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

GEORGE  BANCROFT, 

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


Cambridge : 
Press-work  by  John   Wilson  and  Son. 


HISTORY 


OF    THE 


COLONIZATION 


OF    THE 


UNITED    STATES. 


BY 


GEORGE   BANCROFT. 


VOL.  I. 

TWENTY-FIFTH    EDITION. 


BOSTON: 
LITTLE,   BROWN,  AND    COMPANY. 

1874. 


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

GEORGE    BANCROFT, 

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


Cambridge : 
Press-work  by  John    Wilson  and  Son. 


PREFACE 


TO    THE    FIRST    EDITION 


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


ri  PREFACE. 

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

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


PREFACE.  Vli 

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

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

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

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

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


VI11  PREFACE. 

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

June  16,  1834. 


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

of  impartiality. 

NEW    YORK.  May,  1862. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION,  p.  1. 

CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  VOYAGES. — FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS. 

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

CHAPTER    II. 

SPANIARDS    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

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

CHAPTER    111. 

ENOLAND    TAKES    POSSESSION   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

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

VOL.    I.  B 


X  CONTENTS. 

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


CHAPTER    IV. 

COLONIZATION    Or    VIRGINIA. 

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

CHAPTER    V. 

SLAVERY. — DISSOLUTION    OF    THE    LONDON    COMPANY. 

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


CHAPTER    VI. 

RESTRICTIONS    OW    COLONIAL    COMMERCE. 

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


CONTENTS.  Xi 

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


CHAPTER    VII. 

COLONIZATION    OF    MARYLAND 

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


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    PILGRIMS. 

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


CHAPTER    IX. 

EXTENDED    COLONIZATION    OF    NEW    ENGLAND. 

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


xii  CONTENTS. 

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


CHAPTER    X. 

THE    UNITED    COLONIES    OF    NEW    ENGLAND 

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


HISTORY 


OF      THE 


UNITED    STATES 


INTRODUCTION. 

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


INTRODUCTION. 

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


INTRODUCTION. 

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

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


INTRODUCTION 

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

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


COLONIAL    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

EARLY  VOYAGES.     FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS. 

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


6 


EARLY  VOYAGES. 


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

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


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS.  7 

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

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


8  CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS. 

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

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

Successive  popes  of  Rome  had  already  conceded 


SPAIN,    PORTUGAL,    AND   ENGLAND.  9 

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

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

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


10  JOHN  CABOT'S  VOYAGE. 

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


DISCOVERY    OF    THE    AMERICAN    CONTINENT.  11 

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

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


12  SEBASTIAN    CABOT.      COLUMBUS.      VASCO    DA    GAMA. 

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

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


SEBASTIAN    CABOT.  13 

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

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

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


14  SEBASTIAN    CABOT. 

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

The  next  years  of  the  illustrious  mariner,  from 

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

volved  in  obscurity ;  but  he  soon  conciliated  regard  by 


SEBASTIAN    CABOT.  15 

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


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


16  VOYAGE  OF  CORTEREAL  FOR  PORTUGAL. 

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

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

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

The  FRENCH  competed  without  delay  for  the  New 

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

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

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

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


VOYAGE  OF  VERRAZZANI  FOR  FRANCE.  17 

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

VOL.  I.  3 


18  VERRAZZANJ    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    HARBORS. 

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

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

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

April. 

Jersey. 

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

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

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

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


FIRST   VOYAGE   OF   C ARTIER   FOR   FRANCE.  19 

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

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

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


20  SECOND   VOYAGE  OF  CARTIER  FOR  FRANCE. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


CARTIER  AT   MONTREAL.  21 

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

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

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


V2C2  VOYAGES   OF   CARTIEIl   AND    ROBEIIVAL   TO   CANADA. 

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

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


CARTIER  AND  ROBERVAJ,  IN  CANADA.  23 

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

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

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

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

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

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


24  CART1ER  AND   ROBERVAL   IN   CANADA. 

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

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

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


VOYAGE   OF  DE  LA  ROCHE.     TRADING   VOYAGES.  25 

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

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

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

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


26  DE   MONTS  AND   POUTRINCOURT   IN   ACADlA. 

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

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

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

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

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

1605   following  spring,  they  removed  to  Port  Royal. 

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

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


FRENCH  SETTLEMENT  AT  PORT  ROYAL.  27 

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

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

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

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

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

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


28  QUEBEC  FOUNDED  BY  CHAMPLAIN. 

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

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

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

motive  to  the  settlement  ;  the  natives  venerated  Biart 

as  a  messenger  from  heaven  ;  and  under  the  summer 

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

and  vespers  were  regularly  chanted.     France  and  the 

Roman  religion  had  appropriated  the  soil  of  Maine. 

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

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

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

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

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


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


PERSEVERANCE  OF   CHAMPLAIN.  29 

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

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

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

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


CHAPTER    II. 

SPANIARDS  IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

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

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


SPANISH   LOVE   OF  MARITIME   ADVENTURE.  31 

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

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


32  FLORID  A- -PONCE  DE  LEON. 

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

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

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


FLORIDA— PONCE  DE  LEON.  33 

tinjniished  for  virtue  and  intelligence.1     Nature  was  to  CHAP 

ii 

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

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

1513 

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

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


34  FLORIDA-SPANISH    VOYAGES. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


DISCOVERY    OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI.  35 

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

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

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


B6         VASQUEZ  DE  AYLLON  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

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

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

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


SOUTH  CAROLINA  — VASQUEZ  DE  AYLLON.  37. 

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

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

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

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

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


33  SPANISH  VOYAGES  OF  DISCOVERY. 

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

o  O  / 

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

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

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


FLOKIDA.      PAMPIIILO   DE   NAKVAEZ.  39 


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

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

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


395  PAMPHILO   DE   NAEVAEZ   IN   FLORIDA. 

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

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


PAMPIIILO    DE    NARVAEZ    IN    FLORIDA.  40 

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

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

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


40(5       THE    BOATS    OP   NARVAEZ    REACH    THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


SHIPWRECK    OF    CABEZA.  40c 

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

oo  o          Jr  ' 

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

O  ' 

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

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

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


403       THE    BOATS    OP   NARVAEZ    REACH    THE    MISSISSIPPI. 

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

Sept. 

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

o  o  / 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


SHIPWRECK    OF    CABEZA.  400 

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

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

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


40J  CABEZA  TRAVERSES  THE  CONTINENT. 

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

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

1528.  thought  for  each  other's  welfare. 

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

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

/  o 


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


DISCOVERY    OF   NEW   MEXICO. 

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

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

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


40/  DISCOVERY    OF   NEW   MEXICO. 

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

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

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

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


DISCOVERY    OF    NEW    MEXICO. 

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

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


DISCOVERY    OF   NEW   MEXICO. 

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

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

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

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


DISCOVERY    OF    NEW    MEXICO.  4(h' 

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

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

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


DISCOVERY    OF   NEW   MEXICO. 

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

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

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

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

the  real  land  of  the  buffalo,  abounding  in  gold  and 

silver,  and  watered  by  tributaries  of  a  river  which 

was  two  leagues  wide. 

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

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

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


DISCOVERT    OF    NEW    MEXICO.  40/ 

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

o 

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

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


40/#  THE   VALLEY    OF    THE    ARKANSAS. 

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

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

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


CORONADO.       CABEZA    IN    SPAIN.       DE    SOTO.  41 

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

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

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


42  FLORIDA— FERDINAND    DE   SOTO. 

CHAP   vancement.     His   reception  was  triumphant;    success 

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

1537    guished  nobleman,  under  whom  he  had  first  served  as 

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

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

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

the  continent  at  the  north  concealed  cities  as  magnifi- 

o 

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

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

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

*  Portuguese  Relation,  c.  i.  483 ; 


'  SOTO   EMBARKS   FOR   CUBA   AND    FLORIDA.  43 

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

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

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

•/  Maw 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


44  SPANIARDS    IN   FLORIDA. 

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

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

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

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


SPANIARDS  NEAR  THE  BAY   OF  APPALACHEE.  45 

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

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

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

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


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


4  Port.  Relation,  c.  ix. 


46  SPANIARDS   ENTER   GEORGIA. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

4  Silliman's  Journal,  xxiii.  8,  9 


SPANIARDS   IN    GEORGIA.  47 

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

.  H. 

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

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

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

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

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

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


2        3. 


48  SPANIARDS  ENTER  ALABAMA. 

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

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

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

their  waters  to  the  Bay  of  Mobile.     Chiaha  was  an 

island  distant  about  a  hundred   miles  from  Canasauga. 

An  exploring  party  which  was  sent  to  the  north,  were 

appalled  by  the  aspect  of  the  Appalachian  chain,  and 

pronounced    the    mountains    impassable.      They    had 

looked  for  mines  of  copper  and  gold;  and  their  only 

plunder  was  a  buffalo  robe. 

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


SPANIARDS   AMONG  THE   CHICKASAWS  49 

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOL.     J,  1 


50  SPANIARDS   AMONG  THE   CHICKASAWS. 

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

adorned   the   rude  savages ;  their  wealth  was  the  har- 

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

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


SPANIARDS   IN  ARKANSAS   AND  MISSOURI  51 

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

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

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


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

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

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


62  SPAN1AEDS  IN  ARKANSAS  AND  MISSOURI. 

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


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

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

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

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

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

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


SPANIARDS   IN    ARKANSAS   AND   MISSOURI.  53 

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

19 

the  northernmost  point  which  Soto  reached  near  the     to* 


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

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

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

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


54  CONDITION   OF  THE   NATIVE    TRIBES. 

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

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

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

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


SPANIARDS    IN    ARKANSAS    AND    LOUISIANA.  55 

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

o  •—> 

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

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

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

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

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

sulHcient  allowance   for  an  exag 


56  DEATH  AND   BURIAL  OF  FERDINAND   DE   SOTO. 

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

i  Portuguese  Account,  c.  xxix. 


SPANIARDS   ON  THE  RED   RIVER.  57 

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

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

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

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

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

C.  iii.  and  xxxiii.     Compare  Nuttall, 

VOL.    I  8 


58  SPANIARDS   DESERT   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

CHAP  resolution   seemed,  it  was  determined  to  return   once 

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

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

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

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

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

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

i  Portuguese  Relation,  c.  xxxiv. 


SPANISH    MISSIONARIES    IN    FLORIDA.  59 

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

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

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


60  SPANISH    MISSIONARIES    IN    FLORIDA. 

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

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

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

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


CULIGNY  TLANS   A   COLONY   OF  HUGUENOTS.  61 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


62  HUGUENOTS   NEAR  BEAUFORT,  SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

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

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

the   fires   of  civil  war    had    been    kindled    in    ail    the 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


SECOND   COLONY   OF    COLIGNY  63 

succeeded    in   restoring  order.     But   the   love    of  his  CHAP 

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

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

o  o 

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

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

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

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

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

N.  Fr.  i.  24 — 35     Ensayo  Crono-  389 


64  HUGUENOTS   ON  THE   RIVER  ST.   JOHNS. 

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

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

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


HUGUENOTS   SUFFER  FROM   SCARCITY.  65 

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


factors,  and  who  now  robbed  their  humble  granaries. 

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

Dec 

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

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

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


66  MELENDEZ   APPOINTED   GOVERNOR   OF  FLORIDA. 

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


MELENDEZ   APPOINTED    GOVERNOR   OF   FLORIDA  67 

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

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

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

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


68  MELENDEZ  EMBARKS  FOR  FLORIDA.    , 

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

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

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

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

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

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

ou  J 

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

i  Ensayo  Cronolog.  68 — 70. 


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


70  MASSACRE   OF  THE   FREJXCH   PROTESTANTS. 

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

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


raging. 


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


MASSACRE    OF    THE    SHIPWRECKED    MEN.  71 

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

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

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

Melendez  returned  to  Spain,  impoverished,  but 


72  DE    GOTJRGUES    AVENGES    HIS    COUNTRYMEN. 

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

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


Green- 
how's 
Memoir. 


EXTENT    OF    SPANISH    DOMINIONS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA.         73 

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

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


74 


CHAPTER    III. 

ENGLAND  TAKES  POSSESSION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

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

o  o 

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

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

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


VOYAGES    IN    THE    REIGN    OF   HENRY    VII.  75 

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

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


76  VOYAGES    IN    THE   REIGN    OF    HENRY   VIII. 

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

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

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

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

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


VOYAGES    IN    THE    REIGN    OF    HENRY    VIII.  77 

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

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

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


78  VOYAGE    IN    SEARCH    OF   A   NORTHEAST   PASSAGE. 

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

1  II*  ^ 

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


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

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


ENGLAND  BECOMES   EMULOUS   OF   SPAIN.  79 


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

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

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

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

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

o  O 

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

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

2  Hakluyt,  i.  298-304. 


80  ELIZABETH  FAVORS   ENGLISH   COMMERCE. 

CHAP,  thusiasm  awakened  by    the    brilliant   pageantry  with 

~  which  King  Philip  was  introduced  into  London,  excited 

Richard  Eden1  to  gather  into  a  volume  the   history  of 

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

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

1561  special  protection;  and  while   her  subjects  were    en- 

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

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

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

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


FROBISHER  ATTEMPTS   THE  NORTH-WEST  PASSAGE.  81 

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

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

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

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

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

VOL.    I.  11 


82  FROBISKER  RETURNS   WITHOUT  SUCCESS. 

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

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

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

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


FROUISHER'S   SECOND   VOYAGE.  83 

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

9  / 

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

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

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

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


84  FROBJSHER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE. 

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

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

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

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

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

l  Hakluyt,  iii.  71—73. 


FROBISHER  ABANDONS  META   INCOGNITA.  .85 

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

o  \ 

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


86  DRAKE  IN  THE  OREGON  TERRITORY. 

CHAP.  Pacific  Ocean  might  yet  be  threaded  among  the  icebergs 

— ^  and  northern  islands  of  America.1 

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

1577   fortune,  Francis  Drake  acquired  immense  treasures  as 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


NEWFOUNDLAND   THE   SCHOOL   OF   ENGLISH   SAILORS.  87 

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

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

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

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

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


88  SIR  HUMPHREY   GILBERT  OBTAINS  A   PATEN1. 

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

* '  in  the  arrogance  of  naval  supremacy,  exacted  payment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


GILBERT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE.  89 

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

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

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

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


90  GILBERT  AND  WALTER   RALEIGH. 

CHAP   eve  of  his  departure,  received  from  Elizabeth  a  golden 

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

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

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

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

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


SIR  HUMPHREY   GILBERT   IN   AMERICA.  91 

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


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

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

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

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

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

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


92       VOYAGE  OF  AMIDAS  AND  BARLOW  FOR  RALEIGH. 

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

The  spot  on  which  this  ceremony  was  performed 

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


AM1DAS  AND  BARLOW  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA.         93 

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

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


94         AMIDAS  AND  BARLOW  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


RALEIGH  SENDS  A  COLONY  TO  AMERICA.  95 

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

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

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

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


96  KALEIGH'S  COLONY  IN  NOETH  CAROLINA. 

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

To  sail  by  the  Canaries   and  the  West  Indies,  to 

conduct  a  gainful  commerce  with  the  Spanish  ports  by 

intimidation  ;  to  capture  Spanish  vessels  ; — these  were 

but  the  expected  preliminaries  of  a  voyage  to  Virginia. 

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

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

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

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

The  perils  of  the  navigation  on  the  shoals  of  that  coast 

became  too  evident ;  the  largest  ship  of  the  squadron, 

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

was  through  Ocracock  Inlet  that  the  fleet  made  its  way 

to  Roanoke. 

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

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


RALEIGH'S   COLONY  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA.  97 

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

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

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

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


98          NATIVE  INHABITANTS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

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


ILL  SUCCESS   OF  THE   ENGLISH   COLONY.  99 

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

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

1  Harlot,  in  Hakluyt,  iii.  324 — 340. 


100  ILL   SUCCESS  OF  THE   ENGLISH   COLONY 

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

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

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

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

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


VISIT  OF  DRAKE.  101 

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

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

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


102  RETURN  OF  THE  COLONISTS. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


CITY   OF  RALEIGH  INCORPORATED.  103 

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

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

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


104  CITY  OF  RALEIGH  FOUNDED. 

8," 

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

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

OW 

played  implacable  jealousy,  and  murdered  one  of  the 


MANTEO  RECEIVES  BAPTISM.  105 

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

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

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

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

-t  tf 

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

i .  i  i? 


106          NO  RELIEF  FOR  THE  ROANOKE  COLON  JT. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

in    Hakluyt,   iii.    840—848.      The  others. 

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

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


THE  ASSIGNS   OF  RALEIGH.  107 

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

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

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

1  Hazard,  i.  42— 45. 

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


108  THE  ROANOKE  COLONY  IS  LOST. 

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

the  English  and  the  Indian  race  seemed  to  have  been 

o 

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

C  O  O  ' 

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

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

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


RALEIGH   A   SOLDIER,  A   SCHOLAR,  A   STATESMAN.  109 

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

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

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

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


110  RALEIGH  THE  FRIEND   OF  MARITIME   ENTERPRISE. 

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

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

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

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


GOSNOLD'S  VOYAGE  TO  NEW  ENGLAND. 


Ill 


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

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

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

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

T'  enrich  unknowing  nations  with  our  stores  ?  phiiua. 

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

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


112  GOSNOLD  PLANS  A  SETTLEMENT  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

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

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

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

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

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


VOYAGES   OF  MARTIN   PR1NG  TO  NEW   ENGLAND.  113 

band,  which  was  to  have  nestled  on   the   Elizabeth  CHAP 

Islands,   finding   their    friends    about   to    embark    for  

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOL.    I  15 


114  VOYAGE    OF    WAYMOUTH    TO    NEW   ENGLAND. 

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

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

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


VOYAGE    OF    WAYMOUTH    TO    NEW  ENGLAND.  115 

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

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

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

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

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


116  INTREPIDITY    OF    THE   EARLY   NAVIGATORS. 

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

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


117 


CHAPTER    IV. 

COLONIZATION   OF   VIRGINIA 

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


118  OBJECTS    OF   EARLY    VOYAGES  TO  AMERICA. 

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

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

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

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

3  Edmund   Howes'  Continuation 


ENGLISHMEN    RESOLVE   TO   COLONIZE    VIRGIN™.  119 

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

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

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

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

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

knap,  i.  239,  252.  name 


KING  JAMES   CONCEDES  A   CHARTER. 

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

'  o  O        a 

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

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

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

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

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

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


THE   FIRST  CHARTER  FOR   VIRGINIA.  121 

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


\(22  KING    JAMES'S  LAWS   FOR   VIRGINIA. 

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

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

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

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

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


COLONISTS   EMBARK   FOR  VIRGINIA.  123 

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

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


124  COLONISTS   ARRIVE   IN   VIRGINIA. 

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

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

o 

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

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

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

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

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

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


COLONISTS   ESTABLISHED   AT  JAMESTOWN.  125 

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

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

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

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

«  Smith,  i.  151.    Stith,  45 


126  DISTRESS   OF  THE   COLONY. 

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

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

1  Percy,  in  Purchas,  iv.  1C89. 


ADVENTURES   OF   SMITH.  127 

\ 

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

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

•  o  o  o  ' 

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

O  '  O 

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

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

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


128  ADVENTURES   OF  SMITH. 

CHAP,  engaging  fearlessly  and  always  successfully  in  the  single 

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

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

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


SMITH   ASCENDS   THE   CH1CKAHOMINY.  129 

He  was  more  wakeful  to  gather  provisions   than  the  CHAP 

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

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

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

o 

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

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

2  Stith,  43. 

VOL.    I.  17 


130  SMITH   A   CAPTIVE   AMONG  THE   INDIANS. 

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

IV. 

terior.       His    companions   disobeyed  his  instructions, 

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

O  o 

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


SMITH  RESCUED  BY   POCAHONTAS.  131 

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

hatan,  who  was  then  residing  in  what  is  now  Glouces 

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


132  ARRIVAL  OF  NEW   EMIGRANTS. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


SMITH  EXPLORES  THE  CHESAPEAKE.  133 


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

o 

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

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


134  SMITH   BECOMES   PRESIDENT   OF   THE  COUNCIL 

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

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

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

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

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

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


SMITH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  135 

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

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

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

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

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

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


136  THE   SECOND   CHARTER  OF    VIRGINIA. 

CHAP,  emoluments ; 1  the  enthusiasm  of  the  English  seemed 

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

1609.  and  honorable  plans2  were  conceived,  which  were  to 

be  effected  by  more  numerous  and  opulent  associates 

Not  only  were  the  limits  of  the  colony  extended,  the 

company  was  enlarged  by  the  subscriptions  of  many 

oi    the  nobility  and   gentry  of  England,  and  of  the 

tradesmen  of  London ;  and  the  name  of  the  powerful 

Cecil,  the    inveterate    enemy  and  successful  rival  of 

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

carry  into  execution  the  vast  design  to  which  Raleigh, 

now  a  close  prisoner  in  the  tower,  had  first  awakened 

the  attention  of  his  countrymen.     At  the  request  of  the 

corporation,  which  was  become  a  very  powerful  body, 

without  any  regard  to  the  rights  or  wishes  of  those 

who    had   already  emigrated  under   the    sanction   of 

May    existing  laws,  the  constitution  of  Virginia  was  radically 

'     changed. 

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

o 

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

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

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

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


NEW  EMIGRATION  FROM   ENGLAND.  137 

and  the  executive  officer  in  its  administration.     Thus  CHAP 

IV. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOL.    I.  18 


138  SMITH   RETURNS  TO  ENGLAND. 

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

^•v^  only  arrived  in  Virginia. 

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

0  o  o 

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

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

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

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

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

1  Smith,  i.  234. 


CHARACTER  OF  JOHN  SMITH.    THE  STARVING  TIME.  139 

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

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

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

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

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

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


140  JAMESTOWN   DESERTED 

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

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

a  Purchas,   iv.    1732    and    170(5.  23—20. 

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

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


LORD   DELAWARE  RESTORES  VIRGINIA.  141 

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

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

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

a  Ibid.  48. 


142  LORD  DELAWARE  RETURNS  TO  ENGLAND. 

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

o 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


DALE  INTRODUCES  MARTIAL  LAW.  143 

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

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

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


144  GATES   ARRIVES  WITH  NEW   EMIGRANTS. 

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

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

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


THIRD   CHARTER   FOR   VIRGINIA.  145 

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

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


146  POCAHONTAS-  AND    ROLFE. 

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

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

The   lotteries  produced  to  the  company  twenty-nine 

thousand   pounds  ;    but,    as    they   were    esteemed    a 

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

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

consequence  of  the  complaint  of  the  commons,  were 

suspended  by  an  order  of  council. 

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

o  o 

cause  of  this  change  of  relations. 

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

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


POCAHONTAS    AND    ROLFE.  147 

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

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


148      ACT  OF  PIRACY  AGAINST  ST.  SAUVEUR  AND  PORT   ROYAL 

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

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

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

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


MINISTRATION  OF  DALE.   THE  TENURE  OF  LANDS.   149 

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

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

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

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


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

Journal, 

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


150  THE  TENURE  OF  LANDS. 

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


CULTURE  OF  TOBACCO.     ADMINISTRATION  OF  ARGALL.  151 

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

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

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

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


152  ARGALL S   DESPOTIC   ADMINISTRATION. 

CHAP.       The   return  of  Lord   Delaware   to  America   might 

IV 

have  restored  tranquillity;  the  health  of  that  nobleman 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


YEARDLEY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  153 

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

o 

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

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

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


154  FIRST    AMERICAN    REPRESENTATIVE    ASSEMBLY. 

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

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

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


FIRST    AMERICAN    REPRESENTATIVE    ASSEMBLY.  155 

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

IV. 

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

Leave  to  propose  laws  was  given  to  any  burgess, 
or  by  way  of  petition  to  any  member  of  the  colony ; 
but  for  expedition's  sake,  the  main  business  of  the  ses 
sion  was  distributed  between  two  committees,  while  a 
third  body,  composed  of  the  governor  and  such  bur 
gesses  as  were  not  on  those  committees,  examined 
which  of  former  instructions  "  might  conveniently  put 
on  the  habit  of  laws."  The  legislature  acted  also 
as  a  criminal  court. 

The  church  of  England  was  confirmed  as  the 
church  of  Virginia ;  it  was  intended  that  the  first 
four  ministers  should  each  receive  two  hundred 
pounds  a  year;  all  persons  whatsoever,  upon  the 
Sabbath  days,  were  to  frequent  divine  service  and 
sermons  both  forenoon  and  afternoon ;  and  all  such 
as  bore  arms,  to  bring  their  pieces  or  swords. 
Grants  of  land  were  asked  not  for  planters  only,  but 
for  their  wives,  "  because,  in  a  new  plantation,  it  is 
not  known  whether  man  or  woman  be  the  most  neces 
sary."  Measures  were  adopted  "  towards  the  erecting  • 
of  a  university  and  college."  It  was  also  enacted, 
that  of  the  children  of  the  Indians,  "the  most  to- 
wardly  boys  in  wit  and  graces  of  nature  should  be 
brought  up  in  the  first  elements  of  literature,  and 
sent  from  the  college  to  the  work  of  conversion"  of 
the  natives  to  the  Christian  religion.  Penalties  were 
appointed  for  idleness,  gaming  with  dice  or  cards,  and 
drunkenness.  Excess  in  apparel  was  taxed  in  church 
for  all  public  contributions.  The  business  of  planting 
corn,  mulberry  trees,  hemp,  and  vines  was  encouraged. 


156  FIRST    AMERICAN    REPRESENTATIVE    ASSEMBLY. 

CHAP.  The  price  of  tobacco  was  fixed  at  three  shillings  a 
' — <~**  pound  for  the  best,  and  half  as  much  "  for  the  second 

1619. 


When  the  question  was  taken  on  accepting  "the 
great  charter,"  "it  had  the  general  assent  and  the 
applause  of  the  whole  assembly,1'  with  thanks  for  it 
to  Almighty  God  and  to  those  from  whom  it  had 
issued,  in  the  names  of  the  burgesses  and  of  the  whole 
colony  whom  they  represented ;  the  more  so,  as  they 
were  promised  the  power  to  allow  or  disallow  the  or 
ders  of  court  of  the  London  company. 

A  perpetual. interest  attaches  to  this  first  elective 
body  that  ever  assembled  in  the  Western  world,  rep 
resenting  the  people  of  Virginia,  and  making  laws  for 
their  government,  more  than  a  year  before  the  May 
flower,  with  the  Pilgrims,  left  the  harbor  of  South 
ampton,  and  while  Virginia  was  still  the  only  British 
colony  on  the  continent  of  America.  The  functions 
of  government  were  in  some  degree  confounded ;  but 
the  record  of  the  proceedings  justifies  the  opinion  of 
Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  that  "the  laws  were  very  well  and 
judiciously  formed." 

The  enactments  of  these  earliest  American  law 
givers  were  instantly  put  in  force,  without  waiting 
for  their  ratification  by  the  company  in  England. 
Former  griefs  were  buried  in  oblivion,  and  they  who 
had  been  dependent  on  the  will  of  a  governor,  having 
recovered  the  privileges  of  Englishmen,  under  a  code 
of  laws  of  their  own,  "  fell  to  building  houses  and 
planting  corn," and  henceforward  "regarded  Virginia 
as  their  country." 

The  patriot  party  in  England,  who  now  controlled 
the  London  company,  engaged  with  earnestness  in 
schemes  to  advance  the  numbers  and  establish  the 


THE   VIRGINIANS    ACQUIRE    HOMES.  157 

liberties  of  their  plantation.     No  intimidations,  not  CHAP. 
even  threats  of  blood,  could  deter  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  — — • 
the  new  treasurer,  from  investigating  and  reforming  ] 
the  abuses  by  which  its  progress  had  been  retarded. 
At  his  accession  to  office,  after  twelve  years'  labor, 
and  an  expenditure  of  eighty  thousand  pounds  by  the 
company,  there  were  in  the  colony  no  more  than  six 
hundred  men,  women,  and  children ;  and  in  one  year 
he  sent  over  twelve  hundred  and  sixty-one  persons. 
Nor  must  the  character  of  the  emigration  be  over- 

o 

looked.  "  The  people  of  Virginia  had  not  been  set 
tled  in  their  minds,"  and  as,  before  the  recent  changes, 
they  retained  the  design  of  ultimately  returning  to 
England,  it  was  necessary  to  multiply  attachments  to 
the  soil.  Few  women  had  dared  to  cross  the  Atlan 
tic  ;  but  now  the  promise  of  prosperity  induced  ninety 
agreeable  persons,  young  and  incorrupt,  to  listen  to 
the  advice  of  Sandys,  and  embark  for  the  colony, 
where  they  were  assured  of  a  welcome.  They  were 
transported  at  the  expense  of  the  company,  and  were 
married  to  its  tenants,  or  to  men  who  were  able  to 
support  them,  and  who  willingly  defrayed  the  costs  of 
their  passage,  which  were  rigorously  demanded.  The 
adventure  which  had  been  in  part  a  mercantile  specu 
lation,  succeeded  so  well,  that  it  was  proposed  to  send 
the  next  year  another  consignment  of  one  hundred  ;  162° 
but  before  these  could  be  collected,  the  company  found 
itself  so  poor,  that  its  design  could  be  accomplished 
only  by  a  subscription.  After  some  delays,  sixty  were  1621 
actually  despatched,  maids  of  virtuous  education,  young, 
handsome,  and  well  recommended.  The  price  rose 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  of  tobacco,  or  even  more  ;  so  that  all  the 


1«>7*  THE    VIRGINIANS    ACQUIRE    CIVIL    FREEDOM. 

CHAP,   original  charges  might  be  repaid.     The  debt  for  a 

— «— '  wife  was  a  debt  of  honor,  and  took  precedence  of  any 
other ;  and  the  company,  in  conferring  employments, 
gave  a  preference  to  married  men.  Domestic  ties 

161C    were  formed  ;  virtuous  sentiments  and  habits  of  thrift 

tc      ensued  ;  the  tide  of  emigration  swelled  ;  within  three 

years,  fifty  patents  for  land  were  granted,  and  three 

thousand  five  hundred  persons  found  their  way  to 

Virginia,  which  was  a  refuge  even  for  Puritans. 

When  Sandys,  after  a  year's  service,  resigned  his 
office  as  treasurer,  a  struggle  ensued  on  the  election 

1620.  of  his  successor.  The  meeting,  on  the  seventeenth  of 
May,  1620,  was  numerously  attended;  and,  as  the 
courts  of  the  company  were  become  the  schools  of 
debate,  many  distinguished  members  of  parliament 
were  present.  A  message  was  communicated  from 
King  James,  nominating  four  candidates,  one  of  whom 
he  desired  should  receive  the  appointment.  The 
company  resisted  the  royal  interference  as  an  in 
fringement  of  their  charter ;  and  the  choice  of  the 
meeting  fell  by  acclamation  upon  the  earl  of  South 
ampton,  the  early  friend  of  Shakespeare.  Having 
thus  vindicated  their  own  rights,  the  company  pro 
ceeded  to  redress  former  wrongs,  and  to  provide 
colonial  liberty  with  its  written  guarantees. 

In  the  case  of  the  appeal  to  the  London  company 
from  sentence  of  death  pronounced  by  Argall,  his 
friends,  with  the  earl  of  Warwick  at  their  head,  had 
voted,  that  trial  by  martial  law  is  the  noblest  kind  of 
trial,  because  soldiers  and  men  of  the  sword  were 
the  judges.  This  opinion  was  reversed,  and  the  rights 
of  the  colonists  to  trial  by  jury  sustained.  Nor  was 
it  long  before  the  freedom  of  the  northern  fisheries 


THE    VIRGINIANS    ACQUIRE    CIVIL    FREEDOM.  158 

was  equally  asserted,  and  the  monopoly  of  a  rival  CHAP. 
corporation  successfully  opposed. 

Lord  Bacon,  who,  at  the  time  of  Newport's  first 
voyage  with  emigrants  for  Virginia,  classed  the  en 
terprise  with  the  romance  of  "Amadis  de  Gaul,1' 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  future ;  and  now  he  said  of 
the  plantation  of  Virginia :  "  Certainly  it  is  with  the 
kingdoms  of  earth  as  it  is  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
sometimes  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  proves  a  great  tree. 
Who  can  tell  ?  " 

The  company  had  silently  approved  the  colonial 
assembly  which  had  been  convened  by  Sir  George 
Yeardley  ;  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  July,  1621,  a 
memorable  ordinance  established  for  the  colony  a 
written  constitution.  The  prescribed  form  of  gov 
ernment  was  analagous  to  the  English  constitution, 
and  was,  with  some  modifications,  the  model  of  the 
systems  which  were  afterwards  introduced  into  the 
various  royal  provinces.  Its  purpose  was  declared  to 
be  "  the  greatest  comfort  and  benefit  to  the  people, 
and  the  prevention  of  injustice,  grievances,  and  op 
pression."  Its  terms  are  few  and  simple :  a  gov 
ernor,  to  be  appointed  by  the  company ;  a  permanent 
council,  likewise  to  be  appointed  by  the  company;  a 
general  assembly,  to  be  convened  yearly,  and  to  con 
sist  of  the  members  of  the  council,  and  of  two  bur 
gesses  to  be  chosen  from  each  of  the  several  planta 
tions  by  the  respective  inhabitants.  The  assembly 
might  exercise  full  legislative  authority,  a  negative 
voice  being  reserved  to  the  governor ;  bat  no  law  or 
ordinance  would  be  valid,  unless  ratified  by  the  com 
pany  in  England.  It  was  further  agreed,  that,  after 
the  government  of  the  colony  shall  have  once  been 
framed,  no  orders  of  the  court  in  London  shall  bind 


158*  THE    VIRGINIANS    ACQUIRE    CIVIL    FREEDOM. 

CHAP,  the  colony,  unless  they  be  in  like  manner   ratified 
— > —  by  the  general  assembly.     The  courts  of  justice  were 
621    required  to  conform  to  the  laws  and  manner  of  trial 
used  in  the  realm  of  England. 

Such  was  the  constitution  which  Sir  Francis  Wyatt, 
the  successor  of  the  mild  but  inefficient  Yeardley,  was 
commissioned  to  bear  to  the  colony.     The  system  of 
representative  government  and  trial  by  jury  thus  be 
came  in  the  new  hemisphere  an  acknowledged  right, 
Henceforward  the  supreme  power  was  held  to  reside 
in  the  hands  of  the  colonial  parliament,  and  of  the 
king,  as  king  of  Virginia.      On  this  ordinance  Vir 
ginia  erected  the  superstructure  of  lier  liberties.     Its 
influences    were    wide    and    enduring,    and    can   be 
traced  through  all  her  history.     It  constituted  the 
plantation,  in  its  infancy,  a  nursery  of  freemen ;  and 
succeeding   generations    learned   to   cherish    institu 
tions   which  were  as  old  as   the  first  period  of  the 
prosperity  of  their  fathers.     The  privileges  then  con 
ceded,  could  never  be  wrested  from  the  Virginians ; 
and,  as  new  colonies  arose  at  the  south,  their  propri 
etaries  could  hope  to  win  emigrants  only  by  bestowing 
franchises   as  large  as  those  enjoyed  by  their  elder 
rival.      The  London   company  merits  the   praise  of 
having  auspicated  liberty  in  America.     It  may  be 
doubted  whether  any  public  act  during  the  reign  of 
King  James  was  of  more  permanent  or  pervading  in 
fluence  ;  and  it  reflects  glory  on  Sir  Edward  Sandys, 
the  earl   of  Southampton,  and  the  patriot  party  of 
England,  that  though  they  were  unable  to  establish 
guarantees  of  a  liberal  administration  at  home,  they 
were  careful  to  connect  popular  freedom  inseparably 
with  the  life,  prosperity,  and  state  of  society  of  Vir 
ginia. 


159 


CHAPTER    V. 

SLAVERY.    DISSOLUTION   OF  THE   LONDON   COMPANY. 

WHILE  Virginia,  by  the  concession  of  a  represen-  CHAP 
tative  government,  was  constituted  the  asylum  of  —~^ 
liberty,  by  one  of  the  strange  contradictions  in  human 
affairs,  it  became  the  abode  of  hereditary  bondsmen. 
The  unjust,  wasteful  and  unhappy  system  was  fastened 
upon  the  rising  institutions  of  America,  not  by  the 
consent  of  the  corporation,  nor  the  desires  of  the  emi 
grants  ;  but,  as  it  was  introduced  by  the  mercantile 
avarice  of  a  foreign  nation,  so  it  was  subsequently 
riveted  by  the  policy  of  England,  without  regard  to 
the  interests  or  the  wishes  of  the  colony. 

Slavery  and  the  slave-trade  are  older  than  the 
records  of  human  society:  they  are  found  to  have 
existed,  wherever  the  savage  hunter  began  to  assume 
the  habits  of  pastoral  or  agricultural  life  ;  and,  with 
the  exception  of  Australasia,  they  have  extended  to 
every  portion  of  the  globe.  They  pervaded  every 
nation  of  civilized  antiquity.  The  earliest  glimpses 
of  Egyptian  history  exhibit  pictures  of  bondage ;  the 
oldest  monuments  of  human  labor  on  the  Egyptian 
soil  are  evidently  the  results  of  slave  labor  The 
founder  of  the  Jewish  nation  was  a  slave-holder  and  a 
purchaser  of  slaves.  Every  patriarch  was  lord  in  his 
own  household.1 

1  Gen.  xii.  16 ;  xvii.  12 ;  xxxvii.  28. 


160  HISTORY   OF  SLAVERY   AND   THE   SLAVE-TRADL. 

CHAP.  The  Hebrews,  when  they  burst  the  bands  of  their 
— ^  own  thraldom,  carried  with  them  beyond  the  desert 
the  institution  of  slavery.  The  light  that  broke  from 
Sinai  scattered  the  corrupting  illusions  of  polytheism , 
but  slavery  planted  itself  even  in  the  promised  land, 
on  the  banks  of  Siloa,  near  the  oracles  of  God.  The 
Hebrew  father  might  doom  his  daughter  to  bondage  ; 
the  wife,  and  children,  and  posterity  of  the  emancipated 
slave,  remained  the  property  of  the  master  and  his 
heirs  ;  and  if  a  slave,  though  mortally  wounded  by  his 
master,  did  but  languish  of  his  wounds  for  a  day,  the 
owner  escaped  with  impunity ;  for  the  slave  was  his 
master's  money.  It  is  even  probable,  that,  at  a  later 
period,  a  man's  family  might  be  sold  for  the  payment 
of  debts.1 

The  countries  that  bordered  on  Palestine  were 
equally  familiar  with  domestic  servitude ;  and,  like 
Babylon,  Tyre  also,  the  oldest  arid  most  famous  com 
mercial  city  of  Phenicia,  was  a  market  "  for  the  persons 
of  men." 2  The  Scythians  of  the  desert  had  already 
established  slavery  throughout  the  plains  and  forests 
of  the  unknown  north. 

Old  as  are  the  traditions  of  Greece,  the  existence 
of  slavery  is  older.  The  wrath  of  Achilles  grew 
out  of  a  quarrel  for  a  slave ;  the  Grecian  dames 
had  crowds  of  servile  attendants ;  the  heroes  before 
Troy  made  excursions  into  the  neighboring  villages 
and  towns  to  enslave  the  inhabitants.  Greek  pi 
rates,  roving,  like  the  corsairs  of  Barbary,  in  quest 
of  men,  laid  the  foundations  of  Greek  commerce ; 
each  commercial  town  was  a  slave-mart;  arid  every 
cottage  near  the  sea-side  was  in  danger  from  the 

i  Exodus,  xxi.    4,  5,  6,  7.  21.        2  Ezekiel,    xxvii.   13.      Revela- 
Matthew,  xviii.  25  tion,  xviii.  13. 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  SLAVE-TRADE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

kidnapper.     Greeks  enslaved   each  other.     The  Ian-  CHAP. 
guage  of  Homer  was  the  mother-tongue  of  the  Helots ;  -^^ 
the  Grecian  city  that  made  war  on  its  neighbor  city 
exulted  in  its  captives  as  a  source  of  profit ;  the  hero 
of  Macedon  sold  men  of  his  own  kindred  and  language 
into  hopeless  slavery.     More  than  four  centuries  be-  Gj|Jies'fci 
fore  the  Christian  era,  Alcidamas,  a  pupil  of  Gorgias,  ^ 837- 
taught  that  "  God  has  sent  forth  all  men  free  ;  nature 
has  made  no  man  slave."     While  one  class  of  Greek  £rjst°!; 

rol.  ].  A 

authors  of  that  period  confounded  the  authority  of  3>an(1* 
master  and  head  of  a  family,  others   asserted   that 
the  relation  of  master  and  slave  is  conventional ;  that 
freedom  is  the  law  of  nature,  which  knows  no  dif 
ference  between  master  and  slave  ;  that  slavery  is 
therefore  the  child  of  violence  and  inherently  unjust. 
Aristotle  wrote  that  all  men  are  brothers  ;  and  though 
he  recognises  "living  chattels"  as  a  component  part 
of  the  complete  family,  he  has  left  on  record  his  most  Aristot. 
deliberate  judgment,  that  the  prize  of  freedom  should  ^Oe£' 
be  placed  within  the  reach  of  every  slave.     Yet  the  |ft!  !. 

J  Pol.  vii. 

idea  of  universal  free  labor  was  only  a  dormant  bud,  i°» 14;. 

*  '    Econ.  i. 

not  to  be  quickened  for  many  centuries.     In  every  5- 5- 
Grecian  republic  slavery  was  an  element. 

The  diffusion  of  bondage  throughout  the  dominions 
of  Rome,  and  the  severities  of  the  law  towards  the 
slave,  hastened  the  fall  of  the  commonwealth.  The 
power  of  the  father  to  sell  his  children,  of  the  creditor 
to  sell  his  insolvent  debtor,  of  the  warrior  to  sell  his 
captive,  carried  the  influence  of  the  institution  into 
the  bosom  of  every  family;  into  the  conditions  of 
every  contract;  into  the  heart  of  every  unhappy 
land  that  was  invaded  by  the  Roman  eagle.  The 
slave-markets  of  Rome  were  filled  with  men  of  vari-  2'  °* 
ous  nations  and  colors. 

The  Middle  Age  witnessed  rather  a  change  in  the 


162         THE  SLAVE  TRADE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

CHAP,  channels  of  the  slave-trade,  than  a  diminution  of  its 

v  . 

^vX^  evils.  The  pirate  and  the  kidnapper  and  the  con 
queror  still  continued  their  pursuits.  The  Saxon  race 
carried  the  most  repulsive  forms  of  slavery  to  England, 
where  not  half  the  population  could  assert  a  right  to 
freedom,  and  where  the  price  of  a  man  was  but  four 
times  the  price  of  an  ox.  The  importation  of  foreign 
slaves  was  freely  tolerated :  in  defiance  of  severe  pen 
alties,  the  Saxons  sold  their  own  kindred  into  slavery 
on  the  continent ;  nor  could  the  traffic  he  checked,  till 
religion,  pleading  the  cause  of  humanity,  made  its 
appeal  to  conscience.  Even  after  the  conquest,  slaves 
1102.  were  exported  from  England  to  Ireland,  till  the  reign 
of  Henry  II.,  when  a  national  synod  of  the  Irish,  to 
remove  the  pretext  for  an  invasion,  decreed  the  eman 
cipation  of  all  English  slaves  in  the  island. 

The  German  nations  made  the  shores  of  the  Baltic 
the  scenes  of  the  same  desolating  traffic ;  and  the 
Dnieper  formed  the  highway  on  which  Russian  mer 
chants  conveyed  to  Constantinople  the  slaves  that 
had  been  purchased  in  the  markets  of  Russia.  The 
wretched  often  submitted  to  bondage,  as  the  bitter  but 
only  refuge  from  absolute  want.  But  it  was  the  long 
wars  between  German  and  Slavonic  tribes  which  im 
parted  to  the  slave-trade  its  greatest  activity,  and  filled 
France  and  the  neighboring  states  with  such  numbers 
of  victims,  that  they  gave  the  name  of  the  Slavonic 
nation  to  servitude  itself;  and  every  country  of  West 
ern  Europe  still  preserves  in  its  language  the  record 
of  the  barbarous  traffic  in  "  Slaves." 

Nor  did  France  abstain  from  the  slave-trade.  Af 
Lyons  and  Verdun,  the  Jews  were  able  to  purchase 
slaves  for  their  Saracen  customers. 

In  Sicily,  and  perhaps  in  Italy,  the  children  of  Asia 
and  Africa,  in  their  turn,  were  exposed  for  sale  The 


THE   SLAVE-TRADE   IN  THE   MIDDLE   AGE.  165 

people  of  the  wilderness  and  the  desert  are  famed  CHAP 
for  love  of  their  offspring  ;  yet  in  the  extremity  of  ^- — 
poverty,  even  the  Arab  father  would  sometimes  pawn 
his  children  to  the  Italian  merchant,  in  the  vain  hope 
of  soon  effecting  their  ransom.  Rome  itself  long 
remained  a  mart  where  Christian  slaves  were  exposed 
for  sale,  to  supply  the  domestic  market  of  Mahom 
etans.  The  Venetians,  in  their  commercial  inter 
course  with  the  ports  of  unbelieving  nations,  as  well 
as  with  Rome,  purchased  alike  infidels  and  Christians, 
and  sold  them  again  to  the  Arabs  in  Sicily  and  Spain. 
Christian  and  Jewish  avarice  supplied  the  slave-market 
of  the  Saracens.  What  though  the  trade  was  exposed 
to  the  censure  of  the  church,  and  prohibited  by  the 
laws  of  Venice  ?  It  could  not  be  effectually  checked, 
till,  by  the  Venetian  law,  no  slave  might  enter  a  Vene 
tian  ship,  and  to  tread  the  deck  of  an  argosy  of  Venice 
became  the  privilege  and  the  evidence  of  freedom.1 

The  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion  would,  before 
the  discovery  of  America,  have  led  to  the  entire 
abolition  of  the  slave-trade,  but  for  the  hostility 
between  the  Christian  church  find  the  followers  of 
Mahomet.  In  the  twelfth  century,  Pope  Alexander 
111.,  true  to  the  spirit  of  his  office,  which,  during 
the  supremacy  of  brute  force  in  the  middle  age,  made 
of  the  chief  minister  of  religion  the  tribune  of  the 
people  and  the  guardian  of  the  oppressed,  had  written, 
that  "Nature  having  made  no  slaves,  all  men  have  an 
equal  right  to  liberty."  2  But  the  slave-trade  had  never 
relented  among  the  Mahometans  :  the  captive  Christian 
had  no  alternative  but  apostasy  or  servitude,  and  the 

l  Fischer,  in  ITiine,  i.  116.  Ma-  Scriptores;  Londini,  ]f),r>2,  i.  580. 

rin,  in  Heeren,  ii.  200.  Cum  aiitem  oinnes  libnroa  natura 

~  See  his  letter  to  Lupus,  king  creasset,  nullus  conditione  natune 

of  Valencia,  in  Historian  Ang-licanaj  f'uit  subditus  servituti. 


164  THE   SLAVE-TRADE   IN   THE   MIDDLE  AGE. 

wiJAp.  captive  infidel  was  treated  in  Christendom  with  eorre- 
-^-^  spending  intolerance.  In  the  days  of  the  crusaders,  and 
in  the  camp  of  the  leader  whose  pious  arms  redeemed 
the  sepulchre  of  Christ  from  the  mixed  nations  of 
Asia  and  Lybia,  the  price  of  a  war-horse  was  three 
slaves.  The  Turks,  whose  law  forbids  the  enslaving 
of  a  Mahometan,  still  continue  to  sell  Christian  cap 
tives ;  and  we  have  seen,  that  the  father  of  Virginia 
li£td  himself  tasted  the  bitterness  of  Turkish  bondage. 

All  this  might  have  had  no  influence  on  the  des 
tinies  of  America,  but  for  the  long  and  doubtful 
struggles  between  Christians  and  Moors  in  the  wrest 
of  Europe ;  where,  for  more  than  seven  centuries,  and 
in  more  than  three  thousand  battles,  the  two  religions 
were  arrayed  against  each  other ;  and  bondage  was 
the  reciprocal  doom  of  the  captive.  Bigotry  inflamed 
revenge,  and  animated  the  spirit  of  merciless  and  ex 
terminating  warfare.  France  and  Italy  were  filled 
with  Saracen  slaves ;  the  number  of  them  sold 
into  Christian  bondage  exceeded  the  number  of  all 
the  Christians  ever  sold  by  the  pirates  of  Barbary. 
The  clergy,  who  had  pleaded  successfully  for  the 
Christian,  felt  no  sympathy  for  the  unbeliever.  The 
final  victory  of  the  Spaniards  over  the  Moors  of 
Granada — an  event  contemporary  with  the  discovery 
of  America — was  signalized  by  a  great  emigration  of 
the  Moors  to  the  coasts  of  Northern  Africa,  where  each 
mercantile  city  became  a  nest  of  pirates,  and  every 
Christian  the  wonted  booty  of  the  successful  corsair 
Servitude  was  thus  the  doom  of  the  Christian  in 
Northern  Africa :  the  hatred  of  the  Moorish  dominion 
extending  to  all  Africa,  an  indiscriminate  and  retaliating 
bigotry  felt  no  remorse  at  dooming  the  sons  of  Africa 
to  bondage.  All  Africans  were  esteemed  as  Moors. 


ORIGIN  OF  NEGRO   SLAVERY.  165 

The  amelioration   of  the    customs  of  Europe    had  CHAF 
j/roceeded  from  the  influence  of  religion.     It  was  the  «• — <~ 
clergy  who  had  broken  up  the  Christian  slave-markets 
at  Bristol  and  at   Hamburg,   at  Lyons  and  at  Rome. 
At   the  epoch  of  the  discovery  of  America,   the  moral 
opinion  of  the  civilized  world  had  abolished  the  traffic 
in  Christian  slaves,  and  was  fast  demanding  the  eman 
cipation  of  the  serfs :  but  bigotry  had  favored  a  com 
promise  wiih  avarice  ;  and  the  infidel  was  not  yet  in 
cluded  within  the  pale  of  humanity. 

•  Yet  negro  slavery  is  not  an  invention  of  the  white 
man.  As  Greeks  enslaved  Greeks,  as  the  Hebrew 
often  consented  to  make  the  Hebrew  his  absolute 
lord,  as  Anglo-Saxons  trafficked  in  Anglo-Saxons,  so 
the  negro  race  enslaved  its  owrn  brethren.  The  oldest 
accounts  of  the  land  of  the  negroes,  like  the  glimmering 
traditions  of  Egypt  and  Phenicia,  of  Greece  and  of 
Rome,  bear  witness  to  the  existence  of  domestic 
slavery  and  the  caravans  of  dealers  in  negro  slaves. 
The  oldest  Greek  historian1  commemorates  the  traffic. 
Negro  slaves  were  seen  in  classic  Greece,  and  were 
known  at  Rome  and  in  the  Roman  empire.  It  is  from 
about  the  year  990,  that  regular  accounts  of  the 
negro  slave-trade  exist.  At  that  period,  Moorish  mer 
chants  from  the  Barbary  coast  first  reached  the  cities 
of  Nigritia,  and  established  an  uninterrupted  exchange 
ot  Saracen  and  European  luxuries  for  the  gold  and 
slaves  of  Central  Africa.  Even  though  whole  caravans 
were,  sometimes  buried  in  the  sands  of  the  desert,  and 
at  others,  without  shade  and  without  water,  suffered  the 
horrors  of  parching  thirst  under  a  tropical  sun,  yet  the 
commerce  extended  because  it  was  profitable;  and 

i  Herodotus,  1.  iv.  c.l  81— 185.  Compare  Heeren,  xiii.  187  and  231 5 
Blair's  Roman  Slavery,  24. 


166  ORIGIN   OF   NEGRO   SLAVERY  IN   EUROPE. 

CHAP,  before  the  genius  of  Columbus  had  opened  the  path 

— v^  to  a  new  world,  the  negro  slave-trade  had  been 
reduced  to  a  system  by  the  Moors,  and  had  spread 
from  the  native  regions  of  the  ^Ethiopian  race  to  the 
heart  of  Egypt  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  coasts  of 
Barbary  on  the  other.1 

But  the  danger  for  America  did  not  end  here.  The 
traffic  of  Europeans  in  negro  slaves  was  fully  estab 
lished  before  the  colonization  of  the  United  States, 
and  had  existed  a  half  century  before  the  discovery  of 
America. 

1415.  It  was  not  long  after  the  first  conquests  of  the 
Portuguese  in  Barbary,  that  the  passion  for  gain,  the 
love  of  conquest,  and  the  hatred  of  the  infidels,  con 
ducted  their  navy  to  the  ports  of  Western  Africa  ;  and 

1441.  the  first  ships  which  sailed  so  far  south  as  Cape 
Blanco,  returned,  not  with  negroes,  but  with  Moors. 
The  subjects  of  this  importation^were  treated,  not  as 
laborers,  but  rather  as  strangers,  from  whom  informa 
tion  respecting  their  native  country  was  to  be  derived. 

1443.  Antony  Gonzalez,  who  had  brought  them  to  Por 
tugal,  was  commanded  to  restore  them  to  their  ancient 
homes,  ifc  did  so,  and  the  Moors  gave  him  as  their 
ransom,  not  gold  only,  but  "  black  Moors"  with  curled 
hair.  Thus  negro  slaves  came  into  Europe  ;  and  mer 
cantile  cupidity  immediately  observed,  that  negroes 
might  become  an  object  of  lucrative  commerce.  New 

1144.  ships  were  despatched  without  delay.2  Spain  also 
engaged  in  the  traffic  :  the  historian  of  her  maritime 
discoveries  even  claims  for  her  the  unenviable  dis 
tinction  of  having  anticipated  the  Portuguese  in  intro 
ducing  negroes  into  Europe.3  The  merchants  of 

i  Edrisius  and  Leo  Africanus,  in        2  Galvano,  in  Hakluyt,  iv.  413 
Hiinc,   i.    150—  !<>.'*.      Iliine's    vol-     De  Pauw,  Rech.  Phil.  i.  21. 
unies  deserve  to  be  more  known.  3  Navarette,  Introduccion,  s.  xix. 


EUROPEANS    ENSLAVE    NATIVE   AMERICANS.  16"? 

Seville  imported  gold  dust  and  slaves  from  the  western  CHAP 
coast    of    Africa;1     and    negro    slavery,    though    the  --^ 
severity  of  bondage  was    mitigated    in  its   character 
by  benevolent  legislation,2  was  established   in  Anda 
lusia,  and  "  abounded  in  the  city  of  Seville,"  before  the 
enterprise  of  Columbus  was  conceived.3 

The  maritime  adventurers  of  those  days,  joining  the 
principles  of  bigots  with  the  bold  designs  of  pirates 
and  heroes,  esteemed  the  wealth  of  the  countries 
which  they  might  discover  as  their  rightful  plunder, 
and  the  inhabitants,  if  Christians,  as  their  subjects,  if 
infidels,  as  their  slaves.  Even  Indians  of  Hispaniola 
were  imported  into  Spain.  Cargoes  of  the  natives  of 
the  north  were  early  and  repeatedly  kidnapped.  The 
coasts  of  America,  like  the  coasts  of  Africa,  were  visit 
ed  by  ships  in  search  of  laborers  ;  and  there  was  hardly 
a  convenient  harbor  on  the  whole  Atlantic  frontier  of 
the  United  States  which  was  not  entered  by  slavers.4 
The  native  Indians  themselves  were  ever  ready  to 
resist  the  treacherous  merchant ;  the  freemen  of  the 
wilderness,  unlike  the  Africans,  among  whom  slavery 
had  existed  from  immemorial  time,  would  never  abet 
the  foreign  merchant,  or  become  his  factors  in  the 
nefarious  traffic.  Fraud  and  force  remained,  therefore, 
the  means  by  which,  near  Newfoundland  or  Florida, 
on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  or  among  the  Indians 


1  Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Isa-  gran   benignidad,  desde  el  tiernpo 
bella.  de  el  Key  Don  Henrique  Tercero," 

2  Zufiiga,   Annales    de    Sevilla,  &c.  &,c.,  374.     I  owe  the  oppor- 
373,  874.     The  passage  is  very  re-  tunity  of  consulting  Zufnga  to  W 
maikable     "  Avia  afios  que  desde  II.  Prescott,  of  Boston. 

los  Puertos  de  Andalu/ia   se   fre-  3  Irving's  Columbus,  ii.  351,  352. 

quentava  navegacion  a  los   costas  Uerrera,  d.  i.  1.  iv.  c.  xii. 

de  Africa,  y  Guinea,  de  donde  se  4  Compare  Peter  Martyr  d'Anghi- 

trcian  esclavos,  de  que  ya  abundava  era,  d.  vii.  c.  i.  and  ii.  in 

esta  ciudad,  &c.   &c.,  373.     Eran  v.  404,  405.  407. 

en  Sevilia  los  negros  tratados  con 


EUROPEANS  ENSLAVE  NATIVE  AMERICANS. 

CHAP  of  the  Mississippi  valley,   Cortereal   and  Vasquez  de 
— ^   Ay  lion,  Porcallo  and  Soto,  with  private  adventurers* 
whose  names   and  whose  crimes  may  be    left  unre 
corded,  transported  the  natives  of  North  America  into 
slavery  in  Europe  and  the  Spanish  West  Indies.     The 
glory  of  Columbus  himself  did  not  escape  the  stain ; 
1 1454.  enslaving  five  hundred  native  Americans,  he  sent  them 
to  Spain,  that  they  might  be  publicly  sold  at  Seville.1 

1500.  The  generous   Isabella  commanded  the  liberation  of 
the  Indians  held  in   bondage    in  her    European    pos 
sessions.2      Yet    her    active     benevolence     extended 
neither  to  the  Moors,  whose  valor  had   been  punished 
by  slavery,  nor  to  the  Africans ;  and  even  her  compas 
sion  for  the  New  World  was  but  the  transient  feeling, 
which   relieves  the    miserable  who    are  in   sight,  not 
the  deliberate  application  of  a  just  principle.     For  the 

June  commissions  for  making  discoveries,  issued  a  few  days 
a'nd  before  and  after  her  interference  to  rescue  those  whom 
J^lly  Columbus  had  enslaved,  reserved  for  herself  and  Fer- 

5. 

dinand  a  fourth   part3  of  the  slaves   which  the  new 

1501.  kingdoms  might  contain.     The  slavery  of  Indians  was 
recognized  as  lawful.4 

The  practice  of  selling  the  natives  of  North  America 
into  foreign  bondage  continued  for  nearly  two  centu 
ries  ;  and  even  the  sternest  morality  pronounced  the 
sentence  of  slavery  and  exile  on  the  captives  whom 
the  field  of  battle  had  spared.  The  excellent  Winthrop 
enumerates  Indians  among  his  bequests.5  The  articles 
of  the  early  New  England  confederacy  class  persons 
among  the  spoils  of  war.  A  scanty  remnant  of  the 

1  Irvine's  Columbus,  b.  viii.  c.  v.  Navarette,  ii.  245,  and  again,  n. 249. 

~  Navarette,  Coll.  ii.  24(1,  247.  4  See  a  c£dula  on  a  slave  con- 

3  Esclavos,  e  negros,  £  loros  que  tract,  in  Navarette,  iii.  514,  515, 

en  estos  nuestros  reinos  sean  habi-  given  June  20,  1501. 

dos  e  reputados  por  esclavos,  &,c.  5  Winthrop's  N.  E.,  ii.  3GO. 


NEGRO   SLAVERY   IN  THE  WEST   INDIES.  169 

Pequod  tribe1  in  Connecticut,  the  captives  treacher-  CHAP 
ously  made  by  Waldroa  in  New  Hampshire,2  the  — ^ 
harmless  fragments  of  the  tribe  of  Annawon,3  the 
orphan  offspring  of  King  Philip  himself,4  were  all 
doomed  to  the  same  hard  destiny  of  perpetual  bondage. 
The  clans  of  Virginia  and  Carolina,5  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years,  were  hardly  safe  against  the  kidnapper. 
The  universal  public  mind  was  long  and  deeply  vitiated. 
It  was  not  Las  Casas  who  first  suggested  the  plan 
of  transporting  African  slaves  to  Hispaniola ;  Spanish 
slaveholders,  as  they  emigrated,  were  accompanied  by 
their  negroes.  The  emigration  may  at  first  have  been 
contraband  ;  but  a  royal  edict  soon  permitted  negro  1501 
slaves,  born  in  slavery  among  Christians,  to  be  trans 
ported  to  Hispaniola.6  Thus  the  royal  ordinances  of 
Spain  authorized  negro  slavery  in  America.  Within 
two  years,  there  were  such  numbers  of  Africans  in  1503 
Hispaniola,  that  Ovando,  the  governor  of  the  island, 
entreated  that  the  importation  might  no  longer  be 
permitted.7  The  Spanish  government  attempted  to 
disguise  the  crime,  by  forbidding  the  introduction  of 
negro  slaves,  who  had  been  bred  in  Moorish  families,8 
and  allowing  only  those  who  were  said  to  have  been 
instructed  in  the  Christian  faith,  to  be  transported  to 
the  West  Indies,  under  the  plea  that  they  might 
assist  in  converting  the  infidel  nations.  But  the  idle 
pretence  was  soon  abandoned ;  for  should  faith  in 
Christianity  be  punished  by  perpetual  bondage  in  the 

1  Winthrop'a  N.  E.,  i.  234.  is  indeed  undisputed,  its  previous  ex- 

2  Btlknap's  Hist,  of  N.   Hamp-  istence.    Lawson's  Carolina.    Chal- 
ehire,  i.  75,  Fanner's  edition.  mers,  542. 

3  Baylies'  Plymouth,  iii.  190.  6  Herrera,  d.  i.  1.  iv.  c.  xii. 

4  Davis,  on  Morton's  Memorial,  7  Irving's   Columbus,    Appendix, 
454,  455.      Baylies'  Plymouth,  iii.  No.   26,    iii.   372,    first  American 
190,  191.  edition. 

5  Hening,  i.  481,  482.    The  act,  8  Herrera,  d.  i.  1.  vi.  c.  xx. 
forbidding  the  crime,  proves,  what 

VOL.  i  22 


170  NEGRO   SLAVERY   IN  THE   WEST  INDIES. 

CHAP,  colonies  ?     And  would  the  purchaser  be  scrupulously 
— ^  inquisitive   of   the    birthplace    and    instruction  of  his 
laborers  ?     Besides,  the  culture  of  sugar  was  now  suc 
cessfully  begun ;    and  the  system  of  slavery,  already 
riveted,  was  not  long  restrained  by  the  scruples  of  men 

1510.  in  power.     King  Ferdinand  himself  sent  from  Seville 
fifty  slaves1  to  labor  in  the  mines;,  and,  because  it  was 
said,  that  one  negro  could  do  the  work  of  four  Indians, 
the  direct  traffic  in  slaves  between  Guinea  and  11  is- 

1511.  paniola  was  enjoined   by  a  royal  ordinance,2  and  de- 
1512-3  liberately  sanctioned    by  repeated    decrees.3     Was    it 

not  natural  that  Charles  V.,  a  youthful  monarch,  sur 
rounded  by  rapacious  courtiers,  should  have  readily 

A516.  granted  licenses  to  the  Flemings  to  transport  negroes 
to  the  colonies  ?  The  benevolent  Las  Casas,  who  had 
seen  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  New  World  vanish 
away,  like  dew,  before  the  cruelties  of  the  Spaniards, 
who  felt  for  the  Indians  all  that  an  ardent  charity  and 
the  purest  missionary  zeal  could  inspire,  and  wrho  had 
seen  the  African  thriving  in  robust4  health  under  the 

1517  sun  of  Hispaniola,  returning  from  America  to  plead 
the  cause  of  the  feeble  Indians,  in  the  same  year 
which  saw  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation  in  Germany, 
suggested  the  expedient,5  that  negroes  might  still 
further  be  employed  to  perform  the  severe  toils  which 
they  alone  could  endure.  The  avarice  of  the  Flemings 
greedily  seized  on  the  expedient ;  the  board  of  trade 

1  Herrera,  d.  i.  1.  viii.  c.  ix.  troversy     seems     now     concluded. 

2  Ibid.  d.  i.  1.  ix.  c.  v.      Herrera  Irving's    Columbus,    iii.   3(i7 — -378. 
is  explicit.     The  note  of  the  French  Navarette,  Introduccion,  s.  Iviii.  lix, 
translator  of  Navarette,  i  .203,  204,  The  Memoir  of  Las  Casas  still  ex- 
needs  correction.     A  commerce  irr  ists  in  manuscript.     Herrera,  d.  ii.  I. 
negroes,  sanctioned  by  the  crown,  ii.  c.xx.    Robertson's  America,  b.  iii, 
was  surely  not  contraband.  It  may  yet  gratify  curiosity  to  corn- 

3  Irvine's  Columbus,  iii.  372.  pare  Gr^goire,  Apologie  de  B.  Las 

4  Ibid.  iii.  370,  371.  Casas,  in  Mem.  de  1'Inst.  Nat.  An 

5  The  merits  of  Las  Casas  have  viii.;  and  Verplanck,  in  N.  Y.  Hist 
"been  largely  discussed.     The  con-  Coll.  iii.  49 — 53,  and  103 — 105. 


OPINIONS    ON    SLAVERY.  171 

at  Seville  was  consulted,  to  learn  how  many  slaves  CHAP. 
would  be  required.  It  had  been  proposed  to  allow  -^— 
four  for  each  Spanish  emigrant ;  deliberate  calculation  " 
fixed  the  number  esteemed  necessary  at  four  thou 
sand.  The  year  in  which  Charles  V.  led  an  expedition 
against  Tunis,  to  check  the  piracies  of  the  Barbary 
states,  and  to  emancipate  Christian  slaves  in  Africa, 
he  gave  an  open  sanction  to  the  African  slave  trade. 
The  sins  of  the  Moors  were  to  be  revenged  on  the 
negroes  ;  and  the  monopoly  for  eight  years  of  annu 
ally  importing  four  thousand  slaves  into  the  West 
Indies,  was  eagerly  seized  by  La  Bresar  a  favorite  of 
the  Spanish  monarch,  and  was  sold  to  the  Genoese, 
who  purchased  their  cargoes  of  Portugal.  We  shall, 
at  a  later  period,  observe  a  stipulation  for  this  lucra 
tive  monopoly,  in  a  treaty  of  peace,  established  by 
a  European  congress ;  shall  witness  the  sovereign  of 
the  most  free  state  in  Europe  stipulating  for  a  fourth 
part  of  its  profits ;  and  shall  trace  its  intimate  con 
nection  with  the  first  in  that  series  of  wars  which  led 
to  the  emancipation  of  America.  Las  Casas  lived  to 
repent  of  his  hasty  benevolence,  declaring  afterwards 
that  the  captivity  of  black  men  is  as  iniquitous  as  that 
of  Indians;  and  he  feared  the  wrath  of  divine  justice 
for  having  favored  the  importation  of  negro  slaves 
into  the  western  hemisphere.  But  covetousness,  and 
not  a  mistaken  compassion,  established  the  slave  trade, 
which  had  nearly  received  its  development  before  the 
voice  of  charity  was  heard  in  defence  of  the  Indians. 
Reason,1  policy,  and  religion,  alike  condemned  the 

1  Inter  dominum  et  servum  nnlln  perfect  condition  of  slavery  is  the 

amicitia  est ;  etiam    in   pace   belli  state  of  war  continued  between  a 

tamen    jura    servantur.       Quintns  lawful   conqueror  and  a   captive." 

Curtins,  1.  vii.  c.  viii.     John  Locke,  Compare,  also,  Montesquieu  de  PE- 

who  sanctioned  slavery  in  Carolina,  sprit  des  Lois,  1.  xv.  c.  v.,  on  negro 

gives  a  similar  definition  of  it.  "  The  slavery. 


J72  OPINIONS   ON    SLAVERY. 

CHAP,  traffic.  A  series  of  papal  bulls  had  indeed  secured  to 
^~  the  Portuguese  the  exclusive  commerce  with  Western 
Africa;  but  the  slave-trade  between  Africa  and  America 
was,  I  believe,  never  expressly  sanctioned  by  the 
see  of  Rome.  The  spirit  of  the  Roman  church  was 
against  it.  Even  Leo  X.,  though  his  voluptuous 
life,  making  of  his  pontificate  a  continued  carnival, 
might  have  deadened  the  sentiments  of  humanity  and 
justice,  declared,  that  "  not  the  Christian  religion  only, 
but  nature  herself,  cries  out  against  the  state  of  slavery." 
1537.  And  Paul  III.,  in  two  separate  briefs,  imprecated  a 
"o.  curse  on  the  'Europeans  who  should  enslave  Indians, 
or  any  other  class  of  men.  It  even  became  usual  for 
Spanish  vessels,  when  they  sailed  on  a  voyage  of  dis 
covery,  to  be  attended  by  a  priest,  whose  benevolent 
duty  it  was,  to  prevent  the  kidnapping  of  the  abo 
rigines.  The  legislation  of  independent  America  has 
been  emphatic  in  denouncing  the  hasty  avarice  which 
entailed  the  anomaly  of  negro  slavery  in  the  midst  of 
liberty.  Ximenes,  the  gifted  coadjutor  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  the  stern  grand  inquisitor,  the  austere  but 
ambitious  Franciscan,  saw  in  advance  the  danger 
which  it  required  centuries  to  reveal,  and  refused  to 
sanction  the  introduction  of  negroes  into  IJispaniola ; 
believing  that  the  favorable  climate  would  increase 

o 

their  numbers,  and  infallibly  lead  them  to  a  successful 
revolt.  A  severe  retribution  has  manifested  his  sa 
gacity  :  Hayti,  the  first  spot  in  America  that  received 
African  slaves,  was  the  first  to  set  the  example  of  Af 
rican  liberty.  But  for  the  slave-trade,  the  African  race 
would  have  had  no  inheritance  in  the  New  World. 

The  odious  distinction   of  having   first   interested 
England  in  the  slave-trade  belongs  to  Sir  John  Haw- 
is  62    kins.     In    1562;   he    transported   a   large    cargo    of 


HAWKINS  THE  FIRST  ENGLISH  SLAVE  MERCHANT.  173 

Africans  to  Hispaniola ;  the  rich  returns  of  sugar,  CHAP. 
ginger,  and  pearls,  attracted  the  notice  of  Queen  ^~^> 
Elizabeth  ;  and  when,  five  years  later,  a  new  expe-  l 
dition  was  prepared,  she  was  induced,  not  only  to 
protect,  but  to  share  the  traffic.  Hawkins  himself 
relates  of  one  of  his  expeditions,  that  he  set  fire 
to  a  city,  of  which  the  huts  were  covered  with  dry 
palm-leaves,  and,  out  of  eight  thousand  inhabitants, 
succeeded  in  seizing  two  hundred  and  fifty.  The 
self-approving  frankness  with  which  he  avows  the 
deed,  and  the  lustre  which  his  fame  acquired,  dis 
play  the  depravity  of  public  sentiment  in  his  time. 
In  all  other  emergencies  he  knew  how  to  pity  the 
unfortunate,  and  with  cheerful  liberality  relieve  their 
wants,  even  when  they  were  not  his  countrymen. 
Yet  the  commerce,  on  the  part  of  the  English,  in 
Spanish  ports  was  by  the  laws  of  Spain  illicit,  as 
well  as  by  the  laws  of  morals  detestable;  and  when 
the  sovereign  of  England  participated  in  its  haz 
ards,  its  profits,  and  its  crimes,  she  became  at  once 
a  smuggler  and  a  slave-merchant. 

The  earliest  importation  of  negro  slaves  into  New  1037  , 
England  was  made  in  1637,  from  Providence  isle, 
in  the  Salem  ship  "Desire."  A  ship  of  one  James  1645. 
Smith,  a  member  of  the  church  of  Boston,  and  one 
Thomas  Keyser,  first  brought  upon  the  colonies 
the  guilt  of  participating  in  the  direct  traffic  with 
Africa  for  slaves.  In  *L645,  they  sailed  "for  Guinea 
to  trade  for  negroes."  When  they  arrived  there, 
they  joined  with  "some  Londoners,"  and  "upon  the 
Lord's  day,  invited  the  natives  aboard  one  of  their 
ships."  Such  as  came  they  kept  prisoners.  Then, 
landing  men,  they  assaulted  a  town,  which  they 
burned,  killing  some  of  the  people.  But  through- 


174  NEW  ENGLAND  AND  THE  SLAVE-TRADE. 

CHAP,  out   Massachusetts,  where    slavery   could   plead   the 

v — ^^  sanction  of  positive  law,  and  where  a  very  few 
>45'  blacks  as  well  as  Indians  were  already  held  in  bond 
age,  a  cry  was  raised  against  "such  vile  and  most 
odious  courses,  justly  abhorred  of  all  good  and  just 
men."  Richard  Saltonstall,  a  worthy  assistant,  who 
"truly  endeavored  the  advance  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  good  of  the  people,"  denounced  the  "acts  of 
murder,  of  stealing  negroes,  and  of  chasing  them  upon 
the  Sabbath  day,"  as  "  directly  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  God  and  the  laws  of  this  jurisdiction;"  the  guilty 

1646.  nien  were  committed  for  the  offence;  and,  in  the 
next  year,  after  advice  with  the  elders,  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  people,  bearing  "  witness  against  the 
heinous  crime  of  man-stealing,"  ordered  the  negroes 
to  be  restored,  at  the  public  charge,  "to  their  na 
tive  country,  with  a  letter  expressing  the  indigna 
tion  of  the  general  court"  at  their  wrongs. 

1671.  When  George  Fox  visited  Barbadoes  in  1671,  he 
enjoined  it  upon  the  planters,  that  they  should  "deal 
mildly  and  gently  with  their  negroes ;  and  that,  after 
certain  years  of  servitude,  they  should  make  them  free." 
His  idea  had  been  anticipated  by  the  fellow-citizens 

1652.  of  Gorton  and  Roger  Williams.  On  the  eighteenth 
of  May,  1652,  the  representatives  of  Providence  and 
Warwick,  perceiving  the  disposition  of  people  in  the 
colony  "  to  buy  negroes,"  and  hold  them  "  as  slaves 
forever,"  enacted  that  "  no  black  mankind  "  shall,  "by 
covenant,  bond,  or  otherwise,"  be  held  to  perpetual 
service ;  the  master,  "  at  the  end  of  ten  years, 
shall  set  them  free,  as  the  manner  is  with  English 
servants ;  and  that  man  that  will  not  let "  his  slave 
"go  free,  or  shall  sell  him  away,  to  the  end  that  he 
may  be  enslaved  to  others  for  a  longer  time,  shall  for- 


ENGLISH,  SCOTCH,  AND   IRISH,   SOLD   AS   SERVANTS.  175 

feit  to  the  colony  forty  pounds."  l     Now,  forty  pounds  CHAP 
was  nearly  twice  the  value  of  a  negro  slave.     The  law  — ^ 
was  not  enforced ;  but  the  principle  lived  among  the 
people. 

Conditional  servitude,  under  indentures  or  cove 
nants,  had  from  the  first  existed  in  Virginia.  The 
servant  stood  to  his  master  in  the  relation  of  a  debtor, 
bound  to  discharge  the  costs  of  emigration  by  the  entire 
employment  of  his  powers  for  the  benefit  of  his  cred 
itor.  Oppression  early  ensued  :  men  who  had  been 
transported  into  Virginia  at  an  expense  of  eight  or  ten 
pounds,  were  sometimes  sold  for  forty,  fifty,  or  even 
threescore  pounds.2  The  supply  of  white  servants 
became  a  regular  business  ;  and  a  class  of  men,  nick 
named  spirits,  used  to  delude  young  persons,  servants 
and  idlers,  into  embarking  for  America,  as  to  a  land 
of  spontaneous  plenty.3  White  servants  came  to  be  a 
usual  article  of  traffic.  They  were  sold  in  England  to 
be  transported,  and  in  Virginia  were  resold  to  the 
highest  bidder ;  like  negroes,  they  were  to  be  purchased 
on  shipboard,  as  men  buy  horses  at  a  fair.4  In  1672, 
the  average  price  in  the  colonies,  where  five  years  of 
service  were  due,  was  about  ten  pounds  ;  while  a  negro 
was  worth  twenty  or  twenty-five  pounds.5  So  usual 
was  this  manner  of  dealing  in  Englishmen,  that  not 
the  Scots  only,  who  were  taken  in  the  field  of  Dunbar, 
were  sent  into  involuntary  servitude  in  New  Eng 
land,6  but  the  royalist  prisoners  of  the  battle  of  Wor 
cester ; 7  and  the  leaders  in  the  insurrection  of  Penrud- 

1  (Jeorge _  Fox's  Journal,  An.  1671.  5  Blome's  Jamaica,  84  and  1G. 
The  law  of  Rhode  Island  I  copied  6  Cromwell  and  Cotton,  in  Hutch- 
trom  the  records  in  Providence.  inson's  Coll.  2W — '£35. 

2  Smith,  i.  105.  7  Suffolk  County    Records,  i.  5 

3  Bullock's  Virginia,  1049,  p.  14.  and  (i.     The  names  of  two  hundred 

4  Sad  State  of  Virginia,  1057,  p.  4,  and  seventy  are  recorded.     The  la- 
5.    Hammond's  Leah  and  Rachel,  7.  ding  of  the  John  and  Sarah  was 


176  NEGRO   SLAVERY    IN   VIRGINIA. 

CHAP,  doc,1  in  spite  of  the  remonstrance  of  Haselrig  and 
-^  Henry  Vane,  were  shipped  to  America.  At  the  cor 
responding  period,  in  Ireland,  the  crowded  exportation 
of  Irish  Catholics  was  a  frequent  event,  and  was  at 
tended  by  aggravations  hardly  inferior  to  the  usual 
atrocities  of  the  African  slave-trade.2  In  1685,  when 
nearly  a  thousand  of  the  prisoners,  condemned  for  par 
ticipating  in  the  insurrection  of  Mon mouth,  were  sen 
tenced  to  transportation,  men  of  influence  at  court, 
with  rival  importunity,  scrambled  for  the  convicted  in 
surgents  as  a  merchantable  commodity.3 

The  condition  of  apprenticed  servants  in  Virginia 
differed  from  that  of  slaves  chiefly  in  the  duration  ot 
their  bondage  ;  and  the  laws  of  the  colony  favored 
their  early  enfranchisement.4  But  this  state  of  labor 
easily  admitted  the  introduction  of  perpetual  servitude. 
The  commerce  of  Virginia  had  been  at  first  monopo 
lized  by  the  company  ;  but  as  its  management  for  the 
benefit  of  the  corporation  led  to  frequent  dissensions, 
tt  was  in  1620  laid  open  to  free  competition.5  In  the 
month  of  August,  1619,  a  few  days  only  after  the  first 
representative  assembly  of  Virginia,  about  sixteen 
months  before  the  Plymouth  colony  landed  in  America, 
and  less  than  two  years  before  the  concession  of  a 
written  constitution,  more  than  a  century  after  the  last 
vestiges  of  hereditary  slavery  had  disappeared  from 
English  society  and  the  English  constitution.,  and  five 
years  after  the  commons  of  France  had  petitioned  for 
the  emancipation  of  every  serf  in  every  fief,  a  Dutch 
man-of-war  entered  James  Kiver,  and  landed  twenty 

"ironwork,    household    stuff,     and        2  Linfrard,  xi.  131,  132. 

other   provisions    for   planters   and         3  Dalrymple.     Mackintosh,  I  list 

Scotch  prisoners."     Recorded  May  of  the  Revolution  of  1088. 

14,  H552.  4  Honing,  i.  257. 

i   Burton's    Diary,   iv.   202.   271.        5  gtiUi,  171. 
Godwin's  Commonwealth,  iv.  172. 


JNEGRO   SLAVERY   IN   VIRGINIA.  177 

negroes  for  sale.1  This  is,  indeed,  the  sad  epoch  of  CHAP 
the  introduction  of  negro  slavery  in  the  English  colo-  — ^-* 
nies ;  but  the  traffic  would  have  been  checked  in  its 
infancy,  had  its  profits  remained  with  the  Dutch. 
Thirty  years  after  this  first  importation  of  Africans, 
(he  increase  had  been  so  inconsiderable,  that  to  one 
black,  Virginia  contained  fifty  whites  ; 2  and,  at  a  later 
period,  after  seventy  years  of  its  colonial  existence, 
the  number  of  its  negro  slaves  was  proportionably 
much  less  than  in  several  of  the  free  states  at  the  time 
of  the  war  of  independence.  It  is  the  duty  of  faithful 
history  to  trace  events,  not  only  to  their  causes,  but 
to  their  authors ;  and  \ve  shall  hereafter  inquire  what 
influence  was  ultimately  extended  to  counteract  the 
voice  of  justice,  the  cry  of  humanity,  and  the  remon 
strances  of  colonial  legislation.  Had  no  other  form  of 
servitude  been  known  in  Virginia,  than  such  as  had 
been  tolerated  in  Europe,  every  difficulty  would  have 
been  promptly  obviated  by  the  benevolent  spirit  of 
colonial  legislation.  But  a  new  problem  in  the  history 
of  man,  was  now  to  be  solved.  For  the  first  time,  the 
^Ethiopian  and  Caucasian  races  were  to  meet  together 
in  nearly  equal  numbers  beneath  a  temperate  zone. 
Who  could  foretell  the  issue?  The  negro  race,  from 
(he  first,  was  regarded  with  disgust,  and  its  union  with 
the  whites  forbidden  under  ignominious  penalties.3 
For  many  years,  the  Dutch  were  principally  concerned 
in  the  slave-trade  in  the  market  of  Virginia  ;  the  im 
mediate  demand  for  laborers  may,  in  part,  have  blinded 
(lie  eyes  of  the  planters  to  the  ultimate  evils  of  slavery,4 

1  Beveney  e  Virginia,  35.     Stith,        3  Herring,  i.  140. 

18*2;   Chalmers,  40 ;    Burk,  i.  211;        4  This  may  be  inferred  from  a 

and  Hening,  i.  140,  all  rely  on  Bev-  paper  on  Virginia,  in  Thurloe,  V. 

erley.    But  see  Smith,  126.  81  or  Hazard,  i.  GUI. 

2  New  Description  of  Virginia. 

VOL.  i.  23 


178  WYATT'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

CIJAP.  though  the  laws  of  the  colony,  at  a  very,  early  period, 
— — -  discouraged  its  increase  by  a  special  tax  upon  female 

slaves.1 

1621  IfWyatt,  on  his  arrival  in  Virginia,  found  the  evil 
of  negro  slavery  engrafted  on  the  social  system,  he 
brought  with  him  the  memorable  -ordinance,  on  which 
the  fabric  of  colonial  liberty  was  to  rest,  and  which 
was  interpreted  by  his  instructions2  in  a  manner 
favorable  to  the  independent  rights  of  the  colonists. 
Justice  was  established  on  the  basis  of  the  laws  of 
England,  and  an  amnesty  of  ancient  feuds  proclaimed. 
As  Puritanism  had  appeared  in  Virginia,  "  needless 
novelties"  in  the  forms  of  worship  were  now  prohib 
ited.  The  order  to  search  for  minerals  betrays  the 
continuance  of  lingering  hopes  of  finding  gold  ;  while 
the  injunction  to  promote  certain  kinds  of  manufactures 
was  ineffectual,  because  labor  could  otherwise  be  more 
profitably  employed. 

1621  The  business  which  occupied  the  first  session  under 
^°J  the  written  constitution,  related  chiefly  to  the  encour- 
Dec.  agement  of  domestic  industry ;  and  the  culture  of  silk 
particularly  engaged  the  attention  of  the  assembly.3 
But  legislation,  though  it  can  favor  industry,  cannot 
create  it.  When  soil,  men,  and  circumstances,  com 
bine  to  render  a  manufacture  desirable,  legislation  can 
protect  the  infancy  of  enterprise  against  the  unequal 
competition  with  established  skill.  The  culture  of 
silk,  long,  earnestly,  and  frequently  recommended  to 
the  attention  of  Virginia,4  is  successfully  pursued,  only 
when  a  superfluity  of  labor  exists  in  a  redundant  pop 
ulation.  In  America,  the  first  wants  of  life  left  no 

1  Hening,  ii.  84,  Act  liv.  March,     194—196.     Burk,  v..i.  p.  224—227 
1662.     The  statute  implies,  that  the         3  Heningr,  i.  1 19. 

rule  already  existed.  4  Virgo  Triumphans,  35. 

2  Ibid.    i.    114—118.     Stith,  p. 


WYATTS  ADMINISTRATION.  179 

labor  without  a  demand  ;  silk-worms  could  not  be  cared  CHAP 

for  where   every  comfort  of  household   existence   re -*-»- 

quired  to  be  created.  Still  less  was  the  successful 
culture  of  the  vine  possible.  The  company  had  repeat 
edly  sent  vine-dressers,  who  had  been  set  to  work  under 
the  terrors  of  martial  law,  and  whose  efforts  were 
continued  after  the  establishment  of  regular  govern 
ment.  But  the  toil  was  in  vain.  The  extensive  cul 
lure  of  the  vine,  unless  singularly  favored  by  climate, 
succeeds  only  in  a  dense  population ;  for  a  small  vine 
yard  requires  the  labor  of  many  hands.  It  is  a  law  of 
nature,  that,  in  a  new  country  under  the  temperate 
zone,  corn  and  cattle  will  be  raised,  rather  than  silk 
or  wine. 

The  first  culture  of  cotton  in  the  United  States  de-  1621 
serves    commemoration.     This   year   the    seeds   were 
planted  as  an  experiment ;  and  their  "  plentiful  coming 
up"  was,  at  that  early  day,  a  subject  of  interest  in 
America  and  England.1 

Nor  did  the  benevolence  of  the  company  neglect  to 
establish  places  of  education,  and  provide  for  the  sup 
port  of  religious  worship.  The  bishop  of  London  col 
lected  and  paid  a  thousand  pounds  towards  a  univer 
sity  ;  which,  like  the  several  churches  of  the  colony, 
was  liberally  endowed  with  domains.2  Public  and 
private  charity  were  active  ;3  but  the  lands  were  never 
occupied  by  productive  laborers ;  and  the  system  of 
obtaining  a  revenue  through  a  permanent  tenantry 
could  meet  with  no  success,  for  it  was  not  in  harmony 
with  the  condition  of  colonial  society. 

Between  the   Indians  and   the  English  there  had  1622 
been  quarrels,   but  no  wars.     From  the  first  landing 

i  Thorp's  letter  of  May  17, 1621,        a  gtith,  102.  100.  172,  17,3. 
in  a  marginal  note  in  Purchas,  iv.        3  Mem.  of  Religious  Charitie,  in 
178U.  State  of  Virginia,  1022,  p.  51—54. 


180         NUMBER  AND  POWER  OF  THE  ABORIGINES. 

CHAP,  of  colonists  in  Virginia,  the  power  of  the  natives  was 
— ~v^  despised ;  their  strongest  weapons  were  such  arrows 
1622  as  they  could  shape  without  the  use  of  iron,  such 
hatchets  as  could  be  made  from  stone ;  and  an  Eng 
lish  mastiff  seemed  to  them  a  terrible  adversary.1  Nor 
were  their  numbers  considerable.  Within  sixty  miles 
of  Jamestown,  it  is  computed,  there  were  no  more 
than  five  thousand  souls,  or  about  fifteen  hundred 
warriors.  The  whole  territory  of  the  clans  which 
listened  to  Powhatan  as  their  leader  or  their  con 
queror,  comprehended  about  eight  thousand  square 
miles,  thirty  tribes,  and  twenty-four  hundred  warriors , 
so  that  the  Indian  population  amounted  to  about  one 
inhabitant  to  a  square  mile.2  The  natives,  naked  and 
feeble  compared  with  the  Europeans,  were  no  where 
concentrated  in  considerable  villages,  but  dwelt  dis 
persed  in  hamlets,  with  from  forty  to  sixty  in  each 
company.  Few  places  had  more  than  two  hundred : 
and  many  had  less.3  It  was  also  unusual  for  any  large 
portion  of  these  tribes  to  be  assembled  together.  An 
idle  tale  of  an  ambuscade  of  three  or  four  thousand  is 
perhaps  an  error  for  three  or  four  hundred ;  otherwise 
it  is  an  extravagant  fiction,  wholly  unworthy  of  belief.4 
Smith  once  met  a  party,  that  seemed  to  amount  to 
seven  hundred;  and,  so  complete  was  the  superiority 
conferred  by  the  use  of  fire-arms,  that  with  fifteen 
men  he  wras  able  to  withstand  them  all.5  The  savages 
were  therefore  regarded  with  contempt  or  compassion. 
No  uniform  care  had  been  taken  to  conciliate  their 

1  Smith,  ii.  08.     Stith,  211.  1/90.     State  of  Virginia  in    1G22, 

2  Smith,  i.  129.     Compare  Jeffer-     p.  19.     Ileyiin,  b.  iv.  9(5. 

son's  Notes.  QIUP re  xi. ;  True  Dec-  4  Smith,   i.    177,  abundantly  re- 

laration  of  Virginia,  10.     "The  ex-  futed   by   what    "Smith    writ   with 

tent  of  a  hundred  miles  was  scarce  his   own   hand,"   i.    129      Burk,   i 

peopled  with  two  thousand  inhabit-  311,  312,  condemned  too  hastily 

ants."  5  Smith,  i.  129. 

3  Smith,    ii.    Gti.      Purchas,    iv. 


NUMBER   AND   POWER  OF  THE   ABORIGINES  181 

good  will ;  although  their  condition  had  been  improved  CHAP 
by  some  of  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  The  degree  of  — ^ 
their  advancement  may  be  judged  by  the  intelligence 
of  their  chieftain.  A  house  having  been  built  for 

a 

Opcchancanough  after  the  English  fashion,  he  took 
such  delight  in  the  lock  and  key,  that  he  would  lock 
and  unlock  the  door  a  hundred  times  a  day,  and 
thought  the  device  incomparable.1  When  Wyatt  ar 
rived,  the  natives  expressed  a  fear  lest  his  intentions 
should  be  hostile  :  he  assured  them  of  his  wish  to  pre 
serve  inviolable  peace ;  and  the  emigrants  had  no  use 
for  fire-arms  except  against  a  deer  or  a  fowl.  Confi 
dence  so  far  increased,  that  the  old  law,  which  made 
death  the  penalty  for  teaching  the  Indians  to  use  a 
musket,  was  forgotten  ;  and  they  were  now  employed 
as  fowlers  and  huntsmen.2  The  plantations  of  the 
English  were  widely  extended,  in  unsuspecting  confi 
dence,  along  the  James  River  and  towards  the  Po 
tomac,  wherever  rich  grounds  invited  to  the  culture 
of  tobacco;3  nor  were  solitary  places,  remote  from 
neighbors,  avoided,  since  there  would  there  be  less 
competition  for  the  ownership  of  the  soil. 

Powhatan,  the  father  of  Pocahontas,  remained,  after 
the  marriage  of  his  daughter,  the  firm  friend  of  the 
English.  He  died  in  1618;  and  his  younger  brother 
was  now  the  heir  to  his  influence.  Should  the  native 
occupants  of  the  soil  consent  to  be  driven  from  their 
ancient  patrimony  ?  Should  their  feebleness  submit 
patiently  to  contempt,  injury,  and  the  loss  of  their 
lands  ?  The  desire  of  self-preservation,  the  necessity 
of  self-defence,  seemed  to  demand  an  active  resist 
ance  ;  to  preserve  their  dwelling-places,  the  English 

i  Smith,  ii.  08.     Stith,211.  3  Beverley,   38.      Burk,   i.   231, 

a  Ibid.  ii.  103.     Beverley,  38.          232. 


182  A  MASSACRE   AND  AN  INDIAN  WAR. 

CHAP,  must  be  exterminated ;  in  open  battle  the  Indians 
— ^  would  be  powerless  ;  conscious  of  their  weakness,  they 
1622  could  not,  hope  to  accomplish  their  end  except  by  a 
preconcerted  surprise.  The  crime  was  one  of  savage 
ferocity;  but  it  was  suggested  by  their  situation. 
They  were  timorous  and  quick  of  apprehension,  and 
consequently  treacherous  ;  for  treachery  and  falsehood 
are  the  vices  of  cowardice.  The  attack  was  prepared 
with  impenetrable  secrecy.  To  the  very  last  hour 
the  Indians  preserved  the  language  of  friendship:  they 
borrowed  the  boats  of  the  English  to  attend  their  own 
assemblies  ;  on  the  very  morning  of  the  massacre,  they 
were  in  the  houses  and  at  the  tables  of  those  whose 
death  they  were  plotting.  "  Sooner,"  said  they, 
"  shall  the  sky  fall,  than  peace  be  violated  on  our 
Mar.  part."  At  length,  on  the  twenty-second  of  March,  at 
mid-day,  at  one  and  the  same  instant  of  time,  the 
Indians  fell  upon  an  unsuspecting  population,  which 
was  scattered  through  distant  villages,  extending  one 
hundred  and  forty  miles,  on  both  sides  of  the  river. 
The  onset  was  so  sudden,  that  the  blow  was  not  dis 
cerned  till  it  fell.  None  were  spared  :  children  and 
women,  as  well  as  men ;  the  missionary,  who  had  cher 
ished  the  natives  with  untiring  gentleness ;  the  liberal 
benefactors,  from  whom  they  had  re.ceived  daily  kind 
nesses, — all  were  murdered  with  indiscriminate  bar 
barity,  and  every  aggravation  of  cruelty.  The  savages 
fell  upon  the  dead  bodies,  as  if  it  had  been  possible  to 
commit  on  them  a  fresh  murder. 

In  one  hour  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  persons 
were  cut  off.  Yet  the  carnage  was  not  universal; 
and  Virginia  was  saved  from  so  disastrous  a  grave.1 

i  On  the  massacre ;  A  Dcclara-     a  Relation  of  the   barbarous  Mas- 
tion  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  with    sacre,  &c.  &c.  1G22.     Tins  is   the 


AN   INDIAN  WAR.  183 

The  night  before  the  execution  of  the  conspiracy,  it  CHA'P 
was  revealed  by  a  converted  Indian  to  an  Englishman  — ^ 
whom  he  wished  to  rescue  ;  Jamestown  and  the  near-  1623 
est  settlements  were  \vell  prepared  against  an  attack ; 
and  the  savages,  as  timid  as  they  were  ferocious,  fled 
with  precipitation  from  the  appearance  of  wakeful  re 
sistance.  Thus  the  larger  part  of  the  colony  was 
saved  *  A  year  after  the  massacre,  there  still  remain 
ed  two  thousand  five  hundred  men ;  the  total  number 
of  the  emigrants  had  exceeded  four  thousand.  The 
immediate  consequences  of  this  massacre  were  dis 
astrous.  Public  works  were  abandoned  ; 2  the  culture 
of  the  fields  was  much  restricted ;  the  settlements 
were  reduced  from  eighty  plantations  to  less  than 
eight.3  Sickness  prevailed  among  the  dispirited  col 
onists,  who  were  now  crowded  into  narrow  quarters ; 
some  even  returned  to  England.  But  plans  of  in 
dustry  were  eventually  succeeded  by  schemes  of 
revenge ;  and  a  war  of  extermination  ensued.  In 
England,  the  news,  far  from  dispiriting  the  adventur 
ers,  awakened  them  to  strong  feelings  of  compassionate 
interest ;  the  purchase  of  Virginia  was  endeared  by 
the  sacrifice  of  so  much  life ;  and  the  blood  of  the 
victims  became  the  nurture  of  the  plantation.4  New 
supplies  and  assistance  were  promptly  despatched ; 
even  King  James,  for  a  moment,  affected  a  sentiment 
of  generosity,  and,  like  the  churl,  gave  from  the  tower 
of  London  presents  of  arms,  which  had  been  thrown 
by  as  good  for  nothing  in  Europe.  They  might  be 
useful,  thought  the  monarch,  against  the  Indians  !  He 

groundwork    of   the    narrative   in  exact  Compare  Holmes,  i.  178,  note. 

Smith,  ii.  05— 7G,  and  of  Purchas,  2  stjth,  281,  2J'J.  218. 

iv.  1/88— 17M.     Stith,  208— 2 ia  3  Purchas,   iv.  171)2.     Virginia's 

i  State  of  Virginia,  in  1022,  p.  18.  Verger,  in  Purchas,  iv.  1810.     Stith, 

Purchas,  iv.  1792,  says  one  thousand  235. 

eight  hundred  survived;  probably  in-  4  Stith,  233. 


184 


AN   INDIAN   WAR. 


CHAP,  also  made  good  promises,  which  were  never  fulfilled.1 
— v^.  The  city  of  London  contributed  to  repair  the  losses  of 
1622  t]ie  Virginians;  and  many  private  persons  displayed 
an  honorable  liberality.2  Smith  volunteered  his  ser 
vices  to  protect  the  planters,  overawe  the  savages,  and 
make  discoveries ;  the  company  had  no  funds,  and  his 
proposition  was  never  made  a  matter  of  public  discus 
sion  or  record ;  but  some  of  the  members,  with  ludi 
crous  cupidity,  proposed,  he  should  have  leave  to  go 
at  his  own  expense,  if  he  would  grant  the ,  corporation 
one  half  of  the  pillage.3  There  were  in  the  colony 
much  loss  and  much  sorrow,  but  never  any  serious 
apprehensions  of  discomfiture  from  the  Indians.  The 
midnight  surprise,  the  ambuscade  by  day,  might  be 
feared ;  the  Indians  promptly  fled  on  the  least  indica 
tions  of  watchfulness  and  resistance.  There  were  not 
wanting  men  who  now  advocated  an  entire  subjection 
of  those  whom  lenity  could  not  win ;  and  the  example 
of  Spanish  cruelties  was  cited  with  applause.4  Be 
sides,  a  natural  instinct  had  led  the  Indians  to  select 
for  their  villages  the  pleasantest  places,  along  the 
purest  streams,  and  near  the  soil  that  was  most  easily 
cultivated.  Their  rights  of  property  were  no  longer 
much  respected ;  their  open  fields  and  villages  were 
now  appropriated  by  the  colonists,  who  could  plead 
the  laws  of  war  in  defence  of  their  covetousness. 
Treachery  also  was-  employed.  The  tangled  woods, 
the  fastnesses  of  nature,  were  the  bulwarks  to  which 
the  savages  retreated.  Pursuit  would  have  been  vain  ; 
they  could  not  be  destroyed  except  as  they  were  lulled 
into  security,  and  induced  to  return  to  their  old  homes. 
1623.  In  July  of  the  following  year,  the  inhabitants  of  the 

1  Burk,  i.  248,  249.  4  stith,  2,33.     Smith,  iL  71,  /2. 

2  Stith,  232,  m  5  Stub,  303. 

3  Smith,  ii.  79—81.     Stith.  234 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE   WAR.  185 

several    settlements,   in    parties,   under    commissioned  CHAP 
officers,  fell  upon  the  adjoining  savages;  and  a  law  of  ^^ 
the  general  assembly  commanded,  that  in  July  of  1624, 
the   attack  should   be  repeated.     Six  years  later,  the  1G30 
colonial  statute-book  proves  that  schemes  of  ruthless 
vengeance  were  still  meditated ;  for  it  was  sternly  in 
sisted,  that  no  peace  should    be    concluded  with  the 
Indians — a  law  which  remained  in  force  till  a  treaty  in 
the  administration  of  Harvey.1  1632 

Meantime,  a  change  was  preparing  in  the  relations  1623 
of  the  colony  with  the  parent  state.  A  corporation, 
whether  commercial  or  proprietary,  is,  perhaps,  the 
worst  of  sovereigns.  Gain  is  the  object  which  leads 
to  the  formation  of  those  companies,  and  which  con 
stitutes  the  interest  most  likely  to  be  fostered.  If 
such  a  company  be  wisely  administered,  its  colonists 
are  made  subservient  to  commercial  avarice.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  interests  of  the  company  are  sac 
rificed,  the  colonists,  not  less  than  the  proprietors,  are 
pillaged  for  the  benefit  of  faithless  agents.  Where  an 
individual  is  the  sovereign,  there  is  room  for  an  ap 
peal  to  magnanimity,  to  benevolence,  to  the  love  of 
glory ;  where  the  privilege  of  self-government  is  en 
joyed,  a  permanent  interest  is  sure  to  gain  the  ultimate 
ascendency ;  but  corporate  ambition  is  deaf  to  mercy, 
and  insensible  to  shame. 

The  Virginia  colony  had  been  unsuccessful.  A  set 
tlement  had  been  made  ;  but  only  after  a  vast  ex 
penditure  of  money,  and  a  great  sacrifice  of  human 
life.  Angry  factions  distract  unsuccessful1  institutions ; 
and  the  London  company  was  now  rent  by  two  par 
ties,  which  were  growing  more  and  more  imbittered. 

i  Burk,  i.  275  ;  ii.  37.    Henmg,  i.  123.  15& 
VOL.    I.  24 


186         KING  JAMES  AND  THE  LONDON  COMPANY. 

CHAP.  As  the  shares  in  the  unproductive  stock  were  of  little 
^•v-^/  value,  the  contests  were  chiefly  for  power ;  and  were 
1G23.  not  so  much  the  wranglings  of  disappointed  merchants 
as  the  struggle  of  political  leaders.  The  meetings  of 
the  company,  which  now  consisted  of  a  thousand  ad 
venturers,  of  whom  two  hundred  or  more  usually  ap 
peared  at  the  quarter  courts,1  were  the  scenes  for 
freedom  of  debate,  where  the  patriots,  who  in  parlia 
ment  advocated  the  cause  of  liberty,  triumphantly 
opposed  the  decrees  of  the  privy  council  on  subjects 
connected  with  the  rights  of  Virginia.  The  unsuccess 
ful  party  in  the  company  naturally  found  an  ally  in  the 
king ;  it  could  hope  for  success  only  by  establishing 
the  supremacy  of  his  prerogative ;  and  the  monarch, 
dissatisfied  at  having  intrusted  to  oJiers  the  control 
of  the  colony,  now  desired  to  recover  the  influence  of 
which  he  was  deprived  by  a  charter  of  his  own  con 
cession.  Besides,  he  disliked  the  freedom  of  debate. 
"  The  Virginia  courts,"  said  Gondemar,  the  Spanish 
envoy,  to  King  James,  "  are  but  a  seminary  to  a  sedi 
tious  parliament."2  Yet  the  people  of  England,  regard 
ing  only  the  failure  of  their  extravagant  hopes  in  the 
American  plantations,  took  little  interest  in  the  progress 
of  the  controversy  which  now  grew  up  between  the 
monarch  and  the  corporation ;  and  the  inhabitants  ol 
the  colony  were  still  more  indifferent  spectators  of  the 
strife,  which  related,  not  to  their  liberties,  but  to  their 
immediate  sovereign.3  Besides,  there  was  something 
of  retributive  justice  in  the  royal  proceedings.  The 
present  proprietors  enjoyed  their  privileges  in  conse 
quence  of  a  wrong  done  to  the  original  patentees, 

1  Stith,  282—286.  3  Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia, 

2  New  Description,  ii.  Mass.  Hist    152, 153. 
Coll.  ix.  lia 


KING  JAMES  AND  THE  LONDON  COMPANY.         18? 

and  now  suffered  no  greater  injury  than  had  been  CHAP 
before  inflicted  on  others  for  their  benefit.1 


At  the  meeting  for  the  choice  of  officers,  in   1622, 
King  James  once  more  attempted  to  control  the  elec 
tions,  by  sending  a  message,  nominating  several  can 
didates,  out  of  whom  they  were  to  choose  their  treas 
urer.     The  advice  of  the  king  was  disregarded,  and  a 
great  majority  reflected    the  earl   of  Southampton.2  1623 
Unable  to  get  the  control  of  the  company  by  overawing 
their  assemblies,  the  monarch  now  resolved  upon  the 
sequestration   of    the    patent;    and    raised    no   other 
question,  than  how  the  unjust  design  could  most  plau 
sibly   be   accomplished,  and    the  law  of  England   be 
made  the  successful  instrument  of  tyranny.     The  alle 
gation  of  grievances,  set  forth  by  the  court  faction  in 
a  petition  to  the  king,  was  fully  refuted  by  the  com-    jyjay 
pany,  and  the  whole  ground  of   discontent  was    an-     7* 
swered  by  an  explanatory  declaration.3     Yet  commis-     9 
sioners  \vere  appointed  to  engage  in  a  general  inves 
tigation  of  the  concerns  of  the  corporation  ;  the  records 
were    seized,    the    deputy-treasurer    imprisoned,    and 
private  letters  from   Virginia  intercepted   for  inspec 
tion.4     Smith  was  particularly  examined  ;  his  honest 
answers   plainly  exposed  the   defective   arrangements 
of  previous  years,  and  favored   the   cancelling  of  the 
charter  as  an  act  of  benevolence  to  the  colony.5 

The   result  surprised  every  one  :  the  king,   by  an    Oct. 
order  in  council,  made   known,  that  the  disasters  of 
Virginia  were  a  consequence  of  the  ill  government  of 
the  company  ;  that  he  had  resolved,  by  a  new  charter, 
to  reserve  to  himself  the  appointment  of  the  officers 

1  Smith,  ii.  107.  4  gtith,  208.     Burk,  i.  208.    Ry- 

2  Burk,  i.  257.  mer,  xvii.  4'JO—  41W. 

3  In  Burk,  i.  31(5-330.  Stith,        5  Smith,  ii.  103—108 
276,  277,  and  201—  2U7. 


188         KING  JAMES  AND  THE  LONDON  COMPANY. 

CHAP,  in  England,  a  negative  on  appointments  in  Viiginia 
— ^~  and  the  supreme  control  of  all  colonial  affairs.     Pri- 
IG23.  vate  interests  were  to  be   sacredly  preserved;  and  all 
grants  of  land  to  be  renewed  and  confirmed.     Should 
the  company  resist   the   change,  its   patent  would   be 
recalled.1     This  was   in    substance    a   proposition    to 
revert  to  the  charter  originally  granted. 

It  is  difficult  to  obtain  a  limitation  of  authority  from 
a  corporate  body :  an  aristocracy  is,  of  all  forms  of 
government,  the  most  tenacious  of  life,  and  the  least 
^  flexible  in  its  purposes.  The  company  heard  the  order 
in  council  with  amazement :  it  was  read  three  several 
times  ;  and  after  the  reading,  for  a  long  while,  no  man 
spoke  a  word.  Should  they  tamely  surrender  privi 
leges  which  were  conceded  according  to  the  forms  of 
law,  had  been  possessed  for  many  years,  and  had  led 
them  to  expend  large  sums  of  money,  that  had  as  yet 
yielded  no  return  ?  The  corporation  was  inflexible, 
for  it  had  no  interest  to  yield.  It  desired  only  a 
month's  delay,  that  ail  its  members  might  take  part  in 
the  final  decision.  The  privy  council  peremptorily 
Get  demanded  a  decisive  answer  within  three  days ;  and, 
at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  the  surrender  of  the 
charter  was  strenuously  refused.2  The  liberties  of 
the  company  were  a  trust  which  might  be  yielded  to 
superior  force,  but  could  not  be  freely  abandoned 
without  dishonor. 

Ost.  But  the  decision  of  the  king  was  already  taken , 
and  commissioners  were  appointed  to  proceed  to  Vir 
ginia,  to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  plantation,  to 
ascertain  what  expectations  might  be  conceived,  and 
to  discover  the  means  by  which  good  hopes  were  to 

1  Burk,  i.  209.     Stith,  303—304. 

2  stith,  2<J4— 2<JG.     Burk,  i.  2Gi>— 271 


COMMISSIONERS  IN   VIRGINIA  189 

bn  realized.1  John  Harvey  and  Samuel  Matthews,  CHAP 
hoth  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  Virginia,  were  of  —  ^ 
the  number  of  the  committee.  1623 

It  now  only  remained  to  issue  a  writ  of  quo  warran-  NOV 
to  against  the  company.  It  was  done  ;  and,  at  the 
next  quarter  court,  the  adventurers,  seven  only  oppo-  19. 
sing,  confirmed  the  former  refusal  to  surrender  the 
charter,  and  made  preparations  for  defence.2  For  that 
purpose,  their  papers  were  for  a  season  restored  :  while 
they  were  once  more  in  the  hands  of  the  company, 
they  were  fortunately  copied  ;  and  the  copy,  having 
been  purchased  by  a  Virginian,  was  consulted  by  Stith, 
and  gave  to  his  history  the  authority  of  an  original 
record.3 

While  these  things  were  transacting  in  England,  the  1024 

O  O  C"  ' 

commissioners,  early  in  the  year,  arrived  in  the  colony 
A  meeting  of  the  general  assembly  was  immediately 
convened  ;  and,  as  the  company  had  refuted  the  alle 
gations  of  King  James,  as  opposed  to  their  interests,  so 
the  colonists  replied  to  them,  as  contrary  to  their  honor 
and  good  name.  The  principal  prayer  was,  that  the 
governors  might  not  have  absolute  power;  and  that  the 
liberty  of  popular  assemblies  might  be  retained  ;  "  for," 
say  they,  "  nothing  can  conduce  more  to  the  public 
satisfaction  and  the  public  utility."4  To  urge  this  so 
licitation,  an  agent  was  appointed  to  repair  to  Eng 
land.  The  manner  in  which  the  expenses  of  the  mission 
were  borne,  marks  colonial  times  and  manners,  and  the 
universality  of  the  excitement.  A  tax  of  four  pounds 
of  the  best  tobacco  was  levied  upon  every  male  who 
was  above  sixteen  years  and  had  been  in  the  colony 


1  Burk,  i.  272,  and  note.     Chal-        3  Bnrj^  j.  274.     Ilening,  i.  76. 
mers,  (52.  76.  4  Burk,  i.  27<J,  277. 

2  Stith,  25)8,  21)1). 


190  SPIRIT  OF  THE   VIRGINIANS. 

CHAP,  a   twelvemonth.1      The    commissioner    unfortunately 

^v^   died  on  his  passage  to  Europe.2 

1624.  The  spirit  of  liberty  had  planted  itself  deeply  among 
the  Virginians.  It  had  been  easier  to  root  out  the 
staple  produce  of  their  plantations,  than  to  wrest  from 
them  their  established  franchises.  The  movements  of 
their  government  display  the  spirit  of  the  place  and  the 
aptitude  of  the  English  colonies  for  liberty.  A  faith 
less  clerk,  who  had  been  suborned  by  one  of  the  com 
missioners  to  betray  the  secret  consultations  of  the 
Virginians,  was  promptly  punished.  In  vain  was  it 
attempted,  by  means  of  intimidation  and  promises  of 
royal  favor,  to  obtain  a  petition  for  the  revocation  of 
the  charter.  It  \vas  under  that  charter,  that  the  as 
sembly  was  itself  convened ;  and,  after  prudently  re 
jecting  a  proposition  which  might  have  endangered  its 
own  existence,  it  proceeded  to  memorable  acts  of  hide 
pendent  legislation.3 

The  rights  of  property  were  strictly  maintained 
against  arbitrary  taxation.  "  The  governor  shall  not 
lay  any  taxes  or  ympositions  upon  the  colony,  their 
lands  or  commodities,  other  way  than  by  the  authority 
of  the  general  assembly,  to  be  levyed  and  ymployed  as 
the  said  assembly  shall  appoynt."  Thus  Virginia,  the 
oldest  colony,  was  the  first  to  set  the  example  of  a  just 
and  firm  legislation  on  the  management  of  the  public 
money.  We  shall  see  others  imitate  the  example, 
which  could  not  be  excelled.  The  rights  of  personal 
liberty  were  likewise  asserted,  and  the  power  of  the 
executive,  circumscribed.  The  several  governors  had 
in  vain  attempted,  by  penal  statutes,  to  promote  tb<> 
culture  of  corn  ;  the  true  remedy  was  now  discovered 

l  Henmor,  L  128,  Act  35.  3  Hening,  i.  122—128.     Burk,  i 

9  Burk,  i.  277.  278—280.    Stith,  318—322. 


SPIRIT  OF  THE   VIRGINIANS  191 

by  the  colonial  legislature.  "  For  the  encouragement  CHAP 
of  men  to  plant  store  of  corn,  the  price  shall  not  be  - — 
stinted,  but  it  shall  be  free  for  every  man  to  sell  it  as 
deare  as  he  can."  The  reports  of  controversies  in 
England,  rendered  it  necessary  to  provide  for  the  pub 
lic  tranquillity  by  an  express  enactment,  "  that  no  per 
son  within  the  colony,  upon  the  rumor  of  supposed 
change  and  alteration,  presume  to  be  disobedient  to  the 
present  government."  The  law  was  dictated  by  the 
emergency  of  the  times ;  and,  during  the  struggle  in 
London,  the  administration  of  Virginia  was  based  upon 
a  popular  decree.  These  laws,  so  judiciously  framed, 
show  how  readily,  with  the  aid  of  free  discussion,  men 
become  good  legislators  on  their  own  concerns ;  for 
wise  legislation  is  the  enacting  of  proper  laws  at  proper 
times  ;  and  no  criterion  is  so  nearly  infallible  as  the 
fair  representation  of  the  interests  to  be  affected. 

While  the  commissioners  were  urging  the  Virginians 
to  renounce  their  right  to  the  privileges  which  they 
exercised  so  well,  the  English  parliament  assembled ; 
and  a  gleam  of  hope  revived  in  the  company,  as  it  for 
warded  an  elaborate  petition1  to  the  grand  inquest  of 
the  kingdom.  It  is  a  sure  proof  of  the  unpopularity 
of  the  corporation,  that  it  met  with  no  support  from 
the  commons  ;  9  but  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  more  intent  on 
the  welfare  of  Virginia  than  the  existence  of  the  com 
pany,  was  able  to  secure  for  the  colonial  staple  complete 
protection  against  foreign  tobacco,  by  a  petition  of 
grace,3  whkh  was  followed  by  a  royal  proclamation.4 
Tli3  people  of  England  could  not  have  given  a  more 
earnest  proof  of  their  disposition  to  foster  the  plantations 

1  Stith,  324—328.  bett's    Parl.    Hist.    i.  1489—1497. 

2  Chalmers,  65,  GO.     Burk,i.  291.  The  commons  acted   by   petition. 

3  Stith,  328,  refers  to  the   nine  Hazard,  i.  193. 
grievances ;  erroneously.    See  Cob-  4  Hazard,  i.  193 — 198. 


192  DISSOLUTION   OF  THE   LONDON   COMPANY. 

CHAP,  in  America,  than  by  restraining  all  competition  in  thejf 
^^  own  market  for  the  benefit  of  the  American  planter. 
]  624  Meantime,  the  commissioners  arrived  from  the  col 
ony,  and  made  their  report  to  the  king.1  They  enu 
merated  the  disasters  which  had  befallen  the  infant 
settlement ;  they  eulogized  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and 
the  salubrity  of  the  climate  ;  they  aggravated  the  neg 
lect  of  the  company  in  regard  to  the  encouragement  of 
staple  commodities ;  they  esteemed  the  plantations  of 
great  national  importance,  and  an  honorable  monument 
of  the  reign  of  King  James  ;  they  expressed  a  prefer 
ence  for  the  original  constitution  of  1606  ;  they  de 
clared,  that  the  alteration  of  the  charter  to  so  popular 
a  course,  and  so  many  hands,  referring,  not  to  the 
colonial  franchises,  but  to  the  democratic  form  of  the 
London  company,  could  lead  only  to  confusion  and 
contention ;  and  they  promised  prosperity  only  by  a 
recurrence  to  the  original  instructions  of  the  monarch. 
June  Now,  therefore,  nothing  but  the  judicial  decision 
remained.  The  decree,  which  was  to  be  pronounced 
by  judges  w'.io  held  their  office  by  the  tenure  of  the 
royal  pleasure,2  could  not  long  remain  doubtful ;  at  the 
Trinity  term  of  the  ensuing  year,  judgment  was  given 
against  the  treasurer  and  company,3  and  the  patents 
were  cancelled. 

Thus  the  company  was  dissolved.  It  had  fulfilled 
its  high  destinies ;  it  had  confirmed  the  colonization  of 
Virginia,  and  had  conceded  a  liberal  form  of  govern- 

1  Ha/ard,  i.  190,  191.    Burk,  i.  charter,  only  upon  a  failer,  or  mis- 
291,2112.  take   in    pleading."      Sec    a  Short 

2  Story's  Com.  i.  27.  Collection  of  the  most  Remarkable 

3  Stith,  M29,  M.'{0,  doubts  if  judg-  Passages  from  the  Originall  to  the 
mcnt  were  passed.   The  doubt  may  Dissolution   of  the   Virginia  Com 
be  removed.     "Before  the  end  of  pauy ;  London,    1(151,  p.    15.     See, 
the  same   term,    a  judgment    was  also,  Hazard,  i.  191 ;  Chalmers,  G2 
declared  by  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  Frond's  Pennsylvania,  i.  107 

JLey  against  the  company  and  their 


VIRGINIA  RETAINS  ITS  LIBERTIES.  193 

ment  to  Englishmen  in  America.  It  could  accomplish  CHAP 
no  more.  The  members  were  probably  willing  to  — — 
escape  from  a  concern  which  promised  no  emolument, 
and  threatened  an  unprofitable  strife  ;  the  public  acqui 
esced  in  the  fall  of  a  corporation  which  had  of  late 
maintained  but  a  sickly  and  hopeless  existence ;  and  it 
was  clearly  perceived,  that  a  body  rent  by  internal 
factions,  and  opposed  by  the  whole  force  of  the  English 
court,  could  never  succeed  in  fostering  Virginia.  The 
fate  of  the  London  company  found  little  sympathy ;  in 
the  domestic  government  and  franchises  of  the  colony, 
it  produced  no  immediate  change.  Sir  Francis  Wyatt, 
though  he  had  been  an  ardent  friend  of  the  London 
company,  was  confirmed  in  office ;  and  he  and  his 
council,  far  from  being  rendered  absolute,  were  only 
empowered  to  govern  "  as  fully  and  amplye  as  any 
governor  and  council  resident  there,  at  any  time  with 
in  the  space  of  five  years  now  last  past."  This  term 
of  five  years  was  precisely  the  period  of  representative 
government ;  and  the  limitation  could  not  but  be  in 
terpreted  as  sanctioning  the  continuance  of  popular 
assemblies.  The  king,  in  appointing  the  council  in 
Virginia,  refused  to  nominate  the  imbittered  partisans 
of  the  court  faction,  but  formed  the  administration  on 
the  principles  of  accommodation.1  The  vanity  of  the  1625 
monarch  claimed  the  opportunity  of  establishing  for  the 
colony  a  code  of  fundamental  laws ;  but  death  pre-  Mar 
vented  the  royal  legislator  from  attempting  the  task, 
which  would  have  furnished  his  self-complacency  so 
grateful  an  occupation. 

1  Hazard,  i.  189. 192.    Burk,  ii.  11,  from  ancient  records. 

VOL    i         -       25 


194 


CHAPTER    VI 

tr 

RESTRICTIONS  ON  COLONIAL  COMMERCE. 

CHAP  ASCENDING  the  throne  in  his  twenty-fifth  year, 
^~  Charles  I.  inherited  the  principles  and  was  governed 
^lar5  kj  tne  favorite  of  his  father.  The  rejoicings  in  con- 
27.  sequence  of  his  recent  nuptials,  the  reception  of  his 
bride,  and  preparations  for  a  parliament,  left  him  little 
leisure  for  American  affairs.  Virginia  was  esteemed 
by  the  monarch  as  the  country  producing  tobacco , 
its  inhabitants  were  valued  at  court  as  planters,  and 
prized  according  to  the  revenue  derived  from  the  staple 
of  their  industry.  The  plantation,  no  longer  governed 
by  a  chartered  company,  was  become  a  royal  province 
and  an  object  of  favor ;  and,  as  it  enforced  conformity 
to  the  church  of  England,  it  could  not  be  an  object  of 
suspicion  to  the  clergy  or  the  court.  The  king  felt  an 
earnest  desire  to  heal  old  grievances,  to  secure  the 
personal  rights  and  property  of  the  colonists,  and  to 
promote  their  prosperity.  Franchises  were  neither 
conceded  nor  restricted ;  for  it  did  not  occur  to  his 
pride,  that,  at  that  time,  there  could  be  in  an  American 
province  any  thing  like  established  privileges  or  vigor 
ous  political  life  ;  nor  was  he  aware  that  the  seeds  of 
liberty  were  already  germinating  on  the  borders  of  the 
A^rU  Chesapeake.  His  first  Virginian  measure  was  a  proc 
lamation  on  tobacco ;  confirming  to  Virginia  and  the 
Somer  Isles  the  exclusive  supply  of  the  British  market 


VIRGINIA   RETAINS    ITS   FRANCHISES.  195 


under  penalty  of  the  censure  of  the  star-chamber  for  CHAP 
disobedience.     In  a  few  days,  a  new  proclamation  ap-  ^ — 
peared,  in  which  it  was  his  evident  design   to  secure  j^5 
the  profits  that  might  before  have  been  engrossed  by     33. 
the  corporation.     After  a  careful  declaration  of  the  for 
feiture  of  the  charters,  and  consequently  of  the  imme 
diate  dependence  of  Virginia  upon  himself,  a  declara 
tion  aimed  against  the  claims  of  the  London  company, 
and   not  against  the  franchises  of  the  colonists,   the 
monarch  proceeded  to  announce  his  fixed  resolution  of 
becoming,  through  his  agents,  the  sole   factor  of  the 
planters.      Indifferent  to  their  constitution,  it  was  his 
principal  aim  to  monopolize    the    profits  of  their  in 
dustry  ;  and  the  political  rights  of  Virginia  were  estab 
lished  as  usages  by  his  salutary  neglect.1 

There  is  no  room  to  suppose  that  Charles  nourished 
the  design  of  suppressing  the  colonial  assemblies.  For 
some  months,  the  organization  of  the  government  was 
not  changed;  and  when  Wyatt  retired,  Sir  George 
Yeardley  was  appointed  his  successor.  This  appoint 
ment  was  in  itself  a  guaranty,  that,  as  "  the  former 
interests  of  Virginia  were  to  be  kept  inviolate," 2  so 
the  representative  government,  the  chief  political  in 
terest,  would  be  maintained  ;  for  it  was*  Yeardley  who 
had  had  the  glory  of  introducing  the  system.  In  the 
commission  now  issued,3  the  monarch  expressed  his 
desire  to  benefit,  encourage  and  perfect  the  plantation ; 
"the  same  means,  that  were  formerly  thought  fit  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  colony,"  were  continued  ;  and 
the  power  of  the  governor  and  council  was  limited,  as 

1  Hazard,  i.  202— 205.    Burk,  ii.  14,  15. 

2  Letter  of  the  privy  council,  in  Burk.  «  *8 

3  Hazard,  i.  230—234. 


196  VIRGINIA   RETAINS   ITS   FRANCHISES. 

CHAP,  it  had  before  been  done  in  the  commission  of  Wyatt , 

v^~  bj  a  reference  to  the  usages  of  the  last  five  years.  In 
that  period,  representative  liberty  had  become  the  cus 
tom  of  Virginia.  The  words  were  interpreted  as 
favoring  the  wishes  of  the  colonists  ;  and  King  Charles, 
intent  only  on  increasing  his  revenue,  confirmed,  per 
haps  unconsciously,  the  existence  of  a  popular  as 
sembly.  The  colony  prospered  ;  Virginia  rose  rapidly 

I(J27.  in  public  estimation  ;  in  one  year,  a  thousand  emi 
grants  arrived  ;  and  there  was  an  increasing  demand 
for  all  the  products  of  the  soil. 

Nov.  The  career  of  Yeardley  was  now  closed  by  death. 
Posterity  will  ever  retain  a  grateful  recollection  of  the 
man  who  first  convened  a  representative  assembly  in 
the  western  hemisphere ;  the  colonists,  announcing  his 
decease  in  a  letter  to  the  privy  council,  gave  at  the 
same  time  a  eulogy  on  his  virtues  ;  the  surest  evidence 

Nov.   of  his  fidelity  to  their  interests.1     The  day  after  his 
14'     burial,  Francis  West  was  elected  his  successor ;  2   for 
the  council  was  authorized  to  elect  the  governor,  "  from 
time  to  time,  as  often  as  the  case  shall  require."3 

1627.  But  if  any  doubts  existed  of  the  roya)  assent  to  the 
continuance  of  colonial  assemblies,  they  were  soon  re- 

Aug.  moved  by  a  letter  of  instructions,  which  the  king  ad- 
24>  dressed  to  the  governor  and  council.  After  much 
caviling,  in  the  style  of  a  purchaser  who  undervalues 
the  wares  which  he  wishes  to  buy,  the  monarch  arrives 
at  his  main  purpose,  and  offers  to  contract  for  the 
whole  crop  of  tobacco ;  desiring,  at  the  same  time, 
that  an  assembly  might  be  convened  to  consider  his 
proposal.4  This  is  the  first  recognition,  on  the  part  of 
a  Stuart,  of  a  representative  assembly  in  America 

1  Burk,  ii.  22,  23.  3  Hazard  i.  233. 

2  llening,  i.  4.  *  Burk,  ii.  19,20.    Hening,  i.  129. 


SIR  JOHN    HARVEY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  197 

Hitherto,    the    king   had,  fortunately  for    the    colony,  CHAP 
found  no  time  to  take  order  for  its  government.     His  ~~*-'** 
zeal    for   an    exclusive    contract    led    him    to   observe 
and  to  sanction    the   existence    of    an  elective    legis 
lature.     The    assembly,    in    its    answer,    acquiesced  l6^- 
in  the  royal  monopoly,  but  protested  against  its  being     26.' 
farmed  out  to  individuals.     The  independent  reply  of 
the  assembly  was  signed  by  the  governor,  by  five  mem 
bers  of  the  council,  and  by  thirty-one  burgesses.     The 
Virginians,  happier  than  the  people  of  England,  enjoy 
ed  a  faithful  representative  government,  and,  through 
the  resident  planters  who  composed  the  council,  they 
repeatedly  elected  their  own  governor.     When  West 
designed  to  embark  for  Europe,  his  place  was  supplied 
by  election.1 

No  sooner  had  the  news  of  the  death  of  Yeardley  1628 
reached  England,  than  the  king  proceeded  to  issue  a 
commission 2  to  John  Harvey.  The  tenor  of  the  in 
strument  offered  no  invasions  of  colonial  freedom  ;  but 
while  it  renewed  the  limitations  which  had  previously 
been  set  to  the  executive  authority,  it  permitted  the 
council  in  Virginia,  which  had  common  interests  with 
the  people,  to  supply  all  vacancies  occurring  in  their 
body.  In  this  way  direct  oppression  was  rendered 
impossible. 

It  was  during  the  period  which  elapsed  between 
the  appointment  of  Harvey  and  his  appearance  in  162g 
America,  that  Lord  Baltimore  visited  Virginia.  The 
zeal  of  religious  bigotry  pursued  him  as  a  Romanist ; 3 
and  the  intolerant  jealousy  of  Popery  led  to  memorable 
results.  Nor  should  we,  in  this  connection,  forget  the 
hospitable  plans  of  the  southern  planters  ;  the  people 

i  Hening,  i.  134—137.      Burk,          3  Records,  in   Burk,  ii.  24,  25 
ii.  24.  Hening,  i.  552. 

3  Hazard,  i.  234— 239. 


SIR  JOHN   HARVEY'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

CHAP,  of  New  Plymouth  were  invited  to  abandon  the  cold 
— ~  and  sterile  clime  of  New  England,  and  plant  them 
selves  in  the  milder  regions  on  the  Delaware  Bay ; l  a 
plain  indication  that  Puritans  were  not  then  molested 
in  Virginia. 

It  was  probably  in  the  autumn  of  1629  that  Harvey 
arrived  in  Virginia.2  Till  October,  the  name  of  Pott 
163C  appears  as  governor;  Harvey  met  his  first  assembly 
24.  of  burgesses  in  the  following  March.3  He  had  for 
several  years  been  a  member  of  the  council ;  and  as, 
at  a  former  day,  he  had  been  a  willing  instrument  in 
the  hands  of  the  faction  to  which  Virginia  ascribed  its 
earliest  griefs,  and  continued  to  bear  a  deep-rooted 
hostility,  his  appointment  could  not  but  be  unpopular. 
1630  The  colony  had  esteemed  it  a  special  favor  from  King 
1635.  James,  that,  upon  the  substitution  of  the  royal  author 
ity  for  the  corporate  supremacy,  the  government  had 
been  intrusted  to  impartial  agents ;  arid,  after  the 
death  of  Yeardley,  two  successive  chief  magistrates 
had  been  elected  in  Virginia.  The  appointment  of 
Harvey  implied  a  change  of  power  among  political 
parties ;  it  gave  authority  to  a  man  whose  connec 
tions  in  England  were  precisely  those  which  the  col 
ony  regarded  with  the  utmost  aversion.  As  his  first 
appearance  in  America,  in  1624,  had  been  with  no 
friendly  designs,  so  now  he  was  the  support  of  those 
who  desired  large  grants  of  land  and  unreasonable 
concessions  of  separate  jurisdictions  ;  and  he  preferred 
the  interests  of  himself,  his  partisans  and  patrons,  to 
the  welfare  and  quiet  of  the  colony.  •  The  extravagant 
language,  which  exhibited  him  as  a  tyrant,  without 
specifying  his  crimes,  was  the  natural  hyperbole  of  po- 

1  Burk,  il  32.  3  Hening,  i.  4,  and  147. 

2  Chalmers,  lia 


SIR  JOHN   HARVEY'S   ADMINISTRATION.  199 

fitical  excitement ;  and  when  historians,  receiving  the  CHAP 
account,  and  interpreting  tyranny  to  mean  arbitrary  — ^~ 
taxation,  drew  the  inference  that  he  convened  no  as-  163° 

to 

semblies,  trifled  with  the  rights  of  property,  and  levied  ir~ 
taxes  according  to  his  caprice,  they  were  betrayed  into 
extravagant  errors.  Such  a  procedure  would  have 
been  impossible.  He  had  no  soldiers  at  his  com 
mand  ;  no  obsequious  officers  to  enforce  his  will ;  and 
the  Virginians  would  never  have  made  themselves  the 
instruments  of  their  own  oppression.  The  party  op 
posed  to  Harvey  was  deficient  neither  in  capacity  nor 
in  colonial  influence  ;  and  while  arbitrary  power  was 
rapidly  advancing  to  triumph  in  England,  the  Virgini 
ans,  during  the  whole  period,  enjoyed  the  benefit  of 
independent  colonial  legislation  ; 1  through  the  agency 
of  their  representatives,  they  levied  and  appropriated 
all  taxes,2  secured  the  free  industry  of  their  citizens,3 
guarded  the  forts  with  their  own  soldiers,  at  their  own 

1  As  an  opposite  statement  has  1640,                Hening,  i.  268. 

received  the  sanction,  not  of  Old-  1  (Ml,  June,               ibid.  259 — 262. 

mixon,   Chalmers,  and    Robertson  1642,  January,          ibid.  267. 

only,  but  of  Marshall  and  of  Story  1642,  April,               ibid.  230. 

(see    Story's   Commentaries,  i.  28,  .1642,  June,                ibid.  269. 

"  without  the  slightest  effort  to  con-  Considering  how   imperfect   are 

vene  a  colonial  assembly"),  I  deem  the  early  records,  it  is  surprising 

it  necessary  to  state,  that  many  of  that  so  considerable  a  list  can  be 

the  statutes  of  Virginia  under  Har-  established.      The    instructions   to 

vey  still   exist,  and    that,   though  Sir  William  Berkeley  do  not  first 

many  others  are  lost,  the  first  vol-  order    assemblies ;    but    spea.k    of 

ume  of  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large  them  as  of  a  thing  established.     At 

proves,  beyond  a  question,  that  as-  an  adjourned  session  of  Berkeley's 

semblies  were  convened,  at  least,  first  legislature,  the  assembly   de- 

as  often  as  follows : —  clares  "  its  meeting  exceeding  cus- 

1630,  March,    Hening,  i.  147 — 153.  tomary  limits,  in  this  place  used.''' 

1(530  April,               ibid.  257.  Hening,  i.   2136.     This   is   a   plain 

1632,  February,         ibid.  153 — 177.  declaration,   that   assemblies   were 

1632,  September       ibid.  178 — 202.  the  custom   and    use    of  Virginia 

1633,  February,        ibid.  202—209.  at  the  time   of  Berkeley's  arrival. 
1GJW,  August,           ibid.  209 — 222.  If  any  doubts  remain,  it  would  be 

1634,  ibid.  223.  easy   to   multiply    arguments    and 

1635,  ibid.  223.  references.     Burk,  ii.  A  pp.  xlix    li. 

1636,  ibid.  229.  2  Hening,  i.  171,  Act  38. 

1637,  ibid.  227.  3  ibid.  172,  Act  40. 
1639,  ibid.  229—230. 


200  SIR  JOHN   HARVEY'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

CHAP  charge,1  and  gave  to  their  statutes  the  greatest  possi- 
-"•^  ble  publicity.2  When  the  defects  and  inconveniences 
1630  of  infant  legislation  were  remedied  by  a  revised  code, 
1635  which  was  published  with  the  approbation  of  the  gov 
ernor  and  council,3  all  the  privileges  which  the  assem 
bly  had  ever  claimed,  were  carefully  confirmed.4  In 
deed,  they  seem  never  to  have  been  questioned. 
1635  Yet  the  administration  of  Harvey  was  disturbed  by 
divisions,  which  grew  out  of  other  causes  than  infringe 
ments  of  the  constitution.  De  Vries,  who  visited  Vir 
ginia  in  1632-3r  had  reason  to  praise  the  advanced  con 
dition  of  the  settlement,  the  abundance  of  its  products, 
and  the  liberality  of  its  governor.5  The  community 
would  hardly  have  been  much  disturbed  because  fines 
were  exacted  with  too  relentless  rigor ; 6  but  the  whole 
colony  of  Virginia  was  in  a  state  of  excitement  and 
alarm  in  consequence  of  the  dismemberment  of  its 
territory  by  the  cession  to  Lord  Baltimore.  As  in 
many  of  the  earlier  settlements,  questions  about  land- 
titles  were  agitated  with  passion ;  and  there  was 
reason  to  apprehend  the  increase  of  extravagant  grants, 
that  would  again  include  the  soil  on  which  plantations 
had  already  been  made  without  the  acquisition  of  an 
indisputable  legal  claim.  In  Maryland,  the  first  occu 
pants  had  refused  to  submit,  and  a  skirmish  had 
ensued,  in  which  the  blood  of  Europeans  was  shed  for 
the  first  time  on  the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake  ;  and 
Clayborne,  defeated  and  banisned  from  Maryland  as  a 
murderer7  and  an  outlaw,  sheltered  himself  in  Vir 
ginia,  where  he  had  long  been  a  member  of  the  coun- 

1  Heningr,  175,  Acts  57  and  58.  5  De    Vries,    Korte    IL'storiael 

2  Ibid.  177,  Act  68.  ende  Journals — a  rare  work,  which 

3  Ibid.  179.  Ebcling  had  never  seen. 

4  Ibid.   180—202.      See,   partic-  6  Beverley,  48.     Bullock,  10. 
ularly,  Acts  34,  35,  36.  39.  46.  57,  7  Hammond's  Leah  and  Rachel 
58.  61. 


SIR  JOHN  HARVEY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  201 

oil.  There  the  contest  was  renewed ;  and  Harvey,  CHAP. 
far  from  attempting  to  enforce  the  claims  of  Virginia,  ^^ 
against  the  royal  grant,  courted  the  favor  of  Balti 
more.  The  colonists  were  indignant  that  their  gov 
ernor  should  thus,  as  it  seemed  to  them,  betray  their 
interests ;  and  as  the  majority  of  the  council  favored 
their  wishes,  "  Sir  John  Harvey  was  thrust  out  of 
his  government;  and  Captain  John  West  appointed 
to  the  office,  till  the  king's  pleasure  be  known." 
An  assembly  was  summoned  in  May,  to  receive  com 
plaints  against  Harvey ;  but  he  had  in  the  mean 
time  consented  to  go  to  England,  and  there  meet  his 
accusers.1 

The  commissioners  appointed  by  the  council  to  man-  1636 
age  the  impeachment  of  Harvey,  met  with  no  favor  in 
England,  and  were  not  even  admitted  to  a  hearing.2 
Harvey  immediately  reappeared  to  occupy  his  former  Jan. 
station ;  and  was  followed  by  a  new  commission,  by 
which  his  powers  were  still  limited  to  such  as  had 
been  exercised  during  the  period  of  legislative  free 
dom.  General  assemblies  continued  to  be  held ;  but 
the  vacancies  in  the  council,  which  had  been  filled  in 
Virginia,  were  henceforward  to  be  supplied  by  ap 
pointment  in  England.3  Harvey  remained  in  office 
till  1639.4  The  complaints  which  have  been  brought 
against  him,  will  be  regarded  with  some  degree  of 
distrust,  when  it  is  considered,  that  the  public  mind 

1  Hening,  i.  223,   and  4.     Old-  company,  furnishes  a  tissue  of  in- 

mixon,   i.   240.      Oldmixon    is   un-  ventinns.     Keith,   143,   144,  phces 

wort hy  of  implicit  trust.     Bevcrley,  in   1(!35)  the  occurrences  of  1(J35. 

48,   is    not    accurate.      Campbell's  His  book  is  superficial. 

Virginia,  f>0 — a  modest  little  book.  2  Burk,    ii.   45.     Yet   Burk   cor- 

Chaimers,  1 18,  111),  is  betrayed  into  rected   but  half  the   errors   of  his 

error  by  following  Oldmixon.    Burk,  predecessors. 

ii.  41,  42.     Bullock's  Virginia,   10.  3  Hazard,  i.  400 — 403. 

Robertson,  in  his   History  of  Vir-  4  Campbell,  61.     Hening,  i.  4. 
ginia,   after  the  dissolution  of  the 

VOL.  i.  26 


202  SIR  FRANCIS   WYATTS  ADMINISTRATION. 

CHAP,  of  the  colony,  during  his  administration,  was  con- 
• — ~  trolled  by  a  party  which  pursued  him  with  implacable 
hostility.  In  April,  1642,  two  months  only  after  the 
accession  of  Berkeley,  a  public  document  declares  the 
comparative  happiness  of  the  colony  under  the  royal 
government ;  a  declaration  which  would  hardly  have 
been  made,  if  Virginia  had  so  recently  and  so  long 
been  smarting  under  intolerable  oppression.1 

1039.  At   length    he    was    superseded,    and    Sir   Francis 
Wyatt2  appointed  in  his    stead.     Early  in   the  next 

1040.  year,  he  convened  a  general  assembly.     History  has 
recorded    many   instances    where    a    legislature    has 
altered  the  scale  of  debts :  in   modern   times,   it   has 
frequently  been    done    by    debasing    the    coin,  or    by 
introducing   paper   money.     In    Virginia,    debts    had 
been  contracted  to  be  paid  in  tobacco ;  and  when  the 
article  rose  in  value,  in   consequence  of  laws  re,strict- 
ing    its   culture,  the    legislature    of    Virginia   did    not 
scruple  to  provide   a  remedy,  by  enacting  that  "  no 
man  need  pay  more  than  two  thirds  of  his  debt  during 
the  stint ; "  and  that  all   creditors  should   take  "  forty 
pounds  for  a  hundred." 3     The  artificial  increase  of  the 
value  of  tobacco  seemed   to  require  a  corresponding 
change  in  the  tariff  of  debts.4 

1641.  After  two  years,  a  commission5  was  issued  to  Sir 
William  Berkeley.  Historians,  reasoning,  from  the 
revolutions  which  took  place  in  England,  that  there 
had  been  corresponding  attempts  at  oppression  and 
corresponding  resistance  in  Virginia,  have  delighted 

1  Hening,  i.  231.  governor  as  Wyatt,  in   1630,   a:  J 

2  Rymef,   xx.   484.      Hazard,  i.     represent  Berkeley  as  the  iminedi- 
477.     Savage  on  Winthrop,  ii.  160,     ate  successor  of  Harvey. 

161.         Hening,    i.    224,    and    4.         3  Hening,  i.  225,  226. 
Campbell,  61.     But  Keith,  and  Bev-        4  Brockenbrough's  Virginia,  586. 
erly,  and  Chalmers,  and  Burk,  and        5  Hazard,  i.  477 — 480,       Ryme 

Marshall,  were  ignorant  of  such  a  xx.  484 — 486. 


SIR  WILLIAM  BERKELEY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  203 

to  draw  a  contrast,  not  only  between  Harvey  and  CHAP 
the  new  governor,  but  between  the  institutions  of  -^- 
Virginia  under  their  respective  .governments;  and  lhM 
Berkeley  is  said  to  have  "  restored  the  system  of 
freedom,"  and  to  have  "  effected  an  essential  revolu 
tion.  "]  I  cannot  find  that  his  appointment  was 
marked  by  the  slightest  concession  of  new  political 
privileges,  except  that  the  council  recovered  the  right 
of  supplying  its  own-  vacancies ;  and  the  historians, 
who  make  an  opposite  statement,  are  wholly  ignorant 
of  the  intermediate  administration  of  Wyatt ;  a  govern 
ment  so  suited  to  the  tastes  and  habits  of  the  planters, 
that  it  passed  silently  away,  leaving  almost  no  impres 
sion  on  Virginia  history,  except  in  its  statutes.  The 
commission  of  Berkeley  was  exactly  analogous  to  those 
of  his  predecessors. 

The  instructions2  given  him,  far  from  granting 
franchises  to  the  Virginians,  imposed  most  severe  and 
unwarrantable  restrictions  on  the  liberty  of  trade ;  and, 
by  the  prerogative,  England  claimed  that  monopoly 
of  colonial  commerce,  which  wras  ultimately  enforced 
by  the  navigation  act  of  Charles  II.,  and  which  never 
ceased  to  be  a  subject  of  dispute  till  the  war  of 
independence.  The  nature  of  those  instructions  will 
presently  be  explained. 

It  was  in  February,  1642,  that  Sir  William  Berke-  1642. 
ley,  arriving  in  the  colony,  assumed  the  government. 
His  arrival  must  have  been  nearly  simultaneous  with 
the  adjournment  of  the  general  assembly,  which  was 
held  in  the  preceding  January.3  He  found  the  Ameri 
can  planters  in  possession  of  a  large  share  of  the  legis- 

1  Chalmers,  120,  121.  i.  207—2(19,  in  the  acts  4<>,  50,  51, 

2  Ibid  |:*l  — 1:«.  52.     The  statutes,  of  course,  call 

3  The  .icts   of  that  session   arc  the  yf-ar    Hill,    as  the  year  then 
lost,  but  are  referred  to  in  llcning.  began  in  March. 


204  SIR  WILLIAM  BERKELEY'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

CHAP,  lative  authority;  and  he  confirmed  them  in  the  enjoy - 
^~  ment  of  franchises  which  a  long  and  uninterrupted 
successi°n  nad  rendered  familiar.  Immediately  after 
his  arrival,  he  convened  the  colonial  legislature.  The 
utmost  harmony  prevailed ;  the  memory  of  factions 
was  lost  in  a  general  amnesty  of  ancient  griefs.  The 
lapse  of  years  had  so  far  effaced  the  divisions  which 
grew  out  of  the  dissolution  of  the  company,  that  when 
George  Sandys,  an  agent  of  the  colony,  and  an  oppo 
nent  of  the  royal  party  in  England,  presented  a  pe 
tition  to  the  commons,  praying  for  the  restoration  of 
the  ancient  patents,1  the  royalist  assembly  promptly 
disavowed  the  design,  and,  after  a  full  debate,  op- 
?n  posed  it  by  a  solemn  protest.2  The  whole  document 
breathes  the  tone  of  a  body  accustomed  to  public  dis 
cussion  and  the  independent  exercise  of  legislative 
power.  They  assert  the  necessity  of  the  freedom  of 
trade,  "  for  freedom  of  trade,"  say  they,  "  is  the  blood 
and  life  of  a  commonwealth."  And  they  defended 
their  preference  of  self-government  through  a  colonial 
legislature,  by  a  conclusive  argument.  "  There  is 
more  likelyhood,  that  such  as  are  acquainted  with  the 
clime  and  its  accidents  may  upon  better  grounds  pre 
scribe  our  advantages,  than  such  as  shall  sit  at  the 
helm  in  England."3  In  reply  to  their  urgent  petition, 
the  king  immediately  declared  his  purpose  not  to 
change  a  form  of  government  'n  which  they  "  re 
ceived  so  much  content  and  satisfaction." 

The  Virginians,  aided  by  Sir  William  Berkeley/' 
could  now  deliberately  perfect  their  civil  condition. 
Condemnations  to  service  had  been  a  usual  puni 


Sll- 


1  Chalmers,  121.     Hening,  i.  230.  4  Chalmers,  1U3,  134.     Burk,  ii. 

2  I  leiung,  i.  230— 23G.     Burk,  ii  74. 

68_74.  5  Hammond's  Leah  and  Rachel. 

3  liening,  i.  233.  12. 


SIR   WILLIAM   BERKELEY'S   ADMINISTRATION  205 

ment;  these  were  abolished.  In  the  courts  of  justice,  CHAP 
a  near  approach  weis  made  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  ^^ 
England.  Religion  was  provided  for;  the  law  about  1642 
land-titles  adjusted  ;  an  amicable  treaty  with  Maryland 
successfully  matured  ;  and  peace  with  the  Indians  con 
firmed.  Taxes  were  assessed,  not  in  proportion  to 
numbers,  but  to  men's  abilities  and  estates.  The 
spirit  of  liberty,  displayed  in  the  English  parliament, 
was  transmitted  to  America ;  and  the  rights  of  property, 
the  freedom  of  industry,  the  solemn  exercise  of  civil 
franchises,  seemed  to  be  secured  to  themselves  and 
their  posterity.  "  A  future  immunity  from  taxes  and 
impositions,"  except  such  as  should  be  freely  voted  for 
their  own  wants,  "  was  expected  as  the  fruits  of  the 
endeavors  of  their  legislature."1  As  the  restraints 
with  which  colonial  navigation  was  threatened,  were 
not  enforced,2  they  attracted  no  attention ;  and  Vir 
ginia  enjoyed  nearly  all  the  liberties  which  a  monarch 
could  concede,  and  retain  his  supremacy. 

Believing  themselves  secure  of  all  their  privileges, 
the  triumph  of  the  popular  party  in  England  did  not 
alter  the  condition  or  the  affections  of  the  Virginians. 
The  commissioners  appointed  by  parliament,  with  un 
limited  authority  over  the  plantations,3  found  no  favor 
in  Virginia.  They  promised,  indeed,  freedom  from 
English  taxation  ;  but  this  immunity  was  already  en 
joyed.  They  gave  the  colony  liberty  to  choose  its  own 
governor ;  but  it  had  no  dislike  to  Berkeley ;  and 
though  there  was  a  party  for  the  parliament,  yet  the 
king's  authority  was  maintained.4  The  sovereignty  of 
Charles  had  ever  been  mildly  exercised. 

The  condition  of  contending  parties  in  England  had    Mar. 

1  Henino-,  i.  <<>37,  238.  4  Winthrop,  ii.  159,  100,  and  the 

i  Chalmers,  V>4.  note  of  Savage. 

a  Hazard,  i.  533—535. 


206  INTOLERANCE   IN    VIRGINIA. 

CHAP,  now  given  to  Virginia  an  opportunity  of  legislation 
.^^  independent  of  European  control ;  and  the  voluntary 
1643.  act  of  the  assembly,  restraining  religious  liberty,  adopt 
ed  from  hostility  to  political  innovation,  rather  than 
from  a  spirit  of  fanaticism,  or  respect  to  instructions, 
proves  conclusively  the  attachment  of  the  representa 
tives  of  Virginia  to  the  Episcopal  church  and  the  cause 
of  royalty.  Yet  there  had  been  Puritans  in  the  colony 
almost  from  the  beginning :  even  the  Brownists  were 
freely  offered  a  secure  asylum;1  "here,"  said  the  tole 
rant  Whitaker,  "  neither  surplice  nor  subscription  is 
spoken  of,"  and  several  Puritan  families,  and  perhaps8 
some  even  of  the  Puritan  clergy,  emigrated  to  Virginia. 
They  were  so  content  with  their  reception,  that  large 
1619.  numbers  were  preparing  to  follow,  and  were  restrained 
only  by  the  forethought  of  English  intolerance.  We 
have  seen,  that  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  were  invited 
1629.  to  remove  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia  ;  Puritan 
merchants  planted  themselves  on  the  James  River 
l (540.  without  fear,  and  emigrants  from  Massachusetts  had 
recently  established  themselves  in  the  colony.  The 
honor  of  Laud  had  been  vindicated  by  a  judicial  sen 
tence,  and  south  of  the  Potomac  the  decrees  of  the 
court  of  high  commission  were  allowed  to  be  valid  ; 
but  I  find  no  traces  of  persecutions  in  the  earliest  his 
tory  of  Virginia.  The  laws  were  harsh  :  the  adminis 
tration  seems  to  have  been  mild.  A  disposition  to  non 
conformity  was  soon  to  .show  itself  even  in  the  council, 
An  invitation,  which  had  been  sent  to  Boston  for  Piul- 
tan  ministers,  implies  a  belief  that  they  would  be  ad- 

1  Bradford,  in  Prince.  of."     Whitaker,  in  Puichas    b.  :x 

2  "  |  muse  mat  so  few  of  our  Eng-     c.  xi. 
lish    mi uisters,   that    were   so    hot 
against  the  surplice  and  subscription, 
come  hither,  where  neither  is  spoken 


A   SECOND    MASSACRE  207 

mitted  in  Virginia.  But  now  the  democratic  revolution  CHAP 
in  England  had  given  an  immediate  political  importance  ^^ 
to  reliious  sects  :  to  tolerate  Puritanism  was  to  nurse 


a  republican  party.  It  was,  therefore,  specially  ordered 
that  no  minister  should  preach  or  teach,  publicly  or 
prh  ately,  except  in  conformity  to  the  constitutions  of 
the;  church  of  England,1  arid  non-conformists  were  ban 
ished  from  the  colony.  The  unsocial  spirit  of  political 
discord,  fostering  a  mutual  intolerance,  prevented  a 
frequent  intercourse  between  Virginia  and  New  Eng 
land.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  ministers,  invited  from 
Boston  by  the  Puritan  settlements  in  Virginia,  carried 
letters  from  Winthrop,  written  to  Berkeley  and  his 
council  by  order  of  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts 
"  The  hearts  of  the  people  were  much  inflamed  with 
desire  after  the  ordinances  ;  "  but  the  missionaries  were 
silenced  by  the  government,  and  ordered  to  leave  the 
country.2  Sir  William  Berkeley  was  "  a  courtier,  and 
very  malignant  towards  the  way  of  the  churches"  in 
New  England. 

While  Virginia  thus  displayed,  though  with  com 
paratively  little  bitterness,  the  intolerance  which  for 
centuries  had  almost  universally  prevailed  throughout 
the  Christian  world,  a  scene  of  distress  was  prepared 
by  the  vindictive  ferocity  of  the  natives,  with  whom  a 
state  of  hostility  had  been  of  long  continuance.  In 
1  643,  it  was  enacted  by  the  assembly,  that  no  terms  of 
peace  should  be  entertained  with  the  Indians  ;  whom 
it  was  usual  to  distress  by  sudden  marches  against 
their  settlements.  But  the  Indians  had  now  heard  of  16'  4  4 
the  dissensions  in  England,  and  taking  counsel  of 
their  passions,  rather  than  of  their  prudence,  they  re- 

1  Act  04,  Herring,  i.  277.  New  England,  410  411.    Johnson, 

2  Winthrop's  Journal,  ii.  77,  78.    b.  iii.  c.  xi.  in  ii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll. 
95,  90,   and  164,  165.    Hubbard's    viii.  29.    Hening,  i.  275 


208  A   SECOND   INDIAN   WAR 

CHAP,  solved  on  one   more  attempt  at  a  general  massacre  ; 

- — ~  believing  that,  by  midnight  incursions,  the  destruction 
of  the  cattle  and  the  fields  of  corn,  they  might  succeed 
in  famishing  the  remnant  of  the  colonists  whom  they 
should  not  be  able  to  murder  by  surprise.  On  the 
eighteenth  day  of  April,1  the  time  appointed  for  the 
carnage,  the  unexpected  onset  was  begun  upon  the 
frontier  settlements.  But  hardly  had  the  Indians 
steeped  their  hands  in  blood,  before  they  were  dismay 
ed  by  the  recollection  of  their  own  comparative  weak 
ness  ;  and,  trembling  for  the  consequences  of  their 
treachery,  they  feared  to  continue  their  design,  and 
fled  to  a  distance  from  the  colony.  The  number  of 
victims  had  been  three  hundred.  Measures  were 
promptly  taken  by  the  English  for  protection  and  de 
fence  ;  and  a  war  was  vigorously  conducted.  The 
aged  Opechancanough  was  taken,  yet  not  till  1646 ;  and 
the  venerated  monarch  of  the  sons  of  the  forest,  so 
long  the  undisputed  lord  of  almost  boundless  hunting 
grounds,  died  in  miserable  captivity  of  wounds  inflict 
ed  by  a  brutal  soldier.  In  his  last  moments,  he  chiefly 
regretted  his  exposure  to  the  contemptuous  gaze  of  his 
enemies.2 

So  little  was  apprehended,  when  the  English  were 
once  on  their  guard,  that,  two  months  after  the  massa 
cre,  Berkeley  embarked  for  England,  leaving  Richard 
Kemp  as  his  successor.3  A  border  warfare  continued ; 
marches  up  and  down  the  Indian  country  were  or 
dered  ;  yet  so  weak  were  the  natives,  that  though  the 

i  The  reader  is  cautioned  against        2  On   the    massacre,   there    ert; 

the  inaccuracies  of  Beverley,  Old-  three    contemporary    guides :     the 

mixon,  and,  on  this  subject,  of  Burk.  statutes  of  the  time,  in  Ilening,  i. ; 

See  Winthrop's    Journal,    ii.    1G5.  The  Perfect  Description  of  Virginia, 

Compare  the  note  of  Savage,  whose  in  ii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  ix.  115 — 117 ; 

sagacious  conjecture   is  confirmed  and  the  Reports  of  the  exiled  Purl 

in  Hening,  i.  2!)0,  Act  4,  session  of  tans,  in  Winthrop,  ii.  1(35. 
February,  10-15.  3  Hening,  i.  4.  282,  and  280. 


PEACE    WITH   THE   INDIANS.  209 

careless   traveller  and   the  straggling  huntsman  were  CHAP 
long    in    danger  of  being  intercepted,1   yet  ten   men  — ^ 
were  considered  a  sufficient  force  to  protect  a  place 
of  danger.2 

About  fifteen  months  after  Berkeley's  return  from  1646 
England,  articles  of  peace  were  established  between 
the  inhabitants  of  Virginia  and  Necotowance,  the  suc 
cessor  of  Opechancanough.3  Submission  and  a  cession 
of  lands  were  the  terms  on  which  the  treaty  was  pur 
chased  by  the  original  possessors  of  the  soil,  who  now 
began  to  vanish  away  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  settlements  of  their  too  formidable  invaders.  It 
is  one  of  the  surprising  results  of  moral  power,  that 
language,  composed  of  fleeting  sounds,  retains  and 
transmits  the  remembrance  of  past  occurrences,  long 
after  every  other  monument  has  passed  away.  Of  the 
labors  of  the  Indians  on  the  soil  of  Virginia,  there  re 
mains  nothing  so  respectable  as  would  be  a  common 
ditch  for  the  draining  of  lands  ; 4  the  memorials  of  their 
former  existence  are  found  only  in  the  names  of  the 
rivers  and  the  mountains.  Unchanging  nature  retains 

o        a 

the  appellations  which  were  given  by  those  whose 
villages  have  disappeared,  and  whose  tribes  have  be 
come  extinct. 

Thus  the  colony  of  Virginia  acquired  the  manage 
ment  of  all  its  concerns ;  war  was  levied,  and  peace 
concluded,  and  territory  acquired,  in  conformity  to 
the  acts  of  the  representatives  of  the  people.  Pos 
sessed  of  security  arid  quiet,  abundance  of  land,  a  free 
market  for  their  staple,  and,  practically,  all  the  rights 
of  an  independent  state,  having  England  for  its  guui- 

1  Honing,  i.  300,  301,  Act  3.  —24  ;   Johnson's  Wonder-working 

2  Ibid.  285,  28(j,  Act  5.  Providence,  b.  111.  c.  xi. 

3  Ibid.       323—320.        Compare         4  Jefferson's  Notes,  1IS2. 
Drake's  Indian  Biography,  b.  iv.  22 

VOL.  i.  27 


210  PEACE   AND   PROSPERITY   OF   VIRGINIA. 

CHAP,  dian  against  foreign  oppression,  rather  than  its  ruler, 
^v^-  the  colonists  enjoyed  all  the  prosperity  which  a  virgin 
1G4G.  soil,  equal  laws,  and  general  uniformity  of  condition 
and  industry,  could  bestow.  Their  numbers  increas 
ed  ;  the  cottages  were  filled  with  children,  as  the  ports 
were  with  ships  and  emigrants.  At  Christmas,  1648, 
there  were  trading  in  Virginia,  ten  ships  from  London. 
twro  from  Bristol,  twelve  Hollanders,  and  seven  from 
New  England.1  The  number  of  the  colonists  was 
already  twenty  thousand ;  and  they,  who  had  sus 
tained  no  griefs,  were  not  tempted  to  engage  in 
the  feuds  by  which  the  mother  country  was  divided. 
They  were  attached  to  the  cause  of  Charles,  not  be 
cause  they  loved  monarchy,  but  because  they  cherished 
the  liberties  of  which  he  had  left  them  in  the  undis- 
1649  turbed  possession ;  and,  after  his  execution,  though 
there  were  not  wanting  some  who,  from  ignorance,  as 
the  royalists  affirmed,  favored  republicanism,  the  gov 
ernment  recognized  his  son2  without  dispute.  The 
disasters  of  the  Cavaliers  in  England  strengthened 
the  party  in  the  New  World.  Men  of  consideration 
"  among  the  nobility,  gentry,  and  clergy,"  struck 
"  with  horror  and  despair "  at  the  execution  of 
Charles  I.,  and  desiring  no  reconciliation  with  the  un 
relenting  "  rebels,"  made  their  way  to  the  shores  of 
the  Chesapeake,  where  every  house  was  for  them  a 
"  hostelry,"  and  every  planter  a  friend.  The  mansion 
and  the  purse  of  Berkeley  were  open  to  all ;  and  at  the 
hospitable  dwellings  that  were  scattered  along  the 
rhers  and  among  the  wilds  of  Virginia,  the  Cavaliers, 
exiles  like  their  monarch,  met  in  frequent  groups  to 
recount  their  toils,  to  sigh  over  defeats,  and  to  nourish 

i  New  Description  of  Virginia,  15,  in  ii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  ix.  118. 
a  Heniiifir,  i.  359,  3O),  Act  1. 


PARLIAMENT   ASSERTS   ITS   SUPREMACY.  21  I 

loyalty  and  hope.1  The  faithfulness  of  the  Virginians  CHAP 
did  not  escape  the  attention  of  the  royal  exile  ;  from  — ^ 
his  retreat  in  Breda  he  transmitted  to  Berkeley  a  new 
commission ; 2  he  still  controlled  the  distribution  of 
offices,  and,  amidst  his  defeats  in  Scotland,3  still  re 
membered  with  favor  the  faithful  Cavaliers  in  the 
western  world.  Charles  the  Second,  a  fugitive  from 
England,  was  still  the  sovereign  of  Virginia.  "  Vir 
ginia  was  whole  for  monarchy,  and  the  last  country, 
belonging  to  England,  that  submitted  to  obedience  of 
the  commonwealth."4 

But  the  parliament  did  not  long  permit  its  authority 
to  be  denied.  Having,  by  the  vigorous  energy  and 
fearless  enthusiasm  of  republicanism,  triumphed  over 
all  its  enemies  in  Europe,  it  turned  its  attention  to  the 
colonies;  and  a  memorable  ordinance5  at  once  em-  a 
powered  the  council  of  state  to  reduce  the  rebellious 
colonies  to  obedience,  and,  at  the  same  time,  estab 
lished  it  as  a  law,  that  foreign  ships  should  not  trade 
at  any  of  the  ports  "  in  Barbadoes,  Antigua,  Bermu 
das,  and  Virginia."  Maryland,  which  was  not  express 
ly  included  in  the  ordinance,  had  taken  care  to  ac 
knowledge  the  new  order  of  things ; 6  and  Massachu 
setts,  alike  unwilling  to  encounter  the  hostility  of 
parliament,  and  jealous  of  the  rights  of  independent 
legislation,  by  its  own  enactment,  prohibited  all  in-  May 
tercourse  with  Virginia,  till  the  supremacy  of  the  com 
monwealth  should  be  established;  although  the  order, 
when  it  was  found  to  be  injurious  to  commerce,  was 

1  Norwood,  in  Churchill,  vi.  1GO  5  Hazard,    i.    G37,    638.     Par- 
— 186.     Hammond's  Leah  and  Ra-  liamentary      History,      iii.      1357. 
chel,  16.  The     commentary     of     Chalmers, 

2  Chalmers,  122.  p.  123,  is  that  of  a  partisan    law- 

3  Norwood,  in  Ch.,  vi.  186.  yer. 

4  Hammond's  Leah  and  Rachel,  6  Langford's  Refutation,  6,  7 
20 ;  Ed.  1656. 


212  ORIGIN   OF  THE   NAVIGATION   ACT. 

CHAP,  promptly  repealed,  even  whilst  royalty  still  triumphed 

^~  at  Jamestown.1     But  would  Virginia  resist  the   fleet 

1651.  of  the  republic?     Were  its  royalist  principles  so  firm, 

14.     that  they  would  animate   the  colony  to  a  desperate 

war  with  England  ?     The  lovers  of  monarchy  indulged 

the  hope,  that  the    victories  of  their    friends    in   the 

Chesapeake    would    redeem    the    disgrace,   that   had 

elsewhere  fallen  on  the  royal  arms ;  many  partisans  of 

Charles  had  come  over  as  to  a  place  of  safety  ;  and  the 

honest  Governor  Berkeley,  than  whom  "  no  man  meant 

better,"  was  so  confirmed  in  his  confidence,  that  he 

wrote   to  the   king,  almost  inviting  him  to  America.2 

The  approach  of  the  day  of  trial  was  watched  with 

the  deepest  interest. 

But  while  the  preparations  were  yet  making  for  the 
reduction  of  the  colonies,  which  still  preserved  an  ap 
pearance  of  loyalty,  the  commercial  policy  of  England 
underwent  an  important  revision,  and  the  new  system, 
as  it  was  based  upon  the  permanent  interests  of  Eng 
lish  merchants  and  ship-builders,  obtained  a  consist 
ency  and  durability  which  could  never  have  been 
gained  by  the  feeble  selfishness  of  the  Stuarts. 

It  is  the  ancient  fate  of  colonies  to  be  planted  by 
the  daring  of  the  poor  and  the  hardy ;  to  struggle  into 
being  through  the  severest  trials ;  to  be  neglected  by 
the  parent  country  during  the  season  of  poverty  and 
weakness ;  to  thrive  by  the  unrestricted  application  of 
their  powers  and  enterprise ;  and  by  their  consequent 
prosperity  to  tempt  oppression.  The  Greek  colonies 
early  attained  opulence  and  strength,  because  they 
were  always  free ;  the  new  people  at  its  birth  was 
independent,  and  remained  so;  the  emigrants  were 
dismissed,  not  as  servants  but  as  equals.  They  were 


Hazard,  i.  553  and  558.  2  Clarendon,  b.  xiii.  iii.  466. 


ORIGIN   OF  THE   NAVIGATION   ACT.  213 

the  natural,  not  the  necessary,  allies  of  the  mother  CII\P 
country.  They  spoke  the  same  dialect,  revered  the  — ^> 
same  gods,  cherished  the  same  customs  and  laws ; 
but  they  were  politically  independent.  Freedom, 
stimulating  exertion,  invited  them  to  stretch  their 
settlements  from  the  shores  of  the  Euxine  to  the 
Western  Mediterranean,  and  urged  them  forward  to 
wealth  and  prosperity,  commensurate  with  their  bold 
ness  and  the  vast  extent  of  their  domains.  The  col 
onies  of  Carthage,  on  the  contrary,  had  no  sooner  at 
tained  sufficient  consideration  to  merit  attention,  than 
the  mother  state  insisted  upon  a  monopoly  of  their  com 
merce.  The  colonial  system  is  as  old  as  colonies  and 
the  spirit  of  commercial  gain  and  political  oppression.1 
No  sooner  had  Spain  and  Portugal  entered  on  mari 
time  discovery,  and  found  their  way  round  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  and  to  America,  than  a  monopoly  of  the 
traffic  of  the  wrorld  was  desired.  Greedily  covetous  of 
the  whole,  they  could  with  difficulty  agree  upon  a  di 
vision,  not  of  a  conquered  province,  the  banks  of  a 
river,  a  neighboring  territory,  but  of  the  oceans,  and 
the  commerce  of  every  people  and  empire  along  the 
wide  margin  of  their  waters.  They  claimed  that,  on 
the  larger  seas,  the  winds  should  blow  only  to  fill  their 
sails ;  that  the  islands  and  continents  of  Asia,  of 
Africa,  and  the  New  World,  should  be  fertile  only  to 
freight  the  ships  of  their  merchants ;  and,  having  de 
nounced  the  severest  penalties  against  any  who  should 
infringe  the  rights  which  they  claimed,  they  obtained 
the  sanction  of  religion  to  adjust  their  differences,  and 
to  bar  the  ocean  against  the  intrusion  of  competitors.2 

1  Brougham's  Colonial  Policy,  i.  2  Bull  of  Alexander  VI.,  May  4, 

21 — 23.     Dionysius  Halicarnassus,  1493.      '  Sub      excommunicationis 

I.  lii.     But   of  all  on  the  subject,  late  sententiae  pcena,"  &c. 
Eleeren,  xiii.  96—98    ; 


214  ORIGIN   OF   THE   NAVIGATION    ACT 

CHAP.  The  effects  of  this  severity  are  pregnant  with  in- 
<^  struction.  Direct  commerce  with  the  Spanish  settle 
ments  was  punished  by  the  Spaniards  with  confiscation 
and  the  threat  of  eternal  wo.  The  moral  sense  of 
mariners  revolted  at  the  extravagance :  since  forfeit 
ure,  imprisonment,  and  excommunication,  were  to  fol 
low  the  attempt  at  the  fair  exchanges  of  trade ;  since 
the  freebooter  and  the  pirate  could  not  surfer  more 
than  was  menaced  against  the  merchant  who  should 
disregard  the  maritime  monopoly, — the  seas  became 
infested  by  reckless  bucaniers,  the  natural  offspring 
of  colonial  restrictions.  Rich  Spanish  settlements  in 
America  were  pillaged ;  fleets  attacked  and  captured ; 
predatory  invasions  were  even  made  on  land  to  inter 
cept  the  loads  of  gold,  as  they  came  from  the  mines ; 
and  men,  who  might  have  acquired  honor  and  wealth 
in  commerce,  if  commerce  had  been  permitted,  now 
displayed  a  sagacity  of  contrivance,  coolness  of  execu 
tion,  and  capacity  for  enduring  hardships,  which  won 
them  the  admiration  of  their  contemporaries,  and,  in 
a  better  cause,  would  have  won  them  the  perpetual 
praises  of  the  world. 

In  Europe,  the  freedom  of  the  sea  was  vindicated 
against  the  claims  of  Spain  and  Portugal  by  a  nation, 
hardly  yet  recognized  as  an  independent  state,  occu 
pying  a  soil,  of  which  much  had  been  redeemed  by  in 
dustry,  and  driven  by  the  stern  necessity  of  a  dense 
population  to  seek  for  resources  upon  the  sea.  The 
most  gifted  of  her  sons,  who  first  gave  expression  to  the 
idea,  that  "free  ships  make  free  goods,"1  defended 
the  liberty  of  commerce,  and  appealed  to  the  judg 
ment  of  all  free  governments  and  nations  against  the 

i  Grotius,  Epist  ccvii. ;  '•*  aliorum  bella  obstare  commerciorum  libcrtati 
non  debere." 


ORIGIN    OF  THE   NAVIGATION  ACT-  215 

maritime  restrictions,  which  humanity  denounced  as  CHAP 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  social  intercourse ;  which  ^v— 
justice  derided  as  infringing  the  clearest  natural  rights  ; 
which  enterprise  rejected  as  a  monstrous  usurpation 
of  the  ocean  and  the  winds.  The  relinquishment  of 
'navigation  in  the  East  Indies  was  required  as  the 
price  at  which  her  independence  should  be  acknowl 
edged,  and  she  preferred  to  defend  her  separate  exist 
ence  by  her  arms,  rather  than  purchase  security  by 
circumscribing  the  courses  of  her  ships.  The  nation, 
which  by  its  position  was  compelled  to  acquire  skill  in 
commerce,  and,  in  its  resistance  to  monopoly,  was 
forced  by  competition  to  obtain  an  advantage,  succeed 
ed  in  gaining  the  maritime  ascendency.  While  the 
inglorious  James  of  England,  immersed  in  vanity  and 
pedantry,  was  negotiating  about  points  of  theology ; 
while  the  more  unhappy  Charles  was  wasting  his 
strength  in  vain  struggles  against  the  liberties  of  his 
subjects, — the  Dutch,  a  little  confederacy,  which  had 
been  struck  from  the  side  of  the  vast  empire  of  Spain, 
a  new  people,  scarcely  known  as  possessed  of  nation 
ality,  had,  by  their  superior  skill,  begun  to  engross  the 
carrying  trade  of  the  world.  Their  ships  were  soon 
to  be  found  in  the  harbors  of  Virginia  ;  in  the  West 
Indian  archipelago  ;  in  the  south  of  Africa ;  among  the 
tropical  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean  ;  and  even  in 
the  remote  harbors  of  China  and  Japan.  Already 
their  trading-houses  were  planted  on  the  Hudson  and 
the  coast  of  Guinea,  in  Java  and  Brazil.  One  or  two 
rocky  islets  in  the  West  Indies,  in  part  neglected  by 
the  Spaniards  as  unworthy  of  culture,  were  occupied 
by  these  daring  merchants,  and  furnished  a  convenient 
shelter  for  a  large  contraband  traffic  with  the  terra 
firma  So  great  was  the  naval  success  of  Holland, 


216  ORIGIN   OF  THE    NAVIGATION  ACT. 

CHAP,  that  it  engrossed  the  commerce  of  the  European 
~*^~  nations  themselves  ;  English  mariners  sought  employ 
ment  in  Dutch  vessels,  with  which  the  ports  of  Eng 
land  were  filled ;  English  ships  lay  rotting  at  the 
wharfs  ;  English  ship-building  was  an  unprofitable 
vocation.  The  freedom  and  the  enterprise  of  Hol 
land  had  acquired  maritime  power,  and  skill,  and 
wealth,  such  as  the  vast  monopoly  of  Spain  had  never 
been  able  to  command. 

The  causes  of  the  commercial  greatness  of  Holland 
were  forgotten  in  envy  at  her  success.  She  ceased  to 
appear  as  the  antagonist  of  Spain,  and  the  gallant 
champion  of  the  freedom  of  the  seas ;  she  was  now 
envied  as  the  successful  rival.  The  eloquence  of 
Giotius  was  neglected,  as  well  as  the  pretensions  of 
Spain  disregarded  ;  and  the  English  government  re 
solved  to  protect  the  English  merchant.  Cromwell 
desired  to  confirm  the  maritime  power  of  his  country ; 
and  St.  John,  a  Puritan  and  a  republican  in  theory, 
though  never  averse  to  a  limited  monarchy,  devised  the 
first  act  of  navigation,  which  the  politic  Whitelocke  in- 

1051.  troduced  and  carried  through  parliament.  Hencefor 
ward,  the  commerce  between  England  and  her  colonies, 
as  well  as  between  England  and  the  rest  of  the  world 
was  to  be  conducted  in  ships  solely  owned,  and  princi 
pally  manned,  by  Englishmen.  Foreigners  might  bring 
to  England  nothing  but  the  products  of  their  own  re 
spective  countries,  or  those  of  which  their  countries 
were  the  established  staples.  The  act  was  leveled 
against  Dutch  commerce,  and  was  but  a  protection  of 
British  shipping  ;  it  contained  not  one  clause  relating 
to  a  colonial  monopoly,  or  specially  injurious  to  an 
American  colony.  Of  itself  it  inflicted  no  wound  on 
Virginia  or  New  England.  In  vain  did  the  Dutch 

o 


COMMERCIAL  POLICY   OF   CROMWELL  217 

expostulate  against  the  act  as  a  breach  of  commercial  CHAP 
amity ;  the  parliament  studied  the  interests  of  Eng-  ^-^ 
land,  and  would  not  repeal  laws  to  please  a  neighbor.1 

A  naval  war  soon  followed,  which  Cromwell  eager-  1652 
\y  desired,  and  Holland  as  earnestly  endeavored  to 
avoid.  The  spirit  of  each  people  was  kindled  with 
the  highest  national  enthusiasm  ;  the  commerce  of  the 
world  was  the  prize  contended  for ;  the  ocean  was  the 
scene  of  the  conflict ;  and  the  annals  of  recorded  time 
had  never  known  so  many  great  naval  actions  in  such 
quick  succession.  This  was  the  war  in  which  Blake, 
and  Ayscue,  and  De  Ruyter,  gained  their  glory ;  and 
Tromp  fixed  a  broom  to  his  mast  in  bravado,  as  if  to 
sweep  the  English  flag  from  the  seas. 

Cromwell  was  not  disposed  to  trammel  the  industry 
of  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  and  New  England.  His 
ambition  aspired  to  make  England  the  commercial 
emporium  of  the  world.  His  plans  extended  to  the 
possession  of  the  harbors  in 'the  Spanish  Netherlands; 
France  was  obliged  to  pledge  her  aid  to  conquer,  and 
her  consent  to  yield  Dunkirk,  Mardyke  and  Grave- 
lines;  and  Dunkirk,  in  the  summer  of  1658,  was 
given  up  to  his  ambassador  by  the  French  king  in 
person.  Nor  was  this  all  :  he  desired  the  chief 
harbors  in  the  North  Sea,  and  the  Baltic ;  and  an 
alliance  with  Sweden,  made  not  simply  from  a  zeal  for 
Protestantism,  was  to  secure  him  Bremen,  and  Elsinore,  1657 
and  Dantzig,  as  his  reward.2  In  the  West  Indies,  his 
commanders  planned  the  capture  of  Jamaica,  which  ir>55 
succeeded  ;  and  the  attempt  at  the  reduction  of  His- 
paniola,  then  the  chief  possession  of  Spain  among  the 

l  Clarendon,  b.  xiii.     Parl.  His-          a  Thurloo,   vi.   478.      Heeren's 
tory,  111.   i:J74,  5,  8.      Godwin,  iii.       Works,  i.  158. 
381-2.     Ileeren,  i.  15G. 

VOL.   i  28 


218  COMMERCIAL   POLICY    OF  THE   STUARTS. 

CHAP,  islands,  failed  only  through  the  incompetency  or  want 
^^  of  concert  of  his  agents. 

It  is  as  the  rival  of  Holland,  the  successful  antag 
onist  of  Spain,  the  protector  of  English  shipping,  that 
Cromwell  laid  claims  to  glory.  The  crown  passed 
from  the  brow  of  his  sons  ;  his  wide  plans  for  the 
possession  of  commercial  places  on  the  continent  were 
defeated  ;  Dunkirk  was  restored ;  the  monarchy,  which 
he  subverted,  was  reestablished  ;  the  nobility,  which 
he  humbled,  recovered  its  pride  : — Jamaica  and  the  Act 
of  Navigation  were  the  surviving  monuments  of 
Cromwell. 

The  protection  of  English  shipping,  thus  permanent 
ly  established  as  a  part  of  the  British  commercial 
policy,  was  the  successful  execution  of  a  scheme,  which 
many  centuries  before  had  been  prematurely  attempted. 
A  new  and  a  still  less  justifiable  encouragement  was 
soon  demanded,  and  English  merchants  began  to 
insist  upon  the  entire  monopoly  of  the  commerce  of 
the  colonies.  This  question  had  but  recently  been 
agitated  in  parliament.  It  was  within  the  few  last 
years,  that  England  had  acquired  colonies  ;  and  as,  at 
first,  they  were  thought  to  depend  upon  the  royal  pre 
rogative,  the  public  policy  with  respect  to  them  can  be 
found  only  in  the  proclamations,  charters,  and  instruc 
tions,  which  emanated  from  the  monarch. 

The  prudent  forecast  of  Henry  VII.  had  consider 
ed  the  advantages  which  might  be  derived  from  a  co- 

o  o 

lonial  monopoly ;  and  while  ample  privileges  were  be 
stowed  on  the  adventurers  who  sailed  for  the  New 
World,  he  stipulated  that  the  exclusive  staple  of  its 
commerce  should  be  made  in  England.1  A  century  of 
ill  success  had  checked  the  extravagance  of  hope ;  and 

l  Hazard,  i.  10,  and  13,  14.     Biddle's  Cabot,  309. 


COMMERCIAL  POLICY   OF   THE    STUARTS.  219 

as  the  charters  of  Gilbert  and  of  Raleigh  had  contained  CHAP 
little  but  concessions,  suited  to  invite  those  eminent  — ^ 
men  to  engage  with  earnestness  in  the  career  of  west- 

a     O 

ern  discoveries,   so  the    first  charter  for  Virginia  ex-  1G06 
pressly  admitted  strangers  to  trade  with  the  colony  on 
payment    of  a   small  discriminating    duty.1      On   the 
enlargement  of  the  company,  the  intercourse  with  for-  1G09 
eigners  was  still  permitted ;  nor  were   any  limits  as 
signed  to  the  commerce  in  wrhich  they  might  engage.2 
The   last  charter  was  equally  free  from  unreasonable  1012 
restrictions  on  trade ;    and,  by  a  confirmation   of  all 
former   privileges,  it  permitted  to  foreign  nations  the 
traffic,  which  it  did  not  expressly  sanction.3 

At  an  early  period  of  his  reign,  before  Virginia  had  1G04 
been  planted,  King  James  found  in  his  hostility  to  the     17. 
use  of  tobacco  a  convenient  argument  for  the  exces 
sive  tax  which  a  royal  ordinance  imposed  on  its  con 
sumption.4     When    the  weed    had   evidently    become 
the  staple  of  Virginia,  the  Stuarts  cared  for  nothing 
in  the  colony  so  much  as  for  a  revenue  to  be  derived 
from  an   impost  on  its  produce.     Whatever  false  dis 
play  of  zeal  might  be  made  for  religion,  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen,   the   organization   of  the  government, 
and  the  establishment  of  justice,  the  subject  of  tobacco 
was  never   forgotten.     The  sale  of  it  in  England  was  1619 
strictly   prohibited,  unless  the  heavy  impost  had  been 
paid  ; 5    a   proclamation   enforced    the   royal    decree ; 6    Nov 
and,  that  the  tax  might  be  gathered  on  the  entire  con 
sumption,  by  a  new  proclamation,7  the  culture  of  to-    *?°c- 
bacco  was  forbidden  in  England  and  Wales,  and  the 
plants  already   growing   were  ordered  to  be  uprooted. 

1  Charter,  a.  13,  in  Hen.  i.  63.  5  May  25.     Hazard,  i.  89- 

2  s.  21,  Heninjr,  i.  1)4,  !)5.  6  j\ov.  JQ.     Ibid.  «JO. 

3  Third  Charter,  s.  21,  ib.  109.  ?  Hazard,  i,  93. 

4  Hazard,  i.  49,  50. 


220  COMMERCIAL  POLICY  OF  THE   STUARTS. 

CHAP.  Nor  was  it  long  before  the  importation  and  sale  of 

- — ^~  tobacco  required  a  special  license  from  the  king.1     In 

1(320  this  manner,  a  compromise  was  effected  between  the 
interests  of  the  colonial  planters  and  the  monarch ; 
the  former  obtained  the  exclusive  supply  of  the  Eng 
lish  market,  and  the  latter  succeeded  in  imposing 

1631  an  exorbitant  duty.2  In  the  ensuing  parliament. 
Lord  Coke  did  not  fail  to  remind  the  commons  of  the 
usurpations  of  authority  on  the  part  of  the  monarch, 
who  had  taxed  the  produce  of  the  colonies  without 
the  consent  of  the  people,  and  without  an  act  of  the 
national  legislature ; 3  and  Sandys,  and  Diggs,  and 
Farrar,  the  friends  of  Virginia,  procured  the  substi- 
18.  tution  of  an  act  for  the  arbitrary  ordinance.4  In  con 
sequence  of  the  dissensions  of  the  times,  the  bill, 
which  had  passed  the  house,  was  left  among  the  un 
finished  business  of  the  session ;  nor  was  the  affair  ad 
justed,  till,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  commons,  in 

1624.  1624,  again  expressed  their  regard  for  Virginia  by  a 
petition,  to  which  the  monarch  readily  attempted  to 
give  effect.5 

1625  The  first  colonial  measure6  of  King  Charles  related 
to  tobacco ;  and  the  second  proclamation,7  though  its 
object  purported  to  be  the  settling  of  the  plantation  of 
Virginia,  partook  largely  of  the  same  character.  In  a 
series  of  public  acts,  King  Charles  attempted  during 
his  reign  to  procure  a  revenue  from  this  source.  The 

1626.  authority  of  the  star-chamber  was  invoked  to  assist 
in  filling  his  exchequer  by  new  and  onerous  duties 

i  April    7.      Hazard,  i.  89— 91.  4  ibid.  209— 271, and 296.    Chal- 

Junc  29.     Ibid.  9:*— 9(J.  mers,  51.  70—74. 

9  Stith,168— 170.     Chalmers,  50  5  Hazard,  i.  1913— 198,  198— 202L 

52.57.  "  6  Ibid.  202,  20:*. 

3  Debates  of  the   Commons  in  ?  Ibid.  203—205. 
1620  and  1G21,  i.  109. 


COMMERCIAL   POLICY   OF   THE  STUARTS.  221 

on  tobacco;1   his  commissioners  were   ordered  to  con-  CHAP 
tract  for  all  the  product  of  the  colonies;2  thougn  the  —  ^ 


Spanish  tobacco  was  not  steadily  excluded.3     All   co- 
lonial  tobacco  was  soon  ordered  to  be  sealed  ;  4  nor  was 
its  importation  permitted  except  with  special  license  ;  5 
and  we  have  seen,  that  an  attempt  wras  made,  by  a  di 
rect    negotiation  with  the  Virginians,  to  constitute  the 
king  the  sole  factor  of  their  staple.6     The  measure  was  1628 
defeated    by  the  firmness  of   the  colonists  ;    and    the 
monarch  was  left  to  issue  a  new  series  of  proclama-  1631 
tions,  constituting  London  the  sole  mart  of  colonial  to 
bacco  ;  7  till,  vainly  attempting   to  regulate  the  trade,8  1633 
he  declared   "his  will  and  pleasure  to  have  the  sole  1634 
preemption  of  all  the  tobacco  "  of  the  English  planta 
tions.9     He  long  adhered  to  his  system  with  resolute  1639 
pertinacity.10 

The  measures  of  the  Stuarts  were  ever  unsuccess 
ful,  because  they  were  directed  against  the  welfare 
of  the  colonists,  and  were  not  sustained  by  popular 
interests  in  England.  After  the  long-continued  efforts 
which  the  enterprise  of  English  merchants  and  the  in 
dependent  spirit  of  English  planters  had  perseveringly 
defied,  King  Charles,  on  the  appointment  of  Sir  Wil 
liam  Berkeley,  devised  the  expedient  which  was  des 
tined  to  become  so  celebrated.  No  vessel,  laden  with 
colonial  commodities,  mi<rht  sail  from  the  harbors  of 

'  o 

Virginia  for  any  ports  but  those  of  England,  that  the 
staple  of  those  commodities  might  be  made  in  the 
mother  country;  and  all  trade  with  foreign  vessels,  ex 
cept  in  case  of  necessity,  was  forbidden.11  This  sys- 

1  March     2,     1626.      Ibid.   224  6  Heiiinw,  i.  120  and  I'M. 
-230.  7  Jan.  1631.     Rymer,  xix.  235. 

2  Jan.  1627.     Rymer,  xviii.  831.  8  [bid.  474  and  522. 

3  1'Vb.  1627.     Ibid.  848.  9  June  19.     Ha/ard,  i.  375. 

4  March,  1(527.     Ibid.  886.  10  An  <rus%  1(139.    Rymer,  xx.  348. 

5  August,  1627.     Ibid.  920  "  Chalmers,  132.  133. 


222  THE   PARLIAMENT  AND    VIRGINIA. 

CHAP,  tern,  which  the  instructions  of  Berkeley  commanded 

^-v-^  him  to  introduce,  was  ultimately  successful ;  for  it  sac 
rificed  no  rights  but  those  of  the  colonists,  while  it 
identified  the  interests  of  the  English  merchant  and 
the  English  government,  and  leagued  them  together 
for  the  oppression  of  those,  who,  for  more  than  a  cen 
tury,  were  too  feeble  to  offer  effectual  resistance. 

3C47.      The  Long  Parliament  was  more  just;  it  attempted 
23*    to  secure  to  English  shipping  the  whole  carrying  trade 
of  the  colonies,  but  with  the  free  consent  of  the  colo 
nies    themselves ;    offering  an   equivalent,   which    the 
legislatures  in  America  were  at  liberty  to  reject.1 

1650.  The  memorable  ordinance  of  1650  was  a  war  meas 
ure,  and  extended  only  to  the  colonies  which  had  ad 
hered  to  the  Stuarts.  All  intercourse  with  them  was 
forbidden,  except  to  those  who  had  a  license  from 
parliament  or  the  council  of  state.  Foreigners  were 
rigorously  excluded;2  and  this  prohibition  was  design 
ed  to  continue  in  force  even  after  the  suppression  of 

1651  all  resistance.  While,  therefore,  the  navigation  act 
secured  to  English  ships  the  entire  carrying  trade 
with  England,  in  connection  with  the  ordinance  of  the 
preceding  year,  it  conferred  a  monopoly  of  colonial 
commerce. 

But  this  state  of  commercial  law  was  essentially 
modified  by  the  manner  in  which  the  authority  of  the 
English  commonwealth  was  established  in  the  Chesa 
peake.  The  republican  leaders  of  Great  Britain,  con 
ducting  with  true  magnanimity,  suffered  the  fever  of 
party  to  subside,  before  decisive  measures  were  adopt 
ed  ;  and  then  two  of  the  three  commissioners,  whom 
they  appointed,  were  taken  from  among  the  planters 
themselves.  The  instructions  given  them  were  such 

i  Hazard,  i.  634,  035.  2  ibid.  G3G— 03& 


VIRGINIA    CAPITULATES   TO   THE    COMMONWEALTH  223 

as  Virginians  might  carry  into  effect ;    for  they  con-  CHAP 
stituted  them  the  pacificators  and  benefactors  of  their  ^-L 
country.     In  case  of  resistance,  the  cruelties  of  war  1651 
were  threatened.1      If  Virginia  would  but  adhere  to 
the  commonwealth,  she  might  be  the  mistress  of  her 
own  destiny 

What  opposition  could  be  made  to  the  parliament, 
which,  in  the  moment  of  its  power,  voluntarily  pro-  1652 
posed  a  virtual  independence  ?  No  sooner  had  the 
Guinea  frigate  anchored  in  the  waters  of  the  Chesa 
peake,  than  "  all  thoughts  of  resistance  were  laid 
aside,"2  and  the  colonists,  having  no  motive  to  con 
tend  for  a  monarch  whose  fortunes  seemed  irretrieva 
ble,  were  earnest  only  to  assert  the  freedom  of  their 
own  institutions.  It  marks  the  character  of  the  Vir 
ginians,  that  they  refused  to  surrender  to  force,  but 
yielded  by  a  voluntary  deed  and  a  mutual  compact. 
It  was  agreed,  upon  the  surrender,  that  the  "  PEOPLE 
OF  VIRGINIA"  should  have  all  the  liberties  of  the  free- 
born  people  of  England ;  should  intrust  their  business, 
as  formerly,  to  their  own  grand  assembly ;  should  re 

iLet  the  reader  consult  the  in-  pare  also  Ludlow,  149:  "This news 

etructions  themselves,  in   Thurloe,  being  brought  to  Virginia,  they  sub- 

i.  197,  198,  or  in  Hazard,  i.  55G —  mitted  also,"&e.  Clarendon,  Strong, 

558,  rather  than   the    commentary  Langford,  the  public  acts,  Ludlow, 

of  Chalmers.  all  contemporary,  do  not  disagree. 

2  Clarendon,  b.  xiii.  4GG,  467.  Beverley  wrote  in  the  next  century ; 
It  is  strange  how  much  error  has  and  his  account  is,  therefore,  less  to 
been  introduced  into  Virginia  his-  be  relied  on.  Besides,  it  is  in  itself 
tory,  and  continued,  even  when  improbable.  How  could  Dutch  mer- 
nieans  of  correcting  it  were  abun-  chantmen  have  awaited  an  English 
dnnt  and  easy  of  access.  Claren-  squadron?  The  Netherlands  had 
don  relates  the  matter  rightly.  See  no  liberty  to  trade  with  Virginia ; 
also  Strong's  Babylon's  Fall,  2,  3,  and  Dutch  ships  would  at  once  have 
and  Langford's  Refutation,  G,  7.  been  seized  as  prizes.  Virginia  had 
These  are  all  contemporary  author-  doubtless  been  "whole  for  monar- 
ities.  Compare  also  the  journals  chy;"  but  monarchy  in  England 
of  the  Long  Parliament  for  August  seemed  at  an  end.  Of  modern  wn- 
31,  1G52.  So,  too,  the  Act  of  Sur-  ters,  Godwin,  History  of  the  Corn- 
render,  in  Hening,  i.  3G3 — 3G5,  monwealth,  iii.  280,  discerned  the 
which  agrees  with  the  instructions  truth, 
from  the  Long  Parliament  Com- 


224  VIRGINIA   CAPITULATES   TO  THE   COMMONWEALTH 

CHAP,  main  unquestioned  for  their  past  loyalty ;  and  should 
^^-  have  "  as  free  trade  as  the  people  of  England."  No 
1652.  taxes,  no  customs,  might  be  levied,  except  by  their 
own  representatives ;  no  forts  erected,  no  garrisons 
maintained,  but  by  their  own  consent.1  In  the  settle- 
men:  of  the  government,  the  utmost  harmony  prevailed 
between  the  burgesses  and  the  commissioners :  it  was 
the  governor  and  council  only,  who  had  any  apprehen 
sions  for  their  safety,  and  who  scrupulously  provided  a 
guaranty  for  the  security  of  their  persons  and  proper 
ty,  which  there  evidently  had  existed  no  design  to 
injure. 

These  terms,  so  favorable  to  liberty,  and  almost  con 
ceding  independence,  were  faithfully  observed  till  the 
restoration.  Historians  have,  indeed,  drawn  gloomy 
pictures  of  the  discontent  which  pervaded  the  colony, 
and  have  represented  that  discontent  as  heightened  by 
•  commercial  oppression.2  The  statement  is  a  fiction. 
The  colony  of  Virginia  enjoyed  liberties  as  large  as 
the  favored  New  England  ;  displayed  an  equal  degree 
of  fondness  for  popular  sovereignty,  and  fearlessly 
exercised  political  independence.3  There  had  Jong 
existed  a  republican  party;  and,  now  that  monarchy 
had  fallen,  on  whom  could  the  royalists  rely  so  safely 
as  on  themselves  ?  The  executive  officers  became 
elective ;  and  so  evident  were  the  designs  of  all  parties 
to  promote  an  amicable  settlement  of  the  government, 

1  Hening,  i.  363— 365,  and  367,  Records,    at    Albany,  xxiv.     302, 
368.     Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia,  where  Berkeley  writes  like  an  in- 
Hazard,     i.    560 — 564.      Burk,    ii.  dependent    sovereign.      "  Whatso- 
85 — 01.  ever  the  noble  Sir  Harry  Moody,  in 

2  Beverley,  Chalmers,  Robertson,  his  excellent  judgment,  shall  think 
Marshall.     Even  the  accurate  and  fit  to  be  done  for  the  good   of  both 
learned  Holmes  has  trans/nitted  the  colonies,   we,   on    our    part,    shall 
error.     Compare  Jared    Sparks,  in  firmly  ratify."     May  17, 1(>60.    The 
North  American  Review,  xx.  new  same  spirit  had  prevailed  for  vears 
series,  433 — 436.  Albany  Records,  iv.  165. 

3  Compare,  for  example,   Dutch 


VIRGINIA   DURING  THE   PROTECTORATE.  225 

that  Richard  Bennett,  himself  a  commissioner  of  the  CHAP 
parliament,  and,  moreover,  a  merchant  and  a  Round-  —  ^ 
head,  was.  on  the  recommendation  of  the  other  conimis-  1C5!- 

April 

sioners,  unanimously  chosen  governor.1     The  oath  re-     30. 
quired  of  the  burgesses  made  it  their  paramount  duty  to 
provide  for  "  the  general  good  and  prosperity  "  of  Vir 
inia  and  its  inhabitants.2     Under  the  administration 


of  Berkeley,  Bennett  had  been  oppressed  in  Virginia  ; 
and  now  not  the  slightest  effort  at  revenge  was  at 
tempted.3 

The  act  which  constituted  the  government,  claimed  April. 
for  the  assembly  the  privilege  of  defining  the  powers 
which  were  to  belong  to  the  governor    and  council  ; 
and  the  public  good  was    declared  to  require,  "  that    May 
the  right  of  electing  all   officers  of  this  colony  should      5 
appertain  to  the  burgesses,"  as  to  "  the  representatives 
of  the  people."       It  had  been  usual  for  the  governor 
and  council  to  sit  in  the  assembly  ,  the  expediency  of 
the  measure  was    questioned,  and  a  temporary  com 
promise  ensued  ;  they  retained  their  former  right,  but 
were  required  to  take  the  oath   which  was  adminis 
tered   to    the   burgesses.5      Thus   the    house   of   bur 
gesses  acted  as  a  convention  of  the  people  ;  exercising 
supreme  authority,  and  distributing  power  as  the  pub 
lic  welfare  required.6 

Nor  was  this  an  accidental  and  transient  arrange 
ment.  Cromwell  never  made  any  appointments  for 
Virginia  ;  not  one  governor  acted  under  his  commis- 

1  Herring,  i.  371.     See  Stith,  199,  thorities    are     Strong's    Babylon's 
H-hc     tells     the     story    rightly.—  Fall,  i.  7,  and  10  ;  Langf  brd's  Refu- 
Strangc,  that  historians  would  not  tation,  3  ;    Hammond's    Leah    and 
take    a    hint    from     the    accurate  Rachel,  21.     These,  taken  together, 
Stith!  are  conclusive.     Bennett  was  of  the 

2  Herring,  i.  371.  council  in  ](J4f>.     Herring,  i.  3 

3  Langford's  Refutation  3.    That  4  Hening,  i.  372. 
Bennett  was  a  Roundhead  is  indis-  5  Ibid.  373. 

putable.      The    contemporary    an-         6  Hening's  note,  i.  3G9. 

VOL.  i.  29 


'226  VIRGINIA   DURING  THE   PROTECTORATE. 

CHAP,  sion.1     When  Bennett  retired  from  office,  the  assembly 
— —  itself  elected  his  successor  ;  and  Edward  Diggs,  who 
1655.  had  before  been  chosen  of  the  council,2  and  who  "  had 
31.     given  a  signal  testimony  of  his  fidelity  to  Virginia,  and 
to  the  commonwealth  of  England,"3  received  the  suf 
frages.4      The   commissioners    in    the   colony 5   were 
rather  engaged  in  settling  the  affairs  and  adjusting  the 
boundaries  of  Maryland,  than  in  controlling  the  desti 
nies  of  Virginia. 

o 

The  right  of  electing  the  governor  continued  to  be 
claimed  by  the  representatives  of  the  people,6  and 

1658.  Samuel  Matthews/  son  of  an  old  planter,  was  next 
honored  with  the  office.  But,  from  too  exalted  ideas 
of  his  station,  he,  with  the  council,  became  involved 
in  an  unequal  contest  with  the  assembly  by  which  he 
had  been  elected.  The  burgesses  had  enlarged  their 
power  by  excluding  the  governor  and  council  from 
their  sessions,  and,  having  thus  reserved  to  themselves 
the  first  free  discussion  of  every  law,  had  voted  an 

Ajiril  adjournment  till  November.  The  governor  and  coun 
cil,  by  message,  declared  the  dissolution  of  the  assem 
bly.  The  legality  of  the  dissolution  was  denied; 8  and, 
after  an  oath  of  secrecy,  every  burgess  was  enjoined 
riot  to  betray  his  trust  by  submission.  Matthews 
yielded,  reserving  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  protector.9 
When  the  house  unanimously  voted  the  governor's 
answer  unsatisfactory,  he  expressly  revoked  the  order 
of  dissolution,  but  still  referred  the  decision  of  the 
dispute  to  Cromwell.  The  members  of  the  assembly, 

1  Honing,  i.  Preface,  13.  6  Honing,  i.  431. 

2  I  hid.  388.     November,  1654.  7  ii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  ix.  119, 

3  Ibid.  i.  388.  8  Hening's  note,  i.  430. 

4  Ibid.  408.      Compare   Honing,  i.        9  Honing,   i.   496,   497;    and    50u, 
5,  and  also  426.  501. 

6  Ibid.  428  and  432.     HAZ.  i.  594. 


VIRGINIA  DURING  THE  PROTECTORATE.  227 


apprehensive  of  a  limitation  of  colonial  liberty  by  the 
reference  of  a  political  question  to  England,  deter-  ^~ 
mined  on  a  solemn  assertion  of  their  independent  1658. 
powers.  A  committee  was  appointed,  of  which  John 
Carter,  of  Lancaster,  was  the  chief;  and  a  complete 
declaration  of  popular  sovereignty  was  solemnly  made. 
The  governor  and  council  had  ordered  the  dissolution 
of  the  assembly  ;  the  burgesses  now  decreed  the  for 
mer  election  of  governor  and  council  to  be  void. 
Having  thus  exercised,  not  merely  the  right  of  elec 
tion,  but  the  more  extraordinary  right  of  removal, 
they  reflected  Matthews,  "who  by  us,"  they  add, 
"  shall  be  invested  with  all  the  just  rights  and  privi 
leges  belonging  to  the  governor  and  captain-general 
of  Virginia."  The  governor  submitted,  and  acknowl 
edged  the  validity  of  his  ejection  by  taking  the  new 
oath,  which  had  just  been  prescribed.  The  council 
was  organized  anew  ;  and  the  spirit  of  popular  liberty 
established  all  its  claims.1 

The  death  of  Cromwell   made    no    change   in   the  165& 
constitution  of  the  colony.     The  message  of  the  gov 
ernor    duly  announced  the  event  to  the  legislature.2  1059. 
It  has  pleased  some  English  historians  to  ascribe   to   Man 
Virginia  a  precipitate  attachment  to  Charles  II.     On 
the    present   occasion,   the    burgesses   deliberated   in 
private,  and  unanimously  resolved  that  Richard  Crom 
well  should  be  acknowledged.3     But  it  was  a  more 
interesting  question,  whether  the  change  of  protector 
in  England  would  endanger  liberty  in  Virginia.     The 
letter  from  the  council  had  left  the  government  to  be 
administered  according  to  former  usage.     The  assem- 


1  Heninjf,  i.  504,  505.  »  Honing,  i.  511.     Mar.  1659. 

2  See  the  names  of  the  members,  in 
Helling,  v.  i.  p.  506,  5U7. 


228  VIRGINIA  DURING  THE  PROTECTORATE. 


bly  declared  itself  satisfied  with  the  language.1     But, 
—  ^^  that  there  might  be  no  reason  to  question  the  existing 

1659.  usage,  the  governor  was   summoned  to  come  to  the 
house  ;    where    he    appeared   in   person,    deliberately 
acknowledged  the  supreme  power  of  electing  officers 
to  be,  by  the  present  laws,  resident  in  the   assembly, 
and  pledged   himself  to  join  in  addressing  the  new 
protector  for  special  confirmation  of  all  existing  privi 
leges.     The  reason  for  this  extraordinary  proceeding 
is    assigned;    "that    what  was    their   privilege    now, 
might   be    the    privilege    of  their   posterity."2      The 
frame  of  the  Virginia  government  wras  deemed  worthy 
of  being  transmitted  to  remote  generations. 

1660.  On    the    death   of  Matthews,  the   Virginians  were 
ar*   without  a  chief  magistrate,  just  at  the  time  when  the 

resignation  of  Richard  had  left  England  without  a 
government.  The  burgesses,  who  were  immediately 
convened,  resolving  to  become  the  arbiters  of  the  fate 
of  the  colony,  enacted,  "  that  the  supreme  power  of 
the  government  of  this  country  shall  be  resident  in  the 
assembly  ;  and  all  writs  shall  issue  in  its  name,  until 
there  shall  arrive  from  England  a  commission,  which 
the  assembly  itself  shall  adjudge  to  be  lawful."  3  This 
being  done,  Sir  William  Berkely  was  elected  govern 
or;4  and,  acknowledging  the  validity  of  the  acts  of 
the  burgesses,  whom,  it  was  expressly  agreed,  he 
could  in  no  event  dissolve,  he  accepted  the  office,  and 
recognized,  without  a  scruple,  the  authority  to  which 
he  owed  his  elevation.  "  I  am,"  said  he,  "  but  a  ser 
vant  of  the  assembly."5  Virginia  did  not  lay  claim 


1  Hcninc:,  i.  511.  *  Ibid.  530,  531,  and  5. 

2  Ibid.  511,  512.  *  Smith's  New  York,  27. 
*  Ibid.  530,  Act 


VIRGINIA  AND   ITS   INHABITANTS.  229 

to  absolute  independence,  but,  awaiting  the  settlement  CHAP 
of  affairs  in  England,  hoped  for  the  Restoration  of  ^^^ 
the  Stuarts.1  1G60 

The  legislation  of  the  colony  had  taken  its  charac 
ter  from  the  condition  of  the  people,  who  were  essen 
tially  agricultural  in  their  pursuits  ;  and  it  is  the  inter 
est  of  society  in  that  state  to  discountenance  contract 
ing  debts.  Severe  laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  creditor 
are  the  fruits  of  commercial  society ;  Virginia  pos 
sessed  not  one  considerable  to\vn,  and  her  statutes 
favored  the  independence  of  the  planter,  rather  than 
the  security  of  trade.  The  representatives  of  colonial 
landholders  voted  "  the  total  ejection  of  mercenary 
attornies."  By  a  special  act,  emigrants  were  safe 
against  suits  designed  to  enforce  engagements  that 
had  been  made  in  Europe  ; 3  and  colonial  obligations 
might  be  easily  satisfied  by  a  surrender  of  pinperty.4 
Tobacco  was  generally  used  instead  of  coin.  Theft 
was  hardly  known,  and  the  spirit  of  the  criminal  law 
was  mild.  The  highest  judicial  tribunal  was  the  as 
sembly,  which  was  convened  once  a  year,  or  oftener.5 
Already  large  landed  proprietors  were  frequent ;  and 
plantations  of  two  thousand  acres  wrere  not  unknown/ 

During  the  suspension  of  the  royal  government  in 
England,  Virginia  attained  unlimited  liberty  of  com 
merce,  which  she  regulated  by  independent  laws.  The 
ordinance  of  1650  was  rendered  void  by  the  act  of 
capitulation;  the  navigation  act  of  Cromwell  was  not 
designed  for  her  oppression,7  and  was  not  enforced 
within  her  borders.  If  an  occasional  confiscation  took 

1  Iloning's  note,  i.  52G— 529.  6  Virginia's  Cure,  2  and  8.     Sad 

2  Hemng,  i.  275.  302.  31:3.  349.     State,  9. 

419.  482.  495  ;  and  Preface,  18.  7  The    commerce    between   the 

3  Ibid.  25<),  257.  Dutch  and  Virginia  was  hardly  in- 

4  Ibid.  294.  terrupted. 

5  Hammond,  13.     Sad  State,  21 


230  VIRGINIA  AND   ITS  INHABITANTS. 

CHAP  place,  it  was  done   by  the  authority  of  the  colonial 

~^~  assembly.1  The  war  between  England  and  Holland 
did  not  wholly  interrupt  the  intercourse  of  the  Dutch 
with  the  English  colonies ;  and  if,  after  the  treaty 
of  peace,  the  trade  was  considered  contraband,  the 
English  restrictions  were  entirely  disregarded.2  A 

1656.  remonstrance,  addressed  to  Cromwell,  demanded  an 
unlimited  liberty;  and  we  may  suppose  that  it  was 

1(558.  not  refused  ;  for,  some  months  before  Cromwell's  death, 
the  Virginians  "  invited  the  Dutch  and  all  foreigners J1 
to  trade  with  them,  on  payment  of  no  higher  duty 
than  that  which  was  levied  on  such  English  vessels  as 
were  bound  for  a  foreign  port.3  Proposals  of  peace 
and  commerce  between  New  Netherland  and  Virginia 
were  discussed  without  scruple  by  the  respective  colo- 

1660  nial  governments;4  and  at  last  a  special  statute  of 
Virginia  extended  to  every  Christian  nation,  in  amity 
with  England,  a  promise  of  liberty  to  trade  and  equal 
justice.5  At  the  restoration,  Virginia  enjoyed  free 
dom  of  commerce. 

Religious  liberty  advanced  under  the  influence  of 
independent  domestic  legislation.  No  churches  had 
been  erected  except  in  the  heart  of  the  colony  ; 6  and 
there  were  so  few  ministers,  that  a  bounty  was  offered 

1  Ilening,  i.  382,  383.  still  more   in  the  very  rare  little 

2  Tliurloe,    v.    80.    Hazard,     i.  volume   by  L.    G.    "Public  Good 
599—002.  without  Private  Interest,  or  a  Com- 

3  Hening,  i.  409.  pendious     Remonstrance     of     the 

4  The   statements   in   this  para-  Present  Sad  State  and  Condition  of 
graph    derive    ample    confirmation  the    English  Colome   in  Virginea; 
from  the  very  copious  Dutch  Rec-  1(157;"  p.  13,  14.     The  prohibition 
ords    at    Albany,  iv.  91  ;  ix.  57 —  alluded  to  is'  not  in  the  Navigation 
59;  iv.  90.  122.  KJ5.  198;  particular-  Act  of  St.  John,  nor  did  any  such 
ly  iv.  211,  where  the  rumor  of  an  go  into  effect.     See   Albany   Rcc- 
intended  prohibition  of  Dutch  trade  ords,  iv.  230.     The  very  rare  tract 
in  Virginia  is  alluded  to  in  a  letter  of  L.  G.,    I   obtained  through   the 
from  the  W.  1.  Co.  to  Stuyvesant,  kindness  of  John  Brown,  of  Provi- 
That  was  in   1056,  precisely  at  the  dence. 

time  referred   to  in   the    rambling        5  Smith,  27.     Hening,  i.  450. 
complaint  in  Hazard,    i.  6UO,  and        G  Norwood,  in  Churchill,  vi.  186, 


VIRGINIA   AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 

for  their  importation.1    Conformity  had,  in  the  reign  of  CHAP 
Charles,  been  enforced  by  measures  of  disfranchisement  - — '- 
and  exile.2     By  the  people  under  the  commonwealth, 
though    they  were    attached    to    the    church  of  their 
fathers,  all  things  respecting  parishes  and  parishioners  ^^ 
were  referred  to   their  own  ordering  ; 3  and   religious      l 
liberty  would   have   been   perfect,  but  for  an  act  of 
intolerance,  by  which  all  Quakers  were  banished,  and 
their  return  regarded  as  a  felony.4 

Virginia  was  the  first  state  in  the  world,  composed 
of  separate  boroughs,  diffused  over  an  extensive  sur 
face,  where  the  government  was  organized  on  the 
principle  of  universal  suffrage.  All  freemen,  without 
exception,  were  entitled  to  vote.  An  attempt  was  1655 
once  made  to  limit  the  right  to  house-keepers;5  but 
the  public  voice  reproved  the  restriction ;  the  very 
next  year,  it  was  decided  to  be  "hard,  and  unagreea-  1C56 
ble  to  reason,  that  any  person  shall  pay  equal  taxes, 
and  yet  have  no  votes  in  elections  ; "  and  the  electoral 
franchise  was  restored  to  all  freemen.6  Servants, 
when  the  time  of  their  bondage  was  completed,  at 
once  became  electors,  and  might  be  chosen  bur 
gesses.7 

Thus  Virginia  established  upon  her  soil  the  su 
premacy  of  the  popular  branch,  the  freedom  of  trade, 
the  independence  of  religious  societies,  the  security 
from  foreign  taxation,  and  the  universal  elective 
franchise.  If,  in  following  years,  she  departed  from 
either  of  these  principles,  and  yielded  a  reluctant 
consent  to  change,  it  was  from  the  influence  of  foreign 

1  Hening,  i.  418.  5  ibid.  Preface,  10,  20,  and  412, 

2  ll>,d.  L  1'2:?.  144.  149.  155. 180.  Act  7.     March,  l< »•>•>. 
240.  21  kS,  2lJ!>.  277.  6  ]bid.  i.  403,  Act  10. 

3  Ibid.  4:«,  Act  I.     1G58.  'Virginia's    Cure,    p.    18     Sad 

4  Ibid.  i.  532,  533.  State,  p.  4. 


232  VIRGINIA  AND   ITS  INHABITANTS. 

CHAP,  authority.  Virginia  had  herself,  almost  unconsciously, 
•~~~  established  a  nearly  independent  democracy ;  and 
already  preferred  her  own  sons  for  places  of  authority.1 
The  country  felt  itself  honored  by  those  who  were 
"Virginians  born;"2  and  emigrants  never  again 
desired  to  live  in  England.3  Prosperity  advanced  with 
freedom  ;  dreams  of  new  staples  and  infinite  wealth 
were  indulged  ; 4  while  the  population  of  Virginia,  at 
the  epoch  of  the  restoration,  may  have  been  about 
thirty  thousand.  Many  of  the  recent  emigrants  had 
been  royalists  in  England,  good  officers  in  the  war, 
men  of  education,  of  property,  and  of  condition.  The 
revolution  had  not  subdued  their  characters  ;  but  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  divided  them  from  the  political 
strifes  of  Europe ;  their  industry  was  employed  in 
making  the  best  advantage  of  their  plantations ;  the 
interests  and  liberties  of  Virginia,  the  land  which  they 
adopted  as  their  country,  were  dearer  to  them  than  the 
monarchical  principles  which  they  had  espoused  in 
England ; 5  and  therefore  no  bitterness  could  exist 
between  the  firmest  partisans  of  the  Stuarts  and  the 
friends  of  republican  liberty.  Virginia  had  long  been 
the  home  of  its  inhabitants.  "  Among  many  other 
blessings,"  said  their  statute-book,6  "  God  Almighty 
hath  vouchsafed  increase  of  children  to  this  colony; 
who  are  now  multiplied  to  a  considerable  number;" 
and  the  huts  in  the  wilderness  were  as  full  as  the 
birds-nests  of  the  woods. 


1  Hammond's  Leah  and  Rachel,  460,  4(17.     Walsh's  Appeal,  p.  3L 
p.  15.  6  II en i no-,  i.  #flj.     "A   very  nu- 

2  Thurloe,  ii.  274.  merous    generation     of    Christian 

3  Hammond,  8.  children  born  in  Virginia,  who  nat- 

4  E.  Williams,  Virginia,  and  Vir-  urally  are  of  beautiful   and  comely 
ginia's    Discovery    of  Silk-worms,  persons,  and  generally  of  more  in- 
1G50.  genious  spirits  than  those  of  Eng- 

5  Clarendon,    b.    xiii.    v.    iii.    p.  land."     Virginia's  Cure,  5. 


VIRGINIA  AND  ITS   INHABITANTS. 

The  genial  climate  and  transparent  atmosphere  de-  CHAP 
lighted  those  who  had  come   from   the   denser  air  of  ^v'-~ 


•— 


England.  Every  object  in  nature  was  new  and  won 
derful.  The  loud  and  frequent  thunder-storms  were 
phenomena  that  had  been  rarely  witnessed  in  the 
colder  summers  of  the  north ;  the  forests,  majestic  in 
their  growth,  and  free  from  underwood,  deserved  ad 
miration  for  their  unrivalled  magnificence  ;  the  purling 
streams  and  the  frequent  rivers,  flowing  between  al 
luvial  banks,  quickened  the  ever-pregnant  soil  into  an 
unwearied  fertility ;  the  strangest  and  the  most  deli 
cate  flowers  grew  familiarly  in  the  fields ;  the  woods 
were  replenished  with  sweet  barks  and  odors ;  the 
gardens  matured  the  fruits  of  Europe,  of  which  the 
growth  was  invigorated  and  the  flavor  improved  by 
the  activity  of  the  virgin  mould.  Especially  the  birds, 
with  their  gay  plumage  and  varied  melodies,  inspired 
delight ;  every  traveller  expressed  his  pleasure  in  lis 
tening  to  the  mocking-bird,  which  caroled  a  thousand 
several  tunes,  imitating  and  excelling  the  notes  of  all 
its  rivals.  The  humming-bird,  so  brilliant  in  its  plu 
mage,  and  so  delicate  in  its  form,  quick  in  motion,  yet 
not  fearing  the  presence  of  man,  haunting  about  the 
flowers  like  the  bee  gathering  honey,  rebounding  from 
the  blossoms  into  which  it  dips  its  bill,  and  as  soon 
returning  "  to  renew  its  many  addresses  to  its  delight 
ful  objects,"  was  ever  admired  as  the  smallest  and  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  feathered  race.  The  rattlesnake, 
with  the  terrors  of  its  alarms  and  the  power  of  its 
venom  ;  the  opossum,  soon  to  become  as  celebrated 
for  the  care  of  its  offspring  as  the  fabled  pelican  ;  the 
noisy  frog,  booming  from  the  shallows  like  the  English 
bittern  ;  the  flying  squirrel ;  the  myriads  of  pigeons, 
darkening  the  air  with  the  immensity  of  their  flocks. 
VOL.  i.  30 


234  VIRGINIA  AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 

CHAP  and,  as  men  believed,  breaking  with  their  weight  the 
— vL  boughs  of  trees  on  which  they  alighted, — were  all  hon 
ored  with  frequent  commemoration,  and  became  the 
subjects  of  the  strangest  tales.  The  concurrent  relation 
of  all  the  Indians  justified  the  belief,  that,  within  ten 
days'  journey  towards  the  setting  of  the  sun,  there  was 
a  country  where  gold  might  be  washed  from  the  sand, 
and  where  the  natives  themselves  had  learned  the  use 
of  the  crucible  ; 1  but  definite  and  accurate  as  were  the 
accounts,  inquiry  was  always  baffled  ;  and  the  regions 
of  gold  remained  for  two  centuries  an  undiscovered 
land. 

Various  were  the  employments  by  which  the  calm 
ness  of  life  wras  relieved.  George  Sandys,  an  idle 
man,  who  had  been  a  great  traveller,  and  who  did  not 
remain  in  America,  a  poet,  whose  verse  was  tolerated 
by  Dryden  and  praised  by  Izaak  Walton,  beguiled  the 
ennui  of  his  seclusion  by  translating  the  whole  of 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses.2  To  the  man  of  leisure,  the 
chase  furnished  a  perpetual  resource.  It  was  not  long 
before  the  horse  was  multiplied  in  Virginia  ;  and  to 
improve  that  noble  animal  was  early  an  object  of 
pride,  soon  to  be  favored  by  legislation.  Speed  was 
especially  valued  ;  and  "  the  planter's  pace  "  became  a 
proverb. 

Equally  proverbial  was  the  hospitality  of  the  Vir 
ginians.  Labor  was  valuable  ;  land  was  cheap  ;  com 
petence  promptly  followed  industry.  There  \vas  no 
need  of  a  scramble  ;  abundance  gushed  from  the  earth 
for  all.  The  morasses  were  alive  with  water-fowl ; 
the  creeks  abounded  with  oysters,  heaped  together  in 
inexhaustible  beds ;  the  rivers  were  crowded  with 

i  E.  Williams,  Virginia,  &c.  17.        2  Rymer,  xvili.  G7f>,  C77.    Wai- 
Comp.  Sillnnan's    Journal,   on   the     ton's  Hooker,  32. 
mines  of  JN.  C.  xxiii.  8,  9. 


VIRGINIA  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS. 

fish ;  the  forests  were  nimhle  with  game ;  the  woods  CHAP 
rustled  with  coveys  of  quails  and  wild  turkeys,  while  ^>-^~ 
they  rung  with  the  merry  notes  of  the  singing-birds ; 
and  hogs,  swarming  like  vermin,  ran  at  large  in  troops. 
It  was  "  the  best  poor  man's  country  in  the  world." 
"  If  a  happy  peace  be  settled  in  poor  England,"  it  had 
been  said,  "  then  they  in  Virginia  shall  be  as  happy  a 
people  as  any  under  heaven."1  But  plenty  encour 
aged  indolence.  No  domestic  manufactures  were  es 
tablished  ;  every  thing  was  imported  from  England. 
The  chief  branch  of  industry,  for  the  purpose  of  ex 
changes,  was  tobacco-planting;  and  the  spirit  of  in 
vention  was  enfeebled  by  the  uniformity  of  pursuit. 

1  ii.   Mass.  Hist  ColL  ix.  116. 106     Hammond's  Leah  and  RackeL  9 
10,6. 


236 


CHAPTER    VII 

COLONIZATION    OF  MARYLAND. 

CHAP.  THE  limits  of  Virginia,  by  its  second  charter,  ex- 
~^ —  tended  two  hundred  miles  north  of  Old  Point  Com- 
1609.  fort?  ancj  therefore  included  all  the  soil  which  subse 
quently  formed  the  state  of  Maryland.  It  was  not 
long  before  the  country  towards  the  head  of  the  Ches 
apeake  was  explored  ;  settlements  in  Accomack  were 
extended ;  and  commerce  was  begun  with  the  tribes 
which  Smith  had  been  the  first  to  visit.  Pory,  the 
1621.  secretary  of  the  colony,  "made  a  discovery  into  the 
great  bay,"  as  far  as  the  River  Patuxent,  which  he  as 
cended  ;  but  his  voyage  probably  reached  no  farther 
to  the  north.  The  English  settlement  of  a  hundred 
men,  which  he  is  represented  to  have  found  already  es 
tablished,1  was  rather  a  consequence  of  his  voyage, 
and  seems  to  have  been  on  the  eastern  shore,  perhaps 
within  the  limits  of  Virginia.2  The  hope  "of  a  very 
good  trade  of  furs,"  animated  the  adventurers ;  and  if 
the  plantations  advanced  but  slowly,  there  is  yet  evi 
dence,  that  commerce  with  the  Indians  was  earnestly 
pursued  under  the  sanction  of  the  colonial  government.3 
An  attempt  was  made  to  obtain  a  monopoly  of  this 
commerce4  by  William  Clayborne,  whose  resolute  and 

1  Chalmers,  200.  1635.    Smith's  History  of  Virginia 

2  Purchas,   iv.   1784.     Smith,  ii.     ii.  (M  and  95. 

61—64.  4  Rel.  of  Maryland,  1G35,  p.  10. 

3  Relation  of  Maryland,  4 ;  ed. 


EARLIEST   SETTLEMENTS   IN  MARYLAND.  237 

enterprising   spirit   was  destined  to  exert  a  powerful  CHAP 
and  long-continued  influence.     His  first  appearance  in  «^v-L 
America  was  as  a  surveyor,1  sent  by  the  London  corn-  I621 
pany  to  make  a  map  of  the  country.     At  the  fall  of  the 
corporation,  he  had,  been  appointed  by  King  James  a  1C24 
member  of  the    council;2  and,  on   the   accession    of 
Charles,  was  continued  in  office,  and,  in  repeated  com-  1625 
missions,  was  nominated  secretary  of  state.3     At  the  1G27 
same  time,  he  received  authority  from  the  governors 
of  Virginia  to  discover  the  source  of  the  13 ay  of  the 
Chesapeake,  and,  indeed,  any  part  of  that  province, 
from  the  thirty-fourth  to  the  forty-first  degree  of  lati 
tude.4     It  was,  therefore,  natural  that  he  should  be 
come  familiar  with  the  opportunities  for  traffic   which 
the  country  afforded ;  and  the  jurisdiction  and  the  set 
tlement    of  Virginia   seemed  about  to  extend  to  the 
forty-first    parallel    of  latitude,   which  was    then    the 
boundary  of  New  England.     Upon  his  favorable  rep 
resentation,  a  company  was  formed    in    England    for 
trading  with  the  natives;  and,  through  the  agency  of 
Sir    William    Alexander,  the    Scottish    proprietary  of 
Nova  Scotia,  a  royal  license  was  issued,  sanctioning 
the   commerce,  and   conferring  on  Clayborne    powers 
of  government  over  the  companions  of  his  voyages.5 
Harvey  enforced  the  commands  of  his  sovereign,  and  ie,3J3 
confirmed  the  license  by  a  colonial  commission.6     The    Mgar 
Dutch  plantations  were  esteemed  to  border  upon  Vir 
ginia.     After  long  experience  as  a  surveyor,  and  after 
years  employed  in  discoveries,  Clayborne,  now  acting 
under    the   royal  license,   formed    establishments,  not 
only  on  Kent  Island,  then  within  the  Old  Dominion,  but 

J  ITem'njr,  i.  116.  *  Papers  in  Chalmers,  227. 

2  Hazard,  i.  189.  6  Chalmers,  2i>7,  228. 

8  Ibid.  234  and  239.  «  Ibid.  228,  229. 


238  LIFE   AND   CHARACTER  OF  SIR   GEORGE   CALVERT. 

CHAP,  also  near  the  mouth  of  the  Susquehannah.1     Thus  the 

^v-.,  colony  of  Virginia   anticipated   the    extension    of   its 

commerce  and  its  limits ;  and,  as  mistress  of  all  the 

vast  and  commodious  waters  of  the  ChesapeakCi  and 

of  the  soil  on  both  sides  of  the  Potomac,  indulged  the 

7  o 

hope  of  obtaining  the  most  brilliant  commercial  suc 
cess,  and  rising  into  powerful  opulence,  without  tho 
competition  of  a  rival. 

It  was  the  peculiar  fortune  of  the  United  States, 
that  they  were  severally  colonized  by  men,  in  origin, 
religious  faith,  and  purposes,  as  various  as  the  climes 
which  are  included  within  their  limits.  Before  Vir 
ginia  could  complete  its  settlements,  and  confirm  its 
claims  to  jurisdiction  over  the  country  north  of  the  Po 
tomac,  a  new  government  was  erected,  on  a  founda 
tion  as  extraordinary  as  its  results  were  benevolent. 
Sir  George  Calvert  had  early  become  interested  in  co 
lonial  establishments  in  America.  A  native  of  York- 

1580.  shire,2  educated  at  Oxford,3  with  a  mind  enlarged  by 
extensive  travel,  on  his  entrance  into  life  befriended 
by  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  advanced  to  the  honors  of  knight- 

1619.  hood,  and  at  length  employed  as  one  of  the  two  secre 
taries  of  state,4  he  not  only  secured  the  consideration 
of  his  patron  and  his  sovereign,5  but  the  good  opinion 

1621.  of  the  world.  He  was  chosen  by  a  disputed  major 
ity  to  represent  in  parliament  his  native  county.6 
His  sincerity,  his  capacity  for  business,  his  industry, 
and  his  fidelity,  are  acknowledged  by  all  historians. 
In  an  age  when  religious  controversy  still  continued 

•  Hazard,  i.  430.     Relation  of        *   Stow,    edition    of     1G31      p 
Maryland,    34.     Thurloe,    v.    486.     1031. 

Hazard,  i.  (530.     Maryland  Papers,  5  Wimvood,  ii.  58,  and  iii.  318 

in  Chalmers,  2:J3.  and  337. 

*  Fuller's  Worthies,  201.  <•  Debates  of  1620  and  1621    i 
3  Wood's    Atheme    Oxonienses,  175. 

522,  523. 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER  OF  SIR   GEORGE   CALVERT.  239 

to  be  active,  and  when  the  increasing  divisions  among  CHAP 
Protestants  were  spreading  a  general  alarm,  his  mind  ^*^ 
sought  relief  from  controversy  in  the  bosom  of  the  Ro 
man  Catholic  church;  and,  preferring  the  avowal  of 
his  opinions  to  the  emoluments  of  office,  he  resigned  1624 
his  place,  and  openly  professed  his  conversion.  King 
James  was  never  bitter  against  the  Catholics,  who 
respected  his  pretensions  as  a  monarch ;  Calvert  re 
tained  his  place  in  the  privy  council,  and  was  ad 
vanced  to  the  dignity  of  an  Irish  peerage.  He  had, 
from  early  life,  shared  in  the  general  enthusiasm  of 
England  in  favor  of  American  plantations ;  he  had 
been  a  member  of  the  great  company  for  Virginia; 
and,  while  secretary  of  state,  he  had  obtained  a  special 
patent  for  the  southern  promontory  of  Newfoundland. 
How  zealous  he  was  in  selecting  suitable  emigrants ; 
how  earnest  to  promote  habits  of  domestic  order  and 
economical  industry ;  how  lavishly  he  expended  his 
estate  in  advancing  the  interests  of  his  settlement  on 
the  rugged  shores  of  Avalon,1 — is  related  by  those  who 
have  wrritten  of  his  life.  He  desired,  as  a  founder  of  a 
colony,  not  present  profit,  but  a  reasonable  expecta 
tion  ;  and,  perceiving  the  evils  of  a  common  stock,  he 
cherished  enterprise  by  leaving  each  one  to  enjoy  the 
results  of  his  own  industry.  But  numerous  difficulties 
prevented  success  in  Newfoundland :  parliament  had 
ever  asserted  the  freedom  of  the  fisheries,2  which  his 
grants  tended  to  impair;  the  soil  and  the  climate 
proved  less  favorable  than  had  been  described  in  the 
glowing  and  deceptive  pictures  of  his  early  agents ; 
and  the  incessant  danger  of  attacks  from  the  French, 

i  Whitbourne's     Newfoundland,  Athenae   Oxonienses,   ii.  522,  523 ; 

tn    the    Cambridge   library.     Also  Lloyd's    State  Worthies,  in    Biog. 

Purelias,   iv.    1882—  18JU  ;    Collier  Brit,  article  Calvert;  Chalmers, 201 

on  Calvert;    Fuller's  Worthies  of  a  Chalmers,  84.    100.    114,    115 

Yorkshire,     201,     202 ;      Wood's  116.  130. 


240  LIFE  AND   CHARACTER  OF  SIR   GEORGE   CALVERT. 

CHAP  who   were    possessed   of  the  circumjacent  continent. 

~-v^-  spread  a  gloom  over  the  future.  Twice,  it  is  said,  did 
Lord  Baltimore,  in  person,  visit  his  settlement ;  with 
ships,  manned  at  his  own  charge,  he  repelled  the 
French,  who  were  hovering  round  the  coast  with  the 
design  of  annoying  the  English  fishermen  ;  and,  hav 
ing  taken  sixty  of  them  prisoners,  he  secured  a  tempo 
rary  tranquillity  to  his  countrymen  and  his  colonists. 
But,  notwithstanding  this  success,  he  found  all  hopes 
of  a  thriving  plantation  in  Avalon  to  be  vain.  Why 
should  the  English  emigrate  to  a  rugged  and  inhospita 
ble  island,  surrounded  by  a  hostile  power,  when  the 
hardships  of  colonizing  the  milder  regions  of  Virginia 
had  already  been  encountered,  and  a  peaceful  home 
might  now  be  obtained  without  peril  ? 

Lord  Baltimore  looked  to  Virginia,  of  which  the 
climate,  the  fertility,  and  the  advantages,  were  so 
much  extolled.  Yet,  as  a  Papist,  he  could  hardly  ex 
pect  a  hospitable  welcome  in  a  colony  from  which 
the  careful  exclusion1  of  Roman  Catholics  had  been 
originally  avowed  as  a  special  object,  and  where  the 
statutes  of  the  provincial  legislature,  as  well  as  the 
commands  of  the  sovereign,  aimed  at  a  perpetual  re 
ligious  uniformity.  When  in  Oct.,  1629,  he  visited  Vir- 

1629.  ginia  in  person,  the  zeal  of  the  assembly  immediately 

Oct  ordered  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  to  be 
tendered  him.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  proposed  a  form 
which  he  was  willing  to  subscribe ;  the  government 
firmly  insisted  upon  that  which  had  been  chosen  by 
the  English  statutes,  and  which  was  purposely  framed 
in  such  language  as  no  Catholic  could  adopt.  A  letter 
\vas  transmitted  from  the  assembly  to  the  privy  coun 
cil,  explanatory  of  the  dispute  which  had  grown  out 

l  Hazard,  i.  72- 


CHARTER  OF  MARYLAND.  241 

of  the   intolerance  of  European  legislation.1     It  was  CHAP 
evident   that    Lord   Baltimore    could    never  hope    for  - — — 
quiet  in  any  attempt  at  establishing  a  colony  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia. 

But  the  country  beyond  the  Potomac  seemed  to  be 
as  yet  im tenanted  by  any  but  the  scattered  hordes  of 
the  native  tribes.  The  French,  the  Dutch,  and  the 
Swedes,  were  preparing  to  occupy  the  country ;  and  a 
grant  seemed  the  readiest  mode  of  securing  the  soil  by 
an  English  settlement.2  The  canceling  of  the  Vir 
ginia  patents  had  restored  to  the  monarch  the  ample 
authority  of  his  prerogative  over  the  soil ;  he  might 
now  sever  a  province  from  the  colony,  to  which  he 
had  at  first  assigned  a  territory  so  vast ;  and  it  was 
not  difficult  for  Calvert — a  man  of  such  moderation, 
that  all  parties  were  taken  with  him;3  sincere  in  his 
character,  disengaged  from  all  interests,  and  a  favorite 
with  the  royal  family — to  obtain  a  charter  for  domains 
in  that  happy  clime.  The  conditions  of  the  grant  con 
formed  to  the  wishes  of  the  first  Lord  Baltimore  him 
self,  although  it  was  finally  issued  for  the  benefit  of 
his  son. 

The  fundamental  charter4  of  the  colony  of  Mary-  3632 
land,  however  it  may  have  neglected  to  provide  for  the     20.° 
power  of  the  king,  was  the  sufficient  frank  pledge  of 
the  liberties  of  the  colonist,  not  less  than  of  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  proprietary.     The  ocean,  the  forti 
eth  parallel  of  latitude,  the  meridian  of  the  western 

1  Ancient   Records,  m  Burk,  ii.  Laws  of  Maryland  at  Large.     It  is 
SM--37.  appended  in  English  to  the  Relation 

2  Hammond's  Leah  and  Rachel,  of   Maryland,    1(5:15.     It   has   been 
19.  commented  upon  by  Chalmers,  202 

3  Collier  on  Calvert  — 205  ;  very  diffusely  by  iMcMahon, 

4  The  charter  may  be  found  in  i33 — 18.'3;  by  Story,  i.  92 — 91;  and 
Hazard,    i.  327 — 337 ;  in    Bacon's  many  others. 

VOL.    I.  31 


242  CHARTER  OF  MARYLAND. 

CHAP,  fountain  of  the,  Potomac,  the  river  itself  from  its  source 
— ^-  to  its  mouth,  and  a  line  drawn  due  east  from  Watkin's 
1G32.  Point  to  the  Atlantic, — these  were  the  limits  of  the 
territory,  which  was  now  erected  into  a  province,  and 
from  Henrietta  Maria,  the  daughter  of  Henry  IV.  and 
wife  of  Charles  I.,  whose  restless  mind,  disdaining  <  011- 
tentrnent  in  domestic  happiness,  aspired  to  every  kind 
of  power  and  distinction,  received  the  name  of  Mary 
land.  The  country  thus  described  was  given  to  Lord 
Baltimore,  his  hens  and  assigns,  as  to  its  absolute  lord 
and  proprietary,  to  be  holden  by  the  tenure  of  fealty 
only,  paying  a  yearly  rent  of  two  Indian  arrows,  and 
a  fifth  of  all  gold  and  silver  ore  which  might  be  found. 
Yet  the  absolute  authority  was  conceded  rather  with 
reference  to  the  crown,  than  the  colonists ;  for  the 
charter,  like  his  patent,  which,  in  April,  1623,  had 
passed  the  great  seal  for  Avalon,  secured  to  the  emi 
grants  themselves  an  independent  share  in  the  legis 
lation  of  the  province,  of  which  the  statutes  were  to 
be  established  with  the  advice  and  approbation  of 
the  majority  of  the  freemen  or  their  deputies.  Rep 
resentative  government  was  indissolubly  connected 
with  the  fundamental  charter;  and  it  was  especially 
provided,  that  the  authority  of  the  absolute  propri 
etary  should  not  extend  to  the  life,  freehold,  or  estate 
of  any  emigrant.  These  were  the  features  which  en 
deared  the  proprietary  government  to  the  people  of 
Maryland ;  and,  but  for  these,  the  patent  would  have 
been  as  worthless  as  those  of  the  London  company,  of 
Warwick,  of  Gorges,'  or  of  Mason.  It  is  a  singular 
fact,  that  the  only  proprietary  charters,  productive  of 
considerable  emolument  to  their  owners,  were  those 
which  conceded  popular  liberty.  For  the  benefit  of  the 


CHARTER  OF  MARYLAND.  243 

colony,  the  statutes  restraining  emigration  were  dis-  CHAP. 
pensed  with ;  and,  at  the  appointment  of  the  Baron  of  ^^ 
Baltimore,  all  present  and  future  liege  people  of  the  1G32. 
English  king,  except  such  as  should  be  expressly 
forbidden,  might  freely  transport  themselves  and  their 
families  to  Maryland.  Christianity,  as  professed  by  the 
Church  of  England,  was  protected ;  but  beyond  this, 
silence  left  room  for  equality  in  religious  rights,  not 
less  than  in  civil  freedom,  to  be  assured.  A  monopoly 
of  the  fisheries  had  formerly  been  earnestly  resisted 
by  the  commons  of  England :  to  avoid  all  dispute  on 
this  point,  Calvert,  in  his  charter,  expressly  renounced 
any  similar  claim.  As  a  Catholic,  he  needed  to  be 
free  from  the  jurisdiction  of  his  neighbor ;  Maryland 
was  carefully  separated  from  Virginia,  nor  was  he 
obliged  to  obtain  the  royal  assent  to  the  appoint 
ments  or  the  legislation  of  his  province,  nor  even 
to  make  a  communication  of  the  results.  So  far  was 
the  English  monarch  from  reserving  any  right  of 
superintendence  in  the  colony,  he  left  himself  with 
out  the  power  to  take  cognizance  of  what  trans 
pired  ;  and,  by  an  express  stipulation,  covenanted, 
that  neither  he,  nor  his  heirs,  nor  his  successors, 
should  ever,  at  any  time  thereafter,  set  any  imposi 
tion,  custom,  or  tax,  whatsoever,  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  the  province.  Thus  was  conferred  on  Maryland 
an  exemption  from  English  taxation  forever.  Sir 
George  Calvert  was  a  man  of  sagacity,  and  an  observ 
ing  statesman.  He  had  beheld  the  arbitrary  adminis 
tration  of  the  colonies;  and,  against  any  danger  of 
future  oppression,  he  provided  the  strongest  defence 
which  the  promise  of  a  monarch  could  afford.  Some 
other  rights  were  conferred  on  the  proprietary — the  ad- 


-14  FREEDOM   OF   CONSCIENCE  ESTABLISHED. 


.  vowson  of  churches  ;  the  power  of  creating  manors  and 
•  —  v^  courts  baron,  and  of  establishing  a  colonial  aristocracy 
1632  on  the  system  of  sub-infeudation.  But  these  things 
were  practically  of  little  moment.  Even  in  Europe, 
feudal  institutions  appeared  like  the  decrepitude  of  age 
amidst  the  vigor  and  enterprise  of  a  new  and  more 
peaceful  civilization  ,  they  could  not  be  perpetuated  in 
the  lands  of  their  origin  ;  far  less  could  they  renew 
their  youth  in  America.  Sooner  might  the  oldest  oaks 
in  Windsor  forest  be  transplanted  across  the  Atlantic, 
than  the  social  forms,  which  Europe  itself  was  begin 
ning  to  reject  as  antiquated  and  rotten.  But  the  seeds 
of  popular  liberty,  contained  in  the  charter,  would  find, 
in  the  New  World,  the  very  soil  best  suited  to  quicken 
them  into  life  and  fruitfulness. 

Calvert  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  most  wise 
and  benevolent  lawgivers  of  all  ages.  lie  was  the 
first  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  world  to  seek  for 
religious  security  and  peace  by  the  practice  of  justice, 
and  not  by  the  exercise  of  power  ;  to  plan  the  estab 
lishment  of  popular  institutions  with  the  enjoyment  of 
liberty  of  conscience  ;  to  advance  the  career  of  civiliza 
tion  by  recognizing  the  rightful  equality  of  all  Chris 
tian  sects.  The  asylum  of  Papists  was  the  spot, 
where,  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  world,  on  the  banks 
of  rivers  which,  as  yetf  had  hardly  been  explored,  the 
mild  forbearance  of  a  proprietary  adopted  religious 
freedom  as  the  basis  of  the  state. 

April  Before  the  patent  could  be  finally  adjusted  and  pass 
the  great  seal,  Sir  George  Calvert  died,1  leaving  a 
name  against  which  the  breath  of  calumny  has  hardly 
whispered  a  reproach.  The  petulance  of  his  adversa- 

l  Chalmers,  201 


OPPOSITION  OF  VIRGINIA.  245 

ries  could  only  taunt  him  with  being  "  an   Hispamo-  CHAP 
lized  Papist."  l     His  son,  Cecil  Calvert,  succeeded  to  ^^ 
his  honors  and  fortunes.     For  him,  the  heir  of  his  fa-  163'2 
ther's  intentions,2  not  less  than  of  his  father's  fortunes, 
the  charter  of  Maryland  was  published  and  confirmed  ;     £™ 
and   he   obtained  the   high  distinction  of  successfully. 
per  forming  what  the  colonial  companies  had    hardly 
been  able  to  achieve.     At  a  vast  expense,  he  planted 
a  colony,  which  for  several  generations  descended  as  a 
patrimony  to  his  heirs. 

Virginia  regarded  the  severing  of  her  territory  with  1633 
apprehension,  and  before  any  colonists  had  embarked 
under  the  charter  of  Baltimore,  her  commissioners  had 
in  England  remonstrated  against  the  grant  as  an  inva 
sion  of  her  commercial  rights,  an  infringement  on  her 
domains,  and  a  discouragement  to  her  planters.  In 
Strafford,  Lord  Baltimore  found  a  friend, — for  Strafford 
had  been  the  friend  of  the  father,3 — and  the  remon 
strance  was  in  vain  ;  the  privy  council  sustained  the  July 
proprietary  charter,  and,  advising  the  parties  to  an 
amicable  adjustment  of  all  disputes,  commanded  a  free 
commerce  and  a  good  correspondence  between  the  re 
spective  colonies.4 

Nor  was  it  long  before  gentlemen  of  birth  and  qual 
ity  resolved  to  adventure  their  lives  and  a  good  part  of 
their  fortunes  in  the  enterprise  of  planting  a  colony 
under  so  favorable  a  charter.  Lord  Baltimore,  who, 
for  some  unknown  reason,  abandoned  his  purpose  of 
conducting  the  emigrants  in  person,  appointed  his 
brother  to  act  as  his  lieutenant ;  and,  on  Friday,  the 
twenty-second  of  November,  with  a  small  but  favoring 
gale,  Leonard  Calvert,  and  about  two  hundred  people, 

*  Wilson,  in  Kennett,  iii.  705.  4  Hazard,  i.  .337.    Bozman,  381 

2  The  charter  asserts  it.  and  2G5.     Chalmers,  231. 

3  Chalmers,  2(W. 


246  FIRST  EMIGRATION  TO   MARYLAND. 

CHAP,  most  of  them  Roman  Catholic  gentlemen  and  their  ser- 

~-*X>  vants,  in  the  Ark  and  the  Dove,  a  ship  of  large  burden, 
and  a  pinnace,  set  sail  for  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Potomac.  Having  staid  by  the  way  in  Barbadoes  and 

KJ34.  St.  Christopher,  it  was  not  till  February  of  the  folio w- 
24.'  ing  year,  that  they  arrived  at  Point  Comfort,  in  Vir 
ginia  ;  where,  in  obedience  to  the  express  letters  of 
King  Charles,  they  were  welcomed  by  Harvey  with 
courtesy  and  humanity.  Clayborne  also  appeared,  but 
it  was  as  a  prophet  of  ill  omen,  to  terrify  the  company 
by  predicting  the  fixed  hostility  of  the  natives. 

Mar.  Leaving  Point  Comfort,  Calvert  sailed  into  the  Po 
tomac  ; l  and  with  the  pinnace  ascended  the  stream. 
A  cross  was  planted  on  an  island,  and  the  country 
claimed  for  Christ  and  for  England.  At  about  forty- 
seven  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the  river,  he  found 
the  village  of  Piscataqua,  an  Indian  settlement  nearly 
opposite  Mount  Vernon.  The  chieftain  of  the  tribe 
would  neither  bid  him  go  nor  stay  ;  "  he  might  use  his 
own  discretion."  It  did  not  seem  safe  for  the  English 

o 

to  plant  the  first  settlement  so  high  up  the  river  ;  Cal 
vert  descended  the  stream,  examining,  in  his  barge,  the 
creeks  and  estuaries  nearer  the  Chesapeake ;  he  en 
tered  the  river  which  is  now  called  St.  Mary's,  and 
which  he  named  St.  George's  ;  and,  about  four  leagues 
from  its  junction  with  the  Potomac,  he  anchored  at  the 
Indian  town  of  Yoacomoco.  The  native  inhabitants, 
having  suffered  from  the  superior  power  of  the  Susque- 
hannahs,  who  occupied  the  district  between  the  bays, 
had  alreadv  resolved  to  remove  into  places  of  more  se 
curity  in  the  interior ;  and  many  of  them  had  begun  to 
migrate  before  the  English  arrived.  To  Calvert,  the 

O  O 

spot  seemed  convenient  for  a  plantation  ;  it  was  easy, 
i  Wintlirop,  i.  134. 


FIRST  EMIGRATION   TO   MARYLAND.  247 

by  presents  of  cloth  and  axes,  of  hoes  and  knives,  to  CHAP 
gain  the  good  will  of  the  natives,  and  to  purchase  their  *^~~ 
rights  to  the  soil  which  they  were  preparing  to  aban-  1634 
don.      They  readily  gave   consent  that  the   English 
should  immediately  occupy  one  half  of  their  town,  and, 
after  the  harvest,  should  become  the  exclusive  tenants 
of  the  whole.      Mutual    promises  of  friendship    and 
peace  were  made ;  so  that,  upon  the  twenty-seventh    Mar. 
day  of  March,  the  Catholics  took  quiet  possession  of  the 
little  place  ;  and  religious  liberty  obtained  a  home,  its 
only  home  in  the  wide  world,  at  the  humble  village 
which  bore  the  name  of  St.  Mary's. 

Three  days  after  the  landing  of  Calvert,  the  Ark  and 
the  Dove  anchored  in  the  harbor.  Sir  John  Harvey 
soon  arrived  on  a  visit ;  the  native  chiefs,  also,  came  to 
welcome  or  to  watch  the  emigrants,  and  were  so  well 
received,  that  they  resolved  to  give  perpetuity  to  their 
league  of  amity  with  the  English.  The  Indian  women 
taught  the  wives  of  the  new  comers  to  make  bread  of 
maize  ;  the  warriors. of  the  tribe  instructed  the  hunts 
men  how  rich  were  the  forests  of  America  in  game, 
and  joined  them  in  the  chase.  And,  as  the  season  of 
the  year  invited  to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture,  and  the 
English  had  come  into  possession  of  ground  already 
subdued,  they  were  able,  at  once,  to  possess  cornfields 
and  gardens,  and  prepare  the  wealth  of  successful  hus 
bandry.  Virginia,  from  its  surplus  produce,  could  fur 
nish  a  temporary  supply  of  food,  and  all  kinds  of  do 
mestic  cattle.  No  sufferings  were  endured  ;  no  fears 
of  want  were  excited  ;  the  foundation  of  the  colony  of 
Maryland  was  peacefully  and  happily  laid.  Within 
six  months,  it  had  advanced  more  than  Virginia  had 
done  in  as  many  years.  The  proprietary  continued 
with  great  liberality  to  provide  everv  thing  that  was 


248 


SUCCESS    OF    THE    COLONY. 


CHAP,  necessary  for  its  comfort  and  protection,  and  spared 
> — ^  no  costs  to  promote  its  interests ;  expending,  with  the 
54'  aid  of  his  friends,  upwards  of  forty  thousand  pounds 
sterling.  But  far  more  memorable  was  the  character 
of  the  Maryland  institutions.  Every  other  country 
in  the  world  had  persecuting  laws ;  through  the  be 
nign  administration  of  the  government  of  that  prov 
ince,  no  person  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ 
was  permitted  to  be  molested  on  a.ccount  of  religion.1 
Under  the  munificence  and  superintending  mildness 
of  Baltimore,  the  dreary  wilderness  was  soon  quick 
ened  with  the  swarming  life  and  activity  of  prosper 
ous  settlements ;  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  were  op 
pressed  by  the  laws  of  England,  were  sure  to  find  a 
peaceful  asylum  in  the  quiet  harbors  of  the  Chesa 
peake  ;  and  there,  too,  Protestants  were  sheltered 
against  Protestant  intolerance. 

Such  were  the  beautiful  auspices  under  which 
Maryland  started  into  being ;  its  prosperity  and  peace 
seemed  assured;  the  interests  of  its  people  and  its 
proprietary  were  united ;  and  for  some  years  its  in 
ternal  peace  and  harmony  were  undisturbed  by  do 
mestic  faction.  Its  history  is  the  history  of  benevo 
lence,  gratitude,  and  toleration.  Every  thing  breathed 
peace  but  Clayborne.  Dangers  could  only  grow  out 
of  external  causes,  and  were  eventually  the  sad  con 
sequences  of  the  revolution  in  England. 
'F  'I5'  Twelve  mouths  had  not  elapsed  before  the  colony 
of  Maryland,  in  February,  1635,  was  convened  for 
legislation.  Probably  all  the  freemen  were  present  in 
a  strictly  popular  assembly.  The  laws  of  the  session 

1  For  the  oaih  of  the  governor  of  authority  alone,  I  Lave  sought  in 
Maryland,  as  cited  by  Chalmers,  vain  at  Annapolis,  and  in  the  Brit- 
235,  and  by  many  after  him  on  his  ish  state  paper  office. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  LEGISLATIVE   LIBERTY.  249 

are  no  longer  extant ;  but  we  know,  that  the  neces-  CHAP 

sity  of   vindicating    the  jurisdiction    of   the    province  — 

against  the  claims  of  Clayborne  was  deemed  a  subject 
worthy  of  the  general  deliberation  and  of  a  decisive 
act.1  For  he  had  been  roused,  by  confidence  in  his 
power,  to  resolve  on  maintaining  his  possessions  by 
force  of  arms.  The  earliest  annals  of  Maryland  are 
defaced  by  the  accounts  of  a  bloody  skirmish  on  one  of 
the  rivers  near  the  Isle  of  Kent.  Several  lives  were  lost 
in  the  affray ;  but  Clayborne's  men  were  defeated. 
Lord  Baltimore  afterwards  accused  them  of  "  piracy 
and  murder,"  and,  in  1638,  Leonard  Calvert,  taking 
forcible  possession  of  Kent  Island,  executed  one  or  two 
persons  on  the  charge,  though  at  the  time  Clayborne 
was  in  En  gland,  prosecuting  his  claims  before  the  king.2 

When  a  colonial  assembly  was  next  convened,  it  1638. 
passed  an  act  of  attainder  against  Clayborne ;  as  if  he 
had  not  only  derided  the  powers  of  the  proprietary, 
but  had  scattered  jealousies  among  the  Indians,  and 
infused  a  spirit  of  disobedience  into  the  inhabitants  of 
Kent  Island.  Now  that  he  was  away,  his  estates  were 
seized,  and  were  declared  forfeited  to  the  laws,  which 
he  had  contemned  as  invalid.3  In  England,  Clayborne 
attempted  to  gain  a  hearing  for  his  wrongs  ;  and,  part 
ly  by  strong  representations,  still  more  by  the  influence 
of  Sir  William  Alexander,  succeeded,  for  a  season,  in 
procuring  the  favorable  disposition  of  Charles.  But 
when  the  whole  affair  came  to  be  referred  to  the  com 
missioners  for  the  plantations,  it  was  found,  that,  on  1639 
received  principles,  the  right  of  the  king  to  confer  ApnL 
the  soil  and  the  jurisdiction  of  Maryland  could  not  be 


1  Chalmers,  210  and  232.     Bacon,  41.     Chalmers,   209,   210,   232.     Ma 
in  las  Laws  at  Large,  makes  no  men-  Mahon,  12.    S.  F.  Streeter's  MS.  notes, 
tion  of  this  assembly.  8  Chalmers,  210. 

2  Bozman,  280—282.    Burk,  ii.  40, 

VOL.  i.  32 


250  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  CIVIL  LIBERTY. 

CHAP,  controverted ;  that  the  earlier  license  to  traffic  did  not 

VII 

— *—  vest  in  Clay  borne  any  rights  which  were  valid  against 
the  charter ;  and  therefore  that  the  Isle  of  Kent  be 
longed  absolutely  to  Lord  Baltimore,  who  alone  could 
permit  plantations  to  be  established,  or  commerce  with 
the  Indians  to  be  conducted,  within  the  limits  of  his 
territory.1 

Yet  the  people  of  Maryland  were  not  content  with 
vindicating  the  limits  of  their  province ;  they  were 
jealous  of  their  liberties.  The  charter  had  secured  to 
them  the  right  of  advising  and  approving  in  legislation. 
Did  Lord  Baltimore  alone  possess  the  right  of  origi 
nating  laws  ?  The  people  of  Maryland  rejected  the 
code  which  the  proprietary,  as  if  holding  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  proposing  statutes,  had  prepared  for  their 
government ;  and,  asserting  their  equal  rights  of  legis 
lation,  they,  in  their  turn,  enacted  a  body  of  laws, 
which  they  proposed  for  the  assent  of  the  proprie 
tary  : — so  uniformly  active  in  America  was  the  spirit 
of  popular  liberty.  How  discreetly  it  was  exercised, 
cannot  now  be  known ;  for  the  laws,  which  were  then 
enacted,  were  never  ratified,  and  are  therefore  not  to 
be  found  in  the  provincial  records.2 

1639.  \In  the  early  history  of  the  United  States,  nothing  is 
more  remarkable  than  the  uniform  attachment  of  each 
colony  to  its  franchises  ;  and  popular  assemblies  burst 
every  where  into  life  with  a  consciousness  of  their  im 
portance,  and  an  immediate  capacity  for  efficient  legis 
lation.  The  first  assembly  of  Maryland  had  vindi 
cated  the  jurisdiction  of  the  colony ;  the  second  had 
asserted  its  claims  to  original  legislation  ;  the  third, 

1  Bozman,  330— 344.     Chalmers,    Bozman,  290—318,  and  324—329 
212. 232—235.  McMahon,  145 

2  Bacon,  1G37.     Chalmers,  211. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  CIVIL  LIBERTY.  251 

which  was  now  convened,  examined   its   obligations    CHAP 

and,  though  not  all  its  acts  were  carried  through  the  - 

forms  essential  to  their  validity,  it  jet  displayed  the  1639 
spirit  of  the  people  and  the  times  by  framing  a  decla 
ration  of  rights.  Acknowledging  the  duty  of  alle 
giance  to  the  English  monarch,  and  securing  to  Lord 
Baltimore  his  prerogatives,  it  likewise  confirmed  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Maryland  all  the  liberties  which  an 
Englishman  can  enjoy  at  home ;  established  a  system 
of  representative  government ;  and  asserted  for  the 
general  assemblies  in  the  province  all  such  powers  as 
may  be  exercised  by  the  commons  of  England.1  In 
deed,  throughout  the  whole  colonial  legislation  of 
Maryland,  the  body  representing  the  people,  in  its 
support  of  the  interests  and  civil  liberties  of  the  prov 
ince,  was  never  guilty  of  timidity  or  treachery.2  It  is 
strange  that  religious  bigotry  could  ever  stain  the 
statute-book  of  a  colony  founded  on  the  basis  of  the 
freedom  of  conscience.  An  apprehension  of  some  re 
mote  danger  of  persecution  seems  even  then  to  have 
hovered  over  the  minds  of  the  Roman  Catholics ;  and, 
at  this  session,  they  secured  to  their  church  its  rights 
and  liberties.  Those  rights  and  those  liberties,  it  is 
plain  from  the  charter,  could  be  no  more  than  the 
tranquil  exercise  of  the  Roman  worship.  The  con 
stitution  had  not  yet  attained  a  fixed  form ;  thus  far  it 
had  been  a  species  of  democracy  under  a  hereditary 
patriarch.  The  act3  constituting  the  assembly  marks 
the  transition  to  a  representative  government.  At 
this  session,  any  freeman,  who  had  taken  no  part  in 
the  election,  might  attend  in  person ;  henceforward, 
the  governor  might  summon  his  friends  by  special 

i  Bacon,  1038-9,  c.  i.  ii.  3  Bacon,  1638-9,  c.  i.    Griffith's 

*  McMaJion,  149,  Maryland,  7. 


252  HAPPINESS   OF  MARYLAND 

CHAP,  writ  ;  while  the  people  were  to  choose  as  many  dele- 

^v^  gates  as  "  the  freemen  should  think  good."  As  yet 
there  was  no  jealousy  of  power,  no  strife  for  place. 
While  these  laws  prepared  a  frame  of  government  for 
future  generations,  we  are  reminded  of  the  feebleness 
and  poverty  of  the  state,  where  the  whole  people  were 
obliged  to  contribute  to  "  the  setting  up  of  a  water- 
mill."1 

1610.  The  restoration  of  the  charter  of  the  London  com 
pany  would  have  endangered  the  separate  existence 
of  Maryland  ;  yet  we  have  seen  Virginia,  which  had 
ever  been  jealous  of  the  division  of  its  territory,  defeat 
the  attempt  to  revive  the  corporation.  Meantime,  the 

Oct.  legislative  assembly  of  Maryland,  in  the  grateful  en 
joyment  of  happiness,  seasonably  guarded  the  tran 
quillity  of  the  province  against  the  perplexities  of  an 
"interim,"  by  providing  for  the  security  of  the  govern 
ment  in  case  of  the  death  of  the  Deputy  Governor. 
Commerce  also  was  fostered  ;  and  tobacco,  the  staple 
of  the  colony,  subjected  to  inspection. 


1642.  Nor  was  it  long  before  the  inhabitants  recognized 
21.'  Lord  Baltimore's  "  great  charge  and  solicitude  in  main 
taining  the  government,  and  protecting  them  in  their 
persons,  rights,  and  liberties  ;  "  and  therefore,  "  out  of 
desire  to  return  some  testimony  of  gratitude,"  they 
freely  granted  "  such  a  subsidy  as  the  young  and  poor 
estate  of  the  colony  could  bear."2  Maryland,  for  all 
its  divisions,  was  the  abode  of  happiness  and  liberty. 
Conscience  was  without  restraint;  a  mild  and  liberal 
proprietary  conceded  every  measure  which  the  welfare 
of  the  colony  required  ;  domestic  union,  a  happy  con 
cert  between  all  the  branches  of  government,  an  in- 

1  Bacon,  1038-9.     Chalmers,  213,  214.     Griffith,  8. 

2  Bacon,  1041-^  c.  v 


AN    INDIAN   WAR.  25f 

creasing  emigration,  a  productive  commerce,  a  fertile  CHAI 
soil,  which  Heaven  had  richly  favored  with  rivers  and  ^-— 
deep  bays,  united  to  perfect  the  scene  of  colonial  fell- 
city  and  contentment.  Ever  intent  on  advancing  the 
interests  of  his  colony,  Lord  Baltimore  invited  the 
Puritans  oi  Massachusetts  to  emigrate  to  Maryland, 
offering  them  lands  and  privileges,  and  "  free  liberty  of 
religion  ;  "  but  Gibbons,  to  whom  he  had  forwarded  a 
commission,  was  "  so  wholly  tutored  in  the  New  Eng 
land  discipline,"  that  he  would  not  advance  the  wishes 
of  the  Irish  peer ;  and  the  people,  who  subsequently 
refused  Jamaica  and  Ireland,  were  not  now  tempted 
to  desert  the  Bay  of  Massachusetts  for  the  Chesa 
peake.1 

But  secret  dangers  existed.  The  aborigines,  alarmed 
at  the  rapid  increase  of  the  Europeans,  vexed  at 
being  frequently  overreached  by  their  cupidity,  corn- 
menced  hostilities;  for  the  Indians,  ignorant  of  the  104.4 
remedy  of  redress,  always  plan  retaliation.  After  a 
war  of  frontier  aggressions,  marked  by  no  decisive 
events,  peace  was  reestablished  on  the  usual  terms 
of  submission  and  promises  of  friendship,  and  ren 
dered  durable  by  the  prudent  legislation  of  the 
assembly  and  the  firm  humanity  of  the  government. 
The  preemption  of  the  soil  was  reserved  to  Lord  Bal 
timore,  kidnapping  an  Indian  made  a  capital  offence, 
and  the  sale  of  arms  prohibited  as  a  felony.2  A  regu 
lation  of  intercourse  with  the  natives  was  the  surest 
preventive  of  war;  the  wrongs  of  an  individual  were 
ascribed  to  the  nation;  the  injured  savage,  ignorant 
of  peaceful  justice,  panted  only  for  revenge ;  and  thus 
the  obscure  villany  of  some  humble  ruffian,  whom 

i  Winthrop,  ii.  148,  149.  2  Bacon,  1649,  c.  iii.  vi. 


254  INGLE'S  REBELLION. 

CHAP,  the  government  would  willingly  punish  for  his  outr 
^Xx  rages,  might   involve   the   colony  in   the  horrors  of 

savage  warfare. 

1643  But  the  restless  Clayborne,  urged,  perhaps,  by  the 
1646.  corivictlon  of  having  been  wronged,  and  still  more  by 
the  hope  of  revenge,  proved  a  far  more  dangerous 
enemy.  Now  that  the  civil  war  in  England  left 
nothing  to  be  hoped  from  royal  patronage,  he  declared 
for  the  popular  party,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  one 
Ingle,  who  obtained  sufficient  notoriety  to  be  pro- 
1644.  claimed  a  traitor  to  the  king,1  he  was  able  to  promote  a 
Jan>  rebellion.  By  the  very  nature  of  the  proprietary  frame 
of  government,  the  lord  paramount  could  derive  phys 
ical  strength  and  resources  only  from  his  own  private 
fortunes,  or  from  the  willing  attachment  of  his  lieges. 
His  power  depended  on  a  union  with  his  people.  In 
times  of  peace,  this  condition  was  eminently  favorable 
to  the  progress  of  liberty ;  the  royal  governors  were 
often  able,  were  still  more  often  disposed,  to  use  op 
pressive  and  exacting  measures ;  the  deputies  of  the 
proprietaries  were  always  compelled  to  struggle  for  the 
assertion  of  the  interests  of  their  employer ;  they  could 
never  become  successful  aggressors  on  the  liberties  of 
the  people.  Besides,  the  crown,  always  jealous  of  the 
immense  powers  which  had  been  carelessly  lavished  on 
the  proprietary, 'was  usually  willing  to  favor  the  people 
in  every  reasonable  effort  to  improve  their  condition,  or 
limit  the  authority  of  the  intermediate  sovereign.  At 
present,  when  the  commotions  in  England  left  every 
colony  in  America  almost  unheeded,  and  Virginia  and 
New  England  were  pursuing  a  course  of  nearly  inde 
pendent  legislation,  the  power  of  the  proprietary  was 

1  Bacon's  Preface.     Chalmers,  217. 


IMPERFECT  LAW  FOR  RELIGIOUS   LIUER'iT.  255 

almost  as  feeble  as  that  of  the  kin";.     The  other  colo-  CHAP 

vn. 
nies  took  advantage  of  the  period   to  secure  and  ad ^ 

vance    their    liberties :    in  Maryland,  the    effect  was 
ratlirr  to  encourage  the  insubordination  of  the  restless  ; 
and  Clay  borne  was    able    to  excite    an   insurrection.  1644 
Early  in   1645,   the  rebels  were   triumphant ;    unpre-  1645 
pared  for  an  attack,  the  governor  was  compelled  to  fly, 
and  more   than  a  year  elapsed   before  the  assistance  1646 
of  the  well-disposed  could  enable  him  to  resume  his   J 
power  and  restore  tranquillity.     The  insurgents  distin 
guished  the  period  of  their  dominion  by  disorder  and 
misrule,  and  most  of  the  records  were  then  lost  or  em 
bezzled.1     Peace  was  confirmed  by  the  wise  clemency  1647 
of  the  government;  the  offences  of  the  rebellion  were  16*49 
concealed  by  a  general  amnesty;2  and   the   province 
was  rescued,  though  not  without  expense,3  from  the 
distresses  and  confusion  which  had  followed  a  short 
but  vindictive  and  successful  insurrection. 

The   controversy  between    the   king   and   the   par-  1649 
liament  advanced ;    the    overthrow    of  the    monarchy     pr 
seemed  about  to  confer  unlimited  power  in  England 
upon  the  imbittered  enemies  of  the  Romish  church  ; 
and,  as  if  with  a  foresight  of  impending  danger,  and 
an    earnest    desire  to  stay  its  approach,  the    Roman 
Catholics  of  Maryland,  with  the  earnest  concurrence 
of  their  governor  and  of  the  proprietary,  determined 
to  place  upon  their  statute-book  an  act  for  the  religious   April 
freedom  which    had    ever  been  sacred  on    their  soil.     ^ 
u  And  whereas  the  enforcing  of  the  conscience  in  mat 
ters  of  religion" — such  was  the  sublime  tenor  of  a  part 
ol  the  statute — "  hath  frequently  fallen  out  to  be  of  dan 
gerous  consequence  in  those  commonwealths  where  it 

1  Bacon's     Preface.      Chalmers,        2  Bacon,  1650,  c.  xxiv 
2)7,918.     Burk,  ii.  112.    McMa         3  ibid.  1G49,  c.  ix. 
hon,  202 


256  IMPERFECT  LAW  FOR  RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY 

CHAP,  has  been  practised,  and  for  the  more  quiet  and  peace- 
— —  able  government  of  this  province,  and  the  better  to 
1G49  preserve  mutual  love  and  amity  among  the  inhabitants, 
no  person  within  this  province,  professing  to  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ,  shall  be  any  ways  troubled,  molested,  or 
discountenanced,  for  his  or  her  religion,  or  in  the  free 
exercise  thereof."  Thus  did  the  early  star  of  religious 
freedom  appear  as  the  harbinger  of  day ;  though,  as  it 
first  gleamed  above  the  horizon,  its  light  was  colored 
and  obscured  by  the  mists  and  exhalations  of  morning. 
The  greatest  of  English  poets,  \vhen  he  represents  the 
ground  teeming  with  living  things  at  the  word  of  the 
Creator,  paints  the  moment  when  the  forms,  so  soon 
to  be  instinct  with  perfect  life  and  beauty,  are  yet 
emerging  from  the  inanimate  earth,  and  when  but 

half  appeared 
The  tawny  lion  pawing  to  get  free ; 

then  springs,  as  broke  from  bonds, 

And  rampant  shakes  his  brinded  mane. 

So  it  was  with  the  freedom  of  religion  in  the  United 

o 

States.  The  clause  for  liberty  in  Maryland  extended 
only  to  Christians,  and  was  introduced  by  the  proviso, 
that  "  whatsoever  person  shall  blaspheme  God,  or  shall 
deny  or  reproach  the  Holy  Trinity,  or  any  of  the  three 
persons  thereof,  shall  be  punished  with  death."1  No 
where  in  the  United  States  is  religious  opinion  now 
deemed  a  proper  subject  for  penal  enactments.  The 
only  fit  punishment  for  error  is  refutation.  God  needs 
no  avenger  in  man.  The  fool-hardy  levity  of  shallow 
infidelity  proceeds  from  a  morbid  passion  for  notoriety, 
or  the  malice  that  finds  pleasure  in  annoyance.  The 

i  Bacon,   1649,   c.   i.      "A   true     Langford,  27— 32.     Compare  Ham- 
copy  "  of  the  whole  law  is  printed  by     mend's  Leah  and  Rachel,  20,  21. 


PROGRESS   OF    CIVIL  LIBERTY.  257 

laws  of  society  should  do  no  more  than  reprove  the  OH.\P 
breach  of  its  decorum.     Blasphemy  is  the  crime  of  de-    ^-^ 
spair.     One  hopeless  sufferer  commits  suicide  ;  another 
curses  Divine  Providence  for  the  evil  which  is  in  the 
world,  and    of  which    he    cannot   solve  the  mystery 
The  best  medicine   for  intemperate  grief  is  compas 
sion  ;   the  keenest  rebuke  for  ribaldry,  contempt. 

But  the  design  of  the  law  of  Maryland  was  un 
doubtedly  to  protect  freedom  of  conscience  ;  and,  some 
years  after  it  had  been  confirmed,  the  apologist  of  Lord 
Baltimore  could  assert,  that  his  government,  in  con 
formity  with  his  strict  and  repeated  injunctions,  had 
never  given  disturbance  to  any  person  in  Maryland  for 
matter  of  religion  ; l  that  the  colonists  enjoyed  freedom 
of  conscience,  not  less  than  freedom  of  person  and  es 
tate,  as  amply  as  ever  any  people  in  any  place  of  the 
world.2  The  disfranchised  friends  of  prelacy  from 
Massachusetts,  and  the  Puritans  from  Virginia,  were 
welcomed  to  equal  liberty  of  conscience  and  political 
rights  in  the  Roman  Catholic  province  of  Maryland.3 

An  equal  union  prevailed  between  all  branches  of  1(>50 
the  government  in  explaining  and  confirming  the  civil 
liberties  of  the  colony.  In  1642,  Robert  Vaughan,  in 
the  name  of  the  rest  of  the  burgesses,  had  desired, 
that  the  house  might  be  separated,  and  thus  a  negative 
secured  to  the  representatives  of  the  people.  Before 
16 49,  this  change  had  taken  place ;  and  it  \vas  con 
firmed  by  a  statute.4  The  dangerous  prerogative  of 
declaring  martial  law  was  also  limited  to  the  precincts 
of  the  camp  and  the  garrison;5  and  a  perpetual  act 
declared,  that  no  tax  should  be  levied  upon  the  free- 

1  Langford,  11.  4  Bacon,  1G49,  c.  xii.,  and  note 

2  Ibid.  5.  1050,  c.  i. 

3  dial inora,  219.  Langford,  3.        5  Bacon,  1G50,  c.  xxvi, 
Hammond,  *^0. 

VOL.  i  33 


258  MARYLAND  IN  THE  TIMES  O*  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 

CHAP,  men  of  the  province,  except  by  the  vote  of  their  dep- 
- — ^  uties  in  a  general  assembly.     "  The  strength  of  the 
1050   proprietary"  was   confidently  reposed   "in  the    affec 
tions  of  his  people."1      Well  might  the  freemen  of 
Maryland  place  upon  their  records  a   declaration   of 
their  gratitude,  "  as  a  memorial  to  all  posterities,"  and 
a  pledge  that  succeeding  generations  would  faithfully 
"  remember "  the  care   and  industry  of  Lord   Balti 
more  in  advancing  "  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the 
colony."2 

But  the  revolutions  in  England  could  not  but  affect 
the  destinies  of  the  colonies ;  and  while  New  England 
and  Virginia  vigorously  advanced  their  liberties  under 
the  salutary  neglect,  Maryland  was  involved  in  the 
miseries  of  a  disputed  government.  The  people  were 
ready  to  display  every  virtue  of  good  citizens  ;  but 
doubts  were  raised  as  to  the  authority  to  which  obedi 
ence  was  due ,  and  the  government,  which  had  been  a 
government  of  benevolence,  good  order,  and  toleration, 
was,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  soon  abandoned  to 
the  misrule  of  bigotry  and  the  anarchy  of  a  disputed 
sovereignty.  When  the  throne  and  the  peerage  had 
been  subverted  in  England,  it  might  be  questioned 
whether  the  mimic  monarchy  of  Lord  Baltimore 
should  be  permitted  to  continue.  When  hereditary 
power  had  ceased  in  the  mother  country,  might  it 
properly  exist  in  the  colony  ?  It  seemed  uncertain,  if 
the  proprietary  could  maintain  his  position ;  and  the 
scrupulous  Puritans  hesitated  to  take  an  unqualified 
oath  of  fealty,  with  which  they  might  be  unable  to 
comply.3  Englishmen  were  no  longer  lieges  of  a  sove 
reign,  but  members  of  a  commonwealth ;  and,  but 

i  Bacon,  1050,  c.  xxv  3  Strong's  Babylon's  Fall,  1  2. 

*  Ibid.  1050,  c.  xxii) 


MARYLAND  IN  THE  TIMES  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  259 

for  the  claims  of  Baltimore,  Maryland  would  equally  CHAP 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  republican  liberty.  Great  as  was  — v^- 
the  temptation  to  assert  independence,  it  would  not 
have  prevailed,  could  the  peace  of  the  province  have 
been  maintained.  But  who,  it  might  well  be  asked, 
was  the  sovereign  of  Maryland  ?  Her  "  beauty  and 
extraordinary  goodness"  had  been  to  her  a  fatal 
dowry ;  and  Maryland  was  claimed  by  four  separate 
aspirants.  Virginia1  was  ever  ready  to  revive  its 
rights  to  jurisdiction  beyond  the  Potomac,  and  Clay- 
borne  had  already  excited  attention  by  his  persevering 
opposition ; 2  Charles  II.,  incensed  against  Lord  Balti 
more  for  his  adhesion  to  the  rebels  and  his  toleration 
of  schismatics,  had  issued  a  commission  to  Sir  William 
Davenant;3  Stone  was  the  active  deputy  of  Lord 
Baltimore ;  and  parliament  had  already  appointed  itb 
commissioners. 

In  the  ordinance4  for  the  reduction  of  the  rebellious  1650 
colonies,  Maryland  had  not  been  included ;  if  Charles 
II.  had  been  inconsiderately  proclaimed  by  a  tempo 
rary  officer,  the  offence  had  been  expiated ; 5  and,  as 
assurances  had  been  given  of  the  fidelity  of  Stone  to 
the  commonwealth,  no  measures  against  his  authority 
were    designed.6     Yet    the    commissioners    were    in-  1651 
structed  to  reduce  "  all  the  plantations  within  the  Bay   Sept 
of  the  Chesapeake ; " 7  and  it  must  be  allowed,  that 
Clayborne  might  find  in  the  ambiguous  phrase,  intend-  1652 
ed  perhaps,  to  include  only  the  settlements  of  Virginia, 
a  sufficient  warrant  to  stretch  his  authority  to  Mary 
land.      The   commissioners    accordingly    entered    the 
province ;  and,  after  much  altercation  with  Stone,  de- 

1  Hazard,!. 620— 630.  McMahon,  4  Hazard,  i.  636. 
207,  208.  5  McMahon,  203. 

2  Bacon,  1650,  c.  xvii.  6  Langford,  6  and  7. 

3  Langford,  3, 4.  7  Thurloe,  i.    198.      Hazard,    i 

557.     Hammond,  20,  2 1. 


260  MARYLAND   DURING  THE   PROTECTORATE. 

CHAP,  priving  him  of  his  commission  from  Lord  Baltimore, 
— ^  and  changing  the  officers  of  the  province,  they  at  last 

1652.  established  a  compromise.      Stone,  with  three  of  his 
June.  .r  ; 

council,  was  permitted  to  retain  the  executive  power 

till  further  instructions  should  arrive  from  England.1 
1G53.  The  dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament  threatened 
a  change  in  the  political  condition  of  Maryland ;  for, 
it  was  argued,  the  only  authority,  under  which  Bennett 
and  Clayborne  had  acted,  had  expired  with  the  body 
from  which  it  was  derived.2  In  consequence,  Stone, 
1654.  Hatton  and  his  friends,  reinstated  the  rights  of  Lord 
Baltimore  in  their  integrity ;  displacing  all  officers  of 
the  contrary  party,  they  introduced  the  old  council,  and 
declared  the  condition  of  the  colony,  as  settled  by 
Bennett  and  Clayborne,  to  have  been  a  state  of  re 
bellion.3  A  railing  proclamation  to  that  effect  was 
published  to  the  Puritans  in  their  church  meeting. 

The  measures  were  rash  and  ill  advised.  No  sooner 
July  did  Clayborne  and  his  colleague  learn  the  new  revolu 
tion,  than  they  hastened  to  Maryland ;  where  it  was 
immediately  obvious,  that  they  could  be  met  by  no 
effectual  resistance.  Unable  to  persuade  Stone,  "  in 
a  peaceable  and  loving  way,"  to  abandon  the  claims 
of  Lord  Baltimore,  they  yet  compelled  him  to  surren 
der  his  commission  and  the  government  into  their 
hands.  This  being  done,  Clayborne  and  Bennett  ap 
pointed  a  board  of  ten  commissioners,  to  whom  the 
administration  of  Maryland  was  intrusted.4 

Intolerance    followed  upon    this  arrangement ;    for 
parties  had  necessarily  become  identified  with  religious 

1  Strong,  2  and  3.     Longford,  7  1654,  as  Strong  asserts.    McMahon, 
and  8.     Bacon's  Preface.     JVlcMa-  20G,  cites  Hazard  doubtingly.     Ba- 
hon,  204,  205.     Chalmers,  122.  con,  1054,  c.  xlv.     Hammond,  22. 

2  Langford,  10.     Strong,  3.  4  Strong,  3,  4,  5.     Langford,  11, 

3  Strong,    3.      Hazard,    i.    626.  12.      McMahon,    200.      Chalmers., 
The  date  is  there  1G53.     It  was  in  223. 


MARYLAND    DURiiNG   THE    PROTECTORATE.  261 

sects;  and  Maryland   itself  was   the    prize   contended  CHAP 

for.1     The  Puritans,  ever  the  friends  of  popular  liberty,    

hostile  to  monarchy,  and  equally  so  to  a  hereditary  pro-  1G54 
prietary,  contended  earnestly  for  every  civil  liberty; 
but  had  neither  the  gratitude  to  respect  the  rights  of 
the  government,  by  which  they  had  been  received  and 
fostered,  nor  magnanimity  to  continue  the  toleration, 
to  which  alone  they  were  indebted  for  their  residence 
in  the  colony.  A  new  assembly,  convened  at  Patux-  Oct 
ent,  acknowledged  the  authority  of  Cromwell ;  but  it 
also  exasperated  the  whole  Romish  party  by  thejr 
wanton  disfranchisement.  An  act  concerning  religion 
confirmed  the  freedom  of  conscience,  provided  the  lib 
erty  were  not  extended  to  "  popery,  prelacy,2  or  li 
centiousness  "  of  opinion.  Yet  Cromwell,  a  friend  to 
religious  toleration,  and  willing  that  the  different  sects, 
"  like  the  cedar,  and  the  myrtle,  and  the  oil-tree,  should 
be  planted  in  the  wilderness  together,"  never  approved 
the  ungrateful  decree.  He  commanded  the  commis 
sioners  "  not  to  busy  themselves  about  religion,  but  to 
settle  the  civil  government." 3 

When  the  proprietary  heard  of  these  proceedings,  he 
was  indignant  at  the  want  of  firmness  which  his  lieu 
tenant  had  displayed.4  The  pretended  assembly  was 
esteemed  "  illegal,  mutinous,  and  usurped ;  "  and  Lord 
Baltimore  and  his  officers  determined,  under  the 
powers  which  the  charter  conferred,  to  vindicate  his 
supremacy.5  Towards  the  end  of  January,  on  the  ar-  1655 
rival  of  a  friendly  ship,  it  was  immediately  noised 
abroad,  that  his  patent  had  been  confirmed  by  the  pro 
tector  ;  and  orders  began  again  to  be  issued  for  the  en 
tire  restoration  of  his  authority.  Papists  and  others6 

i  Hammond,  22.     Sad  State  9.  4  Hazard,  i.  629.     Strong. 

9  Bacon,  1654,  c.  iv  5  Langford,  9,  10. 

3  Chalmers,  236.  6  Strong,  5 


262  MARYLAND    DURING  THE   PROTECTORATE. 

CHAP,  weie  commissioned  by  Stone  to  raise  men  in  arms; 

VII. 

-^-  and  the  leaders  of  this  new  revolution  were  able  to 
1655  surprise  and  get  possession  of  the  provincial  records. 
Mar  They  marched,  also,  from  Patuxent  towards  Anne 

25 

Arundel,  the  chief  seat  of  the  republicans,  who  insist 
ed  on  naming  it  Providence.  The  inhabitants  of 
Providence  and  their  partisans  gathered  together  with 
the  zeal  that  belongs  to  the  popular  party,  and  with 
the  courage  in  which  Puritans  were  never  deficient. 
Vain  were  proclamations,  promises,  and  threats.  The 
party  of  Stone  was  attacked  and  utterly  discomfited ; 
he  himself,  with  others,  was  taken,  and  would  have 
been  put  to  death  but  for  the  respect  and  affection 
borne  him  by  some  among  the  insurgents  whom  he 
had  formerly  welcomed  to  Maryland.  He  was  kept  a 
prisoner  during  part  of  the  administration  of  Crom 
well;1  while  three  of  the  principal  men  of  the  province, 
sentenced  to  death  by  a  council  of  war,  were  pres 
ently  executed.2 

A  friend  to  Lord  Baltimore,  then  in  the  prov 
ince,  begged  of  the  protector  no  other  boon  than 
that  he  would  "  condescend  to  settle  the  country  by 
declaring  his  determinate  will."3  And  yet  the  same 
causes  which  led  Cromwell  to  neglect  the  inter 
nal  concerns  of  Virginia,  compelled  him  to  pay  but 
little  attention  to  the  disturbances  in  Maryland.  On 
the  one  hand,  he  respected  the  rights  of  property  of 
Lord  Baltimore;  on  the  other,  he  protected  his  own  po 
litical  partisans,  corresponded  with  his  commissioners, 
and  expressed  no  displeasure  at  their  exercise  of  power.4 

i  On    this    occasion  were   pub-  Hazard,  i.  G21— 628,  and  G29  WO  $ 

lished   Strong's   Babylon's  Fall  in  Bacon's  Pref. 

Maryland,  and  Langfbrd's  Just  and  2  Hammond,  22,  23. 

Clear  Refutation  of  a  Scandalous  3  Barber,  in  Langford,  15. 

Pamphlet,   entitled  Babylon's  Fall  4  Thurloe,   i.    724,   and    iv.   55. 

in     Maryland,     1G55.       Both     are  Hazard,  i.  594,  quotes  but  one  of  the 

minute,   and,   in   the   main,   agree,  rescripts.     Hammond,  24. 
Compare  Chalmers ;  McMahon.207  : 


MARYLAND   DURING  THE   PROTECTORATE. 

The  right  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Maryland  remained,  CHAP. 
therefore,  a  disputed  question.     Fuller,  Preston,  and  the  • — ~ 
others,  appointed  by  Clayborne,  actually  possessed  au 
thority;  while  Lord  Baltimore,  with  the  apparent  sanc 
tion  of  the  protector,  commissioned l  Josias  Fendall  to    July 
appear  as  his  lieutenant.     Fendall  had,  the  preceding 
year,  been  engaged  in  exciting  an  insurrection,  under 
pretence  of  instructions  from  Stone;  he  now  appear-    657 
ed   as   an    open   but   unsuccessful   insurgent.     Little   Sept 
is  known  of  his  "  disturbance,"  except  that  it  occa 
sioned  a  heavy  public  expenditure.2 

Yet  the  confidence  of  Lord  Baltimore  was  continued 
to  Fendall,  who  received  anew  an  appointment  to  the     is.' 
government  of  the  province.     For  a  season,  there  was 
a   divided   rule;    Fendall   was  acknowledged   by  the  1653 
Catholic  party  in  the  city  of  St.  Mary's ;  and  the  com 
missioners  were  sustained  by  the  Puritans  of  St.  Leon 
ard's.     At   length,    the   conditions   of  a   compromise 
were  settled ;  and  the  government  of  the  whole  prov-    Mar. 
ince  was  surrendered  to  the  agent  of  the  proprietary. 
Permission  to  retain  arms ;  an  indemnity  for  arrears ; 
relief  from  the  oath  of  fealty ;  and  a  confirmation  of 
the  acts  and  orders  of  the  recent  Puritan  assemblies  ; — 
these  were  the  terms  of  the  surrender,  and  prove  the 
influence  of  the  Puritans.3 

Fendall  was  a  weak  and  impetuous  man  ;  but  I  can 
not  find  any  evidence  that  his  administration  was 
stained  by  injustice.  Most  of  the  statutes  enacted 
during  his  government  were  thought  worthy  of  being 
perpetuated.  The  death  of  Cromwell  left  the  condi 
tion  of  England  uncertain,  and  might  well  diffuse  a 
gloom  through  the  counties  of  Maryland.  For  ten 

1  McMahon,  211.  McMahon,  211,  and  Council  Pro- 

2  Bacon,  1657,  c.  viii.  ceedings,  in  McMahon,  note  to  14 

3  Bacon's  Preface,  and  1G58,  c.  L 


264  MARYLAND   DURING  THE   PROTECTORATE. 

CHAP,  years  the  unhappy  province  had  been    distracted    lyy 

dissensions,  of  which    the    root  had  consisted  in  the 

claims  that  Baltimore  had  always  asserted,  and  had 
never  been  able  to  establish.  What  should  now  be 
done  ?  England  was  in  a  less  .settled  condition  than 
ever.  Would  the  son  of  Cromwell  permanently  hold 
the  place  of  his  father  ?  Would  Charles  II.  be  restor 
ed  ?  Did  new  revolutions  await  the  colony  ?  new 
strifes  with  Virginia,  the  protector,  the  proprietary, 
the  king  ?  Wearied  with  long  convulsions,  a  general 

1660.  assembly  saw  no  security  but  in  asserting  the  power 
of  the  people,  and  constituting  the  government  on  the 

Mar.  expression  of  their  will.  Accordingly,  just  one  day 
before  that  memorable  session  of  Virginia,  when  the 
people  of  the  Ancient  Dominion  adopted  a  similar 
system  of  independent  legislation,  the  representatives 
of  Maryland,  convened  in  the  house  of  Robert  Slye, 
voted  themselves  a  lawful  assembly,  without  depend 
ence  on  any  other  power  in  the  province.  The  bur 
gesses  of  Virginia  had  assumed  to  themselves  the  elec 
tion  of  the  council ;  the  burgesses  of  Maryland  refused 
to  acknowledge  the  rights  of  the  body  claiming  to  be 
an  upper  house.  In  Virginia,  Berkeley  yielded  to  the 
public  will ;  in  Maryland,  Fendall  permitted  the  power 
of  the  people  to  be  proclaimed.  The  representatives 
of  Maryland,  having  thus  successfully  settled  the 
government,  and  hoping  for  tranquillity  after  years  of 
storms,  passed  an  act,  making  it  felony  to  disturb  the 
order  which  they  had  established.  No  authority  would 
henceforward  be  recognized,  except  the  assembly,  and 
the  king  of  England.1  The  light  of  peace  promised  lo 
dawn  upon  the  province. 

1  Bacon,  1059-4)0.  McMahon,  historian  is  remarkably  temperate. 
212.  Chalmers,  224,  225.  Griffith,  All  others  have  been  unjust  to  the 
18.  Ebeling,  v.  709.  The  German  legislature  of  Maryland. 


MARYLAND   DURING  THE   PROTECTORATE.  265 

Thus  was  Maryland,  like  Virginia,  at  the  epoch  of  CHAP. 
the  restoration,  in  full  possession  of  liberty,  based  upon  — -^ 
the  practical  assertion  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people.  166° 
Like  Virginia,  it  had  so  nearly  completed  its  institu 
tions,  that,  till  the  epoch  of  its  final  separation  from 
England,  it  hardly  made  any  further  advances  towards 
freedom  and  independence. 

Men  love  liberty,  even  if  it  be  turbulent ;  and  the 
colony  had  increased,  and  flourished,  and  grown  rich, 
in  spite  of  domestic  dissensions.  Its  population,  in 
1660,  is  variously  estimated  at  eight  thousand,1  and  at 
twelve  thousand.2  The  country  was  dear  to  its  inhab 
itants.  There  they  desired  to  spend  the  remnant  of 
their  lives  ;  there  they  coveted  to  make  their  graves.3 

i  Puller's  Worthies,  Ed.  1662.      a  Chalmers,  226.      3  Hainmond,  25 
VOL.    I.  34 


266 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  PILGRIMS. 

CHAP       THE  settlement  of  New  England  was  a  result  of 

VIII. 

-- — '  (he  Reformation ; 1  not  of  the  contest  between  the  new 
opinions  and  the  authority  of  Rome,  but  of  implacable 
differences  between  Protestant  dissenters  and  the  es 
tablished  Anglican  church. 

Who  will  venture  to  measure  the  consequences  of 
actions  by  the  apparent  humility  or  the  remoteness  of 
their  origin  ?  The  mysterious  influence  of  that  Power 
which  enchains  the  destinies  of  states,  overruling  the, 
decisions  of  sovereigns  and  the  forethought  of  states 
men,  often  deduces  the  greatest  events  from  the  least 
commanding  causes.  A  Genoese  adventurer,  discover 
ing  America,  changed  the  commerce  of  the  world ;  an 
obscure  German,  inventing  the  printing-press,  ren 
dered  possible  the  universal  diffusion  of  increased  in 
telligence  ;  an  Augustine  monk,  denouncing  indul 
gences,  introduced  a  schism  in  religion,  and  changed 
the  foundations  of  European  politics  ;  a  young  French 
refugee,  skilled  alike  in  theology  and  civil  law,  in  the 
duties  of  magistrates  and  the  dialectics  of  religious 
controversy,  entering  the  republic  of  Geneva,  and  con 
forming  its  ecclesiastical  discipline  to  the  principles  of 
republican  simplicity,  established  a  party,  of  which 
Englishmen  became  members,  and  New  England  the 

i  Heeren,  i.  102, 1U3 


EARLY  VOYAGES  TO  NEW  ENGLAND.  267 


asylum.  The  enfranchisement  of  the  mind  from  re- 
ligious  despotism  led  directly  to  inquiries  into  the  nature  ^~ 
of  civil  government  ;  and  the  doctrines  of  popular  lib 
erty,  which  sheltered  their  infancy  in  the  wildernesses 
of  the  newly-discovered  continent,  within  the  short 
space  of  two  centuries,  have  infused  themselves  into 
the  life-blood  of  every  rising  state  from  Labrador  to 
('hili,  have  erected  outposts  on  the  Oregon  and  in  Li 
beria,  and,  making  a  proselyte  of  e  ilightened  France, 
have  disturbed  all  the  ancient  governments  of  Europe, 
by  awakening  the  public  mind  to  resistless  action,  from 
the  shores  of  Portugal  to  the  palaces  of  the  czars. 

The  trading  company  of  the  west  of  England,  in-  1606 
corporated  in  the  same  patent  with  Virginia,  possessed 
too  narrow  resources  or  too  little  enterprise  for  success 
in  establishing  colonies.  The  Spaniards,  affecting  an 
exclusive  right  of  navigation  in  the  seas  of  the  new 
hemisphere,  captured  and  confiscated  a  vessel  l  which  Nov 
Popham,  the  chief  justice  of  England,  and  Gorges,  the 
governor  of  Plymouth,  had,  with  some  others,  equipped 
for  discovery.  But  a  second  and  almost  simultaneous 
expedition  from  Bristol  encountered  no  disasters  ;  and 
the  voyagers,  on  their  return,  increased  public  confi 
dence,  by  renewing  the  favorable  reports  of  the  coun 
try  which  they  had  visited.2  The  spirit  of  adventure 
was  not  suffered  to  slumber  ;  the  lord  chief  justice  dis 
played  persevering  vigor,  for  his  honor  was  interested 
in  the  success  of  the  company  which  his  influence  had 
contributed  to  establish  ;  Gorges,3  the  companion  and 
friimd  of  Raleigh,  was  still  reluctant  to  surrender  his 

1  Purcliaa,  iv.  1827  and  1832,  and  3  The  name  of  Gorges  occurs  in 

ff.  Gorges'  Brief  e  Narration,  c.  iv.  Hume,  c.  xliv.  ;  Lingarri,  vih.  449. 

Prince's  N.  fi.  Chronology,  1  13,  114.  Compare  Bolknap's  Biography,  i. 

J.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  ix.  3,  4.  347  —  .354.  Gorges  was  ever  a 

a  Gorges,  c.  v.  G.  sincere  royalist, 


268  COLONY   AT   SAGADAHOC. 

CHAP   sanguine  hopes  of  fortune  and  domains  m  America; 
^-v~  and,  in  the  next  year,  two  ships  were  despatched  to 

1607.  Northern    Virginia,  commanded    by  Raleigh    Gilbert, 
and  bearing  emigrants  for  a  plantation  under  the  pres 
idency  of  George  Popham.1     After  a  tedious  voyage, 

Aug.   the  adventurers  reached  the  coast  of  America  near  the 

o 

mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  and,  offering  public  thanks  to 
God  for  their  safety,  began  their  settlement  under  the 
auspices  of  religion,  with  a  government  framed  as  if 
for  a  permanent  colony.  Rude  cabins,  a  storehouse, 
and  some  slight  fortifications,  were  rapidly  prepared, 
Dec.  and  the  ships  sailed  for  England,  leaving  forty-five 
emigrants  in  the  plantation,  which  was  named  St. 
George.  But  the  winter  was  intensely  cold ;  the  na 
tives,  at  first  friendly,  became  restless ;  the  store 
house  caught  fire,  and  part  of  the  provisions  was  con 
sumed  ;  the  emigrants  grew  weary  of  their  solitude ; 
they  lost  Popham,  their  president,  "the  only  one2  of 
the  company  that  died  there ; "  the  ships  which  re- 

1608.  visited  the  settlement  with  supplies,  brought  news  of 
the  death  of  the  chief  justice,  the  most  vigorous  friend 
of  the  settlement  in  England ;  and  Gilbert,  the  sole  in 
command  at  St.  George,  had,  by  the  decease  of  his 
brother,  become   heir  to  an  estate  which  invited  his 
presence.     So    the    plantation  was    abandoned ;    and 
the  colonists,  returning  to  England,  "  did  coyne  many 
excuses,"  and  sought  to  conceal  their  own  deficiency 
of  spirit  by  spreading  exaggerated    accounts   of  the 
rugged  poverty  of  the  soil,  and  the  inhospitable  sever- 

1  Gorges,  c.  vn.  viii.  ix.  Purchas,  looked  at  the  numerous  graves  oj 

iv.  1828.  Smith,  ii.  173 — 175.  the  dead  •"  drawing  on  his  imagina- 

Belknap,  i.  350 — 354.  i.  Mass,  tion  for  embellishments.  Compare 

Hist  Coll.  i.  251,  '452.  William-  ii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  ix.  4.  Chal- 

son's  History  of  Maine,  i.  197 — 203.  mers,  79,  names  among  those  who 

Prince,  110,  117,  118,  119.  Hub-  died,  "Gilbert,  their  chief—an 

banl's  N.  K.  3<>,  37.  error. 

8  Chalmers,    79,   writes,  "  They 


JOHJS    SMITH   IN   NEW    ENGLAND.  269 

ity  of  the  climate.1     But  the  Plymouth  company  was  CHAP 
dissatisfied  with  their  pusillanimity ;  Gorges  esteemed  -^^ 
it  a  weakness  to  be  frightened  at  a  blast.     The  idea 
of  a  settlement  in   these   northern  latitudes  was  no 
longer  terrific.     The  American  fisheries  also  constitu- 

o 

ted  a  prosperous  and  well-established  business.  Three 
years  had  elapsed  since  the  French  had  been  settled 
in  their  huts  at  Port  Royal ;  and  the  ships  which  car 
ried  the  English  from  the  Kennebec  were  on  the 
ocean  at  the  same  time  with  the  little  squadron  of  the 
French,  who  succeeded  in  building  Quebec,  the  very 
summer  in  which  Maine  was  deserted. 

The  fisheries  and  the  fur-trade  were  not  relinquish 
ed  ;  vessels  were  annually  employed  in  traffic  with  the 
Indians  ;  and  once,2  at  least,  perhaps  oftener,  a  part 
of  a  ship's  company  remained  during  a  winter  on  the 
American  coast.  But  new  hopes  were  awakened, 
when  Smith, — who  had  already  obtained  distinction  in 
Virginia,  and  who  had,  with  rare  sagacity,  discovered, 
and,  with  unceasing  firmness,  asserted,  that  coloni 
zation  was  the  true  policy  of  England, — with  two  ships, 
set  sail  for  the  coast  north  of  the  lands  granted  by 
the  Virginia  patent.  The  expedition  was  a  private3 
adventure  of  "  four  merchants  of  London  and  him 
self,"  and  was  very  successful.  The  freights  were 
profitable;  the  health  of  the  mariners  did  not  suffer ; 
and  the  whole  voyage  was  accomplished  in  less  than 
seven  months.  While  the  sailors  were  busy  with  their 
hooks  and  lines,  Smith  examined  the  shores  from  the 
Peuohscot  to  Cape  Cod,  prepared  a  map  of  the  coast,4 

1  Sir   W.   Alexander's   Map  of     outh  company.     See  Smith,  in  iii. 
J4ew  England,  30.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  iii.  1U;  and  in  his 

2  Gorges,  c.  x.     Prince,  119.  Historic,  ii.  175,170;   Purchas,  iv 

3  Chalmers,  30,  erroneously  at-     18:28. 

tributes  the  expedition  to  the  Plym-        4  Map,  in  iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  iii. 


270  JOHN   SMITH    IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  and  named  the  country  New  England, — a  title  which 
^-v-~  Prince  Charles  confirmed.  The  French  could  boast, 
with  truth,  that  New  France  had  been  colonized  be 
fore  New  England  obtained  a  name  ;  Port  Royal  was 
older  than  Plymouth,  Quebec  than  Boston.  Yet  the 
voyage  was  not  free  from  crime.  After  Smith  had  de 
parted  for  England,  Thomas  Hunt,  the  master  of  the 
second  ship,  kidnapped  a  large  party  of  Indians,  and, 
sailing  for  Spain,  sold  "the  poor  innocents'  into 
slavery.  It  is  singular  how  good  is  educed  from  evil : 
one  of  the  number,  escaping  from  captivity,  made  his 
way  to  London,  and,  in  1619,  was  restored  to  his  own 
country,  where  he  subsequently  became  an  interpreter 
for  English  emigrants.1 

1615.  Encouraged  by  commercial  success?  Smith  next 
endeavored,  in  the  employment  of  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  and  of  friends  in  London,  members  of  the 
Plymouth  company,  to  establish  a  colony.  '  Sixteen 
men  2  were  all  whom  the  adventurers  destined  for  the 
occupation  of  New  England.  The  attempt  was  un 
successful.  Smith  was  forced  by  extreme  tempests  to 
return.  Again  renewing  his  enterprise,  he  suffered 
from  the  treachery  of  his  companions,  and  was,  at  last, 
intercepted  by  French  pirates.  His  ship  was  taken 
away ;  he  himself  escaped  alone,  in  an  open  boat, 
from  the  harbor  of  Rochelle.3  The  severest  privations 
in  a  new  settlement  would  have  been  less  wearisome, 
than  the  labors  which  his  enthusiasm  now  prompted 
him  to  undertake.  Having  published  a  map  and  a 

1   Smith's    Description    of    New  2  Williamson's    Maine,    i.    212 

England,  47.    Smith's  Generall  His-  The  learned  and  very  valuahle  his- 

torie,  ii.   17(>.     Morton's  Memorial,  torian  of  Maine  confounds  this  de- 

55,  and  Davis  on   Morton.     Prince,  sign  of  Smith  to   found    a    colony 

132.     Mou it's  Relation,  in  i.  M.  H.  with   his  previous  voyage  for  trade 

Coll.    viii.   238.     Plantation  of   N.  and  discovery. 

England,  in  ii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  ix.  3  Smith,  ii.  205—215;  and  in  m 

6.  7.  Mass.  Mist.  Coil.  iii.  20,  21. 


THE   COUNCIL    ESTABLISHED   AT  PLYMOUTH.  271 

description  of  New  England,  he  spent  many  months *  CHAP 

in  visiting  the  merchants  and  gentry  of  the  west  of  ^ 

England,  to  excite  their  zeal  for  enterprise  in  America :  1617 
he  proposed  to  the  cities,  mercantile  profits,  to  be 
realized  in  short  and  safe  voyages ;  to  the  noblemen, 
vast  dominions ;  from  men  of  small  means,  his  ear 
nestness  concealed  the  hardships  of  emigrants,  and, 
upon  the  dark  ground,  drew  a  lively  picture  of  the 
rapid  advancement  of  fortune  by  colonial  industry,  of 
the  abundance  of  game,  the  delights  of  unrestrained 
liberty;  the  pleasures  to  be  derived  from  "angling  and 
crossing  the  sweet  air  from  isle  to  isle,  over  the  silent 
streams  of  a  calm  sea."2  The  attention  of  the  west 
ern  company  was  excited ;  they  began  to  form  vast 
plans  of  colonization  ;  Smith  was  appointed  admiral 
of  the  country  for  life ;  and  a  renewal  of  the  letters 
patent,  with  powers  analogous  to  those  possessed  by 
the  southern  company,  became  an  object  of  eager  so 
licitation.  But  a  ne\v  charter  was  not  obtained  with-  1616 
out  vigorous  opposition.  "  Much  difference  there  was 
betwixt  the  Londoners  and  the  Westerlings," 3  since 
each  party  strove  to  engross  all  the  profits  to  be  de 
rived  from  America ;  while  the  interests  of  the  nation 
were  boldly  sustained  by  others,  who  were  desirous 
that  no  monopoly  should  be  conceded  to  either  com 
pany.  The  remonstrances  of  the  Virginia  corporation,4 
and  a  transient  regard  for  the  rights  of  the  country, 
could  delay,  but  not  defeat,  a  measure  that  was  sus 
tained  by  the  personal  favorites  of  the  monarch.  After 
two  years'  entreaty,  the  ambitious  adventurers  gained  1620 
every  thing  which  they  had  solicited  ;  and  King  James 
issued  to  forty  of  his  subjects,  some  of  them  members 

i  Smitn,  ii.  218.  21.   Hubbard,  84, 85.   Gorges.   Pur- 

»  Ibid.  Historic,  ii.  201.  chas,  iv.  1830,  1831. 

3  Ibid,  in  iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  lii.         4  Stith,  185.     Hazard,  i.  390 


272        THE  COUNCIL  ESTABLISHED  AT  PLYMOUTH. 

CHAP,  of  his  household  and  his  government,  the  most  wealthy 
^~  and  powerful  of  the  English  nobility,  a  patent,1  which 
1620  jn  American  annals,  and  even  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  has  but  one  parallel.  The  adventurers  and  their 
successors  were  incorporated  as  "  The  Council  estab 
lished  at  Plymouth,  in  the  county  of  Devon,  for  the 
planting,  ruling,  ordering  and  governing  New  England, 
in  America."  The  territory  conferred  on  the  paten 
tees  in  absolute  property,  with  unlimited  jurisdiction, 
the  sole  powers  of  legislation,  the  appointment  of  all 
officers  and  all  forms  of  government,  extended,  in 
breadth,  from  the  fortieth  to  the  forty-eighth  degree  of 
north  latitude,  and,  in  length,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific ;  that  is  to  say,  nearly  all  the  inhabited  British 
possessions  to  the  north  of  the  United  States,  all  New 
England,  New  York,  half  of  New  Jersey,  very  nearly 
all  Pennsylvania,  and  the  whole  of  the  country  to  the 
west  of  these  states,  comprising,  and,  at  the  time, 
believed  to  comprise,2  much  more  than  a  million  of 
square  miles,  and  capable  of  sustaining  far  more  than 
two  hundred  millions  of  inhabitants,  were,  by  a  single 
signature  of  King  James,  given  away  to  a  corporation 
within  the  realm,  composed  of  but  forty  individuals. 
The  grant  was  absolute  and  exclusive :  it  conceded 
the  land  and  islands ;  the  rivers  and  the  harbors ;  the 
mines  and  the  fisheries.  Without  the  leave  of  the 
council  of  Plymouth,  not  a  ship  might  sail  into  a  har 
bor  from  Newfoundland  to  the  latitude  of  Philadelphia ; 
not  a  skin  might  be  purchased  in  the  interior ;  not  a 
fish  might  be  caught  on  the  coast ;  not  an  emigrant 
might  tread  the  soil.  No  regard  was  shown  for  the 

'-  TrumbulPs  Connecticut,  i.  546  iii.  31,  estimates  the  land  at  jne 

— 567.  Hazard,  i.  103 — 118.  Bay-  million  one  hundred  and  twenty 

lies,  i.  100 — 185.  Compare  Hub-  thousand  square  miles — a  computa 

bard,  c.  xxx. ;  Chalmers,  81 — 85.  tion  far  below  the  truth. 

2  Smith,  in  iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll. 


THE  COUNCIL  ESTABLISHED  AT  PLYMOUTH.  275 

liberties  of  those  who  might  become  inhabitants  of  CHAP 
the  colony;  they  were  to  be  ruled,  without  their  own  ^-^ 
consent,  by  the  corporation  in  England.  The  patent  162° 
favored  only  the  cupidity  of  the  proprietors,  and 
possessed  all  the  worst  features  of  a  commercial  mo 
nopoly.  A  royal  proclamation  was  soon  issued,  en 
forcing  its  provisions ;  and  a  revenue  was  already 
considered  certain  from  an  onerous  duty  on  all  ton 
nage  employed  in  the  American  fisheries.1  The  re 
sults  which  grew  out  of  the  concession  of  this  charter, 
form  a  new  proof,  if  any  were  wanting,  of  that  mys 
terious  connection  of  events  by  which  Providence  leads 
to  ends  that  human  councils  had  not  conceived.  The 
patent  left  the  emigrants  at  the  mercy  of  the  unre 
strained  power  of  the  corporation ;  and  it  was  under 
concessions  from  that  plenary  power,  confirmed,  in 
deed,  by  the  English  monarch,  that  institutions  the 
most  favorable  to  colonial  liberty  were  established. 
The  patent  yielded  every  thing  to  the  avarice  of  the 
corporation ;  the  very  extent  of  the  grant  rendered  it 
of  little  value.  The  jealousy  of  the  English  nation, 
incensed  at  the  concession  of  vast  monopolies  by  the 
exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative,  immediately  prompt 
ed  the  house  of  commons  to  question  the  validity  of  1621 
the  grant ; 2  and  the  French  nation,  whose  traders  had  35. 
been  annually  sending  home  rich  freights  of  furs,  while 
the  English  were  disputing  about  charters  and  com 
missions,  derided  the  tardy  action  of  the  British 
monarch  in  bestowing  lands  and  privileges,  which  their 
own  sovereign,  seventeen  years  before,  had  appropria 
ted.3  The  patent  was  designed  to  hasten  plantations, 

1  Smith,  in  iii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.    mentary  Debates,  1620-1,  i.  260 
lii.  32.     Smith,  ii.  263.  318,  319. 

2  Chalmers,  100—102.      Parlia-        3  ai.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  iii.  20. 

VOL.  i.  35 


274  THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  in  the  belief  that  men  would  eagerly  throng  to  the 

^^-  coast,  and  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the 
council;  and,  in  fact,  adventurers  were  delayed, 
through  fear  of  infringing  the  rights  of  a  powerful 
company.1  While  the  English  monopolists  were 
wrangling  about  their  exclusive  privileges,  the  first 
permanent  colony  on  the  soil  of  New  England  was 
established  without  the  knowledge  of  the  corporation, 
and  without  the  aid  of  King  James. 

The  Reformation  in  England — an  event  which  had 
been  long  and  gradually  prepared  among  the  people 
by  the  opinions  and  followers  of  Wickliffe,  and  in  the 
government  by  increasing  and  successful  resistance  to 
the  usurpations  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction — was  at 
length  abruptly  established  during  the  reign  and  in 
conformity  with  the  passions  of  a  despotic  monarch. 
The  acknowledgment  of  the  right  of  private  judg 
ment,2  far  from  being  the  cause  of  the  separation  from 
Rome,  was  one  of  its  latest  fruits.  Luther  was  more 
dogmatical  than  his  opponents ;  though  the  deep 
philosophy  with  which  his  mind  was  imbued,  repelled 
the  use  of  violence  to  effect  conversion  in  religion. 

isaa.  He  was  wont  to  protest  against  propagating  reform  by 
persecution  and  massacres ;  and,  with  wise  modera 
tion,  an  admirable  knowledge  of  human  nature,  a 
familiar  and  almost  ludicrous  quaintness  of  expression, 
he  would  deduce  from  his  great  principle  of  justifica 
tion  by  faith  alone  the  sublime  doctrine  of  the  freedom 

1553   of  conscience.3     Yet  Calvin,  many  years  after,  anxious- 

1  iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  iii.    32.  3  Nollem  vi  et  erode  pro  evan- 
Svnith,  ii.  263.  gelio   certan.      Compare  the  pas- 

2  Under  Edward  VI.  intolerance  sages  from  Luther  s  Seven  Sermons- 
sanctioned   by   law.     See   Rymer,  delivered  in  March,  1522,  at  Wit- 
xv.  1 82. 250,  under  Elizabeth.     Ry-  tenberg,   quoted   in   Pla  ick's  Gcs- 
mer,  xv.  740  and  741.     Compare  chichte  des  Protestantischen  Lehr 
Lingard,   vii.  286,   287;    Hallam's  begriffs,  ii.  68 — 72.   Summasuinma- 
England,  i.  130,  131,  132,  133.  rum!     Prcdigen    will   ichs,   sajjon 


THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND.  °215 

ly  engaged  in  dispelling  ancient  superstitions,  was  still  CHAP 
fearful  of  the  results  of  skeptical  reform,  and,  in  his  ^^- 
opinions  on  heresy  and  its  punishment,  shared  the  un 
happy  error  of  his  time. 

In  England,  so  far  was  the  freedom  of  private  in 
quiry  from  being  recognized  as  a  right,  the  means  of  1534 
forming  a  judgment  on  religious  subjects  was  denied 
The  art  of  supremacy,1  which  effectually  severed  the    N4OV 
English   nation   from    the  Roman    see,  contained  no 
clause  favorable    to   religious  liberty.      It  was  but  a 
vindication  of  the  sovereign  franchise   of  the  English 
monarch  against  foreign  interference  :  it  did  not  aim  at 

O  O  ' 

enfranchising  the  English  church,  far  less  the  English 
people,  or  the  English  mind.  The  king  of  England 
became  the  pope  in  his  own  dominions ;  and  heresy 
was  still  accounted  the  greatest  of  all  crimes.2  The 
right  of  correcting  errors  of  religious  faith  became,  by 
the  suffrage  of  parliament,  a  branch  of  the  royal  pre 
rogative  ;  and,  as  active  minds  among  the  people  were 
continually  proposing  new  schemes  of  doctrine,  a  stat 
ute,  alike  arrogant  in  its  pretensions  and  vindictive  in 
its  menaces,  was,  after  great  opposition  in  parlia 
ment,3  enacted  "for  abolishing  diversity  of  opinions."4  153y  • 
All  the  Roman  Catholic  doctrines  were  asserted,  ex 
cept  the  supremacy  of  Rome.  The  pope  could  praise 
Henry  VIII.  lor  orthodoxy,  while  he  excommunicated 

will  iohs,  schreiben  will  ichs,  aber  Statutes,  iii.  460 — 471.     26  Henry 
zwin^en,  dringen  mit  Gewalt  will  VIII.,  c.  i.  iii.  xiii.     Statutes,  iii. 
ich  ni'^mand;  denn  der  Glaube  will  492,  493 — 499.  508,  509.     Lingard, 
willig, ungenothigt  und  ohne  Zwang  iv.  266—270,  and  vi.  281— 283.* 
angenommen  werden.     I  have  quo-         2  Henry,  xii.  53.     Turner,  ii.  349 
ted  these  words,  which  are  in  har-  — 353.     Mackintosh,  ii.  147 — 150. 
mony  with  Luther's  doctrines  and        3  Strype's  Memorials,  i.  352. 
his  works,  as  a  reply  to  those,  who,        4  31  Henry  VIII.,  c.  xiv.     Stat- 
erroneously  charge  the  great  Ger-  utes,  iii.  739 — 743.      Lingard,   vr. 
man  reformer  with  favoring  perse-  380 — 386.     Bossuet,  Hist  des  Vo 
lution,  nations,  1.  vii.  c.  xxiv. — xl.    Henry, 
1  25  Henry  VIII.,  c.  xix.  xx.  xxi  xii.  84. 


276  THE   REFORMATION   IN  ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  him  for  disobedience.  He  commended  to  the  waver- 
^~  ing  emperor  the  English  sovereign  as  a  model  foi 
soundness  of  belief,  and  anathematized  him  only  foi 
contumacy.1  It  was  Henry's  pride  to  defy  the  au 
thority  of  the  Roman  bishop,  and  yet  to  enforce  the 
doctrines  of  the  Roman  church.  He  was  as  tenacious 
of  his  reputation  for  Catholic  orthodoxy,  as  of  his  claim 
to  spiritual  dominion.  He  disdained  submission,  and 
detested  heresy. 

Nor  was  Henry  VIII.  slow  to  sustain  his  new  pre 
rogatives.  He  rejected  the  advice  of  the  commons,  as 
of  "  brutes  and  inexpert  folks,"  of  men  as  unfit  to 
advise  him  as  "  blind  men  are  to  judge  of  colors."9 
According  to  ancient  usage,  no  sentence  of  death, 
awarded  by  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  could  be  carried 
into  effect,  until  a  writ  had  been  obtained  from  the 
king.  The  regulation  had  been  adopted  in  a  spirit  of 
mercy,  securing  to  the  temporal  authorities  the  power 
of  restraining  persecution.3  The  heretic  might  appeal 
from  the  atrocity  of  the  priest  to  the  mercy  of  the  sove 
reign.  But  now,  what  hope  could  remain,  when 
the  two  authorities  were  united ;  and  the  law,  which 
had  been  enacted  as  a  protection  of  the  subject,  was 
become  the  powerful  instrument  of  tyranny !  The 
establishment  of  the  English  church  under  the  king, 
was  inexorably  sustained.  No  virtue,  no  eminence, 
conferred  security.  Not  the  forms  of  worship  merely, 
but  the  minds  of  men,  were  declared  subordinate  to  tiie 
government ;  faith,  not  less  than  ceremony,  was  to 
vary  with  the  acts  of  parliament.  Death  was  de 
nounced  against  the  Catholic  who  denied  the  king's 
supremacy,  and  the  Protestant  who  doubted  his  creed 

i  Fra  Paolo,  i.  82.  2  Herbert's  Heniy  VIII.,  418,  419. 

3  Neal's  Puritans,  L  55. 


THE   REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND.  277 

Had  Luther  been  an  Englishman,  he  might  have  per-  CHAP. 
ished  by  fire.1  In  the  latter  part  of  his  lite,  Henry  re-  — ^ 
voked  the  general  permission  of  reading  the  Scriptures, 
and  limited  the  privilege  to  merchants  and  nobles. 
He  always  adhered  to  his  old  religion;2  he  believed 
its  most  extravagant  doctrines  to  the  last,  and  died  in 
the  Roman,  rather  than  in  the  Protestant  faith.3  But 
die  awakening  intelligence  of  a  great  nation  could  not 
be  terrified  into  a  passive  lethargy.  The  environs  of 
the  court  displayed  no  resistance  to  the  capricious 
monarch ;  a  subservient  parliament  yielded  him  ab 
solute  authority  in  religion  ;4  but  the  advancing  genius 
of  the  age,  even  though  it  sometimes  faltered  in  its 
progress  along  untried  paths,  steadily  demanded  the 
emancipation  of  the  public  mind. 

The  accession  of  Edward  VI.  led  the  way  to  the  1547 

*f  Y 

establishment  of  Protestantism  in  England,  and,  at  the  £$' 
same  time,  gave  life  to  the  germs  of  the  difference 
which  was  eventually  to  divide  the  English.  A 
change  in  the  reformation  had  already  been  effected 
among  the  Swiss,  and  especially  at  Geneva.  Luther 
had  based  his  reform  upon  the  sublime  but  simple 
truth  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  morals — the  paramount 
value  of  character  and  purity  of  conscience ;  the  su 
periority  of  right  dispositions  over  ceremonial  exact 
ness  ;  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  justification  by  faith  alone. 
But  he  hesitated  to  deny  the  real  presence,  and  was 
indifferent  to  the  observance  of  external  ceremonies. 
Calvin,  with  sterner  dialectics,  sanctioned  by  the  in 
fluence  of  the  purest  life,  and  by  his  power  as  the 
ablest  writer  of  his  age,  attacked  the  Roman  doctrines 

1  Turner's  England,  iii.  140.  Henry's  Great  Britain,  xii.  p.  107. 

2  Ibid.  ii.  352.  4  37  Henry  VIIL,  c.  xvii.     Stat- 

3  Bossuet,  Hist,  des  Variations,  utes,  iii.  1009. 
i.    riii.    c.    iii.    iv.    and    xxiv. — xl. 


278  THE    REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  respecting  the  communion,  and  esteemed  as  a  com- 
— --^-  memoration  the  rite  which  the  Catholics  reverenced 
as  a  sacrifice.  Luther  acknowledged  princes  as  his 
protectors,  and,  in  the  ceremonies  of  worship,  favored 
magnificence  as  an  aid  to  devotion ;  Calvin  was  the 
guide  of  Swiss  republics,  and  avoided,  in  their  church 
es,  all  appeals  to  the  senses  as  a  crime  against  religion. 
Luther  resisted  the  Roman  church  for  its  immorality: 
Calvin  for  its  idolatry.  Luther  exposed  the  folly  of  su 
perstition,  ridiculed  the  hair-shirt  and  the  scourge,  the 
purchased  indulgence,  and  the  dearly-bought  masses 
for  the  dead ;  Calvin  shrunk  from  their  criminality 
with  impatient  horror.  Luther  permitted  the  cross 
and  the  taper,  pictures  and  images,  as  things  of  indif 
ference  ;  Calvin  demanded  a  spiritual  worship  in  its 
utmost  purity. 

The  reign  of  Edward,  giving  safety  to  Protestants, 
soon  brought  to  light  that  both  sects  of  the  reformed 
church  existed  in  England.  The  one  party,  sustained 
by  Cranmer,  desired  moderate  reforms ;  the  other, 
countenanced  by  the  protector,  were  the  implacable 
adversaries  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  church 
1549  It  was  still  attempted  to  enforce1  uniformity  by  men- 
is*^.  aces  °f  persecution  ;  but  the  most  offensive  of  the  Ro 
man  doctrines  were  expunged  from  the  liturgy.  The 
tendency  of  the  public  mind  favored  a  greater  sim 
plicity  in  the  forms  of  devotion ;  the  spirit  of  inquiry 
was  active ;  not  a  rite  of  the  established  worship,  not 
a  point  in  church  government,  escaped  unexamincd , 
not  a  vestment  nor  a  ceremony  remained,  of  which 
the  propriety  had  not  been  denied.  The  spirit  of  in 
quiry  rebelled  against  prescription.  A  more  complete 

i  2  and  3  Edward  VI.,  c.  i.  Statutes,  iv  36—39     Rymer,  xv.  J81— 
183,  and  250—252. 


ORIGIN   OF    PURITANISM.  279 

reform  was  demanded :  and  the  friends  of  the  estab-  CHAP 

VIII. 

lished  liturgy  expressed  in  the  prayer-book  itself  a  — v-1 
wish  for  its  furtherance.1  The  party  strongest  in 
numbers  pleaded  expediency  for  retaining  much  that 
had  been  sanctioned  by  ancient  usage ;  while  abhor 
rence  of  superstition  excited  the  other  party  to  demand 
Uie  boldest  innovations.  The  austere  principle  was 
now  announced,  that  not  even  a  ceremony  should  be 
tolerated,  unless  it  was  enjoined  by  the  word  of  God. 
And  this  was  Puritanism.  The  church  of  England,  at 
least  in  its  ceremonial  part,  was  established  by  an  act 
of  parliament,  or  a  royal  ordinance ;  Puritanism,  zeal 
ous  for  independence,  admitted  no  voucher  but  the 
Bible — a  fixed  rule,  which  it  would  allow  neither 
parliament,  nor  hierarchy,  nor  king,  to  interpret.  The 
Puritans  adhered  to  the  established  church  as  far  as 
their  interpretations  of  the  Bible  seemed  to  warrant ; 
but  no  further,  not  even  in  things  of  indifference. 
They  would  yield  nothing  in  religion  to  the  temporal 
sovereign ;  they  would  retain  nothing  that  seemed  a 
relic  of  the  religion  which  they  had  renounced.  They 
asserted  the  equality  of  the  plebeian  clergy,  and  di 
rected  their  fiercest  attacks  against  the  divine  right  of 
bishops,  as  the  only  remaining  strong-hold  of  supersti 
tion.  In  most  of  these  views  they  were  sustained  by 
the  reformers  of  the  continent.  Bucer  and  Peter 
Martyr3  both  complained  of  the  backwardness  of  the 
reformation  in  England ;  Calvin  wrote  in  the  same 
strain.4  When  Hooper,  who  had  gone  into  exile  in 

1  Neal's  Puritans,  i.  121.    Neal's  In  his  Sec.  Reply,  1575,  p.  81: 
New  England,  i.  51.  "*t  fs  not  enougt),  that  tfte  Scrfp* 

2  So    Cartwright,   a  few    years  tutc    speafectft    not    ajjafnst    them, 
'ater,  in  his  Reply  to  Whitgift,  27 :  unless  ft  spcafc  for  them." 

«£n  matters   of  the  dmrcl),  there        3   Strype's     Memorials,     ii.     c 

man   be   npthfnjj  tione   but   bi>   the    xxviii. 

WuctJ  of  CSofc."  4  Hallam's  England,  L  140. 


THE   PURITANS    L\    EXILE. 

CHAP,  the  latter  years  of  Henry  VIII.,  was  appointed  bishop 
— —  of  Gloucester,  he,  for  a  time,  refused1  to  be  consecrated 

1550    fn  the  vestments  which  the  law  required:  and  his  re- 
July. 

fusal  marks  the  era  when  the  Puritans  first  existed  as 

a  separate  party.  They  demanded  a  thorough  reform  ; 
the  established  church  desired  to  check  the  propensity 
to  change.  The  strict  party  repelled  all  union  with 
the  Catholics;  the  politic  party  aimed  at  conciliating 
their  compliance.  The  Churchmen,  with,  perhaps,  a 
wise  moderation,  differed  from  the  ancient  forms  as 
little  as  possible,  and  readily  adopted  the  use  of  things 
indifferent;  the  Puritans  could  not  sever  themselves 
too  widely  from  the  Roman  usages,  and  sought  glar 
ing  occasions  to  display  their  antipathy.  The  surplice 
and  the  square  cap,  for  several  generations,  remained 
things  of  importance ;  for  they  became  the  badges  of 
a  party.  They  were  rejected  as  the  livery  of  super 
stition — the  outward  sign,  that  prescription  was  to 
prevail  over  reason,  and  authority  to  control  inquiry. 
The  unwilling  use  of  them  was  evidence  of  religious 
servitude. 

1553  The  reign  of  Mary  involved  both  parties  in  danger, 
1558.  but  they  whose  principles  wholly  refused  communion 
with  Rome,  were  placed  in  the  greatest  peril.  Rogers 
and  Hooper,  the  first  martyrs  of  Protestant  England, 
were  Puritans  ;  and  it  may  be  remarked,  that,  while 
Cranmer,  the  head  and  founder  of  the  English  church, 
desired,  almost  to  the  last,  by  delays,  recantations,  and 
entreaties,  to  save  himself  from  the  horrid  death  to 
which  he  was  doomed,  the  Puritan  martyrs  never 
sought,  by  concessions,  to  escape  the  flames.  '  For 

i  Strype's  Memorials,  ii.  22fi,  and  113.  Prince,  282 — 307.  Prince 
Repository,  ii.  118 — 132.  Hallam,  has  written  witn  great  diligence 
i.  141.  Neal's  Puritans,  i.  108 —  and  distinctness 


THE   PURITANS   IN   EXILE.  281 

them,  compromise  was  itself  apostasy.       The  offer  of  CHAP 
pardon   could   not  induce   Hooper  to  waver,  nor  the  -^ — 
pains  of  a  lingering  death  impair  his  fortitude.     He 
suffered  by  a  very  slow  fire,  and  at  length  died  as 
quietly  as  a  child  in  his  bed. 

A  large  part  of  the  English  clergy  returned  to  their  . 
submission  to  the  see  of  Rome  ;  others  firmly  adhered 
to  the  reformation,  which  they  had  adopted  from  con 
viction  ;  and  very  many,  who  had  taken  advantage  of 
the  laws1  of  Edward,  sanctioning  the  marriage  of  the 
clergy,  had,  in  their  wives  and  children,  given  hostages 
for  their  fidelity  to  the  Protestant  cause.  Multitudes, 
therefore,  hurried  into  exile  to  escape  the  grasp  of  vin 
dictive  bigotry ;  but  even  in  foreign  lands,  two  parties 
among  the  emigrants  were  visible  ;  and  the  sympathies 
of  a  common  exile  could  not  immediately  eradicate 
the  rancor  of  religious  divisions.  The  one  party9 
aimed  at  renewing  abroad  the  forms  of  discipline  which 
had  been  sanctioned  by  the  English  parliaments  in  the 
reign  of  Edward ;  the  Puritans,  on  the  contrary, 
endeavored  to  sweeten  exile  by  a  complete  emanci 
pation  from  ceremonies  which  they  had  reluctantly 
observed.  The  sojourning  in  Frankfort  was  imbittered 
by  the  anger  of  consequent  divisions ;  but  Time,  the 
great  calmer  of  the  human  passions,  softened  the  as 
perities  of  controversy ;  and  a  reconciliation  of  the  two 
parties  was  prepared  by  concessions3  to  the  Puritans. 
For  the  circumstances  of  their  abode  on  the  continent 
were  well  adapted  to  strengthen  the  influence  of  the 

1  2  and  3  Edward  VI.,  c.  xxi.,  5     161,    162,    163.     "  We   will  joyne 
and  6  Edward  VI.,  c.  xii.,  in  iStat-     with,  you  to  be  suitors  for  the  refor- 
utes,  iv.  67,  and  146,  147.     Strype's     mation  and  abolishing  of  all  ofien- 
Memonals,  iii.  108.  si ve  ceremonies."    Prince,  287, 288. 

2  Discourse  of  the  Troubles   in 
Frankfort. 

3  Ibid.,  edition  of  1642,  p.  160, 

VOL.   i.  36 


282        ELIZABETH  AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

CHAP,  stricter  sect.      While   the   companions  of  their  exile 

VIII. 

^v^  had,  with  the  most  bitter  intolerance,  been  rejected 
by  Denmark  and  Northern  Germany,1  the  English 
emigrants  received  in  Switzerland  the  kindest  wel 
come;  their  love  for  the  rigorous  austerity  of  a  spiritual 
worship  was  confirmed  by  the  stern  simplicity  of  the 
republic ;  and  some  of  them  had  enjoyed  in  Geneva 
the  instructions  and  the  friendship  of  Calvin. 

1553.  On  the  death  of  Mary,  the  Puritans  returned  to 
England,  with  still  stronger  antipathies  to  the  forms  of 
worship  and  the  vestures,  which  they  now  repelled  as 
associated  with  the  cruelties  of  Roman  intolerance  at 
home,  and  which  they  had  seen  so  successfully  reject 
ed  by  the  churches  of  Switzerland.  The  pledges 
which  had  been  given  at  Frankfort  and  Geneva,  to 
promote  further  reforms,  were  redeemed.2  But  the 
controversy  did  not  remain  a  dispute  about  ceremo 
nies  ;  it  was  modified  by  the  personal  character  of  the 
English  sovereign,  and  became  identified  with  the 
political  parties  in  the  state.  The  first  act  of  parlia 
ment  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  declared  the  suprem 
acy  3  of  the  crown  in  the  state  ecclesiastical ;  and 
the  uniformity  of  common  prayer  was  soon  established 
under  the  severest  penalties.4  In  these  enactments, 
the  common  zeal  to  assert  the  Protestant  ascendency 
left  out  of  sight  the  scruples  of  the  Puritans. 

The  early  associations  of  the  younger  daughter  of 
Henry  VIII.  led  her  to  respect  the  faith  of  the  Cath 
olics,  and  to  love  the  magnificence  of  their  worship, 
She  publicly  thanked  one  of  her  chaplains,  who  had 

1  Planck's  Geschichte  des  Pro-    350—355.    Hallam,  i.  152.     Mack- 
testantischen  Lehrbegriffs,    b.  v.  t.     intosh,  iii.  45,  46. 

ii.  p.  85 — 45,  and  09.  4  i  Elizabeth,  c.  li.     Hallam,  i 

*  Prince,  288.  153.     Mackintosh,  iii.  4(5  47 

2  1  Elizabeth,  c.  i.  Statutes,  iv. 


ELIZABETH  AND   THE  CHURCH  OF   ENGLAND.  283 

asserted  the  real  presence ;  and,  on  a  revision   of  the  CHAP. 

creed  of  the  English  church,  the  tenet  of  transubstan-   

tiation  was  no  longer  expressly  rejected.  To  calm  the 
fury  of  religious  .intolerance,  let  it  be  forever  remem 
bered,  that  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  which,, 
"by  the  statutes  of  the  realm  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI,, 
Englishmen  were  punished  for  believing,  and  in  that 
of  Henry  VIII.  were  burned  at  the  stake  for  denying, 
was,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  left  undecided,  as  a 
question  of  national  indifference.  She  long  struggled 
to  retain  images,  the  crucifix,  and  tapers,  in  her  private 
chapel ;  she  was  inclined  to  offer  prayers  to  the  Virgin ; 
she  favored  the  invocation  of  saints.1  She  insisted 
upon  the  continuance  of  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy, 
and,  during  her  reign,  their  marriages  took  place  only 
by  connivance.2  For  several  years,  she  desired  and 
was  able  to  conciliate  the  Catholics  into  a  partial  con 
formity.3  The  Puritans  denounced  concession  to  the 
Papists,  even  in  things  indifferent ;  but  during  the 
reign  of  her  sister,  Elizabeth  had  conformed  in  all 
things,  and  she  still  retained  an  attachment  for  many 
tenets  that  were  deemed  the  most  objectionable. 
Could  she,  then,  favor  the  party  of  rigid  reform  r 

Besides  the  influence  of  early  education,  the  love  of 
authority  would  not  permit  Elizabeth  to  cherish  the 
new  sect  among  Protestants — a  sect  which  had  risen 
'  in  defiance  of  all  ordinary  powers  of  the  world,  and 
which  could  justify  its  existence  only  on  a  strong  claim 
to  natural  liberty.  The  Catholics  were  friends  to 
monarchy,  if  not  to  the  monarch;  they  upheld  the 
forms  of  regal  government,  if  they  were  not  friends  to 

*   Burnett,   part  ii.  b.  iii.  No.  6.  2  Neal's    Puritans,   i.    205,   206. 

Heyiin,    124.       Neal's   Puritans,    i.  Strype's  Parker,  107. 

191.    11)2.       Mackintosh,    iii.     101.  a'  Snuthey's  Book  of  the  rhurch, 

Hume,  c.  xlv.     llallam,  i.  124.  i.  257,  258. 


234  PROGRESS   OF   PURITANISM   IN   ENGLAND. 

CHAP  the  person  of  the  queen.  But  the  Puritans  were  the 
^v^  harbingers  of  a  revolution ;  the  hierarchy  charged 
them  with  seeking  a  popular  state ;  and  Elizabeth 
openly  declared,  that  they  were  more  perilous  than 
the  J  tomanists.  At  a  time  when  the  readiest  mode  of 
reaching  the  minds  of  the  common  people  was  through 
the  pulpit,  and  when  the  preachers  would  often  speak 
with  plainness  and  homely  energy  on  all  the  events 
of  the  day,  their  claim  to  "the  liberty  of  prophesying" 
was  similar  to  the  modern  demand  of  the  liberty  of  the 
press ;  and  the  free  exercise  of  private  judgment 
threatened,  not  only  to  disturb  the  uniformity  of  the 
national  worship,  but  to  impair  the  royal  authority  and 
erect  the  dictates  of  conscience  into  a  tribunal,  before 
which  sovereigns  might  be  arraigned.1  The  Puritan 
clergy  were  fast  becoming  tribunes  of  the  people,  and 
the  pulpit  was  the  place  for  freedom  of  rebuke  and 
discussion.  The  queen  long  desired  to  establish  the 
national  religion  mid-way  between  sectarian  licentious 
ness  and  Roman  supremacy ;  and  when  her  policy  in 
religion  was  once  declared,  the  pride  of  authority  would 
brook  no  opposition.  By  degrees  she  occupied  politi 
cally  the  position  of  the  head  of  Protestantism;  Catholic 
sovereigns  conspired  against  her  kingdom ;  the  con 
vocation  of  cardinals  proposed  measures  for  her  deposi 
tion;  the  pope,  in  his  excommunications,  urged  her 
subjects  to  rebellions.  Then  it  was,  that,  as  the' 
Roman  Catholics  were  no  longer  treated  with  forbear 
ance,  so  the  queen,  struggling,  from  regard  to  her 
safety,  to  preserve  unity  among  her  friends,  hated  the 
Puritans,  as  mutineers  in  the  camp. 

1563.       The  popular  voice  was  not  favorable  to  a  rigorous 
12.'    enforcement    of    the  ceremonies.     In  the  first    Prot- 

i  Cartwright's  Second  Reply,  158—170.     Hallam.  i  254 


PROGRESS   OF   PURITANISM   IN    ENGLAND.  285 

estant    convocation    of    the    clergy    under    Elizabeth,  CHAP 
though   the   square  cap  and  the  surplice   found  in   the  ~~— 
queen  a  resolute    friend,  and  though    there  were    in 
the  assembly  many,  who,  at  heart,  preferred  the  old 
religion,  the  proposition  to  abolish  a  part  of  the  cere 
monies  was  lost  in  the   lower  house    by  the   majority 
of  a  single   vote.1     Nearly   nine  years   passed   away, 
before    the     thirty-nine     articles,    which    were    then 
adopted,  were  confirmed  by  parliament;    and  the  act,  1571 
by    which     they    were     finally    established,    required 
assent  to  those  articles  only,  which   concern  the  con 
fession  of  faith  and  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments2  — 
a   limitation  which   the   Puritans   interpreted  in   their 
favor.       The  house  of    commons  often  displayed  an 
earnest  zeal  for  a  further  reformation  ;3  and   its  active  1565 
interference  was  prevented  only  by  the  authority  of 
the  queen. 

When  rigorous  orders  for  enforcing  conformity  were 
first  issued,4  the  Puritans  were  rather  excited  to  defi 
ance  than  intimidated.  Of  the  London  ministers, 
about  thirty  refused  subscription,5  and  men  began  to 
speak  openly  of  a  secession  from  the  church.6  At 
length,  a  separate  congregation  was  formed;  im-  1567 
mediately  the  government  was  alarmed  ;  and  the  June 

1  Strype's    Annals,   i.  338,   339.  state  in  religious   matters,   is   evi- 

Hallani,  i.  238.     Prince,  28U  -293.  dent  from  such  passages  as  these, 

~  Strype's  Annals,  ii.  71.  from  Cartwright's  Second   Reply  — 

3  Prince,  300.  ••  7i}eveti>ties   ougtrte   to   be   put   to 

4  Strypc's    Annals,   i.   460,  461.  tiratljc   notoe.     H   tljfs    be    blouMc, 
Appendix  to  Strype's  Parker,  b.  ii.  anti  extreme,  £  am   contente  to  be 
00  24  so  count*))  Im'ttje   tljr   Iialfe  (Goste." 


to  Tn,  b  flimne  at  ttoe  tonmrjc  cnt)."     p.  117. 

How     little   the    ear  y    Puritans  Vhe    writer    continues,    displaying 

knew  of  the  true   results  of    their  intense  and  consistent  bigotry. 
doctrines   of  independence   of  the 


286  AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE. 

CHAP,  leading  men  and  several  women  were  sent  to  Bride* 

— , —  well  for  a  year.  In  vain  did  the  best  statesmen  favor 
moderation ;  the  queen  herself  was  impatient  of  secta 
rianism,  as  the  nursery  of  rebellion.  Once,  when 

1574.  Edwin  Sandys,  then  bishop  of  London,  wa«  named  as 
a  secret  favorer  of  Puritanism,  he  resented  the  impu 
tation  of  lenity  as  a  false  accusation  and  malignant 
calumny  of  asonie  incarnate,  never-sleeping  devil." 
It  is  true  that  the  learned  Grindal,  who,  during  the 

1576.  reign  of  Mary,  had  lived  in  exile,  and  in  1576  was 
advanced  to  the  see  of  Canterbury,  was  of  a  mild  and 
gentle  nature ;  and  at  the  head  of  the  English  clergy, 
gave  an  example  of  reluctance  to  persecute.  But 
having  incurred  the  enmity  of  Elizabeth  by  his  refusal 
to  suppress  the  liberty  of  prophesying,  he  was  sus 
pended,  and  when  old  and  blind  and  broken-hearted, 
was  ordered  to  resign.  Nothing  but  his  death  in 

1583.  1583,  saved  him  from  being  superseded  by  Whitgift. 
The  Puritans,  as  a  body,  had  avoided  a  separation 
from  the  church.  They  had  desired  a  reform,  and  not 
a  schism.  When,  by  espousing  a  party,  a  man  puts  a 
halter  round  his  neck,  and  is  thrust  out  from  the  ca 
reer  of  public  honor,  the  rash,  the  least  cautious,  and 
therefore,  the  least  persevering,  may  sometimes  be  the 
first  to  avow  their  opinions.  So  it  was  in  the  party 
of  the  Puritans.  There  began  to  grow  up  among 
them  a  class  of  men  who  carried  opposition  to  the 
church  of  England  to  the  extreme,  and  refused  to  hold 
communion  with  a  church  of  which  they  condemned 
the  ceremonies  and  the  government.  Henry  VIII. 
had  enfranchised  the  English  crown ;  Elizabeth  had  en 
franchised  the  Anglican  church :  the  Puritans  claimed 
equality  for  the  plebeian  clergy ;  the  Independents  as 
serted  the  liberty  of  each  individual  mind  to  discover 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   INDEPENDENTS.  287 

"  truth  in  the  word  of  God."     The  reformation  had  be-  CHAP 

VIII. 

gun  in  England  with  the  monarch;  had  extended  among  — ^ 
the  nobility ;  had  been  developed  under  the  guidance 
of  a  hierarchy ;  and  had  but  slowly  penetrated  the 
masses.  .  The  party  of  the  Independents  was  plebeian 
in  its  origin,  and  carried  the  principle  of  intellectual 
enfranchisement  from  authority  into  the  houses  of  the 
common  people.  Its  adherents  were  "  neither  gentry 
nor  be  "gars."  The  most  noisy  advocate  of  the  new 
opinion  was  Brown,  a  man  of  rashness,  possessing 
neither  true  courage  nor  constancy ;  zealous,  but 
fickle ;  dogmatical,  but  shallow.  He  has  acquired 
historical  notoriety,  because  his  hot-headed  indiscretion 
urged  him  to  undertake  the  defence  of  separation.  1582 
He  suffered  much  oppression ;  he  was  often  impris 
oned  ;  he  was  finally  compelled  to  go  into  exile.  The 
congregation  which  he  had  gathered,  and  which  ban 
ished  itself  with  him,  was  composed  of  persons  hasty 
and  unstable  like  himself;  it  was  soon  dispersed  by  its 
own  dissensions.  Brown  eventually  purchased  a  living 
in  the  English  church  by  conformity.1  He  could  sac 
rifice  his  own  reputation ;  "he  forsook  the  Lord,  so 
the  Lord  forsook  him."2  The  principles  of  which  the 
intrepid  assertion  had  alone  given  him  distinction,  lay 
deeply  rooted  in  the  public  mind ;  and,  as  they  had 
not  derived  life  from  his  support,  they  did  not  suffer 
from  his  apostasy. 

From  this  time  there  was  a  division  among  the  op-  1582 
ponents  of  the  church  of  England.  '  The  Puritans  ac 
knowledged  its  merits,   but  desired   its  reform;    the 


1  Fuller's  Cliurch  History,  b.  ix.     necessarily 
1<>7.  1(58,  169.     Neal's  Puritans,  i.    the  freedon 


led  to  the  assertion  of 
freedom  of  conscience.     I  uses 
37(5 — 378.  the   copy  which  once  belonged  to 

2  John  Robinson's  Justification  William  Bradford,  and  which  ia 
of  Separation,  54 — a  tract  of  great  now  in  the  library  of  Robinson's 
iierit,  containing  doctrines  whigh  church. 


288  PERSECUTION   OF   ALL   NON-CONFORMISTS 

CHAP.  Separatists  denounced  it  as  an  idolatrous  institution, 

VIII. 

— - —  false  to  Christianity  and  to  truth :  the  Puritans  con 
sidered  it  as  the  temple  of  God,  in  which  they  were 
to  worship,  though  its  altars  might  need  purification  ; 
the  Separatists  regarded  the  truths  which  it  might 
profess,  as  holy  things  in  the  custody  of  the  profane, 
the  Ark  of  the  Lord  in  the  hands  of  Philistines.  The 
enmity  between  the  divisions  of  the  party  eventually 
became  bitter.  The  Puritans  reproached  the  BIOWH- 
ists  with  ill-advised  precipitancy,  and  in  return  weie 
censured  for  paltering  cowardice.  The  one  party  ab 
horred  the  ceremonies  which  were  a  bequest  of  Po 
pery  ;  the  other  party  reprobated  the  Establishment 
itself.  The  Puritans  desired  to  amend ;  the  Brown- 
ists,  to  destroy  and  rebuild.  The  feud  became  bitter 
in  England,  and  eventually  led  to  great  political  re 
sults  ;  but  the  controversy  could  not  be  continued  be 
yond  the  Atlantic,  for  it  required  to  be  nourished  by 
the  presence  of  the  hierarchy. 

1583  The  accession  of  Whitgift  marks  the  epoch  of  ex- 
S23.t  treme  and  consistent  rigor  in  the  public  councils ;  for 
the  new  archbishop  was  sincerely  attached  to  the 
English  church,  and,  from  a  regard  to  religion,  en 
forced  the  conformity  which  the  queen  desired  as  the 
best  support  of  her  power.  He  was  a  strict  disci 
plinarian,  and  wished  to  govern  the  clergy  of  the 
realm  as  he  would  rule  the  members  of  a  college. 
Subscriptions  were  now  required  to  points  which  be 
fore  had  been  eluded ; l  the  kingdom  rung  with  the 
complaints  for  deprivation ;  the  most  learned  and  dili 
gent  of  the  ministry2  were  driven  from  their  places; 
and  those  who  were  introduced  to  read  the  liturgy, 
were  so  ignorant,  that  few  of  them  could  preach.  Did 

i  Weal's  furitans,  i.  31)6.  2  Hallam's  England,  i.  270 


PERSECUTION   OF   ALL   NON-CONFORMISTS  289 

men  listen  to  their  deprived  pastors  in  the  recesses  of  CHAP 
forests,  the  offence,  if  discovered,  was  visited  by  fines  ~^~ 
and  imprisonment.     A  court  of  high  commission  was  1583 
established  for  the  detection  and  punishment  of  non 
conformity,  and  was  invested  with  powers  as  arbitrary 
as    those    of    the    Spanish    inquisitors.1      Men    were 
obliged  to  answer,  on  oath,  every  question  proposed, 
either  against  others  or  against  themselves.     In  vaiii 
did  the  sufferers  murmur ;    in  vain  did  parliament  dis 
approve   the  commission,  which  was  alike  illegal  and 
arbitrary ;  in  vain  did  Burleigh  remonstrate  against  a 
system  so   intolerant,  that  "the  inquisitors    of  Spain  1584 
used  not  so  many  questions  to  trap  their  preys."2     The      j.y 
archbishop  would  have  deemed  forbearance  a  weak 
ness  ;  and  the  queen  was  ready  to  interpret  any  free 
dom  in  religion  as  a  treasonable  denial  of  her  suprem 
acy.     Two  men  were  hanged  for  distributing  Brown's  1588 
tract  on  the  liberty  of  prophesying  ; 3  that  is,  a  tract  on 
the  liberty  of  the  pulpit. 

The  party  thus  persecuted  were  the  most  efficient 
opponents  of  Popery.  "  The  Puritans,"  said  Burleigh, 
"  are  over  squeamish  and  nice,  yet  their  careful  cate 
chising  and  diligent  preaching  lessen  and  diminish 
the  Papistical  numbers."4  But  for  the  Puritans,  the 
old  religion  would  have  retained  the  affections  of  the 
multitude.  If  Elizabeth  reformed  the  court,  the  min 
isters,  whom  she  persecuted,  reformed  the  commons. 
That  the  English  people  became  Protestant  is  due  to 
the  Puritans.  How,  then,  could  the  party  be  sub 
dued  ?  The  spirit  of  brave  and  conscientious  men  can- 

i  Strype's  Annals,  iii.  180.     Hal-  2  Burleigh,  in  Strype's  Whitgift. 

tarn's  England,  i.  '471—273.     Ry-  157. 

mer,  xvi.  291—297,  June  15,  1596,  3  Strype's  Annals,  iii.  186.     Ful 

and    540—551,   August   26,    1603.  ler's  Church  History,  b.  ix.  169. 

Mackintosh,  iii.  261,  262.     Lingard,  4  Senior's  Tracts,  fourth  collec- 

vii.  206.  tion,  i.  103. 
VOL.    I.                  37 


290  PERSECUTION   OF  ALL   NON-CONFORMISTS. 

en  \p.  not  be  broken.  No  part  is  left  but  to  tolerate  or  de- 
— v^  stroy.  Extermination  could  alone  produce  conformity. 
1593.  }n  a  few  years,  it  was  said  in  parliament,  that  there 
were  in  England  twenty  thousand  of  those  who  fre 
quented  conventicles.1  It  was  proposed  to  banish 
them,  as  the  Moors  had  been  banished  from  Spain, 
and  as  the  Huguenots  were  afterwards  driven  from 
France.  This  measure  was  not  adopted ;  but  a  law 
of  savage  ferocity,  ordering  those,  who,  for  a  month, 
should  be  absent  from  the  English  service,  to  be  in 
terrogated  as  to  their  belief,  menaced  the  obstinate 
non-conformists  with  exile  or  with  death.2 

Holland  offered  an  asylum  against  the  bitter  severity 

of  this  statute.     A  religious  society,  founded  by  the 

Independents  at  Amsterdam,  continued  to  exist  for  a 

centurv,  and  served  as  a  point  of  hope  for  the  exiles ; 

while,  through  the  influence  of  Whitgift,  in  England, 

1 5D3.  Barrow  and  Greenwood,  men  of  unimpeached  loyalty, 

A|;'nl   were  selected  as  examples,  and  hanged  at  Tyburn  for 

their  opinions.3 

The  queen  repented  that  she  had  sanctioned  the 
execution.  Her  age  and  the  prospect  of  favor  to 
Puritanism  from  her  successor,  conspired  to  check  the 
spirit  of  persecution.  The  leaders  of  the  church  be 
came  more  prudent;  and  by  degrees  bitterness  sub 
sided.  The  Independents  had,  it  is  true,  been  nearly 
exterminated ;  but  the  number  of  the  non-conforming 
clergy,  after  forty  years  of  molestation,  had  increased  . 
their  popularity  was  more  deeply  rooted,  and  theii 
enmity  to  the  established  order  was  irreconcilable, 

i  D'Ewes's  Jour.  517.     Strype's  513—515.     Neal's  New  England, 

Whitgift,  417.     Neal's  Puritans,  i.  i.  (>0. 
5If>.  3  Strype's    Whitrrift,    414,    <&c. 

8  &5  Eliz.  c.  i.  Stat.  iv.  841—843.  Neal's  Puritans,  i.  r>'->n,  5'>7.     Roo-. 

Paii.  Hist  8G3.     Neai's  Puritans,  i.  er  Williams's  Truth  and  Peace.  *<J.S7 


CHARACTER  OF  KING  JAMES.  291 

Their  followers  already  constituted  a  powerful  politi-  CHAP 

VIII. 

cal  party ;  inquired  into  the  nature  of  government,  ->^ 
in  parliament  opposed  monopolies,  limited  the  royal 
prerogatives,  and  demanded  a  reform  of  ecclesias 
tical  abuses.  "  The  precious  spark  of  liberty,"  says 
an  historian  who  was  never  accused  of  favoring  the 
INii itans,  "had  been  kindled  and  was  preserved  by 
the  Puritans  alone."  Popular  liberty,  which  used  to 
animate  its  friends  by  appeals  to  the  examples  of 
ancient  republics,  now  listened  to  a  voice  from  the 
grave  of  Wickliffe,  from  the  ashes  of  Huss,  from  the 
vigils  of  Calvin.  Victorious  over  her  foreign  enemies, 
Elizabeth  never  could  crush  the  religious  sect,  of 
which  the  increase  seemed  dangerous  to  the  state. 
Her  career  was  full  of  glory  abroad  ;  it  was  unsuccess 
ful  against  the  progress  of  opinion  at  home.  In  the 
latter  years  of  her  reign,  her  popularity  declined ;  and 
her  death  was  the  occasion  of  little  regret.  "  In  four 
days,  she  was  forgotten."  1  The  multitude,  fond  of 
change,  welcomed  her  successor  with  shouts ;  but 
when  the  character  of  that  successor  was  better  known, 
they  persuaded  themselves  that  they  had  revered 
Elizabeth  to  the  last,  and  that  her  death  had  been 
honored  by  inconsolable  £rief. 

The   accession  of  King   James  would,  it  was  be-  1603' 
lieved,  introduce  a  milder  system ;     and  the  Puritans     £n 
might  hope  even  for  favor.    But  the  personal  character 
of  the  new  monarch  could  not  inspire  confidence. 

The  pupil  of  Buchanan  was  not  destitute  of  learn 
ing  nor  unskilled  in  rhetoric.  Protected  from  profli 
gate  debauchery  by  the  austerity  of  public  morals  in 
Scotland,  and  incapable  of  acting  the  part  of  a  states 
man,  he  had  aimed  at  the  reputation  of  a  "  most  learned 

1  Carte's  England,  iii.  707 


292  CHARACTER  OF  KING  JAMES. 

CHAP,  clerk,"  and  had  been  so  successful,  that  Bacon,1  with 
^v-L  equivocal  flattery,  pronounced  him  incomparable  for 
1G03  learning  among  kings,  and  Sully,  who  knew  him  wells 
esteemed  him  the  wisest  fool  in  Europe. — The  man  of 
letters,  who  possesses  wealth  without  the  capacity  for 
active  virtue,  often  learns  to  indulge  in  the  vacancy  of 
contemplative  enjoyments,  and,  slumbering  on  his  post, 
abandons  himself  to  pleasant  dreams.  This  is  the  eu 
thanasia  of  his  honor.  The  reputation  of  King  James 
was  lost  more  ignobly.  At  the  mature  age  of  thirty- 
six  he  ascended  the  throne  of  England ;  and,  for  the 
first  time  acquiring  the  opportunity  of  displaying  the 
worthlessness  of  his  character,  he  exulted  in  the  free 
dom  of  self-indulgence ;  in  idleness  and  gluttony. 
The  French  ambassador  despised  him  for  his  frivolous 
amusements ; 2  gross  licentiousness  in  his  vicinity  was 
unreproved ;  and  the  manners  of  the  palace  became 
so  coarsely  profligate,  that  even  the  women  of  his 
court  reeled  in  his  presence  in  a  state  of  disgusting 
inebriety.3 

The  life  of  James,  as  a  monarch,  was  full  of  mean 
nesses.  Personal  beauty  became  the  qualification  of 
a  minister  of  state.  The  interests  of  England  were 
sacrificed,  that  his  son  might  marry  the  daughter 
of  a  powerful  king.  His  passions  were  as  feeble  as 
his  will.  His  egregious  vanity  desired  perpetual 
flattery ;  and  no  hyperboles  excited  his  distrust.  He 
boasted  that  England,  even  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth, 
had  been  governed  by  his  influence  ;  by  proclamation, 
he  forbad  the  people  to  talk  of  state  affairs;4  and 
in  reply  to  the  complaints  of  his  commons,  he  in- 

1  Bacon's  Works,  iv.  430. 

2  Lingard's  England,  ix.  107. 

3  Harrington's  Nugre  Am.iquaR,  i.  348 — 350. 

4  Rapm's  England,  ii.  '<JU'^.     Sally's  Memoirs,  1.  xv. 


CHARACTER  OF  KING  JAMES.  293 

sisted  that  he  was  and  would  be  the  father  of  their  CHAP 
country.1  ^ — 

Dissimulation  is  the  vice  of  those  who  have  riei-  1603 
ther  true  judgment  nor  courage.  King  James,  from 
his  imbecility,  was  false,  and  sometimes  vindicated 
his  falsehood,  as  though  deception  and  cunning  had 
been  worthy  of  a  king.  But  he  was  an  awkward 
liar,  rather  than  a  crafty  dissembler.2  He  could,  before 
parliament,  call  God  to  witness  his  sincerity,  when 
he  was  already  resolved  on  being  insincere.  His 
cowardice  was  such,  that  he  feigned  a  fondness  for 
Carr,  whose  arrest  for  murder  he  had  secretly  ordered. 
He  was  afraid  of  his  wife ;  could  be  governed  by 
being  overawed ;  and  was  easily  intimidated  by  the 
vulgar  insolence  of  Buckingham.3  In  Scotland,  he 
solemnly  declared  his  attachment4  to  the  Puritan 
discipline  and  doctrines  ;  but  it  was  from  his  fear  of 
open  resistance.  The  pusillanimous  man  assents 
from  cowardice,  and  recovers  boldness  with  the  as 
surance  of  impunity. 

Demonology  was  a  favorite  topic  with  King  James. 
He  demonstrated  with  erudition  the  reality  of  witch 
craft  ;  through  his  solicitation  it  was  made,  by  statute, 
a  capital  offence ;  he  could  tell  "  why  the  devil  doth 
work  more  with  auncient  women  than  with  others ;  " 
and  hardly  a  year  of  his  reign  went  by,  but  some 
helpless  crone  perished  on  the  gallows,  to  satisfy  the 
vanity  and  confirm  the  dialectics  of  the  royal  author. 

King  James  was  sincerely  attached  to  Protestantism.5 
He  prided  himself  on  his  skill  in  theological  learniri", 

*  o  o~ 

and  challenged  the  praise  of  Europe  as  a  subtle  con- 

*  Cobbett's  Parl.   Hist   v.  L  p.  4  Caldcrwood's  Church  of  Scot- 

1504.  land,  2tf<5. 

2  Hallam's  England,  i.  404.  5  Bentivoglio,    Rolazione   di  Pi- 

3  Clarendon's    Rebellion,   i.   16.  andra.  parte  ii.  c.  iii.  Op,  Stonche, 
Hume,  c.  xlix.  i.  206,  207. 


294  CHARACTER    OF   KING   JAMES. 

CHAP  troversialist.  With  the  whole  force  of  English  diplo- 
*— -r-1.  macy,  he  suggested  the  propriety  of  burning  an  Ar- 
nainian  professor  of  Holland,  whose  heresies  he  refuted 
in  a  harmless  tract.  Once  he  indulged  his  vanity  in 
a  public  discussion,  and,  when  the  argument  was  over, 
procured  himself  the  gratification  of  burning  his  op 
ponent  at  the  stake.  His  mind  had  been  early  imbued 
with  the  doctrines  of  Calvinism ;  but  he  loved  arbi 
trary  power  better  than  the  tenets  of  Knox  ;  and  as 
the  Arniinians  in  England  favored  royalty,  King 
James  became  an  Arminian.  He  always  loved  flattery 
and  ease ;  and  had  no  fixed  principles  of  conduct  or 
belief. 

Such  was  the  king  of  England,  at  a  period  when 
the  limits  of  royal  authority  were  not  as  yet  clearly 
defined.  Such  was  the  man  to  whose  decision  the 
"Puritans  must  refer  their  claims.  He  had  called  the 
church  of  Scotland  "  the  sincerest  kirk  of  the  world ; " 
he  had  censured  the  service  of  England  as  "  an  evil 
said  mass."  Would  he  retain  for  Puritans  the  favor 
which  he  had  promised  ? 

The  English  hierarchy  had  feared,  in  the  new 
monarch,  the  approach  of  a  "  Scottish  mist ; "  but  the 
borders  of  Scotland  were  hardly  passed,  before  James 
began  to  identify  the  interests  of  the  English  church 
with  those  of  his  prerogative.  "  No  bishop,  no  king," 
was  a  maxim  often  in  his  mouth.  Whitgift  was  aware 
that  the  Puritans  were  too  numerous  to  be  borne 
down ;  "  I  have  not  been  greatly  quiet  in  mind,"  said 
the  disappointed  archbishop,  "  the  vipers  are  so  many." 
But  James  was  not  as  yet  fully  conscious  of  their 
strength.  While  he  was  in  his  progress  to  London, 
more  than  seven  hundred  of  them  presented  the 
"millenary  petition"  for  a  redress  of  ecclesiastical 


CONFERENCE    AT    HAMPTON    COURT.  295 

grievances.     He  was  never   disposed  to  show  them  CHAP. 
favor ;  but  a  decent  respect  for  the  party  to  which  he  — r-i* 
had  belonged,  joined  to   a  desire  of  displaying   his 
talents  for  theological  debate,  induced  him  to  appoint 
a  conference  at  Hampton  Court. 

The  conference,  held  in  January,  1604,  was  dis-  1S04. 
tinguished  on  the  part  of  the  king  by  a  strenuous  vin 
dication  of  the  church  of  England.     Refusing  to  dis- 

O  O 

cuss  the  question  of  its  power  in  things  indifferent,  he 
substituted  authority  for  argument,  and  where  he 
could  not  produce  conviction,  demanded  obedience : 
tc  I  will  have  none  of  that  liberty  as  to  ceremonies  ; 
I  will  have  one  doctrine,  one  discipline,  one  religion 
in  substance  and  in  ceremony.  Never  speak  more  to 
that  point,  how  far  you  are  bound  to  obey." 

The  Puritans  desired  permission  occasionally  to 
assemble,  and  at  their  meetings  to  have  the  liberty  of 
free  discussions  ;  but  the  king  interrupted  their  pe 
tition  :  "  You  are  aiming  at  a  Scot's  presbytery,  which 
agrees  with  monarchy  as  well  as  God  and  the  devil. 
Then  Jack,  and  Tom,  and  Will,  and  Dick,  shall  meet, 
and  at  their  pleasure  censure  me  and  my  council,  and 
all  our  proceedings.  Then  Will  shall  stand  up  and 
say,  It  must  be  thus :  then  Dick  shall  reply  and  say, 
Nay,  marry,  but  we  will  have  it  thus ;  and  therefore, 
here  I  must  once  more  reiterate  my  former  speech, 
and  say :  the  king  forbids."  Turning  to  the  bishops, 
he  avowed  his  belief  that  the  hierarchy  was  the  firm 
est  supporter  of  the  throne.  Of  the  Puritans  he 
added :  "  I  will  make  them  conform,  or  I  will  harry 
them  out  of  the  land,  or  else  worse,"  "only  hang 
them ;  that's  all." 

On  the  last  day  of  the  conference,  the  king  de 
fended  the  necessity  of  subscription,  concluding  that 


29  CONFERENCE    AT   HAMPTON    COURT. 

CHAP  "  if  any  would  not  be  quiet  and  show  their  obedience, 
^—  they  were  worthy  to  be  hanged."  He  advocated  the 
:604.  j^gk  commission  and  inquisitorial  oaths,  despotic 
authority  and  its  instruments.  A  few  alterations  in 
the  book  of  common  prayer  were  the  only  reforms 
which  the  conference  effected.  It  was  agreed  that  a 
time  should  be  set,  within  which  all  should  conform, 
or  be  removed.  The  king  had  insulted  the  Puritans, 
with  vulgar  rudeness  and  indecorous  jests ;  but  his 
self-complacency  was  satisfied.  He  had  talked  much 
Latin ;  he  had  spoken  a  part  of  the  time  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  nobility  of  Scotland  and  England,  willing 
admirers  of  his  skill  in  debate  and  of  his  marvellous 
learning ;  and  he  was  elated  by  the  eulogies  of  the 
churchmen.  "  Your  majesty  speaks  by  the  special 
assistance  of  God's  spirit,"  said  the  aged  Whitgift. 
Bishop  Bancroft,  on  his  knees,  exclaimed,  that  his 
heart  melted  for  joy,  "because  God  had  given  Eng 
land  such  a  king  as,  since  Christ's  time,  has  not  been ; " 
and  in  a  foolish  letter,  James  boasted  that  "he  had 
soundly  peppered  off  the  Puritans." 

Whitgift,  the  archbishop,  a  man  of  great  consis 
tency  of  character,  estimable  for  his  learning,  respected 
and  beloved  by  his  party,  desired  not  to  live  till  the 
next  parliament  should  assemble,  for  the  Puritans 
would  have  the  majority  ;  and  grief,  it  is  thought, 
hastened  his  death,  six  weeks  after  the  close  of  the 
conference. 

In  the  parliament  which  assembled  in  1604,  the 
party  opposed  to  the  church  asserted  their  liberties 
with  such  tenacity  and  vigor  that  King  James  began 
to  hate  them  as  embittering  royalty  itself.  "  I  had 
rather  live  like  a  hermit  in  the  forest,'7  he  writes, 
Ct  than  be  a  king  over  such  a  people  as  the  pack  of 


THE  PARLIAMENT  AND  THE  CONVOCATION.         297 

Puritans  are,  that  overrule  the  lower  house."  "The  CHAP 
will  of  man  or  angel  cannot  devise  a  pleasing  answer  — ,— • 
to  their  propositions,  except  I  should  pull  the  crown  1604 
not  only  from  my  own  head,  but  also  from  the  head 
of  all  those  that  shall  succeed  unto  me,  and  lay  it 
down  at  their  feet."  At  the  opening  of  the  session, 
ho  had  in  vain  pursued  the  policy  of  attempting  a 
union  between1  the  old  religion  and  the  English 
church,  and  had  offered  "  to  meet  the  Catholics  in  the 
midway,"  while  he  added,  that  "the  sect  of  Puritans 
is  insufferable  in  any  well-governed  commonwealth." 
It  was  equally  in  vain  that  at  the  next  session  of  par 
liament,  he  expressed  himself  with  more  vindictive 
decision ;  declaring  the  Roman  Catholics  to  be  faith 
ful  subjects,  but  expressing  detestation  of  the  Puri 
tans,  as  worthy  of  fire  for  their  opinions.  The  com 
mons  of  England  resolutely  favored  the  sect  which 
was  their  natural  ally  against  despotism. 

A  far  different  spirit  actuated  the  convocation  of 
the  clergy.  They  were  very  ready  to  decree  against 
obstinate  Puritans  excommunication  and  all  its  conse 
quences.  Bancroft,  the  successor  of  Whitgift,  re 
quired  conformity  with  unrelenting  rigor ;  King 
James  issued  a  proclamation  of  equal  severity ;  and  it 
is  asserted,  perhaps  with  considerable  exaggeration, 
yet  by  those  who  had  opportunities  of  judging  rightly, 
that  in  the  year  1604  alone,  three  hundred  Puritan 
ministers  were  silenced,  imprisoned  or  exiled.  But  1605. 
the  oppressed  were  neither  intimidated  nor  weakened ; 
the  moderate  men,  who  assented  to  external  cere 
monies  as  to  things  indifferent,  were  unwilling  to  en 
force  them  by  merciless  cruelty ;  and  they  resisted 
not  the  square  cap  and  the  surplice,  but  their  com- 

pulsory  imposition.     Yet  the  clergy  proceeded  with 
VOL.  i.  38 


298  STATE    OF   PARTIES. 

CHAP,  a  consistent  disregard  of  the  national  liberties.     The 

VIII 

^r— >  importation  of  foreign  books  was   impeded ;  and  a 

1605.  severe  censorship  of  the  press  was  exercised  by  the 
bishops.     Frivolous  acts  were  denounced  as  ecclesias- 

1606.  tical  offences.     The  convocation  of  1606,  in  a  series 
of  canons,  denied  every  doctrine  of  popular  rights, 
asserting  the  superiority  of  the  king  to  the  parliament 
and  the  laws,  and  admitting  no  exception  to  the  duty 
of  passive  obedience.     Thus  the   opponents   of  the 
church  became  the  sole  guardians  of  popular  liberty ; 
the  lines  of  the  contending  parties  were  distinctly 
drawn  ;  the  established  church  and  the  monarch  were 
arrayed  against  the  Puritan  clergy  and  the  people. 
A  war  of  opinion  began  ;  immediate  success  was  ob 
tained  by  the  established  authority  ;  but  the  contest 
would  be  transmitted  to  the  next  generation.    Would 
victory  ultimately  belong  to  the  churchmen  or  to  the 
Puritans  ?  to  the  monarch  or  to  the  people  ?     The  in 
terests  of  human  freedom,  were  at  issue  on  the  contest. 

u  The  gospel  is  every  man's  right ;  and  it  is  not  to 
be  endured  that  any  one  should  be  kept  therefrom. 
But  the  evangel  is  an  open  doctrine ;  it  is  bound  to 
no  place,  and  moves  along  freely  under  heaven,  like 
the  star,  which  ran  in  the  sky  to  show  the  wizards 
from  the  east  where  Christ  was  born.  Do  not  dispute 
with  the  prince  for  place.  Let  the  community  choose 
their  own  pastor,  and  support  him  out  of  their  own 
estates.  If  the  prince  will  not  suffer  it,  let  the  pastor 
flee  into  another  land,  and  let  those  go  with  him  who 
will,  as  Christ  teaches."  Such  was  the  counsel  of 
Luther  on  reading  "  the  twelve  articles  "  of  the  insur 
gent  peasants  of  Suabia.  What  Luther  advised, 
what  Calvin  planned,  was  in  the  next  century  carried 
into  effect  by  a  rural  community  of  Englishmen. 


THE    PILGRIMS    IN    ENGLAND.  299 

Towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  "  a  CHAP. 
poor  people  "  in  the  north  of  England,  in  towns  and  — v— 
villages  of  Nottinghamshire,  Lincolnshire,  and  the 
borders  of  Yorkshire,  "  became  enlightened  by  the 
word  of  God ; "  and,  as  "  presently  they  were  both 
scoffed  and  scorned  by  the  profane  multitude,  and 
their  ministers  urged  with  the  yoke  of  subscription," 
they,  by  the  increase  of  troubles,  were  led  "to  see 
further,"  that  not  only  "  the  beggarly  ceremonies  were 
monuments  of  idolatry,"  but  also  "that  the  lordly 
power  of  the  prelates  ought  not  to  be  submitted  to." 
Many  of  them,  therefore,  "  whose  hearts  the  Lord  had 
touched  with  heavenly  zeal  for  his  truth,"  resolved, 
"  whatever  it  might  cost  them,  to  shake  off  the  anti- 
Christian  bondage,  and,  as  the  Lord's  free  people,  to 
join  themselves  by  a  covenant  into  a  church  estate 
in  the  fellowship  of  the  gospel."  Of  the  same  faith 
with  Calvin,  heedless  of  acts  of  parliament,  they  re 
jected  u  the  offices  and  callings,  the  courts  and  canons  " 
of  bishops,  and  renouncing  all  obedience  to  human 
authority  in  spiritual  things,  asserted  for  themselves 
an  unlimited  and  never-ending  right  to  make  advances 
in  truth,  and  "  walk  in  all  the  ways  which  God  had 
made  known  or  should  make  known  to  them." 

The  reformed  church,  having  for  its  pastor  John 
Robinson,  "  a  man  not  easily  to  be  paralleled,"  were 
beset  and  watched  night  and  day  by  the  agents  of 
prelacy.  For  about  a  year,  they  kept  their  meetings 
every  Sabbath,  in  one  place  or  another,  exercising  the 
worship  of  God  among  themselves,  notwithstanding 
all  the  diligence  and  malice  of  their  adversaries. 
But,  as  the  humane  ever  decline  to  enforce  the  laws 
dictated  by  bigotry,  the  office  devolves  on  the  fanatic 
or  the  savage.  Hence  the  severity  of  their  execution 


300  THE    PILGRIMS    LEAVE   ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  usually  surpasses  the  intention  of  their  authors  ;  and 
— r— -  the  peaceful  members  of  "  the  poor,  persecuted  flock 
of  Christ,"  despairing  of  rest  in  England,  resolved  to 
seek  safety  in  exile. 

Holland,  in  its  controversy  with  Spain,  had  dis 
played  republican  virtues,  and,  in  the  reformation  of 
its  churches,  had  imitated  the  discipline  of  Calvin. 
In  its  greatest  dangers  it  had  had  England  for  its 
ally ;  at  one  time  it  had  almost  become  a  part  of  the 
English  dominions ;  the  "  cautionary "  towns  were 
still  garrisoned  by  English  regiments,  some  of  which 
were  friendly  to  the  separatists ;  and  William  Brews- 
ter,  afterwards  ruling  elder  of  the  church,  had  himself 
served  as  a  diplomatist  in  the  Low  Countries.  Thus 
the  emigrants  were  attracted  to  Holland,  "  where  they 
heard  was  freedom  of  religion  for  all  men." 

The  departure  from  England  was  effected  with 

1607.  much  suffering   and  hazard.     The  first  attempt,  in 
1607,  was  prevented;  but  the  magistrates  checked 
the  ferocity  of  the  subordinate  officers ;  and,  after  a 
month's  arrest  of  the  whole  company,  seve-n  only  of 
the  principal  men  were  detained  a  little  longer  in 
prison. 

1608.  The  next  spring  the  design  was  renewed.     As  if  it 
had  been  a  crime  to  escape  from  persecution,  an  unfre 
quented  heath  in  Lincolnshire,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Humber,  was  the  place  of  secret  meeting.     Just  as  a 
boat  was  bearing  a  part  of  the  emigrants  to  their  ship, 
a  company  of  horsemen  appeared  in  pursuit,  and  seized 
on  the  helpless  women  and  children  who  had  not  yet 
adventured  on  the  surf.     "  Pitiful  it  was  to  see  the 
heavy  case  of  these  poor  women  in  distress;  what 
weeping  and  crying  on  every  side."     But  when  they 
were  apprehended,  it  seemed  impossible  to  punish  and 


THE   PILGRIMS    IN    HOLLAND.  301 

imprison  wives  and  children  for  no  other  crime  than  CHAP. 
that  they  would  not  part  from  their  husbands  and  ^ ^ 
fathers.     They  could  not  be  sent  home, for  "they  had 
no  homes  to  go  to ;"  so  that,  at  last,  the  magistrates 
were  "  glad  to  be  rid  of  them  on  any  terms,"  "  though, 
in  the  mean  time,  they,  poor  souls,  endured  misery 
enough."      Such   was   the   flight    of   Robinson   and 
Brewster,  and  their  followers,  from  the  land  of  their 
fathers. 

Their  arrival  in  Amsterdam,  in  1608,  was  but  the 
beginning  of  their  wanderings.  "  They  knew  they 
were  PILGRIMS,  and  looked  not  much  on  those  things, 
but  lifted  up  their  eyes  to  heaven,  their  dearest  coun 
try,  and  quieted  their  spirits."  In  1609,  removing  to  1609 
Leyden,  "they  saw  poverty  coming  on  them  like  an 
armed  man  ; "  but,  being  "  careful  to  keep  their  word, 
and  painful  and  diligent  in  their  callings,"  they  at 
tained  "  a  comfortable  condition,  grew  in  the  gifts 
and  grace  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  lived  together  in 
peace  and  love  and  holiness."  "  Never,"  said  the 
magistrates  of  the  city,  "  never  did  we  have  any  suit 
or  accusation  against  any  of  them ; "  and,  but  for  fear 
of  offending  King  James,  they  would  have  met  with 
public  favor.  "  Many  came  there  from  different  parts 
of  England,  so  as  they  grew  a  great  congregation." 
"  Such  was  the  humble  zeal  and  fervent  love  of  this 
people  towards  God  and  his  ways,  and  their  single- 
heartedness  and  sincere  affection  one  towards  an 
other,"  that  they  seemed  to  come  surpassingly  near 
u  the  primitive  pattern  of  the  first  churches."  A  clear 
and  well  written  apology  of  their  discipline  was  pub 
lished  by  Robinson,  who  also,  in  the  controversy  on 
free  will,  as  the  champion  of  orthodoxy,  "  began  to  be 
terrible  to  the  Armiiiians,"  and  disputed  in  the  uni- 


30.2  THE    PILGRIMS    IN    HOLLAND. 

CHAP,   versity  with  such  power,  that,  as  his  friends  assert, 

— v-l>  "  the  truth  had  a  famous  victory." 

The  career  of  maritime  discovery  had,  meantime, 
been  pursued  with  intrepidity,  and  rewarded  with 
success.  The  voyages  of  Gosnold,  Smith,  and  Hudson ; 
the  enterprise  of  E-aleigh,  Delaware,  and  Gorges ; 
the  compilations  of  Eden,  Willes,  and  Hakluyt, — had 
filled  the  commercial  world  with  wonder ;  Calvinists 
of  the  French  Church  had  sought,  though  vainly,  to 
plant  themselves  in  Brazil,  in  Carolina,  and  with  De 
Monts,  in  Acadia ;  while  weighty  reasons,  often  and 
seriously  discussed,  inclined  the  Pilgrims  to  change  their 
abode.  They  had  been  bred  to  the  pursuits  of  hus 
bandry,  and  in  Holland  they  were  compelled  to  learn 
mechanical  trades ;  Brewster  became  a  printer ;  Brad 
ford,  who  had  been  educated  as  a  farmer,  learned  the 
art  of  dyeing  silk.  The  language  of  the  Dutch  never 
became  pleasantly  familiar,  and  their  manners  still 
less  so.  They  lived  but  as  men  in  exile.  Many  of 
their  English  friends  would  not  come  to  them,  or  de 
parted  from  them  weeping.  "  Their  continual  labors, 
with  other  crosses  and  sorrows,  left  them  in  danger 
to  scatter  or  sink."  "  Their  children,  sharing  their 
parents7  burdens,  bowed  under  the  weight,  and  were 
becoming  decrepit  in  early  youth."  Conscious  of 
ability  to  act  a  higher  part  in  the  great  drama  of  hu 
manity,  they  were  moved  by  "a  hope  and  inward 
zeal  of  advancing  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
in  the  remote  parts  of  the  New  World ;  yea,  though 
they  should  be  but  as  stepping-stones  unto  others  for 
performing  so  great  a  work." 

"  Upon  their  talk  of  removing,  sundry  of  the 
Dutch  would  have  them  go  under  them,  and  made 
them  large  offers ;"  but  the  Pilgrims  were  attache'"1 


THE   PILGRIMS    IN    HOLLAND.  303 

to  their  nationality  as  Englishmen,  and  to  the  Ian-  CHAP 
guage  of  their  line.     A  secret  but  deeply-seated  love  — > — 
of  their  country  led  them  to  the  generous  purpose  of  ] 
recovering  the  protection  of  England  by  enlarging 
her  dominions,  and  a  consciousness  of  their  worth 
cheered  them  on  to  make  a  settlement  of  their  own. 
They  were  u  restless "  with  the  desire   to  live  once 
more  under  the  government  of  their  native  land. 

And  whither  should  they  go  to  acquire  a  province 
for  King  James  ?  The  fertility  and  wealth  of  Guiana 
had  been  painted  in  dazzling  colors  by  the  brilliant 
eloquence  of  Raleigh ;  but  the  terrors  of  the  tropical 
climate,  the  wavering  pretensions  of  England  to  the 
soil,  and  the  proximity  of  bigoted  Catholics,  led  them 
rather  to  look  towards  "  the  most  northern  parts  of 
Virginia,"  hoping,  under  the  general  government  of 
that  province,  "  to  live  in  a  distinct  body  by  them 
selves."  To  obtain  the  consent  of  the  London  com 
pany,  John  Carver,  with  Robert  Cushinan,  in  1617, 
repaired  to  England.  They  took  with  them  "  seven 
articles,"  from  the  members  of  the  Church  at  Ley  den, 
to  be  submitted  to  the  council  in  England  for  Virginia. 
These  articles  discussed  the  relations,  which,  as  sep 
aratists  in  religion,  they  bore  to  their  prince,  and 
they  adopted  the  theory  which  the  admonitions  of 
Luther  and  a  century  of  persecution  had  developed 
as  the  common  rule  of  plebeian  sectaries  on  the  con 
tinent  of  Europe.  They  expressed  their  concurrence 
in  the  creed  of  the  Anglican  Church,  and  a  desire  of 
spiritual  communion  with  its  members.  Towards  the 
king  and  all  civil  authority  derived  from  him,  includ 
ing  bishops,  whose  civil  authority  they  alone  recog 
nised,  they  promised,  as  they  would  have  done  to 
Nero  and  the  Roman  pontifex,  "  obedience  in  all 


804  THE   PILGRIMS    IN    HOLLAND. 

CHAP,  things,  active  if  the  thing  commander!  be  not  against 
God's  word,  or  passive  if  it  be."  They  denied  all 
power  to  ecclesiastical  bodies,  unless  it  were  given  by 
the  temporal  magistrate.  They  pledged  themselves 
to  honor  their  superiors,  and  to  preserve  unity  of 
spirit  in  peace  with  all  men.  "Divers  selecte  gen 
tlemen  of  the  council  for  Virginia  were  well  satis 
fied  with  their  statement,  and  resolved  to  set  forward 
their  desire."  The  London  company  listened  very 
willingly  to  their  proposal,  so  that  their  agents 
"  found  God  going  along  with  them ; "  and,  through 
the  influence  of  "  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  a  religious  gen 
tleman  then  living,"  a  patent  might  at  once  have  been 
taken,  had  not  the  envoys  desired  first  to  consult 
"the  multitude"  at  Ley  den. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  December,  1617,  the  Pilgrims 
transmitted  their  formal  request,  signed  by  the  hands 
of  the  greatest  part  of  the  congregation.  "  We  are 
well  weaned,"  added  Robinson  and  Brewster,  "  from 
the  delicate  milk  of  our  mother  country,  and  inured 
to  the  difficulties  of  a  strange  land ;  the  people  are 
industrious  and  frugal.  We  are  knit  together  as  a 
body  in  a  most  sacred  covenant  of  the  Lord,  of  the 
violation  whereof  we  make  great  conscience,  and  by 
virtue  whereof  we  hold  ourselves  straitly  tied  to  all 
care  of  each  other's  good,  and  of  the  whole.  It  is  not 
with  us  as  with  men  whom  small  things  can  dis 
courage." 

The  messengers  of  the  Pilgrims,  satisfied  with 
their  reception  by  the  Virginia  company,  petitioned 
the  king  for  liberty  of  religion,  to  be  confirmed  under 
the  kiug's  broad  seal.  But  here  they  encountered  in 
surmountable  difficulties.  Of  all  men  in  the  govern 
ment  of  that  day,  Lord  Bacon  had  given  the  most  at- 


THE   PILGRIMS    IN    HOLLAND.  304* 

tention  to  colonial  enterprise.  The  settlements  of  the  Cynf ' 
Scotch  in  Ireland  ever  enjoyed  his  particular  favor.  — • — 
To  him,  as  "  to  the  encourager,  pattern,  and  perfecter 
of  all  vertuous  endeavors,"  Strachey  at  this  time  dedi 
cated  his  Historic  of  Travaile  into  Virginia ;  to  him 
John  Smith,  in  his  "povertie,"  now  turned  for  en- 
.couragement  in  colonizing  New  England,  as  to  ua 
chief  patron  of  his  country  and  the  greatest  favorer 
of  all  good  designs."  To  him  Sir  George  Villiers,  who 
was  lately  risen  to  the  state  of  favorite  to  James,  ad 
dressed  himself  for  advice,  and  received  instructions 
how  to  govern  himself  in  the  station  of  prime  min 
ister. 

The  profound  philosophy  of  the  great  master  of 
speculative  wisdom,  included  necessarily  the  lessons 
of  a  liberal  toleration ;  but  it  only  scattered  the  seeds 
of  truth  which  were  not  to  ripen  till  a  later  genera 
tion.  He  saw  that  the  Established  Church,  which  he 
cherished  as  the  eye  of  England,  was  not  without 
blemish ;  that  the  wrongs  of  the  Puritans  could 
neither  be  dissembled  nor  excused;  that  the  silencing 
of  ministers  for  the  sake  of  enforcing  the  ceremonies, 
was,  in  the  scarcity  of  good  preachers,  a  punishment 
that  lighted  on  the  people ;  and  he  esteemed  contro 
versy  "  the  wind  by  which  truth  is  winnowed."  But 
Bacon  was  a  man  for  contemplative  life,  not  for  action ; 
his  will  was  feeble,  and  having  no  power  of  resistance, 
and  yet  an  incessant  yearning  for  vain  distinction  and 
display,  he  became  a  craven  courtier  and  an  intolerant 
statesman.  "  Discipline  by  bishops,"  said  he,  "  is  fittest 
for  monarchy  of  all  others.  The  tenets  of  separatists 
and  sectaries  are  full  of  schism,  and  inconsistent  with 
monarchy.  The  king  will  beware  of  Anabaptists, 


305  THE   PILGRIMS    IN    HOLLAND. 

CHAP.  Brownists,  and  others  of  their  kinds;  a  little  con- 
^v— '  nivency  sets  them  on  fire.  For  the  discipline  of  the 
ids.  Cllurch  in  colonies,  it  will  be  necessary  that  it  agree 
with  that  which  is  settled  in  England,  else  it  will  make 
a  schism  and  a  rent  in  Christ's  coat,  which  must  be 
seamless ;  and,  to  that  purpose,  it  will  be  fit,  that  by 
the  king's  supreme  power  in  causes  ecclesiastical,, 
within  all  his  dominions,  they  be  subordinate  under 
some  bishop  and  bishoprick  of  this  realm.  This  cau 
tion  is  to  be  observed,  that  if  any  transplant  them 
selves  into  plantations  abroad,  who  are  known  schis 
matics,  outlaws,  or  criminal  persons,  they  be  sent  for 
back  upon  the  first  notice." 

These  maxims  prevailed  at  the  council-board, 
when  the  envoys  from  the  independent  Church  at 
Leyden  preferred  their  requests.  "  Who  shall  make 
your  ministers  ? "  it  was  asked  of  them ;  and*  they 
answered,  "The  power  of  making  them  is  in  the 
church ; "  ordination  required  no  bishop ;  and  their 
avowal  of  their  principle  threatened  to  spoil  all.  To 
advance  the  dominions  of  England  Kino:  James 

O  o 

esteemed  "a  good  and  honest  motion;  and  fishing 
was  an  honest  trade,  the  apostles'  own  calling  ; "  yet 
he  referred  the  suit  to  the  prelates  of  Canterbury  and 
London.  Even  while  the  negotiations  were  pending, 
a  royal  declaration  constrained  the  Puritans  of  Lanca 
shire  to  conform  or  leave  the  kingdom ;  and  nothing 
more  could  be  obtained  for  the  wilds  of  America  than 
an  informal  promise  of  neglect.  On  this  the  com 
munity  relied,  being  advised  not  to  entangle  them 
selves  with  the  bishops.  "If  there  should  afterwards 
be  a  purpose  to  wrong  us," — thus  they  communed 
with  themselves, — "  though  we  had  a  seal  as  broad  as 


THE    PILGRIMS    IN    HOLLAND.  305* 

the  house-floor,  there  would  be  means  enough  found  CHAP. 
to  recall  or  reverse  it.  We  must  rest  herein  on  *— > — 
God's  providence." 

The  dissensions  in  the  Virginia  company  occa 
sioned  further  delay.  At  last,  in  1619,  its  members,  1619. 
in  their  open  court,  writes  one  of  the  Pilgrims,  "  de 
manded  our  ends  of  going ;  which  being  related,  they 
said  the  thing  was  of  God,  and  granted  a  large 
patent."  Being  taken  in  the  name  of  one  who  failed 
to  accompany  the  expedition,  the  patent  was  never  of 
any  service.  And  besides,  the  Pilgrims,  after  invest 
ing  all  their  own  means,  had  not  sufficient  capital  to 
execute  their  schemes. 

In  this  extremity,  Robinson  looked  for  aid  to  the 
Dutch.  He  and  his  people  and  their  friends,  to  the 
number  of  four  hundred  families,  professed  themselves 
well  inclined  to  emigrate  to  the  country  on  the  Hud 
son,  and  to  plant  there  a  new  commonwealth  under 
the  command  of  the  Stadtholder  and  the  States  Gen 
eral.  The  West  India  Company  was  willing  to  trans 
port  them  without  charge,  and  to  furnish  them  with 
cattle,  if  that  people  would  "  go  under  them ; "  the 
directors  petitioned  the  States  General  to  promise 
protection  to  the  enterprise  against  all  violence  from 
other  potentates.  But  such  a  promise  was  contrary  to 
the  policy  of  the  Dutch  government,  and  was  refused. 

The  members  of  the  Church  of  Leyden  were  not 
shaken  in  their  purpose  of  removing  to  America  ;  and 
ceasing  "  to  meddle  with  the  Dutch,  or  to  depend  too 
much  on  the  Virginia  Company,"  they  prepared 
for  their  departure  through  their  own  resources 
and  the  aid  of  private  friends.  The  confidence  in 
wealth  to  be  derived  from  fisheries  had  made  Amer- 


306  THE  PILGRIMS   IN   HOLLAND. 

CHAP   ican  expeditions  a  subject  of  consideration  with  Eng- 

Vill. 

— -~  lish  merchants;  and  the  agents  from  Leyden  were 
able  to  form  a  partnership  between  their  employers 
and  men  of  business  in  London.  The  services  of  each 
emigrant  were  rated  as  a  capital  of  ten  pounds,  and 
belonged  to  the  company ;  all  profits  were  to  be  re 
served  till  the  end  of  seven  years,  when  the  whole 
amount,  and  all  houses  and  land,  gardens  and  fields, 
were  to  be  divided  among  the  shareholders  according 
to  their  respective  interests.  The  London  merchant, 
who  risked  one  hundred  pounds,  would  receive  for  his 
money  tenfold  more  than  the  penniless  laborer  for 
his  entire  services.  This  arrangement  threatened  a 
seven  years'  check  to  the  pecuniary  prosperity  of  the 
community ;  yet,  as  it  did  not  interfere  with  civil 
rights  or  religion,  it  did  not  intimidate  the  resolved. 

1620.  And  now  the  English  at  Leyden,  trusting  in  God 
and  in  themselves,  made  ready  for  their  departure. 
The  ships  which  they  had  provided — the  Speedwell,  of 
sixty  tons,  the  Mayflower,  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
tons — could  hold  but  a  minority  of  the  congregation ; 
and  Robinson  was  therefore  detained  at  Leyden,  while 
Brevvster,  the  governing  elder,  who  was  also  able  as  a 
teacher,  conducted  "  such  of  the  youngest  and  strong 
est  as  freely  offered  themselves."  Every  enterprise 
of  the  Pilgrims  began  from  God.  A  solemn  fast  was 

July.  held.  "  Let  us  seek  of  God,"  said  they,  "  a  right  way 
for  us,  and  for  our  little  ones,  and  for  all  our  substance." 
Anticipating  their  high  destiny,  and  the  sublime  doc 
trines  of  liberty  that  would  grow  out  of  the  principles 
on  which  their  religious  tenets  were  established,  Uob- 
inson  gave  them  a  farewell,  breathing  a  freedom  of 
opinion  and  an  independence  of  authority,  such  as 
then  were  hardly  known  in  the  world. 

"  1  charge  you,  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels, 


THK   PILGRIMS  LEAVE   HOLLAND.  307 

ihat  you  follow  me  no  further  than  you  have  seen  me  CHAP 
follow  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Lord  has  more  ^-»* 
truth  yet  to  break  forth  out  of  his  holy  word.  I  can 
not  sufficiently  bewail  the  condition  of  the  reformed 
churches,  who  are  come  to  a  period  in  religion,  and 
will  go  at  present  no  further  than  the  instruments  of 
their  reformation. — Luther  and  Calvin  were  great  and 
shining  lights  in  their  times,  yet  they  penetrated  not 
into  the  whole  counsel  of  God. — 1  beseech  you,  re 
member  it, — 'tis  an  article  of  your  church  covenant, — 
that  you  be  ready  to  receive  whatever  truth  shall  be 
made  known  to  you  from  the  written  word  of  God." 
"When  the  ship  was  ready  to  carry  us  away,"  writes 
Edward  VVinslow,  "  the  brethren  that  staid  at  Ley- 
den,  having  again  solemnly  sought  the  Lord  with  us 
and  for  us,  feasted  us  that  were  to  go,  at  our  pastor's 
house  being  large  ;  where  we  refreshed  ourselves,  after 
tears,  with  singing  of  psalms,  making  joyful  melody  in 
our  hearts,  as  well  as  with  the  voice,  there  being  many 
of  the  congregation  very  expert  in  music  ;  and  indeed 
it  was  the  sweetest  melody  that  ever  mine  ears  heard. 
After  this,  they  accompanied  us  to  Delft-Haven,  where 
we  went  to  embark,  and  then  feasted  us  again ;  and, 
after  prayer  performed  by  our  pastor,  when  a  flood  of 
tears  was  poured  out,  they  accompanied  us  to  the  ship, 
but  were  not  able  to  speak  one  to  another  for  the 
abundance  of  sorrow  to  part.  But  we  only,  going 
aboard,  gave  them  a  volley  of  small  shot  and  three 
pieces  of  ordnance ;  and  so,  lilting  up  our  hands  to 
each  other,  and  our  hearts  for  each  other  to  the  Lord 
our  God,  we  departed."  A  prosperous  wind  soon 
wafts  the  vessel  to  Southampton,  arid,  in  a  fortnight, 
the  Mayflower  and  the  Speedwell,  freighted  with  the  Aug. 
first  colony  of  New  England,  leave  Southampton  for 
America.  But  they  had  not  gone  far  upon  the  Atlan- 


303  THE   PILGRIMS   EMBARK   FOR  AMERICA. 

CHAP,  tic  before  the  smaller  vessel  was  found  to  need  repairs , 
^^  and  they  entered  the  port  of  Dartmouth.  After  the 
1620  ]apse  Of  eight  precious  days,  they  again  weigh  anchor; 
the  coast  of  England  recedes  ;  already  they  are  unfurl 
ing  their  sails  on  the  broad  ocean,  when  the  captain 
of  the  Speedwell,  with  his  company,  dismayed  at  the 
dangers  of  the  enterprise,  once  more  pretends  that  his 
ship  is  too  weak  for  the  service.  They  put  back  to 
Plymouth,  "  and  agree  to  dismiss  her,  and  those  who 
are  willing,  return  to  London,  though  this  was  very 
grievous  and  discouraging."  Having  thus  winnowed 
their  numbers,  the  little  band,  not  of  resolute  men 
only,  but  wives,  some  far  gone  in  pregnancy,  children, 
infants,  a  floating  village,  yet  but  one  hundred  and  two 
souls,  went  on  board  the  single  ship,  which  was  hired 
only  to  convey  them  across  the  Atlantic ;  and,  on  the 
SepU3.  sixth  day  of  September,  1620,  thirteen  years  after  the 
first  colonization  of  Virginia,  two  months  before  the 
concession  of  the  grand  charter  of  Plymouth,  without 
any  warrant  from  the  sovereign  of  England,  without 
any  useful  charter  from  a  corporate  body,  the  passen 
gers  in  the  Mayflower  set  sail  for  a  new  world,  where 
the  past  could  offer  no  favorable  auguries. 

Had  New  England  been  colonized  immediately  on 
the  discovery  of  the  American  continent,  the  old  Eng 
lish  institutions  would  have  been  planted  under  the 
powerful  influence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion ; 
had  the  settlement  been  made  under  Elizabeth,  it 
would  have  been  before  activity  of  the  popular  mind 
in  religion  had  conducted  to  a  corresponding  activity 
of  mind  in  politics.  The  Pilgrims  were  Englishmen, 
Protestants,  exiles  for  religion,  men  disciplined  by 
misfortune,  cultivated  by  opportunities  of  extensive  ob 
servation,  equal  in  rank  as  in  rights,  and  bound  by  no 
code,  but  that  of  religion  or  the  public  will. 


THE   PILGRIMS   AT   CAPE   COD.  30(J 

The  eastern  coast  of  the  United  States  abounds  in  CTIAP 

V11I 

beautiful  and  convenient    harbors,    in    majestic   bays  ^— 
and   rivers.     The  first  Virginia  colony,  sailing   along 
the   shores   of  North    Carolina,    was,   by    a    favoring 
storm,  driven  into  the  magnificent  Bay  of  the  Chesa 
peake  ;  the  Pilgrims,  having  selected  for  their  settle 
ment  the  country  near  the  Hudson,  the  best  position 
on  the  whole  coast,  were  conducted  to  the  most  bar 
ren  and  inhospitable  part  of  Massachusetts.     After  a  1620 
long  and  boisterous  voyage  of  sixty-three  days,  during 
which  one  person  had  died,  they  espied  land,  and,  in  Nov. 9, 
two  days  more,  were  safely  moored  in  the  harbor  of 
Cape  Cod. 

Yet,  before  they  landed,  the  manner  in  which  their 
government  should  be  constituted,  was  considered;  and, 
as  some  were  observed  "not  well  affected  to  unity  and 
concord,"  they  formed  themselves  into  a  body  politic 
by  a  solemn  voluntary  compact:  — 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  amen  ;  we,  whose  names  are  Nov 
underwritten,  the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign 
King  James,  having  undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  honor  of 
our  king  and  country,  a  voyage  to  plant  the  first  colony 
in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents, 
solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God,  and 
one  of  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  to 
gether,  into  a  civil  body  politic,  for  our  better  ordering 
and  preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid; 
and  by  virtue  hereof,  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame, 
such  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitu 
tions,  and  offices,  from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought 
most  convenient  for  the  general  good  of  the  colony 
Unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission  and  obe 
dience." 


31Q  THE  PILGRIMS  AT  CAPE  COD. 

CHAP        This  instrument  was  signed  by  the  whole  body  of 
3^,    men,  forty-one  in  number,  who,  with  their  families,  con- 
1620.    stituted  the  one  hundred  and  two,  the  whole  colony, 
"the  proper  democracy,"  that  arrived  in  New  England. 
This  was   the   birth  of  popular  constitutional  liberty. 
The  middle  age  had  been  familiar  with  charters  and 
constitutions ;   but  they  had  been  merely  compacts  for 
immunities,   partial   enfranchisements,   patents  of  no 
bility,   concessions  of  municipal    privileges,  or  limita 
tions  of  the  sovereign  power  in  favor  of  feudal  institu 
tions.      In    the   cabin    of    the    Mayflower,    humanity 
recovered  its  rights,  and  instituted  government  on  the 
basis  of  "  equal  laws"  for  "  the  general  good."      John 
Carver    was    immediately   and    unanimously   chosen 
governor  for  the  year. 

Men  who  emigrate,  even  in  \vell-inhabited  dis 
tricts,  pray  that  their  journey  may  not  be  in  winter. 
Wasted  by  the  rough  and  wearisome  voyage,  ill  sup 
plied  with  provisions,  the  English  fugitives  found 
themselves,  at  the  opening  of  winter,  on  a  barren 
and  bleak  coast,  in  a  severe  climate,  with  the  ocean 
on  one  side  and  the  wilderness  on  the  other.  There 
were  none  to  show  them  kindness  or  bid  them  wel 
come.  The  nearest  French  settlement  was  at  Port 
Royal ;  it  was  five  hundred  miles  to  the  English 
plantation  at  Virginia.  As  they  attempted  to  disem 
bark,  the  water  was  found  so  shallow,  that  they  were 
forced  to  wrade ;  and,  in  the  freezing  weather,  the 
very  act  of  getting  on  land  sewed  the  seeds  of  con 
sumption  and  inflammatory  colds.  The  bitterness 
of  mortal  disease  was  their  welcome  to  the  inhos 
pitable  shore. 

Nov.        The  season  was  already  fast  bringing  winter,  and 
the  spot  for  the   settlement  remained  to   be  chosen 


THE  PILGRIMS  AT  CAPE   COD.  311 

The  shallop  was  unshipped  ;  and  it  was  a  leal  disas-  CHAP 
ter  to  find  that  it  needed  repairs.  The  carpenter  - — - 
made  slow  work,  so  that  sixteen  or  seventeen  weary  162° 
days  elapsed,  before  it  was  ready  for  service.  But 
Slandish  and  Bradford,  and  others,  impatient  of  the 
delay,  determined  to  explore  the  country  by  land. 
"  In  regard  to  the  danger,"  the  expedition  "  was 
rather  permitted  than  approved."  Much  hardship 
was  endured ;  but  what  discoveries  could  be  made 
in  Trtiro  and  near  the  banks  of  Paomet  Creek  ? 
The  first  expedition  in  the  shallop  was  likewise  un 
successful  ;  "  some  of  the  people,  that  died  that 
winter,  took  the  original  of  their  death  "  in  the  enter 
prise  ;  "  for  it  snowed  and  did  blow  all  the  day  and 
night,  and  froze  withal."  The  men  who  were  set 
on  shore,  "  were  tired  with  marching  up  and  down  the 
steep  hills  and  deep  vallies,  which  lay  half  a  foot  thick 
with  snow."  A  heap  of  maize  was  discovered  ;  and 
further  search  led  to  a  burial-place  of  the  Indians ; 
but  they  found  "  no  more  corn,  nor  any  thing  else 
but  graves." 

At  length,   the  shallop  was  again   sent  out,   with    Dec. 
Carver,  Bradford,  Winslow,  Standish,  and  others,  with 
eight   or    ten    seamen.     The    cold    was    severe ;    the 
spray  of  the  sea  froze  as  it  fell  on  them,  and  made 
their   clothes   like    coats   of     iron.      That   day    they 
reached  Billingsgate  Point,  at  the  bottom  of  the  Bay 
of   Cape    Cod,    on    the  western    shore    of   Wellfleet 
harbor.     The    next  morning,   the    company  divided ;    f)ec 
those  on  shore  find  a  burial-place,  graves,   and  four     7* 
or    five   deserted  wigwams,    but  neither   people,   nor 
any   place   inviting  a  settlement.     Before    night,   the 
whole  party  met  by  the  sea-side,  and  encamped  on  land 
together  near  Namskeket,  or  Great  Meadow  Creek. 


312  THE  PILGRIMS  AT  CAPE  COD 

CHAP.       The    next   day   they   rose    at   five ;  their    morning 

~^L  prayers  were   finished,   when,  as  the  day  dawned,  a 

1620   war-whoop    and    a   flight    of    arrows    announced    an 

8.  *    attack  from  Indians.     They  were  of  the  tribe  of  the 

Nausites,  who  knew  the  English  as  kidnappers ;   bat 

the  encounter  was  without  further  result.     Again  the 

boat's  crew  give  thanks  to  God,  and  steer  their  bark 

along   the   coast  for    the    distance   of  fifteen    leagues. 

o  o 

But  no  convenient  harbor  is  discovered.  The  pilot 
of  the  boat,  who  had  been  in  these  regions  before, 
gives  assurance  of  a  good  one,  which  may  be  reached 
before  night;  and  they  follow  his  guidance.  After 
some  hours'  sailing,  a  storm  of  snow  and  rain  begins , 
the  sea  swells ;  the  rudder  breaks ;  the  boat  must 
now  be  steered  with  oars ;  the  storm  increases  ;  night 
is  at  hand  ;  to  reach  the  harbor  before  dark,  as  much 
sail  as  possible  is  borne  ;  the  mast  breaks  into  three 
pieces ;  the  sail  falls  overboard ;  but  the  tide  is 
favorable.  The  pilot,  in  dismay,  would  have  run  the 
boat  on  shore  in  a  cove  full  of  breakers.  "  About  with 
her,"  exclaimed  a  sailor,  "  or  we  are  cast  away." 
They  get  her  about  immediately,  and,  passing  over  the 
surf,  they  enter  a  fair  sound,  and  shelter  themselves 
under  the  lee  of  a  small  rise  of  land.  It  is  dark,  and 
the  rain  beats  furiously ;  yet  the  men  are  so  wet,  and 
cold,  and  weak,  they  slight  the  danger  to  be  appre 
hended  from  the  savages,  and,  after  great  difficulty, 
kindle  a  fire  on  shore. 

Dec.  Morning,  as  it  dawned,  showed  the  place  to  be  a 
small  island  within  the  entrance  of  a  harbor.  The 

10  day  was  required  for  rest  and  preparations.  Time 
was  precious  ;  the  season  advancing ;  their  compan 
ions  were  left  in  suspense.  The  next  day  was  the 
"  Christian  Sabbath."  Nothing  marks  the  character 


LANDING  OF  THE  FATHERS  AT  PLYMOUTH.         313 

of  the  Pilgrims  more  fully,  than  that  they  kept  it  sa-  CHAP 
credly,  though  every  consideration  demanded  haste. 

On  Monday,  the  eleventh  day  of  December,  old  style,  ^20 
the  exploring  party  of  the  forefathers  land  at  Plym-  11. 
outh.  A  grateful  posterity  has  marked  the  rock  which 
first  received  their  footsteps.  The  consequences  of 
that  day  are  constantly  unfolding  themselves,  as  time 
advances.  It  was  the  origin  of  New  England;  it 
was  the  planting  of  the  New  England  institutions. 
Inquisitive  historians  have  loved  to  mark  every  vestige 
of  the  Pilgrims  ;  poets  of  the  purest  minds  have  com 
memorated  their  virtues  ;  the  noblest  genius  has  been 
called  into  exercise  to  display  their  merits  worthily, 
and  to  trace  the  consequences  of  their  daring  en 
terprise. 

The  spot,  when  examined,  seemed  to  invite  a  settle-   Dec 

15 

ment ;  and,  in  a  few  days,  the  Mayflower  was  safely 
moored  in  its  harbor.  In  memory  of  the  hospitalities 
which  the  company  had  received  at  the  last  English 
port  from  which  they  had  sailed,  this  oldest  New 
England  colony  obtained  the  name  of  Plymouth. 
The  system  of  civil  government  had  been  established 
by  common  agreement;  the  character  of  the  church 
had  for  many  years  been  fixed  by  a  sacred  covenant. 
As  the  Pilgrims  landed,  their  institutions  were  already 
perfected.  Democratic  liberty  and  independent  Chris 
tian  worship  at  once  existed  in  America. 

After  some  days,  they  began  to   build — a  difficult  1621 
task  for  men  of  whom  one  half  wrere  wasting  away     9 
with  consumptions  and  lung-fevers.     For  the  sake  of 
haste,  it  was  agreed,  that  every  man  should  build  his 
own  house ;    but    frost   and  foul  weather  were  great 
hindrances  :  they  could  seldom  work  half  of  the  week ; 
and  tenements  were  erected  as  they  could  be,  in  the 

VOL      I.  4il» 


314  TPIK  PILGRIMS  SUFFER  FROM  WANT  AND  OPPRESSION. 

short  intervals  of  sunshine  between  showers  of  sleet 


VJll. 

—  —  and  snow-storms. 

1021.  On  the  third  of  March,  a  south  wind  brought  warm 
3.  "  and  fair  weather.  "  The  birds  sang  in  the  woods 
most  pleasantly."  But  it  was  not  till  spring  had  far 
advanced,  that  the  mortality  began  to  cease.  It  was 
afterwards  remarked,  with  modest  gratitude,  that,  of 
the  survivors,  very  many  lived  to  an  extreme  old  age. 
A  shelter,  not  less  than  comfort,  had  been  wanting  ; 
the  living  had  been  scarce  able  to  bury  the  dead  ;  the 
well  not  sufficient  to  take  care  of  the  sick.  At  the 
season  of  greatest  distress,  there  were  but  seven  able 
to  render  assistance.  The  benevolent  Carver  had 

Mar    been  appointed  governor  :  at  his  first  landing,  he  had 

«  23.  lost  a  son  :  soon  after  the  departure  of  the  Mayflower 
for  England,  his  health  sunk  under  a  sudden  attack  ; 
and  his  wife,  broken-hearted,  followed  him  in  death. 
William  Bradford,  the  historian  of  the  colony,  was  soon 
chosen  his  successor.  The  record  of  misery  was  kept 
by  the  graves  of  the  governor  and  half  the  company. 
But  if  sickness  ceased  to  prevail,  the  hardships  of 
privation  and  want  remained  to  be  encountered.  In 

1621-2  the  autumn,  an  arrival  of  new  emigrants,  who  came 
unprovided  with  food,  compelled  the  whole  colony,  for 
six  months  in  succession,  to  subsist  on  half  allowance 
only.  "  I  have  seen  men,"  says  Winslow,  u  stagger 
by  reason  of  faintness  for  want  of  food."  They  were 
once  saved  from  famishing  by  the  benevolence  of  fish 
ermen  off  the  coast.  Sometimes  they  suffered  from 

IG22.  oppressive  exactions  on  the  part  of  ships,  that  sold 
them  provisions  at  the  most  exorbitant  prices.  Nor 
did  their  miseries  soon  terminate.  Even  in  the  third 

1623.  year  of  the  settlement,  their  victuals  were  so  entirely 
spent,  that  "  they  knew  not  at  night  where  to  have  a 


THE   SYSTEM  OF  COMMON   PROPERTY    ABANDONED.  315 

bit  in  the  morning."     Tradition  declares,  that,  at  one  CHAP 

VIII. 

time,  the    colonists  were  reduced  to  a  pint  of  corn,  — ^ 
which,  being  parched  and  distributed,  gave    to    each  l623 
individual  only  five  kernels ;    but  rumor  falls  short  of 
reality ;  for  three  or  four  months  together,  they  had  no   July. 
corn  whatever.     When  a  few  of  their  old  friends  ar 
rived  to  join  them,  a  lobster,  or  a  piece  of  fish,  without 
bread  or  any  thing  else  but  a  cup  of  fair  spring  water, 
was  the  best  dish  which  the  hospitality  of  the  whole 
colony  could  offer.     Neat  cattle  were  not  introduced  1G24 
till  the  fourth  year  of  the  settlement.     Yet,  during  all 
this   season   of  self-denial  and  suffering,  the  cheerful 
confidence  of  the  Pilgrims  in  the  mercies  of  Providence 
remained  unshaken. 

The  system  of  common  property  had  occasioned 
grievous  discontents ;  the  influence  of  law  could  not 
compel  regular  labor  like  the  uniform  impulse  of  per 
sonal  interest ;  and  even  the  threat  of  "  keeping  back  ' 
their  bread"  could  not  change  the  character  of  the 
idle.  After  the  harvest  of  1623,  there  was  no  general  1623 
want  of  food ;  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  it  had  been 
agreed,  that  each  family  should  plant  for  itself;  and 
parcels  of  land,  in  proportion  to  the  respective  num 
bers,  were  assigned  for  culture,  though  not  for  inher 
itance.  This  arrangement  produced  contented  labor 
and  universal  industry ;  "  even  women  and  children 
now  went  into  the  field  to  work."  The  next  spring, 
every  person  obtained  a  little  land  in  perpetual  fee. 
The  necessity  of  the  case,  and  the  common  interest, 
demanded  a  slight  departure  from  the  severe  agree 
ment  with  the  English  merchants.  Before  many  har 
vests,  SG  much  corn  was  raised,  that  it  began  to  form 
a  profitable  article  of  commerce,  and  the  Indians,  pre 
ferring  the  chase  to  tillage,  abandoned  culture,  and 


316  THE  OLD  COLONY  AND  THE  NATIVES. 

CHAP,  looked  to  the  colonists  for  their  supply.  The  inter- 
- — *~  course  between  the  Plymouth  colony  and  the  Indians 
soon  assumed  the  character  of  commercial  familiarity. 
The  exchange  of  European  manufactures  for  beaver 
and  other  skins,  was  almost  the  only  pursuit  which 
promised  to  be  lucrative. 

The  spot  to  which  Providence  had  directed  the 
planters,  had,  a  few  years  before,  been  rendered 
entirely  a  desert  by  a  pestilence,  which  had  like 
wise  swept  over  the  neighboring  tribes,  and  desola 
ted  almost  the  whole  sea-board  of  New  England. 

1620  Where  the  Pilgrims  landed,  there  were  the  traces  of 
a  previous  population,  but  not  one   living  inhabitant. 

1621  Smokes    from  fires  in  the  remote  distance  alone  in 
dicated  the  vicinity  of  natives.     Miles  Standish,  "  the 
best  linguist"  among  the  Pilgrims,  as  well  as  the  best 
soldier,  with  an  exploring  party,  was  able  to  discover 

Feb.  wigwams,  but  no  tenants.  Yet  a  body  of  Indians 
from  abroad  was  soon  discovered,  hovering  near  the 
settlement,  though  disappearing  when  pursued.  The 

17.  colony,  therefore,  assumed  a  military  organization  ;  and 
Standish,  a  man  of  the  greatest  courage,  the  devoted 
friend  of  the  church,  which  he  never  joined,  was 
appointed  to  the  chief  command.  But  dangers  were 
not  at  hand. 

Mar.  One  day,  Samoset,  an  Indian  who  had  learned  a 
little  English  of  the  fishermen  at  Penobscot,  boldly 
entered  the  town,  and,  passing  to  the  rendezvous 
exclaimed,  in  English,  "  Welcome,  Englishmen."  fie 
was  from  the  eastern  coast,  of  which  he  gave  them 
profitable  information ;  he  told  also  the  names,  num 
ber  and  strength  of  the  nearer  people,  especially  of 
the  Wampanoaga,  a  tribe  destined  to  become  mem 
orable  in  the  history  of  New  England.  After  some 


THE  OLD  COLONY  AND  THE  NATIVES. 

little  negotiation,  in  which  an  Indian,  who  had  been  CHAP 

VIII. 

carried  away  by  Hunt,  had  learned  English  in  Eng-  ^^- 
land,  and  had,  in  an   earlier  expedition,  returned    to  1<521 
his    native    land,  acted    as  an  interpreter,    Massasoit 
himself,  the  sachem  of  the  tribe  possessing  the  coun 
try  north  of  Narragansett  Bay,  and  between  the  rivers 
cf  Providence    and    Taunton,  came   to  visit  the  Pil- 


grims,  who,  with  their  wives  and  children,  now 
amounted  to  no  more  than  fifty.  The  chieftain  of  a 
race  as  yet  so  new  to  the  Pilgrims,  was  received 
with  all  the  ceremonies  which  the  condition  of  the 
colony  permitted.  A  treaty  of  friendship  was  soon 
completed  in  few  and  unequivocal  terms.  The  par 
ties  promised  to  abstain  from  mutual  injuries,  and  to 
deliver  up  offenders  ;  the  colonists  were  to  receive 
assistance,  if  attacked  ;  to  render  it,  if  Massasoit 
should  be  attacked  unjustly.  The  treaty  included 
the  confederates  of  the  sachem  ;  it  is  the  oldest  act  of 
diplomacy  recorded  in  New  England  ;  it  was  con 
cluded  in  a  day,  and,  being  founded  on  reciprocal 
interests,  was  sacredly  kept  -  for  more  than  half  a 
century.  Massasoit  desired  the  alliance,  for  the  pow 
erful  Narragansetts  were  his  enemies  ;  his  tribe,  more 
over,  having  become  habituated  to  some  English  lux 
uries,  were  willing  to  establish  a  traffic  ;  while  the 
emigrants  obtained  peace,  security,  and  the  oppor 
tunity  of  a  lucrative  commerce. 

An  embassy  from  the  little  colony  to  their  new  ally,  July 
performed,  not  with  the  pomp  of  modern  missions, 
but  through  the  forests  and  on  foot,  and  received,  not 
to  the  luxuries  of  courts,  but  to  a  share  in  the  absti 
nence  of  savage  life,  confirmed  the  treaty  of  amity, 
and  prepared  the  way  for  a  trade  in  furs.  The  marks 
of  devastation  from  a  former  plague  were  visible 


318  THE  OLD  COLONY  AND  THE  NATIVES. 

CHAP,  wherever  the  envoys  went,  and  they  witnessed  the  ex- 

^*^  treme  poverty  and  feebleness  of  the  natives. 

1G21.       The  influence  of   the  English  over  the   aborigines 

Aug. 

was  rapidly  extended.      A  sachem,  who  menaced  their 

safety,  was  himself  compelled  to  sue  for  mercy ;  and 

Sept   nine  chieftains  subscribed  an  instrument  of  submission 

1H 

to  King  James.  The  Bay  of  Massachusetts  and 
harbor  of  Boston  were  fearlessly  explored.  Canon icus, 
the  tyavering  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  whose 
territory  had  escaped  the  ravages  of  the  pestilence,  had 

IG22.  at  first  desired  to  treat  of  peace.  A  bundle  of  arrows* 
wrapped  in  the  skin  of  a  rattlesnake,  was  now  the 
token  of  his  hostility.  But  when  Bradford  stuffed  the 
skin  with  powder  and  shot,  and  returned  it,  his  courage 
quailed,  and  he  desired  to  be  in  amity  with  a  race  of 
men  whose  weapons  of  war  were  so  terrible.  The 
hostile  expedition  which  caused  the  first  Indian  blood 
to  be  shed,  grew  out  of  a  quarrel,  in  which  the 
inhabitants  of  Plymouth  were  involved  by  another 
colony. 

1023.  For  who  will  define  the  limits  to  the  graspings  of 
ar*  avarice  ?  The  opportunity  of  gain  by  the  fur-trade 
had  been  envied  the  planters  of  New  Plymouth  ;  and 
Weston,  who  had  been  active  among  the  London  ad 
venturers  in  establishing  the  Plymouth  colony,  now 
desired  to  engross  the  profits  which  he  already  deemed 
secure.  A  patent  for  land  near  Weymouth,  the  first 

1022  plantation  in  Boston  harbor,  was  easily  obtained  ; 
and  a  company  of  sixty  men  were  sent  over.  Help 
less  at  their  arrival,  they  intruded  themselves,  for  most 
of  the  summer,  upon  the  unrequited  hospitality  of  the 
people  of  Plymouth.  In  their  plantation,  they  were 
soon  reduced  to  necessity  by  their  want  of  thrift, 
their  injustice  towards  the  Indians  provoked  hostility ; 


DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  PARTNERSHIP.  319 

and  a  plot  was  formed  for  the  entire  destruction  of  the  CHAP 
English.  But  the  grateful  Massassoit  revealed  the  ^v-L 
design  to  his  allies;  and  the  planters  at  YVeymouth  1623 
were  saved  hy  the  wisdom  of  the  older  colony  and  the 
intrepid  gallantry  of  Standish.  It  was  "  his  capital 
exploit."  Some  of  the  rescued  men  went  to  Plym 
outh;  some  sailed  for  England.  One  short  year  saw 
the  beginning  and  end  of  the  Weymouth  plantation. 
"  Certainly  the  best  works,  and  of  greatest  merit  for 
the  public,"  observes  the  childless  Lord  Bacon,  with 
complacent  self-love,  "  have  proceeded  from  the  un 
married  or  childless  men."  Weston's  company,  after 
having  boasted  of  their  strength,  as  far  superior  to 
Plymouth,  which  was  enfeebled,  they  said,  by  the 
presence  of  children  and  women,  owed  their  deliver 
ance  to  the  colony  that  had  many  women,  children, 
and  weak  ones  with  them. 

The  danger  from  Indian  hostilities  was  early  re 
moved  ;  the  partnership  with  English  merchants  oc 
casioned  greater  inconvenience.  Robinson  and  the 
rest  of  his  church,  at  Leyden,  were  suffering  from  de 
ferred  hopes,  and  were  longing  to  rejoin  their  brethren 
in  America.  The  adventurers  in  England  refused  to 
provide  them  a  passage,  and  attempted,  with  but  short 
success,  to  force  upon  the  colonists  a  clergyman  more  1624 
friendly  to  the  established  church;  thus  outraging  at  1026 
once  the  affections  and  the  religious  scruples  of 
those  whom  they  had  pledged  themselves  to  cher 
ish.  Divisions  ensued  ;  and  the  partners  in  England, 
offended  by  opposition,  and  discouraged  at  the  small 
returns  from  their  investments,  deserted  the  interests 
of  their  associates  in  America.  A  ship  was  even 
despatched  to  rival  them  in  their  business ;  goods, 
which  were  sent  for  their  supply,  were  sold  to  them 


320  PROGRESS  OF  THE  OLD  COLONY. 


at  an  advance  of  seventy  per  cent.     The  curse  of 
. 

^v-^  usury,  which  always  falls  so  heavily  upon  new  settle 
ments,  did  not  spare  them  ;  for,  being  left  without 
help  from  the  partners,  they  were  obliged  to  borrow 
money  at  fifty  per  cent,  and  at  thirty  per  cent. 
interest.  At  last,  the  emigrants  themselves  succeeded 
in  purchasing  the  entire  rights  of  the  English  adven 
turers  ;  the  common  property  was  equitably  divided, 
and  agriculture  established  immediately  and  com 
pletely  on  the  basis  of  private  possessions.  For  a  six 
years'  monopoly  of  the  trade,  eight  of  the  most  enter 
prising  men  assumed  all  the  engagements  of  the 
colony  ;  so  that  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  became 
really  freeholders  ;  neither  debts  nor  rent  day 
troubled  them. 

The    colonists    of    Plymouth    had    exercised    self- 
government  without  the   sanction   of  a  royal    paten* 
Yet  their  claim  to  their  lands  was  valid,  according  to 
the  principles  of  English  law,  as  well  as  natural  jus 
tice.     They  had  received  a  welcome   from    the  abo 

1621.  rigines  ;  and  the  council  of  Plymouth,  through  the 
mediation  of  Sir  Ferdinand  Gorges,1  immediately 
issued  a  patent  to  John  Pierce  for  their  benefit-  But 
the  trustee,  growing  desirous  of  becoming  lord  pro- 

1623.  prietary,  and  holding  them  as  tenants,  obtained  a 
new  charter,  which  would  have  caused  much  difficulty, 
had  not  his  misfortunes  compelled  him  to  transfer  his 
rights  to  the  company.  When  commerce  extended  to 
the  Kennebec,  a  patent  for  the  adjacent  territory  was 

1623.  easily  procured.  The  same  year,  Allerton  was  again 
sent  to  London  to  negotiate  an  enlargement  of  both 
the  grants;  and  he  gained  from  the  council  of  Plym 
outh  concessions  equal  to  all  his  desires.  But  it 

1  Gorges'  Description,  24     Briefe  Narration,  c.  xxii. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  OLD  COLONY.  321 

was  ever  impossible  to  obtain  a  charter  from  the  king ;  CHAP 
so  that,  according  to  the  principles  adopted  in  Eng-  — >^- 
land,  the  planters,  with  an  unquestionable  property  in  163C 
the  soil,  had  no  right  to  assume  a  separate  jurisdiction. 
It  was  therefore  in  the  virtues  of  the  colonists  them 
selves,  that  their  institutions  found  a  guaranty  for  sta 
bility.  They  never  hesitated  to  punish  small  offences; 
it  was  only  after  some  scruples,  that  they  inflicted 
capital  punishment.  Their  doubts  being  once  re 
moved,  they  exercised  the  same  authority  as  the 
charter  governments.  Death  was,  by  subsequent 
laws,  made  the  penalty  for  several  crimes  ;  but  was 
never  inflicted  except  for  murder.  House-breaking 
and  highway  robbery  were  offences  unknown  in  their 
courts,  and  too  little  apprehended  to  be  made  subjects 
of  severe  legislation. 

The  progress  of  population  was  very  slow.  The 
lands  in  the  vicinity  were  not  fertile ;  and  at  the  end 
of  ten  years  the  colony  contained  no  more  than  three 
hundred  souls.  Few  as  were  their  numbers,  they  had 
struck  deep  root,  and  would  have  outlived  every 
storm,  even  if  they  had  been  followed  by  no  other 
colonies  in  New  England.  Hardly  were  they  planted 
in  America,  when  their  enterprise  began  to  take  a 
wide  range ;  before  Massachusetts  was  settled,  they 
had  acquired  rights  at  Cape  Ann,  as  well  as  an  exten 
sive  domain  on  the  Kennebec ;  and  they  were  the 
first  to  possess  an  English  settlement  on  the  banks  of 
the  Connecticut.  The  excellent  Robinson  died  at  1025 
Fjeyden,  before  the  faction  in  England  would  permit  i""' 
his  removal  to  Plymouth  ;  his  heart  was  in  America, 
where  his  memory  will  never  die.  The  remainder  of 
his  people,  and  with  them  his  wife  and  children,  emi 
grated,  so  soon  as  means  could  be  provided  to  defray 
VOL.  i.  41 


322  PROGRESS  OF  THE  OLD  COLONY. 

CHAP,  the  costs.  "To  enjoy  religious  liberty  was  the  known 
*— v^  end  of  the  first  comers'  great  adventure  into  this 
remote  wilderness  ;  "  and  they  desired  no  increase, 
but  from  the  friends  of  their  communion.  Yet  their 
residence  in  Holland  had  made  them  acquainted  with 
various  forms  of  Christianity ;  a  wide  experience  had 
emancipated  them  from  bigotry  ;  and  they  were  never 
betrayed  into  the  excesses  of  religious  persecution, 
though  they  sometimes  permitted  a  disproportion 
between  punishment  and  crime. 

The  frame  of  civil  government  in  the  Old  Colony 
was  of  the  utmost  simplicity.  A  governor  was  chosen 
by  general  suffrage  ;  whose  power,  always  subordinate 
to  the  general  will,  was,  at  the  desire  of  Bradford, 
1624.  specially  restricted  by  a  council  of  five,  and  afterwards 
1633.  of  seven,  assistants.  In  the  council,  the  governor  had 
but  a  double  vote.  For  more  than  eighteen  years, 
"  the  whole  body  of  the  male  inhabitants  "  constituted 
the  legislature ;  the  state  was  governed,  like  our 
towns,  as  a  strict  democracy ;  and  the  people  were 
frequently  convened  to  decide  on  executive  not  less 
1639.  than  on  judicial  questions.  At  length,  the  increase  of 
population,  and  its  diffusion  over  a  wider  territory,  led 
to  the  introduction  of  the  representative  system,  and 
each  town  sent  its  committee  to  the  general  court. 
We  shall  subsequently  find  the  colony  a  distinct 
member  of  the  earliest  American  Confederacy  ;  but  it 
is  chiefly  as  guides  and  pioneers  that  the  fathers  of 
the  Old  Colony  merit  gratitude. 

Through  scenes  of  gloom  and  misery,  the  Pilgrims 
showed  the  way  to  an  asylum  for  those  who  would 
go  to  the  wilderness  for  the  purity  of  religion  or  the 
liberty  of  conscience.  Accustomed  "  in  their  native 
land  to  no  more  than  a  plain  country  life  and  the  in 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  OLD  COLONY.  323 

nocent  trade  of  husbandry,"  they  set  the  example  of  CHAP 
colonizing  New  England,  and  formed  the  mould  for  - — - 
the  civil  and  religious  character  of  its  institutions. 
Enduring  every  hardship  themselves,  they  were  the 
servants  of  posterity,  the  benefactors  of  succeeding 
generations.  In  the  history  of  the  world,  many  pages 
are  devoted  to  commemorate  the  men  who  have 
besieged  cities,  subdued  provinces,  or  overthrown  em 
pires.  In  the  eye  of  reason  and  of  truth,  a  colony  is 
a  better  offering  than  a  victory ;  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  should  rather  cherish  the  memory  of 
those  who  founded  a  state  on  the  basis  of  democratic 
liberty ;  the  fathers  of  the  country ;  the  men  who,  as 
they  first  trod  the  soil  of  the  New  World,  scattered 
the  seminal  principles  of  republican  freedom  and  na 
tional  independence.  They  enjoyed,  in  anticipation, 
the  thought  of  their  extending  influence,  and  the  fame 
which  their  grateful  successors  would  award  to  their 
virtues.  "  Out  of  small  beginnings,"  said  Bradford, 
"  great  things  have  been  produced ;  and  as  one  small 
candle  may  light  a  thousand,  so  the  light  here  kindled 
hath  shone  to  many,  yea,  in  some  sort  to  our  whole 
nation." — "  Let  it  not  be  grievous  to  you," — such  was 
the  consolation  offered  from  England  to  the  Pilgrims 

o  a 

in  the  season  of  their  greatest  sufferings, — "  let  it  not 
be  grievous  to  you,  that  you  have  been  instruments  to 
break  the  ice  for  others.  The  honor  shall  be  yours  to 
the  world's  end." 


324 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  EXTENDED  COLONIZATION  OK  NEW  ENGLAND 

CHAP       THE  council  of  Plymouth  for  New  England,  having 
obtained  of  King  James  the  boundless  territory  and 

1620.  thg  immense  monopoly  which  they  had  desired,  had 
no  further  obstacles  to   encounter   but   the   laws   of 
nature    and    the    remonstrances    of    parliament.     No 
tributaries  tenanted  their  countless  millions  of  uncul 
tivated  acres ;  and  exactions  upon  the  vessels  of  Eng 
lish  fishermen  were  the  only   means  of  acquiring  an 
immediate  revenue  from  America.     But  the  spirit  of 
the    commons    indignantly   opposed   the'  extravagant 
pretensions  of  the  favored  company,   and  demanded 
for  every  subject  of  the  English  king  the  free  liberty 
of  engaging  in  a  pursuit  which  was  the  chief  source 

1621.  of  wealth  to  the  merchants  of  the  west.     "Shall  the 
%£    English,"  said  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  the  statesman  so 

well  entitled  to  the  enduring  gratitude  of  Virginia, 
"  be  debarred  from  the  freedom  of  the  fisheries,  a  priv 
ilege  which  the  French  and  Dutch  enjoy?  It  costs 
the  kingdom  nothing  but  labor ;  employs  shipping ; 
and  furnishes  the  means  of  a  lucrative  commerce  with 
Spain." — "  The  fishermen  hinder  the  plantations," 
replied  Calvert;  "  they  choke  the  harbors  with  their 
ballast,  and  waste  the  forests  by  improvident  use. 
America  is  not  annexed  to  the  realm,  nor  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  parliament ;  you  have  therefore  no  right 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  PLYMOUTH  FOR  NEW  ENGLAND.      326 

lo  interfere." — "  We  may  make  laws  for  Virginia,"  CHAP 
rejoined  another  member,  intent  on  opposing  the  ~~^+~ 
flagrant  benevolence  of  the  king,  and  wholly  uncon 
scious  of  asserting,  in  the  earliest  debate  on  American 
affairs,  the  claim  of  parliament  to  that  absolute  sove 
reignty  which  the  colonies  never  acknowledged,  and 
which  led  to  the  war  of  the  revolution ;  "  a  bill 
passed  by  the  commons  and  the  lords,  if  it  receive  the 
king's  assent,  will  control  the  patent."  The  charter, 
argued  Sir  Edward  Coke,  with  ample  reference  to 
early  statutes,  was  granted  without  regard  to  pre 
viously-existing  rights,  and  is  therefore  void  by  the 
established  laws  of  England.  So  the  friends  of  the 
liberty  of  fishing  triumphed  over  the  advocates  of  the 
royal  prerogative,  though  the  parliament  was  dissolved 
before  a  bill  could  be  carried  through  all  the  forms  of 
legislation. 

Yet  enough  had  been  done  to  infuse  vigor  into 
mercantile  enterprise  ;  in  the  second  year  after  the  1G22 
settlement  of  Plymouth,  five-and-thirty  sail  of  vessels 
went  to  fish  on  the  coasts  of  New  England,  and  made 
good  voyages.  The  monopolists  appealed  to  King 
James  ;  and  the  monarch,  preferring  to  assert  his  own 
extended  prerogative,  rather  than  to  regard  the  spirit 
of  the  house  of  commons,  issued  a  proclamation,  Nov 
which  forbade  any  to  approach  the  northern  coast  of 
America,  except  with  the  special  leave  of  the  company 
of  Plymouth,  or  of  the  privy  council.  It  was  mon 
strous  thus  to  attempt  to  seal  up  a  large  portion  of 
an  immense  continent ;  it  was  impossible  to  carry  the 
ordinance  into  effect ;  and  here,  as  so  often,  despotism 
caused  its  own  fall.  By  desiring  strictly  to  enforce  its 
will,  it  provoked  a  conflict  in  which  it  was  sure  of 
being  defeated. 


326  TliE    COUNCIL  OF   PLYMOUTH    FOR  NEW  ENGLAND. 

CHAP.       But    the  monopolists  endeavored  to  establish  their 
*-^v^'  claims.     One    Francis  West  was  despatched  with  a 
1623.  commission  as  admiral  of  New  England,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  excluding  from  the  American  seas  such  fish* 
errnen    as    came  without   a   license.     But   his  feeble 
authority  was  derided  ;    the  ocean  was  a  wide  place 
over  which  to  keep  sentry.     The  mariners  refused  to 
pay  the  tax  which  he  imposed  ;    and  his  ineffectual 
authority  was   soon    resigned.     In    England,  the    at 
tempt  occasioned  the    severest    remonstrances,  which 
1624   did  not  fail  to  make  an  impression   on   the   ensuing 
parliament. 

The  patentees,  alike  prodigal  of  charters  and  te- 

1622  nacious    of   their  monopoly,  having    given  to  Robert 
13.'    Gorges,  the  son  of  Sir  Ferdinand,  a  patent  for  a  tract 

extending  ten  miles  on  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  thirty 

1623  miles  into  the  interior,  now  appointed  him  lieutenant- 
general    of   New    England,  with  power  "  to  restrain 
interlopers,"  not  less  than  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  the 
corporation.     His  patent  was  never  permanently  used; 
though   the   colony   at   Weymouth   was    renewed,   to 
meet  once  more  with  ill  fortune.     He  was  attended 
by  Morrell,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  who  was  provided 
with  a  commission  for  the  superintendence  of  ecclesi 
astical  affairs.       Instead  of  establishing   a  hierarchy, 
Morrell,  remaining  in    New   England    about  a    year, 
wrote  a  description  of  the  country  in  verse ;  while  the 
civil  dignity  of  Robert  Gorges  ended  in  a  short-lived 
dispute  with  Weston.    They  came  to  plant  a  hierarchy 
and  a  general  government,  and  they  produced  only  a 
fruitless  quarrel  and  a  dull  poem. 

1624  But  when  parliament  was  again  convened,  the  con 
troversy  against  the  charter  was  once  more  renewed ; 
and  the  rights  of  liberty  found  an  inflexible  champion 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  PLYMOUTH  FOR  NEW  ENGLAND.      327 

in  the  aged  Sir  Edward  Coke,  who  now  expiated  the  CHAP 
sins  of  his  early  ambition  by  devotion  to  the  interests  -^^ 
of  the  people.     It  was  in  vain  that  the  patentees  relin-  J^24 
quished    a    part   of  their    pretensions;    the   commons     17. 
resolved    that    English    fishermen    shall    have    fishing 
with  all  its  incidents.      "  Your  patent" — thus  Gorges 
was    addressed    by    Coke  from  the  speaker's  chair — 
"  contains  many  particulars  contrary  to  the  laws  and 
privileges  of   the  subject ;  it  is  a  monopoly,  and  the 
ends  of   private    gain  are    concealed    under    color  of 
planting    a    colony."     "  Shall    none,"    observed    the 
veteran  lawyer  in  debate,  "  shall  none  visit  the  sea- 
coast  for  fishing  ?     This  is  to  make  a  monopoly  upon 
the  seas,  which  wont  to  be  free.     If  you  alone  are  to 
pack  and    dry  fish,    you   attempt  a  monopoly  of   the 
wind  and  the  sun."     It  was  in  vain  for  Sir  George 
Calvert  to  resist.     The    bill    passed  without   amend 
ment,  though  it  never  received  the  royal  assent.1 

The  determined  opposition  of  the  house,  though  it 
could  not  move  the  king  to  overthrow  the  corporation, 
paralyzed  its  enterprise  ;  many  of  the  patentees  aban 
doned  their  interest ;  so  that  the  Plymouth  company 
now  did  little  except  issue  grants  of  domains ;  and 
the  cottages,  which,  within  a  few  years,  were  sprinkled 
xlong  the  coast  from  Cape  Cod  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
were  the  consequence  of  private  adventure. 

The  territory  between  the  River  of  Salem  and  the 
Kennebec  became,  in  a  great  measure,  the  property 
of  two  enterprising  individuals.  We  have  seen  that 
Martin  Pring  was  the  discoverer  of  New  Hampshire,  I60a 

i  The  original  authorities,— De-  Hist.  Coll.  i.  125 — 130 ;   Smith,  in 

bates    of  the    Commons,    1(520-1,  iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  iii.  25;    Haz- 

i.  258.  2(>0,  201.  318,  31!);  Journal  ard,  i.  151—155.     Compare  Prince, 

of  Commons,  in    Chalmers,   100—-  Morton,  Ilutdiinson,  Belknap,  and 

102,  and  103,  104  ;   Sir  F.  Gorges'  Chalmers. 
Narration ,     Morrell,    in   i.    Mass 


328  COLONIZATION    OF   NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 

CHAP,  and  that  John  Smith  of  Virginia  had  examined  and 

IX 

— ~  extolled  the  deep  waters  of  the  Piscataqua.  Sir 
1614.  Ferdinand  Gorges,  the  most  energetic  member  of  the 
council  of  Plymouth,  always  ready  to  encounter  risks 
in  the  cause  of  colonizing  America,  had  not  allowed 
repeated  ill  success  to  chill  his  confidence  and  decision  ; 
and  now  he  found  in  John  Mason,  "  who  had  been 
governor  of  a  plantation  in  Newfoundland,  a  man  of 

1621.  action,"  like  himself.     It  was  not  difficult  for  Mason, 
y^*   who  had  been  elected  an  associate  and  secretary  of 

the  council,  to  obtain  a  grant  of  the  lands  between 
Salem  River  and  the  farthest  head  of  the  Merrimac ; 
but  he  did  no  more  with  his  vast  estate  than  give  it  a 

1622.  name.     The  passion  for  land  increased;    and  Gorges 
jof   and  Mason  next  took  a  patent  for  Laconia,  the  whole 

country  between  the  sea,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Mer 
rimac,  and  the  Kennebec ;  a  company  of  English 
merchants  was  formed ;  and  under  its  auspices  per- 

1623.  manent  plantations  were  established  on  the  banks  of 
the  Piscataqua.1      Portsmouth  and  Dover  are  among 
the  oldest  towns  in  New  England.     Splendid  as  were 
the  anticipations  of  the  proprietaries,  and  lavish  as  was 
their  enthusiasm  in  liberal  expenditures,  the  immediate 
progress   of  the  plantations  was  inconsiderable,  and, 
even  as  fishing  stations,  they  do  not   seem    to   have 
prospered. 

1628.  When  the  country  on  Massachusetts  Bay  was 
granted  to  a  company,  of  which  the  zeal  and  success 
were  soon  to  overshadow  all  the  efforts  of  proprietaries 

1629  and  merchants,  it  became  expedient  for  Mason  to 
7. "  procure  a  new  patent ;  and  he  now  received  a  frtsh 

1    Gorges*    Narrative,    c.    xxiv.  ff.     Belknap's  New  Hampshire,  c.  i. 

Hubbard,  614—016.      Prince,  215.  —a    truly    valuable    work,   highly 

Adams's  Annals  of  Portsmouth,  9,  creditable  to  American  literature. 
1 0.    Williamson's  Maine,  i.  222,  and 


COLONIZATION  OF  NEW   HAMPSHIRE.  329 

title1    to   the    territory   between    the    Merrimac    and  CHAP 
Piscataqua,  in  terms  which,  in  some  degree,  interfered  ^- 
with  the  pretensions  of  his   neighbors  on  the  south. 
This  was  the  patent  for  New  Hampshire,    and   was 
pregnant  with  nothing    so    signally  as  suits    at   law. 
The  country  had  been  devastated  by  the  mutual  wars 
of  the  tribes,  and  the  same  wasting  pestilence  which 
left  New  Plymouth  a  desert ;  no  notice  seems  to  have 
been  taken  of  the  rights  of  the  natives  ;    nor  did  they 
now  issue  any  deed  of  their  lands  ;2  but  the  soil  in.  the  163( 
immediate  vicinity  of  Dover,  and  afterwards  of  Ports 
mouth,  was  conveyed  to  the  planters  themselves,  or  to  1631 
those    at   whose    expense    the    settlement    had    been 
made.3     A  favorable  impulse  was   thus  given   to  the 
little  colonies ;    and  houses  now  began  to  be  built  on 
the  "Strawberry  Bank"  of  the  Piscataqua.     But  the 
progress  of  the  town  was  slow ;    Josselyn 4  described 
the  whole  coast  as  a  mere  wilderness,  with  here  and 
there    a    few    huts    scattered    by  the    sea-side ;    and  1638 
thirty   years    after   its    settlement,   Portsmouth    made  1653 
only  the  moderate  boast  of  containing  "  between  fifty 
and  sixty  families."5 

When  the  grand  charter,  which  had  established  the  1635 
council  of  Plymouth,  was  about  to  be  revoked,  Mason 
extended    his    pretensions    to    the    Salem    River,    the 
southern  boundary  of  his   first  territory,  and  obtained 
of   the    expiring    corporation   a  corresponding  patent.    ^P"1 
There  is  room  to  believe,  that  the  king  would,  with 
out  scruple,  have  confirmed  the  grant,6  and  conferred 
upon  him  the  powers  of  government,  as  absolute  lord 
and  proprietary  ;  but  the  death  of  Mason  cut  off  all  the    N2°^' 

1  Hazard,  i.  290—293.  4  Josselyn's  Voyajros,  20. 

2  Savage   on   Winthrop,   i.  405,  5  Fanner's  Belknap,  434. 
and  tl1.  6  ibid.  431,  and  c.  li. 

3  Adams's  Portsmouth,  17-19. 

VOL.   i.       '      42 


330  COLONIZATION   OF   MAINE. 

CHAP,  hopes  which  his  family  might  have  cherished  of  territo- 
•> — ^  rial  aggrandizement  and  feudal  supremacy.  His  widow 
1038  in  vain  attempted  to  manage  the  colonial  domains; 
the  costs  exceeded  the  revenue;  the  servants  were 
ordered  to  provide  for  their  own  welfare ;  the  property 
of  the  great  landed  proprietor  was  divided  among 
them  for  the  -payment  of  arrears ;  and  Mason's  Amer 
ican  estate  was  completely  ruined.  Neither  king 
nor  proprietary  troubled  the  few  inhabitants  of  New 
Hampshire  ;  they  were  left  to  take  care  of  them 
selves — the  best  dependence  for  states,  as  well  as 
for  individuals. 

The  enterprise  of  Sir   Ferdinand    Gorges,  though 
sustained  by  stronger  expressions  of  royal  favor,  and 
continued   with    indefatigable    perseverance,  was   not 
followed  by  much  greater  success.     We  have  seen  a 
1606.  colony  established,  though  but  for  a  single  winter,  on 
the  shores  which  Pring  had  discovered,  and  Weymouth 
had  been  the  first  to  explore.     After  the  bays  of  New 
1(315.  England  had  been   more    carefully  examined    by  the 
same  daring  adventurer    who  sketched  the  first  map 
of  the  Chesapeake,  the  coast  was  regularly  visited  by 
fishermen    and    traders.       A    special    account    of  the 
country  was  one  of  the  fruits  of  Hakluyt's  inquiries, 
and  was  published  in  the  collections  of  Purchas.     At 
Winter  Harbor,  near  the  mouth  of  Saco  River,  Eng 
lishmen,  under  Richard  Vines,  again  encountered  the 
1616-7  severities  of  the  inclement  season;  and  not  long  after 
wards,  the  mutineers  of  the  crew  of  Rocraft  lived  from 
1618-9  autumn   till   spring  on   Monhegan  Island,   where   the 
1G07    colony  of  Popham  had  anchored,  and  the  ships  of  John 
1614.  Smith  had  made  their  station  during  his  visit  to  New 
England.     The  earliest  settlers,  intent  only  on  their 
immediate  objects,  hardly  aspired  after  glory ;  from  the 


COLLISION  WITH  FRANCE  ON  THE  EASTERN  FRONTIER.          331 

few  memorials  which  they  have  left,  it  is  not,  perhaps,  CHAP 
possible  to  ascertain  the  precise  time,  when  the  rude  ~^» 
shelters  of  the  fishermen  on  the  sea-coast  began  to  be  1623 
tenanted  by  permanent  inmates,  and  the  fishing  stages  1628 
of  a  summer  to  be  transformed  into  regular  establish 
ments  of  trade.1     The  first  settlement  was  probably  1020 
made  "  on  the  Maine,"  but  a  few  miles  from  Monhe- 
gan,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pemaquid.     The  first  ob 
servers  could  not    but   admire    the    noble    rivers    and 
secure  bays,  which  invited  commerce,  and  gave    the 
promise  of  future  opulence ;    but  if  hamlets  were  soon 
planted  near  the  mouths  of  the  streams ;    if  forts  were 
erected  to   protect  the   merchant,,  and  the  mariner, —   . 
agriculture  received  no  encouragement ;    and  so  many 
causes  combined  to  check  the  growth  of  the  country, 
that,  notwithstanding    its    natural    advantages,  nearly 
two  centuries  glided  away,  before  the  scattered  settle 
ments  along  the  sea-side  rose  into  a  succession  of  busy 
marts,  sustained  and  enriched  by  the  thriving  villages 
of  a  fertile  interior. 

The  settlement  at  Piscataqua  could  not  quiet  the 
ambition  of  Gorges.  As  a  Protestant  and  an  Eng 
lishman,  he  was  almost  a  bigot,  both  in  patriotism  and 
in  religion.  Unwilling  to  behold  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  and  the  French  monarch  obtain  possession  of 
the  eastern  coast  of  North  America,  his  first  act  with 
reference  to  the  territory  of  the  present  state  of  Maine 
was,  to  invite  the  Scottish  nation  to  become  the 

1  For  the  early  history  of  Maine,  elaborate  and  most  minute  work 
the  original  authorities  are  in  Pur-  of  VVilliar.ison.  I  have  also  de- 
chas,  vol.  iv. ;  the  Relation  of  the  rived  advantage  from  Geo.  Folsom'a 
President  and  Council  for  New  Saco  and  Biddeford,  and  VV.  VVil- 
Bngland  ;  Josselyn's  Voyages  ;  and  lis's  Portland.  Williamson,  i.  227, 
the  Narration  which  Gorges  him-  describes  Saco  as  a  permanent  set- 
self  composed  in  his  old  age.  Ma-  tlement  in  1(J3.'{;  I  incline  rather  to 
i.erials  may  he  found  also  in  Snlli-  the  opinion  of  Willis  and  Folsom. 
van's  History  ,  and  far  better  in  the 


332        COLLISION   WITH   FRANCE   ON  THE   EASTERN  FRONTIER.    . 

CHAP,  guardians  of  its  frontier.  Sir  William  Alexander,  the 
ambitious  writer  of  turgid  rhyming  tragedies,  a  man 
of  influence  with  King  James,  and  already  filled  with 
the  desire  of  engaging  in  colonial  adventure,  seconded 
a  design,  which  promised  to  establish  his  personal 
.dignity  and  interest;  and  he  obtained,  without  diffi- 

1621   culi\,  a  patent  for  all  the  territory  east  of  the  River 

iQt     St.   Croix,  and  south  of  the   St.   Lawrence.1      The 

whole  region,  which  had  already  been  included  in  the 

French  provinces  of  Acadia  and   New  France,  was 

designated    in    English    geography  by   tho    name    oi 

Nova  Scotia.       Thus  were  the  seeds  of  future  wars 

.    scattered  broadcast    by  the   unreasonable    pretensions 

of  England  ;  for  James  now  gave  away  lands,  which, 

1603.  already  and  with  a  better  title  on  the  ground  of  dis 
covery,  had  been  granted  by  Henry  IV.  of  France, 
and  which  had  been  immediately  occupied  by  his 
subjects ;  nor  could  it  be  supposed,  that  the  reigning 
French  monarch  would  esteem  his  rights  to  his  rising 
colonies  invalidated  by  a  parchment  under  the  Scottish 
seal,  or  prove  himself  so  forgetful  of  honor,  as  to  dis 
continue  the  protection  of  the  emigrants  who  had 
planted  themselves  in  America  on  the  faith  of 
the  crown.2 

Yet    immediate    attempts    were    made    to    effect   a 

J622.  Scottish  settlement.  One  ship,  despatched  for  the 
purpose,  did  but  come  in  sight  of  the  shore,  and  then, 
declining  the  perilous  glory  of  colonization,  returned 
to  the  permanent  fishing  station  on  Newfoundland, 

1 023.  The  next  spring,  a  second  ship  arrived;  but  the  two 
vessels  in  company  hardly  possessed  courage  to  sail  to 
and  fro  along  the  coast,  and  make  a  partial  survey  oi 

1  The  patent  is  in  Hazard,  v.  i.     tion,  c.  xxiv ;   Lamg's  Scotland,  iii 
p.    j:J4 — 1 4;>;  m  Purchas,  v.  iv.  p.     477. 
1871.     See,    also.  Gorges'   Narra-        2  Chalmers,  92. 


PASSION  OF  BUCKINGHAM  FOR  THE  QUEEN  OF  FRANCE.    333 

the  harbors  and  the  adjacent  lands.      The  formation  CHIP 
of  a  colony  was  postponed ;  and  a  brilliant  eulogy  of  — ^ 
the  soil,  climate,  and  productions  of  Nova  Scotia,  was 
the  only  compensation  for  the  delay.1 

The  marriage  of  Charles  I.  with  Henrietta  Maria  1625 
promised  between  the  rival  claimants  of  the  wilds  of 
Acadia  such  friendly  relations  as  would  lead  to  a 
peaceful  adjustment  of  jarring  pretensions.  Yet,  even 
at  that  period,  the  claims  of  France  were  not  recog 
nized  by  England ;  and  a  new  patent  confirmed  to 
Sir  William  Alexander  all  the  prerogatives  with 
which  he  had  been  lavishly  invested,2  with  the  right  of 
creating  an  order  of  baronets.  The  sale  of  titles 
proved  to  the  poet  a  lucrative  traffic,  and  the  project 
of  a  colony  was  abandoned. 

The  citizens  of  a  republic  are  so  accustomed  to  see 
the  legislation  and  the  destinies  of  their  country  con 
trolled  only  by  public  opinion,  as  formed  and  expressed 
in  masses,  that  they  can  hardly  believe  the  extent  in 
which  the  fortunes  of  European  nations  have,  at  least 
for  a  short  season,  been  moulded  by  the  caprices  of  indi 
viduals  :  how  often  the  wounded  vanity  of  a  courtier, 
or  an  unsuccessful  passion  of  a  powerful  minister,  has 
changed  the  foreign  relations  of  a  kingdom !  The 
feeble  monarch  of  England,  having  twice  abruptly 
dissolved  parliament,  'and  having  vainly  resorted  to 
illegal  modes  of  taxation,  had  forfeited  the  confidence 
of  his  people,  and,  while  engaged  in  a  war  with  Spain, 
was  destitute  of  money  and  of  credit.  It  was  at  such 
a  moment,  that- the  precipitate  gallantry  of  the  favorite  1627 
Buckingham,  eager  to  thwart  the  jealous  Richelieu, 
to  whom  he  was  as  far  inferior  in  the  qualities  of  a 

1  Purchas's  Pilgrims,  iv.  1872.    Charlevoix,  i.  274.    De  Laet  62. 

2  Hazard,  i.  2CKJ,  and  ff.     Biog.  Brit,  sub  voce  Alexander. 


334  EARLY  CONQUEST  OF  CANADA. 

CHAP,  statesman,  as  he  was  superior  in  youth,  manners,  and 
— *-^  personal  beauty,  hurried  England  into  an  unnecessary 
and  disastrous  conflict  with  France.  The  siege  of 
Rochelle  invited  the  presence  of  an  English  fleet ;  but 
the  expedition  was  fatal  to  the  honor  and  the  objects 
of  Buckingham. 

o 

Hostilities  were    no  where    successfully  attempted; 

1628.  except  in  America.  Port  Royal  fell  easily  into  the 
hands  of  the  English ;  the  conquest  was  no  more  than 
the  acquisition  of  a  small  trading  station.  It  was  a 
bolder  design  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  Canada. 
Sir  David  Kirk  and  his  two  brothers,  Louis  and 
Thomas,  were  commissioned  to  ascend  the  St.  Law 
rence,  and  Quebec  received  a  summons  to  surrender. 
The  garrison,  destitute  alike  of  provisions  and  of 
military  stores,  had  no  hope  but  in  the  character  of 
Champlain,  its  commander:  his  answer  of  proud 
defiance  concealed  his  weakness  ;  and  the  intimidated 

1629  assailants  withdrew.  But  Richelieu  sent  no  season 
able  supplies  ;  the  garrison  was  reduced  to  extreme 
suffering  and  the  verge  of  famine  ;  and  when  the 
squadron  of  Kirk  reappeared  before  the  town,  the 
English  were  welcomed  as  deliverers.  Favorable 
terms  were  demanded  and  promised ;  and  Quebec 
capitulated.  Thus  did  England,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  years  before  the  enterprise  of  Wolfe,  make  the 
conquest  of  the  capital  of  New  France  ;  that  is  to 
say,  she  gained  possession  of  a  barren  rock  and  a  few 
wretched  hovels,  tenanted  by  a  hundred  miserable 
men,  who  were  now  but  beggars  for  bread  of  their 
vanquishers.  Yet  the  event  might  fairly  be  deemed 
of  importance,  as  pregnant  with  consequences  ;  and 
the  English  admiral  could  not  but  admire  the  position 
of  the  fortress.  Not  a  port  in  North  America  remained 


RESTORATION    OF   CANADA   AND   ACAD1A   TO   FRANCE.  335 

to  the  French  :  from  Long;  Island  to  the  Pole,  England  CHAP 

IX 

was  without  a  rival.1  ^— 

But  before  the  conquest  of  Canada  was  achieved, 
peace  had  been  proclaimed  between  the  contending 
states ;  and  an  article  in  the  treaty  promised  the 
restitution  of  all  acquisitions,  made  subsequent  to 
Apiil  14,  1629.2  The  possession  of  New  France 
would  have  been  too  dearly  purchased  by  the  vileness 
of  falsehood ;  and  it  was  readily  agreed  to  restore 
Quebec.3  Perhaps  an  indifference  to  the  issue  pre 
vailed  in  France ;  but  the  pride  of  honor  and  of  reli 
gion  seconded  the  claims  to  territory  ;  and  the  genius 
of  Richelieu  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  restitution.  1632 
not  of  Canada  only,  but  of  Cape  Breton  and  the  %£' 
undefined  Acadia.4  The  event  has  been  frequently 
deplored ;  but  misery  ensued,  because  neither  the 
boundaries  of  the  rival  nations  were  distinctly  marked, 
nor  the  spirit  of  the  compact  honestly  respected. 

While  the  eastern  provinces  of  America  were  thus 
recovered  by  the  firmness  and  ability  of   the  French 
minister,  very  different  causes  delayed  the  colonization 
of  Maine.     Hardly   had    the    little    settlement,  which 
claimed  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest  plantation  io'28 
on  that  coast,  gained   a   permanent  existence,  before 
a  succession  of  patents  distributed  the  whole  territory 
from  the  Piscataqua  to  the  Penobscot  among  various 
proprietors.        The    grants   were    couched    in    vague  1629 
language,  and  were  made  in  hasty  succession,  without  l^l 
deliberation  on  the  part  of  the  council  of  Plymouth, 
and  without  any  firm  purpose  of  establishing  colonies 

*  M£moires,  in  Hazard,  i.  285 —        4  Charlevoix,  i.  176.     Winthrop, 

287.      Charlevoix,    i.   165,  and   ff.  i.  13.     Hazard,  i.  319,  320.     Wil- 

Compare,  also,  Haliburton's  N.  Sco-  liamson,   i.  246,    247.      Dummer'a 

tia,  i.  43.  46,  &c.  Memorial,  in  iii.  M.  H.  Coll.  i.  232, 

2  Rushworth,  ii.  24.  is  an  ex  pnrte  statement,  unworthy 

3  Hazard,  i.  314,  315.  to  be  cited  as  of  authority. 


336  COLONIZATION   OF  MAINE. 

CHAP,  on  the  part  of  those  for  whose  benefit  they  were 
— : -^  issued.  The  consequences  were  obvious.  As  the 
neighborhood  of  the  indefinite  possessions  of  France 
foreboded  the  border  feuds  of  a  controverted  jurisdic 
tion,  so  the  domestic  disputes  about  land-titles  and 
boundaries  threatened  perpetual  lawsuits.  At  the  same 
time,  enterprise  was  wasted  by  its  diffusion  over  too 
wide  a  surface.  Every  harbor  along  the  sea  was 
accessible  ;  groups  of  cabins  were  scattered  at  wide 
intervals,  without  any  common  point  of  attraction  ;  and 
the  agents  of  such  proprietaries  as  aimed  at  securing 
a  revenue  from  colonial  rents,  were  often,  perhaps, 
faithless,  were  always  unsuccessful.  How  feeble 
were  the  attempts  at  planting  towns,  is  evident  from 
the  nature  of  the  tenure  by  which  the  lands  near  the 
Saco  were  held  ;  the  condition  of  the  grant  was  the 
introduction  of  fifty  settlers  within  seven  years  !  Ag 
riculture  was  hardly  attempted.  A  district  of  forty 
miles  square,  named  Lygonia,  and  stretching  from 
K)30  Harpswell  to  the  Kennebunk,  was  set  apart  for  the 
first  colony  of  farmers  ;  but  when  a  vessel  of  sixty 
tons  brought  over  the  emigrants  who  were  to  intro 
duce  the  plough  into  the  regions  on  Casco  Bay,  the 
earlier  resident  adventurers  treated  their  scheme  with 
derision.  The  musket  and  the  hook  and  line  were 
more  productive  than  the  implements  of  husbandry  ; 
the  few  members  of  the  unsuccessful  company  re 
mained  but  a  single  year  in  a  neighborhood  where 
the  culture  of  the  soil  was  so  little  esteemed,  and, 
embarking  once  more,  sought  a  home  among  thu 
rising  settlements  of  Massachusetts.  Except  for  the 
wealth  to  be  derived  from  the  forest  and  the  sea,  the 
coast  of  Maine  would  not  at  that  time  have  been  ten 
anted  by  Englishmen  ;  and  this  again  was  fatal  to  the 


COLONIZATION   OF  MAINE.  337 

expectations  of  the  proprietaries  ;  since  furs  might  be  CHAP 
gathered  and  fish  taken  without  the  payment  of  quit-  ^-^ 
rents  or  the  purchase  of  lands.1 

Yet  a  pride  of  character  sustained  in  Gorges  an  1035 
unbending  hope  ;  and  he  clung  to  the  project  of  ter-  3,  * 
iitorial  aggrandizement.  When  Mason  limited  him 
self  to  the  country  west  of  the  Piscataqua,  and  while 
Sir  William  Alexander  obtained  of  the  Plymouth  com 
pany  a  patent  for  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  United 
States,  Gorges,  alike  undismayed  by  previous  losses, 
and  by  the  encroaching  claims  of  the  French,  who  had 
already  advanced  their  actual  boundary  to  the  Penob- 
scot,  succeeded  in  soliciting  the  whole  district  that 
lies  between  the  Kennebec  and  the  boundary  of  New 
Hampshire.  The  earnestness  of  his  designs  is  ap 
parent  from  his  appointment  as  governor-general  of 
New  England.  If  an  unforeseen  accident  prevented 
his  embarkation  for  America,  and  relieved  Massachu 
setts  of  its  apprehensions,  he  at  least  sent  his  nephew, 
William  Gorges,  to  govern  his  territory.  That  ofiicer 
repaired  to  the  province  without  delay.  Saco  may 
have  contained  one  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants, 
when  the  first  court  ever  duly  organized  on  the  soil  of  1636 
Maine  was  held  within  its  limits.2  Before  that  time, 
there  may  have  been  some  voluntary  combinations 
among  the  settlers  themselves  ;  but  there  had  existed 
on  the  Kennebec  no  jurisdiction  of  sufficient  power  to 
prevent  or  to  punish  bloodshed  among  the  traders.3 
William  Gorges  remained  in  the  country  less  than  two 
years;  the  six  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  and. Con-  1637 
necticut,  who  received  a  commission  to  act  as  his 

l  Hubbard's  Narrative, 204.   Wil-  2  Documents  in  Foleom,  49 — 52. 

lis,  13.   17,  «fec.     Folsom,  318,  &c.  Josselyn,  200. 

Williamscta,  i.  237,  and  ff.     Gorges,  3  Hubbard.  107, 168.    Winthrop. 
48,49. 

VOL.    I.  43 


338  COLONIZATION   OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  successors,  declined  the  trust,1  and  the  infant  settle- 

IX. 

^v^-  ments  then  called  New  Somersetshire  were  aban- 
1038  doned  to  anarchy,  or  to  so  imperfect  a  government, 
1640.  that  of  the  events  of  two  years  no  records  can 

be  found. 
1(539        Meantime  a  royal  charter  now  constituted  Gorges, 

A        "l 

&  in  his  old  age,  the  lord  proprietary  of  the  country ; 
and  his  ambition  immediately  soared  to  the  honor  of 
establishing  boroughs,  framing  schemes  of  colonial 
government,  and  enacting  a  code  of  laws.  The  vet 
eran  royalist,  clearly  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a 
vigorous  executive,  had  but  dim  conceptions  of  popular 
liberty  and  rights ;  and  he  busied  himself  in  making 
such  arrangements  as  might  have  been  expected  from 
an  old  soldier,  who  was  never  remarkable  for  sagacity, 
had  never  seen  America,  and  who,  now  in  his  dotage, 
began  to  act  as  a  lawgiver  for  a  rising  state  in 
another  hemisphere.2 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  settlements  at  the 
north  at  a  time  when  the  region  which  lies  but  a 
little  nearer  the  sun,  was  already  converted,  by  the 
energy  of  religious  zeal,  into  a  busy,  well-organized, 
and  even  opulent  state.  The  early  history  of  Massa 
chusetts  is  the  history  of  a  class  of  men  as  remarkable 
for  their  qualities  and  their  influence  on  public  hap 
piness,  as  any  by  which  the  human  race  has  ever  been 
diversified. 

1024.       The    settlement   near  Weymouth  was   revived;    a 
10S5.  new  plantation  was    begun    near   Mount   Wollaston, 
within  the  present  limits  of  Quincy;    and  the  mer 
chants   of  the  West   continued  their  voyages  to  the 
islands  of  New  England.     But  these  things  were  of 

l  Winthrop.    Hubbard,  2G1,  262.     Williamson,  i.  2G8. 
a  Gorges,  50,  and  S. 


COLONIZATION    OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  339 

feeble  influence  compared  with  the  consequences  of  CHAP 
the  attempt  at  a  permanent  establishment  near  Cape  —"— 
Ann;    for  White,  a  minister  of  Dorchester,  a  Puritan,  1G^4 
but  riot   a  separatist,  breathed    into  the  enterprise  a 
higher    principle    than    that   of   the    desire    of    gain. 
Roger  Conant,  having  already  left  New  Plymouth  for 
Nantasket,  through  a  brother  in  England,  who  was  a 
friend  of  White,  obtained  the  agency  of  the  adventure.  1625 
A  year's  experience  proved  to  the  company,  that  their 
speculation  must  change  its  form,  or  it  would  produce 
no  results ;  the  merchants,  therefore,  paid  with  honest 
liberality  all  the  persons   whom  they  had   employed, 
and  abandoned  the  unprofitable  scheme.     But  Conant, 
a  man  of  extraordinary  vigor,  "  inspired  as  it  were  by 
some  superior   instinct,"  and  confiding  in  the  active 
friendship  of  White,  succeeded  in  breathing  a  portion  1626 
of  his  sublime  courage  into  his  three  companions ;  and, 
making   choice    of   Salem,  as   opening    a  convenient 
place  of  refuge  for  the  exiles  for  religion,  they  resolved 
to  remain  .as  the  sentinels  of  Puritanism  on  the  Bay  of 
Massachusetts.1 

The  design  of  a  plantation  was  now  ripening  in  the 
mind  of  White  and  his  associates  in  the  south-west  of 
England.  About  the  same  time,  some  friends  in  Lin 
colnshire  fell  into  discourse  about  New  England  ;  im- 
agination  swelled  with  the  thought  of  planting  the 
pure  gospel  among  the  quiet  shades  of  America ;  it 
seemed  better  to  depend  on  the  benevolence  of  uncul 
tivated  nature  and  the  care  of  Providence,  than  to 
endure  the  constraints  of  the  English  laws  and  the 
severities  of  the  English  hierarchy. 


i  Hubbfird,  102.  10G-108.     Prince,  224.  229.  231.  235,  236      Cot 
ton  Mather,  b.  i.  c.  iv.  a.  3. 


;540  COLONIZATION  or  MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP.  "  The  business  caine  afresh  to  agitation  "  in  Lon- 
— ^  don;  the  project  of  planting  by  the  help  of  fishing 
1628.  voyages  was  given  up;  and  from  London,  Lincoln 
shire,  and  the  west  country,  men  of  fortune  and 
religious  zeal,  merchants  and  country  gentlemen,  the 
discreeter  sort  among  the  many  who  desired  a  refor 
mation  in  church  government,  "  offered  the  help  of 
their  purses"  to  advance  "the  glory  of  God,"  by 
planting  a  colony  of  the  best  of  their  countrymen, 
on  the  shores  of  New  England.  To  facilitate  the 
grant  of  a  charter  from  the  crown,  'they  sought  the 
concurrence  of  the  Council  of  Plymouth  for  New 
England ;  they  were  befriended  in  their  application  by 
the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  obtained  the  approbation 
of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  ;  and  on  the  nineteenth  of 
March,  1628,  that  body,  which  had  proved  itself 
incapable  of  colonizing  its  domain,  and  could  derive 
revenue  only  from  sales  of  territory,  disregarding  a 
former  grant  of  a  large  district  on  the  Charles 
River,  conveyed  to  Sir  Henry  Roswell,  Sir  John 
Young,  Thomas  Southcoat,  John  Humphrey,  John 
Endicott,  and  Simon  Whetcomb,  a  belt  of  land  ex 
tending  three  miles  south  of  the  River  Charles  and 
the  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  three  miles  north  of 
every  part  of  the  River  Merriinac,  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  ocean.  The  grantees  associated  to 
themselves  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  Isaac  Johnson, 
Matthew  Cradock,  Increase  Nowell,  Richard  Belling- 
hain,  Theophilus  Eaton,  William  Pynchon  and  others ; 
of  whom  nearly  all  united  religious  zeal  with  a  ca 
pacity  for  vigorous  action.  Endicott — who,  "  ever 
since  the  Lord  in  mercy  had  revealed  himself  unto 
him,"  had  maintained  the  straitest  judgment  against 
the  outward  form  of  God's  worship,  as  prescribed  by 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  «'U  I 

English,  statutes ;  a  man  of  dauntless  courage,  and  that  CHA-P. 
cheerfulness  which  accompanies  courage ;  benevolent,  — <~~ 
though  austere;  firm,  though  choleric;  of  a  rugged  1G28 
nature,  which  his  stern  principles  of  non-conformity 
had  not  served  to  mellow — was  selected  as. a  "fit  in 
strument  to  begin  this  wilderness  work."  Before  June 
came  to  an  end  he  was  sent  over  as  governor,  assisted 
by  a  few  men,  having  his  wife  and  family  for  the 
companions  of  his  voyage,  the  hostages  of  his  irrevo 
cable  attachment  to  the  New  World.  Arriving  in 
safety  in  September,  he  united  his  own  party  and 
those  who  were  formerly  planted  there,  into  one  body, 
which  counted  in  all  not  much  above  fifty  or  sixty 
persons.  With  these  he  founded  the  oldest  town  in 
the  colony,  soon  to  be  called  Salem ;  and  extended 
some  supervision  over  the  waters  of  Boston  harbor, 
then  called  Massachusetts  Bay.  At  Charlestown  an 
Englishman,  one  Thomas  Walford,  a  blacksmith,  dwelt 
in  a  thatched  and  palisaded  cabin.  William  Black- 
stone,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  a  courteous  recluse, 
gifted  with  the  impatience  of  restraint  which  belongs 
to  the  pioneer,  had  planted  himself  on  the  opposite 
peninsula  ;  the  island  now  known  as  East  Boston  was 
occupied  by  Samuel  Maverick,  son  of  a  pious  noncon 
formist  minister  of  the  West  of  England,  himself  a 
prelatist.  At  Nantasket  and  further  south,  stragglers 
lingered  near  the  sea  side,  attracted  by  the  gains  of 
a  fishing  station  and  a  petty  trade  in  beaver.  The 
Puritan  ruler  visited  in  person  the  remains  of  Morton's 
unruly  company  in  what  is  now  Quincy,  rebuked  them, 
for  their  profane  revels,  and  admonished  them,  "  to 
look  there  should  be  better  walking." 

After  the  departure  of  the  emigrant  ship  from 
England,  the  company,  counselled  by  White,  an  erni- 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 


nent  lawyer,  and  supported  by  the  time-serving  cour- 
^—  tier,  Lord  Dorchester,  better  known  as  Sir  Dudley 
°28-  Carleton,  who,  in  December,  became  Secretary  of 
State,  obtained  from  the  king  a  confirmation  of  their 
grant.  It  was  obviously  the  only  way  to  secure  the 
country  as  a  part  of  his  dominions  ;  for  the  Dutch 
were  already  trading  in  the  Connecticut  river  ;  the 
French  claimed  New  England,  as  within  tne  limits  of 
New  France;  and  the  prelatical  party,  which  had 
endeavored  again  and  again  to  colonize  the  coast,  had 
tried  only  to  fail.  Before  the  news  reached  London 
of  Endicott's  safe  arrival,  the  number  of  adventurers 
102  9.  was  much  enlarged;  on  the  second  of  March,  1629, 
an  offer  of  "  Boston  men,"  that  promised  good  to  the 
plantation,  was  accepted  ;  and  on  the  fourth  of  the 
same  month,  a  few  days  only  before  Charles  I.,  in  a 
public  state  paper,  avowed  his  purpose  of  reigning 
without  a  parliament,  the  broad  seal  of  England  was 
put  to  the  letters  patent  for  Massachusetts. 

The  charter,  which  was  cherished  for  more  than 
half  a  century  as  the  most  precious  boon,  constituted  a 
body  politic  by  the  name  of  the  Governor  and  Com 
pany  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England.  The 
administration  of  its  affairs  was  intrusted  to  a  gov 
ernor,  deputy,  and  eighteen  assistants,  who  were  annu 
ally,  on  the  last  Wednesday  of  Easter  term,  to  be 
elected  by  the  freemen  or  mernbeis  of  the  corporation, 
and  to  meet  once  a  month  or  oftener  "  for  despatching 
such  businesses  as  concerned  the  company  or  planta 
tion."  Four  times  a  year  the  governor,  assL>  cants,  and 
all  the  freemen  were  to  be  summoned  to  "  one  great, 
general,  and  solemn  assembly,"  and  these  "  great  and 
general  courts  "  were  invested  with  full  powers  to 
choose  and  admit  into  the  company  so  many  as  they 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  343 

slioulcl  think  fit,  to  elect  and  constitute  all  requisite  CHAP 
subordinate  officers,  and  to  make  laws  and  ordinances  <• — *^~ 
for  the  welfare  of  the  company  and  for  the  govern-  1639- 
ment  of  the  lands  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  planta 
tion,  "  so  as  such  laws  and  ordinances  be  not  contrary 
and  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the  realm 
of  England." 

"  The  principle  and  foundation  of  the  charter  of 
Massachusetts,"  wrote  Charles  the  Second  at  a  time 
when  he  had  Clarendon  for  his  adviser,  "  was  the  free 
dom  of  liberty  of  conscience."  The  governor,  or  his 
deputy,  or  two  of  the  assistants,  was  empowered,  but 
not  required,  to  administer  the  oaths  of  supremacy 
and  allegiance  to  every  person  who  should  go  to  in 
habit  the  granted  lands  ;  and  as  the  statutes,  estab 
lishing  the  common  prayer  and  spiritual  courts,  did 
not  reach  beyond  the  realm,  the  silence  of  the  charter 
respecting  them  released  the  colony  from  their  bind 
ing  power.  The  English  government  did  not  foresee 
how  wide  a  departure  from  English  usages  would 
grow  out  of  the  emigration  of  Puritans  to  America ; 
but  as  conformity  was  not  required  of  the  new  com 
monwealth,  the  character  of  the  times  was  a  guaranty, 
that  the  immense  majority  of  emigrants  would  be 
fugitives  who  scrupled  compliance  with  the  common 
prayer.  The  prelatical  party  had  no  motive  to  emi 
grate  ;  it  was  Puritanism,  almost  alone,  that  would 
pass,  over ;  and  freedom  of  Puritan  worship  was 
necessarily  the  purpose  and  the  result  of  the  colony. 
The  proceedings  of  the  company,  moreover,  did  not 
fall  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  king,  and 
did  not  require  his  assent  to  render  them  valid  ;  so 
that  self-direction  in  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil  af- 
feurs,  passed  to  the  patentees,  subject  only  to  conflicts 


344  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  with  the  undefined  prerogative  of  the  king,  and  the 
^~r^  rising  claim  to  paramount  legislative  authority  by 
U29.  Parliament. 

The  company  was  authorized  to  transport  to  its 
American  territory  any  persons,  whether  English  or 
foreigners,  who  would  go  willingly,  would  become 
lieges  of  the  English  king,  and  were  not  restrained 
"  by  especial  name ; "  and  they  were  encouraged  to  do 
so  by  a  promise  of  favor  to  the  commerce  of  the  col 
ony  with  foreign  parts,  and  a  total  or  partial  exemp 
tion  from  duties  for  seven  and  for  twenty-one  years. 
If  the  pretension  to  a  right  of  imposing  duties  after 
that  limited  time  was  not  renounced,  it  was  at  least 
declared,  that  the  emigrants  and  their  posterity  should 
ever  be  considered  as  natural  born  subjects,  entitled 
to  all  English  liberties  and  immunities. 

The  political  rights  of  the  colonists  were  deemed 
by  King  Charles  no  further  worthy  of  his  consider 
ation  ;  the  corporate  body  alone  was  to  decide  what 
liberties  they  should  enjoy.  All  ordinances  published 
under  its  seal  were  to  be  implicitly  obeyed.  Full 
legislative  and  executive  authority  was  conferred,  not 
on  the  future  inhabitants  of  New  England,  but  on  the 
company,  of  which  the  emigrants  could  not  be  active 
members  so  long  as  its  meetings  were  held  in  England. 
Yet,  as  if  by  design,  the  place  for  holding  its  courts 
was  not  specially  appointed.  What  if  the  corporation 
should  admit  the  emigrants  to  be  freemen,  and  call  a 
meeting  beyond  the  Atlantic  ?  "What  if  the  Governor, 
deputy,  assistants,  and  freemen,  should  transfer  them 
selves  and  their  patent  to  Massachusetts,  and  after 
thus  breaking  down  the  distinction  between  the  col 
ony  and  the  corporation,  by  a  daring  construction  of 
their  powers  under  the  charter  erect  an  independent 
representative  government  ? 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  345 

The  charter  had  been  granted  in  March  ;  in  April,  CHAP. 
the  new  embarkation  was  far  advanced.     The  local  — *-~ 
government  temporarily  established  for  Massachusetts  1 6  2  9< 
was  to  consist  of  a  governor  and  counsellors,  of  whom 
eight  out  of  thirteen  were  appointed  by  the  corpora 
tion  in  England ;  three  were  to  be  named  by  these 
eight ;  and  to  complete  the  number,  the  old  planters 
who  intended  to  remain,  were  "  to  choose  two  of  the 
discreetest  men  among  themselves." 

As  the  propagating  the  gospel  was,  by  the 
free  profession  of  the  company,  their  aim  in  settling 
the  plantation,  they  were  careful  to  make  plentiful 
provision  of  godly  ministers  ;  all  "  of  one  judgment, 
and  fully  agreed  on  the  manner  how  to  exercise  their 
ministry."  One  of  them,  was  Samuel  Skelton,  of  Clare 
Hall,  Cambridge,  from  whose  faithful  preachings  En- 
dicott  formerly  received  much  good  ;  a  friend  to  the 
utmost  equality  of  privileges  in  church  and  state ; 
another  was  the  able,  reverend,  and  grave  Francis 
Higginson,  of  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  commended 
for  his  worth  by  Isaac  Johnson,  the  friend  of  Hamp- 
den.  Deprived  of  his  parish  in  Leicester  for  noncon 
formity,  he  received  the  invitation  to  conduct  the 
emigrants  as  a  call  from  Heaven. 

Two  other  ministers  were  added,  that  there  might 
be  enough,  not  only  to  build  up  those  of  the  English 
nation,  but  also  to  "  wynne  the  natives  to  the  Christian 
faith."  "  If  any  of  the  salvages  " — such  were  the  in 
structions  to  Endicott,  uniformly  followed  under  the 
succeeding  changes  of  government — "  pretend  right 
of  inheritance  to  all  or  any  part  of  the  lands  granted 
in  our  patent,  endeavor  to  purchase  their  tytle,  that 
we  may  avoid  the  least  scruple  of  intrusion."  "  Par 
ticularly  publish  that  no  wrong  or  injury  be  offered  to 


346  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  the  natives."  In  pious  sincerity  the  company  desired 
— C— '  to  redeem  these  wrecks  of  human  nature ;  the  colony 
1 6  2  9>  seal  was  an  Indian  erect,  with  an  arrow  in  his  risrht 

/  o 

hand,  and  the  motto,  "  Come  over  and  help  us  " — a  de 
vice  of  which  the  appropriateness  has  been  lost  by  the 
modern  substitution  of  the  line  of  Algernon  Sydney. 

The  party  who  took  passage  for  Salem  included  six 
shipwrights,  and  an  experienced  surveyor,  who  was  to 
give  advice  on  the  proper  site  for  a  fortified  town,  and 
with  Samuel  Sharpe,  master  gunner  of  ordnance,  was 
to  muster  all  such  as  lived  under  the  government,  both 
planters  and  servants,  and  at  appointed  times  to  exer 
cise  them  in  the  use  of  arms.  A  great  store  of  cattle, 
horses,  and  goats  was  put  on  shipboard.  Before  sail 
ing,  servants  of  ill  life  were  discharged.  u  No  idle 
drone  may  live  amongst  us,"  was  the  spirit  as  well  as 
the  law  of  the  dauntless  community.  As  Higginson 
and  his  companions  were  receding  from  the  Land's 
end,  he  called  his  children  and  others  around  him  to 
look  for  the  last  time  on  their  native  country,  not  as 
the  scene  of  sufferings  from  intolerance,  but  as  the 
home  of  their  fathers,  and  the  dwellingplace  of  their 
friends.  They  did  not  say,  "  Farewell,  Babylon !  fare 
well,  Koine ! "  but  "  Farewell,  dear  England  !"  On  the 
voyage  they  "  constantly  served -God,  morning  and 
evening,  by  reading  and  expounding  a  chapter  in  the 
bible,  singing  and  prayer."  On  "  the  sabbath  they 
added  preaching  twice,  and  catechising  ;  "  and  twice 
they  "  faithfully  "  kept  "  solemn  fasts."  The  passage 
was  " ;  ious  and  christianlike,"  for  even  "  the  ship 
master  and  his  religious  company  set  their  eight  and 
twelve  o'clock  watches  with  singing  a  psalm  and  with 
prayer  that  was  not  read  out  of  a  book." 

In  the  last  days  of  June,  the  little  band  of  two 


COLONIZATION    OF   MASSACHUSETTS.  347 

hundred  arrived  at  Salem,  where  conscience  was  no  CHAP. 
more   to   be    wounded  by  the  "  corruptions  of  the  — *-*- 
English  church."     They  found  eight   or  ten  pitiful  1G29* 
hovels,  one  larger  tenement  for  the  governor,  and  a 
few  corn-fields  as  the  only  proofs  that  they  had  been 
preceded  by  their  countrymen.      The  old  and  new 
planters,   without    counting    women    and    children, 
formed  a  body  of  about  three  hundred,  of  whom  the 
larger  part  were  "  godly  Christians,  helped  hither  by 
Isaac  Johnson  and  other  members  of  the  company,  to 
be  employed  in  their  work  for  a  while,  and  then  to 
live  of  themselves." 

To  anticipate  the  intrusion  of  John  Oldharn,  who 
was  minded  to  settle  himself  on  Boston  Bay,  pretend 
ing  a  title  to  much  land  there  by  a  grant  from  Robert 
Gorges,  Endicott  with  all  speed  sent  a  large  party, 
accompanied  by  a  minister,  to  occupy  Charlestown. 
On  the  neck  of  land,  which  was  full  of  stately  tim 
ber,  with  the  leave  of  Sagamore  John,  the  petty  chief 
who  claimed  dominion  over  it,  Graves,  the  surveyor, 
employed  some  of  the  servants  of  the  company  in 
building  a  "  great  house,"  and  modelled  and  laid  out 
the  form  of  the  town  with  streets  about  the  hill. 

To  the  European  world,  the  few  tenants  of  the 
huts  and  cabins  at  Salem  were  too  insignificant  to 
merit  notice ;  to  themselves,  they  were  chosen  emis 
saries  of  God ;  outcasts  from  England,  yet  favorites 
with  Heaven ;  destitute  of  security,  of  convenient 
food,  and  of  shelter,  and  yet  blessed  as  instruments 
selected  to  light  in  the  wilderness  the  beacon  of  pure 
religion.  The  emigrants  were  not  so  much  a  body 
politic,  as  a  church  in  the  wilderness ;  seeking,  under 
a  visible  covenant,  to  have  fellowship  with  God,  as  a 
family  of  adopted  sons. 


348  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 


CHAP.  "  The  governor  was  moved  to  set  apart  the  twenti- 
^— '  eth  of  July  to  be  a  solemn  day  of  humiliation,  for  the 
1629.  caoyce  of  a  pastor  and  teacher  at  Salem."  After  pray 
er  and  preaching,  "  the  persons  thought  on,"  presenting 
no  claim  founded  on  their  ordination  in  England,  ac 
knowledged  a  twofold  calling ;  the  inward,  which  is  of 
God, who  moves  the  heart  and  bestows  fit  gifts  ;  the  out 
ward,  which  is  from  a  company  of  believers  joined  in 
covenant,  and  allowing  to  every  member  a  free  voice 
in  the  election  of  its  officers.  The  vote  was  then  taken 
by  each  one's  writing  in  a  note  the  name  of  his  choice. 
Such  is  the  origin  of  the  use  of  the  ballot  on  this  con 
tinent;  in  this  manner  Skelton  was  chosen  pastor 
and  Higginson  teacher.  Three  or  four  of  the  gravest 
members  of  the  church  then  laid  their  hands  on 
Skelton  with  prayer,  and  in  like  manner  on  Hig 
ginson  ;  so  that  "  these  two  blessed  servants  of  the 
!Lord  came  in  at  the  door  and  not  at  the  window ;"  by 
the  act  of  the  congregation  and  not  by  the  authority 
of  a  prelate.  A  day  in  August  was  appointed  for  the 
election  of  ruling  elders  and  deacons.  Thus  the 
church,  like  that  of  Plymouth,  was  self-constituted,  on 
the  principle  of  the  independence  of  each  religious 
community.  It  did  not  ask  the  assent  of  the  king,  or 
recognize  him  as  its  head ;  its  officers  were  set  apart 
and  ordained  among  themselves  ;  it  used  no  liturgy ; 
it  rejected  unnecessary  ceremonies,  and  reduced  the 
simplicity  of  Calvin  to  a  still  plainer  standard.  The 
motives  which  controlled  its  decisions  were  so  deeply 
seated,  that  its  practices  were  repeated  spontaneously 
by  Puritan  New  England. 

There  were  a  few  at  Salem  by  whom  the  new 
system  was  disapproved ;  and  in  John  and  Samuel 
Browne  they  found  able  leaders.  Both  were  mem, 


COLONIZATION    OF   MASSACHUSETTS.  349 

bers  of  the  colonial  council ;  both  were  reputed  CHAP. 
"  sincere  in  their  affection  for  the  good  of  the  planta — -v-~ 
tion;"  they  had  been  specially  recommended  to  En- 
dicott  by  the  corporation  in  England;  and  one  of 
them,  an  experienced  lawyer,  had  been  a  member  of 
the  board  of  assistants.  They  refused  to  unite  with 
the  public  assembly,  and  gathered  a  company,  in 
which  "  the  common  prayer  worship "  was  upheld. 
But  should  the  emigrants — thus  the  colonists  reason 
ed — give  up  the  purpose  for  which  they  had  crossed 
the  Atlantic  ?  Should  the  hierarchy  intrude  on  the 
forests  of  Massachusetts  with  the  ceremonies  which 
their  consciences  scrupled?  Should  the  success  of 
the  colony  be  endangered  by  a  breach  of  its  unity ; 
and  the  authority  of  its  government  overthrown  by 
the  confusion  of  an  ever  recurring  conflict  ?  They 
deemed  the  coexistence  of  their  liberty  and  of  prel 
acy  impossible :  anticipating  invasions  of  their  rights, 
they  feared  the  adherents  of  the  Establishment,  as 
spies  in  the  camp ;  and  the  form  of  religion  from 
which  they  had  suffered,  was  repelled,  not  as  a  sect, 
but  as  a  tyranny.  "You  are  Separatists,"  said  the 
Brownes,  in  self-defence,  "and  you  will  shortly  be 
Anabaptists."  "We  separate,"  answered  the  minis, 
ters,  "  not  from  the  church  of  England,  but  from  its 
corruptions.  We  came  away  from  the  common 
prayer  and  ceremonies,  in  our  native  land,  where  we 
suffered  much  for  nonconformity;  in  this  place  of 
liberty,  we  cannot,  we  will  not,  use  them.  Their 
imposition  would  be  a  sinful  violation  of  the  wor 
ship  of  God."  The  supporters  of  the  liturgy  were 
in  their  turn  rebuked  as  separatists ;  their  plea  was 
reproved  as  sedition,  their  worship  forbidden  as  a 
mutiny  ;  and  the  Brownes  were  sent  back  to  England, 


350  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  as  men  "factious  and  evil  conditioned,"  who  could 

• — •—  not  be  suffered  to  remain  within  the  limits  of  the 

1629.  gram^  because  they  would  not  be  conformable  to  its 

government.     Thus    was    Episcopacy    professed    in 

Massachusetts,  and  thus  was  it  exiled. 

The  Brownes,  on  their  arrival  in  England,  raised 
rumors  of  scandalous  and  intemperate  speeches,  utter 
ed  by  the  ministers  in  their  public  sermons  and  pray 
ers,  and  of  rash  innovations  begun  and  practised  in 
the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  government.  The  returning 
ships  also  carried  with  them  numerous  letters  from 
the  emigrants,  which  were  eagerly  sought  for  and  wide 
ly  read.  So  deeply  was  the  English  people  touched 
with  sympathy  for  the  young  colony,  that  within  a 
few  months  three  editions  were  published  of  the  glow 
ing  description  of  New  England  by  Higginson. 

For  the  concession  of  the  Massachusetts  charter 
seemed  to  the  Puritans  like  a  summons  from  Heaven, 
inviting  them  to  America.  There  they  might  pro 
fess  the  gospel  in  its  spotless  simplicity,  and  the  soli 
tudes  of  nature  would  protect  their  devotions.  Eng 
land,  by  her  persecutions,  proved  herself  weary  of 
her  inhabitants,  who  were  now  esteemed  more  vile 
than  the  aarth  on  which  they  trod.  Habits  of  ex 
pense  degraded  men  of  moderate  fortune ;  and  the 
schools,  which  should  be  fountains  of  living  waters, 
had  become  corrupt.  The  New  World  shared  in  the 
providence  of  God  ;  it  had  claims,  therefore,  to  the 
benevolence  and  exertions  of  man.  What  nobler 
work  than  to  abandon  the  comforts  of  England,  and 
plant  a  church  without  a  blemish  where  it  might 
spread  over  a  continent  ? 

But  was  it  right,  a  scrupulous  conscience  demand 
ed,  to  fly  from  persecutions  ?     Yes,  they  answered,  for 


COLONIZATION    OF   MASSACHUSETTS.  351 

persecutions  might  lead  their  posterity  to  abjure  the  CHAP. 
truth.  The  certain  misery  of  their  wives  and  chil-  — . — • 
dren  was  the  most  gloomy  of  their  forebodings  ;  but  l 
a  stern  sense  of  duty  hushed  the  alarms  of  affection, 
and  set  aside  all  consideration  of  physical  evils  as  the 
fears  of  too  carnal  minds.  Respect  for  the  rights  of 
the  natives  offered  an  impediment  more  easily  re 
moved;  much  of  their  land  had  been  desolated  by 
the  plague,  and  their  good  leave  might  be  purchased. 
The  ill  success  of  other  plantations  could  not  chill  the 
rising  enthusiasm ;  former  enterprises  had  aimed  at 
profit;  the  present  object  was  purity  of  religion;  the 
earlier  settlements  had  been  filled  with  a  lawless  mul 
titude  ;  it  was  now  proposed  to  form  a  "  peculiar  gov 
ernment,"  and  to  colonize  "THE  BEST."  Such  were 
the  "  Conclusions  '*  which  were  privately  circulated 
among  the  Puritans  of  England. 

At  a  general  court,  held  on  the  twenty-eighth  of 
July,  1629,  Matthew  Cradock,  governor  of  the  com 
pany,  who  had  engaged  himself  beyond  all  expecta 
tion  in  the  business,  following  out  what  seems  to  have 
been  the  early  design,  proposed  "  the  transfer  of  the 
government  of  the  plantation  to  those  that  should  in 
habit  there."  At  the  offer  of  freedom  from  subordi 
nation  to  the  company  in  England,  several  "  persons 
of  worth  and  quality,"  wealthy  commoners,  zealous 
Puritans,  were  confirmed  in  the  desire  of  founding  a 
new  and  a  better  commonwealth  beyond  the  Atlantic, 
even  though  it  might  require  the  sale  of  their  heredi 
tary  estates,  and  hazard  the  inheritance  of  their 
children.  To  his  father,  who  was  the  most  earnest  of 
them  all,  the  younger  Winthrop,  then  about  four  and 
twenty,  wrote  cheeringly:  "I  shall  call  that  my 
country  where  I  may  most  glorify  God,  and  enjoy  the 


352  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  presence  of  my  dearest  friends.     Therefore  herein  I 
— r^  submit  myself  to  God's  will  and  yours,  and  dedicate 
1629.  myse]f  to  God  and  the  company,  with  the  whole  en 
deavors,  both  of  body  and  mind.     The  Conclusions 
which  you  sent  down  are  unanswerable ;  and  it  can 
not  but  be  a  prosperous  action  which  is  so  well  al 
lowed  by  the  judgments  of  God's  prophets,  under 
taken  by  so  religious  and  wise  worthies  in  Israel,  and 
indented  to  God's  glory  in  so  special  a  service." 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  August,  at  Cambridge,  in 
England,  twelve  men,  of  large  fortunes  and  liberal 
culture,  among  whom  were  John  Winthrop,  Isaac 
Johnson,  Thomas  Dudley,  Richard  Saltonstall,  bear 
ing  in  mind  that  the  adventure  could  grow  only  upon 
confidence  in  each  other's  fidelity  and  resolution, 
bound  themselves  in  the  presence  of  God,  by  the  word 
of  a  Christian,  that  if,  before  the  end  of  September, 
an  order  of  the  court  should  legally  transfer  the 
whole  government,  together  with  the  patent,  they 
would  themselves  pass  the  seas  to  inhabit  and  con 
tinue  in  New  England.  Two  days  after  this  covenant 
had  been  executed,  the  subject  was  again  brought 
before  the  court ;  a  serious  and  long  continued  debate 
ensued,  and  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  August  a  general 
consent  appeared,  by  the  erection  of  hands,  that  "the 
government  and  patent  should  be  settled  in  New 
England." 

This  vote,  by  which  the  commercial  corporation 
became  the  germ  of  an  independent  commonwealth, 
was  simply  a  decision  of  the  question,  where  the 
future  meetings  of  the  company  should  be  held ;  it 
was  sanctioned  by  the  best  legal  advice ;  its  lawfulness 
was  at  the  time  not  questioned  by  the  privy  council, 
at  a  later  day,  was  expressly  aifirmed  by  Sawyer,  the 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  353 

attorney-general ;  and,  in  1677,  the  chief-justices  CHAP. 
Rainsford  and  North  still  described  the  "  charter  as  — , — 
making  the  adventurers  a  corporation  upon  the  1629. 
place."  Similar  patents  were  granted  by  the  Long 
Parliament  and  Charles  II.,  to  be  executed  in  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut ;  and  Baltimore  and  Penn  had 
an  undisputed  right  to  reside  on  their  domains.  The 
removal  of  the  place  of  holding  the  courts  from  Lon 
don  to  the  Bay  of  Massachusetts,  changed  nothing  in 
the  relations  of  the  company  to  the  crown,  and  it 
conferred  no  franchise  or  authority  on  emigrants  who 
were  not  members  of  the  company  ;  it  would  give 
them  a  present  government,  but  the  corporate  body 
and  their  successors,  wherever  they  were  to  meet,  re 
tained  the  chartered  right  of  making  their  own  selec 
tion  of  the  persons  whom  they  would  admit  to  the 
freedom  of  the  company.  The  conditions  on  which 
the  privilege  should  be  granted  would  control  the 
political  character  of  Massachusetts. 

At  a  very  full  general  court,  convened  on  the 
twentieth  of  October  for  the  choice  of  new  officers 
out  of  those  who  were  to  join  the  plantation,  John 
Winthrop,  of  Groton  in  Suffolk,  of  whom  "  extraor 
dinary  great  commendations  had  been  received  both 
for  his  integrity  and  sufficiency,  as  being  one  alto 
gether  well  fitted  and  accomplished  for  the  place  of 
governor,"  was  by  erection  of  hands  elected  to  that 
office  for  one  year  from  that  day ;  and  with  him  were 
joined  a  deputy  and  assistants,  of  whom  nearly  all 
proposed  to  go  over.  The  greatness  of  the  business 
brought  a  necessity  for  a  supply  of  money.  It  was 
resolved,  that  the  business  should  be  proceeded  in 
with  its  first  intention,  which  was  chiefly  the  glory 
of  God,  and  to  that  purpose  its  meetings  were  sane- 


354  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  tified  by  the  prayers  and  guided  by  the  advice  of 
—  ,—  '  Archer  and  Nye,  two  faithful  ministers  in  London. 


1629.  Qf  ^0  o}(j  stock  of  the  company,  two  thirds  had  been 
lost  ;  the  remainder,  taken  at  its  true  value,  with  fresh 
sums  adventured  by  those  that  pleased,  formed  a  new 
stock,  which  was  to  be  managed  by  ten  undertakers, 
five  chosen  out  of  adventurers  remaining  in  England, 
and  five  out  of  the  planters.  The  undertakers,  receiv 
ing  privileges  in  the  fur  trade  and  in  transportation, 
assumed  all  engagements  and  charges,  and  after  seven 
years,  were  to  divide  the  stock  and  profits;'  but 
their  privileges  were  not  asserted,  and  nine  tenths  of 
the  capital  were  sunk  in  the  expenses  of  the  first  year. 
There  was  nothing  to  show  for  the  adventure,  but  the 
commonwealth  which  it  helped  to  found.  Of  ships 
for  transporting  passengers  Cradock  furnished  two. 
The  large  ship,  the  Eagle,  purchased  by  members  of 
the  company,  took  the  name  of  Arbella,  from  a 
sister  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  wife  to  Isaac  Johnson, 
who  was  to  go  in  it  to  the  untried  sorrows  of  the 
wilderness.  The  corporation  which  had  not  many 
more  than  one  hundred  and  ten  members,  could  not 
meet  the  continual  outlays  for  colonization  ;  another 
common  stock  was,  therefore,  raised  from  such  as  bore 
good  affection  to  the  plantation,  to  defray  public 
charges,  such  as  maintenance  of  ministers,  transporta 
tion  of  poor  families,  building  of  churches  and  forti 
fications.  To  the  various  classes  of  contributors  and 
emigrants,  frugal  grants  of  land  promised  some  in 
demnity.  In  this  manner,  by  the  enterprise  of  the 
ten  undertakers,  and  other  members  of  the  company, 
especially  of  those  who  were  shipowners,  by  the  con 
tributions  of  Puritans  in  England,  but  mainly  by  the 
resources  of  the  emigrants  themselves,  there  were  em 
ployed  during  the  season  of  1630,  seventeen  vessels, 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  355 

which  brought  over  not  far  from  a  thousand  souls,  CHAP. 

IX 

beside  horses,  kine,  goats,  and  all  that  was  most  neces-  ^^^ 
sary  for  planting,  fishing  and  shipbuilding.  1630. 

As  the  hour  of  departure  drew  near,  the  hearts  of 
some,  even  of  the  strong,  began  to  fail.  On  the 
eighteenth  of  March,  it  became  necessary  at  South 
ampton  to  elect  three  substitutes  among  the  assistants ; 
and  of  these  three,  one  never  came  over.  Even  after 
they  had  embarked,  a  court  was  held  on  board  the 
Arbella,  and  Thomas  Dudley  was  chosen  deputy  gov 
ernor  in  the  place  of  Humphrey,  who  staid  behind. 
It  was  principally  the  calm  decision  of  Winthrop 
which  sustained  the  courage  of  his  companions.  In 
him  a  yielding  gentleness  of  temper,  and  a  never 
failing  desire  for  unity  and  harmony,  were  secured 
against  weakness  by  deep  but  tranquil  enthusiasm. 
His  nature  was  touched  by  the  sweetest  sympathies 
of  affection  for  wife,  children,  and  associates  ;  cheerful 
in  serving  others  and  suffering  with  them,  liberal 
without  repining,  helpful  without  reproaching,  in 
him  God  so  exercised  his  grace,  that  he  discerned  his 
own  image  and  resemblance  in  his  fellow-man ;  and 
cared  for  his  neighbor  like  himself.  He  was  of  a 
sociable  nature ;  so  that  "  to  love  and  be  beloved  was 
his  soul's  paradise,"  and  works  of  mercy  were  the 
habit  of  his  life.  Parting  from  affluence  in  England, 
he  unrepiningly  went  to  meet  impoverishment  and 
premature  age  for  the  welfare  of  Massachusetts.  His 
lenient  benevolence  tempered  the  bigotry  of  his  com 
panions,  without  impairing  their  resoluteness.  An 
honest  royalist,  averse  to  pure  democracy,  yet  firm  in 
his  regard  for  existing  popular  liberties ;  in  his  native 
parish  a  conformist,  yet  wishing  for  "  gospel  purity ; " 
in  America  mildly  aristocratic,  advocating  a  govern 
ment  of  "  the  least  part,"  yet  desiring  that  part  to  be 


356  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP.  "  the  wiser  of  the  best ; "  disinterested,  brave,  and  con- 

^<^>  scientious, — his  character  marks  the  transition  of  the 

1630.  reformation    into   virtual   republicanism;   when  the 

sentiment  of  loyalty,  which  it  was  still  intended  to 

cherish,  gradually  yielded  to  the  irresistible  spirit  of 

civil  freedom. 

England  rung  from  side  to  side  with  the  "general 
rumor  of  this  solemn  enterprise."  On  leaving  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  "Winthrop  and  the  chief  of  his  fellow  pas 
sengers  on  board  the  Arbella,  including  the  ministers, 
bade  an  affectionate  farewell  to  the  church  and  the 
land  of  their  nativity.  "  Reverend  Fathers  and  Breth 
ren,"  such  was  their  address  to  all  from  whom  they 
parted,  "  Howsoever  your  charitie  may  have  met  with 
discouragement  through  the  misreport  of  our  inten 
tions,  or  the  indiscretion  of  some  amongst  us,  yet  we 
desire  you  would  be  pleased  to  take  notice,  that  the 
principals  and  body  of  our  company  esteem  it  our 
honour  to  call  the  church  of  England,  from  whence 
wee  rise,  our  deare  mother,  and  cannot  part  from  our 
native  countrie,  where  she  specially  resideth,  without 
much  sadnes  of  heart  and  many  tears  in  our  eyes ; 
blessing  God  for  the  parentage  and  education,  as 
members  of  the  same  body,  and  while  we  have 
breath,  we  shall  syncerely  indeavour  the  continuance 
and  abundance  of  her  welfare. 

"  Be  pleased,  therefore,  Reverend  Fathers  and 
Brethren,  to  helpe  forward  this  worke  now  in  hand  ; 
which,  if  it  prosper,  you  shall  bee  the  more  glorious- 
It  is  a  usuall  exercise  of  your  charity,  to  recommend 
to  the  prayers  of  your  congregations  the  straights  of 
your  neighbours :  do  the  like  for  a  church  springing 
out  of  your  owne  bowels ;  pray  without  ceasing  for 
us,  who  are  a  weake  colony  from  yourselves. 

"What  we  intreat  of  you  that  are  ministers  of 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  357 

God.  that  we  crave  at  the  hands  of  all  the  rest  of  CHAP 

TX" 

our  brethren,  that  they  would  at  no  time  forget  us  in  ^^., 
their  private  solicitations  at  the  Throne  of  Grace.  If  1 6  3  o. 
any,  .through   want   of    cleare   intelligence   of    our 
course,  or  tenderness  of  affection  towards  us,  cannot 
conceive  so  well  of  our  way  as  we  could  desire,  we 
would  intreat  such  not  to  desert  us  in  their  prayers 
and  to  express  their  compassion  towards  us. 

"  What  goodness  you  shall  extend  to  us,  wee, 
your  brethren  in  Christ  Jesus,  shall  labour  to  repay  ; 
wishing  our  heads  and  hearts  may  be  as  'fountains  of 
tears  for  your  everlasting  welfare,  when  wee  shall  be 
in  our  poore  cottages  in  the  wildernesse,  overshadowed 
with  the  spirit  of  supplication,  through  the  manifold 
necessities  and  tribulations  which  may  not  altogether 
unexpectedly,  nor,  we  hope,  unprofitably  befall  us." 

About  seven  hundred  persons,  or  more — most  of 
them  Puritans,  inclining  to  the  principles  of  the  Inde 
pendents  ;  not  conformists,  but  not  separatists  ;  many 
of  them  men  of  high  endowments  and  large  fortune  ; 
scholars,  well  versed  in  the  learning  of  the  times ; 
clergymen  who  ranked  among  the  best  educated  and 
most  pious  in  the  realm — embarked  with  Winthrop 
in  eleven  ships,  bearing  with  them  the  charter  which 
was  to  be  the  warrant  of  their  liberties.  The  land 
was  to  be  planted  with  a  noble  vine,  wholly  of  the 
right  seed.  The  principal  emigrants  were  a  commu 
nity  of  believers,  professing  themselves  to  be  fellow- 
members  of  Christ ;  not  a  school  of  philosophers  pro 
claiming  universal  toleration  and  inviting  associates 
without  regard  to  creed.  They  desired  to  be  bound 
together  in  a  most  intimate  and  equal  intercourse,  for 
one  and  the  same  great  end.  They  knew  that  they 
would  be  as  a  city  set  upon  a  hill,  and  that  the  eyes 
of  all  people  were  upon  them.  Reverence  for  their 


357*  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  faith  led  them  to  pass  over  the  vast  seas  to  the  good 
v— Y— -  land  of  which  they  had  purchased  the  exclusive  pos- 
1  *  °-  session,  with  a  charter  of  which  they  had  acquired  the 
entire  control,  for  the  sake  of  reducing  to  practice 
the  system  of  religion  and  the  forms  of  civil  liberty, 
which  they  cherished  more  than  life  itself.  They 
constituted  a  corporation  to  which  they  themselves 
might  establish  the  terms  of  admission.  They  kept 
firmly  in  their  own  hands  the  key  to  their  asylum, 
and  were  resolved  on  closing  its  doors  against  the 
enemies  of  its  unity,  its  safety,  and  its  peace. 

"  The  worke  wee  have  in  hand " — these  are 
Winthrop's  words  on  board  the  Arbella  during  the 
passage — "  is  by  a  mutuall  consent,  through  a  speciall 
overruling  Providence,  and  a  more  than  ordinary 
approbation  of  the  churches  of  Christ,  to  seeke  out  a 
place  of  cohabitation  and  consorteshipp  under  a  due 
forme  of  government,  both  civill  and  ecclesiastical. 
For  this  wee  are  entered  into  covenant  with  God ; 
for  this  wee  must  be  knitt  together  as  one  man, 
allways  having  before  our  eyes  our  commission  as 
members  of  the  same  body.  Soe  shall  wee  keepe  the 
unitie  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  The  Lord 
will  be  our  God,  and  delight  to  dwell  among  us,  as 
his  owne  people ;  wee  shall  see  much  more  of  his  wis- 
dome,  power,  goodness,  and  truthe,  than  formerly  wee 
have  been  acquainted  with ;  Hee  shall  make  us  a  prayse 
and  glory,  that  men  shall  say  of  succeeding  plantations, 
4  the  Lord  make  it  likely  that  of  New  England.' " 

After  sixty  one  days  at  sea  the  Arbella  came  in 
sight  of  Mount  Desert;  on  the  tenth  of  June  the 
White  Hills  were  descried  afar  off;  near  the  Isle  of 
Shoals  and  Cape  Ann,  the  sea  was  enlivened  by  the 
shallops  of  fishermen  ;  and  on  the  twelfth,  as  the  ship 
came  to  anchor  outside  of  Salem  harbor,  it  was  visited 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  358 

by  William  Peirce,  of  the  Lyon,  whose  frequent  voy-  CHAP. 
ages  had  given  him  experience  as  a  pilot  on  the  coast.  ^~C— 
Winthrop  and  his  companions  came  full  of  hope  ;  they  1 6  3  °- 
found  the  colony  in  an  "  unexpected  condition "  of 
distress.  Above  eighty  had  died  the  winter  before. 
Higginson  himself  was  wasting  under  a  hectic  fever ; 
many  others  were  weak  and  sick ;  all  the  corn  and 
bread  among  them  was  hardly  a  fit  supply  for  a  fort 
night.  The  survivors  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  ser 
vants  who  had  been  sent  over  in  the  two  years  be 
fore  at  a  great  expense,  instead  of  having  prepared  a 
welcome,  thronged  to  the  new  comers  to  be  fed  ;  and 
were  set  free  from  all  engagements,  for  their  labor, 
great  as  was  the  demand  for  it,  was  worth  less  than, 
their  support.  Famine  threatened  to  seize  the  emi 
grants  as  they  stepped  on  shore ;  and  it  soon  appeared 
necessary  for  them,  even  at  a  ruinous  expense,  to  send 
the  Lyon  to  Bristol  for  food. 

To  seek  out  a  place  for  their  plantation,  since  Sa 
lem  pleased  them  not,  Winthrop,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  June,  sailed  into  Boston  harbor.  The  West-coun 
try  men,  who,  before  leaving  England  had  organized 
their  church  with  Maverick  and  Warham  for  minis 
ters,  and  who  in  a  few  years  were  to  take  part  in  call 
ing  into  being  the  commonwealth  of  Connecticut, 
were  found  at  Nantasket,  where  they  had  landed  just 
before  the  end  of  May.  Winthrop  ascended  the 
Mystic  a  few  miles,  and  on  the  nineteenth  took  back 
to  Salem  a  favorable  report  of  the  land  on  its  banks. 
Dudley  and  others  who  followed,  preferred  the  coun 
try  on  the  Charles  river  at  Water  town.  By  common 
consent,  early  in  the  next  month  the  removal  was 
made,  with  much  cost  and  labor,  from  Salem  to 
Charlestown.  But  while  drooping  with  toil  and  sor 
row,  fevers  consequent  on  the  long  voyage  and  the 


358*  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  want  of  proper  food  and  shelter,  twelve  ships  having 
^C—  arrived,  the  colonists  kept  the  eighth  of  July  as  a  day 
1630.  Of  thanksgiving.  The  emigrants  had  intended  to  dwell 
together,  but  in  their  distress  they  planted  where  each 
was  inclined.  A  few  remained  at  Salem ;  others  halted 
at  the  Saugus,  and  founded  Lynn.  The  governor  was 
for  the  time  at  Charlestown,where  the  poor  u  lay  up  and 
down  in  tents  and  booths  round  the  Hill."  On  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  the  little  peninsula,  scarce  two  miles 
long  by  one  broad,  marked  by  three  hills,  and  blessed 
with  sweet  and  pleasant  springs,  safe  pastures  and 
land  that  promised  "  rich  cornfields  and  fruitful  gar 
dens,"  attracted  among  others  William  Coddington 
of  Boston  in  England,  who,  in  friendly  relations  with 
William  Blackstone,  built  the  first  good  house  there, 
even  before  it  took  the  name  which  was  to  grow 
famous  throughout  the  world.  Some  planted  on  the 
Mystic,  in  what  is  now  Maiden.  Others,  with  Sir 
Eichard  Saltonstall  and  George  Phillips,  "a  godly 
minister  specially  gifted,  and  very  peaceful  in  his 
place,"  made  their  abode  at  Watertown;  Pynchon 
and  a  few  began  Roxbury ;  Ludlow  and  Rossiter,  two 
of  the  assistants,  with  the  men  from  the  west  of  Eng 
land,  after  wavering  in  their  choice,  took  possession 
of  Dorchester  Neck,  now  South  Boston.  The  disper 
sion  of  the  company  was  esteemed  a  grievance ;  but 
it  was  no  time  for  crimination  or  debate,  and  those 
who  had  health  made  haste  to  build.  Winthrop  him 
self  "  givinge  good  example  to  all  the  planters,  wore 
plaine  apparell,  drank  ordinarily  water,  and  when  he 
was  not  conversant  about  matters  of  justice,  put  his 
hand  to  labour  with  his  servants." 

The  enjoyment  of  the  gospel  as  the  dearest  cove 
nant  that  can  be  made  between  God  and  man  was  the 
chief  object  of  the  emigrants.  On  Friday,  the  thir 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  3n9 

tictli  of  July,  a  fast  was  held  at  Charlestown,  and  after  CHAP 
prayers  and  preaching,  Winthrop,  Dudley,  Isaac  —C— 
Johnson  and  Wilson,  united  themselves  by  covenant  >63°- 
into  one  "congregation,"  as  a  part  of  the  visible 
church  militant.  On  the  next  Lord's  day  others  were 
received ;  and  the  members  of  this  body  could  alone 
partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  present  their  children 
for  baptism.  They  were  all  brothers  and  equals  ; 
they  revered,  each  in  himself,  the  dignity  of  God's 
image,  and  nursed  a  generous  reverence  for  one  an 
other  ;  bound  to  a  healing  superintendence  over  each 
other's  lives,  they  exercised  no  discipline  to  remove 
evil  out  of  the  inmost  soul,  except  the  censure  of  the 
assembly  of  the  faithful  whom  it  would  have  been 
held  grievous  to  offend.  This  church,  the  seminal 
centre  of  the  ecclesiastical  system  of  Massachusetts, 
was  gathered  while  Higginson  was  yet  alive ;  on  the 
sixth  of  August  he  gave  up  the  ghost  with  joy,  for 
the  future  greatness  of  New  England,  and  the  coming 
glories  of  its  many  churches  floated  in  cheerful  visions 
before  his  eyes.  When  on  the  twenty-third  of 
August  the  first  court  of  assistants  on  this  side  the 
water  was  held  at  Charlestown,  how  the  ministers 
should  be  maintained  took  precedence  of  all  other 
business ;  and  it  was  ordered  that  houses  should  be 
built  for  them,  and  support  provided  at  the  common 
charge.  Four  days  later  the  men  "  of  the  congrega 
tion"  kept  a  fast,  and  after  their  own  free  choice  of 
John  Wilson  for  their  pastor,  they  themselves  set  him 
apart  to  his  office  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  yet 
without  his  renouncing  his  ministry  received  in  Eng 
land.  In  like  manner  the  ruling  elder  and  deacons 
were  chosen  and  installed.  Thus  was  constituted  the 
body,  which,  crossing  the  Charles  Kiver,  became 
known  as  the  first  church  of  Boston.  It  embodied 


359*  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  the  three  great  principles  of  Congregationalism ;    a 

— r-^  right  faith  attended  by  a  true  religious  experience  as 

1630.  ^Q    requisite    qualifications    for    membership;   the 

equality   of  all   believers,  including  the  officers    of 

the  church  ;  the  equality  of  the  several  churches,  free 

from  the  jurisdiction  of  ecclesiastical  court  or  bishop, 

free  from  the  jurisdiction  of  one  church  over  another, 

free  from  the  collective  authority  of  them  all. 

Meantime  the  civil  government  was  exercised  with 
mildness  and  impartiality,  yet  with  determined  vigor. 
Justices  of  the  peace  were  commissioned  with  the 
powers  of  those  in  England.  On  the  seventh  of  Sep 
tember,  names  were  given  to  Dorchester,  Watertown, 
and  Boston,  which  thus  be^an  their  career  as  towns 

/  o 

under  sanction  of  law.  Quotas  were  settled  and 
money  levied.  The  interloper  who  dared  to  "  con 
front  "  the  public  authority  was  sent  to  England ;  or 
enjoined  to  depart  out  of  the  limits  of  the  patent. 

As  the  year  for  which  Winthrop  and  the  assistants 
had  been  chosen  was  coming  to  an  end,  on  the  nine 
teenth  of  October,  a  general  court,  the  first  in  Amer 
ica,  was  held  at  Boston.  Of  members  of  the  com 
pany,  less  than  twenty  had  come  over.  One  hundred 
and  eight  inhabitants,  some  of  whom  were  old  plant 
ers,  were  now,  at  their  desire,  admitted  to  be  freemen. 
The  former  officers  of  government  were  continued : 
)  as  a  rule  for  the  future,  "  it  was  propounded  to  the 
people,  and  assented  unto  by  the  erection  of  hands, 
that  the  freemen  should  have  power  to  choose  assist 
ants,  when  any  were  to  be  chosen;  the  assistants 
to  choose  from  among  themselves  the  governor  and 
Ms  deputy."  The  rule  implied  a  strong  reluctance 
to  leave  out  of  the  board  any  person  once  elected 
magistrate ;  and  perhaps  also  revealed  a  natural  anx 
iety  respecting  the  effect  of  the  large  creation  of 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  360 

freemen  which  had  just  been  made,  and  by  which  CHAP. 
the  old  members  of  the  company  had  abdicated  their  ^v— 
controlling  power  in  the  court ;  but  as  it  was  in  con-  1 6  8  o. 
flict  with  the  charter,  it  could  have  no  permanence. 

During  these  events,  sickness  delayed  the  progress 
of  the  settlements,  and  death  often  withdrew  the 
laborer  from  the  fruit  of  his  exertions.  Every  hard 
ship  was  encountered.  The  emigrants,  miserably 
lodged,  beheld  their  friends  "  weekly,  yea,  almost  daily, 
drop  away  before  their  eyes  ; "  in  a  country  abound 
ing  in  secret  fountains  they  had  pined  for  the  want  of 
good  water.  Many  of  them  had  been  accustomed  to 
plenty  and  ease,  the  refinements  and  the  conveniencies 
of  luxury.  Woman  was  there  to  struggle  against  un 
foreseen  hardships,  unwonted  sorrows ;  the  men,  who 
defied  trials  for  themselves,  were  miserable  at  behold 
ing  those  whom  they  cherished  dismayed  by  the  hor 
rors  which  encompassed  them.  The  virtues  of  the  lady 
Arbella  Johnson  could  not  break  through  the  gloom  ; 
and  as  she  had  been  ill  before  her  arrival,  grief  hur 
ried  her  to  the  grave.  Her  husband,  a  wise  and  holy 
man,  in  life  "  the  greatest  furtherer  of  the  plantation," 
and  by  his  bequests  a  large  benefactor  of  the  infant 
state,  sank  under  disease  and  afflictions ;  but  "  he  died 
willingly  and  in  sweet  peace,"  making  a  "  nio^t  godly 
end.'1  Winthrop  lost  a  son,  who  left  a  widow  and 
children  in  England.  A  hundred  or  more,  some  of 
them  of  the  board  of  assistants,  men  who  had  been 
trusted  as  the  inseparable  companions  of  the  common 
misery  or  the  common  success,  disheartened  by  the 
scenes  of  woe,  and  dreading  famine  and  death,  desert 
ed  Massachusetts,  and  sailed  for  England ;  while 
Winthrop  remained,  "  parent-like,  to  distribute  his 
goods  to  brethren  and  neighbors."  Before  December, 
two  hundred,  at  the  least,  had  died.  Yet,  as  the 


360*  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  brightest  liglitnings  are  kindled  in  the  darkest  clouds, 
— r— -  the  general  distress  did  but  augment  the  piety  and 
1630.  confirm  the  fortitude  of  the  colonists.  Their  earnest 
ness  was  softened  by  the  mildest  sympathy ;  while 
trust  in  Providence  kept  guard  against  weakness  and 
despair.  Not  a  trace  of  repining  appears  in  their 
records ;  the  congregations  always  assembled  at  the 
stated  times,  whether  in  the  open  fields  or  under  the 
shade  of  an  ancient  oak ;  in  the  midst  of  want  they 
abounded  in  hope ;  in  the  solitudes  of  the  wilderness, 
they  believed  themselves  watched  over  by  an  omni 
present  Father.  Honor  is  due  not  less  to  those  who 
perished  than  to  those  who  survived :  to  the  martyrs 
the  hour  of  death  was  an  hour  of  triumph ;  such  as 
is  never  witnessed  in  more  tranquil  seasons.  For  that 
placid  resignation,  which  diffuses  grace  round  the  bed 
of  sickness,  and  makes  death  too  serene  for  sorrow  and 
too  beautiful  for  fear,  no  one  was  more  remarkable 
than  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Sharpe,  whose  youth, 
and  sex,  and  unequalled  virtues,  won  the  eulogies  of 
the  austere  Dudley.  Even  children  caught  the  spirit 
of  the  place ;  awaited  the  impending  change  in  the 
tranquil  confidence  of  faith,  and  went  to  the  grave 
full  of  immortality.  The  survivors  bore  all  things 
meekly,  "  remembering  the  end  of  their  coming 
hither."  "We  here  enjoy  Grod  and  Jesus  Christ," 
wrote  Winthrop  to  his  wife,  whom  pregnancy  had 
detained  in  England,  "and  is  not  this  enough?  I 
thank  God  I  like  so  well  to  be  here,  as  I  do  not  repent 
my  coining.  I  would  not  have  altered  my  course, 
though  I  had  foreseen  all  these  afflictions.  I  never 
had  more  content  of  mind." 

1631        The    supply    of   bread    was    nearly    exhausted, 
when  on  the  fifth  of  February,  1631,  after  a  long 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  361 

and  stormy  passage,  the  timely  arrival  of  the  Lyon  CHAP 
from  Bristol   laden  with   provisions,   caused   public  — Y-~ 
thanksgiving  through  all  the  plantations.     Yet  the  1631* 
ship  brought  but  twenty  passengers ;  and  quenched  all 
hope  of  immediate  accessions.     In  1 631  ninety  only 
came  over,  fewer  than  had  gone  back  the  preceding 
vear;  in  1632  no  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
arrived.     Men  waited   to   learn   the  success  of  the 
early  adventurers.     Those  who  had  deserted  excused 
their  cowardice  by  defaming  the  country ;  and,  more 
over,  illwillers  to  New  England,  were  already  railing 
against  its  people  as  separatists  from  the  established 
church,  and  traitors  to  the  king. 

The  little  colony,  now  counting  not  many  more 
than  one  thousand  souls,  while  it  developed  its  prin 
ciples  with  unflinching  courage,  desired  to  avoid  giv 
ing  scandal  to  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  government 
in  England.  Wilson  was  on  the  point  of  returning  to 
bring  over  his  wife  ;  his  church  stood  in  special  need 
of  a  teacher  in  his  absence,  and  a  young  minister 
"  lovely  in  his  carriage,"  "  godly  and  zealous,  having 
precious  gifts,"  opportunely  arrived  in  the  Lyon.  It 
was  Roger  Williams.  "  From  his  childhood  the 
Father  of  lights  and  mercies  touched  his  soul  with  a 
love  to  Himself,  to  his  only-begotten  Son,  the  true 
Lord  Jesus,  and  his  holy  Scriptures."  In  the  form 
ing  period  of  his  life  he  had  been  employed  by  Sir 
Edward  Coke,  and  his  natural  inclination  to  study 
and  activity  was  spurred  on  by  the  instruction  and 
encouragement  of  the  statesman,  who  was  then  "in 
his  intrepid  and  patriotic  old  age,  the  strenuous 
asserter  of  liberty  on  the  principles  of  ancient  laws," 
and  by  his  writings,  speeches  and  example,  lighted 
the  zealous  enthusiast  on  his  way.  Through  the  affec 
tion  of  the  great  lawyer,  who  called  him  endearingly 


361*  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,   his  son,   "  the  youth,"  in  whom  all  saw  good  hope, 
• — . —  was  sent  to  the  Charter  House  in  1621,  and  passed 
I63L  with  honor  from  that  school  to  Pembroke  College,  in 
Cambridge,  where  he  took  a  degree  ;  but  his  clear 
mind  went  far  beyond  his  patron  in  his  persuasions 
against  bishops,  ceremonies,  and  the  national  church ; 
and  he  was  pursued  by  Laud  out  of  his  native  land. 
He  was  not  much  more  than  thirty  years  of  age ; 
but  his  mind  had  already  matured  a  doctrine  which 
secures  him  an  immortality  of  fame,  as  its  application 
has  given  religious  peace  to  the   American  world. 
A  fugitive  from  English  persecution,  he  had  revolved 
the  nature  of  intolerance,  and  had  arrived  at  its  only 
effectual  remedy,  the  sanctity  of  conscience.     In  soul 
matters  he  would  have  no  weapons  but  soul  weapons. 
The  civil  magistrate  should  restrain  crime,  but  never 
control  opinion  ;  should  punish  guilt,  but  never  vio 
late  inward  freedom.    The  doctrine  contained  within 
itself  an  entire  reformation  of  theological  jurispru 
dence  :  it  would  blot  from  the  statute-book  the  felony 
of  non-conformity  ;  would  quench  the  fires  that  per 
secution  had  so  long   kept  burning ;  would  repeal 
every  law  compelling  attendance  on  public  worship; 
would  abolish  tithes  and  all  forced  contributions  to 
the  maintenance  of  religion ;  would  give  an  equal 
protection  to  every  form  of  religious  faith ;  and  never 
suffer  the  force  of  the  government  to  be  employed 
against  the  dissenters'  meeting-house,  the  Jewish  syn 
agogue,  or  the  Roman  cathedral.     In  the  unwavering 
assertion  of  his  views  he  never  changed  his  position ; 
the  sanctity  of  conscience  was  the  great  tenet,  which, 
with  all  its  consequences,  he  defended,  as  he  first  trod 
the  shores  of  New  England ;  and  in  his  extreme  old 
age  it  was  the  last  pulsation  of  his  heart.     The  doc 
trine  was  a  logical  consequence  of  either  of  the  two 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  362 

great  distinguishing  principles  of  the  reformation,  as  CHAP 
well  of  justification  by  faith  alone,  as  of  the  equality  ^-^- 
of  all  believers  ;  and  it  was  sure  to  be  one  day  ac-  1 6  3 1 
cepted  by  the  whole  Protestant  world.    But  it  placed 
the  young  emigrant  in  direct  opposition  to  the  system 
of  the  founders  of  Massachusetts,  who  were  bent  on 
making  the  state  a  united  body  of  believers. 

On  landing  in  Boston,  Roger  Williams  found 
himself  unable  to  join  its  church.  He  had  separated 
from  the  establishment  in  England,  which  wronged 
conscience  by  disregarding  its  scruples;  they  were 
"an  unseparated  people,"  who  refused  to  renounce 
communion  with  their  persecutors;  he  would  not 
suffer  the  magistrate  to  assume  jurisdiction  over  the 
soul  by  punishing  what  was  no  more  than  a  breach 
of  the  first  table,  an  error  of  conscience  or  belief; 
they  were  willing  to  put  the  whole  decalogue  under 
the  guardianship  of  the  civil  authority.  The  thought 
of  employing  him  as  a  minister  was  therefore  aban 
doned,  and  the  church  of  Boston  was,  in  Wilson's  ab 
sence,  commended  to  "  the  exercise  of  prophecy." 

The  death  of  Higginson  had  left  Salem  in  want 
of  a  teacher  ;  and  in  April  it  called  Williams  to  that 
office.  Winthrop  and  the  assistants  "  marvelled  "  at 
the  precipitate  choice ;  and  by  a  letter  to  Endicott, 
they  desired  the  church  to  forbear.  The  warning 
was  heeded,  and  Roger  Williams  quietly  withdrew  to 
Plymouth. 

The  government  was  still  more  careful  to  protect 
the  privileges  of  the  colony  against  "episcopal  and 
malignant  practices,"  of  which  a  warning  had  been 
received  from  England.  For  that  purpose,  at  the 
general  court  convened  in  May,  after  "  the  corn  was 
set-,"  an  oath  of  fidelity  was  offered  to  the  freemen, 
binding  them  "  to  be  obedient  and  conformable  to  the 


362*  COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  laws  and  constitutions  of  this  commonwealth,  to  ad- 

IX. 

— ^  vance  its  peace,  and  not  to  suffer  any  attempt  at 
1631.  making  aDy  change  or  alteration  of  the  government 
contrary  to  its  laws."  One  hundred  and  eighteen  of 
"  the  commonalty  "  took  this  oath ;  the  few  who  re 
fused  were  never  "  betrusted  with  any  public  charge 
or  command."  The  old  officers  were  again  continued 
in  office  without  change,  but  "  the  commons  "  asserted 
their  right  of  annually  adding  or  removing  mem 
bers  from  the  bench  of  magistrates.  And  a  law 
of  still  greater  moment,  pregnant  with  evil  and  with 
good,  at  the  same  time  narrowed  the  elective  fran 
chise  :  "  To  the  end  this  body  of  the  commons  may 
be  preserved  of  honest  and  good  men,  it  was  ordered 
and  agreed,  that,  for  the  time  to  come,  no  man  shall  be 
admitted  to  the  freedom  of  this  body  politic,  but 
such  as  are  members  of  some  of  the  churches  within 
the  limits  of  the  same."  Thus  the  polity  became  a 
theocracy ;  God  himself  was  to  govern  his  people ; 
and  the  "  saints  by  calling,"  whose  names  an  immuta 
ble  decree  had  registered  from  eternity  as  the  objects 
of  divine  love,  whose  election  had  been  visibly  mani 
fested  by  their  conscious  experience  of  religion  in  the 
heart,  whose  union  was  confirmed  by  the  most  sol 
emn  compact  formed  with  Heaven  and  one  another 
around  the  memorials  of  a  crucified  Eedeemer,  were, 
by  the  fundamental  law  of  the  colony,  constituted 
the  oracle  of  the  divine  will.  An  aristocracy  was 
founded — not  of  wealth,  but  of  those  who  had  been 
ransomed  at  too  high  a  price  to  be  ruled  by  polluting 
passions,  and  had  received  the  seal  of  divinity  in 
proof  of  their  fitness  to  do  "  the  noblest  and  godliest 
deeds."  Other  states  have  limited  the  possession  of  po 
litical  rights  to  the  opulent,  to  freeholders,  to  the  first- 


THE  COLONISTS  AND  THE  NATIVES.  363 

born  ;  the  Calvinists  of  Massachusetts,  scrupulously  re-  CHAP 
fusing  to  the  clergy  the  least  shadow  of  political  power,  ^^. 
established  the  reign  of  the  visible  church — a  common 
wealth  of  the  chosen  people  in  covenant  with  God. 

The  dangers  apprehended  from  England  seemed  to 
require  a  union  consecrated  by  the  holiest  rites.  The 
public  mind  of  the  colony  was  in  other  respects  ripen 
ing  for  democratic  liberty.  It  could  not  rest  satisfied 
with  leaving  the  assistants  in  possession  of  all  authori 
ty,  and  of  an  almost  independent  existence ;  and  the 
magistrates,  with  the  exception  of  the  passionate  Lud- 
low,  were  willing  to  yield.  It  was  therefore  agreed, 
at  the  next  general  court,  that  the  governor  and  assist-  May 
ants  should  be  annually  chosen.  The  people,  satisfied 
with  the  recognition  of  their  right,  reflected  their 
former  magistrates  with  silence  and  modesty.  The 
germ  of  a  representative  government  was  already  visi 
ble  ;  each  town  was  ordered  to  choose  two  men,  to 
appear  at  the  next  court  of  assistants,  and  concert  a 
plan  for  a  public  treasury.  The  measure  had  become 
necessary;  for  a  levy,  made  by  the  assistants  alone, 
had  already  awakened  alarm  and  opposition. 

While  a  happy  destiny  was  thus  preparing  for  Mas 
sachusetts  a  representative  government,  relations  of 
friendship  were  established  with  the  natives.     From 
the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  came  the  sagamore  of  1631 
the  Mohegans,  to  extol  the  fertility  of  his  country,  and      4" 
solicit  an  English  plantation  as  a  bulwark  against  the 
Pequods ;  the  nearer  Nipmucks  invoked  the  aid  of  the 
emigrants  against  the  tyranny  of  the  Mohawks;  the 
son  of  the  aged  Canonicus  exchanged  presents  with 
the  governor;    and   Miantonomoh  himself,  the  great 
warrior  of  the  Narragansetts,  the  youthful  colleague  1634 
of  Canonicus,  became  a  guest  at  the  board  of  Win-      5^ 
throp,  and  was  present  with  the  congregation   at  a 
VOL.  i.  46 


364         NEW  EMIGRANTS.  CHARACTER  OF  HAYNES. 

CHAP,  sermon  from  Wilson.     At  last  a  Pequod  sachem,  with 
— ~  great  store  of  wampumpeag,  and  bundles  of  sticks  in 
11S34'  promise  of  so  many  beaver  and  otter  skins,  also  came 
6. '    to  solicit  the  English  alliance  and  mediation. 

Intercourse  was  also  cherished  with  the  earliei 
European  settlements.  To  perfect  friendship  with 
the  pilgrims,  the  governor  of  Massachusetts,  with 
Oct.  Wilson,  pastor  of  Boston,  repaired  to  Plymouth. 
^  From  the  south  shore  of  Boston  harbor,  it  was  a  day's 
journey,  for  they  travelled  on  foot.  In  honor  of  the 
great  event,  Bradford  and  Brewster,  the  governor  and 
elder  of  the  Old  Colony,  came  forth  to  meet  them,  and 
conduct  them  to  the  town,  where  they  were  kindly 
Oct.  entertained  and  feasted.  "  On  the  Lord's  day,  they  did 
partake  of  the  sacrament;"  in  the  afternoon,  a  question 
was  propounded  for  discussion ;  the  pastor  spoke 
briefly ;  the  teacher  prophesied  ;  the  governor  of  Ply 
mouth,  the  elder,  and  others  of  the  congregation,  took 
part  in  the  debate,  which,  by  express  desire,  was 
closed  by  the  guests  from  Boston.  Thus  was  fellow- 

1632.  ship  confirmed  with  Plymouth.     From  the  Chesapeake 
a  rich  freight  of  corn  had  already  been  received,  and 
trade  was  begun  with  the  Dutch  at  Hudson's  River. 

These  better  auspices,  and  the  invitations  of  Win- 

1633.  throp,  won  new  emigrants  from  Europe.     During  the 
^d    long  summer  voyage  of  the  two  hundred  passengers, 

who  freighted  the  Griffin,  three  sermons  a  day  beguiled 
their  weariness.  Among  them  was  Haynes,  a  man  of 
very  large  estate,  and  larger  affections ;  of  a  "  heaven 
ly  "  mind,  and  a  spotless  life ;  of  rare  sagacity,  and  ac 
curate  but  unassuming  judgment ;  by  nature  tolerant, 
ever  a  friend  to  freedom,  ever  conciliating  peace ;  an 
able  legislator ;  dear  to  the  people  by  his  benevolent 
virtues  and  his  disinterested  conduct.  7'hen  also  came 
the  most  revered  spiritual  teachers  of  two  common- 


CHARACTER  OF  COTTON  AND  HOOKER.  365 

wealths — the  acute  and  subtile  Cotton,  the  son  of  a  CHAP, 

IX 

Puritan  lawyer;  eminent  at  Cambridge  as  a  scholar;  — ^ — 
quick  in  the  nice  perception  of  distinctions,  and  pliant  1633 
in  dialectics  ;  in  manner  persuasive  rather  than  com 
manding;  skilled  in  the  fathers  and  the  schoolmen,  but 
finding  all  their  wisdom  compactly  stored  in  Calvin ; 
deeply  devout  by  nature  as  well  as  habit  from  child 
hood;  hating  heresy  and  still  precipitately  eager  to 
prevent  evil  actions  by  suppressing  ill  opinions,  yet 
verging  towards  a  progress  in  truth  and  in  religious 
freedom ;  an  avowed  enemy  to  democracy,  which  he 
feared  as  the  blind  despotism  of  animal  instincts  in 
the  multitude,  yet  opposing  hereditary  power  in  all  its 
forms  ;  desiring  a  government  of  moral  opinion,  accord 
ing  to  the  laws  of  universal  equity,  and  claiming  "  the 
ultimate  resolution  for  the  whole  body  of  the  peo 
ple  : " — and  Hooker,  of  vast  endowments,  a  strong 
will,  and  an  energetic  mind ;  ingenuous  in  his  temper, 
and  open  in  his  professions  ;  trained  to  benevolence  by 
the  discipline  of  affliction ;  versed  in  tolerance  by  his 
refuge  in  Holland  ;  choleric,  yet  gentle  in  his  affections  ; 
firm  in  his  faith,  yet  readily  yielding  to  the  power  of 
reason  ;  the  peer  of  the  reformers,  without  their  harsh 
ness  ;  the  devoted  apostle  to  the  humble  and  the 
poor,  severe  towards  the  proud,  mild  in  his  soothings  of 
a  wounded  spirit,  glowing  with  the  raptures  of  devo 
tion,  and  kindling  with  the  messages  of  redeeming 
love  ;  his  eye,  voice,  gesture,  and  whole  frame  animate 
with  the  living  vigor  of  heart-felt  religion ;  public- 
spirited  and  lavishly  charitable  ;  and,  "  though  persecu 
tions  and  banishments  had  awaited  him  as  one  wave 
follows  another,"  ever  serenely  blessed  with  "  a  glorious 
peace  of  soul ; "  fixed  in  his  trust  in  Providence,  and  in 
his  adhesion  to  that  cause  of  advancing  civilization, 
which  he  cherished  always,  ev  n  while  it  remained  to 


366  RAPID   PROGRESS   OF  POPULAR   LIBERTY. 

CHAP,  him  a  mystery.     This  was  he,  whom,  for  his  abilities 
^-v^  and  services,  his  contemporaries  placed  "  in   the   first 
1633.  rank"  of  men;  praising  him  as  "the  one  rich  pearl, 
with  which  Europe  more  than  repaid  America  for  the 
treasures  from  her  coast."    The  people  to  whom  Hooker 
ministered    had  preceded    him;    as   he    landed,    they 
S2>t   crowded  about  him  with  their  welcome.     "  Now  I  live  r 
— exclaimed  he,  as  with  open  arms  he  embraced  them 
— "  now  I  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the  Lord." 
1634        Thus  recruited,   the  little   band   in   Massachusetts 
grew  more  jealous  of  its  liberties.     "  The  prophets  in 
exile  see  the  true  forms  of  the  house."   By  a  common 
impulse,  the  freemen  of  the  towns  chose  deputies  to 
consider  in  advance  the  duties  of  the  general  court. 
The  charter  plainly  gave  legislative  power  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  freemen ;    if  it  allowed  representatives, 
thought  Winthrop,  it  was  only  by  inference ;  and  as 
the  whole  people  could  not  always  assemble,  the  chief 
power,  it  was  argued,  lay  necessarily  with  the  assistants. 
Far  different  was  the  reasoning  of  the  people.     To 
May    check  the  democratic  tendency,  Cotton,  on  the  election 
day,  preached  to  the  assembled  freemen  against  rota 
tion  in  office.     The  right  of  an  honest  magistrate  to  his 
place  was  like  that  of  a  proprietor  to   his  freehold. 
But  the  electors,  now  between  three  and  four  hundred  in 
number,   were   bent   on    exercising   "  their    absolute 
power,"  and,  reversing  the  decision  of  the  pulpit,  chose 
a  new  governor  and  deputy.     The  mode  of  taking  the 
votes  was  at  the  same  time  reformed ;  and  instead  of 
the  erection  of  hands,  the  ballot-box  was  introduced 
Thus  "  the  people  established  a  reformation  of  such 
things  as  they  judged  to  be  amiss  in  the  government.'' 
It  was  further  decreed,  that  the  whole  body  of  the 
freemen  should  be  convened  only  for  the  election  of  the 
magistrates  ;  to  these,  with  deputies  to  be  chosen  b) 


RAF1U   PROGRESS  OF  POPULAR  LIBERTY.  367 

the  several  towns,  the  powers  of  legislation  and  ap-  CHAP 
pointment  were  henceforward  intrusted.  The  trading  -^- 
corporation  was  unconsciously  become  a  representative  16^4 
democracy. 

The  law  against  arbitrary  taxation  followed.  None 
but  the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people  might 
dispose  of  lands  or  raise  money.  Thus  early  did  Mas 
sachusetts  echo  the  voice  of  Virginia ;  like  the  moun 
tain  replying  to  the  thunder,  or  like  deep  calling  unto 
deep.  The  state  was  filled  with  the  hum  of  village 
politicians ;  "  the  freemen  of  every  town  in  the  Bay 
were  busy  in  inquiring  into  their  liberties  and  privi 
leges."  With  the  exception  of  the  principle  of  uni 
versal  suffrage,  now  so  happily  established,  the  repre 
sentative  democracy  was  as  perfect  two  centuries  ago 
as  it  is  to-day.  Even  the  magistrates,  who  acted  as 
judges,  held  their  office  by  the  annual  popular  choice. 
"  Elections  cannot  be  safe  there  long,"  said  the  lawyer 
Lechford.  The  same  prediction  has  been  made  these 
two  hundred  years.  The  public  mind,  ever  in  perpetual 
agitation,  is  still  easily  shaken,  even  by  slight  and  tran 
sient  impulses ;  but  after  all  its  vibrations,  it  follows  the 
laws  of  the  moral  world,  and  safely  recovers  its  balance. 

To  limit  the  discretion  of  the  executive,  the  people 
next  demanded  a  written  constitution;  and  a  commis- 
Sion  was  appointed  "  to  frame  a  body  of  grounds  of 
laws  in  resemblance  to  a  magna  charta,"  to  serve  as  a 
bill  of  rights.  The  ministers,  as  well  as  the  general 
court,  were  to  pass  judgment  on  the  work  ;  and,  with 
partial  success,  Cotton  urged  that  God's  people  should 
be  governed  by  the  laws  from  God  to  Moses. 

The  relative  powers  of  the  assistants  and  the  depu-  1034 
ties  remained  for  nearly  ten  years  the  subject  of  dis- 
cussion  and  contest.    Both  were  elected  by  the  people  ; 
the  former  by  the  whole  colony,  the  latter  by  the  sev- 


368       THE  PURITANS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  EXCLUSIVE. 


CHAP,  eral  towns.     The  two  bodies  acted  together  in  conven- 

IX 

— ^  tion;  but  the  assistants  claimed  and  exercised  the  further 
right  of  a  separate  negative  vote  on  all  joint  proceed 
ings.  The  popular  branch  resisted ;  yet  the  authority 
of  the  patricians  was  long  maintained,  sometimes  by 
wise  delay,  sometimes  by  "  a  judicious  sermon;"  till,  at 

1644   last,  a  compromise  divided  the  court  into  two  branches, 

Mar 

and  gave  to  each  a  negative  on  the  other. 

The  controversy  had  required  the  arbitrament  of  the 
elders;  for  the  rock  on  which  the  state  rested  was 
religion  ;  a  common  faith  had  gathered,  and  still  bound 
the  people  together.  They  were  exclusive,  for  they 
had  come  to  the  outside  of  the  world  for  the  privilege 
of  living  by  themselves.  Fugitives  from  persecution, 
they  shrank  from  contradiction  as  from  the  approach 
of  peril.  And  why  should  they  open  their  asylum  to 
their  oppressors  ?  Religious  union  was  made  the  bul 
wark  of  the  exiles  against  expected  attacks  from  the 
hierarchy  of  England.  The  wide  continent  of  America 
invited  colonization  ;  they  claimed  their  own  narrow 
domains  for  "  the  brethren."  Their  religion  was  their 
life ;  they  welcomed  none  but  its  adherents ;  the} 
could  not  tolerate  the  scoffer,  the  infidel,  or  the  dis 
senter  ;  and  the  whole  people  met  together  in  their 
congregations.  Such  was  the  system,  cherished  as 
the  strong-hold  of  their  freedom  and  their  happiness. 
"  The  order  of  the  churches  and  the  commonwealth," 
wrote  Cotton  to  friends  in  Holland,  "  is  now  sc  settled 
in  New  England  by  common  consent,  that  it  brings  to 
mind  the  new  heaven  and  new  earth  wherein  dwells 
righteousness." 

While  the  state  was  thus  connecting  by  the  closest 
bonds  the  energy  of  its  faith  with  its  form  of  govern- 


COLONIZATION    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  369 

ment,  Roger  Williams,  after  remaining  two  years  or  a  CHAP. 
little  more  in  Plymouth,  accepted  a  second  invitation  — , — • 
to  Salem.  The  ministers  in  the  Bay  and  of  Lynn  l  G  3  3 
used  to  meet  once  a  fortnight  at  each  other's  houses, 
to  debate  some  question  of  moment ;  at  this,  in  No 
vember,  1633,  Skelton  and  Williams  took  some  ex 
ception,  for  fear  the  custom  might  grow  into  a  pres 
bytery  or  a  superintendency,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
church's  liberties  ;  but  such  a  purpose  was  disclaimed, 
and  all  were  clear  that  no  church  or  person  can  have 
power  over  another  church.  Not  long  afterwards, 
in  January,  1634,  complaints  were  made  against  Wil-  1634, 
liams  for  a  paper  which  he  had  written  at  Plymouth, 
to  prove  that  a  grant  of  land  in  New  England  from 
an  English  king,  could  not  be  perfect,  except  the 
grantees  "  compounded  with  the  natives."  The  opinion 
sounded  like  treason  against  the  charter  of  the  colony ; 
Williams  was  willing  that  the  offensive  manuscript 
should  be  burned ;  and  so  explained  its  purport,  that 
the  court,  applauding  his  temper,  declared  u  the  mat 
ters  not  so  evil  as  at  first  they  seemed." 

Yet  his  gentleness  and  forbearance  did  not  allay  a 
jealousy,  which  rested  on  his  radical  opposition  to  the 
established  system  of  theocracy,  which  he  condemned, 
because  it  plucked  up  the  roots  of  civil  society  and 
brought  all  the  strifes  of  the  state  into  the  garden  and 
paradise  of  the  church.  The  government  avoided  an 
explicit  rupture  with  the  church  of  England;  Wil 
liams  would  hold  no  communion  with  it  on  account  i 
of  its  intolerance ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  the  doctrine  of  per 
secution  for  cause  of  conscience  is  most  evidently  and 
lamentably  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ  Jesus." 
The  magistrates  insisted  on  the  presence  of  every 
man  at  public  worship  ;  Williams  reprobated  the  law ; 
the  worst  statute  in  the  English  code  was  that  which 
did  but  enforce  attendance  upon  the  parish  church. 


370  LNTELLECTUAL   LIBERTY   FINDS   AN   ADVOCATE. 

CHAP.  To   compel  men   to  unite  with    those    of  a   different 
t  /c 
~^*~  creed,  he  regarded  as  an  open  violation  of  their  natural 

rights  ;  to  drag  to  public  worship  the  irreligious  and 
the  unwilling,  seemed  only  like  requiring  hypocrisy 
"  An  unbelieving  soul  is  dead  in  sin" — such  was  his 
argument ; — and  to  force  the  indifferent  from  one  wor 
ship  to  another,  "  was  like  shifting  a  dead  man  into 
several  changes  of  apparell."  "  No  one  should  be 
bound  to  worship,  or,"  he  added,  "  to  maintain  a  wor 
ship,  against  his  own  consent."  "  What !  "  exclaimed 
his  antagonists,  amazed  at  his  tenets ;  "  is  not  the 
laborer  worthy  of  his  hire  ? "  "  Yes,"  replied  her 
"  from  them  that  hire  him." 

The  magistrates  were  selected  exclusively  from 
the  members  of  the  church ;  with  equal  propriety, 
reasoned  Williams,  might  "  a  doctor  of  physick  or  a 
pilot"  be  selected  according  to  his  skill  in  theology 
and  his  standing  in  the  church. 

It  was  objected  to  him,  that  his  principles  subverted 
all  good  government.  The  commander  of  the  vessel 
of  state,  replied  Williams,  may  maintain  order  on 
board  the  ship,  and  see  that  it  pursues  its  course 
steadily,  even  though  the  dissenters  of  the  crew  are 
not  compelled  to  attend  the  public  prayers  of  their 
companions. 

But  the  controversy  finally  turned  on  the  question 
of  the  rights  and  duty  of  magistrates  to  guard  the 
minds  of  the  people  against  corruption,  and  to  punish 
what  would  seem  to  them  error  and  heresy.  Magis 
trates,  Williams  protested  are  but  the  agents  of  the 
people,  or  its  trustees,  on  whom  no  spiritual  power  in 
matters  of  worship  can  ever  be  conferred  ;  since  con 
science  belongs  to  the  individual,  and  is  not  the  prop 
erty  of  the  body  politic  ;  and  with  admirable  dialectics 


ROGER  WILLIAMS  IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 


371 


i-.lothing  the  great  truth  in  its  boldest  and  most  general  CHAP 
forms,  he  asserted  that  "  the  civil  magistrate  may  not  -7^ 
intermeddle  even  to  stop  a  church  from  apostacy  and 
horesy,"  "  that  his  power  extends  only  to  the  bodies 
and  goods  and  outward  estate  of  men."       With  cor 
responding  distinctness  he  foresaw  the  influence  of  his 
principles  on  society.     "The  removal  of  the  yoke  of 
soul -oppression," — to  use  the  words  in  which,  at  a  later 
day,  he  confirmed  his  early  view, — "  as  it  will  prove  an 
act  of  mercy  and  righteousness  to  the  enslaved  nations, 
so  it  is  of  binding  force  to  engage  the  whole  and  every  ( 
interest  and  conscience  to  preserve  the  common  liberty 
and  peace."5 

The    same    magistrates    who    punished    Eliot,    the  KJ34 
apostle  of  the  Indian  race,  for  censuring  their  meas-     27.' 
ures,  could  not  brook  the  independence  of  Williams  ; 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  times  seemed  to  them  to 
justify  their  apprehensions.     An  intense  jealousy  was 
excited  in  England  against  Massachusetts  ;  "members  ic.34 
of  the  Generall  Court  received  intelligence  of   some      'ec* 
episcopal    and    malignant   practises  against  the  coun 
try  ; "    and    the    magistrates   on    the    one   hand   were 
scrupulously  careful  to  avoid  all  unnecessary  offence  to 
the  English   government,    on   the  other    were  sternly 
consolidating  their  own  institutions,  and  even  preparing 
for  resistance.     It  was  in  this  view  that  the  Freeman's 
Oath  was    appointed ;    by  which  every  freeman  was 
obliged  to  pledge  his  allegiance,  not  to  King  Charles, 
but  to  Massachusetts.     There  was  room  for  scruples  on 

*  1  quote  from  a  very  rare  tract  Williams,  of  Providence,  in   New 

nf  Roger   Williams,   which,    after  England.      London.     Imprinted  in 

much  search,  I  was  so  happy  as  to  the  yeere  lf>44."     Small  4to.  pp.47, 

find  in  the  hinds  of  the  aged  Moses  It  is  preceded  by  an  address  of  t\vo 

Brown,  of  Providence.     It  is  "Mr.  pages  to  the  Impartial  Header. 

Cotton's  Letter,  lately  printed,  Ex-  2  ft.  Williams's  Hireling  Minis- 

lunined  and  Answered.     By  Roger  try,  !&). 


372  ROGER   WILLIAMS   IN   MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  the  subject ;    and  an  English  lawyer  would  have  ques- 
— ^  tioned  the  legality  of  the  measure.      The  liberty  of 
conscience  for  which  Williams  contended,  denied  the 
1635   right  of  a  compulsory  imposition  of  an  oath  :l  when  he 
30.     was  summoned   before    the    court,  he    could    not   re 
nounce  his  belief;    and  his  influence  was  such  "that 
the  government  was  forced  to  desist  from  that   pro 
ceeding."     To  the  magistrates  he  seemed  the  a  ly  of 
a  civil  faction  ;  to  himself  he  appeared  only  to  make  a 
frank  avowal  of  the  truth.     In  all  his  intercourse  with 
the  tribunals,  he  spoke  with  the  distinctness  of  settled 
convictions.'     He  was  fond  of  discussion  ;    but  he  was 
never  betrayed  into  angry  remonstrance.     If  he  was 
charged  with  pride,  it  was  only  for  the  novelty  of  his 
inions. 

The  scholar  who  is  accustomed  to  the  pursuits  of 
abstract  philosophy,  lives  in  a  region  of  thought  far 
different  from  that  by  which  he  is  surrounded.  The 
range  of  his  understanding  is  remote  from  the  paths  of 
common  minds,  and  he  is  often  the  victim  of  the  con 
trast.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  world  to  reject  the 
voice  of  truth,  because  its  tones  are  strange ;  to  de 
clare  doctrines  unsound,  only  because  they  are  new  ; 
and  even  to  charge  obliquity  or  derangement  on  the 
man  who  brings  forward  principles  which  the  selfish 
repudiate.  Such  has  ever  been  the  way  of  the  world  ; 
and  Socrates,  and  St.  Paul,  and  Luther,  and  others  of 
the  most  acute  dialecticians,  have  been  ridiculed  as 
drivellers  and  madmen.  The  extraordinary  develop 
ment  of  one  faculty  may  sometimes  injure  the  balance 
of  the  mind  ;  just  as  the  constant  exercise  of  one 
member  of  the  body  injures  the  beauty  of  its  propor- 

J  See  his  opinions,  fully  reduced  in  1047,  m  ii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll 
to  the  form  oi  a  law,  at  Providence,  vii.  9G. 


ROGER   WILLIAMS    IN   MASSACHUSETTS.  373 

tions  ;  or  as  the  exclusive  devotedness  to  one  pursuit,  CHAP 
politics  for  instance,  or  money,  brushes  away  from  ^v-~ 
conduct  and  character  the  agreeable  varieties  of  light 
arid  shade.  It  is  a  very  ancient  remark,  that  folly  has 
its  corner  in  the  brain  of  every  wise  man  ;  and  certain 
it  is,  that  not  the  poets  only,  like  Tasso,  but  the  clear 
est  minds,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Pascal,  Spinoza,  have 
been  deeply  tinged  with  insanity.  Perhaps  Williams 
pursued  his  sublime  principles  with  too  scrupulous  mi 
nuteness  ;  it  was  at  least  natural  for  Bradford  and  his 
contemporaries,  while  they  acknowledged  his  power  as 
a  preacher,  to  esteem  him  "  unsettled  in  judgment." 

The  court  at  Boston  remained  as  yet  undecided ; 
when  the  church  of  Salem, — those  who  were  best  ac 
quainted  with  Williams, — taking  no  notice  of  the  recent 
investigations,  elected  him  to  the  office  of  their  teach 
er.  Immediately  the  evils  inseparable  on  a  religious 
establishment  began  to  be  displayed.  The  ministers 
got  together  and  declared  any  one  worthy  of  banish 
ment,  who  should  obstinately  assert,  that  "  the  civil 
magistrate  might  not  intermeddle  even  to  stop  a  church 
from  apostasy  and  heresy ; "  the  magistrates  delayed 
action,  only  that  a  committee  of  divines  might  have 
time  to  repair  to  Salem  and  deal  with  him  and  with 
the  church  in  a  church  way.  Meantime,  the  people 
of  Salem  were  blamed  for  their  choice  of  a  religious 
guide ;  and  a  tract  of  land,  to  which  they  had  a  claim, 
was  withheld  from  them  as  a  punishment. 

The  breach  was  therefore  widened.  To  the  minis 
ters  Williams  frankly,  but  temperately,  explained  his 
doctrines ;  and  he  was  armed  at  all  points  for  their 
defence.  As  his  townsmen  had  lost  their  lands  in 
consequence  of  their  attachment  to  him,  it  would  have 
been  cowardice  on  his  part  to  have  abandoned  them ; 


374 


ROGER  WILLIAMS   IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 


CHAP,  and  the  instinct  of  liberty  led  him  again  to  the  sugges- 
^v^  tion   of  a    proper   remedy.     In  conjunction  with  the 
1G35   church,  he  wrote  "letters  of  admonition  unto  all  the 
churches  whereof  any  of  the  magistrates  were   mem 
bers,  that  they  might  admonish  the  magistrates  of  their 
injustice."     The  church  members  alone  were  freemen; 
Williams,  in  modern  language,  appealed  to  the  people, 
and  invited  them  to  instruct  their  representatives  to  do 
justice  to  the  citizens  of  Salem. 

This  last  act  seemed  flagrant  treason  ; l  and  at  the 
next  general  court,  Salem  was  disfranchised  till  an 
ample  apology  for  the  letter  should  be  made.  The 
town  acquiesced  in  its  wrongs,  and  submitted ;  not  an 
individual  remained  willing  to  justify  the  letter  of  re 
monstrance  ;  the  church  of  Williams  would  not  avow 

r* 

his  great  principle  of  the  sanctity  of  conscience  ;  even 
his  wife,  under  a  delusive  idea  of  duty,  was  for  a 
season  influenced  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  his  home 
by  her  reproaches.2  Williams  was  left  alone,  abso 
lutely  alone.  Anticipating  the  censures  of  the  colo 
nial  churches,  he  declared  himself  no  longer  subjected 
to  their  spiritual  jurisdiction.  "  My  own  voluntary 
withdrawing  from  all  these  churches,  resolved  to  con 
tinue  in  persecuting  the  witnesses  of  the  Lord,  pre 
senting  light  unto  them,  I  confess  it  was  mine  own 
voluntary  act ;  yea,  I  hope  the  act  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
sounding  forth  in  me  the  blast,  which  shall  in  his  own 
holy  season  east  down  the  strength  and  confidence  of 
Oct.  those  inventions  of  men."3  When  summoned  to  ap 
pear  before  the  general  court,  he  avowed  his  convictions 
in  the  presence  of  the  representatives  of  the  state, 
"  maintained  the  rocky  strength  of  his  grounds,"  and 


1  Cotton  calls  it  crimen  majesta- 
tis  laeaae. 


2  Master  John  Cotton's  Reply,  9 

3  Cotton's  Letter  Exfjiiined,  3. 


ROGER    WILLIAMS  IN   MASSACHUSETTS.  375 

declared  himself  "ready  to  be  bound  and  banished  and  CHAP 
even  to  die  in  New  England,"  rather  than  renounce  — -^ 
the  opinions  which  had  dawned  upon  his  mind  in  the 
clearness  of  light.     At  a  time  when  Germany  was  the 
battle-field  for  all  Europe  in  the  implacable  wars  of 
religion  ;  when   even  Holland  was  bleeding  with  the 
an^er  of  vengeful  factions:  when   France  was  still  to 

O  O  ' 

go  through  the  fearful  struggle  with  bigotry ;  when 
England  was  gasping  under  the  despotism  of  intoler 
ance  almost  half  a  century  before  William  Penn  be 
came  an  American  proprietary ;  and  two  years  before 
Descartes  founded  modern  philosophy  on  the  method 
of  free  reflection, — Roger  Williams  asserted  the  great 
doctrine  of  intellectual  liberty.  It  became  his  glory  to 
found  a  state  upon  that  principle,  and  to  stamp  himself 
upon  its  rising  institutions,  in  characters  so  deep  that 
the  impress  has  remained  to  the  present  day,  and,  can 
never  be  erased  without  the  total  destruction  of  the 
work.  The  principles  which  he  first  sustained  amidst 
the  bickerings  of  a  colonial  parish,  next  asserted  in  the 
general  court  of  Massachusetts,  and  then  introduced 
into  the  wilds  on  Narragansett  Bay,  he  soon  found 
occasion  to  publish  to  the  world,  and  to  defend  as  the  1C  14 
basis  of  the  religious  freedom  of  mankind ;  so  that, 
borrowing  the  rhetoric  employed  by  his  antagonist  in 
derision,  we  may  compare  him  to  the  lark,  the  pleasant 
bird  of  the  peaceful  summer,  that,  "affecting  to  soar 
aloft,  springs  upward  from  the  ground,  takes  his  rise 
from  pale  to  tree,"  and  at  last,  surmounting  the  highest 
lulls,  utters  his  clear  carols  through  the  skies  of  morn 
ing  l  He  was  the  first  person  in  modern  Christendom 
to  assert  in  its  plenitude  the  doctrine  of  the  liberty  of 

i  John  Cotton's  Reply,  2. 


376  ROGER  WILLIAMS   IN   MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  conscience,  the  equality  of  opinions  before  the  law  ; 

'•-~^~  and  in  its  defence  he  was  the  harbinger  of  Milton, 
the  precursor  and  the  superior  of  Jeremy  Taylor.  For 
Taylor  limited  his  toleration  to  a  few  Christian  sects  , 
the  philanthropy  of  Williams  compassed  the  earth  • 
Taylor  favored  partial  reform,  commended  lenity, 
argued  for  forbearance,  and  entered  a  special  plea  in 
behalf  of  each  tolerable  sect ;  Williams  would  permit 
persecution  of  no  opinion,  of  no  religion,  leaving  heresy 
unharmed  by  law,  and  orthodoxy  unprotected  by  the 
terrors  of  penal  statutes.  Taylor  still  clung  to  the 
necessity  of  positive  regulations  enforcing  religion  and 
eradicating  error  ;  he  resembled  the  poets,  who,  in  their 
folly,  first  declare  their  hero  to  be  invulnerable,  and  then 
clothe  him  in  earthly  armor  :  Williams  was  willing  to 
leave  Truth  alone,  in  her  own  panoply  of  light,1  be 
lieving  that  if,  in  the  ancient  feud  between  Truth  and 
Error,  the  employment  of  force  could  be  entirely  abro 
gated,  Truth  would  have  much  the  best  of  the  bargain. 
It  is  the  custom  of  mankind  to  award  high  honors 
to  the  successful  inquirer  into  the  laws  of  nature,  to 
those  who  advance  the  bounds  of  human  knowledge. 
We  praise  the  man  who  first  analyzed  the  air,  or  re 
solved  water  into  its  elements,  or  drew  the  lightning 
from  the  clouds ;  even  though  the  discoveries  may 
have  been  as  much  the  fruits  of  time  as  of  genius.  A 
moral  principle  has  a  much  wider  and  nearer  influence 
on  human  happiness;  nor  can  any  discovery  of  truth 
be  of  more  direct  benefit  to  society,  than  that  which 
establishes  a  perpetual  religious  peace,  and  spreads 
tranquillity  through  every  community  and  every  bosom. 
If  Copernicus  is  held  in  perpetual  reverence,  because, 
on  his  death-bed,  he  published  to  the  world  that  the 

1  The  expression  is  partly  from  Gibbon  and  Sir  Henry  Vane- 


ROGER   WILLIAMS  THE  FOUNDER  OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  377 

sun  is  the  centre  of  our  system  ;  if  the  name  of  Kepler  CHAP 
is  preserved  in  the  annals  of  human  excellence  for  his  -^ 
sagacity  in  detecting  the  laws  of  the  planetary  motion; 
if  the  genius  of  Newton  has  been  almost  adored  for 
dissecting  a  ray  of  light,  and  weighing  heavenly  bodies 
as  in  a  balance, — let  there  be  for  the  name  of  Roger 
Williams  at  least  some  humble  place  among  those  who 
have  advanced  moral  science,  and  made  themselves  the 
benefactors  of  mankind. 

But  if  the  opinion  of  posterity  is  no  longer  divided,  1635 
the  members  of  the  general  court  of  that  day  pro 
nounced  against  him  the  sentence  of  exile  ; 1  yet  not 
by  a  very  numerous  majority.  Some,  who  consented 
to  his  banishment,  would  never  have  yielded  but  for 
the  persuasions  of  Cotton ;  and  the  judgment  was 
vindicated,  not  as  a  punishment  for  opinion,  or  as  a 
restraint  on  freedom  of  conscience,  but  because  the 
application  of  the  new  doctrine  to  the  construction  of 
the  patent,  to  the  discipline  of  the  churches,  and  to 
the  "  oaths  for  making  tryall  of  the  fidelity  of  the 
people,"  seemed  about  "to  subvert  the  fundamental 
stqte  and  government  of  the  country." 

Winter  was  at  hand  ;  Williams  succeeded  in  ob 
taining  permission  to  remain  till  spring;  intending 
then  to  begin  a  plantation  in  Narragansett  Bay.  But 
the  affections  of  the  people  of  Sa!em  revived,  and  could 
not  be  restrained  ;  they  thronged  to  his  house  to  hear 
him  whom  they  were  so  soon  to  lose  forever;  it 
began  to  be  rumored,  that  he  could  not  safely  be  al 
lowed  to  found  a  new  state  in  the  vicinity ;  "  many  of 
the  people  were  much  taken  with  the  apprehension 
of  his  godliness ; "  his  opinions  were  contagious  ;  the 

1  Winthrop,  i.  170, 171.     Colony    ply,  27.  29.    Roger  Williams'a  Ac- 
Records,  i.  163.    John  Cotton's  Re-    count,  ibid.  24,  arid  ff. 

VOL.  i.  48 


378  ROGER  WILLIAMS  THE  FOUNDER  OF  RHODE     SLAND. 

CHAP,  infection  spread  widely.  It  was  therefore  resolved  to 
~^v^  remove  him  to  England  in  a  ship  that  was  just  ready 
1636  to  set  sail.  A  warrant  was  accordingly  sent  to  him  to 

Tan. 

come  to  Boston  and  embark.  For  the  first  time,  he 
declined  the  summons  of  the  court.  A  pinnace  was 
sent  for  him ;  the  officers  repaired  to  his  house  ;  he 
was  no  longer  there.  Three  days  before,  he  had  lefl 
Salem,  in  winter  snow  and  inclement  weather,  of 
which  he  remembered  the  severity  even  in  his  late  old 
age.  "  For  fourteen  weeks,  he  was  sorely  tost  in  a 
bitter  season,  not  knowing  what  bread  or  bed  did 
mean."1  Often  in  the  stormy  night  he  had  neithei 
fire,  nor  food,  nor  company  ;  often  he  wandered  with 
out  a  guide,  and  had  no  house  but  a  hollow  tree.2 
But  he  was  not  without  friends.  The  same  scrupulous 
respect  for  the  rights  of  others,  which  had  led  him  to 
defend  the  freedom  of  conscience,  had  made  him  also 
the  champion  of  the  Indians.  He  had  already  been 
zealous  to  acquire  their  language,  and  knew  it  so  well 
that  he  could  debate  with  them  in  their  own  dialect 
During  his  residence  at  Plymouth,  he  had  often  been 
the  guest  of  the  neighboring  sachems ;  and  now,  whe,n 
he  came  in  winter  to  the  cabin  of  the  chief  of  Poka 
noket,  he  was  welcomed  by  Massasoit ;  and  "  the  bar 
barous  heart  of  Canonicus,  the  chief  of  the  Narragan- 
setts,  loved  him  as  his  son  to  the  last  gasp."  "  The 
ravens,"  he  relates  with  gratitude,  "  fed  me  in  the 
\\  ilderness."  And  in  requital  for  their  hospitality,  he 
was  ever  through  his  long  life  their  friend  and  ben 
efactor;  the  apostle  of  Christianity  to  them  without 
hire,  without  weariness,  and  without  impatience  at 
their  idolatry ;  the  guardian  of  their  rights  ;  the  pacii- 

1  Roger  Williams  to  Mason,  in  i.        2  Roger  Williams's   Key.     Re 
ays.  Hist  Coll.  i.  270.  printed  in  11.  1.  Hist  Coll  i. 


FOUNDATION  OF  PROVIDENCE.  379 

icator,  when  their  rude  passions  were  inflamed ;    and  CHAP 

their   unflinching   advocate    and    protector,   whenever 

Europeans  attempted  an  invasion  of  their  soil. 

He  first  pitched  and  began  to  build  and  plant  at 
Seekonk.  But  Seekonk  was  found  to  be  within  the 
patent  of  Plymouth ;  on  the  other  side  of  the  water, 
the  country  opened  in  its  unappropriated  beauty  and 
there  he  might  hope  to  establish  a  community  as  free 
as  the  other  colonies.  "  That  ever-honored  Governor 
Winthrop,"  says  Williams,  "  privately  wrote  to  me  to 
steer  my  course  to  the  Narragansett  Bay,  encouraging 
me  from  the  freeness  of  the  place  from  English  claims 
or  patents.  1  took  his  prudent  motion  as  a  voice  from 
God." 

It  was  in  June  that  the  lawgiver  of  Rhode  Island, 
with  five  companions,  embarked  on  the  stream  ;  a  frail 
Indian  canoe  contained  the  founder  of  an  independent 
state  and  its  earliest  citizens.  Tradition  has  marked 
the  spring  near  which  they  landed  ;  it  is  the  parent 
spot,  the  first  inhabited  nook  of  Rhode  Island.  To 
express  his  unbroken  confidence  in  the  mercies  of 
God,  Williams  called  the  place  PROVIDENCE.  "  I  de 
sired,"  said  he,  "  it  might  be  for  a  shelter  for  persons 
distressed  for  conscience. "] 

In  his  new  abode,  Williams  could  have  less  leisure 
for  contemplation  and  study.  "  My  time,"  he  ob 
serves  of  himself, — and  it  is  a  sufficient  apology  for  the 
roughness  of  his  style,  as  a  writer  on  morals, — "  was 
not  spent  altogether  in  spiritual  labors ;  but,  day  and 
night,  at  home  and  abroad,  on  the  land  and  water,  at 
the  hoe,  at  the  oar,  for  bread."2  In  the  course  of  two 

i  Backus,  i.  94.      There    is    in  serves  more  reputation  than  he  haa 

Backus  much  evidence  of  diligent  had. 

research    and    critical   respect  for  2  Bloody  Tenent  yet  more  Bloody, 

documentary    testimony.      He   de-  38,  in  Knowles. 


380  LIBERTY  OF   CONSCIENCE    ESTABLISHED. 

CHAP,  years,  he  was  joined  by  others,  who  fled  to  his  asylum 
^v^  The  land  which  was  now  occupied  by  Williams,  was 
within  the  territory  of  the  Narragansett  Indians  ;    it 
1638.  was  not  long  before  an  Indian  deed  from  Canonicus 

...  o 

24/  and  Miantonomoh 1  made  him  the  undisputed  possessor 
of  an  extensive  domain.  Nothing  displays  more  clear 
ly  the  character  of  Roger  Williams  than  the  use  which 
he  made  of  his  acquisition  of  territory.  The  soil  he 
could  claim  as  his  "  own,  as  truly  as  any  man's  coat 
upon  his  back  ;"2  and  he  "reserved  to  himself  not  one 
foot  of  land,  not  one  tittle  of  political  power,  more 
than  he  granted  to  servants  and  strangers."  "He 
gave  away  his  lands  and  other  estate  to  them  that  he 
thought  were  most  in  want,  until  he  gave  away  all."3 
He  chose  to  found  a  commonwealth  in  the  unmixed 
forms  of  a  pure  democracy ;  where  the  will  of  the  ma 
jority  should  govern  the  state  ;  yet  "  only  in  civil 
things  ; "  God  alone  was  respected  as  the  Ruler  of 
conscience.  To  their  more  aristocratic  neighbors,  it 
seemed  as  if  these  fugitives  "  would  have  no  magis 
trates;"4  for  every  thing  was  as  yet  decided  in  con 
vention  of  the  people.  This  first  system  has  had  its 
influence  on  the  whole  political  history  of  Rhode 
Island ;  in  no  state  in  the  world,  not  even  in  the 
agricultural  state  of  Vermont,  has  the  magistracy  so 
little  power,  or  the  representatives  of  the  freemen  so 
much.  The  annals  of  Rhode  Island,  if  written  in  the 
spirit  of  philosophy,  would  exhibit  the  forms  of  society 
under  a  peculiar  aspect :  had  the  territory  of  the  state 
corresponded  to  the  importance  and  singularity  of  the 
principles  of  its  early  existence,  the  world  would  have 

1  Backus,!.  89,90.  Knowles,  106,        3  Letter  of  Daniel  Williams. 

107.  4  Winthrop,  i.  29a      Hubbard 

a  Backus,  i.  290  Knowles,  c.    338. 
viii. 


MAGNANIMITY  OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS.  381 

been    filled    with   wonder   at   the    phenomena   of  its  CHAP 
history.  v^v^ 

The  most  touching  trait  in  the  founder  of  Rhode 
Island  was  his  conduct  towards  his  persecutors. 
Though  keenly  sensitive  to  the  hardships  which  he 
had  endured,  he  was  far  from  harboring  feelings  of 
revenge  towards  those  who  banished  him,  and  only 
regretted  their  delusion.  "  I  did  ever,  from  my  soul, 
honor  and  love  them,  even  when  their  judgment  led 
them  to  afflict  me." *  In  all  his  writings  on  the  sub 
ject,  he  attacked  the  spirit  of  intolerance,  the  doctrine 
of  persecution,  and  never  his  persecutors  or  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts.  Indeed,  we  shall  presently  behold 
him  requite  their  severity  by  exposing  his  life  at  their 
request  and  for  their  benefit.  It  is  not  strange,  then, 
if  "  many  hearts  were  touched  with  relentings.  That 
great  and  pious  soul,  Mr.  Winslow,  melted,  and  kindly 
visited  me,"  says  the  exile,  "  and  put  a  piece  of  gold 
into  the  hands  of  my  wife,  for  our  supply;"2  the 
founder,  the  legislator,  the  proprietor  of  Rhode  Island, 
owed  a  shelter  to  the  hospitality  of  an  Indian  chief, 
and  his  wife  the  means  of  sustenance  to  the  charity  of 
a  stranger.  The  half-wise  Cotton  Mather  concedes, 
that  many  judicious  persons  confessed  him  to  have  had 
the  root  of  the  matter  in  him ;  and  his  nearer  friends, 
the  immediate  witnesses  of  his  actions,  declared  him, 
from  "  the  whole  course  and  tenor  of  his  life  and  con 
duct,  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  disinterested  men  that 
ever  lived,  a  most  pious  and  heavenly-minded  soul." 3 

Thus  was  Rhode  Island  the  offspring  of  Massachu 
setts  ;  but  her  political  connections  were  long  influenced 
by  the  circumstance  of -her  origin.  The  loss  of  the 

1  Winthrop  and  Savage,  i.  65  2  Williams  to  Mason. 

3  Callender,  17. 


382  GREAT    EMIGRATION    TO    MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  few  emigrants  who  resorted  to  the  new  state,  was  not 
J^  sensibly  felt  in  the  parent  colony;  for  the  bay  of 
1G34-  Massachusetts  was  already  thronged  with  squadrons. 
When  the  first  difficulties  of  encountering  the  wilder 
ness  had  been  surmounted,  and  an  apprehension  had 
arisen  of  evil  days  that  were  to  befall  England,  the 
stream   of  emigration   flowed  with  a  full   current; 
"  Godly  people  there  began  to  apprehend  a  special 
hand  of  Providence  in   raising  this  plantation,  and 
their  hearts  were  generally  stirred  to   come  over." 
The  new  comers  were  so  many,  that  there  was  no 
room  for  them  all  in  the  earlier  places  of  abode ;  and 
less.  Simon  Willard,  a  trader,- joining  with  Peter  Bulkeley, 
a  minister   from   St.  John's  College  in  Cambridge,  a 
man  of  wealth,  benevolence,  and  great  learning,  be 
came  chief  instruments   in   extending   the  frontier. 
•  Under  their  guidance,  at  the  fall  of  the  leaf  in  1635, 
a  little  band  of  twelve  families,  toiling  through  thick- 

*  O  GJ 

ets  of  ragged  bushes,  and  clambering  over  crossed 
trees,  made  their  way  along  Indian  paths  to  the 
green  meadows  of  Concord.  The  suffering  settlers 
burrrowed  for  their  first  shelter  under  a  hill-side. 
The  cattle  sicklied  on  the  wild  fodder ;  sheep 
and  swine  were  destroyed  by  wolves ;  there  was 
no  flesh  but  game.  The  long  rains  poured  through 
the  insufficient  roofs  of  their  smoky  cottages,  and 
troubled  even  the  time  for  sleep.  Yet  the  men 
labored  willingly,  for  they  had  their  wives  and  little 
ones  about  them.  The  forest  rung  with  their  psalms ; 
and  "  the  poorest  people  of  God  in  the  whole  world,'7 
they  were  resolved  uto  excel  in  holiness."  Such  was 
the  infancy  of  a  New  England  village.  That  village 
will  one  day  engage  the  attention  of  the  world. 


HENRY  VANE  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  383 

Meantime  the  fame  of  the  liberties  of  Massachusetts  CHAP 

IX 

extended  widely :  the  good-natured  earl  of  War-  ^>— 
wick,  a  friend  to  advancement  in  civil  liberty,  though 
not  a  republican,  offered  his  congratulations  on  its 
prosperity ;  and  in  a  single  year  three  thousand  new 
settlers  were  added  to  the  Puritan  colony.  Among 
these  was  the  fiery  Hugh  Peters,  who  had  been  pastor 
of  a  church  of  English  exiles  in  Rotterdam  ;  a  repub 
lican  of  an  enlarged  spirit,  great  energy,  and  popular 
eloquence,  not  always  tempering  active  enterprise  with 
solidity  of  judgment.  At  the  same  time  came  Henry 
Vane,  the  younger,  a  man  of  the  purest  mind;  a 
statesman  of  spotless  integrity ;  whose  name  the  prog 
ress  of  intelligence  and  liberty  will  erase  from  the 
rubric  of  fanatics  and  traitors,  and  insert  high  among 
the  aspirants  after  truth  and  the  martyrs  for  liberty. 
He  had  valued  the  "  obedience  of  the  gospel"  more 
than  the  successful  career  of  English  diplomacy,  and 
cheerfully  u  forsook  the  preferments  of  the  court  of 
Charles  for  the  ordinances  of  religion  in  their  purity 
in  New  England."  He  was  happy  in  the  possession 
of  an  admirable  genius,  though  naturally  more  inclined 
to  contemplative  excellence  than  to  action  :  he  was 
happy  in  the  eulogist  of  his  virtues  ;  for  Milton,  ever  so 
parsimonious  of  praise,  reserving  the  majesty  of  his 
verse  to  celebrate  the  glories  and  vindicate  the  provi 
dence  of  God,  was  lavish  of  his  encomiums  on  the 
youthful  friend  of  religious  liberty.  But  Vane  was 
still  more  happy  in  attaining  early  in  life  a  firmly-set 
tled  theory  of  morals,  and  in  possessing  an  energetic 
will,  which  made  all  his  conduct  to  the  very  last  con 
form  to  the  doctrines  he  had  espoused,  turning  his 
dying  hour  into  a  seal  of  the  witness,  which  his  life 
had  ever  borne  with  noble  consistencv  to  the  freedom 


384  AN  ORDER  OF  NOBILITY  PROPOSED   AND  REJECTED. 

UHAP  of  conscience  and  the  people.     "If  he  were  not  su- 
— v^  perior   to  Hampden,"  says  Clarendon,    "he  was   in 
ferior  to  no  other  man  ; "  "  his  whole  life  made  good 
the    imagination,    that   there   was    'n   him  something 
extraordinary."  l 

The  freemen  of  Massachusetts,  pleased  that  a  young 
man  of  such  elevated  rank  and  distinguished  ability 
should  have  adopted  their  creed,  and  joined  them  in 
1636.  their  exile,  elected  him  their  governor.  The  choice 
was  unwise  ;  for  neither  the  age  nor  the  experience  of 
Vane  entitled  him  to  the  distinction.  He  came  but 
as  a  sojourner,  and  not  as  a  permanent  resident ; 
neither  was  he  imbued  with  the  colonial  prejudices, 
the  genius  of  the  place ;  and  his  clear  mind,  unbiased 
by  previous  discussions,  and  fresh  from  the  public 
business  of  England,  saw  distinctly  what  the  colo 
nists  did  not  wish  to  see,  the  really  wide  difference 
between  their  practice  under  their  charter  and  the 
meaning  of  that  instrument  on  the  principles  -of 
English  jurisprudence.2 

These  latent  causes  of  discontent  could  not  but  be 
eventually  displayed ;  at  first  the  arrival  of  Vane  was 
considered  an  auspicious  pledge  for  the  emigration 
of  men  of  the  highest  rank  in  England.  Several  of 
the  English  peers,  especially  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  a 
Presbyterian,  a  friend  to  the  Puritans,  yet  with  but 
dim  perceptions  of  the  true  nature  of  civil  liberty,  and 
Lord  Brooke,  a  man  of  charity  and  meekness,  an  early 
friend  to  tolerance,  had  begun  to  inquire  into  the 
character  of  the  rising  institutions,  and  to  negotiate 
for  such  changes  as  would  offer  them  inducements 
for  removing  to  America.  They  demanded  a  division 

*  Clarendon,  b.  vii.  and  b.  iii.  vol.    son's  Coll.  72  73.  76,  and  83  ;  uo, 
li.  379,  and  vol.  i.  186,  187,  188.          too,  in  Winthrop,  i.  187. 
2  I  find  proofs  of  this  in  Hutchin- 


AN  ORDER  OF  NOBILITY^  PROPOSED  AND   REJECTED.  385 

of  the  general  court  into  two  branches,    that   of  as-  CHAP 

IX 

sistants  and  of  representatives, — a  change  which  was  — -v^. 
acceptable  to  the  people,  and  which,  from  domestic  163(5 
reasons,  was  ultimately  adopted  ;  but  they  further  re 
quired  an  acknowledgment  of  their  own  hereditary 
right  to  a  seat  in  the  upper  house.  The  fathers  of 
Massachusetts  were  disposed  to  conciliate  these  power 
ful  friends :  they  promised  them  the  honors  of  magis 
tracy,  would  have  readily  conferred  it  on  some  of  them 
for  life,  and  actually  began  to  make  appointments  on 
that  tenure ;  but  as  for  the  establishment  of  hereditary 
dignity,  they  answered  by  the  hand  of  Cotton,  "Where 
God  blesseth  any  branch  of  any  noble  or  generous 
family  with  a  spirit  and  gifts  fit  for  government,  it 
would  be  a  taking  of  God's  name  in  vain  to  put  such 
a  talent  under  a  bushel,  and  a  sin  against  the  honor  of 
magistracy  to  neglect  such  in  our  public  elections. 
But  if  God  should  not  delight  to  furnish  some  of  their 
posterity  with  gifts  fit  for  magistracy,  we  should  ex 
pose  them  rather  to  reproach  and  prejudice,  and  the 
commonwealth  with  them,  than  exalt  them  to  honor, 
if  we  should  call  them  forth,  when  God  doth  not,  to 
public  authority."  And  thus  the  proposition  for  es 
tablishing  hereditary  nobility  was  defeated.  The  peo 
pie,  moreover,  were  uneasy  at  the  permanent  conces 
sion  of  office  ;  Saltonstall,  "  that  much-honored  and 
upright-hearted  servant  of  Christ,"  loudly  reproved 
"  the  sinful  innovation,"  and  advocated  its  reform ;  nor 
would  the  freemen  be  quieted,  till  it  was  made  a 
law,  that  those  who  were  appointed  magistrates  for 
life,  should  yet  not  be  magistrates  except  in  those 
years  in  which  they  might  be  regularly  chosen  at 
the  annual  election. 

The  institutions  of  Massachusetts,  which  were  thus 
endangered  by  the  influence  of  men  of  rank  in  Eng- 
VOL.  i  49 


386  THE   ANTINOMIAN   CONTROVERSY. 


land,  were  likewise  in  jeopardy  from  the  effects  of  re- 
—  ~  ligious  divisions.  The  minds  of  the  colonists  were 
1686  excited  to  intense  activity  on  questions  which  the 
nicest  subtlety  only  could  have  devised,  and  which 
none  but  those  experienced  in  the  shades  of  theologi 
cal  opinions  could  long  comprehend.  For  it  goes  with 
these  opinions  as  with  colors  ;  of  which  the  artist  who 
works  in  mosaic,  easily  and  regularly  discriminates 
many  thousand  varieties,  where  the  common  eye  can 
discern  a  difference  only  on  the  closest  comparison. 
Boston  and  its  environs  were  now  employed  in  theo 
logical  controversy  ;  and  the  transports  of  enthusiasm 
sustained  the  toil  of  abstruse  speculations.  The  most 
profound  questions  which  can  relate  to  the  mysteries 
of  human  existence  and  the  laws  of  the  moral  world, 
questions  which  the  mind,  in  the  serenity  of  unclouded 
reflection,  may  hardly  aspire  to  solve,  were  discussed 
with  passionate  zeal  ;  eternity  was  summoned  to  re 
veal  its  secrets  ;  human  tribunals  pretended  to  estab 
lish  for  the  Infinite  Mind  the  laws  on  which  the  des 
tinies  of  the  soul  depend  ;  the  Holy  Spirit  was  claimed 
as  the  inward  companion  of  man  ;_  while  many  persons, 
in  their  zeal  to  distinguish  between  abstract  truth  and 
the  outward  forms  under  which  truth  is  conveyed,  be 
tween  unchanging  principles  and  changing  institutions, 
were  in  perpetual  danger  of  making  shipwreck  of  all 
religious  faith,  and  hardly  paused  to  sound  their  way, 
as  they  proceeded  through  the  "dim  and  perilous" 
paths  of  speculative  science. 

Amidst  the  arrogance  of  spiritual  pride,  the  vaga 
ries  of  undisciplined  imaginations,  and  the  extrava 
gances  to  which  the  intellectual  power  may  be  led  in 
its  pursuit  of  ultimate  principles,  the  formation  of  two 
distinct  parties  may  be  perceived.  The  first  consisted 


THE  ANTINOM1AN  CONTROVERSY.  387 

of  the  original  settlers,  the  framers  of  the  civil  govern-  CHAP 
ment,  and  their  adherents ;  they  wluo  were  intent  on  ^-v-L 
the  foundation  and  preservation  of  a  commonwealth, 
and  were  satisfied  with  the  established  order  of  society. 
They  had  founded  their  government  on  the  basis  of 
the  church,  and  church  membership  could  be  obtain 
ed  only  by  the  favor  of  the  clergy  and  an  exemplary 
life.  They  dreaded  unlimited  freedom  of  opinion  as 
the  parent  of  ruinous  divisions.  "  The  cracks  and  flaws 
in  the  new  building  of  the  reformation,"  thought  they, 
"portend  a  fall;"1  they  desired  patriotism,  union,  and 
a  common  heart ;  they  were  earnest  to  confirm  and 
build  up  the  state,  the  child  of  their  cares  and  their 
sorrows.  They  were  reproached  with  being  "  priest- 
ridden  magistrates,"2  "  under  a  covenant  of  works." 

The  other  party  was  composed  of  individuals  who 
had  arrived  after  the  civil  government  and  religious 
discipline  of  the  colony  had  been  established.  They 
came  fresh  from  the  study  of  the  tenets  of  Geneva ; 
and  their  pride  consisted  in  following  the  principles  of 
the  reformation  with  logical  precision  to  all  their  con 
sequences.  Their  eyes  were  not  primarily  directed 
to  the  institutions  of  Massachusetts,  but  to  the  doc 
trines  of  their  religious  system.  They  had  come  to 
the  wilderness  for  freedom  of  religious  opinion ;  and 
they  resisted  every  form  of  despotism  over  the  mind. 
To  them  the  clergy  of  Massachusetts  were  "  the  ush 
ers  of  persecution,"3  "popish  factors,"4  who  had  not 
imbibed  the  true  doctrines  of  Christian  reform ;  and 
they  applied  to  the  influence  of  the  Puritan  ministers 
the  principle  which  Luther  and  Calvin  had  employed 
against  the  observances  and  pretensions  of  the  Roman 

1  Shepherd's  Lamentation,  2.  3  Coddmgton,  in  Besse,  ii.  267. 

2  The   phrase   is    William   Cod-        4  Welde's     Rise,     Reign,     and 
dington's.     See  Besse,  ii.  267.  Ruin. 


388  THE  ANTINOM1AN   CONTROVERSY. 

CHAP  church.1  Every  political  opinion,  every  philosophical 
^~  tenet,  assumed  in  those  days  a  theological  form :  with 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone,  they  de 
rided  the  formality  of  the  established  religion ;  and 
by  asserting  that  the  Holy  Spirit  dwells  in  every 
believer,  that  the  revelation  of  the  Spirit  is  superior 
"  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,"2  they  sustained  with 
intense  fanaticism  the  paramount  authority  of  private 
judgment. 

The  founder  of  this  party  was  Anne  Hutchinson,  a 
woman  of  such  admirable  understanding  "  and  profit 
able  and  sober  carriage/'3  that  her  enemies  could 
never  speak  of  her  without  acknowledging  her  elo 
quence  and  her  ability.4  She  was  encouraged  by  John 
Wheelwright,  a  silenced  minister,  who  had  married 
her  husband's  sister,  and  by  Henry  Vane,  the  governor 
of  the  colony ;  while  a  majority  of  the  people  of  Bos 
ton  sustained  her  in  her  rebellion  against  the  clergy. 
Scholars  and  men  of  learning,  members  of  the  magis 
tracy  and  the  general  court  adopted  her  opinions.5  The 
public  mind  seemed  hastening  towards  an  insurrection 
against  spiritual  authority ;  and  she  was  denounced  as 
"  weakening  the  hands  and  hearts  of  the  people  tow 
ards  the  ministers,"6  as  being  "like  Roger  Williams 
or  worse."7 

The  subject  possessed  the  highest  political  impor 
tance.  Nearly  all  the  clergy,  except  Cotton,  in  whose 
house  Vane  was  an  inmate,8  clustered  together9  in  de 
fence  of  their  influence,  and  in  opposition  to  Vane ; 
1037.  and  Wheelwright,  who,  in  a  fast-day's  sermon,  had 
strenuously  maintained  the  truth  of  his  opinions,  and 

i  Winthrop,  i.  213,  214.  5, .Welde's  Rise,  Reign,  &c. 

9  Winthrop,  i.201,  and  in  Hutch-  .6  \Winthrop,  in  Hutch.,  ii.  443 

inson,  ii.  443.  7  .Winthrop,  in  Hutch.  Coll. 

3  Welde's  Rise,  Reign,  &c.  8  Suffolk  Prob.  Records,  i.  72 

4  Dudley,  in  Hutchinson,  ii.  427.  9  Winthrop,  i.  215. 


THE  ANTINOMIAN  CONTROVERSY.  389 

had  never  been  confuted,1  in  spite  of  the  remonstrance  CHAP 
of  the  governor,  was  censured  by  the  general  court  -^-L 
for  sedition.2  At  the  ensuing  choice  of  magistrates,  1637 
the  religious  divisions  controlled  the  elections.  The  17. 
friends  of  Wheelwright  had  threatened  an  appeal  to 
England  ;  but  in  the  colony  "  it  was  accounted  perjury 
and  treason  to  speak  of  appeals  to  the  king."3  The 
contest  appeared,  therefore,  to  the  people,  not  as  the 
struggle  for  intellectual  freedom  against  the  authority  of 
the  clergy,  but  as  a  contest  for  the  liberties  of  Massa 
chusetts  against  the  power  of  the  English  government. 
Could  it  be  doubted  who  would  obtain  the  confidence 
of  the  people  ?  In  the  midst  of  such  high  excitement, 
that  even  the  pious  Wilson  climbed  into  a  tree  to  ha 
rangue  the  people  on  election  day,  Winthrop  and  his 
friends,  the  fathers  and  founders  of  the  colony,  recov 
ered  the  entire  management  of  the  government.4  But 
the  dispute  infused  its  spirit  into  every  thing ;  it  in 
terfered  with  the  levy  of  troops  for  the  Pequod  war ; 5 
it  influenced  the  respect  shown  to  the  magistrates; 
the  distribution  of  town-lots  ;  the  assessment  of  rates  ; 
and  at  last  the  continued  existence  of  the  two  opposing  May 
parties  was  considered  inconsistent  with  the  public 
peace.  To  prevent  the  increase  of  a  faction  es 
teemed  to  be  so  dangerous,  a  law,  somewhat  analo 
gous  to  the  alien  law  in  England,  and  to  the  European 
policy  of  passports,  was  enacted  by  the  party  in  pow 
er;  none  should  be  received  within  the  jurisdiction, 
but  such  as  should  be  allowed  by  some  of  the  magis 
trates.  The  dangers  which  were  simultaneously 
menaced  from  the  Episcopal  party  in  the  mother 

1  Henry  Vane,  in  Hutch.  Coll.  82.        4  Winthrop,  i.  219,  220.      Col 

2  Coinp  S.  Gorton's  Simplicity's  Records.     Hutch.  Coll.  63,  and  ff. 
Defence.  44.  5  Welde,  27.     Mather,  b.  vii.  c 

3  Burdett's  Le*ter  to  Laud.  iii.  a.  5.    Hutch.  Coll.  80. 


390  THE  FIRST  SYNOD  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  country,  gave  to  the  measure  an  air  of  magnanimous 
— v^  defiance  ;  it  was  almost,  a  proclamation  of  independ- 
1637.  ence.  As  an  act  of  intolerance,  it  found  in  Vane  an 
inflexible  opponent,  and,  using  the  language  of  the 
times,  he  left  a  memorial  of  his  dissent.  "  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  and  such  as  are  confirmed  in  any  way 
of  error," — these  are  the  remarkable  words  of  the  man, 
who  soon  embarked  for  England,  where  he  afterwards 
pleaded  in  parliament  for  the  liberties  of  Catholics  and 
Dissenters, — "  all  such  are  not  to  be  denyed  cohabita 
tion,  but  are  to  be  pitied  and  reformed.  Ishmael  shall 
dwell  in  the  presence  of  his  brethren." 

The  friends  of  Wheelwright  could  not  brook  the 
censure  of  their  leader ;  but  they  justified  their  in 
dignant  remonstrances  by  the  language  of  fanaticism. 
"  A  new  rule  of  practice  by  immediate  revelations," 1 
was  now  to  be  the  guide  of  their  conduct ;  not  that 
they  expected  a  revelation  "  in  the  way  of  a  miracle ;" 
such  an  idea  Anne  Hutchinson  rejected  "  as  a  delu 
sion  ;  "  2  they  only  slighted  the  censures  of  the  minis 
ters  and  the  court,  and  avowed  their  determination 
to  follow  the  impulses  of  conscience.  But  individual 
conscience  is  often  the  dupe  of  interest,  and  often  but 
a  more  honorable  name  for  self-will.  The  government 
Aug.  feared,  or  pretended  to  fear,  a  disturbance  of  the 
public  peace,  a  wild  insurrection  of  lawless  fanatics. 
A  synod  of  the  ministers  of  New  England  was  there 
fore  assembled,  to  accomplish  the  difficult  task  of  set 
tling  the  true  faith.  Numerous  opinions  were  harmo 
niously  condemned ;  and  vagueness  of  language,  so 
often  the  parent  of  furious  controversy,  performed  the 
office  of  a  peace-maker.  Now  that  Vane  had  returned 

i  Welde,  45,  ed.  1692,  or  42,  ed.        2  Testimony  of  John  Cotton,  in 
1644.  Hutchinson,  ii.  443. 


EXILE  OF  MRS.  HUTCHINSON  AND  OTHERS.         391 

to  England,  it  was  hardly  possible  to  find  any  grounds  CHAP 
of  difference  between  the  flexible  Cotton  and  his  < — ^ 
equally  orthodox  opponents.  The  general  peace  of 
the  colony  being  thus  assured,  the  triumph  of  the 
clergy  was  complete ;  and  the  civil  magistrates  pro 
ceeded  to  pass  sentence  on  the  more  resolute  offend 
ers.  Wheelwright,  Anne  Hutchinson,  and  Aspinwali, 
were  exiled  from  the  territory  of  Massachusetts,  as 
"unfit  for  the  society"  of  its  citizens;  and  their  ad 
herents,  who,  it  was  feared,  "  might,  upon  some  revela 
tion,  make  a  sudden  insurrection,"  and  who  were  ready 
to  seek  protection  by  an  appeal  from  the  authority  of 
the  colonial  government,  were,  like  the  tories  during 
the  war  for  independence,  required  to  deliver  up 
their  arms. 

So  ended  the  Antinomian  strife  in  Massachusetts.1 
The  principles  of  Anne  Hutchinson  were  a  natural 
consequence  of  the  progress  of  the  reformation.  She 
had  imbibed  them  in  Europe ;  and  it  is  a  singular 
fact,  though  easy  of  explanation,  that,  in  the  very  year  1637 
in  which  she  was  arraigned  at  Boston,  Descartes,  like 
herself  a  refugee  from  his  country,  like  herself  a  pro 
phetic  harbinger  of  the  spirit  of  the  coming  age, 
established  philosophic  liberty  on  the  method  of  free 
reflection.  Both  asserted  that  the  conscious  judgment 
of  the  mind  is  the  highest  authority  to  itself.  Des 
cartes  did  but  promulgate,  under  the  philosophic  form 
of  free  reflection,  the  same  truth  which  Anne  Hutchin 
son,  with  the  fanaticism  of  impassioned  conviction, 
avowed  under  the  form  of  inward  revelations. 

\^s 

1  On  this  strife  I  have  read  the  ment  of  Wheelwright's  Sermon  jaiid 

Col  Records  ;  the  decisions  of  the  the  statement  of  John  Cotton  hirn- 

eynod  ;  the  copious  Winthrop  ;  the  self,  in  his  reply  to  Williams  ;  also, 

Documents  in  Hutchinson's  Coll. ;  Saml.  Gorton,  Hubbard,  C.  Mather, 

Welde's   Rise,   Reign,  and  Ruin  ;  Neal,  Hutchinson,  Callender,  Back- 

T.  Shepherd's  Lamentation ;  a  frag-  us,  Savage,  and  Knowles. 


392         EMIGRATION  TO  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  AND  RHODE  ISLAND. 

CHAP.       The  true  tendency  of  the  principles  of  Anne  Hutch- 

^^  inson  is  best  established  by  examining  the  institu 
tions  which  were  founded  by  her  followers.  We  shall 
hereafter  trace  the  career  of  Henry  Vane. 

Wheelwright  and  his  immediate  friends  removed  to 
the  banks  of  the  Piscataqua ;  and,  at  the  head  of  tide 
waters  on  that  stream,  they  founded  the  town  of  Exe 
ter  ;  one  more  little  republic  in  the  wilderness,  organ 
ized  on  the  principles  of  natural  justice  by  the  volun 
tary  combination  of  the  inhabitants.1 

The  larger  number  of  the  friends  of  Anne  Hutch- 
inson,  led  by  John  Clarke  and  William  Coddington, 
proceeded  to  the  south,  designing  to  make  a  plantation 
on  Long  Island,  or  near  Delaware  Bay.  But  Roger 

1638.  Williams  welcomed  them  to  his  vicinity;  and  his  own 
24.r'  influence,  and  the  powerful  name  of  Henry  Vane,  pre 
vailed  with  Miantonomoh,  the  chief  of  the  Narragan- 
setts,  to  obtain  for  them  a  gift  of  the  beautiful  island 
of  Rhode  Island.  The  spirit  of  the  institutions  es 
tablished  by  this  band  of  voluntary  exiles,  on  the  soil 
which  they  owed  to  the  benevolence  of  the  natives, 
was  derived  from  natural  justice  :  a  social  compact, 
signed  after  the  manner  of  the  precedent  at  New 
Plymouth,  so  often  imitated  in  America,  founded  the 

Mar.  government  upon  the  basis  of  the  universal  consent  of 
every  inhabitant :  the  forms  of  the  administration 
were  borrowed  from  the  examples  of  the  Jews.  Cod- 

Ncv  dington  was  elected  judge  in  the  new  Israel ;  and 
three  elders  were  soon  chosen  as  his  assistants.  The 
colony  rested  on  the  principle  of  intellectual  liberty : 
philosophy  itself  could  not  have  placed  the  right  on  a 

1641    broader  basis.     The  settlement  prospered;  and  it  be- 

Mar.  . 

16-19   came  necessary  to  establish    a   constitution.     It   was 

l  Exeter  Records,  in  Farmer's  Belknap.  432 


FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT  IN   RHODE  ISLAND.  393 

therefore  ordered  by  the  whole  body  of  freemen,  and  CHAP. 
"  unanimously  agreed  upon,  that  the  government,  ^-~ 
which  this  body  politic  doth  attend  unto  in  this  island, 
and  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  in  favor  of  our  Prince,  is 
a  DEMOCRACIE,  or  popular  government ;  that  is  to  say 
it  is  in  the  power  of  the  body  of  freemen  orderly  as 
sembled,  or  major  part  of  them,  to  make  or  constitute 
just  Lawes,  by  which  they  will  be  regulated,  and  to 
depute  from  among  themselves  such  ministers  as  shall 
see  them  faithfully  executed  between  man  and  man."  1 
"  It  was  further  ordered,  that  none  be  accounted  a 
delinquent  for  doctrine ; "  the  law  for  "  liberty  of 
conscience  was  perpetuated."  The  little  community 
was  held  together  by  the  bonds  of  affection  and  free 
dom  of  opinion :  benevolence  was  their  rule :  they 
trusted  in  the  power  of  love  to  win  the  victory ;  and 
"  the  signet  for  the  state "  was  ordered  to  be  "  a 
sheafe  of  arrows,"  with  "  the  motto  AMOR  VINCET 
OMNIA."  A  patent  from  England  seemed  necessary  1641 
for  their  protection ;  and  to  whom  could  they  direct 
their  letters  but  to  the  now  powerful  Henry  Vane?2 
Such  were  the  institutions  which  sprung  from  the 
party  of  Anne  Hutchinson.  But  she  did  not  long 
enjoy  their  protection.  Recovering  from  a  transient 
dejection  of  mind,  she  had  gloried  in  her  sufferings,  as 
her  greatest  happiness  ; 3  and,  making  her  way  through 
the  forest,  she  travelled  by  land 4  to  the  settlement  of 
Roger  Williams,  and  from  thence  joined  her  friends  on 
the  island,  sharing  with  them  the  hardships  of  early 

1  I  copied  this,  word  for  word,        3  Winthrop,  i.  258. 

from  the  Records,  now  in  Provi-        4  ibid.  i.  259.     Even  Winthrop 

dence.  could  err  as  to  facts;    see  i.  29t>, 

2  MS.  extracts   from  R.  I.  Rec.  and   Savage's  note.      The  recorda 
Compare  Callender,  29,  &c. ;  Back-  refute  Winthrop's  statement. 

us,  i.  91. 96,  &c. ;  Knowles,  c.  xi 

VOL.  i.  50 


394  DEATH  OF  MRS    HUTCHINSON. 

CHAP,  emigrants.1     Her  powerful  mind  still  continued  its  ac- 

— ^  tivity ;  young  men  from  the  colonies  became  converts 

to  her  opinions ;  and  she  excited  such  admiration,  that 

to  the  leaders  in  Massachusetts   it    "  gave    cause  of 

1642.  suspicion  of  witchcraft."2      She  was  in  a  few   years 
left  a  widow,  but  was  blessed  with  affectionate  chil 
dren.     A   tinge  of   fanaticism   pervaded  her   family: 
one  of  her  sons,  and  Collins  her  son-in-law,  had  ven- 

1641.  tured  to  expostulate  with  the  people  of  Boston  on  the 
wrongs  of  their  mother.  But  would  the  Puritan  ma 
gistrates  of  that  day  tolerate  an  attack  on  their  govern 
ment  ? 3  Severe  imprisonment  for  many  months  was 
the  punishment  inflicted  on  the  young  men  for  their 
boldness.  Rhode  Island  itself  seemed  no  longer  a 
safe  place  of  refuge ;  and  the  whole  family  removed 
beyond  New  Haven  into  the  territory  of  the  Dutch. 

1643.  The  violent  Kiefthad  provoked  an  insurrection  among 
the  Indians ;  the  house  of  Anne  Hutchinson  was  at 
tacked  and  set  on  fire  ;   herself,  her  son-in-law,  and  all 
their   family,  save    one   child,  perished    by   the    rude 
weapons   of  the  savages,  or  were  consumed   by  the 
flames.4 

Thus  was  personal  suffering  mingled  with  the  peace 
ful  and  happy  results  of  the  watchfulness  or  the  intoler 
ance  of  Massachusetts.  The  legislation  of  that  colony 
may  be  reproved  for  its  jealousy,  yet  not  for  its  cruelty, 
and  Williams,  and  Wheelwright,  and  Aspinwall,  suf 
fered  not  much  more  from  their  banishment  than  some 
of  the  best  men  of  the  colony  encountered  from  choice. 
For  rumor  had  spread  not  wholly  extravagant  accounts 
of  the  fertility  of  the  alluvial  land  along  the  borders 

1  Gorton,  in  Hutchinson,  i.  73.  4  Saml.  Gorton's  Defence,  58, 59 

2  Winthrop,  ii.  9.  Winthrop,  ii.  136. 

3  Ibid.  ii.  39. 


COLONIZATION   OF   CONNECTICUT.  395 

of  the  Connecticut ;    and  the  banks  of  that  river  were  CHAP 

already    adorned    with    the  villages    of   the    Puritans, 

planted  just  in  season  to  anticipate  the  rival  designs  of 
the  Dutch. 

The  valley  of  the  Connecticut  had  early  become  an  1630 
object  of  desire    and  of  competition.      The    earl    of 
Warwick  was  the  first  proprietary  of  the  soil,  under  a 
grant  from  the  council  for  New  England  ;    and  it  was 
next  held  by  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  Lord  Brooke,  John  1631 
Hampden,  and  others,  as  his  assigns.1     Before  any  col-     j(). 
ony  could  be  established  with  their  sanction,  the  people 
of  New  Plymouth  had  built  a  trading  house  at  Wind-  1633 
sor,  and  conducted  writh  the  natives  a  profitable  com 
merce  in  furs.     "Dutch  intruders  "  from  Manhattan,  1633 
ascending  the  river,  had  also  raised  at  Hartford    the      a*" 
house  "of  Good  Hope,"  and  struggled   to  secure  the  1635 
territory  to  themselves.     The  younger  Winthrop,  the 
future  benefactor  of   Connecticut,  one   of  those   men 
in  whom  the  elements  of  human   excellence  are  min 
gled  in  the    happiest   union,  returned    from   England    July 
with  a  commission  from  the  proprietaries  of  that  re 
gion,  to  erect  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream — a    Oct. 
purpose  which  was  accomplished.     Yet,  before  his  ar 
rival  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  settlements  had  been  com 
menced,  by  emigrants  from  the  environs  of  Boston,  at 
Hartford,  and  Windsor,  and  Wethersfield ;   and  in  the 
last  days  of  the  pleasantest  of  the  autumnal  months,  a    Got 
company  of  sixty  pilgrims,  \vomen  and  children  being   o.'g 
of  the  number,  began  their  march  to  the  west.     Never 
before  had  the  forests  of  America  witnessed  such   a 
scene.      But  the  journey  was  begun  too  late  in  the 
season :  the  winter  was  so  unusually  early  and  severe,    Nov 
that   provisions  could  not  arrive  by  way  of  the  river ; 

i  Trumbull's  Connecticut,  i.  App.  No.  L 


396  COLONIZATION  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

CHAP,  imperfect  shelter  had  been  provided ;  cattle  perished 

— ^  in  great  numbers  ;  and  the  men  suffered  such  priva 
tions,  that  many  of  them,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  aban 
doned  their  newly-chosen  homes,  and  waded  through 
the  snows  to  the  sea-board. 

1636.      Yet,  in  the  opening  of  the  next  year,  a  government 

%lt     was  organized,   and  civil  order  established ;    and  the 

budding  of  the  trees  and  the  springing  of  the  grass  were 

May.  signals  for  a  greater  emigration  to  the  Connecticut. 
Some  smaller  parties  had  already  made  their  way  to 
the  new  Hesperia  of  Puritanism.  In  June,  the  prin 
cipal  caravan  began  its  march,  led  by  Thomas  Hook 
er,  "  the  light  of  the  Western  Churches."  There  were 
of  the  company  about  one  hundred  souls ;  many  of 
them  persons  accustomed  to  affluence  and  the  ease  of 
European  life.  They  drove  before  them  numerous 
herds  of  cattle ;  and  thus  they  traversed  on  foot  the 
pathless  forests  of  Massachusetts ;  advancing  hardly 
ten  miles  a  day  through  the  tangled  woods,  across  the 
swamps  and  numerous  streams,  and  over  the  highlands 
that  separated  the  several  intervening  valleys  ;  subsist 
ing,  as  they  slowly  wandered  along,  on  the  milk  of 
the  kine,  which  browsed  on  the  fresh  leaves  and  early 

June,  shoots  ;  having  no  guide,  through  the  nearly  untrodden 
wilderness,  but  the  compass,  and  no  pillow  for  their 
nightly  rest  but  heaps  of  stones.  How  did  the  hills 
echo  with  the  unwonted  lowing  of  the  herds !  How 
were  the  forests  enlivened  by  the  loud  and  fervent 
piety  of  Hooker ! l  Never  again  was  there  such  a  pil 
grimage  from  the  sea-side  "to  the  delightful  banks" 
of  the  Connecticut.  The  emigrants  had  been  gath 
ered  from  among  the  most  valued  citizens,  the  earliest 
settlers,  and  the  oldest  churches  of  the  Bay.  John 

1  Hooker  was  "  a  Son  of  Thunder."     See  Morton,  239  and  240. 


WAR   WITH   THE    PEQUODS.  397 

Haynes  had  for  one  year  been  the  governor  of  Massa-  CHAP 
chusctts ;  and  Hooker  had  no  rival  in  public  estirna-  >^~ 
tion  but  Cotton,  whom  he  surpassed  in  force  of  char 
acter,  in  boldness  of  spirit,  and  in  honorable  clemency. 
Historians,  investigating  the  causes  of  events,  have 
endeavored  to  find  the  motives  of  this  settlement  in 
the  jealous  ambition  of  the  minister  of  Hartford. 
Such  ingenuity  is  gratuitous.  The  Connecticut  was 
at  that  time  supposed  to  be  the  best  channel  for  a 
great  internal  traffic  in  furs ;  and  its  meadows,  already 
proverbial  for  the  richness  of  their  soil,  had  accquired 
the  same  celebrity  as  in  a  later  day  the  banks  of  the 
Genesee,  or  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Miami. 

The  new  settlement,  that  seemed  so  far  towards  the 
west,  was  environed  by  perils.  The  Dutch  still  in 
dulged  a  hope  of  dispossessing  the  English,  and  the 
natives  of  the  country  beheld  the  approach  of  Euro 
peans  with  malignant  hatred.  No  part  of  New  Eng 
land  was  more  thickly  covered  with  aboriginal  inhab 
itants  than  Connecticut.  The  Pequods,  who  were 
settled  round  the  Thames,  could  muster  at  least  seven 
hundred  warriors ;  the  whole  number  of  the  effective 
men  of  the  emigrants  was  much  less  than  two  hun 
dred.  The  danger  was  incessant ;  and  while  the  set 
tlers,  with  hardly  a  plough  or  a  yoke  of  oxen,  turned 
the  wild  fertility  of  nature  into  productiveness,  they 
were  at  the  same  time  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  a 
savage  enemy,  whose  delight  was  carnage. 

For  the  Pequods  had  already  shown  a  hostile  spirit.  1633. 
Several  years  had  elapsed  since  they  had  murdered  the 
crew  of  a  small  trading  vessel  in  Connecticut  River. 
With  some  appearance  of  justice  they  pleaded  the  ne 
cessity  of  self-defence,  and  sent  messengers  to  Boston  1634 
to  desire  the  alliance  of  the  white  men.     The  govern- 


398  MAGNANIMITY   OF   ROGER  WILLIAMS. 

CHAP,  merit  of  Massachusetts  accepted  the  excuse,  and  im- 
— ^  mediately  conferred  the  benefit  which  was  due  from 
civilization  to  the  ignorant  and  passionate  tribes ;  it 
reconciled  the  Pequods  with  their  hereditary  enemies, 
the  Narragansetts.  No  longer  at  variance  with  a  pow- 
K530  erful  neighbor,  the  Pequods  again  displayed  their  bit- 
July-  ter  and  imboldened  hostility  to  the  English  by  mur 
dering  Oldham,  near  Block  Island.  The  outrage  was 
punished  by  a  sanguinary  but  ineffectual  expedition. 
The  warlike  tribe  was  not  overawed,  but  rather 
courted  the  alliance  of  its  neighbors,  the  Narragansetts 
and  the  Mohegans,  that  a  union  and  a  general  rising 
of  the  natives  might  sweep  the  hated  intruders  from 
the  ancient  hunting-grounds  of  the  Indian  race.  The 
design  could  be  frustrated  by  none  but  Roger  Wil 
liams  ;  and  the  exile,  who  had  been  the  first  to  com 
municate  to  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  the  news 
of  the  impending  conspiracy,  encountered  the  extrem 
ity  of  peril  with  magnanimous  heroism.  Having  re 
ceived  letters  from  Vane  and  the  council  of  Massachu 
setts,  requesting  his  utmost  and  speediest  endeavors 
to  prevent  the  league,  neither  storms  of  wind  nor  high 
seas  could  detain  the  adventurous  envoy.  Shipping 
himself  alone  in  a  poor  canoe,  every  moment  at  the 
hazard  of  his  life,  he  hastened  to  the  house  of  the  sa 
chem  of  the  Narragansetts.  The  Pequod  ambassadors, 
reeking  with  blood,  were  already  there ;  and  for  three 
days  and  nights  the  business  compelled  him  to  lodge 
and  mix  with  them ;  having  cause  every  night  to  ex 
pect  their  knives  at  his  throat.  The  Narragansetts 
were  wavering ;  but  Roger  Williams  succeeded  in 
dissolving  the  formidable  conspiracy.  It  was  the  most 
intrepid  and  most  successful  achievement  in  the  whole 
Pequod  war — an  action  as  perilous  in  its  execution 


CONNECTICUT  LEVIES   TROOPS   FOR  THE   WAR.  399 

as  it  was  fortunate  in  its  issue.  When  the  Pequods  CHAP 
were  left  to  contend  single-handed  against  the  English,  ^^ 
it  was  their  ignorance  only  which  could  still  inspire  1637 
confidence  in  their  courage. 

Continued  injuries  and  murders  roused  Connecticut 
to  action  ;    and  the    court  of  its   three   infant   towns    ^ 
decreed  immediate  war.     Uncas,  sachem  of  the  Mo- 
hegans,  was  their  ally.     To  John  Mason  the  staff  of 
command  was  delivered  at  Hartford  by  the  venerated 
Hooker ;  and  after  nearly  a  whole  night  spent,  at  the 
request  o(  the  soldiers,  in  importunate  prayer  by  the 
very  learned  and  godly  Stone,  about  sixty  men,  one     19 
third  of  the  whole  colony,  aided  by  John  Underbill  and 
twenty  gallant  recruits,  whom  the  forethought  of  Vane 
had  sent  from  the  Bay  State,  sailed  past  the  Thames,     20 
and,  designing  to  reach  the  Pequod  fort  unobserved, 
entered   a   harbor    near  Wickford,   in   the  bay  of  the     21 
Narragansetts.     The  next  day  was  the  Lord's,  sacred 
to  religion  and  rest.     Early  in  the  week,  the  captains     22. 
of  the  expedition,  with  the  pomp  of  a  military  escort, 
repaired  to  the  court  of  Canonicus,  the  patriarch  and 
ruler  of  the  tribe  ;    and  the   younger  and  more  fiery     23 
Miantonomoh,    surrounded    by    two    hundred    of  his 
bravest  warriors,  received  them    in    council.     "  Your 
design,"  said  he,  "  is  good  ;  but  your  numbers  are  too 
weak    to  brave  the  Pequods,  who  hav.e  mighty  chief 
tains,  and  are  skilful   in   battle;"   and   after  doubtful 
friendship,  he  deserted  the  desperate  enterprise. 

Nor  did  the  unhappy  clans  on  Mistic  River  distrust 
their  strength.  To  their  hundreds  of  brave  men 
their  bows  and  arrows  still  seemed  formidable  weap 
ons  ;  ignorant  of  European  fortresses,  they  viewed 
their  rushwork  palisades  with  complacency ;  and  as 
the  English  boats  sailed  by  the  places  where  the 


4-00  VICTORY    OVER  THE    PfcQUODS 

CHAP,  rude  works  of  the  natives  frowned  defiance,  it  was  ru- 

IX 

— ^  mored  through  the  tribe,  that  its  enemies  had  vanished 

1637    through  fear.     Exultation  followed  ;    and  hundreds  of 

the  Pequods  spent  much  of  the  last  night  of  their  lives 

in  revelry,  at  a  time  when  the  sentinels  of  the  English 

May    were  within  hearing  of  their  songs.     Two  hours  be- 

2G 

fore  day,  the  soldiers  of  Connecticut  put  themselves  in 
motion  towards  the  enemy  ;  and,  as  the  light  of  morn 
ing  began  to  dawn,  they  made  their  attack  on  the 
principal  fort,  which  stood  in  a  strong  position  at  the 
summit  of  a  hill.1  The  colonists  felt  that  they  were 
fighting  for  the  security  of  their  homes ;  that,  if  de 
feated,  the  war-whoop  would  immediately  resound 
near  their  cottages,  and  their  wives  and  children  be 
abandoned  to  the  scalping-knife  and  the  tomahawk. 
They  ascend  to  the  attack ;  a  watch-dog  bays  an 
alarm  at  their  approach ;  the  Indians  awake,  rally,  and 
resist,  as  well  as  bows  and  arrows  can  resist  weapons 
of  steel.  The  superiority  of  number  was  with  them  ; 
and  fighting  closely,  hand  to  hand,  though  the  massa 
cre  spread  from  wigwam  to  wigwam,  victory  was 
tardy.  "  We  must  bum  them  !  "  shouted  Mason,  and 
cast  a  firebrand  to  the  windward  among  the  light  mats 
of  the  Indian  cabins.  Hardly  could  the  English  with 
draw  to  encompass  the  place,  before  the  whole  en 
campment  was  in  a  blaze.  Did  the  helpless  natives 
climb  the  palisades,  the  flames  assisted  the  marksmen 
to  take  good  aim  at  the  unprotected  men  ;  did  they 
attempt  a  sally,  they  were  cut  down  by  the  English 
broadswords.  The  carnage  was  complete :  about  six 
hundred  Indians,  men,  women,  and  children,  perished ; 
most  of  them  in  the  hideous  conflagration.  In  about 

i  Compare  E.  R.  Potter's  Early  History  of  Narragansett,  24.     Williams, 
in  iii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  iii.  133. 


EXTERMINATION  OF  THE  PEQUODS.  401 

an  hour,  the  whole  work  of  destruction  was  finished,  CHAP 

IX 

and  two  only  of  the  English  had  fallen  in  the  battle.  — *-L 
The  sun,  as  it  rose  serenely  in  the  east,  was  the  wit-  1637 
ness  of  the  victory. 

With  the  light  of  morning,  three  hundred  or  more 
Pequod  warriors  were  descried,  as  they  proudly  ap 
proached  from  their  second  fort.  They  had  anticipated 
success  ;  what  was  their  horror  as  they  beheld  the 
smoking  ruins,  strown  with  the  half-consumed  flesh  of 
so  many  hundreds  of  their  race !  They  stamped  on 
the  ground,  and  tore  their  hair ;  but  it  was  in  vain  tc 
attempt  revenge ;  then  and  always,  to  the  close  of  the 
war,  the  feeble  manner  of  the  natives  hardly  deserved, 
says  Mason,  the  name  of  fighting;  their  defeat  was 
certain,  and  unattended  with  much  loss  to  the  English. 
The  aborigines  were  never  formidable  in  battle,  till 
they  became  supplied  with  the  weapons  of  European 
invention. 

A  portion  of  the  troops  hastened  homewards  to  pro 
tect  the  settlements  from  any  sudden  attack ;  while 
Mason,  with  about  twenty  men,  marched  across  the 
country  from  the  vicinity  of  New  London  to  the  Eng 
lish  fort  at  Saybrook.  He  'reached  the  river  at  sun 
set  ;  but  Gardner,  who  commanded  the  fort,  observed 
his  approach ;  and  never  did  the  heart  of  a  Roman 
consul,  returning  in  triumph,  swell  more  than  the  pride 
of  Mason  and  his  friends,  when  they  found  themselves 
received  as  victors,  and  "  nobly  entertained  with  many 
great  guns." 

In  a  few  days,  the  troops  from  Massachusetts  arrived, 
attended  by  Wilson ;  for  the  ministers  always  shared 
every  hardship  and  every  danger.  The  remnants  of 
the  Pequods  were  pursued  into  their  hiding-places; 
every  wigwam  was  burned,  every  settlement  was 

VOL.    '  51 


402  DEMOCRATIC  LIBERTY  IN  CONNECTICUT. 

laid  waste.  Sassacus,  their  sachem,  was  murdered  try 
the  Mohawks,  to  whom  he  had  fled  for  protection.  The 
1637.  few  that  survived?  about  two  hundred,  surrendering  in 
despair,  were  enslaved  by  the  English,  or  incorporated 
among  the  Mohegans  and  the  Narragansetts.  "  Fifteen 
of  the  boys  and  two  women"  were  exported  by  Mas 
sachusetts  to  Providence  isle  ;  and  the  returning  ship 
brought  back  a  some  cotton,  tobacco,  and  negroes." 

1638.  The  vigor  and  courage  displayed  by  the  settlers  on 
the  Connecticut,  in  this  first  Indian  war  in  New  Eng 
land,  struck  terror  into  the  savages,  and  secured  a 
long  succession  of  years  of  peace.  The  infant  was 
safe  in  its  cradle,  the  laborer  in  the  fields,  the  solitary 
traveller  during  the  night-watches  in  the  forest;  the 
houses  needed  no  bolts,  the  settlements  no  palisades. 
Under  the  benignant  auspices  of  peace,  the  citizens 
of  the  western  colony  resolved  to  perfect  its  political 

1639    institutions,  and  to  form  a  body  politic  by  a  voluntary 

14.    association.     The  constitution  which  was  thus  framed 

was  of  unexampled  liberality.     The  elective  franchise 

belonged  to  all  the  members  of  the   towns  who  had 

o 

taken  tne  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  commonwealth ; 
the  magistrates  and  legislature  were  chosen  annually 
by  ballot;  and  the  representatives  were  apportioned 
among  the  towns  according  to  population.  More  than 
two  centuries  have  elapsed ;  the  world  has  been  made 
wiser  by  the  most  various  experience ;  po-litical  insti 
tutions  have  become  the  theme  on  which  the  most 
powerful  and  cultivated  minds  have  been  employed . 
and  so  many  constitutions  have  been  framed  or  re 
formed,  stifled  or  subverted,  that  memory  may  despair 
of  a  complete  catalogue  ; — but  the  people  of  Connec 
ticut  have  found  no  reason  to  deviate  essentially  from 
the  frame  of  government  established  by  their  fathers. 
No  jurisdiction  of  the  English  monarch  was  recognised  ; 


DEMOCRATIC   LIBERTY  IN   CONNECTICUT.  403 

the  laws  of  honest  justice  were  the  basis  of  their  corn-  CHAP 
monwealth  ;  and  therefore  its  foundations  were  lasting.  -^^ 
These  humble  emigrants  invented  an  admirable  sys 
tem  ;  for  they  were  near  to  Nature,  listened  willingly 
to  her  voice,  and  easily  copied  her  forms.  No  ancient 
usages,  no  hereditary  differences  of  rank,  no  established 
interests,  impeded  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
justice.  Freedom  springs  spontaneously  into  life  ;  the 
artificial  distinctions  of  society  require  centuries  to 
ripen.  History  has  ever  celebrated  the  heroes  who 
have  won  laurels  in  scenes  of  carnage.  Has  it  no  place  * 
for  the  founders  of  states  ;  the  wise  legislators,  who 
struck  the  rock  in  the  wilderness,  so  that  the  waters 
of  liberty  gushed  forth  in  copious  and  perennial  foun 
tains  ?  They  who  judge  of  men  by  their  services  to  the 
human  race,  will  never  cease  to  honor  the  memory  of 
Hooker  and  of  Haynes. 

In  equal  independence,  a  Puritan  colony  sprang  up  ]G38 
at  New  Haven,  under  the  guidance  of  John  Davenport 
as  its  pastor,  arid  of  the  excellent  Theophilus  Eaton, 
who  was  annually  elected  its  governor  for  twenty  years, 
till  his  death.  Its  forms  were  austere,  unmixed  Cal 
vinism  ;  but  the  spirit  of  humanity  had  sheltered  itself 
under  the  rough  exterior.  The  colonists  held  their  April 
first  gathering  under  a  branching  oak.  It  was  a  season 
of  gloom.  Spring  had  not  yet  revived  the  verdure  of 
nature  ;  under  the  leafless  tree  the  little  flock  were 
taught  by  Davenport,  that,  like  the  Son  of  man,  they 
were  led  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted.  After  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  they  rested  their  first  frame  of 
government  on  a  simple  plantation  covenant,  that  "all 
of  them  would  be  ordered  by  the  rules  which  the  Scrip 
tures  held-  forth  to  them."  A  title  to  lands  was  ob 
tained  bv  a  treaty  with  the  natives,  whom  they  protected 
against  the  Mohawks.  When,  after  more  than  a  vrar, 


404         THE  HOUSE  OF  WISDOM  AT  NEW  HAVEN. 

CHAP,  the  free  planters  of  the  colony  desired  a  more  perfect 
— ^  form  of  government,  the  followers  of  Him  who  was  laid 
1639.  in  a  manger  held  their  constituent  assembly  in  a  barn. 

Juno 

4.  There,  by  the  influence  of  Davenport,  it  was  solemnly 
resolved,  that  the  Scriptures  are  the  perfect  rule  of  a 
commonwealth ;  that  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  ordi 
nances  to  themselves  and  their  posterity,  were  the  great 
end  of  civil  order ;  and  that  church  members  only  should 
be  free  burgesses.  A  committee  of  twrelve  was  select 
ed  to  choose  seven  men,  qualified  for  the  foundation 
work  of  organizing  the  government.  Eaton,  Daven 
port,  and  five  others,  were  "the  seven  Pillars"  for  the 
Aug.  new  House  of  Wisdom,  in  the  wilderness.  In  August, 

tJ*J 

1639,  the  seven  pillars  assembled,  possessing  for  the 
time  absolute  power.  Having  abrogated  every  previous 
executive  trust,  they  admitted  to  the  court  all  church 
members ;  the  character  of  civil  magistrates  was  next 
expounded  "  from  the  sacred  oracles;"  and  the  elec 
tion  followed.  Then  Davenport,  in  the  words  of  Mo 
ses  to  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  gave  a  charge  to  the 
governor,  to  judge  righteously  ;  "the  cause  that  is  too 
hard  for  you," — such  was  part  of  the  minister's  text, — 
"  bring  it  unto  me,  and  I  will  hear  it."  Annual  elections 
were  ordered ;  and  God's  word  established  as  the  only 
rule  in  public  affairs.  Thus  New  Haven  made  the  Bible 
its  statute-book,  and  the  elect  its  freemen.  As  neigh 
boring  towns  were  planted,  each  wras  likewise  a  house 
of  wisdom,  resting  on  its  seven  pillars,  and  aspiring  to 
be  illumined  by  the  Eternal  Light.  The  colonists 
prepared  for  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  which  they 
confidently  expected.  Meantime  their  pleasant  villages 
spread  along  the  Sound,  and  on  the  opposite  shore  of 

1640    Long  Island,  and  for  years  they  nursed  the  hope  of 

1649.  "speedily  planting  Delaware." 


405 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE   UNITED   COLONIES   OF  NEW   ENGLAND. 

THE  English  government  was  not  indifferent  to  the  CHAP 

progress  of  the  colonies  of  New  England.     The  fate 

of  the  first  emigrants  had  been  watched  by  all  parties 
with  benevolent  curiosity ;   nor  was  there  any  induce 
ment  to  oppress  the  few  sufferers,  whom  the  hardships 
of  their  condition  were  so  fast  wasting  away.     The 
adventurers    were    encouraged    by    a    proclamation,1  1630 
which,  with  a  view  to  their  safety,  prohibited  the  sale     24* 
of  fire-arms  to  the  savages. 

The  stern  discipline  exercised  by  the  government 
at  Salem,  produced  an  early  harvest  of  enemies:  re 
sentment  long  rankled  in  the  minds  of  some,  whom 
Endicott  had  perhaps  too  passionately  punished;  and 
when  they  returned  to  England,  Mason  and  Gorges, 
the  rivals  of  the  Massachusetts  company,  willingly 
echoed  their  vindictive  complaints.  A  petition  even 
reached  King  Charles,  complaining  of  distraction  and 
disorder  in  the  plantations  ;  but  the  issue  was  unex 
pected.  Massachusetts  was  ably  defended  by  Sal  ton- 
stall,  Humphrey,  and  Cradock,  its  friends  in  England; 
and  the  committee  of  the  privy  council  reported  in 
favor  of  the  adventurers,  who  were  ordered  to  continue  J^33 

JOB* 

their    undertakings    cheerfully,   for    the  king  did   not 
1  Hazard,  i.  311,  312. 


406        MASSACHUSETTS  HAS  ENEMIES  IN  ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  design  to  impose  on  the  people  of  Massachusetts  the 

— v^~  ceremonies  which  they  had  emigrated  to  avoid.  The 
country,  it  was  believed,  would  in  time  be  very  bene 
ficial  to  England.1 

1G34.  Revenge  did  not  slumber,2  because  it  had  been  once 
defeated ;  and  the  triumphant  success  of  the  Puritans 
in  America  disposed  the  leaders  of  the  high-church 
party  to  listen  to  the  clamors  of  the  malignant.  Proof 
was.  produced  of  marriages  celebrated  by  civil  magis 
trates,  and  of  the  system  of  colonial  church  disci 
pline — proceedings  which  were  wholly  at  variance  with 
the  laws  of  England.  "  The  departure  of  so  many  of 
THE  BEST,"  such  "  numbers  of  faithful  and  free-born 
Englishmen  and  good  Christians," — a  more  ill-boding 
sign  to  the  nation  than  the  portentous  blaze  of  comets 
and  the  impressions  in  the  air,  at  which  astrologers  are 

1634  dismayed,3 — began  to  be  regarded  by  the  archbishops 
21.  as  an  affair  of  state  ;  and  ships  bound  with  passengers 
for  New  England  were  detained  in  the  Thames  by  an 
order  of  the  council.  Burdett  also  in  1637  wrote  from 
New  England  to  Laud,  that  "  the  colonists  aimed  riot 
at  new  discipline,  but  at  sovereignty ;  that  it  was  ac 
counted  treason  in  their  general  court  to  speak  of  ap 
peals  to  the  king;"4  and  the  greatest  apprehensions 
were  raised  by  a  requisition  which  commanded  the 
letters  patent  of  the  company  to  be  produced  in  Eng 
land.5  To  this  requisition  the  emigrants  returned  no 
reply. 

Still   more   menacing  was   the   appointment  of   an 

1  Winthrop  and  Savage,  i.  54 —  3  Milton  pleads  for  the  Puritans 
57,  and  101  —  103.    Prince,  430, 431.  —Of  Reformation,  Book  ii. 
Hutch. Coll. 5*4— 54.    Hubbard,  150  <  Hutchinson,  i.   85,    Habbard. 
—  154.     Chalmers,  154, 155.     Haz-  354. 

ard,  i.  234,  235.  5  Winthrop,  i.  135.   137.     Hub- 

2  Winthrop,  ii.  1!)0, 101 ;  or  Haz-     bard,  153.     Hazard,  i.  311,  342. 
ttrd,  i.  242,  243.  Hubbard, 428—430. 


MASSACHUSETTS   PREPARES   RESISTANCE.  407 

arbitrary  special  commission  for  the  colonies.  The  CHAP 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  those  who  were  associa-  ^-^ 
ted  with  him,  received  full  power  over  the  American  1A634 

April 

plantations,   to  establish  the   government  and  dictate     10. 
the  laws ;  to  regulate  the  church ;  to   inflict  even  the 
heaviest  punishments ;    and    to   revoke    any   charter 
which  had  been  surreptitiously  obtained,  or  which  con 
ceded  liberties  prejudicial  to  the  royal  prerogative  1 

The  news  of  this  commission  soon  reached  Boston ;   Sept 

18 

and  it  was  at  the  same  time  rumored  that  a  general 
governor  was  on  his  way.  The  intelligence  awakened 
the  most  lively  interest  in  the  whole  colony,  and  led  to 
the  boldest  measures.  Poor  as  the  new  settlements 
were,  six  hundred  pounds  were  raised  towards  fortifi 
cations  ;  u  the  assistants  and  the  deputies  discovered 
their  minds  to  one  another,"  and  the  fortifications  were 
hastened.  All  the  ministers  assembled  at  Boston:  it  1?35 

Jan. 

marks  the  age,  that  their  opinions  were  consulted ;  it  19. 
marks  the  age  still  more,  that  they  unanimously  de 
clared  against  the  reception  of  a  general  governor. 
"  We  ought,"  said  the  fathers  in  Israel,  "  to  defend  our 
lawful  possessions,  if  we  are  able  ;  if  not,  to  avoid  and 
protract."5 

It  is  not  strange  that  Laud  and  his  associates  should 
have  esteemed  the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  to  be 
men  of  refractory  humors ;  complainis  resounded  of 
sects  and  schisms  ;  of  parties  consenting  in  nothing 
but  hostility  to  the  church  of  England ;  of  designs  to 
shake  off  the  royal  jurisdiction.3  Restraints  were, 
therefore,  placed  upon  emigration  ;  no  one  above  the  1631 
rank  of  a  serving  man,  might  remove  to  the  colony  Dec 

1  Hazard,  i.  344—347.    Hubbard,  264— 268.     Hutchlnson,  i.  App.  No. 
iv.     Winlhrop,  i.  143.     Chalmers  mistakes  a  year. 

2  Winthrop,  i.  154.  3  Gorges,  c.  xxvi 


408  THE   COUNCIL  FOR  N.  E.  SURRENDERS  ITS   CHARTER 

CHAP,  without  the  special  leave  of  the  commissioners ;  and 

^v^-  persons  of  inferior  order  were  required  to  take  the 
oaths  of  supremacy  and  allegiance.1 

Willingly  as  these  acts  were  performed  by  religious 
bigotry,  they  were  prompted  by  another  cause.  The 

1G35.  members  of  the  Grand  Council  of  Plymouth,  long  re 
duced  to  a  state  of  inactivity,  prevented  by  the  spirit 
of  the  English  merchants  from  oppressing  the  people, 
and  having  already  made  grants  of  all  the  lands  from 
the  Penobscot  to  Long  Island,  determined  to  resign 
their  charter,  which  was  no  longer  possessed  of  any 
value.  Several  of  the  company  desired  as  individuals 
to  become  the  proprietaries  of  extensive  territories, 
even  at  the  dishonor  of  invalidating  all  their  grants  as 
a  corporation.  The  hope  of  acquiring  principalities 
subverted  the  sense  of  justice.  A  meeting  of  the 
lords  was  duly  convened,  and  the  whole  coast,  from 
Acadia  to  beyond  the  Hudson,  being  divided  into 
shares,  was  distributed,  in  part  at  least,  by  lots. 
Whole  provinces  gained  an  owner  by  the  drawing  of  a 
lottery.2 

Thus  far  all  went  smoothly ;  it  was  a  more  difficult 
matter  to  gain  possession  of  the  prizes ;  the  independ  • 
ent  and  inflexible  colony  of  Massachusetts  formed  too 
serious  an  obstacle.  The  grant  for  Massachusetts,  it 
was  argued,  was  surreptitiously  obtained ;  the  lands 
belonged  to  Robert  Gorges  by  a  prior  deed ;  the  in 
truders  had  "  made  themselves  a  free  people."  The 

June:  general  patent  for  New  England  was  surrendered  to 
the  king  :  to  obtain  of  him  a  confirmation  of  their 
respective  grants,  and  to  invoke  the  whole  force  of 
English  power  against  the  charter  of  Massachusetts) 

1  Hazard,  i.  247—348. 

2  Gorges,  b.  ii.  c.  ii.     Hubbard,  22G— 229.     Hazard,  I  383 


A   QUO   WARRANTO   AGAINST   MASSACHUSETTS.  409 

were,  at  the  same  time,  the  objects  of  the  members  of  CHAP 
the  Plymouth  company,  distinctly  avowed  in  their  ^-^ 
public  acts.1 

Now  was  the  season  of  greatest  peril  to  the  rising 
liberties  of  New  England.  The  king  and  council 
already  feared  the  consequences  that  might  come  from 
the  unbridled  spirits  of  the  Americans  ;  his  dislike  was 
notorious;2  and  at  the  Trinity  term  in  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  a  quo  warranto  was  brought  against  the 
company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  At  the  ensuing 
Michaelmas,  several  of  its  members,  who  resided  in 
England,  made  their  appearance,  and  judgment  was 
pronounced  against  them  individually ;  the  rest  of  the 
patentees  stood  outlawed,  but  no  judgment  was  entered 
up  against  them.3  The  unexpected  death  of  Mason,  Dec. 
who,  as  the  proprietary  of  New  Hampshire,  had  been 
the  chief  mover  of  all  the  aggressions  on  the  rights  of 
the  adjoining  colony,  suspended  the  hostile  movements,4 
which  Gorges  had  too  much  honesty  and  too  little  in 
trigue  to  renew.5 

The  severe  censures  in  the  Star  Chamber,  the  great-  1635 
ness  of  the  fines  which  avarice  rivaled  bigotry  in  im-  1637 
posing,  the  rigorous  proceedings  with  regard   to  cere 
monies,  the  suspending  and  silencing  of  multitudes  of 
ministers,  still  continued  ;  and  men  were  "  enforced  bv 
heaps  to  desert  their  native  country.     Nothing  but  the 
wide  ocean,  and  the  savage  deserts  of  America,  could 
hide  and  shelter  them  from  the  fury  of  the   bishops."6 
The  pillory  had   become   the   bloody  scene  of  human 


1  Hazard,  i.  382.  390—394.  6  Rush  worth,  ii.  410.     Hazard,  i. 

2  Gorges,  b.  ii.  c.  i.  p.  43.  420.      Neal's   Puritans.     Nugent's 

3  Ha/aril,  i.  423 — 425.    Hutchin-  Hampden.    The  words  are  from  Mil- 
son's  Coll.  101—104.  ton,  the  Puritan  poet;  the  greatest 

,  4  Winlhrop,  i.  187.  poet  of  our  language. 
5  Winthrop,  ii.  12.  Hazard,  i.  403. 

VOL.  i.  52 


410  CONTINUED   PERSECUTION   OF  PURITANISM. 

r:HAp.  agony  and  mutilation,  as  an  ordinary  punishment ;  and 
^-  the  friends  of  Laud  jested  on  the  sufferings  which 
were  to  cure  the  obduracy  of  fanatics.  "  The  very 
genius  of  that  nation  of  people,"  said  Wentworth, 
"  leads  them  always  to  oppose,  both  civilly  and  eccle 
siastically,  all  that  ever  authority  ordains  for  them." 
They  were  provoked  to  the  indiscretion  of  a  complaint, 
and  then  involved  in  a  persecution.  They  were  im 
prisoned  and  scourged  ;  their  noses  were  slit ,  their 
ears  were  cut  off;  their  cheeks  were  marked  with  a 
red-hot  brand.  But  the  lash,  and  the  shears,  and  the 
glowing  iron,  could  not  destroy  principles  which  were 
rooted  in  the  soul,  and  which  danger  made  it  glorious 
to  profess.  The  injured  party  even  learned  to  despise 
1637.  the  mercy  of  their  oppressors.  Four  years  after 
Prynne  had  been  punished  for  a  publication,  he  was  a 
second  time  arraigned  for  a  like  offence.  "  I  thought," 
said  Lord  Finch,  "  that  Prynne  had  lost  his  ears  al 
ready  ;  but,"  added  he,  looking  at  the  prisoner,  "  there 
is  something  left  yet;"  and  an  officer  of  the  court,  re 
moving  the  hair,  displayed  the  mutilated  organs.  "  I 
pray  to  God,"  replied  Prynne,  "  you  may  have  ears  to 
hear  me."  A  crowd  gathered  round  the  scaffold, 
where  he,  and  Bastwick,  and  Burton,  were  to  suffer 
mutilation.  "  Christians,"  said  Prynne,  as  he  present 
ed  the  stumps  of  his  ears  to  be  grubbed  out  by  the; 
hangman's  knife,  "  stand  fast ;  be  faithful  to  God  and 
your  country  ;  or  you  bring  on  yourselves  and  your 
children  perpetual  slavery."  The  dungeon,  the  pillory, 
and  the  scaffold,  were  but  stages  in  the  progress  of 
civil  liberty  towards  its  triumph. 

Yet  there  was  a  period  when  the  ministry  of  Charles 
hoped  for  success.  No  considerable  resistance  was 
threatened  within  the  limits  of  England  ;  and  not  even 


ERROR  RESPECTING  HAMFDEN  AND   CROMWELL.  41  1 

America  could  long  be  safe  against  the  designs  of  des-  CHAP 
potism.  A  proclamation  was  issued  to  prevent  the  ^— 
emigration  of  Puritans  ; l  the  king  refused  his  dissent-  ^pri'j 
ing  subjects  the  security  of  the  wilderness. 

It  was  probably  a  foreboding  of  these  dangers,  which 
induced  the  legislation  of  Massachusetts  to  exaggerate 
the  necessity  of  domestic  union.2  In  England  the 
proclamation  was  but  little  regarded.  The  Puritans, 
hemmed  in  by  dangers  on  every  side,  and  at  that  time 
having  no  prospect  "of  ultimate  success,  desired  at  any 
rate  to  escape  from  their  native  country.  The  privy 
council  interfered  to  stay  a  squadron  of  eight  ships, 
which  were  in  the  Thames,  preparing  to  embark  for  1638 
New  England.3  It  has  been  said  that  Hampden  and  i* 
Cromwell  were  on  board  this  fleet.4  The  English 

o 

ministry  of  that  day  might  willingly  have  exiled 
Hampden;  no  original  authors,  except  royalists  writing 
on  hearsay,  allude  to  the  design  imputed  to  him  ;  in 
America  there  exists  no  evidence  of  his  expected  arri 
val  ;  the  remark  of  Hutchinson 5  refers  to  the  well- 
known  schemes  of  Lord  Say  and  Seal  and  Lord 
Brooke ;  there  are  no  circumstances  in  the  lives  of 
Hampden  and  Cromwell  corroborating  the  story,  but 
many  to  establish  its  improbability  ;  there  came  over, 
during  this  summer,  twenty  ships,  and  at  least  three 
thousand  persons;6  and  had  Hampden  designed  to 

1  Hazard,  i.  421.  gent,  in  his  Hampden,  i.  254,  should 

3  Colony  Laws,  edition  of  1660,     not  have  repeated  the  error.     Edin- 
7cV     iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  iii.  398.        burgh  Review,  No.  108.     Russel's 

;}  Rusliworth,  ii.  409.     Hazard,  i.  Cromwell,  i.  51.     Godwin,   in   his 

}2<J  History  of  the  Commonwealth,  i.  11, 

4  Bates  and  Dugdale,  in  Neal's  12,  reproves  the  conduct  which  he 
Putitans,  ii.  349.     C.Mather,  b.  i.  vmjustlyimputestoHampden.    The 
c.   v.  s.  7.      Neal's   N.   E.  i.  168.  pretended  design  was  indeed  unlike 
Chalmers,  100,  161,     Robertson,  b.  Hampden. 

x.     Hume,  c.  liii.     Belknap,  ii.  229.        5  Hutchinson,  i.  44. 
Gnihame's  U.  S.  i.  299.     Lord  Nu-         6  Winthrop,  i.  268. 


412  ERROR  RESPECTING   HAMPDEN   AND   CROMWELL. 

CHAF.  emigrate,  he  whose  maxim1  in  life  forbade  retreat,  and 
^~v^  whose  resolution  was  as  fixed  as  it  was  calm,  possessed 

t   /->  o  Q 

energy  enough  to  have  accomplished  his  purpose.  Jfo 
undoubtedly  had  watched  with  deep  interest  the  prog 
ress  of  Massachusetts ;  "the  Conclusions"  had  early 
attracted  his  attention;2  and  in  1631  he  had  taken 
part  in  a  purchase  of  territory  on  the  Narragansett.3 
It  has  been  conjectured,4  asserted,5  and  even  circum 
stantially  related,6  that  he  passed  a  winter  with  the 
colony  of  New  Plymouth.  A  person  who  bore  the 
same  or  nearly  the  same  name,7  was  undoubtedly 
there ;  but  the  greatest  patriot-statesman  of  his  times, 
the  man  whom  Charles  I.  would  gladly  have  seen 
drawn  and  quartered,  whom  Clarendon  paints  as  pos 
sessing  beyond  all  his  contemporaries  "  a  head  to  con 
trive,  a  tongue  to  persuade,  and  a  hand  to  execute," 
and  whom  the  fervent  Baxter  revered  as  able,  by  his 
presence  and  conversation,  to  give  a  new  charm  to  the 
rest  of  the  Saints  in  heaven,  was  never  in  America. 
Nor  did  he  ever  embark  for  America  ;  the  fleet  in 
which  he  is  said  to  have  taken  his  passage,  was  delay 
ed  but  a  few  days  ;  on  petition  of  the  owners  and  pas 
sengers,  King  Charles  removed  the  restraint ; 8  the 
ships  proceeded  on  their  intended  voyage ;  and  the 
whole  company,  as  it  seems  without  diminution,  arrived 
safely  in  the  Bay  of  Massachusetts.9  Had  Hampden 
and  Cromwell  been  of  the  party,  they  too  would  have 
reached  New  England. 


1  Nulla  vestigia  retrorsum.  7    ii.    Massachusetts    Hist    Coll. 

*  Nugent,  i.  17,%  174.  viii.    258.       More    probably    John 

3  Potter's     Narragansett,     14. —    Hamblin;    a  common  name  in  the 
Comp.  Trumbull.  Old  Colony. 

4  Belknap's  Biog.  ii.  229.  8  Rushworth,    ii.   409.       Aikin'g 

5  N.  Amer.  Review,  vi.  28.  Charles  I.  i.  471—473. 

6  Fr.    Baylies,    Memoir,   i.  110,        9  Winthrop,  i.  2(36,  is  decisive 
takes  fire  at  the  thought. 


MASSACHUSETTS   REFUSES  TO   SURRENDER  ITS   CHARTER.      413 

A  few  weeks  before  this  attempt  to  stay  emigration,  CHAP 
the   lords    of   the  council    had   written    to   Winthrop, 
recalling  to   mind  the  former  proceedings   by  a    quo  ^jj 
\varranto,  and   demanding  the  return  of  the   patent.      4- 
In  case  of  refusal,  it  was  added,  the  king  would  as 
sume  into  his  own  hands  the  entire  management  of  the 
plantation.1 

But  "  David  in  exile  could  more  safely  expostulate 
with  Saul  for  the  vast  space  between  them."  The  col 
onists,  without  desponding,  demanded  a  trial  before 
condemnation.  They  urged  .that  the  recall  of  the  s^it 
patent  would  be  a  manifest  breach  of  faith,  pregnant 
with  evils  to  themselves  and  their  neighbors ;  that  it 
would  strengthen  the  plantations  of  the  French  and 
the  Dutch;  that  it  would  discourage  all  future  attempts 
at  colonial  enterprise;  and,  finally,  "if  the  patent  be 
taken  from  us," — such  was  their  cautious  but  energetic 
remonstrance, — "the  common  people  will  conceive  that 
his  majesty  hath  cast  them  off,  and  that  hereby  they 
are  freed  from  their  allegiance  and  subjection,  and 
therefore  will  be  ready  to  confederate  themselves  under 
a  new  government,  for  their  necessary  safety  and  sub 
sistence,  which  will  be  of  dangerous  example  unto 
other  plantations,  and  perilous  to  ourselves,  of  incurring 
his  majesty's  displeasure."2  They  therefore  beg  of  the 
royal  clemency  the  favor  of  neglect. 

But  before  their  supplication  could  find  its  way  to 
the  throne,  the  monarch  was  himself  already  involved 
in  disasters.  Anticipating  success  in  his  tyranny  in 
England,  he  had  resolved  to  practise  no  forbearance ; 
with  headlong  indiscretion,  he  insisted  on  introducing 

i  Hubbard,  2(38,  2G9.      Hazard,        2  Hubbard,  26<J— 271.     Hutch  i 
i.  43-2,  4:33.     Hutchinson's  Coll.  105,     App.  No.  v.     Hazard,  i.  431. 433. 
100. 


414  THE  INSURRECTION  IN  SCOTLAND. 

CHAP,  a  liturgy  into   Scotland,  and  compelling  the  uncom- 

^—  promising  disciples  of  Knox  to  listen  to  prayers  trans- 

J637.  lated  from  the  Roman  missal.     The  first  attempt  at 

3%l    reading  the  new  service  in  the  cathedral  of  Edinburgh 

was  the  signal  for  that  series  of  momentous   events 

o 

which  promised  to  restore  liberty  to  England,  and  give 
peace  to  the  colonies.  The  movement  began,  as  great 
revolutions  almost  always  do,  from  the  ranks  of  the 
people.  "What,  ye  villain!"  shouted  the  old  women 
at  the  dean,  as  he  read  the  liturgy,  "  will  ye  say  mass 
in  my  lug  ?" — "A  pape,  a  pape!"  resounded  the  mul 
titude,  incensed  ag^nst  the  bishop;  "  stane  him,  stane 
him!"  The  churchmen  narrowly  escaped  martyrdom. 
The  tumult  spreads  ;  the  nobles  of  Scotland  take  ad 
vantage  of  the  excitement  of  the  people  to  advance 

1638.  their  ambition.  The  national  covenant  is  published, 
and  is  signed  by  the  Scottish  nation,  almost  without 
distinction  of  rank  or  sex ;  the  defences  of  despotism 
are  broken  down;  the  flood  washes  away  every  vestige 
of  ecclesiastical  oppression.  Scotland  rises  in  arms  for 
a  holy  war,  and  enlists  religious  enthusiasm  under  its 
banner  in  its  contest  against  a  despot,  who  has  neither 
a  regular  treasury,  nor  an  army,  nor  the  confidence  of 
his  people.  The  wisest  of  his  subjects  esteem  the 

lfi39.  insurgents  as  their  friends  and  allies.  There  is  now 
no  time  to  oppress  NewT  England  ;  the  throne  itself 
totters  ; — there  is  no  need  to  forbid  emigration  ;  Eng 
land  is  at  once  become  the  theatre  of  wonderful  events, 
and  many  fiery  spirits,  who  had  fled  for  a  refuge  to  the 
colonies,  rush  back  to  share  in  the  open  struggle  for 
liberty.  In  the  following  years,  few  passengers  came 

1G40  over;  the  reformation  of  church  and  state,  the  attain- 

lG4ii.  der  of  StrafFord,  the  impeachment  of  Laud,  the  great 


CONDITION    OF   NEW   ENGLAND.  415 

enemy  of  Massachusetts,  caused  all  men  to  stay  in  CHAP. 
England  in  expectation  of  a  new  world. 

Yet  a  nation  was  already  planted  in  New  England ; 
a  commonwealth  was  matured ;  the  contests  in  which 
the  unfortunate  Charles  became  engaged,  and  the  re 
publican  revolution  that  followed,  left  the  colonists, 
(or  the  space  of  twenty  years,  nearly  unmolested  in 
the  enjoyment  of  virtual  independence.  The  change 
which  their  industry  had  wrought  in  the  wilderness, 
was  the  admiration  of  their  times.  The  wigwams  and 
hovels  in  which  the  English  had  at  first  found  shelter, 
were  replaced  by  well  built  houses.  The  number  of 
emigrants  who  had  arrived  in  New  England  before 
the  assembling  of  the  Long  Parliament,  is  esteemed 
to  have  been  twenty-one  thousand  two  hundred.  Two 
hundred  and  ninety-eight  ships  had  borne  them  across 
the  Atlantic ;  and  the  cost  of  the  plantations  had  been 
almost  a  million  of  dollars — a  great  expenditure  and 
a  great  emigration  for  that  age.  In  a  little  more  than 
ten  years,  fifty  towns  and  villages  had  been  planted ; 
between  thirty  and  forty  churches  built ;  and  stran 
gers,  as  they  gazed,  could  not  but  acknowledge  God's 
blessing  on  the  endeavors  of  the  planters.  A  public 
school,  for  which  on  the  eighth  of  September,  1636, 
the  general  court  made  provision,  was,  in  the  next 
year,  established  at  Cambridge;  and  when,  in  1638, 
John  Harvard,  a  nonconformist  clergyman,  a  church 
member  and  freeman  of  Charlestown,  esteemed  for 
godliness  and  the  love  of  learning,  bequeathed  to  it 
his  library  and  half  his  fortune,  it  was  named  HARVARD 
COLLEGE.  "  To  complete  the  colony  in  church  and 
commonwealth- work,"  Jesse  Grlover,  a  worthy  minister, 
u  able  in  estate,"  and  of  a  liberal  spirit,  in  that  same 
VOL.  i.  53 


415*  CONDITION    OF   NEW  ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  year  embarked  for  Boston  with  fonts  of  letters  for 
*-~r~  printing,  and  a  printer.  He  died  on  the  passage ;  but 
in  1639,  Stephen  Daye,  the  printer,  printed  the  Free 
man's  Oath,  and  an  Almanac  calculated  for  New  Eng 
land  ;  and  in  1640,  "  for  the  edification  and  comfort  of 
the  saints,"  the  Psalms, — faithfully  but  rudely  trans 
lated  in  metre  from  the  Hebrew  by  Thomas  Welde 
and  John  Eliot,  ministers  of  Roxbury,  assisted  by 
Richard  Mather,  minister  of  Dorchester, — were  pub 
lished  in  a  volume  of  three  hundred  octavo  pages,  the 
first  ever  printed  in  America,  north  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

In  temporal  affairs,  plenty  prevailed  throughout  the 
settlements,  and  affluence  came  in  the  train  of  industry. 
The  natural  exports  of  the  country  were  furs  and 
lumber ;  grain  was  carried  to  the  West  Indies ;  fish 
also  was  a  staple.  The  art  of  shipbuilding  was  intro 
duced  with  the  first  emigrants  for  Salem  ;  but  "  Win- 
throp  had  with  him  "William  Stephens,  a  shipwright 
who  had  been  preparing  to  go  for  Spain,  and  who 
would  have  been  as  a  precious  jewel  to  any  State  that 
obtained  him."  He  had  built  in  England  many  ships 
of  great  burthen,  one  even  of  six  hundred  tons,  and 
he  was  "  so  able  a  man,  that  there  was  hardly  such 
another  to  be  found  in  the  kingdom."  In  New  Eng 
land  he  lived  with  great  content,  where,  from  the  time 
of  his  arrival,  shipbuilding  was  carried  on  with  sur 
passing  skill,  so  that  vessels  were  soon  constructed 
of  four  hundred  tons.  So  long  as  the  ports  were 
filled  with  new  comers,  the  domestic  consumption 
had  required  nearly  all  the  produce  of  the  colony. 
But  now,  "  supplies  from  England  failing  much,  men 
began  to  look  about  them,  and  fell  to  a  manufacture 


THE  FAVOR  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT.          410 

of  cotton,  whereof  they  had  store  from  Barbadoes."  CHAP. 
In  view  of  the  exigency,  "  the  general  court  made  — *— * 
order  for  the  manufacture  of  woollen  and  linen  cloth." 
The  Long  Parliament,  which  met  in  1641,  con 
tained  among  its  members  many  sincere  favorers  of 
the  Puritan  plantations.  But  the  English  in  America, 
with  wise  circumspection,  feared  to  endanger  their 
legislative  independence.  "Upon  the  great  liberty 
which  the  king  had  left  the  parliament  in  England," 
says  Winthrop,  "  some  of  our  friends  there  wrote  to  us 
advice  to  solicit  for  us  in  the  parliament,  giving  us 
hope  that  we  might  obtain  much.  But  consulting 
about  it,  we  declined  the  motion  for  this  consideration, 
that  if  we  should  put  ourselves  under  the  protection 
of  the  parliament,  we  must  then  be  subject  to  all  such 
laws  as  they  should  make,  or,  at  least,  such  as  they 
might  impose  upon  us.  It  might  prove  very  preju 
dicial  to  us."  When  the  letters  arrived,  inviting  the 
colonial  churches  to  send  their  deputies  to  the  West 
minster  assembly  of  divines,  the  same  sagacity  led 
them  to  neglect  the  summons.  Especially  Hooker, 
of  Hartford,  "  liked  not  the  business,"  and  deemed  it 
his  duty  rather  to  stay  in  quiet  and  obscurity  with 
his  people  in  Connecticut,  than  to  turn  propagandist, 
and  plead  for  Independency  in  England.  Yet  such 
commercial  advantages  were  desired,  as  might  be 
obtained  without  a  surrender  of  chartered  rights. 
In  1641,  Hugh  Peters  and  two  others  were  despatched 
as  agents  for  the  colonies ;  and  their  mission  was  fa 
vorably  received.  The  house  of  commons,  on  the 
tenth  of  March,  1643,  publicly  acknowledged,  that 
"  the  plantations  in  New  England  had,  by  the  bless 
ing  of  the  Almighty,  had  good  and  prosperous  success, 


11 6 *  THE    BODY    OF    LIBERTIES. 

CHAP,  without  any  public  charge  to  the  parent  state  ; "  and 
— • —  their  imports  and  exports  were  freed  from  all  taxa 
tion,  "  until  the  house  of  commons  should  take  order 
to  the  contrary."  The  general  court  of  Massachusetts 
received  the  ordinance  with  thankful  acknowledg 
ment  of  so  great  a  favor  from  that  honorable  assem 
bly,  and  entered  it  word  for  word  on  their  records  as 
a  memorial  to  posterity. 

The  security,  thus  enjoyed  by  New  England,  pre 
sented  the  long  desired  opportunity  of  establishing  a 
"  body  of  liberties  "  as  a  written  constitution  of  gov 
ernment.  In  the  absence  of  a  code  of  laws,  the 
people  had  for  several  years  been  uneasy  at  the  ex 
tent  of  power  that  rested  in  the  discretion  of  the 
magistrates.  On  the  other  hand,  most' of  the  magis 
trates,  and  some  of  the  elders,  thinking  that  the  fittest 
laws  would  arise  upon  occasions,  and  gain  validity  as 
customs,  and  moreover  fearing  that  their  usages,  if 
established  as  regular  statutes,  might  be  censured  by 
their  enemies  as  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England, 
had  not  been  very  forward  to  adopt  the  model  which 
Cotton  had  elaborately  prepared  and  justified  in  all 
its  parts  by  apposite  texts  of  scripture.  Now  that 
the  causes  of  apprehension  were  suspended,  the  great 
work  of  constitutional  legislation  was  resumed ;  and 
in  December,  1641,  a  session  of  three  weeks  was  em 
ployed  in  considering  a  system  which  had  been  pre 
pared  by  Nathaniel  Ward,  of  Ipswich.  As  the  author 
of  the  fundamental  code,  he  is  the  most  remarkable 
among  all  the  early  legislators  of  Massachusetts ;  he 
had  been  formerly  a  student  and  practiser  in  the 
courts  of  common  law  in  England,  but  became  a  non 


THE   BODY   OF   LIBERTIES.  417 

conforming  minister;  so  that  he  was  competent  to  CHAR 
combine  the  humane  doctrines  of  the  common  law  with  — ^ 
the  principles  of  natural  right  and  equality,  as  de 
duced  from  the  Bible.    After  mature  deliberation,  his 
"  model,"  which  for  its  liberality  and  comprehensive 
ness  may  vie  with  any  similar  record  from  the  days  of 
Magna  Charta,  was  adopted  as  "  the  body  of  liberties  " 
of  the  Massachusetts  colony. 

All  the  general  officers  of  the  jurisdiction,  includ 
ing  governor,  deputy  governor,  treasurer,  assistants, 
military  commander,  and  admiral,  if  there  should  be 
a  naval  force,  were  to  be  chosen  annually  by  the 
freemen  of  the  plantation,  and  paid  from  the  common 
treasury.  The  freemen  in  the  several  towns  were  to 
choose  deputies  from  among  themselves,  or  elsewhere 
as  they  judged  fittest,  who  were  to  be  paid  from  the 
treasury  of  the  respective  towns,  and  to  serve  "  at 
the  most  but  one  year ;  that  the  country  may  have 
an  annual  liberty  to  do  in  that  case  what  is  most  be- 
hooveful  for  the  best  welfare  thereof."  No  general 
assembly  could  be  dissolved  or  adjourned  without  the 
consent  of  the  major  part  thereof.  The  freemen  of 
every  town  had  power  to  make  such  by-laws  and 
constitutions  as  might  concern  the  welfare  of  the 
town,  provided  they  be  not  of  a  criminal  nature,  nor 
repugnant  to  the  public  laws  of  the  country;  and 
that  their  penalties  exceed  not  twenty  shillings  for 
one  offence.  They  also  had  power  to  choose  yearly 
selectmen  "  to  order  the  prudential  occasions  of  the 
town  according  to  instructions  to  be  given  them  in 
writing." 

Life,  honor,  and  personal  liberty  and  estate,  were 
placed  under  the  perpetual  protection  of  law.  To 
every  person,  whether  inhabitant  or  foreigner,  was 


417*  THE    BODY    OF   LIBERTIES. 

CHAP,  promised  equal  justice  without  partiality  or  delay 
— • —  Every  man,  whether  inhabitant  or  foreigner,  free  or 
not  free,  had  the  liberty  to  come  to  any  court,  council, 
or  town  meeting,  and  there  to  move  any  question  or 
present  any  petition,  either  by  speech  or  writing. 
Every  officer,  exercising  judicial  authority,  was  annu 
ally  elected,  the  assistants  by  the  freemen  of  the 
whole  plantation;  the  associates  to  assist  the  assist 
ants  in  any  inferior  court,  by  the  towns  belonging  to 
that  court ;  and  al]  jurors  by  the  freemen  of  the  town 
where  they  dwelt.  Judicial  proceedings  were  sim 
plified  ;  by  mutual  consent  of  plaintiff  and  defendant, 
actions  might  be  tried,  at  their  option,  by  the  bench 
or  by  a  jury;  and  in  criminal  trials  the  like  choice 
was  granted  to  the  accused. 

All  servitudes  of  the  soil,  which  had  so  much 
multiplied  and  had  wrought  so  much  evil  under  the 
feudal  system,  were  utterly  forbidden ;  and  all  lands 
and  heritages  were  declared  free  and  alienable ;  so 
that  the  land  of  a  child  under  age  or  an  idiot,  might, 
with  the  consent  of  a  general  court,  be  conveyed  away. 
All  persons  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  even  the 
excommunicate  or  condemned,  had  full  power  to  alien 
ate  their  lands  and  estates,  and  to  make  their  wills 
and  testaments.  Children  inherited,  equally  as  co 
partners  the  property  of  intestate  parents,  whether 
real  or  personal,  except  that  to  the  first-born  son, 
where  there  was  a  son,  a  double  portion  was  assigned, 
unless  the  general  court  should  judge  otherwise.  No 
man  could  be  compelled  to  go  out  of  the  limits  of  the 
plantation  upon  any  offensive  war.  To  every  man  with 
in  the  jurisdiction,  free  liberty  was  assured  to  remove 
himself  and  his  family  at  their  pleasure.  The  grant 
of  monopolies  was  prohibited,  except  of  new  inventions 


THE    BODY    OF    LIBERTIES.  418 

profitable  to  the  country,  and  that  for  a  short  time.  CHAP 
Every  married  woman  was  protected  against  bodily  ^^ 
correction  or  stripes  by  her  husband,  and  had  redress,  1 6  4  L 
if  at  his  death  he  should  not  leave  her  a  competent 
portion  of  his  estate.  Of  other  nations,  professing 
the  true  Christian  religion,  all  fugitives  from  the 
tyranny  or  oppression  of  their  persecutors,  or  from 
famine  or  wars,  were  ordered  to  be  entertained  ac 
cording  to  that  power  and  prudence  that  God  should 
give ;  so  that  the  welcome  of  the  commonwealth  was 
as  wide  as  sorrow.  On  slavery  this  was  the  rule : 
"There  shall  never  be  any  bond  slaverie,  villinage, 
or  Captivitie  amongst  us,  unles  it  be  lawfull  Captives 
taken  in  just  warres,  and  such  strangers  as  willingly 
selle  themselves  or  are  sold  to  us.  And  these  shall 
have  all  the  liberties  and  Christian  usages  which  the 
law  of  god  established  in  Israel  concerning  such  per 
sons  doeth  morally  require.  This  exempts  none  from 
servitude  who  shall  be  Judged  thereto  by  Authoritie." 
"If  any  man  stealeth  a  man  or  mankinde,  he  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death." 

The  severity  of  the  Levitical  law  against  witch 
craft,  blasphemy,  and  sins  against  nature,  was  re 
tained;  otherwise,  death  was  the  punishment  only 
for  murder,  adultery,  manstealing,  and  false  witness 
wittingly  to  take  away  any  man's  life.  In  the  follow 
ing  year  rape  was  also  made  a  capital  crime. 

With  regard  to  the  concerns  of  religion,  all  the 
people  of  God  who  were  orthodox  in  judgment  and 
not  scandalous  in  life,  had  full  liberty  to  gather  them 
selves  into  a  church  estate ;  to  exercise  all  the  ordi 
nances  of  God ;  and  from  time  to  time  to  elect  and 
ordain  all  their  officers,  provided  they  be  able,  pious, 
and  orthodox.  For  the  preventing  and  removing  of 


418  *  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  ANNEXED   TO  MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,    error,  ministers  and  elders  of  near  adjoining  churches 
^V^1  might  hold  public  Christian  conference,  provided  that 

1641.  nothing  be  imposed  by  way  of  authority  by  one  or 
more  churches  upon  another,  but  only  by  way  of 
brotherly  consultations. 

Such  were  the  most  important  of  the  liberties  and 
laws,  established  at  the  end  of  1641,  for  the  govern 
ment  of  Massachusetts.  Embracing  the  freedom  of 
the  commonwealth,  of  municipalities,  of  persons,  and 
of  churches  according  to  the  principles  of  Indepen 
dency,  "  the  model "  exhibits  the  truest  picture  of  the 
principles,  character,  and  intentions  of  that  people, 
and  the  best  evidence  of  its  vigor  and  self-dependence. 
Soon  after  the  promulgation  of  its  "  liberties,"  the 
territory  of  Massachusetts  was  extended  to  the  Piscat- 
aqua,  for  which  the  strict  interpretation  of  its  charter 
offered  an  excuse.  The  people  of  New  Hampshire  had 
long  been  harassed  by  vexatious  proprietary  claims ; 
dreading  the  perils  of  anarchy,  they  now  provided  a 
remedy  for  the  evils  of  a  disputed  jurisdiction  by  the 
immediate  exercise  of  their  natural  rights ;  and,  on  the 
fourteenth  of  April,  1642,  by  their  own  voluntary  act, 
they  were  annexed  to  their  powerful  neighbor,  not 
as  a  province,  but  on  equal  terms,  as  an  integral  por 
tion  of  the  state.  The  change  was  effected  with  great 
deliberation.  The  banks  of  the  Piscataqua  had  not 
been  peopled  by  Puritans ;  and  the  system  of  Massa 
chusetts  could  not  properly  be  applied  to  the  new 
1  acquisitions.  In  September,  the  general  court  adopted 
the  measure  which  justice  recommended ;  neither  the 
freemen  nor  the  deputies  of  New  Hampshire  were  re 
quired  to  be  church  members.  Thus  political  har 
mony  was  maintained,  though  the  settlements  long 
retained  marks  of  the  difference  of  their  origin. 


TROUBLE  WITH  GORTON.  419 

The  attempt  to  gain  possession  of  the  territory  on  CHAP. 
Narragansett  Bay  was  less  deserving  of  success.    Mas-  ^^ 


sachusetts  proceeded  with  the  decision  of  an  independ- 
ent  state.  Samuel  Gorton,  a  wild  but  benevolent  en 
thusiast,  who  used  to  say,  heaven  was  not  a  place,  there 
was  no  heaven  but  in  the  hearts  of  good  men,  no  hell  but 
in  the  mind,  had  created  disturbances  in  the  district  of 
Warwick.  A  minority  of  the  inhabitants,  wearied  with 
harassing  disputes,  requested  the  interference  of  the  1041 
magistrates  of  Massachusetts,1  and  two  sachems,  near 
Providence,  surrendered  the  soil  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
that  state.2  Gorton  and  his  partisans  did  not  disguise 
their  scorn  for  the  colonial  clergy;  they  were  advocates 
for  liberty  of  conscience,  and,  at  the  same  time,  having 
no  hope  of  protection  except  from  England,  they  were, 
by  their  position,  enemies  to  colonial  independence  ; 
they  denied  the  authority  of  the  magistrates  of  Massa 
chusetts,  not  only  on  the  soil  of  Warwick,  but  every 
where,  inasmuch  as  it  was  tainted  by  a  want  of  true 
allegiance.  Such  opinions,  if  carried  into  effect,  would 
have  destroyed  the  ecclesiastical  system  of  Massachu-  1643 
setts,  and  subverted  its  liberties,  and  were  therefore 
thought  worthy  of  death  ;  but  the  public  opinion  of  the 
time,  as  expressed  by  a  small  majority  of  the  deputies, 
was  more  merciful,  and  Gorton  and  his  associates  were 
imprisoned.  It  is  the  nature  of  a  popular  state  to 
cherish  peace  :  the  people  murmured  at  the  severity 
of  their  rulers,  and  the  imprisoned  men  were  soon  set 
at  liberty  ;  but  the  claim  to  the  territory  was  not 
immediately  abandoned.3 

1  iii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  i.  3—4.  296,  ii.  58,59,  and  Eddy's  note,  142 
Winthrop,  ii.  59.     Hubbard,  406.  —148.  156.  165,  166.  280.  295.  299. 

2  Winthrop,  ii.  120—123.  317.322.   Colony  Records,  ii.  John- 

3  OnGorton,seeEliot,iniii.Mass.  son,  b.  ii.  c.  xxiii.  xxiv.     Lechford, 
Hist  Coll.  iv.  136     Winthrop,  i.  91.  41,  42.     Gorton,  in  ii.  Mass.  Hist 


420  THE   UNITED  COLONIES  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

CHAP.      The  enlargement  of  the  territory  of  Massachusetts 

— ^  was,  in  part,  a  result  of  the  virtual  independence  which 

1643.  the  commotions  in  the  mother  country  had  secured  to 

the  colonies.     The  establishment  of  a  UNION  among 

the  Puritan  states  of  New  England,  was  a  still  more 

important  measure. 

1637.  Immediately  after  the  victories  over  the  Pequods,  at 
a  time  when  the  earliest  synod  had  gathered  in  Boston 
the  leading  magistrates  and  elders  of  Connecticut,  the 
design  of  a  confederacy  was  proposed.     Many  of  the 
American  statesmen,  familiar  with  the  character  of  the 
government  of  Holland,  possessed  sufficient  experience 
and  knowledge  to  frame  the  necessary  plan  ;  but  time 
was  wanting ;  the  agents  of  Plymouth  could  not  be 
seasonably  summoned,  and  the  subject  was  deferred. 

1638.  The  next  year   it  came  again  into    discussion;    but 
Connecticut,    offended    "  because    some    preeminence 
was  yielded  to  Massachusetts,"  insisted  on  reserving  to 
each  state  a  negative  on  the  proceedings  of  the  con 
federacy.     This  reservation  was  refused ;  for,  in  that 
case,  said  Massachusetts,   "  all  would  have  come  to 
nothing." 

1639.  The   vicinity  of  the   Dutch,  a  powerful  neighbor, 
whose    claims  Connecticut  could   not,  single-handed, 
defeat,  led   the   colonists  of  the  west  to  renew  the 
negotiation ;  and  with  such  success,  that,  within  a  few 

1643  years,  THE  UNITED  COLONIES  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  were 
"  made  all  as  one."1    Protection  against  the  encroach - 

Coll.  viii.  68—70.     Morton,  202—  118  and  ff.     Eliot,  in  i.  Mass,  HisL 

206.    Gorton,  in  Hutchinson,  i.  App.  Coll.  ix.  35 — 38.     Knowles,  182 — 

xx.     Hubbard,  343,  344.  401 — 407.  189.     Savage  on  Winthrop,  ii.  147 

and  500— 512.   Hazard,  i.  546— 553.  —149.    Baylies,  N.  P.  Lc.xii.    Best 

C.  Mather,  b.  vii.  c.  ii.  s.  12.     Cal-  of  all  is  Gorton's  own  account,  with 

lender,  35,  38.    Hopkins,  in  ii.  Mass,  the  accurate  commentary  of  Staples. 
Hist,  Coll.  ix.  199—201.     Hutchin-         i  Winthrop,  i.  237.  284.  299;  ii 

eon,i.  114— 118.    Hutchinson's  Coll.  350.266.    Hubbard,  466.    Johnson 

237— 239.  and  405.  415.     Backus,  i.  b.  ii.  c.  xxiii 


THE  UNITED    COLONIES   OF  NEW  ENGLAND  421 

ments  of  the  Dutch  and  the  French;  security  against  CHAP. 
the   tribes  of  savages;   the  liberties  of  the   gospel  in  ^^^ 
purity  and  in  peace, — these  were  the  motives  to  the  1643 
confederacy,  which  did,  itself,  continue  nearly  half  a 
century,  and  which,  even  after  it  was  cut  down,  left  a 
hope  that  a  new  and  a  better  union  would  spring  from 
its  root. 

Neither  was  the  measure  accomplished  without  a 
progress  in  political  science.  If  the  delegates  from 
three  of  the  states  were  empowered  to  frame  and 
definitively  conclude  a  union,  the  colony  of  Plymouth 
now  set  the  example  of  requiring  that  the  act  of  their 
constituent  representatives  should  have  no  force  till 
confirmed  by  a  majority  of  the  people. 

The  union  embraced  the  separate  governments  of 
Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and  New  Ha 
ven  ;  but  to  each  its  respective  local  jurisdiction  was 
carefully  reserved.  The  question  of  State  Rights  is 
nearly  two  hundred  years  old.  The  affairs  of  the  con 
federacy  were  intrusted  to  commissioners,  consisting 
of  two  from  each  colony.  Church  membership  was 
the  only  qualification  required  for  the  office.  The 
commissioners,  who  were  to  assemble  annually,  or 
oftener  if  exigencies  demanded,  might  deliberate  on 
all  things  which  are  "  the  proper  concomitants  or  con 
sequents  of  a  confederation."  The  affairs  of  peace 
and  war,  and  especially  Indian  affairs,  exclusively 
belonged  to  them;  they,  too,  were  the  guardians 
to  see  equal  and  speedy  justice  assured  to  all  the 
confederates  in  every  jurisdiction.  The  common 
expenses  were  to  be  assessed  according  to  popula 
tion. 

Thus  remarkable  for  unmixed  simplicity  was  the 


422  THE  UNITED   COLONIES   OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

CHAP,  form  of  the  first  confederated  government1  in  America. 

— —  It    was  a  directory,   apparently  without    any  check. 

1643.  There  was  no  president,  except  as  a  moderator  of  its 
meetings ;  and  the  larger  state,  Massachusetts,  supe 
rior  to  all  the  rest  in  territory,  wealth,  and  population, 
had  no  greater  number  of  votes  than  New  Haven. 
But  the  commissioners  were,  in  reality,  little  more  than 
a  deliberative  body :  they  possessed  no  executive  pow 
er,  and,  while  they  could  decree  a  war  and  a  levy  of 
troops,  it  remained  for  the  states  to  carry  their  votes 
into  effect. 

Provision  was  made  for  the  reception  of  new  mem 
bers  into  the  league  ;  but  the  provision  was  wholly 
without  results.  The  people  beyond  the  Piscataqua 
were  not  admitted,  because  "  they  ran  a  different 
course "  from  the  Puritans,  "  both  in  their  ministry 
and  in  their  civil  administration."  The  plantations  of 
Providence  also  desired  in  vain  to  participate  in  the 
benefits  of  the  union ; 2  and  the  request  of  the  island  of 
Rhode  Island  was  equally  rejected,  because  it  would 
not  consent  to  form  a  part  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Plym 
outh.3  Yet  this  early  confederacy  survived  the  jeal 
ousies  of  the  Long  Parliament,  met  with  favor  from 
the  protector,  and  remained  safe  from  censure  on  the 
restoration  of  the  Stuarts. 

Its  chief  office  was  the  security  of  the  settlements 
against  the  natives,  whose  power  was  growing  more 
formidable  in  proportion  as  they  became  acquainted 
with  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  But  they  were,  at  the 
same  time,  weakened  by  dissensions  among  themselves. 
Now  that  the  Pequod  nation  was  extinct,  the  more 

1  On  the  Confederacy— the  Rec-  2  Mass.  MS.  State  Papers,  Cane 

ords,  in  Hazard,  v.  ii.      Winthrop,  i.  File  i.  No.  17. 

ii.  101—106.     Morton,  229.    Hub  3  Hazard,  ii.  99,  100. 
burd,  c.  lii. 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS  AND   THE  MOH.EGANS.  423 

quiet  Narragansetts  could  hardly  remain  at  peace  with  CHAP 
the   less  numerous  Mohegans.       Anger  and  revenge  — ^ 
brooded  m  the  mind  of  Miantonomoh.     He  hated  the  1642 
Mohegans,  for  they  were  the  allies  of  the  English,  by 
whom  he  had  been  arraigned  as  a  criminal.     He  had 
suffered  indignities  at  Boston,  alike  wounding  to  his 
pride  as  a  chieftain  and  his  honor  as  a  man.      His 
savage  wrath  was  kindled  against  Uncas,  his  accuser, 
whom  he  detested  as  doubly  his  enemy, — once  as  the 
sachem  of  a  hostile  tribe,  and  again  as  a  traitor  to  the 
whole  Indian  race,  the  cringing  sycophant  of  the  white 
men.    Gathering  his  men  suddenly  together,  in  defiance 
of  a  treaty  to  which  the  English  were  parties,1  Mianto 
nomoh,  accompanied  by  a  thousand  warriors,  fell  upon 

the  Mohegans.     But  his  movements  were  as  rash  as 

, 

his  spirit  was  impetuous  :  he  was  defeated  and  taken 
prisoner  by  those  whom  he  had  doomed  as  a  certain 
prey  to  his  vengeance.  By  the  laws  of  Indian  warfare 
the  fate  of  the  captive  was  death.  Yet  Gorton  and  his 
friends,  who  held  their  lands  by  a  grant  from  Mianto 
nomoh,  interceded  for  their  benefactor.  The  unhappy 
chief  was  conducted  to  Hartford  ;  and  the  wavering 
Uncas,  who  had  the  strongest  claims  to  the  gratitude 
and  protection  of  the  English,2  asked  the  advice  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies.  Murder  had 
ever  been  severely  punished  by  the  Puritans  :  they 
had,  at  Plymouth,  with  the  advice  of  Massachusetts, 
executed  three  of  their  own  men  for  taking  the  life 
of  one  Indian  :  and  the  elders,  to  whom  the  case  of 
Miantonomoh  was  referred,  finding  that  he  had,  delib 
erately  and  in  time  of  quiet,  murdered  a  servant  in  the 
service  of  the  Mohegan  chief;  that  he  had  fomented 

i  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  42,  2  &  Mass.  H.  C.  viii.  137. 141. 


424  THE  FATE  OF  MIANTONOMOH. 

CHAP,  discontents  against  the  English ;  and  that,  in  contempt 

— v^  of  a  league,  he  had  plunged  into  a  useless  and  bloody 

1643.  war, — could  not  perceive  in  his  career  any  claims  to 

mercy.     He  seemed  to  merit  death  ;  yet  not  at  the 

hands  of  the  settlers.      Uncas  received  his  captive, 

and,  conveying  the  helpless  victim  beyond  the  limits  of 

the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut,  put  him  to  death.1     So 

perished  Miantonomoh,  the  friend  of  the  exiles  from 

Massachusetts,  the  faithful  benefactor  of  the  fathers  ot 

Rhode  Island. 

The  tribe  of  Miantonomoh  burned  to  avenge  the 
execution  of  their  chief;  but  they  feared  a  conflict 
with  the  English,  whose  alliance  they  vainly  solicited, 
and  who  persevered  in  protecting  the  Mohegans.  The 
Narragansetts  were  at  last  compelled  to  submit  in 
sullenness  to  a  peace,  of  which  the  terms  were  alike 
hateful  to  their  independence,  their  prosperity,  and 
their  love  of  revenge.2 

While  the  commissioners,  thus  unreservedly  and 
without  appeal,  controlled  the  relation  of  the  native 
tribes,  the  spirit  of  independence  was  still  further 
displayed  by  a  direct  negotiation  and  a  solemn  treaty 
of  peace  with  the  governor  of  Acadia.3 

Content  with  the  security  which  the  confederacy 
afforded,  the  people  of  Connecticut  desired  no  guaran 
ty  for   their   independence  from    the    government  of 
1644   England;  taking  care  only,  by  a  regular  purchase,  to 
1C46.  obtain  a  title  to  the  soil  from  the  assigns  of  the  eail 

1  Records,  in  Hazard,  ii.  7 — 13.  154  and  ff.     See  the  opinions  and 

I.  Mather's  Ind.  Troubles,  56,  57.  arguments  of  Hopkins,  and  Savoge, 

Mart.on,234.   Winthrop,  ii.  130. 134.  and  {Staples,  of  Davis  and  Holmes. 
Hubbard's   Indian    Wars,    42—45.        2  Hazard,  ii.  40—50.     Winthrop, 

Johnson,  b.  ii.  c.  xxiii.     Trumbull,  ii.  198.  246.  380. 
L  12!)— 135.    Drake,  b.  ii.  67.     Re-        3  Winthrop,  ii.  197.    Hazard,!. 

Jation  in  iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  iii.  161  536  and  537,  and  ii.  50.  54. 
and  ff,   Gorton,  in  Staples's  edition, 


RHODE   ISLAND   SOLICITS   AND   OBTAINS  A   CHARTER.  425 

of  Warwick.1     The  people  of  Rhode  Island,  excluded  CHAP 
from  the  colonial  union,  would  never  have  maintained  — W- 
their  existence  as  a  separate  state,  had  they  not  sought 
the  interference  and  protection  of  the  mother  country ; 
and  the  founder  of  the  colony  was  chosen  to  conduct  1643 
the  important  mission. 

Embarking  at  Manhattan,  he  arrived  in  England  not 
long  after  the  death  of  Hampden.  The  parliament  had 
placed  the  affairs  of  the  American  colonies  under  the 
control  of  Warwick,  as  governor-in-chief,  assisted  by  a 
council  of  five  peers  and  twelve  commoners.2  Among 
these  commoners  was  Henry  Vane,  a  man  who  was 
ever  as  true  in  his  affections  as  in  his  principles,  and 
who  now  welcomed  the  American  envoy  as  an  ancient 
friend.  The  favor  of  parliament  was  won  by  the  in 
comparable  "  printed  Indian  labors  of  Roger  Williams,3 
the  like  whereof  was  not  extant  from  any  part  of 
America  ;"  and  his  merits  as  a  missionary  induced 
"  both  houses  of  parliament  to  grant  unto  him,  and 
friends  with  him,  a  free  and  absolute  charter4  of  civil 
government  for  those  parts  of  his  abode."5  Thus  1644 
were  the  places  of  refuge  for  "soul-liberty,"  on  the  14. 
Narragansett  Bay,  incorporated  "  with  full  power  and 
authority  to  rule  themselves."  To  the  Long  Parlia 
ment,  and  especially  to  Sir  Henry  Vane,  Rhode  Island 
owes  its  existence  as  a  political  state. 

A  double  triumph  awaited  Williams  on  his  return  to 
New  England.  He  arrived  at  Boston,  and  letters  from 
the  parliament  insured  him  a  safe  reception  from  those 
who  had  decreed  his  banishment.  But  what  honors 

1  Trumbull,  i.  App.  v.  and  vi.  200.     See  also  Callender  and  Bac- 

8  Hazard,  i.  533.  535.  kus,— both  very   good   author ities, 

3  Rhode  Island  Hist  Coll.  i.  because  both  followed  original  doc- 

*  ii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  ix.  185.  uments. 
5  Winthrop,  ii.  193.     Knowles, 

VOL.  i  54 


426  DEMOCRACY   IN    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP  were  prepared  for  the  happy  negotiator,  on  his  return 
*J^  to  the  province  which  he  had  founded !  As  he  reached 
Seekonk,  he  found  the  water  covered  with  a  fleet  of 
canoes  ;  all  Providence  had  come  forth  to  welcome 
the  return  of  its  benefactor.  Receiving  their  suc 
cessful  ambassador,  the  group  of  boats  started  for  the 
opposite  shore  ;  and,  as  they  paddled  across  the  stream, 
Roger  Williams,  placed  in  the  centre  of  his  grateful 
fellow-citizens,  and  glowing  with  the  purest  joy,  "was 
elevated  and  transported  out  of  himself."  1 

And  now  came  the  experiment  of  the  efficacy  of 
popular  sovereignty.  The  value  of  a  moral  principle 
may  be  tried  on  a  small  community  as  well  as  a  large 
one  ;  the  experiment  on  magnetism,  made  with  a 
child's  toy,  gives  as  sure  a  result  as  when  the  agency 
of  that  subtle  power  is  watched  in  its  influence  on  the 
globe.  There  were  already  several  towns  in  the  new 
state,  filled  with  the  strangest  and  most  incongruous 
elements, — Anabaptists  and  Antinomians,  fanatics  (as 
its  enemies  asserted)  and  infidels ,  so  that,  if  a  man 
had  lost  his  religious  opinions,  he  might  have  been 
sure  to  find  them  again  in  some  village  of  Rhode 
Island.  All  men  were  equal  ;  all  might  meet  and 
debate  in  the  public  assemblies ;  all  might  aspire  to 
office  ;  the  people,  for  a  season,  constituted  itself  its 
own  tribune,  and  every  public  law  required  confirma 
tion  in  the  primary  assemblies.  And  so  it  came  to 
pass,  that  the  little  "  democracie,"  which,  at  the 
beat  of  the  drum  or  the  voice  of  the  herald,  used  to 
assemble  beneath  an  oak  or  by  the  open  sea-side,  was 
famous  for  its  "  headiness  and  tumults,"  its  stormy 
town-meetings,  and  the  angry  feuds  of  its  herdsmen 

l  Knowles,  202.    The  work  of  Knowles  is  of  high  valuo. 


RHODE  ISLAND   PRESERVES   ITS  TERRITORY.  427 

and  shepherds.     But,  true  as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  CHAP 
the  popular  will  instinctively  pursued  the  popular  inter-  —~v^ 
est.     Amidst  the  jarring  quarrels  of  rival  statesmen  in 
the  plantations,  good  men  were  chosen  to  administer 
the  government;  and  the  spirit  of  mercy,  of  liberality 
and  wisdom,  was  impressed  on  its  legislation.1     "  Our  1647 
popularitie,"  say  their  records,  "  shall  not,  as  some  con-     igf 
jecture  it  will,  prove  an  anarchic,  and  so  a  common 
tirannie  ;    for  we  are  exceeding  desirous  to  preserve 
every  man  safe  in  his  person,  name,  and  estate."2 

Yet  danger  still  menaced.  The  executive  council 
of  state  in  England  had  granted  to  Coddington  a  1651 
commission  for  governing  the  islands  ;  and  such  a  J*1 
dismemberment  of  the  territory  of  the  narrow  state 
must  have  terminated  in  the  division  of  the  remaining 
soil  between  the  adjacent  governments.  Williams 
was  again  compelled  to  return  to  England ;  and,  with  NOV 
John  Clarke,  his  colleague  in  the  mission,  was  again 
successful.  The  dangerous  commission  was  vacated,  1652 
and  the  charter  and  union  of  what  now  forms  the  state 
of  Rhode  Island  confirmed.  The  general  assembly, 
in  its  gratitude,  desired  that  Williams  might  himself 
obtain  from  the  sovereign  authority  in  England  an 
appointment  as  governor,  for  a  year,  over  the  whole 
colony.  But  if  gratitude  blinded  the  province,  ambi- 
.tion  did  not  blind  its  benevolent  author.  Williams 
refused  to  sanction  a  measure  which  would  have  fur 
nished  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  was  content  with 
(he  honor  of  doing  good.  His  entire  success  with  the 
executive  council  was  due  to  the  powerful  intercession 
of  Sir  Henry  Vane.  "  Under  God,  the  sheet-anchor 
of  Rhode  Island  was  Sir  Henry." 3  But  for  him, 

i  ii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  vii.  78,  &c. 
a  MS.  Records  of  R.  I.  for  1(J47.  3  Backus,  i.  S 


428  PROVINCE   OF   MAINE. 

CHAP.  Rhode  Island  would  perhaps  have  been  divided  among 
^-v-L  its  neighbors.  "  From  the  first  beginning  of  the  Prov- 
1654.  idence  colony," — thus  did  the  town-meeting  address  Sir 
27.  Henry  Vane, — "you  have  been  a  noble  and  true  friend 
to  an  outcast  and  despised  people ;  we  have  ever  reaped 
the  sweet  fruits  of  your  constant  loving-kindness  and 
favor.  We  have  long  been  free  from  the  iron  yoke  of 
wolvish  bishops  ;  we  have  sitten  dry  from  the  streams 
of  blood  spilt  by  the  wars  in  our  native  countrv.  We 
have  not  felt  the  new  chains  of  the  Presbyterian  ty 
rants,  nor,  in  this  colony,  have  we  been  consumed  by 
the  over-zealous  fire  of  the  (so  called)  godly  Christian 
magistrates.  We  have  not  known  what  an  excise 
means  ;  we  have  almost  forgotten  what  tithes  are. 
We  have  long  drunk  of  the  cup  of  as  great  liberties  as 
any  people,  that  we  can  hear  of,  under  the  whole 
heaven.  When  we  are  gone,  our  posterity  and  chil 
dren  after  us  shall  read,  in  our  town-records,  your 
loving-kindness  to  us,  and  our  real  endeavor  after 
peace  and  righteousness." 

Far  different  were  the  early  destinies  of  the  Prov- 
'June   *nce  °^  Maine.     A  general  court  was  held  at  Saco, 
25.     under  the  auspices  of  the  Lord  Proprietary,  who  had 
drawn   upon  paper  a  stately  scheme  of  government, 
with  deputies  and  counsellors,  a  marshal  and  a  treas 
urer  of  the  public  revenue,  chancellors,  and  a  master, 
of  the  ordnance,  and  every  thing  that  the  worthy  old 
1642.  man  deemed  essential  to  his  greatness.    Sir  Ferdinand 
1. '    had  "  travailed  in  the  cause  above  forty  years,"  and 
expended  above  twenty  thousand  pounds  ;  yet  all  the 
regalia  which  Thomas   Gorges,   his  trusty  and  well- 
beloved  cousin  and  deputy,  could  find  in  the  princi 
pality,  were  not  enough  for  the  scanty  furniture  of  a 
cottage.     Agamenticus,  though  in  truth  but  "  a  poor 


DEATH  OP  FERDINAND    GORGES  429 

village,"1    soon    became    a   chartered    borough  ;    like  CHAP 
another  Romulus,  the  veteran  soldier  resolved  to  per  —  -^ 


peluate  his  name,  and,  under  the  name  of  Gorgeana, 
the  land  round  York  became  as  good  a  city  as  seals      i 
and   parchment,  a   nominal  major  and  aldermen,   a 
chancery  court  and  a  court-lee  t,  sergeants  and  white 
rods,  can  make  of  a  town  of  less  than  -three  hundred 
inhabitants  and  its  petty  officers.     Yet  the  nature  of 
Gorges  was   generous,   and   his    piety  sincere.      He 
sought   pleasure  in  doing   good  ;  fame,  by  advancing 
Christianity  among  the  heathen  ;  a  durable  monument, 
by  erecting  houses,  villages,  and  towns.     The  contem 
porary  and  friend  of  Raleigh,  he  adhered  to  schemes 
in  America  for  almost  half  a  century  ;  and,  long  after 
he  became  convinced  of  their  unproductiveness,  was 
still    bent  on  plans  of  colonization,  at  an  age  when 
other  men   are   but  preparing  to  die  with  decorum. 
Firmly  attached  to  the  monarchy,  he  never  disobeyed 
his  king,  except  that,  as  a  churchman  and  a  Protestant, 
he  refused  to  serve  against  the  Huguenots.      When 
the  wars  in   England   broke  out,  the   septuagenarian 
royalist    buckled   on    his   armor,    and    gave    the    last 
strength  of  his  gray  hairs  to  the  defence  of  the  unfor 
tunate  Charles.2      In  America,  his  fortunes  had  met 
with  a  succession  of  untoward  events.     The   patent  1643 
for  Lygonia  had  been  purchased  by  Rigby,  a  repub-      7 
lican  member  of  the  Lung  Parliament,  and  a  dispute 
ensued   between  the  deputies  of  the  respective   pro 
prietaries.     In  vain  did  Cleaves,  the  agent  of  Rigby,  1644 
solicit   the    assistance   of  Massachusetts  ;    the   colony 
warily  refused  to  take  part  in  the  strife.     It  marks  the 
confidence  of  all  men  in  the  justice  of  the  Puritans, 

i  Winlhrop  II.  100.  2  Hutch  Coll.  38G,  387. 


430  MAINE   IS   ANNEXED   TO  MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  that  both  aspirants  now  appealed  to  the  Bay  magis- 
^-  trates,    and  solicited  them  to  act  as  umpires.      The 
1645.  cause  was  learnedly  argued  in  Boston,  and  the  decree 
a     of  the  court  was  oracular.     Neither  party  was  allowed 
to  have  a  clear  right ;  and  both  were  enjoined  to  live 
in  peace.     But  how  could  Vines  and  Cleaves  assert 
their  authority  ?     On  the  death  of  Gorges,  the  people 
repeatedly  wrote  to  his  heirs.      No  answer  was  re- 
1G47-8  ceived  ;  and  such  commissioners  as  had  authority  from 
Europe  gradually  withdrew.     There  was  no  relief  for 
the  colonists  but  in  themselves  ;  and  the  inhabitants 
1649.  of  Piscataqua,   Gorgeana,   and    Wells,   following    the 
y    American  precedent,  with  free  and  unanimous  consent1 
formed  themselves  into  a  body  politic  for  the  purposes 
of  self-government.     Massachusetts  readily  offered  its 
1652   protection.     The  great  charter  of  the  Bay  company 
was  unrolled  before  the  general  court  in  Boston,  and, 
"  upon  perusal  of  the  instrument,  it  was  voted,  that 
this  jurisdiction  extends  from  the  northernmost  part  of 
the  River  Merrimack,  and  three  miles  more,  north,  be  it 
one  hundred  mile?,  more  or  lesse,  from  the  sea ;  and 
then  upon  a  straight  line  east  and  west  to  each  sea."  2 
The  words  were  precise.     Nothing  remained  but  to 
find  the  latitude  of  a  point  three  miles  to  the  north  of 
the  remotest  waters  of  the  Merrimack,  and  to  claim  all 
the  territory  of  Maine  which  lies  south  of  that  parallel ; 
for  the  grant  to  Massachusetts  was  prior  to  the  patents 
under  which  Rigby  and  the  heirs  of  Gorges  had  been 
disputing.     Nor  did  the  "  engrasping  "  Massachusetts 
make   an  idle    boast  of  the   territorial    extent  of  its 
chartered   rights.     Commissioners  were  promptly  de 
spatched  to  the  eastward  to  settle   the  government. 

1  i.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  i.  103.  vii.  Nos.  4.  20.  58  ;  viii.  Nos.  17. 44, 

2  Mass.  State  Papers,  Case  i.  File    45,  46,  47  ;  x.  No.  88. 


MAINE  IS  ANNEXED  TO   MASSACHUSETTS.  431 

The    firm   remonstrances  of   Edward    Godfrey,    then  CHAP 
governor  of  the  province,  a  loyal  friend  to  the  English  — ~ 
monarchy  and  the  English  church,  were  disregarded  ;  1C52-3 
and  one  town  after  another,  yielding  in  part  to  men 
aces  and  armed  force,  gave  in  its  adhesion.      Great 
care  was  observed  to  guard   the   rights  of  property ; 
every  man  was  confirmed  in  his  possessions ;  the  reli 
gious  liberty  of  the  Episcopalians  was  left  unharmed  ; 
the    privileges   of    citizenship   were    extended    to   all 
inhabitants;  arid  the  whole  eastern  country  gradually, 
yet   reluctantly,   submitted    to   the    necessity   of    the 
change.     When    the    claims   of    the    proprietaries    in 
England  were  urged  before  Cromwell,  many  inhabit 
ants  of  the  towns  of  York,  Kittery,  Wells,  Saco,  and  1*356 
Cape  Porpoise,  yet  not  a  majority,  remonstrated   on 
the    ground    of  former    experience.     To    sever    them 
from  Massachusetts  would  be  to  them  "  the  subverting 
of  all  civil  order." 1 

Thus  did  Massachusetts,  following  the  most  favor 
able  interpretation  of  its  charier,  extend  its  frontier  to 
the  islands  in  Casco  Bay.  It  was  equally  successful 
in  maintaining  its  independence  of  the  Long  Parlia 
ment  ;  though  the  circumstances  of  the  contest  were 
fatal  to  the  immediate  assertion  of  the  liberty  of  con 
science. 

With  the  increase  of  English  freedom,  the  dangers  1644 
which  had  menaced  Massachusetts  appeared  to  pass 
away  ;  its  government  began  to  adventure  on  a  more 
lenient  policy  ;  the  sentence  of  exile  against  Wheel 
wright,  was  rescinded  ;  a  proposition  was  made  to 
extend  the'  franchises  of  the  company  to  those  who 
were  not  church  members,  provided  "a  civil  agree- 

i  Documents  in  Maine  Hist  Coll.  2UG.  2W.     MS.  Letter  of  Geo.  Folsom 


432  MASSACHUSETTS  BEGINS  TO  FAVOR  TOLERATION. 


CHAP,  ment  among  all  the  English  could  be  formed"  for 
— ^  asserting  the  common  liberty.  For  this  purpose  letters 
1644.  vvere  wHtten  to  the  confederated  states;  but  the  want 
of  concert  defeated  the  plan.  The  law  which,  nearly 
at  the  same  time,  threatened  obstinate  Anabaptists  with 
exile,  was  not  designed  to  be  enforced.  "  Anabap- 
tism,"  says  Jeremy  Taylor  in  his  famous  argument  for 
liberty,  "  is  as  much  to  be  rooted  out  as  any  thing  that 
is  the  greatest  pest  and  nuisance  to  the  public  interest." 
The  fathers  of  Massachusetts  reasoned  more  mildly. 
The  dangers  apprehended  from  some  wild  and  turbulent 
spirits,  "  whose  conscience  and  religion  seemed  only 
to  sett  forth  themselves  and  raise  contentions  in  the 
country,  did  provoke  us  " — such  was  their  language  at 
the  time — "  to  provide  for  our  safety  by  a  law,  that  all 
such  should  take  notice  how  unwelcome  they  should 
be  unto  us,  either  comeing  or  staying.  But  for  such 
1646.  as  differ  from  us  only  in  judgment,  and  live  peaceably 
amongst  us,  such  have  no  cause  to  complain ;  for  it 
hath  never  beene  as  yet  putt  in  execution  against  any 
of  them,  although  such  are  known  to  live  amongst  us. "] 
Even  two  of  the  presidents  of  Harvard  college  were 
Anabaptists. 

While  dissenters  were  thus  treated  with  an  equiv 
ocal  toleration,  no  concessions  were  made  towards  the 
government  in  England.  It  was  the  creed  of  even 
the  most  loyal  deputy,  that  "  if  the  king,  or  any  party 
from  him,  should  attempt  any  thing  against  this  com- 
monw<salth,"  it  was  the  common  duty  "to  spend  estate, 
and  life,  and  all,  without  scruple,  in  its  defence;"  that 
"if  the  parliament  itself  should  hereafter  be* of  a  malig 
nant  spirit,  then,  if  the  colony  have  strength  sufficient, 

i  Hutchinson's  Coll.  216. 


POLITICAL    PARTIES   IN  MASSACHUSETTS.  433 

it  may  withstand   any  authority   from    thence   to  its  CHAP 
hurt."1     Massachusetts  called  itself  "a  perfect  repub-  ^— 
lie."2     Nor  was  the  expression  a  vain  boast.     The  1644 
commonwealth,   by  force  of    arms,   preserved   in   its 
harbors  a  neutrality  between  the  ships  of  the  opposing 
English  factions  ;  and  the  law  which  placed  death  as 
the  penalty  on  any  "  attempt  at  the  alteration  of  the 
frame  of  polity  fundamentally,"3  was  well  understood 
to  be  aimed  at  those  who  should  assert  the  absolute 
supremacy  of  the  English  parliament.     The  establish 
ment  of  a  mint,  in  1652,  was  a  further  exercise  of 
sovereignty. 

Whilst  the  public  mind  was  agitated  with  discussions 
on  liberty  of  conscience  and  independence  of  English 
jurisdiction,  the  community,  in  this  infancy  of  popular 
government,  was  disturbed  with  a  third  "  great  question 
about  the  authority  of  the  magistrates  and  the  liberty 
of  the  people."4 

A  democratic  party  had  for  many  years  been  acquir 
ing  a  control  of  public  opinion.     The  oldest  dispute  1632 
in  the  colony  related  to  the  grounds  and  limits  of  the 
authority  of  the  governor.      In  Boston,  on  occasion  of  1634 
dividing  the  town  lands,  "men  of  the  inferior  sort  were 
chosen."     Eliot,  the  apostle  of  the  Indians,  maintained 
that  treaties  should  not  be  made  without  consulting 
the  commons.     The  doctrine  of  rotation  in  office  was  1639 
asserted,  even  to  the  neglect  of  Winthrop,  "  lest  there 
should  be  a  governor  for  life."    When  one  of  the  elders 
proposed  that  the  place  of  governor  should  be  held  for 
life,  the  deputies  immediately  resolved  that  no  magis 
trate  o^  any  kind  should   be  elected  for  more  than  a  1639 
year.     The  magistrates  once,  assembling  in  a  sort  of  1644 

i  Winthrop,  ii.  170.  183.  3  Colony  Laws. 

«  Rcspublica  perfecta.  4  Winthrop,  ii.  22a 

VOL.  i.  55 


434  EARLY   DEMOCRACY   IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 

CHAP,  aristocratic  caucus,  nominated  several  persons  for  office, 
^v^  and  the  people  took  care  to  reject  every  one  of  the  can 
didates  thus  proposed.     On  the  other  hand,  when  one 
of  the  ministers  attempted  to  dissuade  the  people  from 

choosing  the  same   officers   twice  in  succession,  thev 

j 

disliked  the  interference  of  the  adviser  more  than  they 
loved  the  doctrine  of  frequent  change,  and  reelected 
the  old  magistrates  almost  without  exception  The 
condition  of  a  new  colony  which  discarded  the  legisla 
tion  of  the  mother  country,  necessarily  left  many  things 
to  the  opinions  of  the  executive.  The  people  were 
loud  in  demanding  a  government  of  law,  and  not  of 
discretion.  No  sooner  had  the  benevolent  Winthrop 
pleaded  against  the  establishment  of  an  exact  penalty 
for  every  offence, — because  justice,  not  less  than  mercy, 
imposed  the  duty  of  regulating  the  punishment  by  the 
circumstances  of  the  case, — than  the  cry  of  arbitrary 
power  was  raised  ;  and  the  people  refused  the  hope  of 
clemency,  when  it  was  to  be  obtained  from  the  acciden 
tal  compassion  and  the  capricious  judgments  of  a  magis 
trate.  The  authority  exercised  by  the  assistants  during 
the  intervals  between  the  sessions,  became  a  subject  of 
014  apprehension.  The  popular  party,  having  a  majority 
of  the  deputies,  proposed  to  substitute  a  joint  commis 
sion.  The  proposition  being  declined  as  inconsistent 
with  the  patent,  they  then  desired  to  reserve  the  ques 
tion  for  further  deliberation.  When  to  this  it  was 
answered,  that,  in  the  mean  time,  the  assistants  would 
act  according  to  the  power  and  trust  which  they  claim 
ed  by  the  charter,  the  deputies  immediately  rejoined,  by 
their  speaker,  Hawthorne,  "  You  will  not  be  obeyed." 
The  same  .spirit  occasioned  the  strenuous,  though  un 
successful  efforts  to  deprive  the  magistrates  of  their 
negative  on  the  doings  of  the  house.  The  negative 


CONTEST   BETWEEN   POLITICAL   PARTIES.  435 

power  was  feared  as  a  bulwark  of  authority,  a  limita-  CHAP 
lion  of  the  power  of  the  popular  will.1 

Such  had  been  the  progress  of  public  opinion,  when  1G45 
the  popular  party  felt  a  consciousness  of  so  great 
strength,  as  to  desire  a  struggle  with  its  opponents. 
The  opportunity  could  not  long  be  wanting.  The 
executive  magistrates,  accustomed  to  tutelary  vigilance 
over  the  welfare  of  the  towns,  had  set  aside  a  military 
election  in  Hingham.  There  had  been,  perhaps,  in 
the  proceedings,  sufficient  irregularity  to  warrant  the 
interference.  The  affair  came  before  the  general  court. 
"  Two  of  the  magistrates  and  a  small  majority  of  the 
deputies  were  of  opinion  that  the  magistrates  exercised 
too  much  power,  and  that  the  people's  liberty  was 
thereby  in  danger ;  while  nearly  half  the  deputies,  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  magistrates,  judged  that  authority 
was  overmuch  slighted,  which,  if  not  remedied,  would 
endanger  the  commonwealth,  and  introduce  a  mere 
democracy."  The  two  branches  being  thus  at  vari 
ance,  a  reference  to  the  arbitration  of  the  elders  was 
proposed.  But  "  to  this  the  deputies  would  by  no 
means  consent;  for  they  knew  that  many  of  the  elders 
were  more  careful  to  uphold  the  honor  and  power  of 
the  magistrates,  than  themselves  well  liked  of."  The 
angry  conferences  of  a  long  session  followed.  But  the 
magistrates,  sustained  by  the  ministers,  excelled  the 
popular  party  in  firmness  and  in  self-possession.  The 
latter  lost  ground  by  joining  issue  on  a  question  where 
its  own  interest  eventually  required  its  defeat. 

for  the  root  of  the  disturbance  at  Hingham  existed 
in  "a  presbyterial  spirit,"  which  opposed  the  govern 
ment  of  the  colonial  commonwealth.  Some  of  those 

i  Winthrop,  i   82,  8a  151,  152.  299,  300,  301,  302  •  u.  167.  169.  172. 
204.  210.  307.  343. 


436  TRIAL  OF  WINTHROP 

CHAP,  who  pleaded  the  laws  of  England  against  the  charter 
^^^  and  the  administration  in  Massachusetts,  had  been  com- 
J645  mitted  by  Winthrop  for  contempt  of  the  established 
authority.  It  was  now  proposed  to  procure  their  re 
lease  by  his  impeachment.  Hitherto  the  enemies  of 
the  state  had  united  with  the  popular  party,  and  both 
had  assailed  the  charter  as  the  basis  of  magisterial 
power, — the  former  with  the  view  of  invoking  the 
interposition  of  England,  the  latter  in  the  hope  of 
increasing  popular  liberty.  But  the  citizens  could 
not  be  induced,  even  in  the  excitement  of  political 
divisions,  to  wrong  the  purest  of  their  leaders,  and  the 
factious  elements  were  rendered  harmless  by  decompo 
sition.  Winthrop  appeared  at  the  bar  only  to  triumph 
in  his  integrity.  "  Civil  liberty,"  said  the  noble-minded 
man,  in  '  a  little  speech  '  on  the  occasion,  "  is  the 
proper  end  and  object  of  authority,  and  cannot  subsist 
without  it.  It  is  a  liberty  to  that  only  which  is  good, 
just,  and  honest.  This  liberty  you  are  to  stand  for 
with  the  hazard  not  only  of  your  goods,  but,  if  need 
be,  of  your  lives.  Whatsoever  crosseth  this  is  not 
authority,  but  a  distemper  thereof." 

It  now  became  possible  to  adjust  the  long-continued 
difference  by  a  compromise.  The  power  of  the  magis 
trates  over  the  militia  was  diminished  by  law;1  but 
though  the  magistrates  themselves  were  by  some  de 
clared  to  be  but  public  servants,  holding  "a  ministerial 
office,"  and  though  it  became  a  favorite  idea  that  all 
authority  resides  essentially  with  the  people  in  their 
body  representative,  yet  the  Hingham  disturbers  were 
punished  by  heavy  fines,  while  Winthrop  and  his 
friends  retained  (what  they  deserved)  the  affectionate 

1  Winthrop,  ii.  246. 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY  THE  TOPIC  OF  PARTY.  437 

confidence  of  the  colony.     The  opposition  of  Belling-  CHAP 
ham  was  due  to  his  jealousy  of  Winthrop  and  Dudley,  — ^ 
the  chief  officers  of  the  'state,  whom  he  would  willingly 
have  supplanted. 

The  court  of  Massachusetts  was  ready  to  concede 
the  enjoyment  of  religious  worship  under  the  Presby-  164<Bi 
terian  forms ; 1  yet  its  enemies,  defeated  in  their  hope 
of  a  union  with  the  popular  party,  were  resolutely 
discontented,  and  now  determined  to  rally  on  the  ques 
tion  of  liberty  of  conscience.  The  attempt  was  artful, 
for  the  doctrine  had  been  rapidly  making  progress. 
Many  books  had  come  from  England  in  defence  of 
toleration.  Many  of  the  court  were  well  inclined  to 
suspend  the  laws  against  Anabaptists,  and  the  order 
subjecting  strangers  to  the  supervision  of  the  magis 
trates  ;  and  Winthrop  thought  that  "  the  rule  of 
hospitality  required  more  moderation  and  indulgence." 
In  Boston  a  powerful  liberal  party  already  openly 
existed.  But  now  the  apparent  purpose  of  advancing 
religious  freedom  was  made  to  disguise  measures  of 
the  deadliest  hostility  to  the  frame  of  civil  government. 
The  nationality  of  New  England  was  in  danger.  The 
existence  of  Poland  was  sacrificed,  in  the  last  century, 
by  means  of  the  Polish  Dissidents,  who,  appealing  to 
the  Russian  cabinet  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  liberty  of 
conscience,  opened  the  doors  of  their  country  to  the 
enemy  of  its  independence.  The  Roman  Catholic 
bigots  were  there  the  impassioned  guardians  of  Polish 
nationality.  The  Calvinists  of  New  England  were 
of  a  cooler  temperament ;  but  with  equal  inflexibility 
they  anchored  their  liberties  dn  unmixed  Puritanism. 
"  To  eat  out  the  power  of  godliness,"  became  an 

i  Winslow,  28. 


438  RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY  THE  TOPIC  OF  PARTY. 

CHAP,  expression  nearly  synonymous  with  an  attempt  to 
^-^  acknowledge  the  direct  supremacy  of  parliament 
William  Vassal,  of  Scituate,  was  the  chief  of  the 
"  busy  and  factious  spirits,  always  opposite  to  the 
civil  governments  of  the  country  and  the  way  of  its 
churches ; "  and,  at  the  same  time,  through  his  brother 
a  member  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  of  the  com 
mission  for  the  colonies,  he  possessed  influence  in 
England.  The  movement  began  in  Plymouth,  by  a 
proposition  "for  a  full  and  free  tolerance  of  religion  to 
all  men,  without  exception  against  Turk,  Jew,  Papist, 
Arian,  Socinian,  Familist,  or  any  other."  The  depu 
ties,  not  perceiving  any  political  purpose,  were  ready 
to  adopt  the  motion.  "  You  would  have  admired," 
wrote  Wirislow  to  Winthrop,  "to  have  seen  how  sweet 
this  carrion  relished  to  the  palate  of  most  of  them."1 
The  plan  was  defeated  by  delay ;  and  Massachusetts 
became  the  theatre  of  action. 

The  new  party  desired  to  subvert  the  charter  govern 
ment,  and  introduce  a  general  governor  from  England. 
They  endeavored  to  acquire  strength  by  rallying  all 
the  materials  of  opposition.  The  friends  of  Presby- 
terianism  were  soothed  by  hopes  of  a  triumph  ;  the 
democratic  party  was  assured  that  the  government 
should  be  more  popular ;  while  the  penurious  were 
provoked  by  complaints  of  unwise  expenditures  and 
intolerable  taxations.2  But  the  people  refused  to  be 
deceived  ;  and  when  a  petition  for  redress  of  griev 
ances  was  presented  to  the  general  court,  it  was 
evidently  designed  for  English  ears.  It  had  with 
difficulty  obtained  the  signatures  of  seven  men,  and 
of  these,  some  were  sojourners  in  the  colony,  who 

1  Hutch.  Coll.  154  2  Johnson,  ii.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.  viiL  6. 


THE   FACTION  OF   VASSAL  AND   CHILDE.  43? 

desired  only  an  excuse  for  appealing  to  England.  The  CHAP 
document  was  written  in  a  spirit  of  wanton  insult,1  - — - 
It  introduced  every  topic  that  had  been  made  the 
theme  of  party  discussion,  and  asserted  (what  Lord 
Holt  and  Lord  Treby  would  have  confirmed,  but  what 
the  colonists  were  not  willing  to  concede)  that  there 
existed  in  the  country  no  settled  form  of  government 
according  to  the  laws  of  England.  An  entire  revolu 
tion  was  demanded  ;  "  if  not,"  add  the  remonstrants, 
"  we  shall  be  necessitated  to  apply  our  humble  desires 
to  both  houses  of  parliament;"  and  there  was  reason 
to  fear  that  they  would  obtain  a  favorable  hearing 
before  the  body  whose  authority  they  labored  to 
enlarge. 

For  Gorton  had  carried  his  complaints  to  the  mother  1G46 
country,  and,  though  unaided  by  personal  influence  or 
by  powerful  friends,  had  succeeded  in  all  his  wishes.  At 
this  very  juncture,  an  order  respecting  his  claims  arrived 
in  Boston,  and  was  couched  in  terms  which  involved 
an  assertion  of  the  right  of  parliament  to  reverse  the 
decisions  and  control  the  government  of  Massachusetts. 
The  danger  was  imminent.  It  struck  at  the  very  life 
and  foundation  of  the  rising  commonwealth.  Had  the 
Long  Parliament  succeeded  in  revoking  the  patent  of 
Massachusetts,  the  Stuarts,  on  their  restoration,  would 
have  found  not  one  chartered  government  in  the  colo*- 
nies,  and  the  tenor  of  American  history  would  have 
been  changed.  The  people  rallied  with  great  unanim 
ity  in  support  of  their  magistrates.  A  law  had  been 
drawn  up,  and  was  ready  to  pass,  conferring  on  all 
residents  equal  power  in  town  affairs,  and  enlarging 
the  constituency  of  the  state.  It  was  deemed  safe  to 
defer  the  important  enactment  till  the  present  contro- 

i  Compare  Hutch.  Coll.  189,  212,  213. 


440  MASSACHUSETTS  RESISTS   THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT/ 

CHAP,  versy  should  be  settled  ;  the  order  against  Anabaptists 
— ^  was  likewise  left  unrepealed  ;   and,  notwithstanding 
1646   strong   opposition    from   the   friends  of    toleration   in 
Boston,  it  was  resolved  to  convene  a  synod  to  give 
counsel  on  the  permanent  settlement  of  the  ecclesias 
tical  polity. 

At  length  the  general  court  assembled  for  the  discus- 
sion  of  the  usurpations  of  parliament,  and  the  dangers 
from  domestic  treachery.  The  elders  did  not  fail  to 
attend  in  the  gloomy  season.  One  faithless  deputy 
was  desired  to  withdraw ;  and  then,  with  closed  doors 
(that  the  consultation  might  remain  in  the  breast  of 
the  court),  the  nature  of  the  relation  with  England 
wras  made  the  subject  of  debate.  After  much  delib 
eration,  it  was  agreed  that  Massachusetts  owed  to 
England  the  same  allegiance  as  the  free  Hanse  Towns 
had  rendered  to  the  empire  ;  as  Normandy,  when  its 
dukes  were  kings  of  England,  had  paid  to  the  mon- 
archs  of  France.  It  was  also  resolved  not  to  accept 
a  new  charter  from  the  parliament,  for  that  would 
imply  a  surrender  of  the  old.  Besides,  parliament 
granted  none,  but  by  way  of  ordinance,  which  the  king 
might  one  ^ay  refuse  to  confirm,  and  always  made  for 
itself  an  express  reservation  of  "  a  supreme  power  in 
all  things."  The  elders,  after  a  day's  consultation, 
confirmed  the  decisions.  "  If  parliament  should  be 
less  inclinable  to  us,  we  must  wait  upon  Providence 
for  the  preservation  of  our  just  liberties'." 

The  colony  then^  proceeded  to  exercise  the  inde 
pendence  which  it  claimed.  The  general  court  replied 
to  the  petition  in  a  state-paper,  written  with  great 
moderation  ;  and  the  disturbers  of  the  public  security 
were  summoned  into  its  presence.  Robert  Childe 
and  his  companions  appealed  to  the  commissioners  in 


MASSACHUSETTS  RESISTS  THE   LONG  PARLIAMENT.  441 

England.    The  appeal  was  not  admitted.     "  The  char-  CHAI- 
ter,"  he  urged,  "  does  but  create  a  corporation  within  — — 
the  realm,  subject  to  English  laws." — "Plantations,"  1646 
replied  the  court,  "  are  above  the  rank  of  an  ordinary 
corporation ;    they   have    been   esteemed    other    than 
towns,  yea,  than  many  cities.     Colonies  are  the  foun 
dations  of  great  commonwealths.     It  is  the  fruit  of 
pride  and  folly  to  despise  the  day  of  small  things." 

To  the  parliament  of  England  the  legislature  remon 
strated  with  the  noblest  frankness  against  any  asser 
tion  of  the  paramount  authority  of  that  body. 

"  An  order  from  England,"  say  they,  "  is  prejudicial  Dec. 
to  our  chartered  liberties,  and  to  our  well-being  in  this 
remote  part  of  the  world.  Times  may  be  changed ; 
for  all  things  here  below  are  subject  to  vanity,  and 
other  princes  or  parliaments  may  arise.  Let  not  suc 
ceeding  generations  have  cause  to  lament  and  say, 
England  sent  our  fathers  forth  with  happy  liberties, 
which  they  enjoyed  many  years,  notwithstanding  all 
the  enmity  and  opposition  of  the  prelacy,  and  other  po 
tent  adversaries,  and  yet  these  liberties  were  lost  in  the 
season  when  England  itself  recovered  its  own.  We 
rode  out  the  dangers  of  the  sea;  sbill  we  perish  in 
port  ?  We  have  not  admitted  appeals  to  your  authori 
ty,  being  assured  they  cannot  stand  with  the  liberty 
and  power  granted  us  by  our  charter,  and  would  be 
destructive  to  all  government.  These  considerations 
are  not  new  to  the  high  court  of  parliament;  the 
records  whereof  bear  witness  of  the  wisdom  and  faith 
fulness  of  our  ancestors  in  that  great  council,  who,  in 
those  times  of  darkness,  when  they  acknowledged  a 
supremacy  in  the  Roman  bishops,  in  all  causes  ecclesi 
astical,  yet  would  not  allow  appeals  to  Rome. 

"  The  wisdom  and  experience  of  that  great  council, 
VOL.  ic  56 


442  MASSACHUSETTS  RESISTS  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT. 

CHAP,  the  English  parliament,  are  more  able  to  prescribe 
— ~  rules  of  government  and  judge  causes,  than  such  poor 
*G46  rustics  as  a  wilderness  can  breed  up;  yet  the  vast 
distance  between  England  and  these  parts  abates  the 
virtue  of  the  strongest  influences.  Your  councils  and 
judgments  can  neither  be  so  well  grounded,  nor  so 
seasonably  applied,  as  might  either  be  useful  to  us,  or 
safe  for  yourselves,  in  your  discharge,  in  the  great  day 
of  account.  If  any  miscarriage  shall  befall  us,  when 
we  have  the  government  in  our  own  hands,  the  state 
of  England  shall  not  answer  for  it. 

"  Continue  your  favorable  aspect  to  these  infant  plan 
tations,  that  we  may  still  rejoice  and  bless  our  God 
under  your  shadow,  and  be  there  still  nourished  with 
the  warmth  and  dews  of  heaven.  Confirm  our  liber 
ties  ;  discountenance  our  enemies,  the  disturbers  of  our 
peace  under  pretence  of  our  injustice.  A  gracious  tes 
timony  of  your  wonted  favor  will  oblige  us  and  our 
posterity." 

In  the  same  spirit,  Edward  Wirjslow,  the  agent  for 
Massachusetts  in  England,  publicly  denied  that  the 
jurisdiction  of  parliament  extended  to  America.  "  If 
the  parliament  of  England  should  impose  laws  upon 
us,  having  no  burgesses  in  the  house  of  commons,  nor 
capable  of  a  summons  by  reason  of  the  vast  distance, 
we  should  lose  the  liberties  and  freedom  of  English 
indeed." l  Massachusetts  was  not  without  steadfast 
friends  in  the  legislature  of  England  ;  yet  it  marks  an 
honest  love  of  liberty  and  of  justice  in  the  Long  Par* 
liament,  that  the  doctrines  of  colonial  equality  should 
have  been  received  with  favor.  "  Sir  Henry  Vane, 
though  he  might  have  taken  occasion  against  the  colonj 

1  Winslow'e  New  England's  Salamander,  24 


MASSACHUSETTS  RESISTS  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT.  445 

for  some  dishonor  which  he  apprehended  to  have  been  CHAP 
unjustly  put  upon  him  there,  yet  showed  himself  a  true  — ^ 
friend  to  New  England,  and  a  man  of  a  noble  and  1 647 
generous  mind."1     After  ample  deliberation,  the  com 
mittee  of  parliament  magnanimously  replied,  "  We  en 
courage  no  appeals  from  your  justice.     We  leave  you 
with  all  the  freedom  and  latitude,  that  may,  in  any 
respect,  be  duly  claimed  by  you."2 

Such  were  the  arts  by  which  Massachusetts  pre 
served  its  liberties.  The  people  sustained  their  magis 
trates  with  great  unanimity ;  hardly  five-and-twenty 
persons  could  be  found  in  the  whole  jurisdiction  to  join 
in  a  complaint  against  the  strictness  of  the  government; 
and  when  the  discontented  introduced  the  dispute  into 
the  elections,  their  candidates  were  defeated  by  an 
overwhelming  majority.3 

The  harmony  of  the  people  had  been  confirmed  by 
the  courage  of  the  elders,  who  gave  fervor  to  the  en- 

O  '  O 

thusiasrn  of  patriotism.  "  It  had  been  as  unnatural 
for  a  right  New  England  man  to  live  without  an  able 
ministry,  as  for  a  smith  to  work  his  iron  without  a 
fire."  The  union  between  the  elders  and  the  state 
could  not,  therefore,  but  become  more  intimate  than 
ever ;  and  religion  was  venerated  and  cherished  as  the 
security  against  political  subserviency.  When  the 
synod  met  by  adjournment,  it  was  by  the  common 
consent  of  all  the  Puritan  colonies,  that  a  system  of 
church  government  was  established  for  the  congrega- 

1  Winthrop,  ii.  248  and  317.  N.  E.'s  Jonas  cast  up  at  London,  in 

2  Hutchinson,  i.  13C — 140,  is  con-  ii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  iv.  107,  &c.  ;  E. 
fused  and  inaccurate.  Was  it  from  ig-  Winslow's  N.  E.'s  Salamander  Dia- 
norance  ?    To  correct  his  errors  the  '  covered,  in  iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  ii. 
inquirer  must  go  to  the  original  au-  110,  &c.    See  also  Johnson,  b.  iii.  c. 
thorities — Colony  Records  ;  Hutch-  iii.;    Hubbard,  c.    Iv. ;    Hazard,   i 
inson's  Collection,  188— 218 ;  Win-  544,  &c. 

throp,  ii.  278—301,  and  317—322 ;        3  Winthrop,  ii.  307 


444  THE  PLATFORM  OF  THE  CHURCHES. 

CHAP,  tions.1     The  platform  retained  authority  for  more  than 
^^  a  century,  and  has  not  yet  lost  its  influence.     It  effec 
tually  excluded  the  Presbyterian  modes  of  discipline 
from  New  England. 

1050  The  jealousy  of  independence  was  preserved  in  its 
1655.  wakefulness.  The  Long  Parliament  asserted  its 
power  over  the  royalist  colonies  in  general  terms, 
which  seemed  alike  to  threaten  the  plantations  of  the 
north  ;  and  now  that  royalty  was  abolished,  it  invited 
Massachusetts  to  receive  a  new  patent,  and  to  hold 
courts  and  issue  warrants  in  its  name.  But  the  colo 
nial  commonwealth  was  too  wary  to  hazard  its  rights 
by  merging  them  in  the  acts  of  a  government  of  which 
the  decline  seemed  approaching.  It  has  been  usual  to 
say,  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts  foiled  the  Long 
Parliament.  In  a  public  state-paper,  they  refused  to 
submit  to  its  requisitions,  and  yet  never  carried  their 
remonstrance  beyond  the  point  which  their  charter 
appeared  to  them  to  warrant.2 

IG51.  After  the  successes  of  Cromwell  in  Ireland,  he 
voluntarily  expressed  his  interest  in  New  England,  by 
offering  its  inhabitants  estates  and  a  settlement  in  the 
beautiful  island  which  his  arms  had  subdued.  His 
offers  were  declined ;  for  the  emigrants  already  loved 
their  land  of  refuge,  where  their  own  courage  and  toils 
had  established  "  the  liberties  of  the  gospel  in  its 
purity."  Our  government,  they  said  among  themselves, 
"is  the  happiest  and  wisest  this  day  in  the  world." 
1051.  The  war  between  England  and  Holland  hardly 
I(V14  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  the  colonies.  The  western 
settlements,  which  would  have  suffered  extreme  misery 
from  a  combined  attack  of  the  Indians  and  the  Dutch, 

1  Result  of  a  Synod,  &c.     See    ton  Mather  is  diffuse  on  the  subject 
also  Winthrop  and  Hubbard.     Cot-        2  Hiitchinson,  1.  App.  viii. 


MASSACHUSETTS    REFUSES    TO    ATTACK    NEW    YORK.  445 

were  earnest  for  attempting  to  reduce  New  Amster-  CHAP. 
dam,  and  thus  to  carry  the  boundary  of  New  England  ^— ' 
to  the  Delaware.  At  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners 
at  Boston,  three  of  the  four  United  Colonies  declared 
for  war ;  yet  the  dissentient  Massachusetts  interposed 
delay ;  cited  the  opinions  of  its  elders  that  "  it  was 
most  agreeable  to  the  gospel  of  peace  and  safest  for 
the  colonies  to  forbear  the  use  of  the  sword ; "  and  at 
last  refused  to  be  governed  by  the  decision.  The 
refusal  was  a  plain  breach  of  covenant,  and  led  to 
earnest  remonstrance  and  altercations.  The  nature 
of  the  reserved  rights  of  the  members  of  the  confed 
eracy  became  the  subject  of  animated  discussion ;  and 
the  union  would  have  come  to  an  end,  had  not  Massa 
chusetts  receded,  though  tardily,  from  her  interpreta 
tion  of  the  articles ;  but  in  the  meantime  the  occasion 
for  war  with  Manhattan  had  passed  away. 

The  European  republics  had  composed  their  strife,  1654. 
before  the  English  fleet,  which  was  sent  against  New 
Netherland,  reached  America.  There  was  peace  be 
tween  England  and  France  ;  yet  the  English  forces, 
turning  to  the  north,  made  the  easy  conquest  of 
Acadia,  an  acquisition  which  no  remonstrance  or 
complaints  could  induce  the  protector  to  restore. 

Of  New  England,  the  inhabitants  ever  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  Cromwell.  They  were  satisfied 
that  his  battles  were  the  battles  of  the  Lord ;  and 
"  the  spirits  of  the  brethren  were  carried  forth  in 
faithful  and  affectionate  prayers  in  his  behalf." 
Cromwell,  in  return,  confessed  to  them  that  the 
battle  of  Dunbar,  where  "some,  who  were  godly," 
were  fought  into  their  graves,  was,  of  all  the  acts 
of  his  life,  that  on  which  his  mind  had  the  least 
quiet;  and  he  declared  himself  "truly  ready  to 


446  CROMWELL  FAVORS  NEW  ENGLAND. 

CHAP-  serve   the   brethren  and   the  churches "   in    America. 

Jv* 

— ^  The  declaration  was  sincere.  The  people  of  New 
England  were  ever  sure  that  Cromwell  would  listen  to 
their  requests,  and  would  take  an  interest  in  all  the 
little  details  of  their  condition.  He  left  them  inde 
pendence,  and  favored  their  trade.  When  his  arms 

1055  had  made  the  conquest  of  Jamaica,  he  offered  them 
the  island,  with  the  promise  of  all  the  wealth  which  the 
tropical  clime  pours  prodigally  into  the  lap  of  industry  ; 
and  though  they  frequently  thwarted  his  views,  they 
never  forfeited  his  regard.  English  history  must  judge 
of  Cromwell  by  his  influence  on  the  institutions  of 
England ;  the  American  colonies  remember  the  years 
of  his  power  as  the  period  when  British  sovereignty 
was  for  them  free  from  rapacity,  intolerance,  and  op 
pression.  He  may  be  called  the  benefactor  of  the 
English  in  America ;  for  he  left  them  to  enjoy  un 
shackled  the  liberal  benevolence  of  Providence,  the 
freedom  of  industry,  of  commerce,  of  religion,  and  oi 
government.1 

Yet  the  Puritans  of  New  England  perceived  that 
their  security  rested  on  the  personal  character  of  the 
protector,  and  that  other  revolutions  were  ripening; 
they,  therefore,  never  allowed  their  vigilance  to  be 
lulled.  The  influence  of  the  elders  was  confirmed ; 
the  civil  and  the  religious  institutions  had  become  inti 
mately  connected.  While  the  spirit  of  independence 
was  thus  assured,  the  evils  ensued  that  are  in  some 
measure  inseparable  from  a  religious  establishment , 
a  distinct  interest  grew  up  under  the  system  ;  the 
severity  of  the  laws  was  sharpened  against  infidelity 
on  the  one  hand,  and  sectarianism  on  the  other  ;  nor 

1  Hutchinson's  Coll.  233  and  ff.  State  Papers,  Case  i.  File  vii.  No 
Hutch.  Hist.  App.  No.  ix.  x.  Mass.  34  ;  File  x.  No.  77. 


LAWS   AGAINST   IRRELIGION  AND   SECTARIANISM.  447 

can  it  be  denied,  nor  should  it  be  concealed,  that  the  CHAP. 
elders,  especially  Wilson  and  Norton,  instigated  and  ^^ 
sustained  the  government  in  its  worst  cruelties. 

Where  the  mind  is  left  free,  religion  can  never  have 
dangerous  enemies,  for  no  class  has  then  a  motive  to 
attempt  its  subversion;- while  the  interests  of  society 
demand  a  foundation  for  the  principles  of  justice  and 
benevolence.  Atheism  is  a  folly  of  the  metaphysician, 
not  the  folly  of  human  nature.  Of  savage  life,  Roger 
Williams  declared,  that  he  had  never  found  one  native 
American  who  denied  the  existence  of  a  God ;  in 
civilized  life,  when  it  was  said  of  the  court  of  Frederic, 
that  the  place  of  king's  atheist  was  vacant,  the  gibe 
was  felt  as  the  most  biting  sarcasm.  Infidelity  gains 
the  victory,  when  it  wrestles  with  hypocrisy  or  with 
superstition,  but  never  when  its  antagonist  is  reason. 
Men  revolt  against  the  oppressions  of  superstition,  the 
exactions  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  but  never  against 
religion  itself.  When  an  ecclesiastical  establishment, 
under  the  heaviest  penalties,  requires  universal  con 
formity,  the  diversity  of  human  opinion  necessarily 
involves  the  consequence,  that  some  consciences  are 
oppressed  and  wronged.  In  such  cases,  if  the  wrong 
is  excessive,  intellectual  servitude  is  followed  by  conse 
quences  analogous  to  those  which  ensue  on  the  civil 
slavery  of  the  people ;  the  mind,  as  it  bursts  its  fetters, 
is  clouded  by  a  sense  of  injury;  the  judgment  is  con 
fused  ;  and  in  the  zeal  to  resist  a  tyranny,  passion 
attempts  to  sweep  away  every  form  of  religion.  Bigot 
ry  commits  the  correlative  error,  when  it  endeavors  to 
control  opinion  by  positive  statutes,  to  substitute  the 
terrors  of  law  for  convincing  argument.  It  is  a  crime 
to  resist  truth  under  pretence  of  resisting  injurious 
power  ;  it  is  equally  a  crime  to  enslave  the  human 


448  LAWS  AGAINST   IRRELIGION  AND   SECTARIANISM. 

CHAP,  understanding,  under  pretence  of  protecting  religion 
^•^  The  reckless  mind,  rashly  hurrying  to  the  warfare 
against  superstition,  has  often,  though  by  mistake, 
attacked  intelligence  itself;  but  religion,  of  itself 
alone,  never  had  an  enemy ;  except  indeed  as  there 
have  been  theorists,  whose  harmless  ingenuity  has 
denied  all  distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  be 
tween  justice  and  its  opposite.  Positive  enactments 
against  irreligion,  like  positive  enactments  against 
fanaticism,  provoke  the  evil  which  they  were  designed 
to  prevent.  Danger  is  inviting.  If  left  to  himself,  he 
that  vilifies  the  foundations  of  morals  and  happiness, 
does  but  publish  his  own  un worthiness.  A  public 
prosecution  is  a  mantle  to  cover  his  shame  ;  for  to 
suffer  for  opinion's  sake  is  courageous  ;  and  courage  is 
always  an  honorable  quality. 

The  conscientious  austerity  of  the  colonists,  invigor 
ated  by  the  love  of  power,  led  to  a  course  of  legisla 
tion,  which,  if  it  was  followed  by  the  melancholy  result 
of  bloodshed,  was  also  followed,  among  the  freemen  of 
the  New  World,  by  emancipation  from  bigotry,  achieved 
without  any  of  the  excesses  of  intolerant  infidelity. 
The  inefficiency  of  fanatic  laws  was  made  plain  by  the 
fearless  resistance  of  a  still  more  stubborn  fanaticism. 

Saltonstall  wrote  from  Europe,  that,  but  for  their 
severities,  the  people  of  Massachusetts  would  have  been 
14  the  eyes  of  God's  people  in  England."  The  con- 
1651,  sistent  Sir  Henry  Vane  had  urged,  that  "  the  oppugn- 
ers  of  the  Congregational  way  should  not,  from  its  own 
principles  and  practice,  be  taught  to  root  it  out."  "  It 
were  better,"  he  added,  "  not  to  censure  any  persons 
for  matters  of  a  religious  concernment." 1  The  elder 

1  ill  Mass  Hist.  Coll.  i.  37 


LAWS  AGAINST   IRRELIGION  AND   SECTARIANISM.  449 

Winthrop  had,  I  believe,  relented  before  his  death,  and  CHAP 
professed  himself  weary  of  banishing  heretics ;  the  soul  ^-^ 
of  the  younger  Winthrop  was  incapable  of  harboring  a  1651 
thought  of  intolerant  cruelty ; 1  but  the  rugged  Dudley 
was  not  mellowed  by  old  age.  "  God  forbid,"  said  he, 
"  our  love  for  the  truth  should  be  grown  so  cold,  that 
we  should  tolerate  errors. — I  die  no  libertine." — "Bet 
ter  tolerate  hypocrites  and  tares  than  thorns  and  briers," 
affirmed  Cotton.  "  Polypiety,"  echoed  Ward,  "  is  the 
greatest  impiety  in  the  world.  To  say  that  men  ought 
to  have  liberty  of  conscience  is  impious  ignorance." — 
"  Religion,"  said  the  melancholic  Nor  ton,  "admits  of  no 
eccentric  motions."  But  the  people  did  not  entirely 
respond  to  these  extravagant  views,  into  which  the 
bigotry  of  personal  interest  had  betrayed  the  elders, 
and  the  love  of  unity,  so  favorable  to  independence, 
had  betrayed  the  leading  men.  The  public  mind  was 
awakened  to  inquiry  ;  the  topic  of  the  power  of  the 
civil  magistrate  in  religious  affairs,  was  become  the 
theme  of  perpetual  discussion ;  and  it  needed  all  the 
force  of  established  authority  to  sustain  the  doctrine  of 
persecution.  Massachusetts  was  already  in  the  state. 
of  transition,  and  it  was  just  before  expiring,  that 
bigotry,  with  convulsive  energy,  exhibited  its  worst 
aspect ;  just  as  the  waves  of  the  sea  are  most  tumul 
tuous  when  the  wind  is  subsiding,  and  the  tempest  is 
yielding  to  a  calm. 

Anabaptism  was  to  the  establishment  a  dangerous 
rival.  When  Clarke,  the  pure  and  tolerant  Baptist  of 
Rhode  Island,  one  of  the  happy  few  who  succeed  in 
acquiring  an  estate  of  beneficence,  and  connecting  the 
glory  of  their  name  with  the  liberty  and  happiness  of 

i  Bishop's  N.  E.  Judged. 

VOL.  i.  57 


450  LAWS  AGAINST  IRRELIG1ON  AND   SECTARIANISM. 

CHAP  a  commonwealth,  began  to  preach  to  a  small  audience 

— -v^  in  Lynn,  he  was  seized  by  the  civil  officers.     Being 

1651    compelled  to  attend  with   the   congregation,   he   ex- 

20.     pressed  his  aversion  by  a  harmless  indecorum,  which 

would  yet  have  been  without  excuse,  had  his  presence 

been  voluntary.     He  and  his  companions  were  tried, 

and    condemned    to    pay  a  fine   of  twenty  or  thirty 

pounds  ;  and  Holmes,  who  refused  to  pay  his  fine,  was 

whipped  unmercifully. 

Since  a  particular  form  of  worship  had  become  a 
part  of  the  civil  establishment,  irreligion  was  now  to 
be  punished  as  a  civil  offence.  The  state  was  a  model 
of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth ;  treason  against  the  civil 
government  was  treason  against  Christ ;  and  recipro 
cally,  as  the  gospel  had  the  right  paramount,  blas 
phemy,  or  what  a  jury  should  call  blasphemy,  was  the 
highest  offence  in  the  catalogue  of  crimes.  To  deny 
any  book  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament  to  be  the  written 
and  infallible  word  of  God,  was  punishable  by  fine 
or  by  stripes,  and,  in  case  of  obstinacy,  by  exile  or 
death.  Absence  from  "  the  ministry  of  the  word " 
was  punished  by  a  fine. 

1653.  By  degrees  the  spirit  of  the  establishment  began  to 
subvert  the  fundamental  principles  of  Independency. 
The  liberty  of  prophesying  was  refused,  except  the 
approbation  of  four  elders,  or  of  a  county  court,  had 
been  obtained.  Remonstrance 1  was  useless.  The 
union  of  church  and  state  was  fast  corrupting  both  ;  it 
mingled  base  ambition  with  the  former  ;  it  gave  a  false 
direction  to  the  legislation  of  the  latter.  And  at  last 
1058  the  general  court  claimed  for  itself,  for  the  council,  and 
for  any  two  organic  churches,  the  right  of  silencing 

i  Felt's  Salem,  188  and  533.     iii.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  i.  40. 


LAWS   AGAINST   IRRELIGION   AND   SECTARIANISM.  451 

any   person   who   was   not   as   yet   ordained.  (  Thus  CHAP 
rapidly  did  human  nature  display  its   power !  )   The  — -,— 
creation  of  a  national,  uncompromising  churclv/led  the 
Congregationalists  of  Massachusetts  to  the  indulgence 
of  the   passions  which   had   disgraced   their  English 
persecutors  ;  and  Laud  was  justified  by  the  men  whom 
he  had  wronged. 

But  if  the  Baptists  were  feared,  as  professing  doc 
times  tending  to  disorganize  society,  how  much  more 
reason  was  there  to  dread  such  emissaries  of  the 
Quakers  as  appeared  in  Massachusetts  !  The  first  and 
most  noisy  advocates  of  any  popular  sect  are  apt  to 
be  men  of  little  consideration.  They  who  have  the 
least  to  risk  are  most  clamorous  for  novelties ;  and  the 
early  advocates  of  the  Quakers  in  New  England  dis 
played  little  of  the  mild  philosophy,  the  statesman-like 
benevolence,  of  Penn  and  his  disciples ;  though  they 
possessed  the  virtue  of  passive  resistance  in  perfection. 
Left  to  themselves,  they  appeared  like  a  motley  tribe 
of  persons,  half  fanatic,  half  insane  ;  without  consid 
eration,  and  without  definite  purposes.  Persecution 
called  them  forth  to  show  what  intensity  of  will  can 
dwell  in  the  depths  of  the  human  heart.  They  were 
like  those  weeds  which  are  unsightly  to  the  eye,  and 
which  only  when  trampled  give  out  precious  per 
fumes. 

The  rise  of  "  the  people  called  Quakers,"  was  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  results  of  the  Protestant  revo 
lution.  It  was  a  consequence  of  the  moral  warfare 
against  corruption ;  the  aspiration  of  the  human  mind 
after  a  perfect  emancipation  from  the  long  reign  of 
bigotry  and  superstition.  It  grew  up  with  men  who 
were  impatient  at  the  slow  progress  of  the  reforma 
tion,  the  tardy  advances  of  intellectual  liberty.  A 


462        QUAKERS  EXCLUDED  FROM  MASSACHUSETTS 

CHAP,  better  opportunity  will  offer  for  explaining  its  influence 

— on    American  institutions.     It  was  in   the   month  of 

1G56.  July,  1656,  that  two  of  its  members,  Mary  Fisher  and 
Ann  Austin,  arrived  in  the  road  before  Boston.1  There 
was  as  yet  no  statute  respecting  Quakers ;  but,  on  the 
general  law  against  heresy,  their  trunks  were  searched, 
and  their  books  burnt  by  the  hangman ;  "  though  no 
token  could  be  found  on  them  but  of  innocence,552 
their  persons  were  examined  in  search  of  signs  of 
witchcraft ;  and,  after  five  weeks5  close  imprisonment, 
they  were  thrust  out  of  the  jurisdiction.  Eight  others 
were,  during  the  year,  sent  back  to  England.  The 
rebuke  enlarged  the  ambition  of  Mary  Fisher ;  she 
repaired  alone  to  Adrianople,  and  delivered  a  message 
to  the  Grand  Sultan.  The  Turks  thought  her  crazed, 
and  she  passed  through  their  army  "  without  hurt  or 
scoff.55 

1657.  Yet  the  next  year,  although  a  special  law  now  pro 
hibited  the  introduction  of  Quakers,  Mary  Dyer,  an 
Antinomian  exile,  and  Ann  Burden,  came  into  the 
colony ;  the  former  was  claimed  by  her  husband,  and 
taken  to  Rhode  Island ;  the  latter  was  sent  to  Eng 
land.  A  woman  who  had  come  all  the  way  from 
London,  to  warn  the  magistrates  against  persecution, 
was  whipped  with  twenty  stripes.  Some,  who  had 
been  banished,  came  a  second  time  ;  they  were  im 
prisoned,  whipped,  and  once  more  sent  away,  under 
penalty  of  further  punishment,  if  they  returned  again. 
A  fine  was  imposed  on  such  as  should  entertain  any 

1  T  compose  the   narrative  from  apologies  of  the  colonists,  especially 

comparing  the  Quaker  accounts,  by  Norton's  book,  The  Heart  of  N.  E. 

Gould,  and  ISewell,  and  Besse,  full  of  Rent,  still  exist,  and  are  before  me. 

documents,  with  those  of  the  colo-  Compare  the  life  of  Mary  Dyer,  in 

nial  historians.     There  is  no  essen-  C.  Scdgwick's  Tales  and  Sketches, 

tial  difference.     Every  leading  work  2  Sewell,  i.  294.     Besse,  ii.  198 

has  something  on  the  subject. — The  — 207. 


QUAKERS  EXCLUDED  FROM  MASSACHUSETTS.        453 

"  of  the  accursed  sect ;  "  and  a  Quaker,  after  the  first  CHAP. 
conviction,  was  to  lose  one  ear,  after  the  second  an-  — v-*-- 
other,  after  the  third  to  have  the  tongue  bored  with  a 
red-hot  iron.  It  was  but  for  a  very  short  time,  that 
the  menace  of  these  enormities  found  place  in  the 
slatute-book.  The  colony  was  so  ashamed  of  the 
order  for  mutilation,  that  it  was  soon  repealed,  and 
was  never  printed.  But  this  legislation  was  fruitful  of 
results.  Quakers  swarmed  where  they  were  feared. 
They  came  expressly  because  they  were  not  welcome , 
and  threats  were  construed  as  invitations.  A  penalty  1658 
of  ten  shillings  was  now  imposed  on  every  person  for 
being  present  at  a  Quaker  meeting,  and  of  five  pounds 
for  speaking  at  such  meeting.  In  the  execution  of  the 
laws,  the  pride  of  consistency  involved  the  magistrates 
in  acts  of  extreme  cruelty. 

The  government  of  Massachusetts  at  length  resolved  1658 
to  follow  the  advice  of  the  commissioners  for  the  united 
colonies ;  from  which  the  younger  Winthrop  alone  had 
dissented.1  Willing  that  the  Quakers  should  live  in 
peace  in  any  other  part  of  the  wide  world,  yet  desiring 
to  deter  them  effectually  from  coming  within  its  juris 
diction,  the  general  court,  after  much  resistance,  and 
by  a  majority  of  but  a  single  vote,  banished  them  on 
pain  of  death.  The  object  of  severity  was  not  to 
persecute,  but  to  exclude  them.  "  For  the  security  of 
the  flock,"  said  Norton,  "  we  pen  up  the  wolf;  but  a 
door  is  purposely  left  open  whereby  he  may  depart  at 
his  pleasure."  Vain  legislation !  and  frivolous  apology ! 
The  soul,  by  its  freedom  and  immortality,  preserves 
its  convictions  or  its  frenzies  even  amidst  the  threat  of 
death. 

i  Records,  in  Hazard,  ii.     Roger    pare  Bishop's  N.  E.  Judged ;  Hutch- 
Williams,  in  Knowles,  311.    Com-    inson,  i.  184. 


4-34  QUAKERS   BANISHED   ON   PAIN   OF  DEATH. 

CTIAP.  It  has  been  attempted  to  excuse  the  atrocity  of  the 
^~  law,  because  the  Quakers  avowed  principles  that 
1G58.  seemed  subversive  of  social  order.  Any  government 
might,  on  the  same  grounds,  find  in  its  unreasonable 
fears  an  excuse  for  its  cruelties.  The  argument  jus 
tifies  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Spain,  of  the 
Huguenots  from  France ;  and  tt  forms  a  complete 
apology  for  Laud,  who  was  honest  in  his  bigotry, 
persecuting  the  Puritans  with  the  same  good  faith 
with  which  he  recorded  his  dreams.  The  fears  of  one 
class  of  men  are  not  the  measure  of  the  rights  of_ 
another. 

It  is  said,  the  Quakers  themselves  rushed  on  the 
sword,  and  so  were  suicides.  If  it  were  so,  the  men 
who  held  the  sword  were  accessories  to  the  crime. 

It  is  true  that  some  of  the  Quakers  were  extrava 
gant  and  foolish ;  they  cried  out  from  the  windows  at 
the  magistrates  and  ministers  that  passed  by,  and 
mocked  the  civil  and  religious  institutions  of  the  coun 
try.  They  riotously  interrupted  public  worship  ;  and 
women,  forgetting  the  decorum  of  their  sex,  and 
claiming  a  divine  origin  for  their  absurd  caprices, 
smeared  their  faces,  and  even  went  naked  through  the 
streets.  Indecency,  however,  is  best  punished  by 
slight  chastisements.  The  house  of  Folly  has  per 
petual  succession  ;  yet  numerous  as  is  the  progeny, 
each  individual  of  the  family  is  very  short-lived,  and  . 
dies  the  sooner  where  its  extravagance  is  excessive. 
A  fault  against  manners  may  not  be  punished  by  a 
crime  against  nature. 

The  act  itself  admits  of  no  defence ;  the  actors  can 
plead  no  other  justification  than  delusion.  Prohibiting 
the  arrival  of  Quakers  was  not  persecution  ;  and  ban- 
iShment  is  a  term  hardly  to  be  used  of  one  who  has 


QUAKERS  BANISHED  ON  PAIN  OF  DEATH.          455 

not  acquired  a  home.  When  a  pauper  is  sent  to  his  CHAP 
native  town,  he  is  not  called  an  exile.  A  ship  from  — — 
abroad,  which  should  enter  the  harbor  of  Marseilles 
against  the  order  of  the  health-officer,  would  be  sunk 
by  the  guns  of  the  fort.  The  government  of  Massa 
chusetts  applied  similar  quarantine  rules  to  the  morals 
of  the  colony,  and  would  as  little  tolerate  what  seemed 
a  ruinous  heresy,  as  the  French  would  tolerate  the 
plague :  I  do  not  plead  the  analogy ;  the  cases  are  as 
widely  different  as  this  world  and  the  next ;  I  desire 
only  to  relate  facts  with  precision.  The  ship  sus 
pected  of  infection  might  sail  for  another  port ;  and 
the  Quaker,  if  he  came  once,  was  sent  away ;  if  he 
came  again,  was  sentenced  to  death,  and  then  might 
still  quit  the  jurisdiction  on  a  promise  of  returning  no 
more.  Servetus  did  but  desire  leave  to  continue  his 
journey.  The  inquisition  hearkened  to  secret  whis 
pers  for  grounds  of  accusation ;  the  magistrates  of 
Massachusetts  left  all  in  peace  but  the  noisy  brawlers, 
and  left  to  them  the  opportunity  of  escape.  For  four 
centuries,  Europe  had  maintained  that  heresy  should 
be  punished  by  death.  In  Spain,  more  persons  have 
been  burned  for  their  opinions,  than  Massachusetts 
then  contained  inhabitants.  Under  Charles  V.,  in  the 
Netherlands  alone,  the  number  of  those  who  were 
hanged,  beheaded,  buried  alive,  or  burned,  for  religious 
opinion,  was  fifty  thousand,  says  father  Paul ;  the 
whole  carnage,  says  Grotius,  included  not  less  than 
one  hundred  thousand ;  and  scepticism  has  not  re 
duced  the  tale  below  twenty  thousand.  The  four  of 
whose  death  New  England  was  guilty,  fell  victims 

1  Sarpi,  Istoria  del  Concil.  Trid.  vivi,  ed  abbruciati  aggiugnesse  a 

L.  v.     Opere,  v.  ii.  p.  33.     E  con  cinquantamila.     Annales,  p.  12,  ed. 

tutto,  che  il  numero  ne'  Paesi  Bas-  1678.      Carnificata  hominum    non 

si  tra  impiccati,  decapitati,  sepolti  minus  centum  millia. 


456  EXECUTION   OF  QUAKERS. 

CHAP,  rather  to  the  contest  of  will,  than  to  the  opinion  that 

^^-  Quakerism  was  a  capital  crime. 

1659  Qf  four  persons,  ordered  to  depart  the  jurisdiction 
on  pain  of  death,  Mary  Dyar,  a  firm  disciple  of  Ann 
Hutchinson,  whose  exile  she  had  shared,  and  Nicholas 
Davis,  obeyed.  Marmaduke  Stephenson  and  William 
Robinson  had  come  on  purpose  to  offer  their  lives ; 
instead  of  departing,  they  went  from  place  to  place 
"  to  build  up  their  friends  in  the  faith."  In  October, 
Mary  Dyar  returned.  Thus  there  were  three  persons 
arraigned  on  the  sanguinary  law.  Robinson  pleaded 
in  his  defence  the  special  message  and  command  of 
God.  "  Blessed  be  God,  who  calls  me  to  testify 
against  wicked  and  unjust  men."  Stephenson  refused 
to  speak  till  sentence  had  been  pronounced ;  and  then 
he  imprecated  a  curse  on  his  judges.  Mary  Dyar 
exclaimed,  "  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done,"  and 
returned  to  the  prison  "  full  of  joy."  From  the  jail 
she  wrote  a  remonstrance.  "  Were  ever  such  laws 
heard  of  among  a  people  that  profess  Christ  come  in 
the  flesh  ?  Have  you  no  other  weapons  but  such  laws 
to  fight  against  spiritual  wickedness  withal,  as  you  call 
it  ?  Woe  is  me  for  you.  Ye  are  disobedient  and  de- 

Oct.  ceived.  Let  my  request  be  as  Esther's  to  Ahasuerus. 
^  You  will  not  repent  that  you  were  kept  from  shedding 
blood,  though  it  was  by  a  woman."  The  three  were 
led  forth  to  execution.  "  I  die  for  Christ,"  said  Rob 
inson  :  "  We  suffer  not  as  evil-doers,  but  for  conscience' 
sake,"  were  the  last  words  of  his  companion.  Mary 
Dyar  was  reprieved ;  yet  not  till  the  rope  had  been 
fastened  round  her  neck,  and  she  had  prepared  herself 
for  death.  Transported  with  enthusiasm,  she  exclaim 
ed,  "  Let  me  suffer  as  my  brethren,  unless  you  will 
annul  your  wicked  law."  She  was  conveyed  out  of  the 


FIRMNESS  OF  WENLOCK  CHRIST1SON.  467 

colony ;  but,  soon  returning,  she  also  was  hanged  on  CHAP 
Boston  common,  a  willing  martyr  to  liberty  of  con — -^ 
science.     "We  desired  their  lives  absent,  rather  than  1659 
their  deaths  present,"  was  the  miserable  apology  for 
these  proceedings. 

These  cruelties  excited  great  discontent.  Yet  Wil 
liam  Leddra  was  put  upon  trial  for  the  same  causes 
While  the  trial  was  proceeding,  Wenlock  Christison, 
already  banished  on  pain  of  death,  entered  the  court, 
and  struck  dismay  into  the  judges,  who  found  their 
severities  ineffectual.  Leddra  was  desired  to  accept 
his  life,  on  condition  of  promising  to  come  no  more 
within  the  jurisdiction.  He  refused,  and  was  hanged. 

Christison  met  his  persecutors  with  undaunted 
courage.  By  what  law,  he  demanded,  will  ye  put  me 
to  death  ? — We  have  a  law,  it  was  answered,  and  by 
it  you  are  to  die. — So  said  the  Jews  to  Christ.  But 
who  empowered  you  to  make  that  law  ? — We  have  a 
patent,  and  may  make  our  own  laws. — Can  you  make 
laws  repugnant  to  those  of  England  ? — No. — Then  you 
are  gone  beyond  your  bounds.  Your  heart  is  as  rotten 
towards  the  king  as  towards  God.  I  demand  to  be 
tried  by  the  laws  of  England,  and  there  is  no  law  there 
to  hang  Quakers. — The  English  banish  Jesuits  on  pain 
of  death  ;*  and  with  equal  justice  we  may  banish  Qua 
kers. — The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty.  Wen- 
lock  replied,  "  I  deny  all  guilt ;  my  conscience  is  clear 
before  God."  The  magistrates  were  divided  in  pro 
nouncing  sentence  ;  the  vote  was  put  a  second  time, 
and  there  appeared  a  majority  for  the  doom  of  death. 
"What  do  you  gain,"  cried  Christison,  "by  taking 

1  Banishment  on  pain  of  death  conditionally  so  banished.  In  Jan- 
used  to  be  very  common  in  English  uary,  1G5'2,  John  Lilburne  was  ban- 
legislation.  By  the  act  of  Eliza-  ished  on  pain  of  death  by  the  par- 
beth,  35,  c.  i.,  every  dissenter  was  liame^t. 

VOL.  i.  58 


458  CHRISTISON  AND  OTHERS   DISCHARGED. 

CHAP.  Quakers'  lives  ?     For  the  last   man  that  ye   put  to 
^^  death,  here  are  five  come  in  his  room.     If  ye  have 
power  to  take  my  life,  God  can  raise  up  ten  of  his 
servants  in  my  stead." 

The  voice  of  the  people  had  always  been  averse  to 
bloodshed ;  the  magistrates,  infatuated  for  a  season, 
became  convinced  of  their  error;  Wenlock,  with 
twenty-seven  of  his  friends,  was  discharged  from 
prison  ;  and  the  doctrine  of  toleration,  with  the  pledges 
of  peace,  hovered  like  the  dove  at  the  window  of  the 
ark,  waiting  to  be  received  into  its  rightful  refuge. 

The  victims  of  intolerance  met  death  bravely ;  they 
would  be  entitled  to  perpetual  honor,  were  it  not  that 
their  own  extravagances  occasioned  the  foul  enact 
ment,  to  repeal  which  they  laid  down  their  lives.  Far 
from  introducing  religious  charity,  their  conduct  irri 
tated  the  government  to  pass  the  laws  of  which  they 
were  the  victims.  But  for  them  the  country  had  been 
guiltless  of  blood  ;  and  causes  were  already  in  action 
which  were  fast  substituting  the  firmness  and  the 

o 

1642.  charity  of  intelligence  for  the  severity  of  religious 
bigotry.  It  was  ever  the  custom,  and  it  soon  became 
the  law,  in  Puritan  New  England,  that  "  none  of  the 
brethren  shall  suffer  so  much  barbarism  in  their  fami 
lies,  as  not  to  teach  their  children  and  apprentices  so 
much  learning  as  may  enable  them  perfectly  to  read 
the  English  tongue."  "  To  the  end  that  learning  may 
not  be  buried  in  the  graves  of  our  forefathers,"  it  was 

1647  ordered  in  all  the  Puritan  colonies,  "  that  every  town 
ship,  after  the  Lord  hath  increased  them  to  the  number 
of  fifty  householders,  shall  appoint  one  to  teach  all 
children  to  write  and  read  ;  and  where  any  town  shall 
increase  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  families,  they 
shall  set  up  a  grammar  school ;  the  masters  thereof 


FREE    SCHOOLS.      HARVARD   COLLEGE  459 

being  able  to  instruct  youth  so  far  as  they  may  be  CHAP 
fitted  for  the  university."1  The  press  began  its  work  ^-^ 
in  1639.  "  When  New  England  was  poor,  and  they 
were  but  few  in  number,  there  was  a  spirit  to  encour 
age  learning."  Six  years  after  the  arrival  of  Winthrop,  1636 
the  general  court  voted  a  sum,  equal  to  a  year's  rate 
of  the  whole  colony,  towards  the  erection  of  a  college 
In  1638,  John  Harvard,  who  arrived  in  the  Bay  only 
to  fall  a  victim  to  the  most  wasting  disease  of  the 
climate,  desiring  to  connect  himself  imperishably  with 
the  happiness  of  his  adopted  country,  bequeathed  to  the 
college  one  half  of  his  estate  and  all  his  library.  The 
infant  institution  was  a  favorite ;  Connecticut,  and 
Plymouth,  and  the  towns  in  the  East,2  often  contributed 
little  offerings  to  promote  its  success  ;  the  gift  of  the 
rent  of  a  ferry  was  a  proof  of  the  care  of  the  state;  1645 
and  once,  at  least,  every  family  in  each  of  the  colonies 
gave  to  the  college  at  Cambridge  twelve  pence,  or  a 
peck  of  corn,  or  its  value  in  unadulterated  wampum- 
peag  ; 3  while  the  magistrates  and  wealthier  men  were 
profuse  in  their  liberality.  The  college,  in  return, 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  forming  the  early 
character  of  the  country.  In  this,  at  least,  it  can 
never  have  a  rival.  In  these  measures,  especially  in 
the  laws  establishing  common  schools,  lies  the  secret 
of  the  success  and  character  of  New  England.  Every 
child,  as  it  was  born  into  the  world,  was  lifted  from 
the  earth  by  the  genius  of  the  country,  and,  in  the 
statutes  of  the  land,  received,  as  its  birthright,  a  pledge 
of  the  public  care  for  its  morals  and  its  mind. 

1  Col.  Laws,  74,  186.    So,  too,  in  Connecticut  MS.  Laws,  and  in  the 
New  Haven  Code. 

2  Folsom's  Saco  and  Biddeford,  108. 

3  Pierce's  Harvard  College.     Winthrop,  ii.  214,  216.     Everett's  Yule 
Address,  3. 


460  CHARACTER  OF  PURITANISM. 

CHAP  There  are  some  who  love  to  enumerate  the  singu- 
— v^  larities  of  the  early  Puritans.  They  were  opposed  to 
wigs  ;  they  could  preach  against  veils  ;  they  denounced 
long  hair ;  they  disliked  the  cross  in  the  banner,  as 
much  as  the  people  of  Paris  disliked  the  lilies  of  the 
Bourbons,  and  for  analogous  reasons.  They  would 
not  allow  Christmas  day  to  be  kept  sacred ;  they 
called  nekher  months,  nor  days,  nor  seasons,  nor 
churches,  nor  inns,  by  the  names  common  in  England ; 
they  revived  Scripture  names  at  christenings.  The 
grave  Romans  legislated  on  the  costume  of  men,  and 
their  senate  could  even  stoop  to  interfere  with  the 
triumphs  of  the  sex  to  which  civic  honors  are  denied  ; 
the  fathers  of  New  England  prohibited  frivolous  fash 
ions  in  their  own  dress  ;  and  their  austerity,  checking 
extravagance  even  in  woman,  frowned  on  her  hoods  of 
silk  and  her  scarfs  of  tiffany,  extended  the  length  of 
her  sleeve  to  the  wrist,  and  limited  its  greatest  width 
to  half  an  ell.  The  Puritans  were  formal  and  precise 
in  their  manners  ;  singular  in  the  forms  of  their  legisla 
tion  ;  rigid  in  the  observance  of  their  principles.  Every 
topic  of  the  day  found  a  place  in  their  extemporaneous 
prayers,  and  infused  a  stirring  interest  into  their  long 
and  frequent  sermons.  The  courts  of  Massachusetts 
respected  in  practice  the  code  of  Moses  ;  the  island  of 
Rhode  Island  enacted  for  a  year  or  two  a  Jewish 
masquerade  ;  in  New  Haven,  the  members  of  the  con 
stituent  committee  were  called  the  seven  pillars,  hewn 
out  for  the  house  of  wisdom.  But  these  are  only  the 
outward  forms,  which  gave  to  the  new  sect  its  marked 
exterior.  If  from  the  outside  peculiarities,  which  so 
easily  excite  the  sneer  of  the  superficial  observer,  we 
look  to  the  genius  of  the  sect  itself,  Puritanism  was 
Religion  struggling  for  the  People.  "  Its  absurdities," 


CHARACTER  OF  PURITANISM.  461 

says  its  enemy,  "  were  the  shelter  for  the  noble  princi-  CHAP 
pies  of  liberty."     It  was  its  office  to  engraft  the  new  -^-^ 
institutions  of  popular  energy  upon  the  old  European 
system  of  a  feudal  aristocracy  and  popular  servitude  ; 
the  good  was  permanent ,  the  outward  emblems  which 
were  the  signs  of  the  party,  were  of  transient  duration  ; 
like  the    clay  and  ligaments  with  which  the  graft  is 
held  in  its  place,  and  which  are  brushed  away  as  soon 
as  the  scion  is  firmly  united. 

The  principles  of  Puritanism  proclaimed  the  civil 
magistrate  subordinate  to  the  authority  of  religion; 
and  its  haughtiness  in  this  respect  has  been  compared 
to  "  the  infatuated  arrogance "  of  a  Roman  pontiff. 
In  the  firmness  with  which  the  principle  was  asserted, 
the  Puritans  did  not  yield  to  the  Catholics  ;  and,  if  the 
will  of  God  is  the  criterion  of  justice,  both  were,  in  one 
sense,  in  the  right.  The  question  arises,  Who  shall  be 
the  interpreter  of  that  will  ?  In  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  the  office  was  claimed  by  the  infallible  pontiflf 
who,  as  the  self-constituted  guardian  of  the  oppressed, 
insisted  on  the  power  of  dethroning  kings,  repealing 
laws,  and  subverting  dynasties.  The  principle  thus 
asserted,  though  often  productive  of  good,  could  not 
but  become  subservient  to  the  temporal  ambition  of  the 
clergy.  Puritanism  conceded  no  such  power  to  its 
spiritual  guides;  the  church  existed  independent  of 
its  pastor,  who  owed  his  office  to  its  free  choice  ;  the 
will  of  the  majority  was  its  law  ;  and  each  one  of  the 
brethren  possessed  equal  rights  with  the  elders.  The 
right,  exercised  by  each  congregation,  of  electing  its 
own  ministers,  was  in  itself  a  moral  revolution  ;  reli 
gion  was  now  with  the  people,  not  over  the  people 
Puritanism  exalted  the  laity.  Every  individual  who 
had  experienced  the  raptures  of  devotion,  every  be- 


462  CHARACTER  OF  PURITANISM. 

CHAP,  liever,  who,  in  his  moments  of  ecstasy,  had  felt  the 
— ^  assurance  of  the  favor  of  God,  was  in  his  own  eves  a 
consecrated  person.  For  him  the  wonderful  counsels 
of  the  Almighty  had  chosen  a  Savior ;  for  him  the 
laws  of  nature  had  been  suspended  and  controlled,  the 
heavens  had  opened,  earth  had  quaked,  the  sun  had 
veiled  his  face,  and  Christ  had  died  and  had  risen 
again  ;  for  him  prophets  and  apostles  had  revealed  to 
the  world  the  oracles  and  the  will  of  God.  Viewing 
himself  as  an  object  of  the  divine  favor,  and  in  this 
connection  disclaiming  all  merit,  he  prostrated  himself 
in  the  dust  before  heaven  ;  looking  out  upon  mankind, 
how  could  he  but  respect  himself,  whom  God  had 
chosen  and  redeemed  ?  He  cherished  hope  ;  he  pos 
sessed  faith ;  as  he  walked  the  earth,  his  heart  was  in 
the  skies.  Angels  hovered  round  his  path,  charged  to 
minister  to  his  soul ;  spirits  of  darkness  leagued  to 
gether  to  tempt  him  from  his  allegiance.  His  burning 
piety  could  use  no  liturgy ;  his  penitence  could  reveal 
his  transgressions  to  no  confessor.  He  knew  no  supe 
rior  in  sanctity.  He  could  as  little  become  the  slave 
of  a  priestcraft  as  of  a  despot.  He  was  himself  a 
judge  of  the  orthodoxy  of  the  elders;  and  if  he  feared 
the  invisible  powers  of  the  air,  of  darkness,  and  of  hell, 
he  feared  nothing  on  earth.  Puritanism  constituted, 
not  the  Christian  clergy,  but  the  Christian  people,  the 
interpreter  of  the  divine  will.  The  voice  of  the  ma 
jority  was  the  voice  of  God ;  and  the  issue  of  Puritan 
ism  was  therefore  popular  sovereignty.] 

The  effects  of  Puritanism  display 'its  true  character 
still  more  distinctly.  Ecclesiastical  tyranny  is  of  all 
kinds  the  worst ;  its  fruits  are  cowardice,  idleness, 
ignorance,  and  poverty :  Puritanism  was  a  life-giving 
spirit ;  activity,  thrift,  intelligence,  followed  in  its 


CHARACTER  OF  PURITANISM.  463 

train ;  and  as  for  courage,  a  coward  and  a  Puritan  CHAP 
never   went   together.       "  He    that   prays  best,  and  - — ^ 
preaches    best,    will    fight    best;"    such     was    the 
judgment    of    Cromwell,    the     greatest    soldier    of 
his  age. 

It  was  in  self  defence  that  Puritanism  in  America 
began  those  transient  persecutions  of  which  the  ex 
cesses  shall  find  in  me  no  apologist ;  and  which  yet 
were  no  more  than  a  train  of  mists,  hovering,  of  an 
autumn  morning,  over  the  channel  of  a  fine  river,  that 
diffused  freshness  and  fertility  wherever  it  wound. 
The  people  did  not  attempt  to  convert  others,  but  to 
protect  themselves ;  they  never  punished  opinion  as 
such ;  they  never  attempted  to  torture  ot  terrify  men 
into  orthodoxy.  The  history  of  religious  persecution 
in  New  England  is  simply  this  ; — the  Puritans  estab 
lished  a  government  in  America  such  as  the  laws  of 
natural  justice  warranted,  and  such  as  the  statutes  and 
common  law  of  England  did  not  warrant ;  and  that 
was  done  by  men  who  still  acknowledged  the  duty  of  a 
limited  allegiance  to  the  parent  state.  The  Episcopa 
lians  had  declared  themselves  the  enemies  of  the  party, 
arid  waged  against  it  a  war  of  extermination  ;  Puritan 
ism  excluded  them  from  its  asylum.  Roger  Williams, 
the  apostle  of  "  soul-liberty,"  weakened  the  cause  of 
civil  independence  by  impairing  its  unity  ;  and  he  was 
expelled,  even  though  Massachusetts  always  bore  good 
testimony  to  his  spotless  virtues.1  Wheelwright  and 
his  friends,  in  their  zeal  for  strict  Calvinism,  forgot 
their  duty  as  citizens,  and  they  also  were  exiled.  The 
Anabaptist,  who  could  not  be  relied  upon  as  an  ally, 
iv as  guarded  as  a  foe.  The  Quakers  denounced  the 

i  Backus,  i.  155     Winthrop,  ii.  193. 


464  CHARACTER  OF  PURITANISM. 

CHAP,  worship  of  New  England  as  an  abomination,  arid  its 
*-^*-  government  as  treason  ;  and  therefore  they  were  ex 
cluded  on  pain  of  death.  The  fanatic  for  Calvinism 
was  a  fanatic  for  liberty ;  and  he  defended  his  creed ; 
for,  in  the  moral  warfare  for  freedom,  his  creed  was  a 
part  of  his  army,  and  his  most  faithful  ally  in  the 
battle. 

For  "  New  England  was  a  religious  plantation,  not 
a  plantation  for  trade.  The  profession  of  the  purity  of 
doctrine,  worship,  and  discipline,  was  written  on  her 
forehead."  "  We  all,"  says  the  confederacy  in  the 
oldest  of  American  written  constitutions,  "  came  into 
these  parts  of  America  to  enjoy  the  liberties  of  the  gos 
pel  in  purity  and  peace."  "  He  that  made  religion  as 
twelve,  and  the  world  as  thirteen,  had  not  the  spirit  of 
a  true  New  England  man."  Religion  was  the  object 
of  the  emigrants  ;  it  was  also  their  consolation.  With 
this  the  wounds  of  the  outcast  were  healed,  and  the 
tears  of  exile  sweetened.1  "  New  England  was  the 
colony  of  conscience."  2 

Of  all  contemporary  sects,  the  Puritans  were  the 
most  free  from  credulity,  and,  in  their  zeal  for  reform, 
pushed  their  regulations  to  what  some  would  consider 
a  skeptical  extreme.  So  many  superstitions  had  been 
bundled  up  with  every  venerable  institution  of  Europe, 
that  ages  have  not  yet  dislodged  them  all.  The  Puri 
tans  at  once  emancipated  themselves  from  a  crowd  of 
observances.  They  established  a  worship  purely  spir 
itual.  To  them  the  elements  remained  but  wine  and 
bread ;  they  invoked  no  saints  ;  they  raised  no  altar ; 
they  adored  no  crucifix  ;  they  kissed  no  book ;  they 

1  Norton's  Heart,  &c.  58.    Norton's  choice  sermons,  15.    Higginson's 
Cause  of  God,  1 1.     Articles  of  Confederacy. 

2  John  Q.  Adams. 


CHARACTER   OF   PURITANISM.  465 

asked  no  absolution  ;  they  paid  no  tithes  ;  they  saw  in  CHAP 
the  priest  nothing  more  than  a  man  ;  ordination  was  — v^ 
no  more  than  an  approbation  of  the  officer,  which 
might  be  expressed  by  the  brethren,  as  well  as  by 
other  ministers;1  the  church,  as  a  place  of  worship, 
was  to  them  but  a  meeting-house  ;  they  dug  no  graves 
in  consecrated  earth  ;  unlike  their  posterity,  they  mar 
ried  without  a  minister,  and  buried  the  dead  without  a 
prayer.2  Witchcraft  had  not  been  made  the  subject 
of  skeptical  consideration  ;  and  in  the  years  in  which 
Scotland  sacrificed  hecatombs  to  the  delusion,  there 
were  three  victims  in  New  England.  Dark  crimes, 
that  seemed  without  a  motive,  may  have  been  pursued 
under  that  name  ;  I  find  one  record  of  a  trial  for  witch 
craft,  where  the  prisoner  was  proved  a  murderess.3 

On  every  subject  but  religion,  the  mildness  of  Puri 
tan  legislation  corresponded  to  the  popular  character  of 
Puritan  doctrines.  Hardly  a  nation  of  Europe  has  as 
yet  made  its  criminal  law  so  humane  as  that  of  early 
New  England.  A  crowd  of  offences  was  at  one  sweep 
brushed  from  the  catalogue  of  capital  crimes.  The 
idea  was  never  received,  that  the  forfeiture  of  life  may 
be  demanded  for  the  protection  of  property  ;  the  pun 
ishment  for  theft,  for  burglary,  and  highway  robbery, 
was  far  more  mild  than  the  penalties  imposed  even  by 
modern  American  legislation.  Of  divorce  I  have  found 
no  example  ;  yet  a  clause  in  one  of  the  statutes  recog 
nizes  the  possibility  of  such  an  event.  Divorce  from 
bed  and  board,  the  separate  maintenance  without  the 
dissolution  of  the  marriage  contract, — an  anomaly  in 
Protestant  legislation,  that  punishes  the  innocent  more 
than  the  guilty, — was  utterly  abhorrent  from  their  prin- 

1  Trumbnll'a  Conn.  i.  28,3. 
2  Shepherd's  Clear  Sunshine,  36.  3  Records,  ii.  54,  55. 

VOL.  i.  59 


466  CHARACTER  OF  i'URITANISM 

CHAP,  ciples.     The  care  for  posterity  was  every  where  visible. 

>— v-*~  Since  the  sanctity  of  the  marriage-bed  is  the  safeguard 
of  families,  and  can  alone  interest  the  father  in  the 
welfare  and  instruction  of  his  offspring,  its  purity  was 
protected  by  the  penalty  of  death  ;  a  penalty  which 
was  inexorably  enforced  against  the  guilty  wife  anil 
her  paramour.1  If  in  this  respect  the  laws  were  more 
severe,  in  another  they  were  more  lenient,  than  modern 
manners  approve.  The  girl  whom  youth  and  affec 
tion  betrayed  into  weakness,  was  censured,  pitied,  and 
forgiven  ;  the  law  compelled  the  seducer  of  innocence 
to  marry  the  person  who  had  imposed  every  obligation 
by  the  concession  of  every  right.  The  law  implies  an 
extremely  pure  community ;  in  no  other  would  it  find 
a  place  in  the  statute-book  ;  in  no  other  would  public 
opinion  tolerate  the  rule.  Yet  it  need  not  have  sur 
prised  the  countrymen  of  Raleigh,  or  the  subjects  of 
the  grand-children  of  Clarendon.2 

The  benevolence  of  the  early  Puritans  appears  from 
other  examples.  Their  thoughts  were  always  fixed  on 
posterity.  Domestic  discipline  was  highly  valued ; 
but  if  the  law  was  severe  against  the  undutiful  child, 
it  was  also  severe  against  a  faithless  parent.  The 
earliest  laws,  till  1654,  did  not  permit  any  man's 
person  to  be  kept  in  prison  for  debt,  except  when  there 
was  'an  appearance  of  some  estate  which  the  debtor 
would  not  produce.3 — Even  the  brute  creation  was  not 
forgotten  ;  and  cruelty  towards  animals  was  a  civil 
ofTence. — The  sympathies  of  the  colonists  were  wide  ; 
a  regard  for  Protestant  Germany  is  as  old  as  emigra 
tion  ;  and,  during  the  thirty  years'  war,  the  whole 

l  Winthrop,  ii.  157—159.         a  Pepys'  Diary,  i.  81.        3  Col  Laws,  48 


CHARACTER  OF  PURITANISM.  467 

people  of  New  England  held  fasts  and  offered  prayers  CHAP 
for  the  success  of  their  Saxon  brethren.  -^^ 

The  first  years  of  the  residence  of  Puritans  in 
America,  were  years  of  great  hardship  and  affliction  ; 
it  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  this  short  season  of  dis 
tress  was  not  promptly  followed  by  abundance  and 
happiness.  The  people  were  full  of  affections  ;  and 
the  objects  of  love  were  around  them.  They  struck 
root  in  the  soil  immediately.  They  enjoyed  religion. 
They  were,  from  the  first,  industrious,  and  enterprising, 
and  frugal ;  and  affluence  followed  of  course.  When 
persecution  ceased  in  England,  there  were  already  in 
New  England  "  thousands  who  would  not  change  their 
place  for  any  other  in  the  world  ;"  and  they  were 
tempted  in  vain  with  invitations  to  the  Bahama  Isles, 
to  Ireland,  to  Jamaica,  to  Trinidad.  The  purity  of 
morals  completes  the  picture  of  colonial  felicity.  "  As 
Ireland  will  not  brook  venomous  beasts,  so  will  not 
that  land  vile  livers."  One  might  dwell  there  "  from 
year  to  year,  and  not  see  a  drunkard,  or  hear  an  oath,' 
or  meet  a  beggar." 1  The  consequence  was  universal 
health — one  of  the  chief  elements  of  public  happiness. 
The  average  duration  of  life  in  New  England,  com 
pared  with  Europe,  was  doubled ;  and  the  human 
race  was  so  vigorous,  that  of  all  who  were  born  into 
the  world,  more  than  two  in  ten,  full  four  in  nineteen, 
attained  the  age  of  seventy.  Of  those  who  lived 
beyond  ninety,  the  proportion,  as  compared  with 
Euiopean  tables  of  longevity,  was  still  more  remark 
able. 

I  have  dwelt  the  longer  on  the  character  of  the 
early  Puritans  of  New  England,  for  they  are  the 

i  New  England's  First  Fruits,  printed  1643,  p.  23,  26. 


468  CHARACTER   OF  PURITANISM 

CHAP,  parents  of  one  third  the  whole  white  population  of  the 
«-^v^-  United  States.  Within  the  first  fifteen  years, — and 
there  was  never  afterwards  any  considerable  increase 
from  England, — we  have  seen  that  there  came  over 
twenty-one  thousand  two  hundred  persons,  or  four 
thousand  families.  Their  descendants  are  now  not  far 
from  four  millions.  Each  family  has  multiplied  on  the 
average  to  one  thousand  souls.  To  New  York  and 
Ohio,  where  they  constitute  half  the  population,  they 
have  carried  the  Puritan  system  of  free  schools  ;  and 
their  example  is  spreading  it  through  the  civilized 
world. 

Historians  have  loved  to  eulogize  the  manners  and 
virtues,  the  glory  and  the  benefits,  of  chivalry.  Puri 
tanism  accomplished  for  mankind  far  more.  If  it  had 
the  sectarian  crime  of  intolerance,  chivalry  had  the 
vices  of  dissoluteness.  The  knights  were  brave  from 
gallantry  of  spirit ;  the  Puritans  from  the  fear  of  God 
The  knights  were  proud  of  loyalty ;  the  Puritans  of 
liberty.  The  knights  did  homage  to  monarchs,  in 
whose  smile  they  beheld  honor,  whose  rebuke  was 
the  wound  of  disgrace  ;  the  Puritans,  disdaining  cere 
mony,  would  not  bow  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  nor  bend 
the  knee  to  the  King  of  Kings.  Chivalry  delighted  in 
outward  show,  favored  pleasure,  multiplied  amuse 
ments,  and  degraded  the  human  race  by  an  exclusive 
respect  for  the  privileged  classes  ;  Puritanism  bridled 
the  passions,  commanded  the  virtues  of  self-denial,  and 
rescued  the  name  of  man  from  dishonor.  The  former 
valued  courtesy ;  the  latter,  justice.  The  former 
adorned  society  by  graceful  refinements ;  the  latter 
founded  national  grandeur  on  universal  education. 
The  institutions  of  chivalry  were  subverted  by  the 
gradually-increasing  weight,  and  knowledge,  and  opu- 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  STUARTS.  469 

^ 

lence  of  the  industrious  classes  ;  the  Puritans,  rallying  CHAP 
upon  those  classes,  planted  in  their  hearts  the  undying  — ^ 
principles  of  democratic  liberty. 

The  golden  age  of  Puritanism  was  passing  away.  1660 
Time  was  silently  softening  its  asperities,  and  the 
revolutions  of  England  prepared  an  era  in  its  fortunes. 
Massachusetts  never  acknowledged  Richard  Cromwell; 
it  read  clearly  in  the  aspact  of  parties  the  impending 
restoration.  The  protector  had  left  the  benefits  of 
self-government  and  the  freedom  of  commerce  to  New 
England  arid  to  Virginia ;  and  Maryland,  by  the  act 
of  her  inhabitants,  was  just  beginning  to  share  in  the 
same  advantages.  Would  the  dynasty  of  the  Stuarts 
deal  benevolently  with  the  colonies  ?  Would  it  imitate 
the  magnanimity  of  Cromwell,  and  suffer  the  staple  of 
the  south  still  to  seek  its  market  freely  throughout  the 
world  ?  Could  the  returning  monarch  forgive  the 
friends  of  the  Puritans  in  England  ?  Would  he  show 
favor  to  the  institutions  that  the  outcasts  had  reared 
beyond  the  Atlantic  ? 


END   OP  VOL.  L 


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