Full text of "American biography"

See other formats

fcalifornia 
ional 
ility 


















UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 




THE GIFT OF 
MAY TREAT MORRISON 

IN MEMORY OF 

ALEXANDER F MORRISON 



- 




AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



,'/. ', BF 
JEREMY BELKNAP, D.D. 



ADDITIONS AND NOTES, 



BY F. M. H UBB ARD. 



IN THBKB VOLUMES. 

VOL. III. 



NEW YORK: 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 

FRANKLIN SQUARE. 

1855. 



Entered, according to Ac; of Congress, in the year 1641, by 

HARPER & BROTHERS, 
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. 






f 7. 









CONTENTS 

or 
THE THIRD VOLUME. 



MM 
WILLIAM BRADFORD . . . ' . : ' . 7 

WILLIAM BREWSTER 53 

ROBERT CUSHMAN . . 70 

EDWARD WIXSLOW 85 

MII.KS STANDISH . 116 

JOHN WINTHROP ^... ". "V* ' \ '- . 148 

JOHN WINTHROP, JR. . . . '. . i ^ . 185 
GEORGE CALVERT, CECILIUS CALVKRT, Lords Baltimore. 

LEONARD CALVERT . . . ;"." '.. . . . 206 
WILLIAM PENN . . .225 



APPENDIX 293 

INDEX .305 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



XIX. WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

WILLIAM BRADFORD was born in 1588, at 
Ansterfield, an obscure village in the north 
of England.* His parents dying when he 
was young, he was educated, first by his 
grand-parents, and afterward by his uncles, 
in the practice of agriculture. His paternal 
inheritance was considerable, but he had no 
other learning than such as generally falls to 
the share of the children of husbandmen. 

At twelve years of age his mind became 
seriously impressed by Divine truth in read- 
ing the Scriptures, and, as he increased in 
years, a native firmness enabled him to vin- 
dicate his opinions against opposition. Being 
stigmatized as a Separatist, he was obliged 
to bear the frowns of his relatives and the 
scoff of his neighbours ; but nothing could di- 
vert or intimidate him from attending on the 
ministry of Mr. Richard Clifton, and connect- 

* Magnalia, ii., 3. 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



ing himself withvthte:- dhirfch over which he 
and Mr.'BfibirisQn pjesdded'. "; 

When *h"e' Was' eighte'eti ye'ars old he joined 
in their attempt to go over to Holland, and 
was one of the seven who were imprisoned 
at Boston, in Lincolnshire, as has already been 
related in the Life of Robinson ; but he was 
soon liberated on account of his youth. He 
was also one of those who the next year fled 
from G rimsby Common, when part of the 
company went to sea and part were taken by 
the pursuivants.* 

After some time he went over to Zealand, 
through various difficulties, and was no soon- 
er set on shore than a malicious passenger in 
the same vessel accused him before the Dutch 
magistrates as a fugitive from England. But, 
when they understood the cause of his emi- 
gration, they gave him protection, and per- 
mission to join his brethren at Amsterdam. 

It being impossible for him to prosecute 
agriculture in Holland, he was obliged to 
betake himself to some other business ; and, 
being then under age, he put himself as an 

* [See Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, ii., Appendix. 
Hazard, i., 350, &c. Bradford's own narration, which we have 
only in fragments, yet of great interest and value, is the sourca 
of all the information we have of these events. H.] 



BRADFORD. 9 

apprentice to a French Protestant, who taught 
him the art of silk-dyeing. As soon as he at- 
tained the years of manhood, he sold his pa- 
ternal estate in England, and entered on a 
commercial life, in which he was not very 
successful. 

When the Church of Leyden contemplated 
a removal to America, Bradford zealously 
engaged in the undertaking, and came with 
the first company, in 1620, to Cape Cod.* 
While the ship lay in that harbour, he was 
one of the foremost in the several hazardous 
attempts to find a proper place for the seat 
of the colony, in one of which he, with oth- 
ers of the principal persons, narrowly escaped 
the destruction which threatened their shal- 
lop.t On his return from this excursion to 
the ship with the joyful news of having found 
a harbour and a place for settlement, he had 
the mortification to hear that, during his ab- 
sence, his wife had accidentally fallen into 
the sea, and was drowned.t 

* [In February, 1619, ho was one of the agents sent to 
England to make a bargain with the Virginia Company for the 
removal. Prince, 151. H.] t Prince, 76. 

t [This was Dec. 7th. Of this lady we know only that het 
baptismal name was Dorothy. Prince, 165. From Prince's 
list of signers on board the Mayflower, page 308 of volume ii., 
[ suppose she had no children. Roger White's Letter to Brad- 



10 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

After the sudden death of Governor Car- 
ver, the infant colony cast their eyes on 
Bradford to succeed him ; but, being at that 
time so very ill that his life was depaired of, 
they waited for his recovery, and then in- 
vested him with the command. He was in 
the thirty-third year of his age ; his wisdom, 
piety, fortitude, and goodness of heart were 
so conspicuous as to merit the sincere esteem 
of the people. Carver had been alone in 
command. They confided in his prudence, 
that he would not adventure on any matter 
of moment without the consent of the peo- 
ple or the advice of the wisest. To Brad- 
ford they appointed an assistant, Isaac Aller- 
ton,* not because they had not the same con- 
ford (Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 43) furnishes ground for a conjec- 
ture that her maiden name was May. H.] 

* [Isaac Allerton's reputation among the descendants of the 
Pilgrims is hardly equal to his deserts. He came over in ths 
Mayflower with his wife Mary and five children. Some years 
after her death, Feb. 25th, 1621, he married Fear, a daughter of 
Elder Brewster. He appears to have been a man of courage, 
for the day after the grand reception of Masassoit, " some of 
them told us the king would have some of us come to see him ; 
Captain Standish and Isaac Alderton went voluntarily." 
Mourt's Journal, 231. The planters had much confidence in 
his discretion and capacity for business, as they sent him 
their agent to England in the fall of 1626, to complete with the 
adventurers the negotiation which Standish had begun, to bor- 
row money, buy goods, &c. Prince, 239. He returned in the 
pring of 1627, having borrowed " 200 at thirty per cent., to' 



BRADFORD. 11 

fidenoe in him, but partly for the sake of 
regularity, and partly on account of his pre- 

the great content of the plantation." He brought the adventu- 
rers to a composition, signed Nov. 15th, by which they relin- 
quished all their interest in the company for the sum of 1800, 
to be paid in seven years. Ib., 242, 243. Again, in 1627, 
"with the return of the ships," he was commissioned to carry 
out the necessary bonds to the adventurers at London, to sell the 
company's bearer, and procure a patent for a settlement on the 
Kennebec. " Having settled all things in a hopeful way," and 
made provision for the passage of some of their friends at Ley- 
den, he returned early in the spring of 1628. Ib., 245, 246, 
247. Mr. Shirley calls him " your honest, wise, and discreet 
agent." Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 58. He made two voyages to 
England in 1629 to procure a new and enlarged patent for the 
colony. In his second attempt he was successful. He met 
many difficulties in this business ; " many locks," said Shirley, 
" must be opened with the silver, nay, with the golden key." 
Prince, 265. Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 70. He did not succeed, 
however, in procuring, what was earnestly desired, an exemp- 
tion from duties of goods to and from the colony ; and probably 
his failure in this particular, and the expense attending the at- 
tempt, occasioned his connexion with the company to be dis- 
solved : a harsher treatment than his faithful labours had de- 
served. He relumed to England in 1631, and Bradford dis- 
misses his record of the fact with saying, " being no more em- 
ployed by the plantation." Prince, 361. He afterward estab- 
lished a trading-house at Machias, and, having suffered repeated 
and severe losses at sea, and by fire, removed to New- Haven, 
probably in 1647,, and died there in 1659. Mass. Hist. Col., 
xxvii., 243, 301. Mr. Hutchinson says that Point Alderton, 
near the entrance of Boston Harbour, was named from him. 
In Mourt's Relation (Mass. Hist. Coll., viii., 231), his name i 
spelled Aldcrton Such a memorial was due to his enterprise 
ami int. -iiu, ,tr;J yet t>ut a, slight oli'set to a toilsome and sor- 
rn-,vi,.i kit - H ] 
III. B 



12 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

carious health.* They appointed but one, 
because they were so reduced in number that 
to have made a greater disproportion between 
rulers and people would have been absurd, 
and they knew that it would always be in 
their power to increase the number at their 
pleasure. Their voluntary combination was 
designed only as a temporary expedient, till 
they should obtain a charter under the author- 
ity of their sovereign. 

One of the first acts of Bradford's admin- 
istration was, by advice of the company, to 
send Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins 
to Massasoit, with Squanto for their guide. 
The design of this embassy was to explore 
the country, to confirm the league, to learn 
the situation and strength of their new friend, 
to carry some presents, to apologize for some 
misbehaviour, to regulate the intercourse be- 
tween them and the Indians, and to procure 
seed-corn for the next planting season. 

These gentlemen found the sachem at Po- 
kanoket,t about forty miles from Plymouth. 

* Hubbard'sMS. Hist., p. 49. [In the printed copy, 61. H.] 
t This was a general name for the northern shore of the Nar- 
raganset Bay, between Providence and Taunton Rivers, and 
comprehending the present townships of Bristol, Warren, and 
Barrington in the State of Rhode Island, and Swanzey in Mas- 
sachusetts Its northern extent is unknown. The principal 



BRADFORD. 13 

They delivered the presents, renewed the 
friendship, and satisfied themselves respect- 
ing the strength of the natives, which did 
not appear formidable, nor was the enter- 
tainment which they received either liberal 
or splendid. The marks of desolation and 
death, by reason of the pestilence, were very 
conspicuous in all the country through which 
they passed ; but they were informed that the 
Narragansets, who resided on the western 
shore of the bay of that name, were very 
numerous, and that the pestilence had not 
reached them. 

After the return of this embassy, another 
was sent to Nauset,* to recover a boy who 
had straggled from Plymouth, and had been 
taken up by some of the Indians of that 
place. They were so fortunate as to recover 
the boy, and make peace with Aspinet, the 
sachem, whom they paid for the seed-corn 
which they had taken out of the ground at 
Paomet in the preceding autumn. t During 

seals of the sachem were at Sawams and Kikemuit. The for- 
mer is a neck of land formed by the confluence of Barrington 
and Palmer's Rivers ; the latter is Mount Hope. See Callen- 
der's Century Discourse, p. 30, 73. 

* [Now Eastham. Mass. Hist Coll., viii., 159. H.] 
t Mourt's Relation in Purchas, iv., 1853. [And in Mass. 
Hist. Coll., viii. H.] 



14 A M E E i art BIOGRAPHY. 

this expedition, an old woman, who had nev- 
er before seen any white people, burst into 
tears of grief and rage at the sight of them. 
She had lost three sons by the perfidy of 
Thomas Hunt, who decoyed them, with oth- 
ers, on board his ship, and sold them for 
slaves. Squanto, who was present, told her 
that he had been carried away at the same 
time ; that Hunt was a bad man ; that his 
countrymen disapproved his conduct, and 
that the English at Plymouth would not offer 
them any injury. This declaration, accom- 
panied by a small present, appeased her an- 
ger, though it was impossible to remove the 
cause of her grief. 

It was fortunate for the colony that they 
had secured the friendship of Massasoit, for 
his influence was found to be very extensive. 
He was regarded and reverenced by all the 
natives, from the Bay of Narraganset to that 
of Massachusetts. Though some of the petty 
sachems were disposed to be jealous of the 
new colony, and to disturb its peace, yet their 
mutual connexion with Massasoit proved the 
means of its preservation ; as a proof of which, 
nine of these sachems voluntarily came to 
Plymouth and subscribed an instrument of 
submission in the following terms, viz. : 



BRADFORD. 15 

" September 13, Anno Domini 1621. Know 
all men by these presents, that we, whose 
names are underwritten, do acknowledge our- 
selves to be the loyal subjects of King James, 
king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, 
Defender of the Faith, &c. In witness 
whereof, and as a testimonial of the same, 
we have subscribed our names or marks as 
followeth : 

Ohquamehud, Nattawahunt, Quadequina, 
Cawnacome, Caunbatant, Huttamoiden, 
Obbatinua, Chikatabak, Apannow."* 

* [Judge Davis, in his note to Morton'8 Memorial, gives some 
additional information of these chiefs. " Obbatinua, or Obbatin- 
owat, was one of the Massachusetts sachems ; his residence was 
on or near the Peninsula of Shawmut (Boston). Chikatabak, or 
Chicketawbut, was the sagamore of Neponset (Dorchester), and 
is frequently mentioned in the History of Massachusetts. [See 
especially the early part of Winthrop's Journal.] He died of the 
smallpox in November, 1633. These Massachusetts sachems 
were not completely independent, but acknowledged a degree 
of subjection to Massasoit. Caunbatant, or Corbitant : his 
residence was at Mattapuyst, a neck of land in the township of 
Swanzey. Mr. Winslow, who had frequent conferences with 
him at his wigwam and at other places, represents him as a 
hollow-hearted friend to the Plymouth planters, 'a notable poli- 
tician, yet full of merry jests and squibs, and never better pleased 
than when the like are returned again upon him.' Quindaquina 
was a brother of Massasoit. Of the other five sachems who 
signed the instrument of submission, no satisfactory account can 
be given." 

[Cawnacome, or Caunacqm, was sachem of Manomet (Sand- 



16 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Hobbamock,* another of these subordinate 
chiefs, came and took up his residence at 

wich), and died, it is said, in 1623. Prince, 90S, 214. The 
name Apannow has a singular resemblance to Epenow, who 
was a native of the southern part of Cape Cod, and returned 
from England with Captain Harley in 1614. Prince, 133. Yet 
an identity of person is hardly probable.] " In Mourt's Relation, 
as quoted by Mr. Prince (196), it is said, ' Yea, Massasoit, in 
writing, under his hand to Captain Standish, has owned the King 
of England to be his master, both he and many other kings un- 
der him, as of Pamet (Truro), Nauset (Eastham), Cummaquid, 
Namasket (Middleborough), with divers others who dwell about 
the bays of Patuxet and Massachusetts ; and all this by friendly 
usage, love and peace, just and honest carriage, good counsel, 
&c.' We may add here that Massasoit is supposed to have 
died about 1656, a sincere friend of the English to the last." H.] 
* [Now commonly written Hobomok. This true friend to 
the English deserves a lasting remembrance. He was attached 
to them from the beginning, and no threats, or danger, or en- 
ticements could seduce him from his faithfulness. They were 
often indebted for much of their advantage and safety to the sa- 
gacity of his observation and of his counsels. He served them 
in every way, as guide, companion, counsellor, and friend, un- 
moved by the ridicule and scorn of those whom he had aban- 
doned, and unawed by the sworn hatred of the savage and wily 
Corbitant. His services were acknowledged by a grant of lands 
in the colony. Gentle and guileless in his temper, he was easily 
won by the pure and simple truths of religion, and, spite of all 
temptation, professed himself a Christian. We are not inform- 
ed of the date of his death, but are told in a work published in 
1642 (NfiV-England's First Fruits), that " he died amongst them 
(the English), leaving some good hopes in their hearts that his 
soul went to rest." Note to Morton, 212. Mrs. Child has 
written an interesting novel, entitled Hobomok, of which he is 
the hero. H.] 



BRADFORD. 17 

Plymouth, where he continued as a faithful 
guide and interpreter as long as he lived. 
The Indians of the Island of Capawock, 
which had now obtained the name of Mar- 
tha's or Martin's Vineyard, also sent messen- 
gers of peace. 

Having heard much of the Bay of Massa- 
chusetts, both from the Indians and the Eng- 
lish fishermen, Governor Bradford appointed 
ten men, with Squanto and two other Indians, 
to visit the place and trade with the natives. 
On the 18th of September they sailed in a 
shallop, and the next day got to the bottom 
of the bay, where they landed under a cliff,* 
and were kindly received by Obbatinua, the 
sachem who had subscribed the submission 
at Plymouth a few days before. He renew- 
ed his submission, and received a promise of 
assistance and defence against the squaw sa 
ehem of Massachusetts, and other enemies. 

The appearance of this bay was pleasing. 
They saw the mouths of two rivers which 
emptied into. it. The islands were cleared 
of wood, and had been planted, but most of 
the people who had inhabited them either 
were dead or had removed. Those who re- 
mained were continually in fear of the Tarra- 

* Supposed to be Copp's Hill, in the town of Boston. 



18 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY* 

tenes, who frequently came from the eastward 
in a hostile manner, and robbed them of their 
corn. In one of these predatory invasions, 
Nanepashamet, a sachem, had been slain ; 
his body lay buried under a frame, surround- 
ed by an intrenchment and palisade. A mon- 
ument on the top of a hill designated the place 
where he was killed. 

Having explored the bay and collected 
some beaver, the shallop returned to Ply- 
mouth, and brought so good a report of the 
place that the people wished they had bepi> 
seated there. But, having planted corn and 
built huts at Plymouth, and being there in 
security from the natives, they judged the 
motives for continuance to be stronger than 
for removal. Many of their posterity have 
judged otherwise. 

In November a ship* arrived from England 
with thirty-five passengers to augment the 
colony. Unhappily, they were so short of 
provision that the people of Plymouth wef 
obliged to victual the ship home, and then 
put themselves and the new-comers to half 
allowance. Before the next spring (1622) 
the colony began to feel the rigour of famine. 

* [The ship was the Fortune, of fifty-five ton*. She arrived 
November 9th. Prince, 198. H.) 



BRADFORD. 19 

In the height of this distress, tne governor re- 
ceived from Canonicus, sachem of Narragan- 
set, a threatening message, in the emblematic 
style of the ancient Scythians, a bundle of ar- 
rows bound with the skin of a serpent. The 
governor sent an answer in the same style, 
the skin of the serpent filled with powder and 
ball. The Narragansets, afraid of its con- 
tents, sent it back unopened, and here the 
correspondence ended. 

It was now judged proper to fortify the 
town. Accordingly, it was surrounded with 
a stockade and four flankarts ; a guard was 
kept by day and night, the company being 
divided into four squadrons. A select num- 
ber were appointed, in case of accidental fire, 
to mount guard with their backs to the fire, 
to prevent a surprise from the Indians. With- 
in the stockade was enclosed the top of the 
hill, under which the town was built, and a 
sufficiency of land for a garden to each fami- 
ly. The works were begun in February, and 
finished in March. 

At this time the famine was very severe. 
Fish and spring-water were the only pro- 
vision on which the people subsisted. The 
want of bread reduced their flesh ; yet they 
had so much health and spirit, that, on hear- 



20 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ing of the massacre in Virginia, they erected 
an additional fort on the top of the hill, with 
a flat roof, on which the guns were mounted ; 
the lower story served them for a place of 
worship. Sixty acres of ground were plant- 
ed with corn ; and their gardens were sown 
with the seeds of other esculent vegetables in 
great plenty. 

The arrival of two ships* with a new col- 
ony, sent out by Thomas Weston, but with- 
out provisions, was an additional misfortune. 
Some of these people, being sick, were lodg- 
ed in the hospital at Plymouth till they were 
so far recovered as to join their companions, 
who seated themselves at Wessagusset, since 
called Weymouth. 

The first supply of provision was obtained 
from the fishing vessels, of which thirty-fivf 
came this spring from England to the coast 
In August two shipsf arrived with trading 

* [The Charity, of one hundred tons, and the Swan, of thirty. 
The Charity, having gone on to Virginia, returned to Wey- 
mouth, and thence to England. The Swan remained at Wey- 
mouth for the use of the colonists. H.] 

t [The Sparrow, Mr. Weston's, sent out on a fishing voy- 
age, and the Discovery, on an expedition to explore the coast 
from Cape Cod to Virginia, and now homeward bound. " This 
ship," says Morton (p. 83), speaking of the latter, " had store 
of English beads (which were then good trade) and some knives, 
but would sell none but at dear rates, and also a good quantity 



BRADFORD. 21 

goods, which the planters bought at a great 
disadvantage, giving beaver in exchange. 
The summer being dry, and the harvest 
short, it became necessary to make excur- 
sions among the natives to procure corn and 
beans Avith the goods purchased from the 
ships. Governor Bradford undertook this 
service,* having Squanto for his guide and 
interpreter, who was taken ill on the passage, 
and died at Manamoik. Before his death, 
he requested the governor to pray for him, 
"that he might go to the Englishman's GOD." 
In these excursions Mr. Bradford was treat- 
ed by the natives with great respect, and the 
trade was conducted on both parts with jus- 
tice and confidence. At Nauset, the shallop 
being stranded, it was necessary to put the 
corn which had been purchased in stack, 
and to leave it, covered with mats and sedge, 

together ; yet they (the planters) were glad of the occasion, and 
fain to buy at any rate ; they were fain to give after the rate of 
cent, per cent., if not more, and yet pay away coat beaver at 
three shillings per pound," " which a few years after yields 
twenty shillings a pound.' Prince, 205. H.] 

* [This was in November, and was the first attempt to go 
round the cape outside to the southward. He found no passage 
through the shoal at the southern extremity of it, and put in at 
Manamoik, now Chatham. After the death of Squanto Brad- 
ford sailed to Massachusetts, and thence to Nauset, now called 
Eastham. H.J 



22 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

in the care of the Indians, while the govern" 
or and his party came home, fifty miles, on 
foot. It remained there from November to 
January, and, when another shallop was sent, 
it was found in perfect safety, and the strand- 
ed shallop was recovered.* 

At Namasket [Middleborough], an inland 
place, he bought another quantity, which was 
brought hqme, partly by the people of the 
colony and partly by the Indian women, 
their men disdaining to bear burdens. 

At Manomet [Sandwich] he bargained 
for more, which he was obliged to leave till 
March, when Captain Standish went and 
fetched it home, the Indian women bringing 
it down to the shallop. The whole quantity 
thus purchased amounted to twenty-eight 
hogsheads of corn and beans, of which Wes- 
ton's people had a share, as they had joined 
in the purchase. 

In the spring (1623) the governor received 
a message from Massasoit that he was sick, 
on which occasion it is usual for all the 
friends of the Indians to visit them or send 
them presents. Mr. "Winslow again went to 
visit the sachem, accompanied by Mr. John 
Hampden,t and they had Hobbamock for 

* Winslow, in Purchas, iv., 1858. 

t In Winslow's Journal, Mr. Hampden is said to be " a gen- 



BRADFORD. 23 

their guide and interpreter. The visit was very 
consolatory to their sick friend, and the more 
so as Winslow carried him some cordials, and 
maae him broth after the English mode, 
which contributed to his recovery. In return 
for this friendly attention, Massasoit commu- 
nicated to Hobbamock intelligence of a dan- 
gerous conspiracy, then in agitation among 
'< ie Indians, in which he had been solicited 

tleman of London, who then wintered with us, and desired 
much to see the country." I suppose this to be the same per- 
so.1 who distinguished himself by his opposition to the illegal 
and arbitrary demands of King Charles I. He had previously 
(1637) embarked for New-England with Oliver Cromwell, Sir 
Arthur Haslerig, and others ; but they were prevented from 
coming by the king's " proclamation against disorderly trans- 
jiorting his majesty's subjects to the plantations in America." 
Hampden was born in 1594, and was 29 years old at the time 
of Irs being at Plymouth in 1623. See Neal's Hist. N. E., 
vol. i., 151. Hazard's State Papers, vol. i., 421. Northouck's 
biographical Dictionary, HAM.* 

* [I can hardly believe that John Hampden ever came to 
America. His late biographer, Lord Nugent, does not allude to 
it, which is a strong negative proof. The narrative in the text 
is the only early New-England writing in which it is mentioned. 
Yet, when Hampden's fame became great in England, would not 
those whose solitude he had shared have sometimes referred to 
it in thankfulness, if not in boasting \ He could have come only 
in some fishing vessel, and would he have chosen such a convey- 
ance ! He had but just entered on public life in Parliament, 
and why should he have left his ambition and his n 
home for a winter's sojourn in a desert? H.) 



24 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to join. Its object was nothing less than the 
total extirpation of the English, and it was 
occasioned by the imprudent conduct of "Wes- 
ton's people in the Bay of Massachusetts. 
The Indians had it in contemplation to make 
them the first victims, and then to fall on the 
people of Plymouth. Massasoit's advice was, 
that the English should seize and put to death 
the chief conspirators, whom he named, and 
said that this would prevent the execution of 
the plot. Hobbamock communicated this se- 
cret to Winslow as they were returning, and 
it was reported to the governor. 

On this alarming occasion the whole com- 
pany were assembled in court, and the news 
was imparted to them. Such was their con- 
fidence in the governor, that they unanimous- 
ly requested him, with Allerton his assistant, 
to concert the best measures for their safety. 
The result was to strengthen the fortifica- 
tions, to be vigilant at home, and to send 
such a force to the Bay of Massachusetts, un- 
der Captain Standish, as he should judge suf- 
ficient to crush the conspiracy. An Indian 
who had come into the town was suspected 
as a spy and confined in irons. Standish, 
with eight chosen men and the faithful Hobba- 
mock, went in the shallop to Weston's planta- 



BRADFORD. 25 

tion, having goods, as usual, to trade with the 
Indians. Here he met the persons who had 
been named as conspirators, who personally 
insulted and threatened him. A quarrel en- 
sued, in which seven of the Indians were 
killed. The others were so struck with ter- 
ror that they forsook their houses and retreat- 
ed to the swamps, where many of them died 
with cold and hunger ; the survivers would 
have sued for peace, but were afraid to go to 
Plymouth. Weston's people were so appre- 
hensive of the consequences of this affair, that 
they quitted the plantation ; and the people 
of Plymouth, who offered them protection, 
which they would not accept, were gjad to 
be rid of such troublesome neighbours. 

Thus, by the spirited conduct of a handful 
of brave men, in conformity to the advice of 
the friendly sachem, the whole conspiracy 
was annihilated. But, when the report of 
this transaction was carried to their brethren 
in Holland, Mr. Robinson, in his next letter 
to the governor, lamented with great concern 
and tenderness, " O that you had converted 
some before you had killed any!"* 

The scarcity which they had hitherto ex- 
perienced was partly owing to the increase 
* Prince, 146. 



26 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of their numbers and the scantiness of their 
supplies from Europe,* but principally to 

* [This scarcity sometimes reduced them to extreme distress. 
For the first year they eked out the stock of provisions they 
brought with them by fishing and fowling, roots and clams. The 
first ship that came from England, November, 1621, brought 
them thirty-five new settlers, and no supply of provisions. " They 
never had any supply to any purpose after this time, but what the 
Lord helped them to raise by their own industry among them- 
selves ; for all that came afterward was too short for the passen- 
gers that came with it." Morton, 79. ''About the end of May 
(1622) our store of victuals was wholly spent, having lived long 
before with a bare and short allowance ; and, indeed, had we not 
been in a place where divers sorts of shellfish are, that may be 
taken with the hand, we must have perished, unless God had 
raised up some unknown or extraordinary means for our preser- 
vation." Winslow's Relation, Mass. Hist. Coll., viii., 245, 246. 
Winslow was sent to the fishing-vessels at Monhiggon, on the 
coast of Maine, to seek supplies, and procured enough to give 
each person a quarter of a pound of bread a day till harvest. 
Prince, 202. This year they planted nearly sixty acres of corn, 
but the harvest proved a scanty year's supply for the colony, 
" partly by reason they were not yet well acquainted with the 
manner of the husbandry of the Indian corn .... but chiefly 
their weakness for want of food." Morton, 83. Hence the 
governor's voyages, already mentioned, for the purchase of corn. 
They had not all and always " trading-stuffs," and were forced 
to borrow of the natives, and were sorely tempted, like Weston's 
men, to steal. In 1623, Governor Bradford says (Prince, 216), 
" By the time our corn is planted our victuals are spent ; not 
knowing at night where to have a bit in the morning, and have 
neither bread nor corn for three or four months together, yet 
bear our wants with cheerfulness and rest on Providence." In 
August of this year sixty new settlers arrived, of whom he says 
(Ib., 221), " the best dish we could present them with is a lob 



BRADFORD. 27 

their mode of labouring in common, and put- 
ting the fruit of their labour into the public 
store ; an error which had the same effect here 
as in Virginia. To remedy this evil, as far 
as was consistent with their engagements,* it 
was agreed, in the spring of 1623, that every 
family should plant for themselves on such 
ground as should be assigned to them by lot, 
without any division for inheritance ;t and 
that, in the time of harvest, a competent por- 
tion should be brought into the common store, 
for the maintenance of the public officers, 
fishermen, and such other persons as could 
not be employed in agriculture. t This regu- 
lation gave a spring to industry ; the women 
and children cheerfully went to work with 
the men in the fields, and much more corn 

ster or piece of fish, without bread, or anything else but a cup of 
fair spring water ; and the long continuance of this diet, with 
our labours abroad, hath somewhat abated the freshness of our 
ccmplexions." After this their harvests were plentiful, and com 
Became soon an article of export. H.] 

* [They were compelled to put the produce of their labours 
into a common stock, by their agreement with tne adventurers 
in England. See page 307, vol. ii., for the articles. H.] 

t Prince, 133. Purchas, iv., 1866. 

t [This, says Morton (Memorial, 93), " was thought the best 
way, and accordingly given way unto." The later departures 
/rom the original plan will be found loted in the Life of Cush- 
/nan, p. 75 of this volume. H.] 

III. C 



28 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was planted than ever before. Having but 
one boat, the men were divided into parties 
of six or seven, who took their turns to catch 
fish ; the shore afforded them shellfish, and 
groundnuts served them for bread. When 
any deer was killed the flesh was divided 
among the whole colony. Water-fowl came 
in plenty at the proper season, but the want 
of boats prevented them from being taken in 
great numbers. Thus they subsisted through 
the third summer, in the latter end of which 
two vessels arrived with sixty passengers. 
The harvest was plentiful, and after this time 
they had no general want of food, because 
they had learned to depend on their own ex- 
ertions rather than on foreign supplies. 

The combination which they made before 
their landing at Cape Cod vas-the first found- 
ation of their government ; but, as they were 
driven to this expedient by necessity, it was 
intended to subsist no longer than till they 
could obtain legal authority from their sover- 
eign.* As soon as they knew of the estab- 
lishment of the Council of New-England, they 
applied for a patent, which was taken in the 
name of John Peirce,f in trust for the colony. 

* Morton, 45. Prince, 136. Mag , i., 12. 

t [Of Peirce I have no other information than that given by 



BRADFORD. 29 

When he saw that they were well seated, and 
that there was a prospect of success to their 
undertaking, he "went without their knowl- 
edge, but in their name, and solicited the 
council for another patent of greater extent, 
intending to keep it to himself, and allow 
them no more than he pleased, holding them 
as his tenants, to sue and be sued at his 
courts. In pursuance of this design, having 
obtained the patent, he bought a ship, which 
he named the Paragon, loaded her with goods, 
took on board upward of sixty passengers, 
and sailed from London for the colony of 
New-Plymouth. In the Downs he was over- 
taken by a tempest, which so damaged the 
ship that he was obliged to put her into dock, 
where she lay seven weeks, and her repairs 
cost him one hundred pounds. In Decem- 
ber, 1622, he sailed a second time, having on 
board one hundred and nine persons ; but a 

Dr. Belknap. The patent which was taken in his name was 
dated June 1, 1621. It gave to the patentee and his associates 
one hundred acres of land each, and one hundred for each per- 
son settled in the proposed colony, to be taken in any place not 
inhabited by the English, and subject to a rent to the council of 
two shillings for every hundred acres : a free fishery also wa 
given, freedom of trade with England and the Indians, and au- 
thority to defend them by force of arms against all intruders. 
Morton's Memorial, Appendix F. H.] 



30 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 

series of tempestuous weather, which contin- 
ued fourteen days, disabled his ship, and for- 
ced him back to Portsmouth. These repeat- 
ed disappointments proved so discouraging to 
him, that he was easily prevailed upon by the 
company of adventurers to assign his patent 
to them for five hundred pounds. The pas- 
sengers came over in other skips. 

In 1629, another patent of larger extent 
was solicited by Isaac Allerton, and taken 
out in the name of "William Bradford, his 
heirs, associates, and assigns."*! This pat- 
ent confirmed their title (as far as the crown 
of England could confirm it) to a tract of 
land bounded on the east and south by the 
Atlantic Ocean, and by lines drawn west from 
the Rivulet of Conohasset, and north from the 
River of Narraganset, which lines meet in a 

* Hazard, i., 298. 

t [This patent was dated January 13th, 1630 (N. S.). Be- 
sides confirming their title to their lands, this charter conferred 
on them liberty to fish, to trade with the natives, to make laws 
not contrary to those of England, and to " seize and make prize 
of all who attempt to inhabit or trade with the natives within 
the limits of their plantation, or attempt their detriment or an- 
noyance." Hazard, as cited above, gives the charter ; see also 
Prince, 269. It also gave, what they could hardly have suppo- 
sed themselves to enjoy, a just and legal ground to their govern- 
ment and laws, and relieved them from the uncertain force of 
their own compact. The labours of Mr. Allerton in procuring 
this patent have been briefly noticed in a former note. H.] 



BRADFORD. 31 

point, comprehending all the country called 
Pokanoket. To this tract they supposed they 
had a prior title from the depopulation of a 
great part of it by a pestilence, from the gift 
of Massasoit, his voluntary subjection to the 
crown of England, and his having taken pro- 
tection of them. In a declaration published 
by them in 1636, they asserted their " lawful 
right in respect of vacancy, donation, and 
purchase of the natives,"* which, together 
with their patent from the crown, through the 
Council of New-England, formed " the war- 
rantable ground and foundation of their gov- 
ernment, of making laws and disposing of 
Iands."f 

* Hazard, i^ 404. 

t In 1639, after (he termination of the Pequod war, Massa*- 
oit, who had then changed his name to Woosamequen, brought 
his son Mooanam to Plymouth, and desired that the league 
which he had formerly made might be renewed and made invi- 
olable. The sachem and his son voluntarily promised, " for 
themselves and their successors, that they would not needlessly 
uor unjustly raise any quarrels or do any wrong to other native* 
to provoke them to war against the colony ; and that they would 
not give, sell, or convey any of their lands, territories, or pos- 
sessions whatever, to any person or persons whomsoever, with- 
out the privity or consent of the government of Plymouth, other 
than to such as the said government should send or appoint. 
The whole court did then ratify and confirm the aforesaid league, 
and promise to the said Woosamcqucn, his son and successors, 
that they would defend them against all such as should unjustly 
rise up against tbero, to wrong or oppress them." Morton's 
memorial 159. 



32 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In the same patent was granted a large 
tract bordering on the River Kennebec, 
where they had carried on a traffic wilhj;he 
natives for furs, as they did also at Connecti- 
cut River, which was not equally beneficial, 
because they there had the Dutch for rivals.* 
The fur-trade was found to be much more 
advantageous than the fishery. Sometimes 
they exchanged corn of their own growth 
for furs; but European coarse cloths, hard- 
ware, and ornaments were good articles of 
trade when they could command them. 

The company in England with which they 
were connected did not supply them in plen- 
ty. Losses were sustained by sea ; the re- 
turns were not adequate to their expecta- 
tions ; they became discouraged, threw many 
reflections on the planters, and finally refu- 
sed them any farther supplies ;f but still de- 
manded the debt due from them, and would 
not permit them to connect themselves in 
trade with any other persons. The planters 
complained to the Council of New-England, 
but obtained no redress. After the expira- 
tion of the seven years (1628) for which the 

* Hutch., ii., 469. Prince, 157. 

t Bradford's Letters in the Collections of the Historical So- 
iety, vol. iii., p. 29, 36, 60. 



BRADFORD. 33 

contract was made, eight of the principal per- 
sons in the colony, with four of their friends 
in London, became bound for the balance,* 

* [The company of adventurers began to grow dissatisfied as 
early as 1622, and were speedily discouraged. And not with- 
out good reason. The most of them had entered into the 
scheme purely as a commercial speculation. In 1624, their ex- 
penses had already exceeded seven thousand pounds, for which 
they had received a very slight return. They became anxious, 
as prudent men might well be, to escape from their connexion 
with an enterprise which had thus far proved a failure, and of the 
future success of which they could have no assurance. In the 
course of this year a large number of them refused all farther 
partnership, which Mr. Cushman formally announced to Govern- 
or Bradford, in a letter dated December 18. The colonists at 
Plymouth were hardly less willing to abandon a connexion 
which depressed industry among them, exhausted the profits of 
their labour, and now held out to them little prospect of a rec- 
ompense for their past services, or of aid for the future. When 
they learned that the adventurers were beginning to withdraw, 
Governor Bradford wrote, in reply to Cushman, " Our people 
will never agree any way again to unite with the company, who 
have cast them off with such reproach and contempt, and also re- 
turned their bills and all their debts upon their heads 

Nay, they would rather ruin what is done than they should pos- 
sess it." Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 29, 36. Accordingly, in the 
summer of 1625 they sent Captain Miles Standish to England, 
" as agent in behalf of the plantation, in reference unto some 
particulars yet depending betwixt them and the adventurers." 
The plague, then raging in London, prevented the completion of 
his business, and he only " left things in a fair way for future 
composition." Morton, 125. Allerton was sent the next year, 
and, after two more voyages (see note to page 10), consumma- 
ted a bargain with the adventurers. They assigned to the colo- 
nists all their property in the stock of the company foi the sura 



34 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and from that time took the whole trade into 
their own hands. These were obliged to 
take up money at an exorbitant interest, and 
to go deeply into trade at Kennebec, Pe- 
nobscot, and Connecticut ; by which means, 
and their own great industry and economy, 
they were enabled to discharge the debt, and 
pay for the transportation of thirty-five fami- 
lies of their friends from Leyden, who arrived 
in 1629.* 

of eighteen hundred pounds, and Bradford, with eight others, 
gave their several bonds for the payment of it, in annual instal- 
ments ef 200 every Michaelmas. These nine undertakers, as 
they were called, also agreed with the colonists to pay all their 
other debts in England, amounting to six hundred pounds. 
Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 46-51, 58. So poor, however, was their 
credit in the money market in London, that Mr. Allerton, on the 
joint order and obligation of the principal men of the colony, 
raised only 200, "at thirty in the hundred interest." H.] 

* [They were obliged to take up money at thirty, forty, and 
even fifty per cent. These thirty-five families, says Governor 
Bradford, " we were fain to keep eighteen months at our 
charge ere they could reap any harvest to live upon ; all which 
together fell heavy upon us." Mass. Hist. Coll., 58, 74. So 
severe were their pecuniary troubles. Yet their engagements 
were all faithfully discharged. 

lo enable themselves to pay the debts they had thus assumed, 
the undertakers obtained of the colonists an exclusive right to 
the trade of the colony for six years from the end of September, 
1627. Ib., 59-61. Prince, 245. The progress and extent of 
the trade of the colony deserves a more particular notice than 
the allusion in the text. On the return of the Fortune in 1G21, 
they sent home a cargo of furs, clapboards, and sassafras, vaU 



BRADFORD. 35 

The patent had been taken in the name of 
Mr. Bradford, in trust for the colony ; and the 

ued at 500. This was taken by the French, and lost. In 
1623, September 10, they sent a similar cargo in the Ann. 
Their trading voyages thus far were confined to one or two, by 
Winslow and Standish, to the fishermen " down East," and to 
the Indians of Massachusetts Bay for furs ; and their exchanges 
were few, and on hard terms, with the vessels that now and 
then touched on their coast. In 1624 a carpenter was sent out 
by the company, who built "two very good and strong shallops, 
with a great and strong lighter." Their own pinnace had been 
stranded on the cape. In 1625 one of these was first used, 
in a voyage to the Kennebec, to dispose of the surplus corn 
of that year's abundant harvest. Governor Bradford gives an 
interesting account of the manner of this expedition. " We 
laid a deck over her midship to keep the corn dry ; but the men 
were forced to stand in all weathers without any shelter, and 
the time of year begins to grow tempestuous, but God preserves 
and prospers them, for they bring home seven hundred weight 
of beaver, besides other fur, having little or nothing but our 
corn to purchase them. This voyage was made by Mr. Wins- 
low and some old standards, for seamen we have none." 
Prince, 235. See also Hubbard, 94. They were also engaged 
in fishing, and had erected buildings for this purpose at Nan- 
tasket and Cape Ann ; but it was less profitable than trading. 
In 1626 corn was worth six shillings the bushel. The shallops 
being found inconveniently small and open, they employed a 
housewright, the ship-carpenter being dead, to saw the largest 
across the middle, lengthen her five or six feet, and put on a 
deck. She was then fitted with sails, &c., and did service 
seven years. Ib., 240. They seem to have made but one, and 
that an unsuccessful, attempt to sail round Cape Cod to the 
south, which has been referred to in a previous note. What 
extent of trade they had with the region southwest of the cape 
we are not precisely informed, but it must have been consider*. 



o6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

event proved that their confidence was not 
misplaced. When the number of people was 

ble. For early in the summer of 1627, to avoid the shoals of 
the cape, they built a pinnace on the south side of the peninsula 
on the sea, at Manomet, not far from Sandwich, where also 
they built a house, and kept some men stationed. At this 
place two small creeks, one running into the ocean and the oth- 
er into Cape Cod Bay, have their source within a few miles of 
each other. Having brought their goods up one of them, they 
carried them over land four or five miles, and down the other to 
the ocean, where their pinnace lay. Ib., 244. This route was 
both shorter and safer, and has been used somewhat in later 
times, and, indeed, is the route of the proposed and much-talked 
of cJhial to connect Buzzard's and Cape Cod Bays. This same 
year, so profitable was the trade, that Bradford wrote to the 
council, June 15, complaining of " many who, without license, 
trade and traffic, and truck, to get what they can, whether by 
right or wrong, and then be gone." Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 56. 
The first direct knowledge which the Plymouth settlers had 
of their Dutch neighbours at Manhattan seems to have been by 
the driving ashore of one of their ships in Narraganset Bay, in 
March, 1623. Prince, 211. Their first intercourse with them 
was in March, 1627, when a letter was received from Isaac de 
Razier, agent of the Dutch Company, and " second to the gov- 
ernor," proposing to open a traffic with them. Governor Brad- 
ford made a courteous reply, consenting to deal with them, but 
informing them of their commission to expel intruders on their 
limits (40 south), and especially desiring them to "forbear tra- 
ding with the natives in Plymouth Bay, and the Narraganset 
River, and Sowames." The Dutch rejoined, affirming their 
right to trade in those parts, by commission from the States of 
Holland, " which they would defend." Governor Bradford 
proposed a conference, and in September De Razier came to 
Plymouth, and they made some arrangements towards a mutu- 
ally advantageous commerce. He first acquainted them with 



BRADFORD. 67 

increased, and new townships were erected, 
the General Court, in 1640, requested that he 

wampum, of which they afterward made much profit. Brad- 
ford still insisted that the Dutch should " clear the title of their 
planting in those parts," significantly adding, that thereafter it 
might be settled " not without blows." See the correspond- 
ence, &c.,Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 51-57. 

It is probable from what has been said, as well as from the 
earlier date and commercial character of the settlement at 
New- York, that the Dutch were first used to traffic on the Con- 
necticut River. Indeed, Morton says expressly that they told 
them of Plymouth of it as a good place for planting and trade ; 
but " their hands being full otherwise, they let it pass." They 
were afterward induced to think seriously of it by the repre- 
sentations of some Indians, who had been driven from their 
country by the Pequods. Memorial, 171. The settlers at 
Massachusetts Bay, in 1631, declined entering into the scheme 
(Winthrop's Journal, 52), and Plymouth undertook the planta- 
tion alone. The expedition was conducted by Lieutenant 
Holmes, who carried with him the frame ol a house, and, pass- 
ing up the river, in defiance of the Dutch, who had a fort with 
ten pieces of cannon a little above Hartford, erected and forti- 
fied his house at Windsor October 25, 1633. Trumbull, Hist, 
of Conn., i., 21. Prince, 435, 436. The question of the prior 
discovery of the river, it seems, therefore, must be decided in 
favour of the Dutch, though Trumbull (1. c.) asserts the con- 
trary. The question of prior occupancy, which was then a 
vexed one, and now possesses some historical interest, is one 
of words, as the Dutch had a fort there first, and the Plymouth 
people a trading-house first ; or else, by their own showing, 
those of Plymouth have the worst of the case. There is no 
evidence, and it is highly 'improbable, that, as Smith asserts 
(Hist, of New- York, 19, 8vo ed.), the Dutch built a fort there 
in 1623. The title to the lands, by purchase of the Indians, 
was clearly in the English. They claimed through the heredi- 



7449 



38 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

would surrender the patent into their hands.* 
To this he readily consented ; and, by a writ- 
ten instrument under his hand and seal, sur- 
rendered it to them, reserving for himself no 
more than his proportion, by previous agree- 
ment. This was done in open court, and the 
patent was immediately redelivered into his 
custody. 

"While they were few in number, the whole 
body of associates or freemen assembled for 

tary lord of the soil, the Dutch through a usurper. See Haz- 
ard, ii., 262. Hutch., Mass., ii., 416, 417. Winslow's Letter 
to Winthrop in 1643. There can be no doubt of the course o 
trade after the river was settled by the English. Winthrop, i., 
138. It was a capital market for furs, otter, and beaver, and 
formed a route to Canada by water, saving a few miles only of 
land carriage. Trumbull, i., 23. 

January 13th, 1630, a patent was granted by the Council for 
New-England to the colonists at Plymouth, of a tract of fifteen 
miles on each side of the Kennebec. About the same time 
Mr. Shirley and others took out a patent for lands on the Pe- 
nobscot, and sent out Edward Ashley, one of their number, to 
superintend their operations there. In this enterprise those of 
Plymouth were induced, though reluctantly, to join, and a tra- 
ding-house was built. Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 70-74. Win- 
throp, i., 166. This establishment was soon after taken by the 
French, who retained it, in spite of all efforts to dislodge them, 
till 1654. The trade to the Kennebec seems to have been 
quite profitable. " Our neighbours of Plymouth," says Gov- 
ernor Winthrop (Journal, i., 138), "had great trade this year 
(1634) at Kennebec, so as Mr. Winslow carried with him to 
England about twenty hogsheads of beaver." H.] 

Hazard, i., 298, 468. 



BRADFORD. 39 

legislative, executive, and judicial business.* 
In 1634 the governor and assistants were 
constituted a Judicial Court, and afterward 
the Supreme Judiciary.f Petty offences, and 
actions of debt, trespass, and damage, not 
exceeding forty shillings, were tried by the 
selectmen of each town, with liberty of ap- 
peal to the next Court of Assistants. The 
first Assembly of Representatives was held 
in 1639, when two deputies were sent from 
each town, and four from Plymouth. In 
1649 Plymouth was restricted to the same 
number with the other towns. These depu- 
ties were chosen by the freemen ; and none 
were admitted to the privilege of freemen 
but such as were twenty-one years of age, of 
sober and peaceable conversation, orthodox 
in the fundamentals of religion, and possessed 
of twenty pounds rateable estate. 

By the former patent the colony of Ply- 
mouth was empowered " to enact such laws 
as should most befit a state in its nonage, not 
rejecting or omitting to observe such of the 
laws of their native country as would conduce 
to their good."t In the second patent the 
power of government was granted to William 

* Hutch., ii, 467. t Plymouth Lavm 

t Preface to Plymouth Laws, by Secretary Morton. 



40 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Bradford and his associates in the following 
terms :* " To frame and make orders, ordi- 
nances, and constitutions, as well for the bet- 
ter government of their affairs here [in Eng- 
land], and the receiving or admitting any to 
his or their society, as also for the better 
government of his or their people at sea, in 
going thither or returning from thence ; and 
the same to be put in execution by such offi- 
cers and ministers as he or they shall author- 
ize and depute ; provided that the said laws 
be not repugnant to the laws of England, or 
the frame of government by the said presi- 
dent and council hereafter to be established." 
At that time, a general government over 
the whole territory of New-England was a 
favourite object with the council which 
granted these patents ; but, after several at- 
tempts, it finally miscarried, to the no small 
joy of the planters, who were then at liberty 

to govern themselves/}- 



* Hazard, i., 302. 

t [One essay towards it was made as early as 1623. In 
./une of that year Captain Francis West came to Plymouth, 
" who had a commission to be Admiral of New-England, lo re- 
strain interlopers, and such fishing ships as came to fish and 
trade without license ; but, finding the fishermen stubborn fel- 
lows," he sailed away to Virginia. Prince, 218. Morton's 
Memorial. 97, 98. In September of the ^ame year Robert 



BRADFORD. 41 

In the formation of the laws of New-Ply- 
mouth, regard was had, "primarily and prin- 
cipally, to the ancient platform of God's 
law." For, though some parts of that sys- 
tem were peculiar to the circumstances of the 
sons of Jacob, yet " the whole being ground- 
ed on principles of moral equity," it was the 
opinion of our first planters, not at Plymouth 
only, but in Massachusetts, New-Haven, and 
Connecticut, that " all men, especially Chris- 
tians, ought to have an eye to it in the fra- 
ming of their political constitutions."* A 
secondary regard was had to the liberties 
granted to them by their sovereign and the 
laws of England, which they supposed " any 
impartial person might discern, in the peru- 
sal of the book of the laws of the colony." 

At first they had some doubt concerning 
their right of punishing capital crimes. A 
murder which happened in 1630 made it ne- 
cessary to decide this question. It was de- 
Gorges, son of Sir Ferdinando, arrived, with " a commission to 
be governor-general of the country." He returned the same 
year and relinquished his commission, " rinding the state of 
things not to answer his quality and condition." Morton, 104, 
108. In July, 1637, Sir Ferdinando Gorges was appointed by 
King Charles governor-general over all New-England, though 
he never exercised the powers of that office. Chalmers, 162. 
For the scheme of twelve governors, 'see Winthrop, i., 161. 
H.] * Preface to Plymouth Laws. 



42 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

cided by the divine law against shedding hu- 
man blood, which was deemed indispensable.* 
In 1636 their Code of Laws was revised, and 
capital crimes were enumerated and defined. 
In 1671 it was again revised, and the next 
year printed, with this title : " The Book of 
the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the 
Jurisdiction of New-Plymouth ;"f a title very 
similar to the codes of Massachusetts and 
Connecticut, which were printed at the same 
time, by Samuel Green, at Cambridge. 

* [Their doubt arose probably on the question whether their 
charter gave them this power. The question was decided by 
the advice of their " neighbours of Massachusetts," by higher 
considerations, " that the land might be purged from blood." 
Hutch., Mass., ii., 413. Winthrop's Journal, i., 36. H.] 

t Governor Hutchinson, with unaccountable carelessness, 
has asserted (vol. ii., 463) that they " never established any dis- 
tinct code or body of laws ;" grounding the assertion on a pas- 
sage in Hubbard's MS. History, which implies no such thing. 
The quotation, imperfectly given by Hutchinson, is correctly as 
follows (p. 50): 

" The laws they intended to be governed by were the laws 
of England, the which they were willing to be subject to, 
though in a foreign land ; and have, since that time, continued 
hi that mind for the general, adding only some particular muni- 
cipal laws of their own in such cases where the common laws 
and statutes of England could not well reach, or afford them 
kelp in emergent difficulties of the place ; possibly on the same 
ground that Pacavius sometimes advised his neighbours of Ca- 
pua not to cashier their old magistrates till they could agree on 
better to place in their room. So did these choose to abide by 
the laws of England till they could be provided of better." 



BRADFORD. 43 

The piety, wisdom, arid integrity of Mr. 
Bradford were such prominent features in 
his character, that he was annually chosen 
governor as long as he lived, excepting three 
years when Mr. Winslow,* and two when 
Mr. Prince,! were chosen ; and even then 
Mr. Bradford was the first in the list of assist- 
ants, which gave him the rank of deputy- 
governor. In 1624 they chose five assistants, 
and in 1633 seven, the governor having a 
double vote. These augmentations were 
made at the earnest request of Mr. Brad- 
ford, who strongly recommended a rotation 
in the election of a governor, but could not 
obtain it for more than five years in thirty- 
five, and never for more than two years in 
succession. t His argument was, " that if it 
were any honour or benefit, others besides 
himself should partake of it ; if it were a 
burden, others besides himself should help 

* [Edward Winslow was chosen for the years 1633, 1636, 
and 1644. H.] 

t [Thomas Prince (he spelled his name Prence) was choen 
in 1634 and 1638. H.] 

J [The Plymouth colonists were not office-seekers. They 
had other more important cares than the show of place. In 1632 
they enacted a law, that whoever should refuse th office of 
governor, unless he were elected for two successive years, 
should be fined 20. In like manner, a fine of 10 was im- 
posed on those who refused to serve as magistrates. H.] 
III. D 



44 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to bear it."* Notwithstanding the reason- 
ableness and equity of his plea, the people 
had such a strong attachment to him, and 
confidence in him, that they could not be 
persuaded to leave him out of the govern- 
ment. 

For the last twelve years of his life he 
was annually chosen without interruption, 
and served in the office of governor. His 
health continued good till the autumn of 
1656, when it began to decline, and, as the 
next spring advanced, he became weaker, 
but felt not any acute illness till the begin- 
ning of May. 

After a distressing day, his mind was in 
the following night so elevated with the idea 
of futurity, that he said to his friends in the 
morning, " God has given me a pledge of 
my happiness in another world, and the first 
fruits of eternal glory." The next day, be- 
ing the ninth of May, 1657, he was removed 
from this world by death, in the sixty-ninth 
year of his age, to the immense loss and grief 
of the people, not only in Plymouth, but the 
neighbouring colonies, fourt of which he 

* Morton, p. 53. 

t These four colonies were Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
New- Haven, and Rhode Island. 



BRADFORD. 45 

lived to see established, besides that of which 
he was one of the principal founders. '':. 

In addition to what has been said of Mr. 
Bradford's character, it may be observed 
that he was a sensible man, of a strong mind, 
a sound judgment, and a good memory. 
Though not favoured with a learned educa- 
tion, he was much inclined to study and wri- 
ting; The French and Dutch languages 
were familiar to him, and he attained a con- 
siderable knowledge of the Latin and Greek ; 
but he more assiduously studied the Hebrew, 
because he said that " he would see with his 
own eyes the ancient oracles of God in their 
native beauty."* 

He had read much of history and philoso 
phy, but theology was his favourite study. 
He was able to manage the polemic part of 
it with much dexterity, and was particularly 
vigilant against the sectaries which infested 
the colonies, though by no means severe or 
intolerant as long as they continued peacea- 
ble ; wishing rather to foil them by argu- 
ment, and guard the people against receiving 
their tenets, than to suppress them by violence, 
or cut them off by the sword of magistracy. 
Mr. Hubbard's character of him is, that, he 

* Mather's Magnalia, ii., 5. 



46 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was " a person of great gravity and prudence, 
of sober principles, and, for one of that per- 
suasion (Brownists), very pliable, gentle, and 
condescending." 

He wrote " A History of Plymouth People 
and Colony,"* beginning with the first forma- 
tion of the church in 1602, and ending in 
1646. It was contained in a folio volume of 
270 pages. Morton's Memorial is an abridg- 
ment of it. Prince and Hutchinson had the 
use of it, and the manuscript was carefully 
deposited, with Mr. Prince's valuable Collec- 
tion of Papers, in the library of the Old 
South Church in Boston, which fell a sacri- 
fice to the unprincipled fury of the British 
army in the year 1775, since which time it 
has not been seen. He also had a large 
book of copies of letters relative to the af- 
fairs of the colony, a fragment of which was, 
a few years ago, recovered by accident,! and 
published by the Historical Society. $ To 
this fragment is subjoined another, being a 
" Descriptive and Historical Account of New- 
England," in verse, which, if it be not graced 

* Preface to Prince's Annals, p. vi., ix. 

t It was accidentally seen in a grocer's shop at Halifax, No- 
va Scotia, by James Clarke, Esq. , a corresponding member of the 
Historical Society, and by him transmitted to Boston. 

t Collections of Hist. Soc., vol. iii., p. 27, 77. 



BRADFORD. 47 

with the charms of poetry, yet is a just and 
affecting narrative, intermixed with pious and 
useful reflections.* Besides these, he wrote, 
as Dr. Mather says, "some significant things, 
for the confutation of the errors of the times, 
by which it appears that he was a person of 
a good temper, and free from that rigid spirit 
of separation which broke the Separatists to 
pieces." 

In his office of chief magistrate he was 
prudent, temperate, and firm. He would 
suffer no person to trample on the laws or 
disturb the peace of the colony. During his 
administration there were frequent accessions 

* [It may not add materially to the governor's reputation, but 
I am disposed to insert a passage from " certain verses left" 
by him, " declaring the gracious dispensations of God's prov- 
idence towards him," &c., as a specimen of the verse and of 
the man. 

" From my years young in days of youth, 
God did make known to me his truth, 
And call'd me from my native place 
For to enjoy the means of grace. 
In wilderness he did me guide, 
And in strange lands for me provide. 
In fears and wants, through weal and wo, 
A pilgrim pass'd I to and fro ; 
Oft left of them whom I did trust 
How vain it is to rest on dust !" 

The rest may be found by the curious in Morton's Memorial. 
S64, 265. H.] 



48 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of new inhabitants, some of whom were at 
first refractory, but his wisdom and fortitude 
obliged them to pay a decent respect to the 
laws and customs of the country. One par- 
ticular instance is preserved. A company 
of young men, newly arrived, were very un- 
willing to comply with the governor's order 
for working on the public account. On a 
Christmas day they excused themselves un- 
der pretence that it was against their con- 
science to work. The governor gave them 
no other answer than that he would let them 
alone till they should be better informed. In 
the course of the day he found them at play 
in the street, and, commanding the instru- 
ments of their game to be taken from them, 
he told them that it was against his con- 
science to suffer them to play while others 
were at work, and that, if they had any reli- 
gious regard to the day, they should show it 
in the exercise of devotion at home. This 
gentle reproof had the desired effect, and 
prevented a repetition of such disorders. 

His conduct towards intruders and false 
friends was equally moderate, but firm and 
decisive. John Lyford had imposed himself 
upon the colony as a minister, being recom- 
mended by some of the adventurers. At first 



BRADFORD. 49 

his behaviour was plausible, and he was treat- 
ed with respect ; but it was not long before 
he began, in concert with John Oldhara, to 
excite a faction. The governor watched 
them ; and, when a ship was about sailing for 
England, it was observed that Lyford was 
very busy in writing letters, of which he put 
a great number on board. The governor, in 
a boat, followed the ship to sea, and, by fa- 
vour of the master, who was a friend to the 
colony, examined the letters, some of which 
he intercepted and concealed. Lyford and 
Oldham were at first under much apprehen- 
sion ; but, as nothing transpired, they conclu- 
ded that the governor had only gone on board 
to carry his own letters, and felt themselves 
secure. 

In one of the intercepted letters Lyford had 
written to his friends, the discontented part 
of the adventurers, that he and Oldham in- 
tended a reformation in Church and State. 
Accordingly, they began to institute a separ- 
ate church ; and, when Oldham was summon- 
ed to take his turn at a military watch, he not 
only refused compliance, but abused Captain 
Standish, and drew his knife upon him. For 
this he was imprisoned, and both he and Ly- 
ford were brought to trial before the whole 



50 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

company. Their behaviour was insolent and 
obstinate. The governor took pains to con- 
vince them of their folly, but in vain. The 
letters were then produced, their adherents 
were confounded, and the evidence of their 
factious and disorderly conduct being satis- 
factory, they were condemned, and ordered 
to be banished from the plantation. Lyford 
was allowed six months for probation ; but his 
pretences proved hypocritical, and he was 
obliged to depart. After several removals 
he died in Virginia.* Oldham having re- 
turned after banishment, his second expulsion 
was conducted in this singular manner: "A 
guard of musketeers was appointed, through 
which he was obliged to pass ; every one was 
ordered to give him a blow on the hinder 
parts with the butt end of his musket ; then 
he was conveyed to the water side, where a 
boat was ready to carry him away, with this 

* [This unhappy man came to New-England in 1624. Mr. 
Cushman, in a letter written at the time (January 24th), speaks 
of him as " a preacher, though not the most eminent, for whose 
going Mr. Winslow and I gave way, to give content to some at 
London." Prince, 226. Bradford says he was " sent by a 
faction of the adventurers to hinder Mr. Robinson." Ib., 228. 
For some previous immoralities, when a minister in Ireland, he 
had been forced to leave that country. He went from Plymouth 
to Nantasket, and thence to Cape Ann. H.] 



BRADFORD. 51 

farewell, Go, and mend your manners."* This 
discipline had a good effect on him ; he made 
his submission, and was allowed to come and 
go on trading voyages. In one of these he 
was killed by the Pequod Indians, which 
proved the occasion of a war with that nation, t 
Mr. Bradford had one son by his first wife, 
and by his second, Alice Southworth,1: whom 
he married in 1623, he, had two sons and a 
daughter. His son William, born in 1624, 
was deputy-governor of the colony after his 
father's death, and lived to the age of 80, as 
appears by his gravestone in Plymouth church- 
yard. One of his grandsons and two of his 
great-grandsons were counsellors of Massa- 
chusetts. Several others of his descendants 



* Morton, 81. 

t [Oldham is supposed to have come to Plymouth in the sum 
mer of 1623. Previous to bis connexion with Lyford he had 
been highly esteemed at Plymouth, where he had been even 
" called to council in chief affairs without distrust." A passion- 
ate man, and of rude speech. Prince, 228, 229. Leaving Ply- 
mouth, he went to Nantasket, where he remained till his sen- 
tence of banishment was in effect remitted. In the settlement 
at Cape Ann he was appointed to manage the trade with the 
Indians. He was a man of much energy, industry, and enter- 
prise. His death took place in August, 1636.' H.] 

J [She was a widow, with two children. The marriage, which 
was the fourth in the colony, was solemnized August 14th. 
Prince, 221. Morton. 103, note. H.] 
111. K 



52 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

have borne respectable characters, and have 
been placed in stations of honour and useful- 
ness. One of them, William Bradford, has 
been deputy-governor of the State of Rhode 
Island, and a Senator in the Congress of the 
United States. Two others, Alden Bradford 
and Gamaliel Bradford, are members of the 
Historical Society. 



BREWSTER. 53 



XX. WILLIAM BREWSTER. 

THE place of this gentleman's birth is un- 
known. The time of it was A.D. 1560.* He 
received his education at the University of 
Cambridge, where he became seriously im- 
pressed with the truth of religion, which had 
its genuine influence on his character through 
his whole life. 

After leaving the University he entered into 
the service of William Davison, a courtier of 
Queen Elizabeth, and her ambassador in 
Scotland and in Holland, who found him so 
capable and faithful that he reposed the ut- 
most confidence in him. He esteemed him 
as a son, and conversed with him in private, 
both on religious and political subjects, with 
the greatest familiarity ; and, when anything 
occurred which required secrecy, Brewster 
was his confidential friend. 

When the queen entered into a league with 
the United Provinces (1584), and received 

* [Mr. Young says 1564. Chronicles of the Pilgrims, p. 
469, note. This work, received while these volumes are going 
through the press, is characterized by singular learning, research, 
and exactness. H.] 



54 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

possession of several towns and forts as secu- 
rity for her expenses in defending their liber- 
ties, Davison, who negotiated the matter, in- 
trusted Brewster with the keys of Flushing, 
one of those cautionary towns ; and the States 
of Holland were so sensible of his merit as to 
present him with the ornament of a golden 
chain.* 

He returned with the ambassador to Eng- 
land, and continued in his service till Davi- 
son, having incurred the hypocritical displeas- 
ure of his arbitrary mistress, was imprisoned, 
fined, and ruined. Davison is said to have 
been a man of abilities and integrity, but easy 
to be imposed upon, and for that very reason 
was made secretary of state. f When Mary, 
the unfortunate Queen of Scotland, had been 
tried and condemned, and the Parliament of 
England had petitioned their sovereign for 
her execution, Elizabeth privately ordered 
Davison to draw a death-warrant, which she 
signed, and sent him with it to the chancellor 
to have the great seal annexed. Having per- 
formed his duty, she pretended to blame him 
for his precipitancy. Davison acquainted the 
council with the whole transaction ; they knew 
the queen's real sentiments, and persuaded 
him to send the warrant to the Earls of Kent 

* Morton's Memorial, p. 154. f Hume, vol. v., ch. 42. 



BREWSTER. 55 

and Shrewsbury, promising to justify his con- 
duct, and take the blame on themselves. 
These earls attended the execution of Mary ; 
but, when Elizabeth heard of it, she affected 
surprise and indignation, threw all the blame 
on the innocent secretary, and committed him 
to the Tower, where he became the subject 
of raillery from those very counsellors who 
had promised to countenance and protect 
him. He was tried in the Star Chamber, 
and fined ten thousand pounds, Avhich, being 
rigorously levied upon him, reduced him to 
poverty.* 

During these misfortunes Brewster faith- 
fully adhered to him, and gave him all the 
assistance of which he was capable. When 
he 'could no longer serve him, he retired into 
the north of England,! among his old friends, 
and was very highly esteemed by those who 
were most exemplary for religion.^ Being 
possessed of a handsome property, and hav- 

* For a particular account of Davison, and a full vindication 
of his conduct, the reader is referred to the fifth volume of Bio- 
graphia Brilannica, published by the late learned and candid 
Dr. Kippis, where the character of Elizabeth is drawn in its 
proper colours, p. 4-13. 

t [Secretary Davison was displaced in 1587, and Brewster's 
retirement to the north of England is supposed to have taken 
place the same year. H.] 

t Cotton's Appendix, in the Collections of the Historical So 
ciety, vol. iv., 114. 



56 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ing some influence, he made use of both in 
promoting the cause of religion, and procu- 
ring persons of good character to serve in the 
office of ministers to the parishes in his neigh- 
bourhood. 

By degrees, he became disgusted with the 
impositions of the prelatical party, and their 
severity towards men of a moderate and 
peaceable disposition. This led him to in- 
quire critically into the nature of ecclesiasti- 
cal authority; and, having discovered much 
corruption in the constitution, forms, ceremo- 
nies, and discipline of the Established Church, 
he thought it his duty to withdraw from its 
communion, and join with others of the same 
sentiments in the institution of a separate 
church, of which the aged Mr. Clifton and 
the younger Mr. Robinson were appointed 
pastors. The newly-formed society met on 
the Lord's days at Mr. Brewster's house, 
where they were entertained at his expense 
with much affection and respect, as long as 
they could assemble without opposition from 
their adversaries. 

But when the resentment of the hierarchy, 
heightened by the countenance and authority 
of James, the successor of Elizabeth, obliged 
them to seek refuge in a foreign country, 
Brewster was the most forward to assist them 



B R E W S T E R. 57 

in their removal. He was one of those who 
went on board a vessel in the night at Bos- 
ton, in Lincolnshire (as already related in the 
Life of Robinson) ; and, being apprehended 
by the magistrates, he was the greatest suffer- 
er, because he had the most property. When 
liberated from confinement, he first assisted 
the weak and poor of the society in their 
embarcation, and then followed them to Hol- 
land. 

His family was large,* and his dependants 
numerous ; his education and mode of living 
were not suited to a mechanical or mercantile 
life, and he could not practise agriculture in 
a commercial city. The hardships which he 
suffered in consequence of this removal were 
grievous and depressing ; but, when his finan- 
ces were exhausted, he had a resource in his 
learning and abilities. In Leyden he found 
employment as a tutor ; the youth of the city 

* [In 1620 he bad sii children, four of them with him in Ply- 
mouth, and two daughters remaining in Leyden. These two 
daughters came over in 1623, and the next year one of them, 
Patience, was married to Thomas Prince. Prince, 224. The 
other, Fear, was afterward married to Isaac Allerton. Judge 
Davis, in his note to Morton's Memorial (p. 221), has inadver- 
tently given Fear to Prince, and Patience to Allerton. Two of 
his sons were named Love and Wrestling. He appears to have 
had two children after his arrival in New-England. H.J 



58 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and University came to him for instruction in 
the English tongue ; and by means of the 
Latin, which was common to both, and a 
grammar of his own construction, they soon 
acquired a knowledge of the English lan- 
guage. By the help of some friends he also 
set up a printing-office, and was instrumental 
of publishing several books against the hie- 
rarchy which could hot obtain a license in 
England. 

His reputation was so high in the church 
of which he was a member, that they chose 
him a ruling elder, and confided in his wis- 
dom, experience, and integrity, to assist in 
conducting their temporal as well as ecclesi 
astical concerns, particularly their removal t< 
America. With the minority of the churck 
he came over, and suffered all the hardships 
attending their settlement in this wilderness, 
He partook with them of labour, hunger, and 
watching ; his Bible and his arms were equal- 
ly familiar to him ; and he was always ready 
for any duty or suffering to which he was 
called. 

For some time after their arrival they were 
destitute of a teaching elder, expecting and 
hoping that Mr. Robinson, with the remain- 
der of the church, would follow them to 



BREWSTER. 59 

America. Brewster frequently officiated as a 
preacher, but he never could be persuaded to 
administer the sacraments or take on him the 
pastoral office ; though it had been stipulated 
before their departure from Holland, that 
" those who first went should be an absolute 
church of themselves, as well as those who 
stayed ;"* and it was one of their principles, 
that the brethren who elected had the power 
of ordaining to office. 

The reason of his refusal was his extreme 
diffidence, being unwilling to assume any 
other office in the church than that with 
which he had been invested by the whole 
body. This plea might have some force du- 
ring Robinson's life, by whose advice he had 
been prevailed upon to accept the office of a 
ruling elder ; but after his death there wad 
less reason for it, and his declining to offici- 
ate was really productive of very disagreea- 
ble effects. 

A spirit of faction and division was exci- 
ted in the church, partly by persons of differ 
ent sentiments and character, who came over 
from England, and partly by uneasy and assu- 
ming brethren among themselves. Such was 
the notoriety and melancholy appearance of 

* Prince, 66. 



60 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

these divisions, that their friends in England 
seriously admonished them,* and recommend- 
ed to them " to let their practice in the 
church be complete and full ; to permit all 
who feared God to join themselves to them 
without delay ; and to let all divine ordinan- 
ces be used completely in the church, with- 
out longer waiting upon uncertainties, or 
keeping a gap open for opposites."f 

With this salutary advice they did not 
comply, and one great obstacle to their com- 
pliance was the liberty of " prophesying," 
which was allowed not only to the elders, 
but to such private members as were " gift- 
ed." In Robinson's Apology,:}: this principle 

* [This was so early as 1624. The rumours of these dis 
sensions spreading into England, increased the alarm and dis- 
content which existed among the adventurers. In April of 
that year they wrote to Governor Bradford, among other admo- 
nitions, " that you freely and readily entertain any honest men 
into your church, estate, and society, though with great infirmi- 
ties and difference of judgment; taking heed of too great strait- 
ness and singularity even in that particular." Bradford's Let- 
ter-book, Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 28. H.] 

t Bradford's Letters in Collections of the Historical Society, 
vol. iii., 33. 

t " We learn from the Apostle Paul (1 Cor., xiv., 3), that he 
who prophesieth speaketh to men to edification, and exhorta- 
tion, and comfort ; which, to perform conveniently, comes within 
the compass of but a few of the multitude, haply two or three in 
each of our churches. Touching prophecy, then, we think the 



BREWSTER. 61 

is explained in a very cautious manner ; the 
exercise of the gift was subject to the judg- 
ment of the minister, and, while they were 
under his superintendence, their prophesyings 
were conducted with tolerable regularity; 
but when they came to practise on this prin- 
ciple where they had not that advantage, the 
consequence was prejudicial to the establish- 
ment of any regular ministry among them. 
" The preachments of the gifted brethren 

same that the Synod of Embden (1571) hath decreed in these 
words : ' Let the order of prophecy be observed according to 
Paul's institution. Into the fellowship of this work are to be 
admitted, not only the ministers, but the teachers, elders, and 
deacons, yea, even of the multitude, who are willing to confer 
their gift, received of God, to the common utility of the 
church, but so as they be first allowed by the judgment of the 
ministers and others.' " Robinson's Apology, chap. viii. 

Governor Winthrop and Mr. Wilson, minister of Boston, 
made a visit to Plymouth in October, 1632, and kept Sabbath 
there. The following account of the afternoon exercise is 
preserved in Winthrop's Journal, p. 44. 

" In the afternoon, Mr. Roger Williams, according to theii 
custom, propounded a question, to which the pastor, Mr. Smith, 
spake briefly ; then Mr. Williams prophesied ; and after, tho 
Governor of Plymouth [Bradford] spake to the question ; after 
him the elder [Brewster], then two or three more of the congre- 
gation. Then the elder desired the Governor of Massachusetts 
and Mr. Wilson to speak to it, which they did. When this was 
ended, the deacon, Mr. Fuller, put the congregation in mind of 
their duty of contribution, upon which the governor and all the 
rest went down to the deacon's seat, and put into the bag, and 
then returned." 



62 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 

produced those discouragements to the min- 
isters that almost all left the colony, appr - 
bending themselves driven away by the neg- 
lect and contempt with which the people on 
this occasion treated them."* This practice 
was not allowed in any other church of New- 
England except that of Plymouth.! 

* Math., Mag., i., 14. 

t [The practice of " prophesying" was not confined to Ply- 
mouth, as the text intimates. When the Rev. Mr. Wilson, of 
Boston, was on the eve of sailing for England in 1631, he met 
several of the congregation, and " commended to them the ex- 
ercise of prophecy in his absence, and designed those whom he 
thought most fit for it." Winthrop's Journal, i., 50. The Gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts himself sometimes exercised in this way 
in his own precinct. "The governor went on foot to Agawam, 
and, because the people there wanted a minister, spent the Sab- 
bath with tlietn, and exercised byway of prophecy." Ib., 130 
The "prophesy ings" which had prevailed to some extent in the 
Church of England, and were warmly supported by Archbishop 
Grindal, and afterward approved by Lord Bacon, and as earnest- 
ly opposed by the queen, were on a different plan, being an ex- 
ercise in which laymen were not allowed to participate. Fuller 
gives " the model and method," in his Church History, book 
ix., sect, iv., 2. At a meeting of ministers of the same pre- 
cinct, the junior divine went into the pulpit, and treated for- 
about half an hour on a text previously assigned ; four or 
five more, observing seniority, followed on the same text. A 
grave divine made the closing sermon, more at length, prais- 
ing the pains or mildly reproving the mistakes of those who 
had gone before him. Then all was ended with a solemn 
prayer. The exercise, he says, though long, was seldom te- 
dious. See also Strype's Life of Grindal, fol. 176, 180, 220, 
&c. H.J 



BREWSTER. 63 



Besides the liberty of prophesying and pub- 
lic conference, there were several other pecu- 
liarities in their practice which they learned 
from the Brownists, and in which they differ- 
ed from many of the reformed churches.* 
They admitted none to their communion with- 
out either a written or oral declaration of their 
faith and religious experiences, delivered be- 
fore the whole Church, with liberty for every 
one to ask questions till they were satisfied. 
They practised ordination by the hands of the 
brethren. t They disused the Lord's Prayer 
and the public reading of the Scriptures. 
They did not allow the reading of the Psalm 
before singing, till, in compassion to a brother 
who could not read,t they permitted one of 

* Baylie's Dissuasive from the Errors of the Times, p. 22. 

t Cotton's Appendix, in Collections of the Historical Society, 
iv., 127, 136, &c. 

$ [Cotton, in his Appendix, speaking of the origin of this 
custom, says it was done in " compassion to a brother who, it 
is supposed, could not read." I think both Belknap and Cotton 
are mistaken in supposing the practice to have originated in 
Plymouth. It prevailed somewhat extensively, then and before, 
in the meetings of the Puritans in England, for want of suitable 
Hymn-books enough, or for the sake of the more ignorant breth- 
ren. I find what I believe to have been merely declaratory of 
the existing usage in the "Directory for Public Worship," pre- 
pared by the Assembly of Divines which met at Westminster 
June, 1643, and set forth by Act of Parliament November, 1644 : 
" Every one who could read was to have a Psalm book, aixl all 



64 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

th elders or deacons to read it line by line, 
after it had been previously expounded by 
the minister.* They admitted no children 
to baptism unless one, at least, of the parents 
were in full communion with the church ; and 
they accounted all baptized children proper 
subjects of ecclesiastical discipline. While 
in Holland they had the Lord's Supper every 
Sabbath ; but, when they came to America, 
they omitted it till they could obtain a minis- 
ter, and then had it monthly. Most of these 
practices were continued for many years, and 
some are yet adhered to, though others have 
been gradually laid aside. t 

were to be exhorted to learn reading, that the whole congrega- 
tion might join in psalmody. But for the present, when many 
could not read, it was convenient that the minister or some oth- 
er fit person should read the Psalm line by line before the sing- 
ing thereof." Southey's Book of the Church, Am. ed., ii., 441. 
Vaughan's Memorials, ii., 156. H.] 

* Ainsworth's translation of the Psalms was used in the 
Church of Plymouth till 1692, when the New-England version 
was introduced. Cotton's Appendix, 126, 127. 

t [Cotton, in his Appendix (Mass. Hist. Coll., iv., 133, seqq.), 
adds some particulars besides those given in the text respecting 
the opinions and usages of the Plymouth Church. In doctrine 
they professed a strict adherence to the Confession of the Prot- 
estant churches of France drawn up by Calvin, and which was 
the same, for substance, with that of the Westminster Assem- 
bly. They were strenuous Protestants, maintaining the Bible 
to be the only infallible rule of faith and obedience. In the 



B R E W S T E R. 



65 



The Church of Plymouth had no regular 
minister till four years after the death of Mr. 
Robinson, and nine years after their coming 
to America. In 1629 they settled Ralph 
Smith, who continued with them about five 
years, and then resigned. He is said to have 
been a man of " low gifts," and was assisted 
three years by Roger Williams, of " bright 
accomplishments, but offensive errors." In 
1636 they had John Reyner, " an able and 
godly man, of a meek and humble spirit, 
sound in the truth, and unreprovable in his 
life and conversation." He continued with 
them till 1654,* when he removed to Dover, 

point of ecclesiastical order they were strictly congregational, 
" holding the equality of pastors and churches, and the distinct 
right each church had of ordering its own affairs without control 
from any superior authority." They had, before they left Eng 
land, utterly separated themselves from the Established Church, 
on account, among other reasons, of its alleged laxness of dis- 
cipline. They naturally maintained the purity of their own with 
great watchfulness. Especially careful were they in watching 
over the children of church members, in case of scandal " requi- 
ring a public confession, when the offence was public." When 
the church voted on any matter, the elders never called for the 
negative voices, "judging it would be using the axe or hammer 
in temple work." H.] 

* The succession of ministers since that time has been as fol- 
lows : After a vacancy of fifteen years, 

In 1669 John Cotton was ordained, and in 1697 resigned, and 
removed to Carolina, where he died in 1699. 



66 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

in New-Hampshire, where he spent the re- 
mainder of his life. 

During his ministry at Plymouth, Elder 
Brewster, having enjoyed a healthy old age, 
died on the sixteenth of April, 1644, being 
then in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He 
was able to continue his ecclesiastical func- 
tions and his field-labour till within a few 
days of his death, and was confined to hif? 
bed but one day.* 

He had been remarkably temperate through 
his whole life, having drank no liquor but wa- 
ter till within the last five or six years. For 
many months together he had, through ne- 
cessity, lived without bread, having nothing 
but fish for his sustenance, and sometimes 
was destitute of that. Yet, being of a pliant 

In 1699 Ephraim Little was ordained, and died at Plymouth 
in 1723, being the only minister of that church who died there. 

In 1724 Nathaniel Leonard was ordained, and in 1757 remo- 
ved to Norton. 

In 1759 Chandler Robbins, D.D., was ordained, and died June 
30, 1799, aged 61. Cotton's Appendix. 
[In 1800 James Kendall, D.D. H.] 

* [" His speech continued until somewhat more than half a 
day before his death, and then failed him, and about nine or ten 
of the clock that evening he died, without any pangs at all. A 
few hours before he drew his breath short, and some few min- 
utes before his last he drew his breath long, as a man fallen int 
a sound sleep, and so sweetly departed this life into a better. " 
Morton's Memorial, p. 220. H.] 



BREWSTER. 67 

and cheerful temper, he easily accommodated 
himself to his circumstances. When nothing 
but oysters or clams were set on his table, he 
would give thanks with his family that they 
could " suck of the abundance of the seas, 
and of the treasures hid in the sand."* 

He was a man of eminent piety and devo- 
tion ; not prolix, but full and comprehensive 
in his public prayers,f esteeming it his duty 
to strengthen and encourage the devotion of 
others, rather than to weary them with long 
performances. On days of fasting and hu- 
miliation he was more copious, but equally 
fervent. $ As an instance of this, it is observ- 
ed, that in 1623 a drought of six weeks hav- 
ing succeeded the planting season, in July a 
day was set apart for fasting and prayer. 
The morning was clear and hot, as usual, but, 
after eight hours employed in religious exer- 
cises, the weather changed, and before the 
next morning a gentle rain came on, which 
continued, with intermissions of fair and warm 

* Deuteronomy, xxxiii., 19. 

t [The Records of the Church of Plymouth (copied in Davis's 
edition of Morton, p. 222-224) say, " He had a singular good 
gift in prayer, both public and private, in bringing up the heart 
and conscience before God in the confession of sin, and begging 
the mercies of God in Christ for the pardon thereof." H.] 

t Morton, Prince, and Winslow. 
III. F 



68 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

weather, fourteen days, by which the languish- 
ing corn revived. The neighbouring Indians 
observed the change, and said that " the 
Englishman's God was a good God." 

In his public discourses Mr. Brewster was 
very clear and distinguishing, as well as pa- 
thetic ; addressing himself first to the under- 
standing, and then to the affections of his 
audience, convincing and persuading them 
of the superior excellence of true religion. 
Such a kind of teaching was well adapted, 
and in many instances effectual, to the real 
instruction and benefit of his hearers. What 
a pity that such a man could not have been 
persuaded to take on him the pastoral office ! 

In his private conversation he was social, 
pleasant, and inoffensive ; yet, when occasion 
required, he exercised that fortitude which 
true virtue inspires, but mixed with such ten- 
derness that his reproofs gave no offence.* 

His compassion towards the distressed was 
an eminent trait in his character, and, if they 
were suffering for conscience' sake, he judged 

* [The same Records say " he was well-spoken ; having a 
grave, deliberate utterance, inoffensive and innocent in his life 
and conversation, which gained him the love of those without 
as well as of those within. Yet he would tell them plainly of 
their faults and vices, both publicly and privately, but in such a 
manner as usually was well taken from him " H.] 



BREWSTER 69 

them, of all others, most deserving of pity and 
relief. Nothing was more disgusting to him 
than vanity and hypocrisy. 

In the government of the Church he was 
careful to preserve order and purity, and to 
suppress contention. Had his diffidence per- 
mitted him to exercise the pastoral office, he 
would have had more influence, and kept in- 
truders at a proper distance. 

He was owner of a very considerable li- 
brary, part of which was lost when the vessel 
in which he embarked was plundered at Bos- 
ton, in Lincolnshire. After his death his re- 
maining books were valued at forty-three 
pounds in silver, as appears by the Colony 
Records, where a catalogue of them is pre- 
served.* 

* [The number of volumes was two hundred and seventy- 
five, of which sixty-four were in the learned languages. Da- 
vie's note to Morton, 221. H.J 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



XXI. EGBERT CUSHMAN.* 

" ROBERT CUSHMAN was a distinguished 
character among that collection of worthies 
who quitted England on account of their re- 
ligious difficulties, and settled with Mr. John 
Robinson, their pastor, in the city of Leyden. 
Proposing afterward a removal to America, 
in the year 1617 Mr. Cushman and Mr. 
John Carver (afterward the first governor of 
New-Plymouth) were sent over to England 
as their agents, to agree with the Virginia 
Company for a settlement, and to obtain, if 
possible, a grant of liberty of conscience in 
their intended plantation from King James. 

" From this negotiation, though conducted 
on their part with great discretion and abil- 
ity, they returned unsuccessful to Leyden in 
May, 1618. They met with no difficulty in- 
deed from the Virginia Company, who were 
willing to grant them sufficient territory, with 
as ample privileges as they could bestow; 
but the pragmatical James, the pretended 

* This account of Mr. Cushman was published in 1785, at 
Plymouth, as an Appendix to the third edition of his Discourse 
on Self-Love. It was written by John Davis, Esq. 



CUSHMAN. 71 

vicegerent of the Deity, refused to rrant them 
that liberty in religious matters which was 
their principal object. This persevering peo- 
ple determined to transport themselves to 
this country, relying upon James's promise 
that he would connive at, though not ex- 
pressly tolerate them ; and Mr. Cushman was 
again despatched to England in February, 

1619, with Mr. William Bradford,* to agree 
with the Virginia Company on the terms of 
their removal and settlement. 

" After much difficulty and delay, they ob- 
tained a patent in the September following ; 
upon which, part of the Church at Leyden, 
with their elder, Mr. Brewster, determined 
to transport themselves as soon as possible. 
Mr. Cushman was one of the agents in 
England to procure money, shipping, and oth- 
er necessaries for the voyage, and embark- 
ed with them at Southampton, August 5th, 

1620. But the ship in which he sailed pro- 
ving leaky, and, after twice putting into port 
to repair, being condemned as unfit to per- 
form the voyage, Mr. Cushman, with his fam- 
ily, and a number of others, were obliged, 
though reluctantly, to relinquish the voyage 

* [Wilham Brewster. not Bradford. Young's Chronicle*, 
67, note, an 1 68 H:J 



72 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

for that time and return to London. Those 
in the other ship proceeded and made their 
settlement at Plymouth in December, 1620, 
where Mr. Cushman also arrived, in the ship 
Fortune, from London, on the 10th* of No- 
vember, 1621, but took passage in the same 
ship back again, pursuant to the directions of 
the merchant adventurers in London (who 
fitted out the ship, and by whose assistance 
the first settlers were transported), to give 
them an account of the plantation. He sail- 
ed from Plymouth December 13th, 1621 ; and, 
arriving on the coast of England, the ship, 
with a cargo valued at d500 sterling,! was 
taken by the French. Mr. Cushman, with the 
crew, was carried into France, $ but arrived 
in London in the February following. Du- 
ring his short residence at Plymouth, though 
a mere lay character, he delivered a Dis- 
course on the Sin and Danger of Self-Love, 
which was printed in London (1622), and af- 
terward reprinted in Boston (1724), and again 

* [See Prince's Chronology, 198. H.] 

t [" Laden," says Prince (Chronology, 199). "with two hogs- 
heads of beaver and other skins, and good clapboards as full as 
she can hold ; the freight estimated near five hundred pounds." 
-H-] 

t [Where the ship was " robbed of all she had worth taking." 
Ib., 1. c. H.] 



C U S H M A N. 73 

at Plymouth (1785). And though his name 
is not prefixed to either of the two former 
editions, yet unquestionable tradition renders 
it certain that he was the author, and even 
transmits to us a knowledge of the spot 
where it was delivered.* Mr. Cushman, 
though he constantly corresponded with his 
friends here,t and was very serviceable to 
their interest in London, never returned to 
the country again, but, while preparing for 
it, was removed to a better, in the year 16264 
The news of his death and Mr. Robinson's 
arrived at the same time at Plymouth, by 
Captain Standish, and seem to have been 

* ["It was at the common house of the plantation, which is 
understood to have been erected on the southerly side of the 
bank, where the town brook meets the harbour." Morton, 74, 
note. H.] 

t [Several of his letters are preserved in Bradford's Letter 
book. Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. iii. H.] 

t [I cannot doubt that Cushman died in 1625. His last let- 
ter to Governor Bradford was written Dec. 22d, 1624, in which 
he commended his young son, then at Plymouth, to him, and 
expressed his intention of coming to Plymouth in the next ship. 
Bradford's reply is dated June 9th, 1625, and was carried prob- 
ably by Standish, who was sent to England that summer. Gov- 
ernor Bradford minuted at the bottom of his copy, " Mr. Cush- 
man died before this letter arrived ;" probably not later than Au- 
gust. Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 29, 35. Standish brought the 
news of his decease in April, 1626. In the year 1625 more than 
40,000 persons died in London of the plague. Prince, 236, 
237, 235. H.] 



74 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



equally lamented by their bereaved and suf- 
fering friends there.* He was zealously en- 
gaged in the prosperity of the plantation, a 
man of activity and enterprise, well versed 
in business, respectable in point of intellectu- 
al abilities, well accomplished in scriptural 
knowledge, an unaffected professor, and a 
steady, sincere practiser of religion. The de- 
sign of the above-mentioned discourse was to 
keep up that flow of public spirit which, per- 
haps, began then to abate, but which was 
thought necessary for their preservation and 
security. The policy of that entire commu- 
nity of interests which our fathers establish- 
ed, and which this sermon was designed to 
preserve, is, nevertheless, justly questionable. 
The love of separate property, for good and 
wise purposes, is strongly implanted in the 
heart of man. So far from being unfavour- 
able to a reasonable generosity and public- 
spirit, it better enables us to display them, 
and is not less consistent with the precepts of 
Scripture, rightly understood, than with the 
dictates of reason. This is evidenced by the 

* [Bradford, in writing of his death, says, "who was our 
right hand with the adventurers, and for divers years has man- 
aged all our business with them, to our great advantage." His 
correspondence with the colonists shows zeal, good sense, and 
much knowledge of affairs. H.~l 



CUSHMAN. 75 

subsequent conduct of this very people, In 
f1 .e year 1623, departing a little from their 
f . *st system, they agreed that every family 
should plant for themselves, bringing in a 
competent portion at harvest for the mainte- 
nance of public officers, fishermen, &c., and 
in all other things to go on in the general 
way (as they term it) as before ; for this pur- 
pose they assigned to every family a parcel 
of land, for a year only, in proportion to their 
number. Even this temporary division, as 
Governor Bradford, in his manuscript histo- 
ry, observes, ' has a good effect ; makes all 
industrious ; gives content ; even the women 
and children now go into the field to work, 
and much more corn is planted than ever.' 
In the spring of the year 1624, the people 
being still uneasy, one acre of land was giv- 
en to each in fee simple ; no more to be given 
till the expiration of the seven years. In the 
year 1627, when they purchased the interest 
of the adventurers in England in the planta- 
tion, there was a division and allotment of 
almost all their property, real and personal ; 
twenty acres of tillage land to each, besides 
what they held before ; the meadows and the 
trade only remaining in common. 

" Thus it is observable how men, in spite 



76' AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of their principles, are naturally led into that 
mode of conduct which truth and utility, 
ever coincident, point out. Our fathers de- 
serve the highest commendation for prosecu- 
ting, at the hazard of life and fortune, that 
reformation in religion which the Church of 
England left imperfect. Taking, for this 
purpose, the sacred Scriptures as their only 
guide, they travelled in the path of truth, 
and appealed to a most noble and unerring 
standard ; but when, from their reverence to 
this divine authority in matters of religion, 
they were inclined to esteem it the only 
guide in all the affairs of life, and attempted 
to regulate their civil polity upon church 
ideas, they erred, and involved themselves 
in innumerable difficulties.* 

* [The learned author saw reason afterward to alter the judg- 
ment expressed here of the reason of the peculiar policy of the Pil- 
grims touching a community of goods and interests. In the Ap- 
pendix (I.) to his valuable edition of Morton's Memorial, he says, 
" The conditions required by the adventurers in England, and to 
which the settlers at Plymouth found it necessary to consent, 
sufficiently repel the suggestion made by Dr. Robertson, and by 
some other writers, that these people, misguided by their reli- 
gious theories, and in imitation of the primitive Christians, vol- 
untarily threw all their property into a common stock. The ed- 
itor is here bound to acknowledge that he had once embraced 
the same opinion, and precipitately indulged in remarks founded 
on such a conviction, which, though they may be abstractly 
true, farther inquiry convinced him were in that instance misap- 



C U S H M A N. 77 

" The end of civil society is the security 
of the temporal liberty and prosperity of man, 
not all the happiness and perfection which he 
is capable of attaining, for which other means 
are appointed. Had not our fathers placed 
themselves upon such a footing, with respect 
to ^operty, as was repugnant to the nature 
of man, and not warranted by the true end 
of civil society, there would probably have 
been no just ground of complaint of a want 
of a real and reasonable public spirit, and the 
necessity of the exhortation and reproof con- 
tained in Mr. Cushman's discourse would 
have been superseded. Their zeal, their en- 
terprise, and their uncommon sufferings in the 
prosecution of their arduous undertaking ren- 
der it morally certain that they would have 
ever cheerfully performed their duty in this 
respect : Their contemporaries might censure 
them for what they did not, but their posterity 
must ever admire and revere them for what 
they did exhibit." 

After the death of Mr. Cushman, his fam- 

plied.'' The conditions referred to may be found in the Life of 
Carver, in vol. ii. H.] 

* [His son Thomas was already in New-England. When 
the rest of his family came over I have not been able to ascer- 
tain. In the list of those to whom cattle were distributed in 
1627, I find no one of the name except Thomas. H.] 



78 AM*, i. I CAN BIOGRAPHY. 

fly came over to New-England.* His son, 
Thomas Cushman, succeeded Mr. Brewster 
as ruling elder of the Church of Plymouth, 
being ordained to that office in 1649. He 
was a man of good gifts, and frequently as- 
sisted in carrying on the public worship, 
preaching, and catechising. For it was one 
professed principle of that churchy in its first 
formation, " to choose none for governing el- 
ders but such as were able to teach." He 
continued in this office till he died, in 1691, 
in the eighty-fourth year of his age. 

The above-mentioned discourse o/ Mr. 
Robert Cushman in 1621 may be considered 
as a specimen of the " prophesyings" of the 
brethren. The occasion was singular ; the 
exhortations and reproofs are not less so, but 
were adapted to the then state of society 
Some specimens may not be disagreeable, 
and are therefore here inserted.* 

" Now, brethren, I pray you rememoer 
yourselves, and know that you are not in a 
retired monastical course, but have given 
your names and promises one to another, 
and covenanted here to cleave together in 

* [Cushman was also the author of a tract printed as a part 
of Mourt's Relation (iii., Mass. Hist. Coll., ix., 64-73), and 
headed " Reasons and Considerations touching the Lawfulness 
f removing out of England into the parts of America." H.] 



C U S H M A N. 79 

the service of God and the king. What, 
then, must you do ? May you live an retiree 
hermits, and look after nobody ? Nay, you 
must seek still the wealth of one another, ari4 
inquire, as David, how liveth such a man ! 
how is he clad ? how is he fed ? He is my 
brother, my associate ; we ventured our lives 
together here, and had a hard brunt of it ; 
and we are in league together. Is his labour 
harder than mine ? surely I will ease him. 
Hath he no bed to lie on ? I have two ; I'll 
lend him one. Hath he no apparel ? I have 
two suits ; I'll give him one of them. Eats 
he coarse fare, bread and water ? and have I 
better ? surely we will part stakes. He is as 
good a man as I, and we are bound each to 
other ; so that his wants must be my wants, 
his sorrows my sorrows, his sickness my sick- 
ness, and his welfare my welfare ; for I am as 
he is. Such a sweet sympathy were excel- 
lent, comfortable, yea, heavenly, and is the 
only maker and conserver of churches and 
commonwealths. 

" It wonderfully encourageth men in their 
duties when they see the burden equally 
borne ; but when some withdraw themselves, 
and retire to their own particular ease, pleas- 
ure, or profit, what heart can men have to go 



80 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

on in their business ? When men are come 
together to lift some weighty piece of limber 
or vessel, if one stand still and do not lift, 
shall not the rest be weakened and disheart- 
ened ? Will not a few idle drones spoil the 
whole stock of laborious bees ? So one idle 
belly, one murmurer, one complainer, one 
self-lover, will weaken and dishearten a whole 
colony. Great matters have been brought to 
pass, where men have cheerfully, as with one 
heart, hand, and shoulder, gone about it, both 
in wars, buildings, and plantations ; but where 
every man seeks himself, all cometh to no- 
thing. 

" The country is yet raw; the land untill 
ed ; the cities not builded ; the cattle not 
settled. We are compassed about with a 
helpless and idle people, the natives of the 
country, which cannot, in any comely or com- 
fortable manner, help themselves, much less 
us. We also have been very chargeable to 
many of our loving friends which helped us 
hither, and now again supplied us : so that, 
before we think of gathering riches, we must 
even in conscience think of requiting their 
charge, love, and labour ; and cursed be that 
profit and gain which aimeth not at this. Be- 
sides, how many of our dear friends did here 



CUSHMAN. 81 

die at our first entrance ! many of them, no 
doubt, for want of good lodging, shelter, and 
comfortable things ; and many more may go 
after them quickly, if care be not taken. Is 
this, then, a time for men to begin to seek 
themselves ? Paul saith that men in the last 
days shall be lovers of themselves (2 Tirn., 
iii., 2) ; but it is here yet but the first days, 
and, as it were, the dawning of this New 
World. It is now, therefore, no time for men 
to look to get riches, brave clothes, dainty 
fare, but to look to present necessities. It 
is now no time to pamper the flesh, live at 
ease, snatch, catch, scrape, and hoard up ; 
but rather to open the doors, the chests, and 
vessels, and say, Brother, neighbour, friend, 
what want ye ? anything that I have ? make 
bold with it ; it is yours to command, to do 
you good, to comfort and cherish you ; and 
glad I am that I have it for you. 

" Let there be no prodigal son to come 
forth and say, Give me the portion of lands 
and goods that appertaineth to me, and let 
me shift for myself. It is yet too soon to put 
men to their shifts ; Israel was seven years 
in Canaan before the land was divided unto 
tribes, much longer before it was divided unto 
families ; and why wouldst thou have thy 



82 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

particular portion, but because thou thinkest 
to live better than thy neighbour, and scorn- 
est to live so meanly as he ? but who, I pray 
thee, brought this particularizing first into the 
world ? Did not Satan, who was not content 
to keep that equal state with his fellows, but 
would set his throne above the stars ? Did 
not he also entice man to despise his general 
felicity and happiness, and go try particular 
knowledge of good and evil ? Nothing in 
this world doth more resemble heavenly hap- 
piness than for men to live as one, being of 
one heart and one soul ; neither anything 
more resembles hellish horror than for every 
man to shift for himself; for if it be a good 
mind and practice thus to affect particulars, 
mine and thine, then it should be best also for 
God to provide one heaven for thee, and an- 
other for thy neighbour. 

" Objection. But some will say, ' If all men 
will do their endeavours, as I do, I could be 
content with this generality ; but many are 
idle and slothful, and eat up others' 1 labours, 
and therefore it is best to part, and then every 
man may do his pleasure. ,' 

" If others be idle and thou diligent, thy 
fellowship, provocation, and example may 
well help to cure that malady in them, being 



CUSHMAN. 83 

together ; but, being asunder, shall they not 
be more idle, and shall not gentry and beg- 
gary be quickly the glorious ensigns of your 
commonwealth ? 

" Be not too hasty to say men are idle and 
slothful. All men have not strength, skill, 
faculty, spirit, and courage to work alike. It 
is thy glory and credit that thou canst do so 
well, and his shame and reproach that he can 
do no better ; and are not these sufficient re- 
wards to you both ? 

" If any be idle apparently, you have a law 
and governors to execute the same, and to 
follow that rule of the apostle, to keep back 
their bread, and let them not eat ; go not, 
therefore, whispering, to charge men with 
idleness ; but go to the governor and prove 
them idle, and thou shalt see them have their 
deserts. 

" There is no grief so tedious as a churlish . 
companion. Bear ye one another's burdens, 
and be not a burden one to another. Avoid 
all factions, frowardness, singularity, and with- 
drawings, and cleave fast to the Lord, and 
one to another, continually ; so shall you be 
a notable precedent to these poor heathens, 
whose eyes are upon you, and who very bru- 

tishly and cruelly do daily eat and consume 
III. G 



84 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ohe another, through their emulations, ways, 
and contentions ; be you, therefore, ashamed 
of it, and win them to peace, both with your- 
selves and one another, by your peaceable 
examples, which will preach louder to them 
than if you could cry in their barbarous lan- 
guage : so also shall you be an encourage- 
ment to many of your Christian friends in 
your native country to come to you, when 
they hear of your peace, love, and kindness. 
But, above all, it shall go well with your souls 
when that God of peace and unity shall come 
to visit you with death, as he hath done many 
of your associates, you being found of him, 
not in murmurings, discontent, and jars, but 
in brotherly love and peace, may be transla- 
ted from this wandering wilderness unto that 
joyful and heavenly Canaan. AMEN." 



W I N S L O W 85 



XXII. EDWARD WINSLOW. 

THIS eminently useful person was the el- 
dest son of a gentleman of the same name, 
of Droitwich, in Worcestershire, where he 
was born in 1594.* Of his education and 
first appearance in life we have no knowl- 
edge. In the course of his travels on the 
Continent of Europe he became acquainted 
with Mr. Robinson and the church under his 
pastoral care at Leyden, where he settled 
and married. To this church he joined him- 
self, and with them he continued till their re- 
moval to America. He came hither with the 
first company, and his name is the third in 
the list of those who subscribed the Covenant 
of Incorporation before their disembarcation 
at Cape Cod. His family then consisted of 
his wife and three other persons. He was 
one of those who coasted the Bay of Cape 
Cod and discovered the Harbour of Ply- 
mouth ; and when the sachem Massasoit came 
to visit the strangers, he offered himself as a 
hostage while a conference was held and a 
treaty was made with the savage prince. 

* [More exactly, he was born October 19, 1595. Young'* 
Chronicles of the Pilgrims, 274. note. H.] 



86 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

His wife died soon after his arrival, and in 
the following spring he married Susanna, the 
widow of William White, and mother of 
Peregrine, the first English child born in 
New-England. This was the first marriage 
solemnized in the colony* (May 12, 1621). 

In Junef he went, in company with Stephen 
Hopkins, to visit the sachem Massasoit at 
Pokanoket.J The design of this visit is rela- 
ted in Bradford's life. The particular cir- 
cumstances of it may properly be detailed 
here, in the very words of Winslow's origi- 
nal narrative.il 

" We set forward the 10th of June,H about 
nine in the morning, our guide [Tisquantum] 
resolving that night to rest at Namasket,** a 
town under Massasoit, and conceived by us 
to be very near, because the inhabitants 
flocked so thick on every slight occasion 

* Prince, 105. 

t [Morton says, "The second of July this year (1621) they 
sent Mr. Edward Winslow and Mr. Stephen Hopkins unto the 
great sachem Massoit," &c. Memorial, p. 69. H.] 

t Purchas, iv., 1851. 

[See page 11 of this volume. H.] 

II [This extract is taken from " Mourt's Journal of a Planta- 
tion settled at Plymouth," which was printed in 1622 ; proba- 
bly written by Winslow. Mass. Hist. Coll., viii., 232. H.] 

IT Mr. Prince thinks this is a mistake, and that it ought to 
have been the 3d of July. 

** [I. e., Middleborough. H.] 



WIN SLOW. 87 

among us ; but we found it to be fifteen Eng- 
lish miles. On the way we found ten or 
twelve men, women, and children, which had 
pestered us till we were weary of them ; 
perceiving that (as the manner of them all is) 
where victual is easiest to be got, there they 
live, especially in the summer ; by reason 
whereof, our bay affording many lobsters, 
they resort every spring-tide thither, and now 
returned with us to Namasket. Thither we 
came about three in the afternoon, the inhab- 
itants entertaining us with joy, in the best 
manner they could, giving us a kind of bread, 
called by them Mazium, and the spawn of 
shads, which then they got in abundance, in- 
somuch as they gave us spoons to eat them ; 
with these they boiled musty acorns, but of 
the shads we eat heartily. They desired one 
of our men to shoot at a crow, complaining 
what damage they sustained in their corn by 
them ; who shooting and killing, they much 
admired it, as other shots on other occasions. 
" After this, Tisquantum told us we should 
hardly in one day reach Pakanokick,* moving 
us to go eight miles farther, where we should 

* The same with Pokanoket. Indian words are spelled dif- 
ferently by different writers. I here follow the author from 
whom I copy 



88 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

find more store and better victuals. Being 
willing to hasten our journey, we went, and 
came thither at. sunsetting, where we found 
many of the men of Namasket fishing at a 
ware which they had made on a riverf Avhi.ch 
belonged to them, where they caught abun- 
dance of bass. These welcomed us also, 
gave us of their fish, and we them of our 
victuals, not doubting but we should have 
enough wherever we came. There we lodg- 
ed in the open fields, for houses they had 
none, though they spent the most of the sum- 
mer there. The head of this river is report- 
ed to be not far from the place of our abode ; 
upon it are and have been many towns, it be- 
ing a good length. The ground is very good 
on both sides, it being for the most part 
cleared. Thousands of men have lived there, 
which died in a great plague not long since ; 
and pity it was and is to see so many goodly 
fields and so well seated without men to dress 
the same. 

" The next morning we brake our fast, and 
took our leave and departed, being then ac- 
companied with six savages. Having gone 
about six miles by the river's side, at a known 
shoal place, it being low water, they spake 
* [Taunton River. H.] 



W I N S L O W. 89 

to us to put off our breeches, for we must 
wade through. Here let me not forget the 
valour and courage of some of the savages 
on the opposite side of the river ; for there 
were remaining alive only two men, both 
aged. These two, spying a company of men 
entering the river, ran very swiftly, and low 
in the grass, to meet us at the bank, where, 
with shrill voices and great courage, stand- 
ing, charged upon us with their bows, they 
demanded what we were, supposing us to be 
enemies, and thinking to take advantage of 
us in the water ; but, seeing we were friends, 
they welcomed us with such food as they 
had, and we bestowed a small bracelet of 
beads on them. Thus far we are sure the 
tide ebbs and flows. 

"Having here again refreshed ourselves, 
we proceeded on our journey, the weather 
being very hot, yet the country so well wa- 
tered that a man could scarce be dry but he 
should have a spring at hand to cool his 
thirst, besides small rivers in abundance. 
The savages will not willingly drink but at a 
spring-head. When we came to any small 
brook where no bridge was, two of them de- 
sired to carry us through of their own ac- 
cord ; also, fearing we were or vrould be 



90 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

weary, they offered to carry our pieces [guns] ; 
also, if we would lay off any of our clothes, 
we should have them carried ; and as the one 
of them had found more special kindness 
from one of the messengers, and the other 
savage from the other, so they showed their 
thankfulness accordingly in affording us all 
help and furtherance in the journey. 

" As we passed along, we observed that 
there were few places by the river but had 
been inhabited, by reason whereof much 
ground was clear, save of weeds which grew 
higher than our heads. There is much good 
timber, oak, walnut, fir, beech, and exceed- 
ing great chestnut-trees. 

" Afterward we came to a town of Massas- 
oit's, where we eat oysters and other fish. 
From thence we went to Pakanokick, but 
Massasoit was not at home. There we stay- 
ed, he being sent for. When news was 
brought of his coming, our guide, Tisquan- 
tum, requested that at our meeting we would 
discharge our pieces. One of us going to 
charge his piece, the women and children, 
through fear, ran away, and could not be 
pacified till he laid it down again, who after- 
ward were better informed by our interpreter. 

" Massasoit being come, we discharged our 



WIN SLOW. 91 

pieces and saluted him, who, after their man- 
ner, kindly welcomed us, and took us into 
his house, and set us down by him, where, 
having delivered our message and presents, 
and having put the coat on his back and the 
chain about his neck, he was not a little proud 
to behold himself, and his men also to see 
their king, so bravely attired. 

" For answer to our message, he told us 
we were welcome, and he would gladly con- 
tinue that peace and friendship which was 
between him and us ; and for his men, they 
should no more pester us as they had done ; 
also, that he would send to Paomet, and help 
us to seed-corn, according to our request. 

" This being done, his men gathered near 
to him, to whom he turned himself and made 
a great speech ; the meaning whereof (as far 
as we could learn) was, that he was com- 
mander of the country, and that the people 
should bring their skins to us. He named 
at least thirty places ; and their answer was 
confirming and applauding what he said. 

" He then lighted tobacco for us, and fell 
to discoursing of England and of the king, 
marvelling that he could live without a wife. 
A.lso he talked of the Frenchmen, bidding 

us not to suffer them to come to Narrowhi- 
III H 



92 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ganset, for it was King James's country, and 
he was King James's man. It grew late, 
but he offered us no victuals ; for, indeed, he 
had not any, being so newly come home. 
So we desired to go to rest. He laid us on 
the bed with himself and his wife ; they at 
the one end, and we at the other ; it being 
only planks, laid a foot from the ground, and 
a thin mat upon them. Two more of his 
chief men, for want of room, pressed by and 
upon us, so that we were worse wearied of 
our lodging than of our journey. 

" The next day being Thursday, many of 
their sachems or petty governors came to 
see us, and many of their men also. They 
went to their manner of games for skins and 
knives. We challenged them to shoot for 
skins, but they durst not, only they desired 
to see one of us shoot at a mark ; who, shoot- 
ing with hail-shot, they wondered to see the 
mark so full of holes. 

" About one o'clock Massasoit brought 
two fishes that he had shot ; they were like 
bream, but three times so big, and better 
meat. [Probably the fish called Tataug.] 
These being boiled, there were at least forty 
that looked for a share in them ; the most 
eat of them. This meal only we had in two 



W I N S L O W. 93 

nights and a day ; and had not one of us 
brought a partridge, we had taken our jour- 
ney fasting. Very importunate he was with 
us to stay with him longer ; but we desired 
to keep the Sabbath at home, and feared we 
should be light-headed for want of sleep ; for 
what with bad lodging, barbarous singing (for 
they use to sing themselves to sleep), lice, 
and fleas within doors, and moschetoes with- 
out, we could hardly sleep all the time of our 
being there, and we much feared that, if we 
should stay any longer, we should not be able 
to recover home for want of strength. 

" On Friday morning, before sunrising, 
we took our leave and departed, Massasoit 
being both grieved and ashamed that he 
could not better entertain us. Retaining 
Tisquantum to send from place to place to 
procure truck for us, he appointed another 
[guide], Tokamahamon, in his place, whom 
we found faithful before and after upon all 
occasions." 

This narrative gives us a just idea of 
the hospitality and poverty of the Indians. 
They gladly entertain strangers with the best 
they can afford ; but it is familiar to them to 
endure long abstinence. Those who visit 
them must be content to fare as they do, or 



94 AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 

carry their own provision and share it with 
them. 

Mr. Winslow's next excursion was by sea 
to Monahigon, an island near the mouth of 
Penobscot Bay, to procure a supply of bread 
from the fishing-vessels, who resorted to the 
eastern coast in the spring of 1622. This 
supply, though not large, was freely given to 
the suffering colony, and, being prudently 
managed in the distribution, amounted to one 
quarter of a pound for each person till the 
next harvest.* By means of this excursion the 
people of Plymouth became acquainted with 
the eastern coast, of which knowledge they 
afterward availed themselves for a beneficial 
traffic with the natives.! 

In the spring of the year 1623,$ Mr. Wins- 
low made a second visit to the sachem, on 
account of his sickness, the particular cir- 
cumstances of which are thus given in his 
own words : 

* [The straits to which the settlers were reduced may be 
judged of from Winslow's Relation : " I found," he says, on hia 
return, " the state of the colony much weaker than when I left 
it ; for till now we were nevei without some bread : the want 
whereof much abated the strength and flesh of some, and swell 
ed others." Mass. Hist. Coll., viii., 246. H.] 

t Prince, 119. Purchas, iv., 1836. 

t [This second expedition was in March. H.] 

$ Purchas, iv., 1860. 



W I N S L O W. 95 

" News came to Plymouth that Mass'asso- 
wat* was like to die, and that, at the same 
time, there was a Dutch ship driven so high 
on the shore before his dwelling, by stress of 
weather, that, till the tides increased, she could 
not be got off. Now it being a commenda- 
able manner of the Indians when any, espe- 
cially of note, are dangerously sick, for all 
that profess friendship to them to visit them 
in their extremity, therefore it was thought 
meet that, as we had ever professed friend- 
ship, so we should now maintain the same 
by observing this their laudable custom ; and 
the rather, because we desired to have some 
conference with the Dutch, not knowing 
when we should have so fit an opportunity. 

" To that end, myself having formerly 
been there, and understanding in some meas- 
ure the Dutch tongue, the governor [Brad- 
ford] again laid this service on myself,t and 
fitted me with some cordials to administer to 
him ; having one Mr. John Hampden, a gen- 
tleman of London, who then wintered with 
us, and desired much to see the country, for 
my consort, and Hobbamock for our guide. 
So we set forward, and lodged the first night 

* Thus it is spelled in Winslow's narrative. 
f See note to pag/e 2. of this volume. H.] 



96 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

at Namasket, where we had friendly enter- 
tainment. 

" The next day, about one of the clock, 
we came to a ferry in Conbatant's* country, 
where, upon discharge of my piece, divers 
Indians came to us from a house not far off. 
They told us that Massassowat was dead and 
that day buried, and that the Butch would 
be gone before we could get thither, having 
hove off their ship already. This news struck 
us blank, but especially Hobamock, who de- 
sired me to return with all speed. I told him 
I would first think of it, considering now, 
that he being dead, Conbatant or Corbitant 
was the most likely to succeed him, and that 
we were not above three miles from Mat- 
tapuyst,f his dwelling-place. Although he 
were but a hollow-hearted friend to us, 1 
thought no time so fit as this to enter into 
more friendly terms with him and the rest of 
the sachems thereabout, hoping, through the 
blessing of God, it would be a means in that 
unsettled state, to settle their affections to- 
wards us ; and though it were somewhat dan- 

* His name is spelled Corbitant, Conbatant, and Conbutant. 
This ferry is probably the same which is now called Slade's Fer- 
ry, in Swanzey. 

t A neck of land in the township of Swanzey, commonly 
pronounced Mattapoiset. 



W I N S L O W. 



gerous, in respect of personal safety, yet es- 
teeming it the best means, leaving the event 
to God in his mercy, I resolved to put it in 
practice, if Mr. Hampden and Hobbamock 
durst attempt it with me, whom I found will- 
ing. So we went towards Mattapuyst. 

"In the way, Hobbamock, manifesting a 
troubled spirit, brake forth into these speech- 
es. Neen womasu Sag-amus, &c. : ' My lov- 
ing sachem ! many have I known, but never 
any like thee !' Then turning to me, he 
said, while I lived, I should never see his 
like among the Indians. He was no liar, he 
was not bloody and cruel like other Indians ; 
in anger and passion he was soon reclaimed ; 
easy to be reconciled towards such as had of- 
fended him ; ruled by reason, in such meas- 
ure as he would not scorn the advice of mean 
men ; and that he governed his men better 
with few strokes than others did with many ; 
truly loving where he loved ; yea, he feared 
we had not a faithful friend left among the 
Indians, showing how often he restrained 
their malice. He continued a long speech, 
with such signs of lamentation and unfeign- 
ed sorrow as would have made the hardest 
heart relent. 

" At length we came to Matlapuyst, and 



98 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

went to the sachem's place ; Conbatant was 
not at home, but at Pokanokick, five or six 
miles off. The squaw sachern gave us friend- 
ly entertainment. Here we inquired again 
concerning Massassowat ; they thought him 
dead, but knew no certainty. Whereupon I 
hired one to go with all expedition to Poka- 
nokick, that we might know the certainty 
thereof, and, withal, to acquaint Conbutant 
with our being there. About half an hour be- 
fore sunsetting the messenger returned, and 
told us he was not yet dead, though there 
was no hope that we should find him living. 
Upon this we were much revived, and set for- 
ward with all speed, though' it was late with- 
in night when we got thither. About two of 
the clock that afternoon the Dutchman had 
departed, so that in that respect our journey 
was frustrate. 

" When we came thither, we found the 
house so full of men as we could scarce get 
in, though they used their best diligence to 
make way for us. They were in the midst 
of their charms for him, making such a hell- 
ish noise as distempered us that were well, 
and therefore unlike to ease him that was 
sick. About him were six or eight women, 
who chafed his arms and legs to keep heat 



W I N S L O W. 99 

in him. When they had made an end of 
their charming, one told him that his friends 
the English were come to see him. Having 
his understanding left, though his sight whol- 
ly gone, he asked who was come ; they told 
him Winsnow (for they cannot pronounce 
the letter L, but ordinarily N in place of it) ; 
he desired to speak with me. When I came 
to him and they told him of it, he put forth 
his hand to me, which I took; then he said 
twice, though very inwardly, ' keen Wins- 
now ?' ' art thou Winslow ?' I answered 
' ahlie,' that is, ' yes.' Then he doubled 
these words, ' Malta neen wonckunet namen 
Winsnow /' that is to say, ' O Winslow, I 
shall never see thee again !' Then I called 
Hobbamock, and desired him to tell Massaso- 
it that the governor, hearing of his sickness, 
was sorry for the same ; and though, by rea- 
son of many businesses, he could not him- 
self come, yet he had sent me, with such 
things for him as he thought most likely to 
do him good in this extremity; and whereof, 
if he pleased to take, I would presently give 
him, which he desired ; and, having a con- 
fection of many comfortable conserves on 
the point of my knife, I gave him some, 
which I could scarce get through his teeth; 



100 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

when it was dissolved in his mouth, he swal 
lowed the juice of it, whereat those that were 
about him were much rejoiced, saying he had 
not swallowed anything in two days before. 
Then I desired to see his mouth, which was 
exceedingly furred, and his tongue swelled 
in such a manner that it was not possible for 
him to eat such meat as they had. Then I 
washed his mouth, and scraped his tongue, 
after which I gave him more of the confection, 
which he swallowed with more readiness. 
Then he desired to drink ; I dissolved some 
of it in water, and gave him thereof, and 
within half an hour this wrought a great al- 
teration in him, and presently after his sight 
began to come to him. Then I gave him 
more, and told him of a mishap we had by 
the way, in breaking a bottle of drink which 
the governor also sent him, saying, if he would 
send any of his men to Plymouth, I would 
send for more of the same ; also for chickens 
to make him broth, and for other things 
which I knew were good for him, and would 
stay the return of the messenger. This he 
took marvellous kindly, and appointed some 
who were ready to go by two of the clock in 
the morning, against which time I made rea- 
dy a letter, declaring our good success, and 



WINS LOW. 101 

desiring such things as were proper. He re- 
quested me that I would the next day take 
my piece and kill him stxue- fowl, ano make 
him such pottage as, h,e hajd eaten, at Ply- 
mouth, which I pronrrisied ; bat his sxo&Kieh 
coming to him, I must needs make him some 
without fowl before I went abroad. I caused 
a woman to bruise some corn and take the 
flower from it, and set the broken corn in a 
pipkin (for they have earthen pots of all si- 
zes). When the day broke, we went out to 
seek herbs (it being the middle of March), but 
could not find any but strawberry leaves, of 
which I gathered a handful and put into the 
same, and, because I had nothing to relish it, 
I went forth again and pulled up a sassafras 
root, and sliced a piece and boiled it, till it 
had a good relish. Of this broth I gave him 
a pint, which he drank and liked it well ; af- 
ter this his sight mended, and he took some 
rest. That morning he caused me to spend 
in going among the sick in the town, request- 
ing me to wash their mouths, and give them 
some of the same I gave him. This pains I 
took willingly, though it were much offensive 
to me. 

" When the messengers were returned, 
finding his stomach come to him, he would 



102 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

not have the chickens killed, but kept them 
for breed. Neither durst we give him any 
physic,- ibecause <he :\?as .SQ- much altered, not 
doubting of his recovery if he were careful. 
Upjin ih:is- rco.very :be brake forth into these 
speeches : ' Now I see the English are my 
friends, and love me ; while I live, I will 
never forget this kindness they have showed 
me.' At our coming away, he called Hobba- 
mock to him, and privately told him of a plot 
of the Massachusetts against Weston's col- 
ony, and so against us. But he would nei- 
ther join therein nor give way to any of his. 
With this he charged him to acquaint me by 
the way, that I might inform the governor. 
Being fitted for our return, we took leave of 
him, who returned many thanks to our gov- 
ernor, and also to ourselves, for our labour 
and love ; the like did all that were about 
him. So we departed." 

In the autumn of the same year Mr. Wins- 
low went to England,* as agent for the colony, 
to give an account of their proceedings to the 
adventurers, and procure such things as were 
necessary. While he was in England he 
published a narrative of the settlement and 
transactions of the colony at Plymouth, under 

* [In the ship Ann, which sailed September 10th. H.J 



WJNSLOW. 103 

this title. " Good News from New-England ; 
or, a Relation of Things remarkable in that 
Plantation, by E. Winslow."* 

This narrative is abridged in Purchas's Pil- 
grims, and has been of great service to all 
succeeding historians. To it he subjoined 
an account of the manners and customs, the 
religious opinions and ceremonies of the In- 
dian natives, which, being an original work, 
and now rarely to be found, is inserted in the 
Appendix. 

In the following spring (March, 1624) Mr. 
Winslow returned from England, having been 
absent no longer than six months, bringing a 
good supply of clothing and other necessa- 
ries, and, what was of more value than any 
other supply, three heifers and one bull, the 
first neat cattle brought into New-England. f 

The same year$ he went again to England, 
where he had an opportunity of correcting a 
mistake which had been made in his former 
voyage. $ The adventurers had then, in the 

* [This work, an abridgment of which was published by Pur- 
chas, begins in January, 1622, and continues till Winslow's first 
voyage to England, September, 1623. It may be found in Mass. 
Hist. Coll., viii., 239-276. Dr. Belknap has farther abridged it 
by some unimportant omissions. It is printed entire in Young's 
Chronicles, 271-375. H.] 

t Prince, 146. t [Probably in July. -H.] $ Prince, 188. 



104 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

same ship with the cattle, sent over John Ly- 
ford as a minister, who was soon suspected 
of being a person unfit for that office. When 
Mr. Winslow went again to England, he im- 
parted this suspicion ; and at a meeting of the 
adventurers, it appeared on examination that 
Lyford had been a minister in Ireland, where 
his conduct had been so bad as to oblige him 
to quit that kingdom, and that the adventu- 
rers had been imposed upon by false testimo- 
ny concerning him. With this discovery Mr. 
Winslow came back to Plymouth in 1625, 
and found the court sitting on the affair of 
Oldham, who had returned after banishment. 
The true characters of these impostors being 
thus discovered, they were both expelled from 
the plantation. 

About the same time, Governor Bradford 
having prevailed on the people of Plymouth 
to choose five assistants instead of one, Mr. 
Winslow was first elected to this office, ii? 
which he was continued till 1633, when, by 
the same influence, he was chosen governor* 
1br one year. 

* The following note from Governor Winthrop's Journal is 
worthy of observation :* " Mr. Edward Winslow was chosen 
governor of Plymouth. Mr. Bradford having been governor 
about ten [twelve] years, and now by importunity got off." 

* Winthrop's Journal, 47. 



W I N S L O \V. 106 

Mr. Winslow was a man of great activity 
and resolution, and therefore well qualified 
to conduct enterprises for the benefit of the 
colony. He frequently went to Penobscot, 
Kennebec, and Connecticut Rivers on trading 
voyages, and rendered himself useful and 
agreeable to the people. 

In 1635 he undertook another agency in 
England for the colonies of Plymouth and 
Massachusetts, partly on occasion of the in- 
trusions which were made on the territory of 
New-England by the French on the east, and 
by the Dutch on the west, and partly to an- 
swer complaints which had been made to the 
government against the Massachusetts colo- 
ny by Thomas Morton,* who had been twice 
expelled for his misbehaviour. 

At that time the care of the colonies was 
committed to a number of bishops, lords, and 
gentlemen, of whom Archbishop Laud was at 
the head.f It was also in contemplation to 

This singular trait in Bradford's character, of which there is 
the fullest evidence, sufficiently invalidates an insinuation of 
Hutchinson, that Winslow's " employment abroad prevented a 
competition between Bradford and him for the governor's place,"* 

* [For a more particular account of Morton, see the Life of 
Stand ish, and notes. H.] 

t Cotton's Appendix. Collections of the Historical Society, 
Tol. iv., 119. 

* Hntchinson's History, ii., 457. 



106 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

establish a general government in America, 
which would have superseded the charters of 
the colonies. 

Wirislow's situation at that time was criti- 
cal, and his treatment was severe. In his 
petition to the commissioners he set forth the 
encroachments of the French and Dutch, and 
prayed for " a special warrant to the English 
colonies to defend themselves against all for- 
eign enemies."* Governor Winthrop cen- 
sured this petition as " ill-advised, because 
such precedents might endanger their liber- 
ties, that they should do nothing but by com- 
mission out of England."! 

The petition, however, was favourably re- 
ceived by some of the board. $ Winslow was 
heard several times in support of it, and point- 
ed out a way in which the object might have 
been attained without any charge to the 
crown, by furnishing some of the chief men 
of the colonies with authority, which they 
would exercise at their own expense, and 
without any public national disturbance. This 
proposal crossed the design of Gorges and 
Mason, whose aim was to establish a general 
government ; and the archbishop, who was 
engaged in their interest, put a check to 

* Hutch., ii., 458. t Journal, 89. t Morton. 94 



W 1 N S L O W. 107 

li* . " 
Winsldw's proposal by questioning him on 

Morton's accusation for his own personal 
conduct in America. The offences alleged 
against him were that he, not being in holy 
orders, but a mere layman, had taught pub- 
licly in the church, and had officiated in the 
celebration of marriages. To the former 
Winslow answered, " that sometimes, when 
the church was destitute of a minister, he had 
exercised his gift for the edification of the 
brethren." To the latter, "that, though he 
had officiated as a magistrate in the solemni- 
zing of marriage, yet he regarded it only as 
a civil contract ; that the people of Plymouth 
had for a long time been destitute of a min- 
ister, and were compelled by necessity to have 
recourse to the magistrate in that solemnity ; 
that this was not to them a novelty, having 
been accustomed to it in Holland, where he 
himself had been married by a Dutch magis- 
trate in the Statehouse." On this honest 
confession, the archbishop pronounced him 
guilty of the crime of separation from the 
National Church, and prevailed on the board 
to consent to his imprisonment. He was 
therefore committed to the Fleet Prison, 
where he lay confined seventeen weeks. 
But after that time k on petitioning the board, 
he obtained a release. 



108 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

At his return to New-England, the colony 
showed him the highest degree of respect by 
choosing him their governor for the succeed- 
ing year (1636). In this office he conducted 
himself greatly to their satisfaction. In 1644 
he was again honoured with the same ap- 
pointment, and in the intermediate years was 
the first on the list of magistrates. 

When the colonies of New-England enter- 
ed into a confederation for their mutual de- 
fence in 1643,* Mr. Winslow was chosen one 
of the commissioners on behalf of Plymoutn, 
and was continued in that office till 1646, 

* [The four colonies, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, 
and New-Haven, presented an extensive and almost defenceless 
frontier to the incursions of the Indians, whose friendship was 
always doubtful, and whose enmity was certainly fatal. Con- 
necticut and New-Haven were also annoyed by the vexatious 
claims of the Dutch, and suffered much hinderance in their trade 
by their interference. This state of things suggested the expe- 
diency of a confederacy of the colonies for mutual succour and 
defence, which, after five years of deliberation, was established 
in May, 1643. The affairs of the United Colonies were com- 
mitted to two commissioners from each colony, who met once a 
year till 1664, and once in three years afterward till 1686, when 
the charters of all the colonies were vacated by King James. 
The league into which they entered was one " of friendship and 
amity, for offence and defence, mutual advice and succour, upon 
all just occasions ;" and the commissioners were empowered to 
frame orders " in general cases of a civil nature, wherein all the 
plantations were interested." Hazard, ii., and Hutchinson's 
Hist, of Mass., i., 120, seqq. H.l 



W I N S L O W. 109 

when he was solicited by the colony of Mas- 
sachusetts to go again to England to answer 
the complaints of Samuel Gorton and others, 
who had charged them with religious intoler- 
ance and persecution.*! The times being 

* Hutch., i., 145, 149. 

t [The court made choice of Winslow, says Governor Win- 
throp (Journal, ii., 283), as a fit man to be employed in our pres- 
ent affairs in England, in regard of his abilities of presence, 
speech, courage, and understanding. He set sail about the 
middle of October, 1646. Ib., 317. Besides the complaints 
of Gorton and his company, he was specially charged to answer 
the complaint of want of religious freedom in Massachusetts, 
preferred against that colony by William Vassal, of Scituate, 
and others. (See notes to the Life of Winthrop, of Mass.) He 
had several hearings before the commissioners for the affairs of 
New-England, among whom were the Earl of Warwick and Sir 
Henry Vane, both zealous Puritans, and friendly to New-Eng- 
land, by whose influence, doubtless, the colony escaped censure. 
One of the partisans of Vassal, if not Vassal himself, had pub- 
lished in a pamphlet, entitled " New-England's Jonas cast up at 
London," a statement of the case designed to the prejudice of 
the colony. Mr. Winslow wrote a reply, entitled "New-Eng- 
land's Salamander discovered," vindicating the colony, and re- 
torting their accusations. The two tracts may be found, ii., 
Mass. Hist. Coll., iv., 107-120, and iii., Ib., ii., 110, seqq. 

The case of Gorton is one of the difficult passages of the 
early history of Massachusetts. It is no easy task to separate 
the truth of his opinions from the mass of contemporary preju- 
dice and misrepresentation. We cannot doubt that he was cru- 
elly persecuted, and that the cause of it lay in certain singular 
theological opinions mystically expressed, and in a bold freedom 
which sometimes degenerated into insolence and contempt. He 
was arrested bv order of court, and in 1643 condemned to be 



110 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

changed, and the Puritans being in power, 
Mr. Winslow had great advantage in this bu- 
siness, from the credit and esteem which he 
enjoyed with that party. We have no ac- 
count of the particulars of this agency, but 
only in general, that " by his prudent man- 
agement he prevented any damage, and clear- 
ed the colony from any blame or dishonour." 
One design of the confederation of the col- 
onies was to promote the civilization of the 
Indians, and their conversion to the Christian 
religion. In this great and good work Mr. 
Winslow was, from principle, very zealously 
engaged. In England he employed his in- 
terest and friendship with members of the 
Parliament, and other gentlemen of quality 
and fortune, to erect a corporation there for 
the prosecution of the design.* For this pur- 
pose an act of Parliament was passed (1649), 
incorporating a society in England " for prop- 
agating the Gospel in New-England."! The 

" confined at Charlestown, and there set on work, and to wear 
such bolts or irons as may hinder his escape," with the farther 
condition that, if he should maintain " any of his abominable 
heresies," he should be, on conviction, put to death. Seven of 
his associates were also confined in separate towns. Win- 
throp's Journal, ii., 147, note. H.J 

* Hazard's State Papers, ii., 145, &c. 

t [The charter of this society bears date July 27th, 1 649. The 



WINSLOW. Ill 

commissioners of the United Colonies were 
constituted a board of correspondents, and 
distributers of the money which was supplied 
in England by charitable donations from all 
the cities, towns, and parishes in the king- 
dom.* By the influence and exertions of 
both these respectable bodies, missions were 
supported among the Indians of New-Eng- 
land ; the Bible and other books of piety 

corporation consisted of sixteen persons. The impulse to its 
formation, as may be inferred from the agency of Mr. Winslow 
in it, was mainly derived from New-.England. The hope of be- 
ing useful in the conversion of the Indians had cheered the 
hearts of many of our pious fathers, who yet were never permit- 
ted to engage in that good work. They have been charged with 
neglecting it. But they seem to have deferred it for a time only 
from the necessities of their own condition, and till they could 
enter upon it with a reasonable prospect of success. From the 
earliest years of New-England might be found here and there 
one, like Hobomok, who had embraced the Christian faith. The 
holy labours of John Eliot were begun with the approval of his 
brethren, and the General Court added their sanction by a spe 
cial act. The society in England greatly aided these pious ef 
forts. Large collections were made to defray the expense of 
them, which were judiciously applied by the commissioners. 
The labours of Eliot, of the Mayhews, of Pierson, and Cotton, 
and Bourne, are worthy of a perpetual memorial in the hearts of 
those who love Christian fortitude and heroic self-denial. In 
aid of the formation of the society, a tract, entitled " The Glo- 
rious Progress of the Gospel among the Indians of New-Eng- 
land," written by Eliot and Mayhew, was published in London in 
1649, with a preface by Mr. Winslow. H.] 
* Hazard's Collections, i , 636. 



112 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

were translated into the Indian tongue, and 
printed for their use ; and much pains were 
taken by several worthy ministers and other 
gentlemen to instruct the Indians, and reduce 
them to a civilized life. This society is still 
in existence, and, till the late revolution in 
America, they kept up a board of corre- 
spondents at Boston, but since that period it 
has been discontinued. Of this corporation, 
at its first establishment, Mr. Winslow was a 
very active and faithful member in England, 
where his reputation was great, and his abili- 
ties highly valued by the prevailing party, 
who found him so much employment there 
and elsewhere that he never returned to 
New-England.* 

When Oliver Cromwell (1655) planned an 
expedition against the Spaniards in the West 
Indies, and sent Admiral Penn and General 
Venables to execute it, he appointed three 

* [Mr. Winslow was one of the commissioners appointed to 
determine the value of the English ships seized and detained by 
the King of Denmark, and for which restitution was to be made, 
according to the treaty of peace made with the Protector, April 
5th, 1654. The commissioners were required to meet at Gold- 
smith's Hall, London, in the month of June ; and, in case they 
should not agree by a certain day in August, were to be shut 
up in a chamber, without fire, candles, meat, or drink, or any 
other refreshment, until they should agree. Pavis's note to 
Morton's Memorial, p. 261. H.] 



WINS LOW. 113 

commissioners to superintend and direct their 
operations, of which number Winslow* was 
the chief; the other two were Richard Hoi- 
drip and Edward Blagge.f Their object 
was to attack St. Domingo, the only place of 
strength which the Spaniards had in Hispan- 
iola. 

The commanders disagreed in their tem- 
pers and views, and the control of the com- 
missioners was of no avail. The troops, ill 
appointed and badly provided, were landed 
at too great a distance from the city, and lost 
their way in the woods. Worn with hunger 
and thirst, heat and fatigue, they were routed 
by an inconsiderable number of Spaniards ; 
six hundred were killed, and the remnant 
took refuge on board their vessels. 

To compensate as far as possible for this 
unfortunate event, the fleet sailed for Jamai- 
ca, which surrendered without any resistance. 
But Mr. Winslow, who partook of the chagrin 
of the defeat, did not enjoy the pleasure of 
the victory. In the passage between Hispan- 
iola and Jamaica the heat of the climate 

* [See two letters from Edward Winslow to Secretary Thur- 
loe OB the state of affairs in the West Indies, dated March 16tb 
and 30th, 1654, '5, in Thurloe's State Papers, iii., 249, 325.--H.J 

+ Hume, chap. Iri. 



114 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

threw him into a fever, which, operating with 
the dejection of his mind, put an end to his 
life on the eighth of May, 1655, in the sixty- 
first year of his age. His body was commit- 
ted to the deep with the honours of war, for- 
ty-two guns being fired by the fleet on that 
occasion. 

The following well-meant but inelegant 
verses were written by one of the passengers 
on board the same ship in which he died. 

" The eighth of May, west from 'Spaniola shore, 
God took from us our grand commissioner, 
Winslow by name ; a man in chiefest trust, 
Whose life was sweet and conversation just ; 
Whose parts and wisdom most men did excel ; 
An honour to his place, as all can tell."* 

Before his departure from New-England 
Mr. Winslow had made a settlement on a 
valuable tract of land in Marshfield,'to which 
he gave the name of Careswell, probably 
from a castle and seat of that name in Staf- 
fordshire.! His son, Josiah Winslow, was a 
magistrate and governor of the colony, and 
general of the New-England forces in the 
war with the Indians, called Philip's war. 
He died in 1680. Isaac, the son of Josiah 
Winslow, sustained the chief civil and mili- 
tary offices in the county of Plymouth after 

* Morton's Memorial. t Sec Camdcn's Britannia, 534. 



WINSLOW. 115 

its incorporation with Massachusetts, and was 
president of the provincial council. He died 
in 1738. John Winslow, the son of Isaac, 
was a captain in the unfortunate expedition 
to Cuba in 1740, and afterward an officer in 
the British service, and major-general in sev- 
eral expeditions to Kennebec, Nova Scotia, 
and Crown Point. He died in 1774, aged 
71. His son, Dr. Isaac Winslow, is now in 
possession of the family estate at Marshfield. 
By the favour of this gentleman, the letter- 
books and journals of his late father, Major- 
general Winslow, with many ancient family 
papers containing a fund of genuine informa- 
tion, are deposited in the library of the His- 
torical Society. There are several other rep- 
utable branches of this family in New-Eng- 
land and Nova Scotia. 



116 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



XXIII. MILES STANDISH. 

THIS intrepid soldier, the hero of New- 
England, as John Smith was of Virginia, 
was a native of Lancashire, in the north of 
England, but the date of his birth is not pre- 
served. Descended from the younger branch 
of a family of distinction,* he was " heir-appa- 

* All which I have been able to collect relative to the family 
of Standish is as follows : 

Henry Standish, a Franciscan, D.D. of Cambridge, bishop 
of St. Asaph before the Reformation, was a bigot to popery. 
Falling down on his knees before King Henry VIII., he petition- 
ed him to continue the religiods establishment of his ancestors. 
This prelate died A.D. 1535, at a very advanced age. 

John Standish, nephew to Henry, wrote a book against the 
translation of the Bible into the English language, and present- 
ed it to the Parliament. He died in 1556, in the reign of Queen 
Mary.* 

Sir Richard Standish, of Whittle, near Charley. In his 
grounds a lead-mine was discovered not long before 1695, and 
wrought with good success. Near the same place is a quarry of 
mill stones. t 

The village of Standish, and a seat called Standish Hall, are 
situate near the River Douglass, in Lancashire, between the 
towns of Charley and Wigan, which are about 6 miles distant. 
Wigan is 9 miles north of Warrington, on the southern side of 
the county. J See Camden's Map of Lancashire. 

* Fuller's Worthies of England, 109, 114. 
t Gamden's Britannia, 802. 

t ["So late as 1707, I find that Sir Thomas Standish lived 



STAN DISH. 117 

rent to a great estate of lands and livings, sur- 
reptitiously detained from him," which com- 
pelled him to seek subsistence for himself. 
Though small in stature, he had an active 
genius, a sanguine temper, and a strong con- 
stitution. These qualities led him to the pro- 
fession of arms ; and the Netherlands being 
in his youth a theatre of war, he entered into 
the service of Queen Elizabeth in aid of the 
Dutch, and after the truce settled with the 
English refugees at Leyden. 

When they meditated a removal to Amer- 
ica, Standish, though not a member of their 
church, was thought a proper person to ac- 
company them. Whether he joined them at 
their request or his own motion does not ap- 
pear, but he engaged with zeal and resolution 
in their enterprise, and embarked with the 
first company in 1620. 

On their arrival at Cape Cod he was ap- 
pointed commander of the first party of six- 
teen men who went ashore on discovery ; and 
when they began their settlement at Ply- 
mouth, he was unanimously chosen captain 
or chief military commander. In several in- 
terviews with the natives he was the first to 

at Duxbury, the name of the family-seat in Lancashire." An- 
cient Vestiges, quoted in Morton's Memorial, 263, note. H.] 



118 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

meet them, and was generally accompanied 
with a very small number of men, selected by 
himself. 

After the league was made with Massaso- 
it, one of his petty sachems, Corbitant, be- 
came discontented, and was meditating to 
join with the Narragansets against the Eng- 
lish. Standish, with fourteen men and a 
guide, went to Corbitant's place [Swanzey] 
and surrounded his house ; but, not finding 
him at home, they informed his people of 
their intention of destroying him if he should 
persist in his rebellion. Corbitant, hearing of 
his danger, made an acknowledgment to Mas- 
sasoit, and entreated his mediation with the 
English for peace. He was soon after [Sept. 
13, 1621] admitted, with eight other chiefs, 
to subscribe an instrument of submission to 
the English government. 

In every hazardous enterprise Captain 
Standish was ready to put himself foremost, 
whether the object were discovery, traffic, or 
war, and the people, animated by his exam- 
ple and confiding in his bravery and fidelity, 
thought themselves safe under his command. 

When the town of Plymouth [1622] was 
enclosed and fortified, the defence of it was 
committed to the captain, who made the most 



STANDISH. 119 

judicious disposition of their force.* He di- 
vided them into four squadrons, appointing 
those whom he thought most fit to command, 
and ordered every man, on any alarm, to re- 
pair to his respective station, and put himself 
under his proper officer. A select company 
was appointed, in case of accidental fire, to 
mount guard, with their backs to the fire, 
that they might prevent the approach of an 
enemy during the conflagration. 

Being sent on a trading voyage to Mata- 
chiest [between Barnstable and Yarmouth, 
Feb., 1623], a severe storm came on during 
the first night, by which the harbour was filled 
with ice, and Captain Standish with his party 
were obliged to lodge in one of the huts of the 
savages. They came together in a consider- 
able number, and under the mask of friend- 
ship promised to supply him with corn. 
Standish, suspecting, by their number, thai 
their intention was hostile, would not permit 

* [" By this time" (March, 1622), says Bradford, " our town 
is impaled, enclosing a garden for every family." " This sum- 
mer" (1622), says Morton (p. 81, 82), " they built a fort with 
good timber, both strong and comely, which was of good de- 
fence, made with a flat roof and battlements, on which fort 
their ordnance was mounted, and where they kept constant watch, 
especially in time of danger. It served them also for a meet- 
ing-house, and was fitted accordingly for that use." H.] 



120 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his men to lie down all at once, but ordered 
them to sleep and watch by turns. In the 
morning a discovery was made that some 
things had been stolen from his shallop. The 
captain immediately went with his whole 
force, consisting of six men, surrounded the 
house of sachem lanough, and obliged him 
to find the thief and restore the stolen things. 
This resolute behaviour struck them with 
awe ; the trade went on peaceably, and, when 
the harbour was cleared, the shallop came off 
with a load of corn, and arrived safely at 
Plymouth. 

This was the first suspicion of a conspira- 
cy which had for some time been forming 
among the Indians to destroy the English. 
In the following month [March] he had an- 
other specimen of their insolence at Mano- 
met,* whither he went to fetch home the 
corn which Governor Bradford had bought 
in the preceding autumn. The captain was 

* Manomet is the name of a creek or river which runs through 
the town of Sandwich, into the upper part of Buzzard's Bay, 
formerly called Manomet Bay. Between this and Scusset 
Creek (into which Standish went and received his corn) is the 
place which, for more than a century, has been thought of as 
a proper place to be cut through, to form a communication by a 
navigable canal from Barnstable Bay to Buzzard's Bay. Prince, 
126. 



STANDISH. 121 

not received with that welcome which the 
governor had experienced. Two Indians 
from Massachusetts were there, one of whom 
had an iron dagger, which he had gotten from 
some of Weston's people at Wessagusset 
[Weymouth], and which he gave to Cana- 
cum, the sachem of Manomet, in the view 
of Standish. The present was accompanied 
with a speech, which the captain did not then 
perfectly understand, but the purport of it 
was, " That the English were too strong for 
the Massachusetts Indians to attack without 
help from the others ; because, if they should 
cut off the people in their bay, yet they fear- 
ed that those of Plymouth would revenge 
their death. He therefore invited the sachem 
to join with them, and destroy both colonies. 
He magnified his own strength and courage, 
and derided the Europeans because he had 
seen them die, crying and making sour faces 
like children." An Indian of Paomet* was 
present, who had formerly been friendly, and 
now professed the same kindness, offering his 
personal service to get the corn on board the 
shallop, though he had never done such work 
before, and inviting the captain to lodge in 
his hut, as the weather was cold. Standish 

* [Now Tniro. H.J 



122 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

passed the night by his fire ; but, though ear- 
nestly pressed to take his rest, kept himself 
continually in motion, and the next day, by 
the help of the squaws, go f his corn on board 
and returned to Plymouth. It was afterward 
discovered that this Indian intended to kill 
him if he had fallen asleep. 

About the same time happened Mr. Wins- 
low's visit to Massasoit in his sickness, and 
a full discovery of the plot which the Indians 
at Massachusetts had contrived to destroy 
the English. The people whom Weston 
had sent to plant a colony at Wessagusset 
were so disorderly and imprudent, that the 
Indians were not only disgusted with them, 
but despised them. These were destined to 
be the first victims. Their overseer, John 
Sanders, was gone to Monhegan to meet the 
fishermen at their coming to the coast, and 
get some provisions. During his absence the 
Indians had grown more insolent than before ; 
and it was necessary that some force should 
be sent thither, as well to protect the colony 
as to crush the conspiracy. Standish was the 
commander of the party ; and as this was his 
capital exploit, it may be most satisfactory 
and entertaining to give the account of it, as 
related by Mr. Winslow in his narrative :* 

* [See Mass. Hist. Coll., viii., 265-271 Winslow's narra- 



STAN DISH. 123 

" The 23d of March [1623] being a yearly 
court-day, we came to this conclusion, that 
Captain Standish should take as many men 
as he thought sufficient to make his party 
good against all the Indians in the Massa- 
chusetts Bay ; and because it is impossible 
to deal with them upon open defiance, but to 
take them in such traps as they lay for oth- 
ers ; therefore, that he should pretend trade, 
as at other times, but first go to the English 
and acquaint them with the plot and the end 
of his own coming, that, by comparing it with 
thei^ carriage towards them, he might better 
judge of the certainty of it, and more fitly 
take opportunity to revenge the same ; but 
should forbear, if it were possible, till such 
time as he could make sure of Wittuwamat, 
a bloody and bold villain, whose head he had 
orders to bring with him. Upon this, Captain 
Standish made choice of eight men, and would 
not take more, because he would prevent jeal- 
ousy. On the next day, before he could go, 
jcame one* of Weston's company to us with 

tive is slightly abridged, and the language altered by Dr. Bel- 
knap. H.] 

* His name was Phinehas Pratt. An Indian followed him to 
kill him ; but, by missing his way, he escaped and got into Ply- 
mouth. This man was living in 1677, when Mr. Hubbard wrote 
bis history. The Indian who followed him went to Manomet, 
III. K 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



a pack on his back, who made a pitiful narra- 
tion of their lamentable and weak estate, and 
of the Indians' carriage, whose boldness in- 
creased abundantly, insomuch as they would 
take the victuals out of their pots, and eat 
before their faces ; yea, if in anything they 
gainsayed them, they were ready to hold a 
knife at their breasts. He said that, to give 
them content, they had hanged one* of the 

and on his return visited Plymouth, where he was put in irons 
Hubbard's MS. [In the printed copy, p. 78. H.] 

* Mr. Hubbard's account of this matter is as follows : " The 
company, as some report, pretended, in way of satisfaction, to 
punish him that did the theft, but in his stead hanged #poor 
decrepit old man that was unserviceable to the company, and 
burdensome to keep alive. This was the ground of the story, 
with which the morry gentleman that wrote the poem called 
Hudibras did, in his poetical fancy, make so much sport. The 
inhabitants of Plymouth tell the story much otherwise, as if the 
person hanged was really guilty of stealing, as were many of the 
rest. Yet it is possible that justice might be executed, not on 
him that most deserved it, but on him that could best be spared, 
or who was not likely to live long if he had been let alone." 

The passage of Hudibras above referred to is in part ii., canto 
ii., line 403, &c. : 

" Though nice and dark the point appear, 

Quoth Ralph, it may hold up and clear; 

That sinners may supply the place 

Of suffering saints, is. a plain case. 

Justice gives sentence many times 

On one man for another's crimes. 

Our brethren of New-England, use 

Choice malefactors to excuse, 



STANDISH. 125 

Company who had stolen their corn, and yet 
diey regarded it not ; that another of them 

And hang the guiltless in their stead, 

Of whom the churches have less need ; 

As lately happen'd. In a town 

There lived a cobbler, and but one, 

Who out of doctrine could cut, use, 

And mend men's lives as well as shoes. 

This precious brother, having slain 

In time of peace an Indian, 

Not out of malice, but mere zeal 

Because he was an infidel, 

The mighty Tottipotimoy 

Sent to our elders an envoy, 

Complaining sorely of the breach 

Of league held forth by brother Patch 

Against the articles in force 

Between both churches, his and ours ; 

For which he craved the saints to render 

Into his hands, or hang th' offender. 

But they, maturely having weigh'd, 

They had no more but him of the trade ; 

A man that served them in a double 

Capacity, to teach and cobble, 

Resolved to spare him ; yet to do 

The Indian Hogan Mogan, too, 

Impartial justice, in his stead did 

Hang an old weaver that was bedrid. 

Then wherefore may not you be skipp'd, 

And in your room another whipp'd 1" 

The story is here most ridiculously caricatured as a slur upon 
the churches of New-England. I do not find that the people of 
Weston's plantation had any church at all ; they were a set of 
needy adventurers, intent only on gaining a subsistence. Mr. 
Neal says that " he obtained a patent under pretence of propaga- 



126 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

had turned savage ; that their people had 
mostly forsaken the town, and made their 
rendezvous where they got their victuals, be- 
cause they would not take pains to bring it 
home ; that they had sold their clothes for 
corn, and were ready to perish with hunger 
and cold, and that they were dispersed into 
three companies, having scarcely any powder 
and shot. As this relation was grievous to 
us, so it gave us good encouragement to pro- 
ceed ; and the wind coming fair the next day, 
March 25, Captain Standish being now fit- 
ted, set forth for Massachusetts. 

" The captain being come to Massachusetts,* 
went first to the ship, but found neither man 
nor dog therein. On the discharge of a mus- 
ket the master and some others showed them- 
selves, who were on shore gathering ground- 
nuts and other food. After salutation, Cap- 
tain Standish asked them how they dared so 
leave the ship, and live in such security. They 
answered, like men senseless of their own 
misery, that they feared not the Indians, but 
lived and suffered them to lodge with them, 
not having sword nor gun, or needing the 

ting the discipline of the Church of England in America." Hist. 
N. E., ch. iii., p. 102. 
* [I. e., Weymouth. H..] 



S T A N D I S H. 127 

same. To which the captain replied, that if 
there were no cause, he was glad. But, upon 
farther inquiry, understanding that those in 
whom John Sanders had reposed most confi- 
dence were at the plantation, thither he went, 
and made known the Indians' purpose and 
the end of his own coming, and told them 
that, if they durst not stay there, it was the 
intention of the governor and people of Ply- 
mouth to receive them till they could be bet- 
ter provided for. These men answered that 
they could expect no better, and it was of 
God's mercy that they were not killed before 
his coming, desiring that he would neglect 
no opportunity to proceed ; hereupon he ad- 
vised them to secrecy, and to order one third 
of their company that were farthest off to 
come home, and on pain of death to keep 
there, himself allowing them a pint of Indian 
corn to a man for a day, though that was 
spared out of our seed. The weather proving 
very wet and stormy, it was the longer before 
he could do anything. 

" In the mean time an Indian came to him 
and brought some furs, but rather to get what 
he could from the captain than to trade ; and 
though the captain carried things as smoothly 
as he could, yet at his return the Indian re- 



128 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 

ported that he saw by his eyes that he was 
angry in his heart, and therefore began to 
suspect themselves discovered. This caused 
one Pecksuot, who was a Pinese* [chief], be- 
ing a man of a notable spirit, to come to Hob- 
bamock [Standish's Indian guide and inter- 
preter], and tell him that he understood the 
captain was come to kill himself and the rest 
of the savages there : * Tell him,' said he, 
' we know it, but fear him not, neither will 
we shun him ; but let him begin when he 
dare, he shall not take us * at unawares.' 
Many times after, divers of them, severally or 
a few together, came to the plantation, where 
they would whet and sharpen the point of 
their knives before his face, and use many 
other insulting gestures and speeches. Among 
the rest, Wittuwamat bragged of the excel- 
lency of his knife, on the handle of which was 
pictured a woman's face. ' But,' said he, 
' I have another at home, wherewith I have 
killed both French and English, and that hath 
a man's face on it, and by-and-by these two 
must be married.' Farther he said of that 
knife which he there had, Hinnaim namen, 
hinnaim michen, matta cuts ; that is to say, by- 
and-by it should see, by-and-by it should eat, 

* [Winslow spells this word Paniese. H.] 



STANDISH. 129 

but not speak. Also Pecksuot, being a man 
of greater stature than the captain, told him, 
' though you are a great captain, yet you are 
but a little man ; though I be no sachem, yet 
I am a man of great strength and courage.' 
These things the captain observed, but for 
the present bore them with patience. 

11 On the next day, seeing he could not get 
many of them together at once, but Pecksuot 
and Wittuwamat being together, with an- 
other man and the brother of Wittuwamat, a 
youth of eighteen, putting many tricks on the 
weaker sort of men, and having about as 
many of his own men in the same room, the 
captain gave the word to his men ; and the 
door being fast shut, he begun himself with 
Pecksuot, and, snatching the knife from his 
neck, after much struggling killed him there- 
with ; the rest killed Wittuwamat and the 
other man ; the youth they took and hanged. 
It is incredible how many wounds these men 
received before they died, not making any 
fearful noise, but catching at their weapons 
and striving to the last. Hobbamock stood 
by as a spectator, observing how our men de- 
meaned themselves in the action, which be- 
ing ended, he, smiling, brake forth and said, 
* Yesterday Pecksuot bragged of his own 



130 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

strength and stature, and told you that, though 
you were a great captain, yet you were but 
a little man ; but to-day I see you are big 
enough to lay him on the ground.' 

" There being some women at the same 
time there, Captain Standish left them in the 
custody of Weston's people at the town, and 
sent word to another company to kill those 
Indian men that were among them. These 
killed two more : himself, with some of his 
own men, went to another place and killed 
another ; but, through the negligence of one 
man, an Indian escaped, who discovered and 
crossed their proceedings. 

" Captain Standish took one half of his 
men, with one or two of Weston's and Hob- 
bamock, still seeking them. At length they 
espied a file of Indians making towards 
them ; and, there being a small advantage in 
the ground by reason of a hill, both compa- 
nies strove for it. Captain Standish got it ; 
whereupon the Indians letreated, and took 
each man his tree, letting fly their arrows 
amain, especially at himself and Hobbamock. 
Whereupon Hobbamock cast off his coat, and 
chased them so fast that our people were not 
able to hold way with him. They could 
have but one certain mark, the arm and half 



STAND I SH. 131 

the face of a notable villain, as he drew [his 
bow] at Captain Standish, who, with another, 
both discharged at him and brake his arm. 
Whereupon they fled into a swamp : when 
they were in the thicket they parlied, but got 
nothing but foul language. So our captain 
dared the sachem to come out and fight like 
a man, showing how base and woman-like he 
was in tonguing it as he did ; but he refused 
and fled. So the captain returned to the 
plantation, where he released the women, 
and took not their beaver coats from them, 
nor suffered the least discourtesy to be offered 
them. 

"Now were Weston's people resolved to 
leave the plantation, and go to Monhegan, 
hoping to get passage and return [to Eng- 
land] with the fishing ships. The captain 
told them that, for his own part, he durst live 
there with fewer men than they were ; yet, 
since they were otherwise minded, according 
to his orders from the governor and people 
of Plymouth, he would help them with corn, 
which he did, scarce leaving himself more 
than brought them home. Some of them 
disliked to go to Monhegan ; and, desiring to 
go with him to Plymouth, he took them into 
the shallop; and, seeing the others set sail, 
III.-L 



132 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and clear of Massachusetts Bay, he took leave 
and returned to Plymouth, bringing the head 
of Wittuwamat, which was set up on the 
fort.* 

" This sudden and unexpected execution 
hath so terrified and amazed the other peo- 
ple who intended to join with the Massa- 
cheuseucks against us, that they forsook their 
houses, running to and fro like men distract- 
ed, living in swamps and other desert pla- 
ces, and so brought diseases upon themselves, 
whereof many are dead ; as Canacum, sa- 
chem of Manomet ; Aspinet, of Nauset ; and 
lanough, of Matachiest. This sachem [la- 
nough], in the midst of these distractions, said, 
' the God of the English was offended with 
them, and would destroy them in his anger.' 
From one of these places, a boat was sent 
with presents to the governor, hoping thereby 
to work their peace ; but the boat was lost, 
and three of the people drowned ; only one 

* This may excite in some minds an objection to the human- 
ity of our forefathers. The reason assigned for it was, that it 
might prove a terror to others. In matters of war and public 
justice, they observed the customs and laws of the English na- 
ion. As late as the year 1747, the heads of the lords who 
^rere concerned in the Scots rebellion were set up over Tem- 
ple-Bar, the most frequented passage between London and 
Westminster. 



S T A N D I S H. 133 

escaped, who returned ; so that none of them 
durst come among us." 

The Indian who had been confined at Ply- 
mouth, on his examination, confessed the 
plot, in which five persons were principally 
concerned, of whom two were killed. He 
protested his own innocence, and his life was 
spared on condition that he would carry a 
message to his sachem, Obtakiest, demanding 
three of Weston's men whom he held in cus- 
tody. A woman returned with his answer, 
that the men were killed before the message 
arrived, for which he was very sorry. 

Thus ended Weston's plantation, within 
one year after it began. He had been one of 
the adventurers to Plymouth, but quitted 
them and took a separate patent, and his 
plantation was intended to rival that of Ply- 
mouth.* He did not come in person to Amer- 

* [Weston's patent covered a tract lying along the southern 
shore of Massachusetts Bay. In the summer of 1622 he sent 
over three ships, the Charity, the Sparrow, and the Swan, " on 
his own particular interest," partly for fishing, and partly to make 
a permanent settlement. The Sparrow was sold in Virginia ; 
the Charity, returning from Virginia, landed the company at 
Weymouth, and went on to England ; the Swan remained at 
Weymouth. Prince, 202, 3, 5, 6. Mr. Weston was singular- 
ly unfortunate in the choice of his men. He himself testifies 
that " many of them are rude and profane fellows." They were 
trangelv destitute of suitable control. Mr. Green, brother-in-law 



134 AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 

ica till after the dispersion of his people, 
some of whom he found among the eastern 

of Weston, who was the superintendent of the expedition, with 
authority to enforce discipline, died before they reached Wey- 
mouth. Sanders, who succeeded him, was necessarily much 
absent. Whether Weston designed to found a planting, or a 
fishing and trading settlement, we do not certainly know ; prob- 
ably the latter, though the settlers were but scantily furnished 
with the means of traffic with the natives. They seem to have 
fished little, to have traded only enough to procure provisions to 
sustain life, and to have planted none at all. They were waste- 
ful of the little they had ; and, when that was gone, what they 
could not beg, they stole, for the natives speedily put an end to 
all attempts at borrowing. They were soon reduced to the ex- 
tremest necessity, so that some " would cut wood for the In- 
dians, or fetch them water, for a cap full of corn ;" and " when 
night came, whereas possibly some of them had a snug blanket 
or such like to lap themselves in, the Indians would take it, and 
let the other lie in the cold." Morton, 78, 9, 84, 7, 8. They 
were dependant on the colony at Plymouth for the care and 
healing of their sick. The whole expedition seems to have been 
unwisely planned or ill appointed. Weston himself laid the 
blame of the miscarriage on his own absence, and declared to 
Robert Gorges that " he left them sufficiently provided, and 
conceived they would have been well governed." In his eager- 
ness for gain, he probably overlooked or neglected the most im- 
portant means of success. Indeed, he was not over- scrupulous 
as to the means he used. He purchased a large quantity of 
cannon, under a license from the council for New-England to 
transport them to America, " pretending great fortification here," 
which he sold in England contrary to his agreement. Morton, 
104, 105. This writer adds, " The said Mr. Thomas Weston 
was a man of parts, and a merchant of good account in London. 
Some time after these passages he went for London, and died in 
the city of Bristol." H.] 



STANDISH. 135 

fishermen, and from them he first heard of 
the ruin of his enterprise. In a storm, he 
was cast away between the rivers of Piscata- 
qua and Merrimac, and was robbed by the 
natives of all which he had saved from the 
wreck. Having borrowed a suit of clothes 
from some of the people at Piscataqua, he 
came to Plymouth, where, in consideration 
of his necessity, the government lent him 
two hundred weight of beaver, with which he 
sailed to the eastward, with such of his own 
people as were disposed to accompany him. 
It is observed that he never repaid the debt 
but with enmity and reproach.* 

The next adventure in which we find 
Captain Standish engaged was at Cape Ann, 
where the fishermen of Plymouth had in 1624 
erected a stage, and a company from the west 
of England in the following year had taken 
possession of it. Standish was ordered from 
Plymouth with a party to retake it, but met 
a refusal. The controversy grew warm, and 
high words passed on both sides. But the 
prudence of Roger Conant, agent for the 
west countrymen, and of Mr. Pierce, master 
of their ship, prevented matters from coming 
to extremity. The ship's crew lent their aa- 
* Prince, p. 135. 



136 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

sistance in building another stage, which the 
Plymouth fishermen accepted in lien of the 
former, and thus peace and harmony were 
restored.* Mr. Hubbard, who has preserv- 
ed the memory of this affair, reflects on Cap- 
tain Standish in the following manner : " He 
had been bred a soldier in the Low Countries, 
and never entered into the school of Christ 
or of John the Baptist ; or, if ever he was 
there, he had forgot his first lessons, to offer 
violence to no man, and to part with the cloak 
rather than needlessly contend for the coat, 
though taken away without order. A little 
chimney is soon fired ; so was the Plymouth 
captain, a man of very small stature, yet of a 
very hot and angry temper. The fire of his 

* [The "company from the west of England" was the one 
formed by the influence of the famous Rev. Mr. White, of Dor- 
chester, the firm and judicious friend of colonization in New- 
England. Oldham, who had been banished from Plymouth, was 
invited to manage the trade with the Indians : Mr. Lyford was 
appointed their minister ; and Roger Conant, " a pious, sober, 
and prudent gentleman," to superintend the fishing and planting. 
" The master of their ship" was " one Mr. Hewes," who, in- 
stead of acting the peacemaker, "barricadoed his company with 
hogsheads," and prepared for a stout defence. Hubbard's New- 
England, iii. Mr. William Pierce, by whose good offices the 
quarrel was settled, and " who lay just by with his ship," was 
now from Plymouth, to which place he had brought Edward 
Winslow from England. Prince, 232. This company in 1627 
removed to Salem. Felt's Annals of Salem, 1, 2. H.] 



S T A N 1) I S U. 137 

passion, soon kindled, and blown up into a 
flame by hot words, might easily have con- 
sumed all had it not been seasonably quench- 
ed."* 

When the news of the transactions at Wes- 
sagusset, where Standish had killed the In- 
dians, was carried to Europe, Mr. Robinson 
from Leyden wrote to the Church of Ply- 
mouth, " to consider the disposition of their 
captain, who was of a warm temper.f He 
hoped the Lord had sent him among them 
for good, if they used him right ; but he 
doubted whether there was not wanting that 
tenderness of the life of man, made after 
God's image, which was meet ; and he 
thought it would have been happy if they 
had converted some before they had killed 
any." 

The best apology for Captain Standish is, 
that, as a soldier, he had been accustomed to 
discipline and obedience ; that he considered 
himself as the military servant of the colony, 
and received his orders from the governor 
and people. Sedentary persons are not al- 
ways the best judges of a soldier's merit or 
feelings. Men of his own profession will ad 

* Hubbard's MS., p. 84. 
f Hutchinson, ii., 461. 



138 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

mire the courage of Standish, his prompti 
tude and decision in the execution of his or- 
ders. No one has ever charged him either 
with failure in point of obedience or of wan- 
tonly exceeding the limits of his commission. 
If the arm of flesh were necessary to estab- 
lish the rights, and defend the lives and prop- 
erty of colonists in a new country, surround- 
ed with enemies and false friends, certainly 
such a man as Standish, with all his imperfec- 
tions, will hold a high rank among the wor- 
thies of New-England. Mr. Prince does not 
scruple to reckon him among those heroes of 
antiquity "who chose to suffer affliction with 
the people of God ; who through faith sub- 
dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob- 
tained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight 
the armies of the aliens ;"* and even Mr. 
Hubbard, in another part of his history, says 
that Captain Standish " was a gentleman very 
expert in military service, by whom the peo- 
ple were all willing to be ordered in those 
concerns. He was likewise improved [em- 
ployed] to good acceptance and success in 
affairs of the greatest moment in that colony, 
to whose interest he continued firm and stead- 
* Preface to Mason's History of Pequod War. 



STANDISH. ' 139 

fast to the last, and always managed his trust 
with great integrity and faithfulness."* 

Two ships which had come with supplies 
to the colony, the same year (1625) returned, 
in the autumn, with cargoes of fish and furs.f 
In one of these Standish embarked as agent 
for the colony,:}: and arrived safely in Eng- 
land ; the other was captured by a Turkish 
ship of war, and the loss of her valuable car- 
go was a severe blow to the colony. He ar- 
rived in a very unfortunate time ; the plague 
raging in London, carried off more than forty 
thousand people in the space of one year. 
Commerce was stagnated, the merchants and 
members of the Council of New-England 
were dispersed, and no meeting could be 
holden. All which Captain Standish could 
do was by private conference to prepare 

* Hubbard's MS., p. 50. 

t [One of them, which was ordered to Bilboa, had on board 
.1800 worth of fish. H.] 

$ ["Both to the remaining adventurers for more goods, and 
to the New-England Council, to oblige the others to come to a 
composition." Prince, 234. The colonists had formed a higher 
estimation of his capacity for war than for business. Governor 
Bradford wrote to Mr. Cushman, June 9, 1625, "I pray you, be 
as hfilpful to him as you can, especially in making our provis- 
ions, for therein he hath the least skill." Bradford's Letter- 
Book, in Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 36. See p. 36 for his commis- 
sion. H.] 



140 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the way for a composition with the company 
of adventurers, and by the help of a few 
friends, with great trouble and danger, to 
procure a small quantity of goods for the col- 
ony, amounting to 150, which he took up at 
the exorbitant interest of 50 per cent. With 
this insufficient but welcome supply, he re- 
turned to Plymouth in the spring [April] of 
1626, bringing the sorrowful news of the 
death of Mr. Robinson and Mr. Cushman. 

Several attempts were, about this time, 
made to form plantations within the Bay of 
Massachusetts, at Cape Ann, and Piscata- 
qua.*t Among these adventurers was one 

* Morton's Memorial, 68. 

t [The attempted settlements in Massachusetts Bay and at 
Cape Ann have been referred to. The first settlement on the 
Piscataqua was made under a patent granted in 1621 to Captain 
John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, of a tract lying between 
the Merrimac and Sagadahock, and called by them Laconia. 
They entered into partnership with sundry merchants of Lon- 
don and elsewhere, under the title of " the Company of Laco- 
nia," and in the spring of 1623 sent over David Thompson, 
and William and Edward Hilton, and others, provided with ne- 
cessaries for a colony and a fishery. The settlers were divided 
into two companies, one of which was stationed at the mouth 
of the river, and the other on its banks about eight miles above, 
at a place since called Dover. The enterprise was successful, 
and the plantation proved permanent, though its increase was 
not so rapid as that of Plymouth. Belknap's History of New- 
Hampshire, 6, 7. H.] 



STAN DISH. 141 

Captain Wollaston,* " a man of considerable 
parts, and with him three or four more of 
some eminence, who brought over many ser- 
vants and much provisions." He pitched on 
the southern side of the bay, at the head of 
the creek, and called an adjoining hill Mount 
"Wollaston [Quincy]. One of his company 
was Thomas Morton, " a pettifogger of Fur- 
nival's Inn," who had some property of his 
own, or of other men committed to him. 
After a short trial, Wollaston, not finding his 
expectations realized, went to Virginia, with 
a great part of the servants ; and, being bet- 
ter pleased with that country, sent for the 
rest to come to him. Morton thought this a 
proper opportunity to make himself head of 
the company ; and, in a drunken frolic, per- 
suaded them to depose Filcher, the lieuten- 
ant, and set up for liberty and equality. 

Under this influence they soon became li- 
centious and debauched, t They sold their 
goods to the natives for furs, taught them the 

* [Wollaston came to America, with about thirty persons, in 
1625, and finally left Quincy in 1626. H.] 

t [" Quaffing," says Morton (137), " and drinking both wine 
and strong liquors in great excess ; as some have reported, ten 
pounds' worth in a morning ; setting up a Maypole, drinking 
and dancing about it, and frisking about it as so many fairies, or 
furies rather. H.] 



142 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

use of arms, and employed them in hunting. 
They invited and received fugitives from all 
the neighbouring settlements, and thus en- 
dangered their safety, and obliged them to 
unite their strength in opposition to them. 
Captain Endicott. from Naumkeag,* made 
them a visit, and gave them a small check 
by cutting down a Maypole which they had 
erected as a central point of dissipation and 
extravagance ; but it was reserved for Cap- 
tain Standish to break up their infamous 
combination. After repeated friendly admo- 
nitions, which were disregarded, at the re- 
quest and joint expensef of the scattered 
planters, and by order of the government of 

* [Salem. Endecott was afterward for many years governor 
of Massachusetts. H.] 

t From the bill of expense sent to the Council of New- 
England, may be seen the number and ability of the plantations 
in 1628. 

Plymouth contributed . . . . 2 : 10 
Naumkeag [Salem] . . . . 1:10 

Pascataquack [Mason's company] . 2 : 10 

Mr. Jeffery and Mr. Burslem . . 2 

Nantascot 1 : 10 

Mr. Thomson [Squantum Neck] ... 15 
Mr. Blackston [Boston] .... 12 
Mr. Edward Hilton [Dover] . . . 1 

12 : 7 
See Gov. Bradford's Letter-Book in Coll. Hist. Soc., iii., 63. 



S T A N D I S H. 143 

Plymouth, he went to Mount Wollaston, and 
summoned Morton to surrender. Morton 
prepared for his defence, armed his adherents, 
heated them with liquor, and answered Stan- 
dish with abusive language. But when he 
stepped out of his door to take aim at his an- 
tagonist, the captain seized his musket with 
one hand and his collar with the other, and - 
made him prisoner. The others quietly sub- 
mitted. No blood was shed, nor a gun fired. 
They were all conducted to Plymouth, and 
thence sent to England, where Morton was 
treated with less severity than he deserved, 
and was permitted to return and disturb the 
settlements till the establishment of the Mas- 
sachusetts Colony, when he retired to Piscat- 
aqua, and there ended his days.* 

* [No better account of this transaction and of the history of 
Morton can be easily given than that in Judge Davis's learned 
note to Morton's Memorial, p. 141. We give the substance of it. 
From the order of occurrences in this narrative, it would be in- 
ferred that the Maypole was cut down by Mr. Endecott before 
Morton was arrested by Captain Standish ; but letters from Ply- 
mouth to the Council for New-England, and to Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, written to be sent to England with the prisoner, bear 
date June 9th, 1628, which was more than two months before 
Mr. Endicott's arrival at Salem. See Gov. Bradford's Letter- 
Book, Mass. Hist. Coll., Hi., 62, 63. Morton was arrested in 
the spring or early in the summer of 1628, and sent to England 
a prisoner soon afterward, by a ship going from the I;le of 
Shoals. Mr. Oldham had so acquired the confidence of the Ply- 



144 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

After this encounter, which happened in 
1628, we have no particular account of Cap- 
mouth people since their reconciliation, that the prisoner was 
delivered to his charge. Mr. Endecott arrived in August, and 
very soon made his visit to the unruly people at Mount Wollas- 
ton. In August, 1629, Morton returned, being employed by 
Mr. Allerton as his scribe, which gave great offence. Mr. Al- 
lerton was required to dismiss him. " Upon which," says Gov- 
ernor Bradford, "he goes to his old nest at Merry Mount." In 
September, 1631, Governor Winthrop having arrived, Morton 
was adjudged to be " imprisoned till he were sent into England, 
and his house burned down for his many injuries offered to the 
Indians, and other misdemeanours." Winthr. Jour., 20. He 
was sent to England soon afterward in the ship Whale. [In 1632 
he published a "scurrilous book," entitled " New English Ca- 
naan, or new Canaan, containing an Abstract of New-England, 
composed in three bookes." In the titlepage, he styles himself 
"of Clifford's Inn, Gent.," and says it was written " upon ten 
yeares knowledge and experiment of the country." This work 
has been very rare, but has been republished in Force's Histor- 
ical Tracts, vol. ii.] That part of the book which relates to the 
Plymouth planters is full of invective and misrepresentation, 
calculated to gain a degree of indulgence, however, with some 
readers, from the air of pleasantry he adopts. He abounds in the 
vulgar wit of nicknames : Standish he calls Captain Shrimp ; 
Endecott is styled Captain Littleworth ; Mr. Fuller is Dr. Nod- 
dy. His letter to his friend Jeffries in 1634, published in Haz- 
ard's Historical Collections, and in Hutchinson's History, i., 35, 
shows the taste and temper of the man, and his inveterate re- 
sentment against the New-England plantations and their lead- 
ers. The name of the ship [the Whale'] in which he was con- 
veyed from Boston to England exercises his punning genius. 
To this he alludes in his letter to Jeffries : "Now, Jonas being 
set ashore, may safely cry, Repent, ye cruel shipmates, there are 
but 110 days." The party which arrested him he calls the Nine 



STANDISH. 145 

tain Standish. He is not mentioned in the 
account of the Pequot war in 1637. He 
was chosen one of the magistrates or assist- 
ants of Plymouth Colony as long as he lived. 
As he advanced in years, he was much af- 
flicted with the stone and the strangury : he 
died in 1656, being then very old, at Dux- 
bury, near Plymouth, where he had a tract of 
land, which to this day is known by the name 
of Captain's Hill.* 

Worthies of New Canaan, and affects to represent the name 
Merry Mount as a blundering acceptation of Mare Mount. 

His last return to New-England was in 1643. Hutchinson 
says that he was called to account for the letter to Jeffries, as 
well as for his book [having been kept in prison about a year. 
Winthrop's Journal, ii., 192] ; that he was fined 100, which 
he was unable to pay, and that nothing but his old age [Win- 
throp says, " being old and crazy"] saved him from the whip- 
ping-post. [Winthrop, 1. c., adds, that, having been set at liber- 
ty, he " went to Acomenticus (York), and, living there poor and 
despised, he died within two years after."] H.] 

* [Judge Davis, to whose researches we are already so 
largely indebted, has collected probably all that can be ascer- 
tained of this " primitive hero." We copy the greater part of 
his note on Morton's Memorial, p. 262. 

" Captain Standish was one of the first settlers of Duxbury, 
but resided occasionally at Plymouth, especially in the winter 
months. Dr. Belknap observes that we have no particular ac- 
count of him after his seizure of Morton at Merry Mount in 
1628, and that he is not mentioned in the account of the Pequod 
war in 1637. Had the Plymouth troops, which were in prepar- 
ation at that crisis, been employed, there is no doubt Stan- 
dish would have been at their head; but, as ia related [Morton], 



146 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

He had one son, Alexander, who died in 
Duxbury. The late Dr. Wheelock, founder 

p. 188, their march was countermanded. In 1645, when war- 
like movements were commenced against the Narragansets, 
Standish commanded the Plymouth troops. [Ib., p. 203, note.] 
In 1653, when hostilities with the Dutch at Manhattan were 
apprehended, a council of war was appointed in Plymouth Colo- 
ny, of which Standish was one. Warrants were issued for the 
impressment of sixty men, and Standish was appointed to com- 
mand them. It thus appears that he continued active in milita- 
ry employments, on every necessary occasion, until within three 
years of his death. He was uniformly one of the board of As- 
sistants. 

"After the death of his wife [Rose, January 29. Prince, 184], 
1621, he soon married again. In the assignment of lands in 
1623, the name of Mrs. Standish is on the list. We know not 
the previous name of the lady, but it appears she came in the 
ship Ann. In 1625, when the cattle were divided, he stands at 
the head of the third lot, with his wife Barbara. [Morton's Me- 
morial, 382.] Charles, Alexander, and John, his children, are as- 
sociated with him in that assignment. Alexander married Sa- 
rah Alden, daughter of John Alden. 

"The Rev. Timothy Alden, Jun., in his Collection of Epi- 
taphs (vol. iii., 265), gives an amusing traditionary anecdote rel- 
ative to the connubial pursuits of Captain Standish and his friend 
John Alden. The lady who had gained the captain's affections is 
said to have been Priscilla Mullins, daughter of William Mul- 
lins. John Alden was sent to make proposals in behalf of Stan- 
dish. The messenger, though a Pilgrim, was then young and 
comely, and the lady, with perfect naivete, expressed her pref- 
erence by the question, Prithee, John, why do you not speak for 
yourself 1 The captain's hopes were blasted, and the frank over- 
turn soon ended in the marriage of John Alden and Priscilla 
Mullins, from whom, we are informed, are descended ' all of the 
name Alden in the United States.' The captain, it is added, 



S T A N D I S H. 147 

of Dartmouth College, and Mr. Kirkland, 
missionary to the Indians, were descended 
from him. One of his grandsons was in pos- 
session of his coat of mail, which is now 
supposed to be lost ; but his sword is preserv- 
ed in the cabinet of the Historical Society, 
of which one of his descendants, John Thorn- 
ton Kirkland, is a member. His name is still 
venerated, and the merchants of Plymouth 
and Boston have named their ships after him. 
His posterity chiefly reside in several towns 
of the county of Plymouth. 

never forgave his friend till the day of his death. As he was 
so soon afterward united to another lady of his choice, we may 
hope that the traditionary account of his inveterate resentment 
has been exaggerated. 

" This anecdote has often been repeated in the old colony in 
fireside chat about the Pilgrims, but with circumstances which 
would refer the incident to a later period." H.1 
III. M 



148 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



XXIV. JOHN WINTHROP, 

FIRST GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS., 

THIS worthy gentleman was descended 
from a family remarkable for its attachment 
to the reformed religion from the earliest pe- 
riod of the Reformation. His grandfather, 
Adam Winthrop, was an eminent lawyer and 
lover of the Gospel in the reign of Henry 
VIII., and brother to a memorable friend of 
the Reformation in the reign of Mary I., in 
whose hands the martyr Philpot left his pa- 
pers, which make a considerable part of the 
History of the Martyrs. His father, Adam 
Winthrop, was a gentleman of the same pro- 
fession and character. Governor Winthrop 
was born at the family-seat at Groton, in Suf- 
folk, June 12, 1587,* and was bred to the 
law, though he had a very strong inclination 
to theological studies. At the age of eigh- 
teen he was made a justice of the peace, and 
his virtues became conspicuous. He was ex- 

* [This date is given by Mather and others. There was, 
perhaps, some clerical error. See Savage's note to Winthrop's 
Journal, i., 63, and ii., 338, from which it appears that he wa 
born January 12th, 1588. H.] 



W I N T H R O P. 149 

emplary in his profession as an upright and 
impartial magistrate, and in his private char- 
acter as a Christian. He had wisdom to dis- 
cern, and fortitude to do right in the execu- 
tion of his office ; and as a gentleman, was 
remarkable for liberality and hospitality. 
These qualities rendered him dear to men of 
sobriety and religion, and fitted him to en- 
gage in the great and difficult work of found- 
ing a colony. 

When the design of settling a colony in 
New-England was by some eminent persons 
undertaken, this gentleman was, by the con- 
sent of all, chosen for their leader. Having 
converted a fine estate of six or seven hun- 
dred pounds sterling per annum into money, 
he embarked for New-England in the forty- 
third year of .his age,* and arrived at Salem 
with the Massachusetts charter, June 12, 
1630.1 Within five days, he, with some of 

* [See the preceding note. H.] 

t [The Council for New-England, March 19th, 1628, granted 
to Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, Thomas Southcoat, 
John Humfry, John Endecott, and Simon Whetcomb, and theix 
heirs and associates, a portion of the territory of New-England, 
extending three miles north of the Merrimac River, and three 
miles south of the Charles, and within these limits from the At- 
lantic to the South Sea ; reserving to the crown a fifth part of all 
the gold and silver ore discovered in it. The three first-named 
patentees soon sold out their interest in the company to several 



150 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 

the principal persons of the colony, travelled 
through the woods* twenty miles, to look out 

" religious persons in and about London," who were anxious to 
secure a place of retreat for oppressed Nonconformists. On 
the 20th of June the same year this company sent out Captain 
John Endecott, with suitable companions and provisions for 
commencing a settlement at Naumkeag, now Salem. The pat- 
ent from the New-England Council was confirmed by charter 
from King Charles I., March 4th, 1629. Matthew Cradock, the 
governor, proposed, July 28th, to transfer the government to 
those who should go to reside in Massachusetts. The proposal 
was committed, discussed, and, August 29th, " the generality of 
the company vote that the patent and government of the planta- 
tion be removed to New-England." October 20th, at a meet- 
ing of the company for the election of a new governor, &c., " the 
court having received extraordinary great commendation of Mr. 
John Winthrop, both for his integrity and sufficiency, as being 
one very well fitted for the place, with a full consent, choose 
him governor for the year ensuing." Preparations were made 
for the removal of a large number of colonists, and in the spring 
eleven ships were ready with about fifteen hundred passengers. 
The fleet sailed early in April ; and the Arbella, in which was 
Governor Winthrop, arrived off Cape Ann, Friday, June llth, 
and the next day entered the harbour of Salem. The begin- 
nings of Massachusetts were small and feeble. Though the 
colony was numerically respectable, a slight share of this world's 
goods fell to the share of the most of them. They were con- 
tent to suffer privations, if they might enjoy present security 
and a fair hope for the future. They dwelt in tents and booths, 
and their place of worship was the shade of a large tree in the 
open air. H.] 

* [It may be thought needless accuracy to suggest that prob- 
ably they went by water, and not " through the woods." At all 
events, they returned "by way of Nantaskot." Journal, i., 28. 
The position of Charlestown was already well known. A few 



WINTHROP. 151 

a convenient situation for a town in some part 
of the Bay of Massachusetts. Some of them 
built their huts on the north side of Charles 
River [Charlestown] ; but the governor and 
most of the assistants pitched upon the Pen- 
insula of Shawmut,* and lived there the first 
winter, intending in the spring to build a for- 
tified town, but undetermined as to its situa- 
tion. On the sixth of December they resolv- 
ed to fortify the isthmus of that peninsula ; 
but, changing their minds before the month 
expired, they agreed upon a place about three 
miles above Charlestown. which they called 
first Newtown, and afterward Cambridge, 
where they engaged to build houses the en- 
suing spring. The rest of the winter they 
suffered much by the severity of the season, 
and were obliged to live upon acorns, ground- 
nuts, and shellfish.f One of the poorer sort 

days after, July 2d, the governor suffered a severe affliction in 
the loss of his second son Henry, " a sprightly and hopeful young 
gentleman," who was accidentally drowned the day after his 
landing. H.] 

* [The Indian name of Boston. It was called at first by the 
English Trimountain (whence Tremont), " on account of three 
contiguous hills appearing in a range, to those at Charlestown." 
The name Boston was given it out of regard to the famous Mr. 
Cotton, who bad long lived at a place of the same name in England. 
The governor removed to this place about November. H.J 

t [" Bread with many," eay Captain Cl*p, " was a very 



152 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

coming to the governor to complain, was told 
that the last batch was in the oven ; but of 
this he had his share. They had appointed 
the 22d of February* for a fast ; but, before 
it came, a ship arrived with provisions, and 
they turned it into a day of thanksgiving. 

In the spring of 1631, in pursuance of the 
intended plan, the governor set up the frame 
of a house at Newtown ; the deputy-govern- 
orf also built one, and removed his family. 

scarce thing, and flesh of all kinds as scarce ; and oh the hun- 
ger that many suffered, and saw no hope in the eye of reason 
to be supplied but with fish, clams, and muscles. But God 
caused his people to be content with mean things, and to trust 
in him. Wheat meal was worth now fourteen shillings sterling 
a bushel, and pease eleven shillings, ' and not easy to be pro- 
cured neither.' " H.] 

* [The fast was appointed for the sixth of February. The 
people were alarmed for the safety of a ship which had been sent 
to Ireland for provisions, and which returned February 5th. The 
thanksgiving was the 22d. Prince, 341, 342. H.] 

t [The deputy-governor was Thomas Dudley, who had been 
chosen to that place by the company in England, March 23d, 
1630, and came with Winthrop in the summer. He was bom 
at Northampton in the year 1576. He studied law for some 
time, was made captain of a company of volunteers for the 
French service under Henry IV., and was present at the siege 
of Amiens. On the restoration of peace he returned to Eng- 
land, and went inco the household of the Earl of Lincoln as 
steward, in which office he gained a good reputation for pru- 
dence and exact fidelity. Already a Puritan, he was easily in- 
duced to join the emigrants to Massachusetts, to whom he was 
a valuable acquisition, from his tried integrity and his great ex- 



W I N T H R O P. 153 

About this time Chicketawbu,* the chief of 
the Indians in that neighbourhood, made a 

perience. He was continued deputy-governor, by successive 
elections, till 1634, when he was chosen governor. He was 
then chosen one of the assistants till 1640, when he was made 
governor, and again in 1645 and in 1650. He died at Rox- 
bury, Julj 31, 1653. The celebrated Joseph Dudley, president, 
and governor of Massachusetts 1703-1715, was his son by a 
second marriage. The elder Dudley came to New-England 
when past the prime of life, and was of a melancholic tempera- 
ment, and apt to resent supposed neglect. He gave some trou- 
ble by his jealousy, his irritable temper, and his disposition to 
avarice. Governor Belcher made this epitaph on him : 
" Here lies Thomas Dudley, that trusty old stud : 

A bargain's a bargain, and must be made good." 
He was strongly inclined to fanaticism, and rigidly intolerant. 
A copy of verses, found in his pocket after his decease, has these 
lines : 

" Let Men of God in Courts and Churches watch 

On such as do a TOLERATION HATCH." H.] 
* [The first interview of the governor with Chickatabot, as the 
name is spelled by Winthrop, is worth transcribing. " Chick- 
atabot came (March 23d, 1630) with his sannups (chiefs) and 
squaws, and presented the governor with a hogshead of Indian 
corn. After they had all dined, and had each a small cup of sack 
and beer, and the men tobacco, he sent away all his men and 
women (though the governor would have stayed them in regard 
of the rain and thunder). Himself and one squaw and one san- 
nup stayed all night ; and being in English clothes, the gov- 
ernor set him at his own table, where he behaved himself as 
soberly, &c., as an Englishman. The next day after dinner 
he returned home, the governor giving him cheese, and pease, 
and a mug, and other small things." Journal, i., 48. For sev- 
eral years after their arrival, the colonists lived in continual feat 
of the Indians, yet they suffered very little. H.] 



154 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

visit to the governor, with high professions of 
friendship. The apprehension of danger from 
the Indians abated, and the scheme of a for- 
tified town was gradually laid aside ; though, 
if it had been retained, the peninsula would 
have been a situation far preferable to New- 
town. The governor took down his frame 
and removed it to Shawmut,* which was 
finally determined upon for the metropolis, 
and named Boston.! 

The three following years he was contin- 
ued, by annual election, at the head of the 
government, for which office he was eminent- 
ly qualified, and in which he shone with a 
lustre which would have done him honour iri 
a larger sphere and a more elevated situation 

* [About the last of October, 1631. Dudley seems to have 
remained at Cambridge some years. Prince, 363, 364. H.] 

t [Already several points on the coast were occupied when 
Winthrop and his company arrived. A colony had been settled 
at Plymouth ten years before, and was now well established and 
flourishing. , Endecott and his company were going on pros- 
perously at Salem ; the Spragues had made some progress at 
Charlestown ; Weston had begun and abandoned a settlement 
at Wessagusset (now Weymouth) ; Morton had established a 
rude and riotous colony at Mount Wollaston (now Quincy) ; 
Cape Ann and Nantasket had been built upon ; Blackston was 
the solitary occupant of the Peninsula of Shawmut. Besides 
these, and a few families dotting the shore at great intervals, at 
points favourable for fishing, the whole region was in possession 
of its original inhabitants. H.] 



WINTHROP. 155 

He was the father, as well as governor, of an 
infant plantation. His time, his study, his 
exertions, his influence, and his interest were 
all employed in the public service. His wis- 
dom, patience, and magnanimity were con- 
spicuous in the most severe trials, and his 
exemplary behaviour as a Christian added a 
splendour to all his rare qualifications.* He 

* [The religious character of Governor Winthrop was marked 
with great deliberateness and calmness, and with a degree of 
liberality which was uncommon in his day. He was temperate, 
but firm, in his views of truth and duty, rarely led into heat or 
extravagance, yet fervent in his devotion, and often denying 
himself for the cause of religion. He was a strenuous believer, 
as were most men in his day, in special interpositions of Provi- 
dence. This belief is apt to degenerate into superstition, and in 
him sometimes takes a shape that is almost ludicrous. Thus 
he records in his Journal, " About this time (1640) there fell out 
a thing worthy of observation. Mr. Winthrop the younger, hav- 
ing many books in a chamber where there was corn of divers 
sorts, had among them one wherein the Greek, the Psalms, and 
the Common Prayer were bound together. He found the Com- 
mon Prayer eaten with mice every leaf of it, and not any of the 
two other touched, nor any other of his books, though there were 
above a thousand." 

The company who emigrated with Winthrop were not among 
the most rigid opposers of the Established Church, nor, though 
dissatisfied, were they separated from it. The chief of them 
were too considerate to have been led into the extravagances 
which marked the later career of their associates left in England. 
In an address to their fellow-Christians in that country, dated on 
board the Arbella, at Yarmouth, April 7th, 1630, they say, 
" Wee are not of those that dreame of perfection in this world ; 



156 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

maintained the dignity of a governor with the 
obliging condescension of a gentleman, and 
was so deservedly respected and beloved, that 
when Archbishop Laud, hearkening to some 
calumnies raised against the country on ac- 
count of their Puritan principles, summoned 
one Mr. Cleaves before King Charles I., in 
hopes of getting some accusation against the 
governor, he gave such an account of his 
laudable deportment in his station, and, with- 
al, of the devotion with which prayers were 

yet wee desire you would take notice of the principals and body 
of our company, as those who esteem it an honor to call the 
Church of England, from whence we rise, our deare Mother .... 
as members of the same body, (we) shall always rejoice in her 
good, and unfainedly grieve for any sorrow that shall ever betide 
her." This letter is signed by Winthropj Dudley, Phillips,'and 
others. 

Many of them probably looked with favour on the model of 
Geneva. They found Endecott in full sympathy and communion 
with the Separatists of Plymouth. And it was not difficult to 
pass from a dislike of the rites to a throwing off the authority of 
the Church of England. The form of church government and 
discipline they adopted here was thus favoured by their prepos- 
sessions, while it was in part, perhaps, forced upon them by 
their peculiar circumstances. It was totally unlike that of Eng- 
land, and, apart from a temporary and imperfect connexion with 
the civil power, was a pure specimen of the independence of 
congregations. Each church was held competent to settle its 
own affairs ; and though for a while the General Court would 
sometimes interfere, they held fast, practically, to the faith that 
they had no master but Christ alone. H.] 



W I N T H R O P. 157 

made, both in private and public, for the king, 
that Charles expressed his concern that so 
worthy a person as Mr. Winthrop should be 
no better accommodated than in an American 
wilderness.* 

He was an example to the people of that 
frugality, decency, and temperance which 
were necessary in their circumstances, and 
even denied himself many of the elegances 

* [As a specimen of the manner in which the chief magistrate 
of Massachusetts was sometimes " accommodated," take the fol- 
lowing, under date 1631, from his Journal, i., 62: "The gov- 
ernor, being at his farmhouse at Mistick (Medford), walked out 
after supper, and took a piece in his hand, supposing he might 
see a wolf (for they came daily about the house, and killed swine, 
calves, &c.) ; and, being about half a mile off, it grew suddenly 
dark, so as, in coming home, he mistook his path, and went till ha 
came to a little house of Sagamore John, which stood empty : 
there he stayed, and, having a match in his pocket (for he al- 
ways carried about his match and compass), he made a good 
fire and warmed the house, and lay down upon some old mats 
he found there, and so spent the night, sometimes walking by the 
fire, sometimes singing Psalms, and sometimes getting wood, 
but could not sleep. It was a warm night ; but a little before 
day it began to rain, and, having no cloak, he made shift by a 
long pole to climb up into the house. In the morning there 
came thither an Indian squaw ; but, perceiving her before she 
had opened the door, he barred her out ; yet she stayed there a 
great while essaying to get in, and at last she went away, and 
he returned safe home, his servant having been much perplexed 
for him, and having walked about, and shot off pieces, and hal- 
looed in the niaht but he heard them not." H.J 



158 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and superfluities of life, which his rank and 
fortune gave him a just title to enjoy, both 
that he might set them a proper example,* 
and be the better enabled to exercise that lib- 
erality in which he delighted, even, in the end, 
to the actual impoverishment of himself and 
his family. He would often send his servants 
on some errand, at mealtimes, to the houses 
of his neighbours, to see how they were pro- 
vided with food ; and if there was a deficien- 
cy, would supply them from his own table. 
The following singular instance of his char- 
ity, mixed with humour, will give us an idea 
of the man. In a very severe winter, when 
wood began to be scarce in Boston, he re- 
ceived private information that a neighbour 
was wont to help himself from the pile at his 
door. " Does he ?" said the governor ; " call 
him to me, and I will take a course with him 
that shall cure him of stealing." The man 
appeared, and the governor addressed him 

* [A notable instance is found in the following record, Jour- 
nal, i., 37 : "The governor, upon consideration of the inconve- 
niences which had grown in England by drinking one to anoth- 
er, restrained it at his own table, and wished others to do the 
like, so as it grew, by little and little, to disuse." The govern- 
or's example in this particular was made a law, by order of the 
General Court, in 1639, for obvious reasons, which he recorded, 
and perhaps suggested. See his Journal, i., 324. H.] 



W I W T H R O P. 159 

thus : u Friend, it is a cold winter, and I hear 
you are meanly provided with wood ; you are 
welcome to help yourself at my pile till the 
winter is over ;" and then merrily asked his 
friend whether he had not put a stop to the 
man's stealing. 

In the administration of justice, he was for 
tempering the severity of law with the exer- 
cise of mercy. He judged that in the infancy 
of a plantation, justice should be administer- 
ed with more lenity than in a settled state.* 
But when other gentlemen of learning and 
influence had taken offence at his lenity, and 
adopted an opinion that a stricter discipline 
was necessary, he submitted to their judg- 
ment, and strictly adhered to the proposals 
which were made to support the dignity of 
government, by an appearance of union and 
firmness, and a concealment of differences 
and dissensions among the public officers. 

* [He gave a plausible reason for it : " Because people were 
then more apt to transgress, partly of ignorance of new laws, 
and partly through oppression of business and other straits." 
Being gently reproved by his brother magistrates for this prac- 
tice and opinion, "the ministers were desired to set down a 
rule in the case," and decided against him ; "Whereupon Mr. 
Winthrop acknowledged that he had failed in over-much lenity 
and remissness, and would endeavour (by God's assistance) to 
be more strict hereafter." Journ., i., 178.* H.] 



160 AMEKJCAN B OGRAPHY. 

His delicacy wa& so great, that though he 
could not, without incivility, decline accepting 
gratuities from divers towns, as well as par- 
ticular persons, for his public services, yet he 
took occasion, in a public speech at his third 
election, to declare that " he received them 
with a trembling hand in regard of GOD'S 
word and his own infirmity," and desired 
them that for the future they would not be 
offended if he should wholly refuse such 
presents.* 

In the year 1634 and the two years fol- 
lowing he was left out of the magistracy.! 
Though his conduct, from his first engaging 
in the service of the colony, had been irre- 
proachable, yet the envy of some raised a 
suspicion of his fidelity, and gave him a small 
taste of what, in other popular governments, 
their greatest benefactors ha ye had a large 
share of. An inquiry having been made of 
his receipts and disbursemems of the public 
money during his past admini stration, though 
it was conducted in a manne r too harsh for 

* [Yet "he never had any allowance tjwards the charge of 
his place." Jouirnal, i., 77. This was in 1632. H.] 

t [In 1634, Thomas Dudley was chosen governor (Journal, 
i., 132) ; in 163.'), John Haynes (Ib., 158); ami in 1636, Henry 
Vane Ib., 17 H.] 



WINTHROP. 161 

his delicate sensibility, yet he patiently sub- 
mitted to the examination of his accounts, 
which ended to his honour. Upon which oc- 
casion he made a declaration, which he con- 
cluded in these words : "In the things which 
I offer, I refer myself to the wisdom and jus- 
tice of the court, with this protestation, that 
it repenteth me not of my cost and labour be- 
stowed in the service of this commonwealth ; 
but I do heartily bless the Lord our God, that 
he hath been pleased to honour me so far as 
to call for anything he hath bestowed upon 
me, for the service of his Church and peo- 
ple here ; the prosperity whereof, and his 
gracious acceptance; shall be an abundant 
recompense to me."* 

The same rare humility and steady equal- 
ity of mind were conspicuous in his beha- 
viour when a pretence was raised to get him 
left out of the government, lest, by the too 
frequent choice of one man, the office should 
cease to be elective, and seem to be his by 
prescription. This pretence was advanced 

* [In a spirit of innocence and in the pride of just self-res- 
pect, he concludes with one request, that "as it stands upon rec- 
ord that upon the discharge of my office I was called to account, 
so this my declaration may he recorded also, lest hereafter, when 
I shall be forgotten, some blemish may be upon my posterity 
when there be none to clear it." H.] 



162 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

even in the election sermons ;* and when he 

* [It were curious to ascertain, if it were possible, how far 
this jealousy influenced the elections. It was clearly not the 
only reason why Winthrop was left out of the chief magistracy. 
Dudley, from his age and public services, was well entitled to the 
place. The wealth and high character of Haynes gave him am- 
ple claim to the honour ; and the staid Puritanism and noble birth 
of Vane may well account for his elevation. The " election 
sermon" for 1634 was preached by Mr. Cotton, who, with evi- 
dent allusion to the jealousy referred to, " delivered the doc- 
trine that a magistrate ought not to be turned into the condition 
of a private man without just cause, no more than the magistrate 
may not turn a private man out of his freehold, &c., without like 
public trial, &c." The first direct notice that Winthrop takes 
of such a pretence is in 1639 (Journal, i., 299), when he says 
an opposition to his re-election was made by some, " out of their 
fear lest it might make way for having a governor for life, which 
some had propounded as most agreeable to God's institution 
and the practice of all well-ordered states." In 1640 this feel- 
ing had gained strength, and " the elders" waited on Governor 
Winthrop, and, with every expression of confidence and affec- 
tion, frankly told him of their wish for a change, " lest the long 
continuance of one man in the place should bring it to be for 
life, and in time hereditary." Ib., ii., 1. Dudley was chosen 
in his place ; and, to testify their undiminished esteem for him, 
the court gave Winthrop 3000 acres of land, and the towns 
raised 500 to relieve some embarassments of his private af- 
fairs, which he had neglected for his public duties. The next 
itep in sentiment on this subject was still more radical. ID 
1641, Nathaniel Ward, formerly pastor of Ipswich, in his elec- 
jion sermon, " advised the people to keep all their magistrates 
n an equal rank, and not give more honour or power to one than 
another. Which," adds Winthrop (ii., 36), "is easier to advise 
than to prove." In 1643, Ezekiel Rogers, of Rowley, preached 
the election sermon, and "dissuaded them earnestly from choos- 



WINTHROP. 163 

was in fact reduced to a lower station in the 
government, he endeavoured to serve the 
people as faithfully as in the highest ; nor 
would he suffer any notice to be taken of 
some undue methods which were used to 
have him left out of the choice.* An in- 
stance of this rare temper, and the happy fruit 
of it, deserve remembrance. There was a 
time when he received a very angry letter 
from a Member of the Court,! which having 
read, he delivered back to the messenger with 
this answer : " I am not willing to keep by me 
such a matter of provocation." Shortly af- 
ter, the writer of this letter was compelled, by 
the scarcity of provision, to send to buy one 
of the governor's cattle ; he begged him to 

ing the same man twice together." Ib., ii., 99. Yet, with all 
tiitse expressions of popular feeling against him, Winthrop was 
afterward regularly elected, except in 1644, when Endecott, 
and in 1645, when Dudley was chosen ; and in these years he 
was chosen deputy. H.] 

* [The " undue methods" must refer to the election of Bel- 
lingham in 1641. He had six more votes than the other can- 
didates, " but some votes were refused by the magistrates be- 
cause they had not given them in at the doors. But others," 
says Winthrop (ii., 35), referring probably to his own claims, 
"thought it was an injury, yet were silent, because it con- 
cerned themselves." H.] 

t [The "Member of the Court" was the choleric deputy, 
Thomas Dudley. Journal, i., 118. H.] 
Ill N 



164 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

accept it as a gift, in token of his good- will. 
On which the gentleman came to him with 
this acknowledgment: "Sir, your overcom- 
ing yourself hath overcome me." 

But, though condescending and gentle on 
every occasion of personal ill treatment, yet, 
where the honour of government or religion, 
and the interest of the people, were concern- 
ed, he was equally firm and intrepid, standing 
foremost in opposition to those whom he judg- 
ed to be really public enemies, though in the 
disguise of warm and zealous friends. Of 
this number was the famous ANNA HUTCHIN- 
SON, a woman of masculine understanding 
and consummate art, who held private lec- 
tures to the women at her house, in which 
she advanced these doctrines, viz. : " that the 
Holy Ghost dwells personally in a justified 
person, and that sanctification does not evi- 
dence justification." Those who held with 
her were said to be "under a covenant of 
grace," and those who opposed her " under 
a covenant of works." Into these two de- 
nominations the whole colony began to be 
divided. Her adherents prevailed in 1636 to 
choose for governor HENRY VANE,* a young 

* This person, so well known afterward in England, is thus 
characterized by Lord Clarendon : 



WINTHROP. 165 

gentleman of an apparently grave and serious 
deportment, who had just arrived from Eng- 
land, and who paid great attention to this 
woman, and seemed zealously attached to 
her distinguishing tenets. Winthrop, then 
deputy-governor, not only differed in senti- 
ment, but saw the pernicious influence of this 
controversy with regret, and feared that, if it 
were suffered to prevail, it would endanger 
the existence of the colony. In the heat of 
the controversy, Whelewright, a zealous sec- 
tarian, preached a sermon, which not only 
carried these points to their utmost length, but 
contained some expressions which the court 
laid hold of as tending to sedition, for which 
he was examined ; but a more full inquiry was 
deferred for that time. Some warm brethren 

" A man of great natural parts and of very profound dissim- 
ulation, of a quick conception, and ready, sharp, and weighty 
expression. He had an unusual aspect, a vultum clausum, that, 
though no man could make a guess of what he intended, yet 
made men think there was something in him extraordinary, and 
his whole life made good that imagination. There need no 
more be said of his ability than that he was chosen to cozen and 
deceive a whole nation [the Scots] which was thought to excel 
in craft and cunning, which he did with a notable pregnancy and 
dexterity."* 

* [For a full account of Vane, Wheelwright, and Mrs. Hutch- 
inson, the reader may consult Sparks's American Biography, 
vol. 73 of Harper's School District Library. H.] 



166 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of Boston petitioned the court in Whele- 
wright's favour, reflecting on their proceed- 
ings, which raised such a resentment in the 
court against the town, that a motion was 
made for the next election to be made at 
Cambridge. Vane, the governor, having no 
negative voice, could only show his dislike by 
refusing to put the question. Winthrop, the 
deputy-governor, declined it, as being an 
inhabitant of Boston ; the question was then 
put by Endicott of Salem,* and carried for 
the removal. 

* [John Endecott was at this time one of the assistants. So 
remarkable a man, and so largely connected with the early his- 
tory of Massachusetts, deserves a better memorial than the lim- 
its of a note allow. He was born at Dorchester, England, in 
1589, and was chosen by the Massachusetts Company to super- 
intend their first plantation at Salem, where he arrived Septem- 
ber 6, 1628. His commission was superseded by the arrival of 
Winthrop, but he was continued in the magistracy. He was re- 
peatedly chosen deputy-governor, and in 1645 major-general of 
the colony. He was elected governor in 1644, again, on the 
death of Winthrop in 1649, he was chosen to succeed him, and 
re-elected in 1651, '2, '3. In 1655 he was chosen again, anf 
by successive elections was continued in office till his death, 
March 15, 1665. He resided chiefly at Salem. 

Governor Endecott was undoubtedly the finest specimen to 
be found among our governors of the genuine Puritan character. 
He was of a quick temper, which the habit of military command 
had not softened ; of strong religious feelings, moulded on the 
sterner features of Calvinism ; resolute to uphold with the 
sword what he had received as Gospel truth, and fearing no en- 



W I N T H R O P. 167 

At the opening of the election (May 17, 
1637) a petition was again presented by many 
inhabitants of Boston, which Vane would 
have had read previous to the choice. Win- 
throp, who clearly saw that this was a con- 
trivance to throw all into confusion, and 
spend the day in debate, that the election 
might be prevented for that time, opposed 
the reading of the petition until the election 
should be over. Vane and his party were 
strenuous, but Winthrop called to the people 
to divide, and the majority appeared for the 
election. Vane still refused, till Winthrop 
said they would proceed without him, which 
obliged him to submit. The election was 
carried in favour of Winthrop and his friends. 
The sergeants who had waited on Vane to the 
place of election threw down their halberds, 
and refused to attend the newly-elected gov- 

emy so much as a gainsaying spirit. Cordially disliking the 
English Church, he banished the Browns and the Prayer-book ; 
and, averse to all ceremonies and symbols, the cross in the king's 
colours was an abomination he could not away with. He cut 
down the Maypole at Merry Mount, published his detestation of 
long hair in a formal proclamation, and set in the pillory and on 
the gallows the returning Quakers. Inferior to Winthrop in 
learning, in comprehensiveness to Vane, in tolerance even to 
Dudley, he excelled them all in the eye keen to discern the fit 
moment for action, in the quick resolve to profit by it, and in the 
band always ready to strike. H.J 



168 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ernor : he took no other notice of the affront 
than to order his own servants to bear them 
before him ; and when the people expressed 
their resentment, he begged them to overlook 
the matter. 

The town of Boston being generally in 
favour of the new opinions, the governor 
grew unpopular there, and a law which was 
passed in this year of his restoration to office 
increased their dislike. Many persons who 
were supposed to favour those opinions were 
expected from England, to prevent whose 
settlement in the country the court laid a pen- 
alty on all who should entertain any strangers, 
or allow them the use of any house or lot 
above three weeks, without liberty first grant- 
ed. This severe order was so ill received in 
Boston, that, on the governor's return from 
the court at Cambridge, they all refused to 
go out to meet him, or show him any token 
of respect. The other towns on this occasion 
increased their respect towards h:jn, and the 
same summer, in a journey to Ipswich, he 
was guarded from town to town with more 
ceremony than he desired. 

The same year a synod* was called to de- 

* [As a preparation for this synod a fast was observed, Sep- 
tember 24, in all the churches. Winthrop, under date Octobet 



WINTHROP. 169 

termine on the controverted points, in which 
assembly Winthrop, though he did not pre- 
side, yet, as head of the civil magistracy, was 
obliged often to interpose his authority, which 
he did with wisdom and gravity, silencing 
passionate and impertinent speakers, desiring 
that the Divine Oracles might be allowed to 
express their own meaning, and be appealed 
to for a decision of the controversy ; and 
when he saw heat and passion prevail in the 
assembly, he would adjourn it, that time 
might be allowed for cool consideration, by 
which prudent management the synod came 

30, 1637 (Journal, i., 237), gives the following account of the 
proceedings of this assembly: " The synod, called the Assem- 
bly, began at Newtown (now Cambridge). There were all the 
teaching elders through the country, and some new come out 
of England, not yet called to any place here, as Mr. Davenport, 
&c. The Assembly began with prayer by Mr. Shepherd, pastor 
of Newtown. Then the erroneous opinions which were spread 
in the country were read (being eighty in all) [a rank growth for 
seven years] : next, the unwholesome expressions [nine in num- 
ber] : then the Scriptures abused. Then they chose two mod- 
erators for the next day, viz., Mr. Buckley and Mr. Hooker, and 
these were continued in that place all the time of the Assembly. 
There were about eighty opinions, some blasphemous, others er- 
roneous, and all unsafe, which were condemned by the whole 
Assembly." Any one who wishes more particular information 
touching the points our fathers deemed heretical, will find ample 
satisfaction in a contemporary work by Thomas Welde, entitled 
"The Rise, Reign, and Ruin of Antinomianism in New-Eng- 
land." H.I 



AMERICAN BIOGEAPHY. 

to an amicable agreement in condemning the 
errors of the day.* But the work was not 
wholly done until the erroneous persons were 
banished the colony. This act of severity 
the court thought necessary for the peace of 
the common we alth.f Toleration had not 

* [The extent of Winthrop's agency in maintaining order in 
the synod may have been too strongly stated in the text, though 
the facts are hardly more creditable to that body. His own ac- 
count (Journal, i., 238-240) is, that there was a clamorous and 
continued call for witnesses to the prevalence of the opinions 
under discussion, which the moderators found it difficult to 
check ; and when some of the magistrates told the callers that 
" it would prove a civil disturbance" demanding their interfe- 
rence, they denied the magistrate's authority in such cases, " so 
as he was forced to tell one of them, that if he would not for- 
bear, but make trial of it, he might see it executed." The syn- 
od " broke up" October 22d, matters having been concluded 
" comfortably in all love." H.] 

t [The decrees of the synod, however harmonious, could not 
silence the disaffected, nor its arguments convert the heretical. 
Wheelwright still published his " confuted" opinions, and Mrs. 
Hutchinson still proclaimed her censures and "vented her rev- 
elations." The General Court interposed ; and, " finding that 
two so opposite parties could not contain in the same body with- 
out apparent hazard of ruin to the whole" (Winthrop's Journal, 
i., 245), " disfranchised and banished Wheelwright, and banished 
Mrs. Hutchinson, and ordered many others who had petitioned in 
their favour to be disarmed. " It will be seen by the above extract 
from Winthrop, that the banishment was inflicted not so much as 
a punishment of heresy as to preserve the peace of the state. It 
is due to the fathers of New-England, who have suffered deeply 
under charges of intolerance and persecution, and have deserved 
it somewhat, to say, that if an examination be made of the al- 



WINTHROP. 171 

then been introduced into any of the Protest- 
ant countries, and even the wisest and best 
men were afraid of it as the parent of all er- 
ror and mischief. 

Some of the zealous opinionists in the 
Church of Boston would have had the elders 
proceed against the governor in the way of 
ecclesiastical discipline for his activity in pro- 
curing the sentence of banishment on their 
brethren. Upon this occasion, in a well- 
judged speech* to the congregation, he told 
them that, " though in his private capacity it 
was his duty to submit to the censure of 
his brethren, yet he was not amenable to 
them for his conduct as a magistrate, even 
though it were unjust. That in the present 
case he had acted according to his conscience 
and his oath, and by the advice of the elders 
of the Church, and was fully satisfied that it 

leged cases of wrong doing in this respect, a regard, and a fear, 
and commonly a well-grounded fear, for the quiet of the common- 
wealth, lay at the basis of all their public political action in mat- 
ters properly of faith and conscience. The novel doctrines and 
eloquent enthusiasm of Mrs. Hutchinson had carried contentions 
and heartburnings into families and among friends, strife into 
the state, and war into the Church. However harsh the resul 
may seem, it was clearly better that some should be separated 
than that all should fight. H.J 

* [This speech was delivered to excuse himself, and "to pre- 
vent such a public disorder" as hie enemies proposed in hi* 
trial. Journ , i , 249 H.] 



172 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

would not have been consistent with the pub- 
lic peace to have done otherwise." These 
reasons satisfied the uneasy brethren ; and 
his general condescending and obliging de- 
portment so restored him to their affections, 
that he was held in greater esteem than be- 
fore ; as a proof of this, upon occasion of a 
loss whicli he had sustained in his temporal 
estate, they made him a present amounting 
to several hundred pounds.* 

A warm dispute having arisen in the Gen- 
eral Court concerning the negative voice of 
the Upper House,f the governor published 

* [This was several years after. See note to p. 162 of this 
volume. H.] 

t [The first case in which the question of the negative voice 
of the Assistants, or Upper House, arose, was (September, 1634) 
on a petition of the men of Newtown for leave to settle on the 
Connecticut River, out of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. A 
majority of the deputies were in favour of granting the request, 
and a majority of the assistants were for refusing it. The dep- 
uties, being a majority of the whole Legislature, claimed that a 
majority of the whole should decide. The assistants, fearing for 
their separate existence, claimed the right of a negative on the 
vote of the deputies. After many days of debate, neither party 
would yield, till " a day of humiliation in all the congregations," 
and a judicious sermon from Mr. Cotton, caused the question, for 
the present, to be passed silently in favour of the assistants. 
Winthrop's Journal, i., 140-142. In 1643 "the sow case" 
tarted it again, and it was put to rest in the same way. Ib., 
ii., 118, 119. The next year it was finally decided by an order 
that the two bodies should consult separately. ^b., ii., 160 



W I N T H R O P. 173 

his sentiments in writing, some passages of 
which giving great offence, he took occasion 
at the next meeting of the court, in a public 
speech, to tell them " that, as to the matter 
of his writing, it was according to his judg- 
ment, which was not at his own disposal, and 
that, having examined it by the rules of rea- 
son, religion, and custom, he saw no cause to 
retract it ; but as for the manner, which was 
wholly his own, he was ready to acknowl- 
edge whatever was blameable. He said that, 
though what he wrote was on great provoca- 
tion, and to vindicate himself and others from 
unjust aspersion, yet he ought not to have al- 
lowed a distemper of spirit, nor to have been 
so free with the reputation of his brethren ; 
that he might have maintained his cause with- 

During this controversy (1643) Winthrop wrote a tract on the 
subject, which is preserved, in manuscript, in the library of the 
Mass. Hist. Society. Rev. Mr. Cobbet, of Lynn, wrote on the 
same subject. It was the paper " set forth about the sow busi- 
ness" that gave rise to the speech referred to in the text. Ib., 
ii., 117. This case, a lawsuit between a poor woman and a rich 
merchant, in which the question was turned on the identity of a 
sow, to which no witness could swear positively, and about 
which no jury could agree, embroiled the whole colony many 
months, and caused almost as much heartburning and alienation 
as the fiercest religious controversy. One who is curious to see 
" how great a fire a little spark kindleth," may consult, for th 
details of this strange case, Winthrop, ii., 67-72, and 116-119- 
-H.] 



174 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

out casting any reflection on them, and that 
he perceived an unbecoming pride and arro- 
gancy in some of his expressions, for which 
he desired forgiveness of God and man !" 
By this condescending spirit he greatly en- 
deared himself to his friends, and his enemies 
were ashamed of-their opposition. 

He had not so high an opinion of a demo- 
cratical government as some other gentlemen 
of equal wisdom and goodness,* but plainly 

* [The sober judgment of Winthrop clearly saw the need of a 
well-regulated authority in the state. He seems to have appro- 
ved the plan of a council for life, selected from the magistrates, 
as he was one of the members. This council was instituted in 
1636. Winthrop's Journal, i., 184. In 1641, Mr. Saltonstall, 
a magistrate from Salem, wrote a book to prove it " a sinful in- 
novation" (Ib., ii., 64), which was referred to the elders for their 
judgment. Ib., ii., 89. 

Winthrop was not alone in his aversion to a pure democracy. 
Cotton said (Letter to Lord Say, Hutch. Mass., i., App., 433- 
436), " Democracy I do not conceive that ever God did ordain 
as a fit government either for church or commonwealth. If the 
people be governors, who shall be governed 1" By the charter 
the powers of government were committed to the governor and 
thirteen assistants. The whole body of the freemen met to 
elect the magistrates and to enact laws. Representatives, or 
deputies, as they were called, do not appear till 1634, when 
three were chosen for each town, and in later years two. Win- 
throp's Journal, i., 128, 300. They formed one body with the 
magistrates till 1644. Ib., ii., 160. During this interval there 
were continual disputes between them touching their mutual 
rights. The magistrates, i.e., the governor and assistants, exer- 
cised all judicial power, and held regular sessions for this pur 



W I N T H R O P. 175 

perceived a danger in " referring matters of 
counsel and judicature to the body of the peo- 
ple ;" and when those who had removed to 
Connecticut were about forming their govern- 
ment, he warned them of this danger in a 
friendly and faithful letter, wherein are these 
remarkable words : " The best part of a com- 
munity is always the least, and of that best 
part the wiser is always the lesser ; wherefore 
the old law was, choose ye out judges, &c., 
and thou shall bring the matter to the judge." 
In 1645, when he was deputy-governor, a 
great disturbance was raised by some peti- 
tioners from Hingham,* who complained that 

pose ; they also exercised all the ordinary powers of government 
during the recess of the General Court. The governor was the 
presiding officer of this body, and intrusted with the special ex- 
ecution of their orders. 

The letter referred to was to the excellent Hooker, Septem- 
ber, 1638. Journal, ii., 349, 350. 

The governor was chosen by the assistants till 1632, May 8, 
and afterward by the General Court, and from 1634 by the whole 
body of the freemen. H.] 

* [In this paragraph the author seems to have confounded two 
cases which were entirely distinct. The first occurred in 1645, 
when Winthrop was deputy-governor, and was briefly this : A 
disagreement had fallen out in a military company at Hingham, 
touching an election of officers, which led to some mutinous and 
disorderly practices there ; and the offenders being required to 
find bail for their appearance at court, Winthrop, as a magis- 
trate, on the refusal of some of them, ordered them to be com- 
mitted. As there existed at that time great jealousy of the au- 



176 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the fundamental laws of England were not 
owned in the colony as the basis of govern- 

thority of the magistrates, and as this business excited much 
feeling in Hingham, a petition, numerously signed, was present- 
ed to the deputies, asking that the case might be examined by 
the General Court. Winthrop was put on trial, and, after a 
prolonged examination of six weeks, was fully acquitted, and the 
mutineers and petitioners were fined in various sums, from l 
to 20, for the costs of the court. It was on this occasion that 
"Winthrop delivered the speech, of which portions are given in 
the text. Journal, ii., 221-235. Hubbard's New-England, 
417, 418. 3d Mass. Hist. Coll., iv., 108-110. 

The petition described in the text, and which makes a part of 
the second case, was presented in 1646, when Winthrop was 
governor. Hutch. Coll., 188, 261, 278, &c. From the found- 
ation of the colony, all persons residing within its limits, who 
were not church members, were subject to several important 
disabilities. They were excluded from all the offices and hon- 
ours of the state ; they were not allowed to vote in elections or 
on laws, even for town-laws and officers, saving only those of 
military companies. They were, moreover, we can hardly doubt, 
looked upon by the church members, not only with pity as lost 
men, but with somewhat of indignation as rebels against the 
Divine law, and treated sometimes with the indifference or dis- 
regard which is often all that the more privileged bestow upon 
the less. Among those who were not members of a church, and 
so but half members of the state, there were not a few persons 
eminent for learning and talent, on whom these disabilities bore 
grievously. Hence arose, and gradually increased, a dislike of 
the government, and a purpose to get rid of the odious restric- 
tions, which at length gave rise to the petition referred to. 
William Vassal, of Scituate, a man of learning, wit, and ad- 
dress, was one of the leading fomenters of this movement ; and 
Dr. Robert Child, of Hingham, whom Winthrop calls " a gen- 
tleman and a scholar," ably seconded his efforts. The court 



W I N T H R O P. 177 

ment ; that civil privileges were denied to 
men merely for not being members of the 
churches ; and that they could not enjoy Di- 
vine ordinances, because they belonged to the 
Church of England. With these complaints 
they petitioned for liberty of conscience ; or, 
if that could not be granted, for freedom from 
taxes and military services : the petition con- 
cluded with a menace that, in case of a re- 
fusal, complaint would be made to the Par- 
liament of England. This petition gave much 
offence, and the petitioners were cited to 
court, and fined as " movers of sedition." 
Winthrop was active in their prosecution , 
but a parly in the House of Deputies was so 
strong in their favour as to carry a vote re- 
quiring him to answer for his conduct in pub- 
refused to entertain the petition, and an appeal was claimed to 
the commissioners in Parliament. Some of the petitioners were 
stopped on the eve of their sailing for England, and held to bail. 
On their examination they justified their petition, and were fined 
in various sums from 4 to 50. Persisting in their opposi- 
tion, and while preparing to prosecute their appeal, Child and 
others were arrested and imprisoned. He afterward went to 
England, where Vassal was already, and attempted to excite an 
odium against the colony, but was successfully resisted by Ed- 
ward Winslow, their agent. So far was Winthrop from being 
called c trial, and censured for the part he took in this affair, 
that the sympathies of the people were strongly with him, and he 
was re-elected the next year by a majority of several hundred 
votes. Journal, ii., 307. H.] 



178 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

lie, the result of which was that he was hon- 
ourably acquitted. Then resuming his seat, 
he took that opportunity publicly to declare 
his sentiments on the questions concerning 
the authority of the magistracy and the liber- 
ty of the people : "You have called us," said 
he, " to office ; but, being called, we have 
our authority from GOD ; it is the ordinance 
of GOD, and hath the image of GOD stamp- 
ed on it ; and the contempt of it hath been 
vindicated by GOD with terrible examples 
of his vengeance. When you choose magis- 
trates you take them from among yourselves, 
men subject to the like passions with your- 
selves. If you see our infirmities, reflect on 
your own, and you will not be so severe on 
ours. The covenant between us and you is, 
that we shall govern you, and judge your 
causes according to the laws of GOD*f and 

* It must be observed that the Mosaic law was at that time 
considered as the general standard, and most of the laws of the 
colony were founded on it. 

t [Winthrop himself says, " the rules of God's laws and our 
awn." Journal, ii., 229. The Mosaic law, or the examples of 
the Old Testament, was in some sense the basis of the early le- 
gislation of Massachusetts, yet rather as furnishing principles 
and arguments than specific forms. The colony had already a 
definite code of laws. Rev. John Cotton, of Boston, and Na- 
thaniel Ward, of Ipswich, had been made a commission for the 
purpose of compiling a cod, and each presented a model to thai 



W I N T H R O P. 179 

our best skill. As for our skill, you must run 
the hazard of it ; and if there be an error, not 
in the will, but the skill, it becomes you to 
bear it. Nor would I have you mistake in 
the point of your liberty. There is a liberty 
of corrupt nature, which is inconsistent with 
authority, impatient of restraint, the grand 
enemy of truth and peace, and all the ordi- 
nances of GOD are bent against it. But there 
is a civil, moral, federal liberty, which is the 
proper end and object of authority, a liberty 
lor that only which is JUST and GOOD. For 
this liberty you are to stand with your lives ; 
and whatever crosses it is not authority, but a 
distemper thereof. This liberty is maintain, 
ed in a way of subjection to authority, and 
the authority set over you will, in all admin- 
istrations for your good, be quietly submitted 
to by all but such as have a disposition to 
shake off the yoke, and lose their liberty by 
murmuring at the honour and power of au- 
thority." 

This kind of argument was frequently ur- 

court in 1639. These were digested by the court into one, 
which was sent to the towns for their consideration. In 1641 
the court adopted and enacted for three years a system of on 
hundred laws, called the "body of liberties." Journal, i., 322 ; 
., 55. Winthrop intimates that they followed the scheme of- 
fered by Mr. Ward. H.] 



180 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ged by the fathers of New-England in justi- 
fication of their severity towards those who 
dissented from them. They maintained that 
all men had liberty to do right, but no liberty 
to do wrong". However true this principle 
may be in point of morality, yet in matters of 
opinion, in modes of faith, worship, and ec- 
clesiastical order, the question is, who shall 
be the judge of right and wrong ? and it is 
too evident, from their conduct, that they sup- 
posed the power of judging to be in those 
who were vested with authority ; a principle 
destructive of liberty of conscience and the 
right of private judgment, and big with all 
the horrors of persecution. The exercise of 
such authority they condemned in the High- 
Church party, who had oppressed them in 
England ; and yet, such is the frailty of hu- 
man nature, they held the same principles 
and practised the same oppressions on those 
who dissented from them. Winthrop, before 
he left England, was of a more catholic spirit 
than some of his brethren ; after he had come 
to America he fell in with the reigning prin- 
ciple of intolerancy, which almost all the Re- 
formers unhappily retained as a relic of the 
persecuting Church from which they had sep- 
arated ; but as he advanced in life he re- 



WINTHBOP. 181 

sumed his former moderation ; and in the time 
of his last sickness, when Dudley, the deputy- 
governor, pressed him to sign an order for the 
banishment of a person who was deemed 
heterodox, he refused, saying that " he had 
done too much of that work already." 

Having devoted the greatest part of his in- 
terest to the service of the public, and suffer- 
ed many losses by accidents, and by leaving 
the management of his private affairs to un- 
faithful servants, while his whole time and 
attention were employed in the public busi- 
ness, his fortune was so much impaired, that, 
some years before his death, he was obliged 
to sell the most of his estate for the payment 
of an accumulated debt.* He also met with 

* [Not only his time, but much of his estate also, was given 
to the public. In 1632 he tells us, "For want of a common 
stock, he had to disburse all common charges out of his estate" 
(i., 86). In 1633 the court ordered to be paid him 150 salary 
for the year, and the money he had paid from his own purse in 
the public service, being between 200 and 300 more. Jour- 
nal, i., 105. He informs us that when in office his 'expenses 
hardly fell short of 500 a year, 200 of which would have sup- 
ported his family in a private condition. In 1640 his estate had 
become so reduced, partly by the misconduct of his steward, 
who had contracted large obligations (2500) for him without 
his knowledge, that several hundred pounds (less than 500) 
were given him by voluntary contribution in the colony ; and the 
court, the treasury being, as it often was, empty, granted to hi* 
wife 3000 acres of land : a strong proof of the high esteem in 



182 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

much affliction in his family, having buried 
three wives* and six children. These troub- 
les, joined to the opposition and ill treatment 
which he frequently met with from some of 
the people, so preyed upon his nature, al- 
ready much worn by the toils and hardships 
of planting a colony in a wilderness, that he 
perceived a decay of his faculties seven years 
before he reached his grand climacteric, and 
often spoke of his approaching dissolution 
with a calm resignation to the will of Heav- 
en. At length, when he had entered the 
sixty-third year of his age,f a fever occasion- 
ed by a cold, after one month's confinement, 

which he was held, as well as of sympathy for his misfortunes. 
Journal, ii., 1, 2. In his will, made June, 1641 (afterward re- 
voked), he mentions that he owned a farm at Medford, then as 
now called " the Tenhills," an island called still Governor's in 
Boston Harbour, Prudence Island in Narraganset Bay, a lot at 
Concord, and another of 1200 acres on the Concord River, and 
2000 acres still due him from the country. Ib., 360. H.] 

* [His first wife was Mary, daughter of John Forth, Esq., of 
Great Stanbridge, Essex, whom he married in his eighteenth 
year, Feb., 1606. Savage's note to Winthrop, i., 64. The 
third was Margaret, daughter of Sir John Tindal, "a woman of 
singular virtue, prudence, modesty, and piety," whom he mar- 
ried April 24, 1618, and who died June 4, 1647. The fourth, 
who survived him, was Mrs. Martha Cotyemore, of Charles- 
town, whom he married December, 1647. H.] 

t [In the sixty-second year of his age. See note to page 
148, 1. 15. 



W I N T H R O P. 183 

put an end to his life on the 26th of March, 
1649.* 

The island called Governor's Island, in the 
harbour of Boston, was granted to him, and 
still remains in the possession of his descend- 
ants. His picture is preserved in the Senate 
Chamber with those of other ancient govern- 
ors. The house in which he lived remained 
till 1775, when, with many other old wooden 
buildings, it was pulled down by the British 
troops for fuel. He kept an exact journal of 
the occurrences and transactions in the colo- 
ny during his residence in it.f This journal 
was of great service to several historians, 
particularly Hubbard, Mather, and Prince. 
It is still in possession of the Connecticut 
branch of his family, and was published at 
Hartford in 1790. It affords a more exact 

* [He was buried in the Chapel burying-ground in Boston, 
where his monument may yet be seen. H.] 

t [This journal was begun on Easter Monday, March 29, 1630, 
on board the Arbella, before Winthrop and his company sailed 
from the Isle of Wight, and was continued till February, 1649. 
It is a record, made from day to day, as they occurred, of the 
various events which occurred in the colony during the period 
which it embraces, and made with rare impartiality and judg- 
ment. Another edition of it has been published by Hon. James 
Savage, who thoroughly revised the text, and added a large 
body of illustrative notes, which are unrivalled for accuracy, sa- 
gacity, and learning. H.] 



184 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and circumstantial detail of events within that 
period than any compilation which has been 
or can be made from it ; the principles and 
conduct of this truly great and good man 
therein appear in the light in which he him- 
self viewed them ; while his abilities for the 
arduous station which he held, the difficulties 
which he had to encounter, arid his fidelity in 
business, are displayed with that truth and 
justice in which they ought to appear. 

He had five sons living at his decease, all 
of whom, notwithstanding the reduction of his 
fortune, acquired and possessed large proper- 
ty, and were persons of eminence. Many 
of his posterity have borne respectable char- 
acters, and filled some of the principal places 
of trust and usefulness.* 

* [The high reputation of Governor Winthrop has been well 
sustained by the succeeding generations of his family. While I 
am writing these pages, death has called away one of them, long 
known and revered among us, Hon. Thomas Winthrop, for 
many years Lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts, and president 
of the Massachusetts Historical Society. His son, Hon. R. C. 
Winthrop, is now the able representative of Suffolk district in 
Congress. H.] 



W I N T H R O P. 185 



XXV. JOHN WINTHROP, F.R.S., 

GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT. 

JOHN WINTHROP, eldest son of Governor 
Winthrop by his first wife, was born at Gro- 
ton, in Suffolk, Feb. 12, 1605.* His fine 
genius was much improved by a liberal edu- 
cation in the universities of Cambridge and 
Dublin,! and by travelling through most of 
the European kingdoms as far as Turkey.^ 

* [Feb. 12, 1605-6. Savage's note to Winthrop, i., 64. 
H-i 

t [His father's letters, yet preserved, were addressed to him 
at Trinity College, Dublin, from August, 1622, to March, 1624. 
Journal, ii., 336-345. From these letters it appears that his 
college life was prudent, frugal, and studious, and that here he 
received and cherished " the seeds of the fear of God." H.] 

t [From Dublin he returned to London, where he manifested 
a strong passion for travelling, and especially for going to sea. 
In June, 1627, we find him " attending upon Captain Best in his 
majesty's ship the Dire Repulse," but in what capacity does not 
appear. He probably sailed in the convoy of the Duke of Buck- 
ingham. Journal, ii., 347, 348. In 1628, his adventurous 
temper yet unsatisfied, he was earnestly disposed to "settle with a 
plantation," which we presume to have been that of Plymouth or 
of Massachusetts, but was dissuaded by his father. Ib., ii., 352. 
We have (Ib., 354) the draught of a letter from him " to Sir 
Peter Wich, lord ambassador at Constantinople," dated at " the 
Castles of Hellespont." in which he states that he was to sail 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

He came to New-England with his father's 
family, Nov. 4, 1631 ; and, though not above 
twenty-six years of age, was, by the unani- 
mous choice of the freemen, appointed a ma- 
gistrate* of the colony, of which his father 
was governor. He rendered many services 
to the country, both at homef and abroad, 
particularly in the year 1634, when, returning 
to England, he was, by stress of weather, 
forced into Ireland, where, meeting with many 
influential persons at the house of Sir John 
Closworthy, he had an opportunity to pro- 

that day for Venice. " The writer," says Savage, in his note 
upon the letter, " had no doubt accompanied this very celebra- 
ted minister either as secretary of legation or as private secre- 
tary, probably the latter." The letter expresses thanks for fa- 
vours received, and implies intimacy. 

The experience of life acquired in these travels, united with 
the piety of his own temper, led him to say, in a letter to his 
father, August 16, 1629, touching the planting of New-Eng- 
land, " And for myself, I have seen so much of the vanity of the 
world, that I esteem no more of the diversities of countries 
than as so many inns, whereof the traveller, that hath lodged in 
the best or in the worst, findeth no difference when he cometh 
to his journey's end ; and I shall call that my country where I 
can most glorify God, and enjoy the presence of my dearest 
friends." Ib., i., 359. H.] 

* [He was elected to the magistracy May 8th, 1632. Win- 
throp's Journal, i., 76. H.] 

t [In March, 1633, he, with twelve other persons, began a 
settlement at Ipswich. Ib., i., 100. Felt's History of Ipswich. 
-H.] 



WINTHROP. 187 

mote the interest of the colony through their 
means.* 

* [The following is Governor Winthrop's account of this in- 
terview (Journal, i., 172) : " Mr. Winthrop went to Dublin, and 
from thence to Antrim, in the north, and came to the house of 
one Sir John Clotworthy, the-evening before the day when divers 
godly persons were appointed to meet at his house to confer 
about their voyage to New-England ; by whom they were thor- 
oughly informed of all things, &c From thence he passed 

over into Scotland, and so through the north of England ; and 
all the way he met with persons of quality, whose thoughts were 
towards New-England, who observed his coming among them 
as a special providence of God." 

Sir John Clotworthy was a member of the Parliament which 
met November, 1640, and seconded Pym in his impeachment 
of the Earl of Stratford. May's History of the Parliament of 
1640, p. 48. Clarendon, in his History of the Rebellion (i., 
138, fol.), calls him " a gentleman of Ireland, ar.d utterly un- 
known in England ;" and says that " he was, by the contri- 
vance of some powerful patrons, returned to serve for a bor- 
ough in Devonshire, that so he might be enabled to act his part 
against the lord-lieutenant." He must have been, therefore, a 
thorough Puritan and a fearless man. From his residence iu 
Ireland, he was a very suitable witness against Stratford. We 
next hear of him near the scaffold at the execution of Laud, dis- 
turoing the last hours of that venerable prelate with " uncivil 
and unseasonable" questions " concerning his assurance of sal- 
vation, and whereon the same was grounded." Fuller's Church 
History, iii., 472, Lond., 1837. In 1646 he was one of tha 
Parliamentary commissioners for Ireland, and discharged from 
that office at his own request. Whitelock's Memorials, 240, ed. 
1682. He was charged with embezzlement, and, at the in- 
stance of Fairfax, his conduct was made the subject of Parlia- 
mentary inquiry. In 1648 he was committed to prison by Par- 
liament for favouring too much the proposed addresses to tha 
III. P 



188 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The next year he came back to New-Eng- 
land, with powers from the Lords Say* and 

king ; though Clarendon (iii., 184, fol.) classes him with " the 
most active members in the House of the Presbyterian party, 
and who had as maliciously advanced the interests of the Parlia- 
ment against the king as any men of their rank in the king- 
dom." H.] 

* [William Fiennes, second Baron, and first Viscount, Say 
and Sele, by patent from King James, July 7, 1624. The 
family was a very ancient one, but the title had been disused 
for a long time, till it was restored in the person of Richard 
Fiennes, the father of the subject of this note. Burke's Peer- 
age. William Fiennes was born at Broughton, Oxfordshire, 
about the year 1582; received his early education at Wyke- 
ham School, near Wynton, which had been founded by his an- 
cestor, the celebrated William de Wykeham, and entered New 
College, Oxford, as a fellow-commoner, in 1596. Here he 
spent " some time in logicals and philosophicals," afterward 
travelled on the Continent, and, having returned to the posses- 
sion of a " fair estate," was early married, and became a firm 
and avowed Puritan. Such is the testimony of Wood (Athena 
Oxonienses); but Miss Aikin, in her Memoirs of James I. (vol 
ii., p. 210), speaks of him as "necessitous and haughty." He 
seems early to have manifested a tendency to liberal principles 
in politics, and, perhaps for that reason, suffered a temporary im- 
prisonment by order of the king in 1622. Wood. Carte (vol. 
iv., p. 203) says he was a nobleman " of great parts and infinite 
ambition." James, finding that violence could not intimidate 
bim, may have hoped to secure the one by bribing the other with 
the offer of a higher title. For a while this policy may have 
prevented any offensive exhibition of his principles. Clarendon 
asserts, that for several years after 1624 he "lived narrowly in 
the country" (i., 162, fol.). Yet in the next reign he appears 
again a firm opponent of the arbitrary measures of the govern- 
ment, and a vehement antagonist of the prelacy. In 1637, 



W I N T H R O P. 189 

Brooke,* to settle a plantation on Connecti- 
cut River. But, finding that some worthy 

with Hampden, and with no less boldness, he refused the payment 
of ship-money, and desired to have the legality of that exaction 
tried in his own case rather than in that of his illustrious friend. 
Carte, iv., 303. In 1639 he was " deep in with the Scotch com- 
missioners, sympathizing in their aims, and hoping for aid, to 
what he deemed a righteous cause, from their concurrence." 
Whitelock, 31. Wood adds, that he boldly and openly favour- 
ed thus early the Scotch Covenant. He was a member of the 
famous Parliament of November, 1640, and was reckoned 
among the foremost of the leaders who swayed that remarkable 
body. He was one of the lords who, in August of that year, 
earnestly advised Charles to summon it. The liberal leaders in 
the Upper House of that Parliament held frequent meetings for 
sonsultation at his house at Brougbton, where he " resided for 
many years ; and his advice passed for oracles." Whitelock 
(Memorials, p. 31) says, that while the impeachment of Straf- 
ford, one of the first works of the Long Parliament, was pend- 
ing, proposals were made to stop the proceedings against him, 
provided that Pym and others, his enemies, should come into 
high offices ; and that Lord Say was named for the Mastership 
of the Court of Wards ; but the king refused. This fact is not 
very creditable to the actors in that memorable process. The 
next year the king sought to win Say from his now dreaded op- 
position, by appointing him of the privy council, and by giving 
him the very lucrative office he had before refused to give, of 
Master of the Court of Wards, May 17th, 1641. May, Hist, of 
Parl. of 1640, p. 78. Though he may have been poor, he was 
not to be bought. He still adhered to his principles and to his 
party. In August of that year he was made by Parliament 
lieutenant-general of Oxfordshire, and is said to have fortified his 
own house at Broughton for the service. Early the next year 
he refused to obey the royal summons, issued to all the officers 

* For thin note, see p. 192. 



190 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

persons from the Massachusetts had already 
removed, and others were about removing to 

of the Court of Wards, to meet Charles at Oxford, and, for his 
disobedience, was outlawed and attainted. In 1643 he was 
chosan one of the commissioners on the part of Parliament to 
treat with the king at Oxford, but did not serve in that office, as 
Charles expressly refused to treat with him. "Whitelock, p. 64. 
He was made, April 15, 1645, one of a committee of the lords 
" to manage the admiralty business." Ib., 137. In a crea- 
tion of dignities the same year by Parliament, he was advan- 
ced to an earldom (Ib., 138), though, we believe, he never used 
"the title. In 1646 his office in the Court of Wards was abol- 
ished, and 10,000 were voted to him as a compensation for 
his loss. On some occasions he showed almost a personal dis- 
like to the king, Opposing in Parliament all measures tending to 
a compromise or reconciliation ; and in 1648, when the com- 
missioners, of whom he had been named one, met Charles in the 
Isle of Wight, he quoted to him, from Hooper, that the king is 
" singulis major, universis minor.'" After the king's death, and 
the temporary overthrow of the English Church, he is said to 
have become an Independent in his opinions, as he had before 
been a Presbyterian. Wood. Cromwell, who was no mean 
judge of men, required his services in his House of Lords. 
Parl. Hist., iii., 1518. The Protector proposed in 1653 to 
make him " chamberlain of his household," which those who 
knew him doubted if he would accept. Thurloe's State Papers, 
i., 645. Though his ambition was now gratified by the highest 
honours, and his darling scheme of religious liberty seemed neai 
its consummation, his patriotism was not put to sleep. He was 
one of the first to discern Cromwell's aspirations for a crown, 
and foremost and boldest in his opposition. Finding his oppo- 
sition ineffectual, he retired to the Isle of Lundy, on the coast 
of Devon, where he remained till Cromwell's death in 1658. 
After the restoration of Charles II., by what the monarchist 
writers of that and later times have considered a strange per 



WINTHROP. 191 

make a settlement on that river at Hartford 
and Weathersfield, he gave them no disturb- 

rersion of justice, he held the office of lord privy seal till his 
death. Pepys's Diary, i., 114. What may seem stranger is, 
that he sat as one of the judges on the trial of Adrian Scrope, 
one of the regicides.^- Wood, ii., 542. April 14th, 1662, "h 
did die quietly in his bed," as loyal Anthony Wood records 
it, with a seeming wonder that a rebel could so die. He had 
lived, I cannot doubt, long enough to regret many of the excess- 
es of which his party were guilty, and to have felt that stability 
and order in a state are to be preferred to any dreams of theo- 
retical perfection. 

Clarendon, while he evidently had a strong dislike of Lord 
Say, and charges him with avarice and ambition, gives yet an 
indirect testimony of great value to his abilities and worth. Af- 
ter having spoken of the vast influence he exercised among 
those who were disaffected to the king, he adds (History of the 
Rebellion, i., 145, fol.), "He had great reputation with many 
who were not discontented, who believed him to be a wise man, 
of a very useful temper in an age of license, and one who would 
still adhere to the law." He elsewhere says that he was " of 
a proud and sullen nature ;" that he " conversed much with 
books ;" and, which is a clear proof of his inflexible and consci- 
entious clinging to his principles, that " his ambition would not 
be satisfied with offices and preferments, without some conde- 
scensions and alterations in ecclesiastical matters." Ib., 161, 
162, and 145. One who compares the testimony of Wood, oi 
Clarendon, and the conflicting statements of contemporary 
writers who have spoken of him, may well conclude with Nu- 
gent that he " possessed qualities of mind and courage sufficient 
to make him deeply revered and violently hated." Memorials 
of Hampden, ii., 29. 

He was an eloquent speaker and an able writer. A speech 
of his. well worthy of perusal for its terse expression, ingenious 
reasoning, and manly frankness, delivered in the House of 



192 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ance, but, having made an amicable agree- 
ment with them, built a fort at the mouth of 

Lords May 24th, 1641, on a bill to restrain the clergy from in- 
termeddling in secular matters, is preserved in Gobbet's Parl. 
Hist., ii., 806. This bill was one of the first steps taken by the 
enemies of Episcopacy to root out that odious polity, and it re- 
quired no slight boldness to stand forth at that time, in that 
place, in open opposition to it. He also wrote and published 
several works. Among them were, "The Scots' Design discov- 
ered," 4to, Lond., 1643 ; " Folly and Madness made manifest," 
4to, Oxon., 1659; "The Quaker's Reply manifested to be 
Railing," 4to, Oxon., 1660. See Walpole's Royal and Noble 
Authors, Park's edition, iii., 70 ; where also may be seen a por- 
trait of Lord Say. H.] 

* [Robert Greville, second Lord Brooke, was born in 1607, 
and at the age of four years adopted, and afterward brought up, 
by his cousin Fulke Greville, chancellor of the exchequer to 
James I., and a famous poet, courtier, and patron of letters, un- 
der that prince and Elizabeth. Robert was educated at the 
University of Cambridge, in some of the halls of which Puritan- 
ism had found favour, if not a resting-place. On the decease 
of his cousin in 1628, he succeeded to the baronetcy, at the age 
of twenty-one. Entering upon public life at a period when 
great principles in government and religion were the common 
theme of warm and almost angry discussion, he seems early and 
always to have been liberal in his politics and a Puritan in his 
theology. No doubt can be entertained of the fervour of his 
religious feelings, and the sincerity of his religious faith, whom 
Baxter, in an early edition of the Saints' Rest, numbered among 
the dead whom he hoped to meet in Heaven (p. 101, ed. 1656). 

When Charles, in 1639, to try the fidelity of his army at York, 
required of them the well-known " protestation against holding 
any correspondence with rebels," which the Scots took " without 
grieving their consciences or improving their manners," Lords 
Say and Brooke, and they only, in the king's presence, indig- 



W I iN T H E O P. 193 

the river, and furnished it with the artillery 
and stores which had been sent over, and be- 

nantly refused it, saying, " If the king suspected their loyalty, 
he might proceed against them as he thought fit; but it was 
against the law to impose any oaths or protestations upon them 
which were not enjoined by the law ; and in that respect, that 
they might not betray the common liberty, they would not submit 
to it." Clarendon, Rebellion, i., 93., fol. He was commander- 
in-chief in Warwick and Staffordshire, holding a commission 
from the Parliament (Walpole, ii., 344), and commanded a body 
of cavalry in the battle and victory at Edge Hill, October, 1642. 
In August of the same year, while Lord Brooke lay with his 
troops near Warwick, the Earl of Northampton and other lords, 
who commanded the royal forces, which had just come up, de- 
manded a parley, and proposed to Lord Brooke that he should 
lay down his arms, a royal pardon being offered him, resign 
Warwick Castle into such hands as the king should appoint, dis- 
avow the ordinance of the militia, &c. ; and menaced him with 
signal punishment if he refused. " Lord Brooke," says Nu- 
gent, to whose Memorials of Hampden we are indebted for this 
history, " was of a temper not quick to anger, and a mind deep- 
ly imbued with the stern and patient reserve, which partly the 
externals of their religion, and partly the pressure of political 
necessity, had imposed on the Puritan party. But the spirit of 
a gallant gentleman, in whose veins flowed the blood of many 
generations of proud and valiant ancestors, rose up against terms 
so unworthy to be proposed to him, and against the tone and 
bearing to the noble persons who addressed him in the confidence 
of fancied power. Incensed, he wheeled his horse about to 
leave them without reply ; but, after a moment's consideration, 
he returned, and, fronting them as he spoke, ' My lords,' said 
he, ' I much wonder that men of judgment, in whose breast* 
true honour should hold her seat, should so much wrong their 
noble predecessors as to seek the ruin of those high and noble 
thoughts thfiv should endeavour to support. ... As for thesa 



194 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

gan a town there, which, from the two lords 

propositions, take this- in answer. When that his majesty, his 
posterity, and the peace of the kingdom shall be secured from 
you, 1 shall gladly lay down my arms and power. As for the 
castle, it was delivered to my trust by the high court of Parlia- 
ment, who reserve it for the king's good use, and, I dare boldly 
say, will so employ it. As for the commission of array, you 
know it is unlawful. For the magazine of the county, it was 
delivered to me also by the Parliament, and, as a faithful servant 
to the country, I am resolved to continue it till Northampton 
can show me greater authority for the delivery of the same. As 
touching his majesty's pardon, as I am confident that I have not 
given any occasion of offence to his majesty, so I need not his 
pardon. As for your fury, I wholly disdain it.' " Whatever 
judgment may be formed of the truth of his political opinions, 
no one can question the pure, earnest, and high-minded sincerity 
in which he entertained them. 

This estimate of his character has been almost uniformly 
made, even by those who in political sentiment were opposed to 
him. Carte, who is by no means too favourable to the Puritan 
leaders, gives him this character (iv., 303) : This lord " had 
parts, learning, fluency .of speech, with many good qualities, 
which gained him the esteem of those with whom he agreed in 
their Puritanical and antimonarchical principles. He was natu- 
rally warm in any cause he espoused, and, in his utter aversion 
to Episcopacy, embarked eagerly in the measures of the faction." 
Clarendon, who was also of the opposite side, says (ii., 114, fol.), 
" Those who were acquainted with him believed him to be well- 
natured and just, and rather seduced and corrupted in his under- 
standing than perverse and malicious;" and adds, "he was un- 
doubtedly one of those who could have been with most difficul- 
ty reconciled to the government of Church or state." A noble 
testimony to the honesty of his convictions and the steadfastness 
of his principles. 

He used his pen as well as his sword in behalf of the cause 
to which he so cheerfully devoted himself. He published sev- 



W I N T H R O P. 195 

who had a principal share in the undertaking, 

eral answers and speeches. Wood, Athen. Oxon., ii., 445, 
446. A treatise written by him, on " The Nature of Truth," 
was printed in the year of his death. Of his " Discourse opening 
the Nature of that Episcopacie which is exercised in England," 
Milton wrote that it was " so full of meekness and breathing 
charity, that, next to the last testament of Him who. bequeathed 
love and peace to his disciples, I cannot call to mind where I 
have met with words more mild and peaceful." See Walpole's 
Royal and Noble Authors, ii., 90 ; where also may be seen a 
portrait of Lord Brooke. 

We copy the following account of his death from Dugdale's 
Short View of the late Troubles in Englanc, 117, 118, fol., 
Lond., 1681 : " Likewise that attempt upon Litchfield-close, in 
Staffordshire, made by Robert, Lord Brooke, wherein he lost his 
life : the manner of which was not a little remarkable, which 
was thus. . . . When he had marched within half a mile of 
Litchfield, he drew up his army, and there devoutly prayed a 
blessing on his intended work [the assault of the Cathedral] ; 
withal earnestly desiring that God would by some special token 
manifest unto them his approbation of their design ; which being 
done, he went on, and planted his great guns against the south- 
east end of the close, himself standing in a window of a little 
house near thereto, to direct the gunners in their purposed bat- 
tery ; but it so happened that, there being two persons placed 
in the battlements of the chiefest steeple to make shot with long 
fowling guns at the cannoniers, upon a sudden accident, which 
occasioned the soldiers to give a shout, this lord coming to the 
door (completely harnessed with plate-armour cap-a-pie), was 
suddenly shot into one of his eyes ; but the strength of the bul- 
let so much abated by the glancing thereof on a piece of timber, 
that it only lodged in his brains : whereupon he suddenly fell 
down dead. Nor is it less notable that this accident fell out 
upon the second day of March [1643], which is a festival of the 
some time famous Bishop of St. Chad, to whose memory. Offa, 
king of Mercia, first erected this stately church, and devoutly 



196 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was called Saybrook.* This fort kept the 

dedicated it." To relieve his memory from a suspicion of sac- 
rilege, we add, that the Earl of Chesterfield and his troops had 
taken refuge and intrenched themselves in the close (cathedral), 
from which, as commander of the Parliament forces, he was 
endeavouring to dislodge them. Whitelock's Memorials, p. 66. 

These two noble and Christian men, united by common princi- 
ples and aims, and by their very diversities of character, were join- 
ed in council and action in some of the most important events of 
tneir lives. " They had from their boyhood," says Lord Nu- 
gent, " lived together as brothers, and the ties of their affection 
had been straightened by a close and constant agreement in 
public life." Memorials of Hampden, i., 251. In the evils 
which they felt, and the troubles they foresaw at home, their 
hopes for a season naturally turned to the New World. "To 
this wild and distant settlement," continues Nugent, " they had 
determined to retreat in failure of their efforts for justice and 
peace at home ; and there they were jointly to become the found- 
ers of a patriarchal community. Of this settlement, liberty 
of conscience was to be the first law, and it was afterward to 
be governed according to their darling scheme of a free common- 
wealth." 

The sincerity of their purpose, and that not a transient and 
fickle one, to remove to New-England, is fully proved by the 
proposals which were made by them to some leading members 
of the Massachusetts colony in 1634. The proposals, with 
their answers, and a letter from Rev. John Cotton, of Boston, 
on the subject in 1636, may be found in Hutchinson's History 
of Massachusetts, App. I., 431-439. See, also, Winthrop's 
Journal, i., J35. So early as 1633, they had purchased a tract 
at Pascataquack, and sent a small colony thither. Winthrop, i., 
115. They had a pinnace trading there the next year (ib., 131), 
and for some time kept a friendly correspondence with the peo- 
ple at Massachusetts Bay. Ib., 161. H.J 

* [Mr. Winthrop came to Boston, empowered to begin a new 



WINTHROP. 197 

Indians in awe, and proved a security to the 
planters on the river.* 

colony, October 8th, 1635. His commission from Lord Say and 
Sele, and others, was dated July 18th, and his contract with 
them, July 7th of the same year. Their lordships sent over 
men, ordnance, ammunition, and 2000 sterling, for the accom- 
plishment of their design. Mr. Winthrop was directed by his 
commission, immediately on his arrival, to repair to Connecti- 
cut with fifty able men, and to erect the fortifications, and to 
build houses for the garrison, and for gentlemen who might af- 
terward come into the colony. The latter were to be erected 
within the fort. It was required that the planters, at the begin- 
ning, should settle themselves near the mouth of the river, and 
set down in bodies, that they might be in a situation for in- 
trenching and defending themselves. Mr. Wiuthrop, having 
intelligence that the Dutch were preparing to take possession of 
the mouth of the river, determined to anticipate them ; and as 
soon as he could engage twenty men and furnish them with 
provisions, despatched them (November 9th) in a small vessel 
of about thirty tons. A few days after the party sent by Mr 
Winthrop arrived there, a Dutch vessel from New- Netherlands 
(New-York) appeared in the sound off the mouth of the river, 
which had been sent on purpose to take possession of the en- 
trance of the river and erect fortifications there. The English 
had by this time two pieces of cannon, and prevented their land- 
ing. Mr. Winthrop was appointed governor of the River Con- 
necticut, with the places adjoining, for one year. He erect- 
ed a fort, built houses, and made a settlement according to his 
instructions. Trumbull's History of Connecticut, i., 50, 51, and 
Appendix II. Wintbrop's Journal, i., 170, 173. H.] 

* [The settlement at Saybrook did not remain long in the 
hands of the original proprietors, and as a separate colony. It 
was transferred to the Colony of Connecticut, which was plant- 
ed higher on the river, and in circumstances favouring a more 
rapid growth, by a contract made December 5tb, 1644. \.t this 



198 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

When they had formed themselves into a 
body politic, they honoured him with an elec- 
tion to the magistracy, and afterward chose 
him governor of the colony.* At the resto- 

contract curiously illustrates the state of trade in that region at 
that period, we give the substance of its provisions. George 
Fenwick, Esq., one of those who had signed Governor Win- 
throp's commission, and who resided at Saybrook, assigned to 
Connecticut all the title of the planters there to the river, fort, 
and adjacent country, with some slight reservations for his own 
use. The colony agreed to pay him, for the term of ten years, 
twopence for every bushel of corn that should pass out of the 
river's mouth, sixpence for every hundred biscuit, twenty shil- 
lings for every hogshead of beaver ; for every pound of beaver 
traded within the limits of the river, twopence ; for each milch 
cow or mare of three years old, twelve pence a year ; and for 
every hog or sow killed within the limits of the river settlement, 
twelve pence. What should be due fof grain, to be paid in 
grain ; what should be due from other sources, to be paid in bea- 
ver, wampum, barley, beans, or pease. This contract was su- 
perseded by another made February 17th, 1646, by which they 
agree to pay him 180 a year, one third in good wheat at four 
shillings a bushel, one third in pease at three shillings a bushel, 
and one third in rye or barley at three shillings a bushel. In 
the whole, they are supposed to have paid him about 2000. 
Trumbull, i., 150, 200, and Appendix V., VI. H.] 

* [Mr. Winthrop was chosen a magistrate of Connecticut, 
May 15th, 1651. The Assembly of the colony then consisted 
of twelve magistrates and twenty-two deputies. Trumbull, i., 
201. He was continued in the number of magistrates till 1657, 
when he was elected governor. There is, so far as I have 
means of information, some uncertainty respecting Mr. Win- 
throp's residence and occupations for several years after 1639. 
After his expedition to Connecticut, he returned to Ipswich, 



W I N T H R O P. 199 

ration of King Charles II. he undertook a 
voyage to England on the behalf of the peo- 

Mass., where he lived in 1638 and 1639. Felt's Ipswich, 394. 
He sailed for England August 3d, 1641 (Winthrop's Journal, 
ii., 31, 32), and returned in 1643. In the autumn of 1646 he 
went to Connecticut to reside permanently. Ib., ii., 276, and 
i., Appendix A., 65. On his return from England, in 1643, he 
brought with him 1000 in money, together with the necessary 
stock, workmen, and other preparations for carrying on iron- 
works here, and obtained from the General Court of Massachu- 
setts a monopoly of the business for twmty-one years, an ex- 
emption from public taxes for ten years, and other privileges. 
Six tracts of land, each three miles square, were assigned to him 
and his partners. He built a furnace and foundry at Lynn, on 
the west bank of Saugus River, and another afterward at Brain- 
tree, and made arrangements for extensive operations. The 
court greatly encouraged the undertaking, by formally recom- 
mending it to the enterprise of the planters as a work of great 
public utility, and promising large returns of profit to the adven- 
turers. Winthrop's Journal, ii., 212, note, and 355, 366. The 
governor, his father, wrote to him at Pequod, September, 1648, 
" The iron work goes on with more hope. It yields now about 

seven tons per week They tried another mine, and after 

twenty-four hours they had a sum of about 500, which, when 
they brake, they conceived to be a fifth part silver." Ib., Ap- 
pendix A, 69. The next month he writes, " The furnace runs 
eight tons per week, and their bar-iron is as good as Spanish." 
Ib., A, 70. Joseph Jenks, one of the principal workmen at 
Lynn, took out a patent in 1646 for fourteen years, " for ye 
making of engines for mills to goe with water, and mills for ma- 
king of sithes and other edge-tools, with a new-invented sawe- 
mill," and in 1654 made a contract with the selectmen of Boston 
" for an Ingine to carry water in case of fire." Lewis's Histo- 
ry of Lynn, 92, 100. This enterprise was not very prosperous, 
chiefly, it is said (Lewis, 92), for the want of silver to buy the 



200 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

pie, both of Connecticut and New-Haven ; 
and by his prudent address obtained from 
the king a charter incorporating both colonies 
into one, with a grant of privileges and pow- 
ers of government superior to any plantation 
which had then been settled in America.* 

iron with. After much expense and little profit, the works pass- 
ed into other hands, and, though they continued to be worked, 
more or less, for a hundred years, were finally abandoned While 
in the hands of the old company, they were several times attach- 
ed for their debts ; and Hubbard (N. E., 374) says, " Instead of 
drawing out bars of iron for the country's use, there was ham- 
mered out nothing but contentions and lawsuits." Though there 
was romance enough in the elder Puritan character, it seldom 
took the form of golden visions (though William White wrote to 
Governor Winthrop in 1648 of "great riches concerning whit 
glass, and two other things not to be spoken of within four miles 
of Boston," Mass. Hist. Coll., xiv., 199) ; and we may well 
ascribe Winthrop's agency in this business to a wise forecast of 
the necessities and advantages of the colony. These were the 
first mining works in New-England. 

In 1651 the Legislature of Connecticut passed an act reciting 
" the probabilities of mines of metals among those rocky hills," 
and granting to John Winthrop, and his heirs and assigns for- 
ever, such mines as he might discover and work, with the land, 
&c., within two or three miles, necessary for carrying them on. 
I do not learn whether any discoveries were made, or any ben- 
efit taken from this act. It referred only to mines of lead, cop- 
per, tin, antimony, salt, &c. They had no hopes of gold and 
silver. Trumbull, i., 201. H.] 

* [Governor Winthrop sailed for England as agent for the 
colony, and especially to procure a charter for them, in the sum- 
mer of 1661. He returned, I suppose, in the summer of 1663. 
The charter was dated April 2()lh, 1662, and was brought to 



WINTHROP. 201 

During this negotiation, at a private confer- 
ence with the king, he presented his majesty 
with a ring which King Charles I. had given 
to his grandfather. This present rendered 
him very acceptable to the king, and greatly 
facilitated the business.* The people, at his 
return, expressed their gratitude to him by 

America May 15th of the same year. The limits of Connecti- 
cut, by this charter, included the tract occupied by the settlers 
of New-Haven. They long and strenuously resisted the scheme 
of a union with Connecticut, but finally yielded in 1665. H.] 

* [An account of Mr. Winthrop's agency in England was 
written in verse by Roger Wolcott, Esq., his successor in the 
government of Connecticut. It is somewhat in " the Heroics 
vein," and we extract a brief passage as a curiosity. The whole 
has been printed in the Mass. Hist. Coll., iv., subfinem. The 
poet is describing the rout of the Pequods. which Mr. Winthrop 
is represented, in the true epic style, as describing to the court, 
nd introduces the following simile : 

"As when Euroclydon the forest rends, 
The bigger oaks fall down, the lesser bends ; 
The beaten leaves and limbs before him scour, 
Affrighted and enforced by his power, 
To some huge rock, whose adamantine brow 
Outbraves the fury of all winds that blow, , ,.. 
There hoping to be hid from the high charge 
Of fierce pursuers by his mighty verge. 
The winds in pressing troops demand surrender 
Of the pursued, and boisterous storm and thunder: 
But he browbeats and masters all their pride, 
And sends them roaring to the larboard side. 
So Mason here, most strongly dress'd in arm*. 
Reanimates his men, his ranks reforms." H.] 



202 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

electing him to the office of governor, for 
fourteen years together, till his death.* 

Mr. Witithrop's genius led him to philo- 
sophical inquiries, and his opportunities for 
conversing with learned men abroad furnish- 
ed him with a rich variety of knowledge, 
particularly of the mineral kingdom ; and 
there are some valuable communications of 
his in the Philosophical Transactions, which 
procured him the honour of being elected a 
Fellow of the Royal Society, t He had also 

* [He was chosen deputy-governor in 1658, and governor 
every year from 1659 to 1675 seventeen years. He was the 
first who was chosen two years in succession : a practice 
which was forbidden by the Constitution of the colony. Trum 
bull, i., Appendix III., art. 4. H.] 

t [Of the papers communicated by Mr. Winthrop to the Phil- 
osophical Transactions, I have found only two, which, indeed, 
are probably all. One is a letter occupying two pages (Phil. 
Trans. ,v., 1151), accompanying and describing a small collec- 
tion of natural curiosities which he sent from New-England ; 
and " especially a very strange and very curiously contrived 
fish." Among the curiosities were specimens of dwarf, or, as 
we call it, shrub-oak, on which he remarks, that " it may be 
truly said, that there is a Country where Hoggs are so tall that 
they eat acorns upon the standing growing Oakes." The fish 
was certainly " very strange," if we may judge of it from the 
plate and description. It was taken in Massachusetts Bay, and 
"spread itself from a pentagonal root (the body) into five main 
limbs," each of which was continually subdivided, till the num- 
ber of branches from each was 81,920, " beyond which the far- 
ther expanding of the fish could not be certainly traced." Tho 



W I N T H R O P. 203 

much skill in the art of physic, and gener- 
ously distributed many valuable medicines 

editoi of that volume of the Transactions named it Piscit 
Echino-stellaris Viscifarmis. 

The other paper, of about five pages (Phil. Trans., xii., 1065), 
was entitled " The Description, Culture, and Use of Maize." 
It would appear from this article that samp was an original Indian 
dish, and a favourite one with the early settlers of New-England. 
They were told by the Indians, who lived much on it, that they 
were seldom afflicted with that painful disease the stone. Mr. 
Winthrop says " it was often prescribed by the learned Dr. 
Wilson to his patients in London." 

To show more fully the connexion of Mr. Winthrop with the 
Royal Society, and the interest he took in its proceedings and 
inquiries, as well as the esteem in which his judgment was held 
by his associates, we have made some extracts from its records, 
as given by Dr. Birch in his history of that association. The 
Society was incorporated by royal charter July 15th, 1662, and 
it will be noticed that Mr. Winthrup was previously a member, 
and may be considered, in a sense, one of the founders of it. 

" 1661, Dec. 18. John Winthrop, Esq., was proposed as a can- 
didate by Mr. Brereton." Birch, i., 67. 

" 1662, Jan. 1. Mr. Winthrop was admitted into the Soci- 
ety." Ib., 68. 

" 1662, Feb. 12. Mr. Winthrop promised to deliver in an ac- 
count of strange tides at the next meeting." Ib., 76. 

" 1662, March 5. The account of the refining of gold was or- 
dered to be brought in at the next meeting by Dr. Goddard, Dr. 
Whistler, and Mr. Winthrop." Ib., 77. 

" 1662, April 23. Mr. Winthrop showed a tin lamp, called a 
bladder's lamp, burning high like a candle, continually feeding 
itself ; of which a diagram was ordered to be made and register- 
ed.''!^, 80. 

" 1662, April 30. Mr. Winthrop produced a little stone, of 
which one part was, as it came from the rock, of an amethyst 
III. Q 



204 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

among the people, who constantly applied to 
him whenever they had need, and were treat- 
ed with a kindness that did honour to their 
benefactor. 

His many valuable qualities as a gentle- 
man, a Christian, a philosopher, and a public 
ruler, procured him the universal respect of 

colour, and the other, after calcination, of a flesh colour." Ib., 
82. 

"1662, June 25. Mr. Winthrop was desired to communicate 
in writing the manner of making pitch and tar." Ib., 87. 

" 1662, July 9. Mr. Winthrop read his history of the making 
pitch and tar in New-England, and was desired to prosecute 
it." Ib., 88. July 16, the paper was finished, and may be 
found at length in Birch, i., 99-102. 

" 1662, Sept. 24. Mr. Winthrop read his paper concerning 
the conveniency of building of ships in some of the northern 
parts of America ; which was ordered to be registered." Ib., 
i., 112, 113. 

" 1662, Dec. 17. Mr. Winthrop, showing the Society some 
Indian corn, some grains of which were bluish, promised to give 
them in writing the history of ordering it in the West Indies. 
He showed also the tail of a rattlesnake, which he said increased 
every year by one ring, whence the people conjecture the age." 
Ib., 162. 

" 1662, Dec. 31. Mr. Winthrop remarked that there was 
no right black-lead anywhere except in England and New-Eng- 
land." Ib., 167. 

" 1663, Jan. 7. Mr. Winthrop was desired to make experi 
ment of beer out of barley and maize." Ib., 171. 

"1663, March 11. Mr. Winthrop presented some bottles of 
beer brewed out of maize bread, which was a pale, well-tasked, 
middle beer." Ib., 206. H.] 



W I N T H R O P. 205 

the people under his government ; and his 
unwearied attention to the public business, 
and great understanding in the art of gov-. 
ernment, were of unspeakable advantage to 
them. Being one of the commissioners of 
the United Colonies of New-England in the 
year 1676, in the height of the first general 
Indian war, as he was attending the service 
at Boston, he fell sick of a fever, and died on 
the 5th of April, in the seventy-first year of 
his age, and was honourably buried in the 
same tomb with his excellent father.*! 

* Mather's Magnalia. 

t [He was twice married. In England to Martha Painter, by 
whom he had no children, and who died at Ipswich, Mass., soon 
after the settlement of that place. His second wife, whom he 
married probably in 1635, was Elizabeth, daughter of the famous 
Hugh Peters. She bore him two sons and five daughters. 
Fitz-John, one of his sons, was for many years governor of 
Connecticut, and Waitstill, or Wait Still, after the revolution 
of 1689, was chief-justice of Massachusetts. Winthrop's Jour- 
nal, L, 64, notes. H.J 



206 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



XXVI. GEORGE CALVERT, CECILIUS 
CALVE RT, LORDS BALTIMORE. LEON- 
ARD CALVERT. 

GEORGE CALVERT -was descended from a 
noble family of Flanders, and born at Kip- 
ling, in Yorkshire (1582). He received his 
education at Trinity College, in Oxford, and, 
after taking his bachelor's degree (1597), 
travelled over the Continent of Europe. At 
his return to England in the beginning of the 
reign of James I., he was taken into the office 
of Sir Robert Cecil, secretary of state ; and 
when Sir Robert was advanced to be lord- 
high-treasurer, he retained Calvert in his ser- 
vice, and employed him in several weighty 
matters of state.* 

* [Sir George was, through the influence of Sir Thomas 
Wentworth, chosen one of the representatives of Yorkshire in 
the Parliament of 1620, '21. He was a strenuous defender of 
the royal prerogative, as appears from the debates in the House 
of Commons in the Parliament of 1627, '28, on a bill for a free 
fishery on the coasts of Virginia, New-England, &c., which he 
opposed as contrary to the king's authority, insisting that " the 
territory of America, being gotten by conquest, ought to be gov- 
erned as the king pleases." Chalmers, 201, and see 114, 115. 
-H.] 



C A L V E R T. 207 

By the interest of Sir Robert, then Earl of 
Salisbury, he was appointed one of the clerks 
of the council, and received the honour of 
knighthood (1617), and in the following year 
was made secretary of state, in the room of 
Sir Thomas Lake. Conceiving the Duke of 
Buckingham to have been instrumental of his 
preferment, he presented him with a jewel 
of great value ; but the duke returned it, with 
a message that he owed his advancement to 
his own merit and the good pleasure of his 
sovereign, who was fully sensible of it. His 
great knowledge of public business, and his 
diligence and fidelity in conducting it, had 
rendered him very acceptable to the king, 
who granted him a pension of 1000 out of 
the customs. 

In 1624 he conscientiously became a Ro- 
man Catholic, and, having freely owned his 
principles to the king, resigned his office. 
This ingenuous confession so affected the 
mind of James, that he not only continued 
him on the list of privy counsellors, but crea- 
ted him Baron of Baltimore, in the county of 
Longford, in Ireland. 

While he was secretary of state, and one 
of the Committee of Trade and Plantations, 
he obtained from the king a patent for the 



208 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

southeastern Peninsula of Newfoundland, 
which he named the Province of Avalon, 
from Avalonius, a monk, who was supposed 
to have converted the British King Lucius 
and all his court to Christianity ; in remem- 
brance of which event the Abbey of Glaston- 
bury was founded at Avalon, in Somerset- 
shire. Sir George gave his province this 
name, imagining it would be the first place in 
North America where the Gospel would be 
preached.* 

At Ferryland, in his Province of Avalon, 
he built a fine house, and spent 25,000 in 
advancing his plantation, which he visited 
twice in person, t But it was so annoyed by 
the French, that, though he once repulsed 
and pursued their ships, and took sixty pris- 
oners, yet he found his province so much ex- 
posed to their insults, and the trouble and 

* See Collier's Dictionary, and Kippis's Biog. Brit., article 
Calvert, Fuller's Worthies of England, 202. Camden's Bri- 
tannia, 63. 

t [The colony in Newfoundland was settled, under the orders 
of Calvert, by Captain Edward Wynne, in 1621. Chalmers, 201. 
He erected granaries, saltworks, &c. The first visit of Sir 
George was probably in 1625, and the second probably (Chal- 
mers, 201, intimates that he came from England a second time) 
on his return from Virginia in 1628. Bosnian, p. 256, is wrong 
in saying 1627 ; for he was active in Parliament in 1627.- 
H.j 



C A L V E K T. 209 

expense of defending it so very great, that he 
was obliged to abandon it, and be content 
with the loss of what he had laid out in the 
improvement of a territory, the soil and cli- 
mate of which were considered as unfavour- 
able to his views.* 

Being still inclined to form a settlement in 
America, whither he might retire with his 
family and friends of the same religious prin- 
ciples, he made a visit to Virginia, the fertili- 
ty and advantages of which had been highly 
celebrated, and in which he had been inter- 
ested as one of the adventurers.t But the 
people there, being Protestants of the Church 
of England, regarded him with a jealous eye 
on account of his religion, and by their un- 
welcome reception of him he was discouraged 
from settling within their jurisdiction. 

In visiting the Bay of Chesapeake he ob- 
served that the Virginians had established 
trading-houses on some of the islands, but 
that they had not extended their plantations 
to the northward of the River Potowrnack, 
although the country there was equally val- 
uable with that which they had planted. 

When he returned to England he applied 
to King Charles I. for the grant of a territory 

Chalmers, 201. I Smith, 130. Bevcrley, 46. 



210 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

northward of the Potowmack ; and the king, 
who had as great an affection for him as had 
his father James, readily complied with his 
request. But, owing to the tedious forms of 
public business, before a patent could be 
completed and pass the seals, Lord Balti- 
more died at London on the 15th of April, 
1632, in the 51st year of his age. 

The character of this nobleman is thus 
drawn.* Though he was a Roman Catholic, 
he kept himself disengaged from all interests, 
behaving with such moderation and proprie- 
ty that all parties were pleased with him, 
and none complained of him. He was a 
man of great good sense, not obstinate in his 
opinions, taking as much pleasure in hearing 
the sentiments of others as in delivering his 
own. While he was secretary of state he 
examined all letters, and carried to the king 
every night an exact and well-digested ac- 
count of affairs. He agreed well with Sir 
John Popham in the design of foreign plan- 
tations, but differed in the manner of execu- 
ting it. Popham was for extirpating the ori- 
ginal inhabitants, Calvert was for civilizing 
and converting them. The former was for 
present profit, the latter for reasonable ex- 

* Collier and Kippis. 



CALVERT. 211 

pectation, and for employing governors who 
were not interested merchants, but unconcern- 
ed gentlemen ; he was for granting liberties 
with caution, leaving every one to provide for 
himself by his own industry, and not to de- 
pend on a common interest. He left some- 
thing respecting America in writing, but it 
does not appear that it was ever printed. 

After the death of Sir George, the patent 
was again drawn in the name of his eldest son, 
Cecil, Lord Baltimore, and passed the seals 
on the 28th of June, 1632.* The original 

* [We may add a word to the notice of the second Lord Bal- 
timore. Chalmers (362, 363) says, " Cecilius, the father of the 
province, having lived to enjoy, what few men ever possess, the 
fruit of the tree which his own hands had planted, died in the 
beginning of 1676, covered with age and reputation, in the 44th 
year of his government. Too honest a man to scatter the idle 
theories of the projector among the million, he published no 
scheme of ideal commonwealths to delude his followers; and 
too wise not to mark the solid texture and excellent balance of 
the English Constitution, he resolved to build upon its plan, and 
to rear that of Maryland with all possible consimilarity. . . It was 
his constant maxim, which he often recommended to the Legis- 
lature, ' That by concord a small colony may grow into a great 
and renowned nation ; but that, by dissension, mighty and glo- 
rious kingdoms have declined and fallen into nothing.' On his 
tombstone ought to be engraven, that while fanaticism del- 
uged the empire, he refused his consent to the repeal of a law 
which, in the true spirit of Christianity, gave liberty of con- 
science to all." 

He appointed his eon Charles governor in 1662, "that M 
III. R 



212 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

draught being in Latin, the patentee is called 
Cecilius, and the country " Terra Maries, 
alias Maryland,"* in honour of Henrietta 
Maria, the queen consort of Charles I.t 

From the great precision of this charter, 
the powers which it gives to the proprietor, 
and the privileges and exemptions which it 
grants to the people, it is evident that Sir 
George himself was the chief penman of it. 
One omission was soon discovered : no pro- 
vision was made that the laws should be 
transmitted to the sovereign for his approba- 
tion or disallowance. The Commissioners of 
Trade and Plantations made a representation 
of this defect to the House of Commons in 
1633, and an act of Parliament was proposed 
as the only remedy.1: 

The province of Maryland is thus de- 
scribed. All that part of a peninsula in 
America, lying between the ocean on the east 

might know the people, and learn to rule them." Charles suc- 
ceeded as proprietary in 1676. H.] * Hazard, i., 327. 

t Ogilby (p. 183) says that a blank was left for the name of 
the territory, which Lord Baltimore intended to have filled with 
Crescentia. But when the king asked him for a name, he com- 
plaisantly referred it to his majesty's pleasure, who proposed the 
name of the queen, to which his lordship could not but consent. 

He also says that the second Lord Baltimore was christened 
Cecil, in honour of his father's patron, but was confirmed by the 
name of Cecilius (p. 184). t Chalmers, 203. 



CALVERT. 213 

and the Bay of Chesapeake on the west, and 
divided from the other part by a right line 
drawn from Watkin's Point, in the aforesaid 
bay, on the west, to the main ocean on the 
east. Thence to that part of Delaware Bay, 
on the north, which lieth under the fortieth 
degree of north latitude from the equinoctial, 
where New-England ends. Thence in a right 
line, by the degree aforesaid, to the true me- 
ridian of the first fountains of the River Po- 
towmac. Thence following the course of 
said river to its mouth, where it falls into the 
Bay of Chesapeake. Thence on a right line 
across the bay to Watkin's Point, with all 
the islands and islets within these limits. 

This region was erected into a province, 
and the proprietor was invested with palatine 
honours. In conjunction with the freemen 
or their delegates, he had legislative, and in 
person, or by officers of his own appointment, 
he had executive powers. He had also the 
advowson of churches, the erection of man- 
ors, boroughs, cities, and ports, saving the 
liberty of fishing and drying fish, which was 
declared common to all the king's subjects. 
The charter provided, that if any doubts 
should arise concerning the sense of it, such 
an interpretation should be given as would be 



214 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

most favourable to the interest of the pro- 
prietor.* 

The' territory is said to be " in the parts of 
America not yet cultivated, though inhabited 
by a barbarous people ;" and it is provided 
that the province " should not be holden or 
reputed as part of Virginia, or of any other 
colony, but immediately dependant on the 
crown of England." These clauses, togeth- 
er with the construction put on the fortieth, 
degree of latitude, proved the ground of long 
and bitter controversies, one of which was 
not closed till after the lapse of a century. 

Twelve years before the date of the charter 
(1620), John Porey, some time secretary of 
Virginia, who had sailed into the northern 
part of the Bay of Chesapeake, reported that 
he found " near one hundred English people 
very happily settled there, and engaged in 
a fur-trade with the natives."! In the year 
before the date of the charter (1631), King 
Charles had granted a license, under the privy 

* [There was also a singular covenant on the part of the king, 
" that neither he nor any of his successors should at any time 
impose, or cause to be imposed, any tallages on the colonists, 
on their goods or tenements, or on their commodities to be 
laden within the province. Thus was confirmed on Maryland 
that exemption forever, which had been granted to other colonies 
for years." Chalmers, 203. H.] t Purchas, v., 1784. 



CALVERT. 215 

eal of Scotland, to Sir William Alexander,* 
proprietor of Nova Scotia, and to William 
Cleyborne, counsellor and secretary of Vir- 
ginia, to trade in those parts of America for 
which there had not been a patent granted to 
others ; and sent an order to the governor of 
Virginia to permit them freely to trade there. 
In consequence of which, Sir John Harvey 
and his council, in the same year, had grant- 
ed to the said Cleyborne a permission to sail 
and traffic to the "adjoining plantations of 
the Dutch, or to any English plantation on 
the territory of America."! As nothing is 
said in these instruments of the Swedes, who 
first planted the shores of the Bay of Dela- 
ware, it has been inferred by the advocates 
of Baltimore that they had not settled there 
previous to the charter of Maryland, though 

* [Sir William Alexander was bom in Scotland in 1580. He 
received a liberal education, and travelled as companion to the 
Duke of Argyle. Soon after his return he married Janet, the 
heiress of Sir William Erskine, and removed to the court of 
James VI., where he acquired much note by his dramatic and 
other writings. The king used to call him his philosophical 
poet. He was knighted in 1631, made secretary of state for 
Scotland in 1626, and created Earl of Sterling in 1633. He 
continued in the office of secretary till his death in 1640. The 
grant of Nova Scotia was made in 1621. See Gorton's Biog 
Diet., and Haliburtori's Nova Scotia, i., 40, note. H.J 

f Cbalmers, 229. 



216 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the family of Penn insisted on it as a fact that 
the occupancy of the Swedes was prior to 
that period. In consequence of the license 
given to Cleyborne, he and his associates had 
made a settlement on the Isle of Kent, far 
within the limits of Maryland, and claimed a 
monopoly of the trade in the Chesapeake. 
These people, it is said, sent burgesses to the 
Legislature of Virginia, and were considered 
as subject to its jurisdiction before the estab- 
lishment of Maryland. 

After receiving the charter, Lord Balti- 
more began to prepare for the collecting and 
transporting a colony to America. At first 
he intended to go in person, but afterward 
changed his mind, and appointed his brother, 
Leonard Calvert, governor, with two assist- 
ants, Jeremy Hawley and Thomas Cornwal- 
lis. These, with about two hundred per- 
sons,* of good families and of the Roman 
Catholic persuasion, embarked at Cowes, in 
the Isle of Wight, on the twenty-second of 

* The names of the principal men of the colony were, George 
Calvert, brother to the proprietor and governor, Richard Gerard, 
Edward Winter, Frederic Winter. Henry Wiseman, John San- 
ders, John Baxter, Edward Cranfield, Henry Green, Nicholas 
Fairfax, Thomas Dorrell, John Medcalf, William Sayre, John 
Hill. See Douglass, ii., 357. Chalmers, 207. Oldmixon, i . 
185. 



CALVERT. 217 

November, 1633, and, after a circuitous voy- 
age through the West Indian Islands, touch- 
ing first at Barbadoes and then at St. Chris- 
topher's, they came to anchor before Point 
Comfort, in Virginia, on the twenty-fourth of 
February, 1634, and, going up to James-, 
town, delivered to Governor Harvey the let- 
ters which the king had written in their fa- 
vour. The governor and his council receiv- 
ed them with that civility which was due to 
the command of their sovereign, but they re- 
solved " to maintain the rights of the prior 
settlement." They afforded to the new col- 
ony supplies of provision for domestic use, 
but considered them as intruders on their ter- 
ritory, and as obstructing that traffic from 
which they had derived and expected to de- 
rive much advantage. 

On the 3d of March, Calvert, with his col- 
ony, proceeded in the Bay of Chesapeake to 
the northward, and entered the Potowmac, 
up which he sailed twelve leagues, and came 
to anchor under an island, which he named 
St. Clement. Here he fired his cannon, erect- 
ed his cross, and took possession, " in the 
name of the Saviour of the world and the 
King of England." Thence he went with 
his oinuaces fifteen leagues higher to the In- 



218 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

dian town of Potowmac, on the Virginian 
side of the river, now called New-Marlbor- 
ough, where he was received in a friendly 
manner by the guardian regent, the prince of 
the country being a minor. Thence he sail- 
ed twelve leagues farther, to the town of Pis- 
cataway, on the Maryland side, where he 
found Henry Fleet, an Englishman, who had 
resided several years among the natives, and 
was held by them in great esteem. He pro- 
cured an interview between Calvert and the 
werowance* or lord of the place, and offici- 
ated as their interpreter. Calvert, determin- 
ing to pursue a course of conduct founded on 
pacific and honourable intentions, asked the 
werowance whether he was willing that he 
and his people should settle in his country. 
His answer was short and prudent : "I will 
not bid you to go nor to stay ; but you may 
use your own discretion." This interview 
was held on board the governor's pinnace ; 
the natives on the shore crowded to the wa- 
ter's edge to look after their sovereign, and 

* [The word werowance appears to have signified, among the 
Indians, the king, or chief, or head man of the tribe or nation. 
The infancy of the werowance mentioned above " the prince 01 
the country" seems to disprove what is alleged by some wri- 
ters, that among the American Indians monarchy is always elect- 
ive. Bosman, 271, note. H.J 



CALVERT. 219 

were not satisfied of his safety till he stood up 
and showed himself to them. 

Having made this discovery of the river, 
and convinced the natives that his designs 
were amicable, the governor, not thinking it 
advisable to make his first settlement so high 
up the river, sailed down to the ships, taking 
Fleet with him for a guide. The natives, 
who, when they first saw the ships and heard 
the guns, had fled from St. Clement's Island 
and its neighbourhood, returned to their hab- 
itations, and seemed to repose confidence in 
their new friends ; but this was not deemed a 
proper station. Under the conduct of Fleet, 
the governor visited a creek on the northern 
side of the Potowmac, about four leagues 
from its mouth, where was an Indian village 
surrounded by cornfields, and called Yoacom- 
aco.* Calvert went on shore, and acquaint- 
ed the prince of the place with his intention, 
who was rather reserved in his answer, but 
entertained him in a friendly manner, and 
gave him a lodging in his own bed. 

On the next day he showed Calvert the 
country, which pleased him so well that he 
determined there to fix his abode, and treat- 

* [Bosinan gives Yoamaco aa the correct spelling (p. 272, 
note). H.] 



220 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ed with the prince about purchasing the place. 
Calvert presented him and his principal men 
with English cloth, axes, hoes, and knives ; 
and they consented that their new friends 
should reside in one part of their town, and 
themselves in the other part, till the next 
harvest, when they promised to quit the place, 
and resign it wholly to them. Both parties 
entered into a contract to live together in a 
friendly manner ; or, if any injury should be 
done on either side, the offending party should 
make satisfaction. Calvert having given them 
what he deemed a valuable consideration, 
with which they appeared to be content, they 
readily quitted a number of their houses and 
retired to the others ; and, it being the sea- 
son for planting, both parties went to work. 
Thus, on the 27th of March, 1634, the Eng- 
lish colony took peaceable possession of the 
country of Maryland, arid gave to the town 
the name of St. Mary, and to the creek on 
which it was situate the name of St. George. 

The Desire 01 quieting the natives, by giving 
them a reasonable and satisfactory compen- 
sation for their lands, is a trait in the charac- 
ter of the first planters which will always do 
honour to their memory. 

It was a fortunate circumstance for these 



CALVERT. 221 

adventurers that, previous to their arrival, the 
Indians of Yoacomaco had resolved to quit 
their country, and retire to the westward, that 
they might be free from the incursions of the 
Susquehanocks, a powerful and warlike na- 
tion residing between the Bays of Chesapeake 
and Delaware, who frequently invaded them, 
and carried off their provisions and women. 
Some had actually removed, and the others 
were preparing to follow, but were encour- 
aged to remain another season by the pres- 
ence of the English. They lived on friendly 
terms with the colony ; the men assisted them 
in hunting and fishing ; the women taught 
them to manage the planting and culture of 
corn, and the making it into bread ; and they 
were compensated for their labour and kind- 
ness in such tools and trinkets as were pleas- 
ing to them. According to their promise, 
they quitted the place wholly in the following 
year, and the colony had full and quiet pos- 
session. 

At his first settlement in this place Calvert 
erected a house, and mounted a guard for the 
security of his people and stores. He was 
soon after visited by Sir John Harvey, and 
by several of the Indian princes. At an n- 
tertainment on board one of the ships, the 



222 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

werowance of Patuxent was seated between 
the Governor of Virginia and the Governor 
of Maryland. One of his own subjects com- 
ing on board and seeing his sovereign in that 
situation, started with surprise, thinking him 
a prisoner, as he had been once before to 
the Virginians. The prince rose from the 
table, and satisfied the Indian that he was 
safe, which prevented his affectionate sub- 
ject from leaping into the water, as he had 
attempted. This werowance was so much 
pleased with the conduct of Calvert and his 
people, that, after many other compliments, 
he said to them at parting, " I love the Eng- 
lish so well, that if I knew they would kill 
me, I would command my people not to re- 
venge my death, because I am sure they would 
not kill me but through my own fault." 

The colony had brought with them English 
meal ; but they found Indian corn in great 
plenty both at Barbadoes and Virginia, and 
by the next spring they were able to export 
one thousand bushels to New-England and 
Newfoundland, for which they received dried 
fish and other provisions in return. They 
procured cattle, swine, and poultry from Vir- 
giljia. They were very industrious in build- 
ing houses and making gardens, in which they 



C A L V E R T. 223 

sowed the seeds of European esculent vege- 
tables, and had the pleasure of seeing them 
come to high perfection. They suffered much 
in their health by the fever and ague, and 
many of them died ; but when the survivers 
were seasoned to the climate, and had learn- 
ed the use of indigenous medicinal remedies, 
they enjoyed their health much better. The 
country had so many natural advantages that 
it soon became populous. Many Roman Cath- 
olic families from England resorted thither; 
and the proprietor, with a degree of wisdom 
and generosity, then unparalleled but in Hol- 
land, after having established the Christian 
religion upon the footing of common law, 
granted liberty of conscience and equal priv- 
ileges to Christians of every denomination. 
With this essential benefit was connected se- 
curity of property ; lands were given, in lots 
of fifty acres, to every emigrant, in absolute 
fee simple.* Under such advantages, the 

* [In the early years of this colony lands were granted in va- 
rious quantities and on various conditions. By Lord Baltimore's 
" Instructions" to his brother, dated August 8th, 1636, each of 
the first adventurers was to receive for every five men he brought 
into the colony 2000 acres, subject to a rent of 400 Ibs. of good 
wheat ; those who brought a smaller number were to have 100 
acres for each grown person, and 50 for every child under six- 
teen years. Those who came later received 2000 acres for ev 



224 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

people thought themselves so happy, that in 
an early period of their colonial existence, 
they in return granted to the proprietor a 
subsidy of fifteen pounds of tobacco on every 
poll, " as a testimony of their gratitude for his 
great charge and solicitude in maintaining 
the government, in protecting the inhabitants 
in their rights, and for reimbursing his vast 
expense," which during the first two years 
exceeded forty thousand pounds sterling.* 

ery ten men, &c. These grants were to be made under the 
great seal of the province, and to them and their heirs forever. 
The " Instructions" are given in substance in Bosnian, 283-286. 
H.] * Chalmers, 208. 



FENN. 225 



XXVII. WILLIAM PENN. 

WILLIAM PENN, the founder of Pennsylva- 
nia, was the grandson of Captain Giles Penn, 
an English consul in the Mediterranean ; and 
the son of Sir William Penn, an admiral of 
the English navy, in the protectorate of 
Cromwell, and in the reign of Charles II., in 
which offices he rendered very important ser- 
vices to the nation, particularly by the con- 
quest of Jamaica from the Spaniards, and in 
a naval victory over the Dutch. William 
was born October 14, 1644, in the parish of 
St. Catharine, near the Tower of London, 
educated at Chigwell, in Essex, and at a pri- 
vate school in London ; and in the fifteenth 
year of his age entered as a student and gen- 
tleman commoner of Christ-Church College 
in Oxford. 

His genius was bright,* his disposition so- 

* [The portrait of Penn, painted somewhat later, yet in his 
early life, represents him as " eminently handsome ; the ex- 
pression of his countenance remarkably pleasing and sweet ; his 
eye dark and lively, and his hair flowing gracefully over his 
shoulders, according to the fashion set by the worthless though 
fascinating Charles II." Fisher's Private Life of Penn, Mem 
of Penn. Hist Society, vol. iii., part ii., p. 71. H.] 



226 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ber and studious ; and being possessed of a 
lively imagination and a warm heart, the first 
turn of his mind towards religious subjects 
was attended with circumstances bordering 
on enthusiasm. Having received his first im- 
pressions from the preaching of Thomas Loe, 
an itinerant Quaker, he conceived a favoura- 
ble opinion of the flights and refinements of 
that rising sect, which led him, while at the 
University, in conjunction with some other 
students, to withdraw from the established 
worship and hold a private meeting, where 
they preached and prayed in their own way. 
The discipline of the University being very 
strict in such matters, he was fined for the sin 
of non-conformity ; this served to fix him 
more firmly in his principles and habits, and 
exposed his singularity more openly to the 
world. His conduct being then deemed ob- 
stinate, he was, in the sixteenth year of his 
age, expelled as an incorrigible offendei 
against the laws of uniformity. 

On his return home he found his father 
highly incensed against him. As neither 
remonstrances, nor threaten ings, nor blows 
could divest him of his religious attachments, 
he was for a while turned out of the house ; 
but, by the influence of his mother, he was so 



P E N N. 227 

far restored to favour as to be sent to France, 
in company with some persons of quality, 
with a view to unbend his mind and refine his 
manners. Here he learned the language of 
the country, and acquired such a polite and 
courtly behaviour,* that his father, after two 
years' absence, received him with joy, hoping 
that the object of his wishes was attained. 
He was then admitted into Lincoln's Inn, 
where he studied law till the plague broke 
out in 1665, when he returned to his father's 
house. 

About this time (1666), the king's coffers 
being low, and claims for unrewarded ser- 
vices being importunate, grants were fre- 
quently made of lands in Ireland ; and the 
merits of Sir William Penn being not the 
least conspicuous, he received a valuable es- 
tate in the county of Cork, and committed 
the management of it to his son, then in the 
twenty-second year of his age. Here he met 
with his old friend Loe, and immediately at- 
tached himself to the society of Quakers, 
though at that time they were subject to se- 

* [In Pepys's Diary, vol. i., p. 311, under the date of August 
26, 1664, we find this record : " Mr. Pen, Sir William's BOD, i 
come back from France, and came to visit my wife. A most 
modish person grown, she says a fine gentleman." H.J 
III. S 



228 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

vere persecution. This might have operated 
as a discouragement to a young gentleman 
of such quality and expectations, especially 
as he exposed himself thereby to the renewed 
displeasure of a parent who loved him, had 
not the integrity and fervour of his mind 
induced him to sacrifice all worldly consider- 
ations to the dictates of his conscience. 

It was not long before he was apprehended 
at a religious " conventicle" and, with eigh- 
teen others, committed to prison by the 
mayor of Cork ; but upon his writing a hand- 
some address to the Earl of Orrery, lord- 
president of Munster, in which he very sensi- 
bly pleaded for liberty of conscience, and 
professed his desire of a peaceable, and his 
abhorrence of a tumultuous and disrespectful 
separation from the established worship, he 
was discharged. This second stroke of per- 
secution engaged him more closely to the 
Quakers. He associated openly with them, 
and bore with calmness and patience the 
cruel abuse which was liberally bestowed on 
that singular party.* 

* [Pepys notices this attachment to the Quakers as we might 
suppose he would. "At night (Dec. 29, 1667) comes Mrs. 
Turner to see us ; and then, among other talk, she tells me that 
Mr. William Pen, who js lately come over from Ireland, is a 



P E N N. 229 

His father being informed of his conduct, 
remanded him home ; and though now Will- 
iam's age forbade his trying the force of that 
species of discipline to which, as a naval 
commander, he had been accustomed, yet he 
plied him with those arguments which it was 
natural for a man of the world to use, and 
which, to such a one, would have been pre- 
vailing. The principal one was a threatening 
to disinherit him ; and to this he humbly sub- 
mitted, though he could by no means be per- 
suaded to take off his hat in presence of the 
king, the Duke of York, or his father.* For 
this inflexibility he was again turned out of 
doors ; upon which he commenced an itin- 
erant preacher, and had much success in ma- 
Quaker again, or some very melancholy thing; that he cares for 
no company, nor comes into any ; which is a pleasant thing, 
after his being abroad so long." Diary, ii., 172. H.] 

* [Jesse, in his Continuation of his Memoirs of the Stuarts, 
i., 213, relates the following anecdote, which is characteristic 
enough to be true. "Among those whom he (the king) admit- 
ted to familiar intercourse, was William Penn, the celebrated 
Quaker and lawgiver of Pennsylvania. Penn, on his introduc- 
tion, had continued standing before the king without removing 
his hat. Nothing could be more characteristic than the quiet 
rebuke of Charles : he merely took off his own hat, and stood 
uncovered before Penn. ' Friend Charles,' said the future le- 
gislator, ' why dost thou not keep on thy hatT "Tis the cus- 
tom of this place,' replied the witty monarch, ' for only one 
person to remain covered at a time.' " H.] 



230 AMERICAN BIOGRA-t-HY. 

king proselytes. In these excursions, the op- 
position which he met with from the clergy 
and the magistracy frequently brought him 
into difficulties, and sometimes to imprison- 
ment ; but his integrity was so manifest, and 
his patience so invincible, that his father at 
length became softened towards him, and 
not only exerted his interest to release him 
from confinement, but winked at his return to 
the family whenever it suited his conveniency. 
His mother was always his friend, and often 
supplied his necessities without the knowl- 
edge of the father. 

In the year 1668 he commenced author ; 
and, having written a book entitled " The 
Sandy Foundation Shaken," which gave great 
offence to the spiritual lords, he was impris- 
oned in the Tower, and the visits of his friends 
were forbidden. But his adversaries found 
him proof against all their efforts to subdue 
him ; for a message being brought to him by 
the Bishop of London that he must either 
publicly recant or die a prisoner, his answer 
was, " My prison shall be my grave. I owe 
my conscience to no man. They are mista- 
ken in me ; I value not their threats. They 
shall know that I can weary out their malice, 
and baffle all their designs by the spirit 



PENN. 231 

of patience." During this confinement he 
wrote his famous book, " No Cross, No 
Crown;" and another, " Innocency with her 
open Face," in which he explained and vin- 
dicated the principles which he had advanced 
in .the book for which he was imprisoned. 
This, with a letter which he wrote to Lord 
Arlington, secretary of state, aided by the in- 
terest which his father had at court, procured 
his release, after seven months' confinement. 

Soon after this he made another visit to 
Ireland to settle his father's concerns, in 
which he exerted himself with great industry 
and success. Here he constantly appeared 
at the meetings of the Quakers, and not only 
officiated as a preacher, but used his interest 
with the lord-lieutenant, and others of the no- 
bility, to procure indulgence for them, and 
get some of them released from their impris- 
onment. 

In 1670 an act of Parliament was made, 
which prohibited the meetings of Dissenters, 
under severe penalties. The Quakers be- 
ing forcibly debarred entering their meeting- 
house in Grace-Church-street, London, as- 
sembled before it in the street, where Penn 
preached to a numerous concourse ; and be- 
ing apprehended on the spot by a warrant 



232 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

from the lord mayor, was committed to New- 
gate, and at the next session took his trial 
at the Old Bailey, where he pleaded his own 
cause with the freedom of an Englishman 
and the magnanimity of a hero. The jury at 
first brought in their verdict, " guilty of 
speaking in Grace-Church-street ;" but this 
being unsatisfactory to the court, they were 
detained all night, and the next day returned 
their verdict "not guilty." The court were 
highly incensed against them, fined them 
forty marks each, and imprisoned them along 
with Penn till their fines and fees were paid. 
An unlucky expression which dropped from 
the recorder on this trial, rendered the cause 
of the Quakers popular, and their perse- 
cutors odious : "It will never be well with 
us," said the infamous Sir John Howel, " till 
something like the Spanish Inquisition be es- 
tablished in England." The triumph of 
Penn was complete : being acquitted by his 
peers, he was released from prison on the 
payment of his fees, and returned to the zeal- 
ous exercise of his ministry. 

His conduct under this prosecution did him 
great honour.* His father became perfectly 

* [Mr. Fisher remarks that, though he had forsaken the 
fashionable society which he had before enjoyed, and had at- 



PENN. 233 

reconciled to him, and soon after died,* leav- 
ing his paternal blessing and a plentiful es- 
tate. This accession of fortune made no al- 
teration in his manners or habits. He con- 
tinued to preach, to write, and to travel as 
before ; and, within a few months afterward, 
was taken up again for preaching in the 
street, arid carried to the Tower, from whence, 
after a long examination, he was sent to New- 
gate, and being discharged without any trial 
at the end of nine months, he went over to 
Holland and Germany, where he continued 
travelling and preaching till the king publish- 
ed his declaration of indulgence to tender 

tached himself to a despised sect, " it is remarkable that we do 
not find he forfeited the respect, or even incurred the ridicule, 
of his old friends and companions." Memoirs of the Penn- 
sylvania Historical Society, iii., part ii., p. 72. A just tribute 
from those who knew him best to his consummate prudence, as 
well as to the frankness of his character and the sincerity of his 
new religious profession. H.] 

* The dying advice of his father to him deserves to be re- 
membered. " Three things I commend to you. 1 . Let no- 
thing tempt you to wrong your conscience : If you keep peace 
at home, it will be a feast to you in a day of trouble. 2. 
Whatever you design to do, lay it justly, and time it seasonably; 
for that gives security and despatch. 3. Be not troubled at 
disappointments : if they may be recovered, do it ; if not, 
trouble is vain. These rales will carry you with firmness 
and comfort through this inconstant world." No Cross, no 
Crown, 2d ed. 



234 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

consciences, upon which he returned to Eng- 
land, married a daughter of Sir William 
Springet, and settled at Rickmansworth, in 
Hertfordshire, where he pursued his studies, 
and multiplied his controversial writings for 
about five years. 

In 1677 he " had a drawing" to renew his 
travels in Holland and Germany, in company 
with Fox, Barclay, Keith, and several others 
of his brethren. The inducement to this 
journey was the candid reception which had 
been given, by divines and other learned men 
in Germany, to the sentiments of every well- 
meaning preacher who dissented from the 
Church of Rome. In the course of these 
travels they settled the order of church-gov- 
ernment, discipline, correspondence, and mar- 
riage* among their friends in Holland ; dis- 

* It may not be amiss here to introduce an extract from Mr. 
Penn's Journal containing the sentiments of the Quakers con- 
cerning marriage : "Amsterdam, the 3d of the 6th month, 1677. 
A scruple concerning the law of the magistrate about marriage 
being proposed and discoursed of in the fear of God, among 
friends at a select meeting, it was the universal and unanimous 
sense of friends, that joining in marriage is the work of the Lord 
only, and not of priest or magistrate. It is God's ordinance, 
and not man's. It was God's work before the fall, and it is 
God's work in the restoration. We marry none ; it. is the 
Lord's work, and we are but witnesses. But if a friend have a 
desire that the magistrate should know it before the marriage be 



P E N N. 235 

persed their books among all sorts of people 
who were inclined to receive them ; visited 
many persons of distinction, and wrote letters 
to others, particularly to the King of Poland 
and the Elector Palatine. They were receiv- 
ed very courteously by the Princess Eliza- 
beth, grand- daughter of King James I., then 
resident at Herwerden, who, though not per- 
fectly initiated into the mystery of " the holy 
silence," yet had been brought to a " waiting 
frame," and admitted them to several private 
meetings and conferences in her apartments, 
in company with the Countess of Homes and 
other ladies, her attendants ; and afterward 
kept up a correspondence with Mr. Penn till 
her death. 

On his return to England he found his 
friends suffering by the operation of a law 
made against papists, the edge of which was 
unjustly turned against them. The law re- 
quired a certain oath to be tendered to those 
who were suspected of popery ; and, because 
the Quakers denied the lawfulness of oaths 
in any case whatever, they were obliged to 

concluded, he may publish the same (after the thing hath by 
friends been found clear), and, after the marriage is performed 
in a public meeting of friends and others, may carry a copy of 
the certificate to the magistrates, that, if they please, they may 
register it.* 1 



236 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

bear the penalty annexed to the refusal of this 
oath, which was no less than a fine of twenty 
pounds per month, or two thirds of their 
estate. By Penn's advice they petitioned 
the Parliament for redress of this grievance, 
and, after explaining the reason of their de- 
clining the oath, offered to give their word to 
the same purport, and to submit to the pen- 
alty " if they should be found faulty." Penn 
had a hearing before a committee of Parlia- 
ment, when he pleaded the cause of his friends 
and of himself in a sensible, decent, convin- 
cing manner ; and what he said had so much 
weight, that the committee agreed to insert 
in a bill then pending a proviso for their re- 
lief. The bill passed the Commons, but, be- 
fore it could be got through the House of 
Lords, it was lost by a sudden prorogation 
of Parliament. 

We have hitherto viewed Mr. Penn as a 
Christian and a preacher, and he appears to 
have been honest, zealous, patient, and indus- 
trious in the concerns of religion. His abili- 
ties and his literary acquirements were emi- 
nently serviceable to the fraternity with which 
he was connected ; and it was owing to his 
exertions, in conjunction with Barclay and 
Keith, that they were formed into order, and 



P E N N. 237 

that a regular correspondence and discipline 
were established among the several societies 
of them dispersed in Europe and America. 
His writings served to give the world a more 
just and favourable idea of their principles 
than could be had from the harangues of illit- 
erate preachers or the rhapsodies of enthu- 
siastic writers, while his family and fortune 
procured for them a degree of respectability 
at home and abroad. His controversial wri- 
tings are modest, candid, and persuasive. 
His book entitled " The Christian Quaker" 
is a sensible vindication of the doctrine of 
Universal Saving Light. His style is clear 
and perspicuous ; and, though he does not 
affect so much scholastic subtilty in his argu- 
mentation as his friend Barclay, yet he is by 
no means inferior to him in solidity of reason- 
ing. His character is thus drawn by the edi- 
tor of his works : " Our worthy friend, Will- 
iam Penn, was known to be a man of great 
abilities ; of an excellent sweetness of dispo- 
sition ; of quick thought and ready utterance ; 
full of love, without dissimulation ; as exten- 
sive in charity as comprehensive in knowl- 
edge ; so ready to forgive enemies, that the 
ungrateful were not excepted. He was learn- 
ed without vanity, apt without forwardness, 



238 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

facetious in conversation, yet weighty and se- 
rious ; of an extraordinary gr witness of mind, 
yet void of the stain of ambition." 

We shall now view him in the characte* 
of a LEGISLATOR, in which respect his learn- 
ing, his sufferings, his acquaintance with man- 
kind, and his genuine liberality, were of great 
use to him. Among his various studies, he 
had not omitted to acquaint himself with the 
principles of law and government ; and he 
had more especial inducement to this from 
the prosecutions and arrests which he fre- 
quently suffered, into the legality of which it 
was natural for him to inquire. He had ob- 
served in his travels abroad, as well as in his 
acquaintance at home, the workings of arbi- 
trary power, and the mischiefs of usurpation ; 
and he had studied the whole controversy be- 
tween regal and popular claims : the result of 
which was, that government must be founded 
in justice, and exercised with moderation. 
One of his maxims was, that " the people be- 
ing the ivife-politic of the prince, is better man- 
aged by wisdom than ruled by force." His 
own feelings, as well as reflections, led him 
to adopt the most liberal idea of toleration. 
Freedom of profession and inquiry, and a to- 
tal abhorrence of persecution for conscience' 



PENN. 239 

sake, were his darling principles ; and it is a 
singular circumstance in the history of man- 
kind, that Divine Providence should give to 
such a man as William Penn an opportunity 
to make a fair and consistent experiment of 
these excellent maxims, by establishing a col- 
ony in America on the most liberal principles 
of toleration, at a time when the policy of 
the oldest nations of Europe were ineffectual- 
ly employed in endeavouring to reduce the 
active minds of men to a most absurd uni- 
formity in articles of faith and modes of wor- 
ship. 

It has been observed that his father, Sir 
William Penn, had merited much by his ser- 
vices in the English navy. There were also 
certain debts due to him from the crown at 
the time of his death, which the royal treas- 
ures were poorly able to discharge. His son, 
after much solicitation, found no prospect of 
getting his due in the common mode of pay- 
ment, and therefore turned his thoughts to- 
wards obtaining a grant of land in America, 
on which he might make the experiment of 
settling a colony, and establishing a govern- 
ment suited to his own principles and views. 
Mr. Penn had been concerned with sev- 
eral other Quakers in purchasing of Lord 



240 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Berkeley his patent of West-Jersey, to make 
a settlement for their persecuted brethren in 
England, many of whom transported them- 
selves thither, in hope of an exemption from 
the troubles which they had endured from the 
execution of the penal laws against Dissent- 
ers. But they found themselves subject to 
the arbitrary impositions of Sir Edmund An- 
dros, who governed the Duke of York's ter- 
ritory, and exercised jurisdiction over all the 
settlements on both sides the Delaware. Penn 
and his associates remonstrated against his 
conduct, but their efforts proved ineffectual. 
However, the concern which Penn had in this 
purchase gave him not only a taste for spec- 
ulating in landed interest, but a knowledge 
of the middle region of the American coasts ; 
and being desirous of acquiring a separate 
estate, where he might realize his sanguine, 
wishes, he had great advantage in making in- 
quiry and determining on a place. 

Having examined all the former grants to 
the companies of Virginia and New-Eng- 
land, the Lord Baltimore, and the Duke of 
York, he fixed upon a territory bounded on 
the east by the bay and river of Delaware, 
extending southward to Lord Baltimore's 
province of Maryland, westward as far as the 



PENN. 241 

western extent of Maryland, and northward 
" as far as plantable." For this he petition- 
ed the king ; and being examined before the 
privy council, on the 14th of June, concern- 
ing of those words of his petition " as far as 
plantable," he declared " that he should be 
satisfied with the extent of three degrees of 
latitude ; and that, in lieu of such a grant, he 
was willing to remit his debt from the crown, 
or some part of it, and to stay for the remain- 
der till his majesty should be in a better con- 
dition to satisfy it." 

Notice of this application was given to the 
agents of the Duke of York and Lord Bajti- 
more, and inquiry was made how far the pre- 
tensions of Penn might consist with the grants 
already made to them. The peninsula be- 
tween the Bays of Chesapeake and Delaware 
had been planted by detached companies of 
Swedes, Finlanders, Dutch, and English. It 
was, first by force, and afterward by treaty, 
brought under the dominion of the crown of 
England. That part of it which bordered on 
the Delaware was within the Duke of York's 
patent, while that which joined on the Ches- 
apeake was within the grant to Lord Balti- 
more. 

The duke's agent consented that Penn 



242 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

should have' the land west of Delaware and 
north of Newcastle, " in consideration of the 
reason he had to expect favour from his ma- 
jesty." Lord Baltimore's agent petitioned 
that Penn's grant might be expressed to lie 
north of Susquehannah Fort, and of a line 
drawn east and west from it, and that he 
might not be allowed to sell arms and am- 
munition to the Indians. To these restric- 
tions Penn had no objection. 

The draught of a charter being prepared, 
it was submitted to Lord-chief-justice North, 
who was ordered to provide by fit clauses for 
the interest of the king and the encourage- 
ment of the planters. While it was under 
consideration, the Bishop of London petition- 
ed that Penn might be obliged by his patent 
to admit a chaplain of his lordship's appoint- 
ment, at the request of any number of the 
planters. The giving a name to the province 
was left to the king. 

The charter, consisting of twenty-three 
sections, "penned with all the appearance of 
candour and simplicity," was signed and 
sealed by King Charles II., on the fourth of 
March, 1681. It constitutes WILLIAM PENN 
and his heirs true and absolute proprietaries 
of the Province of PENNSYLVANIA, saving to 



P E N N. 243 

the crown their allegiance and the sovereign- 
ty. It gives him, his heirs, and their depu- 
ties, power to make laws " for the good and 
happy government of the country," by advice 
of the freemen, and to erect courts of justice 
for the execution of those laws, provided they 
be not repugnant to the laws of England. 
For the encouragement of planters, they were 
to enjoy the privileges of English subjects, 
paying the same duties in trade ; and no tax- 
es were to be levied on them but by their own 
Assemblies, or by acts of Parliament. With 
respect to religion, no more is said than what 
the Bishop of London had suggested, that if 
twenty inhabitants should desire a preacher 
of his lordship's approbation, he should be 
allowed to reside in the province. This was 
perfectly agreeable to Mr. Penn's professed 
principles of liberty of conscience ; but it may 
seem rather extraordinary that, this distin- 
guished leader of a sect, who so pointedly 
denied the lawfulness of war, should accept 
the powers given him in the sixteenth article 
of the charter, " to levy, muster, and train all 
sorts of men, to pursue and vanquish ene- 
mies, to take and put them to death by the 
laws of war, and to do everything which be- 

longeth to the office of CAPTAIN-GENERAL in 
III. T 



:244 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

an army." Mr. Penn, for reasons of state, 
might find it convenient that he and his heirs 
should be thus invested with the power of the 
sword, though it was impossible for him or 
them to exercise it without first apostatizing 
from their religious profession. 

The charter being thus obtained, he found 
himself authorized to agree with such persons 
as were disposed to be adventurers to his new 
province. By a public advertisement, he in- 
vited purchasers, and described the country, 
with a display of the advantages which might 
be expected from a settlement in it. This in- 
duced many single persons, and some fam- 
ilies, chiefly of the denomination of Quakers, 
to think of a removal. A number of mer- 
chants and others formed themselves into a 
company, for the sake of encouraging the set- 
tlement and trade of the country, and pur- 
chased twenty thousand acres of his land. 
They had a president, treasurer, secretary, 
and a committee of twelve, who resided in 
England and transacted their common busi- 
ness. Their objects were to encourage the 
manufactures of leather and glass, the cutting 
and sawing of timber, and the whale-fishery. 

The land was sold at the rate of twenty 
pounds for every thousand acres. They who 



PENN. 245 

rented lands were to pay one penny yearly 
per acre. Servants, when their terms were 
expired, were entitled to fifty acres, subject 
to two shillings per -annum; and their mas- 
ters were allowed fifty acres for each servant 
so liberated, but subject to four shillings per 
annum ; or, if the master should give the ser- 
vant fifty acres out of his own division, he 
might receive from the proprietor one hun- 
dred acres, subject to six shillings per annum. 
In every hundred thousand acres, the proprie- 
tor reserved ten for himself. 

The quit-rents were not agreed to with- 
out difficulty. The purchasers remonstrated 
against them as a burden, unprecedented in 
any other American colony. But Penn dis- 
tinguished between the character of proprie- 
tor and governor, urging the necessity of sup- 
porting government with dignity, and that, 
by complying with this expedient, they would 
be freed from other taxes. Such distinctions 
are very convenient to a politician, and by 
this insinuation the point was carried : upon 
which it was remarked (perhaps too severely), 
that " less of the man of God now appeared, 
and more of the man of the world." 

According to the powers given by the char- 
ter " for regulating and governing property 



246 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

within the province," he entered into certain 
articles with the purchasers and adventurers 
(July 11, 1681), which were entitled " Con- 
ditions and Concessions." These related to 
the laying out roads, city and country lots ; 
the privilege of water-courses ; the property 
of mines and minerals ; the reservation of 
timber and mulberry trees ; the terms of im- 
provement and cultivation ; the traffic with 
the Indians, and the means of preserving 
peace with them ; of preventing debtors and 
other defaulters from making their escape ; 
and of preserving the morals of the planters, 
by the execution of the penal laws of England, 
till an Assembly should meet. 

These preliminaries being adjusted, the 
first colony, under his authority, came over 
to America, and began their settlement above 
the confluence of the Schuylkill with the Del- 
aware. By them the proprietor sent a let- 
ter to the Indians, informing them that " the 
GREAT GOD had been pleased to make him 
concerned in their part of the world, and that 
the king of the country where he lived had 
given him a great province therein ; but that 
he did not desire to enjoy it without their 
consent ; that he was a man of peace, and 
that the people whom he sent were of the 



P E N N. 247 

same disposition ; but if any difference should 
happen between them, it might be adjusted 
by an equal number of men on both sides." 
With this letter he appointed commissioners 
to treat with the Indians about purchasing 
land, and promised that he would shortly 
come and converse with them in person. 

About this time (Nov., 1681) he was elect- 
ed a Fellow of the Royal Society. 

The next spring he completed a frame of 
government (April 25, 1682), with the ex- 
press design " to support power in reverence 
with the people, and to secure the people 
from the abuse of power.". It is prefaced 
with a long discourse ort the nature, origin, 
use and abuse of government ; which shows 
that he had not only well studied the subject, 
but that he was fond of displaying his knowl- 
edge. 

By this frame of government there was to 
be a Provincial Council, consisting of seventy- 
two persons, answering to the number of el- 
ders in the Jewish sanhedrim, who were to be 
divided into three classes : twenty-four to 
serve for three years, twenty-four for two 
years, and twenty-four for one year ; the va- 
cancies thus made to be supplied by new 
elections ; and after seven years, every one 



248 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of those who went off yearly were to be in 
capable of re-election for one year following 
This rotation was intended " that all mighi 
be fitted for government, and have experience 
of the care and burden of it." Of this coun- 
cil two thirds were to be a quorum, and the 
consent of two thirds of this quorum was to 
be had in all matters of moment ; but in mat- 
ters of lesser moment one third might be a 
quorum, the majority of whom might deter- 
mine. The distinction between matters of 
moment and of lesser moment was not de- 
fined, nor was it declared who was to be 
judge of the distinction. The governor was 
not to have a negative, but a treble voice. 
The Council were to prepare and propose 
bills to the General Assembly, which were to 
be published thirty days before its meeting. 
When met, the Assembly might deliberate 
eight days, but on the ninth were to give their 
assent or dissent to the proposed bills : two 
thirds of them to be a quorum. With re- 
spect to the number of the Assembly, it was 
provided that the first year all the freemen 
in person might compose it ; afterward a del- 
egation of two hundred, which might be in- 
creased to five hundred. The governor, with 
the Council, to be the supreme executive, 



PENN. 249 

wHh a parental and prudential authority, and 
to be divided into four departments of eigh- 
teen each ; one of which was called a com- 
mittee of plantations, another of justice and 
safety, another of trade and revenue, and an- 
other of manners, education, and arts. 

To this frame of government was subjoined 
a body of fundamental laws, agreed upon by 
Penn and the adventurers in London, which 
respected moral, political, and economical 
matters ; which were not to be altered but 
by the consent of the governor or his heirs, 
and six parts in seven of the freemen, met in 
Provincial Council and Assembly. In this 
code we find that celebrated declaration, 
which has contributed more than anything 
else to the prosperity of Pennsylvania, viz., 
" That all persons living in the province who 
confess and acknowledge the ONE almighty 
and eternal GOD to be the creator, upholder, 
and ruler of the world, and hold themselves 
obliged in conscience to live peaceably and 
justly in civil society, shall in no ways be 
molested for their religious persuasion or 
practice in matters of faith and worship, nor 
shall they be compelled at any time to frequent 
or maintain any religious worship, place, or 
ministry whatever." To which was added 



250 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

another equally conducive to the welfare of 
society : " That, according to the good ex- 
ample of the primitive Christians, and the 
case of the creation, every first day of the 
week, called the Lord's Day, people shall 
abstain from their common daily labour, that 
they may the better dispose themselves to 
worship God according to their understand- 
ings." 

These laws were an original compact be- 
tween the governor and the freemen of the 
colony. They appear to be founded in wis- 
dom and equity, and some of them have been 
copied into the declarations of rights prefixed 
to several of the present republican constitu- 
tions in America. The system of govern- 
ment which Penn produced has been regard- 
ed as a Utopian project ; but, though in some 
parts visionary and impracticable, yet it was 
liberal and popular, calculated to gain adven- 
turers with a prospect of republican advanta- 
ges. Some of its provisions, particularly the 
rotation of the council, have been adopted by 
a very enlightened body of American legisla- 
tors, after the expiration of a century. The 
experiment is now in operation, and without 
experiment nothing can be fairly decided in 
the political any more than in the physical 
world. 



PENN 251 

Having, by the help of Sir William Jones 
and other gentlemen of the long robe, con- 
structed a plan of government for his colony, 
Mr. Penn prepared to make the voyage to 
America, that he might attempt the execu- 
tion of it. 

A part of the lands comprehended within 
his grant had been subject to the govern- 
ment which was exercised by the deputy of 
the Duke of York. To prevent any difficul- 
ty, he thought it convenient to obtain from 
the duke a deed of sale of the Province of 
Pennsylvania, which he did on the 21st of 
August, 1682 ; and, by two subsequent deeds 
in the same month, the duke conveyed to him 
the town of Newcastle, situate on the west- 
ern side of the Delaware, with a circle of" 
twelve miles radius from the centre of the 
town, and from thence extending southerly 
to the Hoar Kills, at Cape Henlopen, the 
western point of the entrance of Delaware 
Bay, which tract contained the settlements 
made by the Dutch, Swedes, and Finns. 
This was called the Territory, in distinction 
from the Province of Pennsylvania, and was 
divided into three counties, Newcastle, Kent, 
and Sussex. 

At this time the oenal laws against Dissent- 

m.u 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ers were executed with rigour in England, 
which made many of the Quakers desirous of 
accompanying or following Penn into Ameri- 
ca, where they had a prospect of the most 
extensive liberty of conscience. Having cho- 
sen some for his particular companions, he 
embarked with them in August, 1682 ; and 
from the Downs, where the ship lay waiting 
for a wind, he wrote an affectionate letter to 
his friends, which he called "a farewell to 
England." After a pleasant passage of six 
weeks they came within sight of the American 
coast, and were refreshed by the land breezes 
at the distance of twelve leagues. As the 
ship sailed up the Delaware, the inhabitants 
came on board, and saluted their new gov- 
ernor with an air of joy and satisfaction. He 
landed at Newcastle, and summoned the peo- 
ple to meet him, when possession of the soil 
was given him in the legal form of that day, 
and he entertained them with a speech, ex- 
plaining the purpose of his coming and the 
views of his government, assuring them of his 
intention to preserve civil and religious liber- 
ty, and exhorting them to peace and sobriety. 
Having renewed the commissions of their for- 
mer magistrates, he went to Chester, where 
he repeated the same things, and received 



p E r N. 253 

their congratulations. The Swedes appoint- 
ed a delegate to compliment him on his arri- 
val, and to assure him of their Taffection and 
fidelity. 

At this time the number of inhabitants was 
about three thousand. The first planters 
were the Dutch, and after them the Swedes 
and Finns. There had been formerly dis- 
putes among them, but for above twenty 
years they had been in a state of peae 
The Dutch were settled on the bay, and ap- 
plied themselves chiefly to trade. At New- 
castle they had a courthouse and a place of 
worship. The Swedes and Finns lived high- 
er up the river, and followed husbandry. 
Their settlements were Christina, Tenecum, 
and Wicoco, at each of which they had a 
church. They were a plain, robust, sober, 
and industrious people, and most of them had 
large families. The colony which Penn had 
sent over the year before began their settle- 
ment above Wicoco, and it was, by special 
direction of the proprietor, called PHILADEL- 
PHIA. The province was divided into three 
counties, Chester, Buckingham, and Phila- 
delphia. 

Three principal objects engaged the atten- 
tion of Mr. Penn : one was to unite the terri- 



254 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tory with the province ; another was to enter 
into a treaty with the Indians ; and a third 
was to lay out a capital city. 

The first was entered upon immediately. 
Within a month after his arrival he called a 
General Assembly at Chester, when the con- 
stitution, which had been formed in England, 
was to undergo an experiment. The freemen 
both of the province and territory were sum- 
moned to compose this Assembly in person. 
Instead of which they elected twelve mem- 
bers in each county, amounting in all to sev- 
enty-two, the precise number which, by the 
frame of government, was to compose one 
house only. The elections were accompa- 
nied by petitions to the governor, importing 
" that the fewness of the people, their inabil- 
ity in estate, and uuskilfulness in government, 
would not permit them to serve in so large a 
council and assembly, and therefore it was 
their desire that the twelve now returned 
from each county might serve both for Pro- 
vincial Council and General Assembly, with 
the same powers and privileges which by the 
charter were granted to the whole." 

The members were accordingly distributed 
into two houses ; three out of each county 
made a Council, consisting of eighteen, and 



PENN. 255 

the remaining part formed an Assembly of 
fifty-four. In this Assembly was passed " the 
act of settlement," in which the frame of 
government made in England, being styled a 
probationary act, was so far changed as that 
three persons of each county might compose 
the Council and six the Assembly. After 
several other " variations, explanations, and 
additions" requested by the Assembly and 
yielded to by the governor, the aforesaid 
charter and frame of government was " rec- 
ognised and accepted, as if with these alter- 
ations it was supposed to be complete." The 
Assembly is styled " the General Assembly 
of the Province of Pennsylvania and the ter 
ritories thereunto belonging." 

Thus the lower counties at this time mani- 
fested their willingness to be united with the 
province of Pennsylvania ; but the proprietor 
had not received from the crown any right of 
jurisdiction over that territory, though the 
duke had sold him the right of soil, and it 
was not in the power of the people, as sub- 
jects of the King of England, to put them- 
selves under any form of government without 
the royal authority. The want of this, with 
the operation of other causes, produced diffi- 
culties which afterward rendered this union 



256 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

void; and the three lower counties had a 
separate Assembly, though under the same 
governor. 

Mr. Penn's next object was to treat with 
the natives. The benevolence of his disposi- 
tion led him to exercise great tenderness to- 
wards them, which was much increased by 
an opinion which he had formed, and which 
he openly avowed, that they were descend- 
ants of the ten dispersed tribes of IsraeL He 
travelled into the country, visited them in 
their cabins, was present at their feasts, con- 
versed with them in a free and familiar man- 
ner, and gained their affections by his obli- 
ging carriage, and his frequent acts of gener- 
osity. But on public occasions he received 
them with ceremony, and transacted business 
with solemnity and order. 

In one of his excursions in the winter he 
found a chief warrior sick, and his wife pre- 
paring to sweat him, in the usual manner, by 
pouring water on a heap of hot stones, in a 
closely covered hut, and then plunging him 
into the river, through a hole cut in the ice. 
To divert himself during the sweating opera- 
tion, the chief sang the achievements of his 
ancestors, then his own, and concluded his 
song with this reflection : " Why are we sick, 



P E N N. 267 

and these strangers well ? It seems as if 
they were sent to inherit the land in our steafl ! 
Ah ! it is because they love the Great Spirit, 
and we do not !" The sentiment was ration- 
al, and such as often occurred to the sagacious 
among the natives. We cannot suppose it 
was disagreeable to Mr. Penn, whose view 
was to impress them with an idea of his hon- 
est and pacific intentions, and to make a fair 
bargain with them. 

Some of their chiefs made him a voluntary 
present of the land which they claimed, oth- 
ers sold it at a stipulated price. The form of 
one of these treaties is thus described, in a 
letter which he wrote to his friends in Eng- 
land. " The king sat in the middle of a half 
moon, and had his council, old and wise, on 
each hand. Behind, at a little distance, sat 
the young ones, in the same figure. Having 
consulted and resolved the business, the king 
ordered one of ftiem to speak to me. He 
stood up, came to me, took me by the hand, 
saluted me in the name of the king, told me 
he was ordered by the king to speak to me, 
and that now it was not he that spoke, but 
the king, because what he should say was the 
king's mind. [Having made an apology for 
their delay,] he fell to the bounds of the laud 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

they had to dispose of, and the price, which is 
row dear, that which would once have bought 
twenty miles not now buying two. During 
the time this person was speaking, not a man 
of them was observed to whisper or smile. 
When the purchase was agreed, great prom- 
ises passed between us of kindness and good 
neighbourhood, and that the English and In- 
dians must live in love as long as the sun gave 
light. Which done, another made a speech 
to the Indians in the name of all the sachems, 
first to tell them what was done, next to 
charge them to love the Christians, to live in 
peace with me and my people, and that they 
should never do me or my people any wrong ; 
at every sentence of which they shouted and 
said Amen in their way. The pay or pres- 
ents I made them were not hoarded by the 
particular owners, but, the neighbouring kings 
and their clans being present when the goods 
were brought out, the parties chiefly concern- 
ed consulted what and to whom they should 
give them. To every king, then, by the hands 
of a person for that work appointed, was a 
proportion sent, sorted and folded, with that 
gravity which is admirable. Then that king 
subdivided it in like manner among his de- 
pendants, they hardly leaving themselves an 
equal share with one of their subjects." 



P E N N. 259 

Mr. Penn was so happy as to succeed in 
his endeavours to gain the good-will of the 
Indians. They have frequently, in subse- 
quent treaties many years after, expressed 
great veneration for his memory ; and to per- 
petuate it, they have given to the successive 
governors of Pennsylvania the name of Onas, 
which signifies a Pen. By this name they 
are commonly known and addressed in the 
speeches made by the Six Nations in all their 
treaties. ; $ J 

One part of his agreement with the Indians 
was, that th'ey should sell no lands to any 
person but to himself or his agents ; another 
was, that his agents should not occupy nor 
grant any lands but those which were fairly 
purchased of the Indians. These stipula- 
tions were confirmed by subsequent acts of 
Assembly ; and every bargain made between 
private persons and the Indians without leave 
of the proprietor was declared void. The 
charter which Mr. Penn had obtained of the 
crown comprehended a far greater extent of 
territory than it was proper for him at first to 
purchase of the natives. 

He did not think it for his interest to take 
any more at once than he had a prospect of 
granting away to settlers. But his colony 



^t>0 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



increased beyond his expectation ; and when 
new tracts were wanted, the Indians rose in 
their demands. His first purchases were 
made at his own expense ; and the goods 
delivered on these occasions went by the 
name of presents. In course of time, when 
a treaty and a purchase went on together, the 
governor and his successors made the speech- 
es, and the Assembly were at the expense of 
the presents. When one paid the cost and 
the other enjoyed the profit, & subject of al- 
tercation arose between the proprietary and 
the popular interests, which other causes con- 
tributed to increase and inflame. 

The purchases which Mr. Penn made of 
the Indians were undoubtedly fair and hon- 
est, and he is entitled to praise for his wise 
and honourable conduct towards them. But 
there is such a thing as overrating true mer- 
it. He has been celebrated by a late author* 
as having in these purchases " set an exam- 
ple of moderation and justice in America 
which was never thought of before by the 
Europeans." It had been a common thing 
in New-England, for fifty years before his 
time, to make fair and regular purchases of 
land from the Indians, and many of their 
* Abbe Raynal. 



PENN. 261 

deeds are preserved in the public records. 
As early as 1633, a law was enacted in the 
colony of Massachusetts that " no person 
shall put any of the Indians from their plant- 
ing grounds or fishing places ; and that, upon 
complaint and proof thereof, they shall have 
relief in any of the courts of justice, as the 
English have." To prevent frauds in pri- 
vate bargains, it was ordered by the same 
act that " no person shall buy land of any 
Indian without license first had and obtained 
of the general court." Other regulations re- 
specting traffic with them were made at the 
same time, which bear the appearance, not 
only of justice and moderation, but of a pa- 
rental regard to their interest and property. 

Nor is it to be supposed that other Euro- 
peans neglected their duty in these respects. 
Several purchases were made before Penn's 
time in New-Jersey. Mr. Penn himself, in 
one of his letters, speaking of the quarrels 
between the Dutch and the Swedes, who had 
occupied the lands on the Delaware before 
him, says, " The Dutch, who were the first 
planters, looked on them [the Swedes] as in- 
truders on their purchase and possession." 
Of whom could the Dutch have purchased 
those lands but of the natives ? They could 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

not have occupied them without the consent 
of the Indians, who were very numerous, and 
could easily have extirpated them, or pre- 
vented their settlement. It is probable that 
this Dutch purchase is referred to in that part 
of Penn's letter before quoted, where he 
speaks of the land at that time (1683) as 
" dearer" than formerly, for how could this 
have been ascertained but by comparing his 
with former purchases ? 

It may then be proper to consider Mr. 
Penn as having followed the " examples of 
justice and moderation" which had been set 
by former Europeans in their conduct to- 
wards the natives of America, and as hav- 
ing united his example with theirs for the 
imitation of succeeding adventurers. This 
will give us the true idea of his merit, with- 
out detracting from the respect due to those 
who preceded him in the arduous work of 
colonizing America. 

Mr. Penn easily foresaw that the situation 
of his province, and the liberal encourage- 
ment which he had given to settlers, would 
draw people of all denominations thither, and 
render it a place of commerce ; he therefore 
determined to lay the plan of a capital city, 
which, in conformity to his catholic and pa- 



P E N N. 263 

cific ideas, he called PHILADELPHIA. The site 
of it was a neck of land between the River 
Delaware on the east, and the Schuylkill 
(Hiding' Creek), a branch on the west ; and 
he designed that the city should extend from 
one to the other, the distance being two miles. 
This spot was chosen on account of the firm 
soil, the gentle rising from each river towards 
the midst, the numerous springs, the conveni- 
ence of coves capable of being used as docks, 
the depth of water for ships of burden, and 
the good anchorage. The ground was sur- 
veyed, and a plan of the intended city was 
drawn by Thomas Holme, surveyor general. 
Ten streets, of two miles in length, were laid 
out from river to river, and twenty streets of 
one mile in length, crossing them at right an- 
gles. Four squares were reserved for com- 
mon purposes, one in each quarter of the city, 
and in the centre, on the most elevated spot, 
was a large square of ten acres, in which 
were to be built a statehouse, a market-house, 
a schoolhouse, and a place of worship. On 
the side of each river it was intended to build 
wharves and warehouses, and from each front 
street nearest to the rivers, an open space was 
to be left, in the descent to the shores, which 
would have added much to the beauty of the 



264 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

city. All owners of one thousand acres were 
entitled to a city lot, in the front streets or in 
the central high street, and before each house 
was to be an open court, planted with rows 
of trees. Smaller purchasers were to be ac- 
commodated in the other streets; and care 
was taken in all, that no building should en- 
croach on the street lines. This last regula- 
tion has been always attended to, though in 
some other respects the plan has been either 
disregarded or not completed. 

The city was begun in 1682, and within 
less than a year " eighty houses and cottages 
were built, wherein merchants and mechanics 
exercised their respective occupations;" and 
they soon found the country around them so 
well cultivated by the planters as to afford 
them bread and vegetables, while the venison, 
fowl, and fish made an agreeable variety with 
the salted provisions which they imported. 
Penn himself writes, with an air of cheerful- 
ness, that he was well contented with the 
country, and the entertainment which he 
found in it. This letter is among his printed 
works, and in the same collection we find an 
affectionate address to the people of Pennsyl- 
vania ; in it he appears to have a tender con- 
cern for their moral and religious improve- 



P E N N. 265 

ment, and warns them against the tempta- 
tions to which they were exposed. Their 
circumstances were indeed peculiar ; they 
had suffered contempt and persecution in 
England, and were now at rest ; in the en- 
joyment of liberty, under a popular form of 
government ; the eyes of the world were upon 
them ; their former enemies were watching 
their conduct, and would have been glad of 
an opportunity to reproach them; it was 
therefore his desire that they should be mod' 
erate in prosperity, as they had been patient 
in adversity. The concluding words of this 
address may give us a specimen of his style 
and manner of preaching : " My friends, re- 
member that the Lord hath brought you upon 
the stage ; he hath now tried you with liber- 
ty, yea, and with power ; he hath put pre- 
cious opportunities into your hands ; have a 
care of a perverse spirit, and do not provoke 
the Lord by doing those things by which the 
inhabitants of the land that were before you 
grieved his spirit ;* but sanctify God, the liv- 
ing God, in your hearts, that his blessing may 
fall and rest as the dew of heaven on you 
and your offspring. Then shall it be seen 

* Probably alluding to the ten tribes of Israel, from whom he 
supposes the Indians to be descended. 



266 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to the nations that there is no enchantment 
against Jacob, nor divination against Israel; 
but your tents shall be goodly, and your 
dwellings glorious." 

In the spring of 1683, a second Assembly 
was held in the new city of Philadelphia, and 
a great number of laws were passed. Among 
other good regulations, it was enacted that, 
to prevent lawsuits, three arbitrators, called 
peace-makers, should be chosen by every 
County Court, to hear and determine small 
differences between man and man. This 
Assembly granted to the governor an impost 
on certain goods exported and imported, 
which he, after acknowledging their good- 
ness, was pleased, for the encouragement of 
the traders, " freely to remit." But the most 
distinguished act of this Assembly was their 
acceptance of another frame of government 
which the proprietor had devised, which was 
" in part conformed to the first, in part mod- 
ified according to the act of settlement, and 
in part essentially different from both." The 
most material alterations were the reducing 
the number of the Assembly from seventy- 
two to fifty-four, and the giving the governor 
a negative in lieu of a treble voice in acts of 
legislation. Their " thankful" acceptance of 



P E N N. 267 

this second charter was a proof of his great 
ascendency over them, and the confidence 
which they placed in him ; but these changes 
were regarded by some as a departure from 
the principles on which the original compact 
was grounded. 

The state of the province at this time has 
been compared to that of " a father and his 
family ; the latter united by interest and af- 
fection, the former revered for the wisdom of 
his institutions and the indulgent use of his 
authority. Those who were ambitious of re- 
pose found it in Pennsylvania ; and, as none 
returned with an evil report of the land, num- 
bers followed. All partook of the leaven 
which they found : the community wore the 
same equal face : no one aspired, no one was 
oppressed : industry was sure of profit, knowl- 
edge of esteem, and virtue of veneration." 
When we contemplate this agreeable picture, 
we cannot but lament that Mr. Penn should 
ever have quitted his province ; but, after re- 
siding in it about two years, he found him- 
self urged, by motives of interest as well as 
philanthropy, to return to England. At his 
departure in the summer of 1684, his capital 
city, then only of two years' standing, con- 
tained nearly three hundred houses and two 

Hi X 



268 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

thousand inhabitants ; besides which there 
were twenty other settlements begun, inclu- 
ding those of the Dutch and Swedes. He 
left the administration of government in the 
hands of the Council and Assembly, having 
appointed five commissioners to preside in 
his place. 

The motives of his return to England were 
two. A controversy with Lord Baltimore, 
the proprietor of Maryland, concerning the 
limits of their respective patents, and a con- 
cern for his brethren, who were suffering by 
the operation of the penal laws against dis- 
senters from the Established Church. 

The controversy with Lord Baltimore ori- 
ginated in this manner. Before Penn came 
to America, he had written to James Frisby 
and others, at their plantations on Delaware 
Bay, then reputed a part of Maryland, ad- 
vising them that, as he was confident they 
were in his limits, they should yield no 
obedience to the laws of Maryland. This 
warning served as a pretext to some of the 
inhabitants of Cecil and Baltimore counties, 
who were impatient of control, to withhold 
the payment of their rents and taxes. Lord 
Baltimore and his council ordered the mili- 
tary officers to assist the sheriffs in the exe- 



P E N N 269 

oution of their duty, which was accomplish- 
ed, though with great difficulty. After this, 
Markham, Perm's agent, had a meeting with 
Lord Baltimore at the village of Upland, 
which is now called Chester, where a discov- 
ery was made by a quadrant that the place 
was twelve miles south of the 40th degree of 
latitude, a circumstance before unknown to 
both parties. Baltimore therefore concluded 
to derive an advantage from precision, while 
Penn wished to avail himself of uncertainty. 
After Penn's arrival in America, he visited 
Lord Baltimore, and had a conference with 
him on the subject. An account of this con- 
ference, taken in short-hand by a person pres- 
ent, with a statement of the matter in debate, 
were sent by Lord Baltimore to England, 
and laid before the lords of trade and planta- 
tions in April, 1683. Upon which, letters 
were written to both, advising them to come 
to an amicable agreement. This could not 
be done ; and therefore they both went to 
England, and laid their respective complaints 
before the Board of Trade. Baltimore al- 
leged that the tract in question was within 
the limits of his charter, and had always been 
so understood, and his claim allowed until 
disturbed by Penn. The words of his char- 



270 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ter were, " to that part of Delaware Bay on 
the north, which lies under the 40th degree 
of northerly latitude from the equinoctial." 
Penn, on the other hand, affirmed that Lord 
Baltimore's grant was of lands not inhabited 
by the subjects of any Christian prince ;" that 
the land in question was possessed by the 
Dutch and Swedes prior to the date of the 
charter of Maryland ; that a surrender hav- 
ing been made by the Dutch of this territory 
to King Charles in 1664, the country had 
ever since been in possession of the Duke of 
York. The lords at several meetings, hav- 
ing examined the evidences on both sides, 
were of opinion that the lands bordering on 
the Delaware did not belong to Lord Balti- 
more, but to the king. They then proceeded 
to settle the boundary, and on the 7th of No- 
vember, 1685, it was determined that, " for 
avoiding farther differences, the tract of land 
lying between the river and bay of Delaware 
and the eastern sea on the one side, and 
Chesapeake Bay on the other side, be divided 
into two equal parts by a line from the lati- 
tude of Cape Henlopen to the 40th degree 
of northern latitude, and that one half thereof, 
lying towards the Bay of Delaware and the 
eastern sea, be adjudged to belong to his ma- 



PENN. 271 

jesty, and that the other half remain to the 
Lord Baltimore, as comprised within his 
charter." To this decision Lord Baltimore 
submitted, happy that he had lost no more, 
since a quo warranto had been issued against 
his charter. But the decision, like many oth- 
ers, left room for a farther controversy, which 
was carried on by their respective successors 
for above half a century. The question was 
concerning the construction of the " 40th de- 
gree of latitude," which Penn's heirs con- 
tended was the beginning, and Baltimore's 
the completion of the 40th degree, the differ- 
ence being sixty-nine miles and a half.* 

The other cause of Mr. Penn's departure 
for England proved a source of much greater 
vexation, and involved consequences injurious 
to his reputation and interest. His concern 
for his suffering brethren induced him to use 
the interest which he had at court for their 
relief. He arrived in the month of August, 
and the death of Charles, which happened 
the next February, brought to the throne 
James IL, under whom, when lord-high-ad- 

* For the particulars of this controversy, and its final decis- 
ion by Lord-chancellor Hardwicke in 1750, the reader is re- 
ferred to Douglas'* Summary, ii., 309, and Vesey's Reports, j., 
441. 



272 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

miral, Perm's father had commanded, and 
who had always maintained a steady friend- 
ship with the son. This succession rather 
increased than diminished his attachment to 
the court ; but as James openly professed 
himself a papist, and the prejudices of a great 
part of the nation against him were very high, 
it was impossible for his intimate friends to 
escape the imputation of being popishly af- 
fected. Penn had before been suspected to 
be a Jesuit, and what now contributed to fix 
the stigma upon him was his writing a book 
on liberty of conscience, a darling principle 
at court, and vindicating the Duke of Buck- 
ingham, who had written on the same sub- 
ject. Another circumstance which strength- 
ened the suspicion was his taking lodgings 
at Kensington, in the neighbourhood of the 
court, and his frequent attendance there, to 
solicit the liberation of his brethren who now 
filled the prisons of the kingdom. 

He endeavoured to allay these suspicions 
by publishing an address to his brethren, in 
which he refers to their knowledge of his 
character, principles, and writings, for eigh- 
teen years past, and expresses his love of 
moderation, and his wish that the nation 
might not become " barbarous for Christian!- 



PENH. 273 

ty, nor abuse one another for God's sake." 
But what gave him the greatest pain was, 
that his worthy friend Doctor Tillotson had 
entertained the same suspicion, and expressed 
it in his conversation. To him he wrote an 
expostulatory letter, and the doctor frankly 
owned to him the ground of his apprehension, 
which Penn so fully removed that Doctor 
Tillotson candidly acknowledged his mis- 
take, and made it his business on all occasions 
to vindicate Penn's character.* This ingen- 
uous acknowledgment, from a gentleman of 
so much information, and so determined an 
enemy to popery, is one of the best evidences 
which can be had of Mr. Penn's integrity in 
this respect ; but the current of popular prej- 
udice was at that time so strong, that it was 
not in the power of so great and good a man 
as Doctor Tillotson to turn it. 

Had Mr. Penn fallen in with the discon- 
tented part of the nation, and encouraged the 
emigration of those who dreaded the conse- 
quences of King James's open profession of 
popery, he might have made large additions 
to the numbers of his colonists, and greatly 

* These letters, which do honour to both the writers, are 
printed in the first volume of Penn's works, and in the Biogra- 
phia Britannica under ihe article PENN. 



274 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

increased his fortune ; but he had received 
such assurances from the king of his inten- 
tion to introduce universal toleration, that he 
thought it his duty to wait for the enlarge- 
ment which his brethren must experience 
from the expected event. His book on lib- 
erty of conscience, addressed to the king and 
council, had not been published many days 
before the king issued a general pardon, and 
instructed the judges of assize on their re- 
spective circuits to extend the benefit of it to 
the Quakers in particular. In consequence 
of this, about thirteen hundred of them, who 
had been confined in the prisons, were set at 
liberty. This was followed by a declaration 
for liberty of conscience, and for suspending 
the execution of the penal laws against Dis- 
senters, which was an occasion of great joy 
to all denominations of them. The Quakers, 
at their next general meeting, drew up an ad- 
dress of thanks to the king, which was pre- 
sented by Mr. Penn. 

The declaration of indulgence, being a spe- 
cimen of that dispensing power which the 
house of Stuart were fond of assuming, and 
being evidently intended to favour the free 
exercise of the popish religion, gave an alarm 
to the nation, and caused very severe ecu- 



PENN. 275 

Bures on those who, having felt the benefit of 
it, had expressed their gratitude in terms of 
affection and respect. The Quakers in par- 
ticular became very obnoxious, and the prej- 
udice against Penn as an abettor of the arbi- 
trary maxims of the court was increased ; 
though, on a candid view of the matter, there 
is no evidence that he sought anything more 
than an impartial and universal liberty of con- 
science.* 

It is much to be regretted that he had not 
taken this critical opportunity to return to 
Pennsylvania. His controversy with Lord 
Baltimore had been decided by the council, 
and his pacific principle ought to have led 
him to acquiesce in their determination, as 
did his antagonist. He had accomplished his 
purpose with regard to his brethren the Qua- 
kers, who, being delivered from their difficul- 
ties, were at liberty either to remain in the 
kingdom, or follow him to America. The 

* "If a universal charity, if the asserting an impartial lib- 
erty of conscience, if doing to others as one would be done by, 
and an open avowing and steady practising of these things, in 
all times and to all parties, will justly lay a man under the re- 
flection of being a Jesuit or papist, I must not only submit to 
the character, but embrace it ; and I can bear it with more 
pleasure than it is possible for them with any justice to give it 
to me." Penn's Let. to Sec. Popple, Oct. 24, 1688. 



276 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

state of the province was such as to require 
his presence, and he might at this time have 
resumed his office, and carried on his busi- 
ness in Pennsylvania, with the greatest prob- 
ability of spending the remainder of his days 
there in usefulness and peace. 

The revolution which soon followed placed 
him in a very disagreeable situation. Hav- 
ing been a friend to James, he was supposed 
to be an enemy to William. As he was 
walking one day in Whitehall, he was arrest- 
ed and examined by the Lords in council, be- 
fore whom he solemnly declared " that he 
loved his country and the Protestant religion 
above his life, and that he had never acted 
against either ; but that King James had been 
his friend and his father's friend, and that he 
thought himself bound in justice and grati- 
tude to be a friend to him." The jealous 
policy of that day had no ear for sentiments 
of the heart. He was obliged to find securi- 
ties for his appearance at the next term, and 
thence to the succeeding term, in the last day 
of which, nothing having been specifically 
laid to his charge, he was acquitted.* 

* [We find a notice of this affair in the Ellis Correspond- 
ence (ii., 356), in a letter dated Dec. 13, 1688. "Mr. Penn 
was brought before the Lords at Whitehall, who were prevailed 
upon to make 6000 bail for him." H.] 



P E N N. 277 

The next year (1690) be was taken up 
again, on suspicion of holding correspond- 
ence with the exiled king. The Lords re- 
quired securities for his appearance ; he ap- 
pealed to King William in person, who was 
inclined to acquit him ; but, to please some of 
the council, he was for a while held to bail, 
and then acquitted. 

Soon after this, his name was inserted in a 
proclamation, wherein eighteen lords and 
others were charged with adhering to the en- 
emies of the kingdom ; but no evidence ap- 
pearing against him, he was a third time ac- 
quitted by the Court of King's Bench. 

Being now at liberty, he meditated a re- 
turn to Pennsylvania, and published proposals 
for another emigration of settlers. He had 
proceeded so far as to obtain from the secre- 
tary of state an order for a convoy ; but his 
voyage was prevented by a fourth accusa- 
tion, on the oath of a person whom the 
Parliament afterward declared a cheat and 
impostor ; a warrant was issued for appre- 
hending him, and he narrowly escaped an ar- 
rest at his return from the funeral of his friend 
George Fox, on the 16th of January, 1691. 
He then thought it prudent to retire, and ac- 
cordingly kept himself concealed for two 01 



278 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

three years, during which time he employed 
himself in writing several pieces, one of which, 
entitled " Maxims and Reflections relating to 
the Conduct of Human Life," being the re- 
sult of much observation and experience, has 
been much celebrated, and has passed through 
several editions. In 1693, by the mediation 
of several persons of rank, he was admitted 
to appear before the king in council, where he 
so maintained his innocence of what had been 
alleged against him that he was a fourth 
time honourably acquitted. 

The true cause of these frequent suspicions 
was the conduct of his wife, who, being pas- 
sionately attached to the queen consort of 
James, made a practice to visit her at St. 
Germain's every year, and to carry to her 
such presents as she could collect from the 
friends of the unhappy royal family. Though 
there was no political connexion or corre- 
spondence between Penn's family and the 
king's, yet this circumstance gave colour to 
the jealousy which had been conceived ; but 
the death of his wife, which happened in 
February, 1694, put an end to all these sus- 
picions. He married a second wife in 1696, 
a daughter of Thomas Callowhill, of Bristol, 
by whom he had four sons and one daughter. 



P E N N. 279 

By his continual expenses, and by the pe- 
culiar difficulties to which he had been ex- 
posed, he had run himself deeply into debt. 
He had lost 7000 before the revolution, and 
4000 since, besides his paternal estate in 
Ireland, valued at 450 per annum. To re- 
pair his fortune, he requested his friends in 
Pennsylvania that one hundred of them would 
lend him 100 each, for some years, on land- 
ed security. This, he said, would enable him 
to return to America, and bring a large num- 
ber of inhabitants with him. What answer 
was given to this request does not appear ; but, 
from his remaining in England six or seven 
years after, it may be concluded that he re- 
ceived no encouragement of this kind from 
them. The low circumstances of the first 
settlers must have rendered it impossible to 
comply with such a request. 

Pennsylvania had experienced many in- 
conveniences from his absence. The Pro- 
vincial Council, having no steady hand to 
hold the balance, had fallen into a controver- 
sy respecting their several powers and privi- 
leges, and Moore, one of the proprietary of- 
ficers, had been impeached of high misde- 
meanours. Disgusted with their disputes, 
and dissatisfied with the Constitution which he 



280 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

had framed and altered, Penn wrote to his 
commissioners (1686) to require its dissolu- 
tion ; but the Assembly, perceiving the loss 
of their privileges, and of the rights of the 
people to be involved in frequent innovations, 
opposed the surrender. The commissioners 
themselves were soon after removed by the 
proprietor, who appointed for his deputy 
John Blackwell, an officer trained under 
Cromwell, and completely versed in the arts 
of intrigue. He began his administration in 
December, 1688, by a display of the power 
of the proprietor, and by endeavouring to 
sow discord among the freemen. Unawed 
by his insolence, they were firm in defence 
of their privileges, while at the same time 
they made a profession of peace and obedi- 
ence. He imprisoned the speaker of the As- 
sembly which had impeached Moore, and, by 
a variety of artifices, evaded the granting 
an habeas corpus. He delayed as long as 
possible the meeting of a new Assembly ; and 
when they entered on the subject of griev- 
ances, he prevailed on some of the members 
to withdraw from their seats, that there might 
not be a quorum. The remainder voted that 
his conduct was treacherous, and a strong 
prejudice was conceived not only against the 



PENN. 281 



deputy, but the proprietor who had appointed 
him. The province also fell under the royal 
displeasure. The laws had not been pre- 
sented for approbation, and the new king and 
queen were not proclaimed in Pennsylvania 
for a long time after their accession ; but the 
administration of government was continued 
in the name of the exiled monarch. At what 
time the alteration was made we cannot be 
certain ; but in the year 1692 the king and 
queen took the government of the colony into 
their own hands, and appointed Colonel 
Fletcher governor of New- York and Penn- 
sylvania, with equal powers and prerogatives 
in both, without any reference to the charter 
of Pennsylvania. 

It being a time of war between England 
and France, and the Province of New- York 
being much exposed to the incursions of the 
Indians in the French interest, the principal 
object which Fletcher had in view was to 
procure supplies for the defence of the coun- 
try, and the support of those Indians who 
were in alliance with the English. The As- 
sembly insisted on a confirmation of their 
laws as a condition of their granting a sup- 
ply, to which he consented during the king^s 
pleasure. They would have gone farther, 



282 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and demanded a redress of grievances; but 
Fletcher having intimated to them that the 
king might probably annex them to New- 
York, and they, knowing themselves unable 
to maintain a controversy with the crown, 
submitted for the present to hold their liber- 
ties by courtesy, and voted a supply. On 
another application of the same kind", they 
nominated collectors in their bill, which he 
deemed inconsistent with his prerogative, and 
after some altercations dissolved them. 

In 1696, William Markham, deputy-gov- 
ernor under Fletcher, made a similar propo- 
sal, but could obtain no supply till an expe- 
dient was contrived to save their privileges. 
A temporary act of settlement was passed, 
subject to the confirmation of the proprietor, 
and then a grant was made of three hundred 
pounds ; but, as they had been represented 
by some at New- York as having acted in- 
consistently with their principles in granting 
money to maintain a war, they appropriated 
this grant to "the relief of those friendly In- 
dians who had suffered by the war." The 
request was repeated every year, as long as 
the war continued ; but the infancy, poverty, 
and embarrassments of the province were al- 
leged for non-compliance. The peace of 



P E N N. 

Ryswick, in 1698, put an end to these requi- 
sitions. 

Thus the Province of Pennsylvania, as well 
as its proprietor, experienced many inconve- 
niences during their long separation of f>e/en 
years ; and it is somewhat singular to remark, 
that while they were employed in an inef- 
fectual struggle with the royal governor and 
his deputy, he, whom Montesquieu styles the 
American Lycurgus, was engaged in his dar- 
ling work of religious controversy, and of 
itinerant preaching through England, Wales, 
and Ireland. 

In August, 1699, he embarked with his 
family, and, after a tedious passage of three 
months, arrived in Pennsylvania. By reason 
of this long voyage, they escaped a pestilen- 
tial distemper which during that time raged 
in the colony. 

He did not find the people so tractable as 
before. Their minds were soured by his long 
absence, by the conduct of his deputies and 
the royal governors ; their system of laws was 
incomplete, and their title to their lands inse- 
cure. After much time spent in trying their 
tempers and penetrating their views, he found 
it most advisable to listen to their remon- 
strances. Five sessions of Assembly were 

ill. Y 



284 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

held during his second residence with them ; 
his expressions in his public speeches were 
soothing and captivating, and he promised to 
do everything in his power to render them 
happy. They requested of him that, in case 
of his future absence, he would appoint for 
his deputies men of integrity and property, 
who should be invested with full powers to 
grant and confirm lands, and instructed to 
give true measure, and that he would execute 
such an instrument as would secure their priv- 
ileges and possessions. To these requests he 
seemed to consent, and with the most flatter- 
ing complaisance desired them to name a 
person for his substitute, which they with 
equal politeness declined. 

In May, 1700, the charter was surrendered 
by six parts in seven of the Assembly, undei 
a solemn promise of restitution, with such al- 
terations and amendments as should be found 
necessary. When a new charter was in de- 
bate, the representatives of the lower coun- 
ties wanted to obtain some privileges peculiar 
to themselves, which the others were not will- 
ing to allow. The members from the terri- 
tory, therefore, refused to join, and thus a 
separation was made of the Province of Penn- 
sylvania from the three lower counties 



PENN. 285 

In this new charter the people had no voice 
in the election of counsellors ; whoever after- 
ward served in this capacity were appointed 
by the proprietor, but they had no power of 
legislation. The executive was vested solely 
in him, and he had a negative on all their 
laws. On the other hand, the Assembly had 
the right of originating laws, which before 
had been prepared for their deliberation. 
The number of members was four from each 
county, and more, if the governor and As- 
sembly should agree. They were invested 
with all the powers of a legislative body, ac- 
cording to the rights of English subjects and 
the practice of other American colonies. The 
privileges before granted were confirmed, and 
some of their most salutary laws were inclu- 
ded in the body of the charter ; all which 
were declared irrevocable, except by consent 
of six sevenths of the Assembly with the gov- 
ernor ; but the clause respecting liberty of 
conscience was declared absolutely irrevoca- 
ble. A provisional article was added, that if 
in three years the representatives of the prov- 
ince and territories should not join in legisla- 
tion, each county of the province might choose 
eight persons, and the city of Philadelphia 
two, to represent them in one Assembly, and 



'286 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

each county of the territory the same number 
to constitute another Assembly. On the 28th 
of October, 1701, this charter was accepted 
by the representatives of the province ; pre- 
vious to which (viz., on the 25th), the city of 
Philadelphia was incorporated by another 
charter, and the government of it committed 
to a mayor and recorder, eight aldermen, and 
twelve common councilmen. The persons in 
each of these offices were appointed by name 
in the charter, who were empowered to choose 
successors to themselves annually, and to add 
to the number of aldermen and common 
councilmen so many of the freemen as the 
whole court should think proper. 

These two charters were the last public 
acts of Mr. Penn's personal administration in 
Pennsylvania. They were done in haste, 
and while he was preparing to re-embark for 
England, which he did immediately on sign- 
ing them. The cause of his sudden depar- 
ture was an account which he had received 
that a bill was about to be brought into Par- 
liament for reducing the proprietary and char- 
tered governments to an immediate depend- 
ance on the crown. In his speech to the 
Assembly, he intimated his intention to return 
and settle among them with his family ; but 



PENN. 287 

this proved to be his last visit to America. 
He sailed from Philadelphia in the end of 
October, and arrived in England about the 
middle of December, 1701. The bill in Par- 
liament, which had so greatly alarmed him, 
was, by the solicitation of the friends of the 
colonies, postponed, and finally lost. In about 
two months King William died, and Queen 
Anne came to the throne, which brought Penn 
again into favour at court ; and in the name 
of the society of which he was at the head, 
he presented to her an address of congratu- 
lation. 

He then resumed his favourite employment 
of writing, preaching, and visiting the socie- 
ties of Friends in England till the year 1707, 
when he found himself involved in a suit at 
law with the executors of a person who had 
formerly been his steward. The cause was 
attended with such circumstances that, though 
many thought him ill used, the Court of Chan- 
cery did not give him relief, which obliged 
him to live within the rules of the Fleet Pris- 
on for about a year, till the matter was ac- 
commodated. After this he made another 
circuitous journey among his friends, and in 
the year 1710 took a handsome seat at Rush- 
combe, in Buckinghamshire, where he resided 
ur.riug the remainder of his life. 



288 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

At his departure from Philadelphia he left 
for his deputy Andrew Hamilton, whose prin- 
cipal business was to endeavour a reunion of 
the province and territory, which being inef- 
fectual, the province claimed the privilege of 
a distinct Assembly. 

On Mr. Hamilton's death, John Evans 
was appointed in 1704 to succeed him. His 
administration was one unvaried scene of 
controversy and uneasiness. The territory 
would have received the charter, and the 
governor warmly recommended a union, but 
the province would not hearken to the meas- 
ure. They drew up a statement of their 
grievances, and transmitted to the proprietor 
a long and bitter remonstrance, in which they 
charge him with not performing his prom- 
ises, but by deep-laid artifices evading them ; 
and with neglecting to get their laws confirm- 
ed, though he had received great sums of 
money to negotiate the business. They took 
a retrospective view of his whole conduct, 
and particularly blamed his long absence 
from 1684 to 1699, during which the interest 
of the province was sinking, which might 
have been much advanced if he had come 
over according to his repeated promises. 
They complained that he had not affixed his 



P K N N. 289 

seal to the last charter ; that he had ordered 
his deputy to call assemblies by his writ, and 
to prorogue and dissolve them at his pleas- 
ure ; that he had reserved to himself, though 
in England, an assent to bills passed by his 
deputy, by which means three negatives were 
put on their acts, one by the deputy-governor, 
another by the proprietor, and a third by the 
crown. They also added to their list of 
grievances the abuses and extortions of the 
secretary, surveyor, and other officers, which 
might have been prevented if he had passed 
a bill proposed by the Assembly in 1701, for 
regulating fees ; the want of an established 
judicature between him and the people : for 
the judges being appointed by him, could not 
in that case be considered as independent and 
unbiased ; the imposition of quit-rents on the 
city lots, and leaving the ground on which 
the city was built encumbered with the claim 
of its first possessors, the Swedes. 

The language of this remonstrance was 
plain and unreserved, but the mode of their 
conducting it was attended with a degree of 
prudence and delicacy which is not common- 
ly observed by public bodies of men in such 
circumstances. They sent it to him private- 
ly, by a confidential person, and refused to 



290 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

give any copy of it, though strongly urged. 
They were willing to reclaim the proprietor 
to a due sense of his obligations, but were 
equally unwilling to expose him. They had 
also some concern for themselves ; for if it 
had been publicly known that they had such 
objections to his conduct, the breach might 
have been so widened as to dissolve the rela- 
tion between them ; in which case certain 
inconveniences might have arisen respecting 
oaths and military laws, which would not 
have been pleasing to an assembly consisting 
chiefly of Quakers. 

Three years after (viz., in 1707) they sent 
him another remonstrance, in which they 
complained that the grievance before men- 
tioned was not redressed ; and they added 
to the catalogue articles of impeachment 
against Logan the secretary, and Evans the 
deputy-governor. The latter was removed 
from his office, and was succeeded by Goo- 
kin in 1709, and he by Sir William Keith in 
1717 ; but Logan held his place of secretary, 
and was, in fact, the prime minister and mo- 
ver in behalf of the proprietor, though ex- 
tremely obnoxious to the people. 

These deputy-governors were dependant 
on the proprietor for their appointment, and 



PENN. 291 

on the people for their support ; if they dis- 
pleased the former, they were recalled ; if the 
latter, their allowance was withheld ; and it 
was next to impossible to keep on good terms 
with both. Such an appointment could be 
accepted by none but those who were fond 
of perpetual controversy. 

To return to the proprietor. His infirmi- 
ties and misfortunes increased with his age, 
and unfitted him for the exercise of his be- 
loved work. In 1711 he dictated a preface 
to the journal of his old friend John Banks, 
which was his last printed work. The next 
year he was seized with a paralytic disorder, 
which impaired his memory. For three sue 
ceeding years he continued in a state of great 
debility, but attended the meeting of Friends 
at Reading as long as he was able to ride in 
his chariot, and sometimes spake short and 
weighty sentences, being incapable of pro- 
nouncing a long discourse. Approaching by 
gradual decay to the close of life, he died on 
the 30th of July, 1718, in the 74th year of his 
age, and was buried in his family tomb at 
Jordan's, in Buckinghamshire. 

Notwithstanding his large paternal inherit- 
ance, and the great opportunities which he 
enjoyed of accumulating property by his con- 



292 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

nexion with America, his latter days were 
passed in a state far from affluent. He was 
continually subject to the importunity of his 
creditors, and obliged to mortgage his estate. 
He was on the point of surrendering his 
province to the crown for a valuable consid- 
eration, to extricate himself from debt. The 
instrument was preparing for his signature, 
but his death, which happened rather unex- 
pectedly, prevented the execution of it ; and 
thus his province in America descended to 
his posterity, who held it till the Revolution 



APPENDIX. 



Mr. Winslow's Account of the Natives of New-England, an- 
nexed to his Narrative of the Plantations, A.D. 1624. [Pur- 
chas, iv. f 1867.] 

A FEW things I thought meet to add hereunto, which I 
have observed among the Indians, both touching their reli- 
gion and sundry other customs among them. And first, 
whereas myself and others, in former letters (which came to 
the press against my will and knowledge), wrote that the In- 
dians about us are a people without any religion, or knowl- 
edge of any God ; therein I erred, though we could then 
gather no better ; for as they conceive of many divine pow- 
ers, so of one, whom they call Kiehtan,* to be the principal 
maker of all the rest, and to be made by none. He, they 
say, created the heavens, earth, sea, and all creatures con- 
tained therein. Also, that he made one man and one woman, 
of whom they, and we, and all mankind came ; but how they 
became so far dispersed, that they know not. At first, they 
say, there was no sachem or king but Kiehtan, who dwell- 
eth above the heavens, whither all good men go when they 
die, to see their friends and have their fill of all things. This 
his habitation lieth westward in the heavens, they say; 
thither the bad men go also, and knock at his door, but ht 
bids them quachet, that is to say, walk abroad, for there is no 
place for such ; so that they wander in restless want and 

* The meaning of the word Kiehtan hath reference to antiqui- 
ty ; for chfse is an old man, and Kieh-chise, & man that eiceedeth 
in age. 



294 APPENDIX. 

penury. Never man saw this Kiehtan, only old men tell 
them of him, and bid them tell their children, yea, charge 
them to teach their posterities the same, and lay the like 
charge upon them. This power they acknowledge to be 
good ; and, when they would obtain any great matter, meet 
together and cry unto him ; and so likewise for plenty, vic- 
tory, &c., sing, dance, feast, give thanks, and hang up gar- 
lands and other things in memory of the same. 

Another power they worship whom they call Holla, 
viock, and to the northward of us, Hobbamoqui ; this, as far 
as we can conceive, is the devil. Him they call upon to 
cure their wounds and diseases. When they are curable, he 
persuades them he sends the same for some conceived anger 
against them ; but upon their calling upon him, can and doth 
help them ; but when they are mortal and not curable in 
nature, then he persuades them Kiehtan is angry, and sends 
them whom none can cure ; insomuch as in that respect 
only they somewhat doubt whether he be simply good, and, 
therefore, in sickness never call upon him. This Hobbamock 
appears in sundry forms unto them, as in the shape of a man, 
a deer, a fawn, an eagle, &c., but most ordinarily a snake. 
He appears not to all, but the chiefest and most judicious 
among them ; though all of them strive to attain to that hell- 
ish height of honour. He appears most ordinary, and is 
most conversant with three sorts of people : one, I confess, 
I neither know by name nor office directly ; of these they 
have few, but esteem highly of them, and think no weapon 
can kill them ; another they call by the name of Powah, and 
the third Pamese. 

The office and duty of the Powah is to be exercised prin- 
cipally in calling upon the devil, and curing diseases of the 
sick or wounded. The common people join with them in the 
exercise of invocation, but do but only assent, or, as we 
term it, say Amen to that he saith, yet sometime break out 
into a short musical note with him. The Powah is eager 
and free in speech, fierce in countenance, and joineth many 



APPENDIX. 295 

antic and laborious gestures with the same over the party 
diseased. If the party be wounded, he will also seem to 
suck the wound ; but if they be curable (as they say), he 
toucheth it not, but a shooke, that is, the snake, or Wobsa- 
cuck, that is, the eagle, sitteth on the shoulder and licks the 
same. This none see but the Powah, who tells them he 
doth it himself. If the party be otherwise diseased, it is ac- 
counted sufficient if in any shape he but come into the 
house, taking it for an undoubted sign of recovery. 

And as in former ages Apollo had his temple at Delphos, 
and Diana at Ephesus, so have I heard them call upon some 
as if they had their residence in some certain places, or be- 
cause they appeared in^hose forms in the same. In the 
Powah's speech, he promiseth to sacrifice many skins of 
beasts, kettles, hatchets, beads, knives, and other the best 
things they havp to the fiend, if he will come to help the party 
diseased ; but whether they perform it I know not. The 
other practices I have seen, being necessarily called some- 
times to be with their sick, and have used the best arguments 
I could to make them understand against the same. They 
have told me I should see the devil at those times come to 
the party ; but I assured myself and them of the contrary, 
which so proved ; yea, themselves have confessed they never 
saw him when any of us were present. In desperate and 
extraordinary hard travail in childbirth, when the party can- 
not be delivered by the ordinary means, they send for this 
Powah ; though ordinarily their travail is not so extreme as 
in other parts of the world, they being of a more hardy na- 
ture ; for on the third day after childbirth, I have seen the 
mother with the infant, upon a small occasion in cold weath- 
er, in a boat upon the sea. 

Many sacrifices the Indians use, and in some cases they 
kill children. It seemeth they are various in their religious 
worship in a little distance, and grow more and more cold 
in their worship to Kiehtan ; saying, in their memory, he was 
much more called upon. The Narohiggansets exceed in 



296 APPENDIX. 

their blind devotion, and have a great spacious house, where 
m only some few (that are, as we may term them, priests) 
come : thither, at certain known times, resort all their people, 
and offer almost all the riches they have to their gods, as 
kettles, skins, hatchets, beads, knives, &c., all which are 
cast by the priests into a great fire that they make in the 
midst of the house, and there consumed to ashes. To this 
offering every man bringeth freely ; and the more he is knowp 
to bring, hath the better esteem of all men. This the othei 
Indians about us approve of as good, and wish their sachems 
would appoint the like : and because the plague has not 
reigned at Narohigganset as at other places about them, they 
attribute to thie custom there use*. 

The Panieses are men of great courage and wisdom, and 
to these also the devil appeareth more familiarly than to oth- 
ers, and, as we conceive, maketh covenant with them to 
preserve them from death by wounds with arrows, knives, 
hatchets, &c., or at least both themselves, and especially the 
people, think themselves to be freed from the same. And 
though against their battles all of them, by painting, disfigure 
themselves, yet they are known by their courage and bold- 
ness, by reason whereof one of them will chase almost a 
hundred men ; for they account it death for whomsoever 
stand in their way. These are highly esteemed of all sorts 
of people, and are of the sachems' counsel, without whom 
they will not war or undertake any weighty business. In 
war their sachems, for their more safety, go in the midst 
of them. They are commonly men of great stature and 
strength, and such as will endure most hardness, and yet are 
more discreet, courteous, and humane in their carriages than 
any among them, scorning theft, lying, and the like base 
dealings, and stand as much upon their reputation as any 
men. And to the end they may have store of these, they 
train up the most forward and likeliest boys, from their 
childhood, in great hardness, and make them abstain from 
dainty meat, observing divers orders prescribed, to the end 



APPENDIX. 297 

that, when they are of age, the devil may appear to them, 
causing to drink the juice of sentry and other bitter herbs, 
till they cast, which they must disgorge into the platter, and 
dunk again and again, till at length, through extraordinary 
pressing of nature, it will seem to be all blood ; and this the 
hoys will do with eagerness at the first, and so continue till 
by reason of faintness they can scarce stand on their legs, 
and then must go forth into the cold ; also they beat their 
shins with sticks, and cause them to run through bushes, and 
stumps, and brambles, to make them hardy and acceptable to 
the devil, that in time he may appear unto them. 

Their sachems cannot be all called kings, but only some 
few of them, to whom the rest resort for protection, and pay 
homage unto them; neither may they war without their 
knowledge and approbation ; yet to be commanded by the 
greater, as occasion seemeth. Of this sort is Massassowat, 
our friend, and Conanaciis of Narohigganset, our supposed 
enemy. Every sachem taketh care of the widow and father- 
less, also for such as are aged and any way maimed, if their 
friends be dead or not able to provide for them. A sachem 
will not take any to wife but such a one as is equal to him 
in birth, otherwise they say their seed would in time be- 
come ignoble ; and though they have many other wives, yet 
are they no other than concubines or servants, and yield a 
kind of obedience to the principal, who ordereth the family 
and them in it. The like their men observe also, and will 
adhere to the first during their lives, but put away the other 
at their pleasure. This government is successive, and not 
by choice ; if the father die before the son or daughter be of 
age, then the child is committed to the protection and tuition 
of some one among them, who ruleth in his stead till he be 
of age, but when that is I know not. 

Every sachem knoweth how far the bounds and limiis of 
his own country extendeth, and that is his own proper inher- 
itance ; out of that, if any of his men desire land to set 
their corn, he giveth them as much as they can use, and sets 



298 APPENDIX. 

them in their bounds. In this, circuit, whoever hunteth, if 
any kill venison, they bring him his fee, which is four parts 
of the same if it be killed on land ; but if in the water, then 
the skin thereof. The great sachems or kings know not 
their own bounds or limits of land as well as the rest. All 
travellers or strangers for the most part lodge at the sachem's. 
When they come, they tell them how long they will stay and 
to what place they go ; during which time they receive en- 
tertainment, according to their persons, but want not. Once 
a year the Panieses use to provoke the people to bestow 
much corn on the sachem. To that end they appoint a 
certain tune and place, near the sachem's dwelling, where 
the people bring many baskets of corn, and make a great 
stack thereof. There the Panieses stand ready to give thanks 
to the people on the sachem's behalf; and after acquaint the 
sachem therewith, who fetcheth the same, and is no less 
thankful, bestowing many gifts on them. 

When any are visited with sickness, their friends resort 
unto them for their comfort, and continue with them often- 
times till their death or recovery. If they die, they stay a 
certain time to mourn for them. Night and morning they 
perform this duty, many days after the burial, in a most dole- 
ful manner, insomuch as though it be ordinary, and the note 
musical which they take from one another and altogether, 
yet it will draw tears from their eyes, and almost from ours 
also. But if they recover, then, because their sickness was 
chargeable, they send corn and other gifts unto them, at a 
certain appointed time, whereat they feast and dance, which 
they call commoro. When they bury the dead, they sow up 
the corpse in a mat, and so put it in the earth ; if the part}' 
be a sachem, they cover him with many curious mats, and 
bury all his riches with him, and enclose the grave with a pale. 
If it be a child, the father will also put his own most special 
jewels and ornaments in the earth with it ; also he will cut 
Lis hair, and disfigure himself very much in token of sorrow, 
If it be the man or woman of the house, they will pull down 



APPENDIX. 299 

the mats, and leave the frame standing, and bury them in or 
near the same, and either remove their dwelling, or give over 
housekeeping. 

The men employ themselves wholly in hunting and other 
exercises of the bow, except at some times they take some 
pains in fishing. The women live a most slavish life ; they 
carry all their burdens, set and dress their corn, gather it in, 
and seek out for much of their food ; beat and make ready 
the corn to eat, and have all household care lying upon 
them. 

The younger sort reverence the elder, and do all mean of- 
fices while they are together, although they be strangers. 
Boys and girls may not wear their hair like men and women, 
but are distinguished thereby. 

A man is not accounted a man till he do some notable act, 
or show forth such courage and resolution as becometh his 
p.ace The men take much tobacco, but for boys so to do, 
they account it odious. 

All their names are significant and variable; for, when 
they ceme to the state of men and women, they alter them 
according to their deeds or dispositions. 

When a maid is taken tn marriage, she first cutteth her 
hair, and after weareth a covering on her head till her hair 
be grown out. Their women are diversely disposed, some 
as modest as they will scarce talk one with another in the 
company of men, being very chaste also ; yet other some 
are light, lascivious, and wanton. If a woman have a bad 
husband, or cannot affect him, and there be war or opposition 
between that and any other people, she will run away from 
him to the contrary party, and there live, where they never 
come unwelcome ; for where are most women there is greatett 
"plenty. 

When a woman hath her monthly terms, she separateth 
herself from all other company, and liveth certain days in a 
house alone ; after which she washeth herself, and all that she 
hath touched or used and is again received to her husband's 

z 



300 APPENDIX. 

bed or family. For adultery, the husband will beat bis wife 
and put her away if he please. Some common strumpets 
there are, as well as in other places ; but they are such as 
either never married, or widows, or put away for adultery ; 
for no man will keep such a one to wife. 

In matters of unjust and dishonest dealing, the sachem ex- 
amineth and punisheth the same. In case of theft, for the 
first offence he is disgracefully rebuked ; for the second, beat- 
en by the sachem with a cudgel on the naked back ; for the 
third, he is beaten with many strokes, and hath his nose slit 
upward, that thereby all men may know and shun him. If 
any man kill another, he must likewise die for the same. 
The sachem not only passeth sentence upon malefactors, 
but executeth the same with his own hands if the party be 
then present ; if not, sendeth his own knife in case of death, 
in the hands of others to perform the same. But if the of- 
fender be to receive other punishment, he will not receive 
the same but from the sachem himself ; before whom, being 
naked, he kneeleth, and will not offer to run away, though 
he beat him never so much, it being a greater disparagement 
for a man to cry during the time of his correction than is 
his offence and punishment. 

As for their apparel, they wear breeches and stockings in 
one, like some Irish, which is made of deer skins, and have 
shoes of the same leather. They wear also a deer's skin 
*oose about them like a cloak, which they will turn to the 
weather-side. In this habit they travel ; but when they are 
at home, or come to their journey's end, they presently pull 
off their breeches, stockings, and shoes, wring out the water 
if they be wet, and dry them, and rub or chafe the same. 
Though these be off, yet have they another small garment 
which covereth their secrets. The men wear also, when 
they go abroad in cold weather, an otter or fox skin on their 
right arm, but only their bracer on the left. Women, and 
all of that sex, wear strings about their legs, which the mpa 
never do. 



APPENDIX. 301 

i 

The people are veiy ingenious and observative ; they keep 
account of time by the moon, and winters or summers ; they 
know divers of the stars by name ; in particular, they know 
the North Star, and call it Maske, which is to say, the Bear ; 
also they have many names for the winds. They will guess 
very well at the wind and weather beforehand by observa- 
tions in the heavens. They report, also, that some of them 
can cause the wind to blow in what part they list ; can raise 
storms and tempests, which they usually do when they in- 
tend the death or destruction of other people, that by reason 
of the unseasonable weather, they may take advantage of 
their enemies in their houses. At such tunes they perform 
their greatest exploits ; and at such seasons, when they are 
at enmity with any, they keep more careful watch than at 
other times. 

As for their language, it is very copious, large, and difficult ; 
as yet, we cannot attain to any great measure thereof, but 
can understand them, and explain ourselves to then- under- 
standing by the help of those that daily converse with us. 
And though there be difference in a hundred miles' dis- 
tance of place both in language and manners, yet not so 
much but that they very well understand each other. And 
thus much of their lives and manners. 

Instead of records and chronicles, they take this course. 
Where any remarkable act is done, in memory of it, either 
in the place, or by some pathway near adjoining, they make 
a round hole in the ground about a foot deep, and as much 
over, which, when others passing by behold, they inquire the 
cause and occasion of the same, which being once known, 
they are careful to acquaint all men, as occasion serveth 
therewith ; and, lest such holes should be filled or grown up by 
any accident, as men pass by, they will oft renew the same : 
by which means many things of great antiquity are fresh in 
memory. So that, as a man travelleth, if he can understand 
his jjuide, his journey will be less tedious, by reason of many 
historical discourses which will be related to him. 



302 Ar.FENUIX. 

For that continent on which we are, called New-England, 
although it hath ever been conceived by the English to be a 
part of the mainland adjoining to Virginia, yet by relation of 
the Indians it should appear to be otherwise ; for they affirm 
confidently that it is an island, and that either the Dutch or 
French pass through from sea to sea between us and Vir- 
ginia, and drive a great trade in the same. The name of 
that inlet of the sea they call Mohegon, which I take to be the 
same which we call Hudson's River, up which Master Hud- 
son went many leagues, and, for want of means (as I hear), 
left it undiscovered. For confirmation of this, their opinion 
is thus much ; though Virginia be not above a hundred 
leagues from us, yet they never heard of Powhaian, or knew 
that any English were planted in his country, save only 
by us and Tisquantum, who went thither in an English 
ship ; and, therefore, it is more probable, because the water 
is not passable for them who are very adventurous in their 
boats. 

Then for the temperature of the air : in almost three years' 
experience, I can scarce distinguish New-England from Old- 
England in respect of heat and cold, frost, snow, rain, wind, 
&c. Some object because our plantation lieth in the lati- 
tude of two-and-forty, it must needs be much hotter. I con- 
fess I cannot give the reason of the contrary ; only experi- 
ence teaches us that, if it do exceed England, it is so little 
as must require better judgments to discern it. And for the 
winter, I rather think (if there be difference) it is both 
sharper and longer in New-England than Old ; and yet the 
want of those comforts in the one which I have enjoyed in 
the other may deceive my judgment also. But in my best 
observation, comparing our own conditions with the rela- 
tions of other parts of America, I cannot conceive of any to 
agree better with the constitutions of the English, not being 
oppressed with the extremity of heat, nor nipped by biting 
cold, by which means, blessed be God, we enjoy OUT health, 
wit withstanding those difficulties we have undergone, in 



APPENDIX. 303 

such a measure as would have been admired had we lived in 
England with the like means. The day is two hours longer 
than here when at the shortest, and as much shorter when 
at the longest. 

The soil is variable ; in some places mould, in some clay, 
and others a mixed sand, &c. The chiefest grain is the In- 
dian maize or Guinea wheat ; the seed-time beginneth in the 
midst of April, and continueth good till the midst of May. 
Our harvest beginneth with September. This corn increas- 
eth in great measure, but is inferior in quality to the same in 
Virginia ; the reason, I conceive, is because Virginia is far 
hotter than it is with us, it requiring great heat to ripen. But 
whereas it is objected against New-England that corn will 
not grow there except the ground be manured with fish, I 
answer, that where men set with fish (as with us), it is more 
easy so to do than to clear ground, and set without some 
five or six years, and so begin anew, as in Virginia and else- 
where. Not but that in some places where they cannot be 
taken with ease in such abundance, the Indians set four 
years together without them, and have as good corn, or bet- 
ter than we have that set with them ; though, indeed, I 
think, if we had cattle to till the ground, it would be more 
profitable and better agreeable to the soil to sow wheat, rye, 
barley, pease, and oats, than to set maize, which our Indians 
call Ewachim : for we have had experience that they live and 
thrive well ; and the other will not be procured without good 
labour and diligence, especially at seed-time, when it must 
also be watched by night, to keep the wolves from the fish 
till it be rotten, which will be in fourteen days ; yet men 
agreeing together and taking their turns, it is not much. 

Much might be spoken of the benefit that may come to 
such as shall plant here, by trading with the Indians for furs, 
if men take a right course for obtaining the same ; for I dare 
presume upon that small experience I have had to affirm 
that tbe English, Dutch, aud French return yearly man> 



304 APPENDIX. 

thousand pounds profit by trade only from that island on 
which we are seated. 

Tobacco may be there planted, but not with that profit as 
in some other places ; neither were it profitable there to fol- 
low it, though the increase were equal, because fish is a bet 
ter and richer commodity, and more necessary, which may 
be, and there are, had in as great abundance as in any other 
part of the world ; witness the west-country merchants of 
England, which return incredible gains yearly from thence. 
And if they can so do, which here buy their salt at a great 
charge, and transport more company to make their voyage 
than will sail their ships, what may the planters expect 
when once they are seated, and make the most of their salt 
there, and employ themselves at least eight months in fish ing, 
whereas the other fish but four, and have their ship lie dead 
m the harbour all the time, whereas such shipping as belong 
to plantations may take freight of passengers or cattle thith- 
er, and have their lading provided against they come 1 I 
confess we have come so far short of the means to raise 
such returns, as with great difficulty we have preserved our 
lives ; insomuch as, when I look back upon our condition 
and weak means to preserve the same, I rather admire at 
God's mercies and providence in our preservation than that 
no greater things have been effected by us. But, though oui 
beginning have been thus raw, small, and difficult, as thou 
hast seen, yet the same God that hath hitherto led us through 
the former, I hope, will raise means to accomplish the latter. 



INDEX. 



A. 

ACADIA, its limits, ii., 19. 

Africa circumnavigated, i., 30. 

Aguado sent to Hispaniola, L, 187. 

Allerton, Isaac, assistant to Governor Bradford, hi., 10. 

America, peopled in part from the East, i., 51. Naraed from 
Amerigo, 194. 

"Antiquitates Americanae," abstract of the historical evidence 
contained in the, i., 87. 

Archer, Gabriel, journalist of Gosnold's voyage, ii., 215. 

Argal, Samuel, sails from Virginia with Sir George Somers, ii., 
130. Returns to Virginia, 131. Carries Lord Delaware to Eng- 
land, 137. Returns to Virginia, ib. His voyage to the Patow- 
mack, ib. Obtains Pocahontas from Japazaws, and carries her 
to Jamestown, 138. Accompanies Dale on a treaty with the 
Chicahomony Indians, 141. Expedition to the northern part of 
Virginia, 148. Attacks the French at Mount Desart, 1 49. Takes 
possession of their fort, t'6. Takes and destroys Fort Royal, 
150. His conference with Biencourt, ib. Visits the Dutch at 
Hudson's River, 152. Dutch governor surrenders to him, 
ib. His voyage to England, 153. Appointed deputy-governor 
of Virginia, 154. Arrives in Virginia, ib. Revives discipline, 
155. Becomes odious by his rigour, 156. Charged with pecu- 
lation, ib. His oppressive treatment of Brewster, Lord Dela- 
ware's agent, 157. Superseded, 158. Escapes by aid of th 
Earl of Warwick, ib. Commands a ship against the Algerines 
129. Knighted by King James, ib. His character, 158. 

Azores discovered, i., 213. 

B. 

Baltimore, Lord, vide Calvert, George. 

Behaim, Martin, i., 210. Discovers Congo and Benin, 216. 

Bermuda Islands, description of them, ii., 124. 

Biron, i., 77. 

Bligh, Lieutenant, his hazardous voyage, i., 38. 

Boston founded, iii., 154. Favours the opinion of Mr. Hutchinsor 
168. Opposition to Governor Winthrop, 166, 171. 

Botello, his daring voyage from India to Lisbon, i., 39, n. 

Bovadilla supersedes Columbus, i., 192. 

Bradford, William, his birth and education, iii., 7. Joins RoH 
inson's and Clifton's Church, 8. Imprisoned, t'6. Removes t\ 
Amsterdam, ii. Unsuccessful in trade, 9. Accompanies the 
adventurers to New-England, ib. Makes an excursion from 
Cape Cod Harbour, 16. His wife drowned, i6. Chosen governor 
of New-Plymouth. 10. Sends an embassy to Massasoit, 12. 
Sends a party to the flay of Massachusetts, 17. Receives a 



306 INDEX. 

threatening message from Canonicus, 19. Makes a voyage for 
corn, &c., 21, 22. Sends messages to Massasbit in his sickness, 
22. Receives intelligence of a conspiracy of the Indians, 23. 
Adopts measures of defence, 24. Surrenders the patent to the 
colony, 83. His death, 44. His character, 45, 48. His history 
of the colony, 46. Part of his letter-book found at Halifax, ib. 
His discreet and decisive proceedings with Lyford, 48-50. His 
descendants, 51. 

Brazil discovered, i., 55. 

Breton, Cape, named, i., 230, n. 

Brewster, William, his education, iii., 53. Enters into the service 
of Davison, ib. Intrusted with the keys of Flushing, 54. Hon- 
oured by the States of Holland, ib. Adheres to Davison in his 
misfortunes, 55. Joins Mr. Clifton's and Robinson's Church, 
56. Removes to Holland, 57. Employed as an instructor at 
Leyden, ib. Sets up a printing-office, 58. Removes to Ameri- 
ca, ib. Chosen ruling elder at Plymouth, ib. "Officiates as a 
preacher, 59. His death, 66. His character, 66-69. His li- 
brary, 69. 

Brown, Robert, head of a zealous party of Puritans, ii., 256. 

Bucke, Richard, chaplain to Sir George Somers, ii., 125. 

Buss Island, i., 148. 

Buzzard's Bay, ii., 219. 

C. 

Cabral discovers Brazil, i., 55. 

Calvert, George, his birth and education, iii., 206. In the service 
of Sir Robert Cecil, ib. Secretary of state, 207. Receives a 
pension from King James, ib. Becomes a Catholic, ib Created 
Baron of Baltimore, ib. Attempts a settlement at Newfound- 
land and abandons it, 208, 209. Visits Virginia, 209. Receives 
a grant of the territory north of the Patowmack, 210. His death, 
ib. His character, 16. 

Calvert, Cecil, Lord Baltimore, receives a patent of Maryland, iii., 
211. Settles the colony, 216, 224. Appoints his brother Leon- 
ard governor, 216. 

Calvert, Leonard, governor of Maryland, iii., 216. Conducts set- 
tlers to the colony, 216, 224. 

Canary Islands discovered, i., 48. Volcanoes in, 50. 

Cape Cod visited by the French from Acadia, ii., 27, 31. Disco v 
ered by Gosnold, 209. 

Cartier, James, i., 230. 

Carver, John, appointed agent to the English settlers at Leyden, 
ii., 283, 295. Superintends the equipments for emigration, 301. 
Chosen governor of the company, 307. Makes an excursion 
from Cape Cod to look for a harbour, 317. Skirmish with the 
natives, 319 Laods on Clarke's Island, 320 Returns to the 
ship, 321. Makes a settlement at Plymouth, 321, 322 His 
sickness, 323. His recovery, and visit to Billington's Sea, 3^5. 
His interview with Massasoit, 330. His death, 332. His char- 
acter, 332, 333. His posterity, 333. A ship named for him, ib, 
His sword in the cabinet of the Historical Society, 6. 



INDEX. 307 

Cattle first brought to New-England, ill., 103. 

Chaleur Bay discovered, i., 233. 

Champlain, Samuel, ii., 15. Sails up the St. Lawrence, 18. 
Builds a fort at Quebec, 42. Discovers the Lakes, ib. Surren 
ders Quebec to the English, 44. His death and character, 45. 

Chanco reveals a plot of the Indians, and preserves Jamestown. 
ii, 179. 

Charaibes, emigrants from the East, i., 57. 

Chicahomony Indians, treaty between them and the Virginians, ii., 
141, 142. 

Clarke's Island, ii., 320. 

Columbus, Christopher, i., 156. His reasons for seeking India in 
the West, 161. His first voyage, 175. His second voyage, 181. 
His third voyage, 189. His fourth voyage, 195. Wrecked on 
Jamaica, 198. His death and character, 202-210. 

Columbus, Bartholomew, i., 171, 185. 

Congo discovered, i., 216. 

Convicts first sent to Virginia, ii., 167. 

Copper ornaments worn by the Indians of New-England, ii., 224. 

Croix, St , port of, i., 237. 

Croix, St., island of, ii., 24. 

Cuba discovered, i., 184. 

Cushman, Robert, agent from the English at Leyden to the Vir- 
ginia Company, iii., 70. Agent for removal, 71. Embarks for 
America, 16. Returns to England, ib. Arrives at Plymouth, 
72. Delivers a discourse on Self-love, ib. Sails for England, ib. 
Taken by the French, i&. His death and character, 73. His 
son a ruling elder at Plymouth, 78. Extract from his Dis- 
course on Self-love, 70-84. 

D. 
Dale, Sir Thomas, governor of Virginia, ii., 118. Built Henrico, 

119. Arrival in Virgina, 134. His energetic proceedings, 135. 

Surrenders the command to Sir Thomas Gates, 137. Resumes 

the command, 142. Returns to England, 146. His character 

as governor, ib. 
Delaware, Lord, arrives in Virginia, ii., 122. Builds two forts on 

James River, 133, Leaves Virginia, ib. Arrives at the Western 

Islands, ib. Sails for Virginia, 156. His death, ib. 
Dermer, Thomas, ii., 63. 
Drogio, i., 141. 
Dutch intrude into the fur-trade, ii., 36. Complained of as intru 

ders, 77. 

E. 

Eclipse, lunar, fortunate to Columbus, i., 199. 
Kgg, set on its smallest end, i., 207. 
Elizabeth Island, ii., 213, 214. Visited by the author in. 1797, 215, 

220. Description of it, 219-221. 
Estotiland, i , 140, 154. 
Kudoxus, his voyage, i., 46. 
Evans, John, Peun's deputy, iii., 288. 

Ill A A 



308 INDEX. 

F. 

Fog Banks, i., 166. 

Fonte, De, Strait of, ii., 12. 

Forefather Rock at Plymouth, ii., 321. 

Fortifications, antique, i., 270. 

Frisland, i., 138, 146. 

Fuca, John de, ii., 7. 

Fuca De, Strait of, described, ii., 9, 11. 

G. 

Gaspe, Bay of, discovered, i., 233. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, arrives in Virginia as governor, ii., 137. Re- 
turns to England, 142. 

Gay Head, called Dover Cliff by Gosnold, ii., 218. 

Gilbert, Bartholomew, his voyage to Virginia, ii., 237, 238. Kill- 
ed by the natives, 238. 

Gilbert, Humphrey, i., 272. His birth and education, 275. Serves 
in Ireland, 276. Member of Parliament, ib. Takes possession 
of Newfoundland, 282. Is lost at sea, 286. 

Gookin, Daniel, settles in Virginia, ii., 118. Removes to New- 
England, ib. 

Gorges, Ferdinando, ii., 47. His perseverance, 55. His defence 
before the Commons, 72. His complaint against the Dutch, 77. 
His expense and loss, 80,81. His misfortunes and death, 91, 92 

Gorges, Ferdinando, 2d, ii., 93. 

Gorges, John, it., 93. 

Gorges, Robert, ii,, 69, 76. 

Gorges, Thomas, ii., 87. 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, his voyage to Virginia, ii., 207. His sec- 
ond voyage, ib. Discovers land near Massachusetts Bay, 208. 
Discovers Cape Cod, 209. His interview with the natives, 210. 
Discovers Martha's Vineyard, 211. Discovers Dover Cliff (Gay 
Head), 212. Anchors at Elizabeth Island (Cuttyhunk), 213. 
Builds a fort, 222. Visits the main, ib. His interview and 
traffic with the natives, 223. Attacked, 226. Sails for Eng- 
land, ib. Accompanies John Smith to Virginia, 227. His death, 
228. 

Greenland discovered, i., 78. 

Grenville, Richard, i., 289. His voyage to Virginia, 306. His 

death, 316. 

Guadaloupe discovered, i., 53, 182. 
Guanahana discovered, i., 178. 

H. 

Hakluyt, Richard, engaged in an adventure to New-England, 

ii., 228. 

Hamilton, Andrew, Penn's deputy, iii., 288. 
Hampden, John, accompanies Winslow to Massasoit, iii., 22 
Hanno, his voyage, i., 44. 
Harvey, Sir John, governor of Virginia, ii., 205. 
Henrico built by Sir Thomas Dale, ii., 137. 



INDEX. 309 

Hispaniola discovered, i., 182. 
Homony described, i., 303. 

I. 

Independence of the colonies suspected, ii., 83. 
J. 

Jamaica discovered, i., 184. Columbus wrecked on, 198. 

James I. (King), tenacious of his prerogatives, ii., 114. His pro- 
ceedings with the Virginia Company, 185, 204. His death, 204. 
His character, 258. 

James II. (King), friendly to William Penn, iii., 272. Liberates 
the Quakers, 274. 

Jesuits introduced to Port Royal, ii., 40. 

K. 

Kirk, David, takes Quebec, ii., 44. 
L. 

Laconia described, ii., 78. 
Lane, Ralph, governor of Virginia, i., 307. 
Lawrence, St., Bay and River discovered, i., 234. 
Lead ore in Virginia, ii., 181. 
Line of demarcation, i., 180. 
Lisbon, Columbus puts in at, i., 221. 
Lotteries, supplies by them for Virginia, ii., 113. 
Luseme, an American wild animal, ii., 234. 

M. 

Madoc, prince of Wales, i., 129. 

Maine, Province of, ii , 87. Its plan of government, 88. Protect- 
ed by Massachusetts, 92. Purchased by Massachusetts, 94. 

Martha's Vineyard, No-man's-land, first so named, ii., 217. Mar- 
tin Pring lands upon it, 231. Description of its productions, 
234. 

Maryland made a province, iii., 213. Settled by the Calverts,216, 
224. Many Roman Catholics resort there, 223. 

Mason, John, connected with Gorges, ii., 77. His plantation at 
Piscataqua, 80. His great expense and loss, 16. 

Massachusetts colony established, ii., 82. 

Massacre, general, in Virginia by the natives, ii., 179-181. 

Massasoit, his interview with the Plymouth settlers, ii., 329, 330 
Treaty with him, 330. His sickness, iii., 22. Visited by Wins- 
low, 74. 

Mavoshen, an ancient name for the district of Maine, ii., 252. 

Monsoons known to the Phoenicians, i., 34. 

Montreal discovered and. named, i., 243. 

Monts, De, ii., 15. His patent for Acadia, 19. His fort at St. 
Croix, 24. Quits Acadia, 38. 

Morrell, William, first Episcopal clergyman in New- England, iii, 
69. 



310 INDEX. 



N. 

Necho, his voyage round Africa, i., 29. 

Newfoundland, its productions, i., 84. State of its fishery, 2"3, 
Possessed by the English, 282. 

Newport, Christopher, commander in the navy of Queen Eliza- 
beth, ii., 117. Makes a settlement in Virginia, ib. 

New- York first settled, ii., 152. 

Normans, their navigation, i., 77. 

Norornbega, ii., 27. 

Norumbega, ancient name for parts of the District of Maine, n., 
252. 

Nova Scotia granted to Sir William Alexander, ii., 152. 

O. 

Opecanchanough has a house built for him by the English, ii., 161. 
Makes a treaty with the settlers in Virginia, ib. Artful conduct 
towards Governor Wyat, 175. Demands satisfaction for the 
death of Nematanow, 177. Plans and executes a general mas- 
sacre of the English, 178-181. 

Opitchapan succeeds Powhatan, ii., 160. 

Ovando, governor of Hispaniola, i., 195. His cruelty to Coi am- 
bus, 199, 200. 

P. 

Paria, Gulf of, discovered, i., 189. 

Paul the Physician, his letters to Columbus, i., 223, 228. 

Penn, William, his birth and education, iii., 225. His religious 
impressions, 226. Punished at the University for non-conformi- 
ty, ib. Travels to France, 227. Student at Lincoln's Inn, ib. 
Goes to Ireland, ib. Attaches himself to the Quakers, ib. Ar- 
rested at a conventicle, 228. His sensible plea in his defence, 
and his discharge, ib. Discarded by his father, 229. An itiner- 
ant preacher, ib. Publishes a book which offends the spiritual 
lords, 230. Imprisoned in the Tower, ib. Released, 231. His 
second journey to Ireland, ib. Preaches in the street in Lon- 
don, ib. Arrested, tried, and acquitted, 232. His father recon- 
ciled to him, ib. Great increase of property on the death of his 
father, 233. Imprisoned in Newgate, ib. Travels on the Con- 
tinent, ib. Returns to England, marries, &c., 234. Travels 
with Fox, Barclay, and Keith, ib. Settles the government of 
the churches, ib. Pleads for the Quakers before Parliament, 
236. Character of his writings, 16. His political character and 
opinions, 238. Receives a charter of Pennsylvania, 242. His 
terms of settlement, 245, 246. Sends a letter to the Indians, 
246. Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 247. Completes a 
frame of government for his province, ib. Embarks with a num- 
ber of Quakers for America, 252 Arrives at Newcastle, ib. 
Cordially received by the settlers, ih. Goes to Chester, 6. 
Names his settlement Philadelphia, 253 Calls a general as- 
sembly, 254. His kind attentions to the natives, 256 His trea- 
ties, 257, 259. Lays out Philadelphia, 263, 264. Specimen uf 



. 

INDEX. 311 

his style of preaching, 265. His departure for England, 267. 
His controversy with Lord Baltimore respecting boundaries, 
267-271. Publishes a book on liberty of conscience, 272. Sus- 
pected of affecting Popery, ib. Address to his brethren, ib. 
Presents to King James II. an address of thanks from the Qua- 
kers, 274. Suspected of being an enemy to King William, 276. 
Repeatedly tried and acquitted, 276, 277. Conceals himself, 277. 
His writings while in retirement, 278. Conduct of his wife ren- 
ders him suspected, ib. Her death, 16. His second marriage, 
ib. Involved in debt, 279. Ineffectual application to the Penn- 
sylvanians for a loan, 16. Returns to Pennsylvania, 283. His 
prudent measures, ib. Signs a new charter, 286. Returns to 
England, 287. Confined in the Fleet Prison, ib. Receives a 
romonstrance from the Pennsylvanians, 288-290. His embar- 
rassments, 291. Contemplates a surrender of his province to the 
crown to relieve himself, 292. His death, 291. 
Pennsylvania, original frame of its government, iii. ,247-251. Al- 
teration in the government, 266. Early flourishing state of it, 
267. Difficulties from Penn's absence, 279, 283. New char- 
ter, 286, 290. Separated from the three lower counties, 288. 
Controversies with Penn's deputies, 288, 290. 
Penobscot River discovered by Weymouth, ii., 253. Called Pen- 

tagoet by the French, ib. 
Percy, governor of Virginia, ii., 134. 
Pestilence among the Indians, ii., 58. 

Philadelphia founded and named by Penn, ii., 263. Situation and 
original plan of it, 263, 264. Its flourishing situation in two 
years after its foundation, 267. 
Phoenicians the first navigators, i., 27. Construction of their ships, 

37. Their mercantile jealousy, 40. 
Plymouth, Council of, established, ii., 66. Embarrassed, 84. 

Dissolved, 86. 

Plymouth first settled and named, ii., 321-323. The harbour dis- 
coveiedby Winslow and oihers, iii , 85. Fortified, 19. Defence 
of it < ommitted to Miles Standish, 118. Description of its situ- 
ation, ii, 322. Dangerous fire at its first settlement, 323. 
Plymouth colony established, ii., 67. Its settlement, progress, 
sufferings, government, laws, &c., vide Carver, Bradford, Brew- 
ster, Winslow, and Standish, ii., 295 iii., 147. 
Pocahontas preserves Henry Spelman from Powhatan, ii., 131. 
Concealed by Japazaws, 138. Obtained by Argal, and convey- 
ed to Jamestown, ib. Married to J. Rolfe, 139. Accompanies 
Sir T. Dale to England, 146. Her descendants, 140. 
Porland, i., 152. * 
Port Royal, plantation at, ii., 22. 
Poutrincourt, ii., 15. 
Powhatan reconciled to the English. ii. r 139. His death and 

character, 160. 

Pring, Martin, sails for North Virginia, ii., 229. Discovers Fox 
Islands, 16. Enters Saco, Kennebec, York, and Piscataqua 
rivers, 230. Enters Massachusetts Bay, 231. Lands at Edgar- 
town, 232. Interview with the Datives, 233. Sends a cargo of 



312 INDEX. 

sassafras to England, 234. Returns to England, 237. His sec 
ond voyage, 252. 
Proctor. Mrs., her heroic defence against the Indians, ii., 182. 

Q. 

Quakers debarred from their meeting-houses in London, iii., 231. 
Assemble in the streets, 232. Their cause rendered popular by 
an intemperate expression of Sir John Howel's, ib. Their 
church government and discipline settled by Penn and others, 
234. Their sentiments concerning marriage, ib. Suffer by a 
test law made against Papists, 235. Ineffectual application to 
Parliament for relief, 236. Penn's exertions in their behalf, 
271, 272. Relieved by James II., 274. Their address of thanks 
to him, ib. Become obnoxious on that account, 275. 

Quebec named, ii., 19. Fort built, 42. Taken by the English, 
44. Restored to the French, 45. 

R. 

Raleigh, Walter, i., 289. Birth and education, 290, 291. Em- 
barks for France with a troop of volunteers, 292. Accompanies 
Sir John N orris to the Netherlands, 293. Joins the first and 
unsuccessful voyage of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 294. Serves in 
Ireland as captain of a troop of horse, 295. Is admitted to court, 
297. Patent for discovering, &c., 299. Makes an assignment 
of his patent, 314. Imprisoned in the Tower, 322. Released, 
324. Embarks for Guiana, ib. Second expedition to Guiana, 
338. Engaged in the expedition to Cadiz, 340. Arrested on a 
charge of high treason, 351. His trial, 353. Remanded to the 
Tower, 357. His "History of the World," 358. Released 
from confinement, 361. Expedition to Guiana, ib. His execu- 
tion, 370 ; ii., 160. 

Roanoke discovered, i., 300. 

Robinson, John, his birth and education, ii., 257. Minister of a 
congregation of dissenters, ib. His congregation persecuted, 
258-265. Removes with his church to Amsterdam, 268. Re- 
moves to Leyden, 270. His public- dispute with Episcopius, 
273. His sentiments, 275-278. His church contemplates a re- 
moval, 278-280. Apply to the Virginia Company, 282. Preach, 
es to them previous to removal, 286. His just and liberal senti- 
ments, 288, 289. His affectionate leave of those who embarked 
for America, 289. Prevented from removing to America, 291. 
His death, character, and posterity, 291-294. 

Roldan, his mutiny, i., 190. 

S. * 

Sable Island, flocked with cattle, i., 284, 287. Convicts lauded at, 
ii., 16. 

Saco River, ii.,-253. 

Sagadahock, colony at, ii., 52. 

Samoset visits the Plymouth settlers, ii., 327. 

Sandys, Sir Edwin, treasurer of the Virginia Company, ii., 110. 

Sassafras the principal object of ('ring's voyage, ii , 231. 



INDEX. 313 

Savage rock, ii., 231. 

Scurvy, remedy for, i., 247. 

Silk attempted to be produced in Virginia, ii., 170. 

Skrselings, i., 81. 

Smith, Sir Thomas, ii., 100. Calumniated, 100, 103, 104. De 
cree of chancery in his favour, 107. Resigns his office of treas- 
urer of the Virginia Company, 110. Two thousand acres of 
land granted to him in Virginia, 1 12. 

Somers, Sir George, admiral of Virginia, ii., 117. Dispute with 
Gates about rank, 119. Wrecked on Bermuda Islands, 121. 
Arrives in Virginia, 126. Voyage to the Bermudas, 130, 131. 
His death, burial, and monument, 131, 132. Somers' Islands 
named from him, 133. 

Somers, Matthew, ii., 131. 

Soto, Ferdinando de, his adventures in Florida, i., 258. His death, 
268. 

Spelman, Henry, preserved by Pocahontas, ii., 131. 

Standish, Miles, iii., 116. A soldier in the Netherlands, 117. 
Settles at Leyden, ib. Embarks for America, ib. Commands 
a party for discovery at Cape Cod, ib. Chief military com- 
mander at Plymouth, t'6. Compels Corbitant to submit, 118. 
His arrangements for the defence of Plymouth, 119. His voyage 
to Matachiest, ib. His resolute conduct with the Indians, 120. 
His voyage to Manomet, 121. His expedition to Wessagusset, 
122, 123. His expedition to Cape Ann, 135, 136. Mr. Hub- 
bard's observations relating to him, 136. Mr. Robinson's letter 
respecting him, 187. Apology for his conduct, 137, 138. Agent 
for the colony in England, 139. Returns to Plymouth, 140. 
Expedition against Morton at Mount Wollaston, 143. His set- 
tlement at Duxbury, 145. His death and descendants, 145-147. 

Stith, his remarks on sending convicts to Virginia, ii., 168. His 
eulogy of the Virginia Company, 200. 

T. 

Thorpe, George, murdered by Indians, ii., 180. His character, 181. 

Tillotson, Dr., his candid treatment of Penn, iii., 273. 

Tobacco first known, i., 244. Carried to England, 316. Cultiva- 
ted in Virginia, ii., 169. King James' aversion to it, ib. Its cul- 
tivation opposed by the Virginia Company, 170. Becomes a 
staple commodity of Virginia, ib. Prohibited in England, unless 
the growth of the colonies, 197. 

Trinidad Island discovered, i., 189. 

V. 

Vane, Sir Henry, governor of Massachusetts, iii., 164. 

Virginia named.i., 305. Its topography by Heriot, 308. First child 
born in, 312. Divided into North and South, ii., 50. Expedition 
to, 119. Character of a company of its settlers, 122. State of, 
at Lord Delaware's departure. 134. At Sir Thomas Dale's ar- 
rival, ib. Adventures to, Uieir discouragement, 135. Descrip- 
tion of it by Gates and Delaware, 135-137. Difficulties in, from 
the manner of holding lands, 142-145. Sir Thomas Dale's high 



314 INDEX. 

opinion of it, 146. Supplied with corn by the natives, J53. 
Great mortality in, 164. Its first assembly, ib. General views 
of its settlers, 165. A number of young women sent there, 165, 
166. Convicts sent there, 167. Slaves tirst introduced there, 
169. Its tobacco trade, 169, 170. New settlements there in 
Yeardley's administration, 173. Means of defence there neg- 
lected, ib. Massacre of a great number of the inhabitants, 178- 
181. Iron works and lead ore there, 181. Many of the planta- 
tions there abandoned, 182. War with the natives, 182, 183. 
Its slender aid from the crown, 185. Orders of council for an 
alteration in its government, 188. Commissioners sent to, 189. 
Quo warranto against the Company of, 190. Assembly protest 
and appoint an agent, 192. John Porentis, their agent, dies on 
his passage to England, ib. Applies to the House of Commons, 
196. Their petition ordered to be withdrawn by the king, ib. 
Meetings of the Company of, suppressed, 198. Charter vacated, 
ib. Government new modelled by King James, 201-204. 

W. 

Wainham, Sir Ferdinando, his arrival in Virginia, and death, ii., 
119. 

Wey mouth, George, sails for America, ii., 239. Oldmixon's and 
Beverley's mistakes respecting his voyages, ib. Discovers 
George's Islands, 239, 241. Pentecost Harbour, 239, 242. Ob- 
servations on his journal by John F. Williams, 249-252. Ab- 
stract of his voyage, with the author's queries, 240, 249. Kid- 
naps some of the natives, 243. Discovers Penobscot River, 252. 

White, John, governor of Virginia, i., 311. 

White, Peregrine, first English child born in New-England, ii., 
315. 

Williams, John Foster, his observations on Weymouth's voyage, 
ii., 249-252. 

Winland discovered, i., 80. 

Winslow, Edward, his birth and education, iii., 85. Travels on 
the Continent, ib. Joins Robinson's Church, ib. Settles at 
Leyden, and marries, ib. Removes to America with his family, 
ib. One of the discoverers of Plymouth Harbour, ib. Death of 
his wife, and second marriage, 86. His visit to Massasoit, 85, 
91. His voyage to Monahigon, 94. His second visit to Massa- 
soit in the time of his sickness, 94-102. Went to England as 
agent for the Colony of New-England, 102. Published a narra- 
tive of the transactions of the colony, ib. Returns to Plymouth, 
and brings the first neat cattle brought to New-England, 103. 
His second voyage to England, ib. Detects Lyford, and returns 
to Plymouth, 104. Elected assistant, ii. Again sent agent to 
England, 105. Application to the commissioners of the colo- 
nies, 106. Questioned by Archbishop Laud for celebrating mar 
riages, 107. His defence, ib. Pronounced guilty of separation 
from the Church, ib. Committed to the Fleet Prison, ib. Pe- 
titions the board, and obtains a (please, ib. Returns to New 
England, and chosen governor, 108. Chosen commissioner of 
the United Colonies, ib. Agent to England to answer the com 



INDEX. 315 

plaint of Gorton, 109. Conducts with ability and success, 110. 
Engaged in colonizing and converting the Indians, ib. One of 
the corporation for that purpose, 112. One of the commission* 
era sent by Cromwell on an expedition against the Spaniards, 
113. Dies on the passage to Jamaica, ib. Buried with the hon- 
ours of war, 114. His settlement at Marshfield, ib. Account 
of his descendants, 1 14, 115. His account of the Indians, 293-304. 

WirUhrop, John, his birth and ancestry, iii., 148. Educated for 
the law, ib. Leader of the settlement in Massachusetts, 149. 
First governor of the colonies, t'6. Settlement at Newtown, 152. 
Removal to Boston, 154. His character, 154-160. Left out of 
the magistracy, 160. Examination of his accounts, and honour- 
able result, 161. His humility, ib. His firmness and decision, 
164. His difficulties with Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers, 
ib. Superseded by Henry Vane, ib. Elected governor again, 
167. Assists at a synod, 169. His firm and correct conduct 
with the ChuMh at Boston, 171, 172. His opinion of democra- 
cy, 174. Of magistracy and liberty, 178. His pecuniary em- 
barrassments, 181. His afflictions, 182. Governor's Island grant- 
ed to him, 183. His death, t'6. His picture preserved in the 
Senate Chamber of Massachusetts, ib. His journal, ib. His 
posterity, 184. 

Winthrop, John, governor of Connecticut, his birth and education, 
iii., 185. His removal to New-England, 186. Services to the 
colony, ib. Builds Saybrook Fort, 192. Obtains a charter in- 
corporating Connecticut and New-Haven, 200. Governor of the 
Colony of Connecticut for fourteen years, 202. Elected Fellow 
of the Royal Society, ib. One of the commissioners of the Uni- 
ted Colonies, 205. Dies at Boston, ib. 

Wyat, Sir Francis, succeeds Yeardley, ii., 174. His instructions 
from the Virginia Company, ii. Arrives in Virginia, 175. De- 
ceived by the Indian chiefs, ib. Massacre of the inhabitants 
while he was governor, 178-181. Opposes the change of gov- 
ernment attempted by the crown, 193. Returns to Ireland, 205. 

X. 

Xerxes, his orders to sail round Africa, i., 31, 44. 
Y. 

Yeardley, George, governor of Virginia, ii., 153. Encourages the 
cultivation of tobacco, 16. Attacks the Chickahomouy Indians, 
ib. Superseded by Argal, 154. Appointed governor-general of 
Virginia, 158. His attention to his government, 161. Opposed, 
172. Resigns, 16. Resumes the government on Wyat's depar- 
ture, 205. His death, ib. 

Z. 

Zeno, i., 138. 

Zones, doctrine of, i., 42. 



University of California 

SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 

305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 

Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. 






UC SOUTHERN BEOIONW._LJ8RARY FAOUTY 




A 001 046 809