■ .rC-A^-Tva,-! '■'^^E' {/ ' Our Plymouth Forefathers The Real Founders of Our Republic By Charles Stedman Hanks /I Author of " Hints to Golfers," "Camp Kits and Camp Life," etc. Boston Dana Estes &: Company Publishers H-»-^ LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two OoDies Received APR 3 m^ ^' Copyright, January 23, 1908 By Charles Stedman Hanks Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, England All rights reserved (/•^j^i^ r To the memory of my father who devoted to Ms fellow- men a long life of earnest labor, and who left as an inheritance to his children a rare example of an upright, progressive man guided by a New England conscie7ice. It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Hon. William T. Davis, of Plymouth, Massachu- setts, and to W. P. Greenlaw, Esq., the librarian of the New England Historical Society, for correcting the manuscript of this book,. — two men who have made as thorough a study of the daily lives of our Plymouth forefathers as any historians now living. I wish also to acknowledge my indebtedness to Ed- mund H. Garrett, who has given much time to study- ing from the view -point of an artist the section of country where our forefathers lived, and who has visited with me many of the localities which he has illustrated. I wish also to acknowledge my indebted- ness to Charles Scribner's Sons in allowing me to use the illustrations on pages 119, 151, 158, 171, and 210; to Houghton, Mifflin & Co. for the illustrations on pages 244 and 245; to Little, Brown & Co. for the illustrations on pages 137 and 200; and to the John A. Lowell Company for the illustration on page 54. Charles Stedman Hanks. CONTENTS I. The English Separatists 1 II. Congregationalism 19 III. The Pilgrims in Holland 35 IV. 1620 — The Settlement at Plymouth 54 V. 1621— The Beginning of New England .... 68 VI. 1622— The Scarcity of Corn 85 VII. 1623 — The First Indl^jst Conspiracy 94 VIII. 1624— The First Allotment of Land 119 IX. 1625 — The Colony ab.\ndoned by the London Stockholders 132 X. 1626 — Fur-trading along the Maine Coast . . 138 XL 1627— Tr.\ding Post on Buzzards Bay .... 142 Xn. 1628 — The Second Allotment of Land .... 152 XIII. 1629 — Trading Post on the Penobscot River . 159 XIV. 1630 — ^The Puritan Settlement at Boston . . 165 XV. 1631 — ^Astonishing Prosperity of the Colony . 172 XVI. 1632 — The Spreading out of the Colony . . . 177 XVII. 1633 — Trading Post on the Connecticut River, 181 XVIII. 1634 — The Beginning of English Interference, 186 XIX. 1635 — The Penobscot Trading Post Lost . . . 191 XX. 1636 — The Enactment of a Code of Laws . . 196 XXI. 1637— The Pequot War 201 XXII. 1638 TO 1643— The Colony at its Lowest Ebb 211 XXIII. 1643— The New England Confederacy .... 218 XXIV. 1644 TO 1676 — Death of Winslow, Standish, and Bradford. King Philip's War . . . 224 XXV. 1676 to 1776 — Plymouth's Refusal to be the Slave of any Nation 242 XXVI. Colonial Life from 1620 to 1776 260 XXVII. A People of Destiny 285 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Our First Th.\nicsgiving Day Frontispiece Yeo^l\n of the Guards 1 Henry VIII 5 Edward VI 10 Queen ]NL\.ry 11 Queen Eliz-\beth 1-2 The Brewster House 19 Lady Rose Hicioian 20 The Brewster House (East side) '■21 Ground Plan of the Scrooby Buildings '23 The Scrooby Stable "25 Jaaies I 28 Mollie Brown's Cove 31 Robinson's House 35 Alley le.\ding from Barndesteeg Strasse 38 Alley lk\ding fro:m Achterburgwal Strasse 39 The Embark.\tion from Delft Haven 52 The May Flower o4 The First Exploring Expedition 59 The Second Exploring Expedition 60 The Third Exploring Expedition 65 The Departure of the May Flower 68 Myles St-vndish 85 The Pioneer Settle^ient 87 At Standish's Fireside 93 A Cape Cod Indian 94' The Plymouth Settlknient, 16'23 lU A Shallop 119 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Trlvl of Lyford 126 ClL\RLES 1 13^ Oldham put under Arrest 137 The Robinson T.\blet at Letden 138 Thoughts of Old Engl-\nd 141 Off C\pe Cod 14-2 W-\MPUM Belt 151 John Endicott lo^ English Morions 158 Archbishop L.\ud 159 John Wlvthrop 165 The First Church in Boston 171 The Myles St-\ndish HoxrsE 17^ Copp's Hill, Boston 177 Edw.uid Winslow 181 Exploring the Con-necticut Rr-er V.uj.ey 185 Thom.\s Prence's Signature 186 Fleet Prison 190 The ARErv'-\L of Bay Settlers in Con-necticut 191 The Fort at Pem.\quid 195 The ^Luor Br-\dford House 196 Relics of By-gone Days 200 Pequot Indl\n 201 The Terrttory of the Different Indl\n Tribes . . . 202 Route of ^L^on's Expedition 206 WiLLL\ais' CoMP-\ss -\ND Dlu. 210 Ch.\rles Chauncy 211 The L.\ying on of IL\nds 217 ^YILLL\M Brewster's Signature 218 Oliver CROM^yELL 224 CH.utLES H 229 Facsimile Copy of Letter notifying Boston of Attack ON Sw.^NZEY 233 Battle with the Xarr.\G-\nsetts 236 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Th.^nksgh-ing Services when the Colonists le.\rned of THE Death of King Philip 241 J-\.MES II 242 Sir Edmund Andros 244 \VlLLL\.M III 244 Sir ^YILLL\M Phips 245 Queen Anne 245 George 1 246 George II 246 George UI 247 Andros a Prisoner in Boston 259 Site of the Old Fort 260 The First W.\shing Day 284 Nation-\l Monument to oxjr Plymouth Forefathers . . 285 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS THE REAL FOUNDERS OF OUR REPUBLIC CHAPTER I THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS For conscience' sake the Pilgrim Fathers gave up their homes in England, their kindred and the friends of a lifetime, and settled in Holland, that they might worship their God according to their interpretation of the Gospels. For conscience' sake, twelve years later, they deliberately separated themselves from the past of their race, and emigrated to Amer- ica in order to devote all their ener- gies to carrying out their ideals, hoping that in a new country their own form of worship would be firmly established and the world be bene- fitted. It was this impetus of religion which was behind everything they did, their faith, piety, and confident trust in a superintending Provi- dence making them the type of men they were. At the time they sought an asylum in Holland, England had just passed through a great convulsion, YEOMAN OF THE GUARDS 2 OUR rLYMOUTH FORKFATHERS brought about by tlio Protostaut Roforuiation. — the greatest and most benetieial movement that Europe had ever known, — and this, with the invention of movable tvpe for printing, had brought into prom- inence that heretofore non-essential factor, the peo- ple, who for centuries had allowed others to do their thinking. Some of these religious reformers, unwilling to accept with the mother country the Euixlish Church as a substitute for the gorgeous- ness of Popery, had taken a further step in the pro- gressive movement, and demanded the rio;ht to wor- ship as they believed the Bible taught. They were few in number, but their intensity of purpose was so strong that they were persecuted for non-conform- ity. Their fundamental principle-^ of Christianity ditl'ered but little from the Christianity oi the Estab- lished Church, although in ecclesiastical government, and in the personal relation that they believed existed between (lod and man, they were far apart, those of the Established Church believing that their Church was indissohibly connected with the State which was its head, and the reformers believing that the Church was independent of the State on the ground that a personal communion existed between God and anv who came together in Christ's name, whenever and wherever they met. This doctrine of Christian- itv, which was far-reaching in its logical results, finally became the basis of Congregationalism. The founda- tion of their creed was their interpretation of that THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 3 passage of tlic Scriptures which said, * Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." To them this meant that tliere should be no bishops, no authority of one body of men over others, and no dogmas to hamper freedom in rehgious thought or rehgious worship. Together with this behef in a simple outward form of worship tliere was also the spiritual side, which was an abso- lute faith that through the Holy Spirit all who fol- lowed Christ's doctrines, as expounded, in the Scrip- tures, would be guided and protected. Because they had insisted upon this form of worship, they had fled to Holland, where they established a democratic church, and, because of the spiritual belief which went with it, they later emigrated to America, where they became the real founders of a great Republic. Two hundred years before this time the seed of Protestantism had been sown in England when John Wyclif, an Englishman as conspicuous for his courage as his learning, claimed that every man had not only a right to an individual judgment in theological matters, but also a right to question the most cherished dogmas of the Church of Rome. For boldly proclaiming that the Church, in granting temporal power, was going beyond her rights and jeopardizing her influence, for denying transubstantiation, for disapproving auricular confession, for opposing the payment of Peter's pence, for teaching that kings should not be subject to prel- ates, and for translating the Bible and circulating it 4 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS among the people, Wvclif had been excommunicated by the pope, and his followers became known as Lol- hirds, or "babblers." For a centurv after this there was no outward sign in England of any organized movement in ecclesias- tical reform, as the people, who had been disciplined for ages to mistrust their own faculties in religious thinking, were slow to give up what seemed to them a safe anchorage for the unauthorized guidance of un- conventional reformers. On the Continent, however, the seed sown by AVyclif had fallen on fertile ground, and in 141o and 141(> John IIuss. of Bohemia, and his coadjutor, Jerome, of Prague, viiii^'^l*^ reformers by reading AVyclif's books'* paid the penalty of advo- cating his doctrines by being burned at the stake. Their testimony had resounded throughout Europe, and before the centurv ended Savonarola, the Floren- tine monk, had become another martyr at the stake with the result that his beliefs soon afterwards became the basis of the doctrines of ^Martin Luther, of AYittenberg, of John Knox, of Edinburgh, and of John Calvin, of Geneva. In Germany Martin Luther had demanded a refor- mation in txx^lesiastical government, and had finally succeeded in overthrowing Po^xny. In consecjuence his followers had been given the name of Protestants. The same wave of purification soon reached England, and Protestantism, Incoming a political factor, was made the reliirion of the countrv. This had not been THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS HENRY Mill. done from any religious sentiment, or because of any protest against the scandals in the Church of Rome, but because Henry VIII., who was then king, saw that by denying the authority of the pope, and making the State the head of the Church, would be able, not only to divorce himself from Cather- ine of Aragon and marry Anne Bolevn, but also to get possession of the vast wealth of the monasteries then flourish- ing in all parts of his kingdom. Although a large majority of the people were still Roman Catliolics, the king was able to carry his diplo- matic Protestantism through Parliament; for, the countiy having hardly recovered from the War of the Roses, there was still a fear that, as Catherine of ArngcMi was the king's deceased brother's widow, his issue by her might be considered illegitimate, and cause the countrv to be acfain pluno-ed into a civil war. Only one reign separated the people from the desolat- ing War of the Roses, and the Royal Council, being convinced that it was its first duty to guard against another civil war, believed the danger of separating from Rome preferable to the disasters that might fol- low if the king should die witli heirs whose legitimacy the nation could (]uestioii. It was this feeling that 6 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS made a large body of the Roman Catholics in Parlia- ment willing to vote to throw off the yoke of Rome. The others who favored this political makeshift were a body of men who had long been opposed to the grow- ing arrogance of the Roman prelates, and were ready, now that the words of the Bible were becoming known to them, to vote for the change on religions grounds. For ditferent reasons, therefore, Roman Catholics and Protestants voted together, the Act of Supremacy becoming a law. and England practically a Protestant country, in lo34-. flaking the king the head of the Church had brought with it no changes in the doctrines of Christianity, and only a few in the elaborate ceremonials and the gor- geous vestments of the Roman service. It was merely Papacy with the pope left out. Neither had it given to the people a better clergy, for the king, in carrying out his pious design of abolishing the monasteries and sequestering the revenues, often allowed a Roman Catholic prelate to accept a bishopric, and often turned these wealthy possessions over to his favorites, leaving it to thoin to look after the religious instincts of his subjects. The result was that in many parishes no religious services were held, while in others were clerixv who, not havins: been educated for relii^ious work, were incompetent to have charge of parishes. In making the change to Episcopacy, the king had been obliged to make concessions to both Romanists and Protestants : to conciliate the Roman Catholics, he THE EiSGLISH SEPARATISTS 7 prohibited the teaching of all Lutheran doctrines: to conciliate the Protestants, he ordered the Bible to be translated and a copy placed in every parish house in England. Under this new order of things, men now found them- selves in a strange dilemma, it being as dangerous to believe too much as too little, since Protestants were draofred to execution for refusino^ to believe in the tran- substantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, Catholics for denying the king's supremacy. The change, however, brought with it one great privilege — the free use of the Bible by all; but, in making the leaders in the Church dependent for support and preferment upon the king and subse- quently upon Parliament, it encouraged servility, and undermined that independence of spirit which was essential if the Church was to have any real force and influence in the land. Opposed to this new form of ecclesiastical govern- ment were scores of honest Roman Catholics who still refused to change the religion under which they had been brought up, and scores of honest Protestants who were trving to bring to the front a real reformation in religious doctrines. R was these latter people who were known as " Puritans," a name given to them by the Roman Catholics, who slurringly said that these people thought themselves like the Novatian sect of old, who had called themselves Puritans because they prided themselves upon being more godly and 8 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS more pure than other people. Most of these Puritans were yeomen, who, tinding they eould not bring the Church to their views, had no scruples in ac- cepting the union of Chui-ch and State and a partial reformation and bishops. There was also in England a few who neither shared the hopes nor approved the methods of the conforming Puritans. This party despaired of bringing the Cluircli to thoroughgoing Protestantism, and repudiated the interference of the State in Church atfairs. It was these people who later became known as Separatists. All were originally Puritans whom nothing but the strongest convictions of duty would have impelled to break with the Na- tional Church. In their protest against sacerdotalism, in their non-conformity and in their tlieology, they were both alike. The fundamental ditference be- tween them was that the Puritans advocated a na- tional reformation while the Separatists believed that only through individuals could the nation be reformed. This ditference was because the Puritans looked upon the Church as a national institution, while the Separatists maintained that any sexnety of men who believed and obeyed the words of Christ be- came a Church of Christ, and that for the national well-being there nuist be within the State self-regulat- ing Christian comnuuiities without civil power. Hence there were, in England, at this time four sects: the Catholics or adherents to the Church of Rome who were still powerful in many localities, and the THE ENGLISH 8EPARATLST8 9 throe (Hffercnt sects of Protestants; namely, the Ano^li- cans, or eont'orniists, who heheved in the Estahhshed Church, tlic Puritans or non-conformists who diffe?-ed from the Anojhcans in not beheving in tlic spiritual rites and observances of the Church, and the Inde- pendents or Separatists who refused to sanction the foundin<>; of a national church on the ground that it was contrary to the word of God. During these days of religious upheavals, when a few men in England were contending for what the Puritans afterwards loved to call " The Crown Rights of Jesus," there were really no great leaders, like Luther and Knox and Calvin, but there was one dauntless preacher, Hugh Latimer, under whose stern rebuke the head- strong Henry VHL quailed. Under the impetus of Latimer's teachings there came a silent working towards a simpler faith, based upon the teachings of the New Testament without any additions by bishop and clergy, and with it the hope that there would be a simpler policy in church government, which should do away with the institution of ecclesiastical courts, canons, and ceremonials. To these men the Bible had now become the charter of their religious beliefs, and in their interpretation of it neither church nor priest held exclusive rights or privileges. Christianity with- out coercion and persecution, and with individual freedom of mind and conscience, now became the watchword of thousands of Protestants upon whom the light of the Reformation was dawning, the question. 10 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS at issue being "How does Christ make known His will, — in historic institutions or in the consciences of individual believers ? *' If the answer be, ** In both,'* then came the question, ''When the two are antag- onistic, must man give way to the institution or the institution to man?" In answering it, many ignored the superstitions of the times, and rejecting the binding authority of the Church, as Luther and Knox and Calvin had already done, determined to walk in the ways of Christ as they had interpreted the Bible. The result was that there were in many ditferent places secret oatherino:s, in order, as the Pilgrim Fathers LinA vuD ^ I. afterwards said, "to see further into things by the light of the word of God." Soon there was an organized separation from the Estab- lished Church, and meetings were held in ditferent homes to worship according to the tenets and doctrines that these people had laid down for themselves. Upon the death of King Henry VIII. in 1547, his son by his wife Jane Seymour came to the throne as Edward VI., "the boy king." During his reign the Bible, as translated by Tvndale and Coverdale, became familiar to the English people, and brought about a new awaken- ing of spiritual life. AYhen this wealth of Hebrew THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 11 literature became implanted in the English mind, the Latin Mass was abolished for the English Prayer Book. Upon the death of Edward in 1553, after a reign of six years, Mary, the daughter of Henry VHL by Catherine of Aragon, became queen. She was a firm Roman Catholic, and during her reign of five years all her persuasive influence was used to brins: the coun- try back to Roman Cathol- icism. Up to this time the spiritual principles of Protes- tantism had been obscure, but, with the issue now fairly made, men took sides for the de- cision of the real question. This resulted in a reaction in favor of the old form of wor- ship, for a majority of the people had never at heart given up their old cere- monial religion, and the reformation of Henry VHL had brought so many scandals into the Church that nearly every one was anxious to get back to the rule of Rome in church affairs. Not only was the Bible now taken from the English churches and English homes, but a cruel persecuting policy was carried on against all Protestants, whether Con- formists or Non-conformists; many were driven into exile to the Continent, hundreds were thrown into prison to languish for months, perhaps for years, QUEEN MAHY 12 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS during m Inch time they were unheard and unconvicted, while other hundreds died on the gallows. But when a number of Essex men were burned at one time at the stake in Smithfield, and the people found that they had a queen who believed Roman Catholicism taught her to burn her subjects, the English blood was stirred, and the martyr fires which she kindled made England again a Protestant country. The people as a nation now accepted the English Church as a reality. In France the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day — when a Roman Cath- olic mob was let loose upon the Protestant Huguenots — had just occurred, and it had QUEKN ELIZABETH produccd iu Euglaud such a profound sensation that the hatred of Popery increased a thousand-fold. The Puritans within the Church were now advocating the abolition of every Romanist practice and a clean sweep of all sacerdotal vestments. During this trend of thought, Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, became queen in L55S, and, seeing the uselessness of opposition, adopted the policy of reconcil- ing, so far as possible, her Catholic subjects to the Estab- lished Church, and of making that Church politically strong rather than religiously pure. Under the bold and rigorous policy of John AYhitgift, her archbishop. THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 13 all again had now the privilege of hearing and reading the Bible, but all who did not accept the doctrines of the Church of England, as set forth in his three famous articles published in 1584, were vigorously persecuted. Because those of the clergy who did not subscribe to these tenets were suspended, loyalty to the Church meant to many, intellectual dishonesty. Honesty of conscience therefore often meant a sacri- fice of homes and the means of a livelihood, and suspensions, in nearly every case, meant men of intel- lectual ability. The men who carried on this persecuting policy were themselves Protestants, many of whom had suffered persecution under Queen Mary, and some of the laws which they were forced to carry out — although origi- nally aimed against the Roman Catholics — were so sweeping that they included all forms of worship except those in the Prayer Book. The most radical reformers, inflamed by these persecutions, now became Separa- tists, and, flatly denying the royal supremacy, asserted the right to set up churches of their own with pas- tors and elders, independent of queen and bishop. Others, who had previously been willing to accept from the clergy their interpretations of the Scriptures, now began to read and interpret it for themselves, and in many an honest mind this meant that a doubt arose whether the ceremonies and practices of the Estab- lished Church conformed to the teachings of the New Testament. 14 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS As early as L)7t) the Separatists had beeome a rec- ognized sect. This had been hirgely brought about by Robert Browne, one of the most advanced defenders of rehgious Hberty in his time. He came of a wealthy and powerful family, and, when graduated from Cam- brids^e in lo70, beiran preachino: "to satisfy his dutv aud his conscience," as he said. From his reading of the New Testament he liad become convinced not only that the Christianity of Ohrist and Hi^ Apostles was a simpler religion than that of the Established Church, but that it was the right of any Clu'istian people to propagate the Christian faith in their own way. Es- tablishinor himself in Norwich, he bei^an an enerixetic campaign for the New Testament principles, which he believed he had rediscovered, and, as this resulted in persecutions, his little church in Norwich emigrated to Holland. From there Browne and some of his fol- lowers went to Scotland, which they found almost as hostile to them as Eugland. Afterwards Browne re- turned to England, where he was for a time imprisoned. Later he became reconciled to the Established Clunx'h. and was made the i-ector of a small parish church, where he remained until his death. To the men who followed his doctrines the name of " Brownists '' was given, and, because of the problems which he discussed in his pamphlets on reformation, he became the founder of Congregationalism. The principles for which he argued he had expounded forcibly, and had appealed to the people not to wait for THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 15 civil power or ecclesiastical rulers to authorize a reforma- tion, hut to begin it themselves wherever they were. *'The Kingdom of God," he wrote, "was not to be begun by whole parishes, but rather })y the worthiest, and that to compel religion, to j)lant churches by power, to force a submission to ecclesiastical government by laws and penalties did not belong to the Commonwealth, nor yet to the church," his sharpest arrows being turned against those clergy who would not take any respon- sible step without the consent of the civil government. To the majority of the Puritans many of his doctrines seemed too nidlcal, and as their aim was not to leave the Church, but to remain in it and control it, they looked with dread and disapproval upon this extremist who seemed likely to endanger their success by forcing them into opposition to the Crown. Had the Church of England listened to his oracles, she would have been spared many bitter humiliations and many dark pas- sages in her history, yet for this young prophet she had no answer but prison walls. The desire for freedom of worship was now spreading throughout the kingdom with startling rapidity, espe- cially through the eastern counties. This was partly attributable to the influence of the Walloons, or the Protestant cloth -weavers, who had been induced to come over from the Netherlands a few years before this time on account of their skill in weaving, and had settled in Canterbury, Colchester, Norwich, and vicinity. Everywhere now men and women were separating U) OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS themsolvos from the chiirt'li of their fathers for the sake of this more simpk^ faith. Because so many were unwilhng to assent to creeds and artick\s which they only partially believed, because they would not promise to observe rubrics which they habitually ignored and because they would not vow allegiance to an *"" ordinary*' which they had no intention of fulfilling, the parish chuivhes became deserted, and so many '"conventicles," or secret gatherings, Avere held that, when Parhament assembled in l5Si\ Sir AValter Raleigh startled the House by declaring that he believed there were "near twenty thousand Brownists in England." The pamphlets of Robert Browne were still in cir- culation, and the Separatists now had a champion in a man less brilliant, but with greater streuirth of character. This man, Henry Barrowe, who defended the principles of Separatism by the final argument of martyrdom, was also a man of high social standing. In his colleoje davs at Cambridcfe he had led a reckless life, and after graduation had turned his attention to the law. One Sunday he had gone with a companion to hear a well-known Separatist, John Greenwood, preach the doctrine of Separatism, and tlie words which he had heard so impressed themselves upon him that new thoughts began to rankle in his mind. Impet- uous by nature, this libertine youtli, who was well known both in Eondon and abroad, changed at once his course of life, and began a preciseness of living which was commented upon with wonder by all his acquaintances. THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 17 His study of the New Testament carried him be- yond the doctrines of Robert Browne, and soon he was openly advocating the principle that the doctrine of toleration was the logical secjuence of Separatism. It was a new doctrine, and the leaders of thought were not slow to see that in the development of the liberties of the people it was of the greatest importance to have ecclesiastical power separated from civil authority. Not long afterwards Greenwood was arrested for ex- pressing his Separatist views, and Barrowe on visit- ing him was also locked up without even the for- mality of a warrant, his name and character being too well known for the officers to allow him to escape liecause of a mere technical breach of the law. For five years both men were imprisoned, but during that time they succeeded in writing a large amount of manu- script, which was printed surreptitiously by their friends. They well knew the risk they were taking, l)ut religious convictions had become dearer than life, and in 1593 both gave proof of these convictions on the gallows. Two months after their martyrdom another well- known Separatist, John Penry, died the same death for the same cause. He had been brought up a Roman Catholic, and educated at both Cambridge and Ox- ford. Because the spiritual condition of his native country of Wales had kindled his indignation, he made a scathing condemnation of non-resident clergy, de- claring that a clergyman wlio never preached was 18 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS not a true minister of Christ. Later he became a Separatist, and not only fearlessly preached his beliefs, but with a private printing-press printed the doctrines of Separatism. At this time, from some unknown quarter, tracts suddenly began to appear, showing the abuses of the Church and the oppressions of the day. They were full of personalities, their impertinences were grotesque, and the scandals of the Church were broadly portrayed. Every one was reading them, — the court, the politicians, and the peasants. The scholars of the university, concealing them under their gowns, laughed over them in secret. Each was signed " Martin Marprelate," and John Penry was believed to be the author, it being kno^Mi that he had a printing- press, and that he had long been spreading broad- cast religious literature which had a burn and a glow. Thus, while the bishops were pursuing their grim policy of persecution for the eradication of dissent, and were crowding the jails with Separatists and Non- conformists, — the jail being the one weapon at their command, — they became conscious that the people of the land were laughing at them. In their dilemma they were forced to make an example of somebody, and Penry died on the gallows for advocating liberty of worship and the freedom of the press. In this struggle against ecclesiastical t\Tanny Barrowe, Greenwood, and Penry had been making English history, and with their deaths Cono:re, because of perse ciition, John Smith and his church fled to Hol- hind, where civil and religious liberty was being hammei*ed out at a time when the clang of the anvil was scarcely heard in any other part of Europe. That same year AVilliam Brewster, who lived in Scrooby, and AVilliam Bradford, of Auster- field. a small village just north of Scrooby, formed a church at Scrooby, where they wor- shipped in Brewster's house, the congregation soon becom- ing so large that the service had to be held in the stable near by. It was this church which, outliving all pei*secu- tions, became the church from which the Congrega- tional churches of to-day have sprung, and it was these Scrooby worshippers who later became known as our Pilgrim Fathers, and the real founders of our republic. As the Brewster house was on the outskirts of the village, just otY the Groat Xorth Road, it was particu- larlv adapted for secret iratherinjis. It was on the bank of a little stream and so surrounded on the three other sides by a moat that it could only be reached by a drawlu'idgo which lotl to the village, the house being a part of the manor estate of the Archbishop of York. 1 I_VDY ROSE HICKMAN 22 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS "Within this moat, which enclosed four acres of land, there was also an ancient palace, a massive building of great antiquity, which was abandoned and fast going to decay. This palace "was a grete manor place within a mote all bylded of tymbre, saving the front of the haulle that is of brick. The juner conite bylding is of tymbre and is not in compace past the 4 part of the utter conite." In earlier days it had been used by the different archbishops of York in going from one part of this diocese to another with their splendidly equipped retinues. Here Cardinal ^Yolsey, when Archbishop of Y'ork during the reign of Henry YIH., found shelter after he was disgraced by his king whom he had served so long, and here later the king himself once spent a night on his way north. Adjoining this palace was the house in which Brewster T»as living at this time, and, being a newer building and still in good condition, it became the manor house of the estate now that the palace had gone to decay. For many years it had been also used as one of the government post-offices for official business, and, be- cause it was on one of the four o^reat hio:hwavs of the kingdom, the bailiff was brought into frequent con- tact with distinguished persons travelling on affairs of state. Here Brewster's father had been government postmaster and bailiff, and here, soon after Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, Brewster was born and spent his boyhood. After studying for a time at Cam- bridge, he received under William Davison, Queen 't^BOTDf' / I 2 F^ ^ 8 £ ) 10 5 b 7 1 .11 |,2 13 |I^ |L,5 BREWSTER HOUSE GATE O GARDEN |S F I FIELD 16 20 21 17 19 STABLE YARD 22 23 ENTRANCE 24 25 MOAT >50YD S^?"lDr GROrXD PLAX OF THE SCROOBY Bril.DIXGS 1. Hennery. 11. Milk Pantry. 19. A- 21. Cow Barn. 2. Passageway. 12. ct 13. Rooms. 20. Shed. 3 Store Room. 14. Entrance Hall and 90 Hav Barn. 4, & 7. Wash Room. Stairs. 23. Butchering Room. 5. ScuUerv. 1.5. Living Room. 24. Stock Yard. 6. Pantry. 16. Horse Stalls. 25. Cart Shed. S & 9. Kitchen. 17. Cow Barn used for P. Palace. 10. Carriage Shed. Church Services. D. Draw Bridge. 24 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Elizabeth's Secretary of State, an appointment which took him to London, where he saw much of the Hfe at court. AVhile hving there, he had accompanied Davison on an embassy to Hohand, where his work was so highly esteemed that a brilliant political future seemed before liim. Not long after their return, however, came the fall of Davison, whom Queen Ehzabeth had made her scapegoat in order to evade her own respon- sibility in signing the death warrant for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. This ended Brewster's politi- cal career, and he returned to Scrooby. Soon after tliis his father died, and he received the appointment of postmaster which his father had held before him — an oflSce making him at once the principal man in the village and the most prominent member of the village church. William Bradford, who was associated with Brews- ter in the church at Scrooby, was then a boy of seventeen, and twenty-three years Brewster's junior. His home in Austerfield, thi*ee miles north of Scrooby, was with one of his uncles, his father having died when he was little over a year old, leaving him a comfortable inheritance. Like his father, Bradford's two uncles were prosperous yeomen and of good social positions in their neighborhood, so that Bradford had inherited more than the ordinary ability of a country boy and had probably received more than the usual village boy's education. At the head of this Scroobv church was Richard I ' 8 26 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Clyfton, a grave and fatherly man, who because of his godly life and the enthusiasm of his faith had made many converts to the Separatists' belief. For several vears he had been the rector of the village church of Babworth, seven miles south of Scrooby, but had lost his position because he had refused to subscribe to all the canons of the English Church, which were then being rigorously enforced. Later he joined the Sep- aratist movement, and, when the Scrooby church was organized, became its spiritual adviser. Soon after the organization of the church he had as his colleague John Robinson, a man who had always lived in that section and who had such nobleness of character and breadth of intellect that his name later liecanie well known on two continents. Robinson was then thirty-seven years old, with unusual analyti- cal abilitv in theoloirical matters and sinoularlv oifted in civil ati'airs. Upon leaving college, he took orders in the Established Church, but from the first had scruples about the vestments and ceremonials insisted upon. These scruples finally led to his suspension, and this suspension to a separation from his church. Joining the Sej)aratist movement, he became pastor of a church in Norwich, where "he won men's hearts to himself as well as to the truth." Because of his influence it was not long before NoinNich men began to be excommunicated for " resorting with and praying with John Robinson, a man reverenced by all the citv for the Grace of Cioil in him." and. when he f CONGREGATIONALISM 27 himself began to be harassed with fines and impris- onment, be beheved it was for the best interest of the church that he shoukl give up his pastorate. The Scrooby church being organized soon after this, he joined that body because its doctrines appealed to him as more in accord with his understanding of the Scriptures than those of the other Separatist churches. With such men as these for leaders, it was certain that the Scrooby church would not be left long in peace. Before these persecutions began, however, there had developed between Bradford and Brewster a friendship which, both in the Old World and the New, was to be deepened by common hardships and common suffer- ings, the individuality of each in the New World power- fully imprinting itself upon the American people. Before the Scrooby church was organized Queen Elizabeth had died, and James I. became king. Upon his accession to the throne eight hundred of the clergy presented to him their famous Millenary Petition, asking that a reform be made in the ecclesi- astical courts; that the superstitious usages sanctioned in the Prayer Book be done away with; that there be a more rigid enforcement of the Sunday laws; that there be more trained preachers; that the sur})lice and the sign of the cross be dispensed with in baptism; and that the ring be used in the marriage ceremony. In reply to this petition the king had said to his bish- ops, "I will make them conform, or I will harry them out of the land," and one of the bishops solemnly 28 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS assured the king that these words were spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Under Bancroft, his " archbishop, non-conformists were now hunted and persecuted on all sides, and finally when It became known to the authorities that William' Bre wster was a Separatist, his commission as post- "^^^^ master was taken from him, and a warrant issued for his arrest, the warrant being "against William Brewster of Scrooby, Gentleman, for Brownism." Of the Scrooby Separatists, "some were taken and clapt into prison, others had their houses watched day and night, and the most were fain to fly and leave their habitations and the means William Bradford was also wanted by the king's officers, and the tradition is that once, while the officers were searching for him he escaped arrest by being hidden in a copper caul-' dron in the cellar of his house. Most of the members of the Scrooby church re- morselessly hunted down and with little hope of livin. peacefuHy ,n their own land, determined to cross the sea to Holland where there was religious freedom for all, and where many Separatists had already fled from London and other places. Although it was a country JAMES of their livelihood. CONGREGATIONALISM 29 where they must learn a new language and where their only means of livelihood would be by traffic and trade, to which, being yeomen and farmers, they were unaccustomed, "they were willing to sacrifice all of their inheritance which it was possible for man to sacrifice in order to make their new plan of life control their actions." They knew that it was as unlawful to flee as it was to remain without conforming, and, since all the ports would be closed against them, it Would be necessary, if they were to get away, either to bribe the captain of some vessel to take them over or to pay exorbitant rates for their passage, as if they were felons instead of men with a peaceable r-eligion fleeing from causeless oppression. After several ineffectual attempts to escape by twos and threes, these people in October, 1607, having decided to go in a body, secretly chartered a vessel to take -them on board at Boston, the nearest seaport town. We know how the captain of the vessel betrayed them after all were on board, how the authorities took from them their money and most of their personal property, and then brought them before the Boston magistrates, who, after detaining them a month, put seven of the leaders, including Brewster, into the prison cells of the old Guild Hall to await trial at the higher court, and sent the others back to Scrooby. In this Guild Hall one can still see the cells on the basement floor where Brewster and his companions were imprisoned, these being reached from the court-room above by a winding 30 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS staircase through a trap door. Of the trial of these men in the higher Court of Assizes no record has ever been found, but we know that the following spring, when another attempt was made to get away, Brewster and the others were already back in Scrooby. The probability, therefore, is that, because their imprison- ment w^as making converts to their faith, it was thought the better part of discretion to have the cases dismissed and the men released. They were now obliged to use the utmost caution in planning to reach Holland. All were ready to leave at a moment's notice, and, when a Dutch sea cajitain from the coast of Zecland in Holland was found at Hull, willing to take the risk of shipping fugitives from their native land, they made a bargain with him to take them over. The place from which they planned to sail was a desolate spot on the I>incolnshire side of the Humber River, near its mouth, where the river was nearly five miles wide, Holland being about due east three hundred miles away. The nearest seaports were Grimsby, eleven miles to the south, and Hull, nine miles to the north. It was an ideal place for their rendezvous, for the projecting coast line at this point hid both seaports. Thornton Abbey, the nearest village, was five miles inland, and. although there were a few houses at Killinohome, four miles awav, both villaires were hidden from the shore bv a low rano^e of hills. The shore between Hull and Grimsbv was lar^elv a marsh meadow, but at the place which they had picked l3 32 OUK PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS out there was "a large oomoiie a good way distant from any towne." This was a tract of a thousand aeres of upland, having on the Grimsby side of it a narrow inlet, later known as ^lollie Hrown's Cove. This place was thirty-six miles from Scrooby, and as far as Thornton Abbey there was a good highway, with no large town beyond Ciainsborough. It also had the advantage oi being a place which could be reached by water, for the river Idle. Howing through the meado"sv east of Scrooby, emptied into the Trent, five miles below Gainsborough, and the Trent into the Humber, eighteen miles above this cove. As unusual precautions were necessary to avoid discovery, it was decided that the women and children, with what household goods were to be taken, should be sent by water and that the men should go by land. Existing records show that the boat with the women and children c^uietly sailed after dark down the Idle, and that, when the boat had gone, the men started across country in twos and threes, resting at daybreak in out-of-way places until it again became dark enough to make it safe to travel. This journey probably took three days, and as, on account of the tides, the trip by water would take about the same length of time, it is likely that all met at "Mollie Brown's Cove on the same day.' Here the Pilgrim Fathers, for the last time in Eng- land, sutfered persecution: and, although there is no memorial to them hore.Rrewster and those with him de- con(j;ui:gationalism 33 cided at this place the destiny of the American nation. We know that upon their arrival they waited in vain for the vessel which was to take them to Holland, and that, when night cjime the hoat with the women Jind children, which had been heatinoj back and forth in the river, anchored in the cove, and the men went back to the foot-hills and camped under the trees. We know that the next morning the men anxiously paced back and forth along the shore, watching in vain for their vessel; that the boat with the women and children became aground in the cove, as it was then low tide; that the vessel was finally seen coming down the river, and that, after dropping anchor, the ship's tender was sent ashore. We know what followed: that some of the men were at once taken aboard; that the tender had started back for its second boat-load when foot soldiers and cavalry, followed by the people of the neighborhood, were seen coming over the hills; that the tender at once returned to the vessel, and the captain, fearing arrest, weighed anchor and stood to the eastward with a fair wind for Holland; that the women and children, still in the boat aground in the cove, seeing their husbands and fathers sailing away, and knowing that they themselves would be imprisoned, were in great distress; and that, during the excitement, some of the men on the shore escaped along the river- bank, while the others remained to give such aid as they could to the helpless women. It was a critical moment in the lives of these people. 34 OUK riAMlH'TlI FOKKFATIIERS Oneo bofoiv IkuI \\\c\ tried to osoapo aiul failocL and in that snporstitious a^o tlioro niiiiht well have boon a Nvavorinix in thoir minds whothor. at'tor all. thoro was not a divine disa[>proval of this eontest \n hieh they seemed to be making ai^ainst the inevitable. It was one of those times of indecision when stiono- minds con- trol the weaker ones, and wo know that Robinson and Brewster prevailed npon all to accept without tiinchino- this new persecution. Little did thev then imagine that the stand there taken was to make their cause famous, and that their example, thirty-tive years later, was to bring about for religious liberty a civil war which was to end in the beheading of England's king and the rise of a Puritan as dictator. At Mollie ]>rown's Conc the future history of America hung in the balance, those few hours on the Humber being as im|x>rtant in shaping its history as the em- barkation later made from Delft Haven, the compact signed in the cabin oi the May Flower, or the landing at Plymouth Rock. — all so often pictured, but in comparison mere incidents in the lives of these people. AVe know how the day ended, — that they were put under arrest, and only given their liberty after being hurried from place to plai-o and turned over from one othcial to another, who each in turn was glad to be rid of them. Then, some from one place and some from another, all finally succeeded in reaching Holland, thus breaking the link which bound them to the past. CHAPTER III THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND After reaching Holland, these S(*ro()l)y emigrants de- cided to settle in Amsterdam, partly })ecaiise it was a seaport city where they could easily get em[)loymcnt and partly because the followers of John vSmith and other Separatists, all self-exiled for the same cause, were there. From those who had sailc^d in the Dutch trad- ing vessel and were already located here, they learned that the vessel had hardly been out of sight of England when a gale had driven it far up the coast of Norway, where it had several times almost foundered in the heavy seas. Once, even the (captain and crew had given up all as lost; but after fourteen days tlu^y had finally reached Holland, without money or change of clothing. However, in the new life and the enjoyment of peace with lil)erty the past was cjuickly forgotten. Other ties as well as those of religion now bound them together; for now each knew the calibre of the others, and mem- ories of their persecutions for soul-freedom were lost sight of in the triumph of their cause. ROBINSON .S HOU.se 36 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Although they were in a country where they were free to worship as they chose, their resources were small, and they were obliged to make their homes in the poorest quarter of the city, some living- on an alley four feet wide leading from Barndesteeg Strasse into another alley twelve feet wide where most of the others lived, this wider alley leading into Achterburgwal Strasse. Their homes have long since disappeared, but the same old Dutch architecture remains, and the very echoes of the place, faint and far as they are to-day, recall these people in their conical-shaped hats, broad white collars, flowing sleeves, and knickerbockers, always content with their lot and willingly working as 'longshoremen or in the shipping houses or for the tradespeople. The Protestant wave against Roman Catholicism long before this time had swept over Holland, and in 1579, when Amsterdam adopted the reformed religion, the Catholic churches were given over to advocates of the new faith. In one of these churches such of the followers of Robert Browne as had remained in Holland now worshipped, but, dissensions arising in 1600, some of these Brownists left the church and worshipped in the warehouse still standing at the corner of the two alleys where the Pilgrims, ten years later, lived. With these men John Smith and his followers, when they came to Amsterdam, allied themselves, and with them the Scrooby emigrants now worshipped. The theological views of these worshippers had not THK 1ML(;RIMS in HOLLAND 37 yet crystallized, tind hetweoii the Hrownists and tlie followers of John Smith contentions were common. Arminius, an Amsterdam man, was then preachin<>; radical doctrines in the University of Leyde!i, and, wlien Jolm Smith he<;an to advocate doctrines not unlike them, the Brownists expelled him and his followers from the church. These exiles then settled in Leyden, where, under the influence of Arminius and of Episcopius, who succeeded him after his death the next year, they lost their identity as a distinct reli<;ious hody. The Scrooby peopU^ for a time con- tinued to worshi[) with the Brownists, hut Robinson and the other discernino; ones amono; them early saw that the Brownist faith was driftiniij further and fiu-ther froin their own doctrines, and they began to fear religious entanglements. Mor€H)ver, brought up as they had been in the country villages of England, they were not adapted to the life of a conunercial city, where both the customs and the language were strange to them, and, as poverty had begun to tighten its grip upon them, it was decided, after a year in Amster- dam, to move to the university city of Ix^yden, for in that (piiet inland place they would be more likely to obtain congenial em})loyment. A few, however, remained in Amsterdam with Richard Clyfton,wh() had begun to believe in a less democratic form of church government. Those who went to I^eyden settled near St. Peter's Cathedral, once a Roman ('atholic church, which with ALLEY LEADING FROM BARNDESTEEG STRASSE ALLEY LEADING FROM ACHTERBURGWAL STRASSE 40 OUK PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS the Roforiuatlon had become Diiteh Reform. In a room opposite this; cathedral these Separatists now worshipjxxl according to the simple principles which thev believed the New Testament tanght. Dnring the eleven yeai*s that thev were here some were employed in printing-honses and book binderies, and others in the varions trades carried on, a few of the better edu- cated ones earning their living by tutoring students. Among these was AVilliam Brewster, who received moiv than the usual wage both as a proof-reader and as a tutor to the Danish and German students (some of noble families \ and who devoted his leisure to print- ing in the English language books and pamphlets which explained the Separatist dcxHrines — doctrines so ob- noxious to the Established Church that their sale had been forbidden in England. So well were these people now groimded in the dcx^- trines of Congregationalism tliat thev had no fear of being Marj^HHl by the dogmas of Arminius, for they had alivady stood the test in the controversy between the Brownists and John Smith. John Robinson, now their leader, had alrt\idy shown marked ability in di- iveting their civil atfaii-s, and, having more than once successfully debated in public the soundness of their faith, had gained notoriety as a theologian and the resptx't of even the men of the I'niversity. The trades- people of Eeyden. too, weiv not sUnv in seeing that the religion of these men made peaceable, honest, and in- dustrious citizens, and, as these Separatists scx^n grew THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND 41 to be a body of considerable importance, the success of the settlement began to be known beyond Holland, and to attract to Holland, Separatists from all parts of England. AVhile here, they were joined by many who after- wards became prominent in America. Among these were Edward Winslow, a young man of leisure, who, while travelling in Holland, had become so impressed with their doctrines that he decided to settle among them, and Myles Stand ish, a soldier of fortune, who had come to the I^ow Countries in the army of Eliza})eth. To Robinson, Brewster, Bradford, and these two men, not only a great nation, but the civilized world, owes a debt it can never repay. Each was a man of mark: the first, a deep thinker and a born leader of men; the second, a man of refinement, whose religious faith was go deep that no sacrifice was too great to make; the third, a man with executive powers that made him the head of the colony in America, and for many years its governor; the fourth, its ablest financier and a man whose great ability later became appreciated by the English government; and the fifth, a soldier whose courage and sound common sense more than once saved the colony from extermination by the Indians. I'here is little to tell of their eleven uneventful years in Leyden. To assist in the increasing work of the church, William Brewster was made an elder, and every Sunday and twice each week John Robinson expounded the doctrines of their faith in their room- 42 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS chapel close by the house in which he hved. They had come to Holland soon after the beginning of the twelve years' truce between the Dutch and the Span- iards,— then the two great naval powers of the world,— and, now that the truce was nearly over, the Dutch gov- ernment had begun active preparations for a continua- tion of the war. Everywhere ^^ere armed troops and the beating of drums, and with these military prepara- tions going on there was the liability that all able- bodied men would be drafted. Because of this Robin- son and the others felt that it was not a time to take chances, for, if they were scattered, the work already accomphshed would go for nothing; and, even if un- molested, there was the fear that they would be per- secuted for their religion, should the Spaniards conquer the country. None knew better than these reformers themselves that the world was not yet ready to accept their relig- ion. To these men whose consciences had forced them to sacrifice everything for their religion, no project was too hazardous to undertake. It was a bold plan, however, which the leaders outlined when they de- cided that only in the western hemisphere, among a people unhampered by Old World prejudices would they be sure of freedom in their religious beliefs. As Brad- ford afterwards wrote, ''They had great hope & in- ward zeall of laying some good foundation or at least to make some way thereto for ye propagating & ad- vancing ye gospel of ye Kingdom of Christ in those THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND 43 remote parts of the world; yea though they should be but stepping stones unto others for ye performing so great a work." There were also other reasons why a move seemed desirable. During the years they lived in Holland their children had been exposed to the contaminating influence of city life. The Sabbath, so dear to them, w^s openly violated; military enlistment was now a strong temptation to their young men ; and they especially feared that their children by inter- marriages with the Dutch would eventually be absorbed by these people. To the majority of these Separatists the plan of form- ing a colony in the western hemisphere seemed imprac- ticable, not only because other colonies there had been unsuccessful, but especially because they lacked the money necessary to fit out an expedition. The judg- ment of the few, however, prevailed, and it was decided to settle either under the Dutch in South American Guiana or under the English in North America. The book which Raleigh had published in 1596, giving a glowing description of Guiana as a country of perpetual summer where everything grew in abundance, had had its effect upon them, but, after much discussion, they decided that it would not be advisable to live where the climate was so warm. There was also the fear that, should they settle in Dutch Guiana, the Spaniards might massacre them in the same way that the Hugue- nots had been massacred in Florida. On the other hand, they knew, if they planted a colony in North 44 OIH ri.YMOUTH FOUKFA TUKUS Amorirn. thoiv would bo tho liability oi tho samo por- siHution thov had sutVoivd in Kmrlaiul. Since, howovor. nianv boliovod that tho kinii' wonUl ^rant thoni froodoni ot" ivlii:ii>n. it was dotorniinoil to bo^in no^otiations with tho \'iririnia Conipanv for a tract ot* its land near onouiih to tho \'iri:inia colony to iiot assistance in time of any danger. Fivlin^- that thoy wore about to make a pilgriniaixe similar to those oi the C^*usadei*s to the Holy T.and, auil " that, even if they lost their lives in this action, yet thoy might have comfort in the same, and their endoavc>r would be honorable." they calUni them- selves rili::rims. Kor twelve years they had lived within easy sailing distance o't tlioir old homos, whoiv thoy would not have Invn v^bliged to grapple with |H>verty, but their make-up was such that they never waveivd. and thoy weiv now ivady to make the new venture. Not only had the hardsliips which they had willingly accepted bcvn titting then\ for the Amer- ican wilderness, but it had bivn developing in them that capacity for practical, e^xtnoniical, and thrifty wi>rk without which their attempt at colonisation would have Uvn a failuiv. Kven bettor than thev knew they buildovi. The [vrstx'utions and ]>rivations which had made their tivth come tighter together, and their hands shut closer, luul Uvn woKling their deter- mination for ivligious fiwtlom into a determination to demand fixwlom in all things. The virus prickeil into their blood bv tho Koformatii^n was to make them THK IMLGIUMS IN HOLLAND 45 later j)ro(laiin llial in America there should he no sueli condition ol" niardvind as ruler and vassal, but thai all men were created e, English fish-curing and fur-trading stations had been estab- lished along the Maine coast, the Island of Monhegan being a well-known rendezvous for English fisher- men. During the next two years several cx^xHiitions were titted out in England for the pur^x^so oi explor- ing this Xew England coast, the most im^xirtant one being that of Captain Dermer. who remained in the country nearly three years, spending several months on the Ca[X^ Cod coast and exploring Plymouth and Barnstable harlx^rs. his exj^lorations of Plymouth Harbor only prcivding the settlouiont of the Pil- grims by about a year. At tliis time the commcRnal company chartered by James I. to colonize English North America had been subdivided into two companies, the one known as the Si^iuth Virginia Company, ^ith headquarters in London, being granted all the southern part of North America: the other, known as the North Virginia Compiiny. with headquarters in Plyiuouth. being granted the land from the latitude of Now York THK 1ML(;RIMS JN HOLLAND 47 to the settlonicnt at Quchco. In I lie frnmts to these two companies it was sti{)ulate(l tfiat tiicre sliould ])(' a liundicd miles of vacjint land l)('tw('on tlie two. At the head of the JMymoulh ('ornpany was Sir Fenhnando (ior^es, whose eomf)any had started out with loo little capital lo enter upon scheines involving immediate outlays, and almost I'rorn the first it had sour passonovrs wore transferred to the other vessel. There were now no fears of porseeution, as reh^ions prejndiees against them had lessened dnrino' their twelve years in Hol- land, but new troubles unexpectedly eonfronteil them. Weston, who had eome to see them otl". now insisted that all should ag-reo to the ehang-e which he and Cush- man had u\ade in the t'ompact. and. when thev declined to do so without the consent of those in Loyden, he refused to give them the hundred pounds necessary to get their clearance papers, and in anger returned to London. In this dilcuuna they were forced to sell most of their butter, oil. and shoe leather, besides many of the swords and muskets shipped for use in America, and in consequence were obliged to sail with an outtit too scanty for the voyage or for planting a colony. Tittle did they then appreciate the serious- ness of being obliged to sail so poorly equipped, but in their casual mention of it, as a mere incident connected with their departure, we realize the exhausted condition of their resources. CHAPTER IV THE SETTLEMENT AT PLYMOUTH 1020 When the Pilgrims sailed from Southampton, they followed the southern shore of England. AVe know that on both ves- sels many were seasick, and that at night, when the captain of the Speed\vell said his vessel w^as leaking, both ves- sels put into Dartmouth Har- bor for repairs. Ten days later a second start was made, but, when they were three hundred miles beyond Land's End, the Speedwell's captain claimed that his vessel was unseaworthy, and both vessels sailed back to England and anchored in Plvmouth Harbor. We know that most of those who had come from Lon- don now lost courage and gave up the voyage; Copyright by John A . LitwcU Co. THE MAY FLOWER THE SETTLEMENT AT PLYMOUTH 55 that otJicTs found their religious enthusiasni was not deep enough to withstand seasickness; and that among those who abandoned the expedition were Custiman and his family. We know that the now over- crowded May Flower sailed alone September six- teenth, H)2() having on board, besides the captain and the crew thirty-four Separatists, eighteen with their wives; twenty-eight children under twenty-one years of age; nineteen laborers and three maid -servants — in all a hundred and two emigrants. We know that when half-way across the Atlantic, for days during an equi- noctial gale, the vessel sailed under bare poles, that at last she became so strained that she buckled amid- ships and sprung so many leaks that even the sailors became alarmed; that, when the deck was stiffened and the leaks caulked, " they committeed themselves to ye will of God & resolved to proseede"; and that early one morning, to the great joy of all, sixty-six days after leaving England, Cape Cod was sighted. We know that, as their grant of land was far to the south of Cape Cod, they stood to the southward; that in tacking they found themselves drifting on to breakers among the shoals off the Cape, but were saved from shipwreck })y a breeze which had sprung up in the after- noon; that they again changed their course, and sailed for Provincetown Harbor, which in the light wind they reached the next day, Saturday, November twenty-first and that, being once more safe, they "blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious 50 OUK PLYMOUrH FOREFATHERS ocean, and delivered them from all its perils and mi^erie^." According to the arraiigeiuent made with the l.ocuion Company the settlement was to be south of the Hudson River, on what is now the Jersey or Delaware coast. Because the charter of the London Company did not cover New England, some — probably the laborers — began advancing the idea that they were independent of any authority. To guard against any inde^XMulent action being taken by these men. the leaders resolved to make a government for themselves, and accordingly. that same day in the cabin of the May Flower, forty- one of the tifly-thrtv men entered into a contract mem- orable as the tirst reionled sv^nnal covenant giving equal riirhts to all men. This compact was the basis of the laws of the infant colony, and became the foundation of the republican institutions of America. Later, by deliberate action, this compact became incor^v>rateii into a civil form of government which was the ground- work of America's future greatness. "The same day.*' wrote Winslow. "as soon as we could, we set ashore fifteen or sixttvn men well armcvi. with some to fetch woixi, for we had none left, as also to see what the land was, and what inhabitants they could meet of." On Sunday all remained on shiplxxird, where they held their customary services, and gave thanks to Him who had brought them safely through so many dangers. Winter was now fast approaching, and, as scurvy and ship fever had brv>ken out on the May Flower, THE SETTLEMENT AT PLViMOl Til 57 it was tliouglit norossarv to innko a scttloiiUMil at once. l>iit hocaiiso of tho saiulv soil it was t)ul of the (juostion to locate where tliev were. Tliev knew, liowever, that somewhere near here Captain ATartin Prino-, when trad- ino- along the Massachusetts coast in I (>():>, had laid at anchor several months, where he had found a i^'ood harbor and fertile land. Therefore, unless a still t)etter place were found within the next few days, they de- cided to locate at that place. On Monday, wdien they were ready to begin their search. Captain Jones, of the ]May Flower refused to cruise about with his vessel on the ground that he had no chart of the waters, and they then deeided to use their own shallop, a small fifteen-ton boat. As Winslow wrote, "we unshipped our shallop and drew her on land to mend and repair her, having been forced to cut lier dow^n in bestowing her betwax the decks, and she was much opened with the people lying in her which kept us there long, for it was sixteen or seventeen days before the carpenter had finished her." On Wednesday, while the boat was being repaired, Bradford and some of the others — "in all six- teen well-armed men, every man with his nuisket, sword, and corslet" — went ashore, under the command of Myles Standish, to explore the country. liittle did they realize that they were the advance-guard of a civilization which was to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and that this was the beginning of a civilization which was to affect the wdiole world. Hardly had they landed when, in going around a headland, they unexpectedly caino upon six Indians walkini: towards thoni along the boaoh. " Fii*>t thov siip^x^sod them to bo Mr. Jones the master, and some of his men. for they wei\^ ashore, but after they knew them to be Indians they mart^hed after them." The Indians, tinding themselves pursued, fled to the wooils. and Standish and his men, hoping to learn from them something of the eountry. followed tliem all that day, and at night, after [nesting three sentinels as a precaution against attack, camyxxl on the east shore of the Ca[x\ The next day they again followed the foot-prints along the shore, and the Indians, tinding themselves still pursued, again tied to the woods, whert^ Standish and his men. in following them, btvame lost in thickets so dense that some of them had their armor torn apart. That afternoon the ex- plori^rs returned to the west side of the Cape. and. after kindling a tire to let those on board know of their safety, made camp for the night. During that after- noon they had found a good-si.:od pond of fresh water, a cleared piece of gn^und where corn had btvn planted, some Indian graves, the remains of a house that some ship's crew had probably built, and a large iron kettle. They had also found, not far from the Pamet River, a clearing where corn-stalks wert^ still standing and. in holes in the ground heaptxi over with sand, some Indian baskets tilled with corn, the tirst th.ey had ever stvn. On Friday, taking with them some of this corn, they skirted the shoiv of what is now East Harbor, but unable to make soundin^fs. as thev had TlII^; SI^riTI.KMIONT AT PLYMOUTH 59 no boat, they returned in the afternoon along the shore to the May Flower. T Harbor THE FIRST EXPLOUINO EXPKDITION On Monday, DcGcmber seventh, the shallop being ready, twenty-four of the men started on a seeond exploration of the coast. Captain Jones and nine of the sailors going with them in the long l)oat. They sailed first to East ITarhor, where they made soundings, hut found it was not suitable for a settle- ment, as it did not have enough depth of water for vessels. Here they spent the night, and the next 60 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS day they sailed for the Pamet River, to see the place where the corn had been found. When leaving, they took with them some ten bushels of the corn, besides some beans which they also found. Afterwards when they recalled the incident, and remembered that on that very afternoon a blinding storm had come, which would have made it impossible to find the corn, they believed that an inspiration from God had guided them that day, and they were more than ever convinced that in critical times they were under His special care. THE SECOND EXPLORING EXPEDITIOlf THE SETTLEMENT AT PLYMOUTH 61 That afternoon Captain Jones returned to the May Flower in the long boat, and fifteen of the others took the corn back in the shallop. The next morning the shallop returned with other men to continue the ex- plorations in the vicinity of the Pa met River, and the following day, Tuesday, all returned to the May Flow^er. During this trip the weather had become so extremely cold that some of those who died later " took the original of their death here." During these two days they saw whales, seals, and codfish in abundance, and so many grampus that they thought of calling the harbor Grampus Bay. They also saw the wreck of a French fishing vessel that had gone ashore four years before, and some deserted Indians' wigwams, but, as they did not find any good harbor or a suffi- cient supply of fresh w^ater, they returned to the May Flower. The ground being now covered with snow, there was a call for men willing to make a thorough exploration of Cape Cod. From those who offered to go, Standish, Carver, Bradford, Winslow, and eight others were selected. With them Captain Jones sent three sailors, the two mates, and a pilot — in all eighteen men. On Wednesday, December sixteenth, when they started, the weather was so cold that the spray from the shallop froze on their clothing, and Bradford in his journal wrote, "their clothes were like unto coats of iron." That afternoon they made a landing where Eastham now is, and, as Indians had been noticed further up the 62 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS shore, built a rough fort of logs, driftwood, and pine boughs. That night, as smoke could be plainly seen from an Indian camp not five miles away, they posted sentinels. The folio wini^^mornino;, dividinii; their forces, some sailed along the shore in the shallop, while the others explored inland. At sunset a new camp was made not far from their camp of the night before, at a place now known as Great ^leadow Creek, the shallop coming in at high tide. Here they again made a tem- porary fort, and, after building a fire in the centre, lay around it for the night. The next morning "after praicr thoy prepared for breakfast and, it being day dawning, it was thought best to be carrying things down to ye boat," for it was necessary on account of the tide for the shallop to get out of the creek at sunrise. Ac- cordingly, most of them carried down their guns and left them on the bank, covering them with their coats to protect them from the dew. While they were at breakfast in the fort, suddenly strange shouts came from the woods, and one of their number rushing in, cried, "Men! Indeans, Indeans!" All was now excitement, and they were hardly on their feet before arrows began flying about them. Two of their number, who still had their guns with them, at once rushed to the en- trance of their fort, and began tiring at the savages now coming out of the woods. AVhile these two men guarded the fort, the others made a dash for their arms on the shore. The Indians, believing their enemies were fleeing, now gave a shout of victory, but in a moment THE SETTLEMENT AT PLYMOUTH 63 the men had returned with their guns, and immediately every man was firing. The leader, a large swarthy Indian, became the target, and, when splinters began to fly about him from the tree behind which he stood, he gave a frightened shout, and, with the others, dis- appeared. This was the Pilgrims' first taste of Indian war- fare, and their first contest with a race of men who thereafter were to be an important factor in their lives. Although the contest was a short one, — for the Indians did not then understand the use of fire- arms, — it was the beginning of a warfare which was not to end until thousands of white men had been killed and the Indians had been driven from their lands. During this skirmish several coats hanging on the branches of the trees around the entrance to the fort were riddled with arrows, yet not a man was hit. Consequently, there was not one among them who did not believe that they had all been saved by the providence of God. After firing a few shots in the air as a further challenge, the explorers followed the Indians through the woods for a quarter of a mile, and then returned to their boat, where they offered a prayer of thanksgiving for their deliverance. This place they named First Encounter. But their troubles were not yet over. They had left the May Flower after what they supposed was the end of a north-easterly storm; but, as they coasted along the shore, snow began to fall, and in the after- 04 OrU rLYMOUTH FORKFATHKRS noon tl;o >torni bocanio so violent and made sueh a heavv sea that their rudder broke, and they had to steer with oars. Then the mast snapjHnh and, in goini: overboard, so nearly eapsize*.! the boat that for a moment all irave themselves up as lost. In their dilenuua they rowed for the shore, hopiuir, with the tide now on the ticxni. to bo able to land; but, as the breakers were now so hiirh that they eould not make a landinir, they were obliged to put to sea again. Finally, after houi*s of rowing, they weiv able to get under the lea of an island. It was now long after dark, and, fearing another attack, they hesitated about going ashore; but all were so l>enumbed by the cold, that the more ^entu^esome landed and kindled a tire. Si>on the others followed, aud before long all were asleep from sheer exhaustion. AVithout knowing it. they were at the entrance of Plymouth Harbor — so named by Captain John Smith six years before — and had at last reached the long-sought-for place where Captain Pring had anchored in 1603. This island they aftenvard nanuxi Clark's Island as Clark, the mate of the May Flower, was in command of the shallop. That night the wind shifted. In the morning, when the sun came out, it grew warmer; and. after giving thanks to Cod for their deliverance, the men. who were too worn out to make further explorations, s|^Hmt the day in drying their clothes and in cleaning their iruns. The next dav thev held their Sundav ser- THE SETTLEMENT AT PLYMOUTH 65 vices as usual. On Monday, December eleventh (old style), or December twenty-first (new style), after mak- inj^ soundings of Plymouth Harbor and finding good anchorage, they landed on the solitary boulder now known as Plymouth Rock. This was the historic landing of the Pilgrims, and the boulder is still kept THK THIRD EXPLORINO F.XPEDITTON as a memorial to these pioneers of freedom who helped shape the age. During the two following days they explored the country, finding several clearings v^^here 66 OUK FLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS tiie Indians had planted corn, sewral brooks, and se^-e^al exi.vllent springs of water. But what mc^t appealed to them was the hill on the shore, when? they cx»iild easily build a fortitioation airtuust Indian attacks, for it ov»nimanded both the harbor and the land. Having been gone a week, and satisfied with what they had seen, they retumevi aoi\>?s; Cape Cod Bay to IV»Yincetowu Harbor, twenty-live miles away. Two days later. IVcember twent\--fifth ^new style), the May Flower sailed for Plymouth Harbor but a head wind springing up, the captain did not daie beat in between the islands and the shore, so the ves^^l lay at anchor for the night otT Gurnet Head. The next day. Saturvlay. December twenty-sixth, ha^-ing a fcur wind they sailevi into Plymouth Harbor, where anchcNr \k-as dn>ppevi *' a mile and almost a half off * the shckre. The great woi^ of the May Flower was accom- plished. Her timK^rs were sprung, her bulwarks ^rere torn away, and her sails, ** rent by many gales and patched by the hands of the sailar«s ** wimi? flap- ping against her masts. Unknown h> them>elves, these men. who for three months had hved in a vt?ssel too small for half their number, were to begin a new epoch in civitijation, and to become the con- necting link in the chain of evvnts joining the hishMry of the Old World with that of the New. When these Pilgrim? left Leyden in August, they bad expected to build their homes before cold ireather came, but the dela>-s causevi bv the unseawoitiiT ci»- THE SKTTLKMKXT AT FLYMOrTU oT liition of the Speoilwoll aiui by the storms onooiin- toRxi during the vovai^? over had bixnight thorn to the bloak Now Kiiirlaiui coast at the time when shoUor \vas most luvdod. Since all were anxious to i:et the colony started as scxni as jx\N>ible. on Monday morn- ing an exploring jxirty was sent ashore, it being agret\l tliat after their explorations they should pray fof divine guidance, and then divide by vote whether or not this should be the place for their settlement. C^^n ^^'ednesday. when the question came up for decision, some wished to Kxwte where Kingston now is: but this w;\s not thought practicable, as the forests could not be cleared in time for planting. Others who advocated Clark's Island, wen.^ overruled, as this was not only tliickly wooded, but poorly watered. The majority. however, were in favor of Kx\iting wheri^ tlie town of Plymouth now is. In addition to its topographical advantages tliis place had a good supply of water: the Indian cornfields were ready for cultivation; straw- berry plants were found in abundance, and also tlu- sassafras-tree, which was then highly prized by Kun>- }x\uis because of its sup].xx with them. And whereas at our tirst ar- rival at Paomet, called hv us Caj^K^ Cod, we found there corn buried in the ground and finding no in- habitants but some graves of dead new buried, we took the corn, resolving if ever we could hear of any that had right thereunto to make satisfaction to the full for it. yet such we understood the owners thereof were Hed for fear of us our desire was either to pay them the like quantity of corn. English meal or any other commodities we had to pleasure them withal, requesting liim that some of the men might signify so much unto them and we would ciMitent him for his pains. And last of all our governor requestino; one favor of him, which was that he woukl exchange some of their com for seed witli us, that we might make trial which best agreed with the soil where we live.** S<-~>on after this Hobomok, a pinesse or counsellor of Massasoit's tribe, joined the colony, and proved a faithful friend until his death. As he was of large size and his courage well known to the Indians there- abouts, he and Squanto were sent, in August, to trade witli the Pocassets, a tribe fourteen miles inland. On acc(.>unt of their friendship with the English. Hobomok and Squanto were attacked by these Indians, and Hobomok. making his escape, returned to the settle- ment, leaving S^^uanto a prisoner. The colonists, learning from Holx^mok wliat had happened, at once sent Standi>h. with fourteen men. to rescue Squanto, for all know \vhat the etVect would be on everv Indian, l^EGINNING OF NKW ENGLAND 79 should such trcachoiy be allowed to pass unnoticed. We know that Standish and his men surrounded the Indian villaoo, and that their warlike attitude so terri- fied tlie Pocassets tliat the Indians released S(juanto, and promised future <(ood behavior. This prompt action of tlie colonists in sending a handful of men against an Indian stronghold had shown to the Ind- ians what kind of men they had to deal with, and it so gained the respect of all Cape Cod Indians that several chiefs now besought Massasoit to make an alliance for them with a foe so formidable as these men had proved themselves to l)e. The result was that the standing of the colony in the community became much strengthened, and, having now friendly relations with all the tribes, the colonists were able to do some profitable trading with the goods brought over in the May Flower. As it would be a l)enefit to the colony to establish friendly relations with the once powerful tribe of 1 Massachusetts, in September Standish and ten of the I colonists, with Squanto and two other Indians as I guides, were sent in the shallop to Massachusetts Bay, I as Boston Harbor was then called. This was the first I visit of any of the Plymouth colonists to this section; for, although the harbor was well known to the traders J and fishermen of all the maritime nations of Europe, no attempt liad as yet been made to plant a settle- ment there. Leaving with the ebb tide on the night of September twenty-ninth, Standish and his party had so OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS expected to anchor in tlio harbor the following day, as it was only forty-fonr miles away. On a^xxiunt of li^lit winds, however, they only reached the outer harbor late in the afternoon, and dropped anchor that night o& Thompson's Island. The following morning, going ashore near where Qnincy now is, an Indian squaw told them that the chief of her tribe, who was then at the Xeponset River, could tell them wheiv the chief of the Massachusetts might be found. From here Squanto went with her in her canoe to tind her chief, and the others followed in the shallop. From this chief they learned that the squaw-sachem of the Massa- chusetts lived on the ^[ystic River. With this Indian guide they sailed across the bay to the Charles River, noticing with admiration its broad expanse and the islands, many of which showed the remains of the Indian plantations which Captain Smith had seen there seven years before. At night they anchored where the ^Ivstic tiows into the Charles, and the next morning, leaving two meri to guard their boat, went inland as far as Medford. The news of their arrival hail preceded them. They came upon several deserted wigwaniiJ, and at one place found some Indian squaws, who finally induced a brave to show himself, but not until he Avas satisfied that these strangers had not come to injure him or his people did he. "shaking and tremb- liuix for feare." show lumself. As all they could learn of the whereabouts of the squaw-sachem was that *'shee was far from thence." thev now returned to the BEGINNING OF NEW ENGLAND 81 l)oat, accompanied by the squaws, wlio in their eager- ness for trade "sold their coats from their backs, and tied bonojhs about them, but with great shamefaced- ness, for indeed they were more modest than some of our Enghsh women." That night with a fair wind and a full moon the men sailed for Plymouth, which they reached the following noon. This trip was the first recorded exploration of Boston Harbor. Seven years before. Captain Smith, when sailing along the New England coast, had named a river — which the Indians told him flowed " many days' journey into the entrails of that country" — the Charles River, but he had not located it. So Siandish really "was the first to impose such a name upon that river upon which Charlestown is built." In their going and coming they had traversed the entire bay, noticing its great size and its many islands. From the reports which they carried back to Plymouth it is, therefore, not surprising that all could not help "wishing that they had been there seated." During this autumn they harvested their small crop; traded with the Indians; supplied themselves with wild ducks, turkeys, and venison for the winter; and made clapboards to be later shipped to England. They had already begun to exercise the functions of a fully developed state: had chosen officers, m^ade laws, organized a militia, established trade relations with the Indians, and negotiated a treaty offensive and defensive with the Indian confederacv. On a small scale, there- 82 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS fore, they had estabHshed a democratic commonweaUh which they were successfully developing. Their crop of corn had liberally repaid them for the labor ex- pended, the wheat brought from England had yielded moderately, and, although their crop of peas had failed, they were able to look back with satisfaction upon their first year in this new country. To commemorate the year's work, they set aside a day for public rejoicing, and to their feast invited their Indian ally ^lassasoit, who came with ninety warriors. This festival gathering of fifty-three white settlers, including the women and children, and ninety-one Indians inaugurated the first Thanksgiving Day ever held in New England. Of this Thanksgiving festival Winslow wrote: ''Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, so that we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered in the fruit of our labors. Thev four in one day killed as nuich fowl as served the company almost a week. At this time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming among us, and with them their great King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we enter- tained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our Governor and upon the Captain and others." On November nineteenth, the Fortune, a small vessel of fifty -five tons, unexpectedly arrived with thirty- five new settlers, amono- them being Brewster's eldest BEGINNING OF NEW ENGLAND 83 son, Winslow's brother John, and Robert Cushman, Most of these new arrivals were strong, rugged men, yet few of them appreciated the seriousness of the un- dertaking upon which they had entered. They had brought over with them a patent from the New England Company, taken out in the name of John Pierce, one of the London stockholders, which covered the section in which they were located, but they had not brought a supply of food. Two weeks later the Fortune sailed for England, and Cushman, who had been sent over by the London stockholders to examine the affairs of the colony and to get the settlers, if possible, to assent to the article in the compact rejected at Southampton, went back in her, taking with him a cargo of clap- boards, sassafras, and two hogsheads of beaver and otter skins. On this return voyage the vessel was captured by the French, then at war with England, and its cargo, valued at over three hundred pounds, con- fiscated, but the vessel and those on board were al- lowed to sail to England. Although this pioneer cargo from the infant plantation was lost, so that the stock- holders received nothing for their first year's work, the colonists, notwithstanding their discouragements and their great loss in numbers, had shown that they had conscientiously worked for the interests of the com- pany. Since they had been obliged to restock the Fort- une with food for the return voyage, and, moreover, must provide food for the new colonists, an estimate S4 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS was made of the supply on hand, and, when it was found that there was not enough corn to last them until thev could harvest their next crop, it was thought neces- sary to put all upon half allowance. In consequence they were now obliged to live largely on fish food and what game they could get. But on this scanty diet they worked steadily through the winter, in good health and with unabated courage. One glimpse which we get of their daily life that winter shows the seriousness with which everything was undertaken. It was Christmas morning, and Bradford and the other men were starting as usual for their work, when the new arrivals refused to go because it was Christmas Day. Upon hearing their objections, Bradford told them, if it were a question of conscience, they need not work. When, however, Bradford on returning at noon found that these men, notwithstanding their consci-mtious scruples, had been making the forenoon a holiday, — some making wagers in pitching an iron bar at a stake, and the others iramblincr over a irame of stool ball. — he told them that he, too, had a conscience wliich would not permit him to let them play while the others worked, and, takinir from them their bar and the ball, commanded them to stay in their houses and keep the day with proper devotion if they attached a '^anctity to it. AYith this admonition the incident ended, and after dinner these men went to work, never again asking for a holi- day not enjoyed by all. CHAPTER VI THE SCARCITY OF CORN 1622 During the winter of 1621-22 the colonists built another shallop, and in the sprin<2: received a declara- tion of war from the Narra- gansetts, a powerful tribe of Indians living on the further side of Buzzards Bay. This tribe could muster two thousand warriors, and against them forty or fifty Enghshmen, even with fii-e- arms, were far from being a fair match. So implicitly, however, did the Pilgrims believe that their God would protect them that they at once accepted the challenge, for their belief in their destiny always gave them a religious courage which more than once saved them from annihilation. We all know that with this declaration of war a Narrajran- sett Indian left at the settlement a bundle of arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake, sent by the chief Canonicus; that Governor Bradford sent him back with the message that, although the colonists desired peace, if war was wanted, they need only come to u U] \1 '^^ mm i gj MYLES STANDISH 86 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Plymouth; and that only the want of boats prevented the colonists seeking them in their own country. Such defiance had not been looked for ; and, a few days later, when the skin filled with powder and bullets was sent to Canonicus, it so frightened this bellicose chief that he refused to receive the mysterious parcel. Preparations for the impending war were now begun by building from the shore around the hill to the Town Brook, a stockade, which with the brook on the south- erly side and the harbor on the easterly side would fairly well protect the settlement. In this stockade were built four projecting bastions, from wliicli with their muskets the settlers could prevent the outside of the wall being set on fire by the Indians. In three of these bastions were put hea^y gates, which at night were kept locked, with a guard stationed at each. It had taken three weeks to build the stockade, and during that time Standish had organized the men into four companies, and all able to carry muskets were drilled in military manoeuvres. The result was that the settle- ment had now quite a military appearance, and, this becoming known to the Narragansetts, so alarmed them that they gave up all thought of attacking it. In INIarch, as soon as the weather became warmer, it was decided that Standish and ten others, with Squanto and Hobomok as interpreters, should go in the shallop to ^lassachusetts Bay for corn, as their supply was nearly exhausted. When they reached Gurnet Head, three shots, the signal of danger, brought 88 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS them back. Upon investigation it was found that Squanto, jealous of Hobomok, had arranged to have one of his family tell Governor Bradford of a con- spiracy between Hobomok and Massasoit, hoping in this way to get Hobomok expelled from the colony. As soon as these facts became known, Standish with Squanto, Hobomok, and the others again started on what proved to be a successful expedition. On their return, Massasoit, having heard of Squanto's duplicity, was waiting for his arrival, so enraged with him for using his name in the deception that he had determined to kill him. With much difficulty Massasoit was finally pacified by Governor Bradford, and returned home, but soon afterwards sent a mes- senger demanding that this instigator of strife be exe- cuted — a demand which, according to the terms of the treaty, he had sl right to insist upon. As his request was not complied with, he then sent messengers with beaver and other skins as a gift, besides sending his own knife with which Squanto's head and hands were to be cut off and brought back as evidence of his death. It was now a question between disregarding a solemn treaty w^hich would make the Indians lose confidence in the white man's word, and the gratitude of the colony to the man who had so often helped them. In his dilemma, Bradford made one excuse after another for not summoning Squanto before him for trial, until at length the messengers left in anger, and for a time the colonists lost Massasoit as a friend. THE SCARCITY OF CORN 89 In May some Nauset Indians brought word to the colony that an unknown shallop was making its way from the eastward towards the harbor. It proved to be the shallop of the Sparrow, a small vessel partly owned by Weston, which with thirty other English ves- sels was fishing on the Maine coast. On board the shallop were seven passengers, who brought with them a letter from Weston, telling the colonists that he was about to establish a separate settlement near Plymouth, and asking them to care for these men until his two vessels arrived with the new settlers. These pas- sengers had also brought from the captain of one of the fishing fleet — John Huddleston, a man unknown to them — a letter telling them of a massacre by the Indians of three hundred and forty-seven settlers in Virginia, and begging them to be on their guard against a similar uprising of the Cape Cod Indians. By June the colonists had no corn in their storehouse. Although sixty acres of land had been planted, the corn had not yet grown, and that summer they were obliged to live almost wholly on lobsters, clams, and fish. When the Sparrow's shallop returned to the fishing fleet, Winslow was sent in one of the colony's shallops to get grain, and, although the different captains gave him what they could spare and refused to accept any payment, he was able to obtain but little. The scanty supply brought back, however, was enough to allow each colonist four ounces a day until harvest time, and this, added to their otherwise unvaried diet of marine 90 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS food, was, from a sanitary point of view, invaluable. Because of this scarcity of corn, it was thought advisable to keep the stock locked up, each one's allowance beinoj weighed out dailv and distributed from the storehouse. Fortunately there was but little illness, and although some of the colonists lost flesh, while others became bloated from the want of proper food, none became discouraged. That summer the colonists, both on account of the Virginia massacres and on account of their fear of the Narragansetts and the loss of Massasoit's friendship, decided to build at once a fort on the summit of the hill. Few, however, were able to work on this fort as they could have done with proper food, the cultivation of their large field of corn alone being as much as their strength allowed. Its construction consequently went on slowly; for in their enfeebled conthtion it was slow work dragging to the top of the hill the necessary timbers, most of which had to be brought long dis- tances. The fort was therefore unfinished when winter came. During this summer, Weston's two ships, the Char- ity, a vessel of one hundred tons, and the Swan, of thirty, arrived with sixty colonists, most of them hard characters. When the Charity departed for Virginia, and the Swan in search of a suitable place for the new settlement, these new emigrants were left at Pl}Tnouth, and, as the Charity had brought over a suflScient sup- ply of food, the Pilgrims willingly gave them such THE SCARCITY OF CORN 91 sleeping accommodations as they could. This kindness the new arrivals repaid by sneeringly calling the Pil- grims "Brownists" and by robbing the cornfields in order to have roasted green corn. Later some of the Plymouth settlers themselves were also caught stealing corn, and were publicly whipped, but the colonists were in such need of food that it was impossible to entirely prevent these depredations. Upon the return of the Charity and the Swan in six weeks, these new emigrants were taken to the place picked out for their colony, eighteen miles north of Plymouth where Wey- mouth now is, but their sick were left at Plymouth in the care of Dr. Fuller. In September the Discovery arrived in the har- bor on its way from Virginia to England, and the colonists obtained from the captain, in exchange for their beaver skins, some provisions and a stock of beads and knives to be used in trading with the Indians. With these articles they now expected to be able to purchase food from the natives, and so opportune did the arrival of this vessel seem that they attributed it to ** God's good mercy." In October the Charity sailed for England, leaving enough provisions to last the Weymouth settlement until the next harvest. But, as this supply was soon wasted in a reckless manner, it was not long before the new-comers were in as much need of food as the Plymouth settlers. In their dilemma a brother-in-law of Weston, Richard Greene, who was in charge of the 92 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS colony, proposed to Bradford that both colonies unite in taking the Swan around the Cape to get corn. This was willingly agreed to, as so much of the green corn at the Plymouth colony had been stolen. With Standish in command and with Squanto as pilot and interpreter, twice the expedition started and twice the vessel was driven back by storms. The third time when they w ere ready to leave, Standish being ill with a fever, his place was taken by Bradford. At Chatham on the further side of the Cape eight hogsheads of corn w^ere obtained, and while here Squanto, who had become sick with fever, died. Be- fore his death he asked Bradford to pray that he might go to the Englishman's God in heaven, and then as a remembrance of his love bequeathed what few goods he had to his English friends in the colony. As these explorers now^ had no pilot, it was thought best to return to the colony, but, after rounding Cape Cod, they stood over to Massachusetts Bay, hoping to get corn there. Here they found that the Weymouth colonists by their prodigality had already destroyed all possibilities of any trading being done with these Indians, so they sailed to Eastham, where they succeeded in obtain- ing ten hogsheads of corn and some beans. Here the shallop which they had taken along was blown on to the rocks during a storm and wrecked, and, as it was now difficult to get any grain out to the Swan, Bradford had it stacked on the shore, and em- ployed an Indian to look after it until sent for. At THE SCARCITY OF CORN 93 Barnstable they obtained ten more hogsheads of corn, which were also stacked, and from here they sailed for Plymouth, where the cargo was divided, Bradford, who returned from Barnstable by land in order to explore the country, being able to purchase a little more corn on the way. But the small supply obtained was only enough to carry the colony through the winter, and it was evident that before the next harvest came they would again be in sore need of proper food. I- ^ ..1 %.' V V AT STANDISH'S fireside CHAPTER YII THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 1623 It was now the Pilgrims' third year in the new coun- try. Two additional buildings for their merchandise ^,^ and a few more houses had been w^i^i built, but the fort was still unfin- ished, as many had thought it un- necessary and had pronounced it "vain-glorious." In January Standish, after pur- chasing some corn at Sand- wich, had been able to get off the rocks the shallop that had been wrecked in Eastham Harbor, and, after repairing it, brought back in it the corn stacked on the shore two months before. In Feb- ruary, as their stock was again running low, he was sent to Barnstable to ob- tain, if possible, another supply of corn. The Barnstable Indians, professing great love for him, brought him a large amount of corn, and, the har- bor freezing over at sunset so that he was unable A CAPE COD INDIAN THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 95 to get away, the Indians insisted that he and his men should spend that night with them on shore. This invitation Standish and the others accepted, and, on arriving at the Indian camping-ground, found there several Indians of other tribes who pretended that curiosity to see white people had brought them there. Standish, however, instinctively feeling that he and his men were in danger, kept a part of his men on watch while the others slept, and they afterwards learned that this precaution saved them all from massacre. In March, the Indians made another attempt to take the life of Standish while he and some of the col- onists were at Sandwich, getting the corn purchased there in January. By some strange instinct, all that night, while his men were asleep, Standish paced rest- lessly back and forth before the camp-fire, telling the Pamet Indian who had been sent there to murder him that he could not account for his sleeplessness, and the would-be assassin — ^Indian-like — dared not attack him while awake. Soon after their return from this trip a report came to the colony that Massasoit was dangerously ill, and Winslow was at once sent with Hobomok to do what they could for him. During their second day's journey to his camp some Indians told them that Massasoit had died, and Hobomok, fearing for the safety of all white men, urged Winslow to return to the settlement. Believing that a visit to the tribe would strengthen the questionable friendship, Winslow determined to keep 96 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS t on, and late that night he and Hobomok reached Massa- soit's home at Sowams. Upon their arrival they found Massasoit still alive, but his wigwam was so crowded with Indians that it was difficult to get near the sick bed. The Provahs, or priests, were then in the midst of their incantations for the dying, and were making, as Winslow said in his journal, " such a hellish noise as it distempered us that were well and therefore unlike to ease him that was sick." After giving Massasoit some medicine and sending an Indian back to Plymouth to get from Dr. Fuller still more efficient remedies, Winslow nursed him all that night. Before the mes- senger returned, however, Massasoit had begun to re- cover, and on the following day was out of danger. This visit proved a fortunate one, especially since, on the day before Winslow's arrival, a visiting sachem had tried to convince Massasoit that the English had deserted him when he was ill, and were not his friends. Upon his recovery, therefore, he could not too warmly or too constantly express his gratitude, often saying, "Now I see that the English are my friends and love mt, and while I live I will never forget this kindness they have shown me." For some time among nearly all the Cape Cod Indians there had been a hostile feeling towards these strangers who had come among them. The Indians, living as they did in wigwams, looked with envy upon the cottages at Plymouth and Weymouth, and their ab- original minds coveted the furniture, clothing, weapons. THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 97 and trading goods of the white man. It needed little to stir this innate cupidity into a conspiracy to ex- terminate the settlers, and a grievance was found soon after the formation of the Weymouth settlement, whose members had shown little, if any, restraint towards the Indians. Frequent complaints had come to Plymouth from the Neponsets, a tribe of Indians living in that section, that these Weymouth settlers not only insulted, but often robbed them. As early as March these new colonists had exhausted their own stores and seed-corn, and began stealing corn from the caches where the natives stored their supplies. Later, when the Indians, with now only a scanty supply for themselves, refused to sell them corn at any price, the Weymouth men began planning to seize this supply, but were finally dissuaded by Brad- ford, to whom some of the more honest Weymouth settlers had written of the contemplated action. As the stores in the Weymouth settlement were exhausted, most of these colonists now left their well-built village, enclosed within a strong palisade, to camp in the woods and along the shore, where they could easily get nuts, mussels, and clams, only a few of the men remaining in the plantation, vainly trying to bring about a better state of affairs. Finally, the condition of the settlers became so destitute that nearly all, in exchange for food, sold to the Indians portions of their clothing, and in conse- quence many were half naked as well as half starved. Squalor and demoralization were everywhere. Rich- 98 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS ard Greene, the head of the colony, died, and one Sanders, who had been put in command, went to Mon- hegan to purchase provisions. The Indians, knowing their demorahzed condition, now became overbearing and abusive, and began plotting to massacre all in the settlement, but, well knowing the make-up of the Plymouth settlers, realized how severely they would be dealt with unless these colonists were exterminated. For this reason the original plot was enlarged to a general massacre. Into this conspiracy most of the tribes had willingly entered, Massasoit, who during his illness had been urged to join, alone refusing. In fact, two attempts made in February and March upon the lives of Standish and his men had been a part of this conspiracy, for the Indians were shrewd enough to know that with Standish out of the way their task would be easier. While the plotters were still at work persuading the different tribes to join the conspiracy, Massasoit proved his real friendship to the Plymouth settlers. He had learned of the conspiracy only a few days before the arrival of Winslow and Hobomok at Sowams, and on the day of their departure, calling Hobomok into a secret counsel of his pinesses, or counsellors, had there divulged to him the plot, telling him to let Winslow know of it on their way back to Plymouth. He also told Hobomok to explain to the people of Weymouth that they must strike the first blow, for he was con- vinced that, if they waited, they would be massacred. THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 99 and, with the destruction of that colony, the Indians, crazed by the sight of human blood, would easily over- power the Plymouth settlers. He further charged Hobomok to tell the colonists that, although he was the nominal head of these hostile tribes, he had no control over their actions, and that, if the settlers valued their lives and those of their countrymen, they must at once put to death the leading Neponset conspirators. This report of Hobomok, which, when they reached the settlement, they found corroborated by a friendly Indian, gave the colonists great anxiety. At the annual town meeting to be held April second, now at hand, it was voted that Standish should take a sufficient number of men, and, under the pretence of making a trading trip to Weymouth, warn the settlers and seize and execute the conspirators. On April fourth Standish sailed for Weymouth, tak- ing with him only eight men, as he feared a larger num- ber might so alarm the Indians that they would keep away from the settlement. In Weymouth Harbor the Swan lay at anchor, with nobody on board, and the captain of the vessel, whom he found ashore, assured Standish that the Indians were so friendly that he kept no fire-arms about him, and allowed them to lodge with him whenever they pleased. At this time the colonists were living in fancied security, and were scattered in every direction, but, following Standish's advice, the leaders of the colony now told the others that on pain of death all were to remain within the 100 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS settlement, and, to prevent tlieir straggling away, Standish every morning gave to each a pint of corn from his supply in the shallop. The unusual action of the colonists soon brought into the settlement an Indian spy, who pretended to have come to sell furs, and who, upon returning to his village, reported to his people that, while Captain Stan- dish spoke smoothly, his eyes showed anger. The con- spirators, believing their plot discovered, immediately became defiant, and several, including the leading conspirator, Wituwamat, came into the settlement whetting their knives and making threatening gestures in front of Standish. The little captain, apparently, showing only indifference, waited all that day for the chief conspirators to come to the settlement, but on the second day, as they did not come, he called Witu- wamat and three of the conspirators into a room where three of his own men were, and shut the door. A hand-to-hand struggle followed, and, although the Indians fought desperately, three were killed, and the fourth, who was taken alive, was immediately hanged. Outside two others were killed, and, when Standish himself came out, he killed a seventh. The news of what had happened was not long in reaching the Indian village. The next morning, when the warriors of the tribe were seen approaching in Indian file, Standish and four of his men, withHobomok and two of the Weymouth men, went out to meet them. Both tried to gain the advantage of a hill near by. THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 101 but, Standish and his men reaching it first, the Indians from behind trees immediately began firing at them with their arrows. The skirmish, however, had hardly begun when Hobomok, throwing off his coat, rushed toward them, and so great was the superstitious fear that the Indians had for a pinesse that they fled before him, the only casualty on either side being the breaking of the arm of one of the conspirators by a shot fired from the hill. Several Indian women who had l)een held as captives were now released, and the next day the Weymouth settlers, having seen enough of New England hardships, put their movable property aboard the Swan, fastened the gates of their palisade, and, after borrowing some corn from Standish, sailed for Monhegan, with the hope of getting passage from there to England on one of the fishing fleet. The few settlers who still wished to remain in Amer- ica now returned to Plymouth with Standish and his men, Standish taking back with him the head of Witu- wamat. The colonists, knowing that their greatest danger would always be from a combined uprising of the Indians, put the head upon a pike which was fastened to a corner of the fort. They still had in mind the massacre of the Virginia colony, and de- liberately took this gruesome method as the only practical way of affecting the aboriginal mind, and so the head, with its long black hair waving in the wind, was allowed to remain outlined against the sky, — an object-lesson in case another Indian conspiracy should ever be thought of. 102 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS This attempted annihilation of the colony did not become known in England for several months. When, in December, John Robinson heard of it, he wrote to Bradford a letter in which he severely criticised Standish for the severe measures resorted to at Wey- mouth — a criticism which Standish keenly felt. From a humanitarian viewpoint Robinson may have been right, but it was fortunate for the colony that a man like Myles Standish was on the ground and that John Robinson was three thousand miles away, for little did either then appreciate to what extent the fate of Anglo-Saxon civilization in the western hemisphere depended upon having the Cape Cod Indians thor- oughly understand that the Plymouth colonists could not be trifled with. Soon after writing this letter, Robinson died, so that to him Standish was never able to justify his action, but thirty years later, when the little captain himself lay dying, he wrote in his will, "I give three pounds to Mercy Robinson, whom I tenderly love for her grandfather's sake." This action of the colonists had so thoroughly terri- fied the Indians that for some time none dared go n-ar the settlement, the chief of the Neponsets changing^ his sleeping-place every night. As it proved, the Cape Cod Indians were now subdued forever, and fifty years later, when Indian hostilities were waged against the settlers of Massachusetts, these Indians did not forget that they were alhes of the Plymouth colonists. It was not long after this Indian conspiracy had been- THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 103 nipped in the bud that Weston appeared at Plymouth. Under an assumed name and in the disguise of a blacksmith, he had come over with the Maine fishing fleet. Upon arriving on the Maine coast, he learned of the abandonment of his colony, and, taking two men and a small trading stock in the Swan's shallop, sailed for Weymouth to see what could be done to re-establish the colony. During a storm off Rye Beach the boat was capsized and the stock lost, and, when Weston and the two men reached the shore, the Indians seized their guns, clothing, and the few things that they had saved. From a Scotchman, located near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, they obtained a few garments and proceeded to Plymouth, where Weston so persistently pleaded poverty on account of his Weymouth and Plymouth ventures having been unremunerative that Bradford and those at the head of the Plymouth colony secretly loaned him a hundred beaver skins, "enough to make a mutinie among the people, seeing there was no other means to procure them food which they so much wanted." This secret use of the property of the colony was the only act for which Bradford was ever criticised. With these skins Weston returned to Maine, and, being now able to purchase a small stock of goods, fitted out the Swan for a trading expedition along the coast. But the loan he never repaid, and so great was his bitterness toward the colonists that the skins were hardly stowed away in his boat before he openly 104 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS boasted that he would get the leaders into trouble for exceeding their authority. As the spring of 16'23 advanced, it became evident to all that the Plymouth colonists would again be short of corn. This was due largely to their having to provide for those who had come over in the Fortune and to their losing such a large quantity of green corn from the fields the year before. Although they were able to get ducks, wild turkey, and an occasional deer, which with fish, lobsters, and clams would carry them through the summer and fall, the vital thing now was to devise some plan to have enough corn for their use during the following winter. During the two previous years, communism had been tried under more than ordinarily favorable con- ditions, for it was a community of sober, industrious people. The few lazy ones, however, shared equally with the industrious, and this discouraged production and put a premium upon indifference. The assump- tion, too, that all the settlers should be on an equality — not only have alike, but be alike — had much to do, as Bradford wrote, in taking away "that mutual re- spect which is good to preserve in a community." With the feelinfj of discontent ffrowin^:, the leaders decided that for a year a separate piece of land should be assigned to each household on the basis of an acre for every member; that each family should raise his own crop, to be cultivated as the holder desired; that the different lots should be drawn for; and that a THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 105 portion of each crop should be delivered into the pub- lic storehouse in order that the stockholders should receive a return for their investments. Under this plan a much larger area was planted, as it inspired greater individual industr}\ There was now that personal responsibility which was sure to secure the best results; and "the women now wente willingly into the field and took their litle-ons with them to set corn when before they would aledg weakness and inabilitie and whom to have compelled would have been thought a great tirinie and oppression.** By the time the seed-corn was planted their last year's crop was exhausted, so that during the three months before harvest time the colonists were without corn, their only grain for bread. As they now had a fishing net, a few cod lines and hooks, the men in relays of six or seven took one of the shallops and fished for cod, and, as these squads were not to return without a supply of fish, the boat was sometimes away five and six days at a time. Standish in the mean time was sent in the other shallop to the Maine fishing fleet for provisions. Although he was able to purchase but little, the colonists were never on the verge of star- vation, as has been so often written, for fish and wild fowl could be had in abundance, and clams always could be dug at low water. Of these times liradford wrote, "They bore their hardships with great patience and in spite of scanty fare God in His mercy preserved both health and life." Even Brewster, who had en- 106 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS »^joyed the luxuries of court life, gave thanks to God each day "that he and his were permitted to suck the abundance of the seas and of the treasures hid in the sands." In July the ship Plantation anchored in the har- bor, having on board Francis West, whom the Coun- cil for New England had made admiral over its territory for the purpose of obtaining a revenue from the fishing fleet. While the vessel was here, the cap- tain, seeing how necessary it was for the colonists to have provisions, offered to sell to them two hogsheads of peas, but at such an exorbitant price that most of the colonists refused to submit to the extortion, al- though before the vessel sailed some did buy small quantities. Fourteen days after the departure of the Planta- tion the Anne, a vessel of one hundred and forty tons, arrived, and ten days later the Little James, a pinnace of forty-four tons. Both vessels had left England together, but had become separated during the voyage over. On these two vessels there were ninety-six new settlers. As several of these arrivals were the wives, children, or kindred of the earlier settlers, many families were now reunited. Among them were two of the daughters of Elder Brewster, the wife of Samuel Fuller, Mrs. Southworth, who afterwards married Governor Bradford, and Barbara — her last name being unknown — ^w ho later became the wife of Myles Standish. But the new-comers found THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 107 the colony far different from what they had pictured. The log houses seemed rough and unattractive when compared with the English homes which they had so lately left. The clothes of many of the settlers were torn and shabby. The food was lobsters, clams, and fish, and the only thing which they had to drink was water. Scanty fare, constant exposure, hard and grind- ing toil, had taken the freshness from the faces of all. "Seeing this, some wished themselves in England againe; others fell a weeping, fancying their own miserie in what they saw in others." As the new arrivals had brought with them a sup- ply of food sufficient to last until they could raise a crop for themselves, they decided not to deliver over this stock for the common use, fearing lest it also be soon exhausted. On the other hand, many of the colonists, who had worked early and late to raise a crop for themselves, thinking that the supply brought over in the Anne would not last these new settlers until the next year's harvest, were unwilling to have it contributed to a stock for common distribution. It was, therefore, agreed that the stores brought over should be the exclusive property of the new-comers, and that the coming harvest should belong to those who planted it. There were still other compHcations, as forty of the new arrivals wished to form a separate colony within the colonial grant. These called themselves Par- ticulars in distinction to the other colonists, who 108 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS were called Generals, After a conference, however, it was agreed that the Particulars should have land assigned to them within the town; that, excepting military duties, they should be free from all labor expected from the others; that they should carry on no trade with the Indians ; that they should contribute annually to the public treasury a bushel of corn for each man over sixteen years of age; and that they should obey all laws enacted by the colony. For seven weeks there had now been no rain, and the growing corn was beginning to wither and die. A third failure of the corn crop would probably mean the abandonment of the colony. Hobomok was already mourning over the ruined crops, and even the most courageous among them had begim to despair. " Above all people in the world, they felt that they had now need to cast themselves upon God for his mercies,'* and, accordingly, a day was appointed for public prayer. The hot July day on which the services were held was never to be forgotten by the Pilgrims. From morning till night, in their sanctuary on the hill, they prayed for rain, but the sky remained without a cloud, and the hot sun continued to parch their fields of corn. About sunset, however, as they were starting down the hill to their homes, after nine hours of prayer, clouds began to gather, and that evening it began to rain. This rain continued at intervals for fourteen days. Of the incident Winslow wrote, "It was hard to say whether our withered corn or our drooping affections THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 109 were most quenched and revived, for such was the bounty and goodness of God." Upon Hobomok and the Indians the event made a deep impression, and from that time they often spoke of the wonderful goodness of the white man's (jod. Among the colonists there were but few who did not believe it a special dispensa- tion, and, accordingly, they set apart a day for prayers of thanksgiving, this day being the second Thanksgiv- ing Day of the Pilgrims. On September twentieth the Anne sailed for Eng- land with a cargo of clapboards and what furs they had on hand, the Little James being left for a fishing and trading vessel. Those obviously unfit for pioneer life who had come over in the Anne were also sent back in her at the expense of the colony. Winslow also re- turned in her to purchase many things needed, and to devise some plan with the London stockholders for the future welfare of the colony. Already the harvest season was at hand, and as there was a sufficient supply of corn for the coming year, and the more industrious had grain to sell, all were now convinced of the advan- tages of individual labor. In fact, never after this time was there a want of corn in the colony. Later that month, word reached Plymouth that the Paragon with Robert Gorges, the son of P'erdi- nando Gorges, and some new settlers had arrived at the deserted village of Weymouth. He had brought with him from the Council for New England a commission making him governor-general of its whole territory. no OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Under this commission there were to be assixnated with him as conncillors Admiral West, one Captain Chris- topher Levitt, tlie governor of the Plymouth colony, and such other men a^ he should appoint, full authority being given him and any two of his council to dtxnde all civil and criminal case«!. He had at once notified Gt)vernor Bradfoni of his arrival, but, before Bradford was able to pay him a visit, the Paragon put into Plymouth Harbor during a storm, while on it^ way to Maine where Gorges was going for tlie purpose of ar- resting AVeston. At Plymouth Gt^rges remained two weeks, much pleased with the place and the courtesies shown him. AVhile the Paragtm was here, the Swan came into the harbor with AVeston on board. Hardly had the Swan dropped anchor before AVeston was called to account by Gorges for the frauds prac- tised on his father and the bad management of the AVeymouth settlement. AVeston. through the inter- cession of Bradford, being twice saved from arrest. leaving the Paragon to be fitted out for Mrginia. where she was to take some of the piisseiigers who had come over in her. Gorges returned to AVey- mouth by land, but hanily had he gone before Weston began to ridicule the fact that Bradford had saved him from arrest. A few days later Gorges. re^xMiting of his leniency, had Weston put under arrest, and brought to Weymouth, where he was kept that winter. The fol- lowing spring he was allowed to leave in the Swan for Virginia, and from that time, except as their con- THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 111 stnnt ilofaiuor. novor ni::aiii iroubloil the IMynunitli folonists. At'tor a iVw nu>nths at AVcvnioiitlu (loro-os, fiiulino; the roiigli lit'o of Now Knoland not to liis taste, ivtuniod to Knoland, some of the Wovmoiith colony iXi>ini;" iKU'k with liini, others goiiii:; to Virginia, ami the fow wlio remained being given aid from time to time by the Plymonth colony. After the departnre of Ciorges no sueeessor was appointed in his place, and more than sixty years passed before anotlier governor-general was pnt over the Plymonth colony. In November of this year, l()vJ.S, while the Para- gon and the Swan were in Plymonth Harbor, the (hatch on the roof of one of the houses caught fire during a carousal of some of the sailors ashore, and, before the flames could be extinguished, four t>f the houses were destroyed. As these houses were close to the store- house where the trading goods brought over in the Anne and the colony's winter supply of food were kept, there was the greatest excitement. AMiile some were advising the removal of the goods from the store- house, an unknown voice shouted out that the settlei*s nuist be on their guard, as there were enemies among them, and, during the confusion, smoke was seen com- ing from the shed attached to the storehouse. From a firebrand found it was evident that an incendiary was at work. The timely discovery of the firel)rand, how- ever, saved the storehouse from being destroyed. From remarks overheard during the fire many of the colonists iilways beUeved that an attempt was made that night 112 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS bv the discordant element among them to desstrvw the eolonv. With Giiipes tl\ei>e had been sent over by the Coun- cil for New Eiiirlaiid a olei^vman of the Establishovl Churvh, with full authority to re^rulate all pubUc wor- sliip in tlie territory-. For neariy a year this man made his home m Plymouth, studyiiiit the anthropology of the Indians and tlK* natural histon* of the tx>untn-. During this time, seeing the kind of men he would have to deal with, and that it wac> easier to confer powejn$ in the Old AVorid than to enfoixx^ them in the Now. ho said nothii\g of his eoolos^iastioal ^x^mniission. C^nlv after he loft did those Congrvgationalist settlor? know that he had had full pt>wer to compel them to conform to the Chun^h of England fram which they had separateii at so gTvat a siioritioe. Although this fii^it attempt to establish confonnity came to iK>thing. many who w^ere ik>w in the colony were opfxvseil to religious freedom, and anwng the Particulars many were secretly at work promoting this opposition. This nwx^n^nt was begim by pri- x-atoly sendii\g to lA^ndon in tho Anno ^vmplaints that tlK^ro wjis much religious ^vnti\>\-eTsy in tho eolonv ; that iteligious exemses were i^eglected by the diffei^nt families on Sunday: that iHMthor of tlK* two sacra - nnnits was useil: and that the ohildrvn werv not cate- chised or taught to read. IVhind these complaints it was obvious tliat there was a hidden puq>ose to bring thesse Se^varatists Ix^ok to Episcopacy. Robinson had rilK l-lRsr IMMAN CONSriKACV llo already siis^Hvtod what was boino- attoinptod. ami had written to Hrowstor that the London stockholdors wore oontinnally raising- i-ibjootions to oithcr hinisolf or any of the Loydon (.hnri'h pooplo ooin^: to Plynionth. ** I porsuado niysolf." ho wroto, "that for nu\ thoy of all other are nnwillin^- I slunild ho transported. . . . thinking if I conio ovor thoir niarkot will ho niard in many rt^ij^ards." With the ok^so of this yoar thoro woro ono Innulrod and oighty porsons in tho c\^lony. I'p to this timo tho only rooords woro tho niinntos mado in (lovornor Bradford's noto-hook. bnt with t]\is lar^or colony it was thonght nooossary to havo a statnto book. Tho tirst ontry. datod Pooombor twonty-sovonth. markod an important dovolopmont of tho colony, it boing rooordod that "all criminal acts and all matters of trespass and debt between man and man shall be tried by the verdict of twelve honest men." Trial by jnry as tho rio:ht of every ono was thns for tho tirst timo estab- lished in America — a stop which was the beginning of a long series of enactments which later became tho .standard of American jnrisprndence. The settlement now stretched down the slope o{ tho hill to tho bay. Wo see tho stockade, with it> fonr bastions — this stix^kado, which wa.s half a mile in length, beginning on tho shore beyond Cole's Hill and extending around Fort Hill to tho brook: tho bastion near tho shore having a gate which opened to the beach bevoml: tho scw^nd bastion on the bhitV with THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 115 a gate which opened to the Indian path leading to Massachusetts Bay; back of Fort Hill the third and largest bastion, wliich defended the position most ex- posed on account of the high land beyond having no gate; and close by the Town Brook the fourth bastion with its gate opening to the "Nemasket path'* which led to Xarragansett Bay. We see on the top of the hill the fort-church which played such an important part both in the civil and ecclesiastical life of the colony, so located on the easterly side of the top of the hill that it commanded the brook, the ford, and the street. AVe know that this fort, twenty-four feet square, was built of large sawed plank; that its flat roof was supported by large oak beams which projected beyond the walls to prevent the building being scaled; that on the roof were six cannons mounted behind a bulwark, and that underneath, to light the interior, were small windows like port-holes. We know also that these one hundred and eighty settlers now had thirty-one small houses, most of them divided into three rooms with a loft overhead; that they were of hewn logs, with thatched roofs and outside chimneys of stone laid in clay; and that the windows were the skins of animals or paper saturated with linseed oil. We know that now there were houses on both sides of the street which had been laid out the first year, as well as on a cross street leading from the ford over the brook to the gate in the stockade on the blufi^; and that, where the two roadways crossed, four small cannon commanded both roadways. 116 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Although the colonists were not properly equipped for pioneer life, we know that the settlement — made up largely of young married people, as the older mem- bers of the church had not yet come over — had now an atmosphere of thrift and prosperity; that every house had its vegetable garden, and most of the houses blooming vines running over them; that Governor Bradford's house was under the hill at the corner of the two roadways; that further up the hill was Myles Standish's house; and that Elder Brewster's house was on the corner diagonally across from the gover- nor's house where there was a spring of water. We know that the cottages along the main street were en- closed by a fence high enough to be used as a stock- ade in case of any sudden attack by Indians when within the settlement, and that this gave to the street a very trim appearance; that at the foot of the street the buildino: which was once used as their meetinor-house was now used for their trading stock, and had attached to it a large shed made of interwoven boughs chinked with clay; and that under the bluff were three log buildings where corn, furs, beaver skins, heavy mer- chandise, salt, and the tools of the colony were stored, these buildings being near the pier where their two shallops lay. The colonists had long known that the brook afforded a passage to a favorite spawning-bed for herring, and Squanto had told them that this fish made good manure for their cornfields. Following his ad\nce, we know that there had been built across the THE FIRST INDIAN CONSPIRACY 117 brook two dams, with a gate in the lower one from which two long arms, built of planks, extended out to direct the course of the herring as they nosed their way up the brook; that between these two dams ten and twelve thousand herring would often come with a single tide; and that, when the gates were closed and the water went out with the ebb tide through the lattice in the lower dam, the fish were taken out in baskets and put into the ground with the seed-corn. We also know a little of the daily life at this time: that poultry, goats, and swine now supplied the settlers with eggs, milk, and pork; that they frequently had venison, wild ducks, and wild turkey; that every morn- ing Governor Bradford assigned to the men whatever pubHc work was necessary, either clearing land, making clapboards to be shipped to England, hewing out timber, making tar and soap, or trading with the Indians ; that the rest of the time the men did as they chose, either working in their cornfields, digging clams, getting lob- sters or fishing, and hunting, as game was plentiful, — all carrying their guns with them wherever their work might be. We know that at this time letters from home came only t\;\^o or three times a year; and, although the colonists were isolated from the rest of the world, that the men met after sundown to talk over the affairs of England and their own local politics, while their thrifty housewives gossiped and built air-castles. We know that Bradford was always busy with the e very-day de- tails of the colony and in settling the trivial disputes 118 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS which were constantly arising; that Standish was oc- cupied in training the men in miUtary manoeuvres and in posting the different sentries on the bastions and at the fort; and that Brewster had to prepare two long sermons for each Sunday, but worked in the corn- fields during his spare time, which, however, was sel- dom, as his nature was so sympathetic that all came to him with their griefs. To the colonists, life was too serious for idleness or frivolities, and from sunrise to sunset all were busy. Within the stockade several Indians were always wandering about, as a great deal of trading with the different tribes was now carried on, and at the wharf and in the storehouse there was always more or less activity and bustle. The oppressive quietness of Sunday was broken only when, morning and afternoon, the beat of the drum called the colonists to church. At this time all met in front of Standish's house, and, led by a sergeant, silently marched up the hill to the church. Behind the sergeant walked the governor in his long robe; on his right, Elder Brewster in clerical clothes; and, on liis left, Standish, carr\^ng his side- arms. Then came the colonists and their families in twos and tlu-ees, all wearing wide white collars and long white cuffs, the men with liigh conical-shaped hats, knickerbockers, buckled shoes, and blouses belted at the waist, each with his musket or firelock. These they carried into their fort-church with them, and kept beside them, that they might at all times be ready for an attack by Indians. CHAPTER VIII THE FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LAND 1624 The beginning of the new year in England, prior to 1752, was on March twenty-fifth. As the new year of 1624 approached Gov- ernor Bradford de- chned a third election, for he believed that one of the purposes of an annual town meeting was to have the offices held by different per- sons. The people, however, insisted upon re-electing him, and, there being now many duties con- nected with the government of the colony, five " assist- ants'* were also elected, this council, which was in- creased to seven members in 1633, being the beginning of executive councils in the United States. The experiment of allotting land to the colonists, made the vear before, had not onlv insured a ffood crop of corn, but had also given to the more industrious a surplus. "Those who had some to spare began to trade one with another for small things by ye quaret potle & peck, etc., for money they had none, and if A SHALLOP 120 OrR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS they had come it was preferred before it." Com hav- ing now taken the pUice of money, the colonists, know- ing that if they could have the same land for successive years it could be brought into a good state of culti- vation, petitioned the governor and council to allot them definite tracts until the contract with the London stock- holders shoidd expire in lt>^7. After careful con- sideration this petition was granted, and, although the o;overnor and council knew it was a \'iolation of their contract with the stockholders, they divided two hun- dred acres of the land into ninety-seven lots, and allotted an acre to each of the one hundred and eighty people in the colony. As a part of this land was outside the stockade, this allotment brought about the first spread- ing out of the settlement — a part being across the Town Brook where Hobomok, their faithful Indian ally, received one of the lots for himself and his family. It was about this time that Winslow returned in the Charity, Bradford writing, " The ship came on fishing — a thing fatal to this plantation." So strong, however, were the Londoners possessed with the fishinij mania that Cushman had sent over a letter saying. "* I am sorry we have not sent you more and other things, but in truth we have run into so much charge to victual the sliip, pro\-ide salt, and other fishing implements, etc., as we could not provide other comfortable things as butter, sugar, etc." While in England, Winslow and Cushman had obtained a errant of land bordering: on Gloucester Harbor, the FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LAND 121 patent for Avhich AViiislow brought over with him. Here the colonists now built a fishing- stage to cure codfish on, and left a man in charge to trade with the Indians for beaver and other skins. Winslow also brought over a bull and three heifers, "the first beginning of any cattle in the land." These were pastured outside the stockade where grass was abun- dant, but on accoiuit of wolves some one was always left in charge of them. A shipwright and a salt- maker had also come over in the Charity. The ship- wright built two shallops and a large scow for getting their cargoes ashore, and, while getting out timber for a small tAAO-masted vessel, died of a fever. The salt-maker, after several expensive failures at salt- making both at Plymouth and Gloucester, was finally obliged to abandon the attempt. Now that the colony was proving a success, the majority of the London stockholders, being Puritans, beoan intrio:uino: to ^et it under Puritan control. This the colonists were not lono^ in findino- out. Thev also knew that the bishops and those in authority were opposed to a Separatist colony on the ground that all England's colonists should conform to the religion of the State, and, although the Plymouth settlers were ap- parently remote from interference, the English prelates kept themselves well informed of the religious move- ments in the colony and were ever ready to interfere whenever and wherever they saw the opportunity. They had also the hope that these emigrants, now 122 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS without their pastor, John Robinson, wonld fall back into the forms and faith of tlie Estabhshed Church. AYith these ideas in mind there had been sent over in the Charity one John Lyford, a clergyman of the Church of England, with his wife and four children. Both Winslow and Cushman had opposed his coming, but, as the schemino: London stockliolders acjreed that he should have no pastoral position if the colonists did not see tit to otfer it, Winslow and Cusliman, not knowing that a plot was under way. tinally yielded for the sake of peace. Lyford not long after his ar- rival professed conversion to Congregationalism, and obtained membership in the church. He also offered to renounce his Episcopal ordination, but Elder Brew- ster explained to him that, although their faith was positive and strong, they had no formal creed; that they recognized the spiritual fraternity of all who believed in the Christian faith; and that one of the tenets of their church, as laid down by John Robinson, was "that neither we or any of ours in the confession of their faith renounce or in one word contest with the Church of England." Lyt'ord's protestations had seemed sincere, and so much did he bewail the en- tanglements, which he said his Episcopal calling had brought upon him that, although not chosen pastor, he was at times allowed to preach. The complaints which the Particulars had sent to England in the Anne had now taken an ofiicial form, and a letter from the London stex^kholders was sent FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LAND 123 over in the Charity, asking for an explanation. The instigator of these complaints in the colony, one Oldham, was a man of little education, but of some ability, and after the departure of the Anne he had assured the Particulars that no more supplies would be sent over. He was, therefore, much sur- prised when the Charity arrived with merchandise and cattle, and, believing that the London stockholders had decided not to make an issue with the colonists, he went to those in authority, and, confessing that *' he had done them wrong both by word and deed, and by writing to England," begged that the past be for- given. It was not long, however, before L}^ord and Old- ham were secretly conferring with those not in sym- pathy with the Plymouth church, and it soon became evident that a faction w^as forming against the government. Later, when the Charity was getting ready to sail, it was noticed that L^-ford spent much time writing letters home. As a year might elapse befoi'e anything written by Lv^ord could be contra- dicted, the council, suspicious that new slanders were being sent back, decided to have his letters examined. It was, therefore, planned that, when Winslow, who was to return in the Charity as the colony's agent, went aboard, Bradford should go to the vessel with him, and that these letters should then be opened. This was accordingly done, and, when the letters were examined, thev were found to be filled with malicious 124 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS falsehoods for the "ruin and utter subversion of the colony," most of them being written by L\^ord, al- though Oldham, who was a poor pjnman, sent two or three. From these letters it was seen that L}^ord and Oldham were working against both the church and the colony, and had planned as soon as the ship sailed to form a new church. Copies were made of most of these letters, and, to prevent L^^ord and Old- ham denying the correspondence, some were kept, and in their stead copies were sent. It was also discovered that L\^ord had long been a spy; that before the Charity, which had brought him over, had sailed from England, he had opened two letters found in the cabin — one a letter which Wins low had written to Robinson and one which a friend had written to Brewster. Bradford's errand to the Charity being surmised by the conspirators, they expected to be called to account as soon as he came ashore, but, when two weeks went by and nothing was said, they believed he had only gone aboard to say good-bye to his friend. Captain Peirce. Believing that they could now control a majority of the votes in a town meeting, Oldham accordingly brought things to a crisis by refusing to go on sentry duty. Drawing a knife, he called Standish a "beo^fifarlv rascal," and durino- the commotion, when told by Bradford to be more orderly, called them all traitors. For this and " other foul language" he was put under arrest. He had expected a rescue by his friends. FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LAND 125 but, no demonstration being made in his behalf, he submitted to imprisonment. As the plan for an open revolt had failed, the faction now schemed to meet some Sunday, and to have Lyford hold services according to the form of worship of the Church of England. During the summer this was done, Lyford at the service taking special pains to be offensive to the religion of the colony. We know that the leaders at once called a town meeting, believing the time had now come to confront L>^ord and Oldham with the intercepted letters. This meeting was held at sundown in the fort -church on the hill. We can easily picture it — the low beams of the ceiling giving to the interior of the church the appearance of the hold of a ship; Bradford and the council on a platform at the end of the hall ; Standish with some of his men under arms, ready for any emer- gency; the room overcrowded with colonists having their guns beside them — all much excited over what the outcome was to be, as none knew which party was in the majority. Then came the restrained excitement when the meeting was called to order; the silence broken only by the tread of the sentinel on the roof and the whispered conversation of the women and children anxiously waiting outside the church. We know that Bradford now charged Lyford and Oldham with secretly plotting to overthrow the govern- ment; that Lyford, believing Bradford would be unable to produce any definite proofs, assumed as- FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LAND 127 tonishment at being suspected of collusion, and de- clared that he knew nothing of the colony's English enemies or their plans. ^Ye know that some of Lyford's letters were now read; that some showed that he had advised those in England to prevent Robinson and the others at Leyden joining the colony; that others charged mismanagement; that still others urged the London stockliolders to send over enough new colonists to outnumber the present settlers. We know that Bradford now reminded Lyford of his request to be made a member of their church, and that, when he and his family were being supported at the expense of the colony, he had been plotting its ruin. During the silence which followed, Lyford, as he stood there convicted of treachery, knavery, and hypocrisy, was then asked to explain his actions, but was speechless. Finally, giving way to tears, he confessed the wrong he had done, and begged forgiveness. We know that Oldham, who had watched the humiliation of this university-trained divine, took a different course. Determined to try immediate con- clusions with the government, he denounced the right of Bradford to open his letters, and, boldly asking those of courage to join him, then and there demanded a change in the government. But his friends now de- serted him, and, as he stood there alone, no voice was raised in his favor. Now that the crisis was passed, Lyford was asked if those in authority were justified in opening the suspected letters, and, no answer being 12S OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS made, a letter was read which con\'icted liim of opening the letters of Winslow and Brewster. Then the letter was read in which Lyford had said that the Pilgrims would have none but Separatists in PhTQOuth. and Bradford, denouncing this as *'a false calumnia- tion/' called the attention of all to the fact that there were already among them many not Separatists, and that the colony desired to have others there hke them. It was now voted that Oldham should leave the colony at once; that his family should be allowed to remain until he could make a home for them elsewhere; and that L\iord should leave at the end of six months. Thus the most important meeting ever held in the Plymouth colony ended. It had been a crucial test of the strength of the government. ^Yith rare common sense Bradford had used, to the best advantage and at the ri£:ht moment, facts which had brou£:ht to his support a powerful faction that had come there opposed to the government. Although he knew nothing of poHtics, he had shown that special gift of meeting emerc^encies as they arise and that political shrewdness which we caU statesmanship — quahties which would have classed him with trained diplomats. Soon after this shaking up of the colony, the Little James, having proved an unlucky vessel, was sent back to England. AYlien her crew, who had shipped on shares, tirst arrived at Pl\Tnouth. they had been kept from deserting only by Bradford agreeing to pay them rej;:ular waives. Liiter. when returnini: from a FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LAND 129 trading trip around the Cape, her main-mast broke during a storm as she was saihng into Plymouth Har- bor, and she barely escaped being wrecked on Brown's Island Shoals. Afterwards, when she was sent on a fishing trip to the Maine coast, she struck a rock and sank, the colonists only being able to raise her, four months later, by chartering some of the vessels of the fishing fleet. As this expense and the cost of necessary repairs had used up the beaver skins set aside for the London stockholders, the colonists decided to send her back to England. In September, a few days before the Little James sailed, one of the colonists who was going back in her handed to Governor Bradford a letter that Lyford had secretly asked him to take with him. This letter upon being opened showed the utter depravity of the man. Only a short time before he had, at a church meeting, publicly made a confession of his sins with tears larger than before, and it had been voted that he shoidd be allowed to remain in the colony. In the letter now written he assured the already discontented stockholders that the colonists were untruthful in their statements, that they were working for their own ad^'antage at the expense of the stockliolders, and "that ye church, as they called themselves though ye smallest member in the Colony, deprived the majority of the means of salva- tion and poor souls were complaining of it with tears to him." Concerning his former letters he wrote, "I suppose my letters or at least copies of them are come 130 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS to your hands, . . . and I pray you take notice of this that I have written nothing but what is certainly true." As these letters were the ones for which he had so tearfully begged forgiveness, there was now no longer any thought of permitting him to remain permanently in the colony, although on account of his wife and chil- dren he was allowed to stay through the winter. In the spring he joined Oldham at Hull, where a few straggling settlers from the Weymouth colony were located, Roger Conant, one of the most respected of the Plymouth colonists, and a few others going with him. The next year Lyford went with Conant to where Gloucester now is, then a small fishing station and trading post established in 1623 by some merchants of the shire- town of Dorset, England. Later, with the abandon- ment of this settlement, Lyford, Conant, and some of the other Gloucester settlers went to Naumkeag, the site of the present Salem, and here Lyford remained until 1629, when he accepted a call from a Virginia parish where he lived until his death. The year had been a crucial one for the leaders of the colony, as the year before had been the critical one of the colony's existence. Before the year ended, how- ever, there was among the colonists, both in church and in civil affairs, harmonious action which long continued. Contrary to what has been generally understood, the dismissal of Lyford had not been because the colonists were opposed to Episcopacy, but because they feared that the object of the new-comers, of whom Lyford was FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LAND 131 a ringleader, was a desire for ecclesiastical absorption rather than religious equality. Past experience had made them believe that the introduction of the national Church religion at this time would cost them their religious liberty. With an iron will and heavy hand men in England were being driven into conformity, and these pioneers felt that the freedom for which they had sacrificed so much would be lost if the Episcopal system, with the power of the government to enforce it, should at this time be introduced among them. During this year a few of the colonists returned to England, but as others had joined them, there were still about one hundred and eighty persons in the settle- ment. Many among them were not Separatists, and the church, still feeling its way along, had not yet adopted any creed. Their fellow -churchmen in Ley- den were now accustomed to invite to their communion Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Calvinists, and Robin- son had often said that he honored the clergy of the Church of England. If, therefore, a better man and more worthy Churchman had been sent over in Ly ford's place, it is quite probable, as the church was still with- out a minister, tl^t_ Congregationalism would have slowly yielded, and for a time at least the colony would have adopted the Episcopal form of worship, which for three centuries had been the religion of the English race. CHAPTER IX THE COLONY ABANDONED BY THE LONDON STOCKHOLDERS 1625 A fleet of not less than fifty vessels now annually traded along the New England coast, and the appear- ance of a vessel in Plymouth Harbor was a matter of such ordinary occurrence that it had ceased to excite surprise. In March, 1625, Oldham, in defiance of his sentence, had sailed into the harbor with some of his fellow-colonists of Hull, and, coming ashore, had used such abusive lan- guage that he was put under CHARLES I. arrest. In the afternoon he was marched to his boat between two rows of sol- diers who were ordered, as he passed, "to thump him in the rear with the butts of their muskets," and he was told, as his boat left shore, "to goe and mende his manners." So thoroughly had the colony been wrought up ov^er the "mad fury" of Old- ham that they had failed to notice the arrival of the ship Jacob, and, while Oldham was running the gauntlet, Winslow and Captain Peirce, formerly of the Charity, came ashore. THE COLONY ABANDONED 133 From Winslow the colonists now learned that the London stockholders had practically abandoned the enterprise, and that, at the termination of the contract in 1627, the assets of the colony would be used to pay the outstanding indebtedness, now amounting to over fourteen hundred pounds. From the Puritan faction among the stockholders, Winslow had brought with him a letter saying that they had come to this conclu- sion because they believed the Pilgrims were Brownists, and that they, being Puritans, would be sinning against God in building up such a people, but that, if they were given a voice in the local self-government, they would again co-operate. Others among these stockholders had publicly said that they would refuse to allow Robin- son or any of the Ley den church to join the colony with- out written promises to conform to the doctrine of the Church of England. Some of the stockholders, how- ever, still friendly to the colonists, wrote that these religious objections were merely a subterfuge, and that the enterprise had been given up because there were no funds to carry it on. This withdrawal of the London stockholders was a serious blow to the colony. Charles I. was now king, and Cushman, who had written the colonists that there were mysterious threats of Parliamentary proceedings against them, now advised them to take up the outstand- ing indebtedness to use as an offset against whatever claims the English stockholders might have against the assets of the colony. This he specially urged, fearing 134 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS the colonists would not build fences and set out fruit- trees if, at the termination of the contract, the property was to be taken from them to pay the debts of the colony. In the Jacob some of these stockholders had sent over, on their private account, a stock of cloth, hose, shoes, and leather, some trading goods and four young cattle, and, when she left on a fishing trip to Cape Ann, Standish and some of the colonists went in her to look after their property in Gloucester Harbor. Here they found that some of the unfriendly London stockholders had sent over one Captain Hewes, who had taken pos- session of the fishing stage, and, when he refused to give it up, the impetuous Standish at once prepared to seize it. Hewes in the mean time had placed his men with loaded muskets upon the stage behind a barri- cade of barrels, and it was only through the interces- sion, of Captain Peirce and Roger Conant, whom the Dorsetshire men had made the manager of their Gloucester trading post, that bloodshed was avoided by all agreeing to build together another stage. Soon after this episode the Dorsetshire settlement was given up, partly because the Plymouth colonists claimed to own the land, but principally because it had not proved a successful venture financially, Conant and a few of the settlers, left to shift for themselves, now starting the settlement at Naumkeag. In the fall, on the return of the Little James and a larger vessel that had come over in the spring on a fishing trip to THE COLONY ABANDONED 135 Cape Cod, Standish was sent back to interest, if pos- sible, some English merchants in the enterprise. During this year many of the Weymouth settlers, who had become dissatisfied with their locality on ac- count of its inaccessible harbor and the lack of water communication with the interior, left the settlement — among them being Thomas Walford, a blacksmith who built an "English palisaded and thatched house " at the mouth of the Charles River where Charlestown now is; William Blackstone, a Puritan minister and an eccentric book recluse, who located a mile up the river on the west slope of what is now Beacon Hill, Boston; and Samuel Maverick, a stanch Churchman, who estab- lished a trading post and built a sort of fort on Noddle's Island, now East Boston. This same year a settlement was started at Nan- tasket, and another at Wollaston, now a part of Quincy. This Wollaston settlement was a business venture of one Captain Wollaston, who brought over with him as partners three or four men not without means and some thirty or forty indented servants, or persons who sold their service for a term of years. One of these partners, Thomas Morton — probably one of Weston's settlers at Weymouth in 1623 — by his glowing de- scription of the place had persuaded Wollaston to make the venture. Finding the Weymouth planta- tion occupied, they had selected as the site of their plantation a place two miles away, where Wollaston now is. This place had already been cleared of 136 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS trees by the Indians, and that summer they laid out their phmtation and erected their buildings. In the fall, Captain Wollaston, becomino- satisfied that there was little profit in tlie enterprise, took most of the ser- vants with him to the more congenial climate of Vir- ginia, the ten left behind being put in the charge of one Fletcher, against whom ^lorton soon excited a mutiny which resulted in Fletcher's expulsion from the colony. lender ^forton the name of the place was now changed from Wollaston to Merry Mount, and, according to his own accounts, he and his followers led a roystering, drunken life, exchanging spirits, arms, and anmiunition with the Indians for beaver skins. As the Council for New England had for some time past been "a dead carcass," as Gorges expressed it, the bold idea was conceived of dividing the com- pany's grant among its different members and giving them power to convey land to settlers. Under this irregidar proceeding Lord Shefheld had already con- veyed to Cushman and Winslow the five hundred acres that the Plymouth colony held at Cape Ann, and, as other grants had been made by the diflVrent members of the Council, many new settlers arrived in ]\Iassa- chusetts Bay and vicinity in 16''24 and lO'^o, most of these being Puritans who had little sympathy with the Plvmouth Cono:reo;ationalists, whom thev still called Brownists. With these people the Plymouth colonists had business relations, but nothino' else in common. THE COLONY ABANDONED 137 as the Plymouth colonists' whole time was occupied in fishing, in traffic with the Indians, in the manufacture of lumber, in attending to their fish-drying and fur-huying station at Cape Ann, in making trading trips "on the coast to the eastward," and in the cultivation of corn and tobacco, which required much labor on account of the unproductiveness of the soil. OLDHAM PUT UNUEK AKKKST CHAPTER X FUR-TRADING ALONG THE MAINE COAST 1026 In April, 1626, Standish returned from England. He had arrived there at a most unfortunate time, as the Council for New England, which he had tried to inter- est in the colony, were too much disturbed over the tyranny of the new king, Charles I., to be willing to enter into any further ven- tures. Moreover, London was then suffering from an unusual epidemic of small- pox, so that practically no business was being carried on in the city. After five months of fruitless effort Standish borrowed one hun- dred and fifty pounds at fifty per cent, interest. With this he purchased a stock of goods for the colony, and returned home on one of the Maine fishing fleet. Upon his arrival the colonists now learned of the death of Robert Cushman, who had expected to join the colony the year before, but had remained to straighten out, if possible, their aft'airs, and who, as far as their English THE ROBINSON TABLET AT LEYDEN FUR-TRADING 139 interests were concerned, "was their right hand." Standish also brought the news of the death of John Robinson, of whom his brother-in-law, Roger White, wrote to the colonists, " If either prayers, tears or means would have saved his life, he had not gone hence." The Puritan faction had long thwarted him, and had kept him in such a state of anxiety and grief that he had been unable to withstand even a moderate attack of disease, and had died as truly a martyr as had Barrowe, Greenwood, or Penry. Of him Bradford wrote, "His and their adversaries had been long and continually plotting how they might hinder his coming hither, but ye Lord had appointed a better place." So great was Robinson's modesty that he charged his followers to follow him no further than they found that he followed Christ, and to hold themselves ready to re- ceive new truths from others as willingly as they ac- cepted them from him. His progressive and liberal theology had reached beyond rigid Separatism and had touched on Unitarian ism. As his views softened with time, instead of regarding as un-Christ-like his parent church, the Church of England, he was accustomed to invite to communion all who professed Christianity, and his followers, who had not unfrequently been given the offensive name of Brownists had begun to be known as Independents. Few people in that age of bigotry appreciated the broadness of his character, the depth of his learning, his refinement, and his tender suscep- tibility to humanity, but he is now known to have been 140 OUR ri A' MOUTH FOREFATHERS a man o( cxivdowWuiwy liberality, aiul it was owiiii^ to his inspiration that the rili;"rini Fathers grow into the rigidly npright nion we so niiieh reverenee. As Standish had been nnable to interest others in the eolony. the Pilgrims now fonnd themselves left to their own resonrees. Fishing had proved nnprohtable. The growing of eorn, however, haii beeome a sueeessful ventnre, as they fonnd a ready sale for what they them- selves d'\d not ret|nire. Nevertheless, this did not give them snthi'ient protit to meet the large debt already eontracted. Since their most profitable bnsincss was trading with the Indians, they now decided to engage in it npon a more extensive scale, and, in order to carry it on to the best advantage and also tt) prevent local competition, they decided to pnt it into the hands of the shrewd traders of the coKniy. Soon after this wonl was sent to the colony that the English trading post at ^Fonhegan was to be given up and that the trading stock was for sale. This stock Bradford, Winslow, and David Thompson, the Scotch- man living on the Piscataqna River, pnrchased for eight hnndred ponnds. Bradford and AVinslow also pur- chased the goats on the island. AVhile there, they heard that a French vessel had been wrecked at Sagadahoc, Init that the cargo had been saved. This cargo, valued at two hundred pounds, Bradford and Winslow paid for with such beaver skins and marketable barter as they had taken with them in the shallop, excepting a small balance for which they gave their note to fall due the followino; vear. • FUli-TUAJJlXG 141 The c()inrn(ir((t of tlio rolony \v;i.s now nif>idly in- creasing, and tfiat summer one; of ffi(.' colonists, a house carpenter, ]en^th(;n(;(l into a s(;a-^oin^ eraf't on(i of the ^hallof)s, so tfiat they were now ahle to cjo a lar<^e amount of trading on tlur KcnnctK-e Uiver. So profit- abl(! was this trading that in t[ie fall Alh-rton was s(;nt to England to arran^^e for the purehasf; of all the shares of the London stockholders, the eolorn'sts hoping in this way to cut the knot whicfi they could not untie. TilOLOiirpJ Of' OLU LSOL.ASD CHAPTER XI TRADING POST ON BUZZARDS BAY 1627 In the winter of 1626-27 the Sparrowhawk on its way from England to Virginia with passengers and merchandise had, during a storm while she was on the southern side of the Cape, pounded over a bar into the Bay I L Xi'^^^V V of Orleans. The -V""*^?/ ^-^i \ A passengers, seeing Indians approaching in canoes, had made preparations for an attack, when the In- dians asked in English if they were *' the Governor of Plymouth's men.** The captain of the Sparrowhawk, now learning where he was, sent two of the ship*s crew to the Plymouth colony for oakum, pitch, and spikes with which to repair the vessel. These Bradford himself took to them in a shallop, sailing along the shore to Namsketet Creek, and from there walking the OFF CAPE COD TRADING POST, BUZZARDS BAY 143 two miles across the Cape to Orleans Harbor. A few days after Bradford had returned home, and while the repairs were being made, the vessel was blown ashore during another storm, and hopelessly wrecked. This resulted in the passengers coming to Plymouth, where they remained until summer, when they were taken to Virginia in two vessels which had been sent for them. To still further increase their trading facilities, the colonists this year erected a palisaded trading house on Monumet River, near where it empties into Buzzards Bay. This post, which was twenty miles across country from Plymouth, could also be easily reached by water, as from the Plymouth side of the Cape there was only a four miles' carry from the head of navigation on the Scusset River to the head of navigation on the Monu- met River on the Buzzards Bay side. The colonists were thus able not only to avoid sailing around the Cape, where there were many dangerous shoals, but were also able to reach the southern side of the Cape in a much shorter time. At this fort they kept two men who planted corn, raised swine, and in a pinnace traded with the Indians on that side of Cape Cod. This venture proved to be a profitable one, and for many years they carried their goods over this route, — a route now the proposed location of the Cape Cod Ship Canal. The Dutch settlers at Manhattan up to this time had never put themselves in communication with the Plymouth colony, fearing competition in their prof- 144 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS itable trading with the Narragansetts and the Indians along Long Island Sound. In March, 1627, however, soon after the Monumet trading house was built. Governor Bradford received from Isaac de Rassieres, the secretary of the West India Company at Manhattan, a letter stating that the company Avould like to carry on with the Plymouth colonists trade for their mutual benefit. In his reply to this letter Bradford expressed the willingness of the colony to trade with the people of Manhattan, but cautioned them against settling within the territory of the Council for New England or trading with the Narragansetts and the Indians around Buzzards Bay, "which is as it were at our doors." That same spring Allerton returned with the fishing fleet, having borrowed two hundred pounds at thirty per cent, interest with which he purchased a stock of goods. He had also obtained from the London stockholders an agreement to sell their interest in the colony for eighteen hundred pounds, two hundred pounds to be paid each year. At a town meeting, duly called, the colonists decided to accept this offer. As the colony itself w^as a legal nonentity, its govern- ment being based upon the consent of those governed and its only corporate existence the patent of land taken out in the name of John Pierce, it was decided that during six years, as far as any stockholders' right went, Bradford, Brewster, Standish, Winslow, xHlerton, Howland, Alden, and Prence should act as the ow^ners TRADING POST, BUZZARDS BAY 145 of the property. At this town meeting it was also voted, if Bradford and his associates, who were to be known as Undertakers, would guarantee the neces- sary payments to the English stockholders, would pay the debts of the colony, would bring over from Leyden the remainder of the church, and would each year import to the value of fifty pounds hose and shoes which they would exchange with the colonists for corn at the rate of six shillings per bushel, then, in return for doing this, every colonist should pay to them, for each of the six years, three bushels of corn or six pounds of tobacco, and that they should have all the trading stock on hand, the trade of the colony, and the use of all the boats. This the Undertakers agreed to do, and, in order that each settler might personally have an interest in the property of the colony, it was also voted that each head of a family and all self-supporting single men could become shareholders by binding them- selves to pay their proportion of such annual indebted- ness as the profits in trade did not defray, and that each married man could in addition take one share for his wife and one for each of his children. In this reorganization, in which one hundred and fifty-six colonists joined, there was no sectarian exclusiveness, so often attributed to the Pilgrims. Although at the meeting it was proposed to exclude all those who did not accept the doctrines of Congregationalism, the plan was rejected, and every one, whether church members, 146 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS non-church members, or anti-church members, was allowed to be a shareholder and to have a vote in the government of the colony. In the agreement wuth the Undertakei's the cattle, goats, swine, and their offspring had not been included, and at a town meeting held June first it was voted to distribute these among the shareholders. This was done by dividing the shareholders into twelve groups and allotting the animals to the different groups, it beincr agreed that those who received the animals should be responsible for any loss attributed to care- lessness in the care of them, and that in ten years the animals with half their increase should be returned. That fall Allerton went to England to notify the London stockholders that their offer was accepted, and to arrange the details of the purchase. He was also commissioned to secure a patent for a trading post on the Kennebec, as the settlers on the Piscataqua and in neighboring places were threatening to procure a grant wliich would exclude the Plymouth colonists from any share of the traffic there. In addition to this he was, if possible, to interest in the new company some of the former stockliolders, and to make the necessary arrangements for bringing over those still in Ley den. In August Bradford had received a reply to his letter to De Rassieres, in which De Rassieres had claimed that the Dutch had a right to trade within the limits of the Plymouth grant. To this Bradford had TRADING POST, BUZZARDS BAY 147 replied with friendly civility, and, after demurring against "the over high titles more than belong to us or is meet for us to receive" — titles which De Rassieres had used in his letter — he gave l)e Rassieres clearly to understand that Plymouth would expel by force, if need be, any one who should enter its territory to interfere with their trade. He further suggested that some of the Dutch authorities visit Plymouth to make an ao:reement for their " mutual commerce." The re- ft suit of this correspondence was that on October fourth word reached Bradford that De Rassieres had ar- rived on his vessel off the trading house on the Monu- met River, and wished a boat sent up the Scusset to take him to Plymouth. That day, "accompanied with a noise of trumpeters and some other attendants," De Rassieres arrived at the colony, where he remained several days. During this visit an agreement was made by which trade relations were established be- tween the two colonies which lasted many years. It was at this time that the colonists learned from De Rassieres how successful the Dutch had been in trading wampum for furs and hides. These wam- pum beads, which were highly prized by the Indians, Avere an eighth of an inch in diameter and a quarter of an inch long. In color they were both white and purple, and, as only a small part of the shells from which they were made was purple, beads of that color were the most valuable. As it required much labor to give them proper shape, to drill holes through the 14S OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS centre, and to round and polish them, they were not a cheap article with a fictitious value. As the shells from which they were made were only found along the shore as far east as Xarragansett Bay, the demand for them was stimulated by the difiiculty which the Indians of the interior had in obtaining them. Therefore, a brisk trade had always been carried on between the coast Indians and the tribes of the interior, furs and hides being brought to the coast to clothe the denser population there, and wampum beads carried back in exchange. From prehistoric times these beads had been used by all Indians for decorations, the number of strings showing the social position and wealth of the wearer, some being worn around the neck, others as bracelets, and others in decorating their clothing and moccasins. In all aifairs of State the chiefs and sachems wore wampum belts either around their waists or over their shoulders, like scarfs. In negotiations with other tribes these chiefs and sachems always took with them both wampum belts and the calumet, or pipe of peace, and their orators corroborated ever\' important state- ment by laying down one or more belts. Promises were not considered binding without one, and they were uniAersally used in all ceremonies. Friendships were cemented by them, alliances confirmed, and treaties sealed. Up to the time of the arrival of the white settlers, these beads had been used only in barter, as the primi- TRADING POST, BUZZARDS BAY 149 live life of the Indians, whose Hmited wants were suppHed by direct personal effort, did not demand a circulating medium, like money. But, as civilization means an interchange of services, some basis of exchange was needed with which easily to regulate payments for mutual benefits. The Dutch with their shrewd commercial instincts had been quick to see the advantage of having at their very doors a commodity which they could easily obtain in exchange for knives, scissors, and hatchets, and after- wards sell in the interior at large profits for furs and hides. De Rassieres had brought with him to Plymouth fifty pounds of this wampum, and the colonists had reluctantly purchased it after being convinced that they could make large profits with it. As an experi- ment, they took some of it on a trading trip to the Kennebec, and, "when the inland Indians came to know it, they could scarce procure enough for many year together," in this way wampum shortly becoming the leading article of trafiic with all the Maine Indians. Up to this time, the colonists had used, in barter between themselves, corn, wheat, peas, poultry, butter, and cheese, but now, owing to the profits made with wampum, this at once became the circulating medium, the unit of exchange being a string of beads reaching from the elbow to the end of the little finger — one purple bead being equal in value to two white ones. Not, however, until two years later did the Cape Cod Indians appreciate the value of wampum as money, as these 150 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS shells were too near at hand to have with them more than their intrinsic value. When, however, they learned how highly the white man valued these beads, they began hoarding them, for they had little ^v eight and were neither bulky nor unwieldy, and, Avhen the strings were long enough, they purchased with them merchandise. They often, too, in spite of the laws to the contrary, purchased fire-arms from the French and Dutch trading vessels, these men, in turn, selling the beads at the different settlements. It was not long before the Plymouth colonists were using these beads to such an extent that in a few years they were able to liquidate their entire indebtedness with the London stockholders, wliich put them upon such a firm financial basis that the Dutch feared "they would be obliged to eat oats out of English hands." No legal tender scheme of later days was ever bolder in its conception or more successfully carried out than this use by them of wampum as money. The farmer was glad to receive it for his produce, the merchant for his wares, and the laborer for his wages. To the French at the north large quantities were also sold, as these people now sought to share in the profits which this trade brought. Soon wampum was circulating as money as much in the forest as in the settlements, and it was not long before wampum beads were made a legal tender by law. In later years the enormous demand for them brought into the market stone beads as well as rough TRADING POST, BUZZARDS BAY 151 unstrung specimens of the genuine article. Then the Dutch began to manufacture beads with steel drills and polishing lathes, and the French to substitute porcelain for the shells. Finally, this extensive manu- facture, together with the domestic coinage of silver, drove wampum beads from circulation, and glass beads took their place for Indian decorations. ^ISSiSflSi^^ liiiiiiBfiiiiiiiii^^ WAMPUM BELT CHAPTER XTI THE SECOND ALLOTMEXT OF L-\XD lo2S The Ph-moiith settlement had now become a pros- perous eolony. Prohtable trading was carried on with the Indians, the hind was prvxiueing more than enough for their needs, and vessels were frtxjuently arriv- ing with necess;\r\- supplies. Most of the families had separate houses, but, as these houses were so close together that tliere was constant dan- ger of a conflagration, it wi\s .OHx Exx^icorr ^"^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^'^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ thatch on all the ixx^fs be changeii to boanis or paling, shingles not then being used. (Hher parts of Massiichusetts Bay were settling rapidly. Few now colonists, however. had arrived at Phmouth. pjirtly Ixvause the ehuix^h people in England had use<.l every means to preveiit those in Lcydon coming over, and p;\rtly because the colonists feareil that, if others joined them, they might find themselves outnumbereil, and thus have taken from them the libortv- which had cost them so dear. SECOND ALLOTMENT OF LAND 153 The acre allotment made in l(v2t had now oxpiivd, and under the reorganization made in 1(>'27 one hun- dred and lifty-six colonists were now ownei*s of the grant from the Council for Now England. Along rivmouth Harbor between the Eel Kiver, tAvo miles to the south of the village, and the Jones River, four miles to the north, there was a stretch of land which in former years had been more or less cleared by the Indians. In order to aJlow each stockliolder an oppor- tunity to develop as nuich land as he was able, it was voted on January thirteenth, UJ^^S, to allot this land to the one hundred and lifty-six shareholders in addition to the acre each already held. To do this, the tract was divided into twenty-acre lots, the poorer portions being held in common, and the moadoAVs retained in order that mowing privileges might be yearly assigned to those having cattle. Each of these one hundred anil fifty-six little farms was four acres deep, and had live acres on the bay. It was also voted that those whose farms were to be far from the village should have the privilege of planting their corn on the nearer land for four years, and that then for a corresponding time tlie owners of this land should have similar privileges on the further land. It was also voted that the shareholders should have the houses in which they lived; that those having the better ones should pay something to the others according to an appraisal, and that "ye Gove*^ &^ 4 or 5 of ye spetiall men amongst them should have their houses without any appraisal." 154 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS At this time the free and easy habits of the settlers of MeiTv Mount had begun to scandahze the Puritan settlers along Massachusetts Bay, who were not slow in condemning what would now be considered innocent sports as "beastly practices." But, because these Merry Mount people were also often intoxicated, besides keeping in the settlement dissolute Indian squaws and selling to the men fire-arms contraiy- to the proclamations of King James in 16-2-2, it was felt that the settlement was a menace to the community', Brad- ford in his journal writing, ''Hitherto ye Indians of these parts had no pieces nor other arms but their bows and arrows nor for many years after, neither durst they scarce handle a gune so much were they affraid of them and ye ver}- sight of one, though out of kilter, was a terrour unto them." The Plymouth government \\ as now asked by the Puritan settlers of the Bay to put a stop to the scan- dalous way the people at Meny- Mount were H^-ing, and Bradford accordingly sent a letter to Morton, requesting him to better regulate his colony and to obev the king's proclamation concerning the sale of fire-arms. To this letter Morton rephed that he defied the settlers to molest him, and assured them that there would be bloodshed, should they attempt it. Upon receipt of this letter Brachord. in June, sent the Plymouth militia, under the command of Captain Standish, to subdue them. Upon their arrival thev found the settlers barricaded in Morton's SECOND ALLOTMENT OF LAND 155 house, and Morton, after taunting Standish with a volley of abuse, led his men out against the men of "(.aptain Shrimp," as he called Standish. In the scrimmage which followed, Morton was taken prisoner and the others surrendered, the only shedding of blood being from the nose of a drunken Merry Mount settler which was scratched with the sword point of one of Standish's men. Soon after this Morton, under arrest, was sent to England in a vessel sailing from the Isles of Shoals. Durino: the summer Allerton returned from Ensf- land with the contract signed by the London stock- holders. While there, he had prevailed upon James Sherley, John Beauchamp, Joseph Andrews, and Timothy Hatherley — four of the stockholders — to be- come "Undertakers" with Bradford and his associates. He had also paid the first two hundred pounds on the bond and other debts amounting to five hundred pounds, the total indebtedness of the colony being now two thousand pounds. He had also been suc- cessful in getting a grant of land on the Kennebec River, where Augusta now is, and here the colonists at once built a fortified trading house. Without any authority from the colonists, Allerton had brought over witli him a young clergyman, named Rogers, to be the pastor of their church. Why he did this has always l^een a mystery, as the man was found to be insane, and the colonists were obliged to pay his passage back to England. That autumn, 156 OVR PLYMOITH FOREFATHEKS at the request of the Enghsh partners, Allerton again returned to England as the agent of the colony, and, because fault had been found with his previous pur- chases, he now received instructions what goods to purchase and what arrangement to make about getting the Leyden people over. The success of the colony and the persistent adherence of the colonbts to their Separatist principles had not failed to have its effect upon the Puritans in England. All knew that the day of strife with the government was not far off, but none could foretell the outcome. Riots in churches, forcible demohtion of communion sets, surplices, and serN-ice books, were not uncommon ^n all parts of the kingdom, and through the press there were frequent explosions of long-stifled con- victions and suppressed opinions. Many Puritans in England now beheved that what had been done at Plymouth by a few men of small means might be done on a larger scale by an association of the lead- inc: Puritans, who were now a numerous and powerful partv in England, rhiriug the agitation of tins ques- tion a few Puritans, '* being together in Lincolnshire, fell into discourse about New England and the plant- ing of the gospel there." The result of the discussicm was the formation of the Massachusetts Bay Company, which in March, 16^, obtaineti from the Council for New England a grant of that part of New England included bebveen three miles north of the Merrimac River and three miles south of the Charles. That SECOND ALLOTMENT OF LAND 157 same fall there arrived at Conant's settlement at Xaiiinkeag sixty eiuigrants. the begiiiniiiii' ot* a great Puritan exodus from Kn^huul which was later vitally to ail'eet the IMyniouth eolony. The two great movements which made New England, therefore, had their beginnings in liineolnshire. The one in Gainsborongh resulted in the t'ornuiticMi of the Plymouth eolony: out of tlie stvond developed the settlements around "Massachusetts Bay. It was not, then, by accident that Boston in Lincolnshire gave its name to the largest city of New England, and that the earliest counties of Massachusetts were called ^liddle- sex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. Of the two emigra- tions, that o( the Pilgrim Fathers was pre-eminent in romance and personal heroism; but, so far as lasting results went, the other was far more important, for, if it had not occurred, it is not certain that the Pilgrim emigration, with its slow rate of increase, would liave been able to make the English language and English traditions permanent in the New World against the combined intiucncc o{ the French and Dutch settlers, who found powerful allies in their Indian co-con- spirators. Upon the arrival of these sixty emigrants at Naum- keag, in September, Conant and those already located there at first disputed the authority of these new people to govern the colony. All, however, soon became friends, and the name of the place was changed from Naumkeag to the Hebrew name Salem, or peace. 15S OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS During the voyage over many of these emigrants had been made ill by eating provisions preserved in unwholesome salt, and, after landing, many had died from being poorly housed in the few buildings which Roger Conant and his colonists had erected. John Endicott, who had come over as deputy- governor of the colony, having learned from Conant of Doctor Fuller's skill as a physician, now sent a messenger to Plymouth, begging him to come to Salem to help them in their distress. AVliile at Salem, Fuller made clear to these Puritan emigrants what Separatism meant, and showed them that they had false ideas of the religion of the Pilgrims. This so impressed Endicott that he wrote to Bradford: "I rejoice much that I am by him [T'uller] satisfied touching your judgment of the outward form of God's worship. It is. as far as I can gather, no other than is warranted by the e\'idence of truth and the same which I have professed ever since the Lord in mercy revealed Himself unto me, being far from the common report that hath been spread of you touching that particular." ■!:>GLXSH MORIONS CHAPTER XIII TRADING POST ON THE PENOBSCOT RIVER 1629 The Puritan emigTation of 1028, which was the beginning of the greatest attempt at colonization yet made by Englishmen, was brought about by ominous signs of civil war when the House of Parliament placed foremost among the nation's grievances Archbishop Laud's oppressive treatment of the Puritan party in the Church. When the Puritans real- ized that "it was evident that the church had no place left to fly into but the wil- archbishop laud derness and a shelter and abiding place could only be sought and retained beyond the seas," many became interested in a Puritan exodus to New England. These men were representative citizens, who desired to have in the New World all that was best in the life of the Old. Some were men of wealth; some had hioh social positions and influential connections; others were men with titles or holding prominent positions as clergy- men in the English Church. Determined to establish in New England something more than a mere trad- IdO our FLYMOLTH FORliTATHERS iiiil station liable at any time to be interfered withby the CTV>wn. the leaders in Maivh, 16^9. obtained frv»m King Charles a roval charter under the legal title of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England. This charter superseded all grants pn?viously made in the territory, and gave unprece- dented liberalitA- in self-government. The favorable reports of the country by Endicott. in his letters home, had already given impetus to the mo^'ement. Friends of those who had sailed the year before now joined the emigration, and that summer six small vessels, with four hundnxl and six emigrants, one huniheii and forty head of cattle, forty goats, and an abundant supply of clothing, arms, anmiunition and tools, saileil for Salem. The arrival of these people made Endicott the governor of a colony laiger than that of Plymouth, e^^?n after its growth of nearly nine vears. As the residt of Fidler's A*isit and influence, the sixty emigrants who had come over with Endicv^tt had already adopteil the church principles of the Plvmouth plantation, and these same principles the new arrivals also adopteil, with the single exception that chureh membership was made an essential pie-iequisite to citizenship. This was done as a safeguard ag;\inst the danger of a popu- lation groAving up aiv>iuid them which, with the aid of the government at home, might try to ciu-tail their religious liberties. Bv this sevx^nd exoilus ninetv uni\-exsitv- men had TRADING POST, PENOBSCOT RIVER 161 been gained for New England — a fact which had much to do in developing the New England type of people. All these new arrivals claimed that they were loyal to the Established Church, and all emphatically denied being Separatists like the Plymouth Pilgrims, whom they still miscalled Brownists, one of the clergymen writing home, "We do not go to New England as Separatists from the Church of England, though we cannot but separate from the corruption in it." But, although they claimed they were heart and soul Church of England men and disavowed in the strongest terms the impression which had gone abroad, "that under color of planting a colony they intended to raise and erect a seminary of faction and separatism," they protested against the use of the Book of Common Prayer, the ceremonies connected with the ordinance of baptism, and allowing "scandalous persons" at the Lord's Supper. They had only separated, they said, from the corruption which had in recent years sprung up in the Church,, and, being now in a place where they had their liberty, they neither could nor would conform to ceremonies in which they did not believe. Of the three ministers who had come over with these second arrivals, one refused to worship in the new way, and settled in Charlestown. With the new arrivals there were also two settlers who attempted to conduct ser- vices according to the Book of Common Prayer, and these men were sent back to England. Thus within a year those who had come to Salem 162 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS as members of the Church of England had prac- tically become Separatists, as they had adopted the doctrines of Plymouth in the two foundation princi- ples iip^^n which Septiratism was based, namely: that, to be members of the Christian Church, men must be Christians, and that, if they were Christians, they had within them the Spirit of God, which made them capable of worshipping in then* own way '* without being subjected to any government but of themselves.*' Hence the only ditTerence between these Puritans and the Plvmouth colonists was that the former retained in spirit the State Church principles, and that the latter did not. For the tirst time, therefore. Puritans who were not Separatists formed a Congregational Church, and, with Congregational churches the basis of civil society in both colonies, a republican form of government for the State was ine\-itable. Among the Salem emigrants of 16-29 there had come over a preacher, one Ralph Smith, concerning whom Matthew Cradock, the English governor of the Massa- chusetts Bay Company, had sent word to Endicott that he was suspected of being a Separatist, " and that unless he be conformable to oiu* government you suffer him not to remain within the limits of our grant.** As the Salem colonists were then denying the charge that thev were Separatists, there was talk of sending Smith back to England. This becoming known to him, he with his family left for Hull, where he lived " in a poore house that would neither keep him or his goods drie." TRADING POST, PENOBSCOT RIVER 103 When a boat from Plymouth put in there, he asked to be taken with his family to the Plymouth colony, and, being- an ordained minister and able to administer the sacraments, he was made the pastor of the Plymouth church, Robinson long before this time having written Brewster that " I judge it not lawful for you, being a ruling elder as in Rom. xii. 7, 8 and in Tim. v. 17, opposed to elders that teach and labour in the word and doctrine to which the sacraments are annexed, to administer them nor convenient if it were lawful." In accordance with the instructions given Allerton, there arrived at Salem in August, in the May Flower now in command of Captain Peirce, thirty-five Leyden emigrants, who from here were taken in shallops to Plymouth. Later Allerton himself came over, bringing with him Morton whom the colonists the year before had sent to England under arrest. This action of Allerton the colonists resented as an impertinence, but, because he was Elder Brewster's son-in-law, Morton was al- lowed to remain as his clerk. In a short time, however, Morton went to his old settlement at Wollaston, where he was a second time arrested for misconduct, and again sent back to England. Among the goods that Allerton brought over there were many which he had been told not to purchase because they were not suitable for trading purposes. He had also mixed goods purchased on his own ac- count with those purchased for the colony. This he had done on his other trips, and, although it had then uu ouu rLYMOuru foukfathkus boon ovorlookod, ho luul on this trip rtvoivod dotinito instniotions what i^oods to buy. C^^n his arrival at Saloni he sold sonio of tho oolony's ixoods which ho had boon toKl not to puroha^o as his own, and turnod tho T\\^^i), the colonists had not yet fathomed Allorton's cunning, and he was again sent to England at tho urgent request of Sherley, who had written that it was neix\tain Pcirce, arrived at Charlestown with nion^ Ticyden emigrants, who from there were; taken in shallops to Plymouth. In this vessel Allerton also returned. As the Plymouth colonists had already heard of his mis- management of their affairs in England, some of the Undertakers now urged his dismissal from the em- ploy of the colony, but, as Sherley liad written that he JOHN WINl'IIKOl' 166 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS ought to return on account of the negotiations already begun for a royal charter similar to the one granted the ^lassachusetts Bay colony, the Undertakers in a moment of weak amiability sent him back in the fall. They also sent AVinslow with him to investigate the charges made, and at the same time to act with liim as the colonists' agent in purchasing goods. This year John Billington. who had come over in the ^lay Flower, was charged with killing one John Newcomen, at whom he had fired for interfering with liis hunting. Of Billington and liis family Bradford wrote, "He and some of his had often been punished for miscariag before, being one of ye profanest families amongst them." In \6'2l Billington had refused to obey an order of Captain Standish, and because he made threats against him *' he was convented before the whole company" to have his feet and neck tied togetlier, and to remain in public view for several hours. Upon his conviction of murder, the colonists who had some doubt about their authority to act in such a case referred the matter to the Bay settlement whose au- thority under the Crown was above question, and they decided "that Billington ought to die and the land be punred of blood." This sentence was carried out at Plymouth in September. In November the Hand- maid arrived at Plymouth with sixty emigrants — prob- ably the last to join from the Leyden churL-h. The voyage over had been a rough one: both masts of the vessel had been carried awav, and duriuix the PURITAN SETTLEMENT AT BOSTON 167 twelve weeks' passage from Southampton ten of the twenty-eight cows that had been shipped died. In England, for some time now, forced loans and illegal taxes had been imposed upon the people. Buck- ingham, the king's favorite, had been killed l)y an assassin, and Laud, now virtually primate, was asserting the divine right of kings, and assuming the whole power of the Church, Puritanism and free speech being his pet aversions and the special objects of his prosecution. Parliament was now dissolved. The king had an- nounced his intention of ruling without one; the Star Chamber and High Commission Courts had become the instruments of the government; and men were harassed for refusing conformity to what they considered super- fluous w^orship. In Auii'ust, 1()29, twelve men amono; the most emi- nent in the Puritan party had held a meeting in Cam- brido;e, Enoland, and tliere resolved to lead another emigration to New England, if under the charter of the Massachusetts Bay colony the government of the colony could be transferred to the colony itself. Their inves- tigations proving satisfactory, it was arranged that such officers of the company who did not care to take an active part in a new Puritan emigration should resign, and that their places should be filled by other Puritan leaders. What had been a vision of a free state and a free government now seemed a possibility. Without arousing the ever-watchful jealousy of Laud, a resolu- tion was passed by the Massachusetts Bay Company 168 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS which meant more than it seemed on its face, it being voted, at the suggestion of Matthew Cradock, the Lon- don governor, " that for the purpose of including persons of character, abihty and means to settle in the new col- ony that the company transfer the government of the plantation to those that shall inhabit it, and not control the same in subordination to the company as it now is.'* The plan wliich these men outlined was far-reaching in its results, being a measure for self-government and independence which foreshadowed that spirit of impa- tience against foreign control, and which, at a later day, pervaded not only the settlements of Massachusetts Bay, but the whole x\merican continent. The practical result of the vote was that the entire control of the affairs of the company was placed in the hands of the ten members who were to settle in the colony, John Winthrop " by election of hands being chosen governor for the ensuing year to begin on the present day." The following year, in February and March of 1630, two vessels with the first of these Puritans sailed for Salem, followed two months later by four other vessels which carried Winthrop and his associates in office, Winthrop on landing assuming office as governor. This was the beginning of a general emigration of English Puritans to New England, and before Christ- mas seventeen vessels had sailed with more than a thousand passengers. On their arrival these people found that the reports sent home had been too highly colored, Dudley writing that " we found the colony in a PURITAN SETTLEMENT AT BOSTON 169 sad and unexpected condition, about eighty of them being dead the winter before, and many of those aHve being weak and sick, all the corn and bread among them all hardly sufficient to feed them a fort- night." On account of this state of affairs most of these new arrivals settled in different places: some at Charlestown, where Endicott had already located fifty of his colonists; some across the river near where Blackstone had his plantation; and others at Medford, Watertown, Cambridge, Roxbury, and Dorchester, — eight separate settlements within a year dotting the shore between Salem and Dorchester — Watertown, four miles up the river from Charlestown, being the most in- land. Winthrop soon after his arrival settled at Charles- town, where the year before "a great house" had been built in which " the Governor & several of the patentees dwelt, while the multitude set up cottages, booths and tents about the Town Hill." Soon after locating here, believing that the present site of Boston was a more suitable place for the settlement, "the Governor & the greater part of the church removed thither, whither also the frame of the governor's house in preparation at this town [Charlestown] was carried, " its favorable location at the head of the bay soon making this place the principal town of the growing colony. In all these Bay settlements there was at first much suffering. Between April and December some of the settlers returned home, and nearly two hundred died» 170 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Winthrop in a letter to his wife writing: ''We may not look at great things here. It is enough that we shall have Heaven, though we pass through Hell for it. We here enjoy God and Jesus Christ. Is it not enough.^" That same year, while the French were making hostile preparations against the colony, a tax upon the different settlements was assessed for the purpose of erecting a fortification at Cambridge. This levy the settlers at Watertown refused to pay upon the long-established principle that Englishmen cannot be rightfully taxed except with their own con- sent, this protest being another manifestation of that independent spirit which in the next century was to bring about the Revolution. The following year not only were the powers of the government more clearly defined, but there was also enacted a law that the whole body of freemen should elect the governor, deputy governor, and assistants, and that each town should send two representatives to a general court to decide, with the governor and his assistants, all questions of taxation. With these Bay settlers the Plymouth colonists soon had active commercial relations, and, although both colonies had many things in common, the Bay colonists were never friendly with those at Plymouth, as the Plymouth people were always ready to make new experiments both civil and ecclesiastical, and had broken with the past to a greater extent than even they themselves realized. The conservative Puritans PURITAN SETTLEMENT AT BOSTON 171 of the Bay, therefore, thought them too radical, as well as too tolerant both in matters of opinion and conduct, hence there was always friction between the two colonies. This often ripened into meddlesome interference on the part of the Bay settlers, which later showed itself in their attempt to divert the trade of the Plymouth colonists by trespassing on their territory. THE FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON CHAPTER XA^ ASTOXISHIXG PROSPERITY OF THE COLOXY For five years trading had been a very profitable business with the Plymouth colonists. The log houses had already given way to c o ni modi o u s one-stor\' struc- tures with gam- brel roofs and generous ga- bles, so that the settlement had now as- s u m e d t h e appearance of a town. Unlike the southern colonies, neither the Plymouth nor the Massachusetts Bay colony had ever been dependent upon England for manufactured articles, as there were good mechanics in every com- munity. The contact of the Plymouth settlers with their Puritan neighbors, who had come over in U)-28, Ur20, and lOoO, had broadened the Pilgrims' ideas of life, and the traffic that was carried on by them with these Puritans, with the Dutch at Manhattan, and with the vessels which frequently came into the harbor, had THE MYLES STAXDISH HOUSE ASTONISHING PROSPERITY 173 developed in the Plymouth colonists shrewd business instincts. Fields were now being fenced for cattle raising, or- chards planted, roads laid out, and watercourses bridged. As the number of cattle increased, the settlers who had land at a distance from the town now built on this land temporary houses in which they lived during the summer, that they might be where their cattle were pastured, but gradually these thrifty farmers, who wished to be at all times near their work, gave up the old English custom of living in villages and going each day to their farms, and before long New England farm- houses with well-stocked farms and cultivated gardens were scattered throughout the colony. The sickness which had prevailed to such an alarm- ing extent in the Massachusetts Bay colony was now over, and, owing to the brisk trade which had sprung up between the two colonies, shallops were plying daily between Plymouth and the Bay. Everything which the Plymouth colonists had to sell was eagerly purchased, and their produce readily exchanged for the horses and the cattle which the Bay people had brought over. When the Bay colonists saw that their Plymouth neighbors were making large profits by trading with the Indians, they, too, began trading along the coast, but when, in the spring of 1631, one of the Massachusetts Bay pinnaces was driven by a storm into Plymouth Harbor, and it was learned that she had been secretly sent on a trading trip within 174 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS the Plymouth territory, Bradford notified the Bay officials that such depredations must cease, or they would be resisted " even to the spending of our lives." The spicy correspondence which followed ended with Winthrop's agreeing that no further trading should be done within the Plymouth domain. That same spring Allerton was dismissed from the employ of the colonists, who had now learned from Winslow of his many false dealings with them during his trips to England. In 1(>34 he settled at ^lachias on the Maine coast, where he had already established a trading post. Here he began a damaging compe- tition with the Penobscot post. Later, when this vent- ure proved a failure, he established a fishing station at Marblehead, where he lived until he was warned from the town, and in 1644 settled in New Haven, ^^'here he died insolvent both in estate and reputation. During this summer the trading post at Castine was pillaged by the crew of a French vessel which had anchored in the harbor while Willet was away on a trading expedition, and all the merchandise, valued at over five hundred pounds, was taken from the four men left in charge, the French sailors, when leaving, making these men carry the goods to their boat, '* bid- ding them tell their master when he came that some of ye He of Rev gentlemen had been there." In the autumn the Plymouth church invited Roger Williams to be assistant preacher. This learned but bigoted AYelshman had arrived in Boston in February, ASTONISHING PROSPERITY 175 and was unanimously asked by the members of the Boston church to act as their pastor during the absence of their own minister in England. When, however, Williams requested all members of the church to express repentance for ever having communed with the Church of England and in the future to refrain from attending such worship, the church refused to follow his wishes, and Williams moved to Salem. Here he was made assistant pastor of the Salem church, but, when he began to question the validity of the king's charter, the magistrates were obliged to request him to define his views more clearly lest these views imperil the church. This controversy Williams cut short by going to Plymouth, where he l)ecame the colleague of Ralph Smith, in contrast to whom his freshness and vigor proved highly acceptable, and, as Plymouth had no royal charter to be assailed, the colonists were sufficiently liberal to tolerate his illiberality. Williams was an extremist in thought, speech, and action, although the doctrines vvhich he then held were in the main what would now be called conserva- tive. He was opposed to any union of Church and State: he would have done away with all contributions for religious purposes which were not voluntary, and, arguing that the land of the new country could only be rightfully obtained from the Indians, claimed the king was an intruder upon American soil and had no right to give royal charters. Later he returned to 176 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Salem, and because he had evolved '* from the Alembic of his soul the sublime principle of liberty of con- science," and had dared to affirm that " the ecclesiasti- cal should be wholly divorced from the ci^^l power and that the church and the majestrary should be con- fined to its appropriate sphere." his ^^ews were con- sidered treason. After a long public trial he was ordered to return to England by the General Court held in 1636 at Boston. This led to his going to Xarragansett Bay, where he established the Providence Plantation. With more mature years his religion grew still more liberal, and during his life at Xarra- gansett Bay he developed his great doctrine of freedom of conscience — a doctrine to which he was never afterwards disloyal. In November, 1631, the Lion, having among her passengers Governor Winthrop's wife and family, arrived at Boston. Two weeks afterv\'ards Governor Bradford made his first official visit to the colony in order to pay his respects to the governor's wife, who upon her arrival had been formally received by the entire militia of the Bay. During this visit due honor was paid him as governor of the Plymouth colony, but, as he was a man impatient of ceremony and parade, the aristocratic surroundings of the execu- tive mansion were less congenial to him than the cabin of the Lion, where he spent the night with his friend. Captain Peirce. CHAPTER XVI THE SPREADING OUT OF THE COLONY 1632 Along the shores of Massachusetts Bay there were now nearly four thousand settlers. Among them were some who had the best of English blood — county squires, people of means and education, clergymen, sturdy far- mers, prosperous trades- men, skilled craftsmen, and hardy seamen — men as thrifty and en- ergetic as the best of their descendants to- day. By reason of this great influx of people, corn and cattle were now bring- ing exorbitant prices. To the Plymouth colony this large emigration had brought unexpected prosperity. New farms were cleared, a large amount of corn was planted, and so many cattle were raised that it was voted that all cultivated land should be fenced. " There was no longer any holding them together," wrote Gov- ernor Bradford, "but they must of necessitie goe to their great lots; they could not otherwise keep their katle, and having oxen grown they must have land for plowing and tillage. ... By which means they were COPP 8 HILL, BOSTON 178 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS scattered all over ye bay quickly & ye towne in which they lived compactly till now was left very thine & in a short time allmost desolate." With the growth of the settlement some of the colon- ists had located across the bay at "Duxberie" where there was more pasturage for their cattle. And in 1632 so many were living there that they objected to bringing " their wives & children to ye publick wor- ship & church meetings here," and asked to be dis- missed from the Plymouth church, that they might estabhsh a new church of their own. They also asked to be incorporated as a separate town, although the Duxbury land had originally been granted to them with the understanding that they should always worship at Plymouth and live there during the winter. When, however, such prominent men as Standish, Alden, and Jonathan Brewster, the son of Elder Brewster, now asked for a separate incorporation and a separate church, a reluctant consent was given, Bradford voicing a wide-spread feeling when he wrote that this separa- tion presaged the ruin of the church " & will provoke ye Lord's displeasure against them." The large emigration to the Massachusetts coast, followed by the spreading out of the different settle- ments, had convinced the Indians that it was only a question of time when the white settlers would have possession of all their territory. In 1631 they made a few desultory raids for pillage and robbery upon some of the outlying settlers, and the same year some Maine In- SPREADING OUT OF THE COLONY 179 dians killed a Dorchester man and his four companions who were trading along their coast in a shallop. On another part of the Maine coast other Indians had killed two settlers, and after robbing their house had set it on fire with the bodies in it. In April, 1632, as a part of a conspiracy against the white settlers of Massa- chusetts, the Narragansetts began war upon Massasoit, and during an attack upon his village at Sowams had forced him to flee for protection to a Plymouth trading post near there. At the time of Massasoit's flight to this Plymouth fort, Standish with three other colonists happened to be there, and Standish, as soon as he had sent an Indian runner to Plymouth for more gun- powder, made preparations for an attack. No fighting, however, occurred, for after a short siege the Narragan- setts withdrew, word having been sent to them that their neighbors, the Pequots, had taken advantage of their absence and invaded their territory. A few weeks later Standish notified Governor Bradford that these two great nations, the Narragansetts and the Pequots, had become suspiciously friendly. That fall Governor Winthrop paid his first official visit to Plymouth, sailing with his party to Weymouth in the Lion, which was now returning to England by way of Virginia. From there they took the Indian trail to Plymouth, where " the governor of Plimouth, Mr. William Bradford, a very discret & grave man, with Mr. Brewster the elder & some others came forth & met them without the town & conducted them to the 180 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS governor's house where they were very kindly enter- tained & feasted every day at several houses." On the Lion, which was largely owned by Sherley, the Plymouth colonists shipped at Weymouth for Eng- land eight hundred pounds of beaver and other skins. During the voyage, however, the vessel was wrecked, her cargo lost, and five of her ten passengers, besides seven of her crew of twenty-eight sailors, were drowned. Although the loss of these beaver skins was a heavy one to the colonists, yet so prosperous had the year as a whole been that they appointed a day for thanks- giving. In those early times no special day of tlie year had ever been set aside for Thanksgiving Day, as a day was always given to the worship of God whenever the colonists felt that there was some direct manifestation of His mercy and favor in times of peril; when some trouble with the Indians was suppressed; when con- tairious diseases were overcome; when a vessel arrived in port bringing needed provisions and stores, or when there was a bounteous harvest. On the Thanksgiving Day this year the colonists rejoiced in "an especial manner" in spite of the loss of their cargo and the fact that they had just suffered from "a plague of mos- quitoes and rattlesnakes." CHAPTER XVII TRADING POST ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER 1633 There being now many different settlements scat- tered along Cape Cod, it was voted at the annual town meeting held in 1633 to make the town of Plymouth the colonial capital, this being the official beginning of Plym- outh as a town, in distinc- tion from the colony of " New Plimouth." At this meeting, Winslow was chosen governor, and, although Bradford had refused a re-election as gov- ernor and "by opportunity gat off," he consented to be one of the executive council which w^as this year increased to seven members. Among the new members of the council was one John Doane w^ho, soon after the election having been made a deacon in the church, was allowed to resign as a member of the council in accordance with the policy of the govern- ment that the Church and State should be separate and distinct bodies. The actions of the Indians had now become so sus- picious that the colonists were alarmed lest there might EDWARD WINSLOW 182 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS be a general uprising against the whites, for they knew that, should this occur, the Indians could easily ex- terminate them, even if all the Massachusetts colonists joined against them. As a precaution, it was, therefore, voted " that whereas our ancient work of fortification ... is decayed that every able-bodied man either do or provide his share as assigned by the Governor &; Council in repairing it." This same year the colony was visited by a locust pestilence which Bradford spoke of as " a quantitie of great sorte of flies like to wasps or bumble bees which come out of holes in ye ground & eat the green things and made such a constante yelling noyes as made ye woods ring of them vV ready to deafe ye hearers." The Indians had prophesied that this was a forewarning that some disease would follow, and, as it happened, the next summer an "infectious fever'' swept away large numbers of Indians and twenty of the inhabitants of the town. During this summer of 1633 a small tribe of Connecti- cut River Indians, who had been driven from their territory by the Pequots, persistently besought the Plvmouth colonists to aid them in cjettinir back their countrwand, in order to have them as allies, asked them to establish in their country a trading post, where, as these Indians claimed, the colonists would have a large trade with the inland Indians. The Dutch at Man- hattan in a previous year had told the colonists of the ver\' fertile soil along the valley of the Connecticut River, which they called the ''Fresh River," and had TRADING POST, CONNECTICUT RIVER 183 advised them to chani;o their settkMuent to this phvce. It was, therefore, now decided to send a vessel on a trip lip the Connecticut River to explore the country, to trade with the Inihans, and to see about establishing there a trading- post. Upon the return of the vessel with the report that the trade was small, the colonists declined to make any alliance with these Connecticut Indians, fearing it might stir up hostile feelings among the Pequots. Upon their refusal the tribe then applied to the Massa- chusetts Bay colony, which also declined to give them any assistance. Later as the officials at the Bay sug- gested to the Plymouth colonists that the two colonies carry on trade together on the Connecticut River, Bradford and Winslow, at their request, went to Boston to arrange for a joint occupancy of the country. Upon their arrival they found that the Bay colonists had changed their minds, and were making excuses *' more like pretexts than real motives," evidently with the idea that later they themselves might get control of the country. The Plymouth colonists having now decided to establish a trading post there, in September " their great new barque," under the command of William Holmes and having on board a trading house built in sections, left Plymouth for the Connecticut River. AVhere Hartford now is they found that the Dutch had built a fort and had mounted two cannon to command the river, and, when the Dutch threatened to fire upon them, should they attempt to proceed. Holmes replied 184 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS that the governor of Plymouth had ordered him to as- cend the river, and, whether they fired or not, he should obey orders. "So they passed along, and though the Dutch threatened them hard yet they shoot not. Com- ing to their place [Windsor] they clapt up their house quickly and landed their provisions and left ye com- panie appoynted and sent the bark home and after- wards palisadoed their house aboute and fortified them- selves better." The Dutch who, on the ground of having originally discovered the Connecticut River, now claimed ex- clusive ownership of this territory, the next year sent from Manhattan an armed force of seventy men to take possession of the Plymouth trading post, but, on finding the place well fortified and a garrison prepared to resist them, a conference was held which resulted in the Manhattan forces returning to the fort at Hart- ford. That fall the Dutch sent four of their men up the river beyond the Windsor fort to secure the furs which would otherwise come to the fort, and to prevent a pow- erful tribe of Indians living to the north from making a treaty of peace with the Plymouth men. While these men were with this tribe, malignant small-pox broke out in the tribe, and carried off all but fifty of their thousand warriors. The disease also spread among the Indians around Windsor, and as there were not a suffi- cient number of well persons among them to procure food and fuel for the sick, their wooden trays, bowls, and bows and arrows were used to make fires, many TRADING POST, CONNECTICUT RIVER 185 dying while crawling to the bank of the river for water. From the Connecticut valley the disease spread among the Narragansetts, and the smaller tribes about Boston, over seven hundred Narragansett warriors dying, and some of the smaller tribes being entirely wiped out. During this epidemic, the Plymouth men at the Connecticut fort having taken proper precautions against small-pox, did not contract the disease, and so were able to care for the sick. In the middle of the winter the four Dutch emissaries who had gone up the river arrived at the Windsor fort so exhausted from their long journey through the snow that only owing to the most careful nursing by these Plymouth men were their lives saved. This kindness the Dutch always remembered, and never afterwards molested the Wind- sor settlement. ^'^^^B^ EXPLORING THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY CHAPTER XVm THF BEGIN-XIXG OF EXGUSH IXTERFEKEXCT lo34 In 10:U Thomas Pronce was chosen eovernor. lu ICoS and from 1657 to lt>73 he was also governor. ^i\_ besides being for ^^~-^J\]0 : ^ / ^ V C^\Ck^ tliirtv years a mem- *^ ber of the exeeu- tivo council. Although he was a man of dignity, yet. owing to his strong orthodox zeal, he was often harsh in carrying out his othcial duties. AVhile gov- ernor, he died at Plymouth in U>7o. leaving for those days a large fortune. In May. Ui:U. when the spring trade with the Indians began, one John Htx^kings. in charge of a trading post on the l^scataqua Uiver for Lord Si^y and Sele. Lord Brooke, and other English o^^n.e^s. anchored his bark on the Kennebe<.\ a short distance above the Plymouth trading post, so that he might get the trade wliich otherwise would come to the post. Thereupi^n. John Rowland, then in chanre of the post, taking with him some of the men at the fort and John Alden who had recHMitly arrived with a stix^k of gixxis in the colony's hark, went in this bark to where IKx^kings was anchored, and commanded him to anchor outside the Plvmouth territory. This Ibx^kings not only n^fused to do. but detied Rowland to molest him. llowland KXCiLlSll IN TKKFKKKXrK 187 lU'corclinoly sont t\>ur mon in n hoiii over to 1 lockings' vos<;ol to cnt tlio anchor cahlo. This Mas (lone hv ono 'I'albot. and it st^ anoorod llockinirs that ho shot Talbot thron^h the hcail. 'I'lion a friend o( Talbot's "that loved him well.'' and was on the Plynionth bark, picked np his nnisket and shot 1 lockings. The killing of Ilockings had fanned into a tlanie the Puritan dislike to the riyniouth Separatists and three weeks later, when John Alden sailed into Boston Har- bor with a cargo of merchandise, he was arrested and imprisoned. That same day, when the vessel re- turned to Plymouth, the colonists, indignant at this interference of the Bay colonists — the Kenneboc River beino- outside the limits of tlu^ Ba\- colony o-rant — at once sent Stautlish to Boston to demand Aldon*s release. Upon Standish's presentation o'i the case, Alden, who was out on bail, was given his liberty and his sureties wore discharged, Standish being put under bonds to appear before the ^[assachusetts court in two weeks to make proof of Plymouth's rights on the Ken- nebec and to corroborate his statements about the shoot- ing. At the hearing Standish so bluntly censured the Bay people for their interference where they had no jurisdiction that considerable hard feeling was the result. Tong afterwards the Bay settlers excused their action by saying that, at the time of the Ilcx^kings incident, it was known in the l^ay colony that the king had just issued to the archbishops of York and Canterbury 188 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS and ten others a commission which placed the colonies, both in Church and State affairs, under their control, and that they thought it necessary to take an active interest in the Hockings case, even if their invasion of Plymouth rights was a high-handed act, as they had feared that, unless some action were taken, their English enemies, led by Lord Say and Sele and Lord Brooke, would prevail upon the king to send over a royal gov- ernor for New England, in w^hich case their church and civil liberties would be lost. Their fears of having a royal governor, however, were groundless, as enough political influence was brought to bear upon the com- mission to prevent any steps being taken against the colony. For the Plymouth people the year had been unusually prosperous, partly owing to the large amount of furs taken at their Kennebec post and partly to the large amount of trading done with the Dutch at Manhattan. In the summer, Winslow, returning from a trading trip up the Connecticut River, had, instead of sailing around the Cape, taken the vessel to the trading post near Sowams. From there he had sent the vessel back on another trip, and returned to Plymouth, accom- panied by Massasoit who had some of his men take the goods across the Cape. Upon Winslow's arrival he found the town in mourning, as Massasoit had sent word ahead that he had been killed, the mes- senger giving in detail the time and place where the murder had been committed. For this false re- ENGLISH INTERFERENCE 189 port Massasoit was severely censured, although he said that what he had done was in accordance with an Indian custom to insure for Winslow a warmer welcome. In the fall Winslow was sent to England with 3,738 pounds of beaver skins and 234 of other skins, valued at about four thousand pounds sterling. Besides other commissions, he was especially charged to get an accounting from Sherley, who each year had evaded making one. He was also appointed agent of the Bay colony to appear before the King's Commissioners for Plantations, in order "to obtain a commission to withstand the intrusions of the French and the Dutch at the east and at the west." One of the members of this commission was Archbishop Laud, who already was planning to send over Sir Ferdinando Gorges as governor of all the New England colonists, hoping in this way to get the Church of England firmly established and "to force upon them the yoke of our ceremonials and intermixtures so as to deter others from going." Gorges, who already had been nominated governor- general, was to take with him a thousand soldiers, a vessel being then building to take them over. When Winslow, who in England had the reputation of being one of the most prominent men in New England, appeared before the commission, he was accused by Laud not only of having taught in the Plymouth church on Sundays, but of having joined people in marriage. With more candor than caution, Winslow 190 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS defended his action, declaring that he knew of no spiritual ground for not doing as he had. For these radical ideas Laud had him committed to Fleet Prison, where he was kept seventeen weeks before rei.xnving his libertv to return to Flvmouth. FLEET PKISON CITAFIEU XIX THE PENOBSCOr THAOlNc; r(.)ST LOST lo35 The t'oroii^n coininorco o( "Nrassacluisotts had now grown to sncli an extent tliat chii'ing one week in 1(>:>,) ten foreign vessels were lying at anehor in l>oslon Harbor. In the spring of this year AVinsiow, as tlie agent of tlie Plynunitli eolony. was again sent to England, and, although still nnal)le to get Sher- ley to make an aeeonnting, tnrned over to him o,()7S pounds of beaver skins and 4(U> skins of otters, minks, and black foxes, their value like the ship- ment the year before be- ing about four thousand pounds. In August of this year the colonist's fort at Castine was taken from them ** in ye name of ye King of France'* and all the merchandise contiscated, A\ illet ami his three men being given a boat with which to get back to Plymouth. Upon their arrival the colonists at once asked the Massachusetts Bay people to join THE ARKlVAt. OF BAY SKTTl.KKS IN CONNFCTIOUT 192 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHEKS with them in driving the French frvmi the coiintrv. since such ck\>e pi\^ximity was a men;uv to both colonies, but the Bav colonists. aUhough thov ap- prmeil the plan, were nnwilling to go to any ex^xMisc in the matter. The vessel of one Girling being then in Boston Harbor, the Plymouth people employeil him to get for them p^^ssession of the fort. " In considera- tion wher^^f he was to have 700 jxninds of beaver, to be delivered to him ther. when he had done ye thing, but if he did not accomplish it he was to lose his labour and have nothing. . . . AVith him they also sent their owne bark and about -20 men with Captaine Standish to aid him if needc wtvr and to order things if tlie house was r^giiined and then to pay liim ye beaver which they keept aborvi their owne barke." Girling, when he came within sight of the fort, began a furious caimonading. but. by the time he was near enough for elfective tiring, the jxnvder gave out and Standish was obligcii to return on his bark to Pem- aquid, the ncarx\^t plantation, for a fresh supply. While here Standish learned that, even if Girling was not sucivssful in getting possession of the fort, he intended seizing the beaver skins, and so. after sending to Girliui: tlie powder. Standish sailed for Plymouth with the Ivaver skins which were on the bark. Upon ret^'civing the powder. Girling at once sailed for England without attempting any assault. Upon Standish*s return the governor and council immediatelv sent a letter to the Bav colonists airain ask- PENOBSCOT TRADING POST LOST 193 ing tor assistaiue in forcing the French from the country and urging the necessity of getting possession of the fort at once, as the French would now probably fortify the phicc more strongly than ever. To this letter the Bay people replied by asking the Plymouth colonists to send some duly authorized persons to Boston to con- sider the matter with them. In answer to their r(M|ucst two of the colonists went to lioston, but the conference came to nothing, "for when they came to ye issue they would be at no charge." Soon aftenvards the Bay colonists began trading with the French then in pos- session of the fort, furnishing them with provisions, powder and shot *'so as it is no niarvcll," wrote 15rad- ford, " though they still grow «Js: encroach more c^^ more upon ye Fnglish and hll ye Indians Avith gunes «Jv: nui- nishtion to yc great deangcr of ye English." AVhat Bradford predicted proved true. The Castine fort was fortified more strongly than ever, and became as profitable to the Fi'ench as it had been to the Plymouth people, being held by the French until 1C94. Now that the small-pox c})idcmic had swept away the Indians along the Connecticut River valley, some of the Massachusetts Bay people began planning to settle there. In 1084 Elder Goodwin, of Cambridge, pe- titioned the General Court that his church be allowed to move in a body to Connecticut, and, although the Court refused, public clamor for a settlement there still con- tinued, it being specially urgetl on the ground that it was necessary to possess the country, lest it be occupied 194 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS by the Dutch or *' other Enghsh," for it was then known that the Plymouth colonists were seriously considering locating there themselves in a body. Xotwithstandino- the action of the General Court, a large detachment from the Dorchester church left for the Connecticut River in the spring of l()o.). and. on arriving at Windsor, Jonathan Brewster, who was in charge of the fort, otfered them what hospitality he could, stored their goods, and loaned them canoes with which to explore the country. After finishing their ex- plorations, they told Brewster that they had decided to settle at Windsor. Against this, Brewster and the Plymouth men vigorously protested, since there were hundreds of miles of other equally good land at their disposal. They also reminded these Dorchester people that they had purchased the land of the Indians in U>o8, tliat they had defendeil it against the Dutch, and that their own colony was thinking of settling there. To this the pious Dorchester men replied that it was ** the Lord's wast," thiit it was only being used as a trading post, and that, as they had come to this place '' by His Provi- dence,'' they should seize the land and put it " to ye right end for which land was created." Every means short of physical force was used to prevent this outrage, but, as Brewster had received strict ordei*s from the Plymouth government not to forcibly drive them away — another Hockintjs traijedv beinix feared — ^lie was un- able to prevent a settlement being made. That same year, at Savbrook at the mouth of the Connecticut, the PENOBSCOT TRADING TOST LOST 195 Bay colony built another fort to prevent the Duleh settling on the river. During the controversy over this AVindsor settlement two shallops had started from Dorchester with goods fen* the Connecticut settlers. These were wrecked on Brown Island Shoal while trying to make Plymouth Harbor during a storm, and all on board were drowned. Notwithstanding the hard feeling which had grown out of the usurpation of their Connecticut territory, Bradford had the goods that washed a.shore dried and sent to the ownei*s at Dorchester, and later, when an- other carfro was lost oft" Sandwich, he aoainhad the floods sent to Dorchester. That fall Winslow returned from England, bringing with him John Norton, who was made assistant minister of their church. Norton, however, remained with them only a year, as he re- ceived a call to be the pastor of the church at Ipswich, where there were " many rich and able men and sundry of his acquaintances, so he wente to them." THE FORT AT PEMAQUID CHAPTER XX THE RXACTMKXT OF A COPF. OF I„\WS lo3o The town of Plvmouth had now a cfist-milh a >aw- milh a blacksmith's shop, and a o».x'»^vnii:o shop. Those, witli its markot-phuw Nvharf. tishiniX a n d t r a ding boats, h a d •nade it one of ;he im^x^rtant towns on the eoast. Thert^ wer\^ also in the town a villaiTt^ inn and a court-house: sluvp raisiiu: and the hand-weaving of wool woiv now amoiu: the industries of tlie town: oxen anvi hoT^esN\ere in common use. but. as few bridges had yet Ixvn built, the streams had to be fonleil in gvMiig from place to platv. For tifttvn years the othcials of the riymouth coh^ny had btvn annually eUx^ted without having their duties deiinoii, Wing subjtvt only to such limitations of official powers as the town mtx^tings from time to time deter- mined. The communitv was now tix^ lanri" to have the TH*r MAJV>R BKAI>rORI» HV^rSOE ENACTMIONT OF A (U)l)10 OF LAWS 107 (lotails of llio ojovcriiiiUMil decided In mass inceliii^s, aiul its afTairs, botli doincslic and rorcio-n, wore now loo iniporlant to be carried on willioul some rormallv de- lined form of <»;overnment with limitations of ollicial power. Inasnuich ;is the laws and enactments at the diHerent town meetings of former years had never been syslemalically kept, and many of them ha were in general merely recorded revisions of the laws in force in England, it is lOS OUK PLYMOUTH R^^RITATHOiS pKitvjiMe thai die e«- ;)M^I«e\i th*t *ll iK^w ki^s *nd all chai^je^ of the oid lnws eetii\sr>; that annualhr oil the tii^ l\ie>sday of Maivh " a GowriKwr ainl <^^vvn ajsjaociate^fi be cho>4ei\ to rwW and goven>e the saiid planfc»cons within the ^swd limited for one \x\iure aini ik> nK>iv'* ; that all claims umier iortv shilhiur? ainl all petty otfejxvs were to be vkvkled by the cvHiiKnl: and that all lai^^r clainv? and all «inv« shoiikl W tried by jurie?^ From tin>e fro tin>e, ad- ditioi^ we^v n\a^ie fro the^ae Uws until I^sVn. whei\ a j^evxMKl revision was nvade, a thiivl ivvisioii beit^ luade in 1<^TI and a fvxirth in l^>. In Jum^, li^:^, 'rhv>inas lUx>ker, ihe ^v^stor of tfw chun.-'h in Cambridi>^, with a huuvlivxi v>f his chunrh en\krrafr«>d fr«> the Coitmvticut and jjettkxi near tfie IXiK-h tradiuiT p^^itt at HartfoTvl. for "^ hei>cii\i: v\f ye fanK* of the Coiikrhtioute river they had a haitkeriug miinl affrer it,*' Soon afteiwaivls aiK4her Kxiy of l\mtans k^ AVafreitown. aiui s^-ttkxl at \Vethei^4d, AKxit the sanK* tinn^ the otheis v>f the IX^ivhesfrer ehuivV ; .> AVindsor* all thes<^ emiirratk^\s beiiiiT i>ot of ir. <, but of chuiv^hes. InasnuK^i as thesjt" peopk elaiuHxl alk^aiKx* to the Hay ookM\y, the oflk^ials of that cok\ny at oiKx^ a^uuHxl authority o\xt the m^w townss althiMiiirh they were vHitskk* the limits v^ its charter, A^iust this usurpatKMi of authority by the Massachusetts Bay cok«iy some of the Cambri^%^^ pei^4t\ wIk> had settkxi ENACTMENT OV A COIM-. OV 1 AWS ^.^9 within the Phinoxith territon . anvl nianv v>f tho now arnvaJs fn>m lX>i\*hestor, when thov loarnod Iionn tho Plvmouth ivlonists had Kvn ttvattnl. prv^tosttnl and " rW'iolYeil to quit vo phuv it* thov [tho l>av oi^lonv] ixniKl not a^^tvi^ with thiv^o of rHn\out!\/* AlthvHiirh the PKmouth i»\>Yonnnont unrod tho otHoiais at l^\ tht^o Coniuvtiout >ottlon\ont.<. no atton\pt at anv iv:!5titutit>n wa> ovor niado. hut aftor n\any futile etTorts a i\>nipT\^n\ise was br\nii;ht about "for [x\uv* sake, though thev cvmvivtHl thev sutToreil uuioh in this thiuix.** Hy this «.\>uipr\nuiso tho Plymouth ivlouy rotaintnl thoir tradiiuj ^x\st and one-sixteenth of their traet, and rtwivtH^ tifttvn-sixtivnths of tho amount which thov had ^wid tor it to the Indians. "Thus was tho oon- tnweisy endeil, but the unkindness not so soon tor- Ci^tten/' rhe traffic which the " I ndortakors" woiv canyiniT on was irixwvini* so nuich hvn:^^^ each year that Bradforxi "had marxx^lkxi'* at the amount. Shorlov's indobtod- noss to them for shipments of furs to him now amountod. as the iH>lonists Miovoik to moi\^ than two thousand [XHinds, but, as he was still unwining to settle tho ac- ixnint, he was peremptorily dismisseil as the ai^.Mit of the colony. I.i»ter. in ItU^. a sottlomont was made with him by jvwing him one hundroil and tifty jxnmds storUnix: the same year a settlement was made with Andi\nvs. an- other df tlio Knclish |\nrtners, by i^ayiui: him tivo hun- dreii and forty-four ^xninds: and in U>4t> with tho thiixi 200 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS partner, Beaiichamp, who received houses and lands in Plymouth valued at two hundred and ten pounds and ten shillings; the fourth partner, Hatherley, having before this time joined the colony. With these pay- ments the Plymouth Republic after a quarter of a cen- tury for the first time enjoyed the luxury of being out of debt, and, although during these years its debts had been inflated, its funds embezzled, and its con- fidence betrayed, the colonists preferred to submit to fraud and to pay unjust claims rather than feel that any one \vas not receiving what was his just due. During this year, 1636, the town records show that John Billington's widow was fined five pounds and ordered to sit in the stocks and be pubHcly whipped, this being the first record of stocks being used in the colony. The same year Ralph Smith resigned his pastorate, and settled in Manchester, Massachusetts, liis resignation being at the request of the members of tlie church, who had come to the conclusion that he had little or no ability. The same year John Raynor, '* an able and godly man." was made their pastor, and remained with them until 1654, when he went to Dover, New Hampshire, where he died in 1669. KKLICS OF BY-OOXE DATS CHAPTER XXI THE I'KQUOr WAR lo37 As the Connecticut settlements were outposts in the heart of the Indian country, trouble was inevitable. T h e P e q u o t Indians, a powerful and warlike tribe, ruled the eastern half of the State, and five miles into Kliode Island. From there to Narragansott Bay their bitter enemies, the Narra- gansetts, d o m i n a t e d . 1 n 1033 some Pequot Indians savagely mutilated and murdered one Captain Stone, and seven other Englishmen who had gone from the Bay colony on a trading trip up the Connecticut River, and although the chief of the Pequots, Sassacus, had promised to deliver the murderers to the government officials at Boston, he had made one excuse after another for not fulfillintr his promise. Later, in 1()3(>, John Oldham, now promi- nent in the Bay colony, while off Block Island in Narragansett Bay on a trading trip in his pinnace, was murdered by some Narragansett Indians. To avenge these murders, three vessels, imdcr the command PEQUOT INDIAN 'riii: nx^iKn^ wAii 20:5 of Isiulicoll, were s<'iil lo IIk' N;ii"r;i|!,-.iiis('l Is' coiiiilry willi ,1 coiiiiiiissioii '' lo |>iil. 1,0 (Icjilli llic MHMi of lilock Ishirid, [)iil lo spitrc llic woincii niid (itiidrcii, ;iii(l Iroiii IIhmicc lo o() lo ihc |*(>(jii()ls lo (Iciiijirid IIh^ rriiirdcrcrs of (';ij)l;iiM SloMc .'ind llic oilier Mii^lisliiMcii, Ix'sidcs oti<^ liioiis.iiid I'.'iIIkmiis of \v;iiii|)iMii Jor d:i,iiKio-(>.s ;itid soriK' of iiicir cliildrcii ns liosl;io(>s, wliicli, if lli<\y slioidd rcriisr, llicy were lo ohhiin l)y lorcc." A(liri^^1 'rill' ri\,M i>r w ak •20\ liUMi aiul \]\c c\f;\\\\ "Wolxct'-^xw \\i\vv'\ovs o\\ llii-(^« vtvsscls, INlnstMi sU>ppotl ;il Snvl>rt>i>k. NN luM'o lu'W.is joiniul l>v I luKM'liill .nul his nuMi. l-'rom lino llu>\ >aiK'*l \o ^arni^aiiMMl l>a\ . \\ Iumi^ lour lumdiiul \arr.Mi;aus(Mls >vrriM\ ailiiii;- lor tluMii. ( >n tluMiairiNal an Indian run- lUM- biiMiidit lluMn\\t>ril llial Caj^lain rahirk willi I'orlv nuMi tV(>ni tlu> AlassailuistMIs l>ay rt»l(>iu was on his >vaN lo \o\\\ iluMu. lull Masi>n. unwilling; to wail, al once luarvlu^l oxrrlauil wilh his t"oi\'tN lo w hero Sloui;hh)n Iit>\\ i--. Prronin;'; ihr rrnut>ls nih> hclioN ins.*; Ihal \\\c\v ?;tronj;lu>Kl o\\ tho Thanu's l\iv(M- was lo hr allarUt^l. INlason niadi^ a h>nj;- thMour at ni>;hl. an»i al tlavhri^ak o\\ []\c n\(>riiin;; of Ma\ IwtMilx si\lh r(>aohc(l llu' jNlvstio vilhi^o whiMi^ llu^ Indians woro asloi^p in laniiiul .sot'urily. 'IMumv hulian allii\s. \\\c AL^hoi^ans and tho Narra^anst^tts. now losi tonrap^ and divsiMlod lluMn, lull, nol ilaunhul. Mason ad\ancod u|>on owe c\\- [vixucc and I ndrrhill upon Ihc oIIum'. an Indian siMili- nal. aroused h\ the barkniL'; o( a iloi^, onlv ^iviti*;" llio idarni whon Ihry WtM-o olosi^ to tlu^ fori. 'V\\c Indians, takiMi roniplotoK by surpnst\ banii'- striokiMi. and wlulo tryiui;- to tvsca{>(\ lirsl lhn>Ui;h ono iMitranoo autl thru tho otluM-. wtM\^ ruthU^ssh slu>l down. l"\\irini;' that tlu^ lutlians. who outnunihiM-cd lluvso as- sailants n(\irly f*>ur to owe, wt)nld in (k\sptM*alii>n scalo Iho t\>rt for a hand to hand tMU'ounliM-. Mason slu>ultHl, ** ^^'o nuist burn tluMu." autl firebrands wiM-e al onco tin-own ovor tho palisa^Io amono- tho wigwams, w hoiv, tho llanuvs spivatlin^-. Ilio rarnaj^o was couiplolo — tho 208 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Indians perishing in their burning dwelHngs. "It was a fearful sight to see them frying in ye fyer and ye streams of blood quenching ye same and horrible was ye stinck and sente thereof. The Narragansett Indians all this while stood round about but aloofe from all danger and left ye whole execution to ye English ex- cept it were ye stoping of any yt broke away, insulting over their enemies in this their ruine and miserie when they saw them dancing in ye flames, calling them by word in their own language signifying O brave Pequents ! " Of seven hundred Pequots, five escaped, seven were taken prisoners, and the others were either killed or perished in the flames, and thus the war, which had begun with what would have been a fatal blunder, if the Pequots had not been taken by surprise, ended with a victory for the English. After the battle Mason marched with his troops across country to Pequot Har- bor, where he was joined by Patrick and liis men, who during Mason's march inland had sailed there in the three vessels. From here the Massachusetts troops marched with Mason and his men overland to Say- brook, while Underhill with his troops went back in the vessels, and from here Mason's and Patrick's troops went in the vessels to Hartford. As soon as the Massachusetts Bay colony learned of Mason's success, one hundred men under the com- mand of Captain Stoughton of Dorchester were sent to the Connecticut with instructions to prosecute the THE PEQUOT WAR 209 war to the bitter end. Reaching Pequot Harbor early in June, they were joined by forty Connecticut men whom the General Court at Hartford had ordered to continue the war, and these combined forces pursued the Pequots wherever they could be found, Sassacus and some of his followers being finally driven into a swamp near Fairfield, where many were killed, Sassacus fleeing to the Mohawks, a neighboring tribe, who, fearing the English, cut off his head and sent his scalp to Boston. After this success the victorious colonists marched through the Pequot country, burn- ing wigwams and granaries, the few Indians who were left being so scattered that the nation was never again able to estabhsh itself. Of the men whom the English had taken prisoners, thirty were blindfolded and from the deck of a vessel were walked overboard to a watery grave in the Thames. The rest were sold into slavery in the West Indies or distributed among the Narragansetts, the women and girls being assigned to the different colonial towns as house servants. No event in the early history of New England had a greater influence on its destiny than this war. Never before had the Indians heard of so terrible a vengeance, and never again, until King Philip's war, thirty-eight years afterwards, did they dare lift their hands against the whites. It was the first struggle of our ancestors with the aborigines of the country, who naturally believed that they themselves held the title to the soil. Yet these Christian white men, with all the humanity 210 OIR PI YMOIHTH FOREFATHERS wliidi tiiey showcvi :o>v,^rd> their own p^x^^le aini witli ^ the p»etA~ whkh ':vv pry.^U'-^cj^xi t;>\«r;wvi> Gvxi, ac^ witii a cTuehr as inhuman a$ tiuit of the sax^aa^^ whom thev hopevl K> ChnslMmiie. Their *;i liviian methods of waHaiw tiiat with e«iisY c»tt<»cie4ices thoy cwhr liaiited war by bukheiy. Captiwtr^ they wiUii^i^hr s^^ inK» slax-w' for |^rv>fit or gav^e' thent to their nK>>t hitter eiK^niies fi\r a Hfe ww^ than slawfy, This want of humanity was not foi^>tten by the linhaus when later« at the beii^innin^ of Kii^ PhiKpV war* the diffej>eiit New Ki^rlai^d triK^ xx^^iv nT\^xi to unite in dri\ii^ the Kugiish from the country. In this Pequot war the PhuKHith c\4vMUsts Ksd taken no fiait, but the PhTiKHith iworvis show that the ooi- onists had a^xxl with the Bay ooiony "to j^^ui »^> men at thpir owive chai^, ainl with as much speed as possible they vXHiki i^>t^ theiu anneal ami pn>Yided a l^arke to oarrie theiu proxSsiv^is & teini upon thent for all ixvasions but when they wien^ rea^b K> nwiv^h they had wwrvi to stay for yv enimy was as i>xxl as vanisheii and their wxHikl be no neerie." ciiAriKH wn THK. l\>lA>N> AT lis LOWKST KlU^ lo35-UH3 l^lMio attontion "svas now luvomino- moiv than evoT attraotod to Now Kn^lanti as a ilosiraMo plaoo for onni:ration. it liavini:; Invn pointed ont with nnioli fon^e that tlio Tva.son whv tho sot- tlonionts in tlio sonth luul boon nnsnooossfnl was tho want oi i^ood harbois. In UkSS a stHH^nd lai'ixo Now F.ni:land oniigration boijan, this boini: t]nit*konod bv tho tronblos whioli privodod tlie broakino^ ont oi oivil war in tlio niotlior oonntrv. In tho sprinix of this year fonrtotMi vessels >ailod ilown the Tlianies witl\ omiixrants for the new oonntrv. >o maiiv loavinc Kngland that tlio aivhbishop of York was askod by some of his parishioners to pnt a stop to the oniii^ration. or the parislies wonki bo impoverished. IVonty-tivo thonsand |xx^pk^ had already sailed to Now V'ngland in ton years, and for two years this new emigration eontinned, eeasing only when the swiniX of tho politioal pondnlnin made tho Pnritans CHAKl.KS CHVUVOT 212 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS begin to hope that their contest for poUtical freedom was to be successful. On account of the large exodus to Massachusetts in 1638, the price of cattle and grain so increased that the Plymouth colonists gave all their attention to pasturing cattle and growing corn. Trade with the Indians was neglected, and, when the Undertakers decided to give up their trading post on the Kennebec, some of the colonists, who "well fore-sawe that these high prices of corne and cattle would not long con- tinue, agreed with ye company for it and gave them about ye 6 parte of their gaines for it." Prosperity had now made the colonists desire to own more fertile farms elsewhere, and the dissatisfaction became so great that in June, 1638, there w^as a project to have the entire colony move in a body to a more desirable locality. The abandonment of this plan Bradford attributed to the direct intervention of God, for, at a time when some of the leading men of the colony were assembled in one of their houses discussing the question, an earthquake shook the town with such violence that those "without ye dores . . . could not stand without catching hoult of ye posts & pails yt stood next them ... as if ye Lord would hereby shew ye signes of his displeasure in their shaking a pieces and removalls one from an other." This same year, following the example of the Massa- chusetts Bay government, a general court was estab- lished, composed of the govej-nor, the council, and rep- COLONY AT ITS LOWEST EBB 213 resentatives from the different towns, the governor and council being known as The Bench and the mem- bers from the towns first as The Committee, and afterwards as Deputies. In 1639, Bradford and Winslow for Plymouth, and Endicott and Stoughton for the Bay, were dele- gated to settle the disputed boundary line between the two colonies, as the Massachusetts Bay charter gave, as the southerly boundary of that grant, an east and west line three miles south of the Charles River and the Bay colonists contended that the term "river" included all its tributaries. This had led to a long dispute between the two colonies, as the claim of the Bay colony would have taken in what all conceded was part of the Plymouth territory. This commission finally agreed "that all ye marshes at Conahassett yt lye of ye one side of ye river next to Hingham shall belong to ye jurisdiction of Massachusetts Plantation and all ye marshes yt lye on ye other side of ye river next to Sitvate shall be long to ve iurisdiction of New Plimoth excepting 60 acres of marsh at ye mouth of ye river on Sityate side next to the sea." The principal towns of the Plymouth colony now were Plymouth, Duxbury, Scituate, Taunton, Sand- wich, Yarmouth, Barnstable, and Marshfield, and, as the colony had now become a " Comone-welth," it was voted by the General Court that Bradford should transfer to the colony the title to tbt land given him and his heirs in the grant of 1630 by the Council for New 214 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Encrland. This transfer, which was made December eighth, 1640, included all the land that he held in trust, except a small tract at Yarmouth, another at Eastham, and a tract "from Sowansett river to Patucket river, with Cawsumsett Neck, which is ye cliiefe habitation of ye Indians & reserved for them to dwell upon, ex- tending into ye land 8 myles through ye whole breadth thereof." So many of the Plymouth colonists had by this time settled in other places that the town of Plymouth was fast losing its old vitality and seemed to be going to decay. Standish and Alden had already settled in Duxbury, Winslow had planned to settle in Marsh- field, and Brewster lived a large part of his time with his children in Duxbury- where he had a farm, so that of the old leaders Bradford alone remained. Trouble, too, had arisen in the church on the question of baptism. Charles Chauncy, who had come to them in 1638 as assistant pastor to John Raynor, was insisting that baptism should only be by immersion, for the reason that baptism by sprinkling was a modern invention. This question many of the clergy of other towns pub- licly debated with him, and, as he remained obdurate, letters were sent to the ministers of the Bay and to some in the Connecticut colony, asking them for written answers to Chauncy 's written arguments. These replies were also publicly discussed, and, although the church, yielding as far as it could, was willing to permit baptism by immersion to those who desired it. COLONY AT ITS LOWEST EBB 215 Chauncy, notwithstanding that the American climate and personal health were against it, insisted upon baptism by immersion for all. He was, therefore, allowed to resign. In 1641 he moved to Scituate, and from there went to Cambridge, where in 1654 he became the second president of Harvard College, which had been founded in 1636. The scarcity of English money had now made corn the medium of exchange in the colony, and it was not only levied for taxes, but was also used in paying the yearly town expenses. For example, the records of 1642 read that " William Nelson be hyred to keep the cowes this yeare at the same wages he had last year which is 50 bushells of Indian corne"; and that "those in charge of the weir who draw and deliver the herring ... be payd either in money or corn at Harvest as such rate as it doth then passe at from man to man." Young cattle and goats were now kept in enclosed pastures, and from April until the middle of No- vember all other cattle except milch cows and oxen had to be kept in the town pasture outside the town. Wolves being now a serious annoyance, it was fre- quently voted at town meetings that bounties be paid for killing them, and in 1642 the General Court ordered twenty-seven wolf traps to be built, and, after being set in different parts of the colony, to be properly watched. The encroachments of the Dutch and French had 216 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS now made war seeiu inevitable. In 1(U'2, becau.-e the people of Pl^^nollth believed that their seaport town Avas liable to be attacked by one of these nations and becanse there was also a growing fear of an Indian nprising. it was voted that the watch-house on Fort Hill be repaired, antl that each man in the town should furnish two eight-foot pieces of timber to finish the fortification which was being built. With the advent of the Long Parliament in England and the consequent downfall of Archbishop Laud, the Puritan exodus to New England ceased. This had vitallv afi'ected the trade of the Plymouth colony. The inflated prices had dropped to their former values, and those colonists who had made large investments in cattle and in farms for the pasturing of cattle and the cultivation of corn, now found themselves in straight- ened circumstances. ^lore than all. the religious enthusiasm which had always been the main stay of the Plymouth colonists had. under the strain of com- mercial prosperity, given way. ITiere were no longer anv new arrivals, and between this lack of new arrivals and the loss of trade those living in the town had bet^ome discouraged. The phenomenal growth of the Bav colony and the loss to Phmiouth of nearly all of its proijressive men. who had settled in other places, so disheartened those who were left that in 104-2 Brad- ford wrote. "Wickedness did grow and break forth. especiallv drunkenness and unclainness, not only incontinencie betsveen persons unmarried for which COLONY AT ITS LOWEST EBB 217 many both men aiul women have boon punishod sharply enongh bnt marriod porsons also. . . . But one roason mav bo that vo Divill mav carrio a greater spite against ye churches of Chri-^t and ye Gospel here." In the process of nation-making the colony had reached its lowest ebb, and in the few recorded events of this year the philosopher of history has another ex- ample of how in every community a few men of strong personalities unconsciously affect not only the feel- ino's and actions of weaker minds, but also the drift and tendencies of human thouuht and human actions. THE LAYING OX OF HANDS idfm ifM CHAPITER XXTTI THE NEW KXGL-\XD COXFKDER.\.CT UH3 North of Now England the French, who had settled at Quebec m U>OS, had already begun to push the confines of New France southward. CT In 168^ Le Tour, the French governor, had said to AUerton of the Ph^n- outh colony: "The king of France claims the coast from Ca^H^ Sable to Cape Cod. I wish the English to understiuid that if they trade to the eastward of Pemaquid, I shall seize them. My sword is all the commission I shall show and when 1 want help I will pixxiuce my authority." Ever since then on account of boundary disputes and race hatred there had been more or less trouble between the English and the French. On the south there were similar boundary- disputes with the rapidly growing settle- ment of the Dutch at Manhattan, at tliis tune known as New Amsterdam. In 1G37 the settlers of Conne<.'ticut had unsuccess- fully tried to interest the Massachusetts Bay colonists in tlie formation of a federation of the New England colonies '^o^'er against the Dutch." To recover their lost fur trade, the Dutch had twice attempted to drive tlie English settlers from tlie Connecticut valley, and, NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERACY 219 although both attempts had boon unsuccossful, the Amsterdam colonists were beginning to bo a people o(>, Myles Standish died at his farm in Duxbury at the age of seventy-three. He had left the Old World for adventures in the Xew. and began his career in the new country by helping tlie sick and dying. Under all circumstances he was kival and steadfast to the interests of the colonv and KING PHILIP'S WAR 227 submissive to tlie voice of the people. For thirty- five years he had been the iniHtary coranuinder of the cok)ny, no expedition being too dangerous and no work too humble for him to undertake, and at different times he was explorer, trader, arbitrator, town treas- urer and magistrate. With his knowledge of the Indian language, in which he excelled all the others, he had been especially valuable both in times of peace and war. In the vanguard of civilization in America no man proved more useful than he, and it is doubt- ful if the Plymouth settlement would have been suc- cessful without his energy and courage. In the mak- ing of New England, the part that fell to him carried with it a romance distinctive to itself. Not being a member of the church of the Pilgrims, his mission was not to establish Congregationalism, but to crystal- lize the settlement into a commonwealth. In the spring of the following year, 1657, Bradford, the last of the four great leaders, died. With his death there was profound mourning throughout the United Colonies, for he was regarded "as a common blessing and a father to them all." Of him Cotton Mather wrote : " He was a person for study as well as action, and attained unto a most notable skill in languages. The Dutch tongue was become almost as vernacular to him as the English; the French tongue he could also man- age; the Latin and Greek he had mastered, but the Hebrew most of all he studied because, as he said, he would see with his own eyes the ancient oracles of God 228 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS in their native beauty." He believed himself an in- strument of God in establishing a more liberal religion in the New World, and that in all times of danger a special Providence directed and protected both him and his co-workers. During his life he had shown a liberal- ity in advance of the superstitions of the times, and from the day when the handful of convalescents had fired their matchlocks over the grave of Carver he had been their leader, willingly doing his share of manual labor and always ready to assume his part of respon- sibility in directing the policy of the colony. From the time of Carver's death in 1621, he had been governor except the three years when Winslow held the office and the two years when Prence was chosen. From the time when he first began the administration of the affairs of the colony its history is his, and in an eminent degree he was the moving spirit of the enterprise. His conduct towards the Indians was marked with such wisdom, energy, and kindness that he soon gained a powerful influence over them, and the colonists — not merely his first fellow Pilgrims, but all that came after- wards — so respected him that there was no necessity of his assuming his authority and power even with the most heedless. In addition to his being governor of the colony for thirty-one years he was for five years the Plymouth commissioner of the Colonial Confederacy and for two years its president. Modest about his own ability, he was firm in whatever he undertook, yet, because he was always courteous to others, he won KING PHILIP'S WAR 229 the love of the weak and the respect of those who opposed him. Surely, it must have been more than chance, that in that shipload of yeomen who were cast like waifs upon the shores of Cape Cod, there were such men as Brewster, Winslow, Standish, and Bradford. In 1660 Charles II. became king. From the forma- tion of the confederacy in 1643 up to this time the New Eng- land colonists had not been molested by the English gov- ernment. In 1664, however, a commission was sent to Boston, especially charged to enforce the execution of the Navigation Act passed in 1660 by which "no mer- chandise shall be imported into the plantation but in English vessels, navigated by Englishmen under penalty of forfeiture." They were also to enforce religious worship according to the laws of Eng- land, and to inquire into the administration of justice, the treatment of the Indians, and the system of education carried on. This commission, which re- mained a year, did nothing, however, except to leave behind in the minds of the people a feeling of irritation and the fear of a future attack upon their liberties. In 1660 Massasoit, the lifelong friend of the Pilgrims, died, leaving two sons, Wamsutta and Metacom, who CHARLES II. 230 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS had been christened at Plymouth as Alexander and Philip. In 1662 Alexander, now chief of the ^Yam- panoags, was summoned before the General Court at Plymouth on a charge of plotting with the Narragan- setts against the English. Of this charge he proved his innocence, but before leaving Plymouth suddenly died. Philip, believing that his brother had been poi- soned, now became a bitter enemy of the whites, and secretly began conspiring against them. He had read in their faces the doom of his race if his people were not wise enough to drive the settlers from their country. The white men's clearings and fences on the land lavishly given to them by his father or sold to them by other Indians for a few pots and kettles, blankets, and hatchets, made him realize that they had made an absolute surrender of their territory instead of retaining a joint occupancy. He also reahzed that planting did not go with hunting, and that domestic cattle and wild game could not roam about together. For ten years Philip quietly matured hir. plans. Fre- quently during this time there were made at Plymouth complaints of acts of lawlessness on the part of his people, and Philip himself was often charged with, plotting with the Narragansetts and the Nipmucks against the colonists, and more than once was summoned to appear before the Plymouth officials. By 1670 these accusations had become so frequent that the men of Plymouth thought it time to strike, but were held in check by the Federal Commissioners. KING PHILIP'S WAR 231 In the spring of 1675, however, a Massachusetts Bay Indian having divulged to the governor of Plymouth that Philip was again plotting against the colony, it was voted " to presse eleven able sufficient men to goe forth as soldiers against the Indians our enimies," also "that there shalbe forth with a fortification built upon the fort Hill att Plymouth, to be one hundred foot square the pallasadoes to be 10 foot and one- halfe large to be sett 2 foot & an halfe in the Ground . . . every man to doe three foot of the said fence of fortification . . . and there shalbe a watch house created within said ffence or fortification and that the three pieces of ordinance shalbe planted within the said ffence or fortification." Not long after this the Indian who betrayed Philip was murdered, and in June three Wampanoag Indians who were convicted of the murder were put to death at Plymouth. A few days afterwards, on June twenty -first, a mes- senger on horseback went clattering over Boston Neck with a letter from the Plymouth colony stating that at daybreak two houses on the outskirts of Swanzey, a village near Philip's territory, had been attacked. This letter was as follows : — Honrd Sr. This morning at break of the day I had a post from Swansy informeing that phillip the Sachem and his men are now in action and did yesterday about noon assault two of the English housen that were next them, forsed out our people and possessed them selves of 232 OUR PLYiAIOUTH FOREFATHERS the housen, and were marching up with their body toward Swansy, with their drums beating, as if they intended a present assaulte, wee feare that place may bee soerly distressed before they can have rehefe; yet the post tells mee these men were very cherf ull ; I have ordered seventy men to march this day from Tanton and Bridgewater for their first relief, and hope to have a hundred and Fifty more on a Martch to morrow: Wee are informed that the Narrigansets have 400 men in arms, intended for phillips asistance, the Nepmucks also are exsp[ec]ted too by him this day; our great request to your hour is that your Comand and Force also may bee improved (if need bee) to secuer us from troble from those Indians that apertayne to your Colony or are under your protection as wee Suppose the Nar- rigansets and Nepmeuks are; if wee Can have faire play with our owne wee hope with the help of god wee shall give a good accompt of it in a few dayes: there hath bine no ocation given by us, no threat, nor un- kindeness, but their owne pride and insolency alone hath moved them to give us this troble; Si" I Cannot inlarge; I intreat you to Excuse the rudeness of my lines and to grant a word of answer by the post; I subscribe, S^ your loving Neighbr and humble Sl"vt JOSIAH WiNSLOW Marshfeild, June 21. 75. With this assault the people of the neighborhood had fled to the block house in the village pursued by the Indians who followed them to the bridge, where forty settlers had posted themselves and prevented an attack upon the . village. That same day messengers from JC.7 V J r.. . .„,.„„ '^^ ii^ FACSIMILE COPY OF LKTTKR NOTIFYING BOSTON OF ATTACK ON SWANZEY 234 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Plymouth were sent to demand the culprits from Philip. A few days afterwards several other houses not far from Swanzey were plundered, and the men, women, and children killed and barbarously dismembered. Troops were now sent from Boston and Plymouth against the Wampanoags, and, when they advanced up the strip of land on Mount Hope Neck to Philip's set- tlement, they found the wigwams deserted, and Philip and his people with their canoes, arms, and provisions gone. A few days later the news came that Philip had swooped down upon Dartmouth, Middleborough, and Taunton, burned the houses, flayed some of the settlers alive, impaled some on pointed stakes, and roasted others over slow fires. This onslaught was the beginning of a two years* deadly struggle between the white settlers of Massa- chusetts and the Indians. In July, Philip, driven from the eastern part of the state, went to the Nipmuck country on the Connecticut, and in August and Sep- tember, the scattered villages of Brookfield, Deerfield, Northfield, and Hadley, which were then frontier towns, were attacked, Deerfield and Northfield being practically destroyed. Of the soldiers who went to the relief of Northfield thirty-six were killed, and their heads placed on long poles planted by the roadside. At Deerfield a large quantity of unthrashed wheat had been left, and in September the farmers of that section went with their wagons to get the ripened grain, escorted by ninety of probably the best drilled troops in the KING PHILIP'S WAR 235 Massachusetts Bay colony, known as the "Flower of Essex." In the evening with their loaded wagons they started back, and at seven o'clock the next morn- ing, September twelfth, while they were fording a shal- low stream, they were suddenly fired upon by seven hundred Nipmucks hidden along the banks, only eight of all who had started escaping to tell the tale of that "black and fatal day . . . the sadest that ever befel New England." The situation had now become desperate. In the beginning of the war the Narragansetts had played fast and loose with the English, giving aid to the Indians whenever success came to Philip or his allies, and claiming to be friends of the whites when success came to them. As it was evident that, unless crushed, this tribe would soon openly espouse Philip's cause, the Federal Commission in the fall of 1675 enlisted five hundred and twenty-seven men from the Massachusetts Bay colony, one hundred and fifty-eight from the Plymouth colony, and three hundred from the Connecti- cut colony, for the purpose of attacking their pali- saded fortress, which was located in the outskirts of what is now South Kingston. This fort, covering six acres of rising ground in the middle of a swamp, had an almost impregnable position. Its walls built of sap- lings were twelve feet in thickness, and the single en- trance to the fort could only be reached by walking along the trunk of a felled tree, this rude bridge being guarded by a block house in which Indians were al- ways stationed. KING PIIITJP'S WAR 237 On the night of December eighteenth the Httk^ colonial army of a thonsand men slept in a field eight- een miles away "withont other blanket than a moist fleece of snow," the Narragansetts, e(|nippe(l witli nmskets in the nse of which they were skilfnl, waiting for them in their fort. The next morning, Snnday, as the colonial army approached the strong- hold, a volley of nnisketry from the block honse was fireil at them, while within the fort were not less than two thonsand warriors ready for the conflict. Then followed a desperate strnggle, which soon became a. hand-to-hand conflict, the soldiers, maddened by the sight of their dead companions, making assanlt after assanlt npon the entrance, only to be driven back by the mere weight of nnmbers. While this fighting was going on, the (^onnecticnt troops discovered a path at the rear of the fort over the partly frozen swamp, and by climbing on each other's shonlders were able to scale the rampart. Once inside, on a sndden the wig- wams were ablaze, and the flames at onee encircled the whole space in a sea of fire. The huhans, now terri- fied and made desperate by the whistling shots and the shouts of connnand, fought with recklessness, the slaughter that followed on both sides continuing the rest of that Sunday afternoon. At dusk those of the Narragansetts who were still alive fell back to a neigh- btiring swamp, and the colonial trtH>ps, ck)nbting their ability to maintain themselves so remote from support, after burning the tubs of corn found in the fort and 23S OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS taking with thorn the muskets which the Xipmueks had captured at Deertield, retreated to Wickt'ord. eleven miles away. Tliis was the most desperate struggle of its kind ever fought on American soil. In the encounter not less than a thousand Indians were slain, and of the English nearly one-quarter of the whole number were either killed or wounded. Although the power of the Xarragansetts was now broken, Canonehet. their chief, detiantly said. "We will fight to the last man rather than become the servants of the English." X'early all the tribes had now joined in the uprising, and on February tenth, lti7t>, the Nip- mucks under the command of Philip attacked Lan- caster, another of the frontier towns. On the twenty- first, Medfield, another frontier town, was attacked and twenty of its inhabitants were murdered. On the tvventv-fourth. \Vey mouth was also attacked, and a few days later Middleborough and Bridgewater, many houses in each place being burned. On March second Groton. another frontier town, was almost wholly destroyed, and the same day an attack was made on Plymouth, where seventeen houses were burned. On March twenty-eighth Si'ituate was attacked and nineteen houses were burned. From here Captain Pierce, of Siutuate, with fifty soldiers who had pursued the Indians, was drawn by Canonehet into an ambush near Paw tucket and his whole couuuand killed, this being the greatest calamity which befell the Plymouth colonv duriui^ the war. Ten davs later Canonehet KING PHILIP'S AVAR 239 was capturoci by a Connecticut company, and upon being turned over to the INIohegans, who were allies of the Connecticut colonies, was tomahawked. The tide now turned. In ^lay, three hundred Xipnuicks were slaughtered at Turners Falls, crushing that tribe. In June, four hundred Narragansetts were .slain in four sharp fights in Connecticut. These skir- mishes marked the beginning of the end. Soon re- ports of the destitution of the Indians began to come to the colonists, and, when in July the colonists made offei's of peace, nearly all the Indians surrendered. Deserted on every side. King Philip with a few faithful followers now returned to ]\[ount Hope Neck. Here he was driven into a swamp by some Plymouth troops under the command of Captain Benjamin Church, where on August twelfth he was shot by a friendly Indian, and "fell upon his face in the mud and water with his gun under him . . . upon which the whole army gave loud huzzas." Upon his death Captain Church gave orders that "For as much as he had caused numy an Englishman's body to be unburied and to rot above ground, not one of his bones shall be buried,'* and in pursuance of this command Philip's body was quartered, and his head taken to Plymouth, where it w as exposed on the end of a pole, while the meeting-house bell summoned the townspeople to a special service of thanksgiving. During this war the destiny of one hundred and live thousand New England people had hung in the balance. 240 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Besides manv women and children, nearly a thousand Massachusetts settlers had been killed, and there was hardly a family that had not lost some member. Of the ninety towns in the tAvo Massachusetts colonies one third had been attacked at one time or another, and of these, thirteen had been destroyed and the others greatly damaged. Never during the war. however, did the colonists ask assistance of England, for. fearful of Eng- lish complications, they preferred to tight their own battles rather than to give the king an excuse for main- taining royal troops in Xew Eiigland. Consequently, it was many years before the heavy war debt was paid, the debt of Plymouth exceeding the value of all the per- sonal property of the colonists. From this time the Indians no longer tigured in the history of Xew England except M'hen. in later years, they became allies of the French in their raids upon the frontiers. With the close of the war most of the In- dians who were taken prisoners, including the women and children, were sold into AVest Indian slavery, the records of Plymouth showing that more than five hundred Indians were sold from there alone. Even Philip's wife and son — an Indian princess and her child — were taken from the wild freedom oi a Xew F^.ngland forest, and sold as slaves to gasp under the lash beneath the blazing sun of the tropics. The Indians liad fought a relentless war. making a life-and-death struggle for the lives of their squaws and pappooses and for the mounds that covered the bones KING PHILIP'S WAR 241 of their ancestors. Now with the hipse of time one is abU^ to analyze tiieir motives without toeing warped by the atrocities and cruelties thev were forced to inflict. For a quarter of a century Philip was stigmatized as a monster accursed of God and num, yet in the light of history one cannot but look upon this war as a just one from the Indian viewpoint, and upon Philip as the patriot of his race. THANKSGIVING SKKVIOKS WHK.X TUK COLONISIS l.l.AHNKD OF TUK DEATH OF KING I'HILIP CILVPTER XXV PLYMOVTU'S KKVISAI. TO lU: TUK SUAVK OF ANY NATION' I o 7 o 1 7 7 o F.nirhnid's war with tho Dutch boiiii: now oiuiod, the irovorniuont had time to ^ivo attention to it> Amorioan colonies, and the ** Lords of Trade." as they weiv fanul- iarly ealled. were soon sitting in council upon the actions of the obstinate Massachu- setts colonists. Reports havinc come to them that the nav- igation laws were not ob- served: that ships from other V. u r o p e a n countries w ere trading at Boston without paying duties to England on their cargi.xv'^; that money was coined at a colo- nial mint: and that Chun.>h of Kngland men were denied the right to vote. To investigate these reports. Edward Randolph was sent over. He was also given instructions to ascvrtain tho sentiment of the people of the Kennebtv and l^scataqua towns towards the Massachusetts Ray government, as well as of such otlier towns as were not in sympathy with the existing form of ijovernment in Boston. .1 VMV-! \\. rLYMOUTH'S lU^naiSAL 243 Tn 1()7(), u\Hm Kaiulolph's arrival in lioslon, tluMi a t(nvii of five thousand iiihahilaiils, Jiis inauiuM-s and actions so stinrd up ilio people llial llioy wore uncixil to him. Jn KiTO, wlioii Ihc Iving appointed liini coIKh-- tor of customs willi insi ructions to enforce the naAMVa- tion laws. Governor Leveret I, to wliom he rc^id liis com- mission, ke})t his peaked hat on when the si<;nature of the kin<;'s cliief secretary of state was read, and asked with careless contempt," Wlio is tliis Henry Coventry ?" Of tliis incident llandolpli did not fail to write the king, and, while he was waiting to hear from his report to the government, he spent his time intriguing with those in 15oston who were dissatistied with the domi- nant parly and in forming what later became the 'J'ory parly. In 1()8() and KJS'J, the Plymouth colony unsuccess- fully petitioned the home government for a royal charter^ as its only legal existence was the Tierce patent of 1()21 and the Warwick patent of 1()30. In 1084 came the long-expected blow from the English government — the beginning of New England's darkest days — when the Massachusetts Bay charter was annulled by the Court of Chancery, the General Court abolished, and Joseph Dudley, the son of Winthrop's associate, who had be- come the leader of the Tory party, was made president of all the New England colonies except Plymouth, with full authority to govern them. In 1085, upon the death of Charles II., his son James II. became king, and in 1080 this arrogant monarchy 244 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS SIR POMUND AXDROS wishing to abolish all local self-governments in the Ameri- can colonies, appointed Sir Edmund Andros governor of New England. Andros made his headquarters at Boston, and during his despotic rule the Episcopal Church, after nuicli bitter opposition, was estab- lished in the town. Arbitrary taxes were imposed, encroach- nients were made upon com- mon lands, and nothing was allowed to be printed bv the press without permission. With the Plym- outh colony Andros had no trouble, for the colony had no royal charter, although the town voted "not to deed Clark's Island to the Crown as he had demanded." This arbitrary rule of Andros lasted until 1089, when the Stuart kings were overthrown, and William. Prince of Orange, was made king. When the news of the landing of the new king in England reached Boston, a signal fire was lighted on Beacon Hill, and a meeting called to be held in the PLYMOUTH'S REFUSAL 245 SIR WILLIAM PIIIl'S Town House. To this meet- ing Andros was summoned, and, upon his trying to escape from Boston in wo- man's clothes, he was seized and made a prisoner. Soon after this the old charter was restored. Later, in 169^2, the king sent over a new charter, by which the ^Lissa- chusetts Bay colony and the Plymouth and Maine colo- nies were united under a single government. By this charter the governor was to be appointed by the king, and Sir William Phips, a New England man, who on account of his successful expedition against the French in Nova Scotia had risen into prominence and been knighted, received the commission of governor. In all other respects the charter gave to the colonies the same government as the old one, the rights of the people and the full enjoyment of relig- ious liberty being guaranteed. In 1G94, the House of Rep- resentatives of the United Colonies made a formal declaration of their civil rights, in which they claimed QUEEN ANNE 246 OUR PLYMOrTH FOREFATHERS solo authority to tax the peo- ple and the right to make ail laws for the govemment of the Province. In 170*^, King AiYilliam was killed by being thrown from his horse, and Anne, the daughter of James II., the last of the Stuarts, became queen. Under her weak rule the col- onies were not troubled by the home government, her intimate friend, Sarah Churchill, the Duches* of Marlborough, having such an influence over her that it was pi^pularly said. ''Queen Anne reigns, but Queen Sanih governs.'' In 1704. the French with their Indian allies attacked Deerfield and Lancaster. That same year Colonel Pc ^ - ^^i Chiirvh of the Plymouth cx>lony, who was now settled at Mount Hope Neck, made a successful ex- j^Hxlition against the Maine Indians and the French set- tlers in Acadia. Upon the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the AVhigs in Parliament prot^laimed George of Hanover king almost before the countr\' knew what was ri.NMornrs Ki:rrsAi _M' liapponiiiL:,-. aiul iliirin^- hi> ivi>;n [\\cvc ^wvc davs ot" poaco in I'n^laiul and the ioK>nios. I'pon hi» tlcath in IT'JT, his son, Cioor^o 1 1 .. succoodod him. ^^ Ihlo ho ^^as kin^- canio tho ^^ar oi [\\c Kni:li>h a«;ain>t Iho Kivnoh in C'anada. Massaihusotts in 17,')(> t'urnisliini;- sovon thousauil troops undor tho oonnnand of John Win- slow, ot" rivnionth. In 17(U), npon tho doatli of CioiM-^o II.. his i^randson, (looriio III., booanio kini^-. and in 17t>:>, dnrin*;- his rci^n, peace Nvas declared between France and Knuland. This ended tlie war in Canada, wliich had si> impeded the growth o{ New Knoland that ^'^'^^'^ ^'^■ its weahli and popnhition were praiticallv the same as N\ hen the war he^an. In ^larch, 17(k>, the English pHnernment passed its famons Stamp Act, which at (Mice aronsed such bitter t>ppositi(Mi in all the colonies that a circular letter was >ent bv the Massachusetts Hay colony io the other colonies, asking- them to unite in remonstrating against this nnjust taxation. In September. \1(1'k the House of Ueproentatives passed its famous Hill o( Rights, and the town o{ Hlymouth. to show its approval o( this action, in Octt^ber sent to its representative to the Cieneral (\nirt the following- letter; 24.S OUR rLYMOUTH FOREFATHEK:< "We have evinc'd our lA\valty to our Kiiii;, our affet'tion to the Brittish Government and our ^lother Country on all occasions. . . . Our Treasuiv is exhausted in the service of our Mother Countrv. our Trade and all the numerous Branches of Business Dej^)endent on it Reduced 4 OUK ri.YMOUrU FOREFATHERS their pionoor days. Wo know that thov had poultry, i^xits, aiul swino. but uo cattle or sheep; that ludiau c'oru was their ouly bread food: aud that iu Ur2"-2 and ltr2:>. although there wasa scarcity of corn, they had fresh tish, lobsters, and clams, so that AVinslow wrote home in November, U>*21, '* Hy the goodness of God we are so far from want that we often wish others partakers of our plenty." We know that wild gra^vs, huckle- Ix^rries. and strawberries grew plentifully, but. as the art oi preserving fruits was not then understood, these fruits weiv to be had only during the sunnner and autunni. We know that their breakfast was generally corn-meal bread and tish o( some kind and their dinner bean soup, baked beans and jx>rk. or tish. lobsters, or clams, with such vegetables as ^vas. squash, turnips, pai-snips. and onions, and occasionally venison, wild ducks, and wild turkey. After the tirst few years, butter and cluvse were plentiful, and. as tea and cott'ee wert^ then unknown to Europeans, beer was the uni- vei-sal beverage, the older children being allowed to drink it with their elders. We know that in place of plates they used wcx^jden dishes called tivnchers. and in place of cups and saucers w(.x>den lx>wls. As table forks were then unknown.- -although large forks were used in cooking. — all ate solid food with their knives, and in place of forks used their tingers. as was the cus- tom in those days. In the earlier days the men generally wore coarse canvas and cordnix-tv clothiniT or oiled leather and buck- COLONIAL LIFK 265 skin, only tlio more prosjuMous liavin^- coarse lionic- spnn. But on Snndiivs all wore kncr-hrooclics, lonjr stockings, and hucklcd shoes. The orowth of the difl'erent Massachusells settleinenis and the passenger traflie between Enen rivalled these fashions by wearing velvet coals, l)road- cloth and satin knee-breeches, embroidered three- cornered hats, and '*full bottomed wigs." With the change in social life, social distinctions began to appear.. 266 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS These were based on birth, service to the State, ablUty, education, and, to some extent, wealth. The older families also made some pretensions to social superi- ority over the new-comer, and, although the people were by public opinion now separated into classes, class distinction never became so sharply drawn as in the Massachusetts Bay colony. On account of religious freedom which had been the basis of all the ^lassachusetts settlements, there had emigrated to New England many ministers. These men, by reason of their high moral qualities and strong personal traits, had so deeply impressed themselves upon the people that they became the real leaders and the real makers of the laws. The minister's house, the store, the blacksmith's shop, the tavern which was usually kept by some leading man of the community, and a <]:rist-mill and saw-mill which was on some stream close by, became the nucleus around which each neigh- borhood grew into a village, the houses generally being along a single street lined with elm-trees. As these villages grew in population and the inhabitants became more prosperous, houses with spacious rooms and large fireplaces were built, these houses where model house- wives kept everything scrupulously clean, and prided themselves on their highly polished pewters and brasses, being typical of those times. The Indians had long been a part of the community of every village, and in 1663 fifteen hundred Indians had professed faith in the Christian religion. In both COLONIAL LIFE 267 the Massachusetts Bay and the Plymouth colonies African slavery had long existed, and in l)oth colonies negroes were bought and sold as slaves the same as in Southern States. Almost all of those, however, held in slavery in Plymouth, became house servants, and none were treated harshly, as slavery was generally discouraged. Nevertheless, not until just before the Revolutionary War did anti-slavery ideas begin to appear, and not until that time did the colonists see in slavery anything to shock their moral sense. As none of the larger streams had bridges, travel was by horseback, and wheeled vehicles were seldom seen, except in the larger towns. Husking and spin- ning bees, quilting and darning parties, and an occa- sional house-raising were the principal forms of amuse- ment. Cider, Jamaica rum, and "flip" — which was made of home-brewed beer with a liberal dash of Jamaica rum — were the favorite beverages, and, although there was some drunkenness, it was never as common as in the other colonies. Notwithstanding the people were kind and hospitable, there was always a lurking disapproval of any sort of amusement, and toward strangers a coldness and reserve in spite of the inquisitiveness which is still a peculiar characteristic of New England people. Patient, frugal, and industrious, they obeyed the word of God as they understood it. Their thin, sharp features rarely relaxed into smiles, and their faces reflected the stern religion of their hearts. 268 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Town meetings, where the settlers met to decide the affairs of the community, w^ere held annually on the first Tuesday of March. At these meetings voting and office-holding was not restricted to church members, as those of other sects or of no sect, who adhered to the essentials of Chi-istianity and were ready to con- form to the local laws and customs of the colony, were allow^ed to vote, — a liberality far in advance of the Bay colony. These town meetings, which were the basis of their civil government, were at first merely an assembly of the members of the church, as nearly all the early colonists were members by profession and covenant. By assembling together to discuss and determine their civil matters, they simply made another advance in their Congregational independence. Yet this method of self-government by which the people had full power to do everything essential for their com- fort, happiness, and well-being, was at that time unique, — a form of government which afterwards be- came the model of the other colonies and the ground- work of the civil liberties of the United States. Although they had fled from the laws of England, they affected no disregard for the wisdom and learning of their ancestors, following, when possible, the Eng- lish laws; yet the laws now passed were based upon the Bible, and were often in bold defiance of customs immemorial and of forms made sacred by antiquity. With no pretensions to a more perfect knowledge of man's true social condition than that which prevailed COLONIAL LIFE 269 at home, they determined to make laws suited to their own special needs and conditions, and instituted a process of legal reforms which were radical, yet con- servative. In their earliest forms of legal procedure the governor and his council decided all civil disputes. Later a regular court was established^ aijipi in all criminal cases, as great publicity was/gi^n to all forms of punishment, gibbets, stocks, ^uclSng-stools, pillories, and whipping-posts became iSmim^r objects. Finally, when the colonies becamel^iiiled, colonial courts were established with colonial judges, justices of the peace and commissioners being appointed by colonial authority to try small cases in the different towns. As Congregationalism was the keynote of the colony, the people believed that they had the right, according to their understanding of the Scriptures, to choose and ordain their own ministers. The real basis, therefore, of their dispute with the Established Church was, " Who makes the ministers ? " It was because of this belief that the doctrine of Congregationalism crystallized into a church constitution that no church ought to have more members than could conveniently watch over one another; that every church should consist of only such persons as believe in and obey Christ; that any number of persons, if their consciences so directed them, had a right to embody themselves into a church; that, having formed themselves into a church, they had the right to choose all their officers; that the officers 270 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS should be: first, pastors, or teaching elders, who were to administer the sacraments and devote themselves to the spiritual needs of the parish; second, ruling elders, or presbyters, who were to have charge of the parish; and, third, the deacons, who were to take care of the poor, to look after the finances of the church, and to minister at the Lord's Table. As the church officers only ruled and administered with the consent of the members of the church, no church or church officer had any power over any other church. As each church was, therefore, independent in its work, it had absolute authority to admit, expel, or censure its members, and, because the people believed that they themselves and not the building in which they worshipped were the church, their places of worship were called meeting-houses, and not churches. These church societies were composed not only of those who made confession of a moral and spiritual new birth or conversion — these, strictly speaking, being the church — but also of those who attended public worship and paid their taxes, these latter being known as the parish. These two bodies ruled the society, neither acting independently of the otlier on important matters. In the appointment or dismissal of a minister the initiative had to be taken by the church, but the action of the church had to be sustained by the vote of the parish. Not unnaturally, therefore, the church came to stand for what was conservative in the life of the society, and the parish for what was COLONIAL LIFE 271 progressive. Consequently, the records show that the tendency of the church was to become rigid and narrow, and to bear hard on neglect of worship as well as on the most innocent forms of amusement, and that the ten- dency of the parish was to lighten ecclesiastical dis- cipline for a larger personal liberty. Friction conse- quently became inevitable. Each, however, helped the other, and, notwithstanding the fact that the church was dogmatic and imperious, it set the stamp of sacred- ness upon church life, and by its determination to lead, and not be led, did not permit what was intended to be a Christian commonwealth to shrink into a merely secular corporation. In analyzing the lives of these people, there is no more distinguishing characteristic than their reverent observance of the Lord's Day. We read of one Plymouth man being put in the stocks for going to his tar pits on Sunday; of another receiving the same punishment "for driving his cows without need" on Sunday; of Aquila Chase and his wife being fined "for gathering peas from their garden on the Sabbath"; of William Ester, ten shillings for "Racking Hay on the Lord's Day " ; of a Wareham man, five shillings " for a breach of the Sabbath in pulling apples " ; and of a Dunstable soldier, four shillings "for wetting a piece of an old hat on the Sabbath to put in his shoe" to protect his foot. Not content with the strict observance of the Sabbath, work ceased at three o'clock Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening was spent at home OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS 1 in catechising the children and ** in preparation for the Sabeth as the minister shall direct." On Sunday the time after sunset, however, was often given to merry- making, but the sudden transition from the religious calm and quiet of the afternoon generally shocked the minister, who from sunset on Saturday until Monday morning did not shave or allow in his house beds to be made, food to be cooked, or e\x>king or table ware to be washed. To oarr}- out a strict observance of the Lord's Day. there was appointed in every community a unique kind of officer known as the '^thing-man." whose func- tion, as the name implies, was to have ten families under his charge and "to diligently inspect them that they regularly come to meeting on the Sabbath." and. iP necessary, to keep them awake with a fox-tail wand while there. He had also to see that the catechism was learned by the children of his ten fam- ilies, and. when he thought it necessary, to hear them say it. In addition to these duties he was obliged to make complaint of all idle persons. ** profane swearers," and Sabbath breakers, and to warn tavern-keepers not to sell intoxicating drinks to such men as, in his judg- ment, had had sutficient already: "to see that no young persons walkevi abroad on the eve of the Sabbath, and to report all those who prtrfanely behaved. Ungered without the do^^rs at meeting time, strutted about, set on fences, or otherwise desecrated the day." In case of conviction the culprit was first admonished, and then. COLONIAL LIFE 273 if incorrigible, put into the stocks wliioh stood on the mtx^tiiig-hoiise green. This close surveillance of the life of the community, which existed in all the Xew England towns, has often been called the Puritan theocracy of Xew England, and it has no doubt done much to asstviate with these pei^ple the idea of narR^w- ness and intolerance. Yet, notwithstanding it honestly endeavored to enforce religious observances and the moralities of life by extoinal restraint, it at length l>ecame rt^pellent to the j^Hx^ple, and was gradually given up in all the settlements. During the early years the social centre of the vil- lage life in every community was the meetiuix-house, and. although public opinion as well as church authority compelled church attendance, most of the settlers. l>eing scattered on lonely farms, were glad to meet together on Sunday, not only to hear the sermon, but also to get the kx\il news of im|.xMuiing marriao^es. of cattle lost or found, of bounties to be paid for the heads of wolves, of fisliing vessels alx)ut to sail, and oi town meetings to be held. As tliese meeting-houses were also used for the town meetings, town notices, orders, and regulations were always |^x>sted on the doors. At first these buildings were log houses thatched with grass. The casement windows were covered with oil paper, and the l>eaten earth was the only floor. Inside ever^-thing was of the simplest kind. At the further end was the high pulpit, reached by a narrow flight of stairs: and the seats for the congregation were rows of long. 274 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS narrow, and uncomfortable benches on legs, which made them look like milking-stools, the women and children sitting during the service on one side of the building, and the men on the other. As the villages grew in population, "good roomthy meeting houses " took the places of these earlier build- ings, which were now used for granaries, storehouses, or "noon houses" for the mid-day luncheons before the sermon in the afternoon, — a use not considered sacrilegious, as these buildings had never been con- secrated. These new meeting-houses were generally square wooden buildings, having pyramidal roofs with belfries at the apex, each belfry having a bell, if the parish could afford it, and, when there was no bell, the people were called to worship by blowing a horn or a conch-shell or by beating a drum. Seldom were these buildings painted, as painting a building was con- sidered vain and extravagant. The people, fearing forest fires, had cleared the land around the meeting- houses of all trees, and on these meeting-house greens were the village stocks, pillories, and whipping-posts; also horse blocks of large hewn logs for the use of the parishioners, who with their wives came to church on sturdy farm horses, having perhaps a young child on a pillion strapped behind the saddle. In the course of time the interiors of these meeting- houses were made more pretentious, the pulpits being often panelled with carved mahogany, and having over them large sounding-boards, held in position COLONIAL LIFE 275 by slender cords seemingly ready to break at any time and let the sounding-board crush the minister, like a great extinguisher. "Spots for peus" were now sold to such influential men as wished to sit by themselves, and soon families of wealth had family pews with seats on three sides and with such high partitions that, when the occupants were seated, only the tops of the tallest heads could be seen. Next "box hke pews" were built for the whole congregation, and, after many heated discussions in every church, the men and women who did not own pews were allowed to sit "promis- cuouslee." On a platform in front of the pulpit there was now a large square pew where the deacons sat, facing the congregation, and on either side of the pulpit "the fore-seat," which only persons of impor- tance in the community were allowed to occupy. In the gallery over the entrance were the singers' seats, and just inside the door the soldier's seat, where there was always an armed sentinel, so that the safety of the community would never be overlooked. On Sunday morning the congregation either waited outside the meeting-house for the arrival of the minister and his Avife or they arose in their pews while the parson in his black skull-cap and Geneva cloak entered the pulpit. During prayer it was the custom to stand, as kneeling and bowing the head was thought to savor of Roman idolatry. In the earlier days these straight- laced settlers were allowed to smoke their pipes during the service, but this was at length given up on account 276 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS of the too frequent striking of flint and steel. Soon after this prohibition four old sea-dogs of Yarmouth were fined five shiUings each "for smoking tobacco around the end of the meeting-house." As the minister played an important part in the lives of the people, it was often customary, in laying out a new town settlement, to set aside for the minister's use some of the best land near the meeting-house, this sometimes being given to him outright, and sometimes being set aside as "ministry land." In fixing the salaries of the ministers, the colonists did not forget their week-day shrewdness, and always made the stipend of their clergymen small. With this small salary, however, there were always several perquisites, Plymouth at one time voting that " where God's provi- dence shall cast any whales [upon the shore] that they shall agree to set apart some parte of every such fish or oyle for the Incoragement of an able and godly minister among them"; in 1665 voting that "one of the townsmen be appointed to procure his neces- sary w^ood"; and in 1666 that "the Towne agreed to alow unto Mr. John Cotton [the minister] the sume of eighty pounds out of which said sume hee is to find and provide for himselfe firewood without any charge of the towne, the manner of the pay to be one-third pte thereof in wheat or butter and one-third in Rye or Barley or pease and the other third in Indian Corne." In addition to his salary free pasturage was also given the minister's horse, and for this purpose COLONIAL LIFE 277 the village burial-ground was generally assigned, in Plymouth the Rev. Chandler Robbins being requested "not to have more horses than shall be necessary on Burial Hill." A school for the education of the children had early been established in Plymouth, and in 1662 the General Court enacted that each municipality should "have a schoolmaster set up," the teacher receiving his pay from the parents of the scholars. Subsequently, in 1670, the General Court offered to any town "the fishing excise from the Cape which should keep a free school, classical as well as elementary," Plymouth in 1671 voting that out of the money received from the fishing tax to employ a suitable person "to teach the children and youths of the towne to Reade and write and Cast accounts." As Plymouth was the capital and the largest town of the colony and as many people from the sur- rounding country were always there both for busi- ness and pleasure, it was voted in 1668 that, because of the complaints " that many horses are rid and driven threw the Towne by strangers ... in a disorderly way, " a committee be appointed "to take notice of such horses as are soe carryed threw the Towne and are hereby inpowered to examine such strangers whether they have a passe for them . . . and if not to seize on them and forthwith to bring them before some of the magistrates of this jurisdiction for tryal"; and that "the celect men shall hensforth have full power to 278 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Require any that shall Receive any stranger soe as to entertaine them in theire house to give cecuritie unto them to save the Towne harmless from any damage that may acrew unto them by theire entertainment of such as aforesaid." In 1668 there being in Plymouth only forty-eight freemen, or those who held proprietary rights in the common lands of the town, it was voted "that only such be deputed Townsmen that were Inhabitants and ffreeholders thereof att that time when as the court alowes it to be a Township [1640J and theire successors and that it shall be at theire libertie to admitt such others into such there society as are housekeepers of honest life and are like to approve themselves soe as they may be beneficial to the commonwealth accord- ing to theire capacitie and abilities." At this meeting nineteen others were made freemen, making now sixty-seven proprietors of the town. As these pro- prietors were the only ones who could vote on matters affecting the property of the town, they frequently voted to themselves the benefits which accrued from such ownership, in 1671 voting "that there shalbe noe Tarr made by any persons but such as are Town- men or their order and that there shall be noe pyne knots picked or Tarr Run or made within this Town- ship by any person but by such as are the proprietors as aforesaid or their order and that any such pro- prietor or his order may make ten barrels of Tarr by the yeare and noe more"; it being also voted "that COLONIAL LIFE 279 whatsoever whole or pte of a whale or other great fish that will make oyle shall by the Providence of God be Cast up or Come on shore . . . two ptes of three thereof to belonge and appertaine to the Towne, viz., the pro- prietors aforesaid, and the other third pte to such of the Towne as shall find and Cutt them up and try the oyle provided they be of said proprietors that doe soe find and cut up and try them and in case any other that are not proprietors as aforesaid whether Inhabitants of this towne or forrangners shall find any such Whale or ffish and bring word or give notice thereof to the Towne they shall be sufficiently satisfied for the same." The same year a " fulling " mill for thickening wool into felt was built at the mouth of the Town Brook near the grist-mill. Notice was also given to the owners of the grist-mill that they must provide a building for the corn brought there, that "persons be not wronged on that behalf as they have been or otherwise the towne will procure another mill to be sett up." Blackbirds becoming again troublesome, it was voted, in 1673, that "every man in the town shall procure twelve black birds, six of them by the first of June next and six of them by the first of October next on payne of psLjing a fine of two shillings." It was also voted that " whereas Great Complaint is made of much abuse by the feeding of neat Cattle and horses in the ffresh meddows belonging to severall of the Towne of Ply- mouth ... it shalbe lawfull for any that shall find such Cattle and horses soe tresspassing to bringe them to the 280 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Towne pound and that the owners of such cattle or horses shall pay for every neat beast two shillings and for every horse kind five shiUings." It was also "ordered by the Towne that the Celect men of the Towne be Impowered to Call such younge men and others as live Idelely and disorderly to an account for theire mis- pending theire time in ordinaryes.'* In 1677 a bounty of ten shillings for every wolf killed was voted. In 1679 an appropriation was made for sweeping the meeting-house and ringing the bell, and in 1681 "that the money due from Mount Hope shall be used in repairing the meeting house or for building a new one." Among other votes passed was one " that no housekeeper or other in this Towne Residering shall entertaine any stranger into theire house above a fort- night without giving information to the Celect men upon the forfeiture of ten shilhngs a weeke . . . and in case the Celect men see cause ... to expell them out of the Towne." In 1682 it was voted "that in building the new meeting house " "the length there of is to be forty foot, and the breadth 40 foot and 16 foot in the wall . . . and to finish the same with seats, Galleryes &C." It was also voted that " a committee be appointed by the Towne to Grant Tickets according to Law in such Case provided unto such as are Nessessitated to travell on the Lord's Day in case of danger of death or such like nessisitous occasions." In 1684 it was voted that "the King's highway throughout our Township be layed out " ; in 1695, that COLONIAL LIFE 281 it be permitted to kill "6 Crows in the Rome of 12 black birds for each house holder"; in 1702 "That every ffreeholder That hath ben soe for six years last past That hath not had 30 ackers of land Granted to them by the Inhabitants of the Town within 20 years last past shall have 30 acres of land paid forth to them out of the Commons belonging to sd Towne"; in 1710, that a bridge be built over Stony Brook at Kingston "of about three logs breadth"; in 1711, that a piece of land be laid out " for a perpetual Common or training plase" and another piece " for publick use to make bricks up " ; in 1712, that permission be granted "to plant oysters in avery place or places with in sd bay as they shall judg most likely for the groath and increase of oysters"; in 171.5, that seats in the meeting-house be assigned to negroes and Indians. In 1727 it was voted " that there be Encouragement given to those persons that shall kill any wild cats within the Township of Plymouth and that ten shillings shall be paid per head"; also "that there be an Alms House built for the Entertainment of the Poor of the town"; in 1729, that every householder in the thickly settled parts of the town must have near his house a hogshead or two barrels or have a cistern, the same to be kept full of water; in 1730, "that there be the sum of fifty pounds raised to help support the Charges of our Ajency in England in defence of our privileges"; also that there be a committee who " shall take care that the children and youths in the Town of Plymouth may 282 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS be well regulated on the Lord's day '' ; also " to Procure us a new Bell for the Meeting House and if necessary to send home to England for one " ; in 1733, " that the Meeting House be repaired where it is needful and pai-- ticularly to do something about the Deacons seat"; in 1742, "to accept the Reports of the Committe Re- lating to ye Erecting a Breast work and Platform on Coles Hill"; in 1744, "that wherebyye Meeting Houses are endangered by Being set on fire and consumed it is hereby voted that each person Leaving his or her stove in any of the Meeting Houses in sd Town after the People are all gone (But ye Saxton) shall forfeit & Pay ye sum of Five shillings." In 1754 it was voted in reference to an " Excise Bill passed by the House of Representatives & the Counsell Respecting an Excise upon Private Familyes for Rum, Wine & C consumed therein . . . that ye sd Bill is dis- agreable to the Town as it appears unequal and unjust and has a Tendency to Destroy ye natural Rights and Privileges of Every Individual In the Government"; in 1768, that "the Representatives be Directed to En- deavor all in his power at the General Court to prevent an Excise being layd on Spiritous Liquor in this Pro- vince"; in 1769, "to Dig a Well fourteen feet, to be for the Common Use of the town"; in 1770, "to build a powder house for the town's powder & for private property"; in 1771, to allow a mill to be built on the Town Brook for " the leather dressing business or that of manufacturing deere skins & sheep skins"; in 1772, COLONIAL LIFE 283 that there be an order obliging "traders and other Inhabitants of said Town to store their powder in the powder house"; and "that the Selectmen Get a new bell for the school house, the old one being broak." With the War for Independence now approaching, it was voted in 1774 "to have a Watch Kept in this town, called a Constable Watch"; also that the town clerk "enter in the town records the names of such persons as shall by the province be considered & pub- lished as rebels against the State"; on January third, 1775, that "each of the minnet men be allowed four pence for each time they meet for Exercise which makes one shiUing per week"; on January twenty- seventh, "to procure fifty Good Guns & bayonets for the town use and that the town will procure two drums for their use, at Presant to be lent to the Minnet Com- panys in this town." Later, on March twentieth, it was voted "that Considering the alarming Circum- stances of our publick affairs it is not expedient for the fishing vessels to sail now"; also "to build a breast work for fireing the Cannon in this town and to purchase thirteen hundred of cannon shot of various sizes"; on July twenty-seventh, "to erect a Beacon on Monks Hill to be an alarm to the neighboring towns in case this town should be attacked by their enemies " ; on August fourteenth, to purchase all the powder in town, and "to engage a number of persons to take care of the Battery & the Guns"; on January twenty-ninth, to appoint a committee "to make Experiments & find 284 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS out the easiest method to make Saltpeter," and to confer with the neighboring towns "in Petitioning the General Court to build a fort for the defence of this town and harbour " ; on February twelfth, " to petition his Excellency Generall Washington Desiring him to assist us to build a fort for the defence of this harbor.'* THK FIRST WASHING DAY CHAPTER XXVII A PEOPLE OF DESTINY Up to the time when the Plymouth settlement was made, the notion had prevailed in England that her colonies could only be utilized profitably to clear the mother country of jail-birds and pau- pers. To this plantation, how- ever, it was left to demonstrate that only the honest and the thrifty could work out the salva- tion of a wilderness, and more than one historian has noticed that every attempt to colonize any part of New England had failed until these Pilgrims be- gan a settlement based upon a profound sense of duty and a steadfast reliance upon God. Never before had a colony like this one been founded, and during the colonial days of the United States there was no colony which did not acknowledge the difference between its own settlement and this one, which in the eyes of the whole world was regarded with a cer- tain reverence. This was because these May Flower Pilgrims were a band of religious exiles with none of that restless spirit of the adventurer or that desire for wealth which had thrilled so many other colonists. NATIONAL MONUMENT TO OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS 286 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS With them it was simply a desire to have a home under the EngHsh flag, where they and their children could enjoy religious freedom and free institutions. They had sailed for the New World without a royal charter from their king, without any useful grant from any corporate body, without any ecclesiastical head but one of their own choosing, and without a civil head in any form, the colony having its first charter when it united with the Massachusetts colony. In the new country they had established that relation between Church and State which exists to-day in the American Republic — a free Church and a free State, each sepa- rate and independent of the other. Although the sala- ries of the ministers were voted annually at the town meetings, the Church only looked to the State for pro- tection, and in its turn the State only called upon the Church to quicken and enlighten the moral sense of the people. Each was a distinct body, and, although most of the colonists were members of both Church and State, it was clearly understood that of one body the head was Christ, and of the other. King James. In Holland these Plymouth Fathers had, without complaint, suffered such hardships as came to them, and had willingly crossed the ocean to settle on the borders of an unexplored country, inhabited only by Indians. Here they were ready, if necessary, to be martyrs to their faith, well knowing that, if death should come, it must be met without any stimulating applause and approbation. They had come to this unknown A PEOPLE OF DESTINY 287 world because their religion had gripped their con- sciences, and their consciences would not let them feign satisfaction with things as they were or tacitly consent to what they beheved untrue. Owing to the depths of their convictions, they had separated from the Church of England, and had endured for weeks all the terrors of the ocean in a leaking boat, in a cabin crowded almost to suffocation. They had arrived at Cape Cod poorly equipped and scantily provisioned, but with a dogged religious determination to make their colony a success. In their unrestrained zeal there was nothing too dangerous to undertake. P'or dangers already escaped they gave reverent thanks to their God, and dangers to come they were ready to face with an in- finite trust in their Maker. Their one inspiring hope had been that religious freedom, which in the Old World had been stifled in its conflicts with the corruptions of accumulated ages, might find a foothold in the New. This was the incen- tive that brought them to America, and in it there were all the elements of ideal heroism, for they were willing to sacrifice for their religion every valued association with their mother country. Acting without a charter, they w^orked out their career under an elective system of government, and their settlement, being well estab- lished before others were undertaken, became a model for later colonists. Who, then, can deny that the courage and enterprise which they showed was the determining element which decided that all-important 288 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS question of their time, namely, whether the French or the EngUsh were to predominate in the western hemisphere ? The story of their hves gives us a bit of history as rich in events and as interesting and romantic as any in the annals of our race. In the trial of new ideas and in the experiments which they made for free insti- tutions, they took a leading part. In the beginning of their struggle they had said that "they were sensi- ble that the heavy hand of God was upon them," and, when we recall the great odds against which they successfully battled, we rightfully call them Pilgrim Fathers. If their history after the landing on Plym- outh Rock had been blotted out, or, if after their second or their third winter on the New England coast the book had been closed, what social economist is there who would not say that theirs was the rash- ness of children fighting against obstacles too great to overcome ? The resolution and courage with which, in their loyalty to their God, these unlettered men were willing to face the uncertainties of an unknown country for the vindication of a great human right, shows that they were men of a singularly strong and sturdy type, — men who have given us a free religion and a civil government unexampled in any previous period of human existence. These sterling qualities inherited by their children have given us the New England type of people, and "the children unto the third and fourth generation " have in turn carried the A PEOPLE OF DESTINY 289 New England idea of education and of local self- government westward to the Pacific Ocean. Although their religion was their master impulse, there was always with it the saving grace of sound common sense. Although they had exiled themselves to make a stand for religious liberty, the events of their lives, when linked together, show that underneath was a belief in some fundamental law that all men are equals, and that they should enjoy whatever rights and privileges belong to mankind in common. The com- pact made in the cabin of the May Flower, when equal rights were given to all, the division of the land and cattle by lot, and the preamble to their first code of laws, all show how firmly they believed in this funda- mental principle. Free inquiry into matters of religion, instead of meaning the right of the laity to read the Bible and to interpret it as one's conscience dictated, developed into a right to make independent search into everything which had to do with human thought and human life, and, because they insisted upon this right, the world will ever be their debtor. This is the inheri- tance which they left to their children, and which, more than all else, has made our country respected by every other nation. In studying their lives, one cannot but notice how thoroughly they believed they were fulfilling some mysterious destiny, that their successes and failures, their joys and sorrows, their losses and gains, were a part of some plan of their God. Together with this 290 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS belief was a faith that their God was personally directing their work, and this gave to them a masterly sincerity, a concentrated enthusiasm, and a courage without limit. In 1617 John Robinson and William Brewster had written Sir Edwin Sandys " We verily believe & trust ye I/ord is with us." After the settle- ment had been made at Plymouth, other incidents fixed the same thought more firmly in their minds. This idea of the personal supervision of God in the every-day occurrences was no new thought of those times. Even Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay colony had often in his journal attributed current events to supernatural causes, and Captain Johnson, in a book entitled "The Wonder Working Providence of Zion's Saviour in New England," had spoken of Christ as "guiding every shaft that flies, leading every bullet to its place of setting and every weapon to the wound it makes." Two hundred years before the days of the Pilgrim Fathers, Jean d'Arc had established one of the most astounding facts of known history. Not believed in by those in power, she had been examined by the bishops upon the order of the king, and the bishops had re- ported that there were more things in heaven and earth than their philosophy had taught them. She had made a strange claim about visions, voices, and a personal contact with the supernatural. Socrates had made the same claim. In the Scriptures, visions and voices, as well as God's personal communion with men, were also A PEOPLE OF DESTINY 291 spoken of, and, the God of the Scriptures being the God of these Pilgrims, these people believed that they, too, had spiritual communications from their God. Unknown to themselves, these Plymouth Pilgrims were the advance-guard of a civilization which was to affect the world. Recalling the events which preceded their emigration, one may fairly ask if it was not a part of some divine plan to have a place prepared for them, and if it was a mere coincidence, when in the year 1602 "several religious people near the joining borders of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire (Gains- borough) joined themselves by covenant into a church state to walk in all His ways," that Bartholomew Gos- nold discovered Cape Cod. Did the interposition of some divine providence prevent Gosnold's intended settlement being made on Cape Cod.^ Was it pre- destined that, although it was contrary to their plans, the Pilgrims were to locate outside the limits of their grant, where a pestilence had left no Indian tribe to prevent them making a settlement.'' Was the supply of seed-corn, which was discovered the day before the winter's freeze-up, "a spetiall providence of God," as Bradford had expressed it.^ After their first skirmish with the Indians all felt that " it had pleased God to vanquish their enimies, and by his spetiall providence so to dispose that not one of them were either hurte or kilt." Later other events in their lives seemed to show that the hand of some unknown power was working out for them some unknown destiny. Was it chance 292 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS that Sainoset, the only Indian who could speak a few words of English, had come to them during those criti- cal days, and that Squanto had been on hand to teach them how to plant the corn without which they would have died because of want of proper food ? Was it chance that the first winter was unusually mild, and that, had it been otherwise, all would have perished ? Was there some reason why they received from John Huddleston, a person unknown to them, his friendly letter of advice which made them take unusual precau- tions against the Indians ? Did Standish, the one man feared by all the Indians, have some monition to keep his men on guard that night at Barnstable when the Indians had secretly plotted to murder them ? — a moni- tion which made him at Sandwich, a few days later, restlessly pace all night back and forth before his camp- fire, not knowing that an Indian was in the camp ready to kill him as soon as he fell asleep, a monition which he often afterwards said he was unable to ex- plain. Was it chance that, when these Plymouth people prayed for rain from sunrise to sunset, in their fort- church on the hill, rain came in abundance ? Were the colonists wrong in insisting that this rain had come in answer to their prayers, and the Indians in believing that it was because o!^ God's mercy only, that, when there was no signs of rain, suddenly rain had come ? Whether we believe or not that every one born into this world has his work born with him, we know that the Pilgrim Fathers had a firmly rooted conviction that A PEOPLE OF DESTINY 293 their God had sent them across the Atlantic to fulfil His will, and, whether we believe or not that they were a people of destiny, we must at least admit that many of the events of their lives were out of the commonj)lace. When the colony was on the point of abandoning the settlement, and an earthquake had shaken the town, they believed that it was a warning from God, and Bradford wrote that "ye Lord would hereby show ye signs of his displeasure." We know that these English yeomen had far less business ability than the other col- onists; that Weston and Sherley easily deceived them; that it took them several years to discover the duplic- ity of Allerton. Yet, notwithstanding all this, their prosperity during those years when their religious convictions were the basis of their lives, was greater than that of any of the other colonists. We know that John Pierce, claiming the Pilgrims' grant as his own, fitted out an expedition to take possession of their country; that the storms which he encountered brought him such losses that he was willing to turn over the grant to the colonists; that the three men who de- frauded them — Weston, Sherley, and Allerton — each met with financial disaster. Can we speculate from this that some avenging Nemesis was associated with their destiny? Believing themselves to be under the guidance of God, these Plymouth Fathers had taken the first steps in changing the heresies of the times into orthodoxies, and, before the contest ended, two great doctrines were 294 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS established : one that the ultimate authority of the State was not in the king nor even in the House of Lords nor in the House of Commons, but in the English people; the other that the ultimate authority of the Church was not in the pope, or in prelates, convocations, or synods, but in the Christian people. Their twelve years' resi- dence in Holland had brought them into contact with other sects of Christians, thus giving them a more cath- olic spirit than that of the Puritans of England. This had made them more liberal in feeling and more tolerant in practice than the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay whose life in England had been embittered by the strife of contending factions in the Established Church. In consequence of this there is now perpetuated, not the aristocratic Congregationalism of the Puritans of the Bay, but the democratic Congregationalism established at Plymouth. From their doctrines of religious freedom Congregationalism has been founded, and from Congregationalism has come our civil form of government. As has been said of these people, " In the pursuit of religious freedom they established civil liberty, and, meaning only to found a church, gave birth to a nation, and, in settling a town, commenced an empire." This will always be their distinguisliing work for mankind, for it is not so much what they achieved as what they suggested wliich has given them fame throughout the world. The men of the May Flower, by what they dared and suffered, are pre-eminent among those guided by A PEOPLE OF DESTINY 295 God's providence in nation-making, but, having lived in the atmosphere of the seventeenth century, they necessarily partook of its narrowness, notwithstanding religious forces were developing in them those sterling qualities which made them able to add much to the world's progress. Judged by the light of to-day, it cannot be denied that they made serious mistakes; that they had a certain intellectual narrowness which showed itself in a foolish contempt for the minor elegances of life, letters, and manners. This was owing partly to the conditions under which they lived and partly to the distance of their settlement from the older centres of civilization. But when all has been said, and due allowance made for all possible draw- backs, there remain those high moral qualities which made it possible for them to estabhsh a colony which became a standard for our later colonies — colonies which have developed from their simple rules of govern- ment into a nation with a complex system of govern- ment, not yet at the summit of its greatness. "Winning by inches, Holding by clinches. Slow to contention, but slower to quit; "Now and then failing, Never once quailing. Let us thank God for our Saxon grit.** INDEX PAGE Aborigines, The 175, 203, 209, 241, 260 ACHTERBURGWAL StRASSE, AMSTERDAM 36 Act of Supremacy, The 6 Alden, John. One of the May Flower emigrants 71 One of the " Undertakers " 144 His residence in Duxbury 178, 214 His trip to the Kennebec post 186 His arrest in Boston 187 Alexander, Son of Massasoit 229, 230 Allerton, Isaac. One of the May Flower emigrants 71 Son-in-law of William Brewster 163 Made assistant to the governor 76 His trips to England as agent of the colony . 141, 144, 146, 155, 156, 163, 164. 165, 166 One of the " Undertakers " 144 His trickery 155,163,293 His dismissal as agent of the colony 174 His trading post on the Maine coast 174 His last years and death 174 Allotment of Cattle, see Cattle. Allotment of Land. The first allotment 69 The acre allotment for one year 104 The acre allotment for three years 120 The twenty-acre allotment 153 The allotment to residents 225 The thirty-acre allotment to freeholders 281 Almshouse 281 Amsterdam, Holland. The Reformed Church in 36, 37 The Separatists' Church in 28, 35, 36, 37, 40, 41 The home of the Pilgrims in 35, 36, 37 The departure of the Pilgrims from 37 Andrews, Joseph 155, 199 Andros, Sir Edmund. Royal governor 244 Put under arrest in Boston 245 Anglicans, The 9 Anne Boleyn. Wife of Henry VIH 5 Mother of Queen Elizabeth . 12 298 INDEX PAGE Anne, Queen of England 246 Anne, the Ship Arrival of 106 Departure of 109 Cargo of 109 Complaints sent to England in 112 Arcadl\ 246 Arminius, Jacobus 37, 40 Arrivals at Plymouth. The :May Flower 66 The Fortune 82 The Charity 90 The Swan 90 The Plantation 106 The Anne 106 The Little James 106 The Jacob 132 The Handmaid 166 Ashley, Edward 164 Augusta, INIaine 155 Austerfield, England 20, 24 Babblers, see Lollards. Babw^orth, England 26 Bancroft, Richard 28 B.U>TISM. In the Massachusetts Bay colony 161 Controversy in the Plymouth colony over 214 B.vRBARA, Wife of Myles St.\ndish 106 Barley 276 Barndesteeg Strasse, Amsterdam 36 Barnstable, Massachusetts. Captain Dermer's exploration of the harbor of 46 Corn stacked at 93 Expedition to 94 Settlement at 213 Barrowe, Henry. His doctrine of toleration 16, 17 His martyrdom 17, 18, 19, 139 Bastions, The. To protect the stockade 86 Location of 113, 115 Sentinels at 86 Beacon Hill, Blackstone's Settlement on 135 Beans obtained from the Indians 92 Be^uchamp, John 155, 200 INDEX 299 PAGE Beaver Skins. The first seen 73 Shipments to England of 83, 189, 191 Loan of, to Weston 103 See also Furs. Beer, the Common Beverage 70, 264 Bench, The 213 Bible, The. The reading of 6, 7, 9, 10 The reading of, forbidden 11 Restoration of 13 The effect of reading 9, 10 Bill of Rights, The 247 Billington, John. One of the May Flower emigrants 71, 166 His execution 166 Widow of, put in the stocks 200 Blackbirds Troublesome in the Colony 279, 281 Blacksmith Shop 196 Blackstone, William 135, 169 Block Island, Narragansett Bay 201,203 Book of Common Prayer, The. Compulsory use of 11, 13 Petition for its revision 27 Not used in the Massachusetts colonies 161 Boston, England. Pilgrims arrested when sailing from 29 Imprisonment of Pilgrims in 29 Boston, Massachusetts. Blackstone's Plantation 169 The Puritan settlement at 169 The commerce of 173,191 Roger Williams's home in 175 Alden's arrest in 187 Conference in, concerning the French at Castine 193 Treaty with Narragansetts signed at 204 Articles of Confederation adopted at 221 English commission sent to 229 Tories in 243 Letter to Plymouth from 249 Vote of Plymouth sent to 250 See also Massachusetts Bay colony. Boston Harbor. First called Massachusetts Bay 79 Indian trails to 260 Plymouth colonists' first trip to 79 300 INDEX PAGE Boston Harbor, Continued. Expedition for corn to 86, 92 Trading trips to 173 Boundaries. Of Plymouth colony grant 213 Of Kennebec River grant 164 Bradford, William. One of the founders of the Scrooby church 20, 24 Warrant for his arrest 28 One of the May Flower emigrants 70 On the first exploring expedition 57 On the third exploring expedition 61 His wife drowned in Provincetown Harbor 71 Made governor 76 His house at Plymouth 116 His treatment of insubordination 84, 124, 228 His reply to the Narragansetts 85 His leniency to Squanto 88 On the expedition along the Cape for corn 92, 93 His advice to the Weymouth settlers 97 His loan of furs to Weston 103 His second marriage 106 Made councillor under Gorges 110 His daily work 117 Elected governor against his protest 119 His connection with the Lj-ford trial . . 123, 124, 125, 126, 127 His trip to Monhegan 140 His trip to Orleans Bay 142 His correspondence with De Rassieres 144, 146 One of the "Undertakers" 144 His letter to IMorton 154 Endicott's letter to 158 The Warwick grant to 165 His letter to the Bay colony in reference to fishing or trading within the Plymouth territory 174 His first visit to Boston 176 One of the Executive Council 181 Sent to Boston to arrange for a trading post on the Con- necticut River 183 One of the commissioners to settle the boundary line between the Bay colony and Ph^nouth 213 One of the connnissioners of the New England Confederacy . 228 His belief in God's guidance 212, 228, 293 His transfer of the Warwick grant to the Plymouth colony . . 213 One of the four great leaders of the colony 227, 229 His death 227 I INDEX 301 PAGE Bradford, Wn.LL\M, Continued. His character 227, 228 A born diplomat 128 A man of destiny 229 The world his debtor 41 Extracts from his journal, 42, 44, 55, 51, 61, 62, 66, 68, 76, 80, 81, 91, 103, 104, 105, 107, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124, 149, 153, 154, 158, 162, 166, 174, 177, 178, 182, 184 192, 193, 198, 199, 208, 210, 212, 213, 214, 216, 223, 226, 329. Bread, The Lack of, in the Colony 105 Brewster, Fear. Daughter of William Brewster 106 Her arrival in the Anne 106 Her marriage to Isaac AUerton 163 Brewster, Jonathan. Eldest son of William Brewster 82 His arrival in the Fortune 82 His removal to Duxbury 178 In charge of the Connecticut fort 194 Brewster, Patience. Daughter of William Brewster 106 Her arrival in the Anne 106 Her marriage to Thomas Prence 186 Brewster, Williajm. His boyhood and life at court 20, 22, 24 One of the founders of the Scrooby church 20, 24 Church services held in his house 20 Warrant for his arrest 28 His imprisonment in Boston, England 29 His employment at Leyden 40 Made elder of the church 41 One of the May Flower emigrants 70 His home at Plymouth 116 His daily life 118, 223 Robinson's letter to 113 One of the "Undertakers" 144 His farm in Duxbury 214 His belief in God's guidance 223 One of the four great leaders of the colony 229 His death 223 His character 223 A man of destiny 229 The world his debtor 41 Brick Manufacture 281 Bridges 173, 196, 267, 281 Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Attack on, by the Narragansetts 238 1 302 INDEX PAGE Brooke, Lord 186, 188 Brookfield, M.\ssachusetts 234 Brown Island Sho.\ls 195 Brown, Peter 71 Browne, Robert. The father of Congregationalism 14, 15, 16 Brownists, The Why so called 14 In Amsterdam 36 Their controversies 37, 40 The Pilgrim Fathers called Brownists 91, 133, 161 Buckled Shoes, The use of 118,265 Buckskin Clothing 264 Burial Hill, see Fort Hill. BURYING-GROUND, ThE 70, 76 Butter. Want of, in the colony 120 Plentiful after the first few years 264 Used in trading 149 The minister's salary partly paid in 276 Buzzards Bay. The territory of the Narragansetts 85 Trading post on 143 The Dutch not to trade along 144 Calendar, The Change made in the 68, 119 Calvin, John 4, 9, 10 Cannons. First mounted on a platform on the hill 68, 76 Later mounted on the roof of the church-fort 115 Four cannons at the junction of the two streets 115 The fortification supplied with 231 Canvas Clothing 264 Cambridge, Engl.and 14, 16, 17, 167 Cambridge, Massachusetts. First settlement at 169 War \evy for fort at 170 Emigration to the Connecticut valley from 198 Canonchet. Successor to Canonicus as chief of the Narragansetts . . , 204 His defiance 238 Tomahawked by the Mohegan Indians 239 C.\NONICUS. Chief of the Narragansetts 85 Rattlesnake skin filled with bullets sent to 86 C-^JOTERBURY, Archbishop of 187, 219 INDEX 303 PAGE Cape Ann. First attempted settlement at 45 Early fishing station at 130 The Plymouth colonists' fishing stage at 121, 134, 137 Cape Cod. The discovery of 45, 291 The soil of . . 57, 212 Called by the Indians "Paomet" 78 The Dermer exploration of 46 Arrival of the Pilgrims at 55, 229 The Pilgrim's early explorations of, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 or 57-67 First expedition around 92 Cape Cod Bay. First exploration of 45, 46 Cape Cod Indians, The. Those first seen by the Pilgrims 58 The Pilgrims' first encounter w^ith 62 Confederacy of 73 Traffic with 81,118,261 Conspiracy of 98 Allies of the settlers 102 A part of the community 266 See also Indians. Cape Sable, Nova Scotia 218 Captain's Hill, Duxbury 225 Carver, John. Sent from Holland to England to obtain grant of land . . . 47, 48 Sent from Holland to England to arrange for the voyage ... 49 One of the May Flower emigrants 70 On the third exploring expedition 61 Chosen governor 72 Death of 76, 228 Castine, Maine. Plymouth trading post at 164 Plymouth trading post at, plundered by the French .... 174 Plymouth trading post at, taken by the French 191 Ineffectual attempt to retake it 192 Catechism, The 272 Cattle. The first in the land brought over in the Charity 123 The second shipment received 134 Allotment of 146 The third shipment received 167 Shipment to the Massachusetts Bay colony of 160 Pasturage for 121,173,215 304 , INDEX PAGE Cattle, Continued. Purchase from the Massachusetts Bay colony of 173 The raising of 173,212 Chaleur, Bay of 47 Characteristics of the People, see New England Type. Charity, the Ship. Arrival of 90 Trip to Virginia of 90 Return to England of 91 Return from England of 120 Return to England of 123 Charles I. Made king 133 Tyranny of 138 Charter to the Puritans given by 160 A Commission to govern New England appointed by . 187, 219 Death of \ . . . 229 Charles II. Made king 229 The New England colonists refuse to ask aid of 240 Opposition of, to the colonists 229 Death of 243 Charles Rr-er, The. John Smith's knowledge of 81 First visit of Plymouth colonists to 80 First settlement on 133 Charlestowx, Massachusetts. Fii-st settlement at 135 Massachusetts Bay settlement at 169 Seat of ^Massachusetts Bay government 169 Chath.vm, Massachusetts 92 Chauxcy, Rev. Charles 214. 215 Cheese 149,264 Chiltox, Mary 71 Christmas Day 68.84 Church. Coloxel Bexj.\^iin. In command of Plymouth troops in war against King Philip, 239 In command of expedition in Arcadia 246 Church of Exglaxd. The. Separation of, from the Roman Catholic Church 6,12 The doctrines of. questioned 13, 14 The Puritans members of 15 The Separatists not members of 8, 14. 16 Attempts to enforce the doctrines of. in Plymouth, 112, 121. 122. 131, 189 Respect of the Separatist for the religion of 131 INDEX 305 PAGE Church of Engl.\nd, The, Continued. Factions in 8 Massachusetts Puritans give up the ceremonies of . . . 161, 162 Right to vote in Plymouth colony not refused to members of, 128, U5, 268 Church of Rome, The 2, 3, 4 Church, The Plymouth, see Congregationalism. Church Independence. In England , 2, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 In Holland 28, 36, 37 In the Bay Colony 161 In the Plymouth colony 128, 145 Church INIembership. Meaning of 269 A separate membership in each church of the Plymouth colony 270 A prerequisite to citizenshij) in the Bay colony 160 Not necessary for citizenship in the Plymouth colony, 128, 145, 268 Cider 267 Civil Laws, see Laws. Civil Rights. The doctrine of 17, 44 Compact for, in the Plvmouth colony 56 Development of, in the Plymouth colony, 44, 197, 268, 286, 289, 294 Development of, in the Bay colony 167, 168, 170 The Bill of Rights 247 Cl.\]vis. In Plymouth Harbor 67 The abundance of 105 A principal article of food 89, 104, 107, 117, 264 Clapboards 81, 83 Clark, John 64 Clark's Island. First landing on 64 Settlement on, considered 67 Refusal to deed it to the crown 244 Class Distinctions 265 Clothes. Different kinds worn 264, 265 Cloth for, sent to the Plymouth colony 134 Supply of, sent to the Bay colony 160 Clyfton, Rev. Richard 24,37 Codfish. Early trips to Grand Banks for 45 Name of Cape Cod given because of abundance of ... . 45 See also Fish. 1 306 INDEX PAGE Coffee Unknown 70,264 CoHAssET, Massachusetts 213 Coinage of Money 242 Cole's Hill. Graves on "70 The first houses on 69, 75 Breastwork on 282 Colonial Courts 226,269 Commerce 132, 173, 191 Commissioners sent to Boston to Ex.xaiine into the Ad- ministration OF Justice, the Treatment of the Indians and the System of Education 229 Commissioners appointed to govern New England . . 109, 187 Commissioners for Pl.\ntations 189 Common, The, or Tr.\ining Grounds 281 CoMMOJnVE.^LTH, ThE SETTLEMENT CRYSTALLIZING INTO A, 81, 268 Communism 104 Compact made in the May Flower 56 Compact with the London Stockholders 49 Conant, Roger. One of the Plymouth colonists 130 In charge of the Dorsetshire settlement at Gloucester . 130, 134 Founder of the Salem settlement 130, 134, 157 Concord, Massachusetts 257 Conformists. Meaning of 9 Persecution of 11, 12 Congregationalism. The beginning of 2 The real founders of 14, 20 Martvrs to 17, 18, 19 The development of the doctrines of . 2, 3, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26<> The keynote of the Pl}aiiouth colony 269 No formal creed of 122, 131 Broadness of 131, 139 Constitution of 269 Opposition to the, of the Plymouth colony, 112, 121, 122, 131, 189 The Plymouth and INIassachusetts Bay doctrines of . . 162, 294 The doctrines of, adopted by the Puritans of the Bay colony . 162 Connecticut. Claimed by the Dutch 184 Plymouth trading post in 183 The colonies in 194, 198, 204, 219 Attack on settlers of, by the Pequots 204 Settlers of, attack the Pequots 207 INDEX 307 PAGE Connecticut, Continued. Settlers of, assume Statehood 205 The New Haven Republic 219 The colonists of, members of the New England Confederacy, 220 Number of settlers in 221 Troops of, in King Philip's War 235 Connecticut River, The. Known as Fresh River 182 First trading trip of Plymouth colonists to 183 Connecticut River Indians. Attempt of, to form an alliance with the Plymouth colonists . 182 Land purchased by the Plymouth colonists from the .... 194 Small-pox among the 184 See also Nipmucks. Conscience. Dictations of 1, 2, 9, 287, 289 Separation from the Church of England because of . . . 1, 287 Sacrifices of the Pilgrims because of .... 1,44,286,287,288 Constable Watch 283 Continental Congress 256 Conventicles 16 Cook, Francis 71 Cooper, Humility 71 Corduroy Clothing 264 Corn. The discovery of 58, 291 Indian cornfields at Plymouth 66, 67 The planting of 76,116,117 First crop of 81, 82 Scarcity of 86,80,91, 104,105 Expedition for 8(), 92 Stealing of, by the settlers 91,92,104 Purchase of, from the Indians 92, 93 Stealing of, from the Indians 97 Storehouse for 89,90,105,116 Crop of, not to be divided among the new arrivers 107 Annual contribution of, into the public treasury 108 Cultivation of 119,137,143,153,177 Supply of 109,119 A daily article of food 264 Used in place of money 115,11!) Scarcity of. in the Bay colony 169 Large profits in growing 177, 212 Narragansett and Pequot supply of, seized 203, 237 Used for taxes and town expenses 215 The minister's salary partly paid in 276 See also Seed Corn. 308 INDEX PAGE CoRNWALLis, General 258 Cotton, Rev. John 276 Council, The, see Executive Council. Council for New Engl.^jvd, The. Royal charter of 47 Grant to Plymouth colony from 83 Attempts to get aid from 138 Grant to Massachusetts Bay colony from 156 Admiral of 106 The governor-general of , . , . 109 Courts, see Laws. COVERDALE, MiLES 10 Crackstone, John 71 Cradock, Matthew le^ Cromwell, Oliver S^G Crows troublesome in the Colony 281 Cushman, Robert. Sent from Hollan(l to London to obtain grant of land ... 47, 48 Sent from Holland to London to arrange for voyage 49 Vovage abandoned bv 55 Arrival at Plymouth of 83 Return to England of 83 Letters from 120, 133 Convevance of land at Cape Ann to 120,136 Death* of 138 Customs, see Life in the Colony and New Engl.\nd Types. Dartmoltth, Massachusetts 234 Davison, \Yilli.\m 22, 24 Deacons 270 Deacon Seats 275, 28^1 Deer, see Venison. Deerfield, Massachusetts 234, 238, 246 DeclaratiOxV of Rights 197,247 Delft Haven. Holland 50,51 Deputies, The 213 Dermer, Captain Thomas 46, 74 Destiny of the Colonists, The. Relio-ious courage because of belief in 85 Special proofs of 60,63, 95, 108, 212, 291, 292, 293 Brewster's belief in 223 Bradford's belief in 212,228,293 The colonists' belief in 60,91,109,263,291 Discovery, the Ship 91 Drv'iNE Right of Kings, The 167 Doane, John 181 INDEX 309 PAGE Dorchester, Massachusetts. Settlement at 169 Families from, settle in Connecticut 194 Vessel from, wrecked near Plymouth 195 Dorset, England 130, 134 DoTEN, Edward 71 Dover, New H.\mpshire 200 Drums, People CALLED TO Church BY 118,274 Drunkenness not Common 2G7 Ducking Stools 2(j9 Ducks 81, 104, 117, 204 Dudley, Joseph 243 Dudley, Thomas 168 Dutch, The. Influence of, on the Pilgrims in Holland 43 Settlement of, on Manhattan Island . . . . 48, 143, 172, 18>, 218 Negotiations with, for a settlement on Manhattan Island . 48 Trade with 144,188 Agreement with 147 Use of wampum by 147 Connecticut valley claimed by 184 Trading post of, at Hartford 183, 184 Kindness of, to the Plymouth settlers on the Connecticut . . . 185 Encroachments of 215, 218 The power of 219 New England confederacy against 218, 220 Dutch Reformed Church, The 36 DuxBURY, Massachusetts. First settlement of 178 The town of 213, 224 Earthquakes 212 East Boston, Massachusetts 135 East Harbor, Cape Cod 58, 59 Eastham, Massachusetts 61, 92, 94, 214 Eaton, Francis 71 Ecclesiastical Courts 9 Edward VI 10 Eel River, Cape Cod 153,224 Elders 270 Elm-trees 266 Ely 71 Endicott, John. Deputy governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony . . 158, 160 Favorable reports of the Bay colony sent by, to England . 160 Letter of, to Bradford 158 310 INDEX PAGE ExDicoTT, John. CoJithuied. At head of expedition against the Xarragansetts -203 One of the commissioners to settle the boundary Une between the Bay colony and Plymouth 513 Episcopacy, see Church of England. Episcopius, Simon 37 Essex County, M.\ssachusetts 157, 235 Executive Council, The. Development of 119,198,1212 Bradford one of 181 Brence one of 180 Fairfield, Connecticut 209 F.\mine never in the Colont: 107 Farms. The first farming done 76 First allotment of 10-4 Fences built and orchards planted on the 173, 177 Poor soil of the 212 Living on. instead of in N-illages 173 Federal Commissioners, The 221, 230 Felt, Manufacture of 279 Fire-arms. Use of, unknown to the Indians 63, 154- Indians soon experts in the use of 263 Sale of. to the Indians prohibited 154? Each householder required to have 221 Supply of. sent from England to the Massachusetts Bay colony. 160 Vote of Plymouth in reference to supply of 283 First Encounter, the Pl-\ce so c.uxed 63 First Sickness, The 72 Fish. The princn>al food 84. 89. 104. 107, 2G4 Spawning-bed for 116 Fishing a dailv occupation 105 Drying of . * 121, 137 Fishing unprofitable as a business 140 Fishing Fleet. The. Earlv vovages of, to Grand Banks 45 Amiiial trip of, to Maine coast 89, 103, 105, 138 The Plymouth fishing fleet 196 The fleet not allowed to sail because of impending war . . 283 Fishing Stage at Gloucester 121, 134, 137 Fletcher 136 Fleet Prison, England 190 Flip 267 INDEX 311 PAGE Foot-stoves 282 Ford, The, across the Town Brook 74, 115 Fore-seats in the Meeting-houses 275 Forks, The Use of, unknown 204 Fort, The Plymouth. Description of 115 Partial completion of 90 Used as a place of worship 115,118,125,292 Sentries at 125 Fort Hill. Its favorable location 66 Cannon on 68, 76 Watch-tower on 76 Church-fort on 115 Stockade around 113 Fortifications on 231 Fortune, the Ship 82, 83, 104 Flounders of our Republic, The 20, 33, 50, 57, 06 Free Institutions 44, 56, 197, 268, 286, 289, 294 Freedom of Religion, see Church Independence. Freemen, The. INIeaning of the name 278 Rights of 278 All laws to be made by 198 French, The. In Florida 43 In Nova Scotia 75 First cargo from Plymouth to England captured by ... . 83 Boundary dispute with 218 Encroachments of 193,215,218 Castine trading post plundered by 174 Castine trading post seized by 191 Ijctter to the Bay colony in reference to 192 New England Confederacy against 220 Conspiracy of, with the Indians 157, 246 Expedition against, in Nova Scotia 245 War in Canada against 247 Fresh River, see Connecticut River. Fuller, Dr. Samuel. One of the May Flower emigrants 71 Arrival of wife of 106 Sent for by the Bay colony 158 Influence of, in the Bay colony 160 Fundamental Law, The 289 Furs. The first brought by the Indians to the colony 73 312 INDEX PAGE Furs, Continued. The first shipment to England of 83 Storehouse for 116 Wampum used in trade for 1-48, 149 Shipments to England of 83, 189, 191 Large profits in trading for 140, 188, 199 See also Beaver Skins. Gainsborough, England 19, 157, 291 Gallows Hill, Plymouth 'i'io g.\ivibrel-roof houses 172 Game. One of the principal articles of food 264 The abundance of . 104 Gardner, Richard 71 Gener.ajls, a Faction so called 108 Gener.\l Court, The. Of the Bay colony 170 Of the Plymouth colony 212 Vote of, in reference to the boundary of the Plymouth colony, 213 Tithing-men appointed by 272 Vote of , that every man have a gun and powder 221 George 1 246 George II 247 George III 247 Gibbets 209 Girling, Captain 192 Gloucester, Massachusetts. Dorsetshire fishing stiition at 130 Grant of land at, to the Plymouth colony 120 Plymouth fish drying stage at 121, 134, 137 Attempt at salt making at 121 Goats. The first in the Plymouth colony 117 Purchase of, at INIonhegan 140 Allotment of 146 The first in the Bay colony 160 The supply of 215, 264 Goodwin, Elder 193 Gorges, Robert, Governor-General of the New England Colonies 109, 110, 111 GrORGEs, Sir Ferdinando. At the head of the North Virginia Company 47 Nominated as governor-general of the New England colonies, 189 GosNOLD, Bartholomew 45, 291 Gospels, The, see New Testament. Governor and Council, see Executive Council. I INDEX 313 PAGE Grants of Land. The original grant south of the Hudson River 49, 56 The grant to Pierce 83, 144, 165, 243 The Warwick grant to Bradford 165 Transfer of the Pierce grant to the colonists 293 The Cape Ann grant 120, 136 The Kennebec River grant 155 The Bay colony grant 156 Royal Charter to the Bay Company 160 The Bradford grant transferred to the colonists 213 See Royal Charter. Grapes 264 Great Meadow Creek, Cape Cod 62 Greene, Richard 91,97 Greenwood, John 17, 18, 19, 139 Grimsby, England 30, 32 (jRiST-MiLLs 196, 266, 279 (jroton, Massachusetts 238 Guiana 43 Guildford, Connecticut 219 Gunpowder. King James's proclamation prohibiting the sale of, to the Indians 154 Sale of, to the Indians 150 The supply of, in the Bay colony 160 A supply of, to be kept by the colonists 221 Powder-house for 282 Vote of the town to purchase the supply in the settlement . . 283 Gurnet Head, Cape Cod 66, 75, 86 Hadley, Massachusetts 234 Handmaid, the Ship 166 Hartford, Connecticut. Dutch trading post at 183, 184 Puritan settlements near 194, 198, 204 Harvard College 215 Hatchets 149,225 Hatherly, Timothy 1.55, 200 Henry VHI 5,9,11,22 Herring 116 Hewes, Captain 131 Hickman, Rose 19 Hides 282 High Commission Courts 167 Hingham, Massachusetts 213 314 INDEX PAGE HOBOMOK. A pinesse of his tribe 78 Joins the colony 78 Interpreter 86 Land given to 1''20 His belief in the white man's God 109 HocKiNGS, John 186, 187, 194 Holland. Freedom of religion in 36, 37, 39 Emigration of Robert Browne and his church to 1 1 Emigration of John Smith and his church to 20 Emigration of the Pilgrims to 1,3, 34., 35 Life of the Pilgrims in 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 51, 286 Emigration of the Pilgruus from 51 Holmes, Captain Willl\jvi 183 Hooker, Rev. Thom.\s 198 Hopkins, Stephen 71, 76 Horses. Purchase of, from the Bay colony 173 In common use 277 Reckless driving of 277 Town pound for 280 Horse Blocks 274 Howland, John. One of the May Flower emigrants 71 One of the "I'ndertakers" 144 In charge of the Kennebec post 186 Huckleberries 264 HUDDLESTON, JOHN 89, 292 Hudson River 46, 56 Huguenots, The French 43 Hull, England 30 Hull, Massachusetts 130, 162 HiTMBER, The River 30, 32, 33. 34 Hunt, Captain Thom.\s 73, 74 Huss, John 4 Idle, The River 32 Indented Servants 135 Independence, The Spirit of. Among the Pilgrim Fathers 44, 257, 258, 289 Among the Puritans in England 167, 168 Among the Puritans in the Bay colony 161, 170 Gro^\^h of, in the colonies 220, 247, 256 War, the results of 257, 259 Independents, The, see Separatists. INDEX 315 PAGE Indians, The. -.rre m^ acin The real owners of the land 175, 194, iJO The homes of :Joi Not allowed fire-arms 1^^ The mode of warfare of ^"1 Profitable trading with ■^^^' ■^'^^' ll?' ?aq The use of wampum by 147, 14» A part of the community ^oo, Ml Indian wars ^^^' ^^J Trade neglected with ^J^ Overthrow of ^^" See also Cape Cod Indians, " " Connecticut River Indians. " Maine Indians. " " Massachusetts Bay Indians. " " Mohegan Indians. " " Mohawk Indians. " ** Monhegan Indians. " " Narragansett Indians. " " Nauset Indians. " Neponset Indians. '* " Nipmuck Indians. " " Pamet Indians. " " Patuxet Indians. " " Pequot Indians. " " Pocasset Indians. " " Wampanoag Indians. Indian Conspiracies. The first Cape Cod conspiracy 98, lU^ The Narragansett conspiracy 1^9 The Pequot conspiracy 204 Fears of a general uprising 222 King Philip's War • 234 Ipswich, Massachusetts 195 Isles of Shoals l^"* Jacob, the Ship 132, 134 Jamaica Rum ^"' James I. Made king ; : • *• zL Charter granted by, to colonize North America 4b Sale of fire-arms to Indians prohibited by 154 James II. Made king 2,44 Abdication of throne by 244 316 INDEX PAGE J.\MES, THE Ship Little, Arrival of 106 I'sed as a trading; boat 109 Return to England of l'-28 Arrival of, on a fishing trip IS^- James River, Virginia 75 j.v.mestown 263 Jerome of Prague 4 JoxEs, Captain Thom.vs. Captain of the May Flower 57 His refusal to search for a place for the settlement .... 57 On second exploring expedition 59, 61 Brutality of . . / 70 Return to England of 75 JoxEs River, Cape Cod 153, '■2'-24' Jury Tri.axs 113 Kennebec Rfver. The. First settlement on 45 Profitable trading on 141 (xrant of land on 155 Trading {xist on 164 Trailing post on, given up ^l^ KlLLIXGHOME, EnGL-\ND 30 King Philip. Chief of the Wampanoags 230 Preparations for war by 230 Beiiinninir of the war 234 Conspiracy of, with the Narragansetts 230. yo Conspiracy of, with the Nipniucks 230, 234, 235 End of the war 239 Death of . . • ■ , '2^9 His wife and son prisoners 240 A patrii^t of his race 241 King's Highway 280 Kingston, M.vssachusetts 67, 281 Kl.VGSTON, CoNNEtTRlT 235 Knee-breeches 118, 265 Knives 149 Knox, John 4. 9, 10 Lancaster. Massachi^setts 238, 246 Latimer, Hugh 9 liATHAM. William 71 Laud, Archbishop. His treatment of the Puritans in England 159, 167 INDEX 317 PAGE Laud, Archbishop, Continued. Winslow committed to prison by 190 Downfall of 21G Laws. English laws the first used 197, 268 The first enacted 5iS, llti Based on Bible doctrines 2G8 The first statute book 113,2(59 The new code 198 Revisions of the 198 In reference to strangers 277, 280 In reference to cattle and horses 277, 279 In reference to idleness 280 In reference to Sunday travel 280 In reference to pipe-smoking in church 275 Leather 282 Leister, Edward 71 Le Tour, The French Governor 218 Leverett, John 243 Levitt, Christopher 110 Lexington, Massachusetts 257 Leyden, Holland. The Pilgrim's settlement in 37 Life in 40, 41 Departure from 52, GO Those left in, kept from joining the colonists 113, 133 Arrangements made for bringing over those left in 145 Arrival of the second body of emigrants from 163 Arrival of the third body of emigrants from 165 Arrival of those left in 166 Leyden Street, Plymouth 68, 75, 115 Life in the Colony . . 107, 117, 118, 173, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277 Lincolnshire, England 15(), 157, 291 Lion, the Ship 165, 176, 179, 180 Liquors 267, 282 Lobsters. One of the principal articles of food 89, 104, 107, 117 Abimdance of 264 Locusts 182 Log Houses, The. Land cleared for 68 Location of 68 The building of, begun 69 Not completed because of fever 69, 72 The first built 69, 75 318 INDEX PAGE Log Houses, The, Continued. Description of 115 Protected by stockade 86 Additional ones built 94, 115 Fire among Ill Thatched roofs replaced with paling 152 Frame houses in place of 172 Lollards, The 4 London Company, The, see South Virginia Comp.^ny. London Stockholders, see Stockholders. Long Isl.^nd Sound 144 Long Parliaivient 216, 219 Lord's Day, The. Work to end at three o'clock on Saturday to prepare for . 271 Strict observance of 271 Marching to church on 118 Fines imposed for work on 271 Tithing-raen appointed to compel observance of 272 Tickets required if travel necessary on 280 Lords of Trade 242 Lord's Supper 161 Luther, IVLvrtin 4, 9, 10 Lutherans 4, 131 Lyford, Rev. John. Clergyman of the Church of England 122 Arrivkl of 122 Conspiracy of 123 Episcopal services held by 125 Trial of 125, 127 Treachery of 129, 130 Dismissal of 128 His residence at Hull 130 His residence at Gloucester 130 His residence at Salem 130 His residence in Virginia 130 M-A,\s, The River, Holland 50 Machias, Maine 174 Maine. Fishing fleet along coast of ... 73, 89, 101, 103, 105, 138, 144 Standish's trip to 105 Fishing trip to 129 Trading trips to 137 Grant of land in 155, 164 Trading posts in 146, 155. 164 The Massachusetts and Maine colonies under one government, 245 INDEX 319 PAGE Maine Indians, The. Murder of Dorchester men by 179 Allies of the French 246 Manchester, Massachusetts 200 Manhattan Island, see The Dutch. Marblehead, Massachusetts 174 Martin, Christopher 49 Marprelate Tracts 18 Marshfield, Massachusetts 213, 224 Mary Queen of Scots 24 Mason, Captain John 205, 207, 208 Massachusetts Bay. Boston Harbor known as 79 Settlements on 130, 135, 157, 169, 177 Massachusetts Bay Company, The. Grant to, from The Council for New England 156 Royal charter to 160 English governor of 168 Government of, transferred to New England 167 Charter of, annulled 243 Charter of, restored 245 New charter given 245 Massachusetts Bay Colony, The. The first settlement 157 The first exodus to 160 The second exodus to 168 The third exodus to 211 Sickness in 169, 173 Good mechanics in 172 Clergymen in 266 Congregationalism of 161, 162 Boston the principal town of 169 Foreign commerce with 191 Trading trips within the Plymouth territory made by . . . 173 Refusal of, to occupy the Connecticut valley with the Plym- outh colonists 183 Interference of, in Kennebec matters 187 Winslow the representative of, in England 189, 225 Request of the Plymouth colonists for the aid of, in driving the French from Castine 191, 193 Large emigration of, to Connecticut 193, 194, 198 Expedition of, against the Narragansetts 203 Expedition of against the Pequots 201, 203, 207, 208 Treaty of, with the Narragansetts 204 Boundary dispute of, with the Plymouth colony 213 Phenomenal growth of 160, 178, 222 ^ 320 INDEX PAGE Massachusetts Bay Colony, The, Cimtinued. Confederacy of, with the other colonists 2*20 Population of 2*^1 Attempts of, to dictate to the other colonies 222, 258 Troops of, in King Philip's War 235 Independence of 240 Commission sent to 242 Letters from, to the other colonies to resist taxation .... 249 Massachusetts Bay Indians, The. First visit of the Plymouth colonists to 79 Small-pox among 185 Massasoit. Territory of 73 First visit of, to the colony 74 Treaty with 75 Winslow's visit to 76 Thanksgiving feast with, at Plymoutli 82 Friendship of, lost 88, 90 Illness of 95 Refusal of, to join the Cape Cod Indian conspiracy .... 98 War upon, by tlie Narragansetts 179 Death of 229 IMather, Cotton 227 Maverick, Samuel 135 May Flower, The. Sailing of. from lAnidon to Southampton 50, 51 Overcrowtling of, at Plymouth, England 55 Arrival of, in Proviiuetown Harbor 55 Compact matle in the cabin of 34, 50 Sailing of, from Provincetown Harbor to Plymouth Harbor . 66 Captain of, threatens to sail for England 70 Typhus fever among the Pilgrims on 69 ■^ryiihus fever among officers and crew of 70 Departure of 75 Arrival of, at Salem with emigrants from Leyden 163 Medfield, Massac hitsetts 238 Medford, Massachusetts 80, 169 Meeting-house, The. Why called meeting-houses and not churches 270 The rendezvous house used as the 69,116 The fort used as the 115,118,125,292 Description of the first ones 273, 274 Town appropriation for care of the 280 I'sed for town meetings 273 The new meeting-houses 274, 275, 280 Pulpits in 273. 274 INDEX 321 PAGE Meeting-house, The, Continued. Pews in 273, 275 Deacon seats in 275, 282 Fore-seats in 275 Sentinel's seat in 275 Use of foot-stoves in 282 Pipe-smoking in 275 Seats in, assigned to negroes and Indians 281 Merry Mount, see Wollaston. Metacom, see King Philip. middleborough, massachusetts 2.s8 MiLFORD, Connecticut 219 Militia, The. The organization of 81 Settlers drilled in military mancEUvres 86, 118 The militia sent to Merry Mount 154 The militia of Connecticut 205 The militia of the Confederacy 235 The Massachusetts militia in the war of England against France in Canada 247 The minute-men 283 Millenary Petition, The 27 Milk 117 Mills. For dressing leather 282 For fulling wool 279 For sawing lumber 266 Ministers. The Plymouth colonists without any 50, 163 A clergyman of the Church of England sent over 112 Lyford aljowed to preach 122 The minister brought over by Allerton sent back 155 Ralph Smith the first minister 163 Roger Williams made assistant to Ralph Smith 175 Resignation of Roger Williams 175 John Norton made assistant to Ralph Smith 195 Resignation of John Norton 195 Resignation of Ralph Sinith 200 John Raynor called 200 Charles Chauncy made assistant to John Raynor 214 Resignation of Charles Chauncy 215 John Cotton the successor of John Raynor 276 The appointment of ministers the vital question between the Separatists and the Church of England 269 Puritan ministers in England 159, 161 The ministers in New England 266 322 INDEX PAGF Ministers, Continued. The character of the colonists largely determined by the . , . '•2GG Appointment of the "ZIO Duties of the !270 Houses of the 266 Land of the 276 Salaries of the 276 MiNTER, Desire 71 Minute Men 28.'? Mohawk Indians, The 209 MoHEGAN Indians, The 205, 207 MoLLiE Brown's Cove, England 32, 34 Monhegan Indians 73 Monhegan Island, INIaine. Early trading station at 46 Home of Samoset 73 Departure of the Weymouth settlers for 101 Trip of Bradford and Winslow to 140 Monks Hill, Plymoltth 283 MonUxMet KivER, Buzz.vrds Bay 143 Moore, Richard 71 Morton, THO^L\s 135, 136, 154, 155, 163 Mosquitoes 180 Mount Hope, Narragansett Bay 234, 280 IMuLLENs, Priscilla 71 Muskets 237,238,283 Mussels 67 Mystic River, Connecticut 205 Mystic River, ISIassachusetts 80 Namsketet Creek 142 Narragansett Bay. The home of the Wampanoags 73, 260 Indian path to 115 Wampum shells on 148 Plantation of Roger Williams on 176 Naril\gansett Indians, The. Territory of 85, 201 Declaration of war against the PljTnouth colony by . . . 85, 86 Trade of the Dutch settlers with 144 Trade of the Plymouth settlers with 144 Conspiracy of, with the Pequots 179, 222 Small-pox among 185 Murder of Boston settlers by 201 Treaty of, with Massachusetts Bay colony 204 War with 235 INDEX . 323 PAGE Nation-making 45, 217, 222, 263, 268, 287, 295 National Church, The, see Church of England. Naumkeag, see Salem. Nauset Indians, The. Territory of 73 Cornfields of 58 Exploring party attacked by 62 The colonists in fear of 68 Payment for the corn taken 79 Friendly relations with 79, 89 Navigation Laws, The 229, 242, 243 Negroes 267,281 Nemasket Path 115 Neponset Indians, The. Treatment of, by the Weymouth settlers 97 Conspiracy of 98 Defeat of 100, 101 Neponset River, Massachusetts 80 New A]visterd.\m, see The Dutch. Newcomen, John 166 New England. Bleak coast of 67 Early explorations of 45, 46 Grant of, to the North Virginia Company 46 Emigration of the Pilgrims to 55, 56 Grant of, to the Council for New England by the North ^ Virginia Company 47 Grant of a portion of, to the Massachusetts Bay colony ... 156 Grant of a portion of, to the Plymouth colony 83, 165 Early hardships in 169, 260 Kennebec grant to the Plymouth colony 155 Emigration of Puritans to 157, 160, 168 English commission sent to 242 Considered in England a desirable place for emigration ... 211 Confederacy of 220 Loss of lives in, during King Philip's War 240 Growth of, impeded by the war in Canada 247 Free schools in 277 Population of 239 Ministers in 266 Theocracy of 273 The people of 267 New England Company, The, see Council for New Eng- land. New England Confederacy, The. The first attempt to form a confederacy 218 324 INDEX PAGE Nkw England Confeder.\cy, The, Continued. The formation of --0 Articles of '^'^ Members of 'i'iO Populatit)!! t>f the colonies at the time of '■Z'il Troops of, (lurinij: Kin^j; l*hilij)'s War 235 Nhw Enulani) 'I'ypks. 'I'he tlevelo[)inent of, partly from relifj:ious convictions, 15(5, 159, 288 The development of, partly because of the university men in the colonies 100 The development of, partly because of the ministers in the colonies -OU Coldness and reserve characteristics 20() Inciuisitiveness a characteristic 2G7 Sturdiness a characteristic 207 Nkw Havkn. The settlement at 210 The republic of . 210 A member of the confederacy 220 New TiosTAMENr. 'i'liH. Robert Browne's study of 17 The Pilfj:rim.s' interpretation of 2 The Pilj,Mims' church based on the doctrines tau English interference with 11, 12, 13, 28, 29, 32 The Pilgrim Fathers' belief in 1,2, 287, 289 Religious liberty in the Plymouth colony . . . 128, 131, 152, 162 Opposition to, among the new arrivals .... 122, 123, 125, 128 Fears of loss of, in the colony by being outnumbered .... 152 Religious liberty in the Bay colony 161, 162, 266 One of the reasons for forming the confederacy 220 Civil war in England on account of belief in 34 Commission appointed to enforce religious liberty in the colonies according to the laws of England 229 Religious liberty guaranteed by England 245 See also Congregationalism. INDEX 329 PAGE Rendezvous House, the . , . . . 69, 72, 77, 1 1(5 Republic of New Haven, The 219 Republican Form of Government Inevitable 162 Revolutionary War, The. The spirit which brought it about 45, 168, 197, 247, 256 The beginning of 257, 283 Raynor, Rev. John I. . . . . 200, 214 Rhode Island 201 Right of Suffrage 72 Roads 173,260,280 RoBBiNS, Rev. Ch.andler 277 Robinson, John. Assistant minister of the Scrooby church 26 His leadership in Amsterdam 37 The head of the church in Leyden 40 His negotiations with the Dutch for a grant of land at Man- hattan 48 To remain in Leyden church until the colony was established, 50 His farewell blessing to the emigrants 51 His criticism of Standish 102 Opposition to his joining the colony 112, 133 The liberality of his religion 131, 139 His death . . 139 The world his debtor 41 Robinson, Mercy 102 Rogers, Rev. — 155 Rogers, Joseph 71 Roman Catholics 3,4,5,6,7,11,12,13 Rotterd.\m, Holland 50 Roxbury, Massachusetts 169 Royal Charter. Given to the Massachusetts Bay colony 160 None given to the Plymouth colony 47, 286 Negotiations for, by the Plymouth colony 166 Later attempts to obtain one unsuccessful ........ 243 Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and jNlaine united under a single charter 245 Rye 276 Rye Beach, New Hampshire 103 Sabbath, The, see Lord's Day. Sachems 96 Sacraments, The 161, 270 Sagadahoc, Maine 140 Salem, Massachusetts. The first settlement at 130, 134 330 INDEX PAGE Salem, Massachusetts, Continued. First known as Naumkeag 130, 134 First Puritan emigration to 157 Second Puritan emigration to 160 Roger Williams at 175 Salt. Storehouse for 116 Shipment to the colony of 120 Unsuccessful attempts to make salt 121 s.yltpetre 284 Samoset 73, 74, 292 Sanders, John 98 Sandwich, Massachusetts 95, 195, 213, 292 Sandys, Sir Edwin 290 Sampson, Henry 71 Sassacus 201,209 Sassafr.\s 67,83 Saucers 264 Savonarola 4 Saw-mills 266 Say & Sele, Lord 186, 188 Saybrook, Connecticut 194, 205, 207, 208 Schools. Pay schools early established 277 Each town to have a school 277 Free schools 277 Bells for the school houses 283 English commission appointed to inquire into the system of education in New England 229 SciTUATE, Massachusetts 213, 215, 238 ScROOBY 20,22,24,26,27 Scurvy 56 Scusset RrvER, Massachusetts 143, 147 Seed-corn 58, 105, 117, 292 Separatists, The. Meaning of the name 8, 9 Those first known as 8. 9, 13 A recognized sect 14 Growth of 16 Logical sequence of the doctrines of 17 Organization of a church of in Gainsborough 19 Organization of a church of, in Scrooby 20, 24, 26, 27 English Separatists in Holland 14,36 Persecution of Scrooby Separatists 28, 29, 33 Scrooby Separatists in Holland 36, 37, 40, 41, 42 Scrooby and other English Separatists emigrate to America, 54 INDEX 331 PAGE Separatists, The, Continued. Called Brownists 91, 133, 136, 139, 161 Disapproval of, by the Puritans 15, 133 The London stockholders opposed to a colony of . . . 121, 133 English opposition to the Plymouth Separatists .... 112, 121 The Plymouth colonists not all Separatists . 72, 128, 131, 145, 268 Conspiracy in the colony against the Separatists 123 Broadness of Robinson's doctrine of Separatism .... 131, 139 Doctrines of, adopted by the Puritans of the Bay colony, . . 162 Denial by Bay colonists that they were Separatists 161 See also Congregationalism. Shallops. The one brought on the May Flower 57 Repairs of 57, 59 A second shallop built 85 Wreck of one of the 92 Fishing trips made in the 105 Two new ones built 121 One of the shallops lengthened for cruising 141 Shallops used in bringing Leyden emigrants from Salem and Charlestown to Plymouth 163, 165 Daily trips to Boston in 173 Shareholders, see Stockholder. Sheep 204 Sheffield, Lord 136 Sherley, Thomas. One of the London " Undertakers " under the reorganization, 155 London agent of the colonists 165 Shipment of furs to . 189, 191, 199 His trading post at Castine 164 Winslow's unsuccessful attempt to get an accounting from . 191 Dismissed as the agent of the colony 199 A settlement made with 199 Financial ruin of 293 Shingles 152 Ship's Fever 56, 69, 70 Shipwright 121 Shoes 118,145,265 Slavery in the Colony 267 Small-pox 184, 185. 193 SMrrH, Captain John. Trading trip to the New England coast 46, 73 PbTTiouth Harbor named by 64 Exploration of Boston Harbor by 80 Smith, Rev. John. Pastor of the Gainsborough church 19 332 INDEX PAGE Smith, Rev. John, Continued. His church in Holland 20, 35 His church joins the Brownists in Amsterdam 36 His church controversy with the Brownists 37 His church loses its identity 37 Smith, Rev. R.\lph. His arrival at Salem 162 His flight to Hull 162 Made pastor of the Plymouth church 163 Dismissal of 200 His pastorate in Manchester, Massachusetts 200 Soap Making 117 Social Distinctions 265, 266 SouLE, George 71 South Virginia Company, The 46, 47, 48, 49, 56 SouTH.iMPTON, England 50, 51, 54, 167 Southworth, Alice 106 Sovereignty of the People .... 45, 5Q, 72, 168, 220, 268, 298 Sow.\.Ms, Rhode Island 73, 96, 98. 179 SowANSETT River, Rhode Island 214 Spaniards, The 42, 43 Sparrow, the Ship 89 Sparrowhawk, the Ship 142 Special Providence of God, 60, 63, 85, 91, 108^ 109, 212, 263, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295 Speedwell, the Ship 50, 51, 54, 67 Squanto. Survivor of the Patuxet Indians 74 Joins the colony 76, 292 Shows the colonists how to plant corn 76, 110 Guide and interpreter on expedition to Boston Harbor . . 79, 86 On second expedition to Boston Harbor 86 His jealousy of Hobomok 88 Death of 92 St. Bartholomew's Day 12 St. Peter's Cathedral, Leyden 37 Stamford, Connecticut 219 St.\mp Act, The 247, 249 Standish, Myles. Joins the Scrooby Separatists in Leyden 41 One of the ]\Iay Flower emigrants 71 In command of the first exploring expedition 57, 58 On the third exploring expedition 61 Made military commander of the colony 72 Organizes the colonists into military companies 86, 118 Sent to meet Massasoit 74 H INDEX 333 PAGE Standish, ]Myles, Continued. Sent to rescue Squanto 79 Billington's refusal to obey order of 166 In command of the first expedition to Boston Harbor ... 79 Charles River named by 81 In command of second expedition to Boston Harbor ... 86 111 with fever 92 Indian conspiracy against 95, 98 In command of Weymouth expedition 99, 102 Sent to Maine for supplies 105 His home in Plymouth 116 Oldham's insult to 124 Sent to Cape Ann to look after colony's property 134 Sent to England to get money for the colony 138 One of the " Undertakers " 144 In command of the militia sent to Merry Mount 154 His home in Duxbury 178, 214 His suspicions of an Indian conspiracy 179 Sent to Boston to demand release of Alden 187 In command of expedition to Castine 192 Death of 102, 226 His character 227 One of the four great leaders of the colony 229 A man of destiny 229 The world his debtor 41 Star Chamber Courts 167 Statehood 81,205,286 Stockade, The 86, 113 Stockholders, The London. Carver and Cushman sent from Holland to England to in- terest London merchants in the enterprise 48 Stock company formed 49 Withdrawal of many of 50 Majority of, Puritans 113, 133 Laborers sent over by 55, 56 Cushman sent over by, to examine the affairs of the colony . 83 Part of each crop kept in storehouse for 105 Winslows' voyage to England to consult with 109 Opposition to Robinson joining the colony by .... 113, 133 Intrigue of, to get colony under Puritan control 121 Refusal of, to make further advances 133 Violation of contract by 133 The enterprise given up by 133 Fishing stage at Cape Ann seized by some of 134 Negotiation to purchase the interest of 141 Contract with, to sell their interests 144, 146 334 INDEX PAGE Stockholders under the Reorganization. Terms by which the colonists were to become stockholders . 145 Four of the London stockholders join 155 The nmnber of stockholders in the colony 145, 153 No sectarianism shown 145 Allotments of land and houses to 153 Stocks used for Petty Offences 269, 274 Stone, C.\ptain John 201, 203 Stool Ball 84 Storehouse, The. The first building erected after the landing 69 Location of 76 Food distributed from 90 Set on fire by an incendiary Ill Stoughton, C-\ptain Willl\m 208, 209, 213 Stoughton, Connecticut 207 Stony Brook 281 Strawberries 67, 264 Stuart Kings overthrown 246 Suffolk County 157 Sugar 120 Sunday, see Lord's Day. Sw^AN, the Ship 90,91,92,101,103,110,111 SwANZEY, ]NL\ssachusetts 231,234 Swine 117,143,146 T.\LBOT, Moses 187 Tar->lakd^g 117,271,278 Taunton, IVL^ssachusetts 213, 234 Taverns 196,266 T.\x.\tion. No taxation without consent 170, 197 Taxes often paid in corn 215 The Bay colonists taxed to build a fort 170 The stamp tax • • • • ^4^' ^^^ Complaint of the Plymouth colony against English taxation . 247 Complaint of the Bay colony against English taxation . . . 249 Taxation for schools in thePljTnouth colony 277 Tea Unknown 70,264 Th.\mes Rr^ER, Connecticut 203, 207, 209 Thames River, England 211 Thanksgiving Day. The first in New England 82 The second in New England 109 A special festival day at times of prosperity 180, 239 INDEX 335 PAGE Thatched Roofs. The first houses built with 69, 75 The thatch changed to pahng or boards 152 Thompson, David 140 Thompson's Island , 80 Thornton Abbey, England 30,32 Tilly, Elizabeth 71 Tithing-man 272 Tobacco 137,145 Tory Party, The 243 Town Brook, The. Building lots laid out along 68 Ford across 74 Bastion near 115 Dam across 117 Lots allotted on further side of 120 Grist-mill on 279 Mill for dressing leather on 282 Town Meeting. The first held 72 Held annually for the election of ofiicers 268 Voting at, not restricted to church members 268 Special town meeting frequently held 125 The meeting-houses used for 273 Town Notices 273 Town Pound 279 Townsmen, see Freemen. Trading Goods. Small stock of, brought over in the May Flower 53 Storehouse built for 69 Delay in getting the stock ashore 72 Stock of, purchased from the captain of the Discovery . . 91 The eft'ect on the Indians of the colonists having .... 96, 261 Weston's trading stock lost 103 Loan of beaver skins to Weston with which to purchase new stock 103 Winslow sent to England for 109 Stock sent over by the London shareholders on private account 134 Stock purchased at Monhegan 140 Stock purchased by Allerton for the colony , . . 144, 163, 166 Stock purchased by Allerton on his private account mixed with that of the colonists 163 The colonists stock turned over to the " Undertakers " . . 145 Stock sent to Castine 164, 186 Stock at Castine taken by the French 174, 191 336 INDEX PAGE Trading Posts. Plymouth post at Cape Ann 121, 134- Plymouth post on Monumet River 143 Plymouth post near So warns 179 Plymouth post on Kennebec River 155 Plymouth post on Penobscot River 164 Plymouth post on Connecticut River 184 Training Ground 281 Transubstantiation 3 Treaties with the Indians 75, 204 Trenchers 264 Trent, the River, England 32 Trevor, \Yilli.\m 71 Trial by Jury - 113,198 Turkeys 81,104,117,264 Turners F.\lls 239 Tyndale, William 10 Types of the People, see New England Types. Typhus Fever 56, 69, 70 Underhill, Captain John 205, 207, 208 Undertakers, The. Appointment of 145 Agreement of the colonists with 145 Four London stockholders appointed 155 The London " Undertakers ' ' establish a trading post at Castine, 164 Passage money of the Levden emigrants to be paid bv . . . . 145 Trade of ...../ "..... 199 Settlement made with the London " Undertakers " .... 199 Kennebec trading post given up by 212 Unitarianism . 139 United Colonies of New England The 221, 230 Venison 81, 104, 117, 264 Virginian Colony, The. The settlement of 44 The nearest English settlement to the PljTDOuth colony . . 75 The massacre of 89 Departure of some of the Weymouth settlers for Ill Vessel from, wrecked on Cape Cod 142 The Lyon wrecked on w^ay to 180 Virginia Company, The 44 W.\LFORD, Thomas 135 Walloons, The 15 Wampanoags, The. INDEX 337 PAGE Wampanoags, The, Continued. Territory of 73, 260 Treaty with 75 Land reserved for 214 Conspiracy of 230 Flightof .,.....; 234 See also King Philip. Wampum Beads 147,148,149,150,151,164 Wampum used as Money 149, 150 Wamsutta, see Alexander. War of the Roses, The 5 Warren, Rhode Island 73 Warren, Richard 71 Warwick, Earl of 165 Warwick Grant, The 165, 213, 243 Watch-house, The 216,231 Watch-tower, The 76 Water-gates 117 Water Supply 281, 282 Watertown, Massachusetts 169, 170, 198 Watson's Hill 74 Weaving of Wool 279 West, Francis 106, 110 West Indies Islands 226 West India Company 144 WrsTON, Thomas. At head of syndicate to raise money for the Pilgrims' expedition, 49 Ciishnian's agreement with, to change the terms of the contract 50, 53 Action of, at the departure of the Pilgrims 53 Letter from 89 Arrival of two vessels of , 90 Brother-in-law of , in charge of Weymouth settlement .... 91 Arrival of 103 Beaver skins loaned to 103 Arrest of 110 Financial ruin of 293 Wethersfield, Connecticut 198, 204, 205 Weymouth, Massachusetts. The settlement at 91 Recklessness of the settlers at 91, 97 Destitution of the settlers at 97 Standish's trip to 99 His attack on the Indians at 100 Abandonment of the settlement at 101 Weston at 103, 110 INDEX PAGE Weymouth, Massachusetts, Continued. New settlement at 135 Settlement at, attacked by King Philip 238 WH.4JLE Oil 276 Wheat 76, 82, 149, 276 Wheeled Vehicles 267, 277 Whipping-posts 269, 274 White, Roger 139 White, Susanna 71 WicKFORD, Connecticut 238 Wn.D Fowl 67 Wildcats 281 WiLLET, Joseph 164, 191 WiLLL\jvi, Prince of Orange 244, 246 Williams, Rev. Roger. Settled in Boston 174 Settled in Salem 175, 176 Settled in Plymouth 175 His claim that kings could not give charters of land ... 175 His Providence Plantation 176 His intercession with the Narragansetts 204 Windsor, Connecticut 184, 185, 194, 198, 204, 205 WiNSLow, Edward. Joins the Separatists at Leyden 41 One of the May Flower emigrants 71 On the third exploring expedition 61 A hostage during Massasoit's first visit to the colony ... 74 His visit to Massasoit . 76 His trip to Maine for provisions 89 His visit to Massasoit during his illness 95, 98 His voyage to England to arrange about the future of the colony 109 Grant of land at Cape Ann to 120, 136 His opposition to Lytord joining the colony 122 His second trip to England 123 His trip to the Island of Monhegan 140 One of the "Undertakers" 144 His third trip to England 166 Made governor of the colony 181,228 His negotiations with the Bay colony for a joint occupancy of Connecticut .• • • ^^^ On a trading trip up the Connecticut River 188 His fourth trip to England 189 His fifth trip to England 191, 195 One of the commissioners to settle the boundary line be- tween the Bay colony and Plymouth 213 INDEX 339 PAGE WmsLOW, Edward, Continued. His sixth trip to England as agent of the Bay colony . . . 225 Appointed by Cromwell one of the commissioners to settle the disputes between England and Holland . 226 Appointed by Cromwell one of the commissioners to take the Spanish West Indies 226 His death at sea on voyage to Jamaica 226 One of the four great leaders of the colony 229 A man of destiny 229 The v^^orld his debtor 41 Extracts from his journal ... 51, 56, 57, 58, 76, 82, 96, 108, 264 WiNSLow, Gilbert 71 WiNSLow, John 83, 247 WiNTHROP, John. Governor of the Bay colony 168 His arrival at Salem 168 Settled in Charlestown and later in Boston 169 His correspondence with Bradford 174 Bradford's visit to 176 His visit to Plymouth 179 His belief in destiny 290 Whitgift, John 12 WiTUWAMAT 100,101 WoLLASTON, Captain 135, 136 WoLLASTON, Massachusetts. Settlement at 135 Name changed to Merry Mount 136 Scandalous proceedings at 136, 154 Standish's trip to 154 Morton's return to 163 Wolves. A menace to the cattle 121, 215, 225 Bounties for killing 215, 273 Wyclif, John 3, 4 Yarmouth, Massachusetts 213, 214 York, Archbishop of 20, 22, 187, 211, 219 Yorkshire, England 291 YoRKTOWN, Virginia 259 Zeeland, Holland, The Coast of 30 tX>. £ 907