and their strength.
This chiefs name was Samoset. A ridiculous attempt has
been made of late to secure for his name the pronunciation v
of Sa-moss-et. The right sound is Sam-o-set. The Indian
open a had the sound of aw ; this name, doubtless, was origi-
nally 5#z£/-mo-set, as sachem was saw-kem.1 In 1623 Sir
Christopher Lovet, at the present Southport, Me., had
much intercourse with him, and calls him “ Somerset ” who -
had rendered many services to the whites; and in 1625 John
Brown bought a tract of land of him, and mentions him as
“ Summerset.” So late as 1653 the then aged chief was still
at his Maine home, and continued to be called “ Somerset”
by his white neighbors; this is the last known of him. Now,
with no other guide, people spell names by their sound; and
it is quite evident that Lovet and Brown give us pretty nearly
the sound of the chiefs name as spoken by himself and
associates.
A curious illustration of the Indian pronunciation and
complete alteration of a name through adherence to its old ^
sound, is that of the Manomet on Buzzard’s Bay. It was of
course spoken as Maw-no-met; this sounds so much like
I Monument that the latter name came into use, and is now the
I
I only one known for that railway village.2
Samoset was entirely naked, except for a leathern girdle,
1	A traveller among Maine Indians tells me that they pronounce Piscataqua
“ Pis-ca-/#ze/-qua ” (from pisgattauwi, “growing dark;” or kowat, “pine- %
tree,” and wapees, “ white ”). A like Indian name is that of Tewksbury and
eastern Lowell (Mass.), — “ Wamesit,” still spoken “ W^w-me-sit.”
2	Another case is that of Sagus, the Indian name of the region of Lynn,
Mass. Its old sound has been preserved by spelling it “ Saugus.” The aboriginal
“ Patucket ” is now, idem sonans, “ Paze/tucket.”1621.]	VISIT OF SAMOSET.	119
which, with its fringe, was about a foot wide; he had straight
black hair, short in front and long behind, with no beard.
His only weapons were a bow and two arrows, of which one
had no head. He was quite talkative, and of good presence.
The wind arising, a horseman’s cloak was put around him,
and upon his asking for beer, he was taken to dinner; and
here we get a glimpse of the Pilgrim larder at that time.
In the lack of beer, Samoset was given some strong water,
followed by biscuit, with butter and cheese, pudding, and
mallard. All these he liked well, and had been accustomed
to them on English ships.
After dinner he resumed his conversation. He said that
the Indian name of Plymouth was Patuxet (Paw-tux-et),1
and that nearly four years before all the inhabitants had died
of a remarkable plague, so that now no one of the tribe
remained to claim possession. Their neighbors to the west
were Massasoit’s tribe, numbering sixty warriors; about as
far down the Cape were the Nausets, who made the attack
on the Pilgrims (at Eastham). They were still exasperated
against the whites on account of Hunt’s villany; some eight
months before they had attacked Sir Ferdinando Gorges’
men, killing three and barely missing two more. (This
doubtless referred to Dermer’s voyage.) Samoset knew all
about the Eastham fight or “ huggery /” he also knew of the
stolen tools, and was charged by the Pilgrims with a threaten-
ing message demanding their return.
At night his entertainers would gladly have parted with
him, not feeling quite safe to let him remain in their houses;
but as the complacent visitor was not inclined to go, they
offered to keep him on board the “ Mayflower,” to which he
assented quite readily; but the shallop could not get off. So
they lodged him at Stephen Hopkins’s, and quietly kept -a
watch on him. The next day (Saturday) they presented
1 The Indian name for this locality was Patuxet (pronounced Pawtux-et,
meaning “ Little Bay ” or “ Little Falls ”). This title is much more appropriate
to Plymouth than Accomac (“ Across*the-water ”), often given as its definite
Indian name. It might be “ Accomac ” to Cape Cod or Duxbury, but not to its
own inhabitants.120
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
him with a knife, a bracelet, and a ring. He then left for the
Wampanoags,1 promising soon to bring some of them back
with beaver, —a kind of fur unknown to the English at that
time.
Sunday, March 28th, the pious settlement was not a little
embarrassed by the return of Samoset with five tall savages.
They were liberally entertained, and with the best of inten-
tions sought to repay their Sunday-keeping hosts with en-
ergetic singing and dancing. These Indians were better
apparelled than Samoset at his first visit. Each had a deer-
skin hung on his shoulders, and long hose of dressed deer-
skin extending from the feet to the groin, meeting there a
leathern girdle. They had their hair short in front, but in
the rear coming to their shoulders. One had his front hair
done up on a feather in a fan-shape; another wore a fox-tail
pendant. The chief had on his left arm a wild-cat skin, which
the Indian leaders made a badge of authority, as the modern
white man does the epaulet.2
The chief carried a pouch of tobacco, from which he occa-
sionally smoked, or gave some for smoking to the others.
The operation of smoking, from the deep inhalations by
which the smoke was often drawn into the lungs, was then
called by the English “ drinking” tobacco.3 The chief also
carried a long, slender bag like a hollow girdle, filled with
corn parched and pulverized; this meal, called “ nocake,”
when mixed in small quantities with water would subsist the
Indians for a long time, and was their chief reliance on jour-
1 Wampanoage: wapan, east; ake, land; i. e., the land east of Narraganset
Bay.
2	Morton of Merry Mount says, in his “New Canaan,” that the savage men
wear one deer-skin, and the women wear two, which trail after them, and “ in
time I think they may have their pages to bear them up.” But Morton’s squaws
had learned more than one extravagance at the Mount.
3	Anthony Thacher and George Poole were chosen a committee to draw-up
an order concerning disorderly drinking tobacco.—Plymouth Col. Pec., 1646.
Of the Indians, Winslow says, “ The men take much tobacco.” They gener-
ally all take tobacco, and it is the only plant which men labor in, the women
managing all the rest. They say they take tobacco for two causes, — first, against
the rheum, which causeth the toothache, which they are impatient of; secondly,
to revive and refresh them, they drinking nothing but water. — Roger Williams.i62I.]
VISIT OF THE INDIANS.
121
neys and marches. Roger Williams says that a spoonful of
nocake (also spelled “nokake ” or “ nokehich ”) and a spoon-
ful of water often made him a good dinner; but in that case
he must have been an uncommonly light eater.
The savages had left their bows and arrQws a quarter of a
mile from the town, as Samoset had been at first charged to
have them do. They had some four beaver-skins; but the
Pilgrims refusing to trade on Sunday, the Indians agreed to
bring more on another day, and insisted on leaving their
present stock with the whites till their next visit. This party
also returned the tools taken in the woods a month before.
These Indians were slightly different from Samoset in speech
and customs. For instance, they had their faces painted,
often repulsively; some had a black band, five fingers broad,
from the forehead to the chin, while others were striped and
colored in various styles. After a short visit, which they
seemed to enjoy, the strangers withdrew, some armed Pilgrims
accompanying them as far as the place where they had left
their weapons, though two of the savages were disposed to
run from the English guns, until their companions reassured
them.
Samoset, knowing when he was well-off, pleaded sickness,
which, though thought a pretence, obtained him permission
to remain till the next Wednesday, at which time he was pre-
sented with a hat, shirt, stockings, shoes, and a cloth to tie
about his waist, and was sent to remind the others of their
promise to come and trade. This was the last day of March,
with fine warm weather, and garden-seeds all in the ground.
After Samoset’s departure a meeting was held to further
consider the matters twice postponed by interruptions from
the natives. The third meeting had not come to an agree-
ment when two savages appeared on Watson’s Hill, daring
the whites, and by whetting their arrows and rubbing their
bow-strings inviting a fight. Standish and two men armed
with guns moved towards the hill, upon which the challen-
gers fled. So the meeting was broken up a third time. The
same day their ship-carpenter, who had been long disabled122	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	I1621.
by scurvy, succeeded in refitting the shallop, so that the last
passengers in the “ Mayflower ” were brought to land. Thus
it was eight full months from the embarkation in Holland
before the last of the passengers was released from shipboard.
Thursday, April 1st, was a fine spring day. About noon
the Colonists met to attend to the business which had now
been three times interrupted by the Indians. In the course
of an hour the session was broken off by the same cause for
the fourth time. Samoset re-appeared, and with him came
one destined to be an invaluable friend to the Colony. This
was Tisquantum, sometimes called Squanto, who was the only
member living of the Patuxet tribe that formerly dwelt at
Plymouth. He had been carried to England by Hunt and
found a home for three years with Gorges, and afterwards
with the “ Worshipful John Slaney,” a London merchant and
treasurer of the Newfoundland Company. Tisquantum was
next sent to Newfoundland, whence Captain Dermer took
him back to England, and then brought him back on his
famous voyage of 1619-20, when the two visited Plymouth.
Tisquantum on reaching his former home found himself
alone in the world; for in 1617-18 a great plague had swept
from the Kennebec to Narraganset Bay, cutting off ninety-five
per cent of the natives, and totally annihilating the tribe at
Patuxet. Hence it was that the Pilgrims found the land deso-
late, yet bearing marks of cultivation. Six months before
the landing of the Pilgrims Tisquantum and Samoset had
accompanied Dermer to Plymouth, and he had pronounced
it the very place for a settlement. The captain had also gone
inland to Middleborough, where he had a friendly interview
with Massasoit and his brother, but found the people so hos-
tile from recollection of Hunt’s wickedness that they would
have slain him save for the earnest appeals of Tisquantum.
The latter, who could speak English better than Samoset, and
had acquired more English habits, was a permanent and most
welcome addition to the Colony. Three other natives also
came, bringing a few skins to trade, and some fresh-dried
herring. The news they brought, however, rendered petty1621.]	MASSASOFTS FIRST COMING.	123
trading a thing to be set aside; for Massasoit, the grand-
sachem of the confederated tribes of Pokanoket, was close
at hand with his warriors, including his brother and other
counsellors.
The excitement was great, for the coming interview was
full of good or evil. If friendly relations could not be estab-
lished with the potentate of Pokanoket, the Colony would be
in great and continued danger; but if everything should be
amicable, the benefits would be incalculable, for with Massa-
soit as an ally, peace would be well assured with all the
tribes, from Narraganset Bay to the end of Cape Cod. The
fierce Nausets could be made friendly; an opening be found
for a mutually beneficial traffic, and a way prepared for the
introduction of civilization and Christianity among the scat-
tered tribes. The unexpected opportunity called for conduct
alike resolute, dignified, and conciliatory; but concern soon
yielded to hope and curiosity as the appearance of the Indian
monarch was awaited.
Massasoit in about an hour appeared on Watson's Hill
with a train of sixty men. The Colonists were not willing
that their governor should venture among the savages, and
the latter very naturally hesitated about letting their chief
visit the armed village. Tisquantum at length brought from
the grand-sachem a request for a messenger to come over
and confer with him. The mission required skill and bravery,
for there was yet no security against bad faith on the part of
the natives, who might be playing a far deeper game than the
assailants at Eastham. But Edward Winslow at once set out
for the savage camp, wearing his armor and side-arms. His
comrades must have anxiously watched as he walked down
the slope to the ford and then advanced boldly up the oppo-
site hill and disappeared in the crowd of Indians. It was
several hours before they saw him again.
On being conducted to Massasoit, Winslow presented him
with a pair of knives and a chain of copper work with a jewel
attached; and to Quadequina, the ruler’s brother, he gave a
knife, an earring, a pot of strong waters, a good quantity of124
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
biscuit, and some butter. These presents (probably selected
by the advice of Samoset and Tisquantum) were gladly
accepted. The king ate and drank, and gave the rest of the
provision to his followers. He then examined Winslow’s
sword and armor with much curiosity, expressing a desire to
buy them.
Winslow made a speech, saying that King James saluted
the Indian ruler with peace and love, accepting him as a
friend and ally, and that the governor desired to see him,
that he might “ confirm a peace with him,” establish neigh-
borly relations, and open a trade for mutual benefit. The
interpreters did not succeed very well; but Massasoit gathered
the substance, and was much pleased. Leaving Winslow as
a hostage with his brother, and taking a guard of honor of
some twenty warriors without their bows and arrows, the
chief then started for the village. When the watchful Col-
onists saw him coming, Captain Standish and Master Allerton,
with six musketeers, repaired to the passage over Town
Brook. As he crossed, the Pilgrim guard saluted him, and
the two leaders took their places, one at each side, and con-
ducted him ceremoniously to The Street, where, in a house
not yet quite finished, there had been placed a green rug and
some cushions for him. Governor Carver, wisely assuming
some little state, came at once with a small body-guard of mus-
keteers, attended by drum and trumpet. After grave obeis-
ances, the governor kissed the chiefs hand, and was kissed in
return. They then joined in some strong drink, of which
Massasoit “ drunk a great draught, that made him sweat all
the while after; ” he also ate of meat offered him, and gave
to his men what remained. The following treaty was then
concluded between the two rulers (it is in the words of
Bradford) : —
1.	That neither he nor any of his should injure or do hurt to any
of our people.
2.	And if any of his did hurt to any of ours, he should send the
offender, that we might punish him.TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.
125
1621.]
3.	That if any of our tools were taken away, when our people
were at work, he should cause them to be restored; and if ours did
any harm to any of his, we would do the like to them.
4.	If any did unjustly war against him, we would aid him ; if any
did war against us, he should aid us.
5.	He should send to his neighbor confederates to certify them of
this, that they might not wrong us, but might be likewise comprised
in the conditions of peace.
6.	That when their men came to us, they should leave their bows
and arrows behind them, as we should do our pieces when we came
to them.
Lastly, that doing thus, King James would esteem of him as his
friend and ally.
By this negotiation our little Colony was perfecting itself
as an independent government, with only a general allegiance
to the British king. Making foreign treaties and alliances
defensive and offensive is certainly a high assumption of sov-
ereign powers; nor does the formal use of King James’s name,
without his permission or knowledge, much modify the action.
The spirit of independence was germinating, although a cen-
tury and a half of training was still necessary to mature it.
This treaty was made in all sincerity by the parties, who evi-
dently meant and mutually understood its spirit to extend
vastly beyond the bare letter. Voltaire says of William
Penn’s treaty: “ It was the only one ever concluded between
savages and Christians that was not ratified with an oath, and
the only one that was never broken ! ” Yet here was such a
treaty, made long before Penn’s birth, and it was ratified by
no oath, nor was it broken during the lifetime of any of the
contracting parties. Massasoit ruled some forty years after
this event, outliving Carver, Bradford, Winslow, Brewster,
Standish, and Allerton; yet he had been many years in his
grave before this compact was violated by his younger son.
As the provisions of this agreement were interpreted, the
chief was well pleased, and they were applauded by his fol-
lowers. This business ended, some little courtesies were
extended. Massasoit, who differed little in his apparel from126
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l62I.
his attendants, was distinguished by a great necklace of white
bone beads, on which, behind, hung a little bag of tobacco;
from this he occasionally smoked (“ drank,” the whites called
it), and gave to his hosts for their pipes. He also carried in
his bosom a long knife, hung by a cord. His face was
painted a dull red, while his head was oiled, and he looked
greasy. He was a stout man, in the prime of life, with grave
manners and few words, but was especially pleased with the
Colonists’ trumpet, which some of his followers made efforts
to sound. Still, he had not forgotten the experience of his
people with former English and French visitors, and seemed
not entirely free from fear throughout the interview. His
followers all had painted faces, some black, some red, some
yellow or white, frequently laid on in crosses or curious
figures; some were clad in the skins of wild animals, and
others naked; all were strong and tall.
The governor at length escorted Massasoit to the brook,
where they embraced and took a courteous farewell. The
Pilgrims, however, retained seven of his men as hostages for
Winslow’s safe return. Soon Quadequina, the king’s brother,
came across the rivulet with a large following, Winslow re-
maining as security for him also. This chieftain was a fine-
looking, tall young man, of much modesty, who received the
hospitalities of the place very kindly; he was, however, quite
fearful of the muskets, which at his request were laid away.
At his departure two of his men wished to remain over night;
but it was not thought best to permit it. Winslow was then
released, as also were the native hostages. Samoset and
Tisquantum spent the night with their white * friends, who
kept a sharp watch, as Massasoit’s men, with their families,
were encamped in the woods half a mile away; This precau-
tion was wise, though the Indians were doubtless thoroughly
friendly. Indeed, they already had a plan for coming in a
few days to plant corn south of the Brook, by Watson’s Hill,
and spend the summer by the side of their new friends.
The next morning several natives came to the village, evi-
dently hoping for further good cheer, and brought word that1621.3 PUBLIC BUSINESS. —PILGRIM AUTHORITIES.
127
Massasoit would like a call from some of the settlers. The
good faith of the savages had not yet been so far tested as to
relieve such a visit from all sense of danger; but this element
was probably an attraction to Standish and Allerton, who at
once went. The chief welcomed them, giving them a few
ground-nuts and some tobacco. On their return the king’s
kettle was sent for by the whites, and was returned full of peas,
— a present which gave much satisfaction. It soon became
evident that besides Massasoit’s natural kindness, fear of the
Narragansets, his powerful and bitter enemies, was a strong
inducement to him to make a close alliance with the settlers,
whose terrible firearms would add much strength to his
scanty resources.
It was now Friday, April 2d, another fair day. Samoset and
Tisquantum were still guests of the Colony. In the after-
noon the latter went to Eel River, apparently, and by tread-
ing in the mud, caught, with his hands alone, as many fat,
sweet eels as he could bring back to his entertainers. The
settlers this day resumed the public business that had been
four times broken off. There was no further interruption.
Military orders were adopted, and various civil laws and ordi-
nances established,—which latter fact the historians have
very generally overlooked. This was March 23 (o. S.), and
two days before Carver’s term as governor would expire by
limitation; he was therefore re-elected for the coming year.
Here ends Bradford’s journal as given in Mourt’s Relation.
It is indeed invaluable, and the student will close it with the
deepest regret that it could not have been long continued.
Appended to it, however, are four narratives and a letter, all
by Edward Winslow, which give many of the more important
events of the remainder of the year; and Bradford’s formal
history has much additional information. Bradford and
Winslow are the only authorities as to the transactions of this
year; yet many historians neglect their writings, and by rely-
ing on Morton, Hubbard, Baylies, Bancroft, the second Free-
man, and so on, are led into many errors of detail, and the128
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
setting forth of an amount of false history that is amazing,
when the importance of the matter and the accessibility of
the evidence are considered.
The reader will regret to part company with Samoset, who
is mentioned no more in Plymouth history after Carver’s re-
election. He returned soon to his own tribe at the present
Bristol, Me.; but a warm-hearted, hospitable people like the
Pilgrims would not be likely to lose sight of one who had
proved such a benefactor, while a chief in no way diffident,
and so fond of the accessories of civilization, would be pretty
sure to continue an acquaintance that must have proved of no
small benefit and honor to him. It is probable that he often
visited his white friends, but that they found no occasion to
formally mention the fact.
The next Sunday, April 4th, at the service in the common-
house it is not to be supposed that Elder Brewster failed to
lengthily “ improve ” the occurrences of the last week. Their
importance was not to be estimated. The Colonists had
secured in Tisquantum an invaluable associate; they had
gained a vast amount of knowledge as to their surroundings
and possibilities; they had changed their condition of con-
stant alarm to one of no small degree of strength and quiet;
and they began to see a way by which, slow though it must
be, the light of Christianity could be shed upon the darkened
minds of their neighbors. Secular and religious feelings
combined to make the day one of grateful praise and joyful
thanksgiving.CHAPTER X.
THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ENGLAND.
HE history of the New England Indians previous to the
seventeenth century is absolutely unknown. They had
no relics and memorials, no traditions and legendary songs.
With the possible exception of the Dighton Rock, of which
they knew not the story, all their previous generations had
died and made no sign. Even the intelligent Massasoit knew
nothing of his immediate predecessors.1
These savages invariably had tawny, but not; always un-
pleasing complexions, straight black hair,2 prominent cheek-
bones, and bright but sunken black eyes. Further than this,
there was no uniformity; in stature, shape, erectness, energy,
power of endurance, and character of countenance, there
was no general rule. Some were brave to a fault, cour-
teous, tractable, genial, chaste; others were the contrary.
All were fierce in battle, revengeful, and cruel to captured
enemies. They rarely possessed sentiments of honor and
chivalry, but, as their ardent friend Gookin records, were
generally “ much addicted to lying and speaking untruth.”
1	The ancients, nevertheless, possessed some knowledge of the existence
of America; for the Indians mentioned by Pliny and Pomponius Mela as
having been cast on the shore of Northern Europe and sent to Metellus Celer,
proconsul of Gaul, were undoubtedly American Indians, and not Asiatic. —
Anon.
2	They “ have scarcely any beard, and tear it out as fast as it grows.” —
Champlain.
9130
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620.
Their ideas of war were surprises, pillage, and cruelty to the
vanquished.1
Respect for the chastity of female prisoners was the gen-
eral, perhaps universal, rule among them. But the female sex
was held in great contempt; on their women was put the
whole physical labor of ordinary life. When the hunter
brought home a deer, his wife had to skin and dress it;
while her master sat in the shade smoking his pipe, the weary
woman, who had labored the whole day in the corn-field,
perhaps with an infant on her back, was compelled to prepare
the meal and then to sit aside while her husband at his leisure
devoured the food, leaving for her only what he did not want,
if any such there was.
The women varied as widely as the men in physical and
moral qualities; divorce was easy and common, concubinage
often practised, and some women followed lewdness as an
occupation; but this was held discreditable.
The aged and sick were generally cared for. These
Indians, considering their lack of tools, were remarkably
ingenious and skilful. They kept time by the moon and
seasons; they were good weather-prophets and rude ob-
servers of the stars, even calling the north star mosk, which
meant “ bear.” Their religion was gross superstition, and con-
sisted largely in slavish submission to their powahs (powows)
or priests. They worshipped many gods, of whom the chief
was Kiehtan (supposed to mean old man), the original
creator and dispenser of good here and hereafter. Abamacho,
the chief evil spirit, was much prayed to for the cure of sick-
ness, the powahs pretending to have ready access to him, —
if suitable offerings were furnished them.
In 1620, by constant and cruel warfare, aided by terrible
1 Given to treachery. —M. Pring on Plymouth Indians, 1603.
They are great thieves. — Champlain.
All Indians are extremely treacherous. — Plym. Records, Roger Williams,
x. 442.
They [the Pokanokets] were wont to be the most cruel and treacherous people
in all these parts, even like lions; but to us they have been like lambs. — R. Cush-
man (Chron. Pil., p. 258).16—.]	THE INDIAN TRIBES AND THEIR STATUS.	131
plagues, the Indian tribes had become mostly small, and were
still dwindling. Their decay began years before the advent
of the white settlers, and would have continued even if they
had been left to themselves.
At that time Maine contained several tribes, of which the
Abenakis1 were the principal. This name was probably
generic. Along the coast was a fierce people called Tarran-
tines, who used to make bloody forays on their weaker
brethren, even beyond Boston. Central Massachusetts con-
tained a thousand Nipmucks, in disconnected families or
groups, having nothing in common. At Springfield and
Hadley were two small kindred tribes ; but the rest of western
Massachusetts, Vermont, and northern New Hampshire, were
all vacant. On the lower Connecticut and westward along
the Sound swarmed so many small, detached tribes that
western Connecticut was the most densely populated region
north of Mexico.
The tribes last mentioned had all been reduced to vassalage
by the Mohawks,2 who levied tribute annually Neglect to
pay was punished by ravaging the territory of the delinquents,
taking them away as slaves, or putting them to death. The
fierce Mohawks were sometimes known to pursue their victims
into the English cabins and to slay them there. Yet they
would not force a white man’s door if bolted against them,
nor did they ever molest the settlers. The solitary, unarmed
Colonist often met predatory Mohawks in the woods, but was
invariably treated with respect. Even in their merciless on-
slaughts on the Massachusetts Indians, Mohawks usually
spared the convert, or “ praying” Indian, as being a ward of
the whites.
From the Saco to the Connecticut,3 and extending not
more than thirty or forty miles from the seaboard, was the
territory of the Five Confederacies. These were composed
1	Abanakee: from wabanung, “ the east,” or “ place of light; ” and akeey
land.
2	Roger Williams says from moho, “to eat” (/. <?., cannibals?).
3	Saco: sauk or sagooky “ pouring forth.” Connecticut: quinniticuty “ the
endless tidal river.”132
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[16—.
of several tribes with well-defined limits, each being under a
sachem, whose powers were great but generally mildly exe-
cuted. The tribes forming a confederacy had a grand-sachem,
or “ king,” as the early settlers sometimes called him. The
powers of this federal chief seem to have depended entirely
on his strength and energy. Massasoit’s were slight; those of
Sassacus, at one time, large.1
The Pequod2 nation was the strongest confederacy; it cov-
ered the eastern half of Connecticut, and extended some five
miles into Rhode Island. The Pequod tribe proper occupied
New London, Groton, Mystic,3 Stonington, and the adjoining
part of Westerly. The grand-sachem, Sassacus, was a bold,
grasping chief, who had under him twenty-six tribes, includ-
ing some on Long Island and a part of the Nipmucks. His
despotic rule was odious, and the cruelty of his people caused
them to be greatly hated. The Pequods were the only New
England Indians who put their prisoners to death with pro-
tracted tortures. Yet they were in some respects unusually
enterprising. They, with their bitter enemies, the Narragan-
sets, were the only nations that used wampum, or .money
made of shell-beads; with such a representative of value
they were able to carry on traffic to advantage and to reach
a higher prosperity than the other nations. The Dutch
traders to the Hudson had found them out, —to their mutual
advantage. A large tribe of this nation on the west was the
Mohegan; its sachem was Uncas, who though by birth and
marriage one of the ruling family of the Pequods, was led by
their tyranny to rebel, about 1634, and secure his indepen-
dence. He became from the first a friend of the whites, and
continued through life to be their ally, though often a trouble-
some one.
The Narraganset4 nation extended from the Pequods to
1	In 1682, on a question as to Hog Island (off Bristol, R. I.), the venerable
John Alden testified that it was always Pokanoket property; in proof of which he
cited the fact that anciently Massasoit had “ royalties ” of all deer killed on it.
2	Pequttog orpaquatauog, the “destroyers.”
8 Missi, “great,” and tuk or ittuk, “stream.”
4 Probably from naiaganset, “ at the point.”16—.] THE NARRAGANSETS. —THE PAWTUCKET TRIBES. 133
Narraganset Bay, and included the small islands; it also made
a claim to the large island, then called Aquiday; 1 but Massa-
soit disputed their title. The Narragansets comprised several
tribes, including.those on Block Island. Their grand-sachem
was Canonicus, who served during the minority of his nephew,
Miantonomo, and afterward had a joint rule with him. These
chiefs are credited with making to Roger Williams a princely
gift of territory at Providence; but it appears that Williams
had a life lease only, the chiefs retaining the title, and that he
paid the full cash value for all he received. Still, they had a
great regard for the brave preacher, and showed it by patiently
sitting out all his knotty monthly sermons, although opposing
his missionary work among their people.2
This nation was so favored by traffic, climate, soil, and fish-
eries that life was generally easy and prosperous. Still, they
were only less ferocious and aggressive than the Pequods, and
waged with the latter many bloody wars. The great plague
of 1617-18 had spared the Pequods and Narragansets; but
wars and ignorance of the treatment of disease were fast thin-
ning their population. The nations to the east were only
saved from subjugation and slavery by the hostility of these
rivals, neither of which dared detach warriors for distant
operations, lest its watchful foe should ravage the home-
territory thus left unguarded. These two great nations are
reputed to each have had, when strongest, from four thousand
to five thousand fighting men.
The Pawtucket3 confederacy was the northeasternmost
of the five Indian States. Its chief sachem was Passacona-
way, head of the Wamesits. The principal tribes of this
nation, with the modern names of their central location,
were: the Wamesits at Lowell, Naumkeags at Salem, Aga-
wams at Ipswich, Penacooks from Lowell to Concord, N. H.,
Piscatawrays at Portsmouth and Dover, and the Accomintas
1	Aquidnec, now Newport, R. I.
2	In 1870 the Narragansets lived mostly in Charlestown, R. I., where they
owned one seventh of the territory. There were about a hundred, but only one
of pure Indian descent.
3	Patucket, “ the falls.”r34
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[16-.
(Sacos?) in southwestern Maine. Ten years before 1620 this
nation had numbered nearly twenty thousand, of whom
three thousand were warriors. Every spring all the tribes
joined in a visit to their chief-sachem. The beautiful region
of Wamesit (eastern Lowell, now known as Belvidere), about
the confluence of the Concord and Merrimack, gave them a
noble camping-ground, while the long series of falls and rapids
afforded most attractive fishing, and hosts of natives here
caught and cured their year’s supply. The reunion festivities
and fishing continued some three weeks, and then great squad-
rons of canoes conveyed the people to their widely scattered
homes. These gatherings are supposed to have drawn to-
gether as many as twelve thousand persons. Around this
riparian place of assemblage the stone implements and the
fragmentary skeletons of the natives are still not unseldom
brought to light.
Early in the century the Tarrantines had made a foray, and
a terrible slaughter of the unprepared Pawtuckets resulted.
Their chief sachem, or bathsheba, being among the slain, a
dispute arose as to the succession, entailing a civil war, with
an immense additional loss of life.1 Passaconaway, formerly
a priest, and then sachem of the Wamesits, won the position
by his valor and retained it with a strong hand, joined to a not
unintelligent administration. In 1646 the apostle Eliot began
to visit him, converting many of his subjects and making the
chief a life-long friend of the whites, as also was his son and
successor, the amiable Wanalancet, “ the last of the Indian
kings.” The plague of 1616-17-18 completed the ruin of
this nation. The nature of the disease is doubtful. It began
near Saco and swept down to Narraganset Bay, but not
beyond. Richard Vines, a physician,2 passed the winter of
1616-17 among the victims of the plague; he and his men
even slept in the cabins of the sick, but not a white man was
1	At its height 1615. — Gorges.
2	Vines was Gorges* agent. He stayed at Maine until 1645, when his royal-
ism led him to retire to Barbadoes, where he practised until his death in 1648.
He was a worthy man, and ever a friend to New England. His removal indi-
cates a popular hostility to the King’s cause.16—-]
THE PLAGUE. —THE MASSACHUSETTS.
135
affected. The skin of the victims was of a deep yellow, both
before and after death; still, it seems the disease was not
yellow fever, and it evidently was not that terrible scourge of
the natives, the small-pox. The living abandoned the attempt
to bury the dead; and long afterwards, white explorers de-
scribed the country with its bleaching skeletons, as a “ modern
Golgotha.” The Pawtuckets were on the verge of extinction.
At the landing of the Pilgrims they were slightly improving
in condition, but never again became a people of importance.
(The Penacooks were left in the best condition of the tribes
of this nation by these various disasters. After Philip’s War
they acted with the Maine Indians in depredations on the
whites. In 1690 they could muster ninety men; but in 1726
their effective force was only five.)
The Massachusetts1 confederacy adjoined the Pawtucket
on the south, and was friendly with it; these nations had
alike suffered from Tarrantine, Narraganset, and Mohawk
attacks. The great pestilence had been highly destructive to
the Massachusetts, reducing their warriors from three thou-
sand to not much above a hundred, — which left the nation
so weak that it nominally transferred its federal allegiance to
Massasoit, chief sachem of the Pokanokets. It is difficult to
ascertain what authority Massasoit ever exercised over it, or
what duty it observed towards him beyond acknowledging
him as its sovereign. This nation consisted chiefly of the
Massachusetts around Boston, the Nashuas around Lancaster
and Groton, the Nashobas2 at Littleton, the Nonantums at
Newton, the Punkapoags of Canton and Stoughton, and the
Neponsets at Quincy, Weymouth, and thence southward.
Some of the Nipmucks were also included, and some indefi-
nite bodies that ranged as far south as Pembroke and Bridge-
water (they were probably Neponsets).3
1 From massa, “great,” and adchn, “mountains,” — “big hills.” “Blue
hills.” — Roger Williams.
2	Neshoba, “ a gray wolf.”
8 An important part of Plymouth territory was bought of Chickatabut, the
Neponset sachem ; and this portion went so far south as to include Bridgewater
and part of Taunton, from which latter its boundary ran to the northeast corner
of Rhode Island.136	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[16—.
The Pokanoket1 confederacy filled the space between the
Massachusetts and the Narragansets. Massasoit’s official
home was at Sowams, now the site of Warren, on Narragan-
set Bay. Before the plague he had an alliance with the
Massachusetts and Pawtuckets, which gave a joint security
against the Narragansets, who were much dreaded by all;
but in 1620 the Pokanoket army of three thousand had fallen
to not much above three hundred, and his own Wampanoag
tribe had but sixty warriors left. It has been seen that the
Pequod hostility diverted the attention of the Narragansets
from Massasoit, and that in addition to this uncertain safe-
guard he had taken the earliest opportunity to make an alli-
ance, defensive and offensive, with the Pilgrims.2
The Pokanoket nation was composed mainly of the Wam-
panoags around Bristol County^ Rhode Island, the Pocassets
at Rehoboth, Swansea, and Tiverton, the Saconets (Saw-co-
nets) at Little Compton, the Namaskets at Middleborough,
the Agawaywams at Wareham, the Manomets at Sandwich,
the Sakatuckets (vS#ze/-ka-tuck-ets) 3 at Mashpee, the Matta-
kees at Barnstable, the Nobsquassets at Yarmouth, the Mona-
moys at Chatham, and the Nausets at Eastham. The islands
to the south were also all included. The Patuxet (Paw-
tux-et) tribe at Plymouth, which disappeared in the time of
the great plague, had been a member of this nation. The
devastation wrought by the disease in this region was horri-
ble, yet the Cape Indians were not much affected, while those
on the islands escaped altogether; and strange to say, the
Namaskets (Middleborough), who were in the centre of the
path followed by the pestilence, were also spared, the deluge
of death dividing at that point and depopulating the country
on each side of them. The Nausets (who attacked the Pilgrim
explorers at “ First Encounter ”) were credited with a hundred
warriors.4
1	Poquanock, “ cleared land.” (?)
2	Robert Cushman, 1621, calls them “ dejected,” and “ as a people affrighted.”
3	Sau-ke-tuk, “ at the mouth of a tidal stream.”
4	The northernmost Nausets were sometimes called Pamets ; but there is no
indication of any separate tribe.i6i8-2i.]
THE INDIAN POPULATION.
137
The size of these various nations and tribes is a matter of
uncertainty. The total Indian population of New England
after the plague, is set by some at twenty-five thousand, and
by others so high as a hundred thousand. It probably was
rather under than over the average of those numbers; forty
thousand will not be a very unsafe supposition.
Statistical science was unknown in the days of the Pilgrim
Fathers. Estimates of the population of London differed
widely, and the population of England was altogether un-
known. Exactness in numbers seems not to have been
appreciated. For example, Bradford often speaks of “ eight
or ten men/’ “ four or five men,” and so on, where he might
more easily state the number precisely; thus, on the ninety-
first page of his History, thirteenth line, he says “ six or seven
sound persons,” while, as appears in the twenty-fourth line, he
means exactly seven. He was as accurate as most historians
of his generations, and merely shared the prevailing vague-
ness and neglect of statistical statements.CHAPTER XI.
EARLY EXPLORERS OF NEW ENGLAND.
IT is probable that the Norsemen visited the site of Plym-
outh, their sagas seeming to narrate the following adven-
tures: In the year 986 Bjorne, while near Iceland, was blown
southwesterly by a storm and saw Labrador.1 He returned
safely, and in 1000 Leif and Eric not only followed his route,
but explored the coast of New England, which they called
Vineland, from the profusion of wild grape-vines.
In 1003 Thorwald, brother of Leif, visited the region and
spent the winter, where he found the shortest day nine hours
long; this, of course, with his rude means of measuring time,
was only an approximation, but it indicates his winter quar-
ters as not far from latitude 410 to 420. From incidental
allusions it may be inferred that the place was in Buzzard's
or Narraganset Bay. The next spring, sailing for home, he
coasted along an extended promontory, the description of
which answers to that of Cape Cod, and within it found a
great bay; upon the western side of this bay he came to a
fine headland, which drew from Thorwald the exclamation:
“ This is a beautiful spot, and here I should like to fix my
dwelling." Shortly after, being mortally wounded by natives
(Skrcellinger),2 he gave the following directions: “ Let me
1 The compass was not practically known in Europe till Marco Polo, Vene-
tian traveller (1260), or Flavio Gioja, of Amalfi, a Neapolitan mariner, who sus-
pended the needle, which had previously been floated in a straw or a little split
stick, circ. 1302 (?). The Swedes are supposed to have known the compass in
some form about 1250 ; its variation remarked by Columbus 1492, and Sebastian
Cabot 1540. The compass-box and hanging compass invented 1608 by William
Barlowe, an English clergyman and natural-philosopher.
2 From adjective skral, “ slim,” “ lean,” and substantive Skrala, “ a peeling,”
— “ dried-up, shrivelled thing,” or lean, spare man.
t1007-1347-] THORFIN AND LATER NORSEMEN.
139
be buried on the beautiful headland where I wished to fix my
dwelling! Put a cross at my head and one at my feet, and
let the place be hereafter called Krossaness.”
The Gurnet head, which, fortress-crested and crowned with
two lighthouses, stands on the north side of the entrance to
Plymouth Harbor, answers so well to the description of Thor- *
wald’s burial-place that the loyal descendant from Plymouth
stock feels strongly that here was that spot where the brave
captain was laid to rest with Christian rites, and his grave
marked with the symbol of this faith. The now nearly tree-
less Gurnet with its scarped sides comprises twenty-seven '
acres of excellent land, which recently as 1620 was finely
wooded.1
In 1007 Thorfin Karlsefne, with his wife Gudrid and a hun-
dred and sixty men, came with three vessels to Vineland and
remained three years. During this time, at “ Straumfjord ”
(on Buzzard’s Bay?), a son was born to him who received -
the name of Snorre, and was the first white child born on the
American continent, and an ancestor of Thorwaldsen. Frey- 1
dis came in ion, and in 1121 Bishop Eric made a voyage
from Greenland to Vineland. The last Norse expedition was
in 1347, when came the Black Plague, which, with home cares
and perils, prevented any more exploring expeditions. The
Welsh claim that Prince Madoc discovered New England •
in 1170.2
1	See pp. 96, 97, and 98..
2	Gudrid, Thorfin’s widow, made a pilgrimage to Rome, leaving accounts of
and, as is supposed, a map of “ Vinland ” in the Vatican. This map was studied v
by the Pinzons.
“ Adam of Bremen ” (died 1076) was a canon and historian. At the end of his
magnum opus, a manuscript-book, entitled “ On the Propagation of the Christian
Religion in the North of Europe/’ which was made public in 1073, an extra *
geographical treatise “ On the Position of Denmark and other Regions beyond
Denmark,” Adam says: “ Besides these there is still another Region which has
been visited by many, lying in that Ocean [the Atlantic], and which is called
Vinland, because Vines grow there spontaneously, producing very good Wine;
Corn likewise springs up there without being sown; ” after describing which the
canon adds: “ This we know, not by fabulous Conjectures, but from positive ^
Statements of the Danes.”
The Sagas concerning North America are in the “Codex Flatcensis,” a man- ‘
uscript skin-book, finished in 1387, and preserved in Copenhagen. It was140
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1347-16—.
Printing was then unknown; even the simplest literary
knowledge was rare, and the means of preserving manuscripts
very poor. Soon the story of far-away Vineland became
vague and broken; then it passed into the form of Sagas, and
before many generations was regarded as a myth. At the
birth of Columbus the European world was largely as though
Vindand had never been visited, and Thorwald had been
buried in the fabled Atlantis.
Vigilant has been the search for relics of these visitors.
So early as 1680 much interest was excited by a boulder at
the margin of Taunton River, where now is Berkley; but the
territory then pertaining to Dighton, the relic gained celebrity
as “ The Dighton Rock.” On one side of it are cut charac-
ters or figures, which were at length attributed to Norsemen.
Casts of the rock were sent to Danish antiquaries, together
with rival and contradictory copies of the inscription, and
much interest was excited. Strange to say, it required more
than a century and a half to obtain a conclusive decision
against the Norse theory.1 The history of the rock is now
completely in the dark, but the inscriptions may be by some
prehistoric tribe coeval with the “ mound-builders.” 2 On the
reprinted at Christiania, 1860-8, with the title Flateyarbok. Torfaeus, an Icelan-
dic historian, called modern attention to those Sagas in 1705.
The Landnamabok (a sort of Norse “Domesday Book”) and the Eyrbygga
Sagas give elaborate accounts of Are Marson (anno 983), Bjorne Asbrandson
(anno 999), and Gudleif Gudlaugson, and their visits to “ Irland-it-Mikla,”
translated “ Great Ireland,” and supposed to be the middle Atlantic coast.
These early-comers mistook the Indian language for Irish, — hence the
name.
1	Those favoring the “ Norse theory ” claim a portion of the inscription to
consist of Roman letters, and ideographs as follows —
.....ORFIN CXXXI N [Pi£™’] M,” (NAM)
14 Picture, "l C >>
L Woman and Child J V'1
which they interpret: “Thorfin’s (ExpCB0a^of) 151 (men) took (this land). (Here
was born) Snorre.”
[The Norse reckoned 12 decades to the hundred; hence the number.]
This agrees substantially with the relevant Saga account of Thorfin, which
gives the number of his people as 151. — “Nam” is from the Norse verb
meaning “to take.”
2	The rock is of a sandstone belonging to the Upper Silurian, and suffers by
weathering. Elisha Slade thinks the inscription must have been cut with me-
tallic tools and by a person of skill.1112-16—.]	THE ARMORED SKELETON.	141
Maine coast is a similar rock, bearing upon its side eighteen
mysterious characters, and having on its top three holes
about a foot apart, as if to receive the feet of a tripod.
Archaeologists hope to identify this and some like rock-
work as Runic.
For a long time the curious stone tower in the heart of New-
port, R. I., was believed to be a Norse edifice; but with great
reluctance antiquaries have come to the conclusion that the
tower was a windmill, built in 1676-7 by Governor Benedict
Arnold, and was by him copied quite closely from a mill
near his English birthplace.1 In 1832, at Troy, Mass, (now
Fall River), was exhumed an ancient skeleton; “it had on a
brass breastplate and a belt made of brass tubes, while by
its side were several brazen arrows. Some imagine these the
remains of one of the chieftains who followed Thorwald or
Thorfin; while the iconoclasts declare it to be the skeleton
of an Indian who had obtained some sheet brass from trading-
vessels. Pring, in 1603, mentions savages at Plymouth who
wore on their breasts “ plates of brasse a foot long and half
a foot broad; ” and the Pilgrims at Nauset (1620) were at-
tacked with arrows headed with brass. Still, the debatable
accoutrements’ structure was ahead of Indian art, and an
analysis by Berzelius shows their composition to be nearly
identical with old Norse armor, to which their shape also bears
close resemblance.2
For almost four hundred years after Eric’s voyage, Vine-
1	With their usual zeal, Roman Catholic historians claim it, absurdly reputing
it to be the baptistery of a Norse-Indian cathedral built by Eric Upsi, who in 1112
was made bishop of Garda, Greenland, his see including that country and Vine-
land. Verazzani spent fifteen days exploring this vicinity in 1524, and does not
mention what would then have been a still more remarkable ruin; neither do
any others, Roger Williams included; while Governor Arnold does, in 1678, be-
queath it in his will as “my stone-built Wind-mill.” (See note, Chap. XLV.)
2	Holl is a Norse word, meaning “hill,” and the fact is held by enthusiasts
as significant that on the south shore of Massachusetts are to be found six local '
geographical names with the termination “ Hole ” or “ Holl,” and this suffix does
not occur notably elsewhere on the coast. The places referred to are: Powder-
Hole, Holmes’s-Hole, Wood’s-Hole (or, recent usage, “ Holl ”), Robinson’s-Hole,
Quick’s-Hole, and Butler’s-Hole (now obsolete). Another Norse termination is
“Hop” (See “Mount Hope,” p. 165.)142
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1497-
land was once more practically unknown to Europe. At
length, in 1497, after Columbus had brought to light the West
Indies,1 but nearly a year before he had reached the conti-
nent beyond them, John Cabot, with his young son Sebastian,
in an English ship named the “ Matthew,” discovered our
mainland of America, coming upon it near Nova Scotia.2
The same year he returned, and induced that royal miser,
Henry VII., to aid in an expedition for the next year. The
senior Cabot dying before the preparations were complete,
Sebastian took command. He examined the New England
coast and doubtless passed some distance southward, taking
possession at all points in the name of the King of England.
The Cabots were therefore the rediscoverers of North America,
and Sebastian added the central portion to the British Crown.
Of his subsequent life nothing is known until 1549, when
Edward VI. appointed him Grand Pilot of England. His
death is unrecorded, and his grave unknown,3 Bancroft says
of him: “He gave England a continent, and no one knows
his burial-place.”
Little more was done by English sailors for generations,
beyond efforts to find a northwest passage to India; but
France, Spain, and Portugal were all active in attempts to
make discoveries on which to found claims to some part of
the new-found territory. Yet a hundred years after John
Cabot’s death there was not a white family in America north
of the Chesapeake.4 The coast was but slightly known, the
1	Columbus visited Iceland in 1477, sailed far enough west to see the coast
of Greenland, and probably learned all about Vinland, and farther south, as Sagas
also (it is claimed) tell of the Chesapeake, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, and Florida regions.
2	N. E Hist, and Geneal. Reg., xxxii. 381. The landfall has been frequently
ascribed to Labrador. Professor E. N. Horsford, of Cambridge, thinks it was
Cape Ann.
3	The supposed dates of his birth and death are 1477 and 1557.
4	Early writers (notably Milton, in “ Paradise Lost ”) refer in extravagant
terms to a semi-mythical New England city called Norumbega. A mere tradi-
tion has located this fur-trading post — for such it was, if it was anything — in
Maine, and on the Penobscot; but Professor Horsford thinks he has identi-
fied its site on the Charles River, near the boundaries of Waltham and Weston,
Mass., four miles above tide-water.
A dammed-up basin being drained to facilitate the construction of the Cam-1517-1602.]
EARLY FISHERMEN. — GOSNOLD.
143
climate was considered unendurable in winter by Europeans,
and the Indians had uniformly proved to be not only arrant
liars and thieves, but every way treacherous and destructive.
Yet the Newfoundland fisheries had quickly sprung up. In
1517 there were fifty vessels engaged in them, and in 1577
even three hundred and fifty; of the latter fleet a hundred
and fifty were French, a hundred Spanish, fifty Portuguese,
and fifty English. Every year these hardy adventurers con-
tinued their profitable trips.
In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold, in company with Bartholo-
mew Gilbert, went on a trading voyage in the ship “ Concord.”
May 24th the craft made the coast of Maine near Cape Ned-
dick; thence it stood southward, and next morning was
“ embayed with a mighty headland.” A day was spent on
shore traversing this headland, which, from the abundance of
fish taken along it, was named by Gosnold Cape Cod. The
southeasterly point of the Cape he called Point Care, and the
breakers near it, having alarmed one of his men, were named
Tucker’s Terror. After exploring the archipelago and find-
ing Gay Head (set down as “ Dover Cliff”), Gosnold, on June
4th, anchored off Cuttyhunk, by the western entrance to Buz-
zard’s Bay. This island, which they named Elizabeth Island,
contained a fresh-water lake two miles around, and separated
from the sea by a beach only a hundred feet broad. There
bridge Water-works, there was exposed a remarkable fortification, which is
worthy of notice whether it be Norumbega’s, or, as is more probable, the work
of primeval aborigines perhaps as early as the mound-builders. A ditch over
nine hundred feet long supplied the moat from Stony Brook. The moat itself
is about a thousand feet in circuit, and has a waste-ditch five hundred feet long
to the Charles. The enclosed ground, rounding up from the fosse to a small
plateau thirty feet above the water, forms a hillock surrounded on all sides by
low ground, except an elevated neck on the land side. Through this neck the
moat had to be dug very deep, and the earth thrown out still forms an extra-
ordinary embankment. The presence in the moat of old stumps of many-ringed
trees, and the utter absence two hundred and fifty years ago of local traditions,
either aboriginal or Colonial, as to any other origin of the remains, assure their
great antiquity.
The name “ Norumbega” seems to savor of the more northern Indian dia-
lects ; and theorizers think the place was under French authority, as that nation
through missionary zeal formed closer alliance with the Indians (particularly the
Northern tribes), and hereabouts penetrated farther inland than others.144
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1602.
was in the lake a “ rocky islet/’ which, like the main island,
was well wooded.
On this islet Gosnold built a storehouse or “ fort,” and
began trade with the natives. In twenty-four days from her
arrival the “ Concord,” ofily partially laden with a cargo of
sassafras, took all hands on board and sailed for home.
August 2d she reached England, none of her men during
their hundred and thirty days’ absence having been sick, but
nearly all returning, as Brereton, their companion, says, “ much
fatter ” for the trip. Gosnold made many valuable observa-
tions, pushing explorations as far, at least, as the site of New
Bedford, and giving the name of Hap’s Hill to an eminence
in Dartmouth. The present visitor to Cuttyhunk will find
“ Gosnold’s Pond ” still uninvaded by the sea; and while the
devastating axe has swept away the woods, he may trace in
the soil of the “ rocky islet ” some outlines of the storehouse.
It is often misrepresented that this twenty-four days’ visit
to Cuttyhunk was an attempt by Gosnold to found a colony;
and he is said to have been supported in the undertaking by
Shakspere’s friend, the Earl of Southampton. Even Archer,
the journalist of the voyage, records that Gosnold and eleven
others desired to remain; but as they could not effect a suit-
able division of the ship’s scanty provisions, and Indian hos-
tilities were imminent, they yielded to necessity and left the
island with “ many sorrowful eyes.” Brereton, his associate,
makes a like intimation. Gosnold, however, in his report to
his father, makes no mention of having had any intention of
remaining, but pleads shortness of provisions as the reason
for his hasty departure with a scanty cargo.
In fact, this ship was fitted out, not by Southampton, but
by the execrable Lord Cobham, and its purpose was simply
a contraband trading voyage. Raleigh had a patent giving
him the exclusive trade of that whole region; and when, four
weeks after the “ Concord’s ” return, the secret of her voyage
reached his ears, he brought a suit for the confiscation of her
cargo. As Gosnold and Cobham knew that they could not
obtain Raleigh’s consent to mere trading, and instead of ask-1603.]
GOSNOLD.— PRING.
145
ing it poached on his preserve, it is not to be supposed that
they would have risked life or money in planting a colony
where it was illegal for them to gather or buy even a single
cargo of sassafras!
When the “ Concord ” reached England, her provisions were
exhausted, — not a particle of biscuit or bread left, and no
drink but a little vinegar; yet her whole trip had not lasted
nineteen weeks. A surreptitious trader might have set out
with such a short supply, but not a colony going in search of
a home. Raleigh’s letter to Lord Cecil calling for the con-
fiscation of the “ Concord’s ” cargo shows clearly that she
was an illegal trader, and Gosnold merely an enterprising
interloper.1
Still, Gosnold is entitled to regard for his efforts in explor-
ing our coast and connecting it with exact information, in
place of vague surmise. Massachusetts, in 1864, did him but
justice when she incorporated the whole group of Elizabeth
Islands into a town which she named Gosnold.2
The next year (1603) some Bristol merchants, at the in-
stance of the learned Hakluyt, sent out Martin Pring with
clothing, hardware, and trinkets; but they first obtained
Raleigh’s consent. Pring had thirty men in the “ Speedwell,”
of fifty tons, and had as a consort the “ Discoverer,” of twenty-
six tons, under William Browne, with fourteen men. He
coasted along the Maine shore to Cape Neddick, and, as his
journal says, he then “ bare into that great gulfe which Cap-
taine Gosnold overshot the yeere before; ” that is, he entered
Cape Cod Bay, instead of keeping beyond it. Finding “ no
people on the north side thereof” with whom to trade, he
“ sailed and came to anchor on the south side; ” that is, in
1	This explanation of the character of Gosnold’s and Pring’s voyages is due
to Rev. B, F. De Costa, of New York city, and was fully set forth by him before
the New England Historical Genealogical Society, Nov. 7, 1877, and in the Maga-
zine of American History, December, 1882.
2	The good taste shown in the selection of this name was hardly due to the
“ General Court; ” for that body, if the persons locally interested had so peti-
tioned, would probably have been equally willing to name the town Southwest
Falmouth, or East Westport.
10146
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1603.
the south part of the same “ great gulfe,” and not, as has been
carelessly supposed, on the south side of the Cape itself.
Off the mouth of his harbor, which he named Whitson Bay,
from the mayor of Bristol, Pring found twenty fathoms of
water, and at his anchorage seven; there was a “ pleasant
hill” near by; the harbor was “winding like a snail; ” and
there was a river up which he sailed in boats. One of his
company went six miles into “ the country.” A barricade
was built on shore, where a store of sassafras was soon ob-
tained by trade. The “ Discoverer ” was quickly despatched
home, and in seven weeks from coming to anchor Pring fol-
lowed with the “ Speedwell.” Just before his departure the
natives, who had become hostile, set the woods on fire, causing
a great conflagration.
Dr. Belknap hastily concluded that the “ south side ” above
mentioned was the south side of Cape Cod, instead of Cape
Cod Bay ; and subsequent writers have followed him unques-
tioningly. But Pring says he went “ into ” the bay, and he
nowhere says that he went beyond it. Belknap decided that
Pring’s anchorage was at Edgartown, which answers none of
the* conditions, — the depth of water, the hill, the winding har-
bor, the river. Plymouth Harbor, on the contrary, satisfies
all of them. (An interesting bit of circumstantial evidence is
found in the story of Browne and Goodman [January 22-3,
1620], who discovered, just outside Plymouth, a plain six miles
long which had been burned over by the savages.) Pring did,
indeed, give the latitude of his port as 410 25' N., while the
latitude of Plymouth court-house is 410 57' N.; but latitude
was then found by the “ cross-staff,” — a rude instrument not
reliable within half a degree. The latitudes given by Champ-
lain, the most careful of navigators, are often from a quarter
to half a degree out. Such reckoning has no weight against
the evidence of the natural features and of the distinct narra-
tive. There is no room for doubt that Plymouth, not Edgar-
town, was Pring’s port.1
1 Pring called it an “ excellent haven,” and says he followed the high grounds,
“ where commonly the best havens are, which also fell out to his expectation.”
This is strong evidence for Plymouth, and against Edgartown.1605.]
DE MONTS AND CHAMPLAIN.
147
In 1605 the fifth French expedition visited this continent.
Henry IV. had granted De Monts the territory between 40°
and 46° N., called Acadia; and that officer now came over to
his grant with four vessels, taking as pilot Samuel Champlain,
a captain of the French navy, who had already explored the
St. Lawrence. At Port Royal (now Annapolis) De Monts
established, under Poutrincourt, a colony which existed until
broken up by Argali in 1613. The admiral wintered at St.
Croix, the expedition suffering great hardships until spring.
Then, having heard from the Indians of a large river, which
may have been the Merrimack, he set forth to find it. On
the 17th of July, 1605, in a barque of fifteen tons, he seems
to have examined Boston Harbor even into the mouth of the
Charles River. He called that stream 0 Riviere du Gua,”
from his own family name; but Captain John Smith was
more successful in displacing this title in behalf of English
royalty than he was with Gosnold’s practical appellation of
Cape Cod. In this cruise Cape Cod Bay was examined, and
Plymouth received a vis-
it and the name of “ Port
of the Cape St. Louis.”
Champlain’s deeply in-
teresting account of the
expedition has handed
down to us a very fair
map of Plymouth Har-
bor.1
This French enterprise
stimulated the English
to new efforts. In 1605,
Raleigh’s attainder having
vacated his rights, the
Earl of Southampton and
others despatched the “Archangel,” under Captain George
1 Champlain was on our coast the greater part of 1604-7; crossed the
Atlantic some twenty times.
See description of map in note, p. 98.
SECTION FROM CHAMPLAIN’S MAP.148
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1607.
Way mouth, to trade and explore. Waymouth followed up
one of the great rivers, supposed to be the Kennebec, and
enthusiastically recommended its valley for settlement. Se-
curing the usual home freight of fish and furs, he returned,
taking with him five natives. Waymouth has suffered much
obloquy from the report that these natives were carried away
for slaves; but he himself says he took them to England
that they might be taught as interpreters for future expedi-
tions. It is certain that Gorges took three of the number
into his family, and kept them three years; and this benevo-
lent man was wont to say that the training of these inter-
preters had alone rendered possible his future schemes of
colonization.
In 1607 Gorges and the cruel Judge Popham planted a
colony at Phillipsburg (or Sagadahoc, as is supposed), by
the mouth of the Kennebec. Two ships came, “ The Gift
of God ” and the' “ Mary and John,” bringing a hundred per-
sons. Through August they found all delightful; but when
the ships went back in December, fifty-five of the number
returned to England weary of their experiment and fearful of
the cold. The remaining colony of forty-five persons was
curiously overweighted in its attempt to maintain the aristo-
cratic distinctions which the average English mind then
thought essential. It had a president (PophanTs brother),
an admiral (Gilbert), a master of ordnance, a sergeant-major,
a secretary, a marshal, a commander of fortifications, and a
“ searcher.” These eight formed the council. The rest of
the people had no voice or vote upon any matters whatever,
either in church or state. During the winter there was one
death only, but that was the president. With spring the
ships returned from England. Admiral Gilbert learned that
a great estate had fallen to him and called for attention. His
associates were disappointed in both soil and climate, and the
rigors of a Maine winter can hardly have had attractions for
emigrants from the green slopes of southern England; so
every soul returned with Gilbert. Notwithstanding this result,
Gorges continued for more than thirty years to push explora-1609-14-]
HUDSON. — BLOK. — SMITH.
149
tion and emigration to that region; but his ambition and
liberality ever resulted in disappointment and loss.1
Meanwhile, in 1609, Henry Hudson, an English sailor in
Dutch employ, came over in his galliot the “ Half Moon,”
and explored the river which bears his name. From 1610 to
1614 Admiral Blok, in the same service, examined Long
Island Sound and the rivers emptying into it; he even pushed
his researches as far as Boston Harbor, — from which fact the
Dutch set up a claim, “ by right of discovery,” to all the ter-
ritory from the fortieth to the forty-fifth parallel, naming the
whole region “ Nieu Nederland.” The smaller district gener-
ally understood by New Netherland was not specifically so
called until 1623, when a permanent settlement was begun
there.2
In 1614 the celebrated John Smith came to the Maine coast
with a couple of vessels, on a venture made by four persons.
Soon finding that the mine of gold and copper which he had
been specially charged to investigate lay beyond terrestrial
research, and that the specified alternative of whaling would
be a “ costly conclusion,” he set his two crews (forty-nine
men and boys) at catching and curing fish, of which they
took sixty thousand within a month. He then, in an open
boat with a few men, explored the coast from the Penobscot
to Plymouth and Cape Cod; but while reconnoitring traded
thriftily, gathering in eleven hundred beaver-skins. The map
of New England which he then prepared, makes a surprising
approach to accuracy, considering how little could be posi-
tively known; and this map was used by the Pilgrims.
Smith found at least forty native villages along the coast,
and more than two hundred well-wooded islands, many of the
latter “ planted with corn, groves, mulberries, savage gardens;
1	The same spring in which Maine was deserted because too cold, the French
were colonizing at Quebec with great confidence, that place being farther south
than Paris.
2	In 1614 Blok’s ship “ Tiger” was burned with its cargo in New York Har-
bor. The following winter he built there a barque of sixteen tons, called “ The
Unrest,” and went home in her. Blok doubtless visited Plymouth, as some
Dutch navigator made a map of it at about that time. It is worthy of note that
this map, like Champlain’s, shows Clark’s and Saquish as two islands.150	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1614.
the sea-coast, as you pass, shows you corn-fields and great
SECTION FROM SMITH’S MAP.
troops of well-proportioned people.” He adds: “ I would1614-16.]	SMITH’S EXPEDITION. — BRAWNDE.	151
rather live here than anywhere.” (This was before the rav-
ages of the plague.) On this trip Smith sustained two attacks
from the Neponsets of the Cohasset region; the first seems
to have been bloodless, but the second resulted in the death
of one native. Smith gave to many points along his route
good English names which are still in use, but applied to
different places from those to which he assigned them. Only
three remain as he affixed them, and they are: Plymouth,
Charles River, and Cape Ann. This exploration is com-
memorated by a small monument lately erected at the Isles
of Shoals, once called “ Smith’s Isles,” — a name which should
have been retained.1
Loading his own ship with the furs, oil, and cod-fish col-
lected in his absence, Smith sailed for home, leaving Hunt to
get a cargo of dry fish and take it in the other ship to Spain.
In doing this Hunt went to Cape Cod Bay and there seized
twenty-seven natives for slaves, as related in connection with
the European’s grave found on Cape Cod by the Pilgrims.
Smith expressed intense indignation at this act of Hunt’s, and
might well do so, on business grounds as well as from human-
ity; for this deed proved the cause of serious disasters to
future voyagers, and put the Pilgrims in great peril at “ First
Encounter.” Smith continued through life an energetic friend
of New England colonization, though his most promising
plans brought him only disappointment. Notwithstanding a
tendency to inveracity as to his personal exploits, Smith was
a brave and noble man, whose services are worthy of honor-
able commemoration from Maine to Virginia.2
In 1616 Captain Edward Brawnde was at “ Sodquin ” and
Monhegan, in a ship of two hundred tons called the
“Nachen” (?), “ bound about Cape Cod for the discovery of
certain peril which is told by the savages to be there.” He
was under the orders of John Smith, “ Admiral of New Eng-
1	He changed Cape Cod to “ Cape James,” and called the Cape harbor
“Milford Haven.” (See Map.)
2	Smith was son of George Smith, of Willoughby, and was born 1579; died
1631.152
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1619.
land.” The “ certain peril ” was the Malabar shoals, off
Monamoy.
In 1619 the indefatigable, if visionary, Gorges sent one of
Smith’s captains, Thomas Dermer, to join one Rocroft already
on the Maine coast, and take charge of a trading and explor-
ing expedition. On arriving, Dermer found that Rocroft,
after setting ashore a part of his crew for mutiny, had aban-
doned his post and gone to Virginia. Dermer, loading his
own ship (of two hundred tons) with fish and furs, sent her
home; then with a few men, and Tisquantum as interpreter,
proceeded in an open pinnace of only five tons to re-explore
the coast from the Kennebec to Cape Cod, giving attention
to the inlets and harbors. On this trip he redeemed the two
French sailors already noticed on page 78.
Dermer accompanied Tisquantum to the latter’s home at
Patuxet (Plymouth), where, alas! the returning wanderer
found no one to welcome him. Dermer says: “ When I
arrived at my savage’s native country, finding all dead, I
travelled almost a day’s journey westward to a place called
Namasket (Middleborough), where, finding inhabitants, I de-
spatched a messenger a day’s journey west to Pokanoket,
which bordereth on the sea, whence came to see me two
kings attended with a guard of fifty armed men, who being
well satisfied with what my savage and I discoursed unto
them, and being desirous of novelty, gave me content in
whatsoever I demanded.” These two kings were, of course,
Massasoit and Quadequina, who a year and a half later grati-
fied their love of “ novelty ” in their visit to the Pilgrims.
The common people were much prejudiced against the Eng-
lish on account of an unprovoked slaughter made by a ship-
master. The French had possessed their minds with the idea
that he was English; but Dermer doubted his having been so.
The natives were bent upon killing the captain, and indeed
finally spared him only upon Tisquantum’s earnest entreaty.
After wintering in Virginia, Dermer returned to Cape Cod
for trading and observation. In July, 1620, he likened the soil
of Eastham and Brewster to the best tobacco land of Virginia,1620.]
DERMER. — GORGES.
153
while the district west of Middleborough seemed to him fit-
test for grain; he expressed a wish that English Plymouth
might have the advantages of Patuxet Plymouth; the latter
he described as having a hardy, strong soil, and recorded his
opinion in favor of making the first New England settlement
at that point, provided the number of settlers should be at
least fifty. It is not a little remarkable that within six months
the place should have been selected for the first plantation by
persons who knew nothing of his voyage, and whose number,
when fully established, was just fifty-one.
Passing around and down the Cape, Dermer, while at Mon-
amoy, after trading peacefully with the natives, was treacher-
ously attacked and captured. He paid the required ransom;
but they still refused to release him, and sought to waylay
and kill his men. Upon this, by a bold push, he captured
several of his captors, and made them pay a canoe-load of *
corn as damages. At Capawack (Martha’s Vineyard) he
also traded amicably with the natives; but either there or on
the Cape, while his men were on shore to assist him (ex,cept
one who kept the boat), the savages made a treacherous and
unprovoked attack upon him. All the men on shore were
killed, while Dermer, escaping to his boat, was there seized,
and his head would have been cut off on the cuddy, had not *
the boat-keeper repulsed the assailants with his single cutlass.
Dermer had received fourteen wounds, probably causing his
death, which occurred soon after in Virginia. He seems to
have been worthy of ranking with the best of the many able .
navigators who had explored the coast before him, and the
“ Old Colony ” should commemorate his services by bestow-
ing his name on some of her natural features.1
Gorges seemed to become more zealous from losses and
1 Dermer, as a captain under Smith, was trading and exploring on our coast
in 1615 ; in 1619 he went from New England to Virginia via Long Island Sound, v
— the first known passage of that route by English vessels. He stopped to warn
the Dutch from Manhattan, where they were staying, not as settlers, but as
temporary traders. Their reply was conciliatory. (I can but regard them as
the rightful claimants there, and as having, in common with some other nations,
very generally been the aggrieved party in their wars with the English.)154	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1620.
failures. The old Plymouth Company having died out, and
his proprietary projects failing, he secured, on Nov. 13, 1620,
the incorporation by royal charter of the “ Council for New
England.” This body received, with full powers of govern-
ment, a tract reaching from the fortieth to the forty-eighth
parallels of north latitude, and stretching from the Atlantic to
the Pacific. The area was above 1,500,000 square miles (which >
of course they did not dream of for a moment). The Pil-
grims thus became unconscious intruders on the property of
this corporation, and the latter on receiving its grant had
thereon a promising colony, planted with no cost to the
company. But that body did not, for six months after its
organization, know that there was a white settlement within
its borders, nor did the Pilgrims learn for a year after their
arrival, of the new authority over them.
The corporation would naturally be glad to permit the Col-
ony to continue its self-supporting operations, and would waive
any claim to land the settlers might obtain by purchasing of
the Indian proprietors. With its title confirmed by the lords
of the manor, Plymouth would be on a strong footing.
The Colony was already exercising the functions of a fully
developed State. It had organized a government based on
universal suffrage and equality, and under it had chosen
officers, enacted laws, organized a military department, erected
a public-edifice and a fortification, established trade with its
neighbors, and negotiated a treaty of offensive and defensive
alliance with the ruler of the surrounding country. These
operations were on a small scale, indeed, but the fact was the /
same. While a long series of official efforts had been in-
effectually made to people New England, the poor, friendless,.
diseased waifs of the “ Mayflower ” had been almost literally
cast ashore in Cape Cod Bay, and within their first half-year
had successfully established a democratic commonwealth
which lived to see England a like republic, outlasted that
parliamentary triumph over royal despotism, and will prob-
ably, still under popular rule, witness a return of the British
commonwealth as a future epoch.CHAPTER XII.
Return of the “ Mayflower.” — The First Spring in Plymouth. — Plant-
ing. — Death of Governor Carver. — Government.
FTER a wide but necessary digresssion from the affairs
of Plymouth, we return to witness the departure of the
“ Mayflower.” Notwithstanding Jones’s impatience at first, it
had been absolutely necessary that the ship should remain
until all the passengers could be housed on shore. While
the great sickness was at its height, it was not unreasonable
to fear that the company might be reduced to a handful of
invalids incapable of maintaining a foothold in the wilder-
ness. Aside from this, it was highly important that the
“ Mayflower ” should be at hand for aid and shelter in case
of any fresh disaster, until the Colonists should regain a fair
degree of strength. Soon, however, the mortality extended
to the crew, and, as with the shore party, about half the
number died.
The “ Mayflower’s ” crew have been noticed as coarse,
inhuman men. This was fearfully demonstrated in their
treatment of each other during these sufferings, the neglected
mariners dying while cursing their hard-hearted shipmates.
One bequeathed a comrade all his little possessions, on con-
dition that he should be carefully nursed while he lived.
The dying patient had two messes provided for him; but his
heir then declared that he was getting cheated by the
patient’s living so long, and refused to render further assist-
ance, saying that the man might “ choke ” before he would
do more. The boatswain also died; he was “ a proud
young man, and would often curse and scoff at the passen-156	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
gers; ” but in his weakness such of the latter as were still on
board nursed him carefully. The dying man thereupon be-
wailed his former actions, saying, “ Oh ! you, I now see, show
your love like Christians indeed one to another; but we let
one another lie and die like dogs.” The gunner, the cook,
and three quartermasters wTere also dying. Some time be-
fore this, Bradford, being very sick on shore, had a longing
for beer, and sent on board for a small can, but was refused
in uncivil terms. Afterward, Jones, becoming terrified at
the mortality in his ship, told the Governor to send on board
freely for beer when needed by the sick, though he should
exhaust it, and leave nothing but water for the voyage
home.
The “ Mayflower’s ” crew was so weak that Jones did not
dare to put to sea until health should return, nor was he
willing even then to go, unless the winter gales should be
over. At length, on the 15th of April, the good ship, after
a rest of four months, unfolded her wings, and in thirty-one
days was safe in England. It does not appear that the
“ Mayflower ” ever revisited Plymouth; but in 1629 she
came to Salem, with a company of the Leyden people for
Plymouth, and in 1630 was one of the large fleet that attended
John Winthrop, discharging her passengers at Charlestown.
Nothing is mentioned of her after that time. In 1648 a ship
named “ Mayflower ” was engaged in the slave-trade, and
the ill-informed as well as ill-disposed have sometimes sneer-
ingly alleged that this was our historic ship; but it is ascer-
tained that the slaver was a vessel of three hundred and fifty
tons, — nearly twice the size of her of happy memory. In
fact, “ Mayflower” was then a favorite name for English
ships, and Hunter has learned of at least sixteen so called,
which belonged to various ports in the time of Elizabeth and
James I.1
1 In 1588 the officials of Lynn offered the “ Mayflower ” (150 tons), to join the
fleet against the dreaded Spanish Armada. In 1657, Samuel Vassall, of London,
complained that the Government had twice impressed his ship “ Mayflower,”
which he had fitted out with sixty men “for the Straits.”1621.]
RETURN OF THE “MAYFLOWER.’
iS7
The return of the “ Mayflower ” must have been a painful
sight to the Pilgrims. She had been an ever-ready shelter in
case of disaster, and was a connecting link between them and
the rest of their race. After her departure their nearest
civilized neighbors would be the hostile but feeble French,
five hundred miles to the northward, at Nova Scotia, and the
not friendly English Conformists, five hundred miles to the.
south, at James River. Visiting these points with their
shallop was not to be thought of. For many months their
only communication could be with savages, and with those
savages would largely rest their destiny. The whole commu-
nity must have watched that departure, and wistful eyes have
gazed from Fort Hill on the lessening sail until it dropped
below the horizon.
Spring was now well established, and those able to work
were preparing to plant the crop which must support the
Colony next year. Tisquantum had taken up his residence
with the Pilgrims, and become their agricultural teacher. He
told them that Indian corn should be planted when the oak-
leaves had become as big as the ears of a mouse; this time
would soon come, and as maize would be their chief crop,
they must make ready for it. Having no draft animals, their
land had to be broken up by the heavy hoe then in use. It
may be that only the hills were dug up before planting, and
the intervening spaces left to be cultivated while the corn
was growing. The crop needed, for manure, about three
alewives in each hill. Tisquantum showed them where in
Town Brook they could best catch the fish, which, he said,
would actually crowd the brook just before planting-time.1
Soon after the sailing of the “ Mayflower ” came an un-
usually warm day for April. Governor Carver was not a
man to send his associates to duty, but rather to lead them
to it; and this day he headed the workers in the field. Their
devoted leader had exerted himself incessantly in procuring
1 In 1880 the Old Colony Memorial noticed that alewives began to run up
Town Brook April 22d, — which was about a fortnight earlier than in 1879.
Both springs were early.
1THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
158
[1621.
the outfit of the Colony, and in reducing matters to a system,
during and after the voyage. Since then, his cares had been
intense, and also his physical efforts. In the landing and
building operations; in the long sickness, when for much of
the time he had been one of Standish and Brewster’s five
associates in nursing the cabins full of sick, and performing
the arduous labors required; from the kitchen and laundry,
to the hospital and the grave, by night and by day, — he had
been one of these devoted brothers of mercy; in council he
had been laborious, and in leadership self-sacrificing and
chivalrous. He had used his fair estate for the public good,
and it was now to be seen that he had also expended his
truly noble life. He came home from the cornfield on this
day complaining of great pain in his head; he soon became
insensible, and some days later, ceased to breathe. The
settlers were overwhelmed with grief at this most unexpected
loss; but they bore their leader to Cole’s Hill with a truly
English regard for official dignity, surrounding the funeral
with some small ceremony, and firing volleys of musketry
over the unmarked grave. Before summer had come, that
sacred soil was again laid open, and the broken-hearted Kath-
arine was laid beside her husband. Almost of them might
Elder Brewster have said: “ Lovely and pleasant in their
lives, in their death they were not divided.” Of Carver’s
History no more survives than has been given. Most reluc-
tantly do we turn from the scanty page, which a few hasty
strokes of Bradford’s pen might have made so luminous.1
1 In a storm of 1735 a torrent pouring down Middle Street made a ravine in *
Cole’s Hill and washed many human remains down into the harbor. In 1809
■ a skull with especially fine teeth was exposed. In 1855 these graves were ex-
posed in laying the public conduit on Cole’s Hill. In one grave lay two skele-
tons, pronounced by surgeons male and female. The man had a particularly
noble forehead; and it was fondly surmised that here were the remains of Mr. ^
and Mrs. Carver. These found a new grave on Burial Hill; but the other relics,
with barbaric taste, were placed in the top of the stone canopy over Forefathers’^
Rock. In 1879, during some work on the southeast side of the hill, many more
bones were unearthed, and some, with questionable taste, were carried away by
the spectators in remembrance of their “renowned sires.” (These bodies were
all found buried with their feet to the east.)
In the course of the recent excavations on Cole’s Hill, some scattered bones
IBRADFORD ELECTED GOVERNOR.
159
1621.]
It is a sufficient proof of William Bradford’s standing among
his fellows that he was chosen to the vacant governorship,
although still disabled by a sickness which had threatened
his life; on account of his weakness, Isaac Allerton was
chosen as his assistant. (These two formed the “ adminis-
tration,” by successive annual election, for three years, but
consulted with the Elder and other leading men. In 1624
the plan was changed to a governor and five assistants, the
former having a double vote. This board of “ assistants,” or
“ magistrates,” as they were interchangeably termed, was
equivalent to the “ executive council ” of various modern
States. It was also a court for jury trials and the decisions
of questions; but an appeal lay from it to the whole people.
The first board is supposed to have included Allerton,
Standish, Edward Winslow, and Fuller, the last three contin-
uing in office many years. The Governor and his Council
seem to have had little if any authority, beyond carrying
out the orders of the people and the enforcement of a few
of human bodies have been found; and on Monday, as workmen were digging
out one of the post-holes in front of the house of Arad Perkins, a skull was
thrown out by the spade. The poor relic of humanity was broken in removal;
but the pieces were gathered up by Mr. Snell, of the Plymouth Rock House. It
was examined by Dr. Warren Peirce, who declared it to be the skull of an elderly ^
white person, probably a male. From the location there can be little doubt the
remains were those of one of the Pilgrims who died in the first sad winter, and
was buried on the hill. — Old Col. Memorial, Oct. 11, 1883.
“ In making improvements on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, the graves of Pilgrims
who came over in the ‘ Mayflower * have been discovered. One grave was
opened November 27 (’83), and a skeleton found in perfect order. These are
the only graves of the first settlers that have been positively identified, and a
tablet will be put up marking their position.” This stone i,s now in place (see
last section of last chapter).
It is probable that Carver was of Essex origin. His attendant, John Howland,
was from an Essex family.
In Doctors’ Commons, London, Hon. W. T. Davis found the will of Bishop
John White, dated 1621, in which he alludes to a son, not called by name, who
had left his country and church. Roger White was at Leyden, and was a brother
of Mrs. Robinson. I suspect that Mrs. Carver was a sister; for Robinson’s use
of “ brother ” in addressing Carver seems to savor of something more than mere
church fraternity ; and especially is it so with his mention of Mrs. C. as “ your
good wife, my loving sister” (Bradford, Hist. 63-64). Davis queries whether
Bishop W.’s son may not have been William White, of the “ Mayflower.” Was
not the latter also probably a near kinsman of Roger White ?160	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
detached laws that had been established, — laws which, so far
as appears, were mostly oral, though they may have been
written in those precious little books of Bradford’s which the
British troops are supposed to have purloined from the library
of the Old South, along with his other papers. The Gov-
ernor, by the way, until 1636, was also both treasurer and
secretary of state.)
The whole adult male population, in town-meeting assem-
bled, attended to all questions of public interest, generally
making a reference of each case to the Governor and Council.
In criminal matters, however, the people were sometimes
both judge and jury. The first offence committed in the
Colony occurred early in this first spring; the offender —
turbulent John Billington— refused to obey some order of the
captain, and repaid the rebuke of that officer with abuse and
threats. Standish ever had much more authority in his
hands than the Governor, and he was not one to bear the
sword in vain. Billington was promptly “ convented before
the whole company,” and adjudged to lie for a time in a
public place with his neck and heels tied together. The
bully was at once humbled, and begged for pardon; this
was granted, and the more readily from the fact that no
punishment had yet been inflicted on any one.
The second case occurred on June 28, and is of special
importance as having put an end to the ruffianly practice of
duelling. Stephen Hopkins’s two employees were Edward
Dotey (or Doten) and Edward Lister, — two young men who
seem to be more nearly described by the term “ cadet” than
the formerly generic name of “ servant.” Their surnames
indicate a Scrooby origin, and give a faint clew to Hopkins’s
early home. The fiery youths, having some dispute, pro-
ceeded, in the style of chivalry, to fight a duel, each armed,
according to old custom, with a sword in the right hand
for assault, and a dagger in the left, mainly for parrying
and making feints. Soon Dotey was wounded in the hand,
and Lister in the thigh. Honor was satisfied; but not so
with justice. Such brutality must be nipped in the bud.1621.]	DUELLING. —PLANTING.	l6l
Accordingly, the wounded men were brought before the
whole company, by which tribunal they were sentenced to
have their heads and feet tied together, and to remain so for
twenty-four hours, without food or drink. The punishment,
as painful as ignominious, was forthwith begun; but before
an hour the evident sufferings of the culprits, with their
humble appeals for pardon, earnestly seconded by good ■
Master Hopkins, procured their release. The treatment was
effectual, for duelling was never again heard of in the Old
Colony.
The planting-season was well improved. Twenty acres
were put in Indian corn, each hill having two or three ale-
wives at the bottom. If the hills were three feet apart each
way, there were 96,800 hills in all, — requiring at least forty
tons of fish. When to the labor of breaking up the land
with the hoe or mattock, and the subsequent planting, was
added that of taking the fish and carrying them up the steep
bank of Town Brook to the field, with the subsequent drop-
ping and burying them, the toil of the planters, many of them
not yet fully restored to health and vigor, may be imagined.1
The available force of the colony, when the last traces of the
great sickness disappeared, was twenty-one men and some *
six large boys. By these, the twenty acres of corn-land were
well tilled; six acres more were sown with wheat, rye, barley,
and peas, and vegetable gardens were cultivated around the
houses. Fuel had to be brought a long distance, and the
necessity for fresh provisions consumed much time in hunt-
ing and fishing. Yet as the summer passed, the settlers
grew strong and hopeful. The aid of Tisquantum is not
to be overlooked; but he must have been rather an adviser
than a laborer, and more inclined to be useful as a purveyor
than as a toiler in the field. As a result of his Indian train-
ing, he was given to falsehood and deception; but mainly so
for the purpose of impressing the natives with extravagant
ideas of the power of his English hosts, and his restraining
1 Baskets were in use : may not hand-barrows have been ? The first men-
tion of a wheelbarrow is at an inquest in 1665. (Plymouth Records, iv. 85.)
11162	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
influence over their use of it. To the Colony he was a de-
voted friend, and, according to his light, served them with
rare zeal, pointing out the best hunting and fishing grounds,
and giving much information concerning the natural produc-
tions of the region and their proper uses. He was the in-
terpreter between the two races, and the pilot on all the
early expeditions. The little faults of this child of Nature
are completely eclipsed by his great merits.CHAPTER XIII.
Winslow’s Four Narratives. — Expeditions to Sowams; Nauset; Mid-
dleborough, and Boston Harbor.
HEN summer had come, the settlers thought it desir-
able to send an embassy to Massasoit, and the Gov-
ernor detailed Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins, adding
Tisquantum as guide and interpreter. A trooper’s coat of
red cotton was trimmed with lace for a present, an ornamental
copper chain with a medal attached being added as a token,
by bringing which, Massasoit’s messengers might be known
from pretenders. The ambassadors were to make close
observations of the country.
Bradford says the expedition started on July 12th (n. S.),
which was Monday; Winslow records it as June 20th, which
was Sunday. It appears from the account that the day
actually was Tuesday, 13th. Probably Bradford’s date is
that on which the instructions were given and arrangements
made, leaving the actual start for the next morning at nine
o’clock. The first village reached was Namasket (Middle-
borough). The natives of this place had long annoyed the
Pilgrims by thronging into Plymouth for entertainment, and
this had led to the idea that Namasket must be very near.
The tourists were surprised to find that it required a weary
tramp of fifteen miles to reach it, occupying them until
three P. M. The village was at the rapids, near the present
Star Mills, or “ Lower Factory.” The inhabitants received
them with joy, and gave them the best feast their larder
would afford; it consisted of a corn-bread which the Indians
I. A visit to Massasoit.164
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l62I.
called “ maizium” 1 boiled shad-roe, and musty acorns. The
first two were highly palatable; Winslow says the visitors
partook heartily of the “ shads,” and that the natives provided
wooden spoons to eat with. After dinner, the poor Indians
complaining much of the ravages of the crows in their corn,
Winslow shot one at a distance of eighty yards, — which much
astonished the people.
By sunset the travellers reached a camp of this tribe at a
weir in the Taunton River, four to five miles beyond their
dining-place, at or near the present village of Titicut, in north-
west Middleborough. Being very cordially received, and
treated to a supper of bass, of which the natives had caught
a large amount, the Plymouth people in turn contributed
liberally from their own haversacks, trusting to Massasoit for
a new supply. There being no wigwams, they slept in the
open air. The next morning the Pilgrims followed the left
bank of the Taunton to a noted ford some three and a half
miles from the present Taunton Green. Here they removed
their nether garments and waded to the Raynham side, taking
note that they were in tide-water. They had breakfasted at
the weir, and now lunched, — two brave old Indians with their
families, the only population left by the plague, contributing
such food as they had, receiving in return the gratifying
present of a bracelet of beads.
The two renewed their journey, still attended by several
Namaskets, two of whom insisted on carrying the white men
across all the brooks. One of these men, in return for little
gifts, attached himself to Winslow, and the other, for a like
reason, adhered to Hopkins. During the second afternoon
the travellers entered the territory of the Wampanoags, the
home-tribe of Massasoit; it comprised the present territory
of Warren, Bristol, and Barrington in Rhode Island, and parts
of Seekonk and Swansea in Massachusetts. Old writers and
most recent ones often speak of this region as Pokanoket;
but this term (as was seen in Chapter X.) pertained to
1 From “Maize” Indian corn.SOWAMS. —VISIT TO MASSASOIT.
1621
165
Massasoit’s whole dominions from Cape Cod to Narraganset
Bay.
The chief sachem had two seats, — one at Montaup (mod-
ernized to “ Mount Hope ”) ;1 the other and principal, Sowams,
on Narraganset Bay, at the present Warren. A Wampanoag
village was soon reached. A meal was prepared of fish and
oysters, — the latter not obtainable at Plymouth, the harbor of
which, abounding in lobsters, muscles, crabs, and clams, is
uncongenial to that princely bivalve which adds fame to the
adjoining town of Wareham. Before night the pedestrians
had arrived at Sowams. The great chief was absent, but was
soon found by a messenger. Winslow and Hopkins saluted
the sovereign with a discharge of their muskets, and were
cordially welcomed by him. Received into his dwelling and
seated beside him, with a large crowd of native spectators,
they proceeded, by Tisquantum’s help, to deliver their mes-
sage, in substance as follows: As his subjects came often and
without fear to the settlement, so the messengers showed like
confidence by this visit. As a token of good-will, the Gov-
ernor had sent him a coat. The Pilgrims desired the present
amity to continue, not from fear, but from a desire to do
justice to all, and to live in peace, especially with their next
neighbors; but as his people thronged to Plymouth with
their families, where they were welcome, the uncertainty of
the crops made it necessary to husband resources, and would
prevent the Pilgrims from continuing entertainment to all
comers. Yet if Massasoit should at any time be pleased to
visit them, or send any of his friends, a hearty welcome would
be ready; so the Governor had sent him a chain, which he
was asked to lend any one whom he desired to have received
with hospitality, in order that they might be known as his
friends. It was also requested that orders be given for such
as had peltry for sale to take it in bulk to Plymouth, rather
1 Norse enthusiasts claim that the natives caught their name from a Norse
appellation derived from Icelandic “Hopa” “to recede,” supposed to have
been given by the Norse explorers as the bay seemed to increase before them.
(It was near here, in Fall River, that Leif is supposed to have built his huts
[“booths”] and lingered some time.)THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
166
[1621.
than to waste time and labor by peddling it through the
season. It was added that when the Pilgrims were exploring
Cape Cod they took some corn found there, with the purpose
of paying for it whenever an owner could be discovered.
Massasoit was therefore requested to employ a messenger, at
the expense of the Pilgrims, to find the owner and make
known their desire of payment. He was also asked to ex-
change some of his Narraganset seed-corn for Cape corn,
that both kinds might be tried at “ Pawtuxet.”
The chieftain having cordially assented to all these requests,
then arrayed himself in the gay coat; and placing the chain
around his neck, sat in state with great self-admiration, while
his men were not a little proud “ to see their king so bravely
attired.”
Massasoit next made a lengthy harangue to his people,
who frequently interrupted him with assent or applause.
The purport of the speech, as translated piecemeal, was:
“ Am not I the ruler of this country; is not Sowams mine;
and shall not the people there carry their furs to Plymouth? ”
To this his dutiful subjects answered that they were his, and
would be at peace with the Pilgrims and carry their furs to
them. Like interrogatories were successively made concern-
ing at least thirty other places, and the same answer returned;
until, as Winslow says, “ so that as it was delightful, it was
tedious unto us.”
The chieftain then produced tobacco, and passed the even-
ing smoking with his guests and making inquiries about
England. He expressed much surprise that the King should
remain single, his wife having died more than two years
before. He also desired the French to be notified not to
come up the Narraganset to Pokanoket, for it was now King
James's country, and he was King James's man. Bedtime
came, but nothing was said about supper. The chief had been
absent so long that his house was bare of food, and he appar-
ently had not authority or means to procure any from his
people. When ready to retire, the visitors were taken to
Massasoit’s own bed. This consisted of a platform of rude1621.]	INDIAN MANNERS. — SCANTY FOOD.	167
planks raised on stakes about a foot above the ground, and
only covered with a thin mat.1 The well-intending chieftain
and his wife lay across one end, and the guests on the other.
Soon, two of the chief men crowded themselves upon the
royal couch, which was not adapted to so many occupants;
and poor Winslow says, “ We were worse weary of our lodging
than of our journey.”
The next day (Thursday) several of Massasoit’s sachems,
with attendants, came to do honor to the visitors. The natives,
being inveterate gamblers, devoted themselves to keenly striv-
ing for each other’s furs and knives, which the Pilgrims had
not yet learned to consider as sinful, for the ambassadors
offered to shoot with them at a mark for skins. This offer
was prudently declined; but the strangers were asked to shoot
at the mark without a wager. This was done; and the natives
were filled with amazement at the execution done by a charge
of buckshot.
No breakfast had been provided either for the guests or the
royal household; but soon after noon Massasoit brought in
two fish, which he had shot with arrows: they were probably
bass. The fish having been boiled, at least forty persons
gathered around to partake; and, strange to say, most of them
obtained a share. This was the only meal the visitors had
during their tarry of a day and two nights, in place of the five
substantial repasts which they would have had at home. It
illustrates the character of the natives that they chose to lie
around gambling instead of procuring food either for them-
selves or their honored guests, and that their king had to go
out and kill his own dinner.
Thursday night brought an increase of discomfort. The
1 Gookin says : “ In their wigwams they make a couch or mattress, firm and
strong, raised a foot from the earth, first covered with boards split out of trees;
and upon these they spread mats generally, and sometimes bear and deer skins.
These are large enough for three or four persons to lodge upon; for their mat-
tresses are six or eight feet broad.’’ Morton has as additional information, that
the “boards ” rest on rails supported by forked sticks driven in the ground, and
that the natives lie upon the mats, covering themselves warmly with the fur
skins, which are well tanned. If the “boards” were thin, this combination
would make no mean imitation of a modern spring-bed.THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
168
[1621.
habit of the Indians was to lull themselves to sleep with “ bar-
barous singing; ”1 when this noise had ceased, the “ lice and
fleas within doors, and mosquitoes without,” pretty much
prevented sleep either in the cabin or under the trees.
Friday morning the amiable Massasoit was very urgent that
his visitors should prolong their stay; but they, not only
desiring to spend Sunday at home, but fearing that, from lack
of food and sleep, they should soon become too weak for
rough travelling, set out before sunrise. The chieftain, who
was evidently “ both grieved and ashamed ” that he could not
entertain them better, sent Tisquantum to various places to
secure trade for Plymouth, and for a homeward guide de-
tailed Tockamahamon (Tock-a-ma-Am'-mon), who had before
served the Pilgrims faithfully, and did so for long after.
The travellers had bought a partridge, which gave them a
slight breakfast. At the village where they before found the
oysters, they traded for a small fish and a handful of nocake,
which at that time of year was precious. They also bought
a string of dried clams, which they gave to their six Indian
attendants. As the worn-down Pilgrims plodded along, every
time they drank they put a spoonful of nocake in the water,
and then smoked a pipe of tobacco. Even their little store
of these things they could not forbear to share with the long-
ing natives, and so soon exhausted it. Along their route
they noticed that the land, before the plague, had contained
a large population, the bleaching bones of unburied thousands
being still to be seen. The party travelled for many miles in
solitude through fields once cultivated, the goodness of the
soil displaying itself in a crop of weeds which reached above
the men’s heads. This was mostly along the streams. Back
from these were many fine trees of oak, walnut, fir, and beech,
besides “ exceeding great ” chestnut-trees. The woods were
all park-like, so that a man might readily have ridden a horse
through them.
1 Rev. Mr. Morrell (see Index), in his historical Latin poem, says of this
singing: —
“ And recall Odes which us affect with Grief,
Though to their Minds perchance they give Relief.”1621.]	HOME FROM SOWAMS. —BOY LOST.	169
On regaining their lodging-place at the weir they found no
savages remaining. One of their attendants had shot a shad
and also a small squirrel (or neuxis, as Winslow says) ; and
giving half of each to the white men, he tried fishing at the
weir. Winslow then despatched a letter to Plymouth to re-
lieve the anxiety of his friends. Two Indians remained with
them and caught an abundance of fish, which were soon
“ roasted” (i.e., broiled), and gave the party their first full
meal for three days. The Pilgrims went satisfied to their out-
door couch; but the Indians prepared for another season of
shortness by catching more fish, and roasting and eating them
instead of going to sleep. Saturday, long before daylight,
the tourists were roused by a fearful thunderstorm, and the
rain was very violent nearly all day. No fire could be made,
but the surplus of fish cooked the previous night made an
excellent breakfast. At Namasket were welcome food and
shelter. Here the travellers rewarded their six attendants,
according to their several merits. One unfaithful, dishonest
fellow was duly rebuked, and a lesson on morality given the
people at his expense ; after which he was paid a trifle. The
people of Namasket were urgent that the travellers should
spend the night there, and wondered much that they set
forth in such a rain rather than take a fresh start on Sunday.
Just after the wanderers reached Billington Sea the rain
ended, and in due time, passing down Town Brook, they came
to Leyden Street, where, we may well believe, an enthusiastic
welcome awaited them as they came home “ wet, weary, and
surbated.” 1
II. An Expedition to Nauset.
In August, John Billington’s son John disappeared. The
Governor at once employed natives to trace him, and through
Massasoit learned that he was at Nauset, in the hands of the
same Indians who attacked the Pilgrims at First Encounter.
The boy, losing himself in the woods, had wandered for five
days, living on berries, until he reached the native village of
1 " Surbated,” — with sore feet.170	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
Manomet, at the head of Buzzard’s Bay, twenty miles from
home. The sachem there was Canacum {Caw-na-cum),
who for some mysterious purpose sent the boy to Aspinet,
sachem of the Nausets. A party of ten, well armed, at once
went in the shallop to recover him, Standish probably being
the leader, with Winslow as an associate. Soon after leaving
the Gurnet the shallop was caught in a heavy thunderstorm,
accompanied by a waterspout. Night approaching, the boat
put in at Cummaquid (Barnstable). Entering in the dark,
the company anchored in mid-harbor at high tide, and, like
many a tourist since, were annoyed six hours later at finding
themselves stranded, and far away from the nearest water.
In the morning some Indians were seen looking for lobsters.
Tisquantum and Tockamahamon learned from them that the
boy was safe at Nauset; they also brought an invitation for the
whites to breakfast with their chief. Four hostages were left
with four whites in the boat, while six Pilgrims went with the
natives. The sachem, Iyanough (or “ Janno”), was twenty-
six years old, gentle, courteous, and “ very personable, . . .
indeed not like a savage save for his attire,” says Winslow.
His entertainment was “ plentiful and various.” The visitors
were grieved by a matron, supposed to be a hundred years
old, who came to look at them because she never had seen
Englishmen, but who indulged in passionate outcries because
their countryman (Hunt) had carried away her three sons,
seven years before. The Pilgrims assured her of their abhor-
rence of Hunt’s course, and made her some presents, “ which
somewhat appeased her.”
After dinner the shallop proceeded to Nauset (Eastham),
Iyanough and two of his men going with it. The place was
reached before night; but the inevitable low tide had come
again. Iyanough and Tisquantum waded ashore, and soon a
large crowd of savages came out to the boat, urging the whole
party to land and have the shallop dragged in. But as this
was the identical spot of the First Encounter, the Pilgrims
were very cautious, standing on their guard, and only allowing
two Nausets to come on board. One of these was an owner1621,]	ASPINET. — INDIAN ALARMS.	Ijl
of the corn taken from Pamet, with whom they made an ami-
cable settlement, he choosing to go to Plymouth for his pay,
instead of having an equivalent of corn brought to him.
After sunset the sachem Aspinet appeared with a hundred
attendants. Half of these remained with their weapons on
the shore, while Aspinet with the remainder went off to the
shallop. There the boy, profusely decorated with beads, was
borne over the flats on the shoulders of an Indian, and de-
livered to his countrymen. Aspinet agreed to future friend-
ship, and was presented with a knife for his trouble; while
another knife was given to him who had first taken care of
the boy.
Here the Pilgrims were startled by a report that the Narra-
gansets had invaded Pokanoket and taken Massasoit prisoner.
If this were true, the Colony must be in extreme danger, and
would require the immediate presence of the ten absentees.
The prow was at once turned west; but the wind was pro-
vokingly unfavorable, and the supply of drinking-water nearly
gone. The shallop	therefore	during the night put in	for	the
shore, where	it encountered	Iyanough with nearly	all	his
tribe. The sachem kindly led a party of the explorers a
long way in the dark, searching with slight success for water.
What little could be found was put in their runlet, which
Iyanough insisted on carrying down to the shore on his
own shoulders. In the mean time the women of his tribe had
shown the explorers such little kindnesses as they could, and
had welcomed them by singing and dancing before them with
joined hands.	The	sachem,	when the shallop left,	took a
bead-bracelet	from	his neck	and hung it upon one	of	the
white men (probably Winslow).
Still the wind held light, and the new supply of water
proved too bi*ackish for drinking. In the morning Iyanough
hailed the Pilgrims, upon which they put in to the shore,
and taking him on board, proceeded to his home at Barn-
stable, where they were sure to find good water. The chief
entertained them with the same hospitality as before, the
much-needed water was obtained, and the anxious excur-172
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
sionists went on their way, arriving that night safe at Leyden
Street.1
III. An Expedition to Middleborough.
On their arrival, the absentees heard a repetition of the
rumor that Massasoit had been captured. They also heard
that one of Massasoit’s sachems, Corbitant, chief of the Pocas-
sets (around Swansea), who was already suspected of treas-
onable intimacy with the Narragansets, was now at Namasket
(Middleborough) endeavoring to prejudice the people against
Massasoit, and denouncing the peaceful relations just estab-
lished between the Pilgrims and the Cape sachems. He was
violently railing against Tisquantum, Tockamahamon, and
also Hobomok. The latter, one of Massasoit’s chief captains
and counsellors, called a pinese (or pniese), and a stout, val-
iant man, had recently allied himself with the Pilgrims, whom
he continued to serve with rare fidelity and intelligence until
his death in old age.
Tisquantum and Hobomok went privately to Namasket to
ascertain the facts of the case, but were captured by Corbi-
tant, who declared they should at once be killed. While the
savage chief was holding a knife to Tisquantum’s breast and
boasting that with the death of the interpreter the English
would lose their tongue, Hobomok broke away, and, taking to
the woods, hastened to Plymouth. The settlers were at once
called together, and their decision was quickly reached. It
was agreed that a timid policy would invite an attack, and
that a neglect to defend and, if need be, to avenge their allies,
would discourage other Indians from joining them. It was
therefore agreed that Standish, with ten men, should go to
Namasket next day. If he should find that Tisquantum had
been murdered, he was to behead Corbitant, but take care to
harm only those concerned in the murder. In the mean time
Nepeof, another sachem, should be held as a hostage for
Massasoit’s safety.
1 The reader will deeply regret that, a year and a half later, the amiable
Iyanough was drawn into a conspiracy for the extermination of the whites, and
brought upon himself a miserable death through fear of retribution.1621.]
EXPEDITION TO MIDDLEBOROUGH.
173
The next day, August 24th, the force marched, although it
was very rainy. Camping a few miles out from Namasket,
the men ate the food from their knapsacks, and then laid the
latter aside as impedimenta. It was arranged to make the
attack at midnight, Standish giving special instructions to
each man. As the force advanced, their guide lost his way,
causing the wet and weary men to flounder around the drip-
ping forests in the darkness in a very discouraging manner,
until at length Winslow found some clew to his former line of
travel, and conducted them to the village.
The house indicated by Hobomok was surrounded. Corbi-
tant was called for, and notice given that not a person must
leave the place until it had been searched. The wily chief,
it was soon found, had left those parts; but in an attempt to
rush from the house a man and a woman had been slightly
wounded. In the tumult of the onset many of the Indian
boys, seeing the care taken not to hurt the women, ran around,
crying, “ Neen squaes that is, “ I am a girl.” The women
also in their alarm hung upon Hobomok, according to Wins-
low, calling him “ tow am,” or friend, though the word used
was probably netop or netomp. It was soon found that Corbi-
tant had returned to his Swansea home, and that Tisquantum
was at the village unharmed. Corbitant’s house seems to
have been a sort of summer resort considerably beyond the
Namasket village, being probably at what is now Muttock
Hill; and the party next turned toward the village. As they
drew near, Hobomok mounted the roof of a house and sent
forth a series of yells, which soon caused Tisquantum and
Tockamahamon to come forth and welcome their friends. A
social breakfast was then given to his white and native friends
by Tisquantum, in a house which belonged to him.
The Pilgrims then left an oral message for Corbitant, say-
ing that they had before entertained him kindly, and should
not have sought to do otherwise but for his evil actions; if
he continued his hostile course and undertook to form con-
spiracies against them, or should rebel against Massasoit, or
offer violence to any of their Indian friends or of Massasoit’s174
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
subjects, or if that chieftain did not return unharmed from
the Narragansets, the white man’s vengeance should fall on
Corbitant; no place should secure him or his, but retribution
should follow him to the bitter end.1
The end of the second day (August 25th) found the little
army once more at home, whither they were accompanied by
many of their Indian friends, who were only too ready to
relieve their champions by carrying their knapsacks, spare
clothing and weapons. No enemy had been encountered,
but a tremendous effect had been produced. With the Indian
love of falsehood, the story probably grew with each repeti-
tion, and the Pilgrim prowess was magnified more and more.
The sachem of Capawack (Martha’s Vineyard), of whom the
Pilgrims knew nothing, sent to make peace and acknowledge
allegiance to the English King. The bold Aspinet formally
did the same, and was joined by old Canacum, of Manomet.
Then followed five others, and even Corbitant solicited the
mediation of Massasoit to procure the forgiveness and re-
newed favor of such valuable friends and terrible enemies as
the men of Plymouth; and, the report of Massasoit’s capture
proving to be unfounded, he easily made his peace.
The following document, signed during the autumn as a
sequel to this expedition, doubtless meant to the signers
vastly more than it expresses in terms: —
Know all men by these presents, that we whose names are under-
written do acknowledge ourselves to be the loyal subjects of King
James, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the
Faith, etc. In witness whereof, and as a testimonial of the same, we
have subscribed our names or marks as followeth :2—
Oquamehud,	Natawahunt,	Quadequina,	(5)
Canacum, (1)	Corbitant, (3)	Hutmoiden,
Obbatinewat, (2)	Chikatabut, (4)	Apenow, (6)
1	For several days after the expedition the two wounded Namaskets were
cared for at Plymouth, where their injuries were healed by Deacon Fuller, the
“good physician.”
2	This document (judging from Morton’s copy) was drawn up Sept. 13, 1621.
The signatures were probably added subsequently at such odd intervals as the
conscience or fear of the several chiefs dictated.EXPLORING BOSTON HARBOR.
175
1621.]
Note. — 1, Sachem of Manomet; 2, of a tribe near Boston; 3, of
Pocasset; 4, of Neponset and Weymouth; 5, Massasoit’s brother;
6, probably Aspinet of Nauset. The other three were sachems, —
one of Capawack, and the others probably of Namasket, Agawam, or
Saconet; though Drake supposes the first to have been Massasoit, and
the fourth a Nipmuck sachem under him.
But the peaceful inclinations of the Indians, as well as their
trepidation, had too little foundation to last long. One more
example — a terrible one — was to be required before native
hostilities should be forever after unknown on Cape Cod, and
unheard of in any part of the Pokanoket kingdom by that
generation.
IV. Trip to Boston Harbor.
The Pilgrims had often heard that the Indians of Massa-
chusetts Bay were hostile to them ; and they now determined,
in view of the successful visits just made at the Cape, Namas-
ket, and Sowams, to send a party to the Bay to establish
peace and commerce. Accordingly, ten men were selected,
with Tisquantum and two other natives attending as guides
and interpreters. Standish commanded, and Winslow seems
to have been counsellor. The shallop sailed late on the even-
ing of September 28th, and about dark on the 29th came to
anchor (as seems probable from the vague description) under
that beautiful profnontory in Quincy which is still called
Squantum.1 Doubtless the Pilgrims named this head for
their interpreter, while at the mouth of the harbor they called
a group of islands The Brewsters, and the outermost projec-
tion of the mainland Point Allerton, — thus commemorating
both the lowliest and the loftiest of their company in a way
which promises to be fully as enduring as the natural features
in question.
1 Bradford always wrote this name “ Squanto,” Winslow as “ Tisquantum/’
Robert Cushman as “ Squantum.” This affords one key to the portions of
Mourt written by Bradford and by Winslow. In 1627-8 Merry-Mount Mor-
ton knew this headland as Squantum. In 1634 Wood’s “ N. E. Prospect”
mentions “ Poynt Allerton.” Winthrop also uses the name. Applied to one
English town it is spelled “ Ollerton,” and to another — a Yorkshire post-town
not far from Scrooby — it is “ Northallerton.” It was pronounced Ol-lerton.176	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
On the morning of the 30th they ventured on shore and
breakfasted from a pile of lobsters which lay there. Then
Standish, with a guide and four men, boldly started inland.
Soon meeting a woman on her way to get the lobsters, they
bought them of her, and learned where her people were.
Tisquantum went thither and returned with the chief Obba-
tinewat. He and his tribe (the Shawmuts?) seem to have
belonged on or about the peninsula of Shawmut, now Boston,
but did not dare to live long in any one place for fear of the
Tarrantines. The squaw-sachem near Medford was also hos-
tile to him. Although in the centre of the Massachusetts
nation, he acknowledged allegiance to Massasoit and readily
consented to become subject to the King of England, prob-
ably at this time adding his mark to the document quoted in
the last narrative.
Under the protection of the white men, Obbatinewat
undertook to take them to the dreaded squaw-sachem. This
woman ruled in the place of her late husband, Nanepashmet,
sachem of the Massachusetts tribe, and he probably had been
the last grand-sachem of the once great Massachusetts nation.
There is, however, much doubt when or how completely the
rule was transferred to Massasoit.
On the morning of October 1st all but two men were
landed at or near the present Charlestown. Three miles in-
land they found a place where the corn had just been gath-
ered, the house pulled down, and no inhabitants left. A mile
farther was the house of the late ruler; it stood upon the top
of a hill (Rock Hill, Medford), and was erected on a scaffold
of poles and planks laid six feet above the ground. Near by,
not far from Mystic Pond, was a fort built of poles thirty to
forty feet long, set snugly together in the ground, making an
enclosure of a hundred and fifty feet circumference. A trench
breast-high was on each side, the entrance being over a bridge.
In the centre was the uncovered frame of a house, within
which the famous chief lay buried. A mile beyond was a
similar structure, in which Nanepashmet had been killed two
years before, and which had remained unoccupied since.1621.]	TRADING WITH THE NATIVES.	177
Stopping at the second fort, the whites sent two of their
interpreters to find the inhabitants. A mile away the women
of the region were discovered; the poor creatures, in the
absence of their husbands, had been so terrified at the ap-
proach of the white men that they had pulled down their
houses and fled inland, bearing away as much corn and other
property as possible. With great fear they allowed the inter-
preters to conduct them to the strangers; but, won by gentle-
ness, soon gained confidence, and proceeded to entertain the
visitors as well as possible.
After “ much sending for,” a man of the tribe was brought
forward, shaking with fear, but who regained his courage so
soon as he found that trade was desired, and agreed to pro-
duce his skins. He also said that the squaw-sachem was so
far inland that she could not be reached in season for an
interview, probably being near Concord, Mass. It was here
that Tisquantum showed his Indian breeding, by advising
the whites to rob the savage women of their beaver coats
and other useful matters; for he said they were bad people,
and had often threatened the white men. The latter indig-
nantly replied that were the natives ever so bad, they should
suffer no injustice: their words mattered little; but if they
resorted to hostile acts, they should fare “ far worse than he
desired.”
As the party returned it was followed by the women, who,
in their eagerness to trade, sold the very beaver coats which
constituted almost their entire clothing; yet they showed
much delicacy, tying little boughs of trees about themselves,
and winning from Winslow the praise “ they are more modest
than some of our English women are.” With a promise to
come again if the natives would save their furs, the visitors
took a friendly leave.
Boston Harbor greatly pleased the explorers, they declaring
that there could be no better harbor for shipping. As they
wound their way among its forty-seven beautiful islands, the
most of which had been cleared and cultivated, but now were
desolate, they regretted that they had not settled there instead
12178
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l62I.
of at Plymouth. Sailing by the light of the harvest-moon,
they reached home the next forenoon, having made satis-
factory progress in establishing good feeling between them-
selves and the natives, and gained a goodly addition to the
stock of beaver with which they were to reduce their heavy
debt to the Adventurers.1
v }	1 Shipments of beaver continued highly profitable until, after many years,
I the supply failed. The fur became very popular in England, and could not
always be furnished in quantities sufficient for the demand. A pound sterling
for a pound of beaver was often the rate in London. The beaver was the financial
- v salvation of the Colony, and it deserves to find a place among the official em-
blems of our Commonwealth, as once, in a brief era of good taste, it was placed
on one of the postage-stamps of Canada, and is still emblazoned on the escutcheon
of New York city.CHAPTER XIV.
WINSLOW’S MARRIAGE. —CIVIL MARRIAGES.
THE autumn of 1621 waned on a prosperous community.
The sickness had ceased, though it had destroyed one
half the company; but it was equally true that one half had
survived it, and that uniform good health now blessed the
settlement.
On Leyden Street were seven dwelling-houses and four
public buildings. One of the latter was for worship and
town-meetings; it was also available as a hospital or work-
shop. The others were depots for provisions, clothing,
trading-stock, and general supplies, while in one was gar-
nered the year’s crop. The corn had liberally repaid the
labor expended on it, and the smaller grains had yielded
moderately.. The peas alone failed, late planting and drought
having been fatal. Upon the whole, the crops had been
highly satisfactory and encouraging.
The houses had been put in good condition for winter, a
store of materials provided for additional buildings, and a
goodly stock of furs and prepared lumber made ready for
export to England by the next ship. The waters swarmed
with fish, abundant sea-fowl flew along the shore, and in the
woods were found herds of deer and a plentiful store of wild
turkeys. The settlers were in amity with all the Indians of
the region, and with the more important were in intimate
friendship.
The Pilgrims, fond as they were of social enjoyment, had
since landing known no day of rest except the sacred day of
worship. Now that the summer was past and the harvestl80	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
ended, they determined to have a period of recreation, com-
bined with thanksgiving for their many mercies. The Gov-
ernor thereupon sent out four huntsmen, who in one day
secured enough game to supply the Colony for nearly a week.
Hospitality was extended to Massasoit, who accepted and
brought ninety people with him. The guests remained three
days, during which they captured five deer to add to the
larder of their hosts. The motley company indulged in a
round of amusements, and the Colonists entertained their
visitors with military tactics and evolutions. Without doubt,
religious services opened each day; for the Pilgrims were
cheerful Christians, who carried religion into all their affairs.
Thus heartily and royally was inaugurated the great New
England festival of Thanksgiving. For two centuries it con-
tinued to be a peculiarity of the Eastern States; but it has
now become national, its annual return finding a welcome
along the Lake shore and the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to
the Pacific.1
The climate of Plymouth had proved very satisfactory.
Winslow writes that he had never known a “ more seasonable
year,” and had not found the winter colder than in England,
1 In 1623 a public day of Thanksgiving is noticed; and one is mentioned in a
letter of 1632. Under the head of “John Lothrop” it will be seen that his flock
kept such a feast in 1636 at Scituate, just after the Colony in its first series of
laws had provided for the appointment of such days by the Governor and Coun-
cil. The inference is clear that this was in accordance with the new law, es-
pecially as Magistrate Hatherly was one of Lothrop’s flock. In 1639 Lothrop
mentions the Thanksgiving feast, he being then at Barnstable. There was
a Thanksgiving ordered for Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1668 (o. s.). I do not
doubt that such a religious festival was held after every harvest, and that it
was so much a matter of course that the records did not mention it any more
than they did the great training-day, with its sermon and holiday features. The
law of 1636, which became permanent, proves very clearly that the Thanksgiving
day was one of the institutions of the Colony. One writer argues that Lothrop’s
two feasts were merely local, and that there is no reason to suppose there was
any general festival by authority, except those of 1621, 1623, and 1668. If so,
why in their very scanty list of laws, in 1636, did they make careful provision for
days of fasting and of thanksgiving ? There is slight record either of fast-days,
but it would be absurd to suppose that they were not held in many cases. Other
Colonies held thanksgiving services on special occasions, but Plymouth seems
to have originated our great harvest-festival, with its family reunions and wide-
spread charity.1621.]	WINTERS. —MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.	l8l
— meaning, probably, his home in Worcestershire. Contrary
to the general statement, the first winter was exceptionally
mild, though blustering. In the village there was little, if
any, snow, and the harbor was open. Occasionally the entire
haven is frozen, and the winter severe; but not usually so
much so as at a short distance inland. The Pilgrims might
well have been thankful that to their sufferings during the
first winter was not added a season of great rigor, such as
was experienced at Plymouth in 1633 and 1642. It has been
thought that in this latter case the Colony could hardly have
survived.
The first marriage in the Colony occurred May 22. Edward
Winslow had been a widower only seven weeks, and Susanna
White a widow not twelve weeks: but the case was excep-
tional. What would be indecorous in an older community
was here proper and desirable. Winslow should be at the
head of a household, and the White children needed a pater-
nal guardian, especially as their mother was occupied with
the care of an infant. The marriage proved fortunate for all
concerned. Among Mrs. Winslow’s subsequent children was
Josiah, whom fifty-two years later she saw the first native
governor of an American colony; thus she was the mother
of the first white child in New England, the wife of one
governor and mother of another. The Pilgrims had adopted
the views of the Dutch Calvinists as to marriage; they held
that the Scriptures and the primitive Christians had never
authorized clergymen to perform marriage services, but that
marriage, with its civil obligations and its connection with the
rights of property, as well as its business importance to the
State, should make it a strictly civil contract, to be entered
into before the magistrate. Indeed the Pilgrims could not
well practise any other method; for Elder Brewster was not
a clergyman, but remained through life a mere lay officer
in the church. Marriage before a magistrate was the rule
throughout New England for generations.1
1 See supplementary chapter, — “ Marriage Celebrations.;CHAPTER XV.
The “ Mayflower’s ” Passengers. — Who are the Living, and Who the
Dead? — List of Families. — Biographical Notes.
S the first year of the Pilgrim Colony approaches its
close, the reader may well ask for the names of those
who have fallen, and of those who have survived. Since the
re-discovery of Bradford’s History such a list is possible;
but before 1855 not even the number of the *'‘ Mayflower’s ”
passengers was certainly known to historical writers. Many
gave it as a hundred and one, some a hundred; it will
be seen to be a hundred and two. Many of the names
were unknown, and great errors were made as to the com-
position of the company. For instance, John Howland was so
confidently supposed to have brought as his wife a daughter
of Governor Carver that the statement was engraved on his
tombstone a century and a half after his death; the number
of their children was also stated by tradition. Yet when
Bradford’s book came to light it was found that Carver
brought no children, and that Howland did not marry until
some years after his arrival, his wife being Elizabeth Tilley,
who was fourteen years old at the landing.
In the roll of the “ Mayflower’s ” passengers it is worth
while to notice their truly English names. Of course there
are no middle names, for such were not in general use even
a century and a half later, as is shown by the names of our
revolutionary officers and early Presidents. Those who im-
agine that the Pilgrim Fathers inclined to uncouth Hebrew v
names, or those derived from Scriptural texts and religious
phrases, may be surprised to notice that of the known Chris-
tian names of the male passengers more than a fifth are
simply John, almost as many being either William or Edward;WHO CAME IN THE “ MAYFLOWER.5
1620-1.]
183
while with the other sex the finest of English names pre-
dominate.
PASSENGERS IN THE “MAYFLOWER,” CAPE COD,
NOV. 21, 1620.
“Mr.” was then spoken as Master, and usually so written. The*
denotes those who brought children. The f shows those who left wives
who came soon after. The children are, as near as may be, in the order
of seniority. Those who died during the first year are in italic. The
age at the landing is given, when known, thus : (30) ; and also, at the right,
the date of decease of those who survived the first year.
Adult Colonists, 59.
Mr. John Carver.
His Wife, Katharine.
Mr. William Bradford (30) .	1657
His Wife, Dorothy (23).
Mr. Edward Winslow (25) .	1655
His Wife, Elizabeth.
Mr. William Brewster * (54)	1644
His Wife, Mary (51) .	.	. 1626?
Mr. Isaac Allerton* (32)	.	1659
His Wife, Mary.
Mr. Samuel Fuller, Surgeon f 1633
Captain Myles Standish (36)	1656
His Wife, Rose.
Mr. Christopher Martin.
His Wife,--------.
Mr. William Mullins.*
His Wife,--------.
Mr. William White *
His Wife, Susanna	.	.	.	1680
Mr. Stephen Hopkins* .	.	1644
His Wife Elizabeth	.	.	.	164-
Mr. Richard Warren f .	.	1628
John Howland (27)	.	.	.	1673
George Soule..............1680
John Crackstone.*
Francis Cook *f (38 ?)	. . 1663
John Billington *	....	1630
His Wife, Eleanor.
Edward Tilley.
His Wife, Ann.
John Tilley.*
His Wife, Bridget.
Thomas Rogers*
Thotnas Tinker .*
His Wife,-------.
John Rigdale.
His Wife, Alice.
James Chilton.*
His Wife,-------.
Edward Fuller.*
His Wife,-------.
John Turner.*
Francis Eaton*.............1633
His Wife, Sarah.
Moses Fletcher.
John Goodman.
Thomas Williams.
Degory Priest f (41).
Edmund Marge son.
Richard Britteridge.
John A ller107t.
Peter Brown............1633
Gilbert Winslow (21st yr.).
Edward Dotey (Doten)	.	.	1655
Richard Clark.
Thomas English.
Richard Gardner.
John Alden (21)	....	1687
Edward Lister..........162-THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1620-1.
184
Sailors hired for One Year, 2.
William Trevor.	|------Ely.
Servants (presumed Minors), 9.
John Hooke.
Roger Wilder.
Solomon Prower.
Edward Thompson.
Elias Story.
William Holbeck.
Robert Carter.
John Langemore.
William Latham
Youths and Children.
164-?
Girls, 11.
Priscilla Mullins .	. after 1687
Mary Chilton...............1679
Mrs. Carver’s maid . . . 162-
Elizabeth Tilley (14) . . . 1687
'Desire Minter.
v Remember Allerton (over 13).
Constance Hopkins (over 13)	1677
Damaris Hopkins .	. after 1666
Mary Allerton (11) .	.	.	.	1699
Humility Cooper.
Ellen More.
Love Brewster .	.	.	<
Wrestling Brewster
Joseph Mullins.
Bartholomew Allerton.
John Crackstone, Jr. .
Giles Hopkins (about 15)
------ Turner.
------ Turner (2d).
John Billington, Jr.
Francis Billington.
Joseph Rogers .	.	.
Boys, 21.
ON O	John Cook . . . .	
. I64-?	Richard More . . . Jasper More. His Brother	.	. . 1656
. 1628?	Henry Sampson (6)	. . 1684
. I69O	Resolved White (5) 	 Tinker.	after 1690
	Samuel Fuller . . .	. . 1683
1628-9	Samuel Eaton (infant).	. . 1684
. I678	Oceanus Hopkins, do.	before 1627
Summary.
Died. Survived. Total.
Adults..........................36	23	59
Seamen....................... 2	2
Servants......................... 8	1	9
Girls............................ 1	10	11
Boys............................. 6	15	21
51	51	102
Elizabeth Tilley was daughter of John; the boy, Samuel Fuller, was
son of Edward. The parentage of the others does not need explanation.1621.3	LIST OF PILGRIMS. —FAMILIES, ETC.	185
Of the fifty-one dead, it will be remembered that Edward
Thompson, Jasper More, Dorothy Bradford, and James Chil-
ton died in Provincetown Harbor, and of course were buried
there; the others all died after reaching Plymouth, and were
buried on Cole’s Hill, near the Rock.
Martin, Hopkins, Mullins, Billington, Warren, John Aller-
ton, English, Alden, Trevor, Ely, Prower, Langemore, Dotey,
and Lister, with the families of the first three, joined the party
when it reached England. It is not improbable that Gardner
and Gilbert Winslow did the same. Therefore not more than
eighty of the company were from Leyden. Allowing for the
younger children and servants, it is evident that not half the
company can have been from Robinson’s communicants.
Button, who did not reach Cape Cod, is not included in
this list, his place being taken by Oceanus Hopkins. Dr.
Prince, by counting them both and excluding the two seamen
who were for one year a part of the Colony, makes the pas-
sengers a hundred and one; and this is often given as the
correct count. As has been seen, there were a hundred and
two, or, leaving out the seamen, a hundred.
Bradford gives this list by families as follows (save that
here the maiden names of the matrons are given when known,
besides some slight transposition of the single men, and the
use of “ employee ” for “ servant,” to more clearly express the
meaning) : —
The List according to Families.
Mr. John Carver; his wife, Katharine; Desire Minter; John
Howland, Roger Wilder, and William Latham (employees) ; a maid-
servant, and Jasper More (“ a child that was put to him ”).
Mr. William Bradford and his wife, Dorothy May, (Their son
John came afterward.)
Mr. Edward Winslow : his wife, Elizabeth Barker ; George Soule
and Elias Story (employees) ; Ellen More, who was “ put to him.”
Mr. William Brewster; his wife, Mary; their sons, Love and Wrest-
ling ; Richard More and his brother, who were “ put to him.”
Mr. Isaac Allerton; his wife, Mary Norris; their children, Bar-
tholomew, Remember, and Mary; John Hooke (employee).
John Crackstone and his son, John.THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
186
Captain Myles Standish and his wife, Rose.
Mr. Samuel Fuller. (His wife and child came 1623.)
Mr. Christopher Martin ; his wife; Solomon Prower and John
Langemore (employees).
Mr. William Mullins ; his wife; their children, Joseph and Pris-
cilla ; Robert Carter (employee).
Mr. William White; his wife, Susanna; their son, Resolved;
Wm. Holbeck and Edward Thompson (employees).
Mr. Stephen Hopkins; his wife, Elizabeth; their children, Giles,
Constance (by a former wife), Damaris, and Oceanus; Edward Dotey
(or Doten) and Edward Lister (employees).
Mr. Richard Warren. (His wife and five daughters came in 1623 ;
two sons probably in 1621.)
Francis Cooke and his son John. (His wife came in 1623.)
John Billington; his wife, Eleanor; their sons, John and Francis.
Edward Tilley a?id his wife, An?i; their cousins, Henry Sampson
and Humility Cooper.
John Tilley; his wife, Bridget Van der Velde; their daughter
Elizabeth.
Thomas Rogers and his son Joseph.
Thomas Tinker ; his wife, and their son.
John Ridgdale and his wife, Alice.
James Chilton ; his wife, and their daughter, Mary.
Edward Fuller ; his wife, and their son Samuel.
John Turner and his two sons.
Francis Eaton; his wife Sarah, and their infant son Samuel.
Degory Priest. (His wife and children came 1623.)
Moses Fletcher; John Goodman; Thomas Williams; Edmund
Marges on; Richard Britteridge; John Allerton; Richard Clark;
Thomas English ; Peter Brown; Gilbert Winslow; Richard Gardner;
John Alden (cooper) ; William Trevor and------Ely (hired seamen).
Summary.
Died. Survived. Total.
Husbands...............................10	8	18
Wives..................................14	4	18
Children and Youths.....................7	25	32
Minor employees, etc....................8	3	11
Other men............................  12	11	23
51	51	1021621.] WHAT BEFELL THE FIRST-COMERS, ETC.	187
Five husbands had been left widowers, and one wife a
widow; nine husbands had been buried with their wives;
only three couples remained unbroken, and there were but
two couples who had not lost some member of their family.
Five children lost both parents; three others had been made
fatherless, and three motherless. Such was the work of the
“ first sickness.”
Special Biographical Notes. — Some of the company, who may
not again come to notice prominently, require further mention here :
Gilbert Winslow (Edward’s brother) returned early to England, and
there died; Gardner became a sailor before 1628, and died early;
Lister, when his indentures were out, went to Virginia, and there died ;
Latham, after 1643, went to the Bahamas, and with others starved to
death; the two hired seamen returned to England at the end of their
year, and nine years later Trevor touched at Plymouth as captain of
the “ Handmaid.”
Priscilla Mullins married John Alden; Mary Chilton married Gov-
ernor Winslow’s brother John, and lived in Boston, leaving children
(her daughter Susanna became wife of Robert Latham, of Bridge-
water) ; Mrs. Carver’s maid married Francis Eaton, and died in a
few years; Elizabeth Tilley married John Howland; Desire Minter
soon returned to England, and died; Remember Allerton married
Moses Maverick, of Marblehead, son of the East Boston pioneer;
Constance Hopkins became wife of Nicholas Snow, of Eastham, and
Damaris married Jacob Cook (1646) ; Mary Allerton (the latest sur-
vivor of this entire company) married Elder Thomas Cushman;
Humility Cooper was sent for by friends in England, and died there.
Love Brewster died young; Bartholomew Allerton returned to
England; John Crackstone, Jr., froze his feet while lost in the woods,
and died from a resulting fever; Giles Hopkins lived at Yarmouth,
and left children on the Cape, while Oceanus died early; Joseph
Rogers, on Christmas Day, 1660, died from a fall while wrestling with
his friend Richard Hawes; Richard More married Christian Hunt
(1636), and had a family in Duxbury; Henry Sampson married Ann
Plummer in 1636, and also reared a Duxbury family; Resolved White
married Judith, daughter of Captain William Vassal, of Scituate, and
had a family in Marshfield; Samuel Fuller became an honored citi-
zen, and ancestor of an honored posterity; Samuel Eaton went earlyTHE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
188
with his father to Duxbury, and died at Middleborough, — in 1660
he married Martha Billington.
Moses Fletcher’s first wife was Maria Evans; in 1613 he married
at Leyden Sarah, widow of William Dingby. Mrs. Bradford was from
Wisbeach, Cambridge, England; Mrs. Standish is said to have come
from the Isle of Man; Mrs. Winslow was from Chetsum (?), Eng-
land. John Crackstone had at Leyden a daughter Anna, wife of
Thomas Smith.CHAPTER XVI.
The Second Detachment. — The “ Fortune.”— Cushman’s Visit. — Wes-
ton’s Unfairness. — The “ Peirce Patent.”
N the 19th of November (1621) the Nauset Indians saw
a ship feeling her way into the Cape Harbor, and with
wonderful quickness conveyed the intelligence to Plymouth.
The Pilgrims, since the sailing of the “ Mayflower ” seven
months before, had seen or heard no more of the outside
world than if it had been blotted from existence. Yet they
felt not joy, but alarm, at the prospect of again meeting Euro-
peans. They did not expect a friendly visit until spring, for
not till then could new Colonists begin to live in comfort, or
be of use to the settlement. They suspected the strange
ship to be French, coming with hostile intentions; for England
and France were then at war.
The diminished band might well dread an encounter with a
crew of fierce privateersmen armed to the teeth; but in the
defence of their wives and children the Pilgrims were not the
ones to count their opponents. Standish had under him
twenty men. Imagine them drawn up in two ranks. In the
first rank is seen Governor Bradford and Elder Brewster.
The good Elder fights as he prays, and though he would far
rather convert an enemy than hurt him, he would not dream
of allowing him the first fire. Then come Edward Winslow
and Isaac Allerton, the wise Dr. Fuller, the grave Richard
Warren, the robust Stephen Hopkins, the genial John How-
land, and that young enthusiast John Alden, and then Peter190	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
Brown, the ancestor of John Brown of Ossawatomie. It is
not necessary to name the file-closers; with such leaders they
must surely be heroes.
On November 20th, just one year from the day the “ May-
flower ” sighted the hills of Cape Cod, their sentry on Fort
Hill shouted, “ Sail, ho! ” The leaders were alert. The
vessel was dimly seen standing out from the Cape, and her
course anxiously watched, until it became evident that she
was heading for Plymouth. Then a cannon was fired from
the battery to call in those who had gone to work. Every
man fell into his place, and the half-dozen boys that could
handle a gun went with alacrity to stand by their fathers.
From three to four hours of suspense passed quickly; but
many times did the sharp eye of Standish inspect every one’s
equipment and repeat his directions in short, decisive terms.
The stranger drew into the harbor; and when sufficiently near,
threw out from her “ ancient-staff” the red cross of England.
Equally unexpected and joyful was the discovery made that
she was the “ Fortune,” a ship of only fifty-five tons,
despatched by their associates.
The Adventurers had sent Robert Cushman over to exam-
ine affairs and return to them with a report, and with him had
forwarded some thirty-five new Colonists. As the reader has
just studied the names of the first company, those of the new-
comers will be of interest. The following is the best list that
can now be offered. The age at landing and the year of
death are given when known. Those in italics either died or
removed before 1627: —
John Adams..............................................  1633
William Bassett .	.	.	................................1667
Elizabeth, his wife.
Edward Bompasse..........................................1684?
Jonathan Brewster (28)...................................1659?
Clement Briggs.
Thomas Cushman (14)......................................1691
Stephen Dean..........................................1634
Philip de la Noye (19)................................16811621.]	THE “FORTUNE” PILGRIMS.	191
Widow Martha Ford, and her children, —
William Ford......................................1676
John Ford...................................... .	1693
Martha Ford (see end of note)....................1684?
Robert Hicks.........................................1648
William Palmer.......................................1638
William Palmer, Jr.
Thomas Prence (19)...................................1674
Moses Simonson.
John Winslow.........................................1674
William Wright.......................................1633
William Beal, John Cannon, William Connor, Thomas Flavel
and soil) William Hilton, Bennet Morgan, Thomas Morton,
Austin Nicholas, William Pitt, Hugh Static, James Stew-
art, William Tench.
This list foots up but thirty-three, while Bradford says
thirty-five came. The other two names are involved in mys-
tery; for in 1624, at the distribution of an acre to each inhabi-
tant, only thirty-three acres were assigned to those “ which
came in the ‘ Fortune.’ ” Two may have died or removed,
or have been children who were at once absorbed by the
families which came in the “ Mayflower.” This latter seems
the more probable, as the survivors of the “ Mayflower,” of
whom there could not have been more than forty-nine, re-
ceived at least sixty-eight acres, showing an accession of
nineteen; of these a few were children born since the landing,
or Indians domesticated; but the most must have been new
arrivals.1
1 Several of this little band were among the pioneers of Duxbury; namely,
William Bassett, blacksmith and armorer, who left a good library, and was the
ancestor of the Bassetts in that region. Mrs. Bassett was his third wife, the first
having been “ Cecil Lecht ” (as the Dutch scribe spelled it) ; and the second
(married 1611) was Margaret Oldham (five months earlier he had been published
to Mary Butler, who soon died). Bassett was also one of the Bridgewater pio-
neers.— Jonathan Brewster, the Elder’s oldest son. — De La Noye, whose name
became Delano (Savage thinks De La Noye the son of Jean and Marie De Launay.
Naval Constructor B. F. Delano, of South Scituate, eminent in the United States
Navy of the Rebellion, was a descendant of Phillip, who died 1682), the progeni-
tor of all of that name in this part of the country. — John Ford, and William
Ford, the miller.—William Palmer, nailer.—Thomas Prence, for eighteen192
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1621.
Besides two months on the ocean, these passengers had
been kept in the English Channel another two months by
baffling winds. The greater part of them were lively young
men whose religious characters were yet to be formed; and
while on shore at the English Plymouth were so glad to
escape from ship-life that they sold all their spare clothing
and other property to get spending money, or, as Bradford
says, “ many of them had brushed away their coats and
cloaks at Plymouth as they came.” Neither had they bed-
ding, “ nor pot nor pan to dress any meat in.” Such rollickers
seemed sadly out of place in the grave community, but most
of them eventually made excellent citizens.
Robert Cushman had come in part to persuade the people
to assent to the two “ articles ” rejected at Southampton. It
was probably for this purpose that he now delivered (Sunday,
Dec. 9/19, 1621) a discourse against self-love, taking a text
from 1 Cor. x. 24: “ Let no man seek his own, but every
man another’s wealth.” On his return to England this dis-
course was printed. It is interesting as being probably in the
style of the prophesying which was then practised in public
worship, and as one of the first two documents printed con-
cerning the Pilgrim Republic; Mourt's Relation being the
other. This discourse has been reprinted, and, under the
name of “ Cushman’s Sermon,” has been praised overmuch,
for it is in truth rather a dull affair.1
years governor of the Colony. — Moses Simonson, whose name, changing to
Simmons, has been honorably transmitted.
Among the others the lad Cushman, who became Brewster’s next successor
as Elder, early lost his mother, Sarah, and his father had married Mary Single-
ton in 1617 ; Stephen Dean, projector of the first corn-mill in the Colony, mar-1
ried Elizabeth Ring about 1627, and died 1634, leaving three children ; Hicks
was for a time unfriendly to the Government, but became a good citizen, con-
cerning whose wool-pulling at Southwark in 1616 a curious affidavit was recorded
in Plymouth, 1638; John Winslow was a brother of Edward, and became an
active citizen and officer until his removal to Boston, about 1657, leaving chil-
dren in both places ; William Wright, a worthy man, became Bradford’s brother-
in-law after 1627, his wife being Priscilla Carpenter; Mrs. Ford’s third child
(Martha) is supposed to be the one born the night after her landing, thus leav-
ing yet another of the thirty-five to be accounted for. This Martha was married
to William Nelson 1640.
1 In an edition of Cushman’s Discourse, Judge Davis of Boston advanced the621.]
CUSHMAN'S SERMON.
193
Cushman was still full of faith in Weston; and while desir-
ing most ardently the welfare of the Colony, he was very
earnest to obtain a consent to the articles rejected, which he
believed just to both parties. When, therefore, he found the
Colonists still opposed, he delivered this address, intended to
persuade some, and overawe others. The so-called sermon is
mainly the censorious plea of an attorney for the Adventurers, v
If any reply was made, Cushman naturally omitted to print
it; he however prefaced his printed discourse with an instruc-
tive little sketch of the Colony. He supposed New England
to be so called because of its resemblance in soil and climate
to Old England, and also as it seemed to be an island of like
size. (Winslow and others long afterward supposed it an
island, and so lately as the American Revolution Lord North,
in a despatch, spoke of New England as an island.) Cush-
man’s preface is especially noticeable from its testimony as to
the justice and benevolence with which the Colonists were
treating the natives.1 His tendency to rebuke and dictation
makes his evidence the more convincing, for Cushman was a
man of truth and sincerity. His corroboration of Bradford
and Winslow on this point, and his additional statement as
to the efforts of the Pilgrims to civilize and Christianize the
savages, is therefore of great interest and value.
idea that at first the Pilgrims put. all their possessions into a common stock, and
until 1623 had no individual property. In his edition of Morton's Memorial he
honorably admits his error. The same mistake was made by Robertson and
Judge Marshall, and is occasionally repeated. There was no community of
goods, though there was labor in common, with public supplies of food and
clothing.
1 Dr. Young says: “The first planters of Plymouth and Massachusetts in-
variably purchased of the natives the lands on which they settled (at Plymouth
the native owners were all dead) for considerations deemed at the time fully
equivalent. They followed literally the instructions given by the first governor
of the New England Company to Governor Endicott in 1629: ‘If any of the sal-
vages pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in our
patent, we pray you endeavor to purchase their title, that we may avoid the least
scruple of intrusion. Particularly publish that no wrong or injury be offered to
the natives.’ And in 1676 it was as truly as proudly said by Governor Josiah
Winslow, of Plymouth: ‘I think I can clearly say, that before these present
troubles broke out, the English did not possess one foot of land in this Colony
but what was fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors.' ”
13194	the pilgrim republic.	[1621.
The “ Fortune ” was soon loaded with two or three hogs-
heads of beaver, and as many clapboards and other kinds of
prepared lumber as she would hold, room having been first
appropriated to the profitable sassafras. The total value was
about ^oo.1 On December 23d the ship sailed for England.
Mr. Cushman returned in her as he had intended, and Trevor
and Ely, whose year of service had ended, went with him.
This left the population of the settlement at least eighty-six,
of whom above fifty were able to render military service.
The Pilgrims were justly proud of this cargo. In view of
their great loss in numbers and strength, and arduous labors
during the summer, they felt that their English partners must
be surprised as well as gratified on receiving this pioneer
cargo from the infant plantation. Alas! As the ship drew
near the English coast she was captured by a French craft
and carried into Isle Dieu; her cargo was taken by the
captors, but after fourteen days the ship and company were
released. Cushman preserved his papers, among which were
valuable letters from Bradford, Winslow, and William Hilton,
and also Bradford’s and Winslow’s Journal, called Mourt’s
Relation.
The “ Fortune ” brought a letter from Weston, who severely
censured the Colonists because they did not collect a cargo
for the “ Mayflower ” on her return the previous spring. He
said that he knew the cause was their weakness, but that it
was “ more weakness of judgment than of hands.” But if
they should give the “ Fortune ” a good lading, and consent
to the disputed articles, he added: —
“ I promise you I will never quit the business, though all the other
Adventurers should. . . . And so praying God to bless you with all
graces necessary both for this life and that to come, I rest your very
loving friend,
“ Thomas Weston.”
1 A hogshead held about 191 beaver-skins. These averaged some ij lbs.
each, and sold in England at near £1 per pound weight, and for extra-fine par-
cels 24s. The other skins and small peltry often paid the charges on the entire
shipment.1621 • J	BRADFORD’S REPLY TO WESTON.	195
Strange to say, without even waiting for a reply to his letter
or for the return of the “ Fortune,” he withdrew from the ,
enterprise, the first and only one to leave it thus early; and
then, besides endeavoring to establish a rival settlement to .4
intercept the Plymouth trade, he defrauded the Colony both j
directly and indirectly, adding in each case the sin of ingrati- j
tude for benefits expressly bestowed on him.
Bradford made a grand reply to Weston, beginning as
follows: —
“ Sir, — Your large letter written to Mr. Carver and dated the 6th
of July, 1621, I have received the 10th of November, wherein (after
the apology made for yourself) you lay many heavy imputations upon
him and us all.
“ Touching him, he is departed this life and now is at rest in the
Lord from all those troubles and incumbrances with which we are yet
to strive. He needs not my apology; for his care and pains were so
great for the common good, both ours and yours, as that therewith
(it is thought) he oppressed himself and shortened his days, of whose
loss we cannot sufficiently complain. At great charges in this adven-
ture I confess you have been, and many losses may sustain; but the
loss of his and many other honest and industrious men’s lives cannot
be valued at any price. . . .
“ But it pleased God to visit us then with death daily, and with so
general a disease that the living were scarce able to bury the dead,
and the well not in any measure sufficient to tend the sick. And now
to be so greatly blamed for not freighting the ship, doth indeed go
near us and much discourage us. But you say you know we will pre-
tend weakness; and do you think we had not cause ? Yes, you tell
us you believe it, but it was more weakness of judgment than of hands.
Our weakness herein is great, we confess; therefore we will bear this
check patiently, among the rest, till God send us wiser men.”
This is a very favorable specimen of Bradford’s composi-
tion, and one which, by united manliness and pathos, will
impress the reader. He proceeded to state that the Pilgrims v
had decided to yield, and had therefore signed the long-con-
troverted articles; as the ship was also well laden, and all his
demands complied with, it was hoped that friendship would196	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1621.
once more prevail, and his promises not be forgotten. Espe-
cially must he take notice that the thirty-five people just
landed had been sent out with no provisions to support them
till the next harvest; therefore, unless he would see that the
Adventurers sent a prompt supply, as Cushman would certify,
a famine must visit the settlement. Alas for hope deferred,
making the heart sick! Not only was Weston the first to
desert them, but the Adventurers who remained left the Colo-
nists to starve. The provisions in the “ Mayflower ” were the
last that her passengers ever received from them.
Not only were the “ Fortune's ” people landed with no suste-
nance for the winter and spring, but the ship herself required
to be revictualled from the scanty stores of the Colonists.
After she sailed, an estimate of the remaining food showed
barely enough to last till July, provided the settlers were put
on half allowance. This severe limitation was at once applied
to every person, and was patiently borne; for all expected
the “ Fortune’s” successor to come soon with a supply.
The Colonists worked steadily through the winter, which
seems, like their first one, to have been of unusual mildness.
Although but half fed, their health and courage remained
unabated. Bradford relates one incident as “ rather of mirth
than of weight.” On Christmas, when he called the men to
follow him to work, the sportful portion of the new company
protested that their consciences would not let them work on
that day. The liberal Governor replied that he would force
no one's conscience, but would excuse them until they should
be “ better informed.” On returning at noon he found the
devotees at play in the street, some pitching the bar, others
at stool-ball, and so on. He thereupon took away their im-
plements, telling them that his conscience would not let them
play while the others worked; and that if they attached a
sanctity to the day, they must stay in their houses and keep it
devotionally. Those young men acquiesced; and thenceforth
asked for no holidays not enjoyed by all.
The Colony had received by the “Fortune” a patent of
their land from the Council for New England. That thei62I.]
THE PEIRCE PATENT.
197
patent might be in the name of some resident of England, it
was drawn up in the name of John Peirce and his associates,
— like the New York grant formerly received from the Vir-
ginia Company.
This patent (dated June 1, 1621, O. S.) was the first grant
made by this new North Virginia or New England corpora-
tion. The document, which is still at Plymouth in good con-
dition, bears the seals and signatures of the Duke of Lenox,
the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl of Warwick, Sir Ferdi-
nando Gorges, and one which cannot now be deciphered.1
With the incredible carelessness formerly shoWn as to histori-
cal documents and relics, this patent was once lost. Years
after it had been supposed to have disappeared forever, it
was accidentally found among the papers of the late Judge
Davis, to whom it seems to have been lent by some official
who neither made a note of the fact nor took the trouble to
remember it. The patent is now given in the Massachusetts
Historical Society’s Collections (Vol. IV., series ii., p. 156),
with valuable notes by Charles Deane. It established no
boundaries, but gave to Peirce and his unnamed associates a
hundred acres of land for each person who should remain in
the Colony three years, or who should die after taking ship
thence. For four years after that limit they were to have a
hundred acres for each immigrant. Rent was to be paid after
seven years, at the rate of two shillings for each hundred
acres. Each “ undertaker ” was to have fifteen hundred acres
for the support of churches, schools, and hospitals. The
Colonists were to devote themselves chiefly to planting, sell-
ing, making and procuring of staples, such as corn, silk-grass,
hemp, flax, pitch, tar, soap, ashes, potash, iron, clapboards,
etc. This patent remained in force for only one year, and
was then supplanted, through the knavery of John Peirce (as
will be seen), by one under which he ineffectually sought to
make the Plymouth people his vassals.
1 Among the original members of the Council for New England were Earl
Pembroke, Grand Master of Freemasonry in England at the time this patent
was granted, and Earl Arundel, who became Grand Master in 1633-5.CHAPTER XVII.
ANNOYANCES FROM THE INDIANS.
EARLY in 1622 many rumors arose of hostile intentions
on the part of the Narragansets. That tribe, thinking
that if the Pilgrim support should cease they might subjugate
the Pokanoket and allied nations, felt inspired to attempt the
destruction of the white settlement.
Soon Tockamahamon conducted to Plymouth a Narra-
ganset messenger who asked for Tisquantum, but seemed
relieved to find that he was away from home; and leaving
for him a sheaf of new arrows tied around with a rattlesnake's
skin, attempted to depart; but being required to remain for
that night, was led to admit, with much reluctance, that the
messenger whom Canonicus, his king, sent the previous year
to treat of peace, had on his return rather persuaded him to
war, and to provoke him thereto, embezzled most of the pres-
ents sent by the Governor, and then dwelt upon the meanness
of the gift as compared with what he had carried to Plymouth.
It was desired to detain the man until Tisquantum should be
present to question him minutely; but the precise Standish
insisting that by the “ law of arms ” a messenger must not be
subjected to forcible restraint, the envoy was sent back with
a high-sounding message from Bradford. The Governor ex-
pressed his desire for peace; but if Canonicus was determined
otherwise, he was dared to put in an appearance with his host.
Indeed, but for want of shipping, the Colonists would save
him that trouble and seek him on his own ground. The
messenger at once departed, though the weather was stormy
and he was urgently invited to remain.1622.] DEFYING CANONICUS.— MARTIAL PREPARATIONS. 199
On Tisquantum’s return he pronounced the arrows and
snake-skin to be a challenge to war. Bradford, then filling
the skin with powder and bullets, sent it back to Canonicus
with a message still more defiant than the former. The belli-
cose chief was alarmed, and refused to receive the mysterious
missive into his house. The messenger who brought the
skin would not take it back; so it was given to another, who
in dread passed it along; and after posting a long time from
place to place, it finally came again unbroken to Plymouth,
having answered its purpose in overawing Canonicus.
But as lofty language was a poor reliance, the Colonists
proceeded to empale their village. A line of palisades was
carried from the shore along the north side of the hamlet,
and thence around the upper part of P"ort Hill to Town
Brook, — a length of half a mile. This great task was accom-
plished in five weeks, although it was winter. In the line
were four flanking bastions, from which the whole outside
could be raked with musketry. In three of these bastions or
“ jetties ” were gates, which were locked at night and constantly
warded.
Standish next proceeded to arrange those able to bear
arms, in four companies, the captains of which, in their order,
were to command the whole body if he should be absent or
disabled. He then held “ a general muster or training,” at
which each company, with a discharge of musketry, took
possession of its proper station in the line of defence. Stand-
ish was too good a soldier not to know the value of those
little military forms and ceremonies which are too generally
considered frivolous; and consequently, at the close of this
first of New England “ musters,” each company escorted its
captain to his house, and fired a salute on leaving him. The
little captain-in-chief’s new battalion, some fifty strong, with
his tactics and discipline, was a garrison which Canonicus
might well hesitate to assail.1
As there was fear lest the savages should contrive to set
1 Here practically began the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.200
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1622.
fire to the houses, in order to make an attack during the con-
fusion, Standish trained one company, in case of fire, to at
once form a square around the endangered building and face
outward, on the alert for an enemy.
Standish’s remarkable force of character was shown by his
inspiring such a heterogeneous body with the spirit of mili-
tary obedience and even enthusiasm. His sharp words of
command, his patronizing approval, and his prompt censure
must have sounded strangely at first to the Governor, the
Assistant, the Elder, the Deacon, and other leading spirits, and
have created a desire to resist on the part of Billington, Lis-
ter, and the less zealous of the new-comers; but Standish at
the head of his command, was, for the time being, the greatest
man in the Colony, and though most obedient in civil mat-
ters, he was not a captain who would waive one particle of his
authority when under arms. By the couch of the sick his
eye was of more than feminine gentleness; but when on mili-
tary duty was such that no delinquent cared a second time to
face it, and before it the murderous savage and the frenzied
planter with levelled gun were known to quail.
In March it was decided to make a second trip to Boston
Harbor; but the final arrangements were disturbed by Hobo-
mok’s suspicions of Tisquantum. There had been at first
some fear that these two would connive to benefit themselves
at the expense of the Colonists; and the latter, therefore, had
not been sorry to find some little jealousy between the two.
To insure accurate intelligence, Bradford more especially
patronized Tisquantum, and Standish Hobomok. Hobomok
now advised against the proposed expedition, expressing a
fear that the Massachusetts were in league with the Narra-
gansets and would contrive to destroy the party, or that
otherwise Canonicus would attack the settlement during the
absence of Standish and his comrades. He alleged that he
had seen many consultations between strange visitors and
Tisquantum, which were always broken off if he drew near;
and he had no doubt that Tisquantum was leagued with the
enemy to lead the expedition to ruin.1622.]
TISQUANTUM’S INDIAN ALARM.
201
The leaders, after long deliberation, decided that they must
search for food, and that a timid abandonment of the voyage
would give confidence to their enemies. They therefore sent
the shallop, with Standish and ten men, accompanied by both
Tisquantum and Hobomok. While the boat was on her way,
one of Tisquantum’s family came running to a party that had
gone back of the settlement, and shouted to them to hasten
home, for the Narragansets, with Massasoit and Corbitant,
were advancing from Namasket to destroy the plantation in
Standish’s absence. He showed a fresh cut on his face, say-
ing that he received that for speaking in favor of the English,
and had a narrow escape from worse usage. He frequently
looked over his shoulder, and seemed to be in great fear that
the enemy were following close behind. On being taken into
Plymouth he repeated his story to the Governor.
Standish, from lack of wind, was still off the Gurnet.1
Hearing three alarm-guns from the ^battery, he returned as
fast as he could. As he approached the village, he saw that
every man there was under arms, prepared to repel an
immediate assault.
On hearing the story, Hobomok said flatly that it was false,
and he most stoutly upheld the good faith of Massasoit, de-
claring that the chief would not undertake any such matter
without obtaining the approval of his pineses, or “ men of
valor,” of whom he, Hobomok, was one. The Governor said
that he should lament a war with any of the natives, but
especially with Massasoit, for whom his love “ more ex-
ceeded ” than to others. The honest Hobomok bluntly
replied that as there was no cause for distrust, the Governor
would do well to continue his affection. Finally, Hobomok’s
wife was sent to Sowams to observe matters. Finding every-
thing as usual, she told Massasoit what had happened at
Plymouth; upon which the king was much provoked. He
sent to the Governor, thanking him for his kind feelings, and
1 This point is here mentioned for the first time by the name “ Gurnet,” by
Winslow, in his Relation. He styles it “the point . . . called the Gurnet’s
Nose.” This would imply that the name was in general use.202
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1622.
assuring him that, according to their treaty, notice would be
given of any hostile indications.
The truth is that Hobomok and Massasoit were to some
extent superior to their nature and education. Poor Tisquan-
tum was only equal to his, and had hoped to become the
most important of the savages through his influence with the
whites. He had before this, sent private word to several
Indians that the whites meant to kill them; and after receiv-
ing satisfactory presents, would pretend to have secured a
pardon for the intended victim. In time he so far imposed
on his countrymen that even sachems sought his protection,
and paid court to him rather than to Massasoit. Still, the
grand-sachem stood first in the confidence of the Colonists;
and therefore, as Winslow supposes, Tisquantum had devised
this false alarm, hoping that the first result would be an in-
vasion of Massasoit’s country, and such overt acts as should
alienate that chief from the Colony. Then Tisquantum might
stand first in the regards of both races, and reap no small
dignity and profit.
One of the interpreter’s tricks was to tell the natives that
the white men kept the plague buried in the store-house,
from which it might at pleasure be sent forth to any people
whom his friends, the whites, might wish to destroy. One
day Tisquantum came to the store-house just as the ground
had been opened where some barrels of gunpowder were
kept buried without his knowledge. Hobomok privately
asked him what those barrels were; upon which the ready
story-teller replied that this was the place where the plague
was kept, as he had often intimated; but Hobomok inquiring
of a white friend as to the matter, the plotter was exposed,
and fell into yet greater disfavor with both races.
This alarm over, the trip to the Massachusetts was resumed.
Nothing more is said of it than that the party “ had a good
store of trade,” and were put in great danger by a storm as
they re-entered Plymouth Harbor, where they found Massa-
soit waiting to vindicate himself, and much enraged at Tis-
quantum. He at length went home somewhat pacified; butTISQUANTUM’S PERIL.
203
1622.]
soon after sent a messenger to entreat Bradford to consent
to the death of the stirrer-up of strife. The Governor replied
that the culprit deserved death, but he desired that it might
not be inflicted, for Tisquantum was of great value to the
English, who without him could not well understand the king
or his subjects. Massasoit sent the messenger back with
others, bearing a rich present, and demanding that, according
to their solemn treaty, his subject Tisquantum be surren-
dered. He also sent his own knife, with which the messen-
gers were to cut off Tisquantum’s head and hands for delivery
at Sowams as evidence of the execution.
Bradford refused Massasoit’s gift of a large lot of skins, be-
cause the surrender, if made, should not be for a consideration.
He invented all sorts of delays, but could not well violate the
treaty. If he should openly disregard it, the Indians would
lose confidence in the white man’s word, and be ever inclined
to bad faith. Honor was in conflict with humanity and
gratitude.
When Bradford had exhausted his last pretext for delay,
Tisquantum was summoned. He well knew for what he was
wanted; but though he might easily have escaped, he would
not attempt it, but promptly placed himself at Bradford’s dis-
posal. He made no appeal or complaint, beyond denouncing
Hobomok as the author of his ruin. At this moment word
was brought that a boat had just crossed the mouth of the
harbor and disappeared behind the land. The Governor then
declared that there were such rumors of collusion between
the French and the hostile Indians that he would do nothing
further in Tisquantum’s case until he should have investi-
gated the character of this craft. As this involved postpone-
ment to a future day, the messengers flew into a rage and
departed for Sowams. Massasoit also was very angry at the
non-surrender, and, discontinuing his visits to Plymouth,
seemed to lose all friendship for the Colonists. Tisquantum
was no more molested; but, with a due regard for safety, was
ever afterward careful not to venture outside the protection of
the white men.CHAPTER XVIII.
Weston’s Impudence. — Scarcity of Food. — The “Charity” and the
“ Swan.” — The Weymouth Colony. — Tisquantum’s Death. — Expe-
dition for Corn.
HE boat which had appeared so opportunely for Tisquan-
tum was the shallop of the “ Sparrow,” — a small ship
partly owned by Weston, now fishing on the Maine coast in
company with some thirty other English vessels. It brought
a series of letters from Weston, extending over three months.
The earliest gave assurances of great things that the Adven-
turers were about to do for the Colony; but in the later epistles
Weston announced that he had sold his shares and withdrawn
from the Adventurers altogether. He also stated that he was
about to establish near Plymouth a settlement on his own ac-
count, and sent by this craft seven men as the advance of his
company. These men he coolly begged the Plymouth people
to keep until the main body should come.1 He added that
he had sent in the “ Sparrow,” for the Colony, a ton of bread
and a quantity of fish; and closed, as usual, with very pious
expressions of regard. Bradford seems to have known his
man too well to base any hopes upon this supply. It was
well that disappointment was thus saved; for Weston not only
sent no bread or fish to the Colonists, but neglected to furnish
food for the seven men he thrust upon them. His thorough
falsity was now so apparent that even the worthy Cushman
began to understand him.
The people at Plymouth were at length famishing. For
six months they had lived on half allowance; but June found
1 For notices of some of these men, see Phineas Pratt, Chap. XXI., and John
Hampden, Chap. XX., note.1622.] shell-fish. —privation and deprivation. 205
them with an empty store-house. Wild-fowl and ground-nuts
were out of season, bass were plenty in the outer harbor,
and cod in the bay; but they had no nets strong enough for
the former, and no deep-water tackle suited to the haunts of
the latter. Lobsters, clams, and muscles were obtainable
with considerable labor, and formed the chief diet during
much of the hot weather.1 Shell-fish, with no bread, meat,
or vegetables, and often scanty in amount, proved insufficient
to preserve the fresh complexions and the strength of the
people; yet the settlers had a wonderful exemption from
disease. Such was the community of which Weston besought
the sustenance for some months of seven pioneers of a rival,
if not hostile, plantation. Hospitality has ever been a lead-
ing virtue of the Old Colony, and the seven intruders were
welcomed to an equal share of such provision as the Colonists
could get for themselves.
This shallop also brought a letter from John Huddleston,
master of one of the fishing-vessels at the East. He was an
1 It has been mentioned that dams were abundant at Plymouth Harbor, no-
tably on Saquish banks (the name Saquish meaning something like “dam”).
Winslow’s Manornet (Buzzard’s Bay) reference to “dams and other shell-fish,
one in shape like a bean, another like a dam,” means the common clam (Mya
arenaria), the razor-clam (solen), and the quahog [from Indian “poquauhock”J
( Venus mercenaria). It might have been applied to Plymouth and vicinity. Dr.
Young says, p. 306: “The English call the first of these (the common clam) the
‘sandgaper,’ the name clam not being in use there, or to be found (1844) in their
dictionaries.” Yet it is thus mentioned by Captain John Smith in his “ Descrip-
tion of New England,” 1616: “ You shall scarcely find any bay, or shallow shore,
or cove of sand, where you may not take as many clambes, or lobsters, or both,
at your pleasure.” Johnson’s “Wonder-working Providence,” 1654, speaks of
“ clam-banks, a fish as big as horse-muscles.” Morton’s “ New English Canaan,”
1637, notices them; Joscelyn’s “ Rarities,” 1672, speaks of “clam, or clamp, a
kind of shell-fish, a white muscle ; ” and Wood’s “ Prospect,” 1634, says, “ clams,
or clamps, is a shell-fish not much unlike a cockle; it lieth under the sand.
These fishes be in great plenty. In some places of the country there be clams
as big as a penny white-loaf.” The reference to large clams evidently means sea-
dams, or quahogs.
The razor-clam slightly resembles a bean-pod, or one of its shells the broad
part of the blade of a razor (See Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 192). Joscelyn calls
them “ sheath-fish, which are very plentiful, a delicate fish, as good as a prawnr
covered with a thin shell like the sheath of a knife, and of the color of a muscle.”
Morton says; “Razor:jishes there are. . . .” See Gould’s Rep. on Mollusca of
Mass.206	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1622.
entire stranger to the Pilgrims, but took this occasion to notify
them, in a very kindly letter, of a massacre in Virginia, where
the savages had murdered three hundred and forty-seven
settlers,1 and but for the exposure of their plot at the last
moment by a friendly Indian, would have annihilated that
colony. The worthy captain therefore urged the Pilgrims to
be forearmed.
When the “ Sparrow’s ” shallop returned to Maine, Win-
slow accompanied her in one of the Colony’s shallops (they
now had two) to buy provisions. He was cordially received
by Captain Huddleston, who, however, could spare very little
from his stores. That little he at once furnished, and refused
all pay. He also gave Winslow a letter to the other captains
on the coast, who, with many expressions of regard and sym-
pathy, all followed Huddleston’s example; for while none
could give much, what might be spared was gladly contributed
without price.
When Winslow reached home he found the people visibly
weaker; some had lost flesh, while others were troubled with
bloating. Still, no pestilence had resulted. Winslow’s glean-
ings among the fishing-fleet produced bread enough to allow
each inhabitant four ounces a day from the last of June until
harvest. This scanty ration, however unsatisfactory to the
appetite, was invaluable in a sanitary point of view when
added to the otherwise almost unvaried diet of shell-fish. As
the self-denial of half-starved people could not be relied upon
as to making a proper expenditure of their bread, all was
locked up, and the little allowance weighed out daily.
In the spring sixty acres of Indian corn had been planted.
The decreasing strength of the Colonists was hardly equal to
the thorough cultivation by hand of so large a field ; but even
that waning vigor was required elsewhere. In view of the
Virginia massacre and suspension of Massasoit’s friendship,
the Pilgrims began building a stronghold on Fort Hill. But
however energetic the instinct of self-preservation may have
1 The above number of killed is that stated by Captain John Smith.1622.]	THE “CHARITY” AND THE “SWAN.”	20J
rendered the minor members of the Colony at the outset of
this undertaking, they soon tired, under the summer’s sun,
of sawing plank and tugging heavy oak timbers up the hill
from remote locations. The work went on more and more
slowly; when winter came, their fort was still unfinished, and
seemed likely to remain so for that season.
In the middle of the summer two of Weston’s emigrant
ships arrived, — the “ Charity,” of ioo tons, and the “ Swan,”
of only 30. They brought nearly sixty of his men, including
a few of fair character, and many who were not. This brawl-
ing, profane crowd was landed at Plymouth, while the “ Char-
ity ” made a trip to Virginia, and the “ Swan ” went in search
of a place for a settlement.1
Weston had obtained his patent under a pretence of ex-
tending the Church of England in New England; and his
principal men seem to have had a Puritan contempt for
Separatists and Independents, whom they still merged under
the general term of Brownists. They were victualled from
the “ Charity’s ” stores, but for house-room drew upon the
Pilgrims. The latter showed them as much kindness as was
in their power, but were repaid with nothing but disorder
and poorly concealed ridicule and slander. The very moder-
ate crop of maize to which the Colony looked for the next
year’s sustenance was outrageously plundered by the visitors,
who had discovered the rustic luxury of green corn roasted
in the ear, and, to gratify their fancy for it, robbed the corn-
field by night and day until they had very seriously damaged
the crop.
After six weeks the vessels returned, and took the men to
Wessagusset,2 now Weymouth, where, at a place called Old
Spain, the new colony was begun. Although they had a sur-
geon of their own (Mr. Salisbury), they left at Plymouth
several of their sick, who remained in the care of Dr. Fuller
1	Mr. Weston, in a letter, owns that many of them are rude and profane fel-
lows; . . . and Mr. John Pierce (sic), in another, writes: “As for Mr. Weston’s
company, they are so base in condition for the most part, as in all appearances
not fit for an honest man’s company.” — Bradford.
2	Winslow gives this name as “ Wichaguscusset.”208
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1622.
until healed, and then joined their fellows. Seven men had
been supported by the Plymouth people for a long time; the
remainder had received shelter and much other accommoda-
tion, and had inflicted vital injury on their hosts. Yet for all
they had done and all they had lost, no compensation was
ever even offered to the Pilgrims. Instead of thanks, they
received ingratitude and misrepresentation.
In September the “ Discovery ” arrived from Virginia on
her way to England, under Jones, the former master of the
“ Mayflower.” 1 Jones had spare provisions and a large stock
of goods for the Indian trade. He readily furnished the Pil-
grims with all they wanted, but exacted a double price, and
would only allow for beaver-skins a fifth or a sixth of their
value. So great was the distress of the Colony, present and
prospective, that the opportunity to trade on even these ra-
pacious terms was attributed to “ God’s good mercy.” The
Indian wares were of the greatest importance, for with them
food could be purchased from the natives.
The Colony’s crop proved very light. Several of the subor-
dinates had followed the example of Weston’s men in stealing
green ears; and though some were publicly whipped, the
depredations continued. The result was that the matured
corn, finally harvested, was altogether insufficient to feed the
people, even for the winter.
In October the “ Charity” sailed for England, leaving Wes-
ton’s Colony an ample supply of provisions to last until the
next harvest. This supply was at once wasted in the most
reckless manner. One of the leaders was charged with main-
taining an Indian harem from the public stores, while insubor-
dination and prodigality ruled everywhere. At an early day
the new-comers began to anticipate a famine.
1 See Neill’s “ English Colonization,” etc., noticed p. viii. Bradford vaguely
says, “ One Captain Jons being cheefe therin.” This expression shows that ship-
masters were then sometimes called captains, — a title, however, which he had
used before. Jones had as a passenger John Pory, late Secretary of Virginia,
who for courtesies received returned thanks to Bradford and Brewster in a cor-
dial, pious note. But Neill calls him, with unconscious humor, a “brilliant
scholar and tippler.”1622.]	CORN. — TISQUANTUM’S DEATH. _	209
The head of this Weymouth company was “ Master Rich-
ard Greene/' a brother-in-law of Weston’s; the next authority
was John Sanders. There was also a surgeon; but no men-
tion is made of a religious teacher. The government of the
Colony exercised little if any restraint upon the settlers.
Soon loud complaints began to be heard from the Neponsets
that the new settlers were not only insolent, but were in the
habit of robbing them. Bradford assured Obtakiest's mes-
sengers of the detestation of the Plymouth people for such
conduct, and volunteered to remonstrate. He did the latter
faithfully, but without effect; for the abuses and complaints
steadily increased.
Late in the season Master Greene proposed taking the
“ Swan ” and uniting with Bradford in a cruise on the south
side of Cape Cod, to buy corn with the Plymouth trading
goods obtained from Jones. An agreement was soon put in
writing. Standish was to command, and Tisquantum be pilot
and interpreter. Just as the “Swan” was ready to sail,
Mr. Greene died at Plymouth of a fever, and there, as the
head of a sister Colony, he was buried with great ceremony.
Twice the vessel sailed, and was driven back by storms; the
third time, Standish was down with a fever, and his place was
taken by Bradford.
The “ Swan” failing on her first trial to find the way
through the Monamoy shoals, her incompetent master in-
sisted on postponing efforts to the next day. Accordingly
Tisquantum took the craft to Monamoy (now Chatham), into
which port she easily sounded her way. The natives at first
fled, but were persuaded by Tisquantum to return and trade,—
to such good purpose that eight hogsheads of corn and beans
were soon obtained. Preparations were then made for resum-
ing the voyage, for Tisquantum felt sure of finding the passage
through the shoals. But he was destined not to make the
trial, being seized with a fever, attended by nose-bleeding,
which symptom the Indians regarded as fatal; and it speedily
proved so in this case.
Tisquantum bequeathed his little property to several of his
ia
*210	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1622
white friends, and requested from Bradford, who tenderly
nursed him, a prayer that his soul might “ go to the English-
men's God in heaven." Well might Bradford feel this death
to be “ a great loss." Tisquantum had at the outset allied
himself with the Pilgrims, and rendered them invaluable ser-
vices. If, with the weaknesses and ambitions of a savage, he
had practised upon the foibles of his countrymen, he had at
the same time magnified the greatness of the white men. To
them his untutored heart had ever been true, and his devotion
such as the highest civilization cannot well surpass. This
son of Nature is indeed entitled to grateful recollection. In
some far-off day it may be that the people of the Old Colony
will honor themselves by applying the names of their ances-
tors to the towns and natural features of that region. Then,
it is to be hoped, the devotion of Tisquantum and Hobomok
will receive due recognition.
The “ Swan," now without a pilot, gave up her southern
cruise, and stood over to Boston Harbor. There Bradford
was assailed with new complaints against the Weymouth
Colonists. The latter, too, had by their prodigality destroyed
the trade, for the Indians now asked as much for a quart of
corn as they formerly did for a beaver’s skin. A great pesti-
lence or plague was also devastating their tribes, so that there
could be little traffic on any terms. The vessel next went
to Nauset (Eastham). There some ten hogsheads of corn
and beans were bought; but as the shallop had been cast
away in a storm, the grain could not be brought off. Brad-
ford therefore stacked it, and hired an Indian living near by
to guard it from thieves and vermin. The sachem was also
employed to care for the shallop. At Mattachiest (Barn-
stable Harbor) a further purchase (some ten hogsheads) was
made and stacked in like manner.
Bradford, desiring to examine the country, went home from
the Cape on foot. He was treated with much respect by the
natives along his route of forty miles through the wilderness,
and came safely to Plymouth, “ weary and surbated" (i.e.,
with galled feet). Three days afterward the ship came in,1622] BRINGING HOME CORN. —INDIAN JUSTICE.
211
the cargo was divided, and she went home. Soon after
Bradford walked to Namasket, and subsequently to Manomet
(twenty miles south). At the former place he bought corn, to
be delivered at Plymouth by the Indians. They, as usual, set
their women at transporting it on their shoulders over the
fifteen-mile route; but soon the pestilence reached Namas-
ket, putting an end to the labor, and requiring the Plymouth
men to perform themselves the slow, heavy labor they had
paid others to do. At Manomet (Buzzard’s Bay) more corn
was bought, and left with Canacum for a time. During his
stay with this hospitable old chief the Governor witnessed a
curious case of criminal justice. One cold night two Mona-
moy Indians entered Canacum’s dwelling; and taking seats
by the fire, proceeded to smoke their pipes, while all present
preserved a profound silence. After a long time one of the
visitors, in the name of his sachem, made Canacum a present
of beads and tobacco, and asked his opinion. Two of the
Monamoys had quarrelled while gambling, and one had killed
the other. The homicide was a powah of great note, whom
the tribe could not well spare ; but a stronger tribe than
theirs threatened them with war if they did not execute him
for the murder. Their sachem therefore referred the matter
to Canacum. The latter took the opinion of his chief men,
and also called upon Hobomok, Bradford’s guide, who was
well known as a pinese of Massasoit’s. Hobomok replied
that it was better for one to die than many, since he deserved
it, and the rest were innocent. Canacum then decided in
favor of the homicide’s death.
The little supplies the Pilgrims thus procured would go but
a small way toward subsisting their Colony till a new harvest.
Another famine was evidently to come with the summer.
Weston’s men were arousing a hostile feeling among the
Massachusetts tribes, trade was at a standstill, and the pros-
pect for the new year appeared discouraging.CHAPTER XIX.
INDIAN TREACHERY.
THE omens were indeed inauspicious as the third year of
the Colony (1623 O. S.) opened. But with all their evils,
present and impending, the people had the inestimable bless-
ing of universal good health; and though less resolute hearts
might have quailed, the calm courage of the Pilgrims rose
with these new demands upon it. Nothing that energy could
accomplish was left undone to keep back the wolf that threat-
ened their doors. In January Standish, having recovered his
health, took the remaining shallop, and, with the aid of the
“ Swan” and her carpenter, repaired the one wrecked at
Nauset, and brought off the two stacks of corn, which had
stood two months without injury. Before the ship sailed
both these shallops had to be cut adrift in a storm, but were
soon recovered in good condition.
While at Nauset a savage stole some goods from Standish's
shallop. The impetuous little captain at once went to the
sachem (Aspinet), demanding either the goods or the thief;
and refusing all hospitality, left with threats against the whole
tribe if his demand was not complied with. The next day
the sachem, with a great following, came to the captain.
Winslow describes Aspinet’s salutation as follows :	“ He
thrust out his tongue that one might see the root thereof,
and therewith licked his hand from the wrist to the fingers'
end, withal bowing the knee, striving to imitate the English
gesture, being instructed therein formerly by Tisquantum.
His men did the like, but in so rude and savage a manner as1623.] INDIAN PLOTTING. — STANDISH’S WATCHFULNESS. 213
our men could scarce forbear to break out in open laughter/'
The chief returned the goods, and said that he had “ much
beaten ” the thief. He then caused his women to feast the
whites on new bread, and seemed to be glad at the restora-
tion of harmony. This corn was divided, as before, with the
Weymouth people.
In February, the corn running low, Standish went in the
shallop to find some more at Mattachiest (Barnstable). There
he was frozen in at night. As Iyanough’s men were in a con-
spiracy to kill the party, they sought to throw Standish off
his guard by professing great love for him, and bringing
much corn. Several strange Indians also came with them,
pretending great curiosity to see the white people. The lat-
ter, still unsuspicious, were obliged to accept lodgings of the
Indians ; but Standish’s wonderful instinct telling him of
danger near, he made, half his men keep watch while the
others slept, and so averted the attack.
Here, as at Nauset, an Indian stole some trading-goods
from the shallop. Standish at once caused his men to sur-
round the sachem’s cabin, where most of the people were.
He then assured the natives that while he would do them no
wrong, neither would he suffer any; and if this matter were
not righted, he should attack them forthwith. Iyanough,
finding the thief, made him secretly lay his plunder on the
shallop’s cuddy, and then urged Standish to. search more
carefully and see whether his goods were not somewhere on
board after all. Standish accepted this dishonest form of
restitution without more words. The savages, however, had
been so frightened that they dared do nothing further at that
time, and to conciliate the captain, sold him corn enough to
completely load the shallop.
In the middle of March Standish went in the shallop to the
north side of Sandwich to obtain the corn Bradford bought
at Manomet in January. The Indians now received the whites
with decided coldness. Soon two of the Neponsets arrived;
one being Wituwamat, “ a notable insulting villain,” who had
already slain both English and French, whom he derided214
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
because “ they died crying, making sour faces, more like
children than men.”
This ruffian gave Canacum a dagger which he had obtained
from Weston’s men, and then made a speech, saying that his
tribe had concluded to slaughter the Weymouth Colonists,
which they felt strong enough to do, as the Neponsets num-
bered from thirty to forty fighting men; but the Plymouth
people would surely avenge their murdered countrymen un-
less the conspiracy was extensive enough for the destruction
of both Colonies. The Neponsets had already solicited the
co-operation of Canacum, Iyanough, and many others, and
now was a good opportunity to begin by slaying Standish
and his men. After this speech Wituwamat was treated with
far greater hospitality than Standish, — much to the latter’s
plainly expressed indignation. The Indians then sought to
persuade Standish, on account of the cold, to send for all his
men to come and sleep on shore with him; but he refused,
and insisted that the corn should be sent on board, that he
might pay the carriers (women), which was done.
He had become a good Indian linguist, excelling all his
associates; but was unable to extract any meaning from
Wituwamat’s bloodthirsty harangue, so careful had the con-
spirator been to use figurative and unusual expressions. Yet
his instinct again warned him; and it was well that it did so,
for though he insisted on lodging at his own rendezvous, he
was accompanied by a stout Pamet who had secretly agreed
to kill him. This savage had heretofore been known to the
Pilgrims as “ very affable, courteous, and loving,” especially
toward Standish. He was now more attentive than ever.
He presented the captain with a great kettle, and refused any
present in return, saying that he was rich, and could afford
gifts to those he loved. He even tugged down some of the
corn, remarking that he had never done such work before.
Standish was that night affected by a wakefulness for which,
as he declared to the Pamet, he could not account. All
night he either sat by the fire or walked to and fro, not once
feeling sleepy. His intended assassin patiently watched;1623.]
PLOTTING. —RETURN TO PLYMOUTH.
215
but, Indian-like, dared not attack him while he remained
awake. The next day the shallop reached Plymouth. The
Pamet wTent in her; and on the way, professing grief for the
destitution of his white friends, promised to procure them a
large quantity of corn if they would go with him to Pamet.
Standish bore up for that place; but the wind hauling ahead,
he once more stood away for home. In all probability he
had again unconsciously saved his life; but neither he nor
his associates had as yet the least suspicion of the wide-
spread, desperate plot for their destruction. Gratitude for an
act of mercy at their hands was about to bring them timely
warning of their danger, and of the sharp remedy required to
counteract it.CHAPTER XX.
THE WONDERFUL CURE OF MASSASOIT.
STANDISH and his comrades found Plymouth much ex-
cited over the report that a Dutch ship was stranded at
Sowams, and that Massasoit lay dangerously sick at the same
place. The impending famine made the Pilgrims especially
desirous of communicating with the friendly Dutch; while
the Indian custom of making visits of ceremony to prominent
people in sickness rendered it highly desirable that an em-
bassy be sent to the bedside of Massasoit. Therefore, taking
Hobomok as interpreter, Winslow was sent as chief messen-
ger; for he was familiar with the Dutch tongue, and had
already been at Sowams to visit Massasoit, with whom he
was a favorite. Winslow’s associate on the journey was, as
he says, “ Master John Hamden, a gentleman of London,
who then wintered with us and desired much to see the
country.” Dr. Belknap found reasons for supposing Win-
slow’s “ consort” to have been the illustrious John Hamp-
den. The reasons for this conclusion are not given, and
many writers doubt its correctness. But no good argument
has appeared against Belknap’s supposition, and it is favored
by many circumstances. The visitor’s title of “ Master,” his
earnestness to encounter hardship and danger that he might
“ see the country,” and the readiness of the Colonists to make
him Winslow’s colleague and adviser on so important a mis-
sion, all indicate a guest of no ordinary stamp. It was like
Hampden to privately cross over in some fishing-vessel and
examine for himself the region in which, as many thought, all1623.]
JOHN HAMPDEN.—VISITING CORBITANT.
217
freedom-loving Englishmen would soon be driven to find an
asylum. Dr. Young thinks that a visit from the great patriot
could not fail to be pointedly noticed by both Winslow and
Bradford; but these authors wrote of this expedition before
Hampden had become famous, though not before he had
become odious to the Crown. A conspicuous record of his
friendship for the Colony would have been only an additional
obstacle to the much-desired royal charter. So long as it
cannot be shown that Hampden at that time was elsewhere,
there is nothing improbable in the belief that he was with
Winslow.1
The first night the messengers were kindly entertained by
the Namaskets. At I P. M., on the second day, they reached
Slade’s Ferry (in Swansea),2 where they were told that the
Dutch ship was afloat and sailing away, while Massasoit was
dead and buried. Hobomok, fearing that with Massasoit
dead there would be no safety for white men, urged an im-
mediate return; but Winslow, reflecting that they were then
in the country of the Pocassets, whose chief (Corbitant)
would be likely to succeed Massasoit, and that a visit might
strengthen the questionable friendship of that sachem, de-
sired to go to his dwelling. There was danger in this, for
both Winslow and Hobomok had been active in the Namasket
expedition of 1621, which was aimed at Corbitant’s life in
case Tisquantum had proved to be slain, and the insincere
sachem might take this opportunity of revenge. But both
of Winslow’s companions yielding to his desire, the party
1	There was a James “ Hamblin” in Barnstable (1640), but he does not ap-
pear to have been a man of any prominence, nor one who would at all answer to
the description; neither was he a citizen of Plymouth at the land-division of
1623-4, or the cattle-division of 1627.
The statement that subsequent to this time Hampden, with his cousin Crom-
well, Pym, and Hazelrig embarked for New England, but were stopped by Gov-
ernment, is groundless. The passengers were only temporarily detained, and
these names are not on their list, which is extant.
In this connection it is interesting to find Phineas Pratt saying in his narrative
(Mass. Hist. Coll., iv., series i.) that as he neared Plymouth he met “ Mr. Ham-
din.” His expression shows the latter to have been his social superior, and a
person supposed to be well known to his readers. (See Chap. XXI.)
2	Near western limits of Fall River.218
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
proceeded to Corbitant’s house (the sachimo-comaco) at
Mattapuyst (Gardner’s Neck, Swansea).
The sachem had gone to visit Massasoit; but his wife, the
“ squaw-sachem,” treated the travellers with hospitality, while
an Indian messenger went to Sowams for tidings. On the
journey Hobomok had touchingly mourned for his friend and
ruler, exclaiming, Neen womasu sagimus! neen womasu
sagimus ! etc., or, “ My loving sachem ! my loving sachem !
Many have I known, but never any like thee! ” Winslow
adds that he was assured by Hobomok that “ Whilst I lived
I should never see his like among the Indians. He was no
liar; he was not bloody and cruel, like other Indians; in
anger and passion he was soon reclaimed; easy to be recon-
ciled towards such as had offended him; ruled by reason in
such measure as he would not scorn the advice of mean men;
and that he governed his men better with few strokes than
others did with many, truly loving where he loved. Yes, he
feared we had not a faithful friend left among the Indians;
showing how he ofttimes restrained their malice, etc., con-
tinuing a long speech with such signs of lamentation and
unfeigned sorrow as it would have made the hardest heart
relent.”
This description gives us a highly favorable opinion of Mas-
sasoit, and of Hobomok also. Under the circumstances, it
was doubtless a just tribute to the great ruler, of whose char-
acter we should otherwise have little positive information.
Half an hour before sunset the runner returned from
Sowams, stating that the Dutch ship had just departed, but
that the king was still living, though he would doubtless die
before the visitors could reach him. The latter then set
forth with such speed as they could in the early darkness,
and reached Sowams late in the evening. Massasoit’s dwell-
ing was so crowded that while all tried to make room, the
strangers had great difficulty in reaching the sick-bed. The
powahs were in the midst of their incantations,1 making, as
1 The priest comes close to the sick person and performs many strange ac-
tions about him, and threatens and conjures out the sickness. The poor people1623.] INDIAN DOCTORING. —MASSASOIT’S TREATMENT. 219
Winslow says, “ such a hellish noise as it distempered us that
were well, and therefore unlike to ease him that was sick.”
During the din several women were more sensibly engaged
in chafing the chiefs limbs to maintain the animal heat. The
patient had not slept for two days, and had become entirely
blind.
When the “ charming” ceased, Massasoit was told who had
come to see him. Upon this he feebly groped with his hand,
which Winslow took. The chief then twice said faintly,
Keen Winsnow ?1 or “ Art thou Winslow? ” Winslow replied,
Ahhe ! or “ Yes ! ” The patient then feebly muttered, Matta
neen wonckanet namen, Winsnow ! which was to say, “ I shall
never see thee again, O Winslow! ” Winslow then delivered,
through Hobomok, a message of sympathy from Bradford,
and producing “ a confection of many comfortable conserves,”
etc., he took some of it upon the point of his knife, and with
great trouble succeeded in getting it through the sick man's
teeth. When the confection had been dissolved in his mouth,
it was readily swallowed. This greatly astonished and de-
lighted the spectators, for nothing had been before swallowed
for two days.
Winslow then contrived to clean Massasoit’s mouth, “ which
was exceedingly furred,” and scrape his swollen tongue, re-
moving an abundance of foul matter. Next, the patient
commonly die under their hands; for, alas ! they administer nothing, but howl
and roar and hollow over them, and begin the song to the rest of the people, who
all join like a choir in prayer to their gods for them. — Roger Williams.
Wood says: “The powow sitting down, the rest give attentive audience to
his imprecations and invocations, and after the violent expression of many a
hideous bellowing and groaning, he makes a stop, and then all the auditors with
one voice utter a short canto, which done, the powow still proceeds, sometimes
roaring like a bear, other times groaning like a dying horse, foaming at the
mouth like a chafed boar, smiting his naked breast and thighs with such violence
as if mad. Thus he will continue sometimes half a day.”
1 The Indians had much trouble with the European r sound, and commonly
made an indistinct and unhappy nasal in place of it.
Williams says : “ Some pronounce not / nor ry yet it is the most proper dialect
of other places.” Eliot’s Indian Grammar states that “ These consonants /, n, rt
have such a natural coincidence, that it is an eminent variation of their dialects.
We Massachusetts pronounce the n; the Nipmucks,/; Northern Indians, r.”
The Western Indians of to-day seem to follow the old Nipmucks in substituting
/ for r.220	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1623.
desiring drink, some of the confection was dissolved in water
and given him. Within half an hour he had visibly improved,
and soon began to see again. Winslow continued his nursing
all night. He also sent Indians to Plymouth with a note de-
scribing the case, and asking Dr. Fuller’s advice, as well as
that some delicacies be returned, especially a pair of chickens
for broth.
Before morning, the king’s appetite beginning to return, he
asked for broth or pottage like that he had eaten at Plymouth.
Winslow was unfamiliar with such cookery, and had neither
meat, rice, vegetables, nor seasoning. In that early month
there were no herbs to be found. But setting his wits at
work, he took the coarse part of some pounded corn and set
it on the fire in an earthen pot;1 he then added a handful of
strawberry-leaves and the sliced root of a sassafras-bush.
When this compound had been well cooked, he strained the
liquid through his handkerchief and gave a pint of it to his
patient. The broth was highly relished, and seemed to work
wonders ; the vital organs resumed their duties, his sight
became perfect, and gentle slumber soon followed. When
Massasoit awoke, he persuaded Winslow to go to the different
wigwams and treat several of the tribe who were sick, the
kind Massasoit telling Winslow that the poor sufferers were
“ good folk.” This labor, though very offensive to the senses,
being performed with cheerfulness and success, was as benefi-
cial to the people of Plymouth, from a political point of view,
as it was medically to the sufferers.
In the afternoon, Massasoit desiring some wild fowl, Win-
slow succeeded1 in shooting a very fat duck, at a range of
three hundred and sixty feet. When this had been made
into broth, Winslow insisted on skimming off the fat, fearing
its effect on a weak stomach; but his wilful patient would not
allow it. In consequence, within an hour Massasoit, who had
eaten too heartily of the dish, was again very sick. In his
straining he brought on the dreaded nose-bleed, which could
1 The pots they seethe their food in are made of clay or earth, almost in the
form of an egg, the top taken off. — Gookin.1623.]
MASSASOIT’S RECOVERY.
221
not be checked for four hours. The case for some time was
desperate; but at length his retching subsided, and then the
hemorrhage, after which he slept for nearly eight hours.
When he awoke, Winslow bathed his face and beard; but
suddenly the chief thrusting his nose into the basin of water,
and drawing up a large quantity, ejected it so violently that
his nose-bleed returned. At this sight the Indians gave up
their renewed hopes and utterly despaired ; but Winslow,
seeing that the bleeding was superficial, soon stopped it.
The loss of blood had been a benefit. The king now needed
only care as to diet, and more sleep ; by the second morning
he was comparatively well, having a good appetite, and being
able to sit up and converse.
The supplies from Plymouth arrived in about twenty-four
hours from the departure of the runners from Sowams (fifty
miles and back). The medicines were no longer needed, and
the chickens Massasoit wisely concluded to keep for breed-
ing. Visitors continued to come from all the tribes round
about, and to them a pinese constantly repeated the details of
the wonderful cure which his English friends had wrought
upon their good ruler when he was wellnigh “ spent.” The
day before Winslow’s coming, a visiting sachem had assured
Massasoit that the English were no friends to him, and espe-
cially insisted that they had neglected him in his sickness.
After his recovery the chief could not too warmly or too
constantly express his gratitude, exclaiming, among other
things: “ Now I see the English are my friends and love me;
and while I live I will never forget this kindness they have
showed me.”
Hamden and Hobomok had earnestly assisted Winslow,
and all three were entertained by the Indians in the best pos-
sible manner, until, after nearly two days from their arrival,
they were sped on their way with the warmest thanks of both
sovereign and people. Before their departure Massasoit, in
a secret council with his pineses, charged Hobomok with a
message to be delivered to Winslow during the journey. The
sachem Corbitant, who had remained in close attendance on222
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
his chief, accompanied the messengers, and insisted on their
spending that night at his home. He proved a genial host
and a witty entertainer, who, more sensible than many white
men, was highly pleased when any of his many jokes were
“ returned again upon him.” His conversation with Winslow
showed much intelligence and shrewdness. Inquiring the
meaning of the “ blessing” which Winslow asked on the food,
he and his followers patiently received a long lecture on divine
matters and religious observances, taking exception only to
the seventh commandment. As to the moral theology and
reason for asking the blessing, and giving thanks for the food
after its consumption, the Indians, according to Winslow,
“ said they believed almost all the same things, and that the
same power we called God, they called Kiehtan.” This
pleasant scene is the last in which Corbitant appears. He
probably continued to rule his tribe for a long term of years,
and be friendly to the English; for if an enemy, he would
have been occasionally criticised.
The fifth night after leaving Plymouth the messengers
spent with their native friends at Namasket, and the sixth
night found them once more at home, well but weary. Ham-
den’s desire to “ see the country” and its people had been
gratified in an extraordinary manner. On the road Hobomok
had astonished Winslow by delivering Massasoit’s parting
message, which will be given in due course.CHAPTER XXL
THE GREAT INDIAN CONSPIRACY.
ESTON’S Colonists at Weymouth had exhausted their
stores before the middle of March, even devouring
their seed-corn. Then some of them obtained scanty sup-
plies from the savages in return for the most menial services.
Others were detected in stealing from the natives, for which
they were set in the stocks or whipped; but nevertheless a
plan came to be generally entertained of seizing by force on
the stores of the Indians, as the latter would no longer sell
corn at any price.
Some few of the whites were worthy men; and these ad-
vised John Sanders, their overseer, to take no such step with-
out obtaining the approval of the Governor of Plymouth.
The latter was therefore consulted. Of course he sternly
discountenanced the scheme, assuring the settlers that the
natives were not withholding their corn through malice, but
were themselves scantily supplied ; the proposed course
would hinder the spread of “ the glad tidings of salvation/’
and would “ breed a distaste in the savages against our per-
sons and professions; ” if the King or the Council for New
England should send over a general governor, — which he
said was then expected, — that officer would doubtless punish
such an outrage, and the principals could “ expect no better
than the gallows; ” the people of Plymouth were in like des-
titution, having little corn, but by the aid of clams, muscles,1
ground-nuts, and such things, would maintain themselves till
1 Morton says: “ I have often gone to Wessaguscus, where were excellent
muscles to eat (for variety), the fish is so fat and large.”224
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
harvest; surely the Weymouth settlers could do the same,
for, in addition to these resources, they had an abundance of
oysters, which were not found at Plymouth; moreover, the
proposed act would arouse the hostility of the Indians, and
so far from preserving the Colonists, would but insure their
destruction.
Besides this public letter, Bradford privately showed San-
ders his special danger of punishment as the leader. The
result was the abandonment of the scheme. Sanders sailed
in a shallop to Monhegan to try to buy food; but he first
came to Plymouth, wThere from the dwindling stores he was
given enough corn for his voyage. He never returned to his
colony, but a substitute appointed by him ruled in his stead.
Matters fast became worse at Weymouth. The settlers
had a well-built village enclosed in a strong palisade; but the
most of them left their houses and camped about in the
woods or along the beach, where they could search for food.
They had sold to the Indians nearly all their clothing for
provisions, and were now half naked as well as half starved.
One of them ran away and joined the savages; and one,
hunting for clams, stuck in the mud, where, unable from
weakness to extricate himself, he was drowned by the tide.
Squalor, demoralization, and abjectness ruled everywhere*
except that a handful of the better men stayed by the planta-
tion and vainly tried to establish a healthier state of things.
They even hung one of the men who had stolen corn from
the natives.
The Indians, on their part, were not blameless. Proud of
their greater strength, they were arrogant and abusive. When
the wretched whites obtained a mess of food and had nearly
cooked it, the savages often came up, and taking the kettles
from the fire, would devour the contents, while with drawn
knives they kept off the famished owners. If on a cold night
they found a white man asleep under his ragged blanket,
they would strip off the covering and add it to their own
couches. Their conduct was as outrageous as that of the
Colonists, and lacked the excuse of starvation.1623]
THE PLOT. — MASS ASOIT’S WARNING.
225
Winslow, on his return from Sowams, found the leaders at
Plymouth filled with anxiety at this state of things. He in-
tensified their concern by giving them Massasoit’s parting
message, as follows : The Neponsets had determined to
slaughter the Weymouth people, which they felt able to do
with the nearly forty fighting men of their tribe. They made
no complaint against Plymouth; but as they knew that their
deed would be sternly punished by that Colony, they had
extended their plan to include the simultaneous murder of
the Plymouth people by neighboring tribes. A league for
this purpose had been formed by the Neponsets, Nausets,
Succonessets, Mattakees, Manomets, Agawaywams, and the
natives of Capawak (Martha’s Vineyard). Earnest entreaties
had been made to Massasoit, even in his sickness, to join in
the plot, but in vain. Massasoit now earnestly warned the
Pilgrims to be active. He had heard them say that they
would not strike until they had been struck; if they waited
for the first blow, they would find that blow to be the murder
of their sixty countrymen at Weymouth, whom subsequent
energy could not bring back, and whose overthrow would
precipitate upon Plymouth a bloodthirsty host difficult to
withstand. The Chief therefore charged the Colonists, as they
valued the lives of their countrymen and of themselves, to
promptly seize and execute the main conspirators among the
Neponsets. In no other way could the whites secure safety.
Massasoit, though the federal head of all these hostile tribes,
seems to have had no control over their actions; still, his
sympathy would naturally be with them, and the fact that it
was not so was evidence of the badness of their cause. His
humanity and regard for his people gave much additional
weight to his advice.
The meaning of Wituwamat’s harangue during Standish’s
recent visit at Manomet now became evident, and also why
the captain’s pretended friend had tried so earnestly to lure
him to Pamet. This latter conspirator was still at Plymouth,
seeking to draw Standish across the bay; but now that his
errand was known, he was peaceably dismissed. Winslow’s
*5226
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
story was soon corroborated. Among those who in some way
suffered for participation in Corbitant’s Namasket escapade in
1621, was a chief called Wassapinewat, brother to Obtakiest,
sachem of the Neponsets. Fearful of further retribution, he
now came to Plymouth and bore witness to the new plot.
April 2 (March 23 O. s.) was the day when the “ court,”
or town-meeting of the people, was held for the annual elec-
tion, and Bradford stated the case fully to the citizens. The
people were much grieved at the thought of shedding the
blood of those whose good they had kept prominently in
view, and whom they had hoped soon to imbue with Chris-
tian love; but Massasoit’s opinion on such a question was
wellnigh authoritative, and their own reason was forced to
indorse it. As the Governor could not wage hostilities with-
out consent of the people, he was now clothed with due
authority, and the matter placed in the hands of himself and
his associates. It was by them decided that Standish should
take a sufficient force, and under appearance of a trading
trip, warn the Weymouth people, and then inflict suitable
punishment on the conspirators; especially making sure of
Wituwamat, whose head was to be brought back and used as
a warning to his abettors, who might not otherwise credit the
story of his overthrow.
Standish selected only eight men, fearing that a larger
force might alarm the Indians so that they would keep out of
reach. On the day after town-meeting, as the captain was
preparing for his desperate task, one of the Weymouth men
of the better class, Phineas Pratt,1 made his appearance.
Seeing the danger at Weymouth, Pratt had shouldered his
pack, and started down the Indian path for Plymouth. An
Indian followed, with the intention of killing him; but passing
by while Pratt had wandered from the right path, missed his
prey and went on to Manomet.
1 Pratt (a carpenter) was one of Weston's seven men who arrived in that
boat (1622) which unwittingly saved Tisquantum from surrender to Massasoit
(p. 203). He says they were then kindly received at Plymouth. He married
at Plymouth after this second return, and died in 1680 at Charlestown, cct. 90.INDIAN INSOLENCE.
227
1623.]
On April 4 (1623) Standish sailed. At Weymouth he
found the “ Swan,” without a soul on board. Ashore was
the master, who assured Standish that the Indians were so
friendly that he allowed them to come and lodge with him
when they pleased, and kept no arms by him. At the plan-
tation all were living in fancied security, with the men scat-
tered abroad in three localities. By Standish’s advice, those
farthest away were called home, and ordered on pain of death
to stay there. Standish’s provision had been taken from the
Plymouth store of seed-corn, and was therefore very precious.
Of this he gave a pint a day to each of the people, to prevent
their straggling. The first day proving stormy, little could
be done. An Indian spy came in under pretence of selling
furs, and on his return reported that while the captain spoke
smoothly, his eye showed that he was angry at heart.
The conspirators, thereupon suspecting the plot to be dis-
covered, assumed an air of bold defiance. Pecksuot, a noted
pinese, said to Hobomok that he understood that the captain
had come to kill the savages, including the speaker; and
added: “ Tell him we know it, but fear him not, neither will
we shun him. But let him begin when he dare; he shall
not take us unawares ! ” Several of the savages hung about
Standish, whetting their knives and making insulting remarks
and defiant gestures. Wituwamat also came, boasting of his
knife, which had on the handle a woman’s face. He said he
had another at home with which he had killed both English
and French; that knife had on it a man’s face, and by and by
the two must marry. Soon the knife should see and eat, but
should not speak, — by which he intimated that his weapons
were more secret and terrible than the English fire-arms.
Then Pecksuot, in his turn, ridiculed Standish’s small stature,
and dilated upon his own strength and courage.
The little captain marvellously controlled his hasty temper,
and manifested only indifference. He sought to get the chief
conspirators together before beginning the fight; but late on
the second day, concluding this to be impracticable, he made
sure of such as were present. Pecksuot and a comrade, Witu-228
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
wamat and his brother, — a noted ruffian, though only eigh-
teen years old, — and Standish with about an equal number
of his band, were gathered in one room; and the door having
been shut, the captain gave the word. The stalwart Pecksuot
wore suspended from his neck a knife which he had brought
to an edge all along its back, giving it a point like a needle.
Standish advanced upon him, and a fierce struggle ensued for
the possession of this knife. Standish won; and turning
the weapon upon its owner, after a further desperate contest
thrust it into his heart. Wituwamat and his comrade also
fell, but the young savage was taken alive and immediately
hanged. The chiefs fought with great vigor, making no out-
cries, but receiving an astonishing number of wounds before
they succumbed. Another party slew two more Indians, and
a seventh was killed by Standish.
Early on the same day three of the Weymouth men had
escaped and gone to live among the Indians, like him pre-
viously mentioned. That night a messenger came to the
tribe with “ a sad and short message,” which caused all
the Indian men to arm and mysteriously depart. One of the
whites, becoming alarmed, urged his comrades to return; but
they refusing, he skulked back alone, and so saved his life.
The next morning Standish, with four of his men and two
settlers, aided by Hobomok, went out to meet the tribe.
The warriors were finally seen approaching in Indian file.
Both parties strove for the strategic advantage of a small hill,
which was at length gained by the whites. The Indians fell
each behind a tree and kept up a flight of arrows, aiming
chiefly at Standish and Hobomok. Then was shown the
superstitious fear the savages had of a pinese;x for Hobomok,
throwing off his coat and running toward them, they turned
and fled before him like a flock of sheep, until they gained
the thicket of a swamp, where they hid. Standish tried to
parley with them, but received only foul language. He then
1 The pineses were all supposed to have facile communication with the Devil.
“ Hobojnok ” (see Abamacho) means “devil,” — hence the old-fashioned objurga-
tive references to “ Hob.”WESSAGUSSET ABANDONED
229
1623.]
challenged the sachem to come out and “ fight like a man,”
“ showing how base and woman-like he was in tonguing it as
he did.” Obtakiest, however, took a wiser course, and with-
drew his men to a safe retreat. The only casualty in this
skirmish was to a powah, one of the chief conspirators, whose
arm was broken by a shot just as he was aiming an arrow at
Standish.1
After the action an Indian youth, previously known as
courteous and friendly, came to Standish and confessed the
plot to murder Weston’s Colonists, who had built three boats
for the Indians, and were putting the last touches on two
more. As soon as this work should be finished the massacre
was to take place. Three days later Standish would have
been too late.
The captain next released the Indian women who had been
held captive during the fight, and then urged the settlers to
go on with their plantation, assuring them that he should not
fear to live there with fewer men than they had; or if they
preferred, they would be made welcome at Plymouth. They,
however, determined to go to the fishing-vessels at Mon-
hegan and abandon the country. Their movable property
was all loaded on the “ Swan,” the palisade gates tightly fas-
tened, and away they sailed, having been supplied by Stand-
ish with all his precious corn except a scanty ration for the
homeward trip. The Plymouth party then went home, ac-
companied by a few of the settlers who were disposed to
remain in New Englafid.
The return of Standish and his party, all unhurt, caused
much rejoicing at Plymouth. The head of Wituwamat was
set on a pike above the fort, — not in brutal triumph, but ac-
cording to the custom in England and other enlightened
countries of that day.2 Brewster, when a member of Queen
1	In N. E. Gen. Reg., July, 1853, is an entirely erroneous account of this fight,
though the writer might easily have seen the only authoritative relation of it, —
that by Winslow (Chron. Pil., 338-341).
2	Philip’s head, after he was shot at the end of his war, adorned the fort in
a similar manner for over twenty years. A pair of wrens long nested in the
vacant skull. (See note to Faunce,” Chap. LVI.)230
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
Elizabeth’s brilliant court, had known hundreds of heads dis-
played at one time on London Bridge; and he and others of
the company must have seen a like garniture upon the Tower
and Temple Bar. Indeed, it was more than a century after
Brewster’s death that (1747) the passers along London’s
busiest street were compelled to travel under the decaying
heads of Lords Lovat, Kilmarnock, and Balmerino, adherents
of the second Pretender.1
The Indian who had pursued Pratt from Weymouth came
to Plymouth as a spy during Standish’s expedition. He was
seized and confined in fetters at the new fort. This edifice,
begun ten months before, had been a subject of difference
among the people; some had thought it unnecessary, and
some had pronounced it “ vainglorious.” Through the per-
sistence of the leaders the work had slowly advanced, and
under the present alarm the people had rallied and com-
pleted it just in time for this Indian. The size is not given.
De Razieres (1627) will be seen in his description to call it
large and square, while Bradford speaks of it as “ strong and
comely,” and “ a great work for them.” The lower story was
used for religious worship, probably from the time of its
completion; and it is supposed that from that time burials
were made around it, according to the English custom of
making the churchyard the place of interment.2 On top of
1	In 1660 the heads of Solicitor Coke and General Harrison were set on
Westminster Hall, facing London ; while on London Bridge was placed the head
of Hugh Peters, former pastor of Salem, Mass. The three lords mentioned in
the text were the last persons executed in England by decapitation, and the
last whose remains were exposed, save felons “ hanged in chains,” till 1834.
(See p. 5.)
2	In 1633 it was ordered that “ whereas our ancient work of fortification by
continuance of time is decayed, and Christian wisdom teacheth us to depend
upon God in the use of all good means for our safety,” therefore that a “ work
of fortification be made about the said fort” by the united labor of all able-
bodied men in the Colony. Still two years later it was found necessary to hire
Thomas Boseman to “ do the fort; ” the posts, ten inches square, to be not over
ten feet apart, with three rails between, and boarded nine feet high, cut sharp
at the top ; all the lumber to be sawed. (In 1642 it was again ordered that a
fortification be made about the ordnance, and another piece be mounted on Fort
Hill. In 1643 a watch-house was built near by the fort (fragments of its brick
foundation have often been scratched out of the ground by the author’s cane).1623.]
THE FORT. — UNRAVELLING THE PLOT.
231
the structure a watch was stationed night and day, and the
artillery was placed there behind battlements. A marble
tablet was in 1876 placed to indicate the site of this fort, a
similar one marking the neighboring site of the watch-tower
of 1643. The depressions in the ground plainly mark the out-
line of some structure there, but pertain to the third renewal
of the fort in 1676, rather than to the previous works.
When the Neponset spy had seen the head of Wituwamat,
he was terrified, and confessed the entire plot. He said that
Obtakiest, the sachem, had been averse to it, but was drawn
in by importunity. There were five principals, two being
Wituwamat and Pecksuot; the wounded powah was another;
the others were still alive. The man insisting on his own
innocence, and privately hiring1 Hobomok to intercede for
him, was released, and sent to Obtakiest with a message of
caution against further plots, a demand that he return the
three Englishmen who went to him, and an order that he
should not molest the houses of the abandoned village.
Mr. Grimes furnished the brick at in. per M. This was a special precaution
against the Dutch and the Narragansetts. (In 1643 Barnstable and Yarmouth
were ordered to each construct a stronghold to which the women and children
could repair in case of an attack.) In Philip’s War the fort was again rebuilt.
In March, 1884, while digging a grave for Abigail Judson, the aged sister of the
Baptist missionary to Burmah, much of this brick foundation was exposed,
including the hearth.
Probably the Fort Hill structure was used for worship until 1648-9, when the
first church edifice was built at the foot of the Hill on the rear of Bradford's
garden, and near the site of the present “ Church of the Pilgrimage.” Doubtless
town-meetings were held in the fort, and the common-house given up to storage.
In 1649 it was ordered that these meetings be held in the new “ meeting-house ”
above mentioned.
Burials have continued on the Hill, but within forty years restrictions
have been laid. Gravestones were not erected for at least eighty years after
burials began. The oldest known is said to be of Joseph Bartlett, died April,
1703, <zt. 37 ; but there is over an older grave a more recent stone bearing a
prior date, — that of “ Edward Gray, Gent.,” who died June, 1681, <?/. circ. 52.
The number of graves not to be identified is very great, and includes nearly all
of the first two generations.
“Never let tool or art or levelling or adorning meddle with this spot!” —
Dean Stanley (on Burial Hill, 1878). On the next Forefathers' Day, from his
pulpit in Westminster Abbey he paid a generous tribute to the Pilgrim Fathers.
— From, E. E. Ellis, D.D.
1 The Pilgrims were aware of this quiet inducement to compassion, — at least,
Winslow mentions it.232
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
Long after, the sachem sent word that he wanted to make
peace, but none of his people dared to go near the whites for
fear of further punishment, and he had but just been able to
find a woman who would venture with a message; he was
sorry the three whites had been killed before Bradford had
called for them, and would have returned them safely if alive.
The woman added that the chief changed his sleeping-place
every night, through fear of another attack.
The confederates of the Neponsets were equally terrified;
and although none of them were molested, abandoned their
homes and hid in swamps and other desolate places, where
the exposure and poor food destroyed many by a variety of
diseases. Among those who perished thus miserably, the
reader will be grieved to find the energetic Aspinet, the
grave Canacum, and the gentle Iyanough. Abuses, although
retaliated, had made the Neponsets hostile to Weston’s set-
tlers. The Cape Indians had no wrongs to avenge. They
had been treated by Plymouth with much more than justice,
and derived nothing but benefit from the association. Their
chief motive in joining the Neponset plot was apparently the
hope of plunder. The humble English cottages were to them
palaces, and the plain furniture, clothing, tools, weapons,
trading-goods, and little superfluities of the white people
were to the aboriginal eye wonderful treasures; and this
temptation must have been far more influential than the
exhortations of the far-dwelling Wituwamat. The terrified
savages now ran “ to and fro like men demented,” and poor
Iyanough lived long enough to tell his comrades that “ the
God of the English ” was offended, and would destroy them.
At length four men were sent with a canoe filled with peace-
offerings for the white men; but a storm overtaking it and
drowning three, no others dared attempt a visit. The war-
like Indians of the Cape were subdued forever, and from that
time were faithful allies of the whites; and when, after more
than fifty years, Indian hostilities were next known at Ply-
mouth,1 the natives of the Cape rendered good service of
1 Sachem Philip’s War, 1675.1623.]
ROBINSON’S IMPRACTICAL HUMANITY.
233
their white benefactors, for such had the Pilgrims and their
successors proved.
In the following December, John Robinson, in writing his
last letter to Bradford, said of this fight: “ O, how happy a
thing had it been if you had converted some, before you had
killed any. . . . Let me be bold to exhort you to seriously
consider of the disposition of your captain, whom I love, and
am persuaded the Lord in great mercy and for much good
hath sent you him, if you use him aright. He is a man
humble and meek amongst you, and towards all, in ordinary
course. But now if this be merely from a humane spirit,
there is cause to fear that by occasion, especially of provo-
cation, there may be wanting that tenderness of the life of
man, made after God’s image, that is meet.” This (with its
context) evinces a lofty sentiment of humanity; but it came
from one who was three thousand miles from the scene of
danger, and one who had never been in contact with the
savage tribes, nor probably in sight of an Indian.1 Massasoit,
prudent and moderate, and inclined to leniency with his sub-
jects, was a far better counsellor in this case, occurring in his
own dominions, than was the good Robinson, resting in the
shades of Leyden University.
Of the plot to murder themselves, their wives, and their
little ones, the Pilgrims had ample proof. In a similar way,
the previous year, the people of the far stronger settlements
at Virginia had been slaughtered by hundreds, and their
Colony most narrowly escaped annihilation. The blow was
ready to fall again. Massasoit earnestly urged a preventive
action, “ short, sharp, and decisive,” which should paralyze
the conspirators. The Pilgrims deliberated carefully, but
they could see no better course. There was no better course !
To no small extent the fate of Anglo-Saxon civilization on
this continent was involved in the issue. Fortunately, not
Robinson, but Standish, was to execute the plan, and to exe-
cute it in such a way that its settlement would remain undis-
1 Similar conditions are apt to increase the zeal of the present sympathizer
for and admirer of the Indians of our Western States.234
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
turbed for the remainder of that generation. Standish very
daringly risked his life to save his fellow-colonists from harm,
and had saved them by no common degree of skill and
bravery. He might well have felt hurt when the only notice
from the Leyden company was that above quoted. He never
was permitted to remonstrate with Mr. Robinson on his stric-
tures ; but thirty years after the burial of the latter, the old
hero’s dying hand wrote in his will concerning a little girl on
Cape Cod, granddaughter of the pastor, “ I give £3 to Mercy
Robinson, whom I tenderly love for her grandfather’s sake.”
Such was the chivalrous answer of the disinherited heir of
the house of “ Standish of Standish ” to the ecclesiastical
criticism, which was not less unjust and galling than it was
nobly meant.CHAPTER XXII.
Weston’s Fraud. — John Peirce’s Attempt to seize the Colony. — The
Fishing Monopoly. — A General Governor.
SOON after the dissolution of his colony Weston appeared
at Plymouth. He had come over with a fishing-vessel
in “ the disguise of a blacksmith; ” and taking boat with a few
men, started from Maine to visit Wessagusset. Near Rye
Beach he was wrecked, and stripped to his shirt by the
Indians; but at the Piscataqua had borrowed some garments
and kept on his way. He now pleaded piteously for a new
outfit. The Pilgrim leaders pointed out their own poverty;
but at length, yielding to persistence, lent him from the
public store a hundred and seventy pounds of beaver: the
transaction was private, for fear of the disapprobation of
the people, who were joint owners of the property. That the
Pilgrim officials should have been ready to forget recent in-
juries and remember ancient benefits, was creditable to their
hearts; but this secret use of the public property, contrary
to the wish of many of the owners, was the least defensible
of any of their recorded acts. Nor was the result such as
to justify their course; for after Weston had obtained the
beaver he boasted that he could then at any time embroil
the Colony, by exposing the manner in which the leaders had
exceeded their authority in aiding him. This fur enabled
him to fit out the “ Swan ” and build up a trade which con-
tinued for many years; yet this ingrate never repaid the loan,
nor did he ever neglect a chance to ridicule and slander his
Plymouth benefactors.
It will be remembered that the “ Fortune,” in 1621, brought
over a patent granting to the Colony the land which it required.THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
236
This patent ran to John Peirce, of London (one of the Adven-
turers), and his associates. In 1622 Peirce quietly contrived
to have this patent exchanged for another (a “ deed pole ”)
to him, his heirs, associates, and assigns. His plan was to
take no associates, but to set himself up as the sole proprietor
of the country, the settlers becoming his tenants, subject to
him as their lord-paramount, and under his laws and courts.
The Adventurers, though indignant at this treachery, tried to
buy Peirce’s claims. The patent had cost him £50; but as
he would not sell for less than ^500, the trade was not made.
(Dr. Prince unfortunately stated that this bargain was made,
and historians generally repeat his error.)
In December, 1622, Peirce equipped the “ Paragon” and
set out to take possession of his principality. The Adven-
turers hired him to take along many passengers and much
freight for Plymouth. In fourteen days the “ Paragon ” re-
turned to London, badly damaged by a storm; but the next
February was again started out with additional passengers
and freight crowded in by Peirce to cover his recent losses.
In mid-ocean a fearful tempest beat upon her for two weeks.
Her upper works were torn off, her main-mast cut away, and
her escape from sinking was of the narrowest; but finally she
found her way back to England.
The Adventurers had expended for goods, passage-money,
and subsistence, ^640, for most of which they had a claim
on Peirce. His losses had much reduced his property; and
in part payment of this claim he surrendered his stock as an
Adventurer, and assigned his patent to the Company. The
rest of the debt was never received, nor does it appear that
the patent had any definite valuation assigned to it in this
transfer.
In July there came to Plymouth the ship “ Plantation,”
bringing Francis West, whom the Council for New England
had appointed their admiral for the purpose of driving from
the coast all fishermen who had not taken a costly license
from the Council. The fishermen, mostly from the West of
England, proved too strong and stubborn, and West quickly1623]
GORGES AND THE FISHERIES.
237
left them alone. His interference, however, so disturbed
matters that the imperilled fishing-fleet shrank from four
hundred vessels to a hundred and fifty. The ship-owners
appealed to Parliament. There, Sir Ferdinando Gorges de-
fended the monopoly, and was vigorously answered by Sir
Edward Coke, who was then nobly atoning for his former
services to tyranny. Coke said: “ Shall none visit the sea-
coast for fishing? This is to make a monopoly upon the
seas, which were wont to be free. If you alone are to pack
and dry fish, you attempt a monopoly of the wind and sun! ”
An act was passed making the fisheries free; but King James,
with his usual hostility to public privileges, refused his
assent.
West reported having met at sea a ship with passengers
and goods bound for Plymouth. This was good news, for
the Colonists were suffering from famine. West’s ship-master
had two hogsheads of peas for sale; but when he saw the
distress of the people, raised the price to £8 a hogshead.
The Pilgrims manfully refused to submit to the extortion,
and let the fellow carry his peas to Virginia.
In search of provisions, Standish made a voyage to the
northward, and on his return brought with him David Thomp-
son, a Scotchman, who early in that year had commenced
a settlement near the mouth of the Piscataqua, under the
auspices 0/ Mason and Gorges. It was he who had clothed
the naked Weston. About 1626 Thompson removed to the
island which still bears his name in Boston Harbor.1
Late in September word came to Plymouth that Robert
1 In 1650, the title of his heirs to the island being disputed, there occurred an
instructive illustration of the unreliability of memory, especially in old persons.
The Sagamore of Agawam (Ipswich) deposed that in 1619 or “thereabouts ” he
went to the island with Thompson, who then took possession of it. William
Trevor (of the “Mayflower”) deposed that he himself took possession of the
island in 1619, at which time it took the name of Island of Trevor ; and he after-
ward in London told Thompson of the place. Myles Standish deposed that
he came to the country in 1620, and the same year, “I take it,” visited the
place and named it “Island Trevor.” Yet Standish and Trevor could not
have made their visit before Sept. 28th, 1621 ; while Thompson did not see
the island before 1623, nor remove to it before 1626.238	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1623.
Gorges (son of Sir Ferdinando) had taken a Colony to the
deserted village at Weymouth, and was commissioned by the
Council for New England as governor-general of the whole
country. He was to have a council, consisting of Admiral
West, Christopher Levett, and the governor of Plymouth for
the time being; he might add such as he thought desirable:
and he, with any two of his council, had full power to decide
all cases, civil or criminal, even those of life and death.
Before Bradford could visit Weymouth, Governor Gorges,
sailing for Maine, was forced into Plymouth by a storm.
He remained two weeks, and was much pleased with his
treatment.
Weston, with his “ Swan,” chancing into Plymouth, Gorges
at once called him to account for fraudulent conduct toward
Sir Ferdinando and for the misconduct of his Colony. The
latter was sufficiently answered by an alibi ; but for the former,
Weston was threatened with arrest. Bradford, in response to
Weston’s piteous appeals, with great difficulty saved him
from seizure. Weston, on finding himself again safe, con-
ducted himself with such arrogance and insolence that Gorges
insisted on making him a prisoner. Weston once more be-
sought the influence of Bradford, who “ with much ado ” got
him free again. Gorges soon returning to his plantation,
Weston resumed his old manners, and even ridiculed Brad-
ford and his associates for their pains in his behalf. Gorges,
on getting away from the influence of Bradford, whom he
seems to have greatly respected, repented of his leniency and
sent one Captain Hanson to seize Weston. Bradford refused
to permit the arrest, as the warrant was not properly drawn,
and he addressed to Gorges strong arguments against the
proceeding; he also gave Weston a hint to escape, which
was not acted on. Soon came a formal warrant, and Weston
was held through the winter, but then set free, his detention
proving expensive to Gorges. He returned to Plymouth,
going thence to Virginia, to vex the over-patient Pilgrims no
more, except as their constant debtor and defamer, till his
death at Bristol, England, some twenty years later.1623.] GOVERNOR-GENERAL GORGES. —MR. MORRELL. 239
In a few months Gorges, who had been a dashing soldier
in the Venetian wars, found the rude fare of New England
not in the line of his tastes or experience, and returned to
England. More than sixty years passed away before the
next governor-general made his appearance.
In Gorges’ suite had come Mr. William Morrell, an Episco-
pal clergyman of education and sense, who had in his pocket
a commission with full authority to regulate and control the
religious affairs of the country; but he found the churches
to be of the fewest, and no one disposed to accept his ser-
vices. When Gorges retired, Mr. Morrell came to Plymouth,
where he spent a year socially, busying himself chiefly in
studying the manners of the natives and the natural history
of the region. He said nothing to his hosts of his large ec-
clesiastical powers, except that just before leaving, he for the
first time showed his commission to a friend; and it was not
known until after his departure that he had all the time been
authorized to compel the people to conform to the Church of
England, and to fill their pulpits as he might please. He
seems to have been an excellent gentleman, worthy of a
much larger and more congenial field of labor. On reaching
home he embodied his observations in an elegant Latin poem,
which, with a translation, is in the first volume of the Massa-
chusetts Historical Society’s Collections.1
1 Its title was Nova Anglia.CHAPTER XXIII.
Drought and Famine. — Coming of the “ Anne.” — New Settlers. —
Marriages. — The “ Paragon ” and “ Swan.” — Legal Code, etc.
AS the spring of 1623 advanced, it became evident that a
worse famine was at hand than that of the previous
year. Every possible source of food must be sedulously de-
veloped during the summer; but the next corn-crop was the
great reliance for the succeeding winter and spring. Hitherto
all labor had been in common, and the results had been
placed in the public store, for the equal benefit of those who
produced much, and those who produced little ; otherwise
there had been no community of goods. Under this system
the less earnest were showing little zeal in the common tasks,
general dissatisfaction was felt, and a change became very
desirable. Especially was this so in view of the approaching
famine; for as the Governor would have no food to serve out
to the people, he could not keep them closely at work, but
must leave each to seek sustenance in his own way and time,
and to labor in much the same manner.
A new plan was therefore decided upon, and before plant-
ing-time, a lot was assigned for one year to each household,
at the rate of an acre for every member. The lots were to be
cultivated according to the pleasure of the holders, who were
to own the crop, after giving a small portion to the public
treasury. The effect of this new system was wonderful.
Women and children helped plant the family lots, although
they would have considered it a great hardship to work in
the common field. A far greater area was planted, and all
were earnest in their cultivation.1623.]
DROUGHT. —PRAYING FOR RAIN. — FAMINE.
241
Alas for human expectations! Early in June there set in
a drought which lasted some seven weeks. The moist fish in
the hills enabled the maize to sustain itself for a long time;
but finally the younger plants became sere and dry, while
the older began to mature abortively, and the beans wilted.
Existing famine could be endured; but the failure of the
corn-crop would involve the destruction of the Colony. The
faithful Hobomok already mourned over their ruin, and the
most courageous settlers began to despair.
Late in July a day was devoted to fasting and prayer. Week
after week, in fearful succession, the sun had daily wheeled
his way through an unclouded sky, scorching the very earth
with his fierceness. Fast-day opened with extreme bright-
ness and heat. Hour after hour, in their fortified sanctuary
on the hill-top, the forlorn Pilgrims rehearsed to each other
the sacred promises, sang the penitential psalms, bewailed
their supposed shortcomings, and pleaded for divine relief.
For some nine hours these services continued; and when the
people resumed the arid path to their homes, lo, the clouds
were rolling up the sky, and the deep dust no longer reflected
the solar fires. The same evening a fine, gentle rain was
“ distilled,” as the grateful Winslow expresses it, and con-
tinued to be so at intervals for fourteen days; and he adds:
“ It was hard to say whether our withered corn or drooping
affections were most quickened or revived, such was the
bounty and goodness of our God.” Hobomok, much im-
pressed, declared to his Indian brethren the wonderful good-
ness of the white man’s God, who had so gently and steadily
overcome their drought and its effects, when in similar crises
the Indian conjurations had been followed by storms, which,
by uprooting or beating down the feeble crops, had inflicted
as much injury as benefit. The white people, similarly im-
pressed, once more gathered in their place of worship and
held a service of heartfelt thanksgiving for this and other
mercies.
The famine of this year began even in the planting sea-
son. There were no preserved meats, no vegetables, and no
16242
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
bread-stuffs obtainable. Tradition has it that the last pint of
corn was divided among the people, giving each one five
kernels; but the story rests on no foundation, and is opposed
to common-sense. Such a distribution could have been of
but the very slightest benefit, while a little grain would be of
great value to keep for some emergency of sickness.
The suffering was fearful. The larder was often emptied in
the morning, with no knowledge as to the source of the next
meal. Parties were constantly fishing, mainly for bass. Some-
times an absence of five or six days was required to obtain a
load; whenever the boat came in, a fresh party was ready to
man her anew. Some of the best hunters were kept in the
woods, where they occasionally shot a deer. When these sup-
plies fell short, every one able was busied seeking for shell-
fish ; and the liberal deposits of clams1 around Saquish Head
are said to have gone far toward supporting the Colony. It
is related of Elder Brewster, who had once feasted in palaces
with ambassadors, that now, with no viands whatever on his
table but a meagre wooden platter of boiled clams and a
pot of water, he was accustomed to give hearty thanks that
he and his were still allowed to “ suck of the abundance of
the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sand ” (Deut.
xxxiii. 19).2
For three or four months this famine prevailed, and some-
times so severely that Winslow mentions seeing men at noon-
day staggering for want of food. Water was the sole drink,
while fish was almost exclusively the diet, and only too often
insufficient in quantity. As in the previous year, the fresh
English faces of the people faded; yet uniformly good health
prevailed.
Late in July arrived the ship “ Anne,” 140 tons, William
Peirce master; and ten days later came-in the pinnace “ Little
James,” 44 tons, Bridges master. These vessels brought about
1	That most worthy antiquary, Rev. Dr. Freeman (1st Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll.,
viii. 192), often mentions the clam as “a worm”
2	Bradford devoutly says: “ But God fedd them out of ye sea for ye most
parte, soe wonderfull is his providence over his in all ages; for his mercie en-
dureth for ever.”1623.] COMERS IN THE “ ANNE ” AND “LITTLE JAMES.” 243
a hundred new persons, including those who had formerly
sailed in John Peirce’s “ Paragon.” Many were from the
Leyden flock, and several were wives, children, and kindred
of the earlier settlers. Besides these, the Adventurers, de-
spite the efforts of Robert Cushman, now the Colony’s agent,
had sent several people so unfit for pioneer life that Bradford
went to the expense of returning them by the next ship.
The list of the ninety-seven remaining is shown, by the land
division of 1624 and the cattle division of 1627, to have been
substantially as follows (those in italic died or removed be-
fore June, 1627; of the others, the age at landing and the
time of death are given when known) : —
Anthony Annable...............................................1673
His wife, Jane, and two children.
Edward Bangs (31).............................................1678
His wife, Rebecca, and two children.
Robert Bartlett (20)..........................................1676
Thomas Clark (18).............................................1697
Cuthbert Cuthbertson..........................................1633
His wife, Sarah (Allerton-Priest)..........................1633
And four children.
John Faunce.................................................  1654
Edward Holman.
John Jenney...................................................1644
His wife, Sarah, 1656, and three children.
Manasseh Kempton..............................................1663
Experience Mitchell (24)......................................1689
George Morton ................................................1624
His wife, Juliana (38), 1666 and five children.
Thomas Morton, Jr.
Joshua Pratt..................................................1656
Nicholas Snow.
Francis Sprague, his wife, Anna, and child Mercy.
Stephen Tracy, his wife, Triphosa, and child Sarah.
Ralph Wallen............................................by 1681
His wife, Joyce.
“ Mr. Perce’s two servants.”244
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
OTHER WOMEN AND GIRLS.
Fear Brewster...................................................1633
Patience Brewster................................................1634
Mary Bucket (Becket?)............................................1677
Dr. Fuller’s wife, Bridget.
Robert Hicks’ wife, Margaret, and three children.
Francis Cook’s wife, Hester (d. 166-?), and three children.
Eleanor Newton (25).............................................1681
William Palmer’s wife, Frances.
Christian Penn.
Mrs. Alice Carpenter-South worth (33)............................1670
Barbara------ (became Mrs. Standish).............................166?
Richard Warren’s wife, Elizabeth (40)............................1673
And five daughters, — Mary, Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth, and
Abigail.
Edward Burcher (Bourchier V) and wife ; Christopher Conant;
Anthony Dix; Edmund Flood; William Heard; Robert
Bong; John Oldham (1636), his wife, and eight associates;
Ja7?ies Rand; Robert Ratliffe {Radcliffe ?), wife, and two
children ; Thomas Tilden, wife, a?id child; Thomas FlavelVs
wife; William Hilto?i's wife, and two children.
The above list closes the catalogue of those who are known
as the Pilgrims, the First Comers, or the Forefathers. These
names, therefore, are used synonymously for those who came
in the “ Mayflower,” the “ Fortune,” and the “ Anne,” with
her consort. The number at landing, it will be remembered,
was: “ Mayflower,” 102; “Fortune,” 35; “Anne,” about
96: total, 233. At the close of 1623 there were probably
one hundred and eighty of these immigrants living at
Plymouth.
Special Biographical Notes. — Timothy Hatherly, one of the Adven-
turers, also came out on a trading-trip, but soon returned. In 1632, coming
again, he settled at Scituate, and became a leading man.
Some of the new-comers who may not be specially mentioned hereinafter
require further notice here : —
Annable in 1630 went to Scituate, and in 1640 to Barnstable. Although un-
able to write his name, he was prominent in both towns and in the Colonial
Council.
Edward Bangs (shipwright), who (it is supposed) married Lydia, daughter of1623.] WHAT BEFELL THE NEW-COMERS SUBSEQUENTLY. 245
The immigrants were all in good health, save one, who soon
became so; they in turn found that no death had occurred
among the “ Mayflowers ” company since the close of the
great mortality in 1621, — a fact giving much encouragement
as to the healthfulness of the climate. There were now many
joyful reunions; but among the less zealous incomers was
Robert Hicks, was one of the founders of Eastham, as also was Snow, who had
married Constance Hopkins (of the “ Mayflower ”). Descendants of these two
Fathers are numerous and prominent on Cape Cod.
Bartlett married Mary Warren, and left a goodly family. Their great-grand-
daughter, Lydia Bartlett, married Dr. Lazarus Le Baron in 1720.
Thomas Clark (carpenter) is sometimes confounded with John Clarke, mate
of the “ Mayflower.” He married Susanna Ring, and went to Harwich, on Cape
Cod. He was buried on the Hill in Plymouth, where his stone gives his age as
ninety-eight; but Savage finds it to have been but ninety-two.
Faunce married Governor Morton’s daughter Patience, their son becoming
the third and last of the ruling elders at Plymouth.
Holman became a man of family.
Mitchell was among the founders of Duxbury; and when Bridgewater was set
off became a leading man there, as many of his descendants have been. He
married Jane Cook about 1628.
Thomas Morton, Jr., became a permanent resident, although his father, who
came in the “ Fortune,” soon died or removed. In 1612 George Morton is
mentioned as having a brother Thomas; and this was probably the same
man.
Tracy also went to Duxbury early, and so did a Pierce, — probably the Abra-
ham Pierce who for many years was the only negro at Plymouth, and was an
energetic citizen of Duxbury, both in matters of peace and war. He is thought
to have been one of “ Mr. Perce’s two servants,” their employer probably being
the master of the “Anne,” who usually wrote his name “ Pierse.” (Bradford
spells it “ Peirce.”) Sprague too was a settler at Duxbury. He was a disor-
derly citizen; and his daughter Mercy, who married William Tubbs in 1637, so
conducted as to be divorced in 1668.
Wallen was dead by 1643. His wife, Joyce, doubtless came with him ; but
some may question it.
Conant went' early to Massachusetts, and was a witness there in 1636. Some
have wrongly thought his name a corruption of Roger Conant’s. The latter was
probably one of the unnamed with Oldham.
Dix became a Boston navigator. He was captured by Dixey Bull, the
alleged pirate, who released and reimbursed him. December, 1638, in a barque
of thirty tons, Dix, with two of his four men, was lost on the outer coast of Cape
Cod in a snow-storm.	'
Hilton became a pioneer at Piscataqua (Dover), and was a man of ability.
The Brewster girls were the Elder’s daughters. Fear became the wife of
Allerton, and Patience of Prence.
Mary Bucket married George Soule (of the “Mayflower”), who was another
Duxbury pioneer.
Mrs. Fuller, a sterling woman, was daughter of Mrs. “Joos”-Lee, as the246
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
grave disappointment. Rude, houses, scantily furnished, they
expected ; but they had counted on a land of plenty. When
they saw that their hospitable hosts could place on the table
nothing but a lobster or a piece of fish or a mess of boiled
clams, flanked by a pot of spring water; and when they
learned that milk and fresh beef or mutton had never been
seen in the Colony, and that every form of bread had been
unknown for months, while most of the settlers were as poorly
off for clothing as for food, and that the only supplies certain
and abundant in Plymouth were fine air, pure water, and
plenty of hard work, — it is not very surprising that some, who
at best were indifferent and irresolute, should have tearfully
wished themselves in Europe. But soon the influence of the
seniors and of the reunited friends, too happy to care just
now for these things, produced a hopeful feeling and caused
contentment to prevail.1
1 Bradford says: “ These passengers when they saw their low & poore con-
dition ashore, were much danted and dismayed, and according to their diverse
humors were diversely affected; some wished them selves in England againe;
others fell a weeping, fancying their own miserie in what yey saw now in others;
other some pitying the distress they saw their freinds had been long in, and still
were under; in a word, all were full of sadnes. Only some of their old freinds
rejoysed to see them, and y1 it was no worse with them, for they could not ex-
pecte it should be better, and now hoped they should injoye better days togeather.
And truly it was no marvell they should be thus affected, for they were in a very
low condition, many were ragged in aparell, & some litle beter then halfe naked;
though some yt were stord before, were well enough in this regard. But for food
they were all alike, save some yl had got a few pease of ye ship yl was last hear.
The best dish they could presente their freinds with was a lobster, or a peece of
fish, without bread or anything els but a cupp of fair spring water.”
Dutch scribe at Leyden wrote it. Fuller’s first wife was Elsie Glascock. In
1612 he married Agnes Carpenter, and in 1617 Bridget Lee.
Mrs. Cook was a Walloon.
Eleanor Newton married John Adams, of the “Fortune.” After his death
she married Kenelm Winslow, a Marshfield carpenter, and brother of Edward.
Christian Penn was third wife of Francis Eaton (of the “Mayflower”), and
then wife of Francis Billington (of the “Mayflower”).
Barbara------, whose last name is unknown, became Standish’s second wife.
She is reputed to be his first wife’s sister, and to have come over at his
request.
Of the Warren girls, Mary became wife of Robert Bartlett (1628); Ann
married (1633) Thomas Little ; Sarah married (1634) John Cook (of the “May-
flower ”) ; Elizabeth married Richard Church, and was mother of the famous
Indian-fighter; Abigail married Anthony Snow, of Marshfield.1623.]
THE “ANNE” SAILS.
247
The new settlers brought a supply of food to last them
until they could raise a crop in the next year, and they were
afraid this would soon be spent if delivered over for public
use; on the other hand, many of the old planters, who with
their families had labored early and late to raise a good crop
in their little fields, were unwilling to contribute the proceeds
for common consumption. It was therefore agreed that the
older settlers should take none of the “ Anne’s ” stores, but
should have the exclusive benefit of their own harvest.
Another source of apprehended trouble lay in the fact that
some of the immigrants, like Oldham and his comrades, were
not of the regular company; as then expressed, they were
“ particulars,” while the others were “ on the general.” It
was soon agreed that the “ particulars ” should be freed from
ail labors in common, except military and similar duties;
that they should obey the laws, carry on no trade for furs
with the Indians, and should annually contribute to the public
treasury a bushel of corn for each male “ particular ” who had
reached the age of sixteen.
The furs on hand were stored in the “ Anne,” which was
then filled with clapboards, many hands making quick work.
On September 20th the ship sailed, Winslow going in her to
give full information to the Adventurers, as well as to procure
many things needed.1 Harvest followed soon after, and was
abundant; all had enough to supply them for the ensuing
year, and the more industrious had grain to sell. The system
of individual labor had proved highly successful, and the
period of famine had come to an end, never to return to the
firesides of the Old Colony.
Before the departure of the “ Anne,” Governor Bradford
married Mrs. Alice Southworth, — the fourth marriage in the
Colony. The first has been noticed, — that of Edward Wins-
low and Mrs. White; it seems probable that the others were
between John Alden and Priscilla Mullins,2 and Francis Eaton
and Mrs. Carver’s “ maid-servant.” Bradford’s marriage was
1	The “ Anne ” late next year made a voyage from England to Virginia.
2	See note, p. 257.248
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
followed soon after by that of Standish with “ Barbara-----------
of John Howland with Elizabeth Tilley, of Peter Brown with
Mrs. Ford. These marriages, like the first, were all solemn-
ized by a magistrate, both from necessity and principle.1
It is a favorite Old Colony tradition that Bradford and
Alice Carpenter were lovers in adjacent English homes, but
that father Carpenter forbade the match on account of Brad-
ford’s social inferiority; that Alice was then given to the
well-to-do Edward Southworth, while Bradford, going to
Holland, made a loveless match with Dorothy May, who
^ found a sought-for solution of her loneliness in the waters of
Cape Cod Harbor; and that Bradford then wrote to the now
widowed Alice to come to him. This story is groundless and
absurd.
As has been seen, Bradford’s parents represented the two
leading families of their parish; 2 the subsidy and parish lists
in that region show no family named Carpenter. Alexander
Carpenter, the father of Alice, lived with his family at Wring-
ton, near Bath. From Austerfield to Wrington would then
have been an expensive, arduous journey of some weeks’
duration. Bradford was only seventeen when he began his
migration to Holland, which he accomplished a few months
later. With the lad’s evidently close attention to general and
religious studies, it is quite absurd to suppose, without some
evidence, that previous to that early age he had been busy
with amatory pursuits in a remote part of the kingdom.
Bradford was at Leyden in 1609, with about a hundred other
Pilgrims. Nearly twice as many of their sympathizers, from
all parts of England, gradually joined them. The first men-
v tion of Mr. Carpenter’s being there is in 1612, when his
daughter Juliana was married to George Morton from York-
shire, and Agnes became second wife of Deacon Fuller.
There is no reason whatever for supposing that Bradford ever
1	See supplementary chapter, — “ Marriages.”
2	One thing is clear, — that the Bradfords of Austerfield, during the eighteen
years that he who was afterward the Governor of New Plymouth was living
with them, associated with the very best of the slender population by whom
they were surrounded. — Hunter's “ Founders of A7ew England.”1623.] BRADFORD’S MARRIAGES. — MRS. SOUTH WORTH.	249
saw the Carpenters before their arrival at Leyden. He was
then a young man of more property and culture than most
of his associates, and was fast becoming a leader. In all
probability the obscure Mr. Carpenter, who is only known
to us as the father of his daughters, would have most gladly ^
welcomed an alliance with him. In the autumn of 1613 Brad-
ford married Dorothy May. There is nothing to indicate
that they were not a thoroughly affectionate couple; and
that the union was pleasant may be inferred, to some extent,
from Bradford’s semi-confidential correspondence, in later *
years, with his father-in-law May, who remained in Holland.
Edward Southworth was early atXeyden, where he married
Alice Carpenter, May 28, 1613; their second son (Thomas)
was born 1616. The widowed Alice had good reasons for
coming to Plymouth. Her little property would there be a
competence, and her boys might expect good positions at
maturity; she was of its faith; her brother Fuller was already
there, and her brother and sister Morton, with her five nieces,
and Fuller’s wife, were to go in the “ Anne; ” that she accom-
panied them is easily accounted for, without reference to Brad-
ford. Then the latter’s house much needed a mistress; the
lady’s relatives were among Bradford’s intimate friends, and
brief wooing was quite according to the spirit of the times.
Hence the speedy result.1
November 5-15th, the “ Paragon” and the “ Swan” both
chanced to be at Plymouth. With a patriotic desire to trans-
plant the English carousals of Guy Fawkes’ Day, the sailors _
were on shore, roystering in one of the houses. As it was a
cold night, they kept up so great a fire that the sparks kindled
the thatch and caused the destruction of “three or four”2
1	Dr. Dexter informs the author that at Leyden the Dutch clerk wrote appli- ■/
cants’ names as he understood them ; and the Doctor finds that the dull eared ,
scribe had at various times entered the name of Southworth with these time dif- f
± ferent spellings, viz.: Sodert, Sodtwaert, Sudtwert, Sadtwoot, Soutwaert, Soed- -
waert, Sutwaert, Southward, and Houthward. Alice Carpenter’s name is rendered
“ Els Carpenter.” ... At Amsterdam, parties to a marriage-contract wrote their .
own names on the application; and he found the signatures of Bradford and
“Dority” May. The latter is the only autograph of her known.
2	Captain John Smith erroneously gives the number as seven. Quite prob-250
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623.
houses, with the goods and provisions stored in them by
some of the “ particulars.” Mr. Hatherly was a heavy loser;
and this led him to return to England and earn a new supply
of money before settling down. The fire began next to the
great storehouse, in which was the stock of trading-goods
from the “ Anne ” and the coming year’s provision for the
Colony. Had the contents of this building been destroyed,
Bradford says, “ the plantation had been overthrown.”
Strange does it seem that after all that had been endured
and overcome, the Colony should have been brought to the
very verge of extinction by the orgies of a few stranger
sailors!
During this fire there was much excitement. Some were
for throwing the goods out of the storehouse; but as it was
| evident that there would be plundering and destruction by
the tumultuous sailors, this was not done: but a guard inside
the house prepared everything for removal in case of ex-
f tremity, while another covered the building with wet blankets,
which were kept soaked. During the confusion a voice from
an unseen friend in the crowd cautioned the Pilgrims to be
^vigilant, for enemies were present. As the fire abated, smoke
was seen coming from a wattled shed adjoining the store-
^ house, into which some one had thrust a long, lighted brand
that would have destroyed the whole, but for this timely
discovery.1
Among the closing acts of this most eventful year in Pil-
grim history was the beginning of a permanent series of
^ statutes. Several authors affirm that the Colony had till now
no written laws, and others strangely state that it had none
until 1636, the date of its first full code; it has even been
asserted, by no mean authority, that it never had any formal
statutes. But it may be remembered that on April 2, 1621,
the day after Massasoit’s treaty, sundry civil as well as mili-
ably he included those two burned the first year, thus summing-up the total num-
ber burned since the settlement.
1 Hubbard gives the false impression to his readers that the store-house was
burned\t623.]
LAWS. —TRIAL BY JURY.
251
tary “ laws and orders ” were enacted by the people. Addi-
tional laws, without doubt, were adopted as needed, and
entered in Governor Bradford’s note-book. The first of the
laws entered in the Colony’s record-book (which book prob-
ably came in the “Anne”) was enacted Dec. 27, 1623, and
provided that “ all criminal facts, and also all matters of
trespasses and debts between man and man, should be tried
by the verdict of twelve honest men, to be impanelled by
authority, in form of a jury, upon their oath.”
Trial by jury was thus, for the first time, established as the
right of every one.1 Up to that time all trials had been held
by the whole body of freemen, the governor having little
authority beyond carrying out the decision. . The court of
the people had become too large and heterogeneous for
ordinary trials, and its sessions would involve a waste of time.
This great step was the beginning, in the Colonies of New ]f
England, of a long series of enactments, which are described j
by that eminent English jurist, Lord Campbell, as “ antici- \
pating and going beyond most of the salutary amendments j
which have been adopted in the reigns of William IV. and f
Victoria.”2
1	In 1636 magistrates were given jurisdiction of petty complaints and cases
involving not more than ioj-. ; in 1666 like authority was given the “celect men”
of towns.
2	Samuel Warren, writing of England as it was in 1730, says : “ The system
of registration, either of birth or marriage, was then scarcely known, or at least
very imperfectly practised.”
| Tryon Edwards says that the county registry of deeds, town record of births, f
| marriages, and deaths, local elective magistracy, specific legislative appropria- j
| tions, and great law-reforms in general, all originated in New England.— '
} Lippincott's Magazine, June, 1876.CHAPTER XXIV.
The “ Little James’s ” Misadventures. — Rotation in Office. — Coming
of the “ Charity.” — Robinson’s Last Words. — First Cattle, etc. —
Division of Land.
THE pinnace “ Little James,” which had come to remain
in the Colony’s service, thus being the first vessel be-
longing to a New England port, is of interest as the pioneer
of our commercial marine. She was a two-masted craft of
forty-four tons, “ bravely set out ” with flags, pennants, waist-
cloths, and other trimmings; and Bradford feared that her
owners “ did over-pride themselves in her,” for she proved a
rare example of the “ unlucky ship,” as laid down in the
nautical creed.
First, her crew showed signs of deserting, or else running
away with, her. They had shipped on shares, expecting to
cruise against the French or Spanish. They had little mind
for peaceful commerce, but were finally pacified by Bradford’s
paying them regular wages from his heavily taxed treasury.
Then, with great effort, she was stocked with goods and sent
to trade with the Narragansets. But the Manhattan Dutch
had forestalled them, and she returned with a pittance of
maize and beaver. Then, as she reached the mouth of Ply-
mouth Harbor, a storm seized her, and her anchors coming
home, she only escaped destruction on Brown’s Island shoal
by sacrificing her mainmast.
With trouble and expense the craft was refitted, and in the
spring of 1624 was sent to catch a load of fish on the Maine
coast; but the Colonists had to pinch themselves to provide
her with an outfit, including provisions and salt. Soon a
fierce storm drove her against a rock, which burst a hole inj624-25] MISFORTUNES OF THE “ LITTLE JAMES.’
253
her “ as a horse and cart might have gone in; ” then it swept
her into deep water, where she sank with her worthy master,
Bridges, and one of his men, while everything in her was
washed away. Four months later, the fishing-captains in
those waters kindly offered to give their services in raising
her, if Plymouth would bear the cost of the repairs. The
offer was accepted, and the beaver, so laboriously gathered to
send to their English creditors, was diverted to this untoward
charge.
The captains had all their spare casks set up and fastened
to the wreck at low tide; as the water rose and lifted the hull,
they beached it at the highest point. Planks were sawed, rig-
ging bought; and soon the “Little James” was again riding
before Plymouth. But in vain did she display her renewed
bravery. She had been a constant vexation and source of
expense, and she was now remanded to the Adventurers who
had sent her out. Early in September she sailed; and at
the last moment one of her passengers exposed to Governor
Bradford a slanderous letter, calculated to do the Colony
very great harm, of which he had been made the innocent
carrier. This was her Parthian arrow.
The ill-luck of the “Little James” continued; for as soon
as she reached London, she was seized for debt by Thomas
Fletcher, one of the Adventurers, wTho had a claim on the
others. In 1625 he with others sent her with a large ship
to fish at Cape Cod. They soon had a cargo, and on their
return Standish took passage as agent for the Colony, to
attempt a purchase of all the Adventurers’ rights in it.
Fletcher and his friends, who had sent many goods to the
Colony, ordered Winslow to remit the pay in furs by the
pinnace. The captain of the ship was earnest to take them;
but the orders were positive, and they were sent in the
pinnace.
The two vessels went “joyfully home together,” the larger
towing the smaller entirely across the ocean, and only parting
from her when almost in sight of the English Plymouth.
The large ship was under orders to proceed to Spain and sell254
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624-25.
her fish; but through rumors of a French war the captain
touched at Plymouth and went on to Portsmouth, where his
cargo sold at a loss to the owners. Had he obeyed orders,
the ship would have cleared ^1,800. Soon after her strong
escort left her, the “ Little James ” was seized by a Barbary
rover, and carried with impunity out of the English Channel
to Sallee. There her captain and seamen were thrown into
slavery, and her choice beaver sold at 4d. a skin (one-sixtieth
of their value), furs being in small request where the climate
was so hot.1
Standish, finding the large ship bound for England, pre-
ferred her roomy quarters to those of the small craft. He
therefore paid a visit to old Plymouth, which he had not seen
since he and his long-lost Rose had joined in that eventful
departure on Sept. 16, 1620. Had he remained in the pin-
nace, he, too, would have gone into life-long slavery; but it
is extremely probable that his master would have found him
an unsatisfactory purchase.
This capture is the finale of the known history of the
“ Little James.” Her loss involved the ruin of all her in-
mates, and threw Thomas Fletcher into hopeless bankruptcy.
The long series of disasters which had attended her was well-
calculated to strengthen the superstition as to “ unlucky
ships; ” and, indeed, it not unseldom happens that the
efforts of those who are contending against some similar form
of credulity are overwhelmed by a series of chance events
which give the error a firmer hold than it had before.
As New Year’s Day (March 25, 1624, O. S.) approached,
Bradford declined a third re-election as governor, alleging
that, whether a post of honor or of labor, it should be regu-
larly changed from one to another, for such was the purpose
of annual elections; there should, too, be a governor’s coun-
cil. Still, the people insisted on re-choosing him; but added a
1 In 1680 Rhode Island sent William Harris to England on public business.
Being captured by a Barbary rover, at the end of a year’s slavery the Colony
ransomed him for $1,200; but he died almost as soon as he reached England
on his way home.1624]
THE “ CHARITY.” — CAPE ANN. —FISHING.
255
council of five, and gave him a double vote in the board. (In
1633 the council was increased to seven, and it so continued
till the end of the Colony.) In the new council were Allerton
and Winslow; probably Standish and Fuller.
About election time there came from England the ship
“ Charity.” Bradford says, “ The ship came on fishing, — a
thing fatal to this plantation.” Yet so strongly were the
Londoners possessed with the fishing-mania that Robert
Cushman wrote to Bradford: “ I am sorry we have not
sent you more and other things; but in truth we have run
into so much charge to victual the ship, provide salt, and
other fishing implements, &c., as we could not provide other
comfortable things, as butter, sugar, &c.” Cushman was a
most devoted friend, but he thought the comforts of life of
far less consequence to his long-suffering friends than an-
other of the fishing experiments which had proved so con-
stantly disastrous.
The “ Charity ” had brought the Colonists a patent of land
at Gloucester Harbor, Cape Ann, and a party went over there
and helped the crew build a fishing-stage for her use;1 but,
as Bradford says, she made a “ poore viage of it,” for her
master, Baker, was —
“ A very drunken beast, and did nothing (in a manner) but drink
and guzzle, and consume away the time and his victuals; and most
1 The “ Charity ” also brought a shipwright and a saltmaker. The former
soon built two shallops and a strong “ lighter,” and had prepared the timber for
a ketch, when in the hot weather he died of a fever. He was a very worthy and
much-respected man. But the saltmaker (?) was an ignorant, self-conceited fellow,
who went on for a year making one expensive failure after another at Plymouth
and Cape Ann. After long persisting in his vain endeavors to find an impervious
soil in which to make the shallow excavations for natural evaporating, he had to
fall back on the expensive use of artificial heat. Bradford says: “ For he could
not doe any thing but boyle salt in pans, & yet would make them y4 were joynd
with him beleeve ther was so grat a misterie in it as was not easie to be attained,
and made them doe many unnecessary thinges to blind their eys, till they dis-
cerned his sutltie. The next yere he was sente to Cap-Anne, and ye pans were
set up ther wher the fishing was; but before sommer was out, he burnte the house,
& the fire was so vehemente as it spoyld the pans, at least some of them, and this
was the end of that chargable bussines.” The Adventurers had much hope of a
salt-trade with the Maine fishing-fleet, and fear of their dissatisfaction led the
people to accede to this charlatan's large demands for workmen and materials.256
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
of his company followed his example ; and though Mr. William Peirce
was to oversee the business and to be master of the ship home, yet
he could do no good amongst them ; so as the loss was great.”1
James Sherley, who had succeeded Weston as manager for
the Adventurers, wrote that a strong faction of that body had
been disaffected to the plantation, but after a stormy session
he had restored harmony, and they had celebrated it with a
pottle (two quarts) of his wine.2 Doubtless Sherley was at
first sincere, from a speculator's standpoint; but he proved a
canting sharper, from whose clutches, after many troublous
years, the Pilgrims escaped solvent with great difficulty. Yet
the present people of Plymouth mostly hold an idea that this
“ Old Man of the Sea” was a benefactor; and ignoring many
of their noblest ancestors, have given his name to her central
public square.
Bradford at this time also received from John Robinson
the letter which so cruelly criticised Standish's daring acts at
Weymouth; and the pastor also wrote to Elder Brewster.
He spoke in despair of being soon allowed to join his flock.
Of the Adventurers, five or six were the Colony's warm
friends, as many more were its “ professed adversaries,” and
the great majority were kindly disposed, but under the influ-
ence of Puritan clergy (“ye forward preachers”), who were
determined the Independent pastor should not go over, “ es-
pecially such of them as have an eye that way themselves ”
(in fact, though he did not say so, a plot was already in
progress for wresting the Colony from Congregational rule,
and establishing there the Church of England after the Puritan
forms). His grief was great, but he counselled patience to
“ bear our languishing state.” He also decided that Elder
Brewster, not being a minister, could not lawfully baptize or
conduct the communion. His letter to Brewster had this
grand conclusion: —
1	The loss was reduced by Plymouth’s keeping a man at the Cape trading
for beaver.
2	In 1624 the Pilgrims, for peace’s sake, yielded to Sherley’s request, and
consented to extend their contract with the Adventurers beyond 1627. Fortu-
nately for Plymouth, the latter body in some freak refused to accept the offer.1624.] ROBINSON’S FAREWELL. —THE FIRST CATTLE. 257
“Your God and ours, and the God of all His, bring us together,
if it be His will, and keep us in the meanwhile and always to His
glory, and make us serviceable to His majesty and faithful to the
end. Amen.”
And from Bradford he parted with this benediction: —
“ Unto Him who is the same to His in all places, and near to them
who are far from one another, I commend you and all with you, —
resting, yours truly loving,
John Robinson.”
Such were the last words which ever came to the Pilgrims
from their great pastor. It seemed hardly probable that,
before reaching fifty years, he should forever rest from his
labors, while Brewster, nearly threescore, should toil on a
score longer; but so it was.
In the “Charity” (March, 1624) there came to Plymouth
a bull and three heifers, which Bradford records as “ the first
beginning of any cattle of that kind in the land.”1 Of the
bovine head of this pioneer herd we know nothing; but of
his spouses, two were black, and the third was white-backed.
They probably were two-year-olds, of a large-framed breed.
Their familiar appearance must have given the settlers an
increased home feeling, while the Indians cannot have failed
at first to regard them with awe. They had to be placed
under a keeper, for the wolves roamed along the outside of
the palisade. The cultivation of grass was then generally
unknown; but Plymouth was favored with an abundance of
sweet native grass, which, as Bradford says, soon made the
cattle “ as fatt as need be,” and caused him to wish there
might be one animal for each hundred which could be richly
pastured. Three years later, these animals were all thriving,
1 This statement effectually disposes of the tradition (so widely spread by
Longfellow) as to John Alden’s carrying his bride home on the back of a bull
in 1623 ; in fact their daughter Elizabeth was born at about the time these cattle
landed. There was, moreover, no place to which the bridal couple could go,
except on a winged bull; for the whole of Plymouth village lay within the radius
of a quarter of a mile, and there was not then another civilized habitation in the
Colony.
17258
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
I1624.
in company with new-comers and their own posterity. (See
Chapter XXIX.)
The temporary division of land in 1623 was in 1624 con-
tinued until the end of the Adventurers' contract (in 1627).
The plan of leaving each individual to work as he pleased,
and have the proceeds, but no more, had been highly suc-
cessful, even the women and children eagerly sharing the
lighter field-work, — a thing before unknown. The result was
an abundant crop. Indian corn became the money of the
Colony; and the surplus of it caused a healthy and lively
traffic, according to a business law beyond political control,
as to the effect of a circulating medium of intrinsic value.
The land division of 1624 is the second entry in the Plymouth
records, and it affords the only clew to the passengers by the
“ Fortune ” in 1621, and “ Anne ” and “ Little James ” in 1623.
There were ninety-seven lots, and a total area of some two
hundred acres. It is pleasant to find that between Howland's
and Hopkins' fields, on the south side of Town Brook,1 was
one assigned to Hobomok, their most useful and faithful
Indian comrade.
Captain John Smith, writing in England in 1624, mentions
Plymouth as then containing about a hundred and eighty
people, who had thirty-two dwelling-houses, some cattle and
goats, with much swine and poultry; and that the plantation
had so far cost in the vicinity of £7,000.
1 Indian name, Patackosi.CHAPTER XXV.
THE PURITAN CONSPIRACY. — OLDHAM AND LYFORD.1
LTHOUGH Oldham and his nine other “ particulars ”
(in the “ Anne,” 1623) had not come to unite with the
Colonists, but only desired to live near them for safety, the
Pilgrims kindly gave them an invitation, which was accepted,
to live in their village and share equally in its advantages.
Oldham was an uneducated man and a blusterer, but had
native ability and the social position indicated by the title of
“ Master.” It is probable that the malcontent Adventurers
had sent him to aid in organizing against the Congregational
(or Independent) rule, the elements of disaffection which
Robert Hicks and others had secretly reported to exist in
strength.2
During the ensuing winter some slight show of discontent
was caused by Oldham's counsels; but it was at once ended
by Bradford’s offer to change any one who wished from a
“ general” to a “ particular.” This ended the trouble; for the
petitioners had small desire for a change — as soon as they
were free to make it. Still, a small faction was kept together
by Oldham’s assurance that a section of the Adventurers would
see that no more supplies reached the Colony, and would
soon place the “ particulars ” in power. It was therefore
1	This chapter was published by the author independently (1883),ln pamphlet
form, and entitled “ The Puritan Conspiracy against the Pilgrim Fathers and
the Congregational Church — 1624. Cupples, Upham, & Co., Boston.”
2	Robinson was not permitted to join his people, the hope being entertained
by those in authority in England that without their pastor the Plymouth emi-
grants might fall back into the forms and faith of the Established Church. —
Davis's Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth, p. 95,260
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
with much surprise that in March (1624) they saw the ship
“ Charity ” arrive, bringing Winslow home with ample sup-
plies of cattle, etc. But she also brought a series of com-
plaints, made by some returned “ particulars ” and others,
which Bradford was called upon to answer. They were,
briefly, as follows: —
“ There was much religious controversy in the Colony; family
exercises on Sunday were neglected; both sacraments were disused ;
children were not catechised, or even taught to read; many of the
* particular ’ members refused to work for the ‘ generals;9 the water
was not wholesome; the ground was barren, and would not bear grass;
the climate was such that salt would not preserve fish, and there was
hardly a fish or wild fowl to be found; thieves abounded, and so
did wolves and foxes ; the Dutch were intruding on the trade; and,
finally, the people were much troubled with mosquitoes ! ”
When the the ship returned, some months later, Bradford
sent his reply, which was a fine mixture of gravity and
satire: —
“ From the beginning, down, there had been known no contro-
versy, public or private, on religious matters; any neglect of family
duties on the Lord’s day would be rebuked, if known ; that they were
deprived of their pastor and his ministration of the sacraments, was
grievous, for when with him they had the communion every Sunday;
the children generally were taught in private families, and the Colony
desired at once to begin a 4 common school/ for which a teacher and
due support had been heretofore lacking; all the ‘ particulars? do work
for ‘ generals ’ — willingly or unwillingly, and will be taught to work
well, or the plantation will rid itself of such; the water was ‘ as good as
any in the world/ though not like the beer and wine of London which
the grumblers 4 so dearly love ; * in England was no such grass, and
the cattle were already ‘ fatt as need be/ and would there were one
animal for each hundred the grass would keep; the matter of fish was
too absurd, in view of the great fishing fleet which visited the coast
every year; sundry thieves who had come in there had ‘ smarted well
for it/ but if London had reared no thieves, none of them would have
got over to trouble this Colony; foxes and wolves were in many good
countries, but poison and traps would thin them; if the Dutch with1624.]
OLDHAM’S CONFESSION. —LYFORD.
26l
commendable energy were getting a strong hold now, they would get
Plymouth too if the plantation should be broken up; and, finally, men
who could not endure the biting of a mosquito were too delicate for
founding colonies,1 but this pest was really no greater than in every
new place, and in time would scarcely exist.”
Soon after this arrival Master Oldham went to the authori-
ties with the confession that he had “ done them wrong both
by word and deed, and by writing into England.” He had
been assured that no further succor would be sent to the
Colony, but the large supplies by the “ Charity ” showed the
“ eminent hand of God ” to be with them; his heart smote
him, and those in England should no longer use him for their
purposes; he begged that the past be forgotten, and himself
regarded as one of them in all things. So generous was Old-
ham’s forgiveness that he was even invited to meet regularly
with the Governor’s Council of Five. He was probably sin-
cere at the time, and his co-operation restored universal
harmony.
The “ Charity” had also brought Master John Lyford, — a
Church of England preacher of the Puritan section,—with
his wife and some four children.2 The plotting Adventurers
had selected him as their agent. Winslow and Cushman, who
knew nothing of him, opposed his going; but finally yielded
for the sake of peace, writing home that they thought him
“ an honest, plain man, though none of the most eminent and
rare.” They had, however, arranged that he could have no
pastoral position until the Church should see fit to choose
him to one. Of course, neither they nor their comrades
dreamed of the conspiracy on foot. So Lyford came at the
1	In Bradford’s Mms.: “* * • We would wish such to keepe at home till
at least they be muskeeto proofe. Yet this place is as free as any, and experi-
ence teacheth that ye more ye land is tild, and ye woods cut downe, the fewer
ther will be, and in the end scarse any at all.” Bradford’s latter conclusion is
not wholly correct, for on Saquish and other parts where the trees have been
ruthlessly cleared off, the mosquitoes are still noted for their abundance and
appetite.
2	When later he left Plymouth for Nantasket, he had “ a wife and children,
four or five.” — New English Canaan.262
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
Colony’s charge, and was not only housed, given an over-
proportion of provisions, and provided with a servant, but,
like Oldham and Elder Brewster, was invited to sit with the
Council. Wily Lyford at once made his hosts ashamed,—
“ he so bowed and cringed unto them, and would have kissed their
hands if they would have suffered him; yea, he wept and shed many
tears, blessing God that had brought him to see their faces, and admir-
ing the things they had done in their wants.”
Soon he professed conversion to Congregationalism, and,
making “ a large confession of faith,” obtained membership
in their Church. He offered to altogether renounce his Epis-
copal ordination, declaring that he could consider himself no
minister unless his new Church should re-ordain him; but
Elder Brewster caused him to stop forthwith, assuring him
that the Pilgrim flock required no such thing of its members
as that they separate from the Church of England, but only
that they separate from the world, and leave church names to
care for themselves.1 Still, though Lyford continued to be-
wail the alleged corruptions with which he said his Episcopal
calling had entangled him, and which burdened his con-
science, he blessed God that he had now freedom to enjoy
His ordinances in their purity among His people. Although
not chosen pastor, he preached in turn with Elder Brewster,
and all went very smoothly.
After some weeks it was noticed that Lyford and Oldham
were having much privacy with those not considered in sym-
pathy with the Church, and especially with the profane and
less reputable attaches of the plantation, like John Billington,
and that a faction was forming under their direction. As the
“ Charity ” was about to go home, it was noticed that Lyford
kept writing a great number of letters, and in that connection
was often whispering to his followers things which seemed to
give them much secret amusement. With the disaffection
1 Neither require we of any of ours, in the confession of their faith, that they
either renounce or in one word contest with the Church of England. — John
Robinson, Apology, 52.1624-]
LYFORD’S LETTERS.
263
already among the Adventurers, there would be very great
danger to the Colony if a new series of slanders should be
sent to England uncontradicted, and work its mischief for a
whole year before it could be known at Plymouth and re-
futed in the ordinary course of things. The case required
the exercise of a power which in dike danger has been, and
still is, exercised by all governments; and the Council de-
cided that these mysterious letters must be examined. Cap-
tain William Peirce, of the “ Charity,” was an earnest friend
to the Colony, and ready to co-operate.1
When the ship sailed, Bradford went in her, towing a boat
for his return. Edward Winslow was on board, on his way
to England as the Colony’s agent. Peirce having produced
the letters, there were found to be more than twenty from
Lyford, filled with malicious falsehood, in furtherance of a
plan for the “ ruin and utter subversion ” of the Colony.
Oldham was a poor writer, and had sent little; 2 but some third
person had notified a friend that Mr. Lyford and Mr. Oldham
intended a reformation in church and commonwealth, and
that so soon as the ship had gone, they would begin by
forming a new congregation. Of most of these letters copies
were taken, and the originals forwarded; but to prevent
Lyford’s denying the genuineness of the correspondence,
some of the worst originals were retained, and copies sent
with their address.
After Lyford and his family had embarked at Gravesend
for America, Winslow had left in the cabin a letter from him-
self to Pastor Robinson, and one from an English friend to
Elder Brewster. Lyford, already at work as a spy, had pur-
loined these letters, copied them, and resealing them, had
restored them to their place without discovery. The copies,
with “ scurrilous and flouting annotations,” he was now send-
ing to his friend John Pemberton, a Puritan minister and the
Colony’s “ adversary.” These papers were also taken for
1 In 1776 the Committee of Safety at Boston opened all letters coming from
Halifax addressed to Tory inhabitants. On one occasion at least they publicly
announced the information as “ by an intercepted letter.”
3 He was so bad a scribe as his hand was scarce legible.—Bradford\264
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
evidence. Having transacted this business, and left Winslow
and Peirce to look after the case in England, Bradford re-
turned in his boat. His errand had been guessed, and the
conspirators expected to be called to account;1 but when
weeks went by with no sign, they concluded that the Gov-
ernor had only made a parting call on his friend Peirce, and
was still not only without any evidence of their plot, but
without suspicion of it.
As they supposed their faction able to sway a majority of
votes in town-meeting, they began in a skirmishing way to
pick quarrels with the officers, and to show “ great malig-
nancy.” Thus Oldham, when civilly called in his turn to
watch, refused obedience to the captain, upon whom he drew
a knife, calling him a “ rascal,” a “ beggarly rascal.” The
Governor sending to have the noise stilled, Oldham “ ramped
more like a beast than a man, and called them all traitors
and rebels, and other such foul language,” says Bradford,
“ as I am ashamed to remember.” But Oldham yielded
when “ clapt up ” for a little while, especially as he seems to
have expected a popular demonstration in his favor, and
found not one voice raised in his behalf. Next, the original
plan was tried. On a Sunday, Lyford, ignoring the public
worship, assembled his followers and held a meeting under
that Episcopal ordination which he had so recently disclaimed
and denounced in the public assembly. Pains seem to have
been taken to make the schism specially offensive, with
“ insolent carriages,” which are not described.
The sedition had broken out in the very way foretold in
the letters, and it behooved the government to act for self-
preservation before the entering wedge should be followed
by a second. A “ court ” of the people, or a town-meeting,
was called. It probably was held in the fort-church on the
hill, and little imagination is needed to picture the assembly:
Bradford presides, with his Council sitting by him on the plat-
form; Standish acts as marshal, and, as is the rule at the
Sunday gatherings in that place, a quarter of the men come
1 They were somewhat blanke at it. — Bradford.1624]
TRIAL OF LYFORD AND OLDHAM.
265
in military order, fully armed; a sentinel is kept day and
night on the roof of the church, where the artillery is ranged
behind a rampart, and his tread is heard in the intervals of
business; the hall is poorly lighted through openings more
like loop-holes than windows, while the low, heavy beams of
the ceiling rest at each end on massive oaken knees, giving
the place the appearance of a ship’s “ between-decks; ” some
eighty men of the Colony are present, with several full-grown
lads and a few visiting strangers, of whom nothing is known
to us; many of those present are full of wonder as to the
object of the meeting, and some who know of it, — like good
Deacon Fuller, the surgeon,—feel sure that “ Brother Lyford ”
will set himself right; the governor is fearful as to the extent
of the defection among the many voters outside the Colony’s
church; and the arch-conspirators, counting on a majority,
and confident that there is no positive evidence of their plot,
are bold and hopeful; throughout the meeting generally,
there is a pent-up excitement, with a feverish anxiety as to
the mysterious something about to take place.
In opening, Bradford in general terms changed Lyford and
Oldham with plotting to destroy the government. They both
made a square denial, and indignantly demanded his proof.
They were referred to their public actions. Oldham was re-
minded that he had come, not as a Colonist, but on his private
account; yet he and his had been taken into the village,
which they had not expected; and in trying to bring ruin on
those who in his days of weakness had so kindly received
him to their homes and councils, he was guilty of ingratitude
as well as treachery. Lyford, with a large family, had been
brought over and maintained at the public expense, and by
his own seeking was in church-membership with them; for
him to plot their ruin, was most perfidious.
The culprits, supposing that Bradford had put in his whole
case, were probably surprised that he had discovered nothing
definite. Lyford renewed his denial, declaring that he knew
nothing of the Colony’s English enemies or their plans, nor
had he any relations whatever with them; and that he should266
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
be suspected of any collusion with such, filled him with aston-
ishment. Then, for the first time, his letters were produced;
and some having been read before the men who had so often
heard in that place his prayers and sermons, he stood con-
victed of treachery, knavery, hypocrisy, and persistent lying.
The sudden exposure overwhelmed him, and he became
speechless. But Oldham's courage rose with the emergency,
and he determined to try immediate conclusions with the
government. Denouncing the opening of his letters and
threatening revenge, he sought to rally his friends by im-
periously shouting: “ My masters, where are your hearts?
Now show your courage! You have often complained to
me, thus and so ! Now is the time! If you will do anything,
I will stand by you! ” Many restless but not ill-meaning
spirits had been flattered by the confidential manners of Old-
ham and Lyford; but now that the plot was unmasked, they
recoiled. Others who would not have been unfavorable to a
successful rebellion, had no inclination to a losing side. So
when Oldham, at the close of his vehement call, stood before
the assembly arid glared at his recent associates, not one
voice was raised in his favor. A dead silence was the effectual
answer.
Bradford then demanded Lyford’s opinion as to the pro-
priety pf opening the suspected letters. The culprit knew
that the two copies he had surreptitiously made of Winslow's
letters must be in Bradford’s package, and would condemn
him if he should censure Bradford’s act; so he remained
silent. The Governor then explained to the people the
necessity of his seizure of correspondence, that he might
ward off the “ mischief and ruin” which the “ conspiracy ”
sought to bring on “ this poor Colony.” He then caused one
of his associates to read all the letters, and exhibit those in
Lyford's hand, and also to show the manner in which Lyford
had opened the letters of others. The public astonishment
now increased.
These letters, in much detail, charged official wastefulness,
negligence, caprice, and general mismanagement of the joint-1624.]
THE PILGRIMS’ LIBERALITY.
267
stock interests. One accusation drew from Bradford a very
interesting declaration, and one doubly important from the
publicity with which it was now made. Lyford had written
that the Church would have none remain in Plymouth but
Separatists. Bradford denounced this assertion as “ a false
calumniation; ” he called attention to the fact that there were
then present many citizens who were not Separatists, but were
highly esteemed, the Colony being P glad of their company ”
and desirous of receiving any like them. This statement,
joined to Lyford’s claim that the non-Separatists were in the
majority, will give many readers a new idea of Pilgrim tolera-
tion.1 It is a curious fact that Lyford charged the Plymouth
authorities with discouraging the non-church-members from
attending worship, even on Sunday, and with resenting his
endeavor to get the people generally to attend divine service.
Bradford actually felt called upon to refute this, and to show
that church-going was compulsory. The unfriends of the
Pilgrim Fathers, in those days, generally inveighed against
them as being lax themselves, and as shamefully neglecting
to enforce religious observances and instruction on their asso-
ciates and subordinates. It was little thought that, two hun-
dred and sixty years later, the self-same Pilgrims would be
the subject of halting, shamefaced apology from the great
bulk of their own ill-informed descendants, as having ex-
ceeded their generation in rigidity of doctrine and severity
of practice!
Lyford also urged his English principals to hurry over all
the settlers they could; even servants should be made share-
holders, at least in form; but Robinson and his people must
be kept back, and for fear of their private embarkation, neither
Winslow nor Peirce should longer go in the ship. Thus could
he gain Colonists enough to vote down and suppress the
Congregational element. If a captain whom they had spoken
of should come over “ as a ‘ general,’ ’’— i, e. one of the gen-
1 William Hilton was not of their Church. An improbable rumor is pre-
served by Hubbard that Lyford’s baptism of Hilton’s child was the first occasion
of difference.268
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
eral Colonists, — he would be chosen commander ; “ for,” said
Lyford, “ this Captain Standish looks like a silly boy, and is
in utter contempt.” (This passage may have caused a smile,
but probably not on the face of the choleric little captain.)
If these reinforcements did not come, Lyford and his friends
must move to a place across the harbor, or fuse with the
original settlers, — vce nobis !
Lyford was then urgec^ to produce any evidence, however
slight, to sustain even the least of his charges; and he and
his friends were offered every opportunity to do this, or to
present any other complaint or grievance. They were re-
minded that all the men of the Colony were present, and
therefore any witnesses they could name would at once ap-
pear. The Governor desired that he and his associates should
not be spared in any respect, if any one had anything to say
against their conduct. The opportunity was full and free,
and there were impartial strangers present to listen. But no
one responded, until Lyford, in a humble tone, began to say
that certain complainants, as he now saw, had abused his
confidence, and led him to misuse his real friends; and he
accused Billington and others of thus deceiving him. These
men thereupon earnestly denied his statements, and protested
that he was wronging them; they had indeed been drawn
into some of his meetings, but had refused consent to his
conspiracies. Probably Lyford was beginning to tell the
truth; but those whom he had taught to be false to their
own brethren were not the men to stand by him in his public
disgrace.
It was a fearful humiliation to the university-trained divine,
when publicly denounced as a traitor and a liar by a vulgar
brawler like Billington, to know that such men as Bradford
and Brewster, Fuller and Warren, Standish, Howland, Alden,
and Prence, all believed his low-lived accuser, whom they
despised much less th^n they did himself. Bradford then
summed up Lyford’s knavery and hypocrisy, especially in
religious matters, and fully set forth what had been proved.
Oldham had some conscience, but no shame. Lyford, tech-1624.] OLDHAM BANISHED. — LYFORD’S DUPLICITY. 269
nically a gentleman, though conscienceless, had a class pride;
and as he stood, the focus of all eyes, so thoroughly con-
victed that not a voice uttered a word in his favor, the igno-
miny overwhelmed him. One may imagine the disgust of
the stalwart Oldham when his fellow-conspirator burst into
tears and began to bewail and confess to the meeting that
his letters were “ false and naught both for matter and man-
ner ; ” that he feared he was a reprobate; that his sins were
so great as to make him doubt of God’s pardon; and that he
was “ unsavory salt,” — an admission which the reader will
not be inclined to dispute.
The people quickly rendered their verdict, but it is not
known whether there were any dissenting votes.1 The sen-
tence was, that Oldham be banished forthwith, but that his
family might remain till he had a comfortable home for them.
Lyford was to go at the end of six months; but it was really
intended to pardon him if his repentance should seem genu-
ine. He promptly took occasion, before the Church, to more
fully confess his wrongdoing, shedding abundant tears, and
charging himself with envy and malice toward his brethren;
he said he had counted on the great body of the people to
help him carry his points with violence, and God might justly
charge him with shedding innocent blood, for he knew not
what might have come had not his writings been stayed, and
he blessed God that they were stopped, — God might justly
make him a vagabond, like Cain. His effusive contrition
produced such a sentiment in his favor that he was permitted
to resume preaching; and warm-hearted Deacon Fuller and
others declared a readiness to sue on their knees for his
pardon. The stormy sky became once more serene; but
in a few weeks from that clear sky there dropped a thunder-
bolt.
About September 1st, when that unfortunate craft, “ Little
James,” was ready to return to London, one of her company
brought to the Governor a letter which Lyford was seeking
1 Roger Conant and others of Oldham’s company of “ particulars” were not
Colonists, and therefore not voters in town-meeting.270
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
to forward by him. Self-preservation required an examina-
tion of this missive; and forthwith was revealed an amazing
depth of depravity. Lyford was now, with many professions
of pious concern, assuring the malcontent Adventurers that
his hosts at Plymouth were full of 44 indirect courses ” and
44 injurious dealing ” toward them, and were audacious to
“ darken ye truth ” with 44 great pretenses ” and equivocation
in many things. 44 Ye church (as they call themselves),”
though 44 ye smallest number in the Colony,” deprived the
majority of the means of salvation, and held to no ministry
for the conversion of the people generally; and poor souls
were complaining of it with tears to him, and he was under
censure for preaching to all comers. As to his former letters,
which he had so often and so tearfully recanted and denounced
before his congregation, he now said: —
441 suppose my letters, or at least the copies of them, are come to
your hands, for so they here report; which, if it be so, I pray you
take notice of this, that I have written nothing but what is certainly
true l”
Once more the Governor wrote a long defence of the Col-
ony, and sent it with the letter, as well as a full exposure of
Lyford’s acts. This last letter, of course, ended all thought
of pardon; but another result of it was startling. Mrs. Lyford,
a worthy matron, was so morbidly affected that in her dis-
traction she went to one of the deacons and made frightful
revelations as to her husband’s licentiousness before and after
marriage. While he was a suitor, she had a hint that he had
contracted parental responsibilities, but he satisfied her scruples
by taking an oath that he was not guilty; yet after marriage
the story not only proved true, but the child was brought to
their home. And afterward her constant vigilance over the
maid-servants had been required on his account, and had not
always been effectual. She confirmed her statements before
some other persons, and was overcome by the fear that a
divine judgment was ever pursuing her on her husband’s
account.1624] LYFORD’S DEPARTURE. — OLDHAM’S INSOLENCE. 271
Lyford remained at Plymouth during the winter, probably
living still from the public stores. He then joined Oldham,
who was domiciled at Nantasket (Hull),1 where were a few
straggling settlers. Strange to say, some of their former
friends remained steadfast, and voluntarily removed with
them. Among these was Roger Conant, who became the
brave and worthy founder of Salem, and who seems at this
time to have been so rigid against Separatists that, as against
them, he could condone Lyford’s wickedness and accept his
unholy ministrations.
In March, 1625, Oldham, in defiance of his sentence, sailed
into Plymouth with some strangers, and began to assail the
people with such abusive language that even his comrades
rebuked him; but all reproofs were as “ oyle to ye fire,” and
he went on in “ his mad fury ” denouncing the settlers as
“ a hundred rebels and traitors.” The madman was com-
mitted until his senses had returned. Then he was led to his
boat between two rows of musketeers, each as he passed ex-
pediting him by an ignominious “ thump ” in the rear with
the butt of his gun; and at his embarkation they bade him
“ goe, and mende his maners.”
So thoroughly did Oldham absorb public attention that no
one noticed the arrival from England of the ship “ Jacob; ”
and when Oldham was about running the gauntlet, Winslow
landed with Master William Peirce, entirely unobserved until
they appeared in the crowd. They soon increased the excite-
ment. On reaching London, the last summer, with their
report of Lyford’s acts, they had been violently assailed by
his friends, who declared it a great scandal that “a minister,
a man so godly,” should be so aspersed; and a suit for
slander was threatened. At length a hearing was had before
a meeting of the Adventurers, at which two moderators jointly
presided; Lyford’s friends choosing Mr. White, a lawyer,
and his opponents selecting Mr. Hooker, a preacher, both
eminent men. The case attracted a crowd of outside
partisans.
1 In Bradford’s Mms., “ Natasco.!2 72
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624.
In the course of the meeting, Winslow, in some warmth,
said that Lyford had “ dealt knavishly.” Upon that, Lyford’s
friends broke out, demanding that those present witness that
Winslow had “ cald a minister of ye gospell knave” and they
would “ prosecute law upon it.” When the tumult had abated,
Winslow called to the stand two strangers who had been made
known to him. They were from Lyford’s Puritan parish in
the English pale of Ireland. He was there guilty of an es-
pecially flagrant act, involving the betrayal of a young female
parishioner who was intending marriage with another of his
flock, and his then promoting the nuptials. The victim being
soon driven by remorse to confession, Lyford fled in fear of
retribution, reaching England in time to be picked up and
sent to Plymouth by the Adventurers, who of course knew
nothing of this transaction. These two “ godly and grave ”
gentlemen having very modestly but clearly given the par-
ticulars, Lyford’s friends became mute with shame. The
moderators joined in deciding that Lyford’s conduct at Ply-
mouth had fully justified his condemnation there; but what
had now come to light, proved his unfitness for the ministry
forever after, no matter what repentance he might express.
The subject was then dismissed; but the ill-feeling not only
survived, but caused the Adventurers to fall apart, so that
the great majority thenceforth wholly abandoned the Colony’s
interests.
Not many months after Lyford’s withdrawal to Nantasket,
that worthy Puritan divine, White, at the English Dorchester,
heard that the exiles had left Plymouth through some distaste
of Separation. To Puritan prejudice this seemed a quite
sufficient recommendation. In 1623 White (through the
Dorchester Company) had caused fourteen fishermen to
winter at Cape Ann (Gloucester) ; the next year (1624) he
gave the place the character of a settlement; in 1625 he
provided it with twelve neat-cattle, and invited Lyford to go
there as pastor, Roger Conant as superintendent, and Oldham
as overseer of trade. The first two went, but Oldham pre-i62-.] OLDHAM’S ADVENTURES. —JOHN GALLOP.
273
ferred trading on his own account.1 At the end of 1625 this
plantation, which had sunk ^3,420, was abandoned. Conant,
1 Oldham’s after-life was exciting and tragic. He stayed at Nantasket, trading
with the Indians, until in 1626 he sailed for Virginia. At the Cape Cod shoals
the ship fell into such danger that destruction was imminent. The passengers
had recourse to prayer and the confession to each other of such sins as most
burdened them. Oldham made full acknowledgment of all the wrongs which
he had done or intended to the people of Plymouth. As he had sought their ruin,
he said, God had now met with him, and might destroy himy — yea, he feared they
all were faring the worse for his sake, and solemnly vowed to make amends
if God would forgive him. The vessel was saved, though turned back; and
Oldham, strange to say, remembered his pledge. He treated the Plymouth
people with “ an honorable respect,” and once more declared the hand of God
to be with them. He received full permission to come and go; and when, in
1628, the Colony sent a state-prisoner to England, they entrusted him and the
evidence against him to their friend Oldham, who then went over.
Oldham became a man of note in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and a
member of its Church, which, while separating vehemently, disclaimed “ separa-
tion.” He was a member of the first General Court of Magistrates and Repre-
sentatives which met at Boston, being a “ deputy ” from Watertown. His chief
employment was trading with the Narragansets, in connection with which he
bought in their Bay of Canonicus, — the beautiful island of one thousand acres,
now called Prudence. Thereabouts, in 1634, Master William Peirce went with
the “ Rebecca,” to bring away five hundred bushels of corn which Oldham had
accumulated, and while there saw at least one thousand natives.
In July, 1636, John Gallop,* of Boston, while sailing home from the Connecticut,
encountered Oldham’s pinnace off Block Island, with her deck occupied by four-
teen Indians. Seeing that she had been captured, he determined to retake her.
His crew consisted of his two young sons and a hired man. His fire-arms were
two guns and two pistols, and for these he had only duck-shot. As he bore down,
the savages stood ready to repel him with their stolen weapons; but his shot
so galled them that they all ran below. Then arming his. bow with his anchor,
Gallop came on with all speed, and “ rammed ” the pinnace so violently that
six of the savages, terrified at this form of warfare, leaped into the sea and were
drowned; another stroke, and four followed them. Then, ranging alongside,
Gallop grappled an Indian, and tying him, put him in his own hold. Next was
taken the frightened sachem, who was the chief murderer, and he was bound;
but as Gallop did not dare to put him with the other prisoner (for they would
* Sub-Note. — Gallop (Galloupe ?) died at Boston 1649, leaving 40J. for “ the
new meeting-house ” (Old South). He was a Boston pilot, probably the first
professional one. His successors are constantly reminded of him by a fine island
in Boston Harbor bearing his name. He left three sons, all seamen, and a widow,
To John, Jr., he gave his shallop, qnd to the other sons his barque, in which
their mother had a half-interest. John was killed at the Narraganset fort, 1675,
while captain of a Connecticut company. He took his first lesson in war at the
attack on the murderers in Oldham’s pinnace, and fell, thirty-nine years later,
while bravely leading his men in the battle which destroyed the nation to which
those savages had belonged.
18274
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
fi 62-.
taking a few of the men and the outfit, then founded what is
now Salem,1 Lyford going as their minister and serving as
such until 1629.2 Some readers may be surprised to learn
that for the first three years of its existence that ancient
have quickly released each other), he consulted safety by casting him into the
sea.
The two surviving pirates remaining concealed in Oldham's hold, Gallop
ventured on board ; for he had seen a man's body in the stern-sheets hidden
under a seine. While his crew covered him with their fire-arms, he examined
the corpse, which was still warm, though the head was cleft and the hands and
feet had been in process of amputation when the attack began. The head was too
bloody for recognition, and Gallop proceeded to wash it. Soon he exclaimed:
“ Ah! Brother Oldham, is it thou ? I am resolved to avenge thy blood 1"
Oldham, while peacefully trading, had been surprised and assassinated for the
sake of plunder. (Bradford's Mms. says: “. . . being weakly mand, upon
some quarell they knockt him on ve head with a hatched, so as he fell downe
dead, & never spake word more.”) His two Indian employes betrayed him;
and two boys, his kinsmen, who were with him, had been sent on shore as
prisoners, but were eventually recovered through Roger Williams.
Oldham's body was buried in the sea, which had just swallowed eleven of his
murderers. The waves becoming too high for towing the pinnace home, every-
thing accessible was removed for the benefit of Oldham's family, and then she
was set adrift. She reached the land in safety, with the two Indians in her.
All the minor sachems of the Narraganset nation had been privy to this piracy
and murder; but the two grand sachems, whom Roger Williams “stimulated ”
with six fathoms of beads, pursued and killed Adusah, the immediate assassin.
His confederates escaped to the Pequods, whose league with them was one
leading cause of the war which the next year annihilated that cruel and treach-
erous nation.
Jonathan Brewster terms Oldham “ brother." A Thomas Oldham was at
Duxbury 1643, an<1 Scituate 1650. The name was among those of Duxbury’s
Revolutionary soldiers; and on the monument to Plymouth's volunteers lost
in the Civil War is the name of J. T. Oldham. The relationship of these to
John is probable.
1	Conant's leading companions in the change from Cape Ann to Naumkeag
(Salem) were John Balch, John Woodbury, and Peter Palfrey; also William
Trask, captain in the Pequod war, and John Humphrey. All except Balch
became members of the legislature in the future Colony of Massachusetts Bay,
and all have a long line of worthy descendants, including many of eminence.
Conant's wife seems to have been with him at Cape Ann, and probably at Ply-
mouth. Their son Roger, Jr., was the first-born white child of Salem. Balch,
from a Somersetshire family which dated from the Conquest, had a wife Annice,
who may have come later; but they had in 1629 at Salem a son Benjamin
(living 1706). Woodbury's wife was named Agnes, and Palfrey's Edith.
2	Lyford (about 1629) went to a Virginia parish, and soon after died. His
widow returned with her children to New England, where she was ever respected,
and seems to have been the Widow Ann Lyford, who in 1641-2 was at Hingham,
as wife of Edmund Hobart, and whose children, Ruth and Mordecai, then
released goods left by “ their father, John.”1624.]	CESSATION OF DISCUSSIONS.	275
town worshipped exclusively in the form of the Church of
England, as also at that time did all the scattered settlers
around Boston Bay.
Thus ended the great Puritan conspiracy against the Church
which the Pilgrims had planted with such sacrifices and
watered with such sacred tears, and against that government
which they had erected on the then novel principle of the
equality of all men before the law. Plymouth lost something
by the withdrawal of a few men like Roger Conant, and by
the enmity of the Adventurers: but she gained much more
by the increased zeal of those who remained; for many who
had hitherto stood aloof from her religious organization, felt
called upon to rally to its defence and join in its membership;
and all felt a new respect for their government, generally so
mild, but which had proved so vigorous in the time of peril.
Thus came it that this momentous year of 1624 closed on a
scene of harmony long to continue.	•
What might have been, had Lyford’s place been filled by
some liberal and worthy Churchman? It is hardly probable
that Plymouth’s ceremonials — her formal informality — had
become very firmly fixed. It is certain that in Holland the
Pilgrims had invited to their communion all pious-minded
Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Calvinists of various kinds,
welcoming them as brethren of one great household; Robin-
son in his farewell remarks had suggested the employment
of some Nonconformist minister by his people during his
absence, and had advised them to seek union with the godly
part of the Ehglish Churchmen, — advice in which he was
consistent, for it is recorded that he honored the godly min-
isters of the Church of England “ above all other the profes-
sors of religion,” for “ his spirit cleaved unto them,” and he
urged “ sweet communion ” with them.1 Already in Ply-
mouth were many “ not of the Separation,” and, as Bradford
records, the Pilgrims “ were glad of their company.” 2 Might
1	Winslow, Chron. Pil., 389.
2	Governor Hinckley wrote in a letter (1684) to England: “Not that we
would infringe the liberties of others of orthodox principles, much less . . . the
way of the Church of England.”—4 Mass. Hist. Coll., v. 124.276
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l624.
#
not such a congregation have slowly yielded in externals to
a ministry of united wisdom, strength, love, and devotion?
But unfortunately those ordinances and methods which the
seniors had long before known as unnaturally allied with the
cruelty and rapacity of bailiffs, now became associated in
every mind with Lyford's frauds, vices, and sacrilege.
There are those of us, yielding to none in loyalty to our
ancestors, and feeling that if we had been with them we
should have been of them, who regret the perversion of this
opportunity to win them to perhaps some partial use of “ that
form of sound words,” a form Separatists were taught to
regard as one of “ stinted prayers ” and “ dumb reading,” but
which three centuries of Churchmen have found so ample for
devotion, so increasingly rich in associations, and so grateful
in all the conditions of humanity. Yet our fathers' ways were
sanctified to them. Judge them by their works, through
which, though dead, they still live.CHAPTER XXVI
Marriages, etc. — Official Business. — More Cattle. — Cape Ann
Interference.
MONG the events of 1624, Governor Bradford became
the father of a son (June 27th), who, like his father,
grandfather, and great-grandfather, received the name of
William, and who in turn contributed to the next generation
a fifth William Bradford (born March 11, 1654), as appears
on the records in the writing of the delighted Governor. The
William born in 1624 became a scholar, magistrate, and mili-
tary leader, and was Deputy-Governor at the dissolution of the
Colony. He had a grandson William, born at Plympton
(Mass.), 1729, who became Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode
Island, served her long in the Continental Congress, and was
one of her most eminent patriots in the Revolution.
There was also born a daughter to John and Priscilla Alden
who was named Elizabeth; she was destined to outlive every
individual then in the Colony (she died 1717), and, as the
widow of William Paybody, to survive the Colony itself by
twenty-five years.
On August 15th Thomas Prence, the future governor, but
then only twenty-two years old, married Patience, daughter
of Elder Brewster. This was the ninth marriage since the
landing, the others (pretty certainly) having been, —
1.	Edward Winslow and Mrs. Susanna White.
2.	Francis Eaton and Mrs. Carver’s maid.
3.	John Alden and Priscilla Mullins.
4.	Governor Bradford and Mrs. Alice Southworth.
5.	Myles Standish and Barbara----.27B
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624-25.
6.	John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley.
7.	Peter Brown and Mrs. Martha Ford.
8.	John Adams and Eleanor Newton, or John Winslow and Mary
Chilton.
In June of that year, less than ten months after his arrival
in the “ Anne,” George Morton died, leaving a wife and five
children, including an infant (Ephraim). Mr. Morton was
from Yorkshire, and may have been the son of a Roman
Catholic family at B aw try, which had a George who about
that time disappears from their record. He probably joined
in the flight to Holland; but is first mentioned when, at
Leyden in 1612, he married Juliana Carpenter, senior sister
of Bradford’s second wife, and also of Fuller’s. His son was
the Secretary Morton, author of the Memorial; his grandson,
Elder Faunce, was the last incumbent of Brewster’s eldership;
a descendant (through Ephraim) was Perez Morton, Attorney-
General of Massachusetts (1810-32); and another, of the
seventh generation, was Marcus Morton, an eminent jurist,
who in 1840 and 1843 was Governor of that State, and whose
son Marcus is now Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court on
whose bench his father served so long and honorably.
Early in 1625 Winslow came home in the ship “Jacob,”
commanded by the veteran Peirce. He brought a letter
from some of the Puritan Adventurers, explaining their deser-
tion. They were afraid that the Pilgrims renounced all
national, diocesan churches, and so were Brownists after all;
and they should sin against God in building up such a people.
Yet if the French discipline be practised, so that the scan-
dalous name of Brownists be taken away, and they be given
a voice in the local government, they would again co-operate;
but consent was refused to the going-over of Robinson and
his flock, unless they should give a written adhesion to the
Church of England, which the Adventurers termed “ our
Church.” A conciliatory reply was made, but these corre-
spondents appeared no more.
Some few friendly Adventurers also wrote, saying that the
joint-account had been closed; ,£1,400 remained due on it,1625.]
BUSINESS MATTERS.
279
and goods to meet this should be shipped to them as trade
permitted. Notwithstanding the talk about Brownists, they
said, the great cause of the breaking up was lack of funds
through losses at sea, and the deserters would yet “ cover
their faces with shame." This letter was from James Sherley,
William Collier, Thomas Fletcher, Robert Holland, “&c,” —
the force of the “&c." being unknown. These people had
consigned to Winslow and Allerton four young cattle and a
stock of cloth, hose, shoes, leather, etc., to be sold on their
private account, at seventy per cent profit, — a rate thought
oppressive, but which, including interest and charges, with
risk of the sea and of capture, does not seem exorbitant.
The goods were poor; but the four black heifers were eagerly
bought, and they became known as Raghorn, the Smooth-
horned Heifer, the Blind Heifer; the fourth name unknown.
Sherley sent a red heifer as a gift, to be kept for the benefit
of the poor. Thus the herd now included nine animals, of
which six were black heifers.
It was the return for this cargo that was captured in the
“ Little James," to Thomas Fletcher's ruin. These furs had
been bought of the Maine Indians with the surplus maize of
last year. One of their little shallops had been decked over
sufficiently to keep the corn dry, though the men had no
shelter; and in lack of seamen, Winslow “ and some of the
old standards " had sailed her to the Kennebec and traded
the corn for seven hundred pounds of beaver, with other
peltry.
By the “Jacob," Cushman wrote to Bradford (Jan. n,
1625, N. S.), in whose family the lad Thomas Cushman was
living, and begged of him, “ Have a care of my son as of
your own." He expected to go to Plymouth in the next
ship and remain, but feared the Colony’s interests at London
might come to be neglected, for Sherley was sick nigh unto
death. He added that Sherley “ received the tokens you
sent him, and thanks you for them," and returns a cheese,
with other things. (Bradford, in reply [June 19, 1625], said
to Cushman: “ My wife remembers her love to you, and280
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1625.
thanks you for her spice.” He added a caution against
Peirce, the former Adventurer, who was threatening myste-
rious parliamentary proceedings, and getting intelligence
through Robert Hicks; and he urged that the Adventurers*
claim be bought up, as many would not build fences nor set
trees if “those enemies” were to take them in 1627; and
“ let us be as little engaged in fishing, or any other projects,
as you can,” — trading is twice as profitable, and takes but two
boats.)
In the spring of 1625 Standish had a characteristic adven-
ture. The “ Jacob ” was sent from Plymouth to Cape Ann
to catch and cure a load of fish, and Standish, with some of
his men, went in her, to see the work well started. They
found that one Captain Hewes, in a ship sent out by the
Puritan malcontents in England, had taken possession of the
fishing-stage which Plymouth had built the year before on
her own land, at the west side of Gloucester harbor. Hewes
refused to yield the stage to its owners.1 The impetuous
Standish prepared to seize it. Hewes had placed his men on
the stage, with loaded muskets and lighted matches, behind
a barricade of barrels; Standish prepared to storm the posi-
tion, — an operation which could not have been bloodless.
Just then good Roger Conant, and Captain Peirce of the
“ Jacob,” interposed as peacemakers; and finally, all present
agreeing to join in building a new stage for the “ Jacob/* the
doughty Standish turned away to peaceful pursuits; but we
may well believe that his chivalric spirit chafed at such a
compromise with ruffianism. Standish was a friend of peace,
and ever ready to fight for it, with little regard for the odds
against him.
1 Bradford, writing on June 28 to the Council for New England, complains
of Plymouth’s treatment by the Adventurers, saying: “ They have not only cast
us off, but entered into a particular course of trading, and have by violence and
force taken at their pleasure our possession at Cap-Anne.” He also expresses
his wish to be “free from them.” (See Bradford’s Letter-Book.)CHAPTER XXVII.
Official Business. — Death of Cushman. — Robinson’s Death, and Leyden
Church Matters.
IN the summer of 1625 Standish went to England with the
“Little James” and her consort (see p. 253). Besides
arranging .with Sherley for more satisfactory charges, he was
to ask the Council for New England to help buy off the
Adventurers, as when one side had made itself free, the other
ought not to remain bound. But little could be done. The
tyranny of the new King (Charles I.) and his prelates, which
threatened to overwhelm the national liberty, had thrown
London trade into a ferment; there had been a terrible
course of small-pox; and that had been followed by a plague
which during the year (1625) cut down 41,313 of the inhabit-
ants.1 Standish made good progress, but was finally obliged
to suspend action till a better season, for the merchants lived
outside the city during the plague, and wouid not attend to
avoidable business. The Colony's few friends were cramped
by recent losses, and he could only hire ^150 at fifty per cent
interest, to pay his expenses and procure goods for home.
So, after five months of fruitless effort, he took passage in a
fishing-vessel bound to the Maine coast. In April (1626)
his arrival was reported at Plymouth, probably by an Indian
messenger, and a shallop was sent for him and his goods.
He was received with a hearty welcome; and without doubt
1 Before the great plague of 1664 there were those of 1592, 1593, 1603, 1625,
and that of 1636, which latter destroyed 10,460 people in London, and was pre-
ceded by a raging small-pox, as were most of the others, — by that or some
other epidemic.282
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1625.
his narrow escape from the Barbary pirates was duly remem-
bered by Elder Brewster in the next Sunday’s services.
The joy at Standish’s safe return was quickly followed by
sorrow at the news he brought. Some friends, like Fletcher,
had been ruined in fortune, and others had been cut off by
the plague, both in England and Holland. The Pilgrims re-
tained enough of loyalty to the person of a bad King, as well
as to his office, to mourn the death of James I., of which they
now first heard, more than a year after its occurrence. Not
a month after the King’s, came the death of Prince Maurice,1
the head of the Dutch Government during their residence in
Leyden; and at about the same time that of their impulsive,
true-hearted brother, Robert Cushman. In his last letter he
deplored the probable death of Sherley; but Sherley had
recovered, while Cushman, at the early age of forty-five, was
dead, and the Colony, so far as its English interests were
concerned, had lost its “ right hand.” 2
But other emotions were absorbed in that which followed
the announcement of John Robinson’s death. On a Saturday
the iron-nerved pastor found himself ill; yet the next day, as
usual, he conducted two services. During the week his medi-
cines seemed to affect him favorably, and he had little or no
pain ; but the next Saturday he ceased to breathe. The
plague then raged at Leyden as well as at London; but he
had no infection, his disease being an “ inward ague.” His
senses were clear to the last, so that his friends freely visited
him; and as his brother-in-law, Roger White, wrote, “ If
either prayers, tears, or means would have saved his life, he
had not gone hence.”
Three days later the body was laid in one of the many cells
under the paved floor of St. Peter’s Church. George Sumner,
1	Son of William the Silent, and when fifteen with him at his assassination;
he was godfather of William III. of England. The judicial murder of John of
Barneveldt is a stain on his memory. White, in his letter to Bradford, styles
him “ye old prince, Grave Mourise,” Grave being a title (as the German, Graft
a count).
2	In 1625 Bradford wrote Cushman to aid Standish in buying the return-cargo
of trading-goods, “ for therein he hath the least skill.”1625.]	ROBINSON’S BURIAL. —HIS FAMILY.	283
of Boston, has found the Dutch official's record of the inter-
ment, as follows: “ 1625, 4 March.—John Roelends, preacher
of the English sect by the Belfry, buried in the Peterschurch; "
while another officer, with different spelling, gave this receipt:
“ 1625, 10 March. — Open and hire for John Robens, English
preacher, 9 florins." These common burial-cells held four
bodies each; and seven years from the deposit of the last,
the cell was cleared and the bodies buried outside the city.
Of the final disposition of Robinson's remains, nothing is
known. Edward Winslow, on a revisit to Leyden, was
assured that “ the university and the ministers of the city
attended Robinson to the grave with all their accustomed-
solemnities;" and in 1714 Dr. Prince, of the “ Old South," at
Boston, when in Leyden, met aged people whose parents had
told them of the high esteem in which both city and univer-
sity held Robinson for his “ learning, piety, moderation, and
high accomplishments,” and that the magistrates, scholars,
and many of the gentry took part in his funeral. The plague
then so raged that on the next day after Robinson's death
twenty-five of the victims were buried in “ the Peterschurch,"
and public funerals were forbidden. The suspension of the
rule in Robinson's case, even though his disease had not been
infectious, is good evidence that the authorities regarded his
death as a public loss.
Robinson lived and died in that large house on Klok
Street already described on page 34. A census of October,
1622, gives the occupant of this estate as “ Jan Robberson,"
preacher; his wife, Bridget; and their children, John, Bridget,
Isaac, Mercy, Fear, and James; with Maria Hardy as servant.1
In 1631 Isaac emigrated to Plymouth, and, by tradition,
brought his mother; but this, like most Plymouth tradi-
tions, rests on no evidence. Mrs. Robinson was an official
witness, in 1629, of the marriage of her daughter Bridget;
but in 1648, at her daughter Fear's wedding, she did not act
in that capacity, but she may have been present nevertheless.
1 March 27, 1623, Robinson buried a child in St. Peter’s; and Dexter thinks
he may also have done so in February, 1621.284
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1625.
In 1644 the so-called “ Brownist” church was still at Leyden;
and the “ Reformed ” churches that year contributing 17,567
florins to aid their brethren in Ireland, this body gave 558
florins ($223.20), which, as money was then valued, was a
donation suggestive of both zeal and prosperity. In 1655
this flock was authorized to unite itself to the Dutch National
Church; in 1658 Hoornbeek recorded it as having been so
merged, and carrying with it the widow, children, and re-
maining friends of Mr. Robinson. That this eminent ma-
tron spent her life with her children at Leyden, is beyond
doubt.
This congregation, from the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1611
down, seems to have had no church edifice assigned to it.
Yet Dr. Prince (1714) was told at Leyden that the city pro-
vided it with one; and in 1786 the estimable wife of Presi-
dent John Adams visited the indicated edifice, and indulged in
emotions which were as sincere as if the relic ( ?) had been gen-
uine. Rev. William Stevens, of Edinburgh, in his “ Church
History,” says of Leyden: “ The Brownists had a chapel here,
and their pastor was John Smith ” ! In fact, none of the his-
tories or records of Leyden mention the Pilgrims as a body,
or their place of worship. The misinformation of Dr. Prince,
Mrs. Adams, and others, was due to the fact that in 1609,
the year in which the Pilgrims entered Leyden, some English
there on business formed a strong Presbyterian church, which
continued until 1807; and as King James had no hostility to
Presbyterians out of England, the obsequious Dutch rulers
had granted them the use of public church premises. While
the Pilgrim congregation was completely ignored, this Pres-
byterian body became known as the English church. Hence
those searching for Pilgrim memorials have been misled by
the name.
Robinson, whose health had been unusually good, was only
thirty-two at the flight from England, and forty-nine at his
death. It is not probable that his intense labors shortened
his days; but this cannot be said of the many disappoint-
ments as to rejoining his parishioners at Plymouth. The1625-6.]
MRS. BREWSTER'S DEATH.
285
Puritan faction which thwarted him kept him in such a state
of annoyance, anxiety, and grief as seems to have worn and
fretted him until he was unable to withstand even a moderate
attack of disease, and was as truly a martyr as Barrow, Green-
wood, or Penry. Had he reached Plymouth, his prospect for
threescore years and ten would have been better than that of
many a “ first-comer” who went beyond it.1
Robinson’s greatness is not always appreciated by those
who walk in other paths than that which he liked best. Pre-
judices of class, sect, party, or nation too often prevent us
from doing justice to men, especially of a bygone genera-
tion, who have wrought for liberty and truth by other methods
and under other names than those of our own adoption or
inheritance. Even the beloved disciple said: “ Master, we
saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him
because he followeth not with us; ” and the divine reproof
then given does not even yet prevent repetitions of that
bigoted example. But the day will come when all true men
will disregard the name, the manner, and the habitation of
those who have devoted their talents, few or many, to making
the pathway of humanity smoother on earth and more direct
toward heaven. Then with one consent will a high place be
awarded to John Robinson.2
* * *
In 1625-6 died Mary, wife of Elder Brewster, aged about
fifty-six. She seems to have become Brewster’s wife soon
after his retirement from Elizabeth’s court to Scrooby. Their
son Edward can hardly have been born later than 1589, «if
he was captain of Lord Delaware’s bodyguard in Virginia,
1	Bradford beautifully says: “His and their adversaries had been long and
continually plotting how they might hinder his coming hither, but ye Lord had
appointed a better place.”
2	While we do not know William Brewster and William Bradford and John
Carver and Samuel Fuller and their associates in the Leyden company as we
wish we knew them, we are yet able to conclude that to teach and love and lead
such men into the path of great enterprise would be possible to no small soul.
—Dexters Hist. Cong.> p. 410.286
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1625-6.
1609.1 Robinson in his last letter had hoped “ that Mrs.
Brewster's weak and decayed state of body will have some
repairing by the coming over of her daughters" (Fear and
Patience) ; but so it came, that the worthy elder mourned at
the same time for his wife and his pastor.
1 Rev. E. D. Neill.CHAPTER XXVIII.
Trade. — The Adventurers sell their Interest in the Colony. — The
“Purchasers.” — Origin of Cape Cod Ship-Canal.
IN 1626 the Pilgrims found themselves left to their unaided
efforts. Fishing had ever proved a poor business; agri-
culture was very successful, but their debts could only be met
by the profits of an extensive trade, and the people placed all
their outside traffic in the hands of the Governor and some
few others, agreeing to do nothing on private account.
A stock of goods for Indian traffic was obtained unex-
pectedly. Word came to Plymouth that an English post at
Monhegan was to break up, and had many goods to sell.
Bradford and Winslow went there in an open boat. As in
coasting along they naturally stopped at the Piscataqua plan-
tation, David Thompson, the shrewd Scotchman, concluded
to go along with them as a competitor. The sellers, in view
of the rivalry, marked up their goods and refused to sell less
than the whole stock. The bidders therefore delegated one
person, who bought the stock at some ^800, and divided it
equally. Several goats were also taken, to be sold for corn
to the people at Plymouth, as individual property. At
Sagadahoc there was found the rescued cargo of a wrecked
French ship; and this, too, was bought and divided. The
bills now exceeded ^1,000. The Plymouth men paid in
beaver and other things; but as the voracious Thompson
had gone beyond his means, he and his creditors persuaded
Bradford and Winslow to take all the French goods, and pay
for the second half with a simple note due the next year.288
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1626-7.
This shows that the Pilgrim credit, so exceptionally good at
Leyden, continued unimpaired.
Traffic flourished. Indian corn, which grew so finely at
Plymouth, was in general demand at 6s. a bushel; but as the
neighboring plantations ruined the adjacent market, it was
necessary to seek remoter places. For this, as a larger vessel
was wanted, they persuaded a house-carpenter to saw a shal-
lop in halves and insert some six feet of waist. Thus they
had a decked vessel, “ convenient and whole,” which did good
service for seven years; and with this “ barque ” they built up
a fine trade on the Kennebec.1
They also sent Allerton to conclude the bargain begun in
1625 by Standish, the terms to be subject to home approval.
Bradford and others also gave him, under their hand and seal,
a power of attorney to borrow £100 for two years, for public
use.
Returning in 1627 with the fishing-fleet for Maine, Allerton
reported that he had borrowed £200 at thirty per cent, and
with it had bought another stock of goods, “ much to the
comfort and content of the plantation; ” but what was far
more so, he had contracted with the Adventurers for their
entire interest in the Colony, at ^1,800, to be paid £200 on
each St. Michael’s Day, “ at ye place appoynted for ye re-
ceipts of money on ye west side of ye Royall Exchaing in
London.” The board of Adventurers had fallen from some
seventy members to forty-two, whose names were subscribed
to this document in the following order: 2 —
John White,3
John Pocock,
Robert Kean,
Edward Bass,
William Hobson,
William Pennington,
William Quarles,
Daniel Poynton,
Richard Andrews,
Newman Rookes,
Henry Browning,
Richard Wright,
John Ling,
Thomas Goffe,
Samuel Sharpe,
1	In 1626 this pinnace narrowly escaped destruction by the Maine Indians,
who sought to avenge some wrong done by the fishing-vessels, which had also
sold them fire-arms.
2	This list is from Bradford’s Letter-Book, 1st Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., iii. 48.
8 Haven thinks White was that Dorchester clergyman reputed to be the
author of “ The Planter’s Plea.”1627.]
THE
ADVENTURERS1
SALE.
289
Robert Holland,
James Sherley,
Thomas Mott,
Thomas Fletcher,
Timothy Hatherly,
Thomas Brewer,
John Thorned,
Myles Knowles,
William Collier,
John Re veil,
Peter Gudburn,
Emanuel Alltham,
John Beauchamp,
Thomas Hudson,
Thomas Andrews,
Thomas Ward,
Fria. Newbald,
Thomas Heath
Joseph Tilden,
William Perrin,
Eliza Knight,
Thomas Coventry,
Robert Allden,
Lawrence Anthony,
John Knight,
Matthew Thornhill,
Thomas Millsop.
This contract was gladly approved at Plymouth; but there
was anxiety as to what security could be offered. The
Colony being unchartered and its government based on the
consent of the governed, was then a legal nonentity, and of
course incapable of making a contract. If its leaders became
personally bound for the debt, and the plantation should be
broken up by any disaster, conspiracy, invasion, or royal
seizure, or if its trade should cease to be especially profitable,
they would most probably end their days in the debtor’s
ward of a London prison. Still, the responsibility was as-
sumed by William Bradford, Myles Standish, Isaac Allerton,
Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Howland, John
Alden, and Thomas Prence, who therefore became the owners
of the settlement, so far as the Adventurers’ liens and title
went. What should they do with it?
From the first there had been sundry “ untoward persons ”
with the Pilgrims, but not of them, — men uncordial toward
the church, if not to the civil power. Had there been that
sectarian exclusiveness which misinformation so generally
attributes to the Pilgrims, they would have used this easy
opportunity to omit from the new list of freeholders all non-
conformists to the “ standing order.” This policy was pro-
posed and rejected; and it was decided to form an equal
partnership, which should include all heads of families and all
self-supporting single men, young or old, whether church-
members, non-church-members, or anti-church-members.
These men, enrolled as “ Purchasers,” then received each one
share in the public belongings, with the right to take a share
19290
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
for his wife, and another for each of his children. These
shares were bound for so much of the public debt as the
trade should not pay, and to them belonged everything per-
taining to the Colony, except each person's personal effects.
These purchasers were found to number (about) 156, — 57
men, 34 boys, 29 matrons, and 36 girls. This did not include
servants and indentured persons, of whom there may have
been 20 to 30.
As their necessities required the development of new fields
of commerce, the enterprising Pilgrims laid out a route across
Cape Cod, so that by boating up Scusset River and making
a portage of two or three miles, goods could be placed in
boats on Manomet River (now Monumet River),1 at a point
a mile or two above Buzzard's Bay. On the south bank of
the Manomet, where the stream is 250 feet wide, a palisaded
trading-house (about 20 X 40 feet) was erected within 300
feet of low-water mark.2 A pinnace was also built, and, to-
gether with the house, was placed in charge of two men.
When a trading trip was to be made, the goods were brought
in boats from Plymouth to the head of the Scusset, carried
over to the Manomet, and then boated down to the pinnace.
The latter then found her way to Narraganset Bay, Long
Island Sound, and a few years later to the Connecticut River
and Manhattan. In due time the pinnace returned with her
gatherings, and the transportation was reversed. The two
custodians of the trading-house and craft then attended to
raising corn, swine, and poultry, until the next trip. Tradition
has it that some of them once whiled away the time by cut-
ting on a neighboring rock this bold prophecy, which long
anticipated Bishop Berkeley’s: —
" The Eastern Nations sink ; their glory ends,
And Empire rises where the sun descends.”
1	See page 118.
2	The original deed of conveyance from Sachem Quochatset, of “land at
Sandy Sea and Manamet and Herring River,” dated July 21, 1669, is still in
existence, and is the basis of all subsequent sales. Included in the tract then
sold, besides the Pilgrims’ trading-post, is the locality now known as “ Cedar-
ville,” which has been made famous by that consummate piece of novelistic
impertinence, “ Cape Cod Folks.”1627.]
THE CAPE COD SHIP-CANAL.
291
The Cape Cod isthmus has been happily called the Pilgrim
Suez, with Buzzard’s Bay for its Red Sea, and Plymouth as its
Aleppo. The traffic across it long continued; and it became
so important that John Alden and George Soule, of the origi-
nal company, lived several years after a route for a canal had
been traced there, and had become a subject of interest in the
neighboring Colony of Massachusetts Bay. But six succes-
sive generations have sailed to the unseen shore, and the
work is still known as the “proposed Cape Cod Ship-canal.”
But may this seventh generation see the Pilgrim Suez pierced
like its great prototype ! New England cannot afford to neg-
lect any such commercial advantage, for empire still follows
the descending sun.1
1 In August, 1775, while Washington was besieging the British in Boston,
an agile coaster from New York, with a hundred barrels of flour for his army,
came along the Sound and up Buzzard’s Bay to the old Pilgrim landing, and
sent the flour in carts by the ancient route to Scusset River. Colonel Cotton
was then at Plymouth with a regiment recruited thereabouts, largely from the
amphibious element driven from the sea by the British cruisers. (Among
Cotton’s officers we find the honored names of Bradford, Alden, Cole, Church,
Sampson, Thomas, and Wadsworth. Alas! there was no Winslow, for that
family was stiffly Tory.) Quartermaster Davis made a detail from this force,
placing it under Captain Samuel Bradford. A flotilla of twenty whale-boats
under Captain Sylvanus Drew received the soldiers, who then made a five-hours’
passage to Scusset, relieving the rowers as the wind served by making sails of
their blankets. They narrowly escaped destruction on Scusset Bar. The next
morning the boats, taking the flour, rowed cautiously along the shore for fear of
the enemy’s ships, and by 5 P. m. landed their precious cargo at Cohasset, whence
it was carted to Washington’s camp. In the war of 1812 this route was much
used. So the Cape Cod canal route has no small history.
The canal was finally begun Oct. 15, 1883, but at our date of publication was
not nearly completed, though probably only a very few more years will be needed
at the present rate of progress.CHAPTER XXIX.
THE CATTLE DIVISION. —SEVEN YEARS’ LIST OF COLONISTS.
ACCORDING to the Pilgrim policy of encouragement to
individual responsibility and effort, the cattle were
promptly distributed, so that a few people should have the
care and use of an animal for ten years, and then restore to
the public the original animal and one half of its increase, if
any. In case of any abuse or neglect, the whole of that
group of persons were to be responsible for the damage, and
were to forfeit possession of the animal. The one hundred
and fifty-six purchasers were formed in twelve groups (of
thirteen each), according to their own preferences. The fif-
teen cattle were arranged in twelve divisions, one of which
was assigned by lot to each group; each of the twelve divi-
sions, except the fourth, had a pair of she-goats added to it.
The swine were divided in like manner; but owing to their
greater number, no record was made, and probably they were
given absolutely.
This cattle division, made at a town meeting, June I, 1627
(n. S.), is of great interest, as showing the growth to that
date of the Pilgrim families. The record is (in substance) as
follows: —
[Some very slight changes have been made in the order of the names
to promote clearness; “junior” has been supplied in some cases, and
the repetition of “ two she-goats ” avoided in the various lots. Of the
first company, Simonson became Simmons, and Delanoy, Delano. It
will be remembered that there were a score or two persons at Plymouth
not named in this list of “ Purchasers.”]THE CATTLE DIVISION.
293
1627]
1.	The first lot fell to Francis
him, his wife
Hester Cooke,
John Cooke,
Jacob Cooke,
Jane Cooke,
Hester Cooke, Jr.
Mary Cooke,
To this lot fell the least of the fot
Cooke and his company ; joined to
Moses Simonson,
Philip Delanoy,
Experience Mitchell,
John Faunce,.
Joshua Pratt,
Phineas Pratt.
r black heifers came in the “ Jacob.”
2.	The second lot fell to Mr. Isaac Allerton and his company; joined
to him, his wife
Fear Allerton,	Sarah Cuthbertson,
Bartholomew Allerton,	Samuel Cuthbertson,
Remember Allerton,	Maria Priest,
Mary Allerton,	Sarah Priest,
Sarah Allerton,	Edward Bumpas,
Cuthbert Cuthbertson,	John Crackstone.
To this lot fell the great black cow, came in the “ Anne,” to which
they must keep the lesser of the two steers.
3.	The third lot fell to Captain Standish and his company; joined to
him, his wife
Barbara Standish,	Edward Winslow,
Charles Standish,	Susanna Winslow,
Alexander Standish,	Edward Winslow, Jr.
John Standish,	John Winslow, 2d.
Abraham Pierce,	Resolved White, ,
Thomas Clarke,	Peregrine White.
To this lot fell the red cow which belongeth to the poor of the Colony;
to which they must keep her calf of this year, being a bull, for the com-
pany (Colony).
4.	The fourth lot fell to John Howland and his company; joined to
him, his wife
Elizabeth Howland,	John Alden,
John Howland, Jr.	Priscilla Alden,
Desire Howland,	Elizabeth Alden,
William Wright,	John Alden, Jr.
Thomas Morton, Jr.	Clement Briggs,
Edward Doten,	Edward Holman.
To this lot fell one of the four heifers came in the “Jacob,” called
Raghorn.294
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
5.	The fifth lot to Mr. William Brewster and his company; joined
to him,
Love Brewster,	Richard More,
Wrestling Brewster,	Henry Sampson,
Jonathan Brewster,	Thomas Prence,
Lucretia Brewster,	Patience Prence,
William Brewster, 2d,	Rebecca Prence,
Mary Brewster,	Humility Cooper.
To this lot fell one of the four heifers came in the “ Jacob,” called the
Blind Heifer.
6.	The sixth lot fell to John Shaw and his company; joined to him.
John Adams,	Elizabeth Basset,
Eleanor Adams,	William Basset, Jr.
James Adams,	Elizabeth Basset, Jr.
John Winslow,	Francis Sprague,
Mary Winslow,	Anna Sprague,
William Basset,	Mercy Sprague.
To this lot fell the lesser of the black cows, came at first In the
“ Anne ; ” with which they must keep the bigger of the two steers.
7.	The seventh lot fell to Stephen Hopkins and his company; joined
to him, his wife
Elizabeth Hopkins,	William Palmer,
Giles Hopkins,	Frances Palmer,
Caleb Hopkins,	William Palmer, Jr.
Deborah Hopkins,	John Billington,
Nicholas Snow,	Eleanor Billington,
Constance Snow,	Francis Billington.
To this lot fell a black weaning calf; to which was added the calf of
this year, to come of the black cow which fell to John Shaw, etc., which
proving a bull, they were to keep it for five years for common use, and
after to make the best of it. Nothing belongeth of these two for the
company of the first stock, but only half the increase.
8.	The eighth lot fell to Samuel Fuller and his company; joined to
him, his wife
Bridget Fuller,	Martha Ford,
Samuel Fuller, Jr.	Anthony Annable,
Peter Browne,	Jane Annable,
Martha Browne,	Sarah Annable,
Mary Browne,	Hannah Annable,
John Ford,	Damaris Hopkins.
To this lot fell a red heifer, came of the cow which belongeth to the
poor of the Colony, and is of that consideration, viz.: these persons1627.1
THE CATTLE DIVISION.
295
nominated to have half the increase ; the other half, with the old stock,
to remain for the use of the poor. (See Note, “ 1638.”)
9.	The ninth lot fell to Richard Warren and his company; joined
with him, his wife
Elizabeth Warren,	Elizabeth Warren, Jr.
Nathaniel Warren,	Abigail Warren,
Joseph Warren,	John Billington, Jr.
Mary Warren,	George Soule,
Ann Warren,	Mary Soule,
Sarah Warren,	Zachariah Soule.
To this lot fell one of the four black heifers that came in the “ Jacob,**
called the Smooth-horned Heifer.
10.	The tenth lot fell to Francis Eaton and those joined with him;
his wife
Christian Eaton,	Rebecca Tracy,
Samuel Eaton,	Ralph Wallen,
Rachel Eaton,	Joyce Wallen,
Stephen Tracy,	Sarah Morton,
Triphosa Tracy,	Robert Bartlett,
Sarah Tracy,	Thomas Prence, Jr.
To this lot an heifer of the last year, called the White-bellied Heifer.
11.	The eleventh lot fell to the Governor, Mr. William Bradford, and
those with him, to wit: his wife
Alice Bradford,	Mannasseh Kempton,
William Bradford, Jr.	Julian(a) Kempton,
Mercy Bradford,	Nathaniel Morton,
Joseph Rogers,	John Morton,
Thomas Cushman,	Ephraim Morton,
William Latham,	Patience Morton.
To this lot fell an heifer of the last year, which was of the great White-
back Cow that was brought over in the “ Anne.”
12.	The twelfth lot fell to John Jenny and his company; joined to
him, his wife
Sarah Jenny,	Samuel Hicks,
Samuel Jenny,	Ephraim Hicks,
Abigail Jenny,	Lydia Hicks,
Sarah Jenny, Jr.	Phebe Hicks,
Robert Hicks,	Stephen Dean,
Margaret Hicks,	Edward Bangs.
To this lot fell the great White-back Cow; to which cow the keeping
of the bull was joined for these presents to provide for.296
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
Some eight months after this allotment a trade was made
which gives interesting information. Edward Winslow (Jan. 30,
1628, N. S.), of the third company above named, sold his
family’s six-thirteen interest in the red cow to Captain Stan-
dish for £$ 10s. in corn. Allowing for the different value of
money at the present day, this indicates that the entire worth
of the cow was at least $200; and this was only for the ten
years’ use, with half the increase. The same day Pierce sold
his share and Clarke’s to Standish for two ewe lambs, this
being the first intimation of any sheep in the Colony. So
Standish secured a cow entirely to himself, probably with a
view to his removal to Duxbury.1
1 The public animals having been distributed, a land division was arranged,
and Jan. 13, 1628, n. s., each Purchaser received twenty acres besides the single
acres previously allotted. These hundred and fifty-six fields were (so far as
might be) in quadrilaterals, four acres by five, and covered some five square
miles. They ranged from Jones River to Eel River, about six miles, with the
village at the middle. The scanty mowing-fields of native grass were reserved,
and for many years the Governor and Council assigned mowing privileges to the
keepers of stock according to their needs. It was provided, before the distri-
bution of the little farms by lot, that those coming near the village should share
the use of their land, for the first four years, with a neighbor or two whose allot-
ments were remote, and should have a compensating use of the outer lands at
the end of that time. The poorer land was not included in this distribution, but
remained in common.
Cattle Notes. In 1633, Deacon Fuller, the “ phisition,” wrote in his will:
“ I give to the church of God at Plymouth the first cow-calf that my brown
cow shall have.” The same year his (and Bradford’s) brother-in-law, William
Wright, left “ a ewe lamb” to the church. That year, heifers sold in Plymouth
at £*3-
1638. William Nelson was hired as cow-keeper at the same rate as last year,
viz., fifty bushels of corn; to keep them till the middle of November. But in
September Richard Willis was hired for the next year at the same rate, to be
paid pro rata by each owner; and only milch cows and working oxen were to
be kept about town after May. This year the stock for the poor had increased
to thirteen animals.
1644.	Arthur Howland attached a “ Dutch cow ” of Mendham’s in Duxbury,
for £6. A cow left by Mr. Andrew Hallett, Sen., for the poor at Yarmouth,
was to be kept three years by Thomas Payne, for her milk and half the
increase.
1645.	Robert Hicks left “ a cow calf ” to the town of Plymouth.
1647. Coddington, on Aquiday Island, had some Cotswold “rambes;” his
ewes generally bore twins, and he held his “quine ” ewes at £2 silver, or a pair
for one cow. That year, at Cambridge, cows were rated £9, oxen £6, horses
£jt sheep £1 10s.t swine £1.1627.]
FULL LIST OF COLONISTS.
297
The cattle division of 1627, affording as it does the last
glimpse of several Plymouth households, renders appropriate
a list of the immigrants and the births for the first seven
years, with the deaths and removals. Phineas Pratt came
overland from Weymouth, and John Shaw and Jonathan
Brewster’s wife had come in some way not recorded. Lyford
brought his family in the “ Charity.” All the others were
either natives of the Colony or “ first-comers; ” that is, those
who came in the “ Mayflower,” “ Fortune,” or “ Anne” and
consort. In these lists the “ Mayflower’s ” passengers have
a*, the “Fortune’s” a f, and those of the “Anne” and
“ Little James” a {. Those known to have come by other
means are marked with a §. Those to whom no mark is
prefixed were natives of the Colony. Next after each man’s
name is given that of his wife, with her maiden name, and if
a widow, her former married name, so far as known. Chil-
dren’s names are indented below those of their parents. So
far as practicable, the age of each person in 1627, and the
year of death, are given: —
{John Adams................1633
{Eleanor (Newton) Adams,
[29]....................1681
James Adams ....	1651
♦John Alden, [28] ....	1687
♦Priscilla (Mullins) Alden.
Elizabeth Alden, [3] .	.	1717
John Alden, Jr., [1] . .	1702
♦Isaac Allerton, [39] . .	.	1659
{Fear (Brewster) Allerton .	1633
♦Bartholomew Allerton.
1649. Richard Church (father of the warrior) sold land at Eel River to
Robert Bartlett for ^25, and took for £8 ioj. a red ox called Mouse.
1659. Cows at Plymouth had fallen to £3; in 1685, to £2 10s. In 1641, a
colt was worth £6; in 1643, a mare £8. Relative values were such that in
1637 a first-class bed was worth £8, or more.
In 1625, a year after their introduction at Plymouth, twelve cows were sent
from England to Cape Ann. At the close of that year Conant must have taken
them with him to Salem. At the latter place, in 1629, under Endicott, were
horses and “rother beasts” (*.*., neat cattle), and he that year bought from
Plymouth three breeding-sows for £9.
♦Remember Allerton.
♦Mary Allerton, [18] .	. 1699
Sarah Allerton.	
{Anthony Annable . .	■ 1673
{Jane Annable ....	• 1643
{Sarah Annable.	
{Hannah Annable.	
{Edward Bangs, [35] . .	. 1678
{William Basset . . .	. 1667
{Elizabeth Basset.
William Basset, Jr.298
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
Elizabeth Basset.	
{Robert Bartlett, [24] .	. 1676
♦John Billington . . .	. 1630
♦Eleanor Billington.	
♦John Billington, Jr. .	1628-9
♦Francis Billington.	
♦William Bradford, [37].	• 1657
{Alice (Carpenter - South-
worth) Bradford, [37]	1670
William Bradford, Jr., [3] 1704
Mercy Bradford, [1].
♦William Brewster, [61]	.	1644
♦Love Brewster....	1650
♦Wrestling Brewster,
f Jonathan Brewster, [34]	1659
JLucretia Brewster (Mrs.
Jonathan).
William Brewster, 2d.
Mary Brewster.
•(■Clement Briggs.
♦Peter Browne.............1633
•(•Martha (---Ford) Browne.
Mary Browne.
fjohn Ford................1693
{Martha Ford .	. .	.1684?
•(■Edward Bumpas .... 1684 ?
♦Francis Cook, [45 ?]	. .	1663
{Hester Cook................166-?
♦John Cook................1694
{Jacob Cook.
{Jane Cook.
{Hester Cook.
Mary Cook, [1].
♦Humility Cooper.
{Thomas Cushman, [20]	.	1691
{Thomas Clark, [22]. . .	1697
{Cuthbert Cuthbertson . .	1633
{Sarah (Allerton - Vincent -
Priest) Cuthbertson .	1633
{Samuel Cuthbertson.
{Mary Priest.
{Sarah Priest.
♦John Crackstone, Jr. .	.	1628 ?
{Stephen Dean.............1634
{Philip Delano(y), [25]	.	.	1681
♦Edward Doten .	.	.	.	1655
♦Francis Eaton..........1633
{Christian (Penn) Eaton.
♦Samuel Eaton, [7].
Rachel Eaton.
{John Faunce............1654
♦Samuel Fuller..........1633
{Bridget Fuller.
Samuel Fuller, Jr.,	[3]	.	1695
{Robert Hicks...........1648
{Margaret Hicks.
{Samuel Hicks.
{Ephraim Hicks.
{Lydia Hicks.
Phebe Hicks .... 1665
{Edward Holman.
♦Stephen Hopkins . . .	1644
♦Elizabeth Hopkins.
♦Giles Hopkins.
♦Damaris Hopkins.
Caleb Hopkins.
Deborah Hopkins.
♦John Howland, [34]. . . 1673
♦Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland,
[21]................1687
John Howland, Jr., [3 m.] 1663
Desire Howland, [2 y.].
{John Jenney..............1644
{Sarah (Carey) Jenney . .	1656
{Samuel Jenney.
{Abigail Jenney.
{Sarah Jenney.
{Manasseh Kempton.	.	.	1663
{Juliana (Carpenter-Morton)
Kempton, [42] .	.	.	1668
{Nathaniel Morton, [15 ?]	1685
{Patience Morton.
{John Morton.
{Sarah Morton.
{Ephraim Morton, [4]	.	1693
♦William Latham.
{Experience Mitchell, [28]	1689
♦Richard More.1627.] LIST OF COLONISTS: THE LIVING AND DEAD. 299
{Thomas Morton, Jr.
fWilliam Palmer ....	1638
{Frances Palmer.
fWilliam Palmer, Jr.
{Abraham Pierce.
{Joshua Pratt..............1656
§Phineas Pratt, [37] .	.	.	1680
{Thomas Prence, [25]	. .	1673
{Patience (Brewster) Prence 1634
Thomas Prence, Jr.
Rebecca Prence.
♦Joseph Rogers . .	.	1660-1
♦Henry Sampson, [13] .	.	1684
§John Shaw.
{Moses Simmons(on).
{Nicholas Snow ....	1671
♦Constance (Hopkins) Snow 1676
♦George Soule..............1680
{Mary (Bucket) Soule . .	1677
Zechariah Soule.
{Francis Sprague.
{Anna Sprague.
{Mercy Sprague.
♦Myles Standish, [43] .	.	1656
{Barbara Standish.
Charles Standish.
Alexander Standish .	. 1702
THE DEAD (so
♦Mary (Norris) Allerton .	1621
♦John Allerton..............1621
♦Dorothy (May) Bradford .	1620
♦Mary Brewster .... 1625?
♦Richard Britteridge . . .	1620
♦William Button ....	1620
♦Robert Carter..............1621
♦John Carver................1621
♦Katherine Carver . .	.	1621
♦Mrs. Carver’s maid-servant,
— Mrs. Francis Eaton ------
♦James Chilton..............1620
♦His wife...................1621
John Standish.
{Stephen Tracy.
{Triphosa (Le-----) Tracy.
{Sarah Tracy.
Rebecca Tracy.
{Ralph Wallen.............1643 ?
{PJoyce Wallen.
♦Richard Warren ....	1628
{Elizabeth Warren, [44]. .	1673
Nathaniel Warren.
Joseph Warren.
{Mary Warren.
{Ann Warren.
{Sarah Warren.
{Elizabeth Warren.
{Abigail Warren.
♦Edward Winslow, [32] . .	1655
♦Susanna (Fuller[?J-White)	
Winslow		1680
Edward Winslow, Jr.	
John Winslow, 2d.	
♦Resolved White, [12]	1690-3
Peregrine White, [7]	1704
{John Winslow, [30] . . .	1674
♦Mary (Chilton) Winslow .	1679
{William Wright . . . .	1633
FAR AS KNOWN).
♦Richard Clark.............1621
♦John Crackstone, Sen. . .	1621
♦Sarah Eaton...............1621
♦Thomas English ....	1621
♦Moses Fletcher . .	. .	1621
♦Edward Fuller and wife .	1621
♦John Goodman ....	1621
♦John Hooke................1621
♦William Holbeck ....	1621
♦Oceanus Hopkins .	.	. ----
♦John Langmore . . . .	1621
♦Christopher Martin and
wife.................1621300
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627*
♦William Mullins (Molines),
wife, and son Joseph .	1621
♦Edmund Margeson .	.	.	1621
♦Ellen Moore................1621
♦Jasper Moore...............1620
♦His brother................1621
♦Degory Priest..............1621
♦Solomon Prower .	.	.	.	1621
♦John and Alice Ridgdale .	1621
♦Thomas Rogers ....	1621
♦Rose Standish .	...	1621
♦Elias Story................1621
♦Edward and Ann Tilley .	1621
THE ABSENT
♦Samuel Fuller, 2d (a).
♦Richard Gardner.
♦Edward Lister.
♦Desire Minter.
♦Gilbert Winslow.
{William Beal.
{Edward Burcher and wife.
{William Connor.
{Christopher Conant.
{Anthony Dix............1638
{Thomas Flavell, {wife, and {son.
{Edmund Flood.
{William Ford (a).
{Timothy Hatherly (a).
{William Hilton, {wife, and two
children.
♦John and Bridget (Van der
Velde) Tilley . . .	1621
♦Thomas Tinker, wife, and
son.................1621
♦John Turner and two sons 1621
♦Edward Thompson .	.	.	1620
♦William White ....	1621
♦Thomas Williams .	.	.	1621
♦Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow 1621
{John Cannon (Carman) . --------
{A child, Mrs. Cuthbertson’s ---
{George Morton ....	1624
{William Tench1 .... ——
(some dead).
{William Heard.
{Robert Long.
§John Lyford, his wife Ann, and
four(?) children.
{Bennet Morgan.
{Thomas Morton.
{Austin Nicholas.
{John Oldham, wife, and eight
others.
{William Pitt.
{James Rand.
{Robert Ratcliffe, wife, and child.
{Hugh Stacy (Statie).
{James Stewart.
{Thomas Tilden, wife, and child.
{One of “ Mr. Pierce’s servants.”
(a) Reappeared in Colony.
Purchasers, 156; dead, 58; removed, 53. Total, 267.
A former remark upon the Christian names of our ances-
tors may be repeated as to the foregoing lists. Those who
still suppose that the Pilgrims generally gave their children
1 Cannon and Tench bequeathed each an acre of land to John Billington.
Billington’s heirs were afterward in possession of this bequest, which is good
evidence that the devisors were dead; if so, they died before the cattle dis-
tribution. These acres were their allotment of 1623-4.1627.]
PILGRIM GIVEN-NAMES.
301
uncouth Hebrew names from the Septuaglnt, or doctrinal
phrases and texts of Scripture, may profitably consider the
above rolls, which include all the known Pilgrim names for
the first seven years of the Colony. The whole number of
given names is 230. Of these, there are 29 Johns, 20 Williams,
12 Thomases, 10 Edwards, and 14 are divided between Sam-
uel, Francis, and James; there also are 10 Marys, 10 Sarahs,
8 Elizabeths, and 4 Anns. These 11 fine names comprise
more than half the whole. Love, Wrestling, Resolved,
Remember, Humility, and Fear are mild exceptions to the
general rule; Desire was probably from the French Desiree;
Oceanus and Peregrine were very happily derived from the
circumstances of the case. One can hardly find a census-roll
which has a purer and better English character.1
1 Of course there are no middle names, for it was almost two centuries later
that these came into popular use, as may be seen by the names of our Revolu-
tionary leaders, early Presidents, and statesmen. In 1718 occurs the first double-
name at Harvard College, and there were not many for a century afterward.
The earliest middle name at Plymouth which the editor has met with, is that of
the author’s great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Southworth Howland, who ■
died in 1739 (grandson to both John Howland the Pilgrim, and Captain Thomas
Southworth, son of Mrs. [Southworthl Bradford). This is almost, if not quite,
the only instance of such names, until the latter half of the century. The people
of Plymouth in this, as in all other things, were more modest and less given to
display than those of the aristocratic Bay. Surnames date from the time of
Edward the Confessor, and were at first largely derived from men’s vocations or
surroundings.
In 1643, of 68 freemen at Taunton were 17 Johns, 13 Williams, and 7
Thomases. No name among them was more unusual than that good old one,—
Hezekiah.
William Ford and the orphan Fuller may have been steadily in the Colony,
though not among the “ Purchasers.” There were several in this position, mostly
bound servants.
(Common errors are, to set Elder Brewster’s age from two to six years more
than the fact, and Thomas Clark’s five years, — the latter resulting from an error
on his gravestone.)CHAPTER XXX.
The “ Undertakers.” — Plymouth and the Dutch Settlements. — De
Rasteres’ Visit. — De Rasi£res’ Description of Plymouth, etc. —
Wampum.
THE public debt (;£i,8oo to the Adventurers, and £600
to others) requiring better financial management than
could be expected from the general town-meetings, the Col-
ony’s bondsmen — Bradford, Standish, Allerton, Winslow,
Brewster, Howland, Alden, and Prence — engaged to make
the payment within six years, and to annually import £$o
worth of hose and shoes, to be sold for corn at six shillings a
bushel, provided the entire outside trade of the Colony should
for that time be left to them. From this undertaking they
became known as the “ Undertakers.” So the business of
the Colony had passed from the Adventurers to the Pur-
chasers, and from them to the Undertakers. The latter
thereupon (1627) received possession of the pinnace used in
the Maine trade, the shallop called the “ bass-boat,” the
barque and trading-house at Manomet, and all the public
trading-stock of furs, fells, beads, corn, hatchets, knives, etc.
Each Purchaser was yearly to pay the Undertakers six bushels
of corn or twenty pounds of tobacco (but this contribution
was never exacted).
In the autumn of 1627 the Undertakers sent Allerton again
to England to attend to business there, and especially to pro-
cure a grant of territory at the Kennebec. On that river the
Pilgrims had created a profitable trade with the natives; now,
their Puritan rivals at Piscataqua and other places, and the
fishing-vessels, were not only interfering with it, but were1627.]	TRADE.—FRIENDLY DUTCH OVERTURES.
303
aiming at a patent which should exclude Plymouth from any
share of the traffic. Allerton was cordially received in Eng-
land, and through him the eight Plymouth Undertakers were
joined by four Londoners,—James Sherley, John Beauchamp,
Richard Andrews, and Timothy Hatherly. This addition
seemed full of promise, but it proved a great and long-con-
tinuing calamity.
The Colony’s trade the same autumn was very pleasantly
and profitably enlarged. The Dutch explorations of the
Hudson had led (1615) to the United New Netherlands Com-
pany, with exclusive trade there, but in 1621 it had been
superseded by the famous West India Company. The Dutch
claimed the territory from the fortieth to the forty-fifth paral-
lels, which included every mile of New England coast and as
far south as Philadelphia. For years two trading-posts were
maintained; but no settlement was made, though the over-
tures to the Pilgrims in 1620 showed that the subject was in
mind. But in 1623 a permanent colony of men, women, and
children was placed at Manhattan under the government of
the West India Company, and by 1627-28 there were two
hundred and seventy people there, with more than a hundred
cattle.
Strange to say, the Dutch and their old friends at Plymouth
had not met or communicated down to 1627. In 1623, Win-
slow, on his medical visit to Massasoit, had hoped to meet a
Dutch ship, and was much disappointed at missing her. The
Dutch had continued to visit the Narraganset, but had been
careful not to attract the attention of Plymouth, for fear of
creating a competition in that profitable trading-field. So
Bradford was agreeably surprised when, in March, 1627, there
came to him a friendly letter from Isaak DeRasieres,1 secre-
tary of the West India Company’s Government at Manhattan.
The letter was addressell to the “ Noble, Worshipful, Wise,
and Prudent Lords, the Governor and Councillors residing in
Nieu-Pliemuen; ” and it comprised a wish for the temporal
and eternal happiness of their “ Lordships.” The democratic
1 Bradford always gives this name as DeRaster.304
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
Bradford remarks that it is the Dutch manner to be “ full of
complimental titles; ” and he modestly leaves this glowing
address untranslated, while he gives the body of the missive
in English.
The Dutch, expressing a desire for kindly intercourse now
that the mother-countries had renewed their league, said they
would meet their friends for trade wherever wished. A reply
in Dutch was sent to “ The Honorable and Worshipful, the
Director and Council of New Netherland, our very loving
friends and Christian neighbors.” It wished their “ Honors’
Worships and Wisdoms ” worldly prosperity and “ eternal
rest and glory.” Their friendship was reciprocated, and a
grateful remembrance expressed of the Pilgrims’ life in Hol-
land, the “ freedom and good content” of which would never
be forgotten by themselves or their children. Still, Bradford
cautioned the Dutch against settling within the territory of the
Council for New England; and he urged them to forbear trad-
ing with the natives around Buzzard’s Bay, or the Narraganset
and Sowams region, “ which is, as it were, at our doors.”
The next August “ John Jacobson of Wiring ” brought to
Plymouth from Manhattan a kind but resolute answer, assert-
ing the Dutch right to trade within the limits of the Plymouth
patent; for if the English King claimed the country, so did
the Dutch States-General, and this claim they would maintain.
This letter was directed to “ Monsieur Monseigneur William
Bradford, Governor in ‘ Nieu-Plemeuen.’ ” After “ kind and
friendly entertainment ” of Jacobson, “ Monseigneur ” Brad-
ford returned by him an equally courteous and firm missive,
in which he said that Plymouth would expel by force, if need
be, any one who should enter her territory to molest her
trade. He also requested a visit from the Dutch authorities,
that an agreement might be made as to their “ mutual com-
merce.” He warned them, however, of their danger by the
way should they fall into “ the hands of those of Virginia, or
the fishing-ships which come to New England.”1
1 Bradford’s History errs in putting this visit in 1628. His Letter-Book
gives the correct date, as shown by the copied letters themselves.1627.]	DE RASliCRES’ VISIT. — WAMPUM.	305
On the 4th of October (1627) Secretary De Rasieres no-
tified Bradford that he was on board the barque “Nassau,”
off the trading-house at Manomet, and asked that a boat
be sent for him. John Jacobson, of Wiring, had in six
hours walked the twenty miles from Manomet to Plymouth;
but the portly secretary said that he had “ not gone so far
this three or four years,” and he feared his feet would fail
him. So a boat was at once sent to ’Scusset,1 and the
secretary, with the chief of his company, was brought to
Plymouth.2 He moved in some state, for Bradford rather
disdainfully mentions him as “ accompanied with a noise of
trumpeters and some other attendants.” He proved a very
worthy man, the son of one of those Huguenots who, driven
from France, had been sheltered by the Dutch and given a
home on the banks of the Waal. After several days’ hos-
pitality, including a Sunday, De Rasieres returned to the
“Nassau ” with some of the Plymouth people. In her he had
brought “ cloth of three sorts and colors, and a chest of
white sugar,” besides small wares, for which his hosts paid
him mainly tobacco of their own raising. Thus began a
trade which lasted several years to mutual benefit, until
Virginia contrived to divert it.
P"rom De Rasieres, Plymouth learned the use of wampum
(or sewan) as money. This article consisted of beads made
chiefly from the shell of the quahog. As only a small part
of the shell was purple, the beads of that color had an en-
hanced value. The shell was broken into small pieces, which,
chipped to a somewhat regular form, were then drilled, ground
to a rounded shape, and finally polished. As noticed in
Chapter X., the use of this form of money had not then ex-
tended east of the Narraganset. De Rasieres sold the Pil-
grims £50 worth; but it was two years before the natives took
up even this small amount. But then discovering its benefit,
they sought it so eagerly that enough of it could not be had
1	Original form of this name (in Bradford), Manonscusset.
2	So among the earliest events in the history of the “ Cape Cod canal
route ” was the passage over it of a foreign embassy “ with trumpeters.”
203 o6
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
for trade, although they had learned to make it. Some of
the whites tried to produce it by improved processes, but
they soon found that the manufacture of such as the Indians
would receive cost more than its current value. Thus the
wampum was not a cheap article rated at a fictitious valua-
tion, but into each fathom of it had been put quite as much
labor as the market price of the wampum would pay for in
merchandise. Six of the white beads, or three of the purple,
were the equivalent of a penny, for the labor which would
produce them would bring a penny for other purposes. The
mercantile prosperity which this money brought to the natives
made them especially eager buyers of fire-arms, which Dutch
and French traders and the fishermen sold them, despite all •
laws.
Not long after this visit, De Rasieres was displaced by
some faction, and on reaching Holland wrote to Director
Blommaert, of his company, a letter, which about 1847 found
its way to the Royal Library of Holland. This document,
through the efforts of J. R. Brodhead (the able historian of
New York), is printed in the New York Historical Collections
(vol. ii., new series) ; and the portion of it relating to Ply-
mouth in its seventh year throws no small light upon our
subject. It says: —
“Coming out of the River Nassau, you sail east by north about
fourteen miles along the coast, a half a mile from the shore; and
you then come to Frenchman’s Point,1 at a small river where those of
Pawtuxet2 have a house made of hewn oak planks called Aptuxet,3
where they keep two men, winter and summer, in order to maintain
the trade and possession, where also they have built a shallop in order
to go and look after the trade in sewan 4 in Sloup’s Bay5 and there-
abouts, because they are afraid to pass Cape Malabar, and in order to
avoid the length of the way, — which I have prevented for this year by
1 Agawam Pt., near head of Buzzard’s Bay.	2 Plymouth.
8 Manomet, now corrupted to Monument, a Cape Cod Railroad station in
Sandwich.
4 Sewan is wampum, or “peag”
6 East entrance to Narraganset Bay.1627.]
DE RASlfcRES’ LETTER ON PLYMOUTH.
307
selling them fifty fathoms of sewan, because the seeking after*sewan
by them is prejudicial to us, inasmuch as they would by so doing dis-
cover the'trade in furs; which if they were to find out, it would be a
great trouble for us to maintain, for they already dare to threaten
that if we will not leave off dealing with that people, they shall be
obliged to use other means. If they do that now, while they are yet
ignorant how the case stands, what will they do when they get a
notion of it?
“ From Aptuxet the English can come in six hours, through the
woods, passing several little rivulets of fresh water, to New Plymouth,
the principal place in the country Pawtuxet, so called in their ‘ octroye *1
from His Majesty in England. New Plymouth lies in a large bay to
the north of Cape Cod, or Malabar, east and west from the said point
of the Cape, which can be easily seen in clear weather. Directly
before the begun town lies a sand-bank2 about twenty paces broad,
whereon the sea breaks violently with an easterly and northeasterly
wind. On the north side there lies a small island,3 where one must
run close along in order to come before the town; then the ships run
behind that bank4 and lie in a very good roadstead. The bay is very
full of fish of cod; so that the Governor before named has told me
that when the people have a desire for fish, they send out two or
three persons in a sloop, whom they remunerate for their trouble, and
who bring them, in three or four hours’ time, as much fish as the whole
community require for a whole day; and they muster about fifty
families.
“ At the south side of the town there flows down a small river 6 of
fresh water, very rapid, but shallow, which takes its rise from several
lakes in the land above, and there empties into the sea; where in
April and the beginning of May there come so many herring from the
sea that want to ascend that river that it is quite surprising. This
river the English have shut in with planks, and in the middle with a
little door, which slides up and down, and at the sides with trellis-
work through which the water has its course, but which they can also
close with slides. At the mouth they have constructed it with planks,
like an eel-pot with wings, where in the middle is also a sliding door,
and with trellis-work at the sides, so that between the two there is* a
1	Octroi (Lat. auctoritas, authority) originally meant any ordinance authorized
by a sovereign.
2 Plymouth Beach.	8 Saquish.
4 The Beach.	5 Town Brook,308
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l627.
squar$ pool into which the fish aforesaid come swimming in such
shoals, in order to get up above, where they deposit their spawn, that
at one tide there are ten thousand to twelve thousand fish in it, which -
they shut off in the rear at the ebb, and close up the trellises above,
so that no more water comes in; then the water runs out through the
lower trellises, and they draw out the fish with baskets, each according
to the land he cultivates, and carry them to it, depositing in each hill
three or four fishes; and in these they plant their maize, which grows
as luxuriantly therein as though it were the best manure in the world;
and if they do not lay this fish therein, the maize will not grow, so
that such is the nature of the soil.
“ New Plymouth lies on the slope of a hill, stretdhing east toward
the sea-coast, with a broad street about a cannon-shot of eight
hundred feet long1 leading down the hill, with a crossing'2 in the
middle, northward to the rivulet and southward to the land.3 The
houses are constructed of hewn planks, with gardens also enclosed
behind and at the sides with hewn planks, so that their houses
and courtyards are arranged in very good order, with a stockade
against a sudden attack; and at the ends of the streets there are
three wooden gates. In the centre, on the cross street, stands the
governor’s house, before which is a square enclosure upon which
four patereros {steenstucken4) are mounted, so as to flank along the
streets.
“Upon the hill they have a large square house with a flat roof,
made of thick sawn planks stayed with oak beams, upon the top of
which they have six cannons, which shoot iron balls of four and five
pounds and command the surrounding country. The lower part they
use for their church, where they preach on Sundays and the usual
holidays. They assemble by beat of drum, each with his musket or
firelock, in front of the captain’s door; they have their cloaks on,6
and place themselves in order, three abreast, and are led by a ser-
geant without beat of drum. Behind comes the Governor in a long
robe;5 beside him, on the right hand, comes the preacher with his
cloak on,5 and on the left hand the captain with his side-arms and
cloak on,6 and with a small cane in his hand; and so they march in
gbod order, and each sets his arms down near him. Thus they are
constantly on their guard, night and day.
1 This distance is 1,155 feet-	2	<<a street crossing,” etc.
8 He reverses the actual bearings.	4 Little cannon.
5 This visit was in October, and the day may have been cold.4
1627.]	DE RASlfcRES’ LETTER ON PLYMOUTH.	309
“ Their government is after the English form. The Governor has
his council, which is chosen every year by the entire community by
election or prolongation of term. In the inheritance they place all
the children in one degree; only the eldest son has an acknowledg-
ment for his seniority of birth.
“They have made stringent laws and ordinances upon the sub-
ject of fornication and adultery, which laws they maintain and en-
force very strictly indeed, even among the tribes which live amongst
them. They speak very angrily when they hear from the savages
that we should live so barbarously in these respects, and without
punishment.
“Their farms are not so good as ours, because they are more
stony,1 and consequently not so suitable for the plough. They ap-
portion their land according as each has means to contribute to the
eighteen thousand guilders2 which they have promised to those who
had sent them out, whereby they had their freedom without ren-
dering an account to any one; only if the King should choose to
send a governor-general, they would be obliged to acknowledge him
as sovereign chief.
“ The maize-seed which they do not require for their own use is
delivered over to the Governor at three guilders the bushel, who in his
turn sends it in sloops to the North 3 for the trade in skins among the
savages; they reckon one bushel of maize against one pound pf bea-
ver’s skin. In the first place, a division is made according to what
each has contributed, and they are credited for the amount in the
account of what each has to contribute yearly toward the deduction
of his obligation. Then with the remainder they purchase what next
they require, and which the Governor takes care to provide every year.
They have better means of living than ourselves, because they have
the fish so abundant before their doors. There are also many birds,
such as geese, herons, and cranes, and other small-legged birds which
are in great abundance there in the winter. The tribes in their neigh-
borhood have all the same customs as already above described,4 only
they are better conducted than ours, because the English give them
the example of better ordinances and a better life; and who also, to
a certain degree, give them laws by means of the respect they from
the very first have established amongst them.”
1	Perhaps gravelly.
2	Guilder, about 42 cts.	8 The Kennebec region.
4 i. e., in some former part of the letter.3io
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
All the observations of this intelligent foreigner are most
interesting and instructive; but especially so is his testimony
to the influence on the natives of the “ better life” of the Pil-
grim Fathers above the Dutch, and the respect which they
earned “ from the very first.”CHAPTER XXXI.
THE WRECK OF THE “ SPARROWHAWK.”
WHOEVER coasts along the inner shore of Cape Cod,
finds Orleans and Brewster separated for three
quarters of a mile by Namskeket Creek. From the head of
this creek a walk of two miles will take him to the inner side
of Orleans Harbor, which opens on the Atlantic, so nearly
comes the sea to cutting off the Cape’s forearm. On the
farther side of this lake-like harbor, resting on the alluvial
meadow, is “ The Old Ship,” a sand-dune, so called from the
fact that for many generations it covered the wreck of the
“ Sparrowhawk.”
Near the close of 1626 this vessel left England for Virginia,
with goods and passengers. The Scotch captain, Johnson,
became disabled with the scurvy, and so incompetent were his
subordinates that the vessel soon lost her reckoning. In six
weeks her water and beer came to an end, and the casks were
burned for fuel, leaving the only drink on board, a little wine
owned by a passenger. Thirst, freezing, and scurvy were all
imminent, and the craft was pushed recklessly on in a north-
west to southwest direction, trusting to a chance land-fall.
Over the Cape Cod shoals, which had so sorely tried many
of the best navigators of that age, the fugitive vessel safely
passed, in happy ignorance of their existence, and on a win-
ter’s morning in 1627, found herself off a small inlet. Pound-
ing over a bar, she drifted into an inland bay, where, as some
of the planks had started, she was at once beached for repairs.
The wanderers, having no idea of their whereabouts, were
filled with anxiety ; and when, after landing their goods to312
TH£ PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
be dried, they saw a band of Indians approaching in canoes,
they stood to their arms, prepared for a desperate defence,
but were pleasantly surprised when the natives hailed them
in friendly English, asking if they were “ the Governor of
Plymouth’s men.”
The Indians were at once invited in and feasted as well as
might be. Finding that their harbor of refuge was on the
outer side of Cape Cod, the ship’s people employed the
natives to conduct two men to Plymouth, with a letter to
the Governor, asking for pitch, oakum, and spikes, in ex-
change for other goods. As his associates were busied on
other matters, Bradford himself took a shallop-load of these
naval stores to Namskeket, and from that point had them
carried overland to the vessel. He was received with grati-
tude, and his supplies used to such purpose that the craft was
soon ready to continue her voyage. Bradford bought for her
a stock of maize, and also secured the return of some of the
sailors who had run away to join the savages. Then, with
cordial leave-takings, the Governor returned to Plymouth; but
soon received news that when the vessel was about to sail, a
storm had cast her ashore on the eastern side of the harbor,
a hopeless wreck. Her people were thereupon removed, with
their goods, to Plymouth, to remain until vessels should come
for them from Virginia. Their dismantled “ Sparrowhawk ”
became in time buried by drifting sand, but her memory was
vaguely preserved in the name given to the superincumbent
dune, — “ The Old Ship.”
These guests, who must have added a fourth to Plymouth’s
population, were mostly servants, male and female, generally
from Ireland in charge of their employers. The chief of the
latter, Master Fells and Master Sibsie, obtained leave to busy
their people in cultivating a great field of maize, the crop to
be theirs, and the clearing of the land to be equivalent to
rent. Fells employed one servant as his housekeeper, from
which arose some scandal. In such matters our ancestors
were neither slack nor delicate, nor did they hesitate to act
on mere suspicion. The twrain were sharply examined by1627.]
THE “SPARROWHAWK.”
313
the magistrates, but as there was nothing to rebut their firm
denial, they were discharged. Soon, however, finding that
self-conviction was at hand, and fearing the pitiless scourge,
they fled in a small boat, hoping to find a Virginia vessel at
Cape Ann. Not succeeding, and narrowly saving their lives
in a storm near Boston Harbor, they returned to Plymouth.
No penalty seems to have been inflicted on them, but it was
contrived to hustle Fells and his following off to Virginia
some time in advance of their comrades.
Late in the summer two vessels came from Virginia and
took away the remainder of the company. Their fine corn-
crop was bought by the Colony, and for the supplies which
they received beyond that amount, they paid from their large
stock of clothing, shoes, hose, “ perpetuanes,” etc. They had
received whatever hospitality the narrow means of the place
permitted, and the resulting traffic had been of much mutual
benefit. So they sailed away with much kind feeling; and
many years after, from their home in the then “ foreign
parts ” of Virginia, warm expressions of gratitude occasionally
reached Plymouth.
In 1782, as Governor Bradford’s descendants of the fifth
generation were listening to the last sounds of the American
Revolution, the sands of Cape Cod made an unwonted move-
ment, and the old “ Sparrowhawk” presented herself to “ in-
curious eyes; ” but was soon hidden agajn by the sand-drift.
Two generations later, few people remembered the history of
the wreck, and fewer still imagined that beneath the sands of
“ The Old Ship ” any trace of the vessel could have survived
decay; but in May, 1863, when the land was shaken by
another great war, the sand once more withdrew its veil, and
again the “ Sparrowhawk ” saw the sun.
Fortunately Amos Otis, the learned antiquary of Yarmouth,
was then able to examine the craft.1 She lay rather below
the surface of the meadow formed after the closing of the
1 Mr. Otis, who was descended from the great patriot Otis of the Revolution,
died 1875, aged 74» his wife was of the Governor Hinckley lineage. For Mr.
Otis’s observations on this wreck, see N. E. Gen. Reg., xviii. 37.3H
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1627.
original inlet from the sea, and over which the sand had
drifted. She was well built of oak, still wholly undecayed,
the corners of her timbers being as sharp as when new. Yet
every particle of iron had disappeared, except as rust stains
in the surrounding earth. The ancient repairs on the craft
were evident, as several of her “ tree-nails ” had been split
with a chisel and tightened by wedging. The deck and bows
were wanting, her upper works having been burned away.
In the hold were found beef and mutton bones, some shoe-
soles, a small metallic box, and a pipe-bowl like a modern
opium-smoker’s.1 She was perhaps of seventy tons’ burden
when complete; her mid-ship section was a decided semi-
circle, showing capacity and stability, while her stern had a
remarkable length of dead-wood, like a modern steamer, indi-
cating speed. Her ribs were pieced-up, or built upon, in a
way which had been thought of modern device. Her keel
showed but one step for a mast; but there was probably a
small mast with a lateen sail mounted at her stern, making
the then-common rig of a ketch.
In a few weeks the wreck was again buried by the changing
sand,2 but this time it was not forgotten. In 1865 it was
1	In 1844, in an Indian burial-place near High Cliff, 1J miles north of Ply-
mouth Rock, a similar pipe was found. This burial-place must have been dis-
used some years before the Pilgrims landed; and the pipe-bowl, being European,
is probably due to the visit of Pring, Champlain, or Smith. It is now in the
possession of W. T. Davis, of Plymouth.
2	The “ Somerset,” a British blockading frigate, was wrecked at Province-
town, 1776, and her well-preserved hull is still exposed and buried by turns, as
the sand shifts at intervals of a few years. The following recent paragraph
probably refers to the “ Somerset.”
“ The entire back shore of Cape Cod changed more the past winter than for
many years. It is estimated that an average of a hundred feet of shore has
been washed away between Race Point and High Head. Four miles east of
Race Point Light a bluff forty feet high has disappeared, showing the outlines
of an ancient vessel. About sixty feet of the hull can be traced. The wreck
lies embedded in sand, her stern under the bluff. She was apparently 35-foot
beam. Her upper works have been cut away or burned to the lower deck. The
planking is five-inch hewn live oak, and ceilings the same thickness. The tim-
bers are 12 inches square. A 20-foot draught mark can be seen on her stern,
which is 14 inches through, and 3 feet 2 inches from wood-ends to cut-water.
The planking was sawed to fit the curve of the bow. Her style of planking and
fastening is peculiar, and shows a style of carpentry beyond the remembrance of1627.] THE WRECK OF THE “ SPARROWHAWK.”	315
raised and placed for exhibition on Boston Common, where
many persons inspected it. The same year it was removed
to Providence, where it is said to be still preserved;1 but its
rudder is in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.
With this interesting story ends the record of 1627. If
1623 was a year especially momentous in Plymouth history,
1627 may contest its claim to importance.
the present generation. She is evidently a relic of Revolutionary days, probably
an old English war-ship.” — Newspaper of 1886.
1 As far as we can learn (1883) its last owner was Charles W. Livermore, of
Providence. In Orleans, when disinterred, the wreck was owned by Leander
Crosby, of Orleans, and during its Boston exhibition, by C. P. Knowles and
C. W. Livermore.
Hon. Jonathan Higgins, of Orleans, has kindly interested himself in connec-
tion with this subject.1628.]
MORTON’S REVELS AND MISDEMEANORS.
317
become excited with liquor, he told them that their fellows
had been sold as slaves in Virginia, as they themselves would
be in turn; but he, as one of the principals in the plantation,
would not only cancel their indentures, but would make them
his equal partners in it, if they would first drive out Fitcher.
They gladly complied, and poor Fitcher was obliged to
decamp.1
The reign of equality and fraternity at once began at Mount
Wollaston, now re-named Merry Mount. A profitable trade
was kept up with the natives; but the time not given to busi-
ness was spent in drunkenness and licentiousness. With the
profits, rum was bought on a large scale; dissolute Indian
squaws were domesticated; a May-pole was erected, upon
which were posted wanton verses from Morton’s muse, and
around it the planters and squaws joined in dances and mad
revels. Yet Morton maintained a pre-eminence, and was
Lord of Misrule. As he welcomed accessions to this com-
mercial and bacchantal commune, a fear soon arose among
his neighbors that fugitive servants and culprits would in time
find their way to him, and render Merry Mount both an
Alsatia and an Algiers, full of danger to the whole line of
settlements.
Morton next proceeded to employ Indian hunters, whom
he made expert with fire-arms. The adjacent savages began
to despise their bows and arrows, and make desperate efforts
to get guns, regardless of cost. Morton sold all he could
spare, sending to England for more. Before long the other
Colonists began in all directions to meet savages armed with
guns, in whose use, having nothing else to attend to, they
were excelling the whites in skilfulness, and becoming expert
at repairing and choosing the weapons. The safety of the
latter had been due chiefly to their superior arms. At First
Encounter or at Wessagusset, Standish’s party would have
had small chance of survival if the Indians had been trained
sharpshooters, with guns in their hands; nor could any of
1 So they took oppertunitie, and thrust Levetenante Fitcher out a dores.—
Bradford Mms.1628.]
MORTON’S REVELS AND MISDEMEANORS.
317
become excited with liquor, he told them that their fellows
had been sold as slaves in Virginia, as they themselves would
be in turn; but he, as one of the principals in the plantation,
would not only cancel their indentures, but would make them
his equal partners in it, if they would first drive out Fitcher.
They gladly complied, and poor Fitcher was obliged to
decamp.1
The reign of equality and fraternity at once began at Mount
Wollaston, now re-named Merry Mount. A profitable trade
was kept up with the natives; but the time not given to busi-
ness was spent in drunkenness and licentiousness. With the
profits, rum was bought on a large scale; dissolute Indian
squaws were domesticated; a May-pole was erected, upon
which were posted wanton verses from Morton's muse, and
around it the planters and squaws joined in dances and mad
revels. Yet Morton maintained a pre-eminence, and was
Lord of Misrule. As he welcomed accessions to this com-
mercial and bacchantal commune, a fear soon arose among
his neighbors that fugitive servants and culprits would in time
find their way to him, and render Merry Mount both an
Alsatia and an Algiers, full of danger to the whole line of
settlements.
Morton next proceeded to employ Indian hunters, whom
he made expert with fire-arms. The adjacent savages began
to despise their bows and arrows, and make desperate efforts
to get guns, regardless of cost. Morton sold all he could
spare, sending to England for more. Before long the other
Colonists began in all directions to meet savages armed with
guns, in whose use, having nothing else to attend to, they
were excelling the whites in skilfulness, and becoming expert
at repairing and choosing the weapons. The safety of the
latter had been due chiefly to their superior arms. At First
Encounter or at Wessagusset, Standish’s party would have
had small chance of survival if the Indians had been trained
sharpshooters, with guns in their hands; nor could any of
1 So they took oppertunitie, and thrust Levetenante Fitcher out a dores.—
Bradford Mms.318	the pilgrim republic.	[1628.
the settlements, from Plymouth to Piscataqua, have withstood
such an enemy.1
For the safety of traders and planters, King James, in 1622,
had by proclamation forbidden the disposal of fire-arms to
the Indians; and while the remoter tribes had procured some
from the Dutch, French, and lawless fishermen, such weapons
had been kept from the savages around the settlements. The
plantations at the Bay and beyond, besides Merry Mount
itself, were then as follows: Edward Hilton was established
at Cocheco (Dover, N. H.) ; near him was his brother William,
at Piscataqua (Portsmouth) ; Roger Conant’s company was
still at Naumkeag (Salem) ; Mr. Jeffrey and others were on
the site of Manchester-by-the-Sea; at East Boston, Samuel
Maverick, a stanch Churchman, lived in a fortified house,
crowned by four of the little breech-loading cannon then
called “ murderers; ” at Charlestown, in a palisade, dwelt
Thomas Walford, a smith, who must have had but moderate
custom ; near the northwest corner of the present Boston
Common, beside a spring and surrounded by an orchard of
his own planting, was William Blackstone (or Blaxton, as he
wrote it), an Episcopal minister, and an agent for the Gorges
claimants; on an island in Boston Harbor, David Thompson's
widow continued his plantation; there was the settlement at
Old Spain (Weymouth), and that at Nantasket (Hull), strag-
gling across to Bear Cove (Hingham).
All these people seem to have been Episcopalians, and to
have had little intercourse and less sympathy with the Plym-
outh Congregationalists, whom they still called Brownists.
But now, when in trouble, they, after a grave consultation,
solicited the protection of the schismatic Old Colony. In-
effectual efforts were also made by courteous letters to con-
vince Morton of the peril resulting from his course, and to
persuade him to obey the King's proclamation. He replied
1 Bradford says: “ Hithertoo ye Indeans of these parts had no peeces nor other
arms but their bowes & arrowes, nor of many years after; neither durst they
scarce handle a gune, so much were they affraid of them; and ye very sight of
one (though out of kilter) was a terrour unto them.”1628.]
MORTON’S CAPTURE.
319
with scorn, saying that the King was dead, and his displeasure
had died with him; defying the allies to molest him, and
assuring them of a hot reception if they should undertake it.
The planters then besought Governor Bradford to proceed to
extremities.
Standish with his musketeers soon landed, and advanced
on Merry Mount. Morton had barricaded his men within his
own house, and had set his table with “ divers dishes of pow-
der and bullets; ” but his forces, being “ over-armed with
drink,” were less formidable than they appeared. After
answering Standish’s summons with a volley of abuse, Mor-
ton, fearing that his house would be destroyed, led his tipsy
followers out of doors to meet the invader. In his excite-
ment he had overcharged his carbine until it was half full of
powder and shot, and with it he prepared to annihilate Stan-
dish; but the little captain, closing with him, pushed the
muzzle to one side, and seizing Morton, held him a prisoner.
The “ action ” then ended; the only bloodshed having been
from the nose of a Merry Mountaineer, whose tipsy gait had
caused him to run that organ against a sword point, and deprive
himself of “ but a little of his hott blood.”
Morton’s men were for the most part left to pursue the
business of their plantation in their own way. Their property
does not appear to have been levied upon, nor was their
notorious May-pole disturbed. The entire purpose of the
attack had been to stop the reckless sale of fire-arms to the
Indians. Morton was held at Plymouth until a ship, sailing
from the Isles of Shoals for England, took him over, in charge
of an agent who was paid for his services at the common cost.
This agent was the noted John Oldham, now Plymouth’s good
friend. Morton had been a spy for Sir Ferdinando Gorges;
and that courtier not only saved him from all harm, but seems
to have contrived to get him into favor at court, as being a
good Churchman persecuted by Separatists. The expense of
this expedition and of Morton’s transshipment was paid as
follows:1 —
1 Bradford’s History, 240.320
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1628.
Plymouth..................................^2100
Naumkeag...................................1100
Piscataqua.................................2100
Mr. Jeffrey and Mr. Burslem1................200
Nantasket..................................1100
Mrs. Thompson.................. .	.	.	015 o
Mr. Blackstone.............................0120
Edward Hilton...............................100
£12	7 o
This affair was in June (1628). The next September,
stern Endicott had established the new Colony of Massachu-
setts Bay, and visiting Merry Mount, hewed down the May-
pole, assuring the remaining settlers that unless there should
be “ better walking,” he would make their Merry Mount
“ a woful mount ” for them. The name was also changed by
some one to Mount Dagon, but it soon regained its first
title, which it now bears in the modified form of Wollaston
Heights.
The next year (1629) Allerton astonished his friends by
bringing Morton back to Plymouth as his clerk, but was
forced by public opinion to dismiss him.2 Morton then went
to his old nest at Mount Wollaston, where his treatment of
the savages quickly led to bitter complaints from them. At
the same time a warrant arrived for his return to England on
a charge of murder. Thereupon Endicott arrested him; his
goods being taken for his creditors—including Indians whom
he had despoiled — and for the cost of his extradition. Mor-
ton was set in the stocks, with his hands tied behind him;
and to satisfy the Indians for their many wrongs, his emptied
house was burned in their presence. Morton was then sent
to England in the “ Handmaid,” under Trevor, who came
over with the Pilgrims in 1620. After some time in jail, he
1	Bradford mentions Winnisimmet (now Chelsea); but it is not clear what
he meant by it. Was Burslem there? In 1636 Weymouth sent a “Mr. Burs-
ley ” as deputy to the General Court.
2	Bradford says : “ He not only brought him over, but to ye towne (as it were
to nose them), and lodged him at his owne house, and for a while used him as
a scribe to doe his bussines, till he was caused to pack him away.”1628-43]
MORTON’S FINAL MOVEMENTS.
321
was acquitted on the charge of murder, and by representing
himself as banished for his devotion to the Book of Common
Prayer, attained renewed influence at court under Gorges,
and apparently under Archbishop Laud. He was a bitter
enemy of the Colonies, and his book, “ The New English
Canaan,” published at Amsterdam, 1637,1 was unsparing in
its satire and abuse of them.
Late in 1643 he appeared again at Plymouth, and Brad-
ford, who considered him as “ grown old in wickedness,” for
some mysterious reason permitted him to winter there. Stan-
dish took “ great offence ” at this permission, especially as
Morton persistently fowled on the captain’s land.2 Winslow,
who attributed his English imprisonment chiefly to Morton, x
was also indignant. In a letter to Governor Winthrop, he
termed Morton a “ serpent;” and finds strange matter for
ridicule in the fact that Morton “ is living meanly ” in Ply-
mouth at four shillings a week, being “ content to drink water/
so he may diet at that price.” The next spring Morton went
to Boston, where he was convicted of defamation of the Col-
ony in his book; but as he could not pay a fine, and was too
old and shaken for the usual alternative of whipping, he
was permitted to go to Piscataqua, where in a few years he
died.
1	The date on some volumes, “ 1632,” is spurious. The “ New English
Canaan ” has remarks of value upon the natives and the physical features of the
country; but Morton records as history many erroneous things gathered through -
poor interpreters. A story based on the Pilgrim discovery of the French grave
on Cape Cod, and the fight at First Encounter, is an absurd but palpable trav- /
esty; yet Dr. Drake adopted it in his “ Book of the Indians,” also Thacher in '
his “ History of Plymouth.” Morton’s book is to be taken with allowance in
even its best parts, while in those relating to himself and his white neighbors it '
is wholly unreliable. Bradford styles it: “An infamouse & scurillous book
against many godly & cheefe men of ye cuntrie ; full of lyes & slanders, and fraight
with profane callumnies against their names and persons, and ye ways of God.”
Yet writers seeking to belittle the pioneers of New England, sometimes quote
him as an authority, and some narrow sectarians, believing his cant and pretence
of having suffered for religion’s sake, have found not only apologies, but pleasant
words for the evil living at Merry Mount.
2	Morton’s book satirized the bristling little captain under the amusing title '
of “ Captain Shrimp; ” but that fiery soldier is not likely to have appreciated his
joke.
21CHAPTER XXXIII.
Allerton’s Strange and Dishonest Conduct. — Warren’s Death. — The
Massachusetts Bay Company. — Its Endicott Colonists. — Their
Sickness. — Their Theology.
IN 1628 Allerton came back, having paid the Adventurers*
first £200, and reduced the other debts to £400, leaving
in all but £2,000 due. This result gave much satisfaction, as
it seemed like the beginning of the end. A grant of land on
the Kennebec had also been secured; and under it a fortified
trading-house was at once built, where now is Augusta,1 the
capital of Maine. This was provided with a stock chiefly of
coats, shirts, rugs, blankets, corn, biscuit, peas, prunes, knives,
hatchets, and wampum, and a brisk trade for beaver was begun
with the natives.
Allerton also, with no authority, brought over a young man
named Rogers, to be pastor of the Plymouth Church, giving
him at the general expense an outfit of clothing, as well as
his fare.2 The surprise of the Colonists at this proceeding
increased not a little when they found the preacher to be
hopelessly insane. So, besides the cost of maintaining him
till the next year, they were forced to pay his expenses back
to his friends. Allerton’s motive for this reckless act was
always a mystery.
It was noticed that while he had brought a good supply of
trading-goods, Allerton, in violation of the agreement between
the partners, had included a large stock of his own. The two
lots of goods were put up together with no distinguishing
marks; and in case of a partial loss at sea, there would have
1 The place was then known as “ Cushenoc,,, or some name of similar sound.
2 The latter charge, which shows the cost of the trip at that time, was: For
passage, £1; for eleven weeks’ diet at 4$-. &/., £2 us. 4/.: total, £3 1 is. $d.
(Constant Southworth also came in this ship, and paid the same.)1628.] RICHARD WARREN’S DEATH. —HIS FAMILY. 323
been nothing to prevent his taking his entire venture from
the portion saved. It was seen, too, that when he landed the
goods, he generally claimed as his the articles which were
proving most salable. He then, in further violation of his
agreement, used his goods in carrying on a competing traffic
with his partners. Still, it seemed incredible that he was wil-
fully defrauding his associates. The English partners were
earnest for his continued employment; and he was sent back
to them the next autumn, after he at his own request had re-
ceived rigid instructions, and had given earnest assurances of
fidelity and continued love.
In 1628 died Richard Warren, one of those nineteen signers
of the Pilgrim Compact who survived the first season. Gard-
ner, Lister, and Gilbert Winslow had left the Colony; but it
was not until now, after seven years of co-labor, that any of
the men who joined in that pioneer Thanksgiving festival in
1621 had been laid in the grave. Secretary Morton, who
knew Mr. Warren, says of him: “ He was a useful instru-
ment, and during his life bore a deep share in the difficulties
and troubles of this first settlement.” Mrs. Warren, forty-
eight years old at her husband’s death, survived him forty-
five years; and when, at the rare age of ninety-three, she was
borne up Burial Hill, it was entered on the Colonial records
that she, “ Having lived a Godly life, came to her grave as a
shock of corn fully ripe.” This pair had two sons and five
daughters, through whom they have a wide posterity of many
names; and those who bear the patronymic have in many
generations especially honored their ancestry.1
1 General James Warren, who at the death of General Joseph Warren at
Bunker Hill succeeded him as President of the Congress of the Province, was
the Pilgrim’s great-great-grandson; and the late Judge Charles H. Warren, of
Massachusetts, was a grandson of this patriot, as follows: —
1.	Richard and Elizabeth (Pilgrims). 5. James (General) and Mercy [Otis].
2.	Nathaniel and Sarah [Walker]. 6. Henry and Mary [Winslow].
3.	James and Sarah [Doten].	7. Charles Henry [unmarried].
4.	James and Penelope [Winslow].
Mrs. Warren No. 5, was daughter of the Revolutionary patriot Otis. For
some unexplained reason, the funeral of Mrs. Elizabeth Warren was not until
the twenty-second day after her death.324
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1628.
In 1628 occurred a movement of vital consequence to
Plymouth. The various English claims around Boston and
Salem had been absorbed or superseded by the Massachu-
setts Bay Company, which strong corporation had a grant
from the Council for New England of all the territory from
three miles south of Charles River to three miles north of the
Merrimack, and reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The latter ocean, however, was not then thought to be far
beyond the Hudson; and the latter was supposed, by com-
municating with it or with the St. Lawrence, to make New
England an island. The settlers at Massachusetts Bay, and
even the highest statesmen of England, were long wont to call
that Colony New England, regardless of the other settlements,
and to limit the name of Massachusetts Bay to Boston Har-
bor. The new Company’s grant was confirmed by the King
in a charter of unprecedented liberality in the matter of self-
government by the Company (but not intentionally by the
people).1
Many members of the new body were men of wealth and
education; some had titles, and several had influential con-
nections. It was expected that the corporation and its offi-
cers would continue in England; and with this idea, in 1628
it sent over to Naumkeag2 (Salem) John Endicott as a sort
1	The early settlers at Salem used to speak of a trip to Boston as “going to
the Bay; ” but Bradford always included that Colony in the term “ Bay.”
When in 1652 Massachusetts proceeded to the decidedly unlawful act of
coining money, she at first issued coins which were blank, except that on one
side was the value in pence, thus : III., VI., or XII.; and on the other she as-
serted her pretended claim to be considered New England by stamping simply
“ N. E.” Ten years later, and long after, she minted the pine-tree currency,
but preserved the original date, 1652. The public unwittingly ignored the pre-
tentious claim of Massachusetts involved in the “ N. E.,” and with a mild humor
generally termed the coins “North Easters.”
The early Colonists and other English made much use of the third of a pound,
called the “noble” (6j. 8d.), and the “mark,” which was two nobles (13J. 4d.).
Winslow and Cushman, in the early days of Plymouth, spoke of New Eng-
land as a supposed island ; and even so late as the Revolution, the British
prime-minister, Lord North, referred in a despatch to the “ Island of New
England.”
2	Bradford (1624) gives this name as “Nambeke,” and several years later as
“ Naumkeake.”1628-9.] MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. —ITS CREED. 325
of deputy-governor, with a body of working-men. Endicott
found already on his territory some eight settlements, rang-
ing from single households to the village at Naumkeag under
Conant. The latter at first was disinclined to recognize his
authority, — a leading reason being Endicott’s instructions
from home to prohibit the cultivation of tobacco. Both at
Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth the tobacco-crop was a
prominent one, and Endicott was forced to waive the prohi-
bition so far as concerned the “ old planters,” while enforcing
it upon those who had come with himself.
Endicott’s people, living through their first winter largely
upon meats preserved in the unwholesome salt already noticed,
and having imperfect housing, suffered a mortality like that
of the Pilgrims in their first season. Soon a cry for help
went out to Plymouth. Through Roger Conant, Erfdicott
must have learned of Plymouth’s “ good physician,” Dr.
Fuller, and Bradford was entreated to send him to Salem.
Fuller hastened to the sufferers, and repeated his journey
both that year and the next. He spared no pains in “ letting
blood and other means,” and met with much success in his
efforts; but even then scores of the new-comers died from
scurvy and fever.1
Fuller had long been a Congregational deacon, and the;
deacons in that Church, even though laymen, were as care-
fully selected and as formally ordained as were the clergy.
Our medical deacon seems to have been strong as a theo-
logian. In Salem the Episcopal form of worship had been
the only one known from the beginning in 1625-6 ; and
Endicott and his fellows, as Puritans, not only adhered to it,
but no one who saw them depart from England supposed
that they would ever do otherwise.2 While warring against
disease, Deacon Fuller also assailed Endicott’s Puritanism,
1	Endicott himself, in after years, had repute as a physician. At this time
he was forty-one years old, having been born, like his great associate, Win-
throp, in the notable year of the Spanish Armada.
2	Neither was our departure from the parishional congregations in England
a separation from them as no churches, but rather a secession from the corruptions
found amongst them. — Cotton.326
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l629.
and with more decided results. At the end of this visit
Endicott sent Governor Bradford a letter expressing his
thanks for it; and also exhibiting the Puritan prejudice with
which he had theretofore regarded Separatists and “ Brown-
ists,” but which he had found groundless. On this point he
said: —
“ I acknowledge myself much bound to you for your kind love and
care in sending Mr. Fuller among us, and rejoice much that I am by
him satisfied touching your judgments of the outward form of God’s
worship. It is, as far as I can yet gather, no other than is warranted
by the evidences of truth, and the same which I have professed and
maintained ever since the Lord in mercy revealed himself unto me ;
being far from the common report that hath been spread of you
touching that particular.”
Thus Endicott came to Salem as an Episcopalian, and so
remained for his first year; and the Separatists of Plym-
outh (still miscalled Brownists) were “ everywhere spoken
against.” But Endicott was about to take the lead in a
remarkable change.
In 1629, not seven weeks after Endicott’s letter, three Epis-
copal clergymen were sent over to Massachusetts Bay by
the corporation in England, — Messrs. Higginson, Skelton,
and Bright. As England was disappearing in the horizon,
Higginson markedly showed his attachment to the Church of
England and his opposition to Separatists by standing at the
stern of the ship “ Talbot” and exclaiming: —
“We will not say, as the Separatists were wont to say at their leav-
ing of England, ‘ Farewell, Babylon ! Farewell, Rome ! ’ But we will
say, ‘ Farewell, dear England ! Farewell, the Church of God in Eng-
land, and all the Christian friends there !’ We do not go to New
England as Separatists from the Church of England.”
Yet three weeks from their landing, Higginson had been
elected “ teacher,” and Skelton pastor, by the ballots of the
Salem congregation, headed by Endicott himself. The two1630.]
SUPREMACY OF INDEPENDENCY.
327
preachers had been reordained under the hands of each other
and of “ three or four of the gravest members; ” and the two
had first declared the ministerial calling twofold, — first, from
the Lord; second, from the people.1 Mr. Bright, adhering to
his former views, went over to Charlestown; but after minis-
tering there a year, returned to England in discontent. Two
of Endicott’s new Council, — the brothers Browne, a lawyer
and a merchant, — taking ground against the new way, were
most arbitrarily shipped back to England, although they had
made no change from the position which they held when
elected, and which they were then expected to maintain
during life.
Thus after an unquestioned sway of some four years was
Episcopacy slain in the house of its friends, and Independency
exalted to its place. Yet so odious was the term Separatist,
or Separation, that the Salem clergy, while clinging to the
thing, indignantly disowned its name. But their Indepen-
dency , at that trial of it, had a far shorter tenancy than the
rule it had supplanted. In 1630 arrived Winthrop with a
great company, who had after embarkation written a farewell
message to the Puritan friends unable to accompany them,
and had addressed it “To the Rest of their brethren in and
of the Church of England,” therein declaring themselves
“ members of the same body,” who should “ unfeignedly
grieve for any sorrow that shall ever betide her, . . . our dear
mother; ” yet these immigrants turned their backs on this
“ dear mother” as soon as they came within the influence of
1 Bradford and some others are said to have arrived from Plymouth by sea,
during the services, and to have joined in the laying-on of hands. This is prob-
ably an error. The Salemites protested most earnestly that they were not
becoming Separatists, and would hardly have called in leaders of Separatism to
join in their very first exercises.
Sept. 6, 1630 [n. s.], Winthrop writes of a later case, in his Journal: “We
used imposition of hands, but with this protestation by all, that it was a sign of
election and confirmation, not of any intent that Mr. Wilson should renounce
his ministry received in England.” (Three days later, Winthrop was elected
governor of the Colony. Till then, Endicott seems to have continued to serve
under his original appointment from England.)
Higginson died the next year, when only forty-two, leaving a widow and eight
children. The name has been honorably represented by his posterity.328
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1630.
Higginson, Skelton, and Endicott.1 Congregationalism, how-
ever, being little to their mind, they soon formed a Massa-
chusetts synod, which gave the people Church and State
enforced by an educated, strong-minded hierarchy, whose
yoke was not easy, nor its burden light.2 Many a liberally
inclined inhabitant of that priest-ridden community must
have learned to regard with complacency the tyranny of their
old Church at home.
The religious despotism which so despotically ruled the
Bay Colony often exerted a malign influence on the com-
paratively liberal Plymouth; but the Independency of the
latter not only survived, but extended itself until Congre-
gationalism became the “ standing order/’ even in Massachu-
setts and its child Connecticut. Massachusetts, led by an
aristocracy, social and religious, and acting under the King’s
charter, was in many respects the opposite of the Congrega-
tionalist Plymouth, whose yeomen and artisans were fortunate
in the fact that royalty and nobility had thus far ignored their
self-authorized little democracy. That the incorporated,
highly connected Colonists at the Bay often assumed airs of
superiority over the almost friendless plebeian State beside
them, was natural; as also was it that the sturdy common-
sense and liberal leanings of the weaker body should finally
1	Governor Hutchinson (1765) says that the Massachusetts planters had con-
tinued in communion with the Church of England till they left the country,
though dissatisfied with some ceremonies, but not with the form of its govern-
ment, being very careful to distinguish themselves from Brownists and other Sep-
aratists; and that if they had remained in England, and the Church been governed
with “its present moderation” {i. e., 1765), they would doubtless have continued
in it. (See p. 325, note 2.)
In 1631 Captain John Smith says that the chief undertakers to Massachu-
setts were men of £^00 a year, and some of £1,000, and “are good Catholic
Protestants, according to the Reformed Church of England.” By “ undertakers ”
he of course means the members of the corporation, many of whom were still in
England. (At the same time, speaking of the Colonists of Virginia, Smith de-
clares “ 100 good laborers better than 1,000 such gallants as were sent me, that
could do nothing but complain, curse, and despair.” This indicates a woful
difference between the “seed-grain” of that Colony and of New England.)
2	In 1636 the eminent John Cotton, of Boston, writes to Lord Say: “Democ-
racy I do not conceive that ever God did ordain as a fit government, either for
church or commonwealth. If the people be governors, who shall be the gov-
erned?”— Gen. Reg. x. 12.1628-9.] SMITH’S FLIGHT, AND PLYMOUTH PASTORATE. 329
permeate the other, so that after two generations of rivalry
the more genial spirit of the Pilgrims should supplant the
bigoted sternness of the Puritans.
In the " Talbot ” with Higginson came Ralph Smith, another
preacher, with his family; but after his goods had been stowed
on board so that much time would be lost in discharging
them, it became suspected that he was a Separatist. Rather
than delay the ship, Matthew Cradock, governor in England of
the Massachusetts Company, sent Endicott an order concern-
ing Smith, that “ unless he will be conformable to our govern-
ment, you suffer him not to remain within the limits of our
grant.” Endicott and his friends were then denouncing the
charge that they were intending to become Separatists, and
Smith not only found a cold welcome but there was some
reason to think that he would be shipped off to England in
the “ Lion’s Whelp ” (a hundred and twenty tons). He there-
fore took himself away to Nantasket (Hull), where was a
“ straggling people.” While he was there in doleful quarters,
a Plymouth boat chanced to call, and he persuaded its com-
pany to carry himself, family, servants, and goods, home with
them.
Smith, said to have been a university scholar, was soon
made pastor at Plymouth (1629), — the first person to hold
that position.1 He was of no great ability, and was far infe-
rior as a preacher to Brewster; but he was a minister (of
Episcopal ordination), and — unlike Brewster — could admin-
ister the sacraments, which had not before been enjoyed at
Plymouth, unless Lyford may for a few months have con-
ducted Eucharistic celebrations with a ritual according to
whatever his frame of mind (or pretence) may have been
at the time-being.
At about the same time came one Deacon Richard Master-
son from Leyden, where in 1619 he had married Mary
1 This case is doubly important as showing the hostility toward Separatists
still felt by the English Puritans, and also that Plymouth was in some sort an
asylum for people who for opinion’s sake could not domicile at Massachusetts
Bay.330	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1662.
Goodall, of Leicester, England. In 1633 he died, and the
next year his widow became Smith’s wife, bringing him some
property. In 1636, the Plymouth people getting tired of his
ministrations, Smith left their pulpit. Several years later he
removed to the Bay, and preached at Manchester-by-the-Sea.
In 1662 he died at Boston, leaving an estate to the care of
his stepson, though he is somewhat involved in the record
with another literary Ralph Smith, who died at about that
time, leaving a property of less than £40, the chief items
being his books, “ a small hammer,” and an alarm-clock
worth 20s.CHAPTER XXXIV.
New Immigrants. — “ Mayflower” and “ Lion.” — Travelling Expenses.
— Mrs. Robinson.
IN August, 1629, the renowned “ Mayflower ” came from
England to Salem, under Plymouth’s old friend Peirce;
and in her came thirty-five Leyden people on their way to
Plymouth. The next May (1630) Peirce, then in the “ Lion,”
brought a somewhat smaller detachment, which he landed at
Charlestown, whence the voyage to Plymouth was completed
in shallops. As both these companies reached the Colony
too late to raise a crop until another year, their maintenance
was at first a serious burden; but this was voluntarily and
cheerfully borne by the Undertakers alone, as also was the
cost for transportation and outfit.
These two companies comprised the weak and poor, those
able to take care of their own passage having been left to do so.
But there is something mysterious in the charges paid. In
1628, it has been seen that a first-class passage from England
to Plymouth cost £3 1 is. 4d. Now, the short trip from Leyden
to England was added, and the outlay on these immigrants
(about sixty) was £550, or some £9 3s. each. There were,
to be sure, some heavy bills for clothing, with an average of
nearly two pairs of shoes to each person, which indicates a
remarkable degree of poverty among the beneficiaries. Yet
Bradford’s little syndicate not only assumed this untoward
outlay, but never called for repayment. Several brethren
“ of note, and better discretion and government among them,”
also came over on their own account, adding strength and
means to the Colony; and it should be mentioned that the332
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1629-30.
former companies proved “ useful,” as Bradford says, and
“ such as feared God.” 1
Some of the “ Lion’s ” people complaining of Allerton’s
management, Sherley, in defending his co-agent, wrote to
Bradford: “ Verily, their indiscreet carriage here hath so
abated my affection toward them, as were Mrs. Robinson
well over, I would not disburse one penny for the rest.” It
would have been most fortunate for Plymouth if these com-
plaints, whatever they were, had led to the immediate dis-
charge of both Allerton and Sherley.
The above quotation has naturally enough given rise to the
idea that John Robinson’s widow was one of the “ Lion’s ”
company; but there is no reason for supposing that she ever
came to America. She has been called the mother of Abra-
ham Robinson, who settled at Cape Ann, and died there in
1645 J but the Leyden census of 1622 names all the members
of the Robinson family, and does not mention an Abraham.
Their son Isaac came over not long after this emigration of
1629-30, but there is no mention of his mother in that con-
nection. On the other hand, Hoornbeek states positively that
in 1658 Mrs. Robinson and her family were still at Leyden,
where they had recently united with the Dutch Calvinist
Church with such formalities as would seem clearly to identify
them.
1 In 1638 Joscelyn put the average cost of clothing to emigrants from Eng-
land to Boston, at £4 each. In 1629 good shoes for the Bay Colonists cost
2s. id. per pair.
Bradford puts down the first company as “ thirty-five persons.” Prince infers
that he meant thirty-five families; and there is some reason for the belief,—
though in that case Bradford must have made a slip of the pen. But the text
follows him exactly, as his statement is definite. Still, if we suppose the emi-
grants he mentions to be the adults, with twice as many children and youths in
their charge, the large outlay becomes reasonable.
Half a century later, Judge Sewall, of Boston, went to England, and of course
indulged in some luxury. His outlay one way was: fare, £2 3^.; cabin ex-
penses, £4 iij. 4d.; total, £6 14^. 4d.CHAPTER XXXV.
Rascalities of Allerton. — His New Maine Trading-post. — Ashley and
Willet. — French Plunderers. — Sickness and Mortality at the Bay.
LLERTON, on his return from England in 1629, not
only insulted his associates by bringing back Morton,
whom they had just expelled at so much peril, but violated
the promises so solemnly made, and instructions which he
had himself solicited. He bought classes of goods which
he was ordered not to get, and again mixing his own wares
with the Colony’s, had by the way sold as his own what-
ever any one would buy, and turned the remainder over to
the Plymouth people as their share. The Colony, therefore,
though paying an agent to provide their goods, was left with
an inadequate stock for the traffic on which their solvency
depended. Yet Sherley’s letters vouched so strongly for
Allerton’s correctness, and urged the great importance of his
continued employment, that he was sent to England again
in 1629.
In 1630 Allerton returned with information that he, with
the London partners and William Peirce, had a patent of land
on the Penobscot, where Castine now is, and had sent one
Edward Ashley to open trade there with the natives. The
Plymouth partners were invited to join. At any rate, they
were expected to help Ashley with men, goods, and boats.
This scheme was very distasteful to the men of Plymouth.
Ashley, though a shrewd trader, was an evil liver, having once
dwelt among the savages, going naked in their style, and
sharing their vices. Yet the new post, if a rival, must dam-334
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1630.
age the Kennebec trade, and would be pushed to that end by
Allerton especially. So through necessity they acceded, and
fitted out Ashley with wampum, corn, and other matters very
much needed for themselves; but they exacted from him
a bond in ^500 not to be unchaste with the savages, or to
sell them gunpowder; and also required him to take as a
co-agent Thomas Willet, an excellent young business-man
just from Leyden.
Soon it was found that the English partners, ignoring the
necessities of Plymouth, were sending abundant goods to
Ashley, while the latter was remitting his large profits entirely
to London, in disregard of his debt to Plymouth. For want
of the articles supplied him, the Plymouth people had to pur-
chase trading-goods for their own use from chance vessels,
and even from Allerton’s private stores, paying in beaver at
a heavy discount. Yet even then they felt obliged to buy a
barque for the use of the Castine post.
Before a year (1630) Ashley was detected in the two of-
fences feared from him; and for selling gunpowder to the
savages had been sent a prisoner to England by the English
Council’s naval authorities on the coast.1 His stock would
have been confiscated; but Bradford, by producing Ashley’s
bond, showed that due precaution had been used. The post
was then turned over to Willet, who for nearly five years
conducted a very profitable trade there.
In 1632 (1631 O.S.), while Willet was away on business,
a party of French visited his post/ Bradford says that “ many
French compliments they used and congees they made; ” but
finding the place in charge of three or four dull servants, they
robbed it of ^500 worth of goods and departed, bidding the
disarmed servants tell their master that “ some of the Isle of
Re gentlemen” had been there. For this act the partners
1 And that I may make an end concerning him, after some time of impris-
onmente in ye Fleet, by ye means of friends he was set at liberty and intended
to come over againe ; but ye Lord prevented it, for he had a motion made to
him by some marchants to goe into Russia, because he had such good skill in
ye beaver trade, the which he accepted of, and in his returne home was cast
away at sea j this was his end. — Bradford.SICKNESS AT THE “BAY.’
1630.]
335
could obtain no redress. (It will be seen that in 1635 Willet
met with a much graver disaster of a like nature.)
In the summer of 1630 there was still so much sickness
at Massachusetts Bay that Dr. Fuller was once more called
from Plymouth. July 8th (n. S.) he notes that he went to
Mattapan (Dorchester) and “ let some twenty of these peo-
ples' blood." August 4th (Sunday) he and Winslow were at
Salem, when there came a letter from Governor Winthrop,
then at Charlestown, upon the terrible mortality raging from
Salem to Dorchester, and desiring the Salem Church to con-
sider how to “ pacifie ye Lord’s wrath." It was decided to
hold a fast on Friday, August 9th (n. S.), and the Plymouth
visitors were besought to write home, that their Church might
also be “ provocked to this godly worke," — a request which
met with the cordial assent of the Old Colony. For many
months the sickness continued, and at the end of the year two
hundred graves proved its malignancy. Among the victims
was William Gager, the new Colony’s physician and a member
of Winthrop’s family. He was pronounced “ a right godly
man," and, like his brother physician of Plymouth, was the
senior deacon of his church. The winter of 1630-31, like that
of 1620-21, was of exceptional mildness, — a fact most fortu-
nate for the sufferers. In the middle of the winter Peirce arrived
once more in the “ Lion," and fortunately brought with him
a large supply of lemon-juice, by the aid of which the deaths
were confined to the “ discouraged." It is noteworthy that
all the victims were from those who arrived in the Colony in
June or July of 1629 or 1630.1 When at length Dr. Fuller
1 We conceive that this disease grew from ill-diet at sea, and proved
infectious. — Winthrop's Journal.
By an astonishing miscalculation, the food brought by Winthrop was alto-
gether insufficient, and a famine threatened; Peirce was therefore hurried back
for supplies. The suffering became great, and in answer to some clamorers
Winthrop showed them his last measure of flour baking in his oven. Johnson
(“ Wonder-working Providence ”) quotes a woman as saying: “ My husband hath
travelled as far as Plymouth (which is near forty miles), and hath with great toil
brought a little corn home with him; and before that is spent, the Lord will
assuredly provide.” Fast-day services were ordered; but they were changed to
those of Thanksgiving by the previous arrival (Feb. 5-15, 1630-31) of Peirce33<5
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1630.
could be spared from the Bay, it is thought he was accompa-
nied to Plymouth by the grateful Endicott. Governor Win-
throp expressed a desire to go with him, but said that his
executive duties would not permit his absence for two hours.1
Thus again was the New Colony indebted to the Old for labors
of wisdom and mercy.
with 34 hhds. wheat flour, 15 hhds. peas, 4 hhdsv oatmeal, 4 hhds. beef and pork,
and 15 cwt. cheese, butter, suet, etc.
In 1629 for each passenger to Salem was provided 2 qts. of sweet oil.
In 1629 the Massachusetts Company in England contracted with Lambert
Wilson, “chirurgeon,” to serve the Colony “and also the Indians,” and to in-
struct in his arts one or more youths, “ of which Mr. Hugenson’s son, if his
father approveth, may be one, the rather because he hath been trained up in
literature.” There is no further trace of Wilson; but the record is interesting as
showing a desire for surgeons of literary cultivation.
John Pratt, surgeon, was a pioneer at Newtown (Cambridge); but no mention
is made of the arrival of Robert Morley, who had been engaged to come over
for three years and “ serve as a barber and surgeon ” at 20 nobles the first
year, 30 nobles the second, and 20 marks the third. (Noble = £ of a pound;
mark = 2 nobles.)
1 1630. Massachusetts established wages as follows: Laborers, 6d. a day;
v building mechanics, i6d.; also meat and drink. In this year the Bay people
v began to use the name “ town ” for a municipal corporation.
»CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Warwick Patent. — The Royal Charter and Allerton’s Chicanery. —
The “ Handmaid ” with Immigrants. — The Eddys. — Indian Uneasi-
ness.
THE Council for New England sent over in 1630, a new
patent of the Plymouth territory., The Peirce patent
of 1621 established no boundaries, and was uncertain or
silent on many points; but this new instrument defined the
grant as co-extensive with the present Massachusetts counties
of Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable (save Hingham and
Hull), with so much of Rhode Island as lies east of Black-
stone River and Narraganset Bay. It was also to extend to
the west as far as the utmost parts of Pokanoket, and was
to follow the middle of the river and bay to the sea. This
clearly included the island of Rhode Island (Aquiday) ; but
an adverse claim was made, and some years later Bradford
yielded to it. The patent also fixed the bounds of Ply-
mouth’s tract on the Kennebec. This reached from the
present Augusta, some thirteen miles down the stream, to
Cobbiseconte Falls, and extended fifteen miles on each side
of the river, with the full and exclusive right and jurisdiction
over the river within these bounds.
This patent ran to William Bradford, his heirs, associates,
and assigns, leaving him (like John Peirce in 1622) to decide
who should be his associates, if anybody; or, if he pleased,
to make himself lord of the manor and hold the Colonists as
his tenants and subordinates. It gave him and his, authority
to make and repeal laws and ordinances not contrary to the
laws of England; to decide who might abide on their land,
22338
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1630.
and to “ expulse, repel, and resist by force of arms ” all who
without leave should seek to dwell within their limits, or to
traffic with the natives there, or make any annoyance; and
the ships and goods of intruders might be forfeited. No
inhabitant under the patent should be controlled by any
general governor acting under the Council, except for public
defence or summons to court. The grant; made in fee-simple,
was to include every right possessed by the Council itself,
to the fullest extent of its power of conveyance. This was
not to include the coining of money, and required for the
Crown one-fifth part of all gold and silver ore found, and
another fifth for the Council.
This patent, signed by the Earl of Warwick, President of
the Council for New England, on Jan. 13, 1629 (o. s.), answer-
ing to Jan. 23, 1630 (N. S.), may still be seen in the Plymouth
registry of deeds. It was long missing, and in 1741 was
rescued from private hands.1 The Council appointed Captain
Standish its attorney to enter on the grant, and after taking
possession in its name, to deliver full “ possession and seizin ”
to Bradford or his representatives. In Standish’s absence,
Winslow, Howland, or Alden might act for him. Alden
finally did so, in presence of James Cudworth, William
Clarke, and Nathaniel Morton, who certified to the fact on
the patent. (The ceremony was probably performed by
“ turf and twig,” in which the grantor publicly asserted his
claim to the land by cutting up a small turf and clipping a
twig; no objection being made to this exercise of proprietor-
ship, he then gave the turf and twig to the new owner, and
the delivery was complete.)
The Council by its charter had all the rights which it thus
amply conveyed, and even more; but lawyers differ as to its
power of transfer, some holding that Plymouth (through
Bradford) merely derived ownership of the land, with control
of the inhabitants and trade under the English laws, but not
the right to create a form of government and enforce laws of
its own making. But the Colonial policy of England was
1 See misadventures of <f Pierce Patent,” page 197.1630.] THE “WARWICK PATENT.” — THE CHARTER. 339
then vague, and there was a disposition to allow chartered
companies to exercise or transfer their privileges much as
they chose, provided there ensued no harm to the revenue,
and no disorder. The “ Warwick patent,” as it is called, was
quite in harmony with the unwritten law, which their King
regarded nearly as much as he did his own parchment char-
ters, though they had seals “ as broad as the house floor,” as
Bradford expressed it. England found no fault with the
self-government of Plymouth, even while endeavoring through
a score of years to subvert the liberties granted Massachu-
setts Bay by the ponderous charter of Charles I. The patent
was practically valid to its full extent, and so continued till,
in the next generation, Andros trampled down all law. Still,
the “ Mayflower ” Compact remained the fundamental law, and
was affectionately regarded till the end of the Colony. The
patent was chiefly for outside use; for, if of less noble origin
than the self-evolved charter, it was incomparably more
valuable in the eyes of non-residents.
A royal charter was still desired, and the agents at London
brought influences to bear, which led the King to order one
drawn as liberal as that of Massachusetts. The Lord Keeper
and the solicitor expedited it; but the motive-power was
costly, and Sherley wrote to Bradford, “ many locks must
be opened with the silver, nay, the golden key! ” At length
the charter reached the Lord Treasurer for his action on
what concerned the customs. Allerton and Sherley, without
authority from Plymouth, had put in a clause freeing her
imports into England from duties for seven years, and out-
ward cargoes for twenty-one years. This the Lord-Treasurer
refused to pass without a vote of the King’s Council, which
action had not been secured when the time came for Allerton
to go home in the “ Lion ” with Peirce, leaving the matter
with a solicitor. Sherley wrote that there was no doubt of
success if their agent could at once come back, and that
therefore the Plymouth people should urge Allerton to return,
“ and his wife to spare him this one year more to finish this
great and weighty matter.”340
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1630.
This effort had cost ^500, and — thus was the result — the
charter was never again heard from. It would have passed
the seals without question but for the surreptitious clause.
Bradford thinks it might, as it was, but for Allerton’s secret
plan to secure a reappointment, in pursuance of which he
dictated Sherley’s letter. Some of the Undertakers urged
Allerton’s dismissal; but others pleaded Sherley’s approval
of him, and the fact that his dismissal would grieve his father-
in-law, Elder Brewster, which would be worse than losing
money. In an unfortunate moment of weak amiability,
Allerton was sent back the next autumn.
In November, 1630, came into Plymouth the “ Handmaid/’
under John Grant, twelve weeks from Southampton. All
her masts had been carried away; of her twenty-eight cows,
ten had died; but her passengers (about sixty) were all well.
As two of the latter, rated as “ gentlemen/’ desired to settle
at Boston, Standish carried them there; but the Bay people
refused to receive them, because, as Winthrop says, they had
“ no testimony.” Probably these passengers all remained at
Plymouth, and were largely made up of those more sub-
stantial people who, as the rear-guard of the immigration
from the Leyden community, now came at their own expense.
Among them were John and Samuel, sons of William Eddy,
of Cranbrook, England. John, with his wife Amy, removed
to Watertown (near Boston) in 1633, and of their eight
children, the eldest was a daughter, whom they named Pil-
grim. Samuel remained at Plymouth. The posterity of these
brothers has caused the family name to be honorably known
in many parts of our country.
In 1630-31 the Indians were very unquiet. The Mo-
hawks ravaged the Nipmucks, and one hundred Tarrantines
came from Maine in canoes to Ipswich River, and crossing
overland, killed seven of the peaceful natives at Sagus1
(Lynn) ; but hearing the alarm-guns of the whites, safely re-
treated with much spoil. Chickatabut, of the Neponsets,
was hostile to Plymouth on account of the attack in 1623;
1 See Indian pronunciations; page 118, note 2.1630.]
RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS.
341
but he was very friendly with the Massachusetts settlers. In
various directions the savages desired a war, not from any
alleged grievance, but, as Winthrop says, to plunder “our
stuff.” When a superior and an inferior race co-inhabit,
some individual wrongs are inevitable, and for them the in-
ferior race will be quite as likely as the other to be respon-
sible; but the two pioneer Colonies of New England, from
first to last, made every possible effort to secure more than
justice to the aborigines, and to treat them with philanthropy.
Their kindness to the Indians immediately around them had
now its effect in preserving a precarious peace with those
farther away.1
1 The justice of the Bay Colony was curiously shown in 1631. “ Mr. Josiah
Plaistow,” for stealing four baskets of corn from the Indians, was sentenced to
return them eight baskets, be fined and no more to have the title of “ Mr.,”
but to be called Josiah Plaistow only. His two servants, for aiding him, were
whipped, they having no money or titles to lose.
In 1631 was a marked exhibition of the kind feeling which had grown up
between Plymouth and the Cape tribes. In January Richard Garrett, a shoe-
maker at Boston, sailed for Plymouth with his daughter and four men. Near
the Gurnet a storm struck them, their stone killock broke in pieces, and after
several hours their boat stranded on the Cape. Landing, they found no fuel.
Two men started on foot for Plymouth, and seven miles along met two squaws
whose husbands were close at hand. Next day one of the Indians went forward
with them; but one of the whites died at the Manomet trading-house, and the
other on reaching Plymouth. In the mean time the second Indian husband
had gone back to the boat, where, building a wigwam over the four sufferers and
making a fire, he carefully nursed them. Garrett soon dying, the Indian with
his tomahawk chopped in the frozen ground a grave eighteen inches deep, and to
protect the body from wolves brought wood and made a pile over the spot.
Bradford had by that time sent a relief boat from Plymouth, but yet another
man died on the spot from gangrene. The only survivors, the Garrett girl and
Henry Harwood, a “godly young man” from Boston, were taken to Plymouth.
Dr. Fuller was obliged to extend surgical treatment to the man; and when, six
weeks later, the latter was able to take Garrett’s luckless shallop for Boston, he
was caught in a similar storm, and had another narrow escape. He recovered
twenty nobles from Garrett’s estate, — probably because the craft had not been
properly manned and provided. Doubtless the Indians were well rewarded, for
Bradford was very scrupulous in such cases. The natives on Cape Cod were so
nearly isolated from the others that they soon fell into many ways of civilized
life; and they and their successors ever remained fast friends of the whites.
Indeed, the very extensive missionary labor among them was far more effective
and enduring than the justly famed work in Massachusetts of John Eliot. (See
note, r. 193.)CHAPTER XXXVII.
John Billington. — His Crime and Execution. — His Family and their
Failings.
JOHN BILLINGTON, foisted into the “ Mayflower ” by
some supposed enemy of the Pilgrims, had ever been
profane and turbulent.1 Cushman, as the Adventurers’ agent,
in 1621 probably tried to discipline him; for in 1625 Brad-
ford wrote to the former, “ Billington still rails against you,
and threatens to arrest you, I know not wherefore. He is a
knave, and so will live and die! ” In 1630 the prophecy was
fulfilled. Billington charged John Newcomen, a young man,
with interfering with his hunting, and at length waylaid him.
Newcomen ran behind a tree; but Billington shot at him, and
gave him a wound which, after several days, proved fatal.2
A grand jury found a bill, and a petit jury convicted the
murderer.
The doubt as to the Warwick patent’s power to give its
grantees the right to make and enforce their own laws, is con-
sidered a modern question; and it is thought—a not long-
understood fact — that an able-bodied inhabitant adds, at
present rates, at least a thousand dollars to the mercantile
valuation of a community. Yet Billington had reasoned out
both these matters, and boldly claimed that the authorities
had no right to inflict death, but by so doing would render
themselves liable as murderers, but even were it otherwise,
1 It will be remembered that Billington was the first malefactor in New Ply-
mouth, he being adjudged in 1621 to be “laid neck and heels ” for insubordi-
nation. See p. 160.
2 He shote him with a gune, wherof he dyed. —Bradford\1630.J BILLINGTON’S EXECUTION. —HIS FAMILY.
343
they could not afford to rob their still weak, indebted, and
endangered Colony of a strong, industrious householder.
Doubt enough was raised in some directions to cause a ref-
erence of the matter to Winthrop and the other leaders
newly arrived at the Bay, whose authority under the Crown
was above question. They decided that Billington “ ought
to die, and the land be purged from blood.” Then the sen-
tence was executed (in September).
The infliction of the law’s extreme penalty is ever, to a
well-constituted mind, a grievous circumstance; and now,
for the first time, such an event occurring in the Old Colony,
the evil life of the victim was forgotten in the recollection
that he had been one of the original company, sharing in the ^
terrors of the first winter, and bearing his part in all the after
sacrifices and adventures, — for the very defects of his charac-
ter were such as could not well permit him to be a coward or
a laggard. In the early perils and triumphs he had joined;
and that such a one, whatever his demerits, should die by
the executioner’s hand, was, as Bradford remarks, “ a matter
of great sadness unto them.”
Billington’s name seemed for a time to be one of ill-omen.
His widow succeeded to his farm at Plain Dealing (two miles
north of Plymouth Rock), and for her cattle was, in 1636,
authorized by the court to mow the adjacent grass; but
‘‘what is too much for her” was to go to Deacon John
Doane. A controversy ensued, doubtless as to this “ too
much, ” and the deacon, charging the dame with slander,
sued for ;£ioo damages. The court gave the complainant
nothing; but evidently finding the slander very flagrant,
sentenced the defendant to a fine of £5, to sit in the stocks,
and to be publicly whipped. In 1638 the widow gave the
farm to her only living child in terms which sound oddly
now; for she declared the gift to be from “the natural love
I bear unto Francis Billington, my natural son.” Later in
that year she married with Gregory Armstrong, at which
time she had two cows, a house, garden, and land for fifteen
hundred hills of corn. If she survived, she was to have all344
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1630.
Armstrong's property, “ except some things for his friends.”
If he survived, he was to retain the use of her property, but
was to give two yearling heifers to “ the natural children of
Francis Billington, the said Eleanor's natural son.” The word
“natural” was then used to distinguish one's own child from a
step-child, child-in-law, or adopted child; and it often occurs
in the records, to the misleading of careless and censorious
readers. (Thus, in 1685, William Walker was excused from
training because he was weak, and also had “two natural
sons” in the train-band; and in 1686 Isaac Robinson, son of
the Leyden pastor, conveyed land to his “natural son”
Peter, — meaning his son by nature.)
Armstrong died at Plymouth, November, 1650. Of his
wife the records make no mention after 1642 ; but it may be
hoped that .in her later life she enjoyed a period of that tran-
quillity to which she had so long been a stranger.
Francis Billington, in 1634, married Christian Penn, widow
of Francis Eaton. They proved a thriftless pair, and were
forced to bind out most or all of their eight children. (Their
son Joseph was placed with John Cooke; and on a charge of
enticing him to frequent absences it was ordered that, during
any of his future truancies, his parents should both sit in the
stocks on lecture-days.) Francis was occasionally sued and
fined, and was once sentenced to pay 20s.y or be whipped,
on some petty matter;1 but besides frequent appearance in
court as plaintiff, defendant, or culprit, he was in later life on
various committees, boards of reference, and other bodies,
which suggests his good standing. His son Joseph was in
constant disgrace, and seems to have had the viciousness
without the energy of his grandfather; but several of the
family became excellent members of society.
Reasons have already been given for the belief that Bil-
lington Sea was discovered by John the Senior, and that the
1 In 1638 he was fined 12s. for smoking in the highway. In 1647 he was
ordered to pay William Hanbury two barrels of tar, — which disproves the often-
stated idea that tar-making was first introduced into the Colony by the worthy
Thomas Coram forty-five years later.1630.]
NAMING PLYMOUTH’S PUBLIC PLACES.
345
name Francis, given in Mourt’s Relation, is due to a slip
of the pen or an error of the copyist. One can hardly won-
der too much that, beyond a few streets, the public places of
Plymouth so rarely bear the names interwoven with her early
history, and that the few exceptions commemorate Allerton
the treacherous, Sherley the defrauder, and Billington the
malefactor.CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Allerton’s Finale. — Trade at the Bay. — Massachusetts Encroachments.
— Roger Williams. — Peirce brings Mrs. Winthrop in the “Lion.”
BY 1631 Allerton’s false-dealing had become so conspicu-
ous that his further employment was out of the question.
In the spring of that year he so far neglected the duty for
which he was paid, that he altogether omitted to send over
the annual stock of trading-goods, though the resulting disas-
ter was averted by Winslow, who had gone to England to
investigate. The wearisome detail of Allerton’s wrongdoing
may be found in Bradford’s History. Suffice it to say that
he was now dismissed in disgrace. His five voyages to Eng-
land had involved his associates in no small loss; but his
course had been approved and abetted by Sherley. Yet now
that Allerton lost credit, Sherley began to cry out against
him, and rejoice that his career had been stopped. But
Hatherly, one of Sherley’s partners, retained confidence in
Allerton, and proved it by signing a bond of indemnity to the
Plymouth partners, which brought him much loss.
It is uncertain when Allerton left Plymouth. His domicile
was probably there till 1634; though from 1632-3 he was
busy, at the site of the present Machias, waging a wild but
damaging competition against that Penobscot trade into which
he had forced his Plymouth brethren. In 1633 his (third)
wife, Fear Brewster, died at Plymouth. The next year he was
taxed there for the last time; but it may have been from a
reluctance to part with a name once so honored that it con-
tinued to be recorded on the list of freemen until 1637. In1631-59] ALLERTON’S LAST YEARS. —BAY POACHING. 347
1644, Elder Brewster was still supporting his grandson, Isaac
Allerton, Jr., who graduated from Harvard College, 1650.
Allerton’s Machias post was pillaged by the French in 1633,
to his great loss; his pinnace was wrecked next year; and a
year later another of his pinnaces was lost in the terrible
tragedy which gave name to Thacher’s Island. The same year
(1635) his great fishing-station at Marblehead was burned,
and he was warned to remove from the town. In 1636 he
was partially wrecked. In 1637 he was in London, showing
the malice which persons so often exhibit toward those whom
they have wronged, and endeavoring to harm both Plymouth
and the Bay.1 A few years later he was trading at Man-
hattan. In 1644, with his fourth wife (Joanna--------), he was
cast away in a snow-storm at Scituate, but with no loss of life.
Finally settling at New Haven, where his “ house with four
porches ” is still notable, he continued to traffic by water
between that place and Manhattan, with his son Isaac as a
partner, till his death in 1659. His tomb is to be seen in the
public square at New Haven. But the wrong-doer’s Nemesis
followed him to his grave; and he, who in early Plymouth
had stood second only to Bradford, and had been the wealthi-
est of the Colonists and their trusted representative abroad,
died insolvent in reputation and estate.
When in 1631 the great sickness ended at the Bay, trade
became brisk. Nearly everything was in demand, and prices
were so high that flour was about seventeen shillings a bushel,
and peas fourteen shillings. Everything that Plymouth had
to sell was readily taken, especially in exchange for horses
and neat cattle. But the energy of Massachusetts Bay was
not restrained by courtesy, gratitude, or legal rights. A pin-
nace, blown by a storm into Plymouth Harbor, was found to
have been sent by the Boston authorities on a surreptitious
trading trip within Plymouth’s boundaries, as had been done
before. Bradford sent her home, and notified the Massachu-
setts Government that such depredations on Plymouth must
1 Winslow, who was also in London, wrote to Winthrop, Sen.: Allerton
“ loveth neither you nor us.’*348
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1631.
stop, or they would be resisted “ even to the spending of our
lives/’ Winthrop replied, and Bradford rejoined vigorously;
but the letters are lost. Suffice it to say, that illicit traffic
ended.
In the early autumn the Plymouth, pulpit made a notable
acquisition. Roger Williams,1 soon after landing (February,
1630-1), was unanimously invited by the Boston Church to
fill their pulpit during the absence of Pastor Wilson in Eng-
land. Williams demanded as a condition that the members
express their repentance for having ever communed or even
worshipped with the Church of England, and, further, that
they prohibit their members from thereafter attending such
worship during occasional visits to England, even if no other
services might be available. The Boston Church very prop-
erly refusing to do this, Williams rejected their call and went
to Salem. It is a surprising fact that any person should have
left the Boston of 1631 because he found there a religious
liberality which amounted to a sin; but the surprise is in-
creased many fold when the person so departing is found to
have been Roger Williams.
Salem was ready to receive the young preacher as an as-
sistant pastor; but he had begun to contest the validity of
the King’s charter in a way which, if permitted, would much
imperil the existence of the government. The magistrates of
the Colony therefore requested the Salem Church to with-
hold action until their new teacher’s views should be more
clearly understood. Williams cut short the controversy by
leaving Massachusetts and going to Plymouth. He was there
placed in the Pilgrim pulpit as the colleague of Smith, in
contrast with whom, his freshness and vigor proved highly
acceptable. With all honor to the Roger Williams of after
years, the plain fact must be stated that he left Boston in
1631 because the theological hardness there was too liberal
1 Williams was born in Wales, 1599-1603 (?). In 1621 Sir Edward Coke
procured him a scholarship in Sutton Hospital (now Charter House). He
entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1625, obtaining an “A. B.” in 1627. (See
Chap. XLII.)1631.]
GRAND RECEPTION OF MRS. WINTHROP.
349
for him. Plymouth had no charter to be assailed or lost, and
she was sufficiently liberal to tolerate illiberality.
In November (1631) the indomitable Peirce brought the
“ Lion ” again to Boston. Among his passengers was John
Eliot, who, though yet to win a deathless fame, was little
noticed in the public enthusiasm which welcomed Governor
Winthrop’s wife and family. The Bay people had ever a
high respect for official dignity, though their favor was often
fickle; while, on the other hand, their Plymouth neighbors
were very constant, but not enthusiastic. It was now thought
a delicate compliment to receive the lady with a turn-out of
the whole militia. The second day after, the substantiate and
luxuries of the Colony came pouring in to the Governor's
great “ framed house; ” and there was such universal feasting
in honor of the arrival that the grateful Winthrop declared it
a great marvel that so much people and food could be got
together in Boston at such short notice. Some two weeks
later Governor Bradford came up from Plymouth and paid his
respects to Mrs. Winthrop. Of course due honor awaited
him at Boston's executive mansion; but he preferred to slip
down the harbor and spend the night on board the “ Lion "
with his old friend Captain Peirce. Bradford was impatient
of ceremony or parade; and it may well be supposed that the
aristocratic formalists at the Bay were far less congenial to
him than the intelligent veteran of the “ Lion."CHAPTER XXXIX.
SIR CHRISTOPHER GARDINER’S ESCAPADES.
IN 1630 came to Boston Sir Christopher Gardiner, “ Knight
of the Sepulchre,” who expressed a desire to forsake
the world and pursue “ a godly course,” even to supporting
himself by humble pursuits; and who sought admission to
the church. Finally, at Neponset River, seven miles out from
Boston, he began housekeeping with two servants and “ a
comely young woman whom he called his cousin.”
The next winter Captain Peirce, returning to Boston with
the “ Lion,” said that in London he had visited two ladies who
had each been married and deserted by Gardiner, and who
now, “ condoling each other’s estate,” were living together.
They had both written to Winthrop. The first wife only
asked the truant’s safe return to his duty; while the other,
whom he had robbed of costly jewels, plate, and linen, mildly
desired his “ destruction for his foul abuse.” One of the in-
jured ladies, expressing her opinion of the knight’s “ cousin ”
with extreme plainness, desired her return to England along
with Sir Christopher.
It was resolved to ship the couple back to London, and a
force was sent to bring them to Boston. The knight was wary,
and fled, fully armed, to the woods. His housekeeper was
taken to Boston. But Dudley declared her to be “ impenitent
and close; ” she would only admit that her name was Mary
Grove, that Sir Christopher and she had until recently been
Catholics, but were now Protestants, and that the knight had
formerly a wife in Europe, but she was dead. Grim Dudley1631.] SIR CHRISTOPHER GARDINER’S CAPTURE.
351
dismissed the case with the remark: “ So we have taken order
to send her to the two wives in Old England, and let them
search her further! ” Still, he calls her “ a gentlewoman.”
Soon after, the Indians told Bradford that Gardiner was
lurking about Namasket (Middleborough), and naively asked
leave to kill him. Bradford, sternly forbidding their harming
the man, hired them to bring him in. The savages had
a fear of the knight’s weapons; but by the upsetting of
his canoe as he was escaping from them across Namasket
River, he lost his gun and rapier. Scrambling ashore, he
stood at bay with his dagger; but the natives, beating this
from his hands with long poles, captured him.
Gardiner, when the Indians led him into Plymouth like
some wild beast, was found with his arms very sore and much
swelled, from the blows given to disarm him. Bradford, cen-
suring the Indians for the violence they had used, treated the
knight with much hospitality, and provided him with such
surgical treatment as quickly healed his injuries. At length
Captain Underhill came from Boston and took Gardiner back
as a prisoner. Bradford kindly besought Winthrop’s leniency
for the knight, and was assured that while “ no hard measure ”
had been intended, “ he shall speed the better for your media-
tion.” With a thoughtfulness not always or often shown in
the future, Massachusetts insisted on paying Plymouth for all
her cost and trouble.
The errant pair were not sent to England, though until re-
cent researches1 the contrary has always been stated. They
remained several months at Boston, where the knight was
rather an honored guest than a prisoner. In August, 1631,
Thomas Purchase of Maine visited Boston. In 1628 he had
settled where is now Brunswick; and in 1654, being the leader
of that region (Merrymeeting Bay), he was placed over it as
magistrate, by Plymouth, whom the English Government had
ordered to extend its authority there. Purchase married
Mary Grove on this Boston visit, and not only took her to his
1 By Charles Francis Adams, Jr., whose article in “ Harper’s Monthly,”
March, 1833, made known the connection of Purchase with the case.352
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1631.
Maine home, but also for the next year had Sir Christopher
as a guest. This implies that the scandal in the case had
come to be disbelieved, or that Mr. Purchase was practical
rather than sentimental. Madam Purchase, who seems to
have made a good wife, died at Boston in 1656-7, and the
Worshipful Thomas, re-marrying, survived to the age of a
hundred and one.
Gardiner professed many thanks for Boston's “ great
courtesy" to him; but late in 1632, on reaching London, he
actively co-operated with Morton, Ratliffe, Mason, Gorges,
and other malignant enemies of Massachusetts Colony. In-
deed, he and Morton were at the Bay as agents and spies
for Gorges, who was hoping to deprive the Bostonians of the
north side of their harbor and bay. It was sought to silence
Gardiner by proceedings for bigamy; but the failure to make
out a case against him mystifies the story told to Peirce, and
makes the knight’s whole record a puzzle. He no more ap-
pears in history, unless in 1656 he was Charles II.’s London
spy, described as “ Christopher Gardiner, an American."CHAPTER XL.
The Bay Dictatorial. — Bradford’s Satirical Letter. — The Narragansets
Conspiring.
LATE in 1630, Edward Winslow, on his way to England,
took ship at Boston. That town, though but a few
months old and filled with sickness and privation, exhibited
distinctions in society, closely observed, which were not
dreamed of in Plymouth. Winslow seems to have been the
especial “ gentleman ” of the plebeian plantation, and to have
taken kindly to the higher social influences which surrounded
him at the Bay and in England, though to Plymouth his heart
was ever as the needle to the pole. Out of complaisance to
his Boston hosts, he must have given an ill-considered and
unauthorized assent to their wish for the exclusion from New
Plymouth of all Massachusetts Bay people whose removal had
not been sanctioned by their rulers.
Plymouth had been ready to make common cause against
culprits like Morton and the “ Knight of the Sepulchre; ” but
she had words of welcome for all law-abiding men, regardless
of sect, who came to her in search of a home. Her surprise
must have been great when, in 1631, she received something
like a rebuke from the Bay because, in disregard of that un-
known concession of Winslow’s, she was harboring John Phil-
lips, John Pickworth, Richard Church, and others who had
left the Bay without passports. This letter is not preserved;
but it probably had a flavor of the superiority naturally felt
by the aristocratic administrators of the King's charter over
the obscure democracy existing only by its own consent.
23354
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1631.
Certainly, Bradford gave the document a quarantine of more
than six months, and then made this happy answer: —
To our worshipful good friends, Mr. Winthrop, Governor of Massa-
chusetts, and the rest of the Council there :
Gentlemen, and Worthily Beloved Friends : — We have now at
length returned an answer to your letter dated the 26th of July. (The
reason we have so long deferred the same, is because we have had no
court till the last month, being January.) The sum whereof is this :
that we are willing to correspond with you in this or any other neigh-
borly course, so far as may no way be prejudicial to any, or swerve
from the rules of equity. How far Mr. Winslow expressed that agree-
ment you intimate, we know not (seeing he is absent) ; but our mean-
ing and former practice was and hath been, the questioning of only
such as come to dwell and inhabit, whether as servants or freemen ;
and not of sojourners which come but for a season, with a purpose to
return.
Yet if any abuse should grow hereby, we shall agree to any good
order for the preventing or reducing the same, provided the way be
left open for poor men to relieve their wants, and for mutual help to
both plantations. We have therefore given warning in open court to
all our people not to receive any as servants or others dwellers with
them, but to acquaint us first therewith, that we inquire of their cer-
tificates or dismissions. But we have set no penalty on it as yet,
because we hope there shall be no need. If there be, we have liberty
to punish such things at our discretions. If that will not serve, when
we understand what penalty you appoint in the case, we shall do the
like, or that which shall be equivalent unto it.
As for the instances you give: We find that John Phillips, when
he came, was sick, and if he had not been received by some to house,
he had been in danger to have perished. He alleged that he was sent
by his master to seek a service; yet as a servant he was not entertained
by any, till his master came and sold his time, not to him that gave
him houseroom, but to him that would give most; so he hath no
cause to complain.
For John Pickworth, he came but as a sojourner to work for a
few weeks, in which time he got a wife, and so is long since returned
double, and hath no cause to complain, — except he hath got a bad
wife.1631.]	BRADFORD’S REPLY TO WINTHROP.	355
Richard Church came likewise as a sojourner to work for the
present, though he is still here resident longer than he purposed; and
what he will do, neither we, nor I think himself knows; but if he resolve
to settle here, we shall require of him to procure a dismission. But he
did affirm to us at the first that he was one of Mr. Webb’s men, and
freed to go to England, or whither he would, — the which we rather
believed, because he came to us from Wessagusset upon the falling out
with his partner.1
For others intimated, we know none (though we have inquired) ;
but they had a dismission either to come hither or go for England.
Now, there are divers gone from hence to dwell and inhabit with
you, as Clement Briggs, John Hill, John Eddy, Daniel Ray, etc., the
which if either they or you desire their dismissions, we shall be ready
to give them, hoping you will do the like in like cases, — though we
have heard something otherwise.
Thus with our prayers to the Lord for your prosperity as our own,
and our hearty salutations unto all, we rest
Your assured loving friends,
Plim: Feb. 6, 1631.2
William Bradford, Goue’r,
John Alden,
Tho. Prence,
Myles Standish,
Samuel ffuller.
1	John Phillips, in 1639, bought Robert Mendall’s house and land at Duxbury
for £6 in hand, “ and xviij-teene pounds ” on credit; at Duxbury, in 1658, he was
killed by lightning, — the first case in the Colony; in 1666 Grace, wife of his son
John, was killed in like manner at or near the same place; as at the same time
were Jeremiah Phillips, a lad, and William Shurtleff. (The Shurtleff descent
from this pioneer, is: 1st generation, William; 2d, Abiel; 3d, Benjamin; 4th, Ben-
jamin; 5th, Benjamin (M. D.); 6th, Nathaniel B. (M. D.), a zealous antiquary,
and mayor of Boston, who died 1874, <zt. 64.)
John Pickworth had a land-grant at Salem in 1637; his wife, Ann, joined the
church there in 1638, — indicating that he still had “no cause to complain” of
his Plymouth visit.
Church soon after married Elizabeth Warren, daughter of the late Richard;
he was a carpenter, and one of the designers and builders of the first regular
church edifice at Plymouth; in 1642 the Court employed him to make a gun-
carriage for the fort; his son was the famous warrior of Philip’s War.
William Webb was early a ship-builder at Weymouth ; Clement Briggs was at
Weymouth in 1633; Ray, a Plymouth house-owner in 1630, probably went to
Salem; Eddy has been mentioned on page 540.
2	Feb. 26, 1632, n. s.356
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1632.
The gentry at Boston can hardly have enjoyed the tone of
equality assumed by these self-governing yeomen and arti-
sans ; and some of them were not so prosaic as to be unable
to see that this reply made up a lack of deference by a sur-
plus of satire. The six months* delay was significant too; for
all the people of the Colony still dwelt in the town of Ply-
mouth, and a “ court ” or town-meeting could always be
called at a day’s notice. They could not except to such an
excuse, but they were well aware that it was a bit of diplo-
matic trifling. Much the same was it with the ready acqui-
escence in their wishes so far as might conform to “ equity ”
and “ not be prejudicial'to any,” — a qualification which wholly
reversed the professed consent. Then, again, the quiet hint
that the truth as to Winslow’s thoughtless agreement with
them could only be ascertained from hint, was no flattering
tribute to Puritan veracity. Nor was there much satisfac-
tion in the court-order with no penalty for its violation, or
the conclusion to do nothing until the Bay had adopted and
put in operation the policy of reciprocity. The Phillips case
was deftly used to put the complainers in the wrong, and that
of Pickworth was turned into a neat joke at the expense of
their solemn worships; that of Church, of whose plans neither
his hosts nor himself could tell anything, was a decidedly
cavalier dismissal of his matter. The satire was pretty evi-
dent in the offer to those who had gone from Plymouth to
the Bay of all the dismissions they or any one else might
desire, and in the suggestion that the Bay might follow the
same course to advantage, though there was some sort of
rumor that her policy was entirely on one side, — taking, but
not giving. Bradford seems to have carefully used this op-
portunity, with forms of courtesy, to remind the magnates at
the Bay that the rulers of the Old Colony were their peers,
and that future negotiations must be on the basis of equal
rights and courtesies.
In 1632, the Narraganset and other Indians were still con-
spiring, as Winthrop has it, “ to cut us off to get our victuals
and other substance.” As in the last year, they alleged no1632.]
INDIAN FORAYS.
357
grievances, but were merely longing for rapine and plunder.
The Maine Indians had already killed Henry Way of Dor-
chester, with his four comrades, and plundered their shallop.
Near by, at Richmond’s Island, Walter Bagnall and another
trader were killed (but not without blame on his part), and
after the house had been robbed of £400 worth of goods,
it was burned with their bodies in it. In April the Narra-
gansets made war on Massasoit; and chasing him into the
Plymouth trading-post at Sowams, besieged him there. The
garrison consisted of only four whites; but one of these was
Myles Standish. He at once sent an Indian runner to Bos-
ton for gunpowder; and Winthrop forwarded twenty-seven
pounds, — all the man could carry. Four days later the
Narragansets, learning that the Pequods had invaded their
country, all returned home, taking with them as allies the
Massachusetts tribe from Medford, and the Neponsets, each
mustering only some thirty warriors. No serious fighting
resulted; and a few weeks later Standish notified Winthrop
that the two great nations had become suspiciously friendly.
Yet Massasoit and Plymouth were no more molested. Soon
afterward there was a sad exhibition of party spirit at Boston;
for Deputy-Governor Dudley made it a grave charge that his
rival, Winthrop, had disposed of twenty-seven pounds of
gunpowder to another Colony, — and the point was especially
mean from the fact that the gunpowder was Winthrop’s
private property.1
1 In 1644 Plymouth desired to buy powder of Massachusetts; the deputies
were willing to accommodate her with two barrels, but the Council non-concurred.
Soon after, Aquiday made a like request, but both houses refused her. The
same year Virginia was also denied a supply. The generous Winthrop seems
to have disapproved of this churlishness; and when, a few months later, the mag-
azine (at Roxbury) exploded, and the Colony’s whole stock of powder vanished
iti a cloud of smoke, he viewed it as a divine retribution.CHAPTER XLI.
Winthrop’s Visit to Plymouth. — His Return. — Duxbury. — Scituate. —-
The Old Colony’s Divisions. — Loss of the “ Lion.”
ON Thursday, Nov. 4, 1632 (n. s.), as the “ Lion ” lay at
Boston, she was visited by Governor Winthrop, Pastor
Wilson, and Captains Patrick and Underhill, with probably
some attendants. Master Peirce took them in the “ Lion's ”
shallop to the old Weymouth plantation, — Standish’s early
fighting ground, — where they passed the night and were
feasted on game by the hospitable planters. Friday morning
Peirce returned to his ship, while Winthrop and his comrades
proceeded on foot to Plymouth, twenty-five miles away, by
that Indian path along which, nine years before, Phineas Pratt
had fled for his life.1 It was evening when they were met
outside the Pilgrim town by Governor Bradford, Elder Brew-
ster, and others, who escorted them to Bradford’s house, where
a bountiful hospitality awaited them. During their stay Win-
throp says that they were “ feasted every day at several
houses.”
Sunday forenoon came the Lord’s Supper. In the after-
noon the guests had the doubtful pleasure of hearing Roger
Williams preach, he having left the Bay a year before in a
controversy with them. In technical phrase, Williams “ pro-
pounded a question,” which Pastor Smith briefly expounded;
and then Williams “ prophecied” {i.e. preached).2 Next
1 B. M. Watson and W. T. Davis, of Plymouth, have recently traced some
miles of this path.
2 “ Prophesying ” was a less formal sort of preaching, based on 1 Cor. xiv. 31.
One reason for it and the succeeding discussion, was the scarcity of religious
books; it gave the congregation the result of study and reflection by some of1632.]
SUNDAY SERVICE AT PLYMOUTH.
359
Bradford gave his views, followed by Elder Brewster and
some others. Winthrop then spoke by invitation of the elder;
followed by Pastor Wilson, who was called upon, not as a
clergyman, but merely as a visiting brother. Finally, Deacon
Fuller reminded the people of the duty of giving; upon which
Bradford went down to the deacon's seat and deposited his
gift in the box, the others following.
Of course the Geneva Bible was read, with a running com-
. ment; and there must have been the singing of some of Ains-
worth’s very literal psalms, the tune printed under each, being
in only one part, and the congregation singing in unison (by
far the best mode of “ congregational ” singing, and that in
principal use in Germany and England). But the lines were
not “ deaconed; ” that practice not being brought from Eng-
land until about 1681, when it was adopted for the benefit of
some who could not read.1
their ablest men, and met the need of those not uncommon people who with
strong minds and the spirit of inquiry could not read.
In Amsterdam, the order of the Separatist service had been as follows :
Prayer; Scripture with comment; Singing a psalm; Sermon by the pastor, or
by a teacher; Singing another psalm; Sacraments on proper Sundays; A Col-
lection for the poor; The Benediction.
1 “Deaconing ” or “lining-out” the hymn or psalm, was established in Eng-
land by Parliament, 1644. The practice continued in New England for about
a century. Ainsworth’s Psalms were used until 1692, when Pastor Cotton, of
Plymouth, declaring some of the tunes too difficult for the people at large, ob-
tained leave in such cases to substitute the New England Psalm-book. The
result was the early disuse of Ainsworth. Before “ deaconing ” came, there was
no preliminary reading of the psalm. The book was sung through in course
during many successive weeks, and then begun again. Reading Scripture with-
out comment was condemned as “ dumb reading,” savoring of a liturgy.
The first New England edition of Watts’ “ Psalms and Hymns ” was printed
1741; William Billings’ “New England Psalm Singer,” the first music-book
composed here, appeared 1770. (Billings also published later “The Singing
Master’s Assistant,” “The Psalm Singer’s Amusement, 1781,” “The Suffolk
Harmony,” and other matters. These were all printed from engraved copper-
plates). In 1778 the “Worcester Collection” was printed at Worcester by
Isaiah Thomas. In 1796, at Barnstable, “Belknap’s Collection99 supplanted
Tate and Brady. The introduction of “part-singing” was much (andproperly,
as far as the congregation were concerned) opposed.
(The tendency of the two preachers, Smith and Williams, to make much of
trifles, had led them into an excitement against the practice of applying the title
“ Goodman” to those next below the rank of “ Master,” for they held it sinful to
call any man good. Receiving small sympathy at Plymouth, they now laid the36o
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1632.
The next Wednesday (November 10th) their visitors were on
foot long before the tardy sunrise. Bradford, Brewster, Smith,
and others went with them in the dark for half a mile. Lieu-
tenant Holmes and two others, taking Governor Bradford’s
mare, attended them to the great Pembroke swamp, midway
of the journey. The travellers were carried over North River
on the back of Ludham, their guide, — a Weymouth man, for
whom Winthrop called the place Ludham’s Ford.1 Soon
after they reached a brook-crossing, which, from one Hughes,
was named “ Hue’s Cross.” Winthrop says that this title
displeased him; and fearing that it would give the Romanists
a chance to claim that their people were first there, he changed
the name to “ Hue’s Folly.” It is a curious fact that bigotry
could prevent such a high-toned gentleman from seeing the
great impropriety of this act. He would have shrunk from
the idea of discourtesy to his recent hosts ; but his heat
against a mere word led him without scruple into the high-
handed act of altering the geographical names established in
their Colony. His action was ignored; and long after his
death the Plymouth records were still mentioning “ Hue’s
Cross.”2 That evening the travellers revisited their Wey-
matter before Winthrop. He said that in the English courts the crier always
called on all “ Good men and true,” but it was a mere custom; nobody was mis-
led by the expression; all knew it had no reference to moral goodness. It would
be a pity to disturb so harmless a practice when so ancient; and it was the same
when a person was called “ goodman.” Strange to say, this bit of common-
sense satisfied these hypercritics.)
1	In 1638 there was a horse-boat ferry at this point, but it was a losing ven-
ture. In 1656 Ralph Chapman represented to the Court that his obligation to
run the North River Ferry would “bring him to extreme poverty and misery.”
The Court released him, if he would bring over the Scituate magistrates at court-
time.
2	In 1634 Endicott, instigated by Williams it was said, while parading his com-
pany called forward the “ ancient-bearer,” and with his sword cut the flag so
that it no longer showed a cross. The national flag of England then was white,
with one broad red stripe bisecting it horizontally, and another perpendicularly,
thus forming a St. George’s cross. After the accession of James I., English
ships still carried this at the stern; but both Scotch and English bore at the
mainmast head the Union Jack. Land forces carried the old flag until after
the Scotch union. Endicott probably slit out the outer end of the horizontal
bar. He was nominally punished for appearance* sake, but his treasonable act
was really approved; for when, three years later, Vane, as a matter of policy,
wished to display the ensign on their fort as some ships went out, none could be1632.]
WRECK OF THE “LION”
361
mouth friends; and once more in their honor, the air, water,
and forest contributed a right-royal feast. The next day,
after just a week’s absence, they reached home.
When Peirce had parted from Winthrop on the outward
trip, he at once sailed for England by way of Virginia. Eight
days later, by the neglect of a mate to make soundings as
ordered, the “ Lion” was wrecked on a shoal at Feak’s
(Fetche’s) Island, thirty miles north of the Chesapeake.
Five of her ten passengers and seven of her twenty-eight sea-
men were drowned. Peirce was nearly bankrupted, and
Plymouth lost £800 in furs. The latter blow was especially
severe, from its coincidence with the Castine robbery and the
frauds by Allerton and Sherley.
Yet, in 1632, the local affairs of the Old Colony had so
prospered, that in the autumn the people rejoiced in “ an
especial manner; ” that is, by holding a thanksgiving festival.1
But the people of the Bay Colony complained much of cold
and wet, with short crops and “ a plague of mosquitoes and
rattlesnakes.”
The increase of draught and other animals led some of
the Plymouth people to seek room on the northerly side of
the harbor. Work had begun there by 1628; and now, in
1632, these planters asked incorporation as a town. The
division of the Pilgrim Church, strange to say, had not been
expected, and the plan met with great disfavor. The land
had originally been granted on condition that the planters
come to church at Plymouth and live in that town winters;
and this had been regarded as a permanent rule. But the
petitioners could not be slighted; for among them were Myles
Standish and John Alden, with Love Brewster, Eaton, Soule,
and Sampson, of the “ Mayflower; ” Jonathan Brewster, Bas-
found at Boston, and he had to borrow from a ship-captain. In 1652, although x
in the time of the Commonwealth, the cross was restored to the flags at the Bay,
General Cudworth records that Plymouth censured Endicott’s fanaticism.
In 1635 Winthrop gave way to the superstition against the names of the '
days and months, and from that time forth he wrote “ ye 20. of ye 3. month,” for
May 20th; “ ye third day,” for Tuesday, etc.
1 Winslow to Winthrop.362
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1632-6.
sett, Simonson, Delanoy, and Bompasse, of the “ Fortune;’5
and Mitchell, Freeman, Collier, and other strong men of later
date. So in 1632 a reluctant assent was given for a separate
church; and the new settlement took the name of Duxbury,1
from one of the seats of the Standish family. The next year
care was taken to enact that Plymouth should always be the
capital of the Colony, and the Governor’s dwelling-place.
Bradford voiced a widespread feeling when he expressed a
fear that this dispersion presaged the ruin of the Colony, “ at
least of ye churches of God ther, and will provock ye Lord’s
displeasure against them.”
In 1636, in an effort to reunite the people, a joint-commit-
tee of nine advised that Plymouth and Duxbury villages be
consolidated at Jones River (Kingston), and that a stone
church be built there in token of stability. (Two of the
members favored Morton’s Hole, even nearer Duxbury.)
The project was argued before a meeting of the citizens, who
then referred it with power to the two churches, where it fin-
ally died. Owing to this suspense, Duxbury was not incor-
porated, nor a pastor elected, until 1637. It seems at the first
to have been under the able lay ministration of Elder Brew-
ster, who soon established a home in Duxbury; but now the
church settled Ralph Partridge, a learned Cambridge scholar
whom Laud had ejected from his English pulpit and “ hunted
like a partridge over the mountains.”2 During the delay
Scituate had been incorporated (1636); therefore Duxbury
dated as the third town in the Colony. It became prosperous,
and attracted a fine class of inhabitants through its superior
fertility to Plymouth.3 * * * * 8
1	See Supplementary Chapter, “ Variations of Spelling.”
2	Mather’s “ Magnalia ” gives him a punning notice, a part of which is as
follows: “ Mr. Partridge was, notwithstanding the paucity and poverty of his
congregation, so afraid of being anything that looked like a bird wandering from
his nest, that he remained with his poor people till he took wing to become a bird
of Paradise, along with the winged seraphim of heaven.”
Partridge lived to an advanced age, dying in 1658.
8 1638, Jones River Bridge was made passable for carts. Francis Sprague
was licensed as an inn-holder in Duxbury. He continued to be so until 1666,
though often before the Court: He killed Hatherly’s mare, beat Bassett’s ser-wood’s MAP OF NEW ENGLAND IN 1634.1632-40.]
NEW OFFSHOOT TOWNS.
363
To prevent further scattering, several grants of farm-lands
had been made (1632-3) at Cut River, which from its ver-
dant shores became Green River, soon perverted to Greene's
River.1 It was thought no one would desire to live so far
from Plymouth, and that even the employes would remain
there only in the busy season of agriculture. But this plan
led to another grievous dispersion under no less a leader
than Edward Winslow. A new church wras necessarily con-
ceded; and in 1640 the place became a town called Rex-
ham, soon re-named Marshfield. Yet as Taunton, Sandwich,
Barnstable, and Yarmouth — all of more recent origin — had
been legalized in 1639, Rexham became the eighth town in
order. Scituate,2 begun about 1628 by “ men of Kent,” did
not at first draw from Plymouth; Barnstable had been settled
from Scituate; the overflow from Lynn had resulted in Sand-
wich and Yarmouth; and Taunton was peopled by immigrants
who had come to it overland through Boston. Therefore these
towns, unlike Duxbury and Rexham, were regarded as unmixed
blessings, and were incorporated very promptly.
vant, drank “ overmuch,” sold liquor illegally, etc. He was succeeded by his
son, who was like him. Francis’ daughter Mercy became wife of William
Tubbs, and by eloping secured him a happy divorce.
In 1637, orchards were plenty at Duxbury. The town charter granted that
year bore the great seal of the Colony, and provided that 1-20 of the gold and
silver ore found there should belong to “ our sovereign lord the king.”
1 Bradford calls it “ Greens Harbor.”
8 An Indian name, originally Satuit. Bradford makes it “ Sityate.”CHAPTER XLII.
Roger Williams. — The Connecticut River Trading-Post. — Indian
Pestilence.
IN 1633 there was much regret in Plymouth at the abrupt
return of Roger Williams to Salem.1 He had been in
some controversy over certain “ strange opinions ” which he
“ this year began to fall into; ” but he was highly esteemed
nevertheless. His teaching, Bradford says, was “well ap-
proved, for the benefit whereof I still bless God; and am
thankful to him even for his sharpest admonitions and re-
proofs, so far as they agreed with the truth.” He calls him
a man of “ many precious parts, but very unsettled in judg-
ment.” Governor Winslow and Dr. Fuller seem to have
been especially friendly with Williams, and some of his flock
went with him to Salem.
On reaching the Bay he soon began that series of contro-
versies with the Government which, two years later, led to his
famous banishment. He disputed the King’s right to grant
the Colony’s charter; he abetted the mutilation of the King’s
colors on parade, because of the cross on them; he de-
nounced as a sin even a casual attendance on the Church of
England’s service, — the service established by the law of
England, and regularly joined in by King, Council, and Par-
liament;2 he declared it blasphemy to administer to “un-
regenerate” persons the oath of allegiance, of office, or of
1 See page 348.
2 Being unanimously chosen teacher at Boston, before your dear father
came, divers years, I conscientiously refused, and I withdrew to Plymouth be-
cause I durst not officiate to an unseparating people. — Williams to John
Cottony Jr.1634] ROGER WILLIAMS’ RIGIDITY AT THE BAY. 365
testimony, though such oaths were required by law, and the
“ unregenerate ” were the great majority of the people.
When the General Court suspended for three months a mo-
tion to give Salem a certain piece of public land, he called on
the churches to which the offending representatives belonged
to discipline them for this vote, — a discipline which might go
to the extent of political disfranchisement. On the failure
of the churches to concur in his views, he renounced fellow-
ship with them; and finally, his own church halting at that
measure, he repudiated it also, and formed in his own house,
a new and “ delightful ” (to him) society made-up of a hand-
ful of flinty adherents. Then, his wife still attending her
former church, he classed her among the unregenerate, and
excluded her from his family-prayers.1
The English Government was already unfriendly to the
Bay Colony, and adversaries like Gorges, Mason, Gardiner,
and Morton zealously promoted this ill-will by distorting every
unusual event. Williams’ violent assault on the King’s char-
ter, flag, form of worship, and oaths of allegiance and fidelity,
could be twisted by the willing English courts into treason.
The Colonial Government must effectually stop such teachings
in its pulpits, or suffer the consequences at the hands of the
hostile Home Government. Williams had not become a citizen
at the Bay, and the question was whether a sojourner should
be allowed to embroil their Colony with Government. Then,
too, the preacher’s course on local matters was “ subversive of
public order.” It was therefore sensibly decided, after a long
trial in public, that he be returned to England. He was not
to be sent as a prisoner, but merely as a passenger. That he
should go to the wilderness and spend the winter with the
savages, or suffer any other physical hardship or risk, was no
part of his sentence. That was something of his own choice,
— a noble choice, it must be admitted.
1 Williams insisted that the civil law had no right to notice “ breaches of the
first table;” this includes paganism, idolatry, blasphemy, desecration of the
Lord’s day, and filial rebellion. He was equally zealous in preaching that
women had no right to attend church without veils over their faces.366
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1634.
With various whimsical and bigoted views, Roger Williams
manifested some liberal sentiments in advance of his age,
but they were not then so prominent as to be made an accu-
sation. Nor was he charged by the authorities at the Bay
with unsoundness of faith, undue liberality, or heretical views
as to baptism or the communion.1 Least of all is there any
foundation for the general idea that he was banished because
he was a Baptist. In fact, he did not become a Baptist until
he had been three years at Providence, and in the course of
the next four months seceded from that denomination; for
the rest of his life he was unconnected with any church, and
held the baptism of the Baptists, as well as that of all other
sects, to be invalid.2 It was not his theology or his liberality
that caused his banishment. His doctrine of “ soul liberty/’
1	Many judicious persons judged him to have had the root of the matter in
him.—Mather's “ Magnaliap on Williams.
2	Richard Scott, a Baptist pioneer of Providence, says of Roger Williams:
“ I walked with him in the Baptist way about three or four months, when he
broke from the society and declared at length the grounds and reason for it, —
that their baptism could not be right, because it was not administered by an
apostle.” Williams held that authority to baptize was personally to the apostles,
and was not transmissible; hence there could be no valid baptism until an
agent should be directly commissioned by Jesus Christ.
Immersion was adopted by the Baptists of England in 1642. There is no
evidence of its reception by the brethren here until some years later. Mrs.
Scott is said to have brought Williams into his brief connection (1639) with the
Baptists. She was sister to the noted Ann Hutchinson, and had shared her
exile the year next before. None of the charges against Mrs. Hutchinson, nor
against Mr. Williams, had hinted at any nonconformity to the practice of sprink-
ling, practised in all the churches at the Bay; nor is there anything to show that
any of these people carried any hostility to it from Boston to Rhode Island.
Williams had always practised sprinkling in his ministry at the Bay, and there
seems no reason to doubt that this form was used when he was rebaptized as a
Baptist.
In 1649 Williams writes to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut, his familiar
correspondent and physician, that several at Rehoboth had accepted dipping as
baptism; he adds that he thinks the form right, but doubts the authority of any
one to administer it. This suggests the thought that the form had not been so
long in use thereabouts as not to be still noteworthy from its rarity; and also
that the writer’s views upon it were not of such long standing as to be under-
stood without distinct assertion. — 4 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., vi. 274.
Was Williams satirical on his former associates, or on his dignified corre-
spondent, when, in 1669, he wrote to Governor Winthrop (of Connecticut), that
Gregory Dexter, a printer at Providence, was “ conscionable, though a Baptist ”?
— 5 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., i. 414.*635-6.]
WILLIAMS’ REMOVAL TO PROVIDENCE.
3 6;
which has made his name so illustrious, seems to have chiefly-
developed itself after his departure from Salem. Certainly, in
the latter place he showed small inclination to tolerate differ-
ences of opinion, especially from his own.1
Williams, having secretly fled from the Bay, spent the win-
ter of 1635-6 (n. S.) with the Indians; the next spring, with
five Salem friends, he began a settlement on the Seekonk
shore of Blackstone River. Williams thought this outside
the other Colonies until, as he says, “ I received a letter from
my ancient friend Mr. Winslow, the governor of Plymouth,
professing his own and others’ respect for me, yet lovingly
advising me, as I was fallen into the edge of their bounds,
and they were loth to displease the Bay, to remove but to
the other side of the water, and then, he said, I had the
country before me, and might be as free as themselves, and
we should be loving neighbors together.” Williams, with
his five comrades, willingly crossed to the opposite bank
of the river, and there began a village which he piously
named Providence. As people thronged in, he proclaimed
thorough freedom of conscience, even for Jew, Turk, or
Hindoo, so long as no one molested another.
Winslow early made his way to Williams’ new home, and
that brave pioneer being absent, the Governor left with Mrs.
Williams a piece of gold for their relief. Some years later,
1 I find no proof that Mr. Williams, at the time of his residence [in Massa-
chusetts], had advanced to the full doctrine of liberty of conscience which he
afterward avowed, and subsequently modified. — “As to Roger Williams” by Rev.
Dr. Dexter.
It was not religious persecution, in any strict sense, that drove this man
from the Bay. He was sent away as a disturber of the civil peace. If he had
some ideas in religious matters which were in advance of his times, it was not
for those ideas that he was banished. — Rev. I. N. Tarbox, D. DN. E. Gen.
Reg., xxx. 480.
Dr. Palfrey says of Williams’ first term at Salem: “He had made the most
of his short time in becoming obnoxious to the Government.”— Hist. N. E.f
i. 406.
John Quincy Adams, the ex-President, terms Roger Williams “a conscien-
tiously contentious Christian.”
Williams’ last words were : “ I have been all wrong,” or, “ We have been all
wrong.” His nurse, Mrs. Angell, could not tell to what he was alluding. Angell
was Williams’ hired man at Salem, who accompanied him in his exile.368
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1635-6.
Massasoit made a sort of claim that Providence was within
Pokanoket. If so, it would be subject to the Plymouth Gov-
ernment; but while the claim was pending, Williams says,
“ the prudent and godly Governor, Mr. Bradford, and others
of his godly Council,” assured him that if he should be found
to be under them, the liberty of conscience in his community
should be subjected to no interference.
Many years afterward Williams asked leave to come in
and publicly dispute with the theologians of New Plymouth;
and after making a reference to his services to the United
Colonies,1 mentioned a rumor that Governor Prence, of
Plymouth, and other zealots, thought of suppressing Rhode
Island’s toleration. Prence replied that Williams’ services
should not be forgotten, and the story of intended interfer-
ence with his toleration was “ foul and false,” — strong words,
which honor the writer. The proffered disputation was de-
clined, but in terms which reveal a remarkable and generally
unsuspected freedom of debate on religious matters in the
Old Colony; for the Governor adds: “But if you judge it
advantageous to your Colony’s interest, and what you ac-
count the only way of worship among you, who can hinder
you to maintain the discussion of those propositions in any
of our towns, ^nd at what times you please? ”
Though Williams was long most ungratefully and meanly
1 In 1637, before the Pequod War, Williams advised the authorities at Bos-
ton to “enrage ” the Narragansets and the Pequods with each other, — “a thing
much desirable.” — 4 Mass. Hist. Col/., vi. 190.
In 1675, finding it difficult to get an audience with the Narraganset chief,
Williams gave him a glass of wine and placed a bushel of apples before his
attendants ; and he says, “Being therewith sensibly caught (as beasts are), they
gave me leave to say anything. ... I told him [the chief] if he were false to his
engagements, we would pursue them with a winter war, when they should not,
as mosquitoes and rattlesnakes, bite us.”— Williams in Plym. Records, x. 455.
Williams’ mission was a failure, and his threat was carried out the ensuing
winter.
In 1676 Williams was captain of the Providence train-band, and doubtless
fought against the Narragansets, who burned a large part of Providence and
killed several of the people. In this assault the early records of Providence
were destroyed. Yet it is the fashion in that region to ignorantly speak of the
Narragansets as the fast and uniform friends of its people, from the earliest
settlement down.WILLIAMS VISITS ENGLAND.
369
1654]
excluded from the Bay Colony, he was always a familiar vis-
itor at Plymouth and Connecticut. Governor Winthrop, of
the latter Colony, was his physician and intimate friend;1
and Williams says even of Winthrop’s father, the governor
of Massachusetts Bay, “ though he were carried with the
stream for my banishment, yet he tenderly loved me to his
latest breath.” He also attributes his coming to the Narra-
ganset region to “ the express advice of your ever-honored
Mr. Winthrop.” 2
That Winthrop permitted his friend, and his family’s friend,
to remain shut out from the Bay is inexplicable. After that
great leader had gone to his grave, Williams visited England,
where he received much attention from the famous Protector,
Cromwell, who took great interest in talking with him upon
New England. Williams had tempting offers to remain there;
but his love for the free little commonwealth of his own crea-
tion drew him homeward. He came through Boston at
length, armed with a pass from the British Government, or,
shameful to say, his passage would have been questioned.
Plymouth, however, would have received him with open
arms.
Williams’ pen was ever acridly active in the intervals of
trading with the natives and preaching to them, and an alloy
1	John Winthrop, Jr., was not only a physician, but was also considerable of
a general scientist. In one place we find him making observations on Jupiter;
in another he gives his neighbors some gratuitous medical-lectures on Cholick,
flux, the merits of sulphur, etc. Everywhere he has a sharp look-out for miner-
als,— probably quickened by the shrewd New England eye for expected profits.
His prescription for fever illustrates the state of the science at that time : “ Mix
snakeweed and lig. vitae with niter, to take in the morning; mix fower graines
apiece of corall, oculi cancrorum, and ivory, to be taken at any time; thre or
4 graines of unicornes horn mixt with the black powder at night.”
2	The author believes that Winthrop was privy to Williams* escape from the
Bay, and perhaps after the preacher’s seizure had been ordered, warned him to
fly. Winthrop was then under an elongated cloud. Haynes was governor
(1635-6) ; Dudley, as Winthrop’s bitter opponent, had been governor the last
year, and Vane became so the next year.
In 1638 Mrs. Williams pleasantly indicated her regard for Mrs. Winthrop in
sending her by a passing Indian a “ handful of chestnuts,” as the forerunner of
“a bigger basket’’when conveyance should offer.—See Letter from Williams
to Winthrop, Sen.
24370
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1643-84.
to his liberality is found on many of his pages. In 1643 he
published a sharp reply to Cotton, who held to communing
with pious Church of England people. In 1652 he assailed
the regular clergy in “ A Hireling Ministry none of Christ’s
he was hot against the Quakers ( or “ Foxians,” as he and
many called them), and his attack on their great leader,
entitled “ George Fox digged out of his Burrows,” is quite
in that vituperative style which characterized the obtrusive
“ Foxians ” themselves. His denunciations of the new sect
were highly acceptable to his old opponents at the Bay; and
Savage remarks that this intolerance gained him the title of
“ Child of Light,” which a lifetime of Christian charity had
not earned for him. Yet, astonishing to say, that greatest
grace — charity, was, to the end, the ruling principle of his
life.
Williams was only two years chosen governor by the
Colony for which he had done so much, and was rarely hon-
ored by it in any way. So neglected was he by the many
men who owed to him their prosperity, that in old age he
became dependent on his sons, — he whom the United Colo-
nies of New England should have delighted to maintain with
high honor. Yet to the last he was cheerful and loving.
When, in 1684, he died, at about the close of his fourscore
years, the Colony awoke to his worth.1 He was buried at
his Providence, under arms, with all the honors of a magis-
trate, and his memory is entailed on the successive genera-
tions of Rhode Island as a priceless legacy.
In i860 his grave was opened, that his remains might be
placed under a fine public monument to his memory. Every
particle, even of the bones, had disappeared; but the inter-
laced roots of an apple-tree had enveloped the body so that
their branches and fibres preserved the shape of skull, trunk,
and limbs.2
Roger Williams’ theology was largely visionary and con-
1	Roger had a brother Robert, a schoolmaster at Newport, who in 1647 offered
Governor Winthrop of Connecticut five sorts of English grass-seed at 5^. a
bushel. — 5 Mass. Hist. Colli. 343.
2	This singular relic is now owned by the Rhode Island Historical Society.THE CONNECTICUT RIVER TRADE.
371
i633 1
tradictory, but his practice was steadily self-sacrificing, public-
spirited, and beautifully philanthropic. Though the Quakers
goaded him to bitterness, his purse, home, and heart would
have opened to them had they fallen into distress. It is
much to say that neither they nor his other opponents, from
the day he landed at Providence to the day of his death, ever
made him commit an act of disloyalty to his great doctrine
of freedom of conscience. That of this doctrine he was the
steadfast expounder and exemplar, in an age when the prin-
ciple was most rarely understood, either practically or ab-
stractly, even by those who sought to comprehend it, entitles
him to perpetual honor and gratitude.1
In 1633 some Connecticut River Indians, whom the Pe-
quods had driven out, personally besought Plymouth to
reinstate them, and also establish a trading-post with them.
Not later than 1631 Edward Winslow had found out that
river; now the barque was sent there on a trading-trip, but
the result was a rejection of the Indian offer. The poor
natives then applied to Massachusetts, but met with another
refusal. Soon after Bradford and Winslow, thinking better
of the plan, visited Boston to insure a joint occupation of
the territory, especially as the Dutch were threatening to
hold it, to the exclusion of all others. But the Bay people
made several objections: there were three thousand Indi-
ans there ; 2 the river was frozen seven months of the
twelve; the bar at its mouth had but six feet of water; its
current was too strong for navigation; they lacked trading-
goods. Winthrop’s editor, Judge Savage, well says that
these sound “ more like pretexts than real motives,” and as
if intended to deter the Plymouth people. Bradford and
Winslow made forcible answer, and offered to lend a stock
1 True, Mr. Williams expressed to Winthrop, Sen., his desire to banish Sam-
uel Gorton; but “ the tide ” was adverse. Many years later he lamented “ such
an infinite liberty of conscience ” in the case of the Quakers, and declared “ a
moderate restraint and punishment of these incivilities” not to be persecution,
but “a duty and command of God.” Still, as I attribute his feelings in both
cases to an invasion of his civil and social rights, and not to religious differences,
I think my closing remarks merely just.
3 Winthrop’s “ Blessing of the Bay ” reported canoes carrying eighty men.372
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
I1633-
of trading-goods; but Massachusetts still declined, though
fully assenting to Plymouth’s making the venture alone.
So in September Plymouth fitted out her “ great new
barque,” under Lieutenant William Holmes, and placed in it a
well-made trading-house in pieces. When the craft reached
the site of the present Hartford, it was found that the Dutch
were already there, commanding the river with a fortified
post, which they called “The House of Good Hope.” They
forbade the further passage of the barque, and stood to their
two great guns with direful threats. Holmes replied that the
Governor of Plymouth had sent him to ascend that river, and
whether they fired or not, he should obey orders. He then
stood gallantly past the battery, which remained silent.
On the present site of Windsor, Holmes landed the re-
stored sachem, Natawannute, who had sold his protectors a
tract of land there at a goodly price. The house was quickly
set up, stocked, and armed, — a stream protecting it on one
side, and a palisade on the others. Holmes then sailed for
home, leaving the post in charge of Jonathan Brewster. The
Dutch would not consent to a joint occupation, but through
the original discovery of the river by Blok, claimed exclu-
sive ownership of that whole region.1 The next year, obtain-
ing seventy armed men from Manhattan, they prepared to
expel their rivals, and in battle array, with drums beating
and colors flying, advanced on the Plymouth house to carry it
by assault; but when they had noted the strength of the
place, and the warm reception prepared for them, they held a
parley, which resulted in their comfortable return, bloodless,
to the House of Good Hope.
Late in the year the Dutch sent some four men far above
the Plymouth house, to a tribe which had a strong fort held
by a thousand warriors, and was hostile to the Windsor Ind-
ians. The messengers were to secure all the trade which
came down the river, and prevent any treaty of peace with
the Plymouth men. In the winter the Indians there were
*
1 Their statement is that he discovered it in 1614, naming it The Versch, or
u Fresh-water ” River.THE INDIAN PLAGUE.
373
1633-]
attacked by a very malignant form of small-pox, and of their
thousand warriors not fifty were left alive. The Dutch emis-
saries fled in terror; and it was only when near the last ex-
tremity of cold and hunger that they reached the Plymouth
house, and received for many days such careful nursing as
saved their lives. Nor did they or their comrades fail in
warm expressions of gratitude at this return for their former
hostility.
The pestilence swept down upon the natives around Wind-
sor. Through poor shelter and nursing, the mortality was
terrible. There were not enough well people to procure food
and fuel for the sick, nor even a supply of water. Some of
the victims warmed themselves for a few miserable hours by
burning their wooden trays and bowls, and their bows and
arrows. Some died while crawling out-of-doors in search of
water. The Plymouth men, unlike the Dutch, nerved them-
selves to brave the disease and to nurse the sufferers as well
as they could; but the havoc continued until it had cut off
the friendly sachem and nearly all his tribe.
The contagion spread to the Narragansets, slaying seven
hundred of them. Passing on to the Neponsets, it sadly re-
duced that already small tribe, Chickatabut, the sachem, being
a victim. Sweeping around Boston, it practically destroyed
the fragmentary Massachusetts tribe in the Medford region
and the little Sagus tribe near the Lynn coast. The English
settlers did all they could for the stricken Indians, but had no
success in staying the pestilence. Maverick, the Episcopal
proprietor of the East Boston Island (“ Noddle’s ”), was
especially devoted and heroic, as also was his wife; in a single
day he buried thirty of the dead, bringing to his own large
house many of the little orphans. Strange to say, no white
person was anywhere attacked by the disease; though at first,
especially on the Connecticut, they had been in great fear of
it. Many of the surviving natives warmly acknowledged the
courageous philanthropy of the whites; and the Plymouth
people “ did much commend and reward ” their men at
Windsor.374
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1633.
This contagion swept through Indian regions far beyond
those then known to the English. The Pilgrims on their
arrival had found the savages dwindling away; nor had civili-
zation, by teaching better modes of living, been able to effect
a permanent change. Those who attribute the disappearance
of the Massachusetts and Plymouth Indians to the incoming
of the white race much mistake the facts of history. Had the
early settlers of those Colonies postponed their coming for
half a century, it is not probable that they would have found
half as many natives as they actually did.1
This same year (1633) the Plymouth barque, carrying
^500 of cargo, was at Manhattan when Captain John Stone, of
Virginia, was also there. Stone, who claimed that the Ply-
mouth men had “ reproached ” those of Virginia, had a junket
with the Dutch Governor, who gave a tipsy assent to Stone's
scheme of piratical revenge. Then, when most of her crew
were on shore, Stone seized the barque and made sail for
Virginia. But some of the Dutchmen, who had often enjoyed
the hospitality of Plymouth, said: “ Shall we suffer our friends
to be thus abused and have their goods carried away before
our faces, whilst our Governor is drunk?” They thereupon
pursued Stone, and recapturing the barque delivered her to
the owners.
Soon afterward, Stone being at Boston, Standish was sent
there to prosecute him for piracy. The Massachusetts offi-
cials, who were generally very patient under wrongs suffered
by Plymouth, now higgled over technicalities, and finally de-
clared the act no piracy, because the master of the barque
after her rescue agreed to “ pass it by.” Standish was finally
wearied into letting the matter drop. Stone then accom-
panied some others to Plymouth, where he had “ friendly and
civil entertainment; ” but there arose some suspicion of his
having a design on the Governor’s life. However placidly
the magnates of the Bay might view the crime against Plym-
outh, it was quite the reverse when Stone was charged with
an act of immorality at Boston. He was then hunted down
1 See pp. 134-6.1633*]
STONE’S END. —SHERLEY.
375
with soldiers, and tried for his life. As only one of the two
required witnesses could be found, he was convicted of a less
offence, and banished under penalty of death if he should
return. Late that year he and Captain Norton, with six at-
tendants, were all waylaid and killed by the Pequods while
trading on the Connecticut.
This year was disastrous to Sherley, who was suffering from
the wreck of the “ Lion/1 which he largely owned; and now,
by the burning of London Bridge, he lost one of his ware-
houses, which stood upon it. Yet as he had neglected the
urgent demand of the Colonists for an account of their goods
received by him or bought at their charge, his groaning over
his disasters ought not to have secured him further credit;
but so prosperous had Plymouth’s trade been, that her Under-
takers were able to commit the folly of sending him on trust
3,366 pounds of beaver, and 346 otter-skins; and once more
they demanded a statement of their account.CHAPTER XLIII.
Winslow’s Election. — Locusts. — The Pestilence. — Deaths. — Dr. Ful-
ler’s Death. — The Physicians of Plymouth.
IN 1633 1 Edward Winslow became Governor; for Bradford,
after twelve years' service, “ by importunity gat off,” as
Winthrop says. But he stood first on the list of councillors or
assistants, which made him deputy-governor in fact, though
not in name; and this place he invariably held when not gov-
ernor. Seven assistants were now chosen, and that was the
number ever after. It was enacted that a governor-elect be
fined £20, and a councillor-elect £\o, in case of refusal to
serve, provided the former be not forced to two years' con-
tinuous duty. It was further voted that “ whereas our ancient
work of fortification ... is decayed, and Christian wisdom
teacheth us to depend upon God in the use of all good means
for our safety,” every able-bodied man either do or provide
his share, as assigned by the “ Governor and Council,” in
building a work (palisade?) around it. Nothing is said as to
a sanctuary, and that probably continued to be in the fort
until 1648, when the first distinct meeting-house was built by
1 In 1633 the master of every family at Plymouth was required to send one
man to help repair the way “above the spring,” on April 8-18, at 7 a. m.
August 15-25, all the freemen were ordered to be in arms at the court of
guard.
That year, at Boston, eggs were 3d. a dozen, new milk 1 d. a quart, butter 6d.
a pound, cheese a pound. There were four thousand inhabitants at the Bay,
with fifteen hundred cattle, four thousand goats, and many more swine, says
Wood’s “ Prospect.”
The Plymouth policy of separating Church and State was this year illustrated
in the case of John Doane, who, having been elected and ordained deacon, was
for that reason voluntarily discharged as one of the Governor’s Council.1633]
SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUSTS.
377
Church and Tomson behind Bradford’s lot, and fronting on
Leyden Street.1
Bradford’s Manuscript records that in May of this year
he saw —
“ A quantitie of a great sorte of flies, like (for bignes) to wasps or
bumble-bees, which came out of holes in ye ground, and replenished
all ye woods, and eate ye green-things, and made such a constante
yelling noyes as made all ye woods ring of them, and ready to deafe
ye hearers.”
This was his first knowledge of the “ seventeen-year lo-
custs,” which still appear in that region with much regularity, j
but which are not known to eat anything, their destruction of *
foliage coming from the egg-cells, with which they partially
cut off the twigs.2 The Indians declared these insects a sign
of pestilence. The result strengthened the superstition; for
in the ensuing summer an “ infectious fever ” not only swept
away great numbers of the savages, but entering the town,
carried to the grave more than twenty men, women, and
children.3 Among the victims were the following: —
1	See note, pp. 230-1, concerning the fort and church.
2	Winthrop’s Journal in 1648 says: “About the midst of the summer there
arose a fly out of the ground, about the bigness of the top of a man’s little finger,
of brown color. They filled the woods, from Connecticut to Sudbury, with a
great noise, and eat up the young sprouts of the trees, but meddled not with the
corn. They were also between Plymouth and Braintree, but came no further.”
They much damaged some orchards. This is one of Winthrop’s latest entries;
and as it is two years later than Bradford’s last, we do not know whether Ply-
mouth was visited by them at this time.
These insects (Cicada), which are not locusts by any means, prefer young
oak-groves, and sometimes are so numerous as to break down trees by gathering
on them. Rev. Ezra S. Goodwin observed them at Sandwich, June 17,1821, and
found that they had been there seventeen years before, and twice seventeen.
They appear at different times in different places. They seem sometimes to vary
their period, for ten regular re-appearances from Bradford’s time would have
brought them out at Plymouth in 1803, while in fact they did not appear until
1804, when they were also at Sandwich and Falmouth. They do not visit northern
and western Massachusetts.
3	The synod at Cambridge in 1647 was dispersed for a time by a fatal epi-
demic, which was like a cold and a light fever combined. All who were bled
and took cooling drinks, died; but those who took “comfortable things,” Win-
throp says, mostly recovered soon. Nearly fifty died in Massachusetts, and as
many in Connecticut Its effect at Plymouth is not mentioned.
In 1715, forty people died of a pestilence at Plymouth; in 1731 there was a373
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
Fear Brewster, third wife of Isaac Allerton. She left a son,
Isaac, Jr., and other children.
Francis Eaton, of the “ Mayflower.” His wife died at the
first; but their infant, Samuel, lived to be an old citizen.
Francis next married Mrs. Carver's maid, and finally Chris-
tian Penn, of the “ Anne.” He was a carpenter, and died
insolvent.
Peter Browne, of the “ Mayflower.” His first wife was
Widow Ford, of the “ Fortune,” and his second was Mary
-----, by each of whom he had two children; and from
one of the latter pair descended “ Old John Brown of
Ossawatomie.”
John Adams, of the “ Fortune,” a substantial citizen ;
married Eleanor Newton, of the “ Anne,” and left three chil-
dren. His widow the next year married Kenelm Winslow
(the Governor's brother), who, like Adams, was a carpenter.
William Wright, of the “ Fortune.” His wife was Priscilla
Carpenter, sister of Mrs. Bradford, and he seems to have left
children. He was an excellent but retiring citizen. His
widow married the next year John Cooper, a leading pioneer
of Scituate and Barnstable.
Cuthbert Cuthbertson (or Cudbertson), and also his wife
Sarah, of the “ Anne.” He died insolvent. She was sister to
Isaac Allerton, and widow, first of John Vincent, and next of
Degory Priest, of the “ Mayflower,” — all three of her mar-
riages taking place in Holland. Her son, Samuel “ Cudbert-
son,” shortened his last name to “ Cudbert; ” in 1634 the lad
was apprenticed to Richard Higgins, tailor. There were also
two Priest children.
Thomas Blossom and Richard Masterson, of the later comers.
These had been leaders at Leyden, and were made deacons
at Plymouth. They were much lamented. Their offices were
filled by William Paddy and John Doane, also recent comers.
u mortal fever ” there which destroyed many, one family losing eight from its
connection.
Yet the general effect of coming to New England was to double the average
duration of life; of all born there (Bancroft’s Hist. U. S.), four in each nineteen
reached seventy.1633]
DEATH OF DR. FULLER.
379
Mr. Blossom had a wife (Ann) and sons (Thomas and Peter).
Mr. Masterson, at Leyden, 1619, had married Mary Goodall,
from Leicester, who after his death became the second wife
of Ralph Smith, the former pastor, and was living at Boston
at the death there of the latter in 1662.
Job Thorp (who was a carpenter, and also a bankrupt),
Martha Hending, and Richard Henckford, also died; as did
Widow Mary Ring, a lady of prominence.
As the winter drew near, mortality ended, and the sick
rapidly recovered; but the last victim was the most note-
worthy. He was the remaining one of their three deacons,
and the kindly physician, Samuel Fuller, of the “ May-
flower.” Bradford says that he died “ in ye end, after he
had much helped others.” He had served in the Governor’s
Council, and been deacon down from the earlier days at
Leyden. His will indicating that he was also a teacher of
youth, as he mentions “ Elizabeth Cowles, who was submitted
to my education by her father and mother at Charlestown, to
be returned to her parents; ” “ George Foster being placed
with me by his parents still living at Sagus ” (Lynn) ; “ Widow
Ring submitted to me the oversight of her son Andrew.” He
directs some property to be sold for the education of his two
children, still small, Samuel and Mercy.
[In 1636-7 Benjamin Eaton was bound to Mrs. Fuller,
“ she to keep him at school two years,” — from which it
has been unwarrantably inferred that she was the teacher.
In 1664 she and her son Samuel gave to Plymouth a lot on
Leyden Street for a parsonage, — a purpose for which the
First Church has used a part of it until very recently. The
lot seems to have been that given Dr. Fuller at the laying out
of the street under Carver. Samuel became the pastor at
Middleborough, where he died in 1695, aged seventy, leaving
three sons and four daughters.]
Dr. Fuller was a man of warm and liberal feelings, as
shown in the case of Lyford. He was very friendly with
Roger Williams, and in leaving his son two acres of valuable
land on Strawberry Hill (Watson’s), adds: “If Mr. Roger38o
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1633.
Williams refuse to accept of them, as formerly he hath done.”
And he further provides: “ Whatsoever Mr. Roger Williams
is indebted upon my books for physic, I freely give him.”
He also left tokens of regard to Winthrop, Endicott, and
other leaders at the Bay. Bradford mentions him as “ a man
godly and forward to do good, being much missed after his
death.” He left only twenty-seven books in his library; but
at that time medical works were very few. Indications show
that he was a man of intellect and good presence, it not being
improbable that he was of regular education. He is among
the noblest and most interesting of the Pilgrims, and the
regard of his descendants should secure him a fitting monu-
ment on that sacred hill where once he prayed, and now
sleeps in a grave of which “ no man knoweth.” Surely the
zeal of his successors in the healing-art might well provide
some memorial of the good physician’s excursions of mercy
to the pestilential cottages of infant Salem, Dorchester, and
Boston.1
1 Dr. Matthew Fuller, son of Edward of the “ Mayflower,” and therefore
nephew to the senior Samuel, did not come over till 1640, as neither of his
parents survived the first winter. He was surgeon-general 1673-75, ranking as
captain. He left Plymouth for Cape Cod, 1652.
Plymouth was often without a physician. In 1657 Comfort Starr was practis-
ing there, and collecting by law his bill against Lieutenant Williams. The length
of his stay is unknown. 1674-6 William Brown, “ chyrurjeon,” is mentioned.
In 1694 there was no surgeon there, and the wife of Goodman Hunter is said
to have been in much suffering for want of one. A French privateer had just been
wrecked in Buzzard’s Bay; her accomplished surgeon, only twenty-six years old,
was Francis Le Baron, supposed to be the scion of some Huguenot family then
in royal disfavor, and bearing an assumed name. While in Plymouth, on his
way to Boston as a prisoner-of-war, he heard of Goodwife Hunter’s case and
treated it with great success. The selectmen procured his release by Lieutenant-
Governor Stoughton, and his settlement at Plymouth as their surgeon. He mar-
ried Mary Wilder, of Hingham, September, 1695, and died nine years later, at
Plymouth, where his quaint little head-stone on Burial Hill is now remarkable
for its beautiful finish and preservation. (A recent novel, called “ A Nameless
Nobleman,” is founded on Le Baron’s adventures. Though not of strict historical
accuracy, it is most readable.) In 1720 he was succeeded as medical practitioner
at Plymouth by his son Lazarus, whose sons Joseph and Lazarus, Jr., kept up
the succession; and they have had many descendants of other names, as well as
their own, who have practised the healing art. From 1700 to 1712 Thomas
Little practised at Plymouth. Then appears a vacancy till the coming of 1720
and Lazarus Le Baron.CHAPTER XLIV.
Hocking’s Operations and Death. — Massachusetts Interference and Im-
positions. — Laud’s Menaces, and Imprisonment of Winslow.
IN May, 1634, just as the spring trade was opening with
the Indians, one John Hocking, of Piscataqua, agent for
Lords Say and Brook, and other owners, came up into the
Plymouth lands to divert trade, as he had indeed tried to do
the year before, although Plymouth's patent gave her full
and exclusive possession of the thirteen miles of river run-
ning through the middle of her territory (about thirteen
miles north-and-south by thirty in width). John Howland,
who was in charge of the post, directed Hocking to drop
below the Plymouth limits, and temperately represented to
him the criminal nature of his trespass on rights which had
cost Plymouth very dear, and were secured to her by a
formal patent under seal. Hocking not only refused to re-
tire, but anchored above the trading-house, where he might
intercept all canoes which should come down the river.
Howland twice visited him and entreated him to depart, but
was repaid with ill words and defiance.
If Hocking should remain where he was, not enough trade
would reach their house to pay the wages of its employes,
and Howland had no mind to sit still and be robbed upon
his own ground. His men, who were zealous for some
effective course, attended him in the barque up to Hocking's
anchorage, but under strict command not to fire a shot with-
out Howland's order. Once more Howland tried peaceable
remonstrance, but only receiving fresh abuse, sent a canoe
with four men to cut Hocking’s cable. The line was sev-
ered by Moses Talbot, and the craft began to drift down382
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1634.
stream. Hocking, aiming a carbine at Talbot, was hailed by
Howland, who demanded that his man should not be hurt, as
he had only obeyed orders, and could not be to blame, and
jumping upon the rail of his barque, shouted that if any
one was to be shot, it was himself, not his servant, adding
tauntingly, that he certainly made a good mark. Howland’s
gallantry was in vain, for Hocking killed Talbot on the spot
with a ball in the head, and then caught up a pistol for a new
victim. Just then a friend of Talbot’s, “ that loved him well,”
disregarding Howland’s order, shot Hocking with a musket
from the barque, and justly killed him with a wound like that
received by Talbot.
Hocking’s men at once sailed home with their story. Their
leaders, to the old Puritan hatred of Separatists, now joined
the animosity of defeated marauders, and sent to their Eng-
lish employers a lying account which made it appear that
Hocking had given no offence, but had been killed while
acting in righteous self-defence. Lords Say and Brook were
of course very indignant.
John Alden, “ one of the Council,” who had gone in the
barque to carry supplies to Howland, was present at this affray,
but had no connection with it. When he returned to Ply-
mouth with the news, the people were much distressed to hear
it. Three weeks later, as he went in the barque on business
to Boston, the magistrates of Massachusetts arrested and im-
prisoned him, to answer for Hocking’s death. The barque
returning to Plymouth, Alden’s fellow-citizens were not a
little astonished at this outrageous usurpation of power by
that Colony which of all others should have respected their
rights. Standish was forthwith sent to Boston to represent
Plymouth and effect Alden’s release. Alden was found at
large on bail, and on Standish’s presentation of the case
Alden and his sureties were fully discharged. Yet the new
Governor, Dudley, committed the fresh indignity of putting
Standish under bonds to appear before the Massachusetts
Court in two weeks and make oath as to Plymouth’s rights,
as well as to the special facts of the Hocking case.1634] MEDDLESOME INSOLENCE OF THE BAY.	383
At the time set, Standish returned to Boston, bearing a
letter sent by Prence (who was governor in 1634), but writ-
ten by Bradford. This note was probably of the thorough
and severe nature which the case demanded, for Dudley
answered it unofficially, and made an effort to dispose of the
matter by private diplomacy; nor did he disclose Bradford’s
letter, even to his Council. But the bluff Standish discom-
fited him by demanding that a reply be given him in open
court. Dudley was then forced to produce the letter in
court, where it seems to have given much offence; but the
members finally evaded the matter by declaring that as it
was only an answer to one of Dudley’s, it did not require a
reply.
Standish and Alden then went home, bearing Dudley’s
private note; this pleaded for harmony, and made some talk
about the honor of suffering wrong patiently, — a subject
upon which the irascible Dudley can have known little; he
also mourned over the fear of a general governor from Eng-
land, who should destroy the churches and the civil liberties
of all the Colonies. Indeed, the high-handed invasion of
Plymouth’s rights seems to have been largely due to alarm
at Boston lest their enemies should pretend to the English
Government that New England was so ungoverned that loyal
traders were murdered with impunity while peacefully pur-
suing their lawful business. To counteract any such report,
Massachusetts put on an appearance of intense activity, and
in acting for effect was wholly regardless of the rights of the
smaller Colony, and even of neighborly decency.
Plymouth was too weak to redress her wrongs by force.
When her righteous indignation had somewhat cooled, the
excellent Winthrop, to allay the storm aroused by his bitter
rival, Dudley, induced Plymouth to request all the planta-
tions to send delegates, including their clergy,1 to meet at
1 “Ye preist lips must be consulted with,” said Bradford, doubtless at Win-
throp’s suggestion. The spirit of the Bay in this respect was shown this same
year, when the Governor and Council took “ divers of the ministers ” to Castle
Island {Boston Harbor), to help select a site for a fort.3^4
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1634*
Boston, and after hearing all who chose to appear, decide
the Hocking case, with full power, but without “ prejudice
of the liberties of any place.” Piscataqua was especially
urged to take part, as Hocking had been her man. Still
some of the Plymouth people stoutly and very properly
opposed this submission of their internal affairs to any outside
tribunal, declaring the precedent full of danger. We may be
sure that Standish and Alden led these remonstrants right
sturdily.
When the time came, Bradford and Winslow repaired to
Boston, and took their weak pastor, Smith. Notwithstanding
all the meddlesomeness of the Bay officials, none of the com-
munities invited, not even Piscataqua, cared enough about
the matter to send a delegate. The only attendants besides
the Plymouth men were Winthrop and Dudley, together with
their two preachers, Wilson and Cotton. These, however,
after reviewing the case with care, formally and fully exon-
erated the Plymouth men, and declared that Hocking alone
had been to blame. The Bay officials also undertook to sat-
isfy the English lords of the justice of this decision, — an
effort in which they succeeded. Bradford adds, thus “ was
their love and concord renewed,” — an expression which
admits that it had been suspended. Yet Plymouth did not
forget her wrongs, as Governor Vane found in the Pequod
war, three years later.
Plymouth was entirely independent of Massachusetts. The
Hocking affair had occurred within her jurisdiction (her un-
disputed territory), and Massachusetts had no more right or
excuse for interfering in it than she had with a case in Vir-
ginia or Bermuda. For such a wrong, forgiveness ought not
to have been granted without an ample apology as public
as had been the insolent offence; but of such atonement
there is no evidence.
From domineering, the Bay Colony soon descended to
pecuniary meanness toward her weaker neighbor of New
Plymouth. In the same year with the Hocking case (1634)
Edward Winslow went to England, taking from Plymouth to1634]
WINSLOW ARRESTED IN ENGLAND.
385
London the great amount of 3,738 pounds of beaver, and 234
other skins, of a net value to the London partners of £1 for
each pound of beaver. Besides other commissions, he was
especially charged to secure from Sherley a full account of
their trade, and this his energy soon put him in a fair way
to obtain. But without the knowledge of his Plymouth as-
sociates he had also taken from Massachusetts an agency to
look after her public affairs; and this required him to appear
before the King’s Commissioners for Plantations.
Merry-Mount Morton, abetted by Gorges, Mason, and
other enemies of Massachusetts, used this opportunity to
assail her through her agent. Winslow met all the points
so successfully that the Board sharply rebuked Morton, and
blamed Gorges and Mason for countenancing him. But at
the head of the Board sat a far more dangerous enemy.
Archbishop Laud was even then preparing to send Gorges
over to New England as a general governor, with despotic
powers in all matters, but that he might more especially
destroy the religious assemblies and establish the Church of
England on their ruins. To put down and hold down the
people, he was to be provided with an army.1
Laud now came to Morton’s rescue, and proceeded to
draw from him personal charges against Winslow. Still, the
chief points were no more than that Winslow had publicly
taught in the Sunday services, and as a magistrate had joined
people in marriage. He replied that he had taught when
his brethren “ wanted better means, which was not often.”
As a magistrate he had conducted marriages, and during the
1 D’Ewes says that in 1634, after many rumors that a bishop and a governor
were to be sent to New England “ to force upon them the yoke of our ceremo-
nies and intermixtures, so as to deter others from going,” Gorges was nominated
as general governor, to have a thousand soldiers with him; a new ship being built
to carry him, but in launching she “ fell all in pieces,” and the project was sus-
pended. It was not revived until the next generation.
April 28, 1634, the King had issued a commission to the two archbishops and
ten of his courtiers, placing all the Colonies under their despotic control, both
in Church and State. It seemed that New England was hopelessly doomed to
slavery, and it is not now quite clear how she so completely escaped it, for the
Long Parliament was then far away and unthought-of. (For this commission,
see Bradford, 456.)
25386	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1634.
many years when Plymouth was forced to be without a pas-
tor, magisterial marriages were a necessity; yet were they no
novelty, for they had long been practised in Holland, and he
himself was so married there, in 1617, at the Stadt-House.
With more courage and candor than caution, he proceeded
to defend the practice on its merits, declaring that he knew
no Scriptural ground for confining this office to the clergy;
while from the relations which marriage often had to property
and to business obligations, there seemed good reason for
making it a civil contract, as in Holland.
Laud impetuously demanded that this bold radical be com-
mitted to jail. The other Commissioners were very unwilling,
but finally yielded to Laud’s vehemence, and let Winslow be
thrown into the Fleet Prison. He could not obtain his lib-
erty until the end of seventeen weeks. His subsistence, with
fees and the cost of obtaining his release, amounted to a
heavy sum; but another large loss ensued from the failure,
through his absence, of various matters of business which
he had in hand for Plymouth. Winslow’s troubles and Ply-
mouth’s resulting burdens had come from the Massachusetts
political agency, which he had undertaken without the knowl-
edge of his Colony. The least Massachusetts could do in
decency was to shoulder the prison-expenses of her envoy,
and with her vastly superior strength and wealth might have
been expected to do more. But she made no sign, and left
poor Plymouth (as was wont to happen) to bear all the losses
and pay all the bills.CHAPTER XLV.
Castine plundered by the French. — Loss of the “Angel Gabriel ” and
Thatcher’s Family. — Girling’s Castine Fiasco. — Efforts at Re-
capture.
ILLET at Castine did a fine business after the French
robbery of 1632, until, in August, 1635, the French
Governor’s lieutenant, D’Aulney, came there in force, and
under pretence of friendship got himself piloted in. He then
seized the house and contents. Willet was forced to go
through the farce of selling the goods to D’Aulney; who,
placing his own price on everything, agreed to pay the bill
“ in convenient time,” if they came for it (which “ convenient
time” never arrived). For the house he allowed nothing,
claiming that, England having released that region to France,
everything fixed to the soil went with it. Then, allowing
Willet and his three men to take their shallop, with some of
their own provisions, and sending by them a complimentary
letter to Governor Bradford, he wished them bon voyage
with as many “ congees ” as had been given by the picaroons
in 1632. Still, it hardly appears that D’Aulney did not
conform to the law of nations, nor that he was not rather
politely discharging a duty imposed by his superior, although
a satisfactory and profitable operation for himself. He and
his wife lived at Castine (then re-named “ Bragaduce ”) for
several years.
In ten days Willet had only reached Richmond’s Island;
and there soon after, the ship “ James” (220 tons, Captain
Taylor), on her way from England to Boston, called for a388
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1635.
pilot.1 Willet taking passage in her, she towed his shallop,
loaded with some goods which he had contrived to secure.
In a storm off the Isles of Shoals, the “James” had a narrow
escape, and Willet’s shallop, with its contents, went to the
bottom, leaving him to beg his way home with only D’Aul-
ney’s worthless due-bill in his pocket.
This storm was so terrible throughout New England as to
become historic; the diary of Peter Easton, of Newport, re-
cording in 1675 : “ Saturday night, forty years after the great
storm of 1635, came much the like storm; blew down our
windmill, and did much harm.”2 South of Plymouth the
forests were wrecked, Bradford says, beyond a century’s re-
newal; the Manomet trading-house was unroofed, and the
neighboring water forced some twenty feet above its usual
height, so that the Indians climbed trees to escape drown-
ing. Unfortunately for the decay of superstition, there was
an eclipse of the moon two days later.
At Pemaquid this storm wrecked the “James’” consort,
the “Angel Gabriel” (240 tons, fourteen guns), which is said
to be the only ship lost while bringing passengers to New
England during the whole period of Colonial emigration
1 Richmond’s Island is near Cape Elizabeth. In 1635 some forty whites lived
there in two families, and were mostly busied in trading and fishing. The ap-
proach of the “James ” alarmed them, as they thought it the French ship come
from Castine to oust them also. The “James ” brought a hundred passengers,
twenty-three cows, and eight mares. Richard Mather (Oxford), father of In-
crease, came in her; he was wanted by the pulpits at Plymouth and Roxbury,
but settled at Dorchester (1636), where he died of “stone,” aged seventy-three,
in 1669, never in his life having had a physician, and in fifty years not losing a
Sunday’s service from sickness. He regarded his Episcopal ordination in Eng-
land as “ sin and folly; ” but, unlike many of the Puritan Episcopalians, such as
Cartwright and Ilildersham, he preached at funerals. In his fifteen years there
he never wore the surplice, and an examining ecclesiastic once finding him with-
out one during service, said the omission was worse than if he had seven illegiti-
mate children. Mather married John Cotton’s widow; his son Increase about
the same time married her daughter, and hence named his son Cotton Mather.
Increase died 1723, cet. 84; Cotton died 1728, cet. 65.
2 Peter Easton built the first windmill at Newport, 1663; the first house was
built there in 1639, also by Easton (R. /. Coll. Rec.). This mill was evidently
replaced with the Old Stone Mill, so long thought a Norse relic. Two years
after this gale, Governor Arnold, of Newport, mentions “my stone-built wind-
mill ; ” he evidently meant to build one which would stand the gales, and closely
copied that near his youthful home. (See note, p. 141.)THE THATCHER WRECK.
389
I635J
(1620-43). Her people were saved, with most of her cargo.
In the latter was an apple-tree planted in a tub ; which
tree was finally set out in York, Maine, where in 1880 it was
reported to be still living, and to have been in bearing within
a few years.
Just before this tempest, Anthony Thatcher and his cousin,
John Avery, recent immigrants, were living with their families
at Ipswich. The people of Marblehead had called Mr. Avery
as pastor, and sent Allerton’s pinnace to bring him. He
and Thatcher embarked with their household goods; and
with them sailed Mrs. Avery with her six children, Mrs. That-
cher with her four, and nine other persons. The vessel was
seized by the storm off Cape Ann on Friday night. Saturday
(August 25th, N. S.) found the wretched people clinging to
the wreck, or to a rock now called Avery’s Woe; and there
during the day the survivors lovingly comforted each other, as
the waves with terrible deliberation singled out their victims.
That night the only survivors were Thatcher, who had reached
a rocky islet, and his bruised wife, wdiom he dragged from
the surges. A goat had also reached the rock, and a cheese,
with some few trifles, washed ashore. It was Monday after-
noon before the forlorn couple were rescued. Few of those
many thousand voyagers who every summer view the two
fine lighthouses on Thatcher’s Island thirtk of the tragedy
from which came the name.
(Mr. Thatcher went to Marshfield, and in 1639 to Yar-
mouth ; in which latter town he was a prominent citizen until
his death in 1668, at the age of eighty. Three children were
born to him there, and he has been honored in his posterity.
A cradle coverlet of scarlet broadcloth, said to have been
saved from the wreck, is preserved at Yarmouth; and in it
has been wrapped every child of the successive generations
of local Thatchers when borne to the font of the old church
of that town.)1
1 The Massachusetts General Court gave £26 13J. 4d. for Thatcher's relief,
and he had some other aid. In 1644 he was licensed to draw wine at Yarmouth.
For eleven years (1643-53) he was on© of the deputies to the General Court.390
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1635.
The Plymouth partners promptly engaged one Girling,
master of the “ Great Hope ” (400 tons),1 lying at Boston, to
reinstate them at Castine; for which service he was to receive
seven hundred pounds of beaver, but if he failed he was to
be paid nothing. Standish, carrying the beaver in the Plym-
outh barque, piloted the “ Great Hope ” into Castine. He
was then to summon the French to surrender, and, as was
afterward learned, the summons would have been promptly
obeyed. But Girling, who would take no advice, began such
a furious cannonade before getting within range that by the
time he was in a good position he had burned all his gun-
powder, of which he had heedlessly brought but a single cask.
The French, finding themselves unhurt and in a strong posi-
tion, merely kept still. Standish was then sent to Pemaquid
for powder, but while away learned that Girling was intend-
ing to seize the beaver in any event. So, sending him the
powder, he took the beaver home, to be kept until Girling
should become entitled to it; but the latter sailed away
without further attack.
Plymouth then urged on Massachusetts the increased peril
from the French at Castine. But although this had become
a matter of “ general concern/’ Massachusetts would not stir
in it unless Plymouth would bear the whole expense. As the
impoverished Old Colony could not do this, she was forced
to submit to her loss. The thrifty Bostonians, however, with
more profit than honor, proceeded to open an active trade
with the French enemies, even to supplying them in muni-
tions by which their stronghold was more thoroughly fortified
against its ejected owners; and many years later Bradford
spoke of this traffic as still existing.2
1	Girling was “ an able seaman ” in more ways than one, for, according to
Thomas Shepard (Chron. Mass., 532), he was reported to have acquired his
ship by a fraud on the Danes.
2	The French held Castine until driven out in 1694.CHAPTER XLVI.
The Connecticut Trading-Post Lands Seized. — A Bandit Church.—
Dishonesty of the Bay.
BEFORE 1635 ended, Plymouth suffered another spolia-
tion, but not from the public enemy. The plunderer
was no less than one of the churches of Massachusetts Bay,
even the environs of Boston. Nor is it clear whether the
pious rulers of that Colony regarded the flagrant robbery
with mere indifference, or with tacit approval.
In 1633, John Oldham, then prominent at the Bay, walked
with three companions from Boston to the Connecticut Val-
ley, and brought to Winthrop alluring accounts of it. Edward
Winslow, who some years before explored the lower portion
of the river, had opened there a trade; and glowing reports
were made of this also.
In 1634, when the first regular representatives were chosen
to the General Court at the Bay, the first name on the official
list was that of William Goodwin,1 elder of the church at
Newtown (now Cambridge). There was nothing to prevent
the extension of that township from Boston to the Merri-
mack, and even the Connecticut; but, like most New Eng-
land towns, it early began to complain of “ straitness,” and
to demand more room. The elder, therefore, moved the
Court for leave to his entire town — that is, the church — to
remove in a body to the Connecticut. The idea of wide
1 1632.	“ William Goodwynn ” came over with Captain Peirce on the
“Lion’s” last trip; he died 1674.392	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1635.
dispersion was negatived. Elder Goodwin is described as
“ reverend and godly,” but he waxed so hot in the debate as
to use “ irreverent speech,” for which, next day, he had to
tender the Court an apology.
Despite magisterial conservatism, public clamor soon urged
that the Bay people must go down and possess the Connecti-
cut region, lest it be occupied by the Dutch or by other
English! This latter phrase then meant that the Plymouth
men be kept out, but it came to mean that they be put out,
even from their possessions. At this same time the people
of Plymouth were also complaining of lack of room, and,
with more reason, of their poor soil; and they were consid-
ering a plan for uniting all the Pilgrim settlements on the
land which they had bought and occupied in 1633 the
Connecticut River, for there they would have excellent land,
and be able to keep near together.
In the spring of 1635, Jonathan Brewster, who still had
charge of the Plymouth trading-post at Windsor, saw throng-
ing in from the adjacent wilderness a large detachment of
Bay people, members of Pastor Warham’s church at Dor-
chester, who were seeking a site for their whole body. He
extended to them a warm and gratuitous hospitality, storing
their goods, procuring them guides, and lending them canoes
for exploration, besides welcoming them at all times to his
table. Of course his astonishment was not small when, at
an early day, these visiting brethren turned away from the
hundreds of square miles at their disposal and told him that
as the Plymouth land best pleased them, they should take
it by the strong arm, and build their village upon it. Brew-
ster, in his vigorous protest, reminded them that in 1633
the Plymouth people had bought that land from the na-
tives, paying a goodly price, and at once erecting a defen-
sive and mercantile post there, had continuously occupied
it; they had defended it against the Dutch, and were even
then considering the transfer to it of all their settlements
around Plymouth Bay. Would his guests despoil the hosts
whose hospitality they had so freely enjoyed, especially1635]	the DORCHESTER LAND-PIRATES.	393
to obtain a little land, when all around such vast areas lay
unoccupied?
The pious bandits replied that the land was “ the Lord’s
waste,” and “ by His providence ” they had been cast at that
precise spot; the Plymouth people were only using it as a
trading-post; and as intention was “ not meet to be equalled
with present action,” they should seize the land and put it
“ to ye right ends for which land was intended” (Gen, i. 28).
They then proceeded to divide the territory into lots, and
even attempted to restrict the Plymouth post to the limits of
a private house-lot.
Brewster resisted this outrage by every means short of the
physical force which his employers prohibited, through fear
of another Hocking tragedy. Doubtless this sensitiveness
rendered the marauders more high-handed. Soon other
people came from the Dorchester church, and as they found
their contemptible brethren already settled on the stolen
land, felt few scruples at joining them.
In the height of this contest, William Cooper, an old East
India captain, sailed with two shallops full of the Dorches-
ter goods from Boston for the Connecticut. The boats, with
all hands, were lost on Brown’s Island shoal in Plymouth
Bay, and their goods scattered for miles along the coast.
Bradford, in a truly Christian spirit, caused everything to be
gathered up and washed and dried, for delivery to the own-
ers. Soon after a third cargo of their enemies’ goods was
lost off Sandwich, and once more, by Bradford’s care, the
flotsam was carefully preserved until it could be delivered to
its ungrateful owners.1
The next November, sixty men, women, and children of
Cambridge Nvent with their cattle overland to Connecticut.
They suffered much by the way, lost many cattle, and on
at last reaching the river, found an immediate return neces-
1 In November of that year, a shallop returning from Connecticut to Boston
was lost in Buzzard’s Bay. Her six men wandered ten days in the snow, with-
out seeing an Indian, before they found Plymouth. This shows the sparseness
of the Indian population.394
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1636.
sary to avert starvation, for the ice had cut off the supply of
food which they sent by water. The most of them, strag-
gling along the river-bank, in much danger from Indians,
finally reached William Peirce’s ship “ Rebecca,” which
was frozen-in twenty miles from the Sound. A rain soon
after releasing her, she escaped to sea, and five days later
(December 20th) the reckless emigrants were back at
Cambridge.
The next year (1636), on June 10th, the entire church of
Cambridge — the whole town — emigrated in a body. The
column was directed by the two ministers, Hooker and
Stone, by Elder Goodwin, and by John Haynes, who but a
few weeks before had been the governor of Massachusetts
Bay; one hundred men, women, and children followed, driving
the cattle. Mrs. Hooker, who was feeble, alone rode in a horse-
litter. The company readily made about ten miles a day,
sleeping comfortably in the open air, and subsisting largely
on the milk of their cows. These people left Windsor on
their right, and settled by the Dutch, first calling their new
home Newtown, and then Hartford. A company from
Watertown went farther down the river, and founded a new
Watertown, which name was in time changed for Wethers-
field. Finally, Pastor Warham came from the Bay with the
remainder of his church, and joined their brethren on the
stolen land at Windsor.1
1 1635-6, Sir Richard Saltonstall complained to John Winthrop, Jr., that the
Dorchester people on the river had prevented his men from fencing and keeping
cattle upon the sixteen hundred acres which he had owned for years, and had
damaged him ;£ 1,500.
1636, young Winthrop went overland from Boston to the Taunton River, and
proceeded by boat to his new home at Saybrook, at the Connecticut’s mouth.
He says the Dorchester intruders lost $2,500 worth of cattle in their first winter
at Windsor. The same year he was authorized to cut the grass on the Plymouth
ground there, as Governor Winslow said his people did not dare to send cattle
to it for fear of spoliation; and he adds: “ ’Tis pity religion should be a cloak
for such spirits.” (Winthrop, on reaching Saybrook, sent back a complaint
because, for stocking that new region, he had been sent but one turkey, and
that a male !)
In 1643 Dutch, at Hartford, complained of wrongs from the English settlers,
and said they had been restricted to only thirty acres of their own purchased
land.1636.]	PLYMOUTH LANDS SEIZED BY THE BAY.	395
All these people still retained allegiance to Massachusetts,
and that Colony at once assumed authority over the new
towns, although her wildest claim of territory never had
reached so far. Of course this exercise of power, extend-
ing to the most minute affairs, rendered her responsible to
her sister Colony for the aggression of one of these subject
communities.1 Bradford therefore urged the rulers at the
Bay to require the men of Windsor to right the wrong
which they had committed, and the fruits of which they
were enjoying. Strange to say, he pleaded in vain. One
can hardly suppose that such scrupulously honorable men
as Winthrop and Dudley can have been indifferent to the
sin of the Dorchester Naboths, but there is no sign of offi-
cial displeasure at the Bay, nor effort for restitution. Nor
was it a rare event for wrongs inflicted on Plymouth to be
unappreciated, if not unseen, at Boston, through a sort of
moral myopia.
Some Cambridge men who had settled at Windsor, and
some of the latest comers from Dorchester, on becoming
familiar with the facts, became indignant, and declared that
they would leave the place unless the earlier settlers should
make an amicable adjustment with their Plymouth brethren.2
After further efforts, the latter finding that, through the in-
difference of the rulers of Massachusetts, the recovery of
their land was impracticable, concluded to compromise, as
Bradford says, “ for peace’ sake (though they conceived they
suffered much in this thing).”3 But the Plymouth owners
enforced, as an essential preliminary, the humiliating admis-
sion of their full right to the whole of the land, and also
thoughtfully demanded that one half of what they ceded
should go to those just-minded people from Newtown.
1	Soon after Oldham’s murder in 1636, the Massachusetts magistrates ordered
the constable at “Watertown,” Conn, (now Wethersfield), to take and hold the
deceased’s property there for the benefit of his creditors. This shows how com-
pletely the usurping authority of the Bay Colony was established.
2	Divers resolved to quit ye place if they could not agree with those of
Plymouth. — Winthrop.
3	Bradford’s History, p. 342.396
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1636.
Finally, retaining their trading-house, with two small lots,
making one sixteenth of their whole tract, they yielded their
claim to the remainder, provided the holders would refund
the proportionate amount paid for it to the Indians. Brad-
ford closes the subject by saying more gently than the reader
would: “ Thus was the controversy ended, but the unkindness
not so soon forgotten.”CHAPTER XLVII.
Sherley’s Dishonest Accounts and Dismissal. — Mr. Glover. — Pastors :
Smith, Norton, and Reynor. — Laws.
WHEN, in 1635, Winslow came home without the long-
sought account from Sherley, it was determined to
remit no more peltry until a statement should be made.
But Winslow, fresh from Sherley’s canting conversation and
urbane hospitality, persuaded his comrades that a liberal ship-
ment would bring a prompt compliance. So a rich cargo
was sent, consisting of 3,678 pounds of beaver and 466 skins
of otters, minks, and black foxes. Sherley took the fur, and
wrote back, “ Blessed be God for its coming!” but never
accounted for the proceeds. Soon his London associates,
Andrews and Beauchamp, bitterly complained that for five
years the trade had owed them £1,100 each, but that Sherley
had retained every penny from the sales. This was perplex-
ing to the Plymouth people. In 1631 Sherley’s inflated ac-
count had made them debtor in £4,770^ their Adventurers’
bonds had been ,£1,000 more, and their subsequent imports
1 This bill was rendered on Allerton’s dismissal in 1631. At the close of
1628 Plymouth’s floating debt had been about £400. There had been since
received £150 in shoes and stockings. £550 had been used on the Leyden im-
migrants of 1629-30, £600 paid on the bonded debt, £500 wasted in pursuit of
a charter, and three stocks of trading-goods bought at a cost of some £3,000, —
total, £5,200. Per contra,, there had been great shipments of beaver from Ply-
mouth and Castine. Yet the result of three years of self-sacrifice and intense
effort, with a highly successful trade, had been, according to Sherley’s figures,
an expansion of their floating debt to £4,770, — an increase of nearly 1,200 per
cent! Sherley in 1631 whined about Allerton, declaring that if the business had
been properly managed, Plymouth had been “ the ablest plantation ” ever made
by Englishmen. Still, the management for these three years had been such as
he had dictated or warmly approved. His pious talk had so imposed on Ply-
mouth that they had retained him as agent, and now began to see the fearful
result.398
THE Py^GRIM REPUBLIC.
[1636.
about ^*2,000. The debit side of their account could not well
show more than £7,770, To pay this they had sent 12,150
pounds of beaver and 1,156 otter-skins, with enough small
furs to pay all freights and charges. Bradford had “ mar-
velled ” at these truly wonderful returns, and had supposed
them not only to cancel every vestige of debt, but to leave
at least £2,200 due the Plymouth partners. Andrews and
Beauchamp were shortly told to go to Sherley for their dues,
as they should have done long before.
A year later no account had come, and Andrews and Beau-
champ were still clamorous. It was their duty to force a
settlement with Sherley, or to go unpaid; but the soft-hearted
Pilgrims once more yielded, and sent them ,£434 in money
and 1,325 pounds of beaver. Beauchamp cleared £400 on his
half of the fur; but Andrews, through his own fault, lost £40
of the value of his, and had the meanness to saddle the deficit
on Plymouth. The Plymouth people now felt they had far
more than repaid the three Londoners, with large interest
and charges ; and indeed their last remittances had been
against the advice of “ some wise men.” They therefore did
what they should have done long before, by dismissing Sher-
ley as their agent, and insisting on a final settlement. Still,
for years Sherley persisted in calling for more furs; Andrews
and Beauchamp continually complained that he would not
settle with them; and Plymouth vainly demanded a state-
ment of her account, or at least a receipt for her many pay-
ments. All this time the Colony steadily prospered, though
her growth was very slow in comparison with that of Massa-
chusetts.1
1 In 1634, says Winthrop, “ Our neighbors of Plymouth and we” had great
trade with the Dutch (Manhattan); some forty sheep were brought from them to
Boston. Plymouth also had a large traffic at the Kennebec.
In 1635 Massachusetts had much commerce, ten foreign ships entering Boston
in one week. Two Dutch ships came in thirty-eight days from the Texel, and
sold mares at ^34, heifers £12, and sheep £2 10s. These wduld be good prices
even now.
In 1636 at Boston cows were £2$ to ^30, oxen ^40 the yoke, and maize 5s,
the “strike,” or evened bushel. Carpenters had 33'. a day. In all the Bay
Colony were but 30 ploughs, and those very rude wooden things.
By 1647 the Northeastern coasting-trade had passed largely to the French1636.]
PLYMOUTH PASTORS. —LAWS.
399
In 1636, Pastor Smith resigned, partly at the request of his
flock. The year before, a Mr. Glover had prepared to come
from England with Winslow as pastor, but died before em-
barking. John Norton came in his stead, but received free-
dom to leave Plymouth on repaying the £70 advanced for
his journey and outfit; so, after a year’s service, he went to
his friends at Ipswich. Then “ it pleased the Lord to send
them an able and a godly man,” John Reynor, who minis-
tered most acceptably until 1654, when he went to Dover,
N. H. (where he died in 1669).1
In 1636 was the first revision of the laws. The Governor
had till then been the secretary, and probably had not en-
grossed many of the public orders and enactments except in
his note-book, so unfortunately lost. The records exhibited
some forty laws, passed to meet special wants; but in most
cases the general court of the people and of the magistrates
had merely followed the usage of England, especially in
criminal matters, but adding a peculiar severity in offences
against morals.
The first law recorded was that of 1623, establishing trial by
jury; the second, in 1626, forbade the exportation of food and
lumber without an official permit. In 1628 (n. S.) thatched
roofs were ordered to be changed for those of boards or pal-
ing (shingles not being then used). In 1632, fences were
ordered for cultivated lands, and every man was required
to keep fire-arms. In 1633 it was made finable to permit
drunkenness in one’s house, and strong drinks were to be
and Dutch, because they sold fire-arms and powder to the savages, but Boston
and Plymouth had a fine West India trade.
In 1634 Winslow, coming from a trading trip on the Connecticut, had the
barque land him at Sowams and return to her business, while he went on foot
to Plymouth. His old friend Massasoit walked with him. On reaching home
Winslow found the town filled with mourning, for Massasoit had sent in advance
a message that at a certain time and place Winslow had been killed. Massasoit,
in reply to an indignant rebuke, said that this was an Indian custom, and was
for the purpose of securing to the wanderer a warmer welcome; most probably
the amiable heathen was as much puzzled as mortified at receiving censure for
his falsehood.
1 In 1642 the Plymouth Church bought Smith's house, barns, gardens, with
six acres of upland, and gave the estate to Reynor.400
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1636.
retailed only by innkeepers, who were to sell not over two-
pence worth to any one but strangers just arrived. It was
further provided that Plymouth be the Colonial capital and
the Governor's home; that wills be proved within one month
before the “ Governor and Council," and that a man's widow
be his administrator; that the original allotments of lands be
exempt from creditors ; that jurors each have sixpence a
case; that the new sealed Winchester bushel, “ brought out
of England," be the standard by which the messenger seal all
others;1 that all cattle doing damage be impounded.
Such was the nature of the statutes for the first fifteen
years. There were NO CRIMINAL LAWS, the Governor and
Council having in that department a large discretion, com-
bined with trial by jury. Fines and forfeitures were freely
inflicted; and as for lack of a prison there could be no penal
confinement, the stocks and the whipping-post were used in
minor cases without scruple, but generally as the alternative
of a fine. Many a penniless culprit avoided the lash by get-
ting some bystander to pay the equivalent fine and be repaid
in work.
1 This “ sealing ” was by branding a P. in several places around the edge of the
measure. When, in 1645, *he commissioners adopted the Winchester bushel for
all the Colonies, Plymouth added N. E. to the P. But Massachusetts seems,
as usual, to have been a law unto herself; for in 1646 Plymouth enacted that
“ the Bay new bushel shall not be used,” but “ the old iron-bound bushel is
established,” under penalty of I2d.
In 1637 Edward Foster, of Scituate, for selling by less than the Winchester
quart, ignorantly, was fined I2</.; and James Cole, of Scituate, for selling by
less than the Winchester quart, but not ignorantly, ioj., — a righteous discrimi-
nation, which illustrates the general spirit of the Plymouth court.
Winchester, Eng., was formerly a royal residence, and parliaments were held
there which established the “Winchester bushel ” and the “ Winchester ell,” since
superseded by the “ imperial ” measures.CHAPTER XLVIII.
SYSTEM OF LAWS AND ELECTIONS. — VARIOUS LAWS.
IN 1636, Elder Brewster, Pastor Smith, and Deacons Doane
and Jenney, of Plymouth, Jonathan Brewster and Christo-
pher Wadsworth, of Duxbury, James Cudworth and Anthony
Annable, of Scituate,1 were joined to the Governor and Council
for the preparation of a regular system of laws. They began
with the declaration that by the “ Mayflower ” Compact of
1620 and the Warwick patent of 1630, the citizens of New
Plymouth Colony, as free subjects of England, were entitled
to enact as follows: “ According to the . . . and due privi-
lege of the subject aforesaid, no imposition, law, or ordinance
be made or imposed upon or by ourselves or OTHERS, at
present or to come, but such as shall be made or imposed
BY CONSENT, according to the free liberties of the state and
kingdom of England, and no otherwise.”
This looks like a provision against the possible assumptions
of a general governor, so often threatened, as well as against
1 It is a curious fact that Annable could not write his name; yet his good
sense doubtless made him a valuable adviser. The number of leading persons
who made their “ mark ” instead of their signature is surprising. Some of these,
with the year in which the mark appears in the records, are as follows: John
Shaw, 1630; Edward Doty, Clement Briggs, 1637; Manasseh Kempton, John
Williams, Francis Sprague, 1644; Robert Barker, 1645; Samuel Eaton, 1646;
John Phillips, 1648 ; John Barnes, Richard Church, 1649; Colonel Robert Stetson,
Mrs. Alice Bradford, Sen., 1659; James Leonard, 1664; Samuel Luthers, 1679;
Mrs. Mary Williams (daughter of Pastor Lothrop, of Barnstable), 1667 ; Edward
Gray (whose grave bears the oldest date now legible on Burial Hill; see p. 231).
Possibly some of the above may have been unable from sickness to write at that
time. Thus Peregrine White, who was a very legible and forcible penman, in
his last days made his mark on his will. Persons who could not write were
often able to read well.
26402
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1636.
inferential laws and judicial constructions. It is a very sur-
prising fact that until now there had been no law establishing
the offices of governor, councillors, or constables. By gen-
eral consent for fifteen years these officers had been annually
elected, and had administered their undetermined functions
subject to revision by the people as a body. Even Billing-
ton’s trial had been under the English common law, and his
executioner appears to have had no other authority than the
oral order of the town-meeting or its council. Truly it was
a wonderful community that, by mass-meetings of its citizens,
could so long and so successfully conduct such weighty affairs,
domestic and foreign, with no more formally defined frame of
government, or assignment and limitation of official powers,
and with no written laws against crime.
Yet the new code left much to the law of England “ as near
as may be.” All new laws or changes were to be made by
the freemen in town-meeting; claims within forty shillings and
petty offences were left to the magistrates;1 capital offences
were treason, murder, diabolical conversation, wilful burning
of ships or houses, violation, and unnatural crimes; persons
not freemen might serve on juries; the grand-jury was to make
inquiries; a widow was to have one third the real-estate for
life, and one third the personalty absolutely. These were the
chief provisions.
New laws were added yearly, until in 1658 a second re-
vision was made, the secretary (Morton) writing a copy for
each town on paper sent by the latter; and this copy was to
be publicly read in each town once a year. In 1671 a new
digest was made; and for the first time the laws were printed,
Samuel Green doing the work at the Cambridge Press. In
1685 the fourth and last revision was made and printed. In
1836 the State of Massachusetts employed William Brigham
to edit a collection of these various laws, with the Pilgrim
Compact, Warwick patent, and some allied documents; the
result being a volume of much value to the student.
The laws were always sharply restrictive as to spirituous
1 " Councillors/' or u assistants."1636-8.]
PROHIBITION OF TOBACCO-SMOKING.
403
drinks. In 1667 cider was included, and strong measures
were taken to keep everything of the sort from the Indians.
The frequent falsity of Indian evidence as to the source whence
they obtained strong drink, led in 1673 to the establishment
for such cases of the new principle of allowing the accused to
testify for himself at his option. In 1682 this was extended
to suits for the collection of accounts. Thus the plan of
admitting persons as their own witnesses, though generally
thought an idea of our day, is the revival of an Old Colony
practice.
So early as 1638 the smoking of tobacco, then called
“ drinking ” it, was forbidden on the highway, or out of doors
within a mile of a dwelling-house, or while at work in the
fields. Unlike England and Massachusetts, Plymouth never
had a law regulating apparel, but all persons were left free to
indulge their tastes, and the liberty seems to have been much
used by young and old alike.1
As in 1634 Massachusetts adopted a representation of towns
in her General Court, so did Plymouth in 1638, the first ses-
sion being in June, 1639. The governor and councillors
(assistants) were called “ the bench,” and the town members
“ committees” at first, and then “ deputies.” The two branches
sat as one body, with the governor presiding; and so con-
tinued to do till the end of the Colony.2 This body might pass
1	One of the laws of 1636 inflicted a fine of 20s. for firing a gun in the night,
save at a wolf or for a man lost. Three successive shots made a general alarm;
two shots indicated a house on fire. In 1675, when Philipp War began, this law
w’as changed into a prohibition against shooting “at any game whatsoever, ex-
cept at an Indian or a wolf.” Wilfully ignoring the evident and most proper
purpose of this awkwardly expressed law, some malicious hypercritics have tried
to prove that the early settlers classed Indians as “game,” allowing them to be
hunted when nothing else but wolves might be.
In 1638 the Court foolishly attempted to regulate "wages throughout the
Colony. Laborers were to have I2d. a day with board, or i$d. without it. Nine
months later this policy was sensibly abandoned.
In 1648 the Plymouth General Court met at 7 A. M. in summer and 8 A. M. in
the winter, with 6d. fine for tardiness.
2	The General Court of Massachusetts sat as one body from 1634 to 1644; it
then divided into two houses, and William Hathorne became the first speaker
of the lower branch. In Connecticut a like division took place in 1645.
Massachusetts Bay did not adopt a system of laws until 1641. It then enacted404
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1638.
laws, but, except in a crisis, final action must be postponed
till the next session. Decisions in the General Court were by
a majority vote, with no division between the bench and the
deputies. Yet the freemen still met annually in one assembly
as a “ court of election,” and chose the governor, assistants,
treasurer, and (after 1643) colonial commissioners. The
freemen might also repeal any of the laws passed by the
legislature and enact others. The court of the people was
supreme.1
A high sense of justice was shown in the election of depu-
ties. None but freemen could vote in the General Court of
election; but as the deputies were paid by the towns sending
them, it was held that those who paid should elect, and that
all heads of families, though non-freemen, might vote for
deputies and on any other business of town-meetings, pro-
a hundred provisions entitled “ The Body of Liberties,” compiled by Nathaniel
Ward, pastor at Ipswich, who had been a lawyer as well as a Church of England
clergyman in the mother-country. These laws were submitted to the several
towns before adoption by the General Court. (For note on Ward, see notice of
Dunster.)
1 In 1646 the deputies, thinking attendance too burdensome for four times a
year, were excused except for the session at the annual court of election. At
the same time Rehoboth was given a local court with a jury; but an appeal lay
from it to the General Court.
In 1647 the Rehoboth men, in view of the distance and the possible risks of
the trip, were authorized to send their ballots to the court of election instead of
coming. In 1652 this was applied to all towns. As soon as a town-meeting had
chosen its two deputies, one of them was to give notice that those who did not
wish to attend the General Court were at once to present their ballots for gov-
ernor, assistants, treasurer, and commissioners, “sealled upp.” The deputies-
elect then made these sealed ballots into a packet, which was itself sealed.
These packets were handed in at the court of election, after those present had
deposited their ballots, and all were counted together.
Before that, every freeman in the Colony was fined y. for absence from the
General Court. In 1633, a few months before his death, Peter Brown was so
fined, and in December, 1639, nine Scituate men were. In 1660, for neither
attending nor sending a “ proxy,” as the ballot was termed, the fine was made
ioj. In 1659 a motion to again require the voters to attend in person was lost,
63 to hi ; this vote shows the size of the people’s “court of election” then. In
Massachusetts the whole body of freemen was required to meet until 1663, and
then after a year’s interval the practice was renewed for some few years. The
freemen there were only one sixth of the adult males, nor were the church-
members a much greater proportion of the whole people. Citizenship was
sought there, but it was rather avoided in New Plymouth, and was occasionally,
; in some degree, forced on desirable men.i638.]
PRIVILEGE OF THE BALLOT.
405
vided they first took the oath of fidelity.1 It was subsequently
provided that voters not freemen must have a freehold worth
£20; but the next generation voted, in 1671, that as “ some
do abuse their liberty,” voting in town-meetings be confined
to freemen.
1 In 1644 those not taking the oath of fidelity were declared not to rank as
“ inhabitants.”CHAPTER XLIX.
PEACH’S CRIMES. —LEGAL AND MORAL SEVERITY.
IN 1635, the ship “Plain John” brought to Virginia one
Arthur Peach, twenty years old, who was from a good
family in Ireland. In 1637 he did brave service in the
Pequod War, and next year was living at Plymouth in the
employ of Governor Winslow. But as he was “ out of means
and loth to work” he soon sought to evade his creditors
by fleeing to Manhattan; and enticed, as his companions
in flight, three servants or apprentices,—Thomas Jackson,
Richard Stinnings, and Daniel Cross. On the way they met
a Narraganset going to the Bay to buy some articles for
Mixano, son of Canonicus. Next day, while several miles
north of the present Pawtucket, they saw this Indian return-
ing, and conspired to rob and kill him; so Peach called him
to come into the bushes and smoke a pipe. The poor fellow
complied; and as he sat smoking, Peach and another joined
in fatally stabbing him with a sword. Supposing their vic-
tim dead, the ruffians robbed his pack of three woollen coats
and five fathoms of wampum, and resumed their journey.
Roger Williams soon heard that four destitute white men
were nearing the Pawtucket region, and sending them food,
with some rum, had them brought in. After a night’s hospi-
tality he furnished them a passage by canoe to Aquiday, and
added a letter recommending them to hospitality.
In the mean time the wounded native had revived so far as
to crawl out into the Boston path, where he was found by a
passing Indian. His story created a panic among the na-
tives. The Pequods had said that their overthrow would be1638.]	PEACH’S CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT.	407
followed by a general slaughter of the other tribes, and this
deed led the Narragansets to believe that they were to be
hunted down and killed in detail. Williams promptly brought
the wounded man to Providence, where he was attended by
the two local surgeons, James and Greene; but after a full
statement of his assault, he died.
Williams then had the fugitives intercepted at Aquiday.
Cross escaped in a departing pinnace, but the others were
seized. Williams reported the case to Winthrop, with the
remark that while every “ son of Adam is his brother’s
keeper or avenger,” Plymouth should act in this case. Win-
throp concurred, not, as Bradford erroneously says, because
the scene of the crime was within New Plymouth territory
(for Winthrop did not then admit that), but because the
culprits were last resident at Plymouth. Winthrop further
advised that if Plymouth would not assume jurisdiction, the
chief murderer be given up to the Narragansets, on their
pledge to execute him without torture.
Plymouth at once took charge of the case. The trial con-
tinued through several sessions, and on Sept. 4/14, 1638, the
jury found all three prisoners guilty of murdering Penowa-
wyanquis at Misquameece. The culprits confessed, and pro-
fessed great penitence. After the salutary manner of the
times, sentence was speedily followed by execution. Roger
Williams, Surgeon James, and several Narragansets had come
from Rhode Island as witnesses, and they also attended the
hanging. This prompt justice quieted the Indians; but some
of the more ignorant English complained much that all three
should have been put to death, for, they contended, life for
life quite met the requirements.
This “ matter of much sadness ” had a sequel of virtuous
barbarity. It soon appeared that Dorothy Temple, a maid-
servant in Master Stephen Hopkins’s family, had fallen a
victim to the wiles of Peach. The next February the magis-
trates were informed that Hopkins refused to shelter or pro-
vide for Dorothy and her infant son; but the Court, finding
her indentures had two years longer to run, decided that, as408
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1638.
Hopkins was entitled to her service for that time, he must
also clothe and board her in his family or elsewhere. The
stubborn Hopkins then refusing to have anything further to
do with his unfortunate dependant, the Court committed him
for contempt of court, though the confinement was probably
to the house of the messenger.1 After four days of this dis-
cipline Hopkins was released by his payment of £$ to good
Master John Holmes, who assumed the charge of Dorothy
and her child for the two years in question.
It would be supposed that the Court now left the poor
young mother to quietly bear her burden and suffer her
social penance, but for such cases there was then no con-
donation or mercy. The next June she was arraigned for
unlawful maternity, and sentenced to be twice publicly
whipped. The first infliction was begun, but the wretched
victim fainting under it, the rest of the penalty was remitted.
Unless there was some renewal of offence by the culprit,—
and no allusion to any is made in the proceedings, — her
treatment, despite the final grant of mercy, is shameful to
the authorities of Plymouth. Such judicial cruelty was then
common, regardless of sex and age, in England and her
Colonies, as well as in all other countries; but the men of
Plymouth had reached a higher degree of humanity than most
other communities, and the brutality of this case is not ex-
cused by general usage as to common crimes. The authorities
of Plymouth at least knew better. Would that their clerk,
like the recording angel in the case of Uncle Toby, could
have dropped a tear upon his record and effaced it forever!
1 Mr. Hopkins had formerly sat on the bench of this Court; and among those
who now ordered his arrest were his old “ Mayflower ” comrades, Bradford,
Winslow, and Alden. Pilgrim justice was no respecter of persons.CHAPTER L.
Boundaries. — New Settlements and Changes.— London Contracts set-
tled. — Captain Cromwell’s Visit.
IN 1639-40, Bradford and Winslow for Plymouth, and En-
dicott and Stoughton for the Bay, sought to settle their
mutual boundary. Massachusetts was chartered southerly
to an east-and-west line three miles south of Charles River.
She claimed this term “ river ” to include every little brook
which contributed to the river proper, — her construction thus
extending Massachusetts so far south as to take in Cape Cod
Harbor, Scituate, Marshfield, Duxbury, the most of Plymouth
Harbor, a part of Taunton, and even a portion of the town
of Plymouth itself; and for this preposterous boundary the
men of the Bay obstinately contended. Bradford drew a
reply from his native valley: the Trent and Ouse made
the Humber, but neither of them was ever understood as
the Humber; many rivulets ran into them, but none of those
rivulets were ever called the Trent or Ouse; those little
streams are all made up of lesser streams, but each of
the latter is independent and has its own name. When the
Massachusetts charter was given, nothing was known of the
Charles above its mouth. What could be clearer than that
it was intended to bound the grant by a line running west
from a point three miles south of the river’s mouth, the
only part of it then known? This reasoning was good, but
took from Massachusetts a large tract which clearly was not
included in the Plymouth patent. Finally, a line was fixed
upon, and though not ratified until 1664, was respected till
the merging of the two jurisdictions.4io
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1640-42.
From 1640 to 1645, the two Colonies were at issue as to
their western co-limits. Massachusetts claimed the Seekonk
region, and only ceased when the Colonial Commissioners
decided for Plymouth. Winthrop says that in 1641 Ply-
mouth sent a copy of her patent to Boston, and though “ not
fully satisfied, but not willing to strive for land, we sat still.”
He fails to add that the stillness was very brief.
In 1640 it was much desired that a Plymouth agent be sent
to close matters with the London partners. Besides the dan-
ger of such persecution as Winslow had suffered on his last
trip, was that of imprisonment for debt on the outrageous
claim of Sherley and his mates, with no chance for release
except on their own terms. Winslow protested against sub-
jecting either himself or any other to the great risk; but
there was one Pilgrim whom danger never turned from the
line of duty, and Myles Standish volunteered for the haz-
ardous mission. Finally, Governor Winthrop’s advice was
sought; and as he gave it that no messenger be allowed to
expose himself, Standish was compelled to remain at home
in safety. Sherley then offered to meet an agent in Holland
or France; for the pious people about him, who took an
interest in the Colony, brought great pressure to end a con-
troversy so calculated to bring reproach on the Reformed
religion.1
Finally, in 1642, the Londoners offered terms. No account
had yet been rendered, but Sherley claimed ^150, Andrews
^544, and Beauchamp ^400. Andrews charged the other two
with defrauding Plymouth, and urged that nothing be given
them until they should exhibit their accounts; he believed
nothing due Sherley, nor more than £150 to Beauchamp.2
1	This delay was an additional disaster to Plymouth from a sudden shrink-
age of prices. Domestic animals, from the sale of which these debts were
to a considerable extent to be paid, fell seventy-five per cent (from ^20 to
;£5)' This reduction came all at once, and some people were made bankrupt
by it.
2	This name is in England corruptly pronounced “ Beacham,” and Brad-
ford, by so spelling it, for the most part shows this to have been the pronuncia-
tion in his day. The phonographic value of such old spellings is not duly
appreciated.1640-46.] FINALE WITH THE “UNDERTAKERS”	411
He returned his land to the Colony, and gave his claim of
^544 to Massachusetts, which very promptly exacted the
last penny from Plymouth. Andrews was at once paid, and
so was the chief Shylock, Sherley. The latter parted from
Plymouth with pleasant words and promises of future ser-
vice ; he told them that Andrews was honest, but he did not
believe Beauchamp entitled to ;£ioo, if anything. With’the
latter, matters dragged provokingly; in 1645 he received
£210 10s. in sundry houses and lands from Bradford, Prence,
Standish, Alden, and Winslow, — the latter with curious pre-
cision setting forth that his deed included not only the house
and land in general, but “ the garden, back-house, doors,
locks, bolts, wainscot, glass, ... all the shelves as they now
are in each room,” etc. Finally, in March, 1646 (N. S.),when
it had stood over a quarter of a century, the Pilgrim Republic
for the first time enjoyed the luxury of owing no man any-
thing. Its debts had been inflated, its funds embezzled, its
trade defrauded, and its confidence betrayed; but it had
borne every burden without shrinking, and had preferred to
endure fraud and robbery rather than risk any sacrifice of
honor. Its leaders took care that every chance of wrong
should fall on themselves rather than on the public creditors
who had treated them so unjustly. Repudiation is not a
plant of Old Colony growth.
In 1640 Bradford, at the public request, transferred to the
Colony the Warwick patent (of 1630). For the original pur-
chasers were reserved three modest tracts, — one at Sowams,
one near Yarmouth, and the third at Nauset (Eastham, etc.).
The latter soon acquired singular importance. Plymouth was
so depleted by emigration to the newer towns that she became
very dull, and her business scanty. Several of her people,
attributing this decay to the poorness of her soil and 14 strait-
ness ” of the place, persuaded the community to declare for a
general removal to some fertile region which should give room
for all and admit of expansion as the population increased.
Singularly enough, Nauset was selected, and to it the church
prepared to emigrate in a body.412
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1644-6.
Only a few had opposed this project; but soon there was a
general waking-up to the fact that every objection brought
against Plymouth would lie with equal or greater force against
Nauset. Not only would the dwellers at the new spot be
beyond the reach of prompt relief and without defence if as-
sailed, but the territory, so far from allowing a progressive
expansion, was not large enough for even those then prepar-
ing to occupy it. In fact, Plymouth was vastly superior in
many respects, and inferior in none.
Some few persisted in removing, and in 1644 a company
went headed by ex-Governor Prence, Deacon John Doane,
Nicholas Snow, Josiah Cook, Richard Higgins, John Smalley,
and Edward Bangs. The traveller along the Cape, where the
purest English communities in the country are to be found,
will constantly hear some of these surnames, and will often
find them represented by the leading inhabitants. The new
plantation prospered, and in 1651 became Eastham. Had the
chosen site been in the region of Bristol or of New Bedford,
Plymouth would perhaps have shared the fate of Jamestown,
or at least have fallen into obscurity. Fortunate is it for his-
tory that the proposed plan was impracticable. After this
loss of active householders, Plymouth’s fortunes reached a
distressingly low ebb. In the same year with the migration,
death removed Brewster, Hopkins, Atwood, and Jenney. Of
the earlier leaders, Bradford and Howland alone were left in
the original village; as the former reviewed the vacant places,
he sadly writes in his History: “Thus was this poor church
left like an ancient mother grown old and forsaken of her chil-
dren (though not in their affections),” until “she that had
made many rich, became herself poor.”
So in 1646, when a gale drove into Plymouth port Captain
Cromwell, a parliamentary officer, with three ships returning
from a rich cruise against the Spanish enemy, Winthrop at-
tributed the storm to a special act of Providence, “ so directing
for the comfort and help of that town, which was now almost
deserted.” The account of this visit is the last entry but one
in Bradford’s History. For about a month the sailors spent1646.]
DEATHS OF VOYSYE AND CROMWELL.
413
their money with nautical profuseness, and did much good by
freely giving to the poor; but Bradford fears that they scat-
tered “ yet more sin ” than cash, for at first they were very
drunken and riotous. One man, Voysye, while fighting, re-
sisted his captain, and received on his head a blow from
Cromwell’s rapier-hilt. Voysye would not have the injury
cared for, and the very next day went ashore to fight with a
shipmate; but soon his wound inflamed, and proved mortal.
The Plymouth authorities arrested Cromwell for homicide; he
then being tried by a court-martial according to his own re-
quest, and acquitted. The dead sailor was buried under arms,
each member of the train-band being presented by the naval
commander with a piece of black taffeta to make a mourning-
robe. Three years later, while Cromwell was at Boston (where
he was quite popular), he was killed by a fall from his horse;
and the superstitious did not fail to note with awe-struck feel-
ings that his rapier-hilt made upon his head just such a wound
as he had given Voysye. Cromwell seems to have been a
generous, gallant, and noble seaman.CHAPTER LI.
THE CONFEDERATION.— STATISTICS.
IN 1643, after a six years* discussion begun by Plymouth, the
four Colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut,
and New Haven, formed a confederation, called “The United
Colonies of New England.” Each was annually to choose
two church-members as its commissioners. These eight were /'
to meet in the four Colonies by turn each September, and
were to take charge of Indian affairs and matters of war. vy
Save the mutual rendition of fugitives, each Colony was to
retain full control of its internal affairs; but the commissioners
soon contrived to give something like an air of authority
to their merely advisory power on matters of education and
religion.
No single Colony was to make war. If one was attacked,
the league was to relieve it until the commissioners could
examine the case; if they found the attack to have been pro-
voked by the invaded Colony, they were to require reparation
from the same to its assailant and the confederates. If, on the
other hand, the Colony stood approved, or an offensive war was
necessary, the confederates should make common cause and
each furnish men and money according to its military popu-
lation; that is, the able-bodied males between the ages of »
sixteen and sixty. On this basis the quota for 235 soldiers
was: Massachusetts 150, New Plymouth 30, Connecticut 30,
New Haven 25.1 (Plymouth’s force was divided among her
[then] eight towns, thus: Plymouth 7, Scituate 5, Duxbury 5,
1 In 1672 Connecticut absorbed New Haven, and the military quota became,
— Massachusetts 100, Plymouth 30, Connecticut 60.1643.]	STATISTICS. — VOTERS* QUALIFICATIONS.	415
Taunton 3, Sandwich 3, Barnstable 3, Yarmouth 2, Marshfield
2, — total 30.1)
The population was about a hundred for each soldier in the *
above apportionments. Of the 23,500 white people in the four
Colonies, some 2,300 had been born there, the others having
come scattering along in some 198 ships from1620 to this same *
year of 1643.2 * Now immigration stopped very suddenly, owing
to the establishment of the Commonwealth. In fact, there
were soon more passengers for England than from it, several
gallant Colonists going over to fight for the Parliament, and ■
some well-to-do families returning to enjoy the new privileges j
of English life.
In Massachusetts not one man in four was a church-mem-
ber, but there and in New Haven only church-members were
entitled to vote. No such restriction was ever adopted in .
Plymouth or Connecticut; yet the ratio of voters was a half j
greater in Massachusetts than in Plymouth, for the former had ;
1708, and the latter, which in the same proportion would have
had 345, really showed but 230. Elections at the Bay were
stoutly contested, and even Winthrop had been more than
once voted down. Hence a feeling of partisanship had led ^
many to seek the rank of freeman. But in Plymouth it is not
known that the voters ever divided on the choice of a gov- *
ernor, and public positions had much more of responsibility 4
and work than of dignity or emolument; hence many people
avoided citizenship through a desire of escaping petty offices v
and court duties which a freeman might not decline without
suffering a fine, and a few years later the government found
1	In 1689 the quota of these towns had changed thus: Plymouth 4, Scituate 6,
Duxbury 2, Taunton 4, Sandwich 3, Barnstable 4, Yarmouth 3, Marshfield 3, —
total, 29.
2	New England then had 12,000 neat-cattle, 3,000 sheep, 1,000 acres in
orchards and gardens, and 15,000 under general tillage.
At the opening of Philip’s War, 1675, Massachusetts had about 22,000 popu-
lation, Plymouth 7,000, Connecticut, etc., 14,000: total, 43,000. There were
about 4,000 each in Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. In 1693
new Massachusetts had 63,000 (in 75 towns), of whom 17,000 were in the recent
Plymouth, and 7,000 in Boston. Growth was then badly checked by the over-
issue of paper money.
274i 6
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1643-84.
it necessary to use persuasion and something like compulsion
to lead desirable men to accept these duties and privileges.
Rhode Island had not yet a Colonial organization; but
after gaining one, she was by a miserable policy still excluded <
from this union, her request for admission being met by the
contemptuous and contemptible answer that by annexing /
herself to one of the adjoining Colonies she would at once be
in the Confederation.1
This famous league held its last little congress at Hartford *
in 1684, when its sessions had become triennial. Before the
next time came, Andros had crushed out the liberties of the
Colonies and every trace of self-government. The terms of
the Confederation were ever few, for the most part, its pur-
poses being vaguely expressed, and its councils often discor-
dant. Massachusetts was especially antagonistic, although v
the main strength of that body.2 She objected to the equal
representation of the Colonies, — a policy perpetuated in the
formation of the United States Senate. She claimed that the
greater number of the sessions should be at Boston, that
the president should always be one of her members, and that
the latter should take precedence at the sittings; but all the
1	In 1640, three years before this league, Coddington and the leading men at
the north part of Aquiday sought union with Plymouth, but those of Newport
and Providence successfully opposed it. Had this plan succeeded, the resulting
state would now be one of the strongest in New England as to commerce and
manufactures. In 1642 Plymouth questioned whether her bounds did not in-
clude Providence; but she doubtless found they did not, for the subject was
dropped.
2	Plymouth and the other Colonies in 1655 were much offended at the refusal
of Massachusetts to aid Ninigret, who had been promised protection, and who S
was threatened by the Long Island Indians. Massachusetts was repeatedly
voted down in the board of commissioners on this subject, but refused to be /
bound by the majority vote, as her conscience was not clear, she said.
In 1656 Plymouth paid John Howland 10s. for the use of his horse ridden to
and from New Haven by one of her commissioners. In 1672 it cost Plymouth
Colony £80 to entertain the commissioners at that session there; this added ^
one third to her tax-levy.
In 1667 Plymouth directed her representatives to insist that “in case the Con-
federation hold, it be better observed than formerly hath been; ” and to “ signify
to Massachusetts that we take it ill that we cannot for our monies be supplied
with ammunition, although they have good quantities.” (See notice of John
Brown for a display of injured dignity by Massachusetts.)1643.] THE new-england confederation. 417
concession she could get was that her members might sign
the record next after the president. It is an interesting fact
that her most stubborn contest was in defence of “ State
rights,” in opposition to all her associates.
John Quincy Adams says: “ This, like other confedera-
cies, presents a record of incessant discord, of encroachments
by the most powerful upon the weaker members, and of
disregard by all the separate members of the conclusions
adopted by the whole body.” This is too strong, though
measurably correct. Yet this league derived strength from
what would seem its chief weakness. A union sharply de- >
fined and administered would have died young ; but this
loosely constructed federation outlived Charles I., Cromwell,
and Charles II.1 If its internal powers were small, its out-
ward front awed the French at the east, the Dutch on the
south, and the Swedes and Finns beyond them, all of whom
had threatened some one of the Colonies. Nothing less than
the influence of this union could have postponed for thirty
years a war with the Narragansets. With all its faults, it
illustrated the truth that “ in union there is strength; ” and
in its closely-restricted powers, its exclusion from the internal
affairs of the several Colonies, and its principle of State
,i equality, it was the prototype of that grander Federal Union
i which, a century after the Colonial federation’s dissolution,
» made our country a nation.
Yet this Confederation was a stronghold of bigotry, and
did much to reduce liberally-inclined Plymouth to the level
of her stern associates. It was but natural that a Colony
should lose something of its independent thought and action
by becoming one of the lesser members of such a body;
that while it gained much in security and industrial progress,
its self-reliance and manliness must suffer. From this period,
but not alone from this cause, Plymouth history ceases to be
of continuous interest. Save the Quaker excitement and
1 It also survived the Narraganset nation and the Dutch rule at Manhattan.
Of those who were magistrates at its formation, only John Alden, of Plymouth,
and Simon Bradstreet, of Boston, saw its end.418
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1643-
Philip’s War, the story becomes uneventful, except as the
heroes and heroines of the bygone Pilgrim age sink one by
one to their nobly-earned rest. If “ happy are the people
whose annals are barren,” the Old Colony henceforth had
much tranquil enjoyment.
This review now purposes little more than a series of fare-
well notices of persons already introduced, or those connected
with them, and to leave Plymouth’s later experiences to ex-
hibit themselves mostly through the medium of condensed
biography.1
1 Among the principal events of general history which follow are : the begin-
nings of Harvard College; the Quaker disturbances; the Witchcraft excitement;
Philip’s War; the growth of Anabaptistry and Intolerance; and the union of
Plymouth with Massachusetts.CHAPTER LII.
GORTON. —HIS MOVEMENTS AND CHARACTER.
IN 1636 Samuel Gorton, of London, came with his wife to
Plymouth, after a stop at Salem. He was one of the
volunteers for the Pequod war in 1637, but of his business
nothing is said. He soon won the reputation of a “ prodigious
minter of exorbitant novelties.” Morton calls him “ blas-
phemous and familistic,” — which probably means nothing
more than that he was aggressive, and had ideas beyond the
range of the secretary’s bigotry. Gorton and his wife boarded
with Smith, the ex-pastor; and after a time Mrs. Smith ex-
pressed a higher opinion of Gorton’s prayers than of her hus-
band’s. Smith, thus touched in both his professional and his
conjugal pride, ordered the Gortons from his house. Gorton
claiming the rights of a tenant, the case -went to court, where
it was decided for Smith. From some provocation, Gorton
was led to treat the Bench to a little choice invective, address-
ing the presiding magistrate as “ Satan,” and extending his
remarks to the local clergy. He was then heavily fined, and
ordered to leave the Colony within fourteen days; but lest
his family might suffer, only £10 was taken from him.
Gorton then went across to Aquiday, and was there soon
involved in a case over a pig, which resulted in his getting
whipped at the public post for contempt of court. It is just
to Gorton to say that this offence seems to have been chiefly
in a punning description of the justices as “ just-asses,” and
calling Mr. Justice Eaton “ a lawyer”! He passed on to
Providence, where he speedily led the tolerant Roger Williams
to express regrets that he could not also banish him, as “ the420
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1642-76.
tide was against it.”1 In 1642 Gorton and his friends, includ-
ing “ John Weeks and wife,” with others who had followed him
from Plymouth, crossed from Providence to Shawomet (now
Warwick), and created a thriving town. Probably Gorton
had hitherto been in the wrong; but the outrageous conduct
of Massachusetts soon put him in the right.
Gorton’s wrongs do not belong in a book having the scope
of this review; but it may be added that after his persecu-
tion began he had the strong sympathy of Plymouth, which
seems to have been fully reciprocated.2 In his eightieth year
he went as interpreter in Plymouth’s behalf on a last attempt
to avert Philip’s outbreak. Gorton has without doubt been
grossly misrepresented by the early writers at the Bay. In
1676, when he died at the age of eighty, he had for very long
been annually elected to offices of trust in his town of War-
wick, and had also been an honored preacher. He was in
familiar correspondence with Governor Winthrop of Connec-
ticut, who was his physician, and Gorton’s letters to him not
only show Latin scholarship, but are of a beauty of penman-
ship rarely seen at that day. Yet if many of his contempo-
raries failed to fully or justly understand his doctrines, those
who now read his manuscripts are not much more successful.
It certainly appears that he was up to the orthodox standard
of his times, even to the extent of vehemence against the
Quakers and others whom his enemies called “ heretics.”
Take him all in all, he deserves far better from history than
he has received.
1	Williams seems to have objected, not to the principle of banishing unwel-
come persons, but its application to himself.
2	Under the head of “John Brown,” it will be seen that Plymouth protected
Gorton against Massachusetts by claiming jurisdiction over his territory. In
after years, when some “ Gortonists ” had a controversy with Pomham over some
hogs, Pomham would not have the case referred to Plymouth because of the
favor there to the Gortonists, and John Brown is mentioned as “very familiar”
with them.CHAPTER LIII.
CHAUNCEY. — DUNSTER. — HARVARD COLLEGE. — PRINTING.
OR two years John Reynor had ably and acceptably filled
the Plymouth pulpit, when in 1638 he was joined by
Charles Chauncey, a graduate of Trinity College, on the Cam,
where he had been successively named as Greek and as He-
brew professor. In 1629, while vicar of Ware, he was cited
for terming some of Laud’s churchly novelties as “ idola-
trous,” and only escaped prison by a Latin apology to that
primate. In 1635, for opposing the erection of a rail before
his communion-table by some unauthorized parishioners,
Laud ruined him by fines, and after keeping him a prisoner
for more than a year, exacted from him an approval of chan-
cel-rails, and of kneeling at them in the communion, — a con-
cession which Chauncey bewailed forever after. Laud rarely
lost sight of his victims, and soon again summoned Chaun-
cey,— this time for neglecting to read the “ Book of Sports.”1
The clergyman’s only hope now was in flight, and he quickly
found his way across the Atlantic to Boston. Then he was
(1638) “ invited and sent for” to come to Plymouth as
“ pastor,” under Reynor as “ teacher.”
Chauncey’s ability and learning made him a marvellous ac-
1 James I. authorized games on Sunday, publishing in 1618 “The King’s
Majestie’s Declaration to his Subjects concerning Lawful Sports to be used”
on Sundays after evening prayers. The second “ Book of Sports,” that referred
to above, was published with a ratification by Charles I. in 1633. It caused
violent and angry discussions among the clergy; and when Cromwell came, the
book was ordered by Parliament to be burned by the hangman, and the sports
were suppressed.422
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1641.
quisition even to that well-filled pulpit, and Bradford, Winslow,
Brewster, Fuller, and others must have had many an intellec-
tual treat of a high order. But before three years had passed,
the new pastor began to declare immersion the only real bap-
tism for either infants or adults, and to insist that the com-
munion must be celebrated by candle-light, in the manner( ?)
of the Last Supper.1 Great efforts were made to bring him
back. Pastor Partridge, of Duxbury, held several public dis-
cussions with him, as also did other clergymen; but with the
usual result of making each disputant only the more positive.
Then Chauncey’s own statement of his views was sent to the
churches at Boston, Hartford, and New Haven, all the pastors
of which expressed a vigorous disapproval; but he became
the more firm. With very great liberality, the Pilgrim church
then invited him to continue with them, and to administer
the ordinances in his way to all who should so desire, while
Reynor served in other cases. But Chauncey would accept
nothing short of entire conformity to his views. Bradford
says: “ The church yielded that immersion or dipping was
lawful, but in this cold country not so convenient; ” but that
they dared not assent to the unlawfulness of sprinkling,
“ which all the churches of Christ do for the most part use at
this day.”
So in 1641 Chauncey went from Plymouth to Lothrop’s
former pulpit at Scituate. There he carried-out his views;
and early illustrated them one winter's day by cruelly im-
mersing his two little children, one of whom became insen-
sible from the cold. The mother of another child was so
afraid to present it that Chauncey sent her with a note to
Boston, where the infant was sprinkled. Several of his flock
began to oppose his practices; and after the manner of Laud,
he sought to coerce them by excommunication. They there-
fore seceded, under the lead of William Vassall (captain of
the train-band, and one of the twelve members of the Council
1 Pastor Leveredge, of Sandwich, became a convert to Chauncey’s idea of
night communion. The poor man had already more causes of disquiet than he
could overcome, and this intensified them. (See notice of him.)1645-54*]
WETHERELL. — CH AUNCEY.
423
of War), who acted with the Congregationalists, while privately
retaining his Episcopal preferences.
The new body built a little thatch-roofed church, and
founded the South Parish of Scituate. In 1645 William
Wetherell, of Duxbury, became its pastor, and served till his
death, thirty-nine years later.1 The Old Colony churches
and magistrates sternly disapproved of this new church, and
long refused it recognition; while, on the other hand, it was
much encouraged by the Bay. Plymouth did not regard
such differences as justifying the division of a parish, and the
consequent weakening of its resources, whether done in the
interests of Congregationalists at Scituate, or of Baptists at
Rehoboth (q. v.). She was at least consistent.
Chauncey’s manners made much ill-feeling between the
parishes, and he foolishly came to profess a fear for his life
at the hands of Vassall. His clerical income fell off; but he
eked it out with his fees as a practising physician, like many
pastors of the time. His medical standing is indicated by a
court-order of 1647, that Francis Crooker may marry Mary
Gaunt, of Barnstable, if “ Mr. Chauncey and some other ap-
proved phisition ” will certify that his is “ not the falling sick-
ness.n In 1648 the liberal Vassall returned to England, but
the new parish was kept up with vigor.2 Chauncey’s fare
grew hard and harder, until, in 1654, when Laud had long
been beheaded and Cromwell was in power, he concluded to
accept a call to his old parish of Ware; but while in Boston
waiting for a ship, he was led to change his course and
become the second president of Harvard College, — an
institution which here requires some notice.
1	An anecdote related of Wetherell, in Scituate, may serve to illustrate the
manner of those times. One Bryant entered the church after service had begun,
and Parson Wetherell, at the close of his prayer, thus addressed him: “ Neighbor
Bryant, it is to your reproach that you have disturbed the worship by entering
late, living as you do within a mile of this place ; and especially so since here is
Goody Barstow, who has milked seven cows, made a cheese, and walked five
miles to the House of God in good season.”
2	In 1653 Chauncey sued his neighbor William Barstow for slander. The
General Court gave him ^100, with i8j. 6d. costs. Chauncey on the spot for-
gave Barstow the ;£ioo. (For similar case see “John Brown.”)424
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1638-40.
In 1638 the General Court of Massachusetts opened a theo-
logical school at the then Newtown, and placed over it as
master Nathaniel Eaton. The next year Eaton fled, to
escape arrest for wasting the funds, and for whipping the
students more than was proper, he often giving them from
twenty to thirty stripes at a time, and also severely flogging
the tutor;1 his wife, too, had starved the students in their
commons. At about that time the town was re-named Cam-
bridge, from the place where several of the Colonists had
been educated; while “ the School ” was dignified to Har-
vard College. In 1639 its first class was entered on a three-
years’ course of study, Nathaniel Brewster coming from
Plymouth as one of its members.
In 1640 Henry Dunster was made the first president of the
College by that title. He had just come from the English
Cambridge, and though but thirty years old, — the youngest
president the institution has ever chosen, — he stands among
the highest on the list for learning and ability. His duties
were varied. Now he was giving instruction in Hebrew,2
Syriac, or Chaldaic, which were all in the regular course;
anon he was accounting with his steward, to whom most of
the College receipts came in, for cattle, sheep, goats, meat,
sugar, malt, parsnips, butter, satin, kersey, cottons, nails, and
especially maize.3 Once, at least, the authorities required
him to personally flog two of his junior class, with some
ceremony, they having committed burglary, and there then
being no law in Massachusetts against that crime. One of
the above culprits graduated the next year in good 'standing,
and received his degree.4
1	He was Nathaniel Briscoe. Eaton became an Episcopal clergyman in
Virginia, and Winthrop dismisses him from notice with the acid remark he was
M usually drunken, as is the custom there.”
2	The great test in Hebrew was Isaiah iii., on the “ bravery ” of women.
8 Among the receipts were: a sheep of 67 lbs., £1 is.; 35 lbs. sugar; a fat
cow; a calf; a quarter of beef; 3 yards yellow cotton; 2,000 nails; and a goat
from Watertown, which died. Even Governor Dudley paid his son’s tuition in
com.
4 The father of one of them, Nathaniel Ward, pastor of Ipswich, was also
educated as a lawyer, and framed the first statute-book of Massachusetts. He is1638-47-]
HARVARD COLLEGE. —PRINTING.
425
In 1647 Dunster reported that the College building needed
much repair, from its u yearly decays ” and “ first evil contri-
val.”1 The next year he complained of spurious wampum-
peag, saying there was much “ false peag,” “ badd and unfin-
ished ; ” the beads from the dark part of the shell having twice
the value of white, he said that “ the endeans ” were circulating
“ dyed peag.” As this currency was much used by the whites,
the fraud probably injured the College treasury.2 The presi-
dent, however, was equal to all the calls upon him, and gave
the young College much strength and character.
Dunster, too, was closely connected with the introduction of
printing into this country. In 1638 Mr. Glover, an English
clergyman, sailed with his wife for Boston, bringing a printing-
press and an exceedingly illiterate printer named Stephen
Day.3 Glover died on the voyage, but his widow, who had
property, bought a house at Cambridge. There the press was
set up by Day, and its first known production was the “ Free-
man’s Oath ” for official use; the second was an almanac for
1639, calculated for New England by our old friend “ William
Peirse, Mariner,” former captain of the “ Anne,” “ Lion,” and
best known by a long and fearful religious poem, “The Simple Cobbler of
Agawam.” In the 181st stanza, the souls of unbaptized infants having forcibly
pleaded their innocence of Adam’s sin, the Divine Judge is represented as
replying: —
“ A Crime it is ! Therefore in Bliss
You may not hope to dwell;
But unto you I shall allow
The easiest Room in Hell! ”
In 1646 Ward, returning to England, made the College a parting gift of six hun-
dred acres of land; so his son’s punishment did not disaffect him. In England,
however, he was ill-natured toward New England, and told falsehoods about it.
In 1674 Thomas Sargeant, probably a junior, was ordered by the overseers
to be flogged for blasphemy. The students were gathered in the library; the
president then made a prayer; next Sargeant knelt, and was flogged by Goodman
Healey; then the president closed the instructive exercises with another prayer.
There probably was far less disgrace attached to this whipping than to Sargeant’s
further penalty of sitting by himself at meals and eating without wearing his hat.
For the first century of the College, chastisement was a common penalty, and
was freely inflicted by the tutors, without involving any great discredit on the
culprit.
1	First building finished, 1639.
2	In 1644 Pynchon, of Springfield, complained that Printer Day, of Cambridge,
had paid him some “ blue wampum,” not worth half price.
8 An English printer progenitor was John Day; born 1522, died 1584.426
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1654.
“ Mayflower; ” the third was the famous “ Bay Psalm-book.”1
Dunster, by private solicitation and much cost to himself,
succeeded in building a president’s house, and to it he carried
Mrs. Glover as his wife. He also took the press into his
house, and kept it there until his own removal in 1654.
Before the latter date Day had departed, and his place was
taken by Captain Samuel Green, — the ancestor of a noble line
of printers, booksellers, and writers.2 In 1654 this pioneer
1	This had 147 leaves; a good copy now being worth $1,200 to $1,500. Yet
it was not the first book printed in America (it was practically the first in north-
ern North America); for a school-book, “ The Spiritual Ladder,” had been
printed in Mexico a hundred and seven years before, and was followed there and
in Peru by at least a hundred other books from the Spanish Jesuit priests. The
first press at Boston was set up in 1674; at Exeter (Eng.), eleven years after
the Cambridge press; at Manchester a hundred years later; and at Liverpool a
hundred and ten years.
2	Green probably came over in 1632, and was long the town clerk of Cam-
bridge and captain of the train-band; he died 1702, “very old.” He seems to
have turned his business over to his son Samuel, for Sewall records in 1690 that
Printer Green and wife died of small-pox. In 1692 an inventory of the property
in his office belonging to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, etc.,
was as follows: —
Utensils for printing, belonging to the corporation in the Costody of Samuell Green, of Cam-
bridge, Printer, Sept. 1, 1662.
The presse with what belongs to it, with one tinn pan and two Frisletts.
Item — Two tables of cases for letters with one olde case; the fontt of letters, together with the
imperfections that came since.
Item — one brass bed, one imposing stone, 2 bbls. of ink, 3 chases, 2 composing sticks, 1 ley
brush, 2 candlesticks — 1 for the cases, the other for the press.
Item — the frame and box for the cistern.
Item—the riglet brass and scabbard, the sponge, 1 galley, 1 mallet, 1 shooting stick, and
furniture for the chases.
Item — the letters that came before, that were mingled with the colleges.
Only printers will be likely to recognize the “tinn pan” and “frisletts,” for
tympan and friskets. Two years later a request was sent to the Society for a
font of pica, both “ Roman and Italian ” (italic).
Day lost his money in an attempt to found Lancaster; he then worked under
Green, and died 1668, at. 58.
This volume bears the imprint of the present “ University Press,” whose
building lies within a stone's-throw of the old quarters, and which has outgrown
the wildest conceptions of Day and Green. It now employs some three hun-
dred persons, who, with a hundred tons of type and some forty printing-presses,
are kept busy in carrying on that work so happily begun two and a half centuries
ago in Dunster's back room. Of the present owners, —John Wilson and Charles
E. Wentworth, — a remarkable coincidence is that Mr. Wentworth in the due
fitness of things followed Dunster’s example and married a descendant of Rev.
Mr. Glover. Mr. Wilson's father (his predecessor) put forth a system of
punctuation which perhaps guides more printers in these dubious matters than
any other one book extant.I653-9-]
DUNSTER.
427
“ University Press ” had passed into the control of the Colo^
nial Commissioners and the Society for Propagating the Gospel
in New England, which in 1658 printed Eliot’s Indian Bible.
In 1653 Dunster began to preach against infant baptism, and
so vigorously that Pastor Mitchell of Cambridge declared his
own faith to have been shaken, until he reminded himself
that such teaching could come only “ from the Evil One ! ”
When the pastor was baptizing an infant, the next year,
Dunster arose and “ bore testimony ” against the ceremony.
He was tried for disturbing the ordinance, being sentenced
to admonition in public, and to give bonds for future good
behavior. Public feeling was such that he felt obliged to re-
sign his office. The overseers found that ^40 was due him,
and recommended that ;£ioo besides be paid on account of
his eminent services. The General Court, almost with con-
tumely, refused compliance; and it was not till several years
afterward that they gave his widow £20 in payment of the
debt of ^40. It was only by pitiful solicitation that Dunster
obtained the Court’s leave to remain through the winter of
1654-5, with his dangerously sick family, in that house which
he had built for the College at much loss to himself.
Chauncey had been frozen-out at Scituate on charges of
Anabaptistry,—which was something vague and variable in
its meaning. Dunster had been frozen-out at the College also
on a charge of Anabaptistry. Yet Chauncey was at once in-
vited to Dunster’s chair, and the next spring Dunster took his
library and head of cattle to Chauncey’s old parish in Scitu-
ate, where he established his home. There he occasionally
preached; and as, like Chauncey, he was a regularly educated
physician, probably practised as such. He won the regard of
the liberal leaders Hatherly and Cudworth, and joined them
in pleading for leniency toward the Quakers, whose tenets he
powerfully opposed. Dunster died in Scituate in 1659, when
only forty-nine years old. His heart ever yearned toward the
College which had cast him out, and to which he made gifts,
as well as to some persons who had been active in displacing
him. He also asked to be buried beside the College. His428
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1663.
body in its coffin was packed in the herb tansy, probably for
safer conveyance, and in time was removed to the old burying-
ground opposite the College grounds.1 Several of his succes-
sors in office have, by different generations, been laid beside
him, and the spot is called “ Presidents' Corner." One who
knows Dunster’s history is not likely to visit that grave and
read his epitaph without unwonted emotion.
Chauncey, to obtain the office, promised to keep to himself
his views upon immersion and evening communion. He had
made constant sacrifices for conscience’ sake, and for these
very principles had left comfort and dignity at Plymouth for
privation and strife at Scituate; that he should surrender them
now, even to the extent of silent acquiescence, is marvellous.2
Still, he did not find a bed of roses. In his first year he was
forced to complain to the General Court of the scantiness of
his support, though they had agreed to provide for him liber-
ally; the Indian corn, in which much of his income was paid,
could only be traded for family supplies by losing Sd. to 12d.
on a bushel; he had no farm and cattle, as Dunster had; he
had been forced to use ,£100 of his own funds; and if no
change should be made, he might look for another place.
In 1663 his troubles were not only unremoved, but he was in
debt, and tempted to go elsewhere. The deputies proposed
to increase his ,£100 stipend to ;£i20, but the Council refused
concurrence. After his death his sons, representing the great
straits in which he had been during his entire term of office,
modestly asked that the arrears of his salary be paid “ in
money,” and their invalid brother aided. This was done.
1 In 1846 Dunster’s monument was so broken and illegible that its identity
was doubted. An exhumation showed the body still surrounded by its packing
of tansy; the features were traceable, a short brown beard remaining on the
upper lip.
a Chauncey, however, was under no restrictions in expressing his opinion of
men’s wearing long hair; and this he preached against as abominable in the sight
of God, and one of the crying sins of the land. Governor Endicott, on succeed-
ing Winthrop in 1649, hastened to procure a law against long hair, — though his
own portrait presents him “ bearded like the pard.” The Apostle Eliot was
sharp against long hair, as well as wigs, and sagely attributed the Indian war to
God’s wrath thereat.1665-72-]
CHAUNCEY’S LAST YEARS.
429
Still Chauncey was a strong and able president, and wor-
thily carried forward the work so grandly begun by Dunster.
In 1665 he conferred a degree on Caleb Cheeshateaumuck,
the only one of the many Indian, students wrho ever gradu-
ated. It was after a highly successful administration of sev-
enteen years that Chauncey, at the Commencement in 1671,
pronounced a Latin oration, in which he took a solemn fare-
well of his friends. The next February, at the age of eighty,
he too was laid in Presidents' Corner, where his Latin epitaph
will be found beside Dunster’s.1
1 Chauncey’s wife, Catharine, died 1666; they had six sons, and all were edu-
cated both as clergymen and physicians. The clergy were then often physicians,
in 1624 Parliament being strongly petitioned against this practice in England.CHAPTER LIV.
William Brewster. — Stephen Hopkins. — John Atwood.—JohnJenney.—
Grist-Mills, etc. —William Thomas. —John Lothrop.
REMARKABLE is it that after the first winter the ranks
of the Pilgrim leaders remained so nearly unbroken
until their little commonwealth was firmly established and
embraced in a powerful alliance. Warren and Fuller were
dead, and Allerton had departed in dishonor; but when the
Confederation was formed, Bradford and Winslow, Standish
and Brewster, Hopkins, Howland, and Alden were still at the
head of affairs. Had these men been added to the victims of
the first year, there would have been no English-speaking
state in the probable future of New England.
In the first year of the Confederacy (on April 18/28, 1644)
the Old Colony as one man mourned the death of Elder
Brewster. His age, which very singularly was unknown to his
associates, was 78.1 His only surviving children were his sons
1 Bradford says: “ He was near fourscore years of age, if not all out.”
Morton, in trying to copy this into his “ Memorial,” twists it into “ fourscore and
four,” and he also follows Bradford in antedating the death one year (1643);
but the church records give 1644, — a date which the Colony records in more
than one place show to be correct. (See “Mayflower’s” passenger-list, p. 183.)
Brewster’s birth, by the “Memorial,” must have been 1559; by Steele, Windsor,
and Mitchell, 1560; by the church records, 1564: but in Brewster’s affidavit,
which Dr. Dexter has found in Holland, the Elder himself in June, 1609, gave
his age as 42. So he was born in the latter half of 1566, or the first half of 1567.
It is safe to call it 1566. (See N. E. Gen. Reg., xviii. 18.)1644]
WILLIAM BREWSTER’S DEATH.
431
Jonathan and Love, both of Duxbury. At that place the
Elder had a house and farm; but he also retained his Ply-
mouth house, and there died.1
The Elder continued to work in the fields as long as his
strength permitted; and so simple were his habits that, in
marked distinction to his fellow-colonists and their contem-
poraries, water formed his only drink until he had passed
threescore years and ten. His last illness was brief, and on
the day next before his death he was not wholly confined to
his bed. Until his last noon he was able to talk with friends
as they “ mourned and wept over him; ” he then lay in silence
with a short, quick breath until about the usual hour of seek-
ing repose, when his breath at once became long, like that of
peaceful slumber, and he literally “ fell asleep/’
As the Elder had left no will, it was feared that the sons
might disagree as to their rights. So when the body had
been laid on Burial Hill with especial honor and reverence,
the sons went from the grave to Governor Bradford’s house,
and were then exhorted by Pastors Reynor, of Plymouth, Par-
tridge, of Duxbury, and Bulkley, of Marshfield, that they
should “ honor their reverend father” by fraternal harmony.
Jonathan replied that though the elder son; who might by
custom claim superior rights, he only desired an equal divi-
sion. “ Here,” said he, “ are four of my father’s dear and
ancient friends, — Governor Bradford, Master Edward Wins-
low, of Marshfield, Master Thomas Prence, of Plymouth, and
1 This is indicated by the expression in Plym. Rec., xii. 115: “ William Brews-
ter, late of Plymouth.” Hon. W. T. Davis, in his “ Ancient Landmarks of Ply-
mouth,” p. 131, mentions the Elder as dying in Duxbury; but a subsequent study
of the inventory of the estate showed, by the clothing and other personal articles
at the Plymouth house, that he was residing there in his last days. Mr.
Davis in his next edition, as he notifies the author, will change his statement
accordingly.
Jonathan Brewster’s wife was Lucretia; they removed to Norwich, Conn., 1648,
where he, from his correspondence with Governor Winthrop, Jr., seems to have
been a leading citizen ; his children were William, Mary, Jonathan, and Benjamin.
Love Brewster married Sarah Collier (daughter of William), 1634; they both
died at Duxbury, 1650; their children were Sarah, Nathaniel, William, and
Wrestling. Through these grandchildren the good Elder’s name has descended
in a most worthy manner.
28432
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1644-
Captain Standish, of Duxbury. If any difference should arise,
let their decision end the matter at once and forever.” To
this Love assented. The settlement was thus made harmo-
nious. Jonathan, as the “ first born,” was given his father’s
arms and a two-year old heifer; Love had an allowance for
the board of his nephew, Isaac Allerton, Jr., whom the Elder
had left for him “ to table.” All else was shared evenly. The
inventory was as follows: —
£ s. d.
Clothing and Household Utensils at House in Plymouth 28	8 20
Articles at House in Duxbury...........................10708
Latin and other Learned Books, 64 vols................15 19 4
English Books, 211 vols................................2707
^178 9 5
The land seems to have been divided without appraisal.
The opening chapters of this book gave nearly all that is
known of the youth and early experiences of this good and
lovable man. During the first nine years of the Colony, when
the Pilgrims were without a minister, he preached twice every
Sunday, as Bradford says, “ both powerfully and profitably,”
so that “ many were brought to God by his ministry; ” “ he
was wise and discreet and well-spoken, having a grave and
deliberate utterance; of a very cheerful spirit, very sociable
and pleasant, of an humble and modest mind, of a peaceful
disposition, undervaluing himself and his own abilities, and
sometimes overvaluing others; inoffensive and innocent in
his life and conversation.” He was beloved by all, though
he hesitated not to tell people of their faults. He was espe-
cially sympathetic with those who had met with reverses of
fortune, and “ none did more offend or displease him than
such as would haughtily and proudly carry and lift up them-
selves, being risen from nothing, and having little else in them
to commend them but a few fine clothes or a little riches more
than others.”
“ In teaching he was very moving and stirring of affections,
also very plain and distinct. . . . He had a singular good giftSTEPHEN HOPKINS.
433
1644.]
in prayer, ... in ripping up the heart and conscience before
God. . . . He always thought it were better for ministers to
pray oftener and divide their prayers, than be long and tedious
in the same, — except upon solemn and special occasions, as
in days of humiliation and the like.”
Several pages might be devoted to the character of this
sainted Pilgrim, but it is better to close here with Bradford’s
remark upon him: “ I should say something of his life, if to
say a little were not worse than to be silent.”
STEPHEN HOPKINS.
In the year of Brewster’s death (1644) died Stephen Hop-
kins. He joined the Pilgrims as they touched at England on
their final voyage, and it is but recently that anything has
been known of his previous life. Now, it appears that when,
in 1609, Governor Gates sailed from England for Virginia, his
chaplain, Mr. Buck, had as a lay-reader Stephen Hopkins,
who possessed “ much knowledge of the Scriptures, and could
reason well in them.” The ship having been wrecked at Ber-
muda, Hopkins maintained that as her people had engaged
to serve the Company in Virginia, the landing at another place
had vitiated the contract and released them from subordina-
tion. Gates, calling this treason, caused Hopkins to be sen-
tenced to death by court-martial. Hopkins bewailed the ruin
which would ensue to his wife and children, and the chaplain,
admiral, and other officers with difficulty brought Gates to
pardon him. The stay on the island had then lasted six
months, and to eke out the provisions deer had been caught
in traps.
Reference to the framing of the Compact in the “ May-
flower ” will show that strangers were advancing the same
idea that had brought Hopkins into trouble eleven years
before. It is not probable that he, with his family and sub-
stance, now preached insubordination; but his theorizings
may have led his hot-headed employes, Dotey and Lister, into
vaporing. It is now seen why Hopkins was the only man on434
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1644.
the first exploration to identify the deer-trap which subse-
quently caught Bradford.
The first mention of Hopkins as one of the Pilgrims is on
the birth of his son Oceanus. His prominence is shown by
his title of Master, his two men “ servants,” his selection as
one of Standish’s counsellors on the first exploration, and as
Winslow’s colleague in the venturesome visit to Massasoit’s
home in 1621. He was also one of the Governor’s Council
in 1633-4-5-6, and perhaps earlier. While he was in the
latter office he was tried by his colleagues for assaulting John
Tisdale. The jury, which included his old comrades, Stand-
ish and Howland, found him guilty; and his sentence was to
pay £2 to Tisdale, and £$ to the King, “ whose peace he had
broken.” It was set forth that the penalty was made heavy be-
cause as a magistrate “ he ought after a special manner to have
kept ” the King’s peace. “ King ” of course meant Colony.
In 1637 Hopkins’ impartial friends fined him £2 for allow-
ing servants and others to sit in his house drinking and
“ playing shovel-board.” In 1638 they fined him £1 each
on five complaints for selling beer, wine, and strong liquors
at too great a profit. It was long common for the best citi-
zens to be intrusted with this traffic, as Constant Southworth,
in Duxbury, and in 1660 William Collier, the richest man in
the Colony. Hopkins seems to have carelessly allowed his
license to lapse, for in 1639 he was charged with selling
“ strong waters” without a license; on “ frankly admitting”
the fact he was fined £$y though the next year Francis
Sprague, of Duxbury, for the same offence was fined only
^i.1 In 1639, too, Hopkins was before the Court for selling
at i6d. a looking-glass, “ the like of which is bought at the
Bay for gd.” No decision is recorded, but the case is inter-
esting as making the first mention of looking-glasses in the
Colony. A four days’ committal the same year for contempt
of court has been noticed (p. 408).
1 Deacon John Doane, of Plymouth, and the future General Cudworth, of
Scituate, were up on a like charge also in 1640, but the result is not stated. The
license-laws, were always enforced with sharpness.1644.]
STEPHEN HOPKINS.
435
It is not to be supposed that this sturdy old Pilgrim was not
always a much-respected citizen. The law in such cases was
vague and inferential rather than positive, — its penalties be-
ing largely discretionary with the Court; and this prominent
citizen, who was probably stubborn and argumentative, with
a disposition to construe the law to suit his own ideas, may
have been thought a useful subject for illustrating the impar-
tiality of the Bench. Perhaps, too, he annoyed his associates
by becoming more lax in practice as he grew older, while
they increased in strictness. There was a tender spot in the
veteran's heart, for his Pilgrim wife having died shortly be-
fore him, he directed in his will that he be laid as near her
as possible.1 He left two sons and five daughters, through
whom he has not lacked many honored descendants, though
of various surnames.2
Hopkins was a man of enterprise. At his land near Eel
River (Plymouth), which he sold in 1637, there was a wharf,
apparently several years old, and the first mentioned in the
Colony. A farm near Yarmouth was left to his second son,
Giles, whom he termed “ heir apparent." His horse (the
second mentioned in the Colony) was appraised at £6\ of
his fifteen neat-cattle, the yoke of oxen was held at ^15, and
his cows at £5 10s. each. He had a share in a ship, and he
retained, as his own dwelling, the house on the lot assigned
him at the landing from the “ Mayflower." This house stood
opposite Governor Bradford's, on the easterly corner of Main
and Leyden Streets. In 1652 it was hired by the Govern-
ment, which ordered Standish to construct in it a magazine
for the public stock of gunpowder. The residue of the build-
ing was made into jury and committee rooms. It certainly
was well that the jurymen had previously, under $s. penalty,
1	Governor Winthrop, Sen., in his English will of 1620, asks to be “laid near
my godly and loving wives, if conveniently may be.” (See Mrs. Alice Bradford’s
like request.)
2	One of his great-grandsons, with a weak hand but a stout heart, wrote
“ Stephen Hopkins ” beneath the Declaration of Independence; while the
“signer’s ” brother was Ezekiel Hopkins, the first admiral of our national navy,
the co-equal with Washington himself.436
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1644.
been forbidden to smoke while on duty; for such igneous
recreation in the new state apartments would have imperilled
the public quite as much as did the practice of the former
owner when he allowed servants to sit there and play shovel-
board.
JOHN ATWOOD.
In 1644 also died Mr. John Atwood, a prominent and
wealthy citizen, who had come over about 1633. In 1638
he was an assistant; in 1641-2-3-4, a deputy from Plym-
outh; and in 1641, Colonial Treasurer. He lived on North
Street, near the Rock, in a house which in 1638 he bought
of Governor Prence for £80. In 1649 his widow, Ann, sold
this estate, for ^*35, to Benjamin Vermayes, who the year
before had married Bradford’s daughter Mercy. The deed
was careful to state that it included “ all the fruit-trees on the
land; ” but it excepted the shingles in the cellar, — which is
the first notice yet found of this new covering for roofs.1 To
this deed the excellent Mistress Atwood made her mark, as
many of even the foremost dames of that day would have
been forced to do. Mr. Atwood, with all his prominence, is
frequently mentioned in the Annals as John Wood. (There
was in Duxbury a less-known John Atwood, a weaver.)
JOHN JENNEY (the Miller).
A fourth noted death in 1644 was that of John Jenney.
He was a man of property and enterprise; but there is no
evidence that, as reported, he owned the “ Little James,” in
which he arrived in 1623. Yet in 1637 he had a “ new
barque,” and in 1641 joined in building a ship. In the
last-named year he endeavored to establish salt-works on
Clark’s Island; but no success is reported.
In 1633 Stephen Dean was authorized to build on Town
Brook a beating-mill, which may have meant a mill for rudely
1 In 1641 Mr. Thomas Hill, of Plymouth, had many apple-trees for sale.
(See p. 399, for notice of roofs.)1634-44-]
JOHN JENNEY.— MILLS.
437
pulverizing maize in great mortars, so that a portion of coarse
meal could be had by sifting, while the residue was in form
for hominy and other dishes. Until then every family used
a hand-mortar, though later little steel mills were not un-
known.1 At Dean's death, in 1634, it is probable that his
mill was incomplete, for the General Court had just voted to
make his wheel-pit a foot deeper, leaving him to furnish the
“ yron work.” 2
In 1636 Jenney built a grist-mill on Town Brook. In 1638
he was indicted for not grinding well and seasonably; in the
year of his death his widow was presented because the mill
was not kept clean, and she promised to have it better cared
for. This mill, figuratively speaking, was often in hot water;
and so late as 1718, its then owner, Captain Church, who had
left a lad in charge of it, was warned that unless it did better
work, a rival mill would be permitted at the same place.
Grist-mills were at first scarce, for their construction de-
manded more capital, science, and experience than could
often be found, especially in combination; hence the miller
was usually a man of much importance. Jenney was four
years an assistant, and in 1641 a deputy. When, in 1645,
Rehoboth was founded, Richard Wright built a mill, and the
next year, because he would not leave it to serve as deputy,
he was fined. In 1651, when Bridgewater was founded, the
only citizens to bear the title of “ Master ” were James Keith,
the pastor, and Samuel Edson, the miller. So the early mil-
lers were men of good position.
Until 1639 Duxbury ground at Plymouth, having easy ac-
cess by water. But in that year Thomas Hilier and George
Pollard agreed, at “their own pper cost,” to build a “water
milne ” to grind both “ English and Indian; ” and it was a
hundred and twenty-eight years before any rival mill was
permitted there. Sandwich for years came a weary way to
1	In 1655 General Court awarded Samuel Fuller the leather breeches,
worth 20s., which William Pitman left on going away, in lieu of a steel mill which
he stole from Fuller.
2	In 1635 the Court appointed a committee (Standish chairman) to see if a
mill could be built by subscription. The plan probably failed.438
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1644.
Jenney’s mill, bringing her grists in boats, or on the backs of
horses, bulls, and even cows; but in 1648, when her miller
was charged with using an unsealed toll-dish, he was running
the second mill on that site. The toll at Plymouth for the
first two years was to be a “ pottle ” (two quarts) for a
bushel, and afterward a quart. At Scttuate (where the toll
was a pottle) William Gilson built a wind-mill in 1636; in
1640 a saw-mill was also there (at “ Stockbridge’s Mills ”),
and it probably was the first in the Colony. Even in 1675
saw-mills were spoken of in the smaller towns at the Bay as
a “ late invention.” From the beginning, at Plymouth, clap-
boards had been rived and shaved, as was much other short
material, while planks were split out and hewed or sawed.
Saw-pits were considerably used for nicer work. Massachu-
setts was much prompter in erecting grist-mills, for in 1629
Endicott received from London a hundred-and-ten buhrs for
making millstones; they cost 2s. each, and were bought of
“ Edward Casson, merchant tailor.”
The ship which Jenney helped build1 was the largest yet
undertaken at Plymouth, although its rate is given at only
fifty tons, and its cost £200, — figures so small that one is
led to doubt their accuracy, in view of the importance at-
tached to the affair. The cost was borne as follows: Mr.
Paddy,2 Mr. Hanbury, John Barnes,3 an eighth each; Gov-
ernor Bradford, Mr. Jenney, and his son Samuel, Mr. Atwood,
Samuel Hicks, George Bower, John Cooke, Mr. Willet, Mr.
Hopkins, Edward Bangs, a sixteenth each. It is a matter
of regret that nothing more can be found concerning this
vessel.
1	See “ Ship-building.*'
2	William Paddy came late to Plymouth. He was the Colony’s first treas-
urer (1636); for nine years he served as deputy, and for some eighteen years as
deacon. His wife, Alice, died 1651, and he removed that year to Boston; there
he died 1658, while a selectman. He left the great estate of ^2,758, bequeathed
equally to his nine children. His name has long been extinct there. In 1831,
during some repairs on the Old State House, his gravestone, with human remains,
was found under the street.
3	In 1671, as John Barnes stood at his barn-door stroking his bull, the animal
mortally wounded him by a sudden blow with the horns.1651 ]
WILLIAM THOMAS.—JOHN LOTHROP.
439
Mr. Jenney’s widow, Sarah, died in 1656, leaving £248.
The name is worthily perpetuated in the Old Colony, but
their descendants have paid little attention to their Pilgrim
progenitors.
WILLIAM THOMAS.
In 1651 died of consumption, at Marshfield, William Thomas,
aged seventy-seven. He was one of the Merchant Adven-
turers in 1620-7, and in 1630 came to New Plymouth. In
1641 he was a deputy from Barnstable, also in 1646 from
Marshfield, and for seven years he served as an assistant. He
was a scholarly, public-spirited gentleman, though illiberal in
religious matters. His son Nathaniel served in Philip’s War,
and of his later descendants many have been prominent.
One of them — also a William Thomas—died at Plymouth in
1882, aged ninety-three, and ranking as the oldest surviving
graduate (1807) of Harvard College. The gallant leader
of the American right at the siege of Boston (1776) was of
another family, though also of the Old Colony.
In the old burying-ground at Marshfield may still be seen
the gravestone of this worthy pioneer. The inscription
reads —
“ Here lies what remains of William Thomas, Esq., one of the
founders of New Plymouth Colony, who died in ye month of August,
1651, about ye 78th year of his age.”
(There is close by, the stone of his son Nathaniel, who died
Feb. 13, 1674, aged about sixty-eight, and who volunteered
himself and his man for the Pequod War in 1637.)
JOHN LOTHROP,
the famous pioneer preacher of Barnstable, died 1654. He
was an Oxford scholar, and became eminent as rector of
Edgerton, in Kent, but renouncing his living, joined Jacob’s
flock in London. Jacob, as a Puritan, had sharply assailed440
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1624-34.
the Separatists, especially Robinson and his Congregational-
ists; but Laud’s persecutions driving him to Holland, Robin-
son won him from Puritanism, so that in 1616 he opened in
London the first Independent church in England.1 In 1624
Jacob went to Virginia, where he soon died. Lothrop suc-
ceeded him at London. In 1632 this flock was pounced
upon while privately worshipping in the house of Humphrey
Barnet, a brewer’s clerk; and while eighteen escaped, forty-
two were thrown into prison. The laymen were the next
year released on bail; but Laud denied even such grace to
the recusant pastor, though Mrs. Lothrop was in a mortal
sickness. When her end drew near, however, Lothrop was
permitted to leave his prison long enough to make her a
parting visit, this boon having been granted at the solicita-
tion of their children, who called in a body on the Primate.
After nearly two years, the King was persuaded to let Lothrop
go into exile.2
In 1628 some “ men of Kent” came over and settled at
Satuit (now Scituate). Chief among them were Nathaniel
Tilden and sons, Henry Merrit, and Thomas Bird. After a
time Giles Saxton preached there. In 1634 Lothrop (for-
merly of Kent) joined them as pastor, bringing some thirty
of his London flock; and to him came back thirteen of his
people who had already domiciled at Plymouth.3 * * * * 8 As this
Kentish town grew, there arose the usual complaint of poor
soil and scanty room; in consequence of which the great
body of the church, headed by Lothrop, removed to Cape
1	Robinson's congregation did not become Independent until it reached
Leyden.
2	Lothrop’s London successor, Mr. Canne, opposed infant baptism. The
next pastor, Samuel Howe, was seized and kept in prison till his death, but his
deacon, Stephen More, conducted lay services till freedom came in 1641.
The site of the edifice used by this church when it began to worship publicly
under the Commonwealth, was afterwards occupied by Thrale's brewery. The
famous Dr. Johnson, as executor in behalf of his noted friend Mrs. Thrale, sold
the estate to the “Barclay & Perkins ” of his day; and the brewery of that noted
firm still occupies it, and it was there that the Austrian marshal, Haynau, was
mobbed in 1852 for having whipped women in the Hungarian rebellion.
8 In 1635 William Brooks, then at. 20, came to Scituate, a passenger in the
** Blessing,’* and married Susan Dunham, a widow.JOHN LOTHROP.
441
1653-]
Cod and founded Barnstable. Yet Scituate prospered, and
in time became the wealthiest and strongest town in the
Colony.
Barnstable also grew strong; and one will be fortunate in-
deed if he can find two better or pleasanter communities than
those of Lothrop’s two towns. At the West Parish of Barn-
stable, still strong, is the church organization which claims
to have been established by Jacob at London, to have been
transplanted by Lothrop to Scituate, and then* brought by
him to Barnstable; so that it is the original body of the first
Congregational church in Great Britain. In charge of it,
Lothrop died in 1653, full of years and honor. His son Bar-
nabas, an eminent magistrate in the last years of the Colony,
was born at Scituate, 1636 ; married Susanna Clark ; and
died at Barnstable, 1715. His grandson, Isaac Lothrop of
Plymouth (died 1750), was a highly esteemed judge of the
Common Pleas ; and his sons, Isaac and Nathaniel, were
noted men. Isaac (died 1808) was an earnest antiquary, who
as judge of probate for thirty years, had great opportunities;
his brother, a physician, graduated at the head of his class in
Harvard, 1756, and died in 1828, having long been the oldest
person in Plymouth.1
1 John Lothrop was one of the twenty-two children of Thomas Lothrop, of
Yorkshire. Probably he was brother to Mark Lothrop, who died at Bridgewater
(New Plymouth), 1686, aged about 89. (See “Memoirs of Lothrops,” by Rev.
E. B. Huntington.)
I find that Lothrop is mentioned in a deed of 1641 as “ minister,” — which title
was not then generally applied to the clergy.
Lothrop’s congregation had a thanksgiving feast Dec. 22, 1636 (o.s), “mak-
ing merry of the creature, the poorer being united of the richer.” Dec. n, 1639
(o. s.), was another festive meeting; and it being very cold after praise, it divided
into three companies “to feast together,” some at Hull’s, some at Mayo’s, and
the rest at Lombard, senior’s.CHAPTER LV.
THE PILGRIM TRIUMVIRS.

IN 1646 Massachusetts, justly fearing retribution for her
cruelty to Gorton and her abuse of Dr. Child and his
fellow-petitioners for religious toleration, engaged Governor
Winslow of Plymouth to visit England as her representa-
tive, — a selection which she justified by his “ presence,
speech, courage, and understanding, as also being well known
to the Commissioners.” 1 Winslow’s Plymouth associates dis-
approved of his mission; and the very last sentence of Brad-
ford’s History (in 1650) says of it: “ He hath now been
absent this four years, which hath been much to the weaken-
ing of this government, without whose consent he took these
employments upon him.” It was a sad day at the close of
autumn when, turning forever away from scenes so dear and
sacred to him, the gallant Winslow proceeded up the old
path to the Bay. On the way his horse fell sick and died, —
an omen which its somewhat superstitious rider might well
have heeded. At Boston, the treasury being empty, he was
detained until for his expenses the Colony could borrow
£100 from the merchants.
In England Winslow found the places of his old enemies
filled by the patriots of the Commonwealth; and with these
1 Commissioners of Plantations of English Government.'1646.]
EDWARD WINSLOW.
443
he acquired such influence as to save Massachusetts from
all harm, though the Commissioners for Plantations upheld
Gorton’s full right to the lands and liberty which that Colony
had so outraged. Gorton was at hand, and set forth his case
in a bitter but not unjustifiable book, called “ Simplicity’s
Defence.” Winslow made a harsh reply (1646), under the
title of “ Hypocrisy Unmasked.” The next year Dr. Child’s
brother made a much-provoked attack upon Boston and its
representative, in “ New England’s Jonah cast up in London; ”
and Winslow retorted with “ New England’s Salamander dis-
covered by an Irreligious and Scornful Pamphlet.”
As an appendix to his book against Gorton, is published
Winslow’s charming “ Brief Narration,” which is copied in
Young’s “ Chronicles,” and which gives us all that is known of
Robinson’s farewell address, besides much other Pilgrim his-
tory of the highest value. It redeems the volume from the
reproach for bigotry and injustice which is merited in its
main part; for, like most successful men, Winslow hardened
with years, as he had illustrated only the year before he left
Plymouth. The General Court had then received from Cap-
tain Vassall, of Scituate, and others, a strong petition for
legalized toleration for men of every religious belief who
would “ preserve the civil peace and submit unto govern-
ment.” No exception was to be made of Turk, Jew, Papist,
Arian, or Socinian. Yet the majority of the deputies favored
the plan; and it is said that the magistrates were equally
divided. In the latter case, the liberals must have been Stan-
dish, Hatherly, Brown, and Freeman ; while against them
stood Bradford, Winslow, Prence, and Collier. As the Court
sat in one body, and the Governor had no veto, it was evident
that toleration would be enacted if a vote should be taken;
so Winslow and his friends resorted to a Parliamentary trick,
not yet obsolete, by procuring a postponement of the matter,
under pretence of giving it a fuller consideration. Of this
petition Winslow wrote: “ You would have admired to have
seen how sweet this carrion relished to the palate of most of
the deputies.”444
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1649-55. ■
Winslow soon turned to work more worthy of him, pub-
lishing a tract upon “ The Glorious Progress of the Gospel
among the Indians/' with extracts from Eliot and young
Mayhew. His labors led, in 1649, to the incorporation of
the famous English Society for Propagating the Gospel in
New England, and to a large private endowment of it. In
1650 President Steele, of this society, wrote to the Colonial
Commissioners in New England that Winslow was unwill-
ing to be longer kept from his family, but that his great
acquaintance and influence with members of Parliament
required his longer stay. It also appeared that during his
nearly four years' service, Massachusetts had paid him only
the niggardly sum of //300. The Commissioners there-
fore gave him ;£ioo in view of his labors for the Indians.
But the courtly Pilgrim soon found a more munificent em-
ployer, for his ability and worth recommended him to Oliver
Cromwell.
In 1652 the great Protector made him chairman of a joint
English and Dutch commission to award damages to England
for her vessels recently destroyed in neutral Denmark by the
Dutch. He continued in such high favor with Cromwell that
in 1655 he was sent as chief of three commissioners to cap-
ture the Spanish West Indies and establish himself as gover-
nor of Hispaniola. His colleagues were General Venable,
who led the soldiers of the expedition, and Admiral Penn, in
charge of the fleet. Through the mutual jealousy of these
two officers, the attack on Hispaniola proved a failure and a
disgrace. The fleet then sailed for what proved the success-
ful conquest of Jamaica. But Winslow was taken with a
fever, — perhaps resulting from his chagrin at the recent dis-
aster,— and midway of the voyage he died, on May 8/1-8,
1655, at the age of sixty-one. The “grand commissioner"
was buried in the sea; and over the spot the fleet fired forty-
two guns, as a salute of high rank. Thus died and was buried
the youngest of the three great leaders.
Edward Winslow, son of Edward and Magdalen (Oliver),
was born at Droitwich, Worcester, 1595. He doubtless had1595-^4.]
WINSLOW AND HIS FAMILY.
445
early social advantages beyond his associates, and a fair edu-
cation, though it is uncertain whether he was at college. His
two marriages have been noticed. Mrs. Susanna Winslow sur-
vived until 1680, when she was laid in the Winslow burying-
ground at Marshfield, where was the family estate called
Careswell. Hers was an eminent position. She was mother
of the first English child born in the Colony, and the “ May-
flower’s ” cabin was his birthplace; she became the wife of
one governor of the Colony, and the mother of another, the
latter being the first native-born governor of a North Ameri-
can Commonwealth. Of her elder children, Resolved White
was living in 1690, with his posterity around him, and Pere-
grine survived until 1704, famous as the Colony’s first-born,
and as having even at threescore been most attentive and
loving to his mother.
Winslow left but one son, Josiah [q. v.~\ (2), the future gov-
ernor, who also left one son, Isaac (3) ; the latter left one
son, John (4), a future general in the British army, and whose
second son, Dr. Isaac (5), left a son John (6), and he a son
Isaac (7), who died at Boston, — the last of the descent to
bear the name of Winslow. The latter, however, has been
honorably perpetuated through Edward’s three brothers, who
settled near him. John, who married Mary Chilton, of the
“ Mayflower,” held various public positions in the Old Colony,
but spent the later portion of his life in Boston, living on
Spring Lane, where he died in 1674, leaving six sons;
Kenelm, a carpenter, married Eleanor Newton, of the “ Anne,”
widow of John Adams, and died 1672, leaving three sons;
Josiah, the third brother, though a profitless accountant,
became prominent in Marshfield, where he was for thirty
years town-clerk, and was a deputy, one son surviving him
there.
Edward Winslow was* governor in 1633, 1636, and 1644,
assistant for some twenty years, and Colonial commissioner
during the first year of the Confederacy. His abilities and
character can have been of no common order, and his pro-
longed absence was well described by Bradford as weakening446
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
> [1656.
the government, for his place was not again filled during the
Colony's lifetime.1
A. D. 1656, the year following Winslow's death, brought
that of the Colony’s veteran captain. About 1631 he had
removed to an exceptionally good tract between a high hill
and the shore in Duxbury. The hill is now from him called
Captain’s Hill, and upon its summit is a fine monument to
his memory.2 Adjoining his farm was that of Elder Brew-
ster, and near by gathered many prominent citizens. The
first personal knowledge extant of Standish is that when
young, Queen Elizabeth gave him a commission in the army
then aiding the Dutch against Spain. The Pilgrims at the
outset made him captain-in-chief, and that post and rank he
held to his death. The date of his birth is supposed to have
been 1584.
In 1645, when the Narragansets were threatening, and troops
were summoned, Standish occupied the river-bank opposite
Providence with the Plymouth contingent of forty men, all
armed with snaphances, ten days before the Massachusetts
troops were afield with their matchlocks. As the Providence
people, under guise of neutrality, were openly furnishing the
savages with supplies not a mile from his encampment, he
compelled them to take sides and suspend this hostile traf-
1	It is a notable fact that the only authentic portrait of any of the Forefathers
is one of Edward Winslow, painted in London 1651. It will be seen in the copy
given that the face indicates great strength of character, and that the hair and
dress are not suggestive of austerity. The only suspicion of any other portrait
is one supposed on good grounds to be of MylesfStandish.
2	Ground was broken for this monument in 1872, the corner-stone being laid
October 7 that year. The monument had reached a height of seventy-two feet
Oct. 7, 1876, when work ceased for nearly a decade, but has now been carried
almost to the top. The shaft, which is a slightly tapering, battlemented stone
tower, will be surmounted by an heroic statue of Myles. The whole is to be a
hundred and ten feet tall, and will cost over $40,000.1653-6.]
MYLES STANDISH.
447
fic.1 Fortunately war was averted by the prompt show of the
English forces; but in 1653-4, the Dutch preparing to as-
sault the United Colonies, Plymouth raised sixty men, and
her veteran captain, then in his seventieth year, left the council
of war and took his place at their head. The force was to
march twenty miles to the Manomet trading-house, and there
take Samuel Mayo’s barque, the “ Adventure; ” but just as
it was about to start (1654), came the happy news that Crom-
well had met with another “ crowning mercy,” by which the
humbled Dutch had been led to renew their natural alliance
with the English.
Standish’s last months were full of suffering from gravel
and strangury. He had himself made a study of medicine,
and seems to have served as physician at Duxbury, as Pastor
Danforth did at Taunton, Governor Winthrop in Connecticut,
and first Chauncey and then Dunster at Scituate. As in 1652
Dr. Matthew Fuller had gone from Plymouth, leaving no
regular practitioner there, Standish could not readily obtain
even the rude treatment of the times, and from his anguish
death is said to have been a welcome relief. He was buried
with much ceremony, probably in a burial-ground near his
hill, but there is no exact knowledge of the site.2 In his will
1	His force was out nearly three weeks. The drummer, William Chase, of
Yarmouth, had $s. extra pay. Each soldier was provided with 1 lb. tobacco,
1 lb. gunpowder, 3 lbs. bullets. The powder cost the Colony 2s. per lb.; the
whole supply of tobacco cost £ 1 ys. 4d.
In 1642 a permanent council of war (twelve members), with large powers, was
established.
In 1653 every town was required to keep a drum (costing £4), and a stand
of colors (£2).
2	The grave has at last, in all probability, been found. In the summer of
1887 the Duxbury correspondent of the Boston “ Herald ” ascertained that
“About sixteen years ago Benjamin Prior, a once wealthy shipbuilder of Dux-
bury, died in the almshouse. Before his death he informed Mrs. Ruth Hall,
daughter of Olive Standish and mother of Caroline B. Hall, that Captain Stand-
ish was buried in the old cemetery at South Duxbury. Since he died a memo-
randum to that effect has been found. Prior said that his father told him of the
burial, he having learned it in turn from his father, who said that he attended
the funeral, and that the grave was marked by two three-cornered stones, one at
the head and the other at the foot.
“ The Priors were long-lived ; Benjamin dying at the age of ninety-five years,
and noted for his remarkable memory. The intervening two hundred and thirty-
29448	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1656.
he mentions his “ dear loving wife, Barbara,” as still living,1
and directs his body to be laid as near as convenient to his
“ two dear daughters/' Lora and Mary. The latter, the wife
of his third son, Josiah, was daughter of John Dingley, of
Marshfield; she was married in 1654, and died the same year,
but not until she had won a place in the warm heart of the
old soldier. The indifference which allowed us no knowledge
of even the vicinity of these graves, was disgraceful, and
those so creditably honoring the noble veteran's hill-top
might well have added to their work*a systematic search for
his resting-place.
Standish was also eminent in civil duties. He excelled his
one years since the death of Standish, Oct. 3/13, 1656, can be bridged by three
people having an average age of seventy-seven years.”
The cemetery referred to is a short distance west of Hall’s Corner, South
Duxbury. One finds to-day in its centre a grave marked by two three-sided
pyramidal stones, one at the head and the other at the foot, while two depressions
close by show other ancient graves, — without doubt, those of his two daughters.
To further prove that the grave is Standish’s, Mrs. Hall, a short time before
she died, told an “Old Colony Memorial ” correspondent that when a little girl
she went with her mother one afternoon to see old Dr. Wadsworth. During the
afternoon two men calling, the Doctor said to them: “Go out with me, gentle-
men, and I will show you where Captain Myles Standish is buried.” Upon
their return to the house Dr. Wadsworth casually observed : “ It is very singular
that they could find two three-cornered stones to mark his grave with.”
A subsequent anonymous criticism in the “ Memorial ” disputes the Prior tra-
dition on the grounds that Hall’s Corner Cemetery was not consecrated ground
at the time of Standish’s death; that he would not have previously placed his
daughters in unconsecrated ground; and that the term “honorably buried”
would not have been applied by Morton to the Captain himself had he been
buried in the before-mentioned place. This correspondent thinks the debatable
interment took place in that old Harden Hill burial-ground formerly surround-
ing the first church in Duxbury, which territory, with its occupants, has been
partially washed away by the sea.
We feel inclined to believe in the Priors’ statements, in spite of the preceding
exception taken. Standish was a man not filled with respect for things conse-
crate (unless, indeed, he was a Roman Catholic, in which case Congregational
consecration might have had less than no weight with him), and would very
likely have instilled his own freedom of views into those who were of his family.
The post-mortem honor of being interred in consecrated ground would be bar-
ren indeed, even at that devout period, when added to the reputation, life, and
services of one like Myles Standish. A possible tradition, coming from an hon-
orable source, and supported by dependent and independent confirmatory evi-
dence, both written and oral, is surely equal, if not superior, to a theory verging
perilously near the border-lands of mere hypothesis. — Ed.
1 In 1659 she witnessed Elizabeth Hopkins’ will.1656.]	STANDISH’S OFFICES AND RELICS.	449
associates in acquiring the Indian language, — a study which
doubtless had much to do with his attaching Hobomok to his
person from the first; a curious comradeship, which ended in
settling that sachem on Standish’s Duxbury farm, and caring
for his old age at the captain’s own fireside. Standish was
therefore of especial value in all transactions with the natives,
in peace or war; as an explorer, surveyor, trader, arbitrator,
and magistrate, being in constant request. He was for six
years treasurer of the Colony, and for some twenty-nine years
an assistant.1 The narrow policy of the Confederacy in re-
stricting the commissionerships to church-members, deprived
that board of the benefit of his presence. Yet for a long
period, as military commander, he had far more power than
ever was given to the Governor; and if he had not been
among the truest of comrades, he might have made himself a
strong and troublesome master.
His thatched dwelling stood some thirty rods from the sea,
but from the washing away of the shore the site is now very
much nearer.2 He had a good view of Plymouth with its
harbor, and from the hill which sheltered him on the north
having a fine look-out, which included even Cape Cod. The
house fell to his oldest son, Alexander, who had married
Sarah, the daughter of John Alden, — a union which must
have delighted the veteran fathers, who had lived in one family
during the terrors and anxieties of the first year of the Colony.
Some ten years after the captain’s death the house was burned
with an adjoining store, and in the fire were lost most of the
souvenirs of the old hero.
Standish’s spring is still distinct on the hill, and is said to
have been stoned-about by his own hands. The cellar of the
house is also distinct; and within recent years several relics
1	In 1656, as Standish was breaking-up, Alden was chosen treasurer in his
stead. Standish had received no salary, and the Court now presented him with
the £1$ remaining in his hands, and with two barrels of oil which belonged to
the Colony.
2	The pioneer settlers found the region of Captain’s Hill thickly wooded.
Wolves ranged all about, and for protection from them, as well as from Indians,
a long palisade was built. Many wolves were killed thereabouts, one thirty
years after Standish’s death.450
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1656.
have been found in it, which are now in Pilgrim Hall at
Plymouth. The sorrow one feels over the accidental burning
of Standish memorials is faint beside the indignation with
which he learns that people living in the last generation used
to see the captain's armor and helmet, in good condition, in
possession of a descendant at Plympton, who, by mere negli-
gence, allowed them to decay and disappear, and that a
sword of the old hero's was, by the same person, lent for use
at a neighboring muster, and not being reclaimed, was lost.
Even now many Pilgrim relics are disappearing in like
manner.
Of the extent of Standish's early education nothing is
known, but his library indicates a man of literary tastes
and studious habits. The Iliad, Caesar's Commentaries, and
Bariffe’s Artillery suggest a love for martial classics and
science; historical tendencies are shown by several volumes;
the number of books on controversial theology is curious for
a non-church-member's collection; the dictionary hints at
philological pursuits, for at that day such a book was not
always found in libraries of more pretension. The list of
his books, with the prices affixed by his executors, is as
follows: —
£ x.
History of the World, and Turkish History.....................1 10
Chronicle of England, and Country Farmer...................... 08
History of Queen Elizabeth, State of Europe...................1 10
Dr. Hall's Works, Calvin's Institutions.......................1 04
Wilcox’s Works, and Mayor’s...................................1 00
Rogers’ Seven Treatises, and French Academy................... 12
Three Old Bibles.............................................. 14
Caesar’s Commentaries, Bariffe’s Artillery.................... 10
Preston’s Sermons, Burroughs’ Christian Contentment, Gospel
Conversation, Passions of the Mind, The Physician’s Practice,
Burroughs’ Earthly Mindedness, do. Discoveries ....	1 04
Ball on Faith, Brinly’s Watch, Dodd on the Lord’s Supper,
Sparks Against Heresy, Davenport’s Apology............... 10
Carried forward..................................£9 02STANDISH’S EFFECTS AND ORIGIN.
451
1656.]
£ s.
Brought forward...........................................902
A Reply to Dr. Cotton on Baptism, The German History, The
Sweden Intelligencer, Reason Discussed......................... 10
One Testament, Psalm Book, Nature and Grace in Conflict,
A Law Book, The Mean in Mourning, Allegations, Johnson
Against Hearing................................................ 06
Parcel of Old Books, divers subjects 4to.......................... 14
“	“	“ u “ 8vo........................................ 05
Wilson’s Dictionary, Homer’s Iliad, Commentary on James
Ball’s Catechism............................................... 12
John Alden,
James Cud worth,
Dec. 2, 1656,
11 09
Among StandislTs effects were five horses and colts, worth
^48, with two saddles, a pillion, and one bridle; four oxen,
£24; ten cows and calves, eleven sheep, and fourteen swine
(but no cart or carriage is mentioned). There were also a
fowling-piece, three muskets, four carbines, two small guns,
a sword, and a cutlass, — the number of muskets just equal-
ling that of the Bibles. He also had sixteen pieces of pewter,
a dozen wooden plates (trenchers), three brass kettles, four
iron pots, a skillet, a warming-pan, two spinning-wheels, a
still, and a malt-mill. The whole personalty was appraised
at ^358 ys.; the land and buildings being set at £140,—
making a very fair estate for the times.
Standish was from a family which, under the Plantagenets
and “ Roses,” won knightly honors and manorial power; blit
in the thirteenth century the house had divided, the elder
branch living at Standish Hall, and the other at Duxbury
Hall, both in the parish of Standish. Myles seems to have
come from a subdivision of the former, in the neighboring
village of Chorley. He claimed the inheritance of this sec-
tion of the family, in his will, as follows: —
“ I give unto my son and heir-apparent, Alexander Standish, all my
lands, as heir-apparent by lawful descent, in Ormistic, Bousconge,452
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1656.
Wrightington, Maudsley, Newburrow, Cranston, and in the Isle of
Man, and given to me as right heir by lawful descent, but surrepti-
tiously detained from me, my great-grandfather being a second or
younger brother from the house of Standish of Standish.” 1
Early in this century the American descendants of Myles
began an inquiry into the case. It was found th^t while
Elizabeth's commission indicated Standish’s birth as in 1584,
the leaf for 1584-5, in the Chorley parish-register, had been
pumiced so carefully as to leave no trace of the writing,
though the record is otherwise complete from 1549 to 1652.
This defaced page is not even now open to inspection. In
1847 Mr. Bromley, an attorney for the heirs, obtained leave
as an antiquary to examine the volume, but the rector, find-
ing him searching for Standish’s birth, arrested him under
some ancient law, and enforced on him a fine of about £j5,
with the alternative of imprisonment; and he even refused to
certify that the register is illegible at that point. The in-
cumbent of Chorley seems to act as watch-dog for a patron
who doubts the soundness of his titles. It is quite evident
That the legal proof of Standish’s birth and descent has been
destroyed to secure a fraudulent transfer of his inheritance.
1 These places are now Ormskirk, Burscough, Wrightington, Mawdesly, New-
burg, and Croston. They are in three parishes of the Hundred of Leyland, in
which is also Standish parish. These estates are not the main property of the
family, but seem to have been a younger brother’s portion.
In 1656, the year of Standish’s death, also died Ralph Standish, proprietor of
Standish Hall; he was son of Alexander, son of Edward, son of Alexander
(married, 1518), and this Edward was a “second or younger brother from the
house of Standish of Standish.” Was he not Myles’ great-grandfather ? In
Myles’ time Duxbury Hall was held by Thomas Standish, son of another Alex-
ander, son of Thomas, son of James, son of Thomas (married, 1497); neither is
thought to have been a second son. Myles is supposed to have been born in
Chorley parish, the church of which is also the burial-place of the family at
Duxbury Hall. (See W. H. Whitman, N. E. Gen. Reg., xxvii. 145.)
Wigan and Chorley are some eight miles apart on a north and south line.
Duxbury Hallis about one and one half miles southerly from Chorley; Standish
is some three miles northerly from Wigan, four miles southerly from Duxbury
Hall, and twenty miles northeast from Liverpool. The five estates .first men-
tioned are along a nearly parallel zigzag line, some five or six miles to the
westward.
Alexander doubtless endeavored to enforce his claim to this property, for he
had in England an attorney named Robert Orchard. He left ^600.1656.] STANDISH’S CHARACTER.— FAMILY ROMANISM. 453
The latter, which is now of great value, including farms, vil-
lages, and coal-mines which yield half a million dollars a year,
is hopelessly beyond the reach of the Pilgrim’s heirs.
No portion of Pilgrim history is more romantic than the
part taken in it by Myles Standish. The others sought a
home where they might worship God according to their con-
sciences, rear their children in a virtuous atmosphere, and
aid in disseminating the Gospel. Standish can hardly have
felt any of these influences. He was not of their Church,
and so little had he to do with it that some theorists have
supposed him to have been an adherent of Romanism, as the
Standish Hall family has ever been.1 Moreover, his fair Rose
was childless. An officer in the British army, brave and gal-
lant, he had a tempting vista before him through the ending
of the twelve years’ truce with Spain; and his family connec-
tion must have been of advantage in any event. A man of
choleric temper, having a taste for authority, energy and
military skill, he at the age of thirty-six turned his back on
the attractions of the Old World, and allying himself with
the weak and well-nigh friendless Pilgrims, was for thirty-six
years longer their most chivalrous, devoted, and modest
associate.
For Standish no work was too difficult or dangerous, none
1 The Standishes were on the Lancashire estates not long after the Con-
quest, Thurston de Standish appearing in 1222 as one of the Norman barons.
Hugh Standish, his son, was at Duxbury Hall in 1306. His descendant, Sir
Richard Standish, was there in 1677, and Sir Frank Standish in 1812. In 1442
Sir James Standish and Jane, his wife, of “Dokesbury Hall,” gave to Chorley
Church, in presence of Vicar Tarleton, of Croston Church, the head of St. Law-
rence, which Sir Rowland Stanley, brother of Lady Standish, had brought from
Normandy. Richard II. knighted John Standish for being the first to wound
poor defamed Wat Tyler after the mayor had felled the victim. Sir Ralph
Standish was a commander against France under Henrys V. and VI. Alexander
Standish was knighted for valor at Hutton Field, 1482. Ralph Standish mar-
ried the Duke of Norfolk’s daughter, and came near losing his head for joining
the Pretender. Dr. Henry Standish of this family was bishop of St. Asaph, and
was a famous scholar; he strove on his knees to persuade Henry VIII. not to
leave the Church of Rome, and he had been one of Katharine’s advisers in the
King’s divorce suit. The Jesuit Gerard, one of the Guy Faux conspirators, was
also called Father Standish, and was probably of this family. At the Reforma-
tion the Duxbury Hall family went with the Protestants, while that at Standish
Hall adhered to the Roman Church.454
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1657.
too humble or disagreeable. As captain and magistrate, as
engineer and explorer, as interpreter and merchant, as a ten-
der nurse in pestilence, a physician at all times, and as the
Cincinnatus of his colony, he showed a wonderful versatility
of talent and the highest nobility of character. Great as a
ruler over others, he was far greater as a ruler over himself.
His services merit our warmest gratitude, and challenge our
admiration. He was the man of men whom the Pilgrims
most needed to come to them, and nothing was more im-
probable than that such a one would do so, or if he did, that
he would long remain loyal, steadfast, and submissive to the
voice of the people. No man ever more decidedly had a
mission, and none ever more nobly fulfilled it.
In the harvest-time of 1656 Standish went to his rest. In
the next seed-time Bradford followed. The intervening win-
ter had been to the Governor one of debility, but not of pos-
itive illness until May 17th.1 That night he was filled with
“ ineffable consolations,” as Mather relates, and in the morn-
ing declared that “ the good Spirit of God had given him
a pledge of the first-fruits of his eternal glory.” The next
day he died (May 9/19, 1657), at the age of sixty-seven. His
last resting-place was happily selected. It is on the brow of
Burial Hill, looking down on that spot where from the early
days was his happy home. All along, just below it, lies the
town of which he was in such large part the founder and
guardian; farther out lies the harbor, with its islands and
headlands, including that monumental hill where lived his
great comrade Standish; and in clear weather, across the
sparkling bay, appears Cape Cod, where his young wife,
Dorothy, found a watery grave before Plymouth had been
1 He last presided in court Feb. 13, 1657 (n. s.) ; March 15th he was absent
from illness, and Collier took the chair then, and also at the next session,
May 4th.1621-57.]
BRADFORD’S GOVERNORSHIP.
455
reached. It is a beautiful and grand panorama, which offers
to the eye not a few of the most interesting landmarks of
Pilgrim history.
It was no common procession that bore the dead leader up
that sharp ascent. The whole community stood sadly and
reverently by while the grave was filled. The trainband
fired over the spot the volleys due to a chief magistrate; but,
according to Colonial usage, there were no other ceremonies, *
Yet the mourning was profound throughout the United Colo-
nies of New England, for he was everywhere regarded “ as a
common blessing and father to them all.**1
From Carver’s death in 1621 Bradford had been governor
continuously, except for three years of Winslow and two of
Prence. Even in those years he was senior-assistant, which
was in fact deputy-governor. For five years he had been a
Colonial commissioner, and for two years president of that
congress. This continuous service had been against his wish.
He in 1624, and Roger White in 1625 for the brethren still at
Leyden, had strongly upheld the policy of rotation in the
chief office; but the people would not consent to it, until in
1633, as Winthrop records, Bradford “by importunity gat
off,” and Winslow was chosen. In 1634, Winslow going to
England, Prence was governor. In 1637 again the burden
was laid on Bradford; but his “ importunity ” secured the
election of Prence in 1638. The law required the governor
to live at Plymouth; and Prence, who was settled in ease at
Duxbury beside his wealthy father-in-law, Collier, was rather
inclined to pay the fine of £20, and remain on his broad
acres by Captain’s Hill. At length he accepted, on con-
dition that Bradford continue governor until he himself should
be ready to move. The records add, that to this Bradford
“ condescended,” provided he should not be compelled to
remain in office more than three months. Surely the times
have changed!2
1	See Bradford’s Monument, p. 467.
2	The governor had no salary in Bradford’s time. In 1638, probably to pay
the cost of Prence’s removal to town, a salary of #40 a year was voted, but it456
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1639-57.
In 1639 Bradford was again governor, and so continued
until his death, save during Winslow’s service in 1644. Yet in
1655 he filed eight objections to a re-election. He was chiefly
troubled at the lukewarmness of the people in maintaining a
learned ministry, and at the neglect of the deputies to adopt
the Massachusetts system of universal taxation for this pur-
pose. He also complained because they would not pass laws
for the suppression of error. He seems to have been so far
encouraged in the matter that he finally remained in office;
but the clergy were left to depend on voluntary contributions
until three months after his death. He was also empow-
ered to appoint a deputy-governor to relieve his labor, but
never did so. In June, 1656, he was chosen governor for the
thirty-first time, and Standish was again placed by his side
as one of the assistants. When the freemen next gathered in
their “ court of election/’ it must have been with full hearts
and moistened eyes that they regarded those two vacant
seats.
Although New Plymouth was still a small colony, the
governor’s duties were heavy; for he was chief-justice, minis-
ter for foreign affairs, speaker of the General Court, and audi-
tor of the treasury. Yet Bradford seized time for grave
study and for writing his History. In 1650 he wrote the
closing lines of this invaluable work, and added that full list
of “ Mayflower ” passengers; but he brought the body of the
History down only to 1646. At the bottom of the last section
he wrote: “ Anno 1647. And Anno 1648,” — an entry which
shows his intention of continuing the work. But during the
remaining seven years of his life, time and strength were
wanting. He was a diligent letter-writer and an excellent
one, which renders the extensive destruction of his letter-
book especially lamentable.1 In connection with his Hebrew
studies, he wrote eight pages of exercises, with English
was soon rescinded, — perhaps on Bradford’s re-election, as is shown by the
primitive process of crossing out the entry in the official journal with no note or
comment.
1 See Preface, page xiv.BRADFORD'S WRITINGS.
457
1657.]
explanations, and bound up the sheets with the manuscript of
his History, where they are still preserved, with this comment
by him: —
“ Though I am grown aged, yet I have had a longing desire to see
with my own eyes something of that most ancient language and holy
tongue, in which the law and oracles of God were written; and in
which God and angels spake to the holy patriarchs of old time; and
what names were given to things from the creation/*1
Like many sturdy writers of prose, Bradford had a weak-
ness for poetical composition, and in his will he .said to his
executors: —
“ I commend unto your wisdom and discretion some small books
written by my own hand, to be improved as you shall see meet. In
special, I commend to you a little book with a black cover, wherein v
there is a word to Plymouth, a word to Boston, and a word to New
England, with sundry useful verses.”2
These “ small books,” so historically valuable, disappeared
generations ago, and their very subjects are unknown, except,
strange to say, those poetical bantlings for which their author
was so solicitous. Cotton Mather says of Bradford: —
“ He was a person for study as well as action, and hence, notwith-
standing the difficulties through which he passed in his youth, he
attained unto a notable skill in languages. The Dutch tongue was be- /
come almost as vernacular to him as the English; the French tongue
he could also manage; the Latin and the Greek he had mastered;
but the Hebrew he most of all studied, because, he said, he would see
1	Bradford's Hist., Deane's Pref., page xiv.
2	Governor Bradford left 275 books. Joseph B. Waters, Sharon, Mass., has
his Bible, printed 1592. It is in Old English letter; the covers and margins are
worn nearly down to the reading. It has a family record from the Governor’s
birth in 1590, Mr. Waters being in the seventh generation.
Dr. Prince, who had these “small books” (1736), says in his preface that one
contained, in Bradford's own hand, a register of the early deaths, marriages, and
punishments at Plymouth; and in another place he says (vol. i. p. 72) that it in-
cluded “a register of deaths, etc.,from Nov. 6,1620, to the end of March, 1621.”
He also refers to “a little ancient table-book of his son, Major William Brad-
ford, . . . from 1649 to 1670.”458
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1657.
with his ofon eyes the ancient oracles of God in their native beauty.
He was also well skilled in history, in antiquity, and in philosophy;
and for theology, he became so versed in it that he was an irrefragable
disputant against the errors, especially those of Anabaptism, which
with trouble he saw rising in his Colony; wherefore he wrought some
significant things for the confutation of those errors. But the crown
of all was his holy, prayerful, watchful, and fruitful walk with God,
wherein he was very exemplary.”
Evidently the constant pressure of the bigotry which ruled
the Bay Colony had an effect on Bradford’s later years, and
led him to great despondency over the growing laxity of his
own people. The increasing conservatism of age, too, tended
to lessen his former liberality, and led him to desire the
interference of the law for the assessment of church expenses.1
Yet in private life he remained a liberal, courteous gentleman,
as is pleasantly shown in the journal of Druillette, a French
Jesuit, who came to Boston in 1650, and improved the oppor-
tunity to spend a day at Plymouth. He especially mentions
Bradford’s kindness, and the fact that, the day being Friday,
the Governor gave him an excellent dinner of fish. Bradford,
unlike Winthrop, was remarkably free from the prevalent
superstition of his times. He never renounced the names of
the days and months; he declined to express an opinion that
the great eclipse of 1635 had any connection with the preced-
ing storm; he never mentioned the comets which so gener-
ally alarmed even the educated people of that century; nor
has he even alluded to witchcraft, over which princes, eccle-
siastics, universities, and magistrates of the highest standing
in Europe and America were then as mad as their most igno-
rant neighbors. Through long years he sowed the seed of
liberality, and his is the glory, though in his old age he left
1 The meddlesomeness of the oligarchs of the Bay was without limit. In
1656 they complained to the Congress of Commissioners that Plymouth would not
lay a compulsory tax for the support of her clergy. It is true that she was then
poor; her eleven towns, with their three hundred voters, had fewer churches in
proportion than any other of the United Colonies, and her small salaries did
not always command the most learned preachers. The Colony for a long time
was in discredit from laxity, and poor Bradford in his later years became much
discouraged at the prospect.NOBLE CHARACTER OF BRADFORD.
459
1657.]
kl

others to tend the crop. He was the man of a thousand —
yea, of many thousands — for the especial place which called
him to its service. Wonderful indeed was it that a single
shipload of yeomen and artisans, cast up like waifs on the
shore of an unknown wilderness, should have had not only a
Carver, Brewster, and Fuller, but also such a greater trio as
Winslow, Standish, and Bradford.
Since the earliest thought of emigration from Leyden, as
in the hegira from England, Bradford had been among the s
foremost. In all the early perils and labors of the settlement,
he stood side by side with Carver, Standish, and Winslow.
In bodily labors he wrought beside the strongest; in action *
he was of the bravest; and in council he led the wisest. From
that sad day when the handful of convalescents fired their
matchlocks over the grave of Carver, to that which, more
than a third of a century later, saw his own departure, he
had gone before the foremost, and stood without a peer, v
Many pages might well be filled with his eulogy, but the
subject may be most fitly left with his own words upon Elder
Brewster: “ I should say something of his life, if to say a
little were not worse than to be silent.” This review has from
the first been an almost continuous biography of William
Bradford, for his life was so interwoven with that of his
Colony that the record of either is the history of both. The
poetic period of the Pilgrim Republic ended with its adop-
tion of a statute-book and a legislature ; and its history
rarely rises above the merest common-place after those three
consecutive years in which died Wijislow, Standish, and
Bradford.CHAPTER LVI.
Governor Bradford’s Family and Others. — Bradford’s Widow. — The
Carpenters. — Constant and Thomas Southworth. — The Bradford
Children. — Major William Bradford. — Thomas and Mary Cushman.
— Elder Faunce. — Secretary Morton. — Captain William Pierce.—
Massasoit. — Deaths.
OVERNOR BRADFORD’S widow, after long debility,
died April 5, 1670 (n. s.), aged about eighty. She
asked in her will to be laid as near to her husband “ as may
conveniently be; ” and on the third day after her death her
body was borne to the spot with especial ceremony.1 The
Colony records tell us that she was a “ godly matron, and
much loved while she lived, and lamented, though aged, when
she died.” In Chapter XXIII. was pointed out the absurdity
of the tradition as to her youthful relations with Bradford.
There is a not more probable tradition that she brought a fair
property from England. She is said to have labored dili-
gently for the improvement of the young women of Plymouth,
and to have been eminently worthy of her high position.2 By
her first marriage she had two sons, Constant and Thomas
Southworth, whom on coming to America she left, probably
for education, with their father’s relatives. Constant came over
1	Indicated by the record “ honorably interred.”
2	It has been inferred that her labors were in the direction of literary edu-
cation ; but such training was not then the rule among women below the gentry.
Mrs. Bradford, like many genuine ladies of her time, could not write her name;
her mark may be found at the bottom of her will, also as witness with her
husband to a will in 1651, and to an instrument recorded in 1659. She left
^162 17s.t and made a small bequest to her servant, Mary Smith.	*
BRADFORD'S WIDOW.1612-S7 ]	the carpenters.	461
to her in 1628, and Thomas soon after. Through the former
this lady is said to be the ancestress of all the Southworths in ^
this country.
The year next after the funeral of this distinguished matron,
another Mrs. Alice Bradford was added to the family group
on Burial Hill. She was Alice Richards, wife of William
Bradford, Jr., and the mother (1654) of a fifth William Brad-
ford.1 She died Dec. 22, 1671, aged about forty-four, and the
record of her burial, two days later, adds, “ She was a gracious
woman.” She left four sons and six daughters.
THE CARPENTERS.
V Governor Bradford’s wife had four sisters. It is not known
when Alexander Carpenter, her father, died, nor when his
family returned from Leyden to^ their old home at Wrington,
^in Somersetshire;2 but about 1644 Mary Carpenter was at
the latter place, and had just buried her aged mother. A
brother of Winslow’s who wrent on business to Bristol, some
eight miles from Wrington, took over a letter from the Brad—
fords, who invited Mary to come to them; they would be -
“ helpful ” to her, though they had grown old and the country ^
was more unsettled than formerly, for the ministers were
returning to England, where they now found peace. The
poverty of the Carpenters is indicated by Bradford’s offer to -
pay her passage (about £5), if she needed it. She came; j
and to the entry of her death in 1687, aged about ninety, the
record quaintly adds: “She was a Godly old maid, never!
married.”
Another of the sisters, Agnes (or Anna) Carpenter, became ^
the second wife of Dr. Samuel Fuller at Leyden, in 1612; she
died before 1617, when Fuller married Bridget Lee, who so
long survived him at Plymouth.
Juliana, another sister, became George Morton’s second
wife, also in 1612, at Leyden, and came to Plymouth in 1623
1	See Chapter XXVI.
2	Sixteen miles west-southwest from Bath.462
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l662-79.
with her husband and five children. Her second husband
was Manasseh Kempton, who died in 1662, and of whom it is
recorded: “ He did much good in his place the time God
lent him.” His widow died Feb. 19, 1665, aged eighty-one,
and was buried the next day. The record pays her this trib-
ute: “ She was a faithful servant of God.”
The youngest of the Carpenter sisters was Priscilla, who
came to Plymouth soon after 1627, and was married to Wil-
liam Wright, whose death was noticed in the account of the
locust year, 1633; in 1634 she became the wife of John
Cooper, first of Scituate, and then a leading associate of
Lothrop’s in founding Barnstable, from which town he was a
deputy, and where he bequeathed half his large property to
the church. Priscilla, who left children, died in 1689, aged
ninety-one. So four of these sisters exceeded an average
age of eighty-five years.
CONSTANT SOUTHWORTH
was about fourteen years old when he rejoined his mother at
Plymouth. He and his brother were received by Bradford as
own sons, and their advanced studies were under his care.
They did him and their mother ample credit, becoming
leading citizens. Constant, who settled at Duxbury, was a
volunteer for the Pequod War in 1637, and the same year he
married Elizabeth, daughter of William Collier. They had
five daughters and three sons, the latter being Edward,
Nathaniel, and William, — names common among their de-
scendants. Constant for seventeen years was deputy from
Duxbury, and for sixteen years was the Colony's treasurer;
on the death of his younger brother he succeeded him as an
assistant, and served for nine years. At the breaking out of
Philip’s War he disregarded his sixty-one years and went out
as commissary, but soon yielded the arduous place to the
famous warrior Church, who had married his daughter Alice,
the namesake of his mother. In 1679, while still treasurer,
Mr. Southworth closed his useful life, aged about sixty-five.1651]	CAPTAIN THOMAS SOUTH WORTH.	463
The Southworths of our broad nation should not allow Burial ^
Hill to continue without a memorial to him and his mother.
CAPTAIN THOMAS SOUTHWORTH
was some two years younger than Constant, but he was even
more prominent. Though only twenty-eight when Elder
Brewster died, he was proposed as his successor; but Brad-
ford, who designed him for the civil-service, caused the
substitution of another of his proteges, — Thomas Cushman.
Thomas Southworth, in 1651, was a deputy from Plymouth;
the next year he became an assistant; and so continued by
annual election for the remaining eighteen years of his life,
save three years in which he was at Augusta in charge of the
Kennebec trading-post. For three years he is recorded in
the novel character of a member of each section of the leg-
islative body (1652-3-4), being a deputy from Plymouth
and an assistant for the Colony at large. This was practica-
ble, as the two branches sat and acted as one. He was also
for nine years a Colonial Commissioner.
As a soldier Thomas was as active as his brother, and be-
coming commander of the trainband in 1659, received the
title of captain, by which he is generally mentioned. For /•f
several generations those who bore the name of Southworth,
and those who married the female descendants, were almost
without exception brave soldiers in the Colonial wars. Indeed
the family came from a long line of English knights, the
Southworths of Southworth, but the descent having, three
generations before Edward, passed into the younger line, the
title had gone elsewhere. Thomas married an Elizabeth
Raynor (not the pastor’s daughter) ; they had but one child,
Elizabeth, who became the wife of John Howland’s son
Joseph, to whom the Captain bequeathed his rapier and belt,
while leaving his house and land to his daughter.
In 1654 died John Faunce, who had married Southworth’s
cousin Patience Morton. At the head of his grave during
his burial stood a pitiful group of little orphans left in pov-
30464
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1669.
erty; but Lieutenant Southworth, taking by the hand Thomas,
a boy of eight years, led him away to adopt into his family,
and transmitting that which he had received from Governor
Bradford, gave the orphan a good education, secular and
religious. When another generation gathered reverentially
around Elder Faunce, the connecting link between two cen-
turies, he forgot not to tell the story of his benefactor, and to
declare that for the training thus given he should have “ rea-
son to bless God to all eternity.” For strange to say, the
eldership which Mr. Southworth had declined in early life,
fell when next vacant to the orphan whom he had fitted for
whatever station might await him, and who became the last
*	ruling-elder known in Plymouth.
Captain Southworth died Nov. 28, 1669, when only fifty-
three, while his mother was still living. The record says:
“ He was a very Godly man; and he lived and died full of
faith and comfort, being much lamented by all of all sorts,
sects, and conditions of people.” 1
THE BRADFORD CHILDREN.
*	Governor Bradford had in Leyden one child, John, whom
he probably left there in charge of his father-in-law, May, —
very likely the Elder May some time at Amsterdam. John
^ came over not before 1627. He became an active citizen of
Plymouth and married Martha, daughter of Thomas Bourne,
of Marshfield. He removed to Norwich, Conn., where he
died childless in 1678.
By his second marriage the Governor had William, born
1624, Mercy about 1626, and Joseph in 1630. Mercy mar-
ried (1648) Benjamin Vermayes, who attained no prominence.
Joseph married Jael Hobart, daughter of the famous Hing-
ham pastor, and they had two sons, Joseph and Elisha (the
latter of whom had thirteen children).2 He died at Rocky
I1 This shows the liberality of Captain Southworth, and also indicates the
harmonious co-existence of various sects in the Plymouth congregation, — a fact
several times alluded to in these pages.
2 Elisha named one of his sons Carpenter Bradford.1656-1702.]
MAJOR BRADFORD’S OFFICES.
465
Nook (two and a half miles from Plymouth village) in
1715, aged eighty-four. The elder brother requires a more
extended notice.
MAJOR WILLIAM BRADFORD.
His first wife, Alice, has been mentioned in connection with
his mother. He next married Mary, widow of John Holmes,
pastor of Duxbury and daughter of John Atwood. Their
children were Israel, David, Ephraim, and Hezekiah. His
third wife, widow of Pastor Wiswall, of Duxbury, became
mother of a son Joseph. The nine sons and six daughters
survived their father; from them has come a numerous and
widespread posterity.
In 1656-7 William Bradford, Jr., was deputy from Ply-
mouth; in 1658 he became an assistant, in which office
he served for twenty-four successive years, and for the re-
maining ten years of the Colony's existence filled the new
office of deputy-governor, save in the three years of Andros'
tyranny, though even then he was in the nominal Council of
New England. For twelve years he was a Colonial Commis-
sioner, now by direct election, and now by substitution. In
1695-1702, or longer, he was judge of probate. His entrance
into the board of assistants is not pleasant to contemplate, for
he was placed there as the representative of that new school
of illiberality which was then proscribing Hatherly and Cud-
worth, Skiff and Robinson, for their opposition to the pro-
ceedings against the Quakers. Bradford was a high-minded
gentleman by nature; but, unlike his sire, he was less a man +
of genius than a follower of precedent and usage. This made
him wofully inefficient as a leader in Philip's War, while he
was a gallant subordinate.
Major Bradford of course had received from his father a
good education. He was fond of antiquarian pursuits, espe-
cially such as related to his ancestors, and was a Latin scholar.
He was not only very careful as to the preservation of his
father’s Latin books, but he bequeathed them to a nephew466
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1656-1704.
whom he thought more inclined to their study than were any
of his nine sons. Among the Bradford papers so lamentably
lost from the “ Old South ” was, as Dr. Prince says, “ A little
pencil-book wrote with a Blew-lead Pencil,” by Major Wil-
liam. The little volume would probably be of high value,
could it be found, and might fill many blanks in Plymouth’s
history.1
Major Bradford lived at Rocky Nook, in the Jones River
parish of Plymouth, and died there March 1, 1704 (n. S.),
aged eighty. He had requested to be laid beside his father;
but, for a wonder, the Plymouth road was impassable from
snow. The funeral procession therefore followed the shore
of the harbor for the two and a half miles, so that the dead
veteran entered the village close by the Rock on which his
father originally landed.2
A stone, “with uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture
1	Major William left his father’s manuscript History to his eldest son, Major
John Bradford, who in 1728 gave Dr. Prince the “small books” mentioned, and
authorized him to reclaim the History from Judge Sewall and deposit it in the
“Old South” (see Preface, page iv.). Dr. Prince had then been twenty-three
years gathering this library.
The famous manuscript is a folio seven and one-half inches by twelve, backed
with parchment. On the cover is some interesting scribbling by the Governor’s
children, amid which can be traced the name of his daughter, Mercy Bradford.
2	Dr. James Thacher, historian of Plymouth, when eighty-nine years old talked
Ion Pilgrim matters with the present writer. He well and long knew Ebenezer
Cobb, who clearly remembered this funeral procession along the beach. “ Father
Cobb ” was acquainted with Peregrine White, born in the “ Mayflower,” and
for half a century was contemporary with Elder Faunce. Mr. Cobb was born
at Plymouth, 1694, while John Cooke and Mary Allerton Cushman, of the “ May-
flower,” were living, and he died at Kingston, 1801, aged a hundred and seven
years, eight months. So his life more than included the entire eighteenth century.
These pages are thus connected with the last surviving Pilgrims by merely the
overlapping lives of Father Cobb and Dr. Thacher.
Dr. Thacher, fifth in descent from Anthony of Thatcher’s Island memory (see
p. 389), was born 1754 and died 1844, aged ninety. He was an army-surgeon
in the Revolution; he was the first custodian of Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, serving
from 1820 till his death, and continuing active and zealous to his last year. It
was something to listen to the sprightly veteran who had known so many of
Elder Faunce’s audience when he bade adieu to Forefathers’ Rock.
William Thomas, of Plymouth (see Index), with whom the writer conversed
in 1879 and who died in 1882, was twelve years old at Mr. Cobb’s death, and
knew him. So the lives of these two veterans more than covered the period
from Mrs. Cushman’s death to that of President Garfield.1654—67.3
ELDER CUSHMAN.
467
decked,” was soon planted
fifth generation of Gov-
ernor Bradford’s descend-
ants sought to place a
memorial on his grave
also, this stone was the
only guide to the long-
forgotten sepulchre. Then
a simple white-marble ob-
elisk, some eight and a
half feet tall, was erected;
a prosaic English epitaph
being inscribed on one
side, and on another, as
a delicate tribute to the
Governor’s learning, was
put a Hebrew inscription:
awake.” 2
over him;1 and when, in 1825, the
“ Let the right hand of the Lord
THOMAS AND MARY CUSHMAN.
Robert Cushman’s last request of Bradford, “ Have a care
of my son as of your own,” was generously fulfilled; and so
worthy was the result that Thomas Cushman was chosen
elder as Brewster’s immediate successor. The church, re-
membering to “ lay hands suddenly on no man,” allowed the
place to stand vacant five years, and on Cushman’s death
they waited eight years before again filling it. Ruling-elders
were required to be “ apt to teach,” and Elder Cushman
seems to have been a favorite preacher and the chief reliance
of his church from Raynor’s departure in 1654 to Cotton’s
coming in 1667; though two ministers, James Williams and
William Brimsmead, served temporarily for some two years.
1	This old stone, being of slate, had its front surface “shelled-off ” by frost
a few years ago, but the inscription has been re-cut, minus its ornamentation.
2	Professor Adams, of Neshota, so translates it from a tracing, but declares
the letters misplaced and misshapen, making what he humorously terms “ Stone-
cutters' Hebrew.”
There is also a Latin sentence on the same side.468
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1691-9.
Elder Cushman died in office in 1691, in his eighty-fourth
year. The congregation held a fast over their loss, and made
a liberal contribution to his widow. That widow was Mary
Allerton, who had come in the “ Mayflower ” when a little
girl of eleven years. , She was now one of the three survivors
of that famous company, the others being Resolved White
and John Cooke. By 1694 White had gone; by 1698 Cooke
had followed; in 1699 Mrs. Cushman, at the age of ninety,
also finished her pilgrimage, and in her the last of the “ May-
flower’s ” band found a well-won rest.
The Cushmans left four sons and four daughters, whose
posterity is widely dispersed, and has proved worthy of this
notable pair. A large stone was erected to the memory of
“that precious servant of God,” the husband; but it neg-
lected to do honor to his even more memorable wife. In
1855 their descendants met around their grave, — nearly
every State in the Union being represented. As a conse-
quence, on Sept. 16, 1858, the two hundred and thirty-eighth
anniversary of the “Mayflower’s” departure from the English
Plymouth, the kindred re-assembled and consecrated a noble
monument to their progenitors. It is a granite obelisk, 27
feet tall, and by far the most conspicuous memorial on Burial
Hill.
ELDER FAUNCE.
Cushman’s successor, Thomas Faunce, succeeded the aged
Finney as deacon in 1686, and in 1699 became ruling-elder.1
1 The earliest records mention “ Mannasseh Faunce ” as well as John Faunce;
but the merest inspection shows this to have been a slip of the pen, and that the
name meant is Manasseh Kempton. Yet writers of repute occasionally copy
this glaring error. There was but one Faunce among the “first comers.” The
records sometimes spell the name Fans and Phance (Vance?).
Elder Faunce *s sister Patience (the mother was Patience Morton) became in
1673	Ephraim Kempton, gunsmith; in 1677 Mr. and Mrs. Kempton
went to Salem, where she died when more than a hundred years old. She said
of her own knowledge, that Sachem Philip's skull was exposed on Plymouth
fort for more than twenty years, and that a pair of wrens utilized it by building
their nest in it season after season. Elder Faunce had a daughter Patience, who
was also married to a Kempton; she died at New Bedford in 1779, aged a
hundred and five years, six months. It will be remembered that the Elder him-
self reached his ninety-ninth year.1685-1769] THOMAS FAUNCE. —EPHRAIM SPOONER.
469
He was also town-clerk of Plymouth from his Uncle Morton’s
death in 1685 until 1723. He died 1745, in his ninety-ninth
year, having so far outlived his generation that he had long
been regarded as an oracle on the unwritten history of the "
Pilgrims, of whom he had known many. In 1741, when aged
ninety-five, he learned that Plymouth Rock, of which the
community knew scarcely anything, was about to be covered
by a new wharf. He thereupon rode from his Eel River
home, three miles, to the village, and having been reverently %
borne to the spot in a large chair, followed by a concourse ]
of the people, identified the Rock, and proceeded to relate I
the account of the landing upon it as it had been told to him 1
by the Forefathers themselves. Then, bedewing the relic with
his tears, he bade it a formal farewell. When, in 1769, the
people of Plymouth began to celebrate the anniversary of
the original landing, there were not a few of Elder Faunce’s -
audience still living to vouch for his identification of the ~
Rock and his description of the landing.
Among those then present was Ephraim Spooner, a lad of
only six years, but who carried through life a vivid recollec- ^
tion of the scene, and described it to persons now living. For
thirty-four years Mr. Spooner was a deacon; for fifty-two
years, during the fluctuations of party in a period which in-
cluded both our wars with Great Britain, he was annually
elected town-clerk; he was also successively a legislator,
one of the Executive Council, and an associate justice of the
Common Pleas. In 1817, at the celebration of “Forefathers’ »
Day” (or the “ Landing”), he, according to his usual prac- v
tice, “ deaconed ” the hymn, “ Hail, Pilgrim Fathers of our
Race!” and while the audience sang it to its prescribed tune
“ Old Hundred,” the Deacon’s rapt expression, as in the
wig and apparel of his bygone generation he executed his
ancient function, added much to the impressiveness of the _
service. The orator, Rev. Horace Holley, in a tribute to
him, said: “ Our venerable friend knew and conversed with
Elder Faunce, who personally knew the first settlers. So
Polycarp conversed with Saint John, the beloved disciple.”470
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1645-85.
Three months from that day the good Deacon, in his eighty-
third year, had rejoined Elder Faunce. Thus again have two
interlinked lives connected the Pilgrim Fathers with the elder
readers of these pages.
CjtvML~-MtMUrn. .
Nathaniel Morton was about eleven years old when his
father died.1 Bradford is said to have taken him into his
family and trained him with the other fatherless lads there.
Morton was secretary of the Colony from 1645 till his death
in 1685, and for the last few years was also town-clerk. The
records of the Colony and of the Plymouth church are very
valuable from his faithful and loving labor. In 1646 the
commissioners urged the Colonies to cause their several his-
tories to be written while the “ first comers ” were accessible.
Nothing was done, and in 1656 the request was more ur-
gently repeated. In 1667 Plymouth made the first response,
by asking her towns to contribute towards printing such a
book, which Morton seems to have already prepared. In
1668 the Court voted £25 to Printer Green, of Cambridge,
if he would do the work “as cheap as the other.” In 1669
the Court generously gave Green a barrel of beef over his
due from his “complaint of a hard bargain.”
Of the high regard in which Morton’s “ Memorial ” was
once held, and of its slight present value, mention has been
made.2 It closes its record with 1668; but after 1646, when
Bradford’s History was broken off, the “ Memorial ” has little
matter of historical interest, except its very incomplete obitu-
aries of Winslow, Standish, and Bradford. On the redis-
covery of Bradford’s History, the “ Memorial ” was found to
be, for the most part, a feeble compilation of extracts, which
seem to have been taken from that work with little system
or purpose, and with exceedingly slight benefit from any
1 See page 278.	2 See Preface, pages xvi, xvii.1622-34.]
CAPTAIN PEIRCES SHIPS.
471
personal knowledge of Morton's. He might have written it
just as well if he had never crossed the Atlantic or seen a
Pilgrim. How the writer of his excellent records could have
satisfied himself with such a mechanical and meagre history
is a puzzle.
The very worthy Secretary died at his home by Wellings-
ley Brook, Plymouth, in 1685, aged about seventy-two. His
six children were all daughters; and the many representatives
of the family name have nearly all descended from his young-
est brother Ephraim, who is said to have been born in the
“ Anne ” during the passage of his parents to this country.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM PEIRCE (or PEIRSE).
Captain Peirce and Massasoit were such warm friends to
Winslow and Bradford that they deserve mention in connec-
tion with them. Peirce is first noticed in 1622, when he was
master of the “ Paragon," the treacherous owner of which
ship, John Peirce, is said to have been his brother, the occa-
sionally different spelling of the name being fanciful. In
1623 Captain Peirce brought over to Plymouth the “ Anne,"
with her noteworthy company. In 1624 he came in the
“ Charity," conveying Winslow, with the first cattle. In 1625
he was at Plymouth in the “ Jacob," again bringing Winslow,
with cattle.
In 1629 he commanded the renowned “ Mayflower," and in
her took a company from Holland as far as the Bay, on their
way to Plymouth; and the next year, in the “ Lion," he came
over in Winthrop's fleet. Owing to the destitution at the
Bay, he was hurried back for provisions; with which he re-
turned, November 12, just as the crisis of the famine had
arrived. He also brought sixty passengers, including Roger
and Mary Williams. Late in 1631 he came over again in the
“ Lion; " and with him John Eliot and Governor Winthrop's
wife. In 1632 he sailed once more to Boston in the “ Lion; "
but after carrying Winthrop to Weymouth, lost his ship on
the Virginia coast. In 1634 he was gathering Oldham's corn472
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1636-41.
in the “ Rebecca ” and taking observations in the “ Narragan-
set; ” and the next year he was first in the West Indies, and
then later in the ice, rescuing refugees from the Connecticut
valley and returning them to Boston. In 1636, with the fine
new ship “ Desire” (120 tons), built for him at Marblehead,
he went with Endicott’s force to Block Island. In 1637 he
carried supplies from Boston for the soldiers of the Pequod
War, and acted as tender. In 1638 he sailed between Boston
and the West Indies; and it is sad to relate that, according to
the usage of the times, he took out several Pequod prisoners
as bondmen, and brought back a few negro slaves, though
even then some leading citizens condemned this traffic. At
this time he seems to have presented Winthrop with what the
latter calls an aligarto, — an animal which much interested the
grave Bostonians. In 1638 he cleared the “ Desire” from Lon-
don, with passengers for Boston, the English officers writing
his name “ Piers;” from Boston he kept on to the West
Indies. In 1639 he sailed the “Desire” from Boston to the
Thames in twenty-three days, — a passage which would even
now reflect much credit on such a craft and its captain.1
It has been seen that Peirce’s Almanac for 1639 was the
first thing in book form printed in the English Colonies. In
1641 he carried a company of dissenters to settle in the West
Indies; but owing to the hostility of the Spaniards, turned
back with his passengers, and put in at New Providence, to
bring away a congregation living there. Though finding the
Spaniards already in possession, he stood gallantly in, hoping
to rescue his countrymen. When the enemy opened upon
him with cannon, he sent his people into the hold for safety,
retaining on deck but one man to aid in working the ship.
While lying in the caboose watching the sails, the captain
and this sailor were fatally wounded by the same shot. The
“ Desire ” was then headed for home; her noble master
1 Thomas Graves was also a famous Boston navigator of that era, making
the trip to England and back annually for a long period. He commanded the
“ Plantation ” in 1630; the “ Elizabeth Bonadventure ” in 1633; ^“Reforma-
tion” in 1634; and in 1642 he was sailing the Colony-built ship “Trial.”1639-60-]
MASSASOIT’S NAME AND SONS.
473
finding a fitting grave in the blue sea upon which so much of
his life had been spent. His death was much lamented in
the two Colonies which had so long known him as a skilful
navigator and a Christian gentleman.1
MASSASOIT.
This worthy chieftain early changed his name, — probably
on the birth of his heir-apparent; for the savages had a cus- *
tom of so doing at any notable event. His earlier name was
spoken in four syllables, with the accent apparently on the
third; thus, in several of its forms: Mas-sa-^-it, Mas-sa-^-
yet, Mas-sa-^-yt, or Mas-sa-^ze/-at. He next called himself
Ossamequin, which the English wrote with the usual varia- <
tions, Assamequin being the most common. He does not
seem to have been known to the Bay Colony at all as x
Massasoit.
In the friendship of the whites, Massasoit found his only
protection from the Narragansets, and the trading-house at
Sowams was a stronghold for him. Miantonomo, when justly
executed by Uncas in 1643, was violently holding some of
Massasoit’s lands, which Plymouth caused to be restored.
In 1639 Massasoit, with his heir (Alexander), visited the
General Court at Plymouth ; and they solemnly confirmed
the league made in 1621, as also' did the Court. It is to be
noted that while at the first the English had absurdly applied
to this chief the title of king, they soon came to call him only
“ sachem/* or, more properly, “ grand-sachem.** (It is a
travesty to term his second son King Philip, as is so com- w
monly done; the authorities of his time all mention him as
“ Sachem Philip.**)
Good Massasoit*s reign continued uneventfully until his
death, at an advanced age, in the spring of 1660. His two
sons, at the next session of the Plymouth Court, solicited
1 Master Peirce left a brother, Captain Michael Peirce, who in 1676 fell into
a Narraganset ambush and was killed, with nearly all his fine Scituate company.
He was a liberal and manly citizen of that town. From 1656 to 1671 a William
Peirce, Peirse, or Pierce, as writers chose to spell it, was a shipmaster between
Boston and England. Was he a son of the first William ?474
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1663.
that body to give them English names. The elder brother
had been called Mooanum and Wamsutta ; the other had
first been Pomartarkim, and then Metacom. The Court now
named them Alexander-Pokanoket and Philip, after the great
kings of Macedon.
With all Massasoit’s friendship for the English, he ever
repelled Christianity; and in his later years, while selling the
land where Swansea now stands, he earnestly desired to insert
v in the deed a prohibition of efforts to convert the natives
there. His sons shared his feelings; and Philip, while at
peace with the whites, answered even Eliot’s exhortations
**with expressions of contempt for the Gospel. So Uncas, the
steadfast ally of the whites, always resisted the conversion of
his people. And the Narraganset chiefs, while carrying their
regard for Roger Williams to the extent of patiently listening
to his wearisome monthly sermons, took care that he should
v not make any proselytes among their subjects; for when the
praying Indians sought the precincts of civilization, the sa-
chem could exact no more tribute or service from them, and
the powahs saw that their craft was in danger. Hence Alex-
ander’— who survived his accession but two years — and his
successor, Philip, brooded over the decay of their power and
their system of religion until they allowed themselves to be-
come hostile and treacherous to the protectors who had so
long stood between them and Narraganset bondage.
OTHER DEATHS.
Of the forty-one signers of the Compact, only nineteen sur- *
vived the Colony’s first year; but five of these outlived Brad- ^
ford. One was Allerton, who long before had departed in
dishonor. The others were Howland, Alden, Cooke, Soule,
and Doty; of whom the first two will be noticed hereafter.
Francis Cooke had “ expended a considerable estate ” in
promoting the Colony. He died in 1663, aged about eighty-
one, at which time he had for years been a great-grandfather;
yet Hester, his French Walloon wife, survived him. His son1663-94-1
COOKE. — SOULE. — DOTEY.
475
John, a boy of the “ Mayflower,” was ten times a deputy from
Plymouth, and many years a deacon; but in the Quaker
troubles was excommunicated, — probably for joining Isaac
Robinson’s opposition to the proscriptive laws of the Prence
era. John was a pioneer in the Lakeville region; and in
1676 joined in resettling Dartmouth. He then connected
himself with Obadiah Holmes’ Baptist Church at Newport,
and is said to have preached at Dartmouth. His Baptist
connection did not prevent his frequent election to the Plym-
outh General Court as deputy from Dartmouth. He was
living in 1694, when he was the only surviving male passenger N
by the “ Mayflower.” 1
George Soule died in 1680. He was a pioneer at Dux-
bury, from which town for five years he was a deputy. He
early married Mary Bucket (Becket), of the “ Anne,” who
died in 1677, leaving a large family, through which the name
has descended.
Edward Dotey, who died before Bradford, is the only
signer to be now accounted for. He married Faith Clark,
whose father, Thurston Clark, was frozen to death, December,
1661, while on his way by land from Plymouth to Duxbury.
The family is most creditably represented as Doten in Plym-
outh, and elsewhere as Dotey, Doty, and Doughty. Edward
died in 1655, leaving ^140. His son, Edward, Jr., who had
married Sarah, sister of Elder Faunce, was drowned, with his
own son, John, in 1663, while sailing from Plymouth for Bos-
ton. The senior Dotey was a thrifty, active citizen; but his
public service was mainly in the court, where he often ap-
peared as plaintiff, defendant, juror, or prisoner. It is due to
him to add that his presence in the latter rdle was solely for
assaults with fist or tongue; as the pugnacity which led him
into the Colony’s early and only duel remained with him, and
caused his arraignment so late as 1651. His sons inherited
something of his affinity for the court-room, and, like him,
were energetic, useful citizens. Especially was he honored
by his great-great-grandson, James Otis, the eminent patriot.
1 Bradford’s Hist., 455; 4 Mass. Hist. Coll., viii. 251.
476
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[164I-9O.
For Dotey it may be said that there was a surprising amount
of litigation in the Colony, although from such a population
one would rather expect arbitrations and boards of concilia-
tion. With the exception of Elder Brewster, there was hardly
a citizen of note who was not at some time a party before the
court. It is a curious fact that among the rarest of litigants
was Myles Standish, who appeared only twice on his own
account, — once in 1641, when his dog was killed by John
Rowe (whom he made pay £2) ; and the other case in 1649,
when his sheep had been worried by the dog of Benjamin
Eaton (who paid 30s.). Save as the old soldier resented
cruelty to his animals, he set a rare example of peace.
Thus of the “ Mayflower’s ” forty-one men, there were but
four to follow Bradford to his grave; of the eighteen matrons,
doubtless Mrs. Susanna Winslow was the only survivor; but
of the children and youths, there may have been some fifteen.
At the close of 1679, twelve of “ the old stock” were living
(viz., Mr. and Mrs. Alden, Mrs. Winslow, Mrs. Howland,
George Soule, Giles Hopkins, John Cooke, Resolved White,
Henry Sampson, Samuel Fuller, second, Samuel Eaton,
Mary Allertori-Cushman). In 1690 only Cooke, White, and
Mrs. Cushman remained; and in 1699 the death of the last
forever closed this sacred roll.CHAPTER LVII.
GOVERNOR PRENCE. —THE QUAKER TROUBLES.
HOMAS PRENCE, son of Thomas of Lechdale,
Gloucestershire, early became a leader. In 1624 he
married Patience Brewster; she dying in 1634, he next year
married Mary, daughter of William Collier, the richest man
in the Colony; in 1662 his third marriage was with the widow
of Samuel Freeman. As his only son died young, the
Governor did not transmit his name; but through his seven
daughters his posterity is large, under the names of Freeman,
Howland, Tracy, Barker, Mayo, Snow, Howes, and others.
He was early at Duxbury, and a pioneer at Eastham. He
was governor in 1634 and 1638, and from Bradford's death
to his own (1657 to 1673). He was an assistant at least
twenty-two years ; a commissioner, thirteen; and Colonial
treasurer in 1637. He also held various special trusts, civil
and military.
In 1654, the English Government having ordered that
Plymouth extend her authority over all the settlers on the
lower Kennebec, the Colony deputed Prence, who assembled
the settlers at Merry-meeting Bay, near the Kennebec’s
mouth. Sixteen planters having readily sworn fidelity to
England, and also to New Plymouth, proceeded to choose
Mr. Thomas Purchase as their magistrate, — a choice which
Prence confirmed. (See Chapter XXXIX.) A few simple478
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1638-63.
laws were agreed upon, but grave offences were to be tried at
Plymouth. Thomas Southworth, who was then in charge of
the Plymouth trading-house, higher up the river, was also
made a magistrate, and was to co-operate with Purchase.
Prence’s mission was then ended, and the Pilgrim Republic
had reached the dignity of holding a colony.
In 1638 Plymouth leased her Kennebec trade for one sixth
its profits, and from this rent built her first prison (1639-41).
In 1651 a new lease was made for three years, at ^50 a year;
and again, in 1654, for seven years, at ^35 a year. In 1661
she sold the entire territory for ^400. The purchasers, by
calling themselves the Plymouth Company, have misled some
writers, for from the time of this sale neither Plymouth nor
any of her people had any connection with the region. (It is
a curious fact that the deed did not pass until 1665, and was
not recorded until 1719.)
The records so far depart from their usual course as to
notice Prence’s appearance, saying: —
“ He was excellently qualified for the office of governor. He had
a countenance full of majesty, and therein, as well as otherwise, was a
terror to evil-doers.”
Prence was just the man, as to dignity, wealth, and ortho-
dox zeal, to be cordially received by the leaders at the Bay,
and by the Colonial Commissioners, who represented the
dominant bigotry of the younger and greater Colonies. His
father-in-law, Collier, was an apostle of the same school.
Under these influences Prence became yet more rigid and
harsh. With a gentle but steady pressure in the opposite
direction, his record must have been more pleasant to review.
Still, it is no small thing in his favor that in the uneasy year
of Bradford’s death Prence was chosen governor by a unani-
mous ballot; and when, in 1663, he moved from Eastham to
Plymouth, that Colony established for him a yearly salary of
^50, and provided him with an official dwelling.
Prence had no sooner assumed Bradford’s duties than he
was confronted by a set of fanatics who forced their way1657-]
FRENZIES OF THE QUAKERS.
479?
into the Colony on a crusade against both Government and
Church. Their methods at Plymouth are not described,
but must have been similar to those practised at the Bay,
where the same zealots insulted the magistrates in the
streets and on the bench, disturbed the public worship with
grotesque violence, and clamored down the preachers with
vociferous abuse. Somewhat later in the controversy a Bos-
ton preacher, while conducting service, was covered with a
shower of broken glass from two bottles dashed together
before him, to illustrate the ultimate destruction of the
wicked; at Newbury, a chaste woman walked up the aisle
in perfect nudity, during public worship, to illustrate the spir-
itual nakedness of the times, and one modest maiden walked
the Salem streets in like condition; a troop of females in
sackcloth, with hair dishevelled and faces mottled with lamp-
black, rushed shrieking through the Old South congregation
in Boston, throwing delicate women into convulsions; in one
case a child was forcibly rescued from its father, who was at-
tempting to sacrifice it to the Lord. These latter forms of the
mania do not seem to have been exhibited in Plymouth, but
they illustrate the fanaticism of the new movement. In all
directions, however, worship was interrupted, the rights of
the majority were contemptuously violated, and what the
people most honored and what they held most sacred were
treated with “ all forms of disrespect/’1
These intruders, whom the world called “ Quakers,” were
of those enthusiasts whom George Fox, in a mission of ten
years, had gathered from the ruder classes of England.
Through successive generations the Society of Friends have
furnished more than their proportion of the exemplars of
humanity and philanthropy in every phase; and though dis-
owning the name of “ Quaker,” have made it truly honor-
able on both sides of the ocean. Between them and the
fanatical pioneers in question the student finds little resem-
blance beyond the unacknowledged name. The first-comers
were vague as to their own faith, which was not formulated
1 Palfrey’s Hist.
31|48o	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1657.
until several years later. They came, as doctrinal Nihilists,
to destroy rather than to build. They were not seeking a
place where they might worship God as they thought proper,
but their chief mission was to prevent the Colonists from
worshipping after their own way in their own assemblies.
They came, not to find a home, but to molest the homes al-
ready established. New Plymouth was a private domain,
held by a copartnership of citizens who interfered with the
faith and practice of no people outside their borders, and
demanded a like exemption for themselves. Strangers had
no more right to thrust themselves into this private territory
than into any demesne in England. A visitor who did not
like the condition of things in the Colony was not unreason-
ably expected to pass on to some place more congenial to
himself. Least of all, had non-residents a claim to invade
the Colony for the avowed purpose of breaking-down its
cherished institutions.
The Commissioners of the Colonies promptly urged sharp
measures of repression. In 1657 they sent Rhode Island an
arrogant letter, complaining that she made herself a harbor
for the Quaker emissaries, who thence sallied forth to dis-
turb the other Colonies; and their exclusion was requested
in terms which poorly disguised a threat. Rhode Island had
no connection with the Confederacy of the Commissioners,
and was a regularly chartered, independent Colony. So
while Prence signed this impertinent letter as one of Ply-
mouth’s members, his colleague, James Cudworth, refused.
Governor Arnold, of Rhode Island, made a very temperate
reply. They had no law, he said, against any one’s setting
forth his religious fancies, so long as he confined himself to
words; he himself considered the course of the Quakers
dangerous to the Government, and he should advise his
General Court to pass laws against them. (Roger Williams
was bitter against the Quakers, being denounced by Fox
himself as “ lying and slanderous.” Gorton also became
very hostile to them.) Yet, whatever Arnold may have
recommended to his Court, their full toleration there wasPUNISHING QUAKERS.
1658.]
481
never impaired. Governor Arnold further remarked of the
Quakers, —
“ They begin to loath this place for that they are not opposed by
the civil authority, but with all patience and meekness are suffered to
say over their pretended revelations and admonitions; nor are they
like or able to gain many here to their way. Surely, we find that
they delight to be persecuted by civil power; and when they are so,
they are like to gain more adherents by the conceit of their patient
sufferings than by consent to their pernicious sayings.’7
Happy for the Commissioners had they taken a lesson
from this wise ruler! But, alas! the next year they urged
a law punishing with death such Quakers as should return
after two banishments, unless they would recant their “devil-
ish tenets; ” and all the Confederated Colonies complied.
Cudworth had, for his leniency, been supplanted by Josiah
Winslow, who assented to this action, although the contrary
is often stated.1 This law, however, was enforced in Massa-
chusetts alone. No one had even dreamed that the intruding
zealots would defy the gallows. Banishment under penalty of
death was a common punishment in England,, and had been
applied to the Separatists. There were several cases of it in
the Colonies, and it had proved so efficacious that no one
had returned to brave its penalty. That the Quakers did so
was a result which astounded the law-makers, and made
them fanatics in their turn. By a majority of only one vote,
at Boston the law was carried out. Still, all that was re-
quired was the absence of the intruders; in prison and on
the gallows they were urged and besought to accept a par-
don on the sole condition of going away. Strange -that the
moiety of the rulers at the Bay did not see the futility of
martyrdom as against such enthusiasm! Similar laws were
made by the Dutch at Manhattan, and by the Episcopalians
of Virginia. New Hampshire scourged the Quakers from
1 Baylies credits Winslow with refusing his assent to this vote, as Cudworth
had to that of the previous year; but the student will regretfully find Winslow’s
name signed in a bold hand together with Prence’s.4B2
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1657-8.
her towns; while in England, not the gallows, but the more
terrible death-penalty of her pestilential jails, ended the lives
of many hundreds, and the brutality of mobs murdered a
score to every one who suffered in New England. In Eng-
land the people looked on approvingly, but even in Boston,
public sentiment was such that a heavy military guard was
required at her four executions to overawe the citizens.
Thank God, no Quaker was put to death in the Pilgrim
Republic!1
The first case in Plymouth was in March, 1657, when
Nicholas Upsall came in from Rhode Island, and was
promptly carried back. Several weeks later, Humphrey
Norton appeared, and he also was carried to the Rhode
Island frontier and set free. In June, 1658, while the Gen-
eral Court was sitting, Norton re-appeared, and with him
came John Rouse.2 Brought before the court, they showed
themselves skilful in invective and the art of irritation.
Christopher Winter filed written charges against them, based
on what they had said; as they denied his statements, they
were given time to review his paper and make a counter-
statement, which was referred to a committee, who decided
Winter’s charges justified. In these hearings Norton was
especially abusive towards Governor Prence, who was pre-
siding over the court, and whom he continually interrupted
with such remarks as, “Thou liest;” “Thomas, thou art a
malicious man; ” “Thy clamorous tongue I regard no more
1	The return of banished Quakers continued to be a felony in Virginia long
after it no longer was so in New England. Nor can New York consistently
criticise our ancestors, for she was excluding Roman Catholic priests, under
penalty of death, more than a century later (1774). Even tolerant Rhode Island
is hardly entitled to throw the first stone, for she early enacted a law for the
exclusion of “ Catholics.” Maryland and Virginia long made Unitarianism a
capital crime. New Hampshire persecuted Quakers, but not on a large scale.
In 1662 the constables of Dover, Hampton, and Salisbury whipped three Quaker
women ten stripes in each town, and the victims were then released by the inter-
ference of Walter Barefoot.
2	In Duxbury then lived a John Rouse, whose name is borne by Rouse’s
Hummock, where the French telegraph-cable lands; but he was hardly a Quaker,
for in 1682 his widow, Anice Paybody, bequeathed the gun, sword, and belt
“ which he used to wear,” to Samuel Cornish.1658.]	NORTON AND ROUSE DEFIANT.	483
than the dust beneath my feet; ” “ Thou art like a scolding
woman! Thou pratest, and deridest me,” etc. Rouse ably
seconded his fluent comrade.
The Court seems to have been puzzled as to the best way
of getting rid of these fearless assailants. Finally, when the
prisoners denounced the Court as without % legal authority,
and claimed to be answerable only to England, they were
ordered to take the oath of fidelity to England, which the
law then required of every man, citizen, or stranger. Refus-
ing, the pair were ordered to comply or be whipped for con-
tempt of court. It is not stated that they alleged any scruple
as to an oath; but such a threat would in no event be likely
to extort compliance from those who “ delight to be perse-
cuted,as Arnold had said. They practically defied the
Court to do its worst, and put it where it must surrender to
them, or, by whipping them in public, create a sympathy
for Quakerism.
The whipping took place, and the marshal next demanded
the jail-fees, which were then collected of all prisoners in the
Colonies and the mother-country on their discharge.1 This
exaction was very reasonably refused; but after a few days
in jail the strangers yielded to it, and going their way, mo-
lested Plymouth no more. The next week Norton, then in
Rhode Island, wrote a letter to Prence, prophesying for him
the direst personal calamities, and adding, “ In that day and
hour thou shalt know to thy grief that prophets of the Lord
God are we, and the God of vengeance is our God.,, He
also wrote to Alden a curious mixture of tenderness and
ridicule, beseeching him to resume his former tolerant spirit.
“ In love this is written,” said Norton; but in another sen-
tence he begs Alden not to be “ a self-conceited fool ” be-
cause called a magistrate; and in the postscript he adds a
charge of corruption.
1 These fees were usually 2s. 6d. for the committal, and 2s. 6d. for the discharge.
They were for the support of the jail-keeper. Whether a fee for administering
the lash was added, does not appear, but one was provided for by contemporary
law.484
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1658-61.
The same year (1658) Plymouth was visited by John
Copeland and William Braind, who, for insulting the magis-
trates on the bench, were ordered to leave the Colony within
forty-eight hours, under penalty of a whipping if they should
come back. They went; but six days later returned, and were
finally whipped for contempt of court. Not long after Wil-
liam Leddra and Peter Pierson, who had just come to Rhode
Island from Barbadoes, made their way to Plymouth. They
were kept in jail, as they refused to accept their liberty and
depart; but after several months, finding no chance to make
proselytes, or to interfere with what they termed the “ idol-
worship ” of the “ steeple-house,” consented to depart in
peace. Next came Wenlock Christison, who with much
patient entreaty was persuaded to retire, but quickly felt
moved to return and “ bear testimony.” He was charged
with behaving “ with great insolence,” and was “ laid neck
and heels.” On his release he stayed-by and renewed his
offensive acts, until he was whipped and carried out of the
Colony. In 1659 Mary Dyer appeared; but she was
promptly returned to her distressed husband, the Secre-
tary of Rhode Island, and the costs collected of Thomas
Greenleaf, who had brought her in a boat by way of Mano-
met. In 1661 William Reap and Peter Pierson made a
foray from Rhode Island, and were very defiant, but con-
cluded to obey an order to leave the Colony the next morn-
ing, while their guide, John Coxhall, forfeited his horse for
having brought in “ foreign Quakers.” 1
1 While Norton and Rouse were in prison, Christopher Holder was actively
proselyting at Sandwich, but avoided the capital. He was fresh from Virginia
with William Robinson, recently in prison there, who had written to George
Fox that the Lord had laid on him to test “ Boston’s bloody laws,” and that
Stevenson and himself were determined to prove personally “if the power be in
their hands to take our lives from us.” — 4 Mass. Hist. Coll.y ix. 158. That is,
they were going to Boston to see whether or not they could brave the laws with
impunity, and were fearlessly staking their lives on the result. This was fanati-
cism rather than missionary zeal.
Robinson and Stevenson were two of the four hanged from the great elm on
Boston Common. Down to the last moment they were entreated to accept a
pardon, with the condition of leaving the Colony, but calmly refused. Mrs.
Dyer had been led out with them under a heavy military guard, for fear of ai659] PUBLIC WHIPPING. —QUAKERS PUNISHED. 485
Thus, besides some ten cases of enforced departure, five of
the strangers had been whipped, not for their belief\ but
for disturbances and contempt of court. The lash was then a
common punishment for minor offenders, and was not thought
more cruel than is now a term in the workhouse, nor so much
so as is the treadmill. The disuse of this brutal infliction is
due to a very modern development of humanity, such as even
the most enlightened communities of the seventeenth century
would have failed to appreciate. Had public peace and
the orders of the Court been disregarded in a like manner
by thoroughly-orthodox persons, who, as the Quakers, could
not be duly punished with a fine, the scourge would have
been prescribed with even less leniency; for the alternative
of leaving the Colony would hardly have been given. In
Plymouth, persons of the most approved theology had been
threatened with the whip if they should persist in contempt
of court. Tolerant Rhode Island had thus punished so promi-
nent a man as Gorton for the same offence; and Massachu-
setts did the like to persons of various degrees whose religious
belief was not called in question.
rescue by the Boston people. On her promise not to return she was surrendered
to her husband, who took her home to Rhode Island; but the next year she
once more came to Boston, and the sentence was executed. The fourth victim
was William Leddra, on his third return from banishment. He was urged to
receive a pardon, provided he would return to England, but to every offer he
composedly replied that he had no occasion to go there.
The folly of trying to terrify such people was shown at Leddra’s trial, when
Christison came bursting into the court-room, denouncing the proceedings, and
referring to his own return as proof of the Quaker contempt of the gallows. He
was next convicted, but for two weeks the magistrates refused to sentence him;
finally Endicott, by boisterous conduct at the council-board, extorted an assent.
Public opinion had so revolted that the result of another execution was feared.
Christison must have been released in time; but he did not know, it, and while
in prison his zeal so far yielded that he was set-free on his written promise to
go away.
Of the others mentioned above, Norton went to New Haven and was there
branded in the hand; Rouse and Copeland were banished from Boston, and, re-
turning, had each his right ear cut off, — the barbarous act, which was performed
in private, being the last case of judicial mutilation in New England. This is
truly a lamentable record, nor is the blame wholly confined to one side. Had the
intruders been treated as irresponsible through mental excitement, — as reli-
gious lunatics, in fact, — their minds would without doubt have recovered their
equilibrium.486
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1659.
If modern Nortons and Rouses were to assail the justice of
any of our courts in the style of their prototypes, they would
much more promptly be remanded to such discipline as may
now be in vogue; and within the memory of some readers of
these pages, such punishment, especially for male vagrants,
would have been the lash. Prence and his coadjutors, there-
fore, are not to be charged with inflicting any unusually cruel
punishment on these persons, for they dealt with them as with
like offenders when matters of religion were not in question.
There was another case in 1659. Lawrence Southwick,
with Cassandra his wife, and four men, were expelled from
Massachusetts, and came to Plymouth. They were ordered
to depart within four weeks, under the law prescribing death
for non-compliance. Fortunately, they 44 felt free ” to obey;
but it is not supposable that the Plymouth Court would have
committed the wickedness of enforcing that law. Still, this
threat, even though intended merely as a threat, is a highly
lamentable incident in history. The caution may be here
repeated, to judge men by the standard of their day and
generation, but how far the conduct of Governor Prence
may thus be justified or extenuated, is a point on which
readers will widely differ. Many will regret that he and his
associates were not left to adorn the walks of private life,
while the Quaker troubles were managed by Josiah Winslow,
guided by the counsel of James Cudworth, Timothy Hath-
erly, Henry Dunster, Isaac Robinson, John Cooke, James
Skiff, Edward Freeman, and the Howlands.
Even with allowance for the long ago, what excuse can be
found for the treatment, not of foreign assailants, but of those
permanent inhabitants who adopted Quaker doctrines and
held peaceful meetings in private houses? As soon as the
Quaker teachers laid aside their habits of contumely and
their violent invasion of the rights of others, converts multi-
plied upon each side of the Colonial capital. One centre
was at Duxbury, and thither came 44 seekers ” from Marsh-
field and Scituate; the other, at Sandwich, drew them in
from Barnstable and Yarmouth.1659] ENDEAVORS TO QUELL THE QUAKERS.	487
The laws grew sharp and sharper. There were fines for ne-
glecting the public worship, for condemnation of its forms, or
disrespect for the clergy; for attending or housing a Quaker
meeting, harboring a foreign Quaker, or refusing the oath of
fidelity. There were a very few cases of disturbance of the
established worship, and they were treated with moderation,
while some forcible resistance to officers was sharply pun-
ished. But the resident Quakers, so far from molesting others,
generally avoided publicity. Soon they gained the good-will
of their non-Quaker neighbors, until in the six towns named
(where alone were Quakers discoverable) the people, for the
most part, sought to screen them from the new laws. Even
the town-constables generally connived at this.
At length the Government was forced to appoint what has
of late been termed a “ state constable,” which has been
thought a modern device for enforcing an unpopular law.
George Barlow was sent to be a special marshal for Sand-
wich, Barnstable, and Yarmouth. He soon saddled many
fines and penalties upon the Quakers and their “ manifest
encouragers.” The people generally resented his activity,
and gave him little peace until, in the course of years, they
had him in the prisoner’s dock for immorality, his wife for
selling rum to an Indian, and his three step-daughters for an
assault upon him in some domestic fracas.1
In 1659 the Court detailed Isaac Robinson, John Cooke,
John Smith, and John Chipman to attend the meetings of
Quakers, and try to “ reduce them from the error of their
ways.” Rash experiment! Robinson and Cooke attended,
1 Edmund Freeman, a former magistrate, who came over in the “ Champion,”
1639, and was dropped at the election of 1646 through theological differences,
was now fined for refusing to aid Barlow; the worthy constable of Sandwich,
William Bassett, Jr., was fined ioj. for slandering Barlow; and for violently
rescuing a prisoner from the latter, one man was whipped.
William Newland stated to the Court that Barlow secured Jacob Burgess* evi-
dence against the Quakers through Benjamin Nye’s threat that Burgess “should
not else have his daughter.”
Several Quakers were fined for refusing to take off their hats in court. This
looks somewhat like an intended defiance, for it was not until 1665, some years
later, that the Friends began to wear hats during prayer; and even then George
Fox declared the practice “ untimely.”488
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1657-61.
and became convinced that the Quakers were not fairly-
treated. The result was Robinson’s disfranchisement, and
probably Deacon Cooke’s excommunication was a part of it.
In 1661 the Court declared, “ there is a constant monthly
meeting together of the Quakers from divers places, in great
numbers, which is very offensive, and may prove greatly
prejudicial to this government,” they being generally at
Duxbury; and it desired Constant Southworth and William
Paybody to attend and refute the errors set forth. Of this
second experiment there is no report.
Duxbury was early inclined to moderation. Standish was
a liberal; and he left as executors the tolerant Hatherly and
Cudworth, who, under Prence, were dropped from the mag-
istracy. The old Captain seems also, so long as he lived, to
have retained Alden in liberal ways; but when the Quakers
came, Standish was dead, leaving Alden to the malign influ-
ence of Prence and Collier.
Foremost among the liberals were Henry Howland, of Dux-
bury, and Mr. Arthur Howland, of Marshfield, — an elder
and a younger brother of John Howland, the Pilgrim. In
1657 Henry was arraigned for harboring non-resident Qua-
kers; in 1659 he was disfranchised for continued violations
of the Quaker laws, and was repeatedly fined for permitting
Quakers to come from abroad and hold meetings in his
house; 1660 he was also fined £7 for neglecting public wor-
ship,— for which offence his wife had been fined the last
year. Their son Zoeth, in 1657, was set m the stocks for
speaking disrespectfully of the clergy and their services; and
a year or two later, Zoeth and wife were fined for neglect of
public worship, or meeting with Quakers, as also were their
sister Deborah and her husband, John Smith, Jr. John How-
land, second, was indicted for notifying a Quaker meeting
of the constable’s approach.
About that time John Phillips, the constable, going to Mr.
Arthur Howland’s to leave a summons, saw a non-resident
Quaker preacher, Robert Tuchin, and arrested him. How-
land interfered, and ejected the constable from his house,1657-61.] ARTHUR HOWLAND. —QUAKER SYMPATHY. 489
declaring, as the latter certified, that he would “ have a
sword, or gun, in the belly of him.” Two sons of John
Rogers (of the “ Mayflower ”) refused to aid the constable.
When the official returned with a posse, Tuchin had escaped.
Howland was forthwith taken to Alden’s house and tried
before Collier, Alden, Josiah Winslow, and Thomas South-
worth, who ordered him to give bonds for the General Court;
he refusing to furnish bail, they put him in charge of the Col-
ony’s marshal, Lieutenant Nash, who lived near. He was
eventually fined £4 for harboring Tuchin, and £5 for resist-
ing the officer. Soon after he sent the Court an indignant
protest against its anti-Quaker measures, and was then ar-
rested for contempt. The Court decided that as his estate
would not bear further fines, and he was too old and infirm
to be whipped, he be released on his acknowledgment of error,
— which was done. The reason for this leniency is more
likely to have been a regard for Howland’s eminent brother
John. Yet the latter may be supposed to have shared the
family liberality, as for some unknown reason he was dropped
as a deputy in the excited years of 1659 and 1660, to be re-
chosen in 1661, — the very year in which re-toleration began
to be effective.1
In September, 1661, Charles II. sent Massachusetts an
order that she suspend the execution or other corporal
punishment of Quakers, and forward the offenders for trial
in England. This “ King’s Missive ” is gravely warped and
misrepresented by modern Quaker writers and others. It
neither censured what had been done, nor expressed any
pity for the sufferers. It simply granted a change of venue.
There is also a suppression of the fact that the next June the
same sovereign sent a supplementary King’s missive, which
contained the following passage: —
1 Henry Howland is first noticed in 1633; he succeeded Christopher Wads-
worth, the first constable of Duxbury; for several years he was on the Colony’s
grand jury, but when the Quaker troubles began, he, with four others, refused to
serve in that body; in 1651 he was bail for John Rogers, who was fined 5s. for
“villifying the ministry.” Arthur Howland first appears in 1640; in 1651 he
was admonished by the Court for absence from church at Marshfield.490	the PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1661.
“We cannot be understood to direct, or wish, that any indulgence
shall be granted to those persons, commonly called Quakers, whose
principles, being inconsistent with any kind of government, we have
found it necessary, by the advice of Parliament here, to make a
sharp law against them, and are well contented that you do the like
there.”
On the receipt of the first letter Massachusetts suspended
action; but on the arrival of the second, her laws were again
sharply administered. In New Plymouth a few harsh clauses
lingered on her statute-book, but public opinion rendered
them nearly inoperative. Yet Prence, until his death a dozen
years later, seems to have retained hostility to Cudworth and
Robinson, who had resisted his intolerant policy. He and
his friends felt that in harrying Quakers they were doing
God service; but, nevertheless, a severe execution of the
laws was exceptional with them, and they often exercised
leniency on slight pretexts. It has been well suggested that,
for four years, they tried to subdue one kind of fanaticism
with another, and when Reason became their guide, she soon
controlled the Quakers also.CHAPTER LVIII.
WITCHCRAFT. —EDUCATION. —THE KING’S COMMISSIONERS.
IT is grateful to turn from the scenes of the last chapter to
New Plymouth’s action as to witchcraft. The belief in
this was world-wide. It had been stimulated by Pope Inno-
cent VIII., one of whose agents boasted of having burned
nine hundred witches. In our Colonial era, some of the
German states were burning six hundred a year, while in /
Italy, Switzerland, and Sweden the slaughter was also ter-
rible. In the sixteenth century, as is estimated, Continental
* Europe sacrificed one hundred thousand lives on this ground. ^
The most affectionate husbands, wives, parents, and children,
as soon as the mere charge of witchcraft was heard, felt their .
love to have been the work of the devil, and became frenzied -
destroyers of those who had just before been so dear. Sex, j
age, and religious character were no protection, nor was rank
always so.
The Pope stimulated the Roman Catholic nations to ac-
tivity, as Luther and Calvin did the Continental Protestants;
and the Churches of Scotland and England were both zealous
in destroying witches. Under the Long Parliament were
three thousand of these victims, and in ten years of its ses- ^
sion there were four thousand in Scotland. Most of these
suffered the horrible death of burning alive, though many
were murdered by ordeals. Mackay estimates that in a j *
period of time which is more than covered by the life of ;
John Alden of the “ Mayflower,” forty thousand of these ex- \
ecutions took place in England. This was an extravagant492
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1716-57.
estimate; but the fact that he thought it reasonable indicates
that the actual result must have been extremely horrible.
So late as 1716 the English courts sent a witch to the gal-
lows; in 1722 one was burned in Scotland; in 1786 one in
Ireland; and in 1793, which was a hundred and one years
x after the last execution in New England, one was executed
in Germany. In 1773 the United Presbytery of Scotland
bore testimony to the terrible danger of witchcraft; and in
1757 several learned divines of that country had condemned
I the wickedness of George II. in not vetoing an act which,
they charged, defied that law of God which forbids a witch
to live. Witchcraft was taught by all the churches of the
time, and it is even fairly deducible from many of the creeds ^
of to-day. While the Pilgrims were in Holland, James I.
wrote a book to impress more strongly on the Church of
^ England the prevalence of witchcraft, especially among aged
women, and the high duty of exterminating it without mercy.
From the Mediterranean to the Arctic, Christendom was mad
on the subject, and horrors prevailed in all directions.1 * *
Of course this superstition crossed the sea with emigra- 4
tion. The Puritans of the Bay and the Connecticut, the
1 In the District of Como, Italy, in the sixteenth century, a thousand witches
were burned in a single year, and about a hundred annually for long after. In
the seventeenth century five hundred were slaughtered in Protestant Geneva,
N with not half the total population of Massachusetts, which in that century hanged
the nineteen so often cited by those who are unjustly silent as to the thousands
of burnings in the Old World. In England, in the same century, Lord Chief-
| Justice Mansfield and the “sainted” Baxter hounded on the “ witch-finders ” of
\ the Long Parliament; in 1644 Sir Matthew Hale sentenced a witch to be burned,
and Alice Hunsdon was burned at York for receiving 30s. at various times from
Satan.
At Boston, the first witch execution was the hanging of Mary Jones in 1648 ;
x the next was that of Mistress Ann Hibbins, widow of an honored magistrate.
There are vague rumors of two cases at Dorchester. Before 1650 Goodwives
Bassett and Knapp were hanged in Connecticut on this charge.
At Salem fifty-five pleaded guilty, but none so pleading were hanged. Hence,
husbands and children often persuaded the accused to confess. Of those plead-
ing not guilty, nineteen were hanged.
A belief in witchcraft is even now prevalent among the low*er classes of most
[ sections of Europe. Since these pages were thought prepared for the press,
l alleged witches have been hunted by mobs in England and Germany, and
] burned alive in Russia and Poland.i66i—77*]
PLYMOUTH’S WITCHCRAFT-CASES.
493
men of New Hampshire, the liberals of Rhode Island, the
Dutch at Manhattan, the Episcopalians of Virginia, the set- ^
tiers of Maryland, and even the Quakers of Pennsylvania, all
recognized witchcraft by passing savage laws against it; and
several of these Colonies put their laws in execution. That *
New Plymouth should escape the contagion was impossible;
and she, too, had her law for the execution of witches. But /
the force of a law lies in “ the application of it.”
Her first case arose in 1661. Dinah, wife of Joseph Syl-
vester, of Scituate, claimed to have seen her neighbor, the
wife of William Holmes, in conversation with the devil, who
was in the form of a bear. The sensible Holmes brought a
suit for slander, which was tried by the General Court, Gov-
ernor Prence presiding. Dame Sylvester described the in-
terview; but the story must have been very coarse, for the
modest Morton merely filled up the proper number of lines 7
with rows of stars. In most Christian countries Mrs. Holmes'
life would not have been worth a day's purchase, but Ply-
mouth showed a degree of common-sense altogether novel in
such cases. Dame Sylvester was declared guilty of slander, j
and was ordered to be publicly whipped, or to pay Mr. j
Holmes £$ ; or that she openly confess her slander, and re- s ♦
pay Holmes' costs and charges. That she chose to do the )
latter is no more remarkable than that the result discouraged
witch-searching for many years.
The second case was in 1677 (n. S.), four years after
Prence’s death. An elderly matron, Mary, wife of Thomas
Ingham, of Scituate, was charged with bewitching Walter
Woodworth’s daughter Mehitabel, causing her to fall into ^
violent fits until “ almost bereaved of her senses, and so hath
greatly languished,” all by the “help of the devil, in a way
of witchcraft or sorcery.” Goodwife Ingham pleaded not
guilty, and put herself “ on trial of God and the country.”
The jurors, well worthy of honorable mention, were Mr.
Thomas Huckins, John Wadsworth, John Howland (second),
Abram Jackson, Benaiah Pratt, John Black, Mark Snow,
Joseph Bartlett, John Richmond, James Talbot, Seth Pope,494
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1677.
and------. Governor Josiah Winslow presided. The case
was duly given to the jury, and they found a verdict of “ Not
Guilty.”
^ These two trials were the beginning and end of witchcraft
j cases in the Old Colony, — the alpha and the omega of that
I perilous mania. Had the vulgar tales of Dinah Sylvester, or
the diseased imaginings of Mehitabel Woodworth, found the
credence which such utterances did at Salem fifteen years
later, and had done at Boston and Hartford, Manhattan, Vir-
ginia, and among the Marylanders, the tragedies of those
places would have found a counterpart at Plymouth. All
honor to the clear heads and brave hearts which enable it
to be said that the Pilgrim Republic never saw an alleged
witch punished, or even convicted. Thomas Prence had
ever swayed the Court in religious matters. Let it stand as
a redeeming trait in his character that he used this influence
to emancipate his people from the bonds of a world-wide
superstition.
Prence also honored himself by zealously promoting public
education. From the entire absence of laws on this subject,
before his supremacy, the absurd inference has been drawn
that there were no common schools. But as two prime ob-
jects of the original immigration had been the building-up of
their church and the training of their children, those people
of the first generation required no legal compulsion to either
end. The work which they had come to do would be per-
formed of free-will, and legislation would be superfluous.
As a new generation came forward, and strangers settled in
the multiplying towns, legal requirements became necessary.
So it was that for the first thirty-eight years the churches
were left to the voluntary support of the people, and for
four years longer education of the young was conducted by
the various villages in their own way. It is known that the
churches were cherished under this system, and there is no
reason to doubt that the schools were as well.
Bradford, in 1624, speaks of the school as about to super-
sede family-teaching; in 1636 a Plymouth lad was bound to1624-72]
OLD COLONY SCHOOLS.
495
Mrs. Fuller, with the condition that she keep him at school
for two years; in 1639 one of the leading men at Taunton
was “ Mr. Townsend Bishop, schoolmaster; ” in 1640 Deacon
Paddy and others broached the plan of an academy or col-
lege at Jones’ River, to be under the future President Chaun-
cey of Harvard College; in 1644 the Rehoboth pioneers
assigned a lot to “the schoolmaster;” in the first class
graduated at Harvard (1642) was Nathaniel Brewster from
Plymouth Colony, and he was followed in 1650 by Isaac
Allerton, Jr. Thus there is no lack of indications that edu-
cation, in town schools as well as higher seminaries, was the
subject of general interest long before it was thought to need
the stimulus of law.
The first enactment was in 1662, when, several new towns
having arisen, the Court charged each municipality to have
“ a schoolmaster set up; ” fifteen years later this was made
compulsory on all places of fifty families. In 1671 parents
and masters were made culpable unless their children and
servants be trained in reading and the fundamental laws, be
orally, “ without book,” taught in the grounds of religion, and
be trained for some calling; on a third proof of neglect, the
children or servants were to be taken away and placed, during
minority, with some person who would discharge this duty,
lest they “ prove pests instead of blessings to the country.”
The Court urged that the children should all receive in addi-
tion “ so much learning as, through the blessing of God,
they may attain.”
In 1670 the fishing excise from the Cape was offered any
town which would keep a free Colonial school, classical as
well as elementary. Two years later it was decided that
Plymouth’s school, supported by the rents of her southerly
common-lands, was entitled to receive this ^33. John Mor-
ton had taught this as a common school; but the Govern-
ment, wishing to raise its standard, procured the substitution
of Mr. Corlet, from Harvard College. The towns-people were
as dissatisfied with Corlet’s devotion to Latin and Greek as
the Colonial officers had been with Morton’s neglect of them;
32496
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1674-85.
and in 1674 the town-meeting ordered that due attention be
paid to reading, writing, and arithmetic, besides what “ the
country expects,” — an admonition which would not come
amiss at this present day.
This is claimed to be the first free school established in
New England by law; for while Boston, Dedham, and other
places at the Bay had long maintained free schools, they had
done so voluntarily. The Massachusetts law of 1642, requir-
ing schools in every town, left them to be supported by
tuition-fees, or in such other way as the towns might choose;
and such was still the law at the Bay when the Plymouth
Court required their school to be absolutely free.1 But this
Plymouth school did not remain free beyond 1677. Probably
the town and the Court disagreed; for such an academy
as the latter required would have been altogether unsuited
to the chief wants of the town. By 1704, however, it was
again free.
In 1677, £5 from the fishery-money was offered to any
town maintaining a “ grammar-school,” which then meant a
Latin school; and every town of seventy families without
such school was to pay £$ to the nearest town which kept
one. In 1685 a Latin school was ordered in each of the new
shire towns (Plymouth, Barnstable, and Bristol). Each pupil
from those towns was to pay 3d. a week for English branches,
and 6d. “ when he comes to his grammar ” (z. e. Latin) ; but
scholars coming from other towns were to pay nothing.
This is the substance of the Colony’s educational legisla-
tion ; but there is continued evidence that the towns, aided
by their college-trained clergymen, made reasonable provis-
ion for all their children, rich and poor alike. The schools
were variously supported by town-rates, private contribution,
or tuition-fees from those able to pay; and sometimes these
methods were combined. Thus Swansea, in 1673, voted to
1 Thacher’s Plymouth, p. 302.
In 1635 Boston entreated Brother Philemon Pormont to become schoolmaster.
Soon after a subscription was made to secure Mr. Daniel Maude as “free
schoolmaster.”1664]
THE KING’S COMMISSIONERS.
497
“ set up ” a school for rhetoric, arithmetic, Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew; and at the end of the programme it was thought-
fully added, “ also to read English and to write.” The school
was declared free to those alone who had paid some rate
toward it; and each pupil was to give 12d. in silver toward
the text-books, which, therefore, were owned by the school.
Such schools as this, of town creation, and taught by Pastor
Myles, a graduate of the English universities, show why so
few educational statutes were required.1
In 1664 the first British men-of-war seen on our coast ^
(the “ Guinea,” 36 guns; and “ Elias,” 30) came to Boston
with the King’s four Commissioners, — Nichols, Carr, Cart-
wright, and Maverick,2 — who had despotic authority. They
might change the Colony boundaries, annul the laws, revise
and reverse even the by-gone decisions of the courts, and in
general override all rights of the people. Their ill-will to
Massachusetts was well-known (and in Maverick’s case was
not groundless) ; so that Colony stood stiffly on her charter,
and by shrewdly assailing the King’s agents for questioning
the provisions of the King’s charter, partially turned the
tables on them. She having refused them a hearing, and
having prevented her people from answering their summons,
the enraged commissioners repaired to Plymouth. The Old
1	In 1692, when the Colony ended, six of its native citizens had graduated at * *
Harvard, and four of them had become preachers.
In 1640 New England had a university graduate for each two hundred and
fifty white inhabitants, — a larger proportion than the mother-country.
2	Samuel Maverick had under Gorges’ claim settled on Noddle’s Island (now
East Boston), in 1626-7, before the Massachusetts Company was organized in
England. (See pp. 318 and 373; also 4 Mass. Hist. Coll., vii. 318.) He seems
to have been hospitable and philanthropic. His style of entertaining company
early brought on him the animadversion of Winthrop’s solemn-minded Council,
which seems to have finally treated him impertinently and overbearingly. His
adherence to the Church of England is supposed to have kept up a prejudice
against him. A curious feature of the personal quarrel between Winthrop and
Sir Henry Vane, Jr., is recorded in connection with the visit of the youthful
Lord Leigh. Winthrop invited various dignitaries, including the Governor, to
meet his lordship at a dinner; and when the hungry guests had arrived, it was
found that Governor Vane had taken the nobleman over to dine with Maverick.
Maverick seems to have been a worthy gentleman, who had ample excuse for his
ill-will toward the magnates at the Bay. (His son Moses married Remember
Allerton of the “Mayflower,” and lived at Marblehead.)498
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1664.
Colony had no chartered rights to plead, and her hope of
acquiring any was through the good-will of these very offi-
cials. Then, too, Rhode Island was clamoring for a part of
Plymouth’s territory, and a word from these commissioners
would give it to her. Plymouth therefore had especial
reason for receiving the visitors with cordial respect. The
latter, too, came with kindly feelings; they also brought a
very friendly letter from the King, who, after expressing
satisfaction with the Colony’s address on his restoration,
promised to preserve all her “ liberties and privileges, both
ecclesiastical and civil.” The King, with evident reference
to Massachusetts, said to Plymouth, I will “ no more suffer
you to be oppressed or injured ” by “ ill neighbors.”
The Commissioners gave notice that all who wished should
wait on them with any complaints they had against the Gov-
ernment of New Plymouth. It was not a little to the credit
of the latter that only one complainant appeared. He was
William Nickerson, who had traded with the Indians for six-
teen square miles of their land; and his complaint was that
the Colonial authorities, in their jealous regard for the inter-
ests of the savages, had refused to permit his retention of said
land. This complaint was really a high compliment to the
Colony.
The Commissioners next visited Rhode Island and Con-
necticut, and after friendly sessions in each, assumed full
control of Manhattan, which the English fleet had just seized
from the Dutch. On this mission they took along with them
a delegate from each Colony visited, Plymouth furnishing
Captain Thomas Willet at their especial request. Before
leaving the Old Colony they made four recommendations,
substantially as follows: —
1.	That all householders swear allegiance, and the courts act in the
King’s name.
2.	That all men of competent estate and civil conversation be
admitted as freemen, to vote and hold office.
3.	That all of orthodox opinions and civil lives be admitted to the
Lord’s Supper, and their children to baptism, either in the existing1664-6.]
PLYMOUTH’S CHURCH REGULATIONS.
499
congregations or in such as they might form. (This meant that Church
of England people be received to the Congregational Churches, or be
allowed to form parishes of their own.)
4. That any laws or legal phrases disrespectful to royalty be
changed.
The General Court replied that the first and second points
simply conformed to the Colony’s “ constant practice; ” for
men of differing judgments had always been chosen freemen,
and to civil and military office. There were no legal enact-
ments disrespectful to the King. The answer to the third
section filled two thirds of the document, and was drawn with
great skill. All of orthodox opinion were welcome to join
the churches, according to the order of the Gospel; but if their
views of church government forbade this, they could have
liberty to establish worship by themselves, provided that they
had “ an able preaching ministry ” and were in a place able
to support two churches; until this was the case, all should
join in maintaining the clergy already settled; the King’s let-
ter, promising to continue the liberties of the Colony, could
not mean that the existing churches be rooted out, and there
were other places in which people of other persuasions might
live in societies of their own, — a course which Plymouth’s
experience had shown most conducive to peace and charity.
Strange to say, this statement of the case was so satisfactory
to these Church of England commissioners that on submit-
ting their points to the Colony of Connecticut they dropped
the original third item, and merely asked an indorsement of
Plymouth’s answer. This fact indicates that the visitors were
much more reasonable men than Massachusetts writers have
usually represented.
Two years later the King sent another pleasant letter to
the rulers at Plymouth. Their “ good reception ” of his
agents deserved his thanks; their “ fidelity and affection ” not
only merited his praise, but it was “ set off with more lustre
by the contrary deportment of the Colony of Massachusetts,”
and they were strongly assured of the royal favor. The
merry monarch’s “ trusty and well-beloved ” of New Plymouth500
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1673.
were justified in now feeling that their long-sought charter
was at hand; but alas! they were depending on the word of
a Stuart.
Indian treachery and conspiracy caused Prence much an-
noyance in his later years, as also did a threatened war with
the Dutch. The stern Calvinism which he cherished had
long been losing its hold on the public mind, and the signs
of the times were ominous to those conservative principles
which he considered essential to a good government. It is
probable that the weary Governor was quite ready to go
when death summoned him from the government-house,
April 8, 1673, at the age of seventy-three. Ten days later,
with all the ceremony due to his office, he was laid on Burial
Hill, in a grave now unknown.CHAPTER LIX.
HATHERLY. — CUD WORTH. — ROBINSON. — HOWLAND.
IMOTHY HATHERLY, a merchant, Adventurer, and
next a London partner, came to Plymouth in 1632 for
the third time, and settled at Scituate. As he was a man of
wealth and ability as well as piety, he at once became a leader.
For twenty-one successive years he was an assistant, for two
years a Colonial commissioner, and for two the Colony’s treas-
urer. In 1658, under Prence, Hatherly and his townsman,
Cudworth, were dropped from the board of assistants because
of their hostility to the proceedings against the Quakers.
They were not opposed as favoring the opinions of the sec-
taries, but as “ manifest encouragers.” Such, too, was the
position of their neighbor, ex-President Dunster, whom Mor-
ton describes as hotly opposing the errors of the Quakers,
while Cudworth cites him as boldly testifying against the
spirit of persecution.
Hatherly, though a pillar of orthodoxy, early showed a
spirit of independence. In 1637 the Scituate Church ex-
communicated Christopher Winter for contracting himself to
Widow Cooper (who is mentioned as " vain, light, proud, and
much given to scoffing”), though he pretended not to have
done so, and had said he would wait for the Church’s con-
sent ; but when called to account, rather aspersed the Church
than humbled himself. Pastor Lothrop records that Mr.
Vassal and Goodman Rawlings did not consent, but purposely
left the congregation during the proceedings; and while they502
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1639-66.
were “ dealing ” with Winter, Mr. Hatherly went out in dis-
content, “ to the grief of us.”1
As Hatherly was an active, public-spirited citizen, and had
been a very hard-working magistrate, his eight years of pri-
vate life would have been a boon to him, had the respite not
been enforced. He died in 1666, leaving no children to
inherit his honorable name.2
GENERAL JAMES CUDWORTH,
who probably went to Scituate with Hatherly, was son of
Ralph Cudworth, rector of Aller, as well as chaplain to James
I., and who married Prince Henry’s nurse. Another son was
that eminent and liberal Churchman, Ralph Cudworthu D.D.
Cudworth in 1639 went with Lothrop to found Barnstable, and
was sent as deputy from the new town; but the same year
1	Perhaps the Church officers watched for an opportunity to avenge their
wounded dignity. In 1638 Winter was fined ioj. for publishing himself to Jane
Cooper, “ contrary to order and custom; ” the next year, on a charge of ante-
nuptial intimacy, Winter was sentenced to be whipped at the post, at the Gov-
ernor’s discretion, and his wife to be whipped at the cart’s tail through the
street. Some aggravated misconduct must be inferred from this barbarity, but
ecclesiastical revenge is also to be suspected. Yet on a charge of the same kind
in 1648, Winter was fined £5. Was this a second marriage, or was it the com-
mutation of the old sentence which Bradford and Hatherly had till then held in
abeyance ?
Yet in 1658 Winter appeared as the champion of orthodoxy; for he was the
man who filed charges of heretical opinions against the Quaker emissaries, Nor-
ton and Rouse. In 1660 he was constable of Marshfield; but in 1669 and at
other times he was sharply examined on disgraceful charges which were merely
“not proven.”
2	Hatherly married Nathaniel Tilden’s widow. In his retirement, the Colony
still authorized him to conduct marriages and administer oaths. He was Chaun-
cey’s strong friend, and when Vassal emigrated (1648), Hatherly bought his house
and offered it as a gift to Chauncey, Vassal’s bitter enemy. On Chauncey’s re-
fusing it as a gift, Hatherly conveyed it to the church, which gave Chauncey its
use during the remainder of his Scituate life. Afterward, the Church returned
the house to Hatherly.
Like most enterprising people of their day, Hatherly and Cudworth indulged
in a law-suit (1640); the issue was a land boundary, — a common cause of litiga-
tion, from the vagueness of the early grants, and mistakes as to lines when the
land came to be fenced. Hatherly recovered £12. In 1639, on Hatherly’s
motion, Cudworth had been “presented ” for selling wine unlicensed. In 1634
Francis Sprague (of the “ Anne ”) was ordered to pay £20 for killing Hatherly’s
mare.i659-]
CUDWORTH’S LIBERALITY.
5<=>3
he returned to Scituate, from which place he was six times a
deputy.1
Cudworth was assistant nine years, and commissioner five.
He was filling both positions when in 1658 the Prence, or
anti-Quaker, sentiment prevented his re-election to either.
In 1659 Scituate showed proper spirit by electing him as
deputy; but the illiberals were so strong that the Court would
not receive him, Collier even declaring that he would not
remain if Cudworth were admitted.
Six months later Cudworth wrote to James Brown (subse-
quently the Baptist magistrate from Swansea), who was then
in London, and said that for two years he had opposed vari-
ous restrictions and punishments, for which reason he and
Hatherly had been left out of office, and himself cashiered
as captain of the Scituate train-band;2 John Alden had dis-
appointed his best friends, who prayed God that his acts be
not charged as oppressions of a high nature. The “ New Ply-
mouth saddle is on the Bay horse,” said Cudworth; and he
added that religious matters so occupied the Government
that no time was left for civil business, and at the last session
from sixty to eighty persons were indicted for absence from
church. Brown seems to have been treacherous; for in a
few months this letter was before the Plymouth Court, and
1	Hatherly came in the “ Charles,” 1632. Cudworth brought his wife and
three sons. His daughter Mary, born 1637, was in 1661 “disorderly married”
to Robert Whitcomb; that is, they were united by Henry Hobson, a non-resident
Quaker, instead of by the authorized official, and the pair were fined £ 10. In
1662, they having been “ orderly married, and following their callings industriously,
and attending the worship of God diligently,” £$ was remitted, and the treasurer
was ordered to “ be slow in demanding the remainder.”
2	James Skiff, of Sandwich, for like reason was also refused his seat as
deputy; and the Court was guilty of the high-handed act of filling these two
seats with men of their own selection; namely, Lieutenant Torrey, of Scituate,
and Thomas Tupper, the Sandwich missionary.
In 1655 the Court had rebuked the Scituate train-band for its levity in choos-
ing “ unmeet persons ” as sergeants, and electing one man sergeant when he held
the Court’s commission as ensign. In 1666 the train-band again aroused magis-
terial ire by making Cudworth their captain, with the gallant Michael Peirce as
lieutenant. The Court disallowed both, and ordered Sergeant Damon, the wind-
miller, to take charge of the company. In the earlier days William Vassal, not-
withstanding his ecclesiastical disfavor, was captain of this corps and was in the
council of war with the liberal Standish.504
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1673-
that body promptly disfranchised Cudworth as an “ opposer
of the law and a friend to the Quakers.”
Cudworth then passed thirteen years in dignified retire-
ment. The royal commissioners in 1664, when calling on all
persons to present their grievances, would doubtless have
used their influence, if not their authority, in behalf of Cud-
worth, Hatherly, and Robinson; but the deposed leaders
were too manly to complain, and too patriotic to seek outside
interference in the affairs of their little republic.
In 1673 Josiah Winslow, on becoming governor, at once
secured Cudworth’s recall to the public service, and public
opinion said “ Amen.” The Dutch, under Admiral Evertsen,
had then retaken New York and were threatening New Eng-
land. Plymouth had inherited a grateful recollection of the
Pilgrim asylum in Holland, and resolved to act only on
the defensive; but for this end she set her forces in order,
and appointed Cudworth commander-in-chief, with the rank
of major.
He declined in a curious letter, saying, and justly, that his
lack of qualifications showed that God gave him no call for the
place, — vox populi was not always vox Dei. Nor could he
leave home: his wife, more than sixty-seven years old, had
no maid, and from weakness was forced to rise at daybreak,
when a pipe of tobacco must be lighted for her, and be three
or four times renewed before she could get breath enough to
stir; his hay was stacked where it grew, and must come
home; his winter’s wood (December, 1673) was to be laid-in,
and there was the going to mill with no helper but an Indian
boy of thirteen. He had buried past differences, and in what
he was fitted for would serve the public so far as he might
without ruin to his family; but in his former captaincy he
was very raw, and when discharged he did for once believe
vox populi to be vox Dei ; for, as Mr. Ward saith, “ the inex-
perience of a captain hath been the ruin of armies.”
Notwithstanding this appeal of the Old Colony Cincinnatus
to be left at the plough, he was persuaded to accept; but
fortunately was not called upon to lead their train-bands
/i68o-8i.]
CUDWORTH’S OFFICES.
505
against the veterans of the Dutch line.1 He was still in office
when Philip’s War broke out; and though quite unequal to
the emergency, his hesitation checked the prevailing reckless-
ness, and perhaps lessened the disasters. Still, Cudworth was
advanced to the rank of general (at 6.?. a day),—which office
the Colony then created for the first time. After six months
of active service he retired to civil life. Yet had his advice
been followed, it is not improbable that the war would have
ended before that time:2
But Cudworth in laying down the sword was not permitted
to resume the plough. Three years he served again as a
commissioner, and for seven successive years as an assistant.
In 1680 Winslow’s rapid decay led to the election of a deputy-
governor. John Alden had long held the equivalent post of
senior assistant; but Alden’s age unfitted him for higher
duties, and to supersede him would be cruel. So the new
office was created, and to it was chosen Thomas Hinckley.
Before the next election Winslow had gone to an honored
grave at Marshfield, and Hinckley succeeded to his office.
The people, still bent on reparation, then made Cudworth
deputy-governor.
During 1681 the proceedings at London against Massachu-
setts Colony were so sharp that Plymouth desired an agent
there to watch her interests, and sent General Cudworth (then
aged about seventy-six). Soon after his landing in England
he was attacked by that great scourge of his time, the small-
pox, and a few days ended his brave and noble life. Edward
Randolph, so justly hated at Boston, had made himself agree-
able in Plymouth^and, Episcopalian though he was, had taken
the oath of citizenship in that Colony. He had pledged his
potential aid to Cudworth for the procurement of a royal
charter for the Colony, extending its area over Rhode Island.
Had Cudworth’s life been spared for another year, it is highly
probable that this would have come. Such a commonwealth
1	In 1666-7 a Dutch fleet had been sent to ravage the New England coast,
but it was broken up and turned away by a storm.
2	See Baylies* Mem., Pt. iii. 53.THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1610-65.
S06
as New Plymouth, notable in science and the arts, rich in
manufactures and commerce, with the combined thrift and
energy of two great and liberal communities, must then have
come down to us as one of the most famous States of the
Federal Union.1
ISAAC ROBINSON,
born at Leyden about 1610, was the great pastor’s second
son. In 1631 he came to Plymouth, leaving his mother at
Leyden, where she reached a good old age. Contrary to
tradition, he was not brother to Abraham Robinson, who
soon after settled at Cape Ann. In 1636 Isaac was married
at Scituate by Hatherly to Margaret Handford, a relative of
Hatherly’s by marriage. In 1639 he removed with Lothrop
to Barnstable, where he was in time called to various offices,
including that of deputy. In 1659, he, with John Cooke,
haviijg officially visited the Quaker meetings, condemned, in
his report to the General Court, the anti-Quaker laws as
unwise and unjust. The Prenceism of the Court resented
such criticism; but hoping to frighten the bold liberal into
a retraction, it would seem, it was voted to postpone to the
next quarterly session “ sundry scandals and falsehoods in a
letter of Isaac Robinson.” Robinson’s inherited blood was
not of the recanting kind; what he had. written he had
written. The result was his disfranchisement, which contin-
ued until Winslow’s accession, thirteen years later. During
this long interval Robinson remained a member of the church
in good standing, and the Colony exhibited the absurd
spectacle of holding a citizen good and orthodox enough
for a church-member, though formally declared, through
his “ scandals and falsehoods,” unfit to vote. In 1665 Robin-
son kept an ordinary at Succonnesset (Falmouth) ; in 1673
1 Cudworth censured Endicott’s fanatical act of cutting the cross from the
English flag (1634), saying, “ It is contrary to the minds and wills of all I can
hear of.” Cudworth was a founder of Freetown, and there in 1729 died his son
James, who in 1665 had been fined £$ for assuming parental obligations some-
what too soon after marriage.*
ROBINSON. — HOWLAND.
SO 7
1673.]
he was town-clerk at Tisbury, where he deeded property to
his “ natural son Peter,” meaning his real son (see p. 344) ;
in 1701 he returned to Barnstable, where he lived with his
daughter Fear, wife of Samuel Baker, and there died, about
1704, when nearly ninety-four years old.1
The grand name of Robinson received no detriment from
this good man, and his descendants have continued to do
it credit in many walks of life, but in none more than as
“ cunning artificers and workers of metals ” in the great iron-
mills of the Old Colony.
JOHN HOWLAND.
The “ lusty young man ” whom the “ Mayflower’s ” people
fished out of the sea with a boat-hook (p. 58) soon be-
came a leader. He was an assistant in 1633-4-5, and so
late as 1670 was serving his seventeenth year as deputy from
Plymouth. He is credited with a military-turn, and in the
Hocking affair showed himself a chivalrous commander. As
in the height of the Quaker troubles he was dropped from
the General Court, there is reason to think that he, like the
other Howlands, was found too liberal for the times. Yet his
high standing in their church was shown at Cotton’s ordina-
tion in 1669, when four visiting clergy conducted the exer-
cises and Elder Cushman preached, while the church-members
appointed Howland as their proxy to join in the laying-on
of hands.
This old Pilgrim died March 5, 1673 (n. S.), at the age of
eighty. Two days later he was buried “with honor,” says
the record, which adds that he was “ a godly man,” who had
proved “ a useful instrument of good in his place.” The
graves of his posterity forming a clew to his own, a stone
was erected there half a century ago by his great-great-
grandson John Howland, a soldier of the Revolution, and
long the honored president of the Rhode Island Historical
1 Robinson’s sons were John, Isaac, Israel, and Jacob; his daughters,
Susanna, Fear, and Mercy.508
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
♦	[i673-
Society. Unfortunately, the good man was led by tradition
into the misstatement that the Pilgrim’s wife was Governor
Carver’s daughter. It will be remembered (p. 182) that she
was the child of John and Bridget Tilley, and was left an
orphan when fourteen years old, which was thirteen years
less than Howland’s age. She was married before the land-
division of 1624, and her son John was born Feb. 24, 1626
(N. S.). She survived her husband, and spent the last of
her days with her children, James and Lydia Brown, of
Swansea, where she was buried in 1687. Howland was the
last signer of the “ Compact ’’ who remained at Plymouth;
but at Duxbury Soule and Alden both survived.
Howland’s children were John, Jabez, Isaac, Joseph, Desire
(Gorham), Hope (Chipman), Elizabeth (Dickinson), Lydia
(Brown), and Ruth (Cushman). John went to Barnstable;
Jabez did valiant service under Church against Philip, and
then was a pioneer at Bristol; Isaac went to Middleborough,
and Joseph remained at Plymouth.1
It was formerly thought that Howland was son of John
Howland, “ gentleman and salter ” of London; but it is now
found that the latter had no posterity of his name beyond
grandsons. The Howlands are all traceable to Essex, and
there were five John Howlands, any one of whom may have
been the Pilgrim’s father. In 1646 Humphrey Howland,
“ citizen and draper ” of London, left his brothers Arthur,
John, and Henry, respectively, £Sy £4, and £4 out of a debt
due from Mr. Ruck, of New England, — a fact which goes
far to identify the brothers as those of the Old Colony.
Henry’s children were Joseph, Zoeth, John, Samuel, Sarah,
1 In 1681 Jabez was keeping an ordinary at Bristol; and there, curious to
relate, his son Jabez became vestryman of St. Michael’s (Episcopal) parish (1724).
In 1684 Isaac Howland kept an ordinary at Middleborough.
On the Penobscot is the town of Howland, named for the Pilgrim by a worthy
descendant, Major William Hammatt, of Bangor, who bought the land from the
natives. In 1775, when a provincial mail was established between Boston and
Falmouth, via Plymouth, the two post-riders were Timothy Goodwin and Joseph
Howland.
(For information as to John Howland, the author is indebted to E. C. Leon-
ard, of New Bedford, and John A. Howland, of Providence.)THE HOWLANDS.
*673]
509
Elizabeth, Mary, and Abigail. (Were not John and Eliza-
beth named for the Pilgrim pair, who also had a Joseph?)
The descendants of the Pilgrim jpair are many, and not a
few of them honorably bear the family name. It has been
fondly supposed that they generally show in an unusual
degree certain genial traits of character which are a legacy
from the “ Mayflower.” At all events, they are sure that
their stalwart ancestor was brave, honorable, cheerful, and
godly.CHAPTER LX.
William Blackstone. — Samuel Newman. — John Brown. — Thomas
Willet. — John Myles. — Richard Williams. — Elizabeth Pool. —
The Leonards.
THE first settlers of the western towns of New Plymouth
were mostly people who had not been connected with
the Pilgrim settlements along the coast, but reached their
new homes by coming overland from Boston. Yet their his-
tory forms no small part of that of the Old Colony’s later
existence.
WILLIAM BLACKSTONE.
This hermit (who wrote his name Blaxton, which form
should have been preserved) probably came in 1623 with
Gorges; and when the latter returned, Blackstone as his
agent settled on the peninsula of Shawmut. In 1630, as
Winthrop’s company were suffering for water at Charlestown,
Blackstone advised them to come over to his side, where were
good springs. Having done so, they decided there to build
their town, calling the place first Blackstone’s Neck, and then
Boston. Blackstone was- living by a spring near the north-
west corner of the present Boston Common, surrounded by
an orchard of his own planting. He was the only white
man there, but had several Indian employes living around
him. Gorges’ grant was not valid under the Bay charter,
but Blackstone was given fifty acres of land,1 including his
homestead.
1 At least one fourteenth of the dry land then on the peninsula. In 1687
Sewall mentions bathing at “ Blackstone’s Point,” near the northwest corner ofI634-5-]
WILLIAM BLACKSTONE.

SII
Blackstone was a Church of England divine, and did not
assimilate with his new neighbors, although Edward Johnson
alludes to him (1654) as “ retaining no symbol of his former
profession but a canonical coat.” Blackstone himself said
that he had left England to escape the “ tyranny of the lords-
bishops,” and then left Boston to escape the “ tyranny of the
lords-brethren.” In fact, he hated the restraints of society.
So in 1634 he amicably sold his land (less his six-acre house-
lot) to the town of Boston, each householder paying him six
shillings, and some of them more, until the total was ^30.
The purchase was mainly appropriated for a training-field
and a common pasture for the people’s cows. Thanks to
John Winthrop, the training-field was preserved as such for
posterity; and it is embodied in that beautiful park, Boston
Common, where the citizens now come in pursuit of health
and to witness the parades of the eighth generation of citizen-
soldiers.1
Early in . 1635 Blackstone, with servants and a herd of cattle,
struck across the country to the northwesterly border of New
Plymouth, and settled in the wilderness on the east bank of
that river, which now bears his name. The spot was afterward
included in that district of Rehoboth once called Attleborough
Gore, but which is now the township of Cumberland, in Rhode
Island. Blackstone’s home was just opposite the present
manufacturing village of Lonsdale. Hard by the river is a
pretty conical knoll some seventy feet high, to which Black-
stone gave the name of Study Hill; at its base he built his
house, under the name of Study Hall, and arranged in it his
library of a hundred and eighty-six volumes, many of them
Boston Common, and thereabouts the author remembers Braman’s Baths and
a swimming-school. In the interleaved almanacs of Pastor Danforth, of Rox-
bury, is entered for Aug. 12, 1646 (o. s.): “Blaxton’s apples gathered;” i. e,t
in Boston.
1 In 1639, at hfay training, a thousand men exercised here in two regiments.
The next September twelve hundred trained two days, and Winthrop says that
though there was a plenty of wine and strong beer in town, there was not a
man drunk, an oath, nor a quarrel. In 1661, as Major-General Atherton was
returning to Dorchester from a training on this field, he was thrown by his horse
and killed.
33512
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1644-71*
in Latin, for he was a Bachelor of Arts (1617) from Emman-
uel, on the Cam.
Alone with his servants, animals, fruit, and books, Black-
stone enjoyed his oasis; and though his former orchard by
Boston Common long continued famous, the yellow sweetings
he now introduced into the country became more so, some
of his trees continuing to bear ninety years after his death.1
After twenty-four years of this life solitude lost its charms,
and our hermit, repairing to Boston, was married by Governor
Endicott to Sarah, widow of John Stevenson. Her son John,
aged about fourteen, went with his mother, and finally took
charge of Blackstone's affairs. In time, a little John Black-
stone enlivened Study Hall, but no more children.2
Before 1644 Rehoboth was founded, and in 1650 had built
a road four rods wide for passing “ to Providence or to Mr.
Blackstone’s,” Rehoboth village being then at the present
Attleborough Plain. Yet Rehoboth does not seem to have
exercised any authority over Blackstone. He also had nearer
neighbors, for in 1646 Governor Bradford sold the farm next
above him, and on it, in 1648, settled Stephen Paine. In 1669
the general current of litigation swept Blackstone into the
court at Plymouth, where he had to pay £6 to his neighbor,
John Allen, whose fence he had removed, to the injury of the
grass and loss of the hay. Blackstone seems to have taken
up his own land without leave or license, for so late as 1671
the Plymouth Court gave him the two hundred acres where
he lived.
Blackstone was only six miles from Providence, and in visit-
ing the plantation was wont, in lieu of a horse, to ride on a
1	At Cheshire, Conn., 1883, was a bearing apple-tree reputed to be a hun-
dred and eighty years old.
2	John Stevenson had been a Boston shoemaker. Young John took good
care of the Blackstones, and owing to lack of personal property (probably
through Indian ravages), the General Court gave him fifty cres from the
realty as a recompense. He died 1695, fifty; he had brothers and sisters at
Boston. John Blackstone, who lived for a time in Providence, was idle and in-
temperate. In 1713 Attleborough refused him domicile, lest he become a town
charge He probably went to Connecticut, where near New Haven was recently
a family so named which was noted for a love of solitude.BLACKSTONE AND HIS WAYS.
1675.]
513
trained bull. He sometimes went there to preach; but while
the tolerant people gave him perfect freedom in worship,
which they also offered to “Turk or Hindoo/' they did not
go so far as to furnish a roof or a congregation. His first
service was under a tree, in the presence of one man and two
women. The novelty soon attracted several children; and
the preacher, having thoughtfully stored his pockets with the
golden apples of Study Hill, was enabled, by occasionally
tossing some of them to the youngsters, to retain this portion
of his audience. In like manner John Eliot, on ending his
first Indian sermon at Natick, says that he left for Roxbury
after giving “ the children some apples, and the men some
tobacco/' Of Blackstone’s later services we have no account.
In 1673 Mrs. Blackstone died; and June 5, 1675 (N. S.),
her husband, dying at the age of eighty, was buried at the
foot of Study Hill.1 Four weeks later, Philip's War broke out.
Blackstone had always been a benefactor to the natives, but
with characteristic ingratitude they invaded the home from
which he had just been borne, and reduced to ashes the house
and its library.
Blackstone's grave, marked at each end by a piece of com-
mon stone, is still to be seen, his cellar can be traced, and
his well is in good condition. Standing on Study Hill, the
visitor may see the trains taking, from near by, their freight
of the Cumberland coal for which, in 1645, the people of Ply-
mouth searched thereabouts in vain. But if found, it would
have been a sad delusion; for so unlike is that especially
stubborn anthracite to the mineral coals of England that
for several generations no means of using it had been
discovered.
Blackstone was eccentric and probably irascible, but he
was a scholar, a lover of nature, and a man of kindly dispo-
sition. His name has been given to streets and institutions
1 Blackstone was sick four days, suffering much • becoming easy he declared
that he had recovered but soon died painlessly Ten of his volumes were “paper
books,” appraised at 5s.; these may have been his private journals if so, their
loss is a great calamity.5H
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1636-55.
in various places, and to a thriving town; still it is most
fittingly commemorated by that beautiful and beneficent river
beside which he lived and died.
SAMUEL NEWMAN.
Among the learned and masterly preachers of whom Laud's
fury robbed the English Church was Samuel Newman, an
Oxford scholar. In 1636, when thirty-four years old, he
renounced his orders and escaped with several of his flock
to the New England Dorchester. He was too much a leader
to long remain subordinate to the theocrats of the Bay. So
in 1644, with his own people and some Hingham friends, he
pushed out to the great plains now in Attleborough, but then
a part of the Seekonk region within New Plymouth's bounds.
The thirty freemen chose nine townsmen as their executive
board, and ordered a town-meeting to be held every forty
days. The land was divided into lots of six, eight, or twelve
acres, as the town thought “ the quality or the estate of the
person do require; " plots were reserved for the “ governor,"
the pastor, and the schoolmaster. Richard Wright at once
began to build a mill, and other arrangements were made, it
would seem, to maintain a little state, regardless of any outside
authority.
Soon Massachusetts grasped at the epitomized common-
wealth; but Plymouth contested the claim, and was sus-
tained by the Commissioners, the Bay yielding, as usual, with
ill grace. In 1645 the town was legalized as Rehoboth, and
the same year the number of planters doubled. Great care
was taken to do justice to the natives; and it is noteworthy
that in 1665 the town voted in favor of conferring citizenship
upon “Sam, the Indian that keeps the cows," — the only case
recorded in the Colony of extending freemanship to one of
that race. In 1655 Newman's salary was £$0. Under his
sturdy guidance the town had become strong and prosperous.
His labors must have been arduous; but in the midst of them
he took time to revise his learned work (first issued at Lon-
don, 1640), which, from the place of reprinting, became1645-63-]
PASTOR NEWMAN.
5 IS
known as the “ Cambridge Concordance.” For even this
scholarly undertaking he could not afford candles, but
wrought upon it evenings by the light of pitch-pine knots.
The vigorous leader wore out early, and on July 8, 1663
(n. S.), he preached his last sermon, his text being (Job
xiv. 14), “All the days of my appointed time will I wait
till my change come.” The next Sunday, not being well, he
asked the deacon to pray with him, saying the end was at
hand. His friends thought him wandering, but it is re-
lated that ending the prayer he turned around, exclaiming,
“ Angels, do your office ! ” and forthwith expired. In after
years his pulpit was filled by his son Noah, who bravely
led his parishioners against Philip's forces, and who died in
1678.
The senior Newman was not only at issue with John Brown,
the liberal magistrate, but found his own strong will fully
matched by that of Obadiah Holmes, who, coming to the
Bay from Preston, England, had joined Rehoboth in 1645.
Newman caused the majority of his church to elect delegates
to the Massachusetts Synod of 1646-9. Holmes, pushing
Congregationalism to its logical conclusion, claimed that this
could be done by only a unanimous vote; and after a con-
troversy he, with a few friends, seceded and worshipped iii a
private house. Newman launched an excommunication at
them, but found that weapon harmless. Soon the General
Court received a petition for interference from Newman and
thirty-five of his adherents; and as the Court seems to have
been thought lukewarm, the petition was reinforced by one
from the Taunton church, another from all the Colonial
clergy but two, and a third from the Government of Massa-
chusetts. It is a matter for regret that the last-named was
not promptly returned as a piece of outside impertinence.
The only result of this heavy pressure was a vague court-
order that the seceders refrain from practices offensive to
their brethren, and report at the next Court.
Newman having indulged in fulminations against Holmes
and the over-lenient Court, Holmes sued him for slander;SI 6
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1649-50.
and in 1649 the grand-jury indicted the pastor for defamation
of the General Court. Newman apologized to the Court,
saying that he had only repeated what six of his flock had
told him in writing, and fully retracted whatever he said
on his own authority. The forgiving Holmes then asked
that the case be dropped on Newman’s paying costs. The
General Court proceeded to declare the charges “ false and
scandalous,” and to pronounce Holmes very lenient to let
Newman off so easily. The latter was also charged to pub-
licly declare how his parishioners had misled him.
In the autumn of 1650 Holmes, with John Hazel, Edward
Smith and wife, Joseph Torrey and wife, William Buell and
wife, and James Mann’s wife, were presented for maintaining
separate worship; but the Court seems to have treated this
indictment with contemptuous neglect.1 In the mean time
these seceders had adopted the views of the “ Six-principle
Baptists,” and in 1649 had been immersed by Pastor John
Clark, of Newport, where a Baptist church had been gath-
ered under him in 1644, but which is thought not to have
adopted immersion until some short time afterward.2 It does
not appear that Holmes and his friends organized at Reho-
both in any form, or that their adoption of Baptist views was
not long subsequent to their secession from Newman, for
none of the opposition to them alludes to any departure from
1	Soon after, Holmes made an aggressive visit to Boston with two friends,
and in the acrimonious controversy resulting they were sentenced to a fine or
thirty lashes. The people at once paid the fines of the two companions; but it
is said that Holmes would not consent to thus buying-off his persecutors, as he
deemed them. Some accounts term the stripes given him very severe; others
say that they were merely formal. Holmes bore them with composure, and told
the officials that the lashes had been supernaturally made to him like garlands
of roses. As he resumed his journey to the Old Colony on the same day, the
whipping is not likely to have been unusually severe, but its infliction at all was
a disgrace to the Bay.
2	Clark was a strong man among the Hutchinsonians, 1637-8, and was ban-
ished with them. He was a physician, and became a Congregational preacher
on reaching Rhode Island; but about 1644 adopted Baptist views, having in 1641
separated from Coddington, Easton, etc., with mutual ill-feeling. His vindic-
tiveness toward Massachusetts led him into great injustice to his true self.
The first Baptist church was gathered at Rehoboth, 1732; by 1794 there were
seven.*633-45-]	PASTOR HOLMES. —JOHN BROWN.	517
the orthodox faith and usages. They seem soon after their
change to have joined the brethren at Newport, for Holmes
in 1642 became pastor of that church. Holmes, like New-
man, was sincere, resolute, and impatient of the spiritual rule
of another. That he was a good and able man is indicated
by his occupation of the Newport pulpit until his death, in
1682.
JOHN BROWN.
John Brown the magistrate was not of kin to John Brown
the Duxbury weaver, who was brother to Peter of the “ May-
flower.” The John first-named was an English shipbuilder,
who knew the Pilgrims at Leyden, but did not join them
there. In 1633-4, when aged about fifty, he, with his wife
Dorothy and at least three children, came to Plymouth,
bringing a fair property; in 1635 Brown became a citizen,
and the next year began an eighteen years' service in the
board of assistants. In 1637 he was one of the original pur-
chasers of the site of Taunton, and in 1643 was in the militia
there, with his sons John and James; in 1645 they removed
to Rehoboth, settling at Wanamoiset, now in Swansea, on
land scrupulously bought from Massasoit.
For twelve successive years, from 1645, Brown was one of
the Colonial Commissioners, entering that board in the sec-
ond year of its existence. He was also often employed in
settling questions between the whites and the Indians, — the
latter having great confidence in him. The first Commission-
ers from Plymouth — Winslow and Collier—had assented to
the act of Massachusetts in extending her rule over Gorton's
company at Shawomet (now Warwick, R. I.), but the out-
rageous and cruel conduct of the Bay toward the Gortonians1
enlisted Brown's chivalrous spirit in their defence. In 1645
Massachusetts authorized twenty families of Braintree to go
down and take possession of the Gorton plantations; but
Brown warned off their prospectors and claimed the territory
as Plymouth's. This counter-claim was in the interest of
1 Barry’s Hist. Mass., i. 264-5.518
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l65I-2.
the persecuted Gortonians, with whom Brown was “ very
familiar.”1 The matter came more than once before the
Commissioners, who, with sapient vagueness, decided as to
the tract, that “the right owners ought to have it.”
In 1651 Massachusetts renewed her claim, and prepared
fresh warrants for seizing Gorton and his men. Brown, sup-
ported by his colleague, Hatherly, boldly resisted the claim
before the Commissioners, and condemned the officers of
Massachusetts. The latter pleaded a waiver in their behalf
by the Plymouth Government. Brown stoutly re-affirmed
Plymouth’s right to Shawomet, and declared any waiver of
that right wholly valueless, though made by the governor
and magistrates of Plymouth; for not an inch of her soil
could be alienated except by vote of the whole body of free-
men in General Court assembled. So vigorous and fearless
were Brown and Hatherly in pushing their rival claim that
the efforts of Massachusetts were neutralized, and the Gorto-
nians no more persecuted. When at length the demand of
the Bay was dropped (1658), so was that of Plymouth, its
chief object having been accomplished.2
Probably an ill-feeling growing out of this sharp contest of
1651 led to an occurrence at the next session (1652). The
meeting was to be at Plymouth; but on the day set, only five
members appeared, — a quorum being six. Late the second
day Astwood, of New Haven, arrived, having been hindered
by bad roads. John Brown also came in. That little congress
had no lack of ceremony, — the Massachusetts members be-
ing especially given to it, and it was in order for Brown to
render his excuse. He gravely announced that he had been
plagued with a toothache, and might not have come sooner
if he could have had all Plymouth. This, or something else
on Brown’s part, gave great offence to the ceremonious Bos-
ton members, — Speaker Hathorne and Bradstreet; and, con-
1	See Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 360.
2	John Weeks and Randall Holden once had a fist-fight with Sachem Pom-
ham over some swine in a corn-field. Holden wanted the case settled by the
Plymouth Court. Pomham insisted on Massachusetts, because John Brown and
the interpreters were all friendly to the Gorton people.1652-5-]
JOHN BROWN.
519
trary to Bradford's appeals, the unparliamentary decision was
forced through, that when no quorum should appear at the
opening hour on the first day no session could be held that
year, even though a quorum should come in later.1
The members dispersed with unpleasantness. The General
Court of Massachusetts was so unwise as to mix in the affair;
for it formally indorsed the course of its two members, and
insolently voted that it should expect an apology from one
of the Plymouth members for incivility to one of hers from
the Bay. Plymouth evidently took this as a threat that
Brown must apologize or be refused his seat, for she man-
fully re-elected both him and Bradford, and voted not only
that a Commissioner arriving late was entitled to act, but if
both her members should be in attendance, and for any rea-
son one should not take part, neither should the other. This
was a bolder action than at first appears. It was quite intel-
ligible notice to the Bay men that their position was unten-
able, and that any interference with Brown would be followed
by a dissolution of the congress through the non-represen-
tation of one of the Colonies. The matters involved do not
seem to have been again mentioned.
In 1652 the independent ways of the old shipwright called
down some high-handed censure from his stern and sturdy
pastor, Newman. Brown sued the minister for slander, and
the General Court gave him a verdict of ;£ioo damages, and
23s. costs. Brown at once arose in court and, like Holmes,
remitted the ^100; vindication was all he wanted.
In 1655, while Brown sat in the court, certain men of
Rehoboth, complaining of the backwardness of their people
in contributing for public worship, asked that all the people
be compelled by tax to pay their part, as in “ the other Col-
onies." Bradford had favored this plan, but Brown opposed
it. The petition came from his town, he said, but he had
1 February, 1696, owing to a storm, only ten members appeared at the open-
ing of the General Court in Boston, forty being a quorum; two days later a
quorum was present and proceeded to business, though Governor Stoughton
much doubted the propriety of so doing. The practice is now established by
law.520
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1653-1710.
not before heard of the matter; and to “ take off the odium ”
of a forced support of religion, he would make this offer:
These petitioners favor a tax; let them be taxed their pro-
portion, and he would engage that the remaining people of
Rehoboth should voluntarily raise the remainder of the sum;
he would secure this by binding his estate to make good all
deficiency for the next seven years. The Court assented,
and sent Standish and Hatherly to assess the tax on the^
petitioners. The latter, however, did not take kindly to the
plan, for two years later the Court had to coerce them; and
for years after, this tax was a source of trouble with those
meddlers who had proposed it.
At the time of this last legislation the grand old man had
passed the goal of threescore years and ten. He soon left
the public service, and his remaining days were spent on his
estate at Wanamoiset. There he died in 1662, aged about
seventy-eight. His son John had died before him, but his
wife lived until 1674, her ninetieth year.
John Brown's second son James was his father's successor
in public life. In 1653, when Rehoboth formed a train-band,
he became ensign, and the town voted that Lieutenant Hunt
and Ensign Brown have leave “to stand by the honorable
bench at Plymouth Court." In 1665 he succeeded his famous
brother-in-law, Thomas Willet, as assistant, and although a
leading Baptist of Swansea, was re-chosen to the bench some
thirteen years. He was employed by the Colony in an at-
tempt to avert Philip's War, — the Indians having for him as
high regard as formerly for his father, and Massasoit having
enjoined a continuance of it on his people.1 James closed
his honored life at Swansea in 1710, aged eighty-seven. His
wife was Lydia, daughter of John Howland the Pilgrim, and
with the Browns Mrs. Howland spent her widowhood. The
senior Brown had a grandson John, who in 1685 was one of
1 It is noteworthy that our old friend Gorton went with James as interpreter
on his final visit to Philip, a few days before Philip took the war-path. Harvey
Walker was co-messenger. Philip was very insolent, striking off Brown’s hat;
and it was thought that Massasoit’s injunction was all that saved Brown’s life.1630-64]
THOMAS WILLET.
521
the associate judges of Bristol County, and was again ap-
pointed in 1699 at the reorganization under the Earl of Bel-
lamont. In all its generations, the posterity of the great
pioneer has done credit to its ancestry.
THOMAS WILLET.
This worthy leader was probably grandson of Thomas
Willet, canon of Ely, and was son of Dr. Andrew Willet, that
rector of Barley who was imprisoned for preaching against
the proposed “ Spanish match ” of Charles I. Young Thomas
was reared in Holland, and on reaching Plymouth in 1630,
at the age of twenty, was nearly as Dutch as English in lan-
guage, habits, and sympathies. His exciting experience in
the Castine affair ended in 1635 (see PP- 387-8) ; in 1636 he
married John Brown's daughter Mary; he was for a time
employed in the Colony's Kennebec trade, but soon engaged
in traffic with the Manhattan Dutch, whose confidence he
won in a high degree.
In 1651, Assistant Collier dying, Willet was chosen in his
stead; he continued to hold the place for fourteen years, and
was succeeded by James Brown. In 1648, as leader of the
Plymouth train-band, he had acquired the title of captain.1
During these years he joined the Browns at Wanamoiset.
In 1664, when he was taken to New York in the train of
the King's Commissioners, the Dutch residents urged that if
they must be placed under English rule, Willet would be es-
pecially acceptable from his knowledge of their usages, tastes,
and language. The Commissioners therefore appointed Cap-
tain Willet as the first mayor of the city of New York. The
place had hitherto been ruled by a trading-company,' and was
1 In 1639, when Willet was in charge of the Kennebec post, the Indians con-
spired to kill the whites and rob their house. Some of them, entering the place,
found Willet reading the Bible. He looked up so solemnly that they retired
and told their friends that Willet’s face showed his knowledge of their plot, of
which a great book had been telling him.
The train-band (1648) sent in a double set of names, from which the Court
selected: Thomas Willet, captain; Thomas Southworth, lieutenant; William
Bradford, Jr., ensign.522
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1667-74.
small; but already it was acquiring a metropolitan character,
for even then in its streets the new mayor heard eighteen
different languages. How long Willet filled this post, or
when he took it for a second term, is uncertain. In 1667
he was one of the active corporators at Swansea, to which
Wanamoiset was transferred frorti Rehoboth. In the interest-
ing proceedings of the next seven years, by which that town
was developed as a Baptist community with Congregational
support, Willet took a liberal and leading part as a repre-
sentative of the latter element. Yet he appears to have been
at the head of affairs in New York when, in 1673, Evertsen
recaptured it for'the Dutch. Willet then came home to
Swansea, and there died in 1674, aged sixty-four. His first
wife died in 1669, also aged sixty-four. Their grave-stones
are standing at Bullock's Cove, Seekonk, but that of the
“vertvovs” matron blunderingly records her death as in
1699, — which would make her but two years old at her
marriage.1
Of Willet's children, the youngest, Hezekiah, was a public
favorite. At the age of twenty, a few months after his mar-
riage to Andia Bourne, during Philip's War, while there was
no thought of danger, he had passed but a short distance
beyond his door in Swansea, when some prowling Indians
killed him with three bullets and carried away his head.
This act exasperated the whole Colony, the more especially
from the uniform kindness of the Willet family to the Indians.
In all offers of pardon and amnesty, these assassins were ex-
cepted ; and when Crossman, their leader, was taken, he was
hanged. Even the hostile Wampanoags lamented young
Willet’s death, and when the head was recovered, it was
found that they had tenderly combed the hair and decorated
it with beads.
A century after this incident the country was called to
another war for its self-preservation. Among her bravest,
1 In 1658 the wealthy William Paddy left Mrs. Mary Willet 40J. to buy a
ring. Willet married secondly Joanna Boyse, widow of Rev. Peter Prudden, of
Milford, Conn. In 1660 the Colony bought Willet’s Plymouth house for a gov-
ernor’s house, and in 1663 ordered “ a handsome room ” to be added to it.1662-7.]
PASTOR JOHN MYLES.
523
most loyal soldiers, was Colonel Marimus Willet, who sur-
vived until 1830, when he died at the age of ninety. He was
great-grandson of the pioneer of Swansea, and, like him, had
been a mayor of New York.
JOHN MYLES.
This learned preacher of the Church of England, while at
Swansea, Wales, during Cromwell's tolerant rule, changed his
church into a strong Baptist body. Ejected under Charles II.
in 1662, he came to the Massachusetts Dorchester with several
of his flock, and thence went to RehobotH. He was some-
what employed there as an assistant preacher, until in 1667
he and his friends of the Wanamoiset district set up a sepa-
rate worship, presumably Baptist. The Colony was earnest
in securing a learned ministry, and the subdivision of parishes
had ever been discountenanced lest they become too weak
for this purpose. Even the King's Commissioners had re-
ceived no encouragement as to the formation of Episcopal
parishes, unless an 4‘able preaching ministry" could be
insured in a place able to maintain two churches. Myles
was in the Rehoboth parish, which could barely support one
learned preacher.
On complaint to the Court, Myles and James Brown were
each fined ^5, and Nicholas Tanner £1; but their associates,
Joseph Carpenter, John Butterworth, Eldad Kingsley, and
Benjamin Alby, seem to have been discharged. There was
in this no persecution because of religious belief, for the
penalty was only that which would have been laid on the most
orthodox of Congregationalists who had in like manner estab-
lished a new and poor church in an existing parish. The
absence of sectarian prejudice was clearly shown by the
Court, for after prohibiting the new meeting for only a month,
it advised the defendants, not unkindly, to transfer their
church to some place “ not already in parish relations."
Acting on the Court’s suggestion, Myles and his friends
moved into the unoccupied region south of Rehoboth. They524
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1667-75.
first settled on the shore in the present Barrington, but
soon fell back to Warren River, where now is Myles’ Bridge
(Barneyville). The Court then transferred Wanamoiset to
this territory, and incorporated the whole as a town, named
Swansea (1667), from Myles’ former home. Thus did the
Congregational Old Colony create a town as the seat of the
first legalized Baptist Church in America outside of Rhode
Island.
Captain Willet and James Brown, the magistrate, still lived
in Wanamoiset, and the latter had become a Baptist; they,
with Nathaniel Payne, John Allen, and John Butterworth, were
appointed by the Court to regulate admission to the town and
divide the land. Willet, as representing Congregationalism,
proposed the exclusion of all erroneous, evil-living, and con-
tentious persons; Myles and Butterworth, in behalf of the
Baptists, asked that these terms be so defined that “ erro-
neous ” mean only the holders of such “ damnable heresies *
as Unitarianism, transubstantiation, merit in good works,
denial of Christ’s ascension and second coming, or the divinity
of all parts of Scripture, and belief in “ any other antichristian
doctrine; ” that the “ contentious ” be those alone who dis-
pute the magistrate’s authority, the giving of honor where
due, “ the laudable custom of our nation, each to other, as
bowing the knee or body,” or the clergy’s authority and
right to support, or who reproach any of the churches of the
Colony. Error should not include anything “ yet in contro-
versy among the godly learned,” especially infant baptism,
but parents be free to present or withhold their children, and
pastors free to baptize infants and adults, or not. These defi-
nitions were approved by the committee, and submitted to
the town-meeting. All the fifty-five freemen signed the
document, and not one made his mark.
Willet and his few Congregational neighbors seem to have
lived in entire harmony with Myles and his Baptist flock, and
to have found open communion in the church. A classical
school was opened, and the town was becoming prosperous,
when in 1675 Philip’s War burst upon it, destroying thirty-1637-80.] PASTOR MYLES. —RICHARD WILLIAMS.	525
five of her forty houses and a larger proportion of her prop-
erty. Still the town preserved its identity, and the voters of
the Colony annually elected to the magistrates* bench James
Brown, one of her leading Baptist citizens.
From 1675 to 1680 Myles was at Boston establishing a
Baptist Church; but after the rebuilt Swansea had for three
years called to him, he returned to it, and there in 1683 died
His wife Anne outlived him; his son John (a Harvard scholar)
was Swansea’s first town-clerk; and curious to relate, Samuel^
the preacher’s son or grandson, became the second Episcopal
rector of King’s Chapel, Boston. The descendants of this
stock (who often spell the name Miles) are to be found in
many honorable positions.
RICHARD WILLIAMS.
Winslow and Hopkins, in 1621, had reconnoitred the fine
region of Cohannet,1 where now is Taunton; and at an early
day a trading-house had been built on the river below it, as
well as at Sowams. Yet the first known settlement there was
not until 1637, when forty-six men purchased a tract of the
Neponset sachem, though they afterward bought off a con-
flicting claim by Massasoit.2 Thus, instead of taking land
from the Indians, the settlers paid twice for it, although it was
entirely unoccupied.
First on the list of purchasers is the name of Henry Uxley,
of whom it is only known that he soon sold his share to the
next in order, Richard Williams. The latter, who has been
named “ the Father of Taunton,” was a Welshman and a
reputed kinsman of Oliver Cromwell. He was for many years
a deputy from Taunton, a deacon, and an enterprising leader.
In old age, when blind and deaf, he always attended church,
saying that it was a consolation to be with the people who
1	Cohannet is “ Place of Snow ” in the Indian tongue.
2	The line between the Pokanoket and Massachusetts nations ran from near
Duxbury Mill to Titicut; thence, straight to Whitney's Pond, Wrentham, the
head of Charles River.526
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1637-54*
were “at their worship,” though he could neither see nor
hear them. He died in 1692, aged ninety-three or more.
His wife was Frances Dighton, whose maiden name is fittingly
borne by the adjoining town, while that of Williams has been
honored by seven generations of descendants.
ELIZABETH POOL.
One of the Cohannet purchasers in 1637 was “ Mr.” William
Pool. Within a year he was joined by his sister Elizabeth,
the maiden daughter of Sir William Pool, the antiquary. Her
father dying when she was forty-eight, she came to the Mas-
sachusetts Dorchester, the entrepdt of so many planters.
Thence, in time, she went overland to Taunton, about thirty
miles by wilderness paths. That company suffered not a little
in the short trip, and lost many of their cattle. Her energy
did much for the new town, which soon became prominent as
“Taunton,” several of the founders having, come from the
English Taunton.
In 1639 the Court sent Standish to join with John Brown,
at Taunton, in laying off to Miss Pool fifty acres of such
upland as she should choose; next year they defined the
town’s boundaries. Miss Pool encouraged the erection of
iron-works, and was a general example of enterprise and of
piety. She died greatly honored in 1654, aged sixty-six.
Her grave in the centre of Taunton is marked by a stone
which records that she was “ a great proprietor of the town-
ship ” and “ a chief promoter of its settlement.”1
Among the first purchasers was Francis Doty (or Doughty),
a preacher. Miss Pool brought with her William Hooke as
pastor of the new church, and Nicholas Street as its teacher,
both reputed Oxonians and of high ability. At the formation
of the church Doty insisted that all the children of baptized
1 In the next generation a noteworthy man of Taunton was Shadrach Wilbor,
for thirty-five years town-clerk. His very neat records were retained by him
against Andros* demand for them, and Wilbor was fined and imprisoned for
his defiance of the tyrant’s order. After the accession of William and Mary
the town gave Wilbor a hundred acres of land.1645]
HOOKE AND STREET. — LEONARDS.
527
parents were Abraham’s children, and had a right to be bap-
tized and admitted without question; and he so stoutly re-
sisted the proposed exclusiveness that the preachers on the
dominant side had him ejected.1 Lechford says that Hooke
was then ordained by Mr. Townsend Bishop, the school-
master,2 and “ one Parker, a husbandman,” and that he then
helped ordain Street. Hooke, about 1641, went to New
Haven.3 Street, who was Miss Pool’s brother-in-law, then
served as sole pastor until he succeeded Hooke in 1659. He
stood high for learning in both Colonies, and his descendants
have most worthily worn his mantle (gown).
THE LEONARDS.
In 1645 iron-works were set up at Lynn, but were soon
closed through the reasonable fear of the people that the
demand for charcoal would consume the scanty supply of
wood. Another trial was made at Braintree, and in 1646
Dr. Child there produced some tons of cast-iron “ pots,”
“ mortars, stoves, and skillets; ” but the Doctor had also
joined Maverick, Dand, and Vassall in petitioning Massa-
chusetts for toleration, at least of Episcopalians, and added
an injudicious arraignment of the government generally, but
probably not an unjust one. The treatment of Child was dis-
graceful to the Massachusetts authorities, and injurious to the
whole Colony; for it prevented him from opening glass-works
and a black-lead mill, and was probably the main cause of
his abandonment of iron-working.4
It seemed improbable that the twice-suspended business
would at length succeed in the diluvial region^ of the Old
1	In 1641 Doty was still there, and was fined 30s. for selling a pound of gun-
powder to an Indian.
2	Bishop in 1636 had been in the Massachusetts General Court from Salem.
He soon left Taunton, with his family.
3	Hooke was brother-in-law to Whalley, the regicide.
4	In 1646 Dr. Child wrote to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut for the
return of ^40 to be applied to the fine laid by Governor Winthrop of Massachu-
setts. He was discouraged also by not finding an expected iron mine to supply
his works.
34528
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l6S2-l826.
Colony, where were no mines and no unusual store of fuel.
But the swamps and ponds there were stocked with bog-iron
ore which yielded excellent metal. In 1652 there came to
Taunton from Pontipool, Wales, the brothers James and
Henry Leonard, with Ralph Russell, attracted by the bog-
iron in that part of the town now Raynham. They built
iron-works on a joint-stock basis, Miss Pool taking shares.
Henry finally went to New Jersey in the same business, and
Russell moved to Dartmouth; but James remained by the
Taunton-Raynham works, and there for seven generations
had been employed Leonards of the old stock, when the mill
recently closed. Not a few of the Leonards have been of
renown, and in the later Colonial days some of them main-
tained almost baronial state. But a higher record is that of
Eliphalet, of the fifth generation, who at Easton in the opening
year of the Revolution made the first bar of American steel,
and whose son Jonathan was at the neighboring town of
Canton, in 1826, still making steel.
For generations new deposits of bog-iron were found. In
1751, a century from the building of the first works, Joseph
Holmes, fishing in Jones' River Pond, Kingston, caught a frag-
ment of ore on his hook; the bed so revealed was worked until
it had produced three thousand tons, some of which formed
balls for Washington’s artillery. In 1760, in Assawampset
Pond, Middleborough, a deposit was found which yielded six
hundred tons per year for'a long period, and in 1820 was
still remunerative. The great ponds in Halifax and in Carver
very long afforded one hundred tons each, yearly; numerous
other lakelets being as prolific. Many swamps have also been
found richly stored.1	’
The enormous quantities of this ore so stimulated iron-
1 The bog-ore was usually loose on the bottom of the ponds. A man with a
sort of oyster-tongs could get half a ton in a day; this made some two hundred
and fifty pounds of good iron, and was worth in the rough state about $3, — a
large return for a day’s work in Colonial times. In many cases there was a par-
tial renewal of ore, so that ponds were profitably re-dredged after something like
twenty-five years. I cannot learn whether or not the process is even now going
on, but it probably is, at least in some places.OLD COLONY IRON WORKS. —LEONARDS.
$29
1652.]
working that it extended to several of the towns, and devel-
oped allied branches of the business.1 The production of
bog-iron is not now mentioned in the statistics; but the cen-
sus does show that in the Old Colony, less the slices taken
off by Rhode Island, the products of iron reach some
$10,500,000 yearly, — a sum more than a half greater than
the reported value of all the domestic manufactures and
agricultural products. How much of this immense business
is due to that pioneer mill at Taunton of 1652, and the gen-
erations of skilful, thoughtful men there graduated, no one
can tell; and while the name of Robinson is of highest honor
among the iron-workers of the Old Colony, that of Leonard
is pre-eminently worthy of some conspicuous memorial from
the disciples of Tubal Cain.2
1	In 1665 three men of the Taunton iron-works were excused from “ training,”
when their work needed. The same year the Court ordered that better iron be
made.
The first fire-arms made in this country were by Hugh Orr, a Scotch inhabi-
tant of Bridgewater, Mass. In 1748 he made for the province five hundred mus-
kets, which having been stored in the castle at Boston, were carried away by the
British at the evacuation in 1776. The Bridgewater iron-works made cannon-
balls and anchors for the patriots.
The first cast-iron tea-kettle was founded at Carver about 1760. Open ket-
tles were long made of wrought-iron, brass, or copper, as a general thing. The
French ship’s kettle found on Cape Cod by the Pilgrims was probably of
wrought-iron ; if cast-iron, it would have been too heavy, filled with corn, to be
carried on a wilderness march by two men in armor. In 1647 certain Nipmucks
complained that Uncas’ brother, in a raid, had carried away ten of their copper
kettles. Yet where portability was unimportant, cast-iron pots must have come
into use, to some extent, soon after Child’s successful attempt at casting them.
But who used his “ stoves ” ?
2	There is a tradition that Philip’s gratitude to the Leonards for kindnesses
led him to prevent his people from molesting Taunton. Unfortunately for this
pleasant story, Taunton was attacked very early, and people were killed there;
but their half-dozen blockhouses, and the soldiers usually present, afford a more
probable explanation of her partial immunity. Yet the Leonards’ blockhouse
is said to have been attacked, and two of its young women having been killed,
were buried under the doorstone, lest the savages exhume and dismember the
bodies.CHAPTER LXI.
Ability-of Clergymen —John Cotton, Jr. — Ralph Partridge. — John
Holmes.— Ichabod Wiswall. — Thomas Walley. —Jonathan Russell.
— William Leveredge. — Captain Tupper. — Richard Bourne. — John
Smith. — George Shove. — Samuel Danforth. — Marmaduke Mat-
thews.— John Miller. — Thomas Thornton. — Richard Blinman.—
Edward Bulkley. — Samuel Arnold. — James Keith. — Theodore
Edson. — Samuel Treat. — John Mayo. — Thomas Crosby. — John
Sassamon the Martyr.— The Mayhews.
THE pulpits of the four “ United Colonies of New Eng-
land ” were more generally filled by University men
than were the pulpits of Old England. Even in the least
wealthy Colony (New Plymouth), the best scholarship of the
day was represented to an extent which leaves our own
complacent generation small room for boasting. Mention
has been made of Pastors Smith, Williams, Raynor, Chaun-
cey, Lothrop, Wetherell, Dunster, Newman, Myles, Hooke,,
and Street (some may add Blackstone), — all but one from
English universities, and - coming quite directly from the pul-
pits of the Church of England. Of the laity, Brewster had
•been at Cambridge, England; Bradford would have honored
any of the colleges, while Winslow and Standish, if not schol-
ars, were scholarly. There were also many other preachers
whom lack of space alone excludes from the extended notice
their merits would justify.
JOHN COTTON, Jr., AND OTHERS.
For thirteen years, from Raynor’s exit, Plymouth was with-
out a pastor. Elder Cushman preached acceptably; but the**37-75-1
COTTON. — PARTRIDGE. — WIS WALL.
S3*
pulpit was for a short time occupied by two clergymen, —
James Williams and William Brimsmead. In 1667 it came
under the ministration of John Cotton, Jr., a Harvard scholar,
and son of the famous preacher of the two Bostons. After
highly successful labors, he left in 1697, not free from a moral
taint. From 1664 to 1667 Cotton had served under Mayhew
as a missionary to the Indians, whose tongue he had so mas-
tered that he subsequently became the reviser of Eliot's
Indian books.1
Duxbury's first pastor was Ralph Partridge, a scholar from
the English Cambridge, and a former rector. He was of
such repute that the Bay Synod of 1646-9 solicited his ad-
vice on certain points. He served Duxbury from 1637 till
1658, in which latter year he died, full of honor. His suc-
cessor was John Holmes, who in 1658 was called from Har-
vard College to this charge. He honored himself by
condemning the treatment of the Quakers, — a wrong which
he feared God would specially rebuke; in 1675, only three
weeks before his death, he declared in a Fast-day sermon
that the passing years had not changed his feeling on this
point. (His wife [married 1661], Mary Atwood, daughter of
John, became Deputy-Governor Bradford's second wife.)
Duxbury's third pastor was Ichabod Wiswall, a native of
the Massachusetts Dorchester. He entered Harvard when
the course was three years (before his graduation it was
made four years); but at the end of the three years (1647)
he, with Brimsmead (p. 467) and others (including Josiah
Winslow, it is said), took their departure. Wiswall was
essentially a “ political parson.” He so vigorously defended
the rights of the poor in Clark's Island, which Andros had
conveyed to his creature Clarke that Andros had him before
his Council, and compelled Wiswall to make three horseback
journeys from Duxbury to Boston (228 miles) while so
suffering from gout that he could not wear shoes, but must
ride with his feet bandaged in towels ; before the Council
the resolute preacher was kept standing on his inflamed feet
1 4 Mass. Hist Coll., viii. 228.532
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1638-1700.
until at the point of fainting from the agony. He was also
assessed heavy fees. In 1691 Wiswall was sent to London to
guard Plymouth’s interests, with the partial aid of Increase
Mather, who was also there in the Bay’s behalf. When, to
Wiswall’s intense grief, Plymouth had been forced into an-
nexation to Massachusetts, he roundly charged the result to
the “ impudence ” and duplicity of Mather, aided by those
“ who are wont to trot after the Bay horse.” Wiswall was
proficient in astrology; and in 1680 both he and Wetherell,
in their pulpits, insisted on the connection of Governor Wins-
low’s death with the comet of that year. Yet he was a man
of learning, power, and sincerity, and his death (1700) was
very widely mourned.1
At Barnstable Lothrop was followed by Thomas Walley
(1663-78), and he by Jonathan Russell (Harvard, 1675).
Sandwich first settled William Leveredge (about 1638), who
led a troubled life, none the more quiet from his adoption
of Chauncey’s idea of observing the Lord’s Supper every
Sunday in the night-time. In 1654 he removed to Oyster
Bay, Long Island, making the passage with his wife and
goods in Samuel Mayo’s barque “ Desire,” under Captain
Nickerson. The pastor’s disquiet was not ended; for Baxter,
a Rhode Island privateer, captured the “ Desire,” with her
lading, taking her to New Haven. Rhode Island disavowed
the act, and Baxter was made to restore his plunder. Lever-
edge eventually became a noble missionary to the Indians.
A curious disposition was then made of the Sandwich pul-
pit. The people were divided between Captain Tupper, a
soldier, and Richard Bourne, a merchant of education and of
some wealth. It was agreed that on each Sunday the pulpit
be taken by the candidate who had the greater number of
adherents present at the time. After four years John Smith,
an educated minister, was settled.2 Tupper and Bourne there-
1	Wiswall’s stone is the oldest in the Duxbury burying-ground.
2	He had left Barnstable through disaffection, largely due to his brother-in-
law, the future Governor Hinckley; he went to Sandwich, 1658, and left through
discords, after thirty years’ service.1639-1727] TAUNTON.— YARMOUTH. —MARSHFIELD.	533
upon devoted themselves to the Indians, and formed several
congregations of them. Bourne was still in this work a
quarter of a century later, and his descendants nobly be-
friended the posterity of his dusky disciples. The thrifty
town of Mashpee is a memorial of this family.1
At Taunton, Street was followed by George Shove (1665-
87), a native of Dorchester and graduate of Harvard, whose
name has worthily descended. Next (1687-1727) came Samuel
Danforth, member of a family of rare and varied attainments;
he graduated at Harvard (1683), and was proficient in law
and medicine, as well as theology. His name is still honor-
ably represented in the Old Colony.
Yarmouth first settled Marmaduke Matthews, a learned but
erratic man (Oxford), who probably served 1639-45. John
Miller followed (about 1646-52) ; and in 1662 Thomas Thorn-
ton was called, but, like his predecessors, he was plunged into
much controversy; he was a man of education, and, like so
many of his cloth, practised as a physician. It was in his
time that the clergy began to be generally given the title of
“ Reverend,” although Lothrop, of Barnstable, had been so
designated.
At Marshfield, several substantial Welshmen settled by in-
vitation of Governor Winslow, and with them came Richard
Blinman, who was pastor there in 1641-2; he was a scholar,
and may have been in advance of the times; for he was in dis-
favor as “ new cloth on an old garment.” He and his coun-
trymen soon went to Cape Ann. Next came Edward Bulkley
(Harvard College), the “able and learned” son of the first
pastor of Concord, whom he succeeded in 1660. During the
writing of this page (1882) a Bulkley of the old stock has
1 In 1794 three of Bourne’s great-great-grandsons were in the United States
Congress; his grandson Ezra was the first Common Pleas judge in Barnstable
County. In 1670 the senior Bourne was regularly ordained at Mashpee by the
Apostle Eliot. He loaded one son with the name Shearjashub.
Tupper died April 7, 1676 (n. s.), aged 97, in the height of Philip’s War; his
wife, Anne, died two months later, aged 90. In 1787 his great-grandson was
preaching to the Indians at Herring Pond and River, where his ancestor
labored.534
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC,
11662-1719.
been inducted to the same pulpit. Marshfield's third minister
was Samuel Arnold*
Bridgewater's first preacher, settled in 1662, was James
Keith, a Scotch graduate from Aberdeen University; he was
not only learned, but wise, and was more humane than his
class, who generally made up for a lack of mercy by an over-
plus of sternness. His relations with his parish must have
been happy, for he served it until his death, in 1719, more
than a quarter of a century after the demise of the Colony.
His deacon and father-in-law was “ Mr. Samuel Edson, the
miller," whose descendant, Dr. Theodore Edson, was the first
minister (Episcopal) settled in Lowell, where death closed his
sixty years' rectorship in 1883.1
SAMUEL TREAT.
The John Eliot of Cape Cod was the third pastor at East-
ham. John Mayo, of Barnstable, had served in 1646-9, and
Thomas Crosby had succeeded him on Mayo's transfer to the
“ Old North " in Boston. Both were unpopular, and to re-
lieve Crosby an early custom was changed; namely, that of
requiring the raters to assess a “ minister's tax," and then
leaving the preacher to go around and collect it, with the
odium of a tax-gatherer if he was efficient, and impoverish-
ment if he was not so.
Mr. Treat, eldest of the twenty-one children of Governor
Treat of Connecticut, graduated at Harvard, 1669; he was
settled at Eastham, 1672, at ^50 a year, with house, land, and
firewood.2 He was wont in his stalwart sermons to dwell on
the delight with which the tortures of his impenitent hearers
would be witnessed by God, while they writhed in hell with
1 Samuel Edson’s wife, Susanna Orcut (married 1637), was “of majestic fig-
ure and great benignity.” Mr. Keith’s wife was her daughter Susanna. Deacon
Edson died 1692, aged 80. The ruling elder of this church (1675) was Mr.
Brett.
*2 Mr. Mayo, in old age, came back to die in Barnstable. In 1674 Treat mar-
ried his daughter Eliza, who died 1696, leaving eleven children. He then married
widow Esterbrook, daughter of Pastor Willard of the Old South, Boston, and
she bore him three children.1695-1717*]
PASTOR TREAT'S LABORS.
535
“ a thousand devils rending and tearing and macerating ”
them through all eternity. Yet he was a man of kind and
joyous spirits,1 much given to humor, and fond of practical
jokes, over which he indulged in peals of laughter which were
then of most unclerical sound.
Treat was a great favorite with the Indians. He learned
their language and spent much time visiting their poor huts.
The oppressed squaws derived considerable social benefit
from these visits, as his example taught the new lesson of
their equality with the men. In 1695, on the Cape, east of
Yarmouth, he had five hundred and five “Praying Indians,”
with fifteen hundred children, all of whom he was teaching,
with the aid of eight native helpers. His labors were greatly
blessed, but he lived to see his flock rapidly dwindling before
pestilences which the white people vainly strove to avert.
Fifty years after his death this Indian population was but a
hundred and six; in 1802'it had fallen to four, and now there
are none.2
In March, 1717, came “the great snow,” which for several
days blockaded the Boston magistrates who had gone to
Pastor Brattle’s funeral at Cambridge.3 As the tempest
swept over Eastham, Treat lay dying with palsy. The wind
so eddied around his parsonage that it was left, untouched by
snow, in the basin of an enormous circular drift. Under this
barrier a tunnel was excavated for the funeral train. The
Indian converts assisted in bearing the body, and the toilsome
way required many relays. It was a sublime sight as down
that crystal archway and on through the outlying drifts their
venerable pastor was borne to his grave by the united hands
of his white and his red disciples, — the returning laborer
1	In 1684 Jabez Snow's wife, for railing expressions at Mr. Treat, was fined
10s.
2	In the Old Colony limits, in 1763, were only 905 Indians j on the islands
671: total, 1,576. About that time they began to blend with the negroes, pro-
ducing a race vastly more peaceable, industrious, and teachable. Indians of
pure blood became scarce, and are now practically unknown. Massasoit's only
known lineal descendant is a woman with two strains of negro blood.
3	Brother of Major Thomas Brattle, founder of Brattle Street Church, Boston,
with whose funeral this is often confounded.536
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1637-75-
surrounded by the living sheaves. No titled potentate ever
had burial more truly royal.1
JOHN SASSAMON, THE MARTYR.
This settled preacher of the Old Colony has been much
misrepresented. He was a Punkapoag Indian, born at Dor-
chester of parents who became Christians. He served with
the English in the Pequod War (1637), an<3 was subsequently
a student in the Indian department at Harvard College. He
was next at Natick, under Eliot. In 1664, Philip having
asked for a teacher of reading, Eliot twice sent his son to
him, and finally detailed Sassamon for the work. Eliot also
advised that this teacher be paid by the London Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel. After a time Sassamon re-
turned to his Natick home. Finally, through Eliot, he was
settled over the Namasket converts in Middleborough. There
the sachem gave him twenty-seven acres of land, so that he
was both a settled minister and a landholder under the gov-
ernment of New Plymouth.2
In January, 1675, Sassamon discovered that Philip was
secretly plotting the destruction of the whites and the sup-
pression of Christianity among the natives. He nobly did
his duty to the government under which he lived, and to his
fellow-Christians, by laying the information before Governor
Winslow; but stated that in so doing he was putting his
life in great danger. A week later his body was found in As-
sawampset Pond,3 near his home, while his hat and gun lay
on the ice by a hole, as if he had accidentally fallen in
(Feb. 8, 1675, N. S.). The Government, ordering an autopsy,
1	Mr. Treat’s grave-stone has by chance kept its place, and is conspicuous in
Eastham burying-ground. It mentions his “ very zealous discharge of his min-
istry for the space of forty-five years, and laborious travail for the souls of the
Indian natives.” He was aged 68. Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the " Decla-
ration of Independence,” was his grandson.
2	This sachem (Watuspan) also gave a neck, containing fifty-eight and one
half acres, to Sassamon’s sister Betty (and her husband, Felix); and from her
the place is now called Squabetty.
8 This pond, 4x6 miles, is the largest in the State.SASSAMON'S MURDER.
537
1675]
soon discovered that he had been killed by blows and the
wringing of his neck. Philip then came to Plymouth, asking
to be examined, but knew well that no evidence against him
had revealed itself; so he was necessarily acquitted, though
believed guilty.
In the ensuing spring Patuckson, who had kept silent
through fear, came in and testified that, from a hill, he had
seen the murder committed by three Indians, — Tobias,
Tobias* son, and Philip’s counsellor, Mattashinnay. The three
were arrested. A jury of twelve excellent citizens was sworn;
and to secure a full understanding of the details of the case,
five “ grave ” Indians were added to the panel. After a care-
ful trial, the seventeen agreed on a verdict of guilty. Tobias’
son then confessed that his two fellow-prisoners did the deed,
but not with his help. Those two were hanged June 8/18,1675.
Philip during all these proceedings had kept ominously
aloof, and before a month had passed visited Swansea with
massacre and pillage. Probably young Tobias would have
been pardoned, although his guilt had been fully proved;
but in view of Philip’s operations his sentence was carried-
out, after a month’s delay.1
Sassamon’s murder seems to have been quite as much to
stop his conversion of the savages as on account of any spe-
cial information he may have been able to give. Gookin
strengthens this view by calling him “ The First Christian
Martyr of the Indians.” Eliot records that he was “ a man
of right eminent parts and wit,” and that “ his death was
much bewailed ” by the English. Few writers seem to have
known of Sassamon’s high standing with these two eminent
philanthropists, nor of the further fact that he was not a sub-
ject of Philip’s, but that his allegiance was entirely due to
the Colony in which he was an established pastor and land-
owner. From Hubbard and Increase Mather down, it has
been the custom to belittle, and sometimes to malign, this
faithful convert; but with the loving indorsement of Eliot
1 The story of his having been reprieved for a month because his rope broke
at the first execution, is not authorized by the records.538
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
Li635-57-
and Gookin, he is entitled to an honorable place among the
preachers of the Old Colony.1
THE MAYHEWS.
Though this glorious quintet lived not on the soil of New
Plymouth, their relationships and influences connect them
with its history. Thomas Mayhew, a merchant, was at Med-
ford in ^635 as Matthew Cradock's agent, and had some
difference with the Government. In after years he acquired
the conflicting titles of Gorges and of Lord Stirling to the
Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands; and thither,
from Watertown, in 1642 he sent his son Thomas (aged
twenty-six). The young man at once mastering the Indian
tongue, devoted himself to missionary work, and in 1643,
three years before Eliot's first Indian sermon, converted
Hiacomes, who proved a worthy assistant. In 1644 his
father came to conduct the secular business.
The son's converts multiplied, and glowing accounts of his
labors were printed at London. In November, 1657, to
stimulate missionary work, he sailed from Boston for Eng-
land in an old but large vessel (four hundred tons), called,
from its Charlestown captain, “ Garrett's Ship." Among her
fifty passengers were Mayhew’s brother-in-law and several
young scholars of unusual promise. The excellent Gookin,
unable to get a berth in her, reluctantly went in one of two
smaller vessels. Joyously these three ships went together
1 Munroe’s “History of Bristol” calls Sassamon Philip’s “secretary,” and
says that as such he was intrusted with all Philip’s plans. This is sustained by
no evidence whatever. In fact, Philip had no plans. Mr. Munroe also calls
the Wampanoags Sassamon’s “kindred,” which they were not; nor is there the
least authority for his further statement that Sassamon once abjured Christianity
and went to live in heathenism with Philip. He also ignores the fact that Sassa-
mon owed Philip no allegiance, but that he did owe it to New Plymouth, and
was by every sense of duty, legal as well as moral, bound to reveal any plots
coming to his knowledge.
Freeman’s “ History of Cape Cod ” terms Sassamon a “renegade Indian; ”
and this sneer at his conversion to Christianity is made as if it in some sort pal-
liated his atrocious murder. Yet the author of that work was supposed to be,
like Sassamon, a Christian preacher of the Old Colony.
t
t1681-1758.]
THE MISSIONARY MAYHEWS.
539
down to the sea; but while the lesser craft both came safely
to port, “ Garrett’s Ship ” has never been heard from.1
The father, then sixty-nine years old, was no idle mourner,
and paid to his son’s memory the noblest possible tribute, by
himself taking up the missionary work so violently inter-
rupted. Hiacomes co-operated zealously, and their labors
in the Vineyard and at Nantucket were blessed with new
churches and increasing civilization. In 1681 the patriarch
went to his rest, the snows of ninety-three winters on his
head. For eight years he had been assisted by his grandson
John, eldest son of the lost missionary, and this young man
now took charge of the work. When, eight years lateri John
also died, at the age of thirty-seven, his eldest son, Experi-
ence, though but sixteen years old, consecrated himself to
the sacred labor of his ancestors, and persevered in it until
called away in 1758, at the age of eighty-five. He was not
a scholar of the colleges, but Harvard honored herself by
making him a MaSler of Arts.2 He left four sons, of whom
Zachariah, the youngest (and the only one not sent to col-
lege), took up the duties which his dying sire had laid down.
With entire devotion he wrought on to his life’s end, but in
his latter days his heart was saddened by the steady wasting
away of the aboriginal population. Thus lived, labored, and
died these five generations of Mayhew-men, who successively
turned away from ease and Honor, and in a higher walk of
life made their name sublime.
1	The loss of “Lamberton’s-Ship ” was a parallel. This 8oton craft in 1646
left New Haven for England, carrying several prominent colonists. By cutting
the ice for three miles out from her wharf, she was enabled to pass into Long
Island Sound, — never to be heard from. George Lamberton, her owner, went in
her, as also did the wife of Lieutenant-Governor Goodyear. Goodyear eventually
married the widow of Lamberton. “ Garret’s Ship ” is often described as new;
but on her last previous voyage Pastor Hooke went over in her, and was alarmed
at finding her “ too old.” — 4 Mass. Hist. Coll.y vii.
Thomas Mayhew, Jr., left four boys and two girls. He died poor, and the
widow received some aid from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,
which also supported the oldest son at Harvard College, requiring him to es-
pecially study the Indian tongue. His mother finally married Mr. Sarson, of the
Vineyard.
2	Experience Mayhew’s first wife was Governor Hinckley’s daughter ; his
second was granddaughter of Missionary Bourne.CHAPTER LXII.
JOSIAH WINSLOW. —THE DEATH OF SACHEM ALEXANDER.
HIS son of Plymouth, born in 1628, seems to have in-
herited his father’s position as the “ gentleman” of the
Colony, and on uniting himself with Penelope, the accom-
plished daughter of Herbert Pelham, to have made his patri-
monial home of Careswell (in Marshfield) the seat of elegant
hospitality. He was well educated (presumably at Harvard) ;
but while excelling his father in liberality, he fell far short in
strength oY character and body. Yet he was a general favor-
ite, and as soon as he came of age was made a deputy from
Marshfield; at thirty he began a term of sixteen years as
assistant, from which office he passed to the Governor’s chair,
and from that was borne to the grave.1 He was also a Com-
missioner of the United Colonies for some twenty-one of the
last twenty-three years of his life. In the great Narragan-
set campaign (1675-6) he was general of the confederated
forces.2
1	Winslow presided in court for the last time Nov. 6, 1680 (n. s.) ; he died
Dec. 28, 1680 (n. s.), aged 52.
2	In 1673, when troops were raised under Cudworth to resist the threatened
foray of the Dutch, Winslow presented the corps with a drum, while Sergeant
Thompson, of Scituate, Lieutenant Hunt, of Rehoboth, and Captain Willet, of
Swansea, each gave a halbert. (In 1675, during Winslow's administration, it
was ordered that four halberts be carried before the Governor on the first day
of each session, and two on the other days.)1676-7]
GOVERNOR JOSIAH WINSLOW.
541
Randolph, the King's emissary, in 1676-7 found the ameni-
ties of Careswell a pleasing contrast to the indignities so
liberally extended to him at Boston; and Winslow, hoping
through this courtier to grasp the elusive charter which in
the former generation his father had so eagerly pursued, made
a free use of social blandishments.
Randolph wrote to the King that Governor Winslow was
“ a gentleman of loyal principles,” and had been of “ great
courage and conduct” in Philip's War, which having been
chiefly won by him and his troops, “ makes him to be feared
and not loved by his neighbors, the Bostoners.” Winslow,
he added, misliked the disloyal conduct of the Boston leaders
toward the King’s person, and thought their encroachments
on the rights and trade of the other Colonies such that security
and prosperity could only be secured by the King’s assump-
tion of direct powers of government, •*— a change which would
be willingly accepted by Connecticut and Plymouth. Much
of this probably was merely surmised by Randolph, but the
graceful Governor, in striving to please this courtly foe of the
“ Bostoners,” may have led him to imagine some things not
stated in words. Still, a continued complaint of the Bay
Colony’s arrogance is quite evident. In Winslow’s last year
Randolph, strong Episcopalian as he was, became a freeman
of New Plymouth and took the oath of fidelity to it. He
made strong promises of assistance at the English Court, and
it is quite probable that but for Cudworth’s sudden death
(p. 505), Randolph would have caused the phantom charter
to “ materialize.”
Winslow was both a child of the first marriage in the
Colony, and the only native governor; still, he had. a strong
attachment for his “ kin beyond the sea,” and in 1651, during
his father’s employments in London, seems to have been
with him for a short time. The father’s portrait was painted,
and the son’s doubtless made at the same time. The two origi-
nals now hang side by side in Pilgrim Hall. In the young
Governor’s last years he was much regretting that official cares ;
would not permit another visit. His experience was excep-542
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[16&2.
tional among the leaders of the Colony in seeing of the latter
neither the beginning nor the end; for before his birth (1628)
it was firmly established, and at his decease (1680) it bade
fair to be perpetual. His early death was widely mourned.
The General Court conducted the funeral with official cere-
mony, and the cost was paid from the Colonial treasury. The
people present must have been deeply impressed, as among
the mourners they saw Peregrine White, the Colony’s first-
born, and Resolved White, a boy in the “ Mayflower,” the
dead Governor’s half brothers, and beside them the only sur-
viving signer of the “ Mayflower ” Compact, John Alden, with
Priscilla still on his arm.
SACHEM ALEXANDER.
A notice of Josiah Winslow involves some mention of
Philip’s War, but the reader of this already too-extended re-
view must be left to seek most of the details in Palfrey’s New
England, Dexter’s edition of Church, and Baylies’ Memoir.
Mather’s account is incomplete, and Hubbard’s unreliability
has been shown (page ix).1 One misrepresentation by the
latter has given rise to much unjust criticism of Plymouth.
The following account of the case so falsified by Hubbard,
was given by Major William Bradford to his pastor, Mr. Cot-
ton ; from this authority there is no appeal, especially to a
writer of notorious inaccuracy, who lived in another Colony
and wrote from hearsay fifteen years after the transaction.
Bradford’s narrative is substantially thus: —
In the summer of 1662 came rumors that Alexander (who
had succeeded his father in 1660) was plotting with the Nar-
ragansets for the destruction of the whites. As he was bound
with Plymouth in a league of offence and defence, and had long
been protected by it, he was called upon to appear and clear
up the matter. As he did not come, though near by, Brad-
1 A serious mistake of Hubbard's assigns the Sudbury fight to April 18,1676
^ (o. s.); this misled many writers of repute, and has found its way into the in-
scription on the two successive monuments over the slain. The true date is
clearly April 21 (o. s.) See N. E. Gen. Reg., vii. 7, 221; and xx. 135, 341.1662.]
ALEXANDER.—HIS DEATH.
543
ford, with Winslow and some others, went to fetch him.
Alexander was at Halifax Pond, not ten miles from Ply-
mouth. He and his company saw the whites approaching,
but were so unconcerned that they did not go out to their
stacked arms, nor even discontinue their breakfast. Alexan-
der readily consented to return with Bradford and Winslow,
and said that he should have presented himself as requested,
had he not waited for Captain Willet's return from Manhattan.
The party then went to Collier's, in Duxbury, where a satis-
factory conference was had between Alexander and several
of the magistrates. The chief and his party then went their
way. Two or three days afterward Alexander presented
himself at Winslow's house in Marshfield, saying that he was
on his way to Boston. While at Winslow's he was taken very
sick; he was then carried by water to Bradford's house in
Plymouth. Thence his people bore him overland to the river
in Middleborough, where he was re-embarked and rowed to
his home. A few days later he died.1
This is the only existing account from any one having a
personal knowledge of the matter, and its accuracy is beyond
question. Yet Hubbard has circulated a story of violence,
and of the consequent death of Alexander with a broken
heart; and nearly every writer has sentimentally repeated
the tale as historic fact. There is not a particle of evidence
showing any incivility toward the chief, nor did Philip, whose
random talk against Plymouth long found a ready and sym-
pathetic listener in Massachusetts, ever make any complaint
to her on this score. There is no reason to suppose that any
ill-feeling among the Indians grew out of the transaction,
though it has been generally alleged as a leading cause of the
war which broke out thirteen years later.
1 Between June 13 and Aug. 16, 1662 (n. s.). — Pfym. Reciv. 16, 25.
35CHAPTER LXIII.
SACHEM PHILIPPS WAR.
PHILIP’S WAR was forced upon the Colonists by the
Wampanoags. A large majority of the Indians living
within the bounds of New Plymouth continued friendly to
the whites; nor were there many, if any, hostiles there out-
side the three affiliated tribes of the Narraganset shore,— the
Wampanoags, the Pocassets, and the Saconets (see p. 136).
These had resisted civilization and Christianity. Their fel-
lows, who had become “ Praying Indians,” gathered in the
towns, or in villages of their own, under white protection, so
that the chiefs could no longer levy tribute from them, or sum-
mon them to the war-path. Therefore those who adhered
to savage life and heathen rites came to hate their converted
brethren, and to long for a check upon the missionary work.
The whites made almost every practicable overture in be-
half of peace. Indeed, Massachusetts carried the policy of
conciliation to an extreme which proved disastrous; for she.
weakened the respect of the Wampanoags for the authority
of New Plymouth under which they lived, and while much
promoting Indian insubordination, discouraged effective pre-
cautions on the part of the whites. If Plymouth earnestly
protested that deadly plots were forming against her settle-
ments ; if Sassamon gave the particulars of them; if Waban,
the Christian sachem of the Nonantums, uttered the most
serious warnings, and other Praying Indians confirmed his
statements, — Philip could at once satisfy the oilers at Boston
by sitting at their festive board and assuming the rdle of a1675 3	THE INDIANS ALWAYS JUSTLY TREATED. 545
son-of-peace cruelly wounded by the arrows of slander.
Time and again did Philip1 thus cajole the men of the Bay;
while, on the other hand, their infatuated course led him into
the idea that they would give no help to Plymouth when he
should begin to ravage her settlements.
The opinion which generally prevails among those who do
not go to the original sources of information is, that Philip
and his fellow-savages were in 1675 suffering great griev-
ances for which they had vainly sought redress. This was
not the case. Their fellow-natives, the whites, by whose
side they had been born and bred, had been to them of con-
stant and incalculable benefit, — caring for them in sickness
and famine, teaching them to raise new fruits, to properly
cook their food, to make healthful and comfortable clothing,
and in general to enjoy the appliances of civilization. The
laws had been very careful of the Indian's rights, and had
been so strictly enforced that the courts were sometimes
charged with straining them in his favor. No Indian com-
plaint was too trivial for attention in the highest quarters.
Thus, in 1645 we find Governor Bradford officially notifying
Governor Winthrop that “ Mr. Offley, a gentleman of Bos-
ton," had not duly paid a Cape Cod Indian who helped him
catch sturgeon; and doubtless Winthrop made it his first
business to see justice done the savage. So, too, in 1641
Governor Winslow and Captain Standish are found, with
Edward Freeman, holding a court at Yarmouth, and order-
ing, on two complaints from Massatumpain, first, that Mr.
Andrew Hellot (Hallet) pay for a deer which his son had
bought of an Indian long before; and, second, that the sug-
gestively-named Walter Devill pay 2s. for mending a hole
which he had shot in the same Indian’s kettle.2 In all the
affairs of life, as Dr. Palfrey well says, the red man found
that “ the shield of the law was held over him with assiduous
solicitude."
1	Plym. Rec., v. 76, 80.
2	This name has been improved into Devoll and Devol. It may once have
been De Ville.546	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1675.
A superior and an inferior race cannot live in contact with-
out some wrong-doing by individuals of one or the other by
turns; but as between Plymouth and Philip's people, such
personal jarrings were reduced to near the minimum, nor
did they show a balance of discredit against the whites. Let
a few witnesses be called: —
Dr. S. G. Drake, ever inclined to give the aborigines the
benefit of all doubts, and to see doubts very easily, is entitled
to all the more confidence when he feels it his duty as an
historian to say, —
" In no instance was land taken from the Indians without their
consent, or without what was then considered a fair compensation.
. . . The English, as a general thing, wished the Indians well, and
were of much service to them; and their immense labors to Chris-
tianize them, prove their sincerity to benefit them.” 1
Governor Josiah Winslow wrote to the commissioners in
1675,—
“ I think I can clearly say that before these present troubles broke
out, the English did not possess one foot of land in this Colony but
what was fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors.
Nay, because some of our people are of a covetous disposition, and
the Indians are in their straits easily prevailed with to part with their
lands, we first made a law that none should purchase, or receive of
gift, any land of the Indians without the knowledge and allowance of
our Court.2 * * * * . . . And if at any time they have brought complaints
before us, they have had justice, impartial and speedy, so that our
own people have frequently complained that we erred on the other
hand, in showing them too much favor.” 8
That noble missionary to the Indians, Thomas Mayhew, in
writing to Governor Prence in 1671, refers to the threatening
1	N. E. Gen. Reg., Jan., 1858.
2	In 1651 the father of the future Governor Hinckley was indicted for buying
land of an Indian, and in 1674 two such offenders were imprisoned until they
returned their purchase. The various phases of a suit for this cause against
William Nickerson are conspicuous.
8 Plym. Rec., x. 362.1675.]	JUSTICE SHOWN THE INDIANS.	547
aspect of Philip’s people, “ notwithstanding your gentle and
kind dealing with them.” 1
The Indians had no friend more true than Roger Williams,
nor one quicker to defend them from wrong. Yet he says
that Sachem Philip “ broke all laws,” though the men of Ply-
mouth were his tribe’s “ ancient friends and protectors.”2
He also says, “ All Indians are extremely treacherous.” 3
Samuel Gorton was an interpreter at the last interview
Philip had with white men before taking the war-path. Gor-
ton had for a generation been intimate with the Indians, and
was a fearless friend. He and James Brown did everything
possible to pacify Philip, and to discover the cause of his
hostility, that it might be remedied; but Gorton subsequently
denounced Philip as “ that unworthy sachem,” and recorded,
as to the jvar, “ on what hinge the occasion thereof turned,
I know not.”
As to Philip’s War, Josiah Winslow solemnly appealed to
God in support of the innocence of Plymouth as to any
ill-doing, and states that the Indians alleged no ground of
discontent except the execution of three murderers [Sassa-
mon’s], who, he says, acknowledged the fairness of their trial,
and one of whom confessed the crime.4
In 1667 Philip formally admitted that his father and him-
self had been preserved by Plymouth from Narraganset
subjugation.
In 1717 Shute, the King’s Governor of Massachusetts (then
including Plymouth), assured the famous Indian missionary,
Father Ralle, that “ the English had not entered on land
without fair and honorable purchase of the Indians.”
James Otis, the eminent patriot of our Revolutionary era,
a native of the Old Colony, in 1767 made this declaration to
Governor Bernard: —
“ The Indians had perfect confidence in our fathers, and applied to
them in all their difficulties. Nothing has been omitted which justice
1 6 Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 196.
8 Plym. Rec., x. 442.
2 4 Mass. Hist. Coll, vi. 300.
4 5 Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 428.548	THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.	[1675.
or humanity required. We glory in their conduct; we boast of it as
unexampled.”
Rev. Dr. Young, that eminent authority, says: —
“ The first planters of Plymouth and Massachusetts invariably pur-
chased of the natives the lands on which they settled, for considera-
tions which were deemed at the time fully equivalent.”1
Another high authority remarks: —
“ In their intercourse with the Indians, the people of the Colony
[New Plymouth] set a bright example of humanity.” 2
John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of our nation, was
eminent as the champion of the oppressed; his opinion on
this subject, after long and zealous research, being that “ the
Indian title was extinguished by compact, fulfilling the law of
justice between man and man.” And he cites Vattel, the
great writer upon international law, as paying a high tribute
to our ancestors for a rigid observance of the aboriginal
rights, and establishing the preceptive rule by their example.
Dr. Palfrey remarks of the Indians at the opening of
Philip’s War: —
“ The course of conduct pursued toward them had been praise-
worthy in a singular degree. The Indians were a people extremely
difficult to deal with, by reason alike of their mental and of their moral
defects; but they were treated equitably and generously.” 8
Cumulative testimony of this high character might be con-
tinued through many pages, but what has been cited would
seem enough to convince any candid reader of the grievous
wrong done our Old Colony ancestors. It has long been
the fashion in this connection for poetizers, lecturers, and
' story-writers of high as well as low degree, somewhat from
1 Chron. Pil., 259.	2 North Am. Review, 1. 336.
~ 8 Hist. N. E., iii. 137.1675]	PHILIP LOW-LIVED AND DEGRADED.	549
ignorance, partly from sickly sentiment, and partly from
confounding the men of Plymouth with the less liberal
dwellers at the Bay, to attribute to our fathers a phenomenal
degree of hypocrisy, rapacity, and cruelty; but as the facts
are studied from the original records, these notes of calumny
will be changed to those of praise.
The substitution of fancy for reality is most complete in
the common idea of Chief-Sachem Philip. Even writers of
repute have joined not only in conferring upon him the royal
title (king), but in endowing him with lofty sentiments and
with great qualities as a ruler and a diplomatist, a strategist
and a warrior. Yet the real Philip was a man who clung to
savage life and heathen superstitions; he was without mental
discipline or restraint, was ignorant of every useful pursuit,
and even of the Indian arts of war. Until his great outbreak
he had shown an aptitude for little but falsehood and treach-
ery, now conducted with insolence, and now with abjectness.
The people under Pokanoket rule had long been falling away,
and in 1675 Philip's immediate tribe was limited to some
three hundred men, women, and children, with whom he
ranged Mount Hope Neck, finding abundant room. Those
who suppose that a person of his coarseness, ignorance, in-
experience in war, inbred indolence, and purposelessness,
could spring at one bound into the great character usually
ascribed to him, must attach little potency to the training and
education of civilized life. In fact, Philip himself could not
have understood all the high qualities generally assigned him,
so far would they have been above anything which his rude
mind had learned to comprehend. Dr. Palfrey draws of him
this just portrait: —
“The title of ‘king/ which it has been customary to attach to his
name, disguises and transfigures to the view the form of a squalid sav-
age, whose palace was a sty; whose royal robe was a bear-skin or a
coarse blanket, alive with vermin; who hardly knew the luxury of an
ablution; who was often glad to appease appetite with food such as
men who are not starving, loathe; and whose nature possessed just
the capacity for reflection and the degree of refinement which might550
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1675-
be expected to be developed from the mental constitution of his race
by such a condition and such habits of life. . . . ‘ King * Philip is a
mythical character.”1
There is no reason for supposing that “ Sachem Philip,” as
his contemporaries generally termed him, began the war with
any definite plan or any clear expectation as to the result, —
except blood and plunder. Nor is there evidence or proba-
bility that he had a preliminary understanding with any
Indians outside his own jurisdiction. The mere example of
Philip's followers was enough to arouse the savage instincts
of the Nipmucks.
It is evident that Philip did not suppose that the strife
would extend beyond New Plymouth. From his constant
petting at Boston, and the tendency there to snub Plymouth
when she complained of his bad faith, he naturally supposed
that Massachusetts would not interfere against him, and the
co-relations of the United Colonies were beyond his ken.
Among the “ Hutchinson Papers ” is a letter addressed to the
“ Governor and Council at Boston," in reply to an offer for
ransoming some white captives. It is without signature, but
was doubtless dictated to some renegade convert by Philip,
who could not write. One passage is as follows: —
“ I am sorrow that I have done so much wrong to you, and yet I
say the falte is lay upon you; for when we begun the quarrel with
Plymouth men, I did not think that you should have so much trouble
as now is.”2
In 1677 the Government of Massachusetts asserted that they
might have avoided all the loss and trouble of the war, for
1	Hist. N. E., iii. 223.
A fair specimen of the current extravaganzas on Philip is in Fowler’s “ His-
torical Sketch of Fall River;” as, for instance: “King Philip’s talents were of
the highest order. . . . Philip was certainly a man of great powers of mind. . . .
It [his death] is now viewed as the fall of a great warrior, a penetrating states-
man, a mighty prince ” (pp. 9, 11).
The excellent Baylies remarks of Philip : “ His talents were unquestionably
of the first order.” — Memoir, part iii., 170. This is a pure flight of fancy.
2	Palfrey’s Hist. N. E., iii. 188.1675]	PHILIP'S WAR UNPREMEDITATED.	551
the enemy declared at the outset that “ they had no quarrel
with the Massachusetts.”1
So far was Philip from making patient and elaborate prepa-
rations for the strife that he was singularly destitute of the
necessaries of war. This is compatible alone with the . theory
that he contemplated merely an occasional raid upon a Ply-
mouth town, until, enriched with spoil, he should be raised to
savage opulence by a bribe to resume peaceful relations; or
if endangered, he could run away: for there is no evidence
of his having had any home attachment to Mount Hope Neck
above any other region, and he had no property there besides
the land, save what could be carried away by the women and
children. There is a tradition that Philip had not decided on
war, when it was forced upon him by the unauthorized act of
his followers in attacking Swansea, and the coming down upon
them of the Plymouth and Boston forces.
Philip started with perhaps two hundred and fifty fighting
men; but for these he had accumulated but thirty muskets,
and only enough powder to last through the first skirmish;
he had no store of provisions or clothing, nor an ordinarily
good stock of canoes. In response to the first attack made
upon him, he fled from the Colony with his whole force.
Ten months later, when the Nipmucks had cast him off, he
returned to Mount Hope and skulked about in an aimless
manner, until at the end of two months he was shot while
running away. Nothing in his character, from first to last,
indicates any forethought or shows the least trace of heroism.
Most surprising is it to learn that Philip is not known to have
taken part in any one of the fights of the war, nor even to
have been in the immediate vicinity of any of them after the
initial skirmish at Pocasset Swamp. The public documents
of that time “ do not indicate a belief on the part of the Eng-
lish of any such comprehensive and far-sighted scheme as in
later times has been attributed to Philip. The natural con-
clusion from their language is that his outbreak was regarded
1 Letter to Govt, of Conn., Mass. Archives, ii. 195.552
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1675-6.
as prompted by the vindictiveness and caprice of an unreason-
ing and cruel barbarian.”1
The whites were less unprepared than the Indians, but suf-
fered much through two errors. They grossly undervalued
their foe, and had just enough of English tactics to feel a
contempt for the “ backwoods ” strategy which their case
required. Plymouth had only one man competent to deal
with the savages, and he was Benjamin Church; but his ideas
of enlisting friendly Indians and fighting Philip in his own
way, and of treating with full confidence those Indians not in
arms, seemed to the authorities as visionary and suicidal.
With full license, Church would have been likely to seize or
destroy Philip and his host in the first fortnight of the war.
He promptly took the field, but was so hampered that he
retired as soon as Philip fled from the Old Colony.
It is a singular fact that in this war there was hardly a grave
disaster to the whites which was not largely due to their reck-
lessness or gross negligence. The first attack found the
people of Swansea neglecting watch and ward to attend a
fast-day service. The same day, half a dozen of her citizens,
in a foolhardy attempt to rescue their household goods, were
killed. Wheeler, at Brookfield, sacrificed himself and men
in an ambush of which he had been warned. Peirce at Paw-
tucket, Wadsworth at Sudbury, and Lothrop at Deerfield, all
fell in ambushes from which very slight care and strategic
common-sense would have saved them. (Indeed, Lothrop’s
men had idiotically piled their guns in the carts of grain which
they were escorting, and had scattered themselves about pick-
ing wild grapes; the result was the loss of ninety fine men,
— the most terrible blow of the war.)
During the war, twelve men started from Springfield for
the mill at Westfield; to save the burden of their weapons
they went unarmed, and all were killed, — as might have been
expected. Medfield was furnished with a strong guard, but
no watch was kept, and the soldiers were scattered among the
1 Palfrey’s N. E., iii. 226.1675-6.]	CARELESSNESS OF THE SETTLERS.	553
various families; the houses being attacked suddenly, before
the guard could be put in order, half the town was ruined,
and the savages were gone. At Groton a blockhouse was
captured after the garrison had been decoyed from it by a
most clumsy device. At Lancaster the famous Rowlandson
garrison was strengthened externally by a pile of fire-wood,
inviting the fatal torch, which of course came to it.
An especially astonishing case was that of William Clark's
garrison-house on Eel River, three miles south of Plymouth
village, — a post so strong that much property of the neigh-
borhood had been stored in it. In March, 1676, every man
of the garrison went up to Plymouth to attend the Sunday-
morning service, and to save trouble, they left the heavy
garrison-gate standing open. Soon, Totoson and his savage
crew rushed in and killed Mrs. (Sarah) Clark and ten other
women or children.1 Then, plundering the post and burning
it, they escaped, while the smoke reminded the distant Clark
of his criminal folly. The capture of the Narraganset fort by
Winslow’s army was a succession of blunders, including the
preparation, the mode of attack, and the terrible retreat; so
that while it was a brilliant victory, it was also a lamentable
affair to the victors.2 Yet on all occasions the whites showed
1	The only survivor was a lad who had been tomahawked and left for dead.
The surgeons covered his exposed brain with a silver plate, and he was long
after known as “ Silver-headed Tom.” — Thacker.
2	Of the 1,080 whites, about 70 were killed outright, and 150 wounded; of
the latter, some scores died of their wounds. Connecticut had 315 men in the
fight: they were brave to a fault, and suffered much loss'; but their Colony’s
claim that nearly half of them were killed or wounded, was preposterous.
Church’s persistence in favor of occupying the fort where the wounded would
be in comfortable cabins, and the whole force find provisions for four months or
more, almost caused a panic among the other officers. Winslow yielded to the
clamor, and consented to burning the fort with its great stores, though his troops
were nearly destitute. Church says the Plymouth corps had not “one biscake
left.” So the victors fled, and the horrors of the night retreat were enhanced by
the death of 34 of their wounded as they were conveyed through the storm.
No one knows the strength of the Indians. Tifft, the wretched renegade, set it
at 800 warriors, of whom 97 were killed and 48 wounded; but these figures seem
too low by far, especially as there were 500 wigwams, and the victory destroyed
the Narraganset nation. Arnold puts their loss at 600 killed and 400 wounded
or captured. It is thought that the nation entered the war with 2,000 fighting
men, and that only 200 were left to make the final peace. Besides the killed554
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1675.
the highest degree of courage and energy, and, though con-
stantly courting disaster, more gallant captains never led
braver men.
The war broke out at Swansea, June 29, 1675 (n. s.), when
Job Winslow’s house was plundered. The next day (Sun-
day), while the people were absent at worship, several houses
were rifled, and two burned. The following Thursday Thomas
Layton was killed near Fall River; another man was shot
while returning from church, and two more as they ran
for the surgeon. Later in that day the six previously men-
tioned were killed, and several houses burned.1 Two days
before this massacre, three hundred Plymouth troops had
reached Swansea, and made a strong garrison-house of Pastor
Myles’ dwelling; but their imbecility on this day was de-
clared by Winslow and Hinckley to be “to our grief and
shame.” Reinforcements came promptly and eagerly from
Boston, but ten days of inaction passed before the Indians
were followed into Mount Hope peninsula, — a tract twelve
miles long, where Philip’s men harbored. Then it was found
that the Indians had paddled across the bay to Pocasset.
Thereupon the pursuit rested for nearly three weeks, while
the Massachusetts men went to the Narragansets and made
another worthless treaty. But Philip in the mean time burned
thirty houses at Dartmouth, killed many of the people in-
cluding the non-resistant Quakers, and is said to have added
torture. His men also burned the houses at Middleborough,
and besides burning some houses at Taunton, killed John
Tisdale and two Eastham soldiers.
Church, constantly struggling against incompetency of
and captured, many went to join the Maine savages. The Niantic tribe remained
friendly through the war, and that is what since the war has been known as the
Narraganset tribe.
1 The victims were John Salisbury, William Salisbury, Gershom Cobb,
Joseph Lewis, John Jones, Robert Jones, John Fall, Nehemiah Allen, William
Lohun. The group of six is generally said to have been killed on Friday, but
the record shows it to have been on the fast-day, Thursday. In these early
attacks twelve houses were burned. The next year more houses were burned,
leaving but five standing out of the original forty.1675.]	POCASSET SWAMP FIGHT, ETC.	555
superiors, contrived to have two brisk skirmishes and to drive
the Indians into Pocasset Swamp, on a peninsula. There,
July 29th (n. S.), an attack was made by the reunited troops.
The whites, rushing headlong toward the Indian coverts, at
once had five killed and seven wounded. Then, with more
caution, they pushed the savages steadily back, until, the light
becoming dim in the wood, the troops retired to the entrance
of the Neck. It was afterward learned that in another half-
hour of attack the Indians must have surrendered from lack
of ammunition, and that they were expecting to do so,—thus
nearly did the first battle come to ending the war! But the
troops cannot be blamed for ignorance on this point. So great
was their infatuation, however, that this suspended action was
thought to have finished the contest. Therefore, the next
morning the Massachusetts forces returned to Boston, leav-
ing one of their companies to aid the Plymouth men in
guarding the outlet of the peninsula until the enemy should *
be starved into surrender. The Indians had come by water
to Pocasset, but it does not seem to have been thought that
they might in the same way escape from it. Yet after ten
eventless days the besiegers found that the fighting-men, with
a few others, had fled on rude rafts up Taunton River and
were beyond reach. Here, again, the war might have been
ended by a few blockading pinnaces. The most of the. In-
dian women and children were left to the care of the whites,
in whose philanthropy toward them the merciless enemy
seems to have had great confidence.
On August 10th (n. s.) the Indian horde was seen from
Rehoboth escaping over the plains toward the northwest.
There were some two hundred or more, and they were laden
with pillage. Young Pastor Newman rallied his flock and
led the pursuit. Soon he was joined by some Mohegans
whom old Uncas had promptly sent to Boston, and whom
the authorities, with the blundering so common to them
during the entire war, had forwarded to the scene of action
by way of Plymouth. Had these come by the direct route,
they would have intercepted Philip’s party and destroyed it,556
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1675.
or held it until a crushing force should come up. As it was,
they overtook and killed some thirty of the Wampanoag
train, and re-captured much plunder, with no loss to them-
selves. Indeed, the care of this plunder is said to have
caused them to drop the pursuit.
A body of friends from Providence also joined the Rehoboth
men, as did a small squad of Boston men under Henchman;
but after a fruitless night’s pursuit a retreat was ordered, be-
cause no one had thought to forward any food to the men.
A company of Praying Indians, raised at the Bay by Gookin,
offered to make a circuit and cut off the head of Philip’s col-
umn ; but such was the unhappy distrust of these allies that
the whites would not allow them to take their arms away
alone, lest they should join the enemy. So Philip escaped into
central Massachusetts, the Nipmuck country, not through
any strength or sagacity of his own, but through gross negli-
* gence and mismanagement on the part of the whites’ leaders.
The Nipmucks made no pretence of having grievances.
Their intercourse with the whites had been harmonious; their
comforts of life and their personal safety had greatly in-
creased, and among them education and Christianity had
seemed to make much progress. Yet their dormant savage-
ness was at once aroused by the Wampanoag example of
rapine and slaughter, and they turned upon their white
neighbors and benefactors with a zest that at times became
fiendish.1 From their superior knowledge of the white settle-
ments, where they had so often received hospitality and relief,
and their better equipment and greater intelligence, they
became more dreaded enemies than Philip’s men.
For seven months after Philip’s flight, the war circled away
from the Old Colony. Her Governor, Josiah Winslow, how-
ever, was made general of the confederate force which de-
stroyed the treacherous Narragansets in the next winter.
Church attended him as volunteer aide, and in the corps was
1 For example, note their treatment of the expectant mother, described in
Mrs. Rowlandson’s narrative; their cutting out of the cattle’s tongues at
Andover, etc.1676.] PHILIP’S WAR. —THE WHITES’ REVERSES.
557
a Plymouth battalion (a hundred and fifty-eight men) of two
companies, under Major William Bradford and Captain John
Gorham. Winslow was gallant, but his bodily weakness l^d
to indecision of mind; overborne by clamor, he reluctantly
disregarded Church's strenuous advice to hold their captured
fort with its stout, warm, well-provisioned cabins, and con-
sented to a retreat through the midnight snowstorm. Had
he acted on Church's counsel, many a New England home
would have been spared the mourning which darkened it
from that day. Bradford was severely wounded in this fight,
Gorham died (February 15 th) a few weeks later from exposure,
and Church received three wounds, one of which was severe.1
From thirty-three to forty of the Plymouth men were killed
or seriously wounded.2 Six weeks later Winslow resigned
with ruined health, and Church, in warranted discontent, went,
taking his family, to stay with friends on Rhode Island.
In early spring (1676) the war swept back to Plymouth.
On March 22d was that needless massacre at Clark's garrison,
only three miles from the Colony's council-chamber; two*
weeks later came the most severe blow of the war to Ply-
mouth, in the destruction, by the Narragansets, of Captain
Michael Peirce's fine company of Scituate men, with several
Indian allies, near Blackstone's “ Study Hill." The General
Court called for three hundred white soldiers3 * * * * 8 and a hundred
friendly Indians; but indecision ruled, the troops were not
raised, and the towns were bidden each to look to its own
defence. Then came the darkest hour of the war. In May
1	He was almost equally annoyed by a bullet which went through his pocket,
making many holes in a pair of borrowed mittens by reason of their being in a
roll.
2	Generally stated as twenty; but Plym. Rec., vi. 118, show that the Colony
paid through Church’s gallant Rhode Island friend, Major Peleg Sanford, for
the care of twenty-eight wounded, and make allusions to others. Of these San-
ford buried Lincoln, Harris, Somersby, and another. Mention is made of five
“ lost in the woods ” on the retreat, — which doubtless means that they fell by th6
way and froze to death, or were killed by Indian prowlers. The loss was there-
fore more than thirty-three, besides those killed in the assault.
8 The quota was: Scituate 50, Plymouth 30, Taunton 30, Barnstable 30,
Rehoboth 30, Sandwich 28, Marshfield 26, Yarmouth 26, Eastham 18, Duxbury
16, Bridgewater 16: total, 300.558
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1676.
was burned that part of Plymouth now Halifax; at Bridge-
water many buildings were destroyed, with cattle and house-
hold goods, but none of the people were killed during the
war, though they were active and daring. Taunton suffered
a blow, five of her slain men leaving thirty-two orphans;
Scituate, after various annoyances, received on May 30th a
desperate assault, in which Cornet Stetson's saw-mill was
burned, with twenty-two other buildings, and among the killed
were six heads of families; young Willet was assassinated at
Swansea, where, as also at Middleborough and Rehoboth,
many of the remaining or renewed houses were burned.
Plymouth's council of war, in their extremity, sent for
Church, who came. He offered to raise a hundred and fifty
whites and a hundred friendly Indians, if the Council would
add fifty whites and give him entire freedom of action. His
demands were thought unreasonable, and he returned in no
good humor to Rhode Island. Soon after he chanced to
cut one of his fingers, and in the flow of blood his super-
stitious mind saw a rebuke of inaction while his friends
were in peril. He returned to Plymouth, and though bound
by some stingy conditions, obtained a captain's commission
(August 3d), with some discretionary powers. It was high
time.
The reduced and impoverished Nipmucks, confessing that
they had gone to war without reason, were suing at Boston
for amnesty. They were berating Philip as the beginner of
the conflict, and were not only disowning him, but were not
unlikely to surrender him at Boston as a peace-offering.1
1 Sagamore John did so fetch in old Mattoonas, a renegade Christian chief,
who led off at Mendon in the first slaughter made by the Nipmucks. Mattoonas
acknowledged the justice of his sentence as a murderer, and was shot by John’s
men. This treachery to his comrade did not save Sagamore John, for he had
killed unresisting people “ otherwise than in the way of war,” and he too was
executed.
James “the Printer,” a scholar from Harvard College and a printer on Indian
works there, had also sinned deeply, but he was pardoned. His father was dea-
con in the Indian Church at Grafton, and grieved over his defection. James'
name appears with that of the third Printer Green in the imprint of an edition
of the Indian Bible, Boston, 1709.1676.]	BLUNDERS. — CHURCH’S PROWESS.	559
Philip would have been slain at sight by the Mohawks, the
Mohegans, and Pequods, or by the friendly Niantics, who
represented what remained of the Narraganset nation. Had
he been sagacious, he would have taken the only outlet open
to him and escaped to the Maine Indians, who would have
welcomed him and his followers, but with only the instinct
of a hunted animal, he ran back to his familiar haunts and
sought to hide himself. There some three hundred savages,
who preferred the deprivations of the war-path to peaceful
pursuits, or who dreaded* the retribution of the whites, gath-
ered around Philip and Anawan, his chief captain. This band
seems to have had no plan of action, and no purpose beyond
replenishing its supplies by plunder and committing here and
there a murder where there was freedom from risk. Still, the
force was very formidable from its unseen movements, which
left every exposed person or possession in constant peril.
Very few indeed suffered, but no white person was thoroughly
safe outside the village of Plymouth.
Church was to raise sixty English and a hundred and forty
Indian followers, but would not wait for them. Entirely
alone, he plunged into the hostile Saconet camp, and with the
squaw-sachem's consent called on the warriors to renounce
Philip and take the war-path against him. A violent scene
ensued, in which Church's life was only preserved by his per-
sonal magnetism; but finally his call was accepted, and until
his death, forty-two years later, the Saconets were his firm
friends.
Soon Church was on the enemy’s trail, with only twenty-
two friendly Indians and eighteen whites, but the latter in-
cluding such scions of the Forefathers as Lieutenant Jabez
Howland, Nathaniel Southworth, Jacob Cook, and Jonathan
Delano.1 Church's success was amazing. At first was a little
sharp skirmishing, but his campaign soon became hunting
1 Howland (born about 1628) was son of the Pilgrim John. Delano, two
years later, married Church’s cousin Mercy Warren. Southworth (born 1648)
was Church’s brother-in-law. Cook (born 1653), son of Jacob and grandson of
the Pilgrim Francis, was also grandson of Stephen Hopkins the Pilgrim.
36$6o
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1676.
rather than war. He ranged up and down like a knight of
romance, and the multitudes of prisoners sent in attested his
prowess. When he needed recruits, he enlisted his most
energetic prisoners; and these, however surly at first, quickly
became devoted to him. In no instance was this strange
confidence misplaced, though it was sometimes extended to
hostile warriors on the very day of their capture.
Within three weeks of the date of Church's commission
he had Philip's lair at Mount Hope surrounded at midnight.
True to his system, he placed his men in pairs, an Indian and
a white man at each point. As the dawn approached on
Aug. 22, 1676 (n. S.), Philip took the alarm and fled alone
and unarmed by a path which led him to the post of Jacob
Cook and a Saconet named Alderman. Cook's gun missed
fire, but the Saconet's double-shotted piece was true. Philip,
bounding into the air, fell upon his face in the mire of the
swamp. One bullet had pierced his lungs, and the other his
heart. It was some hours before their victim was identified;
and he was so squalid that Church, whose Indian comradeship
had overcome his race prejudices, called him “ a doleful, dirty
beast."
Anawan, Philip's captain, who probably had been the real
military leader from the outset, was still at large with sixty
warriors, declaring that he would fight till death. Sixteen
days after Philip’s fall, Church chanced on this chiefs almost
impregnable stronghold. Only Cook and six friendly Indians
were at hand, but with this little squad Church climbed the
overhanging cliff in the dusk and leaped down directly before
Anawan, who sat by a fire awaiting his supper. The old chief,
overcome by the audacity of the proceeding, and ignorant of
the number of his assailants, exclaimed, “ How dak" (I am
taken), and at once surrendered, with all his band. No regu-
lar body of hostiles was left in the field, but there was occa-
sional skirmishing and capturing for five months more. In
less than five weeks, almost unaided by the regular troops
under Bradford, or by the Government, Church had practically
ended the war and rendered the enemy forever powerless.1676.]	THE WAR A SEVERE BURDEN.	561
His entire campaign had been marvellous for its boldness and
success, but the capture of Anawan was an astonishing climax
even to such a wonderful career.
This war was far more grievous to New England than was
the Revolutionary struggle, a century later. In New Ply-
mouth and Massachusetts thirteen towns had been destroyed,
six hundred houses burned, and six hundred people killed, —
the latter mostly from the able-bodied men. Of property,
,£150,000 worth had been destroyed (including eight thou-
sand cattle), and the ordinary growth for two years been
positively reversed. Besides most severe private losses, the
public outlay had reached £100,000. Connecticut had val-
iantly done her part, but the war had not reached her
borders nor impaired her pecuniary ability. Massachusetts
was strong and prosperous, despite her sufferings; but to
poor Plymouth, with her resources sadly shrunken and her
powers of recuperation broken, her Colonial debt of £27,000
seemed a heavier burden than she could bear. Yet she rose
as of yore to the emergency, and rested not until her credi-
tors had principal and interest. The noted debt-payers of her
first generation were not dishonored by their children.
During this terrible war England had seemed an indifferent
spectator. At its close she tendered not one penny of relief;
and instead of words of sympathy, as “-English” as the
England of to-day, sent over a rebuke because the Colonies
had not forwarded official bulletins from time to time. The
only aid which ever came to the Colonies from any source
was from a company of English Nonconformists in business
at Dublin, led by Nathaniel Mather (brother of Increase), who
had gone there after graduating at Harvard College (1647).
As much as £1,000 was contributed, but even these warm-
hearted men could not escape the general tendency to blun-
der. They invested their money in provisions, for the freight
of which they paid some £450, and when the cargo had
reached Boston its market value there was less than the cost
in Dublin.562
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1676.
From the Mather donation Plymouth received ^124 10s.,
and divided it among her towns according to their direct
losses. Thus Yarmouth and Eastham had but 10s. each,
while Swansea had £21, Dartmouth £22, and Rehoboth ^*32.
The conquered lands at Mount Hope yielded about ;£i, 100,
of which ^300 was also given to the towns. These lands
had ever been within the Plymouth bounds, but after the war
Massachusetts, as wras her custom, clutched at them, and
meanly begged the King to bestow them on her as a per-
sonal favor. But Rhode Island, with surpassing effrontery,
claimed them by right of conquest, although her Govern-
ment had taken no part in the war. Church, the Plymouth
captain, had crossed from Rhode Island to make his final
foray on Philip, and had been accompanied by two gallant
friends from the* Island; Sanford and Golding, who went as
volunteers. On this slight basis Governor Cranston founded
a claim that Philip had been killed through a Rhode Island
captain, and left it an easy inference that his Colony, by end-
ing the war, had a victor's claim on the lands. Next, a royal
favorite at Nova Scotia came very near getting a grant of the
territory, and it was not without much effort that poor Ply-
mouth was left in quiet possession. The Showamitt lands in
Somerset were also sold for the benefit of the wounded, the
widows, etc.
The United Colonies conformed to the usage of their day
by selling into foreign bondage their foes taken in arms. A
few, convicted of killing people “ otherwise than in the way
of war," were executed. Some years later, Charles II. mar-
keted as bondmen his Scotch subjects taken at Bothwell
Bridge. Still later, James II. sold into West Indian slavery
at least eight hundred and forty-one of his fellow-Englishmen
captured in Monmouth’s rebellion, and the most refined
ladies of his Court strove for grants of these salable prison-
ers, not for purposes of mercy, but to replenish their dainty
purses. That a like disposal was made of hostile savages in
New England is less a matter of surprise and censure than
regret. But not even then were wanting New-England men1676.]
THE INDIANS AFTER PHILIP’S WAR.
563
so far in advance of their time as to vehemently protest. Yet
the horrors of the battle-field had been greatly mitigated by
the preservation of prisoners from butchery, that they might
be ransomed or sold. In the progress of civilization the
time was coming when ransom and bondage should also be
outgrown, but in 1676 that advance had not been made by
even the most enlightened communities of the world.
Several of the Massachusetts “ Praying Indians ” had re-
lapsed into the extreme of savagery, and the beautiful system
of Indian churches, which Eliot had developed with such
zeal, never regained much strength. Still, in New Plymouth
the converts had remained true to their fellow-Christians.
Many of them enlisted, and far more would have done so but
for an unjust and widespread distrust of them among the
common people. The general treatment of these willing
allies was, as the reader will surmise, especially discreditable
at Boston, where the defection of a few leaders caused a sort
of panic. The Cape Cod and Island tribes were so steadfast
that the Indian captives were placed in their keeping.
At the beginning of the war it is supposed there were about
twelve thousand Indians in Massachusetts and Plymouth com-
bined, four thousand in New Hampshire and western Maine,
and twenty-five hundred to three thousand in Rhode Island.
Not one fourth of these became hostile. Most of the uncap-
tured warriors found their way to the Maine tribes, frequently
leaving their squaws. The white population at that time was
nearly,— Massachusetts, 22,000; Connecticut, 14,000; New
Plymouth, 7,500; and 4,000 each for Maine, New Hampshire,
and Rhode Island.CHAPTER LXIV.
BENJAMIN CHURCH.—JOHN ALDEN. — THOMAS HINCKLEY.
HIS hero of the Old Colony requires some further no-
tice. In 1632, in reply to the sharp inquiries of the
Boston magnates, Bradford cavalierly replied as to Richard
Church: “ He is still here resident; and what he will do,
neither we nor, I think, himself knows.” But Church soon
knew that he would stay in Plymouth and join his fortunes
with those of Richard Warren's orphan daughter Elizabeth.
To them in 1639 was born a little Benjamin. He grew up
in his father’s trade, — a carpenter; but instinctively allied
himself to the martial family of Southworth, his wife being
Alice, daughter of Constant and granddaughter of Mrs.
Bradford.
A year before the war he was making himself a new home
at Saconet. At the peace he became a pioneer of Bristol,
on the Mount Hope lands, but finally returned to Saconet,
which became Little Compton. He was made a local magis-
trate, and represented his town in the Plymouth legislature,
and after the union, in that of Massachusetts.
He refused a military commission under the tyrant Andros,
but in 1689 went against the Maine Indians as major, com-
manding in chief the united troops of Massachusetts and
Plymouth. At the end of the campaign Plymouth gave him
£>\2 as her share of his salary, but Massachusetts shamefully
refused to pay her part. In 1690 he was persuaded to go
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN CHURCH.1692-1704.] THE BAY'S MEANNESS TO CHURCH.	565
again, but was poorly supported, and an officer of equal rank
was placed over him by Massachusetts, which Colony once
more refused her share of his pay and expenses. He was so
destitute after reaching Boston that he was forced to beg his
lodging of Captain Alden until he could send to his brother
for a horse. The officers, whom he had held sharply to their
duty, spread slanderous reports about him, and these were
greedily received at Boston; but on reaching Plymouth,
Church at once dissipated the malicious tales. Plymouth, in
her great poverty from the war, gave him £14; but owing to
the disregard of his claims by Massachusetts, he could only
meet his debts incurred for recruiting and subsistence by
selling a portion of his land at a sacrifice. This treatment
cut Church to the heart; yet in 1692, as the danger grew,
Governor Phipps was able to enlist his services once more.
On his return Massachusetts, now a province, paid his last
wages (it must have cost her a pang), but ignored her pre-
vious debts to him.
In 1696 Church again raised a force for Maine, and re-
turned with valuable captures of cannon, stores, and peltry.
Massachusetts took to herself this prize-of-war, and paid the
soldiers their bare wages. The General Court once voted to
dismiss them with half-pay, but Governor Stoughton indig-
nantly visited the hall and procured a reconsideration. Still
Church was again left to pay his own recruiting expenses.
So late as 1704 Church, then a colonel, conducted a vigorous
campaign against the Maine hostiles. His force of twelve
hundred men, including several Plymouth Indians, operated
in whale-boats along the coasts and rivers. Once more the
Massachusetts Court higgled over his pay, but finally gave
him his wages, with a vote of thanks, and munificently added
the pittance of ^15 toward his expenses in raising troops.
Church had a contempt for meanness and imbecility, and
by making enemies of mean and little men, suffered the in-
dignities and losses which their secret slanders could induce
from men far better than themselves. Long after his death,
the generation which then ruled Massachusetts (1734) sought566
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1623-1718.
to make some atonement for the sins of their fathers by giv-
ing his heirs five hundred acres of land near his old home.
In 1718 Church, then seventy-eight years old, was living
in peace and honor on his farm at Little Compton, where his
ancient friends, the Saconets, dwelt around him in the habits
of civilization. Hearing that his sister’s only son had died
while abroad, he mounted his horse and paid her (Mrs. Irish)
a visit of condolence. While returning the horse stumbled,
and the venerable Colonel received injuries which soon
proved fatal. His wife survived him but a year. They left
five sons and two daughters. Their widespread posterity
should enthusiastically join in crowning the Saconet heights
with a far-seen monument worthy of their great ancestor; so
loyal and loving, heroic and wise, — the Myles Standish of
the second generation.
JOHN ALDEN.
This last surviving signer of the Pilgrim Compact died at
Duxbury, Sept. 12/22, i687> in his eighty-eighth year. Noth-
ing is known of him before he was hired at Southampton to
go in the “ Mayflower” and serve the Colonists for one year
as a cooper. Trevor and Ely were also engaged as seamen;
but when they returned in the “Fortune,” Alden chose to
remain with the Pilgrims. Probably Priscilla Mullins was the
chief inducement, for in 1623 she became his wife. As be-
fore noted, the first cattle did not reach the Colony until
1624; and the whole civilized portion of New Plymouth lay
within reach of Alden’s voice as he stood by his door in
Leyden Street. An important part of the tradition of “Myles
Standish’s Courtship ” is therefore fiction; nor is there reason
for believing any part of it. Standish was of twice Priscilla’s
age, and Alden was to him as a son. Standish’s second wife,
the reputed sister of his first, seems to have been sent for not
less than a year before Priscilla’s marriage, for she arrived by
the “Anne” in 1623, and was married so promptly that she
had lost her maiden name at the ensuing land-division; there1623-87-]
ALDEN AND HIS FAMILY.
567
is little reason for supposing that she was not the first and
only person thought of as her sister’s successor. Standish
and Alden were joint-pioneers of Duxbury, and there Stan-
dish’s son and “ heir-apparent,”1 Alexander, married Alden’s
daughter Sarah.
Alden’s Duxbury home was at Eagle-tree Pond, some two
miles north of Captain’s Hill. The farm is still held by the
Aldens, and the Pilgrim’s supposed well is in daily use; but
his Bible, preserved in Pilgrim Hall, is the only reliable
souvenir of him, save some few official papers.2
The colonial cooper soon became a leader. He was assist-
ant to every governor but Carver, serving at least forty-three
years; he was the Colony’s treasurer some thirteen years, and
was eight times deputy from Duxbury, sometimes holding
two of these positions at once. He is credited with martial
tastes, and in the early days was probably Standish’s close
attendant. Alden’s male descendants have furnished a con-
stant succession of noteworthy soldiers and sailors, and the
females, to a striking extent, have had husbands of like
character.
When Alden died in old age, Priscilla was still living, and
they seem to have bequeathed to their posterity an unusual
length of days. Their oldest child, Elizabeth (born 1624),
wife of William Paybody, a military and civil leader of Dux-
bury, died at ninety-three when a great-great-grandmother,
into whose mouth is traditionally put the following couplet:
“ Rise, daughter, to thy daughter run !
Thy daughter’s daughter hath a son! ”
The Pilgrim’s grandson Samuel, of Duxbury, lived to ninety-
three. A noted example of the family longevity was John
1	In 1878 two strangers, sitting side by side at a public table near Portland,
Me., found themselves to be Captain Myles Standish and John Alden; both
were lineal and worthy descendants of their famous namesakes.
2	This Bible is in Old English type, and has the imprint: “ London, Robert
Barker, Printer to the King, 1620.” It doubtless was a parting purchase or
present, as Alden embarked in the “ Mayflower.” The scarcity of Pilgrim books
is remarkable.568
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1626-1846.
Alden, the Pilgrim’s great-grandson., who died at Middle-
borough in 1821, aged a hundred and two; of his two hun-
dred and nineteen descendants, who with himself covered
five generations, a hundred and seventy-three attended his
funeral, and three of his children were living under the patri-
monial roof in 1846, at an average age of eighty-four and a
half years.
The Pilgrim’s oldest son, John (born 1626), was the naval
commander of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. Boston,
where he died in 1702, preserves his name in Alden Lane,
his naval office descending to his son John. In the witch-
craft frenzy, the father chancing to enter the court-room,
a girl suddenly charged him with witchcraft. Judge Gedney
(who had long known and esteemed the Captain) instantly
assumed the truth of this charge, and became very indignant
because Alden would not confess himself guilty. After
spending fifteen weeks in prison, he escaped, and found a
refuge with his friends at Duxbury, but when the madness
abated, returned to his command.1 Some of the Pilgrim’s
great-grandsons were valiant soldiers for freedom in our
Revolutionary War; and in the great Civil War of 1861-5,
the traditional character of the family was well maintained by
Admiral James Alden, described as “ one of the most courtly
and accomplished ” officers of the Union Navy.2 From the
1	Captain Alden, then 68 years old, had lived in Boston thirty years, and was
known as “ the tallest man in Boston.” He was an honored member of the Old
South Church, but it is said that the blind superstition of his brethren in de-
nouncing him because of a self-conceited child’s chatter, drew from him some
vigorous language which savored of the quarter-deck rather than the vestry.
While he was in prison, his house was visited by Judge Sewall and others, who
held fast-day services there (July 20/30,1692), but we have no intimation of their
belief that he was unjustly accused. His escape was probably by connivance of
some one in authority. He reached Duxbury at midnight, and told his friends
that he was escaping from the devil. When he resumed his naval life it is
pretty evident that he and his wife showed a lack of cordiality towards their
Old South associates who had been so devoid of charity, for on June 12/22,
1693, Sewall again intruded into his house with some lachrymose professions of
grief “for their sorrow and temptation by reason of his imprisonment.”
His antique slate head-stone is now honorably embedded in a side-wall of the
porch of the New Old South Church.
2	N. E. Gen. Reg., xxxi. 363.1618-92.]	GOVERNOR HINCKLEY.	569
Pilgrim pair also descended John Adams and John Quincy
Adams, Presidents of the United States.
Until the Quaker troubles of 1657-60, John Alden was
noted for his liberality and tenderness. This may have been
the reflection of Standish’s character; for after the old hero's
death, Alden followed the imperious Prence, whom he greatly
respected. Yet however much his posterity may wish that
his course had been different in this respect, they have every
reason to believe him a brave, sincere, and honorable man,
worthy of a place in the front rank of the Fathers of New
England.1
THOMAS HINCKLEY,
The sixth governor, served from 1680 to the demise of the
office in 1692, save the three years of Andros. (This latter
period is marked in the Plymouth Records by a blank, ex-
tending from Oct. 5/15, 1686, to Oct. 8/18, 1689.) Hinckley
was born in England, 1618; in 1635 he came to Scituate with
his parents, Samuel and Sarah. The family removing to
Barnstable with Lothrop, Thomas in 1645 became a deputy
from that town; from 1658 to 1680 he was an assistant; from
1678 until the confederacy fell before Andros, he was a
commissioner. He was also a soldier, and fought at the
capture of the Narraganset fort. He was courteous, and, like
Prence, had a commanding presence. He was brave and
patriotic, but the exigencies of his time led him to temporize
1 Alden’s son Joseph settled at Bridgewater; his wife was daughter of Moses
Simmons, of the “ Fortune.” His son David married Mary, daughter of Con-
stant Southworth; he was one of the last magistrates of Plymouth, and held
office in the new province. Jonathan, the fourth son, retained the Duxbury
home. The third daughter, Ruth, married John Bass, of Braintree, and became
ancestress of the Adamses. The fourth daughter, Mary, married a son of
Thomas Delano, of the “ Fortune.”
The venerable Pilgrim did not escape the fashionable obituary anagram.
His, by Pastor Cotton, was entirely accurate, thus: “End al on Hi,” which
exactly makes Iohn Alden. His elegy says: —
** On dying bed his ails were very great,
Yet, verily, his heart on God was set.*'570
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1687-1706.
in a manner unknown to the Pilgrim governors. He died in
1706, leaving many descendants.1
Hinckley’s old friends censured his sitting in Andros’ Coun-
cil, but he claimed that he could there best protect Plymouth.
He certainly did protest to the King in manful terms against
Andros’ abuses. He was illogically earnest in resisting a
plan to tax his fellow-Congregationalists for the support of
Church-of-England worship, and termed it “ insolence” when
Randolph sensibly claimed that such a tax would be justified
by the existing practice of assessing Quaker residents toward
the Congregational “ minister tax.” 2 As Deputy-Governor
Bradford also sat in this nominal council, Hinckley had a
good example for his membership. But another Plymouth
member was Nathaniel Clark (son of Thomas of the “ Anne ”),
whose subserviency and rapacity made him forever after odious
in Plymouth; and it came about that of Plymouth’s seven
members, Clark was the only one who had any influence with
Andros or had a part in his real counsels.
The last session of the Plymouth General Court before it
1	Hinckley’s letters indicate Latin scholarship. That he was a versifier and
probably an astrologer, is shown by his eulogy on Governor Winslow, 2d, which
begins with this allusion to the great comet of that year: —
“ What Heaven’s blazing sign, so formidable,
Means, fully to express I am not able.
Tremendous ire sure doth appear in’s brow,
By this great breach that’s made upon us now.”
4 Mass. Hist. Coll., v. 53.
2	Yet in 1684 Hinckley wrote to England : “Not that we would infringe the
liberties of others of orthodox principles, much less . . . the way of the Church
of England.” —4 Mass. Hist. Coll., v. 124.
His address to the King is an able and manly summing up of abuses by
Andros. Yet the ordinary accounts of Andros are probably exaggerations, for
while' he was an absolutist and a tyrant, his subsequent course in Virginia ren-
ders it highly improbable that he did not desire to benefit the Colony. The
Colonies had a narrow escape from a worse ruler. The infamously cruel Colo-
nel Kirke was to have come over as the satrap, with a council of his own choos-
ing ; but Monmouth’s outbreak caused Andros to be substituted, so that the King
might use Kirke in butchering the vanquished rebels. Had Kirke come, he
would have begun with bloodshed, and have been annihilated by the people.
Randolph notified the Primate that the income of the Society for Propa-
gating the Gospel among the Indians reached £2,000 a year ; and he advised
seizing the funds and using them for a Church of England seminary in New
England.1687-9.]
ANDROS’S TYRANNY. —FREEDOM.
571
was abolished by Andros, was on Oct. 5/15, 1686. The next
January began an administration based on the idea that the
people of New England were outside the protection of Eng-
lish law; that they could maintain no form of town-govern-
ment, have no representation, no vote, and no voice even in
assessing their taxes, — in short, no rights whatever, except
“not to be sold as slaves.” 1 Notice was given that all the
land in the country belonged to the King, that all convey-
ances of it were null and void, and that the Indian signatures
and marks on the deeds from the early sachems were not
worth “ the scratch of a bear’s paw.” Those who were the
holders of land, the supposed owners until now, could only
retain possession even of their native homesteads by paying
heavy fees to Andros and receiving a new deed, provided he
chose not to assign the land to some one else. Hinckley
declared that all the personal property in the Old Colony
would be too little for the new fees on her land-titles. For-
tunately, Andros had not time to enforce this policy there to
any troublesome extent.
On a^222, 1689, came news to Plymouth that the men of
Boston, four days before, led by John Nelson (one of Andros’
Church-of-England brethren), had thrust the tyrant and his
agents into prison, and reinstated their officers displaced in
1686. Thereupon Governor Hinckley and his fellow-magis-
trates of 1686 resumed their functions as if there had been no
suspension, and emphasized their restoration by throwing into
jail Andros’ friend, Councillor Clark.2
1	At the trial of the Ipswich men for protesting against Andros’ depriving
the towns of the privilege of assessing their taxes, Chief-Justice Dudley declared
this to be the only right belonging to the people of New England.
2	Clark was born at Plymouth, 1644 J he was educated by Secretary Morton,
whom he succeeded in office 1685-6. He induced Andros to order that Ply-
mouth surrender Clark’s Island to him, which she had long let for the benefit
of the poor. Of course Plymouth regained the island in 1689, but the odium
incurred by Clark was manifest until his death, in 1718. He was the pioneer
lawyer of Plymouth. His grave-stone is near his father’s, mentioned on page 245.
(See Thacher’s “ Plymouth,” pp. 152-5-8, for abstract of notice of Clark, by Isaac
Goodwin, of Worcester, whom Thacher terms [p. 250] “a learned lawyer and
antiquarian.”)572
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[l689-9I.
But with Plymouth’s revived government of the people did
not return the ancient public spirit. The popular mind had
been disturbed on the rights of property and the sacredness
of obligations; trade had been badly shaken; the public debt
was large, and taxes were onerous; the acts of the unchartered
government had less legal basis than ever before. If the re-
ported invasion of England by the Prince of Orange should
not have succeeded (and beyond his landing, nothing was
known at Boston until June 5th, N. S.), the Colonial Govern-
ment would be swept away by a worse despotism than that of
Andros, which would mercilessly avenge the uprising against
him. The Colony was not only weakened internally, but its
existence was threatened from without. Massachusetts was
eager to swallow it, and New York more so. The latter indeed
succeeded in having it consigned to her; but though forbid-
den taking possession until further action, she so far asserted
authority and exerted influence as to cause Little Compton
and Dartmouth to disown their allegiance to Plymouth and
withhold the taxes due. The people of the Colony at large
were strong for its continued independence; but when it was
thought that £500 would secure the seventy years’ sought
charter, the sum could not be collected, and a tax of ^200
for the purpose was found impracticable. Governor Hinckley
even suggested asking for a charter sub forma pauperis.
Still, the regular elections were held in 1689,1690, and 1691,
and the Colonial Government boldly exercised even its most
questionable functions. Thus Jean Armand de la Forrest, a
Frenchman, for barbarously murdering one of his country-
men, had been tried and condemned in Bristol County, but
had escaped to Boston. He was reclaimed and brought to
Plymouth. On Aug. 9, 1690, N. S., the Governor and assist-
ants reviewed the case and affirmed the sentence. Forrest
begged for a pardon on condition of serving against the
Indians in Maine, but was hanged the next morning, after
confessing his guilt.
In the meantime at the English Court, Increase Mather,
agent for Massachusetts, had been joined by Pastor Wiswall,1691-2.]
THE CLOSE OF THE OLD COLONY.
573
of Duxbury, whom he undertook to aid in Plymouth's behalf;
and Wiswall’s charge against Mather of bad faith will be re-
membered (p. 532). Finally, in October, 1691, Plymouth
was a second time rescued from the grasp of New York, but
only to fall into that of Massachusetts.
The new authority was not at once established; the last
“ Court of Election ” being held by the people of New Ply-
mouth on June 2/12, 1691, and the officers then chosen served-
out their year. The last Court of Assistants met April 5/15,
1692. In the absence of Hinckley, Deputy-Governor Brad-
ford presided. The magistrates would not recognize the
open fact that the knell of the Colony had sounded. The
ancient forms were followed, and the old air of authority
assumed. The jurors were called and the docket read, but
the exercise of doubtful powers was avoided by continuing
all the cases to the next term. Yet the Court asserted itself
by fining two absent jurors. A fast-day was ordered for
three weeks later, and the body adjourned to the regular
election-day, June 9/19. Before that day came, Governor
Phipps had arrived from England with a charter which com-
bined Massachusetts Bay, New Plymouth, the Vineyard Ar-
chipelago, Maine, and Nova Scotia into the royal province
of Massachusetts.1
When the time came for Plymouth's Court of Election,
the legislature of the new province was on its second day’s
session at Boston, and in its 'upper branch were sitting half
the magistrates of the Old Colony, including her governor
and her deputy-governor. The body-politic created in the
cabin of the “ Mayflower ” lived only in history.
This result was bitterly deplored by the people of Ply-
mouth, and Hinckley lost friends through covertly promoting
it. The discontent long lingered, and was in part perpetu-
ated by the slight recognition of Plymouth men by the new
Government. As a partial result, the dwellers in the Pilgrim
land continued a peculiar people; and for generations the
1 At this union Massachusetts Bay had 58 towns and about 58,000 inhabi-
tants ; New Plymouth had 17 towns, with some 13,000 inhabitants.574
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC.
[1692.
curious observer noted the difference between the villagers
about the northern bay and cape, peopled by the Puritans,
and those around the southern bay and cape, where settled
the Pilgrims. Even to-day in the latter region are to be
found some of the most purely English of communities with
a transatlantic development.1
Time brought healing on its wings, and another generation
saw the two Colonies one in soul, as they had long been one
in body. In the American struggles against royal control,
and eventually for independence, and in the passage to na-
tionality through a confederacy modelled on the ancient
league of the United Colonies of New England, as well as
in the more recent contests of war and of peace, the name of
Massachusetts has stood second to none in honor and re-
nown ; but her fair fame has been no more zealously upheld
and cherished by the descendants of the Puritans who fol-
lowed Winthrop, than by the sons of the Independents who
walked with Bradford.
Both classes now join in applauding the assertion of self-
government so gallantly maintained by the Colony of the
Bay, and in honoring the milder, more home-like virtues
which found their best exemplification in The Pilgrim
Republic.
1 When the Revolution began, in 1775, it was estimated that ninety-eight per
cent of the white people in New England were of English descent.APPENDIX.
37APPENDIX.
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER.
Earthquakes. — Comets. — Lightning. — Aurora Borealis. — Climate. —
Buildings, Houses, etc. — Food. — Cotton, Wool, and Crops. — Ship-
building. — Clothing. — Pewter vs. Earthen. — Funeral Matters. —
Verdict of a Coroner’s Jury. — Indian Warrant. — Winthrop’s Super-
naturalism.— Wolves and other Wild Animals. — Small-Pox.—
Marriage Celebrations. — Divorces. — Matrimonial Impediments. —
Delayed Marriages. — Capital Cases. —Treason. —Various Court-
Cases. — Card-Playing. — Church Items. — Church Troubles. — For-
mation of Counties. — Variations of Spelling. — The Pilgrim Society;
its Hall and Monuments.
N June i/ii, 1638, Plymouth heard a heavy rumbling,to the
northward. As it came nearer, the ground shook so that
dishes fell from shelves, and people out of doors could stand only by
laying hold of the fences. Bradford says the shock was “ very terri-
ble,” and created a fear that the houses would fall. Ships at sea were
shaken, and the quaking extended far inland. For years afterward
the summers were unseasonable and frosty, so that much Indian com
did not ripen; but as to any connection, Bradford says, “ I leave it
to naturalists to judge.” Few people were then so intelligently defer-
ential to science.1
In 1658 was another severe earthquake, and in 1662 an especially
heavy one.	1
1 Honest Morton explained earthquakes in the following lucid manner: “The
efficient cause is supernatural, as either principally God, or instrumentally the
angels, although naturally the wind shut up within the powers and bowels of
the earth.”
EARTHQUAKES.578
APPENDIX.
In 1727 was the greatest earthquake since 1662. Pastor Coleman,
of Brattle Street Church, Boston, says: “ The pewter fell off the
shelves, the lids of warming-pans were thrown open, and walkers . . .
had to sit down, unable to stand.” Dr. Prince, of the Old South
Church, Boston, states that the houses rocked and cracked. Pastor
Foxcroft noticed that the earthquake was heralded by the noises of ^
the dogs and by flashes. Jabez Delano, of Dartmouth, reported that
at Nantucket “ ye harth-stones grated one against the other.” There
were seven distinct shocks, and some of them were especially fearful in
the West Indies.
In 1755 the most severe earthquake ever known in New England
4 came in a bright moonlight evening. Many chimneys were shaken
down in Boston; in the rural towns the stone walls around the fields
were thrown over; at sea, ships were tossed and fish were killed in
great numbers. To allay the superstitious fears which it aroused, a
very sensible and philosophical tract was written by Professor Win-
throp, of Harvard College, a great-grandson to the first Governor
Winthrop. He also took occasion to defend lightning-rods. Some
nineteen earthquakes followed during the next sixty years, of which
the most severe was on Nov. 28, 1814. The heaviest shock of this
century in New England, however, was on Oct. 19, 1870. It is a
noteworthy fact that no loss of life from this source has been known
in this country — at least east of the Rocky Mountains — until the
^ great earthquake of September, 1886, at Charleston, S. C. In this
some thirty-two (?) lives were lost, and nearly $5,000,000 worth of
property, etc.
COMETS.
In the days of the Pilgrims, and long after, comets were regarded
^ with terror by all nations. Even the wise Winthrop and many of the
most learned clergy of his day shared this feeling; but as Governor
Bradford never deigned to give them the slightest notice, it is pretty ^
^ certain that he at least was free from the superstition. This can
hardly be said for Secretary Morton, Bradford’s nephew and pupil,
who was quite carried away by it. In his “Memorial” he declares
, that comets “ usually precede and portend great calamities,” and cites
^ sixteen especially malign comets during the Christian era. That of
1618 he held to be a harbinger of the great Indian plague of that
period; but he unfortunately overlooked the fact that the plague came. /
a year earlier than the comet!COMETS. — LIGHTNING.
579
A comet in 1664, visible for three months, was declared by Morton
to be “sent immediately by God to awake the secure world;” and
he connected it with the ensuing Dutch war, deaths by lightning, and /
the small-pox.
In 1668 a comet, which set just before dark, left its train above
the horizon for several hours each night. The appearance was pro-
nounced “ a flaming sword; ” and the Governor and Council of
Massachusetts called on the clergy to intercede against the calamity
which it was supposed to threaten. (A quaint old writer remarks that
the only calamity which followed was a renewal of their laws against
the Baptists.) The Governor and Council of New Plymouth do not
seem to have paid any attention to the “flaming sword,” although
their worthy secretary must have quaked in his shoes at the sight
of it.
In 1680 a comet was seen in New England by the naked eye for
nine weeks, and longer “ with a good telescope.” (So the latter was
then to be found here?) Foster’s Almanac for 1681 says of it: “They
are by most thought to be forerunners of evil, . . . though some think
otherwise.” Yet Increase Mather, subsequently President of Har-
vard College, proclaimed that such blazing stars foretold great changes
and miseries; and the learned pastors — Wetherell, of Scituate, and
Wiswall, of Duxbury — taught earnestly from their pulpits that this
comet was directly connected with the death of Governor Josiah
Winslow, which followed in the same year. (Four years later Judge
Sewall was impressed by the fact that President Rogers, of Harvard
College, died just at the close of a solar eclipse.)
We may not rejoice overmuch at the decay of this superstition, for
during the writing of some of the preceding chapters, in many a town
of the United States, citizens, native as well as foreign, were manifest-
ing alarm at the presence of an especially beautiful comet*
/
LIGHTNING.
Through some peculiarity of its position, thunder-storms are un-
usual in the village of Plymouth, and a lightning-stroke is a very
rare event Yet the writer has seen startling displays of .the sortin
and around the harbor. Oct. 14, 1883, there was a stroke on Water
Street, with slight results beyond serious fractures, at long intervals,
in the underground pipes of the town water-works.58o
APPENDIX.
The first fatal case among the inhabitants of the Colony was in
July, 1658, when John Phillips was struck at Marshfield. Eight years
later (July 4, 1666, n. s.) Grace, wife of Mr. Phillips* son John, was
killed by lightning at or near the same place; as also, by the same
stroke, were a lad named Jeremiah Phillips, and William Shurtleff.
Mr. Shurtleff had his child in his lap, and was holding his wife by the
hand to encourage her, but he alone was hurt. This storm immedi-
ately followed a fast on account of drought, and ended with a hurri-
cane. Prayer was too efficacious.
Between the deaths of Mr. Phillips and his daughter-in-law occurred
another case. In 1660 three men from Boston, who were fishing, put
in at Plymouth Harbor on account of a heavy rain-storm. As they
sailed toward Duxbury, a flash of lightning killed one of them — a
young man named James Pierce — and threw him overboard. His
body was much burned beneath his clothing.
These five deaths are all which are recorded from this cause during
the existence of the Colony (1620-92). There were, however, many
cases in the neighboring regions. One of general interest occurred
in 1665, when Captain Davenport was killed in the Castle at Boston
by a bolt which did no other harm. About the time of Mrs. Phillips*
death there were several similar cases at the Bay, and four at Piscat-
aqua. In 1673, at Wenham, Pastor Higginson had stopped to talk
with a man on the road, when a bolt killed the man and his dog, but
left the preacher unscathed. In 1685, in Boston, a man, a woman,
and two horses were struck dead.
In 1755 Rev. Dr. Prince, of the “Old South*’ at Boston, con-
4 demned lightning-rods, then coming into use under Franklin’s aus-
pices ; for Dr. Prince feared that they might so accumulate electricity
in the earth as to “ change the forces of Nature.** It was in reply
• that Professor Winthrop made a defence of those “ innocent and in-
jured iron points *’ in connection with his elucidation of earthquakes.
%
THE AURORA BOREALIS.
One would suppose that the “ Northern Lights ’* must have been a
fruitful source of terror in the superstitious era of the “ first settlers; **
but, strange to say, it was not until two generations after Winthrop
that the aurora attracted particular attention, or at least was generally
understood to be a phenomenon by itself. The first definite notice ofAURORA BOREALIS. — CLIMATE.
581
it in England is under date of 1717, when Dr. Prince, of Boston, was
there, and saw the display. The next year an anonymous writer in
New England saw it and called it a meteor, but inquired if it might
not really be what philosophers call “ aurora borealis.’*
Yet there are two prior allusions to the aurora, chiefly valuable as
showing the prevailing ignorance on the subject. In 1631 Foxe, the
Arctic voyager, while seeking the northwest passage, records that at
“ clock 12 there was pettidances, or henbanes (as some write them).”
In 1649 a writer at Chester, England, says that as he was going home
at night two clouds were “ firing at each other ” in a way he never
saw before. It is wellnigh incredible that our ancestors were unob-
servant of the fine auroral displays so frequent in our latitude; but
their silence on the subject indicates that they were so, as also does
the language of discovery used by their grandchildren. In such
case they missed what to them would have been a source of much
unhappiness.
CLIMATE.
The first winter of the settlers at Plymouth (1620-21) was of remark-
able mildness; so was the first winter of the settlers at Boston
(1630-31).1 The winters at Plymouth are generally much less severe
than in the inland towns of its vicinity, though the region immediately
at its south is yet more favored. Frequently, years pass in Plymouth
without sufficient snow for sleighing; nor are owners of carriages often
provided with sleighs. Yet the early settlers found some very hard
winters, such as might have proved fatal to the Colony at Plymouth if
added to the hardships of the first season.
1 The intervening winters all seem to have been exceptionally mild, for Wins-
low, in 1623, said: “ I can scarce distinguish New England from Old England
in respect of heat and cold, frost, snow, rain, winds, etc. Some object because
our plantation lieth in the latitude of 420 it must needs be much hotter. I con-
fess I cannot give the reason of the contrary; only experience teacheth us that
if it do exceed England, it is so little as must require better judgments to discern
it. And for the winter, I rather think if there be difference, it is both sharper and
longer in New England than Old.” And Winslow’s “Old England” was the
southern part, as he came from Worcestershire.
As to the other winters, from 1620 to 1630, there is a suggestion in Win-
throp’s apparently absurd entry of Feb. 10/20, 1630-31: “ It hath been observed
ever since this Bay was planted by Englishmen — namely, seven years — that at
this day the frost hath broken up every year.” His neighbor, Blaxton, had been
there seven years, and so had Robert Gorges* settlers at Old Spain [Weymouth].
(See pp. 101, 112.)5 82
APPENDIX.
In 1634-5 Boston Harbor was frozen over. In 1637-8 was a severe
winter. The winter of 1641-2 was the coldest for forty years, the
x rigor extending to Virginia, where the unprepared settlers lost most of
their swine and many cattle by it. Boston Harbor was extensively
frozen; Plymouth Harbor being entirely closed, so that for five weeks
oxen and carts were driven over the inner and outer harbor.
In the winter of 1645-6 ploughs ran at the Bay until February 26th
(n. s.), when the first snow fell, and blockaded the roads for three
weeks.
In 1680-81 the harbor was frozen between Boston and East Boston;
and in 1684-5 some nine hundred people went on the ice from Boston
to the castle. In 1695-6 was the coldest winter which had then been
known, the harbor being firmly frozen for the nine miles between
Boston and Nantasket. Food was very scarce and dear. Owing to
the severe weather, the General Court did not get a quorum until the
third day of its session, and the acting-governor (Stoughton) had
much doubt of the legality of its session for that reason.
In 1677 the summer heat was terrible in New England, and Sewall
says that in Boston the people had “ much ado to live.” During the
first century of the New England Colonies there were several seasons
of destructive drought, of which the most serious were as follows: In
1623, for 24 days; 1630,41 days; 1657, 75 days; 1662,80 days;
1674, 45 days; 1688, 81 days; 1694, 62 days; 1705, 40 days; 1715,
46 days. Some notable droughts thereafter were: 1728, 61 days;
1730,92 days; 1741, 72days; 1749,108 days; 1755,42 days; 1762,
123 days between May 1 and September .1 (the longest drought yet
[1887] known in this part of the country); 1773, 80 days; 1791,
82 days.
In 1695 there was a tremendous hailstorm, which in Boston broke
480 “ quarrels ” of glass in Judge Sewall’s windows.
BUILDING NOTES, HOUSES, ETC.
v In 1628 thatched roofs at Plymouth were ordered to be changed
to boards or paling, to prevent fires. Shingles are first mentioned
there in 1649.1	1637, houses were clapboarded inside, and their par-
titions were so made. 1639 John Barker, bricklayer, is noticed, and
his apprentice, William Barden. John “ Mynard ” (Maynard) in that
1 Plym. Rec., xii. 181.BUILDING NOTES. —FOOD.
583
year contracted to build the first prison. Ships from England to Salem
were ballasted with bricks in 1629.
At Inverness, Scotland, in 1689, “ the best roofs were of thatch ”
{Macaulay) ; the windows had no glass, and in bad weather were
closed with shutters.
In 1638 the first “ meeting-house ” (36' X 20') at Dedham had a
thatched roof. (The term “ meeting-house ” for church seems of
colonial, origin, it then being perforce used for every variety of
gathering, political and social, as well as religious.)
The Pilgrims* fireplaces were probably of stones laid in clay, while
the chimneys (standing outside the wall) were made “ cob-house ”
style, of little straight sticks, and plastered inside with clay. At New-
town (Cambridge), 1631, Mr. Sharp’s chimney, “not being (well)
clayed,” took fire, as also did his thatched roof. Wooden chimneys
and thatching were thereupon forbidden, as at Plymouth.
In 1636 every householder in Plymouth Colony was required to /
keep a ladder which would reach the top of his roof, in case of
“ fyer.”
Boston procured her first fire-engine in 1679; thence to 1837 her
fire-department was volunteer. The first windows were of paper satu- !'
rated with linseed oil, and such could be found on Cape Cod in 1718.
Higginson wrote in 1629 for the colonists to Salem to bring window-
glass ; Plymouth must have had it by that time.
The Plymouth houses do not seem to have been round-log cabins,'
as frequently they are called and pictured. De Rasieres wrote in 1627
that they were externally of hewed plank, and the fort-meeting-house
of sawn plank. Squared logs may have given him this impression, but
possibly the Colonists built rudely but regularly framed houses at the
outset, knowing nothing of primitive log-cabin construction.1
FOOD.
The early settlers had salt and smoked fish in plenty; of game and /
fresh fish there was no lack in their seasons, nor of lobsters and clams,
but there were no oysters in Plymouth waters. They early had a good /
stock of poultry, goats, and swine, but beef and veal were rarities for
a long period.
Orchards were promptly planted, which yielded a supply of indiffer-
ent pears and good apples. Wild plums, grapes, huckleberries, and
1 See pp. 103,109, 113.
5»4
APPENDIX.
strawberries grew in profusion all through southern New England; but
the art of preserving fruits was but little understood, and the bountiful
yield went much to waste.
Wheat-bread was very common until the continuous wheat-blight of
1664-5-6 caused the general abandonment of that crop. Indian corn
x was always the great reliance, and from it not a few hearty dishes were
prepared. Rye was much used, either by itself or in combination with
maize. Maize, pumpkins, and beans were practically indigenous, and
richly repaid any tolerable form of cultivation.
When in 1652 the first coffee-house was opened in London, and
x customers were attracted by the novelty of the beverage, tea was only
x known as a curiosity sometimes exhibited in opulent circles, and in
1666 it was sold at 6oj*. a pound.1 The coffee-plant was not carried
to the West Indies until the eighteenth century. Neither tea nor
*7 coffee was known to the Pilgrim Fathers, and probably not to the next ^
| generation. Beer was the all but universal table-beverage ; cider was
| considerably drunk; first, home-made wine, and at an early day im-
I ported wine, were not uncommon.2 Distilled liquors were sold in every ^
town under close restrictions, but with the better portion of society
^ were kept less for regular than exceptional and hospitable occasions,
—it would seem, though, there was no scruple about their moderate
use, except at unseemly places. Strong liquors, as a class, were
often called aqua vita; rum is occasionally specified, but the term
“strong waters ” was commonly used, brandy being then unknown to
% the English.
The common potato was a stranger to the first settlers. In 1636
Captain William Peirce brought fifteen tons of sweet potatoes from the
West Indies to Boston, and sold them at 2d, a pound. In 1708 potatoes
are first mentioned in the steward's bills at Harvard College, but even /
those may have been sweet potatoes. A hundred years after Raleigh
had carried the potato from Virginia to his Irish tenants, leading agri-
culturists of England were alluding to it as an unimportant novelty, /
and in the “ Complete Gardener," published at London by the eminent
nurserymen, Loudon and Wise, the seventh edition in 1719 does not
even mention the potato. It was not until 1783 that this tuber came
into general use in France. It is pretty certain that on the hundredth
t 1 This tea came via Holland. The first direct importation was in 1668. In
1671 Pepys, who had access to the most refined tables in London, mentions
“thea ” as a strange drink.
2 See note, p. 586.COTTON, WOOL, AND CROPS.
585
anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, very few families in the Old ^
Colony had a knowledge of tea and coffee, and none of the common ^
potato.
The breakfast of the Pilgrim colonists generally comprised milk and 14-
hasty pudding (“ye Indian porridge ”), or rye-pudding and bread, j
with pea or bean soup or stew, flavored with pork; or salt fish. For j
dinner, bean soup or baked beans and pork, stewed peas, squash, j
turnips, parsnips, and onions. Fresh fish was common, but beef and j
mutton were very seldom seen. Butter and cheese, after the first few ]
years, were plenty, except among the very poor. Children usually j
had milk, while the youths drank water or the beer of the elders.
At no time after the famine of 1623 was there alack of good food *
in the Old Colony.
COTTON, WOOL, AND CROPS.
In 1621 Virginia raised her first regular crop of cotton and em-
ployed her first slave-labor upon it. At the same time the Pilgrims
were raising their first crop of Indian corn, with their governor, elder,
captain, and doctor working in the field beside the other citizens. *
Before the West Indies and Virginia began to supply her, England
had procured her cotton from Cyprus and Smyrna.
The first cotton came to Boston from Barbadoes, arriving in 1633.
^ In 1643, as home troubles disturbed England’s exports to the Colonies,
New England began to manufacture cotton goods. The inflammable *
nature of cotton was not understood by those who substituted it for
linen, and in 1645 several children at the Bay were fatally burned by /
its use. A Watertown man, whose cotton clothes took fire, saved his -
life by jumping into his well. Still, cotton won its way, and New
England’s manufacture of it, begun in the households of 1643, ^as '
now a yearly product of more than #160,000,000.
In 1638 Pastor Rogers and his flock, expelled from Yorkshire, came
to Massachusetts with capital and founded Rowley, where they set up ^
a woollen and fulling mill. In 1653, in the Old Colony, James Torrey
had a cloth-mill at Scituate. In 1672 George Bonum built a fulling-
mill on Town Brook, Plymouth.
In 1633 New Plymouth found it necessary to forbid the exportation ^
of sheep ; in 1639 t0 require every householder to sow-at least one
" square rod of flax or hemp. In many families, probably in the greater
number, the large and small spinning-wheels were to be heard, and586
APPENDIX.
domestic looms were much used, though there were professional
weavers (or “ websters ”). In 1647 tar mentioned. The iron manu-
facture, which began in 1652 and has attained colossal proportions,
required a separate notice (pp. 527-9).
In 1637 mention is casually made of a hedge, and in 1641 of
Thomas Hill as a nurseryman, he having many apple-trees on sale.
In 1664-5-6 the wheat, which had been a fine crop, was blasted each
year, and its cultivation was generally abandoned. Morton regarded
this blight as a divine rebuke “ of the licentiousness of apparel,” on
v which many had spent the profits of former wheat-crops.
Tobacco (named, not from Tobago, but from the forked tube used
in smoking it by the first-found Indians) was popularized in England
by Raleigh. James I. was furibus against it, and the Massachusetts
Company forbade its cultivation in their colony; but it was long an
important crop at Plymouth, which sold much of it to the Dutch. It
is not cultivated in the Old Colony now, save as a curiosity, but good
crops might be raised in the southern parts.1
SHIP-BUILDING.2
^ Massachusetts was early at ship-building. In 1628-9 was built at
Salem a barque large enough to go to the “ Banks.” Winthrop, on
his Medford farm, July 4, 1631 (o. s.), launched the “ Blessing of the
Bay,” 30 tons, built of locust; in 1632 a ioo-ton ship was built, and
in 1633 Peirce’s “Rebecca” of 60 tons, both at Medford; in 1636
Peirce’s “ Desire,” 120 tons, was built at Marblehead; in 1640 Salem,
under the influence of Hugh Peters, her minister, built a 300-ton
ship, and Boston launched her first ship, the “Trial,” of 160 tons,
which sailed under the veteran captain, Thomas Graves, formerly of
the “ Plantation,” “ Elizabeth Bonadventure,” “ Reformation,” etc.;
in 1642 Boston built three ships, Dorchester one, and Salem one,
and the next year Gloucester one; yet one year later Boston built
one of 250 tons, and Cambridge one of 250, which latter went at
once to the Canaries with a load of staves. In 1676 were owned in
and around Boston 430 vessels of from 30 to 250 tons.
1	Williams says the Indians were moderate in the use of tobacco; and
quaintly remarks thereon: “ And yet excess were more tolerable in them, because
\they want [lack] the refreshing of beer and wine which God hath vouchsafed
V Europe.”
2	See p. 438.SHIP-BUILDING. — CLOTHING.
5»7
The first vessel built in New England was by the Popham-Gorges
Company, 1607-8 (see p. 148), and she is said to have carried some,
of them to England. The Salem craft was preceded by several shal-
lops, a ketch, and a barque built at Plymouth.
CLOTHING.
The dress of our ancestors is familiar to us through engravings.
Stockings were of course far more important than now as a part of
men’s apparel. In 1559 Henry II. of France, at his sister’s wedding,
wore the first pair of silk stockings known in France, — satin and silk '
being then interchangeable terms. In 1661 a pair was given to Queen
Elizabeth of England, who declared she would thereafter wear no'
other kind; her stockings till then had been cut from cloth and sewed '
up, much like boots.1 * *
In 1564 the first pair, in England, of knit woollen hose for men
was worn by the Earl of Pembroke. By the time of the Pilgrims,
knit hose were in general use, and knitting was a common industry. /
In 1629 the Massachusetts Company provided for its men two hun-
dred pairs of “ Irish stockings,” at some 13*/. a pair, and one hundred
pairs of knit stockings at about 2s. 4d. a pair; also two hundred suits,
doublet and hose of leather, lined with “ oil-skin leather,” the doublet'
and hose fastened together with hooks and eyes. It also sent one
hundred waistcoats of green cotton, bound with red tape. (The Irish
stocking seems to have been held by a band under the foot, and to
have ascended to the body, where it joined the. doublet. Mourt’s
Relation compares the Indian leggings to “ Irish trousers,” being
“long hosen up to their groins.”) See p. 120.
The item of “ shoes and hose ” is prominent in all the Pilgrims*
imports for several years. It was much the fashion at the Bay to wear ^
red stockings, and probably so at Plymouth.
Among the Pilgrims were weavers, but for several years they im-
ported their cloth, and also some ready-made clothing. They early
had flax and hemp, but their clip of wool must have been small for ^
many years; yet mattresses and pillows of wool were much used.
1 In 1676 an English traveller saw in France the newly-invented parasols, 4
which he described lucidly as “ a pretty sort of cover for women riding in the
sun, made of straw, — something like the fashion of tin covers for dishes.” It was
the middle of the next century before the first umbrella wai seen in the streets
of London, and its owner was mobbed for the effeminacy.588
APPENDIX.
PEWTER vs. EARTHEN.
As tea and coffee were unknown to the Forefathers, the many Delft-
ware tea and coffee pots and cups, preserved as Pilgrim relics, are to
be regarded as anachronisms; and especially so as at the time of the
“ Mayflower’s ” voyage earthen table-ware was not in common use.
^ When the Pilgrims made their night-trip through Delft, on their way
to the “Speedwell,” the famous wares of that city had not found their
way to plebeian tables. It seems pretty certain that the first-comers
brought no earthen table-ware, and acquired very little in after years,
although they had earthen bowls, jugs, pots, and pans.
Stout wooden plates, called “trenchers,” were used, as also were
wooden bowls. For elegant ware pewter was much employed, and
, was often produced with great nicety of workmanship. Governor
^ Bradford’s inventory shows thirty-four pieces of pewter, consisting of
three large and two small plates, fourteen “ dishes,” thirteen platters,
a bottle, and a candlestick. Standish left sixteen pewter dishes and
4 a dozen wooden trenchers. Peter Palfrey, of Salem, bequeathed his
daughter Mary two pewter platters. Pewter ware is frequently men-
tioned in the wills and schedules of both our Colonies, and some of
the articles appear to have been of considerable value.
In 1676 James Briggs, of Scituate, complained that Constable Jen-
kins had taken from his house a pewter basin, without first making a
legal demand for his claim. The Court ordered the constable to pay
6d. damages and costs, and restore the basin, or pay 7s. silver as an
equivalent. As money was then at least four times its present value,
the article must have been of high grade.
In 1729 the First Church at Hanover, Mass., bought, a set of
communion-ware and a christening-basin, all of pewter, and still pre-
^ serves them as relics.
Table-forks were also unknown to the English tables of the “ May-
* flower’s” day, though large forks were used in cooking. Tom
* Coryat had about that time brought a fork from Italy to London;
and as he ate with it at a public table, the people used to crowd
around to see the comical performance. For many years afterward
the table-fork was regarded as a curiosity, much as chop-sticks now
are, and its use was ridiculed as a freak of effeminacy by Beaumont
and Fletcher, and by “rare Ben Jonson.” The diner was accustomed
A to hold his meat with the left fingers, while he cut it into pieces whichFUNERAL MATTERS,
S89
could be conveyed to the mouth by the knife or the fingers. This
process required much wiping of the hands, for which purpose there
was a plentiful supply of napkins, — as is shown by the inventories of S
well-to-do families. In fashionable circles saffron was much used on /
meats, and hence the left-hand fingers of such people often acquired
a yellow color. Probably not one of the Pilgrims ever saw a fork r
used at table. It has been thought that in Switzerland the pre-
Adamite man ate with a fork; but the bone forks found there were ^
doubtless used for some other purpose, as there is no trace of table- -
forks in the historic age before the twelfth century.
FUNERAL MATTERS.
At burials there was no service. The bell tolled (if there was one) ;
the neighbors assembled, with their pastor, and conducted the body
to the grave, standing reverently by till the earth had been filled /'
in. In case of functionaries, the trainband did escort duty and fired
volleys over the grave.
In 1697 Captain Jonathan Alden, a son of the Pilgrim, was buried
under arms at Duxbury, and it was noted as an innovation that Pastor '
Wiswall made an address at the grave; but no religious exercises are
mentioned. In 1685, at the funeral of Pastor Adams at Roxbury,
Pastor Wilson, of Medfield, prayed with the company before going to
the grave; and this is the first instance known in these Colonies.
The practice had not become really common in 1720. So late as
1774, when Joseph Howland was buried at Newport (great-grandson
of the Pilgrim Howland), Rev. Drs. Hopkins and Styles walked in
the procession, but held no services, “ it not being the practice then, '
as now, for a prayer or address to be offered at a funeral.” 1
August, 1686, was the first burial at Boston using the Episcopal
service (Sewall).
The early Dissenters (and many Nonconformists too) were ex-
tremely fearful that religious ceremonies over the dead would grow
into prayers for their souls, with the doctrine of Purgatory and the
invocation of saints in their behalf. Even Cartwright and Hildersham,
who remained in the Church of England, shared this feeling, and
were annoyed because their friend Richard Mather did not. The
French Protestant churches forbade prayer or sermon at funerals,
“to avoid superstition.”
1 Life and Records of John Howland of Rhode Island, p. 491.590
APPENDIX.
In 1697, at Governor Bradstreet’s funeral in Salem, eight of the
clergy attended, but the exercises seem to have been exclusively
military.
In 1656, for some reason, the body of Titus Waymouth was buried
at the expense of New Plymouth. The cost was as follows: —
£ * <*•
Item. — For a winding-sheet, five yards of lockorum and thread 085
Coffin ...........................................................080
Digging grave.....................................................030
Clerk of Court . . . . v..........................................026
Tavern charges...................................................0120
£* 13 11
VERDICT OF A CORONER’S JURY.
“ Rehoboth, the 14th July, 1664.
11 Wee whose names are herevnder subscribed doe signify to all per-
sons whome it may concerne, that according to our best light and appre-
hension, Rebeckah Sale, the late wife of Edward Sale, was her owne
executioner, viz.: shee hanged herself in her owne hiered house.”
AN INDIAN WARRANT.
When the native converts, called Praying Indians, began to found
villages, some of them were made magistrates over the others; and
to their credit, be it said, that while over-strict and severe, they ad-
ministered substantial justice. The following warrant to Constable
Waterman for the arrest of one Wicket, issued by Justice Hihoudi, is
preserved: —
441 Hihoudi,
You Peter Waterman,
Jeremy Wicket:
Quick you take him,
Fast you hold him,
Straight you bring him
Before me, Hihoudi.”
WINTHROFS SUPERNATURAL FANCIES.
The great Winthrop’s habit of attributing current events to super-
natural causes is illustrated by some of the entries in his journal.
Among them, in substance, are the following: —
In 1639 he records that one Keyser, of Lynn, being at Plymouth,
— one Dickerson with him, “ a professor, but a notorious thief,” —WOLVES AND OTHER WILD ANIMALS.
591
was coming out of the harbor with the ebb and the wind southerly,
a fresh gale; yet, with all their skill and labor, they could not in three
hours get the boat over one league, so they were forced to anchor,
and at the flood to go back to the town, where, Dickerson being ar-
rested, a gold ring and other stolen gold pieces were found upon him,
and he was whipped.
In 1640 he says that his son, the Connecticut Governor, had a
Greek Testament, the Psalms, and the Book of Common Prayer
bound in a volume together; and this volume, with one thousand
others, was kept in a chamber with some corn. The mice selected
the book in question, and gnawed entirely through the Prayer Book,
but did not touch another leaf of that volume or any other.
In 1648, he says, the ship “Welcome” (300 tons) lay at Boston,
having in her eighty horses and one hundred and twenty tons of bal-
last, when one Jones, “husband of the witch ” lately executed, wanted
passage in her to Barbadoes, but was refused for lack of the fare.
Then, in calm weather, the ship began to roll, and continued to for
twelve hours; although they brought a great weight to one side of
her, yet would she heel the other side, and that so deep as to cause a
fear that she would founder. The Boston magistrates hearing of the
case, being told that the ship would stand still so soon as Jones was
in prison, sent to arrest him. As the constable was going over the
ferry to find his man, a person said, “ You can tame, men sometimes;
cannot you tame this ship?-” The officer replied, “I have that here
that (it may be) will tame her and make her be quiet.” He then
displayed his warrant; and at that instant the ship began to stop, and
when Jones was put in prison “ moved no more.’*
(No wonder that poor Jones wanted to get away from the people
who, thirteen days before, had hanged his wife Margaret as a witch,
because, as Winthrop says, she was a healer of disease, apparently
using only such things as were harmless, as anise-seed, liquors, etc.;
but her practice was “ beyond the apprehension of all physicians and
surgeons,” and she would tell the refusers of her medicine that they
never would get well. This seems to have been the rather sturdy
method of early Boston for getting rid of an “irregular practitioner.”)
WOLVES AND OTHER WILD ANIMALS.
Wolves have been mentioned as prowling in Plymouth before the
settlement was a month old. They proved a serious annoyance for at
38592
APPENDIX.
least two generations. In 1633 the Bay people imported four Irish
greyhounds for hunting them. Still, in the same year, Plymouth’s
“ ancient order ” of 2d. bounty for each wolf killed, was limited to
those who should seek to destroy wolves, and not those who “ acci-
dentally light on them; ” but the first code, that of 1636, offered four
bushels of com to “ whoever shall kill a wolf.” In 1642, the beasts
having become very destructive, the Old Colony Court ordered twenty-
seven wolf-traps to be built and daily watched, under penalty of 10s. for
each trap neglected; namely, in Plymouth 5, Duxbury 5, Scituate 4,
Sandwich 3, Barnstable 3, Yarmouth 3, Marshfield 2, Taunton 2. The
comparative immunity of Taunton, which elsewhere appears, is some-
thing remarkable.
In 1649 the men °f Plymouth held a town meeting in Governor
Bradford’s house, and besides ordering their five traps to be maintained
they offered 15s. for the head of every wolf killed in that town. In
1665, when the Colony-at-large paid a bounty of 10s., there were
thirty-one wolves’ heads brought in ; namely, Plymouth 3, Duxbury 1,
Rehoboth 2, Taunton 1, Scituate 1, Sandwich 4, Yarmouth 6, Barn-
stable 9, Eastham 4. Here again Taunton’s one wolf and Rehoboth’s
two, contrast strikingly with Cape Cod’s twenty-three.
In 1656, when Bridgewater was incorporated, she was ordered to
keep up five wolf-traps. From time to time the bounty on wolves was
raised or lowered, according to the annoyance, and in 1671 it was 30s.
As this was paid by the town in which the wolf was killed, there was
occasional dispute as to liability. Thus, in 1679 William Crow, an
eminent citizen of Plymouth, complained to the General Court of the
persistent non-payment to him by that town of a wolf-bounty. In
1683 the people of Sandwich, then paying a bounty of 15^., com-
plained of the wolves as “ very destructive and devouring our crea-
tures.” In 1686 a wolf was killed in Duxbury, and in 1689 there
were thirteen slain in the whole Colony. In 1704 Sandwich suffered
so much that she offered in addition to the public bounty, for each
wolf killed.
The affinity of wolves for Cape Cod led, in 1717, to a curious pre-
ventive plan, — the erection of a fence from Buzzard’s Bay to Cape
Cod Bay, nearly following the present ship-canal route. This fence, in-
tended to keep the wolves from entering the Cape, was to be six feet
high and to cost ^500. The people of the neighboring mainland
loudly protested that this structure would quarter on them the wolvesSMALL-POX.
593
which would otherwise go down the Cape, and the General Court
refused to aid in building it. It was next proposed that the Cape
towns themselves construct it. Sandwich and Falmouth came forward
to pay their part, but the outer towns, apparently thinking that these
two would take care of the intruders through self-protection, would
give nothing; and so this humble imitation of the Chinese Wall was
never erected. When the last of the wolves left the Cape, is unknown;
but so late as 1739 Truro, at the far end, was offering a reward for
the head of “the wolf that has of late been prowling through the
township.”
Towns paid 5J. for a fresh pair of wild-cat’s ears. The Rehoboth ^
Record of 1733 certifies that “John Pierce brought a wild-cat’s head
before the town and his ears were cut off by the constable in the
presence of two selectmen,”-—prima facie, a rather painful assertion.
Wareham Records of 1765 quote foxes’ heads as worth “35*. for old
ones, and is. for young ones puppied this year.”
Various towns took defensive measures against minor pests. For
example, in 1693 Duxbury required of every householder, under
penalty of is., that between May and July 1 he kill one crow and six
blackbirds, or else twelve blackbirds. In 173# that town offered 3d.
for each full-grown rat, $d. for a blackbird, and 6d. for a crow; and
in 1744 every head of a family was ordered to deliver-in ten rats’ heads,
or ten blackbirds, under penalty of 6d. for each one lacking. In 1740
Sandwich offered a bounty for heads* of crows, blackbirds, and blue
jays. In 1740 Hollis, N. H., paid is. for each rattlesnake killed.
Dedham, in 1819, gave 6d. for “an inch and a half of the end of a
rattlesnake’s tail, with the rattle.”
SMALL-POX.
• This loathsome disease is said to have originated in Arabia a. d.
569. If so, the experience of the next eleven hundred years was well-
nigh profitless as to its treatment. Even in England in the days of the
Pilgrims persons unmarked by the disease were much fewer in her
town and village streets than those who bore its traces. Some were
decrepit in arms or legs, others were deaf or repulsively deformed in ^
countenance, and cases of blindness from small-pox were not infre-
quent. This was therefore one of the most dreaded and terrible of
diseases; for if the plague was more deadly, it was more easy to avoid
by removal when it came at long intervals, while the small-pox wasAPPENDIX.
594
I
* a constant, though unseen, danger, and often most cruel when it spared
life. The medical treatment of the small-pox was then very bad, the
patient being deprived of a change of air and subjected to a heating
regimen.1
Notice has been taken of the appalling ravages of the small-pox
v among the Indians in 1633-4; but though no white person then took
N it, the disease ravaged Boston six times during her first century, and
probably extended to most of the settlements of New England. One
of these attacks, 1665-6, is that which Morton attributes to the comet /
of 1664. In 1677 a ship with the disease on board anchored at Nan- *
tasket, where she was visited by several Charlestown people. The
result was another season of the pestilence, in which eight hundred
deaths occurred in Boston. Nothing is said of it at Plymouth, but it
probably raged there in a less degree, from the better means of super- /
vision and isolation.
In 1721 came Boston’s sixth visitation, and of her six thousand
cases eight hundred and fifty were fatal. This proportion of one in
- seven was customary there, but it was much exceeded in England.
This time the disease also extended to Plymouth; the town “ suffered
great distress,” and a committee of twelve was chosen to aid the
selectmen in preventing its spread.
*	Three years before this outbreak Lady Mary Wortley MQfitagu,
when in Turkey, had learned of the process of inoculation, which
had there been tested, upon criminals, and then applied to practice.
Lady Mary introduced the treatment into England* bravely trying it
upon her own son. This process rendered the disease vastly lighter,
and freed it from its terrible after-work. In fact, it reduced the mor-
tality to one in seven hundred.
In Boston, during the attack of 1721, only one physician would
N countenance inoculation. His name, worthy of high honor, was
' Zabdiel Boylston. Against his new treatment arose a fearful and
almost universal clamor. The lawyers declared that if any of his in-
oculated patients should die, he would be liable to the penalty of
N murder; the physicians indorsed this opinion, and added that the
mixture of virus with the healthy human system would develop a
*	hybrid race of beings; the clergy, as usual to the fore, denounced in-
j 1 In 1520, the Spanish carrying this disease to Mexico, it slew 3,000,000; in
1707 it destroyed one fourth the population of Iceland, and in 1733 ravaged
Greenland. The Crusaders are said to have spread it through Europe.SMALLPOX.
595
oculation as an attempt to thwart the foreordained will of God and a'
dishonoring of God’s image. The violent invectives of the learned
roused the rest of the people to fury. Threats of hanging Dr. Boylston
were so loud that he was forced to hide for fourteen days, and to visit
his patients in disguise. While one of the latter, Pastor Waller (Wal-
ley?), of Roxbury, was confined to his chamber during inoculation, a
bombshell was thrown through his window to destroy him as a self-
made monster; but fortunately the fuse would not burn. In the face
of this tempest of obloquy, only one leading clergyman stood forth as
Dr. Boylston’s defender, and showed his sincerity by having his entire
family inoculated. Few readers would readily hit upon this intelligent
divine, who was so ready to face both learned and popular clamor and
to denounce its superstition, for he was none other than Cotton1
Mather, the ancient prosecutor of witchcraft!1
It is much to be wished that brave Dr. Boylston could have had a
vision of the small pox visitation at Boston seventy-six years after this
outbreak. Then the people were once more frantic, but it was from
a desire to be inoculated before the disease should overtake them.
They surged in crowds around the physicians’ offices, clamoring to
be “ grafted,” as they called it; and in three days the operation was
performed on nine thousand of them.
In 1778 Dr. Winslow inoculated three hundred at “the islands,”
none of whom died. These islands were doubtless Nantucket, etc.
In 1802 vaccination was tried in New Jersey, and soon after in New
York and Connecticut ; in 1809 it was generally adopted in Boston,
and in 1816 occurred the first public-vaccination in Plymouth, there
being eight hundred subjects. So inoculation, introduced with such a
struggle less than a century before, had even then yielded, with no
great disturbance, to a still more novel process which left it more than
half-way back in the path of sanitary-progress.2
1	The inoculation excitement at Boston in 1721 became a matter of interest
in royal circles. The Puritan historian Rev. Dr. Neal, of London, who had
written upon it, was in 1722 invited to call upon the Princess of Wales (the
future Queen Caroline). When he reached the palace the Princess laid aside
Fox’s ** Book of Martyrs,” which she was reading, and talked for an hour
upon the results of inoculation in New England, and Dr. Neal’s reply to the
objections of a preachen there. She also made many interested inquiries as to
the state of religion in New England, and the work of the Dissenting bodies of
•England. During this time the prince (afterwards George II.) came in and
joined in the conversation.
2	What would this period have thought of Pasteur’s theories of to-day ?596
APPENDIX.
MARRIAGE CELEBRATIONS.1
J	.
Civil marriages were the New England custom among the first
generations. Nov. 4/14, 1692, the yeaf Plymouth was merged into
^ Massachusetts, the clergy were first authorized by the new province to
solemnize marriages. Yet in the Andros period, May 18/28, 1686,
was the first marriage at Boston with prayer-book and ring.
In 1647 some Bostonians desired that independent and stalwart
Hingham preacher, Peter Hobart, to come up and preach at a wed-
ding ; but the magistrates forbade it, saying that they did not wish to
* introduce the English custom of clerical marrying which this would
lead to, and moreover, the preacher in question was “ averse to our
ecclesiastical and civil government, and a bold speaker.”
In 1708, at Plymouth, Josiah Cotton and Hannah Sturtevant were
married by Pastor Little. (Was this the first under the new rule ?)
DIVORCES.2
In 1661 Elizabeth Burge, of Sandwich, was divorced from Thomas,
Jr., on scriptural grounds, and he was then severely whipped at Ply-
v mouth, and again at Sandwich. He soon after left the Colony.
In 1664 William Tubbs, of Scituate, sought a divorce from his wife,
Mercy Sprague. After the patriarchal style, William Paybody, of Dux-
bury, gave him a writing of divorcement, with Lieutenant Nash and
John Sprague as witnesses. The General Court treated the document
as a nullity, and fined Paybody £$, and each witness ^3.
In 1652 the Court had admonished Goodwife Tubbs for “ mixed
dancing; ” and in 1668, finding that she had eloped from the Colony,
it granted her husband a divorce.
In 1670 James Skiffs wife Elizabeth, daughter of Neighbor Cooper,
of Boston, went to Roanoke with “ another man for her husband.”
Skiff lived on the Vineyard, which was not in the New Plymouth juris-
diction ; but he came to the Plymouth General Court, which certified
to his having a divorce from his own Court.
In 1663 Ensign John Williams, of Barnstable, was fined £10 for
slandering his own wife, Sarah, and John Bayley; but ten years later
he secured a divorce for scriptural cause.
1	See also next three sections.
2	The Bay Colony enacted divorces in 1639, re-enacted 1658.MATRIMONIAL IMPEDIMENTS, ETC.
597
In 1675 Edward Jenkins, of Taunton, petitioned that his daughter
Mary be divorced from Marmaduke Atkinson, who had been out of
the Colony and made no provision for her during seven years or more.
The decision was a singular one ; namely, that while the Court “ sees
no cause to grant a divorce, yet they do apprehend her to be no longer
bound, but do leave her to her liberty to marry if she please.”
In 1680 Elizabeth Wade was regularly divorced from Thomas
Stevens for his bigamy. In 1686 John Glover, of Barnstable, was
divorced from Mary for scriptural cause. These six cases include all
the divorces granted during the Colony’s existence. In 1670 Samuel
Hallowell asked for a divorce on his wife’s confession of legal cause
and her abuse of him; but the Court, “being not very clear,” post-
poned this case three months, to see if the wife would persist in self-
accusations ; she apparently did not, for the matter was not again
mentioned.1
MATRIMONIAL IMPEDIMENTS, ETC.2
In 1646 Richard Taylor complained that he was hindered from
marrying Ruth Wheildon by her father, Gabriel. Wheildon, when
before the Court, promised to yield.
In 1661 John Sutton sued Mary Russell for breach of promise,
claiming £200; he recovered ^15 and costs. Two years later John
Jacob, of Scituate, marrying Mary, had the case reviewed; and as he
showed the fault to have been chiefly her father’s, the Court remitted
50s. of the above amount.
In 1661 also, Richard Sylvester, of Scituate, in behalf of his daughter
Dinah, sued an unnamed person for breach of promise; he claimed
£200, and recovered £20 and costs. In 1663 Elizabeth Soule sued
Nathaniel Church for the same cause, with betrayal, and recovered
£10 and costs.
In 1673 Richard Sutton, of Roxbury, testified at Plymouth to his
engagement with Elizabeth Symonds, but their marriage was prevented
by her parents, Moses and Sarah. The Court ordered the father to
pay Sutton ^3 for his time and expense, and voted to release the pair
from their agreement unless they chose to renew it.
1	A slightly irrelevant matter is the law of 1671 against conjugal violence;
namely, “ No man shall strike his wife, nor any woman her husband, on penalty of
such fine not exceeding £10, or such suitable corporal punishment as the Court
shall determine.”
2	See pp. 487, 501-2.598
APPENDIX.
In 1679 James Willet, who had married Lieutenant Peter Hunt's
daughter Elizabeth, claimed that the father had promised him ^100
as an inducement, and he sued Hunt therefor, but lost his case,
and had to pay the costs. Still, the marriage seems to have been an
honorable and happy one.
In 1652 Jonathan Coventry was indicted for “ making a motion of
marriage ” to Katharine Bradbury, servant to Mr. Bourne, of Marsh-
field, without the latter’s consent. Coventry left the Colony before
arrest. In the same year the Court warned Edward Holman not to
frequent the house of Thomas Shrieve, and that Goodwife Shrieve do
not frequent the house or company of Holman, at their peril. This
proved ineffectual, for next year they were ordered to avoid each
other, or be whipped; and that seems to have been enough. The
year next before, the General Court admonished Samuel Eaton and
Goodwife Hall, of Duxbury, for “ mixed dancing; ” and in 1666 John
Robinson, grandson of the Leyden pastor, was bound over to carry
himself properly towards Thomas Crippen’s wife.
In 1648 Thomas Dunham was ordered to abstain from visiting or
sending to Martha Knott, of Sandwich, from October 4 till the first
Tuesday of December, that the Court may better learn of his pretended
contract, unless the Governor, on the clearing of things, give him
leave.
A romantic case was that of Governor Thomas Prence against
Arthur Howland, Jr., nephew of the Pilgrim. The tolerant course of
the elder Arthur Howland toward the Quakers had earned Prence’s
hearty ill-will; and when, in 1660, he found that Arthur, Jr., had wooed
his daughter Elizabeth, he had the swain before the General Court,
where he was fined £5 for making love without her father’s permission.
The couple remained constant, for in 1667 the irate Governor once
more brought up young Arthur, who was again fined £5 because he
had “ disorderly and unrighteously endeavored to obtain the affections
of Mistress Elizabeth Prence,” and was put under a bond of ^50 to
“ refrain and desist.” But Prence, like Canute, was unable to control
the forces of Nature. This action was in July; but before the next
spring the imperious Governor seems to have been forced to capitu-
late, for Arthur and Elizabeth were united, and in the course of events
there was a Thomas Howland and a Prence Howland.
Prence’s friend and neighbor, Constant Southworth, had an expe-
rience somewhat like with his daughter Elizabeth. In his will (1679),DELAYED MARRIAGES.
%
599
which disposed of £360, he gave her “ my next best bed and furniture,
with my wife’s best bed, provided she do not marry William Fobes;
but if she do, then to have 5s” The beds and adjuncts were then
worth thirty times 5X., for a fine bed was thought a goodly bequest;
but it was the grand old story, —■ Elizabeth chose to have 5s. with Wil-
liam, to two beds without him ; and as his wife, she went to provide
her own beds at Little Compton, then in Plymouth Colony.
As the second generation of the Old Colony entered on the stage
it developed much radicalism, which not a little disturbed the more
conservative. One fancy was the performance of the marriage cere-
mony by unauthorized people, and some couples went so far as to
marry themselves.
In 1654 Edward Perry, on Cape Cod, was fined £3 for “ disorderly
marriage,” and Magistrate Prence,when passing by on his return from
court to Eastham, was to marry him rightly. Perry refused to be re-
married, and was fined £3 more, with the discouraging notice that his
fine would be repeated every three months till he complied.
In 1678 Edward Wanton, for marrying himself, was fined £10, and
Thomas Boarman, for the same offence, ^5. In 1684 William Gifford
was fined 5 ox. for disorderly marriage.
(An extraordinary case of self-marriage was at Boston in 1641.
Richard Bellingham, who was then Governor of Massachusetts, gave
much scandal by suddenly marrying Penelope Pelham, who was about
forming a contract with another. He was forty-nine, and she twenty-
two, and he had not been many months a widower. As he had not
been legally published, and had also married himself, he was prose-
cuted, and was brought before the General Court. He himself pre-
sided there, and he refused to leave the bench during this trial. The
secretary therefore postponed the case amidst excitement, and it was
not again called up. Bellingham had just beaten the senior Winthrop
for governor by six votes; he was again elected in 1654, and from
1665 till his death in 1672.)
DELAYED MARRIAGES.
The founders of the Old Colony intended that unchastity should be
absolutely unknown there; and for all offenders whom their “ morbid
vigilance ” could detect, however long afterward, there was little mercy
and no delicacy of treatment (vide poor Dorothy Temple !). Even
matrimony long previous to discovery was not accepted as full con-6oo

APPENDIX.
donation. Yet they innocently-enough preserved a custom which
much thwarted their endeavors for complete propriety.
In England had early existed the practice of public espousal, which
usually preceded by several months, and often by years, the actual
marriage. The relation of espoused people to each other was perhaps
somewhat vague in the public mind, and it not infrequently appeared
that the final ceremony came too late for propriety’s sake. Hence the
religious reformers had bestirred themselves in favor of combining
espousals and nuptials in one ceremony. But the settlers of New
Plymouth established the system of pre-contract. By this, the couple
(having the consent of the parents or guardians, in the case of minors)
made before two witnesses a solemn promise of marriage in due time,
the ceremony having the formality of the magisterial weddings then in
vogue.
The custom of pre-contract had the same ill results as the espousals
to which it was equivalent. While the cause was not suspected, the
evil was met with severe measures. Newly united people were vigi-
lantly watched, and woe to them if their family record was prematurely
opened. In several of the earlier cases the husband was publicly
whipped, while the wife sat close by, in the stocks, and was compelled
to witness the punishment. Soon the penalty was changed to ^5 for
contracted parties, and ^10 for others; but unless the fine should be
paid, the whipping was continued. The General Court was not too
dignified to try these cases for the whole Colony, nor to record that
one couple’s delinquency was “six weeks,” and another was “five
wee^s and four days.”
The cases before them averaged one a year, and the offenders were
of every social grade. There was Peregrine White, the first-born child
of the Colony and stepson of Governor Winslow; Thomas Cushman,
Jr., son of the Elder; James Cudworth, Jr., son of the future general
and deputy-governor, and Jonathan, his brother; Samuel Arnold, Jr.,
son of the Marshfield pastor; Isaac Robinson, Jr.^ grandson of the
great Leyden pastor; Thomas Delano ; Nathaniel Church; and other
scions of leading families. Gallantry suggests the omission of their
partners’ names. Some writers have made the mistake of supposing
that generation to have been below the present in general purity of
life ; but it is far from the fact when allowance is made for the pre-
contract, which was a so# of semi-marriage, and also for the impartial
diligence with which such cases were ferreted out and recorded.PLYMOUTH’S CAPITAL CASES. —TREASON.
601
CAPITAL CASES.
There were ten executions under the civil authority in New Ply-
mouth Colony; namely, Billington,murder, 1630 (Chapter XXXVII.) ;
Peach and two others, murder, 1638 (Chapter XLIX.) ; a youth named
Granger, for unnatural crimes, 1642; Robert Bishop’s wife, Alice
Clark, for killing her daughter Martha, four years old, 1648; three
Indians, for killing John Sassamon, a preacher and landowner in
Middleborough, 1675 ; Jean Armand de la Forrest, murder, 1690.1
The case of Mrs. Bishop is especially sad. It is evident that she
was insane, but the medical skill of that day was not sufficient to
perceive it. There was a parallel case at Boston in 1638, when Dor-
othy Talby was hanged for killing her child while, as now is clearly
seen) she was insane from religious excitement. Forrest, a French-
man, was convicted at Bristol (now in Rhode Island) of murdering a
fellow-countryman. He escaped to Boston, and being reclaimed, was
taken to Plymouth. His case was reviewed, and the sentence con-
firmed August 9th (n. s.) ; the next morning he was hung, after pen-
itently confessing his guilt. He was earnest for a commutation on
condition of serving against the Indians, then making war in Maine.
In 1664 Samuel Howland was tried for murder and acquitted, but
after the manner of the times was made to pay his jail-fees, —10s.
In 1661 John Hawes, of Yarmouth, for giving a fatal fall to Joseph
Rogers while wrestling with him Christmas Day, was acquitted on a
charge of manslaughter.
TREASON.
In 1671 John Co win, of Scituate, was charged with treason in say-
ing that he scorned to be in subjection to any Englishman, and that
there never was any king in England who was an Englishman but one
crooked-backed Richard, a crooked rogue, — just like a well-known
deformed man of Scituate.
Perhaps the witnesses tried to screen him, or the Court sought to
make a show of loyalty without convicting Cowin, for it is recorded
1 Of these ten, all were hanged except one Indian in 1675> who was shot. In
1670, at Boston, a man was hanged as “a persistent thief,”—a very rare case in
New England history, though such executions were not uncommon in nearly all
other regions of the Old and New Worlds.602
APPENDIX.
that the witnesses were unwilling to testify to his face, and as “ the
case is rare,” and wishing “ advice and help from others,” Cowin was
kept in jail three months, and on a re-trial acquitted.
VARIOUS CASES.1

\
i
In 1638 Thomas Hallowell, a servant, being unable to account for
a pair of red silk stockings in his possession, was locked up ; then
confessing that he stole them from a window in Boston, he was re-
turned to that place for punishment.
1638. John Davis, for not duly delivering goods by boat at Sand-
wich, was sued by Michael Turner for ^20; but the Court gave
Davis 5ox. and costs because Turner “ should have set up a pole
with a white cloth on the top ” to show the entrance to the harbor.
1638. Francis Sprague2 fined 6x. 8d. for assaulting William Holla-
way, and Hollaway fined 5s. for abusing and provoking Sprague. In
1649 Hollaway and Peregrine White were indicted for fighting.
1640. John Jones and Peter Mecock, for killing hogs at North
River, ordered to each pay £8 to the owners of the hogs, and also be
whipped; their comrade, John Harker, to pay £$, and sit in the
stocks to see the others whipped.
(This year, in Maine, Mr. John Winter, of Richmond's Island, was
indicted for extortion, for taking a noble for a gallon of aquavita,
when somebody else sold a hogshead of the same for £j seven
months before. Goody Mendum was fined 2s. 6d. for calling Thomas
Gullison and John Davis, “yee divells.” The wife of Abraham Cum-
ley was put under bonds for remarking that “ye Magistrates were
come about one foolery or other.” Joane Andrews was bound over
“ to stand in a towne meeting at Yorke, and in a towne meeting at
Kittery, till 2 hours bee expired, with her offence written upon a paper
in cappitall letters, pinned upon her forehead,” for selling a “ furkine
of butter” with two stones in it, — which sentence was afterward
carried out; and “ Mis Saraih Morgan ” had to “ stand with a gagg in
her mouthe halfe an houre at a public town meeting at Kittery, with
the cause of her sentence writ upon her forehead,” for striking her
husband. [An order of the same court was, that all inhabitants of the
province should bring their children to baptism if they had not already
done so.])
1	See pp. 434, 476, 502, 512, 516, 546.
2	See note, pp. 362-3.
\VARIOUS CASES.
603
1652. Joseph Ramsden ordered to live no more in the woods
remote from neighbors, whereby “ his wife has been exposed to great
hardship and peril of losing her life,” but that he bring her with all
speed to some neighborhood. In 1656 the order was repeated, and
in case of non-compliance his house was to be torn down.
1658.	Edward Holman, telling a lie in court, ioj. William Hail-
stone, tailor, of Taunton, was fined 30^., with 23J. costs, on charge of
telling three lies in a petition to the Court; but one of these proving
true, 10s. and all the costs were remitted. (In 1654 Hailstone had
been made to pay his servant Jonathan Briggs ^15 for not having
taught him “ the art and mystery ” of a tailor.)
1659.	Thomas Ewer, for seditious speeches, to lie neck and heels
at the Court’s will; but it appearing that he was infirm, he was par-
doned, but on next offence was to be banished from the Colony.
1661.	Ralph Smith, of Cape Cod, while in the way of duty having
lied about seeing a whale, fined 20s.	William Randall, telling a
lie, 10 s.
1662.	George Crispe’s wife, for telling a lie, “but not a perni-
cious lie, — only unadvisedly,” — discharged.
1664. James Leonard, innkeeper, of Taunton, losing his wife by
death, his license was taken away because he was not so well fitted as
before to keep an inn.
1666. Constable Ford, of Marshfield, having arrested Widow Na-
omi Sylvester, her daughters Naomi and Dinah attacked Ford and
rescued her. As a penalty, their brother William was ordered to pay
Ford £2.
1668. Thomas Lucas, swearing, to be put in the stocks. (In
1663, for a third offence of drunkenness, he was sentenced to be
whipped, but not until he should offend the fourth time. In 1675,
for getting drunk and reviling magistrates, he finally was whipped.)
1668. Abraham Sampson, of Duxbury, swearing, 10s. 1671, John
Gray, Yarmouth, swearing, $s.
1670. Richard Willis, of Scituate, who had lived divers years apart
from his wife, was ordered to leave the Colony after reaping his next
crop; but he might stay with leave of the magistrates and town.
And if his wife should come to live with him, well.
1674. John Perry, of Scituate, sued William Tubbs for reporting
him as saying that he did not care a “ surreverence ” for the magis-
trates. Perry lost his case.604
APPENDIX.
1674, 1676. The Plymouth Church complained that some of its
members “ walked disorderly, sitting long in public-houses with vain
company and drinking.,, In 1684 the elders repeated the charge,
which was doubtless well deserved.
1678. John Barker, of Barnstable, whom John Williams, of Scitu-
ate, had reared, was charged with calling Williams “ the wickedest
man that ever was on the face of the earth.” The case was nom
suited.
1681. Nathaniel Southworth and Joseph Warren, Jr., refusing to
aid constable, each 10s. (They were probably “society” young
men.)
1685. Mr. John Combe, for drunkenness, was disfranchised. Re-
stored long afterward.
1685. Hannah Dillingham, charged with “ploying” eight silk
hoods, was found not guilty.
In 1675 Jonathan Pratt took the post of under-marshal, on condi-
tion that he be excused from helping to execute criminals.
CARD-PLAYING.
In 1656 adults, for card-playing, were to be fined 50^.; children
and servants, “to be corrected at the discretion of their parents or
masters for the first offence,” and in future cases to be publicly
whipped. Subsequently, gaming in public-houses for liquors was pro-
hibited; so also were cards, dice, “ cross-and-pyle,” and other unlaw-
ful games, “ wherein there is lottery,” at any private house. Still, no
mention is made of any infliction of corporal punishment for this
reason.
In 1633 Richard Berry, William Griffin and wife, and Richard
Mitchell and wife, were fined £2 each for playing cards.
In 1679 Joseph Thome, of Scituate, playing cards twice, was fined
£\; Joseph Peirce, one offence, 10s.; James Bennett, several times,
£1; Joseph Holbrook, once in the woods, 10s.; his man Patrick,
do., iox., and himself one time in Gannet’s chamber and one time in
his bam, £1; his man for latter offence, 10s. Finally, 10s. was
abated from Holbrook’s fines. At another time from that town Isaac
Woodworth, for two offences, was fined £1, and Matthew Gannet, for
several such and for allowing others to play in his house, paid £2.CHURCH ITEMS.	605
s
Probably card-playing was secretly practised at all times, and no great
vigilance was used against it, as gambling did not accompany it.
CHURCH ITEMS.1
The first church-bell in New England was at Newtown (Cam-
bridge), 1631-2 ; and this bell was carried to Hartford in the migra- *
tion of 1636 (see p. 394). The next bell known to us was at Salem,
in 1638. The earliest mention at other places is,— Boston, 1646,
Watertown, 1649, Charlestown, 1657, Dorchester, 1662, Plymouth,
1679. The two last named, and probably the others, had previously
used drums. Some villages used a conch-shell, and others a horn. ^
Stoves first used in First Parish “ meeting-house,” Scituate, 1824;
in Second Parish, 1821. The old Hingham Church, still used, was
opened January, 1682, when two infants were sprinkled. It was first
heated in 1821, the novelty drawing a crowd.
Feb. 3, 1686 (n. s.), Judge Sewall (“the New England Pepys ”)
says of the Old South, Boston: “ This day so cold that the sacra-
mental bread is frozen pretty hard, and rattles sadly as broken into
the plates.”
The Convention of 1788, to act on the proposed United States
Constitution, found the legislative hall at Boston too small. The
Long-Lane Meeting-house was offered them, with the promise that a
stove should be put in to warm it. From the favorable decision of
the Convention there, Long Lane was named Federal Street, and in
time its church was made famous by Channing.
In 1640 there were twenty-six churches at Massachusetts Bay, Ply-
mouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, — seven of them being in
Plymouth. In 1691 Plymouth had about twenty, to some fifty-five
in the other Colonies named. There were in all at least eighty clergy- *
men, and of these more than half were from English universities. ,
Near the close of the eighteenth century the intense Calvinism of
the “ standing order ” of churches was repulsive to many Massachu-
setts people, including not a few of the clergy. Had the Congrega-
tionalism of to-day ruled at that time, no great division would then
have taken place ; and so, two centuries earlier, if the Church of Eng-
land had been what she now is, the great Puritan uprising would not
have occurred.
1 See p. 34.6o6
APPENDIX.
When the revolt came in New England, its adherents adopted
Unitarianism, but for a generation retained more of their old ideas
than are now found in many Congregational circles. The writer
vividly recalls several of these families which, a third of a century after
the schism, had changed very little beyond dropping the doctrine of
the Trinity.
Then, as now, Congregational parishes comprised two organizations.
The “ society ” had charge of all financial matters, even to fixing and
paying the minister’s salary, and the sole care and ownership of the
house of worship, with all other parish property. As the society pretty
much embraced the town-meeting, including all the Gallios, it had
many non-religious members. The “ church ” admitted to itself only
professors of religion ; it had charge of religious instruction, discipline,
and observances ; it gave the “ call ” to a new pastor, — but this was not
valid until indorsed by the society. The society, having the power of
the purse (filled by town-taxation), had the means of “ starving out”
an unpopular preacher, although the church was nominally entitled to
initiate removals.
When societies and pastors both became Unitarian, a new church
was formed under the pastor, and dissatisfied members could only
depart empty-handed. If the society alone changed, a new preacher
was placed in the pulpit, and the former pastor was sometimes ex-
cluded by something very like force. There were eighty-one cases in
which churches were virtually dismissed by their societies, the former
taking away some 3,900 members out of 5,182, but leaving behind
#600,000 of funds and other property. The right to the latter was
only settled by bitter litigation. In a few cases the churches became
Unitarian, and were set adrift by the still Orthodox society.1
In the year 1800 there occurred the first case in which society and
church both declared for Unitarianism, and it was one especially start-
ling to the adherents of the old faith; for this was none other than
•the “ First Church of Plymouth,” — the original church of the Pilgrim
Fathers. Rev. Chandler Robbins’ rigid Hopkinsonian views had
nearly caused a division in 1794, and when he died, in 1799, it was
determined to secure a pastor of the new school. The church accord-
ingly gave a call, twenty-three against fifteen, to Rev. James Kendall,
of Sterling (born 1769, died 1859) ; the society concurred, — two
hundred and fifty-three against fifteen. Soon after, Unitarianism was
1 Dexter, Hist. Congregationalism.CHURCH TROUBLES.
607
formally adopted. Deacons Crombie and Spooner remained* but
Deacon John Bishop withdrew with the nonconforming minority, who
formed the organization which is still prominent as the “ Church of
the Pilgrimage.”1 The first pastor of this church was Adoniram Jud-
son, father of the illustrious missionary; before 1810 the son, then
a private school-teacher at Plymouth, professed religion and was ad-
mitted to his father’s church. Stones to the memory of both father
and son are to be seen on Burial Hill.
CHURCH TROUBLES.2
As the ecclesiastical rule in Plymouth hardened with the coming on
of the second generation, a corresponding restiveness became manifest.
In 1651 John Rogers, of Marshfield, was fined 55*. for “villifying
the ministry,” and Mr. Arthur Howland was indicted and admonished
for non-attendance at worship.
In 1657 Zoeth Howland was set in the stocks for speaking disre-
spectfully of the clergy, and Ralph Jones was fined 10s. for absence
from worship.
In 1658 the new law for supporting the clergy by a compulsory tax 8
having been termed by Dr, Matthew Fuller a “ wicked and devilish
law,” enacted x< while the devil sat in the stern,” he was fined 50s.
The same year Lieutenant James Wiatt was “ sharply reproved ” for
writing a business letter on Sunday, or “ at least in the evening, some-
what too soon ! ” That autumn a fast was held to avert the Lord’s
displeasure, as shown by much sickness, bad ripening of crops, and
by his not blessing effectually the endeavors against the Quakers.
In 1659 fines for absence from public worship were inflicted on
Mr. Arthur Howland and wife, of Marshfield, the wife of Henry How-
land, of Duxbury, her son Zoeth, and her son-in-law, John Smith, Jr.,
of Plymouth; also on John Soule and George Soule’s wife, of Dux-
bury, and on Mrs. Cudworth, Goodwife Coleman, and William Parker
and wife, of Scituate. Here evidently had been a cropping-out of
sympathy for the Quakers. The next year Henry Howland, the
father, was up on a like complaint, and was fined ^7, while his son
and daughter Smith were mulcted in £2. (See p. 503 for like cases.)
In 1669 Mr. Arthur Howland was arrested for neglecting his minis-
ter-tax ; in respect to his age and low estate he was excused till further
notice. Three others were made to pay the rate and costs.
1 Thacher, Hist. Plymouth.	2 See pp. 501-2.	8 See p. 534.
396o8
APPENDIX.
In 1660 Robert Bartlett, having spoken contemptuously of “the
ordinance of psalm-singing,” was censured by the General Court.
In 1666 William Thomas (2d) having charged Pastor Arnold, of
Marshfield, with teaching “ horrible blasphemy,” the General Court,
on an examination of the sermon, declared it “ Orthodox truth,” and
censuring Mr. Thomas for “ great arrogancy,” cautioned him to “ carry
more soberly.”
In 1670 Robert Harper was whipped for reviling Pastor Walley, of
Barnstable. So late as 1682 John Randall was fined 10s. for neglect-
ing public worship, and Christopher Gifford the same for speaking
contemptuously of “ the dispensers of God’s word.”
Ex-pastor Ralph Smith, of Plymouth, had in 1641 sued Ralph Gor-
ham for slander, claiming £10 and recovering £2 ; but in 1653, when
Magistrate John Brown sued Pastor Newman, of Rehoboth, for slander,
he recovered £100 and 23J. costs, but satisfied with vindication, re-
fused the ;£ioo. Two years later Giles Hopkins sued Pastor Lever-
edge, of Sandwich, for slander, claiming £50 and recovering £20 and
costs. Some time after, Mr. Leveredge’s flock had him arrested for
selling a gun to an Indian, and he was fined £15.
In 1653 Pastor Chauncey, of Scituate (the future President of
Harvard College), brought a slander suit against his neighbor, William
Barstow, and recovered £100, with i8x. 6d. costs. After the example
of Mr. Brown, Dr. Chauncey forthwith remitted.the ^100.
With good reason did Bradford, in his old age, sorrow over the
lack in the second generation of the unity and love enjoyed by the
Pilgrim pioneers.
THE FORMATION OF COUNTIES.
In 1685 New Plymouth was divided into three counties,—Plymouth,
Barnstable, and Bristol. Their boundaries were much as now, save
that Rochester, which included southern Wareham, was in Barnstable,
and Bristol County extended to Narraganset Bay and Blackstone
River. Hingham and Hull then belonged to the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. Each county was to have a semi-annual court with probate
jurisdiction, and its clerk was also to register deeds. The executive
officer was a marshal. The counties (each of which was named for
its shire-town) were constituted as follows, except that Rochester and
Falmouth were not incorporated until the next year.COUNTIES. —VARIATIONS OF SPELLING.	609
Plymouth County. — Plymouth, Scituate, Duxbury, Marshfield,
Bridgewater, Middleborough, and plantations to the north toward the
Colony line.
Barnstable County.— Barnstable, Sandwich, Yarmouth, Eastham,
Falmouth, Rochester, and the village of Monamoy (which in 1712
became the town of Chatham). There was also the Indian town of
Mashpee, with a government by itself.
Bristol County.— Bristol, Taunton, Rehoboth, Dartmouth, Swansea,
Little Compton, Freetown, and plantations where now are Attlebor-
ough, Cumberland, and Warren.
Several of these towns had more than one village. Dartmouth
comprised the future New Bedford, Westport, and Fairhaven; Ply-
mouth included the present Kingston, Carver, and Plympton, with
parts of Halifax and Wareham. Thus, several towns not named above
were already existing as thriving villages.
The relative standing of the towns in 1689 may be inferred from
the tax laid for the Maine expedition in the Indian war; namely.
Scituate, £8 ; Taunton, £6; Plymouth, Sandwich, and Barnstable,
£$ each; Rehoboth, £4 10s.; Yarmouth, Marshfield, Eastham, and
Bristol, £4 each; Dartmouth, £3 10s.; Bridgewater and Swansea, £3
each; Duxbury and Little Compton, £2 10s. each; Middleborough
and Falmouth, £1 each; Rochester, Freetown, and Monamoy, 10s.
each: total, ^67 icxr. (The next year the “ratable estate” of these
towns varied very widely from the above ratio.)
VARIATIONS OF SPELLING.
In the Pilgrim era there was no fixed spelling of English words,
and the same writer varied his orthography to an extent truly mar-
vellous. Bradford only conformed to the usage of the highest digni-
taries when, on four adjoining pages of his History (118-19-20-21,
MS.), he spells Oldham four different ways; thus, Oldom, Oldum,
Oldame, and Oldam, and none of them as it was finally established.
Emanuel Downing, a university man, went so far in one sentence as
to write both Sweades and Sweedes.1 Queen Elizabeth employed
seven different spellings for the word “ sovereign; ” and her favorite,
1 In the building-accounts (1610-13) of Wadham College, Oxford, one finds
the term gargoyle rendered “ Gorgel,” “ Cargill,” “ Gurgul,” “ Gurgoll.” In the
same document “ Cornish ” is reckoned at 2d. per foot. The fine workmen who
wrought stone are alluded to as “ Free Masons ” or “ Free Stone Masons.”6io
APPENDIX.
Leicester, rendered his own name in eight different ways, according to
his passing fancy. In the Buckingham deeds the name “ Villiers ” is
given in fourteen different forms ; and in the family documents of the
Percys, their name is spelled fifteen ways. William Penn’s father is
recorded by turns as Admiral Pen, Penn, or Penne. The most awk-
ward and inconsistent variations of orthography in the seventeenth
century, or earlier, are no evidence of illiteracy. This might be in-
ferred from a letter by Day, the printer of the famous Bay Psalm-
book, at Harvard College, who wrote that a person was about to
“ mare his dauter ” to a suitor who “ hath catel all rede ” for his use.1
Of course, as the Indians had no alphabet, their words had no
spelling. The first-comers, therefore, used what seemed to them to
express the sound, and of course they fell into various renderings of
many words. Modern writers err much when they suppose that some
early spelling of an Indian name establishes its form, or anything else,
except the sound of it according to the pioneer’s ear. Thus, when a
distinguished leader in Philip’s War writes “ Saughkonnett,” the only
thing to be said is that such was his way of representing Saconet
(pronounced *SVm/-conet). There is no right or wrong as to these
names so long as the sound is preserved; but every reason exists fdr
reducing them to their simplest form. Long ago some bungler put a
second t on the end of Dracut, and it has but recently been lopped-
off again. So somebody wrote two fs at the end of Narraganset, and
the senseless superfluity is kept up by local writers.
In the Plymouth records the clerks gave full vent to the prevailing
fancy. Chyrurjeon for surgeon, on their pages, is not so odd-seeming
as is a reference to “ the governments of evrup ” and “ the cause to
be jswed ” (issued). Olerton for Allerton is somewhat phonetic, like
the English form Ollerton. Mixed-up with the modern spellings, and
other variations, one meets with Mary as Marie, Catharine as Catorne,
Bridget as Brigett, Jane as Jaane, Evans as Evance, Collier as Colyar,
Alden on one page and Alldin on the next, Aldrich as Aldereg, Spring-
field as Sprinkfield, Cushman as Cochman, Brown as Browen, Sprague
as Spragg, Moses as Moyses, Quincy as Quinsey, and so on in a long
succession, which shows that many of the slight distinctions of modem
names are wholly without significance.
Mrs. Bradford’s name, Alice, is given as Allice, and Alles {Els
in the Dutch records) ; some uninformed descendants, in naming
1 See Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 364.
*VARIATIONS OF SPELLING.
6II
children for her, have adopted one of these misspellings as “ the
original way.” Colonel Stetson appears as Cunel Studson, and Jones
River as Joanes Riuer. So prominent a citizen as Bradford’s stepson
is mentioned indifferently as Southwood, Southerne, and Southworth;
and he seems to have been unsettled in his own usage.1
One man is recorded as violating the “kinke’s” (king’s) peace.
A curiously free-and-easy orthography is in a General-Court record
concerning Governor Hinckley’s cow, which is mentioned as “ haueing
the tipps of bother homes sawed off” (vii. 265). Then comes the
name of Vre, Ure, or Ewer; and of Fans (Faunce), Phance, or
Vance. Bradford’s Mms. renders Cromwell as “Cormuell.”
The development of the name of Fobes is curiously traceable in
the official writings of those days. The first-comer wrote his name
“ ffarabas,” and the form gradually changed, thus: ffarabas, Farrow-
bush, fforbas, Forbes, Forbus, Forbush, Forbish, Furbish, Furbush,
Fobes. Some branches of the family stopped the development pro-
cess at one stage, and some at another; thus giving several names, all
from the same original ffarabas (Barrabas ?). It is to be noticed that
formerly the ^was the equivalent of the capital F. Thus, Dr. Fuller
wrote “ ffuller,” while others wrote his name “ Fuller.” Some modern
writers make the mistake of copying these old names, and capitalizing
the first of the/’s, while retaining the second. The true method is to
begin such names with the two small letters, or to drop both if a
capital is used.
Few of these changes are more curious than that by which a family
bearing the fine old name of Stanley wrought it through several pre-
posterous forms into the equally fine old name of Sterling; thus,
Stanley, Stallon, Stolion, Stallion, Sterling. One branch of it went to
.Connecticut, and in New London in 1650 a prominent member was
uncouthly subscribing himself " Edward Stallion.”
Some freak changed Satuit into Scituate,2 and left it so; but for-
tunately Dokesberry, Dukesbury (Orig. = The Duke’s Bury), Dukes
Bery, Ducksberry, Ducksborough, Ducksburrow, Duxbarow, Dux-
burrow, and Duxborough all gave way to the compact modern Eng-
lish form Duxbury.
These few examples, given from the many at hand, are enough to
show the chaotic condition of English orthography in colonial days,
and to illustrate the fact that the forms of words found in old papers
1 See note, p. 249, for Southworth spellings.
2 Sityate.—Bradford\612
APPENDIX.
and records of high authority prove little as to the general usage in
the matter, or even as to the ordinary practice of the writer in ques-
tion. A fixed form of spelling is a modern idea as well as a modem
practice. It is to be hoped that many of the present methods are not
yet so firmly set that they may not give way to something more simple
and more easily learned. For the great purposes of a written lan-
guage, a person may almost hesitate between the present unvarying
.absurdities and the ancient usage which accepted whatever a doubtful
or erratic pen chanced to throw off.
THE PILGRIM SOCIETY; ITS HALL, AND MONUMENTS.
The landing of the Pilgrims was first formally celebrated Dec. 22,
1769. In that year the Old Colony Club had been formed by seven
men of Plymouth, and they held a social observance of the day. In
1773 the club, after its fifth celebration, was dissolved through the
strife between Whigs and Tories. There have since been frequent
celebrations, at some times with great ceremony, and at others with
very little, under direction of various bodies, including churches, the
Pilgrim Society, and the Standish Guards. In 1770 an address was
made to the Old Colony Club by Edward Winslow (great-great-grand-
son of the Governor Edward) ; and the succession of orators includes
John Quincy Adams (1802), Daniel Webster (1820), Edward Everett
(1824), and many eminent divines and publicists of Old Colony
affiliations.
As mentioned in the Preface (p. xx), the Old Colony Club, like all
others interested, applied to the Pilgrim reckoning not the ten days
due the 'English calendar for 1620, but the eleven days which had
been found its due in 1751, when Old Style was corrected to New
Style. As the landing was certainly on a Monday, they set it down as
on the impossible date of Monday, Dec. 22, 1620. The Dutch and
French almanacs, which had been brought to New Style, show that
the Monday in question was the 21st, while by the Old Style almanac
of the English the 22d was Friday. So by no system was Monday
the 2 2d.
In 1850 Judges Savage and Warren, with Dr. N. B. Shurtleff, having
demonstrated in a report that the landing was on the 21st, the
Pilgrim Society unanimously adopted that as the true date of the
anniversary.THE PILGRIM SOCIETY.
613
The reformed date was adopted in Boston, and found its way to
Brooklyn, N.Y., but does not seem to have extended farther, nor to
have found its way into many of the almanacs. Even in Plymouth
an element was found which preferred established error to novel truth,
and to it, strange to say, in 1882 the Pilgrim Society surrendered the
date it had upheld for thirty-two years. Yet still the Society voted
that the 21st was the correct date, and that they were yielding to an
erroneous but time-honored usage. A trustee remarked that if their
spirit had ruled the Scrooby Separatists in 1607, there would have
been no Pilgrim Fathers to commemorate. (The Society has since,
with great propriety, re-adopted the 21st as their date.)
PILGRIM HALL.
In 1824 the Pilgrim Society built Pilgrim Hall, at Plymouth, and
apparently by chance selected a site which was once owned by the
first Governor Winslow, and later by Governor Bradford. In 1880
J. Henry Stickney, of Baltimore, seeing the needs of the edifice while
paying it the chance visit of a stranger, proceeded to expend $15,000
in reconstructing it and rendering it fire-proof. (His generous zeal
has also been extended to the Society’s work upon Cole’s Hill.) The
hall is visited each year by many thousands of tourists, who study (?)614
APPENDIX.
its fine paintings based on the embarkation and landing of the Pil-
grims, or examine its historical library and collection of relics of the
Forefathers.
The Pilgrim Society also has at Plymouth two monuments, — the
Canopy over Forefathers’ Rock, and the National Monument to the
Forefathers.1 The former, which is over the Rock, close by the steam-
boat wharf, is a beautiful specimen of granite work; it is fifteen feet
square on the ground, by thirty feet high, and cost some $35,000. In
the upper part is a vault in which bad taste has deposited the frag-
ments of bones which were thrown up from Pilgrim graves in 1855,
while laying the public conduit on Cole’s Hill. Near this structure a
fine stone stairway leads up the face of Cole’s Hill to the site of the
first burial-place, where an obscure horizontal slab of polished granite
briefly commemorates the early use of the spot for that purpose, and
the discovery of the bones of the first dead there.2
The National Monument is on an elevation at the rear of the north-
erly part of the village. After many years of effort the corner-stone
was laid Aug. 2, 1859,—the two hundred and fifty-ninth anniversary
of the famous embarkation at Delfthaven (p. 50). (The corner-stone
of the Canopy was laid at the same time.) The plan contemplated an
ornate pedestal eighty feet high, supporting a statue of Faith seventy
feet high ; but the increase of prices in the Civil War made a great
reduction of size necessary to any early completion of the work. It
was 1876 before the main portion of the pedestal was built. The next
year Hon. Oliver Ames, of Easton (a native of Plymouth), presented
the statue of Faith (expending $30,000 for the purpose). Although
the pedestal is but forty-five feet high, and the statue thirty-six, the
latter is still the tallest granite figure yet cut. It is two hundred and
sixteen times the bulk of life, as may be inferred from the fact that its
right arm is nineteen feet ten and a half inches long, and the upraised
finger two feet and an inch.
On viewing the monument will be seen on each corner buttress of
the pedestal a sitting statue of heroic size (also in granite). These
represent Morality, Education, Law, and Liberty. Below them are
small allegorical statues on the sides, and in front are richly sculptured
panels representing scenes in Pilgrim History. Upon the pedestal are
the names of the “ Mayflower’s ” company. The statue of Morality
was contributed in 1878 by the State of Massachusetts, at a cost of
1 See also p. 446 for Standish Monument.
2 See pp. 158-9.THE PILGRIM SOCIETY.
615
$10,000. The beautiful panel in front of it, representing the Embarka-
tion at Delfthaven, was given by the State of Connecticut. In 1881
Roland Mather, of Hartford, Conn., presented the statue of Education
and an accompanying panel, Signing the Pilgrim Compact (at a cost
of $15,000). The other two buttresses are unoccupied at this writing.
But the United States Government decided to present the statue of
“Liberty ” in 1886, and this, together with the other (“ Law ”) is
well under way. It will be seen that, aside from its historical associ-
ations, Plymouth is worthy of attention from its works of art.
Of the grandest of these memorials—the statue of Faith — Hon.
John D. Long nobly said in a recent oration : “ Her eyes look toward
the sea. Forever she beholds upon its waves the incoming ‘May-
flower she sees the Pilgrims land. They vanish, but she, the monu-
ment of their faith, remains, and tells their story to the world. This
our generation too shall pass away, and its successors for centuries-to-
come; but she will stand, and, overlooking our forgotten memory,
will still speak of them and of their foundation of the Republic on the
Plymouth Rocks of Liberty, Law, Morality, and Education.”*INDEX.
A SOUND of in Indian names, 118.
Abamacho, 130.
Abanakee, 131.
Abbott, Archbp. George, 13, 40.
Abenakis, The, 131.
Aberdeen University, 534.
Aborigines of New England, The, 129-137.
Absent, List of up to 1627, 300.
Acadia, 117.
Accomac, 119.
Accomintas, The, 133.
Acorns, 76, 80, 164.
Acreage cultivated, 161.
Adam of Bremen on Vinland, 139.
Adams, Charles Francis, on Christopher
Gardiner, 351.
Adams, Eleanor Newton- (Mrs. John-), 378,
445-
Adams, James, 294, 297.
Adams, John, 190, 246, 294, 297, 378.
Adams, John (Prest.), 569.
Adams,-----(Mrs. Prest. John-), at Leyden,
284.
Adams, John Quincy, $69, 612.
Adams, John Quincy; on the “Compact,”
65 ; on Roger Williams, 367; on the
New England Confederation, 417 ; on the
treatment of the Indians by early settlers,
548.
Adams-Newton marriage, 278.
Adams, Pastor-----(Roxbury ?), 589.
Adams, Prof.------(Neshota), 467.
Adchrij 135.
Admiral, First American (Hopkins), 435.
Admiral Alden, 568.
Admiral West, 236, 237, 238.
Adultery, 309, 596.
Adusah killed, 274.
“ Adventure,” The barque, 447.
“Adventurers,” The . . . Organized, 44;
Articles of Agreement with the Pilgrims,
52-54 ; unfairness of, 58; send Cushman
and the “Fortune” emigrants, 190;
falling out with Peirce, 236; lack of
reason, 243 ; creed, 256; they desert the
colony, 278, 280; sell their interest to
the colonists, 288, 289; list of, 288. 289.
Adze, 113.	41
Agamenticus (Acomenticus), 361-f.
Agassiz, Prof. L. J. R., 61.
Agawam, 81, 175, 361+. (Igowam). See
Ipswich.
Agawam, Sagamore of, 237.
Agawam Point, 306.
Agawams, The, 133.
Agawaywams, The, 136, 225.
Agents, The (London), of the Pilgrims, 43,
45-
Agriculture, 157, 287, 585.
“ Ague,” An “ inward,” 282.
“ Ahhe! ” 219.
Ainsworth, Rev. Henry, 31.
Ainsworth’s Psalm-book, 359.
Ake, or Akee% 120, 131.
Alarm-clocks, 330.
Alby, Benj., 523.
Alden, The name, 291.
Alden, Admiral James, 568,
Alden, David, 569.
Alden, Elizabeth, 257, 277, 293, 297, 567.
See also “ Paybody.”
Alden, James, 568.
Alden, John (Pilgrim), 64, 132, 183, 185,
186, 187, 189, 289, 291, 293, 297, 338,
417, 489, 508, 542, 566-569; marriage of,
247, 257, 566; at Duxbury, 361, 567;
detained by the Bay on account of Hock-
ing affair, 382, 383 ; chosen treasurer,
449,451; his decline in liberality, 488,
503, 569; public regard for, 505 ; public
offices, his home, 567; his character, 569.
Alden, John (2), 293, 297, 568.
Alden, John (3), 565.
Alden, John (4), 567, 568.
Alden, John (a recent), 567.
Alden, Jonathan, 569, 589.6i8
INDEX.
Alden, Joseph, 569.
Alden,-----Simmons (Mrs. Joseph-), 569.
Alden, Mary, 569. See “ Delano.”
Alden, Mary Southworth- (Mrs. David-),
569.
Alden, Priscilla Mullins- (Mrs. John-), 187,
247, 257, 566, 567.
Alden, Robert, 289.
Alden, Ruth, 569.
Alden, Samuel, 567.
Alden, Sarah, 449.
Aldens, The, 567.
Alden Lane, Boston, 568.
Alden-Mullins marriage, The, 247, 257, 566,
567.
Alden, spellings, 6ro.
Alderman (Saconet), 560.
Aldrich, spellings, 610.
“Ales,” 104.
Alewives, 109, 157, 161.
Alexander Pokanoket (sachem), 473, 474,
542, 543-
Alfred, king, 18.
Alice (Bradford), spellings, 610, 611.
“Aligarto” (Aligator), Winthrop’s, 472.
Allen, John, 512, 524.
Allen, Nehemiah, 554.
Allerton, Bartholomew, 184, 185, 187, 293,
297.
Allerton, Fear Brewster- (Mrs. Isaac-), 245,
346, 378.
Allerton, Isaac (Pilgrim), 124, 127,183, 289,
345> 389, 474 5 his marriages, 37, 245,
347 ; assistant governor, 159; his family,
103, 185, 293, 297 ; his missions to Eng-
land, 288, 302; he brings Morton back,
320; his dishonesty and downfall, 322,
323, 333? 334? 339? 34<>, 34^, 397 5 his
last years and death, 346,347 ; autograph,
349*
Allerton, Isaac, Jr., 347, 378, 432, 495.
Allerton, Joanna-----(Mrs. Isaac-), 347.
Allerton, John, 83, 183, 185, 186, 299.
Allerton, Mary, 184, 185, 187, 293, 297, 468.
Allerton, Mary Norris- (Mrs. Isaac-), 37,
116, 183, 185, 299.
Allerton Point, 175.
Allerton, Remember, 184, 185, 187, 293,
297.
Allerton, Sarah, 293, 297, 378.
Allerton, spellings and pronunciation, 175,
610.
Allium Canadense, 99.
Alltham, Emanuel, 289.
“ Almanac (1639), Peirse’s,” 425.
Amalfi, Italy, 138.
Ames, Hon. Oliver, 614.
Ames, Rev. William, 37.
Amoskeag, N. H., 361+.
Amsterdam, 32, 38, 321 ; Separatists and
their churches at, 16, 28, 29, 30, 31, 37,
180, 249, 359, 464.
Amusements, 104, 180, 196, 317, 604.
Anabaptists, 366, 458, 475.
“ Anabaptistry,” 427.
Anawam, 559, 560.
Anchors, 529.
“Ancient-bearer,” 81, 360. See “En-
sign.”
“ Ancient-Staff,” 190.
“ Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth ” (Davis),
xii, 431.
Anderson, Rev.-----, Eng., xv.
Andover, 556.
Andrews, Joane, 602.
Andrews, Richard, 288, 303, 397, 398, 410,
411.
Andrews, Thomas, 289.
Andros and his period, 339, 416, 465, 526,
53L 569> 570, 57L 596.
Angell,----, 367.
Angell,----(Mrs.------), 367.
“ Angel Gabriel,” The ship, 388.
Ann, The name, 301.
Annable, Anthony, 243, 244, 294, 297,401.
Annable, Hannah, 294, 297.
Annable, Jane (Mrs. Anthony-), 243, 294,
297.
Annable, Sarah, 294, 297.
Annapolis, N. S., 117.
“ Anne,” The ship, xvi, 242, 247, 425, 471.
Anthony, Lawrence, 289.
Anthriscus Cere folium, 99.
Anti-prelatists, 13.
Apenow, 174.
Ap-Henry, 15. See Penry.
Apocynum Cannabinum, 99.
Apples, 117? 368,37°> 389>43^> 510? Slh5I2i
583.
Appropriations, legislative, 251.
Aptuxet, 306-7.
Aqua vitae, 73, 584, 602.
Aquiday Island, 133, 296,337,357? 4°6? 4<>7?
416, 419. See Newport.
Aquidnec, 133. See Aquiday.
Arabia, 593.
“ Archangel,” Waymouth’s ship, 147,
Archdeacon of Chelmsford, 108.
Archer, Simon, 144.
“ Archer’s Relation,” etc., 61, 62.
Are Marson, 140.
Argali,----, 147.INDEX.
619
Armada, The Spanish, 325.
Arminians, 36.
Armor, breast, 70.
Armor, Norse, 141.
Arms, 451.
Armstrong, Eleanor Billington- (Mrs. Greg-
ory-), 343, 344*
Armstrong, Gregory, 343, 344.
Arnold, Benedict (Governor), 141, 388, 480,
4^1, 553-
Arnold, Samuel (Rev.), 534, 608.
Arnold, Samuel, Jr., 600.
Arnold, Samuel G., on Pilgrims and Puri-
tans, 13.
Arrival at Cape Cod (Mayflower), 61.
Arrows, Indian, 89, 141.
“Articles,” yielding the two disputed, 195.
“Articles of Agreement,” 52.
Artillery, The Pilgrim, 115, 231, 308.
Arundel, Earl of, 197.
Asbrandson, Bjorne, 140.
Ash, 67, 99.
Ashes, 197.
Ashley, Edward, 333, 334.
“Asp,” orAspen, 99.
Aspinet, 170, 171, 174, 212; death of, 232.
“ Assamequin ” 473. See Ossamequin.
Assawampset Pond, 528, 536.
“ Assistants,” Board of, 159.
Astrology, 532.
Astwood,------, 518.
Atherton, Major-General, 511.
Atkinson, Marmaduke, 597.
Atkinson, Mary Jenkins- (Mrs. Marmaduke-),
597.
Attleborough, 512, 609; Gore, 511; Plain,
512, 5*4*
Atwood, Ann (Mrs. John-), 436.
Atwood, John, 34, 412, 436, 438, 465.
Atwood, Mary, 465, 531.
“ Augoam,” 81.
Augusta, Me., 337.
Aurora Borealis, 580-81.
Austerfield, Eng., 22, 24, 248 ; families, 23,
248.
Avery, John, and wife, 389.
“Avery’s Woe,” 389.
T>ABBINGTON, ANTHONY, 5.
Babworth, Eng., 23, 24, 25.
Bacon, Lord Francis, 9.
Bacon, Dr. Leonard, 13.
Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 8.
Bagnall, Walter, 357.
Baker, ship-master, 255.
Baize, 32.
Balch, Annice (Mrs. John-), 274.
Balch, Benjamin, 274.
Balch, John, 274.
Ballast, 583.
Ballot by proxy, 404.
Balmerino, Lord, 230.
Baltimore, 613.
Baltimore, Lord, George Calvert, 6.
Bancroft, Hon. George, xiii, 142.
Bangor, Me., 508.
Bangs, Edward, 243, 244, 412, 438.
Bangs, Lydia-Hicks-(2d Mrs. Edw.-), 24$,
246.
Bangs, Rebecca (ret Mrs. Edw.-), 243.
Banishing, 269.
Bankrupts, 379.
“ Banks,” The, 586.
Baptism and baptisms, 24, 34, 256, 366,
498, 516, 524, 527, 602, 605 ; modes of
infant, 422, 425, 440.
Baptists, 2, 366, 458, 516, 523, 524, 525;
burning, 5.
Barabbas (?), 611.
Barbadoes, 134, 484, 585, 591.
Barbara,-----(Mrs. Standish), 244, 246.
“ Barber & Surgeon,” 336.
Barclay and Perkins, 440.
Barden, William 582.
Barefoot, Walter, 482.
Barker, Elizabeth, 37.
Barker, John, 582, 604.
Barker, Robert, 401, 567.
Barley, 161.
Barley, Eng., 521.
Barlow, George, 487.
Barlowe, William, 138.
Barnes, John, 401', 438.
Barnet, Humphrey, 440.
Barneyville, 524.
Barnstable, 136, 170, 180, 231, 359, 363, 486,
487, 608,609; persons, 217, 244, 401,423,
439, 462, 502, 506, 507, 532, 533, 534,
569,592, 596, 597, 604; clergymen, 532;
County, 337, 608, 609; having the first
Congregational church organized, 441;
Harbor, 90, 210; military quotas of, 415,
557; schools, 496.
Barques, 288, 586, 587.
Barrington, R. I., 164, 524.
Barrow? Henry, 15, 285.
Barrows, hand and wheel, 161.
Barry, Rev. J. S., xii, xiv, xviii, 13.
Barstow, William, 608.
Bartlett, Joseph, 23T, 493.
Bartlett, Lydia, 245.620
INDEX.
Bartlett, Mary Warren- (Mrs. Robt.-), 246.
Bartlett, Robert, 243, 245, 246, 295, 298,608.
Bartlett, W. H., xii.
“Base,” A, 115.
Basin, christening, 588.
Baskets, 74, 80, 161, 369.
Bass, 164, 205, 242.
Bass, Edward, 288.
Bass, John, 569.
“Bass-boat,” The, 302.
Basset Lawe, Eng., 18, 23, 25.
Basset, Sarah (Mrs. White), 81.
Bassett, Cecil Lecht- (1st Mrs. Wm.-),
191.
Bassett, Elizabeth (3d Mrs. Wm.-), 190,
191, 294, 297.
Bassett, Elizabeth, Jr., 294, 298.
Bassett, Good wife, hanged at Boston, 492.
Bassett, Margaret Oldham- (2d Mrs. Wm.-),
I9I*
Bassett, William, 81, 190, 191, 294," 297,
361, 362.
Bassett, William, Jr., 294, 297, 487.
Bastions, 199.
Bath, Eng., 461.
Bathsheba, The Indians’, 134.
Battles, 588.
Bawtry, Eng., 22; persons, 278.
Baxter, Capt.-----, 532.
Baxter, John, 492.
Baxter, Richard, 7.
Bay, Boston, 92.
Bay of Canonicus, 273.
Bay, Narraganset (q.v.).
Bay, Plymouth, 92, 96, 97, 98.
Bay, Massachusetts (q.v.), 150, 361+.
Bay Colony, The; change from Episcopacy
to Congregationalism, 326; morals and
justice, 395; sickness of 1630, 335 ; sta-
tistics, 573.
Bay Psalm-book, The, 426.
Bayley, John, 596.
Baylies, Judge Francis, xii, xviii, 75 ; on
Philip, 550.
Bayonets, 87.
Beach grass, 68.
Beach Point, 98.
“ Beacham,” a pronunciation, 410.
Beal, William, 191, 300.
Beans, 209, 584, 585; Brazilian, 117; In-
dian, 78; Sieva, 117.
Bear Cove, 318.
Beating Mills, 436, 437.
Beauchamp, 397, 398, 410, 411.
Beauchamp, John, 289, 303.
Beaumont and Fletcher, 588.
Beaver, 120, 121, 149, 177, 178, 194, 254,
255» 309, 322» 385, 390, 397, 398-
Becket (?), Mary. See “ Bucket.”
“ Becks,” 85.
Beds, 599 ; Indian, 167.
Beech, 99, 168.
Beer, 36, 73, 100, 103, 104, 117, 119, 156,
310, 434, 511, 583, 584, 585> 586.
“ Belfry,” The, 283.
Belief of the Leyden Church, 41.
Belknap, Dr., 146 ; on “ Hamden,” 216.
“ Belknap’s Collection,” 359.
Bellamont, Earl of, 521.
Bellingham, Gov. Richard, 27, 599.
Bellingham, Penelope Pelham (Mrs.
Richd.-), 599.
Bells, 589, 605.
Belvidere (Lowell, Mass.), 134.
Berkeley, Bishop, his prophecy, 290.
Berkley, Mass., 140.
Berkley, Sir “ Robert,” 109.
Berkley, Sir William, 109.
Bermuda, 433.
Bernard, Gov.------, 547.
Bernard, Richard, 23, 37.
Berries, 169.
Berry, Richard, 604.
Berwick, 17.
Berzelius, on Norse armor, 141.
Beverages, 100,104, 321.
Bible, Geneva, 24, 359; Indian, 426, 558.
Bigotry, 417.
Billerica, Eng., 45, 108.
Billings, William, 359.
Billingsgate Point, 85.
Billington, Christian Penn-Eaton- (Mrs.
Francis-) 343, 344.
Billington, Eleanor (Mrs. John), 183, 186,
294, 298.
Billington, Francis, 82, 108, 184, 186, 246,
343, 344, 345-
Billington, John, 183, 185, 186, 294, 298,
300; character of, 262, 268; discovers
Billington Sea, 108; an intruder, 82; the
first malefactor, 160; commits murder,—
his trial and execution, 342, 343, 345,402,
601.
Billington, John, Jr., 82, 169, 184, 186, 295,
298, 300.
Billington, Joseph, 344.
Billington, Martha, 188.
Billington Sea, 96, 108, 109, 169, 344.
“ Biography, Dictionary of National,” 39.
Bird-bounties, 593*
Bird, Thomas, 440.
Birch, 67* 99.INDEX.
62 r
Birth, First (at sea), 59.
Births, Registration of, 251.
Bischoff, Simon, 36.
Biscuit, 73, 119, 322.
Bishop, Alice Clark-(Mrs. Robt.-), 601.
Bishop, John, 607.
Bishop, Martha, 601.
Bishop, Townsend, 495, 527.
Bishop’s Palace, Old Scrooby, 21, 22, 23.
Bjorne, Asbrandson, 140, 138.
Black, John, 493.
Blackbird-bounties, 593.
Black-lead, 527.
Blacksmith, Walford, 318.
Blackstone, Rev. Wm. 318, 320, 510, 513;
his apples, 510, 511, 512.
Blackstone, J ohn, 512.
Blackstone, Sarah Stevenson- (Mrs. Wm.-),
5X2, 5X3*
Blackstone River, 337, 367, 514, 608.
Blackstone’s Point, 510.
Blanket (blubber), 85.
Blankets, 322.
Blaskowitz, Charles, surveyor, 93; map of
Plymouth, 93.
“ Blasphemy,” 425, 608.
Blaxton, 318, 510, 511. See “ Blackstone.”
Bleeding, 325, 377.
“ Blessing of the Bay,” Winthrop’s ves-
sel, 371,. 440, 586.
Blessing on food, asking the, 222.
Blindness, 593.
Blinman, Richard, 533.
Block Island, 133, 273, 472.
Block Island Indians, 133, 563, 538, 539.
Blok, Admiral, 149, 372.
Blossom, Ann (Mrs. Thos.-), 379.
Blossom, Peter, 379.
Blossom, Thomas, 56, 378, 379.
Blossom, Thomas, Jr., 379.
Blommaert, Director, 306.
Blubber, 85.
Bluejay-bounties, 593.
Blue Laws, The, 2.
Boards, 78.
Boarman, Thomas, 599.
Boar’s Head, N. H., 361+.
Bodies of felons exposed, 230.
“ Body of Liberties,” The, 404.
Bog-iron ore, 528, 529.
Bompasse, Edward, 190, 293, 298, 362.
Bones found on Cole’s Hill, 158.
Bonum, George, 585.
Book of Common Prayer, The, 591.
“ Book of the Indians ” (Drake), xiii, xviii,
321-
“ Book of Sports,” The, 421.
Books, 450, 451, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515,
567, 59x-
“Booths,” Leif’s, 165.
Boseman, Thomas, 231.
Boston, 82, 415, 416, 482, 511, 516, 578, 580,
585, 591,602, 613; persons, 176,187,273,
34x, 355> 4X7, 438, 445> 5XI> 525< 59*;
an entrepot, 510; Bay, 92; bells, 605;
church, 348, 422; clergymen, 330; cli-
mate, 581; Common, 101, 315, 318, 510,
511, 512; credulity, 544,545; fire-depart-
ment, 583; Harbor, 147, 149, 175-178,
210, 237, 582; Indians, 135; inocula-
tion, 595 ; navigators, 245 ; printing, 426;
Quakers at, 479, 481, 482, 484, 485, 489,
490; schools, 496; siege, 291, 439; small-
pox, 494; treatment of witches, 492.
“ Bothwell Bridge,” Battle of, 562.
Boulders, Historic, 91, 96.
Boundaries, 337, 409.
Bounties on wild animals, 592, 593.
Bourchier? See “Burcher,” 244.
Bourne, Ezra, 533.
Bourne, Martha, 464.
Bourne, Richard, 532, 533.
Bourne, Shearjashub, 533.
Bourne, Thomas, 464, 598.
Bower, George, 438.
Bowls, 588.
Bows and arrows, 78.
Boylston, Dr. Zabdiel, 594, 595.
Boys, “ Mayflower,” 184.
Boyse, Joanna, 522.
“ Brackish,” 77.
Bradbury, Katharine, 598.
Bradford, The name, 291.
Bradford, Alice Richards (Mrs. Wm. Jr.-),
401, 461, 465, 610.
Bradford, Alice Southworth-(2d Mrs. Wm.-),
460,461.
Bradford, Carpenter, 464.
Bradford, David, 465.
Bradford, Dorothy May- (1st Mrs. Wm.-),
95. '*3,1S5, 188, 299.
Bradford, Elisha, 464.
Bradford, Ephraim, 465.
Bradford, Hezekiah, 465.
Bradford, Israel, 465.
Bradford, Jael Hobart- (Mrs. Joseph [1]-),
464.
Bradford, John, 185, 464, 466.
Bradford, Joseph (1), 464.
Bradford, Joseph (2), 464.
Bradford, Joseph (son of Wm. Jr.), 465.
Bradford, Martha Bourne- (Mrs. John-), 464.622
INDEX.
Bradford, Mary Atwood-Holmes- (2d Mrs.
Wm. Jr.-) 465, 531.
Bradford, Mercy, 295, 298, 436, 464, 466.
Bradford, Samuel, 291.
Bradford, William (older), 23, 24.
Bradford, William (Pilgrim), xi, xvii, 70, 75,
80, 183,185, 289, 295,298,454-459, 545 ;
his autograph, 454; birth, 24; boyhood,
25 ; character, 456-459 : death, 454; edu-
cation, 24, 25, 456,457; garden of, 231; in
Holland, 28, 248, 249; imprisoned, 27;
library of, 457; monument, 455; mar-
riages of, 38, 247, 249; Namskeket trip,
312; offices held by, 254, 376, 455,456;
poetry of, 457 ; real estate of, 106, 512,
613 ; religion of, 24, 25, 28 ; scholarship,
456,457; sickness, no; social standing
of family in England, 248; spelling of, 42,
609-611; table-ware of, 588 ; vagueness of
his style, 137; and Warwick Patent,
337,338 5 writings of, 304,456,457; youth
of, 248.
Quotations : 31,35,39,49,59,62; on
the reception of “ Anne ” Pilgrims, 246 ;
Ashley, 246; Boy refugees, 354, 355;
Brewster, 26; “Charity” salter, 256;
fault-finders of 1624, 260, 261; the “ fort,”
230; Morton, 316; “ New-English Ca-
naan,” 321; Oldham, 263, 274; Peirce,
245 ; Plymouth’s decay, 412; rotation in
office, 254; Separatists’ persecution, 12 ;
Scrooby maiior, 21; Standish, 282; war-
whoop (Indian), 89.
Works and letters : Dialogues,
xvi; History of Plymouth Plantation, xii,
• xiv, xv, 182, 455, 456, 457, 466; Letter-
Book, xii, xiv; Bradford and Winslows’
Journal, 127, 194; “little books,’'’ 160,
457; map, 106; Mourt’s Relation (see
“ Mourt’s Relation ”); reply to Weston’s,
195 ; reply to Winthrop, 354, 355.
Bradford, William, Jr. (an older), 24.
Bradford, William, Jr. (Maj.), 295, 298, 464-
467; on Sachem Alexander, 542, 543;
Deputy-governor, 570, 573; ensign, 521;
in Philip’s War, 557 ; “ Pencil-Book,” xiv,
466; “table-book,” 457.
Bradford, “ Williams,” 277.
Bradford,-----Wiswall- (3d Mrs. Wm. Jr.-),
465-
Bradford and Carpenter traditions, 248.
Bradstreet, Simon (Gov.), 417, 518, 590
“ Bragaduce,” 387.
Braind, William, 484.
Braintree, Mass., 377, 517, 527, 569.
Braman’s Baths, 511.
Brandy, 584.
Brandywine, 87.
Brass armor (Indian and Norse), 141.
Brattle, Pastor-----, 535.
Brattle, Thomas, 535.
Brattle-St. Church, Boston, 535.
Brawnde, Capt. Edward, 151.
Bread, 163, 584.
Breakfasts, 585.
Brereton, 144.
Brett, Elder-----, 534.
Brewer, Thomas, 33, 289.
Brewster, Benjamin, 431.
Brewster, Edward, 285.
Brewster, “Elder,” 19. See Wm. B., Jr.
Brewster, Fear, 244, 245, 286, 293, 297,346,
378.
Brewster, Henry, 19.
Brewster, James, 19.
Brewster, Jonathan, 32, 190, 191, 274, 294,
298,	361, 372, 392, 401, 431, 432,
Brewster, Love, 184, 185, 187, 294,298,361,
43L 432-
Brewster, Lucretia —-— (Mrs. Jonathan^),
294, 297, 298, 431.
Brewster, Mary, 294, 298, 431.
Brewster, Mary------(Mrs. Wm.-), 183, 185,
285, 286, 299.
Brewster, Nathaniel, 424, 431, 495.
Brewster, Patience, 244, 245, 277, 286, 294,
299,	477.
Brewster, Sarah, 431.
Brewster, Sarah Collier- (Mrs. Gove-), 431.
Brewster, Vicar (of Sutton), 19, 23.
Brewster, William, 19, 22.
Brewster, William, Jr. (Pilgrim), T9, 22-29,
43, 116, 181, 183, 185, 189, 285, 289, 294,
298,347, 362, 401; age of (?), 301; auto-
graph, 430; consideration for, 340, 432 ;
Congregationalism of, 42; death of, 412,
430; character and power of, 432, 433;
farm, 446; English Grammar by, 33;
hardships in Holland, 30, 32 ; imprison-
ment, 27 ; library of, 33; postmaster, 20-
25; religious work and theology of, 23,
25, 41, 42,262,432,433; youth of, 19,20.
Brewster, William, Jr., Steele’s Life o£,_xi,
xii, 1, 2.
Brewster, William (s. Jonathan), 431.
Brewster, William (s. Love), 294, 298, 431.
Brewster, Wrestling, 184, 185, 294, 298,
431*
Brewster, Mass., 152, 311.
u Brewsters,” The (islands), 175.
Brick, 231, 582, 583.
Bricklayers, 582.INDEX.
623
Bridges, Capt. (“Little James”),242, 253.
Bridgewater, Mass., 135, 437, 529, 557, 558,
592, 609; persons, 81, 187, 191, 245,
437, 44i, 529, 534, 569.
Bridgewater, Mass., History of, (Mitchell),
xii.
41 Brief Narration,” 443. See 44 Winslow.”
Briggs, Clement, 190, 293, 398, 355, 401.
Briggs, James, 588.
Briggs, Jonathan, 603.
Brigham, William, 402.
Bright, Rev.-----, 326, 327.
Brimsmead, Rev. Win., 467, 531.
Briscoe, Nathaniel, 424.
Bristol, Eng., 145, 146, 238.
Bristol, Me., 128.
Bristol, R. I., 132, 136, 164, 496, 609; per-
sons, 508, 564.
Bristol, History of (Munroe’s), 538.
Bristol County, Mass., 136, 337, 521, 572,
608, 609.
British Highways, 17.
Britteridge, Richard, 101, 183, 186, 299.
Broad-Church Puritans, 7.
Broadcloth, 389.
Brodhead, J. R., 60, 306.
Bromley, Mr., 452.
Brookfield, 55.
Brooklime, 99.
Brooks, 92, 100, 109.
Brooks, Susan Dunham- (Mrs. Wm.-), 440.
Brooks, William, 440.
Brown, Anthony, Esq., 13.
Brown, Dorothy (Mrs. John-), 517, 520.
Brown, James, 503, 508, 517, 520, 523, 524,
525> 547.
Brown, John (weaver), 517.
Brown, John (Me.), 118.
Brown, John, 420, 515, 517-520, 526, 608.
Brown, John (2), 520, 521.
Brown, John (Ossawatomie), 190, 378.
Brown, Lydia Howland (Mrs. Jas.-), 508,
520.
Brown, Mary (2d Mrs. Peter-), 378.
Brown, Peter, no, 112, 183, 186, 189, 190,
294, 298, 378, 404, 5*7*
Brown,------(1st Mrs. Peter-), 378.
Brown, Rev. Robert, 13, 14.
Brown, Williafn (Captain), 145.
Brown, William (44 chyrurgeon ”), 380.
Brown, The brothers (Salem), 327
Brown, spellings, 610.
Browning, Henry, 288.
44 Brownist ” church at Leyden, The, 284.
44 Brownists ” 8, 13, 14, 37, 47, 207, 318,
326, 328.
44 Brownists,” The name, 278.
Brown’s Island shoal, 90, 98, 252, 393.
Brunswick, Maine, 351.
Bryant,------.
Buccaneering, 61.
Buck, Rev.-------, 433.
Bucket, Mary, 244, 245, 295, 299, 475.
Buckingham Deeds, The, 610.
Bucks, 76.
Buell, William, and wife, 516.
Buhrs (Mill), 438.
Building operations, 109, 582, 583.
Buildings, 1621, 179.
Bulkley, Edward, 431, 533.
Bulkley,-----, 533, 534.
Bull, Blackstone’s, 512.
Bull, Dixey, 245.
44 Bull,” The ship, 61.
Bullets, 447.
Bullock’s Cove, 522.
Bulls, 257, 293, 295, 438. .
44 Bumble-bees,” 377.
4‘ Bunch of Grapes ” tavern, 114.
Bunker Hill, 323.
Burcher, Edward, 244, 300.
Burcher,-----(Mrs. Edward-), 244, 300.
Burge, Elizabeth (Mrs. Thomas, Jr.), 596.
Burge, Thomas, Jr., 596.
Burgess, Jacob, 487.
Burglary, 424.
Burial Hill, Plymouth, 34, 158, 323, 380,
401, 500, 607.
Burials, 283, 589, 590.
Burial-service, The Episcopal, 589.
Burleigh, Lord, 8. See Cecil.
Burning alive in England, 4, 5.
Burscough, Eng., 451.
Burslem, Mr.-----, 320.
Bursley, Mr.-----(deputy), 320.
Burton, 13.
Bushel, 400.
Butler, Mary, 191.
Butler’s Hole, 141.
Butter, 54, 119, 255, 336, 376, 585, 602.
Butterworth, John, 523, 524.
Button, William, 59, 185, 299.
Buttons, 81.
Buzzard’s Bay, 118, 138, 139, 143, 170, 205,
29°y 29*i 380, 592.
ABLE, the French Telegraph, 482.
^ Cabot, John, 142.
Cabot, Sebastian, 138, 142.
44 Cadet,” The term, 160.
Calves, 293, 294, 296.
40624
INDEX.
Calvin, John, 47, 491.
Calvinists, etc., 13, 36, 500.
Calvinists, Dutch, 181, 332.
Cambridge, 143, 296, 336, 391, 393, 394,
402, 424, 425, 426, 427, 583, 586, 605.
See Newtown.
Cambridge, England, 362, 424, 512.
“Cambridge Concordance,” The, 514.
Campbell, Lord, 251.
Camphire, 67.
Camphor, 67.
Canacum, 170, 174, 211, 214, 232.
Canada, xxii, 178.
^.Canals, 48, 290, 291.
Canaries, The, 586.
Candlesticks, 588.
Canne, Rev.-----, 440.
Cannibals, 131.
Cannon. 87, 308, 318, 372, 373.
Cannon-balls, 528, 529.
Cannon, John, 191, 300.
Canoes, 75, 371.
Canonicus, 133, 198, 199, 406.
Canopy over Plymouth Rock, 158, 613,
614.
Canton, Mass., 135, 528.
Capawak, 153, 174, 225. See Martha’s Vin.
Cape Anne, 142, 150, 151, 255, 256, 272,
274, 297, 313, 332, 361+, 389; Hewes’
raid on Plymouth’s property at, 280.
Cape Cod, 59, 60, 61,62, 68, 118, 138,143,
145, 146, 147, *49, *5°, *5', i65> 290,
307, 311,312,313, 361+, 583, 609; per-
sons, 234, 245, 380, 599, 603; Canal,
290, 291. 305, 592; explorations (the
Pilgrim), 67, 70-90 ; forests, 67, 72; har-
bor, 62, 92 ; Indians, 136,232; maps, 71,
84, 150; named, 69; Railroad, 306;
shoals, 273, 311; soil and vegetation, 67,
68, 72 ; wolf barricade, etc., 592, 593.
Cape Cod, History of (Freeman), xii,
xviii.
“ Cape Cod Folks ” (the novel), 290.
Cape “James” (Cod), 69, 150, 151.
Cape Malabar, 306, 307.
Capital Cases, 342, 343, 407, 413, 537, 572,
601.
Capitals, Use of, in surnames, 611.
“Captain”-------, The title, 208.
“ Captain Shrimp ” (Standish), 321.
Captain’s Hill, 96, 97, 446, 449, 567.
Carbines, 319.
Card-playing, 604.
“Careswell,” Marshfield, 445, 540, 541.
Carleton, Sir Dudley, 33.
Caroline, Queen, 595.
Carpenter, Agnes, 37, 246, 248, 461.
Carpenter, Alexander, 248, 461.
Carpenter, Alice, 38, 248, 249. See Mrs.
Southworth.
Carpenter, Anna, 461.
Carpenter, Juliana, 38, 248,461.
Carpenter, Joseph, 523.
Carpenter, Mary, 461.
Carpenter, Priscilla, 192, 378, 462.
Carpenter family, 24, 461, 462.
Carpenters (woodworkers), 245, 246, 288,
355. 37*. 379. 39*-
Carr, Commissioner -----, 497.
Carrots, 117.
Carter, Robert, 184, 186, 299.
Cartwright, Commissioner------, 497.
Cartwright, Rev.-----, 388, 589.
Cartwright’s Commentary, 33.
Cartwright’s Confutation of Rhemists, etc.,
33-
“ Carvel,” 99. See “ chervil.”
Carver, Gov. John (Pilgrim), xv, 32, 34,
43, 52, 59, 64, 65, 83, 108, no, 116, 124,
127, 157, 159, 182, 183, 185, 299; char-
acter of, 158; governor of the “ May-
flower,” 51; confirmed governor of the
colony, 64; his sunstroke and death,
xx, 158.
Carver, Katharine (Mrs. John-), 158, 159,
183, 185, 299; her maid, 184, 187,247,
299-
Carver, Mass., 609.
Carver ponds, 528.
Casson, Edward, 438.
Castine, Me. (Plymouth post at), 333, 334,
36r, 387, 388, 39°, 397-
Castle, The Boston, 529, 580, 582, 583.
Cathedral, A Norse-Indian (!), 141.
Cattle, 257, 260, 272, 279, 293, 294, 295, 297,
343, 347, 376, 400, 4I0> 4T5, 424, 435,
438, 451, 511, 611; division of, 1627,
292-296 ; first, 257; prices of, 296, 297 ;
-ships, 61.
“ Catwater,” The, 57.
Cecil, Lord Robert, 145.
Cecil, William, Lord Burleigh, 14, 15.
Cedar, 67, 91.
“ Cedarville,” 290,
Cetaceans, 85.
Chaldaic taught, 424.
Champlain, Samuel, 73, 90, 146; on beans,
117; on Indians’ beards, 129; at Ply-
mouth, 147; his chart of entrance to Ply-
mouth Harbor, 93, 98.
“ Champlain’s Voyages ” (Slafter), 75.
Channel, English, 55.INDEX.	625
Channing, 605.
Chapman, Ralph, 360.
“Charity,” The ship, 207, 255, 260, 297,
47i.
Charles I., 20, 281,339, 421.
Charles II., 562.
Charles River, 142,147,150, 151, 324, 36i-f,
4°9» 525-
u Charles,” The ship, 503.
Charleston, S. C., earthquake, 578.
Charlestown, Mass., 156, 176, 331, 33^
361+, 510, 594, 605; persons, 226, 318,
326, 379, 538.
Charlestown, R. I., 133.
Charter, Plymouth’s desired, 40, 541, 572.
Charter, Massachusetts Bay’s, 33.
Chase, William, 447.
Chatham, Mass., 62, 89, 136, 209, 609.
Chatham, Earl, ii.
Chauncey, Catherine (Mrs. Charles-), 429.
Chauncey, Charles, 421-423, 427-429, 49
502, 608; farewell and death, 429.
Cheese, 73, 119, 336, 376, 585.
Cheeshateaumuck, Caleb, 429.
Cheever, Dr. G. B., xv, 108.
Chelmsford, 108.
Chelsea, .Mass., 320.
Cherry, Wild, 99.
Cherries, 117.
Chervil, 99.
Chesapeake, The, 142.
Cheshire, Conn., 312.
Chester, Eng., 581.
Chestnut trees, etc., 99, 168, 369.
Chetsum (?), Eng., 188.
Chickatabut, 135,174, 340, 361+, 373.
Chickens, 220, 221.
Child, Dr.----, 442, 527.
u Child of Light,” 370.
Chilton, James, 95,183,185, 186, 299.
Chilton, Mrs. James, 184, 186.
Chilton, Mary, 94, 184, 186,187, 278, 299
Chimneys, 5S3.
Chipman, Hope Howland- (Mrs. .------------
508.
Chipman, John, 487.
Chocolate, 104.
Chorley, 45*> 453-
Christian,----, 485.
Christiana, Nor., 140.
Christians, primitive, marriages, 182.
Christison, Wenlock, 484, 485.
Christmas observance, 102, 103, 104, 196,
Church, Alice Southworth (Mrs. Benj.-), 45 2
564.
Church, Benjamin (Capt.), 246, 462, 55^
560, 562, 564-566; “ Indian Wars,” xii,
xiii, 542.
Church, Elizabeth-Warren (Mrs. Richard-),
246, 353* 564-
Church, Nathaniel, 597, 600.
Church, Richard (Pilgrim), 246, 297, 353,
355.377.401,564-
Church,------, 1775, 291.
Church,------(Capt., 1718), 437.
Church; absence from, 608 ; bells, 605;
-edifice (first), 231; first in Plymouth,
376 {see Leyden St.); -government, Con-
gregational, 606 ; heating, 605 ; -History,
Stevens’, 284; laws (Old Colony), 499;
Leyden (Holland) house, 34,35 ; Leyden
St., 113, 231,358, 359,376, 607; matters,
troubles, etc., 605-608; members, 415,
449; “of the Pilgrimage,” Plymouth,
231, 607; service at Plymouth, 358, 359;
statistics, 605.
Church of England, 278, 605 ; Pilgrims’ re-
gard for, 262; “ -iii the Colonies,” An-
derson’s History of.
Church, Dutch National, The, 284.
Churches, The Reformed, 284.
“ Chyrurjeon,” 610.
Cicada, 377.
Cider, 104, if7, 403, 584.
Citizenship, Indian, 514.
Clams, 99, 205, 223, 224, 242; dried, 168.
Clapboards, 194, 197, 247, 438, 582.
Clark, Alice, 601.
Clark, Faith, 475.
Clark, James, xiv.
Clark, John (Mate), 83, 90,108, 245.
Clark, John (Pastor), 516.
Clark, Nathaniel (Councillor), 531, 570, 571,
Clark, Richard, 183', 186, 299.
Clark, Sarah (Mrs. Wm.-), 553.
Clark, Susanna, 441.
Clark, Susanna (Mrs. Thos.-), 245.
Clark, Thomas, 243, 245, 293, 296, 298,
30I» 570-
Clark, Thurston, 475.
Clark (e) William, 338, 553.
Clark’s Garrison, 553, 557.
Clark’s Island, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97,
98, 99, 100, 113, 149, 436, 531, 571.
Clay, 99, 109, 113.
Clergymen, 288, 530-539, 605.
Clerk, John, 15. See u Clark.”
Clerk, Robert, 150.
Clifton, Richard, .23, 24, 25, 29, 31.
Climate, 86, 101, 111, 112, 180, 1S1, 245,
581, 582.
“ Clink,” The (London), 12.
c626
INDEX.
Clocks, 330.
Cloth, 305, 585, 587.
Clothing, 332, 587.
Coal, 18, 513.
Coats, 322.
Cobb, Ebenezer, 466.
Cobb, Gershom, 554.
Cobbiseconte Falls, 337.
Cobham, Lord, 144.
Cockles, 205.
Cocheco, 318, 361+. See Dover.
Cocoa, 104.
Cod, 69, 99, 107, 307; Tom-, 107.
“ Codex Flatoensis,” The, 139.
Coddington, (Gov., R. I.), 27, 296, 416, 516.
Coffee, 104, 584, 585.
Coffee-pots, 588.
Cohannet, 525.
Cohasset, 151, 291, 361+.
Coining money, 338.
Coke, Sir Edward, 230, 237, 348.
“ Cold Harbor,” 77.
Cole, The name, 291.	,
Cole, James, 114, 400.
Coleman,------, 13.
Coleman,------, Goodwife, 607.
Coleman,------(Pastor), on earthquakes, 578.
Cole’s Hill, 94, 158, 159, 613, 614; burials,
114, 185.
Cole’s Tavern, 114.
Collier, Elizabeth, 462.
Collier, Mary, 477.
Collier, Sarah, 431.
Collier, William, 279, 289, 362, 43T, 434,
454, 455, 462, 477, 478,489, 5°3, 521,
543-
Collier, spellings, 610.
Colonial Commissioners, The, 404,426, 445,
463, 465, 480, 481, 517, 518.
Colonial Council, The, 244.
Colonists, adult (Mayflower), 183.
Colonists, Weston’s, 204.
“Colonization of America, The English,”
(Neill’s), xii.
Colors (flags), 447.
Columbus, Christopher, 138, 140, 142.
Combe, John, 604.
Comets, 6, 458, 570, 578, 579.
Commissioners, Colonial. See u Colon-
ial Commissioners.”
Commissioners of Plantations, The King’s,
82, 385, 442, 443, 497-499-
Committee of Safety, The Boston, 263.
Common-House, The, 106, 109,231.
Commonwealth, English, 415, 443.
Commune, Plymouth not a, 193.
Communion, (church-rite), 37, 47, 256, 421,
422, 524, 532, 605.
Communion-ware, 588.
Como, Italy, witchcraft in, 492.
Compact, The “ Mayflower,” 63,64,65, 401,
402.
Compass, The early history of, 138; finding
points of, by trees, in.
“Complete Gardener,” The, 584.
Compton, Little, R. I., 609, 572.
Conant, Christopher, 244, 245, 300.
Conant, Roger, 245, 269, 271, 272, 273,274,
280, 297, 318, 325.
Conant,-----(Mrs. Roger), 274.
Conant, Roger, Jr., 274.
Conch-shells, 605.
Concord, Mass., 177.
Concord, N. H., 133.
Concord River, 134, 36i-f-(?).
“ Concord,” The ship, 62, 143-145.
Confederation, The New England, xviii,
4I4~417, 445-
“Confession of faith,” 262.
Conformists, English, 157.
Congregational singing, 359 ; variances, 37,
605-607.
Congregationalism, Calvinistic, 605; Con-
necticut, 328; strength at Leyden, 35 ;
History of (Dexter’s) xii; History of
(Punchard’s), 15 ; plot against, 256-275 ;
modern, 5, 16, 605.
Connecticut, 2, 3, 11, 328,377, 414,492,498,
499> 534, 553, 56i» 595> 615.
Connecticut River, 131, 273, 290, 371, 372,
375-
Connecticut lands (Plymouth’s) seized by the
Bay, 391-396-
Connor, William, 191, 300.
Conspiracy, The great Indian, 223.
Conspiracy, The Puritan against Congrega-
tionalism, 256------, 275.
Conspirators, Indian, of 1623,231.
Constables, 402.
Consumption, 114, 439.
Contracts, Dutch marriage, 249.
Convention of 1788, The, 605.
Cook, Francis, 183, 186, 293, 298, 475, 476,
559-
Cook, Hester (Mrs. Francis-), 186,244, 246,
293, 298, 475.
Cook, Jacob, 187, 293, 298, 559, 560.
Cook, Jacob (2), 559.
Cook, Jane, 245, 293, 298.
Cook, John, 184,186, 246, 293,298, 344,438,
466, 468, 475, 476, 487, 488.
Cook, Josiah, 412.INDEX.
627
Cook, Mary, 293, 298.
Cook, Sarah Warren-(Mrs. John-), 246.
“ Cook’s Brook,” 85.
Cooper, Elizabeth, 596.
Cooper, Humility, 184, 186, 187, 294, 298.
Cooper, Jane (widow), (?) 501, 502.
Cooper, John, 378.
Cooper, Priscilla Carpenter-Wright- (Mrs.
John-), 378, 462.
Cooper, William, 393.
Cooper,-----, 596.
Coopers, 186, 566.
Copeland, John, 484, 485.
Copenhagen, Den., 139.
Coppin, Robert, 46, 81, 83, 86.
Copping, John, 14.
Coral, 369.
Coram, Thomas, 344.
Corbitant, 172, 173, 174, 175, 217, 218, 222.
Cordage, Indian, 76, 99.
Corlet, Mr.-----, 495.
Corn, Indian, (maize, q. v.), 74, 78, 92, 116,
149, 161, 179,197,209,258, 288, 302, 322,
563, 577; “corn,” a general term, 116;
-bread, 163; distribution of five grains,
a myth, 242; -fields, 99, 106, 150, 161,
206; mills, 192; roasted-, 207; seed, 166;
-stalks, 117; taken atPamet, 171; “ Vin-
land,” 139.
Cornice, price and spellings of, 609.
Cornish, Samuel, 482.
Corpus Christi College, 26.
Corselet, 70; Standish’s, 105.
Coryat, Tom, 588.
Costumes, 308; Indian, 118, 120, 125, 126.
Cotswold rams, 296.
Cotton, 424, 585, 587; clothing, 585.
Cotton, John, xiii, 27, 359, 370; on Puri-
tanism, 325, 328.
Cotton,-----, (Mrs. John-), 388.
Cotton, John, Jr., 364, 467, 507, 530, 531,
542, 569.
Cotton, Josiah, 596.
Cotton,-----, (Colonel, 1775), 29*.
Council, The Governor’s, 159,160, 201,255.
Council for New England, 52, 61, 154, 236,
324» 337, 338-
Council of War, 422, 423, 447.
“ Councillors,” 402.
“ Count,” The title, 282.
Counties, formation of, 6o8#
Court of Assistants, 573.
Court General, The, 81.
Court Plymouth, 159-161.
Court of Election, The, 404, 573.
Court session of 1624, 264-269.
Court matters, cases, etc., 160, 161, 344,
362, 363, 4*3, 4i9>423,424,434,475,476,
478, 487, 489,492, 493,502,503,512, 515,
516, 519, 523, 527,535, 537,58«, 596-604,
607, 608.
Courts, formation of, 159, 608.
“ Courtship of Myles Standish,” The poem,
-66.
Coventry, Jonathan, 598.
Coventry, Thomas, 289.
Cowin, John, 601, 602.
Cowles (Coles ?), Elizabeth, 379.
Cows, 343, 388, 451; -keepers, 296.
“ Cow-yard,” The, 98.
Coxhall, John, 484.
Crabbe, Rev.------, 46.
Crabs, 99; -shells, 80.
Crackstone, Anna, 188.
Crackstone, John, 183,185, 188, 299.
Crackstone, John, Jr., 184,185,187, 293,298.
Craddock, Matthew (Gov.), 329, 538.
Cranberries, 117.
Cranbrook, Eng., 340.
Cranes, 115, 309.
Cranston, Gov., 562.
Crew, coarseness of the “ Mayflower’s,” 155,
156.
Crimes, 2, 341, 342, 343. See “Capital
Cases.”
Crippen,----(Mrs. Thomas-), 598.
Crispe,-----(Mrs. George-), 603.
Crombie, Dea.-----, 607.
Cromwell, Oliver, 217, 369, 525.
Cromwell, Captain, 412,413.
Cromwell, spellings, 611.
Crooker, Francis, 423.
Crops, 585, 586.
Crosby, Leander, 315.
Crosby, Thomas, 534.
*1 Cross-and-Pyle, ’ ’ 604.
Cross, Daniel, 406.
Crossman, Sachem, 522.
Cross-staff, The, 146.
Croston, Eng., 452, 453,
Crow-bounties, 593.
Crow, William, 592.
Cruelty, Indian, 224.
Crusaders, The, 594.
Cucumber, The, 117.
“Cudbert,” 378. See Cudbertson or Cuth-
bert.
Cudbertson, Samuel, 378.
Cudworth, James (Gen.), 338, 361,401,434,
451, 465, 480,488-490, 501, 502-505, 506.
Cudworth,------, (Mrs. James-), 504, 6oy#
Cudworth, Janies, Jr.f 600.628
INDEX.
Cudworth, Jonathan, 600.
Cudworth, Mary, 503.
Cudworth, Ralph, 502.
Cudworth, Ralph, D. D., 502.
Cuirass armor, 70.
Cultivating the fields, 157.
Cumberland, R. I., 511, 609.
Cumberland coal, 513.
Cumley,----, (Mrs. Abraham-), 602.
Cummaquid, 170.
Cupples, Upham, & Co., 259.
Currency, 324.
“ Cushenoc,” 322.
Cushman, Mary Allerton (Mrs. Thos.-),
187, 466, 468, 476.
Cushman, Mary Singleton (Mrs. Robt.-),
192.
Cushman, Robert, 43, 51, 108, 192, 193,
204, 243, 279, 342 ; his discourse, (“ Ser-
mon,,’) xvi, 192 ; death of, 282 ; failings
and disobedience, 45, 52, 55, 56; comes
to New England, 190; remarks on New
England, 193; monument to, 468; papers,
194; a wool-comber, 32.
Cushman, Ruth Howland-(Mrs.-------), 508.
Cushman, Sarah, (Mrs. Robt.-), 192.
Cushman, Thomas (Elder), 187, 192, 295,
298, 467, 468, 507, 530; Bradford’s pro-
teg£, 279, 463, 467; monument to, 468;
comes to Plymouth, 190; death of, 468.
Cushman, Thomas, Jr., 600.
Cushman, spellings, 610.
Cuthbertson, Cuthbert, 243, 293, 298, 300,
378-
Cuthbertson, Samuel, 293, 298.
Cuthbertson, Sarah Allerton-Priest (Mrs.
Cuthbert-), 243, 293, 298, 378.
Cutlasses, 88.
Cut River, 363.
Cuttyhunk, 144.
Cypress, 67.
Cyprus, 585.
T'JAMON, Sergeant-----, 503.
^ Dancing, 596.
Dand,-----, 527.
Danforth, Samuel (Pastor), 447, 511, 533.
Danish service, 61.
Dartmouth, Eng., 55, 56.
Dartmouth, Mass., 144, 475, 528, 554, 562,
572,609.
Dates (O. S. and N. S.), xix; xxi, 101, 102.
“Daubing” (clay), 113.
D’Aulney, Lieut., 387.
Davenport, Captain,---, 580.
“ Davies,” John, 150.
Davis, John, 602.
Davis, Judge (Boston), 192, 197.
Davis,-----, (Quartermaster), 291.
Davis, William T., xii, xiii, 15, 114, 159,
314, 358, 431; on Robinson’s detention,
259.
Davison, William (Secy.), 8, 19,20.
Day, John, 425.
Day, G. E. (Prof.), 35.
Day, Stephen (printer), 425, 426, 6to.
Deaconesses, 31.
“ Deaconing ” hymns, 359.
Deacons, 31, 34, 325, 335, 378, 379.
Dead, list of, up to 1627, 299, 300.
Deane, Charles, xiii, xv, 197.
Deane, Elizabeth (Mrs. Stephen-), 192.
Deane, Stephen, 190, 192, 295, 298, 436,
437-
Death, First (at sea), 59.
Deaths from “ first sickness,186, 187.
1‘ Decayed Towns,” 27.
De Costa, Rev. B. F., 145.
Dedham, Mass., 496, 583, 593.
“Deed pole,” A, 236.
Deeds, 411.
Deeds, County Registry of, 251.
Deer, 76, 80, 109,114,132, 179,242; paths,
73, 78 ; traps, 75, 433, 434.
Deerfield massacre, The, 552.
Deer Island, 361 +.
Delano,----, The name, 191. See Delanoy.
Delano,----, 569.
Delano, B. F., 191.
Delano, Jabez, on earthquakes, 578.
Delano, Jonathan, 559.
Delano,. Mercy Warren- (Mrs. Jonathan-),
559-
Delano, Thomas, 600.
Delanoy, 362.
De la Noye, Philip, 190,191, 292, 293, 298.
De Launay, Jean, 191.
De Launay, Marie (Mrs. Jean-), 191.
Delaware, Lord, his body-guard, 285.
t( Delayed Marriages,” 81, 599, 600.
Delays before final landing, 66.
Delft, gates of, 48.
Delfthaven, 48, 50.
De Monts, 147.
Denmark and the Danes, 139,140.
Dennis, William, 15.
Departures (Pilgrim), from Amsterdam, 31;
Delfthaven, 50; England, 28, 55, 57 ;
Leyden, 49.
Deputy-Governor, The last, 277.
De Rasieres, Isaak, 303, 305, 306 ; on theI
INDEX;
629
Fort, 230; letters to Plymouth, 303,
304, 305 ; on Plymouth, 306-309.
Dermer, Capt. Thomas, 78, 79, 117, 119,
122, 152, 153.
“Description of New England,” clams, 205.
“ Desire,” The barque, 472, 532, 586.
Devill, Walter, 545.
De Ville, 545. See “ Devill.”
Devol, 545. See “ Devill.”
D’Ewes,-------, 385.
Dexter, Gregory, 366.
Dexter, Henry M. (Rev.), xii, xvi, xviii,
J4> 22, 24, 33, 34, 35, 91, 249, 367; on
Robinson, 283; on the Fullers, 285.
Dice, 604.
Dickens (?), Reynulph, 34.
Dickerson,----, 590, 591.	[508.
Dickinson, Elizabeth Howland- (Mrs.----),
Dighton, Mass., 526.
Dighton, Frances, 526.
Dighton Rock, 129, 140.
Dike, East Harbor, 77.
Dillingham, Hannah, 604.
Diluvium, 77.
Dingley, John, 448.
Dingley, Mary, 448.
Dingley, Sarah— (Mrs. William-), 188.
Dingley, William, 188.
Dining, dinners, etc., 117, 585, 588, 589.
Dipping (baptism), 366, 422.
“Discoverer,” Browne’s ship, 145, 146.
u Discovery,” The, 61, 208.
Diseases, 281, 282, 335.
“ Disorderly married,” 503.
Dissenters, 589.
Divinity of Scriptures, 524.
Divorces, 245, 363, 596, 597.
Dix, Anthony, 244, 245, 300.
Dixey Bull, 245.
Doane, John, 343, 376, 378, 401, 412, 434.
Doctors’Commons, London, 159.
Dogs, 72, hi, 113, 476.
Domes day Book, 21,140.
Doncaster, Eng., 21.
Dorchester, Eng., 272.
Dorchester, Lord, 33.
Dorchester Company, 272.
Dorchester, Mass., 78, 335,361 +, 492,586 ;
persons, etc., 78, 288, 357, 388, 511, 514,
523> 526, 53i. 533. 5365 church, 392,
393! vessels, 605.
Doten, 83. See “ Dotey.”
Dotey (Doty “Doten” or Doughty) Ed-
ward (Pilgrim), 83, 160, 183, 185, 186,
293,298,401,433,475.
Dotey, Edward, Jr., 475.
Dotey, Faith Clark- (Mrs. Edw..), 475.
Dotey, Francis, 526, 527.
Dotey, John, 475.
Dotey, Sarah Faunce- (Mrs. Edw., Jr.-), 475.
Double small-letters, initial use of in sur-
names, 611.
Doughty, 475, 526. See Dotey.
Dover, N. H., 133, 482; persons, 245, 318,
399-
“ Dover Cliff,” 143.
Downing, Emanuel, 609.
Dracut, spellings, 610.
Drake, Dr., xiii, xiv, xviii, 175; on Indians,
546.
Drake, Francis, Sir, 46.
Dress, Indian, 120.
Drew, Capt. Sylvanus, 291.
“Drinking,” tobacco, 403. See Tobacco-
smoking.
Droitwich, Eng., 445.
Droughts, 241, 582,
Druillette, Father (?), 458.
Drums, 124, 308, 447, 540, 605.
Drunkenness, 399, 603, 604.
Dublin, Ire., 561.
Duck-shot, 273.
Ducks, wild, 76, 77.
Dudley, Chief-Justice, 571.
Dudley (Dep. Gov.), 350, 357, 369, 382,383,
424.
Dudley, Robert. See “ Leicester.”
Dudley, John, Sir, 112.
Duelling, 160.
“ Dumb reading,” 359.
Dunham, Susan, 440.
Dunham, Thomas, 598.
Dunster, Henry, 424-427, 501; burial and
grave, 424.
Dunster,-----Glover- (Mrs. Henry-), 426.
Dunes, sand, 67, 311.
Dutch, The, at Connecticut, 371, 372, 373,
394; Church (National), 284; cow, a,
296; discoverers and claims, 149, 153,
303, 3°4» morals, 38, 309; merchant’s
intriguing, 56, 60; Republic, 63; settle-
ments. 417; ship at SoWams, 216, 217,
218; threats, 447; trade and traders,
132, 398, 586.
Duxbury, 362, 409, 414, 486, 488, 531, 573,
589, 592,	593,	609; persons,	etc., 83,
187, 188,	245,	274,	296,	355,	361,	362,
401, 423,	43I>	436,	437,	447,	462,	475t
477, 482,	508, 566,	567,	568,	569,	603,
609; Bay, 96,97 ; History of (Winsor’s),
xii; pioneers, 191; mill, 525; quota of#
1676, 557*INDEX.
630
Duxbury, spellings (eleven), 611.
Duxbury Hall, Eng., 451, 452, 453.
Dwelling-houses, 1624, 258.
Dyer, Mary (Mrs.), 484.
41 T?AGLE,” 107.
. **-' Eagle-tree Pond, 567.
Ear-cutting, 485.
Earthen ware, 588.
Earthquakes, 577, 578.
East Boston, 318, 373, 497.
Eastham, Mass., 61, 85, 89, 119, 136, 152,
I7°> 4”? 412, 562, 592, 599, 609; per-
sons, etc., 187, 244, 245, 477, 478, 534-
536, 554 5 quota, 1676, 557.
East Harbor, 72, 77; dike, 77; Village, 72,
77-
44 East India Company,1” 61.
Eastman,------, 516.
Easton, Mass., 528, 614.
Easton, Peter, 388.
Eating without a hat, 425.
Eaton, Benjamin, 379, 476.
Eaton, Christian Penn.- (3d Mrs. Francis-),
246.
Eaton,----- (2d Mrs. Francis-), 187, 247.
See 44 Mrs. Carver’s Maid.”
Eaton, Francis, 32, 183, 186, 187, 246, 247,
295, 298, 361, 378.
Eaton------(Justice), 415.
Eaton, Martha,----(Mrs. Samuel-), 187.
Eaton, Nathaniel, 424.
Eaton, Rachel, 295, 298.
Eaton, Samuel, 184, 186, 187, 295, 298,
378,401, 476, 598.
Eaton, Sarah------(1st Mrs. Francis-), 183,
186, 299.
Eclipses, 388, 458, 579.
Eddy, Amy (Mrs. John-), 340.
Eddy, John. 340, 355.
Eddy, Pilgrim, 340.
Eddy, Samuel, 340.
Eddy, William, 340.
Eddystone, The, 57.
Edgartown, Mass., 146.
Edgerton, Kent, 439.
Edinburgh, 284.
Edson, Samuel, 437, 534.
Edson, Susanna Orcutt (Mrs. Samuel-),
534.
Edson, Theodore (Rev.), 534.
Edward, The name, 182, 301.
Edward, The Confessor, 301.
Edward IV., 18.
Edward VI., 142.
Edwards, Tryon, on New England regis-
tration and records, 251.
Eel River, 127, 296, 297, 435, 553.
Eels, 108, 127.
Eggs, 376.
44 Eighty Years’ War,” 39.
Elder Brewster Lot, The, 114.
Elders, ruling, 31, 34, 245, 467.
Elections, 215, 415, 572.
“Election Rock.” See 44Pulpit Rock.”
44 Elias,” The man-of-war, 497.
Eliot, John, 134, 341, 349, 426, 474* 5*3»
533> 536, 537? 538» Indian books of> 53*»
on long hair, 428.
44 Elisha’s Point,” 97.
Elizabeth, The name, 301.
Elizabeth, Cape, 388.
Elizabeth, Queen, and her times, 5, 40, 156,
229, 230, 446, 587, 609.
Elizabeth, 44 Rex.”
“Elizabeth Bonadventure,” The ship, 472,
586.
Elizabeth Islands, 99, 143, 145, 361+, 530,
573> 595-
Ellis, E.E., D.D., 231.
Elms, 99.
Ely,-----, 184, 185, 186, 187, 194.
Emigration from Holland considered, 38-40.
44 Employee,” The term defined, 185.
44 Encounter, The First,” 90.
Endicott, John (Gov.); 193, 297, 320,324-
329> 336? 36o> 36ii 428? 485? 512-
England, capital crimes in, 2; fishermen
from, 143, 149, 236; cattle from, 297 ;
English Channel, The, 192; executions
in, 5; on Philip's War, 561; in 1730,
251.
English, Thomas, 83, 183, 185, 186, 299.
Ensign, 81.
Epaulet, 120.
Epidemics, 281, 373, 377, 378.
Episcopacy in New England, 274-276, 318,
325“327> 329-
Episcopal clergyman — Morrell, 239.
Episcopal services in Plymouth, 264.
Episcopius, 36.
Eric, 138.
Eric Upsi, Bishop, 139, 141.
Ermyn Street, 17.
Espousals, Public, 600.
Essex, Earl of, Robert Devereux, 8.
Essex, Eng., families, 159.
Essex, Eng., Howlands, 508*
Eucharistic celebrations, 329.
Evans, Maria, 188.
Evans, spellings, 610.INDEX.
631
Everett, Edward, 612.
Evertsen, Admiral, 504, 522.
Evidence, 403.
Ewer, Thomas, 603.
Ewer, spellings, 611.
Ewes, 296.
Excommunication, 422, 475.
Executions, 407, 537, 572, 601, 604; first in
Plymouth, 343 ; form of English, 5.
Exeter, Eng., printing in, 426.
Expedition to Boston Harbor (2d), 200,201,
202.
Explorers, early, of New England, 138-154.
Exposing criminals’s heads, 5.
Eyrbygga Sagas, 140.
TfAIRHAVEN, 609.
“ Faith,” Statue of, Plymouth, 614,
615.
“Falcon,” A, 115.
“ Falcon,” ship, 61.
“Faldye Baggu,” 35.
Fall, John, 554.
“ Falling Sickness,” The, 423.
Fall River, Mass., 165, 217, 550, 554.
Falmouth, Mass., 337, 506, 508, 593, 608.
“Families,” Pilgrim (list of), 185.
Famines, 1622, 204-211 ; 1623, 240-242,
246.
“ Fans,” 468. See “ Faunce.”
Farabas, spellings, 611.
Farewell at Leyden, 47.
Farrowbush, spellings, 611.
Fast-days, 241, 335, 573, 607 ; at Leyden,
44, 46.
Faunce, John, 243, 245, 293, 298, 463, 468.
Faunce, “ Mannasseh,” 468.
Faunce, Patience Morton- (Mrs. John-),
245, 463, 468.
Faunce, Patience, 468.
Faunce, Patience (2), 468.
Faunce, Sarah, 475.
Faunce,-----(Mrs. Thomas-).
Faunce, Thomas (Elder), 93, 116, 245, 464,
466, 468, 469, 475.
Faunce, spellings, 611.
Feak’s Island, 361.
Fear of Indian conspirators, 1623, 232.
Federal Street named, 605.
Fees, jail, 483.
Felix (the Indian), 536.
“Fells,” 302.
Fells, Master, 312, 313.
Female labor in the fields, 240.
Fences, 280, 399.
Ferguson, Major, 87.
Ferries, 360.
Fertilizer, 157.
Fetche’s Island, 361.
Fevers, 187, 256, 325, 369, 377, 378,444.
Fields, size of, 296.
Figs, Clark’s Island, 91.
Financial troubles, 51.
Finney, Dea. -—, 468.
Finns, 417.
Fir, 168.
Fire-alarms (warnings), 403.
Fire-arms, 306,308, 317, 318, 399, 529; dis-
charge of, 403 ; proclamation against sell-
ing to Indians, 318.
Fire-engines, 583.
Fire of 1623, The, 249, 250.
Fireplaces, 583.
“ First Comers, The,” defined, 244.
First criminal offence, 160, 161.
“First Encounter,” 169, 170, 317, 321.
First “Sickness,” The, 185, 186, 187.
Fish, fertilizer, 308; hooks, 107; shooting,
167, 169; smoked, 583 ; traps, 307, 308.
Fisheries, early, 143, 149; Newfoundland,
143 ; North American, 1623, 236, 237.
Fishing, 280, 287, 307; -fleet, The, 304;
-fleet (Maine), The, 288; -mania, The
English, 255; -stage, The Cape Ann,
255 ; tackle, the Pilgrims’, 107, 205.
Fitcher, Lieutenant, 316, 317.
“Five Confederacies,” The, 131.
Flag, Endicott cuts the cross of a, 360, 361-
364-
Flag of England, 51, 360.
Flateyarbdk, The, 140. See “Codex Fla-
toensis.”
Flavell, Thos. and son, 191, 300.
Flavell,----(Mrs. Thos.), 244.
Flax, 99, 197, 585, 587.
Fleet Prison, The, 334, 386.
Fletcher, Maria (1st Mrs. Moses-), 187.
Fletcher, Moses, 183, 186, 299.
Fletcher, Sarah (2d Mrs. Moses-), 187.
Fletcher, Thomas, 253, 254, 279, 282, 289.
“ Fleur-de-Lys ” (?), 78.
Flint-locks, 87.
Flogging. See Whipping.
Flood, Edmund, 244, 300.
Florida, 39, 142.
Flounder, 99.
Flour, 336, 347; for Washington’s army,
1775, 291.
Flushing, Hoi., 28, 43.
“ Flying Hart,” ship, 61.632
INDEX.
Fobes, Elizabeth South worth- (Mrs. Wm.*),
598, 599*
Fobes, William, 599, 611.
Fobes, spellings, 611.
Folthorpe, Eng., 13.
Font, Austerfield, 24.
Food, 583-585; Indian, 120, 121.
“Fool,” hi.
Forbes, spellings, 611.
Forbush, spellings, 611.
Ford,-------(Constable), 603.
Ford, John, 191, 294, 298.
Ford, Martha (widow), 191, 248, 294, 298,
378.
Ford, Martha, 191, 192, 294, 298.
Ford, William, 191, 300, 301.
“ Forefathers, The,” defined, 244.
Forefathers* Rock. See Plymouth Rock.
Forefathers’ Rock, canopy, 158.
Forest burning, Indian, 67, 86, 112.
Forks, 588, 589.
Fornication, 309.
Forrest, Jean Armand de la, 572, 601.
Fort Andrew, 97.
Fort Hill (Burial Hill), 105, 106, 157, 199,
231; burials on, 231.
Fort, Indian, 176.
Fort, The Pilgrims’, 206, 207; De Rasi-
fcres on, 230; repairs on, 376.
Fort Standish, 97.
Forts, 199.
“Fortune,” The ship, xv, 190, 194.
“Fortune,” Pilgrims, 190,191, 192.
Foster, Edward, 400.
Foster, George, 379.
Foster, Thomas, 34.
“ Founders of New Plymouth” (Hunter’s),
xii, xvi.
Fowler,-----, History of Fall River, 550;
on Philip, 550.
Fox, George, 479, 4S0, 484, 487; “digged
out of his burrowes,” 370.
Fox’s-------, “Book of Martyrs,” 595.
Fox (e),----(Captain), 581.
Fox-bounties, 593.
Foxcroft, —- (Pastor), on earthquakes,
578.
Foxes, 86, 593 ; black, 397.
“Foxians,” 370.
France, 142, 143, 147, 584.
Freake, Bishop, 14.
Freeman, Edmund, 487.
Freeman, Edward, 362, 545,
Freeman’s History of Cape Cod, xii, xviii,
538-
Freeman,-----(Mrs. Samuel-), 477.
Freeman, Samuel, 477.
“ Freeman’s Oath,” The, 425.
“Free Masons,” 609.
Freemasonry, 197.
Freetown, 506, 609.
“ French Discipline,” The, 278.
French fishermen, 143; incursions on Maine
lands, 334, 347, 387, 390; neighbors
to the Pilgrims, 157; settlements, 417;
trade, 398; vessels in New England,
287.
French, George W., 81.
French-Protestant churches, 589.
Frenchman’s Point, 306.
Fresh-water River, 372.
Freydis, 139.
“Friends, The Society of,” 479.
Fruits, 583, 584.
Fuel, 161.
“ Full and by,” 85.
Fuller, Agnes-Carpenter (2d Mrs. Samuel-),
246, 248, 461.
Fuller, Anna. See “ White,” 38.
Fuller, Bridget, 244, 245, 246, 294,298, 379,
461, 495. See 3d Mrs. Samuel-.
Fuller, Elsie-Glascock (1st Mrs. Samuel-),
186, 246.
Fuller, Edward, 183, 184, 186, 299, 380.
Fuller,-----(Mrs. Edward-), 184, 186.
Fuller, Matthew (Dr.), 380,447, 607.
Fuller, Mercy, 379.
Fuller, Samuel (Dr.), 34, 37, 59, 159, 174,
183, 186, 207, 249, 294, 296, 298, 325,
335, 341, 447; name begun with double
small letters, 611; wives, 245, 246, 461;
his teaching, death, and will, 296, 379.
Fuller, Samuel {not Dr.), 184,186,187, 300.
Fuller, Samuel, Jr., 186, 294, 298, 379, 437,
476.
Fuller’s-earth, 99.
Funerals, 323, 388, 455, 535, 536, 589, 590.
Funeral-service, The, 388.
Furs, 177, 178, 397, 398.
Fur-trade, The, 306, 361.
Furbush, spellings, 611.
Furnival’s Inn, 316.
AGER, Dr. WILLIAM, 335.
Gainsborough, Eng., 16, 31.'
Galileo, 81.
“Gallant,” hi.
Gallop, John, 273, 274.
Gallop, John, Jr., 273.
Gallop’s Island, 273.INDEX.	633
Galloupe? See “ Gallop,” 273.
Gambling, 604, 605 ; Indian, 167.
Game, 180,205 ; abundance on Cape Cod, 69.
Gangrene, 341.
Gannet, Matthew, 604.
Garda, Greenland, 141.
Gardening, 117, 121.
Gardiner, Sir Christopher, 350-352.
Gardner, Richard, 183, 185-187, 300, 323.
Gardner’s Neck, Mass., 218.
Gargoyle, spellings of, 609.
Garrett, Richard, 341.
Garrett’s Ship,” 538, 539.
Gates, Gov.-----, Va., 433.
Gaul, Indians in, 129.
Gaulois, 36.
Gaunt, Mary, 423.
Gay Head, 143.
Geese, 115, 309; wild, 76, 77.
General Court, The, 403, 404.
General governor, A, 338, 401.
“ Generals,” 247, 259.
Geneva, witchcraft in, 492.
Gentry, 24.
George II., 595.
Georgia, 142.
Gifford, Christopher, 608.
Gifford, Robert, 23.
Gifford, William, 599.
“ Gift of God, The; ” The ship, 148.
Gilbert, Bartholomew, 143, 148.
Gilson, William, 438.
Gioja, Flavio, 138.
Girard, Father, 453.
Girling,----(Captain), 390.
Girls, “ Mayflower,” 184.
Glascock, Elsie, 37, 246. See “ Fuller.”
Glass, 583; -works, 527.
“ Glorious Progress of the Gospel among the
Indians,” The, 444.
Gloucester, Mass., 255, 272, 280, 586; Eng.
109.
Gloucestershire families, 477.
Glover, John, 597.
Glover, Mary (Mrs. John-), 597.
Glover,-----(Rev.), Eng., 399.
Glover,-----(Rev.), 425.
Glover,-----(Mrs.-----[Rev. 2d]), 425,426.
Goats, 258, 287, 292, 376, 389, 424, 583.
Gods, superiority of white-man's, 241.
Goffe, Thomas, 288.
Golding,----, 562.
Gold ore, 338.
Goodall, Mary, 379.
“Goodman,” The title, 359, 360.
Goodman, John, no, 112, 183, 186, 299.
“ Good News from New England” (Wins-
low’s), xvi.
Goodwin, E. S., (Rev.), on locusts, 377.
Goodwin, Isaac, 571.
Goodwin, John Abbott (autograph), xxiii.
Goodwin, Timothy, 508.
Goodwin, William (Elder), 391, 392, 394.
Goodwin, Win. Bradford (autograph), x.
“ Goodwin,” William (?), 391.
Goodyear,------ (Lt. Gov.), 539.
Goodyear,----Mrs. Lamberton- (Mrs.-----),
539-
Gookin,------(Maj.), xiii, 129, 537, 538, 556.
Gookin, ----- (Sen.), 61; on Indian beds,
167; on Indian pots, 220.
Gorges, Ferdinando (Sir), 119, 134,135,148,
I52> 197> 237, 238, 3i9, 352> 5I0> 538;
claimants, 318; colonists, 316; “Gov-
ernor-general,” 238, 385 ; at Plymouth,
238; return, 239.
Gorges, Robert, 238.
Gorges and Mason, 385.
Gorham, Desire Howland- (Mrs.—:—), 508.
Gorham, John (Capt.), 557.
Gorham, Ralph, 608.
Gorton, Samuel, 371, 419,442,443, 480, 485,
517, 518, 520, 547.
Gortonians, 517, 518.
Gosnold, Bartholomew, 143-145, 147; and
Cape Cod, 61, 62, 69.
Gosnold, Mass., 145.
Gosnold’s Pond, 144.
Gout, 531.	,
Government, Forming a system of, 63-65.
Government of Plymouth, 159, 160.
Governor, The first, 64.
“ Governors-general ” for New England,
223, 238, 239, 309, 385.
“ Graf,” The title, 282.
Grafton, 558.
Grain, 116, 179; -land, 152.
Grampuses, 85, 86.
Grand Pilot of England, The, 142.
Grand Jury, 342.
“ Grand-Poisson” 85.
Grand Sachem, The, 132, 133, 134, 176.
Granger, Thomas, 601.
Grant, Capt. John, 340.
Grapes, 67, 73, 99, 583.
Grass, 260; beach-, ,68; -seed, 370; silk-,
80, 197: swamp-, 109.
“ Grave,” The title, 282.
Graves, Thomas (Capt.), 472, 586.
Graves, Bradford’s, 466, 467; Cole’s Hill,
116, 158,159; Indian, 73 ; European, on
Cape Cod, 321; Standish’s, 447, 448,634
INDEX.
Gravesend, Eng., 263.
Gravestones, 231, 532, 536, 568, 569, 571,
607; Governor and Major Bradford’s,
466, 467; Myles Standish’s, 447, 448;
Le Baron’s, 380; Cushman, 468.
Gray, Edward, 231, 401.
Gray, John, 603.
“ Great Hollow,” 77.
“ Great Hope,” The ship, 390.
“ Great Ireland,” 140.
Great Meadow Creek, 89.
Great Northern Railway, 17.
Great Northern Road, 17, 18, 23.
Greek Testament, 591.
Green or Greene, Richard (Master), 209.
Green, Samuel (Capt.), 402, 426, 470.
Green, Samuel, JrM 426.
Green,-----(3d Printer Green),	558.
Green,-----(Doctor, Providence),	407.
Green or Greene’s River, 363.
Green’s Harbor, 361+, 363.
Greenland, 139, 141, 142, 594.
Greenleaf, Thomas, 484.
Greenwood, John (Rev.), 15, 31, 285.
Greyhounds, Irish, 592.
Griffin, William, 604.
Griffin,--- (Mrs. Wm.-), 604.
Grimes,----, 231.
Grimsby Common, 27, 28.
Grindall, Edmund (Archbp.), 8, 22.
Groton, Ct., 132.
Groton, Mass., Indians, 135; block-house,
553-
Ground-nuts, 127, 205, 223.
Grove, Mary, 350, 351, 352.
Gudburn, Peter, 289.
Gudlaugson, Gudleif, 140.
Gudleif, Gudlaugson, 140.
Gudrid, 139.
Guiana, 39, 40, 51.
Guilder, A, 309.
“ Guinea,” a blunder for Guiana, 39.
‘‘Guinea,” The man-of-war, 497.
Gullison, Thomas, 602.
Gunner, The master-, 83.
Gunpowder, 81, 202, 357.
Guns, 87, 451.
Gunsmiths, 468.
“Gurnet,” The, 90, 96-98, 139, 341; dis-
tances from, 97; first mentioned, 201.
“Gurnet’s Nose,” The. See “Gurnet,”
201.
Guy Faux conspirators, 453.
“ Guy Fawkes’ Day,” celebration, 1623,249.
TTADLEY, Mass., 131.
“ Hail, Pilgrim Fathers of our Race,”
469-
Hailstorms, 582.
Hailstone, William, 603.
Hair, long, immoral, 428.
Hakluyt, Richard, 145.
Halberts, 540.
Hale, Sir Matthew, 492.
“ Half Moon, The,” Hudson’s ship, 149.
Half-Pike, in.
Halifax, Mass., 558, 609.
Halifax, N. S., xiv.
Halifax ponds, 528, 543.
Hall, Caroline B., 447.
Hall,-----(Captain), 97.
Hall, Francis, P. M., 22.
Hall,-----(Goodwife), 598.
Hall, Ruth (Mrs.------), 447.
Hallet. See “ Hellot,” 545.
Hallet, Andrew (Sen.), 296.
Hallowell, Samuel, 597.
Hall’s Corner, Duxbury, 448.
Hall’s Corner, Burying-ground, 448.
Hamblin, James, 217.,
“ Hamden, Master John,” 216, 221, 222.
“ Hamdin, Mr.,” 217.
Hampden, John, 204, 216, 217.
Hamilton, Marquis of, 197.
Hammatt, Major William, 508.
Hampton, N. H., 482.
Hanbury, Wm., 344, 438.
Handford, Margaret, 506.
“ Handmaid,” The ship, 187, 320, 340.
Hanging for theft, 224, 601.
“ Hanging-in-chains,” 230.
Hanson, Alice, 24.
Hanson, -— (Captain), 238.
Hanson, John, 23.	[xii.
Hanover, Mass., 588; History of/Barry’s),
Hap’s Hill, Duxbury, 144.
Harbor (Plymouth), freezing, 181.
Harcourt, 39.
Harden’s Hill cemetery, 448.
Hardships of the Pilgrims, xix.
Hardy, Maria, 283.
Harker, John, 602.
Harlem, 32.
Harper, Robert, 608.
Harping Iron, 81.
Harpoon, 81.
Harris, William, 254.
Harris,---, 557.
Harrison, General, 230.
Hartford, 394, 605, 615; churches, 422;
I Congress of, 1684, 4*6-INDEX.
635
Harvard College, 303; persons of, graduates,
etc., 347, 439, 44i, 495* 497, 525, 531"
534, 536, 539, 540, 558, 56i> 579 J be-
ginnings of (under Dunster and Chaun-
cey), etc., 423-425, 427; public dinners,
117, S^-
Harvest festival, 180.
Harwich (Mass.), families, 245.
Harwood, Henry, 341.
Hasty pudding, 585.
Hatchets, 113, 322.
Hatfield Chase, 21.
Hatherly, Timothy, 180, 244, 250, 289, 300,
3°3, 346,362, 465,488,501, 502> 5°3, 5°6,
518, 520.
Hatherly,---(Mrs. Timothy-), 502.
Hathome, William, 403, 518.
Hats worn during meals (?), 425.
Hatton, Christopher (Lord Chancellor), 8.
Hatton, Timothy (Sir), 21.
Hat-wearing, Quaker, 487.
Haven,------, 288.
Haversacks, 164.
Hawes, John, 601.
Hawes, Richard, 187.
Haynaw, Marshal------, 440.
Haynes, Gov. John, 369, 394.
Hazel bushes, 99.
Hazel, John, 516.
Hazelrigg, 217.
Heads, Exposure of criminals’, 5, 226, 229,
230, 468.
Healey,-----(Goodman), 425.
Heard, William, 244, 306.
Heath, Thomas, 289.
Hebrew, Bradford’s, 456,457,467 ; study of,
424, 497.
Hedges, 586.
Heifers, 257, 279, 293, 295, 296, 344, 398.
Hell, Infants in, 425.
Hellot, Andrew, 545.
Hemp, 76, 99, 197, 585, 587.
“ Henbanes,” 581.
Henchman,------, 556.
Henckford, Richard, 379.
Hending, Martha, 379.
Henry II. (France), 587.
Henry IV. (France), 147.
Henry VII., 18, 142.
Henry VIII., 21, 109, 453.
Herons, 309.
Herring, 99, 107, 122, 307, 308.
Herring Pond, 533.
Herring River, 89, 290, 533.
Hewes, Capt. (Cape Ann incursion), 280.
Hiacomes, 538, 539.
Hibbins, Mistress Ann, hung, 492.
Hicks, Ephraim, 295, 298.
Hicks, Lydia, 245, 295, 298.
Hicks, Margaret (Mrs. Robt.-), 244, 295,
298.
Hicks, Phebe, 295, 298.
Hicks, Robert, 191, 192, 245, 259, 280, 295,
296, 298.
Hicks, Samuel, 295, 298, 438.
Higgins, Jonathan (Hon.), 315.
Higgins, Richard, 378, 412.
Higginson, Ralph (Rev.), 326, 327, 328,
580,583.
Higginson,-----, 336.
Higginson, Thomas W. (Col.), 2.
High Cliff, Plymouth, 314.
“ High Head,” 314.
High Ritualists, 7, 8.
“ Highland Light,” The, 61, 71, 73.
Hihoudi, “Judge,” 590.
Hildersham, Rev., 37, 388, 589.
Hildreth, Richard, 60.
Hilier, Thomas, 437.
Hill, Burial. See “ Burial ” and “ Fort.”
Hill, Cantaugcanteest^1 Watson’s”), 115.
Hill, Cole’s (opp. p. 1), 106, 114, 116.
Hill, Fort. See “Burial ” above.
Hill, Hap’s, 144.
Hill, Harden’s, 448.
Hill, John, 355.
Hill, Negro-Head, 71, 72.
Hill, Strawberry (Watson’s), 115.
Hill, Thomas. 436, 586.
Hill, Watson’s, 115, 117.
Hills, Blue, 135, 150 (cheuyot). See Mon-
taup (Mt. Hope); Manomet.
“ Hillside,” 109.
Hills of corn set, 161.
Hilton, Edward, 318, 320, 361+.
Hilton, William, 191, 245, 267, 300, 318.
Hilton,------ (Mrs. Wm,-j, 244, 245.
Hinckley, Samuel, 569.
Hinckley, Sarah (Mrs. Samuel-), 569.
Hinckley, Thomas (Gov.), 275, 313, 505,
532» 546, 554; 569, 57°> 57i, 572, 573,
611.
Hingham, Mass., 318, 337, 605, 608; per-
sons, 274, 380, 514, 596.
“Hireling Ministry, none of Christ’s,” A,
37o-
Hispaniola, 444.
History of New England Indians, 129-137.
History, Pilgrim, authorities, Preface.
History, Pilgrim, non-authorities, Preface,
and 127.
Hither Manomet, 76, 96.636
INDEX.
“Hob,” 228.
Hobart, Ann-Lyford (Mrs. Edmund), 274.
Hobart, Edmund, 274.
Hobart, Jael, 464.
Hobart, Peter (Rev.), 464, 596.
Hobomok, 228. See Abamacho.
Hobomok, 172, 173, 200, 201, 202, 203,
211, 216, 217, 218, 219, 221, 222, 227,
228, 231, 258, 449.
Hobson, Henry, 503.
Hobson, William, 288.
“ Hocking ” embroglio, The, 381-384.
Hocking, John, 381, 382.
Hog Island, R. I., 132.
Hogsheads, 113 ; capacity of, 194.
Holbeck, William, 184, 186, 299.
Holbrook, Joseph, 604.
Holden, Randall, 518.
Holder, Christopher, 484.
Hole or Holl, The Suffix, 2, 141.
Holiday-keeping, 102, 103, 104.
Holl, (Norse), 141.
Holland, flight to, 26; leaving, 50, 71; Royal
' Library of, 306; plague in, 282; a refuge,
81; welcomed all sects, 34; Pilgrims in,
30-50.
Holland, Robert, 279, 289.
Hollaway, William, 602.
Holley, Horace (Rev.), 469.
Hollis, N. H., 593.
Holly, 67, 99.	[603.
Holman, Edward, 243, 245, 293, 298, 598,
Holmes, John, 408, 531.
Holmes, Joseph, 528.
Holmes, Mary Atwood- (Mrs. John-), 531.
Holmes, Obadiah, 475, 515, 517.
Holmes, William (Lieut.), 360, 372, 493.
Holmes,-----(Mrs. William-), 493.
“Holmes’s Hole,” 141.
Hooke, John, 184, 185, 299.
Hooke, William (Rev.), 526, 527, 539.
Hooker,-----(Rev.), 271, 394.
Hooker,-----(Mrs. [Rev.] -), 394.
Hop (Norse), 141.
“H6pa165.
Hopkins, Caleb, 294, 298.
Hopkins, Constance, 184,186,187,245, 294,
299.
Hopkins, Damaris, 184, 186, 187,294, 298.
Hopkins, Deborah, 294, 298.
Hopkins, Elizabeth, 59, 448.
Hopkins, Elizabeth (Mrs. Stephen-), 183,
186, 294, 298.
Hopkins, Ezekiel, 435.
Hopkins, Giles, 184, 1S6, 187, 294,298,412,
476, 608.
Hopkins, John, 412.
Hopkins, Oceanus, 59, i84> l86j xg7> 299f
434-
Hopkins, Stephen, 59, 70, 75, g3> II9> X6o,
163,183, 185,186,189,258, 294, 407,408,
433-435> 438> 559-
Hopkins,-----(Dr.), 589.
Horn Pond, Woburn, 361-f.
Hombeek, or Hornbeck, 284 3*2.
Horns, 605.	*
Horse-boats, 360.
Horse-hire, 1560, 18.
Horse-muscles, 205.
Horses, 297, 347, 360, 388, 398, 416, 451,
502.
Horsford, E. N. (Prof.), 142, *43.
Hose, 587.
Hospitality of the Pilgrims, 205.
Hospitals, Public subsidies to, 197.
House, Cole’s, 114.
House, “Leach,” 114.
House, “Russell,” 114.
House, Dr. Warren’s, 114.
House, Winslow’s (Gov.), 114.
“ House of Good Hope, The,” 372.
Houses, 582, 583.
“ Houthward,” 249.
“ How dah ! ” 560.
Howe, Samuel (Rev.), 440.
Howland, Abigail, 508.
Howland, Arthur, 296, 488, 489, 508, 607.
Howland, Arthur, Jr., 598.
Howland, Deborah, 488.
Howland, Desire, 293, 298, 508.
Howland, Elizabeth, 508.
Howland, Elizabeth (Henry’s), 508.
Howland, Elizabeth Prence- (Mrs. Arthur-),
598. -
Howland, Elizabeth Raynor- Southworth-
(Mrs. Jos.-), 463.
Howland, Elizabeth Tilley- (Mrs. John-),
187, 293, 298, 476, 508, 520.
Howland, Henry, 488, 489, 508, 607.
Howland,-----(Mrs. Henry-), 488.
Howland, Hope, 508.
Howland, Humphrey, 508.
Howland, Isaac, 508.
Howland, Jabez, 508, 559.
Howland, Jabez (2d), 508.
Howland, John, 83, 183, 185, 187, 258, 289,
293> 298> 338> 4i2>4l6>463>488, 5°7» 5©8,
559; ancestry of, 159, 508; character, 189,
489, 507, 509; death, 507; falls over-
board in coming, 58, 59; his wife not
Carver’s daughter, 182,508; land of, 106,
258.INDEX.
637
Howland, John, Jr., 293, 298, 488, 493, 508.
Howland, John (Henry’s son), 508.
Howland, John (Revolution), 507.
Howland, John (The “ Salter ”), 508.
Howland, John A., 508.
Howland, Johns in Essex, Eng., 508.
Howland, Joseph, 463, 508, 589.
Howland, Joseph (Henry’s), 508.
• Howland, Joseph (1775), 5°^*
Howland, Lydia, 520.
Howland, Mary, 508.
Howland, Prence, 598.
Howland, Ruth, 508.
Howland, Samuel, 508, 601.
Howland, Sarah, 508.
Howland, Thomas, 598.
Howland, Zoeth, 488, 508, 607.
Howland,----(Mrs. Zoeth-), 488.
Howland, Me., 508.
Hubbard’s History, xii,xvii, xiii, xiv, 13, 14,
60, 537, 542, 543-
Huckins, Thomas, 493.
Huckleberries, 583.
Hucklebone, no.
Huddleston, John (Capt.), 205, 206.
Hudson River, 44, 56, 62, 132, 149, 324.
Hudson, Henry, 149.
Hudson, Thomas, 289.
“ Hue’s Cross,” 360.
“ Hue’s Folly,” 360.
“ Huggery,” 119.
Hughes,-----, 360.
Huguenots, The, 305, 380.
Hull, Mass., 271, 318, 329, 337, 441, €08.
See “ Nantasket”
Humber River, 27, 409.
Hume, David, 8.
Humphrey, John, 274.
“ Hundred,” The, 18, 452.
Hunsdon, Alice, burned, 492.
Hunt, Christian, 187.
Hunt, Elizabeth, 598.
Hunt, Peter (Lieut.), 520, 540, 598.
Hunt, Thomas (Capt.), 79, 119, 122, 151,
170.
Hunter,-----(Goodwife), 380.
Hunter, Joseph (Rev.), xii, xv, xvi, 17, 20,
21, 22.
Huntington, Rev. E. B., 441.
Hutchinson, Ann, 366.
Hutchinson, Thomas (Gov.), xii, xiii, xiv,
xvii, 13, 14, 328, 550.
Hutmoiden, 174.
Hutton, Archbishop, 22.
“ Hypocrisy Unmasked,” 443.
ICELAND, 138, 142, 594.
Idle River, 22, 23.
Immersion (baptism), 366, 422, 516.
Immigrants, Anne and Little James, 243,
244-
Immigrants, “ Fortune,” 190, 191.
Immigrants, Mayflower, 183, 184.
Immigrants of 1629-30, 331, 332.
Immigrants, statistics on, 415.
Immorality, Dutch, 309.
Impounding, 400.
Impressing, Government’s, 156.
Incantations, Indian, 218.
Independent Church, The first, in England,
440, 441.
Independents, 13, 37.
Indian A, sound of, 118; alarm (Tisquan-
tum’s), 200-202; apologetic salutation,
212; Bible (Eliot’s), 426; books, 426,
53T, 558; characteristics, 129, 130, 137;
chastity, 130; conspiracy (the great),
223; conspiracy against Weymouth and
Plymouth, 214; customs, 216; -gram-
mar (Eliot’s), 219; gratitude, 221; inso-
lence, 227; justice, 21 x; knowledge, 130;
lands honestly acquired by settlers, 193,
546, 548, 549; languages, 118, 140,143,
219, 449, 610 (see notes of Chapter X.);
leggings, 587; morals, 129,130 ; orthoepy,
it8, 219; pestilences, 131, 134, 135, 373,
374, 535 ; physiognomy, 129; population
of New England, 133,137; porridge, 585 ;
punishments, 203; religion, 130; rulers,
132,135; sentimentalists (modern), 233;
spellings, 118, 610; tribes of New Eng-
land, 129-T37; treachery, 212; utensils,
78, 80, 373; women’s work, 211.
“Indian Brook,” 85.
Indians, annoyances from, 198; cannibalis-
tic, 193,341,474; Christian (“praying”),
i93> 34L 474) 546; college-going, 429;
disappearance of the race, 374; domesti-
cated, 191, 545; obtaining fire-arms, 317,
318, 608; Pilgrims’ first sight of (Cape
Cod), 72; Hunt’s capture of, 79, 151;
improvidence of, 166, 167; justice with
which they were treated, 193, 288, 341,
498, 545-549 ; maltreated at Weymouth,
209-211; population, 131-137, 535, 563;
liquor selling to, 403; shooting, 403;
sparseness of, 393.
Indians; Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard,
etc., 133, 538, 539, 563; Boston, 373;
Cape Cod, 232, 341, 535, 563; Charles-
town, R. I., 133; Connecticut, 131, 132,
371, 372; Long Island, 132,416 ; Maine,638
INDEX.
*3h 134, i35» 288, 357, 5^3) 5^4, 572;
Massachusetts, 131, 135, 136, 563; New
Hampshire, 563 ; Plymouth, 136; Rhode
Island, 132, 136, 563; Windsor, 371,372.
Indians, remarks concerning, by Cushman,
130, 136; Champlain, 130; Gookin, 129;
Otis, 547; Palfrey, 548, 549; Pring, 130;
Smith, 151; Williams, 130, 547.
Individual labor, 240.
Ingham, Mary (Mrs. Thos.-), 493.
Ingham, Thomas, 493.
Inhabitants, List of, 1627, 297-300.
“ Inhabitants,” A rank, 405.
Inheritance, Law of, 309.
Innkeepers, 603.
Innocent III., Pope, 491.
Inns, 362, 603.
Inoculation, 594, 595.
Insanity, 322, 601.
Inscriptions, Dighton Rock, 140; Maine
Rock, 141.
Interest, High rates of, 281, 288.
Interference, English, 153.
Interpreter, 162, 175.
Inverness, Scotland, 583.
Ipswich, Mass., 81, 133; persons, 237, 399,
4°4, 424> 571*
Ipswich River, 340.
Ireland, 61; aid for, from New England,
284; aid from, 1676, 561, 562 ; emigrants
from, 312; families of, 406; “Great,”
140 ; language of, 140.
Irish, — (Mrs.), 566.
“ Irian d-it-Mikla,” 140.
Iron, 197; bog ore, 528, 529; works and
workers in the Old Colony, 507, 526-529,
586.
“ Irregular practitioner,” An, 591.
“ Island of New England,” 324.
“Islandof Trevor,” The, 237.
Islands (q. v.), Aquiday, Block, Brewsters,
Brown’s, Capawack, Clark’s, Elizabeth,
Gallop’s, Gosnold’s, Hog, Long, Man-
hattan, Martha’s Vineyard, Monamoy,
Monhegan, Nantucket, Noddle’s, Pru-
dence, Royal, Rhode, Saquish, Shoals,
Thatcher’s, Trevor, Wight, Zealand, and
others.
Isle Dieu, 194.
Isle of Man, The, 188.
Isle of R6, 334.
Isles of Shoals, 150, 319, 361-J-, 388.
Italy, 588.
Ittuk, 132.
Iyanough, 170-172, 213, 214, 232.
TACK-SCREW, 58.
J Jackson, Abram, 493.
Jackson, Richard, 29.
Jackson, Thomas, 406.
“Jacob,” The ship, 271, 278, 280, 387, 388,
471.
Jacobs’ London Church, its pastor and its
New England successor, 439-441.
Jacobson, John, 304, 315.
“Jacobus, Regina,” 40.
Jail-fever, 5.
Jail-fees, 483, 601.
Jamaica, 444.
James I., 4, 7, 8,19, 156,166, 237, 282, 360,
421, 492; his bearing toward the Pilgrims,
43 ; on tobacco, 586.
James II., 562.
James, Dr.----•, 407.
James, “ The Printer,” 361+, 558.
“James, Little,” The ship, 242, 252, 281,
436*
James River, Va., 157.
Jamestown Colony, 40, 51.
“Janno,” 170. See Iyanough.
Jean Armand de la Forrest, 572.
Jeffrey, Mr.---, 318, 320.
Jenkins,------(Constable), 588.
Jenkins, Edward, 597.
Jenkins, Mary, 597.
Jenney, Abigail, 295, 298.
Jenney, John (Dea.), 32, 243, 295, 298, 401,
412, 436-439*
Jenney, Samuel, 295, 298, 437, 438.
Jenney, Sarah, 295, 298.
Jenney, Sarah (Mrs. John-), 243, 295, 298,
439-
Jepson, William, 32, 34, 35.
Jesuits, The, Printing, 426.
“Jetties,” 199.
John, The name, 182, 301.
John, Sagamore, 361-f, 558.
Johnson, Edward, 511.
Johnson, George, 12.
Johnson, Samuel (Dr.), 440.
Johnson,------(Capt.), 311.
Johnson,------(Rev.), 31.
Johnson’s “Wonderworking Providence,”
205.
Jones, John, 554, 602,
Jones, Margaret (Mrs. ——), 591.
Jones, Mary, hung, 492.
Jones, Robert, 554.
Jones, — (Boston), 591.
Jones, Thomas (Capt.), 46, 55, 57, 60, 61,
68, 76, 77, 114, 115, 208 ; extortion, 208;
fraud on the Pilgrims, 56, 60-62.INDEX.
639
Jones* River, 96, 97, 100, 109, 296, 361+,
362, 495, 611; Pond, 528.
Jonson, Ben, 588.
Joscelyn’s, “ Rarities,” 205, 332.
Judge, The, 160.
Judson, Abigail, 231.
Judson, Adoniram, 607.
Judson, Adoniram, Jr. (Mis.), 231, 607.
Juniper, 67.
Jury matters; Juries, 342; fees, 400;
Grand-, 382; trial by, 251, 399, 402;
trials, 159, 160.
"T^ARLSEFNE, Thorfin. See Thorfin.
Kean, Robert, 288.
“ Keen Winsnow ? ” 219.
Keith, James, 437, 534.
Keith, Susanna Edson- (Mrs. James-), 534.
Kempton, Ephraim, 468.
Kempton, Juliana Carpenter-Morton- (Mrs.
Manasseh), 462.
Kempton, Mannasseh, 243, 295, 298, 401,
462, 468.
Kempton, Patience Faunce- (Mrs. Eph-
raim-), 468.
Kempton, Patience Faunce (2d)- (Mrs.
--------), 468.
Kendall, Rev. James, 606.
Kennebec River, 117, 122, 148, 279, 302,
521; land-grant, 322 ; territory, 309, 337,
477) 478 ; trade and trading-post, 288,
322, 387, 390, 463-
Kent, Eng., persons, 363, 439, 440.
Kersey, 424.
“ Ketch,” The Plymouth, 255
Kettles, 529.
Keyser,----, 590.
Kiehtan, 130.
Kilmarnock, Lord, 230.
“ King Philip’s War.” See “ Philip’s
War.”
“ King Philip’s War,” History of (Church’s),
xii.
Kings, Divine right of, 4,* 5, 7, 8.
“King,” an Indian, 132, 134.
King’s Chapel, Boston, 525.
“ King’s Council,” The, 337.
“ King’s Missive,” The, 489.
Kingsley, Eldad, 523.
Kingston, Mass., 96, 97, 362, 466, 528, 609.
Kirke,-----(Colonel), 570.
Kittery, Me., 602.
“ Klok-steeg,” The, 34.
“Klok Street,” 283.
Knapp, Goodwife, hung, 492.
Knight, Eliza, 289.
Knight, John, 289.
“ Knight of the Sepulchre,” The, 350.
Knitting, 587.
Knives, 322.
Knowles, C. P., 315.
Knowles, Miles, 289.
Knott, Martha, 598.
Knox, J., 7.
Kowat, 118.
“ Krossaness,” 139.
T ABOR in common, 193, 240; Individual,
240, 258.
Labrador, 138.
Ladders (fire), 583.
“ Laid neck and heels,” 160-161, 484,683.
Lakeville, 475.
Lamberton, Gov., 539.
“Lamberton’s Ship,” 539.
Lambs, 296.
“ Lampereel River,” N. H., 361+.
Lancaster, Mass., 135, 426, 553.
Land, Common, 296 ; amount planted, 161.
Land, divisions (1623 and 1628), 258, 296.
Landfall, Cabot’s, 142.
Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, date
of, etc., 92, 102; error as to date, xxj
612, 613.
Landing on Cape Cod, The, 67.
Landn&mabdk, Sagas, The, 140.
Land sighted, 59.
Land’s End, 55.
Langemore, John, 184, 185, 186, 299.
Latham, Robert, 187.
Latham, Susanna (Mrs. Robt.), 187.
Latham, William, 184, 185, 187, 295, 298.
Latin poem, Rev. Wm. Morrell’s, 239.
Latitude of Cape Cod and Saquish, 95.
Laud, William (Archbp.), 9, 321, 362, 385,
366, 421, 423, 440.
Law-reforms in general, 251.
Laws, Old Colony, xii, xvi, 1-4, 160, 250,
251, 309» 399* See Court-matters.
Lawyers, 571.
Laying on of hands, 34.
Layton, Thomas, 554.
“Leach House,” The, 114.
Leather, 587; -breeches, 437.
Le Baron, Francis (or Fran$ois) (Dr.), 380.
Le Baron, Joseph, 380.
Le Baron, Lazarus, 245, 380.
Le Baron, Lazarus, Jr., 380.
Le Baron, Lydia (Mrs. Lazarus-), 245.
41640
INDEX.
Le Baron, Mary Wilder- (Mrs. Francis-),
380.
Lechdale, Eng., 477.
Lechford,-----, 527.
Lecht, Cecil, 191.
Leddra, William, 484, 485.
Lee, Bridget, 37, 245, 246, 461.
Lee, “Joos,” 37.
Lee,-----(Mrs. “ Joos-”), 245.
Leeks, Wild, 99.
Legislators of Massachusetts Bay, 274.
Legislature, Mass., 573.
Leicester, Earl of, 8, 610.
Leicestershire families, 379.
Leif, 138, 165.
Leigh, Lord----, 497.
Lemon-juice, 335.
Lenox, Duke of, 197.
Leonard, Eliphalet, 528.
Leonard, E. C., 508.
Leonard, Henry, 528.
Leonard, James, 401, 528, 603.
Leonard, Jonathan, 528.
Letter-book, Bradford’s, 288, 289.
Letters, Intercepting, 263, 264, 266.
Letters to Plymouth, Royal, 1664, 498-500.
Leveredge, William (Pastor), 422, 532, 602.
Leverett,-----(Gov.), 27.
Leverett,-----(President), 117.
Levett, Christopher, 238.
Lewis, Joseph, 554.
Leyden, Holland, 31, 32-40, 49, 83, 249;
persons, 156, 378, 506; churches, 243,
284; departure from, 49; emigrants, 56,
329, 331; immigrants, 340; plague at,
282, 283; proportion of Mayflower Pil-
grims, 185.
Leyden Street, Plymouth, 96, 99,105,106,
117, *79, 377-
Leyland, Hundred of, 452.
Liberality of Plymouth, 289.
Libraries, 432.
License laws, 380, 434, 511, 512.
Life, Duration of, 378.
44 Lighter,” The, 256.
Light-houses, Eddystone, 57; Gurnet, 97.
Lightning, 355, 579, 580.
Lincoln,------, 557.
Lincoln, Earl of (Theophilus Clinton), 43.
Lincolnshire, 18.
Ling, John, 288.
“ Lining-out,” 359.
Linseed-oil, 583.
“ lion,” The ship, 6i, 331. 335. 339. 349.
35°. 35*. 36i, 39i. 47«-
"Lions,” 107, hi.
“ Lion’s Whelp,” The .ship, 329.
Liquors, 584, 586.
Liquor-selling, 399, 400, 403, 584.
Lister, Edward, 160, 183, 185,. 186,187,300,
323, 433.
“ Little Bay,” 119.	[609.
Little Compton, R. I., 136, 564, 566, 572,
Little, Ann-Warren (Mrs. Thos.-), 246.
Little,----(Pastor), 34, 596.
Little,----(Rev. Dr., Chicago), 24.
Little, Thomas, 246.
Little, Thomas (Dr.), 380.
“ Little James,” The, 242, 252, 281 436.
Littleton, Mass., 135.
“ Litster,” 183. See Lister.
Livermore, Charles W., 315.
Liverpool, Eng., Printing in, 426.
Liverwort, 99.
Livre, The, 73.
Loam, 99.
Lobsters, 99, 176, 205.
Lockorum, 590.
Locusts, Seventeen-year, 377.
Locust-wood, 586.
Log-cabins, 583.
Lohun, William, 554.
Lombard,------(Senior), 441.
London, 17, 109, 587, 588; persons, 156,
2367 595 I Bridge, 229, 230; plagues, 281.
Long Island, 132, 532; Indians, 132; Sound,
J49» *53-
Longfellow, on Alden’s marriage, 257.
Longevity, 468.
Longitude, Cape Cod, 95.
Long, John D. (Hon.), 615.
Long, Robert, 244, 300.
Long Lane, Boston, 605.
Long Lane, Meeting-house, 605.
“ Long Point,” Provincetown, 63, 83.
Lonsdale, R. I., 511.
Looking-glasses, 434.
"Lord (Morton) of Misrule,” 317.
“Lord of the Isle” (Clark’s), 91.
Lord Treasurer, The, 339.
Lord’s Supper, 498.
Lothrop, Barnabas, 441.
Lothrop, Isaac, 441.
Lothrop, Isaac (2d), 441.
Lothrop, John (Pastor), 180, 401, 439, 440,
441, S°h 502» 533t 552*
Lothrop,------■ (Mrs. John-), 440.
Lothrop, Mark, 439.
Lothrop, Mary, 401.
Lothrop, Nathaniel (Dr.), 441.
Lothrop, Susanna Clark- (Mrs. Barnabas-),
441*INDEX.
641
Lothrop, Thomas, 441.
Lothrop Memoirs, 439.
Lotteries, 604.
Loudon and Wise, 584.
Lovat, Lord, 230.
Lovet, Sir Christopher, 118.
Lowell, Mass., x,'ii8, 133, 134.
“Lower Factory,” The (Middleborough),
163.
Lucas, Thomas, 603.
Ludham,------>360.
Ludham’s Ford, 360.
Ludlow, Roger, 78.
Lugdunum, 31.
Lullabies, Indian, 168.
Lumber, 179, 194, 231.
Lunt, George. Title leaves.
Luther, Martin, 491; theology of, 47.
Lutherans, 13.
Luthers, Samuel, 401.
Lyford, Ann- (Mrs. John-), 261, 270,274, 300.
Lyford, John (Rev.), 261-274, 300 > ^an_
ished, 269; death, 274; hearing of (Eng.),
271, 272; humiliation, 268, 269; im-
morality, 270, 271; servility and decep-
tion, 262, 269.
Lyford, Mordecai, 274.
Lyford, Ruth, 274.
Lying, 603.
Lying, “ neck and heels,” 160-161, 484, 603.
Lynn, Eng., 156.
Lynn, Mass., 340, 373, 527; persons, 363,
379, 59°«
TV/T ACAULAY, LORD T. B., 10. Title-
page.
Machias, Maine, 346, 347.
“ Magazine of American History,” 145.
Magistracy, Elective (local), 251.
“Magistrates,” Board of, 159.
Magistrates’ jurisdiction, 251.
“ Magnalia ” (Mather’s), xiii, 9, 60.
Mahon, Lord (Stanhope), 10.
Mails, public, etc., 17.
Maine, 142,573; persons, 351; coast of, 141,
I43> »45. HfS-152 ! Indians, 131,134, 559,
563-565-
Maingan, 117.
Main Street, Plymouth, 96, 106, 114.
Maize (Indian Com), 73, 74,76,77,116,164,
308, 398,428, 584; time for planting, 157;
seed-corn, 309.
Malabar, Cape, 62, 306, 307; shoals, 15 2.
Man, Value of a, 342.
Manchester, Eng., Printing in, 426.
Manchester-by-the-Sea, 318, 330.
Manchester, A Dutch, 31.
Mandesly, Eng., 452.
Manhattan, 44, 60, 153, 290, 303, 347, 372,
374, 398, 481, 493, 498, 52I'i 543-
Mann,------(Mrs. James-), 516.
Manomet, Buzzard’s Bay, 118,170,174,17^
205, 2ir, 290, 484; Mount (Plymouth),
82, 90, 96; “Old Plymouth,” 361-f;
trading-house, 290, 302, 305, 306, 341,
388, 447; Indians, 136, 225.
Manomet River, 290.
Manomets, The, 136, 225.
Manonscusset, 305. See Sciisset.
Mansfield, Lord Chief-Justice, 492,
Manslaughter, 601.
Man ton, Rev. Thomas, D.D., 13.
Manufactures, Holland, 32; Old Colony,
436-438, 50, 526, 527-529, 585-587-
Maps, 96, 98, 106, 147,150, 361+.
Marblehead (Marble Harbor), Mass., 187,
347, 361+, 389, 497, 586.
Mares, 388, 398, 502. See “ Horses.”
Margaret, Queen, 21.
Margeson, Edmund, 183, 186, 300.
“ Mark,” A, 324, 336.
Mark, Signature by a, 460.
Marriages, celebrations, 596; civil, the rule,
181,385,386,596; “delayed,” 599, 600;
earliest, 37, 38, 181, 187, 188, 192, 244-
246, 247-249, 277, 278; registration of,
251.
Marshall, Judge, 193.
Marshfield, 363, 409,486, 592,609; persons,
80, 187, 246, 389, 431, 439,445, 448, 464,
468, 469, 502, 533, 534,540, 598,600,603,
607,608; military quotas (1643 and 1676),
4i5, 557*
Marson, Are, 140.
Martha’s Vineyard, 153, 174, 225, 538, 539,
573,	595, 596.
Martin, Christopher, 45, 51, 52, 107, 108,
183, 185, 188, 299.
Martin,------ (Mrs. Christopher-), 183, 186,
299-
Mary, The name, 301.-
“ Mary and John,” The ship, 148.
“ Mary Chilton’s Footprints,” 94.
Maryland, 6, 482, 494.
Mary Stuart, Queen, 19, 20.
Mashpee, Mass., 136, 533, 609.
Mason and Gorges, 237, 352.
Masons, 609.
Massachusetts (The “Bay Colony”), xxii,
79,99, i°3,29h 320,499,5^3,564,565, 573,
574,	608, 614; persons, 27,245, 273,274,642
INDEX.
564; “Bay,” the title, 324; boundaries,
409, 608 ; charter, 339; coinages, 324;
Company, 324, 329, 586, 587; Episcopal,
318; Confederacy, 135 ; History of (Barry,
— Hutchinson), xii, xvii, xviii, 13 ; laws,
etc., 2, 403; Indians, 129-137, 175, 176,
357> 373. 525> 5^3 5 meanness, 562, 564,
565 ; military matters, 199,414 ; Province
and State, 573, 614.
Massay 135.
Massasoit, 119, 122, 123,125, 129, 132,133,
135.136» i52.165,166, 167,180,357,399,
473* 474> 525 ; character of, 218; descend-
ants, 535 ; sickness, 216, 219-221; treaty
with, 116, 124,125 ; visit to, 163-169.
Massatumpain, 545.
“ Master,” The title, 63, 183, 259, 359,437.
Masterson, Richard, 329, 378, 379.
Masterson, Mary Goodall- (Mrs. Richard-),
379-
Mastiffs, hi.
u Mastive dogges,” 111.
u Match” (gun), 72, 87, 88.
Matchlocks, 87, 88, 446.
Mather, Cotton, xiii, xiv, 24, 388, 542; on
Bradford, 457.
Mather, Increase, 9, 388, 454, 532, 537, 572,
573; on comets, 579-
Mather,-----Cotton- (Mrs. Increase-), 388.
Mather, Nathaniel, 561.
Mather, Richard, 388, 589.
Mather, Roland, 615.
Matrimonial impediments, etc., 597-599.
Mats, Indian, 80.
Mattachiest,----, 210, 213.
Mattacomen, Sagamore, 361-h
Mattakees, The, 136, 225.
Mattapan, 335. See Dorchester.
Mattapuyst, Mass., 218.
Mattashinnay, 537.
“Matthew,” The ship, 142.
Matthews, Marmaduke, 533.
Matthews, Tobias (Archbishop), 29.
Mattoonas, 558.
Mattresses, 587.
Maude, Daniel, 496.
Maurice, Prince, Death of, 282.
Maverick, Moses, 1S7, 497.
Maverick, Remember (Mrs. Moses-), 187,
497-
Maverick, Samuel (Com.), 318, 373, 497,
527-
May, Dorothy, 38, 95, 248, 249.
May,-----(Elder), 464.
“ Mayflower,” The ship, 34, 46, 51, 55, 57,
157, 331, 471; at Cape Cod, 61-66; Com-
pact, 339; passengers in, xiv, 182-184,
476 ; at Plymouth, 95, 96, 98 ; ships
named, 156 ; her voyage, 57-62.
Mayhew, Experience, 539.
Mayhew,------Hinckley-(1st Mrs. Experi-
ence-), 539.
Mayhew,------(Bourne?)-(2d Mrs. Experi-
ence), 539.
Mayhew, John, 539.
Mayhew, Thomas, 53T, 538, 539, 546.
Mayhew, Thomas, Jr., 538, 539.
Mayhew, Zachariah, 539.
Maynard, John, 582.
Mayo, Eliza, 534.
Mayo. John, 534.
Mayo, Samuel, 441, 447, 532.
Maypole, Morton’s, 317, 319, 320.
May trainings, 511.
Maziunty 164. See “ Maize.”
Meal, 113.
“ Means,” Faith in the use of, no, 230.
Measures, sealed, 438.
Mecock, Peter, 602.
Medfield, Mass., 552, 553, 589.
Medford, Mass., 176, 357, 361+, 373, 538>
586.
Medical-treatment, Indian, 218.
Medicines, 4, 369.
” Meersteads,” 106.
Meeting-houses, 231, 583, 605; first Ply-
mouth, 376, 377. See church.
Menataquid River, 361+.
Mendall (?), Robert, 355.
Mendham, Mr.-------, 296.
Mendon, 558.
Mendum, Goodwife, 602.
Merchant Adventurers, The, 439.
Merchants, Separatists, in Holland, 32*
“ Merit in good works,” 524.
Merrimack River, 134, 147, 324, 361-H
Merritt, Henry, 440.
Merry-meeting Bay, 351, 477.
Merry Mount, 317-321.
Metacom, 474. See “ Philip.”
Metellus Celer, 129.
Mexico, 594 ; printing in, 426.
Miantonomo, 133, 473.
Middleberg, Holland, 14.
Middleborough, 79, 109, 122, 136, i52>
164, 528, 543, 558, 609 ; persons, 188,
3ST. 379, 508, 536, 568; expedition to,
172-175. See “ Namasket.”
Middle Street, Plymouth, 158.
Miles, 525. See “ Myles.”
Milford, Conn., 522.
“Milford Haven,” 150, 151.INDEX.	643
Military organizations, 115,199,414, 415.
Military quota of towns, 414, 415.
Milk, 104, 376, 394, 585.
Mill at Newport, 388.
Miller, John, 533.
Mills and millers, 436, 437, 438, 451, 514,
527“529> 558, 585; steel handmills, 437.
Millsop, Thomas, 289.
Milton, John, 7, 142.
V Minion,” A, 115.
“ Minister,” The title, 441.
Minister-tax, The, 534, 570, 607.
Ministers, Early, 530-539.
Minter, Desire, 184, 185,187, 300.
Misquameece, 407.
Missi, 132.
Mitchell, Experience, 243,245, 293, 298, 362.
Mitchell, Jane-Cook (Mrs. Experience-),
245.
Mitchell, Richard, 604.
Mitchell,----(Mrs. Richard-), 604.
Mitchell,----(Pastor, Camb.), 427.
Mittens, 557.
Mixano, 406.
Mohawks, The, 131,135, 340, 559.
Mohegan, 117. See “ Monhegan.”
Mohegan (Mohican?), 132.
Mohegans (Mohicans?), 555, 559.
MohOy 131.
Moluscs, 205.
Monamoy, 61, 152, 153, 209, 609; Indians,
136; Island, 152, 153; shoals, 209. See
Chatham.
Money, 305, 324; paper, 415.
Monhegan, 117, 151, 224, 229, 287.
Monmouth’s Rebellion, 562, 570.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 594.
Montaup, 165.
Monument, Mass. (Vill.), 118, 306.
Monument, Standish (Duxbury), 446.
Monumet River, 290.
Monuments at Plymouth, etc., 446, 613-615.
Mooanum, 474. See “Alexander.”
Morality of the Pilgrims, 309, 310.
More, Christian (Mrs. Rich.-), 187.
More, Ellen, 83, 184, 185, 300.
More, Jasper, 83,184, 185, 300.
More,-----(Jasper’s brother), 184,185, 300.
More, Richard, 83, 184, 185, 187, 294, 298.
More, Stephen, 440.
Morgan, Bennett, 19 c, 300.
Morgan, Sarah, 602.
Morley, Robert, 336.
Morrell, William (Rev.), 168, 239.
Mortars, 73, 527.
Morton, Ephraim, 278, 295, 298, 471.
Morton, George, xv, xvi, 32,37,38, 243,248,
278, 300. See “ Mourt.”
Morton, John, 295, 298, 495.
Morton, Julianna Carpenter (Mrs. George-),
243, 248, 278, 295, 298, 461.
Morton, Marcus (Gov.), 245, 278.
Morton, Marcus, Jr. (Judge), 278.
Morton, Nathaniel (Secy.), xii, xiv, xvi, xvii,
12, 98, 174, 167, 205, 223, 278, 295, 298,
323> 338, 402, 419, 469* 47o, 47i, 493,
571, 586; autograph, 470; death, 471;
on comets, 578, 579; on earthquaikes,
577; on Captain Jones, 60.
Morton, Patience, 245, 295, 298, 463, 468.
Morton, Perez, 278.
Morton, Sarah, 295, 298.
Morton, Thomas (“Merry Mount”), 78,
120, 175, 191, 300, 316-321, 352, 385.
Morton, Thomas, Jr., 243, 245, 293, 298.
“ Morton’s Hole,” 362.
“ Morton’s Memorial,” xii, xiv, xvi, xvify 12,
470, 471. See “ Morton, Nathaniel.”
Mortuary, List up to 1627, 299, 300.
Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, 37.
Mosky 130.
Mosquitoes, 168, 260, 261, 361.
Moss, Forest, in.
Mott, Thomas, 289.
Moulton, 60.
Mound-builders, The, 140, 143.
“ Mount Dagon,” 320.
Mount Hope, 165, 560, 562, 564; -Neck,
549, 5Sh 554-
Mount Wollaston, Mass., 316, 317.
Mourning-robes, 413.
“Mourt,” G., xv, xvii. See “Mourton”
and u Morton.”
Mourton, G., xi. See “ Mourt ” and “ Mor-
ton.”
" Mourt’s Relation,” xii, xv, xvi, 83,98,100,
108, 127, 194.
Mowing-fields, 296.
“ Mr.,” The title, 183.
Muhekanneuky 117.
Mulberries, 21, 149.
Mullins (Molines), Joseph, 184, 186, 299.
Mullins, Priscilla, 184, 186, 187, 247, 293,
297.
Mullins, William, 116, 183,185, 186, 299.
Munroe,-----, 538.
“Murderers” (cannon), 318.
Murders, 406.
Muscle-clam, The, 69, 99, 205, 223.
Muscles, “ Horse,” 205.
Music, Church, 359, 608 ; printing, 359.
Musketaquid River, 3614*.644	INDEX.
Muskets, 70, 87, 529.
Muttock Hill, 174.
Mutton, 585.
Mya arenaria, 205.
Myles, Anne - (Mrs. John-), 525.
Myles, John (Pastor), 497, 523“525i 554-
Myles, John, Jr., 525.
Myles, Samuel, 525.
Myles* Bridge, 524.
“ Mynard,” 582. See “ Maynard.**
Mystic, Conn., 132.
Mystic Pond, 176, 361-H
“ VT AC HEN (?),” Brawnde’s ship, 151.
^ Nahant, 361-I-.
Naiaganset, 132.
Nails, 424.
Nam, “Took,** 140.
Namasket, 79,152,163, 351; expedition to,
172-175; Indians, 136, 164, 536; Path,
109; River, 351. See “ Middleborough.”
“ Nambeke,” 324. See Naumkeag.
“ Nameless Nobleman, A *’ (The novel),
380.
Names, ship “ Anne,” 243, 244 ; Christian,
182, 300,301 ; ship “Fortune,” 190, 191;
double or middle, 182, 301; ship “ Little
James,” 243, 244; ship “Mayflower,”
182-184; Pilgrim, 182,183,184,190,191,
297-30°.
Namskeket, 312; Creek, 311.
Nanepashmet, 176.
Nantasket, 261,271, 272, 273, 318, 320, 329,
361+, 582, 594. See Hull.
Nantucket, 538, 539, 573, 578, 595.
Napkins, 589.
Narraganset Bay, 108, 120, 122, 133, 134,
136, 138, 165, 290, 304, 306, 337, 361+,
608.
Narraganset Indians, 127, 132, 133,135,136,
171, 198, 273, 274, 356, 357, 368, 373,
406, 417, 446, 473> 540, 542> 547, 553,
554;----in 1870, 133; fort, 1675, 273,
569.
Narraganset, spellings, 610.
“ Narraganset,*’ The ship, 472.
Nash, Thomas, 46.
Nash,------(Lieut.), 489.
Nashobas, The, 135.
Nashuas, The, 135.
“ Nassau,” The barque, 305.
Nassau River, 306.
“ Natasco,” 271. See Nantasket.
Natawahunt, 174.
Natawannute, 372.
Natick, 513, 536.
National Monument to the Forefathers, 614,
615.
“ Natural children,” term explained, 343,
344-
Naumkeag, 274,318, 320,324, 325 ; Indians,
1.33. See “Salem.”
“Naumkeake,” 324, 361-f. See “Naum-
keag.**
Naunton, Robert (Sir), 40.
Nauset, 61, 62, 141, 169, 170, 175, 210,411,
412; expedition to, 169-172 ; Indians, 89,
119,123,136, 225. See “ Eastham.”
Neal,-----(Dr.), 9, 595.
Neddick, Cape, 143, 145.
Needle, Pack-, 78.
“ Neen Squaes,** 174.
‘ ‘ Ncen womasu sagimus! ** 218.
Negro, First, at Plymouth, 245.
Neill, E. D. (Rev.), xii, 20, 61, 208, 225,
226.
Nelson, John, 571.
Nelson, John (P. M.), 22.
Nelson, Martha (Mrs. William-), 192.
Nelson, William, 192.
Nelson, William (P. M.), 22.
Nelson, William (cow-keeper), 296.
Nepeof, 172.
Neponset, 175; Indians, 135, 151, 209, 213,
214, 225, 340, 357, 373, 525 ; Plot
Weymouth, 225.
Neponset River, 350, 361+.
Neshoba, 135.
“ Netomp ” or u Netof>" 174.
Neuxis, 169.
Newbald, Fria., 289.
New Bedford, Mass., 144, 46S, 508, 609.
Newbury, Eng., 37, 452.
Newbury, Mass., 479.
Newburyport, 81.
“ New Canaan,** The, 120.
Newcomen, John, 342.
New England, 324; English ancestry of,
574; early explorers of, 136-154; sup-
posed to be an island, 108, 193, 324 ;
Library, The, xiv; maps of, 150 and
opposite 362 ; Morrell’s poem on, 239;
progressiveness, 251; royal territory, 62.
New England, Annals of (Prince’s), xii, xvii,
9, 11.
New England “ Company,” 45; Indian
policy of, 193.
New England, History of (Palfrey's), xii,
xiii, xvii, 9, 10, 11.
New England, History of (Hubbard’s),
xii, xiii, xvii, 13, 60.INDEX.
645
New England “ Psalm-book,” The, 359.
“ New England Psalm Singer,” The, 359.
44 New England’s Jonah cast up in London,”
443-
‘‘New England’s Memorial” (Morton’s),
xii.
“New England’s Salamander discovered by
an Irreligious and Scornful Pamphlet,”
443-
“New English Canaan,” The, 120, 205,
261, 321.
Newfoundland, 86, 122.
Newfoundland Company, The, 122.
New Hampshire, 481, 482, 563; Indians,
129-131, 133, 563; witchcraft, 493.
New Haven, Conn., 414, 422, 532, 539;
persons, 347, 512, 518; settlers, 11.
New Jersey, 528, 595.
Newland, William, 487.
New London, Conn., 132, 611.
Newman, Noah, 515—517, 555.
Newman, Samuel, 514, 515, 519, 608.
New Netherlands, 149, 304.
New Netherlands Company, The, 303.
New Plymouth, 91, 150, 151; end of, 573.
See “ Plymouth.”
New Plymouth, Historical Memoir of (Bay-
lies’), xii, xviii.
Newport, R. I., 133, 416; persons, 370,
388, 475, 516, 517, 589; tower, 141,388.
“New Providence,” 472.
‘‘New Style” and “Old Style,” xix-xxi,
612.
Newton, Eleanor (Mrs. John Adams), 244,
246, 294, 297, 378.
Newton, Mass., Indians, 135.
Newtown, Conn., 394. See “ Hartford.”
Newtown, Mass., 336, 361+, 391, 424. See
“Cambridge.”
New Year’s Day, 101, 102.
New York, 44, 504, 521, 522, 572, 573? 595 J
escutcheon, 178; Harbor, 149; persecu-
tion of Roman Catholics, 482. See “ Man-
hattan.”
Niantics, The, 554, 559.
Nicholas, Austin, 191, 300.
Nichols, Commissioner------, 497.
Nickerson, William, 498, 546.
Nickerson,-----(Capt.), 532.
Nieu Nederland, 304. See “ New Nether-
lands.”
Nieu Pliemuen, 303. See “ New Plymouth.”
Niger, The frigate, 97.
Ninigret, 416.
Nipmucks, The, 131, 132, 135, 175, 340,
529> SSh 556, 558*
“ Noble,” The, 324, 336, 341.
Nobsquassets, The, 136.
Nocake, 120, 121, 168.
Noddle’s Island, 373, 497.
‘ ‘ Nokake ” or 44 Nokehich.” See “ Nocake.”
Nonantums, The, 135, 54$.
Nonconformists, 7, 9, 11,12, 239, 256.
Nonconformity, 7, 9, 25, 27, 589.
Norris, Mary, 37.
Norse explorers, 79, 132-141, 165.
Norse numeration, 143.
Northallerton, England, 175.
North America, early explorers, 138-154;
sagas on, 139, 140; white settlers in, 142.
Northampton, Eng., 14.
North Carolina, 142.
“ North Country,” The, 17.
44 North Easters,” 324.
“ Northern Lights,” The, 580, 581.
North, Lord, 193, 324.
North River, Mass., 360, 602.
Northwest Passage, The, 142.
Norton, Humphrey, 482, 483, 485, 502.
Norton, John (Rev.), 399.
Norton,-----(Capt.), 375.
Norumbega, City of, 142, 143.
Norwich, England, 14, 26.
Norwich, Conn., 464.
Nose-bleeding, Indian, 209, 220, 221.
Nottingham, England, 109.
Nottinghamshire, 18.
Nova Scotia, 157, 562.
Noye, Philip, de la. See De La Noye.
Nursing, 116.
Nuts, Ground, 127.
QAK, 67, 99, 168.
Oakum, 312.
Oath of fidelity, The, 404.
Oatmeal, 336.
Obbatinewat, 174, 176.
Obituary, anagrams, 569.
Obtakiest, 209, 225, 229, 231.
Occupations of Separatists in Holland, 30,
32.
Ocean Passage, and cost of the same, 322,
331, 332» 472.
Octroi, 307.
Oculi cancrorum (Med.), 369.
Offley, Mr.----, 545.1
Oil, 449; sweet, 336.
Old Colony Club, The, 93, 612.
Oldham, John, 244, 245,247, 259, 261-266,
268, 269, 271-274, 3o°i 3J9» 39M con-
fessions of, 261, 273; insubordination,646.
INDEX.
264, 266; and his “ Particulars,'” 259;
and Lyford’s plot, 259-275; murder of,
274.
Oldham,------(Mrs. John), 244, 270.
Oldham, J. T., 274.
Oldham, Margaret, 191.
Oldham, Thomas, 274.
“Old Man,” 130.
Oldmixon, John (Hist.), 99.
“ Old North,” Boston, 534.
Old people, 352.
“ Old Ship, The,” 311-315.
“ Old South,” Boston, xiv, 273, 534, 568;
. library of, 160.
Old Spain, 207, 316, 318. See Weymouth.
Old Style and New Style, xix-xxi, 612.
Oliver, Magdalen, 445.
Ollerton, England, 175
Onions, 117; wild, 99.
Oquamehud, 174.
Orange, Prince of, 87.
Oranges, 117.
Orchard, Robert, 452.
Orchards, 318, 363, 583.
Orcutt, Susanna,* 534.
Ordination, 34.
Ores, 528, 529.
Orleans, Mass., 311, 315.
Ormskirk, Eng., 451.
Orr, Hugh, 529.
Orthography, Colonial, Old English, 611,
612.
Ossamequtn, 473. See “ Massasoit.”
Otis, Amos, 61, 313.
Otis, James, 323, 476; on Indian treatment^
547, 548-
Otter furs, 397, 398.
Oundle, Eng., 14.
Ouse, The, 409.
“ Out of kilter,” phrase, 318.
Oxen, 296, 398, 435, 455.
Oxford University, 7, 609; New England
clergymen from, 348, 388, 439, 514, 526,
533-
Oyster Bay, 532.
Oysters, 165, 224.
PACIFIC Ocean, 154, 324.
Paddy, Alice (Mrs. Wm.-), 438.
Paddy, William (Dea.), 378, 438, 495, 522.
Paine, Robert Treat, 536.
Paine, Stephen, 512.
Painting, Face-(Indian), 121.
Palfrey, Edith (Mrs. Peter), 274.
Palfrey, John G., 23; on Indians, 548, 549;
on Philip, 549, 550; on Puritans, 9-11;
on Williams, 367 ; History of New Eng-
land, xii, xiii, xvii, 10, 11, 542, 545.
Palfrey, Mary, 588.
Palfrey, Peter, 274, 588.
Palisades, 199.
Palmer, Frances (Mrs. Wm.-), 244, 294,
299-
Palmer, William, 191, 294, 299.
Palmer, William, Jr., 191, 294,299.
Palmistry, 4.
Pamet (Cape Cod), 171, 215 ; Indians, 136,
214, 215.
Pamet River, 75, 77, 79,
Paquatauog, 132.
** Paradise Lost,” 142.
“ Paragon,” The ship, 236, 243, 249, 471.
Parasols, 587.
Paris, 149.
Parker, William, and wife, 607.
Parker,-----, 527.
Parliament, 415.
Parliamentary disagreements, 517, 518.
Parsnips, 117, 424, 485.
Parsonage, Plymouth, 379.
“ Particulars,” 247, 259.
Partridge, Ralph, 168, 362, 422, 531.
Partridges, 76.
Part-singing, 359.
Pasaeus, Simon, 150.
Passaconaway, 133, 134, 361+.
Passage, Length of Mayflower’s, 66, 122.
Pastors, 464, 467, 530-539.
Patackosi, 258. See “ Town Brook.”
Patent, The Council for New England’s, 196,
197.
“ Patent,” The “ Peirce,” 197.
Patereros (cannon), 308.
Paths, The Indian, 109.
Patrick,----(Capt.), 358.
Patucket, 118, 133. See “ Pawtucket.”
Patuckson, 537.
Patuxet, 119, 166, 152, 153, 306, 307 ; In-
dians, 92, 122, 136.
Pawtucket, R. I., 118, 406, 552.
Pawtuckets, The, 133-136. See u Pen-
tucket.”
Paybody, Annice, 482.
Paybody, Elizabeth Alden- (Mrs. William*),
567.
Paybody, William, 277, 488, 567, 596.
Payne, Nathaniel, 524.
Payne, Thomas, 296.
Peach, Arthur, 406, 407, 601.
Peagy 305, 306. See “ Wampum.”INDEX.
647
Pearls (Muscle), 69.
Pears, 583.
Peas, 161, 179, 237, 322, 336, 347, 585.
Pecksuot, 227, 228, 231.
“ Peine Forte et Dure,” The, 5.
Peirce, John, 44, 197, 243, 337, 471, 207.
See “ Pierce.”
Peirce, Joseph, 604.
Peirce, Michael (Capt.), 503, 552, 557.
Peirce, Warren (Dr.), 159.
Peirce, William (Capt.), 159, 117, 242, 243,
245. 255> 263,271,273,278, 280,331,333,
335- 339. 349, 358, 3*9. 39*, 394, 425,
471, 5^4, 586 ; his “ Almanac,” 472.
Peirce, William, Jr., 473.
“ Peirce, Patent,” The, 44, 197, 236, 337.
“Peirse,” 426, 471-4.73. See “ Peirce.”
Pelham, Herbert, 540.
Pelham, Penelope, 540, 599.
“ Pelican,” The, 46.
Pemaquid, 388.
Pemberton, Rev. John, 263.
Pembroke College, 348.
Pembroke, Earl, 197, 587.
Pembroke, Mass., 135.
Pembroke Swamp, The, 360.
Penacooks, The, 133, 135, 360, 361+.
“ Pencil Book” (Bradford’s), xiv, 466.
Penn, — Admiral, 444, 610.
Penn, Christian, 244, 246, 295, 298, 344,
378.
Penn, William, 610 ; Penn’s Treaty, 125.
Pennington, William, 288.
Pennsylvania witchcraft, 493.
Penobscot River, The, 117, 142, 149, 508;
trading-house, 333, 334.
Penowawyanquis, 406,407.
Penry, John, 15, 285.
Pen tucket, 361-H
Pepys, 584.
Pequod Indians, 132, 133, 357, 368, 371,
375; War, 81,274, 368,406,439,462, 472,
536.
Pequtiog, 132.
“Perce, Mr.,” 243, 245. See William
Peirce.
Percy, The name, 610.
Perkins, Arad, 159.
“ Perpetuanes,” 313.
Perrin, William, 289.
Perry, Edward, 599.
Perry, John, 603.
“ Perspective Glasses,” 81.
Peru, Printing in, 426.
Pestilence, Indian, of 1622, 210.
Peters, Rev. Hugh, 230, 586.
Peterschurch, The, 283.
Petit Jury, 342.
“ Pettidances,” $81.
Pewter-ware, 451, 583.
Phance, 468, 611. See “ Faunce.”
Philadelphia, 303.
Philip, Sachem, (“King”), 473, 474, 520,
536, 537,543-545, 547,549 i his skull, 228,
468.
Philip’s general unreliability and insignifi-
cance, 549, 550.
Philip’s War, xii, xviii, 231, 232, 403, 415,
420, 439, 462, 465, 505, 513, 515, 522,
524» 525» 529> 54I"563 \ blunders of the
whites, 552, 553; no provocation from
the whites, 543-549; losses from, 561-
563-
Phillips, Grace----- (Mrs. John, Jr.-), 355,
580.
Phillips, Jeremiah, 355, 580.
Phillips, John, 353, 354, 355, 401, 488,
580.
Phillips, John, Jr., 355.
Phillipsburg, 148.
Phipps, William (Gov.), 565, 573.
Physicians, 325, 369, 447, 516, 533, 594,
595 (small-pox); clerical, 423, 427, 429;
Plymouth, 380.
Physiognomy, Indian, 129.
Pickworth, Ann (Mrs. John-), 355.
Pickworth, John, 353-355.
Pierce, Abraham, 245, 293, 296, 299. See
“ Peirce.”
Pierce, James, 580.
Pierce, John, 1733, 593-
“ Pierce Patent,” 44. See “ Peirce.”
“ Pierce’s Company,” 45.
“ Piers,” 472. See Peirce.
“ Pierse,” 245. See “ Peirce, Capt.William.’1
Pierson, Peter, 484.
Pike, half-, hi.
Pilgrims, The, why called “Pilgrims,” 49;
“Families” of “Mayflower,” 1620, 185,
186; families at “ Cattle Division,” 1627;
bigotry, cruelty, and ignorance of their
times, 3-6; hospitality of, 1, 2, 267; life
of, in Holland, 30-38,304 ; liberality, 259,
262, 289, 329,458, 464 ; not “ Puritans,”
1, 2, 10, 43, 45, 207, 239, 256, 259, 263,
272, 278; their rights against intruders,
2; Separatists and Independents, 1, 2,
45; superior to their age, 3, 6; progres-
sive and broad theological faith of, 3, 6,
47,180,262; tolerancy and moderation of,
1, 2, 3, 261, 262, 267, 275, 570.
“ Pilgrim Fathers,” etc. (Bartlett), xii.648	INDEX.
Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, 33, 93, 315, 466,
613.
Pilgrim history, authorities on, xii, xviii,
xix; lack of information on, xi, xiii, xix,
xx, xxi; materials for, xi-xxi.
Pilgrim Memorials (Russell’s), xii.
Pilgrim Society, The, 114, 612, 613.
Pillions, 451.
Pillows, 587.
Pilots, 162; Boston, 273 ; u Grand, of Eng-
land,” 142.
Pine, 67, 72, 99.
Pineses (or “ Pinses ”), 172, 221, 228.
“ Pine-tree ” coins, 324.
Pinnace “ Speedwell,” 46, 50, 51.
Pinnace, The Plymouth, 302.
Pinzons, The, 139.
Pipes, Tobacco, 117, 314.
Pirates and Piracy, 61, 245, 254, 532.
Piscataqua, 245, 287, 302, 318, 320, 321, 381,
580; pronunciation of, 118. See “ Ports-
mouth.”
Piscataqua River, 235, 237, 361+.
Piscataways, The, 133.
Pisgattauwi, 118.
Pitch, 197, 312.
Pitman, William, 437.
Pitt, William, 191, 300.
“ Place of Snow,” 525.
“Plagues,” The, 281, 282, 593; the Black,
139; Indian, 122, 130, 131,133-135,164,
168.
“ Plain Dealing,” 343.
“ Plain John,” The ship, 406.
Plaistow, Josiah, 341.
Planks, hewn, 306, 308, 583.
“ Plantation,” The ship, 236, 472, 586.
“ Planter’s Plea,” The, 288.
Planting, 117, 121, 157, 161.
Pliny, 129.
PloL against the Plymouth Congregational-
ism, 256.
Ploughs, 398.
Plummer, Ann, 187.
Plums, 583; wild, 99.
Plymouth, Eng., and the Pilgrims, 55, 57,
153, 192.
Plymouth, Ancient Landmarks of, xii. See
Davis, W. T.
Plymouth Company, The old, 154.
Plymouth, County, 154, 337, 510, 608, 609.
Plymouth, Mass., 609 ; Bay, 92, 96-98 ;
Beach, 85, [96-98, 307; bell, 605;
boundaries, 337, 409; capital crimes in,
3> 342, 343* 601; church (first), 35$, 605,
606colonial standing and initial im-
portance of, xxii, xxiii, 154; complaints
of, 1624, 260; De Rasieres on, 306-.
309; early visitors to site of, 138, 139
146, 149, 152, 153; Elders, 245; first
comers’ families, 104-106, 185, 186 •
game, 99, 107, 592 ; Harbor, 90-98, i50j
361+, 582 ; honor of, 561; independence
of, 125; Indians, 122, 563; latitude of,
146; Laws, 250, 251; liberality of, 329;
military quotas, soldiers, etc., 414, 557,
609; morals, 399; name of, 91, 150, 151 ^
(Indian), 119; pastors, 322, 329, 348; a
private domain, 2 ; Rock, 96, 98,100,106,
614, and plate opposite p. 1; soil, 153,
309; vaccination, 595; vegetation, 99;
village, maps of, 96, 106; winds, 91.
“Plymouth, Guide to” (Russell’s), xii.
“Plymouth, History of” (Thacher’s), xii,
xiv, 321.
Plymouth, Records, xii, xvi.
Plympton, Mass., 277, 609.
Pniese, 172. See “ Pinese.”
Pocasset, 175, 217, 554; Swamp, 551, 555.
Pocassets, The, 136, 172, 544.
Pocock, John, 288.
Poems, Morrell’s Latin, 239; Ward’s “ Sim-
ple Cobbler,” 425.
Poetry, Bradford’s, 457.
“ Point Allerton,” 175, 361-H
“ Point Care,” 61, 62, 143.
Pokanoket, 123, 164, 337, 361+, 368, 525.
Pokanokets, The, 130,136,198, 549.
Pollard, George, 437.
“ Pollock Rip,” 61.
Polo, Marco, 138.
Polyander, 36.
Pomatarkim, 474.
Pomham, Sachem, 420, 518.
Pomponius, Mela, 129.
Ponds, Plymouth, 109.
“ Pond Village,” 73, 75.
Pontipool, Wales, $28.
Pool, Elizabeth, 526-528.
Pool, William, 526.
Pool, William (Sir), 526.
Poole, George, 120.
Pope, Seth, 493.
Popham, Sir John (Judge), 15, 148.
Popham,------, President, 148*
Popham-Gorges Company, The, 587.
Poplar, 99.
Population of the colonies, 1676, 563, 573*
Poquahoc, 205.
Poquanock. 136.
Pork, 585.
Pormont, Philemon, 496.INDEX.	649
Portland, Maine, 73.
“ Port of the Cape St. Louis,” 147.
Port Royal, 117.
Portsmouth,#N. H., 82, 133,318.
Portugal, 142.
Portuguese fisherman, 143.
Pory, John, 208.
“ Post,” The, and his duties, 17, 18.
Posting-service, Court, 18.
Postmaster-Generals of England, 20.
Postmaster’s pay, 20, 23.
Post-offices, 17.
Potash, 197.
Potatoes, 117, 585 ; in England and Ireland,
584; sweet, 117, 584.
Pottery, Indian, 220.
Pottle, The, 255, 438.
Poultry, 1624, 258, 583.
Poutrincourt,-----, 147.
Pcrwahs and their functions, 130, 218.
Powder, Embalming (Cape Cod), 78.
Powder, Gun, 141,447 ; magazines, 357,435.
Powell,-----(Captain), 61.
Powows. See “ Powahs.”
Pox, Small, 593-595-
Poynton, Daniel, 288.
Pratt, Benaiah, 493.
Pratt, John (Dr.), 336.
Pratt, Jonathan, 604.
Pratt, Joshua, 243, 293, 299.
Pratt, Phineas, 204, 217, 226, 230, 293, 297,
299, 358.
“ Prayer and confession,” 273.
Prayer for rain, 241.
Prayer, parting, at Delfthaven, 51.
Prayer-book, The, 321,591.
“ Praying Indians,” 13T, 535, 544, 556, 563,
590-
Prawns, 205.
Pre-Adamites, 589.
Pre-Contract, 600.
Prence, Mary Collier- (2d Mrs. Thos.-), 477.
Prence, Patience-Brewster (1st Mrs. Thos.-),
245> 277> 477.
Prence, ---- (widow) Freeman- (3d Mrs.
Thos.-), 4 77.
Prence, Rebecca, 294, 299.
Prence, Thomas (the elder), 477.
Prence, Thomas, Jr. (Gov.), 191, 277, 289,
294, 295, 299, 368,383,412,436,455,477,
478, 481, 482,486,488, 490, 493,494, 5°°,
546, 569, 598 ; autograph of, 477.
Preparations for Emigration, 44.
Presbyterians, 13; at Leyden, 284.
Prescott, W. H., 2.	[429.
“President’s Corner” (Cambridge), 428,
President’s House (Harvard College), 426.
Pressing to death, 5.
Preston, Eng., 515.
Pretender, The second, 230.
Prices, 347, 376, 398, 410, 416, 424, 428,
434, 447, 602.
Prideaux, Edmund (P. M. Gen.), 17.
Priest, Degory, 32, 106, 183, 186, 300, 378.
Priest,----(Mrs. Degory-), 378.
Priest, Mary, 293, 298.
Priest, Sarah, 293, 298.
Prince, Thomas (Dr.), xiv, 9, 11, 27, 466,
581; on earthquakes, 578 ; errors of, 185,
236; on lightning-rods, 580; on Robin-
son, and his church, 283, 284.
“ Prince’s Annals ” (Thomas Prince), xii,
xiv, xvii, 9, 11.
Pring, Martin, 61, hi, 141, 145, 146.	/
Printers, 33, 37, 425-427, 558, 567.
Printing in New England and America, 402,
425-427.
Printing-office, Inventory of Green’s, 426.
Prior, Benjamin, 447.
Prisoners, Selling, 562, 563.
Prisons, 583.
Privation and dissatisfaction in Holland, 38.
Probate Courts, 608.
“ Professor,” A religious, 590.
Pronunciation of Indian names, 118, 219.
“ Prophesying,” 192, 358.
Providence, R. I., 133, 315, 367, 368, 416,
446, 512, 556; persons, 366, 370, 419,
508; strawberries, 99.
“ Providence,” The ship,,61.
Provincetown, Mass., 62, 65, 89, 92, 314,
409; Pilgrim deaths in, 185 ; rich soil of,
68.
Prower, Solomon, 108, 184-186, 300.
Prudden, Joanna Boyse (Mrs. Peter-), 522.
“ Prudence,” Island, 273.
Prunes, 322.
“Psalm Singer’s Amusement,” The, 559.
Psamma Arenaria, 68.
Public Worship, Refusal to attend, 2, 267.
Pudding, 119.
Pulpit Rock, 91.
Pumpkins, 117, 584.
Punchard, George, 15.
Punishments, 160, 161.
Punkapoags, The, 135, 536.
Purchase, Mary Grove- (Mrs. Thos.-), 351,
352-
Purchase, Samuel (Rev.), xv, xvi.
Purchase, Thomas, 351, 477.
“ Purchasers,” The, 289, 290, 292, 301 ;
land-allotments to, 296.650
INDEX.
Purgatory, 589.
Puritan, “ Adventurers,” The, 278, 280.
Puritan Conspiracy of 1624, 256, 259-
275.
“ Puritan Conspiracy against the Pilgrim
Fathers and the Congregational Church,
1624,” by John A. Goodwin, 259.
Puritans, The, 7, 8, 9, 16, 102, 272-275 ;
both for and against Cromwell, 9 ; were
Episcopalians, 7, 8, 9, 11, 23,207,256,
272-275, 278, 318, 325-327; body formed
and dissolved, 9,13 ; not Separatists and
opposing such, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 33, 40,
43, 45» 207, 239, 256, 259, 263, 272, 278,
326-329, 439, 440; social rank of, 8, 9;
wrongs of, 8-10; the preservers of Eng-
i lish liberties, 8, 9.
11 Puttim Poynt,” 361.
Pym, 217.
Pynchon,------, 425.
/"MJADEQUINA, 123, 126, 152, 174.
>£ Quahog, 205, 305.
Quakers, The, 370, 371, 420, 427, 478-490,
554) 57°, 607 ; freaks and excitement of,
479-490; illiberal feeling toward, 465,
475; hanging, 481, 482 ; law-matters as
to, 489, 490; treatment of, 531.
Quarles, William, 288.
Quebec, 149.
Quick’s Hole, 141.
Quincy, Mass., 135, 175, 316.
Quincy, spellings, 610.
“ Quine ” ewes, 296.
Quinniticut, 131.
Quochatset, sachem, deed of, 290.
RABNITS, Jan, 34. See 44 Robinson,
John.”
Race Point (Cape Cod), 314.
Radcliffe ? 244. See “ Ratliffe.”
44 Raghom,” 279, 293.
Railroad, Cape Cod, 68, 77.
Raising the sunken vessel “James,” 253.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 8,15, 39,147, 584,586.
Raleigh’s Patent, 144, 147.	*
Ralle, Father, 547.
Ram, —A naval, 1636, 273.
Rams (“ Rambes”), 296.
Ramsden, Joseph, 603.
Rand, James, 244, 300.
Randall, John, 608.
Randall, William, 603.
Randolph, Edward, 505, 541, 570.
Rapiers, 351.
“ Rarities,” Johnson’s, on 44 clams,” 205.
Rasdall,-----, 316.
Rasieres, Isaak de, 303.
Rat-bounties, 593.
Ratliffe, Robert, 244, 300, 352.
Ratliffe,----(Mrs. Robert-), 244, 300.
Rattlesnakes, 361; bounties on, 593.
Rattlesnake’s skin challenge, The, 198.
Rawlings, Goodman------, 501.
Ray, Daniel, 355.
Raynham, 164, 528.
Raynor, Elizabeth, 463.
Razor-clam, The, 205.
Reap, William, 484.
44 Rebecca,” The ship, 273, 394, 472, 586.
Records, Plymouth, 161.
Records, Town, of births, marriages, and
deaths, 251.
44 Reformation,” The ship, 472, 586.
Registry of Deeds, etc., 251, 608.
Rehoboth, Mass., 136, 366, 437, 511, 512,
514,516,517,519,520,555,556,558,
562, 590, 592, 593, 609; persons, 437,
523, 540,608 ; churches, 423 ; court, 404:
military quota, 557 ; schools, 495.
Representation of towns in General Court,
403-
Republic, First American, 65.
Revell, John, 289.
44 Reverend,” The title, 533,
Rexham, 363.
Reynolds,----(Captain), 46, 55, 56,58.
Reynor, John (Pastor), 421.
“ Rheum,” A, 120.
Rhode Island, 99, 132, 135, 337, 498, 505,
529, 562, 563 ; persons, 27, 254, 277, 480,
482,484,485,516,532,557, 558; a colony,*
416; Historical Society, 507, 508 ; Island
of, 337; Indians, 132-134, 136, 563 I
witchcraft, 493. ,
14 Rhode Island, History of,” Arnold, 13.
Richard III., King, 18.
Richard, Alice, 461.
Richmond, John, 493.
Richmond’s Island, 357, 387, 602.
Rigdale, Alice (Mrs. John-), 183, 186, 300.
Rigdale, John, 183, 186, 300.
Ring, Andrew, 379.
Ring, Elizabeth, 192.
Ring, Mary (widow), 379.
Ring, Susanna, 245.
“ Rise, daughter, to thy daughter run,” etc.,
567.
44 Rivifcre du Gua,” La, 147.
Road-making, 376.INDEX.
651
Roanoke, 596.
Robertson, 193.
Robbing the Indians, 61.
Robbins, Rev. Chandler, 606.
“ Robens, John,” 283. See “ Robinson.”
Robinson, Abraham, 382, 506.
Robinson, Bridget (Mrs. John-), 34, 283,
284, 332 ; her brother, 159.
Robinson, Fear, 283, 507.
Robinson, Isaac, 283, 332, 344, 465, 475,
487, 488, 490, 506, 507.
Robinson, Isaac, Jr., 600.
Robinson, Israel, 507.
Robinson, Jacob, 507.
Robinson, James, 283.
Robinson, John (Pastor), xvi, xx, 25, 29,
34-37, 41, 52> 257, 44°, 59^ ; character
and standing of, 233, 283-285; his con-
gregation, 185, 440; Congregationalism
of, 42 ; death of, 282-285 ; Farewell to
the Pilgrims, xvi, 46, 47; garden, 35 ;
letters, 42, 256, 257; prevented from
coming to Plymouth, 259, 267, 278; on
Standish, 233 ; his progressive and liberal
theology, 26, 37, 41, 47.
Robinson, John, Jr., 283, 507.
Robinson, Margaret Handford-(Mrs. Isaac-),
506.
Robinson, Mercy, 234, 283, 507.
Robinson, Peter, 344, 507.
Robinson, Susanna, 507.
Robinson, William (Quaker), 484.
Robinsons, The, 529.
Robinson’s Hole, 141.
Rochester, Mass., 608.
Rochester, Robert, 29.
Rock Hill, Medford, 176.
Rocks, Clark’s Island, 95; “ Election,” 91;
“Forefathers’,” 613, 614 ; Manomet, 96 ;
Plymouth, 91, 93, 94, 96, 100, 613, 614;
“ Pulpit,” 91, 94 ; Town Brook, 94.
Rocky Nook, 464-466.
Rocroft,----(Captain), 152.
“ Roelends, John,” 283. See “ Robinson.”
Rogers, John, 489, 607.
Rogers, Joseph, 184, 186,187, 295, 299, 601.
Rogers, Thomas, 183, 186, 300.
Rogers,-----(Pastor at Rowley), 585.
Rogers,-----(President of Harvard College),
579-
Rogers, — (Rev., Plymouth), 322.
Roman Catholic families and persons, 278.
Roman Catholics, punishment of, 5, 482 j
treatment of, in Plymouth, 458.
Roman roads, Eng., 17.
Rome, 139.
Roofs, 399.
Rookes, Newman, 288.
Rotation-in-office, 455.
Rouse, Annice Paybody- (Mrs. John-), 482.
Rouse, John, 482.
Rouse, John (Quaker), 482, 483, 485, 502.
“ Rouse’s Hummock,” 482.
Rowe, John, 476.
Rowlandson garrison, The, 553.
Rowlandson, Mrs. (her narrative), 556.
Rowley, Mass., 585.
Roxbury, Mass., 357, 361-f-, 589, 595, 597.
Royal Charter, Plymouth’s desired, 339,
34°-
“ Royal Exchaing,” The, 288.
“ Royal James,” The ship, 61.
“ Royalties,” 132.
“ R ” sound, Indians’ trouble with the, 219.
Ruck, Mr.------, 508.
Rudder Hinges, 90.
Ruffed-Grouse, 76. ]
Rugs, 322.
Ruling Elders of Plymouth, 245.
Rum, 584.
Runic theories as to New England, 141.
Runlet, 171.
Rushes, 80.
Russell, Jonathan, 532.
Russell, Ralph, 528.
Russell, Thomas, (Sen.) (Hon.), 114.
Russell, Thomas (Judge), 114.
Russell, William (Lord), 7.
Russia, 334.
Rye, 161, 584 ; -pudding, 585.
Rye Beach, 235.
“ C ABBATH,” The use of term, 92.
Sachems, 174-176.
Sachimo-comaco, The, 218.
Saco, Maine, 134; Indians, 134.
Saco River, 131.
Saconet (Little Compton, R. I.), 175, 564,
610.
Saconets, The, 136, 544, 559, 566.
“Sadtwoot,” 249.
Saffron, 589.
Sagadahoc, 148, 287.
Sagas, The Norse, 139, 140.
Sagookf 131.
Sagus, 118, 340, 361+, 379; Indians, 373.
See “ Saugus.”
Sailors, Pilgrim, 184.
Saint Alban’s, Eng., 15.
Saint Croix, 147.
Saint James; Palace, 87.t
652	INDEX.
Saint Lawrence’s head, 453.
Saint Lawrence River, 117, 324.
Saint Michael’s Day, 288.
Saint Peter’s Church, Leyden, 35, 282.
Sakatuckets, The, 136.
“Saker” (cannon), 115.
Salaries, 428, 455, 505, 514.
Sale, Edward, 590.
Sale, Rebecca (Mrs. Edward-), 590.
Salem, Mass., 133, 156, 324, 331, 335, 361+,
479) 583) 586> 587) 605 ; persons, 230,
271, 274) 326) 348) 355) 364) 3^7, 419,
468, 527; first birth in, 274; cattle, 297;
sickness of, 1628, 325 ; witchcraft, 492.
Salisbury, John, 554.
Salisbury,---(Dr.), 207.
Salisbury, William, 554.
Salisbury, N. H., 482.
Sallee, Barbary, 254.
Salt, 114, 325 ; making, 67, 256, 436.
Salt maker, The “ Charity,” 256.
Saltonstall, Richard (Sir), 394.
Salt, Rock, 114.
“ Sam, the cowkeeper,” 514.
Samoset, 117-122, 124, 127, 128.
Sampson, Abraham, 603.
Sampson, Ann (Mrs. Henry-), 187.
Sampson, Henry, 184, 186, 187, 294, 299,
361, 476.
Sampson, The name, 29T.
Sandalwood, 67.
Sand-drifting, 67, 312-314.
Sanders, John, 209, 223, 224.
“Sand-gapers,” 205.
Sandwich, Mass., 136, 306, 363, 377, 393,
437, 486, 592 5 persons, 377, 422, 484,
487> 5°3, 532, 596, 598, 602, 608, 609;
the shallop at, 213 ; military quotas, 415,
557.
“ Sandy Sea,” 290.
Sandys, Edwin (Sir), 40, 42.
Sandys,------(Archbp.), 22.
Sanford, Peleg (Maj.), 557, 562.
Saquish, 90, 95-98, 205,261, 307 ; an island,
90, 97, 98, 149.
Sarah, The name, 301.
Sargeant, Thomas, 425.
Sarson,------- (Mrs.---), 539.
Sassacus, 132.
Sassafras, 67, 73, 99,144,145, 194-
Sassamon, John, 536-538, 544, 601.
Satin, 587.
Satuit, 361+, 363, 440. See “ Scituate.”
Saugus, 118.
Sauk, 131.
Savage, Judge, xiii, 612.
Savage’s “Biographical Dictionary,” xiii,
191, 245, 370.
Savins; 67.
Sawketuck, 136.
Saw-mills, 438.
Saxton, Rev. Giles, 440.
Say, Lord, 328.
Say and Brook, Lords, 381, 382.
Saybrook, Conn., 394.
Schoolmasters in the Old Colony, 495, 496.
Schools, 494-497, 524 ; public subsidies to,
197, 495) 496.
Schout, A, 33.
Scituate, Mass.,36i-f, 362,363,409,486, 592;
persons, 187, 244, 274, 347, 400, 401,
404, 427, 434, 438, 440, 441, 443, 447,
462, 473) 5OI“5°3) 540) 557, 558, 597,
603, 604, 607; churches, 422, 423, 605 ;
military quotas, 414, 415, 557; spellings,
361+, 611 ; Thanksgiving, 180; witch-
craft, 493.
“Scituate, History of” (Deane’s), xii.
Scotchmen, 287.
Scott, Benjamin, F. R. S., xii, 13.
Scott, Richard, 366.
Scott, — (Mrs. Richard-), 366.
Scott’s‘-'Lecture,” xii.
Scrofula, touching for, 4.
Scrooby, Eng., and its families, xvi, 18-26,'
175 ; persons, 19-27, 160, 285 ; visits to,
22, 23.
Scurvy, 69, 114,122, 311,325.
Scusset, Mass., 305.
Scusset River, 290, 291; -Bar, 291.
Sea clams, 205.
Sealing weights and measures, 400.
Seals, 108.
Seasickness of the Pilgrims, 57, 58.
Secretary of State, The, 160.
Sedge, 80.
Seekonk, Mass., 164, 367, 4x0, 514, 522.
Seel, 58.
Seines, 274.
Selectmen, Authority of, 25 t.
Selling prisoners of war, 562, 563.
Semi-Separatists, 37.
Senate, The United States, 416.
Separatism, 16; origin of, 9; beginnings at
Scrooby, 25; New England Puritans
change to, 326-328; punishment for,
I5‘
Separatists, The, 7, 9; church service and
management, it, 262, 267, 275, 359;
doctrines of, 11, 13, 17, 102, 262, 275;
persecution of, 5, 11, 12, 14-16, 27, 29,
40, 256, 259, 278; not Puritans, the dif-INDEX.
653
ference, i, 9-13, 40, 256, 272 ; New Erig-1
land Puritans and, 325-329.
“ Servant,” and meaning of term, 19, 59,
108, 160, 185.
Servants, Pilgrim, 184.
Servants, Sale of service of, 316, 317.
Service (Church-), The Pilgrim, 358, 359.
Seven Articles, The, 41,42.
Sewall, Samuel (Judge), 101, 114, 332, 426?
510, 568, 579, 582, 605.
Sewan, 305, 306. See “ Wampum.”
Shad, 164.
Shakspere, 109.
Shallop, The, 68, 76, 80, 85, 89, 90.
Shallops, 212, 256, 288, 306, 341.
Sharpe, Samuel, 288.
Sharpe, ——, Mr. (Cambridge), 583.
Shaw, John, 294, 297, 299, 401.
Shawmpt (Boston), 176, 510 ; Indians, 176.
Shawomet, 420, 517, 518. See Warwick.
“Sheath-Fish,” 205.
Sheep, 398, 415, 424, 451, 476, 585 ; prices
of, 296.
Shell-fish, 205.
Shepard, Thomas, 390.
Sherley, Thomas, 255, 256, 279, 289, 303,
333, 339> 34o, 345, 346, 410, 411.
Sherwood Forest, 21.
Shingles, 436, 582.
Ship-building, 288, 314, 438, 447, 472, 586,
587.
Ships, ij 1, 472.
Shipwrights, 244; The “Charity,” 256.
Shire, The, 18.
Shire towns (Plymouth), 608.
Shirley Square, Plymouth, 256.
Shirts, 322.
Shoals, Cape Cod, 61, 62.
Shoemakers, 341.
Shoes, 331, 332, 587.
Shove, George, xiii, 533.
Shovel-board, 434.
Showamitt, 562.
Shrewsbury, Eng., 109.
Shrieve (Mrs. Thomas-), 598.
Shrieve, Thomas, 598.
Shurtleff, Abiel, 355.
Shurtleff, Benjamin (1), 355*
Shurtleff, Benjamin (2), 355.
Shurtleff, Benjamin (3) (M.D ), 355.
Shurtleff, Nathaniel B. (M.D., etc.), 355,
612.
Shurtleff, William, 355, 580.
Shute, Samuel (Gov.), 547.
Sibsie,----(Master), 312.
Sickness, Results of the “ First,” 185-187.
Side-arms, 78.
Sieva Beans, 117.
Silk, 587.
“ Silver-headed Tom,” 553.
Silver ore, 338.
Simmons, The name, 192.
Simonson (or “Simmons”), Moses, 191,
192, 292, 293, 299, 362, 569.
“ Simple Cobbler of Agawam,” The, 168,
425.
“Simplicity’s Defence,” 443.
Singing, Indian, 168.
“ Singing Master's Assistant,” The, 359.
Singleton, Mary, 192.
Sitteate (Scituate), 361-f.
“ Sityate,” 363.
“ Six-Principle Baptists,” 516.
Skate, 99.
Skeleton in Armor, The, 141.
Skeletons found on Cole’s Hill, 158
Skelton, Hugh (Rev.), 326-328.
Skiff, Elizabeth Cooper- (Mrs. Jas.-), 596.
Skiff, James, 465, 503, 596.
Skillets, Iron, 527.
Skral, 138.
Skreela, 138.
Skrcellinger, 138.
Slade, Elisha, 140.
Slade’s Ferry, 217.
Slafter,----(Rev.), 75.
“ Slander ” cases, 343, 423, 608.
Slaney, John, 122.
Slavery, White, 562, 563.
Slaves, 151, 585 ; Indian, 79 ; -ship “ May-
flower,” 156; -trade, the, 472.
Sleighs, 101.
Sloop-rig, 68.
“ Sloup's Bay,” 306.
Small letters, use of in surnames, 611.
Smalley, John, 412.
Small-pox, 135, 281, 373,426, 505, 593-595.
Smeaton, John, 57.	%
Smelts, 107.
Smith, Anna (Mrs. Thos-), 187.
Smith, Edward, 516.
Shiith,-----(Mrs. Edward-), 516.
Smith, George, 151.
Smith, John (Captain), xv, 62, 81, 147,
149, 152, 206; on clams, 205; his map
of New England, 81, 91, 149-151; his
monument, 151 ; on the Plymouth fire
of 1623, 249, 250; his Plymouth statis-
tics of 1624, 258; on Puritan Episco-
palianism, 328.
Smith, John (Rev.), 16, 31, 284, 487, 532.
Smith, John, Jr., 488, 607.
\654
INDEX.
Smith, Mary, 460.
Smith, Mary Goodall-Masterson- (Mrs.
Ralph-), 330, 379.
Smith, Ralph (Rev.), 329, 330, 348, 358,
359, 379» 384, 399, 4OI» 4*9, 603, 6o8«
Smith, Thomas, 188.
“Smith’s Isles,” 150, 151.
Smoking (tobacco), 344, 403, 406, 436.
Smyrna cotton, 585.
Snaphances, 87, 446.
Snell, C. H., 159.
Snorre, 139, 140.
Snow, 77, 101, hi, 112; small amount in
Plymouth, 581 ; “ The Great-,” 535*
Snow, Abigail-Warren (Mrs. Anthony), 246.
Snow, Anthony, 246.
Snow, Constance (Mrs. Nicholas-), 187.
Snow, Mark, 493.
Snow, Nicholas, 187, 243, 245, 294, 299,
412.
Snow,------(Mrs. Tabez-), 535.
Snow’s Hill, 68.
Soap, 197.
“ Society for propagating the Gospel in New
England,” The, 426, 444, 570.
“ Society,” The (Congregational organiza-
tion), 606.
“Sodquin,” 151.
Solert, 205.
Somersby,------, 557.
Somerset, R. I., 562.
“ Somerset” (Samoset), 118.
“ Somerset,” The frigate, 314.
Somersetshire families in New England,
274, 461.
Sorrel, 99.
Soule, Elizabeth, 597.
Soule, George, 183, 185, 245, 291, 295, 299,
361, 475) 476, 508.
Soule, John, 607.	[607.
Soule, Mary-Bucket (Mrs. Geo.), 245, 475,
Soule, Zecharjah, 295, 299.
South Carolina, 142.
South Scituate families, 191.
Southampton, England, 46, 51, 52, 55,
340*
Southampton, The Earl of, 144, 147.
Southport, Maine, 118.
Southwark, London, 192.
Southwick, Cassandra (Mrs. Lawrence-),
486.
Southwick, Lawrence, 486.
Southworth, Alice (Mrs. Benjamin Church),
462, 564.
Southworth, Alice-Carpenter (Mrs. Edw.-),
244> 295) 298.
Southworth, Constant, 322, 434, 460, 462,
488, 564, 569, 598, 599.
Southworth, Edward (Sen.), 463.	•
Southworth, Edward, 32, 38, 56, 248, 249,
462.
Southworth, Elizabeth, 462, 598, 599.
Southworth, Elizabeth Collier- (Mrs. Con-
stant-), 462.
Southworth, Elizabeth Raynor- (Mrs.
Thomas-), 463.
Southworth, Mary, 569.
Southworth, Nathaniel, 462, 559, 604.
Southworth, Thomas, 249, 460, 461, 463,
464, 478, 489, 521.
Southworth, William, 462.
Southworth, spellings, 249, 611.
“ South worths of Southworth,” The, 463.
Sowams, f36, 165, 216, 3°4) 357) 399)4”,
473 > expedition to, 163-169.
Spain, 142, 151.
Spaniels, 111, 113.
Spanish Armada, The, 156 ; explorers,
594 ; fishermen, 143.
“ Sparrow,” The, 204.
Sparrowhawk, The ship, 311-315.
“Sparrow’s” Shallop, The, 203, 204, 206.
Spawning herrings, etc., 307.
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
403-
“Special Providences,” no.
“ Speedwell,” The, 46, 50, 51, 55 ; her al-
leged defects, 55, 56.
“ Speedwell,” Pring’s ship, 145, 146.
Spellings, Southworth, 249.
Spellings, Variations in, and quaint, 609-
612.
Spenser, Edmund, 8.
Spikes, 312.
“ Spiritual Ladder,” The, 426.
Spooner, Ephraim, 116, 469, 470, 607.
Spot Pond, 361-f*.
Sprague, Anna (Mrs. Francis-), 243, 294,
2".
Sprague, Francis, 243, 245, 294, 299, 362,
4°i) 434) 502> 602.
Sprague, John, 596.
Sprague, Mercy, 243, 245, 294, 299, 363,
596.
Sprague, spellings, 610.
Springfield, Mass., 131,425,552; spellings,
610.
Spring Lane, Boston, 445.
Sprinkling (baptism), 366, 422.
Sprint, J., 13.
Squabetty, 536.
Squam, 361+.INDEX.
655
u Squanto,” 175. See “ Tisquantum.”
“ Squantum,” 175.
Square, The Hollow-, 200.
Squashes, 117, 585.
Squaw Sachem, The, 176,177, 218, 559.
Squaws, 120,130, 535, 563.
Squirrels, 169.
“St.” See Saint.
Stacy, Hugh, 300. See Statie.
Stage Cove, 97.
Stallion, Edward, 611.
Stallion, spellings, 611.
Standish, Alexander, 293, 299,449, 451, 452,
567.
Standish, Alexander (a), 453.
Standish, Alexander (b), 452.
Standish, Alexander (c), 452.
Standish, Barbara (2d Mrs. Myles-), 244,
246, 293, 299, 448, 566, 567.
Standish, Charles, 293, 299.
Standish, Edward, 452.
Standish, “Father,” 453.
Standish, Frank (Sir), 453.
Standish, Henry (Dr.), 453.
Standish, Hugh (Sir), 453.
Standish, James, 452.
Standish, John (Sir), 293, 299, 453.
Standish, Josiah, 448.
Standish, Lora, 448.
Standish, Mary Dingley (Mrs. Josiah-),
448.
Standish, Myles (Capt.), 70, 83, 87, 115,
127, 159,	172,	183,	186,	213-215,	237,
246, 289,	293,	296,	299,	319, 338,	357,
361, 446,	488,	520,	526,	566, 567,	569;
ancestry and birthright of, 451-453; his
armor, 87, 105, 450,451 ; autograph, 446;
authority, 160; birth, 452 ; character, 200,
228 ; court cases, 476; death, 447; dishes,
588; effects, 451; trips to England, 281,
447, 448; grave, 447, 448; vs. Hewes,
280; house, 449; library, 450, 451 ; 2d
marriage, 248 ; portrait, 446 ; a Roman-
ist (?), 453; his will, 234.
Standish, Myles (a recent), 567.
Standish, Olive, 447.
Standish, Ralph, 452.
Standish, Ralph (Sir), 453.
Standish, Richard (Sir), 453.
Standish, Rose (1st Mrs. Myles-), 116, 183,
186, 1S8, 300, 453.
Standish, Rowland (Sir), 453.
Standish, Sarah Alden (Mrs. Alexander-),
449,	567.
Standish, Thomas (1), 453.
Standish, Thomas (2), 452.
Standish, Thomas (3), 452.
Standish, Thomas (4), 452.
Standish, Thurston De-, 453.
Standish family’s Catholicism, 70.
“ Standish Guards,” The, 612.
Standish Hall, 451-453.
Standish Monument, The, 446.
Standish, Parish of, 451-453.
Stanley, Dean, on Burial Hill, 231.
Stanley, spellings, 611.
Staples, Commercial, 197.
Star Mills, The, 163.
Starr, Comfort (Dr.), 380.
State Constables, 487.
State House, Old Boston, 438.
“ State Paper Office,” The, 15.
Statie, Hugh, 191, 300.
Statistics, looseness of old, 137.
Statutes, 424.
Staves, 586.
Steel, 528.
Steele, A. (Rev.), xi, xii, 1, 2.
Steele,-----(President), 444.
Steenstucken (cannon), 308.
Steers, 293, 294.
Stephen, Leslie, 39.
Sterling, Mass., 606.
Sterling, spellings, 611.
Stetson, Robert (Col.), 401.
Stetson,----(Cornet), 558.
Stetson, spellings, 611.
Stevens, Elizabeth Wade- (Mrs. Thomas-),
597-
Stevens, Thomas, 597.
Stevens, William (Rev.), 284.
Stevenson, John, 512.
Stevenson, John (2d), 512.
Stevenson, Sarah, •----- (Mrs. John-), 512,
^3-
Stevenson,------(Quaker), 484.
Stewart, James, 191, 300.
Stickney, J. Henry, 613.
Stills, 451.
Stinnings, Richard, 406.
Stirling,---(Lord), 538.
Stockbridge’s Mills, 438.
Stockings, 587, 602.
Stocks, The, 223, 320, 343, 344, 400, 488,
600, 602.
Stone, John (Captain), 374.
Stone,------(Rev.), 378,
“ Stone,” The (disease), 388.
“ Stone Cutters* Hebrew,” 467
Stone Masons, 609.
Stonington, Conn., 132.
Stony Brook, 143, 3614-.
42656
INDEX.
Story, Elias, 184, 185, 300.
Stoughton, Lieut. Gov., 380, 518.
Stoughton, Mass., 135.
Stoves, 527 ; church, 605.
“ Straits, The,” 156.
Strangury (disease), 447.
“ Straumfjord,” 139.
Straw, 587.
Strawberries, 73, 99, 584.
Strawberry Hill, 115, 379.
Street, Nicholas, 526, 527, 533.
Streets, Plymouth. See Leyden, Main,
Middle, Summer, etc.
“Strong Waters,” 119, 123, 584.
Study Hall, 511.
Study Hill, 511, 513.
Stumps, Brown’s Island, 98.
Sturgeon, 545.
Sturtevant, Hannah, 596.
Styles,----(Dr.), 589.
Succonnesset (Falmouth), 506.
Succonessets, The, 225.
Sudbury, Mass., 377, 552; fight, the, 542 ;
mohument, 542.
Suet, 336.
Suez, The Pilgrim, 290.
“ Suffolk Harmony,” The, 359.
Sugar, 255, 424; white-, 305.
Suicides, 590.
Summer Street, 114.
Summers, 582.
“Summerset,” 118.
Sumner, George, 32, 282.
Sunday on Clark’s Island, 91, 92; the
Dutch, 38; observance of, 121, 128;
sports, 421; violations of, 607.
Supernatural fancies, 590, 591.
Superstitions, 558, 578, 579, 591; coeval
English, 4.
“Surbated,” 169, 210.
Surgeons, Plymouth, 380. See “ Fuller,
Samuel.”
Surgery, 553.
Surnames, 301; beginning with small letters,
and with capitals, 611.
Sutton, England, 23.
Sutton, John, 597.
Sutton, Richard, 597.
Sutton Hospital, 348.
“Swan,” The ship, 207, 227, 229, 235, 238,
249; cruise of,	for com, 209-211.
Swansea, Mass.,	136,	164,	172, 217,	474,
524» 525, 537,	54°,	551,	552» 554,	562;
609; persons,	508,	517,	520, 522,	524,
525, 54°, 554, 55?; school, 496.
Swansea, Wales, immigrants from, 523.
Swedes, 417.
Sweetings, Yellow, 512.
Swine, 258, 292, 297, 376, 419, 42°, 45
583, 602 ; prices of, 296, 297.
Swiss Republic, The, 63.
Switzerland, 589.
Swords, 70 ; Standish’s, 105.
Sylvester, Dinah, 597, 603.
Sylvester, Dinah (Mrs. Joseph-), 493.
Sylvester, Joseph, 493.
Sylvester, Naomi, 603.
Sylvester, Naomi------(Mrs. —), 603.
Sylvester, Richard, 597.
Sylvester, William, 603.
Symonds, Elizabeth, 597.
Symonds, Moses, 597.
Symonds, Sarah (Mrs. Moses-), 597.
Symonds, William, 34.
Synod, The Massachusetts, 328, 515.
Synod of Dort, 36.
Syriac taught in New England, 424.
'T*ABLETS, Cole’s Hill memorial, 159;
fort and watch-tower, 230.
Table-ware, 588, 589.
Taffeta, 413.
Tailors, 378, 603.
Talbot, James, 493.
Talbot, Moses, 381.
“ Talbot,” The ship, 326, 329.
Tanner, Nicholas, 523.
Tansy, Dunster packed in, 428.
Tar, 197, 344, 586.
Tarbox, I. N., D.D. (Rev.), 13, 367.
Tarrantines, The, 131, 134, 135, 340.
“ Tate and Brady ” Collection, 359.
Taunton,’Mass., 99, 135, 363, 409, 515, 525,
527_529, 554, 558, 592» 6°9J persons,
447, 495, 5*7, 526~528, 533, 603; first
names of settlers, 301; Green, 164;
military quotas, 415, 557.
Taunton River, 140, 164, 394, 555.
Tax (“minister”) for public worship, 456,
458, 519, 520.
Taxes, War, 609.
Taylor, Richard, 597.
Taylor,-----(Captain), 387.
Tea, 104, 584; cups and pots, 588.
Teachers, 379.
Telescopes, 81, 579.
Temple Bar, 230.
Temple, Dorothy, 407, 408.
Tench, William, 191, 300.
Tewksbury, Mass., 118.
Texel, The, 398.INDEX.
657
Thacher, James (Dr.), 466, 571.
Thacker (Thacher), Elias, 14.
Thanksgiving Day, 179, 180, 361; the first,
323 ; at Barnstable, 441; a legal, 180.
Thatched roofs, etc., 109, 249,449, 582,583.
Thatcher, Anthony, 120,389, 466; his ship-
wreck, 389.
Thatcher’s Island, 347, 389.
Then, 584.
Theatre, The Rose, 109.
“Thievish Harbor,” 81.
Thomas,- The name, 291, 301.
Thomas, Isaiah, 359.
Thomas, Nathaniel, 439.
Thomas, William, 439, 466.
Thomas, William (2d), 439, 608.
Thompson, David, 237, 287.
Thompson, Edward, 82, 184-186, 300.
Thompson,------(Mrs. David-), 318, 320.
Thompson,------(Sergeant), 540.
Thompson’s Island, 318.
Thorfin, 139, 140.
Thome, Joseph, 604.
Thomed, John, 289.
Thornhill, Matthew, 289.
Thornton, J. W., xiv.
Thornton, Thomas, 533.
Thoroton,------, 22.
Thorp, Job, 379.
Thorwald, 97, 138-140.
Thorwaldsen, 139.
Thrale’s brewery site, 440.
“Three Eras of New England” (Lunt).
Title leaves.
Thunder, 117, 169, 170.
4i Tickens,” 34.
Tides, Plymouth, 98.
Tifft, renegade, 553.
“Tiger,” Blok’s ship, 149.
Tilden, Joseph, 289.
Tilden, Nathaniel, 440.
Tilden, — (Mrs. Nathaniel-), 502.
Tilden, Thomas, 244, 300.
Tilden,-----(Mrs. Thomas), 244.
.Tilley, Ann (Mrs. Edw.-), 1S3, 186, 300.
^Tilley, Bridget Van der Velde (Mrs. John-),
183,186, 300.
Tilley, Edward, 70, 83, 183, 186, 300.
Tilley, Elizabeth, 182-184, 186, 187, 293,
298.
Tilley, John, 32, 183, 184, 186, 300.
Tillotson, Archbishop John, 9.
Tinker, Thomas, 183, 186, 300.
Tinker, Mrs. Thomas, 184, 186.
Tinker,-----, 184,186, 300.
Tisbury, Mass., 507.
Tisdale, John, 434, 554.
Tisquantum, 122-124, 127, 128, 152, 157,
163, 172, 173, 175; his character, 161,
162,210 ; death, 209,210; double-dealing,
200-203.
Titicut, 164, 525.
Titles, 282.
Tiverton, Mass., 136.
Tobacco and its use, 117, 120, 126, 127, 130,
166, 168, 302, 305, 344, 403, 447, 504,
513, 586;-land in Massachusetts, 152;
-seed, 80.
Tobias (the Indian), 537.
Tockamahamon, 168, 172, 173.
Toller, Thomas, 23, 37.
Tolls (mill), 438.
Tomahawks, 341.
Tomson, ——, 377.
Tongue, Neat’s, 115.
Tonnage of English vessels, 46.
Toothache, 120.
Torbay, 109.
Torfaeus, 140.
Torrey, James, 585.
Torrey, Joseph and wife, 516.
Torrey,-----(Lieut.), 503.
Torturing, 4, 5.
Totoson, 553.
“ Towam,” 174.
Tower at Newport, The, 141.
Tower of London, 230.
Town Brook, 96, 104, 106-109, 124, 157,
161,199,258,307,361+, 376,436,437,
585.
Town, The word, 336.
Town cattle, 293-296.
Town clerks in Plymouth, 469, 470.
Town-meeting, 160.
“ Track of the Hidden Church ” (Wadding-
ton’s), xii, 1,15.
Tracy, Rebecca, 295, 299.
Tracy, Sarah, 243, 295,299.
Tracy, Stephen, 243, 245, 295, 299.
Tracy, Triphosa (Mrs. Stephen-), 243, 295,
299-
Trading, 287 ; Dutch, 303, 304; The Bay’s.
on Plymouth’s territory, 347, 348.
Trading-houses, 372; Manomet (q. v.), 290.
Train-bands, 520.
Trainings, 180, 511, 529.
Transubstantiation, 524.
Trap, Indian deer-, 75.
Trask, William (Captain), 274.
Travelling, 16th century, 18, 21, 22.
Treason, old penalty for, 5; cases, 601,
602.6$8
INDEX.
Treasurer, The, 160, 436, 449, 463; first)
435-
Treat, Eliza Mayo (1st Mrs. Samuel-),
534-
Treat, Samuel (Pastor), 534-536.
Treat, ----- Willard-Esterbrook (2d Mrs.
Samuel), 534.
Treat,------(Gov.), 534.
Treaty with Massasoit, 124, 125, 136.
Trenchers, 588.
Trevor, William, 184-187, 194, 237, 320.
“ Trial,” The ship, 472, 586.
Trinity College, 421.
Trousers, Irish, 587.
Troy, Mass., 141.
Trumpet, 124, 126.
Truro, Mass., 60, 72, 85, 593.
Tubbs, Mercy Sprague (Mrs. William-), 245,
3<>3» 596.
Tubbs, William, 245, 363, 596, 605.
Tuchin, Robert, 488, 489.
“ Tucker’s Terror,” 61, 62, 143.
Tuk, 132.
Tuke, Sir Brian, 20.
“ Turbot,” 99.
“ Turf and twig,” 338.
Turkeys, 394, 594; wild, 179.
Turner, John, 46, 183, 186, 300.
Turner, Michael, 602.
Turner, boys (2), 184, 186, 300.
Turnips, 117.
Tupper, Anne (Mrs. Thomas-), 533.
Tupper, Thomas (Captain), 503, 532.
Tupper,-----(Rev.), 532.
Tuxford, England, 21.
Tyler, Wat, 453.
T TMBRELLAS, 587.
^ Uncas, 87, 132, 473, 529, 555.
“ Uncle Ed,” 91.
“ Undertakers, The,” 197, 302, 340.
Unicorn’s horn (Med.), 369.
“ Union Jack,” The, 51, 360.
Unitarianism, 2, 524; in New England, 606 y
punishment of, 5, 6, 482.
“ United Colonies of New England,” The,
414-417.
“United States, History of the” (Ban-
croft’s), xiii, 10, 65.
United States Coast Survey and Plymouth
Harbor, 93.
University, Leyden, 35.
University-men in early New England pul-
pits, 530-539.
“University Press,’? The, 426,427. See
reverse of titlepage.
“ Unnatural crimes,” 601.
“ Unrest, The,” Blok’s ship, 149.
Upshall, Nicholas, 482.
Upsi, Bishop Eric, 141.
Ure, spellings, 611.
Uxley, Henry, 525.
; spellings, 611. See
(t Faunce.”
Vane, Sir Henry, Jr., 360, 369, 383, 497.
Vassal, Judith, 187.
Vassal, William (Captain) 187, 432, 423,
443, 5OI“5°3, 527-
Vassall, Samuel, 156.
Vatican, Norse manuscript in the, 139.
Vattel,------on early treatment of the Indians
by settlers, 548.
Veal, 583.
Vegetables, 117; gardens, 161.
Veils, 365.
Venable,-----(General), 444.
Venetian wars, Gorges in the, 239.
** Venice of the North,” The, 32.
Venison, 80.
Venus Mercenaria (clam), 205.
Verazzani, 141.
Vermayes, Benjamin, 436, 464.
Vermayes, Mercy Bradford- (Mrs. Benj.-),
436»
Vermin, fleas, etc., 168.
Versch, The, 372.
“ Villiers,” spellings, 610.
Vincent, John, and wife, 378.
Vineland, 138-142.
Vines, Richard (Dr.), 134.
Violence, conjugal, 597, 602.
Virginia, xxii, 2, 61, 152, 153, 207, 208,
237, 247, 304, 305, 311, 316, 357, 361,
471, 582, 584, 585; persons, 285, 3*3,
374, 406, 424, 433> 44°, 4S4 5 character of
settlers, 328; massacre, the, 206, 233 ;
persecutions, 2, 481, 482.
Virginia Company, The, 40, 42, 43, 51, 61-
63, 197-
Virginia Company, The North-, 40.
Voltaire, 125.
Voting, 404, 405 ; . restrictions on, 415.
Voyage of the Mayflower, length of, 65, 122.
Voysye,------, His death, 413.
\7ACCINATI0N,
V Vance (?), 468INDEX.
659
TITAALSCHE, 36.
' ' Waban, Sachem, 544.
Wabanung, 131.
Waddington, Rev. Dr., xii, 1.
Wade, Elizabeth, 597.
Wadharn College, 609.
Wadsworth, Christopher, 401, 489.
Wadsworth, John, 493.
Wadsworth, Samuel (Captain), 552, *
Wadsworth,----(Dr.), 448.
Wadsworth,----, 291.
Wages, 201, 336, 403, 447, 448.
Waistcoats, 587.
“ Waist-cloths ” (naval), 252.
Wales, 348.
Watford, Thomas, 318.
Walker, Harvey, 520.
Walker, William, 344.
Wallen, Joyce (Mrs. Ralph-), 243, 245, 295,
299.
Wallen, Ralph, 243, 245, 295, 299.
Walley, Thomas, 532, 595, 608.
Walloons, The, 36, 246, 305; their church,
35-
Walnut trees, 67, 73, 99, 168.
Walsingham, Sir Francis, 8.
Waltham, Mass., 142.
Wamesit (Mass.), 118, 134.
Wamesits, The, 133, 134.
Wampanoage, 120.
Wampanoags, The, 120, 136, 522, 538, 544,
556; territory of the, 164.
Wampum, 274, 305, 306, 322, 425.
Wamsutta, 474.
Wanalancet, 134.
Wanamoiset, 517, 520-522, 524.
Wanasquam, 361+.
Wanton, Edward, 599.
Wapan, 120.
Wapees, 118.
“ Wappentake,” 18.
War Cry, Indian, 89.
Ward, Nathaniel, 404, 424, 425.
Ward, Thomas, 289.
Ware, England, 421-423.
Wareham, Mass., 136, 165, 593, 608.
Warham,-------(Pastor), 392-394.
Warren family, The, 323.
Warren, Abigail, 244, 246, 295, 299.
Warren, Ann, 244, 246, 295, 299.
Warren, Charles Henry (Judge), 323, 612.
Warren, Elizabeth, 244, 246, 295, 299, 355.
Warren, Elizabeth (Mrs. Richard-), 244,
295> 299> 323-
Warren, Henry, 323.
Warren, James, 323.
Warren, James (2d), 323.
Warren, James (3d) (General), 323.
Warren, Joseph, 29, 299.
Warren, Joseph, Jr., 604.
Warren, Joseph (General), 323.
Warren, Mary, 244-246, 295, 299.
Warren, Mary Winslow- (Mrs. Henry-), 323.
Warren, Mercy, 559.
Warren, Mercy Otis- (Mrs. James [3]-), 323.
Warren, Nathaniel, 323.
Warren, Penelope Winslow- (Mrs. James
[2d]-), 323.
Warren, Richard, 83,183,185,186,189, 295,
299- 323> 564-
Warren, ----(Mrs. Richard-), 186.
Warren, Samuel, on English registration,
251.
Warren, Sarah, 244, 246, 295, 299.
Warren, Sarah Doten- (Mrs. Jas.-), 323.
Warren, Sarah Walker- (Mrs. Nathaniel-),
323-
Warren, R. I., 136, 164, 165, 609.
Warren’s Cove, 90.
Warren’s House, Dr. (Plymouth), 114.
War taxes, 609.
Warwick, Earl of (Robert Rich), 61, 197,
33*-
Warwick Patent, The, 339, 342, 401, 402,
411.
Warwick, R. I., 420, 517.
Washing-clay, 99.
Washing clothes at Provincetown, Pilgrim’s,
69.
Wassapinewat, 225.
Watchtower, The brick, 230, 231.
Water, Drinking, 171, 321.
Water Street, Plymouth, 579.
Watercress, 99.
Waterman, Peter, 590.
Waters, Joseph B., 457.
Waterspout, A, 170.
Watertown, Conn., 394. See“ Wethers-
field.”
Watertown, Mass., 36.1+, 394, 424, 605 ;
persons, 273, 340, 538, 585.
Watson, Benjamin Marstonr97, 109, 358.
Watson, Edward F., 91.
Watson, James M., 97.
Watson’s Hill (Strawberry), 121, 126, 379.
“Watts’ Psalms and Hymns,” 359.
Watuspan, 536.
Way, Henry, 357.
Waymouth, George (Captain), 148.
Waymouth, Titus, 590.
Weapons, 451, 463.
Weavers, 436, 586, 587.66o
INDEX.
Webb, William, 355.
Webb,-------(Mr.), 355.
Webster, Daniel, 612.
Webster place, 81.
“Websters,” 586. See “Weavers.”
Weeks, John, 420, 518.
Weeks,------(Mrs. John-), 420.
Weirs, Fish, 164.
Weir’s painting of “ Departure from Delft-
haven,” 51.
“Welcome,” ship, 117, 591.
Wellfleet, 85; Bay, 84, 85.
Wellingsley Brook, 471.
Welsh claim to the discovery of New Eng-
land, 139.
Welsh settlers in New England, 525, 528,
533-
Wenham, 580.
Wesley, John, 13.
“ Wessaguscus,” 223, 361+. See “ Wessa-
gusset.”
Wessagusset, 207, 317, 355. See “ Wey-
mouth.”
West Ermyn Street, 17.
West, Francis (Admiral), 236-238.
“ West Harbor,” 361+.
West India Company, The, 303.
West India slavery, 562.
West India trade, The, 399.
West Indies, The, 117,142, 444, 472, 584.
Westerly, R. I., 132.
Westfield, 552.
Westminster Hall, 230.
Weston, Mass., 142.
Weston, Thomas, 44, 45, 193, 194, 204,235,
238, 255; death of, 238; his emigrants
and their bad character, 207-209, 211,
223-229, 232, 316; his lackings and
wrong-doing, 45, 52, 54,195, 235, 238.
Westport, 609.
Wetherell, William (Pastor), 423, 579.
Wethersfield, Conn., 394, 395.
Weymouth, Mass., 135,174, 175, 207, 223-
229, 238, 318, 358; persons, 297, 320,
355, 360; destitution of first settlers,
223, 224, 227; fight at, 227; low quality
of first settlers, 207-209, 211.	See
“ Wessagusset.”
Whales and whaling, 69, 149, 565, 603.
Whalley,----, 527.
Wharves, 435.
Wheat, 161, 584, 586.
Wheeler,----, 552.
| Wheildon, Gabriel, 597.
Wheildon, Ruth, 597.
Whey, 104.
Whipping, Public, 208, 223, 343, 400, 408,
485* 493, 502» 5*6, 596, 600, 602, 603;
students, 424, 425 ; women, 440.
Whistling, Indians’, 72.
Whitcomb, Robert, 503.
White, Jane, 34.
White, John, 288.
White, John (Bishop), 159.
Whit®, J. A., 81.
White, Judith (Mrs. Resolved-), 187.
White, Peregrine, 80, 181, 293, 299, 401,
445, 466, 542, 600, 602.
White, Resolved, 184, 186, 187, 293, 299,
445> 468, 476, 542.
White, Roger, 159, 282, 455.
White, Susanna (Mrs. William-), 181, 183,
186, 293, 299.
White, William, 32, 38, 80, 82, 116, 159,
183, 186, 300.
White,-----(Sawyer), 271.
White,-----(Rev.), 272.
Whitgift, John (Archbishop), 8, 15.
Whitman, W. H., 452.
Whitney’s Pond, 525.
“ Whitson Bay,” 146.
Wiatt, James, 607.
“ Wichaguscusset,” 207.
Wicket, Jeremy, 590.
Wife-beating, et contra, 597, 602,
Wigan, Eng., 452.
Wight, Isle of, 55.
Wigs, immoral, 428.
Wigwams, 80.
Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, xiv.
Wilbor, Shadrach, 526.
Wild-cats, 120, 593.
Wilder, Mary, 380.
Wilder, Roger, 184, 185.
Willard, Pastor, 534.
Willet, Andia Bourne- (Mrs. Hezekiah-),
522.
Willet, Andrew (Rev.), 521.
Willet, Elizabeth Hunt (Mrs. James-), 598.
Willet, Hezekiah, 522, 558.
Willet, James, 598.
fillet, Joanna Boyse-Prudden- (2d Mrs.
Thomas), 522.
Willet, Joseph, 387, 388.
Willet, Marimus, 523.
Willet, Mary Brown- (1st Mrs. Thomas-),
521, 522.
Willet, Thomas (Captain and Mayor), 60,
334, 335> 438,498, 520"523> 54°, 543-
Willet, Thomas (Canon of Ely), 521.
. William, The name, 182, 301.
I William the Silent, 282.INDEX.
66l
William III., 109, 282, 572.	[526.
Williams, Frances Dighton- (Mrs. Richard-),
Williams, James (Rev.), 467, 531.
Williams, John, 596, 604.
Williams, Mary Lothrop- (Mrs.-), 401.
Williams, Richard, 525, 526.
Williams, Robert, 370.
Williams, Roger, xiii, 3, 120, 121, 131, 133,
135, Hh 274> 348, 358-360, 364, 370,
379>. 380, 406, 407, 419, 420, 474; his
appetite, 121; autograph, 375 ; banish-
ment, 365 ; as to baptism and Baptists,
366; church difficulties, 365; creed and
theological views, 365-371 ; on the In-
dians, their character and use of tobacco,
219, 547) 586; Mather on, 366; on
Quakers, 480 ; Savage on, 370; Scott on,
366.
Williams,----(Mrs. Roger-), 369.
Williams, Sarah (Mrs. John-), 596.
Williams, Thomas, 183,186, 300.
Williams,----(Lieut.), 380.
Williams, The name, 301.
“ Williams,” apple-tree, the, 370.
Willis, Richard, 296 (?), 603,
Willoughby, Eng., 151.
Wills. 300, 400, 401,448, 460,463,598, 599.
Wilson,------(Pastor), 326, 348, 358, 589,
Wilson, Lambert (Dr.), 336.
Winchester measures, 400.
Wincob, John, 43.
“Wincob Patent,” the, 43, 44.
Winding-sheets, 590.
Windmills, 388, 438; Newport, 141.
Windows, 582, 583.
Windsor, Conn., 372, 392, 394, 395.
Wine, 36, 73, 117, 139) 3”) 368,434, 5”)
584, 586.
Winkop, John, 43. See " Wincob.”
Winnissimet, 320, 361+. See “Chelsea.”
Winslow, Edward, Jr.	(Gov.), 35, 37, 83,
114,	120,	123,	124,	127,	159,	163,	183,
185,	187,	207,	2i2,	246,	289,	294,	296,
299)	335,	338,	353,	367,	39r>	397,	399,
4°6, 431, 442-446, 541, 613; autograph,
442; his missions to England, 247, 384-
386; Governor, 376, 445, 455, 456; trip
to Maine fishing fleet; marriages of, 37,
181; cures Massasoit, 219-221; portrait,
446; on Robinson, 283 ; on New Eng-
land winters, 581.
Winslow, Edward (Senior), 444.
Winslow, Edward, Jr. (5th gen.), 93, 612.
Winslow, Edward, Jr. (2d), 293, 299.
Winslow, Eleanor Newton-Adams- (Mrs.
Kenelm-), 378.
Winslow, Elizabeth Barker- (1st Mrs. Ed-
ward-), 37, 83, 183, 185, 188, 300.
Winslow, Gilbert, 183, 185-187, 300, 323,
Winslow, Isaac, 445.
Winslow, Isaac (2d) (Dr.), 445.
Winslow, Isaac (3d), 445.
Winslow, Job, 554.
Winslow, John, 187, 191, 192, 293*299, 445.
Winslow, John (*2d) (General), 293, 299,
445*	*
Winslow, John (3d), 445.
Winslow, Josiah (Gov.), 181, 193, 445, 481,
489) 494, 5°4, 53i) 533) 54<>-543) 547,
553, 556, 570 J autograph of, 540; Gov-
ernor, 540, 541; on the treatment of the
Indians, 546.
Winslow, Josiah (2d), 443.
Winslow, Kenelm, 246, 445.
Winslow, Magdalen-Oliver- (Mrs. Edward,
Sen.-), 445.
Winslow, Mary (Mrs. John-), 187.
Winslow, Penelope Pelham-(Mrs. Josiah-),
540.
Winslow, Susanna, 187. See “ Latham.”
Winslow, Susanna White- (2d .Mrs. Ed-
ward-), 445, 476.
Winslow’s “ Brief Narration,” xii, xv, xvi.
Winslow’s “Four Narratives,” 127, 163,
178.
Winslows*, “ Relation,” xii, xv, xvi.
Winslow’s, Tories, The, 291.
Winter, Christopher, 482, 501, 502.
Winter, John, 602.
Winters, 112, 181, 581, 582.
Winthrop, John (Gov.), 156, 175, 3*5) 327,
335, 336, 343) 358, 435, 497, 511, 545,
599; his bigotry, 360, 361; on Eaton,
424; his ship “ Blessing of the Bay,”
371, 440, 586; on New England winters,
58..
Winthrop,------(Mrs. John, Sen.-), 349.
Winthrop, John, Jr. (Gov. of Conn.), 366,
369, 370, 394, 591-
Winthrop,------(Mrs. John, Jr.-), 369.
Winthrop,------(Professor), 578, 580.
Winthrop’s Journal, xvii, 109.
Wiring, 304.
Wisbeach, England, 188.
Wiswall, Ichabod (Pastor), 465, 531, 532,
572, 573, 579, 589-
Wiswall, Mary Atwood- (Mrs. Ichabod-),
465.
Witchcraft, 458, 490-494, 568, 591; cases
(2) in Plymouth, 493. 494 ; recent execu-
tions for, 492; witches persecuted by all
sects, 491-493.662
INDEX.
Witherell. See “Wetherell
Wituwamat, 213, 214, 225, 227, 228, 231.
“ Woach-ha-hach-woach,” 89.
“ Wolf-traps,” 592.
“ Wolf,” tribe, The, 117.
Wollaston, Captain, 316.
Wollaston Heights, Mass., 320, 361-}-.
Wolsey, Thomas (Card), 18, 21.
Wolstenholme, Sir John, 42, 43.
# Wolves, 86, 113, 257, 341, 403, 449) 591_
593-
Women, “ Anne ” and “ James,** 243-246 •
“Fortune,” 190-192;	Indian, 177.
“ Mayflower,’* 182- \ 88.	’
“Wonder-working Providence” (John-
son’s), 335 ; on clams, 205.
Wood, Anthony, 205; on Powahs, 219;
his map, 97, 361.
Wood, Henry, 34.
Wood, John, 436. See “Atwood.”
“Wood End,” 67, 68.
Woodbury, Agnes (Mrs. John-), 274.
Woodbury, John, 274.
“ W'ood-gaile,” 73.
Wood's Hole or Holl, 141.
Wood’s “ Prospect,” 99,175, 376; on clams,
205 ; map of New England, 97, 361+.
Woodworth, Mehitabel, 493.
Woodworth, Walter, 493.
Woollen, 585, 587.
Wool-pulling, 192.
Worcester, Eng., 109.
Worcester, Marquis of, 87.
. Worcester, Mass., 359, 571.
“ Worcester Collection,” The, 359.
Worcestershire, Eng., 181, 445.
Worksop, Eng., 23.
Worship, Neglecting public, 487.
Wrecks, 245, 287, 314, 380, 388, 393, 433;
early French, on Massachusetts coast, 78,
79; the “James’,” 252,	253; the
“Lion’s,” 361; the “Sparrowhawk’s,”
311-315; Thatcher’s, 347.
Wrens, 228.
Wrentham, 525.
Wrestling, death from, 187.
Wright, Edward (P. M.), 22.
Wright, Priscilla Carpenter- (Mrs. Wm.-),
*92, 378, 462.
Wright, Richard, 288, 437, 514.
Wright, William, 191, 192, 293, 296, 299,
378, 462.
Wrightington, Eng., 452.
Wrington, Eng., families, 248, 461.
Writing, Inability at, 401.
‘W'ARMOUTH, Mass., 136, 231, 363, 411,
1	486, 535> 562, 592; persons, 187, 313,
389, 447» 487, 533) 6oi, 603,609; mili-
tary quotas, 415, 557.
Yarrow, 99.
Yellow Fever, 135.
Yeomen, 23.
York, Eng., 109, 492.
York, Maine, 389, 602.
Yorkshire, Eng., 18, 175 ; persons, 248, 278,
439-
Young, Alexander (Dr.), xvi, 60, 61, 90; on
Hampden, 217; on Indians, 548 ; vindi-
cation of, 98.
Young’s Chronicle of the Pilgrims, xii, xv,
xvi, 99, 443.
Young’s Chronicles of Massachusetts, xiii,
n.
y^EALAND migration project, The, 43.
^ Zuyder Zee, 29.
University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U. S. A.