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 6
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The combination which they had made before their landing at Cape Cod, was the first foundation of their government; but as they were driven to this expedient by necessity, it was intended to subsist no longer than
* By their agreement with the adventurers in England, they were compelled to put the produce of their labors into a common stock. See page 17, ante.
t Prince, 133. Purchas, iv. 1866.
# " The best dish we could present them with, is a lobster or piece of fish, without bread or anything else but a cup of fair spring water." Bradford, in Prince, 140.
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until they could obtain legal authority from their sove- reign. As soon as they knew of the establishment of the Council of New England,* they applied for a patent, which was taken in the names of John Pierce and others, in trust for the colony.t When Pierce saw that the colonists were well seated, and that there was a prospect of success to their undertaking, he went, without their knowledge, but in their names, and solicited the Council for another patent of greater extent, intending to keep it to himself, and to allow them no more than he pleased, holding them as his tenants, to sue and be sued at his courts. In pursuance of this design, having obtained the patent, he bought a ship, which he named the Para- gon, loaded her with goods, took on board upwards of sixty passengers, and sailed from London for the colony of New Plymouth. In the Downs, he was overtaken by a tempest, which so damaged the ship, that he was obliged to put her into dock, where she lay seven weeks, and her repairs cost him one hundred pounds. In December,
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* Established by James the First, November 3, 1620, while the Pilgrims were on their passage ; and styled " The Council established at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ordering, and governing of New England in America." Hazard, i. 103-118.
t This patent, which Judge Davis supposes to have been sent over in the Fortune, in November, 1621, was some years since found among the old papers in the Land Office at Boston. It is dated Ist June, 1621, and bears the seals and signatures' of the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl of Warwick, and of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. There is another signature so ob- seurely written as to be illegible. It gave to the patentee and his associates one hundred arres of land each, and one hundred for each person settled in the proposed colony, to be taken in any place not inhabited by the English, and subject to a rent to the council of two shillings for every hundred acres ; a free fishery also was given, freedom of trade with England and the Indians, and authority to defend them by force of arms against all intruders. It does not appear what use was made of this patent by the Plymouth planters ; it was not long afterwards superseded by the second patent surreptitiously obtained by Pierce. Davis' Morton, 73, 363.
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1622. he sailed a second time, having on board one hun- !red and ninc persons; but a series of tempestuous weather, which continued fourteen days, disabled his ship, and forced him back to Portsmouth. These re- reated disappointments proved so discouraging to Pierce, · that he was easily prevailed upon by the company of adventurers to assign his patent to them for five hundred pounds. The passengers came over in other ships. Of Pierce, little is known, other than that he was one whose warice and ambition made him false to others. An overruling Providence, however, which sooner or later stamps disaster upon every scheme of iniquity, over- whelmed this adventurer in calamities.
For several years after this time, the settlers at New Plymouth were subjected to new difficulties, which threatened the overthrow of the colony. The company in England with which they were connected, did not supply them in plenty. Losses had been sustained at sea; the returns were not adequate to their expectations ; they became discouraged, threw many reflections on the planters, and finally refused them any farther supplies ;* but still demanded the debt due from them, and would not permit them to connect themselves in trade with any
other persons. The planters complained to the Council of New England, but they could obtain no redress. In 1626, they sent Isaac Allerton to England, Governor Bradford and others of the principal men executing to him a power of attorney, to bind them in any contract he might deem it proper to make with the adventurers, on their behalf. He succeeded in obtaining an agree- ment from the forty-two share-holders in England, to
Bradford's Letter Book, I Mass. Hist. Coll., ill. 20, 36, 60.
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relinquish all their rights in the colony for the sum of £1800 sterling. For the payment of this sum, eight of the principal persons in the colony, with four of their friends in London, became bound in the following year .* To indemnify them against pecuniary loss, the settlers in 1628, executed to the undertakers, a release of the entire trade of the colony for six years. " We thought it our safest and best course, (says Governor Bradford, ) to come to some agreement with the people, to have the whole trade consigned to us for some years, and so in that time to take upon us to pay all the debts and set them free."+
These men were obliged to take up money at an ex- orbitant interest, and to go deeply into trade at Kennebeck, Penobscot, and Connecticut; by which means, and their own great industry and economy, they were in due time enabled to discharge the debt, and pay for the transpor- tation of thirty-five families of their friends from Leyden, who arrived in 1629.₺
In 1629, another patent, of larger extent than that which had been issued to Pierce in behalf of the colony, was solicited by Isaac Allerton, and taken out in the name of " William Bradford, his heirs, associates, and assigns."§ This patent confirmed their title (as far as
* The names of the undertakers were William Bradford, Miles Standish, Isaac Allerton, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Howland, John Alden, and Thomas Prence, of Your Plymouth, and James Shirley, John Beau- champ, Richard Andrews, and Timothy Hatherly, of London.
t Bradford's Letter Book, in I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 50.
$ These thirty-five families, says Governor Bradford, " we were fain to keep eighteen months at our charge, ere they could reap any harvest to live upon ; all which together fell heavy upon us." 1 Mass. Ilist. Coll., iii. 58, 74.
§ Hazard, i. 208-303. Prince, 196. This patent was dated January 13th, 1620. Besides confirming their title to their lands, this charter conferred on them liberty to fish, to trade with the natives, to make laws not contrary to those of England, and to " seize and make prize of all who attempt to inhabit
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the crown of England could confirm it) to a tract of land bounded on the east and south by the Atlantic Ocean, and by lines drawn west from the Rivulet of Conohasset, and north from the River of Narragansett, which lines meet in a point, comprehending all the country called Pokancket. To this tract they supposed they had a prior title, from the depopulation of a great part of it by a pestilence, from the gift of Massasoit, his voluntary subjection to the crown of England, and his having taken protection of them. In a declaration, published by them in 1636, they asserted their "lawful right in respect of vacancy, donation, and purchase of the natives,"# which together with their patent from the crown, through the Council of New England, formed " the warrantable ground and foundation of their gov- ernment, of making laws and disposing of lands."t
In the same patent, was granted a large tract border- ing on the River Kennebeck, where they had carried on
or trade with the natives within the limits of their plantation, or attempt their detriment or annoyance." The original patent, signed by the Earl of War- wick, as President of the Council, is preserved in the office of the Rreorder at Plymouth. It is written upon parchment, and has appended the Seal of the Plymouth Company.
* Hazard, i. 404.
1 In 1639, after the termination of the Pequot war, Massasoit, who had then changed his name to Woosamequen, brought his son Mooanam to Plymouth, and desired that the league which he had formerly made might be renewed and made inviolable. The sache'in and his son voluntarily promised, "for them- selves, and their successors, that they would not needlessly nor unjustly raise any quarrels or do any wrong to other natives to provoke them to war against the colony ; anu that they would not give, sell, or convey any of their lands, territories, or possessions whatever, to any person or persons whomsuever, without the privity or consent of the government of Plymouth, other than to such as the said government should send or appoint. The whole court did then ratify and confirm the aforesaid league, and promise to the said Woosame- ‹quen, his son and successors, that they would defend them against all such as should unjustly rise up against them, to wrong or oppress them." Morton, 112, 113.
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a traffic with the natives for furs, as they did also at Con- necticut River, which was not equally beneficial, be- cause they there had the Dutch for rivals .* The fur trade was found to be much more advantageous than the fishery. Sometimes they exchanged corn of their own growth for furs; but European coarse cloths, hardware, and ornaments, were good articles of trade, when they could command them.
The patent had been taken in the name of Mr. Brad- ford, in trust for the colony; and the event proved that their confidence was not misplaced. When the num- ber of people was increased, and new townships were erected, the General Court, in 1640, requested that he would surrender the patent into their hands. To this he readily consented ; and, by a written instrument, under his hand and scal, surrendered it to them, reserving for himself no more than his proportion, by previous agree- ment. This was done in open court, on the 2d March, 1640, and the patent was immediately replaced in his hands for safe keeping.t
While they were few in number, the whole body of associates or freemen assembled together for legislative, executive, and judicial business. In 1634, the governor
* The patent gave to the colonists at Plymouth, a tract of fifteen miles on each side of the Kennebeck. About the same time Mr. Shirley and others took out a patent for lands ou the Penobscot, and sent out Edward Ashley, one of their number, to superintend their operations there. In this enterprise, those of Plymouth were induced, though reluctantly, to join, and a trading house was built. I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 70-71. Winthrop, i. 1GG. This establish- ment was soon after taken by the French, who retained is, in spite of all efforts to dislodge them, till 1654. The trade to the Kennebeck seems to have been quite profitable. "Our neighbors of' l'iymonth," says Governor Winthrop, (Journal, i. 133,) " had great trade this year (1634) at Kennebeck, so as Mr. Winslow carried with him to England about twenty hogsheads of beaver."
f Hazard, i. 468.
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atd assistants were constituted a Judicial Court, and after- wards the Supreme Judiciary of the Colony .* Petty offences, and actions of debt, trespass, and damage, not exceeding forty shillings, were tried by the selectmen of each town, with liberty of appeal to the next Court of Assistants. The first Assembly of Representatives was held in 1639, when four deputies were sent from Ply- mouth, and two from each of the other towns.
In 1649, Plymouth was restricted to the same num- ber with the other towns. These deputies were chosen by the freemen ; and none were admitted to the privilege of freemen but such as were twenty-one years of age, of sober and peaceable conversation, orthodox in the fun- damentals of religion, and possessed of twenty pounds rateable estate.
By the former patent, the colony of Plymouth was empowered "to enact such laws as should most befit a state in its nonage, not rejecting or omitting to observe such of the laws of their native country as would conduce to their good."t In the second patent, the power of government was granted to William Bradford and his associates in the following terms.} " To frame and make orders, ordinances, and constitutions, as well for the better government of their affairs here [in England,] and the receiving or admitting any to his or their society, as also for the better government of his or their people at sea, in going thither or returning from thence; and the - same to be put in execution by such officers and minis- ters as he or they shall authorize and depute ; provided that the said laws be not repugnant to the laws of Eng-
" Plymouth Laws. 1 Preface to Plymouth Laws, by Secretary Morton.
: Hazard, i. 302.
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land, or the frame of government by the said president and council hereafter to be established."
From the first planting of the colonies, a general gov- ernment over the whole territory of New-England, had been a favourite object with the council which granted these several patents; but, after several attempts, it finally miscarried, to the no small joy of the planters, who were then at liberty to govern themselves .*
In June, 1635, the Council of Plymouth surrendered the Great Charter of New England to King Charles. The cry of monopoly had been raised in parliament against the council, and the high church party inflamed the growing prejudice, because the council had encouraged the settlement of those who had fled from persecution. This event created great apprehension in the colony, and we accordingly find, soon afterwards, that the people of New Plymouth met in a body, and drew up a Declara- tion of Rights, styled "The General Fundamentals," which was adopted on the 15th November, 1636. This Declaration was accompanied by a statement drawn up with signal ability, entitled " The Warrantable Grounds
* The first essay for the establishment of a general government was in 1623, when a ship commanded by Captain Francis West came to New Plymouth. West " had a commission to be Admiral of New England, to restrain interlopers, and such fishing ships as came to fish and trade withont license"; but, finding the fishermen "stubborn fellows," he saded away to Virginia. Prince, 137. These "stubborn fellows" complained to Parliament of this attempt to extort money from them, and finally procured an order that fishing should be free. Morton, 47. In September, 1623, a second attempt was made to establish a government over all the New England settlements. Capt. Robert Gorges, son of Sir Ferdinando, arrived with a commission to be " Governor-general of the country." Admiral West, Christopher Lovit, and others, were of his Council. But, " finding the state of things not to answer to his quality and condition," he abandoned the enterprise, and early in 1621, trturned to England. Morton, 52. Baylies, i. 125. Sir F. Gorges was appointed in 1637, governor-general of New England, but never entered upon the government. See Life of Gorges, in Belknap's Biog
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and Proceedings of the first Associates of New Plymouth, in their laying the first Foundation of this Govern- ment," which prefaces the printed Laws.
In the formation of the laws of New Plymouth, regard was had, "primarily and principally, to the ancient
platform of God's law." For, though some parts of that system were peculiar to the circumstances of the sons of Jacob, yet, "the whole being grounded on principles of moral equity," it was the opinion of the first planters, not at Plymouth only, but in Massachusetts, New Haven, and Connecticut, that " all men, especially Christians, ought to have an eye to it in the framing of their politi- cal constitutions."# A secondary regard was had to the liberties granted to them by their sovereign, and the laws of England, which they supposed " any impartial person might discern, in the perusal of the book of the laws of the colony."
At first they had some doubt concerning their right to inflict capital punishment. A murder which happened in 1630, made it necessary to decide this question. It was decided by the divine law against shedding human blood, which was deemed indispensable. In 1636, their Code of Laws was revised, and capital crimes were enu- merated and defined. In 1671, it was again revised. and the next year printed, with this title : "The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New Plymouth ;" a title very similar to the codes of Massachusetts and Connecticut, which were printed at the same time, by Samuel Green, at Cambridge.
The piety, wisdom, and integrity of Mr. Bradford were such prominent features in his character, that he
* Preface to Plymouth Laws.
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was annually chosen governor as long as he lived, except during three years, when Mr. Winslow, and two years, when Mr. Prence, was chosen to that office; and even then Mr. Bradford was appointed the first or senior as- sistant, which gave him the rank of deputy-governor.
In the year 1624, the number of assistants was in- creased to five, and in 1633 to seven, the governor having a double vote. These augmentations were made at the earnest request of Governor Bradford, who also earnestly recommended a more frequent rotation in the office of governor. He repeatedly sought to be relieved from the office, but could obtain a release for no more than five in a period of thirty-five years, and never for more than two years in succession. His argument was, " that if it were any honor or benefit, others beside himself should par- take of it; if it were a burden, others beside himself should help to bear it."" Notwithstanding the reasona- bleness and equity of his plea, the people had such a strong attachment to him, and confidence in him, that they could not be persuaded to leave him out of the government.
For the last twelve years of his life, Mr. Bradford was annually chosen without interruption, and served in the office of governor. His health continued good until the autumn of the year 1656, when it began to decline, and as the next spring advanced, he became weaker, but felt not any acute illness until the beginning of May.
On the Sth of that month, after great suffering at its close, he became so elevated with the idea of futurity, that
* Morton, p. 53. In 1632, a law was passed, imposing a penalty of £20, on any person who should refuse the office of governor, unless chosen two years in succession, and £10upon any person who refused to serve as a magistrate or counsellor.
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hr exclaimed to his friends, in the following morning, " God has given me a pledge of my happiness in another world, and the first fruits of eternal glory !" The next day, being the ninth of May, 1657, he was removed from this world by death, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, to the great loss and grief of the people, not only of Ply- mouth, but the neighboring colonies, four of which he lived to see established, beside that of which he was one of the principal founders .*
In addition to what has been said of Governor Brad- ford's character, it may be observed that he was emi- nently a practical man, of a strong mind, a sound judg- ment, and a good memory. Though not favoured with a liberal education, he was much inclined to study and investigation. The French and Dutch languages were familiar to him, and he obtained a considerable knowledge of the Latin and Greek ; but he more assiduously studied . the Hebrew, " because," he said, "he would see with his. own eyes the ancient oracles of God in their native beauty."f
He had read much of history and philosophy, but theology was his favorite study. He was able to man- age the polemic part of it with much dexterity, and was particularly vigilant against the sectaries which infested the colonies, though by no means severe or intolerant, as long as they continued peaceable; wishing rather to foil them by argument, and guard the people against receiv- ing their tenets, than to suppress them by violence, or cut them off by the sword of the magistracy. Mr. Ilub-
* These four colonics were Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven and Rhode Island.
i Mather's Magualia, b. ii. c. 1.
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bard's character of him is, that he was "a person of great gravity and prudence, of sober principles, and, for one of that persuasion, ( Brownists, ) very pliable, gentle, and condescending."
Governor Bradford wrote "A History of Plymouth People and Colony," beginning with the first formation of the church in 1602, and ending in 1646. It was con- tained in a folio volume of 270 pages. Morton's Me- morial is an abridgment of it. Prince and Hutchinson had the use of it, and the manuscript was carefully de- posited, with Mr. Prince's valuable Collection of Papers, in the library of the Old South Church in Boston, which fell a sacrifice to the fury of the British army in the year 1775 .* He also had a large book of copies of letters relative to the affairs of the colony, a fragment of which was, a few years ago, recovered by accident,t and pub- . lished by the Historical Society of Massachusetts.I To this fragment is subjoined another, being a "Descriptive and Historical Account of New England," written in verse, which, if it be not graced with the charms of poetry, yet is a just and affecting narrative, intermixed with pious and useful reflections.
* " The most important part of this lost History, I have had the good for- tune to recover. On a visit to Plymouth a few years since, I found in the Re- cords of the First Church, a narrative, in the handwriting of Secretary Morton, which, on comparing it with the large extraets in Hutchinson and Prince, I recognized as the identical History of Governor Bradford; a fact put beyond all doubt by a marginal note of Morton, in which he says " This was originally penned by Mr. William Bradford, goreruor of New Plymouth." This fact of the real authorship of the document seems to have escaped the observation of all who had preceded me in examining the records." Rev. A. Young, Pref. to Chronicles of the Pilgrims, published in IstI.
t This Letter Book was accidentally sven in a grocer's shop at Halifax, Nova Scotia, by James Clark, Esq., a corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and By him transmitted to Boston.
# I Mass. Ilist. Coll., iii. 27-76.
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In Morton's Memorial, 144, are preserved " Certain Verses, left by Governor Bradford, declaring the gracious dispensation of God's Providence towards him in the time of his Life, and his preparation and fittedness for Death." They may be of interest to the curious in such matters :
" From my years young in dayes of Youth, God did make known to me his Truth, And call'd me from my Native place For to enjoy the Means of Grace. In Wilderness he did me guide, And in strange Lands for me provide. In Fears and Wants, through Weal and Woe, As Pilgrim pass'à I to and fro ; Oft left of them whom I did trust- How vain it is to rest on Dust ! A Man of Sorrows I have been, And many Changes J have seen. Wars, Wants, Peace, Plenty, have I known ;
And some advanc'd, others thrown down.
The humble, poor, cheerful, and glad,
Rich, discontent, sower and sad :
When Fears with Sorrows have been mixt, Consolations came betwixt.
Faint not, poor Soul, in God still trust,
Fear not the things thou suffer must ;
For whom he loves, he doth chastise,
And then all Tears wipes from their eyes.
Farewell, dear Children, whom I love, Your better Father is above :
When I am gone, he ean supply ; To him I leave you when I dye.
Fear him in Truth, walk in his Wayes, And he will bless you all your dayes. My days are spent. Old Age is come, My Strength it fails, my Glass near run ; Now [ will wait, when work is done, Until my happy Change shall come, When from my labors I shall rest With Christ above, for to be blest."
Of a like strain are the lines referred to in the follow- ing extract from Gov. Bradford's will : "I commend unto your wisdom and discretion, some small bookes written by
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my own hand, to be improved as you shall see meet. In special, I commend to you a little booke with a blacke cover, wherein there is A Word to Plymouth, A Word to Boston, and a Word to New England, with sundry useful verses."*
Besides thesc, he wrote, as Dr. Mather says, "some significant things, for the confutation of the errors of the time, by which it appears that he was a person of a good temper, and free from that rigid spirit of separation which broke the Separatists to pieces."
Young, in his Chronicles of the Pilgrims, supposes that the invaluable historical work, usually cited as Mourt's Relation, printed in 1622, and containing a mi- nute diary of events from the arrival of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, Nov. 9, 1620, to the return of the Fortune, Dec. 11, 1621-was in fact the production of Bradford and Winslow, chiefly of the former. Young has also published in his Chronicles, copied from the Plymouth Church Records, into which it was transcribed by Secre- tary Morton, "A Dialogue, or the Sum of a Conference between some Young Men, born in New England, and sundry Ancient Men, that came out of Holland and Old England, anno domini, 16.1S." It is an interesting docu- ment, and is probably one of those " significant" papers above referred to by Cotton Mather.t
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