USA > Massachusetts > Chronicles of the first planters of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, 1623-1636 > Part 7
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A note of divers propositions offered to the consi- deration of this Company by one John Betts was read, pretending that he is able to discover divers things for the good and advancement of the Planta- tion, and the benefit of this Company. Whereupon some of those here present were desired to inquire further of him, not only of his ability, but of his de- portment in his life and conversation, and then the Company to treat with him as they shall think fit.
Also, Mr. Webb moved concerning a Frenchman, being a physician, and otherwise well qualified, who is desirous to go over to live upon the Company's Plantation, and gave good commendations both of his sufficiency and of his godly life and conversation ;
1 Of the Privy Council.
2 Lord Coventry, late Sir Tho- mas, was at this time lord keeper of the great seal of England. See Clarendon's Hist. of the Rebellion, i. 80.
3 Sir John Coke ; not, as might at first be supposed, Edward, the famous Coke upon Littleton, who was then in his 81st year. See Cla- rendon's Rebellion, i. 113, and Miss Aikin's Charles I. i. 361.
4 In compliance with this petition, a new proclamation was issued by Charles I. on the 24th of November, 1630, forbidding the disorderly trad- ing with the salvages in New-Eng- land in America, especially the fur- nishing the natives in those and other parts of America by the Eng- lish with weapons and habiliments of war. See it in Rymer's Fodera, xix. 210, and in Hazard's State Pa- pers, i. 311.
85
CRADOCK'S PROPOSITION.
and of one Mr. Gardner, an able and expert man in CHAP. III.
divers faculties ; who are to be further inquired of and treated with, against the next meeting of the 1629. Company. July 28.
It is also thought fit and ordered, that letters be written to those in the country to pay in what they are behind upon their subscriptions ; and that some tradesmen here in London that have occasion to travel into any of those parts, be desired to receive the money on the Company's behalf.
And lastly, Mr. Governor read certain propo- sitions conceived by himself,1 viz. That for the advancement of the Plantation, the inducing and encouraging persons of worth and quality to trans- plant themselves and families thither, and for other weighty reasons2 therein contained, to transfer the government of the Plantation to those that shall inhabit there, and not to continue the same in subor- dination to the Company here, as now it is. This business occasioned some debate ; but by reason of the many great and considerable consequences there- upon depending, it was not now resolved upon, but those present are desired privately3 and seriously to consider hereof, and to set down their particular reasons in writing pro et contra, and to produce the same at the next General Court ; where they being reduced to heads, and maturely considered of, the Company may then proceed to a final resolution
1 Let it be noted, that Cradock was at the bottom of this move- ment.
2 What these other weighty rea- sons were, we are left to conjecture. Considerations of a religious nature it would not, perhaps, have been
prudent or safe to mention at that time.
3 Privately, secretly. This is noteworthy. They doubtless appre- hended that measures might be taken to defeat their purpose, should it be- come known to those in authority.
86
SHALL THE GOVERNMENT AND PATENT
CHAP. thereon. And in the mean time they are desired to
III. carry this business secretly,1 that the same be not
1629. divulged.
A General Court holden at Mr. Deputy's house, the 28th of August, 1629. Present,
Aug. 28 .. MR. HARWOOD, Treasurer,
MR. GOFF, Deputy,
MR. NOWELL,
MR. FOXCROFT,
SIR RICHARD SALTONSTALL,
MR. WHYTE,
MR. JOHNSON,
MR. COOKE,
MR. DAVENPORT,
MR. BALLARD,
MR. HUMFREYS,
MR. WRIGHT,
MR. ADAMS,
MR. WHETCOMBE,
CAPT. VENN,
MR. SMITH,
MR. POCOCK,
MR. REVELL,
MR. PERRY,
MR. DAVIS,
MR. COLSTON,
MR. EATON,
MR. PINCHION,
MR. COLBRAND.
MR. WM. VASSALL,
Mr. Deputy acquainted this Court, that the espe- cial cause of their meeting was to give answer to divers gentlemen, intending to go into New-Eng- land, whether or no the chief government of the Plantation, together with the patent, should be set- tled in New-England, or here .? Whereupon it was ordered, that this afternoon Mr. Wright, Mr. Eaton, Mr. Adams, Mr. Spurstowe, and such others as they
1 See note 3 on preceding page.
2 Only two days before, namely, on the 26th of August, a mutual agreement had been made and sign- ed at Cambridge, by Saltonstall, Winthrop, Johnson, Dudley, Hum- phrey, Nowell, Pynchon, Thomas Sharpe, William Vassall, and others, that they would embark with their families for the Plantation in New-
England, by the first of March next, to inhabit and continue there, pro- vided that before the last of Septem- ber next the whole government, together with the patent for the said Plantation, be first, by an order of Court, legally transferred and estab- lished to remain with them and others who shall inhabit upon the said Plantation.
87
BE TRANSFERRED TO NEW-ENGLAND ?
should think fit to call unto them, whether they were CHAP. of the Company or not, to consider of arguments against the settling of the chief government in New- England ; and on the other side, Sir Richard Salton- stall, Mr. Johnson, Capt. Venn, and such others as they should call unto them, to prepare arguments for the settling of the said government in New-Eng- land ; and that to-morrow morning, being the 29th of August, at 7 of the clock, both sides should meet and confer and weigh each other's arguments, and afterwards at 9 of the clock, (which is the time ap- pointed of meeting for a General Court,) to make report thereof to the whole Company, who then will determine this business.
A General Court at Mr. Deputy's house, the 29th of 29. August, 1629. Present,
MR. DEPUTY,
MR. HARWOOD, Treasurer,
SIR RICHARD SALTONSTALL,
MR. PERRY,
MR. JOHNSON,
MR. FOXCROFT,
MR. DAVENPORT,
MR. DAVIS,
MR. ALDERSEY,
MR. IRONSYDE,
MR. HUMFREY,
MR. PINCHON,
CAPT. WALLER,
MR. WILLIAM VASSALL,
CAPT. VENN,
MR. ROWE,
MR. ADAMS,
MR. BALLARD,
MR. EATON,
MR. NOWELL,
MR. SAMUEL VASSALL,
MR. WEBB,
MR. WRIGHT,
MR. WHETCOMBE,
MR. COLSTON,
MR. COLBRAND.
MR. POCOCK,
This day the Committees which were appointed to meet yesterday in the afternoon to consider of argu- ments pro et contra touching the settling of the gov-
III. 1629. Aug. 28.
88
THE TRANSFER RESOLVED UPON.
CHAP. ernment of the Company's Plantation in New-Eng- III. land, being according to the order of the last Court, 1629. met together, debated their arguments and reasons Aug. 29. on both sides ; where were present many of the As- sistants and Generality ; and after a long. debate, Mr. Deputy put it to the question, as followeth :
As many of you as desire to have the patent and the government of the Plantation to be transferred to New-England, so as it may be done legally, hold up your hands. So many as will not, hold up your hands.
When, by erection of hands, it appeared by the general consent of the Company, that the govern- ment and patent should be settled in New-England, and accordingly an Order to be drawn up.1
Sept. 19. A General Court holden at Mr. Deputy's house, the 19th of Sept. 1629. Present,
MR. MATTHEW CRADOCK, Governor, MR. COLSON,
MR. THOMAS GOFF, Deputy, MR. PINCHON,
MR. GEORGE HARWOOD, Treasurer, MR. SPURSTOWE,
MR. HUTCHINS,
MR. PERRY,
MR. POCOCK,
MR. WRIGHTE,
MR. WHETCOMBE, and others.
1 It has been justly remarked that a transaction similar to this in all its circumstances, is not easily to be met with in story. It certainly stands alone in the history of English colo- nization. The power of the Corpo- ration to make the transfer has been seriously doubted and even denied. It is evident from the Charter, that the original design of it was to con- stitute a corporation in England like that of the East India and other great Companies, with powers to settle plantations within the limits
of the territory, under such forms of government and magistracy as should be fit and necessary. But the boldness of the step is not more striking than the silent acquiescence of the King in permitting it to take place. See the whole matter dis- cussed in Grahame's History of the United States, i. 221-224; Robert- son's History of America, ch. x .; Chalmers's Political Annals, p. 151; Hutchinson's Mass. i. 13 ; and Sto- ry's Commentaries on the Constitu- tion, i. 50.
89
THE AFFAIR OF THE BROWNES.
At this Court letters1 were read from Capt. Endi- CHAP. cott and others from New-England. And whereas a III. difference hath fallen out betwixt the Governor there 1629. Sept. 19. and Mr. John and Samuel Browne, it was agreed by the Court, that for the determination of those differ- ences, Mr. John and Samuel Browne might choose any three or four of the Company on their behalf, to hear the said differences, the Company choosing as many .? Whereupon the said Mr. John and Samuel Browne made choice of Mr. Samuel Vassall,3 and Mr. William Vassall, Mr. Symon Whetcombe, and
1 These letters are unfortunately missing.
2 This certainly seems to be a very fair course of proceeding to- wards the Brownes, whose case will be more circumstantially stated hereafter. And yet Chalmers says, " When the persons who had been thus expelled, arrived in England, they naturally applied to the Gov- ernor and Company for reparation of their wrongs ; but it appears not from their records that they ever received any redress. The insolence of con- tempt was superadded to the injus- tice of power. - The General Court was at that time too much occupied in preparing for an important change, to attend to the first duty of all rul- ers, to give protection to the injur- ed." Chalmers's Political Annals, p. 146.
3 Samuel Vassall was the son of the gallant John Vassall, an alder- man of London, who in 1588, at his own expense fitted out and com- manded two ships of war against the Spanish Armada. Samuel was like- wise an alderman of London, and an eminent merchant, and represented that city in two successive Parlia- ments, in 1640 and 1641. In 1628 he was the first who refused to sub- mit to the tax of tonnage and pound- age, for which his goods were seized and his person imprisoned by the Star Chamber Court. In July, 1641,
Parliament voted him £10,445 12s. 2d. for the damages he had thus sustained, and resolved that he should be further considered for his imprisonment and personal suffer- ings. He was one of the 300 mem- bers who signed the protestation to support the liberty of Parliament, and subscribed £1200 against the rebels in Ireland, his name appear- ing at the head of the list. In 1643 he took the covenant, and in 1646 was appointed one of the commis- sioners for the kingdom of England for the conservation of the peace with Scotland. He never came over to this country, and I have not been able to ascertain when he died. His son John settled in Jamaica, and John's grandson, Florentius Vassall, Esq., of London, in 1766 sent over a marble monument in honor of his great-grandfather, Samuel, which was set up in King's Chapel, in Boston, where it is still to be seen. From the inscription on this monu- ment I have derived the greater part of the preceding account. The late Lord Holland married Elizabeth, a grand-daughter of Florentius Vas- sall. See Greenwood's Hist. of King's Chapel, .pp. 131, 207; Burke's Hist. of the Commoners of Great Britain, i. 499 ; Rushworth's Hist. Coll. i. 641, Appendix, p. 57; and Mass. Hist. Coll. xxviii. 294.
90
SHIPS RETURNED FROM NEW-ENGLAND.
CHAP. Mr. William Pinchion ; and for the Company there III. were chosen Mr. John Whyte, Mr. John Davenport, 1629. Mr. Isaac Johnson, and Mr. John Wynthropp ; who, Sept. with the Governor or Deputy, are to determine and 19. end the business the first Tuesday in the next term ; and if any of the aforenamed parties be absent, others to be chosen by either [of the] parties in their stead.
For the unlading of the ships now come, viz. the Lion's Whelp and the Talbot, it was desired that the Governor and Deputy would take such order therein as they should think fit.
And lastly for the five boys returned from New- England upon the Talbot, it is to be advised on what course to be taken for their punishment, either by procuring Mr. Recorder his warrant, by complaining to the Judge of the Admiralty, or otherwise.
29, A General Court holden at Mr. Deputy's house, on Tuesday, the 29th of Sept. 1629. Present,
MR. MATTHEW CRADOCK, Governor, MR. ANDREWS,;
MR. THOMAS GOFF, Deputy,
MR. ROE,
CAPT. WALLER,
MR. REVELL,
CAPT. VENN,
MR. HUSON,
MR. NATHANIEL WRIGHT,
MR. WEBB,
MR. THOMAS ADAMS,
MR. WOODGATE,
MR. GEORGE FOXCROFT,
MR. PULISTON,
MR. RICHARD PERRY,
MR. BATEMAN,
MR. NOWELL,
MR. WYNCHE.
MR. SYMON WHETCOMBE,
At this Court were read the Orders made the 28th and 29th of August last, concerning the transferring of the patent and government of the Plantation into
91
LETTERS FROM THE BROWNES.
New-England. But that business being of great and CHAP. weighty consequence, is thought fit to be deferred
III. for determination until Sir Richard Saltonstall, Mr. Johnson, and other gentlemen be come up to Lon- don, and may be here present ; and in the mean time it was propounded that a committee should be appointed,
To prepare the business ;
To take advice of learned counsel whether the same may be legally done or no ;
By what way or means the same may be done, to correspond with and not to prejudice the govern- ment here ;
To consider of the time when it will be fit to doit;
To resolve on whom to confer the government ; and divers other circumstances material to be resolv- ed on, &c.
The next thing taken into consideration was the letters from Mr. John and Samuel Browne to divers of their private friends here in England, whether the same should be delivered or detained, and whether they should be opened and read, or not. And for that it was to be doubted by probable circumstances, that they had defamed the country of New-England, and the Governor and government there, it was thought fit that some of the said letters should be opened and publicly read, which was done accord- ingly ; and the rest to remain at Mr. Deputy's house, and the parties to whom they are directed to have notice, and Mr. Governor, Mr. Deputy, Mr. Treas- urer, and Mr. Wright, or any two of them, are en- treated to be at the opening and reading thereof, to the end the Company may have notice, if aught be
1629. Sept. 29.
92
THE SHIP EAGLE TO BE BOUGHT.
CHAP. inserted therein which may be prejudicial to their III. government or Plantation in New-England. And it 1629. is also thought fit that none of the letters from Mr .- Sept.
29. Samuel Browne shall be delivered, but kept to be made use of against him as occasion shall be offered.
The business of clearing the two ships1 lately come home, paying and discharging the men, and housing the goods, is recommended to the care of Mr. Deputy, who hath undertaken the same.
It is also thought fit and ordered, that the Secre- tary shall write out a copy of the former grant to the Earl of Warwick and others,2 which was by them resigned to this Company, to be presented to his Lordship, he having desired the same.
The Governor moved to know the resolution of the Company concerning buying the ship Eagle ; and it was concluded on, as formerly, that the said ship should be bought by those hereafter named, viz.
THE GOVERNOR,
MR. REVELL, 16
THE DEPUTY, 6
MR. ALDERSEY, 1
116
MR. ADAMS,
MR. MILBURNE, 16
MR. WRIGHT,
MR. HUSON, 1
MR. EATON,
THE COMPANY,
I6
MR. WHETCOMBE,
And Mr. Governor is desired to go on and conclude the bargain upon such terms as he can. And it was
1 The Lion's Whelp and the Tal- bot. See page 90.
2 This was the grant made March 19, 1628, by the Council for the Af- fairs of New-England to Sir Henry Roswell and his associates, and by them transferred to the Massachu- setts Company. Sir Robert War- wick was a member of that Council, and a stanch friend of the New-
England Colonies. Winthrop says in his Journal, July 9, 1634, that he "received a letter from the Earl of Warwick, wherein he congratulated the prosperity of our Plantation, and encouraged our proceedings, and offered his help to further us in it." See pp. 28-30, and Savage's Win- throp, i. 137.
93
MONEY TO BE RAISED.
further thought fit and resolved on, that this ship, CHAP. being of good force, and bought for the safety and III. 1629. Sept. 29. honor and benefit of the Plantation, shall always be preferred in that voyage before any other ship,1 and to have some consideration in her freight above other ships accordingly.
It is also thought fit, for the present raising of money, that sale be made of the beaver skins ; and to that purpose a rate was now set upon them of 20s. per pound. And Mr. Nathaniel Wright being here present, is to have time till to-morrow to accept of them at that rate, or to return his answer ; and in the mean time the skins not to be sold under that rate, the sale of them being referred to Mr. Gov- ernor and Mr. Deputy.
Also some speech was had concerning the deliv- ery of the petition to the Lords of the Council. But this is deferred till their Lordships' coming to London.
Mr. Treasurer and Mr. Adams are desired to make an abstract of those who are behind with their sub- scriptions, to the end some course may be taken to call in for those moneys.
For the twelve cows, and three calves, and two mares, and two foals, it is thought fit that they be forthwith sold, rather than kept at charges all this winter ; which is recommended to the care of Mr. Bateman and Mr. Huson.
Also concerning the five boys returned in the Tal- bot, Mr. Whetcombe and Mr. Noell are desired to acquaint Sir Henry Martyn with their misdemeanour,
1 Her name was afterwards chang- ed to the Arbella, in honor of the Lady Arbella, daughter of the Earl of Lincoln, and wife of Isaac John-
son, Esq., one of the Assistants of the Massachusetts Company. See Edward Johnson's Hist. of New- England, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xii. 79.
J
94
LETTERS FROM NEW-ENGLAND.
CHAP. and to advise what punishment may be inflicted upon III. them, and how the Company may be legally dis- charged of them.
1629. Sept. 29.
Upon the desire of Mr. John and Samuel Browne, it is thought fit and ordered, that they should have a copy of the accusation sent from New-England against them, to the end they may be the better pre- pared to make answer thereunto.
Mr. Wright is desired to take care of the sale of the clapboard and other wood.
Also, letters from Robert Moulton, the shipwright, and from the coopers and cleavers of wood, consist- ing of divers particulars, were now read ; which are to be abbreviated, and fitting answers to be made unto them, by the return of the next ships to New- England.
Oct. 15.
A General Court at the Deputy's house, on Thursday, the 15th of October, 1629. Present,
MR. MATTHEW CRADOCK, Governor,
MR. GEORGE FOXCROFT,
MR. GEORGE HARWOOD, Treasurer,
MR. INCREASE NOELL,
SIR RICHARD SALTONSTALL,
MR. BALLARD,
MR. JOHN DAVENPORT,
MR. REVELL,
MR. ISAAC JOHNSON,
MR. DUDLEY,
MR. SAMUEL ALDERSEY,
MR. WINTHROP,
MR. JOHN HUMFRY,
MR. WEBB,
MR. NATHANIEL WRIGHT,
MR. HUSON,
MR. JOHN VENN,
MR. YOUNG,
MR. THOMAS ADAMS,
MR. WHICHCOYTE,
MR. WILLIAM VASSALL,
MR. CRANE,
MR. SYMON WHETCOMBE,
MR. OWEN ROE,1
MR. WILLIAM PINCHION,
MR. FORD,
With divers others of the Generality.
1 Owen Rowe was a silk-mercer the Rebellion," says Anthony Wood, in London. "In the beginning of "being a violent Covenanter, and
95
THE JOINT STOCK OF THE COMPANY.
The especial and only occasion of this meeting CHAP. III. 1629. Oct. 15. being to consider and resolve of the settling the ~ trade in New-England, (now upon transferring the government thither,) for the encouragement as well of the adventurers in the joint stock here, as of those who already are, and of others who intend to go over in person to be planters there, and for their mutual correspondency and behoof, and the advancement of the Plantation to the end which was at first intended; the Court took the same into due and mature consid- eration ; and after a long debate, and sundry opin- ions given, and reasons why the joint stock, (which had borne the brunt of the charge hitherto, and was likely to bear much more,) should have certain com- modities appropriate thereunto, for reimbursement and defrayment thereof, and divers objections being made to those reasons, all which was largely dis- cussed and well weighed, the Court, in conclusion,
afterwards an Independent, he was by Cromwell's interest made a prime officer (lieutenant colonel, I think) in the militia of London, and became a firebrand in that city, and an enemy to its ancient civil government. In 1648 he was nominated one of the King's judges, sat on the bench when he was several times before them, stood up as consenting when sentence was passed for severing his head from his body, and at length set his hand and seal to the warrant for his execution. About that time he was made keeper of the maga- zines and stores, and received £5000 to buy arms. In 1659, July 7, he was constituted colonel of the mili- tia of the said city by the Rump Parliament, and was then in great favor with them. But in the year after, when his Majesty was restor- ed, and a proclamation thereupon was issued out for all such persons that had sat in judgment on King
Charles I. to come in, he surrendered himself ; so that after his trial had passed in the sessions-house in the Old-Bailey, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and his es- tate confiscated. What became of him afterwards, I know not." He was scout-master general in Crom- well's army, and being in his suite when he visited Oxford, in May, 1649, he received from the Univer- sity, with his other chief officers, the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In this way we get the above lean but authentic sketch of him from crabbed Anthony. There is a letter of Rowe's to Governor Win- throp, dated Feb. 18, 1636, in which he expresses his desire and intention to come to Massachusetts, where it appears he had cattle and desired a farm. See Wood's Fasti Oxon. ii. 136, (ed. Bliss) ; Carlyle's Crom- well, i. 296, 364 ; Hutchinson's Col- lection, p. 59.
96
CHURCHES AND PUBLIC WORKS.
CHAP. for accommodation of both parts, fell upon a modera- III.
tion,1 as followeth, viz.
1629. That the Company's joint stock shall have the Oct. 15. trade of beaver and. all other furs in those parts solely, for the term of seven years from this day, for and in consideration of the charge that the joint stock hath undergone already, and is yet annually to bear, for the advancement of the Plantation.
That for the charge of fortifications, the Compa- ny's joint stock to bear the one half, and the planters to defray the other, viz. for ordnance, munition, powder, &c. But for laborers in building of forts, &c. all men to be employed in an equal pro- portion, according to the number of men upon the Plantation, and so to continue until such fit and necessary works be finished.
That the charge of the ministers now there or that shall hereafter go to reside there, as also the charge of building convenient churches, and all other public works upon the Plantation, be in like manner indiffe- rently borne, the one half by the Company's joint stock for the said term of seven years, and the other half by the planters.
That the ordnance already provided for fortifica- tion be rated as they cost, as also all powder and munition whatsoever concerning arms, so as the same be delivered there for public use; and this to be accounted as part of the joint stock of the Company.
All which being several times read, was by Mr. Governor put to the question, and by general con- sent, by erection of hands, was agreed and concluded on, and ordered accordingly.
1 That is, compromise.
97
A COMMITTEE APPOINTED.
And forasmuch as by [a] former Order the patent CHAP. and government is to be transferred to New-Eng- ~ III. land, a Committee is appointed, part of the adven- 1629. turers here, and part of those that intend to go over, Oct. 15. viz.
MR. DAVENPORT,
SIR RICHARD SALTONSTALL,1
MR. WRIGHT,
MR. JOHNSON,
MR .. PERRY,
MR. WINTHROP,
CAPT. WALLER,
MR. HUMFRY,
CAPT. VENN,
MR. DUDLEY,
MR. ADAMS,
MR. VASSALL,
MR. WHETCOMBE,
MR. PINCHON, and
MR. YOUNG,
MR. DOWNING.2
MR. SPURSTOWE, and
MR. REVELL.
Who are desired to meet to-morrow morning, to confer of and draw fit and convenient clauses to be inserted in Articles of Agreement, which may be commodious for either part, and to prepare the same for a Court of Assistants, appointed that afternoon to determine thereof.
1 Those in the second column, I he represented five years in the suppose, intended to go over.
2 Emanuel Downing was of the Inner Temple, and married a sister of Governor Winthrop. He came over, I suppose, in 1638, for I find it stated in the Colony Records, that on the 14th of December of that year, "Mr. Endicott and Mr. John Winthrop, Jr. had order to give Mr. Emanuel Downing the oath of free- dom." He resided at Salem, which
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