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•DAYS

OF THE
PILGRIM FATHERS

MARY CAROLINE CRAWFORD

I OTIUA SINE UTERIS AORS EST
^i5  iKl

IN THE DAYS OF
THE PILGRIM FATHERS

51B^ ^ar^ Caroline CratoforD
Old Boston Days and Ways
Romantic Days in the Early Republic
The Romance op the American Theatre
Social Life in Old New England
In the Days of the Pilgrim Fathers

Copyright, A. S. Bvrhank, Plymouth, Mass.
GOVERNOR EDWARD WINSLOW
This is the only authentic portrait of a Mayflower Pilgrim and was painted in England
shortly before Wiiislow's death in l(j.5o at the a^^e of 61. The original is in Pilgrim Hall,
Plymouth. 0

m THE DAYS OF
THE PILGRIM FATHERS
BY
MARY CAROLINE CRAWFORD
ILLUSTRATED

BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1920

Copyright, 1920,
Bt Little, Beown, and Company.

All rights reserved
Published May, 1920

NorlnooS ^Prtsa
Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Gushing Co.
Norwood, Mass,, U.S.A.

Out of small beginnings great things have
been produced, and as one small candle
may light a thousand, so the light
here kindled hath shone to many —
— Bradfohd.

The coming hither of the Pilgrim three centuries ago shaped the
destinies of this Continent, and therefore profoundly afifected the
destiny of the whole world.
— Theodohe Roosevelt, at the laying of the comer
stone of the Pilgrim Memorial Monument at
Provincetown, Massachusetts, April 20, 1907.

New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good
uncouth ;
They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of
Truth :
Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires ! We ourselves must PilgriTns he.
Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate
winter sea.
Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key.
— J. R. Lowell, in "The Present Crisis", 1844.

If a man says that he does not care to know where his grandfather
lived, what he did, and what were that grandfather's politics and
religious creed, it can merely mean that he is incapable of taking
interest in one of the most interesting forms of human knowledge —
the knowledge of the details of the Past. — The London Spectator.

FOREWORD
At a time when the words "Pilgrim" and
"Pilgrim Fathers" are on everybody's lips, it is
worth while to point out that these terms, as used
in American history, were unknown till the closing
years of the eighteenth century. The pioneers
who settled at Plymouth never thought of them
selves or spoke of themselves as Pilgrims, — save
in that instance where Bradford, using the word
in a figurative and Scriptural sense, says of his
companions as they are about to migrate from
Leyden, "so they lefte that goodly & pleasante
citie, which had been ther resting place near
12. years ; but they knew they were pilgrimes
& looked not much on those things, but lift up
their eyes to the heavens, their dearest cuntrie
and quieted their spirits." As applied specifically
to the early settlers at Plymouth, the word "Pil
grim", we are told by Albert Matthews, authority
on early American history, — first appeared in
1798, and "Pilgrim Fathers" in 1799. Oddly
enough, it was Thomas Paine who (in an accoimt
printed in the Columbian Centinel of the 177th
Anniversary of the landing at Plymouth Rock)

viii FOREWORD
first bestowed this term on the early settlers;
Thomas Paine, whose name has long been anath
ema to devout sons and daughters of the Pilgrim
Fathers !
But if the forefathers at Plymouth did not call
themselves Pilgrims, neither did they call them
selves Puritans. That term they not only did not
use, but emphatically disavowed. Bradford, in
deed, twice expresses his dislike for the term on
the ground that it was one of reproach, like the
term Quaker. "And to cast contempte the more
upon the sincere servants of God," he says in one
place, "they opprobriously and most unjustly
gave unto and imposed upon them that name of
Puritans ; which (it) is said the novatians (out of
pride) did assume and take unto themselves."
And in another place he says: "The name of
Brownists is but a nick-name, as Puritan and
Hugenot, etc., and therefore they do not amiss
to decline the odium of it in what they may."
But it was not simply because the term Puritan
was one of reproach that the Forefathers did not
use that name in writing or in speaking of them
selves. They were not Puritans but Separatists.
The Puritan, in England at any rate, was a
Nationalist, believing in the union of Church
and State, however desirous he might be that
the Church of England should be thoroughly
reformed; while the Pilgrim was a Separatist
not only from the Anglican Prayer Book and
Queen Elizabeth Episcopacy but from all national

FOREWORD ix
churches. The Pilgrim wanted liberty for him
self, for his brothers, and for those of his house to
walk with God in Christian life as the rules and
motives of such a life were revealed to him from
God's Word. For that he went into exile; for
that he crossed the ocean; for that he made his
home in the wilderness.
Just as there is great confusion between Pilgrims
and Puritans, so it is far from clear to most Ameri
cans that, for more than sixty years, that is from
1628 to 1691 — when the Colony at Plymouth
and that centering about Salem, Charlestown, and
Boston, were merged under one Constitution —
what we now call Massachusetts, consisted of two
distinct colonies, two centers of life and influence,
which, though separated geographically by only
forty miles, were in every other respect very far
apart. Almost the only thing which these two
Colonies had in common was the allegiance which
both conceded to England.
In view of the scores of scholarly tomes which
have been written concerning the Pilgrims and
the Puritans, the ways in which they resembled
each other and the things which differentiated
them; their modes of life; their ideals; their
church practices ; their backgrounds ; and their
relation to the social and political life of America
during the last three hundred years, one needs
indeed to have courage to undertake, at this stage
of the world's history, to write another book on
the subject. The more one reads the more aghast

X FOREWORD
one grows at this task. Yet I hold it to be true
that however well the history of any epoch may
have been written, it is desirable that it should
be rewritten from time to time by those who look
at the subject under discussion from the point of
view of their own era. So here is one more book,
a book which I have found it very interesting to
write, whether any one finds it interesting to read
or not. Without more ado I present it to that
kind public which has been so hospitable to my
writings in the past, taking further space at this
point only to acknowledge my particular indebted
ness, among books, to Goodwin's "Pilgrim Re
public " and to the exhaustive volumes of Dr.
H. M. Dexter and his son. I wish also to thank
the courteous attendants at the Boston Athe
naeum and the Boston Public Library, who have
given me most generously of their time, their re
sources, and their scholarship ; to express my
gratitude to the friends from far and near who
have helped in the matter of pictures, and to
acknowledge the kindness of the New England
Society of Pennsylvania, by whose permission I
am able to reproduce on the book's cover the
Saint Gaudens statue, known as "The Pilgrim",
which this organization caused to be erected in
1905 in City Hall Square, Philadelphia. M. C. C.
Boston, April, 1920.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGB
I The College that Cradled the Puritan Idea . 1

II In Which Certain Puritans Become "Pilgrims
ni The First Migration 
IV The Formative Years in Letden .
V The England from Which They Fled .
VI How They Sailed into the Unknown .
VII How They Set Up a Home in the New World
VIII How They Met and Overcame the Indians
IX How They Made Their Laws and Tried to Live
Up to Them 
X How They Established "Freedom to Worship
God" 
XI Some Early Books about Plymouth
Xn Social Life in the Pilgrim Colony

14
2639 5993
108
138 179204230 258

Appendix Bradford's "Who's Who" of the Mayflower
Passenger List  279
A " Comic Relief " Chapter in Plymouth History 288
Index  315

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Governor Edward Winslow  Frontispiece FACING PAGE
The College on the Cam as It Looks Today .... 6
House BuUt by William Crow in 1664  7
A Page of the Register in the Austerfield Church ... 22
Church in Austerfield where Bradford was Baptized . . 23
The Church and Vicarage at Scrooby  28
Court Room of the Guild Hall in Old Boston ... 28
Birthplace of William Bradford in Austerfield ... 29
The Court of a Dutch House  40
The John Robinson House, Leyden, Holland . . .41
Delftshaven, Holland  54
Plymouth Rock  55
The Stone which Marks the Place at Pljrmouth, England,
where the Mayflower Passengers Transferred from the
Speedwell, en route to the New World .... 55
Gravestone Erected on Burial HUl, Plymouth, to Thomas
f» Clarke, "Mate of the Mayflower"  94
Memorial Tablet on the Governor WiUiam Bradford Estate,
Kingston  94
Stone Erected on Burial Hill, Plymouth, to John Howland . 95
The Canopy over the Rock  108
A Plymouth Vista  109
Leyden Street, Plymouth, in 1622  112

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
The Pilgrim Meersteads along the Town Brook . . .113
Sampler now in Pilgrim HaU, Plymouth, Wrought by MUes
Standish's Daughter  128
Miles Standish's Grave, Duxbury  129
The Town Brook, Plymouth  148
A Picturesque Comer of Old Plymouth  149
The First Map Engraved in this Country (1677) . . .174
Some Old Plymouth Houses ....... 175
First Ecclesiastical Map of New England .... 214
A Page of the Old Bay Psalm Book  215
The First Page of the Bradford Manuscript . . . .230
Bradford House, Kingston, 1675  231
John Alden House, Duxbury, 1653  231
Elizabeth Paddy Wensley  264
Madame Padishal and Child  265
Elder Brewster's Chair and the Cradle of Peregrine White, the
First Pilgrim Baby  272
The Chair of Plymouth's First Governor, and an Ancient
Spinnuig Wheel  272
House on Captain's HiU, Duxbury, BuUt in 1666 by the Son
of MUes Standish, and StUl in Use  273

IN THE DAYS OF
THE PILGRIM FATHERS

IN THE DAYS OF THE
PILGRIM FATHERS
CHAPTER I
THE COLLEGE THAT CRADLED THE PURITAN IDEA
It is an historic saying that "Cambridge bred
the founders of the English Reformation and that
Oxford burned them." There is a good deal of
truth in this observation, though Dean Stubbs of
Ely, who has written a delightful book about
Cambridge, seems disposed to believe that the
greater hospitality accorded to the Puritans by
Cambridge came not so much because this univer
sity welcomed the gospel of the scholars of Geneva
more cordially than did Oxford, as because the
people of East Anglia, in which Cambridge is
situated, had been saturated, two centuries before,
with the Bible teaching of the "poore Priestes"
of Wy cliff e's school and had cherished this teach
ing ever since. But whatever the cause of Cam
bridge's comparatively cordial acceptance of the
Puritan idea, the fact cannot be denied. If any
English university were friendly to the Puritans,
Cambridge was that university.

2 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
It was always William Brewster's belief that
his radical religious ideas originated in Cambridge,
where — at the college of Peterhouse — he matric
ulated in December, 1580. There is no record
that Brewster ever received a degree from Cam
bridge ; we do not even know whether he remained
at the university two years or only a few months.
Nor was Peterhouse the most radical of the Cam
bridge colleges. But the whole atmosphere of the
university was electric, at this time, with radical
tendencies, and young Brewster eagerly drank in
the thoughts poured out by the notable Puritans
and Separatists then in residence : the eminent
Calvinist, Peter Baro, Professor of Divinity at
this time ; William Perkins, whose books Brewster
later owned ; Udall, Perry, Greenwood and George
Johnson. Under these influences Brewster, as
Bradford tells us, was "first seasoned with the
seeds of grace and virtue." Here, too, he achieved
a firm knowledge of Latin and "some insight into
Greek." Without exaggeration, therefore, we may
attribute to Cambridge University an important
place among the formative influences which made
William Brewster the man he was.
Cambridge was also the university home of
Thomas Cartwright, who has been described as
the head and most learned of that sect of dissenters
then called Puritans. He was a Fellow at the
same table at Trinity with Archbishop John
Whitgift, who owed his Primacy, in 1583, very
largely to the vigorous manner in which he fought

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 3
the doctrine which Cartwright was then pro
mulgating. Cartwright is of particular interest
to students of Pilgrim history because William
Brewster was harried out of Holland for having
printed a book of his.
Moreover, it was at Cambridge that John
Robinson received his education. For a long
time we did not know this with certainty. The
cloudiness came about, first, because of Robinson's
extremely common name, and second, because his
published writings are almost entirely free from
forms of expression which would suggest that the
Pilgrim pastor had enjoyed a university education.
A few years ago, however, all doubts in regard to
this great leader's Cambridge training were set
at rest by Champlin Burrage, who unearthed in
the Bodleian Library a three-hundred-year-old
manuscript replying to a lost writing of Robinson's ;
and replying in such a way as to establish clearly
the following very important facts of the great
pastor's career : that he was admitted to Corpus
Christi, or Benet College, in 1592; approved for
a B.A. degree in February, 1595 or 1596 ; and on
March 27, 1597, admitted and sworn among the
Fellows of this College. On March 28, 1599,
he took his degree of M.A. Most important of
all, Mr. Burrage was able to identify this John
Robinson (for there had previously been a con
fusion with another Cambridge scholar of precisely
the same name) as "John Robinson of Notting
hamshire A.M. and Priest", mentioned fifth in

4 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the fist of College Fellows, in the Register under
the date of 1602.
Thus there is clear proof not only of Robinson's
academic connection but, also, that at this period
of his life he was in the service of the Church.
The church which he served was that of St. An
drew's, Norwich, which is still standing and still
in use. While there he married (February 15,
1603 or 1604) Bridget White. We may conclude
that he was about twenty-seven at this time;
though since the exact year of his birth, the
church in which he was baptized, and his parentage
are all unknown, one cannot be certain about this.
One important thing that we do know, however,
about Robinson and about his Cambridge con
nection is that it was here, while tormented with
doubts as to whether he should or should not
remain in the Established Church, he heard
preached two sermons about the Light and Dark
ness "between which God hath separated" and
"the Godly hereby are endangered to be leavened
with the others wickedness" which determined
the trend of his future work in the world.
Robinson drifted from Norwich to Lincolnshire,
where his name is indissolubly connected with
the history of Gainsborough and of Scrooby.
But though he was with the Scrooby group before
their departure for Amsterdam he was not promi
nent among them until the congregation removed
from Amsterdam to Leyden. Then he suddenly
began to take a leading part in the controversies

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 5
of the Separatists and to be recognized as the
pastor of the Leyden Brownists.
Corpus Christi, Cambridge, was the college
home not only of John Robinson, but also of
several other men who subsequently became
leaders of the Puritan Party. The story of the
rise of this famous foundation is, therefore, not
without interest for us, — more especially since
it was hoped by the guild which founded the
college that through the ceremonies connected
with the festival of Corpus Christi "the perfidy
of Heretics " should be confounded !
Two guilds, indeed, had a share in bringing the
college into being. Thomas Fuller tells of this in
the following picturesque manner :
Here at this time were two eminent guilds or frater
nities of townsf oiks in Cambridge, consisting of brothers
and sisters, under a chief annually chosen, called an
alderman. The Guild of Corpus The Guild of the Blessed
Christi, keeping their Virgin observing their
prayers in St. Benedicts offices in St. Mary's
Church. Church.
Betwixt these there was a zealous emulation,
which of them should amortize and settle best main
tenance for such chaplains to pray for the souls of
those of their brotherhood. Now, though generally
in those days the stars outshined the sun; I mean
more honour (and consequently more wealth) was
given to saints than to Christ himself; yet here the
Guild of Corpus Christi so outstript that of the Virgin
Mary in endowments, that the latter (leaving off any

6 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
further thoughts of contesting) desired an union,
incorporated together. 2. Thus being happily married
they were not long issueless, but a small college was
erected by their united interest, which bearing the
name of both parents, was called the College of Corpus
Christi and the Blessed Mary. However, it hath
another working-day name, commonly called (from
the adjoined church) Benet College; yet so, that on
festival solemnities (when written in Latin, in public
instruments) it is termed by the foundation name
there.^ That the college with which John Robinson
and a number of other Puritan leaders were as
sociated should have sprung from the most demo
cratic institution of the times, the guilds, is
eminently appropriate. For the guilds stood above
everything else for personal independence coupled
with rugged respect for the law. Yet there is an
aspect of the foundation's history which is not
without humor. Most writers assert that the
motive for the joint benefaction, made as above
described by worthy workers of Cambridge, is
unknown. But the fact that the Black Death
had just been raging in England — killing great
numbers of priests as well as laymen, and this in
the day when dying men desired (and required)
to have masses sung for them — makes it quite
believable that the Cambridge tradesmen had a
thrifty eye to the future when they set up a col
lege all their own. Further to promote good
'Fuller's "History of the University.'' P. 98.

o

'f.

E-

Copyright, 1902, A. S. BurhanJc, Plymouth, Mass.
HOUSE BUILT BY WILLIAM CROW IN 1664, AND STILL STANDING IN PILGRIM PLYMOUTH

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 7
feeling at "the general meeting", when town and
gown usually feasted together, they all "dranke
their ale (of which they kept good store in their
cellars) out of a great Horn finely ornamented
with silver gilt", — and presented to them by said
tradesmen. The festivities connected with the Annual
Nameday observation of the College loomed large
for nearly two hundred years. Thomas Fuller
describes these celebrations thus characteristically :
A great solemnity was observed by the Guild every
Corpus Christi day (being always the Thursday after
Trinity Sunday), according to this equipage : — 1. The
Alderman of the Guild for that year (as Master of
the Ceremonies) went first in procession. 2. Then
the Elders thereof (who had been aldermen, or were
near the office), carrying silver shields enamelled in
their hands, bestowed on the brotherhood, some by
Henry, Duke of Lancaster, some by Henry Tangmer
aforementioned. 3. Then the Master of this College,
in a silk cope under a canopy, carrying the Host in
the pix, or rich box of silver-gilt, having two for the
purpose: 1. One called "the gripe's eye" given by
Henry Tangmer; 2. Another, weighing seventy-
eight ounces, bestowed by Sir John Cambridge.
4. Then the Vice Chancellor, with the University
men in their seniorities. 5. Lastly the mayor of the
town and burgesses thereof. Thus from Bene't church
they advanced to the great bridge, through all the
parts of the town, and so returned with a good appetite
to the place where they began.
Then in Corpus Christi College was a great dinner

8 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
provided them, where good stomachs meeting with
good cheer and welcome, no wonder if mirth followed
of course. Then out comes the cup of John Goldcorn
(once Alderman of the Guild), made of an horn, with
the cover and appurtenances of silver and gilt, which
he gave this Company, and all must drink therein. . . .
It is remarkable that, in the procession, that canopy
under which the Host was carried fell on fire, leaving
men to guess, as they stood affected, whether it was
done casually by the carelessness of the torchbearers,
or maliciously by some covertly casting fire thereon
out of some window — or miraculously to show that
God would shortly consume such superstition. And,
indeed, in the twenty-seventh of King Henry VII,
when Thomas Legh, Doctor of Law, visited the Uni
versity, the same was finally abrogated. Then those
silver trinkets were sold, and those shields had their
property altered, to fence and defraud the College
from wind and weather, being converted into money
and laid out in reparations.
However, the townsmen still importunately claimed
their dinner as due unto them, in so much that Richard
Roulfe, then Mayor of the town, required it of the
College in a commanding manner. The Master and
Fellows whereof resolved to teach the townsmen a
distinction, to put the difference betwixt a debt and a
courtesy, this dinner faUing under the latter notion.
They reminded them also of the maxim in logic, how
sublata carusa tollitur effectus, "the procession the
cause being taken away, the dinner (as the effect)
ceased therewith." But, the belly having no ears,
nothing would satisfy the other party, save a suit,
themselves prejudging the cause on their own side.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 9
Insomuch that they brewed in their hopes, they
broached in their brags, boasting that as the houses
belonging to this College came originally from towns
men, so now they should return to the townsmen again,
as forfeited for the default of this dinner. Yea, so
confident they were of success, that they, very equally-
unequally (because invading other men's right), di
vided aforehand such houses amongst themselves.
But the worst and coldest fur is what is to be made of
a bear's skin, which is to be killed.
For the College procured that certain Commissioners
were sent down by the King (amongst whom were
John Hind, Knight, Sergeant-at-Law, and John Hutton,
esq.) to examine the matter, and summon the Master
and Fellows to appear before them : who, appearing
accordingly, produced most authentical evidences and
charters of mortmain, whereby their lands in Cam
bridge were sufficiently conveyed and confirmed unto
them. And thus the townsmen, both hungry and
angry at the loss both of their dinner and houses, were
fain to desist.
One of the greatest names connected with
Corpus Christi College is that of Matthew Parker,
who, after a troubled academic career, became
second Archbishop of Canterbury. There is an
amusing story about a visit paid to the college
by Queen Elizabeth, during Parker's time, which
shows us why this worthy man was forced to retire
when Queen Mary came to the throne in 1553.
Parker had in 1547 married Margaret Harls-
borne, a woman of such grace and charm that one
high dignitary of the Church, Bishop Ridley, asked.

10 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
when taking his leave after a visit, whether Mrs.
Parker had a sister. Evidently the good bishop
did not share the imperious Elizabeth's prejudice
in favor of a celibate clergy. Elizabeth, on
taking her leave, had remarked to her hostess,
"Madam, I may not call you; and Mrs. I am
ashamed to call you ; so I know not what to call
you ; but yet I do thank you."
At the time John Robinson was in residence
at Corpus Christi, Puritanism was so prevalent
in Cambridge University that it had to be some
what tolerated, definite as was the feeling against
it. It was here that Robert Browne, pioneer
of Congregationalism, had been educated, and
here, too, that John Smyth, who later went into
exile at Amsterdam for opinion's sake, had been
a Fellow. Yes, "Cambridge bred the Founders of
the English Reformation." This is an historical
verity ; yet no one of the learned men who have
spent a lifetime in research concerning either
the influences that emanated from Cambridge
University or the early history of the Pilgrims in
England dwells much on this phenomenon. The
reason is not far to seek. The men who write
the histories of Cambridge are mostly Church
men and dismiss with a mere footnote the regret
table truth that the "Separatists" and "Dissent"
attained a considerable foothold in their College
during the latter part of the sixteenth century.
On the other hand, to the writers who approach
the subject with the Pilgrims chiefly in their

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 11
mind, the facts and dates connected with Robert
Browne, just referred to as the pioneer of Con
gregationalism, naturally loom largest. And
Browne died in the Church of England !
Robert Browne was born at Tolethorpe in
Rutlandshire about 1550. Though little is known
of his childhood it is clear that he was of gentle
blood and influential family. He entered Corpus
Christi, or Benet College, at Cambridge in 1570
and in due course received, in all probability, the
degree of Bachelor of Arts. The fact that in
1571 he was chaplain in the family of the Duke
of Norfolk rather confuses his history at this
point because one would not expect to find an
undergraduate so engaged. Already, however,
he had come under Puritan influences and for
some years had been speaking occasionally, on
Sundays, to Puritan congregations who were wont
to gather in a gravel pit in Islington, though, be
tween times, he earned his living teaching school
at South wark, a part of London.
Then the plague broke out and Browne re
turned to his home. Soon he reappeared at
Cambridge as a theological student and, so great
were his gifts that, in spite of his well-known
Puritan tendencies, he was invited to a pulpit
in Cambridge itself. This he declined, preferring
to preach boldly in unsanctified places against
the authority of the bishops. As a result the
bishop and council of the diocese forbade his
further preaching in the college town.

12 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
Norwich in Norfolk promised to give him
liberty of thought and a congenial field for his
labors, so he removed to that town and there
lived with Robert Harrison, a friend who held
views similar to his. Here, about 1580, he
organized and became pastor of the first purely,
and formally established. Congregational Church
on record in England. Naturally the authorities
disapproved of his teachings, and but for the
mediation of Lord Treasurer Burleigh, who
appears to have been a relative, it would have
gone hard with him. As it was he found it con
venient to emigrate with his followers to Middel-
burg in Zealand. Here he stayed for two years.
And here were printed three treatises from his
pen, which were deemed so revolutionary, when
distributed in England, that the Queen issued a
special proclamation against them, and at least
two men, John Copping and Elias Thacker, were
hanged for giving them circulation.
Browne's followers were hanged. But Browne
himself recanted. From leading the religious
radicals in Holland, and later in Scotland, he
returned, about 1586, to England and to the
Church of his boyhood. The last forty years of
his life were passed as rector of an insignificant
parish in the diocese of Peterborough. About
ten years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth
Rock he died in Northampton jail, to which place
he had been committed for striking a constable
who had been rude to him in his old age.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 13
Robert Browne is the Benedict Arnold of
ecclesiastical history. Church of England writers
not unnaturally condemn him for leading the most
important schism their communion has ever
known. And the Puritan chroniclers lash him
unmercifully for having been "false to the light
that was in him." To one who is writing without
theological bias, however, his career is exceedingly
interesting because full of variety and color.
That career partly belongs to this chapter because
Browne appears to have somehow got his first
inspiration at Cambridge. But it belongs also
to the chapter in which will be studied the be
ginnings of the New England Republic, because
it is to Browne and Brownism that the seeds of
modern democracy, as we know it to-day in
America, can most directly be traced.

CHAPTER II
in which certain puritans become
"pilgrims"
We have seen that it was in East England,
especially in the University of Cambridge, that
Puritanism had its earliest home. Edwin D.
Mead hazards the thought that it may have
been within the very walls of the university that
the agreement was signed which founded the
Massachusetts enterprise ! However this may
be, Bradford himself assures us that it was in
the university at Cambridge that William
Brewster was "first seasoned with the seeds of
grace and virtue " ; and to William Brewster, if to
any single person, must be accorded the honor of
being the father of the Pilgrim Fathers.
Born just as Elizabeth's reign began, Brewster
came to Court to enter the services of Sir William
Davison in the very heyday of the Elizabethan
era. It was at this very time that Shakespeare,
four years younger than Brewster, journeyed up
to London from Stratford ; and Sir Philip Sidney,
who was six years older than Brewster, Spenser,
who was seven years his senior, and Raleigh,

PURITANS BECOME PILGRIMS 15
who had eight years the advantage of him in age,
were likewise at Court at this same momentous
period in the world's history. That so young a
man as William Brewster should have been ac
corded, in such company as this, the responsible
and confidential place which he occupied in the
service of Elizabeth's great Secretary of State
proves him to have been endowed with high
qualities of character. Bradford tells us that
Davison "trusted him above all others that were
about him, and only employed him in all matters
of greatest trust and secrecy. He esteemed him
rather as a son than servant and for his wisdom
and godliness he would converse with him in
private more like a friend and familiar than a
master." As a sign of the confidence reposed in Brewster
by Davison, it is to be noted that when this
youth from Scrooby had been hardly more than
a year at Court, he was called upon to accompany
the Secretary on his important errand to Holland
in connection with a closer alliance between
England and the Low Countries. One feature
of the ceremony connected with this diplomatic
mission was the turning over of the keys of Flush
ing to the English by the Dutch authorities in
pledge of good faith and as a sign of their in
tention to meet the obligations of the treaty they
had just made with Elizabeth. These keys Davi
son committed for safe keeping to Brewster, who
slept the first night with them under his pillow.

16 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
When Sir Philip Sidney arrived, a month later, to
take command, Brewster transferred the keys to
him. At Flushing Brewster witnessed the pageant
performed upon the arrival of Leicester and
Essex, sharing, no doubt, in the enthusiasm which
caused the Dutch to display, as the English lords
and warriors proceeded from Flushing to Middel-
burg, and thence on to Rotterdam, to Delft, to
the Hague, to Leyden and to Amsterdam, a banner
bearing the words "Whom God Hath Joined
Together, Let No Man Put Asunder." Davison,
with Brewster as his aide, accompanied Leicester
throughout this whole triumphant journey ; and
when Davison returned to England, having been
given a gold chain as a sign of the esteem in
which he was held by the Dutch people, he com
missioned Brewster to wear the chain in England
until they came to Court.
Two years later, when Davison was made the
butt of Elizabeth's hypocritical rage — because
of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at
Fotheringay Castle — Brewster shared his friend's
sorrows as he had previously shared his triumphs,
visiting him in the Tower and serving him in all
possible ways. Davison was still in the Tower
when Brewster left London for his home town.
It is interesting to note that the beheading of
Mary, Queen of Scots, in that it sent Brewster
back to Scrooby, proved to be an important factor
in the founding of the Pilgrim Church !

PURITANS BECOME PILGRIMS 17
That a place as important to the world's de
velopment as Scrooby should have been lost to
scholars for nearly two centuries is one of the
curious happenings of history. Yet such is the
fact. We owe to Joseph Hunter, the same
English scholar who identified Bradford's Journal
in London in 1855, the discovery, as it were, of
this home for so many years of William Brewster.
The records show that Brewster acted as post
of Scrooby ^ from January, 1589, to September,
1607. In April, 1608, he was fined for recusancy.
At his house the Independent Congregation, which
had Richard Clifton as its first teacher and John
Robinson as his successor, was organized in 1606.
To be sure, Brewster was still a faithful mem
ber of the Church of England when he began to
offer his home as a sanctuary to those who wished
to worship God in their own way ; but even
thus early he was eagerly reaching out towards
something different. We think of him as "Elder"
Brewster, crowned with years and dignity; the
fact is that he was a youth of only twenty-three
in 1589 and driven by the ardor of youth in his
pursuit of the truth as he saw it.
Religion was at very low ebb in this neighbor-
'¦ There is extant a letter, written by Sir John Stanhope, Postmaster-
General of England, to Sir William Davison, dated August 22, 1590, which
makes it clear that William Brewster's father had held this important office
at Scrooby before he came to it, and that when the first WiUiam Brewster
died in the summer of 1590, his son had already been performing the duties
ot the post for a year and a half. By April 1, 1594, Brewster was in full
possession of the ofiSce; and he there continued until September 30, 1607,
when he resigned.

18 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
hood when Brewster came back from London.
Many people had not heard a sermon for years ;
and such preaching as came to their ears was almost
entirely supplied by clergy with slight pretensions
to godliness. England had had what passed for
a reformation, though, in point of fact, this had
meant merely the substitution of the King for
the Pope. Henry VIII was much more interested
in the fat livings and rich sinecures which he was
able to distribute among his followers than in the
spiritual side of Protestantism. Yet all the while
there was going on among the common people a
deep longing for purity in the worship of God,
for simplicity in the administration of ordinances
and for a renovation of religious life. This was
the origin of Nonconformity and Puritanism.
Had Elizabeth and her successor, James the
First, not driven out of the church by willfulness,
tyranny and superstition those whose only desire
was for more religion rather than less, we should
perhaps never have had a Mayflower compact
and the beginnings in America of the world's
first real democracy.
Brewster believed with Wicliff that it is " God's
Word that should be preached for God's word
is the bread of souls, the indispensable wholesome
bread; therefore to feed the flock in a spiritual
sense without Bible-truth is the same thing as if
one were to prepare for another a bodily meal
without bread." Moreover, Brewster was con
vinced that the soul and the life of a preacher

PURITANS BECOME PILGRIMS 19
must be in tune with his words or the words could
have no power. The parson of his heart's desire
was such an one as Chaucer had in mind :
a clerk
That Christ's pure gospel would sincerely preach
And his parishoners devoutely teach.
And the parsons of the day were, mostly, not
in the least of this type ! Cotton Mather asserts
(in the "Magnalia") that those from whom
Brewster and Bradford separated themselves "were
as unacquainted with the Bible as the Jews seemed
to have been with part of it in the days of Isaiah."
Reformers often fail to see the logical implica
tions of the principles they promulgate. When
Luther and Calvin asserted with all the power
of their strong and sincere natures the right of
every one to open the Bible and read it for him
self, they created individualism, — though nothing
was further than that from their thoughts. And
when they conceded to any group of Christians
the right to set up their own ministers they es
tablished at the same time the sovereignty of
the people in the political field.
The early Puritans were not concerned with
politics ; religion absorbed them utterly. But
the rulers of England sensed the trend of religious
emancipation. Mary Stuart had asked John
Knox, "Think you that subjects, having power,
may resist their princes.''" And he had replied,
"If princes do exceed their bounds. Madam, and

20 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
do against that wherefore they should be obeyed,
then I do not doubt but they may be resisted,
even by power." ^
The queen fully understood that there was
dynamite in this answer. And when the son of
this same queen ascended the throne of the Tudors,
he was well aware that a struggle with the English
people was impending. In a burst of temper at
the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 he de
clared that the Puritans were "aiming at a Scottish
Presbytery, which agreeth as well with a monarchy
as God and the devil." It was at this same con
ference that he swore to "harrie the Puritans out
of the Land or else do worse" if they would not
conform themselves.
James had reason for this threat. The fol
lowers of Robert Browne had for some time
been vehemently voicing their leader's claim ^
that civil magistrates, like religious functionaries,
ought to be chosen with the consent of the people,
and King James was not so stupid as to miss the
implications of this teaching. But he was quite
incapable of clear vision, because the only thing he
was really interested in was himself.
Edward Everett Hale, with his gift for clarify
ing and dramatizing history, has put into vivid
words an incident which, though trifling in itself,
illustrates this perfectly and is of particular
1 John Knox, "History of the Reformation of the Church of Scotland."
Book IV, 11. 14. Edinburgh, 1816.
''Made in his "Booke which sheweth the Life and Manners of all true
Christians." Middelburg, 1682.

PURITANS BECOME PILGRIMS 21
interest to us because it brings us back once
more to William Brewster and to Scrooby. When
King James, aged thirty-five, traveled down from
Scotland to London to receive the English crown
(in 1603), he went through Sherwood Forest and
spent the day, under good conduct, in hunting
there. "In that day's sport," writes Hale, "he passed
the manor-house of Scrooby, where William
Brewster lived."
Now the manor-house of Scrooby, though
Brewster's home, belonged to the Archbishop of
York, and because it so attracted the king that
he thought he would like it for a royal residence
whenever he might hunt again in Sherwood
Forest the first letter written by the Presbyterian
monarch to the Archbishop of York, after his
arrival in London, was not a discussion of theology,
but a proposal to the archbishop to sell to him
this place for a hunting box. Yet here the Pil
grim Fathers were even then secretly meeting
on the Lord's Day for their weekly worship ; and
here they continued to meet till this Presbyterian
king "harried them out of the Kingdom."
At this time there was supposed to be but one
Separatist Church in the whole of England, —
that at Gainsborough, some twelve miles east of
Scrooby, on the other side of Trent. The Sepa
ratist Church in this town had been established
in 1602 with Robinson as minister, and it is proba
ble that, for some time, the Scrooby Separatists

22 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
were of this fellowship, traveling on Sundays the
long span — for those days — that separated the
two towns and crossing the Trent by ferry. With
the emigration to Amsterdam, about 1606, Sepa
ratism came to an end in Gainsborough and very
little was thought of any connection between this
place and the Mayflower men until, in June, 1896,
Honorable T. F. Bayard, Ambassador from the
United States to the Court of St. James, came
down from London to lay the corner stone of a
church just erected in the town "in memory of
John Robinson, pastor and exile." Gainsborough,
as a "shrine", had been lost sight of all those
years, just as Scrooby had been.
A short walk of three or four miles from Gains
borough brings us to Austerfield, which is itself
only a mile or two from Scrooby. Austerfield
was the home of William Bradford. His family
had deep roots in the soil of the town. When the
subsidy of 1575 was collected, the only persons
in Austerfield having sufficient property to be
rated were a William Bradford and a John Hanson.
Nine years later the son and daughter of these
two, named William and Alice respectively, were
married, and in due time two daughters and a
son were born to them. This son was William
Bradford, afterwards Governor of the Plymouth
Colony. In the parish church may still be seen
the entry of his baptism on March 19, 1589.
The connection of the Governor of the Plymouth
Colony with the church structure is much more

*ftf

''**'4n*<

^^ —

The las
>. / rl I I Plymouth, Mass.
A PAGE OF THE REGISTER IN THE AUSTERFIELD CHURCH
,t entry shows the .-ecord of the ehrlstening of Governor Williani Bradford.
CHURCH IN AUSTERFIELD WHERE BRADFORD WAS BAPTIZED
From a drawing by Louis A. Holman.

PURITANS BECOME PILGRIMS 23
clearly authenticated than with "the Bradford
House" at the upper end of the village, which is
said to have been his dwelling and in which,
according to tradition, "the Pilgrims used to
worship for fear of persecutors."
The youth of many of these Separatist zealots
impresses one greatly ! Bradford was only
eighteen at the time he left his comfortable
English home and his yeoman background to
take up the uncertainties of life in Holland. It
is probably because of the things he had suffered
in Austerfield, while still so young, that he care
fully omitted from the pages of his "History"
all references which would have served to "place"
the town where, in early life, he had undergone
bitter experiences. To be sure, "persecution" is
too large and too definite a word for the slights
to which these men were subjected. Those who
chiefly made their lot unhappy at home were
their friends and neighbors, not the Church
authorities nor yet those of the State. The
various High Commissions cared very little how
this obscure band of Christians worshiped. But
their neighbors bitterly resented the "holier than
thou" attitude of this group who refused to
"conform", as the Puritans had done, and who,
instead of siding with them against the Roman
Catholic majority in Northern England, insisted
that a hierarchy of bishops and deans bent on
the union of Church and State was nothing less
than anti-Christ.

24 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
Looking back after three centuries have elapsed,
it is not hard to understand why the great ma
jority of Puritans, whose aim was not to leave the
Church but to stay in it and control it, had only
scorn and disapproval for these extremists who
seemed likely to jeopardize their success by forc
ing them into uncompromising opposition to the
Crown. There is extant an old pamphlet describing a
"tumult in Fleet Street raised by the disorderly
preachment, pratings and prattlings of a Swarm
of Separatists, in the course of which we are told
that one Separatist when caught alone was
'kickt' ... so vehemently as if they'd meant
to beat him into a jelly. It is ambiguous whether
they have kil'd him or no, but for a certainty
they did knock him about as if they meant to
pull him to pieces. I confesse," concludes our
writer with finality, "it had been no matter if
they had beaten the whole tribe in like manner !"
The lesser men were beaten and "kickt" on
occasions ; their leaders were frequently sent to
the gallows. Two of Robert Browne's friends,
convicted of circulating his books, had been thus
disposed of in Elizabeth's time. Now the Ruler
of England was James Stuart, who regarded Puri
tanism with feelings which made the earlier opposi
tion of Elizabeth seem mild by comparison. Hol
land was not far away, and William Brewster was
already familiar with the life and habits of that
people. Moreover, John Robinson and his con-

PURITANS BECOME PILGRIMS 25
gregation had already made the transition to this
hospitable and fairly accessible country where there
was systematic legal toleration of all persons,
whether Catholic or Protestant, who called them
selves followers of Christ. Obviously, Holland
was for the present, at least, the place for the men
of Scrooby ! It was in going to Holland that the
Puritans of East Anglia took the first step which
eventually made them "Pilgrims."

CHAPTER III
THE first migration
It took a lot of courage and initiative for the
men of Scrooby and Gainsborough to set out on
their migration to the Netherlands. We must
not minimize this fact; for though they knew
that they would there find religious liberty —
William the Silent, when he became Governor of
Holland and Zealand, had given a solemn pledge
that exercise of the Reformed Evangelical Re
ligion should be maintained and that no investiga
tion of a man's religious belief would be permitted
— the "Pilgrims" were of simple yeoman stock
for the most, and the Holland of those days was
greatly in advance of England so far as mercantile
enterprise and the social amenities were con
cerned. Bradford reveals a distinct shrinking on the
part of his fellow emigrants from contact with a
civilization they did not understand and with
which they were not altogether in sympathy. He
says, with quite touching simplicity :
Being thus constrained to leave their native soyle
and countrie, their land and livings, and all their friends

THE FIRST MIGRATION 27
and familiar acquaintance, it was much, and thought
marvellous by many. But to goe into a countrie
they knew not (but by hearsay) where they must
learne a new language and get their livings they knew
not how, it being a dear place, and subjecte to the
misseries of warr, it was by many thought an adventure
almost desperate, a case intolerable, and a misserie
worse than death. Espetially seeing they were not
acquainted with trads nor traffique (by which the
countrie doth subsiste) but had only been used to a
plaine countrie life, and the innocente trade of hus-
bandrey. But these things did not dismay them
(though they did sometimes trouble them), for their
desires were set on the ways of God, and to enjoy His
ordinances ; but they rested on His providence and
knew whom they had beleeved.
Moreover, going on journey was by no means a
simple matter in those days. Edward Leigh, in
his "Hints for Travellers", tells us that before a
man could get permission to travel abroad he
needed to be especially well acquainted with his
own country, as to the places and government.
"If any came heretofore to the Lords of the
Council for a license to travel: the old Lord
Treasurer Burleigh would examine him of Eng
land. If he found him ignorant; he would bid
him stay at home, and know his own country
first." None the less, if go a man would, having
obtained the necessary passports — a thing by
no means easy to accomphsh, — he must "before
his voyage make his peace with God, receive the
Lord's Supper ; satisfy his creditors, if he be in

28 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
debt; pray earnestly to God to prosper him in
his voyage, and to keep him from danger : and —
if he be sui juris — he should make his last will,
and wisely order all his affairs ; since many that
go far abroad, return not home."
Notwithstanding all these prohibitions, however,
those in the Scrooby group who had property to
sell sold it early in the summer of 1607, and travel
ing overland to Boston on the coast of Lincoln
shire, there waited, "a large company of them",
for the appearance of a certain shipmaster with
whom they had arranged to be transported with
their goods to Holland. When this person finally
appeared and took them on board in the boat, they
found themselves betrayed to the Customs' officers
and searchers of the district ! Not only were
they deprived of their books and goods, but they
were paraded in the market place, "a spectacle
and wonder to the multitude which came flocking
on all sides to behould them."
This, of course, because of that law which for
bade people to emigrate. None the less, the
confinement to which these prisoners were com
mitted, pending instructions from London as to
further proceedings, was honorable if annoying.
And when the Privy Council did send back word
concerning them, it was to the effect that they
should be released, — all except seven of their
leaders who were to be kept at Boston and turned
over to the assizes. Of the latter Brewster was
one, though, so far as we know, he was never tried.

THE (TUIilll AND VICARAGE AT SCROOBY,
HHEWSTERS NATIVE VILLAGE IN ENGLAND
From a drawing h.v Louis .V, Holman.

THi^l^ ^^^ :.'^7^=^3?;:;

s iiJ^ 8t g-^. . Jf^'ffi^j

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(¦OCRT ROO^I OF TIIF C.ITLI) II.VLT, IN OLII LICISTON

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Ilolhiud.

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THE FIRST MIGRATION 29
A number of the party actually reached Holland
in the autumn of 1607.
Some months later the rest of the contingent
tried again to escape from England, this time
arranging with a Dutch captain to take them on
board south of the Humber. It was arranged
that the women, having sailed down the river
Idle to the Trent, with the children and the
baggage, were to meet at the Humber the men,
who were walking overland. The boat-party
arrived before the ship of the Dutch captain and,
the sea being extremely rough, withdrew into a
little creek to wait for a calm. When the ship
master and the ship which had been engaged put
in an appearance the men were taken on board
as planned, and all might have gone well but
that a crowd from the countryside, who had
heard that some one was escaping, appeared in
the distance, so obviously looking for trouble that
the Dutch captain was panic-stricken. Hoisting
his sails he summarily departed with his men
passengers only, leaving the women and children
still stuck fast on the shoals of the creek ! Brad
ford, Brewster and the other leaders who had
remained on the shore with the women were, of
course, captured by the formidable force sent out
after them. Once more, however, the local author
ities were perplexed to know what to do with these
prisoners ; and after making a half-hearted at
tempt to keep them at home, they again blinked
the fact that here were people leaving England

30 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
without permission. So though there was again
delay, considerable anxiety, and some temporary
suffering incident to the migration to Holland,
the whole party finally reached Amsterdam in
safety, not much the worse for their experiences.
Brewster and Bradford came among the last,
having stayed to make sure that the weakest and
the poorest should cross with no more discomfort
than any of the others.
The feelings of these English Separatists, upon
their arrival in Holland, Bradford describes thus :
"Being now come into the Low Countries, they
saw many goodly and fortified cities, strongly
walled and garded with troopes of armed men.
Also they heard a strange and uncouth language,
and beheld the different manners and custumes of
the people, with their strange fashions and at
tires, — all so farre differing from that of their
plaine countrie villages (wherein they were bred,
and had so long lived), as it seemed they were
come into a new world. But these were not the
things they much looked on, or long tooke up
their thoughts ; for they had other work in hand,
and another kind of warr to wage and maintaine.
For though they saw fair and beautiful cities,
flouring with abundance of all sorts of wealth and
riches, yet it was not long before they saw the
grimme and grisly face of povertie coming upon
them like an armed man, with whom they must
bukle and incounter, and from whom they could
not flye; but they were armed with faith and

THE FIRST MIGRATION 31
patience against him and all his encounters ; and
though they were sometimes foyled, yet by God's
assistance they prevailed and got the victory."
The Scrooby Church came over, as we have
seen, in sections. Already two other groups of
English Nonconformists had taken up their
abode in Amsterdam: the "anciente church",
as Bradford styles it — that is, the body of men
from London over whom Henry Ainsworth and
Francis Johnson were settled; and "Mr. John
Smith and his companie" — that is, the Gains
borough Church, established here in 1606. Some
times the three groups worshipped together but
they did not mingle intimately in other ways.
Citizens of London, the seafaring population of a
provincial town like Gainsborough, and yeomen
of Bradford's type had little of a social nature in
common. Amsterdam at this time was "the Fair of all
the Sects where all the Pedlars of Religion have
leave to vend their Toyes." In other words,
though it was hospitable to heretics, it was the
home of many a Church scandal. The "anciente
church" had a particularly checkered career be
cause of Francis Johnson. The first dark shadow
on the character of this pastor came from his
relations with his own family. In 1594, while
still in the Clink prison, Francis Johnson had
married a widow named Mrs. Thomasine Boys,
whose first husband, Edward Boys, a haberdasher,
had been a strong supporter of the Separatists.

32 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
At Boys' house in Fleet Street had been held the
meeting at which Johnson was arrested. Boys
himself underwent many imprisonments and finally
died in the Clink.
Francis Johnson had a brother, George, and
George, for the honor of the family, had tried hard
to dissuade Francis from marriage with the Widow
Boys, urging that she was much noted for pride
and that it would give great offense to "the
brethren." But all in vain. The most that
George could do was to obtain a promise from the
widow that, if she married Francis, she would
"do as became his estate." Instead, she became
more garish and proud in apparel than before.
The Church was deeply offended, but left it to
George to deal with her. He wrote to Francis,
protesting against her gold rings, her busk, and
her whalebones, which were so manifest that
"many of ye saints were greened"; he begged
that her "schowish hat might be exchanged for a
sober taffety or felt"; and he even offered to
raise money to provide her with more suitable
garments should the question of expense stand
in her way. She did reform a little ; her hat was
not "so topishly set", and George was encouraged
to hope for further reforms ; but when members
of the congregation urged him on to more com
plaints, the pastor's wife became "very peert
and coppet."
Naturally Francis bitterly resented these criti-.
cisms of his bride; her clothes were all provided

THE FIRST MIGRATION 33
out of her own money and apparently were per
fectly suitable to her rank. For the nonce, the
brothers buried the hatchet and quite a friendly
feeling existed between them on their voyage and
journey to Amsterdam. But once there, George
felt himself slighted and meanly treated by his
brother, who did not invite him to share his large
house; and thinkmg, perhaps, that the pastor's
wife was to blame for this neglect, his criticisms
of her broke out with fresh venom.
Before a church council George was called upon
to answer for his carpings. He had charged Mrs.
Francis, among other things, with sin in the using
of musk and the wearing of a topish hat, and he
was not inclined to withdraw his charges. The
poor lady seems to have been prone to worldly
headgear, for a "veluet hood" was also a cause
of contention. The council, after deliberation,
declared the hat to be "not topish in nature",
whereupon a lengthy discussion ensued as to
whether a hat not topish in nature could, under
any circumstances, be considered topish, it having
been particularly condemned in her as the pastor's
wife. George, who was a literal-minded person,
asked to have this problem reduced to writing,
and he made further accusations of flightiness
and sloth, notably that she had "laid in bed on
the Lord's day till 9 o'clock." He had other
disagreements with his brother, too, concerning
the appointment of elders and the government of
the church. So, after vain endeavors to keep

34 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
him quiet by bribes of office, Francis finally ex
communicated him publicly in 1599. In 1603
was published an unfinished "Discourse" by
George Johnson, which relates this whole story.
One is not surprised that poor Mrs. Thomasine
was overheard to say, as these quarrels proceeded,
that she wished she were a widow again. As a
widow she could have worn any hat sufficiently
becoming. What is amazing is that, considering
the perils they had gone through, and the straits
they were in to earn a bare existence, the Church
should have been shaken by such trivial matters as
these. The instinct to criticize and call to ac
count was strong in all the transplanted churches
of Amsterdam, however ; and the kindest explana
tion of George's conduct is that he had, as some
said, "a crackt brain." The poor fellow had
suffered enough to crack even a strong brain,
and apparently his had always been weak. When
his father petitioned, in 1594, for the release of
his two sons, he declared that "the younger called
George (in the Fleet) hath been kept sometimes
two days and two nights together without any
manner of sustenance; sometimes twenty nights
together without any bedding save a straw mat;
and as long without any change of linen ; and all
this sixteen months in the most dark and un
wholesome rooms of the prison they could thrust
them into ; not suffering any of his friends to come
unto him."
George Johnson's book shows that he was really

THE FIRST MIGRATION 35
conscientious and well-meaning ; but his littleness
and obstinacy must have been irritating in the
extreme. And when Francis found that he was
determined to disturb not only his domestic peace,
but the peace of the church, he had some excuse
for the excommunication.
Besides this "Old Clothes Controversy", there
were many other struggles and disagreements
between the various church groups in Amsterdam.
So many that, when the leaders of the Scrooby
Church took serious counsel together, in the
summer and autumn of 1608, they decided that
they must seek out some place where there were
neither heretics nor English. Some place where
they would be alone, or nearly so, in their observa
tion of the Ordinances of God as they hoped to
perpetuate them. Accordingly, after staying less
than a year in Amsterdam, they moved on to
Leyden. But before we take leave of Amsterdam and its
theological bickerings, with our Pilgrim idealists,
let us do justice to it, as Bradford attempted to
do, when he wrote his "History." Though he
disapproved of much that went on in this first
city of the Pilgrims' habitation, he came in his
old age to see that there were some fine things
about the churches there, — even about the church
life of the men with whom he felt little sympa
thy. And for the young people of Plymouth,
who were anxious to know how their fathers
and grandfathers had lived while m Holland,

36 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
he wrote of the "anciente church" in his "Dia
logue." Truly there were in them many worthy men, and
if you had seen them in their beauty and order, as we
have done, you would have been much affected there
with, we dare say. At Amsterdam, before their
division and breach, they were about three hundred
communicants, and they had for their teachers those
two eminent men before named, and in our time four
grave men for ruling Elders, and three able and godly
men for deacons, and one ancient woman for a deaconess,
who did them service many years though she was sixty
years of age when she was chosen. She honoured her
place and was an ornament to the congregation. She
usually sat in a convenient place in the congregation,
with a little birchen rod in her hand, and kept little
children in great awe from disturbing the congregation.
One notes an interesting foreshadowing here of
the tithingman of old New England.
There were other things, too, in this Dutch
city for the Pilgrims to take away with them for
adaptation in the New World. The attitude
of these people towards the old and the infirm,
for instance, was markedly Christian and greatly
in advance of England at this time. Fynes
Moryson, who was in Amsterdam in 1592, records
that there were then two Gastheusen "that is
Houses for Strangers which were of old Monas
teries. One of these houses built round, was a
Cloyster for Nunnes,, wherein sixty beds at this
time were made for poore women diseased, and

THE FIRST MIGRATION 37
in another chamber thereof were fifty-two beds
made for the auxiliary soldiers of England, be
ing hurte or sicke, and in the third roome were
eighty-one beds made for the hurte and sicke
Soldiers of other Nations : to which soldiers and
sicke women they give cleane sheets, a good diet
and necessary clothes, with great cleanliness, and
allow them Physitians & Surgions to cure them :
most of the Cities in these Provinces have like
houses." ^
Not only were the Dutch of those days very-
merciful to the poor and the sick, but they were
also exceedingly kindly one to another. Moryson
writes :
They are a just people, and will not Cozen a Chylde,
or a stranger, in changing a peece of gold, nor in the
price or quality of things they buy. For equall courses
among themselves, I will give one instance, small for
the subject, but significant to prove theire general
Inclination. The very wagonners if they meete
other wagonns in the morning whyle theire horses
are fresh, use to give them the way, but if they
meete any in the afternoone, comming from neerer
bating places when their horses beginne to be weary,
they keepe their way, by a generall Custome among
them, that they who have gone more than halfe the
way, shall keepe it against all that have gonne less
parte of the Jorney. And they love equality in all
things, so they naturally kick against any great em-
inency among them, as may be proved by many in
stances. . . . For they have fewe gentlemen among
'Fynes Moryson : "An Itinerary," Part I, p. 44.

38 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
them in Holland . . . having of old rooted out the
Nobility.i The Dutch of Amsterdam, as of the rest of the
Netherlands, "loved equality in all things." This
love of theirs was to have an important bearing
on the subsequent history of the Separatists from
Scrooby.
^"Shakespeare's Country." P. 369.

CHAPTER IV
THE FORMATIVE YEARS IN LEYDEN
Leyden was the place the Pilgrims pitched upon
for their second home in Holland. Doubtless
the fame of the university had something to do
with this choice. But the favorable economic
opportunities afforded by this flourishing city of
fifty thousand people, given over to the manu
facture of cloth, likewise had a bearing on the
matter. Bradford, who was nineteen when this move
was made, calls Leyden "a fair and beautiful city
and of a sweet situation." In many ways the town
should have been particularly congenial to men
from Scrooby and Austerfield. It lay on the
dunes,^ just as their home towns did, and being a
college city, it somewhat resembled Cambridge.
Brewster earned his living here at first by teaching
English "after the Latin manner", that is to say,
grammatically, not as a vernacular, and had many
pupils, Danes and Germans as well as Dutch.
' Leyden : legt bey de dunen (lieth by the sand-dunes) . " If a man dig two
feet in any part of Holland he shall find water."

40 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
But he soon abandoned teaching for printing ; the
Elzevir Press had made Leyden a center of book
publishing and as a result there was much for a
man of letters to do.
The Pilgrims spent about eleven years in all in
Leyden. During the last three of these years
they were busy arranging for their departure to
America. Long and anxiously did they discuss
who should go and who should stay. Finally it
was decided to vote on the matter, the understand
ing being that, if a majority resolved on immediate
departure. Pastor Robinson was to accompany
them ; if a minority he was to remain and come
later. The vote showed that less than half their
number were desirous of immediate departure, so
Robinson remained behind, it being understood,
however, that he only awaited a summons ^ to
join those of his flock who were to set out under
Brewster's leadership.
John Robinson is the outstanding figure of the
seven years which the Separatists passed in this
University City, for it was here that the Pilgrim
Church, as we now speak of it, was organized with
the pastor from Gainsborough formally elected its
minister just as Brewster was formally elected its
elder. A remarkable man, John Robinson ! Not
only was he endowed with keen intellectual per
ceptions and wide learning, but he was a leader
in the truest and best sense of the word, and a
' Before the summons came he died, early in March, 1625, being not yet
fifty years old, and was buried in St. Peter's chiu'ch, Leyden.

THE COURT OF A DUTCH HOUSK
From the painting by De Hooch in the National Gallery, London.

JOHN ROBINSONS HOUSE, LEYDEN, HOLLAND
The tablet scL in the I'ront of [lie building reads: "On this spot lived, taught and died
Jolin Robinson."

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 41
graphic writer into the bargain. From the books
he wrote we gain quite an idea of Pilgrim govern
ment and theology at this time.
The worship at Leyden was wont to be held in
the lower rooms of a rather considerable house,
centrally located and in the very shadow of the
university's library. Robinson and his family
lived in the upper story of this house. The service
used resembled that common to-day in many
Congregational churches. First, there was an
extemporaneous prayer by the pastor or teacher.
Then followed the reading of two or three chapters
of the Bible in English, with a liberal paraphrase
of the passage by the teacher or elder. A psalm
was then sung in English without accompaniment.
Next came the sermon in which the pastor ex
pounded doctrine or explained the application of
the Scriptures to the individual conduct of his
congregation. Another psalm, or perhaps several
other psalms, were next sung, after which, at
stated times, the Lord's Supper and baptism were
performed. Just before the service closed a col
lection was taken, the proceeds of which were
devoted to the salaries of the officers and the needs
of the poor. The Bible they used was the Geneva
version and the translation of the psalms, that made
by Ainsworth in prose and meter, which was pub
lished in London in 1612.
Robinson's great skill in the management of
people had plenty of scope in Leyden, for the
members of the Church governed themselves to

42 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
a great extent, the minister and his assistant
acting as umpires in settling whatever disputes
arose. Unlike Amsterdam, the Leyden Church tended
to give more and more power to the congregation.
The Separatists were naively surprised when they
discovered that this logically implied the right of
their own members to make up their minds indi
vidually concerning the widely varying interpreta
tions of Scripture passages made by the sects all
about them. Gradually they came to see that,
if they would continue to hold together, they must
get away, for all time, from the atmosphere of
schism which seemed to be everywhere about
them. Europe was too full of churches and conten
tions, of doctrines and dogmas. "The vast and
unpeopled countries of America," as Bradford
called them, began to beckon very alluringly to
them. Guiana was thought of as a place to go ;
also Virginia. But South America was held to
be too tropical in those days for Englishmen ; and
Virginia was in bad repute because, out of the
migration of one hundred and eighty persons lately
made from the Amsterdam Church to that land,
no less than one hundred and thirty died because
they had been "packed together like herrings" in
a ship too small and badly victualed. The rest
of this migration naturally returned to Holland
full of complaints. Yet if they would attain that
independence in ecclesiastical affairs which they

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 43
were determined to achieve, America seemed the
only place for them.
Bradford was keen for going, and he has thus elo
quently phrased the argument of the majority to
which he belonged.
It was answered, that all great and honourable
actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and
must be both enterprised and overcome with answer
able courages. It was granted the dangers were great,
but not desperate ; the difficulties were many, but not
invincible. For though their were many of them likly,
yet they were not cartaine ; it might be sundrie of the
things feared might never bef ale ; others by providente
care & the use of good means, might in a great measure
be prevented ; and all of them, through the help of God,
by fortitude and patience, might either be borne, or
overcome. True it was, that such attempts were not
to be made and undertaken without good ground &
reason ; not rashly or lightly as many have done for
curiositie or hope or gaine, &c. But their conditon
was not ordinarie; their ends were good and honour
able; their calling lawfuU, & urgente; and therfore
they might expecte the blessing of God in their pro-
ceding. Yea, though they should loose their lives in
this action, yet might they have comforte in the same,
and their endeavors would be honourable. They Uved
hear [in Leyden] but as men in exile, & in a poore con
dition; and as great miseries might possibly befale
them in this place, for ye 12. years of truce were now
out, & ther was nothing but beating of drumes, and
preparing for warr, the events wherof are allway
uncertaine. The Spaniard might prove as cruell as

44 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the salvages of America, and the famine and pestelence
as sore hear as ther, & their libertie less to looke out for
remedie. Already their liberty was being encroached
upon by England as a result of Brewster's book-
publishing activities and from the resemblance
between his name and that of Thomas Brewer, his
business partner. But the most impelling reason
for going was that they would lose their identity
if they stayed. Their young people were so
exceedingly human in their tendency to marry
the pretty girls of their adopted country !
Glad as the men from Scrooby had been to take
refuge in Holland, they were invincibly English
in their ideals and their ways of life, and many of
the Dutch customs tried them sorely. Perhaps
the most authentic, as well as the most colorful,
contemporary description that we have of Dutch
life is from the pen of Fynes Moryson, and as we
read what he has written of life in the Nether
lands at this period, we understand why the men
from East Anglia felt the urge to plant a colony
overseas. Though Moryson admired the demo
cratic ideals of the Dutch, he had little taste for
their ways of life — medieval Englishman that he
was — when they tended, as they apparently did,
to make women the equal of men. He writes it
down with regret that "in all meetings the number
of women and girles doth farr overtop the number
of men and boyes, at least five to one" and ill
conceals his horror as he records "that as the

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 45
women in these Provinces overtopp the men in
number ... so they commonly rule theire
famylyes. In the morning they give their hus-
bandes drinking mony in their purses, who goe
abroade to be merry where they list, leaving their
wyves to keepe the shop and sell all thinges.
And nothing is more frequent, then to see the
girles to insult and domineere (with reproofes and
nicknames) over their brothers, though elder then
they be, and this they doe from the first use of
speech, as if they were borne to rule over the
malles. Yea many women goe by Sea to traffique
at Hamburg, for marchantdize, whyle theire hus-
bandes stay at home." ^
Moryson further records that in a literal, as
well as a figurative sense, many women in Hol
land "wore the breeches." (One cannot picture
Brewster and Bradford approving of this !) Be
cause the winter was "very sharpe in these Prov
inces, lying open to the Sea Northward, without
any shelter of hills or woodes . . . some wemen
of the best sort wore breeches, of lynnen or silke
stuffes to keep them warme ; but commonly the
wemmen sett with fyer under them, in passetts
namely little pans of Coales within a case of
woode boared through with many hole on the
tope, which remedy spotting the body is less con
venient then wearing of breeches." Is it not
interesting that, after three hundred years, women
should now again wear "breeches" without shame
1" Shakespeare's Europe." P. 382.

46 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
when they find this mode of attire "convenient" ?
The daughters of these "advanced" Dutch
women were accorded a great deal of liberty.
And, apparently, knew how not to abuse their
freedom too !
The wemen of these parts give great liberty to their
daughters. Sometymes by chance they slyde on the
yce till the gates of the Citty be locked, and the young
men feast them at Inns in the subburbs all the night,
or till they please to take rest. Sometymes the young
men and virgins agree to slyde on the yce, or to be
drawn with horses upon sledges to Cittyes 10 : 20
or more myles distant and there feast all night, and
this they doe without all suspition of unchastity, the
hostesses being careful to lodge and oversee the wemen.
In like sorte the mothers of good fame permitt theire
daughters at home, after themselves goe to bedd, to
sett up with young men all or most part of the night,
banqueting and talking together, yea with leave and
without leave to walke abroade with young men in the
streets by night. And this they doe out of a Customed
liberty, without prejudice to their fame.^ . . . Some
that are betroathed make long voyages, as to the East
Indies, before they be maryed, and in all voyages where
the master of the shipp is a wooer, they hang a garland
of Roses on the topp of the mayne mast.
Perhaps the tendency of the Dutch woman,
here noted by Moryson, to take plenty of time
before becoming a wife was due to the protracted
period of mourning incumbent upon her if she
1 " Shakespeare's Europe." P. 385. C/. the data on bundling in Puritan
Massachusetts as given in my "Social Life in Old New England."

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 47
became a widow. Not only did she mourn long
but custom saw to it that she mourned thoroughly.
"Some gentlemen and others of the best sorte
dying," writes Moryson, "had theire Armes sett
upon theire doores for a year following, and the
widowe so long kept her house, no man for halfe
a yeare entering her Chamber, nor any speech
being made to her till the yeare was ended for any
second maryage." " Maryage ", when it did come,
either to widow or virgin, was not infrequently
merely a civil ceremony, our observant traveler
further tells us. "I have scene some maryed
without a ringe, only Joyning handes insteede
thereof." The men of Scrooby had too lately
been in the Church of England to approve of such
informal mating as this.
None the less the Dutch had their sturdy vir
tues, and we of New England owe them much.
They were "most industrious and skillfull worke-
men ", as Fynes Moryson records, "and the richest
amongst them cause their Children to be taught
some arte or trade, whereby they may gayne theire
bread in the tymes of warr, or banishment, or hke
adversityes." Apprehension lest the morale of their young
people as English folk should be broken down by
continued residence in Holland was an important
cause of the decision to emigrate to America ; but
the occasion was the persecution of W^illiam
Brewster, printer.
Among the many liberties which people ui

48 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
England were obliged to go without at this period,
but which could be measurably attained in Hol
land, was liberty of the press. Printing on Eng
lish soil was only possible in London, Edinburgh,
and Dublin and at the University Presses of
Oxford and Cambridge. In London, where most
of the printing was done, it was a prison offense
for a man to buy type and a printing press. Only
freemen of the Company of Stationers were allowed
to print; and even of those freemen the number
who could actually frint the books was exceedingly
limited, though all of them were allowed to sell
or bind books once they had been printed.
A master printer might have only one hand
press, when setting up in business, and could never
have more than two, even after he had risen high
in the Stationers' Company. On May 9, 1615,
there were only nineteen printing houses in Lon
don, possessing, in all, thirty-three hand printing
presses. It was the custom for London compositors of
this period to set up books at home and then to
take the "formes of type" to the residence of the
master printer to be struck off. Every night the
hand printing press was carefully locked up to
prevent secret printing and regularly, every week,
searchers appointed by the Stationers' Company
went through the house of each master printer, in
order to see what books were at press and whether
they had been properly licensed. Thus it was
practically impossible to print in England any-

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 49
thing which the king or the bishops did not wish
to have printed. Such books were, accordingly,
printed on the continent and smuggled into Eng
land. William Brewster helped to print them in
Holland. Brewster had little besides his brains to invest
in a printing plant, but there was another man in
the Leyden group, Thomas Brewer by name, who
had money. Thus it came about that the firm of
Brewer and Brewster, as it might have been
styled, gave King James cause for protracted
worry. This firm has likewise caused the histo
rians considerable trouble by reason of the resem
blance between the names of the two men chiefly
concerned and because the Dutch scribes were
scandalously careless in their dealings with English
patronymics. For years the subsequent experi
ences of Brewer and Brewster were confused by
all the writers. We owe to the careful investiga
tions carried on at the Hague for a long period by
H. C. Murphy and then published in the Historical
Magazine ^ the true facts of the case.
The object of the Pilgrim Press, as it has been
called, was the publication in English of books
intended for circulation in England, but prohibited
by the Government. The edition, when ready,
was shipped to London, to be sold there by Puritan
and Separatist friends of the group in Holland.
Sixteen books at most represent the entire output
of this press during the three years 1617, 1618,
1 Volume IV, Boston and New York. 1860.

50 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
1619. One of these, printed by Brewster himself
in 1619 — David Calderwood's "Perth Assembly ",
in which was exposed King James' political chican
ery in attempting to compel the Scottish churches
to conform to the Anglican establishment —
stung the English king into hot pursuit, through
his ambassador. Sir Dudley Carleton, of the two
men responsible for its publication. Sir Dudley
insisted that Brewster had broken the Dutch law
by printing and exporting this book, and he put
the bailiffs on his trail.
Though undoubtedly the printer chiefly re
sponsible, Brewster with his family was able to
make his way safely to England, by the aid of
friends ; and lived there from July, 1619, until
the Mayflower sailed. His capitalist partner was
apprehended, but escaped serious penalty largely
because the University of Leyden, on whose books
he was enrolled as a scholar, was induced to treat
the case as one of university privilege. All this
put an end, however, to the Pilgrim Press and
made it more clear than ever that if the men from
Scrooby were to "follow the gleam" they must
find a new field for their life and labors.
By the time this case had come to a head,
Brewster, who had not been marking time in Eng
land, had already made good progress in the
overtures which eventuated in the sailing of the
Mayflower. One of his young companions, while
he was in the service of Secretary Davison, had
been Sir Edwin Sandys (son of the Archbishop of

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 51
York), who was afterwards treasurer of the Vir
ginia Company. The Virginia Company was
known to be anxious for colonists and it was also
understood among the Separatists that Sandys,
like his father, had strong leanings towards
Puritanism. Moreover the Brewsters, father and
son, had been postmasters at Scrooby during the
years of the elder Sandys' primacy and so were
known through and through to the Sandys family.
Much hope was placed in this long-standing con
nection. At the outset, indeed, the Separatists
frankly set forth in their proposals their religious
nonconformity and attempted to secure explicit
recognition of the stand they felt obliged by con
science to take regarding the relation between
Church and State.
For a time everything went well ; King James
even made a joke about the Pilgrims' proposed
means of livelihood in America. Asking how
they expected to support themselves when they
got there, and being told by fishing, he replied
with his ordinary asseveration, "So God have
my soul ! 'tis an honest trade ! it was the Apostles'
own calling." Yet not long after this, probably
during the summer of 1618, he suggested that the
Separatists now proposing to emigrate have a
conference about the matter with the Archbishop
of Canterbury and the Bishop of London ; which
suggestion so roused the suspicions of the leaders
at Leyden that they decided to give up any attempt
to secure an explicit recognition of their religious

52 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
nonconformity before leaving Holland. They re
called quite clearly certain instances of men who,
though permitted to leave England, were prac
tically banished "unless they shall be contented
to reforme themselves", after accepting an invita
tion to talk matters over with the noble bishop.^
The exact sequence of events subsequent to the
autumn of 1618 and during a large part of the
winter of 1619 cannot be established by direct
evidence. Edward Arber in his "Story of the
Pilgrim Fathers" and Ames in his "Log of the
Mayflower" have made painstaking attempts to
trace every step of the Pilgrims' journey from
Leyden to Plymouth Rock and to buttress their
assertions with appropriate dates. But since to
do this definitively is practically impossible at
this distance of time, one must be content here
with generalizations, taking comfort in the fact
that the very writers who are most categorical in
the matter of dates are certain to make the most
mistakes. Roland G. Usher, who has freshly
reviewed all the available material and has given
us in his book, "The Pilgrims and Their History",
a work at once scholarly, compact, and readable,
declares that the character of existing material
and the actual lack of evidence makes it abso
lutely impossible to be too sure about all these
dates and data.
What we do know is that when the news got
around that this group of Separatists in Holland
* Privy Council Register, March 25, 1597.

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 53
were looking for capital with which to support a
venture in America a number of different offers
of help were made to them. Many of these fell
by the way after the manner of such offers ; but
in June, 1619, William Brewster and Robert Cush-
man were sent to London with instructions "to
end with the Virginia Company as well as they
could", and a patent was actually granted at this
time authorizing the planting of a colony. Weary
months of waiting again followed, and when the
proposal submitted by the Dutch capitalists that
they should settle in the Dutch-American colony,
then called the New Netherlands, now New York,
had to be finally rejected because the Dutch would
not guarantee to protect them against external
foes, despondency very nearly overtook them all.
In the spring of 1620, however, a certain John
Weston crossed from England to Leyden to an
nounce that some seventy "Adventurers" were
prepared to subscribe the capital required for the
ships and other necessaries of the voyage. On
harsh terms, to be sure ! But terms which were
eventually accepted. Thus it was finally agreed :
(1) that every Adventurer who contributed £10
of capital should receive one share in the enter
prise ;
(2) that every emigrant of sixteen years of age
and over who went in person to the new colony
should be credited with a £10 share ;
(3) that for seven years the whole product of
the labor of the colony should be divided among

54 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the shareholders in proportion to the number of
their shares ;
(4) that at the end of the seven years there
should be a general division among the share
holders of all the property at that time in
possession. Obviously these were terms pretty close to
actual serfdom. Yet they were the terms made,
the terms under which the capital was subscribed.
The precise sum raised in 1620 is not clear, but
four years later, the money actually expended
amounted to about seven thousand pounds. It
is therefore plain that, under the terms of the
compact, the ninety-two adult passengers who
eventually crossed the Atlantic can have looked
to receive very little over one-eightieth part of
the product of their toil.
It was with the money subscribed by the
London Adventurers on the harsh terms just
quoted that the Speedwell, a ship of sixty tons,
was bought and sent to Delftshaven, Holland, to
convey the Pilgrims to the New World by way of
Southampton. At the English city the Mayflower,
a vessel of one hundred and eighty tons, had been
chartered to meet them with provisions and stores.
Then, with the Speedwell, the Mayflower, it was
arranged, was to fare forth on the long passage
across the Atlantic.
The last day which the Separatists passed at
Leyden was spent at Robinson's house and given
over to humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Doubt-

Showing East India Ho

(,,/V'm/./ 101)1 I ^ JUirlnliil , rlii, .iiiih. Ma
DELFTSHAVEN, HOLLAND
uu whose dock the Pilgrims in the S pi-rihrfll cinharkeil on their Great .\dveiilure.

PLYMOUTH ROCK

THE STONE WHICH MARKS THE I'LACE AT PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND,
WHERE THE MAYFLOWER PASSENGERS TRANSFERRED FROM THE
SPEEDWELL, EN ROUTE TO THE NEW WORLD

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 55
less there was also psalm-singing, a long sermon,
and a great deal of discussion. Probably there
was some sort of farewell feast, too, as the little
company set forth, on July 21, 1620, for Delfts
haven, passing down the Vliet on canal boats, a
journey of about twenty-four miles. With a
voyage across the Atlantic the commonplace it
has come to be in our day it was hard, five years
ago, to understand the misgivings that must have
well-nigh overwhelmed these men and women as
they made ready for their voyage westward. But
with the terrors of the deep as Americans have
known them during the late war in mind, it is not
so hard to visualize the courage required to under
take this journey.
Defftshaven is now a part of Rotterdam, and as
one enters or leaves the principal shipping city of
Holland on the steamers of the Dutch or Holland-
America Line, one sees on each side splendid build
ings of masonry, brick, or iron. Nevertheless the
chief canal, streets, and older quays were much the
same three hundred years ago as now; very ap
propriately the tree-lined avenue with a southern
exposure which fronts the main channel of the
Maas River has been called, since July, 1892,
"Pelgrim Kade", that is to say. Pilgrim Avenue
or Quay.
Leyden Street in the chief town of the Pilgrims,
on the other hand, bears witness to the affection
with which memories of the formative years passed
by the exiles in the University City of Holland

56 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
have been cherished on the American side of the
Atlantic. The solemn injunctions of Pastor Robinson, as
the little company took its leave, have come down
to us accurately through the printed page, but the
pictures which most of us associate with this
historic occasion are, of course, utterly untrust
worthy. "He charged us," Winslow records,
"before God and His blessed Angels to follow
himself no further than he followed Christ; and
if God should reveal anything to us by any other
instrument of His, to be as ready to receive it as
ever we were to receive any truth by his ministry.
For he was very confident the Lord had more
truth and light yet to break forth out of His Holy
Word." The affection in which Robinson was held by all
shines through Bradford's description of the scene
as they took their leave: "Truly doleful was the
sight of that sad and mournful parting, to see
what sighs and sobs and prayers did sound among
them. . . . Yet comfortable and sweet it was to
see such lively and true expressions of dear and
unfeigned love. But the tide, which stays for no
man calling them away that were thus loath to
depart, their reverend Pastor falling down on his
knees . . . commended them with most fervent
prayers to the Lord and His blessing. And then
with mutual embraces and many tears they took
their leaves one of another, which proved to be
the last leave to many of them."

THE FORMATIVE YEARS 57
Four days of fair wind carried them to South
ampton where they found the Mayflower, which
had already been waiting for them a week. Also
waiting was John Weston and the articles as
finally amended, ready now for the signatures of
the principal members just arrived from Leyden.
Weston was pretty exigent in regard to these
signatures, and the Pilgrims showed their exceed
ing humanity by being equally obstinate about
agreeing to the amendments. Finally, becoming
very angry, Weston told them "to look to stand
on their own legs" and left for London without
paying the port dues of nearly £100 owing on the
Mayflower. Fearful lest they become embroiled
with the authorities by reason of this bill, the
Pilgrims sold some firkins of their precious butter
and so raised the money to clear port. When, on
August 5, they did set sail, the captain of the
Speedwell declared that his ship was leaking, and
there was another delay while the leak was mended
at Dartmouth. Again they made off, but again
the Speedwell's captain asserted that his vessel
was not seaworthy. So, putting into Plymouth,
those who in spite of all these harassing delays
were still of good courage transferred to the May
flower. Though overcrowded and hence very
uncomfortable, that ship sailed alone, September
6, 1620, for the New World. All told there were
one hundred and two passengers on board.
Rather curiously, only two of these passengers,
William Brewster and William Bradford, whom an

58 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
English writer has called the Aaron and Moses
of the New England enterprise, can be traced from
Scrooby and Austerfield in England to Leyden,
and thence to Plymouth. And, including chil
dren, only thirty-three others of the Leyden con
gregation sailed ; the remaining sixty -seven of the
company joined the group just as it was about to
leave England. Yet the Leyden influence was so
strong as to outweigh the English numerical pre
ponderance. Plymouth life — American life —
would never have been what it is had there not
intervened those seven formative years in the city
on the sand dunes of Holland.

CHAPTER V
THE ENGLAND FEOM WHICH THEY PLED
The mind of the English people of those days
teemed with thoughts and excitements of which
we in our time can have no just conception. Our
understanding of what the Pilgrims faced and
felt as they left Europe behind them must depend
therefore upon the force of our imagination hardly
less than on the extent of our reading.
The great questions, both of politics and reli
gion, which then agitated society were comparative
novelties. The wonders of the New World and of
the whole southern hemisphere were discoveries of
yesterday. National questions were debated with
a degree of passionateness and earnestness such
as we of the twentieth century have only lately
felt ; while distant regions loomed before the
fancies of men in alliance with everything shad
owy, strange, and mysterious.
In the early seventeenth century, the Old World
seemed to be waking at the side of thoughtful
Englishmen as from the sleep of ages, and a new
world rose to their view, presenting treasures
which seemed to be inexhaustible. The wonder

60 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
of to-day was succeeded by the greater wonder of
to-morrow, and revelations appeared to have no
end. At the same time, to very many, their
native land had become as a house of bondage,
and the waters of the Atlantic a stream which
separated them from their promised home. So if
we are to understand the Pilgrims in even the
most superficial way, we must try hard to put
ourselves back three hundred years. One way to
do this is to consider the conditions of life in the
England from which they fled.
Not only was Law, as we of English traditions
understand it, struggling still for existence, but
everything and everybody was still subordinate
to the royal pleasure. Moreover, England did
not then have even a weekly — not to mention a
daily — newspaper. The former did not come into
existence for twenty-two years more, the latter
for one hundred and nine years. Twenty-eight
years had still to elapse before William Harvey
should publish his discovery of the circulation of
the blood ; sixty-six years before Newton, sitting
in his garden, should start the train of thought
which led to the recognition of the Law of Gravi
tation. Not until one hundred and sixty years
later was there a street light in London ; and,
perhaps most important of all, two hundred and
forty years had still to roll by before letters could
be prepaid by stamp, so ushering in the era of
cheap postage.
Before the reign of Henry the Eighth the only

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 61
letters of which any record exists — letters to and
from the Court and on affairs of State — were
sent by couriers employed for the particular pur
pose who were styled "Nuncii" and "Cursores."
These messengers appear to have formed an
important branch of the royal establishment.
Their titles remind us of the officials who bring
messages in some of Shakespeare's historical plays.
Sir Brian Tuke, as Master of the Posts, to whom
was given the task of setting up posts "in al places
most expedient", wrote to Thomas Cromwell in
1533, "Sir, it may like you to understand the
Kinges Grace hathe now no ordinary postes nor
of many days hathe had, but betwene London and
Calais . . . and sens October last, the postes
northewarde. . . . For, Sir, ye knowe well, that,
except the hakney horses bitwene Gravesende and
Dovour, there is no suche usual conveyance in
post for men in this realme as is in the accustumed
places of France and other parties." ^
The original function of Sir Brian Tuke was to
see that, where no post existed, the royal couriers
were not kept waiting for horses. These horses
were provided by the townships, and to keep the
townships up to their duty was one of Sir Brian's
privileges. At Leicester, for instance, the mem
bers of the Corporation bound themselves under
penalty to keep four post horses in constant
readiness for their sovereigns' use and, when such
an equipment was not at hand, the magistrates
' Herbert Joyce: "History of the Post OfiBce."

62 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
and constables were expected to seize horses
wherever they could be found. Until long after
the reign of Henry the Eighth this close connection
between the post and the sovereign continued.
And as late as 1621 all the posts of the kingdom,
which even then were only four in number, started
from the Court.
Elizabeth standardized the mail deliveries of
England. Every post was to keep and have con
stantly ready, she enacted, two horses at least
with suitable "furniture." He was to have at
least two bags of leather well lined with baize or
cotton, and a horn to blow "as oft as he meets
company" or four times in every mile. After
receiving a packet he was to start off with it within
fifteen minutes and to ride in summer at the rate
of seven miles an hour and in winter at the rate
of five. The packets thus treated were, however,
only those which had to do with the queen's
affairs or the affairs of the State. All others were
"to passe as by letters"; that is, they might be
taken along by the post but he was not to go for
the purpose of taking them. This quite casual
postal service was, however, adequate for the time,
as writing during the sixteenth century was an
accomplishment possessed by comparatively few.
The secondary function of the posts was to
facilitate traveling, and in this direction the
service extended with considerable rapidity. So
much so that, when James the First came to the
throne, he had to make strict regulations to check

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 63
the abuse of traveling at the sovereign's charge
and for the sovereign's use. Many people, he
discovered, had been using the service of the posts
while traveling on their own affairs. James also
made it more difficult than it had been heretofore
to convey letters of a private nature. In fact it
grew to be so difficult for travelers to travel and
for letters to be conveyed that the posts came to
be regarded and were largely employed "as an
instrument of police !" ^
A postmaster on the great roads was in those
days required to keep relays of horses for forward
ing the letters, and to furnish rest and refreshment
for travelers as well as actually to aid, sometimes,
in the matter of accomplishing the journey. It
was an office of high responsibility and had noth
ing whatever to do with the conveyance of private
letters. These were not conveyed by the public
posts till some years afterward. Sir Timothy
Hutton on a journey to and from London in 1605
paid the post at Scrooby, probably Brewster, "for
post-chaise and guide to Tuxford 10s and for
candle, supper and breakfast, 7s-10d, so that he
slept under Brewster's roof." On his return he
paid 8s to the post at Scrooby for conveying him
to Doncaster, then reckoned seven miles, and 2s
for "burnt sack, bread, beer, and sugar to wine,
and 3d to the ostler."
Yet since most of the people could neither read
nor write, means of conveying letters, though
* Joyce, p. 7.

64 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
interesting, were scarcely vital. Up to the seven
teenth century the common people, generally,
were quite illiterate, but this was more true of
church folk than of Dissenters. The Reforma
tion was of immense importance in the matter of
advancing education, for every parent spiritually
stimulated thereby desired to read the Bible for
himself and to teach his children to read it also.
"Theology rules there," said Grotius, speaking
of England two years after Elizabeth's death. In
this observation there was much truth. The in
vention of printing and the publication in the
vernacular tongue of the sacred Scriptures worked
a complete moral change in Europe, and the
English then became, in the pregnant words of
John Richard Green, " the people of a book and
that book the Bible. . . . The whole moral effect
which is produced nowadays by the religious news
paper, the tract, the essay, the lecture, the mis
sionary report, the sermon, was then produced by
the Bible alone, and its effect in this way, however
dispassionately we examine it, was amazing. . . .
A new moral and religious impulse spread through
every class."
For children whose parents could not personally
instruct them, a rudimentary school was often
kept in the little room over the church porch.
Frequently, too, a weaver or a tailor would have
pupils about him while at work. The book used
by these groping scholars — after they had learned
their alphabet from a hornbook — would be Ed-

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 65
mund Coote's "The English Schoolmaster." Here,
following columned pages given over to ab, eb, ib,
etc. we find the following edifying bit of text:
"Boy, go thy way to the top of the hill and get
me home the bay nag. Fill him well, and see
he be fat, and I will rid me of him for he will be
but dull as his dam ; if a man bid well for him I
will tell him of it (his fulness) ; if not, I do but
rob him : a,nd so God will vex me, and may let
me go to hell, if I get but a jaw-bone of him ill."
Eight such chapters of constantly increasing
difficulty, from the standpoint of the beginner at
reading, make up the first book of this exemplary
volume. ,
Obviously John Brinsley had a good case, when,
writing in 1622 of the grammar schools, which
should have been of so much better quality than
those using Coote's textbooks, he voiced thus the
lamentations of many parents :
"My Sonne hath been under you six or seven
years, and yet is not able so much as to reade
English well ; much less to construe or understand
a piece of Latin, or to write true Latin or to speak
in Latin in any tolerable sort. . . . Another shall
complaine; my sonne comes on never a whit in
his writing. Besides that his hand is such that it
can hardly be read ; he also writes so false English
that he is neither fit for trade, nor any employ
ment wherein to use his pen."
In another of his books Brinsley blames play for
these deficiencies of scholarship. "Schooles, gen-

66 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
erally," he says, "do not take more hinderance
by any one thing, than by over often leave to
play. Experience teacheth, that this draweth
their mindes utterly away from their bookes, that
they cannot take paines, for longing after play. " ^
The grammar school was, of course, the "free"
school of the period. But these schools were
"free" only in the sense that they were open
without charge, or at small charge, to boys of a
restricted neighborhood or to promising lads
selected by some one in the upper classes who
would subsequently send them to college. Lads
proceeded to Cambridge or Oxford from these
"free grammar schools" at the age of fourteen or
fifteen. Of schools of this type two hundred
fifty -two are traceable to a period before 1600 ;
but Roger Ascham, who was educated in one of
them, is our authority for believing that the
tongue-and-lip teaching inculcated by them in his
time, at least, "never ascended up to the brain
and head and therefore was sone spitte out of the
mouth againe."
Children were wont to enter these "free"
schools at the age of about seven or eight, Brinsley
tells us — and as he himself was, in 1601 and for
many years after, master of such a school at
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, we could not find a better
authority — and had to report for work at six
o'clock in the morning. At nine o'clock there
came a quarter of an hour's intermission ; and the
1 John Brinsley : "The Grammar School." London, 1627.

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 67
forenoon session ended at eleven. Afternoon
school was from one to half -past five with a short
recess at three. The day's work closed with the
reading of "a peece of a Chapter", the singing of
"two staves of a Psalme" and prayer.
Even for the fortunate lads who, having been
to grammar school, proceeded thence to college,
there was not much really in the way of what we
to-day should regard as education. Mathematics,
Logic, and Rhetoric were the three college studies,
the "Trivium", which qualified for the bachelor's
degree. Then to become a master of arts a youth
studied for three years more the "Quadrivium ",
— Philosophy, Astronomy, Perspective, and Greek.
Theology also received much attention, and Arith
metic was likewise recognized as an acquirement to
be encouraged. That very little, however, was
really done with the last-named study may be
seen from the fact that Pepys (who before gradu
ating an M.A. at Magdalen, Cambridge, had been
at school both in Huntington and in London)
records as late as 1662 :
"By & by comes Mr. Cooper ... of whom I
intend to learn mathematiques, . . . After an
houre's being with him at arithmetique (my first
attempt being to learn the multiplication-table) ;
then we parted till tomorrow." And at this time
Mr. Pepys had been for some years in the public
service !
Only an overwhelming desire to be able to read
the Scriptures could have supplied sufficient in-

68 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
centive, under such difficulties, to learn to read at
all. There were almost no books of general
interest. Indeed most of the writers commonly
accounted Elizabethan could not possibly have
been in the average English library at the time
the Mayflower sailed for the New World. In
prose Bacon, Burton, Thomas Fuller, Milton, most
of Raleigh, Jeremy Taylor, and Izaak Walton
would be lacking, as in poetry would be that
gifted three, Milton, Herbert, and Vaughan, three
Beaumonts, three Fletchers, most of Drayton,
Donne, Carew, George Sandys, Ben Jonson, —
and the greater part of Shakespeare himself.
Brewster's library of three hundred ninety -three
volumes, which, carefully catalogued, long remained
the literary treasure-house of the Old Colony,
contained of historical works twenty -four; of
philosophical six ; of poetical fourteen ; miscel
laneous fifty -four. And Brewster might, of course,
be called a man of literary tastes by reason of
his temperament and his Cambridge training.
Books being few and costly, and newspapers and
magazines having not yet come into general circu
lation,^ it was natural that people should have
grown into the habit of spending the larger part
of their leisure on games and kindred amusements.
For indoor sports there were riddles, jests and
merry tales, cards, dice, draughts, shuttlecock,
' The first proper newspaper in English appeared in 1622 (Enc. Brit.),
though pamphlets of news began to appear soon after the coming in of the
seventeenth century. Burton :" Anatomy of Melancholy ." 1614.

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 69
shovelboard (then called shove-groat) and, in the
higher walks of life, chess. Dancing, too, of
course; and out-of-doors wrestling, quarterstaff,
pitching the bar, tilting at the ring, football,
hurling, barleybreak,^ running at quintain,^ and
shooting at butts, with fishing, hawking, and
hunting. Archery was required by royal order
with careful specifications as to the size and
quality of the implements. In the realm of what
we should call entertainment, wandering com
panies of minstrels and harpers were common,
and rude plays were acted before the public. In
London the gallants of the time strolled up and
down from 3 to 6 p.m. in Paul's Walk, the middle
aisle of St. Paul's Cathedral ; and bull and bear
baiting, masques and the theater filled out other
hours which threatened to hang heavy on their
hands. For the common people the great days of the
Church brightened the year. At Christmas, New
Year's, May Day, Twelfth Day, Plough Monday
(the first Monday after Epiphany) , Shrovetide (the
period between Ash Wednesday and the preceding
Saturday evening), Easter, Whitsuntide, Candle
mas Day, Martinmas and All Hallow's Eve — to
name only the outstanding festivities — there was
' This game was played by six people, coupled by lot, on a ground with
three compartments, the middle one being named "hell." The middle
couple, who could aot break hands, had to catch the others, who were
allowed to do so, those caught taking the place of the catchers.
' In this game a bar was balanced on a pivot with a broad board at one
end and a bag of sand at the other. The play was to hit the board when
riding by and escape the bag as it was thrown around suddenly.

70 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
merriment which often went so far and consumed
so much time as to tend to grave corruption of
manners. Thus Philip Stubbes in 1583 said of
Christmas :
"Who is ignorant that more mischiefe is [at]
that time committed than in all the yeere besides ?
What masking and mumming whereby robberie,
whordome, murther and what not is committed !
What dicing and carding, what eating and drink
ing, what banqueting and feasting is than [then]
used more than in all the yeere besydes ! to the
great dishonour of God and impoverishing of the
realme." We have here, of course, the Puritan protest.
And it was because of protests like unto this one
that the Puritans came to be hated. Life in
England was becoming increasingly drab, by
reason of economic pressure ; and on this very
account the people clung the more tenaciously to
the "merrie" diversions of an earlier time.
Macaulay, in his "Essay on Milton", voices, on
the plane of the spiritual, the widespread resent
ment at the "holier than thou" frame of mind
which was so often confused with the Puritan
idea :
"Puritans were men whose minds had devised
a peculiar character from the daily contemplation
of superior beings and eternal interests. Not
content with acknowledging, in general terms, an
overruling Providence, they habitually ascribed
every event to the will of the Great Being, for

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 71
whose power nothing was too vast, for whose
inspection nothing was too minute. To know
him, to serve him, to enjoy him was to them the
great end of existence. They rejected with con
tempt the ceremonious homage which other sects
substituted for the pure worship of the soul.
Instead of catching occasional glimpses of the
Deity through an obscuring veil, they aspired to
gaze full on the intolerable brightness, and to
commune with him face to face. Thence origi
nated their contempt for terrestrial distinctions.
The difference between the greatest and meanest
of mankind seemed to vanish when compared
with the boundless interval which separated the
whole race from him on whom their own eyes
were constantly fixed. They recognized no title
to superiority but his favor ; and confident of that
favor they despised all the accomplishments and
all the dignities of the world."
The Puritans, being only the Low Church
party in the Church of England and not dissent
ers — Separatists — from the established Church
like the Pilgrims, would willingly have stopped
short of throwing all the games overboard, how
ever. They would have been quite content to
reform their abuses. (So we shall find a distinct
difference in the ways of keeping Christmas
between the settlements at Plymouth and at
Massachusetts Bay.) For by the time of the
Pilgrim exodus, England had for some years
ceased to be notably "merrie." Save where a

72 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
mockery of vitality had been preserved to the old
games and pageants by compulsion of the town
authorities, they had died out because of the
increased number of depressed workers. The
struggle to earn a livelihood, quite as much as
the Reformation, was responsible for the increased
soberness of life to be noted in most of the towns
at this time.
The crafts were strong, and the Guild Hall,
which was the center of the work life of the day,
stood side by side in the market place with the
parish church. These two institutions summed up
the multitudinous activities of the common life,
the church predominating in importance. For the
church was the fortress of the borough against its
enemies, the place of safety to which in the hour
of danger arms might be taken for storage in the
steeple, and corn, wool, or other precious goods for
protection in the body of the sanctuary.^ A
sentence of excommunication hung over all who
should violate this sacred protection.
From the twelfth century, wool, the one great
export of England and the one great source of
wealth, looms large in history. In the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries there had been an elabo
rate system for the protection of the raw wool
trade ; but by 1546 England's chief business had
come to be exporting cloth.
The fall of Calais, in 1558, was an important
contributing factor in the attention which England,
1 Mrs. J. R. Green : "Town Life in the Fifteenth Century."

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 73
by the Pilgrims' time, was giving to the business of
manufacturing. Manchester had just created a
market for its "coatings" or cottons; Norwich
and Sandwich had received a considerable immi
gration of makers of baize, serges, bombazines, and
beaver hats ; Coventry had become famous for
its "true blue" woolens, and other towns were
putting out attractive green cloths. Since York
shire had plenty of English wool, the Flemings
were invited there to work it up, while in London,
this clever "assisted immigration" made felt hats ;
at Bow, they worked in the dyeing industries ; at
Wandsworth wrought in brass ; and at Fulham
and Mortlake fabricated arras and tapestry. As
yet there were no factories, however, all work
being done at home and no man being allowed by
statute to have more than two looms.
It was about this time, too, that Yarmouth
workers learned from the Dutch, who came to
dwell among them, how to cure herrings; and
lead and tin, having been melted in Cornwall,
appeared in England on the roofs of the churches
and on occasional mansions.
William Harrison, whose books about the cus
toms and manners of his time ^ are among the
most fascinating sources of information that we
have, says that old men in his village "noted three
things to be marvelously altred in England within
their sound remembrance." One was the number
of chimneys ; in their youth not more than two
' Harrison was appointed Canon of Windsor in 1586.

74 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
or three could be seen smoking in most country
towns. The second was sleeping accommodations.
Instead of lying, at best, upon a flock-bed stuffed
with coarse wool, with a sack of chaff for a bolster,
the farmer now had feather beds, sheets, and
pillows, — pillows which had formerly been ac
counted such luxuries that they were used only
by women bringing children into the world. The
third change was in the realm of table furni
ture. Where the fathers had eaten with wooden
platters and spoons, their sons, says Harrison,
would have a fair array of pewter with a full
dozen of spoons.
The increase in the number of villages referred
to by Harrison was, of course, the most important
of these three changes. Previously the land out
side the towns had been largely unenclosed, while
at intervals of from two to four miles would be the
parish church and a few cottages. Not far away
would commonly be the manor house of the squire
who probably owned the greater part of the land
within sight. Though the rooms of this mansion
would often be spacious and the walls might
even be wainscoted with native oak or hung with
tapestry, the dwelling would ordinarily be of two
stories only, the upper story overhanging the
lower. The construction would be of brick or
stone, though it might be framed of strong timbers,
studded and filled in with stones and clay. Glass,
however, was rapidly taking the place in the win
dows of the lattice work pieced out with horn or

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 75
oiled paper through which the light had formerly
entered. The domestic offices and farm buildings of the
squire's establishment would be near his home but
not necessarily under the same roof. In the
better residences the home included a large hall
and a chapel. The dwelling of the yeoman com
monly had several rooms and was roofed with
reeds. Laborers' cottages seldom included more
than two rooms and were constructed of clay walls
upon a timber frame.
Nearly every home had a garden, though the
common people were only just beginning to learn
the value of vegetables as cheap and wholesome
food. The potatoes brought to England in
Raleigh's vessels had been received with much
less enthusiasm than the tobacco similarly intro
duced. Harrison, however, enumerates melons,
pumpkins, gourds, cucumbers, radishes, parsnips,
carrots, cabbages, and all kinds of salad herbs as
within the reach of all classes. Orchards on many
an humble place yielded apples, pears, plums,
walnuts and filberts, while the grounds of the
gentry often produced, besides, cherries, apricots,
peaches, grapes, almonds and figs.
In Elizabeth's time the fondness of the upper
classes for vegetables amounted almost to a pas
sion and caused them to welcome with enthusiasm
any addition to their supply of roots and esculent
greens. The alacrity with which they adopted
the American tuber is a case in point. Ten years

76 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
after Raleigh's adventurers brought the first
potatoes from Virginia this vegetable was being
commonly grown and enthusiastically eaten in
England. And whereas in Henry's time we hear
much of a dearth of vegetables, in Elizabeth's day
tulip roots (dressed with sugar), radishes, pump
kins, artichokes, fourteen kinds of colewort "in
cluding the colie-flore or coleflore, and the great
ordinarie cabbage ", cucumbers, carrots, parsnips,
turnips, beet, asparagus, and onions were all
greatly used, as were also lettuce, spinach, cresses,
and many other esculent leaves good for salads.
There was always a question whether oil or butter
should be employed in dressing these vegetables,
but English taste inclined to butter. The Eliza
bethan housekeeper who grudged butter to the
parsnips she set before her guests gained an ill
name. "Apologies," says the adage of that
period, "wont butter parsnips." Potatoes were
also profusely dressed with butter. Cucumbers
were thought by many to be decidedly indigestible,
however dressed, this being also true of mush
rooms, against which Edmund Gayton wrote :
Pepper and oyl and salt, nay all cook's art,
Can no way wholesomeness to them impart.
What Dr. Butler said of the cucumber.
Of these ground-bucklers we the same aver,
Dress them with care, then to the dung-hill throw 'um,
A hog wont touch 'um if he rightly knowe 'um !
Then, as now, the English generally preferred
flesh or fish to vegetables for steady diet. And

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 77
they cared little for the oysters and clams so
abundant in the land of their adoption. One of
the greatest difficulties the Pilgrims had to face
was that of learning to like to eat the things easily
obtainable in New England. Though in Harri
son's time an Englishman could eat whatever he
could afford to buy, "except it be upon those dales
whereon eating of flesh is especially forbidden by
the lawes of the realme, which order is taken
onelie to the end our numbers of cattell may be
the better increased, & that aboundance of fish
which the sea yieldeth, more generallie received ",
it is recorded that white meat, milk, butter, and
cheese, though very dear, were eaten only by the
poor, the rich eating brown meat, fish and fowl,
wild and tame.
Which brings us, of course, to the subject of
class distinctions and their attendant differentia
tions in ways of living. The English people at
this time were divided horizontally into four
ranks : gentlemen, citizens, yeomen, and laborers.
The citizen class, made up of freemen of cities
competent to vote for and sit in the lower house
of Parliament, included also some conspicuously
successful merchants. In the fifteenth century
this class had been particularly numerous and
powerful, but by the time of the Pilgrim exodus
had greatly declined. The same was true of the
yeomen, — in the third rank. Most of these were
farmers and freeborn, men who from their own land
had an annual income of not less than six pounds.

78 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
These are the men usually spoken of in early New
England history as "Goodman" this or that.
Petty merchants who had no free land, hand
workers, poor husbandmen and day laborers were
in the fourth class, while below them were the
unemployed and the unemployable, the criminals
and the rogues bred by the wars. It is interesting
to note that the writers of the time clearly recog
nized the social disintegration almost certain to
follow war. "For it is the custome of the more
idle sort," we read, "having once served, or but
seen the other side of the sea under color of service,
to shake hands with labour forever, thinking it a
disgrace for himselfe to return unto his former
trade." Too great an increase in population was held
by many statesmen to be responsible for the ap
palling number of the unemployed and of those
who could not support themselves. But Harrison
sturdily refutes their conclusions. He writes :
Some also doo grudge at the great increase of people
in these daies, thinking a necessairre brood of cattell
farre better than a superfluous augmentation of man
kind. I can liken such men best of all rnito the pope
and the devil, who practice the hinderance of the
furniture of the number elect to their uttermost,
to the end the authoritie of the one upon earth, the
deferring of the locking up of the other in everlasting
chaines, and the great gaines of the first, may continue
and indure the longer. But if it should come to pass
that any forren invasion should be made, which, the

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 79
Lord God forbid for his mercies sake ! — then should
these men find that a wall of men is farre better than
stackes of come and bags of monie, and complaine of
the want when it is too late to seeke remedie.^
Sir Frederic Eden ascribes the development
of the indigent poor as a distinct class in England
which had to be supported and which then easily
became criminal largely to the beginnings of the
growth of commerce and manufacture, which dates
from the stimulation of wool production and its
attendant consolidation of petty farms into large
sheep-raising tracts. One shepherd could now
take the place of a dozen men who had previously
earned a living by working on the land. The
dispossessed ones, deprived of all means of respect
able self-maintenance, inevitably became vaga
bonds ; and just as inevitably broke the laws of
the land.
Parliament first attempted in 1536 to cope with
the problem of poverty by enacting that voluntary
alms should be collected in each parish for the
purpose of relieving the impotent poor. And the
famous Poor Law of Elizabeth provided in 1601
for the erection and maintenance of poorhouses
by parishes,^ especially commending that those
unable to work should be relieved therein. This
1 Harrison's "Description of England." Pp. 215-216. Fumivall's Edi
tion. " The first poorhouse in England was erected in Bristol in 1697. It was a
"work house" in the true sense of the word; inmates were compelled to
work if able, the idea being in part to make them contribute to their own
support and in part also, at first, to teach them trades.

80 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
new Act was only gradually carried out, however,
and in 1622 "a well wisher" complains, in a tract
called "Grievous Groans for the Poor", "that the
number of the poor do daily increase, there hath
been no collection for them, no not these seven
years, in many parishes of the land, especially in
country towns; but many of those parishes
turneth forth their poor, yea, and their lusty
laborers that will not work, or for any misdemeanor
want work, to beg, filch and steal for their main
tenance, so that the country is pitifully pestered
with them ; yea and the maimed soldiers that have
ventured their lives and lost their limbs on our
behalf are also thus requited ... so they are turned
forth to travel in idleness (the highway to Hell)
. . . until the law bring them unto the fearful end
of hanging."
Not to thieves and vagabonds alone were ex
treme punishments meted out. As a matter of
stern fact England was grossly callous to all
human suffering at this time, and almost abso
lutely without regard, too, for human life. The
cruelties of the stocks and of its mate, the duck
ing-stool, and the lashings, scourgings, and whip
pings for which Old New England is so often
reproached, — none of these originated on the
American side of the water. The overwhelming
proofs of this are sickening to record. Let a few
instances suffice.
In 1580 it had been declared treason in England
for any one to leave the Established Church and

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 81
become a Roman Catholic. I suppose it is not
so very surprising, therefore, to find that in 1621,
within six months after the sailing of the May
flower, a Catholic gentleman named Floyd, who
was imprisoned in the Fleet, having excited popu
lar displeasure by speaking slightingly of the
Elector Palatine and his wife, was actually sen
tenced to be degraded from his gentility, to be
held infamous and incompetent to testify in a
court; to ride from the Fleet to Cheapside on
horseback with no saddle and with his face to the
horse's tail, which he was to hold in his hand ;
there to stand two hours in the pillory and to be
branded with the letter K ; four days later to
ride in the same manner from the Fleet to West
minster, and there stand two hours in the pillory
with words on a paper on his hat setting forth his
crime; to be whipped at the cart's tail from the
Fleet to Westminster Hall, to pay a fine of £5000
and to remain a prisoner in Newgate for life.
Similarly drastic sentences were meted out to
men who, by spoken or written word, opposed the
Church of England. For publishing in Holland,
in 1628, "An Appeal to the Parliament, or Sion's
Plea against the Prelacie ", a work by no means
extreme for the time, Alexander Leighton, a
Scotch divine, was unanimously condemned^ by
the Star Chamber to degradation from his ministry,
ijohn Rushworth: "Historical Collection ", 11:55-57. London, 1680.
Reading further in this interesting volume about Mr. Leighton's case, one
is cheered to find that he was assisted by friends to escape from prison.

82 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
to imprisonment for life, to a fine of £10,000 — a
sum which must have staggered the imagination
of a Scotch dominie — to be whipped and set in
the pillory at Westminster in the presence of the
Court, to have one of his ears cut off and his nose
slit, to be branded in the face with the letters
S S (Stirrer of Sedition), to be imprisoned in the
Fleet, to be whipped and pilloried again on a
market day in Cheapside at some convenient later
time, and to have the other ear cut off.
The appalling thing about these sentences is
the relish they reflect for cruelty as such. And
the public taste grew no better in this regard for
several generations. Evelyn relates with zest in
his Diary for January 30, 1660, that Cromwell's
body had been dragged out of its tomb in West
minster and exposed on the gallows in Tyburn
from nine in the morning till six at night, and
that this spectacle was thoroughly enjoyed by
thousands who had seen the "arch-rebel" in all
his pride. On October 17, 1660, he tells us that
though he saw not the execution of Scot, Scroop,
Cooke and Jones, he "met their quarters, mangled
and cut and reeking, as they were brought from
the gallows in baskets on the hurdle." While
Pepys writes, in this same connection (October
21, 1660), "I met George Vines who carried me
up to the top of his turret, where there is Cooke's
head set up for a traytor, and Harrison's set up
on the other side of Westminster Hall. Here I
could see them plainly."

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 83
Obviously an age that could enjoy the sight of a
mangled head on a spike would not be delicate in
its personal habits. We are told that King James
never washed his hands, and Pepys declares that
his own wife spent the "Lord's Day", November
22, 1668, in "making herself clean, after four or
five weeks being in continued dirt."
Yet at this time England had quite clearly
defined standards of manners set down in books ;
had, indeed, possessed such standards of a sort
for two centuries, ¦ — ever since the publication,
in 1430, of the first English manual of etiquette.
Quite a literature of Books of Courtesy and rhymes
on the best ways of living the daily life had sprung
up by the dawn of the seventeenth century. The
injunctions in some of these books are amusing
by reason of their absurdity. William Vaughan,
writing in 1602, for instance, advises wearing a
"nyght cap of scarlet" with "a hole in the top
through which the vapour may goe out." And
even the famous Doctor Andrew Borde, whose
admonitions are in many respects as worthy to
be followed to-day as when he penned them, writes
solemnly, "In the nyght let the windows of your
houses specyalle of your chambre be closed."^
Blood-letting was the common cure for every
variety of illness. It was thought that tumors
could be reduced by being stroked with a dead
man's hand and for erysipelas even so wise a man
as Bacon advised using the warm blood of kittens.
1 Doctor Andrew Borde on Sleep, Rising and Dress. 1557.

84 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
As a cure for leprosy he advocated a bath of
infant's blood ! ^ It is easy to find many other
"cures" equally revolting. Scrofula, then called
"king's evil," required the touch of the sovereign
himself for its cure. Charles II averaged four
thousand such cures a year.
The drink habit, of course, was everywhere
rampant, even among those accounted the best
people. Sir William Penn was not infrequently
so drunk as to be wholly incapacitated for business
and many a young parson "got himself drunk
before dinner" without losing either his own or
his parishioners' respect. Doctor Andrew Borde
in his "Dyetary " of 1542, strongly advises against
water as a beverage, counseling that people,
for health, drink ale and wine. Water seemed
to him of small value for bathing purposes,
also. He tells his readers to wash their faces
only once a week if they wish to clear it of
spots, wiping the face between times with a
"Skarlet cloth."
Health standards developed rapidly, however,
as the sixteenth century drew towards its close.
In Hugh Rhodes' "Boke of Nurture or Schole of
good manners " — and the admonitions of this
counselor are of particular interest to us because
he was born and bred in Devonshire — we find :
Ryse you earley in the morning,
for it hath propertyes three :
'"History Vita et Mortis." Longman (1858) Translation. Vol. V,
p. 307.

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 85
Holynesse, health, and happy welth,
as my Father taught mee.
At syxe of the clocke, without delay,
use commonly to ryse.
Make cleane your shoes, & combe your head,
and your cloathes button or lace :
And see at no tyme you forget
to wash your hands and face.
A page or two later in this same book^ advice is
given against spitting on the table, blowing the
nose on the napkin, throwing bones under the
table and picking the teeth "with thy Knyfe."
The table was not the only place where gross
manners prevailed. Ladies received their male
friends while in bed or while dressing ; people paid
their respects to the bridegroom and the bride
after they had retired upon their wedding night,
and fashionable women wore masks to the theater
that they might not be put to the trouble of trying
to blush at the vulgarity of many of the plays
there exhibited. In the country marriages were
often put off till late and in the city among the
higher classes were solemnized at a ridiculously
early age. Evelyn (11:77, 135) speaks of the
marriage of the only daughter of Lord Arlington
at five years and of her remarriage at twelve years.
Of a piece with this preposterous custom of
child marriage among the rich were the clothes
worn by the nobles of the time. Harrison solemnly
'"Imprinted at London in Fleetstreete, beneath the Conduite, at the
Signe of S. John Evangelist, by H. Jackson." 1577.

86 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
asserts that often, in London, he could not tell
the gallants from women, so elaborate were their
clothes. Joseph Strutt says ^ that a special gal
lery was erected around the inside of the Parlia
ment House for the accommodation of the
"bombasted" or "beer-barrel" breeches of the
period, — breeches so ample that they could be
used as wardrobe trunks, apparently ; at any rate
there is a fairly well authenticated story of a man
who took out of his breeches a pair of sheets, two
tablecloths, ten napkins, four shirts and a brush,
glass and comb as well as nightcaps.
This exaggeration in men's attire was largely
due to Queen Elizabeth, who liked magnificence
and the bizarre in those about her. It therefore
behooved a gallant not only to adorn himself
grandly but also to cultivate grandeur in those
of his household if he wished to make an impres
sion on the Virgin Queen. The Earl of Hereford
once met his sovereign at Elvatham, attended by
a retinue of three thousand men fitted out for the
occasion with black and yellow feathers and gold
chains. In the light of this bid for a lady's favor,
Shakespeare's Malvolio, mincing about in cross
garters and yellow stockings, ceases to be too
fantastic for belief. Exploration among the fash
ions of this period greatly helps one to understand
Shakespeare ; and to understand Bradford. There
were styles deliberately designed to emphasize cer-
' " Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England."
Ed. 1842, vol. II, p. 144, note.

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 87
tain portions of the human figure and so to stimu
late impurity. One ceases to wonder why the
Pilgrims left England, after reading such a book
as Doctor John Bulwer's "Pedigree of the Eng-
Hsh Gallant." '
The provident traveler who carried sheets, table
cloths, and napkins in his wide trousers brings us,
by an easy transition, to the general subject of
transportation facilities three hundred years ago.
Even in London, coaches could not be hired pre
vious to 1630. Most Englishmen who could afford
to do so rode their own horses. Yet along the
chief thoroughfares there were posthouses about
every ten miles ; and between London and the
chief towns carriers made regular trips with long
covered carts and would accept a passenger, pro
vided he were willing to stay at the inns where
the carrier lodged. Near London, Fynes Moryson
tells us, the roads (in 1617) were "sandy and very
faire, and continually kept so by labor of hands."
But once outside thickly settled territory, highways
quickly became mere bridle paths, with only an
occasional bridge over the streams, most of which,
therefore, had to be forded, — unless the traveler
chose to creep across on a single timber and cling
to a handrail at its side, leading his wading or
swimming beast with the hand left free. The old
Roman roads had long since ceased to be kept
passable.
•This is an appendix to his "Man Transform'd, or the Artificial Change
ling'' (London : 1650) : a work written to show how clothes were perverting
at this time the "regular beauty and honesty of nature."

88 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
Making a journey under such conditions was
naturally a thing that took time.^ So, of course,
there had to be many inns ; and outside the great
cities these were almost uniformly good. Fal-
staff's assertion that a man could take his ease in
his inn is supported by both Fynes Moryson and
Harrison. The latter asserts that many of Eng
land's thriving towns had sumptuous inns in the
sixteenth century which were well furnished and
in which every guest had clean sheets. Some of
these could lodge three men and their horses, "and
with a verie short warning make such provision
for their diet, as to him that is unacquainted
withall may seem to be incredible." ^
Breakfast, as we understand the meal, was
conspicuous by its absence at these excellent inns
and in most households. J. C. Jeaffreson, in his
entertaining "Book About the Table", tells us
that the morning draught at the inn was, in fact,
"the ordinary breakfast of the majority of English
men. . . . Unless they bear this fact in mind
readers of old biographies are apt to attribute
tavern-haunting propensities to sober and dis
creet gentlemen."
None the less the frequency of Shakespeare's
allusions to breakfast demonstrate that this re
past was fairly common in Elizabethan England.
' It required from three o'clock on Thursday morning till daybreak on
the following Sunday for a messenger, traveling as fast as he possibly could
go, to convey from London to York such an epoch-making piece of news
as the death of Elizabeth !
^ Harrison, p. 109. Fumivall's Edition.

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 89
Thomas Cogan, a contemporary of Harrison's
— and scarcely less an authority than the Canon
of Windsor himseff on the table customs of their
time — bears witness to "breakfast, dinner, and
supper" as the three regular daily meals of well-
kept Englishmen towards the close of the sixteenth
century. Rising about six o'clock, it was the
general custom of these folk to breakfast after
making the toilet, to dine at ten or eleven o'clock
and to sup at five in the afternoon. Harrison's
schedule fits this, — save for the breakfast.
"With us," he says, " the nobilitie, gentrie, and
students doo ordinarilie go to dinner at eleven
before noon, and to supper at five, or between five
and six afternoone. The merchants dine and sup
seldome before twelve at noone and six at night,
especiallie in London. The husbandmen dine also
at high noone, as they call it, and sup at seven or
eight ; but out of tearme in our universities the
scholers dine at ten. As for the poorest sort, they
generallie dine and sup where they may, so that
to talk of their order of repast, it were but a need-
lesse matter."
The diet of the poor consisted largely of rye or
barley bread soaked in pot-liquor. This was
called brewis. The mainstay of their table in
winter was salted bacon or mutton and pickled
herrings or other fish. Meat pie without a bottom
crust (called florentines) was the favorite dish of
practically all classes, especially when made with
venison. No deprivation to which the Pilgrims

90 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
were subjected pressed quite so hard as the impos
sibility of securing daily on New England's rock-
bound coast a meal in which the pastie was wont
to form the piece de resistance.
Common folk ate their food with wooden or
latteen (iron plated with tin) spoons from wooden
trenchers, using with abandon the knife dear to
their fathers ; and people of all classes aided them
selves without apology with the fingers, it still
being some years before forks were introduced
from Italy. Napkins were therefore in great
demand. Where a large establishment was main
tained, a long table was spread in the hall and a
large salt-cellar, placed midway on the board,
divided the sheep from the goats, as it were ; that
is, retainers and domestics sat with the family
but below the salt.
In such households, life was not altogether
unhappy despite the horrors of the pillory, the
black shadows of religious persecution, and the
uncertainty which pressed on a large proportion
of the population as to where the next meal was
coming from. The ugly conditions which this
chapter has been attempting to set forth all
existed ; but there were mitigations as well. For
one thing there was no standing army in England
at this time ; and though most men were liable to
serve in the militia and were drilled systematically
from one to six times a year, armor had now be
come decidedly less cumbersome than formerly.
People following the seasons' round of agricul-

ENGLAND IN THAT DAY 91
tural duties had many happy times, too. And it
was from farmer folk chiefly that the Pilgrims
were recruited. So, though there were deep and
definite shadows darkening the land they left
behind them, it must be remembered that it
was none the less a land dear to them, — a place
where familiar duties were tied up with deeply-
rooted associations. To minimize the sacrifices
they made in leaving it for the wilderness would be
to fail to give due weight to one very important
aspect of their character.
But they had caught a vision of freedom for
all men which gave them strength to make the
sacrifice. They had tried to make their dreams
come true nearer England and had failed. Eng
land, they had discovered, was not appreciably
worse than the continent. The general drift of
public affairs all over Europe at this time was
towards tyranny and oppression. In Germany,
Ferdinand II was carrying on the Thirty Years
War to suppress Protestantism and the liberty for
which Protestantism stood. Spain, under Philip
III, had already become an autocracy. And
France was qualifying for the moment when
Louis XIV should say, "I am the State." There
was nothing left for the Separatists but an over
seas venture; and no phase of such a venture
was possible for them except one they should
carve out for themselves. The thought of James
town and Chesapeake, where a comfortable colony
was already in existence, was almost of necessity

92 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
rejected because it was felt that, having suffered
and sacrificed so much for the sake of escaping
Episcopacy, it would be folly indeed to transplant
themselves to a settlement in which the Church
of England had taken firm root.
Moreover, the lure of colonizing an utterly un
known section made an enormous appeal to this
religious-minded group, steeped in Biblical lore
and guided in their conduct by scriptural tradi
tions and examples. The idea of wending their
way to a new land which they should possess in
the Lord's name came to them with irresistible
force. Yonder was their Canaan to be won and
peopled for the Lord's purposes !

CHAPTER VI
HOW THEY SAILED INTO THE UNKNOWN
As might have been expected, the Mayflower
voyage over was far from a pleasant one. Sixty-
five days at sea, with a good proportion of the
company seasick most of the time, would try the
stoutest hearts, even when a comfortable home
and dear ones were known to be waiting on the
other side. In this case, every one was sailing
into the unknown. Moreover, Captain Jones,
who was in charge of the ship, was an extremely
unsympathetic person and his sailors appear to
have been exceptionally coarse and brutal. One
stout young seaman was in the habit of adding
to the sufferings of the Pilgrims by abusive lan
guage ; and, when gently reproved, would violently
curse and blaspheme, expressing the hope that he
might soon "throw the bodies of half the pas
sengers into the sea." It was perhaps poetic
justice, if not an act of God, that in a few days
this man sickened and died, so that he himself
had to be consigned to an ocean grave.
About halfway across, one of the main beams
in the middle of the ship was found to be bowed

94 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
and cracked, so that it was feared it might be
necessary to turn back again ; but after a consul
tation between Captain Jones and his officers, it
was decided that the voyage could continue, and
the beam was raised by means of a great iron
jack which some one among the passengers had
fortuitously brought out of Holland. This great
screw was one of many bulky things stowed away
in the ship. Such things must have taken up a
great deal of room and, though useful, are simply
amazing when regarded as part of a pioneering
cargo. In fact, as one notes the huge chests of
drawers and the many pieces of heavy furniture
now to be seen in Pilgrim Hall and other parts
of Plymouth, all bearing on them labels to the
effect that they came over in the Mayflower, one
realizes that a ship the size of this one must in
deed have been crowded, with so much furniture
on board, — in addition to the one hundred and two
passengers and the food necessary to sustain them.
We know very little, in detail, about the look
or proportions of "the ship ", as the Mayflower is
consistently called by Bradford and Winslow in
their writings. But we may infer something of
the general type to which she belonged, and
students of this matter have decided that she
must have been about ninety feet long and twenty-
four feet wide, with three masts, of which the
fore and main mast were square-rigged without a
jib, while the mizzenmast carried a lateen sail. A
high forecastle and a high poop deck left the

^ V «* St* I *k** ' '

^Nf Vf-

*« ¦< t. ^

CRAYESTONE ERECTED ON BURIAL HILL, P1,Y:\I-
ItUTH, TO THOMAS CLARKE, MATE (IE THi: MAY-
ELOWER

:\IEMORIAL TABLET ERECTED BY BRADEORDS DES-
t'ENDANTS ON THE COYERNOR WILLIAM BRADI'OHD
INSTATE, KINdSTON

STONE ERECTED ON BURIAL HILL PLYMOUTH, TO JOHN HOWLAND
¦THE LAST :MAN THAT WAS LEFT OF THOSE THAT CAME OVER I\ THE
SHIP CALLED THK MAYFLOWER, THAT LIVED IN PLYilOUTH"

INTO THE UNKNOWN 95
middle of the ship low. She was what is known
as a "wet" ship, too, and being on this voyage
heavily laden and therefore low in the water,
shipped more seas than usual. Once the coil of
the topsail halyards was washed over and trailed
in the sea; soon afterwards, John Howland, "a
lusty young man ", coming up on deck, was like
wise carried overboard. Howland was fortunate
enough to catch a grip on the coil and to hang on
to it until he was safely fished up with a boat hook.
He had a short illness as a result, but survived to
live many years in the Colony and to be the
progenitor of a family which still looms large in
Plymouth history because of a fine old house that
bears their name and is to-day a favorite haunt of
visitors. One passenger died during the voyage,
— William Button, who appears to have been an
apprentice to Doctor Fuller. But the passenger
list remained at one hundred and two because
Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins became the parents
of a son during the trip, who, by reason of his
birthplace, was named ' ' Oceanus . ' ' Appropriately
Oceanus in later life followed the sea as a profes
sion. One is impressed with the youth of the "Pilgrim
Fathers." Bradford was thirty-one, Winslow
twenty-five, AUerton thirty-two, Standish thirty-
six, and Alden only twenty-one. There is every
reason to believe that only two of the whole com
pany were over fifty years of age, and only nine
over forty.

96 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
We know that there were no young cattle ^ on
board because a great deal was made of the later
arrival in Plymouth of these important adjuncts
to civilized English life. Presumably there were
poultry, swine, and goats penned up forward.
Much of the space between decks was occupied
by a shallop transported in pieces which, when
put together, was about thirty feet long. The
passengers slept aft in cabins and bunks of a sort,
while the crew lived forward.
One great difficulty was that very little cooked
food could be had. The only method of cooking
was by means of a frying pan held over a charcoal
fire or a kettle suspended on the iron tripod over
a box of sand. Cooking under these conditions
for one hundred and two passengers and a crew
of twenty or more was obviously so difficult as to
be almost impossible. There was also little op
portunity for bathing or washing, which must
have been a sore hardship to the Pilgrims, as they
were rather ahead of their time in their regard for
cleanliness. The staples of food were certainly
bacon, hard tack, salt beef, smoked herring, cheese,
and small beer or ale. For luxuries there were
butter, vinegar, mustard, and probably lemons
and prunes. Gin they also had, and possibly
brandy. The food was given out in day rations
with due regard to the fact that it must be care-
' Longfellow makes a great bull, so to speak, when he depicts Priscilla
as mounted on a milk-white steer. No cattle were landed in Plymouth
until many months after this marriage ceremony, which is supposed to have
occurred in 1622.

INTO THE UNKNOWN 97
fully conserved against the long time ahead when
they might not be able to lay their hands on any
thing edible.
On November 9th, they saw land which the
sailors at once identified as the shore of Cape Cod.
Then they knew that instead of being close to
the Virginia Colony, toward which they had
thought to sail, they were really on the edge of
New England, as Captain John Smith had named
this country some six years before. It was Bar
tholomew Gosnold, however, who, while trying in
1602 to find a direct passage for New England
and America, first came upon the promontory
which, from the abundance of codfish in the sur
rounding seas, he called Cape Cod. His sailors
were the first Englishmen to set foot in New
England, and he himself went so far as to make
preparations for founding a colony on the Eliza
beth Isles. But when his ship was ready to leave,
his little band of settlers lost their courage and
returned with it, fearing starvation and Indian
treachery. Other unsuccessful expeditions were
also sent out to this part of America during the
early years of the century, but little was done
beside fishing. Then in 1614, financed by four
London merchants, came Captain John Smith in
charge of two ships and a company of men also
bent on fishing. While they pursued this calling.
Smith himself sailed up and down the coast mak
ing maps or "plots" of North Virginia and New
England, which though not in any way authentic

98 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
or particularly trustworthy, served to convince
him that he knew the country well. He also
called the land New England, though one of his
captains. Hunt, who appears to have been a
thoroughly bad lot, tried to "drown that name
with the eccho of Cannaday", out of jealousy of
Smith. On his return to England after this trip.
Smith showed his map to Prince Charles, begging
him to confirm the name of New England and to
christen the principal places discovered, so that
it would be henceforth "an unmannerly presump
tion in any that doth alter them without leave."
After his second voyage in 1615 with sixteen
men in the employ of Sir Ferdinand Gorges and
other members of the Plymouth company. Smith
became a most enthusiastic publicity bureau for
the land between Penobscot and Cape Cod. "Of
all the foure parts of the world that I have yet
scene not inhabited," he wrote, "could I have but
meanes to transport a Colonic, I would rather
live here than anywhere ; and if it did not main
taine itselfe were wee but once indifferently well
fitted, let us starve." ^ Through its fisheries.
Smith constantly declared, the country might
become richer than Holland, cod, hake, mullet,
sturgeon, and herring were to be had in such
abundance. And he begged, "Let not the mean-
nesse of the word Fish distaste you, for it will
afford as good gold as the mines of Guiana and
Tumbatu with lesse hazard and charge, and more
' Arber : " Captain John Smith."

INTO THE UNKNOWN 99
certaintie and facilities." Smith, indeed, had
offered his help to the Pilgrims before their depar
ture, but they refused it, saying, according to his
own statement, that his books and maps would
be "better cheap to teach them than himself."
To this false economy he was wont to attribute the
misery of their first winter.
The fact is, of course, that the Pilgrims intended
to settle in the vicinity of the Hudson River and
had every reason also to expect that they would
arrive in the new country much earlier than
November. Many of the early writers believe
that Captain Jones had been bribed by the Dutch
merchants to sail far to the north of Manhattan,
and Nathaniel Morton, writing in 1669, presum
ably from oral tradition at Plymouth, states ex
plicitly that Dutch intrigue was responsible for
making so north a port. At this distance of time
one conjecture seems about as good as another as
to the reason why they finally went ashore on
Cape Cod and founded their settlement on what
we now call Massachusetts Bay with utter dis
regard of the fact that by so doing they abandoned
their patent. One outstanding fact to be noted
in this connection is that neither Bradford nor
Winslow express in their writings the slightest
concern for the change in plans. Apparently they
were quite content to take their chances, without
any legal authorization from the Old World, on
settling outside the territory controlled either by
the Virginia Company or by the Dutch.

100 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
To be sure these wise leaders took vigorous
action when a number of the company who had
come on board at London informed them, with no
uncertain intent, that the abandoning of the origi
nal patent would leave every man his own master
once the ship had made land. It was at this
juncture that their real genius asserted itself, for
they were quite equal to the emergency. Believ
ing that their first acts must carry official weight
and that any want of union now would be fatal
to the success of the enterprise on which they had
all staked so much, it was decided to bind the
company together by the following voluntary com
pact founded on the will of the people and signed
by the forty-one adult males of the company.
In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are
underwriten, the loyal subjects of our dread soveraigne
Lord, King James, by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine,
Franc, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, &c. Have-
ing undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente
of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie.
a voyage to plant ye first colonic in ye Northern parts
of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly and mutualy
in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant &
combine ourselves togeather into a civil body politick,
for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of
ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof to enacte,
constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, ordi
nances, acts, constitutions, & oflBces, from time to time,
as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye
generall good of ye Colonic, unto which we promise
all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof

INTO THE UNKNOWN 101
we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Codd
ye II. of November, in ye year of ye raigne of our
soveragine lord. King James, of England, France, &
Ireland ye eighteenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth.
An° : Dom. 1620.
Of this compact John Quincy Adams wrote in
1802: "This is perhaps the only instance in hu
man history of that positive, original social com
pact 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 community to the association,
by which they became a nation. . . . The settlers of
all the former European colonies had contented
themselves with the powers conferred upon them
by their respective charters, without looking be
yond 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 situation to examine the
subject with deeper and more comprehensive
research." In coming to this country the Pilgrims most
certainly contemplated not merely a safe retreat
beyond the sea, where they could worship God as
their conscience bade them, but a local govern
ment founded on popular choice. One need not,
in saying this, claim that they had in mind, when
they formulated the compact in the Mayflower on
November 11, 1620, all the successive stages of
colonial and provincial government which resulted

102 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
in the establishment of a great republican confed
eracy; but it is perfectly clear, from every docu
ment and manifesto that they put out, that it was
their fixed purpose from the first to establish civil
government on a basis of republican equality.
What we have to remember, as we read the
Mayflower Compact and follow the story of the
Pilgrims and their colonization, is that it was too
late in the world's history to carry out anywhere in
Europe any such scheme as they had in mind.
Absolutely the only outlook for expansion was upon
the Atlantic Coast of America, where the preten
sions of Spain had now been successfully disputed
and where a flourishing colony had at length been
founded in Virginia after nearly half a century of
disappointment and disaster. Further to colonize
along the North American coast was now part of
the avowed policy of the British Government.
The year 1606 had seen a great joint-stock com
pany formed for the establishment of two colonies
in America. This company had headquarters in
London for the proposed southern branch of its
enterprise, while the management of the northern
branch was directed at Plymouth and Devonshire.
(Hence the two branches are commonly spoken
of as the London and the Plymouth companies,
although the former was also called the Virginia
Company at times, and the latter the North
Virginia Company, the name Virginia being then
loosely applied to the entire Atlantic coast north
of Florida.) The London Company had jurisdic-

INTO THE UNKNOWN 103
tion from 34° to 38° north latitude ; the Plymouth
Company had jurisdiction from 45° down to 41°.
It was understood that the intervening territory
(between 38° and 41°) was to go to whichever
company should first plant a self-supporting
colony.^ The first act of the citizens of the new-made
State was to "confirm" John Carver as Governor
until their next New Year's Day, thus conferring
on the deacon of the emigrating Church and the
confidential friend of Robinson a continuance of
the authority which had been given him when the
Mayflower sailed from Southampton. And now,
having a form of government adequate at any
rate for the present and an executive who should
enforce that government, the Mayflower came to
anchor about a mile from the site of Provincetown.
And on the same afternoon (November 11-21),
sixteen men, well armed and headed by Captain
Miles Standish, went on shore to explore and to
fetch back wood to the ship. Climbing the hills,
they ascertained the shape of that portion of the
Cape and brought back the report that the land
consisted of hills of sand, not unlike the dunes of
the Holland so far behind them.
This similarity between the formation of Cape
Cod and the country about Leyden not improbably
evoked more than one homesick pang in the hearts
^ General supervision over all these American colonies was to be exercised
by a council resident in England, the understanding being that a council
resident in America and nominated by the King should have immediate super
vision over the local government of each enterprise.

104 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
of these men who, one hundred and thirty-three
days ( ! ) back, had bidden farewell to their friends
in the harbor of Delftshaven. But their leader.
Miles Standish, was not an introspective person
or given to sentiment. The official word which
he brought on his return from exploring the Cape
was that the shore proved to be a small neck of
land, partly wooded ; that they could find neither
person nor habitation on it, and that the forests
were rich in oak, pine, juniper, birch, and holly,
with some ash and walnut. The woods they had
found to be like a grove or park, so free from under
brush that a person might ride a horse in any
direction. They learned afterwards that this was
due to the savages, who burned the country over
every spring and fall to destroy the undergrowth
which hindered their hunting. All were particu
larly delighted to find sassafras in abundance, for
this, they knew, possessed a high market value by
reason of its medicinal virtues.^
Roland G. Usher, who has written a most valu
able book called " The Pilgrims and Their History ",
in the course of which he has particularly stressed
the economic aspects of their enterprise, points
out that these God-intoxicated men from East
Anglia and Holland were almost ludicrously un
prepared to deal with life in the trading post of a
new country. Apparently none of the passengers
' Sassafras root was bringing three shillings a pound in England ; in 1604
Champlain had noted with deUght that it was worth fifty livres a pound in
France. Explorers always rejoiced in finding it and were glad to load ships
for the Old World with it.

INTO THE UNKNOWN 105
had ever fished, and, with the exception of Stand
ish, most of them were equally innocent of the
mechanism of a gun. In England they had been
farmers, as we have seen, and in Holland they
had followed whatever trade they could and mostly
been not too successful in their vocations. In the
course of the early weeks in the thickets of Cape
Cod, they shot a bird which they took to be an
"eagle", and were frequently frightened by
"lions!" Yet they expected to establish themselves by
fishing and hunting and by bartering beads, toys,
and cloth with the Indians of the district. If
only their supplies held out they might success
fully achieve this, too, in spite of their obvious
limitations. They were equipped with a large
stock of salt, some clothing, trinkets, and presents
for the Indians ; they had peas, beans, and seed
for growing the onions, turnips, parsnips, and car
rots, of which they were so fond; and they had,
too, adequate culinary utensils and tools with
which to do carpentry and blacksmithing. Cap
tain Miles Standish had apparently looked with
some care to the matter of military equipment, for
guns, swords, side armour, breastplates, and the
like were fairly well represented in the Mayflower's
cargo, according to the labels on these relics in
Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.
More important than anything else, they had
good constitutions, loyalty to each other, and
devotion to a high religious ideal. Eager as they

106 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
must have been to get at the work of active
exploration, they observed the Sabbath which
followed their first day ashore inviolate. Not
until Monday did work begin in earnest. Then,
while the carpenter wrestled with the task of mak
ing their shallop safe for the big task which
awaited it, the women sought and found fresh
water in which to wash their clothes.
On Monday the thirteenth ^ of November (0. S.)
the people went ashore to refresh themselves "and
our women to wash, as they had great need."
Thus New England housewives began at once to
observe the ritual of the week's work, to which
New England tradition has ever since adhered.
One mid-Victorian chronicler of early Plymouth
activities is so impressed by the memory of these
Pilgrim mothers doing the family washing out in
the open air on a bleak November day that he
quotes with fervor :
There was no need
In those good times, of trim Callisthenics —
And there was less of gadding, and far more
* It should be borne in mind that the Old Colony Records and indeed all
the contemporary books of the period were written at a time when the
Julian method of computing time, commonly known as the Old Style, was
in use in England and its dependencies ; and that therefore in New England,
the legal year began on Conception Day, the 25th of March. The addition
of ten days to the seventeenth-century dates will change the dating to New
Style. Months in the Julian calendar differed also from those of the Gre
gorian, now in use. Thus we have :
1 March 5 July 9 November
2 April 6 August 10 December
3 May 7 September 11 January
4 June 8 October 12 February

INTO THE UNKNOWN 107
Of home-born, heart-felt comfort rooted strong
In industry, and bearing such rare fruit
As wealth may never purchase.
If by this he means to say that hard work was
the sole exercise and diversion of the Pilgrim
Mothers, no one will be found to say him nay;
but this was true of the Pilgrim Fathers, also.
There was no sex discrimination in the Plymouth
Colony as administered by William Bradford and
his associates.

CHAPTER VII
HOW THEY SET UP A HOME IN THE NEW WORLD
Every visitor to Plymouth journeys piously to
Plymouth Rock, which is now protected by an
iron fence and has a curious little pagoda built
over it. It has been humorously said that if
this Rock could have attracted the sea as it
attracts sight-seers, Plymouth would have had a
very respectable harbor and would necessarily
have engaged in the kind of trade that goes with
a harbor. But most of its shipping is of the
steamboat variety. Every day in summer a
crowded boat comes in from Boston, and a multi
tude of men, women, and children rush to the
Rock, — before rushing to the restaurant for
dinner. They walk about it and in awed tones
declare that it was here that Mary Chilton landed.
Then, if their sight-seeing spirit carries them so
far, they travel in memory of Mary Chilton to a
little village near by called Chiltonville, all out
of respect to the maiden who is supposed to
have first set foot on the shores of New England
via this Rock.
Yet one finds no mention of Mary Chilton in

4'

, r

^i^^-^^^^^^-.S^'^^W^'"^/**'^^

w^.
'?'' ' ^-.r" •'
e
«» / , ,'* " '
IHl ( V\OP^ (tM li IHI R0( K
From a sketch by Hnwar.l Lcigli.
IN THE NEW WORLD 109
the authentic early accoimts of the " Landing " •
and there have been those who impiously ques
tioned the degree of authentic intimacy between
this rock and the first days passed by the Pilgrims
at Plymouth. Its elevation into an object of hero-
worship dates from 1741, when Thomas Faunce,
ninety -four years old, told some people who were
about to cover the Rock with a wharf that his
father had told him, when he was a boy, that the
Mayflower passengers landed on this bowlder.
To be sure Faunce's father was not a passenger
on the Mayflower, and the memory of a man
ninety -four years old might very well be doubted
in regard to things said to him as a boy. Yet it
is a fact that some of the passengers of the May
flower were still living in Faunce's lifetime, and
that some of these were in the shallop which
came to the shore on Monday, December 11-21,
1620, from Clark's Island, where the Pilgrims
spent their first Sabbath on the shores of the
New World. Moreover, Faunce was born in
1647 and was ten years old when Governor Brad
ford died, twenty-six years old when John How
land died, thirty-six years old when Samuel
Fuller died, and forty years old when John Alden
and Elizabeth Tilley died. All these persons
were passengers in the Mayflower and some were
in the shallop when the first landing was made.
Very likely there is reason for believing the story
of the Rock if not that of Mary Chilton. Any
how, a great many people have had their patriotic

110 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
emotions stirred by gazing upon this symbol of
the landing of the Mayflower, and history is proba
bly quite as right in this matter as in many an
other. The contemporaneous story of the first days
passed by the Pilgrims at Plymouth is as follows :
The nineteenth of December, after our landing and
viewing of the places so well as we could, we came to
a conclusion, by most voices, to set on the main land,
on the first place, on a high ground, where there is a
great deal of land cleared, and hath been planted with
corn three or four years ago ; and there is a very sweet
brook runs under the hill side, and many delicate
springs of good water as can be drunk, and where we
may harbour our shallops, and boats exceeding well;
and in this brook is much good fish in their seasons;
on the further side of the river also much corn ground
cleared. In one field is a great hill, on which we point
to make a platform, and plant our ordinance ; which
will command all round about. From thence we may
see into the bay, and far into the sea; and we may
see from thence Cape Cod.
Saturday, the three and twentieth, so many of us
as could went on shore, felled and carried timber, to
provide themselves stuff for building. Monday, the
five and twentieth, we went on shore, some to fell
timber, some to saw, some to rive, and some to carry :
so no man rested all that day.
Monday, the five and twentieth, being Christmas
day, we began to drink water aboard; but at night
the master caused us to have some beer; and so on
board we had divers times now and then some beer,

m THE NEW WORLD 111
but on shore none at all. We took notice how many
families they were, willing all single men, that had
no wives, to join with some family, as they thought
fit, that so we might build fewer houses; which was
done, and we reduced them to nineteen families. To
greater families we allotted larger plots ; to every
person half a pole in breadth, and three in length;
and so lots were cast where every man should lie;
which was done, and staked out. We thought this
proportion was large enough at the first, for houses
and gardens to impale them round, considering the
weakness of our people, many of them growing ill
with colds ; for our former discoveries in frost and
storms, and the wading at Cape Cod, had brought
much wealoiess amonnst us, which increased every
day more and more, and after was the cause of many
of our deaths.
Here, almost certainly from the pen of Edward
Winslow, we have facts, not conjecture or romance,
concerning the beginnings of New England history.
The dates are, of course. Old Style, — as he wrote
them. This account, as preserved in "Mourt's
Relation ", continues :
Friday and Saturday we fitted ourselves for our
labour, but our people on shore were much troubled
and discouraged with rain and wet that day, being
very stormy and cold. We saw great smokes of fire
made by the Indians, about six or seven miles from
us, as we conjectured.
Thursday, the fourth of January, Captain Miles
Standish, with four or five more, went to see if they
could meet with any of the savages in that place where

112 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the fires were made. They went to some of their
houses, but not lately inhabited; yet could they not
meet with any. As they came home, they shot at an
agle and killed her, which was excellent meat; it was
hardly to be discerned from mutton.
Tuesday, the ninth of January, was a reasonable
fair day ; and we went to labour that day in building
of our town, in two rows of houses for more safety.
We divided by lot the plot of ground whereon to build
our town, after the proportion formerly allotted. We
agreed that every man should build his own house,
thinking by that course men would make more haste
than working in common. The common house, in
which for the first we made our rendezvous, being
near finished, wanted only covering, it being about
twenty foot square. Some should make mortar, and
some gather thatch; so that in four days half of it
was thatched. Frost and foul weather hindred us
much. This time of the year seldom could we work
half the week. . . .
Yet work they did heartily and with a will
when the weather made outdoor work possible,
— and that first New England winter appears
to have been an unusually mild one. Then a
great misfortune, which might almost have turned
out a disaster, befell.
The house [i.e. the "common house"] was fired
occasionally by a spark that flew into the thatch, which
instantly burnt it all up ; but the roof stood and httle
hurt. The most loss was Master Carver's and Wilham
Bradford's, who then lay sick in bed, and if they had
not risen with good speed, had been blown up with

LEYDKN STREET, PLYMOUTH, IN lli22

Copyright, 1,S91. A. .S. Burbanl;.

The ImiUling in the left foreground w:is :i storehouse. ;in(i then eanie the dwellings of the following n.Tmed settlers, in nidei- : P. Bi-own,
.1. (lOodliiiin, W. Brewster, .1. Billinglon, I. Allerton, V. Cooke, E. Winslow. The house in the light nnddleground was that ot (iovernor
Bi-ailford. The old fort is ill the extreme right.

THE PILGRIM MEERSTEADS ALONG THE TOWN BROOK
After the landing the colony was divided into nineteen families or groups and a plot of land along the Town Brook was
' " ' . . <• . ........ sloping to the stream.

assigned to each.

On these plots the first houses

'ere built, the land in the i
-^"i- been a charming feature of Plymouth life.

The garden plots

IN THE NEW WORLD 113
powder ; but through God's mercy, they had no harm.
The house was as full of beds as they could lie one by
another, and their muskets charged; but blessed be
God, there was no harm done.
Monday, the fifteenth day, it rained much all day,
that they on shipboard could not go on shore, nor
they on shore do any labour, but were all wet. Tues
day, Wednesday, Thursday, were very fair sunshiny
days, as if it had been in April; and our people, so
many as were in health, wrought cheerfully.
The nineteenth day we resolved to make a shed to
put our common provision in, of which some were
already set on shore. . . .
Saturday, the seventeenth day, in the morning, we
called a meeting for - establishing of military orders
amongst ourselves ; and we chose Miles Standish for
our captain, and gave him authority to command in
affairs. . . .
The things of which the Pilgrims found them
selves most in need during those early days we
learn also from Winslow : meat, of course ; meal,
a good store of clothes, bedding, muskets, lemons,
butter, oil, "paper and linced oyle for your win-
dowes with cotton yarne for your Lamps and a
store of powder and shot." Writing back to
England in December, 1621, he reported ^ that
already they had built seven dwelling houses
and four for the use of the Plantation as well as
made preparation for several others. "We set
last Spring," he says at this time, "some twenty
'Also in "Mourt's Relation,'' the joint product of Winslow and Brad
ford, which was printed in London in 1622.

114 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
acres of Indian corn ; and sowed some six acres
of barley and peas ; and according to the manner
of the Indians, we manured our ground with
herrings or rather shads [alewives], which we
have in great abundance, and take with great
ease at our doors [that is, in the Town Brook].
Our corn did prove well, and God be praised !
we had a good increase of Indian corn ; and our
barley [was] indifferent[ly] good : but our pease
not worth the gathering ; for we feared they were
too late sown. They came up very well, and
blossomed : but the sun parched them in the
blossom." The first harvest did so well, indeed, that after
it was gathered in. Governor Bradford sent four
men out to kill wild fowl so that the fifty-one
people who were in the Colony might enjoy the
fruits of their labors together in a celebration
that has now come down to us as the first New
England Thanksgiving Day. This historic feast
was graced by the presence of Massasoit and his
entire tribe, and it lasted at least three days and
included not only several hearty meals, but drill
ing, dancing, singing by the Indians, and some
outdoor sports. Probably to us this would seem
like an outdoor barbecue attended by the entire
population rather than an individualistic Thanks
giving with every householder eating in his own
home. But after this there were no more feasts for
some time. On November 20-30, 1621, there

IN THE NEW WORLD 115
arrived from England the Fortune, bearing thirty-
five new colonists who were utterly without tools,
clothes, or food ! For the succeeding two years
there was never a moment when the wolf was not
at the door in Plymouth as a result of this. In
the summer of 1623, when a second band of
newcomers landed from the Anne, they found
their friends "in a very low condition." "Many
were ragged in aparal and some litle beter then
halfe naked . . . for food they were all alike
save some that had got a few peas of the ship
that was last hear. The best dish they could
present their freinds with was a lobster or a peece
of fish without bread or anything els but a cupp
of fair spring water," Bradford tells us. And
Winslow adds that he had often seen men stagger
at noon from weakness induced by hunger.
Yet this was the time when John Pory chose
to write back a most fulsome description of life
in the Colony. John Pory was Secretary for
Virginia, and he visited Plymouth late in 1622
(0. S.) on his way back to England. According
to him there was no reason why the Pilgrims
should have suffered for want of food. His
letter, dwelling on the milk and honey — other
wise the fish and fowl — with which the place
abounded was, indeed, such as to make Plymouth
stock take a great leap upward in England. Brad
ford says in this connection :
"Behold now another providence of God, a
ship comes into this harbor, one Captain Jon(e)s

116 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
being cheefe therein, . . . ther was in this ship
a gentle-man by name Mr. John Poory, he had
been SECRETARIE in Virginia, and was now
going home passenger in this ship . . . and him
selfe after his returne did this poore plantation
much credite, amongst those of no mean rank."
Verily, yes ! Pory seems to have been a born
publicity man. By playing up the virtues of
the Colony and suppressing the disadvantages
and discomforts of life in Plymouth, he unques
tionably heightened the desire of many English
men to emigrate thither while at the same time
comforting and reassuring ^ those great ones at
home who had sunk their good money in what
they had come to fear was a losing venture.
For the next five years the bread-and-butter
problem was the all-absorbing problem at Plym
outh. One reason was that when the Pilgrims
had pledged themselves to work four days in
the week for the merchants who financed their
undertaking, it had been in the expectation that
the latter would bear the real burden of support
ing the Colony during its early years. But when
they failed to receive adequate support from
1 Scarcely anything is known of the history of this priceless manuscript
of John Pory's, save that it was acquired, a few years ago, by the John Car
ter Brown Library of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. Its
little unbound quarto of thirty-two pages (three of them blank) was, a year
ago, edited and prepared for the press by Champlin Burrage, formerly
Librarian of Manchester College, Oxford, for a limited edition issued by
the Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, under the title "John Pory's
Lost Description of Plymouth Colony in the earliest days of tbe Pilgrim
Fathers,''

IN THE NEW WORLD 117
England, and ship after ship arrived bringing
with it instead more mouths to feed, want, not
to say starvation, soon stared them in the face.
If they could have been satisfied by a diet of
cod and lobsters and clams, they might have
suffered less, but for a long time they resolutely
refused, in a way colonizing Englishmen to this
day continue to refuse, to eat anything but the
food to which they had been accustomed. More
over, they were persuaded that the drinking of
water would be followed by terrible diseases.
Those who returned from the settlement to Eng
land made a great point of the fact that the water
was "not wholsome", to which Bradford re
plied : "If they mean not so wholsome as a good
beere and wine in London (which they so dearly
loved), we will not dispute with them; but els
for water, its as good as any in the world (for
ought we knowe), and it is wholsome enough to
us that can be contente therwith."
The big difficulty still remained : that of making
profit for the Adventurers and at the same time
earning enough to supply the colonists' own
needs. So, since it was now clear that they
could spend six days a week in the employ of
the merchants only at the grave risk of starva
tion — inasmuch as no regular supplies of food
were to be looked for from England — it was
determined to abandon the work in common and
to begin an entirely new system.
As much land was thereupon allotted to each

118 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
man and his family as he could profitably use.
From this he was to retain the entire proceeds,
but on the other hand he was to be entirely
responsible for his own support. From the spring
of 1623 an immediate improvement in economic
conditions was noted. Everybody who had
worked hard before worked harder now, and
those who had not worked at all before began
to do their share. It is interesting in a day
when the idea of communism is making a strong
appeal to many people in America that an experi
ment in communism should have been tried three
hundred years ago in this country and abandoned
as impracticable.
One of the most graphic descriptions ^ that we
have from the pen of an outsider of early life in
Plymouth has been supplied by Isaak de Rasieres,
secretary of the governing body of the Dutch
settlement at Manhattan, who, in the autumn
of 1627, made a visit to Plymouth and wrote
back to Director Samuel Blommaert of his com
pany in Holland so full a description of Plymouth-
as-he-saw-it that it seems worth while to repro
duce it here practically in its entirety. He
records :
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,^ at a small river where those
' The ori^nal was found in the Royal Library at the Hague. A transla
tion is printed in the New York Historical Collections, vol. II, new series.
" Agawam Point, near the head of Buzzard's Bay.

IN THE NEW WORLD 119
of Patucxet [the Indian name for New Plymouth]
have a house of hewn oak planks called Aptucxet,'^
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 [wampum] in Sloup's Bay ^
and thereabouts, 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 selling them
fifty fathoms of sewan, because the seeking after sewan
by them is prejudicial to us, inasmuch as they would
by so doing discover 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 Aptucxet the English can come in six hours,
through the woods, passing severall little rivulets of
fresh water to New Plymouth, the principal place in
the country Pawtuxet, so called in their "octroye"^
from His Majesty in England. New Plymouth lies
in a large bay to the north of Cape Cod, or Mallabaer,
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 bank ^ about twenty paces
broad, whereon the sea breaks violently, with an
easterly and northeasterly wind. On the north side
' Manomet, now corrupted to Monument.
^ East entrance to Narragansett Bay.
'Octroi (Latin auctoritas, authority) originally meant any ordinance
authorized by a sovereign.
* Plymouth Beach.

120 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
there lies a small island,' where one must run close
along in order to come before the town; then the
ships run behind that bank ^ 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 ^ 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 square 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
' Saquish. ' The beach. ^ Town Brook.

IN THE NEW WORLD 121
they draw out the fish with baskets, each according
to the land he cultivates, and carry them to it, de
positing 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, such is the nature of the soil.
New Plymouth lies on the slope of a hill, stretching
east toward the sea-coast, with a broad street about a
cannon-shot of eight hundred feet long ' leading down
the hill, with a crossing ^ in the middle, northward to
the rivulet and southward to the land.^ 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 [steenstucken] *
are moynted, so as to flank along the streets.
Their farms are not so good as ours, because they
are more stony ^ and consequently not so suitable
for the plough. They apportion their land according
as each has means to contribute to the Eighteen
Thousand Guilders which they have promised to
those who had sent them out; whereby they had
their freedom without rendering 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.
' This distance is 1155 feet. ^ I.e., "a street crossing."
' The actual bearings are just the reverse.
* Little cannon. ^ He probably meant gravelly.

122 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
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 ' for the trade in skins among the savages ;
they reckon one bushel of maize against one pound of
beaver'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 each 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 neighborhood . . . 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.
One great service which De Rasieres did for
the Colonists, a service which strengthened their
already-established friendly relations with the
Indians, was that he taught them the use of
wampum (or sewan), as money. The impression
has gone out that these wampum beads were
mere gewgaws of no more value than so many
pebbles picked up on the shore, but this is not
' The Kennebec region.

IN THE NEW WORLD 123
true. They had no intrinsic value like gold and
silver and copper and iron; but each bead on
the string represented a certain amount of labor,
and this labor gave it worth. Wampum indeed
became a real currency. Made for the most
part of the shells of the round clam, which had
to be as definitely manufactured as our silver
or gold coins of to-day have to be, it is interesting
to find the process of making it thus described :
"The shell was broken into small pieces which
clipped to a somewhat regular form were then
drilled, ground to a rounded shape and finally
polished." The Dutch had already learned how
to make very beautiful wampum, and the Pil
grims bought fifty pounds worth of it from De
Rasieres. (Three of the purple beads which were
twice the value of the white ones were equivalent
to a penny.)
Having a medium of exchange with which to
traffic with the natives was a great advantage in
the business dealings of the settlers. With their
new currency, their fresh reorganization, their
definite knowledge of just what they had to do,
and with the fund of valuable experience which
they had accumulated during the seven years
already spent in the wilderness, they were now
able to face life with a good heart; and they
never again were quite so near starvation as in
the first black years which Pory, for publicity
purposes, viewed through rose-colored glasses.
By 1646, in spite of enormous handicaps and

124 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
difficulties, they had paid all their obligations
to their English backers !
Their main source of income now was no longer
fur trading with the Indians, but the exportation
of lumber and cattle raising. In the Charity,
which landed in Plymouth in March, 1624, there
arrived a bull and three heifers, which Bradford
records as "the first beginning of any cattle of
that kind in the land." These newcomers to
the settlement were placed under the care of a
keeper within the palisade and soon grew to be
"as fatt as need be." The following year four
black heifers were added to the herd. These
animals loomed so large in early Plymouth his
tory that three of them are embalmed in Brad
ford's pages as Raghorn, the Smooth-horned
Heifer, and the Blind Heifer. Nothing is more
interesting in the subsequent history of the
Colony, indeed, than the way in which poultry,
cattle, and "the cattle division" recur as im
portant factors in the life of the day. For soon
there were lambs, and swine and goats as well
as a fairly plentiful number of chickens. On
January 30, 1628 (N. S.), Edward Winslow sold
his family's six-thirteen-interest-in-the-red-cow to
Captain Standish for five pounds, ten shillings
in corn. The same day Pierce sold his share
and Clarke's to Standish for two ewe lambs,
thus giving us the fiirst intimation that there
were any sheep in Plymouth.
The Colony was now prospering steadily, and

IN THE NEW WORLD 125
it continued to prosper. Naturally census figures
of these early days are not to be obtained. But
when, in 1643, the four colonies of Massachusetts,
Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven formed
a Confederation called "the unity of Colonies
of New England" for the purpose of cooperation
in Indian affairs and in matters of war", we know
from the number of soldiers who were apportioned
according to population that there were twenty-
three thousand five hundred white people in the
four colonies altogether, some twenty-three hun
dred of whom had been born in England. At
this time New England had twelve thousand
neat cattle, three thousand sheep, a thousand
acres of orchards and gardens, and fifteen thou
sand acres under general tillage. Things were
definitely looking up at Plymouth, and the Pil
grims never saw really hard times again from
economic causes.
The thing of greatest value in early Plymouth
was of course land. Actual ownership in this
was impossible at first because the title was vested
in the Adventurers until 1629, and then until
1640 in Bradford. It finally reached the whole
body of freemen as a corporation, — though not
as individuals, — ^in 1640. Previous to this year
the vast majority of people did not own land,
but possessed instead temporary rights of oc
cupancy, which had been assigned to them by
the Governor and assistants and then, as the
towns were organized, by the town authorities.

126 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
It would almost go without saying that the allot
ment of land speedily became the most important
event of the Pilgrim year. It had far-reaching
value, too, as a means of making Plymouth un
attractive to those whom the Pilgrims desired
not to have among them.
The leaders controlled this land and distributed
it as seemed to them best. To the group of from
eight to fifteen among them whom they regarded
as most worthy to be thus rewarded, they allotted
the best house lots, the best meadows for hay,
and the most desirable fishing rights. To a
second group which contained the remainder
of the church members, other good and on the
whole desirable grants were made. Potential
church members, godly and discreet persons,
called Inhabitants, who could be trusted to
pursue agriculture as a calling under such re
strictions as the leaders deemed necessary, were
also given land. Below all these, however, were
a fourth group — the unprivileged — those who
were not considered as possible church members,
or citizens, who received no land, had no right
to cut hay on the Town Meadows, and were
obliged to work as directed. These included all
temporary residents of the Colony, called So
journers, people on probation pending a decision
by the leaders as to their desirability for Colony
residence, and the bond servants, servants, ap
prentices, minor children, and slaves.^
' The allusion here is to a few IadJ3-ns, mpatly captives taken in war.

IN THE NEW WORLD 127
The Inhabitants who were permitted to till
the soil might graduate into the Freeman class;
or one of the utterly unprivileged might become
an Inhabitant at the discretion of the leaders.
This was where the matter of the land allotment
came in. A worthy man would be given an allot
ment promptly, but those regarded as undesirable
were passed over when the allotment was made
and so automatically were made to understand
that they were non grata at Plymouth.
In that none of the modern methods of accumu
lating great wealth were at this period established
at Plymouth — nothing approaching "industry"
in the twentieth-century sense of the word — no
one acquired much wealth. Wills of the period
make this very plain. But the Pilgrims did
succeed in paying off their indebtedness and in
accumulating besides what would have ranked
in England at the time as a comfortable estate
for the farmer or artisan class. Miles Standish,
for instance, who had landed without property
in 1620, as a paid employee of the merchants,
and in 1631 migrated to Duxbury with very
little in his possession except one cow, died in
1656 worth one hundred and forty pounds in
land and buildings and £358 7 shillings in per
sonal property. His will sheds not a little light
on the life of the period, and is also of considerable
historic interest. It reads as follows :
The last will and testament of Capt. Miles Standish
Gent, exhibited before the Court held at Plymouth,

128 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the 4th of May, 1657, on the oath of Capt. James
Cudworth and ordered to bee registered as followeth :
Given under my hand this March the 7th, 1655,
Witnesseth these Presents that I Myles Standish
Senr. of Duxburrow being in pfect memory yet de-
seased in my body, and knowing the fraile estate of
man in his best estate I do make this to be my last
will and testament in manner and form following :
1. My Will is that out of my whole estate my
funerall charges to beetaken out & my body to bee-
buried in decent manner and if I die at Duxburrow
my body to be laid as near as conveniently may bee
to my two dear Daughters Lora Standish my daughter
and Mary Standish my daughter in law.
2. My will is that out of the remaining pte of my
whole estate that all my just and lawful debts which
I now owe or at the day of my death may owe bee
paied. 3. Out of what remains according to the order of
this Gov'ment : my will is that my dear and loveing
wife Barbara Standish shall have the third pte.
4. I have given to my son Josias Standish upon
his marriage one young horse five sheep and two
heffors which I must upon that contract of marriage
make forty pounds yett not knowing whether the
estate will bear it at present; my will is that the
resedue remaine in the whole stocke and that every
one of my four sons viz Allexander Standish Myles
Standish Josias Standish and Charles Standish may
have forty pounds apeece if not that they may have
proportionable to ye remaining pte bee it more or less.
5. My will is that my eldest son Allexander shall
have a double share in land.

SAMPLER NOW IN PILGRIM HALL. PLYMOUTH. WROUGHT BY MIl.t>
STANDISH'S DAUGHTER
It reads: "Lorea Standi.sh i.s my name.
Lord, guide my hart that I may doe thy wi .
Also fill my hands with such convenient skill.
As mav conduce to virtue void of shame;
And I will give the glory to thy name.

IN THE NEW WORLD 129
6. My will is that soelong as they live single that
the whole be in ptenership betwixt them.
7. I doe ordaine and make my dearly beloved wife
Barbara Standish Allexander Standish Myles Standish
and Josias Standish joint Executors of this my last
will & testament.
8. I doe by this my will make and appoint my
loving friends Mr. Timothy Hatherley and Capt.
James Cudworth supervissors of this my last will
and that they will be pleased to doe the office of chris
tian love to be healpful to my poor wife and children
by their christian counsell and advisse and if any
difference should arise which I hope will not, my will
is that my said supervissors shall determine the same,
and that they see that my poor wife shall have as
comfortable maintenance as my poor state will beare
the whole time of her life which if you my loveing
friends please to doe though neither they nor I shall
be able to recompenc, I doe not doubt but the Lord
will; By me Miles Standish further my will is that Marcye
Robinson whom I tenderly love for her grandfather's
sacke shall have three pounds in something to goe for
ward for her two years after my decease which my will
is my overseers shall see performed.
Further my will is that my servant John Irish Junr
have forty shillings more than his covenant which will
appear upon the Towne Book alwaies provided that
he continew till the time he covenanted be expired
in the service of my executors or of any of them with
their joint concert. By me
March 7 1655. Myles Standish.

130 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
9. I give unto my son and heire apparent Allexander
Standish all my lands as heire apparrent by lawful
decent in Ormstick Borsconge Wrightington Maudsley
Newburrow Crawston and in the Isle of Man and
given to mee as right heire by lawful decent but surrep
titiously detained from me my Great Grandfather
being a 2cond or younger brother from the house of
Standish of Standish. By mee
March 7 1655. Myles Standish.
Witnessed by mee — James Cudworth.^
The Will of Doctor Samuel Fuller, the Colony
physician, a much longer document,^ is likewise
interesting as showing how a professional man
was able, even under the untoward conditions of
colonization on a bleak New England shore, to
make himself economically comfortable.^
WYNSLOW GOVNr.
New Plymouth
1633. A true Coppy of the last will & Testm of
Samuell ffuUer the elder as it was proved
in publick Court the 28th of Oct in the
ninth yeare of the raigne of our Soveraigne
Lord Charles by the grace of God King of
Engl. Scotl. ffr, & Irel. Defender of the
ffaith &c.
1 Plymouth Colony Records, Book of Wills. Vol. 2, pp. 37, 38.
^ Reprinted by permission from the Mayflower Descendant. Vol. I.
' On the other hand Stephen Hopkins, who owned the chief iim or hotel
of the place, and was always getting into trouble because he broke the laws
of the Colony, left in cash when he died — sixpence.

IN THE NEW WORLD 131
I Samuell ffuller thelder being sicke & weake but by
the mercie of God in perfect memory ordaine this my
last will & Testmt. And first of all I bequeath my
soule to God & my body to the earth untill the resurec-
con Item I doe bequeath the educacon of my children
to my Brother Will Wright & his wife, onely that my
daughter Mercy be & remaine wth goodwife Wallen
so long as she will keepe her at a reasonable charge.
But if it shall please God to recover my wife out of
her weake estate of sicknes then my children to be
with her or disposed by her. Also whereas there is a
childe comitted to my charge called Sarah Converse,
my wife dying as afore I desire my Brother Wright
may have the bringing up of her. And if he refuse
then I commend her to my loving neighbour & brother
in Christ Thomas Prence desiring that whosoever of
them receive her pforme the duty of a step ffather
unto her & bring her up in the ffeare of God as their
owne wch was a charge laid upon me pr her sick ffather
when he freely bestowed her upon me & wch I require
of them. Item whereas Eliz. Cowles was committed
to my educacon by her ffather & Mother still living
at Charles Towne, my will is that she be conveniently
apprelled & returne to her father or mother or either
of them. And for George ffoster being placed with
me upon the same termes by his prents still living at
Sagos my will is that he be restored to his Mother
likewise. Item I give unto Samuell my son my howse
& lands at the Smeltriver to him & his heires for ever.
Item [worn] will is that my howse & garden at towne
be sold & all my moveables there & at the Smeltriver
(except my Cattle) togeather wth the prnt Croppe of
Corne there standing by my Overseers hereafter to

132 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
be menconed, except such as they shall thinke meet
in the prnt educacon of my two children Samuell &
Mercy my debts being first pd out of them, the over
plus to be disposed of towards the encrease of my stock
of Cattle for their good at the discretion of my over
seers. Item I give two Acres of land that fell unto
me by lott on the So wth side the Towne ad joyning to
the Acres of mr Isaack Allerton to Samuell my son.
Also two other Acres of land wch were given me by
Edward Bircher scituate & being at Strawberry hill
if mr Roger Williams refuse to accept of them as
formerly he hath done. Also one othr Acre bt mr
Heeks his Acres neer the Reed pond. All wch I give
to the said Samuell & his heires for ever. It. my will
is that my Cozen Samuell goe freely away wth his
Stock of Cattle & Swine wthout any further recconing
wch swine are the halfe of six sowes Six Hogges one
boare & fowr shotes Also one Cow & one heyfer. Item
my will is that not onely the other halfe afore menconed
but allso all other mine owne propr stock of Swine be
sold wth other my moveables for the use before ex
pressed my best hogg wch I would have killed this
winter for the prnt comfort of my children. It.
whereas I have disposed of my children to my Brother
Will Wright and Priscilla his wife my will is that in
case my wife die he enter upon my house & land at
the Smelt River, & also my cattle not disposed on
together with my two servts Thomas Symons & Robt
Cowles for the remainder of their several termes to
be employed for the good of my children he being
allowed for their charg vizt. my children what my
Overseers shall thinke meet. But if in case my said
Brother Will Wright or Priscilla his wife die then my

IN THE NEW WORLD 133
said children Samuell & Mercy together wth the said
joynt charge committed to the said Will & Priscilla
be void except my Overseers or the survivors of them
shall think meet. To whos [worn] godly care in such
case I leave them to be disposed of elsewhere as the
Law shall direct them. By cattle not disposed on to
be employed for the good of my children I meane three
Cowes & two steere calves Six old ewes & two ewe
lambs two old wethers & three wether lambs together
with such overplus upon the sale of my goods before
expressed as my Overseers shall add heereunto. It. I
give out of this stock of Cattle the first Cow calfe that
my Browne Cow shall have to the Church of God at
Plymouth to be employed by the Deacon or Deacons
of the said Church for the good of the said Church
at the oversight of the Ruling Elders. Item I give
to my sister Alice Bradford twelve shillings to buy
her a paire of gloves. Item whatsoever is due unto
me from Capt. Standish I give unto his Children. It.
that a pr of gloves of 5sh be bestowed on mr John
Wynthrop Govr of the Massachusetts. It. I give
unto my Brother Wright aforesaid one cloath suit
not yet fully finished lying in my trunk at Towne
wch I give notwthstanding my wife survive. It.
whereas Capt John Endecott oweth me two pownds
of Beaver I give it to his sonne. It is my will that
when my children come to age of discretion that my
Overseers make a full valuacon of that Stock of Cattle
& the increase thereof, & that it be equally divided
between my children. And if any die in the mean
time the whole to go to the survivor or survivors. It.
my will is that they be ruled by my Overseers in
marriage. Also I would have them enjoy that smale

134 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
porcon the Lord shall give them when my Overseers
thinke them to be of fit discretion & not at any set
time or appointmt of yeares. It. whereas my will is
that my Overseers shall let out that stock of Cattle
wch shall be bought wth the Overplus of my goods
to halves to such as shall be as well carefuU as honest
men. My will is that my brother Wright have the
refusall of them. It. I give unto John Jenny & John
Wynslow each of them a paire of gloves of five shillings.
It. I give unto Mrs Heecks the full sum of twenty
shillings. It. I give to old mr William Brewster my
best hat & band wch I h[worn] never wore. Item
my will is that if my children die that then my stock
be thus distributed, ffirst that what care or paines
or charge hath been by any about my children be
fully recompensed. Next at the discretion of the
Overseers I thus bequeath the rest viz so as it may
be redowned to the Governing Elder or Elders of this
Church at Plymouth aforesaid & towards the helping
of such psons as are members of the same & are [il
legible] as my Overseers shall thinke meet. It. I give
to Rebecca Prence 2sh 5d to buy her a paire of gloves.
It. my will is that in case my sonne Samuell & other
my children die before such time as they are fitt to
enter upon my land for inheritance that then my
kinsman Sam. ffuller now in the howse wth me enjoy
wtsoever lands I am now possessed of except my dwell
ing howse at town or whatsoever shall be due to me
or them. It. I give to him my Rufflet Cloake & my
stuffe sute I now weare It. I institute my son Samuell
my Executor, and because he is young & tender I
enjoyne him to be wholly ordered by Edw Wynslow
mr Wil Bradford & mr Tho. Prence whom I make his

IN THE NEW WORLD 135
Overseers & the Overseers of this my last will & Testmt.
so often menconed before in the same. And for their
paines I give to each of them twenty shillings apeece.
It. I give to Mercy my daughter one Bible wth a black
Cover wth Bezaes notes. It. I give all the rest of my
bookes to my sonne Samuell wch I desire my Brother
Wright Will safely preserve for him. It my will is
that when my daughter Mercy is fitt to goe to scole
that mrs Heecks may teach her as well as my sonne.
It. whatsoever mr Roger Williams is indebted to me
upon my booke for phisick I freely give him. Last
of all whereas my wife is sicke and weake I have dis
posed of my children to others my will is that if she
recover that she have the educacon of them & that
the other gifts & legacies I have given may be pformed.
And if in case any of my Overseers or all of them (3)
die before my children be judged by them of age of
discretion then my desire is they will before such time
when they dispose of their owne affaires depute some
other of the Church to pforme this duty of care & love
towards my children, wch I allow and binde my chil
dren to obedience to them as before. In witnes that
this is my last will & Test I have set to my hand &
scale the 30th of July Anno 1633. Samuell ffuller
Memorand that whereas the
widow Ring committed the
Oversight of her sonne An
drew to me at her death,
my will is that mr Tho
Prence one of my Overseers
take the charge of him &
see that he be brought up

136 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
in the ffeare of the Lord & See that he sustaine no
wrong by any. Witness heerunto Robt Heeks
John Wynslow
See his Inventory, Fol. 22. {This line is in a different
hand.) A note of such debts as Sam ffuller
acknowledged upon his death bed, at
the making of the foresaid will.
I owe to the Acco Company in the Massachusets
six or ten shillings if ffr Johnson have not pd it.
It. I owe mr John Winthrop one hogsh of Corne
for lines I bought of him but doubt whether pd or
not. If he demand it, pay it.
It. I owe him for a Sow of leade except X sh wch
I have pd as appeareth pr receipt.
It. whereas Henry Wood demands an old debt
due at Leyden I desire that wtsoever he demand as
due debt be pd by my overseers he dealing faithfully.
It. whereas I have an herball belonging to Joh.
Chew of Plymouth in old Engl. I desire when the price
is known he may be pd.
The allusion in this will of Doctor Fuller's to
gloves for his sister, for Rebecca Prence, and for
certain public functionaries, indicates that in
some particulars at any rate funerals at Plymouth
were getting to be impressive occasions. In the
Bay Colony mourning rings as well as gloves,
for the mourners and pallbearers, played an im
portant part. I find no reference in early Plym-

IN THE NEW WORLD 137
outh wills to such use of rings. Nor do I find
anything which leads me to believe that it was
the custom here to present the person in charge
of the funeral with a fine scarf of white linen
which he afterwards made into a shirt and wore
as a memorial to the deceased. In other words,
Plymouth had by no means come to the point
where it "enjoyed its funerals" as the Bay Colony
early came to do, — and as Sir Walter Scott says
his father always did.

CHAPTER VIII
HOW THEY MET AND OVERCAME THE INDIANS
Some one has suggested that if the American
of the twentieth century is able in no other way
to keep clear in his mind the distinction between
the Pilgrims and the Puritans, he can do so by
recalling the old joke that when the Puritans
came over they fell on their knees, — while the
Pilgrims fell on the aborigines. This is not a
very good joke, and it is exceedingly misleading as
history. For as a matter of fact the Pilgrims
were at all times scrupulously honest and kindly
in their relations with the Indians. They could
strike hard when they had to ; and that they occa
sionally had to we shall clearly see. But Robert
Cushman, who (in 1622) printed one of the early
documents ^ concerning the Pilgrim republic, testi
fied categorically concerning the justice and be
nevolence with which the Colony at the beginning
treated the natives.
Governor Josiah Winslow, in 1676, declared in
his report to the Federal Commissioners: "I
think I can clearly say that before these present
'¦ " Reasons and Considerations touching the Lawfulness of Removing out
of England into the Parts of America."

MEETING THE INDIANS 139
troubles broke out [King Philip's War], 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 . . . and if 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 by showing them over much favor."
The practice of the settlers was indeed to follow
literally the instructions given by the first Gov
ernor of the New England Company to Governor
Endicott in 1629 : "If any of the Salvages 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."
It is curious, as one reads ^ the accounts of the
shore expeditions made by the Pilgrims during
their very first days in New England, to see how
long it was before they actually encountered any
Indians at all. In their first exploring trip when
they went ashore at Provincetown (Wednesday,
November 15-25), and wearing their cumbrous
^ Chiefly in "Mourt's Relation."

140 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
armor, tramped up and down in search of the best
possible place to make a settlement, the only
Indians whom they saw were five men accompanied
by a dog, who at sight of them took themselves
off promptly into the woods. For about ten
miles the Pilgrims trailed these savages ; and when
night fell and found them far from the place at
which they had come ashore, they were obliged
to camp without having yet overtaken them.
Next morning they followed the track of the
Indians around the head of a long creek but still
discovered neither the savages nor their houses.
What they did discover, however, was a wonderful
spring. And here in Truro they first partook
of New England's fresh water. "We ... sat
us down and drunk our first New England water
with as much delight as ever we drunk drink in
all our lives." Then they marched south to the
shore, built a fire as a signal of safety to the ship,
and continued their journey. Bucks and par
tridges, wild geese and ducks they came upon in
this first exploration, — but no Indians.
Ten days later, a second exploring party was
organized — still with the Indians in mind —
consisting this time of thirty -four men, ten of whom
were sailors. Part of the group was to go along
the shore in the shallop, part to be taken to the
land by the long boat and to travel on foot. But
a terrible storm sprang up, the shallop could not
keep the water and had to harbor almost at once
for the night, and though the land party went

MEETING THE INDIANS 141
on some six or seven miles, the weather was so
bleak that many "tooke the originall of their
death here ... it blowed and did snow all that
day and night, and froze with all." The next
day broke fine and all went aboard the shallop
and sailed to Pamet River, a creek they had
formerly noted. There the men landed, marching
along the river for four or five miles till night over
took them. There was great excitement when,
on the third day, this party found decided traces
of Indians not far from their camp in a canoe, a
bottle of oil, and several heaps of corn and beans.
They came also on a grave in which were the
skeletons of a man and a child embalmed in a
fine red powder and surrounded by bowls and
trays and dishes and trinkets. Other evidences
of previous inhabitants were found in the form
of two houses built of young sapling trees bent,
and with both ends stuck into the ground. These
were covered almost entirely with thick mats
with a wide hole at the top left for a chimney.
Inside were finer and newer mats and cooking
utensils, including earthen pots, an English pail
or bucket and baskets of every kind. But again
the Pilgrims were forced to return to the Mayflower
without having met any Indians. In their absence
on shore an event of great importance had hap
pened on the ship. A son had been born ^ to
' This interesting occurrence, the birth of the first English child to draw
breath in New England, had Provincetown for its background, of course.
For the Pilgrims were still anchored near that point, not having yet decided
where they should make a permanent settlement.

142 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
Mr. and Mrs. White, to whom was given the
appropriate name of Peregrine.
An advantageous harbor was thought to lie
near Manomet which was discernible on the
western horizon, and it was now decided that a
new expedition should follow the shore and see
what there offered in the way of a safe and promis
ing settlement. So with this objective a third
exploring expedition set out.
Now it was that the Pilgrims had their first
encounter with the Indians. They had coasted
along for six or seven leagues without yet coming
to either river or creek when they saw a sandy
stretch of land jutting out and decided to sail for
it. They were tremendously excited to discover
on this shore, busy over some black object, ten
or twelve Indians, — ¦ who ran away as the boat
approached ! Landing for the night, the Pilgrims
barricaded themselves and prepared for what
ever might befall. Towards midnight they were
roused by horrible noises which they took to be
howls of wolves, but as soon as day broke, the
outcries became so clear that there was no mistak
ing them.
Soon the Indians were upon them with their
arrows ! (Note that the savages conducted the
offensive.) The Englishmen were unprepared
when the attack actually came. Most of them
had carried their armor and guns down to the
water's edge and were making ready for sailing.
Only Standish, Bradford, and a couple more were

MEETING THE INDIANS 143
able to defend the encampment. But this they
did effectively, and in a few minutes the Indians
were driven off. Yet not until after the chief
had stood well forward under a tree and deliber
ately shot at the Pilgrim leaders with his arrows.
And not until the Pilgrims had, quite as deliber
ately, aimed at the chief and after three misses
hit the tree above his head. "Whereupon," we
read, "he gave a great 'shrike' and made off as
fast as he could." No one was injured ; but the
First Encounter, as the Pilgrims named this brush
with the savages, was now a fact of history.
Later they discovered that the attacking party
belonged to the Nauset Tribe, from which Thomas
Hunt had kidnapped his slaves,^ and that it was
this wicked treatment which explained the hos
tility the Indians displayed to the new band of
white men.
All day, after this thrilling interlude of warfare
with "the aborigines", the Pilgrim explorers
sailed along the coast without discovering either
a harbor or a creek. In the afternoon snow and
rain and high waves rocked their little boat most
dangerously. They broke a rudder, put on so
much sail that they split their mast in three
pieces and were all but wrecked on the rocks.
Finally, they came under the lee of a small island
' Hunt was master of one of the ships in Captain John Smith's 1614
voyage of exploration. An unprincipled scoundrel, he tried first to rob
Smith of his plans and leave him on a desert island to starve; then he
kidnapped a. party of Indians and took them to Spain, where he sold them
into slavery.

144 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
(Clark's Island) and there, utterly exhausted
with fatigue, spent that night and the two suc
ceeding days, one of which was Sunday,
We shall come back to their subsequent activ
ities as they sounded Plymouth Harbor, landed
on Plymouth Rock, and set up civilized life in the
New World. But our present concern is with
their further dealing with the Indians. What of
that? One day, about the middle of March, there
came walking down the principal street of the
Plymouth settlement a solitary Indian who ad
vanced boldly and called out in English to them,
"Welcome!" Their visitor was entirely naked
except for a leathern girdle, and he carried only
a bow and two arrows. He walked straight up to
the common house, quite as if he were a regular
visitor, and started to enter. When they stopped
him, he explained in broken English that he did
not belong in that region but was a sachem of
Monhegan, the island off the Maine coast between
the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, and that he had
learned his English from Englishmen there engaged
in fishing. He proved that he was telling the
truth by giving the names of most of the captains
who fished on the Maine coast. He added that
he had come 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, he said, but it took him five
days to go by land. He proceeded to describe

MEETING THE INDIANS 145
the native tribes far and near, their sachems and
their strength, and he told them that his own
name was Samoset.
A sharp wind arising, the Pilgrims offered their
guest the protection of a horseman's coat which he
accepted with gratitude. Then he asked for
beer and they took him to dinner, serving him
with butter and cheese, something which they
called pudding — could it have been a species of
the famous Yorkshire pudding ? — and duck.
None of this surprised him at all ; he was ap
parently quite used to English fare and liked it.
After dinner he proceeded to tell them a great
deal about the Indians of the district, particularly
about the tribe of their own neighborhood, which
had died in a plague four years ago. The Indian
name of the region thereabouts was Patexet, it
appears, a name meaning "little bay" or "little
falls." The Indians living nearest to this place
now were Massasoit's tribe, numbering about
sixty warriors.
So Samoset talked on and, night coming down
ere he had shown any inclination to leave, his
hosts began to wonder how they should most
safely entertain him. At first they thought to
lodge him aboard the Mayflower, but when they
found they could not get the shallop across the
flats to the big ship, still anchored in the bay,
they quartered him with Stephen Hopkins, watch
ing him the while with care. The next day
(Saturday) they sent him happily off with a knife,

146 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
a bracelet, and a ring, he declaring that he would
return in a little while with beaver, — a kind of
fur then unknown to the English.
Two weeks later, on Sunday as luck would have
it, Samoset called again, accompanied this time
by five tall savages. Again the Pilgrims proffered
liberal entertainment which the Indians sought
to repay by an exhibition of dancing and singing,
thus embarrassing not a little their Sabbath-
observing hosts. Samoset's comrades were far
better apparelled than he had been on his first
visit. Each had a deerskin hung on his shoulders
and wore long hose of dressed deerskin. Their
hair was cut short in front, but fell as far as the
shoulders behind. 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 wildcat's skin, which seemed to be the Indian
leader's badge of authority, much as the modern
white man is distinguished by an epaulet. The
chief of the party on this occasion carried a pouch
of tobacco, from which he occasionally smoked,
or gave some for smoking to the others. The
English called this "drinking" tobacco by reason
of the deep inhalations by which the smoke was
drawn into the lungs.
Samoset's third visit fell on a fine spring day.
The Pilgrims were assembled to transact business
important to the Colony, when again they were
interrupted by this attentive caller. He had in
his wake one who was destined to become an

MEETING THE INDIANS 147
invaluable friend of the Colony. This was Tis-
quantum, as Winslow calls him ; Squanto, accord
ing to Bradford's writings. Squanto was the
only surviving native of Patexet. He had been
carried to England by Captain Thomas Hunt in
1614 and so had escaped the plague. In England
he had found a home for three years with Gorges
and afterwards with John Slaney, of London, mer
chant and treasurer of the Newfoundland Com
pany. Then he was sent back to Newfoundland,
from which place Captain Dermer took him again
to England, bringing him back with him on the
famous voyage of 1619 and 1620, when the two
touched Plymouth. On this occasion Dermer
and Tisquanto had traveled inland as far as
Middleborough and had a friendly interview
with Massasoit and his brother, but had found
these people so hostile, by reason of Hunt's wicked
ness, that they would have slain the captain but
for Squanto's intervention. The two Indians
brought the startling news, on this spring morning
of 1621, that Massasoit, the sachem of the tribes
of Pokanoket, was now on his way with his warriors
to pay a ceremonial visit ! Naturally this intelli
gence created a great stir in the settlement. We
can imagine there was some bustling to and fro
as the Pilgrims prepared for their first formal
meeting with the natives.
In about an hour Massasoit, followed by a train
of sixty men, appeared on Watson's Hill. Some
hesitation ensued on both sides, because, while

148 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the colonists were not willing that their governor
should venture among the savages, the savages
were no more desirous of letting their chief visit
an armed village. Finally the dilemma was
solved by Squanto's bringing from the Grand
Sachem a request that a messenger come over and
confer with him, Edward Winslow was chosen
for this important mission and, armed with a
pair of knives and a chain with a jewel on it, to
present to Massasoit, and with a knife and a
jewel to hang in his ear for the chief's brother,
Quadequina, he made his way up the hill. He
carried also some provisions. With great im-
pressiveness he greeted Massasoit in the name of
King James and desired him to come and speak
with the Governor, which, after some hesitation
and the placing of hostages on both sides, the chief
consented to do. Winslow was left behind, as
Massasoit, accompanied by twenty warriors with
out their bows and arrows, started for the village.
To meet them Captain Standish and Master
Allerton, with six musketeers, repaired to the
passage over Town Brook. When the chief crossed
the brook the Pilgrim guard saluted him gravely.
The two leaders took their places one on each side
of him and conducted him with great ceremony
to the street where, in a house not yet quite
finished, a "green rugge" and three or four cushions
had been placed to receive him. Having partaken
of a hearty meal, Massasoit concluded the following
Treaty :

THE TOWX BROOK, PLYMOUTH
Over this tirook Edward Winslow passed as a hostage to the Indians ivhen the first Peace with King Alassasoit was being
negotiated.

O •;
a >.-
?^ -

MEETING THE INDIANS 149
1. That neither he, nor any of us, should do hurt
to any of our people.
2. And if any of his did hurt to any of ours; he
should send the offender (to us) that we might punish
him. 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 any of ours did any harm to any of
his, we should 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 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.
7. Lastly, that doing this, King James would esteem
of him as his friend and ally.
This treaty, made in all sincerity by both
parties, is one of the most picturesque incidents
in early American history. The king, sitting
upon his cushions with a chain of white bone
beads about his neck, a bag of tobacco hanging
down behind, and a knife suspended from a string
resting on his bosom, must have been a great sight.
His head and face were oiled so that "bee looked
greasily" and the chronicler tells us that as a
result of the strong drink served to him, Massasoit
"sweat all the while after." His followers had
their faces painted black, red, yellow, or white;

150 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
some wore skins and some were entirely naked.
The representatives of the Pilgrims, on the other
hand, with Governor John Carver at their head,
though firm and resolute of soul were rather piti
fully haggard and emaciated of body as a result
of their hard experiences of the winter. It would
not have been hard for the Indians to gain the
upper hand just at this time.
When the business of the conference was over,
the Governor escorted Massasoit back to the
brook, where they embraced and took a courteous
farewell. The Pilgrims had taken the precaution
to retain seven of the Indians as hostages for
Winslow's safe return and now, when Quadequina,
the king's brother, came across the rivulet with
his bodyguard, Winslow still remained behind as
security. A fine-looking, tall young man, who
bore himself modestly, Quadequina accepted the
hospitality of the place with much appreciation,
though he was obviously greatly frightened by the
muskets, which, at his request, were laid away.
When he departed, two of his men wished to
remain for the night, but it was thought best not
to allow this. Winslow was then released, as were
also the native hostages.
Samoset and Tisquantum spent the night with
their white friends who kept a sharp lookout, we
may be sure, inasmuch as Massasoit's men with
their families were encamped in the woods only half
a mile away. This was a wise precaution to take,
though the Indians were undoubtedly thoroughly

MEETING THE INDIANS 151
friendly. Plans had already been made, indeed,
for them to come in a few days to plant corn south
of the brook by Watson's HUl and spend the
summer near their new allies. The next day
Standish and Allerton visited the king at his
camp and were entertained with a few groundnuts
and some tobacco. Then Massasoit and his
company went their way.
Voltaire, commenting on William Penn's treaty
with the Indians, says : "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 in Plymouth
a treaty was made, long before Penn was born,
which was ratified by no oath ; nor was it broken
during the lifetime of any of the contracting parties.
Massasoit ruled for some forty years after this
event, outliving Carver, Bradford, Winslow,
Brewster, Standish, and Allerton. And he had
been many years in his grave before the compact
was violated by his younger son.
Not only did the Indians keep to the letter of
this treaty, but they showed themselves con
sistently friendly. When the spring came, Squanto
helped the Pilgrims set corn and instructed them
how to manure the ground with fish, taught them
how to tread out eels with their hands and feet,
and so make the best of the fish which came in
abundance up the Town Brook; proved himself,
indeed, an invaluable associate for many years.
Samoset disappears at this point from Plymouth

152 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
history. Carver was reelected governor just at
this time, and his first Indian visitor presumably
returned to his own tribe near what is now Pema-
quid Point, Bristol, Maine. We may believe
that he often visited his white friends but that
they found no occasion to make formal mention
of the fact. With Massasoit, to whom he had
introduced them, Winslow in particular had sub
sequent relations of quite embarrassing intimacy.
Winslow's introduction to home life among the
Indians came when, as a means of continuing the
pleasant relations established with Massasoit by
the League of Peace and Friendship, he and
Stephen Hopkins, accompanied by Squanto, were
sent to make a visit to the chief. As gifts, they
carried a "Horse-man's coat of red cotton, laced
with a slight lace" ; and from the Governor they
bore "a copper chayne, desiring if any Messenger
should come from him to us, we might know him
by bringing it with him and barken and give credite
to his Message accordingly. Also requesting him
that such as have skins should bring them to us
and that he would hinder the multitude from
oppressing us." Not with skins but with their
presence ; too many Indians had latterly been
coming to Plymouth for visits. Winslow writes :
With these presents and message, we set forward
the 10th June (1621) about 9 a clocke in the Morning,
our guide resolving that night to rest at Namaschet
(near Middleborough) a Town under Massasoit and
conceived by us to bee very neere because the inhabit-

MEETING THE INDIANS 153
ants flocked so thicke upon every slight occasion
amongst us : but wee found it to bee some fifteene
English myles. On the way we found some ten or
twelve men and women and children, which had
pestered us till wee were wearie of them, perceiving that
(as the manner of them all is) where victuall is easiliest
to be got, there they live, especially in the Summer :
by reason whereof our Bay affording many Lobsters
they resought every spring tide thither : & now returned
with us to Namaschet.
Thither we came about 3 aclocke after noone the
Inhabitants entertaining us with joy in the best manner
they could giving us a kinde of bread called by them
maizium [rudely made from Indian corn] and the spaune
of Shads which then they got in abundance, insomuch
as they gave us spoones to eat them, with these they
boyled musty acorns but of the Shads we eate heartily.
After this they desired one of our men to shoote at a
Crow, complaining what damage they sustained in their
corne by them, who shooting some four score off and
killing they much admired it.
Pushing on and lodging in the open fields,
Winslow and his companion made their way
through the woods of "Oake Walnutt-tree, Firre,
Beech and exceeding great Chesstnut-trees " — to
Massasoit's own town — only to find that the
chief was not at home. But he was speedily
sent for, the visitors' guns shot off, at request, as
a means of salutation, and
Then he tooke us into his house and set us down by
him, where having delivered our foresayd Message
and Presents and having put the Coat on his backe

154 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
and the Chayne about his necke he was not a little
proud to behold himselfe and his men also to see their
king so bravely attyred.
For answer to our message he told us we were wel
come and he would gladly continue tht Peace and
Friendship which was between him & us : and for his
men they should no more pester us as they had done.
Also that he . . . would help us with corne for feed
according to our request.
Following which Massasoit made a redundant
speech full of self -commendation which "being
ended he lighted tobacco for us and fell to dis
coursing of England & of the King's majestic,
marvelling that he would live without a wife.^
Also he talked of the French-men, bidding us
not to suffer them to come to Narrohiganset, for
it was King James, his Countrey and he also
was King James his man. Late it grew but
victuals he offered none ; for indeed he had not any,
being he came so newly home. So we desired to
go to rest : he layd us on the bed with himselfe and
his wife, they at one end and we at the other, it
being onely plancks layd a foot from the ground
and a thin Mat upon them. Two more of his
chiefemen for want of roome pressed by and
upon us; so that we were worse weary of our
lodging then of our journey."
The next day there were sports and shooting
but still nothing to eat until about one o'clock,
when Massasoit brought in two fishes which he
' James I of England had become a widower more than a year before.

MEETING THE INDIANS 155
had shot and which, when boiled, were served to
the forty people in the group. Winslow comments :
This meal only we had in two nights and a day,
and had not one of us bought [meaning, probably,
brought] a partridge we had taken our journey fasting :
Very importunate he was to have us stay with them
longer : But wee desired to keepe the Sabboth at
home : And feared we should either be light-headed
for want of sleepe, for what with bad lodging, the
Savages' barbarous singing (for they used to sing
themselves asleepe) lice and flees within doores and
Muskeetoes without, wee could hardly sleepe all
the time of our being there; we much fearing that if
wee should stay any longer we should not be able to
recover home for want of strength. So that on a
Fryday morning before sun-rising we took our leave
and departed, Massasoit being both grieved and
ashamed that he could no better entertain us.
This experience of Indian hospitality was typical.
Massasoit and his followers came really to love the
Pilgrims, and though there was plotting on the
part of minor chiefs, there was nothing really
unpleasant nor so important that the Pilgrims
needed to take cognizance of it until 1623. And
of this the Plymouth men were warned in time,
— thanks to another visit made by Winslow to
the friendly chief. This in response to the news
that Massasoit was probably dead !
Hoping still to be in time to be of service to the
old Indian, Winslow again set out for Middle
borough and by traveling rapidly was able soon

156 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
to reach the sick man's bedside. There he found
the powahs in the midst of their incantations,^
making, as he says, "such a hellish noise as it
distempered us that were well, and therefore un
like to ease him that was sick." Meanwhile six
or eight women chafed the chief's arms, legs
and thighs "to keep heat in him." He had not
slept, it developed, 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 Win-
snow?""^ or "Art thou Winslow?" Winslow
replied "Ahhe!" or "Yes!" The patient then
feebly muttered, "Malta neen wonckanet namen,
Winsnow!" which was to say, "I shall never
see thee again, O Winslow!" Winslow then
delivered, through Hobomok, a message of sym
pathy from Bradford and explained that he had
brought from the Governor "such things as he
thought most likely to do him good in this ex
tremity." Then producing "a confection of many
1 "The priest comes close to the sick person and performs many strange
actions about him, and threatens and conjures out the sickness. The poor
people commonly die under their hands ; for alas, they administer nothing,
but howl and roar and hoUew over them and begin the song to the rest of
the people, who all join hke a choir in prayer to their gods for them." —
Roger Williams.
^ 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 '1' nor "r," yet it is the most proper dialect of
other places."

MEETING THE INDIANS 157
comfortable conserves", Winslow placed some
of it upon the point of his knife, and with great
trouble succeeded in getting it between the sick
man's teeth. When the confection had been
dissolved in the patient's mouth, it was readily
swallowed. This greatly astonished and delighted
the spectators, for nothing had been before swal
lowed for two days.
Winslow then contrived to clean Massasoit's
mouth, "which was exceedingly furred," and
scrape his swollen tongue, removing an abundance
of foul matter. Next the patient, 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 describing the
case and asking Doctor 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 un
familiar 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 ; ^ he then added a handful of straw-
' 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.

158 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
berry leaves and the sliced roots of a sassafras
bush.^ When the 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, the patient's
sight became perfect, and a period of restful sleep
soon followed. The worst of Massasoit's bad
attack of indigestion and auto-intoxication was
over. When the chief awoke next morning he per
suaded Winslow to go to the different wigwams
and treat several of his "good folk" who were sick.
This labor, though very offensive to Winslow's
senses — he being " unaccustomed with such poi
sonous savours " as pervaded the Indian's homes —
was none the less performed with cheerfulness
and Christian kindliness. Ultimately it proved
very valuable to the people at Plymouth.
In the afternoon, Massasoit desiring some wild
fowl, Winslow succeeded 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 willful patient would
not take the broth in this form and in consequence,
when he had eaten very heartily of the dish, was
again sick. In his straining he brought on the
1 Winslow tells all this story, embellishing it with full details in his
Good News From New England to be found in what is known as "Mourt's
Relation."

MEETING THE INDIANS 159
dreaded nosebleed, which could not be checked
for four hours. The case for some time was
desperate. But after a while the chief had a
sleep nearly eight hours long, and when he awoke,
Winslow proceeded to bathe his face and beard.
Then the patient thrust his nose into the basin
of water, and drawing up a large quantity, ejected
it so violently that his nosebleed returned once
more ! At this sight the Indians gave up their
renewed hopes and utterly despaired; but Win-
slow, 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 com
paratively well, and was able to sit up and converse.
The supplies from Plymouth arrived about
twenty-four hours after the departure of the
runners, but the medicines were no longer needed,
and the chickens Massasoit wisely decided to keep
for breeding. 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.
The day before Winslow's coming, a visiting
sachem had assured Massasoit that the English
were no friends to him and especially 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

160 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
are my friends and love me; and while I live I
will never forget this kindness they have showed
me." Massasoit almost immediately had an oppor
tunity to demonstrate his gratitude. As the
messengers were on the point of returning to
Plymouth, the chief confided to Hobomok that a
plot was even then on foot which would have been
fatal to the Colony and which he [Hobomok]
was to reveal to Winslow on his way home.
Thomas Weston, who, back in Leyden, had
shown a desire to have a hand in the Pilgrims'
venture, in June, 1622, equipped and dispatched
to New England two ships, the Charity and the
Swan, which brought as passengers some fifty or
sixty men, all bent on making speedy profits.
They landed at Plymouth and were there enter
tained until they could make a settlement. After
badly abusing the hospitality offered them, they
had chosen (1622) Wessagusset (Weymouth) for
their plantation. Here they had lived improvi-
dently, treated the Indians badly, and in all
respects undermined the friendliness which had
been established by the Plymouth men with the
natives who had signed the Indian Compact.
Once they seriously contemplated making a raid
on the Indians' stores, but had delayed taking
this extreme step because Governor Bradford in
Town Meeting had advised against it.
Meanwhile, however, things had gone from bad
to worse at Wessagusset, and Weston's men.

MEETING THE INDIANS 161
because reduced to a half -naked as well as half-
starved condition, seemed to the Indians of
Neponset an easy mark for extermination. The
secret confided to Hobomok by Massasoit, and
which he was to reveal to Winslow, was to the
effect that these Neponset Indians had now re
solved on a general massacre, both of the settlers
of Wessagusset and those of Plymouth. Against
the latter they had no cause of complaint, but
because they realized that they would resent
with all possible expedition the ruthless murder
of their fellow countrymen, it had been decided
that the safest thing would be to put them out of
the way also. With this intent the Neponset
Indians had entered into a league with the seven
tribes south and west of Plymouth and had
endeavored to urge Massasoit even in his sickness
to join them. It was in this way he had become
aware of the existence of the plot. The chief's
advice was that the Plymouth settlers should strike
the first blow by seizing and executing the main
conspirators among the Neponsets.
Here was a situation indeed ! As it was now
the time for holding the Court or annual Town
Meeting for the election of officers, Bradford
laid the matter before the whole body of the people
in their chief assembly, directly Winslow brought
the news of the conspiracy. The ensuing debate
was anxious. The colonists were unwilling to
shed the blood of those whose good they sought,
but from the very decided words of Massasoit,

162 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
no alternative seemed left to them. It was,
therefore, agreed that Standish, taking with him a
sufficient force, should start as if on a trading
expedition, warn the settlers at Wessagusset of
their imminent danger, and then strike home
at the chief conspirators among the Indians.
On arriving at Weston's colony Standish found
to his dismay that the Swan was in the harbor
without a soul on board, that the settlers were
scattered in different directions, and that, enjoying
their fancied security, the colonists were still allow
ing the Indians to come in and out of their dwellings
as they pleased. His first step was to order all the
men home and bid them stay there on pain of
death. The following day being stormy, nothing
could be done, but it did not take an Indian spy,
who came among them under pretense of selling
furs, long to sense the course affairs were taking,
and he went back to report that the plot had been
discovered. Daily, now, signs of insult and defiance oc
curred. But still the Captain made no move
until one day he came upon Wituwamet and
Pecksuot, two of the chief aggressors, together
in a room. Then having men also on his side,
Standish gave the word. A desperate hand-to-
hand encounter followed : Wituwamet, Pecksuot,
and another were killed, and the whole conspiracy
nipped in the bud. When the matter came to
further issue in the open, the next day, Standish
triumphed by reason of having secured the strate-

MEETING THE INDIANS 163
gic advantage of a rising hill, for which both sides
were striving. The encounter was altogether to
Plymouth's advantage. But Standish was careful
not to allow the least discourtesy toward the native
women and children, and the affair tended to
promote rather than decrease the esteem of the
natives for the men of Plymouth. The best of the
whole matter was that Weston's men decided
that they had enough of colonization in Massa
chusetts and, putting all their movable property
on board the Swan, sailed off to join the fishing
vessels at Monhegan Island.
It is unpleasant to be obliged to add that
Standish bore the head of Wituwamet back with
him to Plymouth. When Robinson at Leyden
heard of this, he wrote to the Governor, lamenting
that the blood of any Indian should have been shed
before one had been converted. But if killing
in self-defense is ever justifiable, Standish was
justified on this occasion. One of the Boston
Bay Indians, who always was friendly to the
English, testified that the Neponsets had only
been biding their time before an attack that would
have destroyed all the white men thereabouts.
Subsequent events, too, proved that the severity
of Standish had done its work. The tribes who
had joined with the conspirators, seeing their
punishment, were filled with fear, and for many
years peace reigned between the Indians and the
colonists in and around Plymouth.
The treaty with Massasoit was renewed in 1639

164 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
and again in 1662. While this chief lived it was
never broken. His successor, Philip, broke it in
1675, when other influences came into play ; but
for fifty years it was observed to the letter.
In 1637, to be sure, a real "Indian War" took
place in another and more western New England
State, the aggressors being the Pequots, one of the
fiercest and most numerous tribes in the country,
and one which had long shown a hostile spirit
towards the English. This followed a succession of
murders which had aroused the anger and pro
voked the retaliation of the peaceably disposed
settlers. The Pequots sought to league together
the Narragansetts, the Mohegans and other power
ful nations against the European colonists and
by a predatory and murderous system of warfare
to drive them into the sea. Through the intrepid
interference of Roger Williams, the alliance was
prevented. The Pequots were, therefore, left
single-handed to carry out their project. They
numbered at least seven hundred warriors, whereas
the colonists of Connecticut could with difficulty
muster two hundred fighting men. Still, repeated
acts of bloodshed and aggression could no longer
be borne with impunity, and an expedition was
planned. Immediate war was decreed. A whole
night was passed in earnest prayer in which the
departing patriots took part. The little army
consisted of eighty men under the command of one
John Mason, who received the benediction of the
venerable pastor before he started.

MEETING THE INDIANS 165
It is characteristic of the age that, when once
these men of peace made up their minds to wage
war, when once they felt that "the Lord", the
God of Battles, was with them, they went to their
task with a stern resolve to smite their enemies hip
and thigh. No temporizing work was this they
entered on; no "patched-up peace" were they
prepared to make. But even then they rested
over the Sabbath. Nor life nor death was suf
fered to disturb the sanctity of that day. The
Narragansetts, responding to Roger Williams'
pleas, finally retired from any active share in
the undertaking, but the Pequots, elated with
hopes of certain triumph, sang their blood-curdling
war songs in the very ears of their invaders. They
were ensconced in a fortified place, from whence
their bows and arrows, never yet drawn vainly,
were to mow down the ranks of the rash aggressors.
Two hours before dawn the attack was made.
We can well imagine how these men who had
braved the mysterious sea and borne unheard-of
sacrifices for liberty's sake would buckle up their
energies to this deadly combat. They knew that
if they failed now, savage vengeance would await
their helpless families. And of course they did
not fail. Bradford says the horrible suggestion
of burning camps was due to the natives. We
hope so, for there were women and children here
as well as warriors. In any case a firebrand was
thrown, the English formed a chain around the
place, and in a few minutes the whole settlement

166 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
was ablaze. Thus embarrassed and beset, the
Indians were shot down easily ; none were spared.
In an hour six hundred of them had perished, and
only two Englishmen had fallen. When morning
dawned three hundred more warriors came con
fidently up from the other fort. Aghast at the
scene of carnage which met their astonished eyes,
they tore their hair and beat the ground ; they,
too, were swept down. Before many days were
over, not a man, woman or child of that tribe
was left behind ! The Pequots as a nation existed
no more.
Yet after all, the Indians were not always fighting
their white neighbors. It is interesting therefore
to read about their everyday habits and customs,
as recorded at this period of Plymouth's history,
by Thomas Lechford, an English lawyer who, after
four years in the New World, wrote back in 1641
the following informing, if rather uninspired, pages
concerning native life as he had observed it.
They are of body tall, proper and straight; they
goe naked, saving about their middle, somewhat to
cover shame. Seldom they are abroad in extremity of
winter, but keep in their wigwams, till necessity drives
them forth; and then they wrap themselves in skins,
or some of our English coorse cloth : and for the Winter
they have boots, or a kind of laced tawed-in leather
stocking. They are naturally proud, and idle, given
much to singing, dancing and playes ; they are governed
by Sachems, Kings ; and Saggamores, petie Lords ; by
an absolute tyrannic. Their women are of comely

MEETING THE INDIANS 167
feature, industrious, and doe most of the labour in
planting, and carrying of burdens; their husbands
hold them in great slavery, yet never knowing other,
it is the lesse grievous to them. They say. Englishmen
much foole, for spoiling good working creatures, mean
ing women : and when they see any of our English
women sewing with their needles, or working coifes
or such things, they will cry out, Lazie squaesi but they
are much the kinder to their wives by the example of
the English. Their children they will not part with,
upon any terms, to be taught. They are of complexion
swarthy and tawny ; their children are born white, but
they bedawbe them with oyle and colors, presently.
They have all black hair, that I saw.
In times of mourning, they paint their faces with
black lead, black, all about the eye-brows, and part of
their cheeks. In time of rejoycing, they paint red, with
a kind of vermilion. They cut their haire of divers
formes, according to their Nation or people, so that
you may know a people by their cut; and ever they
have a long lock on one side of their heads, and weare
feathers of Peacocks, and such like, and red cloath or
ribbands at their locks ; beads of wampompeag about
their necks, and a girdle of the same, wrought with
blew and white wampom, after the manner of chequer
work, two fingers broad, about their loynes : Some of
their chiefe men goe so, and pendants of wampom,
and such toyes in their ears. And their women, some
of the chiefe, have faire bracelets, and chaines of wam
pom. Men and women, of them, come confidently
among the English. Since the Pequid War, they are
kept in very good subjection, and held to strict points
of Justice, so that the English may travail safely among

168 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
them. But the French in the East and the Dutch in
the South, sell them guns, powder and shot. They
have Powahes or Priests, which are Witches, and a kind
of Chirurgions, but some of them notwithstanding are
faine to be beholding to the English Chirurgions. They
will have their times of powaheing, which they will, of
late, have called Prayers, according to the English
word. The Powahe labours himselfe in his incanta
tions, to extreme sweating and wearinesse, even to
extacie. The Powahes cannot work their witchcraft
if any of the English be by ; neither can any of their
incantations lay hold on, or doe any harm to the
English, as I have been credibly informed. The Powahe
is next the King or Sachem, and commonly when he
dyes, the Powahe marry es the Squa Sachem, that is,
the queerie.
They have marriages among them ; they have many
wives ; they say, they commit much filthinesse among
themselves. But for every marriage, the Saggamore
hath a fadome of wampom, which is about seven or
eight shillings value. Some of them will diligently
attend to any thing they can understand by any of our
Religion, and are very willing to teach their language to
any English. They live much the better and peaceably
for the English; and themselves know it, or at least
their Sachems, and Saggamores know so much, for
before they did nothing but spoile and destroy one
another. They live in wigwams, or houses made of
mats like little hutts, the fire in the midst of the house.
They cut down a tree with axes and hatchets, bought
of the English, Dutch and French, & bring in the butt-
end into the wigwam, upon the hearth, and so burne
it by degrees. They live upon parched corne, (of late

MEETING THE INDIANS 160
they grind at our English mills). Venison, Bevers,
Otters, Oysters, Clammes, Lobsters, and other fish,
Ground-Nuts, Akornes, they boyle all together in a
kettle. Their riches are their wampom, bolles, trayes,
kettles, and spoones, bever, furres, and canoos. He is
a Sachem, whose wife hath her cleane spoons in a chest
for some chief English men, when they come on guest
wise to the wigwam. They lye upon a mat, with a
stone, or a piece of wood under their heads ; they will
give the best entertainment they can make to any
English comming amongst them.
They will not taste sweet things, nor alter their
habit willingly; onely are they taken with tobacco,
wine, and strong waters; and I have scene some of
them in English or French cloathes. Their ordinary
weapons are bowes and arrowes, and long staves, or
half pykes, with pieces of swords, daggers, or knives in
the ends of them ! They have Captaines, and are very
good at a short mark, and nimble of foot to run away.
Their manner of fighting is, most commonly, all in one
fyle. They are many in number, and worship Kitan,
their good god, or Hobbamocco, their evill god; but
more feare Hobbamocco, because he doth them most
harme. Some of their kings names are Canonicus,
Meantinomy, Owshameqin, Cushameqin, Webbacowitts,
and Squa Sachem, his wife : she is the Queene, and he
is Powahe, and King, in the right of his wife. Among
some of these Nations, their policie is to have two
Kings at a time ; but, I thinke, of one family ; the one
aged for counsell, the other younger for action. Their
Kings succeed by inheritance.^
' "Plaine dealing or Newes from New-England."

170 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
For thirty -eight years after the summary treat
ment accorded the Pequots, the intercourse be
tween the English and the Indians was, on the
surface at any rate, extremely friendly. But with
the lapse of time the dread inspired by the white
man's success on this occasion began to fade away ;
and as it became possible for the Indians themselves
to use muskets instead of bows and arrows, their
fear of the English grew less, until at length hate
and resentment burst forth in what we have come
to know as King Philip's War.
Some recent writers have declared that the
economic and ecclesiastical results of this war
give it its only title to a prominent place in Plym
outh annals. This would seem to be the fact, for
Philip was merely the degenerate son of the good
King Massasoit; and, like many such sons, he
made one desperate effort to bring himself and
his followers once more conspicuously into a place
of power. His wrongs were chiefly fancied ones,
but he longed to stand at the head of the New Eng
land tribes and to lead his race to a place where
they could recover the ground that they had lost.
Of course it was a fact that the English were
increasing in power and the Indians steadily
diminishing. That this was the Indians' fault did
not change the fact. It was simply a case of the
educated man possessed of industry, foresight, and
increasing resources pitted against the apathy
and avidness of the savage. Probably Philip
felt that he had a real cause to hate the Pilgrims.

MEETING THE INDIANS 171
When Massasoit died in 1660, he left two sons,
Wamsuppa and Matacom, whom the English
nicknamed Alexander and Philip. Alexander suc
ceeded to his father's position as head of the tribe ;
but his reign was brief and that for a reason to
which many writers have attributed the cause of
Philip's hatred.
Rumors had come to Plymouth that Alexander
was plotting mischief, and he was accordingly
summoned to appear before the General Court of
the Colony and explain himself. He appears to
have gone reluctantly, but he succeeded in satis
fying the magistrate that he was innocent of any
evil designs. Unfortunately, he had scarcely got
clear of English territory, on his way back, when
he was seized by a violent fever and died. Pos
sibly he caught cold at Plymouth ; perhaps he
drank too deeply of "fire water" by way of cel
ebrating his visit. In any case he died and the
onus of his death was placed by the Indians on the
Pilgrims. For thirteen years Philip plotted before the
crisis came. During those years he had been Chief
Sachem of his tribe, and though the Plymouth
people occasionally heard rumors of an unfriendly
disposition on his part, nothing was done about the
matter until in April, 1671, a meeting was arranged
between the men of Plymouth and three Boston
men to see what steps should be taken to keep the
chief in order. This meeting was held at Taunton
and resulted in a treaty in which the king promised

172 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
that his tribe should surrender all their firearms.
Seventy muskets were actually given up, though
not, we may be sure, without a great deal of
reluctance. The following summer the Plymouth
men were hourly expectant of attack from the
Indians, and in September, Philip and five of
his under-sachems were again told, at Plymouth,
that it behooved them to look sharp and keep the
peace. They agreed to pay a yearly tribute of
five wolves' heads and to do no active fighting
without the permission of the authorities.
Then, for three years more, things went on
quietly enough until, late in 1674, Sausamon, a
convert from a Massachusetts tribe, who could
speak and write good English by reason of having
studied at Harvard College, came to Plymouth
and informed Governor Winslow that Philip was
without question engaged in a conspiracy that
boded no good to the colonists. Sausamon had
been connected with Philip as a kind of messenger
or secretary, and undoubtedly knew whereof he
spoke, so the magistrates summoned Philip again
and warned him that his arms would surely be
seized if they heard any more about such plots.
Philip loudly proclaimed that he was utterly inno
cent ; but a few days later Sausamon suffered a
violent death from drowning in the ice at Asso-
wamsett Pond near Middleborough.
Then the storm broke. Having filled his fol
lowers full of war lust, the king opened hostilities
by an attack on Swansea, a village of about forty

MEETING THE INDIANS 173
houses not far from Philip's headquarters at
Mount Hope. On Sunday, June 20th, while
everybody was at church, a group of Indians
stole into the town and set fire to two houses.
When messengers, who had been hurried from
Plymouth and from Boston to demand that the
offenders be given over to them under penalty of
instant war, approached Swansea, they were
chilled with horror to find the roads strewn with
the mangled corpses of men, women, and children.
This was in the last days of June, 1675. Soon it
was perfectly evident that a well-thought-out
movement was under way, first to overwhelm and
annihilate the Pilgrims, and then to carry destruc
tion to all the English settlements in New England.
But Philip had an enormous job on his hands.
His own immediate tribe had dwindled to not much
more than three hundred all told, while the whites
in New England had increased to more than fifty
thousand. The confederated colonies of Massa
chusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut now num
bered over forty thousand, against which the
Indians could not possibly have mustered more
than twelve thousand natives at most.
Yet the war ran on for more than a year and a
half ; massacre followed massacre, and town after
town went up in flames. The opening attack
on Swansea was quickly succeeded by attacks on
Dartmouth, Middleborough, and Taunton. At
the end of six weeks the scene of war shifted from
the bounds of Plymouth to the territory of Massa-

174 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
chusetts, where the same horrors were reenacted.
Then since the primary object of the struggle —
to exterminate the Plymouth people — had not
yet been attained, the Pilgrim settlement was
again made a center of attack. William Clarke's
garrison house, located within three miles of the
Rock, was set upon and burned while the men
were at church, and eleven women and children,
including Mrs. Clarke, were killed ; after which the
Indians took what plunder they desired, set fire
to the building, and fled.
As the first time that War actually touched the
Plymouth settlement, this event is of distinct
interest. Captain Michael Pierce of Scituate
led a little company against the aggressive enemy,
but the foe tremendously outnumbered him and
his men, when he met them at what is now Paw
tucket, and he and his company were utterly wiped
out. Scituate, Rehoboth, Dartmouth, Bridge-
water, and Middleborough shared in these horrors,
as the war progressed. This was a black time all
along the border line which separated the English
and the Indians, for, as one writer says, "men took
their lives in their hands when they went forth to
their daily tasks ; and wives and mothers left
alone with their babes knew not what bereave
ments the night might bring them."
But the end was in sight. After a year and a
half of struggle,^ the Indians found their forces
' Considerable contemporary comment on this war as it progressed may
be gleaned from the Hinckley papers — ^ Plymouth, 1672-1692 — to be found
in the Massachusetts Historical Society's Collection, 4th series, V.

NEW-ENqiAND

Wfll yd >!^lh ,lfa!f,nn-th-Jiintflx Sal

:i  ¦ T^.." . ^

THE FIRST JIAP EXGRAVED IX THIS COUXTRY" (lt)77)
Note irine //i//,s, a mistake for White Hills. A figure joined to the name ol a town imlicales thai the plaee siillerccl
trom attacks of the Indians.

o
aHPO

MEETING THE INDIANS 175
so reduced that when the direction of the Pilgrims'
fighters was turned over to Captain Benjamin
Church, a Plymouth man, who has been called
"the Miles Standish of the second generation",
Philip was soon tracked to his lair and shot.
Save for skulking Indians in swamps, petty skir
mishes, and the like, the war was at an end. But its
cost was great. Thirteen towns had been de
stroyed, six hundred dwelling houses burned, some
six hundred men — many of them foremost citizens
of their several communities — killed, and private
property to the extent of about a hundred and
fifty thousand pounds destroyed. All of which
resulted in a debt which, distributed equally,
meant four pounds almost if not quite, for every
man, woman, and child left in the jurisdiction of
the colony to meet. This was a staggering amount
for Plymouth to assume; but it was eventually
paid to the last penny.
Waging war with the Indians was the exception
not the rule, however, as has been said. Provisions
for peaceful life with these earlier inhabitants of
Plymouth and the surrounding country had also
to be made. The colonists early discovered that,
human nature being what it is, regulations would
be necessary in order that the Indians should
receive absolutely fair treatment, and they pro
ceeded to make such regulations. In 1643 it was
enacted that it should be "beholden unlawful
and of dangerous consequence and it hath been
our constant custom from our very first beginning

176 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
that no person should purchase, rent or hire any
lands, herbage, wood or timber of the Indians but
by the magistrate's consent.** In order that this
law should be enforced, a fine of five dollars was
imposed for every acre that was purchased, rented,
or hired, and five times the value of the wood and
the timber diverted to the Colony's use. In 1660
it was enacted that this law should be so inter
preted as to prevent any from taking Indian land
as a gift.
Thus every practicable precaution was taken to
protect the rights of the Indians and to prevent
improper and deceptive practices on the part of
individuals. Then, for the peace and safety of the
Colony, all persons were forbidden either to give or
sell arms and the munitions of war to the Indians,
or boats "excepting to such as had been servants
for some years, and in a good measure civilized,
and unless the sale to such should be approved by
the governor and his assistants." In 1652 the
sale of casks to the Indians was prohibited, and in
1656 that of barques, boats, and horses under the
penalty of the value of each tenfold.
To be sure there were also laws not so defensible
as these, such as the ones which undertook (1652)
to prohibit the Indians from working, fishing,
fowling, planting, killing, or carrying burdens on
the Lord's Day. The idea of a law imposing severe
penalties for a violation of the Sabbath upon
people who do not acknowledge the Sabbath's
sanctity does not particularly appeal to one's

MEETING THE INDIANS 177
sense of justice. Yet it is to be noted that such
laws obtain on our statute books at the present
time and are enforced. The Plymouth people put
the laws on, but used a fine discretion about en
forcing them.
A really arrogant law touching the Indians, one
whose only defense is that it was a measure looking
to seK-preservation, dates from 1660 and reads as
follows: "Inasmuch as complaint is made that
many Indians press into divers places of this
jurisdiction whereby some of the plantations begin
to be oppressed by them, they therefore enact
that no strange or foreign Indians shall be per
mitted to come into any places of this jurisdiction,
so as to make their residence there and that notice
be given to the several sagamores to prevent the
same." Laws against selling drink to the Indians, laws
against selling them powder and shot, laws com
pelling them to pay their just debts or work them
out at the rate of 12<i each day in summer and 6d
in winter "with their diet" may also be found.
The selectmen and constables in every town were
authorized also to put out "upon complaint"
young Indians living idly to "some persons as
shall keep them to work and not to abuse them."
Even here the Indian was protected it will be seen.
Occasionally, too, they relaxed the strictness
of their own laws against the Indians. Thus we
find in the Plymouth Colony Records for 1665 :
"Upon the earnest request of Philip, the Indian

178 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
sachem of Pocanacutt, for to have libertie to buy
a horse within our jurisdiction, the Court have
bestowed a horse on him, as judging it meeter
then to give him libertie to buy one; the horse
is that which provided for the trumpeter belonging
to the troop of horses which is spared from the said
service on condition that another bee provided
to bee in his rome." And again
"Notwithstanding the law prohibiting the selling
of horses to Indians, the Court aloweth Keens-
comsett, an Indian att Barnstable, to buy a horse
to bee for his use in husbandry, to bee done by the
advise and direction of Mr. Hinckley, Mr. Gorum,
and Nathaniell Bacon."
But I think it must already have been sufficiently
established that whether the Pilgrims, on landing
at Plymouth, did or did not fall on their knees,
they neither then nor at a later period "fell on
the aborigines."

CHAPTER IX
HOW THEY MADE THEIR LAWS AND TRIED TO LIVE
UP TO THEM
Even before the Pilgrims had landed on the
"stern New England coast", it became apparent
to the most thoughtful among them that, in
emigrating from Holland to America, they were in
a way to achieve independence not only in eccle
siastical affairs but also in temporal matters.
Much of this was a result of the years passed in
Leyden. A consistently congregational Church
government inevitably develops Democracy. And
when Democracy begins to function in the field of
religion, it is pretty sure also to function in the
field of politics. Bancroft insists that the Com
pact signed in the Mayflower was the "birth of
popular constitutional liberty."
The reason why the Mayflower Compact was
necessary becomes quite clear if we remind our
selves that the place where the Pilgrims landed
was a part of the coast not included in the territory
of the Company of Southern Virginia. The grant
from this company with which the emigrants had
furnished themselves was, therefore, valueless.

180 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
Those who had embarked at Southampton were
inclined to take advantage of this, declaring that,
once they were on shore, they would comport
themselves as they pleased in that they were
bound to the expedition by no legal tie. This
was too true to be ignored.
The members of the congregation from Leyden,
on the other hand, had of course signed their
Church Covenant, and so were, as Robinson and
Brewster explained in their request made to the
Virginia Company in 1617, "knite together as a
body in a most stricte and sacred bond and cove-
nan te of the Lord, of the violation Whereof We
make great conscience, and by Virtue Whereof
We hold ourselves straitly tied to all, caring of each
other's Good and of the Whole by every one and
so mutually." Quite naturally it occurred to those
of the Church Covenant to offer to the strangers
who had come with them a contract similar to
their own. A precedent for such an agreement as
the basis of a civil association may be found in the
form by which the old guilds, to which the company
of the Pilgrim Fathers may be compared from a
legal point of view, were wont to bind themselves
together. The guilds were similar voluntary asso
ciations founded, until they received the sanction
of a royal charter, on contract alone. It was
apparently under the direction of Elder Brewster,
who was a man of business as well as a man of
God, that the Mayflower Compact was drawn
up and sigiied without distinction as to heads of

THEIR LAWS

181

families, just as the agreement which united the
"Company of true Christians" had been signed
by every one in the group. The names of common
sailors and of servants are found among the signa
tures ^ which have been preserved.
Bradford printed the text of this Compact in
his "History" without giving the names of the
signatories ; these were furnished by Morton in
his "Memorial", apparently from some list in
Bradford's papers to which he had access. The
Colony proper consisted of thirty-four adult males,
eighteen of whom were accompanied by their
wives, and fourteen by children under twenty-
one years of age, — twenty boys and eight girls.
Besides there were nineteen men servants and
three maid servants, and sailors and craftsmen
hired for temporary service.
Of the thirty -four men who were the nucleus of
the Colony, the great majority were from Leyden,
only four of the number being certainly known
to have first joined at Southampton. It may

' John Carver
William Bradford
Edward Winslow
William Brewster
Isaac Allerton
Myles Standish
John Alden
Samuel Fuller
Christopher Martin
William Mulhns
William White
Richard Warren
John Howland
Stephen Hopkins

Edward Tilley
John Tilley
Francis Cook
Thomas Rogers
Thomas Tinker
John Rigdale
Edward Fuller
John Turner
Francis Eaton
James Chilton
John Crackston
John Billington
Moses Fletcher
John Goodman

Degory Priest
Thomas Williams
Gilbert Winslow
Edmund Margeson
Peter Brown
Richard Britteridge
George Sowle
Richard Clarke
Richard Gardiner
John Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doty
Edward Lister

182 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
also be mentioned in advance that the last sur
viving signer of the far-famed compact was John
Alden, who died in 1686 at the age of eighty-seven,
and that of the passengers, the one who lived
longest was Mary, the daughter of Isaac Allerton,
who died as late as 1699, at the age of ninety.
Just because the Compact had been signed by
practically all the male passengers of the May
flower, the government of the Colony was from the
beginning in the hands of the whole body, a
General Court or Primary Assembly. This body
chose Carver for their first Governor, and on his
death, William Bradford, with Isaac Allerton as
his assistant. It elected, too, a military com
mander. Miles Standish. Besides exercising elec
tive functions, the members of the General Court
decided on the place of settlement and the laying
out of the town. The freemen as a whole were
consulted about dangers of various kinds as they
came up; they it was who sent Standish off on
his notable adventure with the Indians. Later
they were consulted as to the conditions on which
certain newcomers should be admitted to the
Colony ; and they agreed, at the break-up of the
joint-stock system under which the Colony lived
its economic life at first, upon the division of lands
and cattle. It was the whole company, too, which
was summoned to do justice in the case of out
standing offenders.
Naturally as the number of colonists increased
and other freemen were admitted on the approval

THEIR LAWS 183
of those who first signed the Compact, it became
impossible for the General Court to remain a
primary assembly, though it was still the source
of power. Thus it came about that the general
body met as a rule only once a year, and on this
occasion elected officers and framed or repealed
laws. Originally this meeting was held on the
first Tuesday in March, but later, on account of the
severity of spring weather and the difficulties of
travel, the time of convening the General Court
was changed to the first Tuesday in June.*
As the years passed, the tendency was for the
Primary Court to let its powers lapse ; in 1658
voting by proxy was allowed even in the June
Court, and the freemen were not obliged to appear
in person unless something of special importance
made it necessary. Aged freemen as early as
1652 were permitted to send their votes, sealed up,
a presage of the ballot system which came probably
from Holland, where it was used largely in the
elections of the Reformed Church.
Towards the end of the Colony's independent
life the Primary Court did little except elect
officers, all the other business of the Colony being
done by the Governor and his assistants. There
were now seven of these assistants to carry the
heavy work, and they transacted their business
either in their own monthly Courts or in the three
' To be sure other Courts were held in March and October, which were
also called General Courts ; but to them the freemen might send elected dep
uties instead of coming themselves.

184 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
annual General Courts, deputies or committees
from each of the towns joining in the work.
But though the freeman, with this growth of
representation, no longer had the personal share
in the decisions of the Colony which he had exer
cised at the beginning. Democracy did not cease
on that account. The machinery of government,
the legislative and judicial systems, land owning,
finance and military matters, all showed the same
principle of equality, and all were intimately
controlled by the will of the people. To be sure
the conditions of the franchise were strict; for
although freemen were not, as in the Massachusetts
Bay Colony, compelled by law to be church mem
bers, church members would naturally be most
readily approved. Moreover, the limitation of
membership was character and not wealth. Not
until 1671 was the possession of property made a
condition of active citizenship.
If a man were elected to office he could not refuse
to carry its burdens, and few, if any of the offices
had any regular salaries attached to them. The
mechanism of government was appealingly simple.
The chief civil officers of the Colony in early days
were the Governor and his assistants, who acted
as magistrates ; the Treasurer, who managed the
finances, the Constable who saw to the keeping of
the peace, and whose duty it was to collect the
rates ; the Marshall or messenger, who had to
enforce the decisions of the Court.
This last-named functionary had a full-sized

THEIR LAWS 185
job, for not only did he collect the fines but ap
parently he was the executioner as well. Jonathan
Marsh in 1675 drew the line at "puting to death" ;
and the Court agreed to arrange otherwise for this
unpleasant detail of the Marshal's department.
In 1646 a Receiver of Excise was appointed in
each town, and a Town Clerk to keep the registers
of marriage, birth, and burial; in 1658 a Coroner
was appointed, whose office was to be like that of
the coroner in England. All these officials, great
and small, were elected annually at the June
Court. In the matter of legislation, the Colony was
governed, during the first sixteen years of its life,
by the laws of England; but in 1636 a special
committee of men from each township, together
with the Governor and his assistants, drew up
a code more particularly suited to the needs of
Plymouth. This was revised and added to several
times during the century, the special cooperation
of freemen either personally or through committees
being invited in the work. The intent seems to
have been to safeguard in the laws the interests
of all classes of persons, English and Indians alike ;
but local and temporary regulations and moral
restrictions play an increasing part with the
passage of the years, the code showing a tendency
all the while toward the severity of the Jewish
Law. Laws dealing with religious matters became
more frequent too, as the years went on. Whereas
things were so primitive in the beginning that no

186 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
statute book was deemed necessary — an entry
in the Governor's notebook being regarded as
sufficient for the purpose — toward the end of
1623, the Colony Record Book was started.
The first entry in this Record Book, under the
date of December 17, 1623, marks an important
development in criminal procedure. For the first
recorded law of the Colony established trial by
jury. Previous to the year 1636, the Plymouth Colony
may be considered to have been but a voluntary
association, ruled by the majority and not by
fixed laws. It does not appear (except in a very
few instances) that the Pilgrims availed them
selves of their delegated powers, under their
patent, to enact laws until 1633. A few laws
only, and such as were of the most urgent necessity,
were then established, such as declaring every
person within the jurisdiction liable to the per
formance of military duty ; giving the jurisdiction
of the probate of wills and of granting administra
tions to the Governor and assistants ; regulating
fishing and fowling; authorizing constables and
persons trespassed upon to impound cattle taken
in damage feasant. Penalties were directed to be
inflicted on such as fired the woods. Lands of
deceased persons were made liable for their debts
in case of the insufficiency of personal property.
All this while, however, no provision was made
for the support of schools or the clergy. The
attachment of the people, then, insured the main-

THEIR LAWS 187
tenance of the clergy without the coercion of the
law; and no oaths of office were administered or
required. The power of the Church, in effect,
was superior to the civil power, but in terms was
confined to the infliction of censure only. A people
like the members of Robinson's church, of pure
morals, austere manners, and enthusiastic piety,
if confined to a small space, where the conduct
of each would daily fall under the observation of
the pastor, elder, and all such as they had been
taught to venerate and were accustomed to respect,
might be preserved for a time from the commission
of any gross offenses or any desperate crimes.
But as the settlements expanded, as trade in
creased, as strangers came in pursuit of gain with
out any reference to the ordinances of religion —
men who, regardless of their spiritual good, pur
sued their temporal interest — the authority
founded on the dread of censure alone became
impaired. Codes of ethics, or the precepts of
the gospel, could now no longer prevent the occur
rence of disputes, or the existence of wrongs.
Civilians arguing upon the theoretic principles of
government without considering the actual state
of the people have inclined to think the colonists
a trading corporation with confined and limited
powers, not having the authority to enact laws
or to perform any act of sovereignty. They
did, as a matter of fact, exercise sovereign power
during the whole period of their colonial exist
ence; but the essential laws on which their

188 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
rule and government rested may be dated from
1633. No further progress in lawmaking is to be noted
during the next few years, but the time had now
arrived when all perceived the necessity of defining
the limits of the power and of prescribing the
actual duties of the magistrates and of the people ;
of securing civil privileges ; of establishing funda
mental and organic laws, both civil and criminal,
and making provision for their execution ; of
changing the legal condition of the associates by
making them a body politic, ruled by law and not
by opinion ; in a word, of placing the government
on a stable foundation and advancing another stage
in the progress of social life.
On the fifteenth of November, at a Court of
Associates, the following declaration was ordered :
"We, the associates of New Plymouth, coming
hither as freeborn subjects of the State of England,
and endowed with all and singular the privileges
belonging to such, being assembled, do ordain
that no act, imposition, law, or ordinance be made
or imposed upon us at the present or to come, but
such as shall be made and imposed by consent of
the body of the associates, or their representatives
legally assembled, which is according to the liber
ties of the state of England."
This order is of no ordinary character. Whether
the laws of England which preceded this order
were renounced, is equivocal; the authority of
English laws "at present or to come" was re-

THEIR LAWS 189
nounced, and Parliament was denied by the whole
body of the associates the right of legislating for
New Plymouth. This order is the first declaration
of rights if not of independence, and the laws which
followed became absolutely necessary for the pres
ervation of the government.
The courts were now all to be holden at Plym
outh unless otherwise ordered by the Governor
and assistants, who were authorized upon reason
able cause "to keep some courts of assistants
elsewhere." It was enacted that on the first Tuesday of June,
a governor and seven assistants should be chosen
"to rule and govern the plantation within the
limits of this corporation ", and the election was
confined to the freemen. The qualifications re
quired to constitute a freeman were twenty-one
years of age, "sober and peaceable conversation,
orthodox in the fundamentals of religion ", and
a rateable estate of the value of twenty pounds.
All these were prerequisites before any man was
admitted to the oath prescribed to be taken by
freemen.*
' The following oath was prescribed for the freemen at this court :
"You shall be truly loyal to our dread lord King Charles, his heirs and
successors, you shall not do nor speak, devise or advise anything, or things,
act or acts, directly or indirectly by land or water that shall or may tend to
the destruction or overthrow ot the present plantations or township of the
corporation of New Plymouth: neither shall you suffer the same to be
spoken or done, but shall hinder, oppose and discover the same to the gov
ernor and assistants of the said colony for the time being, or some one of
them : you shall faithfully submit unto such good and faithful laws and ordi
nances as either are or shall be made for the ordering and government of the
same, and shall endeavor to advance the good and growth of the several

190 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
It was also enacted that the Governor in due
season, by warrant directed to the several con
stables in the name of his Majesty, should give
notice to the freemen either to make their personal
appearance at the Courts of Election, or to send
their votes by proxy for the choice of officers, and
that all warrants, summons and commands "be
all done, directed, and made in the name of our
sovereign lord the king."
All this time the General Court was the supreme
authority ; and the following laws it made capital
and ordered to be punished with death :
"1. Treason or rebellion against the person of
our sovereign lord the King, the State or Com
monwealth of England, or this corporation.
"2. Wilful murder.
"3. Diabolical conversation, or conversing with
the Devil, by way of witchcraft, conjuration, or
the like.
"4. Wilful or purposed burning of ships or
houses. "5. Rape, and the crimes against nature."
In the enumeration of capital offenses, bur
glary and highway robbery are omitted. Witch
craft is made capital, as it then was in England
and probably throughout Christendom. The be
lief in its existence was a delusion common to all,
townships and plantations within the limits of this corporation by all due
means and courses, all which you promise and swear by the name of the
great God of heaven, and earth, firmly, truly, and faithfully to perform, as
you hope for help from God, who is the god of truth, and punisher of false
hood."

THEIR LAWS 191
and the extreme punishment was warranted by the
general belief. So however deeply we may regret
the ignorance and fanaticism of the age which
cherished such a belief, we cannot with justice
impugn the motives of those who provided this
punishment. In the Plymouth Colony, happily,
the law was a dead letter; or at least no con
victions were made, and no punishment inflicted
by reason of its existence.
The willful burning of ships or houses, without
discriminating between the night and the day, was
made a capital offense for reasons fairly obvious.
The law in modern times changed this; punish
ment has also been relaxed in the case of crimes
against nature, although such were punished
capitally in Massachusetts until 1806.
The Court orders of these early days in Plym
outh throw great light on the social life of the
time, and on the problems of government with
which Bradford and his associates had to cope.
Here we find not only careful provision made that
work necessary to the fortification of the town,
for instance, should be performed in a just and
equitable manner, and that men be provided
with "a sufficient musket & other serviceable
peece for war, with bandelereos & other apurte-
nants with what speede may be " (Plymouth
Colony records, January 2, 1632 and 1633), but
that property rights in hogs, always difficult
animals to control, should be adequately defended.
Hogs indeed run amuck in quite amusing fashion

192 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
through these otherwise serious and often tragic
pages. That there was considerable drunkenness is also
clear, and that "bundling" had already begun to
be practiced (but not winked at, as it was, later,
in other parts of New England) is similarly plain.*
Thus in April, 1633, we find in one day the three
following items :

^t3

1. John Holmes was censured for drunkenness, to
sitt in the stocke, & amerced in twenty shillings fine.
2. John Hows & Jone his wife adjudged to sitt in
the stocke because the said Jone conceived with childe
by him before they were publickely married, though
in the time of contract.
3. John Thorp & Alice his wife likewise adjudged
to sitt in the stocke, & amerced in forty shillings fine,
because his wife conceived with childe before marriage,
but in regard of their prnt poverty, twelve moneths
time given for paymt."
Apparently, too, offenses against purity of life
were punished even when the offenses dated back
to the period before the migration. Thus we find
in 1683 that
Whereas Thomas Boardman liveing incontinently
with Luce, his now wyfe, and did beget her wth child
before they were marryed together, wch upon examina
tion was confessed by them both, the said Thom.
Boardman was censured to be severely whipt, wch was
performed, and to finde sureties for his good behavr;
' See in this connection my "Social Life in Old New England," pp.
201-203.

THEIR LAWS 193
and that he left the child (so unlawfully begotten)
liveing in England, & bringe good testimonie thereof;
and the sd Luce, his wyfe, to be censured when shee is
delivered, as the Bench shall think fitt.
Directly under this entry in the old Court Orders
is the amusing record that "Thomas Hallo well
was committed because he cannot bring forth
where he had a paire of red silk stockings, now
showed in the court, whch afterwards, he con
fessed that he tooke out of a window of a house
in Boston, & was there upon sent to Boston to
answere the fact."
On the following page of the Records we find that
the Thomas Boardman who had left a child behind
in England was further required to bring from
his London ward and parish proof that the child
so left was alive when put out to nurse. This is
but one illustration of the extreme care exercised
that life at Plymouth should not fall below old-
country standards in any respect.
None the less the records show repeated and
gross instances of impurity. One does not have
to look far here for the "original" of Hawthorne's
"Scarlet Letter." On September 3, 1639, we
find that
Mary, the wyfe of Robt. Mendame, of Duxburrow,
for useing dallyance divers tymes with Tinsin, an
Indian, and after committing the act of uncleannesse
with him, as by his own confession by sevall interpters
is made apparent, the Bench doth therefore censure the
said Mary to be whipt at a carte tayle through the

194 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
townes streete, and to weare a badge upon her left
sleeve during her abroad within this gount; and if
shee shalbe found without it abroad, then to be burned
in the face with a hott iron ; and the said Tinsin, the
Indian, to be well whipt with a halter about his neck
at the post, because it arose through the allurement
& inticement of the said Mary, that hee was drawne
thereunto. Xpofer Winter, of Scituate, for committing unclean-
esse with Jane, his wyfe, before marriage, is censured
to be whipt at the post at the govnrs discretion; and
the said Jane, his wyfe, to be whipt at a cart's tayle
wth the said Mary Mendame.
It is further interesting in this connection to
find that in 1641, when Thomas Bray of Yarmouth,
single, and Anne, the wife of Francis Linsford,
confessed to immoral intimacy, they were censured
"in the publike Court," as follows:
Forasmuch as Thomas Bray, of Yarmouth, a single
pson, and Anne, the wyfe of Francis Linceford, have
comitted the act of adultery and uncleanesse, and have
divers tymes layne in one bed together in the absence
of her husband, wch hath been confessed by both pties
in the publike Court, the Court doth censure them as
followeth : that they be both severely whipt imme
diately at the publik post & that they shall weare
whilst they remaine in the Govment two letters, viz,
an AD, for Adulterers, daly upon the outside of their
uppermost garment, in a most emenent place thereof;
and if they shalbe found at any time in any towne or
place wthin the goverment wthout them so worne
upon their uppermost garment as aforesd, that then
the constable of the towne or place shall take them, or

THEIR LAWS 195
either of them, omitting so to wear the said two letters,
and shall forthwth whip them for their negligence,
and shall cause them to be immediately put on againe,
and so worne by them and either of them; and also
that they shalbe both whipt at Yarmouth, publikely,
where the offence was comitted, in such fitt season
as shalbe thought meete by Mr Edmond Freeman &
such others as are authorized for the keepeing of the
Courts in these ptes.
Under Bradford there was no double standard of
morals. The man and the woman were punished
alike for their offenses, — and expected alike to
cherish a high moral code.
Many and repeated whippings for sodomy are
to be found in the records ; for this offense men
sometimes appear to have been put on probation,
too, in the interest of good behavior. But the
very blackest pages in the social history of the
Colony are undoubtedly those given over (in 1642),
to the case of one Granger where, under the items
charged up by John Holmes, Court Messenger,
are to be found some charges for going to Scituate,
for a latch on the prison door, for ten week's
"dyett", and "for executing Granger, and VIII
beasts." This brings us to the horrible offense
which so utterly discouraged Governor Bradford
that several pages were devoted to it in the
"History", as the good man tried to describe
clearly yet in language which should not be too
utterly revolting the crime for which Thomas
Granger was tried and executed, a crime "horrible

196 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
to mention", as the writer says, "but ye truth of
ye historic requires it." The dumb partners of
the youth's impurity were "kild before his face",
according to the Levitican Law, " the catle being
all cast into a great & large pitte that was digged
of purposs for them, and no use made of any
part of them." Thus a mare, a cow, two goats,
five sheep, two calves, and a turkey, according to
Bradford, — were solemnly executed in the interest
of decency and Plymouth's morals. The Gov
ernor's comment on this horrible happening is
well worth our attention.
But it may be demanded how came it to pass that
so many wicked persons and profane people should so
quickly come over into this land, & mixe themselves
amongst them.? seeing it was religious men yt began
ye work, and they came for religions sake. I confess
this may be marvelled at, at least in time to come,
when the reasons thereof should not be knowne ; and
ye more because here was so many hardships and wants
mett withall. I shall therefore endeavor to give some
answer hereunto. And first, according to yt in ye
gospell, it is ever to be remembered, that wher ye Lord
begins to sow good seed, ther ye envious man will
endeavore to sow tares.
2. Men beginning to come over into a wilderness,
in which much labour and servise was to be done about
building and planting &c, such as wanted help in yt
respecte, when they could not have such as they would,
were glad to take such as they could ; and so, many
untoward servants sundry of them proved, that were
thus brought over, both men and woman kind : who.

THEIR LAWS 197
when their times were expired, became families of
themselves, which gave increase hereunto.
3. An other and a maine reason hereof was, that men
finding so many godly disposed persons willing to come
into these parts, some began to make a trade of it,
to tranesport passengers & their goods, and hired ships
for that end ; and then to make up their fraught and
advance their profite, cared not who ye persons were,
so they had money to pay them. And by this means
the cuntrie became pestered with many unworthy
persons, who being come over, crept into one place or
other. 4. Againe the Lord's blessing usually following his
people, as well in outward as spiritual things, (though
afflictions be mixed with all), doe make many to adhear
to ye people of God, as many followed Christ, for ye
loaves sake, John 6. 26. and a mixed multitud came
into ye wildernes with ye people of God out of Eagipte
of old, Exod. 12. 38 ; so allso ther were sente by their
freinds some under hope yt they would be made better ;
others that they might be eased of such burthens, and
they kept from shame at home yt would necessarily
follow their dissolute courses. And thus, by one means
or other, in 20 years time, it is a question whether ye
greater part be not growne ye worser.
One reason why so many crimes of a social
nature are recorded was undoubtedly because the
Pilgrims overdid in government supervision of
private life. There was no single task to which
the community set itself with greater diligence
and enjoyment than that of watching one another.
The truth is, of course, that because there were

198 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
almost no amusements in Plymouth, and only
scanty relief from the hard conditions of pioneer
life, the people were so thrown in upon themselves
as almost inevitably to become backbiting, self-
centered, — and immoral. We find a man being
punished, for instance, for working in his garden
on Sunday ; yet such work might very well have
been encouraged as a necessary relaxation from
the gloom of a Pilgrim Sabbath. Stephen Hop
kins, who kept the inn, was accused in 1637 of
allowing men to drink in his hostelry "on the
Lord's Day before the Meeting be ended", and
allowing servants and others, both before and
after meetings, to drink "more than for ordinary
refreshing." The records show indeed that Hop
kins was rather constantly in trouble with his inn.
Yet a little convivial drinking might not have
been an unmixed evil under such conditions as
obtained in Plymouth.
Inns and the liquid refreshment they dispensed
were, however, an adjunct of organized religion
in early New England, and the intention was to
keep them such. Licenses were given only when
the location of the inn was sufficiently near the
meetinghouse to make it possible for the liquor
and the good fire to be conveniently enjoyed
between the morning and the afternoon services.
The inn here was far from being an institution for
social relaxation as in the Old Country. Social
relaxation, indeed, was conspicuous by its absence
in Plymouth ; just as laws, more or less meticulous

THEIR LAWS 199
and quite consciously repressive, were conspicuous
by their presence.
Yet though it may seem to the reader of to-day
that the penalties imposed upon those who broke
the moral laws of Plymouth were extreme, they
were, as a matter of fact, for that age compara
tively mild. As we have seen in a previous
chapter, England had not developed far above
the savage state in its conception of how to treat
offenders. Another important function of the General Court
was the granting of land. The Court likewise
controlled the finances of the Colony and not
only levied taxes but decided how much should be
expended on each phase of government. Taxa
tion, like military service, had to be borne alike by
the freeman and the mere inhabitant, a very early
law preventing the freeman from taking advantage
of his position as a legislator to secure exemption
from or reduction of his taxes. These taxes were
levied strictly in accordance with what a man was
able to pay; but the very human tendency to
evade taxation must have existed even in these
early days, for, in 1676, the rules for rating various
towns end with this significant sentence: "If
any have not given a true list of his estate, it may
happily be discovered and made manifest by some
of his neighbors." A Gilbertian provision against
the evasion of taxes was to make the constable
personally responsible if he neglected to collect
amounts due. But Plymouth never levied either

200 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
poll tax or an income tax, preferring to add to her
revenue in later years by indirect taxation, the
proceeds of which seem usually to have been
devoted to some special work. Thus timber
boards, planks and tar, oysters and iron, were all
subject to an export duty.
The extreme scarcity of coin in the Colony
makes the financial side of the General Court's
work colorful in retrospect, if difficult at the time.
For taxes, like wages, had to be paid in kind, and
when the treasurer had decided how much taxes
were due, he had the job of collecting the cumber
some and perishable commodities which thus ac
crued. Thus the license fee for fishing at Cape
Cod was collected by a special "water bayley."
It was then appropriated to the support of the
schools. The drift whales cast up upon the coast
not inappropriately helped to defray the expense
of maintaining the ministry.
Most of the money raised was used for defense,
though some of it went in pensions or as rewards
for public service. We early find a record that
Standish was paid for teaching the use of arms in
Plymouth and Duxbury. By degrees the gratui
ties of certain officials became so regular as to
amount to a salary.
One duty of the magistrates was that of per
forming marriages, and by reason of this the
colonists soon got into difficulties, as we shall see,
with the Great Ones back in England.
Each township had its own officials — a con-

THEIR LAWS 201
stable, selectmen, receivers of excise, a clerk to
keep the registers — all elected by its own free
men. Towns might distribute and dispose of their
lands, subject to the approval and occasional inter
ference of Plymouth ; they might make orders for
themselves which were not repugnant to the
general law, but each must possess a book of the
laws of the Colony to "bee read oppenly once
every yeare." They had their magistrates, one
of whom was specially authorized to perform
marriages in the district ; their selectmen were
empowered to judge minor disputes, to enforce
fines, to levy rates and to distrain for nonpayment.
Each town had to provide itself with a place of
defense, and to see that its inhabitants had the
regulation supply of arms and attended the military
trainings. Each was responsible for its own poor ;
for the keeping of its boundaries ; the repair of its
highways, bridges, and fences ; and in later years
each was compelled by law to build a meeting
house at public cost, to enforce church attendance,
to collect the maintenance of ministers, and to
support a school.
Thus the towns of Plymouth Colony possessed
all the elements of self-government and were prac
tically in the position of small republics, just
as the Dutch cities were. The early laws of
Plymouth are chiefly interesting, indeed, for their
adaptation of English and Dutch ideals to New
England conditions. The town meeting was the
scene of the citizen's greatest power, the school

202 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
of his training, but local and central government
were linked by the annual meeting of all freemen,
by the sending of deputies from each town to the
other meetings of the General Court, and by the
right of townships to nominate candidates for the
assistantship, who were voted on by the whole
country. After the Confederation was formed
in 1643, the General Court of the Colony was
linked in its turn with the Government of New
England through the meetings of the Board of
Commissioners. Thus local and central govern
ment alike were in the hands of all who possessed
the franchise.
For more than thirty years Plymouth was
fortunate enough to enjoy all the benefits of popular
rule with very few of its drawbacks. And this
for the reason that, from 1621 until his death in
1657 — with the exception of about five years —
William Bradford, who was a great soul with a
genius for public office, was the executive head of
the Colony. When he died, public spirit declined
in power, and ideals as a dynamic disappeared in
large measure. With the confusion of the duties
of Church and State came a sense of greater
danger from dissent and consequently harsher
judicial decrees. Then the franchise was nar
rowed, and something resembling the sectarian
oligarchy of Massachusetts Bay grew up in this
settlement also.
But Plymouth never put to death for opinion's
sake as the Bay Colony did. When Mary Dyer,

THEIR LAWS 203
the Quaker, found her way to this town, she was
"restored" to her husband in Rhode Island, and
Thomas Greenleaf, who had brought her, was
forced to pay the costs. Her martyr's blood
stains Boston Common, — not Plymouth Rock.

CHAPTER X
how they established "freedom to worship
god"
Scarcely had the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth *
when it was decided that worship should be held
in their "Timber fort both strong and comely
With flat roof and battlements."
To this building every Sunday the men and women
made their way three in a row until they built
their first "meeting house" (in 1648) in the back
of Bradford's garden at the foot of the hill below
the fort. For the most part they were particular
about calling this a meetinghouse, and so I sup
pose must we be. Cotton Mather has defended
the stand they took on this by declaring that he
"found no just ground in Scripture to apply such
a trope as church to a house for public assembly " ;
and he opposed as vigorously the tendency to call
after the name of the congregation who worshipped
in the meetinghouse the meetinghouse in which
' Religious meetings were held in the cabin of the Mayflower probably
throughout the first winter; the first service in Plymouth was held in the
"Common House" in March, 1621.

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 205
they worshipped, as he did the even more insidious
inclination to call the Sabbath Sunday.
The Pilgrims made better progress in setting up
a place to worship than in securing a religious
leader. William Brewster had been appointed
Ruling Elder of the church before they left Hol
land, and during the earlier years of the Plymouth
settlement worship was chiefly conducted under
his ministrations. Some writers assert that Rob
inson was prevented by those in authority in
England from coming over to join his people in
the hope that without their pastor, these Sepa
ratists might fall back into the forms and the
faith of the Established Church. However this
may be, he did not come during the first years;
and when he died in 1625, Brewster, who had been
acting in his stead, continued so to act until 1629,
when Ralph Smith, who had come over that year,
became the first settled minister in Plymouth.
Meanwhile it became quite evident that the
authorities in England were not disposed to re
linquish without a struggle spiritual oversight of
the Cape Cod Colony. Upon a certain Church of
England clergyman, William Morrel by name, were
bestowed general powers of regulation and control
over the religious affairs of the country. But he
was treated in such a brotherly and friendly manner
during the year he spent at Plymouth that instead
of trying to control the Pilgrims in their worship,
he put in his time studying anthropology among
the Indians and accumulating observations on

206 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
natural history ! It was only when he came to go
away that he confided to Bradford the news of his
ecclesiastical commission. Bradford says in this
connection : "He had I know not what power and
authority of superintendency over other churches
granted him and sundry instructions to that end."
With the name, not of Morrel but of Lyford,
another Episcopal clergyman of ostensibly Sepa
ratist sympathies, is tied up the story of the first
real religious difficulties that the Pilgrims encoun
tered. Lyford arrived in the spring of 1624, and,
aided and abetted by John Oldham, really made a
great deal of trouble. Oldham was one of a group
of "particulars " brought over by the Anne in July,
1623. These men had paid their own expenses,
and on this account, perhaps, felt perfectly free to
stir up all the trouble they wanted to in the Colony.
At any rate they had no sooner landed than they
began to sow disagreement among those who were
not members of the Pilgrim Church. When John
Lyford arrived the following spring and fell in
with their game, the colonists found themselves
with a real problem on their hands.
The ship which brought Lyford brought also a
series of complaints made by some returned "par
ticulars." Briefly these were : that there was
much religious controversy in the Colony ; that
family exercises on Sunday were neglected; that
both sacraments were disused ; that the children
were not catechised or even taught to read ; that
many of the "particular" members refused to

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 207
work for the generals ; that the water was not
wholesome; that the ground was barren and
would not bear grass ; that the climate was such
that salt would not preserve fish ; that there was
hardly a fish or wild fowl to be found ; that thieves
abounded and so did wolves and foxes; that the
Dutch were intruding on the trade, and finally,
that the people were much troubled with mos
quitoes ! To this rather miscellaneous assortment
of criticisms, Bradford, when the ship returned
some months later, sent a reply which is note
worthy as a fine mixture of gravity and satire.
From the beginning down, he declared, there had
been no controversy, public or private, on religious
matters ; any neglect of family prayers 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 chil
dren generally were taught in private families, and
the Colony desired at once to begin "common
school" for which a teacher and due support had
been heretofore lacking; all the "particulars" do
work for "generals" — willingly or unwiUingly —
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 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

208 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
would keep ; the matter of fishing 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, with 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 a bite
of a "mosquitoe" were too delicate for founding
colonies. Lyford appears to have been a thoroughgoing
scamp. Apparently the plotting Adventurers had
made him their agent in the belief that by being
"in" on the councils of the Pilgrims and sending
back to them reports which could be used to fur
ther their own purposes, real headway might be
made in undermining the Separatist group and
what they were endeavoring to do. As a first step
toward currying favor, the newcomer offered to
renounce his Episcopal ordination, declaring that
he could consider himself no minister unless he
were reordained by the people of Plymouth.
Elder Brewster promptly set him right in this
matter, assuring him that the Pilgrims had no
desire to separate people from the Church of Eng
land, only from the world, and that they were
willing to leave church enemies to care for them
selves. So it rested. Lyford was not chosen

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 209
pastor, but he preached in turn with Brewster, and
all went on well enough until, after some weeks, as
the Charity was about to go back to England
again, it was noted that the clerical and Oldham
were writing great numbers of letters and having
many talks together which apparently gave them
much amusement. The occasion seemed to Brad
ford to call for the exercise of a judicious censor
ship ; and since Captain William Peirce of the
Charity was an earnest friend of the Colony, this
was easily arranged.
When the Charity set out on its return voyage,
Bradford went with her, towing the shallop in which
to sail back to land. Then the ship's captain put
into his hands letters given to him by Lyford and
Oldham, letters which contained reports that not
only would not have enhanced the repute of the
Pilgrims in England, but which, if brought to the
attention of the Privy Council, might have led to
an investigation with unfortunate results.
It now appeared that a real plot had been
hatched. For when confronted with chapter and
verse concerning his perfidy, Oldham played his
trump card and called upon the people, saying,
"My maisters wher is your hearts? Now show
your courage ; you have oft complained to me so
and so, now is the time. If you will doe anything
I will stand by you." Apparently Oldham was
aiming at nothing less than a majority vote which
would have made him Governor of the Colony !
He could then have appointed Lyford as minister.

210 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
and between them they might have made any
change in the laws which they desired to make.
To their chagrin not a man stood by them when
the test came. Once more Bradford had tri
umphed superbly over his enemies. Of course
the people quickly rendered a verdict condemning
the culprit and justifying Bradford in the matter
of intercepting the letters.* Oldham was sen
tenced to leave the Colony at once, though his
wife and family were to be allowed to remain
throughout the winter or until he could make pro
vision for them. Lyford was given permission to
remain six months longer, with the intimation that,
if he should entirely reform, the sentence of expul
sion might be revoked. Later Oldham was so
offensive when, returning without leave, he insulted
all the authorities, that he had to be very sum
marily punished ; and Lyford, when proved guilty
of loose conduct and very grave immorality not only
since he had come to Plymouth but before that in
England, was also dealt with as he deserved to be.
The whole episode, to which many pages are
devoted in Bradford's "History", is interesting in
this connection chiefly because it served to unify
1 It is interesting to note that in 1776 the Committee of Safety at Boston
opened all letters coming from Halifax which were addressed to Tory inhab
itants. On at least one occasion they publicly annoimced that information
which they used had come to them "by an intercepted letter." Copies
were taken of some letters which Lyford had sent, the originals of the more
important were kept, and copies of these sent on. So when Bradford
returned, he had with him the evidence of treachery on the part of Lyford
and Oldham and a little later was able to charge them, at a meeting of the
General Court of the Colony, with what they had done.

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 211
the spiritual interests of the men of Plymouth and
to deepen and strengthen the religious zeal of
many who had previously stood aloof from the
church organization of the Colony.
None the less some time passed before a suitable
pastor was found. In 1628 a Mr. Richards was
sent out from England, but as stated by Bradford
it was found "on trial that he was erased in his
braine so that they were forced to be at further
charge to send him back again the next year."
And Mr. Ralph Smith, who has been referred to as
"the first settled minister", while a graduate of
the University of Cambridge and a man of learn
ing, failed to satisfy fully — though he served
the Pilgrims at Plymouth for seven years — be
cause he was less distinctly of the Separatist
persuasion than they wished their minister to be.
From 1631 to 1634 Roger Williams acted as Mr.
Smith's assistant, but finding the atmosphere of
Plymouth too liberal for his taste, moved on to
Salem. It is to be noted, however, that Williams
not only was not expelled from Plymouth, as some
have said, but has been accorded by Bradford this
tolerant if not admiring paragraph in the "His
tory" : "He is to be pitied and prayed for, and so
I shall leave the matter and desire the learned to
show him his errors and reduc him in the way of
truth and give him a setled judgment and con-
stancie in the same ; for I hope he belongs to the
Lord and that he will show him mercie."
The next clergyman on the list is one John

212 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
Reynor, a graduate of Magdalen College, Cam
bridge, England, whose ministry continued until
1654, or eighteen years in all. Under his direc
tion it was that the first meetinghouse built by
the people of Plymouth was erected in 1648.
Apart from the fact that Mr. Reynor built this
meetinghouse, the thing of greatest interest in
connection with his pastorate is that he had as his
assistant while at Plymouth Charles Chauncey, a
man of much more than average ability, who,
though he gave the Pilgrims some great preaching,
gave them also views of baptism which they found
it difficult to accept. Chauncey was convinced
that only by immersion could baptism be regarded
as thoroughgoing and effective, and, while they
were willing to let him cherish this view, the
Pilgrims were not willing to accept it for them
selves. He was offered the alternative of remain
ing and baptizing after his own method as many as
wished so to be baptized and administering the
Communion by candlelight to all who preferred
this time for partaking of the Last Supper. But he
was not content with halfway measures and with
drew to Scituate. Later he became the second
President of Harvard College.
It began to look as if Plymouth never would
find a minister wholly to its taste. There were
long periods, indeed, during which, though there
would be preaching, there was no settled pastor
and no permanent occupant of the pulpit. In one
of these interims Elder Thomas Cushman, who

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 213
succeeded Elder Brewster, did good service in
expounding the Word. Then after years of wait
ing, the man for the place was found in the person
of John Cotton, Junior, — a son of the famous
divine, Reverend John Cotton of the Bay Colony, —
who appears to have inherited no small measure
of the ability of his father, and under whom in
1669 the Church at Plymouth was thoroughly
reorganized. His ministry, in that it takes the
history of Plymouth on beyond the year 1692,
when the old Colony was merged in the Bay Col
ony, suggests the place at which to drop these
detached notes on the almost futile endeavors of
the church leaders of Plymouth to import from
England a minister who believed precisely as they
did. Apparently there was no such person.
It will be much more interesting and profitable
to get, if we can, a glimpse of these Plymouth
people at worship. Governor Winthrop has de
scribed for us a visit he made to Plymouth in 1632,
which helps us somewhat to do this. This was at
the time when Roger Williams was assisting Pastor
Smith in his ministry. The visitors had come part
of the way by boat and made the remaining dis
tance on foot. Bradford, Brewster, and others
went out to meet them ; and after offering them
entertainment, took them for their edification to
the House of Worship.
"On the Lord's Day," Winthrop writes, "was a
sacrament which they did partake in and in the
afternoon Mr. Roger Williams, according to their

214 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
custom, propounded a question to which their
pastor, Mr. Smith, spoke briefly. Mr. Williams
prophesied the topic he had submitted ; and after
the Governor spoke to the question ; after him the
Elder ; then some two or three more of the congre
gation. Then the Elder desired the Governor of
Massachusetts and Mr. Williams to speak to it
which they did. When this was ended, the Dea
con, Mr. Fuller, put the congregation in mind of
the contribution, upon which the Governor and
all the rest went down to the Deacon's seat and
put into the bag, and then returned."
Not quite so much color here as in the brief de
scription of the church life of the time which De
Rasieres sent home in October, 1627 :
Upon the hill they have a large square house with a
flat roof, made of thick, sawn planks, stayed with oak
beams, on the top of which are 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 and place themselves
in order, three abreast, and are led by a sergeant with
out beat of drum. Behind comes the Governor in a
long robe; beside him, on the right hand, comes the
Preacher with his cloak on and on the left hand the
Captain with his side-arms and cloak on and with a
small cane in his hand; and so they march in good
order, and each sets his arms down near him. Thus
they are on their guard, night and day.

The South psLTt of New- England, as it is
Planted this yeare, 1634.

&>c£m£e I

1 *fe>ff

S«.te

I I I I

T I I I 1 —r-r

IIIIH

first ECCLESIASTICAL MAP OF XEW ENGLAXD
From Cotton Mather's "Magnalia." This earliest church survey of America shows
by a cross the towns that had meeting-houses.

— ^gpjTrwr^-TT^r-M" " " j^ ¦;

PSALME Cnx. Cxr. &c
for thy commandraaus chofe have I.
a74 I long for thy (alvation, ioii
and my delights in thy law ly.
i7y L et my foule live, & {hew thy pray fc:
help mee alfo thy judgements let. ^ .
S76 Like loft (hcep ftrayd, thy fcrvaM feckd
for I rliy laws doc not foi^ct
Pfalme i a o.
A fong of degtf es.
VNto the Lord, in my diftreffc
I cry'd, & he beard tats.
41 From lying lippsSt guileful! tongue,
o Lord, my Ibule fet free.
3 Wlwtfhall thy falfe tongue give to the«v
or what on ttce confer? ^
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty one% ^
with coklcs of juniper. |
i WocS mee, thit I in Mclech doc I
a fojounjer remaine: |
that I doc d.vcll in tents, which doe i
to Kedar appertainc. *
6 Long time my foule hath dwelt with him '
that peace doth mudi abhorrc, , \
7 I am tor peace, but when I ^eakc^ •
they ready are for warre.
/"falme lai.
A fong of degrees. ;
I To the bills lift up mine eyes, t
from whence (hall comt mice aid,
a Mine help doth from lehovah comc^
whicb {leav'Q^ earth hath made.

A PAGE OF THE OLD BAY PSALM BOOK.
From a first edition copj- in the possession of the American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, Mas^j.

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 215
No contemporaneous description of the Pilgrims
at worship gives us any adequate idea of the kind
of service that they used. Books were of course
scarce, and participation in worship was neces
sarily difficult for those unable to read or not
endowed with an excellent memory. In the Bay
Colony it early became the custom to "line the
psalms ", i.e. give the psalm out line by line before
it was sung, but this practice was not introduced
at Plymouth until 1681. Henry Ainsworth's ver
sion of the psalms which they had used in Holland
was after a time abandoned for the Bay Psalm
Book, and it would be a rash soul who should
assert that this innovation brought to Plymouth
worship additional dignity or beauty.
The very first book printed in New England
was this "Bay Psalm Book", now the rarest of all
Americana, and, in some ways, the most interest
ing. Richard Mather, Thomas Welde, and John
Eliot collaborated in the text of this volume, and
President Dunster of Harvard College promptly
put their verses into type upon a "printery"
which cost fifty pounds and had been a gift of
friends in Holland.
Cotton Mather, in his "Magnalia", relates with
evident appreciation the history of this epoch-
making book :
About the year 1639, the New-EngHsh reformers,
considering that their churches enjoyed the other ordi
nances of Heaven in their scriptural purity, were willing
that " The singing of Psalms " should be restored among

216 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
them unto a share of that purity. Though they blessed
God for the religious endeavors of them who translated
the Psalms into the meetre usually annexed at the end
of the Bible, yet they beheld in the translations so many
detractions from, additions to, and variations of, not only
the text, but the sense of the psalmist that it was an
offense unto them.
Resolving then upon a new translation, the chief
divines in the country took each of them a portion to be
translated; among whom wCre Mr. Welde and Mr.
Eliot of Roxbury, and Mr. Mather of Dorchester.
These, like the rest, were so very different a genius for
their poetry that Mr. Shephard, of Cambridge, in the
occasion addressed them to this purpose :
You Roxb'ry poets keep clear of the crime
Of missing to give us a very good rhime.
And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen
And with the text's own words, you will them
strengthen.
The Psalms thus turned into meetre were printed at
Cambridge in the year 1640. But afterwards it was
thought that a little more of art was to be employed
upon them; and for that cause they were committed
unto Mr. Dunster, who revised and refined this trans
lation; and (with some assistance from Mr. Richard
Lyon who, being sent over by Sir Henry Mildmay as
an attendant unto his son, then a student at Harvard
College, now resided in Mr. Dunster's house :) he
brought it into the condition wherein our churches have
since used it. Now though I heartily join with these
gentlemen who wish that the poetry thereof were
mended, yet I must confess, that the Psalms have
never yet seen a translation that I know of nearer to the

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 217
Hebrew original ; and I am willing to receive the excuse
which our translators themselves do offer us when they
say: "If the verses are not always so elegant as some
desire or expect, let them consider that God's altar
needs not our pollishings ; we have respected rather a
plain translation, than to smooth our verses with the
sweetness of any paraphrase. We have attended con
science rather than elegance, fidelity rather than in
genuity, so that we may sing in Zion the Lord's songs of
praise, according unto his own will, until he bid us enter
into our Master's joy to sing eternal hallelujahs."
If Cotton Mather had exercised the same judi
cial mind and Christian charity when dealing with
the witches as when dealing with the labors of his
brother-ministers, his name would not to-day be
anathema. The "Bay Psalm Book", no less than
the witches, needed to be gently dealt with, though,
for in place of the dignified rendering which the
English Bible had given the Psalms of David,
there appeared from the hands of the New Eng
land translators such verses as these :
Likewise the heavens he down-bow'd
And he descended, & there was
under his feet a gloomy cloud
And he on cherub rode and flew ;
yea, he flew on the wings of winde.
His secret place hee darkness made
his covert that him round confinde.
Reverend Elias Nason wittily says of this
triumph in collaboration: "Welde, Eliot and
Mather mounted the restive steed Pegasus, He-

218 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
brew psalter in hand, and trotted in warm haste
over the rough roads of Shemitic roots and metrical
psalmody. Other divines rode behind, and after
cutting and slashing, mending and patching,
twisting, and turning, finally produced what must
ever remain the most unique specimen of poetical
tinkering in our literature." ^
One difficulty with the church and church
worship seems to have been that no proper provi
sion was made for the support of a minister. At
first the piety of the people and the zeal of their
religious leaders made it unnecessary that legal
contracts should exist between them. The engage
ment between the minister and his congregation
was held to be of a spiritual and not a civil char
acter, a thing which should not be discussed in
terms of dollars and cents. But zeal alone could
not furnish bread, and the wants of a minister were
as definite as those of the people to whom he min
istered. In 1655 the Legislature proceeded to
take steps insuring proper support of public wor
ship and fitting maintenance for ministers. In
1657 a law was passed to the effect that "in what
soever township there is or shall be an able, godly,
teaching ministry, which is approved by this
Government . . . some men be chosen by the
inhabitants, or in case of their neglect, chosen by
any three or more of the magistrates to make a
just and equal proportion upon the estates of the
inhabitants according to their abilities to make
' Quoted from my "Social Life in Old New England."

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 219
any such convenient . . . maintenance ... for
the ministers' comfortable attendance on his
work." It is interesting in this connection to note
that whereas the ministers had previously gathered
the rates, this unpleasant adjunct of religious
leadership was abolished in 1670, it being rec
ognized that such duties were unbecoming to the
clergy and "might be an occasion to prejudice
some persons against them and their ministry."
Soon after the support of the minister had been
provided for out of the public treasury, it was
enacted (in June, 1675) that a meetinghouse
should be erected in every town in the jurisdiction,
and any town refusing or neglecting to do this
might have a meetinghouse erected for them and
then charged up against them.
The Town Records all this while show that
church life and community life touched each other
intimately on many sides. We read that the
Town Meeting fixes the minister's salary and votes
to put "two Casements" in the meetinghouse be
tween the pulpit "to let in arre into ye house."
Again it orders Thomas Phillips to build a gallery
and "seat it with Town born children only." In
1662 the Church at Plymouth provided that to
"the able & godly minister among them should
be given some part of every whale there cast up
from the sea."
On the other hand marriages, now considered
to be primarily "church affairs", were not in early
Plymouth days associated with church life and

220 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
church interests at all, but were regarded as civil
affairs only. Not until Plymouth was merged
into Massachusetts were the clergy authorized to
solemnize marriage. In this important department
of life the Pilgrims adopted the view of the Dutch
Calvinists ; they held that the Scriptures and the
Primitive Christians had never authorized clergy
men to perform marriage services, but that on the
contrary marriage, with its civil obligations and its
connection with the rights of property as well as
because of its business importance to the State,
ought to be a strictly civil contract to be entered
into before the magistrate. As a matter of fact
they could not well do anything else, in that for so
long a time, as we have seen, there was no minister
in Plymouth. One great point made against
Winslow, when Merry-Mount Morton sent back
to Archbishop Laud his slanderous reports, was
that he not only had publicly taught at the Sunday
services, but that as a magistrate he had joined
people in marriage. To which Winslow replied
that he had taught when his brethren "wanted
better means which was not often" ; and that as a
magistrate he had conducted marriages. With
perhaps more courage than wisdom he then pro
ceeded to defend this latter practice not only on
the ground that the custom had long obtained in
Holland — and that he, himself , had been so married
there in 1617 — but urging further that he knew no
Scriptural ground for confiding this office to the
clergy. Laud's answer to this was to demand that

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 221
the bold radical be committed to jail ; and this was
done, Winslow being confined in the Fleet Prison
for seventeen weeks at a time when Plymouth
could not only not afford to pay for his residence
in this unwholesome spot, but also could not
afford to spare him from the care of various busi
ness matters which he had in hand for them at the
time. How curiously confused some clerical minds
were in regard to these things is shown by the fact
that Richard Mather, father of Increase, whom
Plymouth once wanted as a minister but did not
succeed in obtaining (though he regarded his
Episcopal ordination in England as "sin and
folly"), preached regularly at funerals. Yet not
once during the fifteen years that he served as a
minister in Dorchester did he wear a surplice, —
which caused an examining ecclesiastic to declare
that this omission was worse than if he had had
seven illegitimate children !
Funerals were almost always starkly severe in
old Plymouth. Even when Bradford died there
was no burial service, though the whole com
munity stood sadly and reverently by while the
grave was filled. On this occasion volleys were
fired and the Train Band did escort duty. A sim
ilar show of ceremony marked the interment of
various other colonial functionaries. The omis
sion of any form of religious service at funerals was
due to the fact that the Separatists were extremely
fearful that church ceremonies over the dead

222 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
would grow into prayers for their souls. The
French Protestant churches definitely forbade
prayer or sermon at funerals "to avoid super
stition." In less austere sections of New England funerals
in time came to be festivals ; but not so in Plym
outh. Though when the body of Titus Way-
mouth was interred in 1656 at the expense, for
some reason or other, of the town, the concluding
item on the bill which has come down to us sug
gests that the comforts of the tavern were just
beginning to palliate the gloom of the funeral
office. This bill reads :
Item. — For a winding sheet, 5 yards of £ s. d.
lockorum & thread .... 0 8 5
Coffin  080
Digging Grave  0 3 0
Clerk of Court  0 2 6
Tavern Charges  0 12 0
1 13 11
The Plymouth Pilgrims never persecuted those
who differed from them religiously. To be sure,
they prevented the Quakers from settling among
them, but this they did not so much because they
objected to the Quakers' theological views, as
because they objected to the extraordinary manner
in which these zealots then found it necessary to
conduct themselves. It was naturally disturbing
to the life of a town to have women appearing at
public meetings without any clothes on, as the

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 223
Quakers occasionally did, just out of sheer religious
enthusiasm; and it was also disturbing to have
them constantly interrupt preachers whom other
people were desirous of hearing. So they were
banished from Plymouth, and when some of them
persisted in their course, imprisoned. This was
as near persecution as the Plymouth Colony came.
In the same way they put up with the vagaries of
Roger Williams much longer than some other sets
of people did ; and in the witchcraft delusion only
two persons were even tried at Plymouth, and both
of these were acquitted.
The first law enacted against the Quakers in
Plymouth was in 1657. This was an act forbid
ding the bringing of Quakers into the colony by
a resident on pain of twenty shillings' fine a week
for every week the prohibited person remained
within the jurisdiction of the colony. It was a
law inspired by the Massachusetts Bay people,
who had suffered much at the hands of these
enthusiasts. Subsequently another law was made
which carried with it "added prohibitions and
increased penalties." Now it was made a crime
not only to bring Quakers into the Colony, but
knowingly to harbor them after they had come.
The fine for this offense was five pounds or a
whipping. In 1658 a law was passed disfran
chising Quakers, and as they were wandering up
and down the land without any lawful calling, a
House of Correction was built, in which, under the
charge of vagabondage, they might be locked up

224 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
and set to work. Officers of the State were at
this time authorized to " seize all the books and
writings in which the doctrines and creeds of the
Quakers were contained." When Lawrence and
Cassandra Southwick and Mary Dyer found their
way to Plymouth, the penalty of death for people
of this faith was being contemplated.
Here, however, legal authority interposed in the
interest of humanity. Members of the Society of
Friends on the other side of the Atlantic appealed
to Charles II on behalf of their prosecuted brothers
in America, and promptly all the governors of New
England received notice that there must be no
more prosecutions and no more hangings of "those
people called Quakers", but that all cases in which
they were involved must be transferred to Eng
land for trial and final disposition. Thus it may
happily be written down that no Quaker was put
to death in the Plymouth Colony.
The same may be said of witches. England
and Scotland were burning and hanging witches
right and left at the time that the Pilgrims were
making laws and learning how to live happily in
Plymouth; and the terrible story of witch perse
cution in the Bay Colony constitutes of course
the blackest chapter in the history of that settle
ment. People were commonly convinced that
witches existed. Sir Matthew Hale said that "he
did not in the least doubt there were witches."
A century later Lord Mansfield, a liberalist in his
religious views if not in his politics, expressed the

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 225
same opinion. So that, as Palfrey says, it was not
to be expected of the colonists of New England
that they should be the first to see through a delu
sion which had befooled the whole civilized world
and the greatest and most knowing persons in it.
We have seen that witchcraft was made one of the
capital crimes named in the Plymouth laws of
1636. In this respect the Colony was not unlike
the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Manhattan, Virginia, Maryland,
and Pennsylvania, but it was unlike some of these
others in that there were very few witches within
its bounds, and that the authorities were definitely
indisposed to convict persons charged with the
crime of witchcraft.
As a matter of fact, only two cases were ever
brought to trial in Plymouth, and no witch was
ever executed here. Bradford nowhere refers to
witchcraft. So, though the Pilgrims were not
superior to their times, in that they recognized
witchcraft to the extent of making it a capital
offense in their laws, they were extraordinary in
that they never punished these poor deluded folk
as they might have been able under their laws
to do.
One feels that Bradford, with his broad human
outlook and his sense of humor, might have been
able to deal more wisely than his successor, Thomas
Prence, did with the problem created by the
Quakers. Prence had come to Plymouth in 1621
on the Fortune, and having married the daughter

226 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
of William Collier, richest man in the Colony, and
served for a number of years as Bradford's assist
ant, was a natural person to succeed the first
Governor at the end of his long reign. The prob
lem of the Quakers was the first one with which he
had to grapple. In March, 1657, one of this
brotherhood entered the jurisdiction from Rhode
Island and was promptly ejected. Several weeks
later another appeared and was also ejected. But in
neither case was there any violence or any penalty
imposed. Then came some Quakers who "talked
back" to Governor Prence ; and this was not to be
borne. The Court Records tell the tale vividly :
At this Court, Humphrey Norton and John Rouse,
two of those called Quakers, appeered, and psented
themselves in the towne of Plymouth on the first of
June, 1658, contrary to a law enacted prohibiting any
such to come into the coUonie, and were apprehended
and committed to ward untill Thursday, the third of
June, 1658, at which time they were psented before the
Court and examined, and behaved themselves, in
speciall Humphry Norton, turbulently, and said unto
the Gov sundry times, "Thou lyest;" and said unto
him, "Thomas, thow art a mallicious man;" in like
manor the said John Rouse behaved himselfe in his
words unto the Court unworthyly; and soe were re
turned unto the place whence they came untill Saterday,
the fift of June, att which time the said Norton and
Rouse were againe sent for unto the Court; att which
Court whereas formerly Christopher Winter had de
posed to a paper containing sundry notoriouse errors
expressed by the said Norton, and by him desired to bee

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 227
enquired into, a coppy of the said paper was delivered
unto him in the Court, and hee was demaunded by the
said Winter whether hee would deney any of those
pticulares therin contained; and liberty was given by
the Court, that in case hee, the said Norton, would,
both hee and the said Winter might returne to the
prison, with three or foure men with them, to see and
take knowlidg wherein they differed; and accordingly
this was done, and a returne made of very little differ
ence betwixt what Winter affeirmed and the said Norton
owned. Moreover, at the same time, the said Norton againe
carryed very turbulently, saying to the Gov, "Thy
clamarouse toungue I regard noe more then the dust
under my feet ; and thou are like a scoulding woman ;
and thou pratest and deridest mee," or to the like
effect, with other words of like nature, and tendered a
writing, desirouse to read it in the Court ; to the which
the Gov replyed, that if the paper were directed to him,
hee would see it before it should bee openly read ; the
said Norton refused to deliver the said paper to the
Gov, and soe it was prohibited to bee read.
At the same time the said Humphrey Norton and
John Rouse were required severally, that as they pro
fessed themselves to bee subjects to the state of Eng
land, that they would take an oath of fidelitie to bee
true to that state; which they refused to doe, saying
they would take noe oath att all. In fine, the said
Humphrey Norton and John Rouse were centanced,
according to the law, to be whipped ; the which the same
day accordingly was pformed ; and the under marshall
requiring his fees, they refuseing to pay them, they
were againe returned to bee in durance untill they

228 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
would pay the same; where they remained until the
tenth of June, 1658, and so made composition in som
way with the said marshall, and soe went away.
The fact is that the Pilgrims really made an
honest effort to give to others that freedom in
matters religious they themselves had sought to
find in coming to New England. Therein they
differed radically from the Puritans. No Amer
ican has stated this difference more clearly than
the late George Frisbie Hoar. "The Massachu
setts Bay Puritan," he says, "had a capacity for
an honest hearty hatred, of which I find no trace in
Pilgrim literature." "A personal devil," he adds
humorously, "must have been a great comfort to
our Massachusetts ancestors, as furnishing an
object which they could hate with all their might
without violation of Christian principles." ^
Charity was in very truth the great quality with
which the Pilgrims were abundantly endowed and
which the men who settled in and about Boston
lacked. To understand this it is only necessary
to compare what Nathaniel Ward of Ipswich says,
in his "Simple Cobbler of Agawam", with the
farewell counsel of John Robinson as reported by
Winslow. "It is said," writes Ward, "that men
ought to have liberty of conscience, and that it is
persecution to debar them from it. I can rather
stand amazed than reply to this. . . . No man is
so accursed with indelible infamy as authors of
heresies."
^ Pilgrim Society Celebration : 1895.

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD 229
John Robinson, spiritual head of the Pilgrims,
on the other hand charged his followers, as they
were about to sail for the New World, before God
and His blessed angels, "to follow him no further
than he followed Christ ; and if God should reveal
anything to us by any other instrument of His, to be
as ready to receive it as we were to receive any truth
by his ministry; for he was very confident the Lord
had more truth and light yet to break forth out of His
Holy Word."
This, the Pilgrims' declaration of religious inde
pendence, is worthy to stand side by side with the
opening sentences of the Declaration of Inde
pendence. Not without its effect on the character
and ideals of the men who sailed to America in the
Mayflower had been those eleven years spent under
the liberal and democratic influences of Holland !
Where the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay united
Church and State and, in the early days, admitted
none but freemen to be church members. Church
and State were always separate in Plymouth.
And equally important with the idea of civil and
religious liberty, which the Pilgrims brought with
them from Holland, was their enduring respect
for the Golden Rule. So we find the Pilgrims
quite without the intolerance and religious bigotry
which darken so many pages of Massachusetts
Bay history. On this account it may really be
said of them that they established at Plymouth
"freedom to worship God,"

CHAPTER XI
SOME EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH
If one could read but a single volume concerning
the history of Plymouth, that volume should be
Bradford's own book, which tells this simple but
thrilling story from the inception of the Colony
down to the year 1647. Here we find the foun
dation on which, supplemented by a few minor
authorities, all subsequent narratives of the voyage
of the Mayflower, all accounts of the previous his
tory of those who sailed in her, and all descriptions
of the early years of the colony which they founded
are based. The work has been reproduced in
various editions (including an edition issued by the
State of Massachusetts) ; but next to the original
manuscript itself, which may be seen in the State
Library, the one of most outstanding interest is
the facsimile reproduction from that manuscript
for which John Andrew Doyle, a fellow of All
Souls College, Oxford, has supplied an extremely
scholarly and very interesting introduction.
The facts concerning Bradford's early life, as
cited by Mr. Doyle in this place, were almost all
ascertained by the late Joseph Hunter from an

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THE FIRST PAGE OF THE BRADFORD MANUSCRIPT
\n\\ in tlieJiLlbniryCnf the State House, Massacliusetts.

Copyright, 1902, A. S. Burbank, Plymouth, .Vass.
BRADFORD HOUSE, KIXGSTON. 167.5

Copyright, 1902, A. 6. Burbank, Plymouth, Mass,
JOHN ALDEN HOUSE, DUXBURY, 1G53

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 231
examination of the parish register at Austerfield
in England, and were by Mr. Hunter embodied in
a monograph entitled, "Collections concerning the
early History of the Founders of Port Plymouth",
published in London in 1849 ^ and now rather rare.
These researches make it clear that William Brad
ford was born in Austerfield in Yorkshire, March
19, 1590, the son of William Bradford, who mar
ried Alice Hanson in June, 1584. The elder
William died in July, 1591, and though the date
when Bradford's mother died is not known. Cotton
Mather declares in the "Magnalia" that Bradford
was deprived of both his parents when young and
left to the care of his grandparents. Mather also
tells us that the youth succeeded to a comfortable
inheritance in land and would naturally have been
brought up to husbandry; but that weak health
rather inclined him towards study and religion. On
this account, very likely, he fell the more easily
under the influence of Richard Clifton's non
conforming congregation, which made its head
quarters at Scrooby, three miles from Austerfield.
According to Mather, Bradford was one of the
group which in 1607 made an attempt to escape to
Holland, an attempt which was thwarted by the
officers of the law and led to the imprisonment of
several of the would-be fugitives, including their
chief. Elder Brewster.
The dramatic migration of the following year
1 The substance of this was also published by the same author in the
Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, Fourth Series, vol. I.

232 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
has already been pictured. Its chief interest lies,
of course, in the fact that it is the initial step in the
continuous corporate history of the Pilgrims, who,
whether journeying from Scrooby to Amsterdam,
from Amsterdam to Leyden, or from Leyden to
the shores of America, were all the time attempting
to found not simply a church but also what we now
know as a New England township, — a place, that
is, in which they could work out an experiment in
self-government, which should grow and endure
throughout the years. "Through their early days
of cold and hunger, of toil and discouragement,
whether in Amsterdam, in Leyden, or in Plymouth,
Brewster, Bradford, and their followers were en
deavoring not merely to win an inheritance for
themselves and their children, but to lay the
foundations of New England."
A striking characteristic of Bradford as a biog
rapher is his omission from the graphic pages of
his "History" of all details concerning himself.
Thus he makes absolutely no mention of the
drowning of his wife, Dorothy Bradford, about
three weeks after their arrival in Plymouth,
What we Icnow about this and about their one son
left in Holland, who afterwards came out to
Plymouth, we owe to a register of the first emi
grants kept by him and appended to the manu
script.^ On August 14, 1623, Bradford was again married,
' This appendix appears as an appendix in this volume also, under the
heading "Who's Who of the Mayflower cabin list."

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 233
his second wife being the widow of Edward South-
worth. The fact that this marriage took place
just a fortnight after the lady's arrival in America
gives color to the tradition that there had been
an early attachment between the pair. All that
we actually know about the matter, though, is
that the second Mrs. Bradford (born Alice Car
penter) was the mother of two daughters and one
son ; and that the latter, named William like his
father, became in 1682 deputy-governor of the
Commonwealth, held that office for five years con
tinuously, and again in 1691, and also served
several times as a commissioner for Plymouth in
the confederation of the New England colonies.
On one of the blank leaves of the priceless Brad
ford manuscript this son and his son are immor
talized in the following paragraph :
"this book was rit by govener William bradford
and given to his son mager William Bradford and
by him to his son mager John Bradford, rit by me
Sanuel bradford — mach 20, 1705."
Besides the "History", we have from Brad
ford's pen, written the year in which the "History"
ends, a work called "A Dialogue or the sum of a
Conference Between some young men born in New
England and sundry ancient men that came out
of Holland and Old England, Anno Domini, 1648."
This is a short sketch in defense of the principles
and customs of the Puritans, with biographical
notices of a few leading Nonconformists, such as
Clifton and Robinson. The dialogue form adds

234 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
nothing to the charm of the style; rather the
reverse. But when Bradford died, he left this
writing behind him in manuscript, and it was used
and copied into the Plymouth Church Records by
his nephew Nathaniel Morton. Alexander Young
reprinted it in 1848 in his useful volume. Brad
ford also left behind him a Letter Book containing
copies of letters of public interest which he wrote
or which were written to him.^
A very interesting Bradford letter characterized
by Roland G. Usher as "the only original letter of
the period which seems to have survived ", was
written by Bradford to Allerton on September 8,
1623, in regard to conditions in Plymouth. This
letter was discovered among a mass of unarranged
and uncalendared papers in the Public Record
Office in London. It has been reprinted in the
American Historical Review ^ and is of particular
value in that it reveals the brave showing that
Bradford was then making in the face of untoward
conditions in Plymouth. The Dutch and the
French, it appears, were able to trade much more
advantageously with the Indians than the Pil
grims could because they could give them in ex
change not "toyes and trifles, but good and sub-
' Nothing brings out more clearly the difficulties connected with the
preservation ot old manuscripts than such a story as goes with the rescue
ot this Letter Book. Near the close of the eighteenth century James Clark
of Boston found the remains ot the book in a baker's shop at HaUfax, N. S.,
where three hundred and thirty-eight of its leaves had already been used as
wrapping paper. The rescued portion is printed in the First Series, vol.
Ill of the Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections.
2 Vol. 8, p 294.

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 235
stantial cmodities as ketkles, hatchets, and clothes
of all sorts ; yea, the French doe store them with
biskay, shalopes, fitted both with sails and ores,
with which they can either row or saile as well as
we ; as also with peices, powder and shot for fowling
and other services . . . also I know upon my
owne knowledg many of the Endeans to be as well
furnished with good ketkels, both strong and of a
large size, as many farmers in england."
In this same communication Bradford writes :
"With these our leters we have sent unto you one
of our honest freinds, Edward Winslow by name,
who can give you beter and more large Informa
tion of the state of all things than we can pos-
siblie doe by our letters ; unto whom we referr you
in all partickulars ; and also we have given him
Instrucktion to treat with you of all such things as
consceirn our publick good and mutuall concord ;
expecting his return by the first fishing shipps."
That much money might be made in New England
by fishing, Bradford reasserts in this letter; but
he also points out that "it would be a principall
stay and a comfortable help to the Colonic if they
had some catle" and that "espetialy goats are
very fite for this place, for they will here thrive
very well, are a hardly creature, and live at no
charge, ether, wenter or sommer, their increas is
great and milke very good, and need little looking
toe." He ends his plea for cattle with the reit
erated statement that "the Colonic will never be
in good estate till they have some."

236 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
This is the letter in which Bradford categorically
corrects the impression that women and children
were allowed to vote in Plymouth. Somehow the
idea had gone abroad that the franchise privileges
were being too liberally exercised, and Bradford
says : "Touching our Governemente you are mis
taken if you think we admite woemen and children
to have to do in the same, for they are excluded,
as both reason and nature teacheth they should be ;
neither doe we admite any but such as are above
the age of 21 years, and they also but only in some
weighty maters, when we think good." Toward
the end of the communication there is a rather
pathetic reference to the difficulties of holding
things together " amongst men of so many humors
and f cares of so many kinds." Obviously it was
no small job to be Governor of the Plymouth
Colony in 1623 !
Taken from Plymouth on the Little James, this
very valuable missive was long lost because the
ship in question was seized for debt upon its
arrival in England. Nearly every manuscript of
the period, indeed, has connected with it a tale of
disappearance and recovery almost as long as the
piece of writing concerned. That connected with
the disappearance of Bradford's "History" is full
of romance and must be retold here even at the
risk of tiring some readers who already know it
well. The author left the work in manuscript. In
1669, Bradford's nephew, Nathaniel Morton, pub-

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 237
lished a chronicle which made it quite plain that
there was somewhere in existence a book which
Bradford himself had written about the early days
in Plymouth. Beside Morton, three other New
England historians admitted indebtedness to this
book: Thomas Prince, who in 1730 published a
chronological history of New England; Hubbard,
who left a manuscript history, which was first
published in 1815; and Thomas Hutchinson,
Governor and historian of Massachusetts, who in
an appendix to his second volume, dealing with the
affairs of Plymouth, credits copious extracts to
what he entitles "Bradford Manuscript."
Yet the manuscript itself was nowhere to be
found until it was discovered, almost by accident,
through the fact that in 1846 Bishop Wilberforce
published a small "History of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in America", which chanced to
fall into the hands of Mr. John Barry, then en
gaged in writing a history of Massachusetts. Mr.
Barry was struck by the fact that certain passages
cited as from a "Manuscript History of the Plan
tation of Plymouth &c, in the Fulham Library"
were identical with fragments of Bradford's work
as he had seen it reproduced by Morton and
Prince. The discovery was communicated to the
Secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society,
Charles S. Deane ; the clue was assiduously followed
up, and the manuscript in question proved to be
no other than Bradford's own autograph of his
history. Then for the first time we had accessible

238 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the story of the economic struggles and difficulties
which beset the settlers, lacking which we should
have been without any rounded conception of
Bradford's abilities as an administrator during the
very important years when the corporate and or
ganic hfe of the Colony was in the making.
The original manuscript, strongly bound in
vellum, is now preserved in the Library of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, having been
brought back to Massachusetts in 1897 through
the good offices of the late Senator George Frisbie
Hoar of that state with the help of Thomas
Francis Bayard, first American Ambassador to
Great Britain. It is here examined with great
interest by hundreds of visitors to Massachusetts
each year.
Another early production, literary in intent if
not in actuality, is the book written by Brad
ford's nephew, to which allusion has already been
made. Perhaps the most colorful thing about this
volume is the way in which its publication was
financed. The Pilgrims were peculiarly direct in the
matter of carrying through any project they
planned, and one thing on which they early set
their heart was the writing and publishing of a
comprehensive and formal history of the first half-
century of the settlement of the colonies of Plym
outh and Massachusetts Bay. So at a Court
held in Plymouth on March 5, 1667, it was ordered
"that whereas a certain Indian appertaining to

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 239
our jurisdiction is now held at Boston for matter
of fact, and that there is probability of a tender
of some land for his ransome from being sent to
the Barbadoes, that in case the said land be
tendered to acceptance that it shall be improved
and expended for the defraying of the charge of the
printing of the book entitled 'New England's
Memoriall.'" A little more than a year later
Plymouth appropriated "the sume of twenty
pounds in countrey pay toward this same ex
pense", recommending at the same time that the
several towns under the jurisdiction of the Plym
outh General Court make "a free and voluntary
contribution in money for and toward the procur
ing of paper for the printing of said book." At
the same time it was provided that arrangements
be made with Samuel Green "to print it if he will
do it as cheap as the other and for the number of
copies to do as he shall see cause." On July 3,
1669, it was ordered "that the Treasurer, in the
behalf of the country, is to make good a barrel of
merchantable beef to Mr. Green, the printer at
Cambridge, which is to satisfy what is behind
unpaid for toward the printing of the book called
'New England's Memorial', which barrel of beef is
something more than is due by bargain for the
court is willing to allow it in consideration of his
complaint of a hard bargain about the printing of
the book aforesaid."
To the student of New England's history, the
book which resulted from these transactions neces-

240 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
sarily possesses a unique value as the first pub
lished account by a contemporary writer of the men
who made Plymouth history from 1620 to 1669,
and that, too, written by one who had a personal
and official knowledge of the men and measures
he described. Moreover, it is in this book that
there first appeared in print the names of the
vessels the Mayflower and the Speedwell, whose
history is bound up with the tempestuous voyage
of the Pilgrims across the Atlantic.
Although the publication of Bradford's "His
tory" has taken from the "Memoriall" the value
which so long attached to it, it still remains of
interest because Morton himself came to Plymouth
with his father in the Anne in July, 1623 (being
at that time a boy about eleven years old), and
grew up in close and intimate relations with
William Bradford. This because Bradford's
second wife, Alice Carpenter, was his aunt, his
mother's sister. His father was George Morton,
commonly accepted as the G. Mourt whose name
appears signed to the preface of "Mourt's Rela
tion," This work it is which has preserved for us
Bradford and Winslow's "Journal", a diary of
events from the arrival of the Mayflower to the
return of the Fortune in December. "Good news
from New England" by Edward Winslow, which
brings the story down to September 10, 1623, was
published in 1624. Next followed Winslow's
"Brief Narrative of the true grounds of cause of
the first planting of New England", which took

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 241
the story through 1623, but which was first printed
at London in 1646.
So that at the time of the publication of Na
thaniel Morton's book, there was no narrative
history of Plymouth Colony of a later date than
1623. To Morton, therefore, fell the task of record
ing the story of the settlement of New England,
the causes which lay behind the immigration to
Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, and the devel
opment of the colonies during the privations and
sufferings of their early years. By personal ac
quaintance with the official records which he kept
for forty years, he knew the minute details of the
Pilgrims' lives, and it was evidently thought that
he would incorporate a good deal of this into his
book. That he did not do so is a great loss.
None the less, the work has its value and interest,
even in these days when we have the rediscovered
Bradford manuscript to draw upon, and no stu
dent of early New England should fail to look up
the first edition as published in facsimile by The
Club of Odd Volumes of Boston. There is inspira
tion, too, for us of to-day in the closing paragraph
of "The Memoriall":
I shall close up this small history with a word of
advice to the rising generation. That as now their godly
predecissors have had large Experience of the goodness
and faithfulness of God, for the space of near Fourty
six years (some of them) and have passed under various
dispensations, sometimes under great afflictions, other
while the sun shining upon their Tabernacles in wayes

242 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
of peace and prosperity, and yet notwithstanding,
through the grace of Christ, the most of them have held
their integrity in his wayes. That so, such as succeed
them would follow their examples, so farr as they have
followed Christ ; that it might not be said of them, as it
is to be feared it may be, by what yet appears amongst
many of them, that indeed God did once plant a noble
vine in New England, but it is degenerated into the
plant of a strange vine. It were well that it might be
said, that the rising generation did serve the Lord all
the days of such as in this our Israel, are as Joshua's
amongst us and the Elders that over lived him, which
have known all the works of the Lord which he hath
done for their fathers. But if yet notwithstanding
afterwards such shall forget, and not regard those his
great Works here presented before them (besides many
more that I hope by some others may come to their
view) be they assured. He will destroy them and not
build them up. Oh therefore, let the truly godly in
this land, be incited by the example of Moses, as the
mouth of the Church to pray earnestly and incessantly
unto the Lord, that his work may yet appear to his
servants, and his glory unto their children; and that
he would pour out his Spirit upon his Church and
people in New England, and his blessing upon their
offspring, that they may spring up as among the grass,
and as the willows by the water courses ; that so great
occasion there may be thereby of taking notice thereof
in succeeding generations, to the praise and glory of
GOD. So be it.
This "Memoriall" is also valuable because it
has preserved for us the anagrams and elegiac
verses of many old New England worthies. It

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 243
is to this source, for instance, that two famous
productions of Governor Dudley's pen are to be
traced. Dim eyes, deaf Ears, cold stomack, shew.
My dissolution is in view.
Eleven times seven year liv'd have I,
And now God calls, I willing die ;
My shuttle's shot, my race is run.
My Sun is set, my Deed is done ;
My span is measur'd. Fate is told.
My Flower is faded, and grown old.
My Dream is vanished. Shadow's fled.
My Soul with Christ, my Body dead.
Farewell, dear Wife, Children, Friends,
Hate Heresie, make blessed ends ;
Bear Poverty, live with good men.
So shall we meet with joy agen.
And the following gem :
Let men of God in Courts and Churches watch
O're such as do a Toleration hatch.
Lest that ill Egg bring forth a Cockatrice,
To poison all with Heresie and Vice,
If men be left and otherwise combine.
My Epitaph's, I dy'd no Libertine.
Both these productions, Morton tells us, were
found in Governor Dudley's pocket after his
death and serve not only to illustrate the great
man's character but to give us a taste of his
"poetical fancy" !
Another contemporaneous source of information

244 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
which is not without value, though it is pretty
dull reading, is "Plain Dealing or News from New
England" from the pen of Thomas Lechford.
Lechford was an English lawyer who lived for
some years in Boston, and who also visited for a
period in Plymouth. He devotes a chapter of his
book to the Indians and has left us some valuable
pages of critical insight concerning the unfairness
of the strictures directed against the Plymouth
men for their lack of church conformity.
When John Smith cruised along the coast of
England in 1614, he made some observations which
led to the earliest fairly accurate map of Massa
chusetts Bay; and four years later he published
the first edition of his record of commercial adven
tures in the new world under the title "New Eng
land Trials", meaning by that word "ventures."
Another product of Smith's pen is his "General
History", which collectors of Americana are
always extremely interested to secure. Similarly
interesting to those who are keen in the pursuit
of early books on old New England are the records
contained in the conglomerate work of Samuel
Purchas issued in 1625 — under the title of "Pur-
chas's Pilgrims" — in which over twelve hundred
separate narrators of the world's explorations tell
their own stories, including such as had a story to
tell about observations along the New England coast.
This material may be seen at the Boston Athenseum,
though Purchas's works are extremely rare.
Another contemporaneous writer who cannot be

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 245
ignored is Thomas Morton, lawyer and vagabond
— wont to describe himself as "of Clifford's Inne,
Gent" — who has given us in "The New English
Canaan" what is probably the most curious and
amusing book extant in regard to life in early New
England. Morton was a very active thorn in the
side of Governor Bradford and the other leading
men at Plymouth. The earliest allusion I have
found to him is in the second book of Bradford's
"History" when, dealing with the events of the
year 1628 — though writing at a later period —
the leading chronicler of Massachusetts says :
About some three or four years before this time,
there came over one Captaine Wolastone (a man of
pretie parts), and with him three or four more of some
Eminencie, who brought with them a great many ser
vants, with provisions and other implements for to
begine a plantation ; and pitched themselves in a place
within the Massachusetts, which they called after their
captain's name. Mount- Wollaston. Amongst whom
was one Mr. Morton, who it should seeme, had some
small adventure (of his owne or other mens) amongst
them; but had little respect amongst them, and was
sleghted by the meanest servants. . . . But this
Morton above said, haveing more craft than honestie,
watches an opportunitie (commons being but hard
amongst them), and got some strong drinck and other
junckats & made him a feast.
The place alluded to in this somewhat confusing
paragraph is what is now known as Quincy; the
men whom Morton feasted as a means of taking

246 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
possession of the plantation were the servants
whom Wollaston had left behind when he sailed
off, after a discouraging year of New England
pioneering, to try his fortune in Virginia ; and the
deputy from whom Morton wrenched all vestiges
of law-abiding authority in the plantation was
Lieutenant Fitcher. Bradford's quaint version
has it that these wicked conspirators "thrust
Levetenante Fitcher out a dores." In any case
when the lieutenant had decamped, the Lord of
Misrule took possession of Merrymount, as Mount
Wollaston was now renamed, to the utter scandal,
of course, of the sober Pilgrims.
Much has been written in abuse of Morton;
much, too, in his defense. John Adams, discussing
him in 1802, put the matter thus :
Such a rake as Morton, such an addle-headed fellow
as he represents himself to be, could not be cordial with
the first people from Leyden or with those who came
over with the patent from London or the West of Eng
land. I can hardly conceive that his being a Church
man or reading his prayers from a Book of Common
Prayer could be any great offence. His fun, his songs,
and his revels were provoking enough, no doubt. But
his Commerce with the Indians in arms and ammuni
tion and his instructions to those Savages in the use of
them were serious and dangerous offences, which
struck at the lives of the new-comers and threatened
the utter extirpation of all the plantations.
In order to understand this allusion of Adams
to the Book of Common Prayer, it must be said

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 247
here that there has been a tendency on the part of
historians to attribute the strictures which have
been made on Morton's character to the fact that
he was — or pretended to be — an Episcopalian.
The people who defend him are all Episcopalians !
The truth of the matter is, however, that Morton
used his connection with the Church of England
as a blind and almost certainly wrote his book
"The New Canaan" as a piece of what we would
call in these days "propaganda." On this account
we must carefully discount whatever statements
we find in the book criticizing the habits and cus
toms of the people at Plymouth. A tool of Sir
Ferdinando Gorges (who was himself utterly
dependent upon Archbishop Laud for advance
ment), it was Morton's cue to play up in his book
the Primate's intense dislike of the Puritans and
Separatists, and his inordinate zeal in behalf of all
Church forms and ceremonies, including the use
of the Book of Common Prayer. The whole
political and historical significance of the "New
Canaan" lies in this fact. One chapter in it, as
we shall see, was especially written to bring trouble
upon the Pilgrims by maintaining that they held
it to be the "magistrate's office absolutely, and not
the minister's, to join the people in lawful matri
mony" ; next, " that to make use of a ring in mar
riage is a relic of Popery " ; and then again, "the
Book of Common Prayer is an idol; and all that
use it idolaters." We shall see how cunningly,
when it came to questions of State, Laud was

248 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
worked on by these assertions, and what a puppet
he became in the hands of Gorges and Morton.
There is much more to "The New English
Canaan", however, than a quarrel between Laud
and the Separatists. It is an immensely enter
taining version of life in one little section of New
England during this far-away period with which
we are now dealing, — a version so entertaining
that I, for one, am rather inclined to forgive
Morton his personal sins out of gratitude for the
manuscript in which those sins were recorded.
Besides, he may well be held to have expiated his
offenses when, his property having been destroyed,
he was imprisoned through a bitter New England
winter in the fireless dungeon of a Boston jail.
Surely a sad experience this, for one who had been
wont to describe himself as "of Clifford's Inne,
gent." Morton was one of a class of men quite common
in the days of Elizabeth and the Stuarts ; a vulgar
Royalist and libertine, who, just because he was
thrown by accident into the midst of a noncon
forming community, and was unable or unwilling
to accept the situation and take himself off, has
attained, as Charles Francis Adams, Junior, very
well says, a prominence which will necessitate his
mention in every history of America. None the
less, he was a true nature lover, and he really fell
deeply in love with New England, when she first
bared her fresh spring beauty to him in June, 1622.
The book in which he records his enthusiasm for

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 249
the New World and his determination to make a
fortune there was written before the close of 1635
and was first printed in 1637. Until the Prince
Society made its famous reprint which Mr. Adams
has so ably edited, it was reprinted but once, — by
Force, in the second volume of his American
tracts. The Prince Society's edition reproduces
the original title-page and tells us that the work
was "composed in three bookes." It goes on to
say that the first book sets forth the manners and
customs and the "originall" of the natives (mean
ing their origin), together with their practical
nature and their love for the English. The
second book is what we should to-day call a de
scriptive pamphlet of the endowments and staple
commodities of the country. The third book
(written for Archbishop Laud's special delecta
tion) describes the people of the country, their
prosperity, various incidents that had befallen
them "together with their Tenents and practise
of their Church." We are told that the work was
"written by Thomas Morton of Clifford's Inne
gent., upon tenne yeares knowledge and experi
ment of the country"; and that it was printed
at Amsterdam " by Jacob Frederick Stam. in the
yeare 1637."
Copies of "The New Canaan" are extremely
rare. The Prince Society edition was made from
a copy owned by John Quincy Adams, who pur
chased it while in Europe prior to the year 1801.
It was this same copy, temporarily deposited in

250 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
the Boston Athenseum in 1810, to which various
students have alluded in their work. The quota
tions I shall give follow the Prince Society edition,
except that no consistent effort has been made to
adhere to the old-fashioned typography, which
for the most part is too difficult for the ordinary
printer to reproduce.
In almost all the historical allusions to Morton
and to Merrymount, the thing stressed is the May
Day festivity of 1627, of which Bradford has
written : "They allso set up a May -pole, drinking
and dancing aboute it many days togeather, invit
ing the Indean women, for their comforts, dancing
and frisking togither, like so many fairies, (or
furies rather), and worse practises. As if they
had anew revived and celebrated the feasts of the
Roman Goddes Flora, or the beasly practises of
the madd Bacchinalians. Morton likewise (to
shew his poetrie), composed sundry rimes and
verses, some tending to lasciviousnes, and others
to the detraction and scandall of some persons,
which he affixed to this idle or idoU May-poUe,"
Morton's own account of this same occurrence
will be given a few pages farther on. The point
now to be made is that the Maypole celebration,
while undoubtedly associated in the minds of
Governor Bradford and his followers with the
pagan days of the Saturnalia ^ and, therefore, to
be condemned, was not in the last analysis the
' It was this festivity, as England celebrated it, that Stubbs rebuked so
roundly in his "Anatomy ot Abuses.''

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 251
worst thing which Morton did. The really unfor
givable sin to be charged against him is that, to
advance his own ends, he unscrupulously sold the
natives not only strong drink but weapons. And
he taught them to use those weapons effectively.
Trade with the Indians in firearms had been
strictly forbidden in 1622 by a proclamation of
King James issued at the instance of the Council
of New England. By putting arms into their
hands and instructing them how to use them,
Morton not only broke the law, but he also made
life quite unsafe for everybody in the Colony.
After the first skirmish with the Cape Cod
savages in December, 1620, we find no mention of a
gun being seen in an Indian's hands. As a matter
of fact the Indians stood in mortal terror of fire
arms. Morton was to change all this. Bradford
comments :
This Morton having thus taught them the use of
pieces, he sold them all he could spare ; and he and his
consorts determined to send for many out of England,
and had by some of the ships sent for above a score.
The which being known, and his neighbors meeting the
Indians in the woods armed with guns in this sort, there
was a terror under them, who lived stragglingly and
were of no strength in any place. And other places
(though more remote) saw this mischief would quickly
spread over all if not prevented. Besides, they saw
they should keep no servants, for Morton would enter
tain any, how vile so ever, and all the scum of the
country or any discontents would flock to him from all
places if this next was not broken; and they would

252 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
stand in more fear of their lives and goods (in short
time) from this wicked and debauched crew than from
the Savages themselves.
Not only was Morton threatening the lives of
the Pilgrims by putting arms in the hands of the
natives ; he was also taking an unfair business
advantage. If the savages could exchange their
furs for guns, they would not exchange them for
anything else, and Morton was utterly unscrupu
lous in- this as in other matters. He had come to
New England to get rich by means of the fur
trade, and he meant to accomplish his end. To
quote Bradford again :
Hearing what gain the French and fishermen made
by trading with pieces, powder and shot to the Indians,
he as head of this consortship began the practice of the
same in these parts. And first he taught them how to
use them, to charge and discharge, and what proportion
of powder to give the piece, according to the size and
bigness of the same ; and what shot to use for fowl and
what for deer. And having thus instructed them, he
employed some of them to hunt and fowl for him, so as
they became far more active in that employment than
any of the English, by reason of their swiftness of foot
and nimbleness of body ; being also quick-sighted, and
by continual exercise, well knowing the haunts of all sorts
of game. So when they saw the execution that a piece
would do, and the benefit that might come by the same,
they became mad, as it were, after them, and would not
stick to give any price they could obtain to for them;
accounting their bows and arrows but bawbles in com
parison of them.

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 253
Such is Bradford's version of this matter; and
Morton nowhere denies the story, though it is
obvious that he would have denied it could he have
done so. That he sold the savages spirits he does
deny. These he said were the life of trade ; the
Indians would "pawn their wits" for them; but
spirits he would never let them have, according to
his own account. For this "never" one must
substitute a Gilbertian "hardly ever" in the inter
est of exactness, — just as Morton himself does
in Chapter Nineteen of the first book of "The
New English Canaan." "In al the Commerce
that I had with them, I never profered them any
such thing ; nay I would hardly let any of them
have a drane unles hee were a Sachem or a Wan-
naytuy, that is a rich man, or a man of estimation
next in degree to a Sachem or Sagamore. I
alwayes tould them it was amongst us the Sachems
drinke. But they say if I come to the Northerne
parts of the Country I shall have no trade, if I
will not supply them with lusty liquors ; it is the
life of the trade in all those parts."
Here inadvertently Morton seems to have told
the exact truth. Dodge in his "Wild Indians"
declares that "this passion for intoxication
amounts almost to an insanity ... to drink
liquor as a beverage for the gratification of
taste or for the sake of pleasurable conviviality
is some thing of which the Indian can form no
conception. His idea of pleasure in the use of
strong drink is to get drunk, and the quicker

254 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
and more complete that effect, the better he
likes it."
So between liquor and powder Morton was in a
fair way to drive all competitors from the market.
He himself says that in the course of five years one
of his servants accumulated no less than a thou
sand pounds in the trade of beaver skins; and
this in 1635 meant a great deal of money, even
allowing for the undoubted exaggeration of the
statement. Small wonder that, as Morton ex
presses it, his plantation "beganne to come for
ward." In fact it came forward so fast that it
always got the better in commercial enterprise of
the Plymouth people. They were the first to find
their way up to Maine, where in 1625 they began
to trade with the savages. But Morton was not
slow in following them and when, in 1628, they
went out to establish a permanent station on the
Kennebec, Morton had forestalled them by some
time and so hindered them of a season's furs.
Yet this Lord of Misrule's most abiding offense
was against decency and good government, and it
gradually became apparent to all dwelling along
the coast on the borders of Maine and Cape Cod
that Merry Mount was a nuisance which would
have to be suppressed. If the Plymouth magis
trates refrained from this suppression, all order in
New England would be at an end.
So they mutually resolved to proceed, Bradford
writes, and obtained of the Governor of Plymouth to
send Captain Standish and some other aide with him

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 255
to take Morton by force. Which accordingly was
done ; but they found him to stand stiffly in his defense,
having made fast his doors, armed his consorts, set
diverse dishes of powder and bullets ready on the table ;
and if they had not been over-armed with drink, more
hurt might have been done. They summoned him to
yield, but he kept his house, and they could get nothing
but scoffs and scorns from him ; but at length, fearing
they would do some violence to the house, he and some
of his crew came out, but not to yield but to shoot.
But they were so steeled with drink as their pieces were
too heavy for them; himself, with a carbine (over
charged and almost half-filled with powder and shot as
was after found) had thought to have shot Captain
Standish ; but he stept to him and put by his piece and
took him. Neither was there any hurt done to any of
either side, save that one was so drunk that he ran his
own nose upon the point of a sword that one held be
fore him as he entered the house; but he lost but a
little of his hot blood.
Morton's own account of this we shall read
later. In essentials it is not different from Brad
ford's, except that Morton makes himself the hero
of the tale and satirizes Standish under the name
of Captain Shrimpe.
Seeing that resistance to Standish was hopeless,
Morton surrendered, was arrested, and was carried
to Plymouth, where a council was held to decide
upon the disposition that should be made of him.
According to the prisoner's own account, certain
of the magistrates were in favor of executing him
at once and so making an end of the matter, but

256 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
cooler judgment prevailed, and eventually the
decision was that the prisoner should be sent back
to England, which was done, on the vessel which
sailed a month later from the Isles of Shoals.
John Oldham, who had himself made not a little
trouble for the Plymouth Colony, but who now
had been reinstated, was given the charge of the
prisoner and was commissioned also to deliver
some letters describing Morton's offenses; but
these letters made no impression in England,
because Morton was clever enough to represent
himself to Sir Ferdinando Gorges (who himself
had a game to play in the New World) as a victim
of religious persecution.
Oldham's treachery and Morton's trickery gave
Plymouth a great deal of trouble in England at
this juncture. To the astonishment and horror
of Bradford, the Lord of Misrule not only went
scot free in England, but was allowed to return to
America ! He even was brought back to Plymouth
itself "as it were to nose them" — to quote Brad
ford's pregnant phrase — and was lodged by
Isaac Allerton, then agent of the Plymouth Colony,
in his own house as a clerk and scribe. When,
after a few weeks' stay, Allerton returned to
England, his scribe promptly made his way back
to Mount Wollaston, there soon to be involved
in fresh difficulties with Governor Endicott of the
Salem Colony, His subsequent experiences fall
outside the scope of our present interest and are
chiefly of concern to students of Plymouth history

EARLY BOOKS ABOUT PLYMOUTH 257
for the reason that the punishment promptly
inflicted on Morton by the Puritan magistrates
was so much more severe than that meted out to
him by the Pilgrims,
The Bay authorities ordered that Thomas
Morton, of Mount Wollaston, " shall presently be
set into the bilboes, and after sent prisoner into
England, by the ship called the Gift, now returning
thither ; that all his goods shall be seized upon to
defray the charge of his transportation, payment
of his debts, and to give satisfaction to the Indians
for a canoe he unjustly took away from them ; and
that his house, after his goods are taken out, shall
be burnt down to the ground in the sight of the
Indians, for their satisfaction, for many wrongs he
hath done them from time to time." The Puritans
had almost a genius for making the punishment
fit the crime.

CHAPTER XII
SOCIAL LIFE IN THE PILGRIM COLONY
From all that we have read heretofore con
cerning the Pilgrims' life in Old New England,
one would have said that they had no diversions,
— nothing that we in these days would call social
life. Yet a closer view establishes the certainty
that there were sports ; occasionally indeed out
breaks of what even we should term real frivolity,
WTio would have thought, for instance, of the
Pilgrims as masquerading, yet the enactment, in
1645, of a law passed to punish masquerading
proves that "some abuse hath formerly broken
out amongst us by disguising, wearing visors and
a strange apparel," Punishment was therefore
enacted in the form of a fine of fifty shillings for
"first default ; for the second a public whipping or
binding to good behaviour at the discretion of the
Court," Card playing it was found necessary (in 1655)
to punish by a fine of fifty shillings, servants or
children playing at cards, dice, or other unlaw
ful games, to be at the second offense publicly
whipped. For the first offense correction by their

SOCIAL LIFE 259
parents or masters was deemed sufficient. By
June, 1674, a law against horse-racing found its
way to the Statute books, the punishment pro
vided being the stocks or a fine of five shillings.
Smoking tobacco in "public places" was pro
hibited in 1646 ; and in 1665 constables were
ordered to return the names of those who should
play or sleep or smoke tobacco about the meeting
house on the Lord's Day. That same year per
sons "who behaved themselves profanely by being
without doors at the meetinghouse on the Lord's
Day in times of exercise, and there misdemeaning
themselves by jestings, sleepings, or the like, were
to be admonished by the constables ; if they
persisted, they were to be set in stocks", and if
still unreclaimed, their names were to be returned
to the Courts. Special enactments then as now
were necessary to keep the "licensed taverners"
within proper bounds. In 1668 they were for
bidden "to allow profane singing, dancing, or
revelling under penalty."
One very interesting law which has a close rela
tion to the social life of the time was that of 1660,
in which it was enacted "that any person of the
years of discretion" (sixteen) "who shall wilfully
make or pubhsh any lie which may be injurious
to the pubHc weal, or done to the damage or hurt
of any particular person, or with intent to deceive
or confuse the people with any false news or re
ports" shall be fined ten shillings, "and in default
of payment set in the stocks." If such a law

260 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
existed to-day we might be edified by seeing many
of the prosperous publishers of yellow newspapers
displayed in the stocks in Union Square or Boston
Common !
How rigorously the Pilgrims strove to impose
the moral law we have seen in a previous chapter.
Invariably they punished offenses of this nature
with almost brutal severity. Dorothy Temple
was publicly whipped until she fainted under the
lash, and men who had done violence to the
honor of women were more than once publicly
whipped, even when they had married the women
concerned. The wife, meanwhile, sat near by in
the stocks. Little family altercations were dealt
with in similarly drastic fashion. It was provided
that no man should strike his wife and no woman
should beat her husband under the penalty of a
fine of ten pounds. The iron hand of the Pilgrim
Fathers even intervened in so delicate a matter
as courtship. A law was passed in 1638 that no
man should propose to a girl unless he had pre
viously secured the consent of her parents, or of
her master in case she was a bond servant. And
there was very evident desire to prevent ambitious
young men from changing their social status by
marriage. To be sure the young gentleman sometimes
persisted and won out against a hard-hearted
father, A case of this kind, which has come down
to us, is that of Arthur Howland, Junior, who
finding the daughter of Governor Prence not averse

SOCIAL LIFE 261
to his attentions, apparently asked her to marry
him, — instead of asking her father if he might
ask her. We therefore read in the Records of
October, 1666, that :
Arthur Howland, Jun'r, for inveigling of Mistris
Elizabeth Prence and makeing motion of marriage to
her and prosecuting the same contrary to her parrents
likeing, and without their consent, and directly con
trary to theire mind and will, was centanced to pay a
fine of five pounds and to find surties for his good
behavior, and in speciall that hee desist from the vse
of any meanes to obtaine or retaine her affections as
aforsaid. The condition, that whereas the said Arthur How
land hath disorderly and unrighteously indeavored to
obtaine the affections of Mistris Elizabeth Prence,
against the mind and will of her parents, if, therefore,
the said Arthur Howland shall for the future refraine
and desist from the vse of any meanes to obtaine or
retaine her affections as aforesaid, and appeer att the
Court of his matie to be holden att Plymouth the
first Tuesday in July next, and in the mean time be of
good behaviour towards our sov lord the King and all
his leich people, and not depart the said Court without
lycence ; that then, &c.
Later on we find a record that
Arthur Howland, Junr, did solemnly and seriously
engage before this Court that he will wholly desist
and never apply himselfe for the future, as formerly
hee hath done, to Mistris Elizabeth Prence in reference
unto marriage.

262 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
None the less, since Arthur Howland subsequently
married this girl of his choice it would appear that
the stern parent ultimately relented, and the
Court winked at the youth's effrontery. Arthur
must have been a brave young man, too, so to
defy his father-in-law elect, for contemporary
writers describe Governor Prence as possessed of
"a countenance full of majesty."
The Pilgrims not only sought to guide people
in their choice of mates ; they attempted the far
more difficult task of making people who were
married love each other. So we read :
In reference unto divers complaints made concern
ing John Williams, Jun'r, his disorderly liveing with
his wife, and his abusive and harsh carriages towards
her both in words and actions, . . . the Court saw
cause to require bonds for the appeerance of the said
Williams att this psent Court, and likewise sent for
his wife to this Court, and after the hearing of severall
things to and frow betwixt them, the said Williams
being not able to make out his charge against her,
they were both admonished to apply themselves to such
waies as might make for the recovering of peace and love
betwixt them ; and for that end the Court requested I sacke
Bucke to bee officious therin.
One wonders how Isacke succeeded in his diffi
cult task, — and how he set about it.
Nothing is more clear from the Plymouth
records than that the paucity of amusements
threw men and women back on their emotions in
a most unwholesome way. The sexual crimes and

SOCIAL LIFE 263
family troubles therein set down seem to be out
of all proportion to the population. One quite
sympathizes on this account with the strenuous
efforts made by the Inhabitants and the Un
privileged of the Colony, especially the servants,
to introduce such amusements as they had been
accustomed to in England. Sometimes they suc
ceeded in this ambition. Out-of-door games like
bowls and pitch bar seemed to have been com
monly played, and at the inns a certain amount
of regulated drinking was undoubtedly permitted.
To be sure, people must drink for "refreshing"
and not to beastiality. And the conditions under
which an innkeeper could dispense his wares were
strictly regulated. When strangers first arrived
he might sell them strong water to the extent of
twopence worth ; apparently this was regarded
as a proper amount for "refreshing" only. More
over, the uplifting influence of woman had its
place in the scheme of innkeeping, as the Plym
outh authorities saw it. When James Leonard
of Taunton lost his wife by death he was straight
way deprived of his license on the ground that he
was now unfitted to keep an inn.
So though the upper ranks of society had noth
ing more exciting in the way of amusement than
evenings in their own homes, devoted to talk
more or less religious in character, the common
folks enjoyed themselves after a fashion in spite
of repressive laws.
The things the Pilgrims wore as they pursued

264 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
their daily lives and went to church on Sunday
might be very interesting to discuss if we knew
a little more about it. But we have absolutely
no made-in-New England pictures of the men who
founded this Colony, and so have few means of
knowing in what manner they clothed themselves.
The only authentic portrait of a Pilgrim Father
which has come down to us is that of Edward
Winslow ; and this was painted in London in
1651 when he was in middle life, and had been
away from Plymouth for five years.^
Probably the men among the Pilgrims wore
simple smocks and trousers made of coarse, strong
cloth, the women clothing themselves in plainly
cut gowns of ample proportions. One would have
expected both men and women to avoid bright
colors, yet from the wills it is clear that the men
occasionally had coats that were neither black
nor gray, and that the women were happily pos
sessed of petticoats of alluring hues, of lace scarfs,
of silk garters, and of various other things which
we might regard as articles of luxury.
The Dignitaries of the church wore black gowns
on Sunday, following the habit of the leaders in
the Calvinist churches abroad ; but Elder Brew
ster's wardrobe rejoiced in a violet-colored cloth
coat, a pair of black silk stockings, a doublet, and
other garments of the kind that a fairly well-to-do
' Winslow was sent to England in 1646 on a mission tor the Massachu
setts Bay Colony, and he was still in the mother country serving on a com
mission with Admiral Venable and Admiral Penn, father of the noted Quaker,
when in May, 1655, he died of fever.

Copyriyht. .1. X. Burbank, Plymouth, Ma.f.-i.
ELIZABETH PADDY WEXSLKY
Born in Plymouth in 1641, tlie daughter ol William Paddy, she married John Wensley,
also of Plymouth. This portrait is in Pilgrim Hall.

MADAME PADISHAL AND CHILD
This fine presentation 01* the dress of n genllewoman and infant cliild in I lie middle of the
17th century hung for many years in old Plymouth homes. It is now owned by Mrs.
Greely Steven-son Curtis of Boston to whom it came hy inheritance The artist i.s unknown.

SOCIAL LIFE 265
Englishman might have worn in the mother
country at this time. Even where people were
obviously only poor folk, if one may judge from
the valuation put on their estate, they had
cherished articles of personal property to bestow
on their friends and relatives. One poor man
died in 1633 possessed of a "satten sute", two
ruffs of embroidered silk garter, and a "cap with
silver lace on it." ^ Another whose estate boasted
only three quarters of a cow, left behind him (in
1633) a feather bed bolster, blankets, a green rug,
sheets, table cloths, napkins, "pillow beeres ",
cushions, a chair bed, and sundry pots and kettles
to the value of £71.^
When Mary Ring died in 1633 she left a will
which shows that quite an elaborate outfit of
"handkerchers buttoned and unbuttoned ", beaver
fur of considerable value, numerous blankets and
bolsters and several pieces of brass and pewter
had been hers. This will is interesting enough to
give in its entirety for the flood of light that it
throws on the life of the time.
WYNSLOW GOVr.
New Plymouth
1633.
A Coppy of the will & Test of Mary Ring
widow who dyed the 15th or 19th of July
1631. the will being proved in publick Court
the 28th of Oct. in the ninth yeare of the
raigne of our Sov. Lord Charles & c.
1 Mayflower Descendant, 1, 83. * Ibid. 1, 157.

266 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
I Mary Ring being sick in body but in prfect memory
thanks be to God, doe make this my last will & Test.
in manner & forme as followeth. ffirst I bequeath my
sowl to God that gave it me & my body to the earth
from whence it was taken. Next my will is that such
goods as God hath given I give also. I give unto
Andrew my sonne all my brasse and pewter. I give
unto my son Andrew my new bed and bolster wth the
fPether [ioorn] to put in it wch I have ready Item I
give to my son andrew two white blankets, one red
blanket wth the best Coverlet wch lieth upon my bed
& the curtaines It. I give unto my sonne Andrew
three pre of my best sheets & two paire of my best
pillow beeres. It. I give also to him one dyapr table-
cloath & one dyapr towell and halfe a dozen of nap
kins. It. I give unto him all my woUen cloath un
made except one peece of red wch my will is that my
daughter Susan shall have as much as will make a
bearing Cloath and the remainder I give unto Stephen
Deanes childe It. I give unto my sonne Andrew
my bolster next the best. It. I give unto him my
trunke & my box & my Cubbert. It. I give unto
him all my cattle. It. I give unto him halfe the
Corne wch groweth in the yard where I dwell. And the
othr halfe I give unto Stephen Deane my [illegible]
to make him a Cloake. Timber yt I lent to mr
Wynslow that Cost me a pownd of Beaver, besise a
peece more that they had of me. I give to my son
Andrew all my shares of land that is due to me or shall
be. I give to my sonne Andrew all my tooles. It.
The money that is due to me from the Governour forty
shillings of Comodities I am to have out of England
[worn] I give unto him also except the green Say wch

SOCIAL LIFE 267
I give unto Stephen Deanes childe to make her a Coat.
It. one peece of new linen I give unto my sonne
Andrew. It. I give unto my daughter Susan Clarke
my bed I lay upon wth my gray Coverlet and the teeks
of the two pillows : but the ff ethers I give unto my
sonne Andrew. It. One Ruffe I had of Goodman
Giles I give to my daughter Eliza Deane. All the rest
of my things not menconed I give unto my daughters
to be equally devided between them. I give unto my son
Andrew all my bookes my two pr of potthooks & my
trammell, one cowrse sheet to put his bed in, & all the
money that is due to me from Goodman Gyles. And
my will is that he shall have the peece of black stuff.
The goods I give my two daughters are all my wearing
cloathes, all my wearing linnen. It. I give unto mrs
Warren one woodden cupp wth a foote as a tojen of
my love. It. my will is that the Cattle I give my
sonne be kept to halfes for him by Stephen Deane, or
at the discretion of my Overseers to take order for
them for the good of the childe. It. I give to Andrew
my sonne all my handkerchers buttoned or unbuttoned.
It. I give to Andrew one silver whissell It. my
will is that Andrew my son be left wth my son Stephen
Deane; And doe require of my son Deane to help
him forward in the knowledge & feare of God, not to
oppresse him by any burthens to tender him as he will
answere to God. My Overseers of my will I institute
& make my loving ffrriends Samuell ffuller & Thomas
Blossom, whom I entreate to see this my will pformed
according to the true intent of the same. And my will
is that my son Andrew have recourse unto these two
my loving friends for councell & advice & to be ruled
by them in anything they shall see good & convenient

268 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
for him. Also my will & desire is that my Overseers
see that those goods wch I have given unto my sonne
Andrew be carefully preserved for him, until such time
as they shall judge it meet to put them into his own
hands. My will also is that if my Overseers shall see
it meet to dispose of my sonne Andrew otherwise then
wth his Brother Deane That then my Sonne Deane
shall be willing to consent unto it, & they to dispose
of him, provided it be alwaies wth the good will of my
sonne Andrew. I give unto Andrew a linnen Capp
wch was his ffathers, buttons for his handkercher un
buttoned I leave for him. My will is that Andrew my
sonne shall pay all my debts & chargs about my
buriall. In witnes whereof I set my hand before witnes
Witnesses Mary Ring
Samuell ffuller
Thomas Blossom ;
The inventory made after Mrs. Ring's death
contains a reference, also, to "one mingled coloured
petticoate", whatever so seemingly worldly a gar
ment as that might be. But as if to take the
curse off this proof of frivolity, she died possessed
of the following highly orthodox books :
One Bible,
" dod,
" plea for Infants,
" ruine of Rome,
" Troubler of the Church of Amsterdam,
" Garland of vertuous dames
" psalme booke

SOCM.L LIFE 269
Though the houses in which the Pilgrims lived —
and died on "ff ether" beds — were very simple
and substantial, they were by no means uncom
fortable for their time ; and they were not
cramped. At first they were constructed of hewn
plank, but after 1628 plank roofs replaced roofs of
thatch. The house of Miles Standish's son, which
is still standing in Duxbury in a good state of
preservation, would make a comfortable home even
to-day. And the John Bradford house in Kings
ton, also well preserved at the present time, proves
clearly that by the second or third generation at
any rate the Plymouth folk were occasionally
building on a generous not to say luxurious scale.
Both these places show, too, that the Pilgrims
knew how to choose a site for a home. At first
the chimneys were of sticks, plastered with clay,
but these, proving inflammable, were forbidden.
Later chimneys were probably of rough stone laid
in clay, as the majority of New England chimneys
remain to the present time.
Notwithstanding the impressive number of
heavy pieces of cabinetwork believed to have
come over in the Mayflower, it is probable that
most of the early furniture was made by car
penters in Plymouth. Table implements were
chiefly of pewter; though that there were some
silver bowls and occasional silver spoons the
Plymouth wills show beyond a doubt. Forks
the seventeenth century managed quite well with
out.

270 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
The things served in their pewter dishes and
wooden bowls did not make the Pilgrims altogether
happy : corn bread instead of wheat bread ; fish
instead of beef, mutton, and veal. In 1630 milk,
butter, and cheese could be had ; and such garden
staples as beans and pumpkins, squash, turnips,
parsnips, peas, and onions were available in abun
dance. But the things we now associate chiefly
with Cape Cod — oysters, clams, lobsters, and
cranberries — - the Pilgrims either distinctly dis
liked or did not know at all. (With cranberries
they had nothing to do in the early days.) To
tea, coffee, and cocoa we find no allusions in Pljon-
outh while it remained a separate colony; and
pie, which to most people is now synonymous with
New England, was unknown as a dessert in the
seventeenth century. (Nor was it served for
breakfast.) Hasty pudding, on the other hand — made of
corn meal boiled in water or milk — was the almost
universal breakfast dish, and there is reason to
believe that beans baked with pork and succotash
early became popular with the Pilgrim Fathers.
So though most of us who visit Plymouth to-day
resort piously to the restaurant near Pilgrim Hall
and — ^ while a King Charles spaniel sports appro
priately around our heels — partake of lobsters,
clams, and several varieties of fish, out of deference,
as we think, to the early Fathers, those bent on
doing the really proper thing ought instead to
eat a huge dish of succotash made more or less

SOCLy;. LIFE 271
as follows : ^ "Boil two fowls in a large kettle
of water. At the same time boil in another
kettle an half pound of lean pork and two quarts
of common white beans, until like soup. When
the fowls are boiled, skim off the fat and add a
small piece of corned beef, one half of a turnip
sliced and cut small, and five or six potatoes
sliced thin. When cooked tender, take out the
fowls and keep them in the oven with the pork.
The soup of beans and pork should be added to
the water the fowls were cooked in. Add salt
and pepper. Four quart of hulled corn having
been boiled soft are added to the soup. Before
serving, add the meat of one fowl. The second
fowl should be served separately, as also the
corned beef and pork."
The simple meals of the Pilgrims, with succotash
frequently figuring as piece de resistance, were
served at an oaken table which usually shared
with a large chest the honors of the living room.
At the big fireplace in this room most of the cook
ing was done. The old inventories and the con
temporary manuscripts establish the presence,
even in the early days, of fairly complete outfits
of cooking utensils in each home : iron spits for
roasting meat, iron kettles for boiling vegetables
and Dutch ovens for baking bread. A goodly
array of wooden platters (trenchers), of pewter
utensils, of trays, bowls and bottles (though glass
1 Albert Mathews : Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings, Vol.
m, p. 389.

272 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
in any form was not common) are also displayed
in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, adorned with pre
sumably authentic labels.
In the way of household furniture there were
broad-bottomed, roomy armchairs — very straight
as to back — for the grown-ups, wooden benches
or settles for the young folks and servants, and
crickets for the children. The Pilgrims slept in
high-posted bedsteads and the babies in odd little
cradles. For a time oiled paper at the windows
let the light in by day and for many years pitch-
pine knots supplied the only light after darkness
fell. Talking more than reading must have occu
pied the Pilgrims in the evening.
Yet they had books. Brewster left no fewer
than four hundred separate books when he died,
and from the published list of them, we find that,
though they were preponderantly theological in
character, as might have been expected, they
contained as well twenty-four books of history,
six of philosophy, and fourteen poetical in their
nature. Moreover, no less than sixty -two volumes
in this old New England library were in Latin !
Governor Bradford's inventory shows that he
possessed at the time of his death twelve chairs,
three carpets, part of an armor, seventeen sheets,
seventy-nine napkins, ninety-odd pounds of pewter,
seven porringers, four dozen trenchers, a cloth
cloak, clothing including two suits with silver
buttons, thirteen silver spoons, two silver beer
bowls, two silver wine cups, and a case of six

ELDER BREWSTERS CHAIR AND THE CRADLE OF PERECUUM-; WHI'I F.,
THE FIRST PILCRIM BABY
These relics of early New Kn-llanil hnnsel<ecpinf; are now in Pilgrim Hall, PlymouLh.

^HE CHAIR OK PLYMOUTH'S FIRST GOVERNOR, AND AN ANCIENT
SPINNING WHEEL
From the orii^inaK in Pilj^rini Hall, Plynnnilh.

SOCIAL LIFE 273
knives. To be sure, these are only a few of his
possessions, and they have been named for the
light they throw on the personal life of the Gov
ernor and on the habits and customs of the Plym
outh Colony. The value of the entire inventory
was one thousand and five pounds and two shillings.
But no buckles, carriage, looking-glass, forks, or
china were found among the articles possessed by
William Bradford when he passed away in May,
1657. Nor did he own a watch, it would appear.
The funeral charges or listed debts of lonely old
women in the colony are often quite pathetic in
their simplicity. When Grandmother Hurst ^ died,
for instance, the charges against her estate were as
follows : 1. s. d.
To ye finding of her Corne for six yere at
20tie shilling p ye yeare is  6-00-00
To six Hoggs in five yeares at 20 shillings pr
Hogg is,  5-00-00
To ye wintering of a cow 5 yeare at 16 s p ye
yeare  4-00-00
To ye finding of her wood 5 yeare at SOtie
shilling p yeare is  7-10-00
To 5 yeares washing. Dressing off Dyet &
other trouble : at 20tie shillings p ye
yeare is  5-00-00
Other small things I doe not recon June 26,
-1688
June 1670 since 1665 Disbursed cloth for
two shifts  00-14-00
1 Poole : "Book of Old Plymouth Wills."

274 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
3 pair of shoues  00-10-00
Wintering one cow two yeare  01-10-00
Wintering one calf one yeare  00-10-00
Cloth for one peticoat  00-09-00
1 yeare & ^ diet and tendance  08-00-00
Some total is ye some off :  39-03-00
How eloquently this list pictures the lonely last
days of an ancient dame of Plymouth, cared for
by kind, but by no means overindulgent hands,
as the flame of her life expired on the bleak New
England coast.
No aspect of social life is more important than
schools, and nothing in the history of Plymouth
is more extraordinary at first sight than the com
paratively small part played in the life of the
colony by schools and school-teachers. It will
be remembered that one of the reasons why the
Pilgrims left Holland was because they wished
their young .people to be properly brought up;
and in Holland education was universal. Guic-
ciardini notes that every one there had "some
smattering of their Gramer"; and that even the
husbandmen could read and write. At first
teachers in Holland were paid by the people,
but by 1609 the schools were the common prop
erty of the people, paid for out of the municipal
rates.^ The Protestants of the Netherlands saw very
clearly the immense importance of education to
their cause, based as it was upon a study of the
' Motley : "United Netherlands." Vol. IV, 567.

SOCIAL LIFE 275
Scriptures, the general education of the people,
and the wide diffusion of printed books, especially
of the Bible. We cannot for a minute suppose
that Bradford was not keenly aware of the impor
tance of carrying on at Plymouth the traditions
of Holland in respect to education. But his
"History" makes no mention of this matter until
the year 1624, when he replies to a criticism to the
effect that the children of the Pilgrims were
neither taught to read nor to recite the catechism.
This he declares to be not true. On the contrary
he asserts that "divers take pains with their own
as they can ; indeed we have no common school
for want of a fit person or hitherto means to main
tain one ; though we desire now to begin."
It must, however, be borne in mind that at first
there were not many children to be trained. Of
the twelve children who came to Plymouth on
the Mayflower only seven survived the terrible
epidemic of colds which came as a result of the
exposure during those first few weeks when there
was no proper shelter available for the colonists,
and the men waded about in the icy water of
Provincetown Bay, regardless of consequences.
How many children were included in the families
which came over in subsequent early ships does
not appear. There must of course have been
some, but there were not many. And during the
first few years of the colony's life, the increase of
children from births was not very rapid. None
the less a school might have been got together

276 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
had there been a teacher available or money on
hand to meet the expense. As it was, the chil
dren were undoubtedly taught at home as they
had been in England. And that somebody was
doing very satisfactory teaching is clear from the
fact that a daughter of John Howland and Eliza
beth Tilley, who was one of the first generation of
children born to the Pilgrims on these shores,
"signed her name in her old age as administratrix
of her husband's estate in an almost clerkly hand."
That there was a school by 1635 we have con
vincing proof in that a boy by the name of Eaton
was then apprenticed to Bridget Fuller under
terms which required her "to keep him at school
two years." The allusion here might be to family
training of a regular kind, but the presumption
is that there was a school, since in the first class
graduated from Harvard in 1642 Plymouth had
a representative, and in the class of 1650 was
another graduate from the old colony. These
young men must have been fitted for college
somewhere. A fact not to be dodged, however, is that it was
forty years after the landing at Plymouth before
positive enactments on the subject of education
began to appear on the statute books. In 1663
vigorous steps seem to have been taken. Not
only Plymouth, but other towns which had grown
out of the original settlement, like Duxbury and
Marshfield, were now required by the Court, the
lawmaking body, to take into serious considera-

SOCIAL LIFE 277
tion the matter of securing schoolmasters "to
train up children to read and write." Four or
five years later, one John Morton, nephew of the
Nathaniel Morton who was so long Secretary of
the colony, came forward and "offered to teach
children and youth of the town to read and write
and cast accounts on reasonable consideration."
This offer was not accepted at once ; but in 1671
Morton's proposition was acted upon, and the
school was started. One year previously appro
priation had been made to meet the expenses of
such a school ; the Court made a grant of all the
profit annually accruing to the colony "for fishing
with nets or seines at Cape Cod, for mackerel,
bass or herrings, to be made for and toward a
free school in some town in this jurisdiction, pro
vided a beginning was made within one year of
the grant." This school was classical as well as
elementary. It is claimed for it that it was "the
first free school ordained by law in New England."
But this honor belongs to the Bay colony, not to
Plymouth. And though Nathaniel Morton was a
historian and his nephew a schoolmaster, his four
married daughters could not write. Nor could
the wife of Governor Bradford. The education
of women was not regarded with universal favor
in early Plymouth. A project to establish a
school for girls was opposed as late as 1793 on the
ground that it might teach wives how to correct
their husbands' errors in spelling !
Yet there is no call to pity the Pilgrims too

278 THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
much for their scanty educational opportunities
and their barren social life. Nor need we regard
them as too distinctly martyrs to an impossible
ideal. They enjoyed at Plymouth a greater degree
of economic freedom than they could have attained
in Scrooby or Austerfield at this time, and they
were able to bring up their children in comfort
and to worship God in the way that seemed to
them good. The lesson of their lives is, therefore,
an altogether inspiring one : that to those who
have vision and the faith steadfastly to follow
the Gleam a sufficiency of this world's goods and
conditions under which they may enjoy the same
are usually attainable.

APPENDIX
BRADFORD'S "WHO'S WHO" OF THE MAYFLOWER
PASSENGER LIST
The names of those which came over first, in
ye year 1620. and were by the blessing of God the
first beginers and (in a sort) the foundation of
all the Plantations and Colonies in New-England ;
and their families.
8. Mr. John Carver ; Kathrine, his wife ; Desire
Minter ; & 2 man-servants, John Howland, Roger
Wilder ; William Latham, a boy ; & a maid servant,
& a child yt was put to him, called Jasper More.
6. Mr. William Brewster ; Mary, his wife ; with
2. sons, whose names were Love & Wrasling ; and
a boy was put to him called Richard More; and
another of his brothers. The rest of his children
were left behind, & came over afterwards.
5. Mr. Edward Winslow; Elizabeth, his wife; &
2. men servants, caled Georg Sowle and Elias
Story; also a little girle was put to him, caled
Ellen, the sister of Richard More.
2. William Bradford, and Dorothy, his wife;
having but one child, a sone, left behind, who
came afterward.
6. Mr. Isaack Allerton, and Mary, his wife ; with
3. children, Bartholomew, Remember, & Mary;
and a servant boy, John Hooke.

280 APPENDIX
2. Mr. Samuell Fuller, and a servant, caled William
Butten. His wife was behind, & a child, which
came afterwards.
2. John Crakston, and his sone, John Crackston.
2. Captin Myles Standish, and Rose, his wife.
4. Mr. Christopher Martin, and his wife, and 2,
servants, Salamon Prower and John Langemore,
5, Mr. William Mullines, and his wife, and 2.
children, Joseph & Priscila; and a servant,
Robart Carter.
6. Mr. William White, and Susana, his wife, and
one sone, caled Resolved, and one borne a ship-
bord, caled Peregriene; & 2. servants, named
William Holbeck & Edward Thomson.
8. Mr. Steven Hopkins, & Elizabeth, his wife, and
2. children, caled Giles, and Constanta, a doughter,
both by a former wife ; and 2. more by this wife,
caled Damaris & Oceanus ; the last was borne at
sea; and 2. servants, called Edward Doty and
Edward Litster.
1. Mr. Richard Warren; but his wife and children
were lefte behind, and came afterwards.
4. John Billinton, and Elen, his wife ; and 2. sones,
John & Francis.
4. Edward Tillie, and Ann, his wife; and 2. chil
dren that were their cossens, Henery Samson and
Humility Coper.
3. John Tillie, and his wife ; and Eelizabeth, thier
doughter.
2. Francis Cooke, and his sone John. But his
wife & other children came afterwards.
2, Thomas Rogers, and Joseph, his sone. His
other children came afterwards.

APPENDIX 281
3.^ Thomas Tinker, and his wife, and a sone.
2. John Rigdale, and Alice, his wife.
3. James Chilton, and his wife, and Mary, their
doughter. They had an other doughter, yt was
maried, came afterward.
3. Edward Fuller, and his wife, and Samuell, their
Sonne.
3. John Turner, and 2. sones. He had a doughter
came some years after to Salem, wher she is now
living.
3. Francis Eaton, and Sarah, his wife, and Samuell,
their sone, a yong child.
10. Moyses Fletcher, John Goodman, Thomas Wil
liams, Digerie Preist, Edmond Margeson, Peter
Browne, Richard Britterige, Richard Clarke,
Richard Gardenar, Gilbart Winslow.
1. John Alden was hired for a cooper, at South-
Hampton, wher the ship victuled ; and being a
hopfuU yong man, was much desired, but left to
his owne liking to go or stay when he came here ;
but he stayed, and maryed here.
2. John Allerton and Thomas Enlish were both
hired, the later to goe mr of a shalop here, and
ye other was reputed as one of ye company, but
was to go back (being a seaman) for the help of
others behind. But they both dyed here, before
the shipe returned.
2. There were allso other 2. seamen hired to stay
a year here in the country, William Trevore, and
one Ely. But when their time was out, they both
returned. These, being aboute a hundred sowls, came
1 Written 2 in MS.

APPENDIX
over in this first ship; and began this worke,
which God of his goodnes hath hitherto blessed;
let his holy name have ye praise.

And seeing it hath pleased him to give me to see
30. years compleated since these beginnings ; and
that the great works of his providence are to be
observed, I have thought it not unworthy my
paines to take a veiw of the decreasings & in-
creasings of these persons, and such changs as
hath passed over them & theirs, in this thirty
years. It may be of some use to such as come
after; but, however, I shall rest in my owne
benefite. I will therefore take them in order as
they lye.
Mr. Carver and his wife dyed the first year;
he in ye spring, she in ye somer ; also, his man
Roger and ye little boy Jasper dyed before either
of them, of ye commone infection. Desire Minter
returned to her freinds, & proved not very well,
and dyed in England. His servant boy Latham,
after more than 20. years stay in the country,
went into England, and from thence to the Ba-
hamy Hands in ye West Indies, and ther, with
some others, was starved for want of food. His
maid servant maried, & dyed a year or tow after,
here in this place.
His servant, John Howland, maried the doughter
of John Tillie, Elizabeth, and they are both now
living, and have 10. children, now all living; and
their eldest daughter hath 4. children. And
15. ther 2. daughter, 1. all living; and other of their
children mariagable. So 15. are come of them.

APPENDIX 283
4. Mr. Brewster lived to very old age; about 80
years he was when he dyed, having lived some 23.
or 24. years here in ye countrie; & though his
wife dyed long before, yet she dyed aged. His
sone Wrastle dyed a yonge man unmarried; his
sone Love lived till this year 1650. and dyed and
left 4. children, now living. His doughters which
came over after him are dead, but have left sundry
children alive ; his eldest sone is still liveing, and
hath 9. or 10. children; one maried, who hath a
2. child or 2.
Richard More his brother dyed the first winter ;
4. but he is maried, and hath 4. or 5. children, all
living. Mr. Ed. Winslow his wife dyed the first winter ;
and he maried with the widow of Mr. White,
2. and hath 2. children living by her marigable,
besides sundry that are dead.
One of his servants dyed, as also the little girle,
soone after the ships arivall. But his man, Georg
8. Sowle, is still living, and hath 8 children.
William Bradford his wife dyed soone after
their arivall; and he married againe; and hath
4. 4. children, 3. whereof are married.
8. Mr. Allerton his wife dyed with the first, and
his servant, John Hooke. His sone Bartle is
maried in England, but I know not how many
children he hath. His doughter Remember is
maried at Salem, & hath 3. or 4. children living.
And his doughter Mary is maried here, & hath
4. children. Him selfe maried againe with ye
doughter of Mr. Brewster, & hath one sone living
by her, but she is long since dead. And he is

284 APPENDIX
maried againe, and hath left this place long agoe.
So I account his increase to be 8. besides his sons
in England.
2. Mr. Fuller his servant dyed at sea; and after
his wife came over, he had tow children by her,
which are living and growne up to years ; but he
dyed some 15 years agoe.
John Crackstone dyed in the first mortality;
and about some 5. or 6. years after, his sone
dyed ; having lost him selfe in ye wodes, his feet
became frosen, which put him into a feavor, of
which he dyed.
4. Captain Standish ^ his wife dyed in the first
sickness, and he maried againe, and hath 4. sones
liveing, and some are dead.
Mr. Martin, he & all his, dyed in the first in
fection not long after the arivall.
Mr. Molines, and his wife, his sone, and his
servant, dyed the first winter. Only his doughter
15. Priscila survied, and maried with John Alden, who
are both living, and have 11. children. And their
eldest daughter is maried, & hath five children.
Mr. White and his 2. servants dyed soone after
7. ther landing. His wife maried with Mr. Winslow
(as is before noted). His 2. sons are maried, and
Resolved hath 5. children. Peregrine tow, all
living. So their increase are 7.
Mr. Hopkins and his wife are now both dead,
but they lived above 20. years in this place, and
5. had one sone and 4. doughters borne here. Ther
sone became a seaman, & dyed at Barbadoes :
one daughter dyed here, and 2. are maried; one
' Who dyed 3. of Octob. 1655.

APPENDIX 285
of them hath 2. children; & one is yet to mary.
So their increase which still survive are 5. But
4. his sone Giles is maried, and hath 4. children.
12. His daughter Constanta is also maried, and hath
12. children, all of them living, and one of them
maried.
4. Mr. Richard Warren lived some 4. or 5. years,
and had his wife come over to him, by whom he
had 2. sons before dyed ; and one of them is
maryed, and hath 2. children. So his increase is
4. But he had 5. doughters more came over with
his wife, who are all maried, & living, & have
many children.
8, John Billinton, after he had bene here 10. yers,
was executed for killing a man ; and his eldest
sone dyed before him; but his 2. sone is alive,
and maried, & hath 8. children.
7. Edward Tillie and his wife both dyed soon
after their arivall; and the girle Humility, their
cousen, was sent for into England, and dyed ther.
But the youth Henery Samson is still liveing, and
is maried, & hath 7. children.
John Tillie and his wife both dyed a litle after
they came ashore; and their daughter Elizabeth
maried with John Howland, and hath issue as is
before noted.
Francis Cooke is still living, a very olde man,
and hath scene his childrens children have chil
dren; after his wife came over (with other of
his children), he hath three still living by her, all
8. maried, and have 5. children; so their increase
is 8. And his sone John, which came over with
4. him, is maried, and hath 4. chilldren living.

286 APPENDIX
Thomas Rogers dyed in the first sicknes, but
his sone Joseph is still living, and is maried, and
6. hath 6. children. The rest of Thomas Rogers
(children) came over, & are maried, & have many
children. Thomas Tinker and his wife and sone all dyed
in the first sicknes.
And so did John Rigdale and his wife.
10. James Chilton and his wife also dyed in the
first infection. But their daughter Mary is still
living, and hath 9. children ; and one daughter
is maried, & hath a child ; so their increase is 10.
4. Edward Fuller and his wife dyed soon after
they came ashore; but their sone Samuell is
living, & maried, and hath 4. children or more.
John Turner and his 2. sones all dyed in the
first siknes. But he hath a daughter still living
at Salem, well maried, and approved of.
4. Francis Eaton his first wife dyed in the generall
sicknes; and he maried againe, & his 2. wife
dyed, & he maried the 3. and had by her 3. chil
dren. One of them is maried, & hath a child;
the other are living, but one of them is an ideote.
He dyed about 16. years agoe. His sone Samuell,
who came over a sucking child, is allso maried, &
hath a child.
Moyses Fletcher, Thomas Williams, Digerie
Preist, John Goodman, Edmond Margeson,
Richard Britteridge, Richard Clarke. All these
dyed sone after their arivall, in the general sicknes
that befell. But Digerie Preist had his wife & chil
dren sent hither afterwards, she being Mr. AUertons
sister. But the rest left no posteritie here.

APPENDIX 287
Richard Gardinar became a seaman, and died
in England, or at sea.
Gilbert Winslow, after diverse years aboad here,
returned into England, and dyed ther.
Peter Browne maried twise. By his first wife
he had 2. children, who are living, & both of them
maried, and the one of them hath 2. children;
by his second wife he had 2. more. He dyed
about 16. years since.
Thomas English and John Allerton dyed in the
generall siknes.
John Alden maried with Priscilla, Mr. MoUines his
doughter, and had issue by her as is before related.
Edward Doty & Edward Litster, the servants
of Mr. Hopkins. Litster, after he was at liberty,
went to Virginia, & ther dyed. But Edward Doty
by a second wife hath 7. children, and both he and
they are living.
Of these 100, persons which came first over in
this first ship together, the greater halfe dyed in
the generall mortality ; and most of them in 2,
or three monthes time. And for those which
survied, though some were ancient & past pro
creation, & others left ye place and cuntrie, yet
of those few remaining are sprunge up above 160.
persons, in this 30. years and are now living in
this presente year, 1650. besides many of their
children which are dead, and come not within
this account.
And of the old stock (of one & other) ther are
yet living this present year, 1650. nere 30. persons.
Let the Lord have ye praise, who is the High
Preserver of men.

288 APPENDIX
A "COMIC RELIEF" CHAPTER IN PLYMOUTH HISTORY
"The inhabitants of Pasonagessit," according to the
chronicles of Thomas Morton ^ (having translated the
name of their habitation from that ancient Salvage
name to Ma-re Mount, and being resolved to have the
new name confirmed for a memorial to after ages),
"did devise amongst themselves to have it performed
in a solemne manner, with Revels and merriment
after the old English custome; [they] prepared to
sett up a Maypole upon the festivall day of Philip
and Jacob, and therefore brewed a barrell of excellent
beare and provided a case of bottles, to be spent, with
other good cheare, for all commers of that day. And
because they would have it in a compleat forme, they
had prepared a song fitting to the time and present
occasion. And upon Mayday they brought the May
pole to the place appointed, with drumes, gunnes,
pistols and other fitting instruments, for that purpose ;
and there erected it with the help of Salvages, that
came thether of purpose to see the manner of our
Revels. A goodly pine tree of 80. foote longe was
reared up, with a peare of buckshorns nayled one
somewhat neare unto the top of it; where it stood,
as a faire sea marke for directions how to finde out
the way to mine Hoste of Ma-re Mount.
"And because it should more fully appeare to what
end it was placed there, they had a poem in readiness
made, which was fixed to the Maypole, to shew the
new names confirmed upon that plantation; which,
• This is from Chapter XIV of the "Second Booke" of the "New Canaan."
I am indebted to the courtesy of the Prince Society for permission to repro
duce thus at length quotations from Morton's work heretofore inaccessible
to "the general."

APPENDIX 289
allthough it were made according to the occurrents
of the time, it being Enigmattically composed, pusselled
the Separatists most pittifuUy to expound it, which,
(for the better information of the reader), I have here
inserted." (As the poem "pussells" me no less than it did the
"Separatists" I have refrained from "pusselling" my
readers with it.)
"The setting up of this Maypole was a lamentable
spectacle to the precise seperatists, that lived at new
Plimmouth. They termed it an IdoU; yea, they
called it the Calfe of Horeb, and stood at defiance
with the place, naming it Mount Dagon ; threatning
to make it a woef nil mount and not a merry mount.
"The Riddle, for want of Oedipus, they could not
expound ; onely they made some explication of part
of it, and sayd it was meant by Sampson lob, the
carpenter of the shipp that brought over a woman to
her husband, that had bin there longe before and
thrived so well that hee sent for her and her children
to come to him ; where shortly after hee died ; having
no reason, but because of the sound of those two words ;
when as, (the truth is) , the man they applyed it to was
altogether unknowne to the Author.
"There was likewise a merry song made, which, (to
make their Revells more fashionable,) was sung with
a Corns, every man bearing his part; which they
performed in a daunce, hand in hand about the May
pole, whiles one of the Company sung and filled out
the good liquor, like gammedes and Jupiter.

290 APPENDIX The Songe
Drinke and be merry, merry, merry boyes ;
Let all your delight be m the Hymens joyes ;
lo to Hymen, now the day is come.
About the merry Maypole take a Roome.
Make greene garlons, bring bottles out
And fill sweet Nectar freely about.
Uncover thy head and feare no harme.
For hers good liquor to keepe it warme.
Then drinke and be merry, etc.
lo to Hymen, etc.
Nectar is a thing assign'd.
By the Deities owne minde.
To cure the hart opprest with greife,
And of good liquors is the cheife.
Then drinke, etc.
lo to Hymen, etc.
Give to the Mellancolly man
A cup or two of 't now and than ;
This physick will soone revive his blood
And make him be of a merrier moode.
Then drinke, etc.
lo to Hymen, etc.
Give to the Nymphe thats free from scorne.
No Irish stuff nor Scotch over worne.
Lasses in beaver coats come away,
Yee shall be welcome to us night and day.
To drinke and be merry, etc.,
lo to Hymen, etc.
"This harmeles mirth made by younge men, (that
lived in hope to have wifes brought over to them, that

APPENDIX 291
would save them a laboure to make a voyage to fetch
any over), was much distasted of the precise Seperatists,
that keepe much a doe about the tyth of Mint and
Cummin, troubling their braines more then reason
would require about things that are indifferent; and
from that time sought occasion against my honest
Host of Ma-re Mount, to overthrow his ondertakings
and to destroy his plantation quite and cleane. But
because they presumed with their imaginary gifts,
(which they have out of Phaos box), they could ex
pound hidden misteries, to convince them of blindnes,
as well in this as in other matters of more consequence,
I will illustrate the poem, according to the true intent
of the authors of these Revells, so much distasted by
those Moles.
"Oedipus is generally receaved for the absolute
reader of riddles, who is invoaked : Silla and Caribdis
are two dangerous places for seamen to incounter
neere unto Venice ; and have bin by poets formerly
resembled to man and wife. The like licence the
author challenged for a paire of his nomination, the
one lamenting for the losse of the other as Niobe for
her children. Amphitrite is an arme of the Sea, by
which the newes was carried up and downe of a rich
widow, now to be tane up or laid down. By Triton
is the fame spread that caused the Suters to muster,
(as it had bin to Penellope of Greece) ; and, the coast
lying circular, all our passage to and froe is made more
convenient by Sea then Land. Many aimed at this
marke,; but hee that played Proteus best and could
comply with her humor must be the man that would
carry her ; and hee had need have Sampsons strengtht
to deale with a Dallila, and as much patience as Job

292 APPENDIX
that should come there, for a thing that I did observe
in the life-time of the former.
"But marriage and hanging, (they say), comes by
desteny and Scogans choice tis better [than] none at
all. Hee that playd Proteus, (with the helpe of
Priapus), put their noses out of joynt, as the Prov-
erbe is.
"And this the whole company of the Revellers at
Ma-re Mount knew to be the true sence and exposition
of the riddle that was fixed to the Maypole, which
the Seperatists were at defiance with. Some of them
affirmed that the first institution thereof was in mem
ory of a whore ; ^ not knowing that it was a Trophe
errected at first in honor of Maj a, the Lady of learning
which they despise, vilifying the two universities with
uncivile terms, accounting what is there obtained by
studdy is but unnecessary learning; not considering
that learninge does inable mens mindes to converse
with eliments of a higher nature then is to be found
within the habitation of the Mole." ^
We come now to the chapter in which our satirist
describes his arrest at the hands of Standish, whom
he calls Captain Shrimp. Bradford's sober version
of this encounter we have already read.
"The Separatists, envying the prosperity and hope
of the Plantation at Ma-re Mount, (which they per-
ceaved beganne to come forward, and to be in a good
way for gaine in the Beaver trade), conspired together
against mine Host especially, (who was the owner of
that Plantation), and made up a party against him;
1 "Ye Roman Goddes Flora," according to Bradford.
' Here ends Chapter XIV. Morton, we see by this closing paragraph,
chose constantly to ignore the fact that there were other university men
than himself within the confin?3 of the Plymouth Colony,

APPENDIX 293
and mustred up what aide they could, accounting him
as of a great Monster.
"Many threatening speeches were given out both
against his person and his Habitation, which they
divulged should be consumed with fire : And taking
advantage of the time when his company, (which
seemed little to regard theire threats), were gone up
into the Inlands to trade with the Salvages for Beaver,
they set upon my honest host at a place called Wessa-
guscus, where, by accident, they found him. The
inhabitants there were in good hope of the subvertion
of the plantation at Mare Mount, (which they prin
cipally aymed at;) and the rather because mine host
was a man that indeavored to advaunce the dignity
of the Church of England; which they, (on the con
trary part), would laboure to vilifie with uncivile
termes ; enveying against the sacred booke of common
prayer, and mine host that used it in a laudable manner
amongst his family, as a practise of piety.
"There hee would be a meanes to bringe facks to
their mill, (fuch is the thirst after Beaver), and helped
the conspiratores to surprise mine host, (who was there
all alone;) and they chardged him, (because they
would seeme to have some reasonable cause against
him to sett a glosse upon their mallice), with criminal
things; which indeede had beene done by such a
person, but was of their conspiracy; mine host de
maunded of the conspirators who it was that was
author of that information, that seemed to be their
ground for what they now intended. And because
they answered they would not tell him, hee as peremp
torily replyed, that hee would not say whether he had,
or he had not done as they had bin informed.

294 APPENDIX
"The answere made no matter, (as it seemed),
whether it had bin negatively or affirmatively made;
for they had resolved what hee should suffer, because,
(as they boasted), they were now become the greater
number : they had shaked of their shackles of servi
tude, and were become Masters, and masteries people.
"It appeares they were like beares whelpes in former
time, when mine hosts plantation was of as much
strength as theirs, but now, (theirs being stronger),
they, (like overgrowne beares), seemed monsterous.
In breife, mine host must indure to be their prisoner
until they could contrive it so that they might send
him for England, (as they said), there to suffer accord
ing to the merrit of the fact which they intended to
father upon him supposing, (belike), it would prove a
hainous crime.
"Much rejoycing was made that they had gotten
their capitall enemy, (as they concluded him) ; whome
they purposed to hamper in such sort that hee should
not be able to uphold his plantation at Ma-re Mount.
"The Conspirators sported themselves at my honest
host, that meant them no hurt, and were so joccund
that they feasted their bodies, and fell to tippeling as
if they had obtained a great prize; like the Trojans
when they had the custody of Hippeus pinetree horse.
"Mine host fained greefe, and could not be per-
swaded either to eate or drinke; because he knew
emptines would be a meanes to make him as watchfull
as the Geese kept in the Roman Cappitall ; whereon,
the contrary part, the conspirators would be so drowsy
that hee might have an opportunity to give them a
slip, insteade of a tester. Six persons of the con
spiracy were set to watch him at Wessaguscus; But

APPENDIX 295
hee kept waking ; and in the dead of night (one lying
on the bed for further suerty), up gets mine Host and
got to the second dore that hee was to passe, which
notwithstanding the lock, hee got open, and shut it
after him with such violence that it affrighted some of
the conspirators.
"The word, which was given with an alarme, was,
o he's gone, he's gon, what shall wee doe, he's gon !
The rest, (halfe a sleepe), start up in a maze, and,
like rames, ran theire heads one at another full butt
in the darke.
"Their grande leader, Captaine Shrimp, took on
most furiously and tore his clothes for anger, to see
the empty nest, and their bird gone.
"The rest were eager to have torne their haire from
theire heads; but it was so short that it would give
them no hold. Now Captain Shrimp thought in the
losse of this prize, (which hee accoumpted his Master
peece), all his honor would be lost for ever.
"In the mean time mine Host was got home to
Ma-re Mount through the woods, eight miles round
about the head of the river Monatoquit that parted
the two Plantations, finding his way by the helpe of
the lightening, (for it thundered as hee went terribly ;)
and there hee prepared powther, three pounds dried,
for his present employment, and foure good gunnes
for him and the two assistants left at his howse, with
bullets of severall sizes, three hounderd or there
abouts, to be used if the conspirators should pursue
him thether: and these two persons promised theire
aides in the quarrell, and confirmed that promise with
health in good rosa solis.
"Now Captaine Shrimp, the first Captaine in the

296 APPENDIX
Land, (as hee supposed), must doe some new act to
repaire this losse, and, to vindicate his reputation,
who had sustamed blemish by this oversight, begms
now to study, how to repaire or survive his honor:
in this manner, callinge of Councell, they conclude.
"He takes eight persons more to him, and, (like the
nine Worthies of New Canaan), they imbarque with
preparation against Ma-re-Mount, where this Monster
of a man, as theire phrase was, had his denne; the
whole number, had the rest not bin from home, being
but seaven, would have given Captaine Shrimpe, (a
quondam Drummer), such a wellcome as would have
made him wish for a Drume as bigg as Diogenes tubb,
that hee might have crept into it out of sight.
"Now the nine Worthies are approached, and mine
Host prepared : having intelligence by a Salvage,
that hastened in love from Wessaguscus to give him
notice of their intent.
"One of mine Hosts men prooved a craven: the
other had prooved his wits to purchase a little valoure,
before mine Host had observed his posture.
"The nine worthies comming before the Deime of
this supposed Monster, (this seaven headed -hydra, as
they termed him,) and began, like Don Quixote against
the Windmill, to beate a parly, and to offer quarter,
if mine Host would yeald; for they resolved to send
him for England ; and bad him lay by his armes.
"But hee, (who was the Sonne of a Souldier), having
taken up armes in his just defence, replyed that hee
would not lay by those armes, because they were so
needefull at Sea, if hee should be sent over. Yet, to
save the effusion of so much worty bloud, as would
haue issued out of the vaynes of these 9. worthies of

APPENDIX 297
New Canaan, if mine Host should have played upon
them out at his port holes, (for they came within
danger like a flocke of wild geese, as if they had bin
tayled one to another, as coults to be sold at a faier),
mine Host was content to yeelde upon quarter; and
did capitulate with them in what manner it should be
for more certainety, because hee knew what Captaine
Shrimpe was.
"Hee expressed that no violence should be offered
to his person, none to his goods, nor any of his Howse-
hold; but that hee should have his armes, and what
els was requisit for the voyage : which theire Herald
retornes, it was agreed upon, and should be performed.
"But mine Host no sooner had set open the dore,
and issued out, but instantly Captaine Shrimpe and
the rest of the worties stepped to him, layd hold of
his armes, and had him downe; and so eagerly was
every man bent against him, (not regarding any agree
ment made with such a carnall man), that they fell
upon him as if they would have eaten him : some of
them were so violent that they would have a slice
with scabbert, and all for haste ; until an old Souldier,
(of the Queenes, as the Proverbe is), that was there by
accident, clapt his gunne under the weapons, and
sharply rebuked these worthies for their unworthy
practises. So the matter was taken into more de
liberate consideration.
" Captaine Shrimpe, and the rest of the nine worthies,
made themselves, (by this outragious riot). Masters
of mine Hoste of Ma-re Mount, and disposed of what
hee had at his plantation.
"This they knew, (in the eye of the Salvages),
would add to their glory, and diminish the reputation

298 APPENDIX
of mine honest Host; whome they practised to be
ridd of upon any termes, as willingly as if hee had
bin the very Hidra of the time."
Somehow as one reads this literary production of
Thomas Morton, one is reminded of another Thomas,
better known as Tommy, whom James M. Barrie
has immortalized in our own time and who likewise
had a gift for making himself the hero and central
figure of all the adventures of which he was a part.
Let us follow further this "Sentimental Tommy" of
an earlier day : ^
"The nine worthies of New Canaan having now
the Law in their owne hands, (there being no generall
Governour in the Land; nor none of the Seperation
that regarded the duety they owe their Soveraigne,
whose naturall borne Subjects they were, though
translated out of Holland, from whence they had
learned to worke all to their owne ends, and make a
great shewe of Religion, but no humanity), for they
were now to sit in Counsell on the cause.
"And much it stood mine honest Host upon to be very
circumspect, and to take Eacus ^ to taske ; for that
his voyce was more allowed of then both the other:
and had not mine Host confounded all the arguments
that Eacus could make in their defence, and confuted
him that swaied the rest, they would have made him
unable to drinke in such manner of merriment any
more. So that following this private counsell, given
him by one that knew who ruled the rost, the Hiracano
ceased that els would split his pinace.
'¦ We come now to Chapter XVI of the third book of "The New English
Canaan." 2 The reference here is supposed to be to Doctor Samuel Fuller, the
physician of the Colony.

APPENDIX 299
"A conclusion was made and sentence given that
mine Host should be sent to England a prisoner.
But when hee was brought to the shipps for that pur
pose, no man durst be so foole hardy as to undertake
carry him.^ So these Worthies set mine Host upon
an Island, without gunne, powther, or shot or dogge
or so much as a knife to get any thinge to feede upon,
or any other cloathes to shelter him with at winter
then a thinne suite which hee had one at that time.
Home hee could not get to Ma-re-Mount. Upon this
Island hee stayed a moneth at least, and was re-
leeved by Salvages that took notice that mine Host
was a Sachem of Passonagessit, and would bringe
bottles of strong liquor to him, and unite them
selves into a league of brother hood with mine Host;
so full of humanity are these infidels before those
Christians. "From this place for England sailed mine Host in
a Plimmouth shipp, (that came into the Land to fish
upon the Coast,) that landed him safe in England
at PHmmouth : and he stayed in England untill the
ordinary time for shipping to set forth for these parts,
and then retorned : ^ Noe man being able to taxe him
of any thinge.
"But the Worthies, (in the meane time), hoped they
had bin ridd of him."
They did, indeed ! But let the gifted Thomas tell
this tale, too, as he proceeds to do in a short chapter
(XVII of Book III) and a long and altogether senseless
• Morton here confuses his 1628 experience in Plymouth with what befell
him in Boston two years later.
^ It was really not until towards the close of the summer of the next year
that Morton returned to Massachusetts, in company with Allerton, as we
have seen.

300 APPENDIX
poem to which, however, he devotes a long explanation
as follows :
"Now to illustrate this Poem, and make the sence
more plaine, it is to be considered that the Persons at
Ma-re-Mount were seaven, and they had seaven heads
and 14 feete; these were accounted Hidra with the
seaven heads : and the Maypole, with the Homes
nailed neere the topp, was the forked tayle of this
supposed Monster, which they (for want of skill),
imposed : yet feared in time, (if they hindred not
mine Host), hee would hinder the benefit of their
Beaver trade, as hee had done, (by meanes of this
helpe), in Kynyback river finely, ere they were awares ;
who, comming too late, were much dismaide to finde
that mine Host his boate had gleaned away all before
they came; which Beaver is a fitt companion for
Scarlett: and I beleeve that Jasons golden Fleece
was either the same, or some other Fleece not of so
much value.
"This action bred a kinde of hart burning in the
Plimmouth Planters, who after sought occasion against
mine Host to overthrowe his undertakings and to
destroy his Plantation; whome they accounmpted a
maine enemy to theire Church and State.
"Now when they had begunne with him, they
thought best to proceede : forasmuch as they thought
themselves farre enough from any controule of Justice,
and therefore resolved to be their owne carvers : (and
the rather because they presumed upon some in-
couragement they had from the favourites of their
Sect in England :) and with fire and sword, nine in
number, pursued mine Host, who had escaped theire
hands, in scorne of what they intended, and betooke

APPENDIX 301
him to his habitation in a night of great thunder and
lightening, when they durst not follow him, as hardy
as these nine worthies seemed to be.
"It was in the Moneth of June that these Marshal-
lists had appointed to goe about this mischeifous proj
ect, and deale so crabbidly with mine Host.
"After a parly, hee capitulated with them about
the quarter they proffered him, if hee would content
to goe for England, there to answere, (as they pre
tended), some thing they could object against him
principall to the generall : But what it would be hee
cared not, neither was it anything materiall.
"Yet when quarter was agreed upon, they, con
trary wise, abused him, and carried him to theire
towne of Plimmouth, where, (if they had thought
hee durst have gone to England), rather then they
would have bin any more affronted by him they would
have dispatched him, as Captaine Shrimp in a rage
profest that hee would doe with his PistoU, as mine
Host should set his foote into the boate. Howsoever,
the cheife Elders voyce in that place was more power-
full than any of the rest, who concluded to send mine
Host without any other thing to be done to him.
And this being the finall agreement, (contrary to
Shrimpe and others), the nine worthies had a great
Feast made, and the furmity ^ pott was provided for
the boats gang by no allowance : and all manner of
pastime. "Captaine Shrimpe was so overjoyed in the per
formance of this exployt, that they had, at that time,
extraordinary merriment, (a thing not usuaU amongst
' Apparently the allusion here is to frumenty which, according to Webster,
is wheat boiled in milk, seasoned with sugar, cinnamon, etc.

302 APPENDIX
those presisians) ; and when the winde served they
tooke mine Host into their ShaUop, hoysed Saile, and
carried him to the Northern parts; where they left
him upon a Island,"
Now we come to a chapter in which is related the story
of a great Bonfire made for joy of the arrival of great
Josua, surnamed Temperwell, into the Land of Canaan.^
"Seaven shipps set forth at once, and altogether
arrived in the Land of Canaan, to take a full posses
sion thereof: What are all the 12. Tribes of new
Israeli come? No, none but the tribe of Issacar, and
some few scattered Levites of the remnant of those
that were descended of old Elies Howse.
"And here comes their Josua, too among them;
and they make it a more miraculous thing for theire
seaven shipps to set forth together, and arrive at New
Canaan together, then it was for the Israelites to goe
over Jordan drishod ; perhaps it was, because they
had a wall on the right hand and a wall on the left
hand. "These Seperatists suppose there was no more
difficulty in the matter then for a man to finde the
way to the Counter at noone dayes, betweene a Ser
geant and his yeoman : Now you may thinke mine
Host will be hampered or never.
"There are the men that come prepared to ridd the
Land of all pollution. These are more fubtile then
the Cunning, that did refuse a goodly heap of gold.
' The arrival of Winthrop's fleet in Jime, 1630, is here referred to. It
has already been stated that Josua Temperwell is intended for Governor
Winthrop. It will be noticed that Morton, much as he disliked him, always
refers to Winthrop, if not with respect, yet with a certain restraint of tone
and insinuation which he did not show to others, such as Endicott, Fuller,
and Standish.

APPENDIX 303
These men have brought a very snare indeed; and
now mine Host must suffer. The Book of Common
Prayer, which hee used, to be despised : and hee must
not be spared.
"Now they are come, his doome before hand was
concluded on : they have a warrant now : A cheife
one too : and now mine Host must know hee is the
subject of their hatred : the Snare must now be used ;
this instrument must not be brought by Josua in vaine.
"A Court is called of purpose for mine host : hee
there convented, and must heare his doome before
hee goe : nor will they admitt him to capitulate, and
know wherefore they are so violent to put such things
in practise against a man they never saw before : now
will they allow of it, though hee decline their juris
diction. "There they all with one assent put him to silence,
crying out, heare the Governour, heare the Govern :
who gave this sentence against mine Host at first
sight : that he should be first put in the Billbowes,
his goods should be all confiscated, his Plantation
should be burned downe to the ground, because the
habitation of the wicked should no more appeare in
Israeli, and his person banished from those terri
tories ; and this put in execution with all speede.
"The harmeles Salvages, (his neighboures), came the
while, (greived, poore filly lambes, to see what they
went about), and did reproove these Eliphants of
witt for their inhumane deede : the Lord above did
open their mouthes like Balams Asse, and made them
speake in his behalfe sentences of unexpected divinity,
besides morrallity; and toule them that god would
not love them that burned this good mans howse;

304 APPENDIX
and plainely sayed that they who were new come would
finde the want of such a howses in the winter: so
much themselves to him confest.
"The smoake that did assend appeared to be the
very Sacrifice of Kain. Mine Host, (that a farre of
abourd a ship did there behold this wofuU spectacle)
knew not what hee should doe in this extremity but
beare and forbeare, as Epictetus sayes : it was boote-
leffe to exclaime.
"Hee did consider then these transitory things are
but ludibria fortunae, as Cicero calls them. All was
burnt downe to the ground, and nothing did remaine
but the bare ashes as an embleme of their cruelty:
and unles it could, (like to the Phenix), rise out of
these ashes and be new againe, (to the immortall
glory and renowne of this fertile Canaan the new),
the stumpes and postes in their black liveries will
mourne ; and piety it selfe will add a voyce to the
bare remnant of that Monument, and make it cry
for recompence, (or else revenge), against the Sect of
cruell Schismaticks."
And now we are to listen to a sermon from Thomas
Morton on Charity. He calls this peroration "The
Charity of the Seperatists." ^
"Charity is sayd to be the darling of Religion, and
is indeed the Marke of a good Christian : But where
we doe finde a Commission for ministring to the
necessity of the Saints, we doe not finde any prohibi
tion against casting our bread upon the water, where
the unsanctified, as well as the sanctified, are in possi
bility to make use of it.
1 Thus is Chapter XXVI of Book III of "The New English Canaan", a
highly malicious and grossly untrue piece of writing, as we know from
repeated evidence of the kindness of the Pilgrims to sick Indians and others.

APPENDIX 305
"I cannot perceave that the Seperatists doe allow
of helping our poore, though they magnify their prac
tise in contributing to the nourishment of their Saints ;
For as much as some that are of the number of those
whom they terme without, (though it were in case of
sicknesse), upon theire landing, when a little fresh
victuals would have recovered their healths, yet could
they not finde any charitable assistance from them.
Nay, mine Host of Ma-re-Mount, (if hee might have
had the use of his gunne, powther and shot, and his
dogg, which were denied), hee doubtles would have
preserved such poore helples wretches as were neg
lected by those that brought them over; which was
so apparent, (as it seemed), that one of their own
tribe said, the death of them would be required at
some bodies hands one day, (meaning Master Temper-
weU). "But such good must not come from a carnall
man : if it come from a member, then it is a sanctified
worke ; if otherwise, it is rejected as unsanctified.
"But when Shackles wife, and such as had husbands,
parents or freinds, happened to bee sick, mine Hosts
helpe was used, and instruments provided for him to
kill fresh vittell with, (wherein hee was industrious),
and the persons, having fresh vittell, lived.
"So doubtles might many others have bin preserved,
but they were of the number left without ; neither wUl
those precise people admit a carnall man into their
howses, though they have made use of his in the like
case ; they are such antagonists to those that doe not
comply with them, and seeke to be admitted to be of
their Church, that in scorne they say, you may see
what it is to be without,"

306 APPENDIX
But the crowning insult of this extraordinary piece
of writing is to be found in the chapter which follows
and which is called "Of the practise of their Church."
This is the most significant chapter of the whole book
and was deliberately designed to act on the well-known
prejudices of Archbishop Laud, the head and controlling
spirit of that Board of Lords Commissioners of Foreign
Plantations which then had supreme authority over the
Colonies. Morton dedicated his book to this Board,
which at this very time was taking active measures
to vacate the Massachusetts Charter and to assume
the direct government of the colonies. Over against
Morton's account of religious life in Plymouth one
would do well to set that of Lechford — a lawyer by
profession — who though a devout member of the
Church of England, has given us in his Plaine Dealing
a trustworthy description of the practice of the New
England churches during the earliest days of the
settlement. "The Church of the Seperatists," our propagandist
begins, "is governed by Pastors, Elders and Deacons,
and there is not any of these, though hee be but a
Cow keeper, but is allowed to exercise his guifts in
the publik assembly on the Lords day,^ so as hee doe
not make use of any notes for the helpe of his mem
ory : for such things, they say, smell of Lampe oyle,
and there must be no such unsavery perfume admitted
to come into the congregation.
"These are all publike preachers. There is amongst
these people a Deakonesse, made of the sisters, that
' "Teaching in the church publicly" was charged against Winslow in
1634 before the Lords Commissioners; and at Archbishop Laud's "ve
hement importunity" the distinguished Pilgrim was at this time com
mitted to the Fleet.

APPENDIX 307
uses her guifts at home in an assembly of her sexe,
by way of repetition or exhortation. Such is their
practise. "The Pastor, (before hee is allowed of), must dis-
claime his former calling to the Ministry, as hereticall ;
and take a new calling after their fantasticall inven
tions : and then hee is admitted to bee their Pastor,
"The manner of disclaimeing is, to renounce his
calling with bitter execrations, for the time that hee
hath heretofore lived in it : and after his new election,
there is great joy conceaved at his commission.^
"And theire Pastors have this preheminence above
the Civil Magistrate : Hee must first consider of the
complaint made against a member : and if hee be
disposed to give the partie complained of an ad
monition, there is no more to be said : if not ; Hee
delivers him over to the Magistrate to deale with
him in a course of Justice, according to theire practise
in cases of that nature.
"Of these pastors I have not knowne many : some
I have observed together with theire carriage in New
Canaan, and can informe you what opinion hath bin
conceaved of theire conditions in the perticuler. There
is one who, (as they give it out there that thinke they
speake it to advaunce his worth), has bin expected to
exercise his gifts in an assembly that stayed his com
ming, in the middest of his Jorney falls into a fitt,
(which they terme a zealous meditation), and was 4.
miles past the place appointed before hee came to
himselfe, or did remember where abouts hee went.
And how much these things are different from the
''It takes little imagination to see how Archbishop Laud would have
foamed at the mouth at this piece of misinformation and at the equally
malicious paragraph concerning the "deaconess.

308 APPENDIX
actions of mazed men, I leave to any indifferent man
to judge ; and if I should say they are all much alike,
they that have scene and heard what I have done, will
not condemne mee altogether,
"Now, for as much as by the practise of theire
Church every Elder or Deacon may preach, it is not
amisse to discover their practise in that perticuler,
before I part with them.
"It has bin an old saying, and a true, what is bred
in the bone will not out of the flesh, nor the stepping
into the pulpit that can make the person fitt for the
imployment. The imfitnes of the person undertaking
to be the Messenger has brought a blemish upon
the message, as in the time of Lewes the Eleventh,
King of France, who, (having advaunced his Barber
to place of Honor, and graced him with emiaent
titles), made him so presumptuous to undertake an
Embassage to treat with forraine princes of Civile
affaires. "But what was the issue? Hee behaved himselfe
so unworthily, (yet as well as his breeding would give
him leave), that both the Messenger and the message
were despised; and had not hee, (being discovered),
conveyed himselfe out of their territories, they had
made him pay for his barbarous presumption.
"Socrates sayes, loquere ut te videam. If a man
observe these people in the exercise of their gifts, hee
calling, the asses eares will peepe through the lyons
hide. I am sorry they cannot discerne their owne
infirmities. I wUl deale fairely with them, for I will
draw their pictures cap a pe, that you may discerne
them plainely from head to foote in their postures,
that so much bewitch, (as I may speake with modesty).

APPENDIX 309
these ilUterate people to be so fantasticaU, to take
lonas taske upon them without sufficient warrant.'
"One steps up like the Minister of Justice with the
ballance onely, not a sword for feare of affrighting his
auditory. Hee poynts at a text, and handles it as
evenly as hee can ; and teaches the auditory, that the
thing hee has to deliver must be well waied, for it is
a very pretious thing, yes, much more pretious then
gold or pearle : and hee wUl teach them the meanes
how to way things of that excellent worth; that a
man would suppose hee and his auditory were to part
stakes by the scale; and the like distribution they
have used about a bag pudding.
"Another, (of a more cutting disposition), steps in
his steed ; and hee takes a text, which hee divides
into many parts : (to speake truly) as many as hee
list. The fag end of it hee pares away, as a superfluous
remnant. "Hee puts his auditory in comfort, that hee will
make a garment for them, and teach them how they
shall put it on ; and incourages them to be in love
with it, for it is of such a fashion as doth best become
a Christian man. Hee will assuer them that it shall
be armor of proffe against all assaults of Satan. This
garment, (sayes hee), is not composed as the garments
made by a carnall man, that are sowed with a hot
needle and a burning thread; but it is a garment
that shaU out last all the garments ; and, if they will
make use of it as hee shall direct them, they shall be
able, (like saint George,) to terrific the greate Dragon,
error; and defend truth, which error with her wide
chaps would devoure; whose mouth shall be filled
' Jonah or Jonas being the first Hebrew prophet sent to a heathen nation.

310 APPENDIX
with the shredds and parings, which hee continually
gapes for under the cutting bourd.
"A third, hee supplies the rome; and in the exercise
of his guifts begins with a text that is drawne out of a
fountaine that has in it no dreggs of popery. This
shall proove unto you, (says hee), the Cup of repent
ance : it is not like unto the Cup of the Whore of
Babilon, who wUl make men drunk with the dreggs
thereof : it is filled up to the brim with comfortable
Joyce, and will proove a comfortable cordiall to a sick
foule, sayes hee. And so hee handles the matter as if hee
dealt by the pinte and quarte, with Nic and Froth.^
"An other, (a very learned man indeed), goes another
way to worke with his auditory ; and exhorts them to
walke upright, in the way of their calling, and not,
(like carnall men,) tread awry. And if they should
fayle in the performance of that duety, yet they should
seeke for amendement whiles it was time; and tells
them it would bee to late to seek for help when the
shop windows were shutt up : and pricks them for
ward with a freindly admonition not to place theire
delight in worldly pleasures, which wUl not last, but
in time will come to an end; but so to handle the
matter that they may be found to wax better and
better, and then they shall be doublely rewarded for
theire worke: and so closes up the matter in a com
fortable manner.
"But stay: Here is one stept up in haste, and,
(being not minded to hold his auditory in expectation
of any long discourse), hee takes a text; and, (for
' Nic, or more correctly, nick, namely, "a raised or indented bottom in
a beer-can, by which the customers were cheated, the nick below and the
froth above filling up part of the measure." — Wright's " Dictionary of
Obsolete and Provincial English."

APPENDIX 311
brevities sake), divides it into one part: and then
runnes so fast a fore with the matter, that his auditory
cannot follow him. Doubtles his Father was some
Irish footeman ; ' by his speede it seemes so. And it
may be at the howre of death, the sonne, being present,
did participat of his Fathers nature, (according to
Pithagoras), and so the vertue of his Fathers nimble
feete being infused into his braines, might make his
tongue outrunne his wit.
"Well, if you marke it, these are special gifts in
deede: which the vulgar people are so taken with,
that there is no perswading them that it is so ridiculous.
"This is the meanes, (O the meanes), that they
pursue : This that comes without premeditation ;
This is the Suparlative : and hee that does not ap-
proove of this, they say is a very reprobate.
"Many unwarrantable Tenents they have likewise:
some of which being come to my knowledge I wil here
set downe : one whereof, being in publicke practise
maintained, is more notorious then the rest. I will
therefore beginne with that, and convince them of
manifest error by the maintenance of it, which is this :
"That it is the Magistrates office absolutely, (and
not the Minsters), to joyne the people in lawful matri
mony. And for this they vouch the History of Ruth,
saying Boas was married to Ruth in presence of the
Elders of the people. Herein they mistake the scope
of the text.
"2. That it is a relique of popery to make use of a
ring in marriage : and that it is a diabolicall circle for
the Divell to daunce in,
' Footmen were originally men who ran on foot ahead of the coaches to
notify innkeepers that guests might soon be expected.

312 APPENDIX
"3. That the purification used for weomen after
delivery is not to be used.
"4. That no child shall be baptised whose parents
are not receaved into their Church first.
"5. That no person shall be admitted to the Sacra
ment of the Lords supper that is without.^
"6. That the booke of Common prayer is an idoU:
and all that use it. Idolaters.
"7. That every man is bound to beleeve a professor
upon his bare affirmation onely, before a Protestant
upon oath.
"8. That no person hath any right to Gods crea
tures, but Gods children onely, who are themselves :
and that all others are but usurpers of the Creatures.
"9. And that, for the generall good of their Church
and commonwealth, they are to neglect father, mother
and all friendship.
"10. Much a doe they keepe about their Church
discipline, as if that were the most essentiall part of
their Religion. Tythes are banished from thence, all
except the tyth of Mint and Commin.
"11. They differ from us something in the creede
too, for if they get the goods of one, that is without,
into their hands, hee shall be kept without remedy
for any satisfaction : and they beleeve that this is
not cosenage.
"12. And lastly they differ from us in the manner
of praying ; for they winke ^ when they pray, because
they thinke themselves so perfect in the highe way to
heaven that they can find it blindfould : So doe not I."
' "Without" was commonly used by Bradford, also, as meaning outside
the church.
' An obsolete use of the word winh is "to shut the eyes'' (Worcester).

APPENDIX 313
Three more chapters there are in "The New English
Canaan", but with this one with its skillful pandering
to the prejudices of Laud we may well close. It did
a good deal of mischief for the Plymouth Colony in
England, as it was meant to do; but being largely
lies, its effects were not lasting. For us of to-day its
sole appeal lies in its humorous exaggerations.

INDEX

"Aaron and Moses op the New
EnGIAND ENTEHPHlaE," 58
Aborigines, 138, 142, 178
Adams, Charles Francis, Jr., 248, 249
Adams, John Quincy, 101, 246, 249
" A Dialogue, or the sum of a Confer
ence Between some young men
bom in New England and sun
dry ancient men that came out
of Holland and Old England,
Anno Domini, 1648," 233
"Adventurers," 53, 54, 117, 121,
124, 125, 208, 209, 210
Terms of, 53, 54
Agawam Point (Frenchman's Point),
118 note
Ainsworth, Henry, 31, 41, 215
Alden, John, 94, 109, 181 note, 182,
281, 284, 287
Alden, Priscilla. See Mullins, Pris
cilla
Alexander (son of Massasoit), 171
Allerton, Bartholomew, 279, 283
Allerton, Isaack, 94, 132, 148, 151,
181 note, 182, 234, 256, 279, 283
Allerton, John, 181 note, 281, 287
Allerton, Mary, 182, 279, 283
Allerton, Mary (daughter of Isaack
Allerton), 279, 283
Allerton, Remember, 279, 283
AU Souls College, Oxford, 230
Ames, Dr. Azel, his "Log of the
Mayflower," 52
Amsterdam, 4, 10, 16, 22, 30, 31, 32,
34, 35, 36, 38, 42, 232, 249,
268
Church of, 42, 268

Amusements, in England, 68, 69, 70,
71,72
Holland, 46
New England, 114, 198, 250, 258,
262, 263, 288, 289, 301
"Anatomy of Abuses" (Stubbes)
250 note
"Anatomy of Melancholy" (Bur
ton), 68, note
"An Appeal to the Parliament, or
Sion's Plea Against the Prela
cie" (Leighton), 81
" Anciente Church," Amsterdam, 36
Animals in New England, 96, 105,
112, 124, 125, 128, 131, 132, 133,
134, 140, 142, 146, 178, 182, 186,
191, 195, 196, 207, 208, 235, 252,
270, 273, 274
"An Itinerary" (Moryson), 37 note
Anne, the ship, 115, 206, 240
Aptucxet, 119
Arber, Edward, 52, 98
Arlington, Lord, 85
Arnold, Benedict, 13
Ascham, Roger, 66
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 66
Assowamsett Pond, Plymouth, 172
Athletics in England, 69
Austerfield (Eng.), 22, 23, 39, 58,
231, 278
Bacon, Francis, "History Vitse et
Mortis," 68, 83
Bacon, Nathaniel, 178
Barbadoes, 239, 284
Barnstable, 178
Baro, Peter, 2

315

316

INDEX

Barrie, James M., 298
Barry, John, 237
"Bay Psalm Book," 215, 217
Bayard, Honorable T. F., 22, 238
Beaumont, Francis, 68
Benet Church, 7
Benet College (Corpus Christi),
Cambridge, 3, 6, 11
Billington, see Billinton
Billinton, Ellen, 280
Billinton, Francis, 280, 285
Billinton, John, 181 note; 280, 285
Billinton, John, Jr., 280, 285
Bircher, Edward, 132
Black Death, in England, 6
Blacksmithing, in Plymouth, 105
Blessed Virgin, Guild of the, Cam
bridge (Eng.), 5
Blommaert, Samuel, 118
Blossom, Thomas, 267, 268
Board of Lords Commissioners of
Foreign Plantations, 306
Boardman, Luce, 192, 193
Boardman, Thomas, 192, 193
Bodleian Library, 3
"Boke of Nurture or Schole of good
manners" (Rhodes), 84
Books (Early) about Plymouth,
230-257
"Book About the Table" (Jeaffreson),
88
"Book of Old Plymouth WiUs"
(Poole), 273 note
"Booke which sheweth the Life and
Manners of all true Christians"
(Browne), 20 note
Books, Making of, 40, 44, 48, 49, 50,
64, 215, 238, 239, 244, 275
Books in the possession of the Pil
grims, 272
Borde, Dr. Andrew, 83, 84
"Sleep, Rising and Dress," 83 note
"Dyetary," 84
Boston Athenseum, 244, 250
Boston (Eng.), 28
Boston (Mass.), 49, 108, 163, 171,
173, 193, 210, 228, 234 note, 239,
244, 248, 299 note

Boston Common, 203, 260
Bow (Eng.), 73
Boys, Edward, 31, 32
Boys, Mrs. Thomasine, 31, 32, 34
See also Johnson, Mrs. Francis
Bradford, Alice, 22, 133, 136, 231,
240
Bradford, Dorothy, 232, 279, 283
Bradford, John (Grandson of Gov
ernor Bradford), 233, 269
Bradford, Samuel (Great-Grandson
of Governor Bradford), 233
Bradford, William (Father of Gov
ernor Bradford), 22, 230
Bradford, William, Jr., 233
Bradford, William (Governor of
Plymouth Colony), 2, 14, 17, 19,
22, 23, 26, 29, 30, 31, 35, 39, 42,
43, 45, 56, 57, 86, 94, 99, 107,
109, 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 120,
121, 122, 124, 125, 134, 142, 143,
151, 156, 160, 161. 163, 165, 181
note, 191, 195, 196, 202, 204, 206,
207, 209, 210, 211, 213, 221, 225,
226, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235,
236, 238, 240, 245, 246, 250, 252,
253, 254, 255, 256, 272, 273, 275,
277, 278, 279, 283, 292, 312 note
"History", 233
"A Dialogue or the sum of a
Conference Between some young
men that came out of Holland
and Old England, A. D. 1648 ",
233
"Bradford House, the", Austerfield
(Eng.), 23
Bray, Thomas, 194
Brewer, Thomas, 44, 49
Brewster, Love, 279, 283
Brewster, Mary, 279, 283
Brewster, William, 2, 3, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 28, 29, 30, 39
40, 44, 45, 47, 49, 50, 51, 53, 57
63, 68, 134, 151, 180, 181 note,
205, 208, 212, 231, 264, 279, 283
Brewster, Wrasling, 279, 283
Bridgewater, 174
" Brief Narrative of the true grounds

INDEX

317

of cause of the first planting of
New England" (Winslow), 240
Brinsley, John, 65, 66
"The Grammar School", 66 note
Bristol (Eng.), 79 note
Bristol, Maine, 152
Britteridge, Richard, 181 note, 281, 286
Brown, Peter, 181 note, 281, 287
Browne, Robert, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 24
"Booke which sheweth the Life
and Manners of all true Chris
tians ", 20 note
Brownists, 5, 13
Bucke, Isacke, 262
Buildings, in England, 73, 74, 75
in Holland, 55
in Plymouth, 110, 111, 112, 113,
121, 126, 131, 173, 175, 201, 212,
214, 219, 269, 272, 275, 304
of the Indians, 112, 140, 141, 158,
168
Bulwer, Dr. John, 87
"Man Transformed, or the Arti
ficial Changeling, Pedigree of
the English Gallant ", 87
"Bundling", 46 noie, 192
Burleigh, Lord Treasurer, 12, 27
Burrage, Champlin, 3, 116
Button, William, 95, 280, 284
Buzzard's Bay, 118 note
Calais, 61, 72
Calderwood, David, "Perth As
sembly", 50
"Calfe of Horeb", 289
Calvin, John, 19
Calvinists, 2, 220, 264
Cambridge (Eng.), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9,
10, 11, 13, 14, 39, 211
Cambridge (Mass.), 216, 239
Cambridge, Sir John, 7
Cambridge University, 1, 2, 3, 8, 10,
11, 13, 14, 48, 66, 67, 68, 211
"Cannaday", 98
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 9, 61
Cape Cod, 97, 98, 99, 101, 103, 104,
105, 110, 111, 119, 144, 200, 205,
251, 254, 270, 277

Cape Malabar, 119
"Captain John Smith" (Arber), 98
note
"Captain Shrimpe", 255, 292, 295,
296, 297, 301
Card Playing, 70, 258
Carew, Thomas, 68
Carleton, Sir Dudley, 50
Carpenter, Alice. See Sotjthworth,
Mrs. Edward, 233
Carpentry, 105, 106, 112, 269, 289
Carter, Robart, 280, 284
Cartwright, Thomas, 2, 3
Carver, John, 103, 112, 148, 150, 161,
152, 182, 183, 279, 282
Carver, Kathrine, 279, 282
Cattle, see Animals
Champlain, Samuel De, 104
Chanty, the ship, 124, 160, 209
Charles II, 84, 98, 130, 189, 190, 224,
265
Charlestown, 131
Chaucer, 19
Chauncey, Charles, 212
Cheapside (Eng.), 81, 82
Chesapeake, 91
Child marriage in England, 85
Chilton, James, 181 note, 281, 286
Chilton, Mary, 108, 109, 281, 286
Chiltonville, 108
Church, Captain Benjamin, 175
Church Covenant, 180
Church dignitaries, 205, 208, 212,
213, 214, 220, 231, 264, 301, 306,
308, 311
Church feast days, 69
Church government, 41, 42, 201,
204, 205, 218, 219, 220, 221, 249,
306, 307, 308, 311, 312
Church of England, 4, 10, 12, 13, 17,
23, 24, 47, 50, 71, 80, 81, 92,
205, 206, 208, 221, 246, 247,
293, 306
Church of the Pilgrims. See Pilgrim
Church
Church of Scotland, 20, 50
Clark, James, 234 note
Clarke, Richard, 181 note, 281, 286

318

INDEX

Clarke, Susan, 267
Clarke, WiUiam, 124, 174
Clarke, Mrs. William, 174
Clark's Island, 109, 144
Class distinctions
England, 77, 89
New England, 126, 127, 260, 263
Clergy, 186, 187, 200, 201, 206, 206,
208, 211, 212, 218, 219, 220, 221,
222, 247, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311
Clifton, Richard, 17, 231, 233
Climate, 111. 112, 113, 141, 143, 207,
295, 300
Clink prison, 31, 32
Cogan, Thomas, 89
"Collections concerning the Early
History of the Founders of Port
Plymouth" (Hunter), 231
College of Corpus Christi and the
Blessed Mary, 3, 5, 6
Collier, William, 226
Commerce. See Trade
Committee of Safety, 210
"Common House ", 112, 204 note
"Common Provision Shed ", 113
Communism, 118
"Company of true Christians," 181
Comparison of Amsterdam Church
and Leyden Church, 42
Comparison of Cambridge (Eng.),
and Leyden (Holland), 39
Comparison of Cape Cod and the
Leyden country, 103
"Complete View of the Dress and
Habits of the People of England"
(Strutt), 86 note
Confederation, see Unity of Colonies
of New England
Congregationalism, 10, 11, 179
Congregational Church, 12, 41
Connecticut Colony, 125, 164, 173, 225
Converse, Sarah, 131
Cooke, Francis, 181 note, 280, 285
Cooke, John, 280, 285
Cooking in England, 76
in Plymouth, 157, 158, 270, 271
of the Indians, 157
on the Mayflower, 96

Coote, Edmund, "The English
Schoolmaster", 65
Coper, Humility, 280, 285
Copping, John, 12
Cornwall (Eng.), 73
Corpus Christi and the Blessed Mary,
College of, 3, 5, 6
Corpus Christi (Benet) College,
Cambridge, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Corpus Christi, Festival of, 6, 7, 8
Corpus Christi, Guild of, 5, 7
Cotton, Rev. John, Jr., 213
Council of New England, 251
Court of Associates, 188
Court of St. James, 22
Courts, in New England, 139, 171,
182, 183, 184, 188, 189, 190, 191,
193, 194, 195, 226, 227, 238, 243,
258, 259, 261, 262, 266, 276, 277,
303 (See also General Court)
Courtship in Holland, 46
New England, 260
Coventry (Eng.), 73
Cowles, Elizabeth, 131
Cowles, Robert, 132
Crackston, John, 181 note, 280, 284
Crackston, John, Jr., 280, 284
Crimes, Reasons for, in Plymouth,
196, 197, 198
Cromwell, Oliver, 82
Cromwell, Thomas, 61
Cudworth, Captain James, 128, 129,
130
Cushman, Robert, 53, 138
"Reasons and Considerations
touching the Lawfulness of Re
moving out of England into the
Parts of America ", 138 note
Cushman, Thomas, 212
Customs of England, 73-92; 288
of Holland, 30, 44, 45, 46, 47
of Indians, 141, 146. 149, 166, 167,
168, 169, 253
of New England, 215, 222, 233,
247, 249, 258-278
Dartmouth, (Eng.), 57
Davison, Sir William, 14, 15, 16, 17, 50

INDEX

319

Deaconess ot the "anciente church",
36
Deane, Charles S., Secretary of the
Massachusetts Historical So
ciety, 237
Deane, Eliza, 267
Deane, Stephen, 266, 267, 268
Delft, 16
Delftshaven, 54, 66, 104
Democracy, 37, 38, 44, 179, 184, 201,
202, 229
De Rasieres, Isaak, 118, 122, 123, 214
Dermer, Captain, 144, 147
Devonshire (Eng.), 84, 102
Dexter, Henry M., x
"Dictionary of Obsolete and Provin
cial English" (Wright), 310 note
Diseases and their cures, among the
Indians, 156, 157, 168, 159
in England, 83, 84
Dodge, Richard I., "Wild Indians",
253
Doncaster (Eng.), 63
Donne, John, 68
Dorchester, 216, 221
Doty, Edward, 181 noU, 280, 287
Dover (Eng.), 61
Doyle, John Andrew, 230
Drayton, Michael, 68
Dress in England, 31-35 ; 86, 86, 87,
265
in Holland, 30
in New England, 133, 134, 136, 137,
214, 263, 264, 265, 268, 272, 274
of Indians, 146, 164, 166
Drunkenness in England, 84
in New England, 171, 177, 192,
198, 261, 253, 255
Dublin, 48
Dudley, Governor Joseph, 243
Dunster, President, 215, 216
Dutch, 15, 16, 29, 36, 37, 38, 39, 44,
46, 47, 49, 50, 63, 55, 73, 99, 118,
123, 201, 207, 208, 220, 234
Dutch intrigue, 99
Dutch-American colony, 53
Duxbury, 127, 128, 193, 200, 269,
276

Dyer, Mary, 202, 224
"Dyetary" (Borde), 84
East Anglia, 1, 25, 44, 104
East Indies, 46
Eaton, Francis, note, 181, 281, 286
Eaton, Samuel, 281, 286
Eaton, Sarah, 281, 286
Economic Conditions {see also Land)
of England, 79, 90
of Holland, 30, 39
of New England, 104, 116, 116, 117,
118, 126, 127, 182, 238, 277, 278
Eden, Sir Frederic, 79
Edinburgh, 48
Education among Indians, 167
in England, 64, 65, 66, 67
in Holland, 274, 275
of the Pilgrims, 132, 135, 170, 186,
252. 272, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278
Elector Palatine, 81
Eliot, John, 215, 216, 217
Elizabeth Isles, 97
Elizabeth, Queen, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15,
16, 18, 24, 62, 64, 75, 76, 79, 86,
88, 248
Elvatham (Eng.), 86
Ely (Eng.), 1
Ely (seaman on Mayflower), 281
Elzevir Press, 40
Endicott, John, 133, 139, 256, 302
note
England in the 17th century, 60-90
Amusements, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72
Buildings, 73, 74, 75
Crafts, 72
Customs, 73-92
Diseases and their cures, 83, 84
Economic conditions, 77, 79, 89
Education, Religious, 64
Secular, 64, 65, 66, 67
Food, 63, 75, 76, 77, 89, 90
Health, 84, 86
Holidays, 69, 70, 71. 72
Inns, 88
Literature, 68
Newspapers, 60, 64, 68
Population, 78

320

INDEX

Punishments, 80, 81, 82, 90
Science, 60
Trade, 27, 72, 79
English, Thomas, 181 note, 281, 287
Enghsh Reformation, 1, 10, 72
Entertainment in England, 69
in New England, 114, 146, 153, 169,
288, 289
Essex (Robert Devereux). Earl of, 16
Evelyn, John, 82, 85
Export duty, 200
Falstaff, Sir John, 88
Farming, 105, 110, 113, 114, 120, 121,
126, 126, 151, 176, 196, 207, 235,
266, 270, 273
Faunce, Thomas, 109
Ferdinand II, 91
Finances, 184, 199, 200, 219, 238,
239, 276
"Fire Water", 171, 177, 261, 253
First Days in the New World, 110-
113, 232, 237
Fishing, 51. 73, 97, 98, 104, 110, 115,
120, 126, 144, 157, 176, 186, 200,
207, 208, 219, 236, 252, 270,
277, 299
Fitcher, Lieutenant, 246
Fleet Prison, 221, 306
Fleet Street, 24, 32
Flemings in England, 73
Fletcher, John, 68
Fletcher, Moses, 181 note, 281, 286
Flushing (Holland), 16, 16
Food in England, 63, 75, 76, 77, 89,
90
in New England, 98, 105, 112, 113,
115, 117, 120, 122, 140, 145, 153,
164, 157, 158, 159, 169, 245,
270, 271, 301
of Indians, 169
on Mayflower, 96
Scarcity of, 115, 116, 117
Force, Peter, 249
Forests ot Cape Cod, 104, 153
Fortune, the ship, 115, 226, 240
Foster, George, 131
Fotheringay Castle, 16

Franchise, 184, 189, 202, 223; tor
women, 236
Freeman, 127, 182, 183 note, 184,
189, 190, 199, 201, 202, 229
His oath, 189 note
Freeman, Edmond, 195
Frenchman's Point (Agawam Point),
118
Fulham (Eng.), 73
Fuller, Bridget, 276
Fuller, Edward, 181 note, 214, 281,
286
Fuller, Dr. Samuel, 95, 109
Will of, 130-137, 157, 181, 267,
268, 280, 284, 298 note, 302 note
FuUer, Samuel, Jr., 131, 132, 133,
134, 135
FuUer, Samuel (son of Edward
FuUer), 281, 286
FuUer, Thomas, 5, 7, 68
"History ot the University", 6
note
Funerals in New England, 136, 137,
221, 222
Furniture, see Household Furnish
ings
Gainsborough Church, 31
Gainsborough (Eng.), 4, 21, 22, 26,
31, 40
Games in England, 69, 70, 71, 72
in New England, 258, 263
Gardiner. Richard, 181 note, 281, 286
Gardens of England, 76
of New England, 111, 131, 204
Gastheusen, 36
Gayton, Edmund, 76
General Court {see also Courts), 174,
182, 183, 184, 185, 190, 191, 199,
200, 201, 210, 239
"General History" (Smith), 244
Geneva, 1, 41
Gift, the ship, 267
Giles, Goodman, 267
Goldcorn, John, 8
Goodman, John, 181 note, 281, 286
"Good News from New England"
(Winslow), 240

INDEX

321

Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 98, 147, 247,
248, 256
Gosnold, Bartholomew, 97
Government (see also Laws), of Eng
land, 60
ot the Indians, 166, 167, 168, 169,
176, 177, 178
of the Plymouth Colony, 100, 101,
102, 103, 122, 125, 139, 160,
161, 171, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179,
180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186,
187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 194, 197,
198, 201, 202, 218, 219, 220, 223,
224, 229, 232, 236, 247, 251, 254,
268, 259, 276, 277, 300, 306, 311
See Officers op Government
Governors (see also WUUam Bradford,
John Carver, Thomas Prence,
Thomas Hutchinson, Joseph
Dudley, John Endicott, Josiah
Winslow), 182, 183, 184, 185,
186, 190, 209, 214, 224, 226, 236,
254, 266, 298, 303
Granger, Thomas, 195
Gravesend, 61
Green, John Richard, 64
Green, Mrs. J. R., "Town Life in the
Fifteenth Century ", 72
Green, Samuel, 239
Greenleaf, Thomas, 203
Greenwood, John, 2
"Grievous Groans of the Poor", 80
Grotius, Hugo, 64
Guiana, 42, 98
Guicciardini, Francesco, 274
GuUd Hall, 72
GuUds, 5, 6, 7, 72, 180
Blessed Virgin, 5
Corpus Christi, 6, 7
Habits. See Customs
Hague, 16, 49
Hale, Edward Everett, 20, 21
Hale, Sir Matthew, 224
Halifax, 210, 234
HalloweU, Thomas, 193
Hamburg, 45
Hampton Court Conference, 20

"Handkerchers buttoned and un
buttoned ", 265, 267, 268
Hanson, Alice, 22, 133, 136, 231
Hanson, John, 22
Harlsborne, Margaret, 9
Harrison, Robert, 12
Harrison, Thomas, 82
Harrison, William, 73, 74, 77, 85,
88, 89
"Description of England ", 79 note
Harvard CoUege. 172, 212, 215, 216,
276
Harvey, WiUiam, 60
Hasty Pudding, 270
Hatherley, Timothy, 129
Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter", 193
Health Conditions in England, 84,
86
in New England, 105, 111, 112,
113, 115, 117, 141, 145, 150, 156,
156, 167, 158, 159, 161, 207, 219,
221, 275, 282, 286, 287, 304, 305
Heeks, Mrs., 134, 135
Henry, Duke of Lancaster, 7
Henry the First, 18
Henry VII, 8
Henry VIII, 18, 60, 62, 76
Herbert, George, 68
Hereford, The Eari of, 86
Heresy, 5, 228, 243, 307
Hinckley PapeA, 174
Hind, John, 9
"Hints for Travellers" (Leigh), 27
"Historical CoUection" (Rush-
worth), 81
"History ot Plymouth Colony,"
(Bradford), 232-233, 236-238
" History of the Post OflSce" (Joyce),
61 note, 63 note
"History of the Protestant Episco
pal Church in America" (WU-
bertorce), 237
"History of the Reformation ot the
Church of Scotland" (Knox),
20 note
"History ot the University" (FuUer),
6 note
Historical Magazine, 49

322

INDEX

Hoar, George Frisbie, 228, 238
Hobomok, Indian messenger, 156,
160, 161
Holbeck, William, 280, 284
HoUdays in England, 69, 70, 71, 72
in New England, 110, 114, 250
HoUand, 3, 12, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26,
28, 29, 30, 35, 38, 39, 42, 44,
45, 47, 49, 52, 55, 58, 94, 98, 103,
104, 105, 118, 179, 183, 215, 220,
229, 231, 232, 274, 275, 298
Amusements, 46
Buildings, 55
Canals, 55
Cities, 30
Customs, 30, 37-47
Dress, 30
Education, 274, 275
Hospitals, 36, 37
Language, 30
Streets, 56
Virtues, 47
Women, Position ot, 44, 45, 46
HoUand-American Line, 55, 81
Holmes, John, 195
Hopkins, Constanta, 280, 285
Hopkins, Damaris, 280
Hopkins, Elizabeth, 95, 280, 284
Hopkins, Giles, 280, 285
Hopkins, Oceanus, 95, 280
Hopkins, Stephen, 95, 130, 145, 152,
181 note, 198, 280, 284, 287
Horse racing, 269
Hospitality of Indians, 151, 153, 154,
165
in New England, 145, 146, 160
Hospitals in HoUand, 36, 37
Household Furnishings of Indians,
141, 157 note
ot PUgrims, 266, 267, 269, 271, 272
Houses. See Buildings
Howland, Arthur, Jr., 260, 261, 262
Howland, John, 95, 109, 181 note,
276, 279, 282, 285
Howse, Elies, 302
Hubbard, WiUiam, 237
Hudson River, 99
Humber River (Eng.), 29

Hunt, Captain Thomas, 98, 143, 147
Hunting, 104, 105, 112, 114, 115, 140,
153, 154, 176, 186, 235, 252, 305
Huntington (Eng.), 67
Hunter, Joseph, 17, 230
"Collections concerning the early
History of the Founders of Port
Plymouth ", 231
Hurst, Grandmother, 273
Hutchinson, Thomas, 237
Hutton, John, 9
Hutton, Sir Timothy, 63
Idle River (Eng.), 29
Immorality, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195,
196, 197, 210
Incendiarism, 190, 191
Independent Congregation, 17
Indian Compact. See League op
Peace and Friendship
Indian Rights, Protection of, 175,
176, 177
Indians, 97, 104, 105, 111, 114, 122,
123, 124, 125, 126, 138, 139, 140,
141, 142, 143, 144, 145-150, 151,
152, 155, 167, 158, 159, 160, 161,
162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168,
169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176,
177, 178, 182, 185, 193, 194, 205,
234, 235, 238, 244, 246, 250, 261,
252, 253, 257, 288, 293, 296, 297,
299, 303, 304
Amusements, 166
Buildings, 168
Characteristics, 149, 166, 167, 252
ChUdren, 167
Customs, 141, 146, 149, 166-169
Dress, 150, 166, 167
Education, 167
Food, 169
Government, 166, 169
Religion, 168, 169
Wars with, 139, 142, 161, 162-166,
170, 172, 175
Weapons, 169
Women, 166, 167, 250
Indian Wars, 139, 161, 164, 166, 166,
170, 173, 174, 175

INDEX

323

"Inhabitants among the Plymouth
settlers", 126, 127, 199, 263
Inns of England, 88
of New England, 130 note, 198,
222, 245, 259, 263
Ipswich, 228
Irish, John, Jr., 129
Isles ot Shoals, 256
Islington (Eng.), 11
James I op England, 20, 21, 24, 49,
50, 51, 62, 63, 83, 100, 101, 103,
119, 121, 148, 149, 164, 261, 261
Jamestown, 91
Jeaffreson, J. C, "Book About the
Table," 88
Jenny, John, 134
Jewish Law, 185
Johnson, Francis, 31, 32, 34, 35
Johnson, Mrs. Francis, 33
Johnson, George, 2, 32, 33, 34
Joint-stock System, 182
Jones, Captain, 93, 94, 99
Jonson, Ben, 68
Joyce, Herbert, "History of the Post
Office ", 61 note, 63 note
Judicial System, 184, 186, 187, 188,
189, 201, 210, 224, 226, 227, 255,
276, 303, 307
See also Laws
Kennebec River, 144, 254, 300
King Philip's War, 139, 170
Kingston, 269
Knox, John, 19
"History of the Reformation of
the Church ot Scotland," 20
note
Lancaster, Henby, Duke of, 7
Land, Distribution of. 111, 112, 117,
121, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131,
132, 139, 176, 182, 184, 186, 199,
220, 239, 266
"Landing" of the Pilgrims, 103, 109,
110, 276
Latham, WiUiam, 279, 282
Laud, Archbishop, 220, 247, 248, 249,
306, 307

Laws [see also Government and
Judicial and Legislative
Systems), of England, 27, 28,
48, 61
of HoUand, 50, 274
of New England, 100, 122, 130 note,
175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 182,
184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190,
191, 198, 201, 210, 218, 223, 224,
225, 226, 246, 251, 258, 259, 260,
262, 263, 276, 277
League of Peace and Friendship,
149, 151, 152, 154, 160
Lechford, Thomas, 244, 306
" Plaine Dealing, or News from New
England ", 244
Legh, Thomas, 8
Legislative System, 183, 184, 186,
189, 202, 218
Leicester (Eng.), 61
Leicester (Robert Dudley), Earl ot,
16
Leigh, Edward, 27
"Hints for Travellers", 27
Leighton, Alexander, "An Appeal to
the Parliament or Sion's Plea
against the Prelacie ", 81
Leonard, James, 263
Leyden (HoUand), 4, 6, 16, 35, 39,
40, 41, 42, 43, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54,
65, 67, 58, 103, 136, 160, 163,
179, 180, 181, 232, 246
Leyden Street, Plymouth, 55
Leyden, University of, 50
"Licensed taverners," 259, 263
Lincolnshire (Eng.), 4, 28
Literature in England, 68
in New England, 272
Litster, Edward, 181 note, 280, 287
Little James, the ship, 236
London, Bishop of, 51, 52
London Company. See Virginia
Company
LongfeUow, Henry W., 96
Louis IX, 308
Louis XIV, 91
Lowell, J. R., V
Luther, Martin, 19

324

INDEX

Lyford, John, 206, 208, 209, 210
Lyon, Richard, 216
Maas River, HoUand, 56
Macaulay, Thomas, 70
Magdalen CoUege (Cambridge Uni
versity), 67, 212
"Magnalia" (Mather), 19, 215-217,
231
Manchester College (Oxford Univer
sity), 116 note
Manchester (Eng.), 73
Manhattan Colony, 99, 118, 225
Manomet, 119 note, 142
Mansfield, Lord, 224
" Man Transform'd, or The Artificial
Changeling" (Bulwer), 87
Margeson, Edmund, 181 note, 281,
286
Marriage customs among Indians,
168
in England, 85
in HoUand, 47
in New England, 128, 192, 194,
200, 201, 219, 220, 247, 260,
261, 262, 311
Marsh, Jonathan, 185
Marshfield, 276
Martin, Christopher, 181 note, 280,
284
Mary, Queen of Scots, 9, 16, 19
Maryland Colony, 225
Mason, John, 164
Masquerading, 258
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 14, 71,
99, 125, 133, 136, 137, 163, 172,
173, 184, 202, 213, 215, 220,
223, 224, 225, 228, 229, 230,
238, 241, 244, 245, 257, 264 note,
277
Massachusetts Charter, 306
Massacres of the Indians, 161, 164,
173, 174, 176
Massasoit, 114, 145, 147, 148, 149,
150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, 156,
157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 170,
171
Matacom. See Philip

Mather, Cotton, 19, 204, 215, 217,
231
"Magnalia", 19, 215-217, 231
Mather, Richard, 215, 216, 217, 221
Mathews, Albert, vii
" Massachusetts Historical So
ciety's Proceedings", 271 note
May Day celebration, 250, 288-292,
300
Mayflmeer, the ship, 22, 50, 54, 57,
68, 81, 93, 94, 101, 103, 106, 109,
115, 141, 145, 179, 182, 204,
229, 230, 232 note, 240, 269, 276,
279, 281, 282
Cargo, 94, 96, 106
Cooking, 96
Crew, 93, 94, 96, 140
Food, 96
Passengers, 48, 57, 95, 104, 181,
230, 275, 279-287
Sleeping accommodations, 96
Mayflower Compact, 18, 100, 101,
102, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183
Signers ot, 181 note
Mayflower Descendant, 130 note, 265
note
Maypole Song, 290
Mead, Edwin D., 14
Meeting House, 201, 204, 212, 213,
219, 259
Mendame, Mary, 193, 194
Mendame, Robert, 193
Merrymount. See Mount-Wollas-
TON
Middleborough, 147, 152, 166, 172,
173, 174
Middleburg, 12, 16, 20
MUdmay, Sir Henry, 216
Military Activities, 90, 105, 113, 125,
140, 142, 148, 161, 170, 172, 176.
177, 178, 182, 184, 186, 191, 199.
200, 201, 214, 221, 246, 251, 252,
255, 295, 296, 297, 299, 305
Military Commander. See Stand
ish, Miles
MUton, John, 68, 70
Ministry. See Clergy
Minter, Desire, 279, 282

INDEX

325

Mohegans, 164
Monatoquit River, 295
Monhegan Island, 144, 163
Moral laws, 190, 195, 199, 258, 259,
260, 262, 263
More, Ellen, 279, 283
More, Jasper, 279, 282
More, Richard, 279, 283
Morrel, WiUiam, 205, 206
Mortlake (Eng.), 73
Morton, George, 240
Morton, John, 277
Morton, Nathaniel, 99, 181, 234, 236,
237, 238, 240, 241, 243, 277
"New England MemoriaU", 181,
240, 241-242, 243
"Morton, Merry - Mount ". See
Morton, Thomas
Morton, Thomas, " of CUfford's Inne,
Gent", 220, 245, 246, 247, 248,
249, 250-256, 257, 288, 292 note,
298, 299 note, 302 note, 304, 306
"The New English Canaan", 245,
247, 248, 249, 253, 288-313
Moryson, Fynes, 36, 44, 45, 46, 47,
87, 88
"An Itinerary ", 37 note
Mosquitoes, 207, 208
Motley, John Lothrop, "United
Netherlands ", 274 note
Mount Hope, 172
Mount-WoUaston, 246, 246, 250, 254,
256, 257, 288, 292, 293, 294, 295,
296, 297, 299, 300, 305
"Mourt, G.". See Morton, George
"Mourt's Relation" (by Bradford
and Winslow), 111, 113, 139,
158, 240
Mullins, Joseph, 280, 284
Mullins, Priscilla, 280, 284, 287
Mullins, WiUiam, 181 note, 280, 284,
287
Murphy, H. C, 49
Narragansett, 154
Narragansetts, 164, 165
Nason, Rev. Elias, 217
Nassau River, 118

Nauset Tribe, 143
Needs of the early days, 113
Neponset, 161
Neponsets, 161, 163
Plot of, 160, 161, 162, 163
New England Company, 139
"New England MemoriaU" (Mor
ton), 181, 239, 240, 241-242
"New England Trials" (Smith), 244
Newfoundland, 147
Newfoundland Company, 147
Newgate Prison, 81
New Haven Colony, 125
New Netherlands, 53. See also New
York
Newspapers of 17th century England,
60, 64, 68
Newton, Isaac, 60
New York, 49, 53
Nonconformity, 18, 31, 51, 52, 233,
248
NorfoUc, Duke of, 11
Norfolk (Eng.), 12
Northampton (Eng.), 12
North Virginia Company, 98, 102, 103
Norton, Humphrey, 226, 227
Norwich (Eng.), 4, 12, 73
Officials of the Plymouth Govern
ment, 184, 185, 190, 194, 200,
201, 224, 247, 254, 255, 257, 259,
277, 307, 311
"Old Clothes Controversy ", 31-35
Oldham, John, 206, 209, 210, 256
Oxford University, 1, 48, 66, 116 note,
230
Paine, Thomas, vii
Palfrey, John G., 225
Pamet River, 141
Parker, Matthew, 9
Parker, Mrs. Matthew, 10
Parliament, 189
"Particulars ", 206, 207
Pasonagessit, 288, 299
Passetts, 46
Patucxet, 119, 145
"Paul's Walk", 69
Pawtucket, 147, 174

326

INDEX

Pecksuot, 162
Peirce, Captain William, 209
"Pelgrim Kade ", Delftshaven, 55
Pemaquid Point, Bristol, Maine, 162
Penn, Admiral, 264 note
Penn, Sir WiUiam, 84, 161
Pennsylvania Colony, 225
Penobscot River, 98, 144
Pepys, Samuel, 67, 83
Pequots, 164, 166, 166, 167, 170
Perkins, William, 2
"Perth Assembly" (Calderwood), 50
Peterborough (Eng.), 12
Peterhouse CoUege, Cambridge, 2
Pewter of England, 74
of New England, 265, 266, 269, 271,
272
Philip, son ot Massasoit, 139, 164,
170, 171, 172, 173, 175, 177
Conspiracy ot, 171, 172
PhUip and Jacob, Festival day of, 288
Philip III, 91
Phillips, Thomas, 219
Pierce, Captain Michael, 124, 174
Pilgrim Avenue (Delftshaven), 55
Pilgrim Church, 16, 40, 126, 133,
134, 135, 173, 180, 184, 187, 202,
204, 205, 206, 207, 211, 212, 213,
214, 215, 216, 218, 219, 220, 221,
229, 242, 244, 247, 249, 264, 300,
305, 306, 308-313
Pilgrim Fathers, vii, viii, ix, 14, 21,
94, 109, 260, 264, 270
PUgrim HaU, 94, 105, 270, 272
Pilgrim Mothers, 106, 107, 174
Pilgrim Press, 49, 50
"Pilgrim Republic, The" (Good
win), X
Pilgrim Sabbath, 198, 205, 206, 207,
259, 264
PUgrim Virtues, 228, 229
Pilgrims, before leaving England, 59,
60, 71, 73, 77, 87, 89
beginning journey to America, 55,
57
church ot, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209,
211, 212, 214, 216, 220, 222, 224,
225, 228, 229

contact with Indians, 138, 139, 140,
141 note, 142, 143, 146, 147, 148,
150, 161, 155, 160, 170, 171, 173,
174, 175, 178
first days in the New World, 99,
101, 102, 106, 107, 109, 110, 113
government, 179, 180, 198
in books, 232, 234, 238, 241, 244,
246, 247, 249, 252, 257
in England, 3, 10, 12, 14, 21, 23,
25
in Leyden, 39, 40, 41, 51, 52, 54
migration to Amsterdam, 26, 36,
36
new life, 115, 116, 122, 123, 125,
126, 127
social life, 258, 260, 261, 263, 264,
269, 270, 271, 272, 274, 275,
276, 277, 304
voyage on Mayflower, 93, 96
"Plain Dealing, or Newes from New
England" (Lechford), 169 note,
244
Plymouth (Eng.), 36, 67, 68, 71, 102,
136, 299
Plymouth (Mass.), church in. 204-
212, 219-229
description of, 119-122
early books about, 230-257
first days in, 108-118
Indians in section of, 138-178
landing at, 94-107
laws ot, 179-203
life in, 123-137
social lite in, 258-278, 288, 289,
292, 299, 300, 301
Plymouth Church Records, 234
Plymouth Company. See North
Virginia Company
Plymouth Rock, 12, 52, 108, 109,
140, 174, 203
Poole, "Book of Old Plymouth
WUls," 273 note
Poor Law ot Elizabeth, 79, 80
Pope, 18, 247, 310, 311
Population among Indians, 145, 147,
166
in England, 78

INDEX

327

in New England, 125, 263, 275,
287
Pory, John, 115, 116, 123
Postal System of England, 17, 61,
60, 61, 62, 63
Poverty in England, 79, 80, 90
m New England, 115, 117, 201,
305
Prayer Book, 246, 247, 293, 303, 312
Prence, Elizabeth, 261, 262
Prence, Rebecca, 134, 136
Prence, Thomas, 131, 134, 135, 225,
226, 227, 260, 261
Presbytery, Scottish, 20
Press, Liberty of, in England, 48
in Holland, 47, 48
Priest, Degory, 181 note, 281, 286
Primary Assembly. See General
Court
Prince Society, 249, 260
Prince, Thomas, 237
Printing, 40, 44, 48, 49, 50, 64, 239,
250, 275
Privy CouncU, 28, 52, 209
Protestantism, 18, 25, 91, 222, 274,
312
Provincetown, v, 103, 139, 141 note,
275
Prower, Salamon, 280
Proxy Voting, 183, 190
Psalms, 41, 215, 216, 217
Public Record Office in London, 234
Punishments in England, 80, 81, 82,
90
in New England, 176, 186, 190,
191, 192, 193, 194. 195, 198, 199,
210, 219, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227,
231, 248, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260,
261, 285, 293, 299, 301, 303
Purchas, Samuel, 244
"Purchas's Pilgrims ", 244
Puritanism, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 24, 61,
70
Puritan Party, 6
Puritans, distinguished from Pil
grims, vii, viii, ix, 138
go to Holland, 14, 19, 20, 23, 24,
25,49

in America, 139, 228, 229, 233,
247, 257
in England, 1, 2, 6, 70, 71
Quadequina, 148, 160
Quakers, 203, 222, 223, 224, 226,
226, 227, 264 note
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 14, 68, 76
"Reasons and Considerations touch
ing the Lawfulness of Removing
out of England into the Parts of
America" (Cushman), 138 note
Record Book (Colony), 186, 191
Reformed Church, 183
Rehoboth, 174
ReUgious education in England, 64
in New England, 206, 207
Religious persecution, 18, 20, 21, 23,
24, 90, 223, 224, 226, 227, 228,
256
Resources ot New England, 249
Reynor, Rev. John, 212
Rhode Island Colony, 203, 225, 226
Rhodes, Hugh, "Boke ot Nurture or
Schole ot good manners ", 84
Ridley, Bishop, 9
Rigdale, Alice, 281, 286
Rigdale, John, 181 note, 281, 286
Ring, Andrew, 135, 266, 267, 268
Ring, Mary, 135, 266, 266, 267, 268
Roads in England, 87
in New England, 201
Robinson, Rev. John, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10,
17, 21, 22, 25, 40, 41, 54, 56, 103,
163, 180, 187, 206, 228, 229, 233
Robinson, John, ot Nottinghamshire.
3
Robinson, Marcye, 129
Rogers, Joseph, 280, 286
Rogers, Thomas, 181 note, 280, 286
Roman Catholic Church, 23, 25, 81
Roosevelt, Theodore, v
Rotterdam, 16, 55
Roulfe, Richard, 8
Rouse, John, 226, 227
Route ot the Pilgrims, 26, 28, 29,
30, 31, 39, 57, 58, 93

328

INDEX

Roxbury, 216
Rushworth, John, "Historical Col
lection ", 81 note
Rutlandshire (Eng.), 11
St. Andrew's Church, Norwich,
4
St. Benedict's Church (Cambridge,
Eng.), 6
St. Gaudens, Augustus, x
St. Mary's Church (Cambridge,
Eng.), 5
St. Paul's Cathedral (Eng.), 69
St. Peter's Church, Leyden, 40
Salaries of clergy, 200, 219
Salem, 211, 256, 281, 283, 286
Samoset, 145, 146, 150, 151
Samson, Henry, 280, 285
Sandwich (Eng.), 73
Sandys, George, 68
Sandys, Sir Edwin, 50, 61
Saquish River, 120
Sassafras, 104
Saturnalia, 250
Schools of England, 65, 66, 67
ot Holland, 274
ot New England, 136, 186, 200,
201, 207, 274, 275, 276, 277
Science in England in the 17th Cen
tury, 60
Scituate, 174, 194, 195, 212
Scott, Sir Walter, 137
Scottish Presbytery, 20
Scrooby (Eng.), 4, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22,
25, 26, 28, 31, 35, 38, 39, 44, 47,
50, 51, 58, 63, 231, 232, 278
Scrooby Church, 31, 35
Separatist Church, 21
Separatists, in England, 2, 6, 10, 22,
23, 24, 71, 91
in Holland, 30, 31, 38, 40, 41, 49,
51, 52, 54
in the New Worid, 205, 206, 208,
211, 221, 247, 248, 289, 291, 292,
302, 305, 306
Shakespeare, WiUiam, 14, 61
"Shakespeare's Country" (Mory
son), 38 note

" Shakespeare's Europe" (Mory
son) , 45 note, 46 note
Sherwood Forest (Eng.), 21
Sidney, Sir PhiUp, 14, 16
"Simple Cobbler of Agawam"
(Ward), 228
Slaney, John, 147
" Sleep, Rising jind Dress ", Borde,
83 note
Sleeping accommodations among In
dians, 155
among Pilgrims, 272
in England, 74
on Mayflower, 96
Sloup's Bay, 119
Smelt River, 131, 132
Smith, John, 31
Smith, Captain John, 97, 98, 99, 143,
244
"New England Trials," 244
"General History," 244
Smith, Ralph, 205, 211, 213, 214
Smyth, John, 10
Social conditions in England, 77, 79,
80, 89, 91
in HoUand, 36, 37, 38, 44, 45, 46,
47
in New England, 126, 127, 188,
190-199; 260-263
"Social Life in Old New England"
(Crawford), 46 note
Social Ufe of England, 68, 69, 70, 71.
72
ot HoUand, 46
of New England, 114, 146, 250,
258-278 ; 288, 289, 301
"Sojourners", 126
South America, 42
Southampton (Eng.), 54, 57, 103, 180,
181, 281
Southwark (Eng.), 11
Southwick, Cassandra, 224
Southwick, Lawrence, 224
Southworth, Edward, 233
Southworth, Mrs. Edward, 233
Sowle, George, 181 note; 279, 283
Speedwell, the ship, 64, 67, 240
Spencer, Edmund, 14

INDEX

329

Sports in England. 68
in Holland. 46
in New England. 114. 164. 268
Squanto. See Tisquantum
Stam. Jacob Frederick, 249
Standish, Alexander, 128, 129. 130
Standish. Barbara, 128, 129
Standish, Charles. 128
Standish, Josiah, 128, 129
Standish, Lora, 128
Standish. Mary. 128
Standish. Miles. 94, 103, 104, 106,
111, 113, 124, 127, 128, 129, 130,
133, 142. 143, 148, 151, 162, 163,
175, 181 note; 182, 200, 254, 255,
280, 284, 292, 294, 296, 297, 301,
302 note
Standish, Miles, Jr., 128, 129, 269
Standish, Rose, 280, 284
Stanhope, Sir John, 17
Star Chamber, 81
Stationers' Company, 48
Story, Elias, 279, 283
Stratford (Eng.), 14
Street lights in England, 60
Strutt, Joseph. "Complete View of
the Dress and Habits ot the
People ot England ", 86 note
Stubbes, PhUip, 70
"Anatomy of Abuses ", 250 note
Stubbs, Dean, 1
Succotash, 270, 271
Swan, the ship, 160, 162, 163
Swansea, 172. 173
Symons, Thomas, 132
Table Customs in England, 85, 89,
90
in New England, 269, 271, 272, 273
Tangmer, Henry, 7
Taunton, 171, 173, 263
Taverns, see Inns
Taxes, 199, 200
Taylor, Jeremy, 68
"TemperweU, Joshua," 302, 305
Temple, Dorothy, 260
Terras of the "Adventurers," 63, 54
Thacker, Elias, 12

Thanksgiving Day under Bradford,
114
The English Schoolmaster ' '
(Coote), 65
"The Grammar School" (Brinsley),
66 note
"The New England Canaan" (Mor
ton), 245, 247-248, 249-250,
253, 288-313
"The PUgrims and Their History"
(Usher), 104
Thirty Years' War, 91
Thomson, Edward, 280, 284
TiUey, Edward, 181 note, 280, 285
TiUey, Elizabeth, 109, 276, 280, 282.
285
TUley, John. 181 note, 280, 282, 285
TUlie, Ann, 280, 285
Time, Old Style, 106 note. 111
Tinker, Thomas, 181 note, 281, 286
Tisquantum, 147, 148, 150, 151, 152
Tithe of Mint and Commin, 312
Tobacco, 259
Tolethorpe (Eng.), 11
"Town Life in the Fifteenth Cen
tury" (Green), 72
Town meeting, 160, 201, 219
Towns of England, 73, 88
of HoUand, 30, 39
of New England, 112, 125, 126,
148, 151, 173, 175, 182, 185, 190,
200, 201, 202, 219, 222, 232, 239,
276
Trade in England, 27, 72, 79
in New England, 51, 104, 105, 108,
119, 122, 123, 124, 162, 168, 176,
187, 197, 207, 234, 235, 239, 246,
251, 262, 253, 254, 292, 293, 300
Transportation conditions in Eng
land, 87
Travel in England, 27, 28, 62, 63, 87,
88
Treaties, 149, 151, 152, 154, 160, 163,
171, 172, 301
Trent River (Eng.), 21, 22, 29
Trevore, WiUiam, 281
Trinity CoUege (Cambridge Univer
sity), 2

330

INDEX

Truro, 140
Tuke, Sir Brian, 61
"Tumult in Fleet Street", 24
Turner, John, 181 note. 281, 286
Tuxford (Eng.), 63
Tyburn (Eng.). 82
Udall, Nicholas, 2
Unity of Colonies of New England,
125, 173, 202
Usher, Roland G., 52, 104, 234
"The PUgrims and Their History",
52, 104
Vanities of the Widow Boys, 31,
32, 33
Vaughan, Henry, 68
Vaughan, WUUam, 83
Venable, Admiral, 264 note
Villages. See Towns
Vines, George, 82
Virginia Colony, 42, 76, 97, 100, 102,
115, 116, 225, 246, 287
Vu-ginia Company, 51, 53. 99. 179.
180
VUet, Holland, 55
Voltaire, Prangois, 151
Voyage of the Mayflower, 94-103
Wollaston. Captain. 245. 246
WaUen, Goodwife, 131
Walton, Izaak, 68
Wampum, 119, 122, 123, 167, 169
Wandsworth (Eng.), 73
Ward, Nathaniel, " Simple Cobbler of
Agawam", 228
Warren, Richard, 181 note, 280, 285
Wars with the Indians, 139, 161, 164,
165, 166, 170, 173, 174, 175
Washday, First, in New England, 106
Water, as a beverage, 84, 110, 117,
140, 207
"Water bayley", 200
Welde, Thomas, 216, 216, 217
Wessagusset. See Weymouth
West Indies, 282
Westmmater (Eng.), 81, 82

Westminster HaU, 81, 82
Weston, John, 53, 67
Weston, Thomas, 160, 162, 163
Weymouth, 160, 161, 162, 293, 294.
296
White. Bridget. 4
White. Peregrine, 142, 280, 284
White, Resolved, 280, 284
White, Susana, 280, 283, 284
White, WiUiam, 181 note, 280, 284
Whitgift, Archbishop John, 2
"History of the Protestant Episco
pal Church in America" (WU-
bertorce), 237
WUbertorce, Bishop, 237
"History of the Protestant Epis
copal Church in America", 237
"WUd Indians" (Dodge), 253
WUder, Roger, 279, 282
WiUiam the SUent, 26
Williams, John, Jr., 262
Waiiams, Roger, 132, 135, 156, 164,
165, 211, 213, 214, 223
WiUiams, Thomas, 181 note, 281, 286
WiUs, 28, 127, 186, 265
of FuUer, Dr. Samuel, 130
ot Hopkins, Stephen, 130 note
of Ring, Mary, 265, 266, 267, 268,
269
of Standish, Miles, 127, 128, 129,
130
Windsor, Canon of, 73 note, 89
Winslow, Edward, 56, 94, 99, 111,
113. 115. 124, 134, 147, 148, 150,
152, 153, 155, 156, 157. 158, 169,
160, 161, 181 note, 220, 221, 228,
236, 240, 264, 279, 283, 284, 306
"Good News trom New England",
240
"Brief Narrative ot the true
grounds of cause ot the first
planting ot New England' , 240
Winslow, Elizabeth, 279, 283
Winslow, GUbert, 181 note, 281, 287
Winslow, John, 130, 134, 136
Winslow, Josiah, 130, 138, 151, 172,
265
Winter, Christopher, 226, 227

INDEX

331

Winter, Jane, 194
Winthrop, John, 133, 213, 214, 302,
303, 305
Witchcraft, 168, 190, 223, 224, 225
Wituwamet, 162, 163
Women, Position ot, among Indians,
166, 167
in HoUand, 44, 46, 46
in New England, 107, 236, 263, 277
Wood, Henry, 136
Wool, 72, 73
Wright, PrisciUa, 132, 133

Wright, WiU, 131. 132, 133, 134
WycUffe, John, 1, 18
Yarmouth (Eng.), 73
Yarmouth (Mass.), 194, 196
York (Eng.), 88
York, Archbishop ot, 21, 60
Yorkshu-e (Eng.), 73, 231
Yorkshire pudding, 145
Young, Alexander, 234
Zealand, 12. 26

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