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The Puritans' Farewell to Kngland 
 
 Being 
 
 The Humble Request 
 
 of the Governor and Company of 
 
 the Massachusetts -Bay in New 
 
 England about to depart upon^ 
 
 The Great Emigration ^^ 
 April 7, 1630 
 
 Reprinted in facsimile for the Members and Friends of 
 the New England Society in the City of New 
 York in honour of the two hundred and ninety- 
 second anniversary of Forefathers Day 
 
 New-Tork : Printed for The Society, MDCCCCXI] 
 

 
 Copyright December 19IZ 
 
 BY THE 
 
 New England Society in the City of New York 
 
 Providence Rhode Island 
 Standard Printing Company 
 
 ©cuassoos 
 
 </ 
 
HE successful planting of New 
 England was assured by The 
 Great Emigration of 1630. 
 For a hundred years, English 
 farmers and country landhold- 
 ers had been watching with keenest interest 
 a bitter struggle between some of their 
 neighbours who would not go to the parish 
 church and others in places of official power 
 who believed just as conscientiously that those 
 who did not go to church could not be law- 
 abiding citizens. It was a difference of 
 opinion for the sake of which several men 
 gladly rode to the scaffold, while others, 
 both men and women, died in the filthy 
 English jails. Scores who were put in 
 prison, because they would not do things 
 which they thought were contrary to the 
 Word of God, suffered grievously in physical 
 health, but they developed a sort of moral 
 character which has had a far-reaching in- 
 fluence wherever English folk have lived. 
 The number of those who participated 
 in this struggle was not large, compared 
 with those who went about their daily af- 
 fairs, wondering what might be the mean- 
 ing of all the turmoil over matters of religious 
 practice. In time, one thing came to be 
 
plain to a large body of Englishmen ; that 
 the conditions of life about them were not 
 good for people who desired to bring up 
 their families to fear God and obey the Law. 
 It was a very momentous decision to which 
 this belief led, when more than a thousand 
 of these home -loving English men and 
 women went on board the vessels of the 
 Massachusetts - Bay Company bound for 
 America. 
 
 There were many Trading Companies 
 organized in London during the early years 
 of the Seventeenth Century, for ventures 
 over-seas in the Levant, or to Muscovy, 
 Africa, the Indies, or America. Some of 
 them made money for the adventurers, and 
 more of them — as in earlier and later days 
 — collected goodly sums for the initial ex- 
 penses from those who hoped to make their 
 fortunes. Most of the Companies were 
 organized by small groups closely allied by 
 business or social interests. One of these 
 was " The Governor and Company of the 
 Massachusetts-Bay in New-England," which 
 secured a grant of land and a charter from 
 King Charles the First on March 4, 1629. 
 A hundred men were soon on their way to 
 erect the beginnings of a colony where 
 
fishermen could traffic and the natives barter 
 for furs. A year later, these men had done 
 nothing of any value toward providing for 
 their own maintenance, while the accounts 
 of the Company in London were in such a 
 state that the share holders were forced to 
 agree to a reorganization whereby they sur- 
 rendered two-thirds of the amount they had 
 paid, and put what was left into the control 
 of a special committee, which agreed to ad- 
 minister the joint account and make a settle- 
 ment at the end of seven years. 
 
 The men who organized this Company 
 and carried on its business doubtless hoped 
 that it might be a profitable commercial 
 venture. It is equally probable that some 
 of them had in mind from the beginning of 
 the enterprise the possibility of establishing 
 a convenient refuge to which they could 
 retire without sacrifice of their English 
 birthright, in the event of a fresh outbreak 
 of religious persecution in Great Britain. 
 The subscribers unquestionably expected a 
 return from their investment, but it is more 
 than likely that most of them regretted 
 their losses less when they realized that they 
 had helped to prepare the way for The 
 Great Emigration. 
 
The Governor of the Massachusetts -Bay 
 Company, the prosperous London merchant 
 and ship-owner, Matthew Cradock, proposed 
 in July, 1629, that the Company choose a 
 new Hst of officers, of men who were go- 
 ing to reside in the colony. A reason for 
 his suggestion became apparent a month 
 later, when twelve gentlemen met at Cam- 
 bridge, and after careful discourse signed a 
 paper pledging each to transport himself to 
 the New England settlement, on certain 
 conditions, of which the most important 
 was that they were to take with them the 
 actual government of the colony. 
 
 These twelve were all men of property 
 and of wide acquaintance. Two, John 
 Humphrey and Isaac Johnson, were sons- 
 in-law of the Earl of Lincoln, who was in- 
 debted to a third, his steward, Thomas 
 Dudley, for the management which yeilded 
 an adequate income from estates that had 
 previously been heavily encumbered. Sir 
 Richard Saltonstall owned land in the West 
 Riding, and had been a large subscriber to 
 the Company's operations. William Vassall 
 was a London merchant who was just be- 
 ginning to add to his wealth by his Ameri- 
 can investments. William Colburn, Increase 
 
Nowell and William Pynchon are better 
 known for the parts they played in New- 
 England affairs. John Winthrop, the owner 
 of an estate at Groton in Suffolk, had had a 
 law office in London, and was the man to 
 whom the others seem to have turned for the 
 final decision whether they should go or stay 
 to await the development of events in Eng- 
 land. When, a few weeks later, the legal 
 formalities had been completed and the new 
 officers were elected, Winthrop became the 
 first Governor of the Massachusetts -Bay 
 Company resident in New England. 
 
 Winthrop and his assistants in the man- 
 agement of what has come to be known as 
 "The Great Emigration" were men who 
 had much at stake, and they went earnestly 
 about the task of assuring a prosperous fu- 
 ture for themselves and for the thousand 
 who accepted their leadership. There 
 were many things to be looked after, but 
 none more important than the maintenance 
 of their good repute as men of sound judg- 
 ment and wise counsel. There was every 
 reason why they should be careful that this 
 expedition should not be confounded with 
 others that had left England for reasons of 
 religious opinion. They, with other serious- 
 
minded English folk, had felt the deepest 
 sympathy for those who had set them an 
 example, but they had seen in these earlier 
 expatriates much more zeal than wisdom, 
 and perceived ample explanation for their 
 failure in the affairs of this world. 
 
 When they were ready to depart, the 
 leaders gave out a letter which clearly reveals 
 the state of mind in which they approached 
 the separation from all that they were leaving. 
 It is a very sincere and humble request for 
 the prayers of all who worshipped the God 
 of the English Nation, and for "the removal 
 of suspitions and misconstructions of their 
 Intentions." 
 
 This letter had in all probability been 
 drawn up some time before, perhaps by the 
 Reverend John White of Dorchester, and it 
 is a safe assumption that all who were con- 
 cerned in the direction of the enterprise had 
 been consulted about its contents and its lan- 
 guage. It was the formal leave-taking of 
 those who were about to establish a new 
 England in America, and it represents, bet- 
 ter than any other single document, the 
 spirit in which the settlement of the Massa- 
 chusetts Colony was undertaken. Four 
 of the signers had been at the Cambridge 
 
conference in the preceding August. Of 
 the others, Charles Fines, of whom nothing 
 else seems to be known, is supposed to have 
 been of the family of Lord Say and Sele, 
 which was connected by marriage with that 
 of the Earl of Lincoln. Coddington was a 
 merchant and a man of wealth from the 
 English Boston. George Phillips was the 
 only clergyman who appears as taking a 
 leading part in the undertaking. 
 
 This tract is not only a fundamental state- 
 ment of the Puritan state of mind, but the 
 original edition, which was printed in the 
 spring of 1630, is one of the most prized of 
 New England's bibliographical rarities. Of 
 the five copies which are on record as hav- 
 ing survived to the present day, only one is 
 in private hands. Two are at Oxford, in the 
 Bodleian and the All Souls College Libraries; 
 one is in the Prince Collection at the Boston 
 Public Library, and the one from which the 
 present facsimile is made is in the John 
 Carter Brown Library at Providence. 
 
 G. P. W. 
 
THE 
 
 H VMBLE 
 
 REQVEST OF 
 
 HIS MAIES T IE S 
 
 loyall Subjc<5ls, thcGovernour 
 
 and the Company late gone for 
 
 Nb W'Englandj 
 
 To the reft of their Brethren, in and of the 
 Church oiENGLAND. 
 
 For the obtaining of their Prayers , 
 
 and the removall of (ii(pitions,and mit 
 conftiudions of their Intentions. 
 
 
 LONPON, 
 Brintedfi>rIoHNB£jLi.A]iiiB« 2^30^ 
 
THE HVMBLE 
 
 REQVEST OF HIS 
 
 Majefties loyall Subjedls, the 
 
 Governour and the Company late 
 
 gone for New ErtgUnd • to the rert 
 of their Brethren in and of the 
 
 C/&//rr^ <?/* E N G L A N D . 
 Keverend'9 l-^Vl-eks 4»^Brethren: 
 
 E generall ru- 
 mour of this fo^ 
 lemne Enterprifc, 
 whcria ourXclves 
 with others, through the pro- 
 vidence of the Almightie, are 
 ingagedj as k may fpare us the 
 A 3 labour 
 
CO 
 
 labour of imparting our occa- 
 fion unto you, foitgivcs us 
 the more incouragcmcnt to 
 flrcngthen our felves by the 
 procurement of the pray ers& 
 blefsings of the Lords faith- 
 ful! Servants :For which end 
 wee are bold to have rccourle 
 unto you, as thofc whom ^od 
 hath placed nearefl his throne 
 of Mercy 5 which as it affords 
 you the more opportunitie,fo 
 it impofeth the greater bond 
 upon you to intercede for hfs 
 people in all their ftraights,we 
 befecch you therefore by the 
 mercies of the Lord Iesvs to 
 confider us as your Brethren, 
 {landing in very great need of 
 
(0 
 
 your helpc, and earneftly im- 
 ploring it. And howfoever 
 your charitie may have met 
 with fome occafion of difcou- 
 ragement through the milre- 
 pore of our intentions, or 
 through the difafFecftion^orin- 
 difcretion, of fome of us^orra- 
 ther, amongfl us ; for wee arc 
 notof thofe that dreame of 
 perfcdlion in this world j« yet 
 we dcfire you would be plea- 
 fed to take notice of the prin- 
 cipals, and body of our com-' 
 pany, as thofe who eftecmeit 
 our honour, to call the Ckurd 
 of England, from whence wee 
 rife, our dearc Mother, and 
 cannot part from our native 
 
 Countrie, 
 
C4-) 
 
 Country, where (he fpecialljr 
 
 refideth, without much fadnes 
 
 of heart, and many teares in 
 
 our eyes,ever acknowledging 
 
 that fuch hope and part as wee 
 
 have obtained in thecommon 
 
 falvation, we have received in 
 
 her bofome^and fuckt it from 
 
 her breafts : wee leave it not 
 
 therforc^ as loathing that milk 
 
 wherewith we were nourifli-- 
 
 ed there, but blelsing God for 
 
 the parentage and education, 
 
 as members of the fame body 
 
 Ihall alwayes rejoyce in her 
 
 good, and unfainedly grieve 
 
 for any forrow that fliall ever 
 
 betide Herman d while we have 
 
 breath, fyncerely defire and 
 
 in-' 
 
0) 
 
 indeavout the continuance 6c 
 abundance of her welfare,with 
 the inlargement of her bounds 
 in the kingdome of C h r i s t 
 I E sv$. 
 Be pleafed therefore ^e^e- 
 
 to helpc forward this worke 
 now in hand • which if it pro^ 
 fper, you fliall bee the more 
 glorious , howfoevcr your 
 judgment is with the L o r. o, 
 and your reward with your 
 God. It is an ufuall and lau- 
 dable exercife of your charity 
 to commend to the prayers of 
 your Congregations the ne-- 
 cefsities and ftf aights of your 
 private neighbours^ Doc the 
 
 B like 
 
CO 
 
 like for a Church Tpringing 
 cut o{ your owne bowels. We 
 conceive much hope that this 
 remembrance of us^if it be fre- 
 quent and fervent, will bee a 
 moft profperous gale in our 
 failes, and prouide fuch a paJt 
 fage and welcome for us, from 
 the G o D of the whole earth, 
 as both we which fhall finde it^ 
 and your lelvcs, with the reft 
 of our friends, who fhal heare 
 of it, (hall be much inlarged to 
 bring in fuch daily returnes of 
 Thankf-givings,asthe fpedal-- 
 ties of his Providence and 
 Goodnes may juftly challenge 
 at all our hands. You arc not 
 ^norant, that the Spirit of 
 
 God 
 
(7) 
 
 God ftirred up the Apoftlc 
 J^auho make continuall men-* 
 tion ofthe Church oiThi/ip^ 
 pj(which was aColonie irom 
 ^mcJ)\^t the fame Spirit, we 
 befcech you, put you in mind, 
 tliat are the Lords remem- 
 brancci's, to pray for us with- 
 out ceafing (who areaweake 
 Colony from your felves}ma- 
 king continuall requeft for us 
 to God in all your prayers. 
 
 What we intreat of you that 
 are the Miniftcrs of GoD,that 
 we alfo crave at the hands of 
 all the reft of our Brethren, 
 that they would at no time for- 
 get us in their private folicita-* 
 tions at the throne of Grace. 
 
 B 1 If 
 
C8) 
 
 If any there be^who tlirough 
 want of cleare intelligence of 
 our courfc, or tenderneiTe of 
 afFedlion towards us , cannot 
 conceive fo well of our way as 
 we could defire, we would in- 
 treat fuch not to dcCpik us^nor 
 to defert us in their prayers & 
 alFecflions, but to confider ra- 
 ther, that they are fo nauch the 
 more bound to exprcfle the 
 bowels oftheircompafsion to-* 
 wards us,remembring alwaie^ 
 that both Nature and Grace^ 
 doth ever bindc us to reh'eve 
 ^nd refcue with ourutmoft & 
 ipeedieft power^ fuch as are 
 deare unto us, when wee con^ 
 ccive them to be running un-- 
 
 comfortable 
 
(9) 
 
 comfortaMe hazards. 
 
 VV^hacgoodnes you fliali 
 extend to us in this or any o- 
 therChriftiankindncflfe^ wee 
 your Brethren in Christ 
 I E s V s fliall labour to repay 
 in what dutie wee are or fliall 
 be able to performe,promiCng 
 fo farre as God (hall enable us 
 to give him no reft on your be- 
 fjalfes, wifhing our heads and 
 hearts may be as fountaines of 
 teares for your evcrlafting 
 welfare^ when wee fhall be in 
 our poore Cottages in the wil- 
 derneilejOver-fhadowed with 
 the fpirit of fupplication^ 
 through the manifold necefsi- 
 tks and tribulations which 
 
 may 
 
Oo) 
 
 may not altogether unexpe- 
 dledly, nor,wehopc,unprofi- 
 tably befall us. And fo com^ 
 mending you to the grace of 
 God in Christ, wee fliall 
 ever reft 
 
 YourafTurcd Friends 
 from Yarmouth and Brethren, 
 
 aboord the ArklU 
 
 hiWinthroj^t Gov. ^ch'Sdtonflall, 
 Qh4rks Fines ^ 1/aac lohnfon, 
 
 Ho: Dudley. 
 Oe9r^eThHipf$, WiBamCMn^tm 
 
DEO 31 1912