USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > Sketches about Salem people > Part 10
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Free will and the appeal to reason contained the seeds of a growth which was to destroy the oligarchy. The Puritan divines set their faces and political power reso- lutely against free interpretation of the Scriptures. They claimed that they were the learned interpreters of the Bible, and that their interpretation should be accepted by the people. They planned and built a Bible Common- wealth composed in a large measure of persons of like faith, protected from invasion by their isolation, and guided by the clergy and by magistrates in close sym- pathy with the clergy.
For a generation the clergy ruled with an iron rod, yet during this period a love of self-government, a desire for freedom and the will to demand it, were steadily growing. The Puritan divines did their best to close the door against free thought, but their appeal to reason had given it such a momentum that the door could not be closed. As time passed, the Colony became more and more involved in a struggle with the Crown. The prin- ciple of no taxation without representation was stressed by all classes. This doctrine was another cause contrib- uting to destroy the political strangle-hold of the clergy. Although the Puritan leaders opposed democracy, Puri- tanism contained beliefs which were the foundation of a free and democratic government.
From the very beginning there was the making of two political parties in the Colony,-the numerically small dominant party, controlled by the clergy and magistrates, and a growing popular party representing the opposi- tion. In the dominant party there was a minority which counselled moderation and tolerance. Bradstreet was the outstanding figure in this minority. He never broke absolutely with his associates in the theocratic oligarchy. He was in accord with their general purpose to lead godly lives, to drive sin from the community, and to acquire greater liberty in administrating the affairs of the Colony. He often disagreed with their methods of procedure and was unwilling to associate himself with them in perse- cutions and in the tactless and unyielding methods by which they attempted to preserve and advance their polit-
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ical claims. All these parties were struggling for a larger freedom in one direction or another. Liberty was the theme discussed from the beginnings of Massachusetts.
In 1834 Rufus Choate delivered an address at a cele- bration of the anniversary of the settlement of the Town of Ipswich. Speaking of the love of freedom in New England, he said :-
From the first, the mother-country complained that we had brought from England, or had found here, too much liberty,- liberty inconsistent with prerogatives of the Crown, inconsistent with supremacy of Parliament, inconsistent with the immemo- rial relations of all colonies to the country from which they sprang,-and she set herself to abridge it. We answered with great submission that we did not honestly think that we had brought or had found much more than half liberty enough ; and we braced ourselves to keep what we had, and obtain more when we could ;- and so, with one kind of weapon or another, on one field or another, on one class of questions or another, a struggle was kept up from the landing at Plymouth to the surrender at Yorktown. It was all one single struggle from beginning to end; the parties, the objects, the principles, are the same ;- one sharp, long, glorious, triumphant struggle for lib- erty. The topics, the heads of dispute, varied from reign to reign; but though the subjects were various, the question was one,-shall the colonists be free?
We appreciate the inspirational value of this address. In the haze of such incense honoring of the founders, we sometimes lose sight of the facts. The other side of the shield has been described recently.
Despite all that has been written of the town-meeting, and the general impression that the average New Englander was almost solely a political and religious animal, there is little evidence to prove that the ordinary man in that section cared any more about government than the ordinary man in Vir- ginia or Maryland. In fact, at a little later period, the more accurate election returns would seem to indicate that he then cared even less. The small minority that ran the government and the churches was naturally active and vocal. But the fact that four-fifths of the people were reasonably content to join no church, and to have no voice in the government, certainly does not argue, in that time and place, any very high degree of
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political, religious, or intellectual interest as compared with the rest of America. . .
Impersonal love of liberty is about as common as uncom- bined oxygen; and so long as the average man could catch cod, sell whiskey to the Indians, raise crops on land he felt was his own, or stand at his little shop-counter, he did not much care-much as, by way of conversation, he might talk-about the governor in Boston or the king in England. But let him believe that either was threatening his God-given right to accu- mulate pine-tree shillings, and there would be trouble.
The truth lies between these extremes. In his long years of public service, Bradstreet learned something of human nature. He put in practice what he had learned, to maintain order, protect property, restrain fanaticism, and create a self-governing colony.
There are three episodes in the colonial history of Massachusetts which are considered discreditable from a modern point of view, and in which Simon Bradstreet took part. They are the banishment of Anne Hutchinson, the treatment of the Quakers, and the witchcraft delusion.
In regard to Anne Hutchinson-Bradstreet was a mem- ber of the Court that tried and banished her. Anne Hutchinson was a quickwitted and brilliant woman who, in a religious debate, was the peer of any minister. She had a kindly spirit and was noted for her helpful admin- istrations to the sick and needy. She was a sincerely religious woman.
It was a Puritan custom in Boston to hold Thursday meetings, where religious instructions given on the pre- vious Sunday were discussed. Women were allowed to attend but were excluded from debate. The ladies of Boston were as much interested in theology as their hus- bands. Under the leadership of Mrs. Hutchinson they formed the first woman's club in Massachusetts. Mrs. Hutchinson dominated these meetings by superior learn- ing and skill in debate. By a transposition of the letters of her name, she was called "The Non-Such." For a while she seemed to carry everyone with her. Her meet- ings were spoken of as "religious gossipings." They were
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popular among the ladies and were. encouraged by the clergy, until Mrs. Hutchinson began to criticise their ser- mons and the character of the ministers. In the course of time she publicly condemned most of the clergy and insisted that they had not a "thorough furnishing" for their work.
We may read the following comment on her meetings :-
In the assemblies which were held by the followers of Mrs. Hutchinson, there was nourished and trained a keen, con- tentious spirit, and an unbridled license of tongue, of which the influence was speedily felt in the serious disturbance, first of domestic happiness, and then of the public peace. The matrons of Boston were transformed into a synod of slandcrous praters, whose inquisitorial deliberations and audacious decrees, instilled their venom into the innermost recesses of society ; and the spirits of a great majority of the citizens being in that combustible state in which a feeble spark will suffice to kindle a formidable conflagration, the whole Colony was influenced and distracted by the incontinence of female spleen and pre- sumption.
Out of Mrs. Hutchinson's meetings grew the phrases, "Covenant of Grace" and "Covenant of Works." Win- throp wrote that "no man could tell (except some few who knew the bottom of the matter) where any difference was." In 1636 people were in a war of words with one another about these phrases. Some of the militia refused to take the field because their chaplain did not maintain sound religious views in reference to the subject of this controversy, and even children in the streets jeered at one another as believers in one covenant or the other.
In the end Anne Hutchinson was trampled upon by the clergy and banished as unsavory salt. Her trial was conducted with heat and virulence. She was denounced as an "American Jezebel." The Court which tried her consisted of Governor Winthrop, Dudley, Endicott, Brad- street, Nowell, and Stoughton. Bradstreet was the only member who treated the defendant with courtesy. He told Mrs. Hutchinson that she ought to forbear her meet- ings because they gave offence; and when she interposed a plea of conscience, he replied that he was not against
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all women's meetings and even considered them to be lawful, but still they should be avoided as matters dis- turbing the public peace.
The ministers faced her with vindictiveness and cruelty. A poem written by Dudley just before his death contains the following lines, which suggest the spirit with which he approached the trial of Anne Hutchinson.
Let men of God in Courts and Churches watch O're such as do a Toleration hatch, Lest that ill Egg bring forth a Cocatrice To poison all with Heresie and Vice.
This controversy shook the Colony to its very centre, and Bradstreet thought that in the interest of peace and good order it was wise to banish this woman of lovely character and spotless living, whose deepest fault was a contentious spirit and a too enthusiastic belief in her own inspiration. Bradstreet's vote was the expression of his conscience in the discharge of the duties of a magistrate. He was appointed to hear and determine this cause and by his judgment to assist in maintaining the purity and unity of the Protestant faith as expressed in the dogmas and practices of the Puritan Church in New England.
Heresy-hunting did not appeal to Bradstreet as a noble occupation. He found the people swept from Christian fellowship into an orgy of debate and passion about a doctrine that few understood and no one could prove. The phrases used in this controversy are no clue to the teachings of Mrs. Hutchinson. The point in controversy concerned the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, the nature of the union and its effect. Mrs. Hutchinson seems to have taught that the Comforter enters into the soul of a Christian to such an extent that individuality is de- stroyed by being absorbed into the spirit of Christ. This is a kind of Nirvana, more Buddhistic than Christian. Bradstreet probably thought that such a doctrine was an over-belief which ought to harm no one, but he clearly saw that Mrs. Hutchinson was anathema to the clergy.
The debates started by Mrs. Hutchinson led to public disorders. One side or the other had to go to the wall. The idea of compromise was foreign to the Puritans.
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Bradstreet joined his associates in applying the only cure which seemed practical, the elimination of Mrs. Hutch- inson. His decision was sane, and, as a matter of fact, quieted grave dissensions and restored tranquillity in the Colony at a time when social solidarity was necessary to meet a threatened war with the Indians and the enmity of the home government. Mrs. Hutchinson's tragic death could not have been foreseen by the Court that banished her. She first went to Rhode Island, but finally removed to a Dutch settlement in Western Connecticut. She there led a quiet life, until she and her whole family were mas- sacred by the Indians.
In regard to the Quakers, the Federal Commission for New England early recommended to the several legis- latures of the Confederacy the imposition of the death penalty upon returning Quakers who had been banished. Bradstreet alone refused to join in this recommendation. Massachusetts passed such a law. Bradstreet believed the death penalty too severe, voted against this law, and was influential in repealing it. This attitude exposed him to vitriolic abuse by the fanatics who troubled Massachu- setts with their presence. These people were not gentle folk, the words of whose mouths were always acceptable. Their abuse of the magistrates was often scandalous and provocative. It would be unwise for a litigant before the Supreme Court, even in this day of toleration, to address the judges as they did.
The following is an example of Quaker abuse. It was applied to Governor Prence of Plymouth :
Thomas Prence, thou who hast bent thy heart to work wick- edness, and with thy tongue hast set forth deceit; thou imag- inest mischief upon thy bed, and hatchest thy hatred in thy secret chamber; the strength of darkness is over thee, and a malicious mouth hast thou opened against God and his. anointed and with thy tongue and lips hast uttered perverse things; thou hast slandered the innocent by railing, lying and false accusations, and with thy barbarous heart hast thou caused their blood to be shed .. .
Such language did not tend to soften the hearts of
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Puritan magistrates but confirmed them in the conviction that the Quakers were a seditious set and ought to be suppressed. Besides railing at and reviling the magis- trates and clergy, the Quakers enacted little dramas to illustrate the errors of Puritanism. Thomas Newhouse went into a meetinghouse at Boston during a religious service, with a couple of glass bottles which he broke be- fore the congregation, declaring, "Thus will the Lord break you in pieces." Deborah Wilson paraded Essex Street in Salem naked as she came into the world, for which she was well whipped. One of her sect, apologiz- ing for this behavior, said, "If the Lord did stir up any of his daughters to be a sign of the nakedness of others, he believed it to be a great cross to a modest woman's spirit, but the Lord must be obeyed."
The Quakers whose presence in Massachusetts aroused the wrath and intolerance of the clergy were a few fanatics whose supreme desire was to attain fellowship with Christ in suffering. They found in Endicott, Dudley, and Nor- ton forces which satisfied these cravings and furnished all the persecution necessary for salvation. They were looking for trouble and found the supply abundant in Boston.
The attitude of Rhode Island in the treatment of Quakers has often been compared with that of Massa- chusetts, to the disparagement of the Bay Colony. The authorities at Providence condemned what they called the "extravagant outgoings" of the turbulent Quakers. Gov- ernor Hutchinson, in his History, quotes a letter from the government of that Colony concerning the Quakers, addressed to the General Court at Boston. The letter is signed, among others, by "Benedict Arnold, President," grandfather of the revolutionary general of the same name. In it they say :-
And as concerning these quakers (so caled) which are now among us, we have no law among us whereby to punish any for only declaring by words, &c. their mindes and understand- ings concerning the things and ways of God, as to salvation and an eternal condition. And we, moreover, finde, that in those places where these people aforesaid, in this colony, are most
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of all suffered to declare themselves frely, and are only oposed by arguments in discourse, there they least of all desire to come, and we are informed that they begin to loath this place, for that they are not opposed by the civill authority, but with all patience and meeknes are suffered to say over their pre- tended revelations and admonitions, nor are they like or able to gain many here to their way; and surely we find that they delight to be persecuted by civill powers, and when they are soe, they are like to gaine more adherents by the conseyte of their patient sufferings, than by consent to their pernicious sayings. And yet we conceive, that their doctrines tend to very absolute cutting downe and overturning relations and civill government among men, if generally received.
The persecution of the Quakers was at its height under Governor Endicott. Upon the restoration of the Stuarts in 1660, Charles II sent a letter to Endicott, ordering him to suspend proceedings against the Quakers, and if any of them were then in prison, to send them to England for trial. The story of Endicott's reception of this com- mand is told by Whittier in his poem entitled, "The King's Missive." The letter was brought to the Governor by a returning Quaker who had been banished. On receiving the royal order,
He turned to the Quaker, bowing low- "The King commandeth your friends release, Doubt not he shall be obeyed, although To his subject's sorrow and sin's increase. What is here enjoineth John Endicott, His loyal servant, questioneth not. You are free! God grant the spirit you own May take you from us to parts unknown." * * So passed the Quakers through Boston town Whose painful ministers sighed to see The walls of their sheep-fold falling down, And wolves of heresy prowling free. But the years went on and brought no wrong; With milder counsels the State grew strong, As outward Letter and inward Light Kept the balance of truth aright.
This may be poetry, but is not history. Many Quakers when opposed became turbulent, but when left unmolested
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by penal regulations, they settled down to a quiet, orderly life, and became the most peaceful, industrious, and moral of all religious sects. The best Puritan thought in Eng- land condemned "banishment for conscience." Sir George Downing, soon to become brother-in-law of Bradstreet, wrote, "It makes us stinke everywhere."
So many complaints had been made to Charles II touch- ing the conduct of the Bay Colony, and especially their treatment of the Quakers, that it was decided in 1662 to send Simon Bradstreet and the Reverend John Norton as colonial agents to England to modify the wrath of the king. Just before sailing, Mr. Norton was overcome with fear and fell into a serious sickness, but after much praying his courage was restored, and the commissioners sailed from Boston, February 11, 1662. This mission was one of delicacy, and likely to prove of personal peril to the commissioners. Mr. Norton had been a leading figure in the persecution of the Quakers, and Bradstreet, as one of the magistrates and as a representative of the Colony in England, came in for a share of the general abuse leveled against Massachusetts by the Quakers. A movement was started to commit the commissioners for trial while in England, but it came to naught.
The mission was successful in that it postponed the revocation of the charter, but the commissioners brought home many royal instructions which were distasteful to the clergy of Massachusetts, who had hoped for larger concessions from the king than the ratification of the charter. The commission was received in Massachusetts with charges of unfaithfulness. The issue of this mission was fraught with so much annoyance and loss of esteem that it is said to have shortened the life of Mr. Norton. We are told: "Norton died under rebuff, but Mr. Brad- street, who had more firmness and who was better ac- quainted with the perversities of men's humor, conscious that he had not intentionally compromitted the honor of the colony, bore these rebuffs with unshaken composure."
When the fury of the witchcraft delusion broke upon the community, Bradstreet had ceased to be governor and was living in Salem. During his term as governor,
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a Mrs. Elizabeth Morse was convicted in Suffolk of being a witch, and was sentenced to death. The Governor did not allow this sentence to be carried out. In the end the lady died a natural death. The Governor's leniency was not due to the fact that he did not believe that witches existed. There was authority for this belief in the Scrip- tures and in the laws of all civilized nations, which at that time recognized witchcraft as a crime. The Gov- ernor's difficulty lay in proof of the offence. He did not know what kind of evidence was competent, relevant, and material.
An expression of contemporary opinion, showing Brad- street's attitude toward the witchcraft craze, is found in a copy of a letter written by Mr. Thomas Brattle, dated October 8, 1692, and published in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society for the year 1798. Mr. Brattle visited Salem for the purpose of studying the witchcraft trials at first hand. In his letter he repeatedly refers to the ignorance and superstition of the "S. G." He tells his correspondent that these initials stand for "Salem Gentlemen." Inasmuch as five of the eight judges who presided at the witchcraft trials came from Suffolk, these initials might with equal propriety refer to the ignorance and superstition of Suffolk Gentlemen.
Mr. Brattle says :
The chief judge is very zealous in these proceedings, and says, he is very clear as to all that hath as yet been acted by this court, and, as far as ever I could perceive, is very impa- tient in hearing any thing that looks another way. I very highly honour and reverence the wisdom and integrity of the said judge, and hope that this matter shall not diminish my veneration for his honour ; however, I cannot but say, my great fear is, that wisdom and counsel are withheld from his honour as to this matter. .
But although the chief judge, and some of the other judges, be very zealous in these proceedings, yet this you may take for a truth, that there are several about the Bay, men for understanding, judgment and piety, inferior to few, if any, in New England, that do utterly condemn the said proceedings and do freely deliver their judgment in the case to be this, viz. that these methods will utterly ruin and undo poor New Eng- land. I shall nominate some of these to you, viz. The Hon.
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Simon Bradstreet, Esq. (our late governor) ; the Hon. Thomas Danforth, Esq. (our late deputy-governor) ; the Rev. Mr. In- crease Mather, and the Rev. Mr. Samuel Willard. Major N. Saltonstall, Esq. who was one of the judges, has left the court, and is very much dissatisfied with the proceedings of it.
The disturbed condition of England during the civil wars and the insignificance of the Colony allowed it to maintain itself for some time in virtual independence. Theoretically, New England, by virtue of its discovery was the private property of the sovereign. It was the voluntary act of the king, expressed in the charter, which gave the colonists any right at all. From the very begin- ning the charter had been contested by some who claimed that it was in violation of previous royal grants. Under Charles II this contest became acute.
In 1683, when a demand came from Charles II that Massachusetts should make full submission and resign its charter to the pleasure of the king, a town meeting was held at Boston which was addressed by Increase Mather, who was invited to give the meeting his thoughts on the Case of Conscience before them. He said, in part :-
I verilly Believe, We shall Sin against the GOD of Heaven if we vote an Affirmative. . . . Nor would it be Wisdom for us to Comply. We know, David made a Wise Choice, when he chose to fall into the Hands of GOD rather than into the Hands of Men. If we make a full Submission and entire Resignation to Pleasure, we shall fall into the Hands of Men Immediately. But if we do it not, we still keep ourselves in the Hands of God; we trust ourselves with His Providence; and who knows, what GOD may do for us.
The above is the burden of a political speech made at a Boston town meeting. It harks back to the ancient belief in corporate responsibility. This kind of responsi- bility was recognized by the Puritans. Many considered King Philip's War a punishment to the Colony because they had displeased God in their corporate capacity by failing to persecute the Quakers more vigorously.
About this speech of his father, Cotton Mather wrote:
Upon this pungent Speech, many of the Freemen fell into Tears; and there was a General Acclamation, We thank you,
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Syr! We thank you, Syr! The Question was upon the Vote carried in the Negative, Nemine Contradicente. And this Act of Boston had a great influence upon all the Country.
In this contest between Crown and Colony, Bradstreet stood against the uncompromising position as expressed by Increase Mather. He had been in England, and under- stood the imperial policy of the king and his advisers toward the Colony, and appreciated the futility of resist- ing the home government if it became resolved to vacate the Massachusetts charter. He had been a member of one mission which succeeded in preventing this catastro- phe by the exercise of good judgment. He was the only Puritan magistrate in his generation noted for zeal and moderation-zeal to further the interests of his country- men; moderation in balancing the rights of Crown and people, to the end that by tact and persuasion they might retain the charter. His moderation was often reckoned as weakness. The Mathers and their associates thought Bradstreet too hesitating and accused him of being slow. It took courage for a Puritan magistrate to maintain this position in his party in opposition to the great body of the clergy. However unpopular his advice made Brad- street with his associates, he counselled moderation. His advice was not followed.
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