USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Lives of the governors of New Plymouth, and Massachusetts bay; from the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, to the union of the two colonies in 1692 > Part 2
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They had not sailed many leagues down the channel before Reynolds, master of the Speedwell, complained that his vessel was too leaky to proceed .¿ Both ships . then put in at Dartmouth, where the Speedwell was searched and repaired; and the workmen judged her sufficient for the voyage. On the twenty first of August,
* Weston continued to be an active promoter of the New Plymouth settlement until 1622. Ile then procured a patent, and commenced a plantation of his own at a place called Wessagussett, (Weymouth,) in Massachusetts. Winslow Bays, Weston "formerly deserved well of us ;" and Bradford, in 1623, says he " has become our enemy on all occasions." Weston was at New Plymouth, in 1623, where he was liberally assisted ; visited that place again in 1624, and from thence went to Virginia. He died at Bristol, England, during the civil wars. Prince, 135, 144.
t At the quay at Delfthaven, a multitude of people assembled, to witness the embarkation of the first company destined to people the New World, and to unite their sympathies and prayers for the safety and prosperity of the little band. At the moment of their going on board, Mr. Robinson fell on his knees, and with eyes overflowing with tears, in a most fervent and solemn prayer, committed them to their Divine Protector.
" The winds and waves are roaring : The Pilgrims meet for prayer ; And here, their God adoring, They kneel in open air." ,
Mr. Robinson never came to New England. Hle remained at Leyden until his death, which took place on the first of March, 1625, in the 56th year of his age. His widow and children afterwards came to New Plymouth, where his ·descendants are still found. At his death, the church over which he presided, and which his talents contributed to illustrate, was dissolved, some of its mem- bers remaining in Holland, others removing to America. Thacher, 15 .- Bay- lies, i. 24.
# Prince, 71 .- Morton, 10.
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they put to sea again, and, having sailed in company about one hundred leagues, Reynolds renewed his com- plaints against his ship, declaring that, by constant pump- ing, he could scarcely keep her above water, on which both ships again put back to Plymouth. Another search was made, and, no defect appearing, the leaky condi- tion of the ship was judged to be owing to her general weakness, and she was pronounced unfit for the voyage. About twenty of the passengers went on shore. The others, with their provisions, were received on board the Mayflower, and on the sixth of September, the company, consisting of one hundred and one passengers, (besides the ship's officers and crew,) took their last leave of England, having consumed a whole month in these vexa- tious and expensive delays.
The true causes of these mis-adventures did not then appear. One was, that the Speedwell was overmasted, which error being remedied, the vessel afterward made several safe and profitable voyages. But the principal cause was the deceit of the master and crew, who, having engaged to remain a whole year in the service of the colony, and apprehending hard fare in that employment, were glad of any excuse to rid themselves of the service.
The Mayflower, Jones, proceeded with fair winds in the former part of her voyage, and then met with bad weather and contrary winds, so that for several days no sail could be carried. The ship labored so much in the sea that one of the main beams sprung, which renewed the fears and distresses of the passengers. They had then made about one half of their voyage, and the chief of the company began a consultation with the comman- der of the ship whether it were better to proceed or re-
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turn. But one of the passengers having on board a large iron screw, it was applied to the beam, and forced it into its place. This successful effort determined them to proceed.
No other particulars of this long and tedious voyage are preserved, but that the ship being leaky, and the people closely stowed, were continually wet; that one young man, a servant of Samuel Fuller, died at sea; and that one child was born, and called Oceanus-a son of Stephen Ilopkins.
On the ninth of November, at break of day, they made land, which proved to be the white sandy cliffs of Cape Cod .* This landfall being farther northward than they intended, they immediately put about the ship to the southward, and before noon found themselves among shoals and breakers.+ Had they pursued their southern course, as the weather was fine, they might in a few hours more, have found an opening, and passed safely to the westward, agreeably to their original design, which was to go to Hudson's River. But, having been so long at sea, the sight of any land was welcome to women and
* Cape Cod was discovered, 15th May, 1602, by Bartholomew Gosnold, an English navigator, who gave it the name, on account of the abundance of cod, which he caught in the neighborhood. It was afterwards called Cape James, by Smith. John Brereton, who was one of the companions of Gosnold, and wrote a journal of the voyage, says, " they first made land May 14, in lat. 40 degrees"-and " about three of the clock the same day in the afternoon, we weighed, and standing southerly off into the sea the rest of that day and the night following, with a fresh gale of wind, in the morning we found ourselves embayed with a mighty headland. At length we perceived this headland to be a parcel of the main. In five or six hours we pestered our ship so with codfish, that we threw numbers of them over again. The places where we took these cods, (and miglit in a few days laden our ship,) were but in seven fathoms wa- ter."-Brereton's Account of Gosaald's Voyage, III Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 86.
These shoals lie to the sonthaist extremity of the Cape, which was called by Gosnold Point Cars, by the Dutch and French Malcharre, and is now known by the name of Sandy Point.
e
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children; the new danger was formidable; and the ea- gerness of the passengers to be set on shore was irresis- tible. These circumstances, coinciding with the secret views of the master, who had been promised a reward by some agents of the Dutch West India Company if he would not carry them to Hudson's River, induced him to put about to the northward .* Before night the ship was clear of the danger. The next day they doubled the northern extremity of the cape, (Race Point, ) and, a storm coming on, the ship was brought to anchor in Cape Cod harbour, where she lay perfectly secure from winds and shoals.
This harbour, being in the forty second degree of north latitude, was without the territory of the South Virginia Company. The charter which these emigrants had brought with them of course became useless. Some symptoms of faction, at the same time, appearing among
. Of this plot between Jones and the Dutch, Secretary Morton says he had rertain intelligence. Memorial, 12. Nearly all the historians have adopted without question the account of this affair given by Morton. Robertson and Rozman speak of it as a rumor; but the first doubt expressed of the truth of thus account is in Moulton's unfinished History of New York. Moulton is fol- lowed by others, who consider the silence of Bradford and Winslow as to this plot, conclusive against the representation given by Morton. Young's Chroni- «les, 102. But there are also circumstances which go to sustain the generally received account. It is known that the Pilgrims intended to settle near the Hudson. Their patent did not authorize them to settle beyond the 10th: parallel of latitude. They knew that North Virginia, or New England, had been de- scribed by Sinith and others, as " a cold, barren, mountainous, rocky desart, ' " uninhabitable by Englishmen." They could not have been indifferent as to the const upon which they were to land ; and when they found themselves at Cape Cod, they desired to return towards the South, but were prevented by the im- portunities of a portion of their number. It is well known, that the Dutch West India Company objected to English settlements on the Hudson, and would very naturally seek to prevent them. Until further light therefore is thrown upon the subject, the account given by Morton should not be hastily Ir veled, sustained as it is by his own declaration that he had " certain intelli- Poner" of the fact.
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the servants, who had been received on board in Eng- land, purporting that when on shore they should be under no government, and that one man would be as good as another, it was thought proper, by the most judi- cious persons, to have recourse to natural law ; and that, before disembarcation, they should enter into an associa- tion, and combine themselves in a political body, to be governed by the majority .* To this they consented ;
* In Mourt's Relation, (I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 205,) is the following and earliest account of the origin of this Compact : "This day, before we are come to harbor, observing some not well affected to unity and concord, but gave some appearance of faction, it was thought good there should be an association and agreement, that we should combine together in one body, and to SUBMIT TO BUCH GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNORS, AS WE SHOULD BY COMMON CONSENT AGREE TO MAKE AND CHCOSE." A late writer questions the high motives usually at- tributed to the pilgrims in adopting this compact. He supposes that it was adopted to secure for the time the power of the orderly over the evil disposed, without any foresight of the vast political importance of the principles which it established. Hubbard's edit. Belknap's Biog. ii. 306. However this may have been, it is still beyond dispute, that the brief and comprehensive instru- ment subscribed in the cabin of the Mayflower, established a principle, which is the foundation of all the democratic institutions in America-the principle that the will of the majority shall govern. The proofs that these men were sincere in their professions, and that civil as well as religious liberty, was an object dear to their hearts, would seem to be conclusive, if we admit the testi- mony of their own lives, and the concurrent statements of Mourt, Winslow, Bradford, and Morton. So evidently thought King James, when, in 1604, the Puritans desired permission to assemble and to be allowed freedom of discus- sion. " You are aiming at a Scot's presbytery, (said he,) which agrees with monarchy as well as God with the devil !- I will hare none of that liberty as to ceremonies." So thought the Commons of England, who favored the Puritans as their natural allies in the struggle against despotism-when the lines were distinctly drawn-the established Church and the Monarch on one side, and the Puritan clergy and the People on the other. Neal, ii. 52. Bancroft, i. 208. The declaration of Robinson and Brewster, in their letter to Sir Edwin Sandys, of Dec. 15, 1617, is in exact accordance with the spirit of the compact on board the Mayflower : " We are knit together as a Body, in a most strict and sacred Bond and Covenant of the Lord; of the violation whercof we make great con- science, and by virtue whereof, we hold ourselves straitly tied to all care of each other's good, and of the whole." Bradford, in Prince, 52. If further proof were wanting of the design of the pilgrims to establish independence, it may be found in that memorable Declaration, drawn up by the Associates at
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and, after solemn prayer and thanksgiving, a written in- strument being drawn, they subscribed it with their own bands, and by a unanimous vote chose JOHN CARVER their governor for one year.
The instrument was conceived in these terms:
"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose Names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sove- reign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c., Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith, and Honour 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 Gon, and of one another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together unto a Civil body Politick, 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 meet and convenient for the General Good of the Colony ; unto which we Promise all due Submission and Obedience. In witness whereof, we have hereunder subscribed our Names, at Cape Cod, the eleventh of No- vember, in the year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the Eigh- teenth, and of Scotland the Fifty-Fourth, Anno Domini, 1620."
[The names of the subscribers are placed in the fol-
New Plymouth, and entered upon their records, on the 15th November, 1636, in which the authority of English laws, "at present, or to come," is expressly renounced, and Parliament denied the right of legislating for the Colony. See Hazard, i. 100.
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lowing order, by Secretary Morton; but Prince, with his usual accuracy, compared the list with Governor Brad- ford's History, and added their titles, and the number of each one's family which came over at this time; observ- ing that some left the whole, and others a part, of their families, either in England or Holland, who came over afterward. He was also so curious as to note those who brought their wives, marked with a (f), and those who died before the end of the next March, distinguished by an asterism (#).]
1. Mr. John Carver,t 8
23. Francis Eaton, t
3
2. Mr. William Bradford,t
2
24. * James Chilton, t 3
3. Mr. Edward Winslow, 1
5 25. *Jolin Crackston, [3] 2
4. Mr. William Brewster, 1 6 26. John Billington,t
5. Mr. Isaac Allerton, 1 G 27.
*Moses Fletcher,
1
6. Capt. Miles Standish, t 2 23.
*John Goodman, .
1
7. John Alden, 1 29.
*Degory Priest, [4]
1
8. Mr. Samuel Fuller, Q 30.
*Thomas Williams, 1
1
10. *Mr. William Mullins,t
5
32.
*Edmund Margeson, 1
11. *Mr. William White,t [1]
5
33. Peter Brown,
1
12. Mr. Richard Warren,
1 3-4.
#Richard Britterige,
1
13. John Howland, [2]
35.
George Soule, [5]
1
15. *Edward Tilly,t
4
37. Richard Gardiner,
1
16. *John Tilly,t
3
38. *John Allerton,
1
17. Francis Cook,
30. *Thomas English,
1
18.
*Thomas Rogers,
CI
10.
*Thomas Tinker,t
3
41. Edward Leister, [6]
21. *Edward Fuller,t
3
Total persons, . . . 101
22. * John Turner,
3
Of whom were subscribers to the Compaet, . . . 41
[1] Besides a son, born in Cape Cod Harbor, named Peregrine. See page 31. .
[2] Of Governor Carver's family.
[3] Morton writes his name Craxton.
[4] In Morton, Digery Priest.
[5] Of Governor Winslow's family.
[6] Of Mr. Hopkins' family.
Government being thus regularly established, on a truly republican principle, sixteen armed men were sent
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40. Edward Dotey, [6]
20. *John Ridgdale,1 2
8 36. *Richard Clarke,
. 14. Mr. Stephen Hopkins,t
9. *Mr. Christopher Martin, t 4 31. Gilbert Winslow,
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on shore, as soon as the weather would permit, to fetch wood and make discoveries .* They returned at night with a boat load of juniper wood, and made report " that they found the land to be a narrow neck, having the har- bour on one side, and the ocean on the other ; that the ground consisted of sandhills, like the Downs in Holland ; that in some places the soil was black earth 'a spit's depth ;' that the trees were oak, pine, sassafras, juniper, birch, holly, ash, and walnut; that the forest was open and without underwood; that no inhabitants, houses, nor fresh water were to be seen." This account was as much as could be collected in one Saturday's afternoon. The next day they rested.
While they lay in this harbour, during the space of five weeks, they saw great flocks of seafowl and whales every day playing about them. The master and mate, who had been acquainted with the fisheries in the north- ern seas of Europe, supposed that they might in that time have made oil to the value of three or four thousand pounds. It was too late in the season for cod ; and, indeed, they caught none but small fish near the shore, and shellfish. The margin of the sea was so shallow, that they were obliged to wade ashore, and the weather being severe, many of them took colds and coughs, which in the course of the winter proved mortal.
On Monday, the thirteenth of November, the women went ashore under a guard to wash their clothes, and the men were impatient for a farther discovery. The shal- lop, which had been cut down and stowed between decks, needed repairing, in which seventeen days were employed. While this was doing, they proposed that
* Mourt's Relation, I Mass. Hist. Coll. vni. 206.
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excursions might be made on foot. Much caution was necessary in an enterprise of this kind, in a new and savage country. After consultation and preparation, six- teen men were equipped with musket and ammunition, sword and corslet, under the command of Captain Miles Standish,* who had William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins, t and Edward Tillyt for his council of war. After many instructions given, they were rather permitted than or- dered to go, and the time of their absence was limited to two days.
When they had travelled one mile by the shore, they discovered five or six of the natives, who, on sight of them, fled. They attempted to pursue, and, lighting on their tracks, followed them till night; but the thickets through which they had to pass, the weight of their ar- mour, and their debility after a long voyage, made them an unequal match, in point of travelling, to these nimble sons of nature. They rested at length by a spring, which afforded them the first refreshing draught of American water.§
The discoveries made in this march were few, but novel and amusing. In one place they found a deer trap,
* This intrepid soldier was the hero of New England, as John Smith was of Virginia. An excellent account of him is found in Belknap's Biography, ii. 310.
t Stephen Hopkins was one of the assistants, or magistrates, of the colony, from 1633 to 1636. Stephen Hopkins, governor of Rhode Island nine years from 1755 to 1767, and one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a descendant of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. Farmer's Geneal.
# Edward Tilly died early in 1621. Farmer's Goneal. The exploring party here referred to sat out on Wednesday, November 15. Prince, 74.
§ Mourt represents the spring to have been found on the second day, and adds, " we brought neither beer nor water with us, and our only victuals were biscuit and Holland cheese, and a little bottle of aqua vita', so as we were sore athirst." I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 203.
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JOHN CARVER.
made by the bending of a young tree to the earth, with a noose under ground covered with acorns. Mr. Brad- ford's foot was caught in the trap, from which his com- panions disengaged him, and they were all entertained with the ingenuity of the device. In another place they came to an Indian burying-ground, and in one of the graves they found a mortar, an carthen pot, a bow and arrows, and other implements, all which they very care- fully replaced, because they would not be guilty of vio- liting the' repositories of the dead. But when they found a cellar, carefully lined with bark and covered with a heap of sand, in which about four bushels of seed-corn in ears* were well secured, after reasoning on the mo- rality of the action, they took as much of the corn as they could carry, intending, when they should find the owners, to pay them to their satisfaction. On the third day they arrived, weary and welcome, where the ship lay, and delivered their corn into the common store. The company resolved to keep it for seed, and to pay the natives the full value when they should have opportunity.
When the shallop was repaired and rigged, twenty- four of the company ventured on a second excursion to the same place, to make a farther discovery, having Captain Jones for their commander, with ten of his sea- men and the ship's long boat.t The wind being high and the sea rough; the shallop came to anchor under the land, while part of the company waded on shore from the long boat, and travelled, as they supposed, six or seven miles, having directed the shallop to follow them
" " Of divers colors, which seemed to them a very goodly sight, having seen none before." Morton, 16.
1 This party started on the 27th November. Prince, 75.
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the next morning. The weather was very cold, with snow, and the people, having no shelter, took such colds as afterwards proved fatal to many.
Before noon the next day, the shallop took them on board, and sailed to the place which they denominated Cold Harbour .* Finding it not navigable for ships, and, consequently, not proper for their residence, after shoot- ing some geese and ducks, which they devoured with " soldiers' stomachs," they went in search of seed corn. The ground was frozen and covered with snow, but the cellars were known by heaps of sand, and the frozen earth was penetrated with their swords, till they gathered corn to the amount of ten bushels. This fortunate sup- ply, with a quantity of beans preserved in the same manner, they took on the same condition as before ; and it is remarked by Governor Bradford that in six months after they paid the owners to their entire satisfaction .¡ The acquisition of this corn they always regarded as a particular favour of Divine Providence, without which the colony could not have subsisted.
Captain Jones, in the shallop, went back to the ship, with the corn and fifteen of the weakest of the people, intending to send mattocks and spades the next day. The eighteen who remained, marched, as they supposed, five or six miles into the woods, and, returning another
* Prince conjectures this place to have been Barnstable Harbor. (Page 74.) . But neither the time nor the distance can agree with this conjecture. Barnsta- ble is more than fifty miles from Cape Cod Harbor by land, a distance which they could not have travelled and back again in three short days of November. Belknap supposes Cold Harbor to be the mouth of Paonet Creek, between Truro and Welfleet, and the description given in Mourt's Relation corresponds with this idea. Paomet is a tide-harbor for boats, distant between three and four leagues from the harbor of Cape Cod. I Mass. Ilist. Coll. ini. 196. t Prince, 75.
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JORN CARVER.
way, discovered a mound of earth, in which they hoped to find more corn. On opening it, nothing appeared but the skull of a man preserved in red earth, the skeleton of an infant, and such arms, utensils, and ornaments as are usually deposited in Indian graves .* Not far distant were two deserted wigwams, with their furniture and some venison, so ill preserved that even "soldiers' stomachs" could not relish it. On the arrival of the shallop, they returned to the ship the first of December. During their absence, the wife of William White had been delivered of a son, who, from the circumstances of his birth, was named Peregrine.f
At this time they held a consultation respecting their future settlement.į Some thought that Cold Harbour might be a proper place, because, though not deep enough for ships, it might be convenient for boats, and because a valuable fishery for whales and cods might be carried on there. The land was partly cleared of wood, and good for corn, as appeared from the seed. It was also likely to be healthy and defensible. But the prin-
* Monrt, I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 215.
1 The following account of him is extracted from the Boston News Letter of July 31, 1704, being the 13th number of the first newspaper printed in New England : " Marshfield, July 22, Captain Peregrine White, of this town, aged eighty-three years and eight months, died here the 20th instant. He was vigor- ous, and of a comely aspect to the last; was the son of William White and Susanna his wife, born on board the Mayflower, Captain Jones, commander, in Cape Cod Harbor, November, 1620, the first Englishman born in New England." William White, the father, died at New Plymouth, in the spring of 1621. His widow, Susannah, married Edward Winslow, the third governor of the colony. This marriage was solemnized the 12th May, 1621. It is mentioned by Baylies, as a singular coincidence that Mrs. White should have been the first mother and first bride in New England, and mother of the first native governor of the colony, who also attained the high and solitary honor of being commander-in- chief of the forces of the confederate Colonies, in a war involving their very existence. Baylies, ii. 18.
: Morton, 17.
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JOHN CARVER.
cipal reasons were, that the winter was so far advanced as to prevent coasting and discovery, without danger of losing men and boats; that the winds were variable, and the storms sudden and violent; that, by cold and wet lodging, the people were much affected with coughs, which, if they should not soon obtain shelter, would prove mortal; that provisions were daily consuming, and the ship must reserve sufficient for the homeward voy- age, whatever became of the colony.
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