TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

  The original manuscript of this history was written between 1630
  and 1655, but was not published and was lost for many years. It
  was rediscovered and an edition was published in 1856, and another
  edition published in 1901. Both were printed closely following the
  mediaeval English of the manuscript.

  This book is a rework of that 1901 edition into modern English by
  Harold Paget. His Introduction gives an account of the loss and
  eventual return of the manuscript to Massachusetts.

  In this etext italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

  Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been
  placed at the end of the book.

  Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.




                          BRADFORD’S HISTORY
                                OF THE
                         PLYMOUTH SETTLEMENT




                          BRADFORD’S HISTORY
                                OF THE
                         PLYMOUTH SETTLEMENT

                              1608-1650

                   Rendered into Modern English by
                             HAROLD PAGET

                 [Illustration: (Publisher colophon)]

                               NEW YORK
                        E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
                           681 FIFTH AVENUE




                           Copyright, 1909
                       By THE JOHN McBRIDE CO.

                           Copyright, 1920
                      By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

                        _All Rights Reserved_


              _Printed in the United States of America_




Some Dates in the History of England, Holland, Spain, and America,
which bear upon the Contents of this Book


  Discovery of America                                            1492
  Henry VIII of England                                      1509-1547
  Act of Supremacy (Secession of England from Rome)               1534
  Edward VI of England                                       1547-1553
  Mary I of England                                          1553-1558
  Philip, son of Charles V of Spain, marries Mary I of England    1554
  Charles V of Spain hands over sovereignty of the Netherlands
      to his son Philip                                           1555
  Charles V of Spain resigns his crowns to his son, Philip II     1556
  Elizabeth of England                                       1558-1603
  Philip II returns from Netherlands to Spain                     1559
  Spanish Oppression of Netherlands reformers                     1565
  Netherlands rebel against Spain                                 1566
  Netherlands form Republic (Union of Utrecht)                    1579
  William I of Orange accepts sovereignty of Holland: murdered:
      his son Maurice elected Captain-General                     1584
  England joins Holland against Spain                             1586
  Defeat of Spanish Armada by England                             1588
  Philip II of Spain dies: Philip III succeeds                    1598
  James I of England                                         1603-1625
  Pilgrim Fathers fly from England to Holland                     1608
  Truce of 12 years between Holland and Spain                     1609
  Landing of Pilgrim Fathers in New England                       1620
  Philip IV of Spain: truce with Holland expires                  1621
  Prince Maurice of Orange dies: his half-brother, Frederick
      Henry, succeeds                                             1625
  Charles I of England                                       1625-1649
  Charter granted to Massachusetts                                1629
  Puritan Emigration to New England increases                     1630
  Archbishop Laud attacks English Puritans                        1633
  Writs for ship-money issued to English maritime towns           1634
  Marriage of William, son of Prince of Orange, to Mary,
      daughter of Charles I of England                            1641
  William II of Orange succeeds Frederick Henry                   1647
  Treaty between Holland and Spain                                1648
  Commonwealth of England                                    1649-1660
  English Navigation Acts lead to war with Holland                1651
  Blake defeats Van Tromp                                         1653
  Charles II of England                                      1660-1687
  The Dutch lose New Amsterdam to England: renamed New York       1664
  James II of England                                        1685-1689
  William (of Orange) III and Mary II of England             1689-1702




CONTENTS


  BOOK I—1608-1620. Persecution and Flight from
  England—Settlement in Holland—Passage to England and Voyage to
  America—Landing at Cape Cod and New Plymouth

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I. Suppression of Religious Liberty in England—First Cause of
  the Foundation of the New Plymouth Settlement                      1

  II. Flight to Holland (Amsterdam and Leyden): 1607-1608            9

  III. Settlement at Leyden: 1609-1620                              14

  IV. Reasons which led the Congregation at Leyden to Decide upon
  Settlement in America                                             19

  V. Decision to make New England the place of Settlement in
  preference to Guiana or Virginia—Endeavour to obtain a Patent
  from the King of England: 1617-1620                               24

  VI. Agreement between the Congregation at Leyden and the
  Merchants and Adventurers in London for the accomplishment of
  the Settlement in New England: 1620                               35

  VII. Departure from Leyden—Arrival and Preparations at
  Southampton—Letter of Farewell from John Robinson to the whole
  party of Pilgrims: July and August, 1620                          49

  VIII. Departure from Southampton, and Delay of both Ships at
  Dartmouth and Plymouth: August and September, 1620                57

  IX. The Mayflower sails from Plymouth—Voyage—Arrival at Cape
  Cod: September-November, 1620                                     62

  X. The Pilgrims seek a Site for their Settlement, and discover
  the Harbour of New Plymouth: November-December, 1620              67


  BOOK II—1620-1646. History of the Settlement at New Plymouth

  I. Deed of Government drawn up—Death of half their
  number—Squanto—Compact with the Indians—Captain Dermer’s
  description of New Plymouth: 1620                                 75

  II. The Mayflower returns—Death of John Carver—William
  Bradford, Governor—Trade with the Massachusetts—The
  First Marriage—Friendship with Massasoyt
  confirmed—Hobbamok—Expedition against Corbitant—The First
  Harvest—Arrival of Robert Cushman with 35 settlers—Fortune
  returns, laden—The Narragansetts’ challenge—Christmas
  Day: 1621                                                         84

  III. Weston abandons the Settlement—Dissensions among the
  Adventurers in England—Weston’s plan for a Colony, and arrival
  of Sixty Settlers for it—News from Captain Huddleston of
  massacre in Virginia—Fort built at New Plymouth—Death of
  Squanto—Weston’s Colony in difficulties: 1622                     96

  IV. Rescue of Weston’s Settlement—Weston arrives at New
  Plymouth—His reception and ingratitude—Individual planting
  of corn substituted for communal—Hardships—John Pierce and
  the Patent—Sixty new Settlers—Compact between the Colony and
  private Settlers—Captain Robert Gorges, Governor-General of
  New England—Weston charged and arrested—Fire at New Plymouth:
  Storehouse threatened: 1623                                      111

  V. Changes in form of Government—Pinnace wrecked—Private
  Settlers make trouble—Winslow returns from England with the
  first Cattle—Faction among Adventurers in England—Objections of
  the Colony’s opponents—Letters from John Robinson—Opposition to
  sending the Leyden people—One acre apportioned for permanent
  holding to each Settler—Ship-building and Salt-making—Trouble
  with Lyford and Oldham—Pinnace salvaged and rigged: 1624         133

  VI. Oldham and Lyford expelled—Lyford’s Past—Reply of
  Settlement to Adventurers’ Charges—Support from friendly group
  of Adventurers—Loss of two ship-loads of cargo—Captain Standish
  in England: 1625                                                 158

  VII. Standish returns from England—Death of John Robinson and
  Robert Cushman—Purchase of trading goods at Monhegan—Isaac
  Allerton goes to England—Small ship built: 1626                  169

  VIII. Allerton brings back Proposed Composition between
  Adventurers in England and the Settlement—Division of land
  and live-stock among the Colonists—Hospitality given to
  Fells-Sibsie Settlers—Pinnace and Depot at Manomet—Allerton
  returns to England—Greetings between Dutch Colony at New
  Amsterdam and Plymouth Settlement—Leading Colonists become
  responsible for purchase of Adventurers’ shares in England and
  buy rights of the Settlements’ trading from the general body of
  Colonists for six years: 1627                                    174

  IX. Allerton in England negotiates partnership between leading
  New Plymouth colonists and some of the previous London
  adventurers—Patent for Kennebec River procured—Further Dutch
  intercourse—Trade in Wampum begun—Troubles with Morton in
  Massachusetts—John Endicott’s arrival—Morton trades guns and
  ammunition to the Indians—Morton apprehended—Troubles begin
  with Isaac Allerton: 1628                                        188

  X. Arrival of the Leyden people—Allerton in England tries
  to get the Kennebec Patent enlarged—Morton’s return—Further
  trouble with Allerton—The partnership with Ashley—The Penobscot
  trading-house—Purchase of a fishing ship suggested—John
  Endicott at Salem—The Church at Salem: 1629                      201

  XI. Ashley’s beginnings—Arrival of Hatherley on the Friendship
  and Allerton on the White Angel—Hatherley examines the affairs
  of the Colony—Failure of Allerton’s fishing voyage on the White
  Angel—Ashley apprehended and sent to England—Discharge of
  Allerton from his Agency—The first Execution—Day of
  Humiliation appointed for Boston, Salem, Charlestown, and
  New Plymouth: 1630                                               216

  XII. Mr. Winslow in England about the White Angel
  and Friendship accounts—The White Angel let out to
  Allerton—Allerton’s extravagance as agent—Josias Winslow sent
  from England as accountant—Penobscot robbed by the French—Sir
  Christopher Gardiner in New England—The Order of the Privy
  Council about New England: 1631                                  227

  XIII. Sale of the White Angel to Allerton—The White Angel
  sold in Spain—Hatherley settles in New England—Rapid increase
  of the Colonists’ Prosperity—Divisions in the Church of New
  Plymouth—Wreck of William Pierce in the Lyon: 1632               241

  XIV. Trouble about the accounts of the partnership—Roger
  Williams—Establishment of a trading-house on the
  Connecticut River—Trouble with the Dutch there—Fever at New
  Plymouth—Scourge of Flies: 1633                                  246

  XV. Hocking Shot at Kennebec—Lord Say and the Settlement at
  Piscataqua—Mr. Alden imprisoned at Boston—The case of Hocking
  submitted to a Tribunal of the combined Colonies—Captain Stone
  and the Dutch Governor—Stone killed by Indians—Smallpox among
  the Indians: 1634                                                253

  XVI. Edward Winslow in England—Petition to the Commissioners
  for the Colonies in America—Winslow imprisoned—The London
  partners withhold the accounts of the partnership—The
  French capture the trading-house at Penobscot—Attack on the
  French fails—Phenomenal Hurricane—Settlement of people from
  Massachusetts on the Connecticut River—Mr. Norton minister at
  New Plymouth: 1635                                               263

  XVII. Consignments of Fur to England—The plague in
  London—Disorganization of the accounts—Dispute between
  the London partners—The Pequot Indians get unruly—Oldham
  killed—John Raynor minister: 1636                                275

  XVIII. The war with the Pequot Indians—Co-operation between the
  Colonies—The Narragansett Indians allies of the English—The
  Pequot Fort attacked and taken—The Pequots routed and
  subdued—The Narragansett Indians jealous of the Monhiggs under
  Uncas—James Sherley discharged from his agency in London: 1637   283

  XIX. Trial of three Murders—Rise in value of
  Livestock—Earthquake: 1638                                       293

  XX. Settlement of boundaries between New Plymouth and
  Massachusetts—First steps towards winding up the partnership by
  a composition: 1639-1640                                         298

  XXI. Further steps towards the Composition between the London
  and New Plymouth partners—Dispute with Rev. Charles Chauncey
  about Baptism—Fall in value of live-stock—Many leading men of
  New Plymouth move from town: 1641                                305

  XXII. Conclusion of Composition between London and New Plymouth
  partners: 1642                                                   312

  XXIII. Death of Mr. William Brewster—His Career—Remarkable
  longevity of the principal men among the Pilgrims—Confederation
  of the United Colonies of New England—War between the
  Narragansetts and Monhiggs—Uncas permitted by the English to
  execute Miantinomo: 1643                                         314

  XXIV. Suggested removal of the Church of New Plymouth to
  Nauset—The Narragansetts continue their attack on Uncas and the
  Monhiggs—Truce arranged by the English: 1644                     326

  XXV. The Narragansetts renew their attack on Uncas and threaten
  the English—Preparation for War by the Colonies—Declaration of
  War by the English—Peace arranged and General Treaty signed by
  the United Colonies of New England and the Narragansetts and
  Byanticks: 1645                                                  330

  XXVI. Captain Thomas Cromwell settles in Massachusetts—His
  death—Edward Winslow’s long stay in England: 1646                338




INTRODUCTION


During the last four hundred years the peoples of the Western world
have been busily engaged in converting their governments—often
forcibly—to practical Christianity, in regard to their domestic
affairs.

The new era, upon which we now enter after the Great War, opens
with a crusade for the application of Christianity to international
relationships.

If the modern student sets up before his mental vision a moving
panorama of the history of Europe through the Middle Ages, the most
striking general feature is undoubtedly the irresistible course of
the growing stream of Freedom, touching and fructifying every section
and institution of human life—the inevitable outcome of the evolution
of Christianity made manifest in things temporal, and breaking
through the ecclesiastical bounds so long set for it, as exclusively
pertaining to things spiritual.

The gospel of Jesus Christ had hitherto been regarded as a religious
stream pure and simple, from which might be drawn, by priestly hands
alone, refreshment for the spiritual life of man, offered to him
in the sacerdotal cup, in such quantity and with such admixture of
doctrine as seemed fitted to his spiritual needs, by those ordained
to take charge of that department of his existence—the servants of
the Mediæval Church.

Little by little Christianity discovers itself as no single stream
of sacred water, limited by the shores of a prescribed religious
territory. Here and there in the wider landscape it is gradually
pushing a way out into the unconsecrated ground of the temporal
domain, welling up through the ancient crust of Feudalism—bursting
through it, submerging it, carrying it away, now gently and almost
imperceptibly piecemeal, now in sweeping and irresistible torrents,
passionate against its long subjection and suppression. This activity
recognizes no national or geographical limits—it reveals itself now
here, now there, fertilizing far distant spots of varying soil—some
instantly generous to its live-giving influence, some slow to respond.

Now watch its effect upon the inhabitants of the territories through
which it newly flows. Some, watching its uprising through the barren
soil, stand amazed—doubtful. See them slowly approach it, and gaze
upon it, awe-struck; they stoop, timorously—and drink; they pause—and
stoop to drink again. Presently their singing eyes declare the secret
they have won from it; a moment or two of forgetful, selfish joy—and
they turn away and hurry to impart the wonderful discovery to their
comrades. So by degrees they come, a straggling, jostling, motley
crowd—some doubting, some fearing, some realizing.

Now see their priests hurrying, perturbed, to behold the rumoured
wonder. What! The sacred river has burst its banks! Hasten to guard
it from the profane thirst of the multitude, and confine it to its
sacred keeping!

Impossible! Its upwelling pools and flowing tributaries are already
too many—the priestly keepers now too few to preserve the discovered
waters. For, as they stand watching, troubled and amazed, behold
the streamlets spreading themselves ever further, breaking forth
unbidden, in every direction.

They consult together. What shall be done? Counsel must be taken of
their superiors, for this is too much for the lesser orders to cope
with.

And so, as we watch the scene, we listen to the busy plans of princes
of church and state, of Popes and Kings. Some would set about damming
up these new unbiddable by-streams at their places of egress; others
would divert their courses, turning them back into the parent-current.

Too late! too late!

Proclaim then, broadcast, that the people shall not drink at these
waters, on pain of damnation. Meanwhile, hasten to secrete them again
by some means—for if the once rare and sacred treasure, jealously
guarded, comes, by superabundance, to be common and general, what
function is left for the votaries consecrated to its preservation?

But—oh horrible!—here is a dignitary of the state, there even a
personage of the church, who will not be led to further the vast
scheme of secluding the waters of these newborn rivulets from the
vulgar gaze or the profane thirst of the laity. There follow sharp
rebukes and rebellious retorts, inquisitions and excommunications;
factions breed, and wrangling takes the place of deliberation.

Slowly the scene’s central interest changes for us, and we find we
are watching, not the miraculous birth of many waters, but battling
crowds of angry partisans, surging this way and that. Now a little
band of stalwarts, who strive to keep the stream open to their
fellows, is routed and dispersed; now their following increases,
and in due time their supporters are rallied again—sometimes to
a temporary victory, with short lived reward and quick reverse,
sometimes to repeated disaster and defeat. But ever the waters
inevitably remain only half-guarded, and by ones and threes the
people find their way to them, some stealthily, some defiantly, and
drink of them—and are sealed. The little bands of stalwarts grow to
great followings, and their trend is as irresistible as the source
of their inspiration.

Once again the scene changes. As our eyes wander over it, we see that
it is not now a matter of mere civil warfare in isolated spots; it
is the nations themselves that rage furiously together; the western
world is one great battle-ground for the opposing forces. Treaties
and wars, alliances and royal marriages, all are but the flotsam
and jetsam on the surface of this ever increasing, ever multiplying
river,—sublime in the far-flung grandeur of its streamlets and
tributaries, its still deeps and its raging cataracts—not one
department of the whole landscape of human life, in all its variety,
but reveals its vague new workings or its established deep-set
currents.

Ah! At last we realize it: this is indeed the river of Freedom,
washing away, bearing away, surely, irresistibly—quietly if it may,
turbulently if it must—the worn-out earth-crust of the moribund
Feudal world, giving place to the bloom and blossom of a new era in
the history of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth and declaring the triumph
for all time of Soul-Freedom for His people.

It was He Himself, the arch-heretic, Who first broke from the
doctrinal curriculum of the priestly caste of His day, to spread
His gospel of Freedom to life’s wayfarers—saint and sinner alike.
The sword that He brought to break the head of the deadening,
self-sufficient, Pharisaical peace, hung suspended the while over the
world, awaiting the moment to strike. The sword has descended, and
has severed the bonds of the centuries which roll away to give place
to the new dispensation. Ex oriente lux! To-day the East itself is
just awakening to the dawning of the new day. Almost we hear a voice
from heaven, declaiming over the dust of the mediæval world: “Now is
Christ risen from the dead, and is become the first fruits of them
that slept.”

My object in limning the foregoing sketch has been to present to the
mind of the reader a setting for the ensuing remarks concerning “The
History of the Plymouth Settlement,” as recorded contemporaneously by
Governor Bradford, the first cause of which enterprise was one of the
most important episodes in the widespread movement whose course we
have just been observing,—the episode which, above all others of that
epoch, has produced the weightiest consequences in the history of the
world.

America was discovered by Columbus in 1492; Spain planted colonies
on its shores in the 16th Century; English trading settlements were
established in Virginia and elsewhere in the latter half of the
same century. It is no mere claim of priority that lends historic
importance to the foundation by the Pilgrim Fathers of the English
colony at New Plymouth. The materialization of their objects was
accomplished by the same means as formed the basis of the earlier
colonies: a trading enterprise supported by merchants in the home
country.

What, then, gives this particular project a prominence and
significance which so utterly dwarfs its predecessors? It was
the motive of its Founders. And what was that motive? Freedom of
religious thought and practice, in the first place; of civil rights,
in the second. It was the sublime ideal of this little band of
Englishmen which gave to the New Plymouth colony (the nucleus of
the other New England colonies) the honour and glory of setting its
characteristic impress upon the greatest of the new nations of the
world—the United States of America.

The ideal aimed at we have probably grasped from our preliminary
sketch of the general movement of western civilization out of the
shackles of feudalism towards religious and civil freedom. But
the sacrifice involved in its consummation,—do we realize its
significance? Let us try to think what it means.

Picture to yourself a group of citizens and their families, of good
standing and of average education. In defiance of established law
and order, and of the accepted, orthodox view of it, this little
body of people pursues an ideal, vital to the peace of their souls,
with a tenacity which implies certain loss of personal freedom
and confiscation of property, with risk of death. Rather than be
compelled to abandon the pursuit of their ideal, these people
voluntarily exile themselves from England, thereby depriving
themselves of loved homes and dear friends and worldly possessions.
After a few years of severe hardships in Holland, their newly adopted
country, the seed they are nurturing is threatened once again. It
must be preserved at all costs. They gather it up and bear it across
the seas—fearful seas—and plant it once more, forming a little
settlement in the savage, distant land of North America. For years
they defend their treasure there against every conceivable attack by
Nature and by man, encouraged solely by the consciousness that the
plant they are tending is God’s Truth—Freedom for each man to honour
and worship God as he sees Him.

First picture this to yourself as if it were an incident of modern
occurrence, and try to realize what would be its significance. Then
turn your eyes upon our Pilgrims, and watch them through their
persecution in mediæval England; their flight to Holland; their
hard sojourn there; their voyage across the wide seas of those
days, and their settlement at New Plymouth—“in a country devoid of
all civilized inhabitants, given over only to savage and brutish
men, who range up and down, little differing from the wild beasts
themselves.... What, then, could now sustain them but the spirit of
God, and His grace? Ought not the children of their fathers rightly
to say: Our fathers were Englishmen who came over the great ocean,
and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the
Lord, and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversity.... Let
them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good, and His mercies
endure forever. Yea, let them that have been redeemed of the Lord,
show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When
they wandered forth into the desert-wilderness, out of the way, and
found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was
overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord His loving
kindness, and His wonderful works before the sons of men.”

As we read this pæan of praise, penned by Bradford some ten or twelve
years after their arrival, the reality of a sublime human sacrifice
begins to shape itself in the mind, and our wonder rests upon the
spiritual grandeur of the offering, rather than upon its world-wide
consequences—of which the tale is not yet told.

It was from such a body of Englishmen, with their burning ideals
and consuming purpose, that a new national ideal emanated, and a
new nation ultimately sprang, since typically identified with their
devotion to Freedom. The eyes of liberal Europe were upon this little
handful of unconscious heroes and saints, taking courage from them,
step by step. The same ideals of Freedom burned so clear and strong
in future generations of these English colonists that they outpaced
the march of the parent nation towards the same goal—and so, the
episode we have just been contemplating resulted in due course in the
birth of the United States of America; in the triumph of democracy
in England over the vain autocracy of a foreign-born king and his
corrupt government; and, above all, in the firm establishment of the
humanitarian ideals for which the English-speaking races have been
the historic champions, and for which the Pilgrims offered their
sacrifice upon the altar of the Sonship of Man.

In the words of Governor Wolcott, at the ceremony of the gift of
the manuscript of Bradford’s History, by England to America: “They
stablished what they planned. Their feeble plantation became the
birthplace of religious liberty, the cradle of a free Commonwealth.
To them a mighty nation owns its debt. Nay, they have made the
civilized world their debtor. In the varied tapestry which pictures
our national life, the richest spots are those where gleam the golden
threads of conscience, courage, and faith, set in the web by that
little band. May God in his mercy grant that the moral impulse which
founded this nation may never cease to control its destiny; that
no act of any future generation may put in peril the fundamental
principles on which it is based—of equal rights in a free state,
equal privileges in a free church, and equal opportunities in a free
school.”

For some years many have trembled for the fruits of the Pilgrims’
sacrifice. It seemed that the press of the children’s hurrying feet
had raised such a dust as to obscure from them their forefather’s
glorious visions and ideals. A striking absence of spiritual
aspiration and a dire trend towards gross materialism seemed, for a
time, all too characteristic of America. But to such as doubted or
feared have come, recently, a wonderful reassurance and a renewed
faith in the eternal efficacy of so sublime an offering. It is the
sons of those men—their spiritual offspring—who have arisen in their
millions,—here in America, there in old England,—to defend the
World’s freedom. The Dean of Westminster voiced England’s feeling,
and that of the world, when in the Memorial Service at Westminster
Abbey for the Officers and Men of the United States Army and Navy
who fell in the War, he gave thanks to God in the following words:

  Their deaths have sealed the unwritten but inviolable Covenant
  of our common Brotherhood. Their deaths have laid the enduring
  foundations of the world’s hope for future peace. For their
  sakes we raise this day our proud thanksgiving in the great
  Abbey which enshrines the illustrious dust of the makers of the
  English-speaking peoples. Let us render our humble and joyful
  praise to Almighty God that in their response to the clarion call
  of freedom and of justice the two Commonwealths have not been
  divided.

  Nor have our American brothers laid down their lives in vain.
  They came in their hundreds of thousand from the other side of
  the Atlantic to vindicate the cause of an outraged humanity and a
  menaced liberty. The freewill offering of their sacrifice has been
  accepted. They have been summoned to some other and higher phase in
  the life of heavenly citizenship.

  The mystery of suffering, sorrow and pain awaits its Divine
  interpretation hereafter. Not yet can we hope to see through the
  mist that veils the future. But the Cross is our pledge of the
  fruitfulness of self-sacrifice.

  May America and Great Britain go forward charged with the privilege
  of a common stewardship for the liberties of mankind! May the
  glorious witness of these brave lives, whom we commemorate to-day,
  enrich us, whose course on earth is not yet run, with the inspiring
  vision of the sanctity and self-abnegation of true patriotism! The
  warfare against the countless forms of violence, injustice, and
  falsehood will never cease: may the example of our brothers exalt
  and purify our aims!

A few words as to the vicissitudes of the precious manuscript of this
book.

As the author tells us, he began to write down this record of the
affairs of the New Plymouth Settlement in the year 1630, ten years
after their arrival, continuing the writing of it from time to time
up to the year 1650, when he compiled the Register of Passengers on
the _Mayflower_, their marriages, the birth of their descendants, and
their deaths. In form, the original manuscript is a parchment-bound
folio, measuring about 11 inches high, 8 inches wide, and 1½ inches
thick.

Some inscriptions on fly leaves in it, give, tersely, its ownership
up to 1728. “This book was writ by Governor William Bradford, and
given by him to his son Major William Bradford, and by him to his son
Major John Bradford: writ by me, Samuel Bradford, March 20th, 1705.”

An entry by Thomas Prince, dated June 4th, 1728, intimates that Major
John Bradford turned over the manuscript to him for the New England
Library of Prints and Manuscripts, which he had been collecting since
1703, when he entered Harvard College. Since then it is supposed
that sundry authors have drawn upon its material, and that Governor
Hutchinson had access to it when he wrote the second volume of his
History, published in 1767.

From this time all traces of its presence in New England disappear,
and it was not until almost a century later that it was discovered
and identified in the Library of the Bishop of London, at Fulham
Palace. It is supposed that the manuscript found its way to England
some time between the years 1768 and 1785, being deposited under the
title of “The Log of the Mayflower,” at Fulham Palace as the Public
Registry for Historical and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to
the Diocese of London, and to the Colonial and other Possessions of
Great Britain beyond the seas—New Plymouth being, ecclesiastically,
attached to the Diocese of London.

When compiling his “History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
America,” published in 1844, Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford,
and later of Winchester, delved into the archives of Fulham Palace,
and brought under contribution a number of unpublished manuscripts,
from which he gave extracts. In 1855 this work fell into the hands of
John Wingate Thornton, and, through him, came under the eye of Barry,
the author of “The History of Massachusetts,” who recognized that
the passages quoted in Wilberforce’s work must come from none other
than Bradford’s long-lost annals. Charles Deane was consulted and
communicated with Joseph Hunter in England, who visited Fulham Palace
Library, and established incontestably the identity of “The Log of
the Mayflower” with Bradford’s History. It is still unknown exactly
how it found its way to London—but in all probability it was brought
over during the War of Independence.

From time to time, after its discovery, representations were made
to the custodians of the manuscript that it should be restored to
America, where its value was inestimable, as one of the earliest
records of her National History—in the words of Senator Hoar: “The
only authentic history of what we have a right to consider the most
important political transaction that has ever taken place on the
face of the earth.” Ultimately, the Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, the first
United States Ambassador to England, instigated by Senator Hoar, put
the matter before the Bishop of London—Creighton—at Fulham, with
the result that, after due legal sanction by the Constitutional and
Episcopal Court of London, the manuscript was conveyed by Mr. Bayard
to America, and formally handed over to Governor Roger Wolcott,
on July 12th, 1897, for the State Archives of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, subject to the production of a photographic facsimile
being deposited at Fulham, and to the original manuscript being
reasonably accessible for investigation. Its present resting place is
the Massachusetts State Library.

No words could more vividly depict the feelings in the hearts of
Bradford’s descendants, on the return to American soil of this
precious relic by the free gift of England, than those of Senator
Hoar, which I now quote:

“I do not think many Americans will gaze upon it without a little
trembling of the lips and a little gathering of mist in the eyes, as
they think of the story of suffering, of sorrow, of peril, of exile,
of death, and of lofty triumph, which that book tells,—which the
hand of the great leader and founder of America has traced on those
pages. There is nothing like it in human annals since the story of
Bethlehem. These English men and English women going out from their
homes in beautiful Lincoln and York, wife separated from husband and
mother from child in that hurried embarkation for Holland, pursued
to the beach by English horsemen; the thirteen years of exile; the
life at Amsterdam ‘in alley foul and lane obscure’; the dwelling at
Leyden; the embarkation at Delfthaven; the farewell of Robinson; the
terrible voyage across the Atlantic; the compact in the harbour;
the landing on the rock; the dreadful first winter; the death roll
of more than half the number; the days of suffering and of famine;
the wakeful night, listening for the yell of the wild beast and the
war-whoop of the savage; the building of the State on those sure
foundations which no wave nor tempest has ever shaken; the breaking
of the new light; the dawning of the new day; the beginning of the
new life; the enjoyment of peace with liberty,—of all these things
this is the original record by the hand of our beloved father and
founder.”

After its discovery and identification, an edition was published
in the year 1856, under the editorship of Charles Deane, by the
Massachusetts Historical Society, based on a transcript made from
the original document in London. A photographic facsimile of the
manuscript was issued in 1896, in both London and Boston; and upon
receipt of the original by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1897,
a resolution was passed providing for the printing and publication
of a carefully collated edition, together with a report of the
proceedings connected with its return from England to America. This
edition was duly issued in 1901, and it is from that as a basis that
I have prepared the present modernization. My purpose is obvious. To
many, the reading of the mediæval English of the original, to which
all preceding editions have adhered, would be so laborious as to
preclude them from becoming acquainted with it. I have endeavoured
to preserve, as far as possible, the atmosphere of the time, while
accurately rendering the thought in current language.

       *       *       *       *       *

As for the writer himself, William Bradford, who, on the death of
John Carver, the first Governor of the colony, a few months after
their arrival, succeeded him in the Governorship, and remained the
guiding genius of its destinies for over thirty years—his character,
despite his utter self-repression throughout his writings, can be
clearly read between the lines; his marvelous breadth of charity
and tolerance; his strong, simple piety; his plain, unselfconscious
goodness—all the grandest characteristics of the best traditions of
puritanism seem concentrated in him.

But little is known of his life in England. He was born at the
village of Austerfield, near Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, and the
baptismal entry in the registers of the church is dated March 19th,
1590. His family was of yeoman stock. The first Mrs. Bradford
(Dorothy May) was drowned in the harbour soon after the arrival of
the _Mayflower_, by falling overboard. The second wife was a Mrs.
Alice Southworth, a widow, to whom, it is supposed Bradford had been
attached before his and her first marriage. He wrote his proposal
of marriage to her in England, and she came out to him, with two
Southworth children. William Bradford died, May 9th, 1657, at 69
years of age.

His dealings in the external affairs of the colony were largely with
that class of hypocritical charlatan which successfully turns to
perverse account the generous religious impulses of those with whom
they hold intercourse. Yet his firm hold on faith, hope, and charity
never failed him; he always ascribed to them, until clear proof of
dishonour was revealed, the best of motives; taking account of the
possibility of misunderstanding; or, in the last resort, making
allowance for human weakness in the face of temptation, and forgiving
unto seventy times seven. His was the spirit given to Newton, who as
he watched a murderer being led to the gallows, exclaimed: “There
goes John Newton, but for the Grace of God”; or to Cromwell, in his
typical exhortation,—“I beseech you, in the name of Christ, think it
possible you may be mistaken.”

The reverse side of the picture shows us, indeed, the horrible
hypocrisy of the pseudo-puritans of the Weston-Sherley type, who
whenever ill-fortune overtook them called upon the name of the Lord
in true Pharisaic fashion,—as if to bribe by flattery a frivolous
Providence,—playing upon the finest qualities of forbearance and
disinterestedness of such men as Bradford and his colleagues, to
get advantage of them and rob them usuriously. Such parasites on
the true growth of puritanism brought it into disrepute with the
undiscriminating of those times,—nor have the results of their
evil work (in very truth, the Sin against the Holy Ghost!) yet
disappeared; for we find it in the supercilious and suspicious
attitude of the orthodox towards dissent in any form, to this day.

The strong grasp of the intellectual and practical side of his and
the other Pilgrims’ ideals of religious liberty,—for which, no doubt,
they owed a deep debt to that splendid apostolic figure, their old
pastor at Leyden, John Robinson,—is evidenced by the clear exposition
of their claims, in the answer they gave to charges against them of
dissembling in their declaration of conformity to the practices of
the French Reformed Churches, and of undue license in differing from
those professed forms of worship:

“In attempting to tie us to the French practices in every detail,
you derogate from the liberty we have in Christ Jesus. The Apostle
Paul would have none follow him but wherein he followed Christ; much
less ought any Christian or Church in the world do so. The French
may err, we may err, and other Churches may err, and doubtless do in
many circumstances. That honour of infallibility belongs, therefore,
only to the word of God and pure testament of Christ, to be followed
as the only rule and pattern for direction by all Churches and
Christians. It is great arrogance for any man or Church to think
that he or they have so sounded the word of God to the bottom as to
be able to set down precisely a Church’s practices without error in
substance or circumstance, and in such a way that no one thereafter
may digress or differ from them with impunity.”

On the other hand, it is interesting to mark Bradford’s disparagement
of Utopian schemes of communal, or socialistic, forms of government.
Here is his conservative argument, based on the experience of the
first few years of their colonization:

“The failure of this experiment of communal service, which was tried
for several years, and by good and honest men, proves the emptiness
of the theory of Plato and other ancients, applauded by some of later
times,—that the taking away of private property, and the possession
of it in community by a commonwealth, would make a state happy and
flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For in this instance,
community of property (so far as it went) was found to breed much
confusion and discontent, and retard much employment which would have
been to the general benefit and comfort.... If (it was thought) all
were to share alike, and all were to do alike, then all were on an
equality throughout, and one was as good as another; and so, if it
did not actually abolish those very relations which God himself has
set among men, it did at least greatly diminish the mutual respect
that is so important should be preserved amongst them. Let none argue
that this is due to human failing rather than to this communistic
plan of life in itself. I answer, seeing that all men have this
failing in them, that God in His wisdom saw that another plan of life
was fitter for them.”

Thus in civil as in religious matters, Bradford’s sure instinct
led him always to follow the guidance of a wise and benevolent
Providence, working for the rational and natural evolution
of mankind, which humanity could expedite only by a plain,
unsophisticated reliance upon truth and goodness, as incarnate in the
divine character and life of Christ.

       *       *       *       *       *

If we of to-day, whether American or British, fail to appreciate
the almost unearthly value of Bradford’s History, it is because we
ourselves are still too close to the opening of that era in modern
civilization,—yet in its early stages of development,—with which
it is concerned. I believe that, among the world’s archives of
contemporary chronicles of the human race, future generations will
attribute to his annals a value far higher than that which we at
present ascribe to any similar historic record except the Gospels
themselves.

Certainly it is fitting in the present communion of interests of the
Anglo-Saxon peoples, that we should refresh ourselves at the glorious
founts of freedom which constitute their common heritage.

                                                         HAROLD PAGET.
  Silver Mine, Conn. 1920.




                          BRADFORD’S HISTORY
                                OF THE
                         PLYMOUTH SETTLEMENT




                          BRADFORD’S HISTORY
                      of the PLYMOUTH SETTLEMENT


                                BOOK I

                              1608-1620

  PERSECUTION AND FLIGHT FROM ENGLAND—SETTLEMENT IN HOLLAND
  (AT AMSTERDAM AND LEYDEN)—CROSSING TO ENGLAND AND VOYAGE TO
  AMERICA—LANDING AT CAPE COD AND NEW PLYMOUTH.




CHAPTER I

Suppression of Religious Liberty in England—First Cause of the
Foundation of the New Plymouth Settlement.


First I will unfold the causes that led to the foundation of the
New Plymouth Settlement, and the motives of those concerned in it.
In order that I may give an accurate account of the project, I must
begin at the very root and rise of it; and this I shall endeavour to
do in a plain style and with singular regard to the truth,—at least
as near as my slender judgment can attain to it.

As is well known, ever since the breaking out of the light of the
gospel in England, which was the first country to be thus enlightened
after the gross darkness of popery had overspread the Christian
world, Satan has maintained various wars against the Saints, from
time to time, in different ways,—sometimes by bloody death and cruel
torment, at other times by imprisonment, banishment, and other
wrongs,—as if loth that his kingdom should be overcome, the truth
prevail, and the Church of God revert to their ancient purity, and
recover their primitive order, liberty, and beauty. But when he could
not stifle by these means the main truths of the gospel, which began
to take rooting in many places, watered by the blood of martyrs and
blessed from heaven with a gracious increase, he reverted to his
ancient stratagems, used of old against the first Christians. For
when, in those days, the bloody and barbarous persecutions of the
heathen Emperors could not stop and subvert the course of the gospel,
which speedily overspread the then best known parts of the world,
he began to sow errors, heresies, and discord amongst the clergy
themselves, working upon the pride and ambition and other frailties
to which all mortals, and even the Saints themselves in some measure,
are subject. Woful effects followed; not only were there bitter
contentions, heartburnings, and schisms, but Satan took advantage of
them to foist in a number of vile ceremonies, with many vain canons
and decrees, which have been snares to many poor and peaceable souls
to this day.

So, in the early days, Christians suffered as much from internal
dissension as from persecution by the heathen and their Emperors,
true and orthodox Christians being oppressed by the Arians and
their heretical accomplices. Socrates bears witness to this in his
second book. His words are these: “Indeed, the violence was no less
than that practised of old towards the Christians when they were
compelled to sacrifice to idols; for many endured various kinds of
torment—often racking and dismemberment of their joints, confiscation
of their goods, or banishment from their native soil.”

Satan has seemed to follow a like method in these later times, ever
since the truth began to spring and spread after the great defection
of that man of sin, the Papal Antichrist. Passing by the infinite
examples throughout the world as well as in our country, when that
old serpent found that he could not prevail by fiery flames and the
other cruel torments which he had put in use everywhere in the days
of Queen Mary and before, he then went more closely to work, not
merely to oppress but to ruin and destroy the kingdom of Christ by
more secret and subtle means, and by kindling flames of contention
and sowing seeds of strife and bitter enmity amongst the reformed
clergy and laity themselves.

Mr. Fox records, that besides those worthy martyrs and confessors who
were burned and otherwise tormented in Queen Mary’s days, as many
as 800 students and others fled out of England, and formed separate
congregations at Wesel, Frankfort, Basel, Emden, Marburg, Strasburg,
Geneva, etc.

Amongst these bodies of protestant reformers—especially amongst
those at Frankfort,—arose a bitter war of contention and persecution
about the ceremonies and the service book and other such popish
and anti-Christian stuff, the plague of England to this day. Such
practises are like the high places in Israel, which the prophets
cried out against; and the better part of the reformers sought to
root them out and utterly abandon them, according to the purity of
the gospel; while the other part, under veiled pretences, sought as
stiffly to maintain and defend them, for their own advancement. This
appears in the account of these contentions published in 1575—a book
that deserves to be better known.

The one party of reformers endeavoured to establish the right worship
of God and the discipline of Christ in the Church according to the
simplicity of the gospel and without the mixture of men’s inventions,
and to be ruled by the laws of God’s word dispensed by such officers
as Pastors, Teachers, Elders, etc., according to the Scriptures.

The other party,—the episcopal,—under many pretences, endeavoured to
maintain the episcopal dignity after the popish manner,—with all its
courts, canons, and ceremonies; its livings, revenues, subordinate
officers, and other means of upholding their anti-Christian
greatness, and of enabling them with lordly and tyrannous power to
persecute the poor servants of God. The fight was so bitter, that
neither the honour of God, the persecution to which both parties were
subjected, nor the mediation of Mr. Calvin and other worthies, could
prevail with the episcopal party. They proceeded by all means to
disturb the peace of this poor persecuted church of dissenters, even
so far as to accuse (very unjustly and ungodly, yet prelate-like)
some of its chief members with rebellion and high-treason against the
Emperor, and other such crimes.

And this contention did not die with Queen Mary, nor was it left
beyond the seas. At her death the episcopal party of the Protestants
returned to England under gracious Queen Elizabeth, many of them
being preferred to bishoprics and other promotions, according to
their aims and desires, with the result that their inveterate hatred
towards the holy discipline of Christ in his church, represented
by the dissenting part, has continued to this day; furthermore,
for fear it should ultimately prevail, all kinds of devices were
used to keep it out, incensing the Queen and State against it as a
danger to the commonwealth; arguing that it was most needful that
the fundamental points of religion should be preached in these
ignorant and superstitious times, and that in order to win the weak
and ignorant it was necessary to retain various harmless ceremonies;
and that though reforms were desirable, this was not the time for
them. Many such excuses were put forward to silence the more godly,
and to induce them to yield to one ceremony after another, and one
corruption after another. By these wiles some were beguiled and
others corrupted, till at length they began to persecute all the
zealous reformers in the land, unless they would submit to their
ceremonies and become slaves to them and their popish trash, which
has no ground in the word of God, but is a relic of that man of
sin. And the more the light of the gospel grew, the more they urged
subjection to these corruptions,—so that, notwithstanding all their
former pretences, those whose eyes God had not justly blinded easily
saw their purpose. In order the more to cast contempt upon the
sincere servants of God, they opprobriously gave them the name of
“Puritans,” which it is said the novations assumed out of pride. It
is lamentable to see the effects which have followed. Religion has
been disgraced, the godly grieved, afflicted, persecuted, and many
exiled, while others have lost their lives in prisons and other ways;
on the other hand, sin has been countenanced, ignorance, profanity,
and atheism have increased, and the papists have been encouraged to
hope again for a day.

This made that holy man, Mr. Perkins, cry out in his exhortation to
repentance, upon Zeph. ii. “Religion,” said he, “has been amongst
us these thirty-five years; but the more it is disseminated, the
more it is condemned by many. Thus, not profanity or wickedness,
but Religion itself is a byword, a mocking stock, and a matter of
reproach; so that in England at this day the man or woman who begins
to profess religion and to serve God, must resolve within himself to
sustain mocks and injuries as though he lived among the enemies of
religion.” Common experience has confirmed this and made it only too
apparent.[1]

But to come to the subject of this narrative. When by the zeal of
some godly preachers, and God’s blessing on their labours, many
in the North of England and other parts become enlightened by the
word of God and had their ignorance and sins discovered to them,
and began by His grace to reform their lives and pay heed to their
ways, the work of God was no sooner manifest in them than they were
scorned by the profane multitude, and their ministers were compelled
to subscribe or be silent, and the poor people were persecuted with
apparators and pursuants and the commissary courts. Nevertheless,
they bore it all for several years in patience, until by the increase
of their troubles they began to see further into things by the light
of the word of God. They realized not only that these base ceremonies
were unlawful, but also that the tyrannous power of the prelates
ought not to be submitted to, since it was contrary to the freedom of
the gospel and would burden men’s consciences and thus profane the
worship of God.

On this subject a famous author thus writes in his Dutch
commentaries: “At the coming of King James into England, the new King
found established there the reformed religion of Edward VI., but
retaining the spiritual office of the bishops,—differing in this from
the reformed churches in Scotland, France, the Netherlands, Emden,
Geneva, etc., whose reformation is shaped much nearer to the first
Christian churches of the Apostles’ times.”

Those reformers who saw the evil of these things, and whose hearts
the Lord had touched with heavenly zeal for his truth, shook off this
yoke of anti-Christian bondage and as the Lord’s free people joined
themselves together by covenant as a church, in the fellowship of
the gospel to walk in all His ways, made known, or to be made known
to them, according to their best endeavours, whatever it should cost
them, the Lord assisting them. And that it cost them something, the
ensuing history will declare.

These people became two distinct bodies or churches and congregated
separately; for they came from various towns and villages about the
borders of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire. One of
these churches was led by Mr. John Smith, a man of able gifts, and
a good preacher, who was afterwards made pastor; but later, falling
into some errors in the Low Countries, most of its adherents buried
themselves,—and their names! To the other church, which is the
subject of this discourse, belonged besides other worthy men, Mr.
Richard Clifton, a grave and reverend preacher, who by his pains and
diligence had done much good, and under God had been the means of
the conversion of many; also that famous and worthy man, Mr. John
Robinson, who was afterwards their pastor for many years, till the
Lord took him away; also Mr. William Brewster, a reverend man, who
was afterwards chosen an Elder of the church, and lived with them
till old age. But after the events referred to above, they were not
long permitted to remain in peace. They were hunted and persecuted on
every side, until their former afflictions were but as fleabitings in
comparison. Some were clapped into prison; others had their houses
watched night and day, and escaped with difficulty; and most were
obliged to fly, and leave their homes and means of livelihood. Yet
these and many other even severer trials which afterwards befell
them, being only what they expected, they were able to bear by the
assistance of God’s grace and spirit. However, being thus molested,
and seeing that there was no hope of their remaining there, they
resolved by consent to go into the Low Countries, where they heard
there was freedom of religion for all; and it was said that many
from London and other parts of the country, who had been exiled
and persecuted for the same cause, had gone to live at Amsterdam
and elsewhere in the Netherlands. So after about a year, having
kept their meeting for the worship of God every Sabbath in one
place or another, notwithstanding the diligence and malice of their
adversaries, seeing that they could no longer continue under such
circumstances, they resolved to get over to Holland as soon as they
could—which was in the years 1607 and 1608. But of this, more will be
told in the next chapter.




CHAPTER II

Flight to Holland (Amsterdam and Leyden): 1607-1608


For these reformers to be thus constrained to leave their native
soil, their lands and livings, and all their friends, was a great
sacrifice, and was wondered at by many. But to go into a country
unknown to them, where they must learn a new language, and get their
livings they knew not how, seemed an almost desperate adventure,
and a misery worse than death. Further, they were unacquainted with
trade, which was the chief industry of their adopted country, having
been used only to a plain country life and the innocent pursuit of
farming. But these things did not dismay them, though they sometimes
troubled them; for their desires were set on the ways of God, to
enjoy His ordinances; they rested on His providence, and knew Whom
they had believed.

But this was not all; for though it was made intolerable for them to
stay, they were not allowed to go; the ports were shut against them,
so that they had to seek secret means of conveyance, to bribe the
captains of ships, and give extraordinary rates for their passages.
Often they were betrayed, their goods intercepted, and thereby were
put to great trouble and expense. I will give an instance or two of
these experiences.

A large number of them had decided to take passage from Boston
in Lincolnshire, and for that purpose had hired a ship wholly to
themselves, and made agreement with the captain to be ready at a
convenient place on a certain day to take them and their belongings.
After long waiting and great expense—he had not kept day with
them—he came at last and took them aboard at night. But when he
had secured them and their goods he betrayed them, having arranged
beforehand with the searchers and other officers to do so. They
then put them in open boats, and there rifled and ransacked them,
searching them to their shirts for money,—and even the women, further
than became modesty,—and took them back to the town and made a
spectacle of them to the multitude that came flocking on all sides
to see them. Being thus rifled and stripped of their money, books,
and other property, they were brought before the magistrates, and
messengers were sent to inform the Lords of the Council about them.
The magistrates treated them courteously, and showed them what
favour they could; but dare not free them until order came from
the council-table. The result was, however, that after a month’s
imprisonment, the majority were dismissed, and sent back to the
places whence they came; but seven of the leaders were kept in
prison, and bound over to the Assizes.

Next spring there was another attempt made by some of the same
people, with others, to get over from a different place. They heard
of a Dutchman at Hull who had a ship of his own belonging to Zealand,
and they made an agreement with him, and acquainted him with their
plight, hoping to find him more reliable than the English captain
had been; and he bade them have no fear. He was to take them aboard
between Grimsby and Hull, where there was a large common a good way
from any town. The women and children, with all their effects, were
sent to the place at the time arranged in a small bark which they
had hired; and the men were to meet them by land. But it so happened
that they all arrived a day before the ship came, and the sea being
rough, and the women very sick, the sailors put into a creek hard
by, where they grounded at low water. The next morning the ship
came, but they were stuck fast and could not stir till about noon.
In the meantime, the captain of the ship, seeing how things were,
sent his boat to get the men aboard whom he saw were ready walking
about the shore. But after the first boatful was got aboard and she
was ready to go for more, the captain espied a large body of horse
and foot, armed with bills and guns and other weapons,—for the
country side had turned out to capture them. The Dutchman, seeing
this, swore his country’s oath, “sacramente,” and having a fair wind,
weighed anchor, hoist sail, and away! The poor men already aboard
were in great distress for their wives and children, left thus to be
captured, and destitute of help,—and for themselves, too, without
any clothes but what they had on their backs, and scarcely a penny
about them, all their possessions being aboard the bark, now seized.
It drew tears from their eyes, and they would have given anything
to be ashore again. But all in vain, there was no remedy; they must
thus sadly part. Afterwards they endured a fearful storm at sea, and
it was fourteen days or more before they reached port, in seven of
which they saw neither sun, moon, nor stars, being driven near the
coast of Norway. The sailors themselves often despaired, and once
with shrieks and cries gave over all, as if the ship had foundered
and they were sinking without hope of recovery. But when man’s hope
and help wholly failed, there appeared the Lord’s power and mercy
to save them; for the ship rose again, and gave the crew courage to
manage her. If modesty permitted, I might declare with what fervent
prayers the voyagers cried to the Lord in their great distress,—even
remaining fairly collected when the water ran into their mouths and
ears; and when the sailors called out, “We sink, we sink,” they cried
(if not with miraculous, yet with sublime faith): “Yet Lord, Thou
canst save; yet Lord, Thou canst save!” Upon which, the ship not only
righted herself, but shortly afterwards the violence of the storm
began to abate, and the Lord filled their afflicted minds with such
comfort as but few can understand, and in the end brought them to
their desired haven, where the people came flocking, astonished at
their deliverance, the storm having been so long and violent.

But to return to the rest where we left them. The other men, who were
in greatest danger, made shift to escape before the troops could
surprise them, only sufficient staying to assist the women. But it
was pitiful to see these poor women in their distress. What weeping
and crying on every side: some for their husbands carried away in the
ship; others not knowing what would become of them and their little
ones; others again melted in tears, seeing their poor little ones
hanging about them, crying for fear and quaking with cold! Being thus
apprehended, they were hurried from one place to another, till in
the end the officers knew not what to do with them; for to imprison
so many innocent women and children only because they wished to go
with their husbands, seemed unreasonable and would cause an outcry;
and to send them home again was as difficult, for they alleged, as
was the truth, that they had no homes to go to,—for they had sold or
otherwise disposed of their houses and livings. To be short, after
they had been thus turmoiled a good while, and conveyed from one
constable to another, they were glad to be rid of them on any terms;
for all were wearied and tired of them. Though in the meantime, they,
poor souls, endured misery enough. So in the end, necessity forced a
way for them.

       *       *       *       *       *

But not to be tedious, I will pass by other troubles which they
endured in their wanderings and travels, both on land and sea.
I must not omit, however, to mention the fruit of it all. For by
these public afflictions, their cause became famous, and led many to
inquire into it; and their Christian behaviour left a deep impression
on the minds of many. Some few shrank from these first conflicts, and
no wonder; but many more came forward with fresh courage and animated
the rest. In the end, notwithstanding the storms of opposition,
they all got over, some from one place, some from another, and met
together again with no small rejoicing.




CHAPTER III

Settlement at Leyden: 1609-1620


Having reached the Netherlands, they saw many fine fortified cities,
strongly walled, and guarded with troops of armed men; and they heard
a strange and uncouth language, and beheld the different manners and
customs of the people, with their strange fashions and attire—all
so far differing from their own plain country villages wherein they
were bred and had lived so long, that it seemed they had come into
a new world. But these were not the things they gave much attention
to. They had other work in hand, and another kind of war to wage. For
though they saw fair and beautiful cities, flowing with abundance of
all sorts of wealth and riches, it was not long before they saw the
grim and grisly face of poverty coming upon them like an armed man,
with whom they must buckle and encounter, and from whom they could
not fly; but they were armed with faith and patience against him and
all his encounters; and though they were sometimes foiled, yet, by
God’s assistance, they prevailed and got the victory.

When Mr. Robinson, Mr. Brewster, and the other principal members
had arrived,—they were among the last, having stayed to help the
weakest over,—such things were deliberated as were necessary for
their settling and for the best ordering of the church affairs. When
they had lived at Amsterdam about a year, Mr. Robinson, their pastor,
together with the most discerning of the others, seeing that Mr.
John Smith and his followers had already fallen out with the church
which was there previously, and that nothing could avail to end the
quarrel, and also that the flames of contention were likely to break
out in the parent church itself (as afterwards, alas, came to pass);
they thought it best to move, before they were in any way involved,
though they knew it would be to their worldly disadvantage, both at
present and probably in the future,—as indeed it proved to be.

For these and other reasons, then, they removed to Leyden, a fair and
beautiful city, of a sweet situation, made famous by its university,
in which recently there had been so many learned men. However,
lacking seafaring trades, which Amsterdam enjoys, it was not so
favourable in providing means of livelihood. But being settled here,
they fell to such trades and employments as they best could, valuing
peace and their spiritual comfort above any other riches whatever;
and at length they came to raise a competent and comfortable living,
though only by dint of hard and continual labour.

Thus, after numerous difficulties, they continued many years in
good circumstances, enjoying together much sweet and delightful
intercourse and spiritual comfort in the ways of God, under the able
ministry and prudent government of Mr. Robinson, and Mr. William
Brewster, who before had been his assistant in place of an Elder,
to which position he was now called and chosen by the church. So
they grew in knowledge and other gifts and graces of the spirit of
God, and lived together in peace and love and holiness; and many
came to them from different parts of England, so that there grew
up a great congregation. And if any differences arose or offences
broke out,—as cannot but be even amongst the best of men,—they
were always so met with and nipped in the head betimes, that love,
peace, and communion continued; or, in some instances, the church
was purged of those who were incurable and incorrigible, when, after
much patience used, no other means would serve. Indeed, such was
the love and respect that this worthy man, Mr. John Robinson, had
to his flock, and his flock to him, that it might be said of them,
as it once was of the famous Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the people
of Rome, that it was hard to judge whether he was more delighted in
having such a people or they in having such a pastor. His love was
great towards them, and his care was always bent to their best good
both for soul and body; for, besides his singular ability in divine
things (wherein he excelled), he was also very able in directing
their civil affairs and foreseeing dangers and troubles; so he was
very helpful to their material well-being, and was in every way a
common father to them. None offended him more than those who kept
apart from the rest, and neglected the common good; or those who
were rigid in matters of outward order and would inveigh against the
evil of others, and yet were remiss themselves and not too careful
to maintain virtuous conversation. The congregation, too, ever had a
reverent regard for him and held him in precious estimation, as his
worth and wisdom deserved; and highly as they esteemed him whilst
he lived and laboured amongst them, it was even more so after his
death, when they came to feel the want of his help, and saw by woful
experience what a treasure they had lost. But to return. I know not
but it may be spoken to the honour of God, and without prejudice to
any, that such was the true piety, the humble zeal, and fervent love,
of this people, whilst they thus lived together, towards God and His
ways, and the single-heartedness and sincere affection of one towards
another, that they came as near the primitive pattern of the first
churches as any other church of these later times has done.

It is not my purpose to treat of what befell them whilst they lived
in the Low Countries,—which would require a large treatise of
itself,—but to show the beginnings of the New Plymouth Settlement.
But since some of their adversaries, upon their departure from
Leyden of their own free will, uttered slanders against them, as if
the country had been weary of them and had driven them out, as the
heathen historians asserted of Moses and the Israelites when they
went out of Egypt, I will mention a particular or two to show the
contrary, and the good acceptation they had in the place where they
lived.

First, though many of them were poor, there were none so poor but
that if they were known to be of that congregation, the Dutch (either
bakers or others) would trust them to any reasonable extent when they
lacked money to buy what they needed. They found by experience how
careful they were to keep their word, and saw how diligent they were
in their callings, that they would even compete for their custom, and
employ them in preference to others.

Again, about the time of their departure, or a little before, the
magistrates of the city, gave this commendable testimony of them
in the public place of justice in reproof to the Walloons, who
were of the French church there. “These English,” said they, “have
lived among us these twelve years, and yet we never had any suit or
accusation against any of them; but your strifes and quarrels are
continual.”

At this time occurred the great trouble with the Arminians, who
molested the whole state, and this city in particular, where the
chief university was situated. So there were daily hot disputes in
the schools thereabouts, and the students and other learned people
were divided in their opinions between two professors of divinity,
the one daily teaching in favour of the Arminian faction, and the
other against it. Things grew to such a pass, that few of the
followers of the one professor would hear the other teach. But Mr.
Robinson, though he preached thrice a week himself and wrote several
books, besides his many other duties, went constantly to hear their
readings, the one as well as the other; so he became well-grounded
in their controversy and saw the force of all their arguments, and
knew the shifts of the opponent, and being himself very able, none
was fitter to buckle with them than himself,—as appeared by various
disputes. In fact, he began to be a terror to the Arminians, so that
Episcopius, the Arminian professor, put forth his best strength and
advanced various Theses which he asserted he would defend against all
comers in public dispute.

Now Poliander, the other professor, and the chief preachers of the
city, requested Mr. Robinson to take up his challenge, but he was
loth to do so, being a stranger. However the others importuned
him, and told him that such was the ability and nimbleness of the
opponent, that the truth would suffer if he did not help them. So he
acquiesced and prepared himself accordingly; and when the day came,
the Lord so helped him to defend the truth and foil his adversary,
that he put him to an apparent nonplus in public audience. And he
did the same thing two or three times upon similar occasions. This,
while it made many praise God that the truth had so famous a victory,
procured him much honour and respect from those learned men and
others who loved the truth. So far from being weary of him and his
people, or desiring their absence, had it not been for fear of giving
offence to the government of England, they would have conferred
upon him some public honour. Indeed, when there was talk of their
departure to America, several men of prominence in the country tried
to induce them to become naturalized, and even made them large offers
to do so. Though I might mention many other similar examples to show
the untruth of this slander, these suffice, for it was believed by
few and was raised in malice.




CHAPTER IV

Reasons which led the Congregation at Leyden to decide upon
Settlement in America.


After they had lived here for some eleven or twelve years,—the period
of the famous truce between the Low Countries and Spain,—several of
them having died, and many others being now old, the grave mistress,
Experience, having taught them much, their prudent governors began to
apprehend present dangers and to scan the future and think of timely
remedy. After much thought and discourse on the subject, they began
at length to incline to the idea of removal to some other place;
not out of any new-fangledness or other such giddy humour, which
often influences people to their detriment and danger, but for many
important reasons, the chief of which I will here briefly touch upon.

First, they saw by experience that the hardships of the country
were such that comparatively few others would join them, and fewer
still would bide it out and remain with them. Many who came and many
more who desired to come, could not endure the continual labour
and hard fare and other inconveniences which they themselves were
satisfied with. But though these weaker brethren loved the members
of the congregation, personally approved their cause, and honoured
their sufferings, they left them, weeping, as it were;—as Orpah did
her mother-in-law, Naomi; or as those Romans did Cato at Utica, who
desired to be excused and borne with, though they could not all be
Catos. For, though many desired to enjoy the ordinances of God
in their purity, and the liberty of the gospel, yet, alas, they
preferred to submit to bondage, with danger to their conscience,
rather than endure these privations. Some even preferred prisons in
England to this liberty in Holland, with such hardships. But it was
thought that if there could be found a better and easier place of
living, it would attract many and remove this discouragement. Their
pastor would often say, that if many of those who both wrote and
preached against them were living where they might have liberty and
comfortable conditions, they would then practice the same religion as
they themselves did.

Secondly, they saw that though the people generally bore these
difficulties very cheerfully, and with resolute courage, being in
the best strength of their years; yet old age began to steal on
many of them, and their great and continual labours, with other
crosses and sorrows, hastened it before their time; so that it was
not only probable, but certain, that in a few more years they would
be in danger of scattering by the necessities pressing upon them.
Therefore, according to the divine proverb (Prov. xxii, 3), that a
wise man seeth the plague when it cometh, and hideth himself; they,
like skillful and hardened soldiers, were wary of being surrounded by
their enemies, so that they could neither fight not flee, and thought
it wiser to dislodge betimes to some place of better advantage and
less danger, if any such could be found.

Thirdly, as necessity was a task-master over them, so they themselves
were forced to be, not only over their servants, but in a sort over
their dearest children; which not a little wounded the hearts of
many a loving father and mother, and produced many sad and sorrowful
effects. Many of their children, who were of the best disposition
and who had learned to bear the yoke in their youth and were willing
to bear part of their parents’ burden, were often so oppressed with
their labours, that though their minds were free and willing, their
bodies bowed under the weight and became decrepit in early youth,—the
vigour of nature being consumed in the very bud, as it were. But
still more lamentable, and of all sorrows most heavy to be borne,
was that many of the children, influenced by these conditions, and
the great licentiousness of the young people of the country, and the
many temptations of the city, were led by evil example into dangerous
courses, getting the reins off their necks and leaving their parents.
Some became soldiers, others embarked upon voyages by sea and others
upon worse courses tending to dissoluteness and the danger of their
souls, to the great grief of the parents and the dishonour of God. So
they saw their posterity would be in danger to degenerate and become
corrupt.

Last and not least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of
laying good foundations, or at least of making some way towards it,
for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of
Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be
but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work.

These, and some other similar reasons, moved them to resolve upon
their removal, which they afterwards prosecuted in the face of great
difficulties, as will appear.

The place they fixed their thoughts upon was somewhere in those vast
and unpeopled countries of America, which were fruitful and fit for
habitation, though devoid of all civilized inhabitants and given over
to savages, who range up and down, differing little from the wild
beasts themselves. This proposition when made public, found many
different opinions, and raised many fears and doubts. The hopeful
ones tried to encourage the rest to undertake it; others more timid,
objected to it, alleging much that was neither unreasonable nor
improbable. They argued that it was so big an undertaking that it
was open to inconceivable perils and dangers. Besides the casualties
of the seas, they asserted that the length of the voyage was such
that the women, and other weak persons worn out with age and travail,
could never survive it. Even if they should, they contended that the
miseries which they would be exposed to in such a country, would
be too hard to endure. They would be liable to famine, nakedness,
and want. The change of air, diet, and water would infect them
with sickness and disease. Again, all those who surmounted these
difficulties, would remain in continual danger from the savages, who
are cruel, barbarous, and treacherous, furious in their rage, and
merciless when they get the upper hand,—not content to kill, they
delight in tormenting people in the most bloody manner possible;
flaying some alive with the shells of fishes, cutting off the members
and joints of others piecemeal, broiling them on the coals, and
eating collops of their flesh in their sight whilst they live,—with
other cruelties too horrible to be related.

And the very hearing of these things could not but move the very
bowels of men to grate within them and make the weak to quake and
tremble. It was further objected that it would require greater
sums of money to prepare for such a voyage, and to fit them with
necessaries, than their diminished estates would amount to. Many
precedents of ill success and lamentable miseries befallen others
in similar undertakings were alleged,—besides their own experience
in their removal to Holland, and how hard it was for them to live
there, though it was a neighboring country and a civilized and rich
commonwealth.

It was replied that all great and honourable actions are accompanied
with great difficulties, and must be both met and overcome with
answerable courage. It was granted the dangers were great, but not
desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible. For, many
of the things feared might never befall; others by provident care and
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 undertaken without good ground and reason, rashly or lightly;
or, as many had done, for curiosity or hope of gain. But their
condition was not ordinary; their ends were good and honourable;
their calling, lawful and urgent; therefore they might expect the
blessing of God on their proceedings. Yea, though they should lose
their lives in this action, yet might they have the comfort of
knowing that their endeavour was worthy.

They were now living as exiles in poor circumstances; and as great
miseries might befall them here as there, for the twelve years’
truce was now over, and there was nothing but beating of drums
and preparation for war. The Spaniard might prove as cruel as the
savage of America, and the famine and pestilence as sore in Holland
as across the seas. After many other things had been alleged on
both sides, it was fully decided by the majority to undertake the
enterprise, and to prosecute it by the best means they could.




CHAPTER V

Decision to make New England the place of Settlement, in preference
to Guiana or Virginia—Endeavour to obtain a Patent from the King of
England: 1617-1620


After humble prayers to God for His protection and assistance, and
a general conference, they consulted what particular place to pitch
upon. Some had thought of Guiana; some of those fertile places in hot
climates; others were for some parts of Virginia, where the English
had already made entrance. Those for Guiana alleged that the country
was rich, fruitful, and blessed with a perpetual spring, where
vigorous nature brought forth all things in abundance and plenty,
without need of much labour, and that the Spaniards, having much more
than they could possess, had not yet settled there, or anywhere very
near.

To this it was objected that though the country was fruitful and
pleasant, and might yield riches and easy maintenance to the
possessors, other things considered, it would not be so fit for them.
First, such hot countries are subject to horrible diseases and many
noisome pests, which other more temperate places are free from, and
they would not agree so well with our English bodies. Again, if they
lived there and did well, the jealous Spaniards would never leave
them in peace, but would dispossess them as they did the French in
Florida,—and the sooner because they would have no protection, and
their own strength would be insufficient to resist so potent an enemy
and so near a neighbour.

On the other hand, against Virginia it was objected that if they
lived among the English who had settled there, or so near them as
to be under their government, they would be in as great danger of
persecution for their religion as if they lived in England,—and it
might be, worse; while, if they lived too far off, they would have
neither help nor defence from them.

       *       *       *       *       *

At length the conclusion was reached that they should live as a
separate body, by themselves, under the general government of
Virginia; and that through their friends they should sue his majesty
to be pleased to allow them freedom of religion. That this might be
granted they were led to hope by some prominent persons of rank and
influence, who had become their friends.

       *       *       *       *       *

Whereupon, two members of the congregation were sent to England
at the expense of the rest, to arrange the matter. They found the
Virginia company anxious to have them, and willing to grant them a
patent, with as ample privileges as they themselves had or could
grant and to give them the best assistance they could. Some of the
principal officers of the Virginia Company did not doubt that they
could obtain the King’s grant of liberty of religion, confirmed
under his broad seal. But it proved a harder piece of work than
they expected; and, though many means were used to accomplish it,
it proved impossible. Many of high standing used their influence to
obtain it,—though one of the King’s chief secretaries, Sir Robert
Nanton, was against them,—and others urged the Archbishop to give
way to it; but it proved all in vain. They succeeded, however, in
sounding his majesty’s mind, and found that he would connive at them,
and not molest them, provided they behaved peaceably. But to allow or
tolerate their claim to religious freedom by his public authority,
under his seal, was found to be impossible. This was all the leading
officials of the Virginia Company or any of their best friends could
do; though they persuaded the Congregation at Leyden to proceed with
the undertaking, believing that they would not be troubled. With this
answer the messengers returned.

This damped their enthusiasm, and caused some distraction. Many
feared that if they should unsettle themselves and count upon these
hopes, it might prove dangerous and be a sandy foundation. Indeed
it was thought they might better have taken this understanding for
granted, without making suit at all, than to have it thus rejected.
But some of the chief members thought otherwise, and that they might
well proceed, and that the King would not molest them, even though,
for other reasons, he would not confirm it by any public act. And it
was further contended that if there was no security in the promise
thus intimated, there would be no great certainty in its further
confirmation; for if, afterwards, there should be a desire to wrong
them, though they had a seal as broad as the house floor, it would
not serve their turn, for means would be found to reverse it. With
this probability of success they urged that they should trust to
God’s providence for the outcome, as they had done in other things.

Upon this resolution other messengers were despatched to close with
the Virginia Company as well as they could and to procure a patent
with as good and ample conditions as possible; also to arrange with
such merchants and other friends as had manifested interest, to
participate in the accomplishment of this voyage. For these ends they
were instructed upon what lines to proceed,—otherwise to conclude
nothing without further orders.

Here it will be necessary to insert a letter or two bearing on these
proceedings.

  _Sir Edwin Sandys in London to John Robinson and William Brewster
  at Leyden_:

  After my hearty salutations.... The agents of your congregation,
  Robert Cushman and John Carver, have been in communication with
  some of the more important members of his majesty’s counsel for
  Virginia; and by presentation of the seven articles subscribed
  with your names have given them such satisfaction as has decided
  them to further your wishes as well as possible, for your own and
  the public good. Several particulars we will leave to the faithful
  report of your agents, who have carried themselves here with a
  discretion that is as creditable to themselves as to those they
  represent. Having requested time to confer with those who are
  interested in this undertaking, about several particulars, it has
  been very willingly assented to and so they now return to you. If,
  therefore, it may so please God to direct you that on your parts
  there occur no just impediments, I trust by the same direction it
  shall appear, that on our part all reasonable assistance will be
  given. And so I leave you, with your undertaking (which I hope is
  indeed the work of God), to the gracious protection and blessing of
  the Highest.

                                  Your very loving friend,
                                                         EDWIN SANDYS.
  _London, Nov. 12th, 1617._


  _John Robinson and William Brewster at Leyden to Sir Edwin Sandys
  in London_:

  Right Worshipful,

  Our humble duties, with grateful acknowledgment of your singular
  love, especially shown in your earnest endeavour for our good
  in this weighty business about Virginia. We have set down our
  request in writing, subscribed as you wished by the majority of
  the congregation and have sent it to the Council of the Virginia
  Company by our agent, John Carver, a deacon of our Church, whom a
  gentleman of our congregation accompanies.

  We need not urge you to any more tender care of us, since, under
  God, above all persons and things in the world, we rely upon you,
  expecting the care of your love, the counsel of your wisdom, and
  the countenance of your authority. Notwithstanding, for your
  encouragement in the work we will mention these inducements to our
  enterprise:

  1. We verily believe and trust that the Lord is with us, unto Whom
  and Whose service we have given ourselves in many trials; and
  that He will graciously prosper our endeavours according to the
  simplicity of our hearts therein.

  2. We are well weaned from the delicate milk of our mother
  country, and inured to the difficulties of a strange and hard land,
  which by patience we have largely overcome.

  3. The people are for the most part as industrious and frugal, we
  think we may safely say, as any company of people in the world.

  4. We are knit together as a body in a most strict and sacred bond
  and covenant of the Lord, of the violation whereof we make great
  conscience, and by virtue whereof we hold ourselves straitly tied
  to all care of each other’s good.

  5. Lastly, we are not like some, whom small things discourage,
  or small discontents cause to wish themselves at home again. We
  know what we can expect both in England and in Holland, and that
  we shall not improve our material well-being by our departure;
  whereas, should we be forced to return, we could not hope to regain
  our present position, either here or elsewhere during our lives,
  which are now drawing towards their periods.[2]

  These motives we have been bold to put to you, and, as you think
  well, to any other of our friends of the Council. We will not be
  further troublesome, but with our humble duties to your Worship,
  and to any other of our well-willers of the Council, we take our
  leaves, committing you to the guidance of the Almighty.

                              Yours much bounden in all duty,
                                                     JOHN ROBINSON.
                                                     WILLIAM BREWSTER.
  _Leyden, Dec. 15th, 1617._

For further light on these proceedings, here follow some other
letters and notes.

  _Mr. John Robinson and Mr. William Brewster at Leyden to Sir John
  Worstenholme in London_:

  Right Worshipful,

  With due acknowledgment of our gratitude for your singular care
  and pains in the business of Virginia, we have sent enclosed,
  as is required, a further explanation of our judgments in the
  three points specified by some of his majesty’s Honourable Privy
  Council; and though we are grieved that such unjust insinuations
  are made against us, we are glad of the opportunity of clearing
  ourselves before such honourable personages. The declarations we
  have enclosed. The one is more brief and general, which we think
  fitter to be presented; the other is somewhat more comprehensive,
  expressing some small accidental differences, which if you think
  well you can send instead of the former. Our prayer to God is, that
  your Worship may see the fruit of your endeavours, which on our
  parts we shall not fail to further. And so praying you, as soon as
  convenient, to give us knowledge of the success of the business
  with his majesty’s Privy Council, and accordingly what your further
  pleasure is, so we rest,

                                Your worshipful in all duty,
                                                     JOHN ROBINSON.
                                                     WILLIAM BREWSTER.
  _Leyden, Jan. 27th, 1617._

The first brief declaration was this:

  As regards the Ecclesiastical ministry, namely of pastors for
  teaching, elders for ruling, and deacons for distributing the
  churches’ contribution, as also for the two sacraments,—baptism
  and the Lord’s supper,—we agree wholly and in all points with the
  French Reformed Churches, according to their public Confession of
  Faith.

  The Oath of Supremacy we shall willingly take, if it be required of
  us, and if it be not sufficient that we take the Oath of Allegiance.

                                                     JOHN ROBINSON.
                                                     WILLIAM BREWSTER.

The second and ampler declaration was this:

  As regards the Ecclesiastical ministry, etc., as in the former
  declaration, we agree in all things with the French Reformed
  Churches, according to their public Confession of Faith; though
  some small differences may be found in our practices,—not at
  all in the substance of the things, but only in some accidental
  circumstances.

  1. Their ministers pray with their heads covered; ours uncovered.

  2. We choose none for governing elders but such as are able to
  teach; which ability they do not require.

  3. Their elders and deacons are annual, or at most for two or three
  years; ours perpetual.

  4. Our elders deliver admonitions and excommunications for public
  scandals, publicly, before the congregation; theirs more privately,
  in their consistories.

  5. We administer baptism only to infants of whom one parent, at
  least, is of some church, which some of their churches do not
  observe; though in this our practice accords with their public
  confession, and with the judgments of the most learned amongst them.

  Other differences worth mentioning, we know of none. Then about the
  Oath of Supremacy, as in the former declaration.

                                             Subscribed,
                                                     JOHN ROBINSON.
                                                     WILLIAM BREWSTER.


  _Part of a letter from the messenger in England, who delivered the
  foregoing, to Mr. John Robinson and Mr. William Brewster at Leyden_:

  Your letter to Sir John Worstenholme I delivered into his own hands
  almost as soon as I received it, and stayed with him whilst he
  opened and read it. There were two papers enclosed, which he read
  to himself, and also the letter; and while reading it he asked me:
  “Who will make them?” (viz., the ministers). I answered that the
  power of making ministers rested with the church; that they were
  ordained by the imposition of hands, by its fittest members; that
  it must rest either with the church or with the pope, and the pope
  is antichrist. “Ho!” said Sir John, “what the pope holds good,—as
  the Trinity,—we do well to assent to; but we will not enter into
  dispute now.” As for your letters, he said he would not show them,
  lest he should spoil all. He had expected that you would be of the
  Archbishop’s mind in regard to the appointment of ministers; but
  it seems you differed. I could have wished to know the contents
  of your two enclosures, at which he stuck so much,—especially the
  larger.

  I asked his Worship what good news he had for me to write
  to-morrow. He told me very good news, for both the King’s majesty
  and the bishops had consented. He said he would go to the
  Chancellor, Sir Fulk Greville, this day, and next week I should
  know more. I met Sir Edwin Sandys on Wednesday night; he wished me
  to be at the Virginia Court next Wednesday, where I purpose to be.
  I hope next week to have something certain to communicate. I commit
  you to the Lord.

                                                             Yours,
                                                                 S. B.
  _London, Feb. 14th, 1617._

These things being lengthily discussed, and messengers passing to and
fro about them, they were long delayed by many rubs. At the return of
the messengers to England they found things far otherwise than they
expected. The Virginia Council was now so disturbed with quarrels
among themselves, that no business could well go forward. This will
appear in one of the messenger’s letters which follows:

  _Robert Cushman in England to the Congregation at Leyden_:

  I intended long since to have written to you, but could not effect
  it; but I doubt not that Mr. B. has written to Mr. Robinson. The
  main hindrance to the Virginia business is the dissensions in the
  Council of Virginia. The cause of the trouble is, that, recently,
  Sir Thomas Smith, weary of his many offices, wished the Company of
  Virginia to relieve him of being its treasurer and governor,—he
  having 60 votes, Sir John Worstenholme 16 votes, and Alderman
  Johnstone 24. But Sir Thomas Smith, finding his honours diminished,
  was very angry, and raised a faction to contest the election, and
  sought to tax Sir Edwin Sandys, the new Governor, with many things
  which would both disgrace him and deprive him of his office as
  Governor. In these contentions they still stick, and what will
  result we are not yet certain. Most likely Sir Edwin will win, and
  if he does, things will go well in Virginia; if otherwise, they
  will go ill. We hope in some two or three Court-days things will be
  settled. Meanwhile, I intend to go down to Kent, and come up again
  about 14 days or three weeks hence unless these contentions or the
  ill tidings from Virginia (of which I will now speak) should wholly
  discourage us.

  Captain Argoll came home from Virginia this week. Upon receiving
  notice of the intentions of the Council, he left before Sir George
  Yeardley had arrived there; so there is no small dissatisfaction.
  But his tidings are ill. He says Mr. Blackwell’s ship did not reach
  there till March, owing to northwest winds, which carried them to
  the southward beyond their course. The captain of the ship and
  some six of the sailors dying, it seems they could not find the
  bay till after long beating about. Mr. Blackwell is dead, and Mr.
  Maggner, the Captain; in fact Captain Argoll says 130 persons on
  that ship died out of a total of 180. There were so many that they
  were packed together like herrings. They were ill with the flux,
  and they lacked fresh water; so here it is rather wondered at that
  as many are alive, than that so many are dead. The merchants here
  say it was Mr. Blackwell’s fault for packing so many in the ship.
  There was much grumbling at the time, and Mr. Blackwell was blamed
  for his disposition of them and his insults to them. They say the
  streets of Gravesend rang with their quarreling, crying out at each
  other: “Thou hast brought me to this;” and, “I may thank thee for
  this!” Heavy news it is, and I wonder how far it will discourage
  our project. No one here is much discouraged; they seem only to
  wish to learn by other men’s misfortunes. As we desire to serve one
  another in love, so take heed of being enthralled by any imperious
  persons,—especially if they seem to have an eye to their own
  advantage. It often troubles me to think that in this business all
  of us must learn, and none can teach; but better so, than to depend
  upon such teachers as Mr. Blackwell was. He once laid a similar
  trap for Mr. Johnson and his people at Emden,—which was their ruin.
  But though in that instance he managed to pluck his neck out of
  the collar, at last his foot is caught. No letters have arrived
  yet, as the ship Captain Argoll came in is still on the west coast;
  all that we hear is his report; it seems he came away secretly.
  The ship that Mr. Blackwell went in will be here shortly. What Mr.
  Robinson once said has come true: that we should hear no good of
  them.

  Mr. B. is not well; whether he will return to you or go north, I
  do not know. For myself I hope to see an end of this business ere
  I come, though I am sorry to be away from you. If things had gone
  straight forward, I should have been with you within these 14 days.
  I pray God direct us, and give us the spirit which is fitting for
  such a business. Thus having summarily pointed at things which Mr.
  Brewster I think has more largely written of to Mr. Robinson, I
  leave you to the Lord’s protection.

                                Yours in all readiness, etc.,
                                                       ROBERT CUSHMAN.
  _London, May 8th, 1619._

A word or two, by way of digression, about this Mr. Blackwell. He
was an Elder of the church at Amsterdam,—a man well known to most
of them. He declined from the truth with Mr. Johnson and the rest,
and went with them when they parted from the congregation in that
woful manner, which brought such great dishonour to God, scandal
to the truth, and ruin to themselves in this world. But, I hope,
notwithstanding, through the mercies of the Lord, their souls are now
at rest with Him in the heavens, and that they have reached the haven
of happiness; though some of their bodies were thus buried in the
terrible seas, and others sank under the burden of bitter afflictions.

He, with some others, had prepared to go by way of London to
Virginia. Being a private meeting—I take it a fast—in London, and
being discovered, many of them were arrested, Mr. Blackwell being
one; but he so glozed with the bishops, and either dissembled or
flatly denied the truth which he had formerly maintained, and very
unworthily betrayed another godly man who had escaped, so that he
might slip his own neck out of the collar, that he won the bishop’s
favour (but lost the Lord’s) and was not only acquitted, but in open
court the Archbishop praised him highly, and gave him his solemn
blessing to proceed on his voyage. But if such events follow the
Archbishop’s blessing, happy are they that miss it; it is much better
to keep a good conscience and have the Lord’s blessing, whether in
life or death.

But to return to the concerns of the congregation at Leyden. At
last, after all these occurrences, and their long waiting, they had
a patent granted them and confirmed under the Virginia Company’s
seal. But these divisions had alienated many of their less constant
supporters, and they were thus disappointed of much of their hoped
for and proffered means. By the advice of some friends the patent
was not taken out in the name of any of their own members, but in
the name of Mr. J. Wincot (a religious gentleman then in the service
of the Countess of Lincoln), who intended to go with them. But God
so disposed things that he never went, nor did they ever make use of
this patent, which had cost them so much labour and expense, as will
appear. The patent being sent over for those at Leyden to consider,
and also the propositions of such merchants and friends as would go
with them or participate in the adventure,—and especially those (Mr.
Thomas Weston, etc.), on whom they chiefly depended for shipping
and stores,—they were requested to prepare with all speed. And this
matter of the patent is a true emblem of the uncertain things of this
world, which, when men have toiled to acquire them vanish into smoke!




CHAPTER VI

Agreement between the Congregation at Leyden and the Merchants and
Adventurers in London for the accomplishment of the Settlement in New
England: 1620.


Upon the receipt of these papers through one of their messengers,
they had a solemn meeting and a day of humiliation to seek the Lord’s
direction; and their pastor took this text, I Sam. xxiii., 3, 4: “And
David’s men said unto him, see, we be afraid here in Judah; how much
more if we come to Keilah against the host of the Philistines? Then
David asked counsel of the Lord again.” From this text he taught
things very aptly and befitting the present occasion,—strengthening
them against their fears and perplexities, and encouraging them in
their resolutions.

Afterwards they decided what number and which of the members should
prepare to go first; for not all that were willing to go could settle
their affairs in so short a time; nor if all could have been ready,
would there have been means of transport for them. Those that stayed,
being the greater number, required the pastor, Mr. Robinson, to stay
with them; and for other reasons he could not well go, and so it was
the more easily conceded. The others then desired the elder, Mr.
Brewster, to go with them, which was agreed to. It was also decided
by mutual consent that those who went should be a separate church,
distinct from those who stayed, since, with such a dangerous voyage
before them, and removal to such a distance, it might happen that
they should never meet again, as a body, in this world. But there
was this proviso: that when any of the members at Leyden came over
to join the others, or when any of the others returned, they should
be received as members without any further testimonial. It was also
promised by the rest to those that went first, that if the Lord gave
them life and opportunity, they would come to them as soon as they
could.

About this time, while they were troubled at the proceedings of
the Virginia Company, and the ill-news about Mr. Blackwell and his
fellow-colonists, and were busily enquiring about the hiring or
buying of shipping for their voyage, some Dutchmen made them offers
about going with them. Also, Mr. Thomas Weston, a merchant of London,
came to Leyden about the same time, being well acquainted with some
of them, having assisted them in their former proceedings,—and
after much conference with Mr. Robinson and other chief members,
he persuaded them to go on, and not to join with the Dutch, or to
depend too much on the Virginia Company; for if that failed them, he
and some of his merchant-friends would supplement their means and
set them forth. He advised them to prepare and fear neither want of
shipping nor of money; what they needed should be provided. And, not
so much for himself as for the satisfaction of his friends, they
were to draw up articles of agreement, and make a proposition such
as would be likely to incline his friends to the venture. Upon which
an agreement was drawn up, and was shown to and approved by him, and
was afterwards sent to England by their messenger, Mr. John Carver,
who, together with Robert Cushman, were to receive the money and make
provision both for shipping and other things for the voyage. They
were charged not to exceed their commission but to proceed according
to the agreement. Others at Leyden were chosen to proceed with
similar arrangements which were to be made there. Those that were to
go, prepared with all speed, and sold their estates, putting their
money into the common stock, which was in charge of those appointed
to make the general provisions.

About this time they heard both from Mr. Weston and others, that
sundry honourable lords had obtained a large grant from the King, of
the more northerly parts of the country, arising out of the Virginia
Company’s patent, but wholly separated from its government, and to be
called by another name, viz., New England. To these parts, Mr. Weston
and the chief members began to feel that it was best for them to
go,—amongst other reasons, chiefly because of the profit to be made
from the fishing there.

But in all business the executive part is most difficult,—especially
where the concurrence of many agents is necessary. And so it was
found to be in this undertaking: some of those in England, who were
to have gone, changed their minds and would not go; other merchants
and friends, who had offered to invest their money in the project,
withdrew, making many excuses. Some wished them to go to Guiana;
others again would risk nothing if they did not go to Virginia;
some again—indeed those they had most relied on—utterly disapproved
of Virginia, and would do nothing if they went there. In the midst
of these distractions, those at Leyden, who had disposed of their
property and expended their money, were in great straits and feared
disastrous results; but at length the majority inclined to the New
England Settlement.

But now another difficulty arose. Mr. Weston and some of his friends
(either for their own advantage, or, as they pretended, to make
further inducements for others to join them) insisted on altering
some of the conditions that had been agreed upon at Leyden. To these
alterations the two agents sent from Leyden (or at least one of them
who is most to be blamed for it) consented, fearing that otherwise it
would all be thrown up. They presumed to agree with the new terms,
in some particulars overstepping their authority and commission, and
without giving due notice. Indeed, the fact that it was concealed
for fear of any further delay, afterwards caused much trouble and
contention.

I will here insert a copy of these new conditions, as follows.

  _July 1st, 1620._

  1. The adventurers and planters agree that every person who goes,
  of sixteen years and upwards, be rated at £10; £10 to be reckoned
  as a single share.

  2. That he who goes in person, and furnishes himself with £10,
  either in money, or provisions, be accounted as having £20 in
  stock; and in the division shall receive a double share.

  3. The persons transported, and the adventurers, shall continue
  their joint stock and partnership together for seven years (unless
  some unexpected impediment cause the whole company to agree
  otherwise), during which time all profits and benefits go by trade,
  traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other means, by any
  persons or person, shall remain in the common stock until the
  division.

  4. That on their arrival there, they shall chose out such number
  of fit persons as may man their ships and boats at sea; employing
  the rest in their several faculties upon the land, such as
  building houses, tilling and planting the ground, and making such
  commodities as shall be most useful for the colony.

  5. That at the end of the seven years, the capital and profits,
  viz., the houses, lands, goods and chattels, shall be equally
  divided among the adventurers and planters; which done, every man
  shall be free of any debt to any other of them, arising from this
  adventure.

  6. Whosoever shall come to the colony hereafter, or shall
  contribute to the stock, shall at the end of the seven years be
  allowed proportionately to the time of his doing so.

  7. He who shall take his wife and children, or servants, shall
  be allowed for every person now aged sixteen years and upwards,
  a single share in the division; or if he provide them with
  necessaries, a double share; or if they be between ten and sixteen,
  two of them to be reckoned as one person, both in transportation
  and division.

  8. That such children as now go, and are under the age of ten
  years, have no other share in the division, but fifty acres of
  unmanured land.

  9. That such persons as die before the seven years be expired,
  their executors to have their part or share at the division,
  proportionately to the time of their life in the colony.

  10. That all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their
  food, drink, clothing, and all provisions, out of the common stock
  and goods of the said colony.

The principal difference between this and the former agreement,
consisted of these two points: that the houses and improved lands,
especially gardens and home-lots, should remain undivided, and should
belong wholly to the planters at the seven years’ end; secondly, that
they should have two days a week for their own private employment,
for the greater comfort of themselves and their families. But as
letters are considered the best part of history by some wise men, I
will show their grievances on the score by their own letters.

  _Mr. John Robinson at Leyden to Mr. John Carver in England_:

  My dear Friend and Brother.

  Whom, with yours, I always remember in my best affection, and whose
  welfare I shall never cease to commend to God, by my best and most
  earnest prayers.

  You thoroughly understand by our general letters the state of
  things here, which indeed is very pitiful; especially the want
  of shipping, and not seeing means of providing it; though, in
  addition, there is great want of money for other needful things.
  Mr. Pickering, you know before this, will not defray a penny here;
  though Robert Cushman reckoned upon I know not how many hundred
  pounds from him, and I know not whom else. But it seems strange
  that we should be asked to take the risk of his and his partners’
  enterprise,—and yet Mr. Weston writes to him that he has drawn upon
  him for £100 more. There is some mystery in this, as indeed there
  seems to be in the whole affair. Besides this, those who were to
  pay in such of their money as is yet in arrears, refuse to do it
  till they see shipping provided, or steps taken for its provision.
  Indeed, I think there is not a man here who would pay anything,
  if he had his money in his purse again. We depended on Mr. Weston
  alone, and upon such means as he would procure; and when we had
  in hand another project with the Dutchmen, we broke it off at his
  instance and upon the conditions propounded by him shortly after.
  He had our interests sincerely at heart, I know; but he has not
  fulfilled his pledges thus far. That he ought first to have put in
  his money is the opinion of many; but that I can well excuse, he
  being a merchant, and having uses for it in the meantime to his
  benefit; whereas, others, if it had been in their hands, would have
  expended it. But that he should not have had shipping ready before
  this, or at least definite provision for it, duly made known to us,
  cannot in my conscience be excused. I have heard that when he has
  been urged about the business, he has put it off and referred it to
  others; or would go to George Morton and enquire news of him about
  things, as if he himself had scarcely been even an accessory to it.
  Whether some of his friends have failed him, and so he is not able
  to go through with things; or whether he fears it will be ready
  too soon and so increase the charge of shipping; or whether he
  thought by holding back to put us in straits, thinking that thereby
  Mr. Brewer and Mr. Pickering would be induced to do more; or what
  other mystery is in it, we know not. But certain we are that the
  arrangements made do not accord with the requirements. Mr. Weston
  makes himself merry with our endeavours to buy a ship; but we have
  done nothing about this without good reason, nor about anything
  else that I know of, except two. The one is that we employed Robert
  Cushman, who though a good man and of special ability in his way
  is known to be most unfit to deal for others, because of his
  singularity and too great indifference to the circumstances,—for,
  as a matter of fact, we have had nothing from him but terms and
  suggestions. The other is that we have relied too much by implicit
  faith as it were, upon generalities, without having the details of
  ways and means for so important an affair settled between us. For
  shipping, Mr. Weston it seems is set upon hiring, which I hope he
  may soon accomplish. Of Mr. Brewer you know what to expect. I do
  not think Mr. Pickering will take part except to buy, as specified
  in former letters.

  About the conditions, you have our reasons for what is agreed
  upon. And let this specially be borne in mind; that the greatest
  part of the colony is likely to be employed constantly not upon
  cultivating their own particular land, and building houses, but
  upon fishing, trading, etc. So, though the land and houses would be
  but a trifling advantage to the adventurers, the ultimate division
  of them would be a great discouragement to the settlers who would
  tend them with singular care, to make them comfortable, with
  borrowed hours from their sleep. The same consideration of common
  employment, constantly, by the majority, is good reason not to deny
  to the planters the two days a week for private use. Consider how
  unfitting you would find it that you and your likes should serve
  a new apprenticeship of seven years, and not a day’s freedom from
  task.

  Send me word what others are going; who that are possessed of
  useful faculties; how many; and particulars of everything. I know
  you do not lack a mind. I am sorry you have not been in London all
  this while. Time will suffer me to write no more; fare you and
  yours well, always in the Lord, in Whom I rest.

                                             Yours to use,
                                                        JOHN ROBINSON.
  _June 14th, 1620._


  _Several of them at Leyden to John Carver and Robert Cushman in
  England_:

  To their loving friends John Carver and Robert Cushman:

  Good Brethren,

  We received several letters at the coming of Mr. Nash and our
  pilot, which was a great encouragement to us. Indeed, had you
  not sent him, many would have been ready to lose heart, and give
  up—partly because of the new conditions which have been accepted
  by you, which all are against; and partly for lack of our own
  ability to accomplish any of the important matters which you have
  commissioned us to do here. As to the former, of which Robert
  Cushman requests reasons for our dislike and promises to alter
  them accordingly, saying that otherwise we must think he has no
  brains,—we desire him to exercise them therein, referring him to
  our pastor’s former reasons. But our desire is that you will not
  bind yourselves and us to any such unreasonable stipulations, viz.,
  that the merchants shall have half the houses and lands at the
  dividend; and that the settlers shall be deprived of the two days
  a week for their own work, as agreed upon,—otherwise we cannot
  conceive why any of us should take servants for our own help and
  comfort, since we could demand no service of them. This alteration
  we have gathered only by word from Mr. Nash, and not from any
  letters of yours; so we hope you have not proceeded far in so
  great a departure from the terms without our concurrence. However,
  requiring you not to exceed the bounds of your commission, which
  was to proceed upon the conditions agreed upon and expressed in
  writing, we leave it,—not without wondering that you yourselves, as
  you write, knowing how small a thing disturbs our consultations,
  and hew few understand the business aright, should trouble us with
  such matters as these.

  Salute Mr. Weston from us, in whom we hope we are not deceived.
  Pray make known our present condition to him, and, if you think
  good, show him our letters. At least tell him that, under God, we
  rely much upon him and put our confidence in him; and that as you
  well know, if he had not joined with us, we should not have entered
  upon the enterprise, presuming that if he had not seen means to
  accomplish it, he would not have begun it. So we hope that he will
  so far help us that our expectations in him be not disappointed.
  Thus beseeching the Almighty, Who is all-sufficient to raise us
  out of this depth of difficulties, and to assist us herein, and to
  supply means by His providence and fatherly care for us, His poor
  children and servants, that we may with comfort behold the hand
  of our God for good towards us in this our enterprise, which we
  undertake in His name and fear; we take leave and remain,

                             Your perplexed, yet hopeful brethren,
                                  SAMUEL FULLER       WILLIAM BRADFORD
                                  EDWARD WINSLOW      ISAAC ALLERTON
  _June 10th, 1620_.


  _Robert Cushman in England to the foregoing at Leyden_:

  Brethren,

  I understand by letters that have come to me, that many of you
  greatly dislike my proceedings. Sorry I am to hear it, yet content
  to bear it, not doubting that partly by writing, and principally
  by word when we come together, I can satisfy any reasonable man.
  I have been persuaded by some, especially the bearer of this, to
  come and make things clear to you; but as things now stand I cannot
  be absent one day, without hazarding the whole voyage; nor do I
  conceive that any great good would come of it. Take then, brethren,
  this as a step to give you content. First, as to your dislike of
  the alteration of one clause in the conditions: if you see it
  aright, no blame can lie on me at all. The articles first brought
  over by John Carver were never seen by any of the adventurers here
  except Mr. Weston himself, when he had well considered it. £500
  was withdrawn by Sir George Farrer and his brother because of it,
  and all the rest would have withdrawn (Mr. Weston excepted), if we
  had not altered the clause. Now when we at Leyden concluded upon
  certain points, as we did, we reckoned without our host, which was
  not my fault. Besides, I showed you by letter the equity of the new
  condition as against our inconveniences, which might be set against
  all the inconveniences cited by Mr. Robinson, and showed that
  without the alteration of that clause, we could neither have means
  to get there, nor supplies for our subsistence when we arrived.
  Yet, notwithstanding all those reasons, which were not mine, but
  other men’s wiser than myself, without answer to any one of them,
  many complaints are directed against me, of lording it over my
  brethren, and making conditions fitter for thieves and bondslaves
  than honest men. And at last came a paper of reasons against that
  clause in the conditions, which since they were delivered to me
  open, my answer shall be open to you all.

  1. First, it is said that if there had been no division of houses
  and lands, it would have been better for the poor:—

  True,—and that shows the inequality of the original conditions:
  we should more respect him that ventures both his money and his
  person, than him that ventures his person only.

  2. Consider, further, that we are not giving alms, but furnishing
  a storehouse. No one will be poorer than his neighbour for seven
  years; and, from the nature of the enterprise, if any of us be
  rich, none of us can be poor. At any rate we must not in such an
  undertaking start out with the cry,—Poor, poor; mercy, mercy!
  Charity has its life in disasters, not in ventures.

  3. This will hinder the building of good houses, which is contrary
  to sound politics:—

  So we would have it. Our purpose is, for the present, to build
  such houses as, if need be, we may with little grief set fire to
  and run away by the light. Our riches shall not be in pomp, but in
  strength. If God sends us riches, we will employ them to provide
  more men, ships, ammunition, etc. You will see it argued amongst
  the best politicians, that a commonwealth is readier to ebb than to
  flow when once fine houses and gay clothes appear.

  4. The government can prevent excess in building:—

  But if it be generally resolved on beforehand to build modest
  houses, the Governor’s labour is spared.

  5. All men are not of one condition:—

  If by “condition” you mean “wealth” you are mistaken; if you mean
  by “condition,” “qualities,” then I say that he who is not content
  that his neighbour shall have as good a house, fare, means, etc.,
  as himself, is not of good quality. Such secluded persons as have
  an eye only to themselves, are fitter to come where catching is,
  than closing; and are fitter to live alone, than in any society,
  either civil or religious.

  6. It will be of little value, scarcely worth £5:—

  True; it may not be worth half £5. If then so small a thing will
  content them, why strive we thus about it, and give them occasion
  to suspect us to be worldly and covetous? I will not say what I
  have heard since these complaints first reached us here.

  7. Our friends that venture with us do not look to their own
  profit, as did the old adventurers:—

  Then they are better than we, who for a little matter of profit are
  ready to draw back. Look to it, brethren, you that make profit your
  main end; repent of this, or go not, lest you be like Jonas to
  Tarshis. Though some of them have no eye for profit, others have;
  and why not they as much as we? Such ventures are undertaken by all
  sorts of men, and we must try to content them all if we can.

  8. It will break up the community, as may be shown by many reasons:—

  That is only a statement; and I say again, it will best foster
  community, as may be shown by many reasons.

  9. Great profit is likely to be made by trucking, fishing, etc.:—

  As it is better for them, so for us; for half is ours, besides
  getting our living from it. And if profit comes largely in that
  way, we shall labour less on the land, and our houses and lands
  will be of less value.

  10. Our risk is greater than theirs:—

  True, but do they force us to it? Do they urge or egg us? Has not
  the motion and resolution always been in ourselves? Do they, any
  more than in seeing us resolute if we had means, help us to means
  upon equal terms and conditions? If we do not wish to go, they are
  content to keep their money. Thus I have pointed out a way to loose
  those knots, which I hope you will consider seriously, and let me
  have no more stir about them.

  Now, further, I hear a noise about slavish conditions being made;
  but surely this is all that I have altered, and I have sent you
  the reasons. If you mean about the two days a week for personal
  occupations, you are misled. You can have three days a week, as far
  as I care, if you wish; and when speaking to the adventurers about
  times of working, they said they hoped we were men of discretion
  and conscience, and fit to be trusted with that. But indeed the
  grounds of our proceedings at Leyden were mistaken.

  As for those of Amsterdam, I thought they would as soon have gone
  to Rome as with us; for our liberty is to them as rat’s-bane,
  and their rigour as bad to us as the Spanish inquisition. If any
  action of mine discourage them, let them withdraw. I will undertake
  they shall have their money back at once, paid here. Or if the
  congregation think me the Jonas, let them dismiss me before we go;
  I shall be content to stay with good will, having but the clothes
  on my back. Let us then have quietness, and no more of these
  clamours; little did I expect these things which are now come to
  pass.

                                                     Yours,
                                                       ROBERT CUSHMAN.

Whether this letter of his ever came to their hands at Leyden, I know
not; I rather think it was intercepted by Mr. Carver and kept by
him, for fear it should give offence. But the letter which follows
was received.

  _Robert Cushman in England in reply to the joint letter from
  Leyden_:

  I received your letter yesterday through John Turner, with another
  the same day from Amsterdam through Mr. W., savouring of the place
  whence it came. And indeed, the many discouragements I find here,
  together with the demurs there, made me say I would give up my
  accounts to John Carver, and at his coming acquaint him fully
  with all, and so leave it entirely with only the poor clothes
  on my back. But gathering myself up, on further consideration I
  resolved to make one trial more, and to acquaint Mr. Weston with
  the unstable condition of things. He has been very discontented
  with us of late, and has even said that but for his promise he
  would have nothing more to do with the business; but considering
  how far we have gone already and how it stood with our credit,
  he pulled himself together, and coming to me two hours after, he
  told me he would not yet abandon it. So we decided to hire a ship,
  and have taken the option of one till Monday. It is small, but
  except one that was too large for our purpose, we could not get a
  larger; but it is a fine ship. Since our friends over there are
  so close-fisted, we hope to secure her without troubling them any
  further; and if the ship is too small, it is only fitting that
  those who stumble at straws so early in the day, shall rest them
  there awhile, lest worse blocks come in the way ere seven years be
  ended. If you had faced this business so thoroughly a month ago,
  and had written as you do now, we could have concluded things with
  less difficulty. But it is as it is. I hope our friends there, if
  they are quit of the ship-hire, will be induced to venture the
  more. All that I now require is that salt and nets may be bought
  there,—all the rest we will provide here; and if even that be
  impossible, let them give you credit for a month or two, and we
  will take steps to pay it all. Let Mr. Reynolds remain there, and
  bring the ship to Southampton. We have hired another pilot here, a
  Mr. Clark, who went last year to Virginia with a ship of cattle.

  You shall hear more exactly by John Turner, who I think will leave
  here on Tuesday night. I had thought to come with him to answer
  the complaints; but if I had more mind to go and dispute with them
  than I have care of this important project, I should be like those
  who live by clamour and jangling. But neither my mind nor my body
  is at liberty to do much, for I am fettered with business, and had
  rather study to be quiet than to make answer to their exceptions.
  Meanwhile entreat our friends not to be too busy in questioning my
  actions before they know them. If I do things that I cannot give
  reasons for, it seems you have sent a fool about your business;
  in that case you had best return the reproof to yourselves, and
  send another, and let me return to my combes. The Lord, Who judges
  justly without respect of persons, see into the equity of my cause
  and give us quiet, peaceable, and patient minds in all these
  turmoils, and sanctify us unto all crosses whatsoever. And so I
  take my leave of you all, in all love and affection.

  I hope we shall get all ready here in fourteen days.

                                     Your poor brother,
                                                       ROBERT CUSHMAN.
  _June 11th, 1620._

There arose, also, a difference between the three that received
the money and made the provisions in England; for besides the
two formerly mentioned, sent from Leyden,—John Carver and Robert
Cushman,—there was one chosen in England to join them in making
provisions for the voyage. His name was Mr. Martin; he came from
Billirike in Essex, whence several others came to join them, as well
as from London and other places. It was thought right by those in
Holland that these strangers who were to go with them should appoint
some one, not so much from any great need of their help, as to avoid
all suspicion or jealousy. Indeed their care not to give offence,
both in this and other things, afterwards greatly inconvenienced
them, as will appear. However, it showed their equal and honest
minds. The provisions were made for the most part at Southampton,
contrary to Mr. Weston’s and Robert Cushman’s advice (which generally
concurred in these things). Reference to these matters is made in the
following letter from Robert Cushman to Mr. Carver, and more will
appear afterwards.

  _Robert Cushman in London to John Carver at Southampton_:

  Loving Friend,

  I have received some letters from you, full of affection and
  complaints; but what it is you want me to do I know not. You cry
  out, Negligence, negligence, negligence: I marvel why so negligent
  a man as myself was employed to undertake the business. Yet you
  know that as far as my power permits, nothing shall be one hour
  behind, I warrant you. You call upon Mr. Weston to help us with
  more money than his share in the adventure; while he protests that,
  but for his promise, he would not have done anything further. He
  says we take a heady course; and he is offended that our provisions
  are being made so far off, and that he was not made acquainted with
  our quantity of things. He says that working thus, in three places,
  so far distant, we shall, with going hither and thither, wrangling
  and expostulating, let the summer slip by before we start. And to
  tell the truth, there is already a flat schism among us. We are
  readier to dispute than to undertake a voyage. I have received from
  Leyden, since you went, three or four letters directed to you;
  though as they only concern me I will not trouble you with them.

  I have always feared the event of the Amsterdamers striking in with
  us. I trow you must excommunicate me, or else go without their
  company, or we shall not lack quarrelling; but let that pass. We
  have reckoned, it seems, without our host; and counting upon 150
  persons, we cannot raise above £1200 odd, besides some cloth,
  stockings, and shoes, which are not counted; so we shall come short
  at least three or four hundred pounds. I would have reduced the
  beer and other provisions; and now we could get, both in Amsterdam
  and Kent, beer enough; but we cannot accept it without prejudice.

  You fear we have begun to build and shall not be able to make
  an end. Our plans for provisioning not having been made in
  consultation, we may justly fear the results. There was contention
  amongst us three at the first. You wrote to Mr. Martin to prevent
  the making of the provisions in Kent; which he did nevertheless,
  and decided how much he would have of everything, irrespective of
  us. However, your money which you must have there, we will provide
  you with instantly. £500 you say will serve; as for the rest, which
  will be required here and in Holland, we may go scratch for it. As
  for Mr. Crabe, the minister, of whom you write, he has promised to
  go with us; but I shall not be sure till I see him shipped, for
  he is contentious on many points; still, I hope he will not fail.
  Think the best of all, and bear with patience what is wanting, and
  the Lord guide us all.

                                      Your loving friend,
                                                       ROBERT CUSHMAN.
  _London, June 10th, 1620._

I have been more discursive on these subjects,—and shall crave leave
to be so concerning some similar occurrences which will follow;
though in other things I shall try to be more concise. My object is
that their children may see with what difficulties their fathers
had to wrestle in accomplishing the first beginnings; and how God
ultimately brought them through, notwithstanding all their weakness
and infirmities; also that some use may be made of them later, by
others, in similar important projects. Herewith I will end this
chapter.




CHAPTER VII

Departure from Leyden—Arrival and Preparations at Southampton—Letter
of Farewell from John Robinson to the whole party of Pilgrims: July
and August, 1620.


At length after much discussion everything was got ready. A small
ship was bought and fitted out in Holland, intended to help transport
them, and then to remain in the country for fishing and such other
pursuits as might benefit the colony. Another ship was hired at
London, of about 180 tons. When they were ready to depart, they had
a day of solemn humiliation, their pastor taking his text from Ezra
viii., 21: “And there at the river, by Ahava, I proclaimed a fast
that we might humble ourselves before our God, and seek of Him a
right way for us and for our children, and for all our substance.”
Upon this discourse he spent a good part of the day very profitably.
The rest of the time was spent in pouring out prayers to the Lord
with great fervency and abundance of tears.

The time having come when they must depart, they were accompanied
by most of their brethren out of the city to a town several miles
off, called Delfthaven, where the ship lay ready to take them. So
they left that good and pleasant city, which had been their resting
place for nearly twelve years; but they knew they were pilgrims,
and lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and
quieted their spirits. When they came to the place, they found the
ship and everything ready, and such of their friends as could not
come with them followed them, and several came from Amsterdam to see
them shipped and to take leave of them. That night there was little
sleep for most of them, for it was spent in friendly entertainment
and Christian discourse and other real expressions of true Christian
love. The next day the wind being fair they went aboard and their
friends with them,—and truly doleful was the sight of that sad and
mournful parting. What sighs and sobs and prayers rose from amongst
them! What tears gushed from every eye, and pithy speeches pierced
each heart! Many of the Dutch strangers who stood on the quay as
spectators, could not refrain from tears. Yet it was comfortable and
sweet to see such lively and true expressions of dear and unfeigned
love. But the tide which stays for no man called them away, though
loth to part; and their reverent pastor, falling down on his knees,
and all with him, with watery cheeks commended them with most fervent
prayers to the Lord and His blessing. Then with mutual embraces and
many tears, they took their leave of one another,—which proved to be
the last leave for many of them.

Thus, hoisting sail, with a prosperous wind they came in short time
to Southampton, where they found the bigger ship from London lying
ready with all the rest of the company. After a joyful welcome and
mutual congratulations with other friendly entertainment, they
came to the subject of their business, and how to conclude it most
expeditiously, and discussed with their agents the alteration of
the conditions. Mr. Carver pleaded that he was employed here at
Southampton, and did not know what his colleague had done in London.
Mr. Cushman answered that he had done nothing but what was essential,
both in fairness and of necessity, otherwise all would have been
sacrificed and many ruined. He stated that at the outset he had
acquainted his fellow-agents with what he had done, and that they had
consented, and left it to him to execute, to receive the money in
London and send it down to them at Southampton, where they wished
to buy provisions; which he accordingly did, though it was against
his advice and some of the merchants’. As for giving them notice at
Leyden, about this change he could not, because of the shortness of
time; again, he knew it would trouble them and hinder the business,
which had already been too long delayed, considering the time of the
year, which he feared they would find to their cost.

But these explanations did not content his hearers. Mr. Weston also
came up from London to see them embark, and to have the conditions
confirmed; but they refused, and told him that he knew well that
they were not according to the first agreement, nor could they
endorse them without the consent of the rest in Holland. In fact
they had special orders when they came away, from the chief men of
the congregation, not to do it. At this he was much offended, and
told them in that case they must stand on their own legs; so he
returned to London in displeasure. They lacked about £100 to clear
their obligations; but he would not disburse a penny, and left them
to shift as they could. So they were forced to sell some of their
provisions, including some three or four firkins of butter, which
they were best able to spare, having provided too much. Then they
wrote a letter to the merchants and adventurers about the changes in
the conditions as follows:


  _The Pilgrims at Southampton to the Merchants and Adventurers_:

  Beloved Friends,

  We are sorry that it should be necessary to write to you at all,
  because we hoped to see most of you here; but especially we regret
  that there should be these differences between us. Since we cannot
  confer together, we think it proper to show you briefly the just
  cause of our dissenting from the articles last made by Robert
  Cushman, without our commission or knowledge. For, though he might
  make good excuses to himself, it in no way justifies his having
  done it. Our main differences lie in the fifth and ninth articles,
  concerning the division of houses or lands, the possession of
  which, as some you know, was one special motive amongst others
  which induced us to go. This was thought so reasonable, that when
  your chief partner in this venture (whom we have much cause to
  respect) proposed conditions to us of his own accord, he added this
  one. A copy of these conditions we have sent to you, including
  some proposed by us; which being approved on both sides, and a day
  set for the payment of the money, those of Holland paid in theirs.
  After that, Robert Cushman, Mr. Pierce, and Mr. Martin put them
  into better form, and wrote them in a book now extant; and upon
  Robert’s showing Mr. Mullins a copy he paid in his money. And we
  of Holland had never seen any other agreement before our coming to
  Southampton, except for a private copy of changed conditions which
  reached us, and at which we manifested utter dislike; but having
  sold our estates and being ready to come, it was too late to give
  up the voyage. We beseech you, therefore, to judge impartially of
  things, and if a fault has been committed, lay it where it should
  be, and not upon us.

  We never gave Robert Cushman commission to draw up a single article
  for us, but only sent him to receive money upon the articles before
  agreed on, and to arrange for the provisions till John Carver came,
  and to assist him in it. However, since you conceive yourselves
  wronged as well as we, we have made an addition to our 9th article,
  such as will almost heal the wound of itself. But that it may
  appear to all that we are not lovers of ourselves only, but desire
  also the good of our friends who have ventured their money with
  our persons, we have added the last article to the rest, promising
  you again by letter, on behalf of the whole company, that if large
  profits should not arise during the seven years, we will remain
  longer with you if the Lord give a blessing. We are in such straits
  at present that we are forced to sell £60 worth of our provisions
  to clear the Haven, and put ourselves upon bare necessities,
  scarcely having any butter, no oil, not a soul to mend a shoe, nor
  every man a sword to his side, lacking many muskets, much armour,
  etc. And yet we are willing to expose ourselves to such imminent
  dangers as are likely to ensue, and trust to the good providence
  of God, rather than His name and truth should be evil spoken of
  through us. Thus saluting all of you in love, we take our leave and
  rest,

                              Yours, etc.
  _Aug. 3rd, 1620._

It was subscribed with the names of the chief members of the
congregation.

At their parting Mr. Robinson wrote a letter to the whole party of
the pilgrims which, though it has already been printed, I thought
well to insert here; also a brief letter written at the same time to
Mr. Carver, in which the tender love and godly care of a true pastor
appears.

  _Mr. John Robinson in Holland to John Carver at Southampton_:

  My dear Brother,

  I received enclosed in your last letter the note of information,
  which I shall certainly keep and make use of, when occasion arises.
  I have a true feeling of your perplexity of mind and toil of body;
  but I hope that you, who have always been able so plentifully
  to administer comfort to others in their trials, are so well
  furnished for yourself that even far greater difficulties than
  you have yet undergone (though I conceive them to have been great
  enough) cannot oppress you, though they press you, as the Apostle
  says. The spirit of a man, sustained by the spirit of God, will
  sustain his infirmity, and, I doubt not, so will yours; and much
  the better when you enjoy the presence and help of so many godly
  and wise brethren, in bearing part of your burden, who will not
  admit into their hearts the least thought or suspicion of the least
  negligence, still less presumption, to have been in you, whatever
  they may think of others. Now what shall I say and write to you
  and your good wife, my loving sister? Even only this: I desire,
  and always shall, from the Lord unto you as unto my own soul; and
  assure yourself that my heart is with you, and that I will not
  delay my bodily coming at the first opportunity. I have written a
  large letter to the whole company, and am sorry that I shall not
  be able to speak with them; the more so considering the want of a
  preacher, which will be an additional spur to my hastening after
  you. I do ever commend my best affection to you, which if I thought
  you doubted, I would express in more words. And the Lord in whom
  you trust, and whom you serve ever in this business and journey,
  guide you with His hand, protect you with His wing, and show you
  and us His salvation in the end, and bring us in the meanwhile
  together in the place desired, if such be His good will, for His
  Christ’s sake. Amen.

                                         Yours,
                                                        JOHN ROBINSON.
  _July 27th, 1620._

This was the last letter that Mr. Carver lived to see from him.

  _Mr. John Robinson in Holland to the Pilgrims departing from
  Southampton for New England_:

  Loving Christian Friends,

  I salute you all heartily in the Lord, as being they with whom
  I am present in my best affections and most earnest longings,
  though I am constrained for a time to be bodily absent from you. I
  say constrained, God knowing how willingly, and much rather than
  otherwise, I would have borne my part with you in this first brunt,
  were I not by strong necessity held back for the present. Think of
  me in the meanwhile as of a man divided in himself with great pain,
  and (physical limitations set aside) as having his better part with
  you. Though I doubt not that in your godly wisdom, you foresee what
  is applicable to your present condition, I have thought it but my
  duty to add some further spur, even to those who run already,—not
  because you need it, but because I owe it in love and duty.

  First, as we ought daily to renew our repentance with our God,
  especially for our sins known, and generally for our unknown
  trespasses, so doth the Lord call us in a singular manner, upon
  such an occasion of difficulty and danger as lies before you, both
  to more narrow search and careful reformation of our ways in His
  sight lest He, calling to remembrance of our sins forgotten by us
  or unrepented of, take advantage of us, and, as a judgment upon us,
  leave us to be swallowed up in one danger or another. Whereas, on
  the contrary, sin being taken away by earnest repentance, and the
  pardon thereof from the Lord sealed up into a man’s conscience by
  His spirit, great shall be his security and peace in all dangers,
  sweet his comfort in all distresses, with happy deliverance from
  all evil, whether in life or in death.

  Now next after this heavenly peace with God and our own conscience,
  we are carefully to provide for peace with all men so far as in
  us lieth especially with our associates; and for that we must
  be watchful that we ourselves neither give, nor easily take,
  offence. Woe be unto the world for offences; for though it be
  necessary (considering the malice of Satan and man’s corruption)
  that offences come, yet woe unto the man or woman either, by whom
  the offence come, saith Christ (Math. xviii, 7). And if offences
  arising from unseasonable actions, innocent in themselves, are
  more to be feared than death itself, as the Apostle teacheth (I
  Cor. ix, 15), how much more when arising from things simply evil,
  in which neither honour of God nor love of man is thought worthy
  to be regarded. Nor is it sufficient that we keep ourselves by the
  grace of God from giving offence, except we be armed also against
  taking offence when it is given by others. For how imperfect is the
  work of grace in him who lacks the charity that covers a multitude
  of offence, as the scripture says. Neither are you exhorted to
  this grace only upon the common grounds of Christianity. Persons
  ready to take offence, either lack the charity which should cover
  offences; or the wisdom duly to weigh human frailty; or lastly,
  are gross though close hypocrites, as Christ our Lord teaches
  (Math. vii, 1, 2, 3). In my own experience I have found few who
  are quicker to give offence, than those who easily take it. They
  who have nourished this touchy humour have never proved sound and
  profitable members in societies.

  But there are, besides, many reasons why you, above others, should
  use special care in this direction. You are, many of you, strangers
  to each other and to the infirmities of one another, and so stand
  in need of the more watchfulness, lest when unsuspected qualities
  appear in men and women, you be inordinately affected by them. This
  requires at your hands much wisdom and charity. Further, the plans
  for your intended civil community will furnish continual occasion
  of offence, and will be as fuel to the fire, unless you diligently
  quench it with brotherly forbearance. And if taking offence
  causelessly or easily at men’s doings should be so carefully
  avoided, how much more is it to be heeded lest we take offence at
  God himself,—which we do as often as we murmur at His providence in
  our crosses, or bear impatiently such afflictions as He pleases to
  visit upon us. Store up, therefore, patience against the evil day,
  with which we take offence at the Lord Himself in His holy and just
  works.

  A fourth thing is carefully to be provided for, to wit, that with
  your employments, which will be common to all, you join affections
  truly bent upon the general good, avoiding, as a deadly plague of
  your comfort, all retiredness of mind for selfish advantage. Let
  every one repress within himself, as so many rebels against the
  common good, all private partialities, not consistent with the
  general convenience and as one is careful not to have a new house
  shaken with any violence before it is well settled and the parts
  firmly knit, so be you, I beseech you brethren, much more careful,
  that the house of God, which you are and are to be, be not shaken
  with unnecessary novelties or other oppositions at the first
  settling thereof.

  Lastly, whereas you are to become a body politic, administering
  among yourselves civil government, and are furnished with persons
  of no special eminence above the rest, from whom you will elect
  some to the office of government, let your wisdom and godliness
  appear, not only in choosing such persons as will entirely love and
  promote the common good, but also in yielding them all due honour
  and obedience in their lawful administrations; not beholding
  in them the ordinariness of their persons, but God’s ordinance
  for your good; nor being like the foolish multitude, who honour
  a gay coat more than either the virtuous mind of the wearer or
  the glorious ordinance of the Lord. But you know better, and
  understand that the image of the Lord’s power and authority which
  the magistrate bears, is honourable, in how humble persons soever.
  And this duty you can the more willingly perform, because you are
  at present to have only those for your governors as you yourselves
  shall choose.

  Several other things of importance I could put you in mind of, but
  I will not so far wrong your godly minds as to think you heedless
  of these things, there being many among you well able both to
  admonish themselves and others. These few things, therefore, I do
  earnestly commend unto your care and conscience, joining therewith
  my daily incessant prayers unto the Lord, that He Who has made the
  heavens and the earth, the sea and all rivers of waters, and Whose
  providence is over all His works, especially over all His dear
  children for good, would so guide and guard you in your ways, as
  inwardly by His spirit, so outwardly by the hand of His power, that
  both you and we also may praise His name all the days of our lives.
  Fare you well in Him in Whom you trust, and in Whom I rest.

  An unfeigned well-willer of your happy success in this hopeful
  voyage,

                                                        JOHN ROBINSON.

This letter, though long, being so suitable to the occasion I thought
well to insert here.

Everything being now ready, and all business completed the company
was called together, and this letter was read to them, and was
well received by all, and afterwards bore fruit in many. Then they
allotted the company to each ship as they thought best, and chose
governors and two or three assistants, to take charge of the people
on the way, and to see to the distribution of their provisions, and
such affairs. Which done, they set sail from Southampton, about the
5th of August; but what befell them further upon the coast of England
will appear in the next chapter.




CHAPTER VIII

Departure from Southampton, and Delay of both Ships at Dartmouth and
Plymouth: August and September, 1620.


Having thus put to sea, they had not gone far when Mr. Reynolds, the
captain of the smaller ship, complained that he found her so leaky
that he dare not go further till she was mended. So the captain of
the bigger ship, Mr. Jones, being consulted with, they both resolved
to put into Dartmouth and have her mended, which accordingly was
done, at great expense and loss of time and a fair wind. She was
here thoroughly searched from stem to stern, some leaks were found
and mended, and it was then believed that she might proceed without
danger. So with good hope they put to sea again, thinking they
would go comfortably on, not looking for any more hindrances of
this kind. But after they had gone 100 leagues beyond Land’s End
holding together all the while, the captain of the small ship again
complained that she was so leaky that he must bear up or sink at sea,
for they could scarcely keep her afloat by pumping. So they consulted
again, and both ships resolved to bear up again and put into
Plymouth, which accordingly was done. No special leak could be found,
but it was judged to be the general weakness of the ship, and that
she would not prove equal to the voyage. Upon which it was resolved
to dismiss her, and part of the company, and proceed with the other
ship; which, though it caused great discouragement, was put into
execution. So after they had taken out such provisions as the other
ship could well stow, and decided what persons to send back, they
made another sad parting, the one ship going back to London, and the
other proceeding on her voyage. Those that went back were mostly such
as were willing to do so, either from discontent or fear of the ill
success of the voyage, seeing they had met with so many crosses and
the year was so far spent. Others, owing to their weakness and having
many young children, were thought least useful and most unfit to bear
the brunt of this arduous adventure; to which work of God and the
judgment of their brethren they were contented to submit. And thus,
like Gideon’s army, this small number was divided, as if the Lord
thought these few too many for the great work He had to do.

It was afterwards found that the leakiness of the ship was partly
caused by being overmasted and too much pressed with sail; for after
she was sold and put into trim she made many voyages, to the profit
of her owners. But it was partly due to the cunning and deceit of
the captain and his crew, who had been hired to stay a whole year at
the Settlement, and now, fearing want of victuals, they plotted this
stratagem to free themselves, as was afterwards confessed by some of
them. Yet in order to encourage the captain the majority of those
who had come from Leyden had been put aboard this ship, to content
him. But so strong was self-love that he forgot all duty and former
kindnesses, and dealt thus falsely with them, though he pretended
otherwise.

Amongst those who returned was Mr. Cushman and his family, whose
heart and courage had failed them before. He was assistant to
Mr. Martin, who was governor in the bigger ship. I insert here a
passionate letter he wrote to a friend in London from Dartmouth,
whilst the ship lay there mending, which, besides the expression of
his own fears, shows how the providence of God was working for their
good beyond man’s expectations, and other things concerning their
condition in these straits. And though it discloses some infirmities
in him (as who under temptation is free), he afterwards continued to
be a special instrument for their good, and performed the offices of
a loving friend and faithful brother to them, and was a partaker of
much comfort with them.

  _Robert Cushman at Dartmouth to Edward Southworth, at Heanage
  House, Duke’s Place, London._

  Loving Friend,

  My most kind remembrances to you and your wife, with loving E. M.,
  etc., whom in this world I never look to see again. For beside the
  imminent dangers of this voyage, which are no less than deadly, an
  infirmity has seized me which will not in all likelihood leave me
  till death. What to call it I know not; but it is, as it were, a
  bundle of lead crushing my heart more and more these fourteen days,
  so that though I perform the actions of a living man I am but as
  dead; but the will of God be done.

  Our pinnace will not cease leaking, else I think we had been half
  way to Virginia. Our voyage hither has been as full of crosses as
  ourselves have been of crookedness. We put in here to trim her, and
  I think if we had stayed at sea but three or four hours more she
  would have sunk. And though she was twice trimmed at Southampton
  she is still as open and leaky as a sieve. We lay at Southampton
  seven days, in fair weather, waiting for her; and now we lie here
  waiting for her in as fair a wind as can blow, and so have done
  these four days, and are likely to lie four more, and by that time
  the wind may have turned as it did at Southampton. Our victuals
  will be half eaten up, I think, before we leave the coast of
  England, and if our voyage last long we shall not have a month’s
  victuals when we arrive. Nearly £700 has been spent in Southampton,
  upon what I know not. Mr. Martin says he neither can nor will give
  any account of it; and if he is called upon for accounts he cries
  out that we are ungrateful for his pains and care, and that we are
  suspicious of him. Also he insults our poor people, and treats them
  with scorn and contempt, as if they were not good enough to wipe
  his shoes. It would break your heart to hear the mourning of our
  poor people. They complain to me, and alas! I can do nothing for
  them. If I speak to him he flies in my face as mutinous, and says
  no complaints shall be heard or received but by himself, and they
  are forward, waspish, and discontented people. There are others
  who would gladly lose all they have put in, or make satisfaction
  for what they have had, if they might only depart; but he will
  not listen to them or allow them to go ashore lest they should run
  away. The sailors, too, are so annoyed at his ignorant boldness, in
  meddling with things he knows nothing of, that some threaten to do
  him mischief. He makes himself a laughing stock.

  As for Mr. Weston, unless grace is with him he will hate us
  ten times more than ever he loved us, for not confirming the
  conditions. Now that they have met some reverses they begin to see
  the truth, and say Mr. Robinson was at fault to tell them never to
  consent to those conditions, or put me in office. But he and they
  will rue it too late. Four or five of the chief of them from Leyden
  came resolved never to go on those conditions. Mr. Martin said he
  never received any money on those conditions, and that he was not
  beholden to the merchants for a pin; that they were blood-suckers,
  and I know not what. Simple man, he indeed never made any
  conditions with the merchants, nor ever spoke with them. But did
  all that money fly to Southampton, or was it his own? Who would go
  and lay out money so rashly and lavishly as he did, and never know
  how he comes by it or on what conditions? Secondly, I told him of
  the alterations long ago, and he was content; but now he domineers,
  and says I betrayed them into the hands of slave-drivers; he is
  not beholden to them; he can fit out two ships himself for a
  voyage—when he has only £50 worth of shares in the venture, and if
  he gave in his accounts he would not have a penny left, as I am
  persuaded.

  Friend, if ever we establish a colony, God works a miracle;
  especially considering how scanty our provisions will be and most
  of all how disunited we are among ourselves, and devoid of good
  leaders. Violence will break all. Where is the meek and humble
  spirit of Moses and of Nehemiah, who re-edified the walls of
  Jerusalem and the state of Israel? Is not the sound of Rehoboam’s
  bragging daily among us here? Have not the philosophers and all
  wise men observed, that even in settled commonwealths violent
  governors bring either themselves or people or both to ruin? How
  much more in the building of commonwealths, when the mortar is
  scarcely hardened which is to bind the walls. If I were to write
  you everything that foreruns our ruin, I should overcharge my weak
  head and grieve your tender heart; only this,—prepare for evil
  tidings of us every day. But pray for us instantly. It may be the
  Lord may yet be entreated.

  I see not how in reason we can escape the gasping of hunger-starved
  persons; but God can do much, and His will be done. It is better
  for me to die now than to bear it. Poor William King and I strive
  who shall first be meat for the fishes; but we look for a glorious
  resurrection, knowing Christ Jesus after the flesh no more; but,
  looking unto the joy that is before us, we will endure all these
  things and account them light in comparison of the joy we hope for.
  Remember me in all love to our friends, as if I named them, whose
  prayers I desire earnestly, and wish again to see, but not till I
  can look them in the face with more comfort. The Lord give us that
  true comfort which none can take from us. I desired to send a brief
  account of our condition to some friend. I doubt not but you will
  know when to speak a word in season. What I have written is true,
  and much more which I have foreborne to mention. I write it as upon
  my life and my last confession in England. What you deem well to
  mention at once, you may speak of; and what is best to conceal,
  conceal. Excuse my weak manner, for my head is weak and my body is
  feeble. The Lord make me strong in Him, and keep both you and yours.

                                        Your loving friend,
                                                       ROBERT CUSHMAN.
  _Dartmouth, Aug. 17th, 1620._

These being his fears at Dartmouth, they must needs be much stronger
when he arrived at Plymouth.




CHAPTER IX

The Mayflower sails from Plymouth—Voyage—Arrival at Cape Cod:
September-November, 1620


These troubles being over, and all being together in the one ship,
they put to sea again on September 6th with a prosperous wind, which
continued for several days and was some encouragement to them,
though, as usual, many were afflicted with sea-sickness. I must not
omit to mention here a special example of God’s providence. There
was an insolent and very profane young man,—one of the sailors,
which made him the more overbearing,—who was always harassing the
poor people in their sickness, and cursing them daily with grievous
execrations, and did not hesitate to tell them that he hoped to help
throw half of them overboard before they came to their journey’s
end. If he were gently reproved by any one, he would curse and swear
most bitterly. But it pleased God, before they came half seas over,
to smite the young man with a grievous disease, of which he died
in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first to be thrown
overboard. Thus his curses fell upon his own head, which astonished
all his mates for they saw it was the just hand of God upon him.

After they had enjoyed fair winds and weather for some time, they
encountered cross winds and many fierce storms by which the ship was
much shaken and her upper works made very leaky. One of the main
beams amid-ships was bent and cracked, which made them afraid that
she might not be able to complete the voyage. So some of the chief
of the voyagers, seeing that the sailors doubted the efficiency of
the ship, entered into serious consultation with the captain and
officers, to weigh the danger betimes and rather to return than to
cast themselves into desperate and inevitable peril. Indeed there was
great difference of opinion amongst the crew themselves. They wished
to do whatever could be done for the sake of their wages, being
now half way over; on the other hand they were loth to risk their
lives too desperately. But at length all opinions, the captain’s
and others’ included, agreed that the ship was sound under the
water-line, and as for the buckling of the main beam, there was a
great iron screw the passengers brought out of Holland, by which the
beam could be raised into its place; and the carpenter affirmed that
with a post put under it, set firm in the lower deck, and otherwise
fastened, he could make it hold. As for the decks and upper works,
they said they would calk them as well as they could; and though with
the working of the ship they would not long keep stanch, yet there
would otherwise be no great danger, if they did not overpress her
with sail.

So they committed themselves to the will of God, and resolved to
proceed. In several of these storms the wind was so strong and the
seas so high that they could not carry a knot of sail, but were
forced to hull for many days. Once, as they thus lay at hull in a
terrible storm, a strong young man, called John Howland, coming on
deck was thrown into the sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold
of the top-sail halliards which hung overboard and ran out at length;
but he kept his hold, though he was several fathoms under water,
till he was hauled up by the rope and then with a boat-hook helped
into the ship and saved; and though he was somewhat ill from it he
lived many years and became a profitable member both of the church
and commonwealth. In all the voyage only one of the passengers died,
and that was William Button, a youth, servant to Samuel Fuller, when
they were nearing the coast. But to be brief, after long beating
at sea, on November 11th they fell in with a part of the land
called Cape Cod, at which they were not a little joyful. After some
deliberation among themselves and with the captain, they tacked about
and resolved to stand for the southward, the wind and weather being
fair, to find some place near Hudson’s River for their habitation.
But after they had kept that course about half a day, they met
with dangerous shoals and roaring breakers, and as they conceived
themselves in great danger,—the wind falling,—they resolved to bear
up again for the Cape, and thought themselves happy to get out of
danger before night overtook them, as by God’s providence they did.
Next day they got into the bay, where they rode in safety.

A word or two, by the way, of this Cape. It was first thus named by
Captain Gosnold and his people in 1602, because they caught much of
that fish there; and afterwards was called Cape James by Captain
Smith; but it retains the former name among seamen. The point where
they first met with those dangerous shoals they called Point Care, or
Tucker’s Terror; but the French and Dutch to this day call it Malabar.

Having found a good haven and being brought safely in sight of land,
they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had
brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from
all the perils and miseries of it, again to set their feet upon the
firm and stable earth, their proper element. And no marvel that they
were thus joyful, when the wise Seneca was so affected with sailing
a few miles on the coast of his own Italy, that he affirmed he had
rather taken twenty years to make his way by land, than to go by sea
to any place in however short a time,—so tedious and dreadful it was
to him.

But here I cannot but make a pause, and stand half amazed at this
poor people’s present condition; and so I think will the reader,
too, when he considers it well. Having thus passed the vast ocean,
and that sea of troubles before while they were making their
preparations, they now had no friends to welcome them, nor inns to
entertain and refresh their weather-beaten bodies, nor houses—much
less towns—to repair to.

It is recorded in scripture (Acts. xxviii) as a mercy to the apostle
and his shipwrecked crew, that the barbarians showed them no small
kindness in refreshing them; but these savage barbarians when they
met with them (as will appear) were readier to fill their sides full
of arrows than otherwise! As for the season, it was winter, and those
who have experienced the winters of the country know them to be
sharp and severe, and subject to fierce storms, when it is dangerous
to travel to known places,—much more to search an unknown coast.
Besides, what could they see but a desolate wilderness, full of wild
beasts and wild men; and what multitude there might be of them they
knew not! Neither could they, as it were, go up to the top of Pisgah,
to view from this wilderness a more goodly country to feed their
hopes; for which way soever they turned their eyes (save upward to
the Heavens!) they could gain little solace from any outward objects.
Summer being done, all things turned upon them a weather-beaten face;
and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, presented a wild
and savage view.

If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had
passed, and was now a gulf separating them from all civilized parts
of the world. If it be said that they had their ship to turn to, it
is true; but what did they hear daily from the captain and crew? That
they should quickly look out for a place with their shallop, where
they would be not far off; for the season was such that the captain
would not approach nearer to the shore till a harbour had been
discovered which he could enter safely; and that the food was being
consumed apace, but he must and would keep sufficient for the return
voyage. It was even muttered by some of the crew that if they did not
find a place in time, they would turn them and their goods ashore and
leave them.

Let it be remembered, too, what small hope of further assistance from
England they had left behind them, to support their courage in this
sad condition and the trials they were under; for how the case stood
between the settlers and the merchants at their departure has already
been described. It is true, indeed, that the affection and love of
their brethren at Leyden towards them was cordial and unbroken; but
they had little power to help them or themselves.

What, then, could now sustain them but the spirit of God, and His
grace? Ought not the children of their fathers rightly to say: Our
fathers were Englishmen who came over the great ocean, and were
ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord,
and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversity.... Let
them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good, and His mercies
endure forever. Yea, let them that have been redeemed of the Lord,
show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When
they wandered forth into the desert-wilderness, out of the way, and
found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was
overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord His loving
kindness, and His wonderful works before the sons of men!




CHAPTER X

The Pilgrims seek a Site for their Settlement, and discover the
Harbour of New Plymouth: November-December, 1620


They thus arrived at Cape Cod on the 11th of November, and necessity
called on them to look out for a place of habitation. Having brought
a large shallop with them from England, stowed in quarters in the
ship, they now got her out, and set their carpenters to work to trim
her up; but being much bruised and battered in the foul weather they
saw she would be long mending. So a few of them volunteered to go
by land and explore the neighbouring parts, whilst the shallop was
put in order; particularly since, as they entered the bay, there
seemed to be an opening some two or three leagues off, which the
captain thought was a river. It was conceived there might be some
danger in the attempt; but seeing them resolute, sixteen of them,
well armed, were permitted to go, under charge of Captain Standish.
They set forth on the 15th of November, being landed by the ship’s
boat, and when they had marched about the space of a mile by the
sea-side, they espied five or six persons with a dog coming towards
them. They were savages; but they fled back into the woods, followed
by the English, who wished to see if they could speak with them, and
to discover if there were more lying in ambush. But the Indians,
seeing themselves followed, left the woods, and ran along the sands
as hard as they could, so our men could not come up with them, but
followed the track of their feet several miles. Night coming on, they
made their rendezvous, and set sentinels, and rested in quiet. Next
morning they again pursued the Indians’ tracks, till they came to a
great creek, where they had left the sands and turned into the woods.
But they continued to follow them by guess, hoping to find their
dwellings; but soon they lost both the Indians and themselves, and
fell into such thickets that their clothes and armour were injured
severely; but they suffered most from want of water. At length they
found some, and refreshed themselves with the first New England water
they had drunk; and in their great thirst they found it as pleasant
as wine or beer had been before. Afterwards they directed their
course towards the other shore, for they knew it was only a neck of
land they had to cross over. At length they got to the sea-side,
and marched to this supposed river, and by the way found a pond of
fresh water, and shortly after a quantity of cleared ground where
the Indians had formerly planted corn; and they found some of their
graves. Proceeding further, they saw stubble where corn had been
grown the same year, and also found a place where a house had lately
been, with some planks, and a great kettle and heaps of sand newly
banked, under which they found several large baskets filled with
corn, some in the ear of various colours, which was a very goodly
sight they having never seen any like it before. This was near the
supposed river that they had come to seek. When they reached it, they
found that it opened into two arms, with a high cliff of sand at the
entrance, but more likely to be creeks of salt water than fresh, they
thought. There was good harbourage for their shallop, so they left
it to be further explored when she was ready. The time allowed them
having expired, they returned to the ship, lest the others should be
anxious about their safety. They took part of the corn and buried
the rest; and so, like the men from Eschol, carried with them of the
fruits of the land, and showed their brethren; at which the rest
were very glad, and greatly encouraged.

After this, the shallop being ready, they set out again for the
better reconnoitering of the place. The captain of the ship desired
to go himself, so there were some thirty men. However, they found
it to be no harbour for ships, but only for boats. They also found
two of the Indians’ houses covered with mats, and some of their
implements in them; but the people had run away and could not be
seen. They also found more corn, and beans of various colours. These
they brought away, intending to give them full satisfaction when they
should meet with any of them,—as about six months afterwards they did.

And it is to be noted as a special providence of God, and a great
mercy to this poor people, that they thus got seed to plant corn the
next year, or they might have starved; for they had none, nor any
likelihood of getting any, till too late for the planting season. Nor
is it likely that they would have got it if this first voyage had not
been made, for the ground was soon all covered with snow and frozen
hard. But the Lord is never wanting unto His in their great need; let
His holy name have all the praise.

The month of November being spent in these affairs, and foul weather
coming on, on the sixth of December they sent out their shallop
again with ten of their principal men and some sailors upon further
discovery, intending to circumnavigate the deep bay of Cape Cod. The
weather was very cold, and it froze so hard that the spray of the sea
froze on their coats like glass. Early that night they got to the
lower end of the bay, and as they drew near the shore they saw ten or
twelve Indians very busy about something. They landed about a league
or two from them; though they had much ado to put ashore anywhere,
it was so full of flats. It was late when they landed, so they made
themselves a barricade of logs and boughs as well as they could in
the time, and set a sentinel and betook them to rest, and saw the
smoke of the fire the savages made that night. When morning came
they divided their party, some to coast along the shore in the boat,
and the rest to march through the woods to see the land, and, if
possible, to find a fit place for their settlement. They came to the
place where they had seen the Indians the night before and found they
had been cutting up a great fish like a grampus, covered with almost
two inches of fat, like a hog. The shallop found two more of the same
kind of fish dead on the sands, a usual thing after storms there,
because of the great flats of sand. They ranged up and down all that
day, but found no people nor any place they liked. When the sun got
low they hastened out of the woods to meet their shallop, making
signs to it to come into a creek hard by, which it did at high water.
They were very glad to meet, for they had not seen each other since
the morning. They made a barricade, as they did every night, with
logs, stakes, and thick pine boughs, the height of a man, leaving it
open to leeward; partly to shelter them from the cold wind, making
their fire in the middle and lying around it; and, partly to defend
them from any sudden assaults of the savages, if they should try to
surround them. So being very weary, they betook them to rest. But
about midnight they heard a hideous cry, and their sentinel called
“Arm, arm!” So they bestirred themselves and stood to their arms, and
shot a couple of muskets and then the noise ceased. They concluded
it was a pack of wolves, or some such wild beasts; for one of the
sailors told them he had often heard such noises in Newfoundland. So
they rested till about five o’clock in the morning. After prayer they
prepared for breakfast, and it being day dawning, it was thought best
to be carrying things down to the boat. Some said it was not best
to carry the guns down; others said they would be the readier, for
they had wrapped them up in their coats to keep them from the dew.
But some three or four would not carry their guns down to the boat
till they went themselves. However, as the water was not high enough,
the others laid theirs down on the bank of the creek, and came up to
breakfast. But soon, all of a sudden, they heard a great and strange
cry, which they knew to be the same as they had heard in the night,
though with various notes. One of the company who was outside came
running in and cried: “Men; Indians, Indians”; and at that their
arrows came flying amongst them! The men ran down to the creek with
all speed to recover their guns, which by the providence of God they
succeeded in doing. In the meantime two of those who were still armed
discharged their muskets at the Indians; and two more stood ready at
the entrance of the rendezvous, but were commanded not to shoot till
they could take fell aim at them; and the other two loaded again at
full speed, there being only four guns there to defend the barricade
when it was first assaulted.

The cry of the Indians was dreadful, especially when they saw the men
run out of the rendezvous towards the shallop to recover their guns,
the Indians wheeling about them. But some of the men, armed with
coats of mail and with cutlasses in their hands, soon got their guns
and let fly among them, which quickly stopped their violence. There
was one big Indian, and no less valiant, who stood behind a tree,
within half a musket-shot, and let his arrows fly at them. He was
seen to shoot three arrows, which were all avoided. He stood three
musket-shots, till one of them made the bark and splinters of the
tree fly about his ears, at which he gave an extraordinary shriek,
and away all of them went. The men left some of the party to guard
the shallop, and followed the Indians about a quarter of a mile,
shouting once or twice, and shooting off two or three guns, and then
returned. They did this so that the natives might not think they were
afraid of them.

Thus it pleased God to vanquish their enemies, and give them
deliverance; and by His special providence so to dispose that not
one of them was hit, though the arrows came close to them, on every
side, and some of their coats which were hung up in the barricade
were shot through and through. Afterwards they gave God solemn thanks
and praise for their deliverance, and gathered up a bundle of the
arrows, and later sent them to England by the captain of the ship.
They called the place “The First Encounter.”

Then they left, and coasted all along, but discovered no likely place
for a harbour. So they made all speed to a spot which their pilot—a
Mr. Coppin, who had been in the country before—assured them was a
good harbour, which he had been in, and which they might fetch before
night. Of this they were glad, for the weather began to be foul.
After some hours’ sailing, it began to snow and rain, and about the
middle of the afternoon the wind increased, and the sea became very
rough. They broke their rudder, and it was as much as two men could
do to steer her with a couple of oars. But the pilot bade them be of
good cheer, and said he saw the harbour; but the storm increasing
and night drawing on, they carried all the sail they could to get in
while they could see. Then their mast broke in three pieces, and the
sail fell overboard in a very heavy sea, so that they were in danger
of being wrecked; but by God’s mercy they recovered themselves, and
having the tide with them, struck in towards the harbour. But when
they came to, the pilot found he had mistaken the place, and said the
Lord be merciful to them, for he had never seen the place before;
and he and the mate were about to run her ashore, in a cove full
of breakers, before the wind. But one of the seamen, who steered,
bade the rowers, if they were men, about with her, or they would all
be cast away; which they did with speed. So he bid them be of good
cheer and row lustily for there was a fair sound before them, and
he did not doubt but they would find a place where they could come
to safely. Though it was very dark and rained hard, they ultimately
got under the lee of a small island, and remained there safely all
night; but they did not know it was an island till morning. They
were divided in their mind; some wished to stay in the boat, for
fear there would be more Indians; others were so weak and cold
they could not endure it, but got ashore and with much ado made a
fire—everything being wet,—and then the rest were glad enough to join
them; for after midnight the wind shifted to the northwest and it
froze hard.

But though this had been a night of much hardship and danger, God
gave them a morning of comfort and refreshment, as He usually doth
to His children; for the next day was a fair sun-shining day, and
they found they were on an island secure from the Indians, where they
could dry their stuff, fix their arms, and rest themselves and give
God thanks for His mercies in their manifold deliverances. This being
the last day of the week they prepared to keep the Sabbath there.
On Monday they sounded the harbour and found it fit for shipping;
and marching inland they found several cornfields and little running
brooks,—a place, as they supposed, fit for a settlement, at least
it was the best they could find, and considering the season of the
year and their present necessity they were thankful for it. So they
returned with this news to the rest of their people aboard the ship,
which cheered them greatly.

On the 15th day of December they weighed anchor to go to the place
they had discovered, and came within two leagues of it, but had to
bear up again. On the 16th day the wind came fair, and they arrived
safe in the harbour. Afterwards they took a better view of the place,
and resolved where to pitch their dwellings; and on the 25th day they
began to erect the first house for common use, to receive them and
their goods.




                               BOOK II

                              1620-1646

              HISTORY OF THE SETTLEMENT AT NEW PLYMOUTH




CHAPTER I

Deed of Government drawn up—Death of half their
number—Squanto—Compact with the Indians—Captain Dermer’s description
of New Plymouth: 1620.


The rest of this work—if God give me life and opportunity—I shall,
for brevity’s sake, handle in the form of Annals, noting only the
principal doings, chronologically.

First, I will turn back a little, and begin with a compact or deed
drawn up by them before they went ashore to settle, constituting the
first foundation of their government. This was occasioned partly by
the discontented and mutinous speeches that some of the strangers
amongst them had let fall: that when they got ashore they would
use their liberty that none had power to command them, the patent
procured being for Virginia, and not for New England, which belonged
to another company, with which the Virginia company had nothing
to do. And, further, it was believed by the leading men among the
settlers that such a deed, drawn up by themselves, considering their
present condition, would be as effective as any patent, and in some
respects more so.

The form of the deed was as follows:

  In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the
  loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the
  grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender
  of the Faith, etc., having undertaken for the glory of God, and
  advancement of the Christian faith, and honour of our king and
  country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern
  parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in
  the presence of God, and of one another, covenant and combine
  ourselves into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and
  preservation, and the furtherance of the ends aforesaid and by
  virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal
  laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to
  time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general
  use of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and
  obedience. In witness whereof we have here underscribed our names
  at Cape Cod, 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our
  sovereign lord, King James of England, France and Ireland the
  eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth.

  _A. D. 1620._

They then chose, or rather confirmed, Mr. John Carver, a godly man
and highly approved among them, as their governor for that year.
After they had provided a place for their goods and common stores,
which they were long in unlading owing to want of boats, the severity
of the winter weather, and sickness, had begun some small cottages
for dwellings,—as time would admit they met and consulted of law and
order, both for civil and military government, as seemed suited to
their conditions, adding to them from time to time as urgent need
demanded. In these arduous and difficult beginnings, discontent
and murmuring arose amongst some, and mutinous speech and bearing
in others; but they were soon quelled and overcome by the wisdom,
patience, and just and equal administration of things by the Governor
and the better part, who held faithfully together in the main.

But soon a most lamentable blow fell upon them. In two or three
months’ time half of their company died, partly owing to the severity
of the winter, especially during January and February, and the want
of houses and other comforts; partly to scurvy and other diseases,
which their long voyage and their incommodious quarters had brought
upon them. Of all the hundred odd persons, scarcely fifty remained,
and sometimes two or three persons died in a day. In the time of
worst distress, there were but six or seven sound persons, who, to
their great commendation be it spoken, spared no pains night or day,
but with great toil and at the risk of their own health, fetched
wood, made fires, prepared food for the sick, made their beds, washed
their infected clothes, dressed and undressed them; in a word did
all the homely and necessary services for them which dainty and
queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear mentioned; and all this they
did willingly and cheerfully, without the least grudging, showing
their love to the friends and brethren; a rare example, and worthy
to be remembered. Two of these seven were Mr. William Brewster,
their reverend elder, and Myles Standish, their captain and military
commander, to whom myself and many others were much beholden in our
low and sick condition. And yet the Lord so upheld these men, that in
this general calamity they were not at all infected with sickness.
And what I have said of these few, I should say of many others who
died in this general visitation, and others yet living, that while
they had health or strength, they forsook none that had need of them.
I doubt not that their recompense is with the Lord.

But I must not pass by another remarkable and unforgettable
occurrence. When this calamity fell among the passengers who were
to be left here to settle, they were hurried ashore and made to
drink water, so that the sailors might have the more beer and when
one sufferer in his sickness desired but a small can of beer, it
was answered that if he were their own father he should have none.
Then the disease began to seize the sailors also, so that almost
half of the crew died before they went away, and many of their
officers and strongest men, amongst them the boatswain, gunner,
three quarter-masters, the cook and others. At this the captain was
somewhat struck, and sent to the sick ashore and told the Governor
that he could send for beer for those that had need of it, even
should he have to drink water on the homeward voyage.

But amongst the sailors there was quite a different bearing in their
misery. Those who before, in the time of their health and welfare,
had been boon companions in drinking and jollity, began now to desert
one another, saying they would not risk their lives for the sick
among them, lest they should be infected by coming to help them in
their cabins; if they died, let them die! But the passengers who were
still aboard showed them what pity they could, which made some of
their hearts relent, such as the boatswain, who was an overbearing
young man, and before would often curse and scoff at the passengers.
But when he grew weak they had compassion on him and helped him. Then
he confessed he did not deserve it at their hands, for he had abused
them in word and deed. “Oh,” said he, “you I see now, show your love
like Christians indeed to one another; but we let one another lie
and die like dogs.” Another lay cursing his wife, saying if it had
not been for her he had never come on this unlucky voyage; and anon
cursed his fellows, saying he had done this or that for some of them,
he had spent so much and so much amongst them, and they were now
weary of him, and did not help him in his need. Another made over to
one of his mates all he had, when he should die, if he would but help
him in his weakness. So his companion went and got a little spice
and prepared some food once or twice; and when he did not die as
soon as he expected, he went among his comrades and swore the rogue
would cheat him of his inheritance; he would see him choke before
he prepared him any more food; and so the poor fellow died before
morning!

All this while the Indians came skulking about those who were ashore
and would sometimes show themselves aloof, at a distance, but when
any approached them, they would run away. Once they stole away the
men’s tools where they had been at work, and were gone to dinner.
About the 16th of March a certain Indian came boldly among them, and
spoke to them in broken English, which they could well understand,
but were astonished at it. At length they understood by speaking
with him that he was not of these parts, but belonged to the eastern
country where some English ships came to fish; and with some of these
English he was acquainted, and could name several of them. From them
he had got his knowledge of the language. He became useful to them in
acquainting them with many things concerning the state of the country
in the east parts where he lived, as also of the people there, their
names and number, their situation and distance from this place, and
who was chief among them. His name was Samoset; he told them also
of another Indian, whose name was Squanto, a native of this part,
who had been in England and could speak English better than himself.
After some time of entertainment, being dismissed with gifts, in a
little while he returned with five more, and they brought back all
the tools that had been stolen, and made way for the coming of their
great Sachem, called Massasoyt, who about four or five days after,
came with the chief of his friends and other attendants, and with
Squanto. With him, after friendly entertainment and some gifts, they
made a peace which has now continued for twenty-four years.

These were the terms:

  1. That neither he nor any of his, should injure or harm any of
  their people.

  2. That if any of his did any harm to any of theirs, he should send
  the offender, that they might punish him.

  3. That if anything were taken away from any of theirs, he should
  cause it to be restored; and they should do the like to his.

  4. If any made unjust war against him, they would aid him; if any
  made war against them, he should aid them.

  5. He should send to his neighboring confederates, to certify them
  of this, that they might not wrong them, but might be likewise
  comprised in the conditions of peace.

  6. That when their men came to them, they should leave their bows
  and arrows behind them.

After this he returned to his place, called Sowams, some forty
miles off, but Squanto stayed with them, and was their interpreter,
and became a special instrument sent of God for their good, beyond
their expectation. He showed them how to plant their corn, where to
take fish and other commodities, and guided them to unknown places,
and never left them till he died. He was a native of these parts,
and had been one of the few survivors of the plague hereabouts.
He was carried away with others by one Hunt, a captain of a ship,
who intended to sell them for slaves in Spain; but he got away for
England, and was received by a merchant in London, and employed in
Newfoundland and other parts, and lastly brought into these parts
by a Captain Dermer, a gentleman employed by Sir Ferdinand Gorges
and others, for discovery and other projects in these parts. Of
Captain Dermer I will say something, because it is mentioned,—in
a book published A. D. 1622, by the President and Council of New
England,—that he made peace between the savages of these parts and
the English, of which this plantation, as it is there intimated, had
the benefit. But what kind of peace it was appears by what befell him
and his men.

Captain Dermer had been here the same year that the people of the
Mayflower arrived, as appears in an account written by him, and given
to me by a friend, bearing date, June 30th, 1620; and as they came
in the November following, there was but four months’ difference.
In this account to his honoured friend, he makes the following
references to this very place:

  “I will first begin,” says he, “with the place from which Squanto
  (or Tisquantem) was taken away, which in Captain Smith’s map
  is called ‘Plymouth’; and I would that Plymouth had the same
  commodities. I could wish that the first plantation might be
  situated here, if there came to the number of fifty persons or
  upward; otherwise at Charlton, because there the savages are less
  to be feared. The Pokanokets, who live to the west of Plymouth,
  bear an inveterate hatred to the English, and are of greater
  strength than all the savages from there to Penobscot. Their desire
  of revenge was occasioned by an Englishman, who having invited many
  of them on board slaughtered them with small shot, when, as the
  Indians say, they offered no injury on their part. Whether they
  were English or no, it may be doubted; but they believe they were,
  for the French have so assured them. For this reason Squanto cannot
  deny but they would have killed me when I was at Namasket, had he
  not interceded hard for me. The soil of the borders of this great
  bay may be compared to most of the plantations which I have seen in
  Virginia. The land is of various sorts. Patuxet is a stubborn but
  strong soil; Nauset and Satucket are for the most part a blackish
  and deep mould, much like that where the best tobacco in Virginia
  grows. In the great bay itself is a quantity of cod and bass, or
  mullet.”

But above all, he commends the Pokanokets’ country for the richest
soil, and much open ground fit for English grain, etc.

“Massachusetts, about nine leagues from Plymouth, and situated
between both, is full of islands and peninsulas, for the most part
very fertile.”

He was taken prisoner by the Indians at Manamoick, a place not far
off, now well-known. He gave them what they demanded for his liberty,
but when they had got what they desired, they still kept him, and
endeavoured to kill his men; but he freed himself by seizing some of
them, whom he kept bound till they gave him a canoe-load of corn (of
which, see Purch: lib. ix, fol. 1778). But this was A. D. 1619.

After the writing of the foregoing narrative, Dermer went with
Squanto to the Island of Capawack, which lies south of this place
on the way to Virginia. There he went ashore amongst the Indians to
trade, as he used to do, but was betrayed and assaulted by them, and
all his men were killed except one who kept the boat. He himself
got aboard very sorely wounded, and they would have cut off his
head as he climbed into his boat, had not the man rescued him. They
got away, and made shift to reach Virginia, where he died. This
shows how far the natives were from peace, and under what dangerous
conditions this plantation was begun, but for the powerful hand of
the Lord, which protected them. This was partly the reason why they
kept aloof, and were so long before they came to the English. Another
reason, as afterwards they themselves stated, was that about three
years before, a French ship was wrecked at Cape Cod, but the men got
ashore and saved their lives and a large part of their provisions.
When the Indians heard of it, they surrounded them and never left
watching and dogging them till they got the advantage and killed
them, all but three or four, whom they kept, and sent from one Sachem
to another, making sport with them and using them worse than slaves.
Of these, Captain Dermer released two. So the Indians thought that
this ship had now come to revenge these outrages. It was also later
disclosed, that before they came to the English to make friends, they
got all the Powows of the country together for three days to curse
and execrate them in a horrid and devilish manner with conjurations,
holding their assembly in a dark and dismal swamp.

But to return. The spring now approaching, it pleased God the
mortality began to cease among them, and the sick recovered apace,
which put new life into them all; though they had borne their sad
afflictions with as much patience and contentedness as I think
any people could do. But it was the Lord who upheld them, and had
beforehand prepared them, many having long borne the yoke, yea, even
from their youth. Many other minor matters I will omit, several of
them having been published already in a journal written by one of
the company; and some other narratives and descriptions of journeys,
already published, to which I refer those who wish to acquaint
themselves more closely. Having now come to the 25th of March, I will
begin the year 1621.




CHAPTER II

The Mayflower returns—Death of John Carver—William Bradford,
Governor—Trade with the Massachusetts—The first marriage—Friendship
with Massasoyt confirmed—Hobbamok—Expedition against Corbitant—The
first harvest—Arrival of Robert Cushman with 35 settlers—Fortune
returns, laden—The Narragansetts’ challenge—Christmas Day: 1621.


They now decided to send back the ship which had brought them over,
and which had remained till about this time or the beginning of
April. The reason, on their part, why she had stayed so long, was the
necessity and danger they were under. It was well towards the end of
December before she could land anything, or they were in a condition
to receive anything ashore. And after that on the 14th of January,
the house they had built for a general rendezvous accidentally caught
fire, and some of them had to go aboard the ship for shelter. Then
the sickness began to fall among them sorely, and the weather was so
bad that they could not hasten their preparations. Again the Governor
and the chief members, seeing so many fall sick and die daily,
thought it unwise to send the ship away, considering their condition
and the danger they were in from the Indians, till they could procure
some shelter; and therefore thought it better to incur further
expense for themselves and their friends, than to risk everything.
And though before, the captain and sailors had hurried the passengers
ashore, so that they could be gone; now many of the crew being
dead,—and some of the ablest of them,—and of the rest many lay sick
and weak, the captain did not dare put to sea till he saw them begin
to recover, and the heart of winter over.

The settlers, as many as were able, then began to plant their corn,
in which service Squanto stood them in good stead, showing them how
to plant it and cultivate it. He also told them that unless they got
fish to manure this exhausted old soil, it would come to nothing,
and he showed them that in the middle of April plenty of fish would
come up the brook by which they had begun to build, and taught them
how to catch it, and where to get other necessary provisions; all of
which they found true by experience. They sowed some English seed,
such as wheat and pease, but it came to no good, either because of
the badness of the seed or the lateness of the season or some other
defect.

This April, while they were busy sowing their seed, their Governor,
Mr. John Carver, one hot day, came out of the field very sick. He
complained greatly of his head and lay down, and within a few hours
his senses failed. He never spoke again, and died, a few days after.
His death was much lamented, and depressed them deeply, with good
cause. He was buried in the best manner possible, with some volleys
of shot by all that bore arms; and his wife, a weak woman, died five
or six weeks after him.

Shortly after, William Bradford was chosen governor in his stead, and
having not yet recovered from his illness, in which he had been near
the point of death, Isaac Allerton, was appointed assistant to him.
These two, by renewed election each year, continued several years
together. This I here note, once for all.

On May 12th the first marriage here took place, which, according to
the laudable custom of the Low Countries[3] in which they had lived,
it was thought proper for the magistrate to perform, as a civil
institution upon which many questions about inheritances depend, and
other things requiring their cognizance, as well as being consonant
with the scriptures (Ruth iv), and nowhere mentioned in the gospels
as a part of the minister’s duty.

Having now made some progress with their affairs at home, it was
thought advisable to send a deputation to their new friend Massasoyt,
and to bestow upon him some gratuity to bind him faster to them;
also at the same time to view the country, and see in what manner
he lived, what strength he had about him, and what was the way to
his place, if at any time they should have need. So on July 2nd
they sent Mr. Edward Winslow and Mr. Hopkins, with the aforesaid
Squanto for their guide. They gave Massasoyt a suit of clothes, and
a horseman’s coat, with some other small things, which were kindly
accepted, though they found but short commons, and came home both
weary and hungry. The Indians in those times did not have nearly so
much corn as they have had since the English supplied them with hoes,
and set them an example by their industry in preparing new ground
therewith. Massasoyt’s place was found to be forty miles off and
the soil good. But his people had died in great numbers during the
recent plague throughout these parts, about three years before the
coming of the English. Thousands of them died, until the living were
not able to bury the dead, and their skulls and bones were found in
many places lying still above ground, where their houses and dwelling
places had been,—a very sad spectacle. But they brought word that
the Narragansetts lived just on the other side of the great bay, and
were a strong, populous tribe living close together, and had not been
attacked by this wasting plague.

About the latter end of this month one John Billington lost himself
in the woods, and wandered up and down for about five days, living
on berries and what he could find. At length he came across an
Indian plantation, twenty miles to the south, called Manamet. They
conveyed him further off to Nauset, among the Indians who had set
upon the landing party when they were coasting and whilst their ship
lay at the Cape, as before noted. But the Governor caused him to be
enquired for among the Indians, and at length Massasoyt sent word
where he was, and the Governor sent a shallop for him, and had him
delivered. The Indians there also came and made their peace and full
satisfaction was given by the settlers to those whose corn they had
found and taken when they were at Cape Cod.

Thus their peace and acquaintance was pretty well established with
the natives about them. Another Indian, called Hobbamok came to live
with them, a fine strong man, of some account amongst the Indians for
his valour and qualities. He remained very faithful to the English
till he died. He and Squanto having gone upon business among the
Indians, a Sachem called Corbitant, allied to Massasoyt, but never a
good friend to the English to this day, met with them at an Indian
town called Namassakett, fourteen miles west of this, and whether out
of envy of them or malice to the English began to quarrel with them,
and threatened to stab Hobbamok; but he, being a strong man, cleared
himself of him, and came running away, all sweating, and told the
Governor what had befallen him, and that he feared they had killed
Squanto, for they threatened them both, for no other reason than
that they were friends to the English and serviceable to them. The
Governor taking counsel, it was decided not to pass it over, for if
they allowed their friends and messengers to be harmed, none would
associate with them or give them intelligence or do them service
afterwards; and next thing the Indians would fall upon them, too. So
it was resolved to send the Captain and fourteen men, well armed, and
to go and fall upon them in the night; and if they found that Squanto
was killed, to cut off Corbitant’s head, but not to hurt any but
those who had a hand in it. Hobbamok was asked if he would go and be
their guide, and bring them there before day. He said he would, and
could show them the house where Corbitant lived, and which he was.
They set forth on the 14th of August, and surrounded the house; and
the Captain, giving orders to let none escape, entered to search for
him. But he had gone away that day; so they missed him, but learned
that Squanto was alive, and that Corbitant had only threatened to
kill him, and made as if to stab him, but did not. So they withheld
their punishment, and did no more harm; and the people came trembling
and brought them the best provisions they had, when they had been
acquainted by Hobbamok with their purpose. Three Indians, badly
wounded, broke out of the house, and tried to pass through the guard.
These they brought back with them, and had their wounds dressed and
cured, and then sent them home. After this they had many greetings
from various Sachems and much firmer peace. Even the Indians of the
Island of Capawack sent to declare friendship; and Corbitant himself
used the mediation of Massasoyt to make his peace, but was shy to
come near them for a long time after.

After this, on the 18th September, they sent out their shallop with
ten men and Squanto as guide and interpreter to the Massachusetts, to
explore the bay and trade with the natives, which they accomplished,
and were kindly received. The Indians were much afraid of the
Tarantines, a tribe to the eastward, who used to come at harvest
time and take away their corn, and often kill some of them. They
returned in safety, and brought home a good quantity of beaver, and
reported on the place, wishing they could have settled there. But
it seems that the Lord, Who assigns to all men the bounds of their
habitations, had appointed it for another use. And thus they found
the Lord to be with them in all their ways, and to bless their
outgoings and incomings, for which let His holy name have the praise
forever, to all posterity.

They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to
prepare their houses for the winter, being well recovered in health
and strength, and plentifully provisioned; for while some had been
thus employed in affairs away from home, others were occupied in
fishing for cod, bass, and other fish, of which they caught a good
quantity, every family having their portion. All the summer there was
no want. And now, as winter approached, wild fowl began to arrive, of
which there were plenty when they came here first, though afterwards
they became more scarce. As well as wild fowl, they got abundance of
wild turkeys, besides venison, etc. Each person had about a peck of
meal a week, or now, since harvest, Indian corn in that proportion;
and afterwards many wrote at length about their plenty to their
friends in England,—not feigned but true reports.

In November, about 12 months after their arrival, there came a small
ship unexpectedly, bringing Mr. Cushman (so much spoken of before),
and with him 35 persons to remain and live in the plantation; at
which they rejoiced not a little. And the new arrivals, when they
came ashore and found all well, and saw plenty of victuals in every
house, were no less glad. Most of them were healthy young men,
many of them wild enough, who had little considered what they were
undertaking,—till they reached the harbour of Cape Cod, and there
saw nothing but a naked and barren place. They then began to wonder
what would become of them, should the people be dead or cut off by
the Indians. So, hearing what some of the sailors were saying, they
began to plot to seize the sails, lest the ship should go, and leave
them there. But the captain, hearing of it gave them good words, and
told them that if any misfortune should have befallen the people
here, he thought he had food enough to take them to Virginia, and
whilst he had a bit, they should have their share, which satisfied
them. So they were all landed; but they brought not so much as
biscuit-cake, or any other victuals with them, nor any bedding,
except some poor things they had in their cabins; nor pot nor pan to
cook any food in; nor many clothes, for many of them had sold their
coats and cloaks at Plymouth on their way out. But some burching-lane
suits were sent over in the ship, out of which they were supplied.
The plantation was glad of this addition of strength, but could have
wished that many of them had been of better class, and all of them
better furnished with provisions; but that could not now be helped.

In this ship Mr. Weston sent a long letter to Mr. Carver, the late
Governor, now deceased, full of complaints and expostulations about
the former troubles at Southampton, and keeping the ship so long in
the country, and returning her without lading, etc.,—most of which
for brevity I omit. The rest is as follows.

  _Mr. Weston in England to Mr. John Carver at New Plymouth_:

  I never dared acquaint the adventurers with the alterations in the
  conditions first agreed on between us, which I have since been very
  glad of, for I am well assured that had they known as much as I do,
  they would not have ventured a halfpenny of what was necessary for
  this ship. That you sent no lading back with the ship is strange,
  and very properly resented. I know your weakness was the cause
  of it; and I believe more weakness of judgment than weakness of
  hands. A quarter of the time you spent in discoursing, arguing,
  and consulting, would have done much more; but that is past....
  If you mean, bona fide, to perform the conditions agreed upon, do
  us the favour to copy them out fair, and subscribe them with the
  names of your principal members and likewise give us account, as
  particularly as you can, how our money was laid out. Then I shall
  be able to give them some satisfaction, while I am now forced
  to put them off with good words. And consider that the life of
  this business depends on the lading of this ship. If you do so
  satisfactorily, so that I may recoup the great sums I disbursed for
  the former voyage, and must do for this one, I promise you I will
  never forsake this enterprise, though all the other adventurers
  should do so.

  We have procured you a charter, the best we could, which is better
  than the former, and with less limitations. As for anything else
  that is worth writing, Mr. Cushman can inform you. I pray write
  instantly for Mr. Robinson to come to you. And so, praying God to
  bless you with all graces necessary both for this life and that to
  come, I rest,

                                      Your very loving friend,
                                                         THOS. WESTON.
  _London, July 6th, 1621._

This ship, called the Fortune, was speedily despatched, laden with
good clapboard, as full as she could stow, and two hogsheads of
beaver and otter skins, which they had traded in exchange for a few
trifling commodities brought with them at first, being otherwise
altogether unprovided for trading; nor was there a man among them who
had ever seen a beaver skin till they came out, and were instructed
by Squanto. The freight was estimated to be worth nearly £500. Mr.
Cushman returned with the ship, as Mr. Weston and the rest had
commissioned him, for their better information. And neither he
nor the settlers doubted that they would receive speedy supplies,
considering that, owing to Mr. Cushman’s persuasion, and to letters
which they received from the congregation at Leyden, urging them to
do so, they agreed to the aforesaid conditions, and signed them.
But it proved otherwise, for Mr. Weston, who had made that large
promise in his letter, that if all the rest should drop out, he would
never quit the business, but would stick to them if they signed the
conditions and sent some lading on the ship,—and of this Mr. Cushman
was equally confident, confirming it by Mr. Weston’s own words and
serious protestations to himself before he left,—all this, I say,
proved but wind, for he was the first and only man that forsook them,
and that before he had so much as heard of the return of the ship, or
knew what had been done. So vain is confidence in man! But of this,
more in its place.

A letter in answer to that written by Mr. Weston to Mr. Carver was
sent from the Governor, of which so much as is pertinent to the thing
in hand I will insert here:

  _Governor Bradford at New Plymouth to Mr. Weston in England_:

  Sir,

  Your long letter written to Mr. Carver, and dated July 6th, 1621,
  I received on November 10th, wherein, after the apology made for
  yourself, you lay many imputations upon him and us all. Touching
  him, he is now departed this life, and is at rest in the Lord from
  all these troubles and incumbrances with which we yet strive. He
  needs not my apology; for his care and pains were so great for
  the common good, both ours and yours, that, as it is thought, he
  thereby oppressed himself and shortened his days; of whose loss we
  cannot sufficiently complain. At great expense in this adventure I
  confess you have been, and many losses may sustain; but the loss
  of his and many other industrious men’s lives cannot be valued at
  any price. Of the one there may be hope of recovery, but the other
  no recompense can make good. However, I will not confine myself to
  general statements, but will deal with your particular charges.

  You greatly blame us for keeping the ship so long in the country,
  and then sending her away empty. She lay five weeks at Cape Cod,
  whilst with many a weary step, after a long journey and the
  endurance of many a hard brunt we sought out in the depth of winter
  a place of habitation. Then we set about, as well as we could, to
  provide shelter for ourselves and our goods upon which task many
  of our arms and legs can tell us to this day that we were not
  negligent! But it pleased God to visit us then with death daily,
  and with a disease so disastrous that the living were scarcely
  able to bury the dead, and the healthy not in any measure to tend
  the sick. And now to be so greatly blamed for not freighting the
  ship touches us near and discourages us much. But you say you
  know we shall plead weakness; and do you think we had not cause?
  Yes, you tell us you believe it—but that it was more weakness of
  judgment than of hands! Our weakness herein is great, we confess;
  therefore we will bear this rebuke patiently, with the rest, till
  God send us wiser men. But those who told you we spent so much
  time in discoursing and consulting, etc., their hearts can tell
  their tongues they lie. They care not, so that they salve their own
  sores, how they wound others. Indeed it is our calamity that we
  are, beyond expectation, yoked with some ill-disposed people, who,
  while they do no good themselves, corrupt and abuse others.

The rest of the letter stated that they had subscribed to the
conditions according to his desire, and sent him the previous
accounts very exactly; also how the ship was laden, and in what
condition their affairs stood; that the arrival of the new people
would bring famine upon them unavoidably, if they did not receive
supplies, in time,—as Mr. Cushman could more fully inform him and the
rest of the adventurers. Also that, seeing he was not satisfied in
all his demands, he hoped offences would be forgotten, and he would
remember his promise, etc.

After the departure of this ship, which did not stay above fourteen
days, the Governor and his assistant having disposed the new arrivals
among several families as best they could, took an exact account
of all their provisions in store, and proportioned the same to the
number of persons, and found that it would not hold out above six
months at half allowance, and hardly that. They could not well give
less this winter, till fish came in again. So they were presently put
on half allowance, one as well as another. It became irksome, but
they bore it patiently, hoping to receive fresh supplies.

Soon after this ship’s departure, the great Narragansett tribe, in a
braving manner, sent a messenger to them with a bundle of arrows tied
about with a great snake skin, which their interpreters told them was
a threatening challenge. Upon which the Governor, with the advice
of the others, sent them a round answer, that if they would rather
have war than peace, they might begin when they would; they had done
them no wrong, neither did they fear them, nor would they find them
unprepared. They sent the snake skin back by another messenger with
bullets in it; but they would not receive it, and returned it again.
These things I need merely mention, because they are fully dealt with
in print by Mr. Winslow, at the request of some friends. The reason
was probably their own ambition, thinking, since the death of so many
of the Indians, to domineer and lord it over the rest, and that the
English would be a bar in their way, Massasoyt having taken shelter
already under their wings.

But this made the settlers more careful to look to themselves. They
agreed to enclose their dwellings in a good strong stockade and make
flankers in convenient places, with gates to shut. These they locked
every night, and a watch was kept, and when need required there were
also outposts in the day-time. The colonists, at the Captain’s and
Governor’s advice, were divided into four squadrons, and every one
had his quarter appointed, to which to repair at any sudden alarm;
and in case of fire, a company with muskets was appointed as a guard,
to prevent Indian treachery, whilst the others quenched it. This
was accomplished very cheerfully, and the town was enclosed by the
beginning of March, every family having a pretty garden plot.

Herewith I shall end this year—except to recall one more incident,
rather amusing than serious. On Christmas Day, the Governor called
the people out to work as usual; but most of the new company excused
themselves, and said it went against their consciences to work on
that day. So the Governor told them, if they made it a matter of
conscience, he would spare them till they were better informed. So
he went with the rest, and left them; but on returning from work at
noon he found them at play in the street, some pitching the bar, some
at stool-ball, and such like sports. So he went to them and took away
their games, and told them that it was against his conscience that
they should play and others work. If they made the keeping of the
day a matter of devotion, let them remain in their houses; but there
should be no gaming and revelling in the streets. Since then, nothing
has been attempted in that way, at least openly.




CHAPTER III

Weston abandons the Settlement—Dissensions among the Adventurers in
England—Weston’s plan for a Colony, and arrival of Sixty Settlers for
it—News from Captain Huddleston of massacre in Virginia—Fort built at
New Plymouth—Death of Squanto—Weston’s Colony in difficulties: 1622.


They had arranged with the Massachusetts to go again and trade with
them in the spring, and began to prepare for the voyage about the
latter end of March. But Hobbamok, their Indian, told them that,
from some rumours he had heard, he feared they had joined the
Narragansetts and might betray them if they were not careful. He
also intimated some suspicion of Squanto, from what he had observed
of some private whisperings between him and other Indians. But they
resolved to proceed, and sent out their shallop with ten of their
chief men about the beginning of April, both Squanto and Hobbamok
with them, considering the jealousy between them. But they had not
been gone long from the settlement, before an Indian belonging to
Squanto’s family came running in, apparently in great fear, and told
them that many of the Narragansetts with Corbitant, and he thought
also Massasoyt, were coming to attack them; and he got away to tell
them, not without danger. And being examined by the Governor, he
made as if the enemy were at hand, and kept looking back as if they
were at his heels. At which the Governor ordered the settlers to
take arms and stand on their guard; and believing the boat would be
still within hearing, since it was calm, he caused a warning piece
or two to be shot off, which they heard and returned. But no Indians
appeared, and though watch was kept all night, nothing was seen.
Hobbamok was confident of Massasoyt’s good faith and thought it was
all false. But the Governor had him send his wife privately to see
what she could observe, on pretence of other purposes, but nothing
was found and all was quiet. So they proceeded on their voyage to the
Massachusetts and had good trade, and returned in safety blessed be
God!

But by what had passed they began to see that Squanto sought his own
ends and played his own game, by frightening the Indians and getting
gifts from them for himself, making them believe he could stir up war
against them if he would, and make peace for whom he would. He even
made them believe the English kept the plague buried in the ground,
and could send it among them whenever they wished, which terrified
the Indians and made them more dependent on him than on Massasoyt.
This made him envied, and was likely to have cost him his life;
for, after discovering this, Massasoyt sought it both privately and
openly. This caused Squanto to stick close to the English, and he
never dared leave them till he died. The colony also made good use of
the emulation between Hobbamok and him, which made them behave more
squarely, the Governor seeming to countenance the one and the Captain
the other, by which they procured better intelligence and made them
both more zealous in their service.

Now their provisions were practically all exhausted and they looked
anxiously for supplies, but none came. About the latter end of May,
however, they spied a boat at sea, which at first they thought was
some Frenchman; but it proved to be a shallop which came from a ship
which Mr. Weston and another man had sent out fishing at a place
called Damariscove, 40 leagues to the eastward of them, where that
year many ships had come to fish. This boat brought seven passengers
and some letters, but no provisions and no hope of any. Part of this
letter I will give.

  _Mr. Weston in England to Mr. John Carver at New Plymouth_:

  The Fortune, in which Mr. Cushman went,—who I hope is with you,
  for we daily expect the ship back again,—left England at the
  beginning of July with 35 persons, though not over well provided
  with necessaries owing to the parsimony of the adventurers. I have
  begged them to send you a supply of men and provisions before she
  returns. They all answer they will do great things when they hear
  good news—nothing before, so faithful, constant, and careful of
  your good are your old and honest friends, that if they hear not
  from you they are not likely to send you supplies.... I will now
  explain the sending of this ship, hoping if you give me credit, you
  will have a more favourable opinion of the project than some here,
  whereof Pickering is one.... Mr. Beauchamp and I have bought this
  little ship, and have fitted her out, partly, it may be, to benefit
  the plantation, and partly to recoup ourselves for former losses;
  though we are censured.... This is the reason we have sent this
  ship and these passengers, on our own account; and we desire you to
  entertain them and supply them, with such necessaries as you can
  spare.... And among other things, pray lend or sell them some seed
  corn, or if you have some of the salt remaining from last year, let
  them have it for their present use, and we will either pay you for
  it, or give you more when our salt pan is at work, which we want to
  have set up in one of the little islands in your bay.... We intend,
  if God please, and the others will not join us, to send within
  a month another ship, which, having discharged her passengers,
  will go to Virginia.... And perhaps we shall send a small ship to
  remain with you on the coast, which should be a great help to the
  plantation. In order that we may accomplish our endeavours, which
  will be also for your good, pray give them entertainment in your
  houses while they are with you, so that they may lose no time, but
  may at once proceed to fell trees and cleave them, so that lading
  may be ready, and the ship be not delayed.

  Some of the adventurers have sent you herewith some directions for
  your furtherance in the common enterprise,—like those whom St.
  James speaks of, that bid their brother eat, and warm himself,
  but give him nothing; so they bid you make salt, and uphold the
  plantation, but send you no means wherewith to do it.... By the
  next ship we intend to send more people on our own account, and to
  take a patent; lest your people should be as inhuman as are some
  of the adventurers, and should not permit us to dwell with them,
  which would be such extreme barbarism that I will not let myself
  think you have any such Pickerings among you. Yet to satisfy our
  passengers I must perforce do it, and for some other reasons which
  I need not write.... I find the rest so backward, and your friends
  at Leyden so cold, that I fear you must stand on your own legs, and
  trust (as they say) to God and yourselves.

                                         Subscribed,
                                                Your loving friend,
                                                         THOS. WESTON.

Several other things I pass over, being tedious and impertinent.

All this was but cold comfort with which to fill their hungry bellies
and a slender performance of his recent promise, and as little did
it either fill or warm them as those the Apostle James speaks of, to
which he refers.

There came by the same ship other letters, but of later date, one
from Mr. Weston and another from some of the other adventurers, as
follows.

  _Mr. Weston in England to Mr. John Carver at New Plymouth_:

  Mr. Carver,

  Since my last, in order that we might more readily help the
  company, at a meeting of some of the principal adventurers
  a proposition was made and agreed to by all present, except
  Pickering, that each man should further adventure the third part
  of what he had formerly done. Some others followed Pickering’s
  example and would adventure no more. Therefore, the greater part
  of the adventurers being willing to support the enterprise, seeing
  no reason why those who were willing, should carry on the business
  of those who were unwilling, and whose backwardness discouraged
  those who would go forward, and hindered other new adventurers
  from joining, we, having well considered the matter, have resolved
  according to the article in our agreement (that, by general
  consent, the adventurers and settlers for just cause may break off
  their joint stock), to break it off; and beg you to ratify and
  confirm the same on your parts. This being done we shall the more
  willingly proceed to provide you with necessary supplies. But in
  any case you must agree to the articles and send them back under
  your hands and seals by the first ship. So I end,

                                           Your loving friend,
                                                         THOS. WESTON.
  _Jan. 17th, 1621._

Another letter was written by part of the company of the adventurers
to the same purpose, and subscribed with nine of their names, of
which Mr. Weston’s and Mr. Beauchamp’s were two. This inconstancy and
shuffling seemed strange, and it appeared there was some mystery in
the matter. So the Governor concealed these letters from the public
and only imparted them to some trusted friends for advice, who agreed
with him that to inform them would tend to disband and scatter them
in their present necessity; and if Mr. Weston and others like-minded
should come over with shipping, provisioned as his letters suggested,
most of the advantage would fall to him, to the prejudice of
themselves and their friends and the rest of the adventurers, from
whom as yet they had heard nothing. Indeed it was doubted whether
he had not sent over the people in the former ship with this idea.
However, they took compassion on the seven whom this ship, fishing
to the eastward, had kept till planting time was over, so that it
was too late for them to set their corn, and who brought no food,
for they turned them ashore without any. Nor had the salt-pan come;
so they could not accomplish any of the things which Mr. Weston had
mentioned, and might have starved if the plantation had not succoured
them. Their wants were supplied exactly as the rest of the settlers’.
The ship went down to Virginia, where they sold both ship and fish,
of the proceeds of which Mr. Weston received a very slender share, it
is understood.

After this came another of his ships, bringing letters dated the 10th
April, from Mr. Weston, as follows.

  _Mr. Weston in England to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Mr. Bradford, these, etc.

  The Fortune has arrived, whose good news concerning you I am very
  glad to hear. And though she was robbed on the way by the French,
  yet I hope your loss will not be great, for the prospect of so
  great a return much encourages the adventurers, so that I hope some
  matter of importance will be done by them.... As for myself, I
  have sold my adventure and debts to them, so I am quit of you, and
  you of me, for that matter.... And now, though I have no position
  as an adventurer amongst you, I will advise you a little for your
  good, if you like to avail yourselves of it. I know as well as any
  the disposition of your adventurers, whom the hope of gain has
  drawn on to what they have done; but I fear that hope will not
  draw them much further. Besides, most of them are against sending
  your friends at Leyden, in whose interests this business was first
  begun; and some of the most religious (for instance a Mr. Greene)
  takes exception to them. So that my advice is (you may follow it if
  you please) that you forthwith break off your joint stock, which
  you have the right to do both in law and conscience, since the
  majority of the adventurers have sanctioned it in a former letter.
  The resources you have there, which I hope will be to some purpose
  by means of this spring’s trade, may, with the help of some friends
  here, meet the expense of transporting the Leyden contingent, and
  when they are with you I do not question but by God’s help you
  will be able to subsist of yourselves. But I leave you to your own
  discretion.

  I requested several of the adventurers, Mr. Pierce, Mr. Greene,
  and others, if they had anything to send you,—such as food or
  letters,—to send them by these ships; and wondering that they
  sent not so much as a letter, I asked our passengers what letters
  they had, and after some hesitation one of them told me he had
  one, which was delivered him with great show of secrecy; and for
  its greater security he was told to buy a pair of new shoes, and
  sew it between the soles for fear of its being intercepted. I,
  taking the letter, wondering what mystery might be in it, broke
  it open and found this treacherous letter subscribed by the
  hands of Mr. Pickering and Mr. Greene. Had it come to your hands
  without comment, it might have injured, if not ruined, us all.
  For assuredly if you had followed their instructions, and had
  treated us as unkindly as they advise you to, distrusting us as
  enemies, etc., it might have set us together by the ears to our
  destruction. For I believe that in such a case, knowing the nature
  of past business between us, not only my brother, but others also,
  would have been violent and heady against you.... I meant to have
  settled the people I before and now send you, with or near you, for
  mutual security and defence and help on all occasions. But I find
  the adventurers so jealous and suspicious that I have altered my
  resolution, and have given orders to my brother and those with him
  to do as he and they shall find fit.

                                         Your loving friend,
                                                         THOS. WESTON.
  _April 10th, 1621._


  _Part of Mr. Pickering’s and Mr. Greene’s letter to the Settlers at
  New Plymouth_:

  To Mr. Bradford and Mr. Brewster, etc.

  My dear love remembered to you all, etc.

  The company has bought out Mr. Weston, and are very glad they are
  freed of a man who thought himself superior to the rest, and not
  expressing so much fear of God as was meet. I need say no more: a
  few words to the wise.

  Mr. Weston will not permit letters to be sent in his ships, nor
  anything for your good or ours, since it would be contrary to his
  interests. His brother Andrew, whom he sends as principal in one
  of these ships, is a violent, heady young man, and set against
  you there and the company here. He and Mr. Weston plot their own
  ends, which tend to your and our undoing in respect of our estates
  there. We are informed by credible testimony that his purpose is
  to come out to your colony, pretending he comes for and from the
  adventurers, and will try to get whatever you have in readiness
  aboard his ships, as if they came from the company; and all will
  then be so much profit to himself. Further, they intend to inform
  themselves what special places or sources of profit you have
  discovered, so that they may suppress and deprive you....

  The Lord, who is the watchman of Israel and sleepeth not, preserve
  you and deliver you from unreasonable men. I am sorry that there
  is cause to admonish you of these things concerning this man; so
  I leave you to God, Who bless and multiply you into thousands, to
  the advancement of the glorious gospel of Our Lord Jesus. Amen.
  Farewell.

                                             Your loving friends,
                                                     EDWARD PICKERING.
                                                     WILLIAM GREENE.

  I pray conceal both the writing and delivery of this letter, but
  make the best use of it. We hope to fit out a ship ourselves within
  this month.

The following are of the chief points of Mr. Weston’s comments on the
foregoing letter:

  Mr. Bradford, this is the letter I wrote you of, which to answer
  in every particular were needless and tedious. My own conscience
  and all our people can, and I think will, testify that my end in
  sending the ship Sparrow was your good.... Now I will not deny that
  there are many of our people rude fellows, as these men term them;
  yet I presume they will be governed by such as I set over them, and
  I hope not only to be able to reclaim them from their profaneness,
  but, by degrees, draw them to God.... I am so far from sending you
  rude fellows to deprive you either by fraud or violence of what is
  yours, that I have ordered the captain of the Sparrow to leave with
  you 2000 of bread, and a good quantity of fish.[4] ... But I will
  leave it to you to consider what evil this letter might have done,
  had it come to your hands and taken the effect its writers desired.

  Now if you be of the same mind as these men, deal plainly with us,
  and we will seek our residence elsewhere. If you are as friendly as
  we have thought you to be, give us the entertainment of friends and
  we will take nothing from you, neither meat, drink, nor lodging,
  without in some way or other paying you for it.... I shall leave
  in the country a little ship, if God send her safe thither, with
  sailors and fishermen, to stay there to coast and trade with the
  savages and the old plantation. It may be we shall be as helpful to
  you as you will be to us. I think I shall see you next spring; so I
  commend you to the protection of God, Who ever keep you.

                                              Your loving friend,
                                                         THOS. WESTON.

Thus all their hopes in regard to Mr. Weston were laid in the dust,
and all his promised help turned into empty advice, which they saw it
was neither lawful nor profitable for them to follow. And they were
thus not only left destitute of help in their extreme want, having
neither food nor anything to trade with, but others were preparing
to glean up what the country might have afforded for their relief.
As for the harsh censures and suspicions intimated in the former
and following letters, they desired to judge them as charitably
and wisely as they could, weighing them in the balance of love and
reason; and though they came in part from godly and loving friends,
they recognized that much might arise from over-deep jealousy and
fear, or from provocation,—though they saw clearly that Mr. Weston
pursued his own ends and was embittered in spirit. After the receipt
of the former letters the Governor received one from Mr. Cushman, who
went home in the ship and was always intimate with Mr. Weston,—as
former passages prove. It had seemed strange that nothing was heard
from him all this while; but it seems it was the difficulty of
sending, for this letter was directed as if from a wife in England to
her husband who was here, and was brought by him to the Governor. It
was as follows.

  _Robert Cushman in England to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Beloved Sir,

  I heartily salute you, trusting you are well, and with many thanks
  for your love. By God’s providence we got home safely on the 17th
  Feb., being robbed by the French on the way and taken by them into
  France, where we were kept 15 days and lost all that we had that
  was worth taking. But thanks be to God we escaped with our lives
  and our ship. It does not seem to have discouraged any here. I
  purpose by God’s grace to see you shortly, I hope in June next or
  before. In the meantime consider well the following. Mr. Weston
  has quite broken off from our company, through some disagreement
  that arose between him and some of the other adventurers, and has
  sold all his adventurers and has now sent three small ships for his
  particular colony. Of the biggest of these, which is 100 tons, Mr.
  Reynolds is captain; Mr. Weston intends to come himself with the
  others,—why I know not.

  The people they take are no men for us, so I beg you not to
  entertain them nor to exchange men with them, except perhaps some
  of your worst. He has taken out a patent for himself. If they offer
  to buy anything of you let it be such as you can spare and let
  them give full value for it. If they borrow anything of you let
  them leave a good pawn.... It is probable he will settle southward
  of the Cape, for William Trevor has lavishly told what he knew
  (or imagined) of Capawack, Monhegan and the Narragansetts. I fear
  these people will hardly deal as well with the savages as they
  should. I advise you therefore to signify to Squanto that they are
  a distinct body from us, and we have nothing to do with them; that
  we must not be blamed for their faults,—much less can we warrant
  their fidelity. We are about to recover our losses in France. Our
  friends at Leyden are well, and as many as can will come this
  time. I hope all will turn out for the best, so I pray you not
  to be discouraged, but to meet these difficulties cheerfully and
  with courage, in that place wherein God has set you until the day
  of refreshing come. And the Lord God of sea and land bring us
  comfortably together again, if it may stand with His glory.

                                                   Yours,
                                                       ROBERT CUSHMAN.

On the other side of the leaf in the same letter, came these few
lines from Mr. John Pierce, in whose name the patent here was taken,
and of whom more will follow in its place.

  _John Pierce in England to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Worthy Sir,

  I desire you to take into consideration what is written on the
  other side, and in no way to let your own colony be contaminated,
  whose strength is but weakness and may therefore be more enfeebled.
  As for the Letters of Association, by the next ship we send I hope
  you will receive satisfaction; in the meantime whom you admit I
  will approve. As for Mr. Weston’s company, I think them so inferior
  for the most part that they do not seem fit for honest men’s
  company. I hope they may prove otherwise. It is not my purpose to
  write at length, but cease in these few lines, and so rest,

                                            Your loving friend,
                                                          JOHN PIERCE.

All this they considered carefully; but they decided to give the
men friendly entertainment, partly out of regard for Mr. Weston
himself, considering what he had done for them, and partly out of
compassion for the people, who had come into a wilderness (as they
themselves had before) and were presently to be put ashore altogether
ignorant of what to do. The ship was then to carry other passengers
to Virginia. So, as they had received Mr. Weston’s former company of
seven men, and victualed them as their own hitherto, they received
these—about sixty strong men—and gave them housing for themselves and
their goods; and many of them who were sick had the best the place
could afford them. They stayed most of the summer, till the ship came
back again from Virginia; then by the direction of those set over
them, they moved to Massachusetts Bay, where Mr. Weston had obtained
a patent for some land on the strength of reports which he had got in
some of the letters previously sent home. They left all their sick
folk here till they were settled and housed. But of the provisions of
this contingent the New Plymouth Colony accepted none,—though they
were in great want,—nor anything else in return for any courtesy
rendered by them; nor did they desire it, for they were an unruly
company, without proper government, and would inevitably soon fall
into want if Mr. Weston did not come out to them. So, to prevent all
chance of subsequent trouble, they would accept nothing from them.

In these straits, deserted by those from whom they had hoped for
supplies, and famine beginning to pinch them severely, the Lord, Who
never fails His, provided assistance beyond all expectation. A boat
which came from the eastward brought them a letter from a stranger
whose name they had never heard before, the captain of a fishing
ship. This letter was as follows.

  _Captain John Huddleston to the Colony at New Plymouth_:

  To all good friends at New Plymouth, these, etc.,

  Friends, Countrymen, and Neighbours,

  I salute you and wish you all health and happiness in the Lord. I
  make bold to trouble you with these lines, because unless I were
  inhuman I could do no less. Bad news spreads itself too far; but
  still, I may inform you that I and many good friends in the south
  colony of Virginia, have sustained such a loss as the lives of 400
  persons would not suffice to make good. Therefore I hope, although
  not knowing you, that the old rule which I learnt at school may be
  sufficient: that is,—Happy is he whom other men’s ills doth make to
  beware! And now, again and again wishing all those that willingly
  would serve the Lord all health and happiness in the world, and
  everlasting peace in the world to come, I rest,

                                                   Yours,
                                                      JOHN HUDDLESTON.

By this boat the Governor returned a grateful answer, and also sent
a boat of their own with Mr. Winslow, to procure what he could from
the ships. He was kindly received by the captain, who not only spared
what provisions he could but wrote to others to do the same. By
this means he got a good quantity and returned in safety. Thus the
plantation had a double benefit: first, they were refreshed at the
time by the food obtained; secondly, they knew the way to those parts
to their advantage thereafter. What this small boat brought, divided
among so many, came to but little; still, by God’s blessing it
sustained them until harvest. It amounted to a quarter of a pound of
bread a day for each person; and the Governor had it given out daily,
otherwise, had it been in their own custody, they would have eaten it
up and then starved. In this way with what else they could get they
made fair shift till their corn was ripe.

This summer they built a fort with good timber,—a handsome building
and a good defence, made with a flat roof and battlement, on which
their ordnance was mounted, and where they kept constant watch,
especially in time of danger. It served them also as a meeting house
and was fitted accordingly for that use. It was a big undertaking for
them at this period of weakness and want; but the dangerous times
necessitated it; and the continual rumours about the Indians here,
especially the Narragansetts, and also the news of the great massacre
in Virginia, made all hands willing to complete it.

Now the welcome time of harvest approached, in which all had their
hungry bellies filled. But it amounted to but little compared with
a full year’s supply, partly because they were not yet used to the
culture of Indian corn (they had no other), partly owing to their
many other employments; but chiefly their weakness for want of
food prevented them from cultivating it as they should have done.
Again, much was stolen even before it became eatable, and much
more afterwards—and though many were well whipped when they were
caught stealing a few ears of corn, hunger drove others to it, whom
conscience did not restrain. It was quite clear that famine would
prevail again next year if not prevented, or if their supplies, to
which they dare not trust, should fail. Markets there were none
to go to, except the Indians; and even then they had no trading
commodities. Behold now another providence of God. A ship comes
into the harbour in charge of a Captain Jones, fitted out by some
merchants to discover all the harbours between here and Virginia
and the shoals of Cape Cod, and to trade along the coast where they
could. This ship had supplies of English beads which were then good
trade, and some knives,—though the Captain would sell none except at
high prices and in large quantities. But they were so glad of the
chance that they were willing to buy at any rate,—even at a premium
of 100 per cent, if not more, and even then to sell coat beaver at
three shillings per pound, which a few years after fetched twenty
shillings. By this means they were able again to trade for beaver and
other things, and intended to buy what corn they could.

But I will here take the liberty of making a little digression. There
was aboard this ship a gentleman, by name Mr. John Pory, who had been
secretary in Virginia, and was now going home as a passenger. After
his departure he wrote a letter to the Governor, in the postscript of
which were these lines:

  To yourself and Mr. Brewster I must acknowledge myself much
  indebted, and would have you feel that his books are well bestowed
  on one who esteems them such jewels. My haste would not suffer me
  to remember, much less to ask for, Mr. Ainsworth’s elaborate work
  upon the five Books of Moses. Both his and Mr. Robinson’s highly
  commend the authors, as conversant with the scriptures above all
  others. And who knows what good it may please God to work by them,
  through my unworthy hands, who finds such high content in them. God
  have you all in His keeping.

                                 Your unfeigned and firm friend,
                                                            JOHN PORY.
  _Aug. 28th, 1622._

This I insert here in honour of the author’s memory, which this
gentleman thus ingenuously acknowledges; and he, upon his return, did
the plantation much credit amongst men of no mean rank. But to return.

Shortly after harvest Mr. Weston’s people, who were now settled in
Massachusetts, and had, by disorder as it seems, made havoc of their
provisions, began now to realize that want would press them. Finding
that the people here had bought trading commodities, and intended to
trade for corn, they wrote to the Governor and asked that they might
join them in trading, employing their small ship for the purpose;
and further requested them either to lend or to sell them some of
their trading commodities in return, and they would undertake to
make payment when Mr. Weston or their supplies should come. The
Governor agreed to do so upon equal terms, intending to go round the
cape southwards, with the ship, where corn might be got. Captain
Standish was appointed to go with them, and Squanto as a guide and
interpreter, about the latter end of September; but the winds drove
them in; and putting out again, Captain Standish fell ill with fever,
so the Governor went himself. But they could not get round the shoals
of Cape Cod, for flats and breakers, and Squanto could not direct
them better. The Captain of the boat dare not venture any further, so
they put into Manamoick Bay, and got what they could there.

Here Squanto fell ill of Indian fever, bleeding much at the
nose,—which the Indians take for a symptom of death,—and within a few
days he died. He begged the Governor to pray for him, that he might
go to the Englishmen’s God in heaven, and bequeathed several of his
things to some of his English friends, as remembrances. His death was
a great loss.

On this voyage they got in one place or another about 26 or 28
hogsheads of corn and beans, which was more than the Indians could
well spare hereabouts, for they sowed but little till they got
English hoes. So they had to return, disappointed that they could not
get round the Cape and were not better laden. Afterwards the Governor
took a few men and went to inland places to get what he could, to be
fetched home in the spring, which was some help.

In February a messenger came from John Sanders, who was left in
charge of Mr. Weston’s men at the Bay of Massachusetts, bringing a
letter telling of the great want they had fallen into. He wished to
borrow a hogshead of corn from the Indians, but they would lend him
none. He asked whether he might not take it from them by force to
supply his men till he returned from the east, where he was going.
The governor and the rest dissuaded him strongly, for it might
exasperate the Indians and endanger their safety, and all might smart
for it. Already it had been rumoured how they had wronged the Indians
by stealing their corn, etc., and that they were much incensed
against them. But so depraved were some of Mr. Weston’s people, that
they went and told the Indians that the Governor intended to come and
take their corn by force. This and other things made them enter into
a conspiracy against the English, of which more in the next chapter.
Herewith I end this year.




CHAPTER IV

Rescue of Weston’s Settlement—Weston arrives at New Plymouth—His
reception and ingratitude—Individual planting of corn substituted
for communal—Hardships—John Pierce and the Patent—Sixty new
Settlers—Compact between the Colony and private Settlers—Captain
Robert Gorges, Governor-General of New England—Weston charged and
arrested—Fire at New Plymouth: Storehouse threatened: 1623.


It may be thought strange that the Weston colony should have fallen
into such extremity in so short a time being fully provided when the
ship left them, in addition to their share of the corn which was got
by trade, besides much that they got by one means or another from
the Indians where they lived. It must needs have been their lack of
order, spending excessively whilst they had it, and may be wasting
part among the Indians—for the chief man amongst them was said to
keep Indian women, how truly I know not. Then, when they began to
want many sold their clothes and bed-coverings; others,—so depraved
were they,—became servants to the Indians, cutting them wood and
fetching them water for a capfull of corn; others fell to plain
stealing from the Indians of which they complained grievously. In
the end some starved and died with cold and hunger; one in gathering
shell-fish was so weak he stuck fast in the mud, and was found
dead in the place; at last most of them left their dwellings, and
scattered up and down in the woods and by the water-side, a few here
and a few there, wherever they could find ground-nuts and clams.

The Indians scorned them for such conduct, and began to insult them
in a most insolent manner. Often, while they were cooking a pot of
ground-nuts or shell-fish, when it was ready, the Indians would come
and eat it up; and at night they would come and steal the blankets
from such few as had them, and let them lie in the cold. Their
condition was very lamentable, and in the end, in order to satisfy
the Indians, they were obliged to hang one of their men whom they
could not keep from stealing.

While things went on thus, the Governor and the people here had
notice that their friend Massasoyt was sick, and near to death.
They visited him, and took whatever they could to relieve him; and
he recovered. He then discovered a conspiracy amongst the Indians
of Massachusetts, and other neighbouring tribes with whom they
had conspired, to wipe out Mr. Weston’s people, in revenge for
the continual injuries they did them, taking opportunity of their
weakness to do it. And believing that the people at New Plymouth
would avenge their death, they decided to do the same by them, and
had solicited Massasoyt to join them. He advised the New Plymouth
settlement to prevent it, by speedily capturing some of the chief of
the conspirators before it was too late, for he assured them of the
truth of it.

This troubled them much, and they took it into serious deliberation,
and upon examination found other evidence too long to relate. In the
meantime one of Mr. Weston’s people came from Massachusetts, with
a small pack on his back; and though he did not know a foot of the
way, he got here safe. He lost his way, which was well for him, for,
though pursued, he was missed. He told them here how everything stood
among them, and that he dared stay no longer. He believed, by what he
observed, they would all be knocked on the head shortly.

So the people at New Plymouth made the more haste, and they
despatched a boat with Captain Standish and some men, who found them
in a miserable condition out of which he rescued them, and killed
some few of the chief conspirators among the Indians, and according
to his order, offered to bring the remnant of the Weston settlement
here if they thought well, in which case they should fare no worse
than the colonists themselves, till Mr. Weston or some supplies came
to them. Or, if they preferred any other course, he was to give them
any assistance he could. They thanked him, but most of them begged
he would give them some corn so that they could go with their small
ship to the eastward, where they might hear of Mr. Weston or get some
supplies from him, since it was the time of the year for the fishing
ships to be out. If not, they would work among the fishermen for
their living, and get their passage back to England if they heard
nothing from Mr. Weston in the meantime. So he put aboard what they
had, and he got them all the corn he could, scarcely leaving enough
to bring himself home, and saw them well out of the bay, under sail
at sea. Then he came back, not accepting a penny worth of anything
from them. I have but touched these things briefly because they have
been published in print more completely already.

This was the end of those who at one time boasted of their
strength,—all able, healthy men,—and what they would do in comparison
with the people here, who had many women and children and weak ones
among them and who had said, on their first arrival, when they saw
the want here, that they would take a very different course and not
to fall into any such condition as these simple people had come to.
But a man’s way is not in his own hands. God can make the weak to
stand: let him also that standeth take heed lest he fall!

Shortly after, when he heard of the ruin and destitution of his
colony, Mr. Weston came over with some of the fishermen, under
another name, and disguised as a blacksmith. He got a boat, and
with a man or two came to see how things were there. But on the way
ashore he was caught in a storm, and his shallop was sunk in the bay,
between Merrimac river and Piscataqua, and he barely escaped with his
life. Afterwards he fell into the hands of the Indians, who robbed
him of all that he had saved from the wreck, and stripped him of all
his clothes to his shirt. At last he got to Piscataqua and borrowed
a suit of clothes, and so came to New Plymouth. A strange alteration
there was in him, to such as had seen him in his former flourishing
condition; so uncertain are the mutable things of this unstable
world! And yet men set their hearts upon them, though they daily see
their vanity.

After many arguments and much discourse,—former troubles boiling in
his mind and wrankling there, as was discerned,—he asked to borrow
some beaver from them, and told them he had hopes that a ship with
good supplies was on its way to him, and that then they should have
anything they stood in need of. They gave little credit to his
report of supplies, but pitied his condition and remembered former
courtesies. They pointed out to him their own wants, and said they
did not know when they might get any supplies. He well knew, also,
how the case stood between them and the adventurers in England.
They had not much beaver, and if they should let him have it, it
would be enough to cause a mutiny among the people since there were
no other means of procuring them the food and clothes which they
so much wanted. Nevertheless, they told him they would help him,
considering his necessity; but that it must be done secretly for the
above reasons. So they let him have 100 beaver skins, which weighed
170 lbs. odd. Thus they helped him when all the world failed him; and
with this he went again to the ships, and supplied his small ship
and some of his men, and bought provisions and fitted himself out;
and it was this supply alone which enabled him to pursue his course
thereafter. But he requited them ill, proving himself a bitter enemy
upon every opportunity, and never repaying them to this day,—except
in reproaches and calumnies.

All this while no supplies were heard of, nor did they know when they
might expect any. So they began to consider how to raise more corn,
and obtain a better crop than they had done, so that they might not
continue to endure the misery of want. At length after much debate,
the Governor, with the advice of the chief among them, allowed each
man to plant corn for his own household, and to trust to themselves
for that; in all other things to go on in the general way as before.
So every family was assigned a parcel of land, according to the
proportion of their number with that in view,—for present purposes
only, and making no division for inheritance,—all boys and children
being included under some family. This was very successful. It made
all hands very industrious, so that much more corn was planted than
otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other
could devise, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far
better satisfaction. The women now went willingly into the field, and
took their little ones with them to plant corn, while before they
would allege weakness and inability; and to have compelled them would
have been thought great tyranny and oppression.

The failure of this experiment of communal service, which was tried
for several years, and by good and honest men proves the emptiness of
the theory of Plato and other ancients, applauded by some of later
times,—that the taking away of private property, and the possession
of it in community, by a commonwealth, would make a state happy and
flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For in this instance,
community of property (so far as it went) was found to breed much
confusion and discontent, and retard much employment which would have
been to the general benefit and comfort. For the young men who were
most able and fit for service objected to being forced to spend their
time and strength in working for other men’s wives and children,
without any recompense. The strong man or the resourceful man had
no more share of food, clothes, etc., than the weak man who was not
able to do a quarter the other could. This was thought injustice. The
aged and graver men, who were ranked and equalized in labour, food,
clothes, etc., with the humbler and younger ones, thought it some
indignity and disrespect to them. As for men’s wives who were obliged
to do service for other men, such as cooking, washing their clothes,
etc., they considered it a kind of slavery, and many husbands would
not brook it. This feature of it would have been worse still, if they
had been men of an inferior class. If (it was thought) all were to
share alike, and all were to do alike, then all were on an equality
throughout, and one was as good as another; and so, if it did not
actually abolish those very relations which God himself has set among
men, it did at least greatly diminish the mutual respect that is so
important should be preserved amongst them. Let none argue that this
is due to human failing, rather than to this communistic plan of life
in itself. I answer, seeing that all men have this failing in them,
that God in His wisdom saw that another plan of life was fitter for
them.

But to return. After this had been settled, and their corn was
planted in this way, all their food supplies were consumed, and they
had to rely upon God’s providence, often at night not knowing where
to get a bit of anything next day; and so, as one well observed,
they had need above all people in the world, to pray to God that He
would give them their daily bread. Yet they bore their want with
great patience and cheerfulness of spirit, and that for upwards of
two years; which reminds me of what Peter Martyr writes in praise of
the Spaniards, in his Fifth Decade, page 208. “They,” says he, “led
a miserable life five days together, with the parched grain of maize
only,” and concludes, “that such pains, such labour, and such hunger,
he thought none living, who was not a Spaniard could have endured.”
But alas! these colonists, when they had maize,—that is Indian
corn,—thought it as good as a feast; and not only lacked bread for
days at a time, but sometimes for two or three months continuously
were without bread or any kind of corn. Indeed, in another place,—his
Second Decade, page 94, the same writer mentions how some others
were even worse put to it, and ate dogs, toads, and dead men,—and
so died almost all. From these extremities the Lord in His goodness
kept these His people, and in their great need preserved both their
lives and their health; let His name have the praise. Yet let me here
make use of the same writer’s conclusion, which in a manner may be
applied to the people of this colony: “That with their miseries they
opened a way to these new lands; and after these hardships, with what
ease other men came to inhabit them, owing it to the calamities which
these forerunners had suffered; so that they who followed seemed to
go, as it were, to a bride feast, where all things are provided for
them.”

As for fishing, having but one boat left, and she not very well
fitted, they were divided into several crews, six or seven to a crew,
who went out with a net they had bought, to catch bass and other
fish, each party taking its turn. No sooner was the boat emptied of
what she had brought, than the next crew took her, and went out with
her, not returning till they had caught something, even though it
were five or six days, for they knew there was nothing at home, and
to go home empty would be a great disappointment to the rest. They
tried who could do best. If she stayed long or got little, then all
went to seeking shell-fish, which at low water they dug out of the
sands. This was what they lived on in the summer time, till God sent
them better; and in winter there were ground-nuts and fowl to help
them out. In the summer now and then they got a deer, one or two of
the fittest being told off to hunt in the woods. What was got in that
way was divided among them.

At length they received a letter from the adventurers, too long and
tedious to record here in full, which told of their further crosses
and frustrations, beginning in this manner.


  _The Adventurers in England to the Settlers at New Plymouth_:

  Loving Friends,

  As your sorrows and afflictions have been great, so our crosses and
  interruptions in our proceedings here have not been small. After
  we had, with much trouble and expense, sent the Parragon away to
  sea, and thought all the trouble was at an end, about fourteen days
  after she returned leaking dangerously and battered with storms,
  so that she had to be put into dock and have £100 spent on her.
  All the passengers lay upon our hands for six or seven weeks, and
  much discontent was occasioned. But we trust all will be well,
  and result to our mutual advantage, if you can wait with patience
  and have but strength to hold on to life. While these things were
  happening, Mr. Weston’s ship came, and brought various letters from
  you.... We rejoice to hear the good reports that many have brought
  home about you....

This letter was dated December 21st, 1622.

This ship was brought out by Mr. John Pierce, and fitted out at
his own expense, in hope of doing great things. The passengers and
goods which the company had sent in her he took aboard as freight,
arranging to land them here. This was the man in whose name the
colony’s first patent was taken out, because of the acquaintance of
their friends with him, though his name was only used in trust. But
when he saw that they were settled here thus hopefully, and by the
success God gave them had obtained the favour of the Council of New
England, he goes to the Council, as if on behalf of the settlers—asks
them for another patent, much more extensive, which he thus easily
obtained. But he meant to keep it to himself, and allow the colonists
what he pleased to grant them as his tenants, and sue to the courts
as chief lord, as will appear by what follows. But the Lord prevented
him; for after the first return of the ship, and the expenses above
mentioned, when she was fitted again, he takes in more passengers,
and those not very good, to try and meet his losses, and sets out a
second time. But what the result was, will appear in another letter
from one of the chief members of the company, dated 9th of April,
1623, written to the Governor here, as follows:

  Loving Friend,

  When I sent my last letter, I hoped to have received one from you
  by this time; though when I wrote in December I little thought I
  should see Mr. John Pierce till he brought tidings of you. But
  it pleased God that he brought us only the woful tidings of his
  return, driven back by violent storms when he was half way over,
  wherein the goodness and mercy of God appeared in sparing their
  lives,—in all 109 souls! The loss is great to Mr. Pierce, and the
  company is put to great expense....

  At last, with great trouble and loss, we have got Mr. John Pierce
  to assign to the Company the grand patent, which he had taken in
  his own name, the former grant being made void. I am sorry to write
  that many here think that the hand of God was justly against him,
  both the first and second time of his return; for it appears that
  he, whom you and we so confidently trusted only to use his name for
  the company, should actually aspire to be supreme over us all, and
  to make you and us tenants at his will and pleasure, our patent
  having been annulled by his means. I desire to judge charitably of
  him; but his unwillingness to part with his royal lordship, and the
  high rate he put it at, which was £500,—it cost him £50,—makes many
  speak hardly of him. The company are out for goods in his ship,
  with expense of passengers, £640....

  We have hired from two merchants a ship of 140 tons, called the
  Anne, which is to be ready the last of this month, to bring sixty
  passengers and 60 tons of goods....

This is their own judgment of the man’s proceedings. I thought it
better to describe them in their words than my own. Yet, though
no other compensation was got from him than the reversion of this
patent and the shares he had in the adventure, he was never quiet,
but sued them in the chief courts of England, and when he was still
frustrated, brought it before Parliament. But he is now dead, and I
will leave him to the Lord.

This ship was in greater extremity at sea, during her second
attempted passage, than one could often hear of—without being
wrecked—as I have been informed by Mr. William Pierce who was then
captain of her, and by many others who were passengers on her. It
was about the middle of February. The storm lasted for fourteen days
altogether; but for two or three days and nights continuously it was
of fearful violence. After they had cut down their mast, their round
house and all their upper works were swept away; three men had all
they could do to keep the helm, and the man who held the ship before
the wind was obliged to be bound fast to prevent him from washing
away. The seas so over-raked them, that many times those on the deck
did not know whether they were within board or without; and once she
was so foundered in the sea that they all thought she would never
rise again. But yet the Lord preserved them, and brought them at last
safe to Portsmouth, to the wonder of all who saw what a state she was
in, and heard what they had endured.

About the latter end of June there arrived a ship, with Captain
Francis West, commissioned to be Admiral of New England, to restrain
interlopers and such fishing ships as came to fish and trade without
a license from the Council of New England, for which rights they were
to be made to pay a substantial sum of money. But he could do no good
with them; they were too strong for him, and he found the fishermen
stubborn fellows; and their owners, upon complain made to Parliament,
procured an order that fishing should be free. He told the Governor
they spoke with a ship at sea and were aboard her, which was coming
to this settlement, in which there were several passengers; he
wondered she had not arrived and feared some mischance, for they
parted company in a storm shortly after they had been aboard. This
report filled them with fear, though they still had hopes. The
captain of this ship had some two hogshead of peas to sell, but
seeing their need he held them at £9 sterling a hogshead, and would
not take under £8, and yet he wanted to buy their beaver at less than
the market rate. So they told him they had lived so long without,
they would do so still, rather than give such an unreasonable price.
So he went on to Virginia.

About fourteen days after, the ship called the Anne arrived, of which
Mr. William Pierce was captain; and about a week or ten days later
came the pinnace which they had lost in foul weather at sea,—a fine
new vessel, of about forty-four tons, which the company had built
to stay in the country. They brought about sixty settlers for the
colony, some of them very useful persons, who became good members
to the body, and some were the wives and children of those who were
here already. Some of the new settlers were so unruly, that they were
obliged to go to the expense of sending them home again the next
year. Besides these there were a number who did not belong to the
general body, but came on their own resources, and were to have lands
assigned to them, to work for themselves,—but subject to the general
Government. This caused some differences, as will appear. I shall
here again take the liberty to insert a few things out of letters
which came in this ship, desiring to give account of things in their
own words as much as may be.

  _Robert Cushman in England to the Settlers at New Plymouth_:

  Beloved Friends,

  I kindly salute you all, with trust of your healths and welfare. I
  am sorry that no supplies have been sent to you all this time, and
  in explanation I must refer you to our general letters. Nor have
  we now sent you all that we would, for want of money. But there
  are people more than enough,—though not all who are fit to go,—for
  people come flying in upon us, but money comes creeping in. Some
  few of your old friends have come.... So they come dropping to you,
  and by degrees, I hope ere long, you will enjoy them all. As people
  are pressing so hard upon us to go, and often they are none of the
  fittest, I pray you write earnestly to the treasurer, and direct
  what persons should be sent. It grieves me to see so weak a company
  sent you, and yet had I not been here, they would have been weaker.
  You must still call upon the company here to see that honest men
  are sent you, and threaten to send back others.... In no way are
  we in such danger as from corrupt and disorderly persons. Such and
  such came without consent; but the importunity of their friends got
  our Treasurer’s word in my absence. There is no need why we should
  take lewd men for we have honest men enough....

                                              Your assured friend,
                                                                 R. C.


  _Thirteen of the Adventurers in England to the Settlers at New
  Plymouth_:

  Loving Friends,

  We most heartily salute you in all love and hearty affection,
  hoping that the same God Who has hitherto preserved you in such
  a marvellous manner, continues your lives and health, to His own
  praise and all our comforts. We are very sorry that you have not
  been sent to all this time.... We have in this ship sent such women
  as were willing and ready to go to their husbands and friends,
  with their children.... We would not have you discontented because
  we have not sent you more of your old friends, and especially
  him on whom you most depend, John Robinson. Far be it from us to
  neglect you or slight him. But as the original intent was, so the
  results shall show that we will deal fairly, and squarely answer
  your expectations to the full. There also come to you some honest
  men to settle near you, on their own account, which, if we had
  not allowed, would have been to wrong both them and you,—them, by
  inconveniencing them, and you, because, being honest they will be a
  support to the place and good neighbours to you. In regard to these
  private planters we have made two stipulations:

  First, the trade in skins is to be confined to the colonists till
  the dividends; secondly, while they may settle near you, it shall
  be at such distance as is neither inconvenient to the apportionment
  of your lands, nor to your easily assembling together in case of
  need.

  We have sent you several fishermen, with salt.... We have sent you
  various other provisions, as will appear in your bill of lading,
  and though we have not sent all we would, because our cash is
  small, it is what we could.

  Although as it seems, you have discovered many more rivers and
  fertile grounds than where you are, since by God’s providence, the
  place fell to your lot, let it be accepted as your portion; and
  rather fix your eyes upon what may be done there, than languish in
  hope after things elsewhere. If your site is not the best, it is
  the better because you will be envied or encroached upon less, and
  such as are earthly minded will not settle too near your border.
  If the land afford you bread, and the sea yield you fish, rest you
  awhile contented. God will one day grant you better fare; and all
  men shall know that you are neither fugitives nor discontents, but
  can, if God so order it, take the worst to yourselves with content,
  and leave the best to your neighbours with cheerfulness.

  Let it not grieve you that you have been instruments to break the
  ice for others, who come after with less difficulty; the honour
  shall be yours to the world’s end....

  We bear you always in our breasts, and our hearty affection is
  towards you all, as are the hearts of hundreds more who have
  never seen your faces, but who doubtless pray for your safety as
  their own, as we do and ever shall—that the same God which has so
  marvellously preserved you from seas, foes, and famine, will still
  preserve you from all future dangers, and make you honourable among
  men, and glorious in bliss at the last day. And so the Lord be with
  you all, and send us joyful news of you, and enable us with one
  shoulder so to accomplish and perfect this work, that much glory
  may come to Him that confoundeth the mighty by the weak, and maketh
  small things great. To Whose greatness be all glory, for ever and
  ever.

This letter was subscribed with thirteen of their names.

The passengers, when they saw the poor condition of those ashore,
were much daunted and dismayed, and, according to their different
characters were, differently affected. Some wished themselves in
England again; others began weeping, fancying what their own misery
would be from what they saw before them; others pitied the distress
they saw their friends had been in so long, and still were under;
in a word, all were full of sadness. Some few of their old friends
rejoiced to see them again, and to know that it was no worse with
them, for they could not expect it to be better; and hoped that now
they would enjoy better days together. And it was certainly not
unnatural that the new arrivals should be thus affected; for the
settlers were in very poor case,—many were ragged in apparel, and
some little better than half naked; though some few, who were well
stocked before, were well enough clothed. But as for food, they were
all alike, except some who had got a few peas from the ship that
was last here. The best dish they could present to their friends
was a lobster, or a piece of fish, without any bread, or anything
else but a cup of fair spring water. The long continuance of this
diet, and their labours, had somewhat abated the freshness of their
complexions. But God gave them health and strength and showed them by
experience the truth of that word (Deut. viii, 3): “Man liveth not by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
the Lord doth a man live.”

When I think how sadly the Scripture speaks of the famine in Jacob’s
time, when he said to his sons, “Go buy us food, that we may live and
not die” (Gen. xlii, 2, and xliii, 1); and that the famine was great
in the land and yet they had such great herds of cattle of various
kinds, which besides meat produces other foods, such as milk, butter
and cheese, etc., and yet it was counted a sore affliction; when we
think of this, then we see that the affliction of these settlers must
have been very great, who not only lacked the staff of life, but all
these things, and had no Egypt to go to. But God fed them out of the
sea for the most part, so wonderful is His providence over His in all
ages; for His mercy endureth for ever.

Now the original settlers were afraid that their corn, when it
was ripe, would have to be shared with the new-comers, and that
the provisions which the latter had brought with them would give
out before the year was over,—as indeed they did. So they went to
the Governor and begged him that as it had been agreed that they
should sow their corn for their own use, and accordingly they had
taken extraordinary pains about it, they might be left to enjoy it.
They would rather do that than have a bit of the food just come in
the ship. They would wait till harvest for their own and let the
new-comers enjoy what they had brought; they would have none of it,
except what they could purchase by bargain or exchange. Their request
was granted them and it satisfied both sides; for the new-comers were
much afraid the hungry settlers would eat up the provisions they had
brought, and then that they would fall into like conditions of want.

The ship was laden in a short time with clapboard, by the help of
many hands. They also sent in her all the beaver and other furs they
had, and Mr. Winslow was sent over with her, to give information and
to procure such things as were required. Harvest time had now come,
and then instead of famine, God gave them plenty, and the face of
things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many for which
they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was
well seen, for all had, one way or another, pretty well to bring the
year about, and some of the abler sort and more industrious had to
spare, and sell to others,—in fact, no general want or famine has
been amongst them since, to this day.

Those that came on their own venture looked for greater things than
they found, or could attain to, such as building great houses in
pleasant situations, as they had fancied,—as if they could be great
men, and rich, all of a sudden; but they proved castles in the air.

The following were the conditions agreed on between the colony and
them:

  1. That the Governor in the name and with the consent of the
  company embraces and receives them in all love and friendship; and
  is to allot them competent places for habitations within the town;
  and promises to show them all such other courtesies as shall be
  reasonable for them to desire, or us to perform.

  2. That they on their parts be subject to all such laws and orders
  as are already made, or hereafter shall be made, for the public
  good.

  3. That they be free and exempt from the general employments of the
  said company (which their present condition of community requires),
  except common defence, and such other employments as tend to the
  perpetual good of the colony.

  4. Towards the maintenance of government, and public officers of
  the said colony, every male above the age of 16 years shall pay a
  bushel of Indian wheat, or the worth of it, into the common store.

  5. That according to the agreement the merchants made with them
  before they came, they are to be debarred from all trade with the
  Indians for all sorts of furs and such like commodities, till the
  time of the communality be ended.

About the middle of September Captain Robert Gorges arrived in the
Bay of Massachusetts, with sundry passengers and families, intending
to begin a plantation there; and pitched upon the place that Mr.
Weston’s people had forsaken. He had a Commission from the Council
of New England, to be Governor-General of the country, and they
appointed for his counsel and assistance, Captain Francis West,—the
admiral aforementioned,—Christopher Levett, Esquire, and the Governor
of New Plymouth for the time being, etc. They also gave him authority
to choose such other as he should see fit. Also, they gave (by their
commission) full power to him and his assistants, or any three of
them, whereof himself was always to be one, to do and execute what
should seem to them good, in all cases capital, criminal, and
civil, etc. with various other instructions. Of these and also his
commission, it pleased him to let the Governor here take a copy.

He gave them notice of his arrival by letter, but before they could
visit him, he went eastward with the ship he came in; but a storm got
up, and as they lacked a good pilot to harbour them there, they bore
up for this harbour. He and his men were kindly entertained here, and
stayed fourteen days.

In the meantime Mr. Weston arrived with his small ship, which he
had now recovered. Captain Gorges, who informed the Governor here
that one purpose of his going east was to meet with Mr. Weston,
took this opportunity to call him to account for some abuses he had
to lay to his charge. Whereupon he called Weston before him and
some other of his assistants, with the Governor of this place; and
charged him first with the ill carriage of his men in Massachusetts,
by which means the peace of the country had been disturbed, and he
himself and the people he had brought over to settle there were much
prejudiced. To this Mr. Weston easily answered, that what had been
done, was in his absence, and might have befallen anyone; he left
them sufficiently provided, and supposed they would be well governed;
for any error committed he had sufficiently smarted. This particular
charge was passed by.

The second charge was of a wrong done towards his father, Sir
Ferdinand Gorges, and to the State. The offence was this: Mr. Weston
had used him and others of the Council of New England, to procure
him a license for the purchase and transportation to New England of
many pieces of great ordnance, on the plea of great fortifications
in this country, etc. Having obtained them, he went and sold them
beyond the seas for his private profit; at which, he said, the State
had been much offended, and his father had been sharply rebuked, and
he had order to apprehend him for it. Mr. Weston excused it as well
as he could, but could not deny it, it being the main reason why he
had left England. But after much argument, by the mediation of the
Governor and some other friends here, he was inclined to be lenient,
though he foresaw the vexation of his father. When Mr. Weston saw
this he grew more presumptuous, and made such provoking and cutting
speeches, that the Governor-General rose up in great indignation
and distemper, and vowed that he would either curb him or send him
home to England. At which Mr. Weston was somewhat daunted, and came
privately to the Governor here, to know whether he would allow him
to be apprehended. He was told they could not prevent it, and blamed
him much that, after having pacified things, he should again break
out and by his own folly and rashness bring trouble upon himself and
them too. He confessed it was his temper, and prayed the Governor to
intercede for him, and smooth things if he could. At last he did so
with much ado; so he was summoned again, and the Governor-General
consented to accept his own bond, to be ready to make further answer,
when either he or the Lords should send for him. Finally, he took
only his word, and there was a friendly parting on all hands.

But after he had gone, Mr. Weston, in lieu of thanks to the Governor
and his friends here, gave them this quip behind their backs, for
all their pains: That though they were but young justices, they
were good beggars. Thus they parted for the time, and shortly after
the Governor took his leave and went to Massachusetts by land, very
grateful for his kind entertainment.

The ship stayed here and fitted herself to go to Virginia, having
some passengers to deliver there, and with her there returned several
of those who had come over privately, some from discontent and
dislike of the country, others because of a fire that broke out,
burning the houses they lived in and all their provisions. The fire
was caused by some of the seamen, who were roystering in a house
where it first began. It being very cold weather, they had made a
great fire, which broke out of the chimney and set alight the thatch,
and burnt down three or four houses, and all the goods and provisions
in them. The house in which it began was right against the common
storehouse, in which were all their provisions; and they had much
difficulty in saving it. If it had been lost, the plantation would
have been ruined. But through God’s mercy it was saved by the great
efforts of the people, and the care of the Governor and some about
him. Some advised that the goods be thrown out; but then there would
have been much stolen by the rough crews of the two ships, who were
almost all ashore. But a reliable company was placed within, so that
if necessity required they could have got them all out with speed,
and others with wet cloths and other means kept off the fire outside.
For they suspected some malicious dealing, if not plain treachery;
though whether it was only suspicion or no, God knows. But this is
certain, that when the tumult was greatest, a voice was heard—from
whom it was not known—that bid them look well about them, for all
were not friends near them. And shortly after, when the worst of the
fire was over, smoke was seen to rise from a shed adjoining the end
of the storehouse, which was wattled up with boughs, the withered
leaves of which had caught fire. Those who ran to put it out found
a large firebrand, about a yard long, lying under the wall on the
inside, which could not possibly have come there by accident, but
must have been put there intentionally, as all thought who saw it.
But God kept them from this danger, whatever was intended.

Shortly after Captain Gorges, the Governor-General, had got home to
Massachusetts, he sent a warrant to arrest Mr. Weston and his ship,
and sent a seaman to sail her thither, and one, Captain Hanson, of
his suite, to be in charge of him. The Governor and others were
very sorry to see him take this course, and took exceptions to the
warrant, as not legal or sufficient, and wrote to him to dissuade
him from this course, showing him that he would but entangle and
burden himself by doing this, and that he could not do Mr. Weston a
better turn, as things now stood with him, for he had a great many
men in his service in the ship to whom he was deeply in debt for
wages, and that he was practically out of provisions, and winter
was at hand: for all of which Captain Gorges would be responsible
if he arrested his ship. In the meantime Mr. Weston had notice to
shift for himself; but it was supposed that he did not know where to
go or how to better himself, but was rather glad of the issue, and
so did not move. But the Governor-General would not be dissuaded,
and sent a very formal warrant under his hand and seal, with strict
orders, as they would answer for it to the State; he also wrote that
he had better considered things since he was here, and he could not
answer for it to let him go, besides other things that had come to
his knowledge since, which Mr. Weston must account for. So he was
allowed to proceed; but he found in the end that what had been told
him was true; for when an inventory was taken of what was in the
ship, food was found sufficient for only fourteen days, at a bare
allowance, and not much else of any worth, and the men clamoured so
for wages and rations in the meantime, that he was soon weary. So in
conclusion it turned to his loss, and the expense of his provisions;
and towards the spring they came to an agreement, after they had
been east, and the Governor-General restored him his vessel again,
and made satisfaction in biscuit and meal and such like provisions
for what he had used of his, or what had been wanted or consumed.
So Mr. Weston came here again, and afterwards shaped his course
for Virginia, and so for the present I shall leave him. He died
afterwards at Bristol, at the time of the war, of the sickness there.

The Governor-General and some of his suite soon returned to England,
having scarcely saluted the country put under his government, as
he did not find the state of things here correspond to his station
and way of life. The people dispersed; some went to England, others
to Virginia, some few remained and were helped with supplies from
here. The Governor-General had brought over a minister of religion
with him, one Mr. Morrell, who, about a year after his return, took
shipping from here. He had I know not what power and authority
of superintendence over other churches granted him, and sundry
instructions to that end; but he never showed it or made use of it.
It seems he saw it was in vain, and he only spoke of it to some here
at his departure. This was the end of the second settlement there.
This year there were also some scattered beginnings made in other
places, as at Piscataqua by Mr. David Thomson, at Monhegan and some
other places by several others.

It remains now for me to speak a word about the pinnace mentioned
before, sent by the adventurers to be employed in the country. She
was a fine vessel, and bravely fitted out; but I fear the adventurers
were over proud of her, for she had ill success. However, they made
a great mistake about two things in her. First, though she had a
competent master, she was badly manned, and all the crew were upon
shares, and none were to receive any wages but the captain. Secondly,
though mainly busied with trade, they had sent nothing of any value
to trade with. When they came over they received bad advice from Mr.
Weston and others of the same stamp, until neither the captain nor
the governor could control them, for they declared that they were
abused and deceived; that they were told they would sail as a man of
war, and take I know not whom,—French, Spaniards, etc. They would
neither trade nor fish without wages; in fine, they would obey no
orders of the captain, and it was feared they would either make away
with the vessel, or get off on the other ships and abandon her. So
Mr. Pierce and other friends persuaded the Governor to change their
conditions, and give them wages; which was accordingly done. Then the
vessel was sent about the Cape to the Narragansetts to trade, but
they made a poor voyage of it. They got some corn and beaver, but
the Dutch had been used to trade with cloth, and better commodities,
and these had only a few beads and knives, which were not valued by
the Indians. On her return home, at the very entrance into her own
harbour, she was almost wrecked in a storm, and was forced to cut her
main mast by the board, to save herself from driving onto the flats
that lie outside, called Brown Islands, the force of the gale being
so great that her anchors gave way, and she was being driven right
upon them; but when her mast and tackling were gone, they were able
to hold her till the wind shifted.




CHAPTER V

Changes in form of Government—Pinnace wrecked—Private Settlers
make trouble—Winslow returns from England with the first
Cattle—Faction among Adventurers in England—Objections of the
Colony’s opponents—Letters from John Robinson—Opposition to sending
the Leyden people—One acre apportioned for permanent holding to
each Settler—Ship-building and Salt-making—Trouble with Lyford and
Oldham—Pinnace salvaged and rigged: 1624.


The time for the election of the officers for the year having come,
the number of people having increased and the business of government
accordingly, the Governor desired them to change the officials and
renew the election and give the Governor more assistants for his
help and advice, pointing out that if it was an honour or advantage
it was only fit that others should share it; if it was a burden,—as
doubtless it was,—it was but fair that others should help to bear it,
and that this, in fact, was the purpose of the annual elections. The
outcome was that whereas before there had been only one assistant
they now chose five, giving the Governor a double voice; and
afterwards they increased them to seven. This plan has been continued
to this day.

Having at some trouble and expense new-masted and rigged their
pinnace, in the beginning of March they sent her well-victualed
to the eastward, fishing. She arrived safely at a place called
Damariscove, and was well harboured where ships were accustomed
to anchor, with some other ships from England, already there. But
shortly after there arose such a violent and extraordinary storm,
that the seas broke into the harbour in a way that had never been
known before, and drove her against great rocks, which beat such
a hole in her bulk that a horse and cart might have been driven
through, and then she drifted into deep water, where she lay sunk.
The captain was drowned; the rest of the men, except one, with
difficulty saved their lives; all her provisions, salt, etc., were
lost. And here I must leave her to lie till afterwards.

Some of those who still remained here on private venture, began
secretly to plot, in league with a strong faction of the adventurers
in England, on whom several of them depended. By their whisperings
they drew some of the weaker members of the colony itself to their
side, and made them so discontented that at last nothing would
satisfy them but that they might be allowed to be on their own
resources also, and even made large offers to be freed from the
community. The Governor consulted with the ablest members of the
colony, and it was decided to permit them to separate on the same
terms as the other private settlers, with the additional stipulation
that they should be bound to remain here till the general partnership
was concluded; and that they should pay into the common store one
half of all the goods and commodities they might accumulate beyond
their food, in consideration of expenses already incurred for them;
and some other similar details. When this liberty was granted the
defection soon stopped, for but few took this course when they came
to consider it, and the rest soon wearied of it. It turned out that
they had been told by the other private settlers and Mr. Weston that
no more supplies would be sent to the general body, but that the
private settlers had friends at home who would do I know not what for
them.

Shortly after, Mr. Winslow returned from England and brought a
pretty good supply of provisions, with a ship sent for fishing,—an
enterprise never successful with the colony. He brought three heifers
and a bull,—the first cattle in the country,—some clothing and other
necessaries. He reported a strong faction amongst the adventurers
against the colonists, and especially against sending the rest from
Leyden. He related with what difficulty the present supply was
procured, and that by their strong and long opposition his departure
had been so delayed that not only had they now arrived too late for
the fishing season here, but the best fishermen had gone to the west
country and he was forced to take the best captain and crew he could
procure. Some letters from the adventurers will make these things
clearer.


  _James Sherley in England to the Settlers at New Plymouth_:

  Most worthy and loving Friends,

  Your kind and loving letters I have received with thanks.... It
  has pleased God to stir up the hearts of the adventurers to raise
  new stock for fitting out this ship, called the Charity, with
  men and necessaries both for the settlement and fishing,—though
  with very great difficulty, since we have amongst us some who
  undoubtedly serve their private ends, and thwart the others
  here, and worthy instruments of God’s glory elsewhere,[5] rather
  than aiming at the general good and furtherance of this noble
  enterprise. Still we have many others,—I hope the majority,—very
  honest Christian men, whose intent I am convinced, is wholly for
  the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the propagation of His gospel,
  and the hope of gaining these poor savages to the knowledge of
  God. But as the proverb says: One scabbed sheep may mar a whole
  flock,—so these malcontented and turbulent spirits do what they
  can to draw men’s hearts from you and your friends, and from the
  general business,—even with a show of godliness and zeal for the
  plantation. Whereas the aim is quite contrary, as some of the
  honester hearted men (though lately of their faction) made clear
  at our last meeting. But why should I trouble either you or myself
  with these restless opposers of all goodness, who, I doubt not,
  will be continual disturbers of our friendly meetings and love. On
  Thursday, Jan. 8th, we had a meeting about the articles between
  you and us, at which they moved to reject what we had pressed you
  to grant in our recent letters,—an addition to the period of our
  joint stock. Their reason, as they stated, was that it troubled
  their conscience to exact longer time from you than had been agreed
  upon at first. That evening, however, they were so confused and
  wearied by their own perverse contentions, that they even offered
  to sell their adventures,—and some were willing to buy. But I,
  thinking it would only raise scandal and false reports, and so do
  us more harm, would not permit it. So on Jan. 12th we had another
  meeting. But in the interim several of us had talked with most of
  them privately, and had great combats and reasoning, pro and con.
  But that night, when we met to read the general letter, we had the
  friendliest meeting I ever knew, and our greatest enemies offered
  to put up £50. So I sent for a bottle of wine—I would you could
  do the like—which we drank friendly together. Thus God can turn
  the hearts of men when it pleases Him.... Thus loving friends, I
  heartily salute you in the Lord, hoping ever to rest,

                                               Yours to my power,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _Jan. 25th, 1623._


  _Robert Cushman in England to the Settlers at New Plymouth_:

  Beloved Sir,

  We have now sent you, we hope, men and means to accomplish three
  things, viz., fishing, salt-making, and boat-making: if you
  can master them your wants will be supplied. I pray you exert
  yourselves to do so. Let the ship be loaded as soon as you can,
  and sent to Bilbao. You must send some competent representative,
  whom, once more, you must authorize to confirm the conditions.
  If Mr. Winslow could be spared, I wish he could come again. The
  boat-builder is believed to be one of the best in his trade, and
  will no doubt be of much service. Let him have absolute command
  over his assistants, and whomever you put under him. Let him build
  you two catches, a lighter, and some six or seven shallops, as soon
  as you can. The salt-maker is a skilful and industrious man. Put
  some assistants under him who will quickly learn the secret of it.
  The preacher we have sent is, we hope, an honest plain man, though
  none of the most eminent and rare. About his appointment, use your
  own liberty and discretion; he knows he has no authority among you,
  though perhaps custom and habit may make him forget himself. Mr.
  Winslow and myself gave way to his going, to satisfy some here, and
  we see no reason against it except his large family of children.

  We have taken a patent for Cape Ann....

  I am sorry more discretion is not used by some in their letters
  home.[6] Some say you are starved in body and soul; others that
  you eat pigs and dogs that have died; others that the reports of
  the fertility of the country are gross and palpable lies, that
  there is scarcely a fowl to be seen, or a fish to be caught, and so
  on. I wish such discontented men were back again, rather than the
  whole plantation shall be thus exposed to their passionate humours.
  Hereafter I shall prevent some from going who are not better
  disposed; in the meantime it is our cross, and we must bear it.

  I am sorry we have not sent you more provisions, but we have run
  into so much expense to victual the ship, provide salt, fishing
  implements, etc., that we could not afford other comforts, such as
  butter, sugar, etc. I hope the return of this ship, and the James,
  will put us in cash again. The Lord make you full of courage in
  this troublesome business, which must now be stuck to, till God
  give us rest from our labours. Farewell, in all hearty affection.

                                              Your assured friend,
                                                                 R. C.
  _Jan. 24th, 1623._

With the former letter from Mr. Sherley were sent various charges
against the colony, of which he writes thus: “These are the chief
objections which those just returned raise against you and the
country. I pray you consider them, and answer them at your first
convenience.”

These objections were made by some of those who came over on private
enterprise, and had returned home as before mentioned; they were of
the same kind as those the last letter mentions. I shall record them
here, with the answers made to them and sent over at the return of
this ship. The fault-finders were so confounded that some confessed,
and others denied what they had said and ate their words; some have
since come over again, and have lived here to convince themselves
sufficiently.

  Obj. 1. Diversity of religious beliefs.

  Ans: We know of no such diversity, for there has never been any
  controversy, either public or private, to our knowledge, since we
  came.

  Obj. 2. Neglect of family duties on the Lord’s day.

  Ans: We allow no such thing. They who report it, would have showed
  their Christian love more if they had told the offenders of it
  kindly, rather than thus to reproach them behind their backs. But,
  to say no more, we wish they themselves had given a better example.

  Obj: 3. Want of both the sacraments.

  Ans: The more is our grief that our pastor is kept from us, at
  whose hands we might enjoy them. In Holland we used to have the
  Lord’s supper every Sabbath, and baptism as often as there were
  children to baptise.

  Obj. 4. Children are not catechised, or taught to read.

  Ans: Neither is true—several take pains with their own, as well
  as they can. We have no common school, for want of a fit person
  hitherto, or means to obtain one; though we hope now to begin.

  Obj. 5. Many of the private members of the colony will not work for
  the community.

  Ans: This also is not wholly true: for though some do it
  unwillingly, and others not honestly, still all do it. The worst
  of them gets his own food, and something besides. We do not excuse
  them, but try to reform them the best we can,—or else quit the
  settlement of them.

  Obj. 6. The water is not wholesome.

  Ans: If they mean not so wholesome as the good wine and beer in
  London, which they so dearly love, we will not dispute them; but
  for water, it is as good as any in the world, so far as we know,
  and it is wholesome enough for us who can be content with it.

  Obj. 7. The ground is barren, and grows no grass.

  Ans: Here, as everywhere, some ground is better, some worse. The
  cattle find grass for they are as fat as need be; we wish we had
  but one beast for every hundred that there is grass to keep. This
  objection, like some others, is ridiculous to all here who see and
  know the contrary.

  Obj. 8. The fish cannot be salted, to keep them sweet.

  Ans: This is as true as writing that there is scarcely a fowl to be
  seen, or a fish to be caught; things likely to be true in a country
  where so many ships come fishing yearly! They might as well say
  that no ale or beer in London can be kept from going sour.

  Obj. 9. Many of them steal from one another.

  Ans: If London had been free from that crime, we should not have
  been troubled with it here. It is well known that several have
  smarted well for it—and so are the rest likely to do whenever they
  are caught.

  Obj. 10. The country is over-run with foxes and wolves.

  Ans: So are many other good countries, too; but poison, traps, and
  other such means will help to destroy them.

  Obj. 11. The Dutch are settled near Hudson’s Bay, and are likely to
  overthrow the trade.

  Ans: They would come and settle here as well, if we and others did
  not, or if we went home and left it to them. We rather commend
  them, than condemn them for it.

  Obj. 12. The people are much pestered with mosquitoes.

  Ans: They are too delicate and unfit to begin new plantations and
  colonies who cannot endure the biting of a mosquito. We would wish
  such to keep at home,—at least till they be mosquito proof. But
  this is as free as any, and experience teaches that the more the
  land is tilled and the woods cut down, the fewer there will be,—and
  in the end scarcely any at all.

Having dispatched those objections, I will here insert two letters
from Mr. Robinson, their pastor; the one to the Governor, the other
to Mr. Brewster, their elder, which will throw much light on what
has gone before, and show the tender love and care of a true pastor
towards them.

  _John Robinson at Leyden to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  My loving and much beloved friend, whom God has hitherto preserved,
  preserve and keep you still to His glory and the good of many
  that His blessing may make your godly and wise endeavours equal
  to the occasion. Of your love, too, and care for us here, we have
  never doubted, and are glad to take full knowledge of it. Our love
  and care to and for you is mutual, though our hopes of coming to
  you are small, and weaker than ever. But of this at large in Mr.
  Brewster’s letter, with whom you mutually communicate your letters,
  I know, as I desire you may do these, etc.

  Concerning the killing of those poor Indians, of which we heard
  at first by rumour, and since by more definite report, oh! how
  happy a thing had it been if you had converted some, before you
  had killed any. Besides, where blood once begins to be shed, it is
  seldom staunched for a long time after. You will say they deserved
  it. I grant it; but upon what provocation from those heathenish
  Christians?[7] Besides, you not being magistrates over them, had
  to consider not what punishment they deserved, but what you were
  by necessity constrained to inflict. Necessity of killing so many
  I cannot see. Methinks one or two principals should have been
  enough, according to the approved rule,—the punishment to a few,
  and the fear to many. Upon this occasion let me be bold to exhort
  you seriously to consider the disposition of your Captain, whom I
  love, and am persuaded the Lord in great mercy and for much good
  has sent to you, if you use him right. He is a man humble and meek
  among you, and towards all, under ordinary circumstances, but if
  this merely come from a humane spirit, there is cause to fear
  that, on occasions of special provocation there may be wanting
  that tenderness of the life of man, made after God’s image, which
  is meet. It is also apt to be more glorious in men’s eyes, than
  pleasing in God’s, or fit for Christians, to be a terror to poor
  barbarous peoples; and indeed I am afraid lest, by this example,
  others should be drawn to adopt a kind of ruffling course in the
  world. I doubt not that you will take in good part these things
  that I write, and if there is cause make use of them. We wish we
  were present, to communicate our mutual help; but seeing that
  cannot be done, we shall always long after you, and love you, and
  wait God’s appointed time. The adventurers, it seems, have neither
  money to send us, nor any great mind for us, for the most part.
  They deny it to be any part of the agreement between us that they
  should transport us, nor do I look for any further help from them
  till means come from you. My wife with me, re-salutes you and
  yours. Unto Him Who is the same to His in all places, and near to
  them which are far from one another, I commend you, and all with
  you, resting,

                                            Yours truly loving,
                                                        JOHN ROBINSON.
  _Leyden, Dec. 19th, 1623._


  _John Robinson at Leyden to William Brewster at New Plymouth_:

  Loving and dear friend and brother,

  What I most desired of God for you, namely, the continuance of your
  life and health, and the safe coming of those sent to you, I most
  gladly hear of, and praise God for it; and I hope Mrs. Brewster’s
  weak state of health will be somewhat repaired by the coming of her
  daughters, and the provisions sent in this and former ships, which
  makes us here bear more patiently the deferring of our desired
  transportation. I call it desired, rather than hoped for: for
  first, there is no hope at all, that I know or can conceive of, of
  any new stock being raised for that purpose; so that everything
  must depend upon returns from you, which are surrounded by so many
  uncertainties. Besides, though for the present the adventurers
  allege nothing but want of money, which is an invincible obstacle,
  still if that be removed by you, other difficulties will be raised
  to take its place. In order to understand this better, we must
  divide the adventurers under three heads. Of these some five or six
  (as I believe) are absolutely in favour of us, before all; another
  five or six are openly our bitter adversaries; the rest—the main
  body,—are I believe, honest minded, and friendly towards us; but
  they have other friends (namely, the forward preachers) nearer
  to them than we are, whose interests, in so far as they conflict
  with ours, they would rather advance than ours. Now what a pull
  these men have with the professors, you know; and I am convinced
  that they, of all others, are unwilling I should be transported;
  especially such of them as have an eye that way themselves, fearing
  that if I go there, their market will be marred in many respects.
  As for these adversaries, if they have but half as much wit as
  malice, they will stop my going as soon as they see it is intended;
  and as one restive jade can hinder, by hanging back, more than two
  or three can draw forward, so it will be in this case. A clear
  proof of this they gave in your messenger’s presence, binding the
  company to promise that none of the money now subscribed should be
  expended to help any of us over to you.

  Now as to the question propounded by you: I judge it not lawful
  for you,—a ruling elder (Rom. xii, 7, 8; and I Tim. v, 17), as
  distinct from the elders that teach and exhort and labour in the
  word and doctrine, in whose duties the sacraments are included,
  to administer them,—nor fitting, if it were lawful. Whether any
  learned man will come out to you, I do not know; if so, you must
  Consilium capere in arena. Be you most heartily saluted, and your
  wife with you, both from me and mine. Your God and ours, and the
  God of all His, bring us together if it be His will, and keep us in
  the mean while, and always to His glory, and make us serviceable to
  His majesty and faithful to the end. Amen.

                                        Your very loving brother,
                                                        JOHN ROBINSON.
  _Leyden, Dec. 20th, 1623._

These matters premised, I will now proceed with my account of affairs
here. But before I come to other things I must say a word about
their planting this year. They felt the benefit of their last year’s
harvest; for by planting corn on their own account they managed, with
a great deal of patience, to overcome famine. This reminds me of a
saying of Seneca’s (Epis. 123): that an important part of liberty
is a well-governed belly, and patience in want. The settlers now
began to consider corn more precious than silver; and those that
had some to spare began to trade with the others for small things,
by the quart, pottle, and peck, etc.; for they had no money, and if
they had, corn was preferred to it. In order that they might raise
their crops to better advantage, they made suit to the Governor to
have some land apportioned for permanent holdings, and not by yearly
lot, whereby the plots which the more industrious had brought under
good culture one year, would change hands the next, and others would
reap the advantage; with the result that the manuring and culture of
the land were neglected. It was well considered, and their request
was granted. Every person was given one acre of land, for them and
theirs, and they were to have no more till the seven years had
expired; it was all as near the town as possible, so that they might
be kept close together, for greater safety and better attention to
the general employments. This often makes me think of what Pliny
(lib. 18, cap. 2) says of the Romans’ first beginnings in the time of
Romulus—how everyone contented himself with two acres of land, and
had no more assigned to them; and (cap. 3) how it was thought a great
public reward to receive a pint of corn from the people of Rome. And
long after, the most generous present given to a Captain who had won
a victory over their enemies, was as much ground as he could till
in one day; in fact a man was not considered a good but a dangerous
citizen, who was not content with seven acres of land; also how they
used to pound their corn in mortars, as the settlers were forced to
do for many years, until they got a mill.

The ship which brought these supplies was speedily unloaded, and,
with her captain and crew was sent out fishing to Cape Ann, where
they had got a patent, as mentioned above. As the season was so
far advanced, some of the planters were sent to help to build the
landing stage, to their own hindrance. Partly owing to the lateness
of the year, and more especially to the bad character of the captain,
one Baker, they made a poor voyage of it. He proved a very drunken
beast, and did little but drink and guzzle and consume time and
victuals, most of the crew following his example; and though Mr.
William Pierce was superintending the business and was to captain the
ship home, he could do no good amongst them. The loss was great, and
would have been more, but that they did some trade for skins, which
was a help to them.

The ship-builder who had been sent out to the colony was an honest
and very industrious man. He and his assistants quickly built two
good strong shallops, which afterwards did them great service, and a
strong lighter; and he had hewn timber for two catches, when he fell
sick with fever in the hot season of the year, and though he had the
best attention the place could afford, he died. He was a very great
loss, and they were very sorry for his death.

But the man sent out to make salt was an ignorant, foolish,
self-willed fellow. He boasted that he could do great things in
making salt-works; so he was sent to seek out fit ground for the
purpose; and after some search he told the Governor that he had found
a suitable place, with a good bottom to hold water, and otherwise
very convenient, which he doubted not, in a short time could be
brought to perfection, and yield them great profit; but he must have
eight or ten men constantly employed. He was requested to make sure
the ground was good, and otherwise suitable, and that he could bring
it to perfection; otherwise he would incur great expense by employing
himself and so many men. But he was, after some trial, so confident,
that he caused them to send carpenters to rear a great frame for a
large house, to receive the salt, and for other uses. But in the end
it all proved useless. So he found fault with the ground, in which
he said he had been mistaken; but if he might have the lighter to
carry clay, he was sure he could do it. Now, though the Governor
and some others saw that this would come to little good, they had
so many malignant spirits amongst them who, in their letters to the
adventurers, would have blamed them for not letting him bring his
work to perfection; and the man himself, who by his bold confidence
and large promises had deceived the adventurers in England, had so
wound himself into the high esteem of some here, that they decided
to let him go on till everyone saw his vanity. In the end all he
could do was to boil salt in pans, and yet tried to make those who
worked with him believe there was a great mystery in it, and used to
make them do unnecessary things as a blind, until they saw through
his deception. The next year he was sent to Cape Ann, and the pans
were set up where the fishing was; but before the summer was out he
had burnt the house, and the fire was so fierce that it spoiled the
pans,—at least some of them; and this was the end of that expensive
business.

The third person of importance mentioned in the letters was the
minister whom they sent over, by name Mr. John Lyford, of whom and
whose doings I must be more lengthy, though I will abridge as much
as I can. When this man first came ashore, he saluted them with such
reverence and humility as is seldom to be seen; indeed he made them
ashamed, he so bowed and cringed to them, and would have kissed their
hands if they had allowed him. He wept and shed many tears, blessing
God Who had brought him to see their faces, admiring what they had
done in their need, as if he had been made all of love and was the
humblest person in the world. And all the while (if we may judge
by his after-behaviour) he was only like him mentioned in Psalm x,
10: who croucheth and boweth, that heaps of poor may fall by his
might. Or like that dissembling Ishmael (Jer. xli, 6), who, when he
had slain Gedelia, went out weeping, and met them who were coming to
offer incense in the house of the Lord, saying: Come to Gedelia—when
he meant to slay them.

They gave him the best entertainment they could in all simplicity,
and a larger allowance of food out of the store than any other had;
and as the Governor in all weighty affairs had consulted their elder,
Mr. Brewster, and his assistants, so now he called Mr. Lyford, too,
to the council with them, on the most important matters. After a
short time he desired to become a member of the church here, and
was accordingly received. He made a large confession of his faith,
and an acknowledgment of his former disorderly walking, and his
being entangled with many corruptions which had been a burden to
his conscience and blessed God for this opportunity of freedom and
liberty to enjoy the ordinances of God in purity among His people,
with many similar expressions.

I must speak here a word, too, of Mr. John Oldham, who joined him in
his after courses. He had been a chief stickler in the former faction
among the private settlers, and an intelligencer to those in England.
But now, since the coming of the ship with supplies he opened his
mind to some of the chief members here, and confessed that he had
done them wrong both by word and deed in writing thus to England;
that he now saw the eminent hand of God was with them, which made
his heart smite him; and he assured them that his friends in England
should never use him against them again. He begged them that former
things might be forgotten, and that they would look upon him as one
who desired to support them in every way,—and such like expressions.
Whether this was hypocrisy or some sudden pang of conviction (which
I rather think), God only knows. However, they at once showed
themselves ready to embrace him in all friendliness, and called
him to the council with them, on all the chief affairs without any
distrust at all.

Thus everything seemed to go very comfortably and smoothly amongst
them, at which they rejoiced. But it did not last long, for both
Oldham and Lyford grew perverse, and showed a spirit of great
malignancy, drawing as many into faction as they could. No matter how
vile or profane, they backed the delinquents in all they did so long
as they would but uphold them and speak against the church here; so
that there was nothing but private meetings and whisperings amongst
them. Thus they fed themselves and others with what they would
accomplish in England through their friends there, bringing others as
well as themselves into a fool’s paradise. However, they could not be
so secret but that much of their doings and sayings was discovered;
though outwardly they still showed a fair face.

At length, when the ship was ready to go, it was discovered that
Lyford was long in writing, and sent many letters and could not
forbear to communicate with his intimates such things therefrom as
made them laugh in their sleeves, thinking he had done their errands
satisfactorily. The Governor and some of his friends, knowing how
matters stood in England, and what harm this might do, took a shallop
and went out with the ship a league or two to sea, and called for
Lyford’s and Oldham’s letters. Mr. William Pierce being captain of
the ship, and knowing well the mischief they made both here and in
England, afforded them all the assistance he could. He found above
twenty of Lyford’s letters, many of them long and full of slanders
and false accusations, tending not only to their prejudice but
even aiming at their ruin. Most of the letters they let pass, but
took copies of them; of some they sent true copies and kept the
originals, lest he should deny that he had written them. Amongst them
they found copies of two which he sent enclosed in a letter of his to
Mr. John Pemberton, a minister, and a great opponent of theirs. Of
these two letters of which he had taken the copies, one of them was
written by a gentleman in England to Mr. Brewster, the other by Mr.
Winslow to Mr. John Robinson in Holland, at his coming away, as the
ship lay at Gravesend. They were lying sealed in the main cabin; and
whilst Mr. Winslow was busy about the affairs of the ship, this sly
mischief-maker opens them, makes copies, and seals them up again; and
not only sends the copies to his friend and their adversary, but adds
in the margin many scurrilous and flouting annotations!

The ship went out towards evening, and in the night the Governor
returned. They were somewhat blank at it, but after some weeks, as
they heard nothing, they were as brisk as ever, thinking nothing was
known, and all had gone well for them, and that the Governor had only
gone to despatch his own letters. The reason why the Governor and the
rest took no steps at once was in order to let things ripen so that
they might the better discover their intention and see who were their
adherents; for, amongst others they had found a letter from one of
their confederates, stating that Mr. Oldham and Mr. Lyford intended a
reformation in church and commonwealth, and that as soon as the ship
was gone, they intended to join together and have the sacraments, etc.

As for Oldham, few of his letters were found, for he was so bad a
scribe that his hand was scarcely legible; but he was as deeply
involved as the other. So, thinking they were now strong enough, they
began to pick quarrels at everything. Oldham being told off to stand
watch according to order, refused to come, calling the captain a
beggarly rascal, resisting him, and drawing his knife on him, though
he had done him no wrong nor spoken to him improperly, but had merely
required him with all fairness to do his duty. The Governor, hearing
the tumult, sent to quiet it; but Oldham ramped more like a furious
beast than a man, and called them all traitors, and rebels, and
other such foul language as I am ashamed to remember; but after he
had been clapped up awhile, he came to himself, and with some slight
punishment was let go upon his behaviour, pending further censure.

But to cut things short, at length it came to this, that Lyford with
his accomplices, without speaking one word to either the Governor,
the Church, or the elder, withdrew themselves, and held a separate
public meeting on the Lord’s day; and with many such insolent doings,
too long to relate here, began to act publicly what they had been
plotting privately. It was thought high time to prevent further
mischief by calling them to account; so the Governor called a court,
and summoned the whole company to appear, and charged Lyford and
Oldham with their guilt. But they were stubborn, and resolutely
denied the charges, and required proof. The court first alleged that
from what had been written to them from England, and from their
practises here, it was evident they were plotting against them, and
disturbing the peace, both in respect of their civil and church
estate, which was most injurious to the colony; for both they and all
the world knew that they had come here to enjoy liberty of conscience
and the free use of God’s ordinances, and for that end had ventured
their lives and had already passed through so much hardship; and they
and their friends had borne the expense of these beginnings, which
was not small. They pointed out that Lyford for his part was sent
over at their expense, and that both he and his large family were
maintained by them; that he had joined the church, and was a member
of it; and for him to plot against them and seek their ruin, was
most unjust and perfidious. As for Oldham, or any one who came over
at his own expense, and were on their own resources, they had been
received in courtesy by the plantation, coming to seek shelter and
protection under its wings, being unable to stand alone; but as the
hedgehog in the fable, whom the coney on a stormy day invited in pity
into her burrow, would not be content to share it with her, but in
the end with her sharp pricks forced the poor coney out, so these
men, with similar injustice, endeavoured to do the like by those who
entertained them.

Lyford denied that he had anything to do with the people in England,
or knew their plans, and pretended similar ignorance of the other
charges. Then his letters were produced and some of them read, at
which he was struck dumb. But Oldham began to rage furiously, that
they had intercepted and opened the letters. Threatening them in
very high language, he stood up and in a most audacious and mutinous
manner called upon the people, saying,—My masters, where are your
hearts? Now show your courage; you have often complained to me so
and so; now is the time; if you will do anything, I will stand by
you, etc. Thinking that everyone who, knowing his humour, had soothed
and flattered him, or otherwise in a moment of discontent uttered
anything to him, would now side with him in open rebellion. But he
was disappointed; not a man opened his mouth, for all were struck
silent by the injustice of the thing.

Then the Governor turned to Mr. Lyford, and asked him if they thought
he had done wrong to open his letters; but he was silent and dare not
say a word, knowing well what they might reply. Then the Governor
explained to the people that he had done it as a magistrate, and was
bound to do it to prevent the mischief and ruin that this conspiracy
and plot of theirs might otherwise have brought to the colony. But
Lyford, besides his misbehaviour here, had dealt treacherously with
his friends that trusted him, and stole their letters, and opened
them, and sent copies of them with disgraceful annotations to his
friends in England. Then the Governor produced them and his other
letters under his own hand, which he could not deny, and had them
read before all the people: at which all his friends were blank, and
had not a word to say.

It would be too long and tedious to insert his letters here—they
would almost fill a volume—though I have them by me. I shall only
note a few of the chief things from them, with the answers to them as
they were then given, as instances.

  1. He said that the church desired that no one should live here
  except its members; nor would anyone willingly do so, if they had
  but company with which to live elsewhere.

  Ans: Their answer was that this was false, in both its parts; for
  they were willing and desirous that any honest men should live with
  them, who would behave peaceably, and seek the common good,—or at
  least do them no harm; and that there were many who would not live
  elsewhere, so long as they were permitted to live with them.

  2. That if any honest men came over who were not dissenters, they
  soon disliked them, etc.

  Ans: Their answer was as before, that it was a calumny, for they
  had many amongst them whom they liked well, and were glad of their
  company; and should be of any such who came to them.

  3. That they took exception to him for these two doctrines from
  II Sam. xii, 7. First, that ministers must sometimes apply their
  teaching in particular to special persons; secondly, that great men
  may be reproved as well as humble.

  Ans: Their answer was that both these charges were without truth or
  colour of truth—as was proved to his face—and that they had taught
  and believed this long before they knew Mr. Lyford.

  4. That they tried to ruin the private settlers, as was proved by
  this: they would not allow any of the colony either to buy or sell
  with them, or to exchange one commodity for another.

  Ans: This was a most audacious slander, and void of all truth as
  was proved to him before all, for any of them bought, sold or
  exchanged with them as often as they pleased—and also both lent
  and gave to them, when they wanted; and this the private settlers
  themselves could not deny, but freely confessed in open court. But
  the ground whence this slander arose made it much worse; for he
  was at the council with them, when a man was called before them,
  and was questioned for receiving powder and biscuit out of the
  company’s supplies from the gunner of the small ship, which he had
  arranged should be put in at his window in the night; and also for
  buying salt of one who had no right to it. Lyford not only backed
  this defaulter—who was one of these private settlers—by excusing
  and extenuating him; but upon this ground he built this mischievous
  and false slander; that because they would not suffer a private
  settler to buy stolen goods, ergo, they sought their utter ruin:
  Bad logic for a divine!

  5. Next he accused them of forcing men to become private settlers,
  on their own resources, and then seeking to starve them, and
  deprive them of all means of subsistence.

  Ans: To this it was answered, he did them manifest wrong, for they
  had turned none upon their own resources who had not of their own
  importunity and earnest desire urged and constrained them to do it.
  They appealed to the persons themselves for the truth of it, and
  they testified against him before all present, and that they had no
  cause to complain of any hard or unkind usage.

  6. He accused them with unjust distribution, and wrote that it
  seemed strange that some should be allowed 16 lbs. of meal per
  week, and others only 4 lbs. And then adds floutingly: it seems
  that some men’s bellies and mouths are very little and slender
  compared with others!

  Ans: This might seem incomprehensible to those to whom he wrote
  his letters in England, and who did not know the reason for it;
  but to him and others it was well understood. The first comers had
  no allowance at all, but lived on their own corn. Those who came
  in the Anne the August before, and had to live thirteen months on
  the provisions they brought, had as good an allowance of meal and
  peas as would go round. A little while before harvest, when fish
  and fruits were to be got, they had only 4 lbs., being at liberty
  to make their own provisions in addition. But some of those who
  came last, such as the ship-builder, the salt men, and others who
  were to follow constant employment and had not an hour’s time from
  their labour to provide food besides their allowance,—such workers
  had at first 16 lbs. allowed them, and afterwards, when fish and
  other food could be got, they had 14 lbs., 12 lbs., or some of them
  8 lbs., as occasion required. But those who had time to plant corn
  for themselves, even though they received but 4 lbs. of meal a week
  from the store, lived better than the others, as was well known.
  And it must be remembered that Lyford and his family had always the
  highest allowance.

He accused them of many other things in his letters such as of great
waste of tools and utensils—though he knew that an honest man was
appointed to look after these very things; and of this, when it came
to be examined, all the instances he could give was, that he had seen
an old hogshead or two fall to pieces, and a broken hoe or two left
carelessly in the fields. But he had written such things as these to
cast disgrace and prejudice upon them thinking that what came from a
minister would pass for true. He told them that Winslow had said that
there were not above seven of the adventurers who sought the good of
the colony; and he ended by saying that the faction here matched the
Jesuits for cunning.

Finally he gave his friends advice and directions:

  1. First, that the Leyden company (Mr. Robinson and the rest) must
  still be kept back, or all would be spoiled. Lest any of them
  should be taken in privately somewhere on the coast of England, as
  was to be feared, they must change the captain of the ship (Mr.
  William Pierce), and put someone else in Winslow’s place as agent,
  or it could not be prevented.

  2. He would have such further settlers shipped over as would
  out-number those here; the private settlers should have votes in
  all courts and elections, and be free to bear any office; and every
  private settler should come over as an adventurer, even if he be
  only a servant, someone else investing the necessary £10, the bill
  being taken out in the servant’s name, and then assigned to the
  party whose money it was, proper agreements being drawn between
  them for the purpose. These things, said he, would be the means of
  strengthening the private settlers.

  3. He told them that if that Captain they spoke of came over to
  take command, he was sure he would be elected, for “this Captain
  Standish looks like a silly boy, and is in utter contempt.”

  4. Then he argued that if by the aforementioned means they could
  not get control, it would be better to settle elsewhere by
  themselves, choosing the place they liked best within three or
  four miles, and showing that there were far better places for a
  settlement than this.

  5. Lastly, he concluded that if neither of these thing were
  accomplished, they must join the main body here, perforce. Then he
  added: “Since I began to write, some letters have come from your
  company, giving sole authority in various things to the Governor
  here; which, if it take place, then, Ve nobis. But I hope you will
  be more vigilant hereafter, that nothing may pass in such a manner.
  I suppose Mr. Oldham will write to you further about these things.
  I pray you conceal me as the source of these disclosures, etc.”

I have thus briefly touched some things in his letters and shall
now return to their proceedings with him. After reading his
letters before the whole company, he was demanded what he could
say in defence. But all the answer he made was that Billington
and some others had informed him of many things, and had made
sundry complaints,—which they now denied. He was asked if that was
sufficient ground for him thus to accuse them and traduce them by
letter, never saying a word to his colleagues of the council. And so
they went on from point to point, and demanded that neither he nor
his confederates should spare them, if they had any proof or witness
of wrong doing on their part. He said he had been misinformed, and
so had wronged them. And this was all the answer they could get; for
none would take his part, and Billington and others whom he named
denied his statements and protested he wronged them, and that, on
the other hand, he would have drawn them to such and such things,
which they had declined to do, though they had sometimes attended
his meetings. Then they taxed him with dissembling about the church,
professing to concur with them in everything; and with the large
confession he made at his admittance, not considering himself a
minister till he had a new calling, etc. Yet now he separated
himself from them, and drew a number away and would administer the
sacraments by his episcopal calling, without ever speaking a word
to them, either as magistrates or as colleagues. In conclusion, he
was fully convicted, and, bursting into tears, confessed: he feared
he was a reprobate; his sins were so great he doubted if God would
pardon them; he was unsavoury salt, etc.; he had so wronged them that
he could never make amends, confessing all that he wrote against
them was false and empty, both in matter and manner—and all this as
completely as words and tears could express.

After their trial and conviction the court censured them to be
expelled the place; Oldham at once, though his wife and family had
leave to stay all the winter, or longer, till he could make provision
to remove them comfortably. Lyford had leave to stay six months,—with
some eye to remission of the sentence if he behaved himself well in
the meantime, and his repentance proved sound. Lyford acknowledged
his censure was far less than he deserved.

Afterwards he confessed his sin publicly, with tears, in the church,
more fully than before. I shall here record it, taken down in his
own words. He acknowledged that he had done very evil, and had
slanderously abused them. He had thought that most of the people
would take part with him, and he would carry all with a strong
hand against them; that God might justly lay innocent blood to his
charge, for he knew what harm might have come of his writings, and
blessed God they were intercepted. He had listened to any evil that
was spoken, but shut his eyes and ears against all good; and if God
should make him a vagabond on the earth, as was Cain, it was but
just; for he had sinned in envy and malice against his brethren.
He confessed three things to be the cause of his doings: pride,
vainglory, and self-love—amplifying these generalities with many
other sad expressions in particular.

They began to conceive well of him again after his repentance, and
admitted him to preach amongst them as before; and Samuel Fuller, a
deacon, and some other tender-hearted men amongst them, were so taken
in by his signs of sorrow and repentance, that they said they would
fall upon their knees to have his sentence repealed.

But what amazed them all in the end, and will amaze all others who
come to hear of it,—for a rarer precedent can hardly be shown,—was,
that after a month or two notwithstanding all his former convictions,
confessions, and public acknowledgments, both in the face of the
church and the whole company, with so many sad tears and censures of
himself before God and man, he should try again to justify what he
had done.

For he secretly wrote a second letter to the adventurers in England,
in which he justified all his former writings,—except as regards some
things in which he had disparaged them,—which, as it is briefer than
the former, I will here insert:

  _John Lyford at New Plymouth to the Adventurers in England_:

  Worthy Sirs,

  Though the filth of my own doings may justly be cast in my face,
  and with blushing cause my perpetual silence, yet that the truth
  may not hereby be injured, yourselves any longer deluded, nor
  injurious dealings be continued, with bold out-facings I have
  ventured once more to write to you. First I freely confess I dealt
  very indiscreetly in some of my particular letters which I wrote
  to private friends, concerning the motives in coming here and the
  like, which I do not seek to justify, though I was stirred up to
  it by seeing the indiscreet courses of others, both here and with
  you there, for effecting their designs. But I am heartily sorry for
  it, and do to the glory of God and my own shame acknowledge it. The
  said letters having been intercepted by the Governor, I am under
  sentence of banishment; and but for the respect I have for you,
  and some private matters, I should have returned by the pinnace
  to England, for here I do not intend to remain, unless I receive
  better encouragement from you than from the church (as they call
  themselves) here. I expected to undergo some hardships before I
  came, so I shall try cheerfully to bear with the conditions of the
  place, though they are very poor; and they have changed my wages
  ten times already. I suppose my letters,—or at least copies of
  them,—came into your hands, as they here report. If so, pray take
  notice of this: that I have written nothing but what is certainly
  true, and could prove it to any indifferent man. My object was not
  to make myself important, but to help several poor souls here, the
  care of whom in part belongs to you, and who are destitute of the
  means of salvation. The church itself is well provided for, the
  members forming the minority of the colony, and monopolizing the
  ministry, believing that the Lord has not appointed any ministry
  for the conversion of those outside the church, so that some of
  the poor souls have with tears complained of this to me, and I was
  censured for preaching to all in general; though, in reality, they
  have had no ministry here since they came, but such as might be
  performed by any of you, whatever pretences they make; but they
  equivocate about this, as about many other things. But I exceed the
  bounds I set myself; therefore, awaiting further from you, if it
  come within the time limited me, I rest, etc.

                                     Remaining yours ever,
                                                   JOHN LYFORD, Exile.
  _Aug. 22nd, 1624._

They made brief answer to some things in this letter, but referred
chiefly to their former one to this effect: That if God in His
providence had not brought all this to their notice, they might have
been traduced, abused, calumniated, overthrown, and undone; and never
have known by whom or for what. They desired but this just favour;
that the adventurers would be pleased to hear their defence, as well
as his accusations, and weigh them in the balance of justice and
reason, and then censure as they pleased.

I have been longer on this subject than I desired, but not longer
than was necessary. But I will revert to other things.

To return to the pinnace left sunk near Damariscove. Some of the
fishing boats’ captains said it was a pity that so fine a vessel
should be lost, and sent them word that if they would bear the
expense, they would show them how to float her, and let them have
their carpenters to mend her. They thanked them, and sent men for the
purpose and beaver to defray the cost. So they got coopers to trim
I know not how many tons of casks, and having made them tight and
fastened them to her at low water, they buoyed her up, and hauled
her ashore with many hands in a convenient place where she could be
worked at; and then set several carpenters to work at her, and others
to saw planks, and at last fitted her, and got her home. But it cost
a great deal of money to recover her, and to buy rigging and sails
for her, both now and when she lost her mast before; so she proved an
expensive vessel to the poor plantation. So they sent her home, and
with her Lyford sent his last letter in great secrecy; but the party
entrusted with it gave it to the Governor.

The winter passed in their ordinary pursuits, without any special
matter worth noting,—except that many who before stood somewhat aloof
from the church, now seeing Lyford’s unjust dealing and malignity,
came forward and were made members, stating that it was not out of
dislike of anything that they had stood off so long, but a desire to
fit themselves better for such a state; and that they now saw that
the Lord called for their help.

And so these troubles produced an effect on several here quite
contrary to what their adversaries had hoped; and it was recognized
as a great work of God, to draw men to him by unlikely means, and
such as, in reason, might have been calculated to alienate them. And
thus I shall end this year.




CHAPTER VI

Oldham and Lyford expelled—Lyford’s Past—Reply of Settlement to
Adventurers’ Charges—Support from friendly group of Adventurers—Loss
of two ship-loads of cargo—Captain Standish in England: 1625.


At the spring of the year, about the time of their elections, Oldham
came back again, and, though his sentence forbade his return without
obtaining leave, his effrontery and the ill counsel of others led him
to ignore it, and at the same time to give rein to his unruly passion
beyond all reason and decency, so that some strangers who came with
him were ashamed of his outrage, and rebuked him, but all reproofs
were but as oil to the fire, and enflamed his anger the more. He
called them all good-for-nothings, and a hundred rebels and traitors,
and I know not what. So they locked him up till he was tamer, and
then he was made to pass down a line of guards, each of whom was
ordered to give him a thump on the breech with the butt-end of his
musket. Then he was conveyed to the water-side, where a boat was
ready to take him away, and they bid him go and mend his manners.

Whilst this was going on Mr. William Pierce and Mr. Winslow came up
from the shore, having arrived from England; but the others were so
busy with Oldham that they never saw them until they thus came upon
them. They told them not to spare either him or Lyford, for both
had behaved villainously. But to make an end of Oldham I will here
briefly relate what befell him in the future. After the removal of
his family, he encountered difficulties and about a year afterwards,
towards winter, he sailed for Virginia; but it pleased God that the
ship was in great danger, and he and the other passengers despaired
of life, many resorting to prayer and the examination of their
consciences and confession of such sins as burdened them. Mr. Oldham
then made a free and ample confession of the wrongs he had done to
the people and the church here saying that, as he had sought their
ruin, so God had now met with him and might destroy him; aye, and he
feared they all fared worse on account of his presence. He prayed God
to forgive him, and made vows that if the Lord spared his life, he
would repent. This I learned by reliable report of some who are still
living at the Bay, and themselves shared the dangers of the shoals
of Cape Cod and heard his very words. It pleased God to spare their
lives, though they lost their voyage; and ever after Oldham behaved
decently to them, acknowledging the hand of God to be with them. He
seemed to respect them honestly, and so far made his peace with them
that after a time he had liberty to come and go at his pleasure.
He went afterwards to Virginia, and there fell very ill; but he
recovered and came back again to his family at the Bay, and lived
there till many people had come over. At length, going trading in a
small vessel among the Indians, and being weakly manned, upon some
quarrel they knocked him on the head with a hatchet, so that he fell
down dead and never spoke again. Two little boys that were related to
him were saved, though injured, and the vessel was recovered from the
Indians by another inhabitant of the Bay of Massachusetts. Oldham’s
death was in fact one cause of the subsequent Pequot war.

Now as to Mr. Lyford. His time having expired, his sentence was
to be carried out. He was so far from fulfilling their hopes of
amendment, that he had doubled his offence, as shown. But behold
the hand of God upon him, wherein the Psalmist is verified (Psa.
vii, 15): He hath made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the
pit he made. He thought to bring disgrace upon them but instead he
discloses his own shame to all the world. When he was confronted
with his second letter, his wife was so stirred by his doings that
she could no longer conceal her grief, and opened her mind to one
of the deacons and some of her friends, and later to Mr. Pierce,
on his arrival. She said that she feared some great judgment of
God would fall upon the family, because of her husband; and now
that they were about to remove she feared she would fall into the
Indians’ hands and be defiled by them as he had defiled other women,
recalling God’s threatened judgment upon David (II Sam. xii, 11):
I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and will
take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour.
Then she disclosed how he had wronged her, and that he had a bastard
by another woman before they were married. She had had some inkling
of it when he was courting her, and told him what she had heard
rumoured; but he not only stiffly denied it, but to satisfy her took
a solemn oath; so she consented to marry him. Afterwards she found
it was true, and reminded him of his oath; but he prayed her to
pardon him, and pleaded that otherwise he would not have won her.
And yet even after this she could keep no maid-servant but he would
be meddling with them, and sometimes she had taken him in the act.
The woman was a respectable matron, of good behaviour all the while
she was here, and spoke out of the sorrow of her heart, sparingly,
but circumstantially. What seemed to affect her most was his easy
repentances, followed by a speedy return to the old paths.

This was all borne out by the reports of Mr. Winslow and Mr. Pierce
on their return. Mr. Winslow informed them that they had had the
same trouble with Lyford’s friends in England as with himself and
his friends here,—his adherents crying out that to deal thus with
a minister and a godly man was a great scandal, and threatening to
prosecute them for it. So it was all referred to a further meeting
of most of the adventurers there, who agreed to choose two eminent
men as arbitrators. Lyford’s faction chose Mr. White, a counsellor
at law; the others chose the Rev. Mr. Hooker, the minister. In the
meantime God in His providence had disclosed Lyford’s evil career
in Ireland to some friends of the company, who made it known to Mr.
Winslow, and mentioned two godly witnesses who would testify upon
their oath. The fact was, that when Lyford was in Ireland, he had
wound himself into the esteem of several worthy reformers, who,
burdened with the ceremonies in England, found greater liberty of
conscience there. Amongst them were the two men who gave evidence;
and amongst others there was an honest young man who intended
to marry, and had set his affection on a certain girl who lived
there. But preferring the fear of God to all other things, before
he suffered his affection to run too far he resolved to take Mr.
Lyford’s advice and judgment about the girl,—since he was the
minister of the place,—and so spoke of it to him. He promised to
inform him faithfully, but wished to get to know her better first,
and have some private talk with her. In conclusion he recommended
her highly to the young man as a very fit wife for him. So they
were married. But some time afterwards the woman was much troubled
in mind and afflicted in conscience, and did nothing but weep and
mourn; and it was long before her husband could find out the cause.
But at length she told him,—praying him to forgive her,—that Lyford
had overcome her and defiled her before marriage. The circumstances I
forbear; suffice it, that though he satisfied his lust upon her, he
endeavoured to hinder conception. The young husband then took some
godly friends with him to confront Lyford with this charge. At length
he confessed it with a great deal of seeming repentance and sorrow,
but he was forced to leave Ireland, partly for shame and partly for
fear of further punishment; and so, coming to England, unhappily he
was hit upon as a suitable minister for the colony and sent out to
them. The arbitrators with great gravity declared that his recent
offences there gave them cause enough to deal with him as they had
done; but these disclosures made him unfit ever to bear ministry any
more, what repentance soever he should pretend.

From here Lyford went to Nantasket, on the Bay of the Massachusetts,
where Oldham lived with some of his friends. Thence he removed to
Naumkeag, since called Salem; but later, whether for hope of greater
profit or what I know not, he forsook the friends who had stuck to
him, and went down to Virginia, where shortly after he died; and so I
leave him to the Lord. His wife afterwards returned to this country;
thus much of this matter.

Though the storm had blown over, the effects which followed it were
serious; for the company of adventurers broke up in consequence,
and the majority wholly deserted the colony as regards any further
supplies. Furthermore, some of Lyford’s and Oldham’s friends fitted
out a fishing ship on their own account, and arriving ahead of the
ships that came to the plantation, took away their dock and other
necessary preparations that they had made for their fishing at
Cape Ann the year before at great expense and would not restore it
unless they would fight for it. However, the Governor decided to
send some of the settlers to help the fishermen build a new one,
and let them keep it. This fishing ship also brought Lyford’s and
Oldham’s contingent some supplies, but of little value; but they were
unsuccessful in their fishing, and they could make no return for the
supplies sent, so after this year their friends in England never
looked after them again.

This ship also brought from some of the adventurers their reasons
for having abandoned the colony, and offers of reuniting again upon
certain conditions. They are long and tedious, and most of them have
already been touched upon.

Their answer was in part as follows:

  In charging us with having dissembled with his majesty and the
  adventurers in our original declaration of general agreement with
  the French Reformed Church, you do us wrong, for we both hold with
  and practice the beliefs of the French and other Reformed Churches
  as published in the Harmony of Confessions, according to our means,
  in effect and substance. But in attempting to tie us to the French
  practices in every detail, you derogate from the liberty we have
  in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul would have none follow him but
  wherein he followed Christ; much less ought any Christian or Church
  in the world to do so. The French may err, we may err, and other
  Churches may err, and doubtless do in many circumstances. The
  honour of infallibility, therefore, belongs only to the word of
  God and the pure testament of Christ, to be followed as the only
  rule and pattern for direction by all Churches and Christians. It
  is great arrogance for any man or Church to think that he or they
  have so sounded the word of God to the bottom as to be able to set
  down precisely a Church’s practices without error in substance or
  circumstance, and in such a way that no one thereafter may digress
  or differ from them with impunity. Indeed it is not difficult to
  show that the Reformed Churches differ from each other in many
  details.

The rest I omit for brevity’s sake; and so leave these men and their
doings, and return to the rest of the adventurers, who were friends
of the company and stuck to them. I will first insert some of their
letters; for I think it best to render their minds in their own words:

  _Letter to the Colonists at New Plymouth, from the Adventurers in
  England who remained friendly to them_:

  To our Loving Friends, etc.

  Though what we feared has happened, and the evil we tried to avert
  has overtaken us, still we cannot forget you or our friendship and
  fellowship of some years’ standing, and though its expression has
  been small, our hearty affection towards you, unknown by face, has
  been no less than to our nearest friends or even to ourselves. And
  though your friend Mr. Winslow can tell you the state of things
  here, lest we should seem to neglect you, to whom by a wonderful
  providence of God we are so nearly united, we have thought well to
  write and let you know what has happened here and the reasons for
  it, and our intentions and desires concerning you for the future.

  The old basis of partnership is entirely dissolved, and we are left
  to bethink ourselves what course to take in the future, that your
  lives and our money be not lost.

  The causes of these alterations are as follows: First and mainly,
  the many losses and crosses at sea and the abuses of seamen have
  incurred such heavy expenses for us that we could not continue
  without impoverishing ourselves, unless our means had been greater
  and our associates had stuck together. Secondly, there has been a
  faction against you, which, though influenced to abandon you mainly
  for want of money, pretended to charge you with being Brownists,
  etc. But how you or we ought to turn all this to account remains
  to be considered; for we know the hand of God to be in all these
  things, and no doubt He would admonish us hereby to see what is
  amiss.

  While we ourselves are ready to take every opportunity to further
  so hopeful an enterprise, it must rest with you to put it on its
  feet again. And whatever else may be said, let your honesty and
  conscience remain approved, and lose no jot of your innocence
  amidst your crosses and afflictions; and surely if you behave
  yourselves wisely and go on fairly, you will need no other weapon
  to wound your adversaries; for when your righteousness is revealed
  as the light, they, who have causelessly sought your overthrow,
  shall cover their faces with shame.

  We think it only right that everything belonging to the common
  stock shall be kept together and increased, rather than dispersed
  for any private ends whatever; and that after your necessities are
  met, you shall send over such commodities as the country affords,
  to pay the debts and clear the engagements here, which amount to
  not less than £1400. Let us all endeavour to keep an honest course,
  and see what time will bring forth, and what God in His providence
  will work for us. We are still convinced that you are the people
  who must make the settlement a success when all others fail and
  return; and your experience of God’s providence and preservation of
  you is such that we hope your hearts will not fail you, though your
  friends should forsake you,—which we ourselves will not do whilst
  we live and your honesty of purpose remains unchanged.

  We have sent you some cattle, clothes, stockings, shoes, leather,
  etc. We have consigned them to Mr. Allerton and Mr. Winslow as
  our agents, at whose discretion they are to be sold in exchange
  for commodities. Go on, good friends, comfortably; pluck up your
  spirits and quit yourselves like men in all your difficulties,
  that, notwithstanding all the threats of men, your good work may
  continue; for in as much as it is for the glory of God and the good
  of our countrymen, it is a better course for a man to run than to
  live the life of Methuselah in wasting the plenty of a tilled land
  or eating the fruit of a grown tree.

  With hearty salutations to you all, and hearty prayers for you all,
  we lovingly take our leaves, this 18th of Dec., 1624.

                            Your assured friends to our power,
                                       J. S.  W. C.  T. F.  R. H. etc.

This letter shows the state of affairs of the colony at this time.
They bought the goods, but at dear rates. The adventurers put 40% on
them for profit and risk outward bound; and for risk on the goods
sent back in payment, homeward bound, they added another 30%,—in all
70 per cent. This seemed unreasonable to some, and too oppressive,
considering the case of the purchasers. The cattle were most
valuable; the other things were neither of the best quality nor at
the best prices.

They also sent over two fishing ships on their own account. One was
the pinnace, which was wrecked the previous year here, and saved by
the planters, and which, after she reached home, was attached by one
of the company for a private debt, and had now been sent out again
on his account. The other was a large ship, well fitted, with an
experienced captain and crew of fishermen, to make a fishing cruise,
and then to go to Bilbao or Sebastian to sell her fish. The pinnace
was ordered to load with codfish, and to bring home to England the
beaver received for the goods sold to the plantation. This big ship
was well laden with good dry fish, which at market prices would have
yielded £1800. But as there was a rumour of war with France, the
captain feared to carry out his orders, and on getting over, put
first into Plymouth, and afterwards into Portsmouth, and so met with
a heavy loss, being obliged to sell at lower prices. The pinnace met
with no better success. She was laden with a cargo of codfish caught
on the banks, as full as she could float; and besides she had some
800 lbs. of beaver, as well as other furs to a good value, from the
plantation. The captain seeing so much lading, wished to put aboard
the bigger ship, for greater safety; but as Mr. Winslow, their agent
in the business, was bound in a bond of £500 to send it to London
in the small ship, there was some discussion between the captain
and him about it. But he told the captain he must obey his orders
about it, or ignore them at his peril. So the furs went in the small
ship, and he sent bills of lading in both. The captain of the big
ship was so careful, both vessels being so well-laden, that he towed
the small ship at his stern all the way over. So they went joyfully
home together, and had such fine weather that he never cast her off
till they were well within the England channel, almost in sight of
Plymouth. But even there she was unhappily taken by a Turkish man of
war, and carried off to Saller, where the captain and crew were made
slaves, and many of the beaver skins were sold for 4d. a piece. Thus
all their hopes were dashed, and the joyful news they meant to carry
home was turned to heavy tidings. Some thought this was the hand of
God in punishment for their too great exaction of the poor colony;
but God’s judgments are unsearchable, nor dare I make bold with them.
However, it shows us the uncertainty of all human things, and how
foolish it is to take pleasure in them or trust to them.

In the big ship Captain Standish was sent over from the settlement,
with instructions and letters both to their friends of the company
and to the honourable Council of New England. They requested the
company, since they only meant to let them have goods for sale,
that they might have them upon easier terms, as they would never
be able to bear such high interest or allow so much per cent; and
that they should send goods which were useful and suitable to them.
They wished the company to be informed of the contents of the letter
to the Council of New England. This letter sought the Council’s
favour and help, and asked that the adventurers who had forsaken
them might be brought to order and not keep the colony bound while
they themselves went free; and that they might either stand by their
former agreement, or else reach some fair conclusion by dividend or
composition. But he arrived at a very bad time, for the country was
full of trouble, and the plague very deadly in London, so that no
business could be done. However, he spoke with some of the honoured
Council, who promised all possible help to the colony. Several of
the friendly adventurers were so reduced by their losses last year,
and now by the ship taken by the Turks, and the decreased profits on
their fish, and such multitudes in London were dying weekly of the
plague, that all trade was dead and little money was available; so
that with great difficulty he raised £150 (and spent a good deal of
it in expenses) at 50 per cent, which he expended on trading goods
and such other commodities as he knew they needed. He returned as
passenger on a fishing ship, having made good preparations for the
settlement that was afterwards made with the adventurers.

In the meantime it pleased the Lord to give the plantation peace and
health and contented minds, and so to bless their labours that they
had sufficient corn, and some to spare for others, besides other
food. After harvest this year, they sent out a boat-load of corn 40
or 50 leagues to the eastward, up a river called the Kennebec. The
boat they sent was one of the two shallops their carpenter had built
them the year before; for they had nothing bigger. They laid a little
deck over her midships to keep the corn dry, but the men had to make
the best of all weathers without shelter,—and that time of year it
begins to be rough. But God preserved them and gave them success.
They brought home £700 worth of beaver, besides some other furs,
having little or nothing else for trading with but this corn which
they themselves had raised out of the earth. This voyage was made by
Mr. Winslow and some of the old standers, for they had no sailors.




CHAPTER VII

Standish returns from England—Death of John Robinson and Robert
Cushman—Purchase of trading goods at Monhegan—Isaac Allerton goes to
England—Small ship built: 1626.


About the beginning of April they heard of Captain Standish’s
arrival, and sent a boat to fetch him home with the things he had
brought. He was welcome; but the news he brought was sad in many
regards; not only as to the losses which their friends had suffered,
but also the tidings that Mr. John Robinson, their old pastor,
was dead, which saddened them much and not without cause. Their
adversaries had been long plotting to hinder his coming hither; but
the Lord had appointed him a better place. An account of his death is
given in these few lines written to the Governor and Mr. Brewster.


  _A letter from Roger White at Leyden to Governor Bradford and
  William Brewster at New Plymouth_:

  Loving and kind Friends,

  I do not know whether this will ever come to your hands, or
  miscarry as my other letters have done. But because of the Lord’s
  dealing with us here, I have had a great wish to write to you,
  knowing your desire to participate with us both in our joys and
  sorrows, as we do with you. This is to give you to understand that
  it has pleased the Lord to take out of this vale of tears your and
  our loving and faithful pastor, and my dear and reverend brother,
  Mr. John Robinson, who was ill for some eight days. He began to
  sicken on Saturday morning; yet next day (being the Lord’s day)
  he taught us twice. The week after he grew daily weaker, but was
  without pain. The physic he took seemed to benefit him, but he grew
  weaker every day, though he remained sensible to the last. He fell
  sick on Feb. 22nd, and departed this life on March 1st. He suffered
  from a continual inward ague, but was free from infection, so
  that all his friends came to see him. If either prayers or tears
  or care could have saved his life, he had not gone hence. But he
  having faithfully finished his course, and performed the work which
  the Lord had appointed him here to do, now rests with the Lord in
  eternal happiness. Since his going our Church lacks a governor; yet
  we still continue by the mercy of God, and hold close together in
  peace and quietness; and so hope to do, though we are very weak.
  We wish (if such were the will of God) that you and we were again
  united, either there or here; but seeing it is the will of the
  Lord thus to dispose of things, we must labour with patience to
  rest contented, till it please the Lord otherwise to dispose. As
  for news, there is not much. In England we have lost our old King
  James, who departed this life about a month ago; and here they have
  lost the old prince, Grave Maurice; both having departed this life
  since my brother Robinson. In England we have a new king, Charles,
  of whom there is great hope; here they have put Prince Henry in his
  brother’s place. Thus with my love remembered, I take leave and
  rest,

                                      Your assured loving friend,
                                                          ROGER WHITE.
  _Leyden, April 28th, 1625._

Thus these two great princes and the colonists’ old pastor left this
world about the same time: Death makes no difference.

Captain Standish further brought them notice of the death of their
early friend, Mr. Cushman, whom the Lord took away also this
year, and who had been their right hand with their friends, the
adventurers, and for many years had undertaken all their business
with them to great advantage. He had written to the Governor but a
few months before of the serious illness of Mr. James Sherley, one of
the chief friends of the plantation, who lay at the point of death,
praising his love and helpfulness in everything, and much bemoaning
the loss his death would be to them, for he was the stay and life
of the whole business; also that he proposed to come over this year
and spend the rest of his days with them. But he who thus wrote of
another’s illness, knew not his own death was so near. It shows that
a man’s ways are not in his own power, but in His hands, Who has the
issue of life and death. Man may propose, but God doth dispose.

Their other friends from Leyden wrote many sad letters to them,
lamenting the heavy loss of their pastor, and though they would
gladly come to them, they saw no probability of it, but concluded
that all their hopes were at an end; and besides, many, being aged,
began to drop away by death.

They were greatly perplexed—and not without cause. But they took
courage, and the Lord so helped them, Whose work they had in hand,
that now when they seemed at the lowest ebb they began to rise again;
and being stripped as it were of all human helps and props, by His
divine providence they were not only upheld and sustained, but their
example was both honoured and imitated by others; as the sequel will
show if the Lord spare me life and time to unfold it.

Having now no fishing business or other things to attend to besides
their trading and planting, they set themselves to follow them with
the best industry they could. The settlers finding that their spare
corn was a commodity worth six shillings a bushel, spared no pains
in sowing it. The Governor and those appointed to manage the trade
(for it was still retained for the general benefit, and none were
allowed to trade for themselves) co-operated; so, lacking goods to
trade with, and hearing that a settlement which had been at Monhegan
and belonged to some merchants at Plymouth was to break up, and many
useful goods were to be sold, the Governor and Mr. Winslow took a
boat and some hands and went there. Mr. David Thomson, who lived
at Piscataqua, learning their purpose, took the opportunity to go
with them; but lest their competition for the goods should raise the
prices, they agreed to buy them all and divide them equally between
them. They also bought some goats, which they distributed amongst
the colonists as they thought fit in exchange for corn. Their share
of the goods came to above £400 sterling. That same spring a French
ship had been wrecked at Sagadahoc, containing many Biscay rugs and
other commodities, which had fallen into the hands of these people
and some fishermen at Damariscove Islands who had been taken into
partnership; and these extras increased their share of the purchase
to £500. This they made shift to pay for, chiefly with beaver and
goods they had got the winter before, and what they had obtained
that summer. Mr. Thomson having somewhat exceeded his resources,
asked them to relieve him of some of his purchase; but they declined
to take any but the French goods, and on the understanding that the
merchant who was selling them, and who was a Bristol man, would
take their bill to be paid next year; to which both parties agreed.
By this means they were well furnished with articles for trading,
and were able to take up some of their previous engagement, such
as the money raised by Captain Standish and the balance of former
debts. With these goods and their corn when harvested they traded
profitably, and were able to meet their engagements punctually
and get some clothing for the people, and still had some supplies
in hand. But soon they began to be emulated, and others went and
supplied the Indians with corn, and beat down the price, giving them
twice as much as they had done, and under-traded them with other
articles too.

This year they sent Mr. Allerton to England, and gave him
instructions to settle with the adventurers upon as good terms as
he could, for which composition Captain Standish had paved the way
the year before. They enjoined him not to conclude absolutely till
they knew the terms and had well considered them, but to arrange
preliminaries as well as he could, and refer the conclusion to them.
They also gave him commission under their hands and seals to raise
some money, provided it did not exceed the sum specified, for which
they engaged themselves, and instructed him how to expend it for the
use of the plantation.

Finding that they ran great risks in going such long voyages in a
small open boat, especially during the winter, they began to think
how they could get a small pinnace. It was the more necessary since
others were paying the Indians half as much corn again as they had
formerly given, and in such a small boat they could not carry a
quantity sufficient for their purposes. They had no ship-builder
among them, nor did they know how to get one at present; but they had
an ingenious man who was a house carpenter, who had worked under the
ship-builder who died, when he was building their boats. So at their
request he tried his skill, and took one of the biggest of their
shallops, sawed her across the middle, lengthened her about five or
six feet, strengthened her with timbers, built her up, and decked her
and made her a convenient and serviceable vessel, suitable for their
use. They got her finished and fitted with sails and anchors for the
coming year; and she did them service for seven years.

Thus passed the affairs of this year.




CHAPTER VIII

Allerton brings back Proposed Composition between Adventurers in
England and the Settlement—Division of land and live-stock among the
Colonists—Hospitality given to Fells-Sibsie Settlers—Pinnace and
Depot at Manomet—Allerton returns to England—Greetings between Dutch
Colony at New Amsterdam and Plymouth Settlement—Leading Colonists
become responsible for purchase of Adventurers’ shares in England
and buy rights of the Settlements’ trading from the general body of
Colonists for six years: 1627.


At the usual season of the arrival of ships Mr. Allerton returned,
and brought some useful goods with him according to the orders given
him. As commissioned, he had raised £200, which he got at 30 per
cent. They got the goods safely home and in good condition. He told
them, also, how with much ado he had arranged for a settlement with
the adventurers, with the help of several of their faithful friends
there. Of the agreement or bargain he had brought a draft with a list
of their names annexed, drawn by the best counsel of law they could
get, to make it binding. The body of it I insert here.

  To all Christian people, greeting, etc.

  Whereas at a meeting on the 26th of October last, several persons
  whose names to the one part of these presents are subscribed in
  a schedule hereunto annexed, Adventurers to New Plymouth in New
  England in America, agreed, in consideration of the sum of one
  thousand and eight hundred pounds sterling to be paid (in manner
  and form following) to sell and make sale of all the stocks,
  shares, lands, merchandise, and chattels, whatsoever, to the said
  adventurers and their fellow adventurers to New Plymouth aforesaid,
  in any way accruing or belonging to the generality of the said
  adventurers aforesaid; as well as for any sum or sums of money or
  merchandise at any time heretofore adventured or disbursed by
  them howsoever; for the better setting forth and expression of the
  said agreement the parties to these presents subscribing, do for
  themselves severally, and as much as in them is, grant, bargain,
  alien, sell, and transfer, all the said shares, goods, lands,
  merchandise, and chattels, to them belonging as aforesaid to Isaac
  Allerton, one of the planters resident at New Plymouth aforesaid,
  assigned and sent over as agent for the rest of the planters there,
  and to such other planters at New Plymouth aforesaid as the said
  Isaac, his heirs or assigns, at his or their arrival, shall by
  writing or otherwise think fit to join or partake in the premises,
  their heirs and assigns, in as large, ample, and beneficial manner
  and form, to all intents and purposes, as the said subscribing
  adventurers here could or may do or perform. All which stocks,
  shares, lands, etc., to the said adventurers allotted, apportioned,
  or in any way belonging, the said adventurers do warrant and defend
  unto the said Isaac Allerton, his heirs and assigns, against them,
  their heirs and assigns, by these presents. And therefore the said
  Isaac Allerton, does, for him, his heirs and assigns, covenant,
  promise, and grant to and with the adventurers whose names are
  hereunto subscribed, their heirs, etc., well and truly to pay,
  or cause to be paid, to the said adventurers, or 5 of them which
  were at that meeting aforesaid, nominated and deputed, viz.:
  John Pocock, John Beauchamp, Robert Kean, Edward Bass, and James
  Sherley, merchants, their heirs, etc., to and for the use of the
  generality of them, the sum of £1800 of lawful money of England,
  at the place appointed for the receipts of money, on the west
  side of the Royal Exchange in London, by £200 yearly, and every
  year, on the feast of St. Michael, the first payment to be made
  A. D. 1628, ... Also the said Isaac is to endeavour to procure
  and obtain from the planters of New Plymouth aforesaid, security,
  by several obligations, or writings obligatory, to make payment
  of the said sum of £1800 in form aforesaid, according to the true
  meaning of these presents. In testimony whereof to this part of
  these presents remaining with the said Isaac Allerton, the said
  subscribing adventurers have set their names, ... And to the other
  part remaining with the said adventurers the said Isaac Allerton
  has subscribed his name, the 15th Nov., 1626, in the second year of
  his majesty’s reign.

  John White
  John Pocock
  Robert Kean
  Edward Bass
  William Hobson
  William Pennington
  William Quarles
  Daniel Poynton
  Richard Andrews
  Newman Rookes
  Henry Browning
  Richard Wright
  John Ling
  Thomas Goffe
  Samuel Sharpe
  Robert Holland
  James Sherley
  Thomas Mott
  Thomas Fletcher
  Timothy Hatherley
  Thomas Brewer
  John Thorned
  Myles Knowles
  William Collier
  John Revell
  Peter Gudburn
  Emnu. Alltham
  John Beauchamp
  Thomas Hudson
  Thomas Andrews
  Thomas Ward
  Fria. Newbald
  Thomas Heath
  Joseph Tilden
  William Perrin
  Eliza Knight
  Thomas Coventry
  Robert Alden
  Lawrence Anthony
  John Knight
  Matthew Thornhill
  Thomas Millsop

This agreement was approved by all the plantation, and consented
to, though they did not know just how to raise the payment, and
meet other engagements, and supply the yearly wants of the colony,
since they were forced to raise money or purchase goods at such
high interest to supply themselves with necessities. However, they
undertook it, and seven or eight of the chief members became jointly
bound for the payment of the £1800, on behalf of the rest, at the
days set. It was a great risk as things stood at present. At the
return of their agent it was absolutely confirmed on both sides, and
the bargain was fairly engrossed on parchment, and many things put
into better form by the advice of the most learned counsel they could
get; and to prevent forfeiture of the whole, for non-payment on any
of the days, it ran thus: to forfeit thirty shillings a week if they
missed the time.

Now there were some unsuitable people among them from the first who
came from England, and others sent later by some of the adventurers,
concerning whom the Governor and Council had seriously to consider
how to settle things in regard to this new bargain, in respect of
the distribution of things both for the present and future. For the
present, unless peace and unity were preserved, they would be able
to do nothing, but would endanger everything. So they decided to
include all in the partnership—_i. e._ either heads of families or
single young men of ability who were free and able to be helpful to
the commonwealth; for, first, they had need of men for defence and
carrying on business; secondly most of them had borne their part in
former miseries, and ought to be allowed to partake of the greater
prosperity, if the Lord were pleased to give it.

So they called the company together and conferred with them, and came
to the conclusion that the trade should be managed as before, to
help to pay the debts; and all eligible persons should be enrolled
as purchasers, single freemen to have a single share, and every
father of a family to be allowed to purchase as many shares as there
were members of his family,—that is to say one for himself, one for
his wife, and one for every child that he had living with him. As
for servants, they had none, except what their masters gave them
out of theirs, or their deserts should gain them from the company
afterwards. The shares were allotted accordingly, and everyone was to
pay his proportion towards the purchase and all other debts which the
profits derived from trading did not cover. This gave satisfaction to
all.

The cattle they had were divided first, in this proportion: a cow
to six persons or shares, and two goats to the same, the stock
being first equalised in value according to age and quality, and
then drawn for by lots. Pigs, though more numerous, were dealt with
similarly. Then they agreed that every person or share should have
twenty acres of land allotted to them, besides the single acres they
owned already. Those appointed to make the allotment were instructed
to begin first on one side of the town, up to a certain distance,
and then on the other side, similarly; and to include only tillable
land,—or at least such of it as was along the water-side, as most
of it was,—and to leave the rest as common land. They were all to
agree as to the fitness of it before the lots were drawn, to avoid
dissatisfaction afterwards. For the same reason they agreed by
mutual consent, before any lots were drawn, that those whose land was
nearest the town should choose a neighbour or two whom they would
allow to plant corn with them for four years; and afterwards they
should be allowed to use as much of theirs for the same period if
they wished. Every plot of twenty acres was to be laid out five acres
in breadth along the water side and four acres in length, excepting
nooks and corners which were to be measured to best advantage. But
no meadows were to be laid out at all; nor were they for many years
after, because of the scarceness of meadow land. If they had been
given out now, it would have hindered later developments; so each
season everyone was shown where to mow, according to the proportion
of cattle he had, and the fodder he required.

This distribution gave general satisfaction, and settled men’s minds.
They gave the Governor and four or five leading men among them the
houses they lived in; the other houses were valued, and equalised
fairly, and everyone kept his own; so that he who had a better
house made some allowance to him who had a worse, according to the
valuation.

One thing which occurred at the beginning of the previous winter
I have deferred mentioning till now, so that I might handle it
altogether. A ship with goods and many passengers aboard, bound for
Virginia, lost herself at sea, either through the incompetence of
the captain, or his illness,—for he was so ill with scurvy that he
could only lie at the cabin door and give directions,—and it seemed
he was poorly helped by the mate and the crew; or perhaps the fear
and unruliness of the passengers made them steer a course between the
southwest and the northwest, so that they might make land the sooner.
They had been six weeks at sea, and had no water or beer or wood
left, having burnt up all their empty casks. One of the passengers
had a hogshead of wine or two, which was almost used up, and they
feared they would be starved at sea or wiped out by disease,—and
so they ran this desperate course. But it pleased God that though
they either only just avoided the shoals of Cape Cod, or else ran
stumbling over them in the night they knew not how, they made right
towards a small blind harbour which lies about in the middle of
Manamoick Bay, to the south of Cape Cod; and about high water they
touched upon a bar of sand that lies across it, but took no harm,
the sea being smooth; so they put out an anchor. But towards the
evening the wind sprang up at sea, and it was so rough that their
cable broke and they were beaten over the bar into the harbour, where
they saved their lives and their cargo, though much was injured by
salt water, for in the storm they had sprung the butt-end of a plank
or two and beat out their oakum; but they were soon over, and ran
onto a dry flat within the harbour, close by the beach. So at low
water they got out their goods and dried those that were wet, and
saved most of their things without any great loss; nor was the ship
so badly damaged but that she might be mended and made serviceable
again. But though they were glad that they had saved their lives,
when they had refreshed themselves a little they began to realize
their condition, and not knowing where they were or what they should
do they lost heart. Shortly after, they saw some Indians coming to
them in canoes, which made them stand upon their guard. But when they
heard some of the Indians speak English to them, they were relieved,
especially when they asked if they were the Governor of Plymouth’s
men, or friends of theirs, and offered to guide them to the English
settlement or carry their letters.

They feasted these Indians and gave them many presents, and sent
two of their men and a letter with them to the Governor, and begged
him to send a boat to them with some pitch and oakum and spikes and
various other necessaries to mend their ship. They also asked him to
help them with some corn and several other things they wanted, to
enable them to continue their voyage to Virginia. They promised to
pay for anything they received in any goods which they had aboard.
After the Governor had been informed by the messengers of their
condition, he had a boat got ready with the supplies they needed,
and as the other more responsible members of the colony were away
trading, he went himself and took some trading goods, too, to buy
corn from the Indians. It was no season of the year to go outside
the Cape: but knowing where the ship lay, he coasted along the lower
side of the Bay and put into a creek called Namskeket, where it is
not much above two miles overland to the bay where they were; and
he had Indians ready to carry over anything to them. They were very
glad of his arrival, and of the things to mend their ship, and other
necessaries. He also brought them as much corn as they wanted; and
some of their sailors having run away among the Indians, he had
them sent back to the ship, and so left them well provided and very
grateful for the courtesies shown them.

After the Governor left them, he went into some other harbours near
there, and loaded his boat with corn, which he traded, and then
went home. He had not been home many days before he received word
from them that in a violent storm, owing to the bad mooring of the
ship after she had been mended, she was driven ashore again, and so
beaten that she was wholly unfit to go to sea. So their request was
that they might have leave to come to them and live with them, till
they could convey themselves to Virginia. If they might have means
to transport their goods, they would pay for it and for anything
else with which the plantation could provide them. Considering their
distress all their requests were granted, and all help rendered
them,—their goods transported and they themselves accommodated in
their houses as well as they could.

The chief among these people were a Mr. Fells and a Mr. Sibsie, who
had a number of servants belonging to them, many of them Irish.
Some others had a servant or two each; but most of the people were
themselves servants and were engaged by the two men mentioned above,
who owned most of the cargo. After they had arrived and were settled,
the masters asked for some land to employ their servants upon, since
it was likely to be the latter end of the year before they could get
passage for Virginia, and they had now the winter before them. If
they had opportunity to take passage before the crop was ripe, they
would sell it standing. So they had ground allotted in convenient
places, and Fells and some of them grew a great deal of corn which
they sold at their departure. This Fells, amongst his other servants,
had a maid-servant who kept his house and did his household affairs;
and, as was intimated by some who were with him, he was suspected
of keeping her as his concubine. Both of them were questioned as
to this, but nothing could be proved and they stood upon their
justification; so they were dismissed with admonition. But afterwards
it appeared she was with child, so he got a small boat and ran away
with her for fear of punishment. First he went to Cape Ann, and
afterwards to the Bay of Massachusetts; but he could get no passage
and was nearly wrecked, so he was forced to come back and submit
himself. So they packed him away and those that belonged to him at
the first opportunity, and dismissed all the rest as soon as they
could, as there were many undesirable people among them, though they
were also some who behaved themselves very well all the time they
stayed. And the plantation benefited by selling them corn and other
provisions in exchange for clothing of which they had a variety,
such as cloth, perpetuanas and other stuffs, besides stockings and
shoes and such like goods, which the planters stood in need of. So
the advantage was mutual, and a couple of barks took them away at the
latter end of the summer. Several of them have since acknowledged
their gratitude from Virginia.

So that they might lose no opportunity of trading, the settlers
decided to build a small pinnace at Manomet, a place on the sea 20
miles to the southward of them, towards which ran a creek, so that
they could convey their goods to within four or five miles of it, and
then transport them overland to their vessel, and so avoid rounding
Cape Cod, with its dangerous shoals. By this means they could make
voyages southward in much shorter time and with far less danger. For
the safety of their vessel and goods they built a house and kept some
servants there, who also planted corn and kept swine and were always
ready to go out with the bark when needed. It was a satisfactory and
profitable enterprise.

With the return of the ships they sent Mr. Allerton to England again,
giving him full power under their hands and seals to conclude the
former bargain with the adventurers, and sent them bonds for the
payment of the money. They also sent what beaver they could spare
to meet some of their engagements and to defray his expenses; but
the high rates of interest left them little margin. He had orders to
procure a patent for a suitable trading-house on the river Kennebec;
for the settlers at Piscataqua and other places to the eastward of
them, and also the fishing ships, competed with them for the trade
of the Indians, and threatened by procuring a grant to exclude them
from thereabouts,—and they found they were so well furnished with
goods for the purpose that they might take all the trade from them.
They thought it essential to prevent this, and at least to preserve
free-trade for themselves in localities which they themselves had
first discovered and developed.

This year they received letters and messengers from the Dutch colony
sent to them from the Governor there, written both in Dutch and
French. The Dutch had traded to the south of them several years
before they came, but had made no settlement there till four or five
years after their arrival at New Plymouth. Their letters were as
follows—it being their custom to be full of complimental titles.

I shall render it in English, leaving out the superfluous titles from
the body of the letter.

  _The Dutch colonists at Manhattan to the Settlers at New Plymouth_:

  Noble, worshipful, wise and prudent Lords, the Governor and
  Councillors residing at New Plymouth, our very dear friends:

  The Director and Council of New Netherlands wish to your Lordships,
  worshipful, wise and prudent, happiness in Christ Jesus Our Lord,
  with prosperity and health in soul and body.

  We have often before this wished for an opportunity to congratulate
  you on your prosperous and praiseworthy undertakings, and the
  Government of your colony there; the more so, since we also
  have made a good beginning in the foundation of a colony here,
  and because our native country is not far from yours, and our
  forefathers many years ago formed friendship and alliance with
  your ancestors both for war and trade, confirmed under the hands
  of kings and princes. These have not only been confirmed by the
  king now reigning, but it has pleased his majesty, upon mature
  deliberation, to make a new alliance to take up arms against our
  common enemy the Spaniard, who seeks to usurp the lands of other
  Christian kings so that he may obtain his pretended monarchy over
  all Christendom, and so rule at his pleasure over the consciences
  of so many hundred thousand souls; which God forbid!

  It appears that some of our people, who happened to go northward
  in their boat, met some Indians, who told them that they were
  within half a day’s journey of your plantation, and offered to
  take letters to you; so we could not forbear to salute you with
  these few lines, bearing our good will and service to you, in all
  friendly kindness and neighbourhood. If it should happen that any
  goods that come to us from our native country may be serviceable to
  you, we shall feel ourselves bound to accommodate you either for
  beaver or any other merchandise. Should we have no goods at present
  that you want, if you care to sell us any beaver, or otter, or
  such, for ready money, and let us hear in writing by this bearer,
  whom we have instructed to wait three or four days for your answer,
  we will depute some one to deal with you at any place you may
  appoint. In the meantime we pray the Lord to take you, our honoured
  friends and neighbours, into His holy protection.

          By the appointment of the Governor and Council, etc.
                                         ISAAC DE RASIERES, Secretary.
  _From Manhattan, in the Fort of Amsterdam. March 9th, 1627._

To this they answered as follows:

  _From the Settlement at New Plymouth to the Dutch Colony at New
  Amsterdam_:

  To the honoured, etc.

  The Governor and Council of New Plymouth, wishes, etc. We have
  received your letters, expressing your good-will and friendship
  towards us, but with over high titles, more than is our right,
  or it is fitting for us to receive. But for your good-will and
  congratulations of our prosperity in these small beginnings of our
  poor colony, we are much obliged to you, and acknowledge them with
  many thanks, accepting them as a great honour to us and a sure
  proof of your love and good neighbourhood.

  This is also to give your worships to understand, that it is no
  small joy to us to hear that his majesty has not only been pleased
  to confirm the ancient alliances and other contracts formerly made
  by his predecessors of famous memory, but has himself (as you
  say) strengthened them with a new bond, the better to resist the
  pride of that common enemy, the Spaniard, from whose cruelty the
  Lord keep us both, and our native countries. Now though this were
  sufficient to unite us together in love and good neighbourhood
  in all our dealings, many of us are under further obligations
  for the courteous treatment we received in your country, having
  lived there for many years in freedom, as many of our friends do
  to this day; for which we and our children after us are bound to
  be grateful to your nation, and shall never forget it, but shall
  heartily desire your good and prosperity as our own, forever.

  Your friendly offer to accommodate us with any merchandise you
  may have, either for beaver or otter or other wares, is also very
  acceptable, and we doubt not we shall shortly have profitable trade
  together. This year we are fully supplied with all necessaries,
  clothing, etc., though later we shall hope to deal with you, if
  your rates are reasonable. When you send to us again we shall like
  to know what price you give for beaver per pound, and otter per
  skin; and on what per cent you will deal for other commodities, and
  what you can supply us with; also what other goods from us would be
  acceptable to you, as tobacco, fish, corn, etc., and what prices
  you will give, etc.

  We hope you will pardon us for our imperfect writing in your
  language, and take it in good part; through want of practice
  we cannot so well express what we understand, nor understand
  everything as full we should. We humbly pray the Lord for His
  mercy’s sake that He will take both us and you into His gracious
  keeping and protection.

               By the Governor and Council of New Plymouth,
                 Your Worships’ very good friends and neighbours, etc.
  _New Plymouth, March 19th._

After this there was much correspondence and other intercourse, and
they traded profitably together for several years, till other things
interrupted it, as will appear afterwards.

Before they sent Mr. Allerton to England this year, the Governor
and some of the principal members seriously considered how best to
discharge the many obligations which lay so heavily upon them, and
also how, if possible, to bring over some of their friends at Leyden,
who wished so much to come to them, and whose company they desired
equally. To effect this, the leading men of the colony resolved upon
a venturesome course, not knowing how to accomplish their objects
otherwise. This was, that they should purchase the trade of the
settlement (now owned jointly by the settlers, as a body, and by the
adventurers) for a certain period, and in that time to undertake to
pay the £1800, and all the rest of the debts of the plantation then
owing, which amounted to about £600 more; the trade of the settlement
to revert to the common ownership at the end of the period. Upon
coming to this resolution they called the settlers together, and made
it clear to them what all their debts amounted to, and upon what
terms they would undertake to pay them in a given time. But their
other objects they were obliged to conceal, only privately consulting
some of their most trusted friends about it. So after some discussion
with the colonists, it was agreed to, and the contract drawn up on
the following condition.

  _Articles of Agreement between the Colony of New Plymouth of the
  one part, and William Bradford, Captain Myles Standish, Isaac
  Allerton, etc., of the other part; and such others as they shall
  think good to take as partners in the trade for beaver and other
  furs and commodities, etc. Made July, 1627._

  1. First it is agreed and covenanted between the said parties,
  that the aforesaid William Bradford, Captain Myles Standish, and
  Isaac Allerton, etc., have undertaken and do by these presents
  covenant and agree to pay, discharge, and acquit the said colony of
  all debts due for the purchase or otherwise, on the date of these
  presents.

  2. The above said parties are to have and freely enjoy the pinnace
  lately built, the boat at Manomet, and the shallop called the
  bass-boat, with all implements belonging to them in the store of
  the said company; with the whole stock of furs, fells, beads, corn,
  wampum, hatchets, knives, etc., now in the store, or due to the
  same upon account.

  3. That the above said parties have the whole trade to themselves,
  their heirs and assigns, with all the privileges thereof, as the
  said colony does now, and may use the same for six full years to
  come, to begin the last day of September next ensuing.

  4. In further consideration of the discharge of the said debts,
  each member of the colony promises and covenants yearly to pay or
  cause to be paid to the above said parties during the full term
  of the above said six years, three bushels of corn or six lbs. of
  tobacco, at the choice of the parties.

  5. The said parties shall during the aforesaid term expend £50 per
  annum in hose and shoes to be brought over for the colony’s use, to
  be sold to them for corn at six shillings per bushel.

  6. That the end of the said term of six years, the whole trade
  shall revert to the use and benefit of the said colony as before.

  7. Lastly, if the aforesaid parties, after they have acquainted
  their friends in England with these covenants, do thereupon resolve
  to perform them, and undertake to discharge the debts of the said
  colony, according to the true meaning and intent of these presents,
  they are then upon notice given to stand in full force; otherwise
  all things to remain as they were formerly, and a true account to
  be given to the said colony of the disposition of everything as
  usual.

Mr. Allerton took a copy of this agreement to England, and had orders
to arrange with some of their special friends there to join with
them in this trade upon the above conditions, and also to impart to
them confidentially the other object that induced them to take this
course, that is, to bring over some of their friends from Leyden,
if possible; and to tell them that if any of them would join with
them they would thankfully accept their partnership; and finally, by
letter, gave them some grounds for their hope of accomplishing it
advantageously for all concerned.




CHAPTER IX

Allerton in England negotiates partnership between leading New
Plymouth colonists and some of the previous London adventurers—Patent
for Kennebec River procured—Further Dutch intercourse—Trade in
Wampum begun—Troubles with Morton in Massachusetts—John Endicott’s
arrival—Morton trades guns and ammunition to the Indians—Morton
apprehended—Troubles begin with Isaac Allerton: 1628.


After Mr. Allerton’s arrival in England, he informed the adventurers
of his commission to make the purchase of the trade of the colony for
six years, and upon delivery of the bonds for the yearly payments
it was finally concluded, and a deed engrossed in parchment was
delivered to him under their hands and seals confirming it. He also
arranged with some special friends among them, as instructed, to
participate in the purchase, and to supply them with money at better
rates, etc. Concerning this I insert here a letter from Mr. Sherley
to the Governor throwing light on what followed.

  _James Sherley in England to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  I have received yours of May 26th through Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Goffe,
  with the barrel of otter skins, for which I got a bill of store,
  and sold them for £78-12-0 sterling; and Mr. Allerton has received
  the money as will appear by the account. It is true, as you write,
  that your obligations are large, not only for the purchase but
  for the working stock you will require, which you cannot raise
  at 6 or 8 per cent. as here but must pay 30, 40 and even 50 per
  cent. Were not your profits considerable, and God’s blessing on
  your honest endeavours more than ordinary, you could not long
  be masters of your affairs. And this, it seems, your honest and
  able agent, Mr. Allerton, has seriously considered. He tells me
  that you are willing to permit me and some few others to join
  with you as partners in the purchase; I thank you and all the
  rest, and gladly accept, and though absent, shall willingly be
  at such expense as you and the rest think proper. This year I am
  prepared to forego the £50 due and the two years’ increase for the
  venture, which comes in all to £80, without making any condition
  for the profit,—you with the rest to bear the risk outward and
  homeward. I have persuaded Mr. Andrews and Mr. Beauchamp to do
  the same, so that you will not have to bear the high rate of the
  previous two years. We leave it freely to yourselves to allow us
  what you please, and according as God shall bless us. Whatever
  course I take, Mr. Beauchamp is willing to do the same; and though
  he may have seemed rather harsh before, you will find he is now
  new moulded. I also see by your letter that you desire me to be
  your agent here. I have ever found you such faithful, honest, and
  upright men, that I have resolved to do you all the good that
  lies in my power; so if you please to select so inadequate a man
  to perform your business, I promise to do the best I can with the
  ability the Lord has given me; and wherein I fail, blame yourselves
  that you did not make a better choice. As I am not in good health,
  and we are all mortal, I have advised Mr. Allerton to associate
  Mr. Beauchamp with me as your deputy, which is both necessary and
  advisable for you, and will cost you no more, for it is not the
  salary that induces me to undertake your business. Thus commending
  you and yours and all God’s people to the guidance and protection
  of the Almighty, I ever rest,

                                   Your faithful, loving friend,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _London, Nov. 17th, 1628._

With this letter he sent a draft of power of attorney to be sealed
and returned to them, authorizing them to act as their agents. As
some trouble arose about it afterwards, I will insert it.

  To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting; know ye that
  we, William Bradford, Governor of New Plymouth, in New England,
  in America, Isaac Allerton, Myles Standish, William Brewster, and
  Edward Winslow, of New Plymouth aforesaid, merchants, do by these
  presents for us and in our names make, substitute, and appoint
  James Sherley, goldsmith, and John Beauchamp, salter, citizens
  of London, our true and lawful agents, factors, substitutes, and
  assigns; as well to take and receive all such goods, wares,
  merchandise whatsoever as to our said substitutes or either of
  them, or to the city of London, or other place of the Realm of
  England, shall be sent, transported, or come from us or any of us;
  as also to vend, sell, barter, or exchange the said goods, wares,
  and merchandise, so from time to time to be sent to such person or
  persons upon credit, or otherwise in such manner as to our said
  agents and factors jointly, or to either of them severally, shall
  seem proper. And further we make and ordain our said substitutes
  and assigns jointly and severally for us, and to our uses, and
  accounts, to buy and consign for us and to us to New England
  aforesaid, such goods and merchandise to be provided here, and to
  be returned hence as by our said assigns, or either of them, shall
  be thought fit. And to recover, receive, and demand for us and in
  our names all such debts and sums of money, as now are or hereafter
  shall be due, incident, accruing, or belonging to us, or any of us,
  by any ways or means; and to acquit, discharge, or compound for any
  debt or sum of money, which now or hereafter shall be due or owing
  by any person or persons to us, or any of us. And generally for us
  and in our names to do, perform, and execute every act and thing
  which to our said assigns, or either of them, shall seem proper to
  do, as fully and effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if we
  or any of us were in person present. And whatsoever our said agents
  and factors jointly or severally shall do, or cause to be done, in
  or about the premises, we will and do, and each of us does ratify,
  allow, and confirm, by these presents. In witness whereof we have
  hereunto put our hands and seals.

  _Dated November 18th, 1628._

This was accordingly confirmed by the above named, and four more of
the principal members, under their hands and seals, and delivered to
them. Mr. Allerton had formerly received authority under their hands
and seals for transacting their business, raising money, etc., and
this deed he still retained while he was employed on these affairs.
Their complete trust in him and their other friends made them remiss
in cancelling such previous deeds, which was a disadvantage to them
later, as will appear in due course.

Mr. Allerton having settled everything satisfactorily, returned to
the colony in the early spring of the year with their supplies
for trading, the fishermen with whom he came being accustomed to
sail in the winter and get here betimes. He brought a fair stock of
goods for the settlement, not subject to such high interest, and an
account of the beaver sold and of the money expended for goods and
the payment of other debts. He had discharged all engagements, except
to Mr. Sherley, Mr. Beauchamp, and Mr. Andrews; and from them he also
brought an account, which amounted to not above £400, for which he
had given bonds. He had also made the first payment for the purchase,
due this year, viz., £200, and brought them the bond for it, duly
cancelled. So they had now no foreign debts except £400, odd, and the
balance of the yearly purchase money. They had some other debts over
here, but they were without interest, and they were in a position to
discharge them when they were due. To this pass the Lord had brought
things for them.

Mr. Allerton also brought them notice that their friends referred to
above, with some others who wished to join them in the trading and in
the purchase, intended that a reasonable number of the congregation
at Leyden should be sent over next year without fail, if the Lord
pleased to bless their journey. He also brought them a patent
for Kennebec; but it was so inadequate that they were obliged to
endeavour to renew and enlarge it the next year, and also that which
they had at home, at great expense, as will appear. Hitherto Mr.
Allerton had done them good and faithful service: would that he had
so continued, or that they had now ceased employing him any longer in
England. But of this more afterwards.

Having procured a patent for Kennebec, they erected a house in the
most convenient place for trade up the river, and stocked it with
goods for that purpose, both for winter and summer; not only with
corn, but with such other commodities as the fishermen had traded to
them, such as coats, shirts, rugs, blankets, biscuits, peas, prunes,
etc. What they could not procure from England they bought from the
fishing ships and so carried on their business as well as they could.

This year the Dutch visited them again. With kind letters from the
colony they sent a variety of goods, such as sugar, linen, Holland
finer and coarser stuffs, etc. Their secretary de Rasieres came
with them in their bark to Manomet, to the house the settlers had
established there. He brought attendants, and his coming was heralded
by trumpets. He requested them to send a boat to take him on to New
Plymouth, as he could not travel so far overland. So they sent a boat
to Manoanscussett, and brought him to the plantation with most of his
people. After some few days’ entertainment he returned to his bark,
and some of the leading settlers went with him and bought some of his
goods. After this beginning they often sent over to them, and had
intercourse for many years.

Amongst other commodities they sold the Dutch a good deal of tobacco
in exchange for linen, stuffs, etc.; and tobacco was profitably
traded with them by the New Plymouth colony, till the Virginians
learned of the Dutch settlement. But what become most profitable,
in time, was the beginning they then made in the trade for wampum.
They bought £50 worth of it from the Dutch who told them how much
they sold of it at Fort Orange, and assured them they would find it
so at Kennebec. At first they could not sell it—in fact it was two
years before they cleared this small quantity. Afterwards, when the
Indians further inland began to know of it, for many years they could
scarcely get enough for them.

This, with their other sources of supply, reduced their trade with
the fishermen, and in the main also with the scattered settlers.
It was strange to see the great change it wrought in a few years
among the Indians themselves. The natives of these parts and in
Massachusetts hitherto had none or very little of this wampum, except
the Sachems and some of the chiefs who wore a little of it for
ornament. It was, however, largely made and used by the Narragansetts
and Pequots, who grew rich and powerful while the Indians here were
poor and beggarly, and had no use for it. Nor did the English of New
Plymouth or any of the other settlements, until told of it by the
Dutch, so much as know what it was, much less that it was a commodity
of such value. But after it grew to be valuable here, the local
Indians took to it too, and learned how to make it, gathering the
shells from the shores. It has remained a current commodity now for
about twenty years, and it may prove a drug in time. In the meantime
it makes the tribes hereabouts rich and powerful and proud, and
provides them with arms and powder and shot, through the depravity of
some unworthy persons, both English, Dutch, and French, and likely to
be the ruin of many. Hitherto the Indians round here had no guns or
other arms but their bows and arrows, nor for many years after; they
scarcely dared handle guns, they were so afraid of them; and the very
sight of one, though out of kilter, was a terror to them. But the
Indians to the East who had dealings with the French got guns from
them, and in time our English fishermen, with equal covetousness,
followed their example. But upon complaint it pleased the king’s
majesty to prohibit it by a strict proclamation, commanding that
no sort of arms or munition should be traded to the Indians by his
subjects.

Some three or four years before this there came over one, Captain
Wollaston, a man of fine qualities, with three or four others of
some distinction, who brought with them a great many servants, with
provisions and other necessaries to found a settlement. They pitched
upon a place within Massachusetts, which they called, after their
Captain, Mount Wollaston. Among them was one, Mr. Morton, who, it
seems, had some small share with them in the enterprise, either on
his own account or as an agent; but he was little respected amongst
them and even slighted by the servants. Having remained there some
time, and not finding things answer their expectations, Captain
Wollaston took the majority of the servants to Virginia, where he
hired out their services profitably to other employers. So he wrote
up to Mr. Rasdell, one of the chief partners who was acting as their
merchant, to bring another party of them to Virginia for the same
purpose. With the consent of Rasdell he appointed one, Fitcher, as
his deputy, to govern the remnant of the colony till one of them
should return. But Morton, in the others’ absence, having more
craft than honesty—he had been a kind of pettifogger of Furnival’s
Inn—watched his opportunity when rations were scarce with them,
got some drink and other junkets and made them a feast, and after
they were merry began to tell them he would give them good counsel.
“You see,” says he, “that many of your comrades have been taken to
Virginia; and if you stay till this Rasdell returns you too will
be carried off and sold as slaves with the rest. So I would advise
you to oust this Lieutenant Fitcher; and I, having a share in this
settlement, will take you as partners, and you will be free from
service, and we will trade, plant, and live together as equals, and
support and protect one another”—and so on. This advice was easily
received; so they drove out Lieutenant Fitcher and would not allow
him to come amongst them, forcing him to get food and other relief
from his neighbours, till he could get passage to England. They then
fell to utter licentiousness, and led a dissolute and profane life.
Morton became lord of misrule, and maintained, as it were, a school
of Atheism. As soon as they acquired some means by trading with the
Indians, they spent it in drinking wine and strong drinks to great
excess,—as some reported, £10 worth in a morning! They set up a
Maypole, drinking and dancing about it for several days at a time,
inviting the Indian women for their consorts, dancing and frisking
together like so many fairies,—or furies rather,—to say nothing of
worse practices. It was as if they had revived the celebrated feasts
of the Roman goddess Flora, or the beastly practices of the mad
Bacchanalians. Morton, to show his poetry, composed sundry verses and
rhymes, some tending to lasciviousness and others to the detraction
and scandal of some persons, affixing them to his idle, or idol,
Maypole. They changed the name of the place, and instead of calling
it Mount Wollaston, they called it Merry Mount, as if this jollity
would last forever. But it did not continue long, for, shortly after,
Morton was sent back to England, as will appear. In the meantime
that worthy gentleman, Mr. John Endicott, arrived from England,
bringing over a patent under the broad seal, for the government of
Massachusetts. Visiting this neighbourhood, he had the Maypole cut
down, and reprimanded them for their profaneness, admonishing them to
improve their way of living. In consequence, others changed the name
of their place again, and called it Mount Dagon!

       *       *       *       *       *

In order to maintain this riotous prodigality and excess, Morton,
hearing what profit the French and the fishermen had made by
trading guns, powder, and shot to the Indians, began to practise it
hereabouts, teaching them how to use them. Having instructed them, he
employed some of them to hunt and fowl for him, until they became
far more able than the English, owing to their swiftness on foot and
nimbleness of body, being quick-sighted, and knowing the haunts of
all sorts of game. With the result that, when they saw what execution
a gun would do and the advantage of it, they were mad for them and
would pay any price for them, thinking their bows and arrows but
baubles in comparison.

And here I must bewail the mischief that this wicked man began in
this district, and which, continued by men that should know better,
has now become prevalent, notwithstanding the laws to the contrary.
The result is that the Indians are stocked with all kinds of
arms,—fowling-pieces, muskets, pistols, etc. They even have moulds
to make shots of all sorts,—musket bullets, pistol bullets, swan
and geese shot and smaller sorts. It is well known that they often
have powder and shot when the English lack it and cannot get it, it
having been bought up and sold to those who trade it to the Indians
at a shilling per pound—for they will buy it at any price. This goes
on while their neighbours are being killed by the Indians every day,
or are only living at their mercy. They have even been told how
gun-powder is made, and all the materials that are in it, and that
they are to be had in their own land; and I am confident that if they
could only get saltpeter they would make gun-powder itself.

Oh, the horror of this villainy! How many Dutch and English have
lately been killed by Indians, thus furnished; and no remedy is
provided,—nay, the evil has increased. The blood of their brothers
has been sold for profit; and in what danger all these colonies
are is too well-known. Oh! that princes and parliaments would take
some timely steps to prevent this mischief and to suppress it, by
exemplary punishment of some of those gain-thirsty murderers,—for
they deserve no better title,—before their colonies in these parts
are wiped out by the barbarous savages, armed with their own weapons
by these traitors to their country. But I have forgotten myself, and
have been too long on this digression; now to return.

Morton having taught them the use of guns, sold them all he could
spare, and he and his associates determined to send for large
supplies from England, having already sent for over a score by some
of the ships. This being known, several members of the scattered
settlements hereabouts agreed to solicit the settlers at New
Plymouth, who then outnumbered them all, to join with them to prevent
the further growth of this mischief, and to suppress Morton and
his associates. Those who joined in this action, and afterwards
contributed to the expense of sending him to England, were from
Piscataqua, Naumkeag, Winnisimmett, Weesagascusett, Nantasket,
and other places where the English had settled. The New Plymouth
colonists thus addressed by their messengers and letters, and
weighing their reasons and the common danger, were willing to help,
though they themselves had least cause for fear.

So, to be short, they first decided to write to Morton jointly,
in a friendly and neighbourly way, requesting him to desist, and
sent a messenger with the letter to bring his answer. But he was so
overbearing that he scorned all advice; he asked what it had to do
with them; he would trade guns to the Indians in spite of them all,
with many other scurrilous remarks, full of disdain. So they sent to
him again and bade him be better advised and more temperate in his
terms; that the country would not bear the injury he was doing; it
was against their common safety and against the king’s proclamation.
He answered as haughtily as before, that the king’s proclamation
was no law, and asking what was the penalty! They replied: more
than he could bear,—his majesty’s displeasure. But he persisted, and
insolently said that the king was dead, and his displeasure with him;
that if they came to molest him, let them look to themselves; he
would be prepared for them.

So they saw there was no way but to take him by force. They resolved
to proceed, and unanimously requested the Governor of New Plymouth
to send Captain Standish and sufficient men to seize Morton. This
was accordingly done; but he defended himself stiffly, closed his
doors, armed his associates, and had dishes of powder and bullets
ready on the table; and if they had not been overarmed with drink,
more harm might have been done. They summoned him to yield, but they
got nothing but scoffs from him. At length fearing they would wreck
the house, some of his crew came out,—intending not to yield, but
to shoot; but they were so drunk that their guns were too heavy for
them. He himself, with a carbine, overcharged and almost half filled
with powder and shot, tried to shoot Captain Standish; but he stepped
up to him and put aside his gun and took him. No harm was done on
either side, except that one of his men was so drunk that he ran his
nose upon the point of a sword that some one held in front of him on
entering the house; but all he lost was a little of his hot blood.
Morton they took to New Plymouth, where he was kept till a ship went
from the Isle of Shoals to England. In this he was dispatched to
the Council of New England, with letters giving information of his
behaviour, entrusted to a representative sent at their common expense
to inform their honours more particularly, and to prosecute him. But
Morton fooled this man after he had left here, and though he went to
England, nothing was done to him,—he was not so much as rebuked, so
far as was heard,—and he returned the following year. Some of the
worst of the party were dispersed, and some of the more decent were
permitted to live in the house till he was heard from. But I have
been too long about so unworthy a person and so bad a cause.

This year Mr. Allerton brought over a young man as minister to the
colony, whether upon his own initiative or at the instance of some
friends there, I do not know; but he was not sent by the orders of
the church, for they had been so bitten by Mr. Lyford that they
wished to know well whom they were inviting, beforehand. His name was
Mr. Rogers; but they discovered that he was crazed in the brain; so
they were obliged to go to the expense of sending him back again the
next year; besides the cost of bringing him out, which was not small
by Mr. Allerton’s account, for provisions, clothing, bedding, etc.
Mr. Allerton was much blamed for bringing such a man over, for they
had expenses enough already.

In previous years Mr. Allerton had brought over some small quantities
of goods upon his own account, and sold them for his private benefit,
which was more than any one had hitherto ventured to do. But as he
had done them good service otherwise, and as he sold them among the
people of the colony and their wants were thereby supplied, it was
passed over. But this year he brought over a greater quantity, and
they were intermixed with the goods of the colony, and all packed
together, so that it could not be said which were theirs and which
were his; so if any mischance had happened at sea, he could have laid
the whole loss on them, if he had wished. And it seemed to result
that what was most saleable and could be sold promptly, he claimed
was his! He also began to sell to others outside the settlement,
which, considering their agreement, they disliked. But love thinks
no evil, nor is suspicious; so they took his fair words for excuse,
and decided to send him to England again this year, considering how
well he had done formerly and how well he stood with their friends
there; and particularly as some of their friends from Leyden were to
be sent for, the arrangements for which he could, or might, assist
in. It was also thought that, as the patent for Kennebec must be
extended, as well as the one here, he would best be able to effect
it, having begun it. So they gave him instructions and sent him to
England once more. His instructions were to bring over no goods on
their account, except £50 worth of hose, shoes, and linen, according
to the conditions,—besides some trading goods to a certain value; and
in no case was he to exceed his instructions or run them into further
expense. He was to arrange that their trading goods came over early,
and whatever was sent on their account should be packed by itself,
and marked with their mark; and no other goods were to be mixed with
them. In fact he requested them to give him such instructions as they
thought fit, and he would follow them, to prevent any jealousy or
further trouble. So they thought they had provided satisfactory for
everything.




CHAPTER X

Arrival of the Leyden people—Allerton in England tries to get
the Kennebec Patent enlarged—Morton’s return—Further trouble
with Allerton—The partnership with Ashley—The Penobscot
trading-house—Purchase of a fishing ship suggested—John Endicott at
Salem—The Church at Salem: 1629.


Mr. Allerton arrived safely in England, and delivered the letters
to their friends there, acquainting them with his instructions. He
found them willing to join in the trading-partnership, and in the
expense of sending over the Leyden people, some of whom had already
left Holland and were prepared to come over, so they were sent off
before Mr. Allerton was ready to leave. They took passage on the
ships that came to Salem, which brought over many godly persons to
begin the settlements and churches of Christ there and in the Bay of
Massachusetts. So their friends here were rewarded for their long
delay with double blessing, in that they not only enjoyed them now,
when so recently all their hopes had seemed to be blasted; but with
them came other godly friends and Christian brethren, to plant a
still larger harvest unto the Lord, for the increase of his churches
and people in these parts. It was to the astonishment of many and
almost to the wonder of the world, that from so small a beginning
such great things should ensue,—as in due time was manifested; and
that there should be a resting place for so many of the Lord’s people
here, when so sharp a scourge had come upon their own nation. But it
was the Lord’s doing, and it ought to be marvellous in our eyes.

I will here insert some of their friends’ letters, which best express
their own attitude towards these proceedings.

  _Two letters from James Sherley in England to Governor Bradford at
  New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  With this there are many more of our friends from Leyden coming
  over to you, whose arrival, though mostly a weak body, is the
  fulfillment, in part, of our purpose, so strongly opposed by some
  of the former adventurers. But God has His working in these things,
  which man cannot frustrate. We have also sent some servants in the
  ship Talbot, that sailed lately; but the Leyden contingent come in
  the Mayflower. Mr. Beauchamp and myself, with Mr. Andrews and Mr.
  Hatherley, have, with your good will, joined your partnership, etc.

  _May 25th, 1629._


  Your power of attorney has been received, and the goods have been
  sold by your friend and agent, Mr. Allerton, I having been in
  Holland nearly three months, at Amsterdam and in other parts of the
  Low Countries. I see, also, the agreement you have made with the
  main body of the settlers, and think you have done very well, both
  for them, for you, and for your friends at Leyden. Mr. Beauchamp,
  Mr. Andrews, Mr. Hatherley, and myself so thoroughly approve of
  it, that we are willing to join you, and, God directing us, will
  assist you the best we possibly can. Indeed, had you not taken
  this course, I do not see how you could ever have accomplished the
  end originally aimed at. We know it must cause further delay in
  realizing profits, for most of those who we sent in May, and those
  now sailing, though honest and good people, are not likely to be
  helpful at present—indeed, for some time they will be an expense to
  you and us. Had you not taken this wise and astute course, the main
  body of your colonists would probably have grudged their coming.
  Again, as you say well in your letter, the burden being now on the
  shoulders of only a few, you will manage it the better, having no
  discontent or contradiction, but all lovingly joined together in
  affection and counsel, so that God will no doubt bless and prosper
  your honest labours and endeavours. So in all respects I consider
  you have been marvellously discreet and well-advised, and have
  no doubt it will give all parties satisfaction—I mean all who
  are reasonable and honest men, and make conscience of fulfilling
  their obligations to the uttermost, not with regard to their own
  private interests so much as the accomplishment of the good object
  for which this enterprise was first started.... Thus desiring the
  Lord to bless and prosper you and all yours, and all our honest
  endeavours, I rest,

                            Your unfeigned and ever loving friend,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _London, March 8th, 1629._

I have mentioned here the coming of both these companies from Leyden,
though they actually came at two different times. The former party,
numbering 35 persons, sailed in May, and arrived here about August,
1629; the latter sailed at the beginning of March, and arrived
here the latter end of May, 1630. Their expenses, according to
Mr. Allerton’s accounts, came to above £550 (in addition to their
transportations from Salem and the Bay, where they and their goods
were landed), viz.: their transportation from Holland to England,
and their expenses while there, and their passages out here, with
clothing provided for them. I find in the account for the one party
125 yards of kersey, 127 ells of linen, 66 pairs of shoes, with
many other particulars. The cost of the other party is reckoned by
families, some £50, some £40, some £30,—more or less, according to
numbers, etc. Besides all this expense their friends here had to
provide corn and other provisions for them till they could reap
a crop, which was some time. Those that came in May had to be
maintained upwards of 16 to 18 months; the others proportionately.
All they could do in the meantime was to build houses and prepare
land for planting next season. The expenses of maintaining them
all this time was little less than the former sum. I make special
note of this for various reasons: first, to show a rare example of
brotherly love and Christian care in performing their promises to
their brethren. Secondly, to prove that there was more than the work
of man in these achievements,—thus successfully to have persuaded
such able friends to join them in the enterprise, and to stand by
them so faithfully in the face of such risks, most of them never
having seen their faces to this day; it must needs be, therefore,
the special work of God. Thirdly, that these poor people here in
a wilderness should, notwithstanding, be able in time to repay
all their engagements, and others unjustly put upon them through
unfaithful service, besides other great losses which they sustained,
all of which will be related if the Lord be pleased to give me life
and time. In the meantime I cannot help but wonder at His ways and
works towards His servants, and humbly desire to bless His holy name
for His great mercies hitherto.

The Leyden people having come over, and several members of the
general body of the settlers seeing how great the expense was likely
to be, began to murmur at it, notwithstanding the burden lay on
other men’s shoulders,—especially at paying the three bushels of
corn a year, according to the agreement. But to satisfy them, it was
promised that if they could do without it they would not demand it of
them. And it never was paid, as will appear.

Mr. Allerton’s proceedings about the enlarging and confirming of the
patents, both at home and at Kennebec, are best explained in another
letter of Mr. Sherley’s. Though much time and money was expended, he
left it unaccomplished this year, and came without them.

  _James Sherley in England to the New Plymouth Colony_:

  Most worthy and loving Friends,

  Some of your letters I received in July, and some since through
  Mr. Pierce; but till our main business, the patent, was granted,
  I could not settle my mind or pen to writing. Mr. Allerton was so
  turmoiled about it, that I neither would nor could have undertaken
  it, if I had been paid a thousand pounds; but the Lord so blessed
  his labours that he obtained the love and favour of important men
  of repute and position. He got granted from the Earl of Warwick and
  Sir Ferdinand Gorges all that Mr. Winslow desired in his letters
  to me, and more besides, which I leave him to relate. Then he sued
  to the king to confirm their grant, and to make you a corporation,
  and so to enable you to make and execute laws as freely as the
  government of Massachusetts. This the king graciously granted,
  referring it to the Lord Keeper to give order to the solicitor to
  draw it up, if there were a precedent for it. So the Lord Keeper
  furthered it all he could, and also the solicitor; but as Festus
  said to Paul: With no small sum of money obtained I this freedom.
  For, by the way, many riddles had to be solved, and many locks must
  be opened with the silver, nay, the golden key! Then it came to
  the Lord Treasurer, to have his warrant for making you custom-free
  for a certain time; but he would not do it, and referred it to the
  Council Table. And there Mr. Allerton attended day by day, when
  they sat, but could not get his petition read; and as Mr. Pierce
  was waiting with all the passengers at Bristol, he was forced to
  leave the further prosecution of it to a solicitor. But there is no
  fear nor doubt but that it will be granted,—for the chief of them
  are friendly; but he should certainly return by the first ship that
  comes, for if you had this confirmed, you would be in a position to
  govern with the power befitting your rank and the position God has
  called you to, and to stop the mouths of the base and scurrilous
  individuals who are ready to question and threaten you in every
  action. Besides, if you are freed of customs dues for seven years
  inward and twenty-one outward, the expense of the patent will be
  soon covered; and there is no doubt of ultimately obtaining it. But
  such things must work by degrees,—they cannot be hastened; so we
  (I write on behalf of all our partners here) beg you to urge Mr.
  Allerton to come, and his wife to spare him this one year more,
  to finish this important business, which will be so much for your
  good, and I hope for that of your posterity for many generations to
  come.

Thus much of this letter; it was dated March 19th, 1629; but the fact
of the matter was (as came out later), it was Mr. Allerton’s object
to have an opportunity to be sent over again for purposes of his own;
and with that idea he requested them to write thus. The extension of
the patent might easily have been finished, omitting the clause about
the customs (which was Mr. Allerton’s and Mr. Sherley’s device), it
having passed the king’s hand. But covetousness never brings anything
home, as the proverb says; and this opportunity being lost, it was
never accomplished, though a great deal of money was vainly and
lavishly expended on it. But of this more in its place.

       *       *       *       *       *

I almost omitted to mention that this year Mr. Allerton gave them
great and just offence by bringing over the unworthy Morton, who had
been sent home only the year before for his misdemeanours. He not
only brought him over, but into the very town (as if to beard them),
and lodged him at his own house, employing him as his secretary
till he was forced to send him away. So he returned to his old nest
in Massachusetts, where it was not long before his misconduct gave
them proper cause to apprehend him, and he was again sent by them a
prisoner to England, where he lay a good time in Exeter Gaol. For,
besides his misdeeds here, he was strongly suspected of the murder
of a man who had ventured money with him, when he first came to
New England. A warrant had been sent from the Lord Chief Justice
to apprehend him, by virtue of which the Governor of Massachusetts
sent him to England; and as punishment for his misdemeanours there,
they demolished his house, so that it might no longer be a roost for
such unclean birds to nestle in. But he got free again, and wrote an
infamous and scurrilous book full of lies and slanders against many
godly men of the country in high position, and of profane calumnies
against their names and persons, and the ways of God. After several
years, when the war was at its height in England, he returned to the
country, and was imprisoned at Boston, for the book and other things,
having grown old in wickedness.

As for the rest of Mr. Allerton’s instructions, enjoining him not to
exceed the £50 worth of goods before mentioned, nor to bring any but
trading commodities, he ignored them, and brought over many other
kinds of retail goods, selling what he could by the way on his own
account, and delivering them the rest, which he said were theirs.
Of trading goods he brought scarcely any, making excuses that they
had expended so much on the Leyden people, the patent, etc. As
regards exceeding his instructions, he laid the responsibility on Mr.
Sherley, etc. He promised that next year they should have whatever
trading goods they sent for. In this way he put them off, and though
Mr. Sherley had written somewhat bearing out his statements, he was
probably over-ruled by Mr. Allerton to do so.

The following is a still further extract from his former letter,
bearing on this:

  I see what you write in your letters concerning the paying of our
  debts, which I confess are great, and need to be carefully watched.
  But let us not fulfill the proverb; to spend a shilling on a purse
  and put sixpence in it; nor think by the expenditure of £50 a year
  to raise means to pay our debts; you need to be well supplied and
  fully provided,—and, chiefly, lovingly to agree.

This shows that there was a kind of concurrence between Mr. Allerton
and the adventurers in England about these things, and that they had
more regard for his opinion than for the advice sent from here. This
troubled them greatly here, not knowing how to help it, and being
loth to make any breach. Another more private difficulty was that
Mr. Allerton had married the daughter of their reverend elder, Mr.
Brewster, who was beloved and honoured by them, taking great pains in
dispensing and teaching the word of God to them, and whom they were
loth to grieve in any way; so they bore with much for that reason.

Again, Mr. Allerton procured such letters from Mr. Sherley, with such
applause of his wisdom, care, and faithfulness, that as things stood,
none seemed so fit to send as he. Besides, though private gain, I
feel sure, was one cause of Mr. Allerton’s doings, I think, or at
least charity leads me to hope, that he intended to deal faithfully
with his partners here in the main. But things fell out otherwise and
missed their aim, and the settlement in general suffered considerably
in consequence, as will appear.

Along the same lines was another plan of Mr. Allerton’s and his
friends, unknown to the other partners here, until it was so far
proceeded with that they felt obliged to sanction it and join with
them, though they did not like it and mistrusted the outcome. It is
explained in another extract from Mr. Sherley’s letter, as follows:

  I wish to acquaint you that we have thought good to become partners
  in a separate venture with one Edward Ashley—a man I think some
  of you know—but it only concerns the place for which he has a
  patent in Mr. Beauchamp’s name. For this purpose we have supplied
  him plentifully with provisions, etc. If you wish to join us as
  partners in this, we are willing you should. Hearing how anxious
  Bristol men were to join the enterprise and supply him, expecting
  good profits, we thought it important that we should not to miss
  such opportunity. He, on his side, like a shrewd man, thought it
  better to join with those who already had a settlement to back him
  there, than with strangers. It is not known that you are in the
  partnership, but only we four, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Beauchamp, myself,
  and Mr. Hatherley, who entered upon it in view of the great loss we
  have already sustained in the first plantation there. But as I said
  before, if you wish to join with us, we are willing you should. Mr.
  Allerton had no power from you to make this new contract, nor was
  he willing to do anything without your consent. Mr. William Pierce
  joined with us because of landing Ashley and his goods there. He
  has a new boat with him, and boards to make another, with four
  or five strong fellows, one of whom is a carpenter. In case you
  are not willing to join us, fearing the expense and doubting the
  success, we beg you to afford him all the help you can, either with
  men, goods, or boats, and we will pay you for anything that he has.
  We wish you to keep the accounts separate, even if you join us,
  because there are partners in this enterprise who are not in the
  other; so charge him with men’s wages, boat-hire, or goods; and
  anything you receive from him, charge to the colony.

  And now loving friends and partners, if you join in Ashley’s
  project, we having found the money to stock this business and the
  other, it seems reasonable that you should bear your share of the
  stock, if not in money, by security to that amount. I hope in God,
  by His blessing and your honest endeavour, it may soon be paid; but
  the term of the partnership is not long, so it behoves us all to
  make the best use of the time that we possibly can, and let every
  one put his shoulder to the burden and it will be lighter. I know
  you will consider this carefully, and return a satisfactory answer.
  None of us would have risked this, except as a support to your own
  enterprise.

  There is no likelihood of doing any good by attempting to buy the
  debts for the purchase of the old adventurer’s shares. I know some
  would not forego their interest, so let it run its course; it
  is arranged they are to be paid yearly, and so I hope they will
  be, according to agreement. The Lord grant that our loves and
  affections may still be united and knit together; and so we rest
  your ever loving friends,

                                                    JAMES SHERLEY.
                                                    TIMOTHY HATHERLEY.
  _Bristol, March 19th, 1629._

This matter of buying the debts of the purchase was part of Mr.
Allerton’s instructions, and in many instances it might have been
done to advantage for ready cash; but Mr. Sherley disliked it. The
Ashley enterprise troubled them much, for though he had ability
enough to manage the business, he was known to be a very profane
young man; and he had for some time lived among the Indians as a
savage, naked like them, adopting their manners and customs, and
in the meantime acquiring their language; so they feared he might
not keep straight, though he promised better things. As soon as he
landed at the place intended, called Penobscot, some four score
leagues from this place, he wrote (and afterwards came) desiring to
be supplied with wampum, corn for the winter, and other things. They
bethought them that these were their chief commodities, and would
be continually needed by him, and it would thus be greatly to the
prejudice of their own trade at Kennebec, if, though they did not
join the partnership, they should still have to supply him; on the
other hand, if they should both refuse to join the partnership and
to supply him, they would greatly offend their friends in England,
and might possibly lose them. Again, Ashley and Mr. Allerton,
laying their crafty wits together, might get supplies elsewhere;
and whether they joined in it or not, they knew Mr. Allerton would
do so, and then he would swim, as it were, between both, to the
prejudice of both,—but especially of themselves. They had reason to
think this scheme was chiefly of his contriving, and Ashley was a fit
tool. So, to prevent worse mischief, they resolved to enter the new
partnership, and gave him supplies of what they could, and kept a
watch on his doings as well as they could. To do so more effectively,
they associated with him, as an equal, as it were, and not merely as
a servant, a steady young man who had come from Leyden; and as he
was discreet, and could be trusted, they were able to give him such
instructions as kept Ashley within bounds. So they replied to their
friends in England that they accepted their offer and joined with
them in Ashley’s enterprise, but told them what their fears were in
regard to him.

When they had received full account of all the goods sent over to
them that year, they saw they were very short of trading goods, and
that Ashley was far better supplied than themselves. They were even
forced to buy supplies from the fishermen, and such things as cotton,
kersey, and other cloth from Mr. Allerton himself, and so to dispose
of a large part of their beaver at reduced rates over here, instead
of sending it home to help discharge their debts. This vexed them
greatly, but Mr. Allerton assured them that next year they should
have whatever they wrote for. Their engagements for this year were
large indeed,—when they came to know them, which was not till two
years after; and were increased by Mr. Allerton raising large sums
at Bristol at 50 per cent again, which he insisted he was forced to
do, otherwise he could have got no goods transported by the fishing
ships in the spring,—such was their ill-will towards the trade of the
colony. But whether this was any more than an excuse, some of them
doubted; however, the burden lay on their shoulders, and they must
bear it,—as they did many other heavy loads before the end.

This necessity of paying 50 per cent, and the difficulty of having
their goods transported by the fishing ships early in the year
during the best season for trade, put them upon another project.
Mr. Allerton after the fishing season was over, secured a bargain
in salt, at a good fishing place, and bought it. It came to about
£113, and shortly after he might have got £30 clear profit for it,
without any trouble. But Mr. Winslow and some of the other partners
coming that way from Kennebec in the bark, met Mr. Allerton, and
persuaded him not to sell the salt, but suggested keeping it for
themselves, and hiring a ship in the west country to come fishing for
them on shares, as was the custom. Her salt being here already, and
a dock built where it lay safely housed, instead of bringing salt,
they might load her full of trading goods without paying freight,
and receive them in plenty of time, which would be greatly to their
advantage. On arrival at New Plymouth this plan was discussed, and
approved by all but the Governor, who was against it, as they had
always lost by fishing; but the rest were strongly in favour of it,
believing that they might make good profits by the fishing; and even
if they should only save a little, or actually lose something by it,
the advantage of getting early supplies would be ample return. So he
gave way, and it was referred to their friends in England, to allow
or disallow it. Of this, more in its place.

Considering what had to be done about the patents and in what state
it had been left, and owing to Mr. Sherley’s earnest wish to have
Mr. Allerton come over to finish it and complete the accounts, etc.,
it was decided to send him over again this year,—though it was
with some fear and jealousy. However, he made them fair promises
to perform all their business according to their directions, and
to redeem his former errors. So he was accordingly sent with full
instructions, and with long letters to Mr. Sherley and the rest,
both about Ashley’s business and their own; stating how essential it
was that they be supplied with trading commodities, what they had
suffered through want of them, and of what little use other goods
were in comparison. They fully explained about the fishing ship that
was to be hired and loaded with trading goods, to supply both them
and Ashley, and the advantages to be gained. It was left to their
decision to hire and fit her out, or not; but under no circumstances
to send one unless she were loaded with trading goods. But what
happened will appear in the account of next year’s doings.

I almost omitted another occurrence at the beginning of this year.
A Mr. Ralph Smith and his wife and family had come over to the Bay
of Massachusetts, and lived at present with some straggling people
at Nantasket. A boat from here putting in there on one occasion,
he earnestly begged them to give him and his family passage to New
Plymouth, with such effects as they could take; he had heard that
it was likely he might procure house-room here for some time, till
he might decide to settle here if permitted, or elsewhere, as God
should dispose; he was weary of being in that uncouth place, and in
such a poor house that it kept neither him nor his effects dry. So,
as he was a grave man and they understood he had been a minister,
they brought him, though they had no orders to do so. He was kindly
entertained here, and housed, and later he had the rest of his goods
and servants sent for and exercised his gifts among them. Afterwards
he was chosen to the ministry and remained there several years.

It was mentioned before, that several of those who came from Leyden,
sailed in ships that went to Salem, where Mr. Endicott had chief
command. Diseases which had developed among the passengers at sea,
infected those ashore, and many died; some of scurvy, others of an
infectious fever which was amongst them for some time, though our
people, through God’s goodness, escaped it. Whereupon Mr. Endicott
wrote for help, understanding that one of them at New Plymouth had
some skill as a physician, and had cured several of scurvy, and
others of various diseases, by letting blood and other means. So he
sent to the Governor here, requesting him to send him to them. The
Governor complied, and wrote to him, receiving a letter in reply.
This letter, though brief, shows the beginning of their acquaintance;
and as a manifestation of the truth and of the ways of God, I thought
it fitting and profitable to insert it here.

  _Governor John Endicott at Salem to Governor Bradford at New
  Plymouth_:

  Right Worthy Sir,

  It is an unusual thing that servants of one master and of the
  same household should be strangers! I assure you I do not desire
  it,—nay, to speak more plainly, I cannot be so to you. God’s people
  are all marked with one and the same mark, and sealed with one and
  the same seal, and have in the main, one and the same heart, guided
  by one and the same spirit of truth; and where this is, there can
  be no discord,—nay, there must needs be sweet harmony. And so I
  pray the Lord that we may, as Christian brethren, be united with
  you by a heavenly and unfeigned love; bending all our hearts and
  forces in furthering a work beyond our strength, with reverence and
  fear, and fastening our eyes always on Him Who is able to direct
  and prosper all our ways. I am much beholden to you for your kind
  love and care in sending Mr. Fuller among us, and rejoice at what
  I hear from him of your attitude towards the outward form of God’s
  worship. It is, as far as I can gather, no other than is warranted
  by the evidence of truth, and the same which I have maintained and
  professed ever since the Lord in His mercy revealed Himself unto
  me,—though very different from the common report of you that has
  been spread about. But God’s children must look for no less here
  below; and it is the great mercy of God that He strengthens them
  to go through with it. I need not be tedious to you now, for, God
  willing, I purpose to see your face shortly. In the meantime I
  humbly take my leave of you, committing you to the Lord’s blessed
  protection, and rest,

                                       Your assured loving friend,
                                                        JOHN ENDICOTT.
  _Naumkeag, May 11th, 1629._

A second letter received this year shows the progress of their church
affairs at Salem, which was the second church erected in these parts.
Afterwards the Lord established many more in several places.

  _Charles Gott at Salem to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth:_

  Sir,

  I make bold to trouble you with a few lines to inform you how it
  has pleased God to deal with us since you heard from us; how,
  notwithstanding all the opposition here and elsewhere, it has
  pleased God to lay a foundation which I hope is agreeable to His
  word in every way. It pleased the Lord to move the heart of our
  Governor to set apart July 10th as a solemn day of humiliation
  for the choice of a pastor and a teacher. The first part of the
  day was used for prayer and teaching, the latter part for the
  election, which was held in this way. The persons nominated, who
  had been ministers in England, were questioned concerning their
  calling. They acknowledged there was a twofold calling; the one
  an inward calling, when the Lord moved the heart of a man to take
  that calling upon him, and fitted him with gifts for it; the second
  an outward calling from the people, when a body of believers join
  together in covenant, to walk in all the ways of God; every male
  member having a free voice in the choice of the officers, etc. Now,
  we being satisfied that these two men were so qualified, as the
  apostle tells Timothy: A bishop must be blameless, sober, apt to
  teach, etc.,—I think I may say, as the eunuch said to Philip: What
  should hinder him from being baptised, seeing there was water, and
  he believed. So these two servants of God, giving full satisfaction
  by their answers and being thus fitted, we saw no reason why we
  might not freely vote for their election. Mr. Skelton was chosen
  pastor, and Mr. Higginson teacher; and they, accepting the choice,
  Mr. Higginson, with three or four of the gravest members of the
  church, laid their hands on Mr. Skelton, with prayer. After this
  there was imposition of hands on Mr. Higginson. Since then,
  Thursday (being as I take it the 6th of August) has been appointed
  for another day of humiliation, for the choice of elders and
  deacons, and for ordaining them.

  And now, good Sir, I hope that you and the rest of God’s people
  with you, who are acquainted with the ways of God, will say that
  herein a right foundation was laid, and that these two blessed
  servants of the Lord came in at the door, and not at the window.
  Thus I have made bold to trouble you with these few lines, desiring
  you to remember us.... And so rest,

                                    At your service in what I may,
                                                         CHARLES GOTT.
  _Salem, July 30th 1629._




CHAPTER XI

Ashley’s beginnings—Arrival of Hatherley on the Friendship and
Allerton on the White Angel—Hatherley examines the affairs of the
Colony—Failure of Allerton’s fishing voyage on the White Angel—Ashley
apprehended and sent to England—Discharge of Allerton from his
Agency—The first Execution—Day of Humiliation appointed for Boston,
Salem, Charlestown, and New Plymouth: 1630.


Ashley, being well supplied, had quickly gathered a good parcel of
beaver, and like a crafty pate he sent it all home, and would not pay
for the goods he had from here, but let them stand charged against
him, and drew still more. Though they knew his object well enough,
they let him go on, and wrote about it to England. However, owing to
the beaver they received there and sold (which appealed to them as
business men) and Mr. Allerton’s high praise of him, they were more
eager to supply him than the colony, and even somewhat disparaged it
in comparison.

They were also forced to buy him a bark, and equip her with a captain
and men to transport his corn and provisions, of which he used large
quantities; for the Indians of those parts grew no corn, and at
harvest time, when the corn here is ready, the weather is so bad and
the season so dangerous that a shallop is no good for the purpose.

This spring the settlers looked anxiously for timely supplies in
the fishing ship which they expected, and for which they had been
at the expense of keeping a dock. But no ship came, nor were any
goods heard of. Later they learned that supplies had been sent to
Ashley by a fishing ship, which puzzled them,—the more so that they
had received no letters from Mr. Allerton or Mr. Sherley. However,
they carried on their business as well as they could. At last they
heard of the arrival of Mr. Pierce at the Bay of Massachusetts, with
passengers and goods. They sent a shallop at once, supposing he would
have something for them. But he told them he had nothing, and that
a ship had been sent out fishing, but after eleven weeks beating at
sea she met with such foul weather that she was forced to return
to England, and the season being over she gave up the voyage. Nor
had he heard much about goods in her for the settlers, or that she
belonged to them, though he had heard something of that kind from
Mr. Allerton. But Mr. Allerton had bought another ship, in which
he was coming, which was to fish for bass to the eastward, and was
bringing goods, etc. These reports troubled them and much astonished
them. Mr. Winslow having been eastward brought similar news with more
particulars, and that probably Mr. Allerton would not arrive till
late. At length, having an opportunity, they resolved to send Mr.
Winslow to England with what beaver they had ready, to see how their
business stood, being dubious about it, especially Mr. Allerton’s
behaviour. They wrote letters, and gave him such instructions as
they thought proper—and if he found things unsatisfactory he was to
discharge Mr. Allerton from being agent and from dealing any more for
them in the business, and he was to see how the accounts stood, etc.

About the middle of summer arrives Mr. Hatherley, one of the
partners, at the Bay of Massachusetts, having come over in the ship
that was sent fishing, called the Friendship. They sent to him at
once, not doubting that now their goods had come, and they would
know how everything stood. They found the news was true, that this
ship had been so long at sea and her provisions had been so largely
consumed or spoiled, that she abandoned the voyage. He himself had
been sent over by the rest of the partners to see how things went
here. He was at Bristol with Mr. Allerton in the ship they had
bought called the White Angel, which was all ready to set sail, when
that night came a messenger to Mr. Allerton from Barnstable, and
told him of the return of the fishing ship Friendship, and what had
happened. He, not knowing what to do, the ship lying there at his
expense ready to set sail, got Mr. Hatherley to go and discharge her
and take order for the goods. To be short, they found Mr. Hatherley
somewhat reserved and troubled, Mr. Allerton not being there, and
not knowing how to dispose of the goods till he came; but he said he
heard he had arrived by the White Angel, to eastward, and expected
to meet him there. He told them there was not much for them in the
Friendship,—only two parcels of Barnstable rugs, and two hogsheads
of methylene in wooden flackets. When these flackets came to be
examined, only six gallons of the two hogsheads remained, the rest
having been drunk up under the name “leakage.” For the rest, the ship
was laden with goods for various gentlemen and others who had come to
settle in Massachusetts, for which they had paid freight by the ton.
This was all the satisfaction they could get at present. They took
this small lot of goods and returned with the news, and a letter as
obscure, as follows:


  _James Sherley in England to the Colonists at New Plymouth_:

  Gentlemen, Partners, and loving Friends,

  Briefly thus: we have this year fitted out both a fishing ship and
  a trading ship. The latter we have bought, and so have disbursed a
  great deal of money as will appear by our accounts. This trading
  ship, the White Angel, is however to perform two duties: fishing
  for bass and trading; and lest, while Mr. Allerton is employed
  trading, the fishing might suffer by neglect of the sailors, we
  have begged our mutual friend, Mr. Hatherley, to go over with him,
  knowing he will be a comfort to Mr. Allerton, and that it will be
  a joy to you to see a careful, loving friend, and one who is a
  great stay to the business. If it should please God that one should
  die,—as God forbid,—the survivor would keep the accounts and the
  other matters straight. We have now spent large sums of money, as
  they will acquaint you.... When it was only four or five hundred
  pounds a piece, we did not trouble much about it, but left it to
  you and your agent, who without flattery deserves infinite thanks
  both from you and us for his pains.... But now that our ventures
  are double, nay treble for some of us, we have decided to send over
  our friend Mr. Hatherley, whom we pray you to entertain kindly. The
  main object of sending him is to examine the accounts and report
  on the condition of the business, about all of which we beg you to
  inform him fully. I will not promise, but shall endeavour to obtain
  the grant of your patent as desired, and that ere long. Pray do not
  take anything unkindly; I have not written out of suspicion of any
  unjust dealing. Be you all kindly saluted in the Lord, so I rest,

                                             Yours in what I may,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _March 25th, 1630._

It is not surprising that these things troubled them. First, there
was this fishing ship which had been fitted out, laden with other
goods and scarcely any of theirs, though their main object was
that he should bring them ample supplies, and their special orders
were not to fit out a ship except for this purpose; and now to
have the expenses charged to their account, though clean contrary
to their orders, was a mystery they could not understand,—the
more serious seeing that she had lost both her voyage and her
provisions. Secondly, that another ship should be bought, and sent
out on business never thought of by any here, much less intimated
to their friends in England either by word or letter, was equally
inexplicable. Bass fishing was never favoured by them, and as
soon as ever they heard of this project they foresaw loss. As for
Mr. Allerton’s trading for them, it never entered their thoughts.
Thirdly, that their friends should complain of disbursements, and
yet incur such great risks contrary to all orders, seemed very
strange,—all these important projects being wrapped up in a brief and
obscure letter. But amidst all their doubts they must have patience
till Mr. Allerton and Mr. Hatherley arrived. In the meantime Mr.
Winslow had gone to England, and the rest of them were forced to
follow their employments as best they could.

At length Mr. Hatherley and Mr. Allerton came, and finding those at
the settlement very depressed about it, Mr. Allerton told them that
the White Angel did not belong to them, and had not been bought on
their account; they need not have anything to do with her unless
they wished. Mr. Hatherley confirmed this, and said that they wanted
him to put in his share but he had refused. However, he questioned
whether they would not charge her to the general account, if there
were a loss,—which he now saw was likely,—seeing that Mr. Allerton
had proposed the undertaking. As for the fishing ship, he told
them they need not be anxious; and he produced her accounts, which
showed that her first fitting out did not much exceed £600. On the
failure of the first voyage, at her return, he had sold goods out of
her in England, and applied the money to the second voyage, which,
together with such goods and implements as Mr. Allerton would need
for fishing, such as salt, nets, spikes, nails, etc., would amount
to nearly £400. As for this second voyage it would show a profit on
the freight of the goods, and the sale of some cattle which would be
paid for partly here and partly by bills in England. So the total
loss, which would not be much above £200, would be all they would
have to bear on this account. Mr. Hatherley also told them he was
sent over as the agent of those in England, and that whatever he
and Mr. Allerton did jointly they would stand by; that they would
not sanction what Mr. Allerton did alone, unless they wished; but
what he (Mr. Hatherley) did alone they would guarantee. So they sold
him and Mr. Allerton all the rest of their stock of goods, and gave
them possession of them; and a statement was drawn up in writing,
and confirmed under both Mr. Allerton’s and Mr. Hatherley’s hands,
to the above effect. Mr. Allerton being best acquainted with the
people, sold all such goods as he had no need of for fishing, as nine
shallop-sails made of good new canvas, and the roads for them, all
new, and several such useful things, for beaver, by Mr. Hatherley’s
permission. Thus they thought they had well provided for themselves.
However those at the colony censured Mr. Allerton for entering upon
this project, doubting its success. Mr. Allerton brought to the town,
after he had sold what he could elsewhere, a great quantity of other
goods, besides trading commodities; as linen, bed-ticks, stockings,
tape, pins, rugs, etc., and said they could have them if they wished.
But they told him they had forbidden him before to bring any such
things on their account, as it would injure their trade and reduce
their returns. But he and Mr. Hatherley said if they would not take
them they would sell them themselves, and take corn for what they
could not sell otherwise. They told them they might, if they had
instructions to do so. These goods came to upwards of £500.

Mr. Allerton then went off on his bass fishing; and Mr. Hatherley, as
ordered, after examining the affairs of the settlement, about all of
which they informed him fully, asked for a boat to go and visit the
trading-house at Kennebec and Ashley at Penobscot. They accordingly
supplied him with a boat and men for the voyage, and acquainted him
thoroughly with everything. He was fully satisfied, and now saw
plainly that Mr. Allerton played his own game, not only to the great
detriment of the partners at the colony who employed and trusted
him, but to that of the partners in England also, by prejudicing
them against the settlement, assuring them that they would never be
able to recoup themselves for their great expenses if they would not
follow his advice and support his projects. Mr. Hatherley disclosed,
besides, a further scheme in connection with this ship the White
Angel. It appeared that as she was well fitted with good ordnance,
and known to have made a great fight at sea in which she came off
victorious, they had agreed with Mr. Allerton that after she had
brought her cargo of goods here and had loaded with fish, she would
go to Oporto, and there be sold, freight, ordnance, and all. But this
was prevented partly by the advice given by their friends here to Mr.
Allerton and Mr. Hatherley, showing how it might ruin their friends
in England, who were men of property, should it become known,—and in
the interests of the colony they utterly disallowed it, and protested
against it; and partly by their ill success, for they had arrived too
late to do any good with the fishing, and had brought such a drunken
crew that neither Mr. Allerton nor any one else could keep them in
order, as Mr. Hatherley and every one could see to their shame.

Ashley also was caught in a trap before Mr. Hatherley returned, for
trading powder and shot to the Indians. He was apprehended by those
in authority, who would have confiscated over a thousand weight of
beaver, but that the Governor here showed a bond, under Ashley’s
hand, to the amount of £500, not to trade any arms or ammunition to
the Indians, or otherwise misbehave himself. It was proved, besides,
that he had committed uncleanness with Indian women,—things feared
at the outset. So their goods were freed, but he was sent home in
custody. To make an end of him, after some time of imprisonment in
the Fleet, by means of friends he was set at liberty, and intended
to come over again, but the Lord prevented it; for he had an offer
made to him by some merchants to go to Russia, owing to his skill
in the beaver trade, which he accepted, and on returning home was
drowned at sea. This was his end.

Mr. Hatherley, fully conversant with the state of affairs, was
satisfied, and able to inform them how things stood between Mr.
Allerton and the colony. In fact he discovered that Mr. Allerton had
got the better of him, too, and had taken possession of the things
for which Mr. Hatherley stood jointly responsible to the partners
here, as concerned the Friendship, besides most of the freight money,
and some of his own private property. About this, however, more will
appear in due course. He returned to England and they sent a good
quantity of beaver with him to the rest of the partners; so both he
and it were very welcome to them.

Mr. Allerton was busied with his own affairs and returned with his
White Angel, being no longer employed by the settlement. But these
troubles were not ended till many years after, nor fully realized
for a long time, being folded up in obscurity and kept in the clouds
to the great loss and vexation of the colony. In the end, for peace’
sake they were forced to bear the unjust burden of them almost to
their undoing, as will appear if God give me life to finish this
history.

They sent letters by Mr. Hatherley to the partners in England, to
show them how they had settled with Mr. Hatherley and Mr. Allerton
for the Friendship’s account, and that they both affirmed that the
White Angel did not belong to them in any way, and that therefore
their account must not be charged with it. They also wrote to Mr.
Winslow, their agent, that he, too, should protest against it in
their names, should any such thing be intended and that they would
never permit it. They also signified that they dismissed Mr. Allerton
wholly from being their agent, or from having anything to do with any
of their business.

This year John Billington the elder, one of those who came over
first, was arraigned, and both by grand and petty jury found guilty
of wilful murder by plain and notorious evidence, and was accordingly
executed.

This, the first execution among them, was a great sadness to them.
They took all possible pains in the trial, and consulted Mr.
Winthrop, and the other leading men at the Bay of Massachusetts
recently arrived, who concurred with them that he ought to die, and
the land be purged of blood. He and some of his relatives had often
been punished for misconduct before, being one of the profanest
families among them. They came from London, and I know not by what
influence they were shuffled into the first body of settlers.
The charge against him was that he waylaid a young man, one John
Newcomin, about a former quarrel, and shot him with a gun, whereof he
died.

Having by good fortune a letter or two that came into my hands
concerning the proceedings of their reverend friends at the Bay of
Massachusetts, who had lately come over, I thought it not amiss to
insert them here, before concluding this year.

  Sir,

  Being at Salem on Sunday, the 25th of July, after the evening
  service Mr. Johnson received a letter from the Governor, Mr. John
  Winthrop, saying that the hand of God was upon them at Boston
  and those at Charlestown, visiting them with sickness and taking
  many from amongst them, the righteous suffering with the wicked
  in these bodily judgments. He desired the godly here to take into
  consideration what was to be done to pacify the Lord’s wrath, etc.
  It was concluded that the Lord was to be sought in righteousness;
  and to that end, the 6th day (Friday) of this present week, has
  been set apart that they may humble themselves before God and
  seek Him in His ordinances. On that day such godly persons as are
  amongst them, and known to each other, will at the end of the
  service publicly make known their godly desire, and practice it,
  viz., that they solemnly enter into covenant with the Lord to walk
  in His ways. As those who have agreed to keep this day live at
  three different places, each settlement having men of ability among
  them, they decided to form themselves into three distinct bodies,
  not intending to proceed hastily to the choice of officers, or
  the admission of others to their society, except a few well-known
  to them, promising afterwards to receive by confession of faith
  such as appear to be qualified. They earnestly beg the church at
  New Plymouth to set apart the same day, for the same purpose,
  beseeching the Lord to withdraw the hand of correction from them,
  and to establish and direct them in His ways. And though the time
  be short we pray you to be instigated to this godly work, as the
  cause is so urgent, whereby God will be honoured, and they and we
  shall undoubtedly receive sweet comfort. Be you kindly saluted, etc.

                                         Your brethren in Christ, etc.
  _Salem, July 26th, 1630._


  _A member of the New Plymouth Settlement, staying at Charlestown,
  to a friend at New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  I have the sad news to impart that many here are sick and many
  dead,—the Lord in mercy look upon them. Some here have entered
  into church covenant. The first four were the Governor—Mr. John
  Winthrop, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Dudley, and Mr. Wilson; since then five
  more have joined, and others are likely to follow daily. The Lord
  increase them both in number and in holiness, for His sake. There
  is a gentlemen here, Mr. Coddington, a Boston man, who told me that
  Mr. Cotton’s advice at Hampton was that they should take counsel of
  those at New Plymouth, and should do nothing to offend them. There
  are many honest Christians desirous to see us, some because of the
  love they bear us and the good opinion they have of us; others to
  see if we are so unworthy as they have heard. We have a name for
  holiness, and love towards God and his saints; the Lord make us
  more and more worthy of it, and that it may be more than a name, or
  else it will do us no good. Be you lovingly saluted, and all the
  rest of our friends. The Lord Jesus bless us, and the whole Israel
  of God. Amen.

                                             Your loving brother, etc.
  _Charlestown, Aug. 2nd, 1630._

Thus out of small beginnings greater things have grown by His hand
Who made all things out of nothing, and gives being to all things
that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light
enkindled here has shone to many, yea, in a sense, to our whole
nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.




CHAPTER XII

Mr. Winslow in England about the White Angel and Friendship
accounts—The White Angel let out to Allerton—Allerton’s extravagance
as agent—Josias Winslow sent from England as accountant—Penobscot
robbed by the French—Sir Christopher Gardiner in New England—The
Order of the Privy Council about New England: 1631.


Ashley being taken away by the hand of God, and Mr. Allerton
discharged from his employment, their business began to run smoothly
again, since they were better able to guide it, Penobscot being now
wholly in their control; for though Mr. William Pierce had a share
in it, as things stood he was glad to have his money repaid him and
resign. Mr. Winslow sent them over some supplies from England as soon
as he could, and when he arrived some time later he brought a large
supply of suitable goods with him, by means of which their trading
could be carried on successfully. Neither his representations nor the
letters they wrote succeeded in preventing Mr. Sherley and the rest
from charging both the Friendship and the White Angel to the general
account, which was the cause of continual contention thereafter.

I will now insert a letter of Mr. Winslow’s on the subject.

  _Edward Winslow in England to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  It chanced by God’s providence that I received and brought your
  letters per Mr. Allerton from Bristol to London; and I fear what
  the outcome will be. Mr. Allerton intended to fit out the ship
  again for fishing. Mr. Sherley, Mr. Beauchamp, and Mr. Andrews
  disclaim responsibility, protesting that but for us they would
  never have risked one penny; Mr. Hatherley takes no decided stand
  on either side. As to what you write about him and Mr. Allerton
  taking the White Angel upon themselves on behalf of the partners
  here, the others insist that they never gave any such orders, nor
  will they make it good; if those two like to be responsible for the
  account, well and good. What the upshot will be, I do not know.
  The Lord so direct and assist us that He may not be dishonoured
  by our dissensions. I hear from a friend that I was much blamed
  for telling what I heard in the spring about the plans for selling
  the ship in Spain; but if I had not told you what I heard so
  peremptorily reported,—and which I offered to prove at Bristol,—I
  should certainly have been unworthy of my employment. As to the
  power of attorney, given so long ago to Mr. Allerton, what we
  feared has happened: Mr. Sherley and the others have got it and
  will not surrender it, that being the instrument of our agents’
  credit to procure such sums. I expect bitter words, hard thoughts,
  and sour looks from several for writing this, as for reporting the
  former information. I would I had a more thankful task, but I hope
  a good conscience will make it comfortable, etc.

  _Nov. 16th, 1631._

Thus far he.

The deed mentioned above was given under their hand and seal when Mr.
Allerton was first employed by them, and its return was requested
when they first began to suspect him. He told them it was among his
papers, but he would find it and give it them before he went. When
he was ready to go it was demanded again. He said he had not found
it, but it was among his papers which he was taking with him, and he
would send it by the boat coming from the eastward; and then again
it could not be found, but he would look it up at sea. Whether Mr.
Sherley had it before or after this is not certain; but having it, he
would not let it go, and keeps it to this day. So even among friends
men need to be careful whom they trust, and not let things of this
nature lie long unrecalled.

  _James Sherley in England to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  I have received your letter through our friends Mr. Allerton
  and Mr. Hatherley, who, blessed be God, have arrived safely at
  Bristol. Mr. Hatherley has come to London, but Mr. Allerton I
  have not yet seen. We thank you, and are very glad you dissuaded
  him from the Spanish voyage, and that he did not fulfill his
  intentions; for we all utterly disliked the project, as well as the
  fishing of the Friendship. We wished him to sell the salt, and were
  unwilling to have him undertake so much business, partly because
  of previous failure, and partly because we were loth to disburse
  so much money. But he assured us this would repay us, and that the
  colony would be long in doing so; nay, I remember that he even
  doubted if by your trading there you could meet your expenses and
  pay us, and for this very reason he induced us to undertake that
  business with Ashley, though he was a stranger to us....

  As to the cost of the fishing ship we are sorry it proves so heavy,
  and are willing to take our share of it. What Mr. Hatherley and Mr.
  Allerton have proposed no doubt they themselves will make good; we
  gave them no authority to make any composition to separate you from
  us in this or any other scheme. Furthermore, I think you have no
  cause to forsake us, for we involved you in nothing but what your
  agent advocated and you in your letters desired. If he exceeded
  your authority I hope you will not blame us, much less leave us in
  the lurch, now that our money is expended.... But I fear neither
  you nor we have been properly dealt with; for, as you write, surely
  one half of £4000—nay a quarter—in commodities, despatched in
  seasonable time, would have provided you more effectively. Yet,
  in spite of all this and much more that I might write, I cannot
  but think him honest, and that his intentions were good; but the
  wisest may fail. Well, now that it has pleased God to give us hope
  of agreeing, doubt not but we shall all endeavour to adjust these
  accounts fairly, as soon as we possibly can. I suppose you sent
  over Mr. Winslow and we Mr. Hatherley to certify each other how the
  state of things stood. We have received some satisfaction upon Mr.
  Hatherley’s return, and I hope you will receive the same upon Mr.
  Winslow’s return.

  Now to answer your letter more particularly; I shall be very brief.
  The charging of the White Angel to your account could not be more
  surprising to you than the purchase of her was to us; for you
  commissioned[8] that what he did you would stand by; we gave him no
  such commission, yet for his credit and your sakes paid the bills
  he charged us with.... As to my writing that she was to fulfill
  two purposes, fishing and trading, believe me I never so much as
  thought of any private trading, nor will I countenance any; for I
  was always against it, and used these very words: It will reduce
  the profits of the settlement and ruin it.

The rest of the letter I omit as it is not very pertinent. It was
dated Nov. 19th, 1631. In another letter, dated Nov. 24th, in answer
to the general letter on the same subject, there are these words:

  As to the White Angel about which you write so earnestly, saying we
  thrust her upon you contrary to the intentions of the purchaser,
  we say you forget yourselves and do us wrong. We will not take
  upon us to divine what the thoughts or intentions of the purchaser
  were; but what he spoke we heard, and that we will affirm and make
  good against anyone, viz., that unless she were bought Ashley could
  not be supplied, and if he were not supplied we could not recoup
  ourselves for our losses on your account.

From another of his dated Jan. 2nd, 1631:

  We propose to keep the Friendship and the White Angel, as regards
  last year’s voyages, on the general account, hoping that together
  they will produce profit rather than loss, and cause less confusion
  in our accounts and less disturbance in our intercourse. As for the
  White Angel, though we laid out the money and took bills of sale in
  our own names, none of us had so much as a thought of separating
  from you in any way this year, because we did not wish the world (I
  may say Bristol) to see any breach between Mr. Allerton and you,
  or between him and us, and so disgrace him in his proceedings. We
  have now let him the ship at £30 per month, by charter-party and
  secured him in a bond of £1000 to perform the contract and bring
  her back to London, if God please. What he takes in her for you
  shall be marked with your mark, and bills of lading shall be taken
  and sent in Mr. Winslow’s letter, who is this day riding to Bristol
  about it. So in this voyage we deal with him as strangers, not as
  partners. He has turned in three books of accounts, one for the
  company, another for Ashley’s business, and the third for the White
  Angel and Friendship. The books, or copies of them, we propose to
  send you, for you may discover the errors in them more readily than
  we could. It can be reckoned how much money he has had from us, and
  you can charge him with all the beaver he had from you. The total
  sum, as he has it, is £7103-7-1. Of this he has expended, and given
  to Mr. Vines and others, about £543. You will know from your books
  whether you had the goods he charges to you. This is all I can say
  at present concerning the accounts. He expected to complete them in
  a few hours; but he and Straton and Fogg were over a month at them;
  but he could not wait till we had examined them for fear of losing
  his fishing voyage,—which I fear he has already done....

  We bless God Who put it into our minds to send to each other; for
  had Mr. Allerton gone on in that risky and expensive way one year
  more we should not have been able to meet his expenditure; nay,
  both he and we must have lain in the ditch and sunk under the
  burden.... Had there been an orderly course taken and your business
  better managed, by the blessing of God yours would have been the
  ablest colony we know of, undertaken by Englishmen....

Thus far of these letters of Mr. Sherley’s.

       *       *       *       *       *

A few observations about former letters, and then I will give the
simple truth of the things in controversy between them—at least as
far as good evidence can show.

1. It seems clear that Ashley’s business and the buying of the ship
and the resultant plans were first contrived by Mr. Allerton.

2. Though Mr. Allerton may not have intended to wrong the plantation,
his own private ends led him astray; for it became known that in the
first two or three years of his employment as agent, he had made
£400, and put it into a brewery of Mr. Collier’s in London. Again,
Mr. Sherley and he had private dealings; and yet I believe, as he
mentioned above, that Mr. Sherley did not countenance any private
trading which he thought would injure the colony.

3. Considering all they had done for the settlement, in former risks
and recent disbursements, when Mr. Allerton’s proposals turned out
unsuccessful they thought it fair that the colony should bear them,
and so took advantage of such power as Mr. Allerton formerly had as
their agent, to let these losses devolve upon them.

4. As for Mr. Allerton, with pity and compassion I may say with the
apostle Timothy (I Tim. vi, 9, 10): “But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare ... and pierce themselves through with
many sorrows ... for the love of money is the root of all evil.”
God give him to see the evil of his ways, that he may find mercy in
repentance for the wrongs he has done.

As to the two ships, the truth as far as could be learned was this.
The idea of fitting out the fishing ship—the Friendship—came first
from the colony, but was left to them in England to carry out or not,
as they thought best. But when it was fully considered, and the plan
seemed hopeful and profitable, it was suggested: why might they not
do it for themselves to cover their losses, and without letting the
colony share in it. If their supplies reached them in time, that was
sufficient. So they hired her and fitted her out, and freighted her
as full as she could carry with the goods of passengers belonging
to Massachusetts, which rose to a good sum of money, and intended
to send the New Plymouth settlement their goods in the other ship.
Mr. Hatherley confirmed the following upon oath before the Governor
and Deputy Governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Dudley:
that the Friendship was not intended for the joint partnership, but
for the private account of Mr. James Sherley, Mr. Beauchamp, Mr.
Andrews, Mr. Allerton, and himself. This deposition was taken under
their hands at Boston, Aug. 29th, 1639, as may be seen besides other
testimony.

As for the White Angel, though she was first bought, or at least the
price arranged, by Mr. Allerton at Bristol, Mr. Sherley need not have
disbursed the money against his will. That she was not intended for
the general partnership appears from various evidence. The bills of
sale were made out in their own names, without any reference to the
colony at all; namely, Mr. Sherley, Mr. Beauchamp, Mr. Andrews, Mr.
Denison, and Mr. Allerton,—Mr. Hatherley would not join them in this.

Mr. Allerton took oath to the same effect concerning the White Angel
before the Governor and Deputy, on September 7th, 1639, and deposed
that Mr. Hatherley and himself, on behalf of them all, agreed to free
all the rest of the New Plymouth partners from the losses of the
Friendship for £200.

Concerning Mr. Allerton’s accounts, they were so lengthy and
intricate that they could not understand them, much less correct
them, and it was two or three years before they could unravel them
even imperfectly. I know not why, but he took upon himself to keep
all the accounts, though Mr. Sherley, their agent, was to buy and
sell all their goods, and did so usually; but it was Mr. Allerton
who passed in accounts for all disbursements,—goods bought which he
never saw, the expenses for the Leyden people incurred by others in
his absence, for the patents, etc.,—in connection with all of which
he made it appear that the balance owing to him was over £300, and
demanded payment. However, on examination he was found to be over
£2000 debtor to them, besides I know not how much that could never
be cleared up, interest unaccounted, etc. Then they were obliged
to pass bills for expenses that were intolerable. The fees for the
patent came to above £500—all for nothing; £30 given at a clap,
and £50 spent on a journey, etc. No wonder Mr. Sherley said that
if their business had been better managed they might have been the
richest English colony at that time. He even screwed up his poor old
father-in-law’s account to above £200, when, alas! he, poor man,
never dreamed that what he had received could be near that value,
believing that many of the things brought over had been given by Mr.
Allerton as presents to him and his children. Nor did they come to
nearly that value in fact, the prices being inflated by interest.

This year Mr. Sherley, too, sent over a cash account, showing what
Mr. Allerton had received from them and disbursed, for which he
referred to his accounts; besides an account of beaver sold, which
Mr. Winslow and others had taken over, and a large supply of goods
which Mr. Winslow had brought back, and all the disbursements for the
Friendship and White Angel, and anything else he could charge the
partners with. In these accounts of Mr. Sherley’s some things were
obscure and some twice charged. They made them debtor to the total
amount of £4770-19-2, besides £1000 still due for the purchase yet
unpaid, and notwithstanding all the beaver and goods that both Ashley
and they had shipped over.

Into such huge sums had Mr. Allerton run them in two years, for at
the end of 1628 all their debts did not much exceed £400, as will be
remembered; now they amounted to as many thousands! In 1629, when Mr.
Sherley and Mr. Hatherley were at Bristol, they wrote a long letter
in which they gave an account of the debts and the sums that had been
disbursed; but Mr. Allerton begged and entreated them to omit it.
So they blotted out two lines in which the sums were mentioned, and
wrote over them so that not a word could be read, to which they have
since confessed. They were thus kept hoodwinked, until now they found
themselves deeply in debt.

To mend matters, Mr. Allerton now wholly deserted them; having
brought them into the briars, he leaves them to get out as best they
can. But God crossed him mightily, for having hired the ship from Mr.
Sherley at £30 a month, he set out again with a drunken crew, and
so overloaded her that she could not bear sail, and they were forced
to put into Milford Haven and reload her, which lost them the season
and resulted in a less profitable voyage than the year before. Having
reached this country he sold trading commodities to any that would
buy, to the serious detriment of the colony; but what was worse,
what he could not sell outright he sold on credit, and formed a
disreputable company of traders to cover every hole and corner,—even
up the Kennebec, to take away the trade from the settlement’s house
there, on the patent for which he had wasted so much of their money.
Not content with this, he did all he could to reduce its value to the
colony and ruin them; he took partners, and set up a trading-house
beyond Penobscot, to cut off the trade there too. But the French,
seeing that it would injure them, came down on them before they were
well settled, and ousted them, killing two of their men, and taking
all the goods, to a considerable value, the loss being mostly, if not
all Mr. Allerton’s. The rest of the men were sent into France and
this was the end of that project. Those to whom he sold on credit,
being loose and drunken fellows, for the most part cheated him of
all they got into their hands. Afterwards, when he came to New
Plymouth, the church called him to account for these and other gross
miscarriages. He confessed his fault, and promised better ways, and
that he would wind himself out of the tangle as soon as he could, etc.

This year Mr. Sherley must needs send them out a new accountant. He
had made mention of such a thing the year before, but they wrote
him that their expenses were so great already that he need not
increase them in this way, and that if they were dealt with fairly
and had their accounts properly sent in from there, they could keep
their accounts here themselves. Nevertheless, he sent them over a
man they could not well refuse, as he was a younger brother of Mr.
Winslow’s,—Mr. Josias Winslow,—whom they had been at considerable
expense to instruct in London before he came. He came over in the
White Angel with Mr. Allerton, and there began his first employment.

This year their house at Penobscot was robbed by the French, and all
their goods of any value was taken, up to £400 or £500 at least. The
captain in charge of the house, and some of the men with him, had
gone westward with their vessel to fetch a supply of goods which had
been brought over for them. In the meantime came a small French ship
into the harbour, and amongst the company was a false Scot. They
pretended they had just come in from sea, and did not know where they
were; that their vessel was very leaky, and asked if they might haul
her ashore and mend her. They used many French compliments, and in
the end, seeing only three or four servants, and understanding from
this Scotchman that the captain and the rest were away from home,
they began praising their guns and muskets that lay in racks on the
wall, and took them down to look at them, asking if they were loaded.
And when they had hold of them, one of them presents a gun ready
charged at the servants and another a pistol, and bid them quietly
deliver up their goods. Some of the men were carried aboard, and
others had to help carry the goods. When they had taken what they
wanted, they set them at liberty and went their way, with this mock:
to tell their captain when he returned that some of the Isle of Rey
gentlemen had been there.

This year Sir Christopher Gardiner, a descendent of that Bishop of
Winchester who was so great a persecutor of God’s saints in Queen
Mary’s days, and a great traveller, who had received the honour
of knighthood at Jerusalem, being made knight of the Sepulchre
there, came into these parts under pretence of forsaking the world
and living a godly life. He was not unwilling to perform any mean
employment, or to take any pains for his living; and some time after
he offered to join the churches in several places. He brought over
with him a servant or two and a comely young woman, whom he called
his cousin, but it was suspected that, after the Italian manner, she
was his concubine. Having been living in Massachusetts, for some
misbehaviour which he should have answered for there, he fled from
authority and got among the Indians of these parts. He was pursued,
but they could not get him, though they promised a reward if he were
found. The Indians came to the Governor here and told where he was,
and asked if they might kill him. He told them by no means, but if
they could capture him and bring him here, they would be paid for
their pains. They said he had a gun and a rapier and he would kill
them if they attempted it, and the Massachusetts Indians had said
they might kill him. But the Governor told them they must not kill
him, but watch their opportunity and seize him. So they did; for
coming upon him by the riverside, he got into a canoe to escape
and while he was covering them with his gun to keep them off, the
stream carried the canoe against a rock and tumbled both him and his
gun and rapier into the water. But he got out, and having a little
dagger by his side, they dare not close with him. So they got some
long poles and soon beat the dagger out of his hands, when he was
glad to yield, and they brought him to the Governor. But his arms
and hands were badly swollen and very sore with the blows they had
given him. So he treated him kindly and sent him to a lodging where
his arms were bathed and anointed, and he was quickly well again. The
Governor blamed the Indians for beating him so much, but they said
they only whipped him a little with sticks! In his lodging, those
who made his bed, found a little note-book that had slipt out of
his pocket by accident, in which was a memorandum of the day he was
reconciled to the pope and the church of Rome, and in what university
he took his scapula, and such and such degrees. This was handed over
to the Governor here, who sent the Governor of Massachusetts word of
his capture. He was sent for, and the notes were handed over to the
Governor there, who was very grateful. After Sir Christopher got to
England he showed his malice; but God prevented him.

  _Governor Winthrop at Boston to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  It has pleased God to bring Sir Christopher Gardiner safely to us,
  with his dependents. And though I never intended to take any harsh
  measures with him, but to treat him as his position demanded, I
  let him know of your kind words about him, and that he will speed
  the better for your mediation. It was a special providence of God
  to bring those notes of his into our hands. Please instruct all
  that are aware of them not to inform anyone, for that may frustrate
  the use to be made of them. The Good Lord our God Who has always
  ordered things for the good of His poor churches here, direct us
  in this aright, and dispose it to a good issue. I am sorry we put
  you to so much trouble about this gentleman, especially at this
  busy time, but I knew not how to avoid it. I must again beg you to
  let me know what expense and trouble any of your people have been
  at on his account, that it may be recompensed. So, with the true
  affection of a friend, desiring all happiness to you and yours,
  and to all my worthy friends with you, whom I love in the Lord, I
  commend you to His grace and providence, and rest,

                                         Your most assured friend
                                                        JOHN WINTHROP.
  _Boston, May 5th, 1631._

Anent this I will take the liberty to show what occurred through
this man’s malice, complying with others. And though I do not doubt
it will be more fully dealt with by honoured friends whom it more
directly concerned and who have more exact knowledge of the matter,
I will give a hint of it here, showing God’s providence in preventing
the injury that might have resulted. The information I received
was in a letter from my much honoured and beloved friend, Mr. John
Winthrop, Governor of Massachusetts.

  _Governor Winthrop at Boston to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  Upon a petition presented by Sir Christopher Gardiner, Sir
  Ferdinand Gorges, Captain Mason, etc., against you and us, the
  cause was heard before the lords of the Privy Council, and was
  afterwards reported to the King, the success of which makes it
  evident to all that the Lord has care of His people here. The
  passages are admirable, but too long to write. I heartily wish
  for an opportunity to impart them to you: they cover many sheets
  of paper. But the conclusion was (against all expectation) an
  order for our encouragement, and much blame and disgrace upon the
  adversaries. This calls for much thankfulness from us all, which
  we purpose, the Lord willing, to express in a day of Thanksgiving
  to our merciful God. I do not doubt but that you will consider
  whether it is not fitting for you to join in it. As He humbled us
  by our recent correction, so He has now lifted us up by an abundant
  rejoicing in our deliverance from so desperate a danger; and the
  instrument whereby our enemies hoped to ruin us. He has mercifully
  turned to our great advantage, as I shall further acquaint you when
  opportunity serves.

The following is the order of the Privy Council:

                                       _Jan. 19th, 1632._
                                           _AT THE COURT OF WHITEHALL_

                          _Present_

  _Sigillum_ LORD PRIVY SEAL      LORD COTTINGTON
  EARL OF DORSET                    MR. TREASURER
  LORD VISCOUNT FALKLAND            MR. VICE CHAMBERLAIN
  LORD BISHOP OF LONDON             MR. SECRETARY COOKE
                    MASTER SECRETARY WINDBANK

  Whereas his majesty has lately been informed of great distraction
  and much disorder in that plantation in the parts of America
  called New England, which if they be true and suffered to run on,
  would tend to the great dishonour of this kingdom and the utter
  ruin of that plantation. For prevention whereof and for the orderly
  settling of the government according to the intention of those
  patents which have been granted by his majesty and by his late
  royal father King James, it has pleased his majesty that the lords
  and others of his most honourable Privy Council should take the
  same into consideration. Their lordships in the first place thought
  fit to make a committee of this board to examine the information;
  which committee, having called several of the principal adventurers
  in the plantation, and heard those that are complainants against
  them, most of the things informed being denied and remaining to
  be proved by parties that must be called from that place, which
  would require a long lapse of time; and at present their lordships
  finding the adventurers occupied in the dispatch of men, victuals,
  and merchandise for that place, all of which would be at a
  standstill if the adventurers should be discouraged or suspect that
  the state had no good opinion of the plantation; their lordships,
  not laying the fault or fancies (if any be) of some individuals
  upon the general government of the principal adventurers, which
  in due time is to be further enquired into, have thought fit in
  the meantime to declare that the appearances were so fair and the
  hopes so great, and that the country would prove both so beneficial
  to this kingdom and so profitable to the particular adventurers,
  that the adventurers had cause to go on cheerfully with their
  undertakings, and rest assured that if things were carried on as
  was claimed when the patents were granted and as by the patents is
  appointed, his Majesty would not only maintain the liberties and
  privileges heretofore granted, but supply anything further that
  might tend to the good government, prosperity, and comfort of his
  people there of that place....

                                                     WILLIAM TRUMBALL.




CHAPTER XIII

Sale of the White Angel to Allerton—The White Angel sold in
Spain—Hatherley settles in New England—Rapid increase of the
Colonists’ Prosperity—Divisions in the Church of New Plymouth—Wreck
of William Pierce in the Lyon: 1632.


Mr. Allerton returned to England, little regarding his bond of £1000
to perform his contract; for though bound to take the ship to London,
and to pay £30 per month for her hire, he did neither, for he stopped
at Bristol to fit her out again there; and this he did three times.
She had been ten months on the former voyage, but he never paid a
penny for her hire. It would seem he knew well enough how to deal
with Mr. Sherley—he, though he must needs foist her upon the general
account, disposing of her as he pleased. And though Mr. Allerton had
thus broken his contract in every way, Mr. Sherley goes and sells
him both the ship and all her accounts from first to last in a bond
for £2000,—in effect he might as well have given her to him,—and not
only this, but as good as gives him sanctuary, for he allows him one
year to prepare his account and present it to the partners here, and
another year to make payment of what should be due upon the account.
In the meantime he wrote earnestly to them not to hinder him in his
business, or delay him for the sake of the accounts, etc. The result
was that in the interim he collected all the money due for freight
and any other amounts belonging to her or the Friendship, as his
own private debts; and, after all, sold ship, ordnance, fish, and
other lading in Spain, as he had first planned, and what became of
the money he best knows. Meanwhile their hands were tied and they
could, do nothing but look on, till he had transferred everything to
other men’s hands, except a few cattle and a little land and a few
things he had here at New Plymouth, and so ultimately removed all his
belongings, as he had already done himself, from hence.

Mr. Hatherley came over again this year upon his own business, and
began to make preparations to settle in the country. As appeared
later, he had closed out his share in the business, and remained
a partner in name only, nor did he trouble about their affairs in
any way, except as regards his engagements in connection with the
Friendship. In connection with that, and some dealings between Mr.
Allerton and him, and some debts that Mr. Allerton owed him on
private transactions, he drew up an account of over £2000, and tried
to thrust it upon the partners here on the ground that Mr. Allerton
had been their agent. But they told him they had been fooled long
enough in that way, and showed him that it was no concern of theirs.
As for the debts of the Friendship he must expect to meet them.

Mr. Pierce did the same, Mr. Allerton having got into his debt also
in their private dealings. However, the partners here easily shook
off these worries! but Mr. Allerton brought much trouble and vexation
upon himself, as he had upon others, for Mr. Denison sued him for the
money he had disbursed for one-sixth share in the White Angel, and
recovered it with damages.

Though the partners were thus plunged into heavy engagements and
unjust debts, the Lord prospered their trading, and they made large
returns yearly, and would soon have freed themselves if they had
been fairly dealt with otherwise. The settlers, too, began to grow
in prosperity, through the influx of many people to the country,
especially to the Bay of Massachusetts. Thereby corn and cattle
rose to a high price, and many were enriched, and commodities grew
plentiful. But in other regards this benefit turned to their harm,
and this accession of strength to weakness. For as their stocks
increased and became more saleable, there was no longer any holding
them together; they must of necessity obtain bigger holdings,
otherwise they could not keep their cattle; and having oxen they
must have land for ploughing. So in time no one thought he could
live unless he had cattle and a great deal of land to keep them, all
striving to increase their stocks. By this means they were quickly
scattered all over the Bay, and the town in which they had lived
compactly until now was left very thinly peopled, and in a short time
almost desolate.

If this had been all the ill that resulted, it would have been small
in comparison with the rest; but the church also was disunited, and
those who had lived so long together in Christian and comfortable
fellowship, must now part and suffer many divisions. First, those who
lived on their lots on the other side of the Bay, called Duxbury,
owing to the trouble of bringing their wives and children to public
worship and church-meetings here, growing to a considerable number,
sued to be separated and become a distinct body. So they were allowed
to separate about this time though very unwillingly. To prevent
any further scattering from this place and weakening of it, it was
thought best to give out some good farms in the neighbourhood to
special persons who would promise to live at New Plymouth, likely
to be helpful to the church and commonwealth, and so tie the lands
to New Plymouth as farms for its inhabitants, so that their cattle
and their ploughed land might be kept there by servants, and they
retain their dwellings here. So some special lands were granted at
a place called Green’s Harbour, where no allotments had been made
in the former division, very well-meadowed and suitable for raising
cattle. But alas! this remedy proved worse than the disease; for
within a few years those who had thus got footing there, seceded from
the church, partly deliberately, and partly by wearing out the rest
with importunity and pleas of exigency, so that they either had to
let them go or live in continual contention. Others again, thinking
themselves impoverished, or for want of accommodation, broke away on
one pretence or another, thinking their own imagined necessity or the
example of others sufficient warrant. This I fear will be the ruin of
New England,—at least of the churches of God there,—and will provoke
the Lord’s displeasure against them.

This year Mr. William Pierce came over and brought goods and
passengers in a ship called the Lyon which belonged chiefly to Mr.
Sherley and the rest of the London partners, those here having
nothing to do with her. Besides some beaver which they had sent home
earlier in the year, they sent in this ship upwards of £800 worth,
and some otter skins. They sent, also, copies of Mr. Allerton’s
accounts, requesting them to examine them and rectify such things as
they should find amiss in them, as they were better acquainted with
the goods bought and the disbursements made there, than they could
be here. With these they sent a book of exceptions to his accounts,
where they could specify them, and did not doubt but they in England
might add to them. They showed them how much Mr. Allerton was debtor
to the general account, and as they had now put the ship White Angel
wholly in his control and had tied their hands here, they requested
them to call him to account. But it pleased God that the ship taking
these papers, on her way to Virginia before going home, was wrecked
on the coast not far from Virginia and their cargo was lost. This was
the first loss they had sustained of that kind. But Mr. Pierce and
the men saved their lives, and also the letters, and got to Virginia
and so safely home. Copies of the accounts were therefore sent over
again to England.

The following is part of Mr. Pierce’s letter from Virginia. It was
dated Dec. 25th, 1632, and came to their hands on April 7th, before
they had heard anything from England:

  _William Pierce in Virginia to the New Plymouth Colony_:

  Dear Friends,

  The news of this fatal stroke that the Lord has brought upon me
  and you will probably come to your ears before this comes to your
  hands, and therefore I need not enlarge on particulars, etc. Almost
  all my worldly belongings have been take away,—and yours also in a
  great measure, by this and your various former losses. It is time
  to look about us, before the wrath of the Lord break forth in utter
  destruction. The good Lord give us all grace to search our hearts
  and try our ways, and turn unto the Lord and humble ourselves under
  His mighty hand and seek atonement.... Dear friends, know that
  all your beaver and books of account are swallowed up in the sea;
  your letters remain with me and shall be delivered if God bring me
  home. But what more should I say? By this we have lost our worldly
  goods—yet a happy loss if our souls are the gainers. There is more
  in the Lord Jehovah than ever we had in this world. O that our
  foolish hearts could be weaned from things here below, which are
  vanity and vexation of spirit; and yet we fools catch after shadows
  that fly away and are gone in a moment!... Thus with my continual
  remembrance of you in my poor desires to the Throne of Grace,
  beseeching God to renew His love and favour towards you all, in and
  through the Lord Jesus Christ, both in spiritual and temporal good
  things, as may be most to the glory and praise of His name and your
  everlasting good, so I rest,

                                Your afflicted brother in Christ,
                                                       WILLIAM PIERCE.
  _Virginia, Dec. 25th, 1632._




CHAPTER XIV

Trouble about the accounts of the Partnership—Roger
Williams—Establishment of a trading-house on the Connecticut
River—Trouble with the Dutch there—Fever at New Plymouth—Scourge of
Flies: 1633.


This year Mr. Edward Winslow was chosen governor. By the first return
of ships they received letters from Mr. Sherley about Mr. Allerton’s
further ill-success, and the loss by Mr. Pierce, with many sad
comments. But there was little hope of getting anything out of Mr.
Allerton or of their accounts being either eased or rectified by
them over there. They saw plainly that the burden of it all would be
thrown upon their backs. The special passages of his letters I will
insert here, for though I am weary of this tedious and uncomfortable
subject, yet for the truth’s sake I am compelled to fully ventilate
matters which have resulted in so much trouble and so many hard
censures on both sides. I do not wish to be partial to either side,
but to disclose the truth as nearly as I can, in their own words, and
so leave it to the unbiased judgment of any who shall come to read
them.

  _James Sherley in London to the Colony at New Plymouth_:

  Loving Friends,

  My last was sent in the Mary and John by Mr. William Collier. I
  then certified you of the great and unseasonable loss you and we
  had, in the wreck of Mr. Pierce and his ship the Lyon; but the
  Lord’s holy name be blessed, Who gives and takes as it pleases
  Him; His will be done, Amen. I then related to you that fearful
  accident, or rather judgment, the Lord pleased to lay on London
  bridge by fire, and therein gave you an idea of my great loss; the
  Lord I hope will give me patience to bear it, and faith to trust in
  Him and not in the slippery and uncertain things of this world.

  I hope Mr. Allerton is nearly with you by this time; but he had
  many disasters here before he got away. The last was a heavy one;
  his ship, while getting out of the harbour at Bristol in stormy
  weather, was driven so far ashore that it cost him over £100 to get
  her afloat again. His condition was so lamentable that I could not
  but afford him some help, as did some who were strangers to him;
  besides, your goods were in her, and if he had not been assisted he
  must have given up his voyage, and loss could not have been avoided
  on all sides. When he first bought her I think he would have made
  a saving match if he had then sunk her and never set sail in her!
  I hope he sees the Lord’s hand against him, and will leave off
  these voyages. I think we did well in parting with her; she would
  have been but a clog to the account, time and again, and though we
  shall not get much by way of satisfaction, we shall lose no more.
  And now, as I have written before, pray wind up all the accounts
  with him there; here he has nothing but many debts which he owes
  in various quarters. Besides, not a man here will spend a day, nay
  scarcely an hour, on the accounts but myself, and that business
  will require more time and help than I can afford. I need not say
  any more; I hope you will do what will be best and will be just
  with him, to which add mercy and consider his intentions, though he
  failed in many particulars, which now cannot be helped....

  To-morrow or next day at furthest we are to pay £300, and Mr.
  Beauchamp is out of the town, so I must do it. O! the grief and
  trouble that mad Mr. Allerton has brought upon you and us! I cannot
  forget it, and to think of it draws many a sigh from my heart and
  tears from my eyes. And now the Lord has visited me with another
  great loss, but I can bear it with more patience than those which I
  have foolishly pulled upon myself....

And in another letter there is this passage:

  By Mr. Allerton’s fair propositions and large promises I have
  overrun myself; indeed grief hinders me from writing, and tears
  will not suffer me to see; therefore as you love those who ever
  loved you, and the colony, think of us. Oh, what shall I say of
  that man who has abused your trust and wronged our loves! But to
  lament now is too late, nor can I complain of your backwardness,
  for I know it lies as heavy on your hearts as it does on our
  purses. Had the Lord sent Mr. Pierce safely home, it had eased both
  you and us of some of those debts. The Lord I hope will give us
  patience to bear these crosses and that great God Whose care and
  providence is everywhere, and especially over those who desire
  truly to fear and serve Him, direct, guide, prosper, and bless you
  so that you may have the power, as you have the will, to take off
  this heavy burden which now lies upon me for your sakes,—and, as I
  hope, for your ultimate good and that of many thousands more. For
  had not you and we joined together, New England might have been
  scarcely known, and would not, I feel sure, be inhabited by such
  honest English people as it now is. The Lord increase and bless
  them.... So with my continual prayers for you all, I rest

                                      Your assured loving friend,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _June 24th, 1633._

Though Mr. Sherley became more alive to his own condition by these
losses, and complained the more sadly and unreservedly of Mr.
Allerton, no steps were taken to help them here—not so much as to
examine and rectify the accounts, by which probably some hundred
of pounds might have been deducted. But probably they saw that the
more there was taken off the account the less would come to them in
England.

But to come to other things. Mr. Roger Williams, a godly and zealous
man, with many rare qualities but a very unstable judgment, who
settled first in Massachusetts, but owing to some discontent left
there, came here about this time, where he was made welcome according
to their poor ability. He exercised his gifts among them, and after
some time was admitted as a member of the church; and his teaching
was highly approved, and for its benefit I still bless God, and am
thankful to him even for his sharpest admonitions and reproofs,
so far as they agreed with the truth. This year he began to hold
some strange opinions, and from opinion proceeded to practise. This
caused some controversy between the church and him, and in the end
some discontent on his part, so that he left them somewhat abruptly.
Afterwards he applied for his dismissal, to transfer himself to the
church at Salem, which was granted, with some caution to them about
him. But he soon fell into more trouble there, to the disturbance of
church and government: I need not give particulars, for they are too
well known to all; though for a time the church here received some
hard censure through him, and at the hands of those who afterwards
smarted themselves. But he is rather to be pitied and prayed for; so
I shall leave the matter, and desire the Lord to show him his errors
and return him to the way of truth, and give him a settled judgment
and constancy therein; for I hope he belongs to the Lord and that He
will show him mercy.

Having already had intercourse with the Dutch, as will be remembered,
they, seeing the New Plymouth people settled here in such a barren
quarter, told them of a river which they called Fresh River, now
known by the name of Connecticut River, which they had often
recommended to them as a fine place for both agriculture and trade,
and wished them to make use of it. But their hands then being full,
they let it pass. Afterwards, a tribe of Indians who came there were
driven out by the Pequots, who usurped their territory; and the
banished tribe often begged them to go there, and said they could do
plenty of trade, especially if they would keep a house there. So,
having a good stock of goods, and being obliged to look out how they
could better themselves and help to meet their heavy engagements,
they began to explore in that direction and to trade with the
natives. They found it a fine place, though at first they did little
trade; but the Indians put it down to the season of the year and the
fear they were in of their enemies. So they tried several times, not
unprofitably; but they saw that the surest way would be to keep a
house there to receive the trade when it came down from inland. The
Indians not seeing them very active in establishing themselves,
solicited the Massachusetts colony similarly—for their object was to
be restored to their country again. But those in the Bay who had but
lately arrived were not fitted for it. However, some of the chief of
them proposed to join with the partners here to trade jointly with
them up the Connecticut River, which they were willing to agree to,
with the idea that they should share equally in the building and the
stock. A time of meeting was appointed in Massachusetts, and some of
the principal men here were appointed to deal with them, and went
accordingly. But the Massachusetts people entertained many fears,
of danger, and loss, and the like, which were seen to be the main
causes of their disinclination, though they alleged that they were
not provided with trading goods, etc. So the New Plymouth people
offered at present to put in sufficient for both, provided they would
become responsible for the half, and meantime prepare for next year.
They confessed that more could not be expected, but thanked them
and told them they did not care to do it. So they said they hoped
it would be no offence to the Massachusetts colony if they went on
without them. They said there was no reason against it; and so this
partnership fell through. So the New Plymouth colonists in due time
made a beginning there, and were the first English to discover the
place and build it, though they were little better than forced out of
it afterwards, as will appear.

The Dutch now began to repent, and hearing of their preparations,
endeavoured to prevent them, and getting in a little before them
established a small fort with two pieces of ordnance, threatening
to stop their passage. But having prepared a small frame of a house
and having a big new bark, they stowed the frame in her hold,
together with boards to cover and finish it, and nails and all other
necessaries. This was intended as a defence against the Indians,
who were much offended that they had brought back and restored the
right Sachem of the place, called Natawanute; so they encountered a
double danger in this attempt, both from the Dutch and the Indians.
When they came up the river the Dutchmen demanded what they intended
and whither they would go; they answered up the river to trade,—their
orders being to go and settle above them. They bid them stop or they
would shoot, and stood by, their ordnance ready loaded. They replied
that they had orders from the Governor of New Plymouth to go up
the river to such a place, and, shoot or not, they must obey their
orders and proceed; and that they would not harm them, but they must
go on. So they passed on, and though the Dutch threatened them they
did not shoot. Coming to the place appointed, they clapped up their
house quickly, landed their provisions and left the men, sending
the bark home. Afterwards they palisaded their house and fortified
themselves better. The Dutch sent home word to Manhattan, asking what
they should do, and in process of time they sent a troop of about
seventy armed men, in warlike formation, with colours displayed, to
attack them; but seeing them strongly established, and that it would
cost blood, they came to parley, and returned in peace. They did the
Dutch no wrong, for they took not a foot of any of the land they had
bought, but went to a place above them, and bought the tract of land
which belonged to their friends the Indians whom they took with them,
and with whom the Dutch had nothing to do. So this was their entrance
there; and they deserved to continue to hold it, and not, later, to
have been thrust out by friends, as in a way they were, as will be
seen. But of these matters, more in another place.

It pleased the Lord this year to visit them with an infectious fever
of which many fell very ill, and upwards of twenty persons died, men,
women and children, and several of their oldest friends who had lived
in Holland. Amongst them were Thomas Blossom, Richard Masterson with
some others: and in the end, after he had helped others much, Samuel
Fuller, their physician, who had been a great help and comfort to
them, not only in his profession, but also as a deacon of the church,
a godly man, always ready to serve his fellows. He was much missed
after his death, and he and the rest of their brethren who died were
much lamented by them. This brought much sadness and mourning among
them, and caused them to humble themselves and seek the Lord; and
towards winter it pleased the Lord that the sickness ceased. This
disease also swept away many of the Indians from the adjoining parts.
The Spring before, especially the month of May, there had been a
quantity of a great sort of fly, as large as wasps or bumble bees,
which came out of holes in the ground, filling all the woods, and
eating the verdure. They made such a constant yelling noise that the
woods rang with them, till they were ready to deafen the hearers.
They have not been heard or seen before or since by the English.

The Indians told them the sickness would follow, and so it did, in
June, July, and August, during the greatest heat of the summer.

It pleased the Lord to enable them this year to send home a great
quantity of beaver, besides paying all their expenses and debts here
in the country, which was a great encouragement to their friends
in England. Of beaver they sent 3366 lbs., and much of it was coat
beaver, which yielded twenty shillings per lb., and some of it more;
and 346 otter skins which also sold at a good price—fourteen and
fifteen shillings per lb. Thus much of the affairs of this year.




CHAPTER XV

Hocking Shot at Kennebec—Lord Say and the Settlement at
Piscataqua—Mr. Alden imprisoned at Boston—The case of Hocking
submitted to a Tribunal of the combined Colonies—Captain Stone
and the Dutch Governor—Stone killed by Indians—Smallpox among the
Indians: 1634.


This year Mr. Thomas Prince was chosen Governor.

Mr. Sherley’s letters were very brief in answer to theirs this year.
I will not copy any extracts from them, but will mention the subjects
of one or two of them. First, he hopes they will not take offence at
anything he wrote previously, professing his affection for them as
before, etc. Secondly, as to Mr. Allerton’s accounts, he is convinced
the colony must suffer, and that to no small figure; that they have
cause enough to complain, but it is now too late; that Allerton had
failed them all, and himself, in his aims, and that he feared God in
consequence would fail him, and it would not be strange if he fell
into worse ways, etc. Thirdly, he blesses God and is thankful to
Him for the good return made this year. This is the effect of his
letters, other things being of a more private nature.

I now enter upon one of the saddest things that befell them since
they came; and before I begin, it will be necessary to quote that
part of their patent which gave them rights at Kennebec.

  The said Council has further given, granted, bargained, sold,
  enfeoffed, allotted, assigned, and made over, and by these presents
  do clearly and absolutely give, grant, bargain, sell, alien,
  enfeoff, allot, assign, and confirm unto the said William Bradford,
  his heirs, associates, and assigns, all that tract of land or part
  of New England in America aforesaid, which lies within or between,
  and extends itself from the utmost limits of Cobiseconte, which
  adjoins the river of Kennebec, towards the Western ocean, and a
  place called the Falls of Nequamkeck in America aforesaid; and the
  space of fifteen English miles on each side of the said river,
  commonly called Kennebec river, and all the said river called
  Kennebec that lies within the said limits and bounds, eastward,
  westward, northward, and southward, last above mentioned; and
  all lands, grounds, soils, rivers, waters, fishing, etc. And by
  virtue of the authority to us derived by his said late majesty’s
  letters patent, to take, apprehend, seize, and make prize of all
  such persons, their ships and goods, as shall attempt to inhabit
  or trade with the savage people of that country within the several
  precincts and limits of his or their several plantations, etc.

Now it happened that one Hocking, belonging to the settlement at
Piscataqua, went with a bark and some commodities to trade on the
Kennebec, and must needs transgress their limits, and even go up the
river above their house towards the Falls, and intercept the trade
that should have come to them. The man in charge of the place forbade
him, and begged him not to do them the injury of infringing their
rights which had cost them so dear. He replied he would go up and
trade there in spite of them, and remain there as long as he pleased.
The answer was that in that case he would be forced to remove him
or apprehend him. Whereupon Hocking bid him do his worst, and went
up and anchored there. So the captain took a boat and some men, and
followed him, and again urged him to depart. But all in vain; he
could get nothing from him but ill words. So, as it was just the
season for trade to come down, and if he allowed him to remain there
and take it from them, all their previous expense would be wasted, he
consulted with his men, who being willing, he decided to sever the
boat from her anchorage, and let her drift down the river with the
stream, but commanded his men not to shoot on any account unless he
commanded them. He spoke to Hocking again, but all in vain; then he
sent a couple of men in a canoe to cut his cable, which one of them
did. Thereupon Hocking took up a gun which he had put ready, and as
the bark drifted down past the canoe he shot the man in the head and
killed him instantly. One of his comrades who loved him well, could
not restrain himself, and making aim with his musket shot Hocking
dead on the spot. This is a true account of what happened. The rest
of the men took the vessel home, with these sad tidings. Now Lord
Say and Lord Brook, with some other eminent men, had an interest in
this settlement, so the people wrote home to them in such terms as to
exasperate them as much as possible, leaving out all the extenuating
circumstances, and making it appear that Hocking had been killed
without provocation, suppressing the fact that he had killed a man
first. So their Lordships were much offended, till they were fully
informed of the details.

The news of this spread quickly, with the worst light put upon
it, and reached their neighbours in Massachusetts. Their own bark
came home to New Plymouth, bringing a true report of it, and all
were deeply and naturally affected by it. Not long after, they had
occasion to send their vessel to the Bay of Massachusetts; but the
colony there was so incensed at the occurrence that they imprisoned
Mr. Alden who was aboard, and had been at Kennebec, but had taken no
part in the affair, having only gone up to take supplies. They freed
the boat, but kept Mr. Alden for some time. This was thought strange
here, and they sent Captain Standish, with letters, to give them full
information, and to procure Mr. Alden’s release. I will give a letter
or two which refer to these things.

  _Two letters from Thomas Dudley at Newtown to William Bradford at
  New Plymouth_:

  Good Sir,

  I have received your letter through Captain Standish, and am
  unfeignedly glad of God’s mercy towards you in the steady recovery
  of your health. Concerning the matter you write of, I thought
  I would send a word or two in answer to yourself, leaving your
  Governor’s letter to be answered by our court, to which with
  myself it is directed. I presume, until I hear further, that your
  patent may warrant your resistance of any Englishmen trading
  at Kennebec, and that the blood of Hocking and the man he slew
  will be required, elsewhere, at his hands. But with yourself and
  others I grieve for their deaths. I think, also, that your general
  letters will satisfy our courts, and make them cease from meddling
  further in the matter. Upon that same letter I have liberated Mr.
  Alden, with his sureties; but that I may not seem to neglect the
  opinion of our court, I have bound Captain Standish to appear
  on June 3rd at our next court, to make affidavit for the copy
  of the patent and to testify to the circumstances of Hocking’s
  provocations, both of which will tend to prove your innocence. If
  any offence has been taken at what we have done, let it be better
  considered, I pray you; and I hope the more you think of it, the
  less blame you will impute to us. At least you ought to be just
  in distinguishing between those whose opinions concur with your
  own, and others—though I can truly say I have spoken with no one
  on the subject, even those who blame you most, who had not always
  heretofore declared their good-will towards your colony. Referring
  you further to the report you have from Captain Standish and Mr.
  Alden, I leave you for the present with God’s blessing, wishing
  you perfect recovery of your health and long continuance of it. I
  desire to be lovingly remembered to Mr. Prince—your Governor, Mr.
  Winslow, and Mr. Brewster, whom I would see if I could. The Lord
  keep you all. Amen.

                       Your very loving friend in our Lord Jesus,
                                                        THOMAS DUDLEY.
  _Newtown, May 22nd, 1634._


  Sir,

  I am deeply sorry for the news that Captain Standish and others of
  your colony, and my beloved friends, are bringing with them to New
  Plymouth, in which I suffer with you, because of the difference of
  my opinion from that of others who are godly and wise amongst us
  here, reverence for whose judgments causes me to suspect my own
  ignorance. But I cannot alter it until I am convinced otherwise.
  I did not intend to show your letter to me, but to do my best to
  reconcile the differences as best I could; but Captain Standish
  demanding an answer to it publicly in court, I was forced to
  produce it, which made the breach the wider, as he will tell you.
  I proposed to the court that they should answer the letter from
  Mr. Prince, your Governor; but the court ruled that it required
  no answer, since it was itself an answer to a former letter of
  ours. Pray inform Mr. Prince of this, and others whom it concerns,
  so that they may not impute neglect or ill manners to me on this
  score. The recent letters I have received from England cause me
  to fear[9] that some trials are likely to fall upon us shortly,
  and this unhappy dispute between you and us, and between you
  and Piscataqua, will hasten them, if God with an extraordinary
  hand does not help us. To reconcile this for the present will be
  very difficult; but time cools distempers, and a common danger
  approaching us both will necessitate our uniting again. I pray you
  therefore, Sir, set your wisdom and patience to work, and exhort
  others to do the same, that things may not proceed from bad to
  worse, making our divisions like the bars of a palace; but that
  a way of peace may be kept open, where the God of peace may have
  entrance at His own time. If you are wronged, it is to your honour
  to bear it patiently; but I go too far in needlessly putting you
  in mind of such things. God has done great things for you, and I
  desire His blessings may be multiplied upon you more and more.
  I will commit no more to writing, but commending myself to your
  prayers, I rest

                     Your truly loving friend in our Lord Jesus,
                                                        THOMAS DUDLEY.
  _June 4th, 1634._

This shows what troubles arose, and how hard they were to allay;
for though they were heartily sorry for what had happened, they
considered they had been unjustly injured and provoked, and that
their neighbours, who had no jurisdiction over them, exceeded
their bounds thus to imprison a member of their settlement and
bring the question before their Court. But being assured of their
Christian love, and convinced that it was done out of godly zeal,
that religion might not suffer nor sin be in any way concealed or
countenanced,—especially the guilt of blood, of which all should be
very conscientious,—they endeavoured to appease them as best they
could, first by giving them the truth of it all; secondly by their
willingness to refer the case to any indifferent judgment here, and
to answer it elsewhere when they should be called upon to do so;
and further, by asking Mr. Winthrop and other respected magistrates
there, for their advice and direction. This mollified them and
brought things to a comfortable end at last.

The advice given them by Mr. Winthrop and others was, that from
their court at New Plymouth they should write to the neighbouring
settlements, especially to that at Piscataqua and theirs in
Massachusetts, appointing a meeting at some suitable place, to
deliberate on the subject, full powers being delegated to those
attending the meeting from the various colonies, but nothing to be
done which should infringe the liberties of any of them. The law of
God being, that for conscience’ sake the priests should be consulted
with, it was thought desirable that the ministers of every colony
should be present to give their advice on points of conscience.
Though this suggestion seemed dangerous to some, they were so well
assured of the justice of their cause and the equity of their
friends, that they agreed to it, and appointed a time, of which
notice was given a month beforehand, viz.: to Massachusetts, Salem,
Piscataqua, and others, requesting them to produce any evidence they
could in the case. The place of meeting was Boston. But when the day
came, there only appeared some of the magistrates and ministers of
Massachusetts and of New Plymouth. As none had come from Piscataqua
or other places, Mr. Winthrop and the others said they could do no
more than they had done, and the blame must rest with them. So they
opened up a fair discussion of the subject, and after all evidence
had been fully sifted, the opinion of each of the magistrates and
ministers was demanded, with the result that though all wished the
trouble had never occurred, they could not but lay the blame and
guilt on Hocking’s own head. Whereupon such grave and godly counsels
and exhortations were given as they thought fitting, both for the
present and future, which were received with love and gratitude, with
promises to endeavour to profit by them. And so it ended, and their
love and concord renewed. Further, Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Dudley wrote
very effectually on their behalf to Lord Say and others interested,
which with their own letters, and Mr. Winslow’s further declarations
when in England, satisfied them fully.

They sent Mr. Winslow to England this year, partly for this object,
and partly to notify the partners in England that the period of their
contract for the company’s trade here having expired, they instructed
him to close the accounts with them, and to find out how much they
still remained debtors to the account, and what further course would
be best to pursue. The outcome of it all will appear in next year’s
narrative. They sent over with him a substantial cargo which was very
acceptable to them: in beaver 3738 lbs. mostly coat beaver which
sold at twenty shillings per lb.; and 234 otter skins at fourteen
shillings per skin. So altogether it arose to a large sum of money.

Early this year they sent a boat to trade with the Dutch colony,
where they met with a Captain Stone who had lived in Christophers,
one of the West Indian Islands, and had now been some time in
Virginia, and had come up from there. He kept company with the Dutch
Governor, and in some drunken fit got his leave to seize their boat,
just as they were ready to leave and had finished trading, having
£500 worth of goods aboard. There was not the least provocation or
ground for such an act, but having made the Governor so drunk that
he could scarcely utter an intelligible word, he urged him to do it,
and got the answer “as you please.” So he got aboard, most of their
men being ashore, and with some of his own men made the rest weigh
anchor, set sail, and carry her away towards Virginia. But several
of the Dutch sailors ashore, who had often been at New Plymouth and
kindly entertained there, said to each other: “Shall we allow our
friends to be wronged in this way, and have their goods carried away
before our faces whilst our Governor is drunk?” They vowed they would
not permit it, and got a vessel or two, and chased him and brought
him back again, and delivered them their boat and goods.

Afterwards Stone came to Massachusetts, and they commenced an
action against him for it; but by the mediation of friends it was
allowed to lapse. Later, Stone came with some other gentlemen to New
Plymouth, and was friendly entertained by them with the rest; but
revenge boiled in his breast, and some thought that on one occasion
he intended to stab the Governor, and put his hand to his dagger for
that purpose; but by God’s providence and the vigilance of those
at hand, it was prevented. Afterwards, returning to Virginia in a
pinnace with a Captain Norton and some others, for some unknown
reason they must needs go up the Connecticut River. What they did, I
know not; but the Indians came aboard and knocked Stone on the head
as he lay in his cabin; this was his end. They also killed all the
others, but Captain Norton defended himself for a long time against
them all in the cook-room, till, by accident, the gun-powder which
he had put ready in some open vessel before him, took fire and it so
burnt and blinded him that he could no longer make resistance, and
was killed by them, though they much commended his valour.

I must now relate a strange occurrence. There was a tribe of Indians
living on the upper parts of the Connecticut River, a long way from
the colony’s trading-house there, who were enemies of the Indians
that lived in the neighbourhood, who stood in some fear of them, for
they were a warlike tribe. About a thousand of them had enclosed
themselves in a fort, which they had strongly palisaded. Three or
four Dutchmen went up in the beginning of winter to live with them,
to get their trade and prevent them from bringing it down to the
English, or from getting friendly with them. But their enterprise
failed, for it pleased God to afflict these Indians with such a
deadly sickness, that out of 1,000, over 950 of them died, and many
of them lay rotting above ground for want of burial, and the Dutchmen
almost starved before they could get away, kept there by the ice
and snow. But about February, with much difficulty they reached the
trading-house of the New Plymouth people, by whom they were kindly
treated, for they were almost exhausted with hunger and cold. After
being refreshed by them for several days, they got to their own
place, and the Dutch were very grateful for this kindness.

This spring, too, the Indians who lived around their trading-house
fell sick of small pox, and died most miserably. A more terrible
disease cannot attack them; they fear it worse than the plague, for
usually it spreads amongst them broadcast. For want of bedding and
linen and other comforts, they fall into a lamentable condition. As
they lie on their hard mats, the pox breaks and matters and runs,
their skin sticking to the mats they lie on, so that when they turn
a whole side will flay off at once, and they will be all one gore
of blood, dreadful to behold; and then, what with cold and other
hardships, they die like rotten sheep. The condition of these natives
was indeed lamentable. They were swept so generally by the disease
that in the end they were unable to help one another, or to make a
fire or fetch a little water to drink, or to bury their dead. They
would keep up as long as they could, and when there was no other
means to make a fire, they would burn the wooden dishes they ate
their food in, and their very bows and arrows. Some would crawl out
on all fours to get a little water, and sometimes die by the way,
not being able to get home again. But the people of the English
trading-house, though they were at first afraid of the infection,
seeing their woful condition and hearing their pitiful cries, had
compassion on them, and daily fetched them wood and water and made
them fires, and got them food whilst they lived, and buried them when
they died. Very few of the Indians escaped, notwithstanding that they
did what they could for them at great risk to themselves. The chief
Sachem himself died, and almost all his friends and relatives; but by
the marvellous goodness and providence of God not one of the English
was so much as ill, or in the least degree tainted with the disease,
though they did these services for them daily for many weeks. The
mercy they showed them in this way was greatly appreciated by all
the Indians who knew or heard of it, and earned their gratitude; and
their masters at New Plymouth highly commended and rewarded them for
it.




CHAPTER XVI

Edward Winslow in England—Petition to the Commissioners for
the Colonies in America—Winslow imprisoned—The London partners
withhold the accounts of the partnership—The French capture the
trading-house at Penobscot—Attack on the French fails—Phenomenal
Hurricane—Settlement of people from Massachusetts on the Connecticut
River—Mr. Norton minister at New Plymouth: 1635.


Mr. Winslow was welcomed by them in England, the more so owing to
the large consignment of fur he brought with him, which came safely
to hand and was well sold. He was given to understand that all the
accounts would be cleared up before his return, and all former
differences settled, and that the account of the White Angel would
not be charged to them. Being called upon to answer some complaints
made against the country at the Council, more particularly concerning
their neighbours at the Bay than themselves, which he did to good
effect, at the same time furthering the interests of the colonies
as a whole, as regards the encroachments of the French and other
strangers, with a view to preventing them for the future, he took
the opportunity of presenting this petition to their Honours, the
Commissioners for the Colonies.

  _To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners for the Colonies
  in America_:

  The humble petition of Edward Winslow on behalf of the Colonies in
  New England:

  Humbly shows your Lordships, that whereas your petitioners
  have settled in New England under his majesty’s most gracious
  protection, now the French and Dutch endeavour to divide the
  land between them; for which purpose the French on the east side
  entered and seized upon some of our houses and carried away the
  goods, killed two men in another place, and took the rest prisoners
  with their goods; and the Dutch on the west also made entry along
  the Connecticut river, within the limits of his Majesty’s letters
  patent, where they have raised a fort and threaten to expel your
  petitioners who are also established on the same river, maintaining
  possession for his Majesty to their great expense, and the risk of
  both their lives and goods.

  In tender consideration whereof your petitioners humbly pray that
  your Lordships will either procure their peace with those foreign
  states, or else give special warrant to your petitioners and the
  English Colonies, to defend themselves against all foreign enemies.
  And your petitioners shall pray, etc.

This petition was well received by most of them, and Mr. Winslow was
heard several times by them, and appointed to attend for an answer
from their Lordships, having shown how this might be done without
any expense or trouble to the state, simply giving the leading men
there authority to undertake it at their own cost and in such a
way as would avoid public disturbance. But this interfered with
both Sir Ferdinand Gorges’ and Captain Mason’s plans, with whom the
Archbishop of Canterbury was in league; for Sir Ferdinand Gorges, by
the Archbishop’s favour, was to have been sent over to the country
as Governor-General, and was about to conclude this project. The
Archbishop’s intention was to send over officials with him, furnished
with episcopal power, to disturb the peace of the churches here,
overthrow their proceedings, and stop their further growth. But it
fell out by God’s providence, that though in the end they prevented
this petition from taking any further effect, his plot with Sir
Ferdinand came to nothing.

So when Mr. Winslow went before the Board to have his petition
granted, he found that the Archbishop had checked it. However, hoping
to obtain it nevertheless, he went to the Board again; but he found
that the Archbishop, Sir Ferdinand, and Captain Mason had procured
Morton, the man referred to previously, to present complaints. Mr.
Winslow answered them to the satisfaction of the Board, who checked
Morton and rebuked him sharply, and also blamed Sir Ferdinand Gorges
and Mason for countenancing him. But the Archbishop had a further
object, and began to cross-question Mr. Winslow about many things. He
accused him of preaching in the church publicly,—with which Morton
had charged him, affirming that he had seen and heard him do it; to
which Mr. Winslow answered that sometimes, for want of a minister,
he had endeavoured to assist in the edification of his brethren.
The Archbishop then questioned him about marriage; to which he
replied that as a magistrate he had occasionally married some of the
people, pointing out to their Lordships that marriage was a civil
institution, and that he nowhere found in the word of God that it
belonged to the ministry, and furthermore for a long time they had no
minister; besides, it was now no new idea, for he himself had been
married in Holland by the magistrates in their Stadt-house. To be
short, in the end the Archbishop, by his vehement importunity, got
the Board at last to consent to his commitment; so he was imprisoned
in the Fleet, and lay there about seventeen weeks before he could
get released. This was the end of the petition; but the scheme of
the others was frustrated too, which was no small blessing to the
people over here. The expense to this colony was heavy, though it was
undertaken as much, or more, in the interests of others. Indeed, Mr.
Winslow was chiefly urged to the business by them, and the colony
knew nothing of it till they heard of his imprisonment, though it had
to bear the whole expense.

As to their own business, whatever Mr. Sherley’s intention was
before, he now declared plainly that he would neither take the White
Angel from the general account, nor present any further account till
he had received more goods; that though a fair supply had been sent
over this time, they were mostly without notes of the prices, and
not as properly invoiced as formerly. This Mr. Winslow said he could
not help, because of his imprisonment. However, Mr. Sherley, Mr.
Beauchamp, and Mr. Andrews sent over a letter of attorney under their
hands and seals to recover what they could from Mr. Allerton on the
White Angel’s account, but they sent neither the bonds nor contracts,
nor such other evidence as they had, to enable those at New Plymouth
to act upon it. I will here insert a few passages from Mr. Sherley’s
letters about these things.

  _James Sherley in London to the Colony at New Plymouth_:

  I have received your letter of July 22nd, 1634, through our trusty
  and loving friend, Mr. Winslow, and your large parcel of beaver and
  otter skins. Blessed be our God, both he and it arrived safely.
  We have sold it in two parcels; the skins at fourteen shillings
  per lb., and some at sixteen; the coat at twenty shillings per
  lb. I have not sent the accounts over this year; I refer you to
  Mr. Winslow for the reason; but be assured that none of you shall
  suffer through not having them, if God spare me life. You say
  the six years have expired during which the people put the trade
  of the colony into your and our hands, for the discharge of the
  heavy debts which Mr. Allerton needlessly and unadvisedly ran
  us into; but it was promised that it should continue till our
  disbursements and engagements were met. You think this has been
  done already; we know otherwise.... I doubt not we shall lovingly
  agree, notwithstanding all that has been written on both sides
  about the White Angel. We have now sent you a letter of attorney,
  giving you power in our names (and to shadow it the more we say
  for our uses) to obtain what is possible from Mr. Allerton towards
  meeting the great expense of the White Angel. He certainly gave a
  bond, though at present I cannot find it; but he has often affirmed
  with great protestations that neither you nor we should lose a
  penny by him, and I hope you will find he has enough to meet it, so
  that we shall have no more trouble about it. Notwithstanding his
  unkind treatment of you, in the midst of justice remember mercy,
  and do not all you might do.... Let us get out of debt, and then
  let us survey the matter reasonably.... Mr. Winslow has undergone
  an unjust imprisonment but I am convinced it will result to your
  general advantage. I leave it to him to tell all particulars....

                                          Your loving friend,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _London, Sept. 7th, 1635._

This year they sustained another great loss from the French. Monsieur
d’Aulney, coming into the harbour of Penobscot, having invited
several of the chief men belonging to the house aboard his vessel,
got them to pilot him in; and after getting the rest into his power,
he took possession of the house in the name of the King of France.
By threats and otherwise he made Mr. Willett, their agent there,
approve of the sale of the goods to him, of which he fixed the prices
himself, making an inventory, though with many omissions. But he
made no payment for them, saying that in due course he would do so
if they came for it. As for the house and fortifications, he would
not allow anything for them, claiming that it was not built on their
own land. So, turning them out, with many compliments and fine words,
he let them have their shallop and some provisions to bring them
home. When they got home and related the occurrence they were much
disturbed about it, for the French had robbed this house once before,
at a loss to them of above £500, and now to lose house and all vexed
them greatly. So they decided to consult with their friends at the
Bay, who now had many ships there, and if they approved of it, they
intended to hire a fighting ship and try to beat out the French and
regain their property. Their plan was approved of, if they themselves
would bear the expense. So they hired a fine ship of over 300 tons,
well fitted with ordnance, and agreed with the captain, one Girling,
that he and his crew should deliver them the house after they had
overcome the French and give them peaceable possession of it, with
all such trading commodities as should be found there, giving the
French fair quarter if they would yield. In consideration of which
services he was to have 700 lbs. of beaver, to be delivered to him
there when he had completed his bargain; but if he did not accomplish
it, he was to lose his labour and have nothing. With him they sent
their own bark, and about twenty men under Captain Standish, to
help him if necessary, and to put things in order if the house were
regained; and then to pay Girling the beaver, which was aboard their
own bark. So they piloted him there, and brought him safely into the
harbour. But he was so rash and heady he would take no advice, nor
give Captain Standish time to summon them to surrender, as his orders
were. If he had done so, and they had parleyed, seeing their force,
the French would probably have yielded. He did not even have patience
to place his ship where she could do execution, but began to shoot at
a distance like a madman, and did them no harm at all. At last, when
he saw his own folly, he was advised by Captain Standish and brought
her well up, and placed a few shots to some purpose. But now, when
he was in a position to do some good, his powder was used up, so he
was obliged to draw off again. He consulted with the Captain how he
could get further supplies of gun-powder, for he had not enough to
carry him home; so he told him he would go to the next settlement
and endeavour to procure him some, and did so. But Captain Standish
gathered, from intelligence he received that he intended to seize the
bark and take the beaver, so he sent him the powder and brought the
bark home. Girling never attacked the place again, and went on his
way; which ended the business.

Upon the ill success of their plans, the Governor and his assistants
here notified their friends at the Bay, and pointed out that the
French were now likely to fortify themselves more strongly, and
become undesirable neighbours to the English. In reply they wrote to
them as follows.

  _From the Colony of Massachusetts to that of New Plymouth_:

  Worthy Sirs,

  After reading your letters and considering the importance of their
  contents, the court has jointly expressed their willingness to
  assist you with men and ammunition, to accomplish your ends with
  the French. But as none of you here have authority to conclude
  anything with us, nothing can be done for the present. We desire
  you, therefore, with all convenient speed to send some one of
  trust, with instructions from yourselves to make such an agreement
  with us as may be useful to you and fair to us. So in haste we
  commit you to God, and remain,

                      Your assured loving friends,

  JOHN HAYNES, Governor
  RICHARD BELLINGHAM, Deputy Governor
  JOHN WINTHROP
  THOMAS DUDLEY
  JOHN HUMPHREY
  WILLIAM CODDINGTON
  WILLIAM PINCHON
  ATHERTON HOUGH
  INCREASE NOWELL
  RICHARD DUMER
  SIMON BRADSTREET

  _Newtown, Oct. 9th, 1635_.

Upon receipt of this they at once deputed two of their people to
treat with them, giving them full power to conclude an agreement
according to the instructions they gave them, which were to this
purpose: that if the Massachusetts Colony would afford such
assistance as, together with their own, was likely to effect the
desired end, and also bear a considerable part of the expense, they
would go on; if not, having lost so much already, they must desist
and wait such further opportunity to help themselves as God should
give. But the conference resulted in nothing, for when it came to
an issue the others would go to no expense. They sent the following
letter, and referred them to their messengers.

  _Richard Bellingham, Deputy Governor of Massachusetts, to the
  Governor of New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  Having seriously considered the great importance of your business
  with the French, we gave our answer to those whom you deputed
  to confer with us about the voyage to Penobscot. We showed
  our willingness to help, by procuring you sufficient men and
  ammunition. But as for money, we have no authority at all to
  promise, and should we do so it might be only to disappoint you. We
  also think it would be proper to seek the help of the other Eastern
  colonies; but that we leave to your own discretion. For the rest
  we refer you to your deputies, who can report further details. We
  salute you, and wish you all success in the Lord.

                        Your faithful and loving friend,
                                    RICHARD BELLINGHAM, Deputy,
                             In the name of the rest of the Committee.
  _Boston, Oct. 16th, 1635._

Not only was this the end of their suggested co-operation, but some
of the merchants of Massachusetts shortly after started trading with
the French, and furnished them both with provisions and ammunition,
and have continued to do so to this day. So it is the English
themselves who have been the chief supporters of the French; and
the colony at Pemaquid, which is near them, not only supplies them,
but constantly gives them intelligence of what is passing among the
English—especially among some of them. So it is no wonder that they
still encroach more and more upon the English, and supply the Indians
with guns and ammunition to the great danger of the English settlers,
whose homes are scattered and unfortified. For the English are mainly
occupied with farming, but the French are well fortified and live
upon trade. If these things are not looked to and remedied in time,
it may easily be conjectured what will result.

This year, on the 14th or 15th of August, a Saturday, there was such
a fearful storm of wind and rain as none living hereabouts either
English or Indians, ever saw. It was like those hurricanes and
typhoons that writers mention in the Indies. It began in the morning,
a little before day, and did not come on by degrees, but with amazing
violence at the start. It blew down several houses and unroofed
others; many vessels were lost at sea, and many more were in extreme
danger. To the southward the sea rose twenty feet, and many of the
Indians had to climb trees for safety. It took off the boarded roof
of a house which belonged to the settlement at Manomet and floated it
to another place, leaving the posts standing in the ground; and if it
had continued much longer without the wind shifting it would probably
have flooded some of the inhabited parts of the country. It blew
down many hundred thousands of trees, tearing up the stronger by the
roots, and breaking the higher pine-trees off in the middle; and tall
young oaks and walnut trees of a good size were bent like withes,—a
strange and fearful sight. It began in the southeast, and veered
different ways. It lasted, though not at its worst, for five or six
hours. The marks of it will remain this 100 years in these parts,
where it was most violent. There was a great eclipse of the moon the
second night after.

Some of their neighbours at the Bay, hearing of the fame of the
Connecticut River had a hankering after it, as mentioned before.
Understanding that the Indians had been swept away by the recent
mortality, fear of whom was the chief obstacle to them before, they
now began to explore it with great eagerness. The New Plymouth
people there had most trouble with the Dorchester settlers about
it; for they set their minds on the place which the New Plymouth
colony had not only purchased from the Indians, but where they had
actually built, and the Dorchester people seemed determined if they
could not remove them altogether, at any rate to leave them only an
insignificant plot of land round the house, sufficient for a single
family. This attempt not only to intrude themselves into the rights
and possessions of others, but in effect to oust them, was thought to
be most unjustifiable. Many were the letters that passed between them
about it.

I will first insert a few lines written from their own agent from
there.

  _Jonathan Brewster at Matianuck to the Governor of New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  The Massachusetts men are coming almost daily, some by water
  and some by land, as yet undecided where to settle, though some
  evidently have a great liking for the place we are in, which was
  bought last. Many of them are looking for what this river will
  not afford, except at the place where we are, namely, a site for
  a great town, with commodious dwellings for many, not far apart.
  What they will do I cannot yet inform you. I shall do what I can
  to withstand them. I hope they will hear reason; that we were here
  first and entered the district with much difficulty and danger,
  both in regard to the Dutch and the Indians, and bought the land at
  great expense, and have since held possession at no small trouble,
  and kept the Dutch from encroaching further, though but for us
  they would have possessed it all and kept out all others.... I
  hope these and similar arguments will stop them. It was your will
  that we should use them and their messengers kindly, and so we
  have done, and do daily, to our great expense. The first party of
  them would have almost starved had it not been for this house,
  and I was forced to supply twelve men for nine days. Those who
  came last I entertained as best we could, helping them with canoes
  and guides. They got me to go with them to the Dutch, to see if I
  could arrange that some of them should have quiet settling near
  them; but they peremptorily refused them. I also gave their goods
  house-room according to their earnest request, and Mr. Pinchon’s
  letter on their behalf, which I thought well to send you, enclosed.
  What trouble and cost will be further incurred I know not, for they
  are coming daily, and I expect those back again from below, where
  they have gone to view the country. All this should surely, in the
  judgment of all wise and understanding men, give us just claim to
  hold and keep our own.

                       Thus with my duty remembered, I rest,
                                          Yours to be commanded,
                                                    JONATHAN BREWSTER.
  _Matianuck, July 6th, 1635._

After a thorough view of the place, they began to pitch upon the land
near the house belonging to the New Plymouth people, which occasioned
much expostulation between them and much agitating correspondence.

But lest I should be tedious, I will forbear the details and come to
the conclusion. To make any forcible resistance was far from their
minds,—they had enough of that at Kennebec,—and to live in continual
contention with their friends would be uncomfortable. So for peace’
sake, though they considered they suffered injury, they thought it
better to let them have it, getting as good terms as possible; so
they fell to treaty. First, since there had been such long disputes
about it, they insisted they must first acknowledge that they had
no right to it, or else they would not treat with them about it
at all. This being granted the conclusion reached was as follows:
that the people of New Plymouth should retain their house and have
the 16th part of all that they bought from the Indians; and the
others should have all the rest of the land, leaving such a portion
for the settlers of Newtown as the New Plymouth colony reserved
for them. This 16th part was to be taken in two places,—one in the
neighbourhood of the house, the other near the Newtown settlement.
Further, they were to pay to the New Plymouth colony the proper
proportion of what had been disbursed to the Indians when purchased.
In this way the controversy was ended; but the injustice was not so
soon forgotten. The Newtown people dealt more fairly, only wishing to
have what could be conveniently spared.

Amongst the other business that Mr. Winslow had to do in England, he
had orders from the church to bring over some able and fit person
as their minister. Accordingly he had procured a godly and worthy
man, a Mr. Glover; but it pleased God that when he was ready for
the voyage, he fell sick of fever and died. Afterwards, when Mr.
Winslow was ready to sail, he became acquainted with a Mr. Norton,
who was willing to come over, but would not engage himself to settle
permanently at New Plymouth, until he had an opportunity of judging
of it; so he arranged that if, later, he preferred to be elsewhere,
he would repay the money expended for him, which came to about £70,
and be at liberty to move. He stayed about a year with them, and was
much liked by them; but he was invited to Ipswich, where there were
many rich and able men, and several of his acquaintances, so he went
to them and is their minister. About half the expense was repaid, the
rest he was allowed to keep for his services amongst them.




CHAPTER XVII

Consignments of Fur to England—The plague in London—Disorganization
of the accounts—Dispute between the London partners—The Pequot
Indians get unruly—Oldham killed—John Rayner minister: 1636.


Mr. Edward Winslow was elected Governor this year.

The previous year, seeing from Mr. Winslow’s later letters that no
accounts would be sent, they had resolved to keep the beaver and send
no more till they had them, or some further agreement had been come
to. At least they decided to wait till Mr. Winslow came back, and
they could arrive at what was best. When he came, though he brought
no accounts, he persuaded them to send the beaver, and was confident
that upon receipt of it and his letters they would have the accounts
next year; and though they thought his ground for hope was weak,
they yielded to his importunity, and sent it by a ship at the latter
end of the year, which took 1150 lbs. of beaver and 200 otter skins,
besides many small furs, such as 55 mink, two black fox skins, etc.

This year, in the Spring, came a Dutchman, who had intended to trade
at the Dutch fort, but they would not permit him. So, having a large
stock of trading goods, he came here and offered them for sale. They
bought a good quantity that were very suitable, such as Dutch roll,
kettles, etc., amounting to the value of £500, for payment of which
they gave bills on Mr. Sherley in England, having already sent the
parcel of beaver mentioned above. By another ship this year they
again sent a further considerable quantity, which would reach him and
be sold before any of these bills came due. The quantity of beaver
then sent was 1809 lbs., and 10 otter skins; and shortly after, the
same year, then sent by another ship, of which one Langrume was
captain, 719 lbs. of beaver, and 199 otter skins, concerning which
Mr. Sherley writes as follows.


  _James Sherley in London to the New Plymouth Colony_:

  I have received your letters with eight hogshead of beaver, by
  Edward Wilkinson, captain of the Falcon. Blessed be God for
  its safe arrival. I have also seen and accepted three bills of
  exchange.... But I must acquaint you that the Lord’s hand is heavy
  upon this kingdom in many parts, but chiefly in this city, with
  His judgment of the plague. Last week’s bill was 1200 deaths, and
  I fear this will be more, and it is much feared that it will be a
  winter sickness. It is incredible the number of people who have
  gone into the country in consequence—many more than went out during
  the last plague. So there is no trading here; carriers from most
  places are forbidden to enter; and money, though long due, cannot
  be obtained. Mr. Hall owes us more than would pay these bills, but
  he, his wife, and all, are in the country, 60 miles from London. I
  wrote to him, he came up, but could not pay us. I am sure that if I
  were to offer to sell the beaver at eight shillings per lb. I could
  not get the money. But when the Lord shall please to cease His
  hand, I hope we shall have better and quicker markets; so it shall
  lie by in the meantime. Before I accepted the bills, I acquainted
  Mr. Beauchamp and Mr. Andrews about them, that no money could be
  got, and that it would be a great discredit to you to refuse the
  bills,—none having ever been dishonoured,—and a shame to us, with
  1800 lbs. of beaver lying by, and more already owing than the bills
  came to, etc. But it was useless; neither of them would lift a
  finger to help. I offered to put up my third part, but they said
  they neither could nor would, etc. However, your bills shall be
  met; but I did not think they would have deserted either you or me
  at this time.... You will expect me to write more fully and answer
  your letters, but I am not a day each week at home in town. I take
  my books and all to Clapham; for here it is the most miserable time
  that I think has been known in many ages. I have known three great
  plagues, but none like this. And that which should be a means to
  pacify the Lord, and help us, is denied us, for preaching is put
  down in many places,—not a sermon in Westminster on the Sabbath,
  nor in many towns about us; the Lord in mercy look upon us. Early
  in the year there was a great drought, and no rain for many weeks,
  so that everything was burnt up,—hay at £5 a load; and now there is
  nothing but rain, so that much summer corn and late hay is spoilt.
  Thus the Lord sends judgment after judgment, and yet we cannot
  see, or humble ourselves, and therefore may justly fear heavier
  judgments, unless we speedily repent and turn unto Him, which the
  Lord give us grace to do if it be His blessed will. Thus desiring
  you to remember us in your prayers, I ever rest

                                               Your loving friend,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _Sept. 14th, 1636._

This was all the answer they had from Mr. Sherley, which made Mr.
Winslow’s hopes fail him. So they decided to send no more beaver
till they came to some settlement. But now there came letters from
Mr. Andrews and Mr. Beauchamp, full of complaints, surprised that
nothing had been sent over to meet the amounts due them, and that
it appeared by the account sent in 1631 that they were each of them
out about £1100 apiece, and all this time they had not received one
penny towards it; and now Mr. Sherley was trying to get more money
from them, and was offended because they refused him. They blamed
them here very much that all was sent to Mr. Sherley and nothing to
them. The partners here wondered at this, for they supposed that much
of their money had been paid in, and that each of them had received
a proportionate quantity yearly, out of the large returns sent home.
They had sent home since the account was received in 1631,—which
included all and more than all their debts, with that year’s
supplies,—goods to the following amount:

  Nov. 18th, 1631. By Mr. Pierce      400 lbs. of beaver; otter 20 skins
  July 13th, 1632. “   “  Griffin    1348  “       “       “   147  “
             1633. “   “  Graves     3366  “       “       “   346  “
             1634. “   “  Andrews    3738  “       “       “   234  “
             1635. “   “  Babb       1150  “       “       “   200  “
  June 24th, 1636. “   “  Wilkinson  1809  “       “       “    10  “
             1636. “   “  Langrume    719  “       “       “   199  “
                                    -----                     ----
                                    12530  “       “       “  1156  “

All these quantities were safely received and well sold, as appeared
by letters. The coat beaver usually sold at twenty shillings per
lb., and sometimes at twenty-four shillings; otter skins at fifteen
shillings, and sometimes sixteen shillings each,—I do not remember
any under fourteen shillings. It may be that the last year’s shipment
fetched less; but there were some small furs not reckoned in this
account, and some black beaver at high rates, to make up any such
deficit. It was calculated that the above parcels of beaver came to
little less than £10,000 sterling, and the otter skins would pay all
the expenses, and, with other furs, make up besides whatever might
be short of the former sum. When the former account was passed, all
their debts, those of the White Angel and Friendship included, came
to but £4770. They estimated that all the supplies sent them since,
and bills paid for them, could not exceed £2000; so that their debts
should have been paid with interest.

It may be objected; how came it that they did not know the exact
amount of their receipts, as they did of their returns, but had
to estimate them? Two things were the cause of it; the first and
principal was, that the new accountant, who was pressed upon them
from England, wholly failed them, and could never render them any
accounts. He trusted to his memory and loose papers, and let things
run into such confusion, that neither he nor anyone else could
bring things to rights. Whenever he was called upon to perfect his
accounts, he desired to have so long, or such a time of leisure,
and he would finish them. In the interim he fell very ill, and in
conclusion he could make no account at all. His books, after a brief
good beginning, were left altogether imperfect, and of his papers,
some were lost and others so confused that he knew not what to make
of them himself when they came to be examined. This was not unknown
to Mr. Sherley; and the colony came to smart for it to some purpose,
both in England and here, though it was not their fault. They reckon
they have lost in consequence some hundred of pounds for goods sold
on credit, which were ultimately a dead loss for want of clear
accounts to call for payment. Another reason of the mischief was,
that after Mr. Winslow was sent into England to demand accounts and
to take exception to the White Angel, no prices were sent with their
goods, and no proper invoice of them; everything was confused, and
they were obliged to guess at the prices.

They wrote back to Mr. Andrews and Mr. Beauchamp, and told them they
wondered they could say that they had sent nothing home since the
last accounts; they had sent a great deal, and it might rather be
wondered how they could send so much, beside all the expenses here
and what the French had captured, and what had been lost at sea when
Mr. Pierce’s ship was wrecked off the coast of Virginia. What they
had sent was sent to them all, to them as well as Mr. Sherley, and
if they had not looked after it, it was their own faults; they must
refer them to Mr. Sherley who had received it from whom they should
demand it. They also wrote to Mr. Sherley to the same purpose, and
what the others’ complaints were.

This year, two shallops going to Connecticut with goods from
Massachusetts, belonging to those who had gone there to settle, were
wrecked in an easterly storm, coming into the harbour at night. The
boatmen were drowned, and the goods were driven all along the shore,
and strewn up and down at high-water mark. But the Governor had them
collected and an inventory made of them, and they were washed and
dried. So most of the goods were saved and restored to the owners.
Afterwards another boat from the same place, and bound for the same
destination, was wrecked at Manoanscusett, and the goods that came
ashore were preserved for them. Such misfortunes the Connecticut
settlers from Massachusetts met with in their beginnings, and some
thought them a correction from God for their intrusion there, to the
injury of others. But I dare not be so bold with God’s judgments as
to say that it was so.

In the year 1634, the Pequots, a warlike tribe that had conquered
many of its neighbours and was puffed up with numerous victories,
were at variance with the Narragansetts, a great neighboring tribe.
These Narragansetts held correspondence and were on terms of
friendship with the English of Massachusetts. The Pequots, being
conscious of the guilt of the death of Captain Stone, whom they knew
to be an Englishman, and of those who were with him, and having
fallen out with the Dutch, lest they should have too many enemies at
once, wished to make friends with the English of Massachusetts, and
sent messengers and gifts to them, as is shown by some letters from
the Governor there, as follows.


  _Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts to the New Plymouth Colony_:

  Dear and worthy Sir,

  To let you know something about our affairs. The Pequots have sent
  to us desiring our friendship, and offering much wampum and beaver,
  etc. The first messengers were dismissed without answer; with the
  next we had several days’ conference, and taking the advice of some
  of our ministers, and seeking the Lord in it, we concluded a peace
  and friendship with them, on these conditions: that they should
  deliver to us the men who were guilty of Stone’s death.... If we
  desired to settle in Connecticut they should give up their right to
  us, and we should trade with them as friends,—the chief thing aimed
  at. To this they readily agreed; and begged that we should mediate
  a peace between them and the Narragansetts, for which purpose they
  were willing that we should give the Narragansetts part of the
  present they would bestow on us,—for they stood so much on their
  honour that they would not be seen to give anything of themselves.
  As for Captain Stone, they told us there were but two left who had
  a hand in his death and that they killed him in a just quarrel, for
  he surprised two of their men, and bound them, and forced them to
  show him the way up the river. He went ashore with two others, nine
  Indians secretly watching him; and when they were asleep that night
  they killed him and the others, to free their own men; and some of
  them going afterwards to the pinnace, it was suddenly blown up. We
  are now preparing to send a pinnace to them.

In another of his he writes thus:

  Our pinnace has lately returned from the Pequots; they did little
  trade, and found them a very false tribe, so they mean to have no
  more to do with them. I have many other things to write you.

                                              Yours ever assured.
                                                        JOHN WINTHROP.
  _Boston, 12th of the first month, 1634._

After these occurrences, and as I take it, this year, John Oldham,
so often mentioned before, now an inhabitant of Massachusetts, went
trading with a small vessel, weakly manned, into the south parts, and
upon a quarrel between him and the Indians was killed by them, as
was before noted, at an Island called by the Indians, Munisses, but
since by the English, Block Island. This, with the death of Stone,
and the trifling of the Pequots with the English of Massachusetts,
incited the latter to send out a party to take revenge and require
satisfaction for these wrongs; but it was done so superficially, and
without acquainting those of Connecticut and their other neighbours
with the project, that little good came of it. Indeed, to their
neighbours it did more harm than good, for some of the murderers
of Oldham fled to the Pequots, and though the English went to the
Pequots and had some parley with them, they only deluded them, and
the English returned without doing anything effective. After the
English had returned, the Pequots watched their opportunity to kill
some of the English as they passed in boats, or went out fowling; and
next spring even attacked them in their homes, as will appear. I only
touch upon these things, because I have no doubt they will be more
fully covered by those who have more exact knowledge of them, and
whom they more properly concern.

This year Mr. Smith resigned his ministry, partly by his own wish,
thinking it too heavy a burden, and partly at the persuasion of
others. So the church looked out for some one else, having often
been disappointed in their hopes before. But it pleased the Lord to
send them an able and godly man, Mr. John Rayner, meek and humble in
spirit, sound in the truth, and every way unreprovable in his life
and conversation. After some time of trial they chose him as their
minister, the fruits of whose labours they enjoyed many years with
much comfort, in peace and good agreement.




CHAPTER XVIII

The war with the Pequot Indians—Co-operation between the Colonies—The
Narragansett Indians allies of the English—The Pequot Fort attacked
and taken—The Pequots routed and subdued—The Narragansett Indians
jealous of the Monhiggs under Uncas—James Sherley discharged from his
agency in London: 1637.


In the early part of this year the Pequots openly attacked the
English in Connecticut, along the lower parts of the river, and
killed many of them as they were at work in the fields, both men
and women, to the great terror of the rest; then they went off in
great pride and triumph, with many high threats. They also attacked
a fort at the river’s mouth, though strong and well defended; and
though they did not succeed there, it struck those within with fear
and astonishment to see their bold attempts in the face of danger.
This made them stand upon their guard everywhere, and prepare for
resistance, and they earnestly solicited their friends and neighbours
in Massachusetts to send them speedy aid, for they looked for more
forcible onslaughts. So Mr. Vane, who was then Governor, wrote from
their General Court to those here, asking them to join with them
in this war, which they were cordially willing to do, but took the
opportunity to write to them about some previous events, as well as
the present trouble, and pertinent to it. The succeeding Governor’s
answer I will here insert.


  _Governor John Winthrop at Boston to the New Plymouth Colony_:

  Sir,

  The Lord having so disposed that your letters to our late Governor
  have fallen to my lot to answer, I could wish I had more freedom
  of time and thought so that I might do it more to your and my own
  satisfaction. But what is wanting now can be supplied later. As for
  the matters which you and your Council submit to our consideration,
  we did not think it advisable to make them so public as by bringing
  them to the cognizance of our General Court. But having been
  considered by our Council, this answer we think fit to return to
  you.

  1. Whereas you signify your willingness to join us in this war
  against the Pequots, though you cannot bind yourselves without the
  consent of your General Court, we acknowledge your good feeling
  towards us, which we never had cause to doubt, and await your full
  resolution in due course.

  2. Whereas you consider this war concerns us, and not you, except
  incidentally, we partly agree with you; but we suppose that in case
  of peril you will not act upon that consideration any more than we
  should do in like case. We suppose you look upon the Pequots and
  all other Indians as a common enemy, who though he may vent the
  first outburst of his rage upon some one section of the English,
  nevertheless, if he succeed, will thereupon pursue his advantage
  to the undoing of the whole nation. Therefore, in soliciting your
  help, we do so with respect to your own safety as well as ours.

  3. Whereas you desire that we should bind ourselves to help you on
  all similar occasions, we are convinced you cannot doubt it; but
  as we now deal with you as an independent colony, recognizing that
  we cannot involve you in this campaign against your consent, so
  we desire the same freedom of decision if at any time you make a
  similar call upon us; and whereas it is objected that we refused
  to aid you against the French, we consider the cases are not quite
  equivalent, though we cannot wholly excuse our failing you on that
  occasion.

  4. Whereas you object that we began the war without consulting
  you, and have since managed it contrary to your advice; the truth
  is that our first intentions being only against Block Island and
  the enterprise seeming of small difficulty, we did not so much as
  consider taking advice or looking for aid. When we had decided to
  include the Pequots, we sent to you at once, or very shortly after,
  and by the time your answer was received it seemed unadvisable for
  us to change our plans.

  5. As for our people trading at Kennebec, we assure you it has not
  been with our permission; and what we have provided to meet such
  cases at our last court, Mr. Winslow can inform you.

  6. Whereas you object to our trading and corresponding with your
  enemies the French, we answer you are misinformed. Except for some
  letters which have passed between our late Governor and them, of
  which we were cognizant, we have neither traded nor encouraged
  our people to trade with them; and only one or two vessels taking
  letters had permission from our Governor to go there.[10]

  Several other objections have been made to us privately by our
  worthy friend, to which he has received some answer; but as most of
  them concern particular discourtesies or injuries from individuals
  here, we cannot say more than this: that if the offenders are
  exposed in the right way, we shall be ready to do justice as the
  cases require. In the meantime we desire you to rest assured, that
  such things are done without our knowledge, and are not a little
  grievous to us.

  Now as to joining us in this war, which only concerns us to the
  same extent as it does yourselves, viz., the relief of our friends
  and Christian brethren who are now first in danger. Though you may
  think us able to carry it through without you,—and if the Lord
  please to be with us, so we may,—nevertheless three things we offer
  for your consideration, which we think will have some weight with
  you.

  First, if we should sink under this burden, your opportunity of
  seasonable help would be lost in three respects; you could then
  only reinforce us or secure yourselves there at three times the
  risk and expense of the present undertaking; the suffering we
  should have borne, if through your neglect, would much reduce the
  acceptableness of your help afterwards; those amongst you who are
  now full of courage and zeal, would be dispirited and less able to
  support so great a burden.

  Secondly, it is very important to hasten the conclusion of this
  war before the end of this summer, otherwise the news of it will
  discourage both your and our friends from coming over to us next
  year, besides the further risk and loss it would expose us to, as
  yourselves may judge.

  Thirdly, if the Lord please to bless our endeavours, so that we
  end the war, or succeed in it without you, it may breed such ill
  thoughts in our people towards yours, that it will be thereafter
  difficult to entertain such opinion of your good-will towards us as
  is fitting in neighbours and brethren. What ill consequences might
  result on both sides, wise men may well fear, and would rather
  prevent than hope to redress. With hearty salutations to yourself
  and all your council and our other good friends with you I rest,

                                 Yours most assured in the Lord,
                                                        JOHN WINTHROP.
  _Boston, the 20th of the third month, 1637._

In the meantime the Pequots, especially the winter before, had sought
to make peace with the Narragansetts, and used very pernicious
arguments to persuade them: the English were strangers, and were
beginning to overspread their country, and would deprive them of it
in time if they were allowed thus to increase; if the Narragansetts
were to assist the English to subdue them, the Pequots, they would
only make way for their own overthrow, for then the English would
soon subjugate them; but if they would listen to their advice, they
need not fear the strength of the English, for they would not make
open war upon them, but fire their houses, kill their cattle, and
lie in ambush for them as they went about the country—all of which
they could do with but little danger to themselves. By these means
they easily saw the English could not long hold out, but would either
be starved or forced to leave the country. They urged these and
similar arguments so strongly, that the Narragansetts were wavering,
and half-minded to make peace with them and join them against the
English. But when they reconsidered what wrongs they had suffered
from the Pequots, and what an opportunity they now had, with the help
of the English, to repay them, revenge was so sweet to them that it
prevailed over everything else. So they resolved to join the English
against them; and they did so.

The court here agreed to send fifty men at their own expense, and
with all possible speed got them armed, with sufficient leaders, and
a bark to carry their provisions and supply all their needs. But when
they were ready to march, with a contingent from the Bay, they had
word that the enemy were as good as vanquished, and there would be no
need of them.

I shall not take upon myself to describe in detail what had occurred,
because I expect it will be done fully by those who best know
the circumstances; I will only touch upon them in general. From
Connecticut, where they were most alive to the present danger and
all that it threatened, they raised a party of men, and another
party met them from the Bay at a place where the Narragansetts were
to join them. The Narragansetts were anxious to be gone, before the
English were well rested and refreshed, especially some of them that
had arrived last, for they wanted to come upon the enemy suddenly
and undiscovered. A bark belonging to New Plymouth had just put in
there, having come from Connecticut, and urged them to profit by the
Indians’ keenness, and to show themselves as eager as they were,
for it would encourage them, and promptness would result to their
great advantage. So they proceeded at once, and arranged their march
so that they reached the fort of the enemy, in which most of their
chief men were, before day. They approached it in utter silence,
and both the English and Indians surrounded it, so that they should
not escape. They then made the attack with great courage, speedily
forcing an entrance to the fort, and shooting amongst them. Those
that entered first met with fierce resistance, the enemy shooting
and grappling with them. Others of the attacking party ran to their
houses and set them on fire, the mats catching quickly, and, all
standing close together, the wind soon fanned them into a blaze,—in
fact more were burnt to death than killed otherwise. It burnt their
bowstrings and made their weapons useless, and those that escaped the
fire were slain by the sword,—some hewn to pieces, others run through
with their rapiers, so that they were quickly dispatched and very few
escaped. It is believed that there were about 400 killed. It was a
fearful sight to see them frying in the fire, with streams of blood
quenching it; the smell was horrible, but the victory seemed a sweet
sacrifice, and they gave praise to God Who had wrought so wonderfully
for them, thus to enclose their enemy, and give them so speedy a
victory over such a proud and insulting foe. The Narragansett Indians
all this while stood round, but kept aloof from danger, and left the
whole execution to the English, except to stop any who broke away;
but they mocked their enemies in their defeat and misery, calling
out to them when they saw them dancing in the flames a word which in
the language of the vanquished Indians signified, O brave Pequots!
and which was used by them in their prayers, and in their songs of
triumph after victory.

After this attack had been thus fortunately concluded they marched to
the waterside, where they met with some of their vessels, by which
they were refreshed with food and other necessaries. But during their
march the remnant of the Pequots, who had escaped, collected in a
body, intending to take advantage of them at a neck of land they
had to cross; but when they saw the English prepared for them, they
kept aloof, so they neither did any harm nor received any. After
refreshing themselves and taking further counsel, they resolved to
follow up their victory and make war upon the rest; but most of the
Narragansett Indians forsook them, and those that they kept with them
for guides they found very unwilling, either from envy, or because
they saw the English would profit more by the victory than they were
willing they should, or perhaps deprive them of the advantage of
having the Pequots become tributary to them.

For the rest of these events, and the further campaign against the
Pequots, I will relate them as given in a letter from Mr. Winthrop to
the Governor here.

  _Governor John Winthrop at Boston to the Governor of New Plymouth_:

  Worthy Sir,

  I received your loving letter, and am anxious to express my
  affection for you, but lack of time forbids. My desire is to
  acquaint you with the Lord’s mercies towards us, in prevailing
  against His and our enemies, that you may rejoice and praise His
  name with us. About 80 of our men coasted along towards the Dutch
  plantation, sometimes by water but mostly by land, and met here
  and there with some Pequots, whom they slew or took prisoners.
  They captured two sachems and beheaded them, and not hearing of
  Sassacus, the chief sachem, they gave a prisoner his life to go and
  find him. He went and brought them word where he was; but Sassacus
  suspecting him to be a spy, fled, after he had gone, with some
  twenty more, to the Mohawks, so our men missed him. However, they
  divided themselves, and ranged up and down as the providence of God
  directed them, for their Indian allies had all gone, except three
  or four, who did not know how to guide them, or else would not.

  On the 13th of the month they chanced upon a large band of the
  tribe, 80 men and 200 women and children, in a small Indian town
  close by a hideous swamp, which they all slipped into before our
  men could get to them. Our captains had not yet come up; but there
  were Mr. Ludlow and Captain Mason with some ten of their men, and
  Captain Patrick with some twenty or more of his, the noise of whose
  shooting attracted Captain Trask with fifty more. Then order was
  given to surround the swamp, which was about a mile round; but
  Lieutenant Davenport and some twelve more, not hearing the command,
  rushed into the swamp among the Indians. It was so thick with
  shrubwood, and so boggy, that some of them stuck fast, and were
  wounded by many shots. Lieutenant Davenport was dangerously wounded
  near the armhole, and another man was shot in the head, and they
  were so weak that they were in great danger of being captured by
  the Indians. But Sergeant Riggs and Jeffrey, and two or three more,
  rescued them, and killed several Indians with their swords. After
  they had been brought out, the Indians desired parley. Through
  Thomas Stanton, our interpreter, terms were offered: that if they
  would come out and yield they should have their lives, except such
  as had had their hands in English blood. Whereupon the sachem of
  the place came out, and an old man or two, and their wives and
  children, and after that some other women and children; and they
  parleyed for two hours till it was night. Then Thomas Stanton was
  sent to them again to call them out; but they said they would sell
  their lives there, and forthwith shot at him so fiercely that if he
  had not cried out and been rescued at once they would have killed
  him.

  Then our men cleared the swamp with their swords, till the Indians
  were cooped up in so narrow a compass that they could kill them
  more easily through the thickets. So they stood all night about
  twelve feet apart from each other, the Indians coming close up
  to our men and shooting their arrows so that they pierced their
  hatbrims, their sleeves, their stockings, and other parts of their
  clothes; but so miraculously did the Lord preserve them that not
  one of them was wounded except the three who had so rashly entered
  the swamp. Just before day it grew very dark, and some of the
  Indians who were still alive got through between our men, though
  they stood not more than twelve or fourteen feet apart; but they
  were soon discovered, and some were pursued and killed. Upon
  searching the swamp next morning they found nine slain, and some
  they pulled up whom the Indians had buried in the mire; so they
  think that of all the band not twenty escaped. Afterwards they
  found some who had died of their wounds while in flight.

  The prisoners were divided, some being sent to the people of the
  Connecticut River, and the rest to us. Of these we are sending
  the male children to Bermuda[11] with Mr. William Pierce, and the
  women and female children are distributed through the towns. In
  all, there have now been killed and taken prisoners about 700.
  The rest are scattered, and the Indians in all quarters are so
  terrified that they are afraid to give them sanctuary. Two of the
  sachems of Long Island came to Mr. Stoughton and offered themselves
  as tributaries, under their protection; and two of the Neepnett
  sachems have been here to seek our friendship. Among the prisoners
  we have the wife and children of Mononotto, the former a modest
  looking woman of good behaviour. It was by her mediation that the
  two English girls were spared from death and used kindly; so I
  have taken charge of her. One of her first requests was that the
  English should not abuse her body, and that her children might not
  be taken from her. Those that had been wounded were soon brought
  back by John Galop, who came with his shallop in a happy hour, to
  bring them food and take the wounded to the pinnace where our chief
  surgeon was, with Mr. Wilson, about eight leagues off. Our people
  are all in good health, the Lord be praised, and although they had
  marched in their arms all day and had been in the fight all night,
  they professed they were so fresh that they could readily have
  started off on another such expedition.

  This is the substance of what I received, though I am forced to
  omit several considerable circumstances. So, being much pressed
  for time,—the ships sailing in four days, taking Lord Lee and Mr.
  Vane,—I will break off, and with hearty salutations, I rest

                                                 Yours assured,
                                                        JOHN WINTHROP.

  P. S.—The captain reports we have killed 13 Sachems; but Sassacus
  and Mononotto are still living.

  _28th of the fifth month, 1637._

That I may make an end of the matter, this Sassacus, the Pequot’s
chief sachem, having fled to the Mohawks, they cut off his head,
and executed some other of their leaders, whether to satisfy the
English or the Narragansetts,—who as I have since heard hired them
to do it,—or for their own advantage, I do not know; but thus the
war ended. The rest of the Pequots were utterly routed. Some of them
submitted themselves to the Narragansetts and lived under them; but
others betook themselves to the Monhiggs, under their sachem, Uncas,
with the approbation of the English of Connecticut, under whose
protection Uncas lived, he and his men having been faithful to them
in the war, and having done them very good service. But it so vexed
the Narragansetts, that they had not the whole sway over them, that
they never ceased plotting and contriving how to subjugate them; and
when they found they could not attain their ends, owing to English
protection, they tried to raise a general conspiracy against the
English, as will appear later.

They received letters again from Mr. Andrews and Mr. Beauchamp in
England, saying that Mr. Sherley neither had paid nor would pay them
any money, nor give them any account. They were very vexed, blaming
them still that they had sent everything to Mr. Sherley and none to
themselves. Now, though they might have justly referred them to their
former answer, and insisted upon it, and some wise advisers urged
them to do so, nevertheless, as they believed they were really out
substantial sums of money, especially Mr. Andrews, they resolved to
send them what beaver they had on their hands; but they delayed doing
so till next year. Mr. Sherley’s letters were to this purpose: that
as the other partners had abandoned him in the payment of former
bills, so now he told them he would abandon them in this; and,
believe it, they should find it true. And he was as good as his word,
for they could never get a penny from him, nor bring him to account,
though Mr. Beauchamp sued him in Chancery. But they all turned their
complaints against the New Plymouth partners, where there was least
cause; indeed they had suffered most unjustly. They discharged Mr.
Sherley from his agency, and forbade him to buy or send over any more
goods for them, and urged him to come to an end with their affairs.




CHAPTER XIX

Trial of three Murderers—Rise in value of Livestock—Earthquake: 1638.


This year Mr. Thomas Prince was chosen Governor.

Amongst other enormities that occurred this year three men were tried
and executed for robbery and murder. Their names were Arthur Peach,
Thomas Jackson, and Richard Stinnings. There was a fourth, Daniel
Crose, who was also found guilty, but he escaped and could not be
found. Arthur Peach was the ringleader. He was a strong and desperate
young man, and had been one of the soldiers in the Pequot war, and
had done as good service as any there, always being one of the first
in any attack. Being now out of means and loth to work, and taking
to idle ways and company, he intended to go to the Dutch colony,
and had lured the other three, who were servants and apprentices,
to go with him. But there was also another cause for his going away
secretly in this manner; he had not only run into debt, but he had
seduced a girl, a maid-servant in the town, and fear of punishment
made him wish to get away, though this was not known till after his
death. The other three ran away from their masters in the night,
and could not be heard of, for they did not go by the ordinary
route, but shaped such a course as they thought would evade pursuit.
Finding themselves somewhere between the Bay of Massachusetts and
the Narragansetts’ country, and wishing to rest, they made a fire a
little off the road by the wayside, and took tobacco. At length there
came a Narragansett Indian by, who had been trading at the Bay, and
had some cloth and beads with him. They had met him the day before,
and now he was returning. Peach called him to come and drink tobacco
with them, and he came and sat down. He had told the others he would
kill the Indian and take his goods. The others were afraid; but Peach
said, Hang the rogue, he has killed many of us. So they let him do
as he would, and when he saw his opportunity he took his rapier and
ran the man through the body once or twice, and took from him five
fathoms of wampum and three coats of cloth; and then they went their
way, leaving him for dead. But the Indian managed to scramble up
when they had gone, and made shift to get home. By this means they
were discovered, and the Indians caught them; for, wanting a canoe
to take them over the water, and not thinking their act was known,
by the sachem’s command they were taken to Aquidnett Island, and
were there accused of the deed, and examined and committed upon it
by the English. The Indians sent for Mr. Williams, and made grievous
complaint; and the friends and relatives of the injured native were
ready to rise in arms and incite the rest to do the same, believing
they would now find the Pequot’s words were true: that the English
would turn upon them. But Mr. Williams pacified them, and told them
they should see justice done upon the offenders, and went to the
wounded man and took Mr. James, the physician, with him. The man told
him who did it, and how it was done. The physician found his wounds
mortal, and that he could not live, as he testified upon oath before
the jury in open court. He died shortly after. The Governor at the
Bay was acquainted with it, but referred it to New Plymouth, because
the act was committed in this jurisdiction; but he urged that by all
means justice should be done, or it would cause a war. Nevertheless,
some of the more ignorant colonists objected that an Englishman
should be put to death for an Indian. So at last the murderers
were brought home from the Island, and after being tried, and the
evidence produced, they all in the end freely confessed to all the
Indian had accused them of, and that they had done it in the manner
described. So they were condemned by the jury, and executed. Some of
the Narragansett Indians and the murdered man’s friends, were present
when it was done, which gave them and all the country satisfaction.
But it was a matter of much sadness to them here, as it was the
second execution since they came,—both being for wilful murder.

This year they received more letters from England, full of renewed
complaints, on the one hand that Mr. Beauchamp and Mr. Andrews could
get no money or accounting from Mr. Sherley, on the other that the
latter should be importuned by them, retorting that he would account
with those here and not with them, etc. So, as had been decided
before, viz., that if nothing came of their last letters, they would
then send them what fur they could, thinking that when some good
part had been paid to them, Mr. Sherley and they would more easily
agree about the remainder,—they now sent to Mr. Andrews and Mr.
Beauchamp through Mr. Joseph Young in the Mary and Anne 1325 lbs. of
beaver divided between them. Mr. Beauchamp returned an account of his
share, showing that he made £400 sterling out of it, freight and all
expenses paid. But Mr. Andrews, though he had the larger and better
half, did not make so much out of his through his own indiscretion,
and yet charged the loss, which was about £40, to them here. They
sent them more by bills and other payments, which was received and
acknowledged by them, and divided between them, such as for cattle
of Mr. Allerton’s which were sold, and the price of a bark which
belonged to the stock and was sold, amounting to £434 sterling. The
total value was thus £1234 sterling, except what Mr. Andrews had lost
on his beaver, and which was made good otherwise. But this did not
stay their clamours, as will appear hereafter.

It pleased God about this time to bless the country with such an
influx of people that it was much enriched, and cattle of all kinds
stood at high prices for many years. Cows were sold at £20, some at
£25 apiece, sometimes even at £28. A cow-calf usually fetched £10; a
milch-goat £3, and sometimes £4; and she-kids thirty shillings and
often £2 apiece. By this means the original settlers who had stock
began to increase in wealth. Corn also commanded a high price, viz.,
six shillings a bushel. So other trading began to be neglected, and
the old partners, having forbidden Mr. Sherley to send them any more
goods, abandoned their trade at Kennebec, and, as things stood,
decided to follow it no longer. But a few of them were loth that it
should all be lost by closing it entirely, so they joined with some
others and agreed to give the colony about one-sixth of the profits
from it; and with the first fruits of this the colony built a house
for a prison. The trade at Kennebec has since been continued to the
great benefit of the place; for, as some well foresaw, such high
prices for corn and cattle could not long continue, and the revenue
got by trade would be much missed.

This year, about the 1st or 2nd of June, there was a fearful
earthquake. Here it was heard before it was felt. It began with a
rumbling noise, or low murmur, like remote thunder; it came from the
northward and passed southward. As the noise approached, the earth
began to shake, and at length with such violence that platters,
dishes, and other things standing on shelves came clattering down,
and people were afraid for the houses themselves. It happened that
at the time several of the chief citizens of the town were holding
a meeting in a house, conferring with some of their friends who
were about to move from the place—as if the Lord would hereby show
His displeasure at their thus shaking apart and removing from one
another. It was very terrible for a while, and as the men sat talking
in the house, some women and others were just out of doors, and the
earth shook with such violence that they could not stand without
catching hold of the posts and palings near by. But the violence did
not last long. About half an hour after, or less, came another noise
and shaking, but not so severe as before, and not lasting long. Some
ships along the coast were shaken by it; but it was not only felt
near the sea, for the Indians noticed it inland. So powerful is the
mighty hand of the Lord as to make both the earth and the sea to
shake, and the mountains to tremble before Him when He pleases; and
who can stay His hand?

It was observed that the summers for several years after this
earthquake were not so hot and seasonable for the ripening of corn
and other fruits as formerly, but were colder and more moist and
subject to early and untimely frosts, so that often much Indian corn
failed. Whether this was the cause, I leave it to naturalists to
judge.




CHAPTER XX

Settlement of boundaries between New Plymouth and Massachusetts—First
steps towards winding up the partnership by a composition: 1639 and
1640.


I will combine these two years, because there occurred but little of
interest outside of the ordinary affairs of the colony. New Plymouth
had several times granted land for various townships, and, amongst
the rest, to the inhabitants of Scituate, some of them coming from
here. A large tract of land there had also been given to their four
London partners, Mr. Sherley, Mr. Beauchamp, Mr. Andrews, and Mr.
Hatherley. At Mr. Hatherley’s request, the locality was fixed upon
for himself and them, for the other three had given him power to
choose for them. This tract of land extended up to the border-line of
their neighbours of Massachusetts, who some years later established
a town called Hingam on the land next to it. This now led to great
disputes between these two townships, about their boundaries, and
some meadow lands that lay between them. The inhabitants of Hingam
began to allot some of these meadows to their people, measuring and
staking them out for that purpose. The people of Scituate pulled up
their stakes and threw them away. So it developed into a controversy
between the two governments. Many letters passed between them about
it, and it hung in suspense for about two years. The Court of
Massachusetts appointed men to fix their boundary line according
to their patent, and the way they went to work made it include all
Scituate itself, and I know not how much more. On the other hand,
according to the boundary lines of the patent of New Plymouth, theirs
would take in Hingam, and much more within the bounds they had set.

In the end both Courts agreed to choose two commissioners on each
side, and give them absolute power to settle the boundaries between
them, and what they decided was to stand irrevocably. They had one
meeting at Hingam, but could not agree; for their commissioners
stood stiffly on a certain clause in their grant: that their limits
should extend from Charles River, or any branch or part thereof, and
3 miles further to the southward; or, from the most southern part
of the Massachusetts Bay, and 3 miles further south. But they chose
to adhere to the former limit, for they had found a small river,
or brook rather, which a long way inland trended far southward and
entered some part of what was taken to be Charles River; and from
the most southerly part of this, and 3 miles further southward,
they wished to run a line eastwards to the sea, about 20 miles,
which would take in a part of New Plymouth itself. Now though the
patent and colony of New Plymouth was much the older, the patent for
the extension upon which Scituate stood was granted after theirs
of Massachusetts; so the latter took first place as regards this
extension.

The New Plymouth answer to the deputies of Massachusetts was, they
owned that their claims for Scituate could not be based in any way
upon their original grant; but, on the other hand, neither could the
others prove this stream to be a part of Charles River, for they did
not know which Charles River was, except so far as the people here,
who came first, gave the name to the river upon which Charlestown
was afterwards built, believing it to be that which Captain Smith so
named. Now those who first named it had best reason to know it, and
to explain which it was. But they only termed it Charles River as
far as it was navigated by them,—that is, as far as a boat could go.
But that all the small brooks that should flow into it, far inland,
and were all differently named by the natives, should now be made out
to be the Charles River, or parts of it, they saw no reason to allow.
They gave an instance of the Humber in old England, which had the
Trent, Ouse, and many other rivers of lesser note running into it;
and again many smaller brooks fell into the Trent and Ouse; but all
had their own names. Again, it was contended that no mention was made
of an east line in their patent; they were to begin at the sea and go
west by a line, etc.

At this meeting, however, no conclusion was reached; but things
were discussed and well prepared for an issue. Next year the same
commissioners were appointed, and met at Scituate, and concluded the
matter as follows.

  _The agreement as to the boundaries between New Plymouth and
  Massachusetts_:

  Whereas there were two commissioners appointed by the two
  jurisdictions; the one of Massachusetts Government, appointing
  John Endicott, gent., and Israel Stoughton, gent.; the other of
  New Plymouth Government, appointing William Bradford, Governor,
  and Edward Winslow, gent.; for the setting out and determining
  the boundaries of the lands between the said jurisdictions,
  whereby this present age and posterity to come may live peaceably
  and quietly. And for as much as the said commissioners on both
  sides have full power so to do, as appears by the record of both
  jurisdictions, we the said commissioners above named, do hereby
  with one consent and agreement conclude, determine, and by these
  presents declare, that all the marshes at Cohasset that lie on
  the one side of the river next to Hingam shall belong to the
  jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and all the marshes that lie in
  the other side of the river next to Scituate shall belong to the
  jurisdiction of New Plymouth, except sixty acres of marsh land at
  the mouth of the river on the Scituate side next to the sea, which
  we do hereby agree, conclude and determine, shall belong to the
  jurisdiction of Massachusetts. And further we do hereby agree,
  determine, and conclude, that the boundaries between the said
  jurisdictions are as follows, viz.: from the mouth of the brook
  that runs into Cohasset marshes, which we call by the name of Bound
  Brook, with a straight and direct line to the middle of a great
  pond that lies on the right hand of the upper path or common way
  that leads between Weymouth and New Plymouth, close to the path
  as we go along, which was formerly, and we desire may still be,
  called Accord Pond, lying about five or six miles from Weymouth,
  southerly; and from thence with a straight line to the southernmost
  part of Charles River, and three miles southerly into the country,
  as expressed in the patent granted by his majesty to the Company
  of the Massachusetts Colony. Provided always, and nevertheless
  concluded and determined by mutual agreement between the said
  commissioners, that if it fall out that the said line from Accord
  Pond to the southernmost part of Charles River and three miles
  southerly, restrict or hinder any part of any settlement begun by
  the Governor of New Plymouth, or hereafter to be begun within ten
  years after the date of these presents, that then notwithstanding
  the said line, where it shall so obtrude as aforesaid, so much land
  as shall make up the quantity of eight square miles, to belong to
  every settlement so begun, or to be begun as aforesaid; which we
  agree, determine, and conclude, to appertain and belong to the
  said Governor of New Plymouth. And whereas the said line from the
  said brook which runs into Cohasset salt marshes, called by us
  Bound Brook, and the pond called Accord Pond, lie near the lands
  belonging to the townships of Scituate and Hingham, we do therefore
  hereby determine and conclude, that if any divisions already made
  and accorded by either of the said townships do cross the said
  line, that then it shall stand and be in force according to the
  former intents and purposes of the said towns granting them—the
  marshes formerly agreed upon excepted; and that no town in either
  jurisdiction shall hereafter exceed, but contain themselves within
  the said lines expressed.

  In witness whereof we, the commissioners of both jurisdictions, do
  by these presents indented set our hands and seals, the ninth day
  of the fourth month in the 16th year of our sovereign lord, King
  Charles, and in the year of Our Lord, 1640.

  WILLIAM BRADFORD, Governor     JOHN ENDICOTT
  EDWARD WINSLOW                 ISRAEL STOUGHTON

The extended New Plymouth patent having been taken out in the name
of William Bradford, as in trust, ran in these terms: “To him, his
heirs, associates, and assigns.” But the number of freemen having
now greatly increased, and several townships being established and
settled in several quarters such as New Plymouth, Duxbury, Scituate,
Taunton, Sandwich, Yarmouth, Barnstable, Marshfield, and not long
after Seekonk,—afterwards called at the wish of the inhabitants
Rehoboth,—and Nauset, it was desired by the Court that William
Bradford should make surrender of the same into their hands. This he
willingly did.

In these two years they had several letters from England, asking them
to send some one over to end the business of the accounts with Mr.
Sherley, who now professed he could not make them up without help
from them, especially from Mr. Winslow. They had serious thoughts of
it, and the majority of the partners here believed it best to send;
but they had formerly written such bitter and threatening letters
that Mr. Winslow was neither willing to go himself, nor that any
other of the partners should do so; for he was convinced that if
any of them went they would be arrested, and an action for such a
sum laid upon them that they would be unable to procure bail, and
would consequently be imprisoned, and that then the partners there
could force them to do whatever they wished. Or else they might be
brought into trouble by the archbishop’s means, as things then were
over there. But though they were much inclined to send, and Captain
Standish was willing to go, they decided, since they could not agree
about it and it was of such importance, and the consequences might
prove dangerous, to ask Mr. John Winthrop’s advice. It seemed the
more suitable because Mr. Andrews had in many letters acquainted
him with the differences between them, and appointed him his assign
to receive his part of the debt; and though they declined to pay
anything as a debt till the controversy was ended, they had deposited
£110 in money in his hands, for Mr. Andrews, to be paid to him in
part as soon as he should come to any agreement with the rest. But
Mr. Winthrop was of Mr. Winslow’s mind, and dissuaded them from
sending; so they abandoned the idea, and returned this answer. That
the times were dangerous in England as things stood with them, for
they knew how Mr. Winslow had suffered formerly, and for a little
thing had been clapped into the Fleet, and how long it had been
before he could get out, to his and their great loss; and things were
not better but worse in that respect. However, that their honesty
might be made manifest to all, they made them this offer: to refer
the case to some gentlemen and merchants at the Bay of Massachusetts,
such as they should choose, and were well-known to them, as they
had many friends and acquaintances there better known to them than
to the partners here; and let them be informed of the case by both
sides, and receive all the evidence that could be produced, in
writing or otherwise. The partners here would then bind themselves to
stand by their decision and make good their award, though it should
cost them all they had in the world. But this did not please them;
they were offended at it. So it came to nothing; and afterwards Mr.
Sherley wrote, that if Mr. Winslow would meet him in France, the Low
Countries, or Scotland, let him name the place, and he would come to
him there. But owing to the troubles that now began to arise in our
own nation, and other reasons, this did not come to any effect.

What made them especially desirous to bring things to an end was,
partly to stop the aspersions cast upon them about it,—though they
believed that they had suffered the greatest wrong and had most cause
for complaint; and partly because they feared a fall in the price
of cattle, in which the greatest part of their means was invested.
This was no vain fear; for it fell indeed before they had reached a
conclusion, and so suddenly, that the price of a cow which a month
before had been at £20, now fell to £5; and a goat that went at
£3 or fifty shillings, would now yield but eight shillings or ten
shillings at the most. Everyone had feared a fall in cattle, but
it was thought it would be by degrees, and not straight from the
highest pitch to the lowest. It was a great loss to many, and some
were ruined. Another reason why they so much wished to close their
accounts was that many of them were growing aged,—and indeed it was
a rare thing that so many partners should all live together so many
years. And they saw many changes were likely to occur, so they were
loth to leave these entanglements upon their children and posterity,
who might be driven to move their homes as they had done; indeed they
themselves might have to do so before they died. However, things had
still to be left open; but next year they ripened somewhat, though
they were then less able to pay for the reasons mentioned above.




CHAPTER XXI

Further steps towards the Composition between the London and
New Plymouth partners—Dispute with Rev. Charles Chauncey about
Baptism—Fall in value of live-stock—Many leading men of New Plymouth
move from the town: 1641.


Mr. Sherley being weary of this controversy and desirous to end
it, wrote to Mr. John Atwood and Mr. William Collier, two of the
inhabitants of this place, and special acquaintances of his, and
desired them to be intermediaries, and advise the partners here as to
some way of reaching a composition by mutual agreement. He also wrote
to the partners similarly, in part as follows:

  _James Sherley in England to Governor Bradford at New Plymouth_:

  Sir,

  I have written so much concerning the closing of our accounts that
  I confess I do not know what more to write. If you desire an end,
  as you seem to do, there are, I think, only two ways: either we can
  perfect all accounts, from the first to the last, on both sides;
  or we must do it by compounding, and this way, first or last, we
  shall have to come to. If we fight about it at law, we shall both
  only cleave the air, and the lawyers will be the chief gainers.
  Then let us set to the work one way or another and make an end,
  so that I may not continue to suffer both in my reputation and my
  business. Nor are you free in this respect. The gospel suffers
  by your delay, and causes its followers to be ill spoken of....
  Do not be afraid to make a fair and reasonable offer; believe me
  I shall not take advantage of you; or else let Mr. Winslow come
  over, and let him have full power to compound with me. Otherwise,
  let the accounts be fully made up so that we may close according
  to the figures. Now, blessed be God, times are so much changed
  here that I hope to see many of you return to your native country
  again, and have such freedom and liberty as the word of God
  prescribes. Our bishops were never so near a downfall as now. God
  has miraculously confounded them, and brought down all their popish
  and Machiavellian plots and projects upon their own heads.... I
  pray you take it seriously into consideration; let each give way a
  little that we may meet.... Be you and all yours kindly saluted. So
  I ever rest,

                                              Your loving friend,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _Clapham, May 18th, 1641._

Being urged by this letter, and also by Mr. Atwood’s and Mr.
Collier’s mediation, to bring things to an end, and by none more
earnestly than by their own desires, the New Plymouth Partners took
this course. They appointed these two men to meet them on a certain
day, and summoned other friends on both sides, and Mr. Freeman,
brother-in-law of Mr. Beauchamp. Having drawn up an inventory of all
remaining stock whatsoever, such as housing, boats, the bark, and
all implements belonging to them, used during the period of trading;
together with the surplus of all commodities, such as beads, knives,
hatchets, cloth, or anything else, both valueless and saleable; with
all debts, both bad and collectable; and having spent several days
upon it with the help of all books and papers, either in their hands
or those of Josias Winslow, their accountant, they found the total
sum on valuation amounted to £1400. They then all of them took a
voluntary and solemn oath, in the presence of one another and of all
their friends above mentioned now present, that this was all that
any of them knew of or could remember; and Josias Winslow did the
same on his part. But the truth is the valuation was too low; for,
as an instance, in reckoning some cattle taken from Mr. Allerton,
a cow which had cost £25 was so valued in this account; but she
subsequently realized only £4-15-0. Also, being conscientious about
their oaths, they included all that they knew of which was owing to
the stock, but they did not make such a diligent search concerning
what the stock might owe them, so that many scattered debts fell upon
them afterwards, which they had not charged in.

However, this done, they drew up certain articles of agreement
between Mr. Atwood, on Mr. Sherley’s behalf, and themselves.

  _Articles of Agreement made and concluded on October 15th, 1641_:

  Whereas there was a partnership for a period of years agreed upon
  between James Sherley, John Beauchamp, and Richard Andrews, of
  London, merchants, and William Bradford, Edward Winslow, Thomas
  Prince, Myles Standish, William Brewster, John Alden, John Howland,
  and Isaac Allerton, in a trade of beaver skins and other furs from
  New England; and the term of the said partnership having expired,
  various consignments of goods having been sent to New England by
  the said James Sherley, John Beauchamp, Richard Andrews, and many
  large returns made from New England by the said William Bradford,
  Edward Winslow, etc.; a dispute arising about the expense incurred
  for two ships, the one called the White Angel of Bristol, and the
  other the Friendship of Barnstable, and a projected voyage in her,
  etc.; which said ships and their voyages the said William Bradford,
  etc., consider do not concern the accounts of the partnership;
  and whereas the accounts of the said partnership are found to be
  confused, and cannot be clearly present, through default of Josias
  Winslow the bookkeeper, and whereas the said W. B., etc., have
  received all their goods for the said trade from the aforesaid
  James Sherley, and have made most of their returns to him, by
  consent of the said John Beauchamp and Richard Andrews; and
  whereas, also, the said James Sherley has given power and authority
  to Mr. John Atwood, with the advice and consent of William Collier
  of Duxbury, on his behalf, to put an absolute end to the said
  partnership, with all and every accounts, reckonings, dues, claims,
  demands, whatsoever, to the said James Sherley, John Beauchamp, and
  Richard Andrews, from the said W. B., etc., for and concerning the
  said beaver trade, and also the charge of the said two ships, and
  their voyages made or projected, whether just or unjust, from the
  world’s beginning to this present, as also for the payment of a
  purchase of £1800 made by Isaac Allerton, on behalf of the said W.
  B., etc., and of the joint stock, shares, lands, and adventurers,
  whatsoever, in New England aforesaid, as appears by a deed bearing
  the date Nov. 6th, 1627; and also for and from such sum and sums of
  money or goods as are received by William Bradford, Thomas Prince,
  and Myles Standish, for the recovery of dues, by accounts between
  them, the said James Sherley, John Beauchamp, Richard Andrews, and
  Isaac Allerton, for the ship called the White Angel. Now the said
  John Atwood, with advice of the said William Collier, having had
  much communication and spent several days in discussion of the said
  disputes and accounts with the said W. B., etc.; and the said W.
  B., etc., having also with the said bookkeeper spent much time in
  collecting and listing the remainder of the stock of partnership
  for the said trade, and whatsoever has been received, or is due by
  the said attorneyship before expressed, and all manner of goods,
  debts, and dues, thereunto belonging, which in all amount to the
  sum of £1400 or thereabout; and for better satisfaction of the said
  James Sherley, John Beauchamp, and Richard Andrews, the said W. B.
  and all the rest of the above said partners, together with Josias
  Winslow the bookkeeper, have taken a voluntary oath that the said
  sum of £1400 or thereabout, includes whatever they know, to the
  utmost of their remembrance.

  In consideration of which, and to the end that a full, absolute,
  and final end may now be made, and all suits in law may be avoided,
  and love and peace continued, it is therefore agreed and concluded
  between the said John Atwood, with the advice and consent of the
  said William Collier, on behalf of the said James Sherley, to and
  with the said W. B., etc., in manner and form following: viz.,
  that the said John Atwood shall procure a sufficient release and
  discharge under the hands and seals of the said James Sherley,
  John Beauchamp, and Richard Andrews, to be delivered fair and
  unconcealed to the said William Bradford, etc., at or before the
  last day of August, next ensuing the date hereof, whereby the said
  William Bradford, etc., their heirs, executors, and administrators
  and each of them shall be fully and absolutely acquitted and
  discharged of all actions, suits, reckonings, accounts, claims,
  and demands whatsoever, concerning the general stock of beaver
  trade, payment of the said £1800 for the purchase and all demands
  reckonings, accounts just or unjust, concerning the two ships,
  White Angel and Friendship aforesaid, together with whatsoever has
  been received by the said William Bradford, of the goods or estate
  of Isaac Allerton, for satisfaction of the accounts of the said
  ship White Angel by virtue of a letter of attorney to him, Thomas
  Prince, and Myles Standish, directed from the said James Sherley,
  John Beauchamp, and Richard Andrews, for that purpose as aforesaid.

  It is also agreed and concluded between the said parties to these
  presents, that the said W. B., E. W., etc., shall now be bound in
  £2400 for payment of £1200 in full satisfaction of all demands as
  aforesaid; to be paid in manner and form following; that is to say,
  £400 within two months next after the receipt of the aforesaid
  releases and discharges, £110 whereof is already in the hands of
  John Winthrop, senior, of Boston, Esquire, by the means of Richard
  Andrews aforesaid, and 80 lbs. of beaver now deposited in the
  hands of the said John Atwood, to be both in part payment of the
  said £400 and the other £800 to be paid £200 per annum, to such
  assigns as shall be appointed, inhabiting either New Plymouth or
  Massachusetts, in such goods and commodities, and at such rates, as
  the country shall afford at the time of delivery and payment; and
  in the meantime the said bond of £2400 to be deposited in the hands
  of the said John Atwood. And it is agreed upon, by and between
  the said parties to these presents, that if the said John Atwood
  shall not or cannot procure such said releases and discharges as
  aforesaid from the said James Sherley, John Beauchamp, and Richard
  Andrews, at or before the last day of August next ensuing the
  date hereof, that then the said John Atwood shall, at the said
  date precisely, redeliver, or cause to be delivered, unto the
  said W. B., E. W., etc., their said bond of £2400 and the said 80
  lbs. of beaver, or the due value thereof, without any fraud or
  further delay; and for performance of all and each of the covenants
  and agreements herein contained and expressed, which on the one
  part and behalf of the said James Sherley are to be observed and
  performed, shall become bound in the sum of £2400 to them, the said
  William Bradford, Edward Winslow, Thomas Prince, Myles Standish,
  William Brewster, John Alden, and John Howland. And it is lastly
  agreed upon between the said parties, that these presents shall be
  left in trust, to be kept for both parties, in the hands of Mr.
  John Rayner, teacher of New Plymouth. In witness whereof, all the
  said parties have hereunto severally set their hands, the day and
  year first above written.

                                 JOHN ATWOOD, WILLIAM BRADFORD, EDWARD
                                                WINSLOW, etc.

  In the presence of Edmund Freeman, William Thomas, William Paddy,
  Nathaniel Souther.

Next year this long and tedious business came to an issue, as will
appear, though not to a final end with all the parties; but so much
for the present.

I had forgotten to insert that the church here had in 1638 invited
and sent for Mr. Charles Chauncey, a reverend, godly, and very
learned man, who stayed till the latter part of 1645,—intending,
after a trial, to choose him pastor, for the more convenient
performance of the ministry, with Mr. John Rayner the teacher. But
there occurred some differences about baptism, he holding that it
ought only to be done by dipping and putting the whole body under
water, and that sprinkling was unlawful. The church conceded that
immersion, or dipping, was lawful, but not so convenient in this
cold country. But they could not allow that sprinkling, which nearly
all the churches of Christ use to this day, was unlawful and merely
a human invention. They were willing to yield to him as far as they
could, and to allow him to practice according to his convictions,
and granted that when he came to administer the ordinance, he might
perform it in that way for any who so desired, provided he allowed
Mr. Rayner, when requested, to baptize by sprinkling. But he said he
could not yield to this. So the church procured some other ministers
to discuss the point with him publicly, such as Mr. Ralph Partridge
of Duxbury. But he was not satisfied; so the church sent to several
other churches to ask their help and advice in the matter, and with
his will and consent sent them his arguments,—such as to the church
of Boston in Massachusetts, to be communicated to other churches
there; and to the churches of Connecticut and New Haven, and many
others. They received very able answers from them and other learned
ministers, who all concluded against him. Their answers are too long
to give here. But Mr. Chauncey was not satisfied. They considered
that everything that was proper had been done, so Mr. Chauncey, who
had been almost three years here, removed to Scituate, where he is
still a minister of the church.

About this time, cattle and other things having fallen greatly in
value, people began to be less affluent. Many had already gone to
Duxbury, Marshfield, and other places, and amongst them many of the
leading men, such as Mr. Winslow, Captain Standish, Mr. Alden. Others
dropped away daily, with the result that the place became far less
flourishing.




CHAPTER XXII

Conclusion of Composition between London and New Plymouth partners:
1642.


I now come to the conclusion of the long and tedious business between
the partners here and those in England.

  _James Sherley in England to the partners of New Plymouth_:

  Loving Friends,—Mr. Bradford, Mr. Winslow, Mr. Prince, Captain
  Standish, Mr. Brewster, Mr. Alden, and Mr. Howland,

  Give me leave to include you all in one letter concerning the
  final end and conclusion of this tiresome and tedious business,
  which I think I may truly say is uncomfortable and unprofitable
  for all.... It has pleased God now to show us a way to cease all
  suits and disputes, and to conclude in peace and love as we began.
  I am content to make good what Mr. Atwood and you have agreed upon,
  and for that end have sent him an absolute and general release to
  you all, and if it lacks anything to make it complete, write it
  yourselves and it shall be done, provided that you all, either
  jointly or severally, seal a similar discharge to me. For that
  purpose I have drawn up a copy and sent it to Mr. Atwood with the
  one I have sealed for you. Mr. Andrews has sealed an acquittance
  also, and sent it to Mr. Winthrop, with such directions as he
  thought fit, and, as I hear, has transferred his debt, which he
  makes £544, to the gentlemen of the Bay. Mr. Weld, Mr. Peters, and
  Mr. Hibbins have taken a great deal of pains with Mr. Andrews, Mr.
  Beauchamp, and myself, to bring us to agree, and we have had many
  meetings and spent much time upon it. Mr. Andrews wished you to
  have one third of the £1200, and the Bay two thirds; but to do that
  we three partners here must have agreed to it, which would be a
  difficult matter now. However, Mr. Weld, Mr. Peters, Mr. Hibbins,
  and I have agreed, and they are giving you their bond to settle
  with Mr. Beauchamp and procure his general release, and thus free
  you from all the trouble and expense that he might put you to.
  Now our agreement is, that you must pay to the gentlemen of the
  Bay £900, they to bear all expenses which may in any way arise
  concerning the free and absolute clearing of you from us three;
  and you to have the other £300....

  Upon receiving my release from you I will send you your bonds for
  the purchase money. I would have sent them now, but first I want
  Mr. Beauchamp to release you as well as I, because they bind you
  to him as well as to me, though I know that if a man is bound to
  twelve men, when one releases him it is the same as if all did so;
  so my discharge is to that extent sufficient. So do not doubt but
  you shall have them, and your power of attorney, and anything else
  that is fit....

                 Your loving and kind friend in what I may or can,
                                                        JAMES SHERLEY.
  _June 14th, 1642._

Mr. Andrews’ discharge was similar to Mr. Sherley’s. He was by
agreement to have £500 of the money, which he gave to those at the
Bay, who brought his discharge and received the money, viz.; one
third of the £500 paid down, and the rest in four equal payments,
to be paid yearly, for which they gave their bonds. £44 more was
demanded, in addition; but they believed they could arrange it with
Mr. Andrews, so it was not included in the bond.

But Mr. Beauchamp would give way in nothing, and demanded £400 of
the partners here, sending a release to a friend to be delivered to
them on receipt of the money. But his release was not perfect, having
left out some of the partners’ names, with some other defects; and
besides, the other partners there gave them to understand he had not
nearly so much due to him. So no end was made with him till four
years after.




CHAPTER XXIII

Death of Mr. William Brewster—His Career—Remarkable longevity of the
principal men among the Pilgrims—Confederation of the United Colonies
of New England—War between the Narragansetts and Monhiggs—Uncas
permitted by the English to execute Miantinomo: 1643.


I must open this year with an event which brought great sadness and
mourning to them all. About the 18th of April died their reverend
elder, my dear and loving friend, Mr. William Brewster, a man who had
done and suffered much for the Lord Jesus and the gospel’s sake, and
had borne his part in weal or woe with this poor persecuted church
for over thirty-five years in England, Holland, and this wilderness,
and had done the Lord and them faithful service in his calling.
Notwithstanding the many troubles and sorrows he passed through, the
Lord upheld him to a great age; he was nearly fourscore years, if not
quite, when he died. He had this blessing added by the Lord to all
the rest; he died in his bed in peace, in the midst of his friends,
who mourned and wept over him, and gave him what help and comfort
they could; and he, too, comforted them whilst he could. His illness
was not long, and until the last day he did not keep his bed. His
speech continued until about the last half day, and then failed him;
and at about 9 or 10 o’clock that evening he died, without any pangs
at all. A few hours before, he drew his breath short, and some few
minutes from the end he drew it long, as a man fallen into a sound
sleep,—without any gaspings,—and so, sweetly departed this life into
a better.

I would ask, was he the worse for any of his former sufferings? What
do I say? Worse? Nay; he was surely the better, for now they were
added to his honour. “It is a manifest token,” says the Apostle (II
Thes. i, 5, 6, 7), “of the righteous judgment of God that ye may
be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer;
seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to
them that trouble you: and to you who are troubled, rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with His mighty
angels.” And I Pet. iv, 14: “If you be reproached for the name of
Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon
you.” What though he lacked the riches and pleasures of the world in
this life, and pompous monuments at his funeral? Yet “the memorial
of the just shall be blessed, when the name of the wicked shall
rot,”—with their marble monuments (Prov. x, 7).

I should say something of his life, if to say a little were not
worse than to be silent. But I cannot wholly forbear, though perhaps
more may be written at some later time. After he had attained some
learning, viz., the knowledge of the Latin tongue and some insight
into Greek, and had spent some little time at Cambridge,—then being
first seasoned with the seeds of grace and virtue,—he went to court,
and served that religious and godly gentleman, Mr. Davison, for
several years, when he was Secretary of State. His master found
him so discreet and faithful, that he trusted him more than all
the others who were round him, and employed him in all matters of
greatest trust and secrecy. He esteemed him rather as a son than
a servant; and knowing his wisdom and godliness he would converse
with him in private more as a friend and familiar than as a master.
He accompanied him when he was sent as ambassador by the Queen into
the Low Countries, in the Earl of Leicester’s time,—besides other
important affairs of state, to receive possession of the cautionary
towns, in token of which the keys of Flushing were delivered to him
in her majesty’s name. Mr. Davison held them some time, handing them
over to Mr. Brewster, who kept them under his pillow the first night.
On his departure, the Netherlands honoured Mr. Davison with a gold
chain; he gave it into the keeping of Mr. Brewster, and when they
arrived in England commanded him to wear it as they rode through the
country, until they arrived at court. He remained with him through
his troubles, when later, he was dismissed in connection with the
death of the Queen of Scots, and for some good time after, doing him
much faithful service.

Afterwards Mr. Brewster went and lived in the country, much respected
by his friends and the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, especially
the godly and religious. He did much good there, in promoting and
furthering religion, not only by his practice and example and the
encouragement of others, but by procuring good preachers for the
places thereabouts, and persuading others to help and assist in such
work, generally taking most of the expense on himself,—sometimes
beyond his means. Thus he continued for many years, doing the best
he could, and walking according to the light he saw, till the Lord
revealed Himself further to him. In the end, the tyranny of the
bishops against godly preachers and people, in silencing the former
and persecuting the latter, caused him and many more to look further
into things, and to realize the unlawfulness of their episcopal
callings, and to feel the burden of their many anti-Christian
corruptions, which both he and they endeavoured to throw off; in
which they succeeded, as the beginning of this treatise shows.

After they had joined themselves together in communion, as was
mentioned earlier, he was a special help and support to them. On
the Lord’s day they generally met at his house, which was a manor
of the bishop’s, and he entertained them with great kindness when
they came, providing for them at heavy expense to himself. He was
the leader of those who were captured at Boston in Lincolnshire,
suffering the greatest loss, and was one of the seven who were kept
longest in prison and afterwards bound over to the assizes. After
he came to Holland he suffered much hardship, having spent most
of his means, with a large family to support, and being from his
breeding and previous mode of life not so fit for such laborious
employment as others were. But he always bore his troubles with
much cheerfulness and content. Towards the latter part of those
twelve years spent in Holland, his circumstances improved, and he
lived well and plentifully; for through his knowledge of Latin he
was able to teach many foreign students English. By his method they
acquired it quickly and with great fluency, for he drew up rules to
learn it by, after the manner of teaching Latin; and many gentlemen,
both Danes and Germans, came to him, some of them being sons of
distinguished men. By the help of some friends he also had means to
set up a printing press, and thus had employment enough, and owing
to many books being forbidden to be printed in England, they might
have had more work than they could do. But on moving to this country
all these things were laid aside again, and a new way of living must
be framed, in which he was in no way unwilling to take his part and
bear his burden with the rest, living often for many months without
corn or bread, with nothing but fish to eat, and often not even that.
He drank nothing but water for many years, indeed until five or six
years before his death; and yet by the blessing of God he lived in
health to a very old age. He laboured in the fields as long as he
was able; yet when the church had no other minister he taught twice
every Sabbath, and that both powerfully and profitably, to the great
edification and comfort of his hearers, many being brought to God by
his ministry. He did more in this way in a single year, than many who
have their hundreds a year do in all their lives.

As for his personal qualities, he was favoured above many; he was
wise and discreet and well-spoken, having a grave and deliberate
utterance, with a very cheerful spirit. He was very sociable and
pleasant among his friends, of an humble and modest mind and a
peaceable disposition, undervaluing himself and his own abilities,
and sometimes overvaluing others. He was innocent in his life and
conversation, which gained him the love of those without, as well
as those within; nevertheless he would tell them plainly of their
faults, both public and privately, but in such a way that it was
usually well taken. He was tender-hearted and compassionate with
those in misery, especially when they were of good birth and rank
and had fallen into want and poverty, either for religion’s sake or
through the oppression of others; he would always say that of all
men such deserved to be most pitied. None displeased him more than
those who would haughtily and proudly exalt themselves, having risen
from nothing, and having little else to commend them than a few fine
clothes, or more means than others. When preaching, he deeply moved
and stirred the affections, and he was very plain and direct in what
he taught, being thereby the more profitable to his hearers. He had a
singularly good gift of prayer, both public and private, in ripping
up the heart and conscience before God, in the humble confession
of sin, and begging the mercies of God in Christ for the pardon of
it. He always thought it better for ministers to pray oftener, and
divide their prayers, than to be long and tedious—except on special
occasions, such as days of humiliation and the like; because he
believed that heart and spirit, especially in the weak, could with
difficulty continue so long to stand bent, as it were, towards
God,—as is meet in prayer,—without flagging and failing. In the
government of the church, which was proper to his office as elder, he
was careful to preserve good order, and purity both in doctrine and
communion, and to suppress any error or contention that might begin
to arise; and accordingly God gave success to his endeavours in this,
all his days, and he was given to see the fruit of his labours. But I
must break off, though I have only touched the heads of a few things.

I cannot but take occasion here to wonder at the marvellous
providence of God, that, notwithstanding the many changes these
people went through, and the many enemies they had, and the
difficulties they met with, so many of them should live to very
old age. It was not only their reverend elder—for one swallow
makes no summer, as they say—but many more of them, some dying
about and before this time, and some still living, who reached
sixty or sixty-five years of age, others seventy and over, and
some nearly eighty, as he was. It must needs be accounted for by
more than natural reasons, for it is found in experience that
change of air, hunger, unwholesome food, much drinking of water,
sorrows and troubles, etc., are all enemies to health, causing many
diseases, loss of natural vigour and shortness of life. Yet all
those unfavourable conditions were their lot. They went from England
to Holland, where they found both worse air and diet than where
they came from; thence, enduring a long imprisonment, as it were,
aboard ship, they came to New England; and their way of living here
has already been shown, and what crosses, troubles, fears, wants,
and sorrows, they were liable to. In a sense they may say with the
Apostle (II Cor. xi, 26, 27) that they were “in journeyings often,
in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by their own
nation, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the wilderness, in
perils on the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and
painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings
often, in cold and nakedness.” What was it then that upheld them? It
was God’s visitation that preserved their spirits—(Job x, 12): “Thou
hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved
my spirits.” He that upheld the Apostle upheld them: they were
“persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”—(II
Cor. iv, 9)—“as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we
live; as chastened, and not killed” (II Cor. vi, 9). God, it seems,
would have all men behold and observe such mercies and works of His
providence as towards His people, that they in like cases might be
encouraged to depend upon God in their trials, and also bless His
name when they see His goodness towards others. Man lives not by
bread alone. It is not by good and dainty fare, by peace and rest
and heart’s ease, in enjoying the contentment and good things of
this world only, that health is preserved and life prolonged. God in
such examples would have the world see and behold that He can do it
without them; and if the world will shut its eyes and take no notice
of it, yet He would have his people see and consider it. Daniel was
better off with pulse, than others with the king’s dainties. Jacob,
though he went from his own nation to another people, and passed
through famine, fear, and many afflictions, yet lived till old age,
and died sweetly, and rested in the Lord, as numberless other of
God’s servants have done, and still shall do through God’s goodness,
notwithstanding all the malice of their enemies: “When the branch of
the wicked shall be cut off before his day”—(Job xv, 32)—“and bloody
and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.” (Psa. lv, 23.)

       *       *       *       *       *

Owing to the plotting of the Narragansetts, ever since the Pequot
war, the Indians had formed a general conspiracy against the English
in all parts, as was partly discovered the year before, and now
confirmed by various discoveries and the free confessions of several
Indians from different places. They therefore sought means to prevent
the trouble and secure themselves, which ultimately resulted in the
formation of closer union and confederation defined by articles from
which the following extracts are taken.

  _Articles of Confederation between the Colonies under the
  Governments of Massachusetts, New Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven,
  and those in combination therewith._

  Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and
  the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of Our Lord
  Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the gospel in purity
  and peace; and whereas in our settling, by a wise providence of
  God, we find ourselves further dispersed along the sea-coasts
  and rivers than was at first intended, so that we cannot, as
  desired, conveniently live under one government and jurisdiction;
  and whereas we live surrounded by people of several tribes and
  strange languages, who may hereafter prove injurious to us and our
  posterity, ... we therefore conceive it our bounden duty without
  delay to enter into an immediate consociation among ourselves
  for mutual help and strength in our future concerns, so that in
  national and religious affairs, as in other respects, we may be
  and continue one, according to the tenor and true meaning of the
  ensuing articles.

  I. Wherefore it is fully agreed and concluded by and between
  the parties or jurisdictions above named, and they jointly and
  severally by these presents do conclude and agree, that they all
  be, and henceforth be called by the name of, the United Colonies of
  New England.

  2. The said United Colonies, for themselves and their posterity
  jointly and severally, hereby enter into a firm and perpetual
  league of friendship and amity, for offence and defence, mutual
  advice and succour, upon all just occasions, both for preserving
  and propagating the truth of the Gospel, and for their own mutual
  safety and welfare.

  3. It is further agreed that the colonies which at present are,
  or hereafter shall be begun, within the limits of Massachusetts
  shall be forever under Massachusetts, and shall have separate
  jurisdiction among themselves in all cases as a complete body; and
  that New Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven shall each of them
  similarly have separate jurisdiction and government within their
  limits....

  4. It is by these confederates agreed that the expense of all
  just wars, whether offensive or defensive, upon what party or
  member of this confederation soever they fall, shall, both in men,
  provisions, and all other disbursements be borne by all the parties
  of this confederation, in different proportions, according to their
  different abilities, ... according to the different numbers which
  from time to time shall be found in each jurisdiction upon a true
  and just count, ... and that according to the different expenses
  of each jurisdiction and colony, the whole advantage of the war—if
  it please God to bless their endeavours—whether in lands, goods,
  or persons, shall be proportionately divided amongst the said
  confederates.

  5. It is further agreed that if these jurisdictions, or any
  colony under or in combination with them, be invaded by any enemy
  whatsoever, upon notice and request of any three magistrates of
  the jurisdiction so invaded, the rest of the confederates without
  any further meeting or expostulation shall forthwith send aid to
  the confederate in danger, but in different proportions; viz.,
  Massachusetts a hundred men sufficiently armed and provided, and
  each of the rest 45 so armed and provided,—or any lesser number if
  less be required, according to this proportion; ... but none of
  the jurisdictions to exceed these numbers till by a meeting of the
  commissioners for this confederation further aid appear necessary;
  and this proportion to continue till upon knowledge of greater
  numbers in each jurisdiction, which shall be brought before the
  next meeting, some other proportion be ordered....

  6. It is also agreed that for the management of all affairs
  concerning the whole confederation, two commissioners shall be
  chosen by and out of each of these four jurisdictions; namely, two
  for Massachusetts, two for New Plymouth, two for Connecticut, and
  two for New Haven, being all in church fellowship with us, who
  shall bring full power from their General Courts, respectively
  to hear, examine, weigh, and determine all affairs of war or
  peace, leagues, aids, expenses, etc., ... not intermeddling
  with the government of any of the jurisdictions, which by the
  third article is reserved entirely to themselves. But if these
  eight commissioners when they meet shall not all agree, any six
  of the eight agreeing shall have power to settle and determine
  the business in question. But if six do not agree, then such
  propositions, with their reasons, so far as they have been debated,
  shall be referred to the four General Courts, viz.: Massachusetts,
  New Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven; and if at all the said
  General Courts the business so referred be concluded, then it
  shall be prosecuted by the confederates and all their members. It
  is further agreed that these eight commissioners shall meet once
  every year, besides special meetings, to consider and conclude all
  affairs belonging to this confederation, which meeting shall always
  be on the first Thursday in September; and that the next meeting
  after the date of these presents, which shall be accounted the
  second meeting, shall be at Boston in Massachusetts, the third at
  Hartford, the fourth at New Haven, the fifth at New Plymouth, and
  so on, successively,—if in the meantime some central place be not
  agreed upon as more convenient for all the jurisdictions.

  7. It is further agreed that at each meeting of these eight
  commissioners, whether ordinary or extraordinary, six of them
  agreeing may choose a president from among themselves, whose duty
  shall be to direct the proceedings of that particular meeting; but
  he shall be invested with no such power or respect as might hinder
  the propounding or progress of any business, or in any way turn the
  scales, otherwise than in the preceding article is agreed.

  8. It is also agreed that the commissioners for this confederation
  hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary or extraordinary, as
  they may have commission or opportunity, shall endeavour to frame
  agreements in cases of a civil nature, in which all the colonies
  are interested, for the preservation of peace among themselves, and
  preventing as much as possible all causes of war or dispute with
  others....

  9. And since the justest wars may have dangerous consequences,
  especially for the smaller settlements in these United Colonies, it
  is agreed that neither Massachusetts, New Plymouth, Connecticut,
  nor New Haven, nor any member of any of them, shall at any
  time hereafter begin, undertake, or engage themselves, or this
  confederation or any part thereof, in any way whatsoever (sudden
  exigencies excepted), without the consent and agreement of six of
  the forementioned eight commissioners....

  10. That on special occasions, when meetings are summoned by three
  magistrates of any jurisdiction, if any of the commissioners do not
  come, due notice having been given or sent, it is agreed that four
  of the commissioners shall have power to direct a war which cannot
  be delayed, and to send for due proportions of men out of each
  jurisdiction; but not less than six shall determine the justice of
  the war, or allow the demands or bills of expenses, or cause any
  levies to be made for it.

  11. It is further agreed, that if any of the confederates shall
  hereafter break any of these articles of agreement, or in any way
  injure any one of the other jurisdictions, such breach of agreement
  or injury shall be duly considered by the commissioners for the
  other jurisdictions; that both peace and this present confederation
  may be entirely preserved without violation.

  12. Lastly, this perpetual confederation and its several articles,
  being read and seriously considered both by the General Court
  of Massachusetts and by the commissioners for New Plymouth,
  Connecticut, and New Haven, is fully allowed and confirmed by three
  of the afore-named confederates, viz., Massachusetts, Connecticut,
  and New Haven; the commissioners for New Plymouth having no
  commission to conclude, request time to advise with their General
  Court....

       *       *       *       *       *

  At a meeting of the commissioners for the confederation held at
  Boston on the 7th of September, it appearing that the General
  Court of New Plymouth, and the several townships thereof, have
  read, considered, and approved these articles of confederation,
  as appears by commission from their General Court bearing date
  the 29th of August, 1643, to Mr. Edward Winslow and Mr. William
  Collier, to ratify and confirm the same on their behalfs; we
  therefore the commissioners for Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New
  Haven, do also, for our several governments subscribe to them.

  JOHN WINTHROP, Gov. of Mass.      GEORGE FENWICK
  THOMAS DUDLEY                     EDWARD HOPKINS
  THEOPH. EATON                     THOMAS GREGSON

At their first meeting held at Boston on the above mentioned
date, amongst other things they had the following matter of great
importance to consider. The Narragansetts, after subduing the
Pequots, thought they were going to rule over all the Indians
round them; but the English, especially those of Connecticut, were
friendly with Uncas, sachem of the Monhigg tribe, which lived near
them, as the Narragansetts did near those of Massachusetts. Uncas
had been faithful to them in the Pequot war, and they had agreed to
support him in his just liberties, and were willing that such of the
surviving Pequots as had submitted to him, should remain with him and
live quietly under his protection. This greatly increased his power
and importance, and the Narragansetts could not endure to see it.
So Miantinomo, their chief sachem, an ambitious man, tried secretly
and by treachery according to the Indian way, to make away with him,
hiring some one to kill him. They tried to poison him; that not
succeeding, they planned to knock him on the head in the night in
his house, or to shoot him,—and such like devices. But none of these
plots taking effect, Miantinomo made open war upon Uncas, though it
was contrary to his agreements with the English and the Monhiggs.
He suddenly came upon him with 900 or 1000 men, without proclaiming
war. Uncas at that time had not half so many; but it pleased God to
give him the victory, and he slew many of the Narragansetts, and
wounded many more; but most important of all, he took Miantinomo
prisoner. But as he was a great man, and the Narragansetts a powerful
people who would be sure to seek revenge, he did nothing until he
had taken the advice of the English; so by the help and direction of
those of Connecticut, he kept him prisoner until this meeting of the
confederation. The commissioners weighed the cause between Uncas and
Miantinomo, and the evidence being duly considered, the commissioners
saw that Uncas would not be safe while Miantinomo lived. So they
concluded that he might justly put such a false and blood-thirsty
enemy to death; but in his own jurisdiction, not on English ground.
They advised that in his execution all mercy and toleration should
be shown, contrary to the practise of the Indians who use tortures
and all kinds of cruelty. Furthermore, as Uncas had hitherto shown
himself a friend to the English, and had consulted them in this, if
the Narragansett Indians, or others, unjustly attacked Uncas for this
execution, the commissioners promised that the English would assist
and protect him as far as they could against violence, upon notice
and request.

Uncas followed this advice, and accordingly executed Miantinomo, in
a fair manner, with due respect for the honour of his position. But
what followed on the Narragansetts’ part will appear later.




CHAPTER XXIV

Suggested removal of the Church of New Plymouth to Nauset—The
Narragansetts continue their attack on Uncas and the Monhiggs—Truce
arranged by the English: 1644.


Mr. Edward Winslow was chosen governor this year.

Many having left here, owing to the district being so limited and
barren, and their finding better accommodation elsewhere,—and several
others looking for opportunity to go, the church began seriously
to consider whether it were not better to remove jointly to some
other place, than to be thus weakened, and, as it were, insensibly
dissolved. Much consultation took place, and opinions varied. Some
were for staying together here, arguing that people could live here
if only they were content, and that it was not so much for necessity
that they removed, as for enriching themselves. Others were resolute
upon removal, and signified that here they could not stay, and that
if the church did not remove they must. This swayed many to agree to
removal, rather than that there should be a total dissolution, if
a place could be found suitable to accommodate the whole body more
conveniently and comfortably, and with room for development should
others join them for their greater strength and better subsistence.
With these provisos the majority consented to removal to a place
called Nauset, which had been superficially viewed, and the good-will
of the owners obtained. They began too late to see the error of
their previous policy, for they found they had already given away
the best and most convenient places to others, and now were in want
of such situations themselves; for Nauset was about 50 miles from
here, on the outskirts of the country, and remote from all society.
Furthermore, on closer examination, they found it would prove so
limited, that it would not suffice to accommodate the whole body,
much less be capable of any expansion. So in a short time they would
be worse off there than they were now. This made them change their
resolution; but such as were resolved upon removal took advantage of
the agreement made, and went on notwithstanding; nor could the rest
hinder them, since they had already made some beginning. Thus was
this poor church left like an ancient mother, grown old, and forsaken
of her children,—though not in their affections, yet as regards their
bodily presence and personal helpfulness. Her ancient members being
most of them worn away by death, and those of later times being, like
children, transferred to other families, she, like a widow, was left
only to trust in God. Thus she who had made many rich, herself became
poor.

Soon another broil was begun by the Narragansetts. Though they had
unjustly made war upon Uncas, as before described, the winter before
this they earnestly urged the Governor of Massachusetts to permit
them to make war again in revenge for the death of their sagamore,
claiming that Uncas had first received and accepted ransom for
Miantinomo, and then put him to death. But the Governor refused
the presents they brought, and told them it was they themselves
who had done wrong and broken the conditions of peace; neither he
nor any of the English would allow them to make any further war
upon Uncas, and that if they did so the English must assist him and
oppose them; but if when the commissioners met, the matter having
had a fair hearing, it could be proved that he had received this
ransom, they would make Uncas return it. Notwithstanding this, at
the spring of the year they gathered in great power, and fell upon
Uncas, killing many of his men and wounding more, besides receiving
some loss themselves. Uncas then called for aid from the English.
They told him what the Narragansetts objected; he denied it. They
told him it must come to trial, and if he was innocent, should the
Narragansetts refuse to desist, they would assist him. So at this
meeting they sent both to Uncas and the Narragansetts, and required
their sagamores to come, or send deputies to the commissioners, who
had now met at Hartford, promising a fair and impartial hearing of
all their grievances, and that all wrongs should be redressed. They
also promised that they should come and return without any danger or
molestation. Upon which the Narragansetts sent one sagamore and some
other deputies, with full power to do what was thought right. Uncas
came in person, accompanied by some of his chiefs. After discussion,
the commissioners made the following declaration to the Narragansett
deputies:

  1. That they did not find any proof of a ransom being agreed upon.

  2. It did not appear that any wampum had been paid as a ransom, or
  any part of a ransom for Miantinomo’s life.

  3. That, had they in any way proved their charge against Uncas, the
  commissioners would have required him to make due satisfaction.

  4. That if hereafter they could produce satisfactory proof, the
  English would consider it, and proceed accordingly.

  5. The commissioners required that neither they nor their allies,
  the Nyanticks, should make war or injurious assault upon Uncas or
  any of his tribe, until they could show proof of the ransom being
  given,—unless he should first attack them.

  6. That if they attacked Uncas, the English had undertaken to
  assist him.

Hereupon the Narragansett sachem, consulting with the other deputies,
undertook on behalf of the Narragansetts and Nyanticks that no
hostile acts should be committed upon Uncas or any of his tribe
till after the next planting of corn; and that thereafter, before
they made war they would give 30 days’ notice to the Governor of
Massachusetts or Connecticut. The commissioners, approving of
this offer, required Uncas, as he expected the continuance of the
favour of the English, to observe the same terms of peace with the
Narragansetts and their people.

The foregoing conclusions were then subscribed by the commissioners
for the several jurisdictions, on the 19th of Sept., 1644: Edward
Hopkins, President; Simon Bradstreet, William Hathorne, Edward
Winslow, John Brown, George Fenwick, Theoph. Eaton, Thomas Gregson.

The Narragansett deputies further promised that if, contrary to this
agreement, any of the Nyantick Pequots made any attack upon Uncas
or any of his people, they would deliver them to the English for
punishment, and that they would not attempt to incite the Mohawks
against Uncas during this truce. Their names were subscribed with
their marks: Weetowish; Pampiamett; Chinnough; Pummunis.




CHAPTER XXV

The Narragansetts renew their attacks on Uncas and threaten the
English—Preparation for War by the Colonies—Declaration of War by
the English—Peace arranged and General Treaty signed by the United
Colonies of New England and the Narragansetts and Nyanticks: 1645.


This year the commissioners were summoned to meet at Boston before
their ordinary time, partly in regard to some differences between
the French and the Government of Massachusetts, about their aiding
Governor La Tour against Monsieur d’Aulney; and partly about the
Indians, who had broken the agreements of peace concluded last year.
This meeting was held at Boston on July 28th.

Besides some underhand attacks made on both sides, the Narragansetts
gathered a great power and fell upon Uncas and killed many of his
men and wounded many more, far exceeding him in number, and having
got a large number of arms. They did this without the knowledge and
consent of the English, contrary to the former agreement, and were
determined to continue the war, notwithstanding anything the English
said or did. So, encouraged by their recent victory, and by a promise
of assistance from the Mohawks—a strong, warlike, and desperate
tribe,—they had already devoured Uncas and his people in their hopes,
and would surely have done so in fact if the English had not quickly
gone to his aid. But the English of Connecticut sent him 40 men, as a
garrison for him, till the commissioners could meet and take further
steps.

Having thus met, they forthwith sent three messengers, Sergeant
John Davis, Benedict Arnold, and Francis Smith, with full and ample
instructions both to the Narragansetts and Uncas, requiring them
either to come in person or send qualified deputies; and if they
refused or delayed, to warn them that the English were determined to
oppose these hostile invasions, and that they had sent their men to
defend Uncas, and to know of the Narragansetts whether they would
stand by the former peace.

The messengers returned from the Narragansetts, not only with
slights, but with a threatening answer. They also brought a letter
from Mr. Roger Williams, assuring them that war would shortly break
out, and the whole country would be aflame; and that the sachems
of the Narragansetts had concluded a neutrality with the English
of Providence and Aquidnett Island. Whereupon the commissioners,
considering the great danger and provocations offered, and the
necessity we should be put to of making war on the Narragansetts,
and being cautious to have the way clear in a matter of such wide
public concern to all the colonies, thought fit to advise with such
of the magistrates and elders of Massachusetts as were at hand, and
also with some of the chief military commanders there; who being
assembled, it was then agreed:

  1. That our engagement bound us to aid and defend Uncas.

  2. That this aid could not be confined to defence of him and his
  fort or habitation, but must be extended to the security of his
  liberty and property.

  3. That this aid must be speedy, lest he should be swallowed up in
  the meantime.

  4. The justice of the war being clear to ourselves and the rest
  then present, it was thought meet that the case should be stated,
  and the reasons and grounds of the war declared and published.

  5. That a day of humiliation should be appointed, which was the
  fifth day of the week following.

  6. It was also agreed by the commissioners that the total
  number of men to be raised throughout the colonies should be
  300—Massachusetts 190, New Plymouth 40, Connecticut 40, New Haven
  30; and that considering Uncas was in instant danger, 40 men
  should forthwith be sent from Massachusetts for his relief—for
  the 40 previously sent from Connecticut, had orders to stay only
  one month, and their time having expired, they returned; and the
  Narragansetts hearing of it, took the advantage and came suddenly
  upon him and gave him another blow, to his further loss, and were
  ready to do so again; but the 40 men from Massachusetts having
  arrived, they drew off.

The declaration of war which they published I shall not transcribe,
as it is very long and is already in print. I will only note the
insolent reception of it by the Narragansetts, and the answers to
the three messengers sent from the commissioners to deliver it. They
received them with scorn and contempt, and told them they resolved
to have no peace without the head of Uncas; that it mattered not
who began the war, they were determined to continue it; that if
the English did not withdraw their garrison from Uncas, they would
procure the Mohawks against them. Ultimately they threatened that
they would lay the English cattle in heaps as high as their houses,
and that no Englishman should stir outside his door so much as
to relieve himself, but he should be killed. When the messengers
demanded guides to pass on through their country to deliver the
message of the commissioners to Uncas, they refused them, and
in scorn offered them an old Pequot woman. Nay, the messengers
personally were in danger; for while the interpreter was speaking
with them about the answer he should take back, some natives came and
stood behind him with hatchets, according to their murderous manner;
but one of his comrades gave him warning, and so all three broke off
and came away. These and similar affronts so terrified the Indians
they had with them, that they ran away, and left them to get home as
best they could.

So the confederation hastened the preparations, according to the
agreement, and sent to New Plymouth to despatch their 40 men with
all speed, to be stationed at Seekonk, lest it should be in danger
before the rest were ready. They were all well armed with snaphance
guns, under command of Captain Standish. Those from other places were
also led by able commanders, such as Captain Mason for Connecticut,
etc. Major Gibbons was made General, with such commissions and
instructions as were proper.

Everything being ready,—some of the soldiers already started and the
rest ready to march,—the commissioners thought it right before any
hostile act was committed, to return a present which had previously
been sent to the Governor of Massachusetts from the Narragansett
sachems, and though not accepted by him, had been laid by to be
accepted or refused according to their behaviour. So it was sent back
by two messengers and an interpreter, who were further instructed
to inform the Narragansetts that the men the English had already
sent to Uncas and other parts, had express orders, so far, only to
stand upon his or their defence, and not to attempt any invasion
of the Narragansetts’ country; and that even yet, if they made due
reparation for what had past, and gave good security for the future,
they should find that the English were as desirous of peace and
as tender of Narragansett blood as ever. If therefore Pessecuss,
Jenemo, with the other sachems, would without further delay come
with them to Boston, the commissioners promised and assured them
free liberty to come and return without molestation. But deputies
would not now serve, nor would the preparations on hand be stayed or
the directions recalled till the aforementioned sagamores came, and
further consultation had taken place. If, on the other hand, they
would have nothing but war, the English were ready, and would proceed
accordingly.

Pessecuss, Mixano, and Weetowish, three principal sachems of the
Narragansett Indians, and Awasequin, deputy for the Nyantics, with a
large train of men, a few days after, came to Boston.

To omit all other circumstances, and the discussion which took place
between them and the commissioners, they came to the following
conclusion.

  1. It is agreed between the commissioners of the United Colonies
  and the Narragansett and Nyantick sagamores, that the latter
  shall pay or cause to be paid at Boston, to the Massachusetts
  commissioners, the full sum of 2000 fathom of good white wampum,
  or a third part of black wampum, in four payments; namely, 500
  fathom within 20 days, 500 fathom within four months, 500 fathom
  at or before next corn planting time, and 500 fathom within two
  years from the date of these presents; which 2000 fathom the
  commissioners accept as satisfaction for former expenses defrayed.

  2. The aforesaid sagamores and deputy, on behalf of the
  Narragansett and Nyantick Indians, hereby promise and covenant
  that upon demand and proof they will restore to Uncas, the Monhigg
  sagamore, all captives both men, women, and children; all canoes,
  which they or any of their men have taken, or as many Narragansett
  canoes, in good condition, in place of them; and will give full
  satisfaction for all such corn as they or any of their men have
  destroyed of his or his men’s, since last planting time; and the
  English commissioners hereby promise that Uncas shall do likewise.

  3. Whereas there are various disputes and grievances between the
  Narragansett and Nyantick Indians, and Uncas and his men, which
  in the absence of Uncas cannot now be determined, it is hereby
  agreed that the Narragansett and Nyantick sagamores, either
  come themselves, or send their deputies, to the meeting of the
  commissioners for the Colonies, either at New Haven in September,
  1646,—or sooner, upon due notice, if the said commissioners meet
  sooner,—fully instructed to make due proof of their injuries,
  and to submit to the judgment of the commissioners in giving or
  receiving satisfaction; and the said commissioners, not doubting
  but Uncas will either come himself or send his deputies, promise to
  give full hearing to both parties impartially, according to their
  allegations and proofs.

  4. The said Narragansett and Nyantick sagamores and deputies do
  hereby promise and covenant to maintain a firm and perpetual
  peace, both with all the English United Colonies and their
  successors, and with Uncas the Monhigg sachem and his men; with
  Ossamequine, Pumham, Sokanoke, Cutshamakin, Shoanan, Passaconaway,
  and all other sagamores and their tribes who are in friendship
  with or subject to any of the English; hereby engaging themselves,
  that they will not at any time hereafter, disturb the peace of
  the country by any attacks, hostile attempts, invasions, or other
  injuries to any of the United Colonies or their successors, or
  to the aforesaid Indians, either in their persons, buildings,
  cattle, or goods, directly or indirectly; nor will they combine
  with any other enemy against them; and if they know of any Indians
  or others who are conspiring or intend harm to the said English,
  or any Indians subject to or in friendship with them, they will
  without delay acquaint and give notice thereof to the English
  commissioners, or some of them. Or if any questions or disputes
  shall at any time hereafter arise between them and Uncas, or any
  Indians mentioned above, they will, according to former engagements
  which they hereby confirm and ratify, first acquaint the English,
  and request their judgment and advice therein, and will not attempt
  or begin any war or hostile invasion, till they have liberty and
  permission from the Commissioners of the United Colonies so to do.

  5. The said Narragansett and Nyantick sagamores and deputies do
  hereby promise that they will forthwith deliver and restore all
  such Indian fugitives or captives as have at any time fled from the
  English, and are now living among them, or give due satisfaction
  for them to the commissioners for Massachusetts; and further,
  that they will without delay pay or cause to be paid, a yearly
  tribute, a month before harvest, every year after this, at Boston,
  to the English Colonies, for all such Pequots as live among them,
  according to the former treaty and agreement made at Hartford,
  1638, namely one fathom of white wampum for every Pequot man, and
  half a fathom for each Pequot youth, and one hand length for each
  male child; and if Weequashcooke refuse to pay this tribute for
  any Pequots with him, the Narragansett sagamores promise to assist
  the English against him. And they further undertake that they will
  resign and yield up the whole Pequot country, and every part of it,
  to the English Colonies, as due to them by conquest.

  6. The said Narragansett and Nyantick sagamores and deputy do
  hereby promise and covenant that within 14 days, they will bring
  and deliver to the Massachusetts commissioners on behalf of
  the Colonies, four of their children, viz., the eldest son of
  Pessecuss, the son of Tassaquanawite, the brother of Pessecuss, the
  son of Awashawe, and the son of Ewangso, a Nyantick, to be kept
  as hostages or pledges by the English, till the aforementioned
  2000 fathom of wampum has been paid at the times appointed, and
  the differences between themselves and Uncas have been heard and
  settled, and until these articles have been underwritten at Boston
  by Jenemo and Wipetock. And further, they hereby promise and
  covenant, that if at any time hereafter any of the said children
  shall escape or be taken away from the English, before the promises
  be fully accomplished, they will either bring back and deliver
  to the Massachusetts commissioners the same children, or if they
  cannot be found, such and so many other children as shall be chosen
  by the commissioners for the United Colonies, or their assigns,
  within twenty days after demand; and in the meantime, until the
  said four children be delivered as hostages, the Narragansett and
  Nyantick sagamores and deputy do freely and of their own accord
  leave with the Massachusetts commissioners, as pledges for present
  security, four Indians, viz., Weetowish, Pummunish, Jawashoe,
  Waughwamino, who also freely consent and offer themselves to stay
  as pledges, till the aforesaid children are delivered.

  7. The commissioners for the United Colonies do hereby promise and
  agree that the four Indians now left as pledges shall be provided
  for at the expense of the United Colonies, and that the four
  children to be delivered as hostages shall be kept and maintained
  at the same expense; that they will require Uncas and his men,
  with all other Indian sagamores before named, to forbear all acts
  of hostility against the Narragansett and Nyantick Indians for the
  future, and further, all the promises being duly observed and kept
  by the Narragansetts and Nyanticks and their tribes, they will
  at the end of the two years restore the said children delivered
  as hostages, and maintain a firm peace with the Narragansett and
  Nyantick Indians and their successors.

  8. It is fully agreed by and between the said parties, that if any
  hostile attempts be made while this treaty is in hand, or before
  notice of this agreement can be given, such attempts and the
  consequences thereof shall on neither part be counted a violation
  of this treaty, nor a breach of the peace here made and concluded.

  9. The Narragansett and Nyantick sagamores and deputy hereby agree
  and covenant to and with the commissioners of the United Colonies,
  that henceforth they will neither give, grant, sell, nor in any
  way alienate, any part of their country, nor any parcel of land
  therein, to any of the English or others, without consent and
  permission of the commissioners.

  10. Lastly they promise that if any Pequot or other Indians be
  found among them who have in time of peace murdered any of the
  English, they shall be delivered to just punishment.

  In witness whereof the parties above named have interchangeably
  subscribed these presents, the day and year above written.

  JOHN WINTHROP, President    PESSECUSS his mark
  HERBERT PELHAM              MEEKESANO his mark
  THOMAS PRINCE               WEETOWISH his mark
  JOHN BROWN                  AWASEQUIN his mark
  GEORGE FENWICK              ABDAS his mark
  EDWARD HOPKINS              PUMMUNISH his mark
  THEOPH. EATON               CUTSHAMAKIN his mark
  STEPHEN GOODYEAR

In drawing up this treaty and agreement between the commissioners of
the United Colonies and the sagamores and deputy of the Narragansett
and Nyantick Indians, Benedict Arnold was interpreter, upon his oath;
Sergeant Callicote, and his man, an Indian, were present; and Josias
and Cutshamakin, two Indians acquainted with the English language,
assisted,—making the whole treaty and every article clear to the
sagamores and deputy present. Thus was the war pending at this time
prevented.




CHAPTER XXVI

Captain Thomas Cromwell settles in Massachusetts—His death—Edward
Winslow’s long stay in England: 1646.


About the middle of May this year, three men of war entered the
harbour. The Captain’s name was Thomas Cromwell, and he had captured
several prizes from the Spaniards in the West Indies. He had a
commission from the Earl of Warwick. Aboard his vessel were about 80
strong young fellows, but very unruly, who, when they came ashore, so
distempered themselves with drink that they became like madmen; and
though some of them were punished and imprisoned, they could hardly
be restrained; but in the end they became more moderate and orderly.
They remained here about a month or six weeks, then going on to
Massachusetts; in the meantime scattering a great deal of money among
the people,—and even more sin than money, I fear, notwithstanding all
the care taken to prevent it.

While they were here a sad accident occurred. One desperate fellow
amongst them started wrangling with some of his comrades. Captain
Cromwell commanded him to be quiet and cease his quarreling; but he
would not, and reviled him with bad language, and in the end half
drew his rapier intending to run at him; but the captain closed with
him and snatched the rapier from him and gave him a box on the ear;
even then he would not give over, but continued to assault him.
Whereupon the Captain gave him a blow with the hilt of the rapier,
just as it was in the scabbard. It chanced to hit his head, and the
small end of the bar of the rapier-hilt piercing his skull, he died
a few days after. But the captain was exonerated by court martial,
for it appeared that the fellow was so quarrelsome that he had
several times been chained under hatches to prevent him from hurting
his comrades, to which they testified.

This Captain Cromwell made another voyage to the West Indies from
the Bay of Massachusetts, well manned and provisioned. He was out
three years and took many prizes, and returned rich to Massachusetts.
The same summer he had a fall from his horse; he fell on his rapier
hilt, and bruised himself so badly that he died shortly after. It was
remarked by some that this might show the hand of God, and that as
one of his men had died of the blow he gave him with the rapier hilt,
so his own death was caused by similar means.

This year Mr. Edward Winslow went to England. Some discontented
persons in Massachusetts had endeavoured to disturb the peace,
and to undermine if not upset their government, by uttering many
slanders about them, and even intended to prosecute them in England
by petitioning and complaining to Parliament. Samuel Gorton and
his people also made complaints against them. So they chose Mr.
Winslow, as their agent, to defend them, and gave him commission
and instructions to that end. He managed things so well for them
that he cleared them of all blame and dishonour, and disgraced their
opponents. But owing to the great upheavals in the government there,
he was detained longer than was expected, and later he met with other
employments there, so that he has now been absent for four years,
which has been much to the loss of this government.


  The names of those who came over first in the Mayflower, in the
  year 1620 and were by the blessing of God the first beginners and
  founders of the Settlements and Colonies of New England, with their
  families: written down A. D. 1650.

JOHN CARVER; Katherine, his wife; DESIRE MINTER; two men-servants,
JOHN HOWLAND and ROGER WILDER; a boy, WILLIAM LATHAM; a maid-servant;
a child who was put under his charge, called JASPER MORE.

  Mr. and Mrs. Carver, Wilder, and Jasper More all died here during
  the first general sickness. Desire Minter returned to England;
  Latham stayed twenty years and then returned; the maid-servant
  married here, and died a year or two after. Howland married
  Elizabeth Tillie. Both are living. They had ten children.

WILLIAM BREWSTER; Mary, his wife; two sons, Love and Wrestling; a boy
in his charge called Richard More, and another of his brothers.

  The rest of his children were left behind, and came over
  afterwards. Mr. Brewster lived here 23 or 24 years, being about
  80 when he died. His wife died some time before. Wrestling died
  unmarried. Love had four children, and died in 1650. The eldest
  son, who came after, had nine children, and is still living; and
  the daughters, who came with him, married, and are dead. The
  brother of Richard More died the first winter. Richard married and
  has four or five children.

EDWARD WINSLOW; Elizabeth, his wife; two men-servants, GEORGE SOWLE
and ELIAS STORY; a little girl in his charge, ELLEN, sister of
Richard More.

  Mr. Winslow’s wife died the first winter. He married later the
  widow of Mr. White, and has two children living. Story and Ellen
  More died soon after the ship’s arrival. George Sowle is living and
  has eight children.

WILLIAM BRADFORD; Dorothy, his wife.

  Their only child, a son, was left behind, and came over after. Mrs.
  Bradford died soon after their arrival. Mr. Bradford married again,
  and had four children.

ISAAC ALLERTON; Mary, his wife; three children, Bartholomew,
Remember, and Mary; a servant boy, JOHN HOOK.

  Mrs. Allerton, and the boy, Hook, died in the first general
  sickness. Bartholomew married in England. His daughter, Remember,
  married at Salem and has three or four children living. Mary
  married here and has four children. Mr. Allerton married, secondly,
  a daughter of William Brewster, and had one son; he married a third
  time, and left this place long ago.

SAMUEL FULLER; a servant, WILLIAM BUTTON.

  His wife and a child were left behind, and came over afterwards.
  Two more children were born here, and are living. Button died at
  sea. Mr. Fuller died 15 years ago.

JOHN CRACKSTON, his son, John.

  John Crackston died in the first sickness. His son died 5 or 6
  years after; he lost himself in the woods in winter, and his feet
  were frozen, which brought on fever.

MYLES STANDISH; Rose his wife.

  Mrs. Standish died in the first sickness. Captain Standish married
  again, and has four sons living.

CHRISTOPHER MARTIN; his wife, two servants, SOLOMON PROWER and JOHN
LANGMORE.

  All these died in the first sickness, soon after their arrival.

WILLIAM MULLINS; his wife; two children, Joseph and Priscilla; a
servant, ROBERT CARTER.

  All but Priscilla died in the first sickness. She married John
  Alden; both are living. They have eleven children.

WILLIAM WHITE; Susanna, his wife; one son, Resolved; and one born
aboard ship called Peregrine; two servants, WILLIAM HOLBECK and
EDWARD THOMSON.

  Mr. White and his two servants died soon after their landing. His
  widow married Mr. Winslow. His two sons are living.

STEPHEN HOPKINS; Elizabeth, his wife; two children by a former wife,
Giles and Constanta; and two by this wife, Damaris and Oceanus—the
latter born on the voyage; two servants, EDWARD DOTY and EDWARD
LISTER.

  Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins lived here over twenty years, and had one
  son and four daughters born here. Doty is living, and has seven
  children by a second wife. Lister went to Virginia and died there.

RICHARD WARREN.

  His wife and four daughters were left behind and came afterwards,
  and two more were born here. Mr. Warren lived some four or five
  years here.

JOHN BILLINGTON; Ellen, his wife; two sons, John and Francis.
Billington was executed after he had been here ten years. His eldest
son died before him; his second is married.

EDWARD TILLIE; Anne, his wife; two children (their cousins), HENRY
SAMSON and HUMILITY COOPER.

  Mr. and Mrs. Edward Tillie died soon after their arrival. Humility
  Cooper returned to England and died there. Henry Samson is living
  and has seven children.

JOHN TILLIE; his wife; their daughter, Elizabeth.

  Mr. and Mrs. John Tillie died soon after their arrival. Elizabeth
  married John Howland (see above).

FRANCIS COOK; his son, John.

  Mrs. Cook and other children came over afterwards. Three more
  children were born here. His son, John, is married. Mr. Cook is a
  very old man, and has seen his children’s children have children.

THOMAS ROGERS; Joseph, his son.

  Mr. Rogers died in the first sickness. His son, Joseph, is
  living and has six children. The rest of his children came over
  afterwards, and are married, and have many children.

THOMAS TINKER; his wife; their son.

  All died in the first sickness.

JOHN RIGDALE; Alice, his wife.

  Both died in the first sickness.

JAMES CHILTON; his wife; their daughter, Mary.

  Another daughter, who was married, came after. Mr. and Mrs. Chilton
  died in the first sickness. Mary Chilton married, and has nine
  children.

EDWARD FULLER; his wife; their son, Samuel.

  Mr. and Mrs. Fuller died soon after they came ashore. Samuel Fuller
  is living, and has four children, or more.

JOHN TURNER; two sons.

  All died in the first sickness. His daughter came some years after
  to Salem, and is married.

FRANCIS EATON; Sarah, his wife; their baby, Samuel.

  Mrs. Eaton died in the general sickness. Mr. Eaton married a second
  and third time, having three children by his third wife. Samuel is
  married and has a child.

MOSES FLETCHER; JOHN GOODMAN; THOMAS WILLIAMS; DIGERIE PRIEST; EDMUND
MARGESON; RICHARD BRITTERIDGE; RICHARD CLARK; RICHARD GARDNER; PETER
BROWN; GILBERT WINSLOW.

  The first seven died in the general sickness. Digerie Priest’s wife
  and children came afterwards, she being Mrs. Allerton’s sister.
  Gardner became a sailor, and died in England, or at sea. Peter
  Brown married twice, leaving four children; he died about sixteen
  years since. Gilbert Winslow, after several years here returned to
  England and died there.

JOHN ALDEN.

  Mr. Alden was hired at Southampton as a cooper. Being a likely
  young man, he was desirable as a settler; but it was left to his
  own choice to stay here or return to England; he stayed, and
  married Priscilla Mullins (see above).

JOHN ALLERTON; THOMAS ENGLISH; WILLIAM TREVOR; and one, ELY. The
first two were hired as sailors, the one to stay here with the
shallop, the other to go back and help over those left behind; but
both died here before the Mayflower returned. The last two were hired
to stay here a year; both returned when their time was out.


Of these 100 or so of persons who came over first, more than half
died in the first general sickness. Of those that remained, some were
too old to have children. Nevertheless in those thirty years there
have sprung up from that stock over 160 persons now living in this
year 1650; and of the old stock itself nearly thirty persons still
survive. Let the Lord have the praise, Who is the High Preserver of
men.




INDEX


  Abdas, 337.

  Accord Pond, 301.

  Adventurers, preliminaries with, 35 et seq.;
    Dissolve partnership, 162, 174.
    (_See also_ Weston, Sherley, Beauchamp, Andrews, Allerton, etc.)

  Albany, _see_ Fort Orange.

  Alden, John, arrest of, 255;
    Mentioned, 307, 311, 312;
    Family, 343.

  Alden, Robert, 176.

  Allerton, Isaac, letter to Carver and Cushman, 41;
    Assistant to Governor, 85;
    In England, 172, 182, 188, 201, 204, 211, 217;
    Discharged, 224, 227;
    Accounts confused, 231 et seq.;
    White Angel let out to, 234;
    Sold to, 241;
    In debt to partners, 242 et seq., 253, 266, 295, 306;
    Family, 341.

  Allerton, John, 343.

  Alltham, Emanuel, 176.

  Amsterdam, 14, 44, 45, 47.

  Andrews, Captain, 277.

  Andrews, Richard, 175, 189, 208, 227, 232, 266, 277, 302;
    Beaver sent to, 295;
    Land at Scituate, 298;
    Settlement with, 307.

  Andrews, Thomas, 176.

  Anne, The, 119, 121, 151.

  Anthony, Lawrence, 176.

  Aquidnett Island, 294, 331.

  Argoll, Captain, 31, 32.

  Arminians, 17, 18.

  Arnold, Benedict, 331, 337.

  Ashley, Edward, 208, et seq.;
    Sends beaver home, 216, 221;
    Arrested, 222;
    His death, 223;
    Mentioned, 227, 231, 234.

  Atwood, John, Sherley’s agent, 305 et seq., 312.

  Awasequin, 334, 337.

  Awashawe, 335.


  Babb, Captain, 277.

  Baker, Captain, 143.

  Baptism, 310.

  Barnstable, 302.

  Bass, Edward, 175.

  Beauchamp, John, one of original adventurers, 98, 100, 175, 176;
    in new partnership, 189;
    Co-agent for New Plymouth partners, 189;
    Penobscot Patent in his name, 208;
    Quarrels with Sherley, 277;
    Beaver sent to, 295;
    Settlement with, 306 et seq.

  Bellingham, Richard, 267, 269, 270.

  Billirike (Billerica), settlers from, 46.

  Billington, John, loses himself, 86;
    Executed, 224;
    Family, 342.

  Blackwell, Sir Francis, 31 et seq.

  Block Island, 281, 284.

  Blossom, Thomas, 252.

  Boston, in Lincolshire, 9.

  Boston, Mass., Joint Council of Colonies at, 258;
    Commission of United Colonies at, 322.
    (_See also_ Endicott, Winthrop, etc.).

  Bound Brook, 301.

  Bradford, William, letter to Carver and Cushman, 41, 42;
    Illness, 77;
    First chosen Governor, 85;
    Patent at Kennebec in his name, 253;
    Surrenders New Plymouth Patent, 302;
    Family, 340.

  Bradstreet, Simon, 269, 329.

  Brewer, Thomas, 40, 176.

  Brewster, Jonathan, 272.

  Brewster, William, Elder of the Church, 8;
    Goes to Holland, 14;
    Correspondence with Sandys and Worstenholme, 27 et seq.;
    To go to America, 35;
    Services to the sick, 77;
    Letters from Adventurers, 102 et seq.;
    Mentioned, 108, 145, 189, 307;
    From Robinson, 140;
    Death of, 314;
    Career, 315 et seq.;
    Family, 340.

  Bristol, England, 218, 227, 230, 234.

  Britteridge, Richard, 343.

  Brook, Lord, 255.

  Brown, John, 329, 334.

  Brown, Peter, 343.

  Browning, Henry, 176.

  Button, William, dies, 63, 341.


  Callicote, Sergeant, 337.

  Calvin, John, 4.

  Canterbury, Archbishop of, _see_ Laud, Archbishop.

  Capawack, Isle of, 82, 88, 104.

  Cape Ann, patent for, 136, 142;
    Salt-pans at, 144;
    Dispute over dock at, 162.

  Cape Cod, arrival at, 64, 67, 92;
    Exploring the Bay of, 69;
    Ships wrecked at, 82, 159, 178.

  Carter, Robert, 341.

  Carver, John, agent to England, 26, 27;
    Letter from Robinson, 39;
    From Leyden, 41;
    From Cushman, 46;
    From Robinson, 53;
    From Weston, 90, 98, 99;
    First Governor, 76;
    Dies, 85;
    Family, 340.

  Cattle, first at New Plymouth, 135;
    Prices of, 296, 310.

  Charity, The, 135.

  Charles I’s Colonial Commission, 239, 263.

  Charles River, 299.

  Charlestown, 299.

  Charlton, 81.

  Chatham, _see_ Manamoick.

  Chauncey, Charles, invited to New Plymouth, 309.

  Chilton, James, and family, 343.

  Chinnough, 329.

  Christmas at New Plymouth, 74, 94, 95.

  Clark, Mr., pilot, 45.

  Clark, Richard, 343.

  Clifton, Rev. Richard, 8.

  Cobiseconte, 254.

  Coddington, Wm., 225, 269.

  Cohasset, 300, 301.

  Collier, William, 176, 231, 246;
    Sherley’s agent, 305 et seq.

  Colonies of New England, Confederation of, 321.

  Commissioners for the Colonies, 239;
    Winslow’s petition to, 263.

  Confederation of New England Colonies, 321.

  Connecticut River and Territory, 240, 260 et seq., 271, 279, 283 et
        seq., 329.

  Cook, Francis, and family, 342.

  Cooke, Mr. Secretary, 239.

  Cooper, Humility, 342.

  Coppin, Robert, 72.

  Corbitant, 87 et seq.

  Cottington, Lord, 239.

  Cotton, John, 225.

  Coventry, Thomas, 176.

  Crabe, Rev. Mr., 47.

  Crackston, John, and family, 341.

  Cromwell, Capt. Thomas, 338, 339.

  Crose, Daniel, 293.

  Cushman, Robert, agent to England, 26, 27, 36;
    Letters to Leyden, 31, 42 et seq.;
    Letter from Leyden, 41;
    To John Carver, 46;
    To Southworth, 59;
    Comes in the Fortune, 89;
    Letters from, 104, 122, 136;
    Mentioned, 39, 50-52, 98;
    His death, 170.

  Cutshamakin, 335, 337.


  Damariscove Islands, 97, 133, 156, 172.

  Dartmouth, England, 57, 59.

  d’Aulney, Monsieur, takes Penobscot, 267, 330.

  Davenport, Lieutenant, 289.

  Davison, William, Secretary of State, 315 et seq.

  Davis, Sergeant John, 331.

  De Rasieres, Isaac, 184, 192.

  Delfthaven, 49.

  Dennison, William, 233.

  Dermer, Captain, 80 et seq.

  Dorchester, 271.

  Dorset, Earl of, 239.

  Doty, Edward, 341.

  Dudley, Thomas, 225, 232, 256, et seq., 259, 269, 324.

  Dumer, Richard, 269.

  Dutch Colony, The, 139, 183 et seq., 196, 249, 261, 275 et seq.
    (_See also_ Holland.)

  Dutch Captain at Hull, 10.

  Duxbury, 243, 310.


  Earthquake, 296.

  Eastham, _see_ Nauset.

  Eaton, Francis, and family, 343.

  Eaton, Theoph., 324, 329, 337.

  Elizabeth, Queen, 4.

  Ely, sailor on Mayflower, 343.

  Endicott, John, arrival, 195 et seq.;
    Letters to Governor Bradford, 213-4, 300, 301.

  English, Thomas, sailor on Mayflower, 343.

  Episcopius, 18.

  Ewangso, an Indian, 335.


  Falcon, The, 276.

  Falkland, Viscount, 239.

  Farrer, Sir George, 42.

  Fells, Mr., 181.

  Fenwick, George, 324, 329, 337.

  Fitcher, Lieutenant, 194.

  Fletcher, Moses, 343.

  Fletcher, Thomas, 176.

  Florida, 24.

  Fort Orange (Albany), 192.

  Fortune, The, 91, 98.

  Freeman, Edmund, 306, 309.

  Friendship, The, 217, 223 et seq., 278, 308.

  Fuller, Edward, and family, 343.

  Fuller, Samuel, (son of Edward) 343.

  Fuller, Dr. Samuel, letter to Carver and Cushman, 41;
    Letters from Cushman, 42 et seq.;
    Mentioned, 63, 154, 213;
    His death, 252;
    Family, 341.


  Galop, John, 290.

  Gardiner, Sir Christopher, 236 et seq.

  Gardner, Richard, 343.

  Gibbons, Major, 333.

  Gibbs, Mr., mate of Sparrow, 188.

  Girling, Captain, 267.

  Glover, Rev. Mr., 273.

  Goffe, Thomas, 176, 188.

  Goodman, John, 343.

  Goodyear, Stephen, 337.

  Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 80, 127, 204, 239, 264.

  Gorges, Captain Robert, Governor-General, 126;
    Arrests Weston, 127 et seq.;
    Returns to England, 131.

  Gorton, Samuel, 339.

  Gosnold, Captain, 64.

  Gott, Charles, 214, 215.

  Graves, Captain, 277.

  Greene, William, 101, 102.

  Green’s Harbour, 243.

  Gregson, Thomas, 324, 329.

  Greville, Sir Fulke, 30.

  Griffin, Captain, 277.

  Grimsby, 10.

  Gudburn, Peter, 176.

  Guiana, 24, 37.


  Hall, Mr., 276.

  Hanson, Captain, 130.

  Hartford, 323.

  Hatherley, Timothy, 176, 202, 208;
    At New Plymouth, 217 et seq.;
    Mentioned, 227, 229 et seq.;
    Settles in New England, 242, 298.

  Hathorne, Wm., 329.

  Haynes, John, Governor of Mass., 269.

  Heath, Thomas, 176.

  Henry, Prince of Orange, 169.

  Hibbins, William, 312.

  Higginson, Francis, 214, 215.

  Hingham, 299 et seq.

  Hobbamok, 87 et seq., 96 et seq.

  Hobson, William, 175.

  Hocking, killed at Kennebec, 254 et seq.

  Holbeck, William, 341.

  Holland, Removal to, 9;
    Settling in, 14 et seq.;
    Brewster with Davison in, 316.
    (_See also_ Amsterdam _and_ Leyden.)

  Holland, Robert, Letter from (R. H.), 163-165, 175.

  Hook, John, 341.

  Hooker, Rev. Thomas, 161.

  Hopkins, Edward, 324, 329, 337.

  Hopkins, Stephen, 86;
    Family, 341.

  Houghe, Atherton, 269.

  Howland, John, falls overboard, 63;
    Partner, 307;
    Family, 340.

  Huddleston, Captain John, 106, 107.

  Hudson, Thomas, 176.

  Hudson Bay, 139.

  Hudson River, 64.

  Hull, 10.

  Humphrey, John, 269.

  Hunt, Captain Thomas, 80.

  Hurricane in New England, 270, 271.


  Indians, their cruelty, 22;
    First seen, 67;
    First attack, 70 et seq.;
    Mentioned, 79, 96, 111.
    (_See also_ Mohawks, Monhiggs, Narragansetts, Neepnetts, Nyanticks,
          Pequots, etc.)

  Irish colonists, 181.

  Isle of Shoals, 198.


  Jackson, Thomas, 293.

  James, Cape, 64.

  James, Mr., a doctor, 294.

  James I., 7, 170, 240.

  James, The, 137.

  Jawashoe, 336.

  Jeffrey, Sergeant, 289.

  Jenemo, 333, 336.

  Johnson, Rev. Francis, 32.

  Johnson, Mr., of Massachusetts, 224, 225.

  Johnstone, Alderman, 31.

  Jones, Captain, 108.

  Josias, 337.


  Kean, Robert, 175.

  Kennebec, First trade up the river, 167;
    Patent for, 182, 200, 204, 233, 253;
    Trading-house built at, 191;
    Hatherley visits, 221;
    Hocking killed at, 254 et seq.;
    Massachusetts people trading at, 284;
    Trading partnership rearranged, 296.

  King, William, 60.

  Knight, Eliza, 176.

  Knight, John, 176.

  Knowles, Myles, 176.


  Langmore, John, 341.

  Langrume, Captain, 276, 277.

  Latham, William, 340.

  La Tour, Governor, 330.

  Laud, Archbishop, 264, 265.

  Lee, Lord, 291.

  Levett, Christopher, 126.

  Leyden, removal to, 9;
    Life at, 14 et seq.;
    Departure from, 49 et seq.;
    Opposition to coming of rest of congregation, 101, 104, 135, 152,
          169;
    Plans for their coming, 185, 199;
    Sent over to New Plymouth, 201 et seq., 212.

  Lincoln, Countess of, 33.

  Lincolnshire, 7, 9.

  Ling, John, 176.

  Lister, Edward, 341, 342.

  London, Bishop of, 239.

  London, the plague in, 167, 276.

  London Bridge on fire, 246.

  Long Island Indians, 290.

  Low Countries (_see_ Holland).

  Ludlow, Mr., 289.

  Lyford, John, arrival at New Plymouth, his plottings, sentence, and
        his end, 144 et seq.

  Lyon, The, 244.


  Maggner, Captain, 31.

  Malabar, Cape, 64.

  Manamoick (Chatham), 81, 109, 179.

  Manoanscussett, 192.

  Manomet (Sandwich), 87;
    Pinnace built at, 182;
    Mentioned, 192, 271.

  Margeson, Edmund, 343.

  Marriage, the first, 85;
    By magistrates, 265.

  Marshfield, 310.

  Martin, Christopher, 46 et seq., 59, 341.

  Martyr, Peter, 117.

  Mary, Queen of England, 4, 236.

  Mary, Queen of Scots, 316.

  Mary and Anne, The, 295.

  Mason, Captain, 239, 264, 265.

  Mason, Captain John, 289, 333.

  Massachusetts, Captain Dermer mentions, 81;
    Weston’s colony, 105 et seq.;
    Gorges’ settlement, 126 et seq.;
    Morton, 193 et seq.;
    the Church, 224;
    Gardiner, 236;
    Roger Williams, 248;
    Trouble about settling on the Connecticut, 249 et seq., 271 et seq.;
    Alden arrested, 255 et seq.;
    New Plymouth seeks help against the French, 267 et seq.;
    Trade with Pequots, 280;
    Boundaries between Massachusetts and New Plymouth, 298 et seq.;
    Trouble with Narragansetts, 321 et seq.;
    Confederation of United Colonies, 321;
    Treaty with same, 334.

  Massasoyt visits New Plymouth, 79;
    Treaty, 79, 86;
    Intercourse, 94, 96, 97;
    Illness, 112.

  Masterson, Richard, 252.

  Maurice, Prince of Orange, 170.

  Mayflower, The, 45, 50, 57, 62, 202;
    List of passengers in, 340 et seq.

  Maypole at Merry Mount, 195.

  Meekesano, 337.

  Merchant Adventurers, _see_ Adventurers.

  Merrimac River, 114.

  Merry Mount, 195.

  Miantinomo, 324, 325, 328.

  Milford Haven, 235.

  Millsop, Thomas, 176.

  Minter, Desire, 340.

  Mixano, 334.

  Mohawks, 289;
    Kill Sassacus, 291;
    Mentioned, 330.

  Monhegan, 104, 131, 171.

  Monhiggs, attacked by Narragansetts, 291 (_see also_ Uncas).

  Mononotto, 290.

  More, Ellen, Jasper, and Richard, 340.

  Morrell, Rev. William, 131.

  Morton, George, 40.

  Morton, Thomas, in Massachusetts, 194 et seq.;
    Arrested, 198;
    Allerton brings him to New Plymouth, 205, 206;
    Imprisoned in Boston, 206;
    Gives evidence against Winslow, 265.

  Mott, Thomas, 175.

  Mount Wollaston, 194 et seq.

  Mullins, William, 52;
    and family, 341.

  Munisses Island, 281.


  Namasket, 81.

  Namassakett, 87.

  Namskeket Creek, 180.

  Nantasket, 162, 197.

  Nanton, Sir Robert, 25.

  Narragansetts, 86;
    Send challenge to settlers, 93 et seq., 107;
    Wampum used by, 193;
   Allies of the English against the Pequots, 280, 283 et seq.;
    Plot against the English, 320 et seq.;
    Treaty with, 334, 337.

  Nash, Mr., 41.

  Natawanute, 251.

  Naumkeag, _see_ Salem.

  Nauset (Eastham), 81, 87, 302.

  Neepnetts, The, 290.

  Nequamkeck, Falls of, 254.

  Newbald, Fria., 176.

  Newcomin, John, 224.

  New England, First patent for, etc., 37, 75, 80;
    Second patent, 119;
    Fishing rights of the Council of, 120;
    Captain Gorges, Governor-General, 126;
    Help of Council sought, 166, 167;
    Confederation of Colonies of, 321.

  Newfoundland, 80.

  New Haven, 310, 322 et seq., 334.

  New Plymouth, discovery of the site, 67 et seq.;
    Dermer’s description of (Patuxet), 81;
    Boundary question settled, 298 et seq., 327;
    Leading men move from, 310;
    Suggested removal of the Church, 326 et seq.

  Newtown, 273.

  Norton, Captain, 260.

  Norton, Rev. John, 274.

  Nottinghamshire, 7.

  Novatians, 5.

  Nowell, Increase, 269.

  Nyanticks, The, allies of Narragansetts, 328, 329;
    Treaty with the English, 334-337.


  Oldham, John, in league with Lyford, 145 et seq.;
    Sentenced and expelled, 154;
    Returns, 158;
    Confession, 159;
    Killed, 159, 281.

  Oporto, 222.

  Orania (Orange), Fort, 192.

  Ossamequine, 335.


  Paddy, William, 309.

  Pampiamett, 329.

  Paragon, The, 118 et seq.

  Partridge, Ralph, discusses baptism with Chauncey, 310.

  Passaconaway, 335.

  Patrick, Captain, 289.

  Patuxet (New Plymouth), 81.

  Peach, Arthur, 293.

  Pelham, Herbert, 337.

  Pemaquid, 270.

  Pemberton, John, 147.

  Pennington, William, 175.

  Penobscot, mentioned by Dermer, 81;
    Trading-house at, 209, 221, 227;
    Robbed by the French, 236, 267 et seq.

  Pequots, The, Wampum used by, 193;
    In Connecticut, 249;
    Seek friendship of Massachusetts, 280;
    War with the English, 283 et seq.;
    Under protection of Uncas, 324.

  Perkins, Mr., 5.

  Perrin, William, 176.

  Pessecuss, 333, 335, 337.

  Peters, Hugh, 312.

  Pickering, Edward, 39, 40, 99 et seq.

  Pierce, John, 52, 101, 105, 118;
    Trouble with, about Patent, 118, 119.

  Pierce, Captain William, the Paragon in storm, 120;
    the Anne, 121;
    the Charity, 135;
    Partner with Ashley, 208, 227, 242;
    the Lyon, 244;
    wrecked off Virginia, 245;
    Beaver sent by, 277;
    Takes Indians to West Indies, 290.

  Pinchon, William, 269.

  Piscataqua, 114, 131, 171, 182, 197;
    Hocking’s death enrages settlement at, 254;
    Lord Say and Lord Brook interested in, 255.

  Plague, The, _see_ London.

  Plymouth (England), ships put in at, 57;
    Mayflower sails from, 62.

  Pocock, John, 175.

  Point Care, 64.

  Pokanokets, 81.

  Poliander, John, 18.

  Portsmouth, 120, 166.

  Pory, John, 108, 109.

  Powows, 82.

  Poynton, Daniel, 175.

  Priest, Digerie, 343.

  Prince, Thomas, chosen governor, 253, 293;
    Mentioned, 257, 307, 308, 337.

  Providence, 331.

  Prower, Solomon, 341.

  Pumham, 335.

  Pummunish, 329, 336, 337.

  Puritans, origin of term, 5.


  Quarles, William, 175.


  Rasdell, Mr., 194.

  Rasieres, _see_ De Rasieres.

  Rayner, Rev. John, 282, 309.

  Rehoboth, 302.

  Revell, John, 176.

  Reynolds, Captain, 45;
    The Speedwell, 57;
    Mentioned, 104.

  Rigdale, John, and family, 342.

  Riggs, Sergeant, 289.

  Robinson, Rev. John, 14;
    Goes to Holland, 22, 27;
    Disputes with Arminius, 28;
    Correspondence with Sandys, 40;
    with Worstenholme, 43;
    with John Carver, 39, 53;
    Letter to Pilgrims, 54;
    to Bradford, 139;
    to Brewster, 140;
    Death of, 169 et seq.

  Rogers, Thomas, and family, 342.

  Rookes, Newman, 175.


  Sagadahoc, wreck at, 172.

  Salem (Naumkeag), 162, 197, 201;
    The church at, 213, 224;
    Roger Williams at, 248.

  Salt-making, 136, 143 et seq.

  Saly (Saller), 166.

  Samoset, 79.

  Samson, Henry, 342.

  Sanders, John, 110.

  Sandwich, 302 (_see also_ Manomet).

  Sandys, Sir Edwin, 27 et seq., 30, 31.

  Sassacus, 289, 291.

  Satucket, 81.

  Say, Lord, 255, 259.

  Scituate, 298-302, 310.

  Seekonk, 302, 333.

  Sharpe, Samuel, 175.

  Sherley, James, one of the original adventurers, a letter from, 135,
          136;
    the principal adventurer in the new partnership, 175, 188 et seq.,
          202, 218, 219, 228 et seq., 246 et seq.;
    Withholds accounts, 266 et seq.;
    Discharged as agent, 292;
    Settlement with, 305 et seq.

  Shoanan, 335.

  Sibsie, Mr., 181.

  Skelton, Samuel, 214, 215.

  Smallpox among the Indians, 261.

  Smith, Francis, 331.

  Smith, John, 64;
    His map, 299.

  Smith, Rev., John, 7, 14.

  Smith, Rev. Ralph, 212, 282.

  Smith, Sir Thomas, 31.

  Sokanoke, 335.

  Southampton, arrival at and departure from, 50, 56.

  Souther, Nathaniel, 309.

  Southworth, Edward, letter from Cushman, 59.

  Sowams, 80.

  Sowle, George, 340.

  Sparrow, The, 102.

  Speedwell, The, 49, 57.

  Squanto, 79 et seq.;
    Death of, 109, 110.

  Standish, Myles, commands landing party, 67;
    nurses the sick, 77;
    Expeditions under, 109, 112, 198, 255, 268, 333;
    Lyford’s aspersions on, 152;
    In England, 166;
    Mentioned, 186, 189;
    Moves from New Plymouth, 311;
    Family, 341.

  Stanton, Thomas, 289.

  Staresmore, Sabin (S. B.), 30.

  Stinnings, Richard, 293.

  Stone, Captain, 259 et seq., 280.

  Story, Elias, 340.

  Stoughton, Israel, 290, 300.


  Talbot, The, 202.

  Tarantines, 88.

  Tassaquanawite, 335.

  Taunton, 302.

  Thomson, David, at Piscataqua, 131, 171, 172.

  Thomson, Edward, 341.

  Thorned, John, 176.

  Thornhill, Matthew, 176.

  Tilden, Joseph, 176.

  Tillie, Edward, and family, 342.

  Tinker, Thomas, and family, 342.

  Trask, Captain, 289.

  Trevor, William, 104, 343.

  Trumball, William, 240.

  Tucker’s Terror, 64.

  Turner, John, 45;
    and family, 343.


  Uncas, 291, 324, 327 et seq., 330, 334 et seq.

  United Colonies of New England, articles of agreement between, 321 et
        seq.


  Vane, Sir Harry, 283, 291.

  Vines, Richard, 231.

  Virginia, idea of settling in, 24 et seq., 59;
    Council of Virginia Company, 25, 26, 30, 33, 75;
    Soil compared with New England, 81;
    Massacre in, 107;
    Settlers bound for, stay at New Plymouth, 178 et seq.;
    William Pierce wrecked off, 245.


  Walloons, 17.

  Wampum, first trade in, 193.

  Ward, Thomas, 176.

  Warren, Richard, and family, 342.

  Warwick, Earl of, 204, 338.

  Waughwamino, 336.

  Weequashcooke, 335.

  Weesagascussett, 197.

  Weetowish, 329, 336, 337.

  Weld, Thomas, 312.

  West, Captain Francis, 120, 126.

  Weston, Andrew, 102.

  Weston, Thomas, the chief of the original London Adventurers, 33, 36
          et seq.;
    Letters to John Carver, 90, 98, 99;
    Letters to Governor Bradford, 100 et seq.;
    New Plymouth receives his colonists, 105;
    Settlement in Massachusetts, 105, 109 et seq.;
    Comes over disguised, 114;
    Generous treatment at New Plymouth, 114;
    Tried and arrested by Captain Gorges, 126 et seq.;
    His death, 131.

  Westminster, 276.

  Weymouth, 300, 301.

  White, Mr., 161.

  White, John, 175.

  White, Rev. Roger, letter from, 169.

  White, William, and family, 341.

  White Angel, The, purchase of, 218 et seq.;
    let out to Allerton, 234;
    sold to Allerton, 241;
    settlement for, 307.

  Wilder, Roger, 340.

  Wilkinson, Captain Edward, 276, 277.

  Willett, Thomas, 267.

  Williams, Rev. Roger, 248 et seq., 294, 331.

  Williams, Thomas, 343.

  Wilson, Dr., 290.

  Wilson, John, 225.

  Wincot, Jacob, 33.

  Windbank, Master Secretary, 239.

  Winnisimmet, 197.

  Winslow, Edward, letter to Carver and Cushman, 41;
    Visits Massasoyt, 86;
    Buys supplies from ships, 107;
    Brings first cattle from England, 134;
    His charges against Lyford in England, 158, 160 et seq.;
    Trades up the Kennebec, 168;
    In England investigating affairs, 227 et seq.;
    Governor, 246, 275, 326;
    His petition, 263 et seq.;
    Imprisoned, 265;
    Moves from New Plymouth, 311;
    Remains in England four years, 339;
    His family, 340.

  Winslow, Gilbert, 343.

  Winslow, Josias, Accountant, 236, 278, 306, 307.

  Winthrop, Governor John, Letters about Gardiner, 238, 239;
    About Pequots, 280, 283, 288, 289;
    Mentioned, 224, 258, 259, 269, 302, 324, 337.

  Wipetock, 336.

  Wollaston, Captain, 194 et seq.

  Worstenholme, Sir John, 28, 30, 31.

  Wright, Richard, 176.


  Yarmouth, 302.

  Yeardley, Sir George, 31.

  Yorkshire, 7.

  Young, Joseph, 294.


  Zealand, 10.



FOOTNOTES:

[1] NOTE (written by the author at a later date than the passage
to which it refers).—Little did I think that the downfall of the
Bishops, with their courts, canons, and ceremonies had been so near,
when first I began these scribbled writings,—which was about the
year 1630, and continued as leisure permitted,—or that I should have
lived to see and hear it. But it is the Lord’s doing, and ought to
be marvellous in our eyes.... Do you not now see the fruits of your
labours, O all ye servants of the Lord that have suffered for his
truth, and have been faithful witnesses of it, and ye little handful
amongst the rest, the least among the thousands of Israel? You have
not only had a seed-time, but many of you have seen the joyful
harvest. Should you not rejoice, then, yea, and again rejoice, and
say Hallelujah, Salvation, and Glory, and Honour, and Power be to the
Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments (Rev. xix.,
1, 2).... The tyrannous bishops are ejected, their courts dissolved,
their canons forceless, their service cashiered, their ceremonies
useless and despised; their plots for Popery are prevented, all their
supersititions discarded and returned to Rome, whence they came, and
the monuments of idolatry rooted out of the land. Their proud and
profane supporters and cruel defenders (the bloody papists and wicked
atheists and their malignant consorts) are marvellously overthrown.
And are not these great things? Who can deny it?

But who has done it? Who, even He that sitteth on the white horse,
Who is called faithful and true, and judgeth and fightest righteously
(Rev. xix., 11), Whose garments are dipped in blood, and His name was
called the Word of God, for He shall rule with a rod of iron; for it
is He that treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God
Almighty. And He hath upon His garment, and upon His thigh, a name
written: The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

  Anno Domini, 1646. Hallelujah.

[2] O sacred bond,—whilst inviolably preserved! How sweet and
precious were its fruits! But when this fidelity decayed, then their
ruin approached. Oh that these ancient members had not died (if
it had been the will of God); or that this holy care and constant
faithfulness had still remained with those that survived. But, alas,
that still serpent hath slyly wound himself to untwist these sacred
bonds and ties. I was happy in my first times to see and enjoy the
blessed fruits of that sweet communion; but it is now a part of my
misery in old age to feel its decay, and with grief of heart to
lament it. For the warning and admonition of others, and my own
humiliation, I here make note of it.

(This note was inserted by the author in his manuscript at a later
date.)

[3] “This decree, or law, about marriage, was published by the States
of the Low Countries, A. D. 1590: That those of any religion, after
lawful and open publication, coming before the magistrates, in the
Town or State-House, were to be orderly by them married, one to
another,” (Petet’s Hist., fol. 1029). And this practise was continued
by the Colony, and has been followed by all the famous churches of
Christ in these parts to this time,—A. D. 1646.

[4] But he did not leave his own men a bite of bread!

[5] He means Mr. John Robinson.

[6] This was John Oldham, and his like.

[7] Mr. Weston’s men.

[8] His commission was abused; he never had any authority for such
undertakings, as they well knew, nor had the adventurers in England
any authority to pay this money,—nor would they have paid a penny of
it if they had not had some other object in view.

[9] There was cause enough for these fears, which were concerned
with the underhand work of some enemies to the churches here, which
resulted in the issue by the King of a new “Commission for Regulating
Colonies,” signed April 28th, 1634.

[10] By this means they furnished them with supplies, and have
continued to do so.

[11] But they were taken to the West Indies.




  TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

  Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
  corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
  the text and consultation of external sources.

  Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
  when a predominant preference was found in the original book.

  Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
  and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.

  Pg xi: ‘Uncas and hreaten’ replaced by ‘Uncas and threaten’.
  Pg xv: ‘some definantly’ replaced by ‘some defiantly’.
  Pg xxvi: ‘pastor at Leydon’ replaced by ‘pastor at Leyden’.
  Pg 2: ‘in some meaure’ replaced by ‘in some measure’.
  Pg 59: ‘Our pinace will not’ replaced by ‘Our pinnace will not’.
  Pg 149: ‘as the hedghog in’ replaced by ‘as the hedgehog in’.
  Pg 155: ‘had disparged them’ replaced by ‘had disparaged them’.
  Pg 165: ‘load with corfish’ replaced by ‘load with codfish’.
  Pg 166: ‘cargo of corfish’ replaced by ‘cargo of codfish’.
  Pg 176: ‘it was absoluely’ replaced by ‘it was absolutely’.
  Pg 182: ‘perpetuanes and other’ replaced by ‘perpetuanas and other’.
  Pg 188: ‘agent, Mr. Allertion’ replaced by ‘agent, Mr. Allerton’.
  Pg 189: ‘of New Pymouth’ replaced by ‘of New Plymouth’.
  Pg 209: ‘None of us woud’ replaced by ‘None of us would’.
  Pg 254: ‘fifteen Engish miles’ replaced by ‘fifteen English miles’.
  Pg 267: ‘Monsieur d’Aulnay’ replaced by ‘Monsieur d’Aulney’.
  Pg 352: ‘Masachusetts, 105’ replaced by ‘Massachusetts, 105’.