USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections, Vol. II > Part 27
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Although the Pilgrims were less politic in carrying forward their plans, their design was similar to that of the Puritans. With the latter class their plans were laid and executed with great wisdom, and with a view to certain ends to be accomplished.
The charter, dated, "March 19, 1628," which they obtained, granted to them special prerogatives; enabling them to pro- tect themselves against all encroachment upon either their religious or politieal rights.
This charter, after reciting the names of the patentees, and describing the limits of their territory, adds :
" We have further, hereby, of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, given, granted, and confirmed, and for us, our heirs and successors, do give, grant, and confirm, unto our said trusty and well beloved subjects, and all such others as shall hereafter be admitted and made free of the company and society hereafter mentioned, shall from time to time, and at all times forever hereafter be, by virtue of these presents, one body corporate and politic in fact and name by the name of the governor and company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England."
And it further adds (after having organized their govern- ment) :
* See Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, page 29.
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" Shall have full power and authority to choose, nominate, and appoint such und so many others as they shall think fit, and that shall be willing to accept the same, to be free of the said company and body, and them into the same to admit; and to elect and constitute such officers as they xhull think fit and requisite for the ordering, managing, and dispatching of the affairs of the said governor and company, and their successors; and to make laws and ordinances for the good and welfare of the said company and for the government and ordering of the said lands and plantation, and the people inhabiting and to inhabit the same, us to them, from time to time, shall be thought meet."
Thus, it is seen that their charter rights gave to them the privilege of selecting and admitting to their company only such as they might choose and were willing to conform to their peculiar ideas.
At first their political franchise was to be held in London, and managed by a trading company ;* but this plan did not give that encouragement to that eminent class of men styled Puritans to embark in the undertaking of establishing a per- manent colony, which they had contemplated; consequently, the governor of the company, Mathew Cradock, at their meeting, held on July 29, 1629, offered certain propositions conceived by himself, viz. :
. "That for the advancement of the plantation, the inducing and en- couraging persons of worth and quality to transplant themselves and families thither, and for other weighty reasons therein contained, to transfer the government of the plantation to those that shall inhabit there ; and not to continue the same in subordination to the company here, as now it is."
This proposition caused considerable debate, when it was decided to refer the subject to two committees-one for trasferring, and the other against ; and these to report
" Whether or no the chief government of the plantation, together with the patent, should be settled in New England or here."
* This company originated in a fishing enterprise at Cape Anu, through the efforts of Edward Winslow and Robert Cushman, agents, in England, in behalf of the Plymouth colony, assisted by the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, England. The indenture was made, January 1, 1623, and signed by Edward, Lord of Sheffield. in the twenty-first year of the reign of King James 1.
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Those against were, viz. : Nathaniel Wright, Theophilus Eaton, Thomas Adams, Mr. Spurtow, and such others as they should think fit to call unto them, whether of the company or not ; and those for removing the government and patent were : Sir Richard Saltonstall, Isaac Johnson, John Venn, and such others as they should call unto them.
These parties having given their reasons for and against in their report to the company, the question was then put to vote, at their meeting, August 29, 1628, when, by erection of hands, it appeared by the general consent of the company that the government and patent should be settled in New England."*
Having now, by mutual agreement between the London trading company and those who designed to remove to New England to establish a colony and make America their future home, placed the patent and government in New England, they proceeded, on the 20th of October, 1629, to the choice of governor, deputy-governor, and assistants, when the following were elected :
For Governor, John Winthrop,
" Deputy Governor, John Humphrey.
ASSISTANTS.
Sir Richard Saltonstall,
Mr. Isaac Johnson,
" Thomas Dudley,
" John Endicott,
" Increase Nowell,
" Samuel Aldersey,
William Vassall,
William Pinchon,
66 Samuel Sharp,
Edward Rossiter,
Mr. Thomas Sharp,
John Revell,
" Mathew Cradock,
" Thomas Goffe,
". John Venn,
" Nathaniel Wright,
" Theophilus Eaton,
" Thomas Adams.
* See Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, pp. 85-88.
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PATENTEES.
The following were the patentees in the first charter :
Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir Jolin Younge. Thomas Southcoat,
John Humphrey, John Endicott, Simon Whitcombe.
And to their associates hereafter named, to wit :
Sir Richard Saltonstall, Isaac Johnson, Samuel Aldersey,
John Venn,
Mathew Cradock.
George Harwood,
Increase Nowell,
Richard Perry, Richard Bellingham,
Nathaniel Wright,
Samuel Vassall, Theophilus Eaton,
Thomas Goffe,
Thomas Adams,
John Brown,
Samuel Brown,
Thomas Hutchins, William Vassall,
William Pinchon,
George Foxcroft.
When preparing to sail for New England, some of the offi- cers elected for the government of the new colony at their last meeting were not prepared to leave England, when others were substituted to fill their places, to wit :
February 10, 1630, Roger Ludlow in place of Samuel Sharp.
March 18, 1630, Sir Brien Johnson in place of Theophilus Eaton.
.. .. William Coddington for Thomas Goffe.
Simon Bradstreet for Nathaniel Wright.
And at a court held on March 23 following, Thomas Dudley, one of the assistants, was elected to the office of deputy-gov- ernor, in place of John Humphrey, who was not to embark with the company. Thus it is seen how particular these founders were that the officers of this colony should all be residents, having no divided interest, but one in object.
It appears that Mathew Cradock, the governor of the com- pany at its origin in England, and the Rev. John White, the principal originator of the enterprise, never visited the colony.
Provision was made for a learned and able ministry for their religious teachers before leaving England, known for their soundness in their peculiar faith and polity.
They embarked for New England mostly in April and
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May following. By the 11th of July eleven ships had ar- rived, and by October, which closed the arrivals for the first year, seventeen ships had come with settlers for the new plantation.
The first court held in the new settlement was at Charles- town, August 23, 1630 ; at which time the first business pro- posed was to provide for their ministers, Rev. John Wilson and Rev. George Philips ; the first settled over the church in Boston, and the latter at Watertown. Their houses were erected, and their salaries provided for, at the expense of the colony.
While thus providing for their spiritnal welfare, they did not overlook the moral character of those within their limits. It was ordered at this court, that Mourton, of Mount Wollaston, be sent for presently. At the meeting of the second court, held September 7, ordered that Thomas Mourton be set in the bilboes, and then sent prisoner to England. For the payment of this expense and his debts his property was sold, part given to the Indians for a canoe he took from them, and finally his house was burned in their presence, to manifest that wrong-doing was not to be tolerated.
It soon became evident that no departure from their stand- ard of either religion or morals was to be tolerated among themselves or those who might choose to come among them.
They had sacrificed country, home and friends for the canse, in which they were engaged. It is not, therefore, surprising that now, having the power under their charter rights, to pro- tect themselves, they should use this power against what they justly deemed an infringement upon those rights and privi- leges. Thus all were held equally accountable in this respect; and any departure from this standard of religion and morals was regarded as an offense against the public welfare, when summary punishment followed.
To sustain their conceptions of a pure religious worship,
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and a correct understanding of their duties to the state, the education of their children was deemed an indispensable re- quisite. As soon as they had organized a government for the colony, and provided houses for themselves and families, they thought of the education of their children.
In April, 1635, it was ordered by the magistrates that our brother, Philemon Purmort, be entreated to become school. master, for the teaching and nurturing of children with us- It does not appear whether or not the Rev. Philemon Purmort accepted this trust ; but the Rev. Daniel Maude was chosen on the 12th of August, in 1636, to the office of " Free-School-Master." His support, at this time, was by subscription, as follows : *
£ s. d.
£ s. d.
Henry Vane, Governor, 10 0 0 John Winthrop, Deputy-
Samuel Cole,
0 10 0
Ralph Hudson, 0 10 0
Richard Bellingham, 10
0
Robert Harding,
8 4
John Winthrop, Jr., -
1 0 ()
James Penn, ()
6
8
William Hutchinson, 1
0
0
Jacob Eliot, ()
6 8
Robert Keyne, 1
0
0
Richard Wright,
6 8
John Cogan, 1
Edward Bendell, 0
5
0
William Pierce, 1
0
0)
Isaac Gross, ()
5 0
Thomas Oliver, -
0 10 () James Pennimore, 0
5 0
Thomas Leveret, 0 10
William Satler, 0
4 0
William Colburn, - 0 10 ()
John Audly,
0 4 0
John Newgate, 0 10
John Sanford, =
8 0
Richard Tuttle, 0 10
William Balston, 0 6 8
Thomas Marshall. 0
6 8 Edward Rainford, -
() 5 0
Thomas Savage, -
=
5 0)
John Pemberton, () 3 0
William Talmage, () 4 ()
Governor, - 10 0 0
John Cogshall.
8 4
William Coddington, 1 10 0
William Aspinwall, 0
8 0
Rev. Mr. Wilson, 1
0)
0 John Button,
0 6 0
The founding of a college at an early day was determined upon, for introducing the higher branches of education among them. In the same year the General Court appropriated
* See Savage's Winthrop, vol. II, p. 215; also, Snow's History of Boston, pp. 348 and 349.
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£400 for the erection of a house for a public school at Newton; which name was soon after changed to Cambridge, in honor of the place of that name in England, where many of the most noted among the first colonists were educated.
Two years later, 1638, John Harvard,* a minister of Charles- town, having deceased, left a bequest for the benefit of this school, of £779, 17s., 2d., which was deemed a large sum at this period in the history of this colony; and in consideration of this timely liberality, the General Court, in his honor, gave this school the name of "Harvard College."
The commissioners of the United Colonies of New Eng- land offered a suggestion in favor of the citizens of towns generally contributing something for this institution, upon which the authorities of Salem recommended that every fam- ily give one peck of corn, or 12d. money, or other commodity, to Cambridge college, to be sent to the treasurer at Cam- bridge, or where, in Charlestown or Boston, he may appoint.
In 1641 the income of Deer island was appropriated for public schools, and, in other years that and other islands in Boston harbor were applied to that object.
At this early period the General Court regarded it a duty to see that children were properly trained in families by their parents, as well as educated at the free schools; and for insur- ing this object the following preamble and order was passed in the year 1642 :
" For as much as the good education of children is of singular behoof and benefit to any commonwealth ; and whereas, many parents and mas- ters are too indulgent and negligent of their duty in that kind;
"It is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof, that the selectmen of every town in the several precincts and quarters where
* John Ilarvard died in Charlestown, September 14, 1638, aged about thirty. He graduated at Emanuel college, in Cambridge, England, in 1631, and was received into the church at Charlestown in 1637. He had been a minister in England, and he preached a short time in Charlestown. Precisely 190 years after his death, a granite monument was erected to his memory, September 26, 1828. An address was delivered by Edward Everett on this occasion.
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they dwell shall have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors, to see first that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families, as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their children and apprentices so much learning as to enable them to read perfectly the English tongue, and knowledge of the capital laws, upon a penalty of twenty shillings for each neglect therein ; also that all mas- ters of families do, once a week, at least, catechise their children and servants in the grounds and principles of religion; and further, that all parents and masters do breed and bring up their children and appren- tices in some honest and lawful calling, labor, or employment, either in husbandry or some trade profitable to themselves or the commonwealth, if they will not, nor can not, train them up in learning to fit them for higher employment.
" And if the selectmen, after admonition by them given to such mas- ters of families, shall still find them negligent of their duties in this particular as afore-mentioned, whereby children and servants become rude, stubborn, and unruly, the said selectmen, with the help of two magistrates, shall take such children or apprentices from them, and place them with some master for years-boys till they come to twenty- one, and girls till eighteen years complete-which will more strictly look into and enforce them to submit to government, according to the rules of this order, if by fair means and former instructions they will not be drawn into it."
Restraint, and strict accountability for the conduct of all parties for the observance of all regulations adopted by the court, was required.
In the year 1647, not to keep and maintain the schools re- quired by law was made an indictable offense in Massachu- setts, and it has so continued now more than two hundred years.
The act of that year is as follows :
"It being one chief point of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times, by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times, by persuading them from the use of tongues, so that at least the true sense of the orig- inal might be clouded with false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers; and that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors, -it is therefore ordered, " etc.
"That every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath in-
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creased them to the number of fifty householders, shall then, forthwith, appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials of the town shall appoint; provided that those that send their children be not op- pressed by paying much more than they can have them taught for in other towns. And it is further ordered that where any town shall in- crease to the number of one hundred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school, the master whereof being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university ; provided that if any town neglect the performance hereof, above one year, such town shall pay £5 to the next school, till they shall perform this order."
In the year 1671 the penalty for neglect to provide schools according to the foregoing order was increased to £10. And . again, in 1683, an order was passed, in addition to the fore- going :
"That every town consisting of more than five hundred families or householders shall set up and maintain two grammar schools, the masters whereof shall be fit and able to instruct youth as said law directs; and whereas, the said law makes the penalty for such towns as furnish not schools as the law directs, to pay to the next school £10, this court hereby enacts that the penalty shall be £20 where there are two hundred families or householders."
The design was to train every member of the community in such manner as would enable him to understand the laws of the colony and his rights under the same.
To prevent the neglect of parents or guardians in giving proper instruction in religion, morals, edneation, and training to proper habits of industry, stringent enactments were passed.
The following paragraph, of this character, is an example of the Puritans' ideas in this respect:
" This court do hereupon order and decree, that the chosen men ap- pointed for managing the prudentials of the town shall have power to take account, from time to time, of the parents and masters, and of their children. concerning the calling and employment of their children; to impose fines upon all those who refuse to render such account to them
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when required; and they shall have power, with consent of any court or magistrate, to put forth and apprentice the children of such as shall not be able and fit to employ and bring them up, nor shall take course to dispose of them themselves; and they are to take care that such as are set to keep cattle (watch cattle) be set in some employment withal, as spinning upon the rock, * knitting, weaving tape, etc. ; and that boys and girls be not suffered to converse together, so as may occasion any wan- ton, dishonest, or immodest behavior; and for the better performance of this trust committed to them, they, the magistrates, may divide the town amongst them, appointing to every of the said townsmen a certain num- ber of families to have the special oversight of ; they are to provide also that a sufficient quantity of material, as hemp, flax, etc., may be raised in the several towns, and tools and implements provided for working the same. And for their assistance in this so needful and beneficial employ- ment, if they meet with any difficulty or opposition which they can not well master by their own magistrates, they shall take such course for their help and encouragement as the case shall require, according to jus- tice; and the said townsmen, at the next court in those limits, after the end of the year, shall give a brief account in writing of their proceed- ings thereon."
These small corporate bodies, called towns, were peculiarly adapted to carry out special acts of legislation, bringing home to every individual in the colony the requirements of law, and furnishing officers of their acquaintance in their own neighbor- hood, for the execution of the same.
The positive requirement that every district or town should maintain religions worship, of the character approved by the government, establish and support free public schools for all children and youth, practice religions exercises in each family ; and that habits of industry, if not voluntary, should every-
* " Spinning upon the roek:" this is of Dutch origin. Spinrock-A distaff held in the hand, from which the wool was spun by twirling a ball below.
" A learned and a manly soul I purpos'd her; that should, with even powers, The rock, the spindle, and the shears control Of destiny, and spin her own free hours."-Ben Jonson.
" On the roek a scanty measure place Of vital tlax, and turn the wheel apace."-Dryden.
" Flow from the rock, my flax, and swiftly flow, Pursue thy thread, the spindle runs below."-Parnell.
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where within the limits of the colony be enforced,-gave a uniform character to the whole population, and enabled the General Court to exercise its authority with all the exactness and precision of a military body.
This rigid exactness might not be agreeable to the genera- tion of the present day, who have been accustomed to a more liberal policy ; but the result accomplished by this stern rule of the Puritans has brought down to the present age institu- tions and principles of subordination to constituted authorities that wield immense power for the general good of the whole American Union.
On the subject of religion New England has essentially changed from rigid intolerance to a spirit of equality of right among all denominations. The observance of law and order is such, that the most unlimited scope of discussion can be maintained upon all subjects with perfect safety. The indomi- table spirit of industry, so watchfully inculcated by the fathers of New England, still remains with unabated force ; and it may to-day be referred to for its unceasing energy in most of her industrial pursuits, with equal truth, as was expressed by one of England's greatest statesmen in re- gard to the skill and energy displayed by the hardy mariners of New England in pursuit of the whale fishery. These remarks of Mr. Burke are quoted here as pertinent, in giving force to the idea relating to the present industry of this section of our country. The occasion was a bill brought forward in Parliament to restrict the trade and commerce of the provinces of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, and the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation in North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Isles in the West Indies ; and to prohibit such provinces and colonies from carrying on any fishery on the banks of New- foundland, and other places therein mentioned, under certain conditions and limitations.
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On the 22d of March, 1775, Mr. Burke spoke upon this bill, and adverted to the great inconsistencies of the acts of Parliament relating to the affairs of the English colonies in America, when, in the course of these remarks, he made the memorable eulogy above mentioned :
" As to the wealth which the colonies have drawn from the sea by their fisheries, you had all that matter fully opened at your bar.
" You surely thought those acquisitions of value, for they seemed even to excite your envy ; and yet the spirit by which that enterprising employment has been exercised ought rather, in my opinion, to have raised your esteem and admiration. And pray. sir, what in the world is equal to it? Pass by the other parts, and look at the manner in which the people of New England have of late carried on the whale fishery. Whilst we follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and be- hold them penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis' Straits-whilst we are looking for them beneath the Arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of Polar cold, and that they are at the antipodes, and engaged under the frozen serpent of the South. Falkland Islands, which seemed too remote and romantie an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting-place in the progress of their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both poles. We know that whilst some of them draw the line and strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil.
" No sea but what is vexed by their fisheries. No climate that is not witness of their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the dextrous and firm sagacity of English enter- prise ever carried this most perilous mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has been pushed by this recent people-a people who are still. as it were, but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood." *
The free school system has no doubt been much improved by the suggestions of experience, while the general plan remains the same.
In 1789 a law was enacted authorizing towns, for the con- venience of bringing the schools more to the immediate neigh-
* See works of Edmund Burke (8 volumes, published in Boston, 1826), volume II, speech on his resolutions for conciliation with America, pp. 25-26.
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borhood of each scholar, to give an independent government to local districts in managing their schools. This district management has, by some, been thought not to serve the best interests of education.
A remedy for this evil, as supposed, has been made in chap- ter 39 of school laws of 1849, giving towns the option to divide into districts or not; the latter of which is now in many instances being availed of by towns that desire to adopt the best mode of supporting their schools. The most valuable results from the more recent improvements in the general plan of common school education, in Massachusetts, have been from those suggested by the secretary of the board of edu- cation.
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