x^^^^m^: 
 

 .^W 
 
 
Cofu-d l/y George Southward. 
 
 Helictype Priniius' Co., Boitoii. 
 
 John Endecott, 
 
 "GOVERNOR OF THE PLANTATION IN MASSACHUSETTS HAV," 
 
 1629. 
 From a portrait in the Hall of the American Antiquarian Society, copied from the original 
 
ANTIQUARIAN PAPERS. 
 
 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 GOV. JOHN ENDECOTT; 
 
 RECEPTION OF 
 
 GOV. JOHN WINTHROP, 
 
 At Salem, Junk 12, 1G30, 
 
 A SEQUEL or THE MEMORIAL. 
 
 PRESENTATION OF THE 
 
 PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT SALISBURY 
 
 To THE American Antiquarian Socteiy, Oct. 21, 1878. 
 
 EEMOVAL OF THE TOMB OF ISAIAH THOMAS, LL.D., 
 
 foundku ov the american antiquarian sociiny, 
 Junk 24, 1878. 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 W II C E S T E R : 
 PRESS OF C II A S . '11 A M I L T O N . 
 
 1879. 
 
./\5 
 
 WJTII THE RE8PECfiS OF 
 
 From rrocecdings of the American Antiquarian Society, of October 
 21, 1873, and October 21, 1878. 
 
 By Transfer 
 
 MAR 30 1917 
 
 V 11 1 V A T E L Y r K 1 N T E D . 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I'AGB. 
 
 Mkmoiual of Governor John Endecott 3 
 
 Letter of Hon. William C. Endicott . • 3 
 
 Reception of Gov. John Wintiirop at Salem, June 12, 1630 . . 47 
 
 Eeport of Samuel A. Guekn, M.D., presenting Porirait 
 OF President Salisrurv to the American Anti- 
 quarian Society 55 
 
 EemarivS of Eev. Dr. Georgk E. Ellis 5(j 
 
 Kemarks of Hon. George F. Hoar • 59 
 
 Response of President Salisbury 61 
 
 Removal of the Tomb of Isaiah Thomas, LL.D 65 
 
 Address of Hon. Charles B. Pratt, Mayor of Wor- 
 cester 66 
 
 Address of Hon. Stephen Salisbury 69 
 
 Address op Hon. John D. Baldwin 74 
 
 Note ox concluding ceremonies 78 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 Portrait of Govkrnor John Endecott Frontispiece. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Portrait of Hon. Stephen Salisbury, President of the 
 American Antiquarian Society . . • 54 
 
M E M O 11 1 A L . 
 
 Me. Salisbury, addressing the Society, said : 
 
 It seems to me to be proper that the gift of tliis excellent 
 portrait of Gov. Endecott should be received with more full 
 consideration of its worth, than the brief notice of the 
 Reports of the Council and the Librarian. It was accom- 
 panied by the following letter from Judge Endicott : 
 
 Salem, Oct. 16, 1873. 
 
 Hon. Stephen Salisbury, -President of American Antiquarian 
 Society, Worcester : 
 
 Dear Sir: Two years ago, when visiting the building of the 
 Society at Worcester, I saw a copy, or what was intended for a 
 copy, of the portrait of John Endecott.* It struck me as so 
 imperfect, and that it did such poor justice to the original, that I 
 then resolved to give to the Society a good copy of tlie original 
 picture. Circumstances have delayed the accomplishment of this 
 purpose, but I have finally succeeded in obtaining a very excellent 
 copy. I have sent it to Worcester, by express, directed to you, 
 and desire that you present it to the American Antiquarian So- 
 ciety, from me, to be pi-eserved in your collections, with your other 
 historical portraits. It was painted by Mr. Southland, of Salem, 
 from the original portrait, now in the possession of my fjither, 
 William P. Endicott, of Salem. The original descended to him 
 as the oldest son of the oldest son direct from the Governor, 
 together with tlie sword with which the cross was cut from the 
 King's colors, and a few other heirlooms. It was jlainted in 1665, 
 
 *The Governor and his descendants, until 1724, spelt the name Endecott.— 
 Memoir of John Endecott. 
 
the year of the Governor's death, and the tradition in the family 
 declares it to have been a most admirable likeness. I do not 
 know when tlie several copies in the Senate Cliamber, tlie Massa- 
 chusetts Historical Society and the Essex Institute were made, 
 but they all are more or less imperfect and inferior, and do not 
 compare in fidelity and character with the picture sent to you. 
 I assure you, my dear sir, I take a great interest in the Society 
 and the good work it is doing, and with my best wishes for its 
 continued gi'owth, and with the kindest personal regards for 
 yourself, believe me. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 WM. C. ENDICOTT. 
 
 lu presenting this valuable acquisition for your inspection, 
 I have placed by the side of it a portrait of Gov. Endecott 
 that has hung on your walls for many years, and was re- 
 ceived from the Rev. Dr. William Bentley, to wliom the 
 Society is indebted for many treasures, in manuscript and 
 print. The old portrait has compelled those, who would, 
 admire its subject, to turn away and "see his \asage in his 
 mind." This fine painting has the face, not of a cold and 
 narrow bigot, but of a man who would view his object 
 broadly and fearlessly in all its relations, and would not 
 withhold the kindness of those pleasant eyes. We may 
 now gaze on the lineaments and expression that are suited 
 to one, who is described by Edward Johnson in his " Won- 
 der- Working Providence" as "a fit instrument to begin this 
 wilderness work, of courage bold, undaunted, yet sociable 
 and of a cheerful spirit, loving or austere as occasion 
 served."* His apprehension and his temper were quick, and 
 his self-control was sometimes astonishing. In all his words 
 and actions there was a constant and cheerful recognition of 
 
 * Wonder- Working Providence, 19. 
 
religious duty. The personal beauty, which is here re- 
 presented, has not been wanting in the ladies of his family 
 in our own day. 
 
 John Endecott was born in Dorchester, England, in 1588.* 
 Governor Winthrop was born in the same year. I find 
 nothing more in relation to the social position of Endecott 
 in England than the facts that he was a brother-in-law of 
 Roger Ludlow, and his first wife was Anna Gower, a cousin 
 of Matthew Cradock. This wife died soon after his arrival 
 in New England, and left no children. On 18th of August, 
 1630, sixty-seven days after the arrival of Governor Win- 
 throp, Endecott was married by Governor Winthrop and 
 Rev**. Mr. Wilson, to Elizabeth Gibson,! wdio was born in 
 Cambridge, England, and probably came over with Gov- 
 ernor Winthrop. She was the mother of twelve children. 
 
 I do not know that there is any other evidence of the scho- 
 lastic education of Governor Endecott than a few letters and 
 ofiicial papers from his pen. These, with an independent vari- 
 ety of spelling — the effect of changing fashion — and an entire 
 disuse of any other language than the English, except in one 
 instance, that I have observed, of the Latin word, "quaere,":}: 
 are of a high character for clear statements and a choice of 
 courteous expressions. His letter, dated Oct. 21, 1663, § 
 written to persuade Rev**. Dr. John Owen, of England, to 
 come to Boston, to take the place of Rev. John Norton, 
 deceased, would do honor to any University. It does not 
 appear that he was a lover of study, or of any book but the 
 Bible, to which his allusions were frequent, and were made 
 for strength of sentiment or argument rather than for orna- 
 
 * Drake's Am. Diet, of Biography, t VViuthrop's New England, 1, 30. 
 iMass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4tli se., vol. G, p. 140. § Fell's Annals of Salem. 
 
ment or display. The memoir by Mr. C. M. Endicott men- 
 tions that he was elected a member of the corporation of 
 Harvard College, in 1642, when he was also Deputy Gov- 
 ernor. He proved that he deserved this honoral)le distinc- 
 tion, when on the 9th of May, 1655, he acted in behalf of 
 the Corporation, with the concurrence of the Overseers, in 
 addressing to the Geiaeral Court an eloquent and persuasive 
 "information" of "the condition and necessities of the Col- 
 lege and urgently prayed for aid; "if this work of the 
 College be thought fit to be upheld and continued, as we 
 hope that considerations of the glory of God, the honorable 
 interest of the country, the good of posterity and the expe- 
 rience of the benefits and blessings thereof, will constrain 
 all men to say it is, then something must efifectually be done 
 for help in the premises."* Rev^. Dr. Felt in his "Annals 
 of Salem" quotes from the record of the Quarterly Court, 
 that on March 30, 1641, "Col. Endecott raoued about the 
 ffences and about a ffree skoole, and therefore wished a 
 whole towne meeting about it ; therefore, that Goodman 
 Auger warne a town meeting on the second day of the 
 week." Dr. Felt remarks that "this is the first written 
 intimation of instruction without price among our settlers." 
 As evidence that "in the voluntary support of schools per- 
 haps Boston led the way," Mr. Savage quotes from the 
 Record of 1635, a vote "that our brother Philemon Por- 
 mont shall be entreated to become schoolmaster, for the 
 teachi-ng and nurturing of children with us."t But the 
 merit of Col. Endecott's efibrts is not forfeited by want of 
 priority. 
 
 *Quiucy's Harvard College, 1, 464. t Winthrop's New England, 2, 204, u. 
 
Kev. Dr. Felt mentions that he found in the State Honse 
 in Boston a bill in Mr. Endecott's handwriting, for the cure 
 of a man committed to his care, in whicli he styles himself 
 " Chirurgeon " ; and an early unstudied letter of his, with- 
 out date, addressed to Governor Winthrop, when Mrs. Win- 
 throp's health was a subject of anxiety, ofiters Unicorn's 
 Horn, Syrup of Violet, and other rare and potent remedies, 
 and adds, "if I knew how or in what way in this case 
 to do her good I would with with all my heart, and would 
 now have come to you, but I am altogether unskilful in 
 these cases of women."* Mr. Endecott's training and prac- 
 tice in the healing art were probably a part of a slight 
 preparation for the exigencies of his residence in the wilder- 
 ness. I do not discover that he had any other habitual 
 occupation than the service of the colony ; to which he was 
 devoted with equal zeal, as Governor, as Deputy Governor, 
 as Assistant, as Sergeant-Major-General, and in other im- 
 portant duties. To say that he served sixteen years, but not 
 successively, as Governor, till his death, on March 15, 1665, 
 and that he was for four years Deputy Governor, and for 
 the same period Sergeant-Major-General, shows the high 
 responsibility, but not the intensity and value of his labors. 
 His frequent title of Captain, and his election to the offices 
 of Colonel, Sergeant-Major-General, and member of the 
 Military Committee, are evidences of his military reputation. 
 His short campaign against the Pequod Indians in 1636 
 exposed him to censure. Judge John Davis calls it " an 
 ill-conducted expedition, of which Plymouth and Connecti- 
 cut complained that it only tended to irritate the Indians 
 and to make tliem more insolent." He adds that "Johnson 
 
 * Mass. His. Soc. Collections, 4th se., VI T., 156. 
 
calls it a 'bootless voyage,'" "tlioiigh its avowed object was 
 death to all the male inhabitants of Block Island, and heavy 
 contributions from the Peqnods."* It may be that Endecott, 
 remembering Cradock's benevolent " Instructions,"! was one 
 of those, who thought it would be better to convert some 
 Indians before they killed any. He was not accused of want 
 of courage or prudence, and Governor Winthrop indirectly 
 commended him, in recording as a "marvelous providence," 
 that they came all safe to Boston. As a planter he is 
 remembered for his fruit trees, and particularly for a pear 
 tree, set by him, on an estate now owned by a descendant, 
 which in the present year bore a large crop. His excliange, 
 in 1645, of 500 apple trees for 250 acres of land is recorded.^ 
 The personal eminence and greater resources of Governor 
 Winthrop have thrown into the shade the first administra- 
 tion of Governor Endecott, in its weakness and sore perplex- 
 ities. The historical memorials of Endecott are few and 
 scattered. That part of the records of the Company that 
 related to the sending liim and his companions, and the 
 position in which he came, has not been preserved. The 
 early letters of instruction to him, and his letters in return, 
 showing how he understood and performed his duty, are 
 lost. Tlie official records of the proceedings of his brief 
 government, and his letters in explanation and defence of 
 his measures, are so lost and forgotten that a doubt has 
 arisen whether he ever held the office. He has been sej)a- 
 rately commemorated only in the interesting and modest 
 "memoir," prepared by Charles M. Endicott, Esq., a de- 
 scendant of the seventh generation, and printed for the use 
 
 * Winthrop's New England, I., 229-233. Morton's Memorial, 186. Hutchinson's 
 Massachusetts, I., 00. t Archteologia Americana, 111., 84. J Mem. of John 
 Endecott, by C. M. Endicott. 
 
9 
 
 of liis family, in an edition so small that the book is not 
 accessible to the public. Endecott did not, like his friend, 
 leave evidence of his administrative ability and unsurpassed 
 discretion, in an admirable journal of the public incidents of 
 his time ; and in a large correspondence, carefully preserved, 
 to be presented for the instruction of posterity, by filial 
 reverence that comprehends his large views and sympa- 
 thizes in his spirit. 
 
 The standing of Mr. Endecott in history as a ruler and 
 one whom Homer would describe as "a shepherd of the 
 people," has been injured by the careless writhig of some of 
 his contemporaries and best friends. They have conveyed 
 the impression that he came to the Colony with the royal 
 charter, not to establish and act under civil government, but 
 to prepare for it ; a different and more humble duty. Mr. 
 William Hubbard, the historian, who is supposed to be in- 
 debted for information in a great degree, to his own neigh- 
 bor, Roger Conant, and to Governor Winthrop, makes the 
 same representation, with the addition that Mr. Endecott 
 was the "new agent," as Mr. Conant had been the "agent 
 before." He also states that Mr. John White, who, in his 
 home in Dorchester, England, was truly the "Planter" of 
 Massachusetts Bay, engaged the Treasurer of "the Joint 
 Adventurers" to write to Mr. Conant to induce him to 
 remain here, before Mr. Endecott was employed, and also 
 to "'signify to Mr. Conant' that they had chosen him to 
 be their Governor in that place and would commit to him 
 the charge of all their affairs."* It has hence been inferred 
 that Mr. Conant was as much a Governor as Mr. Endecott. 
 
 * Hubbard's New England, lOG, 109. 
 
10 
 
 Mr. Haven, the Librariun, and a member of the Conncil 
 of our Society, has brouglit out the truth of this pas- 
 sage of history in such condensed and lucid order, in the 
 Third Volume of our Transactions, that it would be suffi- 
 cient to refer to bis conclusions, if it were not desirable to 
 ascertain the value and merit of the public service of these 
 Fathers of Massachusetts, by a view of the more important 
 incidents of their lives. Among many contributions, with 
 which Mr. Haven has enriched this Society, there is none of 
 greater interest and authority, than that account of the 
 "Origin of the Company." 
 
 Mr. Roger Conant was "a religious, sober and prudent gen- 
 tleman," residing in Plymouth, about two years after 1623.* 
 Charles Deane, LL.D., in his valuable notes to the edition of 
 Bradford's History of Plymouth, which we owe to his per- 
 sonal exertions, takes notice that Bradford does not men- 
 tion Conant in that history .j On account of dislike of the 
 principles of rigid separation, Conant migrated from Ply- 
 mouth to Nantasket, where he was connected with Lyford 
 and Oldham, unlucky and disreputable companions. When 
 this settlement was broken up, he, with Lyford and a part of 
 the settlers, attempted a settlement at Cape Ann. There 
 he received the encouragement of John White and the offer 
 of the office of Governor, that has been mentioned, but I 
 find no record that he ever exercised legal authority. From 
 Cape Ann he removed with a part of the settlers to Naum- 
 keag. There, in 1626 or 1627, Mr. John White wrote to 
 him, "not so to desert the business," with Lyford and otliers, 
 who were going to Virginia, and "faithfully promised" if 
 
 ♦Hubbard's New England, 106 and 107. 
 tMass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th se., III., 195. 
 
11 
 
 Conant and Woodbury, Balch and Palfrej, known to be 
 honest and prudent men, would remain, they should receive 
 supplies, and a patent should be provided. This was agreed 
 to ; but before tliey received any return according to their de- 
 sires, the three "honest men" last mentioned began to recoil, 
 on account of fear of the Indians and other inconveniences, 
 and resolved to go to Virginia with Lyford. But Mr. Conant, 
 "as one inspired by some superior instinct, though earnestly 
 pressed to go, peremptorily declared his mind to wait the 
 providence of God in that place where now they were, though 
 all the rest should forsake him, not doubting, as he said, but 
 if they departed, he should soon have more company. The 
 other three observing his confident resolution, at last con- 
 curred with him," and they sent to England for supplies. 
 This was the great work of Conant, to preserve the nucleus 
 of a settlement at Naumkeag, which Endecott and Winthrop 
 enlarged into a Colony. In 1671 Mr. Conant, in a petition 
 to the General Court for a grant of land, says, " I have 
 been a planter in New England for forty years and up- 
 wards, being one of the first, if not the very first, that 
 resolved, and made good any settlement with my family in 
 this colony, and I have been instrumental for the founding 
 and carrying on the same ; and when in the infancy tliereof 
 it was in great danger of being deserted, I was the means, 
 through grace assisting me, to stop the flight of those few, 
 who were here with me."* He also mentions that he "was 
 the first that had a house in Salem." There were two other 
 instances in which Mr. Conant exercised public authority, 
 but in both he acted as a man and not as a ruler. The first 
 
 * Young's Chron. of Massachusetts, 27, u. 
 
12 
 
 occurred, as Mr. Deane points out, before Conanfs resi- 
 dence at Cape Ann.* A quarrel arose at Cape Ann, about 
 a fishing stand, between the residents and a company from 
 Flymouth, under Capt. Standish, who woukl have led them 
 on to blows and bloodshed, if Mr. Conant, and Mr. Pierce, 
 Captain of the May Flower, being present, had not interposed 
 "with prudence and moderation," and removed the cause of 
 disagreement.! Hubbard also mentions that Mr. Conant acted 
 as peacemaker in a controversy between the older residents 
 and tlie men who came with Endecott to Naumkeag, which in 
 consequence of this, or after this, was called Salem, the city 
 of peace. I do not know that there is any record, that on 
 this or any other occasion Mr. Conant had any ofiicial inter- 
 course with Mr. Endecott. The quiet retirement, in which 
 Mr. Conant lived after the arrival of Endecott to the end of 
 his long life, gives probability to the remark of Dr. Young, 
 that "Conant and his associates, as was natural, appear 
 to have been jealous of the new comers who had ar- 
 rived with Endecott, and probably did not like it that their 
 authority was to be superseded by his government, and their 
 plantation absorbed by his colony. The Massachusetts 
 Company seem to have treated the old planters with great 
 consideration and kindness."^ Though Mr. Conant was well 
 known and respected, he is not mentioned by Governor 
 Winthrop in his Journal, and I do not find that in the last 
 49 years of his life, he held any public office but that of 
 Delegate from Salem to the General Court in 1634, and, 
 in 1637, the office of a Justice of the Quarterly Court. 
 His life extended from 1591 to 1679.§ 
 
 *Mass. His. Soo. Coll.. 4th se., ITT., 195, n. tllubbard's New Englind, 110-111 . 
 t Young's Chron. Massachusetts, p. 145, n. ^ Geneal. Register, 2, 233. 329. 
 
13 
 
 The desire to establish a Puritan Colony, that induced the 
 "Joint Adventurers" at Dorchester, England, to attempt to 
 support the plantation of Mr. Conant, was entertained by 
 stronger men with more systematic arrangements, in Lon- 
 don. In the Planter's Plea, we read that "enquiry was 
 made whether any would be willing to engage their persons 
 in the voyage ; and it fell out that among others, they 
 lighted at last on Master Endecott, a man well known to 
 divers persons of good note, who manifested mucli willing- 
 ness to accept the oifer as soon as it was tendered."* 
 Hereupon divers persons subscribed "a reasonable sum of 
 money." On the 19tli of March, 1628, Johii Endecott 
 joined with five other "religious persons," Sir Henry Ros- 
 well. Sir John Young, Thomas Southcoat, John Humphrey 
 and Simon Whetcomb, in purchasing "a patent" of the terri- 
 tory of Massachusetts Bay from "the Corporation styled the 
 Council established at Plymouth, in the County of Devon, 
 for the planting, ruling and governing of New England in 
 America."! Without delay, a companj^ of the patentees and 
 their associates was organized by the election of Matthew 
 Cradock, a merchant of wealth, lilierality, and influence, as 
 the Governor, with a Deputy Governor and a Council of 
 Assistants of the same character and standing. On the 
 20th of June, 1628,:}: three months after the purchase of the 
 patent, John Endecott sailed with about one hundred follow- 
 ers, and arrived at Naumkeag on the 6th of September. 
 No part of the records of the company, in relation to send- 
 ing Endecott, is preserved, except an order to pay the passage^ 
 of him and his family after his arrival was known, on Feb. 
 
 *Phinter'M Plea in Chron. Massachusetts, p. 13. 
 
 t Hutchinson's Massachusetts. J Archaiologia Americana, III.. 3. 
 
u 
 
 13, 1629.* But a letter from Mattliew Cradock to Capt. 
 Endecott, dated Feb. 16, 1629, incidentally furnishes all the 
 information that is necessary. Tlie letter is partly private 
 and partly in behalf of the company. It acknowledges 
 letters of "large advise" dated 13tli of Sept. last, for which 
 hearty thanks are given. These letters, and a letter from 
 Mr. Cradock mentioned witli date of Nov. last, have not 
 been found. Mr. Cradock speaks of the increase of the 
 company, promises supplies, and asks for return cargoes ; 
 says we are confident of your best endeavors for the general 
 good, and trust you will not be unmindful of the main end 
 of the plantation, and keep a watchful eye over your own 
 people, and endeavor to bring the Indians to the knowledge 
 of the gospel ; he commends his prudence in giving our 
 countrymen content in the point of planting tobacco for the 
 present, but trusts that other means more comfortable and 
 profitable may be found ; he warns him to be cautious and 
 distrustful towards the Indians, and informs him it is fully 
 resolved to send over at least two ministers ; but does not 
 promise the office of Governor or any increase of official 
 power, nor does he recognize or allude to any other au- 
 thority in Capt. Endecott than that wliich belongs to a wise 
 and good num, who is respected as the Father of his people. 
 It is passing strange that no allusion is made to the expecta- 
 tion of a royal charter, with full powers of civil government 
 for the company, in this letter, dated sixteen days before 
 March 4, 1629, the date of the charter. The charter recites 
 the names of John Endecott and the other purchasers, at 
 whose "humble suit and petition" it was gran ted. f On the 
 
 * Arcbaeologia Ainericaua, TIL 8. t Hutchinson's Papers, p. 1. 
 
15 
 
 30th of April, 1629, an order of "the General Court at Lon- 
 don" states that Capt. Endecott had been chosen by the 
 Company to be Governor of the Plantation in Massachusetts 
 Bay "for one whole year, or until such time as this coukt 
 
 SHALL SEE FIT TO MAKE CHOICE OF ANT OTHER TO SUCCEED IN 
 
 HIS PLACE." A deputy Governor and a council of Assistants 
 were elected witli the same term of office ; and official oaths 
 were required by the Charter before they undertook the exe- 
 cution of tlie several offices. Persons were specially assigned 
 to administer the oath to the Governor. I cannot ascertain 
 the date of tlie election of Governor Endecott. A letter of 
 instructions from tlie Governor and Deputy Governor of the 
 company to him and his council, dated April IT, mentions 
 the election as a past transaction, forwards to him a '"'■du- 
 2)licate'''' of the "Letters Patent under the Broad. Seal," as 
 the charter was called, offers expressions of strong confi- 
 dence, and gives much good advice. This, and a second 
 letter from the same source and for the same purpose, dated 
 May 28, have been justly admired as able statements of 
 the views and intentions of the men by whom the settlement 
 was projected. 
 
 The Planter's Plea says, " The often agitation of this affiiir 
 in sundry parts of this kingdom, the good report of Gov. 
 Endecott's government, and the increase of the colony, began 
 to awaken the spirits of some persons of competent estates 
 not formerly engaged."* Thus Sir Richard Saltonstall, 
 Thomas Dudley, William Vassal, John Winthrop, and eight 
 other gentlemen of estate, intelligence, and respectability, 
 were led to unite in an agreement, signed by them on the 
 29th of August, 1629, binding themselves to embark for 
 
 * Young's Chron. of Massachusetts, p. 14. 
 
16 
 
 New England, "to inhabit and continue there," provided 
 that "the whole government, togetlier with the patent, sliall 
 1)6 legally transferred and established, to remain " with them 
 and others who shall inhabit said plantation.* Such an 
 undertaking must have required consideration and consulta- 
 tion for some time previous. The negotiations connected 
 with it could not liave been secret, and they must have been 
 made known to Governor Endecott in the first months of liis 
 official power, and he must have seen, that it was not likely 
 that his hand could retain the sceptre which lie had made 
 worth possessing. He nobly endured this trial of his char- 
 acter. Though he suffered many reproaches in his active, 
 earnest life, he was never accused of envy, jealousy, or dis- 
 content, on account of his being superseded by Mr. Win- 
 throp. And more than this — as you will presently be re- 
 minded — in this time of uncertainty and inevitable anxiety, 
 he carried through a difficult measure of great consequence 
 to the character and the permanence of the Colony, and to 
 the relief of him who should be its Governor. 
 
 At a General Court of the Company, in London, on Oct. 
 20, 1629, Governor Cradock "acquainted those present that 
 the especial occasion of this Court was the election of a new 
 Governor, Deputy and Assistants, the government being to 
 be transferred into New England, according to the former 
 order and resolution of tlie Company."! An election was 
 then made, of John Winthrop as Governor, and John Hum- 
 phrey as Deputy Governor, and 18 Assistants, including 
 Matthew Cradock and John Endecott. As a mere outline 
 of the official service of the first rulers of Massachusetts 
 cannot be truly presented, if the Patent and its transfer be 
 
 * Hutchinson's Papers, pp. 25-26. f Archaeologia Americana, 111., 61-62. 
 
17 
 
 left out of new, I will ask your patience for a brief consid- 
 eration of them. 
 
 On these important subjects our modern histories give 
 large and able discussions, with opposite conclusions. 
 James Grahame, LL.D., in his interesting and favoralde 
 picture of all things affecting the character of America, 
 offers as "tlie only rational solution of the doubts and 
 difficulties " that arise in relation to the transfer of the 
 Patent and the religious independence of the Colony, the 
 hypothesis that "the King was exceedingly desirous to rid 
 the realm of the puritans, and had unequivocally signified to 
 them that if they would bestow their presence on another 
 part of his dominions, and employ their energies in sub- 
 duing the deserts of America, instead of disturbing his 
 operations on the churches in England, they should have 
 permission to arrange their internal constitution, whether 
 civil or ecclesiastical, according to their own discretion."* 
 As a lawyer, learned in the accepted principles of his own 
 day, Mr. Grahame could not tolerate a transfer of the 
 charter by the Company ; but he might have looked 
 above royal favor, to the Providential order of affairs and 
 events in England, which gave to the Colonists opportu- 
 nity, encouragement and strength, for peaceable changes in 
 government and religion, that the boldest revolutionist would 
 not have dared to attempt ; and our copious and brilliant 
 historian, George Bancroft, LL.D., with equal confidence, 
 and the support of one of the ablest jurists of our country, 
 Justice Joseph Story, maintains that the charter was "far 
 from conceding to the Patentees the privilege of freedom of 
 
 *Graliame's United States. I., 258-9. 
 
18 
 
 worsliip ; not a line alludes to such a purpose. Tlie orais- 
 Bion of an express guarantee left religions liberty unprovided 
 for and unprotected."* An opinion of Justice Story, that 
 the propriety of the vote to transfer the government and 
 patent, "in a judicial point of view cannot be sustained," 
 seems not to have been adopted by Mr. Bancroft. He says, 
 the vote was simply a decision of the question, where the 
 future meetings of the Company should be held. "The 
 Corporation migrated- They crould call a leg:al meeting at 
 London, or on board ship in an English harbor ; and why not 
 in the port of Salem, as well as in the Isle of Wight ; in a 
 cabin or under a tree at Charlestown, as well as at the house 
 of Goff, in London?" "Whatever may be thought of the 
 legality of the decision, it gave to Massachusetts a present 
 government." This decision was no rash and unconsidered 
 act. Mr. Bancroft mentions that the transfer was made 
 "after serious debate," and an adjourned session, and the 
 a(;tion of "a committee raised to take advice of learned 
 counsel, whether the same could be legally done or no." 
 This occurred in the time of Sir Edward Coke, when there 
 was no lack of legal acuteness. It is the deliberate conclu- 
 sion of Mr. Haven,t from which I think few will dissent 
 after investigation, that the proceedings of the Colonists 
 were "open and notorious, and sanctioned by the acquies- 
 cence of the British government." The cotemporary his- 
 tory abundantly shows the correctness of the opinion of Dr. 
 Palfrey:}: and Mr. IIaven,§ that "a political purpose," or in 
 
 * Bancroft's United States, I., 372, 383. Religious uniformity fared no better, 
 t Archicologia Americana, III., 50. 
 
 X I'alfVey'rt New England, 1. 308. also quotins Mr. Burke for the same opinion. 
 § Uistory of Grants under the Great Council for New England, p. 25. 
 
19 
 
 the words of Dr. Palfrey, "a probable purpose of a reno- 
 vated England in America was entertained by the Puritan 
 leaders, in view of the clouds that were gathering over their 
 political prospects at home." "Those were not the times 
 for such men as the Massachusetts patentees to ask what the 
 King wished or expected, but rather how much free4pm 
 could be maintained against him, by the letter of the law 
 and other righteous means." Yet they were careful not 
 to impair their strength, by losing the approbation and 
 good will of the government and people of England.* 
 
 Before Governor Winthrop had passed two years in giving 
 organization and efficiency to his government, it became 
 necessary to defend the charter and its privileges with an 
 earnest struggle. The first foes were unwilling members of 
 his own household, whose worthless settlements had been 
 absorbed by the growing colony. Eubbard writes that 
 "Sir Christopher Gardner, Thomas Morton, and Philip Rat- 
 cliff, having been punished there for their misdemeanors — 
 being set on, as was affirmed, by Sir Fernando Gorges, 
 Capt. Mason and others, in 1632, complained and petitioned 
 ao;ainst the Colonial Government."! A full hearino; was had 
 by the King's council and reported to the King. The result 
 
 * At a later period, the Earl of Clarendon, in framing his plan for the gov- 
 ernment of the colonies by commi.-kioners, remarked that " they were already 
 hardened into republics." That Charles II. imputed much of this hardening 
 to the agency of Gov. Endecott, is apparent in a letter to Massachusetts Colony, 
 written by Secretary Morice in l>chalf of the King, dated Feb. 25, 1G65; which 
 concludes by stating that " his Majesty has too much reason to suspect that Mr. 
 Endecott is not a person well affected to his Majesty's person or his govern- 
 ment. His 3Iajesty will take it very well, if, at the next election, any other 
 person of good reputation be chosen in his place." Before the next election 
 Gov. Endecott died, but his successors were selected in view of the continuance 
 of his policy.— Moore's Governors, 360; Hutchinson's f'apers, 392. 
 
 t Hubbard's New Euglaud, 153. Neal's Puritans. 
 
20 
 
 was, that the King "said he would have them severely pun- 
 ished, who did abnse his Governor and Plantation, and that 
 the defendants were dismissed with a favorable order for 
 their encouragement, being assured by some of the Council^ 
 that his Majesty did not intend to impose the ceremonies of 
 the^church of England upon them, for it was considered 
 that it was the freedom from such things tliat made people 
 come over to them."* This gracious encouragement may 
 have been falsely reported, and at best it must be considered 
 to be of little value. But the fact remains that, at this 
 period of immaturity and weakness, these powerful enemies 
 did not direct their attack against the charter or its transfer. 
 In 1636 or 1637, a writ of Quo Warranto was brought 
 against the Company by Sir John Banks, Attorney Greneral, 
 which sets forth that the members of "said Company in New 
 England, for three years last past and more, used in London 
 and other places, as also in several parts beyond the seas, out 
 of this kingdom of England, without any warrant or royal 
 grant, the liberties, privileges and franchises following," tfecf 
 And in the specifications it is not alleged that the action of 
 the Company is more unwarranted beyond the seas than in 
 England. And in 1684 "the exemplification of the judg- 
 ment" by which the charter was vacated, specifies three 
 causes, levying taxes, coining money, and administering oaths 
 of allegiance to the colony ; and does not name the transfer of 
 the charter as one of the causes.:}: In the long interval be- 
 tween the bringing a writ of Quo "Warranto, in 1637, to the 
 judgment in 1684, " the clouds gathering over the politics of 
 England," to which Dr. Palfrey alludes, were a blessing of 
 
 * Mr. Grahamo has much reliance on this incident. 
 
 t Hutchinson's I'apers, 101. JMass. Hist. So«. Collections, 4th se., II., 24G. 
 
21 
 
 Providence to protect and nonrisli the growtli of political 
 independence and freedom from the Church of England 
 (witli a tendency to larger liberty) in the Colonies, which 
 would have been trampled out, if the career of the English 
 monarchy had been prosperous. 
 
 In tlie absence of letters and records relating to the 
 action of Mr. Endecott as Agent and as Governor, I can offer 
 but a brief account of it, under three heads. First, he could 
 do nothing better than to draw together the eight or ten 
 little heterogeneous settlements in the Bay, and teach them 
 that it was tlieir interest to be united. This must be done 
 with meekness of wisdom, without a display of authority 
 that might create alarm, and therefore it was less exposed to 
 historical notice. I can specify no measure for this object but 
 an exploration of the country west, mentioned by Governor 
 Hutchinson.* I do not perceive that any worlv of this sort 
 required the attention of Governor Winthrop. Second, the 
 statement of the Planter's Plea, and other histories, that the 
 good report of Captain Endecott's government and the 
 increase of the colony induced a larger number of good men 
 to come over, is evidence of the greatest weight and signifi- 
 cance. Third, the expulsion of Messrs. John Brown and 
 Samuel Brown from the Colony, in August, 1629, proves 
 that he acted as a legal and a wise governor. The full 
 account of tliis incident is found only in Nathaniel Morton's 
 Memorial, (chiefly .of Plymouth), though it is confirmed by 
 the records and documents of Massachusetts. Mi-. Morton 
 wrote from information received from his uncle, Governor 
 William Bradford of Plymouth,! and from manuscripts left 
 
 * Hutchinson's Massachusetts, I., p. 17. t Morton's Memorial, pp. 147-8. 
 
22 
 
 in his study. John Brown and Samuel Brown were men of 
 respected character and great social influence, and after this 
 time they were members of Parliament. They came over 
 at the same time as the charter, and they are named among 
 the five persons authorized to administer the oath of ofiice 
 to Governor Endecott, and they were members of his coun- 
 cil.* They resided in Salem, where they, and other passen- 
 gers recently arrived, observing that the Book of Common 
 Prayer and the ceremonies of the Englisli Church were not 
 used, began to raise some trouble. They gatliered a com- 
 pany together, in a place distant from the public assembly, 
 and there the Book of Common Pra^^er was used. " The 
 Governor, Mr. Endecott, taking notice of the disturbance 
 that began to grow among the people by this means, 
 he convented the two brothers before him. They ac- 
 cused the ministers, as departing from the orders of 
 the church of England, that they would be Separatists 
 and Anabaptists, &c., but for themselves they would hold 
 to the orders of the Church of England. The ministers 
 answered for themselves ; they were neither Separatists nor 
 Anabaptists ; they did not separate from the Church of 
 England, but only from the corruption and disorders there ; 
 and that they came away from the Common Prayer and 
 ceremonies, and had suifered much for their non-conformity 
 in their native land, and, therefore, being in a place where 
 they might have their liberty, they neither could nor would 
 use them, because they judged the imposition of these tilings 
 to be sinful corruptions in the worship of God. The Gov- 
 ernor AND Council and tlie generality of the people did 
 
 * An honorary introduction of them by the London Company to Gov. Ende- 
 cott, is added to the *• Instructions," which are the frame of the new govern- 
 ment. These circumstiinces are mentioned to show the position and power of 
 the two brothers. 
 
23 
 
 well approve of the ministers' answer ; and, therefore, find- 
 ing these two brothers to be of high spirits and their 
 speeches and practices tending to mutiny and faction^ the 
 Governor told them that JSTew England was no place for such 
 as they ; and, therefore, sent them both back for England at 
 the return of the ships the same year. And though they 
 breathed out threatenings both against the Governor and 
 ministers there, the Lord so disposed of all, that there was 
 no further inconvenience followed upon it."* "On the 16th 
 of October, 1629, Mr. Cradock, Governor of the Company 
 in London, and the members of his Council, including Mr. 
 Winthrop, addressed and individually signed separate letters 
 to the two ministers, Messrs. Skelton and Higginson, and to 
 Governor Endecott, in relation to the rumors of scandalous 
 and intemperate speeches by the ministers, and of rash 
 innovations in civil and ecclesiastical government, circulated 
 by the Messrs. Brown, who had recently arrived. Tlie letter 
 to the ministers expresses a strong hope that the accusations 
 are untrue, and urges them to clear themselves or expect 
 that order will be taken "for the redress thereof." To 
 Governor Endecott they write that "we do well consider 
 that the Browns ai'e likely to make the worst of anything 
 they have observed in New England, by reason of your 
 sending them back against their wills for their offensive 
 behavior, expressed in a general letter from the company 
 there.! Yet for that we likewise do consider tliat you are in 
 a government newly founded and want that assistance which 
 the weight of such a business doth require, we may have 
 
 * Morton's N. E. Memorial, p. 147, et seq. 
 
 t Archaiologia Amerinana, II T. pp. 53-54. This general ZeWer, probably 
 from Endecott's Couucil, has not been found. 
 
 4 
 
24 
 
 leave to think it is possible some undigested counsels have 
 too suddenly been put on execution, which may have ill 
 construction with the State here, and make us obnoxious to 
 any adversary. Let it, therefore, seem good unto you to be 
 very sparing in introducing any laws or commands which 
 may render yourself or us distasteful to the State here, to 
 which, as we ought, we must and will have an obsequious 
 eye." And then follows a vague requirement, that if he 
 knows any thing "to detract from God's glory or his 
 majesty's honor that hath been spoken or done by the min- 
 isters or any others," he should " send due process " against 
 the offenders, that we may, as our duty binds us, use 
 means to have them duly punished." The object of this 
 last passage, and of the letters generally, was to ward off, 
 by the offer of prompt justice, the ill will and hostility 
 against the Colony which the Browns would soon stir up in 
 the English government and people. These letters throw 
 strong light on the standing of Endecott's government, not 
 only by the expressions of respect and confidence, but still 
 more by the absence of any intimation that this proceeding 
 was not legal and authorized by the official " Instructions " 
 which were a part of his appointment. The words are, 
 " if any persons prove incorrigible, and will not l)e re- 
 claimed by gentle correction, ship such persons home by 
 the Lion's Whelp rather than keep [them] there to infect 
 or be an occasion of scandal unto others ; we being per- 
 suaded that if one or two be so reshipped back and certifi- 
 cate sent home of their misdemeanor, it will be a terror 
 to the rest, and a means to reduce them to good conform- 
 ity."* The letters give no hint of a power or disposition to 
 The " general letter" mentioned on page 23, was the " certificate" required. 
 
25 
 
 overrule Governor Endecott's proceedings. In Chuliners's 
 political Annals, page 146, we read "when the persons 
 had arrived in England, they who had been thus ex- 
 pelled naturally appealed to the Governor and Company 
 for reparation of their wrongs, but it api)ears not from 
 their Kecords, that they received any redress. The in- 
 solence of contem])t was added to the injustice of power." 
 It does appear from the Records of Sept. 19, 1629, that 
 arbitrators to settle this claim were agreed on by the 
 Browns and the Company, and Mr. Winthrop was one of 
 them. And they were ordered to "determine and end the 
 business on the first Tuesday of next term."* If this settle- 
 ment had been made, it would have been a proper subject of 
 the lost Colony records and not of the records of the Com- 
 pany. K the settlement had not been made, the complaints 
 of the Browns would not have ceased to appear in history. 
 I regret that I could not present more briefly a historical in- 
 cident that deserves full consideration for its legal character 
 and its momentous consequences. It has been sufficiently ap- 
 parent that the expulsion was not a spasmodic act of tyran- 
 ny, but a regular authorized action of a Government legally 
 established. As to the consequences, the question was pre- 
 sented whether the church of the conformists, established by 
 these gentlemen with so much promise at Salem, and sup- 
 ported by the favor, wealth and power of its friends in 
 England, should be permitted to disturb and overturn the 
 place of refuge, which the Puritans had begun to prepare 
 for themselves. If Governor Endecott and his Council and 
 Colonists did not remember. Governor Bradford and Elder 
 Brewster and the men of Plymouth, with wliom the}' were 
 
 * ArchiEologia Americana, III., p. 50. 
 
36 
 
 then in frequent consultation, would not allow them to forget 
 that such conforaiists as these persecuted good John Robin- 
 son, thwarted his strong purpose to come to Plymouth, and 
 deprived his people of the comfort and guidance of their 
 beloved pastor. If the Messrs. Brown and their friends 
 had been suffered to go on in their enterprise, the Colony 
 would have divided and perhaps broken up, and the worthy 
 and desirable immigrants, who had recently come and all tlie 
 best of the population would have sought more agreeable 
 homes. Moreover, this victory of Governor Endecott made 
 it less diificult to preserve the integi-ity of the Colony in 
 future years. We may conjecture that the apprehension of 
 the power of the Messrs. Brown induced a prompt consum- 
 mation of the arrangement long since made, for the transfer 
 of the whole government and charter and the election of 
 Governor Winthrop. And the idea might have been enter- 
 tained tliat it would be considered a concession if Governor 
 Endecott should be superseded. It appears that the measure 
 was carried into effect suddenly. At the Court of the Com- 
 pany, held on Oct. 16, 1629, when the letters to the Gover- 
 nor and ministers were signed, "it is conceived fit that 
 Captain Endecott continue the government there unless just 
 cause to the contrary."* At a court of the 20th of October, 
 four days after, the transfer of the Government was voted 
 and Governor Winthrop was elected to supersede Governor 
 Endecott, who was chosen one of his Council of Assistants. 
 It may be 'presumed that Governor Wintln-op had after- 
 wards no trouble about the Messrs. Brown, for T do not 
 find their names in liis journal. 
 
 The personal relation of Governor Endecott to Governor 
 
 * Aichaeologia Americana, III., p. 69. 
 
27 
 
 Winthrop deserves particular notice. The unostentatious 
 and unobserved relinquishment of office by Endecott seems 
 to me to be a high-minded act that has not received the 
 praise which it deserves. That it is not an easy performance 
 in modern days is proved by unhappy examples of most emi- 
 nent statesmen. But Governor Endecott betrayed no en\^ 
 or disappointment. And I have not found any evidence of 
 censure or disrespect at any time between these most promi- 
 nent founders of Massachusetts. Mr. Endecott cordially 
 welcomed Governor Winthrop on his arrival at Naumkeag, 
 on June 12, 1630.* Governor Winthrop writes in his Jour- 
 nal, "Mr. Endecott came to us with Mr. Skelton (the pastor), 
 and Oapt. Lovett. We that were of the assistants, and some 
 other gentlemen, and some of the women and our Captain 
 returned with them to Naumkeag, where we supped with a 
 good venison pasty and good beer." Another demonstra- 
 tion of good will is indicated in the entry of August 18, 
 
 1630: "Capt. Endecott and Gibson were married 
 
 by the Governor and Mr. Wilson." Tliat this friendly inter- 
 course, so promptly begun, was continued during the life of 
 Governor Winthrop, is proved by many letters from Ende- 
 cott to Winthrop. They are expressed in the dignified con- 
 fidence of friendship, with assurances of warm aftection, and 
 with kind messages to Mrs. Winthrop. Though I can find no 
 replies to these letters, it cannot be donbted that they 
 existed. It would have been impossible that such expres- 
 sions of personal regard should have been so repeated by 
 such a man as Endecott, unless they were recipi'ocated. 
 That the remaining letters of so good a scholar and so ready 
 a writer as Governor Winthrop are so few, and the letters 
 
 * Winthrop's New England, I., p. 30. 
 
28 
 
 addressed to him are very numerous, must be imputed to 
 the methodical habits of the Governor, and tlie carelessness 
 of his correspondents. To show the character of Mr. Ende- 
 cott's letters to his friend, I will offer two brief extracts. He 
 writes under date of 2d of 12th month, 1639, on occasion of 
 Governor Winthrop's loss, by misconduct of his bailiff in 
 England, "If I should say I do not heartily and truly love 
 you and yours, I should speak against my conscience ; yet I 
 cannot satisfy myself with sole verbal expressions. Some- 
 times I am thinking He [the Lord,] is upon the trial of your- 
 self in the exercise of your faith, and patience, and other 
 graces ; that as you have been beneficial and helpful all your 
 time, since you came over, in the course he hath set you, now 
 he will make you beneficial anotlier way to us all, in an 
 exemplary, cheerful undergoing of God's afflicting hand in 
 wisdom and patience." And his letter, dated March 5th, 
 1649, three weeks before Governor Winthrop's death, has 
 this passage : "Good sir, let us labor to love [one] another, 
 and harbor the best thoughts of one another. We have not 
 long to live here in this life, yet we shall remain as long 
 as our appointed times are set," and let us "labor for cheer- 
 fulness of spirit. You know who hath commanded it."* 
 
 The character of Capt. Endecott is beautifully transparent, 
 in a letter addressed by him to Governor Winthrop, April 
 12, 1631, near the end of Winthrop's first year ; after stat- 
 ing the cause of his non-attendance at a court as one of 
 the assistants, and other things, he says : "Sir, I desired the 
 rather to have been at Court, because I hear I am much 
 complained on by goodman Dexter for striking him. I 
 acknowledg3 I was too rash in striking him, understanding 
 
 * Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4tli se., VI., 13G and 150. 
 
29 
 
 sinoe that it is not lawful for a Justice of the Peace to strike. 
 But if you had seen the manner of his carriage, with such 
 daring of me, with his arms on kimbo, &c. It would have 
 prov^oked a very patient man. But I will write no more of 
 it, but leave it till we speak before you face to face. Only 
 thus far further, that he hath given out, if I had a pxtrse lie 
 would make me empty it ; and if he cannot have justice here 
 he will do wonders in England ; and if he cannot prevail 
 there he will try it out with me here at blows. Sir, I desire 
 that you will take all into consideration. If it were lawful to 
 try it at blows, and he a fit man for me to deal with, you 
 should not hear me complain. But I hope the Lord hath 
 brought me off from that course ;" and the letter, after pro- 
 posing "dismissing the Court," on account of planting sea- 
 son, concludes in these words : " I will be with you, the 
 Lord assisting me, as soon as conveniently I can. In the 
 meanwhile, I commit you to his protection and safeguard, 
 that never fails his children, and rest, your unfeigned, loving 
 friend to command."* On the trial, the jury found Capt. En- 
 dec^ott guilty, and assessed the damages at forty shillings 
 (xls.). 
 
 Governor Winthrop, prompted by his sense of honor, does 
 not record, in his admirable journal, this misfortune of his 
 friend, nor any scandal of the time, Mr. Savage mentions the 
 case briefly in a note', and says "the verdict was £10 damages." 
 This mistake must have been occasioned by a careless in- 
 spection of the original (./olonial record, which, on examina- 
 tion, is found to justify the 40 s. of the printed volume. 
 The correction of this error is important, because so large 
 an amount as ten pounds would indicate a gross outrage. 
 
 * Hutchinson's Collection of Papers, 50. 
 
30 
 
 Tliis Conrt was held May 3, 1631. On the preceding 30th of 
 November, Sir Richard Saltonstall, whose name is always 
 mentioned as the first in a list of assistants, was fined £5 "for 
 wdiipping two several persons without the presence of 
 another assistant." It was a frequent practice that members 
 of the government should honor the laws by submitting to 
 the penalties. Such proceedings would tend to promote a 
 respect for law and order among our fathers which their chil- 
 dren sometimes boast that they have inherited. Each of 
 these two defendants sat as assistant in the court at the 
 session when he was punished. On other occasions he was 
 subjected to slight public censure, when he expressed too 
 strongly by words and acts, the opinions that other leading 
 men held in secret. With such a mind and temper, through 
 his long life he retained a large share of the confidence and 
 respect of his peculiar people ; and his cordial friendship 
 witli that native nobleman. Governor Winthrop, was inter- 
 rupted only by death. On November 19, 1632, a little 
 more than two years after the active administration of Gov- 
 ernor Winthrop began, Capt. Thomas Wiggin wrote to Sir 
 John Coke, Under-Secretary, that "the English in New 
 England, numbering about two thousand, and generally 
 most industrious, have done more in three years than others 
 in seven times that space, at one tenth of the expense." * 
 Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia, says after the death of 
 Thomas Dudley, (1653), "the notice and respect of the 
 Colony fell chiefly on John Endecott, who, after many ser- 
 vices done for the colony, even before it was a Colony, as 
 well as when he saw it grow into a populous nation under 
 his prudent and equal government, expired in a good old 
 
 *Sainsbury's Calendar, 156. 
 
31 
 
 age." And Hubbard seems to claim that his influence 
 lived after him, by saying that after the death of Mr. Ende- 
 cott (March 23, 1665,) "Mr. Belliugham was elected till his 
 deatli by the general consent of the freemen, who, appre- 
 hending the danger of some change, resolutely fixed their 
 choice upon such persons, as they judged most likely to 
 maintain the government in that same state, wherein it hath 
 been heretofore, without the least alteration or change." 
 
 Governor Endecott accepted with confidence, and main- 
 tained the doctrines and practices of the Puritans. Gov- 
 ernor Hutchinson speaks of him as "among the most zealous 
 undertakers and most rigid in principles." But a modern 
 notion, that he was more bigoted and severe than the other 
 leading men of his time, is not^supported by history. He is 
 not fairly treated, when he is selected for the contempt of 
 posterity, because he acted with Deputy Governor Dudley, 
 Sir Richard Saltonstall, and the other magistrates, in signing 
 a paper which sets forth that "Forasmuch as the wearing of 
 long hair, after the manner of ruflians and barbarous In- 
 dians, has begun to invade New England, contrary to the 
 rule of God's word, which says it is a shame for a man to 
 wear long hair, as also the commendable custom generally 
 of all the Godly of our nation until within these few years, 
 we, the magistrates who have subscribed this paper, (for the 
 showing of our own mnocency m this behalf), do declare and 
 manifest our dislike and detestation against the wearing of 
 such long hair, as a thing uncivil and unmanly, whereby 
 men do deform themselves and oifend sober and modest 
 men." " We do, therefore, earnestly entreat all the elders of 
 this jurisdiction" to manifest their zeal against it, "and to 
 
 take care that the members of their respective churches be 
 
 5 
 
32 
 
 not defiled therewith," &c.* Governor Hutchinson, who 
 preserves this document in his history, calls this move- 
 ment "an association against long hair." As this paper, 
 which is dated 3d month, 10th day, 1649, is said to be 
 taken from "Harvard College records," it gives occasion 
 for the conjecture that it was prepared to have a good 
 influence on the college. The graceful locks, that relieve 
 the hard outline of the philosophical cap of the Governor, 
 show that he had no personal dislike of the ornament 
 of hair. He is also reproached for aiding Roger Williams 
 in requiring women to wear veils at church.f This was 
 resisted successfully by the women, with the aid of Rev. 
 Mr. Cotton. Governor Endecott showed a better spirit 
 in his desire to save Mary Dyer, the Quaker or Antinomian, 
 from a capital sentence, when he did violence to his own 
 conscience by suggesting to her the denial of her identity 
 and putting her accusers to the proof.:}: But she was too 
 brave to adopt this defence, or to accept her life on condi- 
 tion that she would leave the colony. 
 
 It is necessary to speak as briefly as I can of the agency 
 of Governor Endecott in the persecution for religious opin- 
 ions. This persecution has been described as a black cloud 
 on the character of the colonists, resting with its most bale- 
 ful shade on Endecott, who oflicially represented the opin- 
 ions, which he shared with the majority, including many of 
 the wisest and best of the people, and which it was his duty 
 to enforce by legal sanction. While no man can defend 
 those cruel acts, no just man will overlook the extenuating 
 
 * Hutchinson's Massachusetts. 1, 142. President Quincy and Mr. Benjamin 
 Peirce in their histories of the college, take no notice of this paper. 
 t Moore's Governors. 352. 
 I Sewell's History of Quakers, 1, 394- 
 
33 
 
 (circumstances under which those acts were done. The 
 provocntions were great. The colonists had come to the 
 wiklerness as a place of refuge, where they might enjoy 
 their religious opinions and practices, without the disgrace 
 and violence which they snifered in England. Before they 
 were strong in union and a common interest. Anabaptists, 
 Antinomians and Quakers came among them, in spite of 
 prohibitions, with no apparent purpose but to stir up oppo- 
 sition and strife. The Quakers, who were the most nu- 
 merous, were not such cheerful, peacealde, thrifty and inde- 
 pendent christian philosophers, as those who are now called 
 by the same name. They and the other foes to the peace of 
 the Puritans, were bold, aggressive disturbers of private 
 society and public assemblies, and hostile to the influence of 
 christian teachers and the authority of civil rulers. Among 
 them were fierce railers, having no respect for decency, who 
 created an odium against others of more gentle mood, asso- 
 ciated with them in some of their opinions. Thus the amia- 
 ble and misguided, under the influence of a mania for mar- 
 tyrdom, in the confusion of the times, were made conspicu- 
 ous victims. In these things the Puritans were not sinners 
 above their contemporaries. The two folios of Besse's" Col- 
 lection of the sufferings of the people called Quakers," give 
 accounts of this inhumanity in Yirginia and in the American 
 islands, in England, Germany, and other parts of Europe, 
 and in Asia. It was a time when private and public disci- 
 pline was rude and painful. Punishments, for ecclesiastical 
 and political offences by barl>arous wounds on the person 
 were frequent and were not followed by dishonor. William 
 Prynne, the learned lawyer and antiquary, and indomitable 
 Puritan, was sentenced, for writing against the church and 
 
34 
 
 clinrclimen, to pay a large line, to be degraded from liis pro- 
 fession, and to stand in tlie pillorj in two difierent places, 
 and to have one ear cut off in each place, and his nose slit 
 and his forehead branded, and to be perpetually imprisoned.* 
 This sentence was rigorously executed in ISM.f He re- 
 peated the offence and was again punished in 1637 by the 
 pillory, by marks on his cheeks, and by the loss of the re- 
 mainder of his ears. In 164rl he was a member of Parlia- 
 ment and took the lead in the impeachment of Archbishop 
 Laud. 
 
 The "civnl sword" was considered a proper weapon of 
 truth and righteousness for common use. Besse remarks 
 that "the edge of these old [English] laws was now turned 
 upon the Quakers, while the Papists, against whom they 
 were originally made, were little molested.''^ The same 
 author gives the names of twenty-five men and women in 
 England, who, as Quakers, between 1650 and 1660, died in 
 prison and in consequence of abuses. In the list for New 
 England, in the same period, I do not find that any Quakers 
 lost their lives for their opinions, but the four who were 
 tried and executed according to the law. It is a sad and 
 surprising evidence of the weakness of humanity, that the 
 Puritans, honest and earnest men, could have the Bible 
 constantly and reverently in their memories and on their 
 lips, without obeying its lessons of kindness and forbear- 
 ance. And the example and precept of the neighboring 
 
 * Biographic Qenerale. 
 
 t Pictorial Hist, of Enjfland, 3, loo. IGO. Immediately after, he wrote a ".-ting- 
 itig letter" to Laud, and was again brought to the Star Chamber, where, alter 
 conviction, according to Laud's account, he mercifully forgave him. 
 
 ^Basse's History. 
 
85 
 
 Colony of Kliode Island were also disregarded. The gov- 
 ernment of that Colony replied to the request of tlie Com- 
 missioners of the United Colonies, that Khode Island should 
 concur in the exclusion of the Quakers, by a letter distin- 
 guished for its fraternal spirit, its sagacity, and its indepen- 
 dence. After cordial expressions of respect an<l good will, 
 the letter goes on thus: "And as concerning these Quakers 
 (so-called), which are now among us, we have no law among 
 us whereby to punish any for declaring by words tlieir 
 minds and understanding concerning tlie things and ways of 
 God, as to salvation and an eternal condition ; and we moi'e- 
 over find, that in those places where these people in this 
 Colony are most of all suffered to declare themselves freely, 
 and are only opposed by arguments in discourse, there they 
 least of all desire to come. And we are told tliey begin to 
 loath this, for that tliey are not opposed by the civil author- 
 ity," <fec. "Yet we conceive that their doctrines tend to very 
 absolute cutting down and overturning civil government 
 among men, if generally received.''* Hubbard, a contempo- 
 rary, in his notice of the continuance of this error in Massa- 
 chusetts, in the imprisonment and disfranchisement of Bap- 
 tists, says, "by this severity it was expected that they should 
 have been restrained, but it proved otherwise. The bent of 
 all men's nature makes it true, '• nithnur in vetitum^ (Ovid), 
 and like waters that are pent up, they swell more and more."t 
 With a readiness to admit all that is proved against our 
 respected ancestors, it is proper to repel any exaggerations 
 in an indictment by posterity. The painful details that have 
 come down to form the more common opinion of our day, are 
 derived chieflv from two books : one is the " History of the 
 
 * Moore's Governors, 161. t Hubbard's New England, 591. 
 
36 
 
 rise &c. of the Christian people called Quakers," written by 
 William Sewell, a native of Holland, in the language of that 
 country, and translated by him and published at London, in 
 1722 ; the other book is Joseph Besse's " Collection of the 
 Sufferings of the people called Quakers," published at Lon- 
 don, in 1753. As it is known that many of the banished 
 disturbers of the Colonists went to Holland and England, 
 when the sense of their wrongs was fresh, there is no cause 
 for wonder, that these books charge Governor Endecott with 
 cruel language and conduct, that are not mentioned and are 
 made improbable by New England records, and are in oppo- 
 sition to contemporary testimonials of his character. Gover- 
 nor Winthrop* alludes to Mr. Endecott's tenderness of 
 conscience, and General James Cudworth spoke of him 
 as "a holy and honest man," in 1634 ;f though afterwards 
 Cudworth was strongly opposed to the persecution; and it 
 would be easy to cite many such commendations. In answer 
 to the allegation of Besse, that "John Endecott was a prin- 
 cipal promoter of the persecution," instances of his forbear- 
 ance and desire to avoid punishment, might be adduced. 
 His defence of the treatment of the Quakers, in his letter to 
 the Iving, shows the cautious and conscientious spirit in 
 which the supposed path of duty was followed. J Governor 
 Hutchinson mentions that the Quakers gave " rude and con- 
 temptuous answers" at an examination that was had to allow 
 them to explain themselves. And afterward one of them, 
 Mary Prince, "railed at and reviled" the Governor from 
 a window, and wrote a letter to the Governor and magis- 
 trates, " filled with o})probrious stuff." Yet "the Governor 
 
 * Winthrop's New England, 1, !.")«. tSainsbury's Calendar of Col. State 
 
 Papers, p. 194. J Hutchinson's Papers, 325. 
 
37 
 
 sent for her twice from the prison to his house and took 
 much pains to persuade her to desist from such extrava- 
 gancies. Two of the ministers were present and with much 
 moderation and tenderness endeavored to convince her of 
 her errors ; to which she returned the grossest raihngs."* 
 
 When history talves her phice among the Muses and 
 wields the witchery of imagination and passion, she gains a 
 power over the opinions and memory of men, that she can- 
 not have with the dry annals of truth. It is a glorious privi- 
 lege, "when it moves in charity and turns on the poles of 
 truth." But the license of a poet gives liim no right 
 
 "To point a moral or adorn a tale," 
 by the traditions of party strife, whicli are not supported 
 by better authorities. Governor Endecott has now, in the 
 minds of some people of the best education, not the char- 
 acter that Governor Winthrop and Morton and Hubbard 
 and other contemporaries have awarded to him, but the cold 
 and cruel image, in which our two most admired poets 
 have represented him. In the New England Tragedy, enti- 
 tled " John Endecott," Mr. Longfellow has made so promi- 
 nent the gloomy characteristics imputed to the Governor 
 in Sewell's History, that few will remember that the poet 
 
 also says : 
 
 " He is a man, both loving and severe; 
 A tender heart : a will inflexible. 
 None ever loved him more than I have loved him. 
 He is an upright man and a just man 
 In all things, save the treatment of the Quakers." 
 
 And these friendly words are turned to gall by this 
 
 response, put into the mouth of the Governor's son : 
 
 " Yet I have found him cruel and unjust, 
 Even as a Father." 
 
 * Hutchinson's Massachusetts, I. 181. 
 
38 
 
 After search and inquiry I can discover no e\'idence that 
 tlie disposition of Governor Endecott towards his children 
 was different from the affection which he manifested for his 
 friends. 
 
 The wrongs of the Quakers is a theme acceptable to Mr. 
 Whittier, not only on account of his brotherhood in the 
 sect, but more so, because he has a brother's love for all, 
 who suffer and are strong. In his sweet and pathetic poem 
 entitled, " Cassandra Southwick," his sympathy for the 
 oppressed seems to have led him to forget, that justice is 
 due even to the agents of oppression. His account of an 
 attempt to sell Cassandra Southwick, to be carried out of 
 the country, into Slavery, as was tlien practised, is thus 
 introduced : 
 
 " And on his horse, with Eawson, his cruel clerk, at hand, 
 Rode darlv and haughty Endecott, the ruler of the land," 
 
 " And poisoning with his evil words, the ruler's ready ear. 
 The Priest leaned o'er his saddle with laugh and scoff and jeer." 
 
 We have seen that there were many occasions when the 
 interest of the Colony and a sense of duty would compel 
 Governor Endecott to be grave and stern. But he would 
 not have retained, as he did through his long life, the 
 respect and confidence of his people, if he had been a dark 
 demon, with clergymen for counsellors, who were mocking 
 fiends. The Priest alluded to by the poet, must have been 
 either John Norton or John Wilson. There is a general 
 assent to the testimony of Hubbard that Norton was "a 
 man of great worth and learning, one that had the tongue 
 of the learned, to speak a word in season to the weary soul."* 
 And Nathaniel Morton, a contemporary, says: "John Wilson 
 
 * Hubbard's New England, p. 640. 
 
39 
 
 was charitable when there were any signs or hopes of good, 
 and yet witlial, ver}'' zealons against known and manifest 
 evils. Very few, that ever went out of this world, were so 
 generally beloved and reverenced, as this good man."* 
 
 It will appear that the poetry of passion may be a more im- 
 partial witness than the poetry of imagination. Besse gives 
 a long and eloquent letter to Governor Endecott, dated in 
 1660, from John Smith, of Salem, justly denouncing the cruel 
 treatment of his wife. After an exciting detail of wanton 
 barbarities and false and scandalous accusations against his 
 beloved wife, Mr. Smith adds: "Oh my spirit is grieved 
 for thee, because the love I did ever see in thee is departed 
 from thee, and there remaineth in thee a spirit of cruelty, of 
 hard-heartedness to tliy poor neighbors, whicii thou hast 
 formerly been raucli beholden to and helped by, when thou 
 hadst no bread to eat. But now, since thou camest to Bos- 
 ton and left Salem, thou art become much more proud. O, 
 consider of those times and forget them not ; and of the 
 love thou didst find among poor people in thy necessity, and 
 how evil thou hast dealt and requited some of them now ; 
 and how thou didst walk and act contrary to what thou 
 didst formerly profess ; yea, I have heard thee say that ' all 
 the armies o?i earth cannot subdue one lust in man or 
 looinan.'' And now thou pronounceth sentence of death 
 upon some, because they cannot submit to your wills and 
 worship as you do." Then follows a passage of neigliborly 
 gossip about not returning "what was borrowed," failing to 
 pay poor men for their work, disorders in the Governor's 
 family, "sitting up late at niglit," the "servants very vain 
 
 *Morton'.s Memorial, 327. 
 
40 
 
 and some of them wicked," tfec, and his "children being dis- 
 obedient to their parents and living loosely in the time of 
 their youth." And the letter concludes, "thy next neighbor 
 in time past, and then serviceable to thee in many things, 
 and it is like somewhat beloved by tliee, but now it is other- 
 wise, as appears by thy hard dealing to my beloved wife. 
 This I am constrained to write to thee in love and tender- 
 ness."* This earnest and indignant letter must be consid- 
 ered high authority on the question of the temper and dispo- 
 sition of Governor Endecott, because Mr. Smithf had oppor- 
 tunity to know him well and in all this array of accusations 
 and imputations so industriously brought together, there is 
 no charge or intimation of a want of love or kindness, 
 towards his children even when they were disobedient, or 
 towards his servants, even when they were disorderly, or 
 towards any other person, except in the exercise of official 
 power. 
 
 There are several indications that Governor Endecott was 
 not one of the rich men of his time. A subscription paper 
 in aid of building the first town hall in Boston, dated 1656, 
 has his name at the head, with a gift t)f £2 10s. Subscrip- 
 tions for £10 were made by Deputy Governor Bellingham 
 and a few other persons, and other sums were smaller.:]: The 
 influence of Governor Endecott was not founded on the use 
 of wealth. He was led by his sense of duty and his devo- 
 tion to the Colony, and by his taste, to give liis attention 
 
 * Bessc's History, Vol. II. 208. 
 
 tJolin Smith was one wlio vvouUl speak out Ills whole mind, if. as is proba- 
 ble, he is the man who in KiGO, at the ordination of John Higginson. disturbed 
 the proceeilings and cried out, " what you are about to set up, our God is pull- 
 ing down." F'or this he was committed to prison by order of the ( ourt. 
 — Hutchinson's Massachusetts. I. 1>S7. 
 
 X Proceedings for corner stone of Boston City Hall in 1882. 
 
chiefly to puhlic affairs. The company in England, accord- 
 ing to the record of March 2d, 1629, "propounded" to em- 
 ploy John Malbon, a man "having skill in iron works," to go 
 to New England at their expense, and to return and report 
 wliat could be done there in that business.* He performed 
 the service. As this occurred when the company relied on 
 information and advice from Capt. Endecott, lie should have 
 some credit for this attempt to develop the resources of the 
 country. He also showed that he valued and desired to in- 
 crease the strength and independence of the colony, in his 
 letter of December 1, 1643, to Governor Winthrop, in whic-h 
 he says, "I want much to hear of your son's iron and steel. 
 If the country will not be encouraged by so useful a design, 
 to enlarge themselves for the advantage of it, I know not 
 what will."! And whenever the chartered or assumed rights 
 of the Colony were threatened by the Crown, or the church, 
 he was roused in defence, with the watchful jealousy of a 
 mother. 
 
 Two acts of Governor Endecott, which have often been 
 mentioned to the prejudice of his character for generosity 
 and common sense, should receive such a true representa- 
 tion, as the imperfect records enable one briefly to give. 
 1, Governor Endecott arrived at Nanmkeag, afterwards 
 called Salem, on September 6th, 1628. In the same year 
 he visited Mount Wallaston or Merry Mount, the site of the 
 town of Quincy, and "rebuked the inhabitants for their pro- 
 faneness, and admonished them to look to it that they 
 walked better."^ "In the purifying spirit of autliority," he 
 cut down the May pole, on which Thomas Morton, the 
 
 * Archreologia Americana, III. 14. 
 
 t Hutcliinsou Papers. 135. 
 
 + Wiuthrop's New England, I. 31. 
 
42 
 
 leader of these disturbers, had been ac<nistoraed to publish 
 his witty and injurious slanders of the Puritans, wliile his 
 followers danced and played about it in the carousals for 
 which the sale of arras and ammunition to the Indians 
 furnished the supplies. Before Endecott came, Merry 
 •Mount had become so intolerable for this dangerous arming 
 and stirring up the Indians, for obstruction of their con- 
 version to Christianity, and for opposition and provoca- 
 tion of the Puritans, that eight plantations obtained and paid 
 for the aid of gallant Capt. Standish, who expelled Thomas 
 Morton and diminished tlie mischief. It cannot be dmibted 
 that the new agent would be urged to linish the work. The 
 May pole was cut down because it was a token of opposition 
 and an instrument of mischief, and not because it was used 
 for pleasure, and its removal was an impressive moral lesson. 
 As the histories do not mention the continuance of trouble 
 at Merry Mount, the visit of Capt. Endecott has a claim 
 to be considered wise and successful. 
 
 2, The agency of Capt. Endecott in cutting out the cross 
 from the English flag has been imputed to his own bigotry. 
 In September, 1634, general alarm was excited by news 
 from England that the persecution of the Puritans b}^ Arch- 
 bishop Laud was increasing in severity. It is a modern dis- 
 covery that Laud was liberal and tolerant. It was also 
 stated that a commission had been granted to the two Arch- 
 bishops and others of tlie King's Council, with authority to 
 establish the Episcopal church, to recall the charter, to re- 
 move the Governors, and make the laws of New England. 
 Cradock, Governor of tlie company, had already sent the in- 
 formation that the Kinji- had demanded the charter.* Under 
 
 * New England Geneal. Register. I. 216. Hubb;ird's New England, 164. 
 New England Memorial, 137. Hutchinson's Massachusetts, 
 
43 
 
 the delirium of a panic, the Colonial Coni't discussed the 
 propriety of disusing the flag, on account of the cross, which 
 was regarded as a relic of popish idolatry, and opinions were 
 divided. Capt. Endecott, who was more quick to feel and 
 to act than his associates, cut the cross from the flag. The 
 sword, which is said to have been the instrument of this bold 
 act of rebellion, is preserved as one of the most precious of 
 the heirlooms of his family. At the next meeting of the 
 Court he was summoned to answer for the offence, but "l)e- 
 cause the Court could not agree about the thing, whether 
 the ensigns should be laid by, in regard that many refused 
 to follow them, the whole cause was deferred." And the 
 commissioners for military aft'airs, of whom Endecott was a 
 leading member, gave order, in the meantime, that "all the 
 ensigns should be laid aside." In 1635 a committee re- 
 ported to the Court that tlie ofience of Mr. Endecott was 
 "great, rash and without discretion — giving occasion to 
 the State of England to think ill of us," cfec, &c., witliout 
 the slightest intimation of its treasonable character, and 
 "they adjudged him worthy of admonition, and to be disa- 
 bled for one year from bearing any public oflice." Mr. 
 Wintlirop, not then Governor, and a majority of tlie 
 Magistrates, did not diflfer from the opinions of Capt. Ende- 
 cott, though they united to censure him for the bold and. 
 dangerous act, that led them to a more public expression 
 of their own opinions.* In 1636 Governor Winthrop speaks 
 of Governor Vane's permission to spread the King's colors 
 at the fort, and adds, "this was done witli this protestation, 
 that we hold the cross in the ensign idolatrous." May we 
 not conjecture that it was the flag, the symbol of foreign 
 
 * Wiuthrop's New England, T. 159. 
 
44 
 
 power, more than the cross, that provoked the attack of Mr. 
 Endecott, while his portraits are perpetual witnesses that 
 with tlie carefubiess of a crusader, he always wore the sacred 
 emblem conspicuously marked in the form of his beard. 
 
 Though this slight sketch does no justice to the merits and 
 claims of its subject, I venture to offer it as a wreath of me- 
 morial leaves, hastily ga'thered by an unpractised hand, to 
 be laid, in reverence and gratitude, before this worthy image 
 of one of the founders of our nation. 
 
 In your enjoyment of the gift, you will desire to remem- 
 ber the giver, who in one act gratifies liis feelings of tilial 
 regard and fulfills most acceptably his duty, as a member of 
 this Society. I therefore offer for your adoption the follow- 
 ina: resolutions : 
 
 Resolved^ that the warmest thanks of this Society are pre- 
 sented to our associate, Hon. William C. Endicott, one of 
 the Judges of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, for liis 
 most desirable gift of an accurate copy of a beautiful portrait 
 possessed by his family, of his great and good ancestor, 
 John Endecott, the first Governor in Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 Resolved, that a copy of the above resolution shall be 
 presented to Judge Endicott by the Recording Secretary, 
 
RECEPTION OF GOT. JOHN WINTHROP 
 
 AT SALEM, JUNE 12, 1630. 
 A Sequel of the Memorial of Gov. John Endecott. 
 By Stephen Salisbury. 
 
 The 250th anniversary of the landing of John Endecott was 
 commemorated at Salem on the 18th of September, 1878, 
 with all the honors. The genius and eloquence abounding in 
 the head of the Commonwealth have been employed in erect- 
 ing a long-delayed trophy for a father of the colony, who did 
 as much as any other man to give direction and character to 
 the civil institutions originated there. If it be true, as it 
 has been said, that puritanism pervades the laws of the 
 States of our Union, it is the demonstrative puritanism of 
 John Endecott and men like him. The elegant and sympa- 
 thetic oration of his worthy descendant, Judge William 0. 
 Endicott, and the brilliant tributes in verse and prose that 
 followed it, were heard with admiration, and will be 
 preserved as literary treasures. To attempt to rival or 
 imitate them would not be endured. But while attention is 
 directed to this passage of history, it may be permitted to 
 bring into the camera a social scene, that was not presented 
 in the large range and the limited time of the proceedings at 
 
 Salem. I will notice briefly what occurred at the landing of 
 
 7 
 
48 
 
 Governor John Wintbrop at Salem, on June 12, 1630. 
 This was not a less trial of the mind and temper of 
 Endecott than his own arrival two years before. 
 
 Excellent portraits enable us to see these worthies as they 
 stood. Governor Winthrop's face expresses official dignity, 
 high purposes, and above all the overruling prudence that is 
 apparent in every act of his life, and in every line of his 
 journal and of his numerous letters. In Jolm Endecott we 
 see united with attractive beauty the traits of an active dis- 
 position, warm sympathy, and the entire absence of self- 
 consciousness. In later days there has been some discussion 
 whether Endecott or Wintbrop was the first governor of 
 the colony. This question would never have occurred to 
 Endecott. The painting agrees well with the pen-portrait by 
 Edward Johnson in his " Wonder-working Providence," of 
 which we are never weary : " He was of courage bold and 
 undaunted, yet sociable and of a cheerful spirit, loving, or 
 austere, as occasion served." His historical reputation 
 received the severest wound from the hand of one of our 
 gentlest and truest poets. The common opinion of our 
 time is derived from these stately lines, not easily 
 forgotten : — 
 
 " On his borse, with Eawson, his cruel clerk, at hand, 
 Eode dark and haughty Endecott, the ruler of the land. 
 And, poisoning with his evil words the ruler's ready ear, 
 The priest leaned o'er his saddle, with laugh and scoflf and jeer." 
 
 Then the priest must have been either John Norton or 
 John Wilson, both generally beloved and revered, and En- 
 decott has no such character in the testimony of his 
 cotemporaries nor even in the angry letter of John 
 Smith denouncing the cruelties against his wife, in 
 which Endecott was the official agent of the popular will. 
 
49 
 
 The accusations of pride and cruelty are the readiest mis- 
 siles for an attack on official authority. The character of 
 the victims is no justification for cruel persecution, but it is 
 certainly a palliation of the crime. The best that the poet 
 now says of the victims is, that the extravagance of some of 
 the early Quakers has been grossly exaggerated. Their con- 
 duct will compare in this respect favorably with that of 
 = " the first Anabaptists and Independents." We cannot 
 forget that the Anabaptists of Munster are the horror of 
 history and the shame of humanity. 
 
 Endecott was a Puritan, and as a Puritan he must be 
 judged, yet he has been made a scapegoat for his associates 
 without the privilege of escape. To this day he is some- 
 times condemned to bear alone the guilt and shame of cut- 
 ting the cross out of the English flag, as if it were a crime 
 without accomplices ; yet Governor Winthrop does not 
 record the individual censure of the act by himself or any 
 of his assistants. He only says that a committee found that 
 the offence was " great, rash, laying a blemish upon the rest 
 of the magistrates, uncharitable, and taking more authority 
 than he had, and, what was most important, giving occasion 
 to the state of England to think ill of us," and therefore 
 they adjudged him worthy of punishment, slight, " because 
 they were persuaded he did it out of tenderness of 
 conscience." 
 
 I do not remember that Governor Winthrop expresses 
 disapprobation of the conduct or opinions of Endecott in 
 any instance. He mentions Endecott's courage in changing 
 his opinion when the truth was shown to him. 
 
 John Endecott was sent to Salem with large promises of 
 support in governing the colony, but he and his colonists 
 
50 
 
 soon heard of the movement in England to establish a 
 stronger government. Thus he was shorn of official influ- 
 ence, like a President wlio could have no second term. In 
 liis first year he was afflicted by tlie death of his wife, a 
 suitable and beloved companion. He had a continual 
 trouble from the jealousy and conflicts of the old and new 
 settlers. He attacked and put down the mischiefs of the 
 witty, profane and disorderly Morton and his followers.* 
 And to preserve the colony he was compelled to exercise 
 the highest power of sovereignty by banishing John and 
 Samuel Brown, men prominent for character and ability. 
 With these distractions and impediments, he had labored to 
 introduce civil polity among the unconnected planters for 
 two years, when news came that a government of greater 
 dignity and strength had arrived, bringing not a delegation 
 of authority, but the very source of power. The transfer of 
 the charter was a stride toward independence, from which 
 the colony never drew back. The visitors had the advantage 
 of education, social position and wealth, that outshone the 
 neighbors of Endecott. Yet he was not disposed to say, 
 with Othello, that his occupation was gone, nor did he feel 
 that he was superseded. He rejoiced that greater ability was 
 at hand for the work in which he had labored and suffered 
 so much, and he hastened to give the new comers a cordial 
 reception. He must personally have known many of them, 
 and with their distinguished chief he had relations of mutual 
 confidence and respect. This is indicated by the fact men- 
 tioned by the Hon. Robert C. AVinthrop, that John Win- 
 throp, jr., was " contemplating the idea of embarking with 
 Endecott." Happily we are able to enlarge a graphic 
 report of his reception, which is characterized by " tlie 
 
51 
 
 marked tnoderation of character" that distinguished the 
 reporter. 
 
 Endecott did not wait to collect a numerous train to make 
 an impression on the visitors. On the morning of June 12 
 Mr. Pierce, the master of a ship in Salem harbor, went on 
 board the Arbella to announce a visit. He returned and 
 brought there Mr. Endecott, and with him Mr. Skelton, the 
 pastor of Salem, and Captain Lovet. Truly a modest 
 retinue. The absence of the venerable Francis Higginson 
 may be imputed to the sickness that soon after terminated 
 his life. But where was Roger Conant, one of the best and 
 strongest of the colonists ? Where were Peter Palfrey 
 and others who appear so often in the history of that time ? 
 John Endecott was not the man to repeat the sad lament of 
 Saint Paul, " No man stood with me, but all men forsook 
 me." He had no such feeling. In his address of welcome 
 he could not omit to congratulate Governor Winthrop and 
 his companions on their happy arrival, to give desirable 
 information, to ask agreeable questions, and to express his 
 joy that they were better able to accomplish what he had 
 attempted. And he would not fail to say, as he afterwards 
 wrote to Governor Winthrop: "I am at your disposal both 
 as to time and place, and shall attend upon you for direction 
 in business, in my duty as one of the assistants." Governor 
 Winthrop responded with dignilied courtesy that was more 
 than satisfactory to Endecott. For reasons of state 
 Governor Winthrop was careful to recognize no legal author- 
 ity in Endecott, and he addressed him as " Mr. Endecott." 
 But on the fourth following page of his journal, in 
 recording a pleasant incident, he gives him the title of cap- 
 tain. Governor Winthrop and the assistants and some of 
 
52 
 
 the other gentlemen, some of the women and the captain, 
 went with Endecott and his companions to Nahumkeck, 
 where they '' supped with a good venison pasty and good 
 beer." At night the visitors returned to their ship, but 
 some of tlie women staid behind. Governor Winthrop 
 enjoyed this feast and expressed his pleasure, and un- 
 doubtedly was very agreeable to his host. The occasion 
 was full of pleasure to Endecott, for he had the company of 
 Elizabeth Gibson, the excellent woman who became his wife 
 sixty-seven days after. She was the happy mother of his 
 twelve children, and the comfort and support of his life. 
 It is a significant fact that Endecott complimented his new 
 associates by selecting Governor Winthrop and the Rev. Mr. 
 Wilson to officiate at his wedding. 
 
 This reception may be regarded as a trifling incident in 
 comparison with the important transactions that were 
 described at the commemoration. But it is worthy of atten- 
 tion, since it shows how these Puritan leaders met in relin- 
 quishing and assuming official power. They disdained to be 
 rivals, and from first to last with difi'erent tempers, they 
 maintained mutual confidence and friendship, while they laid 
 the enduring foundations of our republic. 
 
/'. H uiitin^toii, I'hi-X. 
 
 Helioiy/>e Printing Co., Boston. 
 
 Hon. Stephen Salisbury, LL D, 
 
 presidp:nt of the American antiquarian society 
 
 SINCE OCTOBER, 1854. 
 
 From a portrait presented to the Society by members in response to a vote passed October 21, 1877. 
 
PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT. 
 
 EEPOET OF SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D., 
 
 In behalf of the Committee appointed to procure a 
 Portrait of the President of the Society. 
 
 It is my pleasant duty, saddened only by the thought that 
 it devolves on me through the lamented death of Judge 
 Thomas, to present to the American Antiquarian Society, 
 in behalf of the subscribers, the beautiful picture now 
 before you. For many years the members of the Society, 
 bearing in mind the indefatigable labors of its President, 
 and with a high appreciation of their value, have desired to 
 possess his painted portrait, which might be hung on these 
 walls with that of the founder. This desire took shape at 
 the last annual meeting, when it was formally expressed by 
 vote, and the result is now before you in this speaking like- 
 ness, from the brush of Daniel Huntington, of New York. 
 
REMAEKS OF REV. DR. GEORGE E. ELLIS. 
 
 Mr. President. — I recall that in the last conversation 
 which I had with our late honored Vice-President, he ex- 
 pressed his hearty interest in the measures of the Society to 
 secure this portrait. Had he been with us to-day, the grate- 
 ful office which I am performing would have been discharged 
 by him. It is a satisfaction to us that the design of your 
 associates, in this expression of their respect for you, and 
 of their sense of the many and very great obligations which 
 they owe to you, as the President, and as the constant and 
 munificent benefactor of the Society, has been realized. 
 And it is certainly most fitting that as we owe to your gene- 
 rosity the spacious and attractive hall which we see in its 
 completeness for the first time to-day, we should ourselves 
 hang ujion its walls the inscription it now bears, in the 
 animated canvas. The chief object of a well-executed por- 
 trait, is to preserve the lineaments and features of an absent 
 or a departed friend, when the eye cannot see him, or when 
 he is an object of interest to those who have never seen 
 him. No portrait, however faithfully it might copy nature, 
 would ever be a substitute for your personal living presence 
 to those of us who for many successive years have gathered 
 here in this lovely Autumn weather to find you in the chair 
 at our annual meeting, and to share in your most agreeable 
 hospitalities. , 
 
 The point of especial interest to us at this moment is as to 
 
57 
 
 the skill aiul fidelitj' with which the artist has done his work, 
 for we have regard now to those who are to come after 
 us, and to look upon your portrait as we look upon those 
 of the worthies around us whom we never knew nor saw. 
 Often as I have been looking upon the portrait of some one 
 who lived centuries or scores of years ago, and whose char- 
 acter, genius, works or public service have made him an 
 ol)ject of curious or grateful regard, I have wished that the 
 representation might be accompanied by some certificate 
 authenticating its fidelity to life, prepared and attested by 
 contemporaries and associates. So I could wish now that 
 those of your associates who first see your portrait on the 
 wall, as you sit beneath it, might attest their satisfaction 
 with it as presenting you as you are to us. So far as I can 
 judge from its elevated position, it is a fair and truthful 
 efiigy. I remember a lively discussion around a dinner 
 table about the comparative and relative fitness of full- 
 length and of half-length portraits, as assigned to various 
 orders of men, with titles to distinction and regard for 
 various qualities and services. All seemed to accord in 
 restricting the full-length figure to military men, orators, 
 statesmen and monarchs. For the scholar, the philosopher, 
 the poet, the judge, the magistrate, the philanthropist, the 
 honored heads and representatives of literary and benevo- 
 lent associations, the half-length was the more appropriate. 
 This adjustment of the proprieties in each case, proceeds 
 upon the very reasonable assumption, that all which marks 
 high personality, dignity and intelligence in a man is the 
 portion of his whole frame which is above his waist, the 
 remaining continuation of him having uses of convenience, 
 but not distinctively significant of the qualities of his higher 
 
58 
 
 nature. So the artist has presented you to us, sir, as we see 
 you presiding, seated at the table. I indulge the hope that 
 so long as I may be privileged to attend these pleasant 
 meetings, I may be able, as now, to compare the man with 
 the picture. 
 
 One thing more, Mr. President. Among our many debts 
 to you, I would gratefully recognize this, that within your 
 very limited family, you have furnished us in your son an 
 associate who, by his tastes and his chosen objects of 
 research and thorough study in archaeological science, has 
 already done such effective and rewarding labor in the 
 direction of the original and primary purposes which the 
 Antiquarian Society was formed to serve. 
 
EEMAEKS OF HON. GEORGE F. HOAR. 
 
 A few days ago, one of the ladies of my family visited the 
 household of our deceased brother, Judge Thomas, to 
 express her love and sympathy. One of the Judge's family 
 said that they had derived great comfort and pleasure from 
 the many evidences of the public attachment which they 
 had received since his death, and that she wished her father 
 could have known it in his life-time — that he sometimes 
 thought that people didn't like him. Certainly no man had 
 a stronger hold on the affection of his associates, of the 
 communities where he had lived, and of the whole Com- 
 monwealth, than Judge Thomas. I sometimes think that 
 the fastidiousness of taste, and coldness of speech, inherited 
 from our English ancestors, make us conceal our feelings 
 from our friends until too late. There is no reason why, on 
 an occasion like this, we should abstain from making known 
 to our honored and beloved Tresident what we are all 
 thinking. 
 
 Mr. Salisbury has for many years filled, in this commu- 
 nity, a most difiicult position — that of a wise and useful 
 manager of large inherited wealth. It is not a hard thing, 
 in this country, for a man with honorable ambitions to raise 
 himself from poverty to wealth. It is comparatively easy 
 to obtain the prizes of professional and political life. But 
 it is a very difficult thing for a man born to the position of 
 wealthiest man in a wealthy community to fill that import- 
 ant station wisely and usefully. Most men so situated 
 
60 
 
 deem themselves exonernted from tlie ohligation to work. 
 Our friend has borne his full share of the personal labor of 
 all public undertakings with as much fidelity and public 
 spirit as if he had nothing but his labor to contribute. 
 Many rich men fancy tliat their wealtli entitles them to 
 claim some superiority over their fellow-men. Mr. Salisbury 
 has borne himself with such humility and simplicity that 
 it has never occurred to the humblest man who knew him 
 that they met otherwise than as neighbors and equals. It 
 is said that men who contribute largely to public objects are 
 not without the spirit of patronage or the desire to control. 
 Mr. Salisbury has added to the large benefactions to which 
 the success of almost every enterprise of education or 
 charity in this community for a generation has been due — 
 this society, that reading room, the Technical School, the 
 Mechanics Hall, and countless others — the still larger bene- 
 faction of so limiting his gift that it has been a stimulant to 
 other men to do their share. He has made us feel that it 
 was not he but we that were accomplishing the purpose. 
 He has almost seemed to think when he contributed the 
 endowment to a public oljject which ensured its success, 
 that he was our debtor, and not we his ; and he has never 
 demanded for his opinion in the administration of the 
 enterprise even the weight to which it would be entitled 
 independently of his share in its endowment. 
 
 Mr. President, I have uttered imperfectly only what is in 
 the hearts of all of us, and if your modesty makes what. I 
 have said disagreeable to you, be assured you are the only 
 person present to whom it is disagreeable. 
 
RESPONSE OF PEESIDENT SALISBURY. 
 
 Gentlemen. — I thank my partial friends for their kind 
 words to justify this expression of respect, and I owe them 
 double thanks for aiding me in doing what they are pleased 
 to commend. When we remember that our lamented Vice- 
 President was prominent in this act, as he was in more 
 important measures of the Society, we renew our grief that 
 he was not permitted to give, by his own administration, 
 new dignity and success to the presidential office. Horace 
 says, " If you put me among the Lyric poets, I shall carry 
 my head high enough to strike the stars." I can feel no 
 such exaltation in the greater honor of placing my portrait 
 with those of the eminent men who have done most to 
 build up the character and usefulness of this learned insti- 
 tution. This testimonial has approached before my face 
 so gradually, that I have no excuse for the extravagance of 
 surprise. I have had time to resist the delusions of vanity. 
 The high office that I hold must have the highest share of 
 the honor of the hour. As to the respect that I can appro- 
 priate to myself, I know how little it is merited, and under 
 what circumstances it has been accorded. With the deepest 
 feeling of obligation, I thank the Society for this evidence 
 of a favorable estimation of my services. I thank the more 
 active members not only for this honor, but more for giving 
 a pretence for it in the success that is chiefly the fruit of 
 their own labors. And my gratitude is increased by their 
 
62 
 
 liberality in saving the fnnds of the Society from being 
 diminished on my account. 
 
 I do not disown my faithfulness and my efforts to pro- 
 mote the strength and usefulness of the Society. But I 
 cannot overlook the fact that the success and acceptableness 
 of my official course are the result of opportunity rather 
 than of mj'- own skill and exertions. In October, 1854, 
 after the lamented death of Hon. John Davis, I was elected 
 as his successor at a happy period. The Society was ready 
 to pass from greater attention to the collection of materials 
 to a more numerous participation in historical inquiries and 
 demonstrations. The value of two volumes of Transactions 
 previously published is not forgotten. For the first we are 
 indebted to the enterprise and special expenditure of Presi- 
 dent Thomas. The learning of Albert Gallatin gave occa- 
 sion for the second. There were other learned papers pub- 
 lished by the Society, but they were infrequent and few. 
 There was no lack of ability and earnestness in the members 
 of that day. The laborious and active Joseph Willard, the 
 learned, witty and copious William Lincoln, the shrewd, 
 quaint and zealous librarian, Christopher Columbus Bald- 
 win, and other faithful members, vrill be remembered. The 
 men were there, but the time did not come until Mr. Haven 
 made himself known as one who could loosen the seals and 
 open the prophecy of the books. His correspondence, 
 sought and valued by the greater and lesser students of his- 
 tory, and his other learned papers, gave a reflected bril- 
 liancy to the Society and the Library. Visitors to the Hall 
 were more frequent and intelligent, and books and docu- 
 ments of a better character were bestowed without solicita- 
 tion and in greater abundance. The co-operation and gene- 
 
63 
 
 rosity of members near and remote were aroused. Mr. 
 George Livermore and Dr. Nathaniel B. Sliiirtleff, and 
 others in whose continued presence we rejoice, began to 
 show that tiiey had minds and hearts hirge enougli to take 
 part in the best work here, while tliey abated nothing of 
 their duty to the ancient and pre-eminent Society to which 
 they had given their first love. Another source of your 
 prosperity should be acknowledged. From the Society, 
 and from myself in connection with the incident to which 
 your attention has been called, constant thanks are due to 
 generous friends not members of our Society, who freely 
 gather the treasures of your collection, and amply pay for 
 the privilege by their well-selected gifts, which are a large 
 part of your annual increase. 
 
 In the interest of our Society I must thank the eminent 
 artist for the ingenuity and skill tliat he has exercised in 
 this work of the imagination. In a few years the personal 
 appearance of the individual will be forgotten. Then no 
 one will regret that a President of the Society has been 
 portrayed as favorably as the subject would permit. 
 
 The Report of the Committee was accepted, and on 
 motion of Hon. Richard Frothingham, it was voted that a 
 copy of the portrait shall be inserted with the Proceedings 
 of the Society. 
 
REMOVAL OF THE TOMB OF 
 
 TSAIAH THOMAS, LL.D., 
 
 Founder of the American Antiquarian Society, 
 June 24, 1878. 
 
 In 1817 Dr. Isaiah Thomas erected in Mechanic Street 
 Burial Ground, in Worcester, a massive and venerable 
 Granite Tomb, which was tlie mortal resting place of him- 
 self and his famil}'-. This Burial Ground, liaving received no 
 interments for many years, had become so subject to the 
 disturbance and encroachments of business, and to careless 
 and wanton injury, that the City Government, with general 
 approbation, ordered that the sacred deposits should be 
 removed to other places of sepulture, at the expense of the 
 City. The City Government judged that tlie public services 
 of Dr. Thomas were worthy of the distinguished honor of 
 an impressive public ceremony, in a change of the place of 
 his tomb tliat was acceptable to his family. The fraterni- 
 ties of Freemasons, and the American Antiquarian Society, 
 were invited and attended to take part in the dedication of 
 the removed tomb placed on a beautiful and conspicuous lot 
 in the Rural Cemetery, provided by members of both institu- 
 tions, in gratitude to their common benefactor. On the 24th 
 of June, 1878, the relatives of Dr. Thomas, members of the 
 Masonic and the Antiquarian Societies, and many citizens 
 met the City Government at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, 
 
66 
 
 where the exercises were begun by an appropriate antliem, 
 and a prayer was offered by Rev'd Edward H. Hall, pastor 
 of the Second Parish in Worcester, of which Dr. Thomas 
 had been one of the first members. Hon. Charles B. Pratt, 
 Mayor of the City, then addressed the assembly as 
 follows : — 
 
 MAYOR PEATT'S ADDRESS. 
 
 FELLOw-CrnzENS. — The ceremonial which brings together 
 this large assemblage to-day, is one of no ordinary character. 
 In our local associations and our local history, it is an event 
 which serves as a link to bind the centuries together. 
 
 Almost one hundred 3*ears ago our fathers set apart, in 
 what we may fairly presume to have been a retired portion 
 of the then little rural village, a spot which they consecrated 
 to the burial of their dead. But like him who plants his 
 trees without fully taking in the extent of their future 
 growth and increase, they did not realize that the quiet 
 village of their day was to become a bustling city ; that 
 the little " God's acre," which they then so lovingly and 
 reverently planned and established, would be demanded for 
 other and very diflt'erent purposes by the restless activity of 
 the living future. 
 
 That time, however, has come. For more than a quarter 
 of a century, surrounded by the din and noise of the work- 
 shop, the hum of machinery, and the constant confusion of 
 travel and traffic, it has gradually become unfitted to the 
 
67 
 
 purposes for wliicli it was designed. Nor have our civic 
 autliorities, to whose ward and keeping it was intrusted, 
 been always mindful of their charge. They have allowed 
 it to fall into neglect. They have suftered it to be dese- 
 crated by the trespasses and depredations of later genera- 
 tions, who, in their thouglitlessness, have failed to recognize 
 or to appreciate the hallowed associations by which the spot 
 was surrounded. And now, finally, when the public has 
 asserted its right of eminent domain over it, we are com- 
 pelled to abandon the use of it, for the purposes of sepul- 
 ture, forever. 
 
 Among those whose remains have so long reposed within 
 those once sacred precincts was one whose name and charac- 
 ter are indelibly stamped upon the history of his time — one 
 whose life and labors were more instrumental, perhaps, than 
 those of any other man of his day and generation, in giving 
 to the city of his adoption the character and distinction 
 which she boasts to day — Isaiah Thomas. 
 
 But of him it is not becoming, or fitting, that Z should 
 speak. The Society which he founded, and of which he 
 was the first President, the membership of which is not con- 
 fined to one country, which occupies so prominent a position 
 among tlie learned societies of the world, and which has 
 taken so important and active a part in the prosecution of 
 antiquarian research, has its representatives here to-day. 
 The newspaper which he established, and during its earlier 
 years sustained under almost insuperable difiiculties, by 
 w'hich, with his manly fearlessness, and his indomitable per- 
 severance, he did battle for his country in the cause of her 
 freedom and independence, has its representatives here 
 to•d;l3^ The brotherhood of Freemasons, of which he was 
 
68 
 
 almost Ills whole life an active and conspicuous member, has 
 also its representatives witli us to-day. To these various 
 representatives, and to the representatives of such other 
 public bodies as may be with us, be assigned the grateful 
 task of commemorating, by their words, the deeds and the 
 fame of him whose mortal remains we are here and now, by 
 appropriate and imposing ceremonies, about to consign to 
 their final resting place. 
 
 I have the honor to introduce to you our own distin- 
 guished fellow-citizen, the present accomplished President 
 of the American Antiquarian Society, Hon. Stephen 
 Salisbury. 
 
ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT SALISBURY. 
 
 Mr. Mayor, Gentlemen of the City Government, and 
 Fellow-Citizens.— You do well in removing the mortal re- 
 mains of Dr. Isaiah Thomas from a spot where they were 
 overran and desecrated by the heedless feet of the busy 
 world, to a sure and permanent resting place, surrounded by 
 the constant freshness and growth of nature, fit emblems of 
 the higher life of the spirit, when the muddy vesture of 
 decay is thrown off. The members of the American Anti- 
 quarian Society are happy to accept the invitation to jom 
 in the lionorable commemoration^appropriate to this occasion, 
 because Dr. Thomas was a benefactor to the city and the 
 country in establishing the institution intrusted to their care, 
 of which lie was the first President. This honor they may 
 claim for him, tliough there may be much to be desired in 
 the performance of their own duties as members. He was 
 not such a founder as the noble Godfathers, wlio give 
 names, words and nothing more, to the societies which they 
 patronize. The foundation of Dr. Thomas was a firm 
 material snpport, and he added to it a superstrncture, 
 that was hkely to stand, whoever might be the tenants, and 
 he took care that it should be open to the public on every 
 side. As it is proper that the important parts of this struc- 
 ture should be seen and estimated by you at this time, I will 
 endeavor as briefly as possible to point them out. 
 
 In the vigorous youth of the Kepublic, when Dr. Thomas 
 was engaged with other patriots in deeds most worthy of 
 
70 
 
 lionorable remembrance, he was profoundly impressed with 
 the fact that tlie lessons of the time, the results of experi- 
 ments, the decisive discussions, the wise counsels and the 
 vindication of truth and honor from false and partial mis- 
 representation, were passing from human knowledge, and 
 would soon be lost with the decaying paper on which they 
 were recorded. For years before 1812, when he organized 
 the Society, he began to collect books, pamphlets, and news- 
 papers for the library. It was a rare chance to glean in an 
 unreaped field, and he took full advantage of it. This old 
 collection is the attractive nucleus that has drawn together 
 and given a peculiar character to the library, now so 
 large that it lias required the additional building recently 
 erected to contain it. Under this influence the newspaper 
 department has gathered more than 4500 bound vohimes, 
 and is an institution of the highest value in itself. The free 
 public use of the library in the newspapers, even more than 
 in the books, has been nobly rewarded in frequent and 
 sometimes periodical gifts from enlightened friends, not 
 members of the Society, who kiiow only the large hospi- 
 tality and the limited funds of the Society. 
 
 His Honor the Mayor has reminded us of the direct gifts 
 of Dr. Thouias to promote the prosperity of this ancient 
 town. To the same eflect, his large business and his ser- 
 vices for patriotism and literature also contributed. In 
 founding our Society, he and his chosen counsellors had 
 views above and beyond the local advantage, though the 
 local advantage was not postponed, but furthered, by them. 
 The objects of the Society were two : first, to save the 
 aboriginal and the modern materials of the history of this 
 continent; and, second, to awaken a disposition to preserve 
 
71 
 
 and elucidate sncli materials. For this end, the Society was 
 spread over our whole country, including with the tie of 
 membership men distinguished for taste and practice and 
 influence in historical research. The Canadian, the Vir- 
 ginian, and other remote members, have offered their valu- 
 able contributions with more readiness and interest to an 
 institution for which they had enlisted, than thej could feel 
 for a society of Worcester or Massachusetts. Therefore 
 the membership in your city has been restricted by the sys- 
 tem of the Society, and not enlarged according to the abun- 
 dance of talent that is found here. If the practice were 
 otherwise, the Continental character would be lost, though 
 the spirit of membership, the financial resources, and the 
 productive power might be increased. Such local advan- 
 tages have been secured by the " Worcester Society of 
 Antiquity," a kindred institution, that has sprung up at our 
 side in full armor, and has begun its labors with great 
 energy and success. 
 
 The more important parts of the first volume of the 
 transactions of the American Antiquarian Society are a 
 valuable " Description of Antiquities discovered in Ohio and 
 other Western States," furnished by Caleb Atwater, Esq., 
 of Ohio, and an " Account of the Discovery of the River 
 Mississippi," by Father Hennepin. The large expense of 
 this volume, and other important gifts to carry on the 
 Society, were contributed by Dr. Thomas so quietly that 
 their amount cannot now be discovered. Dr. Thomas also 
 strengthened this institution by a working capital. He gave 
 a fund for collection and research, and a Librarian's and 
 General Fund, that were considered sufiicient and ample 
 
 according to the money value of that time. Some donations 
 10 
 
72 
 
 have been made to increase these funds and for special 
 objects, but the Society has been substantially supported by 
 its founder. In 1820, he gave a large lot of land to the 
 Society, and built on it a brick hall, which was considered 
 safe from fire, well arranged, and large enough for the pos- 
 sible growth of many years. In 1853, that hall was found 
 to be too small and otherwise inconvenient and undesirable. 
 It was deemed essential to the life of the Society that the 
 building and lot given by the founder should be exchanged 
 for a larger building on an acceptable site. But the old 
 estate, if not used as the giver intended, might revert to his 
 heirs. Then it appeared that the liberal disposition of the 
 founder lasted longer than his life, and his Last "Will was 
 not the last of the good will of his family. Under the 
 influence and example of one of his descendants, wlio had 
 not tlien, within liis reach, the largest income from the most 
 important service of his profession, the family generously 
 relinquished their rights, and the sale of the old estate 
 enabled the Society to build the convenient hall of to-day. 
 
 I offer a brief and imperfect outline of the American 
 Antiquarian Society, but you will see that it is written all 
 over with the name which you desire to honor. I will not 
 estimate the local advantages of this Institution. I will 
 only venture to say that it is the oldest school for higher 
 learning in your city. It is free and freely used, and it is 
 one of the rare instances of success in the elective system. 
 The founder and his associates and successors do not 
 belong to the old class of miserly antiquaries, who buried 
 their treasures with themselves, and cultivated rust. The 
 aim of this Society is to restore to newness of life the relics 
 of the past, and apply them to the uses of to-day. If Don 
 
73 
 
 Quixote should bring here a venerable copper, supposed to 
 be Mambrino's Helmet, it would be faithfully scoured until 
 it was valued as a part of the armor of truth and justice, or 
 cast away as a barber's basin that could never again shave 
 except in a lawful way. The old Society welcomes with 
 the warmst cordiality its younger brotlier in the same line of 
 local instruction, the admirable Free Public Library of 
 your city. I need not state its merits for you know them 
 all. Strangers have sometimes spoken of the intelligence 
 and high character of the population of Worcester, and 
 citizens have boasted of them. After the manner of the 
 old inscription, I will say, if you ask for proof, look around 
 a citizens' meeting in Mechanics Hall, as at this time. If 
 you ask how this character and intelligence were produced, 
 Kev. Dr. Marshall will again, as he did in an eloquent 
 address a year ago, lead you to seven hills more glorious 
 than the Seven Hills of old Home, crowned with seven 
 institutions of higher learning, beaming with the radiance of 
 Christian civilization. 
 
ADDRESS OF HON. JOHN D. BALDWIN. 
 
 Hon. John D, Baldwin, senior editor and publisher of the 
 Worcester Spy, of which Mr. Thomas was the founder, and 
 a member of the American Antiquarian Society, was intro- 
 duced, and spoke as follows : — 
 
 Isaiah Thomas began public life as a bold supporter of 
 the resisting movements of the colonies against the tyranni- 
 cal measures of George Third. In this interest the Massa- 
 chusetts Spy was started in Boston, July 17, 1770. He was 
 then twenty-one years old, but, young as he was, he had 
 already shown his quality, and made manifest what he 
 would do as conductor of a newspaper. In 1766, when 
 seventeen years old, he went to Nova Scotia to work on the 
 Halifax Gazette, a paper owned by a German named 
 Henry, an easy-going man, who left the printers of the 
 paper to be its editors also. Mr. Thomas became its chief 
 editor, and immediately created a sensation in Halifax, by 
 turning it against the stamp act. He was summoned before 
 the Secretary of the Province who reprimanded him severely, 
 and bade him mend his editorial ways, which he failed to 
 do. A copy of the Pennsylvania Journal, dressed in 
 mourning and bearing significant devices on account of the 
 stamp act, came into his hands. In the next number of the 
 Gazette he said, "We are desired by a number of our read- 
 ers to give a description of the extraordinary appearance 
 
75 
 
 of the Pennsylvania Joui^nal of October 30 ; " and he did it 
 by giving Henry's paper tlie same appearance as nearly as 
 possible. Soon afterwards the Halifax stamp master was 
 hung in effigy near the citadel. There were new proceed- 
 ings against Thomas, which, however, did him no harm. 
 He left Halifax in 1768, but did not return to Boston 
 until 1770. 
 
 He began publishing the ^j»y in partnership with Mr. 
 Fowle, of whom he had learned the printer's trade ; but 
 after three months he became sole owner and manager. 
 Very soon the Spy was known as the boldest and most influ- 
 ential supporter of the Whigs. It had a staff of writers 
 which consisted of some of the ablest and foremost patriots 
 of the colony. Mr. Hudson's " History of Journalism " 
 describes it as " a quite remarkable newspaper which came 
 into existence at this time (1770) and gave great aid and 
 comfort to the prevailing sentiment of the people." He 
 adds " that some of the contributions in the Spy were very 
 powerful. There were other newspapers that supported the 
 cause of the people, but there was no other so able, no 
 other so fearless, no other so intensely hated by the British 
 officials and the Tories, as the Massachusetts Spy.'''' Mr. 
 Thomas states in his " History of Printing," ■ that he 
 began the weekly Spy with two hundred subscribers ; but 
 the increase was so regular and rapid, that, within two 
 years, " its subscription list was larger than that of any 
 other paper printed in New England." That he and the 
 Sjjy had a wide reputation in the colonies, is shown by the 
 fact that he was burned in effigy by the royalists of North 
 Carolina. 
 
 In Boston, the feeling of the royalists towards Mr. 
 
76 
 
 Thomas and his paper became a fierce rage, which sought to 
 destroy them by any means, lawful or unlawful. In 1771, 
 Governor Hutchinson and his council held a special session 
 to consider what should be done with Mr. Tliomas and the 
 Spy. Finally they ordered him to appear before them, but 
 did not put the order in writing, being conscious that it was 
 illegal. Three times they sent a messenger to demand his 
 appearance, verball}^, and three times he refused to appear. 
 It was then proposed to imprison him for contempt ; but 
 they did not venture to attempt tliis. Their next movement 
 was to have him indicted by the Grand Jury ; but the 
 Grand Jury would not indict him. Several other methods 
 of reaching and crushing Mr. Thomas were proposed by the 
 royal officials, but, none of them being legal, they were laid 
 aside, after encountering storms of denunciation from the 
 patriots. He was obliged to maintain this fight with the 
 royalists, so long as his office remained in Boston. A timid 
 man would have been daunted, but Mr. Thomas faced their 
 rage with the utmost boldness. Here is one of his replies 
 to their persecutions. It was written and printed in Octo- 
 ber, 1772 : — " Should the liberty of the press be once 
 destroyed, farewell to the remaiiider of our invaluable rights 
 and privileges ; we may next expect padlocks on our lips, 
 fetters on our legs, and only our hands left at liberty to 
 slave for our more than Egyptian task-masters — or — or — 
 Fight oitr Wat to Constitutional Liberty." 
 
 In 1775 it became evident that the printing of the Mas- 
 sachusetts Sjyy cov\^ not be continued in Boston. Early in 
 the spring it appeared certain that its office would soon be 
 mobbed and sacked by British soldiers. Everybody felt 
 that the beginning of the revolution was near at hand. 
 
77 
 
 Therefore Mr. Thomas decided to remove the publication 
 office of the Spy from Boston to Worcester. The hxst num- 
 ber of the paper printed in Boston is dated April 6, 1775. 
 His press and type were packed up privately, taken across 
 Charles River in the night, with the help of General 
 Warren and others, and sent quietly to the new home of the 
 office. 
 
 Mr. Thomas tells us that he went to Lexington " at day- 
 break " on the morning of April 19, 1775, and "joined the 
 provincial militia in opposing the king's troops." 
 
 The first number of the Sj)]/ printed in Worcester is 
 dated May 3, 1775, and contains an account of the battle 
 of Lexingto-n. This was the first printing done in Worces- 
 ter. Mr. Thomas could not save his other property in Bos- 
 ton. When lie arrived here his office was destitute of 
 printing paper. How lie secured liis first supply of this 
 indispensable material is told in the following letter, ad- 
 dressed by Jolm Hancock to Joseph Warren and the Com- 
 mittee of Safety : — 
 
 " Worcester, 26 April, 1775. 
 
 " Geatn, — Mr. Thomas, the Printer, is here, has fixed his 
 Press, and is Ready to go on with Business, but is in want 
 of paper. I undertake for him to Desire you will order the 
 under-mentioned Quantity to be sent to him from Milton ; 
 his being supplied will answer Public Service. We are not 
 likely to have even a Single Person to attend us. Mr. 
 Paine is here ; his Townsmen who came with him are 
 
 returned home. My Servant \s house furniture is in 
 
 Boston. I should not like to be demolished by a Tory, but 
 I must submit to be unnoticed. God bless you. 
 
 I am, Gentn., Your Sincere Friend, 
 
 John Hanoook. 
 
78 
 
 " Paper for Mr. Thomas : 
 
 " 50 reams Crown Printing. 
 " 40 " Demy " 
 " 20 " Foolscap " 
 " 5 " Writing." 
 On tlie back of the sheet was the following : — 
 " On Service of the Colony : To Joseph Warren, Esqr., 
 and the gentlemen of the Committee of Safety, &c., &c., at 
 Cambridge, or elsewhere. 
 
 John Hancock." 
 
 When I copied this letter, nineteen years ago, the origi- 
 nal was in possession of Samuel Jennison, Esq., of this city. 
 It is now, I presume, in possession of some members of the 
 Jennison. family. My sketch of the revolutionary work of 
 Mr. Thomas must stop here. It must suffice to add that he 
 did his work faithfully to the end of the struggle ; that he 
 was the first man to read publicly in Massachusetts the 
 Declaration of Independence, and that he lived to see the 
 colonies become a united and independent nation. 
 
 Hon. H. O. Houghton, of Cambridge, Hon. Marshall P. 
 Wilder, of Dorchester, and Hon. Charles W. Slack, of Bos- 
 ton, made interesting and eloquent speeches; after which 
 the assembly, with the escort of many Masonic fraternities, 
 followed the remains of Dr. Thomas to the Rural Ceme- 
 tery, where the re-interment was made with solemn Masonic 
 rites, and a graceful eulogy was spoken by M. W. Grand 
 Master, Charles A. Welch. 
 
War Department Library 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
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 Losses or injuries 
 must be promptly ad- 
 justed. 
 
 No books issued 
 during the month 
 of August. 
 
 Time Limits : 
 Old books, two 
 weeks subject to 
 renewal at the op- 
 tion of the Librarian. 
 New books, one 
 week only. 
 
 ACME LIBRARY CARD POCKET 
 Made by LIBRARY BUREAU, Boston 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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