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GEORGE BANCROFT,

1874.

HISTORY

OF THE

UNITED STATES,

FROM THE

DISCOVERY OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT,

BY

GEORGE BANCROFT.

VOL. I.

TWENTY-FIFTH EDITION.

BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

1874.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by

GEORGE BANCROFT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

Cambridge : Press-work by John Wilson and Son.

HISTORY

OF THE

COLONIZATION

OF THE

UNITED STATES.

BY

GEORGE BANCROFT.

VOL. I.

TWENTY-FIFTH EDITION.

BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

1874.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by

GEORGE BANCROFT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

Cambridge : Press-work by John Wilson and Son.

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION

1 HAVE formed the design of writing a History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent to the present time. As the moment arrives for publishing a portion of the work, I am impressed more strongly than ever with a sense of the grandeur and vastness of the subject ; and am ready to charge myself with presumption for venturing on so bold an enter prise. I can find for myself no excuse but in the sincerity with which I have sought to collect truth from trust-worthy documents and testimony. 1 have desired to give to the work the interest of authenticity. I have applied, as I have pro ceeded, the principles of historical skepticism, and, not allowing myself to grow weary in com paring witnesses, or consulting codes of laws, 1 have endeavored to impart originality to my narrative, by deriving it from writings and sources which were the contemporaries of the events that are described. Where different nations or differ ent parties have been engaged in the same scenes 1 have not failed to examine their respective reports. Such an investigation on any country

ri PREFACE.

would be laborious ; I need not say how much the labor is increased by the extent of our repub lic, the differences in the origin and early gov ernment of its component parts, and the multi plicity of topics, which require to be discussed and arranged.

Much error had become incorporated with American history. Many of the early writers in Europe were only careful to explain the physical qualities of the country ; and the political insti tutions of dependent colonies were not thought worthy of exact inquiry. The early history was often written with a carelessness which seized on rumors and vague recollections as sufficient authority for an assertion which satisfied preju dice by wanton perversions, and which, where materials were not at hand, substituted the in ferences of the writer for authenticated facts. These early books have ever since been cited as authorities, and the errors, sometimes repeated even by considerate writers, whose distrust was not excited, have almost acquired a prescriptive right to a place in the annals of America. This state of things has increased the difficulty of my undertaking, and, I believe, also, its utility ; and I cannot regret the labor which has enabled me to present, under a somewhat new aspect, the early love of liberty in Virginia ; the causes and nature of its loyalty ; its commercial freedom ; the colo nial policy of Cromwell ; the independent spirit of Maryland ; the early institutions of Rhode Island ; and the stern independence of the

PREFACE. Vli

New England Puritans. On these and other points, on which I have differed from received accounts, I appeal with confidence to the judg ment of those who are critically acquainted with the sources of our early history.

I have dwelt at considerable length on this first period, because it contains the germ of our insti tutions. The maturity of the nation is but a continuation of its youth. The spirit of the colonies demanded freedom from the beginning. It was in this period, that Virginia first asserted the doctrine of popular sovereignty ; that the people of Maryland constituted their own govern ment ; that New Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, New Hampshire, Maine, rested their legislation on the popular will ; that Massachu setts declared itself a perfect commonwealth.

In the progress of the work, I have been most liberally aided by the directors of Our chief public libraries ; especially the library at Cambridge, on American history the richest in the world, has been opened to me as freely as if it had been my own.

The arrangement of the materials has been not the least difficult part of my labor. A few topics have been anticipated ; a few, reserved for an opportunity where they can be more successfully grouped with other incidents. To give unity to the account of New Belgium, I reserve the sub ject for the next volume.

For the work which I have undertaken will necessarily extend to several volumes. I aim at being concise ; but also at giving a full picture of

VI11 PREFACE.

the progress of American institutions. The first volume is now published separately ; and for a double motive. The work has already occasioned long preparation, and its completion will require further years of exertion ; 1 have been unwilling to travel so long a journey alone ; and desire, as I proceed, to correct my own judgment by the criticisms of candor. I have thought that the public would recognize the sincerity of my inqui ries, and that, in those states where the materials of history have as yet been less carefully collected, and less critically compared, I should make for myself friends disposed to assist in placing within my reach the sources of information which are essential to success.

June 16, 1834.

The volumes, of which a new edition is now published, have been carefully revised, and many pages rewritten. The expressions of regard and interest which I have received from persons of very opposite relations in speculative and in prac tical life, cheer me in the continuance of my labor ; they cannot increase my sense of the duty

of impartiality.

NEW YORK. May, 1862.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION, p. 1.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY VOYAGES. — FRENCH SETTLEMENTS.

Icelandic Voyages, p. 5 — Columbus, 6— First Voyage of the Cabots, 7— Sebastian Cabot, 10— Portuguese Voyage, 14— French Voyages— Verraz- zani, 15— Cartier, 19— Roberval, 22— De la Roche— Charnplain, 25 — French Settlements in Acadia and Canada, 27.

CHAPTER II.

SPANIARDS IN THE UNITED STATES.

Spanish Love of Maritime Adventure, p. 30 — Ponce de Leon, 31 — Diego Mi- ruelo. Fernandez, 34 — Grijalva. Garay, 35 — De Ayllon, 3G — Cortes. Gomez, 38 — Pamphilo de Narvaez, 3'J — Ferdinand de Soto, 41 — Soto sails for Florida, 42 — Enters Georgia, 46 — Alabama, 48 — Mississippi — Discovery of the Mississippi River, 51 — Soto enters Arkansas and Missouri, 52 — Condition of the Native Tribes, 54 — Death and Burial of Soto, 56 — Spaniards on the Red River, 57 — They leave the United States, 58 — Missionaries in Florida — Florida abandoned, GO — Coligny plans a Settlement, 61 — Huguenots in South Carolina, 62 — Coligny's Second Colony, 63 — Attacked by the Spaniards, 66 — St. Augustine, the oldest town in the United States — Massacre of the French, 70 — Avenged by de Gourgues, 72 — Extent of Spanish Dominions in America, 73.

CHAPTER 111.

ENOLAND TAKES POSSESSION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Voyages in the reign of Henry VIII p. 75— Rut, 76— Hore- Parliament legislates on America, 77— Voyage in search of a North-east PasHage, 78— Frobisher's Three Voyages, 81— Drake in the Oregon Territory, «f>— Fish-

VOL. I. B

X CONTENTS.

cries, 87 — Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 88— His First Voyage, 89— Gilbert and Walter Raleigh, 90— Gilbert perishes at sea— Raleigh's Patent, 91— Voy age of Amidas and Barlow, 92 — Raleigh sends a Colony to North Carolina, 95— Native Inhabitants, 98—111 success of the Colony, 99— Its Return, 102— Grenville — City of Raleigh, 103 — New Colony in North Carolina, 104 — Virginia Dare, 105 — Raleigh's Assigns, 107 — The Roanoke Colony is lost —Character of Raleigh, 108— Gosnold, 111— Pring, 113— Wey mouth, 114— Character of the Early Navigators, 115.

CHAPTER IV.

COLONIZATION Or VIRGINIA.

Condition of England favors Colonization, p. 118 — The First Charter, 120 — King James legislates for Virginia, 122 — Colonists embark, 123 — Arrive in Virginia, 124 — Jamestown, 125 — Distress of the Colony, 12G — Adventures of Smith, 127 — Smith a Captive, 130 — Saved by Pocahontas, 131 — Smith explores the Chesapeake, 133— Smith's Administration, 134— Second Charter, 13&— Lord De La Ware, 137— Character of Smith— The Starving Time, 139— Arrival of Lord Delaware, 140 — Dale introduces Martial Law, 143 — Sir Thomas Gates, 144— Third Charter, 145— Pocahontas and Rolfe, 146— Attack on the French, 148 — Dale's Administration — Tenure of Lands, 149 — Tobacco — Argall, 151 — Yeardley — First Colonial Assembly, 153 — Virginia acquires Civil Freedom, 156.

CHAPTER V.

SLAVERY. — DISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON COMPANY.

History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, p. 159— Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Middle Ages, 161 — Origin of Negro Slavery, 165 — Negroes in Portugal and Spain, 166 — Native Americans enslaved, 167 — Negro Slavery in the West Indies, 169— Opinions, 171— England and the Slave Trade, 173— New- England and the Slave Trade, 174 — Servants, 175 — Slavery in Virginia, 176 — Wyatt's Administration, 178 — The Aborigines, 179 — A Massacre and a War, 182 — King James contends with the London Company, 186 — Commissioners in Virginia, 189— Spirit of the Virginians, 190— Dissolution of the Company 192 — Virginia retains its Liberties, 193.

CHAPTER VI.

RESTRICTIONS OW COLONIAL COMMERCE.

Charles I. p. 194 — Virginia retains its Liberties, 195 — Death of Yeardley 196— Harvey's Administration, 197— Sir Francis Wyatt's, 202 — Sir William Berkeley's Administration, 203 — Intolerance, 206 — A second Massacre and

CONTENTS. Xi

War, 207 — Prosperity of Virginia, 209— Parliament asserts its Supremacy, 2l 1 — Origin of the Navigation Act, 212 — Commercial Policy of Cromwell, 217 — Of the Stuarts, 218 — The Parliament and Virginia, 222 — Virginia capitulates, 223 — Virginia during the Protectorate, 225 — Virginia and its inhabitants, 221).

CHAPTER VII.

COLONIZATION OF MARYLAND

Discovery, p. 236— Early Settlements, 237— Sir George Calvert, 238 ~ Charter, 241 — Freedom of Conscience, 244 — Opposition of Virginia, 245- First Emigration, 24(5 — Legislative Liberty — Clayborne, 249 — Civil Lib erty, 250— Happiness, 252— An Indian War, 253— Ingle's Rebellion, 254— Religious Liberty, 255 — Maryland during the Commonwealth, 258 — During the Protectorate, 2GO — Popular Sovereignty exercised, 264.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PILGRIMS.

Influence of Calvin, p. 26(5— Early Voyages to New England, 267 — Colony at Sagadahoc, 2G8— John Smith in New England, 209— The Council of Plym- ou*Ji, 271— Its Territory, 27&— The Reformation in England, 274— Henry VIII.,— Luther and Calvin, 275--Rclgn of Edward VI., 278— Hooper, tne Puritan, 279— Puritans in Ejdfe^^S&z-Elizabeth and the Church of England, 282 — Progress of Puritanism, 284-»-The Independents, 286 — Persecution of all Non-Conformists, 288"— Is ineffectual, 289 — Character of King James, 291— Lord Bacon's ToleranTTiews. 294 — Conference at Hampton Court, 296— The Parliament favors theJBuritans, 298— Convocation, 299— The Pil grims, 300— They fly from Efipmri^Ol— In Holland, 302— They form a Part nership, 305 — Sail for America, 307— The Pilgrims at Cape Cod, 309— Land ing of the Fathers— The first Winter at Plymouth, 313— Famine, Oppres sion, 314 — Intercourse with the Indians, 316 — Weston, 318 — Dissolution of tho Partnership, 319 — Progress and Character of the Old Colony, 320.

CHAPTER IX.

EXTENDED COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND.

Plymouth Monopoly opposed, p. 324 — West, Gorges, Morrell — Con test in Parliament, 326 — New Hampshire, 327 — Maine, 330 — Nova Scotia 331 — Conquest and Restoration of Canada, 334 — Maine, 335 — Cruant at Cape Ann, 338 — Massachusetts Company purchase Lands, 340 — Obtain a Charter, 342 — First Government, 345 — Higginson's Emigration 346 — Religious In-

xii CONTENTS.

dependence, 348— Banishment of the Brownes, 349 — The Conclusions — Transfer of the Charter, 351— Winthrop's Emigration, 354 — First Autumn and Winter, 357 — Organization of the Government, 359 — Progress of Liberty, 361— The Puritans exclusive, 366— Roger Williams, 367— his Exile, 377— He plants Providence, 379— His Character, 380— Hugh Peters and Henry Vane, 383— Order of Nobility proposed, 384— Rejected, 385 — Antinomian Controversy, 386— Wheelwright exiled, 390 —Rhode Island and Exeter, 392— Connecticut colonized, 395 — Pequod War, 397 — Constitution of Connecticut 402— New Haven, 403.

CHAPTER X.

THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND

Views of the English Government, p. 405 — Liberty threatened, 40G— Mas sachusetts resists, 407 — The Council for New England surrenders its Charter, 408 — A quo warranto, 409 — Persecutions in England, 410 — John Hampden, 411 — Massachusetts threatens to declare itself independent, 413 — -Ccmmc- tion in Scotland, 414 — Condition of New England, 415— New Hampshire, 418— Gorton, 419— Confederacy, 420— Miantonomoh, 423— Rhode Island, 425 —Maine, 428 — Massachusetts, 432— Political Parties, 433— Vassall and Childe's Disturbance, 437 — Long Parliament resisted, 440 — Synod, 443 — Peace with New Belgium— Acadia, 445 — Cromwell's Favor, 446— Laws against Irreligion and Sectarianism, 447 — Persecution of Quakers. 451 — Free Schools, 458 — Harvard College, 45d — Character of Puritanism, 460 — Restora tion of the Stuarts, 469.

HISTORY

OF THE

UNITED STATES

INTRODUCTION.

THE United States of America constitute an essential portion of a great political system, embracing all the civilized nations of the earth. At a period when the force of moral opinion is rapidly increasing, they have the precedence in the practice and the defence of the equal rights of man. The sovereignty of the people is here a conceded axiom, and the laws, established upon that basis, are cherished with faithful patriotism. While the nations of Europe aspire after change, our consti tution engages the fond admiration of the people, by which it has been established. Prosperity follows the execution of even justice ; invention is quickened by I he freedom of competition ; and labor rewarded with sure and unexampled returns. Domestic peace is main tained without the aid of a military establishment ; public sentiment permits the existence of but fesv standing troops, and those only along the seaboard and VOL. i. 1

INTRODUCTION.

on the frontiers. A gallant navy protects our commerce, which spreads its banners on every sea, and extends its enterprise to every clime. Our diplomatic relations connect us on terms of equality and honest friendship with the chief powers of the world ; while we avoid entangling participation in their intrigues, their pas sions, and their wars. Our national resources are de veloped by an earnest culture of the arts of peace. Every man may enjoy the fruits of his industry ; every mind is free to publish its convictions. Our govern ment, by its organization, is necessarily identified with the interests of the people, and relies exclusively on then attachment for its durability and support. Even the enemies of the state, if there are any among us, have liberty to express their opinions undisturbed ; and are safely tolerated, where reason is left free to com bat their errors. Nor is the constitution a dead letter, unalterably fixed ; it has the capacity for improvement ; adopting whatever changes time and the public will may require, and safe from decay, so long as that Avill retains its energy. New states are forming in the wil derness ; canals, intersecting our plains and crossing our highlands, open numerous channels to internal commerce ; manufactures prosper along our water courses ; the use of steam on our rivers and rail-roads annihilates distance by the acceleration of speed. Our wealth and population, already giving us a place in the first rank of nations, are so rapidly cumulative, that the former , is increased fourfold, and the latter is

INTRODUCTION.

doubled, in every period of twenty-two or twenty-three years. There is no national debt ; the community is opulent; the government economical; and the public treasury full. Religion, neither persecuted nor paid by the state, is sustained by the regard for public morals and the convictions of an enlightened faith. Intelli gence is diffused with unparalleled universality; a free press teems with the choicest productions of all nations and ages. There are more daily journals in the United States than in the world beside. A public document of general interest is, within a month, reproduced in at least a million of copies, and is brought within the reach of every freeman in the country. An immense concourse of emigrants of the most various lineage is perpetually crowding to our shores ; and the principles of liberty, uniting all interests by the operation of equal laws, blend the discordant elements into harmonious union. Other governments are convulsed by the inno vations and reforms of neighboring states ; our con stitution, fixed in the affections of the people, from whose choice it has sprung, neutralizes the influence of foreign principles, and fearlessly opens an asylum to the virtuous, the unfortunate, and the oppressed of every nation.

And yet it is but little more than two centuries, since the oldest of our states received its first perma nent colony. Before that time the whole terriiory was an unproductive waste. v Throughout its wide extent the arts had not erected a monument. Its only

INTRODUCTION

inhabitants were a few scattered tribes of feeble bar barians, destitute of commerce and of political con nection. The axe and the ploughshare were un known. The soil, which had been gathering fertility from the repose of centuries, was lavishing its strength in magnificent but useless vegetation. In the view ol civilization the immense domain was a solitude.

It is the object of the present work to explain how the change in the condition of our land has been accom plished ; and, as the fortunes of a nation are not undei the control of blind destiny, to follow the steps by which a favoring Providence, calling our institutions into being, has conducted the country to its present happiness and glory.

COLONIAL HISTORY.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY VOYAGES. FRENCH SETTLEMENTS.

THE enterprise of Columbus, the most memorable CHAP maritime enterprise in the history of the world, formed ^ — between Europe and America the communication which 1492 will never cease. The national pride of an Icelandic historian has indeed claimed for his ancestors the glory of having discovered the western hemisphere. It is 1000, said, that they passed from their own island to Green- 1003 land, and were driven by adverse winds from Green land to the shores of Labrador ; that the vovage was often repeated ; that the coasts of America were ex tensively explored, and colonies established on the shores of Nova Scotia or Newfoundland. It is even suggested, that these early adventurers anchored near the harbor of Boston, or in the bays of New Jersey; and Danish antiquaries believe that Northmen entered the waters of Rhode Island, inscribed their adventures on the rocks of Tauntoii River, gave the name of Vinland to the south-east coasts of New England, and explored the inlets of our country as far as Carolina. But the story of the colonization of America by North men, rests on narratives, mythological in form, and ob scure in meaning ; ancient, yet not contemporary. The

6

EARLY VOYAGES.

CHAP, chief document is an interpolation in the history of — r^ Sturleson, whose zealous curiosity could hardly have neglected the discovery of a continent. The geo graphical details are too vague to sustain a conjec ture ; the accounts of the mild winter and fertile soil are, on any modern hypothesis, fictitious or exagge rated; the description of the natives applies only to the Esquimaux, inhabitants of hyperborean regions , the remark which should define the length of the shortest winter's day, has received interpretations adapted to every latitude from New York to Cape Farewell ; and Vinland has been sought in all direc tions, from Greenland and the St. Lawrence to Africa, The intrepid mariners who colonized Greenland could easily have extended their voyages to Labrador ; no clear historic evidence establishes the natural proba^ bility that they accomplished the passage.

Imagination had conceived that vast inhabited regions lay hidden in the dark recesses of the west. Nearly three centuries before the Christian era, Aris totle, following the lessons of the Pythagoreans, had taught that the earth is a sphere, and that the water which bounds Europe on the west washes the eastern shores of Asia. A ship, with a fair wind, said the Spaniard Seneca, could sail from Spain to the Indies in the space of a very few days. The students of their writings had kept this opinion alive through all the middle ages ; science and observation had assisted to confirm it ; and poets of early and more recent times had foretold that empires beyond the ocean would one day be revealed to the daring navigator. The genial country of Dante and Buonarotti gave birth to Christopher Columbus, to whom belongs the undivided glory of having fulfilled the prophecy

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 7

Accounts of the navigation from the eastern coast CHAP. of Africa to Arabia had reached the western king- -^-~ dorns of Europe ; and adventurous Venetians, return ing from travels beyond the Ganges, had filled the world with dazzling descriptions of the wealth of China as well as marvellous reports of the; outly ing island empire of Japan. It began to be believed that the continent of Asia stretched over far more than a hemisphere, and that the remaining distance round the globe was comparatively inconsiderable. Yet from, the early part of the fifteenth century the navigators of Portugal had confined their explora tions to the coast of Africa ; and when they had ascertained that the torrid zone is habitable even under the equator, the discovery of the islands of Madeira and the Azores could not divert them from the purpose of turning the southern capes of that continent, and steering past them to the land of spices, which promised untold wealth to the mer chants of Europe, new dominions to its princes, and heathen nations to the religion of the cross. Before the year 1474, and perhaps as early as 1470, Colum bus was attracted to Lisbon, which was then the great centre of maritime adventure. He came to insist with immovable resoluteness that the shortest route to the Indies lay across the Atlantic. By letters from the venerable Toscanelli, the illustrious astron omer of Florence, who had drawn a map of the world with eastern Asia rising over against Europe, he was riveted in his faith, and lived only in the idea of laying open the western path to the Indies.

After more than ten years of vain solicitations in Portugal, he left the banks of the Tagus, to seek the aid of Ferdinand and Isabella, rich in nautical expe-

8 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

CHAP, rience, having watched the stars at sea from the — , — latitude of Iceland to near the equator at Elmina. Though yet longer baffled by the scepticism which knew not how to share his aspirations, he lost nothing of the grandeur of his conceptions, or the proud mag nanimity of his character, or devotion to the sublime enterprise to which he held himself elected from his infancy by the promises of God ; and when half re solved to withdraw from Spain, travelling on foot, he knocked at the gate of the monastery of La Rabida, at Palos, to crave" the needed charity of food and shelter for himself and his little son whom he led by the hand, the destitute and forsaken seaman, in his naked poverty, was still the promiser of kingdoms ; holding firmly in his grasp " the keys of the ocean sea,71 claiming as it were from Heaven the Indies as his own, and " dividing them as he pleased." The in crease of years did not impair his holy confidence ; 1492. and in 1492, when he seemed to have outlived the possibility of success, he gave a New World to Castile and Leon, " the like of which was never done by any man in ancient or in later times."

The self-love of Ferdinand of Spain was offended at owing to a foreigner benefits too vast for requital ; and the contemporaries of the great mariner perse cuted the merit which they could not adequately re ward. Nor had posterity been mindful to gather into a finished picture the memorials of his career, till the genius of Irving, with candor, liberality, and original research, made a record of his life, and in mild but enduring colors sketched his sublime inflex ibility of purpose, the solemn trances of his mystic devotion, and the unfailing greatness of his soul.

Successive popes of Rome had already conceded

SPAIN, PORTUGAL, AND ENGLAND. 9

to the Portuguese the undiscovered world, from Cape CHAP Bojador in Africa, easterly to the Indies. To prevent — ', — collision between Christian princes, on the fourth of May, J 493, Alexander the Sixth published a bull, in which he drew a line from the north pole to the south a hundred leagues west of the Azores, assigning to Spain all that lies to the west of that boundary, while all to the east of it was confirmed to Portugal.

The commerce of the middle ages, concentrated upon the Mediterranean Sea, had enriched the Italian republics, and had been chiefly engrossed by their citizens. Maritime enterprise now transferred its seat to the borders of the Atlantic, and became boundless in its range. It set before itself as its great prob lem the discovery of a pathway by sea to the Indies ; and England, which like Spain and Portugal looked out upon the ocean, became a competitor for the un known world.

The wars of the houses of York and Lancaster 1490 had terminated with the intermarriage of the heirs of the two families; the spirit of commercial activity began to be successfully fostered ; and the marts of England were frequented by Lombard adventurers. The fisheries of the north had long tempted the mer chants of Bristol to an intercourse with Iceland ; and had matured the nautical skill that could buffet the worst storms of the Atlantic. Nor is it impossible, that some uncertain traditions respecting the remote discoveries which Icelanders had made in Greenland towards the north-west, " where the lands nearest meet," should have excited " firm and pregnant con jectures." The achievement of Columbus, revealing the wonderful truth, of which the germ may have existed in the imagination of every thoughtful ma*

10 JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGE.

CHAP, riiier, won the admiration which belonged to genius — <^-> that seemed more divine than human; and "there was great talk of it in all the court of Henry the Seventh." A feeling of disappointment remained, that a series of disasters had defeated the wish of the illustrious Genoese to make his voyage of essay un der the flag of England. It was, therefore, not di£ ficult for John Cabot, a Venetian, then residing at Bristol, to interest that politic king in plans for dis covery. On the fifth of March, 1496, he obtained un der the great seal a commission, empowering himself and his three sons, or either of them, their heirs, or their deputies, to sail into the eastern, western, or northern sea, with a fleet of five ships, at their own expense, in search of islands, provinces, or regions, hitherto unseen by Christian people ; to affix the banners of England on city, island, or continent ; and as vassals of the English crown, to possess and occupy the territories that might be found. It was further stipulated in this " most ancient American state paper of England," that the patentees should be strictly bound, on every return, to land at the port of Bristol, and to pay to the king one-fifth part of their gains ; while the exclusive right of frequenting all the coun tries that might be found, was reserved to them and to their assigns, unconditionally and without limit of time. U97. Under this patent, which, at the first direction of English enterprise towards America, embodied the worst features of monopoly and commercial restric tion, John Cabot, taking with him his son Sebastian, embarked in quest of new islands and a passage to Asia by the north-west. After sailing prosperously, as he thought, for seven hundred leagues, on the twenty-fourth day of June, 1497, early in the morn ing, almost fourteen months before Columbus on hia

DISCOVERY OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. 11

third voyage came in sight of the main, and more than CHAP two years before Amerigo Vespucci sailed west of the — ^* Canaries, he discovered the western continent, prob- 1497 ably in the latitude of about fifty-six degrees, among the dismal cliffs of Labrador. He ran along the coast for many leagues, it is said even for three hundred, and landed on what he considered to be the territory of the Grand Cham. But he saw no human being whatsoever, although there were marks that the re gion was inhabited. He planted on the land a large cross with the flag of England, and from affection for the Republic of Venice, he added also the banner of St. Mark, which had never before been borne so far. On his homeward voyage he saw on his right hand two islands, which for want of provisions he could not stop to explore. After an absence of three months, the great discoverer re-entered Bristol harbor, where due honors awaited him. The king gave him money, and encouraged him to continue his career. The people called him the great admiral; he dressed in silk ; and the English, and even Venetians who chanced to be at Bristol, ran after him with such zeal that he could enlist for a new voyage as many as he pleased.

A second time Columbus had brought back tidings from the land and isles which were still de scribed as the outposts of India. It appeared to be demonstrated that ships might pass by the west into those rich eastern realms where, according to the popular belief, the earth teemed with spices, and im perial palaces glittered with pearls and rubies, with diamonds and gold. On the third day of the month 1498 of February next after his return, " John Kaboto, Venician," accordingly obtained a power to take up ships for another voyage, at the rates fixed for those employed in the service of the king, and once more to

12 SEBASTIAN CABOT. COLUMBUS. VASCO DA GAMA.

CHAP, set sail with as many companions as would go with — ^ him of their own will. With this license every trace 1498. Of j0}in c^t disappears. He may have died before the summer ; but no one knows certainly the time or the place of his end, and it has not even been ascer tained in what country this finder of a continent first saw the light. His wife was a Venetian woman, but at Venice he had himself gained the rights of citizen ship in 1476, only after the residence of fifteen years, which was required of aliens before denization.

His second son, Sebastian Cabot, probably a Ve netian by birth, a cosmographer by profession, suc ceeded to the designs of his father. He reasoned justly, that as the degrees of longitude decrease to wards the north, the shortest route to China and Japan lies in the highest practicable latitude ; and with all the impetuosity of youthful fervor he gave himself up to the experiment. In May, 1498, Columbus, radiant with a glory that shed a lustre over his misfortunes and griefs, calling on the Holy Trinity with vows, and seeing paradise in his dreams, embarked on his third voyage to discover the main land within the tropics, and to be sent back in chains. In the early part of the same month, Sebastian Cabot, then not much more than twenty-one years of age, chiefly at his own cost, led forth two ships and a large company of English volunteers, to find the north-west passage to Cathay and Japan. A few days after the English navigator had left the port of Bristol, Vasco da Gama, of Portugal, as daring and almost as young, having turned the Cape of Good Hope, cleared the Straits of Mozambique, and sailed beyond Arabia Fe lix, came in sight of the mountains of Hindostan ; and his happy crew, decking out his little fleet with flags,

SEBASTIAN CABOT. 13

sounding trumpets, praising God, and full of festivity CHAP. and gladness, steered into the harbor of Calicut. s — *•*- Meantime Cabot proceeded towards the north, till 1 icebergs compelled him to change his- course. The coast to which he was now borne was unobstructed by frost. He saw there stags larger than those of England , and bears that plunged into the water to take fish with their claws. The fish swarmed innu merably in such shoals, they seemed even to affect the speed of his vessels, so that he gave to the country the name of Bacallaos, which still lingers on the eastern side of Newfoundland, and has passed into the lan guage of the Germans and the Italians as well as the Portuguese and Spanish, to designate the cod. Con tinuing his voyage, according to the line of the shore, he found the natives of those regions clad in skins of beasts, but they were not without the faculty of rea son, and in many places were acquainted with the use of copper. In the early part of his voyage, he had been so far to the north, that in the month of July the light of day was almost continuous ; before he turned homewards, in the late autumn, he believed he had attained the latitude of the Straits of Gibraltar and the longitude of Cuba, As he sailed along the extensive coast, a gentle westerly current appeared to prevail in the northern sea.

Such is the meagre account given by Sebastian Cabot, through his friend Peter Martyr, the histo rian of the ocean, of that great voyage which was undertaken by the authority of u the most wise " prince Henry the Seventh, and made known to England a country u much larger than Christendom."

Thus the year 1498 stands singularly famous in the annals of the sea. In May, Vasco da Gama reached VOL. i. 2

14 SEBASTIAN CABOT.

CHAP. Hindostan by way of the Cape of Good Hope ; in — v^ August, Columbus discovered the firm land of South 1498. America, and the river Oronoco, which seemed to him to flow from some large empire, or perhaps even from the terrestrial paradise itself; and in the summer, Cabot, the youngest of them all, made known to the world the coast line of the present United States, as far as the entrance to the Chesapeake. The fame of Columbus was soon embalmed in the poetry of Tasso ; Da Gama is the hero of the national epic of Portugal; but the elder Cabot was so little cele brated, that even the reality of his voyage has been denied; and Sebastian derived neither benefit nor immediate renown from his expedition. His main object had been the discovery of a north-western passage to Asia, and in this respect his voyage was a failure ; while Gama was cried up by all the world for having found the way by the south-east. For the next half century it was hardly borne in mind 'that the Venetian and his son had, in two successive years, reached the continent of North America, before Co lumbus came upon the low coast of Guiana. But England acquired through their energy such a right to North America, as this indisputable priority could confer. The successors of Henry VII. recognised the claims of Spain and Portugal, only so far as they actually occupied the territories to which they laid pretension ; and, at a later day, the English parlia ment and the English courts derided a title, founded, not upon occupancy, but upon the award of a Rom an pontiff.

The next years of the illustrious mariner, from

t/J whom England derived a claim to our shores, are in.

volved in obscurity ; but he soon conciliated regard by

SEBASTIAN CABOT. 15

the placid mildness of liis character, and those who CHAP, approached him spread the fame of his courtesy. v^^L,

Without the stern enthusiasm of Columbus, he was distinguished by the gentleness of his nature and by serene contentment. For nearly sixty years,' during a period when marine adventure engaged the most intense public curiosity, he was reverenced for his achievements, his knowledge of cosmography, and his skill in navigation. On the death of Henry the Seventh he was called out of England by the command of Ferdinand, the Catholic king of Castile, and was appointed one of the Council for the New Indies, ever cherishing the hope to discover "that hidden secret of .nature,'1 the direct passage to Asia, In 1518 he was named Pilot Major of Spain, and no 1518 one could guide a ship to the Indies whom he had not first examined and approved. He attended the congress which in April 1524 assembled at Badajoz 1524. to decide on the respective pretensions of Portugal and Spain to the islands of the Moluccas. He subse quently sailed to South America, under the auspices of Charles V., though not with entire success. On his return to his adopted land, he advanced its commerce by opposing a mercantile monopoly, and was pensioned and rewarded for his merits as the Great Seaman. It 1549, was he who framed the instructions for the expe dition which discovered the passage to Archangel. He 1553, lived to an extreme old age, and so loved his profes sion to the last, that in the hour of death his wander ing thoughts were upon the ocean. The discoverer of the territory of our country was one of the most ex traordinary men of his day : there is deep reason for regret that time has spared so few memorials of his career. Himself incapable of jealousy, he did

16 VOYAGE OF CORTEREAL FOR PORTUGAL.

CHAP, not escape detraction. He gave England a continent, W^Y — < and no one knows his burial-place.

Manuel, king of PORTUGAL in its happiest years, grieved at his predecessor's neglect of Columbus, was the next to despatch an expedition for west and north-

i501. west discovery. In the summer of 1501, two caravels under the command of Gaspar Cortereal ranged the coast of North America for six or seven hundred miles, till, somewhere to the south of the fiftieth de gree, they were stopped by ice. Of the country along which he sailed, he admired the fresh verdure, and the stately forests in which pines, large enough for masts and yards, promised an object of gainful com merce. But with the Portuguese, men were an article of traffic ; and Cortereal freighted his ships with more than fifty Indians, whom, on his return in October, he sold as slaves. The expedition was renewed ; but its leader, whether wrecked on rocks, or wrapped in ice, or slain by the natives, never returned. The name of Labrador, transferred from the territory south of the Saint Lawrence to a more northern coast, is a memorial of his voyage; and is, perhaps, the only permanent trace of Portuguese adventure within the limits of North America.

The FRENCH competed without delay for the New

1504. World. Within seven years of the discovery of the continent, the fisheries of Newfoundland were known to the hardy mariners of Brittany and Normandy, and they continued to be frequented. The island of Cape Breton took its name from their remembrance of home; and in France it was usual to esteem them the discoverers of the country. A map of the Gulf

1506. of Saint Lawrence was drawn in 1506 by Denys, a citizen of Honfleur.

1508. In 1508 savages from the north-eastern coast had

1518. been brought to France ; ten years later, plans of

VOYAGE OF VERRAZZANI FOR FRANCE. 17

colonization in North America were suggested by De CHAP. Lery and Saint Just ; and in 1523 Francis L, a monarch ^--v — ' who had invited Da Yinci and Cellini to transplant the fine arts into his kingdom, employed John Yer- razzani, another Florentine, to seek a western passage to Cathay. On the seventeenth of January, 1524, the Ja»- Italian, parting from a fleet which had cruised suc cessfully along the shores of Spain, sailed westward from the isle of Madeira with a single caravel, to find the new way to Asia. The Dolphin, though it had " the good hap of a fortunate name," was overtaken by a terrible tempest, and fifty days elapsed before the continent appeared in view. At length, in the latitude of Wilmington, Yerrazzani congratulated him- Mar. self on beholding land which, as he thought, had never been seen by any European. But no convenient harbor was found, though the search extended fifty leagues to the south. Eeturning towards the north, he cast anchor on the coast of North Carolina ; the shore was shoal, but free from rocks, and covered with fine sand ; the country was fiat. The russet color of the mild and feeble natives was like the complexion of the Saracens ; their dress was of skins ; their orna ments, garlands of feathers. They welcomed with hospitality the strangers, whom they had not yet learned to fear. As the voyagers ploughed their way to the north, the country became more inviting ; their imagination could not conceive of more delightful fields and forests ; the groves, spreading perfumes far from shore, gave promise of the spices of the East ; and the color of the earth argued an abundance of gold. The savages were more humane than their guests. A young sailor, who had nearly been drowned, was revived by the natives ; his companions robbed a mother of her child, and attempted to kid nap a young woman.

VOL. I. 3

18 VERRAZZANJ IN THE UNITED STATES HARBORS.

CHAP. The harbor of New York then first attracted notice,

v— -v—' for its great convenience and pleasantness ; and covet-

1524. ous eyes discerned mineral wealth in the hills of New

April.

Jersey.

In the safe haven of Newport, Verrazzani remained for fifteen days. The natives were " the goodliest people ; " liberal and friendly ; yet too ignorant of the use of instruments of steel and iron, to covet their possession.

1524 Leaving the waters of Rhode Island on the fifth of M5af May, the persevering navigator sailed along the coast of New England to Nova Scotia. The Indians of the more northern region were hostile and jealous ; they were willing to traffic, for they had learned the use of iron ; in their exchanges they demanded knives and weapons of steel.

In July, Verrazzani was once more in France. His own narrative of the voyage is the earliest original account, now extant, of the coast of the United States ; and he gave to France some claim to an extensive territory, on the pretext of discovery.

Historians of maritime adventure accept the tradi tion that Verrazzani continued his career as a naviga tor ; but when the king of France had just lost every thing but honor in the disastrous battle of Pavia, is it probable that his impoverished government could have sent forth another expedition ? Hakluyt asserts that Verrazzani was thrice on the coast of America, and that he gave a map of it to Henry VIII. of Eng land. It is the common tradition, that he perished at sea, on an expedition of which no tidings were ever heard ; but such is the obscurity of the accounts re specting his life, that certainty cannot be established. 1527. There exists a letter to Henry VIIL, from St. John, A3?' Newfoundland, written in August, 1527, by an English

FIRST VOYAGE OF C ARTIER FOR FRANCE. 19

captain, in which he declares, he found in that one harbor CHAP eleven sail of Normans and one Breton, engaged in the — v — fishery. The French king, engrossed by the passionate J527 and unsuccessful rivalry with Charles V., could hardly respect so humble an interest. But Chabot, admiral of France,1 a man of bravery and influence, acquainted by his office with the fishermen, on whose vessels he levied some small exactions for his private emolument, interested Francis in the design of exploring and colo- ^534 nizing the New World. James Cartier, a mariner of St. Malo, \vas selected to lead the expedition.2 His* several voyages are of great moment ; for they had a permanent effect in guiding the attention of France to the region of the St. Lawrence. It was in April, that the mariner, with two ships, left the harbor of St. Malo ; May and prosperous weather brought him in twenty days upon the coasts of Newfoundland. Having almost cir cumnavigated the island, he turned to the south, and, crossing the gulf, entered the bay, which he called Des Chaleurs, from the intense heats of midsummer. Finding no passage to the west, he sailed along the July coast, as far as the smaller inlet of Gaspe. There, upon a point of land, at the entrance of the haven, a lofty cross was raised, bearing a shield, with the lilies of France and an appropriate inscription. Henceforth the soil was to be esteemed a part of the dominions of the French king. Leaving the Bay of Gaspe, Cartier dis- Aug covered the great river of Canada, and sailed up its channel, till he could discern land on either side. As he was unprepared to remain during the winter, it then Aug became necessary to return ; the fleet weighed anchor

1 Charlevoix, Nouv. Fr. i. 8. levoix, N. F. i. 8,9; Ptirchas, i.

2 See Car-tier's account in Hak- JKJ1 ; Ibid, iv. 1(505; Bclknap'^ Am. luyt. iii.250 — 2(12. Compare Char- Biog. i. 101 — KxJ.

20 SECOND VOYAGE OF CARTIER FOR FRANCE.

CHAP, for Europe, and, in less than thirty days,1 entered the

-harbor of St. Malo in security. His native city and

France were filkd with the tidings of his discoveries. The voyage had been easy and successful. Even at this day, the passage to and fro is not often made more rapidly or more safely.

Could a gallant nation, which was then ready to contend for power and honor with the united force of Austria and Spain, hesitate to pursue the career of dis-

1534. covery, so prosperously opened? The court listened to the urgency of the friends of Cartier ; a a new com mission was issued ; three well-furnished ships were provided by the king ; and some of the young nobility of France volunteered to join the new expedition. Solemn preparations were made for departure ; religion prepared a splendid pageant, previous to the embar kation ; the whole company, repairing to the cathedral,

1535. received absolution and the bishop's blessing. The Aj*y adventurers were eager to cross the Atlantic ; and the

squadron sailed3 for the New World, full of hopes of discoveries and plans of colonization in the territory which now began to be known as New France.4

It was after a stormy voyage, that they arrived with in sight of Newfoundland. Passing to the west of that 1535. island on the day of St. Lawrence, they gave the name of that martyr to a portion of the noble gulf which opened before them ; a name which has gradu-

i Holmes's Annals, i. 65. " He son can be no other than James

returned in April." Not so. Com- Cartier, a Breton,

pare Hakluyt, iii. 261, or Belknap, 2 Charlevoix, N. F. i. 9.

i. 163. The excellent annalist 3 See the original account of the

rarely is in error, even in minute voyage in Hakluyt, iii. 262—285

particulars. He merits the grati- Compare Charlevoix, N. F. i. 8—

tude of every student of American 15 ; Belknap's Am. Biog. i. 164 —

history. Purchas, i. 931, edition 178. Purchas is less copious

of 1617, says,— " Francis I. sent 4 Hakluyt, iii. 285 thither James Breton." This per-

CARTIER AT MONTREAL. 21

ally extended to the whole gulf, and to the river. Sail- CHAP ing to the north of Anticosti, they ascended the stream ^^^ in September, as far as a pleasant harbor in the isle, J535 since called Orleans. The natives, Indians of Algonquin descent, received them with unsuspecting hosjutality. Leaving his ships safely moored, Cartier, in a boat, sailed up the majestic stream to the chief Indian set tlement on the island of Hochelaga. The language of its inhabitants proves them to have been of the Huron family of tribes.1 The town lay at the foot of a hill, which he climbed. As he reached the summit, he was moved to admiration by the prospect before him of woods, and waters, and mountains. Imagination pre sented it as the future emporium of inland commerce, and the metropolis of a prosperous province ; filled with bright anticipations, he called the hill Mont-Real,2 and time, that has transferred the name to the island, is realizing his visions. Cartier also gathered of the In dians some indistinct account of the countries now con tained in the north of Vermont and New York. Re joining his ships, the winter, rendered frightful by the ravages of the scurvy, was passed where they were anchored. At the approach of spring, a cross was solemnly erected upon land, and on it a shield was suspended, which bore the arms of France, and an in scription, declaring Francis to be the rightful king of these new-found regions. Having thus claimed pos- I5o6 session of the territory, the Breton mariner once more f>. regained St. Malo.

The description which Cartier gave of the country 1536 bordering on the St. Lawrence, furnished arguments3 {^Q against attempting a colony. The intense severity of

i Charlevoix, i. 12. Cass, in N. 2 Hakluyt, iii. 272. A. Rev. XXIV. 421. 3 Charlevoix, N. F. i. 20.

V2C2 VOYAGES OF CARTIEIl AND ROBEIIVAL TO CANADA.

UHAP. the climate terrified even the inhabitants of the north — ' — of France ; and no mines of silver and gold, no veins 1540. abounding in diamonds and precious stones, had been promised by the faithful narrative of the voyage. Three or four years, therefore, elapsed, before plans of coloni zation were renewed. Yet imagination did not fail to anticipate the establishment of a state upon the fertile banks of a river, which surpassed all the streams of Europe in grandeur, and flowed through a country situated between nearly the same parallels as France. Soon after a short peace had terminated the third des perate struggle between Francis I. and Charles V., at tention to America was again awakened ; there were not wanting men at court, who deemed it unworthy a gallant nation to abandon the enterprise ; and a noble man of Picardy, Francis de la Roque, lord of Roberval, a man of considerable provincial distinction, sought and 1540. obtained1 a commission. It was easy to confer prov- J£p- inces and plant colonies upon parchment; RobervaJ could congratulate himself on being the acknowledged lord of the unknown Norimbega, and viceroy, with full regal authority, over the immense territories and islands which lie near the gulf or along the river St. Lawrence. But the ambitious nobleman could not dispense with the services of the former naval commander, who pos sessed the confidence of the king ; and Cartier also re ceived a commission. Its terms merit consideration. 1540, He was appointed captain-general and chief pilot of the expedition ; he was directed to take with him per sons of every trade and art ; to repair to the newly- discovered territory; and to dwell there with the na-

i Charlevoix, N. F. i. 20, yi. original accounts in L'Escarbot and The account in Charlevoix needs to Ilakluyt. he corrected by the documents and

CARTIER AND ROBERVAJ, IN CANADA. 23

lives. But where were the honest tradesmen and in- CHAP dustrious mechanics to be found, who would repair to ^— this New World ? The commission gave Cartier full au- 15'to thority to ransack the prisons ; to rescue the unfortunate and the criminal ; and to make up the complement of liis men from their number. Thieves or homicides, the spendthrift or the fraudulent bankrupt, the debtors to justice or its victims, prisoners rightfully or wrongfully detained, excepting only those arrested for treason or counterfeiting money, — these were the people by whom the colony was, in part, to be established.1

The division of authority between Cartier and Ro- 1541 berval of itself defeated the enterprise.2 Roberval was ambitious of power; and Cartier desired the exclusive honor of discovery. They neither embarked in com pany, nor acted in concert. Cartier sailed3 from St. May Malo the next spring after the date of his commission ; he arrived at the scene of his former adventures, as cended the St. Lawrence, and, near the site of Quebec, built a fort for the security of his party ; 4 but no con siderable advances in geographical knowledge appear to have been made. The winter passed in sullenness and gloom. In June of the following year, he and his 1542 ships stole away and returned to France, just as Rober val arrived with a considerable reinforcement. Unsus- tained by Cartier, Roberval accomplished no more than a verification of previous discoveries. Remaining about

1 Hazard, i. 19 — 21. year; and, further, it is undisputed,

2 Hakluyt, iii. 28(>— 297. that Roberval did not sail till April,'

3 Holmes, in Annals, i. 70, 71, 1542; and it is expressly said in the places the departure of Cartier May account of Roberval's voyage, link. 2*3, 1540. He follows, undoubtedly, iii. 295, that "Jaques Cartier and the date in Ilak. iii. 28(>; which is, his company" were "sent with five however, a misprint, or an error, sayles the yeere before." Belknap For, first the patent of Cartier was makes a similar mistake, i. 178.

not issued till October, 1540; next, 4 Chalmers, 82, places this event the annalist can find no occupation in 1545, without reason. for Cartier in Canada for one whole

24 CART1ER AND ROBERVAL IN CANADA.

CHAP, a year in America, he abandoned his immense viceroy. ^— alty. Estates in Picardy were better than titles in 1542 Norimbega. His subjects must have been a sad com pany ; during the winter, one was hanged for theft ; several were put in irons ; and " divers persons, as well women as men," were whipped. By these means quiot was preserved. Perhaps the expedition on its return entered the Bay of Massachusetts ; the French diplo matists always remembered, that Boston was built with in the original limits of New France.

1549. The commission of Roberval was followed by no per manent results. It is confidently said, that, at a later date, he again embarked for his viceroyalty, accom panied by a numerous train of adventurers ; and, as he was never more heard of, he may have perished at sea. 1550 Can it be a matter of surprise, that, for the next fifty 1 6*00. Jears> no further discoveries were attempted by the government of a nation, which had become involved in the final struggle of feudalism against the central power of the monarch, of Calvinism against the ancient 1562 religion of France ? The colony of Huguenots at the 1567. South sprung from private enterprise; a government 1572. which could devise the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 24?' was neither worthy nor able to found new states.

At length, under the mild and tolerant reign of Henry IV., the star of France emerged from the clouds of blood, treachery, and civil war, which had so Icng eclipsed her glory. The number and importance of the 1578 fishing stages had increased; in 1578 there were one hundred and fifty French vessels at Newfoundland, and regular voyages, for traffic with the natives, began to be successfully made. One French manner, before 1609$ had made more than forty voyages to the Ameri can coast. The purpose of founding a French empire 1598. in America was renewed, and an ample commission

VOYAGE OF DE LA ROCHE. TRADING VOYAGES. 25

was issued to the Marquis de la Roche, a nobleman of CHAP Brittany. Yet his enterprise entirely failed. Sweep- ^ — ' ing the prisons of France, he established their tenants on the desolate Isle of Sable ; and the wretched exiles sighed for their dungeons. After some years, the few survivers received a .pardon. The temporary residence in America was deemed a sufficient commutation for a long imprisonment.

The prospect of gain prompted the next enterprise. A monopoly of the fur-trade, with an ample patent, was obtained by Chauvin ; and Pontgrave, a merchant of 1600 St. Malo, shared the traffic. The voyage was repeated, lGOl-2 for it was lucrative. The death of Chauvin prevented his settling a colony.

A firmer hope of success was entertained, when a 1603. company of merchants of Rouen was formed by the governor of Dieppe ; and Samuel Champlain, of Brou- age, an able marine officer and a man of science, was appointed to direct the expedition. By his natural dis position, " delighting marvellously in these enterprises," Champlain became the father of the French settlements In Canada. He possessed a clear and penetrating un derstanding, with a spirit of cautious inquiry ; untiring perseverance, with great mobility; indefatigable activ ity, with fearless courage. The account of his first expedition gives proof of sound judgment, accurate observation, and historical fidelity. It is full of exact details on the manners of the savage tribes, not less than the geography of the country ; and Quebec was already selected as the appropriate site for a fort.

Champlain returned to France just before an exclusive ! (;c^ patent had been issued to a Calvinist, the able, patriotic, 8. and honest De Monts. The sovereignty of Aradia and its confines, from the fortieth to the forty-sixth VOL, i. 4

26 DE MONTS AND POUTRINCOURT IN ACADlA.

CHAP, degree of latitude, that is, from Philadelphia to beyond

- — - Montreal; a still wider monopoly of the fur-trade; the

1603. exclusive control of the soil, government, and trade; freedom of religion for Huguenot emigrants, — these were the .privileges which the charter conceded. Idlers, and men without a profession, and all banished men, were doomed to lend him aid. A lucrative monopoly was added to the honors of territorial juris diction. Wealth and glory were alike expected.

JG04. An expedition was prepared without delay, and left "' the shores of France, not to return till a permanent French settlement should be made in America. All New France was now contained in two ships, which followed the well-known path to Nova Scotia. The summer glided away, while the emigrants trafficked with the natives and explored the coasts. The harbor called Annapolis after the conquest of Acadia by Queen Anne, an excellent harbor, though difficult of access possessing a small but navigable river, which abounded in fish, and is bordered by beautiful meadows, so pleased the imagination of Poutrincourt, a leader in the enter prise, that he sued for a grant of it from De Monts, and, naming it Port Royal, determined to reside there with his family. The company of De Monts made

1G04. their first attempt at a settlement on the island of St. Croix, at the mouth of the river of the same name, The remains of their fortifications were still visible when our eastern boundary was ascertained. Yet the island was so ill suited to their purposes, that, in the

1605 following spring, they removed to Port Royal.

For an agricultural colony, a milder climate was more desirable ; in view of a settlement at the south, De

1605. Monts explored and claimed for France the rivers, the coasts arid the bays of New England, as far, at least, as Cape Cod. The numbers and hostility of the sav-

FRENCH SETTLEMENT AT PORT ROYAL. 27

ages led him to delay a removal, sinee his colonists CHAP

were so few. Yet the purpose remained. Thrice, in

the spring of the following year, did Dupont, his lieu- 1606 tenant, attempt to complete the discovery. Twice he was' driven back by adverse winds ; and at the third Aug. attempt, his vessel was wrecked. Poutrincourt, who hnd visited France, and was now returned with sup plies, himself renewed the design ; but, meeting with Nov. disasters among the shoals of Cape Cod, he, too, re turned to Port Royal. There the first French settle- 1605 ment on the American continent had been made ; two years before James River was discovered, and three years before a cabin had been raised in Canada.

The possessions of Poutrincourt were confirmed by 1607 Henry IV. ; the apostolic benediction of the Roman pontiff was solicited on families which exiled them- 1608 selves to evangelize infidels; Mary of Medici herself contributed money to support the missions, which the Marchioness de Guercheville protected ; and by a com- 1610 pact with De Biencourt, the proprietary's son, the order of the Jesuits was enriched by an imposition on the fisheries and fur-trade.

The arrival of Jesuit priests was signalized by con- 16 11 versions among the natives. In the following year, De '{I?0 Biencourt and Father Biart explored the coast as far 1612 as the Kennebec, and ascended that river. The Cani- bas, Algonquins of the Abenaki nations, touched by the confiding humanity of the French, listened rever ently to the message of redemption ; and, already hostile towaids the English who had visited their coast, the tribes between the Penobscot and the Kennebec be came the allies of France, and were cherished as a barrier against danger from English encroachments.

A French colony within the United States followed, under the auspices of De Guercheville and Mary of 1(313

28 QUEBEC FOUNDED BY CHAMPLAIN.

CHAP. Medici ; the rude intrenchments of St. Sauveur were

— ~ raised by De Saussaje on the eastern sliore of Mount

1613. Desert Isle. The conversion of the heathen was the

motive to the settlement ; the natives venerated Biart

as a messenger from heaven ; and under the summer

sky, round a cross in the centre of the hamlet, matins

and vespers were regularly chanted. France and the

Roman religion had appropriated the soil of Maine.

Meantime the remonstrances of French merchants had effected the revocation of the monopoly of De Monts, and a company of merchants of Dieppe and St.

1608. Malo had founded Quebec. The design was executed a.y by Champlain, who aimed not at the profits of trade,

but at the glory of founding a state. The city of Que bec was begun; that is to say, rude cottages wero framed, a few fields were cleared, and one or two gar-

1609. dens planted. The next year, that singularly bold adventurer, attended but by two Europeans, joined a mixed party of Hurons from Montreal, and Algonquins from Quebec, in an expedition against the Iroquois. or Five Nations, in the north of New York. He ascend ed the Sorel, and explored the lake which bears his name, and perpetuates his memory.

The Huguenots had been active in plans of coloriiza- 1610 tion. The death of Henry IV. deprived them of their powerful protector. Yet the zeal of De Monts survived, and he quickened the courage of Champlain. After the short supremacy of Charles de Bourbon, the Prince of

Conde, an avowed protector of the Calvinists, became 1615. viceroy of New France ; through his intercession, mer chants of St. Malo, Rouen, and La Rochelle, obtained a colonial patent from the king ; and Champlain, now sure of success, embarked once more for the New World, ac companied by monks of the order of St. Francis. Again he invades the territory of the Iroquois in New York

PERSEVERANCE OF CHAMPLAIN. 29

Wounded, and repulsed, and destitute of guides, he CHAP spends the first winter after his return to America in -^^ the country of the Hurons ; and a knight errant among l the forests carries his language, religion, and influence, even to the hamlets of Algonquins, near Lake Nipissing.

Religious disputes combined with commercial jeal- 1617 ousies to check the progress of the colony; yet in the 1020 summer, when the Pilgrims were leaving Leyden, in uy ohedience to the wishes of the unhappy Montmorenci, the new viceroy, Champlain, began a fort. The mer chants grudged the expense. " It is not best to yield to the passions of men," was his reply ; " they sway but for a season ; it is a duty to respect the future ; " and in a few years the castle St. Louis, so long the place 1624. of council against the Iroquoisand against New England, was durably founded on " a commanding cliff."

In the same year, the viceroyalty was transferred to 1624. the religious enthusiast, Henry de Levi ; and through his influence, in 1625, just a year after Jesuits had 1625. reached the sources of the Ganges and Thibet, the banks of the St. Lawrence received priests of the order, which was destined to carry the cross to Lake Supe rior and the West.

The presence of Jesuits and Calvinists led to dis sensions. The savages caused disquiet. But the per severing founder of Quebec appealed to the Royal Council and to Richelieu; and though disasters inter- 1627 vened, CHAMPLAIN successfully established the authority of the French on the banks of the St. Lawrence, in the territory which became his country. " The father of New France " lies buried in the land which he colo nized. Thus the humble industry of the fishermen of Normandy and Brittany promised their country the ac quisition of an empire.

CHAPTER II.

SPANIARDS IN THE UNITED STATES.

CHAP, 1 HAVE traced the progress of events, which, for a — ^ season, gave to France the uncertain possession of Acadia and Canada. The same nation laid claim to large and undefined regions at the southern extremity of our republic. The expedition of Francis I. discov ered the continent in a latitude south of the coast which Cabot had explored ; but Verrazzani had jet been anticipated. The claim to Florida, on the ground of discovery, belonged to the Spanish, and was suc cessfully asserted.

Extraordinary success had kindled in the Spanish nation an equally extraordinary enthusiasm. No sooner had the New World revealed itself to their enterprise, than the valiant men, who had won laurels under Fer dinand among the mountains of Andalusia, sought a new career of glory in more remote adventures. The weapons that had been tried in the battles with the Moors, and the military skill that had been acquired in the romantic conquest of Granada, were now turned against the feeble occupants of America. The passions of avarice and religious zeal were strangely blended ; and the heroes of Spain sailed to the west, as il they had been bound on a new crusade, where infinite wealth was to reward their piety. The Spanish nation had become infatuated with a fondness for novelties ; the " chivalry of the ocean " despised the range of Europe,

SPANISH LOVE OF MARITIME ADVENTURE. 31

as too narrow, and offering to their extravagant ambition CHAP nothing beyond mediocrity. America was the region ^~ of romance, where the heated imagination could in dulge in the boldest delusions ; where the simple natives ignorant ly wore the most precious ornaments ; and, by the side of the clear runs of water, the sands sparkled with gold. What way soever, says the historian of the ocean, the Spaniards are called, with a beck only, or a whispering voice, to any thing rising above water, they speedily prepare themselves to fly, and forsake cer tainties under the hope of more brilliant success. To carve out provinces with the sword; to divide the wealth of empires ; to plunder the accumulated treasures of some ancient Indian dynasty ; to return from a roving expedition with a crowd of enslaved captives and a pro fusion of spoils, — soon became the ordinary dreams, in which the excited minds of the Spaniards delighted to indulge. Ease, fortune, life, all were squandered in the pursuit of a game, where, if the issue was uncertain, success was sometimes obtained, greater than the bold est imagination had dared to anticipate. Is it strange that these adventurers were often superstitious ? The New World and its wealth were in themselves so won derful, that why should credit be withheld from the wildest fictions ? Why should not the hope be indulged, that the laws of nature themselves would yield to the desires of men so fortunate and so brave ?

Juan Ponce de Leon was the discoverer of Florida. 1513 His youth had been passed in military service in Spain : ind, during the wars in Granada, he had shared in the wild exploits of predatory valor. No sooner had the return of the first voyage across die Atlantic given an assurance of a New World, than he hastened to partici pate in the dangers and the fruits of adventure in

32 FLORID A- -PONCE DE LEON.

CHAP America. He was a fellow voyager of Columbus in his — ~ second expedition. In the wars of Hispaniola he had 1493. been a gallant soldier; and Ovando had rewarded him with the government of the eastern province of that island. From the hills in his jurisdiction, he could be hold, across the clear waters of a placid sea, the mag nificent vegetation of Porto Rico, which distance ren dered still more admirable, as it was seen through the 1508 transparent atmosphere of the tropics. A visit to the island stimulated the cupidity of avarice ; and Ponce 1509. aspired to the government. He obtained the station: inured to sanguinary war, he was inexorably severe in his administration: he oppressed the natives; he amassed wealth. But his commission as governor of Porto Rico conflicted with the claims of the family of Columbus ; and policy, as well as justice, required his removal. Ponce was displaced.

Yet, in the midst of an archipelago, and in the vicin ity of a continent, what need was there for a brave sol dier to pine at the loss of power over a wild though fer tile island ? Age had not tempered the love of enter prise : he longed to advance his fortunes by the con quest of a kingdom, and to retrieve a reputation which was not without a blemish.1 Besides ; the veteran sol dier, whose cheeks had been furrowed by hard service, as well as by years, had heard, and had believed the tale, of a fountain which possessed virtues to renovate the life of those who should bathe in its stream, or give a perpetuity of youth to the happy man who should drink of its ever-flowing waters. So universal was this tradition, that it was credited in Spain, not by all the people and the court only, but by those who were dis-

i Peter Martyr, d. iii. 1. x.

FLORIDA— PONCE DE LEON. 33

tinjniished for virtue and intelligence.1 Nature was to CHAP

ii

discover the secrets for which alchemy had toiled in — -^ vain; and the elixir of life was to flow from a perpetual fountain of the New World, in the midst of a country glittering with gems and gold.

Ponce embarked at Porto Rico, with a squadron of three ships, fitted out at his own expense, for his voyage to fairy land. He touched at Guanahani ; he sailed amon<r the Bahamas ; but the laws of nature remained

1513

inexorable. On Easter Sunday, which the Spaniards Mar call Pascua Florida, land was seen. It was supposed to be an island, and received the name of Florida, from the day on which it was discovered, and from, the aspect of the forests, which were then brilliant with a profusion of blossoms, and gay with the fresh verdure of early spring. Bad weather would not allow the April squadron to approach land : at length the aged soldier 2* was able to go on shore, in the latitude of thirty de grees and eight minutes ; some miles, therefore, to the April north of St. Augustine. The territory was claimed for 8* Spain. Ponce remained for many weeks to investigate the coast which he had discovered ; though the currents of the gulf-stream, and the islands, between which the channel was yet unknown, threatened shipwreck. He doubled Cape Florida ; he sailed among the group which he named Tortugas ; and, despairing, of entire success, he returned to Porto Rico, leaving a trusty fol lower to continue the research. The Indians had every where displayed determined hostility. Ponce de Leon remained an old man; but Spanish commerce acquired a new channel through the Gulf of Florida, and Spain a new province, which imagination could esteem im measurably rich, since its interior was unknown.

1 Peter Martyr, d. vii. 1. vii., and d. ii. c. x. VOL. I. 5

34 FLORIDA-SPANISH VOYAGES.

CHAP. The government of Florida was the reward which ^-^ Ponce received from the king of Spain ; but the dignity 1513. was accompanied with the onerous condition, that he should colonize the country which he was appointed to 1514 rule. Preparations in Spain, and an expedition against

1520. tne Caribbee Indians, delayed his return to Florida.

1521. When, after a long interval, he proceeded with two ships to take possession of his province and select a site for a colony, his company was attacked by the Indians with implacable fury. Many Spaniards were killed ; the survivors were forced to hurry to their ships ; Ponce de Leon himself, mortally wounded by an arrow, returned to Cuba to die. So ended the adventurer, who had coveted immeasurable wealth, and had hoped for perpetual youth. The discoverer of Florida had desired immortality on earth, and gained its shadow.1

1516. Meantime, commerce may have discovered a path to Florida ; and Diego Miruelo, a careless sea-captain, sailing from Havana, is said to have approached the coast, and trafficked with the natives. He could not tell distinctly in what harbor he had anchored ; he brought home specimens of gold, obtained in ex change for toys ; and his report swelled the rumors', already credited, of the wealth of the country. Florida had at once obtained a governor ; it now constituted a part of a bishopric.2

1517 The expedition of Francisco Fernandez, of Cordova, leaving the port of Havana, and sailing west by south,

1 On Ponce de Leon, T have used sayo Cronologico para la ITist. Geu,

Herrera, d. i. 1. ix. c. x.-xi. and xii., de la F orida, d. i. p. 1, 2, and 5,

and d. i. 1. x. c. xvi. Peter Martyr, Ed. 172.J, folio. The author's true

d. iv. 1. v., and d. v. 1. i., and d. vii. name is Andres Gonzalez de Barcia.

1. iv. In Hakluyt, v. 320, 3ISJ, and Navarette, Colleccion, lii. 50—53.

410. Gomara, Hist. Gen. de las Compare, also, Eden and WilJea,

Ind. c. xlv. Garcilaso de la Vega, fol. 228, 229. Purchas, i. 957. Hist de la Florida, 1. i. c. iii., and 1. 2 Florida del Inca, Vesra, 1. i. c.

vi. c. xxii. Cardenas z Cano, En- ii. Ens. Cron. d. i. Alio MDXVL

DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 35

discovered in 1517" the province of Yucatan and the CHAP. Bay of Campeachy. He then turned his prow to the ^~^ north ; but, at a place where he had landed for supplies 1 5 1 7. of water, his company was suddenly assailed, and he himself mortally wounded.

In 1518, the pilot whom Fernandez had employed 1 5 1 3, conducted another squadron to the same shores ; and Grijalva, the commander of the fleet, explored the coast from Yucatan towards Panuco. The musses of gold which he brought back, the rumors of the empire of Montezuma, its magnificence and its extent, heed lessly confirmed by the costly presents of the unsus pecting natives, were sufficient to inflame the coldest imagination, and excited the enterprise of Cortes. The voyage did not reach beyond the bounds of Mexico.

At that time Francisco de Garay, a companion of Columbus on his second voyage, and now famed for his opulence, was the governor of Jamaica. In the year 1519, after having heard of the richness and 1519. beauty of Yucatan, he at his own charge sent four ships well equipped, and with good pilots, under the command of Alvarez Alonso de Pineda. His pro fessed object was the search for some strait, west .of Florida, which was not yet certainly known to form a part of the continent. The strait having been sought for in vain, his ships turned towards the west, atten tively examining the ports, rivers, inhabitants, and every tiling else that seemed worthy of remark ; and especially noticing the vast volume of water brought down by one very large river, till at last they came upon the track of Cortes near Vera Cruz. Between that harbor and Tampico they set up a pillar as the landmark of the discoveries of Garay. More than eight months were employed in thus exploring three

B6 VASQUEZ DE AYLLON IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

CHAP, hundred leagues of the coast, and taking possession — ^ of the country for the crown of Castile. The care-

1519. fully drawn map of the pilots showed distinctly the Mississippi, which in this earliest authentic trace of its outlet bears the name of the Espiritu Santo. The account of the expedition having been laid before Charles the Fifth, a royal edict in 1521, granted to Garay the privilege of colonizing at his own cost the region which he had made known, from a point south of Tampico to the limit of Ponce de Leon, near the coast of Alabama. But Garay thought not of the Mississippi and its valley : he coveted access to the wealth of Mexico ; and, in 15*23, lost fortune and life ingloriously in a, dispute with Cortes for the govern ment of the country on the river Panuco.

1520. A voyage for slaves brought the Spaniards in 1520 still further to the north. A company of seven, of whom the most distinguished was Lucas Vasquez de Ay lion, fitted out two slave ships from St. Domingo, in quest of laborers for their plantations and mines. From the Bahama Islands, they passed to the coast of South Carolina, which was called Chicora. The Combahee River received the name of the Jor dan ; the name of St. Helena, given to a cape, now belongs to the sound. The natives of this region had not yet learned to fear Europeans ; and they fled at their approach, more from timid wonder than from a sense of peril. Gifts were interchanged, and the strangers received with confidence and hospitality. When at length the natives returned the visit of their guests, and covered the decks with cheerful throngs, the ships were got under way and steered for Saint Domin go. Husbands were torn from their wives, and children from their parents. Thus the seeds of war were lavishly

SOUTH CAROLINA — VASQUEZ DE AYLLON. 37.

scattered. The crime was unprofitable : in one of the CHAP. returning ships, many of the captives sickened and • — v— ' died ; the other foundered at sea. 152°-

Kepairing to Spain, Vasquez boasted of his expedi tion, as a title to reward, and the emperor, Charles V., acknowledged his claim. In those days, the Spanish monarch conferred a kind of appointment which had its parallel in Roman history. Countries were dis tributed to be subdued • and Lucas Vasquez de Ayl- lon, after long entreaty, was appointed to the con quest of Chicora.

This bolder enterprise was disastrous to the under taker. He wasted his fortune in preparations ; in 1525 1525.' his largest ship was stranded in the River Jordan ; many of his men were killed by the natives ; and he himself escaped only to suffer from the consciousness of having done nothing worthy of honor. Yet it may be that ships, sailing under his authority, made the discovery of the Chesapeake and named it the Bay of Saint Mary ; and perhaps even entered the Bay of Delaware, which in Spanish geography was called Saint Christopher's.

In 1524, when Cortes was able to pause from his 1524, success in Mexico, he proposed to solve the problem of a north-west passage, of which he deemed the existence unquestionable. But his project of simul taneous voyages along the Pacific and the Atlantic coast remained but the offer of loyalty.

In the same year Stephen Gomez, an able Portu- 1524- guese seafarer, who had left Magellan in the very gate of the Pacific to return to Spain by way of Africa,, solicited the council of the Indies to send him in search of a strait at the North, between the land of the Bacallaos and Florida. Peter Martyr said at

33 SPANISH VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY.

CHAP, once that that region had been sufficiently explored, v_ -v-^ and derided his imaginings as frivolous and vain : but

o O /

a majority of the suffrages directed the search. In 1525. January, 152f, Gomez sailed from Corunna with a single ship, fitted out at the cost of the emperor king, under instructions to seek out the northern passage to Cathay. His route across the Atlantic is not known. On the southern side of the Bacallaos, he came upon an unknown continent, trending to the west. He carefully examined some of the bays of New England ; on an old Spanish map, that portion of our territory is marked as the Land of Gomez. He dis covered the Hudson,1 probably on the thirteenth of June, for that is the day of Saint Antony, whose name he gave to the river. When he became convinced that the land was continuous, he freighted his caravel in part with rich furs, in part with robust Indians for the slave-market ; and brought it back within ten months from his embarkation, having found neither the promised strait, nor Cathay. In November he re paired to Toledo, where he rendered his report to the youthful emperor, Charles V. The document is lost, but we know from the Summary of Oviedo, which was 152f . published in the second February after his return, that his examination of the coast reached a little to the south of forty degrees of latitude.2 If these vague limits are to be strictly interpreted, he could not have entered the Bay of Delaware, nor the Chesapeake. The Spaniards scorned to repeat their voyages to the frozen north ; in the south, and in the south only, they looked for " great and exceeding riches."

1 The heading to Gomara's c. xl., folio 43, ed. 1606. Peter Martyr, d in Barcia, ii. 30. viii. c. x. Compare Oviedo, His-

2 Oviedo in Biddle's Cabot, 263 ; toria General, ii. 146, 147, ed. 1852. in Kamusio, iii. folio 52, ed. 1556 ;

FLOKIDA. PAMPIIILO DE NAKVAEZ. 39

But neither the fondness of the Spanish monarch for extending his domains, nor the desire of the no- ^7- bilit}T for new governments, nor the passion of adven turers to go in search of wealth, would suffer the abandonment of Florida; and in 1526, Pamphilo de 152G Narvaez, a man of no great virtue or reputation, ob tained from Charles V. the contract to explore and reduce all the territory from the Atlantic to the River of Palms. This is he wrho had been sent by the jealous Governor of Cuba to take Cortes prisoner, and had himself been easily defeated, losing an eye, and deserted by his own troops. " Esteem it great good fortune, that you have taken me captive," said he to the man whom he had declared an outlaw ; and Cortes replied, " It is the least of the things I have done in Mexico."

ISTarvaez, who was both rich and covetous, haz- B Diaa arded all his treasure on the conquest of his province ; c- VL and sons of Spanish nobles and men of good condition flocked to his standard. In June, 1527, his expedi- 1527. tion, in which Cabeza de Vaca held the second place as treasurer, left the Guadalquiver, touched at the island of San Domingo, and during the following win ter, amidst storms and losses, passed from port to port on the southern side of Cuba, where the experienced Miruelo was engaged as his pilot. In the spring of 1528. 1528, he doubled Cape San Antonio, and was stand- April ing in for Havana, when a strong South wind drove Cadbeeza his fleet upon the American coast, and on the four- v^a- teenth of April, the day before Good Friday, he i^hed anchored in or near the outlet of Tampa Bay. Geofvv

On the day before Easter the Governor landed, ^jf 8' and in the name of Spain took possession of the float ing peninsula of Florida. The natives kept aloof, or if they drew near, marked by signs their impatience for his departure. But they had shown him samples

395 PAMPHILO DE NAEVAEZ IN FLORIDA.

CHAP. of gold, which, if their gestures were rightly inter- v — • — ' preted, came from the North. Disregarding, there- May.' fore, the most earnest advice of Cabeza de Vaca, he directed the ships to meet him at a harbor with which the pilot pretended acquaintance, and on the first of May, mustering three hundred men, of whom forty were mounted, he struck into the interior of the country. Then for the first time the low sandy soil, impregnated with lime, just lifted above the ocean, without hills, yet gushing with transparent fountains and watered by unfailing rivers, was traversed by white men, who were ignorant of where they were, or whither they were going, allured onwards by the prospect of gold.

The wanderers, as they passed along, gazed on trees astonishingly high, some riven from the top by lightning ; the pine ; the cypress ; the sweet gum ; the slender, gracefully tall palmetto ; the humbler herbaceous palm, with its green chaplet of crenated leaves ; the majestic magnolia, glittering in the light , live oaks of such growth, that now that they are van ishing under the axe, men hardly believe the tales of their greatness ; multitudes of birds of untold varie ties; and quadrupeds of many kinds, among them the opossum, then noted as having a pocket in its belly to house its young ; the bear ; more than one kind of deer ; the panther, which was mistaken for the lion; but they found no rich town, nor a high hill, nor gold. When on rafts and by swimming, they had painfully crossed the strong current of the June. Withlacooche, they were so worn away by famine, as to give infinite thanks to God for lighting upon a field of unripe maize. Just after the middle of June, they encountered the Sawanee, whose wide, deep and rapid stream delayed them till they could build a large canoe. Wading through swamps, made stiU

PAMPIIILO DE NARVAEZ IN FLORIDA. 40

more terrible by immense trunks of fallen trees, that CHAP. were decaying in the water, and sheltered the few but — ^ skilful native archers, on the day after St. John's they 1528, came in sight of Apalache, where they had pictured to themselves a populous town, and food and treasure, and found only a hamlet of forty wretched cabins.

Here they remained for five and twenty days, July, scouring the country round in quest of silver and gold, till perishing with hunger and weakened by fierce attacks, they abandoned all hope but of an es cape from, a region so remote and malign. Amidst increasing dangers they went onward through deep lagoons and the ruinous forest in search of the sea, till Aug. they came upon a bay,1 which they called Baia de Ca- ballos, and which now forms the harbor of Saint Mark's. No trace could be found, of their ships ; sus taining life, therefore, by the flesh of their horses and by six or seven hundred bushels of maize plundered from the Indians, they beat their stirrups, spurs, crossbows, and other implements of iron into saws axes and nails; and in sixteen days finished five boats each of twenty-two cubits, or more than thirty feet in length. In caulking their frail craft, films of the pal- SePt metto served for oakum, and they payed the seams with pitch from the nearest pines. For rigging, they twisted ropes out of horse hair and the fibrous bark of the palmetto; their shirts were pieced together for sails, and oars were shaped out of savins ; skins flayed from horses served for water bottles ; it was difficult in the deep sand to find large stones for anchors and ballast. Thus 'equipped, on the twenty-second of September about two hundred and fifty men, all of

xCette baye est precisement ce Port d'Aute. Cliarlevoix : Journal cine Garcilasso de la Vega appelle Hist. Let. xxxiv., p. 473. I ad- dans son histoire de la Floride le here to the constant tradition.

40(5 THE BOATS OP NARVAEZ REACH THE MISSISSIPPI.

CHAP, the party whom famine, autumnal fevers, fatigue and x— v^ the arrows of the savage bowmen had spared, em- 1528. barked for the river Pal mas. Former navigators had traced the outline of the coast, but among the voyagers there was not a single expert mariner. One shallop was commanded by Alonso de Castillo and Andres Dorantes, another by Cabeza de Vaca. The gunwales of the crowded vessels rose but a hand- breadth above the water, till after creeping for seven days through shallow sounds, Cabeza seized five canoes of the natives,out of which the Spaniards made guard Oct boards for their five boats. During thirty days more they kept on their way, suffering from hunger and thirst, imperilled by a storm, now closely following the shore, now avoiding savage enemies by venturing upon the sea. On the thirtieth of October^ at the hour of vespers, Cabeza de Vaca, who happened then to lead the van, discovered one of the mouths of the river now known as the Mississippi,1 and the little fleet was snugly moored among islands at a league from the stream, which brought down such a flood that even at that distance the water was sweet. They would have en tered the " very great river" in search of fuel to parch their corn, but were baffled by the force of the current and a rising north wind. A mile and a half from land they sounded, and with a line of thirty fathoms could

1 Mi Barca, qne iba delante, des- gua de alii : i iendo, era tanta la cor-

cubrio tma Punta, que la Tierra riente,qne no nos dexaba en ninguna

hacia, i del otro se via tin Rio inni manera llegar ; — a media Legua que

grande, i en nna Isleta que hacia la fuimos metidos en ell;i, sondaraos, i

Punta, ,hice Yo surgir, por esperar hallamos, que con trointa bracas no

las otra's Barcas. El Governador no podimos tomar hondo. Nautra^ios

quiso llegar, antes se metio por una de Alvar Ntffiez Cabeza de Vaca,

Baia mui cerca de alii, en que havia cap. x. I have revised this subject,

muchas Isletas, i alii nos juntamos, and with the greatest willingness to

idesde la Mar tornamos Agua dulce, derive instruction from the judg-

porque el Rio entraba en la Mar de rnent of others, I am unable to in-

evenida : — acordamoa de ir al Rio, terpret these words of any river hut

que estaba detras de la Punta,uria Le- the Mississippi.

SHIPWRECK OF CABEZA. 40c

find no bottom. In the night following a second day's CHAP fruitless struggle to go up the stream, the boats were ^^

oo o Jr '

separated ; but the next afternoon, Cabeza, overtaking 1528. and passing Narvaez, who chose to hug the land, struck boldly out to sea in the wake of Castillo, whom he descried ahead. They had no longer an adverse current, and in that region the prevailing wind is from the east. For four days the half-famished adventurers kept prosperously towards the west, borne along by their rude sails, and their labor at the oar. All the fifth of November an easterly storm drove them forward, and on the morning of the sixth, the boat of Cabeza

O '

was thrown by the surf on the sands of an island, which he called the isle of Malhado, that is, of Mis fortune. Except as to its length, his description ap plies to Galveston ; l his men believed themselves not far from the Panuco. The Indians of the place ex pressed sympathy for their shipwreck by howls, and gave them food and shelter. Castillo was cast away a little further to the east ; but he and his company were saved alive. Of the other boats, an uncertain story reached Cabeza, that one foundered in the gulf; that the crews of the two others gained the shore ; that Narvaez was afterwards driven out to sea ; that the stranded men began wandering towards the west ; and that at last all of them but one perished fearfully from hunger.

Those who were with Cabeza and Castillo, gradu ally wasted away from cold, and want, and despair ; but Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, Castillo, and Estevan-

1l write Galveston with hesita- continuance, a bark, thirty two feet tion. But with no adverse current, long, might pass from the mouths fair weather for four days, wind of the Mississippi to the island of from the east, sails, oars plied hy Galveston. Experienced navigators more than forty men, a driving in the Gulf think Cabeza was wreck- easterly storm of twenty four hours' ed on that island.

403 THE BOATS OP NARVAEZ REACH THE MISSISSIPPI.

CHAP, the party whom famine, autumnal fevers, fatigue and — ,— the arrows of the savage bowmen had spared, em- 1528. barked for the river Pal mas. Former navigators had

Sept.

traced the outline of the coast, but among the voyagers there was not a single expert mariner. One shallop was commanded by Alonso de Castillo and Andres Dorantes, another by Cabeza de Vaca. The gunwales of the crowded vessels rose but a hand- breadth above the water, till after creeping for seven days through shallow sounds, Cabeza seized five canoes of the natives,out of which the Spaniards made guard Oct boards for their five boats. During thirty days more they kept on their way, suffering from hunger and thirst, imperilled by a storm, now closely following the shore, now avoiding savage enemies by venturing upon the sea. On the thirtieth of October^ at the hour of vespers, Cabeza de Vaca, who happened then to lead the van, discovered one of the mouths of the river now known as the Mississippi,1 and the little fleet was snugly moored among1 islands at a league from the stream,

o o /

which brought down such a flood that even at that distance the water was sweet. They would have en tered the " very great river" in search of fuel to parch their corn, but were baffled by the force of the current and a rising north wind. A mile and a half from land they sounded, and with a line of thirty fathoms could

1 Mi Barca, que iba delante, des- gua de alii : i iendo, era tantalacor-

cubrio una Punta, que la Tierra riente,qne no nos dexaba en ninguna

hacia, i del otro se via tin Rio inui inanera llegar; — a media Legua que

grande, i en una Isleta que liacia la fuimos raetidos en ell;i, sondarnos, i

Punta,,hice Yo surgir, por esperar hallaraos, que con treinta brae, as no

las otras Barcaa. El Governador no podimos tomar hondo. Naufragioa

quiso llegar, antes se metio por nna de Alvar Ntffiez Cabeza de Vaca,

Baia mui cerca de alii, en que havia cap. x. I have revised this subject,

muchas Isletas, i a!li nos juntarnos, and with the greatest willingness to

idesde la Mar tomamos Agua dulce, derive instruction from the judg-

porqne el Rio entraba en la Mar de inent of others, I am unable to in-

svenida : — acnrdamos de ir al Rio, terpret these words of any river but

que estaba detras de la Punta,uria Le- the Mississippi.

SHIPWRECK OF CABEZA. 400

find no bottom. In the night following a second day's CHAP fruitless struggle to go up the stream, the boats were v^l^ separated ; but the next afternoon, Cabeza, overtaking 1528. and passing Narvaez, who chose to hug the land, struck boldly out to sea in the wake of Castillo, whom he descried ahead. They had no longer an adverse current, and in that region the prevailing wind is from the east. For four days the half-famished adventurers kept prosperously towards the west, borne along by their rude sails, and their labor at the oar. All the fifth of November an easterly storm drove them forward, and on the morning of the sixth, the boat of Cabeza was thrown by the surf on the sands of an island, which he called the isle of Malhado, that is, of Mis fortune. Except as to its length, his description ap plies to Galveston ; l his men believed themselves not far from the Panuco. The Indians of the place ex pressed sympathy for their shipwreck by howls, and gave them food and shelter. Castillo was cast away a little further to the east ; but he and his company were saved alive. Of the other boats, an uncertain story reached Cabeza, that one foundered in the gulf; that the crews of the two others gained the shore ; that Narvaez was afterwards driven out to sea ; that the stranded men began wandering towards the west ; and that at last all of them but one perished fearfully from hunger.

Those who were with Cabeza and Castillo, gradu ally wasted away from cold, and want, and despair ; but Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, Castillo, and Estevan-

1l write Galveston with hesita- continuance, a bark, thirty two feet tion. But with no adverse current, long, might pass from the mouths fair weather for four days, wind of the Mississippi to the island of from the east, sails, oars plied hy Galveston. Experienced navigators more than forty men, a driving in the Gulf think Cabeza was wreck- easterly storm of twenty four hours' ed on that island.

40J CABEZA TRAVERSES THE CONTINENT.

CHAP, ico, a blackamoor from Barbaiy, bore up against every

, — ^ ill, and though scattered among various tribes, took

1528. thought for each other's welfare.

The brave Cabeza de Vaca, as self-possessed a hero as ever graced a fiction, fruitful in resources and never wasting time in complaints of fate or fortune, studied the habits and the languages of the Indians, accus tomed himself to their modes of life ; peddled little articles of commerce from tribe to tribe in the interior and along the coast for forty or fifty leagues, and won fame in the wilderness as a medicine man

1534. of wonderful gifts. In September, 1534, after nearly six years' captivity, the great forerunner among the pathfinders across the continent, inspired the three others with his own marvellous fortitude, and, naked and ignorant of the way, without so much as a single bit of iron, they planned their escape. Cabeza has left an artless account of his recollections of the journey ; but his memory sometimes called up incidents out of their place, so that his narrative is contused. He pointed his course far inland, partly because the, na tions away from the sea were more numerous and more mild ; partly that if he should again come Christians, he mi^ht describe the land and

/ o

its inhabitants. Continuing his pilgrimage through to more than twenty months, sheltered from cold, first by 1586' deer skins, then by buffalo robes, he and his compan ions passed through Texas as far north as the Canadian River, then along Indian paths, crossed the water shed to the valley of the Del Norte ; and borne up by cheerful courage against hunger, want of water on the plains, cold and weariness, perils from beasts and perils from red men, the voyagers went from town to town in New Mexico, westward and still to the west,

DISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO.

till in May, 1536, they drew near the Pacific Ocean at CHAP. the village of San Miguel in Sonora. From that place — ^*- they were escorted by Spanish soldiers to Compos- * 5 3 6 tell a ; and all the way to the city of Mexico, they were entertained as public guests.

In 1530 an Indian slave had told wonders of the seven cities of Cibola, the Land of Buffaloes, that lay at the north between the oceans and beyond the desert, and abounded in silver and gold. The rumor had stimulated Nuno de Guzman, when president of New Spain, to advance coloniz:ition as far as Corn- postella and Guadalaxara, but the Indian story teller died ; Guzman was superseded ; and the seven rich cities remained hid.

To the government of New Galicia, Antonio de Mendoza, the new viceroy, had named Francisco Vasquez Coronado. On the arrival of the four pioneers, 1538. he hastened to Culiacan, taking with him Estevan- ico and Franciscan friars, one of whom was Marcus de Niza, and on the seventh of March, 153.9, he de- 1539. spatched them under special instructions from Men doza to find Cibola. The negro, having rapidly hur ried on before the party, provoked the natives by insolent demands, and was killed. On the twenty- second of the following September, Niza was again at Mexico, where he boasted that he had been as far as Cibola, though he had not dared to enter within its walls ; that, with its terraced stone houses of many stories, it was larger and richer than Mexico ; that his Indian guides gave him accounts of still more opulent towns. The priests promulgated in their sermons his dazzling report; the Spaniards in New Spain, trusting implicitly in its truth, burned to subdue the vaunted provinces ; the wise and prudent Coronado,

40/ DISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO.

CHAP, parting from his lovely young wife and vast posses- — v— - sions, took command of the enterprise ; more young

1539. men Of t]ie proudest families in Spain rallied under his banner than had ever acted together in America ;tand

1540. the viceroy himself, sending Pedro de Alarcon up the coast with two ships and a tender, to aid the land party, early in 1540, went in person to Compostella to review the little army before its departure ; to distinguish the officers by his cheering attention ; and to make the troops swear on a missal containing the gospels, to maintain implicit obedience, and never to abandon their chief. The army of three hundred Spaniards, part of whom were mounted, beginning its march with fly ing colors and boundless expectations, which the more trusty information collected by Melchior Diaz could not repress, was escorted by the viceroy for two days on its way. Never had so chivalrous adventurers gone forth to hunt the wilderness for kingdoms; every one of the officers seemed fitted to lead an ex pedition, wherever danger threatened or hope allured. From Culiacan, the general, accompanied by fifty horsemen, a few foot soldiers and his nearest friends, went in advance to Sonora and so to the North.

No sooner had the main body, with lance on the shoulder, carrying provisions, and using the chargers for packborses, followed Coronado from Sonora, than Melchior Diaz, selecting five and twenty men from the garrison left at that place, set off towards the west to meet Alarcon, who, in the mean time had discovered the Colorado of the west, or, as he named it, the river of " Our Lady of Good Guidance." Its rapid stream could with difficulty be stemmed ; but hauled by ropes, or favored by southerly winds, he ascended the river twice in boats before the end of Septeni-

DISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO.

ber ; the second time for a distance of four degrees, CHAP. or eighty-five leagues, nearly a hundred miles, there- ^^- — fore, above the present boundary of the United States. 1640. His course was impeded by sand-bars ; once, at least, it lay between rocky cliffs. His movements were watched by hundreds of natives, who were an ex ceedingly tall race, almost naked, the men bearing nanners and armed with bows and arrows, the women cinctured with a woof of painted feathers, or a deer skin apron ; having for their food pumpkins, beans, flat cakes of maize, baked in ashes, and bread made of the pods of the Mezquite tree. Ornaments hung from their ears and pierced noses, and the warriors, smeared with bright colors, wore crests cut out of deerskin. Alarcon, who called himself the messen ger of the sun, distributed among them crosses ; took formal possession of the country for Charles the Fifth ; collected stories of remoter tribes that were said to speak more than twenty different languages; but hearing nothing of Coronado, he sailed back to New Spain, having ascertained that Lower California is not an island, and 'having in part explored the great river of the west. Fifteen leagues above its mouth, Melchior Diaz found a letter which Alarcon had deposited under a tree, announcing his discoveries and his return. Failing of a junction, Diaz went up the stream for five or six days, then crossed it on rafts, and examined the country that stretched to wards the Pacific. An accidental wound cost him. his' life ; his party returned to Sonora.

Nearly at the same time, the Colorado was dis covered at a point much further to the north. The movements of the general and his companions were rapid and daring. Disappointment first awaited

DISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO.

CHAP, them at Chichilti-Calli. the village on the border of

ii —v— the desert, which was found to consist of one solitary

house, built of red earth, without a roof and in ruins. Having in fifteen days toiled through the desert, they came upon a rivulet, which, from the reddish color of its turbid waters, they named Vermilion, and the next morning, about the eleventh of May, Old Style, about forty-six days after Easter, 1540, they reached the town of Cibola, which the natives called Zuiii. A single glance at the little village, built upon a rocky table, that rose precipitously over the sandy soil, revealed its poverty and the utter false hood of the Franciscan's report. The place, to which there was no access except by a narrow winding road, contained two hundred warriors ; but in less than an hour it yielded to the impetuosity of the Spaniards. They found there provisions which were much wanted, but neither gold, nor precious stones, nor rich stuffs ; and Niza, trembling for his life, stole back to New Spain with the first messenger to the viceroy.

As the other cities of Cibola were scarcely more considerable than Zuiii, Coronado despatched Pedro de Tobar with a party of horse to visit the prov ince of Tusayan, that is, the seven towns of Moqui ; and he soon returned with the account that they were feeble villages of poor Indians, who sought peace by presents of skins, mantles of cotton, and maize. On his return, Garci Lopez de Cardenas, "with twelve others, was sent on the bolder enterprise of exploring the course of the rivers. It was "the season of summer as they passed the Moqui villages, struck across the desert, and winding for twenty days through volcanic ruins and arid wastes, dotted only

DISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO. 4(h'

with dwarf pines, reached an upland plain, through CHAP. which the waters of the Colorado have cleft an abyss — ^ for their course. By the party who first gazed down the interminable cliff, the precipice was described as be ing higher than the side of the highest mountain ; the broad, surging torrent below seemed not more than a fathom wide. Two men attempted to descend into the terrible chasm, but after getting, with much toil, a third of the way to the bottom, they climbed back, saying that a massive block, which from the summit seemed no taller than a man, was higher- than the tower of the cathedral at Seville. In no other part of the con tinent has there been found so deep a gulf, hollowed out by a river for its channel, where nature lays bare the processes of countless time, as written on the rocky steep that comes sheer down for thousands of feet. The party on their way back to Zuni, saw where the little Colorado at two leaps clears a ver tical wall of a hundred and twenty feet high.

Thus far, every stream found by the Spaniards flowed to the Gulf of California. In the summer of 1540, before the return of Cardenas, Indians ap peared at Zuni from a province called Cicuye, seventy leagues towards the east, in the country of cattle whose hair was soft and curling like wool. A party under Hernando Alvarado went with the returning Indians. In five days they reached Acoma, which was built on a high cliff, accessible only by a ladder of steps cut in the rock, having on its top land enough to grow maize, and cisterns to catch the rain and snow. Here the Spaniards received gifts of game, deer skins, bread, and maize.

Three other days brought Alvarado to Tiguex, in the valley of the Del Norte, just below Albu-

DISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO.

CHAP, querque, perhaps not far from Isletta ; l and in five

— ^ days more, he reached Cicuye, on the river Pecos.

1540. But he found there nothing of note, except an Indian

who told of Quivira, a country to the north-east,

the real land of the buffalo, abounding in gold and

silver, and watered by tributaries of a river which

was two leagues wide.

The Spanish camp for the winter was established near Tiguex ; there Alvarado brought the Indian who professed to know the way to Quivira ; there Coro- nado himself appeared, after a tour among eight more southern villages ; and there his army, which had reached Zuni without loss, arrived in December, suf fering on its march from storms of snow and cold.

The people who had thus far been discovered, had a civilization intermediate between that of the Mexicans and the tribes of hunters. They dwelt in fixed places of abode, built for security against roving hordes of savages, on tables of land that spread out upon steep natural castles of sandstone. Each house was large enough to contain three or four hundred persons, and consisted of one compact par allelogram, raised of mud, hardened in the sun, or of stones, cemented by a mixture of ashes, earth and char coal for lime ; usually three or four stories high, with terraces, inner balconies and a court , having no en trance on the ground floor ; accessible from without only by ladders, which in case of alarm might be drawn inside. All were equal. There was no king or chief exercising supreme authority ; no caste of

1 A comparison of the letters of luyt, iii. 457, ed. 1810, and the Coronado and of Jaramillo in Ea- ancient maps of New Mexico, con- musio, and of the narrative of Gas- firm the opinion of Kern in School tafteda in Ternaux-Compans, with craft, iv. 34, on the position of Ti the narrative of Espejo in Hak- guex.

DISCOVERT OF NEW MEXICO. 40/

nobles or priests ; no human sacrifices ; no cruel rites CHAP. of superstition ; no serfs or class of laborers or slaves ; — ^ they were not governed much ; and that little gov- 1541. ernment was in the hands of a council of old men. A subterranean heated room was the council chamber. They had no hieroglyphics like the Mexicans, nor calendar, nor astronomical knowledge. Bows and

o

arrows, clubs and stones, were their weapons of de fence ; they were not sanguinary, and they never feasted on their captives. Their women were chaste and modest ; adultery was rare ; polygamy unknown. Maize, beans, pumpkins, and, it would seem, a species of native cotton were cultivated ; the mezquite tree furnished bread. The dress was of skins or cotton mantles. They possessed nothing which could gratify avarice ; the promised turkoises were valueless blue stones.

Unwilling to give up the hope of discovering an opulent country, on the twenty-third of April, 1541, Coronado, with the false Indian as the pilot of his detachment, began a march to the north-east. Cross ing the track of Cabeza de Vaca, in the valley of the Canadian river, they came in nine days upon plains, which seemed to have no end, and where countless numbers of prairie dogs peered on them from their burrows. Many pools of water were found impreg nated with salt, and bitter to the taste. The wan- derings of the general, extending over three hundred leagues, brought him among the Querechos, hunters of the bison, which gave them food and clothing, trings to their bows and coverings to their lodges They had dogs to carry their tents when they moved, but they knew of no wealth but the products of the .chase, and they migrated with the wild herds. The

40/# THE VALLEY OF THE ARKANSAS.

CHAP. Spaniards came once upon a prairie that was broken » — ^ neither by rocks, nor hills, nor trees, nor shrubs, nor 41" any thing which could arrest the eye as it followed the sea of grass to the horizon. In the hollow ravines there were trees, which could be seen only by approach ing the steep bank; the path for descending to the water was marked by the tracks of the bison. Here some of the Teyas nation from the valley of the Del Norte were found hunting. The governor, sending back the most of his men, with a chosen band journeyed on for forty-two days longer ; having no food but the meat of buffaloes, and no fuel but their dung. At last he reached the province, which, apparently from some confusion of names, he was led to call Quivira,1 and which lay in forty degrees aiorth latitude, unless he may have erred one or two degrees in his observa tions. It was well watered by brooks and rivers, which flowed to what the Spaniards then called the Espiritu Santo ; the soil was the best strong, black mould, and bore plums like those of Spain, nuts, grapes, and excellent mulberries. The inhabitants were savages, having no culture but of maize ; no metal but copper ; no lodges but cabins of straw or of bison skins ; no clothing but buffalo robes. Here on the bank of a great tributary of the Mississippi, a cross was raised with this inscription : " Thus far came Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, general of an expedition."

After a still further search for rich kingdoms, and after the Del Norte had been explored by parties from the army for twenty leagues above the river Jeinez, and for an uncertain distance below El Paso, the general, after his return to Tiguex, on the twentieth

1 Certainly not the Quivira, in 34°, east of the Pecos.

CORONADO. CABEZA IN SPAIN. DE SOTO. 41

of October, 1541, reported to Charles the Fifth, that CHAP. poor as were the villages on the Del Norte, nothing ^A- better had been found, and that the region was not fit 1541- to be colonized. Persuaded that no discoveries could be made of lands rich in gold or thickly enough set tled to be worth dividing as estates, Coronado, in 1542, 1542, with the hearty concurrence of his officers, returned to New Spain. His failure to find a Northern Peru threw him out of favor ; yet what could have more deserved applause than the courage and skill of the men who so thoroughly examined the country north of Sonora, from Kanzas on the one side to the chasm of the Colorado on the other, and portrayed it so accurately; that succeeding travellers verify their description !

The 'expedition from Mexico had not yet been be- 1537, gun, when, in 1537, Cabeza de Vaca, landing in Spain, addressed to the Imperial Catholic King a narrative of his adventures, that they might serve as a guide to the men who should go under the royal banners to conquer those lands ; and the tales of " the Colum bus of the continent " quickened the belief, that the country between the river Palmas and the Atlantic was the richest in the world.

The assertion was received even by those who had seen Mexico and Peru. To no one was this faith more disastrous than to Ferdinand de Soto, of Xeres. He had been the favorite companion of Pizarro, and at the storming of Cusco had surpassed his com panions in arms. He assisted in arresting the un happy A tahualpa, and shared in the immense ransom with which the credulous Inca purchased the promise of freedom. Perceiving the angry jealousies of the conquerors of Peru, Soto had seasonably withdrawn, to display his opulence in Spain, and to solicit ad-

42 FLORIDA— FERDINAND DE SOTO.

CHAP vancement. His reception was triumphant; success

^-v^ of all kinds awaited him. The daughter of the distin-

1537 guished nobleman, under whom he had first served as

a poor adventurer, became his wife ; 1 and the special

favor of Charles V. invited his ambition to prefer a large

request. It had ever been believed, that the depths of

the continent at the north concealed cities as magnifi-

o

cent, and temples as richly endowed, as any which had yet been plundered within the limits of the tropics. Soto desired to rival Cortes in glory, and surpass Pizarro in wealth. Blinded by avarice and the love of power, he repaired to Valladolid, and demanded permission to con quer Florida at his own cost; and Charles V. readily conceded to so renowned a commander the government of the Isle of Cuba, with absolute power over the im mense territory, to which the name of Florida was still vaguely applied.2

No sooner was the design of the new expedition published in Spain, than the wildest hopes were in dulged. How brilliant must be the prospect, since even the conqueror of Peru was willing to hazard his fortune and the greatness of his name ! Adventurers assembled as volunteers ; many of them, people of noble birth and good estates. Houses and vineyards, lands for tillage, and rows of olive-trees in the Ajarrale of Seville, were sold, as in the times of the crusades, to 15U8. obtain the means of military equipments. The port of San Lucar of Barrameda was crowded with those who hastened to solicit permission to share in the enterprise. Even soldiers of Portugal desired to be enrolled for the service. A muster was held ; the Portuguese appeared

i Portuguese Relation, c. i. ; in Vega, 1. i. c, i. ; Herrera. d. iv. L i Hokluyt, v. 48.3. c. ni.

* Portuguese Relation, c. i. 483 ;

' SOTO EMBARKS FOR CUBA AND FLORIDA. 43

in the glittering array of burnished armor; and the CHAP. Castilians, brilliant with hopes, were " very gallant with — — silk upon silk." Soto gave directions as to the arma- 1538 ment ; from the numerous aspirants, he selected for his companions six hundred men in the bloom of life, the flower of the peninsula ; many persons of good account, who had sold estates for their equipments, were obliged to remain behind.1

The fleet sailed as gayly as if it had been but a holiday excursion of a bridal party. In Cuba, the pre caution was used to send vessels to Florida to explore a harbor ; and two Indians, brought as captives to Havana, invented such falsehoods as they perceived would be acceptable. They conversed by signs : and the signs were interpreted as affirming that Florida abounded in gold. The news spread great content ment; Soto and his troops were restless with longing for the hour of their departure to the conquest of " the richest country which had yet been discovered." The infection spread in Cuba; and Vasco Porcallo, an aged and a wealthy man, lavished his fortune in magnificent equipments.3

Soto had been welcomed in Cuba bv long and bril- 1539

•/ Maw

liant festivals and rejoicings. At length, all prepa rations were completed ; leaving his wife to govern the island, he and his company, full of unbounded expec tations, embarked for Florida ; and, in about a fortnight, his fleet anchored in the Bay of Spiritu Santo.4 The soldiers went on shore ; the horses, between two and

1 Port. Rel. c. ii. and iii. ; Vega, the accounts of eye-witnesses,

. i. c. v. and vi. When the author- whom he examined; lie was not

ities vary, I follow that winch is himself* an eye-witness.

least highly colored, and give the 2 Portuguese Relation, c. i.

smaller number. Vega says there 3 Vega, 1. i. c. xii.

were a thousand men, and he stren- 4 Portuguese Relation, c. vii. ;

nously vindicntes his own integrity Vega, 1. i. part i. c. i. 23 and love of truth. He wrote from

44 SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA.

CHAP three hundred in number, were disembarked ; and the -— ^ men of the expedition stood upon the soil which they 1539 had sc eagerly desired to tread. Soto would listen to no augury but that of success ; and, like Cortes, he refused to retain his ships, lest they should afford a temptation to retreat. Most of them were sent to Havana.1 The aged Porcallo, a leading man in the enterprise, soon grew alarmed, and began to remember his establishments in Cuba. It had been a principal object with him to obtain slaves for his estates and mines ; despairing of success, and terrified with the marshes and thick forests, he also sailed for the island, where he could enjoy his wealth in security. Soto was indignant at the desertion, but concealed his anger.2

And now began the nomadic march of the adven turers ; a numerous body of horsemen, besides infantry, completely armed ; a force exceeding in numbers and equipments the famous expeditions against the empires of Mexico and Peru. Every thing was provided that experience in former invasions and the cruelty of avarice could suggest; chains3 for captives, and the instru ments of a forge ; arms of all kinds then in use, and bloodhounds as auxiliaries against the feeble natives;4 ample stores of food, and, as a last resort, a drove of hogs, which would soon swarm in the favoring climate, where the forests and the Indian maize furnished abundant sustenance. It was a roving expedition of gallant freebooters in quest of fortune. It was a ro mantic stroll of men whom avarice rendered ferocious, through unexplored regions, over unknown paths ; wherever rumor might point to the residence of some chieftain with more than Peruvian wealth, or the ill-

1 Portuguese Relation, c. x. 3 Port. Rel. c. xi. and xii.

2 Portuguese Relation, c. x. ; Ve- 4 Port Rel. c. xi. and elsewhere gu, 1. ii. part i. c. XL and xii.

SPANIARDS NEAR THE BAY OF APPALACHEE. 45

interpreted signs of the ignorant natives might seem to CHAP promise a harvest of gold. The passion for cards now ^-^ first raged among the groves of the south; and often 1539 at the resting-places groups of listless adventurers clustered together to enjoy the excitement of desperate gaming. Religious zeal was also united with avarice : there were not only cavalry and foot-soldiers, with all that belongs to warlike array ; twelve priests, besides other ecclesiastics, accompanied the expedition. Florida was to become Catholic during scenes of robbery and carnage. Ornaments, such as are used at the service of mass,1 were carefully provided ; every festival was to be kept ; every religious practice to be observed. As the troop marched through the wilder ness, the solemn processions, which the usages of the church enjoined, were scrupulously instituted.52

The wanderings of the first season brought the com- 1539 pany from the Bay of Spiritu Santo to the country of "0° the Appalachians, east of the Flint River, and not far ^ct from the head of the Bay of Appalachee.3 The names of the intermediate places cannot be identified. The march was tedious and full of dangers. The Indians were always hostile ; the two captives of the former expedition escaped ; a Spaniard, who had been kept in slavery from the time of Narvaez, could give no accounts of any country where there was silver or gold.4 The guides would purposely lead the Castilians astray, and involve them in morasses ; even though death, under the fangs of the bloodhounds, was the certain punish ment. The whole company grew dispirited, and

1 Portuguese Relation, c. xix. Herrera confirms the statement.

2 Portuguese Relation, c. xx., and 3 Portuguese Relation, c. xii. 5 in various places, speaks of the Vega, 1. ii. part ii. c. iv. ; McCul-

friars and priests. Vega, 1. i. c. loh's Researches, 5 vi. 'J; 1. iv. c. vi. and elsewhere.

4 Port. Relation, c. ix.

46 SPANIARDS ENTER GEORGIA.

CHAP, desired the governor to return, since the country opened — v^, no brilliant prospects. " I will not turn back," said

1539. Soto, " till 1 have seen the poverty of the country with my own eyes."1 The hostile Indians, who were taken prisoners, were in part put to death, in part enslaved. These were led in chains, with iron collars about their necks ; their service was, to grind the maize and to carry the baggage. An exploring party discovered Ochus,2 the harbor of Pensacola ; and a message was sent to Cuba, desiring that in the ensuing year supplies for the expedition might be sent to that place.3

1540. Early in the spring of the following year, the wan- j£r' derers renewed their march, with an Indian guide, who

promised to lead the way to a country, governed, it was said, by a woman, and where gold so abounded, that the art of melting and refining it wras understood. He described the process so well, that the credulous Span iards took heart, and exclaimed, " He must have seen it, or the devil has been his teacher ! " The Indian appears to have pointed towards the Gold Region of North Carolina.4 The adventurers, therefore, eagerly hastened to the north-east ; they passed the Alata- maha ; they admired the fertile valleys of Georgia, rich, productive, and full of good rivers. They passed a northern tributary of the Alatamaha, and a southern branch of the Ogechee ; and, at length, came upon the April. Ogechee itself, which, in April, flowed with a full channel and a strong current. Much of the time, the Spaniards were in wild solitudes, they suffered ifor want of salt and of meat. Their Indian guide affected madness ; but " they said a gospel over him, and the

1 Portuguese Relation, c. xi. 3 Portuguese Relation, c. VIL—

2 Ibid, c. xii. xii. Vega, 1. ii. part i. and ii.

4 Silliman's Journal, xxiii. 8, 9

SPANIARDS IN GEORGIA. 47

fit left him." Again he involved them in pathless CHAP

. H.

wilds ; and then he would have been torn in pieces by ^^

the dogs, if he had not still been needed to assist the 154° interpreter. Of four Indian eaptives, who were ques tioned, one bluntly answered, he knew no country such as they described ; the governor ordered him to be burnt, for what was esteemed his falsehood. The sight uf the execution quickened the invention of his com panions ; and the Spaniards made their wray to the small Indian settlement of Cutifa-Chiqui. A dagger and a rosary were found here ; the story of the Indians traced them to the expedition of Vasquez de Ayllon ; and a two days' journey would reach, it was believed, the harbor of St. Helena. The soldiers thought of home, and desired either to make a settlement on the fruitful soil around them, or to return. The governor was " a stern man, and of few words." Willingly hearing the opinions of others, he was inflexible, when he had once declared his own mind ; and all his fol lowers, " condescending to his will," continued to in dulge delusive hopes.1

The direction of the march was now to the north ; May to the comparatively sterile country of the Cherokees,5 and in part through a district in which gold is now found. The inhabitants were poor, but gentle ; they liberally offered such presents as their habits of life permitted — deer skins and wild hens. Soto could hardly have crossed the mountains, so as to enter the basin of the Tennessee River ; 3 it seems, rather, that he passed from the head-waters of the Savannah, or the Chatta- houchee, to the head-waters of the Coosa. The name

l Portuguese Relation, c. xiii. 2 Nnttall's Arkansas, 124; Mc-

and xiv. ; Ve<ra, 1. iii. c. ii. — xvii. Culloh's Researches, 5^4.

Compare Bel knap, i. 188. 1 cannot 3 Martin's Louisiana, i. 11. Follow McCulloh, 524.

2 3.

48 SPANIARDS ENTER ALABAMA.

CHAP, of Canasauga, a village at which he halted, is stiL

— ~ given to a branch of the latter stream. For severai

1540. months, the Spaniards were in the valleys which send

their waters to the Bay of Mobile. Chiaha was an

island distant about a hundred miles from Canasauga.

An exploring party which was sent to the north, were

appalled by the aspect of the Appalachian chain, and

pronounced the mountains impassable. They had

looked for mines of copper and gold; and their only

plunder was a buffalo robe.

July In the latter part of July, the Spaniards were at Coosa. In the course of the season, they had occasion to praise the wild grape of the country, the same, perhaps, which has since been thought worthy of cul ture, and to admire the luxuriant growth of maize, which was springing from the fertile plains of Alabama. A southerly direction led the train to Tuscaloosa ; nor Ocrt. was jt jong before the wanderers reached a consider able town on the Alabama, above the junction of the Tombecbee, and about one hundred miles, or six days' journey, from Pensacola. The village was called Ma- villa, or Mobile, a name which is still preserved, and applied, not to the bay only, but to the river, after the union of its numerous tributaries. The Spaniards, tired of lodging in the fields, desired to occupy the cabins ; the Indians rose to resist the invaders, whom they distrusted and feared. A battle ensued ; the ter rors of their cavalry gave the victory to the Spaniards. I know not if a more bloody Indian fight ever occurred on the soil of the United States: the town was set on fire; and a witness of the scene, doubtless greatly exaggera ting the loss, relates that two thousand five hundred Indians were slain, suffocated, or burned. They had

SPANIARDS AMONG THE CHICKASAWS 49

fought with desperate courage ; and, but for the flames, CHAP which consumed their light and dense settlements, they ^— - would have effectually repulsed the invaders. " Of the 15^° Christians, eighteen died ; " one hundred and fifty were wounded with arrows ; twelve horses were slain, and seventy hurt. The flames had not spared the baggage of the Spaniards ; it was within the town, and was entirely consumed.1

Meanwhile, ships from Cuba had arrived at Ochus, now Pensacola. Soto was too proud to confess his failure. He had made no important discoveries ; he had gathered no stores of silver and gold, which he might send to tempt new adventurers ; the fires of Mobile had consumed the curious collections which he had made. It marks the resolute cupidity and stubborn pride with which the expedition was con ducted, that he determined to send no news of himself, until, like Cortes, he had found some rich country.2

But the region above the mouth of the Mobile was populous and hostile, and yet too poor to promise plunder. Soto retreated towards the north ; his troops Nov. already reduced, by sickness and warfare, to five hun dred men. A month passed away, before he reached winter-quarters at Chica^a, a small town in the country Dec. of the Chickasas, in the upper part of the state of Mississippi ; probably on the western bank of the Yazoo. The weather was severe, and snow fell ; but maize was yet standing in the open fields. The Spaniards were able to gather a supply of food, and the 1541 deserted town, with such rude cabins as they added, afforded them shelter through the winter. Yet no

* Port. Rel. c. xviL— xix. 508-- pare Belknap, i. 189, 190 ; McCul-

512. Vega is very extravagant in loh, 525 ; and T. Irving's Florida,

his account of the battle. L. iii. ii. 37. c. xxvii. — xxxi. On localities, corn- a Portuguese Relation, c. xix

VOL. J, 1

50 SPANIARDS AMONG THE CHICKASAWS.

CHAP, mines of Peru were discovered ; no ornaments of gold

adorned the rude savages ; their wealth was the har-

1541. vest of corn, and wigwams were their only palaces ; they were poor and independent ; they were hardy and Mar. loved freedom. When spring1 opened, Soto, as he had usually done with other tribes, demanded of the chieftain of the Chickasaws two hundred men to carry - the burdens of his company. The Indians hesitated Human nature is the same in every age and in every climate. Like the inhabitants of Athens in the days of Themistocles, or those of Moscow of a recent day, the Chickasaws, unwilling to see strangers and enemies occupy their homes, in the dead of night, deceiving the sentinels, set fire to their own village, in which the Castilians were encamped.2 On a sudden, half the houses were in flames ; and the loudest notes of the war-whoop rung through the air. The Indians, could they have acted with calm bravery, might have gained an easy and entire victory ; but they trembled at their own success, and feared the unequal battle against weapons of steel. Many of the horses had broken loose ; these, terrified and without riders, roamed through the forest, of which the burning village illumi nated the shades, and seemed to the ignorant natives the gathering of hostile squadrons. Others of the horses perished in the stables ; most of the swine were consumed ; eleven of the Christians were burned, or lost their lives in the tumult. The clothes which had been saved from the fires of Mobile, were destroyed, and the Spaniards, now as naked as the natives, suffered from the cold. Weapons and equipments were consumed or spoiled. Had the Indians made a

1 Vega says January. I«. iii. c. 2 Vega, 1. iii. c. xxxvi., xxxvn. and xxxvi xxxviii. Port. Account, c. xx. XXL

SPANIARDS IN ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI 51

resolute onset on this night or the next, the Spaniards CHAP. would have been unable to resist. But in a respite of — ^ a week, forges were erected, swords newly tempered, 1541. and good ashen lances were made, equal to the best Mar of Biscay. When the Indians attacked the camp, they 15 found "the Christians" prepared.

All the disasters which had been encountered, far from diminishing the boldness of the governor, served only to confirm his obstinacy by wounding his pride. Should he, who had promised greater booty than Mexico or Peru had yielded, now return as a defeated fugitive, so naked that his troops were clad only in skins and mats of ivy ? The search for some wealthy April region wras renewed ; the caravan marched still further to the west. For seven days, it struggled through a wilderness of forests and marshes ; and, at length, came to Indian settlements in the vicinity of the Mississippi. The lapse of nearly three -centuries has not changed the character of the stream ; it was then described as more than a mile broad ; flowing with a strong current, and, by the weight of its waters, forcing a channel of great depth. The water was always muddy; trees and timber were continually floating down the stream.1

The Spaniards were guided to the Mississippi by natives ; and were directed to one of the usual crossing places, probably at the lowest Chickasa Bluff/ not far from the thirty-fifth parallel of latitude.3 The arrival of the strangers awakened curiosity and fear. A multitude of people from the western banks of

1 Portuguese Account, c. xxii. Vega, more diffuse account of Vega, 1. iv. 1. iv. c. iii. I never rely on Vega c. v.

alone. 3 Bclknap, i. 192: "Within the

2 Portuguese Account, c. xxxii. and thirty-fourth degree." Andrew Elli- xxxiii. taken in connection with the cott's Journal, 125: "Thirty-four de-

62 SPAN1AEDS IN ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI.

CHAP, the river, painted and gayly decorated with great ^.J^ plumes of white feathers, the warriors standing in 1541. rows with bow and arrows in their hands, the chief tains sitting under awnings as magnificent as the artless manufactures of the natives could weave, came rowing down the stream in a fleet of two hundred canoes, seeming to the admiring Spaniards "like a fair army of galleys." They brought gifts of fish, and loaves made of the fruit of the persimmon. At first they showed some desire to offer resistance ; but, soon becoming conscious of their relative weak ness, they ceased to defy an enemy who could not be overcome, and suffered injury without at tempting open retaliation. The boats of the natives were too weak to transport horses; almost a month expired before barges, large enough to hold three horsemen each, were constructed for crossing the May. river. At length, the Spaniards embarked upon the Mississippi; and were borne to its western bank. The Dahcota tribes, doubtless, then occupied the June, country south-west of the Missouri ; 1 Soto had heard its praises; he believed in its vicinity to mineral wealth; and he determined to visit its towns. In ascending the Mississippi, the party was often obliged to wade through morasses ; at length they came, as it would seem, upon the district of Little Prairie, and the dry and elevated lands which extend towards New Madrid. Here the religions of the invaders and

grees and ten minutes." Martin's miles below the mouth of the Arkansas

Louisiana,!. 12: "A little below the River."

lowest Chickasaw Bluff." Nuttall's l Charlevoix, Journal Historiqiie

Travels in Arkansas, 248 : " The low- let. xxviii. Nuttall's Arkansas, 82,

est Chickasaw Bluff." McCulloh's 250, and 251. McCulloh disagrees

Researches, 526: "Twenty or thirty 526—528.

SPANIARDS IN ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI. 53

the natives came in contrast. The Spaniards were CHAP adored as children of the sun, and the blind were — — brought into their presence, to be healed by the sons 154] of light, " Pray only to God, who is in heaven, for whatsoever ye need," said Soto in reply ; and the sublime doctrine, which, thousands of years before, had been proclaimed in the deserts of Arabia, now first found its way into the prairies of the Far West The wild fruits of that region were abundant; the pecan nut, the mulberry, and the two kinds of wild plums, furnished the natives with articles of food At Pacaha, June

19

the northernmost point which Soto reached near the to*

Mississippi, he remained forty days. The spot cannot be identified ; but the accounts of the amusements of the Spaniards confirm the truth of the narrative of their ramblings. Fish were taken, such as are now found in the fresh waters of that region ; one of them, the spade fish,1 the strangest and most whimsical production of the muddy streams of the west, so rare, that, even now, it is hardly to be found in any museum, is accurately described by the best historian of the expedition.2

An exploring party, which was sent to examine the regions to the north, reported that they were almost a desert. The country still nearer the Missouri was said by the Indians to be thinly inhabited; the bison abounded there so much, that no maize could be cultivated ; and the few inhabitants were hunters. Soto turned, there fore, to the west and north-west, and plunged still Aug more deeply into the interior of the continent. The highlands of White River, more than two hundred miles from the Mississippi, were probably the limit of

1 Platirostra Edentula. lip, it was made like a peele. It

2 Portuguese Relation, c. xxiv. had no scales." Compare Flint's u There was another fish, called a Geography, i. 85. Journal of Phil. peele fish ; it had a snout of a cubit Acad. of Nat. Science, i. c>27 — '££). long and at the end of the upper Nuttall's Arkansas. W54.

54 CONDITION OF THE NATIVE TRIBES.

CHAP, his ramble in this direction. The mountains offered •-^- neither gems nor gold ; and the disappointed adven- turers marched to the south.1 They passed through a succession of towns, of which the position cannot be fixed ; till, at length, we find them among the Tunicas,3 near the hot springs and saline tributaries of the Washita.3 It was at Autiamque, a town on the same river,4 that they passed the winter ; they had arrived at the settlement through the country of the Kappaws. The native tribes, every where on the route, were found in a state of civilization beyond that of nomadic hordes. They were an agricultural people, with fixed places of abode, and subsisted upon the produce of the fields, more than upon the chase. Ignorant of the arts of life, they could offer no resistance to their unwel come visitors ; the bow and arrow were the most effective weapons with which they were acquainted. They seem not to have been turbulent or quarrelsome ; but as the population was moderate, and the earth fruitful, the tribes were not accustomed to contend with each other for the possession of territories. Their dress was, in part, mats wrought of ivy and bulrushes, of the bark and lint of trees ; in cold weather, they wore mantles woven of feathers. The settlements were by tribes ; each tribe occupied what the Spaniards called a province ; their villages were generally near together, but were composed of few habitations. The Spaniards treated them with no other forbearance than their own selfishness demanded, and enslaved such as offended, employing them as porters and guides. On a slight suspicion, they would cut off the hands of

1 Portuguese Rel. c. xxv. — xxvii. 4 The river of Autiamque, Cayas,

2 Charlevoix, Jour. Hist. 1. xxxi. the saline regions, and afterwards

3 Portuguese Narrative, c. xxvi. of Nilco, was the same Portu- Nuttall's Arkansas, 215, 216, 257. guese Relation, c. xxviii.

SPANIARDS IN ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA. 55

numbers of the natives, for punishment or intimida- CHAP tion;1 while the young cavaliers, from desire of seeming — — • valiant, ceased to be merciful, and exulted in cruelties 1541 and carnage. The guide who was unsuccessful, or who purposely led them away from the settlements of his tribe, would be seized and thrown to the hounds. Sometimes a native was condemned to the flames. Any trifling consideration of safety would induce the governor to set fire to a hamlet. He did not delight

o •—>

in cruelty ; but the happiness, the life, and the rights of the Indians, were held of no account. The ap proach of the Spaniards was heard with dismay ; and their departure hastened by the suggestion of wealthier lands at a distance.

In the spring of the following year, Soto determined 154 a to descend the Washita to its junction, and to get ^r* tidings of the sea. As he advanced, he was soon lost amidst the bayous and marshes which are found along the Red River and its tributaries. Near the Missis sippi, he came upon the country of Nilco, which was well peopled. The river was there larger than the Guadalquivir at Seville. At last, he arrived at the April province where the Washita, already united with the Red River, enters the Mississippi.2 The province was called Guachoya. Soto anxiously inquired the distance to the sea ; the chieftain of Guachoya could not tell. Were there settlements extending along the river to its mouth ? It was answered that its lower banks were an uninhabited waste. Unwilling to believe so disheart ening a tale, Soto sent one of his men, with eight

1 Calveto, from Benzo, Hist. N. geration of distances, and for delays Orbis N. 1. ii. c. xiii. in De Bry, on the Mississippi during the nijrht-

v. 47. time; 529—531, Nuttall, Martin,

2 McCulloh places Guachoya near and others, agree with the state- the Arkansas. He does not make ment in the text.

sulHcient allowance for an exag

56 DEATH AND BURIAL OF FERDINAND DE SOTO.

CHAP horsemen, to descend the banks of the Mississippi, and ^v^ explore the country. They travelled eight days, and 1542 were able to advance not much more than thirty miles, they were so delayed by the frequent bayous, the im passable cane-brakes, and the dense woods.1 The gov ernor received the intelligence with concern ; he suf fered from anxiety and gloom. His horses and men were dying around him, so that the natives were be coming dangerous enemies. He attempted to overawe a tribe of Indians near Natchez by claiming a super natural birth, and demanding obedience and tribute. " You say you are the child of the sun," replied the un daunted chief; " dry up the river, and I will believe you. Do you desire to see me ? Visit the town where I dwell. If you come in peace, I will receive you with special good-will ; if in war, 1 will not shrink one foot back." But Soto was no longer able to abate the confidence, or punish the temerity of the natives. His stubborn pride was changed by long disappointments into a wasting mel ancholy ; and his health sunk rapidly and entirely under a conflict of emotions. A malignant fever ensued, during which he had little comfort, and was neither visited nor attended as the last hours of life demand. Believing his death near at hand, he held the last solemn interview with his faithful followers ; and, yield ing to the wishes of his companions, who obeyed him May to the end, he named a successor. On the next day he died. Thus perished Ferdinand de Soto, the governor of Cuba, the successful associate of Pizarro. His mis erable end was the more observed, from the greatness of his former prosperity. His soldiers pronounced his eulogy by grieving for their loss ; the priests chanted over his body the first requiems that were ever heard on the

i Portuguese Account, c. xxix.

SPANIARDS ON THE RED RIVER. 57

waters of the Mississippi. To conceal his death, his CHAP. body was wrapped in a mantle, and, in the stillness of — ~ midnight, was silently sunk in the middle of the stream. 1542. The wanderer had crossed a large part of the continent in search of gold, and found nothing so remarkable as his burial-place.1

No longer guided by the energy and pride of Soto, the company resolved on reaching New Spain without June, delay. Should they embark in such miserable boats as they could construct, and descend the river ? Or should they seek a path to Mexico through the for ests ? They were unanimous in the opinion, that it was less dangerous to go by land ; the hope was still cherished, that some wealthy state, some opulent city, might yet be discovered, and all fatigues be forgotten in the midst of victory and spoils. Again they pene trated the western wilderness ; in July, they found July, themselves in the country of the Natchitoches ; 2 but the Red River was so swollen, that it was impossible for them to pass. They soon became bewildered. As they proceeded, the Indian guides purposely led them astray ; " they went up and down through very great woods," without making any progress. The wilderness, into which they had at last wandered, was sterile and scarcely inhabited ; they had now reached the great buffalo prairies of the west, the hunting- grounds of the Pawnees and Cornanches, the migra tory tribes on the confines of Mexico. The Spaniards believed themselves to be at least one hundred and fifty leagues west of the Mississippi. Desperate as the

1 Portuguese Relation, c. xxx. 2 Vega introduces the Natchi-

Vega, 1. v. p. i. c. vii. viii. Vega toches too soon. L. v. p. i. c. i.

embellishes. Herrera d. vii. 1. vii. See Portuguese Account, c. xxxn.

C. iii. and xxxiii. Compare Nuttall,

VOL. I 8

58 SPANIARDS DESERT THE UNITED STATES.

CHAP resolution seemed, it was determined to return once

-^•~ more to its banks, and follow its current to the sea.

1542. There were not wanting men, whose hopes and whose courage were not yet exhausted, who wished rather to die in the wilderness, than to leave it in poverty ; but Moscoso, the new governor, had long " desired to see himself in a place where he might sleep his full sleep."1

Dec. They came upon the Mississippi at Minoya, a few leagues above the mouth of Red River, often wading through deep waters, and grateful to God if, at night, they could find a dry resting-place. The Indians, whom they had enslaved, died in great num bers ; in Minoya, many Christians died ; and most of them were attacked by a dangerous epidemic.

1543 Nor was the labor yet at an end; it was no easy

J"' task for men in their condition to build brigantines.

Jul7 Erecting a forge, they struck off the fetters from the slaves ; and, gathering every scrap of iron in the camp they wrought it into nails. Timber was sawed by hand with a large saw, which they had always carried with them. They calked their vessels with a weed like hemp ; barrels, capable of holding water, were with difficulty made ; to obtain supplies of provision, all the hogs and even the horses were killed, and their flesh preserved by drying ; and the neighboring townships of Indians were so plundered of their food, that the miserable inhabitants would come about the Span iards begging for a few kernels of their own maize, and often died from weakness and want of food. The rising of the Mississippi assisted the launching of the seven brigantines ; they were fraii barks, which had no decks; and as, from the want of iron, the nails were of necessity short, they were constructed of very

i Portuguese Relation, c. xxxiv.

SPANISH MISSIONARIES IN FLORIDA. 59

thin planks, so that any severe shock would have CHAP. broken them in pieces. Thus provided, after a pas- — ^~ sage of seventeen days, the fugitives, on the eighteenth ju]7 " of July, reached the Gulf of Mexico ; the distance 2— 18« seemed to them two hundred and fifty leagues, and was not much less than five hundred miles. They were the first to observe, that for some distance from, the mouth of the Mississippi the sea is not salt, so great is the volume of fresh water which the river discharges. Following, for the most part, the coast, it was more than fifty days before the men, who finally escaped, now no more than three hundred and eleven in number, on the tenth of September entered the River Panuco.1

Such is the history of the first voyage of Europeans on the Mississippi ; the honor of the discovery belongs, without a doubt, to the Spaniards. There were not wanting adventurers, who, in 1544, desired to make one more attempt to possess the country by force of arms ; their request was refused. Religious zeal was more persevering; in December, 1547, Louis Can- 1547. cello, a missionary of the Dominican order, gained, 28?* through Philip, then heir apparent in Spain, permis sion to visit Florida, and attempt the peaceful con version of the natives. Christianity was to conquer the land against which so many experienced warriors

J0n Soto's expedition, by far the report of Luis Hernandez de the best account is that of the For- Biedina, of which there is a French tugMese Eye-witness, first published translation in Ternaux-Compans, in 1557, and by Hakluyt, in Eng- xx. 81. Of books published in lisli, in 1609. In the history of America, compare Belknap, in Am. Vega, numbers and distances are Biog. i. 185 — 195; McCulloh, Re- magnified, and every thing em- searches, Appendix, iii. 523 — 531 ; belllshed ; it must be consulted Nuttall, in his Travels in Arkan- with extreme caution. Bucking- sas, Appendix, 247 — 267 ; Fickett's ham Smith, in his Coleccion para History of Alabama; and T. Irv- la Historia de la Florida, has pub- ing's Conquest of Florida, lished the original in Spanish of VOL. I. 9

60 SPANISH MISSIONARIES IN FLORIDA.

CHAP, had failed. The Spanish governors were directed to — . — • favor the design ; all slaves, that had been taken from the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, were to be 1549. manumitted and restored to their country. In 1549, a ship was fitted out with much solemnity ; but the priests, who sought the first interview with the na tives, were feared as enemies, and, being immediately attacked, Louis and two others fell martyrs to their zeal.

Death seemed to guard the approaches to that land. While the Castilians were everywhere else vic torious, they were driven for a time to abandon the soil of Florida, after it was wet with their blood. But under that name they continued to claim all North America, even as far as Newfoundland and Canada. No history exists of their early exploration of the coast, nor is even the name of the Spanish navigator ascertained, who, between the years 1524 and 1540, discovered the Chesapeake, and made it known as " the Bay of St. Mary." Under that appellation the historian Oviedo, writing a little after 1540, describes it as opening to the sea in the latitude of thirty-six degrees and forty minutes, and as including islands ; of two rivers which it receives, he calls the north eastern one, Salt River ; the other, the river of the Holy Ghost ; the cape to the north of it, which he places in the latitude of thirty-seven degrees, he names Cape St. John.1 The bay of St. Maiy is marked on all Spanish maps, after the year 1549.2 But as yet not a Spanish fort was erected on the Atlantic coast, not a harbor was occupied, not one settlement was begun The first permanent establishment of the Spaniards in Florida was the result of jealous bigotry

1 Oviedo : Hist. Gen. L. xxi. » J. G. Kohl.

c. ix., ed. 1852, ii. 146.

CULIGNY TLANS A COLONY OF HUGUENOTS. 61

For France had begun to settle the region with a CHAP colony of Protestants ; and Calvinism, which, with the — — special cooperation of Calvin himself, had, for a short 15G2 season, occupied the coasts of Brazil and the harbor of 1555 Rio Janeiro,1 was now to be planted on the borders of Florida. Coligny had long desired to establish a refuge for the Huguenots, and a Protestant French empire, in America. Disappointed in his first effort, by the apostasy and faithlessness of his agent, Ville- gagnon, he still persevered ; moved alike by religious zeal, and by a passion for the honor of France. The expedition which he now planned was intrusted to the 1562 command of John Ribault of Dieppe, a brave man, of maritime experience, and a firm Protestant, and was attended by some of the best of the young French nobility, as well as by veteran troops. The feeble Charles IX. conceded an ample commission, and the Feb< squadron set sail for the shores of North America. l8- Desiring to establish their plantation in a genial clime, land was first made in the latitude of St. Augus tine ; the fine river which we call the St. Johns,2 was discovered, and named the River of May. It is the St. May Matheo3 of the Spaniards. The forests of mulberries were admired, and caterpillars readily mistaken for silk worms. The cape received a French name ; as the ships sailed along the coast, the numerous streams were called after the rivers of France ; and America, for a while, had its Seine, its Loire, and its Garonne. In searching for the Jordan or Combahee, they came upon Port Royal entrance,4 which seemed the outlet

1 He Thou's Hist. 1. xvi. Lery, 2 Compare the criticism of

[lisl. Nav. in Urns. An abridjjf- Holmes's Annals, i. 5(>7.

mentofthe description, hut not of 3 Ensayo Cronolo<rico, p. 43.

the personal inrrative, appears in 4 Laudonniere, in Hakluyt, iii. 373.

Purclias, iv. I3'£>— 13-17. L'Kscar The description is sufficiently minute

hot, N. P. i. 143 — 4<il4; Southey's and accurate; removing all doubt.

Brazil, part i. c. ix. Before the geography of the coun-

62 HUGUENOTS NEAR BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA.

CHAP, of a magnificent river. The greatest ships of France — ~ and the argosies of Venice could ride securely in the 1562. deep water of the harbor. The site for a first settle ment is apt to be injudiciously selected ; the local advantages which favor the growth of large cities, are revealed by time. It was perhaps on Parris Island, that a monumental stone, engraved with the arms of France, was- proudly raised; and as the company look ed round upon the immense oaks, which were venera ble from the growth of centuries, the profusion of wild fowls, the groves of pine, the flowers so fragrant that the whole air was perfumed, they already regarded the country as a province of their native land. Ribault de termined to leave a colony ; twenty-six composed the whole party, which was to keep possession of the con- inent. Fort Charles, the Carolina,1 so called in honor of Charles IX. of France, first gave a name to the country, a century before it wras occupied by the Eng lish. The name remained, though the early colony perished.3

Julv Ribault and the ships arrived safely in France. But 20

the fires of civil war had been kindled in ail the

provinces of the kingdom ; and the promised reinforce ments for Carolina were never levied. The situation of the French became precarious. The natives were friendly ; but the soldiers themselves were insubordi nate ; and dissensions prevailed. The commandant at Carolina repressed the turbulent spirit with arbitrary cruelty, and lost his life in a mutiny which his ungov ernable passion had provoked. The new commander

try was well known, there was room is confused and inaccurate. Com-

for the error of Charlevoix, Nouv. Fr. pare Johnson's Life of Greene, i. 477

i. 25, who places the settlement at J Munitionem Carolinam, de re-

the mouth of the Fdisto, an error gfis nomine dictum. De Thou, 1

which is followed by Chalmers, 513. xliv. 531, edition of t62(>.

It is no reproach to Charlevoix, that, 2 Hening, i. 552; and Thurloe

his geoo-ra phy of the coast, of Florida ii. 273, 274.

SECOND COLONY OF COLIGNY 63

succeeded in restoring order. But the love of his CHAP

n. native land is a passion easily revived in the breast of — -^

a Frenchman ; and the company resolved to embark in 15Ga such a brigantine as they could themselves construct. Intoxicated with joy at the thought of returning home, 1563 they neglected to provide sufficient stores ; and they were overtaken by famine at sea, with its attendant crimes. A small English bark at length boarded their

o o

vessel, and, setting the most feeble on shore upon the coast of France, carried the rest to the queen of Eng land. Thus fell the first attempt of France in French Florida, near the southern confines of South Carolina. The country was still a desert.1

After the treacherous peace between Charles IX. 15<>4. and the Huguenots, Coligny renewed his solicitations for the colonization of Florida. The king gave con sent ; three ships were conceded for the service ; and Laudonniere, who, in the former voyage, had been upon the American coast, a man of great intelligence, though a seaman rather than a soldier, was appointed to lead forth the colony. Emigrants readily appeared ; for the climate of Florida was so celebrated, that, ac cording to rumor, the duration of human life was doubled under its genial influences;2 and men still dreamed of rich mines of gold in the interior. Coligny was desirous of obtaining accurate descriptions of the country ; and James le Moyne, called De Morgues, an ingenious painter, was commissioned to execute colored drawings of the objects which might engage his curi- Aprij osily. A voyage of sixty days brought the fleet, by j2 to the way of the Canaries and the Antilles, to the shores 2&

1 Laudonniere, in Hakluyt, iii. loo-ico, 42 — 45; L'Escarbot, Nouv.

371 — 'frM. Compare l)e Thou, a Fr. i. 41 — (?2.

contemporary, 1. xliv. ; Charlevoix, 2 De Thou, 1. xliv.; Hakluyt, iv.

N. Fr. i. 24 — 35 Ensayo Crono- 389

64 HUGUENOTS ON THE RIVER ST. JOHNS.

CHAP, of Florida. The harbor of Port Royal, rendered gloomy — ^ by recollections of misery, was avoided ; and after 1564 searching the coast, and discovering places which were so full of amenity, that melancholy itself could not but change its humor, as it gazed, the followers of Calvin planted themselves on the banks of the River May. They sung a psalm of thanksgiving, and gathered courage from acts of devotion. The fort now erected was also named Carolina. The result of this attempt to procure for France immense dominions at the south of our republic, through the agency of a Huguenot colony, has been very frequently narrated : * in the history of human nature it forms a dark picture of vindictive bigotry.

The French were hospitably welcomed by the natives ; a monument, bearing the arms of France, was crowned with laurels, and its base encircled with baskets of corn. What need is there of minutely relating the simple manners of the red men; the dissensions of rival tribes ; the largesses offered to the strangers to secure their protection or their alliance ; the improvident prodigality with which careless soldiers wasted the supplies of food ; the certain approach of scarcity ; the gifts and the tribute levied from the Indians by en treaty, menace, or force ? By degrees the confidence

l There are four original ac- and apologist of Melendez, in En- counts by eye-witnesses : Laudon- sayo Cronnlogico, 85 — 1>0. On So- niere, in Hakluyt, iii. 384 — 419: lis, compare Crisis del Knsayo, 22, Le Moyne, in De Bry, part ii., to- 2.'J. I have drawn my narrative from gethcr with the Epistola Supplica- a comparison of these four accounts; toiia, from the widows and orphans consulting also the admirable L)e of the sufferers, to Charles IX.; also Thou, a genuine worshipper at the in De Bry, part ii : Challus, or shrine of truth, 1. xliv. ; the diffuse Challusius, of Dieppe, whose ac- Barcia's Ensayo Cronologico, 42-- count I have found annexed to 94; the elaborate and circumstantial Calveto's Nov. Nov. Orb. Hist, narrative of Charlevoix, N. Fr. i. 24 under tho title De Gallorum Ex- — 10(5; and the account of L'Escar- peditione in Floridam, 4M — 4l>5>: hot, i. (52 — 121). The accounts do and the Spanish account by Solis not essentially vary. Voltaire and de las Meras, the brother-in-law many others have repeated the tale

HUGUENOTS SUFFER FROM SCARCITY. 65

of the natives was exhausted ; they had welcomed CHAP powerful guests, who promised to become their bene ---- ^

factors, and who now robbed their humble granaries.

But the worst evil in the new settlement was the character of the emigrants. Though patriotism and religious enthusiasm had prompted the expedition, the inferior class of the colonists was a motley group of dissolute men. Mutinies were frequent. The men were mad with the passion for sudden wealth ; and a party, under the pretence of desiring to escape from famine, compelled Laudonniere to sign an order, per mitting their embarkation for New Spain. No sooner 1564

Dec

were they possessed of this apparent sanction of the g. " chief, than they equipped two vessels, and began a career of piracy against the Spaniards. Thus the French were the aggressors in the first act of hostility in the New World ; an act of crime and temerity which was soon avenged. The pirate vessel was taken, and most of the men disposed of as prisoners or slaves. A few escaped in a boat ; these could find no shelter but at Fort Carolina, where Laudonniere sentenced the ringleaders to death.

Meantime, the scarcity became extreme; and the 1565 friendship of the natives was entirely forfeited by un profitable severity. March was gone, and there were no supplies from France ; April passed away, and the expected recruits had not arrived ; May came, but it brought nothing to sustain the hopes of the exiles. It was resolved to return to Europe in such miserable biigantines as despair could construct. Just then, Sir Jo lin Hawkins,1 the slave-merchant, arrived from the Aug West Indies. He came fresh from the sale of a cargo of Africans, whom he had kidnapped with signal rutli-

1 Hawkins, in Hakluyt, iii. 615, 616. VOL. I. 9

66 MELENDEZ APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA.

CHAP, lessness ; and he now displayed the most generous — -~ sympathy, not only furnishing a liberal supply of pro- 1565 visions, but relinquishing a vessel from his own fleet Preparations were continued; the colony was on the point of embarking, when sails were descried. Ribault had arrived to assume the command; bringing with him supplies of every kind, emigrants with their families, garden seeds, implements of husbandry, and the various kinds of domestic animals. The French, now wild with joy, seemed about to acquire a home, and Calvin ism to become fixed in the inviting regions of Florida. But Spain had never relinquished her claim to that territory ; where, if she had not planted colonies, she had buried many hundreds of her bravest sons. Should the proud Philip II. abandon a part of his dominions tc France ? Should he suffer his commercial monopoly to be endangered by a rival settlement in the vicinity of the West Indies ? Should the bigoted Romanist permit the heresy of Calvinism to be planted in the neighborhood of his Catholic provinces ? There had appeared at the Spanish court a bold commander, well fitted for acts of reckless hostility. Pedro Melendez de Aviles had, in a long career of military service, become accustomed to scenes of blood ; and his natural ferocity had been confirmed by his course of life. Often, as a naval officer, encountering pirates, he had become inured to acts of prompt and unsparing vengeance. He had acquired wealth in Spanish America, which was no school of benevol'ence ; and his conduct there had provoked an inquiry, which, after a long arrest, ended in his conviction. The nature of his offences is not apparent ; the justice of

MELENDEZ APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA 67

the sentence is confirmed, for the king, who knew him CHAP well, esteemed his bravery, and received him again into ^^ his service, remitted only a moiety of his fine. The 1565 heir of Melendez had been shipwrecked among the Bermudas ; the father desired to return and search among the islands for tidings of his only son. Philip II. suggested the conquest and colonization of Flor ida • and a compact was soon framed and confirmed, 20 by which Melendez, who desired an opportunity to retrieve his honor, was constituted the hereditary gov ernor of a territory of almost unlimited extent.1

The terms of the compact2 are curious. Melendez, on his part, promised, at his own cost, in the following May, to invade Florida with at least five hundred men ; to complete its conquest within three years ; to ex plore its currents and channels, the dangers of its coasts, and the depth of its havens ; to establish a colony of at least five hundred persons, of whom one hundred should be married men ; to introduce at least twelve ecclesiastics, besides four Jesuits. It was fur ther stipulated, that he should transport to his province all kinds of domestic animals. The bigoted Philip II. had no scruples respecting slavery ; Melendez con tracted to import into Florida five hundred negro slaves. The sugar-cane was to become a staple of the country.

The king, in return, promised the adventurer various commercial immunities ; the office of governor for lire, with the right of naming his son-in-law as his suc cessor ; an estate of twenty-five square leagues in the immediate vicinity of the settlement ; a salary of two thousand ducats, chargeable on the revenues of the province ; and a fifteenth part of all royal perquisites.

i Ensayo Cronolog. 57 —05. 2 Ibid. G6.

68 MELENDEZ EMBARKS FOR FLORIDA. ,

CHAP. Meantime, news arrived, as the French writers assert;

— ^ through the treachery of the court of France, that the

1565. Huguenots had made a plantation in Florida, and that Ribault was preparing to set sail with reinforcements. The cry was raised, that the heretics must be extir pated , the enthusiasm of fanaticism was kindled, and Melendez readily obtained all the forces which he required. More than twenty-five hundred persons — soldiers, sailors, priests, Jesuits, married men with their families, laborers, and mechanics, and, with the excep tion of three hundred soldiers, all at the cost of Melen dez — engaged in the invasion. After delays occasioned

July, by a storm, the expedition set sail ; and the trade- winds soon bore them rapidly across the Atlantic. A tempest scattered the fleet on its passage ; it was with only one third part of his forces, that Melendez arrived

Aug at the harbor of St. John in Porto Rico. But he es teemed celerity the secret of success ; and, refusing to await the arrival of the rest of his squadron, he sailed for Florida. It had ever been his design to explore the coast ; to select a favorable site for a fort or a settle ment ; and, after the construction of fortifications, to

Aug. attack the French. It was on the day which the cus-

ou J

toms of Rome have consecrated to the memory of one of the most eloquent sons of Africa, and one of the most venerated of the fathers of the church, that he came in sight of Florida.1 For four days, he sailed along the coast, uncertain where the French were es- 2. tablished; on the fifth day, he landed, and gathered from the Indians accounts of the Huguenots. At the same time, he discovered a fine haven and beautiful river ; and, remembering the saint, on whose day he came upon the coast, he gave to the harbor and to the

i Ensayo Cronolog. 68 — 70.

ST. AUGUSTINE THE OLDEST TOWN IN THE U. STATES. 69

stream the name of St. Augustine.1 Sailing, then, to CHAP the north, he discovered a portion of the French fleet, ^~ and observed the nature of the road where they were 1565 anchored. The French demanded his name and 4. objects. " I am Melendez of Spain," replied he ; " sent with strict orders from my king to gibbet and behead all the Protestants in these regions. The Frenchman who is a Catholic, I will spare ; every heretic shall die."2 The French fleet, unprepared for action, cut its cables ; the Spaniards, for some time, continued an ineffectual chase.

It was at the hour of vespeis, on the evening pre ceding the festival of the nativity of Mary, that the 7. Spaniards returned to the harbor of St. Augustine. At noonday of the festival itself, the governor went on Sept shore, to take possession of the continent in the name of his king. The bigoted Philip II. \vas proclaimed monarch of all North America. The solemn mass of Our Lady was performed, and the foundation of St. Augustine was immediately laid.3 It is, by more than forty years, the oldest town in the United States. Houses in it are yet standing, which are said to have been built many years before Virginia was colonized.4

By the French it was debated, whether they should improve their fortifications, and await the approach of the Spaniards, or proceed to sea, and attack their enemy. Against the advice of his officers, Ribault resolved upon the latter course. Hardly had he left tin? harbor for the open sea, before there arose a fearful sfP1' storm, which continued till October, and wrecked every

1 Ensayo Cronolocr. 71. soldiers, victim!, and munition, on

2 HI quo fuore hereore, morirft. land." Hakluyt, iii. 4M. Knsayo Hn&ayo Cronologico, 75, 70. It is Cronologico, 7(1, 77. Prince Mu- tho account of the apologist and rat, in Am. Q. Rev. ii. xJJU. Do admirer of Melendez. Thou, 1. xliv.

3 Laudonniere. " They put their 4 JStoddard's Sketches, 120.

70 MASSACRE OF THE FREJXCH PROTESTANTS.

CHAP, ship of the French fleet on the Florida coast. The v^v~ vessels were dashed against the rocks about fifty 1565 leagues south of Fort Carolina; most of the men es caped with their lives.

The Spanish ships also suffered, but not so severely ; and the troops at St. Augustine were entirely safe They knew that the French settlement was left in a defenceless state : with a fanatical indifference to toil, Melendez led his men through the lakes, and marshes, and forests, that divided the St. Augustine from the St. Johns, and, with a furious onset, surprised the weak garrison, who had looked only towards the sea for the Sept. approach of danger. After a short contest, the Span iards were masters of the fort. A scene of carnage en sued ; soldiers, women, children, the aged, the sick, were alike massacred. The Spanish account asserts, that Melendez ordered women and young children to be spared ; yet not till after the havoc had Jong been

raging.

Nearly two hundred persons were killed. A few escaped into the woods, among them Laudonniere, C hall us, and Le Moyne, who have related the horrors of the scene. But whither should they fly? Death met them in the woods ; and the heavens, the earth, the sea, and men, all seemed conspired against them. Should they surrender, appealing to the sympathy of their conquerors ? " Let us,-5' said Challus, " trust in the mercy of God, rather than of these men." A few gave themselves up, and were immediately murdered. The others, after the severest sufferings, found their way to the sea-side, and were received on board two small French vessels which had remained in the harbor. The Spaniards, angry that any should have escaped, insulted the corpses of the dead with wanton baibarity.

MASSACRE OF THE SHIPWRECKED MEN. 71

The victory had been gained on the festival of CHAP. St. Matthew; and hence the Spanish name of the •— « — river May. After the carnage, mass was said ; a cross \^' raised ; and the site for a church selected, on ground 21. still smoking with the blood of a peaceful colony.

The shipwrecked men were, in their turn, soon discovered. Melendez invited them to rely on his compassion; in a state of helpless weakness, wasted by their fatigues at sea, half famished, destitute of water and of food, they capitulated, and in successive divisions, were ferried across the intervening river. As the captives stepped upon the opposite bank, their hands were tied behind them ; and in this way they were marched towards St. Augustine, like sheep to the slaughter-house. When they approached the fort, a signal was given ; and amidst the sound of trumpets and drums, the Spaniards fell upon the unhappy men, who could offer no resistance. A few Catholics were spared ; some mechanics were reserved as slaves ; the rest were massacred, " not as Frenchmen, but as Lu therans." The whole number of victims here and at the fort, is said, by the French, to have been about nine hundred ; the Spanish accounts diminish the number of the slain, but not the atrocity of the deed.

In 1566 Melendez attempted to take possession of 1566. Chesapeake Bay, then known as St. Mary's. A vessel was despatched from his squadron with thirty soldiers and two Dominicans, to settle that region and con vert its inhabitants; but disheartened by contrary winds and the certain perils of the proposed coloniza tion, they turned about before coming near the bay, and sailed for Seville, spreading the worst accounts of a country which none of them had seen.

Melendez returned to Spain, impoverished, but

72 DE GOTJRGUES AVENGES HIS COUNTRYMEN.

CHAP, triumphant. The French government heard of his — , — outrage with apathy, and made not even a remon- 1566. strance on the ruin of a colony, which, if it had been protected, would have given to France an empire in the south, before England had planted a single spot on the new continent. History has been more faith ful, and has assisted humanity by giving to the crime of Melendez an infamous notoriety. The first town in the United States sprung from the unrelenting bigotry of the Spanish king. We admire the rapid growth of our larger cities; the sudden transformation of portions of the wilderness into blooming states. St. Augustine presents a stronger contrast, in its transition from the bigoted policy of Philip II. to the American principle of religious liberty.

1687. The Huguenots and the French nation did not share the indifference of the court. Dominic de Gourgues — a bold soldier of Gascony, whose life had been a series of adventures, now employed in the army against Spain, now a prisoner and a galley-slave among the Spaniards, taken by the Turks with the vessel in which he rowed, and redeemed by the com mander of the knights of Malta — burned with a de sire to avenge his own wrongs and the honor of his country. The sale of his property, and the contribu tions of his friends, furnished the means of equipping three ships, in which, with one hundred and fifty men, Aug. he, on the twenty-second of August, 1567, embarked 22' for Florida, to destroy and revenge. He surprised two forts near the mouth of the St. Matheo ; and, as terror magnified the number of his followers, the con sternation of the Spaniards enabled him to gain pos session of the larger establishment, near the spot which the French colony had occupied. Too weak to

Green- how's Memoir.

EXTENT OF SPANISH DOMINIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 73

maintain Ms position, lie, in May, 1568, hastily weighed CHAP. anchor for Europe, having first hanged his prisoners upon the trees, and placed over them the inscription : " I do not this as unto Spaniards or mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers and murderers." The natives, who had been ill treated both by the Spaniards and the French, enjoyed the consolation of seeing their enemies butcher one another.

The attack of the fiery Gascon was but a passing storm. France disavowed the expedition, and relin quished all pretension to Florida. Spain grasped at it as a portion of her dominions ; and, if discovery could confer a right, her claim was founded in justice. In 1573, Pedro Melendez Marquez, nephew to the Ade- uf.riaj lantado, Melendez de Aviles, pursued the explorations begun by his relative. Having traced the coast line from the Southern Cape of Florida, he sailed into the Chesapeake bay, estimated the distance between its headlands, took soundings of the water in its channel, and observed its many harbors and deep rivers, navi gable for ships. His voyage may have extended a few miles north of the bay. The territory which he saw was held by Spain to be a part of her dominions ; but was left by her in abeyance. Cuba remained the centre of her West Indian possessions, and every thing around it was included within her empire. Her undisputed sovereignty was asserted not only over the archipelagos within the tropics, but over the continent round the inner seas. From the remotest south-eastern cape of the Caribbean, along the whole shore to the Cape of Florida, and beyond it, all was hers. The Gulf of Mexico lay embosomed within her territories.

74

CHAPTER III.

ENGLAND TAKES POSSESSION OF THE UNITED STATES.

CHAR THE attempts of the French to colonize Florida, --v-^ though unprotected and unsuccessful, were riot without an important influence on succeeding events. About the time of the return of De Gourgues, Walter Raleigh,1 a young Englishman, had abruptly left the university }o69 Of Oxford, to take part in the civil contests between the 1575 Huguenots and the Catholics in France, and with the prince of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV., was learning the art of war under the veteran Coligny. The Prot estant party was, at that time, strongly excited with indignation at the massacre which De Gourgues had avenged ; and Raleigh could not but gather fiom his associates and his commander intelligence respecting Florida and the navigation to those regions. Some of

o o

the miserable men who escaped from the first expe dition, had been conducted to Elizabeth,2 and had kindled in the public mind in England a desire for the possession of the southern coast of our republic; the reports of Hawkins,3 who had been the benefactoi of the French on the River May, increased the national excitement; and De Morgues,4 the painter, who had sketched in Florida the most remarkable appearances of nature, ultimately found the opportunity of finishing his designs, through the munificence of Raleigh.

i Oldys' Raleigh, 16, 17. Tyt- 3 Ibid. iii. 012— (117. ler's Raleigh, I!)— 23. 4 Hakluyt, iii. WJ4. Compare a

a Hakluyt, iii. 384 marginal note to ii» 425.

VOYAGES IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VII. 75

The expeditions of the Cabots, though they had CHAP, revealed a continent of easy access, in a temperate ^ — • zone, had failed to discover a passage to the Indies ; and their fame was dimmed by that of Vasco da Gama, whose achievement made Lisbon the emporium of Europe. Thorne and Eliot, of Bristol, visited Newfoundland probably in 1502 ; in that year., sav ages in their wild attire were exhibited to the king; but North America as yet invited no colony, for it promised no sudden wealth, while the Indies more and more inflamed commercial cupidity. In March, 1501, Henry VII. granted an exclusive privilege of trade to a company composed half of Englishmen, half of Por tuguese, with leave to sail towards any point in the compass, and the incidental right to inhabit the regions which should be found ; there is, however, no proof that a voyage was made under the authority of this commission. In December of the following year, a new grant in part to the same patentees, promised a forty years' monopoly of trade, an equally wide scope for adventure, and larger favor to the alien associates ; but even these great privileges seem not to have been followed by an expedition. The only connection which as yet existed between England and the New World was with Newfoundland and its fisheries.

The idea of planting agricultural colonies in the temperate regions of America was slowly developed, and could gain vigor only from a long succession of efforts and a better knowledge of the structure of the globe. The last voyage of Columbus still had for its purpose a western passage to India ; with which he, to his dying hour, believed that the lands of his dis covery were connected. In the conception of Europe the new continent was very slowly disengaged from

76 VOYAGES IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII.

CHAP, the easternmost lands of Asia, and its colonization was — , — not earnestly attempted till its separate existence was clearly ascertained.

Besides: Henry VII., as a Catholic, could not wholly disregard the bull of the pope, which gave to Spain a paramount title to the North American world ; and as a prince he sought a counterpoise to France in an intimate Spanish alliance, which he hoped to confirm by the successive marriage of one of his sons after the other to Catharine of Aragon, youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.

Henry VIIL, on his accession, surrendered to his father-in-law the services of Sebastian Cabot. Once, perhaps in 1517, the young king promoted a voyage of discovery, but it " tooke no full effect." To avoid interference with Spain, Robert Thorne, of Bristol, who had long resided in Seville, proposed voyages to the east by way of the north ; believing that there would be found an open sea near the pole, over which, during the arctic continuous day, Englishmen might reach the land of spices without travelling half so far as by the way of the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1527 an expedition, favored by Henry VIIL and Wolsey, sailed from Plymouth for the discovery of the northwest passage. But the larger ship was lost in July among icebergs in a great storm ; in August, accounts of the disaster were forwarded to the king and to the cardinal from the haven of St. John, in Newfoundland. The fisheries of that region were already frequented not by the English only, but also by Normans, Biscay ans, and Bretons.

The repudiation of Catharine of Aragon by Henry VIIL sundered his political connection with Spain, which already began to fear English rivalry in

VOYAGES IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII. 77

the New World. He was vigorous in his attempts to CHAP. suppress piracy; and the navigation of his subjects — , — flourished under his protection. The banner of St. George was often displayed in the harbors of North ern Africa and in the Levant; and now that com merce, emancipated from the limits of the inner seas, went boldly forth upon the oceans, the position of England gave her a pledge of superiority.

An account exists of an expedition to the north west in 1536, conducted by Hore, of London, and " assisted by the good countenance of Henry VIII." But the two ships, the Trinity and the Minion, were worn out by a troublesome voyage of more than two months, before they reached a harbor in Newfoundland. There the disheartened adventurers wasted away, from famine and misery. In the extremity of their distress, a French ship arrived, " well furnished with vittails : " of this they obtained possession by a stroke of " policie," and set sail for England. The French, following in the English ship, complained of the ex change, upon which Henry VIII., of his own private purse, " made them full and royal recompense." In 1541, the fisheries of " Newland " were favored by an act of parliament, the first which refers to America.

The accession of Edward, in 1547, and the conse quent ascendency of Protestantism, marks the era when England began to foreshadow her maritime superiority. In the first year of his reign the council advanced a hundred pounds for Cabot, "a pilot, to come out of Hispain to serve and inhabit ia England." In the next year, the fisheries of Newfoundland, which had suffered from exactions by the officers of the Ad miralty, obtained the protection of a special act, " to

78 VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF A NORTHEAST PASSAGE.

CHAP, the intent that merchants and fishermen mio-ht use

1 II* ^

'—Y— ' the trade of fishing freely without such charges." In 1549 Sebastian Cabot was once more in

land, brought over at the cost of the exchequer; and pensioned as grand pilot ; nor would he again return to Seville, though his return was officially de manded by the emperor. He obtained of the king a copy of the patent to his family, of which the orig inal had been lost, but neither proposed new voy ages to our shores nor cherished plans of colonization. He seemed to set no special value on Iris discovery of North America. To find a shorter route to the land of spices he had sailed in 1498 from Bristol ; in 1527, had led forth a Spanish expedition, which reached La Plata and the Parana. Still haunted by the dream of his youth, he was again to fail, yet not with out unexpectedly making known the avenue by sea to Muscovy. He had vainly tried the northwest and the southwest; he now advised to attempt a passage by the northeast, and was made president of the com pany of merchants who undertook the enterprise.

In May, 1553, the fleet of three ships, under the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, following the in structions of Cabot, now almost an octogenarian, drop ped down the Thames with the intent to reach China by doubling the northern promontory of Norway. The admiral, separated from his companions in a storm, was driven by the cold in September to seek shelter in a Lapland harbor. When search was made fo him in the following spring, his whole company had perished from cold ; Willoughby himself, whose papers showed that he had survived till January, was found dead in his cabin. Richard Chancel lor, in one of the other ships, reached the harbor

ENGLAND BECOMES EMULOUS OF SPAIN. 79

of Archangel. This was " the discovery of Russia," CHAP.

in. and the commencement of maritime commerce with ^~ — '

that empire. A Spanish writer calls the result of the 1554. voyage "a discovery of new Indies."1 The Russian nation, one of the oldest and least mixed in Eu rope now awakening from a long lethargy, emerged into political distinction. We have seen that, about eleven years from this time, the first town in the United States' territory was permanently built. So rapid are the changes on the theatre of nations ! One of the leading powers of the age, but about two and a half centuries ago became known to Western Europe ; another had not then one white man within its limits.

The principle of joint stock companies, so favorable to every enterprise of uncertain result, by dividing the risks, and by nourishing a spirit of emulous zeal in behalf of an inviting scheme, was applied to the purposes of navigation; and a company of merchant adventurers 1555 was incorporated for the discovery of unknown lands.2

For even the intolerance of Queen Mary could not 1553 check the passion for maritime adventure. The sea 1553 was becoming the element on which English valor was

o O

to display its greatest boldness ; English sailors neither feared the sultry heats and consuming fevers of the tropics, nor the intense severity of northern cold. The trade to Russia, now that the port of Archangel had been discovered, gradually increased and became very lucrative ; and a regular and as yet an innocent 1553 commerce was carried on with Africa.3 The marriage 1554 of Mary with the king of Spain tended to excite the emulation which it was designed to check. The en-

1 Hakluyt, i. 251— 284. Turner's 3 The Vinge to Guinea in 1553, England, ili. 2(J8— 301. Purchas, in Eden and Willes, fol. ;&G, 337— iii. 4(12, 4(13. 353.

2 Hakluyt, i. 298-304.

80 ELIZABETH FAVORS ENGLISH COMMERCE.

CHAP, thusiasm awakened by the brilliant pageantry with

~ which King Philip was introduced into London, excited

Richard Eden1 to gather into a volume the history of

;he most memorable maritime expeditions. Religious estraints, the thirst for rapid wealth, the desire of strange adventure, had driven the boldest spirits of Spain to the New World ; their deeds had been com memorated by the copious and accurate details of the Spanish historians; and the English, through the alli ance of their sovereign made familiar with the Spanish language and literature, became emulous of Spanish success beyond the ocean.

1558. The firmness of Elizabeth seconded the enterprise ot her subjects. They were rendered the more proud and intractable for the short and unsuccessful effort to make England an appendage to Spain ; and the tri umph of Protestantism, quickening the spirit of nation ality, gave a new impulse to the people. England, no longer the ally, but the antagonist of Philip, claimed the glory of being the mistress of the northern seas, and prepared to extend its commerce to every clime. The queen strengthened her navy, filled her arsenals, and encouraged the building of ships in England : she ani mated the adventurers to Russia and to Africa by her

1561 special protection; and while her subjects were en-

15*68. deavoring to penetrate into Persia by land, and enlarge their commerce with the East2 by combining the use of ships and caravans, the harbors of Spanish America were at the same time visited by their privateers in pursuit of the rich galleons of Spain, and at least from

1674-8 thirty to fifty English ships came annually to the bays and banks of Newfoundland.3

1 Eden's Decades, published in cbnntes of London, &c. m 15G1 1555. 15(57, 15(18, fol. :«2I, and ff.

2 Eden and Willes. The Voyages 3 Parkhurst, in llakluyt, in. J71 of Tcrsia, travelled by the Mer-

FROBISHER ATTEMPTS THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 81

The possibility of effecting a north-west passage had CHAP ever been maintained by Cabot. The study of geog- — ^- raphy had now become an interesting pursuit ; the press teemed with books of travels, maps and descrip tions of the earth ; and Sir Humphrey Gilbert, reposing from the toils of war, engaged deeply in the science of cosmography* A judicious and well-written argument1 in favor of the possibility of a north-western passage was the fruit of his literary industry.

The same views were entertained by one of the 1576 boldest men who ever ventured upon the ocean. For fifteen years, Martin Frobisher, an Englishman, well versed in various navigation, had revolved the design of accomplishing the discovery of the north-western passage; esteeming it "the only thing of the world, that was yet left undone, by which a notable minde might be made famous and fortunate."1 Too poor himself to provide a ship, it was in vain that he con ferred with friends ; in vain he offered his services to merchants. After years of desire, his representations found a hearing at court ; and Dudley, earl of Warwick, liberally promoted his design.3 Two small barks of twenty-five and of twenty tons', with a pinnace of ten tons' burden, composed the whole fleet, which was to enter gulfs that none before him had visited. As they June dropped down the Thames, Queen Elizabeth wraved her hand in token of favor, and, by an honorable mes sage, transmitted her approbation of an adventure w liich her own treasures had not contributed to ad vance During a storm on the voyage, the pinnace wns swallowed up by the sea; the mariners in the Michael became terrified, and turned their prow home-

1 Hakluyt, iii. 32 — 47. er's voyage, in Eden and Willes,

2 Best, in Hakliiyt, Hi. 8G. fol. 2IJO, and ff.; in Ila^luyt, iii,

3 Willes's Essay for M. Frobish- 47— 52

VOL. I. 11

82 FROBISKER RETURNS WITHOUT SUCCESS.

CHAP, wards ; but Frobisher, in a vessel not much surpassing — v-L, in tonnage the barge of a man-of-war, made his way,

1576. fearless and unattended, to the shores of Labrador, and to a passage or inlet north of the entrance ol Hudson's Bay. A strange perversion has transferred the scene of his discoveries to the eastern coast of Greenland;1 it was among a group of American islands, in the latitude of sixty-three degrees and eight minutes, that he entered what seemed to be a strait Hope suggested that his object was obtained ; that the land on the south was America ; on the north was the continent of Asia ; and that the strait opened into the immense Pacific. Great praise is due to Frobisher. for penetrating far beyond all former mariners into the bays and among the islands of this Meta Incognita, this unknown goal of discovery. Yet his voyage was a failure. To land upon an island, and, perhaps, on the main ; to gather up stones and rubbish, in token of having taken possession of the country for Elizabeth : to seize one of the natives of the north for exhibition to the gaze of Europe ; — these were all the results which he accomplished.

1577. What followed marks the insane passions of the age America and mines were always thought of together. A stone, which had been brought from the frozen regions, was pronounced by the refiners of London to contain gold. The news excited the wakeful avarice of the city: there were not wanting those who en deavored to purchase of Elizabeth a lease of the new lands, of which the loose minerals were so full of the precious metal. A fleet was immediately fitted out, to procure more of the gold, rather than to make any

• Forster's Northern Voyages, 274—284; Hist des Voyages, i. xv 94—100.

FROUISHER'S SECOND VOYAGE. 83

further research for the passage into the Pacific; and CHAP the queen, who had contributed nothing to the voyage — *-L of discovery, sent a large ship of her own to join the 1577- expedition, which was now to conduct to infinite opulence. More men than could be employed volun teered their services ; those who were discharged resigned their brilliant hopes with reluctance. The mariners, having received the communion, embarked May

9 /

for the arctic Ei Dorado, "and with a merrie wind" soon arrived at the Orkneys. As they reached the north-eastern coast of America, the dangers of the polar seas became imminent ; mountains of ice encompassed them on every side ; but as the icebergs were brilliant in the high latitude with the light of an almost per petual summer's day, the worst perils were avoided. Yet the mariners were alternately agitated with fears of shipwreck and joy at escape. At one moment they expected death ; and at the next they looked for gold. The fleet made no discoveries ; it did not advance so far as Frobisher alone had done.1 But it found large heaps of earth, which, even to the incredulous, seemed plainly to contain the coveted wealth ; besides, spiders abounded; and "spiders were" affirmed to be "true signs of great store of gold."2 In freighting the ships, the admiral himself toiled like a painful laborer. HOY strange, in human affairs, is the mixture of sublime courage and ludicrous folly ! What bolder maritime enterprise, than, in that day, a voyage to lands lying north of Hudson's Straits ! What folly more egregious, than lo have gone there for a lading of useless earth !

I>ut credulity is apt to be self-willed. What is there \j which the passion for gold Yvill not prompt? It defies

Beat, in Hakluyt, iii. 95. How rich, then, the alcoves of a

8 Settle, in Hakluyt, iii. 63. library!

84 FROBJSHER'S THIRD VOYAGE.

CHAP, danger, and laughs at obstacles ; it resists loss, and anti-

— — cipates treasures; unrelenting in its pursuit, it is deaf to the voice of mercy, and blind to the cautions of judg ment ; it can penetrate the prairies of Arkansas, and covet the moss-grown barrens of the Esquimaux, I

1578 have now to relate the first attempt of the English, under the patronage of Elizabeth, to plant an estab lishment in America.1

It was believed that the rich mines of the polar regions would countervail the charges of a costly ad venture ; the hope of a passage to Cathay increased ; and for the security of the newly-discovered lands, soldiers and discreet men were selected to become their inhabitants. A magnificent fleet of fifteen sail was assembled, in part at the expense of Elizabeth ; the sons of the English gentry embarked as volunteers ; one hundred persons were chosen to form the colony, which was to secure to 'England a country more de sirable than Peru, a country too inhospitable to produce a tree or a shrub, yet where gold lay, not charily con cealed in mines, but glistening in heaps upon the surface. Twelve vessels were to return immediately with cargoes of the ore ; three were ordered to remain and aid the settlement. The north-west passage was now become of less consideration ; Asia itself could not vie with the riches of this hyperborean archipelago.

1578 But the entrance to these wealthy islands was ren- sif dered difficult by frost ; and the fleet of Frobisher. as it now approached the American coast, was bewildered among immense icebergs, which were so vast, that, as they melted, torrents poured from them in sparkling waterfalls. One vessel was crushed and sunk, though the men on board were saved. In the dangerous

l Hakluyt, iii. 71—73.

FROBISHER ABANDONS META INCOGNITA. .85

mists, the ships lost their course, and came into the CHAP straits which have since been called Hudson's, and — ^ which lie south of the imagined gold regions. The 1^78 admiral believed himself able to sail through to the Pacific, and resolve the doubt respecting the passage. But his duty as a mercantile agent controlled his desire of glory as a navigator. He struggled to regain the harbor where his vessels were to be laden ; and, after encountering peril of every kind ; " getting in at one gap and out at another;" escaping only by miracle from hidden rocks and unknown currents, ice, and a lee shore, which was, at one time, avoided only by a prosperous breath of wind In the very moment of ex treme danger, — he at last arrived at the haven in the Countess of Warwick's Sound. The zeal of the vol unteer colonists had moderated ; and the disheartened sailors were ready to mutiny. One ship, laden with provisions for the colony, deserted and returned ; and an island was discovered with enough of the black ore

o \

" to suffice all the gold-gluttons of the world." The plan of the settlement was abandoned. It only re mained to freight the home-bound ships with a store of minerals. They who engage in a foolish project, combine, in case of failure, to conceal their loss ; for a confession of the truth would be an impeachment of their judgment ; so that unfortunate speculations are promptly consigned to oblivion. The adventurers and the historians of the voyage are silent about the dispo sition which was made of the cargo of the fleet. The knowledge of the seas was not extended ; the credulity of avarice met with a rebuke ; and the belief in regions of gold among the Esquimaux was dissipated; but there remained a firm conviction, that a passage to the

86 DRAKE IN THE OREGON TERRITORY.

CHAP. Pacific Ocean might yet be threaded among the icebergs

— ^ and northern islands of America.1

While Frobisher was thus attempting to obtain wealth and fame on the north-east coast of America, the western limits of the territory of the United States^ became known. Embarking on a voyage in quest of

1577 fortune, Francis Drake acquired immense treasures as

1580. a freebooter in the Spanish harbors on the Pacific, and, having laden his ship with spoils, gained for him self enduring glory by circumnavigating the globe. But before following in the path which the ship of Magellan had thus far alone dared to pursue, Drake determined to explore the north-western coast of America, in the hope of discovering the strait which connects the oceans. With this view, he crossed the equator, sailed beyond the peninsula of California, and followed the continent to the latitude of forty-three degrees, corresponding to the latitude of the southern

1579. borders of New Hampshire.2 Here the cold seemed intolerable to men who had just left the tropics. Despairing of success, he retired to a harbor in a milder latitude, within the limits of Mexico ; and, having refitted his ship, and named the country New Albion, he sailed for England, through the seas of Asia. Thus was the southern part of the Oregon ter ritory first visited by Englishmen, yet not till after a

1542. voyage of the Spanish from Acapulco, commanded by Cabrillo, a Portuguese, had traced the American con tinent to within two and a half degrees of the mouth

1593 of Columbia River;3 while, thirteen years after the

1 On Frobisher, consult the ori- 2 Course of Sir Francis Drake, in

ginal accounts of Hall, Settle, Ellis, Hak. iii. 524 ; Johnson's Life oi

and Best, with R. Hakluyt's in- Drake.

etructions, in Hak. iii. 52 — 129. 3 Forster's Northern Voyages b.

NEWFOUNDLAND THE SCHOOL OF ENGLISH SAILORS. 87

voyage of Drake, John de Fuca, a mariner from the CHAP Isles of Greece, then in the employ of the viceroy of ^-^ Mexico, sailed into the bay which is now known as !593 the Gulf of Georgia, and, having for twenty days steered through its intricate windings and numerous islands, returned with a belief, that the entrance to the long-desired passage into the Atlantic had been found.1

The lustre of the name of Drake is borrowed from 157 8 his success. In itself, this part of his career was but a splendid piracy against a nation with which his sovereign and his country professed to be at peace. Oxenham, a subordinate officer, who had ventured to imitate his master, was taken by the Spaniards and hanged ; nor was his punishment either unexpected or censured in England as severe. The exploits of Drake, except so far as they nourished a love for mari time affairs, were injurious to commerce ; the minds of the sailors were debauched by a passion for sudden acquisitions ; and to receive regular wages seemed base and unmanly, when, at the easy peril of life, there was hope of boundless plunder. Commerce and colo nization rest on regular industry; the humble labor of the English fishermen, who now frequented the Grand Bank, bred mariners for the navy of their country, and prepared the way for its settlements in the New World. Already four hundred vessels came annually from the harbors of Portugal and Spain, of France and England, to the shores of Newfoundland. The Eng lish were not there in such numbers as other nations, for they still frequented the fisheries of Iceland ; but

iii. c. iv. s. ii. Humboldt, Nouv 1 Turchas, iv 849—852. Fors-

Esp. ii. 436, 437. Compare Viage ter is skeptical , b. in. c. iv. s. iv

de las Goletas Sutil y Mexicana, Belknap's Am. Biog. i. 224 — 230 34. 36. 57.

88 SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT OBTAINS A PATEN1.

CHAP, yet they " were commonly lords in the harbors," and

* ' in the arrogance of naval supremacy, exacted payment

1578. for protection.1 It is an incident honorable to the humanity of the early voyagers, that, on one of the American islands, not far from the fishing stations, hogs and horned cattle were purposely left, that they might multiply and become a resource to some future generation of colonists.2

While the queen and her adventurers were dazzled by the glittering prospects of mines of gold in the frozen regions of the remote north, Sir Humphrey Gil bert, with a sounder judgment and a better knowledge, watched the progress of the fisheries, and formed healthy plans for colonization. He had been a soldier and a member of parliament. He was a judicious writer on navigation;3 and though censured for his ignorance of the principles of liberty,4 he was esteemed for the sincerity of his piety. He was one of those who alike despise fickleness and fear : danger never turned him aside from the pursuit of honor or the service of his sovereign ; for he knew that death is inevitable, and the fame of virtue immortal.5 It was not difficult for June Gilbert to obtain a liberal patent,6 formed according to commercial theories of that day, and to be of per petual efficacy, if a plantation should be established within six years. To the people who might belong to his colony, the rights of Englishmen were promised ; to Gilbert, the possession for himself or his assigns of the soil which he might discover, and the sole jurisdic tion, both civil and criminal, of the territory within two

i See the letter of Ant Park- 3 ibid. iii. 32—47.

hurst, who had himself been for four 4 D'Ewes's Journal, 168 and 175,

years engaged in the Newfound- 5 Gilbert, in Hakluyt, iii. 47.

land trade, in Hakluyt, iii. 170 6 The patent may be found in

— 1 74. Hakluyt, iii. 1 74—1 76 ; Stith's Vir

a Hakluyt, iii. 197. ginia, 4, 5, 6; Hazard i. 24—28.

GILBERT'S FIRST VOYAGE. 89

hundred leagues of his settlement, with supreme exec- CHAP utive and legislative authority. Thus the attempts at ^~^- colonization, in which Cabot and Frobisher had failed, 1576 were renewed under a patent that conferred every immunity on the leader of the enterprise, and aban doned the colonists themselves to the mercy of an ab solute proprietary.

Under this patent, Gilbert began to collect a company of volunteer adventurers, contributing largely from his own fortune to the preparation. Jarrings and divisions ensued, before the voyage was begun ; many aban doned what they had inconsiderately undertaken ; the general and a few of his assured friends — among them, perhaps, his step-brother, Walter Raleigh — put to sea: 1579 one of his ships was lost ; and misfortune compelled the remainder to return.1 The vagueness of the ac counts of this expedition is ascribed to a conflict with a Spanish fleet, of which the issue was unfavorable to the little squadron of emigrants.2 Gilbert attempted to keep his patent alive by making grants of lands. None of his assigns succeeded in establishing a colony ; and he was himself too much impoverished to renew his efforts.

But the pupil of Coligny was possessed of an active genius, which delighted in hazardous adventure. To prosecute discoveries in the New World, lay the foundation of states, and acquire immense domains, appeared to the daring enterprise of Raleigh as easy designs, which would not interfere with the pursuit of favoi and the career of glory in England. Before the limit of the charter had expired, Gilbert, assisted by his brother, equipped a new squadron. The fleet em- barked under happy omens; the commander, on the

l Hayes, in Hakluyt iii. 186. 2 Qldys, 28, 29. Tytler, 20, 27 VOL. I. 12

90 GILBERT AND WALTER RALEIGH.

CHAP eve of his departure, received from Elizabeth a golden

^~ anchor guided by a lady, a token of the queen's regard ;

1583. a man of letters from Hungary accompanied the expe dition ; and some part of the United States would have then been colonized, had not the unhappy projector of the design been overwhelmed by a succession of dis-

June asters. Two days after leaving Plymouth, the largest ship in the fleet, which had been furnished by Raleigh, who himself remained in England, deserted, under a pretence of infectious disease, and returned into harbor. Gilbert was incensed, but not intimidated. He sailed

Aug. for Newfoundland ; and, entering St. Johns, he sum moned the Spaniards and Portuguese, and other stran gers, to witness the feudal ceremonies by which he took possession of the country for his sovereign. A pillar, on which the arms of England were infixed, was raised as a monument ; and lands were granted to the fishermen in fee, on condition of the payment of a quit-rent. The "mineral-man" of the expedition, an honest and religious Saxon, was especially diligent ; it was gen erally agreed that " the mountains made a show of mineral substance ; " the Saxon protested on his life that silver ore abounded ; he was charged to keep the discovery a profound secret; and, as there were so many foreign vessels in the vicinity, the precious ore was carried on board the larger ship with such mystery, that the dull Portuguese and Spaniards suspected nothing of the matter.

It was not easy for Gilbert to preserve order in the little fleet. Many of the mariners, infected with the vices which at that time degraded their profession, were no better than pirates, and were perpetually bent upon pillaging whatever ships fell in their way. At length, having abandoned one of their barks, the

SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT IN AMERICA. 91

English, now in three vessels only, sailed on further CHAP discoveries, intending to visit the coast of the United ^-^

States. But they had not proceeded towards the south beyond the latitude of Wiscasset, when the largest ship, from the carelessness of the crew, struck and was wrecked. Nearly a hundred men perished ; Aug, the " mineral-man " and the ore were all lost ; nor was it possible to rescue Parmenius, the Hungarian scholar, who should have been the historian of the expedition.

It now seemed necessary to hasten to England. Gilbert had sailed in the Squirrel, a bark of ten tons only, and therefore convenient for entering harbors and approaching the coast. On the homeward voyage, the brave admiral would not forsake his little company, with whom he had encountered so many storms and perils. A desperate resolution ! The weather was extremely rough ; the oldest mariner had never seen " more outrageous seas." The little frigate, not more than twice as large as the long-boat of a merchantman, " too small a bark to pass through the ocean sea at that season of the year," was nearly wrecked. The general, sitting abaft with a book in his hand, cried out to those in the Hind, " We are as neere to heaven by sea as by land." That same night, about twelve o'clock, the lights of the Squirrel suddenly disap peared ; and neither the vessel, nor any of its crew, was ever again seen. The Hind reached Falmouth in ^j*1 safety.1

The bold spirit of Raleigh was not disheartened by 1584 tho sad fate of his step-brother ; but his mind revolved a settlement in a milder climate ; and he was deter-

l On Gilbert, see Hayes, in Hak- Peckhum, in Purchas, lii. 808 ; Ra-

iuyt, iii. 184— '203 ; Pannenins to leigh to Gilbert, in Tytler's Raleigh,

Hakluyt, iii. 20:*— 205 ; Clark's Re- 45. lation, ibid. 200—208; Gilbert to

92 VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW FOR RALEIGH.

CHAP mined to secure to England those delightful countries — ~ from which the Protestants of France had been ex- 1584 pelled. Having presented a memorial, he readily 25.' obtained from Elizabeth a patent1 as ample as that which had been conferred on Gilbert. It was drawn according to the principles of feudal law, and with strict regard to the Christian faith, as professed in the church of England. Raleigh was constituted a lord proprie tary, with almost unlimited powers; holding his territories by homage and an inconsiderable rent, and possessing jurisdiction over an extensive region, of which he had power to make grants according to his pleasure. Expectations rose high, since the balmy regions of the south were now to be colonized ; and the terrors of icy seas were forgotten in the hope of gaining a province in a clime of perpetual fertility, where winter hardly intruded to check the productiveness of nature. Two vessels, well laden with men and provisions, under the command of Philip Amidas and Arthur Bar- low, buoyant with hope, set sail for the New World. They pursued the circuitous route by the Canaries and the islands of the West Indies ; after a short stay in those islands, they sailed for the north, and were soon July opposite the shores of Carolina. As they drew near a land, the fragrance was "as if they had been in the midst of some delicate garden, abounding with all kinds of odoriferous flowers." They ranged the coast for a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, in search of a convenient harbor ; they entered the first haven which offered, and, after thanks to God for their July safe arrival, they landed to take possession of the coun- L'' try for the queen of England.

The spot on which this ceremony was performed

i Hakluyt, iii. 297—301. Hazard, i. 33—38.

AM1DAS AND BARLOW IN NORTH CAROLINA. 93

was in the Island of Wocoken, the southernmost of the CHAP islands forming Ocracock Inlet. The shores of North <— ~ Carolina, at some periods of the year, cannot safely 1584 be approached by a fleet, from the hurricanes which sweep the air in those regions, and against which the formation of the coast offers no secure roadsteads and harbors. But in the month of July, the sea was tran quil ; the skies were clear ; no storms were gathering ; the air was agitated by none but the gentlest breezes . and the English commanders were in raptures with the beauty of the ocean, seen in the magnificence of repose, gemmed with islands, and expanding in the clearest transparency from cape to cape. The vegetation of that southern latitude struck the beholders with ad miration ; the trees had not their paragons in the world ; the luxuriant vines, as they clambered up the loftiest cedars, formed graceful festoons; grapes were so plenty upon every little shrub, that the surge of the ocean, as it lazily rolled in upon the shore with the quiet wrinds of summer, dashed its spray upon the clusters ; and natural arbors formed an impervious shade, that not a ray of the suns 'of July could pene trate. The forests were filled with birds ; and, at the discharge of an arquebuss, whole flocks would arise, uttering a cry, which the many echoes redoubled, till it seemed as if an army of men had shouted together.

The gentleness of the tawny inhabitants appeared in harmony with the loveliness of the scene. The desire of traffic overcame the timidity of the natives, and the English received a friendly welcome. On the Island of Roanoke, they were entertained by the wife of Granganimeo, father of Wingina, the king, with the refinements of Arcadian hospitality. " The people were most gentle, loving and faithful, void of all guile

94 AMIDAS AND BARLOW IN NORTH CAROLINA.

CHAP, and treason, and such as lived after the manner of the

^- golden age." They had no cares but to guard against

1584 the moderate cold of a short winter, and to gather such food as the earth almost spontaneously produced. And yet it was added, with singular \vant of com parison, that the wars of these guileless men were cruel and bloody ; that domestic dissensions had almost exterminated whole tribes ; that they employed the basest stratagems against their enemies ; and that the practice of inviting men to a feast, that they might be murdered in the hour of confidence, was not merely a device of European bigots, but was known to the natives of Secotan. The English, too, were solicited to engage in a similar enterprise, under promise of lu crative booty.

The adventurers were satisfied with observing the general aspect of the new world ; no extensive exam ination of the coast was undertaken; Pamlico and Albemarle Sound and Roanoke Island were explored, and some information gathered by inquiries from the Indians ; the commanders had not the courage or the activity to survey the country with exactness. Having made but a short stay in America, they arrived in Sep tember in the west of England, accompanied by Manteo and Wanchese, two natives of the wilderness ; and the returning voyagers gave such glowing descriptions of their discoveries, as might be expected from men who had done no more than sail over the smooth waters of a summer's sea, among " the hundred islands " of North Carolina.1 Elizabeth, as she heard their reports,

1 Amidas and Barlow's account, Cayley, i. 33 — 46; Thomson, 32.

in Hakluyt, iii. 301 — 307. I have Williamson's North Carolina, i. 28

compared, on this and the following — 37 ; and Martin's North Carolina,

voyages, Smith's Virginia, i. 80 — 85; i. 9 — 12. I have followed exclu-

Stith, 8 — 12; Tytler's Raleigh, 47 sively the contemporaneous account

— 54 ; Oldys, 55 ; Birch, 580, 581 ; deriving, in the comparison of local

RALEIGH SENDS A COLONY TO AMERICA. 95

esteemed her reign signalized by the discovery of the CHAP enchanting regions, and, as a memorial of her state of — ~ life, named them Virginia. I584

Nor was it long before Raleigh, elected to represent in parliament the county of Devon, obtained a bill **j£ confirming his patent of discovery ; 1 and while he received the honor of knighthood, as the reward of his valor, he also acquired a lucrative monopoly of wines, which enabled him to continue with vigor his schemes of colonization.2 The prospect of becoming the pro prietary of a delightful territory, with a numerous ten antry, who should yield him not only a revenue, but allegiance, inflamed his ambition ; and, as the English nation listened with credulity to the descriptions of Amidas and Barlow, it was not difficult to gather a numerous company of emigrants. While a new patent3 was issued to his friend, for the discovery of the north western passage, and the well-known voyages of Davis, sustained, in part, by the contributions of Raleigh himself, were increasing the acquaintance of Europe with the Arctic sea, the plan of colonizing Virginia was earnestly and steadily pursued.

The new expedition was composed of seven vessels, 1585 and carried one hundred and eight colonists to the shores of Carolina. Ralph Lane, a man of consider able distinction, and so much esteemed for his services as a soldier, that he was afterwards knighted by Queen Elizabeth, was willing to act for Raleigh as governor of the colony. Sir Richard Grenville, the most able and celebrated of Raleigh's associates, distinguished for bravery among the gallant spirits of a gallant age, as- . sumed the command of the fleet. It sailed from Ply- §.

ities, much benefit from a MS. in 1 D'Ewes's Journal, 3.'*9. 341. my possession, by J. S. Jones, of a Tytler, 54, 55. Oldys, 58, 59. Shocco, North Carolina 3 Hakluyt, iii. l^)— 157.

96 KALEIGH'S COLONY IN NOETH CAROLINA.

CHAP, mouth, accompanied by several men of merit, whom the ^v^, world remembers ; — by Cavendish, who soon after cir- 1585- cumnavigated the globe ; Hariot, the inventor of the system of notation in modern algebra,1 the historian of the expedition ; and White, an ingenious painter, whose sketches2 of the natives, their habits and modes of life, were taken with beauty and exactness, and were the means of encouraging an interest in Virginia, by dif fusing a knowledge of its productions.

To sail by the Canaries and the West Indies, to

conduct a gainful commerce with the Spanish ports by

intimidation ; to capture Spanish vessels ; — these were

but the expected preliminaries of a voyage to Virginia.

June At length the fleet fell in with the main land of

24. Florida ; it was in great danger of being wrecked on

the cape which was then first called the Cape of Fear ;

26 and two days after it came to anchor at Wocoken.

The perils of the navigation on the shoals of that coast

became too evident ; the largest ship of the squadron,

as it entered the harbor, struck, but was not lost. It

was through Ocracock Inlet that the fleet made its way

to Roanoke.

But the fate of this colony was destined to be in fluenced by the character of the natives. Manteo, the friend of the English, and who returned with the fleet from a visit to England, was sent to the main to an nounce their arrival. Grenville, accompanied by Lane, July Hariot, Cavendish, and others, in an excursion of eight ^ days, explored the coast as far as Secotan, and, as 18- they relate, were well entertained of the savages. A t one of the Indian towns, a silver cup had been stolen ; its restoration was delayed ; with hasty cruelty, Gren-

i Tytlor, T>0. Stith, 20. Play- 2 }n De Bry, part ii. -They are fair's Dissertation, p. i. s. i. also imitated in Beverley's Virginia

RALEIGH'S COLONY IN NORTH CAROLINA. 97

ville ordered the village to be burnt and the standing CHAP. corn to be destroyed. Not long after this action of ^^ inconsiderate revenge, the ships, having landed the 1585 colony, sailed for England ; a rich Spanish prize, made 257 by Grenville on the return voyage, secured him a cour teous welcome as he entered the harbor of Plymouth. The transport ships of the colony were at the same lime privateers.1

The employments of Lane and his colonists, after the departure of Sir Richard Grenville, could be none other than to explore the country ; and in a letter, which he wrote while his impressions were yet fresh, he expressed himself in language of enthusiastic ad- Sept miration. " It is the goodliest soil under the cope of heaven ; the most pleasing territory of the world ; the continent is of a huge and unknown greatness, and very well peopled and towned, though savagely. The climate is so wholesome, that we have not one sick, since we touched the land. If Virginia had but horses and kine, and were inhabited with English, no realm in Christendom were comparable to it."2

The keenest observer was Hariot ; and he was often employed in dealing with " the natural inhabitants." He carefully examined the productions of the country, those which would furnish commodities for commerce, and those which were in esteem among the natives. He observed the culture of tobacco ; accustomed him self to its use, and was a firm believer in its healing virtues. The culture of maize, and the extraordinary productiveness of that grain, especially attracted his admiration ; and the tuberous roots of the potato when boiled, were found to be very good food. The inhab-

1 The Voyage, in Hakluyt, ni. 2 Lane, in Hakluyt, iii. 311. VOL. I 13

98 NATIVE INHABITANTS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

CHAP, itants are described as too feeble to inspire terror ; ^^- clothed in mantles and aprons of deer-skins ; having no 1585 weapons but wooden swords and bows of witch-hazel with arrows of reeds ; no armor but targets of bark and sticks wickered together with thread. Their towns were small ; the largest containing but thirty dwellings, The walls of the houses were made of bark, fastened to stakes ; and sometimes consisted of poles fixed up right, one by another, and at the top bent over and fastened ; as arbors are sometimes made in gardens. But the great peculiarity of the Indians consisted in the want of political connection. A single town often constituted a government; a collection of ten or twenty wigwams was an independent state. The greatest chief in the whole country could not muster more than seven or eight hundred fighting men. The dialect of each government seemed a language by itself. The country which Hariot explored was on the boundary of the Algonquin race ; where the Lenni Lenape tribes melted into the widely-differing nations of the south. The wars among themselves rarely led them to the open battle-field ; they were accustomed rather to sudden surprises at daybreak or by moonlight, to ambushes and the subtle devices of cunning false hood. Destitute of the arts, they yet displayed excel lency of wit in all which they attempted. Nor were they entirely ignorant of religion ; and to the credulity of fetichism they joined an undeveloped conception of the unity of the Divine Power. It is natural to the human mind to desire immortality ; the natives of Carolina believed in continued existence after death* and in retributive justice. The mathematical instru ments, the burning-glass, guns, clocks, and the use of letters, seemed the works of gods, rather than of men;

ILL SUCCESS OF THE ENGLISH COLONY. 99

and the English were reverenced as the pupils and CHAP Favorites of Heaven. In every town which Hariot ^-^ entered, he displayed the Bible, and explained its 1585 truths ; the Indians revered the volume rather than its doctrines ; and, with a fond superstition, they embraced the book, kissed it, and held it to their breasts and heads, as if it had been an amulet. As the colonists enjoyed uniform health, and had no women with them, there were some among the Indians who imagined the English were not born of woman, and therefore not mortal ; that they were men of an old generation, risen to immortality. The terrors of fire-arms the natives could neither comprehend nor resist; every sickness which now prevailed among them, was attributed to wounds from invisible bullets, discharged by unseen agents, with whom the air was supposed to be peopled. They prophesied, that " there were more of the English generation yet to come, to kill theirs and take their places ; " and some believed, that the purpose of extermination was already matured, and its execution begun.1

Was it strange, then, that the natives desired to be 1586 delivered from the presence of guests by whom they feared to be supplanted ? The colonists were mad with the passion for gold ; and a wily savage invented, Mar respecting the River Roanoke and its banks, extrava gant tales, which nothing but cupidity could have credited. The river, it was said, gushed forth from a rock, so near the Pacific Ocean, that the surge of the sea sometimes dashed into its fountain ; its banks were inhabited by a nation skilled in the art of refining the rich ore in which the country abounded. The walls of the city were described as glittering from the abun-

1 Harlot, in Hakluyt, iii. 324 — 340.

100 ILL SUCCESS OF THE ENGLISH COLONY

CHAP, dance of pearls. Lane was so credulous, that he at-

iii. — — - tempted to ascend the rapid current of the Roanoke ;

1586 anc[ m's followers, infatuated with greedy avarice, would not return till their stores of provisions were exhausted, and they had killed and eaten the very dogs which bore them company. On this attempt to explore the interior, the English hardly advanced higher up the river than some point near the present village of Wil- liamstown.

April. The Indians had hoped to destroy the English by thus dividing them; but the prompt return of Lane prevented open hostilities. They next conceived the plan of leaving their lands unplanted ; and they were willing to abandon their fields, if famine would in con sequence compel the departure of their too powerful guests. The suggestion was defeated by the modera tion of one of their aged chiefs ; but the feeling of

May enmity could not be restrained. The English believed that a wide conspiracy was preparing ; that fear of a foreign enemy was now teaching the natives the necessity of union ; and that a grand alliance was forming to destroy the strangers by a general massacre. Perhaps the English, whom avarice had certainly ren dered credulous, were now precipitate in giving faith to the whispers of jealousy ; it is certain that, in the con test of dissimulation, they proved themselves the more successful adepts. Desiring an audience of Wingma, the most active among the native chiefs, Lane and his June attendants were quickly admitted to his presence. No hostile intentions were displayed by the Indians ; their reception of the English was proof of their confidence, Immediately a preconcerted watchword was given : and the Christians, falling upon the unhappy king and hi> principal followers, put them without mercy to death.

VISIT OF DRAKE. 101

It was evident that Lane did not possess the quali- CHAP ties suited to his station. He had not the sagacity — «^~ which could rightly interpret the stories or the designs 158G of the natives ; and the courage, like the eye, of a sol dier, differs from that of a traveller. His discoveries were inconsiderable : to the south they had extended only to Secotan, in the present county of Craven, between the Pamlico and the Neuse ; to the north they reached no farther than the small River Elizabeth, which joins the Chesapeake Bay below Norfolk ; in the interior, the Clio wan had been examined beyond the junction of the Meherrin and the Nottaway ; and we have seen, that the hope of gold attracted Lane to make a short excursion up the Roanoke. Yet some general results of importance were obtained. The climate was found to be salubrious ; during the year not more than four men had died, and of these, three brought the seeds of their disease from Europe.1 The hope of finding better harbors at the north was confirm ed ; and the Bay of Chesapeake was already regarded as the fit theatre for early colonization. But in the Island of Roanoke, the men began to despond ; they looked in vain towards the ocean for supplies from England ; they were sighing for the luxuries of the cities in their native land ; when of a sudden it was rumored, that the sea was white with the sails of three-and-twenty 8. ships ; and within three days, Sir Francis Drake had anchored his fleet at sea outside of Roanoke Inlet, in * the wild road of their bad harbor."

Me had come, on his way from the West Indies to England, to visit the domain of his friend. With the celerity of genius, he discovered the measures which the exigency of the case required, and supplied the

1 Harlot, in TIakluyt, iii. 340. True Declaration of Virginia, 32.

102 RETURN OF THE COLONISTS.

CHAP wants of Lane to the uttermost ; giving him a bark of *-^~ seventy tons, with pinnaces and small boats, and all J586. needed provisions for the colony. Above all, he in duced two experienced sea-captains to remain and employ themselves in the action of discovery. Every tiling was furnished to complete the surveys along the coast and the rivers, and, in the last resort, if suffer ing became extreme, to reconvey the emigrants to England.

At this time, an unwonted storm suddenly arose, and had nearly wrecked the fleet, which lay in a most dangerous position, and which had no security but in weighing anchor and standing away from the shore. When the tempest was over, nothing could be found of the boats and the bark, which had been set apart for the colony. The humanity of Drake was not weary ; he instantly devised measures for supplying the colony with the means of continuing their discov eries ; but Lane shared the despondency of his men ; and Drake yielded to their unanimous desire of per- June mission to embark in his ships for England. Thus 9* ended the first actual settlement of the English in America. The exiles of a year had grown familiar with the favorite amusement of the lethargic Indians ; and they introduced into England the general use of tobacco 1

The return of Lane was a precipitate desertion ; a little delay would have furnished the colony with ample supplies. A few days after its departure, a ship arrived, laden with all stores needed by the infant settlement.

i On the settlement, see Lane in i. 37—51 ; Martin, i. 12—24 ; Tyt-

Haklnyt, iii. 311 — 322, the original ler, 56 — C8 ; Thomson, c. i. and ii.

account. The reader may compare and Appendix B. ; Oldys, c. 05 —

Camden, in Kennett, ii. 509, 510; 71; Cayley, i. 46—81; Birch,

Stith, 12—21 ; Smith, i. 8(v— 99 ; 582. 584. Beiknap i. 213— 210 j Williamson,

CITY OF RALEIGH INCORPORATED. 103

It had been despatched by Raleigh ; but finding " the CHAP paradise of the world" deserted, it could only return ~^~L to England. Another fortnight had hardly elapsed, 1586. when Sir Richard Grenville appeared off the coast with three well-furnished ships, and renewed the vain search for the departed colony. Unwilling that the English should lose possession of the country, he left fifteen men on the Island of Roanoke, to be the guardians of English rights.1

Raleigh was not dismayed by ill success, nor borne 1587 down by losses. The enthusiasm of the people of England was diminished by the reports of the unsuc cessful company of Lane ; but the decisive testimony of Harlot to the excellence of the country still ren dered it easy to collect a new colony for America. The wisdom of Raleigh was particularly displayed in the policy which he now adopted. He determined to plant an agricultural state ; to send emigrants with wives and families, who should at once make their homes in the New World ; and, that life and property Jan might be secured, he granted a charter of incorporation 7 for the settlement, and established a municipal govern ment for " the city of Raleigh." John White was appointed its governor ; and to him, with eleven as sistants, the administration of the colony was intrusted. A fleet of transport ships was prepared at the expense of the proprietary ; " Queen Elizabeth, the godmother of Virginia," declined contributing " to its education." The company, as it embanked, was cheered by the April p esence of women ; and an ample provision of the im- ^ plements of husbandry gave a pledge for successful industry. In July, they arrived on the coast of North

1 Hakluyt, iii 323. Stith, 22, and roneously. Smith, i. 99, began the Belknap, i. 217 say fitly men, er- error.

104 CITY OF RALEIGH FOUNDED.

8,"

CHAP. Carolina ; they were saved from the dangers of Cape ^-L, Fear ; and, passing Cape Hatteras, they hastened to 1587. the Isle of Roanoke, to search for the handful of men whom Grenville had left there as a garrison. They found the tenements deserted and overgrown with weeds ; human bones lay scattered on the field ; wild deer were reposing in the untenanted houses, and were feeding on the productions which a rank vege tation still forced from the gardens. The fort was in ruins. No vestige of surviving life appeared. The miserable men whom Grenville had left, had been murdered by the Indians.

The instructions of Raleigh had designated the place for the new settlement on the Bay of the Chesapeake. It marks but little union, that Fernando, the naval officer, eager to renew a profitable traffic in the West Indies, refused his assistance in exploring the coast, and White was compelled to remain on Roanoke The fort of Governor Lane, " with sundry decent dwelling-houses," had been built at the northern ex tremity of the island ; it was there that the foundations 23. of the city of Raleigh were laid. The Island of Roan oke is now almost uninhabited ; commerce has selected securer harbors for its pursuits ; the intrepid pilot and the hardy " wrecker," rendered adventurously daring by their familiarity with the dangers of the coast, and in their natures wild as the storms to which their skill bids defiance, unconscious of the associations by which they are surrounded, are the only tenants of the spot where the inquisitive stranger may yet discern the ruins of the fort, round which the cottages of the new settle ment were erected. July But disasters thickened. A tribe of savages lis-

OW

played implacable jealousy, and murdered one of the

MANTEO RECEIVES BAPTISM. 105

assistants. The mother and the kindred of Manteo CHAF welcomed the English to the Island of Croatan ; and — ~ a mutual friendship was continued. But even this 1587 alliance was not unclouded. A detachment of the English, discovering a company of the natives whom they esteemed their enemies, fell upon them by night, as the harmless men were sitting fearlessly by their fires ; and the havoc was begun, before it was per ceived that these were friendly Indians.

The vanities of life were not forgotten in the New Aug. World ; and Manteo, the faithful Indian chief, " by the commandment of Sir Walter Raleigh," received Christian baptism, and was invested with the rank of a feudal baron, as the Lord of Roanoke. It was the first peerage erected by the English in America, and re mained a solitary dignity, till Locke and Shaftesbury suggested the establishment of palatinates in Carolina, and Manteo shared his honors with the admired philos opher of his age.

As the time for the departure of the ship for England drew near, the emigrants became gloomy with appre hensions ; they were conscious of their dependence on Europe ; and they, with one voice, women as well as men, urged the governor to return and use his vigorous intercession for the prompt despatch of reinforcements and supplies. It was in vain that he pleaded a sense of honor, which called upon him to remain and share in person the perils of the colony, which he was appoint ed to govern. He was forced to yield to the general importunity.

Yet, previo is to his departure, his daughter, Eleanor Dare, the wife of one of the assistants, rave birth to a Aug

-t tf

female child, the first offspring of English parents on the soil of the United States. The infant was named

i . i i?

106 NO RELIEF FOR THE ROANOKE COLON JT.

UHAP. from the place of its birth. The colony, now com- — ~ posed of eighty-nine men, seventeen women, and two

1587. children, whose names are all preserved, might reason ably hope for the speedy return of the governor, who,

Aug. as he sailed for England, left with them, as hostages, his daughter and his grandchild, VIRGINIA DARE.

And yet even those ties were insufficient. The colony received no seasonable relief; and the further history of this neglected plantation is involved in gloomy uncertainty. The inhabitants of " the city of Raleigh," the emigrants from England and the first born of America, failed, like their predecessors, in es tablishing an enduring settlement ; but, unlike their predecessors, they awaited death in the land of their adoption. If America had no English town, it soon had English graves.1

For when White reached England, he found its whok3 attention absorbed by the threats of an invasion from Spain ; and Grenville, Raleigh, and Lane, not less than Frobisher, Drake, and Hawkins, were en gaged in planning measures of resistance. Yet Raleigh, whose patriotism did not diminish his gene-

1588. rosity, found means to despatch White with supplies 2?>n in two vessels. But the company, desiring a gainful

voyage rather than a safe one, ran in chase of prizes , till, at last, one of them fell in with men-of-war from Rochelle, and, after a bloody fight, was boarded and rifled. Both ships were compelled to return imme diately to England, to the ruin of the colony and the displeasure of its author.2 The delay was fatal ; the independence of the English kingdom, and the security

i The original account of White, Martin, Thomson, Tytler, anJ

in Hakluyt, iii. 840—848. The others.

story is repeated by Smith, Stith, 2 Hakluyt, edition 1589, 771

Keith, Burk, Belknap, Williamson, quoted in Oldys, 98, 99.

THE ASSIGNS OF RALEIGH. 107

of the Protestant reformation, were in danger ; nor CHAP, could the poor colonists of Roanoke be again remem- ^~^ bered, till after the discomfiture of the Invincible 1588 Armada.

Even when complete success against the Spanish fleet had crowned the arms of England, Sir Walter Raleigh, who had already incurred a fruitless expense of forty thousand pounds, found himself unable to con tinue the attempts at colonizing Virginia. Yet he did not despair of ultimate success ; he admired the invin cible constancy which would bury the remembrance of past dangers in the glory of annexing fertile provinces to his country ; and as his fortune did not permit him to renew his exertions, he used the privilege of his patent to form a company of merchants and adven turers, who were endowed by his liberality with large concessions, and who, it was hoped, would replenish Virginia with settlers. Among the men who thus ob tained an assignment of the proprietary's rights in Virginia, is found .the name of Richard Hakluyt; it is the connecting link between the first efforts of England in North Carolina and the final colonization of Virginia. The colonists at Roanoke had emigrated with a char ter ; the new instrument1 was not an assignment of 1589 Raleigh's patent, but extended a grant, already held ?*' under its sanction, by increasing the number to whom the rights of that charter belonged.

Yet the enterprise of the adventurers languished, for it was no longer encouraged by the profuse liberality of Raleigh. More than another year elapsed, before 1590 White2 could return to search for his colony and his daughter; and then the Island of Roanoke was a

1 Hazard, i. 42— 45.

2 White, in Hakluyt, Hi. 348, 349, and 350— 357

108 THE ROANOKE COLONY IS LOST.

CHAP desert. An inscription on the bark of a tree pointed to — ^ Croatan ; but the season of the year and the dangers 1590. from storms were pleaded as an excuse for an imme diate return. Had the emigrants already perished ? or had they escaped with their lives to Croatan, and, through the friendship of Manteo, become familiar with the Indians? The conjecture has been hazarded,1 that the deserted colony, neglected by their own coun trymen, were hospitably adopted into the tribe of Hatteras Indians, and became amalgamated with the sons of the forest. This was the tradition of the natives at a later day, and was thought to be con firmed by the physical character of the tribe, in which

the English and the Indian race seemed to have been

o

blended. Raleigh long cherished the hope of discov ering some vestiges of their existence and though he had abandoned the design of colonizing Virginia, he

C O O '

yet sent at his own charge, and, it is said, at five sev eral times,2 to search for his liege-men. But it was all in vain ; imagination received no help in its attempts to trace the fate of the colony of Roanoke.

The name of Raleigh stands highest among the statesmen of England, who advanced the colonization of the United States ; and his fame belongs to Amer ican history. No Englishman of his age possessed so various or so extraordinary qualities. Courage which was never daunted, mild self-possession, and fertility of invention, insured him glory in his profession of arms ; and his services in the conquest of Cadiz, or the cap ture of Fayal, were alone sufficient to establish his fame as a gallant and successful commander. In every danger, his life was distinguished by valor, and his death was ennobled by true magnanimity

l Lawson's N. Carolina, 62. 2 Purchas, iv. 1G53.

RALEIGH A SOLDIER, A SCHOLAR, A STATESMAN. 109

lie was not only admirable in active life as a sol- CHAP dier ; he was an accomplished scholar. No statesman — *-~ in retirement ever expressed the charms of tranquil leisure more beautifully than Raleigh ; and it was not entirely with the language of grateful friendship, that Spenser described his " sweet verse as sprinkled with nectar," and rivaling the melodies of " the summer's nightingale."1 When an unjust verdict, contrary to probability and the evidence, " against law and against equity," on a charge which seems to have been a pure invention, left him to languish for years in prison, with the sentence of death suspended over his head, his active genius plunged into the depths of erudition ; and he who had been a soldier, a courtier, and a seaman, now became the elaborate author of a learned History of the World.

His career as a statesman was honorable to the pupil of Coligny and the contemporary of L'Hopital. In his public policy, he was thoroughly an English patriot; jealous of the honor, the prosperity, and the advancement of his country ; the inexorable antagonist of the pretensions of Spain. In parliament, he defend ed the freedom of domestic industry. When, by the operation of unequal laws, taxation was a burden upon industry rather than wealth, he argued for a change : 2 himself possessed of a lucrative monopoly, he gave his voice for the repeal of all monopolies ; 3 and, while he pertinaciously used his influence with his sovereign to mitigate the severity of the judgments against the non conformists,4 as a legislator he resisted the sweeping enactment of persecuting laws.5

i Sonnet prefixed to Faery 2 Tytler, 238, 239. Qaeen. Faery Queen, b. iii. Int. 3 D'Ewes, f>4f>. Tytler, 239. st iv. Compare, also, Spenser's 4 Oldys, 137 — 139. Colin ClouVs come home again, 5 Thomson, 55. Oldys, 1G5, 160

verses 68- -75, and Faery Queen, D'Ewes, 517. Tytler, 122. p. iii. c. vii. st. 3G — 41.

110 RALEIGH THE FRIEND OF MARITIME ENTERPRISE.

CHAP In the career of discovery, his perseverance was — ~ never baffled by losses. He joined in the risks of Gilbert's expedition ; contributed to the discoveries of Davis in the north-west ; and himself personally ex plored " the insular regions and broken woiltl " of Guiana. The sincerity of his belief in the wealth of the latter country has been unreasonably questioned. If Elizabeth had hoped for a hyperborean Peru in the arctic seas of America, why might not Raleigh expect to find the city of gold on the banks of the Oronoco t His lavish efforts in colonizing the soil of our republic, his sagacity which enjoined a settlement within the Chesapeake Bay, the publications of Hariot and Hakluyt which he countenanced, if followed by losses to himself, diffused over England a knowledge of America, as well as an interest in its destinies, and sowed the seeds, of which the fruits were to ripen during his lifetime, though not for him.

Raleigh had suffered from palsy1 before his last ex pedition. He returned broken-hearted by the defeat of his hopes, by the decay of his health, and by the death of his eldest son. What shall be said of King James, who would open to an aged paralytic no other hope of liberty but through success in the discovery of mines in Guiana ? What shall be said of a monarch who could, at that time, under a sentence which was originally unjust,2 and which had slumbered for fifteen years, order the execution of the decrepit man, whose genius and valor shone brilliantly through the ravages

1 Thomson, Appendix, note U. historians, the trial, and the biog- The original document. raphies of Raleigh, proves him to

2 Hume, Rapm, Lingard, are less have been, on his trial, a victim of favorable to Raleigh. Even Hal- jealousy, and entirely innocent of lam, i. 482 — 484, vindicates him crime. No drubt he despised King with wavering boldness. A careful James. Soe Tytler, 285 — 2UO. comparison of the accounts of these

GOSNOLD'S VOYAGE TO NEW ENGLAND.

Ill

of physical decay, and whose English heart, within a CHAP palsied frame, still beat with an undying love for his ^~^ country ?

The judgments of the tribunals of the Old World are often reversed by public opinion in the New. The family of the chief author of early colonization in the United States was reduced to beggary by the govern ment of England, and he himself was beheaded. After a lapse of nearly two centuries, the state of North 1792 Carolina, by a solemn act of legislation, revived in its capital " THE CITY OF RALEIGH ; " thus expressing its J*j|;£ grateful respect for the memory of the extraordinary ''""'J^ man, who united in himself as many kinds of glory as were ever combined in an individual.

The enthusiasm of Raleigh pervaded his country men. Imagination already saw beyond the Atlantic a people whose mother idiom should be the language of England. " Who knows," exclaimed Daniel, the poet laureate of that kingdom —

" Who in time knows whither we may vent The treasures of our tongue ? To what strange shores This gain of our best glory shall be sent I?MUSO

T' enrich unknowing nations with our stores ? phiiua.

What worlds, in th' yet unformed Occident, May 'come refined with th' accents that are ours ?"

Already the fishing of Newfoundland was vaunted 1593 as the stay of the west countries. Some traffic may J'J,JJf have continued with Virginia. Thus were men trained for the career of discovery ; and in 1602, Bartholomew (jJosnold, who, perhaps, had already sailed to Virginia, in tho usual route, by the Canaries and West Indies, conceiving the idea of a direct voyage to America, with the concurrence of Raleigh, had well nigh secured to New England the honor of the first permanent English colony. Steering, in a small bark, directly Mar across the Atlantic, in seven weeks he reached Cape 26'

112 GOSNOLD PLANS A SETTLEMENT IN NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP. Elizabeth, on the coast of Maine.1 Following tk< coast to the southwest, he skirted "an outpoint oJ wooded land;" and about noon of the fourteenth oJ May, he anchored " near Savage rock," to the east oi York harbor. There he met a Biscay shallop ; and there he was visited by natives. Not finding his "purposed place," he stood to the south, and on the

May morning of the fifteenth, discovered the promontory 15' which he named Cape Cod. He and four of his mei> went on shore ; Cape Cod was the first spot in New England ever trod by Englishmen, while as yet then was not one European family on the continent fron Florida to Hudson's Bay. Doubling the cape, anc

May passing Nantucket, they touched at No Man's Land passed round the promontory of Gay Head, naming it Dover Cliff, and entered Buzzard's Bay — a stately sound, which they called Gosnold's Hope. The west ernmost of the islands was named Elizabeth, from the queen, a name which has been transferred to the, group. Here they beheld the rank vegetation of s virgin soil : noble forests ; wild fruits and flowers bursting from the earth ; the eglantine, the thorn, anc the honeysuckle, the wild pea, the tansy, and young sassafras ; strawberries, raspberries, grape-vines, all ir profusion. The island contains a pond, within whicl lies a rocky islet ; on this the adventurers built theb storehouse and their fort ; and the foundations of th* first New England colony were laid. The island, the pond, the islet, are yet visible ; the shrubs are luxu riant as of old ; but the forests are gone, and the ruin,6 of the fort can no longer be discerned.

A traffic With the natives on the main enabled Gos nold to lade the "Concord" with sassafras root, then es teemed in pharmacy as a sovereign panacea. The littk

1 Mass. Hist. Coll. xxviii. 73. Pool in Babson's Gloucester, 14.

VOYAGES OF MARTIN PR1NG TO NEW ENGLAND. 113

band, which was to have nestled on the Elizabeth CHAP

Islands, finding their friends about to embark for

Europe, despaired of obtaining seasonable supplies of 1602 food, and determined not to remain. Fear of an as sault from the Indians, who had eeased to be friendly, the want of provisions, and jealousy respecting the distribution of the risks and profits, defeated the de sign. The whole party soon set sail and bore for England. The return voyage lasted but five weeks ; June, and the expedition was completed in less than four months, during which entire health had prevailed.1

Gosnold and his companions spread the most favor able reports of the regions which he had visited. Could it be that the voyage was so safe, the climate so pleasant, the country so inviting ? The merchants of Bristol, with the ready assent of Raleigh,2 and at the instance of Richard Hakluyt, the enlightened friend and able documentary historian of these com mercial enterprises, a man whose fame should be vin dicated and asserted in the land which he helped to colonize, determined to pursue the career of investiga tion. The Speedwell, a small ship of fifty tons and thirty men, the Discoverer, a bark of twenty-six tons and thirteen men, under the command of Martin Pring, set sail for America a few days after the death April of the queen. It was a private undertaking, and therefore not retarded by that event. The ship was well provided with trinkets and merchandise, suited to a traffic with the natives ; and this voyage also was successful. It reached the American coast among the

1 Gosnold to his father, in Pur- 108. Compare, particularly, Bcl-

clias, iv, 1(14(5. Archer's Relation, knap's Life of (Josnold, in Am.

ibid. iv. K)47— I(i51. Rosier's Biog. ii. 100— 12*.

Notes, ibid. iv. H>5 1—1653. Brier- a Purchas, iv. 1G14. ton's Relation, in Smith, i. 105 —

VOL. I 15

114 VOYAGE OF WAYMOUTH TO NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP, islands of Penobscot Bay; coasting towards the west, » — , — ' Pring made a discovery of many of the harbors of Maine ; of the Saco, the Kennebunk, and the York rivers ; and the channel of the Piscataqua was exam ined for three or four leagues. Finding no sassafras, he steered to the south ; doubled Cape Ann ; and went on shore in Massachusetts ; but being still un successful, he again pursued a southerly track, till he anchored in Old Town harbor, on Martha's Vine yard. Here obtaining a freight, he returned to Eng land, after an absence of about six months, which had been free from disaster or danger.

1605. The testimony of Pring having confirmed the report of Gosnold, an expedition, promoted by the Earl of Southampton and his brother-in-law Lord Arundel of Wardour, was confided to George Way- mouth, a careful and vigilant commander, who, in attempting a northwest passage, had already explored the coast of Labrador.

Weighing anchor on Easter Sunday, on the four teenth of May he came near the whitish, sandy pro montory of Cape Cod. To escape the continual shoals in which he found himself embayed, he stood out to sea, then turned to the north, and on the seventeenth anchored to the north of Monhegan island, in sight of hills to the north-north-east on the main. On Whitsunday he found his way among the St. George's islands into an excellent harbor, which was accessible by four passages, defended from all winds, and had good mooring upon a clay ooze and even upon the rocks by the cliff side. The climate was agreeable ; the sea yielded fish of many kinds profusely; the tall and great trees on the islands were much observed ; and the gum of the silver fir was thought to be as

VOYAGE OF WAYMOUTH TO NEW ENGLAND. 115

fragrant as frankincense ; some trade was carried on CHAP. with the natives for sables, and skins of deer and ^r-^ otter and beaver ; the land was of such pleasantness that many of the company wished themselves settled there. Having in the last of May discovered in his pinnace the broad, deep current of the St. George's, on the eleventh of June Waymouth passed with a gentle wind up with the ship into that river1 for about eighteen miles, which were reckoned as six and twenty, and "all consented in joy" to admire its width of a half mile or a mile ; its verdant banks ; its gallant and spacious coves ; the strength of its tide, which may have risen nine or ten feet, and was set down at eighteen or twenty. On the thirteenth, he ascended in a rowboat ten miles further, and the dis coverers were more and more pleased with the beauty of the fertile bordering ground. No token was found that ever any Christian had been there before ; and at that point, where the river trends westward into the main, he set up a memorial cross, as he had already done on the rocky shore of the St. George's Islands. Well satisfied with his discoveries, on Sunday the sixteenth of June he sailed for England, taking with him five of the natives whom he had decoyed, to be instructed in English, and to serve as guides to some future expedition. At his coming into the harbor of Plymouth, he yielded up three of the natives to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the governor of that town, whose curiosity was thus directed to the shores of Maine. The returning voyagers celebrated its banks

1 William Willis, of Portland, confirmed by David Cushman, of

has insisted that Waymouth as- Warren,decides for the St.George's.

cended the Penobscot; this error I have consulted the officers of the

John McKeen of Brunswick lias Coast Survey, refuted. George Prince, of Bath,

116 INTREPIDITY OF THE EARLY NAVIGATORS.

CHAP, which promised most profitable fishing ; its rude *— r-^ people, who were willing to barter costly furs for trifles ; the temperate and healthful air of the coun try, whose " pleasant fertility bewrayed itself to be the garden of nature." But it was not these which tempted Gorges. He had noticed that all former navigations of the English along the more southerly American coast, had failed from the want of good roads and harbors ; these were the special marks at which he levelled ; and hearing of a region, safe of approach and abounding in harbors large enough to shelter the ships of all Christendom, he aspired to the noble office of being the means of filling it with pros perous English plantations.

Such were the voyages which led the way to the colonization of the United States. The daring and ability of these pioneers upon the ocean deserve the highest admiration. The character of the prevalent winds and currents was unknown. The possibility of making a direct passage was but gradually discovered. The imagined dangers were infinite ; the real dan gers, exceedingly great ; so that the sailors were ac customed, before embarking, to prepare for eternity by solemn acts of devotion. The ships at first em ployed were generally of less than one hundred tons burthen ; two of those of Columbus were without a deck ; Frobisher sailed in a vessel of but twenty-five tons. Columbus was shipwrecked twice, and once remained for eight months on an island, without any communication with the civilized world ; Roberval, Parmenius, Gilbert — and how many others!— went down at sea ; and such was the state of the art of navigation, that intrepidity and skill were unavailing against the elements without the favor of Heaven.

117

CHAPTER IV.

COLONIZATION OF VIRGINIA

THE period of success in planting colonies in Vir- CHAP gmia had arrived ; yet not till changes had occurred, ^-^ affecting the character of European politics and society, and moulding the forms of colonization. The refor mation had interrupted the harmony of religious opinion in the west of Europe ; and differences in the church began to constitute the basis of political parties. Commercial intercourse equally sustained a revolution. It had been conducted on the narrow seas and by land ; it now launched out upon the broadest waters ; and, after the East Indies had been reached by doubling the southern promontory of Africa, the great commerce of the world was performed upon the ocean. The art of printing had become known ; and the press diffused intelligence and multiplied the facilities of instruction. The feudal institutions which had been reared in the middle ages, were already undermined by the current of time and events, and, swaying from their base, threatened to fall. Productive industry had, on the one side, built up the fortunes and extended the in fluence of the active classes ; while habits of indolence and of expense had impaired the estates and diminished the power of the nobility. These changes also pro* duced corresponding results in the institutions which were to rise in America.

118 OBJECTS OF EARLY VOYAGES TO AMERICA.

CHAP A revolution had equally occurred in the purposes — -v-^ for which voyages were undertaken. The hope of 160G Columbus, as he sailed to the west, had been the dis- coverv of a new passage to the East Indies. The passion for rapidly amassing gold soon became the prevailing motive. Next, the islands and countries near the equator were made the tropical gardens of the Europeans for the culture of such luxuries as the warmest regions only can produce. At last, the higher design was matured, not to plunder, nor to destroy, nor to enslave ; but to found states, to plant permanent Christian colonies, to establish for the oppressed and the enterprising places of refuge and abode, with all the elements of independent national existence.

The condition of England favored adventure in America. A redundant population had existed even ° before the peace with Spain ; 1 and the timid character of King James, throwing out of employment the gal lant men who had served under Elizabeth by sea and land, left them no option, but to engage as mercenaries in the quarrels of strangers, or incur the hazards of "seeking a New World."5 The minds of many persons of intelligence, rank, and enterprise, were directed to Virginia. The brave and ingenious Gos- nold, who had himself witnessed the fertility of the western soil, long solicited the concurrence of his friends for the establishment of a colony,3 and at last prevailed with Edward Maria Wingfield, a groveling merchant of the west of England, Robert Hunt, a clergyman of persevering fortitude and modest worth, and John Smith, the adventurer of rare genius and undying fame, to consent to risk their own lives and

1 Bacon on Queen Elizabeth. of Stowe, 1018 — a prime authority

2 Gorges' Brief Narration, c. ii. on Virginia. See Stith, 229.

3 Edmund Howes' Continuation

ENGLISHMEN RESOLVE TO COLONIZE VIRGIN™. 119

their hope of fortune in an expedition.1 For more CHAP than a year, this little company revolved the project of ^v^ a plantation. At the same time, Sir Ferdinand Gorges was gathering information of the native Americans, whom he had received from Weymouth, and whose descriptions of the countrv, joined to the favorable views which he had already imbibed, filled him with the strongest desire of becoming a proprietary of domains beyond the Atlantic. Gorges was a man ol wealth, of rank, and of influence ; he readily persuaded Sir John Popham, lord chief justice of England, to share his intentions.2 Nor had the assigns of Raleigh become indifferent to " western planting;" the most distinguished of them all, Richard Hakluyt, the histo rian of maritime enterprise, still favored the establish ment of a colony by his personal exertions and the firm enthusiasm of his character. Possessed of whatever information could be derived from foreign sources and a correspondence with the eminent navigators of his times, and anxiously watching the progress of the attempts of Englishmen in the west, his extensive knowledge made him a counsellor in the enterprises which were attempted, and sustained in him and his associates the confidence which repeated disappoint ments did not exhaust.3 Thus the cause of coloni zation obtained in England zealous and able defenders, who, independent of any party in religion or politics, believed that a prosperous state could be established by Englishmen in the temperate regions of North America

1 Smith, i. 149, or Purchas, iv. 2 Gorges, c. ii. — v.

i705. Stith,35. Compare Hillard's 3 Hakluyt, iii. passim; v. Dedi-

Life of Smith, in Sparks's American cation of Virginia Valued. The

Biography, ii. 177 — 407 ; also Bel- first Virginia charter contains his

knap, i. 239, 252. name

KING JAMES CONCEDES A CHARTER.

CHAP. The king of England, too timid to be active, yet too ^~ vain to be indifferent, favored the design of enlarging

' o O a

1606. his dominions. He had attempted in Scotland the introduction of the arts of life among the Highlanders and the Western Isles, by the establishment of colonies ; ] and the English plantations which he formed in the northern counties of Ireland, are said to have contrib uted to the affluence and the security of that island.2 When, therefore, a company of men of business and men of rank, formed by the experience of Gosnold, the • enthusiasm of Smith, the perseverance of Hakluyt, the hopes of profit and the extensive influence of Popham and Gorges,3 applied to James I. for leave u to deduce ^ a colony into Virginia," the monarch promoted the 10. noble work by readily issuing an ample patent.

The first colonial charter,4 under which the English were planted in America, deserves careful consider ation. A belt of twelve degrees on the American coast, embracing the soil from Cape Fear to Halifax, excepting perhaps the little spot in Acadia then actually possessed by the French, was set apart to be colonized by two rival companies. Of these, the first was composed of noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants, in and about London ; the second, of knights, gentle men, and merchants, in the west. The London ad venturers, who alone succeeded, had an exclusive right to occupy the regions from thirty-four to thirty-eight degrees of north latitude, that is, from Cape Fear to the southern limit of Maryland ; the western men had

1 Robertson's Scotland, b. viii. 51 — 58 ; Stith's Appendix, 1 — 8

2 Leland's History of Ireland, ii. Hening's Statutes of Virginia at 204— 21 a Lord Bacon's speech as large, i. 57—66. In referring to Chancellor to the Speaker, Works, this collection, I cannot but add, iii. 405. that no other state in the Union

3 Gorges, c. v. and vi. possesses so excellent a work on Jts

4 See the charter, in Hazard, i. legislative history.

THE FIRST CHARTER FOR VIRGINIA. 121

equally an exclusive right to plant between forty-one CHAP and forty-five degrees. The intermediate district, — ^ from thirty-eight to forty-one degrees, was open to the 1606 competition of both companies. Yet collision was not probable ; for each was to possess the soil extending fifty miles north and south of its first settlement ; so that neither might plant within one hundred miles of a colony of its rival. The conditions of tenure were nomage and rent ; the rent was no other than one fifth of the net produce of gold and silver, and one fifteenth of copper. The right of coining money was conceded, perhaps to facilitate commerce with the natives, who, it was hoped, would receive Christianity and the arts of civilized life. The superintendence of the whole colonial system was confided to a council in England ; the local administration of each colony was intrusted to a council residing within its limits. The members of the superior council in England were appointed ex clusively by the king ; and the tenure of their office was his good pleasure. Over the colonial councils the king likewise preserved a control ; for the members of them were from time to time to be ordained, made, and re moved, according to royal instructions. Supreme legis lative authority over the colonies, extending alike to their general condition and the most minute regu lations, was likewise expressly reserved to the monarch. A hope was also cherished of an ultimate revenue to be derived from Virginia ; a duty, to be levied on ves sels trading to its harbors, was, for one-and-twenty years, to he wholly employed for the benefit of the plantation , at the end of that time, was to be taken for the king. To the emigrants it was promised, that they and their children should continue to be English men — a concession which secured them rights on re- vot.. i. 16

\(22 KING JAMES'S LAWS FOR VIRGINIA.

CHAP, turning to England, but offered no barrier against — — colonial injustice. Lands were to be held by the most 1006. favorable tenure.

Thus the first written charter of a permanent American colony, which was to be the chosen abode of liberty, gave to the mercantile corporation nothing but a desert territory, with the right of peopling and defending it, and reserved to the monarch absolute legislative authority, the control of all appointments, and a hope of an ultimate revenue. To the emigrants themselves it conceded not one elective franchise, not one of the rights of self-government. They were sub jected to the ordinances of a commercial corporation, of which they could not be members; to the dominion of a domestic council, in appointing which they had no voice ; to the control of a superior council in England, which had no sympathies with their rights ; and finally, to the arbitrary legislation of the sovereign. Yet, bad as was this system, the reservation of power to the king, a result of his vanity, rather than of his ambition, had, at least, the advantage of mitigating the action of the commercial corporation. The check would have been complete, had the powers of appointment and legislation been given to the people of Virginia.1

The summer was spent by the patentees in prepa rations for planting a colony, for which the vain glory of the king found a grateful occupation in framing a NOT code of laws ; 2 an exercise of royal legislation which has been pronounced in itself illegal.3 The superior council in England was permitted to name the colonial council, which was constituted a pure aristocracy,

1 Compare Chalmers, 13 — 15; Virginia, 37 — 41; Burk's Virginia, Story on the Constitution, i. 22—24. i. 8(5— !)2.

2 See the instrument, in Honing, 3 Chalmers, 15. L (37 — 75. Compare, also, Stitli's

COLONISTS EMBARK FOR VIRGINIA. 123

entirely independent of the emigrants whom they were CHAP to govern ; having power to elect or remove its presi- — ^ dent, to remove any of its members, and to supply its 1606 own vacancies. Not an element of popular liberty was introduced into the form of government. Religion was specially enjoined to be established according to the doctrine and rites of the church of England ; and no emigrant might withdraw his allegiance from King James, or avow dissent from the royal creed. Lands were to descend according to the common law. Not only murder, manslaughter, and adultery, but danger ous tumults and seditions were punishable by death ; so that the security of life depended on the discretion of the magistrate, restricted only by the necessity of a trial by jury. All civil causes, requiring corporal pun ishment, fine or imprisonment, might be summarily determined by the president and council ; who also possessed full legislative authority in cases not affecting life or limb. Kindness to the savages was enjoined, with the use of all proper means for their conversion. It was further, and most unwisely, though probably at the request of the corporation, ordered, that the indus try and commerce of the respective colonies should for five years, at least, be conducted in a joint stock. The king also reserved to himself the right of futuic legislation.

Thus were the political forms of the colony estab lished, when, on the nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and six, one hundred and nine years after the discovery of the American continent by Cabot, forty-one years from the settlement of Florida, the little squadron of three vessels, the largest not exceeding one hundred tons

124 COLONISTS ARRIVE IN VIRGINIA.

CHAP, burthen,1 bearing one hundred and five men, destined — ^ to remain, set sail for a harbor in Virginia.

The voyage began under inauspicious omens. Ot the one hundred and five, on the list of emigrants, there were but twelve laborers, and very few mechan ics.2 They were going to a wilderness, in which, as yet, not a house was standing ; and there were forty- eight gentlemen to four carpenters. Neither were there any men with families. It was evident, a com mercial and not a colonial establishment was designed

o

by the projectors. Dissensions sprung up during the voyage ; as the names and instructions of the council had, by the folly of James, been carefully concealed in a box, which was not to be opened till after the arrival in Virginia, no competent authority existed to check the progress of envy and disorder.3 The genius of Smith excited jealousy; and hope, the only power

1607 which can still the clamors and allay the feuds of the selfish, early deserted the colonists.

Newport, who commanded the ships, was acquaint ed with the old passage, and, consuming the whole of the early spring in a navigation which should have been completed in February, sailed by way of the Canaries and the West India Islands. As he turned to the north, a severe storm carried his fleet beyond the settlement of Raleigh, into the magnificent Bay ol

April the Chesapeake.4 The head-lands received and retain the names of Cape Henry and Cape Charles, from the sons of King James ; the deep water for anchorage, " putting the emigrants in good Comfort," gave a name to the Northern Point ; and within the capes a country

1 Smith's Virginia, i. 150. 3 Smith, i. 150. Chalmers, 17.

2 See the names in Smith, i. 4 Smith, i. 150. Stith, 44. 153, and in Purchas, iv. 1706.

COLONISTS ESTABLISHED AT JAMESTOWN. 125

opened, which appeared to the emigrants to "claim CHAP the prerogative over the most pleasant places in the ^^ world." Hope revived for a season, as they advanced. 1G07 " Heaven and earth seemed never to have agreed better to frame a place for man's commodious and delightful habitation."1 A noble river was soon en tered, which was named from the monarch ; and, after a search of seventeen days, during which they encoun tered the hostility of one little savage tribe, and at Hampton smoked the calumet of peace with another, the peninsula of Jamestown, about fifty miles above Vf the mouth of the stream, was selected for the site of i& the colony.

Thus admirable wras the country. The emigrants, themselves were weakened by divisions, and degraded by jealousy. So soon as the members of the council were duly constituted, they proceeded to choose Wing- field president ; and then, as by their instructions they had power to do, they excluded Smith from their body, on a charge of sedition. But as his only offence con sisted in the possession of enviable qualities, the at tempt at his trial was abandoned,2 and by " the good doctrine and exhortation " of the sincere Hunt, the man without whose aid the vices of the colony would have caused its immediate ruin, was soon restored to his station.3

While the men were busy in felling timber and pro viding freight for the ships, Newport and Smith and twenty others ascended the James River to the falls. They visited the native chieftain Powhatan, who has been styled " the emperor of the country," at his prin cipal seat, just below the falls of the river at Richmond.

' Smith, i. 1 14. Stith, 45. 3 stith, 47. Smith, i. 152 153

« Smith, i. 151. Stith, 45

126 DISTRESS OF THE COLONY.

CHAP. The imperial residence was a village of twelve wig- — <— wains ! The savages murmured at the intrusion of strangers into the country; but Powhatan disguised his fear, and would only say, " They hurt you not ; they take but a little waste land."1

About the middle of June, Newport set sail for England. What condition could be more pitiable, than that of the English whom he had left in Virginia ? The proud hopes which the beauty of the country had excited, soon vanished ; and as the delusion passed away, they awoke and beheld that they were in the wilderness. Weak in numbers, and still weaker from want of habits of industry, they were surrounded by natives whose hostility and distrust had already been displayed ; the summer heats were intolerable to their laborers; the moisture of the climate generated disease ; and the fertility of the soil, covered with a rank luxuriance of forest, increased the toil of culture. Their scanty provisions had become spoiled on the long voyage. " Our drink," say they, " was unwhole some water ; our lodgings, castles in the air : had we been as free from all sins as from gluttony and drunk enness, we might have been canonized for saints." Despair of mind ensued ; so that, in less than a fort night after the departure of the fleet, " hardly ten of them were able to stand ; " the labor of completing some simple fortifications was exhausting; and no regular crops could be planted. During the summer, there were not, on any occasion, five able men to guard the bulwarks ; the fort was filled in every corner \\ ith the groans of the sick, whose outcries, night and day, for six weeks, rent the hearts of those who could minister no relief. Many times, three or four died in

1 Percy, in Purchas, iv. 1C89.

ADVENTURES OF SMITH. 127

\

a night ; in the morning, -their bodies were trailed out CHAP of the cabins, like dogs, to be buried. Fifty men, one — — half of the colony, perished before autumn; among 1G07 them Bartholomew Gosnold, the projector of the set- Aug. dement, a man of rare merits, worthy of a perpetual memory in the plantation,1 and whose influence had alone thus far preserved some degree of harmony in the council.2

Disunion completed the scene of misery. It became necessary to depose Wingfield, the avaricious president, who was charged with engrossing the choicest stores,

• o o o '

and who was on the point of abandoning the colony and escaping to the West Indies. Ratcliffe, the new president, possessed neither judgment nor industry ; so that the management of affairs fell into the hands of Smith, whose deliberate enterprise and cheerful courage alone diffused light amidst the general gloom. He possessed by nature the buoyant spirit of heroic daring. In boyhood he had sighed for the opportunity of " setting out on brave adventures ; " and though not

O ' O

yet thirty years of age, he was already a veteran in the service of humanity and of Christendom. His early life had been given to the cause of freedom in the Low Countries, where he had fought for the inde pendence of the Batavian Republic. Again, as a trav eller, he had roamed over France ; had visited the shores of Egypt ; had returned to Italy ; and, paining for glory, had sought the borders of Hungary, where there had long existed an hereditary warfare with the followers of Mahomet. It was there that the young English cavalier distinguished himself by the bravest feats of arms, in the sight of Christians and infidels,

1 Edmund Howes, 1018. chas, iv. 1090. Smith and Percy

2 Smith, i. 154 Percy, in Pur- were both eye-witnesses.

128 ADVENTURES OF SMITH.

CHAP, engaging fearlessly and always successfully in the single

• — ^ combat with the Turks, which, from the days of the crusades, had been warranted by the rules of chivalry. His signal prowess gained for him the favor of Sigis- mund Bathori, the unfortunate prince of Transylvania.

Ifi02 At length he, with many others, was overpowered in 1& a sudden skirmish among the glens of Wallachia, and was left severely wounded in the field of battle. A prisoner of war, he was now, according to the Eastern custom, offered for sale " like a beast in a market place," and was sent to Constantinople as a slave. ,A Turkish lady had compassion on his misfortunes and his youth, and, designing to restore him to freedom, removed him to a fortress in the Crimea. Contrary to her commands, he was there subjected to the harshest usage among half-savage serfs. Rising against his taskmaster, whom he slew in the struggle, he mounted a horse, and through forest paths escaped from thraldom to the confines of Russia. Again the hand of woman relieved his wants ; he travelled across the country to Transylvania, and, there bidding farewell to his com panions in arms, he resolved to return " to his own sweet country." But, as he crossed the continent, he heard the rumors of civil war in Northern Africa, and hastened, in search of untried dangers, to the realms of Morocco. At length returning to England, his mind did riot so much share as appropriate to itself the general enthusiasm for planting states in America ;

1607, and now the infant commonwealth of Virginia depend ed for its existence on his firmness. His experience in human nature under all its forms, and the cheering vigor of his resolute will, made him equal to his duty. He inspired the natives with awe, and quelled the spirit of anarchy and rebellion among the emigrants

SMITH ASCENDS THE CH1CKAHOMINY. 129

He was more wakeful to gather provisions than the CHAP

covetous to find gold ; and strove to keep the country >.

more than the faint-hearted to abandon it. As autumn 1G07 approached, the Indians, from the superfluity of their narvest, made a voluntary offering; and supplies were also collected by expeditions into the interior. But the conspiracies, that were still formed, to desert the settlement, first by the selfish Wingfield, and again by the imbecile Ratcliffe, could be defeated only after a skirmish, in which one of the leaders was killed ; and the danger of a precipitate abandonment of Vir ginia continued to be imminent, till the approach of winter, when not only the homeward navigation be came perilous, but the fear of famine was removed by the abundance of wild fowl and game.1 Nothing then remained but to examine the country.

The South Sea was considered the ocean path to every kind of wealth. The coast of America on the Pacific had been explored by the Spaniards, and had been vis ited by Drake ; the collections of Hakluyt had com municated to the English the results of their voyages ; and the maps of that day exhibited a tolerably accurate delineation of the continent of North America. With singular ignorance of the progress of geographical knowledge, it had been expressly enjoined on the col onists to seek a communication with the South Sea by ascending some stream which flowed from the north-

o

west.2 The Chickahominy was such a stream. Smith, though he did not share the ignorance of his employers, was ever willing to engage in discoveries. Leaving the colonists to enjoy the abundance which winter had brought, he not only ascended the river as far

1 Smith, i. 1—54, and 154, 155. Purchas, iv. 1690. Stith, 48.

2 Stith, 43.

VOL. I. 17

130 SMITH A CAPTIVE AMONG THE INDIANS.

CHAP, as he could advance in boats, but struck into the in-

IV.

terior. His companions disobeyed his instructions,

1607-8 anfi? being surprised by the Indians, were put to death. Smith himself, who, in the plains of the Crimea and of Southern Russia, had become acquainted with the su perstitions and the manners of wandering tribes, did not beg for life, but preserved it by the calmness of self-possession. Displaying a pocket compass, he amused the savages by an explanation of its powers, and increased their admiration of his superior genius, by imparting to them some vague conceptions of the form of the earth and the nature of the planetary system. To the Indians, who retained him as their prisoner, his captivity was a more strange event than any thing of which the traditions of their tribes pre served the memory. He was allowed to send a let ter to the fort at Jamestown ; and the savage wonder was increased ; for he seemed, by some magic, to endow the paper with the gift of intelligence. The curiosity of all the clans of the neighborhood was awakened by the prisoner ; he was conducted in triumph from the settlements on the Chickahominy to the Indian villages on the Rappahannock and the Potomac ; and thence, through other towns, to the residence of Opechanca- nough, at Pamunkey. There, for the space of three days, they practised incantations and ceremonies, in the hope of obtaining some insight into the mystery of his character and his designs. It was evident that he was a being of a higher order : was his nature benefi-

O o

cent, or was he to be dreaded as a dangerous enemy? Their minds were bewildered, as they beheld his cairn fearlessness ; and they sedulously observed towards him the utmost reverence and hospitality, as if to pro pitiate his power, should he be rescued from theii

SMITH RESCUED BY POCAHONTAS. 131

hands. The decision of his fate was referred to Pow- CHAP

hatan, who was then residing in what is now Glouces

ter county, on York River, at a village to which Smith 1G07-8 was conducted through the regions, now so celebrated, where the youthful Lafayette hovered upon the skirts of Cornwallis, and the arms of France and the Con federacy were united to achieve the crowning victory of American independence. The passion of vanity rules in forests as well as in cities ; the grim warriors, as they met in council, displayed their gayest apparel before the Englishman, whose doom they had assem bled to pronounce. The fears of the feeble aborigines were about to prevail, and his immediate death, already repeatedly threatened and repeatedly delayed, would have been inevitable, but for the timely inter cession of Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, a girl " of tenne " or " twelve " "years old, which not only for feature, countenance, and expression, much exceed ed any of the rest of his people, but for wit and spirit, was the only nonpareil of the country." The gentle feelings of humanity are the same in every race, and in v every period of life ; they bloom, though unconsciously, even in the bosom of a child. Smith had easily won the confiding fondness of the Indian maiden ; and now the impulse of mercy awakened within her breast ; she clung firmly to his neck, as his head was bowed- to receive the strokes of the tomahawk. Did the child like superstition of her kindred reverence her inter ference as a token from a superior power ? Her fear lessness and her entreaties persuaded the council to spare the agreeable stranger, who might make hatchets for her father, and rattles and strings of beads for her self, the favorite child. The barbarians, whose decision had long been held in suspense by the mysterious awe

132 ARRIVAL OF NEW EMIGRANTS.

'.'HAP. which Smith had inspired, now resolved to receive him — — - as a friend, and to make him a partner of their councils. 1(308 They tempted him to join their bands, and lend assistance in an attack upon the white men at James town ; and when his decision of character succeeded in changing the current of their thoughts, they dis missed him with mutual promises of friendship and benevolence. Thus the captivity of Smith did itself become a benefit to the colony; for he had not only observed with care the country between the James and the Potomac, and had gained some knowledge of the language and manners of the natives, but he now established a peaceful intercourse between the English and the tribes of Powhatan ; and, with her companions, the child who had rescued him from death, afterwards came every few days to the fort with baskets of corn for the garrison.1

Returning to Jamestown, Smith found the colony reduced to forty men ; and of these, the strongest were again preparing to escape with the pinnace. This third attempt at desertion he repressed at the hazard of his life. Thus passed the first few months of colonial existence in discord and misery; despair relieved and ruin prevented, by the fortitude of one man, and the benevolence of an Indian girl.

Meantime, the council in England, having received an increase of its numbers and its powers, determined to send out new recruits and supplies ; and Newport had hardly returned from his first voyage, before lie was again despatched with one hundred and twenty

1 The True Relation, &c., printed confirmed in his New England's trials.

in 1608, was published without the printed in 1622 ; and the full narrative

knowledge of Smith who was then in is to be found in the Historic, printc-d

Virginia, and was at first attributed to in 1624. In 1625, Purchas, who had

Thomas Watson. The rescue of Smith many manuscripts on Virginia, gives

by Pocahontas was told with author- the narrative a place in his Pilgrims, as

ity, in 1617, in Smith's " Relation to unquestionably authentic. Compare

Queen Anne " ; Historic 127. Jt is Deane's note on Wingfield, 31, 32-

SMITH EXPLORES THE CHESAPEAKE. 133

emigrants. Yet the joy in Virginia on their arrival CHAP. was of short continuance ; for the new comers were — v^, chiefly vagabond gentlemen and goldsmiths, who, in 1608 spite of the remonstrances of Smith, gave a wrong direction to the industry of the colony. They be lieved they had discovered grains of gold in a glittering earth which abounded near Jamesto\vn ; and " there was now no talk, no hope, no work, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold." The refiners were enamored of their skill ; Martin, one of the council, promised himself honors in England as the discoverer of a mine ; and Newport, having made an unnecessary stay of fourteen weeks, and having, in defiance of the assurances of Powhatan, expected to find the Pacific just beyond the falls in James River, believed himself immeasurably rich, as he embarked for England with a freight of worthless earth.1

o

Disgusted at the follies which he had vainly opposed, Smith undertook the perilous and honorable office of exploring the vast Bay of the Chesapeake, and the nu merous rivers which are its tributaries. Two voyages, made in an open boat, with a few companions, over whom his superior courage, rather than his station as a magistrate, gave him authority, occupied him about three months of the summer, and embraced a navi gation of nearly three thousand miles.2 The slender- ness of his means has been contrasted with the dignity and utility of his discoveries, and his name has been placed in the highest rank with the distinguished men who have enlarged the bounds of geographical knowl edge, and opened the way by their investigations for colonies and commerce. He surveyed the Bay of the Chesapeake to the Susquehannah, and left only the

i Smith, i. 1(55-172. 2 Smith, i. 173—192, n. 100

134 SMITH BECOMES PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

CHAP, borders of that remote river to remain for some years ^v^- longer the fabled dwelling-place of a giant progeny.1 IH08 Jje was tne first to lliake known to the English the fame of the Mohawks, " who dwelt upon a great water, and had many boats, and many men," and, as it seemed to the feebler Algonquin tribes, "made war upon all the world ; " in the Chesapeake Bay he encountered a little fleet of their canoes.2 The Patapsco was discov ered and explored, and Smith probably entered the harbor of Baltimore.3 The majestic Potomac, which at its mouth is seven miles broad, especially invited curiosity; and passing beyond the heights of Vernon and the city of Washington, he ascended to the falls above Georgetown.4 Nor did he .merely explore the rivers and inlets. He penetrated the territories, es tablished friendly relations with the native tribes, and laid the foundation for future beneficial intercourse. The map5 which he prepared and sent to the company in London,6 is still extant, and delineates correctly the great outlines of nature. The expedition was worthy the romantic age of American history.

Sept Three days after his return, Smith was made pres ident of the council. Order and industry began to be diffused by his energetic administration, when New port, with a second supply, entered the river. About seventy new emigrants arrived ; two of them, it merits notice, were females. The angry covetousness of a greedy but disappointed corporation was now fully dis played. As if their command could transmute min erals, narrow the continent, and awaken the dead,

1 Burk, i. 123. 5 Jn the Richmond edition, oppo-

2 Smith, i. 181 — 183. site pagre 141) ; in Purchas, iv., op

3 Stith, 64. posite page 1(51)1.

4 Compare Smith, i. 177, with 6 Smith's letter, in Hist, i 202. Stith, 05, and Smith's map.

SMITH'S ADMINISTRATION. 135

they demanded a lump of gold, or a certain passage to CHAP the South Sea, or, a feigned humanity added, one of ~~>-^ the lost company, sent by Sir Walter Raleigh.1 The charge of the voyage was two thousand pounds ; unless the ships should return full freighted with commodities, corresponding in value to the costs of the adventure, the colonists were threatened, that " they should be left in Virginia as banished men."2 Neither had ex perience taught the company to engage suitable persons for Virginia. " When you send again," Smith was obliged to write, " I entreat you rather send but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, black smiths, masons, and diggers up of trees' roots, well provided, than a thousand of such as we have."

After the departure of the ships, Smith employed I6oa his authority to enforce industry. Six hours in the day were spent in work; the rest might be given to pas time. The gentlemen had been taught the use of the axe, and had become accomplished woodcutters. " He who would not work, might not eat ; " and Jamestown assumed the appearance of a regular place of abode. Yet so little land had been cultivated — not more than thirty or forty acres in all — that it was still necessary for Englishmen to solicit food from the indolent Indians ; and Europeans, to preserve themselves from starving, were billeted among the sons of the forest. Thus the season passed away ; of two hundred in the colony, not more than seven died.3

The golden anticipations of the London company had not been realized. But the cause of failure ap peared in the policy, which had grasped at sudden

1 Smith, i. 192, 193. ments for the unexperienced, in iii.

2 Smith's letter, in History, i. Mass. Hist Coll. iii. 10.

200 201 ; also, Smith's advertise- 3 Smith, i. 202, 222—229.

136 THE SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA.

CHAP, emoluments ; 1 the enthusiasm of the English seemed

— v-L, exalted by the train of misfortunes ; and more vast

1609. and honorable plans2 were conceived, which were to

be effected by more numerous and opulent associates

Not only were the limits of the colony extended, the

company was enlarged by the subscriptions of many

oi the nobility and gentry of England, and of the

tradesmen of London ; and the name of the powerful

Cecil, the inveterate enemy and successful rival of

Raleigh, appears at the head of those,3 who were to

carry into execution the vast design to which Raleigh,

now a close prisoner in the tower, had first awakened

the attention of his countrymen. At the request of the

corporation, which was become a very powerful body,

without any regard to the rights or wishes of those

who had already emigrated under the sanction of

May existing laws, the constitution of Virginia was radically

' changed.

The new charter4 transferred to the company the powers which had before been reserved to the king. The supreme council in England was now to be chosen by the stockholders themselves, and, in the exercise of the powers of legislation and government, was inde pendent of the monarch. The governor in Virginia might rule the colonists with uncontrolled authority, according to the tenor of the instructions and laws

o

established by the council, or, in want of them, accord ing to his own good discretion, even in cases capital and criminal, not less than civil ; and, in the event of mutiny or rebellion, he might declare martial law, being himself the judge of the necessity of the measure,

1 Smith, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. 3 Hening, i. 81—88.

iii. 10—12. 4 In Honing, Stith, and Haz-

2 Hakluyt's Dedication of Vir- ard, ii. ginia richly valued, v.

NEW EMIGRATION FROM ENGLAND. 137

and the executive officer in its administration. Thus CHAP

IV.

the lives, liberty and fortune of the colonists were placed ^- at the arbitrary will of a governor who was to be ap- 1609 pointed by a commercial corporation. As yet not one valuable civil privilege was conceded to the emigrants.1

Splendid as were the auspices of the new charter, unlimited as were the powers of the patentees, the next events in the colony were still more disastrous. Lord De La Ware,2 distinguished for his virtues, as well as rank, received the appointment of governor and captain-general for life ; an avarice which would listen to no possibility of defeat, and which already dreamed of a flourishing empire in America, surrounded him with stately officers, suited by their titles and nominal charges to the dignity of an opulent kingdom.3 The condition of the public mind favored colonization ; swarms of people desired to be transported ; and the adventurers, with cheerful alacrity, contributed free will offerings.4 The widely-diffused enthusiasm soon enabled the company to despatch a fleet of nine vessels, containing more than five hundred emigrants. The admiral of the fleet was Newport, who, with Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, was authorized to administer the affairs of the colony till the arrival of Lord Delaware.5

The three commissioners had embarked on board the same ship.6 When near the coast of Virginia, a hurri cane7 separated the admiral from the rest of his fleet; and his vessel was stranded on the rocks of the Ber-

1 Chalmers, 25. published by the Council of Vir-

2 Wai polo's Royal and Noble ginia, in 1010, p. 59 — a leading au- Authors, enlarged by Th. Park, ii. thurity.

180— 18:}. 5 Smith, i. 233, 234 ; or Purchas,

3 Smith, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iv. 1721).

iii. 11, and Smith, ii. 10(J. 6 True Declaration, 10 and 21.

4 True Declaration of Virginia, 7 Archer's letter, in Purchas, iv.,

VOL. I. 18

138 SMITH RETURNS TO ENGLAND.

CHAP, inudas. A small ketch perished; and1 seven ships

^•v^ only arrived in Virginia.

A new dilemma ensued. The old charter was ab rogated ; and, as there was in the settlement no one who had any authority from the new patentees, anarchy seemed at hand. The emigrants of the last arrival were dissolute gallants, packed off to escape worse destinies at home,2 broken tradesmen, gentlemen im poverished in spirit and fortune ; rakes and libertines, men more fitted to corrupt than to found a common wealth. It was not the will of God that the new state should be formed of these materials ; that such men should be the fathers of a progeny, born on the American soil, who were one day to assert American liberty by their eloquence, and defend it by their valor. Hopeless as the determination appeared, Smith reso lutely maintained his authority over the unruly herd, and devised new expeditions and new settlements, to furnish them occupation and support. At last, an acci dental explosion of gunpowder disabled him, by inflict- in £ wounds which the surgical skill of Virginia could

0 o o

not relieve.3 Delegating his authority to Percy, he embarked for England. Extreme suffering from his wounds and the ingratitude of his employers were the fruits of his services. He received, for his sacrifices and his perilous exertions, not one foot of land, not the house he himself had built, not the field his own hands had planted, nor any reward but the applause of his conscience and the world.4 He was the Father of Virginia, the true leader who first planted the Saxon race within the borders of the United States, tlis

1733, 1734. Secretary Strachy's 2 ibid. i. 235. Stith, 103.

account, in Purchas, iv. 1735 — 3 Smith, i. 2.'tf).

1738. True Declaration of Vir- 4 s,njth, ii. 102. Virginia's Ver«

ginia, 21—20. ger, in Purchas, iv. 1815

1 Smith, i. 234.

CHARACTER OF JOHN SMITH. THE STARVING TIME. 139

judgment had ever been clear in the midst of general CHAP despondency. He united the highest spirit of adven- — ^ ture with consummate powers of action. His courage and self-possession accomplished what others esteemed desperate. Fruitful in expedients, he was prompt in execution. Though he had been harassed by the persecutions of malignant envy, he never revived the memory of the faults of his enemies. He was accus tomed to lead, not to send his men to danger ; would suffer want rather than borrow, and starve sooner than not pay.1 He had nothing counterfeit in his nature , but was open, honest, and sincere. He clearly dis cerned, that it was the true interest of England not to seek in Virginia for gold and sudden wealth, but to enforce regular industry. " Nothing," said he, " is to be expected thence, but by labor."2

The colonists, no longer controlled by an acknowl edged authority, were soon abandoned to improvident idleness. Their ample stock of provisions was rapidly consumed ; and further supplies were refused by the Indians, whose friendship had been due to the personal influence of Smith, and who now regarded the English with a fatal contempt. Stragglers from the town were cut off; parties, which begged food in the Indian cabins, were deliberately murdered ; and plans were laid to starve and destroy the whole company. The horrors of famine ensued ; while a band of about thirty, seizing on a ship, escaped to become pirates, and to plead their desperate necessity as an excuse for their crimes.3 Smith, at his departure, had left more than

1 Smith, L 241. It is hardlv ne- 2 Answers in Smith, ii. 106.

cessary to add, that much of Smith's 3 True Declaration, 35 — 39.

Generall Historie is a compilation Compare Stith, 11G, 117; Smith,

of the works of others. Compare ii. & Belknap, i. 303, 304.

140 JAMESTOWN DESERTED

CHAP, four hundred and ninety persons in the colony,1 in — A- six months, indolence, vice, and famine, reduced the number to sixty ; and these were so feeble and de jected, that, if relief had been delayed but ten days longer, they also must have utterly perished.9 1G10. Sir Thomas Gates and the passengers, whose ship had been wrecked on the rocks of the Bermudas, had reached the shore without the loss of a life. The liberal fertility of the uninhabited island, teeming with natural products, for nine months sustained them in affluence. From the cedars which they felled, and the wrecks of their old ship, they, with admirable perseverance, constructed two vessels, in which they now embarked for Virginia,3 in the hope of a happy welcome to the abundance of a prosperous colony. May How great, then, was their horror, as they came among the scenes of death and misery, of which the gloom was increased by the prospect of continued scarcity! Four pinnaces remained in the river ; nor could the extremity of distress listen to any other course, than to sail for Newfoundland, and seek safety by dispersing the company among the ships of English fishermen.4 Juno The colonists — such is human nature — desired to burn the town in which they had been so wretched, and the exercise of their infantile vengeance was prevented only by the energy of Gates,5 who was himself the last to desert the settlement. " None dropped a tear, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness." They fell June down the stream with the tide ; but, the next morning, as they drew near the mouth of the river, they en countered the long-boat of Lord Delaware, who had

i Smith, i. 240. 3 True Declaration of Virginia,

a Purchas, iv. 1732 and 170(5. 23—20.

Stith, 117. True Declaration, 47, * Ibid. 43, 44.

or Smith, ii. 4, says four days. 5 Ibid. 45. Smith, 11. 3.

LORD DELAWARE RESTORES VIRGINIA. 141

arrived on the coast with emigrants and supplies. CHAP The fugitives bore up the helm, and, favored by the - — wind, were that night once more at the fort in James- 161° town.1

It was on the tenth day of June, that the restauration of the colony was solemnly begun by supplications to God. A deep sense of the infinite mercies of his provi dence overawed the colonists who had been spared by famine, the emigrants who had been shipwrecked and yet preserved, and the new comers who found wretch edness and want, where they had expected the content ment of abundance. The firmness of their resolution repelled despair. " It is," said they, " the arm of the Lord of Hosts, who would have his people pass the Red Sea and the wilderness, and then possess the land of Canaan."2 Dangers avoided inspire trust in Provi dence. " Doubt not," said the emigrants to the people of England, " God will raise our state and build his church in this excellent clime." After solemn exer cises of religion, Lord Delaware caused his commission to be read ; a consultation was immediately held on the good of the colony ; and its government was or ganized with mildness but decision. The evils of faction were healed by the unity of the administration, and the dignity and virtues of the governor ; and the colonists, excited by mutual emulation, performed their tasks with alacrity. At the beginning of the day, they assembled in the little church, which was kept neatly trimmed with the wild flowers of the country;3 next, they returned to their houses to receive their allowance of food. The settled hours of labor were from six in the morning till ten, and from two in the

i True Declaration, 45, 46. 3 Purchas, iv. 175a

a Ibid. 48.

142 LORD DELAWARE RETURNS TO ENGLAND.

CHAP, afternoon till four. The houses were warm and ^-~ secure, covered above with strong boards, and matted IGLO. on the inside after the fashion of the Indian wigwams.

o

Security and affluence were returning. But the health of Lord Delaware sunk under the cares of his situation and the diseases of the climate ; and, after a lingering sickness, he was compelled to leave the administration with Percy, and return to England.1 The colony, at this time, consisted of about two hun dred men ; but the departure of the governor was a disastrous event, which produced not only despondency at Jamestown, but " a damp of coldness " in the hearts of the London company ; and a great reaction in the popular mind in England. In the age when the theatre was the chief place of public amusement and resort, Virginia was introduced by the stage-poets as a theme of scorn and derision.2 " This plantation," complained they of Jamestown, " has undergone the reproofs of the base world ; our own brethren laugh us to scorne; and papists and players, the scum and dregs of the earth, mocke such as help to build up the walls of Jerusalem."3

1611 Fortunately, the adventurers, before the ill success of Lord Delaware was known, had despatched Sir Thomas Dale, " a worthy and experienced soldier in the Low Countries," with liberal supplies. He arrived

May safely in the colony, and assumed the government, which he soon afterwards administered upon the basis of martial law. The code, written in blood, and printed and sent to Virginia by the treasurer, Sir Thomas Smith, on his own authority, and without the

1 The New Life of Virginia, 2 Epistle Dedicatorie to the New

Ki12, rcpublished in ii. Mass. Hist. Life of Virginia. In Force, p. 4.

Coll. viii. 199— 223,- and by P. 3 p0r the Colony in Virginea

Forco, 1835. The Relation of Britannia, Lawes Divine, Morill,

Lord De la Warre, printed in 161], and Martial. London, 1(J12, is before me.

DALE INTRODUCES MARTIAL LAW. 143

order or assent of the company, was chiefly a trans- CHAP lation from the rules of war of the United Provinces. — ^ The Episcopal Church, coeval in Virginia with the 1611 settlement of Jamestown, was, like the infant common wealth, subjected to military rule ; and, though con formity was not strictly enforce^ yet courts-martial had authority to punish indifference with stripes, and infidelity with death. The introduction of this arbi trary system added new sorrows to the wretchedness of the people, who pined and perished under despotic rule ; but the adventurers in England regarded the Vir ginians as the garrison of a distant citadel, more than as citizens and freemen. The charter of the London company1 had invested the governor with full au thority, in cases of rebellion and mutiny, to exercise martial law ; and, in the condition of the settlement, this seemed a sufficient warrant for making it the law of the land.

The letters of Dale to the council confessed the small number and weakness of the colonists ; but he kindled hope in the hearts of those constant adven turers, who, in the greatest disasters, had never fainted. " If any thing otherwise than well betide me," said he, " let me commend unto your carefulness the pursuit and dignity of this business, than which your purses and endeavors will never open nor travel in a more meritorious enterprise. Take four of the best kingdoms in Christendom, and put them all to gether, they may no way compare with this country, either for commodities or goodness of soil."2 Lord Delaware and Sir Thomas Gates earnestly confirmed what Dale had written, and, without any delay, Gates,

l See the charter, sec. xxiv. 2 New Life of Virginia, ii. Mass. Compare Smith, ii. 10, 1 1 ; Stitli, Ik^, Hist. Coll. viii. 207. 1£3, and W3 ; Purchas, iv. 17G7.

144 GATES ARRIVES WITH NEW EMIGRANTS.

CHAP, who has the honor, to all posterity, of being the first *^~ named in the original patent for Virginia, conducted to 1611 the New World six ships, with three hundred emi grants. Long afterwards the gratitude of Virginia to these early emigrants was shown by repeated acts of benevolent legislation. A wise liberality sent also a hundred kine, as wrell as suitable provisions. It was the most fortunate step which had been taken, and proved the wisdom of Cecil, and others, whose firm ness had prevailed.

The promptness of this relief merits admiration. In May, Dale had written from Virginia, and the last Aug. of August, the new recruits, under Gates, were already at Jamestown. So unlocked for was this supply, that, at their approach, they were regarded with fear as a hostile fleet. Who can describe the joy which ensued, when they were found to be friends ? Gates assumed the government amidst the thanksgivings of the colony, and at once endeavored to employ the sentiment of religious gratitude as a foundation of order and of laws. "Lord bless England, our sweet native country," was the morning and evening prayer of the grateful emi grants.1 The colony now numbered seven hundred men ; and Dale, with the consent of Gates, went far up the river to found the new plantation, which, in honor of Prince Henry, a general favorite with the English people, was named Henrico; and there, on the remote frontier, Alexander Whitaker, the self-denying •* apos tle of Virginia," assisted in " bearing the name of God to the gentiles." But the greatest change in the con dition of the colonists, resulted from the incipient estab lishment of private property. To each man a few acres of ground were assigned for his orchard and garden,

1 Praier said morning and evening, in Lawes Divine, &c. p. 92.

THIRD CHARTER FOR VIRGINIA. 145

to plant at his pleasure and for his own use. So long CHAP as industry had been wiihout its special reward, reluc- ^^- tant labor, wasteful of time, had been followed by 1Gn want. Henceforward, the sanctity of private property was recognized as the surest guaranty of order and abundance. Yet the rights of the Indians were little respected ; nor did the English disdain to appropriate by conquest, the soil, the cabins, and the granaries of the tribe of the Appomattocks.

While the colony was advancing in strength and happiness, the third patent for Virginia granted to the adventurers in England the Bermudas and all islands March within three hundred leagues of the Virginia shore — a I2t concession of no ultimate importance in American his tory, since the new acquisitions were soon transferred to a separate company. But the most remarkable change effected in the charter, a change which con tained within itself the germ of another revolution, consisted in giving to the corporation a democratic form. Hitherto all power had resided in the council ; which, it is true, was to have its vacancies supplied by the majority of the corporation. But now it was or dered, that weekly or even more frequent meetings of the whole company, might be convened for the trans action of affairs of less weight ; while all questions respecting government, commerce, and the disposition of lands, should be reserved for the four great and gen eral courts, at which all officers were to be elected, and all laws established. The political rights of the colo nists themselves remained unimproved ; the character of the corporation was entirely changed : power was transferred from the council to the company, and its sessions became the theatre of bold and independent discussion. A perverse financial privilege was, at the VOL. i. 19

146 POCAHONTAS- AND ROLFE.

CHAP, same time, conceded ; and lotteries, though unusual in

v-^v-^ England, were authorized for the benefit of the colony.

The lotteries produced to the company twenty-nine

thousand pounds ; but, as they were esteemed a

grievance by the nation, so they were, after a few

^lar ' Jears> noticed by parliament as a public evil, and, in

consequence of the complaint of the commons, were

suspended by an order of council.

1612 If the new charter enlarged the powers of the com pany, the progress of the colony confirmed its stability. Tribes even of the Indians submitted to the English, and, by a formal treaty, declared themselves the trib utaries of King James. A marriage was the immediate

o o

cause of this change of relations.

1613 A foraging party of the colonists, headed by Argall, having stolen the daughter of Powhatan, demanded of her father a ransom. The indignant chief prepared

1CH rather for hostilities. But John Rolfe, " an honest and discreet" young Englishman, an amiable enthusiast, who had emigrated to the forests of Virginia, daily, hourly, and, a* it were, in his very sleep, heard a voice crying in his ears, that he should strive to make her a Christian. With the solicitude of a troubled soul, he reflected on the true end of being. " The Holy Spirit'7 — such are his own expressions — "demanded of me why I was created ; " and conscience whispered that, rising above " the censure of the low-minded," he should lead the blind in the right path. Yet still he remembered that God had visited the sons of Levi and Israel with his displeasure, because they sanctified strange women ; and might he, indeed, unite himself with "one of barbarous breeding and of a cursed race ?" After a great struggle of mind, and daily and believing prayers, in the innocence of pious zeal, he resolved "to labor for the conversion of the unregene-

POCAHONTAS AND ROLFE. 147

rated maiden ; " and, winning the favor of Pocahoritas, CHAP he desired her in marriage. Quick of comprehension, — ^ the youthful princess received instruction with docility; 1 and soon, in the little church of Jamestown, — which rested on rough pine columns, fresh from the forest, and was in a style of rugged architecture as wild, if not as frail, as an Indian's wigwam, — she stood before the font, that out of the trunk of a tree "had been hewn hollow like a canoe," "openly renounced her country's idolatry, professed the faith of Jesus Christ, and was baptized." " The gaining of this one soul," " the first fruits of Virginian conversion," was followed by her nuptials with Rolfe. In April, 1G14, to the joy of Sir Thomas Dale, with the approbation of her father and friends, Opachisco, her uncle, gave the bride away ; and she stammered before the altar her marriage vows, according to the rites of the English service.

Every historian of Virginia commemorates the union with approbation ; distinguished men trace from it their descent. In 1616, the Indian wife, instructed in the English language, and bearing an English name, "the first Christian ever of her nation," sailed with her icic husband for England. The daughter of the wilderness possessed the mild elements of female loveliness, half concealed, as if in the bud, and rendered the more beautiful by the childlike simplicity with which her education in the savannahs of the New World had in • vested her. How could she fail to be observed at court, and admired in the city? As a wife, and as a young mother, her conduct was exemplary. She had been able to contrast the magnificence of European life with the freedom of the western forests ; and now, as she was preparing to return to America, at the age of twenty-two, she fell a victim to the English climate;, — 16 1 7 saved, as if by the hand of mercy, from beholding the

148 ACT OF PIRACY AGAINST ST. SAUVEUR AND PORT ROYAL

CR4P. extermination of the tribes from which she sprung, — • — leaving a spotless name, and dwelling in memory under the form of perpetual youth.

The immediate fruits of the marriage to the colony were a confirmed peace, not with Powhatan alone, but also with the powerful Chickahominies, who sought the friendship of the English, and demanded to be called Englishmen. It might have seemed that the European and the native races were about to become blended ; yet no such result ensued. The English and the Indians remained at variance, and the weakest grad ually disappeared.

1613 The colony seemed firmly established; and its gov ernor asserted for the English the sole right of colonizing the coast to the latitude of forty-five degrees. In 1613, sailing in an armed vessel, as a protector to the fisher men off the coast of Maine, Samuel Argall, a young sea-captain, of coarse passions and arbitrary temper, discovered that the French were just planting a colony near the Penobscot, on Mount Desert Isle ; and, has tening to the spot, after cannonading the intrench- ments, and a sharp discharge of musketry, he gained possession of the infant hamlet of St. Sauvcur. The cross round which the faithful had gathered, was thrown down ; and the cottages, and the ship in the harbor, were abandoned to pillage. Of the colonists, some were put on board a vessel for St. Malo, others trans ported to the Chesapeake.

The news of French encroachments roused the jeal ousy of Virginia. Immediately Argall sailed once more to the north ; raised the arms of England where those of De Gucrcheville had been planted ; threw down the fortifications of De Monts on the Isle of St. Croix ; and set on fire the deserted settlement of Port Koyal. Thus did England vindicate her claim to Maine and

MINISTRATION OF DALE. THE TENURE OF LANDS. 149

Acadia by petty acts of violence, worthy only of ma- CHAP. rauders and pirates. In less than a century and a — *— half, the strife for acres which neither nation could 1613 cultivate, kindled war round tie globe.

Meantime the people of England, who freely offered gifts while "the holy action" of planting Vir ginia was "languishing and forsaken," saw through the gloom of early disasters the success of the " pious and heroic enterprise." Shakespeare, in the matu rity of his genius, shared the pride and the hope of his countrymen. As he looked toward James River and Jamestown, his splendid prophecy, by the mouth of the Protestant Cranmer, promised the Eng lish nation the possession of a hemisphere, through King James as the patron of colonies :

" Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine, His honor and the greatness of his name Shall be, and make new nations. He shall flourish, And like a mountain cedar, reach his branches To all the plains about him."

Sir Thomas Gates, leaving the government with 1614. Dale, embarked for England, where he employed him- Mar* self in reviving the courage of the London company.

In May, 1614, a petition for aid was presented to the 17. house of commons, and was received with unusual so- "«>ns

Journal,

lemnity. It was supported by Lord Delaware, whose lc£i' affection for Virginia ceased only with life. " All it 3M& requires," said he, " is but a few honest laborers, bur dened with children ; " and he moved for a committee to consider of relief. But disputes with the monarch led to a hasty dissolution of the commons ; and it was not to lotteries or privileged companies, to par liaments or kings, that the new state was to owe ite prosperity. Private industry, directed to the culture of tobacco, enriched Virginia.

150 THE TENURE OF LANDS.

CHAP. The condition of private property in lands, among — ^~ the colonists, depended, in some measure, on the cir- 161C! cumstances under which they had emigrated. Some had been sent and maintained at the exclusive cost of the company, and were its servants. One month of their time and three acres of land were set apart foi them, besides a small allowance of two bushels of corn from the public store ; the rest of their labor be longed to their employers. This number gradually decreased ; arid, in 1617, there were of them all, men, women, and children, but fifty-four. Others, especially the favorite settlement near the mouth of the Appomattox, were tenants, paying two and a half barrels of corn as a yearly tribute to the store, and giv ing to the public service one month's labor, which was to be required neither at seed-time nor harvest. He who came himself, or had sent others, at his own ex pense, had been entitled to a hundred acres of land for each person : now that the colony was well established, the bounty on emigration was fixed at fifty acres, of which the actual occupation and culture gave a further right to as many more, to be assigned at leisure. Be sides this, lands were granted as rewards of merit ; yet not more than two thousand acres could be so appro priated to one person. A payment to the company's treasury of twelve pounds and ten shillings, likewise obtained a title to any hundred acres of land not yet granted or possessed, with a reserved claim to as much more. Such were the earliest land laws of Virginia : though imperfect and unequal, they gave the cultivator the means of becoming a proprietor of the soil. These valuable changes were established by Sir Thomas Dale, a magistrate who, notwithstanding the intro duction of martial law, has gained praise for his vigor

CULTURE OF TOBACCO. ADMINISTRATION OF ARGALL. 151

and industry, his judgment and conduct. Having re- CHAP mained five years in America, and now desiring to visit ^-^ England and his family, he appointed George Yeardley deputy-governor, and embarked for his native country.1 1616.

The labor of the colony had long been misdirected ; in the manufacture of ashes and soap, of glass and tar, the colonists could not sustain the competition with the nations on the Baltic. Much fruitless cost had been incurred in planting vineyards. It was found that tobacco might be profitably cultivated. The sect 1615 of gold-finders had become extinct ; and now the fields, the gardens, the public squares, and even the streets of Jamestown, were planted with tobacco ; 9 and the colonists dispersed, unmindful of security in their eagerness for gain. Tobacco, as it gave ani mation to Virginian industry, eventually became not only the staple, but the currency of the colony.

With the success of industry and the security of 1617 property, the emigrants needed the possession of polit ical rights. It is an evil incident to a corporate body, that its officers separate their interests as managers from their interests as partial proprietors. This was found to be none the less true, where an extensive territory was the estate to be managed ; and imbit- tered parties contended for the posts of emolument and honor. It was under the influence of a faction which rarely obtained a majority, that the office of deputy-governor was intrusted to Argall. Martial law was at that time the common law of the country : that the despotism of the new deputy, who was both self-willed and avaricious, might be complete, he was further invested with the place of admiral of the coun try and the adjoining seas. 3

l Stith, 138—140. 2 Smith, ii. 33. 3 stith, 145.

152 ARGALL S DESPOTIC ADMINISTRATION.

CHAP. The return of Lord Delaware to America might

IV

have restored tranquillity; the health of that nobleman

1617. Was not equal to the voyage ; he embarked with many emigrants, but did not live to reach Virginia.1 The tyranny of Argall was, therefore, left unrestrained ; but his indiscriminate rapacity and vices were destined to defeat themselves, and procure for the colony an in estimable benefit; for they led him to defraud the company, as well as to oppress the colonists. The

1618 condition of Virginia became intolerable ; the labor of the settlers was perverted to the benefit of the gov ernor ; servitude, for a limited period, was the common penalty annexed to trifling offences ; and, in a colony where martial law still continued in force, life itself was insecure against his capricious passions. The first appeal ever made from America to England, di rected, not to the king, but to the company, was in behalf of one whom Argall had wantonly condemned to death, and whom he had with great difficulty been prevailed upon to spare.2 The colony was fast falling into disrepute, and the report of the tyranny estab lished beyond the Atlantic, checked emigration. A reformation was demanded, and was conceded, with guarantees for the future ; because the interests of the colonists and the company coincided in requiring a redress of their common wrongs. After a strenuous contest on the part of rival factions for the control of the company, the influence of Sir Edwin Sandys pre vailed ; Argall was displaced, and the mild and popular

1619. Yeardley was now appointed captain-general of the colony. But before the new chief magistrate could

i Stith,148. In Royal and Noble writers on Virginia uniformly re-

Authors, ii. 180—183, Lord Dela- late that he died at sea, Smith,

ware is said to have died at Wher- ii. 34.

well, Hants, June 7, 1618. The 2 gtith, 150— 153.

YEARDLEY'S ADMINISTRATION. 153

arrive in Virginia, Argall had withdrawn, having pre- CHAP. viously, by fraudulent devices, preserved for himself ^r-^ and his partners the fruits of his extortions. The 1619- London company suffered the usual plagues of corpo rations — faithless agents and fruitless suits.

o

Virginia, for twelve years after its settlement, had languished under the government of 'Sir Thomas Smith, treasurer of the Virginia company in England. The colony was ruled during that period by laws written in blood ; and repeatedly suffered an extrem ity of distress too horrible to be described.

In April, 1619, Sir George Yeardley arrived. Of the emigrants who had been sent over at great cost, not one in twenty then remained alive. " In James citty were only those houses that Sir Thomas Gates' built in the tyme of his government, with one wherein the governor allwayes dwelt, and a church, built wholly at the charge of the inhabitants of that citye, of timber, being fifty foote in length and twenty in breadth." At Henrico, now Richmond, there were no more than "three old houses, a poor ruinated church, with some few poore buildings in the islande." " For ministers to instruct the people, only three were authorized ; two others Tiad never received their or ders." " The natives were upon doubtfull termes ; " and the colony was altogether " in a poore estate."

From the moment of Yeardley's arrival, dates the real life of Virginia, Bringing with him " com missions and instructions from the company for the better establishinge of a commonwealth," he made proclamation, " that those cruell lawes, by which the ancient planters had soe longe been governed, were now abrogated, and that they were to be governed by those free lawes, which his majesties subjectes lived

154 FIRST AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY.

CHAP, under in Englande." Nor were these concessions left ^-r— dependent on the good will of administrative officers. 1619. "That the planters might have a hande in the governing of themselves, yt was graunted that a generall assemblie shoulde be helde yearly once, whereat were to be present the governor and coun sell with two burgesses from each plantation, freely to be elected by the inhabitantes thereof, this asseni- blie to have power to make and ordaine whatsoever lawes and orders should by them be thought good and profitable for their subsistence."

In conformity with these instructions, Sir George Yeardley " sente his summons all over the country, as well to invite those of the counsell of estate that were absente, as also for the election of burgesses ; " and on Friday, the thirtieth day of July, 1619, delegates from each of the eleven plantations assembled at James City.

The inauguration of legislative power in the An cient Dominion preceded the introduction of negro slavery. The governor and council sat with the bur gesses, and took part in motions and debates. John Pory, a councillor and secretary of the colony, though not a burgess, was chosen speaker. Legisla tion was opened with prayer. The assembly exercised fully the right of judging of the proper election of its members; and they would not suffer any patent, conceding manorial jurisdiction, to bar the obligation of obedience to their decisions. They wished every grant of land to be made with equal favor, that all complaint of partiality might be avoided, and the uniformity of laws and orders never be impeached. The commission of privileges sent by Sir George Yeardley, was their "great charter" or organic acfc>

FIRST AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY. 155

which they claimed no right "to correct or con- CHAP

IV.

trol ; " yet they kept the way open for seeking re- — ^ dress, " in case they should find ought not perfectly 1 6 1 9- squaring with the state of the colony."

Leave to propose laws was given to any burgess, or by way of petition to any member of the colony ; but for expedition's sake, the main business of the ses sion was distributed between two committees, while a third body, composed of the governor and such bur gesses as were not on those committees, examined which of former instructions " might conveniently put on the habit of laws." The legislature acted also as a criminal court.

The church of England was confirmed as the church of Virginia ; it was intended that the first four ministers should each receive two hundred pounds a year; all persons whatsoever, upon the Sabbath days, were to frequent divine service and sermons both forenoon and afternoon ; and all such as bore arms, to bring their pieces or swords. Grants of land were asked not for planters only, but for their wives, " because, in a new plantation, it is not known whether man or woman be the most neces sary." Measures were adopted " towards the erecting • of a university and college." It was also enacted, that of the children of the Indians, "the most to- wardly boys in wit and graces of nature should be brought up in the first elements of literature, and sent from the college to the work of conversion" of the natives to the Christian religion. Penalties were appointed for idleness, gaming with dice or cards, and drunkenness. Excess in apparel was taxed in church for all public contributions. The business of planting corn, mulberry trees, hemp, and vines was encouraged.

156 FIRST AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY.

CHAP. The price of tobacco was fixed at three shillings a ' — <~** pound for the best, and half as much " for the second

1619.

When the question was taken on accepting "the great charter," "it had the general assent and the applause of the whole assembly,1' with thanks for it to Almighty God and to those from whom it had issued, in the names of the burgesses and of the whole colony whom they represented ; the more so, as they were promised the power to allow or disallow the or ders of court of the London company.

A perpetual. interest attaches to this first elective body that ever assembled in the Western world, rep resenting the people of Virginia, and making laws for their government, more than a year before the May flower, with the Pilgrims, left the harbor of South ampton, and while Virginia was still the only British colony on the continent of America. The functions of government were in some degree confounded ; but the record of the proceedings justifies the opinion of Sir Edwin Sandys, that "the laws were very well and judiciously formed."

The enactments of these earliest American law givers were instantly put in force, without waiting for their ratification by the company in England. Former griefs were buried in oblivion, and they who had been dependent on the will of a governor, having recovered the privileges of Englishmen, under a code of laws of their own, " fell to building houses and planting corn," and henceforward "regarded Virginia as their country."

The patriot party in England, who now controlled the London company, engaged with earnestness in schemes to advance the numbers and establish the

THE VIRGINIANS ACQUIRE HOMES. 157

liberties of their plantation. No intimidations, not CHAP. even threats of blood, could deter Sir Edwin Sandys, — — • the new treasurer, from investigating and reforming ] the abuses by which its progress had been retarded. At his accession to office, after twelve years' labor, and an expenditure of eighty thousand pounds by the company, there were in the colony no more than six hundred men, women, and children ; and in one year he sent over twelve hundred and sixty-one persons. Nor must the character of the emigration be over-

o

looked. " The people of Virginia had not been set tled in their minds," and as, before the recent changes, they retained the design of ultimately returning to England, it was necessary to multiply attachments to the soil. Few women had dared to cross the Atlan tic ; but now the promise of prosperity induced ninety agreeable persons, young and incorrupt, to listen to the advice of Sandys, and embark for the colony, where they were assured of a welcome. They were transported at the expense of the company, and were married to its tenants, or to men who were able to support them, and who willingly defrayed the costs of their passage, which were rigorously demanded. The adventure which had been in part a mercantile specu lation, succeeded so well, that it was proposed to send the next year another consignment of one hundred ; 162° but before these could be collected, the company found itself so poor, that its design could be accomplished only by a subscription. After some delays, sixty were 1621 actually despatched, maids of virtuous education, young, handsome, and well recommended. The price rose from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco, or even more ; so that all the

1«>7* THE VIRGINIANS ACQUIRE CIVIL FREEDOM.

CHAP, original charges might be repaid. The debt for a

— «— ' wife was a debt of honor, and took precedence of any other ; and the company, in conferring employments, gave a preference to married men. Domestic ties

161C were formed ; virtuous sentiments and habits of thrift

tc ensued ; the tide of emigration swelled ; within three

years, fifty patents for land were granted, and three

thousand five hundred persons found their way to

Virginia, which was a refuge even for Puritans.

When Sandys, after a year's service, resigned his office as treasurer, a struggle ensued on the election

1620. of his successor. The meeting, on the seventeenth of May, 1620, was numerously attended; and, as the courts of the company were become the schools of debate, many distinguished members of parliament were present. A message was communicated from King James, nominating four candidates, one of whom he desired should receive the appointment. The company resisted the royal interference as an in fringement of their charter ; and the choice of the meeting fell by acclamation upon the earl of South ampton, the early friend of Shakespeare. Having thus vindicated their own rights, the company pro ceeded to redress former wrongs, and to provide colonial liberty with its written guarantees.

In the case of the appeal to the London company from sentence of death pronounced by Argall, his friends, with the earl of Warwick at their head, had voted, that trial by martial law is the noblest kind of trial, because soldiers and men of the sword were the judges. This opinion was reversed, and the rights of the colonists to trial by jury sustained. Nor was it long before the freedom of the northern fisheries

THE VIRGINIANS ACQUIRE CIVIL FREEDOM. 158

was equally asserted, and the monopoly of a rival CHAP. corporation successfully opposed.

Lord Bacon, who, at the time of Newport's first voyage with emigrants for Virginia, classed the en terprise with the romance of "Amadis de Gaul,1' caught a glimpse of the future ; and now he said of the plantation of Virginia : " Certainly it is with the kingdoms of earth as it is in the kingdom of heaven, sometimes a grain of mustard seed proves a great tree. Who can tell ? "

The company had silently approved the colonial assembly which had been convened by Sir George Yeardley ; on the twenty-fourth of July, 1621, a memorable ordinance established for the colony a written constitution. The prescribed form of gov ernment was analagous to the English constitution, and was, with some modifications, the model of the systems which were afterwards introduced into the various royal provinces. Its purpose was declared to be " the greatest comfort and benefit to the people, and the prevention of injustice, grievances, and op pression." Its terms are few and simple : a gov ernor, to be appointed by the company ; a permanent council, likewise to be appointed by the company; a general assembly, to be convened yearly, and to con sist of the members of the council, and of two bur gesses to be chosen from each of the several planta tions by the respective inhabitants. The assembly might exercise full legislative authority, a negative voice being reserved to the governor ; bat no law or ordinance would be valid, unless ratified by the com pany in England. It was further agreed, that, after the government of the colony shall have once been framed, no orders of the court in London shall bind

158* THE VIRGINIANS ACQUIRE CIVIL FREEDOM.

CHAP, the colony, unless they be in like manner ratified — > — by the general assembly. The courts of justice were 621 required to conform to the laws and manner of trial used in the realm of England.

Such was the constitution which Sir Francis Wyatt, the successor of the mild but inefficient Yeardley, was commissioned to bear to the colony. The system of representative government and trial by jury thus be came in the new hemisphere an acknowledged right, Henceforward the supreme power was held to reside in the hands of the colonial parliament, and of the king, as king of Virginia. On this ordinance Vir ginia erected the superstructure of lier liberties. Its influences were wide and enduring, and can be traced through all her history. It constituted the plantation, in its infancy, a nursery of freemen ; and succeeding generations learned to cherish institu tions which were as old as the first period of the prosperity of their fathers. The privileges then con ceded, could never be wrested from the Virginians ; and, as new colonies arose at the south, their propri etaries could hope to win emigrants only by bestowing franchises as large as those enjoyed by their elder rival. The London company merits the praise of having auspicated liberty in America. It may be doubted whether any public act during the reign of King James was of more permanent or pervading in fluence ; and it reflects glory on Sir Edward Sandys, the earl of Southampton, and the patriot party of England, that though they were unable to establish guarantees of a liberal administration at home, they were careful to connect popular freedom inseparably with the life, prosperity, and state of society of Vir ginia.

159

CHAPTER V.

SLAVERY. DISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON COMPANY.

WHILE Virginia, by the concession of a represen- CHAP tative government, was constituted the asylum of —~^ liberty, by one of the strange contradictions in human affairs, it became the abode of hereditary bondsmen. The unjust, wasteful and unhappy system was fastened upon the rising institutions of America, not by the consent of the corporation, nor the desires of the emi grants ; but, as it was introduced by the mercantile avarice of a foreign nation, so it was subsequently riveted by the policy of England, without regard to the interests or the wishes of the colony.

Slavery and the slave-trade are older than the records of human society: they are found to have existed, wherever the savage hunter began to assume the habits of pastoral or agricultural life ; and, with the exception of Australasia, they have extended to every portion of the globe. They pervaded every nation of civilized antiquity. The earliest glimpses of Egyptian history exhibit pictures of bondage ; the oldest monuments of human labor on the Egyptian soil are evidently the results of slave labor The founder of the Jewish nation was a slave-holder and a purchaser of slaves. Every patriarch was lord in his own household.1

1 Gen. xii. 16 ; xvii. 12 ; xxxvii. 28.

160 HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADL.

CHAP. The Hebrews, when they burst the bands of their — ^ own thraldom, carried with them beyond the desert the institution of slavery. The light that broke from Sinai scattered the corrupting illusions of polytheism , but slavery planted itself even in the promised land, on the banks of Siloa, near the oracles of God. The Hebrew father might doom his daughter to bondage ; the wife, and children, and posterity of the emancipated slave, remained the property of the master and his heirs ; and if a slave, though mortally wounded by his master, did but languish of his wounds for a day, the owner escaped with impunity ; for the slave was his master's money. It is even probable, that, at a later period, a man's family might be sold for the payment of debts.1

The countries that bordered on Palestine were equally familiar with domestic servitude ; and, like Babylon, Tyre also, the oldest arid most famous com mercial city of Phenicia, was a market " for the persons of men." 2 The Scythians of the desert had already established slavery throughout the plains and forests of the unknown north.

Old as are the traditions of Greece, the existence of slavery is older. The wrath of Achilles grew out of a quarrel for a slave ; the Grecian dames had crowds of servile attendants ; the heroes before Troy made excursions into the neighboring villages and towns to enslave the inhabitants. Greek pi rates, roving, like the corsairs of Barbary, in quest of men, laid the foundations of Greek commerce ; each commercial town was a slave-mart; arid every cottage near the sea-side was in danger from the

i Exodus, xxi. 4, 5, 6, 7. 21. 2 Ezekiel, xxvii. 13. Revela- Matthew, xviii. 25 tion, xviii. 13.

SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE IN THE MIDDLE AGE.

kidnapper. Greeks enslaved each other. The Ian- CHAP. guage of Homer was the mother-tongue of the Helots ; -^^ the Grecian city that made war on its neighbor city exulted in its captives as a source of profit ; the hero of Macedon sold men of his own kindred and language into hopeless slavery. More than four centuries be- Gj|Jies'fci fore the Christian era, Alcidamas, a pupil of Gorgias, ^ 837- taught that " God has sent forth all men free ; nature has made no man slave." While one class of Greek £rjst°!;

rol. ]. A

authors of that period confounded the authority of 3>an(1* master and head of a family, others asserted that the relation of master and slave is conventional ; that freedom is the law of nature, which knows no dif ference between master and slave ; that slavery is therefore the child of violence and inherently unjust. Aristotle wrote that all men are brothers ; and though he recognises "living chattels" as a component part of the complete family, he has left on record his most Aristot. deliberate judgment, that the prize of freedom should ^Oe£' be placed within the reach of every slave. Yet the |ft! !.

J Pol. vii.

idea of universal free labor was only a dormant bud, i°» 14;.

* ' Econ. i.

not to be quickened for many centuries. In every 5- 5- Grecian republic slavery was an element.

The diffusion of bondage throughout the dominions of Rome, and the severities of the law towards the slave, hastened the fall of the commonwealth. The power of the father to sell his children, of the creditor to sell his insolvent debtor, of the warrior to sell his captive, carried the influence of the institution into the bosom of every family; into the conditions of every contract; into the heart of every unhappy land that was invaded by the Roman eagle. The slave-markets of Rome were filled with men of vari- 2' °* ous nations and colors.

The Middle Age witnessed rather a change in the

162 THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE MIDDLE AGE.

CHAP, channels of the slave-trade, than a diminution of its

v .

^vX^ evils. The pirate and the kidnapper and the con queror still continued their pursuits. The Saxon race carried the most repulsive forms of slavery to England, where not half the population could assert a right to freedom, and where the price of a man was but four times the price of an ox. The importation of foreign slaves was freely tolerated : in defiance of severe pen alties, the Saxons sold their own kindred into slavery on the continent ; nor could the traffic he checked, till religion, pleading the cause of humanity, made its appeal to conscience. Even after the conquest, slaves 1102. were exported from England to Ireland, till the reign of Henry II., when a national synod of the Irish, to remove the pretext for an invasion, decreed the eman cipation of all English slaves in the island.

The German nations made the shores of the Baltic the scenes of the same desolating traffic ; and the Dnieper formed the highway on which Russian mer chants conveyed to Constantinople the slaves that had been purchased in the markets of Russia. The wretched often submitted to bondage, as the bitter but only refuge from absolute want. But it was the long wars between German and Slavonic tribes which im parted to the slave-trade its greatest activity, and filled France and the neighboring states with such numbers of victims, that they gave the name of the Slavonic nation to servitude itself; and every country of West ern Europe still preserves in its language the record of the barbarous traffic in " Slaves."

Nor did France abstain from the slave-trade. Af Lyons and Verdun, the Jews were able to purchase slaves for their Saracen customers.

In Sicily, and perhaps in Italy, the children of Asia and Africa, in their turn, were exposed for sale The

THE SLAVE-TRADE IN THE MIDDLE AGE. 165

people of the wilderness and the desert are famed CHAP for love of their offspring ; yet in the extremity of ^- — poverty, even the Arab father would sometimes pawn his children to the Italian merchant, in the vain hope of soon effecting their ransom. Rome itself long remained a mart where Christian slaves were exposed for sale, to supply the domestic market of Mahom etans. The Venetians, in their commercial inter course with the ports of unbelieving nations, as well as with Rome, purchased alike infidels and Christians, and sold them again to the Arabs in Sicily and Spain. Christian and Jewish avarice supplied the slave-market of the Saracens. What though the trade was exposed to the censure of the church, and prohibited by the laws of Venice ? It could not be effectually checked, till, by the Venetian law, no slave might enter a Vene tian ship, and to tread the deck of an argosy of Venice became the privilege and the evidence of freedom.1

The spirit of the Christian religion would, before the discovery of America, have led to the entire abolition of the slave-trade, but for the hostility between the Christian church find the followers of Mahomet. In the twelfth century, Pope Alexander 111., true to the spirit of his office, which, during the supremacy of brute force in the middle age, made of the chief minister of religion the tribune of the people and the guardian of the oppressed, had written, that "Nature having made no slaves, all men have an equal right to liberty." 2 But the slave-trade had never relented among the Mahometans : the captive Christian had no alternative but apostasy or servitude, and the

l Fischer, in ITiine, i. 116. Ma- Scriptores; Londini, ]f),r>2, i. 580.

rin, in Heeren, ii. 200. Cum aiitem oinnes libnroa natura

~ See his letter to Lupus, king creasset, nullus conditione natune

of Valencia, in Historian Ang-licanaj f'uit subditus servituti.

164 THE SLAVE-TRADE IN THE MIDDLE AGE.

wiJAp. captive infidel was treated in Christendom with eorre- -^-^ spending intolerance. In the days of the crusaders, and in the camp of the leader whose pious arms redeemed the sepulchre of Christ from the mixed nations of Asia and Lybia, the price of a war-horse was three slaves. The Turks, whose law forbids the enslaving of a Mahometan, still continue to sell Christian cap tives ; and we have seen, that the father of Virginia li£td himself tasted the bitterness of Turkish bondage.

All this might have had no influence on the des tinies of America, but for the long and doubtful struggles between Christians and Moors in the wrest of Europe ; where, for more than seven centuries, and in more than three thousand battles, the two religions were arrayed against each other ; and bondage was the reciprocal doom of the captive. Bigotry inflamed revenge, and animated the spirit of merciless and ex terminating warfare. France and Italy were filled with Saracen slaves ; the number of them sold into Christian bondage exceeded the number of all the Christians ever sold by the pirates of Barbary. The clergy, who had pleaded successfully for the Christian, felt no sympathy for the unbeliever. The final victory of the Spaniards over the Moors of Granada — an event contemporary with the discovery of America — was signalized by a great emigration of the Moors to the coasts of Northern Africa, where each mercantile city became a nest of pirates, and every Christian the wonted booty of the successful corsair Servitude was thus the doom of the Christian in Northern Africa : the hatred of the Moorish dominion extending to all Africa, an indiscriminate and retaliating bigotry felt no remorse at dooming the sons of Africa to bondage. All Africans were esteemed as Moors.

ORIGIN OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 165

The amelioration of the customs of Europe had CHAF j/roceeded from the influence of religion. It was the «• — <~ clergy who had broken up the Christian slave-markets at Bristol and at Hamburg, at Lyons and at Rome. At the epoch of the discovery of America, the moral opinion of the civilized world had abolished the traffic in Christian slaves, and was fast demanding the eman cipation of the serfs : but bigotry had favored a com promise wiih avarice ; and the infidel was not yet in cluded within the pale of humanity.

• Yet negro slavery is not an invention of the white man. As Greeks enslaved Greeks, as the Hebrew often consented to make the Hebrew his absolute lord, as Anglo-Saxons trafficked in Anglo-Saxons, so the negro race enslaved its owrn brethren. The oldest accounts of the land of the negroes, like the glimmering traditions of Egypt and Phenicia, of Greece and of Rome, bear witness to the existence of domestic slavery and the caravans of dealers in negro slaves. The oldest Greek historian1 commemorates the traffic. Negro slaves were seen in classic Greece, and were known at Rome and in the Roman empire. It is from about the year 990, that regular accounts of the negro slave-trade exist. At that period, Moorish mer chants from the Barbary coast first reached the cities of Nigritia, and established an uninterrupted exchange ot Saracen and European luxuries for the gold and slaves of Central Africa. Even though whole caravans were, sometimes buried in the sands of the desert, and at others, without shade and without water, suffered the horrors of parching thirst under a tropical sun, yet the commerce extended because it was profitable; and

i Herodotus, 1. iv. c.l 81— 185. Compare Heeren, xiii. 187 and 231 5 Blair's Roman Slavery, 24.

166 ORIGIN OF NEGRO SLAVERY IN EUROPE.

CHAP, before the genius of Columbus had opened the path

— v^ to a new world, the negro slave-trade had been reduced to a system by the Moors, and had spread from the native regions of the ^Ethiopian race to the heart of Egypt on the one hand, and to the coasts of Barbary on the other.1

But the danger for America did not end here. The traffic of Europeans in negro slaves was fully estab lished before the colonization of the United States, and had existed a half century before the discovery of America.

1415. It was not long after the first conquests of the Portuguese in Barbary, that the passion for gain, the love of conquest, and the hatred of the infidels, con ducted their navy to the ports of Western Africa ; and

1441. the first ships which sailed so far south as Cape Blanco, returned, not with negroes, but with Moors. The subjects of this importation^were treated, not as laborers, but rather as strangers, from whom informa tion respecting their native country was to be derived.

1443. Antony Gonzalez, who had brought them to Por tugal, was commanded to restore them to their ancient homes, ifc did so, and the Moors gave him as their ransom, not gold only, but " black Moors" with curled hair. Thus negro slaves came into Europe ; and mer cantile cupidity immediately observed, that negroes might become an object of lucrative commerce. New

1144. ships were despatched without delay.2 Spain also engaged in the traffic : the historian of her maritime discoveries even claims for her the unenviable dis tinction of having anticipated the Portuguese in intro ducing negroes into Europe.3 The merchants of

i Edrisius and Leo Africanus, in 2 Galvano, in Hakluyt, iv. 413 Hiinc, i. 150— !<>.'*. Iliine's vol- De Pauw, Rech. Phil. i. 21. unies deserve to be more known. 3 Navarette, Introduccion, s. xix.

EUROPEANS ENSLAVE NATIVE AMERICANS. 16"?

Seville imported gold dust and slaves from the western CHAP coast of Africa;1 and negro slavery, though the --^ severity of bondage was mitigated in its character by benevolent legislation,2 was established in Anda lusia, and " abounded in the city of Seville," before the enterprise of Columbus was conceived.3

The maritime adventurers of those days, joining the principles of bigots with the bold designs of pirates and heroes, esteemed the wealth of the countries which they might discover as their rightful plunder, and the inhabitants, if Christians, as their subjects, if infidels, as their slaves. Even Indians of Hispaniola were imported into Spain. Cargoes of the natives of the north were early and repeatedly kidnapped. The coasts of America, like the coasts of Africa, were visit ed by ships in search of laborers ; and there was hardly a convenient harbor on the whole Atlantic frontier of the United States which was not entered by slavers.4 The native Indians themselves were ever ready to resist the treacherous merchant ; the freemen of the wilderness, unlike the Africans, among whom slavery had existed from immemorial time, would never abet the foreign merchant, or become his factors in the nefarious traffic. Fraud and force remained, therefore, the means by which, near Newfoundland or Florida, on the shores of the Atlantic, or among the Indians

1 Prescott's Ferdinand and Isa- gran benignidad, desde el tiernpo bella. de el Key Don Henrique Tercero,"

2 Zufiiga, Annales de Sevilla, &c. &,c., 374. I owe the oppor- 373, 874. The passage is very re- tunity of consulting Zufnga to W maikable " Avia afios que desde II. Prescott, of Boston.

los Puertos de Andalu/ia se fre- 3 Irving's Columbus, ii. 351, 352.

quentava navegacion a los costas Uerrera, d. i. 1. iv. c. xii.

de Africa, y Guinea, de donde se 4 Compare Peter Martyr d'Anghi-

trcian esclavos, de que ya abundava era, d. vii. c. i. and ii. in

esta ciudad, &c. &c., 373. Eran v. 404, 405. 407.

en Sevilia los negros tratados con

EUROPEANS ENSLAVE NATIVE AMERICANS.

CHAP of the Mississippi valley, Cortereal and Vasquez de — ^ Ay lion, Porcallo and Soto, with private adventurers* whose names and whose crimes may be left unre corded, transported the natives of North America into slavery in Europe and the Spanish West Indies. The glory of Columbus himself did not escape the stain ; 1 1454. enslaving five hundred native Americans, he sent them to Spain, that they might be publicly sold at Seville.1

1500. The generous Isabella commanded the liberation of the Indians held in bondage in her European pos sessions.2 Yet her active benevolence extended neither to the Moors, whose valor had been punished by slavery, nor to the Africans ; and even her compas sion for the New World was but the transient feeling, which relieves the miserable who are in sight, not the deliberate application of a just principle. For the

June commissions for making discoveries, issued a few days a'nd before and after her interference to rescue those whom J^lly Columbus had enslaved, reserved for herself and Fer-

5.

dinand a fourth part3 of the slaves which the new

1501. kingdoms might contain. The slavery of Indians was recognized as lawful.4

The practice of selling the natives of North America into foreign bondage continued for nearly two centu ries ; and even the sternest morality pronounced the sentence of slavery and exile on the captives whom the field of battle had spared. The excellent Winthrop enumerates Indians among his bequests.5 The articles of the early New England confederacy class persons among the spoils of war. A scanty remnant of the

1 Irvine's Columbus, b. viii. c. v. Navarette, ii. 245, and again, n. 249.

~ Navarette, Coll. ii. 24(1, 247. 4 See a c£dula on a slave con-

3 Esclavos, e negros, £ loros que tract, in Navarette, iii. 514, 515,

en estos nuestros reinos sean habi- given June 20, 1501.

dos e reputados por esclavos, &,c. 5 Winthrop's N. E., ii. 3GO.

NEGRO SLAVERY IN THE WEST INDIES. 169

Pequod tribe1 in Connecticut, the captives treacher- CHAP ously made by Waldroa in New Hampshire,2 the — ^ harmless fragments of the tribe of Annawon,3 the orphan offspring of King Philip himself,4 were all doomed to the same hard destiny of perpetual bondage. The clans of Virginia and Carolina,5 for more than a hundred years, were hardly safe against the kidnapper. The universal public mind was long and deeply vitiated. It was not Las Casas who first suggested the plan of transporting African slaves to Hispaniola ; Spanish slaveholders, as they emigrated, were accompanied by their negroes. The emigration may at first have been contraband ; but a royal edict soon permitted negro 1501 slaves, born in slavery among Christians, to be trans ported to Hispaniola.6 Thus the royal ordinances of Spain authorized negro slavery in America. Within two years, there were such numbers of Africans in 1503 Hispaniola, that Ovando, the governor of the island, entreated that the importation might no longer be permitted.7 The Spanish government attempted to disguise the crime, by forbidding the introduction of negro slaves, who had been bred in Moorish families,8 and allowing only those who were said to have been instructed in the Christian faith, to be transported to the West Indies, under the plea that they might assist in converting the infidel nations. But the idle pretence was soon abandoned ; for should faith in Christianity be punished by perpetual bondage in the

1 Winthrop'a N. E., i. 234. is indeed undisputed, its previous ex-

2 Btlknap's Hist, of N. Hamp- istence. Lawson's Carolina. Chal- ehire, i. 75, Fanner's edition. mers, 542.

3 Baylies' Plymouth, iii. 190. 6 Herrera, d. i. 1. iv. c. xii.

4 Davis, on Morton's Memorial, 7 Irving's Columbus, Appendix, 454, 455. Baylies' Plymouth, iii. No. 26, iii. 372, first American 190, 191. edition.

5 Hening, i. 481, 482. The act, 8 Herrera, d. i. 1. vi. c. xx. forbidding the crime, proves, what

VOL. i 22

170 NEGRO SLAVERY IN THE WEST INDIES.

CHAP, colonies ? And would the purchaser be scrupulously — ^ inquisitive of the birthplace and instruction of his laborers ? Besides, the culture of sugar was now suc cessfully begun ; and the system of slavery, already riveted, was not long restrained by the scruples of men

1510. in power. King Ferdinand himself sent from Seville fifty slaves1 to labor in the mines;, and, because it was said, that one negro could do the work of four Indians, the direct traffic in slaves between Guinea and 11 is-

1511. paniola was enjoined by a royal ordinance,2 and de- 1512-3 liberately sanctioned by repeated decrees.3 Was it

not natural that Charles V., a youthful monarch, sur rounded by rapacious courtiers, should have readily

A516. granted licenses to the Flemings to transport negroes to the colonies ? The benevolent Las Casas, who had seen the native inhabitants of the New World vanish away, like dew, before the cruelties of the Spaniards, who felt for the Indians all that an ardent charity and the purest missionary zeal could inspire, and wrho had seen the African thriving in robust4 health under the

1517 sun of Hispaniola, returning from America to plead the cause of the feeble Indians, in the same year which saw the dawn of the Reformation in Germany, suggested the expedient,5 that negroes might still further be employed to perform the severe toils which they alone could endure. The avarice of the Flemings greedily seized on the expedient ; the board of trade

1 Herrera, d. i. 1. viii. c. ix. troversy seems now concluded.

2 Ibid. d. i. 1. ix. c. v. Herrera Irving's Columbus, iii. 3(i7 — -378. is explicit. The note of the French Navarette, Introduccion, s. Iviii. lix, translator of Navarette, i .203, 204, The Memoir of Las Casas still ex- needs correction. A commerce irr ists in manuscript. Herrera, d. ii. I. negroes, sanctioned by the crown, ii. c.xx. Robertson's America, b. iii, was surely not contraband. It may yet gratify curiosity to corn-

3 Irvine's Columbus, iii. 372. pare Gr^goire, Apologie de B. Las

4 Ibid. iii. 370, 371. Casas, in Mem. de 1'Inst. Nat. An

5 The merits of Las Casas have viii.; and Verplanck, in N. Y. Hist "been largely discussed. The con- Coll. iii. 49 — 53, and 103 — 105.

OPINIONS ON SLAVERY. 171

at Seville was consulted, to learn how many slaves CHAP. would be required. It had been proposed to allow -^— four for each Spanish emigrant ; deliberate calculation " fixed the number esteemed necessary at four thou sand. The year in which Charles V. led an expedition against Tunis, to check the piracies of the Barbary states, and to emancipate Christian slaves in Africa, he gave an open sanction to the African slave trade. The sins of the Moors were to be revenged on the negroes ; and the monopoly for eight years of annu ally importing four thousand slaves into the West Indies, was eagerly seized by La Bresar a favorite of the Spanish monarch, and was sold to the Genoese, who purchased their cargoes of Portugal. We shall, at a later period, observe a stipulation for this lucra tive monopoly, in a treaty of peace, established by a European congress ; shall witness the sovereign of the most free state in Europe stipulating for a fourth part of its profits ; and shall trace its intimate con nection with the first in that series of wars which led to the emancipation of America. Las Casas lived to repent of his hasty benevolence, declaring afterwards that the captivity of black men is as iniquitous as that of Indians; and he feared the wrath of divine justice for having favored the importation of negro slaves into the western hemisphere. But covetousness, and not a mistaken compassion, established the slave trade, which had nearly received its development before the voice of charity was heard in defence of the Indians. Reason,1 policy, and religion, alike condemned the

1 Inter dominum et servum nnlln perfect condition of slavery is the

amicitia est ; etiam in pace belli state of war continued between a

tamen jura servantur. Quintns lawful conqueror and a captive."

Curtins, 1. vii. c. viii. John Locke, Compare, also, Montesquieu de PE-

who sanctioned slavery in Carolina, sprit des Lois, 1. xv. c. v., on negro

gives a similar definition of it. " The slavery.

J72 OPINIONS ON SLAVERY.

CHAP, traffic. A series of papal bulls had indeed secured to ^~ the Portuguese the exclusive commerce with Western Africa; but the slave-trade between Africa and America was, I believe, never expressly sanctioned by the see of Rome. The spirit of the Roman church was against it. Even Leo X., though his voluptuous life, making of his pontificate a continued carnival, might have deadened the sentiments of humanity and justice, declared, that " not the Christian religion only, but nature herself, cries out against the state of slavery." 1537. And Paul III., in two separate briefs, imprecated a "o. curse on the 'Europeans who should enslave Indians, or any other class of men. It even became usual for Spanish vessels, when they sailed on a voyage of dis covery, to be attended by a priest, whose benevolent duty it was, to prevent the kidnapping of the abo rigines. The legislation of independent America has been emphatic in denouncing the hasty avarice which entailed the anomaly of negro slavery in the midst of liberty. Ximenes, the gifted coadjutor of Ferdinand and Isabella, the stern grand inquisitor, the austere but ambitious Franciscan, saw in advance the danger which it required centuries to reveal, and refused to sanction the introduction of negroes into IJispaniola ; believing that the favorable climate would increase

o

their numbers, and infallibly lead them to a successful revolt. A severe retribution has manifested his sa gacity : Hayti, the first spot in America that received African slaves, was the first to set the example of Af rican liberty. But for the slave-trade, the African race would have had no inheritance in the New World.

The odious distinction of having first interested England in the slave-trade belongs to Sir John Haw- is 62 kins. In 1562; he transported a large cargo of

HAWKINS THE FIRST ENGLISH SLAVE MERCHANT. 173

Africans to Hispaniola ; the rich returns of sugar, CHAP. ginger, and pearls, attracted the notice of Queen ^~^> Elizabeth ; and when, five years later, a new expe- l dition was prepared, she was induced, not only to protect, but to share the traffic. Hawkins himself relates of one of his expeditions, that he set fire to a city, of which the huts were covered with dry palm-leaves, and, out of eight thousand inhabitants, succeeded in seizing two hundred and fifty. The self-approving frankness with which he avows the deed, and the lustre which his fame acquired, dis play the depravity of public sentiment in his time. In all other emergencies he knew how to pity the unfortunate, and with cheerful liberality relieve their wants, even when they were not his countrymen. Yet the commerce, on the part of the English, in Spanish ports was by the laws of Spain illicit, as well as by the laws of morals detestable; and when the sovereign of England participated in its haz ards, its profits, and its crimes, she became at once a smuggler and a slave-merchant.

The earliest importation of negro slaves into New 1037 , England was made in 1637, from Providence isle, in the Salem ship "Desire." A ship of one James 1645. Smith, a member of the church of Boston, and one Thomas Keyser, first brought upon the colonies the guilt of participating in the direct traffic with Africa for slaves. In *L645, they sailed "for Guinea to trade for negroes." When they arrived there, they joined with "some Londoners," and "upon the Lord's day, invited the natives aboard one of their ships." Such as came they kept prisoners. Then, landing men, they assaulted a town, which they burned, killing some of the people. But through-

174 NEW ENGLAND AND THE SLAVE-TRADE.

CHAP, out Massachusetts, where slavery could plead the

v — ^^ sanction of positive law, and where a very few >45' blacks as well as Indians were already held in bond age, a cry was raised against "such vile and most odious courses, justly abhorred of all good and just men." Richard Saltonstall, a worthy assistant, who "truly endeavored the advance of the gospel, and the good of the people," denounced the "acts of murder, of stealing negroes, and of chasing them upon the Sabbath day," as " directly contrary to the laws of God and the laws of this jurisdiction;" the guilty

1646. nien were committed for the offence; and, in the next year, after advice with the elders, the represen tatives of the people, bearing " witness against the heinous crime of man-stealing," ordered the negroes to be restored, at the public charge, "to their na tive country, with a letter expressing the indigna tion of the general court" at their wrongs.

1671. When George Fox visited Barbadoes in 1671, he enjoined it upon the planters, that they should "deal mildly and gently with their negroes ; and that, after certain years of servitude, they should make them free." His idea had been anticipated by the fellow-citizens

1652. of Gorton and Roger Williams. On the eighteenth of May, 1652, the representatives of Providence and Warwick, perceiving the disposition of people in the colony " to buy negroes," and hold them " as slaves forever," enacted that " no black mankind " shall, "by covenant, bond, or otherwise," be held to perpetual service ; the master, " at the end of ten years, shall set them free, as the manner is with English servants ; and that man that will not let " his slave "go free, or shall sell him away, to the end that he may be enslaved to others for a longer time, shall for-

ENGLISH, SCOTCH, AND IRISH, SOLD AS SERVANTS. 175

feit to the colony forty pounds." l Now, forty pounds CHAP was nearly twice the value of a negro slave. The law — ^ was not enforced ; but the principle lived among the people.

Conditional servitude, under indentures or cove nants, had from the first existed in Virginia. The servant stood to his master in the relation of a debtor, bound to discharge the costs of emigration by the entire employment of his powers for the benefit of his cred itor. Oppression early ensued : men who had been transported into Virginia at an expense of eight or ten pounds, were sometimes sold for forty, fifty, or even threescore pounds.2 The supply of white servants became a regular business ; and a class of men, nick named spirits, used to delude young persons, servants and idlers, into embarking for America, as to a land of spontaneous plenty.3 White servants came to be a usual article of traffic. They were sold in England to be transported, and in Virginia were resold to the highest bidder ; like negroes, they were to be purchased on shipboard, as men buy horses at a fair.4 In 1672, the average price in the colonies, where five years of service were due, was about ten pounds ; while a negro was worth twenty or twenty-five pounds.5 So usual was this manner of dealing in Englishmen, that not the Scots only, who were taken in the field of Dunbar, were sent into involuntary servitude in New Eng land,6 but the royalist prisoners of the battle of Wor cester ; 7 and the leaders in the insurrection of Penrud-

1 (Jeorge _ Fox's Journal, An. 1671. 5 Blome's Jamaica, 84 and 1G. The law of Rhode Island I copied 6 Cromwell and Cotton, in Hutch- trom the records in Providence. inson's Coll. 2W — '£35.

2 Smith, i. 105. 7 Suffolk County Records, i. 5

3 Bullock's Virginia, 1049, p. 14. and (i. The names of two hundred

4 Sad State of Virginia, 1057, p. 4, and seventy are recorded. The la- 5. Hammond's Leah and Rachel, 7. ding of the John and Sarah was

176 NEGRO SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA.

CHAP, doc,1 in spite of the remonstrance of Haselrig and -^ Henry Vane, were shipped to America. At the cor responding period, in Ireland, the crowded exportation of Irish Catholics was a frequent event, and was at tended by aggravations hardly inferior to the usual atrocities of the African slave-trade.2 In 1685, when nearly a thousand of the prisoners, condemned for par ticipating in the insurrection of Mon mouth, were sen tenced to transportation, men of influence at court, with rival importunity, scrambled for the convicted in surgents as a merchantable commodity.3

The condition of apprenticed servants in Virginia differed from that of slaves chiefly in the duration ot their bondage ; and the laws of the colony favored their early enfranchisement.4 But this state of labor easily admitted the introduction of perpetual servitude. The commerce of Virginia had been at first monopo lized by the company ; but as its management for the benefit of the corporation led to frequent dissensions, tt was in 1620 laid open to free competition.5 In the month of August, 1619, a few days only after the first representative assembly of Virginia, about sixteen months before the Plymouth colony landed in America, and less than two years before the concession of a written constitution, more than a century after the last vestiges of hereditary slavery had disappeared from English society and the English constitution., and five years after the commons of France had petitioned for the emancipation of every serf in every fief, a Dutch man-of-war entered James Kiver, and landed twenty

"ironwork, household stuff, and 2 Linfrard, xi. 131, 132.

other provisions for planters and 3 Dalrymple. Mackintosh, I list

Scotch prisoners." Recorded May of the Revolution of 1088.

14, H552. 4 Honing, i. 257.

i Burton's Diary, iv. 202. 271. 5 gtiUi, 171. Godwin's Commonwealth, iv. 172.

JNEGRO SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA. 177

negroes for sale.1 This is, indeed, the sad epoch of CHAP the introduction of negro slavery in the English colo- — ^-* nies ; but the traffic would have been checked in its infancy, had its profits remained with the Dutch. Thirty years after this first importation of Africans, (he increase had been so inconsiderable, that to one black, Virginia contained fifty whites ; 2 and, at a later period, after seventy years of its colonial existence, the number of its negro slaves was proportionably much less than in several of the free states at the time of the war of independence. It is the duty of faithful history to trace events, not only to their causes, but to their authors ; and \ve shall hereafter inquire what influence was ultimately extended to counteract the voice of justice, the cry of humanity, and the remon strances of colonial legislation. Had no other form of servitude been known in Virginia, than such as had been tolerated in Europe, every difficulty would have been promptly obviated by the benevolent spirit of colonial legislation. But a new problem in the history of man, was now to be solved. For the first time, the ^Ethiopian and Caucasian races were to meet together in nearly equal numbers beneath a temperate zone. Who could foretell the issue? The negro race, from (he first, was regarded with disgust, and its union with the whites forbidden under ignominious penalties.3 For many years, the Dutch were principally concerned in the slave-trade in the market of Virginia ; the im mediate demand for laborers may, in part, have blinded (lie eyes of the planters to the ultimate evils of slavery,4

1 Beveney e Virginia, 35. Stith, 3 Herring, i. 140.

18*2; Chalmers, 40 ; Burk, i. 211; 4 This may be inferred from a

and Hening, i. 140, all rely on Bev- paper on Virginia, in Thurloe, V.

erley. But see Smith, 126. 81 or Hazard, i. GUI.

2 New Description of Virginia.

VOL. i. 23

178 WYATT'S ADMINISTRATION.

CIJAP. though the laws of the colony, at a very, early period, — — - discouraged its increase by a special tax upon female

slaves.1

1621 IfWyatt, on his arrival in Virginia, found the evil of negro slavery engrafted on the social system, he brought with him the memorable -ordinance, on which the fabric of colonial liberty was to rest, and which was interpreted by his instructions2 in a manner favorable to the independent rights of the colonists. Justice was established on the basis of the laws of England, and an amnesty of ancient feuds proclaimed. As Puritanism had appeared in Virginia, " needless novelties" in the forms of worship were now prohib ited. The order to search for minerals betrays the continuance of lingering hopes of finding gold ; while the injunction to promote certain kinds of manufactures was ineffectual, because labor could otherwise be more profitably employed.

1621 The business which occupied the first session under ^°J the written constitution, related chiefly to the encour- Dec. agement of domestic industry ; and the culture of silk particularly engaged the attention of the assembly.3 But legislation, though it can favor industry, cannot create it. When soil, men, and circumstances, com bine to render a manufacture desirable, legislation can protect the infancy of enterprise against the unequal competition with established skill. The culture of silk, long, earnestly, and frequently recommended to the attention of Virginia,4 is successfully pursued, only when a superfluity of labor exists in a redundant pop ulation. In America, the first wants of life left no

1 Hening, ii. 84, Act liv. March, 194—196. Burk, v..i. p. 224—227 1662. The statute implies, that the 3 Heningr, i. 1 19.

rule already existed. 4 Virgo Triumphans, 35.

2 Ibid. i. 114—118. Stith, p.

WYATTS ADMINISTRATION. 179

labor without a demand ; silk-worms could not be cared CHAP

for where every comfort of household existence re -*-»-

quired to be created. Still less was the successful culture of the vine possible. The company had repeat edly sent vine-dressers, who had been set to work under the terrors of martial law, and whose efforts were continued after the establishment of regular govern ment. But the toil was in vain. The extensive cul lure of the vine, unless singularly favored by climate, succeeds only in a dense population ; for a small vine yard requires the labor of many hands. It is a law of nature, that, in a new country under the temperate zone, corn and cattle will be raised, rather than silk or wine.

The first culture of cotton in the United States de- 1621 serves commemoration. This year the seeds were planted as an experiment ; and their " plentiful coming up" was, at that early day, a subject of interest in America and England.1

Nor did the benevolence of the company neglect to establish places of education, and provide for the sup port of religious worship. The bishop of London col lected and paid a thousand pounds towards a univer sity ; which, like the several churches of the colony, was liberally endowed with domains.2 Public and private charity were active ;3 but the lands were never occupied by productive laborers ; and the system of obtaining a revenue through a permanent tenantry could meet with no success, for it was not in harmony with the condition of colonial society.

Between the Indians and the English there had 1622 been quarrels, but no wars. From the first landing

i Thorp's letter of May 17, 1621, a gtith, 102. 100. 172, 17,3. in a marginal note in Purchas, iv. 3 Mem. of Religious Charitie, in 178U. State of Virginia, 1022, p. 51—54.

180 NUMBER AND POWER OF THE ABORIGINES.

CHAP, of colonists in Virginia, the power of the natives was — ~v^ despised ; their strongest weapons were such arrows 1622 as they could shape without the use of iron, such hatchets as could be made from stone ; and an Eng lish mastiff seemed to them a terrible adversary.1 Nor were their numbers considerable. Within sixty miles of Jamestown, it is computed, there were no more than five thousand souls, or about fifteen hundred warriors. The whole territory of the clans which listened to Powhatan as their leader or their con queror, comprehended about eight thousand square miles, thirty tribes, and twenty-four hundred warriors , so that the Indian population amounted to about one inhabitant to a square mile.2 The natives, naked and feeble compared with the Europeans, were no where concentrated in considerable villages, but dwelt dis persed in hamlets, with from forty to sixty in each company. Few places had more than two hundred : and many had less.3 It was also unusual for any large portion of these tribes to be assembled together. An idle tale of an ambuscade of three or four thousand is perhaps an error for three or four hundred ; otherwise it is an extravagant fiction, wholly unworthy of belief.4 Smith once met a party, that seemed to amount to seven hundred; and, so complete was the superiority conferred by the use of fire-arms, that with fifteen men he wras able to withstand them all.5 The savages were therefore regarded with contempt or compassion. No uniform care had been taken to conciliate their

1 Smith, ii. 08. Stith, 211. 1/90. State of Virginia in 1G22,

2 Smith, i. 129. Compare Jeffer- p. 19. Ileyiin, b. iv. 9(5.

son's Notes. QIUP re xi. ; True Dec- 4 Smith, i. 177, abundantly re-

laration of Virginia, 10. "The ex- futed by what "Smith writ with

tent of a hundred miles was scarce his own hand," i. 129 Burk, i

peopled with two thousand inhabit- 311, 312, condemned too hastily

ants." 5 Smith, i. 129.

3 Smith, ii. Gti. Purchas, iv.

NUMBER AND POWER OF THE ABORIGINES 181

good will ; although their condition had been improved CHAP by some of the arts of civilized life. The degree of — ^ their advancement may be judged by the intelligence of their chieftain. A house having been built for

a

Opcchancanough after the English fashion, he took such delight in the lock and key, that he would lock and unlock the door a hundred times a day, and thought the device incomparable.1 When Wyatt ar rived, the natives expressed a fear lest his intentions should be hostile : he assured them of his wish to pre serve inviolable peace ; and the emigrants had no use for fire-arms except against a deer or a fowl. Confi dence so far increased, that the old law, which made death the penalty for teaching the Indians to use a musket, was forgotten ; and they were now employed as fowlers and huntsmen.2 The plantations of the English were widely extended, in unsuspecting confi dence, along the James River and towards the Po tomac, wherever rich grounds invited to the culture of tobacco;3 nor were solitary places, remote from neighbors, avoided, since there would there be less competition for the ownership of the soil.

Powhatan, the father of Pocahontas, remained, after the marriage of his daughter, the firm friend of the English. He died in 1618; and his younger brother was now the heir to his influence. Should the native occupants of the soil consent to be driven from their ancient patrimony ? Should their feebleness submit patiently to contempt, injury, and the loss of their lands ? The desire of self-preservation, the necessity of self-defence, seemed to demand an active resist ance ; to preserve their dwelling-places, the English

i Smith, ii. 08. Stith,211. 3 Beverley, 38. Burk, i. 231,

a Ibid. ii. 103. Beverley, 38. 232.

182 A MASSACRE AND AN INDIAN WAR.

CHAP, must be exterminated ; in open battle the Indians — ^ would be powerless ; conscious of their weakness, they 1622 could not, hope to accomplish their end except by a preconcerted surprise. The crime was one of savage ferocity; but it was suggested by their situation. They were timorous and quick of apprehension, and consequently treacherous ; for treachery and falsehood are the vices of cowardice. The attack was prepared with impenetrable secrecy. To the very last hour the Indians preserved the language of friendship: they borrowed the boats of the English to attend their own assemblies ; on the very morning of the massacre, they were in the houses and at the tables of those whose death they were plotting. " Sooner," said they, " shall the sky fall, than peace be violated on our Mar. part." At length, on the twenty-second of March, at mid-day, at one and the same instant of time, the Indians fell upon an unsuspecting population, which was scattered through distant villages, extending one hundred and forty miles, on both sides of the river. The onset was so sudden, that the blow was not dis cerned till it fell. None were spared : children and women, as well as men ; the missionary, who had cher ished the natives with untiring gentleness ; the liberal benefactors, from whom they had re.ceived daily kind nesses, — all were murdered with indiscriminate bar barity, and every aggravation of cruelty. The savages fell upon the dead bodies, as if it had been possible to commit on them a fresh murder.

In one hour three hundred and forty-seven persons were cut off. Yet the carnage was not universal; and Virginia was saved from so disastrous a grave.1

i On the massacre ; A Dcclara- a Relation of the barbarous Mas- tion of the State of Virginia, with sacre, &c. &c. 1G22. Tins is the

AN INDIAN WAR. 183

The night before the execution of the conspiracy, it CHA'P was revealed by a converted Indian to an Englishman — ^ whom he wished to rescue ; Jamestown and the near- 1623 est settlements were \vell prepared against an attack ; and the savages, as timid as they were ferocious, fled with precipitation from the appearance of wakeful re sistance. Thus the larger part of the colony was saved * A year after the massacre, there still remain ed two thousand five hundred men ; the total number of the emigrants had exceeded four thousand. The immediate consequences of this massacre were dis astrous. Public works were abandoned ; 2 the culture of the fields was much restricted ; the settlements were reduced from eighty plantations to less than eight.3 Sickness prevailed among the dispirited col onists, who were now crowded into narrow quarters ; some even returned to England. But plans of in dustry were eventually succeeded by schemes of revenge ; and a war of extermination ensued. In England, the news, far from dispiriting the adventur ers, awakened them to strong feelings of compassionate interest ; the purchase of Virginia was endeared by the sacrifice of so much life ; and the blood of the victims became the nurture of the plantation.4 New supplies and assistance were promptly despatched ; even King James, for a moment, affected a sentiment of generosity, and, like the churl, gave from the tower of London presents of arms, which had been thrown by as good for nothing in Europe. They might be useful, thought the monarch, against the Indians ! He

groundwork of the narrative in exact Compare Holmes, i. 178, note.

Smith, ii. 05— 7G, and of Purchas, 2 stjth, 281, 2J'J. 218.

iv. 1/88— 17M. Stith, 208— 2 ia 3 Purchas, iv. 171)2. Virginia's

i State of Virginia, in 1022, p. 18. Verger, in Purchas, iv. 1810. Stith,

Purchas, iv. 1792, says one thousand 235.

eight hundred survived; probably in- 4 Stith, 233.

184

AN INDIAN WAR.

CHAP, also made good promises, which were never fulfilled.1 — v^. The city of London contributed to repair the losses of 1622 t]ie Virginians; and many private persons displayed an honorable liberality.2 Smith volunteered his ser vices to protect the planters, overawe the savages, and make discoveries ; the company had no funds, and his proposition was never made a matter of public discus sion or record ; but some of the members, with ludi crous cupidity, proposed, he should have leave to go at his own expense, if he would grant the , corporation one half of the pillage.3 There were in the colony much loss and much sorrow, but never any serious apprehensions of discomfiture from the Indians. The midnight surprise, the ambuscade by day, might be feared ; the Indians promptly fled on the least indica tions of watchfulness and resistance. There were not wanting men who now advocated an entire subjection of those whom lenity could not win ; and the example of Spanish cruelties was cited with applause.4 Be sides, a natural instinct had led the Indians to select for their villages the pleasantest places, along the purest streams, and near the soil that was most easily cultivated. Their rights of property were no longer much respected ; their open fields and villages were now appropriated by the colonists, who could plead the laws of war in defence of their covetousness. Treachery also was- employed. The tangled woods, the fastnesses of nature, were the bulwarks to which the savages retreated. Pursuit would have been vain ; they could not be destroyed except as they were lulled into security, and induced to return to their old homes. 1623. In July of the following year, the inhabitants of the

1 Burk, i. 248, 249. 4 stith, 2,33. Smith, iL 71, /2.

2 Stith, 232, m 5 Stub, 303.

3 Smith, ii. 79—81. Stith. 234

CONCLUSION OF THE WAR. 185

several settlements, in parties, under commissioned CHAP officers, fell upon the adjoining savages; and a law of ^^ the general assembly commanded, that in July of 1624, the attack should be repeated. Six years later, the 1G30 colonial statute-book proves that schemes of ruthless vengeance were still meditated ; for it was sternly in sisted, that no peace should be concluded with the Indians — a law which remained in force till a treaty in the administration of Harvey.1 1632

Meantime, a change was preparing in the relations 1623 of the colony with the parent state. A corporation, whether commercial or proprietary, is, perhaps, the worst of sovereigns. Gain is the object which leads to the formation of those companies, and which con stitutes the interest most likely to be fostered. If such a company be wisely administered, its colonists are made subservient to commercial avarice. If, on the other hand, the interests of the company are sac rificed, the colonists, not less than the proprietors, are pillaged for the benefit of faithless agents. Where an individual is the sovereign, there is room for an ap peal to magnanimity, to benevolence, to the love of glory ; where the privilege of self-government is en joyed, a permanent interest is sure to gain the ultimate ascendency ; but corporate ambition is deaf to mercy, and insensible to shame.

The Virginia colony had been unsuccessful. A set tlement had been made ; but only after a vast ex penditure of money, and a great sacrifice of human life. Angry factions distract unsuccessful1 institutions ; and the London company was now rent by two par ties, which were growing more and more imbittered.

i Burk, i. 275 ; ii. 37. Henmg, i. 123. 15& VOL. I. 24

186 KING JAMES AND THE LONDON COMPANY.

CHAP. As the shares in the unproductive stock were of little ^•v-^/ value, the contests were chiefly for power ; and were 1G23. not so much the wranglings of disappointed merchants as the struggle of political leaders. The meetings of the company, which now consisted of a thousand ad venturers, of whom two hundred or more usually ap peared at the quarter courts,1 were the scenes for freedom of debate, where the patriots, who in parlia ment advocated the cause of liberty, triumphantly opposed the decrees of the privy council on subjects connected with the rights of Virginia. The unsuccess ful party in the company naturally found an ally in the king ; it could hope for success only by establishing the supremacy of his prerogative ; and the monarch, dissatisfied at having intrusted to oJiers the control of the colony, now desired to recover the influence of which he was deprived by a charter of his own con cession. Besides, he disliked the freedom of debate. " The Virginia courts," said Gondemar, the Spanish envoy, to King James, " are but a seminary to a sedi tious parliament."2 Yet the people of England, regard ing only the failure of their extravagant hopes in the American plantations, took little interest in the progress of the controversy which now grew up between the monarch and the corporation ; and the inhabitants ol the colony were still more indifferent spectators of the strife, which related, not to their liberties, but to their immediate sovereign.3 Besides, there was something of retributive justice in the royal proceedings. The present proprietors enjoyed their privileges in conse quence of a wrong done to the original patentees,

1 Stith, 282—286. 3 Jefferson's Notes on Virginia,

2 New Description, ii. Mass. Hist 152, 153. Coll. ix. lia

KING JAMES AND THE LONDON COMPANY. 18?

and now suffered no greater injury than had been CHAP before inflicted on others for their benefit.1

At the meeting for the choice of officers, in 1622, King James once more attempted to control the elec tions, by sending a message, nominating several can didates, out of whom they were to choose their treas urer. The advice of the king was disregarded, and a great majority reflected the earl of Southampton.2 1623 Unable to get the control of the company by overawing their assemblies, the monarch now resolved upon the sequestration of the patent; and raised no other question, than how the unjust design could most plau sibly be accomplished, and the law of England be made the successful instrument of tyranny. The alle gation of grievances, set forth by the court faction in a petition to the king, was fully refuted by the com- jyjay pany, and the whole ground of discontent was an- 7* swered by an explanatory declaration.3 Yet commis- 9 sioners \vere appointed to engage in a general inves tigation of the concerns of the corporation ; the records were seized, the deputy-treasurer imprisoned, and private letters from Virginia intercepted for inspec tion.4 Smith was particularly examined ; his honest answers plainly exposed the defective arrangements of previous years, and favored the cancelling of the charter as an act of benevolence to the colony.5

The result surprised every one : the king, by an Oct. order in council, made known, that the disasters of Virginia were a consequence of the ill government of the company ; that he had resolved, by a new charter, to reserve to himself the appointment of the officers

1 Smith, ii. 107. 4 gtith, 208. Burk, i. 208. Ry-

2 Burk, i. 257. mer, xvii. 4'JO— 41W.

3 In Burk, i. 31(5-330. Stith, 5 Smith, ii. 103—108 276, 277, and 201— 2U7.

188 KING JAMES AND THE LONDON COMPANY.

CHAP, in England, a negative on appointments in Viiginia — ^~ and the supreme control of all colonial affairs. Pri- IG23. vate interests were to be sacredly preserved; and all grants of land to be renewed and confirmed. Should the company resist the change, its patent would be recalled.1 This was in substance a proposition to revert to the charter originally granted.

It is difficult to obtain a limitation of authority from a corporate body : an aristocracy is, of all forms of government, the most tenacious of life, and the least ^ flexible in its purposes. The company heard the order in council with amazement : it was read three several times ; and after the reading, for a long while, no man spoke a word. Should they tamely surrender privi leges which were conceded according to the forms of law, had been possessed for many years, and had led them to expend large sums of money, that had as yet yielded no return ? The corporation was inflexible, for it had no interest to yield. It desired only a month's delay, that ail its members might take part in the final decision. The privy council peremptorily Get demanded a decisive answer within three days ; and, at the expiration of that time, the surrender of the charter was strenuously refused.2 The liberties of the company were a trust which might be yielded to superior force, but could not be freely abandoned without dishonor.

Ost. But the decision of the king was already taken , and commissioners were appointed to proceed to Vir ginia, to examine into the state of the plantation, to ascertain what expectations might be conceived, and to discover the means by which good hopes were to

1 Burk, i. 209. Stith, 303—304.

2 stith, 2<J4— 2<JG. Burk, i. 2Gi>— 271

COMMISSIONERS IN VIRGINIA 189

bn realized.1 John Harvey and Samuel Matthews, CHAP hoth distinguished in the annals of Virginia, were of — ^ the number of the committee. 1623

It now only remained to issue a writ of quo warran- NOV to against the company. It was done ; and, at the next quarter court, the adventurers, seven only oppo- 19. sing, confirmed the former refusal to surrender the charter, and made preparations for defence.2 For that purpose, their papers were for a season restored : while they were once more in the hands of the company, they were fortunately copied ; and the copy, having been purchased by a Virginian, was consulted by Stith, and gave to his history the authority of an original record.3

While these things were transacting in England, the 1024

O O C" '

commissioners, early in the year, arrived in the colony A meeting of the general assembly was immediately convened ; and, as the company had refuted the alle gations of King James, as opposed to their interests, so the colonists replied to them, as contrary to their honor and good name. The principal prayer was, that the governors might not have absolute power; and that the liberty of popular assemblies might be retained ; " for," say they, " nothing can conduce more to the public satisfaction and the public utility."4 To urge this so licitation, an agent was appointed to repair to Eng land. The manner in which the expenses of the mission were borne, marks colonial times and manners, and the universality of the excitement. A tax of four pounds of the best tobacco was levied upon every male who was above sixteen years and had been in the colony

1 Burk, i. 272, and note. Chal- 3 Bnrj^ j. 274. Ilening, i. 76. mers, (52. 76. 4 Burk, i. 27<J, 277.

2 Stith, 25)8, 21)1).

190 SPIRIT OF THE VIRGINIANS.

CHAP, a twelvemonth.1 The commissioner unfortunately

^v^ died on his passage to Europe.2

1624. The spirit of liberty had planted itself deeply among the Virginians. It had been easier to root out the staple produce of their plantations, than to wrest from them their established franchises. The movements of their government display the spirit of the place and the aptitude of the English colonies for liberty. A faith less clerk, who had been suborned by one of the com missioners to betray the secret consultations of the Virginians, was promptly punished. In vain was it attempted, by means of intimidation and promises of royal favor, to obtain a petition for the revocation of the charter. It \vas under that charter, that the as sembly was itself convened ; and, after prudently re jecting a proposition which might have endangered its own existence, it proceeded to memorable acts of hide pendent legislation.3

The rights of property were strictly maintained against arbitrary taxation. " The governor shall not lay any taxes or ympositions upon the colony, their lands or commodities, other way than by the authority of the general assembly, to be levyed and ymployed as the said assembly shall appoynt." Thus Virginia, the oldest colony, was the first to set the example of a just and firm legislation on the management of the public money. We shall see others imitate the example, which could not be excelled. The rights of personal liberty were likewise asserted, and the power of the executive, circumscribed. The several governors had in vain attempted, by penal statutes, to promote tb<> culture of corn ; the true remedy was now discovered

l Henmor, L 128, Act 35. 3 Hening, i. 122—128. Burk, i

9 Burk, i. 277. 278—280. Stith, 318—322.

SPIRIT OF THE VIRGINIANS 191

by the colonial legislature. " For the encouragement CHAP of men to plant store of corn, the price shall not be - — stinted, but it shall be free for every man to sell it as deare as he can." The reports of controversies in England, rendered it necessary to provide for the pub lic tranquillity by an express enactment, " that no per son within the colony, upon the rumor of supposed change and alteration, presume to be disobedient to the present government." The law was dictated by the emergency of the times ; and, during the struggle in London, the administration of Virginia was based upon a popular decree. These laws, so judiciously framed, show how readily, with the aid of free discussion, men become good legislators on their own concerns ; for wise legislation is the enacting of proper laws at proper times ; and no criterion is so nearly infallible as the fair representation of the interests to be affected.

While the commissioners were urging the Virginians to renounce their right to the privileges which they exercised so well, the English parliament assembled ; and a gleam of hope revived in the company, as it for warded an elaborate petition1 to the grand inquest of the kingdom. It is a sure proof of the unpopularity of the corporation, that it met with no support from the commons ; 9 but Sir Edwin Sandys, more intent on the welfare of Virginia than the existence of the com pany, was able to secure for the colonial staple complete protection against foreign tobacco, by a petition of grace,3 whkh was followed by a royal proclamation.4 Tli3 people of England could not have given a more earnest proof of their disposition to foster the plantations

1 Stith, 324—328. bett's Parl. Hist. i. 1489—1497.

2 Chalmers, 65, GO. Burk,i. 291. The commons acted by petition.

3 Stith, 328, refers to the nine Hazard, i. 193. grievances ; erroneously. See Cob- 4 Hazard, i. 193 — 198.

192 DISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON COMPANY.

CHAP, in America, than by restraining all competition in thejf ^^ own market for the benefit of the American planter. ] 624 Meantime, the commissioners arrived from the col ony, and made their report to the king.1 They enu merated the disasters which had befallen the infant settlement ; they eulogized the fertility of the soil and the salubrity of the climate ; they aggravated the neg lect of the company in regard to the encouragement of staple commodities ; they esteemed the plantations of great national importance, and an honorable monument of the reign of King James ; they expressed a prefer ence for the original constitution of 1606 ; they de clared, that the alteration of the charter to so popular a course, and so many hands, referring, not to the colonial franchises, but to the democratic form of the London company, could lead only to confusion and contention ; and they promised prosperity only by a recurrence to the original instructions of the monarch. June Now, therefore, nothing but the judicial decision remained. The decree, which was to be pronounced by judges w'.io held their office by the tenure of the royal pleasure,2 could not long remain doubtful ; at the Trinity term of the ensuing year, judgment was given against the treasurer and company,3 and the patents were cancelled.

Thus the company was dissolved. It had fulfilled its high destinies ; it had confirmed the colonization of Virginia, and had conceded a liberal form of govern-

1 Ha/ard, i. 190, 191. Burk, i. charter, only upon a failer, or mis- 291,2112. take in pleading." Sec a Short

2 Story's Com. i. 27. Collection of the most Remarkable

3 Stith, M29, M.'{0, doubts if judg- Passages from the Originall to the mcnt were passed. The doubt may Dissolution of the Virginia Com be removed. "Before the end of pauy ; London, 1(151, p. 15. See, the same term, a judgment was also, Hazard, i. 191 ; Chalmers, G2 declared by the Lord Chief Justice Frond's Pennsylvania, i. 107

JLey against the company and their

VIRGINIA RETAINS ITS LIBERTIES. 193

ment to Englishmen in America. It could accomplish CHAP no more. The members were probably willing to — — escape from a concern which promised no emolument, and threatened an unprofitable strife ; the public acqui esced in the fall of a corporation which had of late maintained but a sickly and hopeless existence ; and it was clearly perceived, that a body rent by internal factions, and opposed by the whole force of the English court, could never succeed in fostering Virginia. The fate of the London company found little sympathy ; in the domestic government and franchises of the colony, it produced no immediate change. Sir Francis Wyatt, though he had been an ardent friend of the London company, was confirmed in office ; and he and his council, far from being rendered absolute, were only empowered to govern " as fully and amplye as any governor and council resident there, at any time with in the space of five years now last past." This term of five years was precisely the period of representative government ; and the limitation could not but be in terpreted as sanctioning the continuance of popular assemblies. The king, in appointing the council in Virginia, refused to nominate the imbittered partisans of the court faction, but formed the administration on the principles of accommodation.1 The vanity of the 1625 monarch claimed the opportunity of establishing for the colony a code of fundamental laws ; but death pre- Mar vented the royal legislator from attempting the task, which would have furnished his self-complacency so grateful an occupation.

1 Hazard, i. 189. 192. Burk, ii. 11, from ancient records.

VOL i - 25

194

CHAPTER VI

tr

RESTRICTIONS ON COLONIAL COMMERCE.

CHAP ASCENDING the throne in his twenty-fifth year, ^~ Charles I. inherited the principles and was governed ^lar5 kj tne favorite of his father. The rejoicings in con- 27. sequence of his recent nuptials, the reception of his bride, and preparations for a parliament, left him little leisure for American affairs. Virginia was esteemed by the monarch as the country producing tobacco , its inhabitants were valued at court as planters, and prized according to the revenue derived from the staple of their industry. The plantation, no longer governed by a chartered company, was become a royal province and an object of favor ; and, as it enforced conformity to the church of England, it could not be an object of suspicion to the clergy or the court. The king felt an earnest desire to heal old grievances, to secure the personal rights and property of the colonists, and to promote their prosperity. Franchises were neither conceded nor restricted ; for it did not occur to his pride, that, at that time, there could be in an American province any thing like established privileges or vigor ous political life ; nor was he aware that the seeds of liberty were already germinating on the borders of the A^rU Chesapeake. His first Virginian measure was a proc lamation on tobacco ; confirming to Virginia and the Somer Isles the exclusive supply of the British market

VIRGINIA RETAINS ITS FRANCHISES. 195

under penalty of the censure of the star-chamber for CHAP disobedience. In a few days, a new proclamation ap- ^ — peared, in which it was his evident design to secure j^5 the profits that might before have been engrossed by 33. the corporation. After a careful declaration of the for feiture of the charters, and consequently of the imme diate dependence of Virginia upon himself, a declara tion aimed against the claims of the London company, and not against the franchises of the colonists, the monarch proceeded to announce his fixed resolution of becoming, through his agents, the sole factor of the planters. Indifferent to their constitution, it was his principal aim to monopolize the profits of their in dustry ; and the political rights of Virginia were estab lished as usages by his salutary neglect.1

There is no room to suppose that Charles nourished the design of suppressing the colonial assemblies. For some months, the organization of the government was not changed; and when Wyatt retired, Sir George Yeardley was appointed his successor. This appoint ment was in itself a guaranty, that, as " the former interests of Virginia were to be kept inviolate," 2 so the representative government, the chief political in terest, would be maintained ; for it was* Yeardley who had had the glory of introducing the system. In the commission now issued,3 the monarch expressed his desire to benefit, encourage and perfect the plantation ; "the same means, that were formerly thought fit for the maintenance of the colony," were continued ; and the power of the governor and council was limited, as

1 Hazard, i. 202— 205. Burk, ii. 14, 15.

2 Letter of the privy council, in Burk. « *8

3 Hazard, i. 230—234.

196 VIRGINIA RETAINS ITS FRANCHISES.

CHAP, it had before been done in the commission of Wyatt ,

v^~ bj a reference to the usages of the last five years. In that period, representative liberty had become the cus tom of Virginia. The words were interpreted as favoring the wishes of the colonists ; and King Charles, intent only on increasing his revenue, confirmed, per haps unconsciously, the existence of a popular as sembly. The colony prospered ; Virginia rose rapidly

I(J27. in public estimation ; in one year, a thousand emi grants arrived ; and there was an increasing demand for all the products of the soil.

Nov. The career of Yeardley was now closed by death. Posterity will ever retain a grateful recollection of the man who first convened a representative assembly in the western hemisphere ; the colonists, announcing his decease in a letter to the privy council, gave at the same time a eulogy on his virtues ; the surest evidence

Nov. of his fidelity to their interests.1 The day after his 14' burial, Francis West was elected his successor ; 2 for the council was authorized to elect the governor, " from time to time, as often as the case shall require."3

1627. But if any doubts existed of the roya) assent to the continuance of colonial assemblies, they were soon re-

Aug. moved by a letter of instructions, which the king ad- 24> dressed to the governor and council. After much caviling, in the style of a purchaser who undervalues the wares which he wishes to buy, the monarch arrives at his main purpose, and offers to contract for the whole crop of tobacco ; desiring, at the same time, that an assembly might be convened to consider his proposal.4 This is the first recognition, on the part of a Stuart, of a representative assembly in America

1 Burk, ii. 22, 23. 3 Hazard i. 233.

2 llening, i. 4. * Burk, ii. 19,20. Hening, i. 129.

SIR JOHN HARVEY'S ADMINISTRATION. 197

Hitherto, the king had, fortunately for the colony, CHAP found no time to take order for its government. His ~~*-'** zeal for an exclusive contract led him to observe and to sanction the existence of an elective legis lature. The assembly, in its answer, acquiesced l6^- in the royal monopoly, but protested against its being 26.' farmed out to individuals. The independent reply of the assembly was signed by the governor, by five mem bers of the council, and by thirty-one burgesses. The Virginians, happier than the people of England, enjoy ed a faithful representative government, and, through the resident planters who composed the council, they repeatedly elected their own governor. When West designed to embark for Europe, his place was supplied by election.1

No sooner had the news of the death of Yeardley 1628 reached England, than the king proceeded to issue a commission 2 to John Harvey. The tenor of the in strument offered no invasions of colonial freedom ; but while it renewed the limitations which had previously been set to the executive authority, it permitted the council in Virginia, which had common interests with the people, to supply all vacancies occurring in their body. In this way direct oppression was rendered impossible.

It was during the period which elapsed between the appointment of Harvey and his appearance in 162g America, that Lord Baltimore visited Virginia. The zeal of religious bigotry pursued him as a Romanist ; 3 and the intolerant jealousy of Popery led to memorable results. Nor should we, in this connection, forget the hospitable plans of the southern planters ; the people

i Hening, i. 134—137. Burk, 3 Records, in Burk, ii. 24, 25 ii. 24. Hening, i. 552.

3 Hazard, i. 234— 239.

SIR JOHN HARVEY'S ADMINISTRATION.

CHAP, of New Plymouth were invited to abandon the cold — ~ and sterile clime of New England, and plant them selves in the milder regions on the Delaware Bay ; l a plain indication that Puritans were not then molested in Virginia.

It was probably in the autumn of 1629 that Harvey arrived in Virginia.2 Till October, the name of Pott 163C appears as governor; Harvey met his first assembly 24. of burgesses in the following March.3 He had for several years been a member of the council ; and as, at a former day, he had been a willing instrument in the hands of the faction to which Virginia ascribed its earliest griefs, and continued to bear a deep-rooted hostility, his appointment could not but be unpopular. 1630 The colony had esteemed it a special favor from King 1635. James, that, upon the substitution of the royal author ity for the corporate supremacy, the government had been intrusted to impartial agents ; arid, after the death of Yeardley, two successive chief magistrates had been elected in Virginia. The appointment of Harvey implied a change of power among political parties ; it gave authority to a man whose connec tions in England were precisely those which the col ony regarded with the utmost aversion. As his first appearance in America, in 1624, had been with no friendly designs, so now he was the support of those who desired large grants of land and unreasonable concessions of separate jurisdictions ; and he preferred the interests of himself, his partisans and patrons, to the welfare and quiet of the colony. • The extravagant language, which exhibited him as a tyrant, without specifying his crimes, was the natural hyperbole of po-

1 Burk, il 32. 3 Hening, i. 4, and 147.

2 Chalmers, lia

SIR JOHN HARVEY'S ADMINISTRATION. 199

fitical excitement ; and when historians, receiving the CHAP account, and interpreting tyranny to mean arbitrary — ^~ taxation, drew the inference that he convened no as- 163°

to

semblies, trifled with the rights of property, and levied ir~ taxes according to his caprice, they were betrayed into extravagant errors. Such a procedure would have been impossible. He had no soldiers at his com mand ; no obsequious officers to enforce his will ; and the Virginians would never have made themselves the instruments of their own oppression. The party op posed to Harvey was deficient neither in capacity nor in colonial influence ; and while arbitrary power was rapidly advancing to triumph in England, the Virgini ans, during the whole period, enjoyed the benefit of independent colonial legislation ; 1 through the agency of their representatives, they levied and appropriated all taxes,2 secured the free industry of their citizens,3 guarded the forts with their own soldiers, at their own

1 As an opposite statement has 1640, Hening, i. 268.

received the sanction, not of Old- 1 (Ml, June, ibid. 259 — 262.

mixon, Chalmers, and Robertson 1642, January, ibid. 267.

only, but of Marshall and of Story 1642, April, ibid. 230.

(see Story's Commentaries, i. 28, .1642, June, ibid. 269.

" without the slightest effort to con- Considering how imperfect are

vene a colonial assembly"), I deem the early records, it is surprising

it necessary to state, that many of that so considerable a list can be

the statutes of Virginia under Har- established. The instructions to

vey still exist, and that, though Sir William Berkeley do not first

many others are lost, the first vol- order assemblies ; but spea.k of

ume of Hening's Statutes at Large them as of a thing established. At

proves, beyond a question, that as- an adjourned session of Berkeley's

semblies were convened, at least, first legislature, the assembly de-

as often as follows : — clares " its meeting exceeding cus-

1630, March, Hening, i. 147 — 153. tomary limits, in this place used.'''

1(530 April, ibid. 257. Hening, i. 2136. This is a plain

1632, February, ibid. 153 — 177. declaration, that assemblies were

1632, September ibid. 178 — 202. the custom and use of Virginia

1633, February, ibid. 202—209. at the time of Berkeley's arrival. 1GJW, August, ibid. 209 — 222. If any doubts remain, it would be

1634, ibid. 223. easy to multiply arguments and

1635, ibid. 223. references. Burk, ii. A pp. xlix li.

1636, ibid. 229. 2 Hening, i. 171, Act 38.

1637, ibid. 227. 3 ibid. 172, Act 40. 1639, ibid. 229—230.

200 SIR JOHN HARVEY'S ADMINISTRATION.

CHAP charge,1 and gave to their statutes the greatest possi- -"•^ ble publicity.2 When the defects and inconveniences 1630 of infant legislation were remedied by a revised code, 1635 which was published with the approbation of the gov ernor and council,3 all the privileges which the assem bly had ever claimed, were carefully confirmed.4 In deed, they seem never to have been questioned. 1635 Yet the administration of Harvey was disturbed by divisions, which grew out of other causes than infringe ments of the constitution. De Vries, who visited Vir ginia in 1632-3r had reason to praise the advanced con dition of the settlement, the abundance of its products, and the liberality of its governor.5 The community would hardly have been much disturbed because fines were exacted with too relentless rigor ; 6 but the whole colony of Virginia was in a state of excitement and alarm in consequence of the dismemberment of its territory by the cession to Lord Baltimore. As in many of the earlier settlements, questions about land- titles were agitated with passion ; and there was reason to apprehend the increase of extravagant grants, that would again include the soil on which plantations had already been made without the acquisition of an indisputable legal claim. In Maryland, the first occu pants had refused to submit, and a skirmish had ensued, in which the blood of Europeans was shed for the first time on the waters of the Chesapeake ; and Clayborne, defeated and banisned from Maryland as a murderer7 and an outlaw, sheltered himself in Vir ginia, where he had long been a member of the coun-

1 Heningr, 175, Acts 57 and 58. 5 De Vries, Korte IL'storiael

2 Ibid. 177, Act 68. ende Journals — a rare work, which

3 Ibid. 179. Ebcling had never seen.

4 Ibid. 180—202. See, partic- 6 Beverley, 48. Bullock, 10. ularly, Acts 34, 35, 36. 39. 46. 57, 7 Hammond's Leah and Rachel 58. 61.

SIR JOHN HARVEY'S ADMINISTRATION. 201

oil. There the contest was renewed ; and Harvey, CHAP. far from attempting to enforce the claims of Virginia, ^^ against the royal grant, courted the favor of Balti more. The colonists were indignant that their gov ernor should thus, as it seemed to them, betray their interests ; and as the majority of the council favored their wishes, " Sir John Harvey was thrust out of his government; and Captain John West appointed to the office, till the king's pleasure be known." An assembly was summoned in May, to receive com plaints against Harvey ; but he had in the mean time consented to go to England, and there meet his accusers.1

The commissioners appointed by the council to man- 1636 age the impeachment of Harvey, met with no favor in England, and were not even admitted to a hearing.2 Harvey immediately reappeared to occupy his former Jan. station ; and was followed by a new commission, by which his powers were still limited to such as had been exercised during the period of legislative free dom. General assemblies continued to be held ; but the vacancies in the council, which had been filled in Virginia, were henceforward to be supplied by ap pointment in England.3 Harvey remained in office till 1639.4 The complaints which have been brought against him, will be regarded with some degree of distrust, when it is considered, that the public mind

1 Hening, i. 223, and 4. Old- company, furnishes a tissue of in-

mixon, i. 240. Oldmixon is un- ventinns. Keith, 143, 144, phces

wort hy of implicit trust. Bevcrley, in 1(!35) the occurrences of 1(J35.

48, is not accurate. Campbell's His book is superficial.

Virginia, f>0 — a modest little book. 2 Burk, ii. 45. Yet Burk cor-

Chaimers, 1 18, 111), is betrayed into rected but half the errors of his

error by following Oldmixon. Burk, predecessors.

ii. 41, 42. Bullock's Virginia, 10. 3 Hazard, i. 400 — 403.

Robertson, in his History of Vir- 4 Campbell, 61. Hening, i. 4. ginia, after the dissolution of the

VOL. i. 26

202 SIR FRANCIS WYATTS ADMINISTRATION.

CHAP, of the colony, during his administration, was con- • — ~ trolled by a party which pursued him with implacable hostility. In April, 1642, two months only after the accession of Berkeley, a public document declares the comparative happiness of the colony under the royal government ; a declaration which would hardly have been made, if Virginia had so recently and so long been smarting under intolerable oppression.1

1039. At length he was superseded, and Sir Francis Wyatt2 appointed in his stead. Early in the next

1040. year, he convened a general assembly. History has recorded many instances where a legislature has altered the scale of debts : in modern times, it has frequently been done by debasing the coin, or by introducing paper money. In Virginia, debts had been contracted to be paid in tobacco ; and when the article rose in value, in consequence of laws re,strict- ing its culture, the legislature of Virginia did not scruple to provide a remedy, by enacting that " no man need pay more than two thirds of his debt during the stint ; " and that all creditors should take " forty pounds for a hundred." 3 The artificial increase of the value of tobacco seemed to require a corresponding change in the tariff of debts.4

1641. After two years, a commission5 was issued to Sir William Berkeley. Historians, reasoning, from the revolutions which took place in England, that there had been corresponding attempts at oppression and corresponding resistance in Virginia, have delighted

1 Hening, i. 231. governor as Wyatt, in 1630, a: J

2 Rymef, xx. 484. Hazard, i. represent Berkeley as the iminedi- 477. Savage on Winthrop, ii. 160, ate successor of Harvey.

161. Hening, i. 224, and 4. 3 Hening, i. 225, 226. Campbell, 61. But Keith, and Bev- 4 Brockenbrough's Virginia, 586. erly, and Chalmers, and Burk, and 5 Hazard, i. 477 — 480, Ryme

Marshall, were ignorant of such a xx. 484 — 486.

SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY'S ADMINISTRATION. 203

to draw a contrast, not only between Harvey and CHAP the new governor, but between the institutions of -^- Virginia under their respective .governments; and lhM Berkeley is said to have " restored the system of freedom," and to have " effected an essential revolu tion. "] I cannot find that his appointment was marked by the slightest concession of new political privileges, except that the council recovered the right of supplying its own- vacancies ; and the historians, who make an opposite statement, are wholly ignorant of the intermediate administration of Wyatt ; a govern ment so suited to the tastes and habits of the planters, that it passed silently away, leaving almost no impres sion on Virginia history, except in its statutes. The commission of Berkeley was exactly analogous to those of his predecessors.

The instructions2 given him, far from granting franchises to the Virginians, imposed most severe and unwarrantable restrictions on the liberty of trade ; and, by the prerogative, England claimed that monopoly of colonial commerce, which wras ultimately enforced by the navigation act of Charles II., and which never ceased to be a subject of dispute till the war of independence. The nature of those instructions will presently be explained.

It was in February, 1642, that Sir William Berke- 1642. ley, arriving in the colony, assumed the government. His arrival must have been nearly simultaneous with the adjournment of the general assembly, which was held in the preceding January.3 He found the Ameri can planters in possession of a large share of the legis-

1 Chalmers, 120, 121. i. 207—2(19, in the acts 4<>, 50, 51,

2 Ibid |:*l — 1:«. 52. The statutes, of course, call

3 The .icts of that session arc the yf-ar Hill, as the year then lost, but are referred to in llcning. began in March.

204 SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY'S ADMINISTRATION.

CHAP, lative authority; and he confirmed them in the enjoy - ^~ ment of franchises which a long and uninterrupted successi°n nad rendered familiar. Immediately after his arrival, he convened the colonial legislature. The utmost harmony prevailed ; the memory of factions was lost in a general amnesty of ancient griefs. The lapse of years had so far effaced the divisions which grew out of the dissolution of the company, that when George Sandys, an agent of the colony, and an oppo nent of the royal party in England, presented a pe tition to the commons, praying for the restoration of the ancient patents,1 the royalist assembly promptly disavowed the design, and, after a full debate, op- ?n posed it by a solemn protest.2 The whole document breathes the tone of a body accustomed to public dis cussion and the independent exercise of legislative power. They assert the necessity of the freedom of trade, " for freedom of trade," say they, " is the blood and life of a commonwealth." And they defended their preference of self-government through a colonial legislature, by a conclusive argument. " There is more likelyhood, that such as are acquainted with the clime and its accidents may upon better grounds pre scribe our advantages, than such as shall sit at the helm in England."3 In reply to their urgent petition, the king immediately declared his purpose not to change a form of government 'n which they " re ceived so much content and satisfaction."

The Virginians, aided by Sir William Berkeley/' could now deliberately perfect their civil condition. Condemnations to service had been a usual puni

Sll-

1 Chalmers, 121. Hening, i. 230. 4 Chalmers, 1U3, 134. Burk, ii.

2 I leiung, i. 230— 23G. Burk, ii 74.

68_74. 5 Hammond's Leah and Rachel.

3 liening, i. 233. 12.

SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY'S ADMINISTRATION 205

ment; these were abolished. In the courts of justice, CHAP a near approach weis made to the laws and customs of ^^ England. Religion was provided for; the law about 1642 land-titles adjusted ; an amicable treaty with Maryland successfully matured ; and peace with the Indians con firmed. Taxes were assessed, not in proportion to numbers, but to men's abilities and estates. The spirit of liberty, displayed in the English parliament, was transmitted to America ; and the rights of property, the freedom of industry, the solemn exercise of civil franchises, seemed to be secured to themselves and their posterity. " A future immunity from taxes and impositions," except such as should be freely voted for their own wants, " was expected as the fruits of the endeavors of their legislature."1 As the restraints with which colonial navigation was threatened, were not enforced,2 they attracted no attention ; and Vir ginia enjoyed nearly all the liberties which a monarch could concede, and retain his supremacy.

Believing themselves secure of all their privileges, the triumph of the popular party in England did not alter the condition or the affections of the Virginians. The commissioners appointed by parliament, with un limited authority over the plantations,3 found no favor in Virginia. They promised, indeed, freedom from English taxation ; but this immunity was already en joyed. They gave the colony liberty to choose its own governor ; but it had no dislike to Berkeley ; and though there was a party for the parliament, yet the king's authority was maintained.4 The sovereignty of Charles had ever been mildly exercised.

The condition of contending parties in England had Mar.

1 Henino-, i. <<>37, 238. 4 Winthrop, ii. 159, 100, and the

i Chalmers, V>4. note of Savage.

a Hazard, i. 533—535.

206 INTOLERANCE IN VIRGINIA.

CHAP, now given to Virginia an opportunity of legislation .^^ independent of European control ; and the voluntary 1643. act of the assembly, restraining religious liberty, adopt ed from hostility to political innovation, rather than from a spirit of fanaticism, or respect to instructions, proves conclusively the attachment of the representa tives of Virginia to the Episcopal church and the cause of royalty. Yet there had been Puritans in the colony almost from the beginning : even the Brownists were freely offered a secure asylum;1 "here," said the tole rant Whitaker, " neither surplice nor subscription is spoken of," and several Puritan families, and perhaps8 some even of the Puritan clergy, emigrated to Virginia. They were so content with their reception, that large 1619. numbers were preparing to follow, and were restrained only by the forethought of English intolerance. We have seen, that the Pilgrims at Plymouth were invited 1629. to remove within the jurisdiction of Virginia ; Puritan merchants planted themselves on the James River l (540. without fear, and emigrants from Massachusetts had recently established themselves in the colony. The honor of Laud had been vindicated by a judicial sen tence, and south of the Potomac the decrees of the court of high commission were allowed to be valid ; but I find no traces of persecutions in the earliest his tory of Virginia. The laws were harsh : the adminis tration seems to have been mild. A disposition to non conformity was soon to .show itself even in the council, An invitation, which had been sent to Boston for Piul- tan ministers, implies a belief that they would be ad-

1 Bradford, in Prince. of." Whitaker, in Puichas b. :x

2 " | muse mat so few of our Eng- c. xi. lish mi uisters, that were so hot against the surplice and subscription, come hither, where neither is spoken

A SECOND MASSACRE 207

mitted in Virginia. But now the democratic revolution CHAP in England had given an immediate political importance ^^ to reliious sects : to tolerate Puritanism was to nurse

a republican party. It was, therefore, specially ordered that no minister should preach or teach, publicly or prh ately, except in conformity to the constitutions of the; church of England,1 arid non-conformists were ban ished from the colony. The unsocial spirit of political discord, fostering a mutual intolerance, prevented a frequent intercourse between Virginia and New Eng land. It was in vain that the ministers, invited from Boston by the Puritan settlements in Virginia, carried letters from Winthrop, written to Berkeley and his council by order of the general court of Massachusetts " The hearts of the people were much inflamed with desire after the ordinances ; " but the missionaries were silenced by the government, and ordered to leave the country.2 Sir William Berkeley was " a courtier, and very malignant towards the way of the churches" in New England.

While Virginia thus displayed, though with com paratively little bitterness, the intolerance which for centuries had almost universally prevailed throughout the Christian world, a scene of distress was prepared by the vindictive ferocity of the natives, with whom a state of hostility had been of long continuance. In 1 643, it was enacted by the assembly, that no terms of peace should be entertained with the Indians ; whom it was usual to distress by sudden marches against their settlements. But the Indians had now heard of 16' 4 4 the dissensions in England, and taking counsel of their passions, rather than of their prudence, they re-

1 Act 04, Herring, i. 277. New England, 410 411. Johnson,

2 Winthrop's Journal, ii. 77, 78. b. iii. c. xi. in ii. Mass. Hist. Coll. 95, 90, and 164, 165. Hubbard's viii. 29. Hening, i. 275

208 A SECOND INDIAN WAR

CHAP, solved on one more attempt at a general massacre ;

- — ~ believing that, by midnight incursions, the destruction of the cattle and the fields of corn, they might succeed in famishing the remnant of the colonists whom they should not be able to murder by surprise. On the eighteenth day of April,1 the time appointed for the carnage, the unexpected onset was begun upon the frontier settlements. But hardly had the Indians steeped their hands in blood, before they were dismay ed by the recollection of their own comparative weak ness ; and, trembling for the consequences of their treachery, they feared to continue their design, and fled to a distance from the colony. The number of victims had been three hundred. Measures were promptly taken by the English for protection and de fence ; and a war was vigorously conducted. The aged Opechancanough was taken, yet not till 1646 ; and the venerated monarch of the sons of the forest, so long the undisputed lord of almost boundless hunting grounds, died in miserable captivity of wounds inflict ed by a brutal soldier. In his last moments, he chiefly regretted his exposure to the contemptuous gaze of his enemies.2

So little was apprehended, when the English were once on their guard, that, two months after the massa cre, Berkeley embarked for England, leaving Richard Kemp as his successor.3 A border warfare continued ; marches up and down the Indian country were or dered ; yet so weak were the natives, that though the

i The reader is cautioned against 2 On the massacre, there ert;

the inaccuracies of Beverley, Old- three contemporary guides : the

mixon, and, on this subject, of Burk. statutes of the time, in Ilening, i. ;

See Winthrop's Journal, ii. 1G5. The Perfect Description of Virginia,

Compare the note of Savage, whose in ii. Mass. Hist. Coll. ix. 115 — 117 ;

sagacious conjecture is confirmed and the Reports of the exiled Purl

in Hening, i. 2!)0, Act 4, session of tans, in Winthrop, ii. 1(35. February, 10-15. 3 Hening, i. 4. 282, and 280.

PEACE WITH THE INDIANS. 209

careless traveller and the straggling huntsman were CHAP long in danger of being intercepted,1 yet ten men — ^ were considered a sufficient force to protect a place of danger.2

About fifteen months after Berkeley's return from 1646 England, articles of peace were established between the inhabitants of Virginia and Necotowance, the suc cessor of Opechancanough.3 Submission and a cession of lands were the terms on which the treaty was pur chased by the original possessors of the soil, who now began to vanish away from the immediate vicinity of the settlements of their too formidable invaders. It is one of the surprising results of moral power, that language, composed of fleeting sounds, retains and transmits the remembrance of past occurrences, long after every other monument has passed away. Of the labors of the Indians on the soil of Virginia, there re mains nothing so respectable as would be a common ditch for the draining of lands ; 4 the memorials of their former existence are found only in the names of the rivers and the mountains. Unchanging nature retains

o a

the appellations which were given by those whose villages have disappeared, and whose tribes have be come extinct.

Thus the colony of Virginia acquired the manage ment of all its concerns ; war was levied, and peace concluded, and territory acquired, in conformity to the acts of the representatives of the people. Pos sessed of security arid quiet, abundance of land, a free market for their staple, and, practically, all the rights of an independent state, having England for its guui-

1 Honing, i. 300, 301, Act 3. —24 ; Johnson's Wonder-working

2 Ibid. 285, 28(j, Act 5. Providence, b. 111. c. xi.

3 Ibid. 323—320. Compare 4 Jefferson's Notes, 1IS2. Drake's Indian Biography, b. iv. 22

VOL. i. 27

210 PEACE AND PROSPERITY OF VIRGINIA.

CHAP, dian against foreign oppression, rather than its ruler, ^v^- the colonists enjoyed all the prosperity which a virgin 1G4G. soil, equal laws, and general uniformity of condition and industry, could bestow. Their numbers increas ed ; the cottages were filled with children, as the ports were with ships and emigrants. At Christmas, 1648, there were trading in Virginia, ten ships from London. twro from Bristol, twelve Hollanders, and seven from New England.1 The number of the colonists was already twenty thousand ; and they, who had sus tained no griefs, were not tempted to engage in the feuds by which the mother country was divided. They were attached to the cause of Charles, not be cause they loved monarchy, but because they cherished the liberties of which he had left them in the undis- 1649 turbed possession ; and, after his execution, though there were not wanting some who, from ignorance, as the royalists affirmed, favored republicanism, the gov ernment recognized his son2 without dispute. The disasters of the Cavaliers in England strengthened the party in the New World. Men of consideration " among the nobility, gentry, and clergy," struck " with horror and despair " at the execution of Charles I., and desiring no reconciliation with the un relenting " rebels," made their way to the shores of the Chesapeake, where every house was for them a " hostelry," and every planter a friend. The mansion and the purse of Berkeley were open to all ; and at the hospitable dwellings that were scattered along the rhers and among the wilds of Virginia, the Cavaliers, exiles like their monarch, met in frequent groups to recount their toils, to sigh over defeats, and to nourish

i New Description of Virginia, 15, in ii. Mass. Hist. Coll. ix. 118. a Heniiifir, i. 359, 3O), Act 1.

PARLIAMENT ASSERTS ITS SUPREMACY. 21 I

loyalty and hope.1 The faithfulness of the Virginians CHAP did not escape the attention of the royal exile ; from — ^ his retreat in Breda he transmitted to Berkeley a new commission ; 2 he still controlled the distribution of offices, and, amidst his defeats in Scotland,3 still re membered with favor the faithful Cavaliers in the western world. Charles the Second, a fugitive from England, was still the sovereign of Virginia. " Vir ginia was whole for monarchy, and the last country, belonging to England, that submitted to obedience of the commonwealth."4

But the parliament did not long permit its authority to be denied. Having, by the vigorous energy and fearless enthusiasm of republicanism, triumphed over all its enemies in Europe, it turned its attention to the colonies; and a memorable ordinance5 at once em- a powered the council of state to reduce the rebellious colonies to obedience, and, at the same time, estab lished it as a law, that foreign ships should not trade at any of the ports " in Barbadoes, Antigua, Bermu das, and Virginia." Maryland, which was not express ly included in the ordinance, had taken care to ac knowledge the new order of things ; 6 and Massachu setts, alike unwilling to encounter the hostility of parliament, and jealous of the rights of independent legislation, by its own enactment, prohibited all in- May tercourse with Virginia, till the supremacy of the com monwealth should be established; although the order, when it was found to be injurious to commerce, was

1 Norwood, in Churchill, vi. 1GO 5 Hazard, i. G37, 638. Par- — 186. Hammond's Leah and Ra- liamentary History, iii. 1357. chel, 16. The commentary of Chalmers,

2 Chalmers, 122. p. 123, is that of a partisan law-

3 Norwood, in Ch., vi. 186. yer.

4 Hammond's Leah and Rachel, 6 Langford's Refutation, 6, 7 20 ; Ed. 1656.

212 ORIGIN OF THE NAVIGATION ACT.

CHAP, promptly repealed, even whilst royalty still triumphed

^~ at Jamestown.1 But would Virginia resist the fleet

1651. of the republic? Were its royalist principles so firm,

14. that they would animate the colony to a desperate

war with England ? The lovers of monarchy indulged

the hope, that the victories of their friends in the

Chesapeake would redeem the disgrace, that had

elsewhere fallen on the royal arms ; many partisans of

Charles had come over as to a place of safety ; and the

honest Governor Berkeley, than whom " no man meant

better," was so confirmed in his confidence, that he

wrote to the king, almost inviting him to America.2

The approach of the day of trial was watched with

the deepest interest.

But while the preparations were yet making for the reduction of the colonies, which still preserved an ap pearance of loyalty, the commercial policy of England underwent an important revision, and the new system, as it was based upon the permanent interests of Eng lish merchants and ship-builders, obtained a consist ency and durability which could never have been gained by the feeble selfishness of the Stuarts.

It is the ancient fate of colonies to be planted by the daring of the poor and the hardy ; to struggle into being through the severest trials ; to be neglected by the parent country during the season of poverty and weakness ; to thrive by the unrestricted application of their powers and enterprise ; and by their consequent prosperity to tempt oppression. The Greek colonies early attained opulence and strength, because they were always free ; the new people at its birth was independent, and remained so; the emigrants were dismissed, not as servants but as equals. They were

Hazard, i. 553 and 558. 2 Clarendon, b. xiii. iii. 466.

ORIGIN OF THE NAVIGATION ACT. 213

the natural, not the necessary, allies of the mother CII\P country. They spoke the same dialect, revered the — ^> same gods, cherished the same customs and laws ; but they were politically independent. Freedom, stimulating exertion, invited them to stretch their settlements from the shores of the Euxine to the Western Mediterranean, and urged them forward to wealth and prosperity, commensurate with their bold ness and the vast extent of their domains. The col onies of Carthage, on the contrary, had no sooner at tained sufficient consideration to merit attention, than the mother state insisted upon a monopoly of their com merce. The colonial system is as old as colonies and the spirit of commercial gain and political oppression.1 No sooner had Spain and Portugal entered on mari time discovery, and found their way round the Cape of Good Hope and to America, than a monopoly of the traffic of the wrorld was desired. Greedily covetous of the whole, they could with difficulty agree upon a di vision, not of a conquered province, the banks of a river, a neighboring territory, but of the oceans, and the commerce of every people and empire along the wide margin of their waters. They claimed that, on the larger seas, the winds should blow only to fill their sails ; that the islands and continents of Asia, of Africa, and the New World, should be fertile only to freight the ships of their merchants ; and, having de nounced the severest penalties against any who should infringe the rights which they claimed, they obtained the sanction of religion to adjust their differences, and to bar the ocean against the intrusion of competitors.2

1 Brougham's Colonial Policy, i. 2 Bull of Alexander VI., May 4,

21 — 23. Dionysius Halicarnassus, 1493. ' Sub excommunicationis

I. lii. But of all on the subject, late sententiae pcena," &c. Eleeren, xiii. 96—98 ;

214 ORIGIN OF THE NAVIGATION ACT

CHAP. The effects of this severity are pregnant with in- <^ struction. Direct commerce with the Spanish settle ments was punished by the Spaniards with confiscation and the threat of eternal wo. The moral sense of mariners revolted at the extravagance : since forfeit ure, imprisonment, and excommunication, were to fol low the attempt at the fair exchanges of trade ; since the freebooter and the pirate could not surfer more than was menaced against the merchant who should disregard the maritime monopoly, — the seas became infested by reckless bucaniers, the natural offspring of colonial restrictions. Rich Spanish settlements in America were pillaged ; fleets attacked and captured ; predatory invasions were even made on land to inter cept the loads of gold, as they came from the mines ; and men, who might have acquired honor and wealth in commerce, if commerce had been permitted, now displayed a sagacity of contrivance, coolness of execu tion, and capacity for enduring hardships, which won them the admiration of their contemporaries, and, in a better cause, would have won them the perpetual praises of the world.

In Europe, the freedom of the sea was vindicated against the claims of Spain and Portugal by a nation, hardly yet recognized as an independent state, occu pying a soil, of which much had been redeemed by in dustry, and driven by the stern necessity of a dense population to seek for resources upon the sea. The most gifted of her sons, who first gave expression to the idea, that "free ships make free goods,"1 defended the liberty of commerce, and appealed to the judg ment of all free governments and nations against the

i Grotius, Epist ccvii. ; '•* aliorum bella obstare commerciorum libcrtati non debere."

ORIGIN OF THE NAVIGATION ACT- 215

maritime restrictions, which humanity denounced as CHAP contrary to the principles of social intercourse ; which ^v— justice derided as infringing the clearest natural rights ; which enterprise rejected as a monstrous usurpation of the ocean and the winds. The relinquishment of 'navigation in the East Indies was required as the price at which her independence should be acknowl edged, and she preferred to defend her separate exist ence by her arms, rather than purchase security by circumscribing the courses of her ships. The nation, which by its position was compelled to acquire skill in commerce, and, in its resistance to monopoly, was forced by competition to obtain an advantage, succeed ed in gaining the maritime ascendency. While the inglorious James of England, immersed in vanity and pedantry, was negotiating about points of theology ; while the more unhappy Charles was wasting his strength in vain struggles against the liberties of his subjects, — the Dutch, a little confederacy, which had been struck from the side of the vast empire of Spain, a new people, scarcely known as possessed of nation ality, had, by their superior skill, begun to engross the carrying trade of the world. Their ships were soon to be found in the harbors of Virginia ; in the West Indian archipelago ; in the south of Africa ; among the tropical islands of the Indian Ocean ; and even in the remote harbors of China and Japan. Already their trading-houses were planted on the Hudson and the coast of Guinea, in Java and Brazil. One or two rocky islets in the West Indies, in part neglected by the Spaniards as unworthy of culture, were occupied by these daring merchants, and furnished a convenient shelter for a large contraband traffic with the terra firma So great was the naval success of Holland,

216 ORIGIN OF THE NAVIGATION ACT.

CHAP, that it engrossed the commerce of the European ~*^~ nations themselves ; English mariners sought employ ment in Dutch vessels, with which the ports of Eng land were filled ; English ships lay rotting at the wharfs ; English ship-building was an unprofitable vocation. The freedom and the enterprise of Hol land had acquired maritime power, and skill, and wealth, such as the vast monopoly of Spain had never been able to command.

The causes of the commercial greatness of Holland were forgotten in envy at her success. She ceased to appear as the antagonist of Spain, and the gallant champion of the freedom of the seas ; she was now envied as the successful rival. The eloquence of Giotius was neglected, as well as the pretensions of Spain disregarded ; and the English government re solved to protect the English merchant. Cromwell desired to confirm the maritime power of his country ; and St. John, a Puritan and a republican in theory, though never averse to a limited monarchy, devised the first act of navigation, which the politic Whitelocke in-

1051. troduced and carried through parliament. Hencefor ward, the commerce between England and her colonies, as well as between England and the rest of the world was to be conducted in ships solely owned, and princi pally manned, by Englishmen. Foreigners might bring to England nothing but the products of their own re spective countries, or those of which their countries were the established staples. The act was leveled against Dutch commerce, and was but a protection of British shipping ; it contained not one clause relating to a colonial monopoly, or specially injurious to an American colony. Of itself it inflicted no wound on Virginia or New England. In vain did the Dutch

o

COMMERCIAL POLICY OF CROMWELL 217

expostulate against the act as a breach of commercial CHAP amity ; the parliament studied the interests of Eng- ^-^ land, and would not repeal laws to please a neighbor.1

A naval war soon followed, which Cromwell eager- 1652 \y desired, and Holland as earnestly endeavored to avoid. The spirit of each people was kindled with the highest national enthusiasm ; the commerce of the world was the prize contended for ; the ocean was the scene of the conflict ; and the annals of recorded time had never known so many great naval actions in such quick succession. This was the war in which Blake, and Ayscue, and De Ruyter, gained their glory ; and Tromp fixed a broom to his mast in bravado, as if to sweep the English flag from the seas.

Cromwell was not disposed to trammel the industry of Virginia, and Maryland, and New England. His ambition aspired to make England the commercial emporium of the world. His plans extended to the possession of the harbors in 'the Spanish Netherlands; France was obliged to pledge her aid to conquer, and her consent to yield Dunkirk, Mardyke and Grave- lines; and Dunkirk, in the summer of 1658, was given up to his ambassador by the French king in person. Nor was this all : he desired the chief harbors in the North Sea, and the Baltic ; and an alliance with Sweden, made not simply from a zeal for Protestantism, was to secure him Bremen, and Elsinore, 1657 and Dantzig, as his reward.2 In the West Indies, his commanders planned the capture of Jamaica, which ir>55 succeeded ; and the attempt at the reduction of His- paniola, then the chief possession of Spain among the

l Clarendon, b. xiii. Parl. His- a Thurloo, vi. 478. Heeren's tory, 111. i:J74, 5, 8. Godwin, iii. Works, i. 158. 381-2. Ileeren, i. 15G.

VOL. i 28

218 COMMERCIAL POLICY OF THE STUARTS.

CHAP, islands, failed only through the incompetency or want ^^ of concert of his agents.

It is as the rival of Holland, the successful antag onist of Spain, the protector of English shipping, that Cromwell laid claims to glory. The crown passed from the brow of his sons ; his wide plans for the possession of commercial places on the continent were defeated ; Dunkirk was restored ; the monarchy, which he subverted, was reestablished ; the nobility, which he humbled, recovered its pride : — Jamaica and the Act of Navigation were the surviving monuments of Cromwell.

The protection of English shipping, thus permanent ly established as a part of the British commercial policy, was the successful execution of a scheme, which many centuries before had been prematurely attempted. A new and a still less justifiable encouragement was soon demanded, and English merchants began to insist upon the entire monopoly of the commerce of the colonies. This question had but recently been agitated in parliament. It was within the few last years, that England had acquired colonies ; and as, at first, they were thought to depend upon the royal pre rogative, the public policy with respect to them can be found only in the proclamations, charters, and instruc tions, which emanated from the monarch.

The prudent forecast of Henry VII. had consider ed the advantages which might be derived from a co-

o o

lonial monopoly ; and while ample privileges were be stowed on the adventurers who sailed for the New World, he stipulated that the exclusive staple of its commerce should be made in England.1 A century of ill success had checked the extravagance of hope ; and

l Hazard, i. 10, and 13, 14. Biddle's Cabot, 309.

COMMERCIAL POLICY OF THE STUARTS. 219

as the charters of Gilbert and of Raleigh had contained CHAP little but concessions, suited to invite those eminent — ^ men to engage with earnestness in the career of west-

a O

ern discoveries, so the first charter for Virginia ex- 1G06 pressly admitted strangers to trade with the colony on payment of a small discriminating duty.1 On the enlargement of the company, the intercourse with for- 1G09 eigners was still permitted ; nor were any limits as signed to the commerce in wrhich they might engage.2 The last charter was equally free from unreasonable 1012 restrictions on trade ; and, by a confirmation of all former privileges, it permitted to foreign nations the traffic, which it did not expressly sanction.3

At an early period of his reign, before Virginia had 1G04 been planted, King James found in his hostility to the 17. use of tobacco a convenient argument for the exces sive tax which a royal ordinance imposed on its con sumption.4 When the weed had evidently become the staple of Virginia, the Stuarts cared for nothing in the colony so much as for a revenue to be derived from an impost on its produce. Whatever false dis play of zeal might be made for religion, the conversion of the heathen, the organization of the government, and the establishment of justice, the subject of tobacco was never forgotten. The sale of it in England was 1619 strictly prohibited, unless the heavy impost had been paid ; 5 a proclamation enforced the royal decree ; 6 Nov and, that the tax might be gathered on the entire con sumption, by a new proclamation,7 the culture of to- *?°c- bacco was forbidden in England and Wales, and the plants already growing were ordered to be uprooted.

1 Charter, a. 13, in Hen. i. 63. 5 May 25. Hazard, i. 89-

2 s. 21, Heninjr, i. 1)4, !)5. 6 j\ov. JQ. Ibid. «JO.

3 Third Charter, s. 21, ib. 109. ? Hazard, i, 93.

4 Hazard, i. 49, 50.

220 COMMERCIAL POLICY OF THE STUARTS.

CHAP. Nor was it long before the importation and sale of

- — ^~ tobacco required a special license from the king.1 In

1(320 this manner, a compromise was effected between the interests of the colonial planters and the monarch ; the former obtained the exclusive supply of the Eng lish market, and the latter succeeded in imposing

1631 an exorbitant duty.2 In the ensuing parliament. Lord Coke did not fail to remind the commons of the usurpations of authority on the part of the monarch, who had taxed the produce of the colonies without the consent of the people, and without an act of the national legislature ; 3 and Sandys, and Diggs, and Farrar, the friends of Virginia, procured the substi- 18. tution of an act for the arbitrary ordinance.4 In con sequence of the dissensions of the times, the bill, which had passed the house, was left among the un finished business of the session ; nor was the affair ad justed, till, as we have already seen, the commons, in

1624. 1624, again expressed their regard for Virginia by a petition, to which the monarch readily attempted to give effect.5

1625 The first colonial measure6 of King Charles related to tobacco ; and the second proclamation,7 though its object purported to be the settling of the plantation of Virginia, partook largely of the same character. In a series of public acts, King Charles attempted during his reign to procure a revenue from this source. The

1626. authority of the star-chamber was invoked to assist in filling his exchequer by new and onerous duties

i April 7. Hazard, i. 89— 91. 4 ibid. 209— 271, and 296. Chal-

Junc 29. Ibid. 9:*— 9(J. mers, 51. 70—74.

9 Stith,168— 170. Chalmers, 50 5 Hazard, i. 1913— 198, 198— 202L

52.57. " 6 Ibid. 202, 20:*.

3 Debates of the Commons in ? Ibid. 203—205. 1620 and 1G21, i. 109.

COMMERCIAL POLICY OF THE STUARTS. 221

on tobacco;1 his commissioners were ordered to con- CHAP tract for all the product of the colonies;2 thougn the — ^

Spanish tobacco was not steadily excluded.3 All co- lonial tobacco was soon ordered to be sealed ; 4 nor was its importation permitted except with special license ; 5 and we have seen, that an attempt wras made, by a di rect negotiation with the Virginians, to constitute the king the sole factor of their staple.6 The measure was 1628 defeated by the firmness of the colonists ; and the monarch was left to issue a new series of proclama- 1631 tions, constituting London the sole mart of colonial to bacco ; 7 till, vainly attempting to regulate the trade,8 1633 he declared "his will and pleasure to have the sole 1634 preemption of all the tobacco " of the English planta tions.9 He long adhered to his system with resolute 1639 pertinacity.10

The measures of the Stuarts were ever unsuccess ful, because they were directed against the welfare of the colonists, and were not sustained by popular interests in England. After the long-continued efforts which the enterprise of English merchants and the in dependent spirit of English planters had perseveringly defied, King Charles, on the appointment of Sir Wil liam Berkeley, devised the expedient which was des tined to become so celebrated. No vessel, laden with colonial commodities, mi<rht sail from the harbors of

' o

Virginia for any ports but those of England, that the staple of those commodities might be made in the mother country; and all trade with foreign vessels, ex cept in case of necessity, was forbidden.11 This sys-

1 March 2, 1626. Ibid. 224 6 Heiiinw, i. 120 and I'M. -230. 7 Jan. 1631. Rymer, xix. 235.

2 Jan. 1627. Rymer, xviii. 831. 8 [bid. 474 and 522.

3 1'Vb. 1627. Ibid. 848. 9 June 19. Ha/ard, i. 375.

4 March, 1(527. Ibid. 886. 10 An <rus% 1(139. Rymer, xx. 348.

5 August, 1627. Ibid. 920 " Chalmers, 132. 133.

222 THE PARLIAMENT AND VIRGINIA.

CHAP, tern, which the instructions of Berkeley commanded

^-v-^ him to introduce, was ultimately successful ; for it sac rificed no rights but those of the colonists, while it identified the interests of the English merchant and the English government, and leagued them together for the oppression of those, who, for more than a cen tury, were too feeble to offer effectual resistance.

3C47. The Long Parliament was more just; it attempted 23* to secure to English shipping the whole carrying trade of the colonies, but with the free consent of the colo nies themselves ; offering an equivalent, which the legislatures in America were at liberty to reject.1

1650. The memorable ordinance of 1650 was a war meas ure, and extended only to the colonies which had ad hered to the Stuarts. All intercourse with them was forbidden, except to those who had a license from parliament or the council of state. Foreigners were rigorously excluded;2 and this prohibition was design ed to continue in force even after the suppression of

1651 all resistance. While, therefore, the navigation act secured to English ships the entire carrying trade with England, in connection with the ordinance of the preceding year, it conferred a monopoly of colonial commerce.

But this state of commercial law was essentially modified by the manner in which the authority of the English commonwealth was established in the Chesa peake. The republican leaders of Great Britain, con ducting with true magnanimity, suffered the fever of party to subside, before decisive measures were adopt ed ; and then two of the three commissioners, whom they appointed, were taken from among the planters themselves. The instructions given them were such

i Hazard, i. 634, 035. 2 ibid. G3G— 03&

VIRGINIA CAPITULATES TO THE COMMONWEALTH 223

as Virginians might carry into effect ; for they con- CHAP stituted them the pacificators and benefactors of their ^-L country. In case of resistance, the cruelties of war 1651 were threatened.1 If Virginia would but adhere to the commonwealth, she might be the mistress of her own destiny

What opposition could be made to the parliament, which, in the moment of its power, voluntarily pro- 1652 posed a virtual independence ? No sooner had the Guinea frigate anchored in the waters of the Chesa peake, than " all thoughts of resistance were laid aside,"2 and the colonists, having no motive to con tend for a monarch whose fortunes seemed irretrieva ble, were earnest only to assert the freedom of their own institutions. It marks the character of the Vir ginians, that they refused to surrender to force, but yielded by a voluntary deed and a mutual compact. It was agreed, upon the surrender, that the " PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA" should have all the liberties of the free- born people of England ; should intrust their business, as formerly, to their own grand assembly ; should re

iLet the reader consult the in- pare also Ludlow, 149: "This news

etructions themselves, in Thurloe, being brought to Virginia, they sub-

i. 197, 198, or in Hazard, i. 55G — mitted also,"&e. Clarendon, Strong,

558, rather than the commentary Langford, the public acts, Ludlow,

of Chalmers. all contemporary, do not disagree.

2 Clarendon, b. xiii. 4GG, 467. Beverley wrote in the next century ; It is strange how much error has and his account is, therefore, less to been introduced into Virginia his- be relied on. Besides, it is in itself tory, and continued, even when improbable. How could Dutch mer- nieans of correcting it were abun- chantmen have awaited an English dnnt and easy of access. Claren- squadron? The Netherlands had don relates the matter rightly. See no liberty to trade with Virginia ; also Strong's Babylon's Fall, 2, 3, and Dutch ships would at once have and Langford's Refutation, G, 7. been seized as prizes. Virginia had These are all contemporary author- doubtless been "whole for monar- ities. Compare also the journals chy;" but monarchy in England of the Long Parliament for August seemed at an end. Of modern wn- 31, 1G52. So, too, the Act of Sur- ters, Godwin, History of the Corn- render, in Hening, i. 3G3 — 3G5, monwealth, iii. 280, discerned the which agrees with the instructions truth, from the Long Parliament Com-

224 VIRGINIA CAPITULATES TO THE COMMONWEALTH

CHAP, main unquestioned for their past loyalty ; and should ^^- have " as free trade as the people of England." No 1652. taxes, no customs, might be levied, except by their own representatives ; no forts erected, no garrisons maintained, but by their own consent.1 In the settle- men: of the government, the utmost harmony prevailed between the burgesses and the commissioners : it was the governor and council only, who had any apprehen sions for their safety, and who scrupulously provided a guaranty for the security of their persons and proper ty, which there evidently had existed no design to injure.

These terms, so favorable to liberty, and almost con ceding independence, were faithfully observed till the restoration. Historians have, indeed, drawn gloomy pictures of the discontent which pervaded the colony, and have represented that discontent as heightened by • commercial oppression.2 The statement is a fiction. The colony of Virginia enjoyed liberties as large as the favored New England ; displayed an equal degree of fondness for popular sovereignty, and fearlessly exercised political independence.3 There had Jong existed a republican party; and, now that monarchy had fallen, on whom could the royalists rely so safely as on themselves ? The executive officers became elective ; and so evident were the designs of all parties to promote an amicable settlement of the government,

1 Hening, i. 363— 365, and 367, Records, at Albany, xxiv. 302, 368. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, where Berkeley writes like an in- Hazard, i. 560 — 564. Burk, ii. dependent sovereign. " Whatso- 85 — 01. ever the noble Sir Harry Moody, in

2 Beverley, Chalmers, Robertson, his excellent judgment, shall think Marshall. Even the accurate and fit to be done for the good of both learned Holmes has trans/nitted the colonies, we, on our part, shall error. Compare Jared Sparks, in firmly ratify." May 17, 1(>60. The North American Review, xx. new same spirit had prevailed for vears series, 433 — 436. Albany Records, iv. 165.

3 Compare, for example, Dutch

VIRGINIA DURING THE PROTECTORATE. 225

that Richard Bennett, himself a commissioner of the CHAP parliament, and, moreover, a merchant and a Round- — ^ head, was. on the recommendation of the other conimis- 1C5!-

April

sioners, unanimously chosen governor.1 The oath re- 30. quired of the burgesses made it their paramount duty to provide for " the general good and prosperity " of Vir inia and its inhabitants.2 Under the administration

of Berkeley, Bennett had been oppressed in Virginia ; and now not the slightest effort at revenge was at tempted.3

The act which constituted the government, claimed April. for the assembly the privilege of defining the powers which were to belong to the governor and council ; and the public good was declared to require, " that May the right of electing all officers of this colony should 5 appertain to the burgesses," as to " the representatives of the people." It had been usual for the governor and council to sit in the assembly , the expediency of the measure was questioned, and a temporary com promise ensued ; they retained their former right, but were required to take the oath which was adminis tered to the burgesses.5 Thus the house of bur gesses acted as a convention of the people ; exercising supreme authority, and distributing power as the pub lic welfare required.6

Nor was this an accidental and transient arrange ment. Cromwell never made any appointments for Virginia ; not one governor acted under his commis-

1 Herring, i. 371. See Stith, 199, thorities are Strong's Babylon's H-hc tells the story rightly.— Fall, i. 7, and 10 ; Langf brd's Refu- Strangc, that historians would not tation, 3 ; Hammond's Leah and take a hint from the accurate Rachel, 21. These, taken together, Stith! are conclusive. Bennett was of the

2 Herring, i. 371. council in ](J4f>. Herring, i. 3

3 Langford's Refutation 3. That 4 Hening, i. 372. Bennett was a Roundhead is indis- 5 Ibid. 373.

putable. The contemporary an- 6 Hening's note, i. 3G9.

VOL. i. 29

'226 VIRGINIA DURING THE PROTECTORATE.

CHAP, sion.1 When Bennett retired from office, the assembly — — itself elected his successor ; and Edward Diggs, who 1655. had before been chosen of the council,2 and who " had 31. given a signal testimony of his fidelity to Virginia, and to the commonwealth of England,"3 received the suf frages.4 The commissioners in the colony 5 were rather engaged in settling the affairs and adjusting the boundaries of Maryland, than in controlling the desti nies of Virginia.

o

The right of electing the governor continued to be claimed by the representatives of the people,6 and

1658. Samuel Matthews/ son of an old planter, was next honored with the office. But, from too exalted ideas of his station, he, with the council, became involved in an unequal contest with the assembly by which he had been elected. The burgesses had enlarged their power by excluding the governor and council from their sessions, and, having thus reserved to themselves the first free discussion of every law, had voted an

Ajiril adjournment till November. The governor and coun cil, by message, declared the dissolution of the assem bly. The legality of the dissolution was denied; 8 and, after an oath of secrecy, every burgess was enjoined riot to betray his trust by submission. Matthews yielded, reserving a right of appeal to the protector.9 When the house unanimously voted the governor's answer unsatisfactory, he expressly revoked the order of dissolution, but still referred the decision of the dispute to Cromwell. The members of the assembly,

1 Honing, i. Preface, 13. 6 Honing, i. 431.

2 I hid. 388. November, 1654. 7 ii. Mass. Hist. Coll. ix. 119,

3 Ibid. i. 388. 8 Hening's note, i. 430.

4 Ibid. 408. Compare Honing, i. 9 Honing, i. 496, 497; and 50u, 5, and also 426. 501.

6 Ibid. 428 and 432. HAZ. i. 594.

VIRGINIA DURING THE PROTECTORATE. 227

apprehensive of a limitation of colonial liberty by the reference of a political question to England, deter- ^~ mined on a solemn assertion of their independent 1658. powers. A committee was appointed, of which John Carter, of Lancaster, was the chief; and a complete declaration of popular sovereignty was solemnly made. The governor and council had ordered the dissolution of the assembly ; the burgesses now decreed the for mer election of governor and council to be void. Having thus exercised, not merely the right of elec tion, but the more extraordinary right of removal, they reflected Matthews, "who by us," they add, " shall be invested with all the just rights and privi leges belonging to the governor and captain-general of Virginia." The governor submitted, and acknowl edged the validity of his ejection by taking the new oath, which had just been prescribed. The council was organized anew ; and the spirit of popular liberty established all its claims.1

The death of Cromwell made no change in the 165& constitution of the colony. The message of the gov ernor duly announced the event to the legislature.2 1059. It has pleased some English historians to ascribe to Man Virginia a precipitate attachment to Charles II. On the present occasion, the burgesses deliberated in private, and unanimously resolved that Richard Crom well should be acknowledged.3 But it was a more interesting question, whether the change of protector in England would endanger liberty in Virginia. The letter from the council had left the government to be administered according to former usage. The assem-

1 Heninjf, i. 504, 505. » Honing, i. 511. Mar. 1659.

2 See the names of the members, in Helling, v. i. p. 506, 5U7.

228 VIRGINIA DURING THE PROTECTORATE.

bly declared itself satisfied with the language.1 But, — ^^ that there might be no reason to question the existing

1659. usage, the governor was summoned to come to the house ; where he appeared in person, deliberately acknowledged the supreme power of electing officers to be, by the present laws, resident in the assembly, and pledged himself to join in addressing the new protector for special confirmation of all existing privi leges. The reason for this extraordinary proceeding is assigned; "that what was their privilege now, might be the privilege of their posterity."2 The frame of the Virginia government wras deemed worthy of being transmitted to remote generations.

1660. On the death of Matthews, the Virginians were ar* without a chief magistrate, just at the time when the

resignation of Richard had left England without a government. The burgesses, who were immediately convened, resolving to become the arbiters of the fate of the colony, enacted, " that the supreme power of the government of this country shall be resident in the assembly ; and all writs shall issue in its name, until there shall arrive from England a commission, which the assembly itself shall adjudge to be lawful." 3 This being done, Sir William Berkely was elected govern or;4 and, acknowledging the validity of the acts of the burgesses, whom, it was expressly agreed, he could in no event dissolve, he accepted the office, and recognized, without a scruple, the authority to which he owed his elevation. " I am," said he, " but a ser vant of the assembly."5 Virginia did not lay claim

1 Hcninc:, i. 511. * Ibid. 530, 531, and 5.

2 Ibid. 511, 512. * Smith's New York, 27. * Ibid. 530, Act

VIRGINIA AND ITS INHABITANTS. 229

to absolute independence, but, awaiting the settlement CHAP of affairs in England, hoped for the Restoration of ^^^ the Stuarts.1 1G60

The legislation of the colony had taken its charac ter from the condition of the people, who were essen tially agricultural in their pursuits ; and it is the inter est of society in that state to discountenance contract ing debts. Severe laws for the benefit of the creditor are the fruits of commercial society ; Virginia pos sessed not one considerable to\vn, and her statutes favored the independence of the planter, rather than the security of trade. The representatives of colonial landholders voted " the total ejection of mercenary attornies." By a special act, emigrants were safe against suits designed to enforce engagements that had been made in Europe ; 3 and colonial obligations might be easily satisfied by a surrender of pinperty.4 Tobacco was generally used instead of coin. Theft was hardly known, and the spirit of the criminal law was mild. The highest judicial tribunal was the as sembly, which was convened once a year, or oftener.5 Already large landed proprietors were frequent ; and plantations of two thousand acres wrere not unknown/

During the suspension of the royal government in England, Virginia attained unlimited liberty of com merce, which she regulated by independent laws. The ordinance of 1650 was rendered void by the act of capitulation; the navigation act of Cromwell was not designed for her oppression,7 and was not enforced within her borders. If an occasional confiscation took

1 Iloning's note, i. 52G— 529. 6 Virginia's Cure, 2 and 8. Sad

2 Hemng, i. 275. 302. 31:3. 349. State, 9.

419. 482. 495 ; and Preface, 18. 7 The commerce between the

3 Ibid. 25<), 257. Dutch and Virginia was hardly in-

4 Ibid. 294. terrupted.

5 Hammond, 13. Sad State, 21

230 VIRGINIA AND ITS INHABITANTS.

CHAP place, it was done by the authority of the colonial

~^~ assembly.1 The war between England and Holland did not wholly interrupt the intercourse of the Dutch with the English colonies ; and if, after the treaty of peace, the trade was considered contraband, the English restrictions were entirely disregarded.2 A

1656. remonstrance, addressed to Cromwell, demanded an unlimited liberty; and we may suppose that it was

1(558. not refused ; for, some months before Cromwell's death, the Virginians " invited the Dutch and all foreigners J1 to trade with them, on payment of no higher duty than that which was levied on such English vessels as were bound for a foreign port.3 Proposals of peace and commerce between New Netherland and Virginia were discussed without scruple by the respective colo-

1660 nial governments;4 and at last a special statute of Virginia extended to every Christian nation, in amity with England, a promise of liberty to trade and equal justice.5 At the restoration, Virginia enjoyed free dom of commerce.

Religious liberty advanced under the influence of independent domestic legislation. No churches had been erected except in the heart of the colony ; 6 and there were so few ministers, that a bounty was offered

1 Ilening, i. 382, 383. still more in the very rare little

2 Tliurloe, v. 80. Hazard, i. volume by L. G. "Public Good 599—002. without Private Interest, or a Com-

3 Hening, i. 409. pendious Remonstrance of the

4 The statements in this para- Present Sad State and Condition of graph derive ample confirmation the English Colome in Virginea; from the very copious Dutch Rec- 1(157;" p. 13, 14. The prohibition ords at Albany, iv. 91 ; ix. 57 — alluded to is' not in the Navigation 59; iv. 90. 122. KJ5. 198; particular- Act of St. John, nor did any such ly iv. 211, where the rumor of an go into effect. See Albany Rcc- intended prohibition of Dutch trade ords, iv. 230. The very rare tract in Virginia is alluded to in a letter of L. G., I obtained through the from the W. 1. Co. to Stuyvesant, kindness of John Brown, of Provi- That was in 1056, precisely at the dence.

time referred to in the rambling 5 Smith, 27. Hening, i. 450. complaint in Hazard, i. 6UO, and G Norwood, in Churchill, vi. 186,

VIRGINIA AND ITS INHABITANTS.

for their importation.1 Conformity had, in the reign of CHAP Charles, been enforced by measures of disfranchisement - — '- and exile.2 By the people under the commonwealth, though they were attached to the church of their fathers, all things respecting parishes and parishioners ^^ were referred to their own ordering ; 3 and religious l liberty would have been perfect, but for an act of intolerance, by which all Quakers were banished, and their return regarded as a felony.4

Virginia was the first state in the world, composed of separate boroughs, diffused over an extensive sur face, where the government was organized on the principle of universal suffrage. All freemen, without exception, were entitled to vote. An attempt was 1655 once made to limit the right to house-keepers;5 but the public voice reproved the restriction ; the very next year, it was decided to be "hard, and unagreea- 1C56 ble to reason, that any person shall pay equal taxes, and yet have no votes in elections ; " and the electoral franchise was restored to all freemen.6 Servants, when the time of their bondage was completed, at once became electors, and might be chosen bur gesses.7

Thus Virginia established upon her soil the su premacy of the popular branch, the freedom of trade, the independence of religious societies, the security from foreign taxation, and the universal elective franchise. If, in following years, she departed from either of these principles, and yielded a reluctant consent to change, it was from the influence of foreign

1 Hening, i. 418. 5 ibid. Preface, 10, 20, and 412,

2 ll>,d. L 1'2:?. 144. 149. 155. 180. Act 7. March, l< »•>•>. 240. 21 kS, 2lJ!>. 277. 6 ]bid. i. 403, Act 10.

3 Ibid. 4:«, Act I. 1G58. 'Virginia's Cure, p. 18 Sad

4 Ibid. i. 532, 533. State, p. 4.

232 VIRGINIA AND ITS INHABITANTS.

CHAP, authority. Virginia had herself, almost unconsciously, •~~~ established a nearly independent democracy ; and already preferred her own sons for places of authority.1 The country felt itself honored by those who were "Virginians born;"2 and emigrants never again desired to live in England.3 Prosperity advanced with freedom ; dreams of new staples and infinite wealth were indulged ; 4 while the population of Virginia, at the epoch of the restoration, may have been about thirty thousand. Many of the recent emigrants had been royalists in England, good officers in the war, men of education, of property, and of condition. The revolution had not subdued their characters ; but the waters of the Atlantic divided them from the political strifes of Europe ; their industry was employed in making the best advantage of their plantations ; the interests and liberties of Virginia, the land which they adopted as their country, were dearer to them than the monarchical principles which they had espoused in England ; 5 and therefore no bitterness could exist between the firmest partisans of the Stuarts and the friends of republican liberty. Virginia had long been the home of its inhabitants. " Among many other blessings," said their statute-book,6 " God Almighty hath vouchsafed increase of children to this colony; who are now multiplied to a considerable number;" and the huts in the wilderness were as full as the birds-nests of the woods.

1 Hammond's Leah and Rachel, 460, 4(17. Walsh's Appeal, p. 3L p. 15. 6 II en i no-, i. #flj. "A very nu-

2 Thurloe, ii. 274. merous generation of Christian

3 Hammond, 8. children born in Virginia, who nat-

4 E. Williams, Virginia, and Vir- urally are of beautiful and comely ginia's Discovery of Silk-worms, persons, and generally of more in- 1G50. genious spirits than those of Eng-

5 Clarendon, b. xiii. v. iii. p. land." Virginia's Cure, 5.

VIRGINIA AND ITS INHABITANTS.

The genial climate and transparent atmosphere de- CHAP lighted those who had come from the denser air of ^v'-~

•—

England. Every object in nature was new and won derful. The loud and frequent thunder-storms were phenomena that had been rarely witnessed in the colder summers of the north ; the forests, majestic in their growth, and free from underwood, deserved ad miration for their unrivalled magnificence ; the purling streams and the frequent rivers, flowing between al luvial banks, quickened the ever-pregnant soil into an unwearied fertility ; the strangest and the most deli cate flowers grew familiarly in the fields ; the woods were replenished with sweet barks and odors ; the gardens matured the fruits of Europe, of which the growth was invigorated and the flavor improved by the activity of the virgin mould. Especially the birds, with their gay plumage and varied melodies, inspired delight ; every traveller expressed his pleasure in lis tening to the mocking-bird, which caroled a thousand several tunes, imitating and excelling the notes of all its rivals. The humming-bird, so brilliant in its plu mage, and so delicate in its form, quick in motion, yet not fearing the presence of man, haunting about the flowers like the bee gathering honey, rebounding from the blossoms into which it dips its bill, and as soon returning " to renew its many addresses to its delight ful objects," was ever admired as the smallest and the most beautiful of the feathered race. The rattlesnake, with the terrors of its alarms and the power of its venom ; the opossum, soon to become as celebrated for the care of its offspring as the fabled pelican ; the noisy frog, booming from the shallows like the English bittern ; the flying squirrel ; the myriads of pigeons, darkening the air with the immensity of their flocks. VOL. i. 30

234 VIRGINIA AND ITS INHABITANTS.

CHAP and, as men believed, breaking with their weight the — vL boughs of trees on which they alighted, — were all hon ored with frequent commemoration, and became the subjects of the strangest tales. The concurrent relation of all the Indians justified the belief, that, within ten days' journey towards the setting of the sun, there was a country where gold might be washed from the sand, and where the natives themselves had learned the use of the crucible ; 1 but definite and accurate as were the accounts, inquiry was always baffled ; and the regions of gold remained for two centuries an undiscovered land.

Various were the employments by which the calm ness of life wras relieved. George Sandys, an idle man, who had been a great traveller, and who did not remain in America, a poet, whose verse was tolerated by Dryden and praised by Izaak Walton, beguiled the ennui of his seclusion by translating the whole of Ovid's Metamorphoses.2 To the man of leisure, the chase furnished a perpetual resource. It was not long before the horse was multiplied in Virginia ; and to improve that noble animal was early an object of pride, soon to be favored by legislation. Speed was especially valued ; and " the planter's pace " became a proverb.

Equally proverbial was the hospitality of the Vir ginians. Labor was valuable ; land was cheap ; com petence promptly followed industry. There \vas no need of a scramble ; abundance gushed from the earth for all. The morasses were alive with water-fowl ; the creeks abounded with oysters, heaped together in inexhaustible beds ; the rivers were crowded with

i E. Williams, Virginia, &c. 17. 2 Rymer, xvili. G7f>, C77. Wai- Comp. Sillnnan's Journal, on the ton's Hooker, 32. mines of JN. C. xxiii. 8, 9.

VIRGINIA AND ITS INHABITANTS.

fish ; the forests were nimhle with game ; the woods CHAP rustled with coveys of quails and wild turkeys, while ^>-^~ they rung with the merry notes of the singing-birds ; and hogs, swarming like vermin, ran at large in troops. It was " the best poor man's country in the world." " If a happy peace be settled in poor England," it had been said, " then they in Virginia shall be as happy a people as any under heaven."1 But plenty encour aged indolence. No domestic manufactures were es tablished ; every thing was imported from England. The chief branch of industry, for the purpose of ex changes, was tobacco-planting; and the spirit of in vention was enfeebled by the uniformity of pursuit.

1 ii. Mass. Hist ColL ix. 116. 106 Hammond's Leah and RackeL 9 10,6.

236

CHAPTER VII

COLONIZATION OF MARYLAND.

CHAP. THE limits of Virginia, by its second charter, ex- ~^ — tended two hundred miles north of Old Point Com- 1609. fort? ancj therefore included all the soil which subse quently formed the state of Maryland. It was not long before the country towards the head of the Ches apeake was explored ; settlements in Accomack were extended ; and commerce was begun with the tribes which Smith had been the first to visit. Pory, the 1621. secretary of the colony, "made a discovery into the great bay," as far as the River Patuxent, which he as cended ; but his voyage probably reached no farther to the north. The English settlement of a hundred men, which he is represented to have found already es tablished,1 was rather a consequence of his voyage, and seems to have been on the eastern shore, perhaps within the limits of Virginia.2 The hope "of a very good trade of furs," animated the adventurers ; and if the plantations advanced but slowly, there is yet evi dence, that commerce with the Indians was earnestly pursued under the sanction of the colonial government.3 An attempt was made to obtain a monopoly of this commerce4 by William Clayborne, whose resolute and

1 Chalmers, 200. 1635. Smith's History of Virginia

2 Purchas, iv. 1784. Smith, ii. ii. (M and 95.

61—64. 4 Rel. of Maryland, 1G35, p. 10.

3 Relation of Maryland, 4 ; ed.

EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS IN MARYLAND. 237

enterprising spirit was destined to exert a powerful CHAP and long-continued influence. His first appearance in «^v-L America was as a surveyor,1 sent by the London corn- I621 pany to make a map of the country. At the fall of the corporation, he had, been appointed by King James a 1C24 member of the council;2 and, on the accession of Charles, was continued in office, and, in repeated com- 1625 missions, was nominated secretary of state.3 At the 1G27 same time, he received authority from the governors of Virginia to discover the source of the 13 ay of the Chesapeake, and, indeed, any part of that province, from the thirty-fourth to the forty-first degree of lati tude.4 It was, therefore, natural that he should be come familiar with the opportunities for traffic which the country afforded ; and the jurisdiction and the set tlement of Virginia seemed about to extend to the forty-first parallel of latitude, which was then the boundary of New England. Upon his favorable rep resentation, a company was formed in England for trading with the natives; and, through the agency of Sir William Alexander, the Scottish proprietary of Nova Scotia, a royal license was issued, sanctioning the commerce, and conferring on Clayborne powers of government over the companions of his voyages.5 Harvey enforced the commands of his sovereign, and ie,3J3 confirmed the license by a colonial commission.6 The Mgar Dutch plantations were esteemed to border upon Vir ginia. After long experience as a surveyor, and after years employed in discoveries, Clayborne, now acting under the royal license, formed establishments, not only on Kent Island, then within the Old Dominion, but

J ITem'njr, i. 116. * Papers in Chalmers, 227.

2 Hazard, i. 189. 6 Chalmers, 2i>7, 228.

8 Ibid. 234 and 239. « Ibid. 228, 229.

238 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF SIR GEORGE CALVERT.

CHAP, also near the mouth of the Susquehannah.1 Thus the

^v-., colony of Virginia anticipated the extension of its

commerce and its limits ; and, as mistress of all the

vast and commodious waters of the ChesapeakCi and

of the soil on both sides of the Potomac, indulged the

7 o

hope of obtaining the most brilliant commercial suc cess, and rising into powerful opulence, without tho competition of a rival.

It was the peculiar fortune of the United States, that they were severally colonized by men, in origin, religious faith, and purposes, as various as the climes which are included within their limits. Before Vir ginia could complete its settlements, and confirm its claims to jurisdiction over the country north of the Po tomac, a new government was erected, on a founda tion as extraordinary as its results were benevolent. Sir George Calvert had early become interested in co lonial establishments in America. A native of York-

1580. shire,2 educated at Oxford,3 with a mind enlarged by extensive travel, on his entrance into life befriended by Sir Robert Cecil, advanced to the honors of knight-

1619. hood, and at length employed as one of the two secre taries of state,4 he not only secured the consideration of his patron and his sovereign,5 but the good opinion

1621. of the world. He was chosen by a disputed major ity to represent in parliament his native county.6 His sincerity, his capacity for business, his industry, and his fidelity, are acknowledged by all historians. In an age when religious controversy still continued

• Hazard, i. 430. Relation of * Stow, edition of 1G31 p Maryland, 34. Thurloe, v. 486. 1031.

Hazard, i. (530. Maryland Papers, 5 Wimvood, ii. 58, and iii. 318

in Chalmers, 2:J3. and 337.

* Fuller's Worthies, 201. <• Debates of 1620 and 1621 i 3 Wood's Atheme Oxonienses, 175.

522, 523.

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF SIR GEORGE CALVERT. 239

to be active, and when the increasing divisions among CHAP Protestants were spreading a general alarm, his mind ^*^ sought relief from controversy in the bosom of the Ro man Catholic church; and, preferring the avowal of his opinions to the emoluments of office, he resigned 1624 his place, and openly professed his conversion. King James was never bitter against the Catholics, who respected his pretensions as a monarch ; Calvert re tained his place in the privy council, and was ad vanced to the dignity of an Irish peerage. He had, from early life, shared in the general enthusiasm of England in favor of American plantations ; he had been a member of the great company for Virginia; and, while secretary of state, he had obtained a special patent for the southern promontory of Newfoundland. How zealous he was in selecting suitable emigrants ; how earnest to promote habits of domestic order and economical industry ; how lavishly he expended his estate in advancing the interests of his settlement on the rugged shores of Avalon,1 — is related by those who have wrritten of his life. He desired, as a founder of a colony, not present profit, but a reasonable expecta tion ; and, perceiving the evils of a common stock, he cherished enterprise by leaving each one to enjoy the results of his own industry. But numerous difficulties prevented success in Newfoundland : parliament had ever asserted the freedom of the fisheries,2 which his grants tended to impair; the soil and the climate proved less favorable than had been described in the glowing and deceptive pictures of his early agents ; and the incessant danger of attacks from the French,

i Whitbourne's Newfoundland, Athenae Oxonienses, ii. 522, 523 ;

tn the Cambridge library. Also Lloyd's State Worthies, in Biog.

Purelias, iv. 1882— 18JU ; Collier Brit, article Calvert; Chalmers, 201

on Calvert; Fuller's Worthies of a Chalmers, 84. 100. 114, 115

Yorkshire, 201, 202 ; Wood's 116. 130.

240 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF SIR GEORGE CALVERT.

CHAP who were possessed of the circumjacent continent.

~-v^- spread a gloom over the future. Twice, it is said, did Lord Baltimore, in person, visit his settlement ; with ships, manned at his own charge, he repelled the French, who were hovering round the coast with the design of annoying the English fishermen ; and, hav ing taken sixty of them prisoners, he secured a tempo rary tranquillity to his countrymen and his colonists. But, notwithstanding this success, he found all hopes of a thriving plantation in Avalon to be vain. Why should the English emigrate to a rugged and inhospita ble island, surrounded by a hostile power, when the hardships of colonizing the milder regions of Virginia had already been encountered, and a peaceful home might now be obtained without peril ?

Lord Baltimore looked to Virginia, of which the climate, the fertility, and the advantages, were so much extolled. Yet, as a Papist, he could hardly ex pect a hospitable welcome in a colony from which the careful exclusion1 of Roman Catholics had been originally avowed as a special object, and where the statutes of the provincial legislature, as well as the commands of the sovereign, aimed at a perpetual re ligious uniformity. When in Oct., 1629, he visited Vir-

1629. ginia in person, the zeal of the assembly immediately

Oct ordered the oaths of allegiance and supremacy to be tendered him. It was in vain that he proposed a form which he was willing to subscribe ; the government firmly insisted upon that which had been chosen by the English statutes, and which was purposely framed in such language as no Catholic could adopt. A letter \vas transmitted from the assembly to the privy coun cil, explanatory of the dispute which had grown out

l Hazard, i. 72-

CHARTER OF MARYLAND. 241

of the intolerance of European legislation.1 It was CHAP evident that Lord Baltimore could never hope for - — — quiet in any attempt at establishing a colony within the jurisdiction of Virginia.

But the country beyond the Potomac seemed to be as yet im tenanted by any but the scattered hordes of the native tribes. The French, the Dutch, and the Swedes, were preparing to occupy the country ; and a grant seemed the readiest mode of securing the soil by an English settlement.2 The canceling of the Vir ginia patents had restored to the monarch the ample authority of his prerogative over the soil ; he might now sever a province from the colony, to which he had at first assigned a territory so vast ; and it was not difficult for Calvert — a man of such moderation, that all parties were taken with him;3 sincere in his character, disengaged from all interests, and a favorite with the royal family — to obtain a charter for domains in that happy clime. The conditions of the grant con formed to the wishes of the first Lord Baltimore him self, although it was finally issued for the benefit of his son.

The fundamental charter4 of the colony of Mary- 3632 land, however it may have neglected to provide for the 20.° power of the king, was the sufficient frank pledge of the liberties of the colonist, not less than of the rights and interests of the proprietary. The ocean, the forti eth parallel of latitude, the meridian of the western

1 Ancient Records, m Burk, ii. Laws of Maryland at Large. It is SM--37. appended in English to the Relation

2 Hammond's Leah and Rachel, of Maryland, 1(5:15. It has been 19. commented upon by Chalmers, 202

3 Collier on Calvert — 205 ; very diffusely by iMcMahon,

4 The charter may be found in i33 — 18.'3; by Story, i. 92 — 91; and Hazard, i. 327 — 337 ; in Bacon's many others.

VOL. I. 31

242 CHARTER OF MARYLAND.

CHAP, fountain of the, Potomac, the river itself from its source — ^- to its mouth, and a line drawn due east from Watkin's 1G32. Point to the Atlantic, — these were the limits of the territory, which was now erected into a province, and from Henrietta Maria, the daughter of Henry IV. and wife of Charles I., whose restless mind, disdaining < 011- tentrnent in domestic happiness, aspired to every kind of power and distinction, received the name of Mary land. The country thus described was given to Lord Baltimore, his hens and assigns, as to its absolute lord and proprietary, to be holden by the tenure of fealty only, paying a yearly rent of two Indian arrows, and a fifth of all gold and silver ore which might be found. Yet the absolute authority was conceded rather with reference to the crown, than the colonists ; for the charter, like his patent, which, in April, 1623, had passed the great seal for Avalon, secured to the emi grants themselves an independent share in the legis lation of the province, of which the statutes were to be established with the advice and approbation of the majority of the freemen or their deputies. Rep resentative government was indissolubly connected with the fundamental charter; and it was especially provided, that the authority of the absolute propri etary should not extend to the life, freehold, or estate of any emigrant. These were the features which en deared the proprietary government to the people of Maryland ; and, but for these, the patent would have been as worthless as those of the London company, of Warwick, of Gorges,' or of Mason. It is a singular fact, that the only proprietary charters, productive of considerable emolument to their owners, were those which conceded popular liberty. For the benefit of the

CHARTER OF MARYLAND. 243

colony, the statutes restraining emigration were dis- CHAP. pensed with ; and, at the appointment of the Baron of ^^ Baltimore, all present and future liege people of the 1G32. English king, except such as should be expressly forbidden, might freely transport themselves and their families to Maryland. Christianity, as professed by the Church of England, was protected ; but beyond this, silence left room for equality in religious rights, not less than in civil freedom, to be assured. A monopoly of the fisheries had formerly been earnestly resisted by the commons of England : to avoid all dispute on this point, Calvert, in his charter, expressly renounced any similar claim. As a Catholic, he needed to be free from the jurisdiction of his neighbor ; Maryland was carefully separated from Virginia, nor was he obliged to obtain the royal assent to the appoint ments or the legislation of his province, nor even to make a communication of the results. So far was the English monarch from reserving any right of superintendence in the colony, he left himself with out the power to take cognizance of what trans pired ; and, by an express stipulation, covenanted, that neither he, nor his heirs, nor his successors, should ever, at any time thereafter, set any imposi tion, custom, or tax, whatsoever, upon the inhabitants of the province. Thus was conferred on Maryland an exemption from English taxation forever. Sir George Calvert was a man of sagacity, and an observ ing statesman. He had beheld the arbitrary adminis tration of the colonies; and, against any danger of future oppression, he provided the strongest defence which the promise of a monarch could afford. Some other rights were conferred on the proprietary — the ad-

-14 FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE ESTABLISHED.

. vowson of churches ; the power of creating manors and • — v^ courts baron, and of establishing a colonial aristocracy 1632 on the system of sub-infeudation. But these things were practically of little moment. Even in Europe, feudal institutions appeared like the decrepitude of age amidst the vigor and enterprise of a new and more peaceful civilization , they could not be perpetuated in the lands of their origin ; far less could they renew their youth in America. Sooner might the oldest oaks in Windsor forest be transplanted across the Atlantic, than the social forms, which Europe itself was begin ning to reject as antiquated and rotten. But the seeds of popular liberty, contained in the charter, would find, in the New World, the very soil best suited to quicken them into life and fruitfulness.

Calvert deserves to be ranked among the most wise and benevolent lawgivers of all ages. lie was the first in the history of the Christian world to seek for religious security and peace by the practice of justice, and not by the exercise of power ; to plan the estab lishment of popular institutions with the enjoyment of liberty of conscience ; to advance the career of civiliza tion by recognizing the rightful equality of all Chris tian sects. The asylum of Papists was the spot, where, in a remote corner of the world, on the banks of rivers which, as yetf had hardly been explored, the mild forbearance of a proprietary adopted religious freedom as the basis of the state.

April Before the patent could be finally adjusted and pass the great seal, Sir George Calvert died,1 leaving a name against which the breath of calumny has hardly whispered a reproach. The petulance of his adversa-

l Chalmers, 201

OPPOSITION OF VIRGINIA. 245

ries could only taunt him with being " an Hispamo- CHAP lized Papist." l His son, Cecil Calvert, succeeded to ^^ his honors and fortunes. For him, the heir of his fa- 163'2 ther's intentions,2 not less than of his father's fortunes, the charter of Maryland was published and confirmed ; £™ and he obtained the high distinction of successfully. per forming what the colonial companies had hardly been able to achieve. At a vast expense, he planted a colony, which for several generations descended as a patrimony to his heirs.

Virginia regarded the severing of her territory with 1633 apprehension, and before any colonists had embarked under the charter of Baltimore, her commissioners had in England remonstrated against the grant as an inva sion of her commercial rights, an infringement on her domains, and a discouragement to her planters. In Strafford, Lord Baltimore found a friend, — for Strafford had been the friend of the father,3 — and the remon strance was in vain ; the privy council sustained the July proprietary charter, and, advising the parties to an amicable adjustment of all disputes, commanded a free commerce and a good correspondence between the re spective colonies.4

Nor was it long before gentlemen of birth and qual ity resolved to adventure their lives and a good part of their fortunes in the enterprise of planting a colony under so favorable a charter. Lord Baltimore, who, for some unknown reason, abandoned his purpose of conducting the emigrants in person, appointed his brother to act as his lieutenant ; and, on Friday, the twenty-second of November, with a small but favoring gale, Leonard Calvert, and about two hundred people,

* Wilson, in Kennett, iii. 705. 4 Hazard, i. .337. Bozman, 381

2 The charter asserts it. and 2G5. Chalmers, 231.

3 Chalmers, 2(W.

246 FIRST EMIGRATION TO MARYLAND.

CHAP, most of them Roman Catholic gentlemen and their ser-

~-*X> vants, in the Ark and the Dove, a ship of large burden, and a pinnace, set sail for the northern bank of the Potomac. Having staid by the way in Barbadoes and

KJ34. St. Christopher, it was not till February of the folio w- 24.' ing year, that they arrived at Point Comfort, in Vir ginia ; where, in obedience to the express letters of King Charles, they were welcomed by Harvey with courtesy and humanity. Clayborne also appeared, but it was as a prophet of ill omen, to terrify the company by predicting the fixed hostility of the natives.

Mar. Leaving Point Comfort, Calvert sailed into the Po tomac ; l and with the pinnace ascended the stream. A cross was planted on an island, and the country claimed for Christ and for England. At about forty- seven leagues above the mouth of the river, he found the village of Piscataqua, an Indian settlement nearly opposite Mount Vernon. The chieftain of the tribe would neither bid him go nor stay ; " he might use his own discretion." It did not seem safe for the English

o

to plant the first settlement so high up the river ; Cal vert descended the stream, examining, in his barge, the creeks and estuaries nearer the Chesapeake ; he en tered the river which is now called St. Mary's, and which he named St. George's ; and, about four leagues from its junction with the Potomac, he anchored at the Indian town of Yoacomoco. The native inhabitants, having suffered from the superior power of the Susque- hannahs, who occupied the district between the bays, had alreadv resolved to remove into places of more se curity in the interior ; and many of them had begun to migrate before the English arrived. To Calvert, the

O O

spot seemed convenient for a plantation ; it was easy, i Wintlirop, i. 134.

FIRST EMIGRATION TO MARYLAND. 247

by presents of cloth and axes, of hoes and knives, to CHAP gain the good will of the natives, and to purchase their *^~~ rights to the soil which they were preparing to aban- 1634 don. They readily gave consent that the English should immediately occupy one half of their town, and, after the harvest, should become the exclusive tenants of the whole. Mutual promises of friendship and peace were made ; so that, upon the twenty-seventh Mar. day of March, the Catholics took quiet possession of the little place ; and religious liberty obtained a home, its only home in the wide world, at the humble village which bore the name of St. Mary's.

Three days after the landing of Calvert, the Ark and the Dove anchored in the harbor. Sir John Harvey soon arrived on a visit ; the native chiefs, also, came to welcome or to watch the emigrants, and were so well received, that they resolved to give perpetuity to their league of amity with the English. The Indian women taught the wives of the new comers to make bread of maize ; the warriors. of the tribe instructed the hunts men how rich were the forests of America in game, and joined them in the chase. And, as the season of the year invited to the pursuits of agriculture, and the English had come into possession of ground already subdued, they were able, at once, to possess cornfields and gardens, and prepare the wealth of successful hus bandry. Virginia, from its surplus produce, could fur nish a temporary supply of food, and all kinds of do mestic cattle. No sufferings were endured ; no fears of want were excited ; the foundation of the colony of Maryland was peacefully and happily laid. Within six months, it had advanced more than Virginia had done in as many years. The proprietary continued with great liberality to provide everv thing that was

248

SUCCESS OF THE COLONY.

CHAP, necessary for its comfort and protection, and spared > — ^ no costs to promote its interests ; expending, with the 54' aid of his friends, upwards of forty thousand pounds sterling. But far more memorable was the character of the Maryland institutions. Every other country in the world had persecuting laws ; through the be nign administration of the government of that prov ince, no person professing to believe in Jesus Christ was permitted to be molested on a.ccount of religion.1 Under the munificence and superintending mildness of Baltimore, the dreary wilderness was soon quick ened with the swarming life and activity of prosper ous settlements ; the Roman Catholics, who were op pressed by the laws of England, were sure to find a peaceful asylum in the quiet harbors of the Chesa peake ; and there, too, Protestants were sheltered against Protestant intolerance.

Such were the beautiful auspices under which Maryland started into being ; its prosperity and peace seemed assured; the interests of its people and its proprietary were united ; and for some years its in ternal peace and harmony were undisturbed by do mestic faction. Its history is the history of benevo lence, gratitude, and toleration. Every thing breathed peace but Clayborne. Dangers could only grow out of external causes, and were eventually the sad con sequences of the revolution in England. 'F 'I5' Twelve mouths had not elapsed before the colony of Maryland, in February, 1635, was convened for legislation. Probably all the freemen were present in a strictly popular assembly. The laws of the session

1 For the oaih of the governor of authority alone, I Lave sought in Maryland, as cited by Chalmers, vain at Annapolis, and in the Brit- 235, and by many after him on his ish state paper office.

ESTABLISHMENT OF LEGISLATIVE LIBERTY. 249

are no longer extant ; but we know, that the neces- CHAP

sity of vindicating the jurisdiction of the province —

against the claims of Clayborne was deemed a subject worthy of the general deliberation and of a decisive act.1 For he had been roused, by confidence in his power, to resolve on maintaining his possessions by force of arms. The earliest annals of Maryland are defaced by the accounts of a bloody skirmish on one of the rivers near the Isle of Kent. Several lives were lost in the affray ; but Clayborne's men were defeated. Lord Baltimore afterwards accused them of " piracy and murder," and, in 1638, Leonard Calvert, taking forcible possession of Kent Island, executed one or two persons on the charge, though at the time Clayborne was in En gland, prosecuting his claims before the king.2

When a colonial assembly was next convened, it 1638. passed an act of attainder against Clayborne ; as if he had not only derided the powers of the proprietary, but had scattered jealousies among the Indians, and infused a spirit of disobedience into the inhabitants of Kent Island. Now that he was away, his estates were seized, and were declared forfeited to the laws, which he had contemned as invalid.3 In England, Clayborne attempted to gain a hearing for his wrongs ; and, part ly by strong representations, still more by the influence of Sir William Alexander, succeeded, for a season, in procuring the favorable disposition of Charles. But when the whole affair came to be referred to the com missioners for the plantations, it was found, that, on 1639 received principles, the right of the king to confer ApnL the soil and the jurisdiction of Maryland could not be

1 Chalmers, 210 and 232. Bacon, 41. Chalmers, 209, 210, 232. Ma in las Laws at Large, makes no men- Mahon, 12. S. F. Streeter's MS. notes, tion of this assembly. 8 Chalmers, 210.

2 Bozman, 280—282. Burk, ii. 40,

VOL. i. 32

250 ESTABLISHMENT OF CIVIL LIBERTY.

CHAP, controverted ; that the earlier license to traffic did not

VII

— *— vest in Clay borne any rights which were valid against the charter ; and therefore that the Isle of Kent be longed absolutely to Lord Baltimore, who alone could permit plantations to be established, or commerce with the Indians to be conducted, within the limits of his territory.1

Yet the people of Maryland were not content with vindicating the limits of their province ; they were jealous of their liberties. The charter had secured to them the right of advising and approving in legislation. Did Lord Baltimore alone possess the right of origi nating laws ? The people of Maryland rejected the code which the proprietary, as if holding the exclusive privilege of proposing statutes, had prepared for their government ; and, asserting their equal rights of legis lation, they, in their turn, enacted a body of laws, which they proposed for the assent of the proprie tary : — so uniformly active in America was the spirit of popular liberty. How discreetly it was exercised, cannot now be known ; for the laws, which were then enacted, were never ratified, and are therefore not to be found in the provincial records.2

1639. \In the early history of the United States, nothing is more remarkable than the uniform attachment of each colony to its franchises ; and popular assemblies burst every where into life with a consciousness of their im portance, and an immediate capacity for efficient legis lation. The first assembly of Maryland had vindi cated the jurisdiction of the colony ; the second had asserted its claims to original legislation ; the third,

1 Bozman, 330— 344. Chalmers, Bozman, 290—318, and 324—329 212. 232—235. McMahon, 145

2 Bacon, 1G37. Chalmers, 211.

ESTABLISHMENT OF CIVIL LIBERTY. 251

which was now convened, examined its obligations CHAP

and, though not all its acts were carried through the -

forms essential to their validity, it jet displayed the 1639 spirit of the people and the times by framing a decla ration of rights. Acknowledging the duty of alle giance to the English monarch, and securing to Lord Baltimore his prerogatives, it likewise confirmed to the inhabitants of Maryland all the liberties which an Englishman can enjoy at home ; established a system of representative government ; and asserted for the general assemblies in the province all such powers as may be exercised by the commons of England.1 In deed, throughout the whole colonial legislation of Maryland, the body representing the people, in its support of the interests and civil liberties of the prov ince, was never guilty of timidity or treachery.2 It is strange that religious bigotry could ever stain the statute-book of a colony founded on the basis of the freedom of conscience. An apprehension of some re mote danger of persecution seems even then to have hovered over the minds of the Roman Catholics ; and, at this session, they secured to their church its rights and liberties. Those rights and those liberties, it is plain from the charter, could be no more than the tranquil exercise of the Roman worship. The con stitution had not yet attained a fixed form ; thus far it had been a species of democracy under a hereditary patriarch. The act3 constituting the assembly marks the transition to a representative government. At this session, any freeman, who had taken no part in the election, might attend in person ; henceforward, the governor might summon his friends by special

i Bacon, 1038-9, c. i. ii. 3 Bacon, 1638-9, c. i. Griffith's

* McMaJion, 149, Maryland, 7.

252 HAPPINESS OF MARYLAND

CHAP, writ ; while the people were to choose as many dele-

^v^ gates as " the freemen should think good." As yet there was no jealousy of power, no strife for place. While these laws prepared a frame of government for future generations, we are reminded of the feebleness and poverty of the state, where the whole people were obliged to contribute to " the setting up of a water- mill."1

1610. The restoration of the charter of the London com pany would have endangered the separate existence of Maryland ; yet we have seen Virginia, which had ever been jealous of the division of its territory, defeat the attempt to revive the corporation. Meantime, the

Oct. legislative assembly of Maryland, in the grateful en joyment of happiness, seasonably guarded the tran quillity of the province against the perplexities of an "interim," by providing for the security of the govern ment in case of the death of the Deputy Governor. Commerce also was fostered ; and tobacco, the staple of the colony, subjected to inspection.

1642. Nor was it long before the inhabitants recognized 21.' Lord Baltimore's " great charge and solicitude in main taining the government, and protecting them in their persons, rights, and liberties ; " and therefore, " out of desire to return some testimony of gratitude," they freely granted " such a subsidy as the young and poor estate of the colony could bear."2 Maryland, for all its divisions, was the abode of happiness and liberty. Conscience was without restraint; a mild and liberal proprietary conceded every measure which the welfare of the colony required ; domestic union, a happy con cert between all the branches of government, an in-

1 Bacon, 1038-9. Chalmers, 213, 214. Griffith, 8.

2 Bacon, 1041-^ c. v

AN INDIAN WAR. 25f

creasing emigration, a productive commerce, a fertile CHAI soil, which Heaven had richly favored with rivers and ^-— deep bays, united to perfect the scene of colonial fell- city and contentment. Ever intent on advancing the interests of his colony, Lord Baltimore invited the Puritans oi Massachusetts to emigrate to Maryland, offering them lands and privileges, and " free liberty of religion ; " but Gibbons, to whom he had forwarded a commission, was " so wholly tutored in the New Eng land discipline," that he would not advance the wishes of the Irish peer ; and the people, who subsequently refused Jamaica and Ireland, were not now tempted to desert the Bay of Massachusetts for the Chesa peake.1

But secret dangers existed. The aborigines, alarmed at the rapid increase of the Europeans, vexed at being frequently overreached by their cupidity, corn- menced hostilities; for the Indians, ignorant of the 104.4 remedy of redress, always plan retaliation. After a war of frontier aggressions, marked by no decisive events, peace was reestablished on the usual terms of submission and promises of friendship, and ren dered durable by the prudent legislation of the assembly and the firm humanity of the government. The preemption of the soil was reserved to Lord Bal timore, kidnapping an Indian made a capital offence, and the sale of arms prohibited as a felony.2 A regu lation of intercourse with the natives was the surest preventive of war; the wrongs of an individual were ascribed to the nation; the injured savage, ignorant of peaceful justice, panted only for revenge ; and thus the obscure villany of some humble ruffian, whom

i Winthrop, ii. 148, 149. 2 Bacon, 1649, c. iii. vi.

254 INGLE'S REBELLION.

CHAP, the government would willingly punish for his outr ^Xx rages, might involve the colony in the horrors of

savage warfare.

1643 But the restless Clayborne, urged, perhaps, by the 1646. corivictlon of having been wronged, and still more by the hope of revenge, proved a far more dangerous enemy. Now that the civil war in England left nothing to be hoped from royal patronage, he declared for the popular party, and, with the assistance of one Ingle, who obtained sufficient notoriety to be pro- 1644. claimed a traitor to the king,1 he was able to promote a Jan> rebellion. By the very nature of the proprietary frame of government, the lord paramount could derive phys ical strength and resources only from his own private fortunes, or from the willing attachment of his lieges. His power depended on a union with his people. In times of peace, this condition was eminently favorable to the progress of liberty ; the royal governors were often able, were still more often disposed, to use op pressive and exacting measures ; the deputies of the proprietaries were always compelled to struggle for the assertion of the interests of their employer ; they could never become successful aggressors on the liberties of the people. Besides, the crown, always jealous of the immense powers which had been carelessly lavished on the proprietary, 'was usually willing to favor the people in every reasonable effort to improve their condition, or limit the authority of the intermediate sovereign. At present, when the commotions in England left every colony in America almost unheeded, and Virginia and New England were pursuing a course of nearly inde pendent legislation, the power of the proprietary was

1 Bacon's Preface. Chalmers, 217.

IMPERFECT LAW FOR RELIGIOUS LIUER'iT. 255

almost as feeble as that of the kin";. The other colo- CHAP

vn. nies took advantage of the period to secure and ad ^

vance their liberties : in Maryland, the effect was ratlirr to encourage the insubordination of the restless ; and Clay borne was able to excite an insurrection. 1644 Early in 1645, the rebels were triumphant ; unpre- 1645 pared for an attack, the governor was compelled to fly, and more than a year elapsed before the assistance 1646 of the well-disposed could enable him to resume his J power and restore tranquillity. The insurgents distin guished the period of their dominion by disorder and misrule, and most of the records were then lost or em bezzled.1 Peace was confirmed by the wise clemency 1647 of the government; the offences of the rebellion were 16*49 concealed by a general amnesty;2 and the province was rescued, though not without expense,3 from the distresses and confusion which had followed a short but vindictive and successful insurrection.

The controversy between the king and the par- 1649 liament advanced ; the overthrow of the monarchy pr seemed about to confer unlimited power in England upon the imbittered enemies of the Romish church ; and, as if with a foresight of impending danger, and an earnest desire to stay its approach, the Roman Catholics of Maryland, with the earnest concurrence of their governor and of the proprietary, determined to place upon their statute-book an act for the religious April freedom which had ever been sacred on their soil. ^ u And whereas the enforcing of the conscience in mat ters of religion" — such was the sublime tenor of a part ol the statute — " hath frequently fallen out to be of dan gerous consequence in those commonwealths where it

1 Bacon's Preface. Chalmers, 2 Bacon, 1650, c. xxiv 2)7,918. Burk, ii. 112. McMa 3 ibid. 1G49, c. ix. hon, 202

256 IMPERFECT LAW FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

CHAP, has been practised, and for the more quiet and peace- — — able government of this province, and the better to 1G49 preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person within this province, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be any ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced, for his or her religion, or in the free exercise thereof." Thus did the early star of religious freedom appear as the harbinger of day ; though, as it first gleamed above the horizon, its light was colored and obscured by the mists and exhalations of morning. The greatest of English poets, \vhen he represents the ground teeming with living things at the word of the Creator, paints the moment when the forms, so soon to be instinct with perfect life and beauty, are yet emerging from the inanimate earth, and when but

half appeared The tawny lion pawing to get free ;

then springs, as broke from bonds,

And rampant shakes his brinded mane.

So it was with the freedom of religion in the United

o

States. The clause for liberty in Maryland extended only to Christians, and was introduced by the proviso, that " whatsoever person shall blaspheme God, or shall deny or reproach the Holy Trinity, or any of the three persons thereof, shall be punished with death."1 No where in the United States is religious opinion now deemed a proper subject for penal enactments. The only fit punishment for error is refutation. God needs no avenger in man. The fool-hardy levity of shallow infidelity proceeds from a morbid passion for notoriety, or the malice that finds pleasure in annoyance. The

i Bacon, 1649, c. i. "A true Langford, 27— 32. Compare Ham- copy " of the whole law is printed by mend's Leah and Rachel, 20, 21.

PROGRESS OF CIVIL LIBERTY. 257

laws of society should do no more than reprove the OH.\P breach of its decorum. Blasphemy is the crime of de- ^-^ spair. One hopeless sufferer commits suicide ; another curses Divine Providence for the evil which is in the world, and of which he cannot solve the mystery The best medicine for intemperate grief is compas sion ; the keenest rebuke for ribaldry, contempt.

But the design of the law of Maryland was un doubtedly to protect freedom of conscience ; and, some years after it had been confirmed, the apologist of Lord Baltimore could assert, that his government, in con formity with his strict and repeated injunctions, had never given disturbance to any person in Maryland for matter of religion ; l that the colonists enjoyed freedom of conscience, not less than freedom of person and es tate, as amply as ever any people in any place of the world.2 The disfranchised friends of prelacy from Massachusetts, and the Puritans from Virginia, were welcomed to equal liberty of conscience and political rights in the Roman Catholic province of Maryland.3

An equal union prevailed between all branches of 1(>50 the government in explaining and confirming the civil liberties of the colony. In 1642, Robert Vaughan, in the name of the rest of the burgesses, had desired, that the house might be separated, and thus a negative secured to the representatives of the people. Before 16 49, this change had taken place ; and it \vas con firmed by a statute.4 The dangerous prerogative of declaring martial law was also limited to the precincts of the camp and the garrison;5 and a perpetual act declared, that no tax should be levied upon the free-

1 Langford, 11. 4 Bacon, 1G49, c. xii., and note

2 Ibid. 5. 1050, c. i.

3 dial inora, 219. Langford, 3. 5 Bacon, 1G50, c. xxvi, Hammond, *^0.

VOL. i 33

258 MARYLAND IN THE TIMES O* THE COMMONWEALTH.

CHAP, men of the province, except by the vote of their dep- - — ^ uties in a general assembly. " The strength of the 1050 proprietary" was confidently reposed "in the affec tions of his people."1 Well might the freemen of Maryland place upon their records a declaration of their gratitude, " as a memorial to all posterities," and a pledge that succeeding generations would faithfully " remember " the care and industry of Lord Balti more in advancing " the peace and happiness of the colony."2

But the revolutions in England could not but affect the destinies of the colonies ; and while New England and Virginia vigorously advanced their liberties under the salutary neglect, Maryland was involved in the miseries of a disputed government. The people were ready to display every virtue of good citizens ; but doubts were raised as to the authority to which obedi ence was due , and the government, which had been a government of benevolence, good order, and toleration, was, by the force of circumstances, soon abandoned to the misrule of bigotry and the anarchy of a disputed sovereignty. When the throne and the peerage had been subverted in England, it might be questioned whether the mimic monarchy of Lord Baltimore should be permitted to continue. When hereditary power had ceased in the mother country, might it properly exist in the colony ? It seemed uncertain, if the proprietary could maintain his position ; and the scrupulous Puritans hesitated to take an unqualified oath of fealty, with which they might be unable to comply.3 Englishmen were no longer lieges of a sove reign, but members of a commonwealth ; and, but

i Bacon, 1050, c. xxv 3 Strong's Babylon's Fall, 1 2.

* Ibid. 1050, c. xxii)

MARYLAND IN THE TIMES OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 259

for the claims of Baltimore, Maryland would equally CHAP enjoy the benefits of republican liberty. Great as was — v^- the temptation to assert independence, it would not have prevailed, could the peace of the province have been maintained. But who, it might well be asked, was the sovereign of Maryland ? Her " beauty and extraordinary goodness" had been to her a fatal dowry ; and Maryland was claimed by four separate aspirants. Virginia1 was ever ready to revive its rights to jurisdiction beyond the Potomac, and Clay- borne had already excited attention by his persevering opposition ; 2 Charles II., incensed against Lord Balti more for his adhesion to the rebels and his toleration of schismatics, had issued a commission to Sir William Davenant;3 Stone was the active deputy of Lord Baltimore ; and parliament had already appointed itb commissioners.

In the ordinance4 for the reduction of the rebellious 1650 colonies, Maryland had not been included ; if Charles II. had been inconsiderately proclaimed by a tempo rary officer, the offence had been expiated ; 5 and, as assurances had been given of the fidelity of Stone to the commonwealth, no measures against his authority were designed.6 Yet the commissioners were in- 1651 structed to reduce " all the plantations within the Bay Sept of the Chesapeake ; " 7 and it must be allowed, that Clayborne might find in the ambiguous phrase, intend- 1652 ed perhaps, to include only the settlements of Virginia, a sufficient warrant to stretch his authority to Mary land. The commissioners accordingly entered the province ; and, after much altercation with Stone, de-

1 Hazard,!. 620— 630. McMahon, 4 Hazard, i. 636. 207, 208. 5 McMahon, 203.

2 Bacon, 1650, c. xvii. 6 Langford, 6 and 7.

3 Langford, 3, 4. 7 Thurloe, i. 198. Hazard, i

557. Hammond, 20, 2 1.

260 MARYLAND DURING THE PROTECTORATE.

CHAP, priving him of his commission from Lord Baltimore, — ^ and changing the officers of the province, they at last

1652. established a compromise. Stone, with three of his June. .r ;

council, was permitted to retain the executive power

till further instructions should arrive from England.1 1G53. The dissolution of the Long Parliament threatened a change in the political condition of Maryland ; for, it was argued, the only authority, under which Bennett and Clayborne had acted, had expired with the body from which it was derived.2 In consequence, Stone, 1654. Hatton and his friends, reinstated the rights of Lord Baltimore in their integrity ; displacing all officers of the contrary party, they introduced the old council, and declared the condition of the colony, as settled by Bennett and Clayborne, to have been a state of re bellion.3 A railing proclamation to that effect was published to the Puritans in their church meeting.

The measures were rash and ill advised. No sooner July did Clayborne and his colleague learn the new revolu tion, than they hastened to Maryland ; where it was immediately obvious, that they could be met by no effectual resistance. Unable to persuade Stone, " in a peaceable and loving way," to abandon the claims of Lord Baltimore, they yet compelled him to surren der his commission and the government into their hands. This being done, Clayborne and Bennett ap pointed a board of ten commissioners, to whom the administration of Maryland was intrusted.4

Intolerance followed upon this arrangement ; for parties had necessarily become identified with religious

1 Strong, 2 and 3. Longford, 7 1654, as Strong asserts. McMahon, and 8. Bacon's Preface. JVlcMa- 20G, cites Hazard doubtingly. Ba- hon, 204, 205. Chalmers, 122. con, 1054, c. xlv. Hammond, 22.

2 Langford, 10. Strong, 3. 4 Strong, 3, 4, 5. Langford, 11,

3 Strong, 3. Hazard, i. 626. 12. McMahon, 200. Chalmers., The date is there 1G53. It was in 223.

MARYLAND DURiiNG THE PROTECTORATE. 261

sects; and Maryland itself was the prize contended CHAP

for.1 The Puritans, ever the friends of popular liberty,

hostile to monarchy, and equally so to a hereditary pro- 1G54 prietary, contended earnestly for every civil liberty; but had neither the gratitude to respect the rights of the government, by which they had been received and fostered, nor magnanimity to continue the toleration, to which alone they were indebted for their residence in the colony. A new assembly, convened at Patux- Oct ent, acknowledged the authority of Cromwell ; but it also exasperated the whole Romish party by thejr wanton disfranchisement. An act concerning religion confirmed the freedom of conscience, provided the lib erty were not extended to " popery, prelacy,2 or li centiousness " of opinion. Yet Cromwell, a friend to religious toleration, and willing that the different sects, " like the cedar, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree, should be planted in the wilderness together," never approved the ungrateful decree. He commanded the commis sioners " not to busy themselves about religion, but to settle the civil government." 3

When the proprietary heard of these proceedings, he was indignant at the want of firmness which his lieu tenant had displayed.4 The pretended assembly was esteemed " illegal, mutinous, and usurped ; " and Lord Baltimore and his officers determined, under the powers which the charter conferred, to vindicate his supremacy.5 Towards the end of January, on the ar- 1655 rival of a friendly ship, it was immediately noised abroad, that his patent had been confirmed by the pro tector ; and orders began again to be issued for the en tire restoration of his authority. Papists and others6

i Hammond, 22. Sad State 9. 4 Hazard, i. 629. Strong.

9 Bacon, 1654, c. iv 5 Langford, 9, 10.

3 Chalmers, 236. 6 Strong, 5

262 MARYLAND DURING THE PROTECTORATE.

CHAP, weie commissioned by Stone to raise men in arms;

VII.

-^- and the leaders of this new revolution were able to 1655 surprise and get possession of the provincial records. Mar They marched, also, from Patuxent towards Anne

25

Arundel, the chief seat of the republicans, who insist ed on naming it Providence. The inhabitants of Providence and their partisans gathered together with the zeal that belongs to the popular party, and with the courage in which Puritans were never deficient. Vain were proclamations, promises, and threats. The party of Stone was attacked and utterly discomfited ; he himself, with others, was taken, and would have been put to death but for the respect and affection borne him by some among the insurgents whom he had formerly welcomed to Maryland. He was kept a prisoner during part of the administration of Crom well;1 while three of the principal men of the province, sentenced to death by a council of war, were pres ently executed.2

A friend to Lord Baltimore, then in the prov ince, begged of the protector no other boon than that he would " condescend to settle the country by declaring his determinate will."3 And yet the same causes which led Cromwell to neglect the inter nal concerns of Virginia, compelled him to pay but little attention to the disturbances in Maryland. On the one hand, he respected the rights of property of Lord Baltimore; on the other, he protected his own po litical partisans, corresponded with his commissioners, and expressed no displeasure at their exercise of power.4

i On this occasion were pub- Hazard, i. G21— 628, and G29 WO $

lished Strong's Babylon's Fall in Bacon's Pref.

Maryland, and Langfbrd's Just and 2 Hammond, 22, 23.

Clear Refutation of a Scandalous 3 Barber, in Langford, 15.

Pamphlet, entitled Babylon's Fall 4 Thurloe, i. 724, and iv. 55.

in Maryland, 1G55. Both are Hazard, i. 594, quotes but one of the

minute, and, in the main, agree, rescripts. Hammond, 24. Compare Chalmers ; McMahon.207 :

MARYLAND DURING THE PROTECTORATE.

The right to the jurisdiction of Maryland remained, CHAP. therefore, a disputed question. Fuller, Preston, and the • — ~ others, appointed by Clayborne, actually possessed au thority; while Lord Baltimore, with the apparent sanc tion of the protector, commissioned l Josias Fendall to July appear as his lieutenant. Fendall had, the preceding year, been engaged in exciting an insurrection, under pretence of instructions from Stone; he now appear- 657 ed as an open but unsuccessful insurgent. Little Sept is known of his " disturbance," except that it occa sioned a heavy public expenditure.2

Yet the confidence of Lord Baltimore was continued to Fendall, who received anew an appointment to the is.' government of the province. For a season, there was a divided rule; Fendall was acknowledged by the 1653 Catholic party in the city of St. Mary's ; and the com missioners were sustained by the Puritans of St. Leon ard's. At length, the conditions of a compromise were settled ; and the government of the whole prov- Mar. ince was surrendered to the agent of the proprietary. Permission to retain arms ; an indemnity for arrears ; relief from the oath of fealty ; and a confirmation of the acts and orders of the recent Puritan assemblies ; — these were the terms of the surrender, and prove the influence of the Puritans.3

Fendall was a weak and impetuous man ; but I can not find any evidence that his administration was stained by injustice. Most of the statutes enacted during his government were thought worthy of being perpetuated. The death of Cromwell left the condi tion of England uncertain, and might well diffuse a gloom through the counties of Maryland. For ten

1 McMahon, 211. McMahon, 211, and Council Pro-

2 Bacon, 1657, c. viii. ceedings, in McMahon, note to 14

3 Bacon's Preface, and 1G58, c. L

264 MARYLAND DURING THE PROTECTORATE.

CHAP, years the unhappy province had been distracted lyy

dissensions, of which the root had consisted in the

claims that Baltimore had always asserted, and had never been able to establish. What should now be done ? England was in a less .settled condition than ever. Would the son of Cromwell permanently hold the place of his father ? Would Charles II. be restor ed ? Did new revolutions await the colony ? new strifes with Virginia, the protector, the proprietary, the king ? Wearied with long convulsions, a general

1660. assembly saw no security but in asserting the power of the people, and constituting the government on the

Mar. expression of their will. Accordingly, just one day before that memorable session of Virginia, when the people of the Ancient Dominion adopted a similar system of independent legislation, the representatives of Maryland, convened in the house of Robert Slye, voted themselves a lawful assembly, without depend ence on any other power in the province. The bur gesses of Virginia had assumed to themselves the elec tion of the council ; the burgesses of Maryland refused to acknowledge the rights of the body claiming to be an upper house. In Virginia, Berkeley yielded to the public will ; in Maryland, Fendall permitted the power of the people to be proclaimed. The representatives of Maryland, having thus successfully settled the government, and hoping for tranquillity after years of storms, passed an act, making it felony to disturb the order which they had established. No authority would henceforward be recognized, except the assembly, and the king of England.1 The light of peace promised lo dawn upon the province.

1 Bacon, 1059-4)0. McMahon, historian is remarkably temperate. 212. Chalmers, 224, 225. Griffith, All others have been unjust to the 18. Ebeling, v. 709. The German legislature of Maryland.

MARYLAND DURING THE PROTECTORATE. 265

Thus was Maryland, like Virginia, at the epoch of CHAP. the restoration, in full possession of liberty, based upon — -^ the practical assertion of the sovereignty of the people. 166° Like Virginia, it had so nearly completed its institu tions, that, till the epoch of its final separation from England, it hardly made any further advances towards freedom and independence.

Men love liberty, even if it be turbulent ; and the colony had increased, and flourished, and grown rich, in spite of domestic dissensions. Its population, in 1660, is variously estimated at eight thousand,1 and at twelve thousand.2 The country was dear to its inhab itants. There they desired to spend the remnant of their lives ; there they coveted to make their graves.3

i Puller's Worthies, Ed. 1662. a Chalmers, 226. 3 Hainmond, 25 VOL. I. 34

266

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PILGRIMS.

CHAP THE settlement of New England was a result of

VIII.

-- — ' (he Reformation ; 1 not of the contest between the new opinions and the authority of Rome, but of implacable differences between Protestant dissenters and the es tablished Anglican church.

Who will venture to measure the consequences of actions by the apparent humility or the remoteness of their origin ? The mysterious influence of that Power which enchains the destinies of states, overruling the, decisions of sovereigns and the forethought of states men, often deduces the greatest events from the least commanding causes. A Genoese adventurer, discover ing America, changed the commerce of the world ; an obscure German, inventing the printing-press, ren dered possible the universal diffusion of increased in telligence ; an Augustine monk, denouncing indul gences, introduced a schism in religion, and changed the foundations of European politics ; a young French refugee, skilled alike in theology and civil law, in the duties of magistrates and the dialectics of religious controversy, entering the republic of Geneva, and con forming its ecclesiastical discipline to the principles of republican simplicity, established a party, of which Englishmen became members, and New England the

i Heeren, i. 102, 1U3

EARLY VOYAGES TO NEW ENGLAND. 267

asylum. The enfranchisement of the mind from re- ligious despotism led directly to inquiries into the nature ^~ of civil government ; and the doctrines of popular lib erty, which sheltered their infancy in the wildernesses of the newly-discovered continent, within the short space of two centuries, have infused themselves into the life-blood of every rising state from Labrador to ('hili, have erected outposts on the Oregon and in Li beria, and, making a proselyte of e ilightened France, have disturbed all the ancient governments of Europe, by awakening the public mind to resistless action, from the shores of Portugal to the palaces of the czars.

The trading company of the west of England, in- 1606 corporated in the same patent with Virginia, possessed too narrow resources or too little enterprise for success in establishing colonies. The Spaniards, affecting an exclusive right of navigation in the seas of the new hemisphere, captured and confiscated a vessel l which Nov Popham, the chief justice of England, and Gorges, the governor of Plymouth, had, with some others, equipped for discovery. But a second and almost simultaneous expedition from Bristol encountered no disasters ; and the voyagers, on their return, increased public confi dence, by renewing the favorable reports of the coun try which they had visited.2 The spirit of adventure was not suffered to slumber ; the lord chief justice dis played persevering vigor, for his honor was interested in the success of the company which his influence had contributed to establish ; Gorges,3 the companion and friimd of Raleigh, was still reluctant to surrender his

1 Purcliaa, iv. 1827 and 1832, and 3 The name of Gorges occurs in

ff. Gorges' Brief e Narration, c. iv. Hume, c. xliv. ; Lingarri, vih. 449.

Prince's N. fi. Chronology, 1 13, 114. Compare Bolknap's Biography, i.

J. Mass. Hist Coll. ix. 3, 4. 347 — .354. Gorges was ever a

a Gorges, c. v. G. sincere royalist,

268 COLONY AT SAGADAHOC.

CHAP sanguine hopes of fortune and domains m America; ^-v~ and, in the next year, two ships were despatched to

1607. Northern Virginia, commanded by Raleigh Gilbert, and bearing emigrants for a plantation under the pres idency of George Popham.1 After a tedious voyage,

Aug. the adventurers reached the coast of America near the

o

mouth of the Kennebec, and, offering public thanks to God for their safety, began their settlement under the auspices of religion, with a government framed as if for a permanent colony. Rude cabins, a storehouse, and some slight fortifications, were rapidly prepared, Dec. and the ships sailed for England, leaving forty-five emigrants in the plantation, which was named St. George. But the winter was intensely cold ; the na tives, at first friendly, became restless ; the store house caught fire, and part of the provisions was con sumed ; the emigrants grew weary of their solitude ; they lost Popham, their president, "the only one2 of the company that died there ; " the ships which re-

1608. visited the settlement with supplies, brought news of the death of the chief justice, the most vigorous friend of the settlement in England ; and Gilbert, the sole in command at St. George, had, by the decease of his brother, become heir to an estate which invited his presence. So the plantation was abandoned ; and the colonists, returning to England, " did coyne many excuses," and sought to conceal their own deficiency of spirit by spreading exaggerated accounts of the rugged poverty of the soil, and the inhospitable sever-

1 Gorges, c. vn. viii. ix. Purchas, looked at the numerous graves oj

iv. 1828. Smith, ii. 173 — 175. the dead •" drawing on his imagina-

Belknap, i. 350 — 354. i. Mass, tion for embellishments. Compare

Hist Coll. i. 251, '452. William- ii. Mass. Hist. Coll. ix. 4. Chal-

son's History of Maine, i. 197 — 203. mers, 79, names among those who

Prince, 110, 117, 118, 119. Hub- died, "Gilbert, their chief—an

banl's N. K. 3<>, 37. error.

8 Chalmers, 79, writes, " They

JOHJS SMITH IN NEW ENGLAND. 269

ity of the climate.1 But the Plymouth company was CHAP dissatisfied with their pusillanimity ; Gorges esteemed -^^ it a weakness to be frightened at a blast. The idea of a settlement in these northern latitudes was no longer terrific. The American fisheries also constitu-

o

ted a prosperous and well-established business. Three years had elapsed since the French had been settled in their huts at Port Royal ; and the ships which car ried the English from the Kennebec were on the ocean at the same time with the little squadron of the French, who succeeded in building Quebec, the very summer in which Maine was deserted.

The fisheries and the fur-trade were not relinquish ed ; vessels were annually employed in traffic with the Indians ; and once,2 at least, perhaps oftener, a part of a ship's company remained during a winter on the American coast. But new hopes were awakened, when Smith, — who had already obtained distinction in Virginia, and who had, with rare sagacity, discovered, and, with unceasing firmness, asserted, that coloni zation was the true policy of England, — with two ships, set sail for the coast north of the lands granted by the Virginia patent. The expedition was a private3 adventure of " four merchants of London and him self," and was very successful. The freights were profitable; the health of the mariners did not suffer ; and the whole voyage was accomplished in less than seven months. While the sailors were busy with their hooks and lines, Smith examined the shores from the Peuohscot to Cape Cod, prepared a map of the coast,4

1 Sir W. Alexander's Map of outh company. See Smith, in iii. J4ew England, 30. Mass. Hist Coll. iii. 1U; and in his

2 Gorges, c. x. Prince, 119. Historic, ii. 175,170; Purchas, iv

3 Chalmers, 30, erroneously at- 18:28.

tributes the expedition to the Plym- 4 Map, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iii.

270 JOHN SMITH IN NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP, and named the country New England, — a title which ^-v-~ Prince Charles confirmed. The French could boast, with truth, that New France had been colonized be fore New England obtained a name ; Port Royal was older than Plymouth, Quebec than Boston. Yet the voyage was not free from crime. After Smith had de parted for England, Thomas Hunt, the master of the second ship, kidnapped a large party of Indians, and, sailing for Spain, sold "the poor innocents' into slavery. It is singular how good is educed from evil : one of the number, escaping from captivity, made his way to London, and, in 1619, was restored to his own country, where he subsequently became an interpreter for English emigrants.1

1615. Encouraged by commercial success? Smith next endeavored, in the employment of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and of friends in London, members of the Plymouth company, to establish a colony. ' Sixteen men 2 were all whom the adventurers destined for the occupation of New England. The attempt was un successful. Smith was forced by extreme tempests to return. Again renewing his enterprise, he suffered from the treachery of his companions, and was, at last, intercepted by French pirates. His ship was taken away ; he himself escaped alone, in an open boat, from the harbor of Rochelle.3 The severest privations in a new settlement would have been less wearisome, than the labors which his enthusiasm now prompted him to undertake. Having published a map and a

1 Smith's Description of New 2 Williamson's Maine, i. 212

England, 47. Smith's Generall His- The learned and very valuahle his-

torie, ii. 17(>. Morton's Memorial, torian of Maine confounds this de-

55, and Davis on Morton. Prince, sign of Smith to found a colony

132. Mou it's Relation, in i. M. H. with his previous voyage for trade

Coll. viii. 238. Plantation of N. and discovery.

England, in ii. Mass. Hist Coll. ix. 3 Smith, ii. 205—215; and in m

6. 7. Mass. Mist. Coil. iii. 20, 21.

THE COUNCIL ESTABLISHED AT PLYMOUTH. 271

description of New England, he spent many months * CHAP

in visiting the merchants and gentry of the west of ^

England, to excite their zeal for enterprise in America : 1617 he proposed to the cities, mercantile profits, to be realized in short and safe voyages ; to the noblemen, vast dominions ; from men of small means, his ear nestness concealed the hardships of emigrants, and, upon the dark ground, drew a lively picture of the rapid advancement of fortune by colonial industry, of the abundance of game, the delights of unrestrained liberty; the pleasures to be derived from "angling and crossing the sweet air from isle to isle, over the silent streams of a calm sea."2 The attention of the west ern company was excited ; they began to form vast plans of colonization ; Smith was appointed admiral of the country for life ; and a renewal of the letters patent, with powers analogous to those possessed by the southern company, became an object of eager so licitation. But a ne\v charter was not obtained with- 1616 out vigorous opposition. " Much difference there was betwixt the Londoners and the Westerlings," 3 since each party strove to engross all the profits to be de rived from America ; while the interests of the nation were boldly sustained by others, who were desirous that no monopoly should be conceded to either com pany. The remonstrances of the Virginia corporation,4 and a transient regard for the rights of the country, could delay, but not defeat, a measure that was sus tained by the personal favorites of the monarch. After two years' entreaty, the ambitious adventurers gained 1620 every thing which they had solicited ; and King James issued to forty of his subjects, some of them members

i Smitn, ii. 218. 21. Hubbard, 84, 85. Gorges. Pur-

» Ibid. Historic, ii. 201. chas, iv. 1830, 1831.

3 Ibid, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. lii. 4 Stith, 185. Hazard, i. 390

272 THE COUNCIL ESTABLISHED AT PLYMOUTH.

CHAP, of his household and his government, the most wealthy ^~ and powerful of the English nobility, a patent,1 which 1620 jn American annals, and even in the history of the world, has but one parallel. The adventurers and their successors were incorporated as " The Council estab lished at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering and governing New England, in America." The territory conferred on the paten tees in absolute property, with unlimited jurisdiction, the sole powers of legislation, the appointment of all officers and all forms of government, extended, in breadth, from the fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of north latitude, and, in length, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; that is to say, nearly all the inhabited British possessions to the north of the United States, all New England, New York, half of New Jersey, very nearly all Pennsylvania, and the whole of the country to the west of these states, comprising, and, at the time, believed to comprise,2 much more than a million of square miles, and capable of sustaining far more than two hundred millions of inhabitants, were, by a single signature of King James, given away to a corporation within the realm, composed of but forty individuals. The grant was absolute and exclusive : it conceded the land and islands ; the rivers and the harbors ; the mines and the fisheries. Without the leave of the council of Plymouth, not a ship might sail into a har bor from Newfoundland to the latitude of Philadelphia ; not a skin might be purchased in the interior ; not a fish might be caught on the coast ; not an emigrant might tread the soil. No regard was shown for the

'- TrumbulPs Connecticut, i. 546 iii. 31, estimates the land at jne

— 567. Hazard, i. 103 — 118. Bay- million one hundred and twenty

lies, i. 100 — 185. Compare Hub- thousand square miles — a computa

bard, c. xxx. ; Chalmers, 81 — 85. tion far below the truth.

2 Smith, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll.

THE COUNCIL ESTABLISHED AT PLYMOUTH. 275

liberties of those who might become inhabitants of CHAP the colony; they were to be ruled, without their own ^-^ consent, by the corporation in England. The patent 162° favored only the cupidity of the proprietors, and possessed all the worst features of a commercial mo nopoly. A royal proclamation was soon issued, en forcing its provisions ; and a revenue was already considered certain from an onerous duty on all ton nage employed in the American fisheries.1 The re sults which grew out of the concession of this charter, form a new proof, if any were wanting, of that mys terious connection of events by which Providence leads to ends that human councils had not conceived. The patent left the emigrants at the mercy of the unre strained power of the corporation ; and it was under concessions from that plenary power, confirmed, in deed, by the English monarch, that institutions the most favorable to colonial liberty were established. The patent yielded every thing to the avarice of the corporation ; the very extent of the grant rendered it of little value. The jealousy of the English nation, incensed at the concession of vast monopolies by the exercise of the royal prerogative, immediately prompt ed the house of commons to question the validity of 1621 the grant ; 2 and the French nation, whose traders had 35. been annually sending home rich freights of furs, while the English were disputing about charters and com missions, derided the tardy action of the British monarch in bestowing lands and privileges, which their own sovereign, seventeen years before, had appropria ted.3 The patent was designed to hasten plantations,

1 Smith, in iii. Mass. Hist Coll. mentary Debates, 1620-1, i. 260 lii. 32. Smith, ii. 263. 318, 319.

2 Chalmers, 100—102. Parlia- 3 ai. Mass. Hist Coll. iii. 20.

VOL. i. 35

274 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND.

CHAP, in the belief that men would eagerly throng to the

^^- coast, and put themselves under the protection of the council; and, in fact, adventurers were delayed, through fear of infringing the rights of a powerful company.1 While the English monopolists were wrangling about their exclusive privileges, the first permanent colony on the soil of New England was established without the knowledge of the corporation, and without the aid of King James.

The Reformation in England — an event which had been long and gradually prepared among the people by the opinions and followers of Wickliffe, and in the government by increasing and successful resistance to the usurpations of ecclesiastical jurisdiction — was at length abruptly established during the reign and in conformity with the passions of a despotic monarch. The acknowledgment of the right of private judg ment,2 far from being the cause of the separation from Rome, was one of its latest fruits. Luther was more dogmatical than his opponents ; though the deep philosophy with which his mind was imbued, repelled the use of violence to effect conversion in religion.

isaa. He was wont to protest against propagating reform by persecution and massacres ; and, with wise modera tion, an admirable knowledge of human nature, a familiar and almost ludicrous quaintness of expression, he would deduce from his great principle of justifica tion by faith alone the sublime doctrine of the freedom

1553 of conscience.3 Yet Calvin, many years after, anxious-

1 iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 32. 3 Nollem vi et erode pro evan- Svnith, ii. 263. gelio certan. Compare the pas-

2 Under Edward VI. intolerance sages from Luther s Seven Sermons- sanctioned by law. See Rymer, delivered in March, 1522, at Wit- xv. 1 82. 250, under Elizabeth. Ry- tenberg, quoted in Pla ick's Gcs- mer, xv. 740 and 741. Compare chichte des Protestantischen Lehr Lingard, vii. 286, 287; Hallam's begriffs, ii. 68 — 72. Summasuinma- England, i. 130, 131, 132, 133. rum! Prcdigen will ichs, sajjon

THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. °215

ly engaged in dispelling ancient superstitions, was still CHAP fearful of the results of skeptical reform, and, in his ^^- opinions on heresy and its punishment, shared the un happy error of his time.

In England, so far was the freedom of private in quiry from being recognized as a right, the means of 1534 forming a judgment on religious subjects was denied The art of supremacy,1 which effectually severed the N4OV English nation from the Roman see, contained no clause favorable to religious liberty. It was but a vindication of the sovereign franchise of the English monarch against foreign interference : it did not aim at

O O '

enfranchising the English church, far less the English people, or the English mind. The king of England became the pope in his own dominions ; and heresy was still accounted the greatest of all crimes.2 The right of correcting errors of religious faith became, by the suffrage of parliament, a branch of the royal pre rogative ; and, as active minds among the people were continually proposing new schemes of doctrine, a stat ute, alike arrogant in its pretensions and vindictive in its menaces, was, after great opposition in parlia ment,3 enacted "for abolishing diversity of opinions."4 153y • All the Roman Catholic doctrines were asserted, ex cept the supremacy of Rome. The pope could praise Henry VIII. lor orthodoxy, while he excommunicated

will iohs, schreiben will ichs, aber Statutes, iii. 460 — 471. 26 Henry zwin^en, dringen mit Gewalt will VIII., c. i. iii. xiii. Statutes, iii. ich ni'^mand; denn der Glaube will 492, 493 — 499. 508, 509. Lingard, willig, ungenothigt und ohne Zwang iv. 266—270, and vi. 281— 283.* angenommen werden. I have quo- 2 Henry, xii. 53. Turner, ii. 349 ted these words, which are in har- — 353. Mackintosh, ii. 147 — 150. mony with Luther's doctrines and 3 Strype's Memorials, i. 352. his works, as a reply to those, who, 4 31 Henry VIII., c. xiv. Stat- erroneously charge the great Ger- utes, iii. 739 — 743. Lingard, vr. man reformer with favoring perse- 380 — 386. Bossuet, Hist des Vo lution, nations, 1. vii. c. xxiv. — xl. Henry, 1 25 Henry VIII., c. xix. xx. xxi xii. 84.

276 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND.

CHAP, him for disobedience. He commended to the waver- ^~ ing emperor the English sovereign as a model foi soundness of belief, and anathematized him only foi contumacy.1 It was Henry's pride to defy the au thority of the Roman bishop, and yet to enforce the doctrines of the Roman church. He was as tenacious of his reputation for Catholic orthodoxy, as of his claim to spiritual dominion. He disdained submission, and detested heresy.

Nor was Henry VIII. slow to sustain his new pre rogatives. He rejected the advice of the commons, as of " brutes and inexpert folks," of men as unfit to advise him as " blind men are to judge of colors."9 According to ancient usage, no sentence of death, awarded by the ecclesiastical courts, could be carried into effect, until a writ had been obtained from the king. The regulation had been adopted in a spirit of mercy, securing to the temporal authorities the power of restraining persecution.3 The heretic might appeal from the atrocity of the priest to the mercy of the sove reign. But now, what hope could remain, when the two authorities were united ; and the law, which had been enacted as a protection of the subject, was become the powerful instrument of tyranny ! The establishment of the English church under the king, was inexorably sustained. No virtue, no eminence, conferred security. Not the forms of worship merely, but the minds of men, were declared subordinate to tiie government ; faith, not less than ceremony, was to vary with the acts of parliament. Death was de nounced against the Catholic who denied the king's supremacy, and the Protestant who doubted his creed

i Fra Paolo, i. 82. 2 Herbert's Heniy VIII., 418, 419.

3 Neal's Puritans, L 55.

THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. 277

Had Luther been an Englishman, he might have per- CHAP. ished by fire.1 In the latter part of his lite, Henry re- — ^ voked the general permission of reading the Scriptures, and limited the privilege to merchants and nobles. He always adhered to his old religion;2 he believed its most extravagant doctrines to the last, and died in the Roman, rather than in the Protestant faith.3 But die awakening intelligence of a great nation could not be terrified into a passive lethargy. The environs of the court displayed no resistance to the capricious monarch ; a subservient parliament yielded him ab solute authority in religion ;4 but the advancing genius of the age, even though it sometimes faltered in its progress along untried paths, steadily demanded the emancipation of the public mind.

The accession of Edward VI. led the way to the 1547

*f Y

establishment of Protestantism in England, and, at the £$' same time, gave life to the germs of the difference which was eventually to divide the English. A change in the reformation had already been effected among the Swiss, and especially at Geneva. Luther had based his reform upon the sublime but simple truth which lies at the basis of morals — the paramount value of character and purity of conscience ; the su periority of right dispositions over ceremonial exact ness ; or, as he expressed it, justification by faith alone. But he hesitated to deny the real presence, and was indifferent to the observance of external ceremonies. Calvin, with sterner dialectics, sanctioned by the in fluence of the purest life, and by his power as the ablest writer of his age, attacked the Roman doctrines

1 Turner's England, iii. 140. Henry's Great Britain, xii. p. 107.

2 Ibid. ii. 352. 4 37 Henry VIIL, c. xvii. Stat-

3 Bossuet, Hist, des Variations, utes, iii. 1009. i. riii. c. iii. iv. and xxiv. — xl.

278 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND.

CHAP, respecting the communion, and esteemed as a com- — --^- memoration the rite which the Catholics reverenced as a sacrifice. Luther acknowledged princes as his protectors, and, in the ceremonies of worship, favored magnificence as an aid to devotion ; Calvin was the guide of Swiss republics, and avoided, in their church es, all appeals to the senses as a crime against religion. Luther resisted the Roman church for its immorality: Calvin for its idolatry. Luther exposed the folly of su perstition, ridiculed the hair-shirt and the scourge, the purchased indulgence, and the dearly-bought masses for the dead ; Calvin shrunk from their criminality with impatient horror. Luther permitted the cross and the taper, pictures and images, as things of indif ference ; Calvin demanded a spiritual worship in its utmost purity.

The reign of Edward, giving safety to Protestants, soon brought to light that both sects of the reformed church existed in England. The one party, sustained by Cranmer, desired moderate reforms ; the other, countenanced by the protector, were the implacable adversaries of the ceremonies of the Roman church 1549 It was still attempted to enforce1 uniformity by men- is*^. aces °f persecution ; but the most offensive of the Ro man doctrines were expunged from the liturgy. The tendency of the public mind favored a greater sim plicity in the forms of devotion ; the spirit of inquiry was active ; not a rite of the established worship, not a point in church government, escaped unexamincd , not a vestment nor a ceremony remained, of which the propriety had not been denied. The spirit of in quiry rebelled against prescription. A more complete

i 2 and 3 Edward VI., c. i. Statutes, iv 36—39 Rymer, xv. J81— 183, and 250—252.

ORIGIN OF PURITANISM. 279

reform was demanded : and the friends of the estab- CHAP

VIII.

lished liturgy expressed in the prayer-book itself a — v-1 wish for its furtherance.1 The party strongest in numbers pleaded expediency for retaining much that had been sanctioned by ancient usage ; while abhor rence of superstition excited the other party to demand Uie boldest innovations. The austere principle was now announced, that not even a ceremony should be tolerated, unless it was enjoined by the word of God. And this was Puritanism. The church of England, at least in its ceremonial part, was established by an act of parliament, or a royal ordinance ; Puritanism, zeal ous for independence, admitted no voucher but the Bible — a fixed rule, which it would allow neither parliament, nor hierarchy, nor king, to interpret. The Puritans adhered to the established church as far as their interpretations of the Bible seemed to warrant ; but no further, not even in things of indifference. They would yield nothing in religion to the temporal sovereign ; they would retain nothing that seemed a relic of the religion which they had renounced. They asserted the equality of the plebeian clergy, and di rected their fiercest attacks against the divine right of bishops, as the only remaining strong-hold of supersti tion. In most of these views they were sustained by the reformers of the continent. Bucer and Peter Martyr3 both complained of the backwardness of the reformation in England ; Calvin wrote in the same strain.4 When Hooper, who had gone into exile in

1 Neal's Puritans, i. 121. Neal's In his Sec. Reply, 1575, p. 81: New England, i. 51. "*t fs not enougt), that tfte Scrfp*

2 So Cartwright, a few years tutc speafectft not ajjafnst them, 'ater, in his Reply to Whitgift, 27 : unless ft spcafc for them."

«£n matters of the dmrcl), there 3 Strype's Memorials, ii. c

man be npthfnjj tione but bi> the xxviii.

WuctJ of CSofc." 4 Hallam's England, L 140.

THE PURITANS L\ EXILE.

CHAP, the latter years of Henry VIII., was appointed bishop — — of Gloucester, he, for a time, refused1 to be consecrated

1550 fn the vestments which the law required: and his re- July.

fusal marks the era when the Puritans first existed as

a separate party. They demanded a thorough reform ; the established church desired to check the propensity to change. The strict party repelled all union with the Catholics; the politic party aimed at conciliating their compliance. The Churchmen, with, perhaps, a wise moderation, differed from the ancient forms as little as possible, and readily adopted the use of things indifferent; the Puritans could not sever themselves too widely from the Roman usages, and sought glar ing occasions to display their antipathy. The surplice and the square cap, for several generations, remained things of importance ; for they became the badges of a party. They were rejected as the livery of super stition — the outward sign, that prescription was to prevail over reason, and authority to control inquiry. The unwilling use of them was evidence of religious servitude.

1553 The reign of Mary involved both parties in danger, 1558. but they whose principles wholly refused communion with Rome, were placed in the greatest peril. Rogers and Hooper, the first martyrs of Protestant England, were Puritans ; and it may be remarked, that, while Cranmer, the head and founder of the English church, desired, almost to the last, by delays, recantations, and entreaties, to save himself from the horrid death to which he was doomed, the Puritan martyrs never sought, by concessions, to escape the flames. ' For

i Strype's Memorials, ii. 22fi, and 113. Prince, 282 — 307. Prince Repository, ii. 118 — 132. Hallam, has written witn great diligence i. 141. Neal's Puritans, i. 108 — and distinctness

THE PURITANS IN EXILE. 281

them, compromise was itself apostasy. The offer of CHAP pardon could not induce Hooper to waver, nor the -^ — pains of a lingering death impair his fortitude. He suffered by a very slow fire, and at length died as quietly as a child in his bed.

A large part of the English clergy returned to their . submission to the see of Rome ; others firmly adhered to the reformation, which they had adopted from con viction ; and very many, who had taken advantage of the laws1 of Edward, sanctioning the marriage of the clergy, had, in their wives and children, given hostages for their fidelity to the Protestant cause. Multitudes, therefore, hurried into exile to escape the grasp of vin dictive bigotry ; but even in foreign lands, two parties among the emigrants were visible ; and the sympathies of a common exile could not immediately eradicate the rancor of religious divisions. The one party9 aimed at renewing abroad the forms of discipline which had been sanctioned by the English parliaments in the reign of Edward ; the Puritans, on the contrary, endeavored to sweeten exile by a complete emanci pation from ceremonies which they had reluctantly observed. The sojourning in Frankfort was imbittered by the anger of consequent divisions ; but Time, the great calmer of the human passions, softened the as perities of controversy ; and a reconciliation of the two parties was prepared by concessions3 to the Puritans. For the circumstances of their abode on the continent were well adapted to strengthen the influence of the

1 2 and 3 Edward VI., c. xxi., 5 161, 162, 163. " We will joyne and 6 Edward VI., c. xii., in iStat- with, you to be suitors for the refor- utes, iv. 67, and 146, 147. Strype's mation and abolishing of all ofien- Memonals, iii. 108. si ve ceremonies." Prince, 287, 288.

2 Discourse of the Troubles in Frankfort.

3 Ibid., edition of 1642, p. 160,

VOL. i. 36

282 ELIZABETH AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

CHAP, stricter sect. While the companions of their exile

VIII.

^v^ had, with the most bitter intolerance, been rejected by Denmark and Northern Germany,1 the English emigrants received in Switzerland the kindest wel come; their love for the rigorous austerity of a spiritual worship was confirmed by the stern simplicity of the republic ; and some of them had enjoyed in Geneva the instructions and the friendship of Calvin.

1553. On the death of Mary, the Puritans returned to England, with still stronger antipathies to the forms of worship and the vestures, which they now repelled as associated with the cruelties of Roman intolerance at home, and which they had seen so successfully reject ed by the churches of Switzerland. The pledges which had been given at Frankfort and Geneva, to promote further reforms, were redeemed.2 But the controversy did not remain a dispute about ceremo nies ; it was modified by the personal character of the English sovereign, and became identified with the political parties in the state. The first act of parlia ment in the reign of Elizabeth declared the suprem acy 3 of the crown in the state ecclesiastical ; and the uniformity of common prayer was soon established under the severest penalties.4 In these enactments, the common zeal to assert the Protestant ascendency left out of sight the scruples of the Puritans.

The early associations of the younger daughter of Henry VIII. led her to respect the faith of the Cath olics, and to love the magnificence of their worship, She publicly thanked one of her chaplains, who had

1 Planck's Geschichte des Pro- 350—355. Hallam, i. 152. Mack- testantischen Lehrbegriffs, b. v. t. intosh, iii. 45, 46.

ii. p. 85 — 45, and 09. 4 i Elizabeth, c. li. Hallam, i

* Prince, 288. 153. Mackintosh, iii. 4(5 47

2 1 Elizabeth, c. i. Statutes, iv.

ELIZABETH AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 283

asserted the real presence ; and, on a revision of the CHAP.

creed of the English church, the tenet of transubstan-

tiation was no longer expressly rejected. To calm the fury of religious .intolerance, let it be forever remem bered, that the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist, which,, "by the statutes of the realm in the reign of Edward VI,, Englishmen were punished for believing, and in that of Henry VIII. were burned at the stake for denying, was, in the reign of Elizabeth, left undecided, as a question of national indifference. She long struggled to retain images, the crucifix, and tapers, in her private chapel ; she was inclined to offer prayers to the Virgin ; she favored the invocation of saints.1 She insisted upon the continuance of the celibacy of the clergy, and, during her reign, their marriages took place only by connivance.2 For several years, she desired and was able to conciliate the Catholics into a partial con formity.3 The Puritans denounced concession to the Papists, even in things indifferent ; but during the reign of her sister, Elizabeth had conformed in all things, and she still retained an attachment for many tenets that were deemed the most objectionable. Could she, then, favor the party of rigid reform r

Besides the influence of early education, the love of authority would not permit Elizabeth to cherish the new sect among Protestants — a sect which had risen ' in defiance of all ordinary powers of the world, and which could justify its existence only on a strong claim to natural liberty. The Catholics were friends to monarchy, if not to the monarch; they upheld the forms of regal government, if they were not friends to

* Burnett, part ii. b. iii. No. 6. 2 Neal's Puritans, i. 205, 206.

Heyiin, 124. Neal's Puritans, i. Strype's Parker, 107.

191. 11)2. Mackintosh, iii. 101. a' Snuthey's Book of the rhurch,

Hume, c. xlv. llallam, i. 124. i. 257, 258.

234 PROGRESS OF PURITANISM IN ENGLAND.

CHAP the person of the queen. But the Puritans were the ^v^ harbingers of a revolution ; the hierarchy charged them with seeking a popular state ; and Elizabeth openly declared, that they were more perilous than the J tomanists. At a time when the readiest mode of reaching the minds of the common people was through the pulpit, and when the preachers would often speak with plainness and homely energy on all the events of the day, their claim to "the liberty of prophesying" was similar to the modern demand of the liberty of the press ; and the free exercise of private judgment threatened, not only to disturb the uniformity of the national worship, but to impair the royal authority and erect the dictates of conscience into a tribunal, before which sovereigns might be arraigned.1 The Puritan clergy were fast becoming tribunes of the people, and the pulpit was the place for freedom of rebuke and discussion. The queen long desired to establish the national religion mid-way between sectarian licentious ness and Roman supremacy ; and when her policy in religion was once declared, the pride of authority would brook no opposition. By degrees she occupied politi cally the position of the head of Protestantism; Catholic sovereigns conspired against her kingdom ; the con vocation of cardinals proposed measures for her deposi tion; the pope, in his excommunications, urged her subjects to rebellions. Then it was, that, as the' Roman Catholics were no longer treated with forbear ance, so the queen, struggling, from regard to her safety, to preserve unity among her friends, hated the Puritans, as mutineers in the camp.

1563. The popular voice was not favorable to a rigorous 12.' enforcement of the ceremonies. In the first Prot-

i Cartwright's Second Reply, 158—170. Hallam. i 254

PROGRESS OF PURITANISM IN ENGLAND. 285

estant convocation of the clergy under Elizabeth, CHAP though the square cap and the surplice found in the ~~— queen a resolute friend, and though there were in the assembly many, who, at heart, preferred the old religion, the proposition to abolish a part of the cere monies was lost in the lower house by the majority of a single vote.1 Nearly nine years passed away, before the thirty-nine articles, which were then adopted, were confirmed by parliament; and the act, 1571 by which they were finally established, required assent to those articles only, which concern the con fession of faith and the doctrine of the sacraments2 — a limitation which the Puritans interpreted in their favor. The house of commons often displayed an earnest zeal for a further reformation ;3 and its active 1565 interference was prevented only by the authority of the queen.

When rigorous orders for enforcing conformity were first issued,4 the Puritans were rather excited to defi ance than intimidated. Of the London ministers, about thirty refused subscription,5 and men began to speak openly of a secession from the church.6 At length, a separate congregation was formed; im- 1567 mediately the government was alarmed ; and the June

1 Strype's Annals, i. 338, 339. state in religious matters, is evi-

Hallani, i. 238. Prince, 28U -293. dent from such passages as these,

~ Strype's Annals, ii. 71. from Cartwright's Second Reply —

3 Prince, 300. •• 7i}eveti>ties ougtrte to be put to

4 Strypc's Annals, i. 460, 461. tiratljc notoe. H tljfs be blouMc, Appendix to Strype's Parker, b. ii. anti extreme, £ am contente to be 00 24 so count*)) Im'ttje tljr Iialfe (Goste."

to Tn, b flimne at ttoe tonmrjc cnt)." p. 117.

How little the ear y Puritans Vhe writer continues, displaying

knew of the true results of their intense and consistent bigotry. doctrines of independence of the

286 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

CHAP, leading men and several women were sent to Bride*

— , — well for a year. In vain did the best statesmen favor moderation ; the queen herself was impatient of secta rianism, as the nursery of rebellion. Once, when

1574. Edwin Sandys, then bishop of London, wa« named as a secret favorer of Puritanism, he resented the impu tation of lenity as a false accusation and malignant calumny of asonie incarnate, never-sleeping devil." It is true that the learned Grindal, who, during the

1576. reign of Mary, had lived in exile, and in 1576 was advanced to the see of Canterbury, was of a mild and gentle nature ; and at the head of the English clergy, gave an example of reluctance to persecute. But having incurred the enmity of Elizabeth by his refusal to suppress the liberty of prophesying, he was sus pended, and when old and blind and broken-hearted, was ordered to resign. Nothing but his death in

1583. 1583, saved him from being superseded by Whitgift. The Puritans, as a body, had avoided a separation from the church. They had desired a reform, and not a schism. When, by espousing a party, a man puts a halter round his neck, and is thrust out from the ca reer of public honor, the rash, the least cautious, and therefore, the least persevering, may sometimes be the first to avow their opinions. So it was in the party of the Puritans. There began to grow up among them a class of men who carried opposition to the church of England to the extreme, and refused to hold communion with a church of which they condemned the ceremonies and the government. Henry VIII. had enfranchised the English crown ; Elizabeth had en franchised the Anglican church : the Puritans claimed equality for the plebeian clergy ; the Independents as serted the liberty of each individual mind to discover

ORIGIN OF THE INDEPENDENTS. 287

" truth in the word of God." The reformation had be- CHAP

VIII.

gun in England with the monarch; had extended among — ^ the nobility ; had been developed under the guidance of a hierarchy ; and had but slowly penetrated the masses. . The party of the Independents was plebeian in its origin, and carried the principle of intellectual enfranchisement from authority into the houses of the common people. Its adherents were " neither gentry nor be "gars." The most noisy advocate of the new opinion was Brown, a man of rashness, possessing neither true courage nor constancy ; zealous, but fickle ; dogmatical, but shallow. He has acquired historical notoriety, because his hot-headed indiscretion urged him to undertake the defence of separation. 1582 He suffered much oppression ; he was often impris oned ; he was finally compelled to go into exile. The congregation which he had gathered, and which ban ished itself with him, was composed of persons hasty and unstable like himself; it was soon dispersed by its own dissensions. Brown eventually purchased a living in the English church by conformity.1 He could sac rifice his own reputation ; "he forsook the Lord, so the Lord forsook him."2 The principles of which the intrepid assertion had alone given him distinction, lay deeply rooted in the public mind ; and, as they had not derived life from his support, they did not suffer from his apostasy.

From this time there was a division among the op- 1582 ponents of the church of England. ' The Puritans ac knowledged its merits, but desired its reform; the

1 Fuller's Cliurch History, b. ix. necessarily 1<>7. 1(58, 169. Neal's Puritans, i. the freedon

led to the assertion of freedom of conscience. I uses 37(5 — 378. the copy which once belonged to

2 John Robinson's Justification William Bradford, and which ia of Separation, 54 — a tract of great now in the library of Robinson's iierit, containing doctrines whigh church.

288 PERSECUTION OF ALL NON-CONFORMISTS

CHAP. Separatists denounced it as an idolatrous institution,

VIII.

— - — false to Christianity and to truth : the Puritans con sidered it as the temple of God, in which they were to worship, though its altars might need purification ; the Separatists regarded the truths which it might profess, as holy things in the custody of the profane, the Ark of the Lord in the hands of Philistines. The enmity between the divisions of the party eventually became bitter. The Puritans reproached the BIOWH- ists with ill-advised precipitancy, and in return weie censured for paltering cowardice. The one party ab horred the ceremonies which were a bequest of Po pery ; the other party reprobated the Establishment itself. The Puritans desired to amend ; the Brown- ists, to destroy and rebuild. The feud became bitter in England, and eventually led to great political re sults ; but the controversy could not be continued be yond the Atlantic, for it required to be nourished by the presence of the hierarchy.

1583 The accession of Whitgift marks the epoch of ex- S23.t treme and consistent rigor in the public councils ; for the new archbishop was sincerely attached to the English church, and, from a regard to religion, en forced the conformity which the queen desired as the best support of her power. He was a strict disci plinarian, and wished to govern the clergy of the realm as he would rule the members of a college. Subscriptions were now required to points which be fore had been eluded ; l the kingdom rung with the complaints for deprivation ; the most learned and dili gent of the ministry2 were driven from their places; and those who were introduced to read the liturgy, were so ignorant, that few of them could preach. Did

i Weal's furitans, i. 31)6. 2 Hallam's England, i. 270

PERSECUTION OF ALL NON-CONFORMISTS 289

men listen to their deprived pastors in the recesses of CHAP forests, the offence, if discovered, was visited by fines ~^~ and imprisonment. A court of high commission was 1583 established for the detection and punishment of non conformity, and was invested with powers as arbitrary as those of the Spanish inquisitors.1 Men were obliged to answer, on oath, every question proposed, either against others or against themselves. In vaiii did the sufferers murmur ; in vain did parliament dis approve the commission, which was alike illegal and arbitrary ; in vain did Burleigh remonstrate against a system so intolerant, that "the inquisitors of Spain 1584 used not so many questions to trap their preys."2 The j.y archbishop would have deemed forbearance a weak ness ; and the queen was ready to interpret any free dom in religion as a treasonable denial of her suprem acy. Two men were hanged for distributing Brown's 1588 tract on the liberty of prophesying ; 3 that is, a tract on the liberty of the pulpit.

The party thus persecuted were the most efficient opponents of Popery. " The Puritans," said Burleigh, " are over squeamish and nice, yet their careful cate chising and diligent preaching lessen and diminish the Papistical numbers."4 But for the Puritans, the old religion would have retained the affections of the multitude. If Elizabeth reformed the court, the min isters, whom she persecuted, reformed the commons. That the English people became Protestant is due to the Puritans. How, then, could the party be sub dued ? The spirit of brave and conscientious men can-

i Strype's Annals, iii. 180. Hal- 2 Burleigh, in Strype's Whitgift.

tarn's England, i. '471—273. Ry- 157.

mer, xvi. 291—297, June 15, 1596, 3 Strype's Annals, iii. 186. Ful

and 540—551, August 26, 1603. ler's Church History, b. ix. 169.

Mackintosh, iii. 261, 262. Lingard, 4 Senior's Tracts, fourth collec-

vii. 206. tion, i. 103. VOL. I. 37

290 PERSECUTION OF ALL NON-CONFORMISTS.

en \p. not be broken. No part is left but to tolerate or de- — v^ stroy. Extermination could alone produce conformity. 1593. }n a few years, it was said in parliament, that there were in England twenty thousand of those who fre quented conventicles.1 It was proposed to banish them, as the Moors had been banished from Spain, and as the Huguenots were afterwards driven from France. This measure was not adopted ; but a law of savage ferocity, ordering those, who, for a month, should be absent from the English service, to be in terrogated as to their belief, menaced the obstinate non-conformists with exile or with death.2

Holland offered an asylum against the bitter severity

of this statute. A religious society, founded by the

Independents at Amsterdam, continued to exist for a

centurv, and served as a point of hope for the exiles ;

while, through the influence of Whitgift, in England,

1 5D3. Barrow and Greenwood, men of unimpeached loyalty,

A|;'nl were selected as examples, and hanged at Tyburn for

their opinions.3

The queen repented that she had sanctioned the execution. Her age and the prospect of favor to Puritanism from her successor, conspired to check the spirit of persecution. The leaders of the church be came more prudent; and by degrees bitterness sub sided. The Independents had, it is true, been nearly exterminated ; but the number of the non-conforming clergy, after forty years of molestation, had increased . their popularity was more deeply rooted, and theii enmity to the established order was irreconcilable,

i D'Ewes's Jour. 517. Strype's 513—515. Neal's New England,

Whitgift, 417. Neal's Puritans, i. i. (>0. 5If>. 3 Strype's Whitrrift, 414, <&c.

8 &5 Eliz. c. i. Stat. iv. 841—843. Neal's Puritans, i. r>'->n, 5'>7. Roo-.

Paii. Hist 8G3. Neai's Puritans, i. er Williams's Truth and Peace. *<J.S7

CHARACTER OF KING JAMES. 291

Their followers already constituted a powerful politi- CHAP

VIII.

cal party ; inquired into the nature of government, ->^ in parliament opposed monopolies, limited the royal prerogatives, and demanded a reform of ecclesias tical abuses. " The precious spark of liberty," says an historian who was never accused of favoring the INii itans, "had been kindled and was preserved by the Puritans alone." Popular liberty, which used to animate its friends by appeals to the examples of ancient republics, now listened to a voice from the grave of Wickliffe, from the ashes of Huss, from the vigils of Calvin. Victorious over her foreign enemies, Elizabeth never could crush the religious sect, of which the increase seemed dangerous to the state. Her career was full of glory abroad ; it was unsuccess ful against the progress of opinion at home. In the latter years of her reign, her popularity declined ; and her death was the occasion of little regret. " In four days, she was forgotten." 1 The multitude, fond of change, welcomed her successor with shouts ; but when the character of that successor was better known, they persuaded themselves that they had revered Elizabeth to the last, and that her death had been honored by inconsolable £rief.

The accession of King James would, it was be- 1603' lieved, introduce a milder system ; and the Puritans £n might hope even for favor. But the personal character of the new monarch could not inspire confidence.

The pupil of Buchanan was not destitute of learn ing nor unskilled in rhetoric. Protected from profli gate debauchery by the austerity of public morals in Scotland, and incapable of acting the part of a states man, he had aimed at the reputation of a " most learned

1 Carte's England, iii. 707

292 CHARACTER OF KING JAMES.

CHAP, clerk," and had been so successful, that Bacon,1 with ^v-L equivocal flattery, pronounced him incomparable for 1G03 learning among kings, and Sully, who knew him wells esteemed him the wisest fool in Europe. — The man of letters, who possesses wealth without the capacity for active virtue, often learns to indulge in the vacancy of contemplative enjoyments, and, slumbering on his post, abandons himself to pleasant dreams. This is the eu thanasia of his honor. The reputation of King James was lost more ignobly. At the mature age of thirty- six he ascended the throne of England ; and, for the first time acquiring the opportunity of displaying the worthlessness of his character, he exulted in the free dom of self-indulgence ; in idleness and gluttony. The French ambassador despised him for his frivolous amusements ; 2 gross licentiousness in his vicinity was unreproved ; and the manners of the palace became so coarsely profligate, that even the women of his court reeled in his presence in a state of disgusting inebriety.3

The life of James, as a monarch, was full of mean nesses. Personal beauty became the qualification of a minister of state. The interests of England were sacrificed, that his son might marry the daughter of a powerful king. His passions were as feeble as his will. His egregious vanity desired perpetual flattery ; and no hyperboles excited his distrust. He boasted that England, even in the days of Elizabeth, had been governed by his influence ; by proclamation, he forbad the people to talk of state affairs;4 and in reply to the complaints of his commons, he in-

1 Bacon's Works, iv. 430.

2 Lingard's England, ix. 107.

3 Harrington's Nugre Am.iquaR, i. 348 — 350.

4 Rapm's England, ii. '<JU'^. Sally's Memoirs, 1. xv.

CHARACTER OF KING JAMES. 293

sisted that he was and would be the father of their CHAP country.1 ^ —

Dissimulation is the vice of those who have riei- 1603 ther true judgment nor courage. King James, from his imbecility, was false, and sometimes vindicated his falsehood, as though deception and cunning had been worthy of a king. But he was an awkward liar, rather than a crafty dissembler.2 He could, before parliament, call God to witness his sincerity, when he was already resolved on being insincere. His cowardice was such, that he feigned a fondness for Carr, whose arrest for murder he had secretly ordered. He was afraid of his wife ; could be governed by being overawed ; and was easily intimidated by the vulgar insolence of Buckingham.3 In Scotland, he solemnly declared his attachment4 to the Puritan discipline and doctrines ; but it was from his fear of open resistance. The pusillanimous man assents from cowardice, and recovers boldness with the as surance of impunity.

Demonology was a favorite topic with King James. He demonstrated with erudition the reality of witch craft ; through his solicitation it was made, by statute, a capital offence ; he could tell " why the devil doth work more with auncient women than with others ; " and hardly a year of his reign went by, but some helpless crone perished on the gallows, to satisfy the vanity and confirm the dialectics of the royal author.

King James was sincerely attached to Protestantism.5 He prided himself on his skill in theological learniri",

* o o~

and challenged the praise of Europe as a subtle con-

* Cobbett's Parl. Hist v. L p. 4 Caldcrwood's Church of Scot-

1504. land, 2tf<5.

2 Hallam's England, i. 404. 5 Bentivoglio, Rolazione di Pi-

3 Clarendon's Rebellion, i. 16. andra. parte ii. c. iii. Op, Stonche, Hume, c. xlix. i. 206, 207.

294 CHARACTER OF KING JAMES.

CHAP troversialist. With the whole force of English diplo- *— -r-1. macy, he suggested the propriety of burning an Ar- nainian professor of Holland, whose heresies he refuted in a harmless tract. Once he indulged his vanity in a public discussion, and, when the argument was over, procured himself the gratification of burning his op ponent at the stake. His mind had been early imbued with the doctrines of Calvinism ; but he loved arbi trary power better than the tenets of Knox ; and as the Arniinians in England favored royalty, King James became an Arminian. He always loved flattery and ease ; and had no fixed principles of conduct or belief.

Such was the king of England, at a period when the limits of royal authority were not as yet clearly defined. Such was the man to whose decision the "Puritans must refer their claims. He had called the church of Scotland " the sincerest kirk of the world ; " he had censured the service of England as " an evil said mass." Would he retain for Puritans the favor which he had promised ?

The English hierarchy had feared, in the new monarch, the approach of a " Scottish mist ; " but the borders of Scotland were hardly passed, before James began to identify the interests of the English church with those of his prerogative. " No bishop, no king," was a maxim often in his mouth. Whitgift was aware that the Puritans were too numerous to be borne down ; " I have not been greatly quiet in mind," said the disappointed archbishop, " the vipers are so many." But James was not as yet fully conscious of their strength. While he was in his progress to London, more than seven hundred of them presented the "millenary petition" for a redress of ecclesiastical

CONFERENCE AT HAMPTON COURT. 295

grievances. He was never disposed to show them CHAP. favor ; but a decent respect for the party to which he — r-i* had belonged, joined to a desire of displaying his talents for theological debate, induced him to appoint a conference at Hampton Court.

The conference, held in January, 1604, was dis- 1S04. tinguished on the part of the king by a strenuous vin dication of the church of England. Refusing to dis-

O O

cuss the question of its power in things indifferent, he substituted authority for argument, and where he could not produce conviction, demanded obedience : tc I will have none of that liberty as to ceremonies ; I will have one doctrine, one discipline, one religion in substance and in ceremony. Never speak more to that point, how far you are bound to obey."

The Puritans desired permission occasionally to assemble, and at their meetings to have the liberty of free discussions ; but the king interrupted their pe tition : " You are aiming at a Scot's presbytery, which agrees with monarchy as well as God and the devil. Then Jack, and Tom, and Will, and Dick, shall meet, and at their pleasure censure me and my council, and all our proceedings. Then Will shall stand up and say, It must be thus : then Dick shall reply and say, Nay, marry, but we will have it thus ; and therefore, here I must once more reiterate my former speech, and say : the king forbids." Turning to the bishops, he avowed his belief that the hierarchy was the firm est supporter of the throne. Of the Puritans he added : " I will make them conform, or I will harry them out of the land, or else worse," "only hang them ; that's all."

On the last day of the conference, the king de fended the necessity of subscription, concluding that

29 CONFERENCE AT HAMPTON COURT.

CHAP " if any would not be quiet and show their obedience, ^— they were worthy to be hanged." He advocated the :604. j^gk commission and inquisitorial oaths, despotic authority and its instruments. A few alterations in the book of common prayer were the only reforms which the conference effected. It was agreed that a time should be set, within which all should conform, or be removed. The king had insulted the Puritans, with vulgar rudeness and indecorous jests ; but his self-complacency was satisfied. He had talked much Latin ; he had spoken a part of the time in the pres ence of the nobility of Scotland and England, willing admirers of his skill in debate and of his marvellous learning ; and he was elated by the eulogies of the churchmen. " Your majesty speaks by the special assistance of God's spirit," said the aged Whitgift. Bishop Bancroft, on his knees, exclaimed, that his heart melted for joy, "because God had given Eng land such a king as, since Christ's time, has not been ; " and in a foolish letter, James boasted that "he had soundly peppered off the Puritans."

Whitgift, the archbishop, a man of great consis tency of character, estimable for his learning, respected and beloved by his party, desired not to live till the next parliament should assemble, for the Puritans would have the majority ; and grief, it is thought, hastened his death, six weeks after the close of the conference.

In the parliament which assembled in 1604, the party opposed to the church asserted their liberties with such tenacity and vigor that King James began to hate them as embittering royalty itself. " I had rather live like a hermit in the forest,'7 he writes, Ct than be a king over such a people as the pack of

THE PARLIAMENT AND THE CONVOCATION. 297

Puritans are, that overrule the lower house." "The CHAP will of man or angel cannot devise a pleasing answer — ,— • to their propositions, except I should pull the crown 1604 not only from my own head, but also from the head of all those that shall succeed unto me, and lay it down at their feet." At the opening of the session, ho had in vain pursued the policy of attempting a union between1 the old religion and the English church, and had offered " to meet the Catholics in the midway," while he added, that "the sect of Puritans is insufferable in any well-governed commonwealth." It was equally in vain that at the next session of par liament, he expressed himself with more vindictive decision ; declaring the Roman Catholics to be faith ful subjects, but expressing detestation of the Puri tans, as worthy of fire for their opinions. The com mons of England resolutely favored the sect which was their natural ally against despotism.

A far different spirit actuated the convocation of the clergy. They were very ready to decree against obstinate Puritans excommunication and all its conse quences. Bancroft, the successor of Whitgift, re quired conformity with unrelenting rigor ; King James issued a proclamation of equal severity ; and it is asserted, perhaps with considerable exaggeration, yet by those who had opportunities of judging rightly, that in the year 1604 alone, three hundred Puritan ministers were silenced, imprisoned or exiled. But 1605. the oppressed were neither intimidated nor weakened ; the moderate men, who assented to external cere monies as to things indifferent, were unwilling to en force them by merciless cruelty ; and they resisted not the square cap and the surplice, but their com-

pulsory imposition. Yet the clergy proceeded with VOL. i. 38

298 STATE OF PARTIES.

CHAP, a consistent disregard of the national liberties. The

VIII

^r— > importation of foreign books was impeded ; and a

1605. severe censorship of the press was exercised by the bishops. Frivolous acts were denounced as ecclesias-

1606. tical offences. The convocation of 1606, in a series of canons, denied every doctrine of popular rights, asserting the superiority of the king to the parliament and the laws, and admitting no exception to the duty of passive obedience. Thus the opponents of the church became the sole guardians of popular liberty ; the lines of the contending parties were distinctly drawn ; the established church and the monarch were arrayed against the Puritan clergy and the people. A war of opinion began ; immediate success was ob tained by the established authority ; but the contest would be transmitted to the next generation. Would victory ultimately belong to the churchmen or to the Puritans ? to the monarch or to the people ? The in terests of human freedom, were at issue on the contest.

u The gospel is every man's right ; and it is not to be endured that any one should be kept therefrom. But the evangel is an open doctrine ; it is bound to no place, and moves along freely under heaven, like the star, which ran in the sky to show the wizards from the east where Christ was born. Do not dispute with the prince for place. Let the community choose their own pastor, and support him out of their own estates. If the prince will not suffer it, let the pastor flee into another land, and let those go with him who will, as Christ teaches." Such was the counsel of Luther on reading " the twelve articles " of the insur gent peasants of Suabia. What Luther advised, what Calvin planned, was in the next century carried into effect by a rural community of Englishmen.

THE PILGRIMS IN ENGLAND. 299

Towards the close of the reign of Elizabeth, " a CHAP. poor people " in the north of England, in towns and — v— villages of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and the borders of Yorkshire, " became enlightened by the word of God ; " and, as " presently they were both scoffed and scorned by the profane multitude, and their ministers urged with the yoke of subscription," they, by the increase of troubles, were led "to see further," that not only " the beggarly ceremonies were monuments of idolatry," but also "that the lordly power of the prelates ought not to be submitted to." Many of them, therefore, " whose hearts the Lord had touched with heavenly zeal for his truth," resolved, " whatever it might cost them, to shake off the anti- Christian bondage, and, as the Lord's free people, to join themselves by a covenant into a church estate in the fellowship of the gospel." Of the same faith with Calvin, heedless of acts of parliament, they re jected u the offices and callings, the courts and canons " of bishops, and renouncing all obedience to human authority in spiritual things, asserted for themselves an unlimited and never-ending right to make advances in truth, and " walk in all the ways which God had made known or should make known to them."

The reformed church, having for its pastor John Robinson, " a man not easily to be paralleled," were beset and watched night and day by the agents of prelacy. For about a year, they kept their meetings every Sabbath, in one place or another, exercising the worship of God among themselves, notwithstanding all the diligence and malice of their adversaries. But, as the humane ever decline to enforce the laws dictated by bigotry, the office devolves on the fanatic or the savage. Hence the severity of their execution

300 THE PILGRIMS LEAVE ENGLAND.

CHAP, usually surpasses the intention of their authors ; and — r— - the peaceful members of " the poor, persecuted flock of Christ," despairing of rest in England, resolved to seek safety in exile.

Holland, in its controversy with Spain, had dis played republican virtues, and, in the reformation of its churches, had imitated the discipline of Calvin. In its greatest dangers it had had England for its ally ; at one time it had almost become a part of the English dominions ; the " cautionary " towns were still garrisoned by English regiments, some of which were friendly to the separatists ; and William Brews- ter, afterwards ruling elder of the church, had himself served as a diplomatist in the Low Countries. Thus the emigrants were attracted to Holland, " where they heard was freedom of religion for all men."

The departure from England was effected with

1607. much suffering and hazard. The first attempt, in 1607, was prevented; but the magistrates checked the ferocity of the subordinate officers ; and, after a month's arrest of the whole company, seve-n only of the principal men were detained a little longer in prison.

1608. The next spring the design was renewed. As if it had been a crime to escape from persecution, an unfre quented heath in Lincolnshire, near the mouth of the Humber, was the place of secret meeting. Just as a boat was bearing a part of the emigrants to their ship, a company of horsemen appeared in pursuit, and seized on the helpless women and children who had not yet adventured on the surf. " Pitiful it was to see the heavy case of these poor women in distress; what weeping and crying on every side." But when they were apprehended, it seemed impossible to punish and

THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND. 301

imprison wives and children for no other crime than CHAP. that they would not part from their husbands and ^ ^ fathers. They could not be sent home, for "they had no homes to go to ;" so that, at last, the magistrates were " glad to be rid of them on any terms," " though, in the mean time, they, poor souls, endured misery enough." Such was the flight of Robinson and Brewster, and their followers, from the land of their fathers.

Their arrival in Amsterdam, in 1608, was but the beginning of their wanderings. " They knew they were PILGRIMS, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest coun try, and quieted their spirits." In 1609, removing to 1609 Leyden, "they saw poverty coming on them like an armed man ; " but, being " careful to keep their word, and painful and diligent in their callings," they at tained " a comfortable condition, grew in the gifts and grace of the Spirit of God, and lived together in peace and love and holiness." " Never," said the magistrates of the city, " never did we have any suit or accusation against any of them ; " and, but for fear of offending King James, they would have met with public favor. " Many came there from different parts of England, so as they grew a great congregation." " Such was the humble zeal and fervent love of this people towards God and his ways, and their single- heartedness and sincere affection one towards an other," that they seemed to come surpassingly near u the primitive pattern of the first churches." A clear and well written apology of their discipline was pub lished by Robinson, who also, in the controversy on free will, as the champion of orthodoxy, " began to be terrible to the Armiiiians," and disputed in the uni-

30.2 THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND.

CHAP, versity with such power, that, as his friends assert,

— v-l> " the truth had a famous victory."

The career of maritime discovery had, meantime, been pursued with intrepidity, and rewarded with success. The voyages of Gosnold, Smith, and Hudson ; the enterprise of E-aleigh, Delaware, and Gorges ; the compilations of Eden, Willes, and Hakluyt, — had filled the commercial world with wonder ; Calvinists of the French Church had sought, though vainly, to plant themselves in Brazil, in Carolina, and with De Monts, in Acadia ; while weighty reasons, often and seriously discussed, inclined the Pilgrims to change their abode. They had been bred to the pursuits of hus bandry, and in Holland they were compelled to learn mechanical trades ; Brewster became a printer ; Brad ford, who had been educated as a farmer, learned the art of dyeing silk. The language of the Dutch never became pleasantly familiar, and their manners still less so. They lived but as men in exile. Many of their English friends would not come to them, or de parted from them weeping. " Their continual labors, with other crosses and sorrows, left them in danger to scatter or sink." " Their children, sharing their parents7 burdens, bowed under the weight, and were becoming decrepit in early youth." Conscious of ability to act a higher part in the great drama of hu manity, they were moved by "a hope and inward zeal of advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the New World ; yea, though they should be but as stepping-stones unto others for performing so great a work."

" Upon their talk of removing, sundry of the Dutch would have them go under them, and made them large offers ;" but the Pilgrims were attache'"1

THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND. 303

to their nationality as Englishmen, and to the Ian- CHAP guage of their line. A secret but deeply-seated love — > — of their country led them to the generous purpose of ] recovering the protection of England by enlarging her dominions, and a consciousness of their worth cheered them on to make a settlement of their own. They were u restless " with the desire to live once more under the government of their native land.

And whither should they go to acquire a province for King James ? The fertility and wealth of Guiana had been painted in dazzling colors by the brilliant eloquence of Raleigh ; but the terrors of the tropical climate, the wavering pretensions of England to the soil, and the proximity of bigoted Catholics, led them rather to look towards " the most northern parts of Virginia," hoping, under the general government of that province, " to live in a distinct body by them selves." To obtain the consent of the London com pany, John Carver, with Robert Cushinan, in 1617, repaired to England. They took with them " seven articles," from the members of the Church at Ley den, to be submitted to the council in England for Virginia. These articles discussed the relations, which, as sep aratists in religion, they bore to their prince, and they adopted the theory which the admonitions of Luther and a century of persecution had developed as the common rule of plebeian sectaries on the con tinent of Europe. They expressed their concurrence in the creed of the Anglican Church, and a desire of spiritual communion with its members. Towards the king and all civil authority derived from him, includ ing bishops, whose civil authority they alone recog nised, they promised, as they would have done to Nero and the Roman pontifex, " obedience in all

804 THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND.

CHAP, things, active if the thing commander! be not against God's word, or passive if it be." They denied all power to ecclesiastical bodies, unless it were given by the temporal magistrate. They pledged themselves to honor their superiors, and to preserve unity of spirit in peace with all men. "Divers selecte gen tlemen of the council for Virginia were well satis fied with their statement, and resolved to set forward their desire." The London company listened very willingly to their proposal, so that their agents " found God going along with them ; " and, through the influence of " Sir Edwin Sandys, a religious gen tleman then living," a patent might at once have been taken, had not the envoys desired first to consult "the multitude" at Ley den.

On the fifteenth of December, 1617, the Pilgrims transmitted their formal request, signed by the hands of the greatest part of the congregation. " We are well weaned," added Robinson and Brewster, " from the delicate milk of our mother country, and inured to the difficulties of a strange land ; the people are industrious and frugal. We are knit together as a body in a most sacred covenant of the Lord, of the violation whereof we make great conscience, and by virtue whereof we hold ourselves straitly tied to all care of each other's good, and of the whole. It is not with us as with men whom small things can dis courage."

The messengers of the Pilgrims, satisfied with their reception by the Virginia company, petitioned the king for liberty of religion, to be confirmed under the kiug's broad seal. But here they encountered in surmountable difficulties. Of all men in the govern ment of that day, Lord Bacon had given the most at-

THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND. 304*

tention to colonial enterprise. The settlements of the Cynf ' Scotch in Ireland ever enjoyed his particular favor. — • — To him, as " to the encourager, pattern, and perfecter of all vertuous endeavors," Strachey at this time dedi cated his Historic of Travaile into Virginia ; to him John Smith, in his "povertie," now turned for en- .couragement in colonizing New England, as to ua chief patron of his country and the greatest favorer of all good designs." To him Sir George Villiers, who was lately risen to the state of favorite to James, ad dressed himself for advice, and received instructions how to govern himself in the station of prime min ister.

The profound philosophy of the great master of speculative wisdom, included necessarily the lessons of a liberal toleration ; but it only scattered the seeds of truth which were not to ripen till a later genera tion. He saw that the Established Church, which he cherished as the eye of England, was not without blemish ; that the wrongs of the Puritans could neither be dissembled nor excused; that the silencing of ministers for the sake of enforcing the ceremonies, was, in the scarcity of good preachers, a punishment that lighted on the people ; and he esteemed contro versy " the wind by which truth is winnowed." But Bacon was a man for contemplative life, not for action ; his will was feeble, and having no power of resistance, and yet an incessant yearning for vain distinction and display, he became a craven courtier and an intolerant statesman. " Discipline by bishops," said he, " is fittest for monarchy of all others. The tenets of separatists and sectaries are full of schism, and inconsistent with monarchy. The king will beware of Anabaptists,

305 THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND.

CHAP. Brownists, and others of their kinds; a little con- ^v— ' nivency sets them on fire. For the discipline of the ids. Cllurch in colonies, it will be necessary that it agree with that which is settled in England, else it will make a schism and a rent in Christ's coat, which must be seamless ; and, to that purpose, it will be fit, that by the king's supreme power in causes ecclesiastical,, within all his dominions, they be subordinate under some bishop and bishoprick of this realm. This cau tion is to be observed, that if any transplant them selves into plantations abroad, who are known schis matics, outlaws, or criminal persons, they be sent for back upon the first notice."

These maxims prevailed at the council-board, when the envoys from the independent Church at Leyden preferred their requests. " Who shall make your ministers ? " it was asked of them ; and* they answered, "The power of making them is in the church ; " ordination required no bishop ; and their avowal of their principle threatened to spoil all. To advance the dominions of England Kino: James

O o

esteemed "a good and honest motion; and fishing was an honest trade, the apostles' own calling ; " yet he referred the suit to the prelates of Canterbury and London. Even while the negotiations were pending, a royal declaration constrained the Puritans of Lanca shire to conform or leave the kingdom ; and nothing more could be obtained for the wilds of America than an informal promise of neglect. On this the com munity relied, being advised not to entangle them selves with the bishops. "If there should afterwards be a purpose to wrong us," — thus they communed with themselves, — " though we had a seal as broad as

THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND. 305*

the house-floor, there would be means enough found CHAP. to recall or reverse it. We must rest herein on *— > — God's providence."

The dissensions in the Virginia company occa sioned further delay. At last, in 1619, its members, 1619. in their open court, writes one of the Pilgrims, " de manded our ends of going ; which being related, they said the thing was of God, and granted a large patent." Being taken in the name of one who failed to accompany the expedition, the patent was never of any service. And besides, the Pilgrims, after invest ing all their own means, had not sufficient capital to execute their schemes.

In this extremity, Robinson looked for aid to the Dutch. He and his people and their friends, to the number of four hundred families, professed themselves well inclined to emigrate to the country on the Hud son, and to plant there a new commonwealth under the command of the Stadtholder and the States Gen eral. The West India Company was willing to trans port them without charge, and to furnish them with cattle, if that people would " go under them ; " the directors petitioned the States General to promise protection to the enterprise against all violence from other potentates. But such a promise was contrary to the policy of the Dutch government, and was refused.

The members of the Church of Leyden were not shaken in their purpose of removing to America ; and ceasing " to meddle with the Dutch, or to depend too much on the Virginia Company," they prepared for their departure through their own resources and the aid of private friends. The confidence in wealth to be derived from fisheries had made Amer-

306 THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND.

CHAP ican expeditions a subject of consideration with Eng-

Vill.

— -~ lish merchants; and the agents from Leyden were able to form a partnership between their employers and men of business in London. The services of each emigrant were rated as a capital of ten pounds, and belonged to the company ; all profits were to be re served till the end of seven years, when the whole amount, and all houses and land, gardens and fields, were to be divided among the shareholders according to their respective interests. The London merchant, who risked one hundred pounds, would receive for his money tenfold more than the penniless laborer for his entire services. This arrangement threatened a seven years' check to the pecuniary prosperity of the community ; yet, as it did not interfere with civil rights or religion, it did not intimidate the resolved.

1620. And now the English at Leyden, trusting in God and in themselves, made ready for their departure. The ships which they had provided — the Speedwell, of sixty tons, the Mayflower, of one hundred and eighty tons — could hold but a minority of the congregation ; and Robinson was therefore detained at Leyden, while Brevvster, the governing elder, who was also able as a teacher, conducted " such of the youngest and strong est as freely offered themselves." Every enterprise of the Pilgrims began from God. A solemn fast was

July. held. " Let us seek of God," said they, " a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance." Anticipating their high destiny, and the sublime doc trines of liberty that would grow out of the principles on which their religious tenets were established, Uob- inson gave them a farewell, breathing a freedom of opinion and an independence of authority, such as then were hardly known in the world.

" 1 charge you, before God and his blessed angels,

THK PILGRIMS LEAVE HOLLAND. 307

ihat you follow me no further than you have seen me CHAP follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more ^-»* truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. I can not sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no further than the instruments of their reformation. — Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. — 1 beseech you, re member it, — 'tis an article of your church covenant, — that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God." "When the ship was ready to carry us away," writes Edward VVinslow, " the brethren that staid at Ley- den, having again solemnly sought the Lord with us and for us, feasted us that were to go, at our pastor's house being large ; where we refreshed ourselves, after tears, with singing of psalms, making joyful melody in our hearts, as well as with the voice, there being many of the congregation very expert in music ; and indeed it was the sweetest melody that ever mine ears heard. After this, they accompanied us to Delft-Haven, where we went to embark, and then feasted us again ; and, after prayer performed by our pastor, when a flood of tears was poured out, they accompanied us to the ship, but were not able to speak one to another for the abundance of sorrow to part. But we only, going aboard, gave them a volley of small shot and three pieces of ordnance ; and so, lilting up our hands to each other, and our hearts for each other to the Lord our God, we departed." A prosperous wind soon wafts the vessel to Southampton, arid, in a fortnight, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, freighted with the Aug. first colony of New England, leave Southampton for America. But they had not gone far upon the Atlan-

303 THE PILGRIMS EMBARK FOR AMERICA.

CHAP, tic before the smaller vessel was found to need repairs , ^^ and they entered the port of Dartmouth. After the 1620 ]apse Of eight precious days, they again weigh anchor; the coast of England recedes ; already they are unfurl ing their sails on the broad ocean, when the captain of the Speedwell, with his company, dismayed at the dangers of the enterprise, once more pretends that his ship is too weak for the service. They put back to Plymouth, " and agree to dismiss her, and those who are willing, return to London, though this was very grievous and discouraging." Having thus winnowed their numbers, the little band, not of resolute men only, but wives, some far gone in pregnancy, children, infants, a floating village, yet but one hundred and two souls, went on board the single ship, which was hired only to convey them across the Atlantic ; and, on the SepU3. sixth day of September, 1620, thirteen years after the first colonization of Virginia, two months before the concession of the grand charter of Plymouth, without any warrant from the sovereign of England, without any useful charter from a corporate body, the passen gers in the Mayflower set sail for a new world, where the past could offer no favorable auguries.

Had New England been colonized immediately on the discovery of the American continent, the old Eng lish institutions would have been planted under the powerful influence of the Roman Catholic religion ; had the settlement been made under Elizabeth, it would have been before activity of the popular mind in religion had conducted to a corresponding activity of mind in politics. The Pilgrims were Englishmen, Protestants, exiles for religion, men disciplined by misfortune, cultivated by opportunities of extensive ob servation, equal in rank as in rights, and bound by no code, but that of religion or the public will.

THE PILGRIMS AT CAPE COD. 30(J

The eastern coast of the United States abounds in CTIAP

V11I

beautiful and convenient harbors, in majestic bays ^— and rivers. The first Virginia colony, sailing along the shores of North Carolina, was, by a favoring storm, driven into the magnificent Bay of the Chesa peake ; the Pilgrims, having selected for their settle ment the country near the Hudson, the best position on the whole coast, were conducted to the most bar ren and inhospitable part of Massachusetts. After a 1620 long and boisterous voyage of sixty-three days, during which one person had died, they espied land, and, in Nov. 9, two days more, were safely moored in the harbor of Cape Cod.

Yet, before they landed, the manner in which their government should be constituted, was considered; and, as some were observed "not well affected to unity and concord," they formed themselves into a body politic by a solemn voluntary compact: —

" In the name of God, amen ; we, whose names are Nov underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign King James, having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves to gether, into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof, to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitu tions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most convenient for the general good of the colony Unto which we promise all due submission and obe dience."

31Q THE PILGRIMS AT CAPE COD.

CHAP This instrument was signed by the whole body of 3^, men, forty-one in number, who, with their families, con- 1620. stituted the one hundred and two, the whole colony, "the proper democracy," that arrived in New England. This was the birth of popular constitutional liberty. The middle age had been familiar with charters and constitutions ; but they had been merely compacts for immunities, partial enfranchisements, patents of no bility, concessions of municipal privileges, or limita tions of the sovereign power in favor of feudal institu tions. In the cabin of the Mayflower, humanity recovered its rights, and instituted government on the basis of " equal laws" for " the general good." John Carver was immediately and unanimously chosen governor for the year.

Men who emigrate, even in \vell-inhabited dis tricts, pray that their journey may not be in winter. Wasted by the rough and wearisome voyage, ill sup plied with provisions, the English fugitives found themselves, at the opening of winter, on a barren and bleak coast, in a severe climate, with the ocean on one side and the wilderness on the other. There were none to show them kindness or bid them wel come. The nearest French settlement was at Port Royal ; it was five hundred miles to the English plantation at Virginia. As they attempted to disem bark, the water was found so shallow, that they were forced to wrade ; and, in the freezing weather, the very act of getting on land sewed the seeds of con sumption and inflammatory colds. The bitterness of mortal disease was their welcome to the inhos pitable shore.

Nov. The season was already fast bringing winter, and the spot for the settlement remained to be chosen

THE PILGRIMS AT CAPE COD. 311

The shallop was unshipped ; and it was a leal disas- CHAP ter to find that it needed repairs. The carpenter - — - made slow work, so that sixteen or seventeen weary 162° days elapsed, before it was ready for service. But Slandish and Bradford, and others, impatient of the delay, determined to explore the country by land. " In regard to the danger," the expedition " was rather permitted than approved." Much hardship was endured ; but what discoveries could be made in Trtiro and near the banks of Paomet Creek ? The first expedition in the shallop was likewise un successful ; " some of the people, that died that winter, took the original of their death " in the enter prise ; " for it snowed and did blow all the day and night, and froze withal." The men who were set on shore, " were tired with marching up and down the steep hills and deep vallies, which lay half a foot thick with snow." A heap of maize was discovered ; and further search led to a burial-place of the Indians ; but they found " no more corn, nor any thing else but graves."

At length, the shallop was again sent out, with Dec. Carver, Bradford, Winslow, Standish, and others, with eight or ten seamen. The cold was severe ; the spray of the sea froze as it fell on them, and made their clothes like coats of iron. That day they reached Billingsgate Point, at the bottom of the Bay of Cape Cod, on the western shore of Wellfleet harbor. The next morning, the company divided ; f)ec those on shore find a burial-place, graves, and four 7* or five deserted wigwams, but neither people, nor any place inviting a settlement. Before night, the whole party met by the sea-side, and encamped on land together near Namskeket, or Great Meadow Creek.

312 THE PILGRIMS AT CAPE COD

CHAP. The next day they rose at five ; their morning

~^L prayers were finished, when, as the day dawned, a

1620 war-whoop and a flight of arrows announced an

8. * attack from Indians. They were of the tribe of the

Nausites, who knew the English as kidnappers ; bat

the encounter was without further result. Again the

boat's crew give thanks to God, and steer their bark

along the coast for the distance of fifteen leagues.

o o

But no convenient harbor is discovered. The pilot of the boat, who had been in these regions before, gives assurance of a good one, which may be reached before night; and they follow his guidance. After some hours' sailing, a storm of snow and rain begins , the sea swells ; the rudder breaks ; the boat must now be steered with oars ; the storm increases ; night is at hand ; to reach the harbor before dark, as much sail as possible is borne ; the mast breaks into three pieces ; the sail falls overboard ; but the tide is favorable. The pilot, in dismay, would have run the boat on shore in a cove full of breakers. " About with her," exclaimed a sailor, " or we are cast away." They get her about immediately, and, passing over the surf, they enter a fair sound, and shelter themselves under the lee of a small rise of land. It is dark, and the rain beats furiously ; yet the men are so wet, and cold, and weak, they slight the danger to be appre hended from the savages, and, after great difficulty, kindle a fire on shore.

Dec. Morning, as it dawned, showed the place to be a small island within the entrance of a harbor. The

10 day was required for rest and preparations. Time was precious ; the season advancing ; their compan ions were left in suspense. The next day was the " Christian Sabbath." Nothing marks the character

LANDING OF THE FATHERS AT PLYMOUTH. 313

of the Pilgrims more fully, than that they kept it sa- CHAP credly, though every consideration demanded haste.

On Monday, the eleventh day of December, old style, ^20 the exploring party of the forefathers land at Plym- 11. outh. A grateful posterity has marked the rock which first received their footsteps. The consequences of that day are constantly unfolding themselves, as time advances. It was the origin of New England; it was the planting of the New England institutions. Inquisitive historians have loved to mark every vestige of the Pilgrims ; poets of the purest minds have com memorated their virtues ; the noblest genius has been called into exercise to display their merits worthily, and to trace the consequences of their daring en terprise.

The spot, when examined, seemed to invite a settle- Dec

15

ment ; and, in a few days, the Mayflower was safely moored in its harbor. In memory of the hospitalities which the company had received at the last English port from which they had sailed, this oldest New England colony obtained the name of Plymouth. The system of civil government had been established by common agreement; the character of the church had for many years been fixed by a sacred covenant. As the Pilgrims landed, their institutions were already perfected. Democratic liberty and independent Chris tian worship at once existed in America.

After some days, they began to build — a difficult 1621 task for men of whom one half wrere wasting away 9 with consumptions and lung-fevers. For the sake of haste, it was agreed, that every man should build his own house ; but frost and foul weather were great hindrances : they could seldom work half of the week ; and tenements were erected as they could be, in the

VOL I. 4il»

314 TPIK PILGRIMS SUFFER FROM WANT AND OPPRESSION.

short intervals of sunshine between showers of sleet

VJll.

— — and snow-storms.

1021. On the third of March, a south wind brought warm 3. " and fair weather. " The birds sang in the woods most pleasantly." But it was not till spring had far advanced, that the mortality began to cease. It was afterwards remarked, with modest gratitude, that, of the survivors, very many lived to an extreme old age. A shelter, not less than comfort, had been wanting ; the living had been scarce able to bury the dead ; the well not sufficient to take care of the sick. At the season of greatest distress, there were but seven able to render assistance. The benevolent Carver had

Mar been appointed governor : at his first landing, he had

« 23. lost a son : soon after the departure of the Mayflower for England, his health sunk under a sudden attack ; and his wife, broken-hearted, followed him in death. William Bradford, the historian of the colony, was soon chosen his successor. The record of misery was kept by the graves of the governor and half the company. But if sickness ceased to prevail, the hardships of privation and want remained to be encountered. In

1621-2 the autumn, an arrival of new emigrants, who came unprovided with food, compelled the whole colony, for six months in succession, to subsist on half allowance only. " I have seen men," says Winslow, u stagger by reason of faintness for want of food." They were once saved from famishing by the benevolence of fish ermen off the coast. Sometimes they suffered from

IG22. oppressive exactions on the part of ships, that sold them provisions at the most exorbitant prices. Nor did their miseries soon terminate. Even in the third

1623. year of the settlement, their victuals were so entirely spent, that " they knew not at night where to have a

THE SYSTEM OF COMMON PROPERTY ABANDONED. 315

bit in the morning." Tradition declares, that, at one CHAP

VIII.

time, the colonists were reduced to a pint of corn, — ^ which, being parched and distributed, gave to each l623 individual only five kernels ; but rumor falls short of reality ; for three or four months together, they had no July. corn whatever. When a few of their old friends ar rived to join them, a lobster, or a piece of fish, without bread or any thing else but a cup of fair spring water, was the best dish which the hospitality of the whole colony could offer. Neat cattle were not introduced 1G24 till the fourth year of the settlement. Yet, during all this season of self-denial and suffering, the cheerful confidence of the Pilgrims in the mercies of Providence remained unshaken.

The system of common property had occasioned grievous discontents ; the influence of law could not compel regular labor like the uniform impulse of per sonal interest ; and even the threat of " keeping back ' their bread" could not change the character of the idle. After the harvest of 1623, there was no general 1623 want of food ; in the spring of that year, it had been agreed, that each family should plant for itself; and parcels of land, in proportion to the respective num bers, were assigned for culture, though not for inher itance. This arrangement produced contented labor and universal industry ; " even women and children now went into the field to work." The next spring, every person obtained a little land in perpetual fee. The necessity of the case, and the common interest, demanded a slight departure from the severe agree ment with the English merchants. Before many har vests, SG much corn was raised, that it began to form a profitable article of commerce, and the Indians, pre ferring the chase to tillage, abandoned culture, and

316 THE OLD COLONY AND THE NATIVES.

CHAP, looked to the colonists for their supply. The inter- - — *~ course between the Plymouth colony and the Indians soon assumed the character of commercial familiarity. The exchange of European manufactures for beaver and other skins, was almost the only pursuit which promised to be lucrative.

The spot to which Providence had directed the planters, had, a few years before, been rendered entirely a desert by a pestilence, which had like wise swept over the neighboring tribes, and desola ted almost the whole sea-board of New England.

1620 Where the Pilgrims landed, there were the traces of a previous population, but not one living inhabitant.

1621 Smokes from fires in the remote distance alone in dicated the vicinity of natives. Miles Standish, " the best linguist" among the Pilgrims, as well as the best soldier, with an exploring party, was able to discover

Feb. wigwams, but no tenants. Yet a body of Indians from abroad was soon discovered, hovering near the settlement, though disappearing when pursued. The

17. colony, therefore, assumed a military organization ; and Standish, a man of the greatest courage, the devoted friend of the church, which he never joined, was appointed to the chief command. But dangers were not at hand.

Mar. One day, Samoset, an Indian who had learned a little English of the fishermen at Penobscot, boldly entered the town, and, passing to the rendezvous exclaimed, in English, " Welcome, Englishmen." fie was from the eastern coast, of which he gave them profitable information ; he told also the names, num ber and strength of the nearer people, especially of the Wampanoaga, a tribe destined to become mem orable in the history of New England. After some

THE OLD COLONY AND THE NATIVES.

little negotiation, in which an Indian, who had been CHAP

VIII.

carried away by Hunt, had learned English in Eng- ^^- land, and had, in an earlier expedition, returned to 1<521 his native land, acted as an interpreter, Massasoit himself, the sachem of the tribe possessing the coun try north of Narragansett Bay, and between the rivers cf Providence and Taunton, came to visit the Pil-

grims, who, with their wives and children, now amounted to no more than fifty. The chieftain of a race as yet so new to the Pilgrims, was received with all the ceremonies which the condition of the colony permitted. A treaty of friendship was soon completed in few and unequivocal terms. The par ties promised to abstain from mutual injuries, and to deliver up offenders ; the colonists were to receive assistance, if attacked ; to render it, if Massasoit should be attacked unjustly. The treaty included the confederates of the sachem ; it is the oldest act of diplomacy recorded in New England ; it was con cluded in a day, and, being founded on reciprocal interests, was sacredly kept - for more than half a century. Massasoit desired the alliance, for the pow erful Narragansetts were his enemies ; his tribe, more over, having become habituated to some English lux uries, were willing to establish a traffic ; while the emigrants obtained peace, security, and the oppor tunity of a lucrative commerce.

An embassy from the little colony to their new ally, July performed, not with the pomp of modern missions, but through the forests and on foot, and received, not to the luxuries of courts, but to a share in the absti nence of savage life, confirmed the treaty of amity, and prepared the way for a trade in furs. The marks of devastation from a former plague were visible

318 THE OLD COLONY AND THE NATIVES.

CHAP, wherever the envoys went, and they witnessed the ex-

^*^ treme poverty and feebleness of the natives.

1G21. The influence of the English over the aborigines

Aug.

was rapidly extended. A sachem, who menaced their

safety, was himself compelled to sue for mercy ; and

Sept nine chieftains subscribed an instrument of submission

1H

to King James. The Bay of Massachusetts and harbor of Boston were fearlessly explored. Canon icus, the tyavering sachem of the Narragansetts, whose territory had escaped the ravages of the pestilence, had

IG22. at first desired to treat of peace. A bundle of arrows* wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake, was now the token of his hostility. But when Bradford stuffed the skin with powder and shot, and returned it, his courage quailed, and he desired to be in amity with a race of men whose weapons of war were so terrible. The hostile expedition which caused the first Indian blood to be shed, grew out of a quarrel, in which the inhabitants of Plymouth were involved by another colony.

1023. For who will define the limits to the graspings of ar* avarice ? The opportunity of gain by the fur-trade had been envied the planters of New Plymouth ; and Weston, who had been active among the London ad venturers in establishing the Plymouth colony, now desired to engross the profits which he already deemed secure. A patent for land near Weymouth, the first

1022 plantation in Boston harbor, was easily obtained ; and a company of sixty men were sent over. Help less at their arrival, they intruded themselves, for most of the summer, upon the unrequited hospitality of the people of Plymouth. In their plantation, they were soon reduced to necessity by their want of thrift, their injustice towards the Indians provoked hostility ;

DISSOLUTION OF THE PARTNERSHIP. 319

and a plot was formed for the entire destruction of the CHAP English. But the grateful Massassoit revealed the ^v-L design to his allies; and the planters at YVeymouth 1623 were saved hy the wisdom of the older colony and the intrepid gallantry of Standish. It was " his capital exploit." Some of the rescued men went to Plym outh; some sailed for England. One short year saw the beginning and end of the Weymouth plantation. " Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public," observes the childless Lord Bacon, with complacent self-love, " have proceeded from the un married or childless men." Weston's company, after having boasted of their strength, as far superior to Plymouth, which was enfeebled, they said, by the presence of children and women, owed their deliver ance to the colony that had many women, children, and weak ones with them.

The danger from Indian hostilities was early re moved ; the partnership with English merchants oc casioned greater inconvenience. Robinson and the rest of his church, at Leyden, were suffering from de ferred hopes, and were longing to rejoin their brethren in America. The adventurers in England refused to provide them a passage, and attempted, with but short success, to force upon the colonists a clergyman more 1624 friendly to the established church; thus outraging at 1026 once the affections and the religious scruples of those whom they had pledged themselves to cher ish. Divisions ensued ; and the partners in England, offended by opposition, and discouraged at the small returns from their investments, deserted the interests of their associates in America. A ship was even despatched to rival them in their business ; goods, which were sent for their supply, were sold to them

320 PROGRESS OF THE OLD COLONY.

at an advance of seventy per cent. The curse of .

^v-^ usury, which always falls so heavily upon new settle ments, did not spare them ; for, being left without help from the partners, they were obliged to borrow money at fifty per cent, and at thirty per cent. interest. At last, the emigrants themselves succeeded in purchasing the entire rights of the English adven turers ; the common property was equitably divided, and agriculture established immediately and com pletely on the basis of private possessions. For a six years' monopoly of the trade, eight of the most enter prising men assumed all the engagements of the colony ; so that the cultivators of the soil became really freeholders ; neither debts nor rent day troubled them.

The colonists of Plymouth had exercised self- government without the sanction of a royal paten* Yet their claim to their lands was valid, according to the principles of English law, as well as natural jus tice. They had received a welcome from the abo

1621. rigines ; and the council of Plymouth, through the mediation of Sir Ferdinand Gorges,1 immediately issued a patent to John Pierce for their benefit- But the trustee, growing desirous of becoming lord pro-

1623. prietary, and holding them as tenants, obtained a new charter, which would have caused much difficulty, had not his misfortunes compelled him to transfer his rights to the company. When commerce extended to the Kennebec, a patent for the adjacent territory was

1623. easily procured. The same year, Allerton was again sent to London to negotiate an enlargement of both the grants; and he gained from the council of Plym outh concessions equal to all his desires. But it

1 Gorges' Description, 24 Briefe Narration, c. xxii.

PROGRESS OF THE OLD COLONY. 321

was ever impossible to obtain a charter from the king ; CHAP so that, according to the principles adopted in Eng- — >^- land, the planters, with an unquestionable property in 163C the soil, had no right to assume a separate jurisdiction. It was therefore in the virtues of the colonists them selves, that their institutions found a guaranty for sta bility. They never hesitated to punish small offences; it was only after some scruples, that they inflicted capital punishment. Their doubts being once re moved, they exercised the same authority as the charter governments. Death was, by subsequent laws, made the penalty for several crimes ; but was never inflicted except for murder. House-breaking and highway robbery were offences unknown in their courts, and too little apprehended to be made subjects of severe legislation.

The progress of population was very slow. The lands in the vicinity were not fertile ; and at the end of ten years the colony contained no more than three hundred souls. Few as were their numbers, they had struck deep root, and would have outlived every storm, even if they had been followed by no other colonies in New England. Hardly were they planted in America, when their enterprise began to take a wide range ; before Massachusetts was settled, they had acquired rights at Cape Ann, as well as an exten sive domain on the Kennebec ; and they were the first to possess an English settlement on the banks of the Connecticut. The excellent Robinson died at 1025 Fjeyden, before the faction in England would permit i""' his removal to Plymouth ; his heart was in America, where his memory will never die. The remainder of his people, and with them his wife and children, emi grated, so soon as means could be provided to defray VOL. i. 41

322 PROGRESS OF THE OLD COLONY.

CHAP, the costs. "To enjoy religious liberty was the known *— v^ end of the first comers' great adventure into this remote wilderness ; " and they desired no increase, but from the friends of their communion. Yet their residence in Holland had made them acquainted with various forms of Christianity ; a wide experience had emancipated them from bigotry ; and they were never betrayed into the excesses of religious persecution, though they sometimes permitted a disproportion between punishment and crime.

The frame of civil government in the Old Colony was of the utmost simplicity. A governor was chosen by general suffrage ; whose power, always subordinate to the general will, was, at the desire of Bradford, 1624. specially restricted by a council of five, and afterwards 1633. of seven, assistants. In the council, the governor had but a double vote. For more than eighteen years, " the whole body of the male inhabitants " constituted the legislature ; the state was governed, like our towns, as a strict democracy ; and the people were frequently convened to decide on executive not less 1639. than on judicial questions. At length, the increase of population, and its diffusion over a wider territory, led to the introduction of the representative system, and each town sent its committee to the general court. We shall subsequently find the colony a distinct member of the earliest American Confederacy ; but it is chiefly as guides and pioneers that the fathers of the Old Colony merit gratitude.

Through scenes of gloom and misery, the Pilgrims showed the way to an asylum for those who would go to the wilderness for the purity of religion or the liberty of conscience. Accustomed " in their native land to no more than a plain country life and the in

PROGRESS OF THE OLD COLONY. 323

nocent trade of husbandry," they set the example of CHAP colonizing New England, and formed the mould for - — - the civil and religious character of its institutions. Enduring every hardship themselves, they were the servants of posterity, the benefactors of succeeding generations. In the history of the world, many pages are devoted to commemorate the men who have besieged cities, subdued provinces, or overthrown em pires. In the eye of reason and of truth, a colony is a better offering than a victory ; the citizens of the United States should rather cherish the memory of those who founded a state on the basis of democratic liberty ; the fathers of the country ; the men who, as they first trod the soil of the New World, scattered the seminal principles of republican freedom and na tional independence. They enjoyed, in anticipation, the thought of their extending influence, and the fame which their grateful successors would award to their virtues. " Out of small beginnings," said Bradford, " great things have been produced ; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone to many, yea, in some sort to our whole nation." — " Let it not be grievous to you," — such was the consolation offered from England to the Pilgrims

o a

in the season of their greatest sufferings, — " let it not be grievous to you, that you have been instruments to break the ice for others. The honor shall be yours to the world's end."

324

CHAPTER IX.

THE EXTENDED COLONIZATION OK NEW ENGLAND

CHAP THE council of Plymouth for New England, having obtained of King James the boundless territory and

1620. thg immense monopoly which they had desired, had no further obstacles to encounter but the laws of nature and the remonstrances of parliament. No tributaries tenanted their countless millions of uncul tivated acres ; and exactions upon the vessels of Eng lish fishermen were the only means of acquiring an immediate revenue from America. But the spirit of the commons indignantly opposed the' extravagant pretensions of the favored company, and demanded for every subject of the English king the free liberty of engaging in a pursuit which was the chief source

1621. of wealth to the merchants of the west. "Shall the %£ English," said Sir Edwin Sandys, the statesman so

well entitled to the enduring gratitude of Virginia, " be debarred from the freedom of the fisheries, a priv ilege which the French and Dutch enjoy? It costs the kingdom nothing but labor ; employs shipping ; and furnishes the means of a lucrative commerce with Spain." — " The fishermen hinder the plantations," replied Calvert; " they choke the harbors with their ballast, and waste the forests by improvident use. America is not annexed to the realm, nor within the jurisdiction of parliament ; you have therefore no right

THE COUNCIL OF PLYMOUTH FOR NEW ENGLAND. 326

lo interfere." — " We may make laws for Virginia," CHAP rejoined another member, intent on opposing the ~~^+~ flagrant benevolence of the king, and wholly uncon scious of asserting, in the earliest debate on American affairs, the claim of parliament to that absolute sove reignty which the colonies never acknowledged, and which led to the war of the revolution ; " a bill passed by the commons and the lords, if it receive the king's assent, will control the patent." The charter, argued Sir Edward Coke, with ample reference to early statutes, was granted without regard to pre viously-existing rights, and is therefore void by the established laws of England. So the friends of the liberty of fishing triumphed over the advocates of the royal prerogative, though the parliament was dissolved before a bill could be carried through all the forms of legislation.

Yet enough had been done to infuse vigor into mercantile enterprise ; in the second year after the 1G22 settlement of Plymouth, five-and-thirty sail of vessels went to fish on the coasts of New England, and made good voyages. The monopolists appealed to King James ; and the monarch, preferring to assert his own extended prerogative, rather than to regard the spirit of the house of commons, issued a proclamation, Nov which forbade any to approach the northern coast of America, except with the special leave of the company of Plymouth, or of the privy council. It was mon strous thus to attempt to seal up a large portion of an immense continent ; it was impossible to carry the ordinance into effect ; and here, as so often, despotism caused its own fall. By desiring strictly to enforce its will, it provoked a conflict in which it was sure of being defeated.

326 TliE COUNCIL OF PLYMOUTH FOR NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP. But the monopolists endeavored to establish their *-^v^' claims. One Francis West was despatched with a 1623. commission as admiral of New England, for the pur pose of excluding from the American seas such fish* errnen as came without a license. But his feeble authority was derided ; the ocean was a wide place over which to keep sentry. The mariners refused to pay the tax which he imposed ; and his ineffectual authority was soon resigned. In England, the at tempt occasioned the severest remonstrances, which 1624 did not fail to make an impression on the ensuing parliament.

The patentees, alike prodigal of charters and te-

1622 nacious of their monopoly, having given to Robert 13.' Gorges, the son of Sir Ferdinand, a patent for a tract

extending ten miles on Massachusetts Bay, and thirty

1623 miles into the interior, now appointed him lieutenant- general of New England, with power " to restrain interlopers," not less than to regulate the affairs of the corporation. His patent was never permanently used; though the colony at Weymouth was renewed, to meet once more with ill fortune. He was attended by Morrell, an Episcopal clergyman, who was provided with a commission for the superintendence of ecclesi astical affairs. Instead of establishing a hierarchy, Morrell, remaining in New England about a year, wrote a description of the country in verse ; while the civil dignity of Robert Gorges ended in a short-lived dispute with Weston. They came to plant a hierarchy and a general government, and they produced only a fruitless quarrel and a dull poem.

1624 But when parliament was again convened, the con troversy against the charter was once more renewed ; and the rights of liberty found an inflexible champion

THE COUNCIL OF PLYMOUTH FOR NEW ENGLAND. 327

in the aged Sir Edward Coke, who now expiated the CHAP sins of his early ambition by devotion to the interests -^^ of the people. It was in vain that the patentees relin- J^24 quished a part of their pretensions; the commons 17. resolved that English fishermen shall have fishing with all its incidents. " Your patent" — thus Gorges was addressed by Coke from the speaker's chair — " contains many particulars contrary to the laws and privileges of the subject ; it is a monopoly, and the ends of private gain are concealed under color of planting a colony." " Shall none," observed the veteran lawyer in debate, " shall none visit the sea- coast for fishing ? This is to make a monopoly upon the seas, which wont to be free. If you alone are to pack and dry fish, you attempt a monopoly of the wind and the sun." It was in vain for Sir George Calvert to resist. The bill passed without amend ment, though it never received the royal assent.1

The determined opposition of the house, though it could not move the king to overthrow the corporation, paralyzed its enterprise ; many of the patentees aban doned their interest ; so that the Plymouth company now did little except issue grants of domains ; and the cottages, which, within a few years, were sprinkled xlong the coast from Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy, were the consequence of private adventure.

The territory between the River of Salem and the Kennebec became, in a great measure, the property of two enterprising individuals. We have seen that Martin Pring was the discoverer of New Hampshire, I60a

i The original authorities,— De- Hist. Coll. i. 125 — 130 ; Smith, in

bates of the Commons, 1(520-1, iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 25; Haz-

i. 258. 2(>0, 201. 318, 31!); Journal ard, i. 151—155. Compare Prince,

of Commons, in Chalmers, 100—- Morton, Ilutdiinson, Belknap, and

102, and 103, 104 ; Sir F. Gorges' Chalmers. Narration , Morrell, in i. Mass

328 COLONIZATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

CHAP, and that John Smith of Virginia had examined and

IX

— ~ extolled the deep waters of the Piscataqua. Sir 1614. Ferdinand Gorges, the most energetic member of the council of Plymouth, always ready to encounter risks in the cause of colonizing America, had not allowed repeated ill success to chill his confidence and decision ; and now he found in John Mason, " who had been governor of a plantation in Newfoundland, a man of

1621. action," like himself. It was not difficult for Mason, y^* who had been elected an associate and secretary of

the council, to obtain a grant of the lands between Salem River and the farthest head of the Merrimac ; but he did no more with his vast estate than give it a

1622. name. The passion for land increased; and Gorges jof and Mason next took a patent for Laconia, the whole

country between the sea, the St. Lawrence, the Mer rimac, and the Kennebec ; a company of English merchants was formed ; and under its auspices per-

1623. manent plantations were established on the banks of the Piscataqua.1 Portsmouth and Dover are among the oldest towns in New England. Splendid as were the anticipations of the proprietaries, and lavish as was their enthusiasm in liberal expenditures, the immediate progress of the plantations was inconsiderable, and, even as fishing stations, they do not seem to have prospered.

1628. When the country on Massachusetts Bay was granted to a company, of which the zeal and success were soon to overshadow all the efforts of proprietaries

1629 and merchants, it became expedient for Mason to 7. " procure a new patent ; and he now received a frtsh

1 Gorges* Narrative, c. xxiv. ff. Belknap's New Hampshire, c. i.

Hubbard, 614—016. Prince, 215. —a truly valuable work, highly

Adams's Annals of Portsmouth, 9, creditable to American literature. 1 0. Williamson's Maine, i. 222, and

COLONIZATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 329

title1 to the territory between the Merrimac and CHAP Piscataqua, in terms which, in some degree, interfered ^- with the pretensions of his neighbors on the south. This was the patent for New Hampshire, and was pregnant with nothing so signally as suits at law. The country had been devastated by the mutual wars of the tribes, and the same wasting pestilence which left New Plymouth a desert ; no notice seems to have been taken of the rights of the natives ; nor did they now issue any deed of their lands ;2 but the soil in. the 163( immediate vicinity of Dover, and afterwards of Ports mouth, was conveyed to the planters themselves, or to 1631 those at whose expense the settlement had been made.3 A favorable impulse was thus given to the little colonies ; and houses now began to be built on the "Strawberry Bank" of the Piscataqua. But the progress of the town was slow ; Josselyn 4 described the whole coast as a mere wilderness, with here and there a few huts scattered by the sea-side ; and 1638 thirty years after its settlement, Portsmouth made 1653 only the moderate boast of containing " between fifty and sixty families."5

When the grand charter, which had established the 1635 council of Plymouth, was about to be revoked, Mason extended his pretensions to the Salem River, the southern boundary of his first territory, and obtained of the expiring corporation a corresponding patent. ^P"1 There is room to believe, that the king would, with out scruple, have confirmed the grant,6 and conferred upon him the powers of government, as absolute lord and proprietary ; but the death of Mason cut off all the N2°^'

1 Hazard, i. 290—293. 4 Josselyn's Voyajros, 20.

2 Savage on Winthrop, i. 405, 5 Fanner's Belknap, 434. and tl1. 6 ibid. 431, and c. li.

3 Adams's Portsmouth, 17-19.

VOL. i. ' 42

330 COLONIZATION OF MAINE.

CHAP, hopes which his family might have cherished of territo- •> — ^ rial aggrandizement and feudal supremacy. His widow 1038 in vain attempted to manage the colonial domains; the costs exceeded the revenue; the servants were ordered to provide for their own welfare ; the property of the great landed proprietor was divided among them for the -payment of arrears ; and Mason's Amer ican estate was completely ruined. Neither king nor proprietary troubled the few inhabitants of New Hampshire ; they were left to take care of them selves — the best dependence for states, as well as for individuals.

The enterprise of Sir Ferdinand Gorges, though sustained by stronger expressions of royal favor, and continued with indefatigable perseverance, was not followed by much greater success. We have seen a 1606. colony established, though but for a single winter, on the shores which Pring had discovered, and Weymouth had been the first to explore. After the bays of New 1(315. England had been more carefully examined by the same daring adventurer who sketched the first map of the Chesapeake, the coast was regularly visited by fishermen and traders. A special account of the country was one of the fruits of Hakluyt's inquiries, and was published in the collections of Purchas. At Winter Harbor, near the mouth of Saco River, Eng lishmen, under Richard Vines, again encountered the 1616-7 severities of the inclement season; and not long after wards, the mutineers of the crew of Rocraft lived from 1618-9 autumn till spring on Monhegan Island, where the 1G07 colony of Popham had anchored, and the ships of John 1614. Smith had made their station during his visit to New England. The earliest settlers, intent only on their immediate objects, hardly aspired after glory ; from the

COLLISION WITH FRANCE ON THE EASTERN FRONTIER. 331

few memorials which they have left, it is not, perhaps, CHAP possible to ascertain the precise time, when the rude ~^» shelters of the fishermen on the sea-coast began to be 1623 tenanted by permanent inmates, and the fishing stages 1628 of a summer to be transformed into regular establish ments of trade.1 The first settlement was probably 1020 made " on the Maine," but a few miles from Monhe- gan, at the mouth of the Pemaquid. The first ob servers could not but admire the noble rivers and secure bays, which invited commerce, and gave the promise of future opulence ; but if hamlets were soon planted near the mouths of the streams ; if forts were erected to protect the merchant,, and the mariner, — . agriculture received no encouragement ; and so many causes combined to check the growth of the country, that, notwithstanding its natural advantages, nearly two centuries glided away, before the scattered settle ments along the sea-side rose into a succession of busy marts, sustained and enriched by the thriving villages of a fertile interior.

The settlement at Piscataqua could not quiet the ambition of Gorges. As a Protestant and an Eng lishman, he was almost a bigot, both in patriotism and in religion. Unwilling to behold the Roman Catholic church and the French monarch obtain possession of the eastern coast of North America, his first act with reference to the territory of the present state of Maine was, to invite the Scottish nation to become the

1 For the early history of Maine, elaborate and most minute work the original authorities are in Pur- of VVilliar.ison. I have also de- chas, vol. iv. ; the Relation of the rived advantage from Geo. Folsom'a President and Council for New Saco and Biddeford, and VV. VVil- Bngland ; Josselyn's Voyages ; and lis's Portland. Williamson, i. 227, the Narration which Gorges him- describes Saco as a permanent set- self composed in his old age. Ma- tlement in 1(J3.'{; I incline rather to i.erials may he found also in Snlli- the opinion of Willis and Folsom. van's History , and far better in the

332 COLLISION WITH FRANCE ON THE EASTERN FRONTIER. .

CHAP, guardians of its frontier. Sir William Alexander, the ambitious writer of turgid rhyming tragedies, a man of influence with King James, and already filled with the desire of engaging in colonial adventure, seconded a design, which promised to establish his personal .dignity and interest; and he obtained, without diffi-

1621 culi\, a patent for all the territory east of the River

iQt St. Croix, and south of the St. Lawrence.1 The

whole region, which had already been included in the

French provinces of Acadia and New France, was

designated in English geography by tho name oi

Nova Scotia. Thus were the seeds of future wars

. scattered broadcast by the unreasonable pretensions

of England ; for James now gave away lands, which,

1603. already and with a better title on the ground of dis covery, had been granted by Henry IV. of France, and which had been immediately occupied by his subjects ; nor could it be supposed, that the reigning French monarch would esteem his rights to his rising colonies invalidated by a parchment under the Scottish seal, or prove himself so forgetful of honor, as to dis continue the protection of the emigrants who had planted themselves in America on the faith of the crown.2

Yet immediate attempts were made to effect a

J622. Scottish settlement. One ship, despatched for the purpose, did but come in sight of the shore, and then, declining the perilous glory of colonization, returned to the permanent fishing station on Newfoundland,

1 023. The next spring, a second ship arrived; but the two vessels in company hardly possessed courage to sail to and fro along the coast, and make a partial survey oi

1 The patent is in Hazard, v. i. tion, c. xxiv ; Lamg's Scotland, iii p. j:J4 — 1 4;>; m Purchas, v. iv. p. 477. 1871. See, also. Gorges' Narra- 2 Chalmers, 92.

PASSION OF BUCKINGHAM FOR THE QUEEN OF FRANCE. 333

the harbors and the adjacent lands. The formation CHIP of a colony was postponed ; and a brilliant eulogy of — ^ the soil, climate, and productions of Nova Scotia, was the only compensation for the delay.1

The marriage of Charles I. with Henrietta Maria 1625 promised between the rival claimants of the wilds of Acadia such friendly relations as would lead to a peaceful adjustment of jarring pretensions. Yet, even at that period, the claims of France were not recog nized by England ; and a new patent confirmed to Sir William Alexander all the prerogatives with which he had been lavishly invested,2 with the right of creating an order of baronets. The sale of titles proved to the poet a lucrative traffic, and the project of a colony was abandoned.

The citizens of a republic are so accustomed to see the legislation and the destinies of their country con trolled only by public opinion, as formed and expressed in masses, that they can hardly believe the extent in which the fortunes of European nations have, at least for a short season, been moulded by the caprices of indi viduals : how often the wounded vanity of a courtier, or an unsuccessful passion of a powerful minister, has changed the foreign relations of a kingdom ! The feeble monarch of England, having twice abruptly dissolved parliament, 'and having vainly resorted to illegal modes of taxation, had forfeited the confidence of his people, and, while engaged in a war with Spain, was destitute of money and of credit. It was at such a moment, that- the precipitate gallantry of the favorite 1627 Buckingham, eager to thwart the jealous Richelieu, to whom he was as far inferior in the qualities of a

1 Purchas's Pilgrims, iv. 1872. Charlevoix, i. 274. De Laet 62.

2 Hazard, i. 2CKJ, and ff. Biog. Brit, sub voce Alexander.

334 EARLY CONQUEST OF CANADA.

CHAP, statesman, as he was superior in youth, manners, and — *-^ personal beauty, hurried England into an unnecessary and disastrous conflict with France. The siege of Rochelle invited the presence of an English fleet ; but the expedition was fatal to the honor and the objects of Buckingham.

o

Hostilities were no where successfully attempted;

1628. except in America. Port Royal fell easily into the hands of the English ; the conquest was no more than the acquisition of a small trading station. It was a bolder design to attempt the reduction of Canada. Sir David Kirk and his two brothers, Louis and Thomas, were commissioned to ascend the St. Law rence, and Quebec received a summons to surrender. The garrison, destitute alike of provisions and of military stores, had no hope but in the character of Champlain, its commander: his answer of proud defiance concealed his weakness ; and the intimidated

1629 assailants withdrew. But Richelieu sent no season able supplies ; the garrison was reduced to extreme suffering and the verge of famine ; and when the squadron of Kirk reappeared before the town, the English were welcomed as deliverers. Favorable terms were demanded and promised ; and Quebec capitulated. Thus did England, one hundred and thirty years before the enterprise of Wolfe, make the conquest of the capital of New France ; that is to say, she gained possession of a barren rock and a few wretched hovels, tenanted by a hundred miserable men, who were now but beggars for bread of their vanquishers. Yet the event might fairly be deemed of importance, as pregnant with consequences ; and the English admiral could not but admire the position of the fortress. Not a port in North America remained

RESTORATION OF CANADA AND ACAD1A TO FRANCE. 335

to the French : from Long; Island to the Pole, England CHAP

IX

was without a rival.1 ^—

But before the conquest of Canada was achieved, peace had been proclaimed between the contending states ; and an article in the treaty promised the restitution of all acquisitions, made subsequent to Apiil 14, 1629.2 The possession of New France would have been too dearly purchased by the vileness of falsehood ; and it was readily agreed to restore Quebec.3 Perhaps an indifference to the issue pre vailed in France ; but the pride of honor and of reli gion seconded the claims to territory ; and the genius of Richelieu succeeded in obtaining the restitution. 1632 not of Canada only, but of Cape Breton and the %£' undefined Acadia.4 The event has been frequently deplored ; but misery ensued, because neither the boundaries of the rival nations were distinctly marked, nor the spirit of the compact honestly respected.

While the eastern provinces of America were thus recovered by the firmness and ability of the French minister, very different causes delayed the colonization of Maine. Hardly had the little settlement, which claimed the distinction of being the oldest plantation io'28 on that coast, gained a permanent existence, before a succession of patents distributed the whole territory from the Piscataqua to the Penobscot among various proprietors. The grants were couched in vague 1629 language, and were made in hasty succession, without l^l deliberation on the part of the council of Plymouth, and without any firm purpose of establishing colonies

* M£moires, in Hazard, i. 285 — 4 Charlevoix, i. 176. Winthrop,

287. Charlevoix, i. 165, and ff. i. 13. Hazard, i. 319, 320. Wil-

Compare, also, Haliburton's N. Sco- liamson, i. 246, 247. Dummer'a

tia, i. 43. 46, &c. Memorial, in iii. M. H. Coll. i. 232,

2 Rushworth, ii. 24. is an ex pnrte statement, unworthy

3 Hazard, i. 314, 315. to be cited as of authority.

336 COLONIZATION OF MAINE.

CHAP, on the part of those for whose benefit they were — : -^ issued. The consequences were obvious. As the neighborhood of the indefinite possessions of France foreboded the border feuds of a controverted jurisdic tion, so the domestic disputes about land-titles and boundaries threatened perpetual lawsuits. At the same time, enterprise was wasted by its diffusion over too wide a surface. Every harbor along the sea was accessible ; groups of cabins were scattered at wide intervals, without any common point of attraction ; and the agents of such proprietaries as aimed at securing a revenue from colonial rents, were often, perhaps, faithless, were always unsuccessful. How feeble were the attempts at planting towns, is evident from the nature of the tenure by which the lands near the Saco were held ; the condition of the grant was the introduction of fifty settlers within seven years ! Ag riculture was hardly attempted. A district of forty miles square, named Lygonia, and stretching from K)30 Harpswell to the Kennebunk, was set apart for the first colony of farmers ; but when a vessel of sixty tons brought over the emigrants who were to intro duce the plough into the regions on Casco Bay, the earlier resident adventurers treated their scheme with derision. The musket and the hook and line were more productive than the implements of husbandry ; the few members of the unsuccessful company re mained but a single year in a neighborhood where the culture of the soil was so little esteemed, and, embarking once more, sought a home among thu rising settlements of Massachusetts. Except for the wealth to be derived from the forest and the sea, the coast of Maine would not at that time have been ten anted by Englishmen ; and this again was fatal to the

COLONIZATION OF MAINE. 337

expectations of the proprietaries ; since furs might be CHAP gathered and fish taken without the payment of quit- ^-^ rents or the purchase of lands.1

Yet a pride of character sustained in Gorges an 1035 unbending hope ; and he clung to the project of ter- 3, * iitorial aggrandizement. When Mason limited him self to the country west of the Piscataqua, and while Sir William Alexander obtained of the Plymouth com pany a patent for the eastern extremity of the United States, Gorges, alike undismayed by previous losses, and by the encroaching claims of the French, who had already advanced their actual boundary to the Penob- scot, succeeded in soliciting the whole district that lies between the Kennebec and the boundary of New Hampshire. The earnestness of his designs is ap parent from his appointment as governor-general of New England. If an unforeseen accident prevented his embarkation for America, and relieved Massachu setts of its apprehensions, he at least sent his nephew, William Gorges, to govern his territory. That ofiicer repaired to the province without delay. Saco may have contained one hundred and fifty inhabitants, when the first court ever duly organized on the soil of 1636 Maine was held within its limits.2 Before that time, there may have been some voluntary combinations among the settlers themselves ; but there had existed on the Kennebec no jurisdiction of sufficient power to prevent or to punish bloodshed among the traders.3 William Gorges remained in the country less than two years; the six Puritans of Massachusetts and. Con- 1637 necticut, who received a commission to act as his

l Hubbard's Narrative, 204. Wil- 2 Documents in Foleom, 49 — 52.

lis, 13. 17, «fec. Folsom, 318, &c. Josselyn, 200.

Williamscta, i. 237, and ff. Gorges, 3 Hubbard. 107, 168. Winthrop. 48,49.

VOL. I. 43

338 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, successors, declined the trust,1 and the infant settle-

IX.

^v^- ments then called New Somersetshire were aban- 1038 doned to anarchy, or to so imperfect a government, 1640. that of the events of two years no records can

be found. 1(539 Meantime a royal charter now constituted Gorges,

A "l

& in his old age, the lord proprietary of the country ; and his ambition immediately soared to the honor of establishing boroughs, framing schemes of colonial government, and enacting a code of laws. The vet eran royalist, clearly convinced of the necessity of a vigorous executive, had but dim conceptions of popular liberty and rights ; and he busied himself in making such arrangements as might have been expected from an old soldier, who was never remarkable for sagacity, had never seen America, and who, now in his dotage, began to act as a lawgiver for a rising state in another hemisphere.2

Such was the condition of the settlements at the north at a time when the region which lies but a little nearer the sun, was already converted, by the energy of religious zeal, into a busy, well-organized, and even opulent state. The early history of Massa chusetts is the history of a class of men as remarkable for their qualities and their influence on public hap piness, as any by which the human race has ever been diversified.

1024. The settlement near Weymouth was revived; a 10S5. new plantation was begun near Mount Wollaston, within the present limits of Quincy; and the mer chants of the West continued their voyages to the islands of New England. But these things were of

l Winthrop. Hubbard, 2G1, 262. Williamson, i. 2G8. a Gorges, 50, and S.

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 339

feeble influence compared with the consequences of CHAP the attempt at a permanent establishment near Cape —"— Ann; for White, a minister of Dorchester, a Puritan, 1G^4 but riot a separatist, breathed into the enterprise a higher principle than that of the desire of gain. Roger Conant, having already left New Plymouth for Nantasket, through a brother in England, who was a friend of White, obtained the agency of the adventure. 1625 A year's experience proved to the company, that their speculation must change its form, or it would produce no results ; the merchants, therefore, paid with honest liberality all the persons whom they had employed, and abandoned the unprofitable scheme. But Conant, a man of extraordinary vigor, " inspired as it were by some superior instinct," and confiding in the active friendship of White, succeeded in breathing a portion 1626 of his sublime courage into his three companions ; and, making choice of Salem, as opening a convenient place of refuge for the exiles for religion, they resolved to remain .as the sentinels of Puritanism on the Bay of Massachusetts.1

The design of a plantation was now ripening in the mind of White and his associates in the south-west of England. About the same time, some friends in Lin colnshire fell into discourse about New England ; im- agination swelled with the thought of planting the pure gospel among the quiet shades of America ; it seemed better to depend on the benevolence of uncul tivated nature and the care of Providence, than to endure the constraints of the English laws and the severities of the English hierarchy.

i Hubbfird, 102. 10G-108. Prince, 224. 229. 231. 235, 236 Cot ton Mather, b. i. c. iv. a. 3.

;540 COLONIZATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP. " The business caine afresh to agitation " in Lon- — ^ don; the project of planting by the help of fishing 1628. voyages was given up; and from London, Lincoln shire, and the west country, men of fortune and religious zeal, merchants and country gentlemen, the discreeter sort among the many who desired a refor mation in church government, " offered the help of their purses" to advance "the glory of God," by planting a colony of the best of their countrymen, on the shores of New England. To facilitate the grant of a charter from the crown, 'they sought the concurrence of the Council of Plymouth for New England ; they were befriended in their application by the Earl of Warwick, and obtained the approbation of Sir Ferdinando Gorges ; and on the nineteenth of March, 1628, that body, which had proved itself incapable of colonizing its domain, and could derive revenue only from sales of territory, disregarding a former grant of a large district on the Charles River, conveyed to Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, Thomas Southcoat, John Humphrey, John Endicott, and Simon Whetcomb, a belt of land ex tending three miles south of the River Charles and the Massachusetts Bay, and three miles north of every part of the River Merriinac, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. The grantees associated to themselves Sir Richard Saltonstall, Isaac Johnson, Matthew Cradock, Increase Nowell, Richard Belling- hain, Theophilus Eaton, William Pynchon and others ; of whom nearly all united religious zeal with a ca pacity for vigorous action. Endicott — who, " ever since the Lord in mercy had revealed himself unto him," had maintained the straitest judgment against the outward form of God's worship, as prescribed by

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. «'U I

English, statutes ; a man of dauntless courage, and that CHA-P. cheerfulness which accompanies courage ; benevolent, — <~~ though austere; firm, though choleric; of a rugged 1G28 nature, which his stern principles of non-conformity had not served to mellow — was selected as. a "fit in strument to begin this wilderness work." Before June came to an end he was sent over as governor, assisted by a few men, having his wife and family for the companions of his voyage, the hostages of his irrevo cable attachment to the New World. Arriving in safety in September, he united his own party and those who were formerly planted there, into one body, which counted in all not much above fifty or sixty persons. With these he founded the oldest town in the colony, soon to be called Salem ; and extended some supervision over the waters of Boston harbor, then called Massachusetts Bay. At Charlestown an Englishman, one Thomas Walford, a blacksmith, dwelt in a thatched and palisaded cabin. William Black- stone, an Episcopal clergyman, a courteous recluse, gifted with the impatience of restraint which belongs to the pioneer, had planted himself on the opposite peninsula ; the island now known as East Boston was occupied by Samuel Maverick, son of a pious noncon formist minister of the West of England, himself a prelatist. At Nantasket and further south, stragglers lingered near the sea side, attracted by the gains of a fishing station and a petty trade in beaver. The Puritan ruler visited in person the remains of Morton's unruly company in what is now Quincy, rebuked them, for their profane revels, and admonished them, " to look there should be better walking."

After the departure of the emigrant ship from England, the company, counselled by White, an erni-

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

nent lawyer, and supported by the time-serving cour- ^— tier, Lord Dorchester, better known as Sir Dudley °28- Carleton, who, in December, became Secretary of State, obtained from the king a confirmation of their grant. It was obviously the only way to secure the country as a part of his dominions ; for the Dutch were already trading in the Connecticut river ; the French claimed New England, as within tne limits of New France; and the prelatical party, which had endeavored again and again to colonize the coast, had tried only to fail. Before the news reached London of Endicott's safe arrival, the number of adventurers 102 9. was much enlarged; on the second of March, 1629, an offer of " Boston men," that promised good to the plantation, was accepted ; and on the fourth of the same month, a few days only before Charles I., in a public state paper, avowed his purpose of reigning without a parliament, the broad seal of England was put to the letters patent for Massachusetts.

The charter, which was cherished for more than half a century as the most precious boon, constituted a body politic by the name of the Governor and Com pany of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. The administration of its affairs was intrusted to a gov ernor, deputy, and eighteen assistants, who were annu ally, on the last Wednesday of Easter term, to be elected by the freemen or mernbeis of the corporation, and to meet once a month or oftener " for despatching such businesses as concerned the company or planta tion." Four times a year the governor, assL> cants, and all the freemen were to be summoned to " one great, general, and solemn assembly," and these " great and general courts " were invested with full powers to choose and admit into the company so many as they

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 343

slioulcl think fit, to elect and constitute all requisite CHAP subordinate officers, and to make laws and ordinances <• — *^~ for the welfare of the company and for the govern- 1639- ment of the lands and the inhabitants of the planta tion, " so as such laws and ordinances be not contrary and repugnant to the laws and statutes of the realm of England."

" The principle and foundation of the charter of Massachusetts," wrote Charles the Second at a time when he had Clarendon for his adviser, " was the free dom of liberty of conscience." The governor, or his deputy, or two of the assistants, was empowered, but not required, to administer the oaths of supremacy and allegiance to every person who should go to in habit the granted lands ; and as the statutes, estab lishing the common prayer and spiritual courts, did not reach beyond the realm, the silence of the charter respecting them released the colony from their bind ing power. The English government did not foresee how wide a departure from English usages would grow out of the emigration of Puritans to America ; but as conformity was not required of the new com monwealth, the character of the times was a guaranty, that the immense majority of emigrants would be fugitives who scrupled compliance with the common prayer. The prelatical party had no motive to emi grate ; it was Puritanism, almost alone, that would pass, over ; and freedom of Puritan worship was necessarily the purpose and the result of the colony. The proceedings of the company, moreover, did not fall under the immediate supervision of the king, and did not require his assent to render them valid ; so that self-direction in ecclesiastical as well as civil af- feurs, passed to the patentees, subject only to conflicts

344 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, with the undefined prerogative of the king, and the ^~r^ rising claim to paramount legislative authority by U29. Parliament.

The company was authorized to transport to its American territory any persons, whether English or foreigners, who would go willingly, would become lieges of the English king, and were not restrained " by especial name ; " and they were encouraged to do so by a promise of favor to the commerce of the col ony with foreign parts, and a total or partial exemp tion from duties for seven and for twenty-one years. If the pretension to a right of imposing duties after that limited time was not renounced, it was at least declared, that the emigrants and their posterity should ever be considered as natural born subjects, entitled to all English liberties and immunities.

The political rights of the colonists were deemed by King Charles no further worthy of his consider ation ; the corporate body alone was to decide what liberties they should enjoy. All ordinances published under its seal were to be implicitly obeyed. Full legislative and executive authority was conferred, not on the future inhabitants of New England, but on the company, of which the emigrants could not be active members so long as its meetings were held in England. Yet, as if by design, the place for holding its courts was not specially appointed. What if the corporation should admit the emigrants to be freemen, and call a meeting beyond the Atlantic ? "What if the Governor, deputy, assistants, and freemen, should transfer them selves and their patent to Massachusetts, and after thus breaking down the distinction between the col ony and the corporation, by a daring construction of their powers under the charter erect an independent representative government ?

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 345

The charter had been granted in March ; in April, CHAP. the new embarkation was far advanced. The local — *-~ government temporarily established for Massachusetts 1 6 2 9< was to consist of a governor and counsellors, of whom eight out of thirteen were appointed by the corpora tion in England ; three were to be named by these eight ; and to complete the number, the old planters who intended to remain, were " to choose two of the discreetest men among themselves."

As the propagating the gospel was, by the free profession of the company, their aim in settling the plantation, they were careful to make plentiful provision of godly ministers ; all " of one judgment, and fully agreed on the manner how to exercise their ministry." One of them, was Samuel Skelton, of Clare Hall, Cambridge, from whose faithful preachings En- dicott formerly received much good ; a friend to the utmost equality of privileges in church and state ; another was the able, reverend, and grave Francis Higginson, of Jesus College, Cambridge, commended for his worth by Isaac Johnson, the friend of Hamp- den. Deprived of his parish in Leicester for noncon formity, he received the invitation to conduct the emigrants as a call from Heaven.

Two other ministers were added, that there might be enough, not only to build up those of the English nation, but also to " wynne the natives to the Christian faith." " If any of the salvages " — such were the in structions to Endicott, uniformly followed under the succeeding changes of government — " pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in our patent, endeavor to purchase their tytle, that we may avoid the least scruple of intrusion." " Par ticularly publish that no wrong or injury be offered to

346 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, the natives." In pious sincerity the company desired — C— ' to redeem these wrecks of human nature ; the colony 1 6 2 9> seal was an Indian erect, with an arrow in his risrht

/ o

hand, and the motto, " Come over and help us " — a de vice of which the appropriateness has been lost by the modern substitution of the line of Algernon Sydney.

The party who took passage for Salem included six shipwrights, and an experienced surveyor, who was to give advice on the proper site for a fortified town, and with Samuel Sharpe, master gunner of ordnance, was to muster all such as lived under the government, both planters and servants, and at appointed times to exer cise them in the use of arms. A great store of cattle, horses, and goats was put on shipboard. Before sail ing, servants of ill life were discharged. u No idle drone may live amongst us," was the spirit as well as the law of the dauntless community. As Higginson and his companions were receding from the Land's end, he called his children and others around him to look for the last time on their native country, not as the scene of sufferings from intolerance, but as the home of their fathers, and the dwellingplace of their friends. They did not say, " Farewell, Babylon ! fare well, Koine ! " but " Farewell, dear England !" On the voyage they " constantly served -God, morning and evening, by reading and expounding a chapter in the bible, singing and prayer." On " the sabbath they added preaching twice, and catechising ; " and twice they " faithfully " kept " solemn fasts." The passage was " ; ious and christianlike," for even " the ship master and his religious company set their eight and twelve o'clock watches with singing a psalm and with prayer that was not read out of a book."

In the last days of June, the little band of two

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 347

hundred arrived at Salem, where conscience was no CHAP. more to be wounded by the " corruptions of the — *-*- English church." They found eight or ten pitiful 1G29* hovels, one larger tenement for the governor, and a few corn-fields as the only proofs that they had been preceded by their countrymen. The old and new planters, without counting women and children, formed a body of about three hundred, of whom the larger part were " godly Christians, helped hither by Isaac Johnson and other members of the company, to be employed in their work for a while, and then to live of themselves."

To anticipate the intrusion of John Oldharn, who was minded to settle himself on Boston Bay, pretend ing a title to much land there by a grant from Robert Gorges, Endicott with all speed sent a large party, accompanied by a minister, to occupy Charlestown. On the neck of land, which was full of stately tim ber, with the leave of Sagamore John, the petty chief who claimed dominion over it, Graves, the surveyor, employed some of the servants of the company in building a " great house," and modelled and laid out the form of the town with streets about the hill.

To the European world, the few tenants of the huts and cabins at Salem were too insignificant to merit notice ; to themselves, they were chosen emis saries of God ; outcasts from England, yet favorites with Heaven ; destitute of security, of convenient food, and of shelter, and yet blessed as instruments selected to light in the wilderness the beacon of pure religion. The emigrants were not so much a body politic, as a church in the wilderness ; seeking, under a visible covenant, to have fellowship with God, as a family of adopted sons.

348 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP. " The governor was moved to set apart the twenti- ^— ' eth of July to be a solemn day of humiliation, for the 1629. caoyce of a pastor and teacher at Salem." After pray er and preaching, " the persons thought on," presenting no claim founded on their ordination in England, ac knowledged a twofold calling ; the inward, which is of God, who moves the heart and bestows fit gifts ; the out ward, which is from a company of believers joined in covenant, and allowing to every member a free voice in the election of its officers. The vote was then taken by each one's writing in a note the name of his choice. Such is the origin of the use of the ballot on this con tinent; in this manner Skelton was chosen pastor and Higginson teacher. Three or four of the gravest members of the church then laid their hands on Skelton with prayer, and in like manner on Hig ginson ; so that " these two blessed servants of the !Lord came in at the door and not at the window ;" by the act of the congregation and not by the authority of a prelate. A day in August was appointed for the election of ruling elders and deacons. Thus the church, like that of Plymouth, was self-constituted, on the principle of the independence of each religious community. It did not ask the assent of the king, or recognize him as its head ; its officers were set apart and ordained among themselves ; it used no liturgy ; it rejected unnecessary ceremonies, and reduced the simplicity of Calvin to a still plainer standard. The motives which controlled its decisions were so deeply seated, that its practices were repeated spontaneously by Puritan New England.

There were a few at Salem by whom the new system was disapproved ; and in John and Samuel Browne they found able leaders. Both were mem,

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 349

bers of the colonial council ; both were reputed CHAP. " sincere in their affection for the good of the planta — -v-~ tion;" they had been specially recommended to En- dicott by the corporation in England; and one of them, an experienced lawyer, had been a member of the board of assistants. They refused to unite with the public assembly, and gathered a company, in which " the common prayer worship " was upheld. But should the emigrants — thus the colonists reason ed — give up the purpose for which they had crossed the Atlantic ? Should the hierarchy intrude on the forests of Massachusetts with the ceremonies which their consciences scrupled? Should the success of the colony be endangered by a breach of its unity ; and the authority of its government overthrown by the confusion of an ever recurring conflict ? They deemed the coexistence of their liberty and of prel acy impossible : anticipating invasions of their rights, they feared the adherents of the Establishment, as spies in the camp ; and the form of religion from which they had suffered, was repelled, not as a sect, but as a tyranny. "You are Separatists," said the Brownes, in self-defence, "and you will shortly be Anabaptists." "We separate," answered the minis, ters, " not from the church of England, but from its corruptions. We came away from the common prayer and ceremonies, in our native land, where we suffered much for nonconformity; in this place of liberty, we cannot, we will not, use them. Their imposition would be a sinful violation of the wor ship of God." The supporters of the liturgy were in their turn rebuked as separatists ; their plea was reproved as sedition, their worship forbidden as a mutiny ; and the Brownes were sent back to England,

350 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, as men "factious and evil conditioned," who could

• — •— not be suffered to remain within the limits of the

1629. gram^ because they would not be conformable to its

government. Thus was Episcopacy professed in

Massachusetts, and thus was it exiled.

The Brownes, on their arrival in England, raised rumors of scandalous and intemperate speeches, utter ed by the ministers in their public sermons and pray ers, and of rash innovations begun and practised in the civil and ecclesiastical government. The returning ships also carried with them numerous letters from the emigrants, which were eagerly sought for and wide ly read. So deeply was the English people touched with sympathy for the young colony, that within a few months three editions were published of the glow ing description of New England by Higginson.

For the concession of the Massachusetts charter seemed to the Puritans like a summons from Heaven, inviting them to America. There they might pro fess the gospel in its spotless simplicity, and the soli tudes of nature would protect their devotions. Eng land, by her persecutions, proved herself weary of her inhabitants, who were now esteemed more vile than the aarth on which they trod. Habits of ex pense degraded men of moderate fortune ; and the schools, which should be fountains of living waters, had become corrupt. The New World shared in the providence of God ; it had claims, therefore, to the benevolence and exertions of man. What nobler work than to abandon the comforts of England, and plant a church without a blemish where it might spread over a continent ?

But was it right, a scrupulous conscience demand ed, to fly from persecutions ? Yes, they answered, for

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 351

persecutions might lead their posterity to abjure the CHAP. truth. The certain misery of their wives and chil- — . — • dren was the most gloomy of their forebodings ; but l a stern sense of duty hushed the alarms of affection, and set aside all consideration of physical evils as the fears of too carnal minds. Respect for the rights of the natives offered an impediment more easily re moved; much of their land had been desolated by the plague, and their good leave might be purchased. The ill success of other plantations could not chill the rising enthusiasm ; former enterprises had aimed at profit; the present object was purity of religion; the earlier settlements had been filled with a lawless mul titude ; it was now proposed to form a " peculiar gov ernment," and to colonize "THE BEST." Such were the " Conclusions '* which were privately circulated among the Puritans of England.

At a general court, held on the twenty-eighth of July, 1629, Matthew Cradock, governor of the com pany, who had engaged himself beyond all expecta tion in the business, following out what seems to have been the early design, proposed " the transfer of the government of the plantation to those that should in habit there." At the offer of freedom from subordi nation to the company in England, several " persons of worth and quality," wealthy commoners, zealous Puritans, were confirmed in the desire of founding a new and a better commonwealth beyond the Atlantic, even though it might require the sale of their heredi tary estates, and hazard the inheritance of their children. To his father, who was the most earnest of them all, the younger Winthrop, then about four and twenty, wrote cheeringly: "I shall call that my country where I may most glorify God, and enjoy the

352 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, presence of my dearest friends. Therefore herein I — r^ submit myself to God's will and yours, and dedicate 1629. myse]f to God and the company, with the whole en deavors, both of body and mind. The Conclusions which you sent down are unanswerable ; and it can not but be a prosperous action which is so well al lowed by the judgments of God's prophets, under taken by so religious and wise worthies in Israel, and indented to God's glory in so special a service."

On the twenty-sixth of August, at Cambridge, in England, twelve men, of large fortunes and liberal culture, among whom were John Winthrop, Isaac Johnson, Thomas Dudley, Richard Saltonstall, bear ing in mind that the adventure could grow only upon confidence in each other's fidelity and resolution, bound themselves in the presence of God, by the word of a Christian, that if, before the end of September, an order of the court should legally transfer the whole government, together with the patent, they would themselves pass the seas to inhabit and con tinue in New England. Two days after this covenant had been executed, the subject was again brought before the court ; a serious and long continued debate ensued, and on the twenty-ninth of August a general consent appeared, by the erection of hands, that "the government and patent should be settled in New England."

This vote, by which the commercial corporation became the germ of an independent commonwealth, was simply a decision of the question, where the future meetings of the company should be held ; it was sanctioned by the best legal advice ; its lawfulness was at the time not questioned by the privy council, at a later day, was expressly aifirmed by Sawyer, the

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 353

attorney-general ; and, in 1677, the chief-justices CHAP. Rainsford and North still described the " charter as — , — making the adventurers a corporation upon the 1629. place." Similar patents were granted by the Long Parliament and Charles II., to be executed in Rhode Island and Connecticut ; and Baltimore and Penn had an undisputed right to reside on their domains. The removal of the place of holding the courts from Lon don to the Bay of Massachusetts, changed nothing in the relations of the company to the crown, and it conferred no franchise or authority on emigrants who were not members of the company ; it would give them a present government, but the corporate body and their successors, wherever they were to meet, re tained the chartered right of making their own selec tion of the persons whom they would admit to the freedom of the company. The conditions on which the privilege should be granted would control the political character of Massachusetts.

At a very full general court, convened on the twentieth of October for the choice of new officers out of those who were to join the plantation, John Winthrop, of Groton in Suffolk, of whom " extraor dinary great commendations had been received both for his integrity and sufficiency, as being one alto gether well fitted and accomplished for the place of governor," was by erection of hands elected to that office for one year from that day ; and with him were joined a deputy and assistants, of whom nearly all proposed to go over. The greatness of the business brought a necessity for a supply of money. It was resolved, that the business should be proceeded in with its first intention, which was chiefly the glory of God, and to that purpose its meetings were sane-

354 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, tified by the prayers and guided by the advice of — ,— ' Archer and Nye, two faithful ministers in London.

1629. Qf ^0 o}(j stock of the company, two thirds had been lost ; the remainder, taken at its true value, with fresh sums adventured by those that pleased, formed a new stock, which was to be managed by ten undertakers, five chosen out of adventurers remaining in England, and five out of the planters. The undertakers, receiv ing privileges in the fur trade and in transportation, assumed all engagements and charges, and after seven years, were to divide the stock and profits;' but their privileges were not asserted, and nine tenths of the capital were sunk in the expenses of the first year. There was nothing to show for the adventure, but the commonwealth which it helped to found. Of ships for transporting passengers Cradock furnished two. The large ship, the Eagle, purchased by members of the company, took the name of Arbella, from a sister of the Earl of Lincoln, wife to Isaac Johnson, who was to go in it to the untried sorrows of the wilderness. The corporation which had not many more than one hundred and ten members, could not meet the continual outlays for colonization ; another common stock was, therefore, raised from such as bore good affection to the plantation, to defray public charges, such as maintenance of ministers, transporta tion of poor families, building of churches and forti fications. To the various classes of contributors and emigrants, frugal grants of land promised some in demnity. In this manner, by the enterprise of the ten undertakers, and other members of the company, especially of those who were shipowners, by the con tributions of Puritans in England, but mainly by the resources of the emigrants themselves, there were em ployed during the season of 1630, seventeen vessels,

354 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

•-.s .:vii-: guided oy the ! id vice of r.yuj ^uhfvd ministers in London, •AA *.*'*•? A - vfv:ar<iny, two thirds had been.

iht' : .; ';• •'* 'i •$ 'iv its true value, with fresh

ul;«ii>" o~: ''luit pleased, formed anew

n ;; •••«* ::,:iuaged by ten undertake!*,

-, f -rers remaining ia England, r'v»t*--TH. ' The undertakers, receiv- ?«.« fa? trade and in transportation, /•• \-nifBts and charges, und after seven Vj divide the st«Dck and profits;' but. Ofc wt;-re not a&serjted, and nine tenths of •^i ;ai vr^re sunk in. the expenses of the first year. •w&» iM/tbing to show for the adventure, but the t>w*ultii %vtich it helped to found. Of ships rtiiig passengers Ctadock forni?*he« t*vo. f<h'u>, the Eagle, purchased \>y members of >•>"••.: p&.'cv, toolc the name of Arbella, from \* ••')*is»rl r»f Lincoln, wjfo-.to Isaac Johnson, -. ;•& i ^/ in it to the autried sorrows of the •'Ti-ri-w. Tfee corpOfAtioti vrhich had. not maiiy than £-%^^||ind;roci *ud tea members, could i^ot i « j v outlays for colonization ; . anot aer .- w.*.. i fiereforo, raised from such as 1 -ore c;tioi? ^>: the plantation^ to defray public %K,t- 4^' .; ;?ainteaance of minist^^ traiiS] '/>na- >or /it:'.ihes, buiiding of churches and yforti- :1«5 variou iln*1^ of oontril>uto /s and , frui' -AI graiiti of la-v . promised &MHG in- In t lus munaer, l>y ilm enterpris of the $£;&&* «iid oilier meaibers. of the i ,>mpany,

themselves, therv were era- v>f 1630, seventh /'.

GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 355

which brought over not far from a thousand souls, CHAP.

IX

beside horses, kine, goats, and all that was most neces- ^^^ sary for planting, fishing and shipbuilding. 1630.

As the hour of departure drew near, the hearts of some, even of the strong, began to fail. On the eighteenth of March, it became necessary at South ampton to elect three substitutes among the assistants ; and of these three, one never came over. Even after they had embarked, a court was held on board the Arbella, and Thomas Dudley was chosen deputy gov ernor in the place of Humphrey, who staid behind. It was principally the calm decision of Winthrop which sustained the courage of his companions. In him a yielding gentleness of temper, and a never failing desire for unity and harmony, were secured against weakness by deep but tranquil enthusiasm. His nature was touched by the sweetest sympathies of affection for wife, children, and associates ; cheerful in serving others and suffering with them, liberal without repining, helpful without reproaching, in him God so exercised his grace, that he discerned his own image and resemblance in his fellow-man ; and cared for his neighbor like himself. He was of a sociable nature ; so that " to love and be beloved was his soul's paradise," and works of mercy were the habit of his life. Parting from affluence in England, he unrepiningly went to meet impoverishment and premature age for the welfare of Massachusetts. His lenient benevolence tempered the bigotry of his com panions, without impairing their resoluteness. An honest royalist, averse to pure democracy, yet firm in his regard for existing popular liberties ; in his native parish a conformist, yet wishing for " gospel purity ; " in America mildly aristocratic, advocating a govern ment of " the least part," yet desiring that part to be

356 COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP. " the wiser of the best ; " disinterested, brave, and con-

^<^> scientious, — his character marks the transition of the

1630. reformation into virtual republicanism; when the

sentiment of loyalty, which it was still intended to

cherish, gradually yielded to the irresistible spirit of

civil freedom.

England rung from side to side with the "general rumor of this solemn enterprise." On leaving the Isle of Wight, "Winthrop and the chief of his fellow pas sengers on board the Arbella, including the ministers, bade an affectionate farewell to the church and the land of their nativity. " Reverend Fathers and Breth ren," such was their address to all from whom they parted, " Howsoever your charitie may have met with discouragement through the misreport of our inten tions, or the indiscretion of some amongst us, yet we desire you would be pleased to take notice, that the principals and body of our company esteem it our honour to call the church of England, from whence wee rise, our deare mother, and cannot part from our native countrie, where she specially resideth, without much sadnes of heart and many tears in our eyes ; blessing God for the parentage and education, as members of the same body, and while we have breath, we shall syncerely indeavour the continuance and abundance of her welfare.

" Be pleased, therefore, Reverend Fathers and Brethren, to helpe forward this worke now in hand ; which, if it prosper, you shall bee the more glorious- It is a usuall exercise of your charity, to recommend to the prayers of your congregations the straights of your neighbours : do the like for a church springing out of your owne bowels ; pray without ceasing for us, who are a weake colony from yourselves.

"What we intreat of you that are ministers of

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 357

God. that we crave at the hands of all the rest of CHAP

TX"

our brethren, that they would at no time forget us in ^^., their private solicitations at the Throne of Grace. If 1 6 3 o. any, .through want of cleare intelligence of our course, or tenderness of affection towards us, cannot conceive so well of our way as we could desire, we would intreat such not to desert us in their prayers and to express their compassion towards us.

" What goodness you shall extend to us, wee, your brethren in Christ Jesus, shall labour to repay ; wishing our heads and hearts may be as 'fountains of tears for your everlasting welfare, when wee shall be in our poore cottages in the wildernesse, overshadowed with the spirit of supplication, through the manifold necessities and tribulations which may not altogether unexpectedly, nor, we hope, unprofitably befall us."

About seven hundred persons, or more — most of them Puritans, inclining to the principles of the Inde pendents ; not conformists, but not separatists ; many of them men of high endowments and large fortune ; scholars, well versed in the learning of the times ; clergymen who ranked among the best educated and most pious in the realm — embarked with Winthrop in eleven ships, bearing with them the charter which was to be the warrant of their liberties. The land was to be planted with a noble vine, wholly of the right seed. The principal emigrants were a commu nity of believers, professing themselves to be fellow- members of Christ ; not a school of philosophers pro claiming universal toleration and inviting associates without regard to creed. They desired to be bound together in a most intimate and equal intercourse, for one and the same great end. They knew that they would be as a city set upon a hill, and that the eyes of all people were upon them. Reverence for their

357* COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, faith led them to pass over the vast seas to the good v— Y— - land of which they had purchased the exclusive pos- 1 * °- session, with a charter of which they had acquired the entire control, for the sake of reducing to practice the system of religion and the forms of civil liberty, which they cherished more than life itself. They constituted a corporation to which they themselves might establish the terms of admission. They kept firmly in their own hands the key to their asylum, and were resolved on closing its doors against the enemies of its unity, its safety, and its peace.

" The worke wee have in hand " — these are Winthrop's words on board the Arbella during the passage — " is by a mutuall consent, through a speciall overruling Providence, and a more than ordinary approbation of the churches of Christ, to seeke out a place of cohabitation and consorteshipp under a due forme of government, both civill and ecclesiastical. For this wee are entered into covenant with God ; for this wee must be knitt together as one man, allways having before our eyes our commission as members of the same body. Soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as his owne people ; wee shall see much more of his wis- dome, power, goodness, and truthe, than formerly wee have been acquainted with ; Hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations, 4 the Lord make it likely that of New England.' "

After sixty one days at sea the Arbella came in sight of Mount Desert; on the tenth of June the White Hills were descried afar off; near the Isle of Shoals and Cape Ann, the sea was enlivened by the shallops of fishermen ; and on the twelfth, as the ship came to anchor outside of Salem harbor, it was visited

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 358

by William Peirce, of the Lyon, whose frequent voy- CHAP. ages had given him experience as a pilot on the coast. ^~C— Winthrop and his companions came full of hope ; they 1 6 3 °- found the colony in an " unexpected condition " of distress. Above eighty had died the winter before. Higginson himself was wasting under a hectic fever ; many others were weak and sick ; all the corn and bread among them was hardly a fit supply for a fort night. The survivors of one hundred and eighty ser vants who had been sent over in the two years be fore at a great expense, instead of having prepared a welcome, thronged to the new comers to be fed ; and were set free from all engagements, for their labor, great as was the demand for it, was worth less than, their support. Famine threatened to seize the emi grants as they stepped on shore ; and it soon appeared necessary for them, even at a ruinous expense, to send the Lyon to Bristol for food.

To seek out a place for their plantation, since Sa lem pleased them not, Winthrop, on the seventeenth of June, sailed into Boston harbor. The West-coun try men, who, before leaving England had organized their church with Maverick and Warham for minis ters, and who in a few years were to take part in call ing into being the commonwealth of Connecticut, were found at Nantasket, where they had landed just before the end of May. Winthrop ascended the Mystic a few miles, and on the nineteenth took back to Salem a favorable report of the land on its banks. Dudley and others who followed, preferred the coun try on the Charles river at Water town. By common consent, early in the next month the removal was made, with much cost and labor, from Salem to Charlestown. But while drooping with toil and sor row, fevers consequent on the long voyage and the

358* COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, want of proper food and shelter, twelve ships having ^C— arrived, the colonists kept the eighth of July as a day 1630. Of thanksgiving. The emigrants had intended to dwell together, but in their distress they planted where each was inclined. A few remained at Salem ; others halted at the Saugus, and founded Lynn. The governor was for the time at Charlestown,where the poor u lay up and down in tents and booths round the Hill." On the other side of the river, the little peninsula, scarce two miles long by one broad, marked by three hills, and blessed with sweet and pleasant springs, safe pastures and land that promised " rich cornfields and fruitful gar dens," attracted among others William Coddington of Boston in England, who, in friendly relations with William Blackstone, built the first good house there, even before it took the name which was to grow famous throughout the world. Some planted on the Mystic, in what is now Maiden. Others, with Sir Eichard Saltonstall and George Phillips, "a godly minister specially gifted, and very peaceful in his place," made their abode at Watertown; Pynchon and a few began Roxbury ; Ludlow and Rossiter, two of the assistants, with the men from the west of Eng land, after wavering in their choice, took possession of Dorchester Neck, now South Boston. The disper sion of the company was esteemed a grievance ; but it was no time for crimination or debate, and those who had health made haste to build. Winthrop him self " givinge good example to all the planters, wore plaine apparell, drank ordinarily water, and when he was not conversant about matters of justice, put his hand to labour with his servants."

The enjoyment of the gospel as the dearest cove nant that can be made between God and man was the chief object of the emigrants. On Friday, the thir

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 3n9

tictli of July, a fast was held at Charlestown, and after CHAP prayers and preaching, Winthrop, Dudley, Isaac —C— Johnson and Wilson, united themselves by covenant >63°- into one "congregation," as a part of the visible church militant. On the next Lord's day others were received ; and the members of this body could alone partake of the Lord's Supper, or present their children for baptism. They were all brothers and equals ; they revered, each in himself, the dignity of God's image, and nursed a generous reverence for one an other ; bound to a healing superintendence over each other's lives, they exercised no discipline to remove evil out of the inmost soul, except the censure of the assembly of the faithful whom it would have been held grievous to offend. This church, the seminal centre of the ecclesiastical system of Massachusetts, was gathered while Higginson was yet alive ; on the sixth of August he gave up the ghost with joy, for the future greatness of New England, and the coming glories of its many churches floated in cheerful visions before his eyes. When on the twenty-third of August the first court of assistants on this side the water was held at Charlestown, how the ministers should be maintained took precedence of all other business ; and it was ordered that houses should be built for them, and support provided at the common charge. Four days later the men " of the congrega tion" kept a fast, and after their own free choice of John Wilson for their pastor, they themselves set him apart to his office by the imposition of hands, yet without his renouncing his ministry received in Eng land. In like manner the ruling elder and deacons were chosen and installed. Thus was constituted the body, which, crossing the Charles Kiver, became known as the first church of Boston. It embodied

359* COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, the three great principles of Congregationalism ; a

— r-^ right faith attended by a true religious experience as

1630. ^Q requisite qualifications for membership; the

equality of all believers, including the officers of

the church ; the equality of the several churches, free

from the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical court or bishop,

free from the jurisdiction of one church over another,

free from the collective authority of them all.

Meantime the civil government was exercised with mildness and impartiality, yet with determined vigor. Justices of the peace were commissioned with the powers of those in England. On the seventh of Sep tember, names were given to Dorchester, Watertown, and Boston, which thus be^an their career as towns

/ o

under sanction of law. Quotas were settled and money levied. The interloper who dared to " con front " the public authority was sent to England ; or enjoined to depart out of the limits of the patent.

As the year for which Winthrop and the assistants had been chosen was coming to an end, on the nine teenth of October, a general court, the first in Amer ica, was held at Boston. Of members of the com pany, less than twenty had come over. One hundred and eight inhabitants, some of whom were old plant ers, were now, at their desire, admitted to be freemen. The former officers of government were continued : ) as a rule for the future, " it was propounded to the people, and assented unto by the erection of hands, that the freemen should have power to choose assist ants, when any were to be chosen; the assistants to choose from among themselves the governor and Ms deputy." The rule implied a strong reluctance to leave out of the board any person once elected magistrate ; and perhaps also revealed a natural anx iety respecting the effect of the large creation of

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 360

freemen which had just been made, and by which CHAP. the old members of the company had abdicated their ^v— controlling power in the court ; but as it was in con- 1 6 8 o. flict with the charter, it could have no permanence.

During these events, sickness delayed the progress of the settlements, and death often withdrew the laborer from the fruit of his exertions. Every hard ship was encountered. The emigrants, miserably lodged, beheld their friends " weekly, yea, almost daily, drop away before their eyes ; " in a country abound ing in secret fountains they had pined for the want of good water. Many of them had been accustomed to plenty and ease, the refinements and the conveniencies of luxury. Woman was there to struggle against un foreseen hardships, unwonted sorrows ; the men, who defied trials for themselves, were miserable at behold ing those whom they cherished dismayed by the hor rors which encompassed them. The virtues of the lady Arbella Johnson could not break through the gloom ; and as she had been ill before her arrival, grief hur ried her to the grave. Her husband, a wise and holy man, in life " the greatest furtherer of the plantation," and by his bequests a large benefactor of the infant state, sank under disease and afflictions ; but " he died willingly and in sweet peace," making a " nio^t godly end.'1 Winthrop lost a son, who left a widow and children in England. A hundred or more, some of them of the board of assistants, men who had been trusted as the inseparable companions of the common misery or the common success, disheartened by the scenes of woe, and dreading famine and death, desert ed Massachusetts, and sailed for England ; while Winthrop remained, " parent-like, to distribute his goods to brethren and neighbors." Before December, two hundred, at the least, had died. Yet, as the

360* COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, brightest liglitnings are kindled in the darkest clouds, — r— - the general distress did but augment the piety and 1630. confirm the fortitude of the colonists. Their earnest ness was softened by the mildest sympathy ; while trust in Providence kept guard against weakness and despair. Not a trace of repining appears in their records ; the congregations always assembled at the stated times, whether in the open fields or under the shade of an ancient oak ; in the midst of want they abounded in hope ; in the solitudes of the wilderness, they believed themselves watched over by an omni present Father. Honor is due not less to those who perished than to those who survived : to the martyrs the hour of death was an hour of triumph ; such as is never witnessed in more tranquil seasons. For that placid resignation, which diffuses grace round the bed of sickness, and makes death too serene for sorrow and too beautiful for fear, no one was more remarkable than the daughter of Thomas Sharpe, whose youth, and sex, and unequalled virtues, won the eulogies of the austere Dudley. Even children caught the spirit of the place ; awaited the impending change in the tranquil confidence of faith, and went to the grave full of immortality. The survivors bore all things meekly, " remembering the end of their coming hither." "We here enjoy Grod and Jesus Christ," wrote Winthrop to his wife, whom pregnancy had detained in England, "and is not this enough? I thank God I like so well to be here, as I do not repent my coining. I would not have altered my course, though I had foreseen all these afflictions. I never had more content of mind."

1631 The supply of bread was nearly exhausted, when on the fifth of February, 1631, after a long

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 361

and stormy passage, the timely arrival of the Lyon CHAP from Bristol laden with provisions, caused public — Y-~ thanksgiving through all the plantations. Yet the 1631* ship brought but twenty passengers ; and quenched all hope of immediate accessions. In 1 631 ninety only came over, fewer than had gone back the preceding vear; in 1632 no more than two hundred and fifty arrived. Men waited to learn the success of the early adventurers. Those who had deserted excused their cowardice by defaming the country ; and, more over, illwillers to New England, were already railing against its people as separatists from the established church, and traitors to the king.

The little colony, now counting not many more than one thousand souls, while it developed its prin ciples with unflinching courage, desired to avoid giv ing scandal to the civil and ecclesiastical government in England. Wilson was on the point of returning to bring over his wife ; his church stood in special need of a teacher in his absence, and a young minister " lovely in his carriage," " godly and zealous, having precious gifts," opportunely arrived in the Lyon. It was Roger Williams. " From his childhood the Father of lights and mercies touched his soul with a love to Himself, to his only-begotten Son, the true Lord Jesus, and his holy Scriptures." In the form ing period of his life he had been employed by Sir Edward Coke, and his natural inclination to study and activity was spurred on by the instruction and encouragement of the statesman, who was then "in his intrepid and patriotic old age, the strenuous asserter of liberty on the principles of ancient laws," and by his writings, speeches and example, lighted the zealous enthusiast on his way. Through the affec tion of the great lawyer, who called him endearingly

361* COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, his son, " the youth," in whom all saw good hope, • — . — was sent to the Charter House in 1621, and passed I63L with honor from that school to Pembroke College, in Cambridge, where he took a degree ; but his clear mind went far beyond his patron in his persuasions against bishops, ceremonies, and the national church ; and he was pursued by Laud out of his native land. He was not much more than thirty years of age ; but his mind had already matured a doctrine which secures him an immortality of fame, as its application has given religious peace to the American world. A fugitive from English persecution, he had revolved the nature of intolerance, and had arrived at its only effectual remedy, the sanctity of conscience. In soul matters he would have no weapons but soul weapons. The civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control opinion ; should punish guilt, but never vio late inward freedom. The doctrine contained within itself an entire reformation of theological jurispru dence : it would blot from the statute-book the felony of non-conformity ; would quench the fires that per secution had so long kept burning ; would repeal every law compelling attendance on public worship; would abolish tithes and all forced contributions to the maintenance of religion ; would give an equal protection to every form of religious faith ; and never suffer the force of the government to be employed against the dissenters' meeting-house, the Jewish syn agogue, or the Roman cathedral. In the unwavering assertion of his views he never changed his position ; the sanctity of conscience was the great tenet, which, with all its consequences, he defended, as he first trod the shores of New England ; and in his extreme old age it was the last pulsation of his heart. The doc trine was a logical consequence of either of the two

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 362

great distinguishing principles of the reformation, as CHAP well of justification by faith alone, as of the equality ^-^- of all believers ; and it was sure to be one day ac- 1 6 3 1 cepted by the whole Protestant world. But it placed the young emigrant in direct opposition to the system of the founders of Massachusetts, who were bent on making the state a united body of believers.

On landing in Boston, Roger Williams found himself unable to join its church. He had separated from the establishment in England, which wronged conscience by disregarding its scruples; they were "an unseparated people," who refused to renounce communion with their persecutors; he would not suffer the magistrate to assume jurisdiction over the soul by punishing what was no more than a breach of the first table, an error of conscience or belief; they were willing to put the whole decalogue under the guardianship of the civil authority. The thought of employing him as a minister was therefore aban doned, and the church of Boston was, in Wilson's ab sence, commended to " the exercise of prophecy."

The death of Higginson had left Salem in want of a teacher ; and in April it called Williams to that office. Winthrop and the assistants " marvelled " at the precipitate choice ; and by a letter to Endicott, they desired the church to forbear. The warning was heeded, and Roger Williams quietly withdrew to Plymouth.

The government was still more careful to protect the privileges of the colony against "episcopal and malignant practices," of which a warning had been received from England. For that purpose, at the general court convened in May, after " the corn was set-," an oath of fidelity was offered to the freemen, binding them " to be obedient and conformable to the

362* COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, laws and constitutions of this commonwealth, to ad-

IX.

— ^ vance its peace, and not to suffer any attempt at 1631. making aDy change or alteration of the government contrary to its laws." One hundred and eighteen of " the commonalty " took this oath ; the few who re fused were never " betrusted with any public charge or command." The old officers were again continued in office without change, but " the commons " asserted their right of annually adding or removing mem bers from the bench of magistrates. And a law of still greater moment, pregnant with evil and with good, at the same time narrowed the elective fran chise : " To the end this body of the commons may be preserved of honest and good men, it was ordered and agreed, that, for the time to come, no man shall be admitted to the freedom of this body politic, but such as are members of some of the churches within the limits of the same." Thus the polity became a theocracy ; God himself was to govern his people ; and the " saints by calling," whose names an immuta ble decree had registered from eternity as the objects of divine love, whose election had been visibly mani fested by their conscious experience of religion in the heart, whose union was confirmed by the most sol emn compact formed with Heaven and one another around the memorials of a crucified Eedeemer, were, by the fundamental law of the colony, constituted the oracle of the divine will. An aristocracy was founded — not of wealth, but of those who had been ransomed at too high a price to be ruled by polluting passions, and had received the seal of divinity in proof of their fitness to do " the noblest and godliest deeds." Other states have limited the possession of po litical rights to the opulent, to freeholders, to the first-

THE COLONISTS AND THE NATIVES. 363

born ; the Calvinists of Massachusetts, scrupulously re- CHAP fusing to the clergy the least shadow of political power, ^^. established the reign of the visible church — a common wealth of the chosen people in covenant with God.

The dangers apprehended from England seemed to require a union consecrated by the holiest rites. The public mind of the colony was in other respects ripen ing for democratic liberty. It could not rest satisfied with leaving the assistants in possession of all authori ty, and of an almost independent existence ; and the magistrates, with the exception of the passionate Lud- low, were willing to yield. It was therefore agreed, at the next general court, that the governor and assist- May ants should be annually chosen. The people, satisfied with the recognition of their right, reflected their former magistrates with silence and modesty. The germ of a representative government was already visi ble ; each town was ordered to choose two men, to appear at the next court of assistants, and concert a plan for a public treasury. The measure had become necessary; for a levy, made by the assistants alone, had already awakened alarm and opposition.

While a happy destiny was thus preparing for Mas sachusetts a representative government, relations of friendship were established with the natives. From the banks of the Connecticut came the sagamore of 1631 the Mohegans, to extol the fertility of his country, and 4" solicit an English plantation as a bulwark against the Pequods ; the nearer Nipmucks invoked the aid of the emigrants against the tyranny of the Mohawks; the son of the aged Canonicus exchanged presents with the governor; and Miantonomoh himself, the great warrior of the Narragansetts, the youthful colleague 1634 of Canonicus, became a guest at the board of Win- 5^ throp, and was present with the congregation at a VOL. i. 46

364 NEW EMIGRANTS. CHARACTER OF HAYNES.

CHAP, sermon from Wilson. At last a Pequod sachem, with — ~ great store of wampumpeag, and bundles of sticks in 11S34' promise of so many beaver and otter skins, also came 6. ' to solicit the English alliance and mediation.

Intercourse was also cherished with the earliei European settlements. To perfect friendship with the pilgrims, the governor of Massachusetts, with Oct. Wilson, pastor of Boston, repaired to Plymouth. ^ From the south shore of Boston harbor, it was a day's journey, for they travelled on foot. In honor of the great event, Bradford and Brewster, the governor and elder of the Old Colony, came forth to meet them, and conduct them to the town, where they were kindly Oct. entertained and feasted. " On the Lord's day, they did partake of the sacrament;" in the afternoon, a question was propounded for discussion ; the pastor spoke briefly ; the teacher prophesied ; the governor of Ply mouth, the elder, and others of the congregation, took part in the debate, which, by express desire, was closed by the guests from Boston. Thus was fellow-

1632. ship confirmed with Plymouth. From the Chesapeake a rich freight of corn had already been received, and trade was begun with the Dutch at Hudson's River.

These better auspices, and the invitations of Win-

1633. throp, won new emigrants from Europe. During the ^d long summer voyage of the two hundred passengers,

who freighted the Griffin, three sermons a day beguiled their weariness. Among them was Haynes, a man of very large estate, and larger affections ; of a " heaven ly " mind, and a spotless life ; of rare sagacity, and ac curate but unassuming judgment ; by nature tolerant, ever a friend to freedom, ever conciliating peace ; an able legislator ; dear to the people by his benevolent virtues and his disinterested conduct. 7'hen also came the most revered spiritual teachers of two common-

CHARACTER OF COTTON AND HOOKER. 365

wealths — the acute and subtile Cotton, the son of a CHAP,

IX

Puritan lawyer; eminent at Cambridge as a scholar; — ^ — quick in the nice perception of distinctions, and pliant 1633 in dialectics ; in manner persuasive rather than com manding; skilled in the fathers and the schoolmen, but finding all their wisdom compactly stored in Calvin ; deeply devout by nature as well as habit from child hood; hating heresy and still precipitately eager to prevent evil actions by suppressing ill opinions, yet verging towards a progress in truth and in religious freedom ; an avowed enemy to democracy, which he feared as the blind despotism of animal instincts in the multitude, yet opposing hereditary power in all its forms ; desiring a government of moral opinion, accord ing to the laws of universal equity, and claiming " the ultimate resolution for the whole body of the peo ple : " — and Hooker, of vast endowments, a strong will, and an energetic mind ; ingenuous in his temper, and open in his professions ; trained to benevolence by the discipline of affliction ; versed in tolerance by his refuge in Holland ; choleric, yet gentle in his affections ; firm in his faith, yet readily yielding to the power of reason ; the peer of the reformers, without their harsh ness ; the devoted apostle to the humble and the poor, severe towards the proud, mild in his soothings of a wounded spirit, glowing with the raptures of devo tion, and kindling with the messages of redeeming love ; his eye, voice, gesture, and whole frame animate with the living vigor of heart-felt religion ; public- spirited and lavishly charitable ; and, " though persecu tions and banishments had awaited him as one wave follows another," ever serenely blessed with " a glorious peace of soul ; " fixed in his trust in Providence, and in his adhesion to that cause of advancing civilization, which he cherished always, ev n while it remained to

366 RAPID PROGRESS OF POPULAR LIBERTY.

CHAP, him a mystery. This was he, whom, for his abilities ^-v^ and services, his contemporaries placed " in the first 1633. rank" of men; praising him as "the one rich pearl, with which Europe more than repaid America for the treasures from her coast." The people to whom Hooker ministered had preceded him; as he landed, they S2>t crowded about him with their welcome. " Now I live r — exclaimed he, as with open arms he embraced them — " now I live, if ye stand fast in the Lord." 1634 Thus recruited, the little band in Massachusetts grew more jealous of its liberties. " The prophets in exile see the true forms of the house." By a common impulse, the freemen of the towns chose deputies to consider in advance the duties of the general court. The charter plainly gave legislative power to the whole body of the freemen ; if it allowed representatives, thought Winthrop, it was only by inference ; and as the whole people could not always assemble, the chief power, it was argued, lay necessarily with the assistants. Far different was the reasoning of the people. To May check the democratic tendency, Cotton, on the election day, preached to the assembled freemen against rota tion in office. The right of an honest magistrate to his place was like that of a proprietor to his freehold. But the electors, now between three and four hundred in number, were bent on exercising " their absolute power," and, reversing the decision of the pulpit, chose a new governor and deputy. The mode of taking the votes was at the same time reformed ; and instead of the erection of hands, the ballot-box was introduced Thus " the people established a reformation of such things as they judged to be amiss in the government.'' It was further decreed, that the whole body of the freemen should be convened only for the election of the magistrates ; to these, with deputies to be chosen b)

RAF1U PROGRESS OF POPULAR LIBERTY. 367

the several towns, the powers of legislation and ap- CHAP pointment were henceforward intrusted. The trading -^- corporation was unconsciously become a representative 16^4 democracy.

The law against arbitrary taxation followed. None but the immediate representatives of the people might dispose of lands or raise money. Thus early did Mas sachusetts echo the voice of Virginia ; like the moun tain replying to the thunder, or like deep calling unto deep. The state was filled with the hum of village politicians ; " the freemen of every town in the Bay were busy in inquiring into their liberties and privi leges." With the exception of the principle of uni versal suffrage, now so happily established, the repre sentative democracy was as perfect two centuries ago as it is to-day. Even the magistrates, who acted as judges, held their office by the annual popular choice. " Elections cannot be safe there long," said the lawyer Lechford. The same prediction has been made these two hundred years. The public mind, ever in perpetual agitation, is still easily shaken, even by slight and tran sient impulses ; but after all its vibrations, it follows the laws of the moral world, and safely recovers its balance.

To limit the discretion of the executive, the people next demanded a written constitution; and a commis- Sion was appointed " to frame a body of grounds of laws in resemblance to a magna charta," to serve as a bill of rights. The ministers, as well as the general court, were to pass judgment on the work ; and, with partial success, Cotton urged that God's people should be governed by the laws from God to Moses.

The relative powers of the assistants and the depu- 1034 ties remained for nearly ten years the subject of dis- cussion and contest. Both were elected by the people ; the former by the whole colony, the latter by the sev-

368 THE PURITANS OF MASSACHUSETTS EXCLUSIVE.

CHAP, eral towns. The two bodies acted together in conven-

IX

— ^ tion; but the assistants claimed and exercised the further right of a separate negative vote on all joint proceed ings. The popular branch resisted ; yet the authority of the patricians was long maintained, sometimes by wise delay, sometimes by " a judicious sermon;" till, at

1644 last, a compromise divided the court into two branches,

Mar

and gave to each a negative on the other.

The controversy had required the arbitrament of the elders; for the rock on which the state rested was religion ; a common faith had gathered, and still bound the people together. They were exclusive, for they had come to the outside of the world for the privilege of living by themselves. Fugitives from persecution, they shrank from contradiction as from the approach of peril. And why should they open their asylum to their oppressors ? Religious union was made the bul wark of the exiles against expected attacks from the hierarchy of England. The wide continent of America invited colonization ; they claimed their own narrow domains for " the brethren." Their religion was their life ; they welcomed none but its adherents ; the} could not tolerate the scoffer, the infidel, or the dis senter ; and the whole people met together in their congregations. Such was the system, cherished as the strong-hold of their freedom and their happiness. " The order of the churches and the commonwealth," wrote Cotton to friends in Holland, " is now sc settled in New England by common consent, that it brings to mind the new heaven and new earth wherein dwells righteousness."

While the state was thus connecting by the closest bonds the energy of its faith with its form of govern-

COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 369

ment, Roger Williams, after remaining two years or a CHAP. little more in Plymouth, accepted a second invitation — , — • to Salem. The ministers in the Bay and of Lynn l G 3 3 used to meet once a fortnight at each other's houses, to debate some question of moment ; at this, in No vember, 1633, Skelton and Williams took some ex ception, for fear the custom might grow into a pres bytery or a superintendency, to the prejudice of the church's liberties ; but such a purpose was disclaimed, and all were clear that no church or person can have power over another church. Not long afterwards, in January, 1634, complaints were made against Wil- 1634, liams for a paper which he had written at Plymouth, to prove that a grant of land in New England from an English king, could not be perfect, except the grantees " compounded with the natives." The opinion sounded like treason against the charter of the colony ; Williams was willing that the offensive manuscript should be burned ; and so explained its purport, that the court, applauding his temper, declared u the mat ters not so evil as at first they seemed."

Yet his gentleness and forbearance did not allay a jealousy, which rested on his radical opposition to the established system of theocracy, which he condemned, because it plucked up the roots of civil society and brought all the strifes of the state into the garden and paradise of the church. The government avoided an explicit rupture with the church of England; Wil liams would hold no communion with it on account i of its intolerance ; " for," said he, " the doctrine of per secution for cause of conscience is most evidently and lamentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus." The magistrates insisted on the presence of every man at public worship ; Williams reprobated the law ; the worst statute in the English code was that which did but enforce attendance upon the parish church.

370 LNTELLECTUAL LIBERTY FINDS AN ADVOCATE.

CHAP. To compel men to unite with those of a different t /c ~^*~ creed, he regarded as an open violation of their natural

rights ; to drag to public worship the irreligious and the unwilling, seemed only like requiring hypocrisy " An unbelieving soul is dead in sin" — such was his argument ; — and to force the indifferent from one wor ship to another, " was like shifting a dead man into several changes of apparell." " No one should be bound to worship, or," he added, " to maintain a wor ship, against his own consent." " What ! " exclaimed his antagonists, amazed at his tenets ; " is not the laborer worthy of his hire ? " " Yes," replied her " from them that hire him."

The magistrates were selected exclusively from the members of the church ; with equal propriety, reasoned Williams, might " a doctor of physick or a pilot" be selected according to his skill in theology and his standing in the church.

It was objected to him, that his principles subverted all good government. The commander of the vessel of state, replied Williams, may maintain order on board the ship, and see that it pursues its course steadily, even though the dissenters of the crew are not compelled to attend the public prayers of their companions.

But the controversy finally turned on the question of the rights and duty of magistrates to guard the minds of the people against corruption, and to punish what would seem to them error and heresy. Magis trates, Williams protested are but the agents of the people, or its trustees, on whom no spiritual power in matters of worship can ever be conferred ; since con science belongs to the individual, and is not the prop erty of the body politic ; and with admirable dialectics

ROGER WILLIAMS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

371

i-.lothing the great truth in its boldest and most general CHAP forms, he asserted that " the civil magistrate may not -7^ intermeddle even to stop a church from apostacy and horesy," " that his power extends only to the bodies and goods and outward estate of men." With cor responding distinctness he foresaw the influence of his principles on society. "The removal of the yoke of soul -oppression," — to use the words in which, at a later day, he confirmed his early view, — " as it will prove an act of mercy and righteousness to the enslaved nations, so it is of binding force to engage the whole and every ( interest and conscience to preserve the common liberty and peace."5

The same magistrates who punished Eliot, the KJ34 apostle of the Indian race, for censuring their meas- 27.' ures, could not brook the independence of Williams ; and the circumstances of the times seemed to them to justify their apprehensions. An intense jealousy was excited in England against Massachusetts ; "members ic.34 of the Generall Court received intelligence of some 'ec* episcopal and malignant practises against the coun try ; " and the magistrates on the one hand were scrupulously careful to avoid all unnecessary offence to the English government, on the other were sternly consolidating their own institutions, and even preparing for resistance. It was in this view that the Freeman's Oath was appointed ; by which every freeman was obliged to pledge his allegiance, not to King Charles, but to Massachusetts. There was room for scruples on

* 1 quote from a very rare tract Williams, of Providence, in New

nf Roger Williams, which, after England. London. Imprinted in

much search, I was so happy as to the yeere lf>44." Small 4to. pp.47,

find in the hinds of the aged Moses It is preceded by an address of t\vo

Brown, of Providence. It is "Mr. pages to the Impartial Header.

Cotton's Letter, lately printed, Ex- 2 ft. Williams's Hireling Minis-

lunined and Answered. By Roger try, !&).

372 ROGER WILLIAMS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, the subject ; and an English lawyer would have ques- — ^ tioned the legality of the measure. The liberty of conscience for which Williams contended, denied the 1635 right of a compulsory imposition of an oath :l when he 30. was summoned before the court, he could not re nounce his belief; and his influence was such "that the government was forced to desist from that pro ceeding." To the magistrates he seemed the a ly of a civil faction ; to himself he appeared only to make a frank avowal of the truth. In all his intercourse with the tribunals, he spoke with the distinctness of settled convictions.' He was fond of discussion ; but he was never betrayed into angry remonstrance. If he was charged with pride, it was only for the novelty of his inions.

The scholar who is accustomed to the pursuits of abstract philosophy, lives in a region of thought far different from that by which he is surrounded. The range of his understanding is remote from the paths of common minds, and he is often the victim of the con trast. It is not unusual for the world to reject the voice of truth, because its tones are strange ; to de clare doctrines unsound, only because they are new ; and even to charge obliquity or derangement on the man who brings forward principles which the selfish repudiate. Such has ever been the way of the world ; and Socrates, and St. Paul, and Luther, and others of the most acute dialecticians, have been ridiculed as drivellers and madmen. The extraordinary develop ment of one faculty may sometimes injure the balance of the mind ; just as the constant exercise of one member of the body injures the beauty of its propor-

J See his opinions, fully reduced in 1047, m ii. Mass. Hist Coll to the form oi a law, at Providence, vii. 9G.

ROGER WILLIAMS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 373

tions ; or as the exclusive devotedness to one pursuit, CHAP politics for instance, or money, brushes away from ^v-~ conduct and character the agreeable varieties of light arid shade. It is a very ancient remark, that folly has its corner in the brain of every wise man ; and certain it is, that not the poets only, like Tasso, but the clear est minds, Sir Isaac Newton, Pascal, Spinoza, have been deeply tinged with insanity. Perhaps Williams pursued his sublime principles with too scrupulous mi nuteness ; it was at least natural for Bradford and his contemporaries, while they acknowledged his power as a preacher, to esteem him " unsettled in judgment."

The court at Boston remained as yet undecided ; when the church of Salem, — those who were best ac quainted with Williams, — taking no notice of the recent investigations, elected him to the office of their teach er. Immediately the evils inseparable on a religious establishment began to be displayed. The ministers got together and declared any one worthy of banish ment, who should obstinately assert, that " the civil magistrate might not intermeddle even to stop a church from apostasy and heresy ; " the magistrates delayed action, only that a committee of divines might have time to repair to Salem and deal with him and with the church in a church way. Meantime, the people of Salem were blamed for their choice of a religious guide ; and a tract of land, to which they had a claim, was withheld from them as a punishment.

The breach was therefore widened. To the minis ters Williams frankly, but temperately, explained his doctrines ; and he was armed at all points for their defence. As his townsmen had lost their lands in consequence of their attachment to him, it would have been cowardice on his part to have abandoned them ;

374

ROGER WILLIAMS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, and the instinct of liberty led him again to the sugges- ^v^ tion of a proper remedy. In conjunction with the 1G35 church, he wrote "letters of admonition unto all the churches whereof any of the magistrates were mem bers, that they might admonish the magistrates of their injustice." The church members alone were freemen; Williams, in modern language, appealed to the people, and invited them to instruct their representatives to do justice to the citizens of Salem.

This last act seemed flagrant treason ; l and at the next general court, Salem was disfranchised till an ample apology for the letter should be made. The town acquiesced in its wrongs, and submitted ; not an individual remained willing to justify the letter of re monstrance ; the church of Williams would not avow

r*

his great principle of the sanctity of conscience ; even his wife, under a delusive idea of duty, was for a season influenced to disturb the tranquillity of his home by her reproaches.2 Williams was left alone, abso lutely alone. Anticipating the censures of the colo nial churches, he declared himself no longer subjected to their spiritual jurisdiction. " My own voluntary withdrawing from all these churches, resolved to con tinue in persecuting the witnesses of the Lord, pre senting light unto them, I confess it was mine own voluntary act ; yea, I hope the act of the Lord Jesus, sounding forth in me the blast, which shall in his own holy season east down the strength and confidence of Oct. those inventions of men."3 When summoned to ap pear before the general court, he avowed his convictions in the presence of the representatives of the state, " maintained the rocky strength of his grounds," and

1 Cotton calls it crimen majesta- tis laeaae.

2 Master John Cotton's Reply, 9

3 Cotton's Letter Exfjiiined, 3.

ROGER WILLIAMS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 375

declared himself "ready to be bound and banished and CHAP even to die in New England," rather than renounce — -^ the opinions which had dawned upon his mind in the clearness of light. At a time when Germany was the battle-field for all Europe in the implacable wars of religion ; when even Holland was bleeding with the an^er of vengeful factions: when France was still to

O O '

go through the fearful struggle with bigotry ; when England was gasping under the despotism of intoler ance almost half a century before William Penn be came an American proprietary ; and two years before Descartes founded modern philosophy on the method of free reflection, — Roger Williams asserted the great doctrine of intellectual liberty. It became his glory to found a state upon that principle, and to stamp himself upon its rising institutions, in characters so deep that the impress has remained to the present day, and, can never be erased without the total destruction of the work. The principles which he first sustained amidst the bickerings of a colonial parish, next asserted in the general court of Massachusetts, and then introduced into the wilds on Narragansett Bay, he soon found occasion to publish to the world, and to defend as the 1C 14 basis of the religious freedom of mankind ; so that, borrowing the rhetoric employed by his antagonist in derision, we may compare him to the lark, the pleasant bird of the peaceful summer, that, "affecting to soar aloft, springs upward from the ground, takes his rise from pale to tree," and at last, surmounting the highest lulls, utters his clear carols through the skies of morn ing l He was the first person in modern Christendom to assert in its plenitude the doctrine of the liberty of

i John Cotton's Reply, 2.

376 ROGER WILLIAMS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, conscience, the equality of opinions before the law ;

'•-~^~ and in its defence he was the harbinger of Milton, the precursor and the superior of Jeremy Taylor. For Taylor limited his toleration to a few Christian sects , the philanthropy of Williams compassed the earth • Taylor favored partial reform, commended lenity, argued for forbearance, and entered a special plea in behalf of each tolerable sect ; Williams would permit persecution of no opinion, of no religion, leaving heresy unharmed by law, and orthodoxy unprotected by the terrors of penal statutes. Taylor still clung to the necessity of positive regulations enforcing religion and eradicating error ; he resembled the poets, who, in their folly, first declare their hero to be invulnerable, and then clothe him in earthly armor : Williams was willing to leave Truth alone, in her own panoply of light,1 be lieving that if, in the ancient feud between Truth and Error, the employment of force could be entirely abro gated, Truth would have much the best of the bargain. It is the custom of mankind to award high honors to the successful inquirer into the laws of nature, to those who advance the bounds of human knowledge. We praise the man who first analyzed the air, or re solved water into its elements, or drew the lightning from the clouds ; even though the discoveries may have been as much the fruits of time as of genius. A moral principle has a much wider and nearer influence on human happiness; nor can any discovery of truth be of more direct benefit to society, than that which establishes a perpetual religious peace, and spreads tranquillity through every community and every bosom. If Copernicus is held in perpetual reverence, because, on his death-bed, he published to the world that the

1 The expression is partly from Gibbon and Sir Henry Vane-

ROGER WILLIAMS THE FOUNDER OF RHODE ISLAND. 377

sun is the centre of our system ; if the name of Kepler CHAP is preserved in the annals of human excellence for his -^ sagacity in detecting the laws of the planetary motion; if the genius of Newton has been almost adored for dissecting a ray of light, and weighing heavenly bodies as in a balance, — let there be for the name of Roger Williams at least some humble place among those who have advanced moral science, and made themselves the benefactors of mankind.

But if the opinion of posterity is no longer divided, 1635 the members of the general court of that day pro nounced against him the sentence of exile ; 1 yet not by a very numerous majority. Some, who consented to his banishment, would never have yielded but for the persuasions of Cotton ; and the judgment was vindicated, not as a punishment for opinion, or as a restraint on freedom of conscience, but because the application of the new doctrine to the construction of the patent, to the discipline of the churches, and to the " oaths for making tryall of the fidelity of the people," seemed about "to subvert the fundamental stqte and government of the country."

Winter was at hand ; Williams succeeded in ob taining permission to remain till spring; intending then to begin a plantation in Narragansett Bay. But the affections of the people of Sa!em revived, and could not be restrained ; they thronged to his house to hear him whom they were so soon to lose forever; it began to be rumored, that he could not safely be al lowed to found a new state in the vicinity ; " many of the people were much taken with the apprehension of his godliness ; " his opinions were contagious ; the

1 Winthrop, i. 170, 171. Colony ply, 27. 29. Roger Williams'a Ac- Records, i. 163. John Cotton's Re- count, ibid. 24, arid ff.

VOL. i. 48

378 ROGER WILLIAMS THE FOUNDER OF RHODE SLAND.

CHAP, infection spread widely. It was therefore resolved to ~^v^ remove him to England in a ship that was just ready 1636 to set sail. A warrant was accordingly sent to him to

Tan.

come to Boston and embark. For the first time, he declined the summons of the court. A pinnace was sent for him ; the officers repaired to his house ; he was no longer there. Three days before, he had lefl Salem, in winter snow and inclement weather, of which he remembered the severity even in his late old age. " For fourteen weeks, he was sorely tost in a bitter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean."1 Often in the stormy night he had neithei fire, nor food, nor company ; often he wandered with out a guide, and had no house but a hollow tree.2 But he was not without friends. The same scrupulous respect for the rights of others, which had led him to defend the freedom of conscience, had made him also the champion of the Indians. He had already been zealous to acquire their language, and knew it so well that he could debate with them in their own dialect During his residence at Plymouth, he had often been the guest of the neighboring sachems ; and now, whe,n he came in winter to the cabin of the chief of Poka noket, he was welcomed by Massasoit ; and " the bar barous heart of Canonicus, the chief of the Narragan- setts, loved him as his son to the last gasp." " The ravens," he relates with gratitude, " fed me in the \\ ilderness." And in requital for their hospitality, he was ever through his long life their friend and ben efactor; the apostle of Christianity to them without hire, without weariness, and without impatience at their idolatry ; the guardian of their rights ; the pacii-

1 Roger Williams to Mason, in i. 2 Roger Williams's Key. Re ays. Hist Coll. i. 270. printed in 11. 1. Hist Coll i.

FOUNDATION OF PROVIDENCE. 379

icator, when their rude passions were inflamed ; and CHAP

their unflinching advocate and protector, whenever

Europeans attempted an invasion of their soil.

He first pitched and began to build and plant at Seekonk. But Seekonk was found to be within the patent of Plymouth ; on the other side of the water, the country opened in its unappropriated beauty and there he might hope to establish a community as free as the other colonies. " That ever-honored Governor Winthrop," says Williams, " privately wrote to me to steer my course to the Narragansett Bay, encouraging me from the freeness of the place from English claims or patents. 1 took his prudent motion as a voice from God."

It was in June that the lawgiver of Rhode Island, with five companions, embarked on the stream ; a frail Indian canoe contained the founder of an independent state and its earliest citizens. Tradition has marked the spring near which they landed ; it is the parent spot, the first inhabited nook of Rhode Island. To express his unbroken confidence in the mercies of God, Williams called the place PROVIDENCE. " I de sired," said he, " it might be for a shelter for persons distressed for conscience. "]

In his new abode, Williams could have less leisure for contemplation and study. " My time," he ob serves of himself, — and it is a sufficient apology for the roughness of his style, as a writer on morals, — " was not spent altogether in spiritual labors ; but, day and night, at home and abroad, on the land and water, at the hoe, at the oar, for bread."2 In the course of two

i Backus, i. 94. There is in serves more reputation than he haa

Backus much evidence of diligent had.

research and critical respect for 2 Bloody Tenent yet more Bloody,

documentary testimony. He de- 38, in Knowles.

380 LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE ESTABLISHED.

CHAP, years, he was joined by others, who fled to his asylum ^v^ The land which was now occupied by Williams, was within the territory of the Narragansett Indians ; it 1638. was not long before an Indian deed from Canonicus

... o

24/ and Miantonomoh 1 made him the undisputed possessor of an extensive domain. Nothing displays more clear ly the character of Roger Williams than the use which he made of his acquisition of territory. The soil he could claim as his " own, as truly as any man's coat upon his back ;"2 and he "reserved to himself not one foot of land, not one tittle of political power, more than he granted to servants and strangers." "He gave away his lands and other estate to them that he thought were most in want, until he gave away all."3 He chose to found a commonwealth in the unmixed forms of a pure democracy ; where the will of the ma jority should govern the state ; yet " only in civil things ; " God alone was respected as the Ruler of conscience. To their more aristocratic neighbors, it seemed as if these fugitives " would have no magis trates;"4 for every thing was as yet decided in con vention of the people. This first system has had its influence on the whole political history of Rhode Island ; in no state in the world, not even in the agricultural state of Vermont, has the magistracy so little power, or the representatives of the freemen so much. The annals of Rhode Island, if written in the spirit of philosophy, would exhibit the forms of society under a peculiar aspect : had the territory of the state corresponded to the importance and singularity of the principles of its early existence, the world would have

1 Backus,!. 89,90. Knowles, 106, 3 Letter of Daniel Williams.

107. 4 Winthrop, i. 29a Hubbard

a Backus, i. 290 Knowles, c. 338. viii.

MAGNANIMITY OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 381

been filled with wonder at the phenomena of its CHAP history. v^v^

The most touching trait in the founder of Rhode Island was his conduct towards his persecutors. Though keenly sensitive to the hardships which he had endured, he was far from harboring feelings of revenge towards those who banished him, and only regretted their delusion. " I did ever, from my soul, honor and love them, even when their judgment led them to afflict me." * In all his writings on the sub ject, he attacked the spirit of intolerance, the doctrine of persecution, and never his persecutors or the colony of Massachusetts. Indeed, we shall presently behold him requite their severity by exposing his life at their request and for their benefit. It is not strange, then, if " many hearts were touched with relentings. That great and pious soul, Mr. Winslow, melted, and kindly visited me," says the exile, " and put a piece of gold into the hands of my wife, for our supply;"2 the founder, the legislator, the proprietor of Rhode Island, owed a shelter to the hospitality of an Indian chief, and his wife the means of sustenance to the charity of a stranger. The half-wise Cotton Mather concedes, that many judicious persons confessed him to have had the root of the matter in him ; and his nearer friends, the immediate witnesses of his actions, declared him, from " the whole course and tenor of his life and con duct, to have been one of the most disinterested men that ever lived, a most pious and heavenly-minded soul." 3

Thus was Rhode Island the offspring of Massachu setts ; but her political connections were long influenced by the circumstance of -her origin. The loss of the

1 Winthrop and Savage, i. 65 2 Williams to Mason.

3 Callender, 17.

382 GREAT EMIGRATION TO MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, few emigrants who resorted to the new state, was not J^ sensibly felt in the parent colony; for the bay of 1G34- Massachusetts was already thronged with squadrons. When the first difficulties of encountering the wilder ness had been surmounted, and an apprehension had arisen of evil days that were to befall England, the stream of emigration flowed with a full current; " Godly people there began to apprehend a special hand of Providence in raising this plantation, and their hearts were generally stirred to come over." The new comers were so many, that there was no room for them all in the earlier places of abode ; and less. Simon Willard, a trader,- joining with Peter Bulkeley, a minister from St. John's College in Cambridge, a man of wealth, benevolence, and great learning, be came chief instruments in extending the frontier. • Under their guidance, at the fall of the leaf in 1635, a little band of twelve families, toiling through thick-

* O GJ

ets of ragged bushes, and clambering over crossed trees, made their way along Indian paths to the green meadows of Concord. The suffering settlers burrrowed for their first shelter under a hill-side. The cattle sicklied on the wild fodder ; sheep and swine were destroyed by wolves ; there was no flesh but game. The long rains poured through the insufficient roofs of their smoky cottages, and troubled even the time for sleep. Yet the men labored willingly, for they had their wives and little ones about them. The forest rung with their psalms ; and " the poorest people of God in the whole world,'7 they were resolved uto excel in holiness." Such was the infancy of a New England village. That village will one day engage the attention of the world.

HENRY VANE IN NEW ENGLAND 383

Meantime the fame of the liberties of Massachusetts CHAP

IX

extended widely : the good-natured earl of War- ^>— wick, a friend to advancement in civil liberty, though not a republican, offered his congratulations on its prosperity ; and in a single year three thousand new settlers were added to the Puritan colony. Among these was the fiery Hugh Peters, who had been pastor of a church of English exiles in Rotterdam ; a repub lican of an enlarged spirit, great energy, and popular eloquence, not always tempering active enterprise with solidity of judgment. At the same time came Henry Vane, the younger, a man of the purest mind; a statesman of spotless integrity ; whose name the prog ress of intelligence and liberty will erase from the rubric of fanatics and traitors, and insert high among the aspirants after truth and the martyrs for liberty. He had valued the " obedience of the gospel" more than the successful career of English diplomacy, and cheerfully u forsook the preferments of the court of Charles for the ordinances of religion in their purity in New England." He was happy in the possession of an admirable genius, though naturally more inclined to contemplative excellence than to action : he was happy in the eulogist of his virtues ; for Milton, ever so parsimonious of praise, reserving the majesty of his verse to celebrate the glories and vindicate the provi dence of God, was lavish of his encomiums on the youthful friend of religious liberty. But Vane was still more happy in attaining early in life a firmly-set tled theory of morals, and in possessing an energetic will, which made all his conduct to the very last con form to the doctrines he had espoused, turning his dying hour into a seal of the witness, which his life had ever borne with noble consistencv to the freedom

384 AN ORDER OF NOBILITY PROPOSED AND REJECTED.

UHAP of conscience and the people. "If he were not su- — v^ perior to Hampden," says Clarendon, "he was in ferior to no other man ; " " his whole life made good the imagination, that there was 'n him something extraordinary." l

The freemen of Massachusetts, pleased that a young man of such elevated rank and distinguished ability should have adopted their creed, and joined them in 1636. their exile, elected him their governor. The choice was unwise ; for neither the age nor the experience of Vane entitled him to the distinction. He came but as a sojourner, and not as a permanent resident ; neither was he imbued with the colonial prejudices, the genius of the place ; and his clear mind, unbiased by previous discussions, and fresh from the public business of England, saw distinctly what the colo nists did not wish to see, the really wide difference between their practice under their charter and the meaning of that instrument on the principles -of English jurisprudence.2

These latent causes of discontent could not but be eventually displayed ; at first the arrival of Vane was considered an auspicious pledge for the emigration of men of the highest rank in England. Several of the English peers, especially Lord Say and Seal, a Presbyterian, a friend to the Puritans, yet with but dim perceptions of the true nature of civil liberty, and Lord Brooke, a man of charity and meekness, an early friend to tolerance, had begun to inquire into the character of the rising institutions, and to negotiate for such changes as would offer them inducements for removing to America. They demanded a division

* Clarendon, b. vii. and b. iii. vol. son's Coll. 72 73. 76, and 83 ; uo, li. 379, and vol. i. 186, 187, 188. too, in Winthrop, i. 187. 2 I find proofs of this in Hutchin-

AN ORDER OF NOBILITY^ PROPOSED AND REJECTED. 385

of the general court into two branches, that of as- CHAP

IX

sistants and of representatives, — a change which was — -v^. acceptable to the people, and which, from domestic 163(5 reasons, was ultimately adopted ; but they further re quired an acknowledgment of their own hereditary right to a seat in the upper house. The fathers of Massachusetts were disposed to conciliate these power ful friends : they promised them the honors of magis tracy, would have readily conferred it on some of them for life, and actually began to make appointments on that tenure ; but as for the establishment of hereditary dignity, they answered by the hand of Cotton, "Where God blesseth any branch of any noble or generous family with a spirit and gifts fit for government, it would be a taking of God's name in vain to put such a talent under a bushel, and a sin against the honor of magistracy to neglect such in our public elections. But if God should not delight to furnish some of their posterity with gifts fit for magistracy, we should ex pose them rather to reproach and prejudice, and the commonwealth with them, than exalt them to honor, if we should call them forth, when God doth not, to public authority." And thus the proposition for es tablishing hereditary nobility was defeated. The peo pie, moreover, were uneasy at the permanent conces sion of office ; Saltonstall, " that much-honored and upright-hearted servant of Christ," loudly reproved " the sinful innovation," and advocated its reform ; nor would the freemen be quieted, till it was made a law, that those who were appointed magistrates for life, should yet not be magistrates except in those years in which they might be regularly chosen at the annual election.

The institutions of Massachusetts, which were thus endangered by the influence of men of rank in Eng- VOL. i 49

386 THE ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY.

land, were likewise in jeopardy from the effects of re- — ~ ligious divisions. The minds of the colonists were 1686 excited to intense activity on questions which the nicest subtlety only could have devised, and which none but those experienced in the shades of theologi cal opinions could long comprehend. For it goes with these opinions as with colors ; of which the artist who works in mosaic, easily and regularly discriminates many thousand varieties, where the common eye can discern a difference only on the closest comparison. Boston and its environs were now employed in theo logical controversy ; and the transports of enthusiasm sustained the toil of abstruse speculations. The most profound questions which can relate to the mysteries of human existence and the laws of the moral world, questions which the mind, in the serenity of unclouded reflection, may hardly aspire to solve, were discussed with passionate zeal ; eternity was summoned to re veal its secrets ; human tribunals pretended to estab lish for the Infinite Mind the laws on which the des tinies of the soul depend ; the Holy Spirit was claimed as the inward companion of man ;_ while many persons, in their zeal to distinguish between abstract truth and the outward forms under which truth is conveyed, be tween unchanging principles and changing institutions, were in perpetual danger of making shipwreck of all religious faith, and hardly paused to sound their way, as they proceeded through the "dim and perilous" paths of speculative science.

Amidst the arrogance of spiritual pride, the vaga ries of undisciplined imaginations, and the extrava gances to which the intellectual power may be led in its pursuit of ultimate principles, the formation of two distinct parties may be perceived. The first consisted

THE ANTINOM1AN CONTROVERSY. 387

of the original settlers, the framers of the civil govern- CHAP ment, and their adherents ; they wluo were intent on ^-v-L the foundation and preservation of a commonwealth, and were satisfied with the established order of society. They had founded their government on the basis of the church, and church membership could be obtain ed only by the favor of the clergy and an exemplary life. They dreaded unlimited freedom of opinion as the parent of ruinous divisions. " The cracks and flaws in the new building of the reformation," thought they, "portend a fall;"1 they desired patriotism, union, and a common heart ; they were earnest to confirm and build up the state, the child of their cares and their sorrows. They were reproached with being " priest- ridden magistrates,"2 " under a covenant of works."

The other party was composed of individuals who had arrived after the civil government and religious discipline of the colony had been established. They came fresh from the study of the tenets of Geneva ; and their pride consisted in following the principles of the reformation with logical precision to all their con sequences. Their eyes were not primarily directed to the institutions of Massachusetts, but to the doc trines of their religious system. They had come to the wilderness for freedom of religious opinion ; and they resisted every form of despotism over the mind. To them the clergy of Massachusetts were " the ush ers of persecution,"3 "popish factors,"4 who had not imbibed the true doctrines of Christian reform ; and they applied to the influence of the Puritan ministers the principle which Luther and Calvin had employed against the observances and pretensions of the Roman

1 Shepherd's Lamentation, 2. 3 Coddmgton, in Besse, ii. 267.

2 The phrase is William Cod- 4 Welde's Rise, Reign, and dington's. See Besse, ii. 267. Ruin.

388 THE ANTINOM1AN CONTROVERSY.

CHAP church.1 Every political opinion, every philosophical ^~ tenet, assumed in those days a theological form : with the doctrine of justification by faith alone, they de rided the formality of the established religion ; and by asserting that the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer, that the revelation of the Spirit is superior " to the ministry of the word,"2 they sustained with intense fanaticism the paramount authority of private judgment.

The founder of this party was Anne Hutchinson, a woman of such admirable understanding " and profit able and sober carriage/'3 that her enemies could never speak of her without acknowledging her elo quence and her ability.4 She was encouraged by John Wheelwright, a silenced minister, who had married her husband's sister, and by Henry Vane, the governor of the colony ; while a majority of the people of Bos ton sustained her in her rebellion against the clergy. Scholars and men of learning, members of the magis tracy and the general court adopted her opinions.5 The public mind seemed hastening towards an insurrection against spiritual authority ; and she was denounced as " weakening the hands and hearts of the people tow ards the ministers,"6 as being "like Roger Williams or worse."7

The subject possessed the highest political impor tance. Nearly all the clergy, except Cotton, in whose house Vane was an inmate,8 clustered together9 in de fence of their influence, and in opposition to Vane ; 1037. and Wheelwright, who, in a fast-day's sermon, had strenuously maintained the truth of his opinions, and

i Winthrop, i. 213, 214. 5, .Welde's Rise, Reign, &c.

9 Winthrop, i.201, and in Hutch- .6 \Winthrop, in Hutch., ii. 443

inson, ii. 443. 7 .Winthrop, in Hutch. Coll.

3 Welde's Rise, Reign, &c. 8 Suffolk Prob. Records, i. 72

4 Dudley, in Hutchinson, ii. 427. 9 Winthrop, i. 215.

THE ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY. 389

had never been confuted,1 in spite of the remonstrance CHAP of the governor, was censured by the general court -^-L for sedition.2 At the ensuing choice of magistrates, 1637 the religious divisions controlled the elections. The 17. friends of Wheelwright had threatened an appeal to England ; but in the colony " it was accounted perjury and treason to speak of appeals to the king."3 The contest appeared, therefore, to the people, not as the struggle for intellectual freedom against the authority of the clergy, but as a contest for the liberties of Massa chusetts against the power of the English government. Could it be doubted who would obtain the confidence of the people ? In the midst of such high excitement, that even the pious Wilson climbed into a tree to ha rangue the people on election day, Winthrop and his friends, the fathers and founders of the colony, recov ered the entire management of the government.4 But the dispute infused its spirit into every thing ; it in terfered with the levy of troops for the Pequod war ; 5 it influenced the respect shown to the magistrates; the distribution of town-lots ; the assessment of rates ; and at last the continued existence of the two opposing May parties was considered inconsistent with the public peace. To prevent the increase of a faction es teemed to be so dangerous, a law, somewhat analo gous to the alien law in England, and to the European policy of passports, was enacted by the party in pow er; none should be received within the jurisdiction, but such as should be allowed by some of the magis trates. The dangers which were simultaneously menaced from the Episcopal party in the mother

1 Henry Vane, in Hutch. Coll. 82. 4 Winthrop, i. 219, 220. Col

2 Coinp S. Gorton's Simplicity's Records. Hutch. Coll. 63, and ff. Defence. 44. 5 Welde, 27. Mather, b. vii. c

3 Burdett's Le*ter to Laud. iii. a. 5. Hutch. Coll. 80.

390 THE FIRST SYNOD IN NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP, country, gave to the measure an air of magnanimous — v^ defiance ; it was almost, a proclamation of independ- 1637. ence. As an act of intolerance, it found in Vane an inflexible opponent, and, using the language of the times, he left a memorial of his dissent. " Scribes and Pharisees, and such as are confirmed in any way of error," — these are the remarkable words of the man, who soon embarked for England, where he afterwards pleaded in parliament for the liberties of Catholics and Dissenters, — " all such are not to be denyed cohabita tion, but are to be pitied and reformed. Ishmael shall dwell in the presence of his brethren."

The friends of Wheelwright could not brook the censure of their leader ; but they justified their in dignant remonstrances by the language of fanaticism. " A new rule of practice by immediate revelations," 1 was now to be the guide of their conduct ; not that they expected a revelation " in the way of a miracle ;" such an idea Anne Hutchinson rejected " as a delu sion ; " 2 they only slighted the censures of the minis ters and the court, and avowed their determination to follow the impulses of conscience. But individual conscience is often the dupe of interest, and often but a more honorable name for self-will. The government Aug. feared, or pretended to fear, a disturbance of the public peace, a wild insurrection of lawless fanatics. A synod of the ministers of New England was there fore assembled, to accomplish the difficult task of set tling the true faith. Numerous opinions were harmo niously condemned ; and vagueness of language, so often the parent of furious controversy, performed the office of a peace-maker. Now that Vane had returned

i Welde, 45, ed. 1692, or 42, ed. 2 Testimony of John Cotton, in 1644. Hutchinson, ii. 443.

EXILE OF MRS. HUTCHINSON AND OTHERS. 391

to England, it was hardly possible to find any grounds CHAP of difference between the flexible Cotton and his < — ^ equally orthodox opponents. The general peace of the colony being thus assured, the triumph of the clergy was complete ; and the civil magistrates pro ceeded to pass sentence on the more resolute offend ers. Wheelwright, Anne Hutchinson, and Aspinwali, were exiled from the territory of Massachusetts, as "unfit for the society" of its citizens; and their ad herents, who, it was feared, " might, upon some revela tion, make a sudden insurrection," and who were ready to seek protection by an appeal from the authority of the colonial government, were, like the tories during the war for independence, required to deliver up their arms.

So ended the Antinomian strife in Massachusetts.1 The principles of Anne Hutchinson were a natural consequence of the progress of the reformation. She had imbibed them in Europe ; and it is a singular fact, though easy of explanation, that, in the very year 1637 in which she was arraigned at Boston, Descartes, like herself a refugee from his country, like herself a pro phetic harbinger of the spirit of the coming age, established philosophic liberty on the method of free reflection. Both asserted that the conscious judgment of the mind is the highest authority to itself. Des cartes did but promulgate, under the philosophic form of free reflection, the same truth which Anne Hutchin son, with the fanaticism of impassioned conviction, avowed under the form of inward revelations.

\^s

1 On this strife I have read the ment of Wheelwright's Sermon jaiid

Col Records ; the decisions of the the statement of John Cotton hirn-

eynod ; the copious Winthrop ; the self, in his reply to Williams ; also,

Documents in Hutchinson's Coll. ; Saml. Gorton, Hubbard, C. Mather,

Welde's Rise, Reign, and Ruin ; Neal, Hutchinson, Callender, Back-

T. Shepherd's Lamentation ; a frag- us, Savage, and Knowles.

392 EMIGRATION TO NEW HAMPSHIRE AND RHODE ISLAND.

CHAP. The true tendency of the principles of Anne Hutch-

^^ inson is best established by examining the institu tions which were founded by her followers. We shall hereafter trace the career of Henry Vane.

Wheelwright and his immediate friends removed to the banks of the Piscataqua ; and, at the head of tide waters on that stream, they founded the town of Exe ter ; one more little republic in the wilderness, organ ized on the principles of natural justice by the volun tary combination of the inhabitants.1

The larger number of the friends of Anne Hutch- inson, led by John Clarke and William Coddington, proceeded to the south, designing to make a plantation on Long Island, or near Delaware Bay. But Roger

1638. Williams welcomed them to his vicinity; and his own 24.r' influence, and the powerful name of Henry Vane, pre vailed with Miantonomoh, the chief of the Narragan- setts, to obtain for them a gift of the beautiful island of Rhode Island. The spirit of the institutions es tablished by this band of voluntary exiles, on the soil which they owed to the benevolence of the natives, was derived from natural justice : a social compact, signed after the manner of the precedent at New Plymouth, so often imitated in America, founded the

Mar. government upon the basis of the universal consent of every inhabitant : the forms of the administration were borrowed from the examples of the Jews. Cod-

Ncv dington was elected judge in the new Israel ; and three elders were soon chosen as his assistants. The colony rested on the principle of intellectual liberty : philosophy itself could not have placed the right on a

1641 broader basis. The settlement prospered; and it be-

Mar. .

16-19 came necessary to establish a constitution. It was

l Exeter Records, in Farmer's Belknap. 432

FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN RHODE ISLAND. 393

therefore ordered by the whole body of freemen, and CHAP. " unanimously agreed upon, that the government, ^-~ which this body politic doth attend unto in this island, and the jurisdiction thereof, in favor of our Prince, is a DEMOCRACIE, or popular government ; that is to say it is in the power of the body of freemen orderly as sembled, or major part of them, to make or constitute just Lawes, by which they will be regulated, and to depute from among themselves such ministers as shall see them faithfully executed between man and man." 1 " It was further ordered, that none be accounted a delinquent for doctrine ; " the law for " liberty of conscience was perpetuated." The little community was held together by the bonds of affection and free dom of opinion : benevolence was their rule : they trusted in the power of love to win the victory ; and " the signet for the state " was ordered to be " a sheafe of arrows," with " the motto AMOR VINCET OMNIA." A patent from England seemed necessary 1641 for their protection ; and to whom could they direct their letters but to the now powerful Henry Vane?2 Such were the institutions which sprung from the party of Anne Hutchinson. But she did not long enjoy their protection. Recovering from a transient dejection of mind, she had gloried in her sufferings, as her greatest happiness ; 3 and, making her way through the forest, she travelled by land 4 to the settlement of Roger Williams, and from thence joined her friends on the island, sharing with them the hardships of early

1 I copied this, word for word, 3 Winthrop, i. 258.

from the Records, now in Provi- 4 ibid. i. 259. Even Winthrop

dence. could err as to facts; see i. 29t>,

2 MS. extracts from R. I. Rec. and Savage's note. The recorda Compare Callender, 29, &c. ; Back- refute Winthrop's statement.

us, i. 91. 96, &c. ; Knowles, c. xi

VOL. i. 50

394 DEATH OF MRS HUTCHINSON.

CHAP, emigrants.1 Her powerful mind still continued its ac-

— ^ tivity ; young men from the colonies became converts

to her opinions ; and she excited such admiration, that

to the leaders in Massachusetts it " gave cause of

1642. suspicion of witchcraft."2 She was in a few years left a widow, but was blessed with affectionate chil dren. A tinge of fanaticism pervaded her family: one of her sons, and Collins her son-in-law, had ven-

1641. tured to expostulate with the people of Boston on the wrongs of their mother. But would the Puritan ma gistrates of that day tolerate an attack on their govern ment ? 3 Severe imprisonment for many months was the punishment inflicted on the young men for their boldness. Rhode Island itself seemed no longer a safe place of refuge ; and the whole family removed beyond New Haven into the territory of the Dutch.

1643. The violent Kiefthad provoked an insurrection among the Indians ; the house of Anne Hutchinson was at tacked and set on fire ; herself, her son-in-law, and all their family, save one child, perished by the rude weapons of the savages, or were consumed by the flames.4

Thus was personal suffering mingled with the peace ful and happy results of the watchfulness or the intoler ance of Massachusetts. The legislation of that colony may be reproved for its jealousy, yet not for its cruelty, and Williams, and Wheelwright, and Aspinwall, suf fered not much more from their banishment than some of the best men of the colony encountered from choice. For rumor had spread not wholly extravagant accounts of the fertility of the alluvial land along the borders

1 Gorton, in Hutchinson, i. 73. 4 Saml. Gorton's Defence, 58, 59

2 Winthrop, ii. 9. Winthrop, ii. 136.

3 Ibid. ii. 39.

COLONIZATION OF CONNECTICUT. 395

of the Connecticut ; and the banks of that river were CHAP

already adorned with the villages of the Puritans,

planted just in season to anticipate the rival designs of the Dutch.

The valley of the Connecticut had early become an 1630 object of desire and of competition. The earl of Warwick was the first proprietary of the soil, under a grant from the council for New England ; and it was next held by Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke, John 1631 Hampden, and others, as his assigns.1 Before any col- j(). ony could be established with their sanction, the people of New Plymouth had built a trading house at Wind- 1633 sor, and conducted writh the natives a profitable com merce in furs. "Dutch intruders " from Manhattan, 1633 ascending the river, had also raised at Hartford the a*" house "of Good Hope," and struggled to secure the 1635 territory to themselves. The younger Winthrop, the future benefactor of Connecticut, one of those men in whom the elements of human excellence are min gled in the happiest union, returned from England July with a commission from the proprietaries of that re gion, to erect a fort at the mouth of the stream — a Oct. purpose which was accomplished. Yet, before his ar rival in Massachusetts Bay, settlements had been com menced, by emigrants from the environs of Boston, at Hartford, and Windsor, and Wethersfield ; and in the last days of the pleasantest of the autumnal months, a Got company of sixty pilgrims, \vomen and children being o.'g of the number, began their march to the west. Never before had the forests of America witnessed such a scene. But the journey was begun too late in the season : the winter was so unusually early and severe, Nov that provisions could not arrive by way of the river ;

i Trumbull's Connecticut, i. App. No. L

396 COLONIZATION OF CONNECTICUT.

CHAP, imperfect shelter had been provided ; cattle perished

— ^ in great numbers ; and the men suffered such priva tions, that many of them, in the depth of winter, aban doned their newly-chosen homes, and waded through the snows to the sea-board.

1636. Yet, in the opening of the next year, a government

%lt was organized, and civil order established ; and the

budding of the trees and the springing of the grass were

May. signals for a greater emigration to the Connecticut. Some smaller parties had already made their way to the new Hesperia of Puritanism. In June, the prin cipal caravan began its march, led by Thomas Hook er, " the light of the Western Churches." There were of the company about one hundred souls ; many of them persons accustomed to affluence and the ease of European life. They drove before them numerous herds of cattle ; and thus they traversed on foot the pathless forests of Massachusetts ; advancing hardly ten miles a day through the tangled woods, across the swamps and numerous streams, and over the highlands that separated the several intervening valleys ; subsist ing, as they slowly wandered along, on the milk of the kine, which browsed on the fresh leaves and early

June, shoots ; having no guide, through the nearly untrodden wilderness, but the compass, and no pillow for their nightly rest but heaps of stones. How did the hills echo with the unwonted lowing of the herds ! How were the forests enlivened by the loud and fervent piety of Hooker ! l Never again was there such a pil grimage from the sea-side "to the delightful banks" of the Connecticut. The emigrants had been gath ered from among the most valued citizens, the earliest settlers, and the oldest churches of the Bay. John

1 Hooker was " a Son of Thunder." See Morton, 239 and 240.

WAR WITH THE PEQUODS. 397

Haynes had for one year been the governor of Massa- CHAP chusctts ; and Hooker had no rival in public estirna- >^~ tion but Cotton, whom he surpassed in force of char acter, in boldness of spirit, and in honorable clemency. Historians, investigating the causes of events, have endeavored to find the motives of this settlement in the jealous ambition of the minister of Hartford. Such ingenuity is gratuitous. The Connecticut was at that time supposed to be the best channel for a great internal traffic in furs ; and its meadows, already proverbial for the richness of their soil, had accquired the same celebrity as in a later day the banks of the Genesee, or the bottom lands of the Miami.

The new settlement, that seemed so far towards the west, was environed by perils. The Dutch still in dulged a hope of dispossessing the English, and the natives of the country beheld the approach of Euro peans with malignant hatred. No part of New Eng land was more thickly covered with aboriginal inhab itants than Connecticut. The Pequods, who were settled round the Thames, could muster at least seven hundred warriors ; the whole number of the effective men of the emigrants was much less than two hun dred. The danger was incessant ; and while the set tlers, with hardly a plough or a yoke of oxen, turned the wild fertility of nature into productiveness, they were at the same time exposed to the incursions of a savage enemy, whose delight was carnage.

For the Pequods had already shown a hostile spirit. 1633. Several years had elapsed since they had murdered the crew of a small trading vessel in Connecticut River. With some appearance of justice they pleaded the ne cessity of self-defence, and sent messengers to Boston 1634 to desire the alliance of the white men. The govern-

398 MAGNANIMITY OF ROGER WILLIAMS.

CHAP, merit of Massachusetts accepted the excuse, and im- — ^ mediately conferred the benefit which was due from civilization to the ignorant and passionate tribes ; it reconciled the Pequods with their hereditary enemies, the Narragansetts. No longer at variance with a pow- K530 erful neighbor, the Pequods again displayed their bit- July- ter and imboldened hostility to the English by mur dering Oldham, near Block Island. The outrage was punished by a sanguinary but ineffectual expedition. The warlike tribe was not overawed, but rather courted the alliance of its neighbors, the Narragansetts and the Mohegans, that a union and a general rising of the natives might sweep the hated intruders from the ancient hunting-grounds of the Indian race. The design could be frustrated by none but Roger Wil liams ; and the exile, who had been the first to com municate to the governor of Massachusetts the news of the impending conspiracy, encountered the extrem ity of peril with magnanimous heroism. Having re ceived letters from Vane and the council of Massachu setts, requesting his utmost and speediest endeavors to prevent the league, neither storms of wind nor high seas could detain the adventurous envoy. Shipping himself alone in a poor canoe, every moment at the hazard of his life, he hastened to the house of the sa chem of the Narragansetts. The Pequod ambassadors, reeking with blood, were already there ; and for three days and nights the business compelled him to lodge and mix with them ; having cause every night to ex pect their knives at his throat. The Narragansetts were wavering ; but Roger Williams succeeded in dissolving the formidable conspiracy. It was the most intrepid and most successful achievement in the whole Pequod war — an action as perilous in its execution

CONNECTICUT LEVIES TROOPS FOR THE WAR. 399

as it was fortunate in its issue. When the Pequods CHAP were left to contend single-handed against the English, ^^ it was their ignorance only which could still inspire 1637 confidence in their courage.

Continued injuries and murders roused Connecticut to action ; and the court of its three infant towns ^ decreed immediate war. Uncas, sachem of the Mo- hegans, was their ally. To John Mason the staff of command was delivered at Hartford by the venerated Hooker ; and after nearly a whole night spent, at the request o( the soldiers, in importunate prayer by the very learned and godly Stone, about sixty men, one 19 third of the whole colony, aided by John Underbill and twenty gallant recruits, whom the forethought of Vane had sent from the Bay State, sailed past the Thames, 20 and, designing to reach the Pequod fort unobserved, entered a harbor near Wickford, in the bay of the 21 Narragansetts. The next day was the Lord's, sacred to religion and rest. Early in the week, the captains 22. of the expedition, with the pomp of a military escort, repaired to the court of Canonicus, the patriarch and ruler of the tribe ; and the younger and more fiery 23 Miantonomoh, surrounded by two hundred of his bravest warriors, received them in council. " Your design," said he, " is good ; but your numbers are too weak to brave the Pequods, who hav.e mighty chief tains, and are skilful in battle;" and after doubtful friendship, he deserted the desperate enterprise.

Nor did the unhappy clans on Mistic River distrust their strength. To their hundreds of brave men their bows and arrows still seemed formidable weap ons ; ignorant of European fortresses, they viewed their rushwork palisades with complacency ; and as the English boats sailed by the places where the

4-00 VICTORY OVER THE PfcQUODS

CHAP, rude works of the natives frowned defiance, it was ru-

IX

— ^ mored through the tribe, that its enemies had vanished

1637 through fear. Exultation followed ; and hundreds of

the Pequods spent much of the last night of their lives

in revelry, at a time when the sentinels of the English

May were within hearing of their songs. Two hours be-

2G

fore day, the soldiers of Connecticut put themselves in motion towards the enemy ; and, as the light of morn ing began to dawn, they made their attack on the principal fort, which stood in a strong position at the summit of a hill.1 The colonists felt that they were fighting for the security of their homes ; that, if de feated, the war-whoop would immediately resound near their cottages, and their wives and children be abandoned to the scalping-knife and the tomahawk. They ascend to the attack ; a watch-dog bays an alarm at their approach ; the Indians awake, rally, and resist, as well as bows and arrows can resist weapons of steel. The superiority of number was with them ; and fighting closely, hand to hand, though the massa cre spread from wigwam to wigwam, victory was tardy. " We must bum them ! " shouted Mason, and cast a firebrand to the windward among the light mats of the Indian cabins. Hardly could the English with draw to encompass the place, before the whole en campment was in a blaze. Did the helpless natives climb the palisades, the flames assisted the marksmen to take good aim at the unprotected men ; did they attempt a sally, they were cut down by the English broadswords. The carnage was complete : about six hundred Indians, men, women, and children, perished ; most of them in the hideous conflagration. In about

i Compare E. R. Potter's Early History of Narragansett, 24. Williams, in iii. Mass. Hist Coll. iii. 133.

EXTERMINATION OF THE PEQUODS. 401

an hour, the whole work of destruction was finished, CHAP

IX

and two only of the English had fallen in the battle. — *-L The sun, as it rose serenely in the east, was the wit- 1637 ness of the victory.

With the light of morning, three hundred or more Pequod warriors were descried, as they proudly ap proached from their second fort. They had anticipated success ; what was their horror as they beheld the smoking ruins, strown with the half-consumed flesh of so many hundreds of their race ! They stamped on the ground, and tore their hair ; but it was in vain tc attempt revenge ; then and always, to the close of the war, the feeble manner of the natives hardly deserved, says Mason, the name of fighting; their defeat was certain, and unattended with much loss to the English. The aborigines were never formidable in battle, till they became supplied with the weapons of European invention.

A portion of the troops hastened homewards to pro tect the settlements from any sudden attack ; while Mason, with about twenty men, marched across the country from the vicinity of New London to the Eng lish fort at Saybrook. He 'reached the river at sun set ; but Gardner, who commanded the fort, observed his approach ; and never did the heart of a Roman consul, returning in triumph, swell more than the pride of Mason and his friends, when they found themselves received as victors, and " nobly entertained with many great guns."

In a few days, the troops from Massachusetts arrived, attended by Wilson ; for the ministers always shared every hardship and every danger. The remnants of the Pequods were pursued into their hiding-places; every wigwam was burned, every settlement was

VOL. ' 51

402 DEMOCRATIC LIBERTY IN CONNECTICUT.

laid waste. Sassacus, their sachem, was murdered try the Mohawks, to whom he had fled for protection. The 1637. few that survived? about two hundred, surrendering in despair, were enslaved by the English, or incorporated among the Mohegans and the Narragansetts. " Fifteen of the boys and two women" were exported by Mas sachusetts to Providence isle ; and the returning ship brought back a some cotton, tobacco, and negroes."

1638. The vigor and courage displayed by the settlers on the Connecticut, in this first Indian war in New Eng land, struck terror into the savages, and secured a long succession of years of peace. The infant was safe in its cradle, the laborer in the fields, the solitary traveller during the night-watches in the forest; the houses needed no bolts, the settlements no palisades. Under the benignant auspices of peace, the citizens of the western colony resolved to perfect its political

1639 institutions, and to form a body politic by a voluntary

14. association. The constitution which was thus framed

was of unexampled liberality. The elective franchise

belonged to all the members of the towns who had

o

taken tne oath of allegiance to the commonwealth ; the magistrates and legislature were chosen annually by ballot; and the representatives were apportioned among the towns according to population. More than two centuries have elapsed ; the world has been made wiser by the most various experience ; po-litical insti tutions have become the theme on which the most powerful and cultivated minds have been employed . and so many constitutions have been framed or re formed, stifled or subverted, that memory may despair of a complete catalogue ; — but the people of Connec ticut have found no reason to deviate essentially from the frame of government established by their fathers. No jurisdiction of the English monarch was recognised ;

DEMOCRATIC LIBERTY IN CONNECTICUT. 403

the laws of honest justice were the basis of their corn- CHAP monwealth ; and therefore its foundations were lasting. -^^ These humble emigrants invented an admirable sys tem ; for they were near to Nature, listened willingly to her voice, and easily copied her forms. No ancient usages, no hereditary differences of rank, no established interests, impeded the application of the principles of justice. Freedom springs spontaneously into life ; the artificial distinctions of society require centuries to ripen. History has ever celebrated the heroes who have won laurels in scenes of carnage. Has it no place * for the founders of states ; the wise legislators, who struck the rock in the wilderness, so that the waters of liberty gushed forth in copious and perennial foun tains ? They who judge of men by their services to the human race, will never cease to honor the memory of Hooker and of Haynes.

In equal independence, a Puritan colony sprang up ]G38 at New Haven, under the guidance of John Davenport as its pastor, arid of the excellent Theophilus Eaton, who was annually elected its governor for twenty years, till his death. Its forms were austere, unmixed Cal vinism ; but the spirit of humanity had sheltered itself under the rough exterior. The colonists held their April first gathering under a branching oak. It was a season of gloom. Spring had not yet revived the verdure of nature ; under the leafless tree the little flock were taught by Davenport, that, like the Son of man, they were led into the wilderness to be tempted. After a day of fasting and prayer, they rested their first frame of government on a simple plantation covenant, that "all of them would be ordered by the rules which the Scrip tures held- forth to them." A title to lands was ob tained bv a treaty with the natives, whom they protected against the Mohawks. When, after more than a vrar,

404 THE HOUSE OF WISDOM AT NEW HAVEN.

CHAP, the free planters of the colony desired a more perfect — ^ form of government, the followers of Him who was laid 1639. in a manger held their constituent assembly in a barn.

Juno

4. There, by the influence of Davenport, it was solemnly resolved, that the Scriptures are the perfect rule of a commonwealth ; that the purity and peace of the ordi nances to themselves and their posterity, were the great end of civil order ; and that church members only should be free burgesses. A committee of twrelve was select ed to choose seven men, qualified for the foundation work of organizing the government. Eaton, Daven port, and five others, were "the seven Pillars" for the Aug. new House of Wisdom, in the wilderness. In August,

tJ*J

1639, the seven pillars assembled, possessing for the time absolute power. Having abrogated every previous executive trust, they admitted to the court all church members ; the character of civil magistrates was next expounded " from the sacred oracles;" and the elec tion followed. Then Davenport, in the words of Mo ses to Israel in the wilderness, gave a charge to the governor, to judge righteously ; "the cause that is too hard for you," — such was part of the minister's text, — " bring it unto me, and I will hear it." Annual elections were ordered ; and God's word established as the only rule in public affairs. Thus New Haven made the Bible its statute-book, and the elect its freemen. As neigh boring towns were planted, each wras likewise a house of wisdom, resting on its seven pillars, and aspiring to be illumined by the Eternal Light. The colonists prepared for the second coming of Christ, which they confidently expected. Meantime their pleasant villages spread along the Sound, and on the opposite shore of

1640 Long Island, and for years they nursed the hope of

1649. "speedily planting Delaware."

405

CHAPTER X.

THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND.

THE English government was not indifferent to the CHAP

progress of the colonies of New England. The fate

of the first emigrants had been watched by all parties with benevolent curiosity ; nor was there any induce ment to oppress the few sufferers, whom the hardships of their condition were so fast wasting away. The adventurers were encouraged by a proclamation,1 1630 which, with a view to their safety, prohibited the sale 24* of fire-arms to the savages.

The stern discipline exercised by the government at Salem, produced an early harvest of enemies: re sentment long rankled in the minds of some, whom Endicott had perhaps too passionately punished; and when they returned to England, Mason and Gorges, the rivals of the Massachusetts company, willingly echoed their vindictive complaints. A petition even reached King Charles, complaining of distraction and disorder in the plantations ; but the issue was unex pected. Massachusetts was ably defended by Sal ton- stall, Humphrey, and Cradock, its friends in England; and the committee of the privy council reported in favor of the adventurers, who were ordered to continue J^33

JOB*

their undertakings cheerfully, for the king did not 1 Hazard, i. 311, 312.

406 MASSACHUSETTS HAS ENEMIES IN ENGLAND.

CHAP, design to impose on the people of Massachusetts the

— v^~ ceremonies which they had emigrated to avoid. The country, it was believed, would in time be very bene ficial to England.1

1G34. Revenge did not slumber,2 because it had been once defeated ; and the triumphant success of the Puritans in America disposed the leaders of the high-church party to listen to the clamors of the malignant. Proof was. produced of marriages celebrated by civil magis trates, and of the system of colonial church disci pline — proceedings which were wholly at variance with the laws of England. " The departure of so many of THE BEST," such " numbers of faithful and free-born Englishmen and good Christians," — a more ill-boding sign to the nation than the portentous blaze of comets and the impressions in the air, at which astrologers are

1634 dismayed,3 — began to be regarded by the archbishops 21. as an affair of state ; and ships bound with passengers for New England were detained in the Thames by an order of the council. Burdett also in 1637 wrote from New England to Laud, that " the colonists aimed riot at new discipline, but at sovereignty ; that it was ac counted treason in their general court to speak of ap peals to the king;"4 and the greatest apprehensions were raised by a requisition which commanded the letters patent of the company to be produced in Eng land.5 To this requisition the emigrants returned no reply.

Still more menacing was the appointment of an

1 Winthrop and Savage, i. 54 — 3 Milton pleads for the Puritans 57, and 101 — 103. Prince, 430, 431. —Of Reformation, Book ii. Hutch. Coll. 5*4— 54. Hubbard, 150 < Hutchinson, i. 85, Habbard. — 154. Chalmers, 154, 155. Haz- 354.

ard, i. 234, 235. 5 Winthrop, i. 135. 137. Hub-

2 Winthrop, ii. 1!)0, 101 ; or Haz- bard, 153. Hazard, i. 311, 342. ttrd, i. 242, 243. Hubbard, 428—430.

MASSACHUSETTS PREPARES RESISTANCE. 407

arbitrary special commission for the colonies. The CHAP archbishop of Canterbury and those who were associa- ^-^ ted with him, received full power over the American 1A634

April

plantations, to establish the government and dictate 10. the laws ; to regulate the church ; to inflict even the heaviest punishments ; and to revoke any charter which had been surreptitiously obtained, or which con ceded liberties prejudicial to the royal prerogative 1

The news of this commission soon reached Boston ; Sept

18

and it was at the same time rumored that a general governor was on his way. The intelligence awakened the most lively interest in the whole colony, and led to the boldest measures. Poor as the new settlements were, six hundred pounds were raised towards fortifi cations ; u the assistants and the deputies discovered their minds to one another," and the fortifications were hastened. All the ministers assembled at Boston: it 1?35

Jan.

marks the age, that their opinions were consulted ; it 19. marks the age still more, that they unanimously de clared against the reception of a general governor. " We ought," said the fathers in Israel, " to defend our lawful possessions, if we are able ; if not, to avoid and protract."5

It is not strange that Laud and his associates should have esteemed the inhabitants of Massachusetts to be men of refractory humors ; complainis resounded of sects and schisms ; of parties consenting in nothing but hostility to the church of England ; of designs to shake off the royal jurisdiction.3 Restraints were, therefore, placed upon emigration ; no one above the 1631 rank of a serving man, might remove to the colony Dec

1 Hazard, i. 344—347. Hubbard, 264— 268. Hutchlnson, i. App. No. iv. Winlhrop, i. 143. Chalmers mistakes a year.

2 Winthrop, i. 154. 3 Gorges, c. xxvi

408 THE COUNCIL FOR N. E. SURRENDERS ITS CHARTER

CHAP, without the special leave of the commissioners ; and

^v^- persons of inferior order were required to take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance.1

Willingly as these acts were performed by religious bigotry, they were prompted by another cause. The

1G35. members of the Grand Council of Plymouth, long re duced to a state of inactivity, prevented by the spirit of the English merchants from oppressing the people, and having already made grants of all the lands from the Penobscot to Long Island, determined to resign their charter, which was no longer possessed of any value. Several of the company desired as individuals to become the proprietaries of extensive territories, even at the dishonor of invalidating all their grants as a corporation. The hope of acquiring principalities subverted the sense of justice. A meeting of the lords was duly convened, and the whole coast, from Acadia to beyond the Hudson, being divided into shares, was distributed, in part at least, by lots. Whole provinces gained an owner by the drawing of a lottery.2

Thus far all went smoothly ; it was a more difficult matter to gain possession of the prizes ; the independ • ent and inflexible colony of Massachusetts formed too serious an obstacle. The grant for Massachusetts, it was argued, was surreptitiously obtained ; the lands belonged to Robert Gorges by a prior deed ; the in truders had " made themselves a free people." The

June: general patent for New England was surrendered to the king : to obtain of him a confirmation of their respective grants, and to invoke the whole force of English power against the charter of Massachusetts)

1 Hazard, i. 247—348.

2 Gorges, b. ii. c. ii. Hubbard, 22G— 229. Hazard, I 383

A QUO WARRANTO AGAINST MASSACHUSETTS. 409

were, at the same time, the objects of the members of CHAP the Plymouth company, distinctly avowed in their ^-^ public acts.1

Now was the season of greatest peril to the rising liberties of New England. The king and council already feared the consequences that might come from the unbridled spirits of the Americans ; his dislike was notorious;2 and at the Trinity term in the Court of King's Bench, a quo warranto was brought against the company of the Massachusetts Bay. At the ensuing Michaelmas, several of its members, who resided in England, made their appearance, and judgment was pronounced against them individually ; the rest of the patentees stood outlawed, but no judgment was entered up against them.3 The unexpected death of Mason, Dec. who, as the proprietary of New Hampshire, had been the chief mover of all the aggressions on the rights of the adjoining colony, suspended the hostile movements,4 which Gorges had too much honesty and too little in trigue to renew.5

The severe censures in the Star Chamber, the great- 1635 ness of the fines which avarice rivaled bigotry in im- 1637 posing, the rigorous proceedings with regard to cere monies, the suspending and silencing of multitudes of ministers, still continued ; and men were " enforced bv heaps to desert their native country. Nothing but the wide ocean, and the savage deserts of America, could hide and shelter them from the fury of the bishops."6 The pillory had become the bloody scene of human

1 Hazard, i. 382. 390—394. 6 Rush worth, ii. 410. Hazard, i.

2 Gorges, b. ii. c. i. p. 43. 420. Neal's Puritans. Nugent's

3 Ha/aril, i. 423 — 425. Hutchin- Hampden. The words are from Mil- son's Coll. 101—104. ton, the Puritan poet; the greatest

, 4 Winlhrop, i. 187. poet of our language. 5 Winthrop, ii. 12. Hazard, i. 403.

VOL. i. 52

410 CONTINUED PERSECUTION OF PURITANISM.

r:HAp. agony and mutilation, as an ordinary punishment ; and ^- the friends of Laud jested on the sufferings which were to cure the obduracy of fanatics. " The very genius of that nation of people," said Wentworth, " leads them always to oppose, both civilly and eccle siastically, all that ever authority ordains for them." They were provoked to the indiscretion of a complaint, and then involved in a persecution. They were im prisoned and scourged ; their noses were slit , their ears were cut off; their cheeks were marked with a red-hot brand. But the lash, and the shears, and the glowing iron, could not destroy principles which were rooted in the soul, and which danger made it glorious to profess. The injured party even learned to despise 1637. the mercy of their oppressors. Four years after Prynne had been punished for a publication, he was a second time arraigned for a like offence. " I thought," said Lord Finch, " that Prynne had lost his ears al ready ; but," added he, looking at the prisoner, " there is something left yet;" and an officer of the court, re moving the hair, displayed the mutilated organs. " I pray to God," replied Prynne, " you may have ears to hear me." A crowd gathered round the scaffold, where he, and Bastwick, and Burton, were to suffer mutilation. " Christians," said Prynne, as he present ed the stumps of his ears to be grubbed out by the; hangman's knife, " stand fast ; be faithful to God and your country ; or you bring on yourselves and your children perpetual slavery." The dungeon, the pillory, and the scaffold, were but stages in the progress of civil liberty towards its triumph.

Yet there was a period when the ministry of Charles hoped for success. No considerable resistance was threatened within the limits of England ; and not even

ERROR RESPECTING HAMFDEN AND CROMWELL. 41 1

America could long be safe against the designs of des- CHAP potism. A proclamation was issued to prevent the ^— emigration of Puritans ; l the king refused his dissent- ^pri'j ing subjects the security of the wilderness.

It was probably a foreboding of these dangers, which induced the legislation of Massachusetts to exaggerate the necessity of domestic union.2 In England the proclamation was but little regarded. The Puritans, hemmed in by dangers on every side, and at that time having no prospect "of ultimate success, desired at any rate to escape from their native country. The privy council interfered to stay a squadron of eight ships, which were in the Thames, preparing to embark for 1638 New England.3 It has been said that Hampden and i* Cromwell were on board this fleet.4 The English

o

ministry of that day might willingly have exiled Hampden; no original authors, except royalists writing on hearsay, allude to the design imputed to him ; in America there exists no evidence of his expected arri val ; the remark of Hutchinson 5 refers to the well- known schemes of Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brooke ; there are no circumstances in the lives of Hampden and Cromwell corroborating the story, but many to establish its improbability ; there came over, during this summer, twenty ships, and at least three thousand persons;6 and had Hampden designed to

1 Hazard, i. 421. gent, in his Hampden, i. 254, should

3 Colony Laws, edition of 1660, not have repeated the error. Edin- 7cV iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 398. burgh Review, No. 108. Russel's

;} Rusliworth, ii. 409. Hazard, i. Cromwell, i. 51. Godwin, in his

}2<J History of the Commonwealth, i. 11,

4 Bates and Dugdale, in Neal's 12, reproves the conduct which he Putitans, ii. 349. C.Mather, b. i. vmjustlyimputestoHampden. The c. v. s. 7. Neal's N. E. i. 168. pretended design was indeed unlike Chalmers, 100, 161, Robertson, b. Hampden.

x. Hume, c. liii. Belknap, ii. 229. 5 Hutchinson, i. 44. Gnihame's U. S. i. 299. Lord Nu- 6 Winthrop, i. 268.

412 ERROR RESPECTING HAMPDEN AND CROMWELL.

CHAF. emigrate, he whose maxim1 in life forbade retreat, and ^~v^ whose resolution was as fixed as it was calm, possessed

t /-> o Q

energy enough to have accomplished his purpose. Jfo undoubtedly had watched with deep interest the prog ress of Massachusetts ; "the Conclusions" had early attracted his attention;2 and in 1631 he had taken part in a purchase of territory on the Narragansett.3 It has been conjectured,4 asserted,5 and even circum stantially related,6 that he passed a winter with the colony of New Plymouth. A person who bore the same or nearly the same name,7 was undoubtedly there ; but the greatest patriot-statesman of his times, the man whom Charles I. would gladly have seen drawn and quartered, whom Clarendon paints as pos sessing beyond all his contemporaries " a head to con trive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute," and whom the fervent Baxter revered as able, by his presence and conversation, to give a new charm to the rest of the Saints in heaven, was never in America. Nor did he ever embark for America ; the fleet in which he is said to have taken his passage, was delay ed but a few days ; on petition of the owners and pas sengers, King Charles removed the restraint ; 8 the ships proceeded on their intended voyage ; and the whole company, as it seems without diminution, arrived safely in the Bay of Massachusetts.9 Had Hampden and Cromwell been of the party, they too would have reached New England.

1 Nulla vestigia retrorsum. 7 ii. Massachusetts Hist Coll.

* Nugent, i. 17,% 174. viii. 258. More probably John

3 Potter's Narragansett, 14. — Hamblin; a common name in the Comp. Trumbull. Old Colony.

4 Belknap's Biog. ii. 229. 8 Rushworth, ii. 409. Aikin'g

5 N. Amer. Review, vi. 28. Charles I. i. 471—473.

6 Fr. Baylies, Memoir, i. 110, 9 Winthrop, i. 2(36, is decisive takes fire at the thought.

MASSACHUSETTS REFUSES TO SURRENDER ITS CHARTER. 413

A few weeks before this attempt to stay emigration, CHAP the lords of the council had written to Winthrop, recalling to mind the former proceedings by a quo ^jj \varranto, and demanding the return of the patent. 4- In case of refusal, it was added, the king would as sume into his own hands the entire management of the plantation.1

But " David in exile could more safely expostulate with Saul for the vast space between them." The col onists, without desponding, demanded a trial before condemnation. They urged .that the recall of the s^it patent would be a manifest breach of faith, pregnant with evils to themselves and their neighbors ; that it would strengthen the plantations of the French and the Dutch; that it would discourage all future attempts at colonial enterprise; and, finally, "if the patent be taken from us," — such was their cautious but energetic remonstrance, — "the common people will conceive that his majesty hath cast them off, and that hereby they are freed from their allegiance and subjection, and therefore will be ready to confederate themselves under a new government, for their necessary safety and sub sistence, which will be of dangerous example unto other plantations, and perilous to ourselves, of incurring his majesty's displeasure."2 They therefore beg of the royal clemency the favor of neglect.

But before their supplication could find its way to the throne, the monarch was himself already involved in disasters. Anticipating success in his tyranny in England, he had resolved to practise no forbearance ; with headlong indiscretion, he insisted on introducing

i Hubbard, 2(38, 2G9. Hazard, 2 Hubbard, 26<J— 271. Hutch i i. 43-2, 4:33. Hutchinson's Coll. 105, App. No. v. Hazard, i. 431. 433. 100.

414 THE INSURRECTION IN SCOTLAND.

CHAP, a liturgy into Scotland, and compelling the uncom-

^— promising disciples of Knox to listen to prayers trans-

J637. lated from the Roman missal. The first attempt at

3%l reading the new service in the cathedral of Edinburgh

was the signal for that series of momentous events

o

which promised to restore liberty to England, and give peace to the colonies. The movement began, as great revolutions almost always do, from the ranks of the people. "What, ye villain!" shouted the old women at the dean, as he read the liturgy, " will ye say mass in my lug ?" — "A pape, a pape!" resounded the mul titude, incensed ag^nst the bishop; " stane him, stane him!" The churchmen narrowly escaped martyrdom. The tumult spreads ; the nobles of Scotland take ad vantage of the excitement of the people to advance

1638. their ambition. The national covenant is published, and is signed by the Scottish nation, almost without distinction of rank or sex ; the defences of despotism are broken down; the flood washes away every vestige of ecclesiastical oppression. Scotland rises in arms for a holy war, and enlists religious enthusiasm under its banner in its contest against a despot, who has neither a regular treasury, nor an army, nor the confidence of his people. The wisest of his subjects esteem the

lfi39. insurgents as their friends and allies. There is now no time to oppress NewT England ; the throne itself totters ; — there is no need to forbid emigration ; Eng land is at once become the theatre of wonderful events, and many fiery spirits, who had fled for a refuge to the colonies, rush back to share in the open struggle for liberty. In the following years, few passengers came

1G40 over; the reformation of church and state, the attain-

lG4ii. der of StrafFord, the impeachment of Laud, the great

CONDITION OF NEW ENGLAND. 415

enemy of Massachusetts, caused all men to stay in CHAP. England in expectation of a new world.

Yet a nation was already planted in New England ; a commonwealth was matured ; the contests in which the unfortunate Charles became engaged, and the re publican revolution that followed, left the colonists, (or the space of twenty years, nearly unmolested in the enjoyment of virtual independence. The change which their industry had wrought in the wilderness, was the admiration of their times. The wigwams and hovels in which the English had at first found shelter, were replaced by well built houses. The number of emigrants who had arrived in New England before the assembling of the Long Parliament, is esteemed to have been twenty-one thousand two hundred. Two hundred and ninety-eight ships had borne them across the Atlantic ; and the cost of the plantations had been almost a million of dollars — a great expenditure and a great emigration for that age. In a little more than ten years, fifty towns and villages had been planted ; between thirty and forty churches built ; and stran gers, as they gazed, could not but acknowledge God's blessing on the endeavors of the planters. A public school, for which on the eighth of September, 1636, the general court made provision, was, in the next year, established at Cambridge; and when, in 1638, John Harvard, a nonconformist clergyman, a church member and freeman of Charlestown, esteemed for godliness and the love of learning, bequeathed to it his library and half his fortune, it was named HARVARD COLLEGE. " To complete the colony in church and commonwealth- work," Jesse Grlover, a worthy minister, u able in estate," and of a liberal spirit, in that same VOL. i. 53

415* CONDITION OF NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP, year embarked for Boston with fonts of letters for *-~r~ printing, and a printer. He died on the passage ; but in 1639, Stephen Daye, the printer, printed the Free man's Oath, and an Almanac calculated for New Eng land ; and in 1640, " for the edification and comfort of the saints," the Psalms, — faithfully but rudely trans lated in metre from the Hebrew by Thomas Welde and John Eliot, ministers of Roxbury, assisted by Richard Mather, minister of Dorchester, — were pub lished in a volume of three hundred octavo pages, the first ever printed in America, north of the Gulf of Mexico.

In temporal affairs, plenty prevailed throughout the settlements, and affluence came in the train of industry. The natural exports of the country were furs and lumber ; grain was carried to the West Indies ; fish also was a staple. The art of shipbuilding was intro duced with the first emigrants for Salem ; but " Win- throp had with him "William Stephens, a shipwright who had been preparing to go for Spain, and who would have been as a precious jewel to any State that obtained him." He had built in England many ships of great burthen, one even of six hundred tons, and he was " so able a man, that there was hardly such another to be found in the kingdom." In New Eng land he lived with great content, where, from the time of his arrival, shipbuilding was carried on with sur passing skill, so that vessels were soon constructed of four hundred tons. So long as the ports were filled with new comers, the domestic consumption had required nearly all the produce of the colony. But now, " supplies from England failing much, men began to look about them, and fell to a manufacture

THE FAVOR OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 410

of cotton, whereof they had store from Barbadoes." CHAP. In view of the exigency, " the general court made — *— * order for the manufacture of woollen and linen cloth." The Long Parliament, which met in 1641, con tained among its members many sincere favorers of the Puritan plantations. But the English in America, with wise circumspection, feared to endanger their legislative independence. "Upon the great liberty which the king had left the parliament in England," says Winthrop, " some of our friends there wrote to us advice to solicit for us in the parliament, giving us hope that we might obtain much. But consulting about it, we declined the motion for this consideration, that if we should put ourselves under the protection of the parliament, we must then be subject to all such laws as they should make, or, at least, such as they might impose upon us. It might prove very preju dicial to us." When the letters arrived, inviting the colonial churches to send their deputies to the West minster assembly of divines, the same sagacity led them to neglect the summons. Especially Hooker, of Hartford, " liked not the business," and deemed it his duty rather to stay in quiet and obscurity with his people in Connecticut, than to turn propagandist, and plead for Independency in England. Yet such commercial advantages were desired, as might be obtained without a surrender of chartered rights. In 1641, Hugh Peters and two others were despatched as agents for the colonies ; and their mission was fa vorably received. The house of commons, on the tenth of March, 1643, publicly acknowledged, that " the plantations in New England had, by the bless ing of the Almighty, had good and prosperous success,

11 6 * THE BODY OF LIBERTIES.

CHAP, without any public charge to the parent state ; " and — • — their imports and exports were freed from all taxa tion, " until the house of commons should take order to the contrary." The general court of Massachusetts received the ordinance with thankful acknowledg ment of so great a favor from that honorable assem bly, and entered it word for word on their records as a memorial to posterity.

The security, thus enjoyed by New England, pre sented the long desired opportunity of establishing a " body of liberties " as a written constitution of gov ernment. In the absence of a code of laws, the people had for several years been uneasy at the ex tent of power that rested in the discretion of the magistrates. On the other hand, most' of the magis trates, and some of the elders, thinking that the fittest laws would arise upon occasions, and gain validity as customs, and moreover fearing that their usages, if established as regular statutes, might be censured by their enemies as repugnant to the laws of England, had not been very forward to adopt the model which Cotton had elaborately prepared and justified in all its parts by apposite texts of scripture. Now that the causes of apprehension were suspended, the great work of constitutional legislation was resumed ; and in December, 1641, a session of three weeks was em ployed in considering a system which had been pre pared by Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich. As the author of the fundamental code, he is the most remarkable among all the early legislators of Massachusetts ; he had been formerly a student and practiser in the courts of common law in England, but became a non

THE BODY OF LIBERTIES. 417

conforming minister; so that he was competent to CHAR combine the humane doctrines of the common law with — ^ the principles of natural right and equality, as de duced from the Bible. After mature deliberation, his " model," which for its liberality and comprehensive ness may vie with any similar record from the days of Magna Charta, was adopted as " the body of liberties " of the Massachusetts colony.

All the general officers of the jurisdiction, includ ing governor, deputy governor, treasurer, assistants, military commander, and admiral, if there should be a naval force, were to be chosen annually by the freemen of the plantation, and paid from the common treasury. The freemen in the several towns were to choose deputies from among themselves, or elsewhere as they judged fittest, who were to be paid from the treasury of the respective towns, and to serve " at the most but one year ; that the country may have an annual liberty to do in that case what is most be- hooveful for the best welfare thereof." No general assembly could be dissolved or adjourned without the consent of the major part thereof. The freemen of every town had power to make such by-laws and constitutions as might concern the welfare of the town, provided they be not of a criminal nature, nor repugnant to the public laws of the country; and that their penalties exceed not twenty shillings for one offence. They also had power to choose yearly selectmen " to order the prudential occasions of the town according to instructions to be given them in writing."

Life, honor, and personal liberty and estate, were placed under the perpetual protection of law. To every person, whether inhabitant or foreigner, was

417* THE BODY OF LIBERTIES.

CHAP, promised equal justice without partiality or delay — • — Every man, whether inhabitant or foreigner, free or not free, had the liberty to come to any court, council, or town meeting, and there to move any question or present any petition, either by speech or writing. Every officer, exercising judicial authority, was annu ally elected, the assistants by the freemen of the whole plantation; the associates to assist the assist ants in any inferior court, by the towns belonging to that court ; and al] jurors by the freemen of the town where they dwelt. Judicial proceedings were sim plified ; by mutual consent of plaintiff and defendant, actions might be tried, at their option, by the bench or by a jury; and in criminal trials the like choice was granted to the accused.

All servitudes of the soil, which had so much multiplied and had wrought so much evil under the feudal system, were utterly forbidden ; and all lands and heritages were declared free and alienable ; so that the land of a child under age or an idiot, might, with the consent of a general court, be conveyed away. All persons of the age of twenty-one years, even the excommunicate or condemned, had full power to alien ate their lands and estates, and to make their wills and testaments. Children inherited, equally as co partners the property of intestate parents, whether real or personal, except that to the first-born son, where there was a son, a double portion was assigned, unless the general court should judge otherwise. No man could be compelled to go out of the limits of the plantation upon any offensive war. To every man with in the jurisdiction, free liberty was assured to remove himself and his family at their pleasure. The grant of monopolies was prohibited, except of new inventions

THE BODY OF LIBERTIES. 418

profitable to the country, and that for a short time. CHAP Every married woman was protected against bodily ^^ correction or stripes by her husband, and had redress, 1 6 4 L if at his death he should not leave her a competent portion of his estate. Of other nations, professing the true Christian religion, all fugitives from the tyranny or oppression of their persecutors, or from famine or wars, were ordered to be entertained ac cording to that power and prudence that God should give ; so that the welcome of the commonwealth was as wide as sorrow. On slavery this was the rule : "There shall never be any bond slaverie, villinage, or Captivitie amongst us, unles it be lawfull Captives taken in just warres, and such strangers as willingly selle themselves or are sold to us. And these shall have all the liberties and Christian usages which the law of god established in Israel concerning such per sons doeth morally require. This exempts none from servitude who shall be Judged thereto by Authoritie." "If any man stealeth a man or mankinde, he shall surely be put to death."

The severity of the Levitical law against witch craft, blasphemy, and sins against nature, was re tained; otherwise, death was the punishment only for murder, adultery, manstealing, and false witness wittingly to take away any man's life. In the follow ing year rape was also made a capital crime.

With regard to the concerns of religion, all the people of God who were orthodox in judgment and not scandalous in life, had full liberty to gather them selves into a church estate ; to exercise all the ordi nances of God ; and from time to time to elect and ordain all their officers, provided they be able, pious, and orthodox. For the preventing and removing of

418 * NEW HAMPSHIRE ANNEXED TO MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, error, ministers and elders of near adjoining churches ^V^1 might hold public Christian conference, provided that

1641. nothing be imposed by way of authority by one or more churches upon another, but only by way of brotherly consultations.

Such were the most important of the liberties and laws, established at the end of 1641, for the govern ment of Massachusetts. Embracing the freedom of the commonwealth, of municipalities, of persons, and of churches according to the principles of Indepen dency, " the model " exhibits the truest picture of the principles, character, and intentions of that people, and the best evidence of its vigor and self-dependence. Soon after the promulgation of its " liberties," the territory of Massachusetts was extended to the Piscat- aqua, for which the strict interpretation of its charter offered an excuse. The people of New Hampshire had long been harassed by vexatious proprietary claims ; dreading the perils of anarchy, they now provided a remedy for the evils of a disputed jurisdiction by the immediate exercise of their natural rights ; and, on the fourteenth of April, 1642, by their own voluntary act, they were annexed to their powerful neighbor, not as a province, but on equal terms, as an integral por tion of the state. The change was effected with great deliberation. The banks of the Piscataqua had not been peopled by Puritans ; and the system of Massa chusetts could not properly be applied to the new 1 acquisitions. In September, the general court adopted the measure which justice recommended ; neither the freemen nor the deputies of New Hampshire were re quired to be church members. Thus political har mony was maintained, though the settlements long retained marks of the difference of their origin.

TROUBLE WITH GORTON. 419

The attempt to gain possession of the territory on CHAP. Narragansett Bay was less deserving of success. Mas- ^^

sachusetts proceeded with the decision of an independ- ent state. Samuel Gorton, a wild but benevolent en thusiast, who used to say, heaven was not a place, there was no heaven but in the hearts of good men, no hell but in the mind, had created disturbances in the district of Warwick. A minority of the inhabitants, wearied with harassing disputes, requested the interference of the 1041 magistrates of Massachusetts,1 and two sachems, near Providence, surrendered the soil to the jurisdiction of that state.2 Gorton and his partisans did not disguise their scorn for the colonial clergy; they were advocates for liberty of conscience, and, at the same time, having no hope of protection except from England, they were, by their position, enemies to colonial independence ; they denied the authority of the magistrates of Massa chusetts, not only on the soil of Warwick, but every where, inasmuch as it was tainted by a want of true allegiance. Such opinions, if carried into effect, would have destroyed the ecclesiastical system of Massachu- 1643 setts, and subverted its liberties, and were therefore thought worthy of death ; but the public opinion of the time, as expressed by a small majority of the deputies, was more merciful, and Gorton and his associates were imprisoned. It is the nature of a popular state to cherish peace : the people murmured at the severity of their rulers, and the imprisoned men were soon set at liberty ; but the claim to the territory was not immediately abandoned.3

1 iii. Mass. Hist Coll. i. 3—4. 296, ii. 58,59, and Eddy's note, 142 Winthrop, ii. 59. Hubbard, 406. —148. 156. 165, 166. 280. 295. 299.

2 Winthrop, ii. 120—123. 317.322. Colony Records, ii. John-

3 OnGorton,seeEliot,iniii.Mass. son, b. ii. c. xxiii. xxiv. Lechford, Hist Coll. iv. 136 Winthrop, i. 91. 41, 42. Gorton, in ii. Mass. Hist

420 THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP. The enlargement of the territory of Massachusetts

— ^ was, in part, a result of the virtual independence which

1643. the commotions in the mother country had secured to

the colonies. The establishment of a UNION among

the Puritan states of New England, was a still more

important measure.

1637. Immediately after the victories over the Pequods, at a time when the earliest synod had gathered in Boston the leading magistrates and elders of Connecticut, the design of a confederacy was proposed. Many of the American statesmen, familiar with the character of the government of Holland, possessed sufficient experience and knowledge to frame the necessary plan ; but time was wanting ; the agents of Plymouth could not be seasonably summoned, and the subject was deferred.

1638. The next year it came again into discussion; but Connecticut, offended " because some preeminence was yielded to Massachusetts," insisted on reserving to each state a negative on the proceedings of the con federacy. This reservation was refused ; for, in that case, said Massachusetts, " all would have come to nothing."

1639. The vicinity of the Dutch, a powerful neighbor, whose claims Connecticut could not, single-handed, defeat, led the colonists of the west to renew the negotiation ; and with such success, that, within a few

1643 years, THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND were " made all as one."1 Protection against the encroach -

Coll. viii. 68—70. Morton, 202— 118 and ff. Eliot, in i. Mass, HisL

206. Gorton, in Hutchinson, i. App. Coll. ix. 35 — 38. Knowles, 182 —

xx. Hubbard, 343, 344. 401 — 407. 189. Savage on Winthrop, ii. 147

and 500— 512. Hazard, i. 546— 553. —149. Baylies, N. P. Lc.xii. Best

C. Mather, b. vii. c. ii. s. 12. Cal- of all is Gorton's own account, with

lender, 35, 38. Hopkins, in ii. Mass, the accurate commentary of Staples. Hist, Coll. ix. 199—201. Hutchin- i Winthrop, i. 237. 284. 299; ii

eon,i. 114— 118. Hutchinson's Coll. 350.266. Hubbard, 466. Johnson

237— 239. and 405. 415. Backus, i. b. ii. c. xxiii

THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND 421

ments of the Dutch and the French; security against CHAP. the tribes of savages; the liberties of the gospel in ^^^ purity and in peace, — these were the motives to the 1643 confederacy, which did, itself, continue nearly half a century, and which, even after it was cut down, left a hope that a new and a better union would spring from its root.

Neither was the measure accomplished without a progress in political science. If the delegates from three of the states were empowered to frame and definitively conclude a union, the colony of Plymouth now set the example of requiring that the act of their constituent representatives should have no force till confirmed by a majority of the people.

The union embraced the separate governments of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Ha ven ; but to each its respective local jurisdiction was carefully reserved. The question of State Rights is nearly two hundred years old. The affairs of the con federacy were intrusted to commissioners, consisting of two from each colony. Church membership was the only qualification required for the office. The commissioners, who were to assemble annually, or oftener if exigencies demanded, might deliberate on all things which are " the proper concomitants or con sequents of a confederation." The affairs of peace and war, and especially Indian affairs, exclusively belonged to them; they, too, were the guardians to see equal and speedy justice assured to all the confederates in every jurisdiction. The common expenses were to be assessed according to popula tion.

Thus remarkable for unmixed simplicity was the

422 THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP, form of the first confederated government1 in America.

— — It was a directory, apparently without any check.

1643. There was no president, except as a moderator of its meetings ; and the larger state, Massachusetts, supe rior to all the rest in territory, wealth, and population, had no greater number of votes than New Haven. But the commissioners were, in reality, little more than a deliberative body : they possessed no executive pow er, and, while they could decree a war and a levy of troops, it remained for the states to carry their votes into effect.

Provision was made for the reception of new mem bers into the league ; but the provision was wholly without results. The people beyond the Piscataqua were not admitted, because " they ran a different course " from the Puritans, " both in their ministry and in their civil administration." The plantations of Providence also desired in vain to participate in the benefits of the union ; 2 and the request of the island of Rhode Island was equally rejected, because it would not consent to form a part of the jurisdiction of Plym outh.3 Yet this early confederacy survived the jeal ousies of the Long Parliament, met with favor from the protector, and remained safe from censure on the restoration of the Stuarts.

Its chief office was the security of the settlements against the natives, whose power was growing more formidable in proportion as they became acquainted with the arts of civilized life. But they were, at the same time, weakened by dissensions among themselves. Now that the Pequod nation was extinct, the more

1 On the Confederacy— the Rec- 2 Mass. MS. State Papers, Cane

ords, in Hazard, v. ii. Winthrop, i. File i. No. 17.

ii. 101—106. Morton, 229. Hub 3 Hazard, ii. 99, 100. burd, c. lii.

THE NARRAGANSETTS AND THE MOH.EGANS. 423

quiet Narragansetts could hardly remain at peace with CHAP the less numerous Mohegans. Anger and revenge — ^ brooded m the mind of Miantonomoh. He hated the 1642 Mohegans, for they were the allies of the English, by whom he had been arraigned as a criminal. He had suffered indignities at Boston, alike wounding to his pride as a chieftain and his honor as a man. His savage wrath was kindled against Uncas, his accuser, whom he detested as doubly his enemy, — once as the sachem of a hostile tribe, and again as a traitor to the whole Indian race, the cringing sycophant of the white men. Gathering his men suddenly together, in defiance of a treaty to which the English were parties,1 Mianto nomoh, accompanied by a thousand warriors, fell upon

the Mohegans. But his movements were as rash as

,

his spirit was impetuous : he was defeated and taken prisoner by those whom he had doomed as a certain prey to his vengeance. By the laws of Indian warfare the fate of the captive was death. Yet Gorton and his friends, who held their lands by a grant from Mianto nomoh, interceded for their benefactor. The unhappy chief was conducted to Hartford ; and the wavering Uncas, who had the strongest claims to the gratitude and protection of the English,2 asked the advice of the commissioners of the United Colonies. Murder had ever been severely punished by the Puritans : they had, at Plymouth, with the advice of Massachusetts, executed three of their own men for taking the life of one Indian : and the elders, to whom the case of Miantonomoh was referred, finding that he had, delib erately and in time of quiet, murdered a servant in the service of the Mohegan chief; that he had fomented

i Hubbard's Indian Wars, 42, 2 & Mass. H. C. viii. 137. 141.

424 THE FATE OF MIANTONOMOH.

CHAP, discontents against the English ; and that, in contempt

— v^ of a league, he had plunged into a useless and bloody

1643. war, — could not perceive in his career any claims to

mercy. He seemed to merit death ; yet not at the

hands of the settlers. Uncas received his captive,

and, conveying the helpless victim beyond the limits of

the jurisdiction of Connecticut, put him to death.1 So

perished Miantonomoh, the friend of the exiles from

Massachusetts, the faithful benefactor of the fathers ot

Rhode Island.

The tribe of Miantonomoh burned to avenge the execution of their chief; but they feared a conflict with the English, whose alliance they vainly solicited, and who persevered in protecting the Mohegans. The Narragansetts were at last compelled to submit in sullenness to a peace, of which the terms were alike hateful to their independence, their prosperity, and their love of revenge.2

While the commissioners, thus unreservedly and without appeal, controlled the relation of the native tribes, the spirit of independence was still further displayed by a direct negotiation and a solemn treaty of peace with the governor of Acadia.3

Content with the security which the confederacy afforded, the people of Connecticut desired no guaran ty for their independence from the government of 1644 England; taking care only, by a regular purchase, to 1C46. obtain a title to the soil from the assigns of the eail

1 Records, in Hazard, ii. 7 — 13. 154 and ff. See the opinions and

I. Mather's Ind. Troubles, 56, 57. arguments of Hopkins, and Savoge,

Mart.on,234. Winthrop, ii. 130. 134. and {Staples, of Davis and Holmes. Hubbard's Indian Wars, 42—45. 2 Hazard, ii. 40—50. Winthrop,

Johnson, b. ii. c. xxiii. Trumbull, ii. 198. 246. 380. L 12!)— 135. Drake, b. ii. 67. Re- 3 Winthrop, ii. 197. Hazard,!.

Jation in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 161 536 and 537, and ii. 50. 54. and ff, Gorton, in Staples's edition,

RHODE ISLAND SOLICITS AND OBTAINS A CHARTER. 425

of Warwick.1 The people of Rhode Island, excluded CHAP from the colonial union, would never have maintained — W- their existence as a separate state, had they not sought the interference and protection of the mother country ; and the founder of the colony was chosen to conduct 1643 the important mission.

Embarking at Manhattan, he arrived in England not long after the death of Hampden. The parliament had placed the affairs of the American colonies under the control of Warwick, as governor-in-chief, assisted by a council of five peers and twelve commoners.2 Among these commoners was Henry Vane, a man who was ever as true in his affections as in his principles, and who now welcomed the American envoy as an ancient friend. The favor of parliament was won by the in comparable " printed Indian labors of Roger Williams,3 the like whereof was not extant from any part of America ;" and his merits as a missionary induced " both houses of parliament to grant unto him, and friends with him, a free and absolute charter4 of civil government for those parts of his abode."5 Thus 1644 were the places of refuge for "soul-liberty," on the 14. Narragansett Bay, incorporated " with full power and authority to rule themselves." To the Long Parlia ment, and especially to Sir Henry Vane, Rhode Island owes its existence as a political state.

A double triumph awaited Williams on his return to New England. He arrived at Boston, and letters from the parliament insured him a safe reception from those who had decreed his banishment. But what honors

1 Trumbull, i. App. v. and vi. 200. See also Callender and Bac-

8 Hazard, i. 533. 535. kus,— both very good author ities,

3 Rhode Island Hist Coll. i. because both followed original doc-

* ii. Mass. Hist Coll. ix. 185. uments. 5 Winthrop, ii. 193. Knowles,

VOL. i 54

426 DEMOCRACY IN RHODE ISLAND.

CHAP were prepared for the happy negotiator, on his return *J^ to the province which he had founded ! As he reached Seekonk, he found the water covered with a fleet of canoes ; all Providence had come forth to welcome the return of its benefactor. Receiving their suc cessful ambassador, the group of boats started for the opposite shore ; and, as they paddled across the stream, Roger Williams, placed in the centre of his grateful fellow-citizens, and glowing with the purest joy, "was elevated and transported out of himself." 1

And now came the experiment of the efficacy of popular sovereignty. The value of a moral principle may be tried on a small community as well as a large one ; the experiment on magnetism, made with a child's toy, gives as sure a result as when the agency of that subtle power is watched in its influence on the globe. There were already several towns in the new state, filled with the strangest and most incongruous elements, — Anabaptists and Antinomians, fanatics (as its enemies asserted) and infidels , so that, if a man had lost his religious opinions, he might have been sure to find them again in some village of Rhode Island. All men were equal ; all might meet and debate in the public assemblies ; all might aspire to office ; the people, for a season, constituted itself its own tribune, and every public law required confirma tion in the primary assemblies. And so it came to pass, that the little " democracie," which, at the beat of the drum or the voice of the herald, used to assemble beneath an oak or by the open sea-side, was famous for its " headiness and tumults," its stormy town-meetings, and the angry feuds of its herdsmen

l Knowles, 202. The work of Knowles is of high valuo.

RHODE ISLAND PRESERVES ITS TERRITORY. 427

and shepherds. But, true as the needle to the pole, CHAP the popular will instinctively pursued the popular inter- —~v^ est. Amidst the jarring quarrels of rival statesmen in the plantations, good men were chosen to administer the government; and the spirit of mercy, of liberality and wisdom, was impressed on its legislation.1 " Our 1647 popularitie," say their records, " shall not, as some con- igf jecture it will, prove an anarchic, and so a common tirannie ; for we are exceeding desirous to preserve every man safe in his person, name, and estate."2

Yet danger still menaced. The executive council of state in England had granted to Coddington a 1651 commission for governing the islands ; and such a J*1 dismemberment of the territory of the narrow state must have terminated in the division of the remaining soil between the adjacent governments. Williams was again compelled to return to England ; and, with NOV John Clarke, his colleague in the mission, was again successful. The dangerous commission was vacated, 1652 and the charter and union of what now forms the state of Rhode Island confirmed. The general assembly, in its gratitude, desired that Williams might himself obtain from the sovereign authority in England an appointment as governor, for a year, over the whole colony. But if gratitude blinded the province, ambi- .tion did not blind its benevolent author. Williams refused to sanction a measure which would have fur nished a dangerous precedent, and was content with (he honor of doing good. His entire success with the executive council was due to the powerful intercession of Sir Henry Vane. " Under God, the sheet-anchor of Rhode Island was Sir Henry." 3 But for him,

i ii. Mass. Hist Coll. vii. 78, &c. a MS. Records of R. I. for 1(J47. 3 Backus, i. S

428 PROVINCE OF MAINE.

CHAP. Rhode Island would perhaps have been divided among ^-v-L its neighbors. " From the first beginning of the Prov- 1654. idence colony," — thus did the town-meeting address Sir 27. Henry Vane, — "you have been a noble and true friend to an outcast and despised people ; we have ever reaped the sweet fruits of your constant loving-kindness and favor. We have long been free from the iron yoke of wolvish bishops ; we have sitten dry from the streams of blood spilt by the wars in our native countrv. We have not felt the new chains of the Presbyterian ty rants, nor, in this colony, have we been consumed by the over-zealous fire of the (so called) godly Christian magistrates. We have not known what an excise means ; we have almost forgotten what tithes are. We have long drunk of the cup of as great liberties as any people, that we can hear of, under the whole heaven. When we are gone, our posterity and chil dren after us shall read, in our town-records, your loving-kindness to us, and our real endeavor after peace and righteousness."

Far different were the early destinies of the Prov- 'June *nce °^ Maine. A general court was held at Saco, 25. under the auspices of the Lord Proprietary, who had drawn upon paper a stately scheme of government, with deputies and counsellors, a marshal and a treas urer of the public revenue, chancellors, and a master, of the ordnance, and every thing that the worthy old 1642. man deemed essential to his greatness. Sir Ferdinand 1. ' had " travailed in the cause above forty years," and expended above twenty thousand pounds ; yet all the regalia which Thomas Gorges, his trusty and well- beloved cousin and deputy, could find in the princi pality, were not enough for the scanty furniture of a cottage. Agamenticus, though in truth but " a poor

DEATH OP FERDINAND GORGES 429

village,"1 soon became a chartered borough ; like CHAP another Romulus, the veteran soldier resolved to per — -^

peluate his name, and, under the name of Gorgeana, the land round York became as good a city as seals i and parchment, a nominal major and aldermen, a chancery court and a court-lee t, sergeants and white rods, can make of a town of less than -three hundred inhabitants and its petty officers. Yet the nature of Gorges was generous, and his piety sincere. He sought pleasure in doing good ; fame, by advancing Christianity among the heathen ; a durable monument, by erecting houses, villages, and towns. The contem porary and friend of Raleigh, he adhered to schemes in America for almost half a century ; and, long after he became convinced of their unproductiveness, was still bent on plans of colonization, at an age when other men are but preparing to die with decorum. Firmly attached to the monarchy, he never disobeyed his king, except that, as a churchman and a Protestant, he refused to serve against the Huguenots. When the wars in England broke out, the septuagenarian royalist buckled on his armor, and gave the last strength of his gray hairs to the defence of the unfor tunate Charles.2 In America, his fortunes had met with a succession of untoward events. The patent 1643 for Lygonia had been purchased by Rigby, a repub- 7 lican member of the Lung Parliament, and a dispute ensued between the deputies of the respective pro prietaries. In vain did Cleaves, the agent of Rigby, 1644 solicit the assistance of Massachusetts ; the colony warily refused to take part in the strife. It marks the confidence of all men in the justice of the Puritans,

i Winlhrop II. 100. 2 Hutch Coll. 38G, 387.

430 MAINE IS ANNEXED TO MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, that both aspirants now appealed to the Bay magis- ^- trates, and solicited them to act as umpires. The 1645. cause was learnedly argued in Boston, and the decree a of the court was oracular. Neither party was allowed to have a clear right ; and both were enjoined to live in peace. But how could Vines and Cleaves assert their authority ? On the death of Gorges, the people repeatedly wrote to his heirs. No answer was re- 1G47-8 ceived ; and such commissioners as had authority from Europe gradually withdrew. There was no relief for the colonists but in themselves ; and the inhabitants 1649. of Piscataqua, Gorgeana, and Wells, following the y American precedent, with free and unanimous consent1 formed themselves into a body politic for the purposes of self-government. Massachusetts readily offered its 1652 protection. The great charter of the Bay company was unrolled before the general court in Boston, and, " upon perusal of the instrument, it was voted, that this jurisdiction extends from the northernmost part of the River Merrimack, and three miles more, north, be it one hundred mile?, more or lesse, from the sea ; and then upon a straight line east and west to each sea." 2 The words were precise. Nothing remained but to find the latitude of a point three miles to the north of the remotest waters of the Merrimack, and to claim all the territory of Maine which lies south of that parallel ; for the grant to Massachusetts was prior to the patents under which Rigby and the heirs of Gorges had been disputing. Nor did the " engrasping " Massachusetts make an idle boast of the territorial extent of its chartered rights. Commissioners were promptly de spatched to the eastward to settle the government.

1 i. Mass. Hist Coll. i. 103. vii. Nos. 4. 20. 58 ; viii. Nos. 17. 44,

2 Mass. State Papers, Case i. File 45, 46, 47 ; x. No. 88.

MAINE IS ANNEXED TO MASSACHUSETTS. 431

The firm remonstrances of Edward Godfrey, then CHAP governor of the province, a loyal friend to the English — ~ monarchy and the English church, were disregarded ; 1C52-3 and one town after another, yielding in part to men aces and armed force, gave in its adhesion. Great care was observed to guard the rights of property ; every man was confirmed in his possessions ; the reli gious liberty of the Episcopalians was left unharmed ; the privileges of citizenship were extended to all inhabitants; arid the whole eastern country gradually, yet reluctantly, submitted to the necessity of the change. When the claims of the proprietaries in England were urged before Cromwell, many inhabit ants of the towns of York, Kittery, Wells, Saco, and 1*356 Cape Porpoise, yet not a majority, remonstrated on the ground of former experience. To sever them from Massachusetts would be to them " the subverting of all civil order." 1

Thus did Massachusetts, following the most favor able interpretation of its charier, extend its frontier to the islands in Casco Bay. It was equally successful in maintaining its independence of the Long Parlia ment ; though the circumstances of the contest were fatal to the immediate assertion of the liberty of con science.

With the increase of English freedom, the dangers 1644 which had menaced Massachusetts appeared to pass away ; its government began to adventure on a more lenient policy ; the sentence of exile against Wheel wright, was rescinded ; a proposition was made to extend the' franchises of the company to those who were not church members, provided "a civil agree-

i Documents in Maine Hist Coll. 2UG. 2W. MS. Letter of Geo. Folsom

432 MASSACHUSETTS BEGINS TO FAVOR TOLERATION.

CHAP, ment among all the English could be formed" for — ^ asserting the common liberty. For this purpose letters 1644. vvere wHtten to the confederated states; but the want of concert defeated the plan. The law which, nearly at the same time, threatened obstinate Anabaptists with exile, was not designed to be enforced. " Anabap- tism," says Jeremy Taylor in his famous argument for liberty, " is as much to be rooted out as any thing that is the greatest pest and nuisance to the public interest." The fathers of Massachusetts reasoned more mildly. The dangers apprehended from some wild and turbulent spirits, " whose conscience and religion seemed only to sett forth themselves and raise contentions in the country, did provoke us " — such was their language at the time — " to provide for our safety by a law, that all such should take notice how unwelcome they should be unto us, either comeing or staying. But for such 1646. as differ from us only in judgment, and live peaceably amongst us, such have no cause to complain ; for it hath never beene as yet putt in execution against any of them, although such are known to live amongst us. "] Even two of the presidents of Harvard college were Anabaptists.

While dissenters were thus treated with an equiv ocal toleration, no concessions were made towards the government in England. It was the creed of even the most loyal deputy, that " if the king, or any party from him, should attempt any thing against this com- monw<salth," it was the common duty "to spend estate, and life, and all, without scruple, in its defence;" that "if the parliament itself should hereafter be* of a malig nant spirit, then, if the colony have strength sufficient,

i Hutchinson's Coll. 216.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 433

it may withstand any authority from thence to its CHAP hurt."1 Massachusetts called itself "a perfect repub- ^— lie."2 Nor was the expression a vain boast. The 1644 commonwealth, by force of arms, preserved in its harbors a neutrality between the ships of the opposing English factions ; and the law which placed death as the penalty on any " attempt at the alteration of the frame of polity fundamentally,"3 was well understood to be aimed at those who should assert the absolute supremacy of the English parliament. The establish ment of a mint, in 1652, was a further exercise of sovereignty.

Whilst the public mind was agitated with discussions on liberty of conscience and independence of English jurisdiction, the community, in this infancy of popular government, was disturbed with a third " great question about the authority of the magistrates and the liberty of the people."4

A democratic party had for many years been acquir ing a control of public opinion. The oldest dispute 1632 in the colony related to the grounds and limits of the authority of the governor. In Boston, on occasion of 1634 dividing the town lands, "men of the inferior sort were chosen." Eliot, the apostle of the Indians, maintained that treaties should not be made without consulting the commons. The doctrine of rotation in office was 1639 asserted, even to the neglect of Winthrop, " lest there should be a governor for life." When one of the elders proposed that the place of governor should be held for life, the deputies immediately resolved that no magis trate o^ any kind should be elected for more than a 1639 year. The magistrates once, assembling in a sort of 1644

i Winthrop, ii. 170. 183. 3 Colony Laws.

« Rcspublica perfecta. 4 Winthrop, ii. 22a

VOL. i. 55

434 EARLY DEMOCRACY IN MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAP, aristocratic caucus, nominated several persons for office, ^v^ and the people took care to reject every one of the can didates thus proposed. On the other hand, when one of the ministers attempted to dissuade the people from

choosing the same officers twice in succession, thev

j

disliked the interference of the adviser more than they loved the doctrine of frequent change, and reelected the old magistrates almost without exception The condition of a new colony which discarded the legisla tion of the mother country, necessarily left many things to the opinions of the executive. The people were loud in demanding a government of law, and not of discretion. No sooner had the benevolent Winthrop pleaded against the establishment of an exact penalty for every offence, — because justice, not less than mercy, imposed the duty of regulating the punishment by the circumstances of the case, — than the cry of arbitrary power was raised ; and the people refused the hope of clemency, when it was to be obtained from the acciden tal compassion and the capricious judgments of a magis trate. The authority exercised by the assistants during the intervals between the sessions, became a subject of 014 apprehension. The popular party, having a majority of the deputies, proposed to substitute a joint commis sion. The proposition being declined as inconsistent with the patent, they then desired to reserve the ques tion for further deliberation. When to this it was answered, that, in the mean time, the assistants would act according to the power and trust which they claim ed by the charter, the deputies immediately rejoined, by their speaker, Hawthorne, " You will not be obeyed." The same .spirit occasioned the strenuous, though un successful efforts to deprive the magistrates of their negative on the doings of the house. The negative

CONTEST BETWEEN POLITICAL PARTIES. 435

power was feared as a bulwark of authority, a limita- CHAP lion of the power of the popular will.1

Such had been the progress of public opinion, when 1G45 the popular party felt a consciousness of so great strength, as to desire a struggle with its opponents. The opportunity could not long be wanting. The executive magistrates, accustomed to tutelary vigilance over the welfare of the towns, had set aside a military election in Hingham. There had been, perhaps, in the proceedings, sufficient irregularity to warrant the interference. The affair came before the general court. " Two of the magistrates and a small majority of the deputies were of opinion that the magistrates exercised too much power, and that the people's liberty was thereby in danger ; while nearly half the deputies, and all the rest of the magistrates, judged that authority was overmuch slighted, which, if not remedied, would endanger the commonwealth, and introduce a mere democracy." The two branches being thus at vari ance, a reference to the arbitration of the elders was proposed. But " to this the deputies would by no means consent; for they knew that many of the elders were more careful to uphold the honor and power of the magistrates, than themselves well liked of." The angry conferences of a long session followed. But the magistrates, sustained by the ministers, excelled the popular party in firmness and in self-possession. The latter lost ground by joining issue on a question where its own interest eventually required its defeat.

for the root of the disturbance at Hingham existed in "a presbyterial spirit," which opposed the govern ment of the colonial commonwealth. Some of those

i Winthrop, i 82, 8a 151, 152. 299, 300, 301, 302 • u. 167. 169. 172. 204. 210. 307. 343.

436 TRIAL OF WINTHROP

CHAP, who pleaded the laws of England against the charter ^^^ and the administration in Massachusetts, had been com- J645 mitted by Winthrop for contempt of the established authority. It was now proposed to procure their re lease by his impeachment. Hitherto the enemies of the state had united with the popular party, and both had assailed the charter as the basis of magisterial power, — the former with the view of invoking the interposition of England, the latter in the hope of increasing popular liberty. But the citizens could not be induced, even in the excitement of political divisions, to wrong the purest of their leaders, and the factious elements were rendered harmless by decompo sition. Winthrop appeared at the bar only to triumph in his integrity. " Civil liberty," said the noble-minded man, in ' a little speech ' on the occasion, " is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it. It is a liberty to that only which is good, just, and honest. This liberty you are to stand for with the hazard not only of your goods, but, if need be, of your lives. Whatsoever crosseth this is not authority, but a distemper thereof."

It now became possible to adjust the long-continued difference by a compromise. The power of the magis trates over the militia was diminished by law;1 but though the magistrates themselves were by some de clared to be but public servants, holding "a ministerial office," and though it became a favorite idea that all authority resides essentially with the people in their body representative, yet the Hingham disturbers were punished by heavy fines, while Winthrop and his friends retained (what they deserved) the affectionate

1 Winthrop, ii. 246.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY THE TOPIC OF PARTY. 437

confidence of the colony. The opposition of Belling- CHAP ham was due to his jealousy of Winthrop and Dudley, — ^ the chief officers of the 'state, whom he would willingly have supplanted.

The court of Massachusetts was ready to concede the enjoyment of religious worship under the Presby- 164<Bi terian forms ; 1 yet its enemies, defeated in their hope of a union with the popular party, were resolutely discontented, and now determined to rally on the ques tion of liberty of conscience. The attempt was artful, for the doctrine had been rapidly making progress. Many books had come from England in defence of toleration. Many of the court were well inclined to suspend the laws against Anabaptists, and the order subjecting strangers to the supervision of the magis trates ; and Winthrop thought that " the rule of hospitality required more moderation and indulgence." In Boston a powerful liberal party already openly existed. But now the apparent purpose of advancing religious freedom was made to disguise measures of the deadliest hostility to the frame of civil government. The nationality of New England was in danger. The existence of Poland was sacrificed, in the last century, by means of the Polish Dissidents, who, appealing to the Russian cabinet to interfere in behalf of liberty of conscience, opened the doors of their country to the enemy of its independence. The Roman Catholic bigots were there the impassioned guardians of Polish nationality. The Calvinists of New England were of a cooler temperament ; but with equal inflexibility they anchored their liberties dn unmixed Puritanism. " To eat out the power of godliness," became an

i Winslow, 28.

438 RELIGIOUS LIBERTY THE TOPIC OF PARTY.

CHAP, expression nearly synonymous with an attempt to ^-^ acknowledge the direct supremacy of parliament William Vassal, of Scituate, was the chief of the " busy and factious spirits, always opposite to the civil governments of the country and the way of its churches ; " and, at the same time, through his brother a member of the Long Parliament and of the com mission for the colonies, he possessed influence in England. The movement began in Plymouth, by a proposition "for a full and free tolerance of religion to all men, without exception against Turk, Jew, Papist, Arian, Socinian, Familist, or any other." The depu ties, not perceiving any political purpose, were ready to adopt the motion. " You would have admired," wrote Wirislow to Winthrop, "to have seen how sweet this carrion relished to the palate of most of them."1 The plan was defeated by delay ; and Massachusetts became the theatre of action.

The new party desired to subvert the charter govern ment, and introduce a general governor from England. They endeavored to acquire strength by rallying all the materials of opposition. The friends of Presby- terianism were soothed by hopes of a triumph ; the democratic party was assured that the government should be more popular ; while the penurious were provoked by complaints of unwise expenditures and intolerable taxations.2 But the people refused to be deceived ; and when a petition for redress of griev ances was presented to the general court, it was evidently designed for English ears. It had with difficulty obtained the signatures of seven men, and of these, some were sojourners in the colony, who

1 Hutch. Coll. 154 2 Johnson, ii. Mass. Hist Coll. viiL 6.

THE FACTION OF VASSAL AND CHILDE. 43?

desired only an excuse for appealing to England. The CHAP document was written in a spirit of wanton insult,1 - — - It introduced every topic that had been made the theme of party discussion, and asserted (what Lord Holt and Lord Treby would have confirmed, but what the colonists were not willing to concede) that there existed in the country no settled form of government according to the laws of England. An entire revolu tion was demanded ; " if not," add the remonstrants, " we shall be necessitated to apply our humble desires to both houses of parliament;" and there was reason to fear that they would obtain a favorable hearing before the body whose authority they labored to enlarge.

For Gorton had carried his complaints to the mother 1G46 country, and, though unaided by personal influence or by powerful friends, had succeeded in all his wishes. At this very juncture, an order respecting his claims arrived in Boston, and was couched in terms which involved an assertion of the right of parliament to reverse the decisions and control the government of Massachusetts. The danger was imminent. It struck at the very life and foundation of the rising commonwealth. Had the Long Parliament succeeded in revoking the patent of Massachusetts, the Stuarts, on their restoration, would have found not one chartered government in the colo*- nies, and the tenor of American history would have been changed. The people rallied with great unanim ity in support of their magistrates. A law had been drawn up, and was ready to pass, conferring on all residents equal power in town affairs, and enlarging the constituency of the state. It was deemed safe to defer the important enactment till the present contro-

i Compare Hutch. Coll. 189, 212, 213.

440 MASSACHUSETTS RESISTS THE LONG PARLIAMENT/

CHAP, versy should be settled ; the order against Anabaptists — ^ was likewise left unrepealed ; and, notwithstanding 1646 strong opposition from the friends of toleration in Boston, it was resolved to convene a synod to give counsel on the permanent settlement of the ecclesias tical polity.

At length the general court assembled for the discus- sion of the usurpations of parliament, and the dangers from domestic treachery. The elders did not fail to attend in the gloomy season. One faithless deputy was desired to withdraw ; and then, with closed doors (that the consultation might remain in the breast of the court), the nature of the relation with England wras made the subject of debate. After much delib eration, it was agreed that Massachusetts owed to England the same allegiance as the free Hanse Towns had rendered to the empire ; as Normandy, when its dukes were kings of England, had paid to the mon- archs of France. It was also resolved not to accept a new charter from the parliament, for that would imply a surrender of the old. Besides, parliament granted none, but by way of ordinance, which the king might one ^ay refuse to confirm, and always made for itself an express reservation of " a supreme power in all things." The elders, after a day's consultation, confirmed the decisions. " If parliament should be less inclinable to us, we must wait upon Providence for the preservation of our just liberties'."

The colony then^ proceeded to exercise the inde pendence which it claimed. The general court replied to the petition in a state-paper, written with great moderation ; and the disturbers of the public security were summoned into its presence. Robert Childe and his companions appealed to the commissioners in

MASSACHUSETTS RESISTS THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 441

England. The appeal was not admitted. " The char- CHAI- ter," he urged, " does but create a corporation within — — the realm, subject to English laws." — "Plantations," 1646 replied the court, " are above the rank of an ordinary corporation ; they have been esteemed other than towns, yea, than many cities. Colonies are the foun dations of great commonwealths. It is the fruit of pride and folly to despise the day of small things."

To the parliament of England the legislature remon strated with the noblest frankness against any asser tion of the paramount authority of that body.

" An order from England," say they, " is prejudicial Dec. to our chartered liberties, and to our well-being in this remote part of the world. Times may be changed ; for all things here below are subject to vanity, and other princes or parliaments may arise. Let not suc ceeding generations have cause to lament and say, England sent our fathers forth with happy liberties, which they enjoyed many years, notwithstanding all the enmity and opposition of the prelacy, and other po tent adversaries, and yet these liberties were lost in the season when England itself recovered its own. We rode out the dangers of the sea; sbill we perish in port ? We have not admitted appeals to your authori ty, being assured they cannot stand with the liberty and power granted us by our charter, and would be destructive to all government. These considerations are not new to the high court of parliament; the records whereof bear witness of the wisdom and faith fulness of our ancestors in that great council, who, in those times of darkness, when they acknowledged a supremacy in the Roman bishops, in all causes ecclesi astical, yet would not allow appeals to Rome.

" The wisdom and experience of that great council, VOL. ic 56

442 MASSACHUSETTS RESISTS THE LONG PARLIAMENT.

CHAP, the English parliament, are more able to prescribe — ~ rules of government and judge causes, than such poor *G46 rustics as a wilderness can breed up; yet the vast distance between England and these parts abates the virtue of the strongest influences. Your councils and judgments can neither be so well grounded, nor so seasonably applied, as might either be useful to us, or safe for yourselves, in your discharge, in the great day of account. If any miscarriage shall befall us, when we have the government in our own hands, the state of England shall not answer for it.

" Continue your favorable aspect to these infant plan tations, that we may still rejoice and bless our God under your shadow, and be there still nourished with the warmth and dews of heaven. Confirm our liber ties ; discountenance our enemies, the disturbers of our peace under pretence of our injustice. A gracious tes timony of your wonted favor will oblige us and our posterity."

In the same spirit, Edward Wirjslow, the agent for Massachusetts in England, publicly denied that the jurisdiction of parliament extended to America. " If the parliament of England should impose laws upon us, having no burgesses in the house of commons, nor capable of a summons by reason of the vast distance, we should lose the liberties and freedom of English indeed." l Massachusetts was not without steadfast friends in the legislature of England ; yet it marks an honest love of liberty and of justice in the Long Par* liament, that the doctrines of colonial equality should have been received with favor. " Sir Henry Vane, though he might have taken occasion against the colonj

1 Winslow'e New England's Salamander, 24

MASSACHUSETTS RESISTS THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 445

for some dishonor which he apprehended to have been CHAP unjustly put upon him there, yet showed himself a true — ^ friend to New England, and a man of a noble and 1 647 generous mind."1 After ample deliberation, the com mittee of parliament magnanimously replied, " We en courage no appeals from your justice. We leave you with all the freedom and latitude, that may, in any respect, be duly claimed by you."2

Such were the arts by which Massachusetts pre served its liberties. The people sustained their magis trates with great unanimity ; hardly five-and-twenty persons could be found in the whole jurisdiction to join in a complaint against the strictness of the government; and when the discontented introduced the dispute into the elections, their candidates were defeated by an overwhelming majority.3

The harmony of the people had been confirmed by the courage of the elders, who gave fervor to the en-

O ' O

thusiasrn of patriotism. " It had been as unnatural for a right New England man to live without an able ministry, as for a smith to work his iron without a fire." The union between the elders and the state could not, therefore, but become more intimate than ever ; and religion was venerated and cherished as the security against political subserviency. When the synod met by adjournment, it was by the common consent of all the Puritan colonies, that a system of church government was established for the congrega-

1 Winthrop, ii. 248 and 317. N. E.'s Jonas cast up at London, in

2 Hutchinson, i. 13C — 140, is con- ii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iv. 107, &c. ; E. fused and inaccurate. Was it from ig- Winslow's N. E.'s Salamander Dia- norance ? To correct his errors the ' covered, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. ii. inquirer must go to the original au- 110, &c. See also Johnson, b. iii. c. thorities — Colony Records ; Hutch- iii.; Hubbard, c. Iv. ; Hazard, i inson's Collection, 188— 218 ; Win- 544, &c.

throp, ii. 278—301, and 317—322 ; 3 Winthrop, ii. 307

444 THE PLATFORM OF THE CHURCHES.

CHAP, tions.1 The platform retained authority for more than ^^ a century, and has not yet lost its influence. It effec tually excluded the Presbyterian modes of discipline from New England.

1050 The jealousy of independence was preserved in its 1655. wakefulness. The Long Parliament asserted its power over the royalist colonies in general terms, which seemed alike to threaten the plantations of the north ; and now that royalty was abolished, it invited Massachusetts to receive a new patent, and to hold courts and issue warrants in its name. But the colo nial commonwealth was too wary to hazard its rights by merging them in the acts of a government of which the decline seemed approaching. It has been usual to say, that the people of Massachusetts foiled the Long Parliament. In a public state-paper, they refused to submit to its requisitions, and yet never carried their remonstrance beyond the point which their charter appeared to them to warrant.2

IG51. After the successes of Cromwell in Ireland, he voluntarily expressed his interest in New England, by offering its inhabitants estates and a settlement in the beautiful island which his arms had subdued. His offers were declined ; for the emigrants already loved their land of refuge, where their own courage and toils had established " the liberties of the gospel in its purity." Our government, they said among themselves, "is the happiest and wisest this day in the world." 1051. The war between England and Holland hardly I(V14 disturbed the tranquillity of the colonies. The western settlements, which would have suffered extreme misery from a combined attack of the Indians and the Dutch,

1 Result of a Synod, &c. See ton Mather is diffuse on the subject also Winthrop and Hubbard. Cot- 2 Hiitchinson, 1. App. viii.

MASSACHUSETTS REFUSES TO ATTACK NEW YORK. 445

were earnest for attempting to reduce New Amster- CHAP. dam, and thus to carry the boundary of New England ^— ' to the Delaware. At a meeting of the commissioners at Boston, three of the four United Colonies declared for war ; yet the dissentient Massachusetts interposed delay ; cited the opinions of its elders that " it was most agreeable to the gospel of peace and safest for the colonies to forbear the use of the sword ; " and at last refused to be governed by the decision. The refusal was a plain breach of covenant, and led to earnest remonstrance and altercations. The nature of the reserved rights of the members of the confed eracy became the subject of animated discussion ; and the union would have come to an end, had not Massa chusetts receded, though tardily, from her interpreta tion of the articles ; but in the meantime the occasion for war with Manhattan had passed away.

The European republics had composed their strife, 1654. before the English fleet, which was sent against New Netherland, reached America. There was peace be tween England and France ; yet the English forces, turning to the north, made the easy conquest of Acadia, an acquisition which no remonstrance or complaints could induce the protector to restore.

Of New England, the inhabitants ever enjoyed the confidence of Cromwell. They were satisfied that his battles were the battles of the Lord ; and " the spirits of the brethren were carried forth in faithful and affectionate prayers in his behalf." Cromwell, in return, confessed to them that the battle of Dunbar, where "some, who were godly," were fought into their graves, was, of all the acts of his life, that on which his mind had the least quiet; and he declared himself "truly ready to

446 CROMWELL FAVORS NEW ENGLAND.

CHAP- serve the brethren and the churches " in America.

Jv*

— ^ The declaration was sincere. The people of New England were ever sure that Cromwell would listen to their requests, and would take an interest in all the little details of their condition. He left them inde pendence, and favored their trade. When his arms

1055 had made the conquest of Jamaica, he offered them the island, with the promise of all the wealth which the tropical clime pours prodigally into the lap of industry ; and though they frequently thwarted his views, they never forfeited his regard. English history must judge of Cromwell by his influence on the institutions of England ; the American colonies remember the years of his power as the period when British sovereignty was for them free from rapacity, intolerance, and op pression. He may be called the benefactor of the English in America ; for he left them to enjoy un shackled the liberal benevolence of Providence, the freedom of industry, of commerce, of religion, and oi government.1

Yet the Puritans of New England perceived that their security rested on the personal character of the protector, and that other revolutions were ripening; they, therefore, never allowed their vigilance to be lulled. The influence of the elders was confirmed ; the civil and the religious institutions had become inti mately connected. While the spirit of independence was thus assured, the evils ensued that are in some measure inseparable from a religious establishment , a distinct interest grew up under the system ; the severity of the laws was sharpened against infidelity on the one hand, and sectarianism on the other ; nor

1 Hutchinson's Coll. 233 and ff. State Papers, Case i. File vii. No Hutch. Hist. App. No. ix. x. Mass. 34 ; File x. No. 77.

LAWS AGAINST IRRELIGION AND SECTARIANISM. 447

can it be denied, nor should it be concealed, that the CHAP. elders, especially Wilson and Norton, instigated and ^^ sustained the government in its worst cruelties.

Where the mind is left free, religion can never have dangerous enemies, for no class has then a motive to attempt its subversion;- while the interests of society demand a foundation for the principles of justice and benevolence. Atheism is a folly of the metaphysician, not the folly of human nature. Of savage life, Roger Williams declared, that he had never found one native American who denied the existence of a God ; in civilized life, when it was said of the court of Frederic, that the place of king's atheist was vacant, the gibe was felt as the most biting sarcasm. Infidelity gains the victory, when it wrestles with hypocrisy or with superstition, but never when its antagonist is reason. Men revolt against the oppressions of superstition, the exactions of ecclesiastical tyranny, but never against religion itself. When an ecclesiastical establishment, under the heaviest penalties, requires universal con formity, the diversity of human opinion necessarily involves the consequence, that some consciences are oppressed and wronged. In such cases, if the wrong is excessive, intellectual servitude is followed by conse quences analogous to those which ensue on the civil slavery of the people ; the mind, as it bursts its fetters, is clouded by a sense of injury; the judgment is con fused ; and in the zeal to resist a tyranny, passion attempts to sweep away every form of religion. Bigot ry commits the correlative error, when it endeavors to control opinion by positive statutes, to substitute the terrors of law for convincing argument. It is a crime to resist truth under pretence of resisting injurious power ; it is equally a crime to enslave the human

448 LAWS AGAINST IRRELIGION AND SECTARIANISM.

CHAP, understanding, under pretence of protecting religion ^•^ The reckless mind, rashly hurrying to the warfare against superstition, has often, though by mistake, attacked intelligence itself; but religion, of itself alone, never had an enemy ; except indeed as there have been theorists, whose harmless ingenuity has denied all distinction between right and wrong, be tween justice and its opposite. Positive enactments against irreligion, like positive enactments against fanaticism, provoke the evil which they were designed to prevent. Danger is inviting. If left to himself, he that vilifies the foundations of morals and happiness, does but publish his own un worthiness. A public prosecution is a mantle to cover his shame ; for to suffer for opinion's sake is courageous ; and courage is always an honorable quality.

The conscientious austerity of the colonists, invigor ated by the love of power, led to a course of legisla tion, which, if it was followed by the melancholy result of bloodshed, was also followed, among the freemen of the New World, by emancipation from bigotry, achieved without any of the excesses of intolerant infidelity. The inefficiency of fanatic laws was made plain by the fearless resistance of a still more stubborn fanaticism.

Saltonstall wrote from Europe, that, but for their severities, the people of Massachusetts would have been 14 the eyes of God's people in England." The con- 1651, sistent Sir Henry Vane had urged, that " the oppugn- ers of the Congregational way should not, from its own principles and practice, be taught to root it out." " It were better," he added, " not to censure any persons for matters of a religious concernment." 1 The elder

1 ill Mass Hist. Coll. i. 37

LAWS AGAINST IRRELIGION AND SECTARIANISM. 449

Winthrop had, I believe, relented before his death, and CHAP professed himself weary of banishing heretics ; the soul ^-^ of the younger Winthrop was incapable of harboring a 1651 thought of intolerant cruelty ; 1 but the rugged Dudley was not mellowed by old age. " God forbid," said he, " our love for the truth should be grown so cold, that we should tolerate errors. — I die no libertine." — "Bet ter tolerate hypocrites and tares than thorns and briers," affirmed Cotton. " Polypiety," echoed Ward, " is the greatest impiety in the world. To say that men ought to have liberty of conscience is impious ignorance." — " Religion," said the melancholic Nor ton, "admits of no eccentric motions." But the people did not entirely respond to these extravagant views, into which the bigotry of personal interest had betrayed the elders, and the love of unity, so favorable to independence, had betrayed the leading men. The public mind was awakened to inquiry ; the topic of the power of the civil magistrate in religious affairs, was become the theme of perpetual discussion ; and it needed all the force of established authority to sustain the doctrine of persecution. Massachusetts was already in the state. of transition, and it was just before expiring, that bigotry, with convulsive energy, exhibited its worst aspect ; just as the waves of the sea are most tumul tuous when the wind is subsiding, and the tempest is yielding to a calm.

Anabaptism was to the establishment a dangerous rival. When Clarke, the pure and tolerant Baptist of Rhode Island, one of the happy few who succeed in acquiring an estate of beneficence, and connecting the glory of their name with the liberty and happiness of

i Bishop's N. E. Judged.

VOL. i. 57

450 LAWS AGAINST IRRELIG1ON AND SECTARIANISM.

CHAP a commonwealth, began to preach to a small audience

— -v^ in Lynn, he was seized by the civil officers. Being

1651 compelled to attend with the congregation, he ex-

20. pressed his aversion by a harmless indecorum, which

would yet have been without excuse, had his presence

been voluntary. He and his companions were tried,

and condemned to pay a fine of twenty or thirty

pounds ; and Holmes, who refused to pay his fine, was

whipped unmercifully.

Since a particular form of worship had become a part of the civil establishment, irreligion was now to be punished as a civil offence. The state was a model of Christ's kingdom on earth ; treason against the civil government was treason against Christ ; and recipro cally, as the gospel had the right paramount, blas phemy, or what a jury should call blasphemy, was the highest offence in the catalogue of crimes. To deny any book of the Old or New Testament to be the written and infallible word of God, was punishable by fine or by stripes, and, in case of obstinacy, by exile or death. Absence from " the ministry of the word " was punished by a fine.

1653. By degrees the spirit of the establishment began to subvert the fundamental principles of Independency. The liberty of prophesying was refused, except the approbation of four elders, or of a county court, had been obtained. Remonstrance 1 was useless. The union of church and state was fast corrupting both ; it mingled base ambition with the former ; it gave a false direction to the legislation of the latter. And at last 1058 the general court claimed for itself, for the council, and for any two organic churches, the right of silencing

i Felt's Salem, 188 and 533. iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 40.

LAWS AGAINST IRRELIGION AND SECTARIANISM. 451

any person who was not as yet ordained. ( Thus CHAP rapidly did human nature display its power ! ) The — -,— creation of a national, uncompromising churclv/led the Congregationalists of Massachusetts to the indulgence of the passions which had disgraced their English persecutors ; and Laud was justified by the men whom he had wronged.

But if the Baptists were feared, as professing doc times tending to disorganize society, how much more reason was there to dread such emissaries of the Quakers as appeared in Massachusetts ! The first and most noisy advocates of any popular sect are apt to be men of little consideration. They who have the least to risk are most clamorous for novelties ; and the early advocates of the Quakers in New England dis played little of the mild philosophy, the statesman-like benevolence, of Penn and his disciples ; though they possessed the virtue of passive resistance in perfection. Left to themselves, they appeared like a motley tribe of persons, half fanatic, half insane ; without consid eration, and without definite purposes. Persecution called them forth to show what intensity of will can dwell in the depths of the human heart. They were like those weeds which are unsightly to the eye, and which only when trampled give out precious per fumes.

The rise of " the people called Quakers," was one of the most remarkable results of the Protestant revo lution. It was a consequence of the moral warfare against corruption ; the aspiration of the human mind after a perfect emancipation from the long reign of bigotry and superstition. It grew up with men who were impatient at the slow progress of the reforma tion, the tardy advances of intellectual liberty. A

462 QUAKERS EXCLUDED FROM MASSACHUSETTS

CHAP, better opportunity will offer for explaining its influence

— on American institutions. It was in the month of

1G56. July, 1656, that two of its members, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, arrived in the road before Boston.1 There was as yet no statute respecting Quakers ; but, on the general law against heresy, their trunks were searched, and their books burnt by the hangman ; " though no token could be found on them but of innocence,552 their persons were examined in search of signs of witchcraft ; and, after five weeks5 close imprisonment, they were thrust out of the jurisdiction. Eight others were, during the year, sent back to England. The rebuke enlarged the ambition of Mary Fisher ; she repaired alone to Adrianople, and delivered a message to the Grand Sultan. The Turks thought her crazed, and she passed through their army " without hurt or scoff.55

1657. Yet the next year, although a special law now pro hibited the introduction of Quakers, Mary Dyer, an Antinomian exile, and Ann Burden, came into the colony ; the former was claimed by her husband, and taken to Rhode Island ; the latter was sent to Eng land. A woman who had come all the way from London, to warn the magistrates against persecution, was whipped with twenty stripes. Some, who had been banished, came a second time ; they were im prisoned, whipped, and once more sent away, under penalty of further punishment, if they returned again. A fine was imposed on such as should entertain any

1 T compose the narrative from apologies of the colonists, especially

comparing the Quaker accounts, by Norton's book, The Heart of N. E.

Gould, and ISewell, and Besse, full of Rent, still exist, and are before me.

documents, with those of the colo- Compare the life of Mary Dyer, in

nial historians. There is no essen- C. Scdgwick's Tales and Sketches,

tial difference. Every leading work 2 Sewell, i. 294. Besse, ii. 198

has something on the subject. — The — 207.

QUAKERS EXCLUDED FROM MASSACHUSETTS. 453

" of the accursed sect ; " and a Quaker, after the first CHAP. conviction, was to lose one ear, after the second an- — v-*-- other, after the third to have the tongue bored with a red-hot iron. It was but for a very short time, that the menace of these enormities found place in the slatute-book. The colony was so ashamed of the order for mutilation, that it was soon repealed, and was never printed. But this legislation was fruitful of results. Quakers swarmed where they were feared. They came expressly because they were not welcome , and threats were construed as invitations. A penalty 1658 of ten shillings was now imposed on every person for being present at a Quaker meeting, and of five pounds for speaking at such meeting. In the execution of the laws, the pride of consistency involved the magistrates in acts of extreme cruelty.

The government of Massachusetts at length resolved 1658 to follow the advice of the commissioners for the united colonies ; from which the younger Winthrop alone had dissented.1 Willing that the Quakers should live in peace in any other part of the wide world, yet desiring to deter them effectually from coming within its juris diction, the general court, after much resistance, and by a majority of but a single vote, banished them on pain of death. The object of severity was not to persecute, but to exclude them. " For the security of the flock," said Norton, " we pen up the wolf; but a door is purposely left open whereby he may depart at his pleasure." Vain legislation ! and frivolous apology ! The soul, by its freedom and immortality, preserves its convictions or its frenzies even amidst the threat of death.

i Records, in Hazard, ii. Roger pare Bishop's N. E. Judged ; Hutch- Williams, in Knowles, 311. Com- inson, i. 184.

4-34 QUAKERS BANISHED ON PAIN OF DEATH.

CTIAP. It has been attempted to excuse the atrocity of the ^~ law, because the Quakers avowed principles that 1G58. seemed subversive of social order. Any government might, on the same grounds, find in its unreasonable fears an excuse for its cruelties. The argument jus tifies the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, of the Huguenots from France ; and tt forms a complete apology for Laud, who was honest in his bigotry, persecuting the Puritans with the same good faith with which he recorded his dreams. The fears of one class of men are not the measure of the rights of_ another.

It is said, the Quakers themselves rushed on the sword, and so were suicides. If it were so, the men who held the sword were accessories to the crime.

It is true that some of the Quakers were extrava gant and foolish ; they cried out from the windows at the magistrates and ministers that passed by, and mocked the civil and religious institutions of the coun try. They riotously interrupted public worship ; and women, forgetting the decorum of their sex, and claiming a divine origin for their absurd caprices, smeared their faces, and even went naked through the streets. Indecency, however, is best punished by slight chastisements. The house of Folly has per petual succession ; yet numerous as is the progeny, each individual of the family is very short-lived, and . dies the sooner where its extravagance is excessive. A fault against manners may not be punished by a crime against nature.

The act itself admits of no defence ; the actors can plead no other justification than delusion. Prohibiting the arrival of Quakers was not persecution ; and ban- iShment is a term hardly to be used of one who has

QUAKERS BANISHED ON PAIN OF DEATH. 455

not acquired a home. When a pauper is sent to his CHAP native town, he is not called an exile. A ship from — — abroad, which should enter the harbor of Marseilles against the order of the health-officer, would be sunk by the guns of the fort. The government of Massa chusetts applied similar quarantine rules to the morals of the colony, and would as little tolerate what seemed a ruinous heresy, as the French would tolerate the plague : I do not plead the analogy ; the cases are as widely different as this world and the next ; I desire only to relate facts with precision. The ship sus pected of infection might sail for another port ; and the Quaker, if he came once, was sent away ; if he came again, was sentenced to death, and then might still quit the jurisdiction on a promise of returning no more. Servetus did but desire leave to continue his journey. The inquisition hearkened to secret whis pers for grounds of accusation ; the magistrates of Massachusetts left all in peace but the noisy brawlers, and left to them the opportunity of escape. For four centuries, Europe had maintained that heresy should be punished by death. In Spain, more persons have been burned for their opinions, than Massachusetts then contained inhabitants. Under Charles V., in the Netherlands alone, the number of those who were hanged, beheaded, buried alive, or burned, for religious opinion, was fifty thousand, says father Paul ; the whole carnage, says Grotius, included not less than one hundred thousand ; and scepticism has not re duced the tale below twenty thousand. The four of whose death New England was guilty, fell victims

1 Sarpi, Istoria del Concil. Trid. vivi, ed abbruciati aggiugnesse a

L. v. Opere, v. ii. p. 33. E con cinquantamila. Annales, p. 12, ed.

tutto, che il numero ne' Paesi Bas- 1678. Carnificata hominum non

si tra impiccati, decapitati, sepolti minus centum millia.

456 EXECUTION OF QUAKERS.

CHAP, rather to the contest of will, than to the opinion that

^^- Quakerism was a capital crime.

1659 Qf four persons, ordered to depart the jurisdiction on pain of death, Mary Dyar, a firm disciple of Ann Hutchinson, whose exile she had shared, and Nicholas Davis, obeyed. Marmaduke Stephenson and William Robinson had come on purpose to offer their lives ; instead of departing, they went from place to place " to build up their friends in the faith." In October, Mary Dyar returned. Thus there were three persons arraigned on the sanguinary law. Robinson pleaded in his defence the special message and command of God. " Blessed be God, who calls me to testify against wicked and unjust men." Stephenson refused to speak till sentence had been pronounced ; and then he imprecated a curse on his judges. Mary Dyar exclaimed, " The will of the Lord be done," and returned to the prison " full of joy." From the jail she wrote a remonstrance. " Were ever such laws heard of among a people that profess Christ come in the flesh ? Have you no other weapons but such laws to fight against spiritual wickedness withal, as you call it ? Woe is me for you. Ye are disobedient and de-

Oct. ceived. Let my request be as Esther's to Ahasuerus. ^ You will not repent that you were kept from shedding blood, though it was by a woman." The three were led forth to execution. " I die for Christ," said Rob inson : " We suffer not as evil-doers, but for conscience' sake," were the last words of his companion. Mary Dyar was reprieved ; yet not till the rope had been fastened round her neck, and she had prepared herself for death. Transported with enthusiasm, she exclaim ed, " Let me suffer as my brethren, unless you will annul your wicked law." She was conveyed out of the

FIRMNESS OF WENLOCK CHRIST1SON. 467

colony ; but, soon returning, she also was hanged on CHAP Boston common, a willing martyr to liberty of con — -^ science. "We desired their lives absent, rather than 1659 their deaths present," was the miserable apology for these proceedings.

These cruelties excited great discontent. Yet Wil liam Leddra was put upon trial for the same causes While the trial was proceeding, Wenlock Christison, already banished on pain of death, entered the court, and struck dismay into the judges, who found their severities ineffectual. Leddra was desired to accept his life, on condition of promising to come no more within the jurisdiction. He refused, and was hanged.

Christison met his persecutors with undaunted courage. By what law, he demanded, will ye put me to death ? — We have a law, it was answered, and by it you are to die. — So said the Jews to Christ. But who empowered you to make that law ? — We have a patent, and may make our own laws. — Can you make laws repugnant to those of England ? — No. — Then you are gone beyond your bounds. Your heart is as rotten towards the king as towards God. I demand to be tried by the laws of England, and there is no law there to hang Quakers. — The English banish Jesuits on pain of death ;* and with equal justice we may banish Qua kers. — The jury returned a verdict of guilty. Wen- lock replied, " I deny all guilt ; my conscience is clear before God." The magistrates were divided in pro nouncing sentence ; the vote was put a second time, and there appeared a majority for the doom of death. "What do you gain," cried Christison, "by taking

1 Banishment on pain of death conditionally so banished. In Jan- used to be very common in English uary, 1G5'2, John Lilburne was ban- legislation. By the act of Eliza- ished on pain of death by the par- beth, 35, c. i., every dissenter was liame^t.

VOL. i. 58

458 CHRISTISON AND OTHERS DISCHARGED.

CHAP. Quakers' lives ? For the last man that ye put to ^^ death, here are five come in his room. If ye have power to take my life, God can raise up ten of his servants in my stead."

The voice of the people had always been averse to bloodshed ; the magistrates, infatuated for a season, became convinced of their error; Wenlock, with twenty-seven of his friends, was discharged from prison ; and the doctrine of toleration, with the pledges of peace, hovered like the dove at the window of the ark, waiting to be received into its rightful refuge.

The victims of intolerance met death bravely ; they would be entitled to perpetual honor, were it not that their own extravagances occasioned the foul enact ment, to repeal which they laid down their lives. Far from introducing religious charity, their conduct irri tated the government to pass the laws of which they were the victims. But for them the country had been guiltless of blood ; and causes were already in action which were fast substituting the firmness and the

o

1642. charity of intelligence for the severity of religious bigotry. It was ever the custom, and it soon became the law, in Puritan New England, that " none of the brethren shall suffer so much barbarism in their fami lies, as not to teach their children and apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue." " To the end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers," it was

1647 ordered in all the Puritan colonies, " that every town ship, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall appoint one to teach all children to write and read ; and where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families, they shall set up a grammar school ; the masters thereof

FREE SCHOOLS. HARVARD COLLEGE 459

being able to instruct youth so far as they may be CHAP fitted for the university."1 The press began its work ^-^ in 1639. " When New England was poor, and they were but few in number, there was a spirit to encour age learning." Six years after the arrival of Winthrop, 1636 the general court voted a sum, equal to a year's rate of the whole colony, towards the erection of a college In 1638, John Harvard, who arrived in the Bay only to fall a victim to the most wasting disease of the climate, desiring to connect himself imperishably with the happiness of his adopted country, bequeathed to the college one half of his estate and all his library. The infant institution was a favorite ; Connecticut, and Plymouth, and the towns in the East,2 often contributed little offerings to promote its success ; the gift of the rent of a ferry was a proof of the care of the state; 1645 and once, at least, every family in each of the colonies gave to the college at Cambridge twelve pence, or a peck of corn, or its value in unadulterated wampum- peag ; 3 while the magistrates and wealthier men were profuse in their liberality. The college, in return, exerted a powerful influence in forming the early character of the country. In this, at least, it can never have a rival. In these measures, especially in the laws establishing common schools, lies the secret of the success and character of New England. Every child, as it was born into the world, was lifted from the earth by the genius of the country, and, in the statutes of the land, received, as its birthright, a pledge of the public care for its morals and its mind.

1 Col. Laws, 74, 186. So, too, in Connecticut MS. Laws, and in the New Haven Code.

2 Folsom's Saco and Biddeford, 108.

3 Pierce's Harvard College. Winthrop, ii. 214, 216. Everett's Yule Address, 3.

460 CHARACTER OF PURITANISM.

CHAP There are some who love to enumerate the singu- — v^ larities of the early Puritans. They were opposed to wigs ; they could preach against veils ; they denounced long hair ; they disliked the cross in the banner, as much as the people of Paris disliked the lilies of the Bourbons, and for analogous reasons. They would not allow Christmas day to be kept sacred ; they called nekher months, nor days, nor seasons, nor churches, nor inns, by the names common in England ; they revived Scripture names at christenings. The grave Romans legislated on the costume of men, and their senate could even stoop to interfere with the triumphs of the sex to which civic honors are denied ; the fathers of New England prohibited frivolous fash ions in their own dress ; and their austerity, checking extravagance even in woman, frowned on her hoods of silk and her scarfs of tiffany, extended the length of her sleeve to the wrist, and limited its greatest width to half an ell. The Puritans were formal and precise in their manners ; singular in the forms of their legisla tion ; rigid in the observance of their principles. Every topic of the day found a place in their extemporaneous prayers, and infused a stirring interest into their long and frequent sermons. The courts of Massachusetts respected in practice the code of Moses ; the island of Rhode Island enacted for a year or two a Jewish masquerade ; in New Haven, the members of the con stituent committee were called the seven pillars, hewn out for the house of wisdom. But these are only the outward forms, which gave to the new sect its marked exterior. If from the outside peculiarities, which so easily excite the sneer of the superficial observer, we look to the genius of the sect itself, Puritanism was Religion struggling for the People. " Its absurdities,"

CHARACTER OF PURITANISM. 461

says its enemy, " were the shelter for the noble princi- CHAP pies of liberty." It was its office to engraft the new -^-^ institutions of popular energy upon the old European system of a feudal aristocracy and popular servitude ; the good was permanent , the outward emblems which were the signs of the party, were of transient duration ; like the clay and ligaments with which the graft is held in its place, and which are brushed away as soon as the scion is firmly united.

The principles of Puritanism proclaimed the civil magistrate subordinate to the authority of religion; and its haughtiness in this respect has been compared to " the infatuated arrogance " of a Roman pontiff. In the firmness with which the principle was asserted, the Puritans did not yield to the Catholics ; and, if the will of God is the criterion of justice, both were, in one sense, in the right. The question arises, Who shall be the interpreter of that will ? In the Roman Catholic church, the office was claimed by the infallible pontiflf who, as the self-constituted guardian of the oppressed, insisted on the power of dethroning kings, repealing laws, and subverting dynasties. The principle thus asserted, though often productive of good, could not but become subservient to the temporal ambition of the clergy. Puritanism conceded no such power to its spiritual guides; the church existed independent of its pastor, who owed his office to its free choice ; the will of the majority was its law ; and each one of the brethren possessed equal rights with the elders. The right, exercised by each congregation, of electing its own ministers, was in itself a moral revolution ; reli gion was now with the people, not over the people Puritanism exalted the laity. Every individual who had experienced the raptures of devotion, every be-

462 CHARACTER OF PURITANISM.

CHAP, liever, who, in his moments of ecstasy, had felt the — ^ assurance of the favor of God, was in his own eves a consecrated person. For him the wonderful counsels of the Almighty had chosen a Savior ; for him the laws of nature had been suspended and controlled, the heavens had opened, earth had quaked, the sun had veiled his face, and Christ had died and had risen again ; for him prophets and apostles had revealed to the world the oracles and the will of God. Viewing himself as an object of the divine favor, and in this connection disclaiming all merit, he prostrated himself in the dust before heaven ; looking out upon mankind, how could he but respect himself, whom God had chosen and redeemed ? He cherished hope ; he pos sessed faith ; as he walked the earth, his heart was in the skies. Angels hovered round his path, charged to minister to his soul ; spirits of darkness leagued to gether to tempt him from his allegiance. His burning piety could use no liturgy ; his penitence could reveal his transgressions to no confessor. He knew no supe rior in sanctity. He could as little become the slave of a priestcraft as of a despot. He was himself a judge of the orthodoxy of the elders; and if he feared the invisible powers of the air, of darkness, and of hell, he feared nothing on earth. Puritanism constituted, not the Christian clergy, but the Christian people, the interpreter of the divine will. The voice of the ma jority was the voice of God ; and the issue of Puritan ism was therefore popular sovereignty.]

The effects of Puritanism display 'its true character still more distinctly. Ecclesiastical tyranny is of all kinds the worst ; its fruits are cowardice, idleness, ignorance, and poverty : Puritanism was a life-giving spirit ; activity, thrift, intelligence, followed in its

CHARACTER OF PURITANISM. 463

train ; and as for courage, a coward and a Puritan CHAP never went together. " He that prays best, and - — ^ preaches best, will fight best;" such was the judgment of Cromwell, the greatest soldier of his age.

It was in self defence that Puritanism in America began those transient persecutions of which the ex cesses shall find in me no apologist ; and which yet were no more than a train of mists, hovering, of an autumn morning, over the channel of a fine river, that diffused freshness and fertility wherever it wound. The people did not attempt to convert others, but to protect themselves ; they never punished opinion as such ; they never attempted to torture ot terrify men into orthodoxy. The history of religious persecution in New England is simply this ; — the Puritans estab lished a government in America such as the laws of natural justice warranted, and such as the statutes and common law of England did not warrant ; and that was done by men who still acknowledged the duty of a limited allegiance to the parent state. The Episcopa lians had declared themselves the enemies of the party, arid waged against it a war of extermination ; Puritan ism excluded them from its asylum. Roger Williams, the apostle of " soul-liberty," weakened the cause of civil independence by impairing its unity ; and he was expelled, even though Massachusetts always bore good testimony to his spotless virtues.1 Wheelwright and his friends, in their zeal for strict Calvinism, forgot their duty as citizens, and they also were exiled. The Anabaptist, who could not be relied upon as an ally, iv as guarded as a foe. The Quakers denounced the

i Backus, i. 155 Winthrop, ii. 193.

464 CHARACTER OF PURITANISM.

CHAP, worship of New England as an abomination, arid its *-^*- government as treason ; and therefore they were ex cluded on pain of death. The fanatic for Calvinism was a fanatic for liberty ; and he defended his creed ; for, in the moral warfare for freedom, his creed was a part of his army, and his most faithful ally in the battle.

For " New England was a religious plantation, not a plantation for trade. The profession of the purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline, was written on her forehead." " We all," says the confederacy in the oldest of American written constitutions, " came into these parts of America to enjoy the liberties of the gos pel in purity and peace." " He that made religion as twelve, and the world as thirteen, had not the spirit of a true New England man." Religion was the object of the emigrants ; it was also their consolation. With this the wounds of the outcast were healed, and the tears of exile sweetened.1 " New England was the colony of conscience." 2

Of all contemporary sects, the Puritans were the most free from credulity, and, in their zeal for reform, pushed their regulations to what some would consider a skeptical extreme. So many superstitions had been bundled up with every venerable institution of Europe, that ages have not yet dislodged them all. The Puri tans at once emancipated themselves from a crowd of observances. They established a worship purely spir itual. To them the elements remained but wine and bread ; they invoked no saints ; they raised no altar ; they adored no crucifix ; they kissed no book ; they

1 Norton's Heart, &c. 58. Norton's choice sermons, 15. Higginson's Cause of God, 1 1. Articles of Confederacy.

2 John Q. Adams.

CHARACTER OF PURITANISM. 465

asked no absolution ; they paid no tithes ; they saw in CHAP the priest nothing more than a man ; ordination was — v^ no more than an approbation of the officer, which might be expressed by the brethren, as well as by other ministers;1 the church, as a place of worship, was to them but a meeting-house ; they dug no graves in consecrated earth ; unlike their posterity, they mar ried without a minister, and buried the dead without a prayer.2 Witchcraft had not been made the subject of skeptical consideration ; and in the years in which Scotland sacrificed hecatombs to the delusion, there were three victims in New England. Dark crimes, that seemed without a motive, may have been pursued under that name ; I find one record of a trial for witch craft, where the prisoner was proved a murderess.3

On every subject but religion, the mildness of Puri tan legislation corresponded to the popular character of Puritan doctrines. Hardly a nation of Europe has as yet made its criminal law so humane as that of early New England. A crowd of offences was at one sweep brushed from the catalogue of capital crimes. The idea was never received, that the forfeiture of life may be demanded for the protection of property ; the pun ishment for theft, for burglary, and highway robbery, was far more mild than the penalties imposed even by modern American legislation. Of divorce I have found no example ; yet a clause in one of the statutes recog nizes the possibility of such an event. Divorce from bed and board, the separate maintenance without the dissolution of the marriage contract, — an anomaly in Protestant legislation, that punishes the innocent more than the guilty, — was utterly abhorrent from their prin-

1 Trumbnll'a Conn. i. 28,3. 2 Shepherd's Clear Sunshine, 36. 3 Records, ii. 54, 55.

VOL. i. 59

466 CHARACTER OF i'URITANISM

CHAP, ciples. The care for posterity was every where visible.

>— v-*~ Since the sanctity of the marriage-bed is the safeguard of families, and can alone interest the father in the welfare and instruction of his offspring, its purity was protected by the penalty of death ; a penalty which was inexorably enforced against the guilty wife anil her paramour.1 If in this respect the laws were more severe, in another they were more lenient, than modern manners approve. The girl whom youth and affec tion betrayed into weakness, was censured, pitied, and forgiven ; the law compelled the seducer of innocence to marry the person who had imposed every obligation by the concession of every right. The law implies an extremely pure community ; in no other would it find a place in the statute-book ; in no other would public opinion tolerate the rule. Yet it need not have sur prised the countrymen of Raleigh, or the subjects of the grand-children of Clarendon.2

The benevolence of the early Puritans appears from other examples. Their thoughts were always fixed on posterity. Domestic discipline was highly valued ; but if the law was severe against the undutiful child, it was also severe against a faithless parent. The earliest laws, till 1654, did not permit any man's person to be kept in prison for debt, except when there was 'an appearance of some estate which the debtor would not produce.3 — Even the brute creation was not forgotten ; and cruelty towards animals was a civil ofTence. — The sympathies of the colonists were wide ; a regard for Protestant Germany is as old as emigra tion ; and, during the thirty years' war, the whole

l Winthrop, ii. 157—159. a Pepys' Diary, i. 81. 3 Col Laws, 48

CHARACTER OF PURITANISM. 467

people of New England held fasts and offered prayers CHAP for the success of their Saxon brethren. -^^

The first years of the residence of Puritans in America, were years of great hardship and affliction ; it is an error to suppose that this short season of dis tress was not promptly followed by abundance and happiness. The people were full of affections ; and the objects of love were around them. They struck root in the soil immediately. They enjoyed religion. They were, from the first, industrious, and enterprising, and frugal ; and affluence followed of course. When persecution ceased in England, there were already in New England " thousands who would not change their place for any other in the world ;" and they were tempted in vain with invitations to the Bahama Isles, to Ireland, to Jamaica, to Trinidad. The purity of morals completes the picture of colonial felicity. " As Ireland will not brook venomous beasts, so will not that land vile livers." One might dwell there " from year to year, and not see a drunkard, or hear an oath,' or meet a beggar." 1 The consequence was universal health — one of the chief elements of public happiness. The average duration of life in New England, com pared with Europe, was doubled ; and the human race was so vigorous, that of all who were born into the world, more than two in ten, full four in nineteen, attained the age of seventy. Of those who lived beyond ninety, the proportion, as compared with Euiopean tables of longevity, was still more remark able.

I have dwelt the longer on the character of the early Puritans of New England, for they are the

i New England's First Fruits, printed 1643, p. 23, 26.

468 CHARACTER OF PURITANISM

CHAP, parents of one third the whole white population of the «-^v^- United States. Within the first fifteen years, — and there was never afterwards any considerable increase from England, — we have seen that there came over twenty-one thousand two hundred persons, or four thousand families. Their descendants are now not far from four millions. Each family has multiplied on the average to one thousand souls. To New York and Ohio, where they constitute half the population, they have carried the Puritan system of free schools ; and their example is spreading it through the civilized world.

Historians have loved to eulogize the manners and virtues, the glory and the benefits, of chivalry. Puri tanism accomplished for mankind far more. If it had the sectarian crime of intolerance, chivalry had the vices of dissoluteness. The knights were brave from gallantry of spirit ; the Puritans from the fear of God The knights were proud of loyalty ; the Puritans of liberty. The knights did homage to monarchs, in whose smile they beheld honor, whose rebuke was the wound of disgrace ; the Puritans, disdaining cere mony, would not bow at the name of Jesus, nor bend the knee to the King of Kings. Chivalry delighted in outward show, favored pleasure, multiplied amuse ments, and degraded the human race by an exclusive respect for the privileged classes ; Puritanism bridled the passions, commanded the virtues of self-denial, and rescued the name of man from dishonor. The former valued courtesy ; the latter, justice. The former adorned society by graceful refinements ; the latter founded national grandeur on universal education. The institutions of chivalry were subverted by the gradually-increasing weight, and knowledge, and opu-

THE RESTORATION OF THE STUARTS. 469

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lence of the industrious classes ; the Puritans, rallying CHAP upon those classes, planted in their hearts the undying — ^ principles of democratic liberty.

The golden age of Puritanism was passing away. 1660 Time was silently softening its asperities, and the revolutions of England prepared an era in its fortunes. Massachusetts never acknowledged Richard Cromwell; it read clearly in the aspact of parties the impending restoration. The protector had left the benefits of self-government and the freedom of commerce to New England arid to Virginia ; and Maryland, by the act of her inhabitants, was just beginning to share in the same advantages. Would the dynasty of the Stuarts deal benevolently with the colonies ? Would it imitate the magnanimity of Cromwell, and suffer the staple of the south still to seek its market freely throughout the world ? Could the returning monarch forgive the friends of the Puritans in England ? Would he show favor to the institutions that the outcasts had reared beyond the Atlantic ?

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