COLLECTIONS

OF THE

MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

VOL. II.

PORTLAND:

PUBLISHED FOE THE SOCIETY
1847.

\

I

-2J

WM. VAN NORDEN, PRINTER, NO. 39 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK.

PREFACE.

IN presenting to the public a second volume of the Collections of
the Maine Historical Society, the committee desire to give greater
publicity to the " Brief Narration" of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and
the " Voyage " of Christopher Levett, two prominent articles of the*
volume. They are both rare works and have a peculiar value
among the historical materials of this State. An apology for this
republication cannot be needed.

No part of our country is so deeply interested as Maine, in the
life and story of Gorges. It was he who engaged most early and
earnestly in the colonization of our territory ; obtained the first
charter for it, and established the first regular government which
it enjoyed. It is peculiarly proper that a narrative written by the
founder of our State, in the earnestness and ardor of a man zeal-
ously devoted to the work of colonization, describing his efforts, his
sacrifices, his disappointments and success, in those undertakings,
should be preserved in the transactions of a society, which professes
to search out and perpetuate the early attempts to colonize and
cultivate our soil.

The copy of the original edition of this work used in the present
reprint, was kindly loaned for the purpose, from the Library of
Harvard College, by President Everett.

Levett's voyage is also entitled to a place in our Collections, for
its particular application to our territory. It gives the first minute
account we have of that part of our coast which lies between the
Piscataquu and Pemaquid ; and this is done in so simple and artless
a manner, that it wins greatly on our confidence and regard. It
was republished in the eighth volume, (third series) of the Massa-

iv. PREFACE.

chusetts Historical Collections ; but the circulation of that excellent
work is so limited among our people, that but few have access to
it, or know any thing of the voyage or the voyager. Nothing is
known of Levett but what appears in the " Voyage," and a tran-
sient remark or two in some contemporary record. He built a
house on one of the islands within the limits of Portland, with the
intention of making it his place of residence. When he returned
home, he assured the natives, whose affections he had gained, that
it was only for the purpose of bringing his wife and family, to take
up his permanent abode among them. We hear nothing more of
him, but are well assured that he never more visited this coast ;
a circumstance much to be regretted, as from his good judgment
and conciliatory disposition toward the natives, his services and
influence would have been valuable to the early colonists.

The house which he built on an island in Portland harbor, was
the first erected in that neighborhood by a white man, and ten years
before any other was built in that town.

The other articles in the volume are original contributions, with
one or two exceptions. Several of them are town histories, some
of which have been in possession of the Society a number of years,
and are useful as exhibiting the painful struggles and the toilsome
progress of the pioneers in our early settlements. We have thought
it best to preserve these documents in a form accessible to future ex-
plorers. The more recent history of these towns is perpetuated in
the multiplied and permanent records of the press.

All the articles contained in the volume, with the exceptions
before referred to, reach back, in a greater or less degree, into the
antiquity of our State, and furnish materials or guides to a more
full development of the foundations and growth of our common-
wealth. It is hoped that they will lead to a more full and thorough
investigation of records and documents lying neglected in various
parts of our State, and cause the abundant materials they contain,
to be embodied in a convenient and enduring form.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

PREFACE iii.

I. DISCOURSE BEFORE THE SOCIETY, at its Annual Meeting,

Sept. 6, 1846, by Hon. George Folsom, of New

York 380

2. BRIEF NARRATION of the Original Undertakings of

Plantations in America. By Sir Ferdinando Gorges,

Kt., Lord Proprietor of the Province of Maine. 1

3. A VOYAGE TO NEW ENGLAND, in 1623, by Christopher

Levett, Esq. - 73

4. ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, POLAND AND MINOT, by Wil-

liam Ladd, Esq Ill

5. HISTORY OF THE SEVEN NARRAGANSET TOWNSHIPS,

by Charles Coffin, Esq. - 131

6. SOME ACCOUNT OF NEW GLOUCESTER, by Isaac Par-

sons, Esq. ... . 151

7. HISTORY OF NORTH YARMOUTH, by Edward Rus-

sell, Esq. - - - -165

8. THE HISTORY OF BATH, by Joseph Sewall, Esq. . 189

9. SOME ACCOUNT OF AN ANCIENT SETTLEMENT ON SHEEP-

SCOT RIVER, by Rev. Samuel Johnson, with Supple-
mentary Remarks, by William Willis, Esq. . 229

10. ACCOUNT OF PEMAQUID, by Judge Groton. . . 238

II. EXERTIONS OF THE O'BRIEN FAMILY, at Machias,

in the American Revolution, by Capt. John O'Brien,

of Brunswick. 242

vi. CONTENTS.

12. LETTER FROM GEN. RUFUS PUTNAM TO Gov. BOWDOIN,

in relation to Shay's rebellion. ... - 250

13. NOTICE OF WILLIAM LADD, by William Willis, Esq.] 255

14. DEED from Ferdinando Gorges, Esq. to John Usher. 257

15. " John Usher to the Colony of Massachu-
setts Bay. . .261

16. OPINION of Richard West, Esq. Counsel to the Board

of Trade, as to the King's right to the woods in the
Province of Maine. 265

17. HISTORY OF THE KENNEBEC PURCHASE, by Robert H.

Gardiner, Esq. . 269

18. CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE SOCIETY, AND

LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS. - - . 295

ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE,

DELIVERED AT BRUNSWICK,

SEPTEMBER GTH, 1846,
BY GEORGE F O L S O M.

" But I doubt not * * * it will prove a very flourishing place, and be replenished
with many faire Townes and Cities, it being a Province both fruitful and pleasant."

F. GORQKS. Description of the Province of Maine.

DISCOURSE.

MR. PRESIDENT, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HISTORI-
CAL SOCIETY :

INDIFFERENCE to the past, considered as a na-
tional characteristic, is a mark of rudeness and inciv-
ilizatiori. A purely savage people live only in the
present moment. The satisfaction of immediate
wants, the enjoyment of the passing hour, make
up the sum total of their existence. They have no
monuments of former generations, and they leave
none of themselves. To them, the deeds of forefa-
thers, the exploits of other times, the good or evil
that marked an earlier day, afford no examples and
impart no instruction. It is as if none had lived
before them, and none were to come after. Equally
indifferent to the future, they make no provision for
a day beyond that which already dawns upon them,
and care as little for the next generation as the last.

Such are mankind in their natural and uncultivated
state. But as they emerge into the light of civiliza-
tion, a change comes over the scene. An enlarged
horizon exhibits new objects to the view. Their
gaze is no longer fixed, animal-like, upon the narrow
compass of earth that suffices for present indulgence ;
but looking upward towards Heaven, as well as
around upon the outspreading landscape, they begin
1

6 DISCOURSE.

to feel the sublimity of their intellectual nature, and
to call into exercise the faculties that God has endow-
ed them with, but of which they were before uncon-
scious. Now awakens the thirst of knowledge, the
strong and insatiable desire to grasp at something
beyond mere existence. The well-spring of thought
bubbles up, stimulating and fertilizing the perceptions,
and a thousand imaginations and conceits pour forth
in undisciplined confusion. Reason and reflection
soon, however, assert their rights, and the plastic hand
of cultivation moulds all into shape and order.

The present moment is now no longer the limit of
of the mind's ken. It supplies too gross a material
for the exercise of the awakened powers, and the
imagination scorns to feed upon it. Stretching back
to the past, or diving deep into futurity, it delights
to take to itself the wings of fancy, and revel and
riot amid the scenes that bear it away from the sen-
sualities and follies, the cares and distractions, of the
fleeting moment. It conjures up the realities of a
by-gone age, and seeks to learn the motives, the
principles, the habits, both of body and mind, and all
that was comprised in the career of those who once
lived and flourished, but have long slumbered in the
Valley of Silence. It was at this stage of progress,
that the Father of History unfolded his luminous page,
and recited to his assembled countrymen the glorious
deeds and chivalric achievements of their departed
sires, or traced the daring exploits of the half-fabulous
heroes who made Greece the arena for the display
of superhuman courage and unrivalled prowess. It
is needless to add that the land rung with praises of
the man, who had thus successfully appealed both to

DISCOURSE. 7

the new-born thirst for historic lore, and to that other
and scarcely less civilized sentiment, THE LOVE or

ONE'S OWN NATIVE LAND.

Advancing improvement strengthens the desire to
converse with departed excellence, and national pride
leads to the erection of lasting monuments to perpet-
uate its fame. Memorials are sought on every hand,
but, alas ! it too often happens that inattention or
neglect, on the part of contemporaries, occasions the
loss of what a subsequent age would be sure to prize as
the precious reliques of genius or distinguished merit.
How little is known, for instance, of the private his-
tory of England's great dramatist, and with what
eagerness are the faintest traces of his every-day life
sought and treasured up ! Yet with a little care ex-
ercised either in his own day, or by those of the next
succeeding generation, enough might have been pre-
served to enable his admirers, in all ages, to form a
correct conception of the life and personal character
of the man whose genius is the proudest boast of
English literature.

Great national events likewise often fail of a proper
appreciation from the want of due care in preserving
the memorials of their occurrence. To the historical
student many cases in point will suggest themselves.
The history of American discovery may be mention-
ed as singularly deficient in the requisite materials
for its elucidation. The important voyages of Sebas-
tian Cabot and Americus Vespucius are involved in
much obscurity from this cause, and the chart or map
drawn by the former to illustrate his discoveries, has
long been classed among the things " lost on earth."
Navarrete, in Spain, has done much to rescue from

8 DISCOURSE.

oblivion the services rendered by his countrymen, in
the discovery of the New World ; but had the work
been commenced at an earlier period, the results
would doubtless have been far more satisfactory and
complete.

In this country, something has already been done
towards the preservation of the materials of history ;
and it is gratifying to find an increased interest awa-
kened in the subject, and a higher appreciation of its
importance entertained, at the present time, than at
any former period. It marks to some extent the cha-
racter of the age, and affords, according to the gene-
ral views just presented, an indication of progress,
a sign of intellectual growth, in our social character.
The Documentary History, now in the course of pub-
lication under the auspices of the general government,
is a work of which any country might be proud ;
and if completed according to the plan of its intel-
ligent editor,* it will be a noble monument to the
liberality and enlightened patriotism of our national
legislature. The states individually have also awa-
kened to the importance of collecting and preserving
their public records, and in some of the older com-
monwealths considerable appropriations have been
made of late years to defray the expense of arranging
and making secure what is too often regarded as the
useless lumber of antiquity. It is certainly desirable,
in every point of view, economical as well as histori-
cal, that a similar course should be pursued in the
public offices of all our states ; for often the preser-
vation of a single document may lead to results of

PETER FORGE, Esq., late Mayor of the city of Washington.

DISCOURSE. 9

greater value than all the labor and expense re-
quired to effect this object.

The publications of the English Record Commis-
sions are an example of what may be accomplished
by a great and enlightened nation for the preservation
of its public records. The work was commenced in
the year 1800, and was continued nearly forty years,
during which time there were printed of the ancient
records of the kingdom, commencing with the reign
of William the Conqueror, one hundred and eleven
volumes, of which eighty-six are in folio ; and the
amount expended by the government in connexion with
this object, during that period, is estimated at nearly
a million of pounds sterling, or about five millions
of dollars. The same liberal and munificent spirit that
has led to the achievement of this great enterprise,
not satisfied with having provided for the security of
the documents contained in those massive volumes,
by their publication, has also governed their distribu-
tion ; for copies were sent to most of the colleges
and many other literary institutions of this country,
which certainly had no claim upon the liberality of
the British government. This great work has raised
another monument to the far-famed national spirit of
that monarchy, which ever seeks, by appropriate
means, to foster and sustain the reputation of her sons
and the glory of her ancient name.

The long connexion of the people of this country
with the European governments, of which they were
colonies, renders our own archives incomplete with-
out resorting to those abroad; and hence some of
the State Legislatures have so far interested them-
selves in this subject, as to send agents to the mother
1*

10 DISCOURSE.

countries to procure copies of documents illustrative
of their early history. The Legislature of New York
appropriated about fifteen thousand dollars for this
purpose, and her Agent was employed three years
in the performance of his labors, during which time
he examined the archives of London, Paris, and the
Hague, and brought home an invaluable collection of
State Papers, and other documents of great value and
interest. Georgia, likewise, with commendable liber-
ality, has instituted a similar agency abroad, which re-
sulted in the acquisition of twenty-two folio manuscript
volumes, obtained from the English offices, and deposi-
ted by the direction of the Legislature with the Histor-
ical Society of that state. Massachusetts, distinguish-
ed for her enlightened legislation, and ever alive to
whatever promotes the cause of learning and educa-
tion, has established a similar agency in London and
Paris ; and it is believed that many other States are
prepared to adopt the same course.

But the most striking evidence of the attention now
bestowed on the subject of historical investigation
in this country, is found in the organization of His-
torical Societies throughout the Union, having in view
the specific object of collecting and preserving the ma-
terials of history. The Massachusetts society was the
first in the field: it has already published twenty-
nine volumes of Collections, containing a prodigious
mass of information, relating chiefly to the history
of New England. One of its founders, and its first
President, was a native of this State ; I refer to the
late JAMES SULLIVAN, then a resident of Boston, and
afterwards Governor of Massachusetts. This gentle-
man also produced a history of this State, then the

DISCOURSE. 1 1

District of Maine, which although far from being a
faultless work, was highly creditable to the industry
and patriotism of its Author. Associated with Sulli-
van in founding and sustaining that Society, were
BELKNAP, ELIOT, FREEMAN, MINOT, TUDOR, THACH-
ER, KlRKLAND, WlNTHROP, DAVIS, QlJINCY, SAVAGE,
BRADFORD, HARRIS, and others, who formed a pha-
lanx of intellectual strength and erudition not often
surpassed.*

The New York Historical Society was founded at
a somewhat later period than that of Massachusetts,
but was the next in order of time, and is now in the
forty-second year of its existence. Among those
who were among its earliest members, (but now de-
ceased,) may be named Egbert Benson, John Pintard,
Rufus King, De Witt Clinton, Dr. Hosack, Bishop
Hobart, Daniel D. Tompkins, Dr. Mitchell, Brockholst
Livingston, and Peter A. Jay. The President of this
society, at the present time, is the Hon. ALBERT GALLA-
TIN, who at a very advanced age finds solace in literary
pursuits, to which his time ife chiefly devoted/f The
Library of this institution is large, and rich in American
history ; and is the resort of historical students from

* See an excellent sketch of the history of the Massachusetts Society, by the
Rev. WILLIAM JENKS, D. D., in the twenty-seventh volume of its Collections.
Dr. Jenks states, that the Rev. Dr. Belknap, author of a well known and highly
esteemed History of New Hampshire, " has been uniformly regarded as the prin-
cipal founder of that Society."

t This gentleman is also President of the American Ethnological Society, es-
tablished at New York. The first volume of the Transactions of that learned
association appeared last year, consisting chiefly of an elaborate essay upon the
languages, astronomy, &c. of the ancient inhabitants of Mexico and Central
America, by Mr. Gallatin. This remarkable work, involving much abstruse
learning, and acute discrimination, is one of the greatest trophies of an intellec-
tual old age the world ever saw ; having been composed by the venerable author
in his eighty-fifth year.

12 DISCOURSE.

all parts of the country. Its members are numerous,
and the papers read at its monthly meetings usually
attract a large concourse of persons of literary taste
and habits. Besides its volumes of Collections, this
Society publishes an anual report of its transactions,
containing the Papers read during the year,

I have spokea more particularly of the societies
of Massachusetts and New York, as being the oldest
in the country ; but there are many others of a more
recent date, which are equally efficient and useful.
They bring together much of the learning and talent
of their respective States, and afford to politicians a
neutral ground on which they can meet without dan-
ger of hostile collision ; for surely nothing is better
fitted to inspire proper feelings in the hearts of the
living, than the contemplation of the virtues of those
who have preceded them on the stage of active life,
and patriotism itself is kindled by surveying the tro-
phies and memorials which a grateful country exhibits
to exalt the fame of her distinguished sons. We have
no Westminster Abbey to perpetuate the remem-
brance of valor, genius, or beneficence ; even
Washington sleeps in a common tomb with his kin-
dred, and of his distinguished associates in the field,
how few of us can tell where their remains now repose !
If Historical Associations should do no more than
point out the resting places of departed merit, dis-
encumbering the humble tomb-stone of its moss, and
freshening the sod that lies upon the grave of genius,
they will perform a truly grateful though it may be
humble office, and be the means of holding up to
public view examples worthy of imitation.

The Society I have the honor to address was insti-

DISCOURSE. 13

tuted in 1822, and numbered among its early friends
and founders some of the most eminent names in the
State. It has already rendered good service by the
publication of a volume that sheds much light on the
early history of a large portion of Maine ; and should
its organization give birth to nothing beyond that vol-
ume, so replete with the fruits of patient research, its
existence would be marked by no idle or unsatisfactory
result. But there is no reason it should stop here ;
there is much more work for it to perform before its
destiny be accomplished. There is no part of our
country whose history is more diversified, and in-
structive, than these Northern shores; none less
known, or full of more exciting incident.. The long
subjection of Maine to a rival colony, gave it less inter-
est and importance in the eyes of the general histori-
an than it deserved to possess ; but having at length
resumed its original independence, with the means of
developing its vast resources, and extending its
wealth and population, this State must hereafter oc-
cupy a prominent position in our country, and a con-
spicuous place on the page of history.

I propose in the remainder of this discourse to call
your attention to some of the facts connected with
the early discovery and settlement of Maine, and the
character of those who were most active in the work
of colonization.

To Columbus belongs the glory of having solved
the great problem, as to the existence of lands in the
west ; but in his estimation, the discovery owed its
chief importance to the supposed identity of those
lands with the opulent, but remote regions of Cathay,
or China, and the Indies. Impressed with this idea,

14 DISCOURSE.

the great navigator, even in his last voyage, took with
him persons skilled in the Arabic language, for the
purpose of being enabled to hold intercourse with the
Khan of Tartary, as the Emperor of China was then
styled, whose dominions he expected to reach by sail-
ing west from Hispaniola. This voyage terminated
twelve years after the first discovery, and resulted
only in the exploration of the coast of Central Ame-
rica, from the bay of Honduras to the Spanish Main.
The same idea led to the discovery of the continent
of North America, by the Cabots in 1497. The ac-
count of the matter given by Sebastian Cabot, who
was the master spirit on that occasion, is that the
news of the discoveries made by Columbus, caused a
great sensation at the court cf Henry VII., who then
reigned in England, and it was thought a wonderful
thing, " more divine than human, to sail by the west
to the lands in the east, where spices grow." The fame
of this achievement kindled a desire in his own mind
to attempt something of a similar character, and
" understanding," he says, " by reason of the sphere,
that if I should sail by the northwest, I should by a
shorter tract come into India, I thereupon caused the
king to be advertised of my device," &c. He after-
terwards adds, " I began therefore to sail towards the
northwest, not thinking to find any other land than that
of Cathay, and from thence to turn towards India ;
but after certain days, I found that the land ran towards
, the north, which to me was a great displeasure." *

i

k

* Hakluyt. Thus Lord Bacon characterizes Cabot's discovery as " a memo-
rable accident," and the great navigator he describes " as one Sebastian Gabato,
a Venetian, dwelling at Bristol, a man seen and expert in cosmography and na-
vigation." Hist. Henry VII.

DISCOURSE. 15

The accounts of this voyage, and of a second in
in the same direction, made by Sebastian Cabot the
following year, are extremely meagre ; no details of
them were published by the navigator himself, and
after his death, his original maps and papers disap-
peared in a mysterious manner. But there is suffi-
cient evidence to show that he first discovered land,
after pursuing a northwest course from Bristol Chan-
nel, on the coast of Labrador, in latitude about 56,
on the 24th of June, the day of St. John the Baptist.
In honor of the day, he gave the name of St. John to
a small island, on the same coast, which has latterly
disappeared from our maps. It is now supposed that
Cabot, after making this discovery, continued his
course to the north, as high as latitude 67, and enter-
ed Hudson's bay ; finding the sea still open, he said
that he might and would have gone to Cathay, had it
not been for the mutinous conduct of the master and
mariners, who compelled him to retrace his steps.
The ship in which he sailed was called the Matthew,
of Bristol.

Obtaining a new patent from the king, he again
sailed the following year with several vessels and
about 300 persons, for the purpose, it is supposed, of
forming a colony. It was during this voyage that he
sailed along the whole coast of the United States, and
laid the foundation of the English claim to the country.

Some particulars of these voyages are given by
Peter Martyr, the celebrated Italian, a resident in
Spain at that period, who derived his information from
Cabot himself, when a guest at his house. According
to this writer, Cabot called the lands he had discov-
ered " BACCALAOS, a name," says Martyr, " given by

16 DISCOURSE.

the inhabitants to a large kind of fish, which appear-
ed in such shoals, that they sometimes interrupted the
progress of the ships." This word is now used in
several European languages, to denote the codfish,
either in its natural or dried state. It is found on
some of the oldest maps of North America, as applied
by Cabot to the countries he discovered, but is gene-
rally restricted to the island since called Newfound*-
land*

The name of Labrador is Portuguese, having been
given with some others by a Portuguese navigator,
Gaspar de Cortereal, who visited the same coast in
1501, and left his own name applied to an extensive
tract of country on the borders of Hudson's Bay, long
known as Terra Corterealis.

The name Norumbega was subsequently used to
designate nearly the whole of the Continent north of
Florida. This is supposed to be an Indian word,
with a Latin termination,t and was generally used by
the French, until it was superseded by another Indian
name, which the French wrote Cadie, or Acadie, and
sometimes with the Latin termination, as Cadia, or
Acadia, but which the English changed into a less
poetical word, by writing Quoddy instead of Cadie.%

Norumbega, at a later period, was confined
to the country lying north of Virginia ; thus on a

* Thus Cortes, writing in 1524, proposes to explore "the northern coast of
Florida as far as the Bacallaos." Despatches, p. 417.

t Sometimes written Arambec, or Arambeag. It is remarked by Sullivan
that the Indian word eag signifies land, and he thus accounts for its frequent oc-
currence in local names. Father Rale, in his Dictionary of the Abenaqui dialect,
gives the words ki and kik, (kee and keek,) as meaning land ; but Gallatin's
Synopsis of Indian languages, (Long Island Vocabulary,) has " keagh, or eage ;"
the difference is, however, only in the orthography ; the words are the same.

t The bay of Passamaquoddy, is on the French maps named Pesmo-cadie.

DISCOURSE. 17

map contained in Wytfliet's supplement to Ptolemy,
published as late as 1603, it has New France on the
north, and Virginia on the south. A city of the same
name is also laid down on this map, situated upon a
large river, supposed to be the Penobscot. A map
of North America, contained in the Novus Orbis
of De Laet, published in 1633, distributes the country
into the following divisions, commencing on the
north : New France, Cadie, Norumbega, (comprising
the territory between the St. Croix and Kennebec,)
New England, New Netherland, Virginia, and Flor-
ida. Purchas in describing the coast of Maine, refers
to former accounts of " a great town and fair river
called Norumbega," and adds, that the French discov-
erers deny the existence of any such place, affirming
that there are only cabins, covered with bark or skins,
to be found in that region, and that the true name of
the village and river is Pentegoet, a name long ap-
plied by the French to the Penobscot. This more
accurate account of the matter was the result of visits
to that river, by the French, at the period of their
first settlements in Nova Scotia.

According to Hakluyt, and other writers, the In-
dians had a general designation for the territory com-
prised within the forty -third and forty- fifth degrees
of north latitude, almost the precise limits of the sea
coast of Maine, and extending forty leagues into the
interior. This territory they called MAVOOSHEN,
" which," says Hakluyt, " was discovered by the Eng-
lish in the years 1602, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9," implying
that voyages were made to it by the English in each
of those years, a statement fully confirmed by evi-
dence from other sources. The government of all
2

18 DISCOURSE.

the Indians dwelling within these limits, and of others
as far south as Massachusetts, was in the hands of a
single Cacique, or Sachem, to whom the inferior
Sagamores of the various tribes owed allegiance.
His title as given by the English Navigators who
first visited the country, was Bashaba, and Dr. Bel-
knap remarks that " we have no account of any other
Indian chief in these northern parts of America,
whose authority was so extensive."* The place of
his residence was probably on the banks of the Pen-
obscot, and as it was also the seat of his government,
the fabulous accounts of a large city in that quarter
may have arisen from exaggerated descriptions of this*
humble capital of the Bashaba's dominions.

Notwithstanding the discoveries of the Cabots,
with the exception of one or two expeditions from
Bristol, fitted out by the enterprising merchants of
that city, no subsequent efforts were made in Eng-
land for a long period to follow up what had been so
well begun. During the protracted reign of Henry
VIII., those important discoveries seem to have been
forgotten ; nor was their memory revived in the
succeeding reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Mary.
The English merchants were satisfied with quietly
despatching their frail barks to the fishing grounds,
and drawing from the ocean-depths the more availa-
ble sources of commercial thrift. Sebastian Cabot
had gone into the service of Spain, and more than
seventy years elapsed before the attention of the Eng-
lish goverment was again directed to the American
coast. During all this long period, not an English

* 1 Am. Biog. 351.

DISCOURSE. 19

colonist was landed upon any portion of the Ameri-
can continent, to mark the possession of the country
on the part of those who afterwards claimed an ex-
clusive right to every inch of the soil from Florida to
Greenland. The maxim in those days was, Veni,
Vidi, Hdbui ; or in the language of the poet,

"The time once was here, to all be it known,
When all a man sailed by, or saw, was his own."

At length, towards the close of the sixteenth centu-
ry, Sir Humphry Gilbert, one of the most accom-
plished men in England, undertook an expedition to
Newfoundland ; and his half brother, Sir Walter
Raleigh, despatched another for the discovery of land
to the north of Florida. But these efforts, however
honorable to their authors, proved disastrous in the
end. The wretched colonists planted by Sir Walter
on the meagre coast of North Carolina were finally
abandoned to their fate, and, cut off from all commu-
nication with the civilized world, are supposed to
have perished of hunger, or by the hands of savages.
The only result of any value or importance that
followed the spirited exertions of that gifted genius,
at whose private expense the attempt was made, was
the opening of the hitherto unexplored wilds of Vir-
ginia to the knowledge of the world, which led to
more successful efforts to colonize that portion of
our country at- a subsequent date.

The French were equally unsuccessful during the
same century in all their enterprises to the new
world ; not a single permanent settlement was effec-
ted by them on any part of the American coast.

20 DISCOURSE.

Although repeated commissions were issued for the
colonization of the country under the name of New
France, the whole of North America, with the excep-
tion of Florida and Mexico, continued an unbroken
wilderness, without a single European family in all
its extent, until the commencement of the seventeenth
century. This vast and dreary solitude was first
broken on the borders of this State, by the French
colony of De Monts, who passed the winter of 1603-4
on the island of St. Croix, situated in the river of
the same name, on the line separating Maine from
New Brunswick.

The spirit of colonization received a new impulse
in England at the same period. The numerous fish-
ing voyages from the western ports, especially Bris-
tol, Exeter, and Plymouth, had divested the ocean of
its terrors, and a visit to the American coast had
become no unusual occurrence. In the summer of
1602, a small party of colonists embarked from Fal-
mouth, and arrived on the coast of Massachusetts ;
having selected a location upon a small island near
the southern shore of that State, to which they gave
the name of Elizabeth island, they prepared to take
up their abode there ; but when the ship was about
to leave on its return to England, their hearts failed
them, and they hastily abandoned the enterprise.
But the pleasing accounts these persons gave of the
country after their return, and the shortness of the
voyage, produced a favorable impression at home,
and encouraged other enterprises of a similar
character.

Richard Hakluyt, the author of the well known
geographical work that bears his name, was at that

DISCOURSE. 21

time a prebendary of St. Augustine's Church at Bris-
tol ; taking a lively interest in promoting voyages of
discovery to different parts of the globe, he induced
the corporation of Bristol and some of the merchants
of that city, to unite in fitting out a small expedition
to America the following year. It consisted of two
vessels named the Speedwell and the Discoverer,
with a ship's company of about fifty persons, amongst
whom were several who had been in the expedition
of the previous year. The command was given to
Martin Pring, an experienced seaman. The vessels
were victualled for eight months, and provided with
various kinds of clothing, hardware and trinkets, to
trade with the natives. They sailed on the 10th of
April, 1603, a few days after the death of Queen
Elizabeth, and reached the American coast on the
7th of June, between the 43d and 44th degrees of
latitude, among those numerous islands with which
Penobscot bay is studded. There they found good
anchorage and fishing, and gave the name of Fox
islands to the group now bearing that name.

Leaving that part of the coast, Captain Pring ran-
ged to the southwest, and explored the inlets, rivers
and bays, as far as the southern coast of Massachu-
setts. Here he named a bay where they landed, " by
the name of the Worshipful Master, John Whitson,
then Mayor of the city of Bristol, and one of the
chief adventurers." A pleasant hill adjoining they
called Mount Aldworth, " for Master Robert Wald-
worth's sake, a chief furtherer of the voyage, as well
with his purse as his travel." Aldworth was a wealthy
merchant of Bristol, who nearly thirty years after
2*

22 DISCOURSE.

was one of the grantees at Pemaquid, in conjunction
with Giles Elbridge.

The object of this expedition having been accom-
plished by a careful survey of the country, and the
vessels having received a full freight of sassafras and
furs, Pring returned to England, where he arrived
after a passage of five weeks. The whole voyage
was completed in six months.

The next visit to the coast of Maine was in 1605,
by Capt. George Weymouth, who having in view the
discovery of Virginia, came in sight of the American
coast on the 14th of May, in the latitude of 41 20' ;
but finding himself in the midst of shoals and break-
ers, he made sail and at the distance of fifty leagues
discovered several islands, to one of which he gave
the name of St. George, which is still borne by a
group of islands near the entrance to Penobscot
river ; about three leagues from this island, Wey-
mouth came into a harbor which he called Pentecost
harbor, and sailed up a noble river, now supposed to
have been the Penobscot. But the most important
circumstance connected with this voyage is, that on
his return to England, Weymouth took with him
several Indians, three of whom on his arrival at Ply-
mouth he committed to the charge of Sir Ferdinando
Gorges, Governor of the Fort at that place. " This
accident," says Gorges, in his Description of New
England, " must be acknowledged the means, under
God, of putting on foot and giving life to all our
plantations." He adds, that he kept these Indians
for three years, and endeavored to elicit from them
as much information as possible respecting their na-
tive country ; and that the longer he conversed with

DISCOURSE. 23

them, the better hope they gave him of those parts
where they inhabited, as well fitted for the purposes
of settlement, " especially when he found what good-
ly rivers, stately islands, and safe harbors those parts
abounded with."

Thus encouraged, Sir Ferdinando despatched a ship
the following year, (1606), under the command of
Henry Challong, accompanied by two of the natives,
with directions to keep a northerly course to Cape
Breton, and then to run to the southward, following
the coast until he reached Penobscot bay. Instead,
however, of following these directions, the ship's
course was shaped for the West Indies ; this led to
their capture by the Spaniards, who carried them into
a Spanish port, where, says Sir Ferdinando, " their
ship and goods were confiscated, themselves made
prisoners, the voyage overthrown, and both the na-
tives lost." This was one of those unfortunate mis-
chances to which projectors of voyages were peculiarly
exposed at that period, and which served to discourage
enterprises of this character.

Soon after the departure of Challong, another ship
under the command of Capt. Thomas Hanham and
Capt. Pring, was despatched from Bristol by Lord
Chief Justice Popham, with instructions to meet
Challong at the Penobscot ;* but not finding him at
that place, they continued their course along shore,
and made, says Gorges, " a perfect discovery of all

* The Plymouth Company, in a relation or manifesto published by them at a
subsequent period, say of this voyage, that " it pleased the noble Lord Chief Jus-
tice, Sir John Popham, knight, to send out another ship, wherein Captain Thom-
as Hanham went commander, and Martine Prinne of Biistow master, with all
necessary supplies, for the seconding of Captain Challons and his people ; who ar-

21 DISCO URSE.

those rivers and harbors indicated in their instructions,
and brought with them the most exact discovery of
that coast that ever came to my hands since."

In the meantime, new and extensive plans were
formed for the colonization of the country. Individ-
ual efforts had been found insufficient for this purpose ;
it was necessary to awaken the attention of the gov-
ernment to its importance, and by securing the con-
currence of the king and persons of rank, to increase
the general interest in the undertaking. Sir John
Popham, the Lord Chief Justice of England, was at
this period in the zenith of his power and influence ;
venerable for his age, respected for his wise adminis-
tration of the law, and strong in the confidence of
the crown. He is accused by a recent writer* of
having displayed too great alacrity in passing sentence
upon Sir Walter Raleigh, when convicted of high
treason ; but the conduct of the Chief Justice on that
occasion seems to have been marked by forbearance
throughout. Sir Walter was tried by a special com-
mission of eleven persons, consisting of several Peers
of the realm, the Chief Justice and three other
Justices of the King's Bench and Common Pleas ;
the jury was composed of knights and gentlemen of
undoubted integrity. It might be difficult to convict

riving at the place appointed, and not finding that Captain there, after they had
made some discovery, and found the coasts, havens and harbors answerable to our
desires, they returned." " Upon whose relations," say the Company " afterwards,
the lord chief justice and we all waxed so confident of the business, that the year
following every man of any worth, formerly interested in it, was willing to join
in the charge for the sending over a competent number of people to lay the
ground of a hopeful plantation."

* Discourse on the Life and Character of Sir Walter Raleigh, delivered by J.
Morrison Harris, before the Maryland Historical Society, May 19, 1846 ; an
able and eloquent production.

DISCOURSE. 25

a person on the same evidence at the present day,
and the trial was scandalously managed on the part
of the prosecuting attorney, Sir Edward Coke, even
for that period ; but Popham is not answerable for
the imperfect state of the rules of evidence nearly
two centuries and a half ago, nor for the brutal con-
duct of Coke towards the unfortunate prisoner. When
called upon to pronounce the judgment of the court,
the Chief Justice manifested feelings of regret and
sorrow, while at the same time he commented with
firmness upon the enormity of the offence of which
one so highly gifted, and so capable of serving the
state, had been found guilty. " I thought," said the
venerable judge, no doubt with tears in his eyes, " I
thought I should never have seen this day, to have
stood in this place to have given sentence of death
against you ; because I thought it impossible that one
of so great parts should have fallen so grievously."
Again he says, " Now it resteth to pronounce the
judgment, which I wish you had not been this day to
have received of me. * * * I never saw the like
trial, and hope I shall never see the like again."

The Chief Justice was a native of the west of
England, and at the period in question resided at
Wellington, in Somersetshire, where he passed much
of his time, and entertained with great hospitality and
splendor. An old writer says of him, that he was the
greatest housekeeper in England, and would have at
his seat of Littlecote four or five Lords at a time.*

In the same county, in the parish of Long Ashton ?
four or five miles from the city of Bristol, lived Sir

* Aubrey's 1 ivesof Eminent Men, &c. Vol. 2d. p. 494.

26 DISCOURSE.

Ferdinando Gorges, the founder of this State, and the
Lord Proprietor of the original Province of Maine.
Among all the friends of American colonization in
England, none displayed so much zeal, energy and
perseverance, -as Gorges ; when others were discour-
aged by unpromising results, he maintained his reso-
lution, and insisted upon the practicability of his plans.
Nor was his mind diverted from this great object of
his life, until the extremities to which the king was
reduced, demanded the entire services of his loyal
subjects. Gorges was then an old man ; full forty
years had elapsed since his attention had been first
directed to the shores of the New World, and he had
expended many thousand pounds in furthering its
discovery and settlement ; but when his services were
required by his sovereign, with all the instincts of
English loyalty, the old knight buckled on his sword,
and followed and shared the fortunes of his royal
master.

Such were the two master spirits, who, in 1606,
undertook the noble work of peopling these northern
shores from the English coast, and who actually plant-
ed, at that early period, a numerous and well-pro-
vided colony on a spot a few miles only from the
place where we are now assembled. It was sneer-
ingly said by an old writer, in speaking of Chief
Justice Popham, that " he not only punished male-
factors, but provided for them, and first set up the
discovery of New England to maintain and employ
those that could not live honestly in the old."* But
the object was generally acknowledged to be one of

* Lloyd's State Worthies, p. 46.

DISCOURSE. 27

great national importance in many points of view, and
Popham and Gorges succeeded in enlisting many of
the first names in England in behalf of the enter-
prise. The plan was to establish two plantations, one
in the north, and the other in the south, to be called
the first and second colony ; the first to be under-
taken by a London company, and the second, " by
certain knights, gentlemen, and merchants in the
west of England." The design received the appro-
bation of the king, by whom a charter was accord-
ingly issued, under which the first permanent colony
was planted in South Virginia, by the London com-
pany. The other associates of the second colony,
who took the name of the Plymouth company, suc-
ceeded in despatching two or three ships with a
hundred colonists to North Virginia, as this part of
the country was then called ; the expedition was com-
manded by Capt. George Popham, a brother of the
Chief Justice, and Capt. Raleigh Gilbert, a nephew
of the unfortunate Sir Humphry, who led a colony to
Newfoundland in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Sir
John, a brother of Raleigh Gilbert, was also a prom-
inent member of the Plymouth Company. The ex-
pedition sailed from Plymouth on the last day of May,
in the year 1607, consisting of the ships called the
Gift, and the Mary and John, and arrived on the
coast of this State, near the island of Monhegan,
early in August ; thence they proceeded to the mouth
of the Kennebec, then called Sagadehock, where the
the colonists disembarked, and selected a site for their
future residence. There is some doubt as to the pre-
cise spot on which they erected their temporary
dwellings and defences, and organized the govern-

28 DISCOURSE.

ment of the colony ; Stage Island, Parker's Island,
and a neighboring peninsula, have respectively en-
joyed the reputation of having received this band of
English exiles, who first sought a home on our
shores ; but time has probably left no traces of the
settlement. It is stated, however, by Purchas, on the
authority of a letter from Capt. George Popham to
Sir John Gilbert, cited by him, that " they chose
the place of their plantation at the mouth of Saga-
dehoc, in a westerly peninsula, where they heard a ser-
mon, read their patent and laws, and built a fort." *
The peninsula here mentioned was probably that now
known as Cape Small Point, on which it would seem
most probable that the colony was located, and Fort
St. George, as it was called, built for the protection
of the colonists.

Measures were immediately taken to explore the
neighboring country. For this purpose Raleigh Gil-
bert was despatched, attended by one of the Penob-
scot Indians that had been carried to England, two
of whom accompanied the expedition. Gilbert was
kindly treated by the natives with whom he met, and
was invited to their cabins. They expressed a desire
that the head of the colony should pay a visit to the
Bashaba, the great chief, who dwelt on the banks of
the Penobscot. Popham consented to go, and had
proceeded some distance on his journey, when con-
trary winds and bad weather compelled him to return.
The Bashaba afterwards sent his son to visit the
English chief, and open a trade in furs. Such was the
state observed by this Indian potentate, that he ex-

* This account was first published by Purchas in 1616.

DISCOURSE. 29

pected, says Gorges, " all strangers should have their
address to him, and not he to them."

The ships in which the colonists had arrived were
not ready to return until the 15th of December, when
a winter of great severity had set in. In England, as
well as America, that winter was long remembered
for its unusual degree of cold. The Thames at Lon-
don was frozen over, and rendered passable upon the
ice, a circumstance that is said rarely to occur. The
Sagadehock colonists, unused to such rigorous wea-
ther, attributed it to the fault of the climate, and
many of them, disheartened by the farther prospect of
being exposed to numerous privations on a strange
and inhospitable coast, resolved to return to England
with the ships. Of the whole number only forty-five,
less than one half, had the courage to remain.

In the meantime another ship with fresh supplies
for the colony, was on its way to their relief. But
she bore at the same time the melancholy intelligence
of the death of Chief Justice Popham, which had oc-
curred soon after the departure of the first ships from
England, on the tenth of June, 1607. The Company
in their manifesto speak of this event in the following
manner : " In the meanwhile it pleased God to take
from us this worthy member, the Lord Chief Justice,
whose sudden death did so astonish the hearts of the
most part of the adventurers, [the members of the
Company in England,] as some grew cold, and some
did wholly abandon the business. Yet Sir Francis
Popham, his son, and certain of his private friends,
and others of us, omitted not the next year (holding
on our first resolution) to join in sending forth a new
supply, which was accordingly performed. But the
3

30 DISCOURSE.

ships arriving there, did not only bring uncomfortable
news of the death of the lord chief justice, together
with the death of Sir John Gilbert, the elder brother
unto Captain Raleigh Gilbert, who at that time was
president of that council [the colony] ; but found that
the old Captain Popham was also dead ; who was the
only man indeed that died there that winter, where-
in they endured still greater extremities ; for that in
the depth thereof, their lodgings and stores were
burnt, and they thereby wondrously distressed."

It is not strange that amidst so many discouraging
circumstances, to which was added the necessity of
Raleigh Gilbert's return to England on account of his
brother's death, the remaining colonists should turn
their eyes wishfully towards their English homes, and
even resolve to abandon the enterprise. According-
ly, when the ship that had brought them supplies was
ready to sail, early in the spring of 1608, they all
embarked and arrived safely in England.

In justification of this abandonment of the country,
it was of course denounced by the returning emigrants
as unfit to be inhabited by civilized beings ; as cold,
barren and inhospitable. And yet the letters first
received from the colony had represented it as
" stored with grapes, white and red, good hops, onions,
garlick, oaks, walnuts, and the soil good. They
found oysters nine inches in length, and heard of
others twice as great."* As to the climate, although
the winter was one of almost unprecedented severity
everywhere, it had produced no mortality among their
number, unless the death of old Capt. Popham may

* Purchas.

DISCOURSE. 31

be set down to that cause, who was the only one that
died amidst the hardships suffered by the colonists.
How superior was the spirit exhibited twelve years
after by the Pilgrim emigrants at Plymouth, nearly
half of whose number perished within four months af-
ter their landing, yet animated by a settled religious
purpose, no one of the survivors entortained a thought
of relinquishing their design. Had a tithe of their
energy and resolute spirit animated the Kennebec
colonists, whose resources were so much superior, a
more grateful task might have awaited the pen that
should relate the story of this enterprise.*

Nor did the colonists suffer to any considerable ex-
tent from collisions with the natives ; on the other
hand, they seem to have been treated by them with
much kindness and hospitality, owing probably to
favorable representations made by those of their num-
ber who had resided in the family of Gorges at Ply-

* The Massachusetts Colony, under the direction of the prudent WINTHROP,
scarcely suffered a less mortality than the Pilgrims, although they arrived early
in summer. " Many died weekly, yea, almost daily," says one of them ; and
another writes that " almost in every family lamentation, mourning, and woe were
heard, and no fresh food to cherish them." This was chiefly during the few
weeks that the colonists remained at Charlestown, and was occasioned in a con-
siderable degree by the want of good water. After their removal in the same
summer (1630) to the peninsula on which the foundations of Boston were laid by
them, the sickness abated in consequence of a better supply of the pure element
found there. About two hundred died during the season. In the midst of these
troubles, Gov. Winthrop wrote to his wife, whom he had left in England for the
present, in the following words : " I thank God, I like so well to be here that I
do not repent my coming ; and if I were to come again, I would not have al-
tered my course, though I had foreseen all these afflictions. * * I praise
God, we have many occasions of comfort here, and do hope that our days
of affliction will soon have an end, and that the Lord will do us more good in the
end than we could have expected, that will abundantly recompense for all the
trouble we have endured." Winthrop's Journal, Savage's ed. vol. 1. p. 377.
Hist. Charlestown, by R. Frothingham, Jr. pp. 42, 43.

32 DISCOURSE.

mouth, and now acted as guides and interpreters to
the English in their intercourse with the red men.
Purchas, who derived his information from Raleigh
Gilbert, and others of the Colony, thus speaks of the
Indians : " The people seemed affected with our men's
devotions, and would say, ' king James is a good king,
his God a good God, and Tanto nought ;' so they call
an evil spirit which haunts them every moon, and
makes them worship him for fear. He commanded
them not to dwell near or come among the English,
threatening to kill some, and inflict sickness on others,
beginning with two of the sagamore's children ; saying
he had power and would do the like to the English
the next moon, to wit, in December." Then follows
a story calculated to alarm the poor emigrants, and
which may have had some effect in unsettling their
resolution : " The people also told our men of can-
nibals near Sagadehock with teeth three inches long,
but they saw them not." One person, styled Master
Patterson, was killed in an encounter with the Tar-
rentines, an unfriendly tribe, dwelling beyond the
Penobscot; with this exception, nothing seems to
have arisen to disturb the relations of the colonists
with their uncivilized neighbors.

The only member of the Plymouth Company who
seems to have remained undiscouraged and unmoved
by the breaking up of this colony and the unfavorable
reports of the country, was Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
While he regretted, as he says, the Joss of so noble
a friend as the Chief Justice, and his nation so wor-
thy a subject, he refused to be influenced by the idle
stories of the cold being so extreme as to render the
country unsuitable for settlement and cultivation.

DISCOURSE. 33

" As for the coldness of the clime," said he, " I had
had too much experience in the world to be frighted
with such a blast, as knowing many great kingdoms
and large territories more northerly seated, and by
many degrees colder than the clime from whence they
came, yet plentifully inhabited, and divers of them
stored with no better commodities from trade and
commerce than those parts afforded, if like industry,
art and labor be used." But the good sense of the
worthy knight was not capable of reanimating the
drooping energies of the Plymouth Company.
" There was no more speech of settling any other
plantation in those parts for a long time after," say
the Company in their Relation published at a subse-
quent period ; " only," they add, " Sir Francis Pop-
ham having the ships and provision which remained
of the company, and supplying what was necessary
for his purpose, sent divers times to the coasts for
trade and fishing ; of whose loss or gains himself is
best able to give account."

Sir Ferdinando pursued a similar course of private
adventure, at the same time keeping in view his great
object, the settlement of the country; " finding," he
says, " I could no longer be seconded by others, I
became an owner of a ship myself, fit for that employ-
ment, and under color of fishing and trade, I got a
master and company for her, to which I sent Vines
and others my own servants with their provision for
trade and discovery. By these and the help of those
natives formerly sent over, I came to be truly inform-
ed of so much as gave me assurance that in time I
should want no undertakers, though as yet I was
3*

34 DISCOURSE.

forced to hire men to stay there the winter quarter
at extreme rates."

This state of things continued until the year 1614,
when Captain John Smith, who had been governor
of the colony in South Virginia, but had retired in dis-
gust from its service, turned his attention to the
north. "I desired to see this country," he said, " and
spend some time in trying what I could find for all
those ill rumors and disasters." Having induced
four London merchants to join him in the enterprise,
he set sail on the third of March from the Downs, with
two ships and forty -five men and boys, taking with
him also an Indian named Tan turn, and after a voy-
age of eight weeks arrived at the island of Monhe-
gan. Here he built seven boats, in which he sent
all but eight of his men on a fishing voyage, while
with the remainder he embarked in a small boat, and
with his accustomed energy ranged the coast from
Penobscot to Cape Cod, exploring all its inlets, riv-
ers and bays, and trafficking with the Indians. The
commercial results of this voyage must have fully
satisfied the most sanguine expectations of his part-
ners in the enterprise ; for in his small boat, in ex-
change for trifling articles of little value, he ob-
tained nearly 11,000 beaver skins, 100 martens,
and as many otters, and the most of them, he says,
within the distance of twenty leagues. His fishing
was not equally successful, as he had lost the best of
the season in the vain pursuit of whales ; but his
men took and dried about 1,200 quintals of fish,
which sold in Spain for five dollars per quintal.

On his return to England, after an absence of
about six month?, Captain Smith made a highly fa-

DISCOURSE. 35

vorable report of the country, to which he gave the
name of NEW ENGLAND. Having prepared a
written description of his discoveries, together with
a map of the coast, he presented them to Prince
Charles, afterwards Charles I., " humbly entreating
his Highness," he says, " to change their barbarous
names for such English as posterity might say " Prince
Charles was their godfather." The Prince com-
plied with this request, confirming the name of New
England, and substituting English names for those
which had been derived from the Indians, or that had
been given by former navigators. This experiment,
however, proved in the main unsuccessful, as it de-
served to be ; the names of Plymouth, Charles River,
and Cape Ann, being the only ones recommended by
Charles that have been sanctioned by general use ;
while the names of Massachusetts, Piscataqua, Aga-
menticus, Saco, Casco, Androscoggin, Kennebeck,
Pemaquid, Penobscot, Monhegan, Matinicus, and
others, of Indian origin, are still retained.

The success of this voyage in regard to its pecu-
niary returns, and the favorable report of the country,
infused new life into the spirit of colonial enterprise.
Gorges took the lead as usual, and in conjunction with
Dr. Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter, and other western gen-
tlemen, concerted the plan of a colony to be conduct-
ed by Capt. Smith to New England the following
year. Smith also endeavored to interest the London
merchants in this project, because, he remarks, " the
Londoners have most money ; " but he preferred sail-
ing from a western port, as he says it is nearly as
much trouble, but much more danger, to sail from
London to Plymouth, than from Plymouth to New-

36 DISCOURSE.

foundland.* His plan was that the expedition should
consist of eight ships, four from London and the same
number from the west of England ; but in this he
proved unsuccessful, such was the jealousy of interest
among them. He finally sailed from Plymouth in
March, 1615, with only two vessels, one of 200 tons,
the other of 50 ; besides his ships' company, he was
attended by fifteen men and two boys, who had
agreed to remain in New England, and begin a plan-
tation. Smith gives the names of these persons, and
adds, " I confess I would have wished them as many
thousands, had all other provisions been in like pro-
portion, nor would I have had so few, could I have
had means for more ; yet if God had pleased we had
safely arrived, I doubted not but to have performed
more than I promised, and that many thousands had
been there ere now."

With the knowledge we possess of the resolute and
persevering character of this dauntless and excellent
man, as previously exhibited in the Virginia Colony,
and on other occasions, we have little doubt as to the
success of his efforts to colonize New England, had
he been permitted to reach its shores with his little
band of emigrants ; but a series of cruel and almost
unparalled disasters awaited him on the ocean. The
vessels had proceeded 120 leagues to sea, when they
were overtaken by a gale that carried away all the
masts of the larger ship, which was compelled to re-
turn to Plymouth under jurymasts, the other vessel at
the same time parting company. Not discouraged

* To one familiar with the intricate and dangerous navigation of the river
Thames and the English Channel, this remark would scarcely seem an exaggera-

:.

tion

DISCOURSE. 37

by this accident, Smith again set sail on the 24th of
June in another ship of only sixty tons ; but disasters
still awaited him. Falling in with an English pirati-
cal craft of vastly superior force, Smith refused to
yield to the entreaties of his officers who wished him
to surrender without striking a blow ; but assuming a
bold attitude he succeeded in making terms with the
enemy, and was permitted to continue his voyage.

Soon after he again fell in with two French pirates,
also of greatly superior force ; his officers refusing to
fight, Smith threatened to blow up his ship rather
than yield. He then opened his four guns upon the
enemy, and under the fire effected his escape. But
his next encounter proved fatal to his voyage and all
his plans. Four French men of war made the odds
too great for his little bark, and being summoned on
board the Admiral's ship to show his papers, he obey-
ed ; but although peace existed between England and
France at that time, the French commander detain-
ed him, and took possession of his ship, which was
then plundered by the French sailors, and his men
dispersed about their squadron, now increased to
eight or nine sail. At length these freebooters
consented to restore his ship and men; but after
regaining possession, a dispute arose as to continuing
the voyage, a portion of the officers and men being
disposed to put back to Plymouth, but Smith and the
rest were resolved to proceed. In the meantime, he
was again summoned on board the French admiral's
ship, and had no sooner reached the quarter deck,
than a sail hove in sight to which the Frenchman
gave chase. Thus was he unfortunately separated
from his command, of which the disaffected part of his

38 DISCOURSE.

officers and men took advantage during the night,
and directed the ship's course to Plymouth, where
they arrived in safety.

The French fleet continued to cruise for two
months, for the purpose of intercepting vessels from
the West Indies, of which they made several captures.
When they encountered Spanish vessels, Smith was
compelled to take part in the actions, and give them
the benefit of his military skill and experience ; but
when the prey was English, he was kept carefully out
of the way, and not allowed to come in contact with
his countrymen. On their arrival upon the French
coast near Rochelle, instead of fulfilling their promise
to make him double amends for his losses, to the
amount of 10,000 crowns of prize money, they kept
him a prisoner on board the ship, and threatened him
with further mischief unless he gave them a full dis-
charge before the Admiralty. A storm coming on,
Smith watched his opportunity and escaped in a
boat during the darkness of the night ; but the cur-
rent took the boat out to sea instead of enabling him
to reach the shore. The wind and tide, however,
changing during the night, the boat at length drifted
upon a small island, where he was found in the morn-
ing by some fowlers, nearly drowned, and half dead
with cold and hunger.

Pawning his boat for means to reach Rochelle, he
was informed on his arrival at that place, that on the
night of his escape the man of war with her richest
prize had foundered, and the captain and half of the
ship's company were lost. At Rochelle, Smith sought
justice in a court of admiralty, libelling the goods
saved from the wreck of the man of war ; and having

DISCOURSE. 39

collected from the survivors the fullest evidence of the
losses to which he had been subjected, he left his case
in charge of Sir Thomas Edmonds, the British min-
ister at Bordeaux, and returned to England.

Such was the eventful and disastrous issue of the
second attempt to colonize New England. Yet it
was not without its good results. While detained on
board the French ship, Smith found time to write out
his previous adventures in New England, with a de-
scription of the country which was the most com-
plete and satisfactory that had been yet submitted to
the public. This work was published in June, 1616,
and contained his original map of New England, with
the English names suggested by Prince Charles. He
printed an edition of two or three thousand, he says,
and spent the summer of 1616, in visiting all the
larger towns in the west of England, and distributing
copies of this book and map. He also caused one
thousand copies to be bound up with a great variety
of maps, both of Virginia and New England, which he
presented to thirty of. the principal companies in Lon-
don, at their Halls. Nearly a year was spent by him
in this way, with the hope of inducing another effort
to plant the wilderness of New England ; but all his la-
bors proved ineffectual, and he was compelled to aban-
don the project with the loss of the time and money
he had expended upon it There is no doubt, how-
ever, that the knowledge Smith diffused, did in the
end advance the settlement of the country ; and as
an acknowledgment of the value of his services, the
Plymouth Company bestowed on him the title of Ad-
miral of New England.

The unremitted exertions of Sir Ferdinando Gor-

40 DISCOURSE.

ges were now directed to the formation of a new
company distinct from that of Virginia, whose atten-
tion should be exclusively devoted to the colonization
of New England. A liberal charter was granted to
this company by the sole authority of the king, con-
stituting them a corporation with perpetual succes-
sion, by the name of " The Council established at
Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting,
ruling, and governing of New England in America."
It consisted of forty noblemen, knights, and gentle-
men, among whom were the Duke of Lenox, the
Marquis of Buckingham, the Earls of Arundel and
Warwick, and others scarcely less distinguished in the
history of that period. The charter bears date No-
vember 3d, 1620 ; and as it conveyed to the Council
the territory extending from the fortieth to the forty-
eighth degree of north latitude, one half of which was
comprised in the previous patent to the Virginia
company, objections were made to it at the outset
from that quarter. Not succeeding with the king
and the Privy Council, the complainants carried the
matter before the House of Commons, and Gorges
appeared three several times at the bar of the house
to answer objections ; on the last occasion he was at-
tended by eminent legal counsel. The result was un-
favorable, and the house in presenting to the king the
public grievances of the kingdom, included amongst
them the patent of New England. The effect of this
movement was at first prejudicial to the company, for
it was the means of discouraging those who proposed
to establish plantations in this quarter, as well as
some of the Council. But James was not inclined to
have the propriety of his own acts disputed or deni-
ed on the floor of Parliament; so that instead of car-

DISCOURSE. 41

rying out the design of destroying the Patent, he dis-
missed the Parliament, and committed to the Tower
and other prisons the members who had been most
forward in condemning the charter, and most free in
questioning the prerogative of the Crown.

This charter to the Council of Plymouth was the
next great step towards the colonization of New
England, as it was the foundation of all the grants
that were made of the country upon which titles to
land now rest. One of the first of these was in favor
of the Pilgrims then settled at Plymouth. They
had previously obtained a patent from the old Ply-
mouth Company, which had been taken to Holland
for their inspection before their departure ; but this
not answering their purpose, they applied to the
Council of Plymouth for another after their removal
to New England. Gorges gives the following account
of the matter : " After they had well considered the
state of their affairs, and found that the authority
they had from the Company of Virginia could not
warrant their abode in that place, which they found
so prosperous and pleasing to them, they hastened
away their ship with order to their solicitor to deal
with me, to be the means that they might have a
grant from the Council of New England's Affairs to
settle in the place ; which was accordingly performed
to their particular satisfaction and the good content
of them all ; which place was after called New Ply-
mouth, where they have continued ever since very
peaceable, and in all plenty of all necessaries that
nature needeth, if that could satisfy our vain affec-
tions." Such was the liberal spirit of this worthy
man, that although differing in his religious notions
4

42 DISCOURSE.

toto ccelo from the pilgrim fathers, he yet looked
with evident satisfaction upon the comfortable quar-
ters they had made for themselves within the limits
of the Council's Patent, although without having se-
cured a proper title to their lands ; and it seems he
did not hesitate to aid them in supplying this
deficiency.*

* The Pilgrims after their settlement at Plymouth found themselves without
a legal title to the soil ; hence their application to the Council for a patent,
which was granted in the name of John Pierce, a London merchant, who held
it in trust for them. It was dated June 1st, 1621. But not satisfied with this,
they procured another, in the name of William Bradford, through the influence
of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and the Earl of Warwick, dated January 13th, 1630,
on which their title finally rested. The Pierce patent simply granted to him
and his associates, (without naming them,) one hundred acres of land for each
person, if they should continue three years in the country ; the land to be taken
in any place not already inhabited by English people or selected by the Council
for other purposes. But the Bradford patent contained a general grant of the
territory of the Colony, with specific boundaries, constituting a separate jurisdic-
tion, that existed until the union with Massachusetts in 1691. This patent
likewise conveyed to Bradford and his associates an extensive territory lying orf
both sides of the Kennebec, and an exclusive right to the trade on that river ; a
very liberal concession. The colony at that time contained, as the patent recites,,
about three hundred people.

It is a curious fact that the Old Colony of Plymouth came near being annex-
ed to New York, instead of Massachusetts, in 1691. A strenuous opposition
was made by the agent of Plymouth, in London, to the connexion with Massa-
chusetts, which seems to have arisen from a feeling of jealousy towards the sister
colony. " All the frame of heaven," he says, " moves upon one axis, and the
whole of New England's interest seems designed to be loaden on one bottom, and
her particular motions to be concentric to the Massachusetts tropic ; you know who
are wont to trot after the bay horse," &c. To such length was this opposition,
carried, that when the commission of Governor Sloughter was made out for the
government of New York, Plymouth was actually included in it ; but it was
afterwards changed to meet the views of the Massachusetts agent. Some dis-
turbances that arose in two or three towns of the Old Colony about the same
time, were attributed by the authorities at Plymouth to the influence of Sloughter,
who, however, had enough on his hands, during the three or four months that
intervened between his arrival at New York, and his death, without intermed-
dling with the affairs of a distant Colony. See DAVIS, in Appendix to Morton's
Memorial, pp. 361-3. Ibid. 473-5. 1 Hazard, State Papers, 298. Prince.
198. note.

DISCOURSE 43

The attention of the Council was soon directed to
the importance of establishing a general government
over their extensive territory, as complaints were made
by those who visited the country of disorders com-
mitted on the coast, which there was no power com-
petent to restrain or punish. Having determined on
the appointment ot a Governor to superintend their
affairs in the country, Robert Gorges, Esq., a son of
Sir Ferdinando, was selected for this office, with
whom was joined a board of counsellors, one of whom
was to be the Governor for the time being of the Ply-
mouth colony. An extensive grant of territory was
made at the same time to Robert Gorges, containing
three hundred square miles, on Massachusetts Bay,
which he proceeded at once to occupy. He arrived
in the Bay about the beginning of the autumn of
1623, " with sundry passengers and families," and
gave immediate notice of his arrival to the govern-
ment of Plymouth. " He had a commission from
the Council of New England," says Bradford, who
was then Governor of Plymouth, and entitled by vir-
tue of that office to be one of his Council, " to be
general Governor of the country ; and they appoint
for his council and assistants, Capt. West, [who had
been previously commissioned as Admiral of New
England,] Christopher Levett, Esq., and the Governor
of Plymouth for the time being ; giving him author-
ity to choose others as he should find fit ; with full
power to him and his assistants, or any three of them,
(whereof himself was always to be one,) to do and
execute what to them should seem good in all cases,
capital, criminal, and civil, with divers other instruc-
tions, of which and his commission it pleased him to

44 DISCOURSE.

offer the Governor of Plymouth to take a copy. He
gave us notice of his arrival by letter, and before we
could visit him sails for the eastward with the ship he
came in ; but a storm rising, they bore into our har-
bor, are kindly entertained, and stay fourteen days."
He adds, " Shortly after, Governor Gorges goes to
the Massachusetts by land, being thankful for his kind
entertainment. His ship staying here, fits for Vir-
ginia, having some passengers to deliver there."

The place selected by the Governor General for
the residence of the families that had accompanied
him, is situated on a branch of what is now called
Boston Bay, then known as Massachusetts Bay, in
the present town of Weymouth, about twelve miles
south of the city of Boston. The same place had
been settled the year previous by a band of English
emigrants under the auspices of a London merchant,
named Weston, who had provided them with all the
necessary supplies for establishing a plantation. The
same gentleman had been chiefly instrumental in sup-
plying the P.ymouth colonists with the means of
transportation to New England, but had undertaken
this neighboring settlement with a view to his private
advantage. He employed several vessels in trade and
fishing on the coast, and the men who formed the
settlement, had been chosen as suitable for the fur-
therance of his designs, which were purely of a
mercantile character.* But owing to various causes,
this settlement was broken up in less than a year
from the time it had been commenced, and when
Gorges arrived at the same place, with a considera-

* Morton, New Engliih Canaan, p. 106.

DISCOURSE. 45

ble reinforcement of men and supplies, Weston's peo-
ple seem to have wholly disappeared.

While Gorges was enjoying the hospitality of the
Pilgrims, Mr. Weston arrived there to look after his
affairs, when the Governor General called him to ac-
count for the disorderly conduct of his men, who had
scandalized the country by their riotous behavior ;
but as that gentleman had been a great sufferer from
the abuses that had been committed in his absence,
by the waste of his property and the frustration of
his plans, the matter was soon compromised, and
Gorges embarked in one of his ships for the east-
ward. He entered the mouth of the Piscataqua, and
visited the plantation of Mr. David Thompson, where
he met Christopher Levett, Esq., one of his Counsel-
lors, who had just arrived from England. The Gov-
erner there administered to Levett the oath of office,
in the presence of three more of the Council, and
thus duly organized his government.

The Council of Plymouth, in providing for the pro-
per administration of affairs in New England, did not
forget the religious interests of the country. They
sent over with the governor a clergyman of the church
of England, the Rev. William Morell, for the purpose
of superintending the establishment of churches, and
probably to counteract the efforts of the Puritans for
the spread of their peculiar views. He remained
about two years, chiefly at Plymouth, where his dis-
creet deportment seems to have conciliated the good
will of the colonists ; indeed, such was the condition
of the country, that he did not undertake to execute
his ministerial functions, nor was it known in the
colony that he had an ecclesiastical commission to
4*

46 DISCOURSE.

oversee their religious concerns, until he was about
going away, when he spoke of it to some of the peo-
ple. During his abode in the country, Mr. Morrell
composed a Latin poem, descriptive of the natural
features of New England, which he dedicated to
Charles I. and published, together with an English
translation, after his return.* The following are the
introductory lines ;

NOVA ANGLIA.

Hactenus ignotam populis ego carmine primus,
Te nova de veteri cui contigit Anglia nomen,
Aggredior trepidus pingui celebrare Minerva.
Per mihi numen opem, cupienti singula plectro
Pandere veridico, quse nuper vidimus ipsi ;
Ut breviter vereque sonent modulamina nostra,
Temperiem coeli, vim terrse, munera ponti r
Et varios gentis mores, velamina, cultus.

The author's translation :

NEW ENGLAND.

" Fear not, poor Muse, cause first to sing her fame

That's yet scarce known unless by map or name ;

A grandchild to earth's paradise is born,

Well limbed, well nerv'd, fair, rich, sweet, yet forlorn.

Thou blest director ! so direct my verse,

That it may win her people, friends, commerce ;

*" Morrell, the clergyman who accompanied Gorges, notwithstanding his dis-
appointment, conceived a very favorable opinion of New England, which he
expressed in an elegant Latin poem, descriptive of the country." Grahame, Hist.
U. $. I. 202. It may be found reprinted in vol. I. Mass. Hist. Coll. Gra-
hame alludes to the well known lines in Hudibras, founded on an occurrence in
Weston's colony, where an innocent but bed-rid weaver was said to have been
httng instead of a guilty but useful cobbler, whom they could not so well spare.
In clearing the pilgrims of this charge, Grahame, with equal disregard of truth,
ondeavors to fasten it upon the administration of Gorges. Ibid.

DISCOURSE. 47

Whilst her sweet air, rich soil, blest seas, my pen
Shall blaze, and tell the natures of her men."

The poem concludes with an appeal to the English
people in behalf of the country :

"If these poor lines may win this country love,
Or kind compassion in the English move
Persuade our mighty and renowned state
This pur-blind people to commiserate ;
Or painful men to this good land invite,
Whose holy works these natives may inlight :
If Heaven grant these, to see here built I trust,
AN ENGLISH KINGDOM FROM THIS INDIAN DUST I"

Gorges remained in the country until the spring of
1624, when he returned to England, discouraged by
not receiving promised succor from home for his colo-
ny, and perhaps, as Bradford says, "not finding the
state of things to answer his quality." A portion of
his people remained, and were kindly assisted with
supplies from Plymouth ; but most of them went either
to Virginia or England. He was the oldest son of Sir
Ferdinando, and had married a daughter of the Earl
of Lincoln. He died not long after his return, and
was succeeded in his patent of lands on Massachu-
setts Bay by his brother John, who conveyed the
same to General Sir William Brereton, Bart., in 1629;
the latter is said to have sent over a number of fam-
ilies and servants, who possessed and improved sev-
eral large tracts of land comprised in this patent.*

* This fact is derived from a MS. document recently discovered by Rev. Mr.
Felt, of Boston, in his indefatigable researches and labors to arrange the ancient
archives of Massachusetts.

48 DISCOURSE.

One of the counsellors of Governor Gorges, Chris-
topher Levctt, Esq., soon after his return to England,
published an account of his voyage, from which it
appears that he firs v t arrived at the Isles of Shoals,
and passed a month at the plantation of Mr. Thom-
son, at Piscataqua.* Being there joined by his men,
who had come over in several ships, he left that
place in the autumn of 1623, with two boats, to ex-
plore the eastern coast for the purpose of selecting a
suitable place to form a settlement. He landed in
the course of his expedition at various points along
the coast until he reached what he calls Capeman-
wagen, now probably Cape Newagen, a few miles
east of the mouth of the Kennebec, where he says
nine ships were engaged in fishing during that year.
Here he remained four nights, " in which time," he
says, " there came many savages with their wives
and children, and some of good account among
them ;" of the latter description he mentions a sag-
amore named Somerset, " one that hath been found
very faithful to the English, and hath saved the lives
of many of our nation, some from starving, others
from killing [being killed.]"

Levett states, that when he was about to depart
from this place, the Indians enquired where he inten-
ded to establish his plantation ; he answered, that he
intended to examine the coast farther to the east be-
fore making a decision. Thereupon they assured him

* Thomson afterwards (about 1626) removed to an island in Boston harbor,
still known by his name. See Christian Examiner, Sept. 1846. p. 282. Art.
Young's Mass. Chronicles. The settlement at Piscataqua, one of the first in
New Hampshire, was not, however, abandoned, as stated by Young, (Chron.
Mass. 21.) for it was assessed for certain expenses equally with Plymouth in
1628, 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. 63.

DISCOURSE. 49

there was no suitable place left for him in that quar-
ter, as Pemaquid and Monhegan, as well as C ape-
man wagen, had been already granted to others.
Thus discouraged from pursuing his voyage, Levett
accepted an invitation from the sagamore of Casco
to accompany him and his wife on their return ta
Casco Bay ; where they assured him he should be
made welcome to as much land as he desired. Ac-
cordingly the next day he sailed, he says, " with the
king, queen, and prince, bow and arrows, dog and
kettle in my boat, his noble attendants rowing by us
in their canoes." Selecting a place for his planta-
tion, he gave it the name of York ; it had been the
property of " the queen's father, who left it to- her at
his death, having no more children." " And thus,"
he adds, " after many dangers, much labor, and great
charge, I have obtained a place of habitation in New
England, where I have built a house, and fortified it
in a reasonable good fashion, strong enough against
such enemies as are these savage people."

The rarity of Levett's book is probably the rea-
son that this voyage has not been heretofore noticed
by any of our writers.* What afterwards became of
him, or his settlement, may be an interesting subject
of enquiry. His narrative is valuable as showing the
condition of the coast of Maine at the date of hi&
voyage ; he mentions no English settlement after

* It is entitled, " A Voyage into New England, begun in 1623, and ended in
1624. Performed by Christopher Levett, His Majesty's Woodward of Somer-
setshire, and one of the Council of New England. Printed at London, &c.
1628." A transcript was procured by Mr. Sparks from a copy in England, and
recently printed in Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. 28. A copy of the original edition
belongs to the New York Hist. Society, from which it is proposed to be reprinted
in the new volume of the Maine Historical Collections.

50 DISCOURSE.

leaving Piscatqua, although the Indians informed him
that Pemaquid, Cape Newagen, and Monhegan, had
been granted to others. Sir Ferdinando Gorges had
a plantation at that period on the island of Monhe-
gan,* which had long been a place of resort for ves-
sels engaged in fishing on the coast. The other
places named were also used by fishermen for curing
their fish on ' stages ' erected by them, and gradually
increased into considerable settlements. There is
extant a deed from Somerset, the sagamore mention-
ed by Levett as particularly friendly to the English,
and another, to one John Brown of New Harbor, on
Pemaquid Point, covering a large tract of land in that
quarter, dated July 15th, 1625. The next year, 1626,
two eminent merchants of the city of Bristol, who
had been long concerned in voyages to this coast,
Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge, sent over Mr.
Abraham Short to take possession of the island of
Monhegan, which they purchased at this time ; Short
remained in the country, as the agent of those gentle-
men, who soon after obtained a patent of lands at
Pemaquid from the Council of Plymouth, and estab-
lished a flourishing colony at that place, where may
still be found descendants of these early colonists, in
possession of the allotments of lands made to their
ancestors under this patent.

Robert Aldworth, one of these patentees, is still
remembered at Bristol, for his public spirit and mu-
nificent charities ; for many years he was one of the
aldermen of the city, and took a prominent part in
its affairs. A splendid monument in St. Peter's

* Prince. 127.

DISCOURSE. 51

Church, near the altar, perpetuates his memory.
*' He is entitled," says a writer of that city, " to dis-
tinguished notice as a merchant of the first rank of
the age in which he lived."* He was born in 1561,
and died in 1634. Having no issue, he bequeathed
all his estate to Giles Elbridge, Esq., his co-patentee
at Pemaquid, and also a merchant of Bristol, who had
married his niece. The town of Bristol, comprising
a portion of old Pemaquid, commemorates by its name
the origin of its early settlement and of many of its
inhabitants.

The charter of the Council of Plymouth, as has
been already remarked, laid the foundation of all
grants of land in New England ; but the geographical
features of the country were but little understood by
the members of the Council, and great confusion con-
sequently ensued in their conveyances. Of all the
forty noblemen, knights and esquires named in that
instrument, only one, Raleigh Gilbert, had been on
this side of the water. The rivers had not been ex-
plored far beyond their mouths, and nothing was
known of the interior of the country except from the
uncertain and indistinct accounts of the Indians. It
is not strange, therefore, that much perplexity and
embarrassment arose upon the actual settlement of
so large a territory, under grants made in England by
those who had never seen any portion of it. Dr. Bel-
knap well remarks, that " either from the jarring in-
terests of the members, or their indistinct knowledge
of the country, or their inattention to business, or
some other cause which does not fully appear, their

* This monument was repaired and embellished as recently as 1807, at the
expense of a lady. Carry. Hist. Bristol, vol. 2. p. 258*

52 DISCOURSE.

affairs were transacted in a confused manner from the
beginning : and the grants which they made were so
inaccurately described, and interfered so much with
ach other, as to occasion difficulties and controver-
sies, some of which are not yet ended."

No part of New England has suffered more from
this cause than Maine, even at last to a complete de-
nial of the title of its proprietary by a neighboring
colony. The first grant by the Council that included
any portion of this State, seems to have been the pa-
tent of Laconia, to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John
Mason, in 1622. This comprised "all the lands
situated between the rivers Merrimack and Sagade-
hock, extending back to the great lakes and the river
of Canada ;" and was intended to embrace a region
in the vicinity of the lakes, of which highly colored
and romantic descriptions had been given. Both of
the patentees acted under this patent, although many
subsequent grants of the Council were made within the
same limits. The first settlements in New Hamp-
shire, and perhaps in this State, on the banks of the
Piscataqua, were made under it. After seven years
joint title, Mason, November 7th, 1629, took out a
separate patent of that portion lying south and west
of the Piscataqua, to which he gave the name of New
Hampshire, being at that time Governor of Ports-
mouth in Hampshire, England. * The remaining por-
tion became the exclusive property of Gorges, who,
however, had no separate title until 1635, when he
gave the territory between the Piscataqua and Ken-
nebec the name of NEW SOMERSETSHIRE, in compli-

* 2 Coll, N. H. Hist. Soc., 273.

DTSCOURSE. 53

ment to his native county ; and soon after sent over
his kinsman, Capt. William Gorges as Governor, with
commissions to several gentlemen residing there, as
Counsellors of the new Province. This was the first
general jurisdiction (1636) established in this State.
A portion of the records of New Somersetshire have
been preserved, from which it appears that a court
was held by the Governor and Commissioners at
Saco, in March, 1636, and at subsequent dates.

Gorges now flattered himself that his long cherish-
ed hopes were about to be realized by the speedy
settlement of the cpuntry, in which he had taken so
deep an interest. He had as yet experienced little
else than trouble and disappointment, the only return
for years of labor and many thousand pounds of ex-
pense. Before the date of his separate grant from
the Council, settlements had been made at many dif-
ferent points within his limits, and there was an en-
couraging prospect for the future. The flourishing
condition of the colonies of New Plymouth and Mas-
sachusetts Bay, had the effect of directing a greater
share of public attention towards New England, and
those who did not harmonize with the religious views
of the Puritans, sought new abodes under the more
tolerant sway of the lord proprietor.

When the Council of Plymouth resigned their
charter, in 1635, the resignation was accompanied by
a petition to the king for the establishment of a gen-
eral government in New England, and Sir Ferdinando,
then about three score years of age, was nominated
to be the General Governor. The design received
the approbation of Charles and his privy council, by
whom an order was issued, establishing the new

54 ( DISCOURSE.

government, and appointing Gorges to the office of
Governor over New England ; but the troubles at
home, both in England and Scotland, prevented the
completion of the scheme, which had excited the fears
of the Puritan colonists to a most intense degree.
The death of Mason, who had been a most active
promoter of this plan of a general government,
occurred at this period, and was another cause
of its abandonment. Governor Winthrop has the
following notice of this event in his journal : " 1636,
The last winter Captain Mason died. He was the
chief mover in all attempts against us ; and was to
have sent the General Governor ; and for this end
was providing ships. But the Lord, in mercy, taking
him away, all the business fell asleep."

In the Journal of Richard Mather, grand-father of
Cotton Mather, under the date of May 27th, 1635,
there is an interesting notice of a visit paid by Sir
Ferdinando Gorges to a ship then lying at Bristol, in
which a number of Puritans were about embarking
for New England.* At that time there was a great
probability of Sir Ferdinando's going over as Gen-
eral Governor of the New England Colonies, to which
he evidently alludes in his conversation with one of
the passengers. The passage is as follows : " When
we came there, we found divers passengers, and
among them some lovely and godly Christians, that
were glad to see us there. And soon after we came
on board, there came three or four boats with more
passengers, and one wherein came Sir Ferdinando
Gorges, who came to see the ship and the people.

* This journal has been recently published for the first time, by Dr. Young, in
his valuable collection of documents relating to Massachusetts.

DISCOURSE. 55

When he was come, he inquired whether there were
any people there that went to Massachusetts Bay-
Whereupon Mr. Maud and Barnabas Power were
sent for to come before him. Who being come, he
asked Mr. Maud of his country, occupation, or cal-
ling of life, &c., and professed his good will to the
people there in the Bay, and promised that if ever he
came there, he would be a true friend unto them."

The truth is, an unreasonable jealousy existed to-
wards Sir Ferdinando, on the part of the leading col-
onists in Massachusetts, that was not justified by the
character of that distinguished patron of New Eng-
land, or by his conduct in reference to the Puritan em-
igrants. The active part he had taken from the
beginning, when the country first came into notice,
through a period of more than thirty years, in all
measures for encouraging its settlement, and promot-
ing its prosperity, is sufficient evidence of the sincere
interest he took in the welfare of New England. To
him the Puritans, both of Plymouth and Massachu-
setts, were in the main indebted for their charters,
and the former deserve the credit of having made a
grateful acknowledgment of his kindness, and of the
services he had rendered the country.* But in the
sister colony it was otherwise ; his name was seldom
mentioned there without symptoms of fear or distrust.
The real cause of this unfriendly feeling towards
Sir Ferdinando Gorges may, perhaps, be traced to his

* Thus in a letter to him from Governor Bradford and others, in 1G28, they
say, " Honorable Sir : As you have ever been, not only a favorer, but also a
most special beginner and furtherer of the good of this country, to your great
cost and no less honor, we whose names are underwritten, being some of every
plantation in the land, deputed for the rest, do humbly crave your Worship's help
and best assistance," &c. 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. 63.

56 DISCOURSE.

prominent position as a member of the Council of
Plymouth ; the just claims of his family to lands on
Massachusetts Bay, by a grant prior to that of the
colony ; and the disgust excited in England among
the friends of the established Church, as well as per-
sons of moderation generally, by the intolerance and
fanaticism displayed in some of the first political acts
of the Massachusetts Company after their removal
to New England.* Sharing the common feeling
in England, Gorges was in a situation to exert a
powerful influence, if he chose, in opposition to the
interests of the colony ; but he uniformly befriended
them, until persons suspected of being in his interest
were imprisoned, or ignominiously thrust out of the
country, as in the case of Sir Christopher Gardiner,
who under the pretence of his " having two wives in

* Gorges, in his description of New England, after stating that there were
several sorts of persons who did not altogether agree among themselves, yet all
were disaffected towards Episcopal jurisdiction, adds " Some of the discreeter
sort, to avoid what they found themselves subject unto, made use of their friends
to procure from the Council for the Affairs of New England to settle a colony
within their limits ; to which it pleased the thrice honored Earl of Warwick to
write to me, then at Plymouth, to condescend that a Patent might be granted
to such as then sued for it. Whereupon I gave my approbation so far forth as it
might not be prejudicial to my son Robert Gorges' interest, whereof he had a
Patent under the seal of the Council. Hereupon there was a grant passed, as
was thought reasonable [the Mass. Patent] ; but the same was after enlarged by
his Majesty, and confirmed under the great seal of England ; by the authority
whereof the undertakers proceeded so effectually, that in a very short time num-
bers of people of all sorts flocked thither in heaps, that at last it was specially or.
dered by the king's command, that none should be suffered to go without license
first had and obtained, and they to take the oath of supremacy and allegiance.
So that what I had long before prophesied, when I could hardly get any for
money to reside there, was now brought to pass. The reason of that restraint
was grounded upon the several complaints that came out of those parts of the
divers sects and schisms that were amongst them, all contemning the public gov-
ernment of the ecclesiastical state. And it was doubted that they would, in short
time, wholly Bhake off the royal jurisdiction of the sovereign state."

DISCOURSE. 57

England," was arrested while travelling among the
Indians, and finally brought back to Boston, where
he was thrown into prison. It is now admitted that
nothing criminal was proved against him ;* but when
the authorities of Massachusetts opened his letters,
which had been sent to Boston, one was found to be
from Sir Ferdinando Gorges, " who," says the gov-
ernor, " claims a great part of the bay of Massachu-
setts ;" and " it appeared," he adds, " from his letters
that he had some secret design to recover his pre-
tended right, and that he reposed much trust in Sir
Christopher Gardiner."

The case of Thomas Morton was one of, perhaps,
less undeserved rigor, though cruel and oppressive ;
and it is not strange that both he and Gardiner, on
their return to England, should have blazoned the
outrages that had been heaped upon them, and turned
the benevolent mind of even Gorges himself against
his favorite New England. Yet writing at a later
period, the worthy knight exonerates many of the
colonists from the charge of fanaticism, as well as
from the guilt of a treasonable disposition towards the
king's government ; " doubtless," he says, " had not
the patience and wisdom of Mr. Winthrop, Mr. Hum-
phreys, Mr. Dudley, and others their assistants, been
the greater, much mischief would suddenly have over-
whelmed them, more than did befall them. Notwith-
standing, amongst those great swarms there went
many that wanted not love and affection to the
honor of the king, and happiness of their native coun-

* Davis in Morton's Mem. 165. See also the sensible remarks of Savage, ed.
Winthrop's Journal. I. 54. 57. Young is less judicious. Chron. Mass. 334.

5*

58 DISCOURSE.

try." Being at length called upon personally by the
government, as the author and supporter of the obnox-
ious proceedings in New England, he found it difficult
to avoid the imputations that were raised against him
on account of his agency in these matters ; and that
he might no longer suffer this reproach, he counselled
and urged upon the Council the expediency of sur-
rendering their charter to the crown; which was
accordingly done, on the 25th April, 1635. It thus
appears that while Sir Ferdinando was an object of
suspicion and distrust in Massachusetts, he was com-
pelled to suffer imputations of an offensive character
at home, on account of the support he gave to the
fanatics and traitors of which that colony was believed
to consist.

The next event of general interest in the history of
the State, is the confirmation of the patent from the
Council of Plymouth to Gorges by a new charter
from the Crown, in which the territory is first styled
the PROVINCE OF MAINE, * of which he was made
Lord Palatine, with the same powers and privileges
as the Bishop of Durham, in the County Palatine of
Durham. This charter conferred upon the venerable
knight a high degree of feudal authority, and he im-
mediately proceeded to reorganize his jurisdiction in
the province by the appointment of a new board of

* Sullivan, Hist. Maine, p. 307, says that " the territory was called the Pro-
vince by way of a compliment to the queen of Charles I, who was a daughter of
France, and owned as her private estate a province there, called the Province of
Meyne," &c. Such is the prevailing impression as to the origin of the name
finally given by Gorges to his province, but unfortunately for its accuracy, the pro-
vince of Maine in France did not appertain to Queen Henrietta Maria, but to
the crown ; nor is it discoverable that she possessed any interest in that province.
The biography of this queen recently published by Miss Strickland, is a work of
intense interest, and apparently drawn from original and authentic sources.

DISCOURSE. 59

Commissioners, at the head of whom he first placed
Sir Thomas Josselyn, but that gentleman not coming
over, he substituted in his place his truly and well be-
loved cousin, Thomas Gorges, Esq., who arrived at
Boston in the summer of 1640. Governor Winthrop
speaks of hirn as " a young gentleman of the Inns of
Court ; * * * sober and well disposed ; he staid
a few days at Boston, and was very careful to take
advice of our magistrates how to manage his affairs."
He took up his residence at Agamenticus, which was
now incorporated into a city, by the name of Gorge-
ana, with a mayor and recorder, and seven aldermen.*
At this place also it was ordained by the charter that
Wednesday in every week should be market day, and
that there should be two fairs held every year, viz.,
upon the feast days of St. James and St. Paul.

The plan of government for ' the Province was
based upon the Saxon forms existing in England, and
as old as the days of king Alfred. The province was
to be divided into eight counties, and these into six-
teen hundreds ; the hundreds to be subdivided into
parishes and tythings, as the people should increase.
In the absence of the Lord Proprietor, a Lieuten-
ant was to preside. A chancellor for the hearing of
civil causes ; a treasurer to receive the revenue ; a
marshal for the command of the militia ; a marshal's
court for criminal matters ; an admiral and court of
admiralty for maritime cases ; a master of ordnance,
and a secretary ; were severally constituted. These
officers were to be a standing council, together with
eight deputies to be elected by the people, one for

* On Smith's map this place is named Boston, at the instance of Prince Charles.

60 DISCOURSE.

each county. One lieutenant and eight justices were
allowed to each county ; two head-constables to every
hundred ; one constable and four tythingmen to every
parish ; each tythingman to give an account of the
demeanor of the families within his tything to the
constable of the parish, who was to render the same
to the head constables of the hundred, and they to
the lieutenant and justices of the county, who were to
take cognizance of all misdemeanors ; and from them
an appeal lay to the governor and council.

Such was the system of government Gorges de-
signed to introduce into his province of Maine ; but
it is hardly necessary to say that it was not fully car-
ried into effect. The civil war in England withdrew
the attention of the Lord Proprietor from his own
private affairs ; the governor was called home, and
in the distractions of the times, the colony of Mas-
sachusetts Bay undertook to set up a title to the
greater part of the Province, under color of which
they took possession of it, and excluded the heirs of
Gorges from the exercise of their rights. Maine was
thus summarily annexed to Massachusetts Bay, but
not without a spirited resistance on the part of the au-
thorities of the province, and most of the inhabitants.

The pretext for this usurpation was found in the
terms of the Massachusetts patent, which established
the northern boundary on a line three miles north of
the river Merrimac, and the southern three miles
south of Charles river, the intermediate space being
taken for the breadth of the grant. But when it sub-
sequently appeared that the course of the Merrimac
changed at a certain distance from the sea, and that
its head- waters were situated far to the north, the old

DISCOURSE. 61

limits were abandoned, and a new line drawn for the
northern boundary of the patent, beginning at a point
three miles north of the head waters of the river, and
so running easterly to the sea. Both New Hampshire
and the greater part of Maine were found by this con-
struction to be within the bounds of the Massachu-
setts patent.

The New Hampshire towns, having been settled
chiefly from Massachusetts Bay, were not reluctant
to be brought within her jurisdiction ; * but it was
otherwise with the inhabitants of Maine. Commis-
sioners were sent " to treat with the gentlemen of the
eastward," in the language of the Massachusetts Re-
cords, in the summer of 1652. Edward Godfrey, of
York, was at that time Governor of Maine, and rep-
resented the interests of the heirs of Sir Ferdinando
Gorges, who was then dead. Called upon by the
commissioners of Massachusetts to submit to the
authority of that colony, Godfrey resolutely refused,
declaring that the bounds of Massachusetts had been
determined twenty years ago, since which time many
grants had been made in Maine, a sum of 35,000
expended in promoting the settlement of the coun-
try, and a lawful jurisdiction exercised, which had
been acknowledged by Massachusetts and approved
by the English government. "We are resolved,"

* The original settlers of New Hampshire, who planted themselves at the
mouth of the Piscataqua as early as 1623, under the auspices of Mason and Gor-
ges, were of the Church of England ; but after the death of Mason, (1635,) the
new settlers were almost entirely non-conformists. Miss Aikin, in her Me-
moirs of Charles I., recounting what had been done for the colonization of the
new world prior to the accession of that monarch, states that " a small band of
emigrant Puritans had established themselves in New Hampshire." Vol. 1. p. 29.
This statement is without doubt founded on a misapprehension of the character
of the settlements in that quarter at the period in question.

62 DISCOURSE.

said the Governor, " to exercise our just jurisdiction
till it shall please the Parliament, the Common Weale
of England, otherwise to order, under whose power
and protection we are."

Gorges had taken care to encourage the settlement
of members of the church of England in his province,
and a considerable proportion of the inhabitants
were of that faith ; hence there was a strong aversion
among them to coming under the rule of the Puritans,
by this new process of annexation. But this was not
all ; a deep sense of the flagrant injustice of the claim
of Massachusetts to the soil of Maine, after the royal
confirmation of the grant to Gorges and his heirs,
produced an exasperated state of feeling throughout
the Province, and led in many instances to scenes of
open violence. As a matter of prudence, however,
the towns gradually decided to acquiesce in the
change until intelligence could be obtained from the
heir of Gorges, and there should be a prospect of
offering a successful resistance to such a palpable
usurpation. It must be admitted, likewise, that the
people were somewhat divided in their feelings, a por-
tion who sympathised with the religious views of the
claimants forming a party in their favor. The puri-
tan divines were of course on the side of Massachu-
setts, and when one of them upon the Lord's day had
exhorted the people to be earnest in prayer to the
Lord to direct them in respect they were under two
forms of government, one of the congregation started
up and angrily rebuked him, saying, that he " need
not make such a preamble, for they were under the
government of Gorges." An Episcopal clergyman,
whom the Massachusetts authorities had forbidden

DISCOURSE. 63T

to baptize children, and perform other duties of his
sacred office, was presented by a grand jury for
expressing his opinion of those in power with too
great freedom; in saying "that the Governor of
Boston was a rogue, and all the rest thereof traitors
and rebels against the king." Such was the excited
state of feeling produced by the unjustifiable course
of Massachusetts at that period.

On the restoration of Charles II., Ferdinando
Gorges, Esq., a grandson of the old Lord Proprietor,
sent over his agent with letters from the king to the
Governor of Massachusetts Bay, requiring either a
restitution of his lawful inheritance, or that they
should show reason for the occupation of the Province
of Maine. The next step was the appointment of
Commissioners by the crown to visit New England,
and enquire into all existing grievances. They came
into Maine in the summer of 1665, and issued their
proclamation, in which they charge the Massachusetts
colony with having " refused by the sound of the trum-
pet to submit to his majesty's authority, looking upon
themselves as the supreme power in those parts,
contrary to their allegiance and derogatory to his
Majesty's sovereignty." They then proceed to ap-
point a number of gentlemen in the Province, known
to be friendly to the claims of Gorges, as magistrates
to exercise authority there until his Majesty's
pleasure be further known. These were Messrs.
Champernon* and Cutts, of Kittery ; Rishworth and
Johnson, of York ; Wheelwright, of Wells ; Hook
and Phillips, of Saco ; Josselyn, of Black Point, now

* Francis Champernon wag a relative of Sir W. Raleigh, whose mother wag
a daughter of Sir Philip Champernon of Devonshire.

64 DISCOURSE.

Scarborough ; Jordan, of Richmond's Island ; Moun-
joy, of Casco, now Portland ; and Wincoll, of New-
ichawanock, afterwards Berwick.

Massachusetts did not long acquiesce in this ar-
rangement ; for in July, 1 668, four commissioners
escorted by a military force entered the Province and
proceeded to hold a court at York. The king's
magistrates were present and remonstrated, but to no
purpose. The account of the matter given by John
Josselyn, who was then residing with his brother at
Black Point, is, that " as soon as the commissioners
were returned from England, the Massachusetts men
entered the Province in a hostile manner with a
troop of horse and foot, and turned the judge and his
assistants off the bench, imprisoned the major or
commander of the militia, and threatened the judge
and some others that were faithful to Mr. Gorges'
interest." *

At length both parties lo this exciting controversy
appeared by their agents before the king at the palace
of Whitehall, and his Majesty, upon a fair hearing of
their respective claims, " decided that the Province of
Maine was the rightful property of the heirs of Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, both as to soil and the govern-
ment." As soon as this decision was known, an
agent of Massachusetts made overtures to Mr. Gor-
ges for the purchase of his title, which he finally sold
to that colony, in March, 1677, for the sum of 1250
sterling, or about six thousand dollars. This trans-
action gave great offence to his friends in the
Province, who sent a remonstrance to England, but

* Josselyn's Two Voyages to New England, p. 198. London, 1675.

DISCOURSE. 65

it was too late. Such, however, was the continued
opposition to the authority of Massachusetts on the
part of the inhabitants, that it became necessary
to send an armed force into the Province to awe the
people into submission and prevent disturbances.

Maine was now fairly annexed to Massachusetts,
not in accordance with the wishes of the people, but
by a legal transfer of the soil and government for a
valuable consideration ; and in the act of taking
possession by that colony, the title of Gorges was
duly recited ; nothing further was heard of its being
embraced in their own patent. A separate govern-
ment was now organized for the Province, at the
head of which Thomas Danforth, Esq., of Cambridgej
was placed with the title of President of the Province
of Maine. This state of things continued without
interruption, except during the violent administration
of Sir Edmund Andros, until the revolution in Eng-
land, resulting in the deposition of James II. and the
elevation of William and Mary to the throne. A
new charter was then received, which united in one
province the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts
Bay, the Province of Maine and the territory east of
it to the St. Croix, and Nova Scotia. Sir William
Phipps, a native of Maine, arrived at Boston with
this charter, on the 14th of May, 1692, at the
same time bearing a commission as Governor of the
" Province of Massachusetts Bay," the name given
in the new charter to the several jurisdictions united
under it.

There are other topics to which I had proposed to
call your attention in connexion with a rapid review
of the leading events in the early history of this State ;
6

66 DISCOURSE.

but I have already trespassed too long upon the at-
tention of the society, and shall conclude my
remarks with a few words more in reference to the
brave old knight who devoted the best part of a long
life to efforts for the discovery and settlement of the
territory of which this state originally consisted.
Little is known of Sir Ferdinando Gorges before he
engaged in that great work, but there is no doubt
that he early distinguished himself in the public ser-
vice, and received in reward of his services the honor
of knighthood, which like other honors was sparingly
bestowed by Queen Elizabeth. The family of Gor-
ges had an ancient seat at Wraxall in Somersetshire,
six miles and a half from Bristol ; in the church at
that place is a large altar tomb, with figures of Sir
Edmund Gorges, K. B., and Anne, his wife, daughter
of John Howard, the first Duke of Norfolk.* In the
same neighborhood, in the parish of Long Ashton, was
the Manor of Ashton Phillips, belonging to Sir Fer-
dinando. The village of Long Ashton lies on the
southeast slope of an eminence called Ashton Hill,
about five miles from Bristol, affording a fine drive
from the city, as the road through the parish com-
mands an extensive view of Bristol, Clifton, and a
number of villages on the opposite banks of the
Avon. In a valley to the southwest of the village is

* They resided at Wraxhall as early as the year 1260, when Ralph de Gorges
was governor of Sherburne Castle ; " from whose time the family hath been con-
tinued there, and is lately [about the year 1700] reduced to an issue-female."
Camderis Britannia, 2d edition. In 1350, one of the Russels of Gloucester-
shire, " being enriched," says Camden, " by marriage with an heir of the honor-
able family of the Gorges, assumed that name." This person was of the family
of Russels since raised to the peerage. Lord Edward Gorges, an active member
of the Council of Plymouth, and at one time its President, was evidently related
to Sir Ferdinando ; he was of Wiltshire.

DISCOURSE. 67

the manor of Ashton Phillips. The manor-house is
now in ruins ; it seems to have been a structure of
considerable extent and grandeur, but only a snlall
portion of the dwelling apartments, and the chapel
remain.

As early as 1597, we find him embarked in the
expedition of the Earl of Essex against the Spanish
islands, in the capacity of Serjeant Major, correspon-
ding to the rank of senior colonel in the army, at
the same time holding the office of Governor of the
Forts at Plymouth. We next hear of him as
a witness on the trial of the Earl of Essex for high
treason, in the year 1600. The course taken by
Gorges on that occasion must have been deeply
painful to his feelings, and has subjected his memory
to the reproaches of those writers who were more
moved by sympathy for the unhappy fate of that
illustrious nobleman, than governed by a strict regard
to the circumstances of the case. No one can doubt
on reading the accounts of this matter, that the
designs of Essex were of a treasonable character,
and that relying upon his great popularity, he hoped
at least to overawe the queen, and drive his enemies
from court. Great discontent prevailed generally
among the nobility and gentry, of whom one hundred
and twenty were believed to be favorable to the in-
tended movement. In this number Gorges was
reckoned, but although disposed to aid that noble-
man in all lawful means for counteracting the ma-
chinations of his enemies, it does not appear that he
countenanced, or was even made acquainted with,
any designs against the Queen. When called upon
by the government in the course of the trial to state

68 DISCOURSE.

more fully what had passed between him and the
conspirators, he was urged both by Essex and the
Earl of Southampton, (who was tried at the same
time,) to state fully what he knew of their plans ;
his reply was : " Some delivered their minds one
way, and some another ; but by the oath I have
taken, I did never know or hear any thought or pur-
pose of hurt or disloyalty intended to her Majesty's
person by my Lord of Essex."

In his testimony in chief he admitted that Essex
had written to him, complaining of his misfortunes
and expressing a determination to free himself from
the malice of his enemies ; at the same time request-
ing Sir Ferdinando to come up to London, that he
might confer with him. Gorges accordingly repaired
to town, as he states, a week before the insurrection,
and had several interviews with the Earl, when he
endeavored to dissuade him from his imprudent de-
signs, but all to no purpose. He did not, however,
abandon him ; on the contrary, he was at Essex-house
when the insurrection took place ; a large number of
the conspirators, including several noblemen, were
assembled there, undecided it would seem for a long
time as to the course they should pursue. In the
meantime, Sir Walter Raleigh, w r ho was regarded by
Essex as his greatest enemy, sent a messenger to
Gorges at Essex-house, desiring to speak with him
on the river ; and taking a boat from the garden,
which appears to have extended down to the water's
edge, beyond the west gate of the city, Sir Ferdinan-
do, with the approbation of Essex, proceeded to meet
Sir Walter, who earnestly advised him to withdraw
from Essex house, as he valued his life. Raleigh

DISCOURSE. 69

also testified on the trial, that Gorges assured him it
was likely to prove a bloody day's work, and desired
him to go to Court that measures might be taken to
prevent it. Gorges then returned to Essex house.

In the meantime, the Queen being apprised of the
assemblage at Essex house, resorted to an unusual

o 7

step ; for instead of despatching a military force to
disperse the conspirators, she sent four distinguished
personages, members of the privy council, among
whom was Chief Justice Popham, to Essex house to
use their personal influence as well as the authority
of their offices, to induce the malecontents to give
over their designs,. " All four had been chosen," says
Southey, "not only because of their merit, but also
because they were persons whom he was supposed
both to respect, and to regard as friends." They
found the gates shut, but were admitted without their
attendants except the pursebearer with the great seal,
the Lord keeper being one of the four dignitaries,
who appear to have gone in their official robes and
badges of office. The leaders and their company
were assembled in the court-yard, and crowded
around the counsellors as they advanced towards the
Earl of Essex, to whom the Lord keeper in a loud
voice delivered the Queen's message, " that they
were sent to learn the cause of so great a concourse
of people, and let them know that they should be
heard if they complained of any grievances they
wished to have redressed." Essex replied in an
angry tone, reciting the causes of his disaffection ;
and the Earl of Southampton also addressed them
in a similar strain. The lord chief justice then pro-
mised that they would faithfully report their com-
6*

70 DISCOURSE.

plaints to her Majesty. But a tumult arising among
the crowd, the Lord keeper commanded all .upon
their allegiance to lay down their arms and depart.
Essex thereupon went into the house, followed by the
four counsellors, who desired a private interview
with him ; but when they had entered his library, the
Earl gave orders to fasten the doors, and committed
them as prisoners to the charge of three persons,
one of whom, named Salisbury, is said to have been
a notorious robber, who "bore a special spleen
against the lord chief justice." A guard was set by
these persons at the door of the library, with loaded
muskets and lighted matches.

Essex then leaving his house in the charge of Sir
Gilly Merrick, sallied forth with about 200 men, and
entered the city by Ludgate, (which was not far from
Essex-house,) uttering loud cries, the purport of which
was that the Queen was in danger, and that " Eng-
land was bought and sold to the Spaniards." Hasten-
ing along Chenpside, they came to the house of the
Sheriff, on whom they seem to have reckoned, but
that official made his escape by the back door of his
house, and repaired to the lord mayor. Thus check-
ed, and finding that not so much as one man of even
the lowest quality joined them y Essex remained in the
sheriff's house undecided which way he should turn.

In the meantime, formal proclamation was made in
another quarter of the city, denouncing Essex and
his adherents as traitors ; who upon being informed
of it rushed again into the streets, calling upon the
citizens to arm ; but in vain. The only resource left
to the unhappy Earl was to return to his own house,
and endeavor to obtain pardon by means of the four

DISCOURSE. 71

members of the Council whom he had left there in
confinement. But on reaching Ludgate, he found it
guarded by a competent force, that refused to allow
him to pass ; whereupon he gave Gorges a token,
authorizing him to go alone to Essex-house and re-
lease the Lord Chief Justice, and by his means inter-
cede for pardon. Sir Ferdinando, finding that the
Chief Justice refused his liberty unless the Lord
keeper also were released, set all the four councillors
free, and went with them by water to the court. *
This prudent course on the part of Gorges probably
saved him from the consequences of having followed
the fortunes of Essex until they became desperate ;
to have gone farther would have been madness.

Meantime, after the sacrifice of several lives in
their efforts to escape from the city, Essex and his
followers succeeded in reaching his house, which they
at first proposed to defend, but finally surrendered,
and were committed to the Tower and other prisons.
In eleven days after the failure of this desperate en-
terprise, the earls of Essex and Southampton were
arraigned for high treason, and found guilty. A few
days after, five of their associates, Sir Christopher
Blount, Sir Charles Davers, Sir John Davis, Sir Gil-
ly Merrick, and Henry Cuffe, were also tried and
convicted of the same offence. They all suffered
death except the Earl of Southampton, who was final-
ly pardoned.

After these events Gorges appears to have return-
ed to his government at Plymouth, where we have
already seen that he was residing in 1605, when

* Camden. Annales Rerum Ang. et Hib. 610.

72 DISCOURSE.

George Wey mouth arrived at that port from his visit
to Penobscot river, bringing with him the five Indi-
ans who first turned the attention of Sir Ferdinando
to the American coast. He is again noticed in the
general histories of that period as the commander of
one of the ships sent to the aid of the king of France
in 1625; but as soon as it was suspected that they
were to be used against the French Protestants, there
was a general desertion of the officers and men, on
which occasion Sir Ferdinando is described as hav-
ing behaved with great spirit ; for abruptly breaking
away from the rest of the fleet, he returned at once
to England, at the hazard of incurring the displeasure
of the king and his favorite Buckingham.

It has already been stated that in the civil wars he
took up arms in defence of his king. Towards the
close of 1642> when hostilities had just commenced,
efforts were made by the royal party to introduce
troops into the city of Bristol, which had not yet ta-
ken sides in the contest. For this purpose Sir Fer-
dinando Gorges and Mr. Smith of Long Ashton, were
deputed to wait on the mayor to obtain his consent ;
but the application failed. The city was then invest-
ed by a large force in the interest of the king, and
soon after surrendered. In 1645, Cromwell recap-
tured it by assault ; and it is stated by Josselyn, a
contemporary writer, that Sir Ferdinando was plun-
dered and thrown into prison. It is probable that he
died soon after, for in the same year the following or-
der was adopted by the court in his Province of
Maine : " It is ordered, that Richard Vines shall have
power to take into his possession the goods and chat-
tels of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and to pay such debts

DISCOURSE. 73

as Sir Ferdinando is in any way indebted to any." At
the same time a public fast was ordered to be " sol-
emnly kept upon Thursday, 20th of November next,
through this Province." Vines had been for many
years the agent of Gorges in this country, before and
after its settlement, and for at least fifteen years a
resident on the west side of Saco river, on a patent
granted him by the Council of Plymouth, now con-
stituting the town of Biddeford. After the departure
of Thomas Gorges, he was elected governor of the
Province, and held that office until the death of his
patron and friend, when he sold his patent and remo-
ved to the island of Barbadoes.

A grandson of the Lord Proprietor, Ferdinando
Gorges, Esq., as we have already noticed, succeeded
to the proprietorship of the Province, some time
before the restoration of Charles II. To him we
are indebted for the publication of his grandfather's
Brief Narration, a work evidently written with a
deep conviction of the future importance of these
western shores, and illustrating the indomitable spirit
of enterprise that distinguished its author to the
very close of a long and useful life.

I cannot, perhaps, more appropriately conclude
these remarks than with this imperfect notice of the
man who must ever be regarded as the most active
and persevering of all the friends of American colo-
nization, through periods of discouragement and
difficulty; and especially as the Founder of this
Commonwealth. In my humble opinion, Maine owes
some public acknowledgment to the memory of Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, for having laid the foundation of
its existence as a separate and independent commu-

74 DISCOURSE.

nity. In ancient times, we are told, the founders of
colonies were deified by their successors ; this was
doubtless an exaggerated expression of the proper
feeling to be entertained for them. But it will not be
denied that their services merit a substantial com-
memoration at the hands of their posterity. Nor
have our American republics altogether neglected to
pay tributes of gratitude and admiration to the great
and good men who had the forecast to scatter the
seeds of future growth and prosperity within their
borders. Bradford and Winthrop are names that will
never die amongst their successors at Plymouth and
Massachusetts Bay ; Pennsylvania will never forget her
obligations to the illustrious Friend of humanity who
peopled her wilderness ; nor will Georgia suffer the
memory of the enlightened