USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the colonial period. 1492-1692 v. I > Part 8
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America : - " Our pinass will not cease leaking, els I thinke we had been halfe way at Virginia : our viage hither hath been as full of crosses as ourselves have been of crooked- ness. We put in here (at Dartmouth) to trimme her; and I thinke if we had stayed at sea but three or four hours more, she would have sunke right downe. She is as open and leakie as a seive ; there was a borde a man might have pulled off with his fingers, two foote longe, where the water came in as at a molehole. Our victuals will be half caten up, I thinke, before we go from the coast of England. I see not how we shall escape even the gasping of hunger- starved persons. Poore W. Kinge and myself doe strive dayly who shall be meate first for the fishes." See further, Appendix, Note A.
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80
VOYAGE OF THE MAYFLOWER.
CHAP. III. The particulars of this voyage - more memorable by far than the famed expedition of the Argonauts, and paralleled,
1620. if at all, only by the voyage of Columbus-are few and scanty. Though fair winds wafted the bark onward for a season, contrary winds and fierce storms were soon encoun- tered, by which she was "shrewdly shaken," and her " upper works made very leaky." One of the main beams of the midships was also " bowed and cracked," but a passenger having brought with him " a large iron screw," the beam was replaced, and carefully fastened, and the vessel continued on. During this storm, John Howland, " a stout young man," was, by a " heel of the ship thrown into the sca, but catching by the halliards, which hung overboard, he kept his hold, and was saved." "A pro- fane and proud young seaman," also, " stout and able of body, who had despised the poor-people in their sickness, telling them he hoped to help cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey's end, and to make merry with what they had, was smitten with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and was himself the first thrown overboard, to the astonishment of all his Nov. 6. fellows." One other death occurred, - that of William Button, a servant to Dr. Fuller ; and there was one birth, in the family of Stephen Hopkins, of a son, christened " Oceanus," who died shortly after the landing. The ship being lcaky, and the passengers closely stowed, their clothes were constantly wet. This added much to the discomfort of the voyage, and laid the foundation for a portion of the mortality which prevailed the first winter. 1
" Land ho!" This welcome cry was not heard until Nov. 9. two months had elapsed, and the sandy cliffs of Cape Cod were the first points which greeted the eyes of the exiles.
1 Morton's Mem, 10-12; Brad- are the new facts introduced in the ford, in Prince, 72; N. E. Gen. text, furnished by Charles Deane, Reg., 1. 48, and 2. 186-8, where Esq.
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ARRIVAL AT CAPE COD.
Yet the appearance of these cliffs "much comforted them, CHAP. and caused them to rejoice together, and praise God, that III. had given them once again to see land."1 Their destina- 1620. tion, however, was to "the mouth of the Hudson,"2 and now they were much farther to the north, and within the bounds of the New England Company. They therefore "tacked to stand to the southward," but "becoming en- tangled among roaring shoals, and the wind shrinking upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for the Cape," and the next day, "by God's providence, they got into Cape harbor," where, falling upon their knees, they "blessed the Lord, the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all perils and miscries thercin, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element." 3
Morton, in his Memorial, asserts that the Mayflower put in at this Cape, "partly by reason of a storm by which she was forced in, but more especially by the fraudulency and contrivance of the aforesaid Mr. Jones, the master of the ship ; for their intention and his engagement was to Hudson's river ; but some of the Dutch having notice of their intention, and having thoughts about the same time of erecting a plantation there likewise, they fraudulently hired the said Jones, by delays, while they were in Eng- land, and now under the pretence of the sholes, &c., to disappoint them in their going thither. Of this plot be- twixt. the Dutch and Mr. Jones, I have had late and certain intelligence."4 The explicitness of this assertion has caused the charge of treachery - brought by no one but Morton - to be repeated by almost every historian down to the present period ; 5 and it is only within a few years
1 Mourt's Relat., in Chron. Pil., 117.
2 Young, Mourt, and Winslow, in Chron. Pil., 102, 117, 385; Dud- ley's Letter, p. 9, cd. 1696.
3 Bradford, in Chron. Pil., 103-4.
4 Morton's Mem., 12.
" Hubbard, Mather, Neal, Prince, Hutchinson, Robertson, Belknap, Holmes, Baylies, Graham, Hildreth, &c.
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82
CHARGES AGAINST THE DUTCH.
CHAP. that its correctness has been questioned by writers whose III. judgment is entitled to respect.1 But notwithstanding the 1620. plausibility of the arguments urged to disprove this charge, and even the explicit assertion that it is a "Parthian cal- umny," and a " sheer falsehood," we must frankly own that, in our estimation, the veracity of Morton yet remains unimpeached. Facts prove that the Dutch were contem- plating the permanent settlement of New Netherland, and the early Pilgrim writers assert that overtures were made to the Leyden church by the merchants of Holland to join them in that movement; and when the petition to the States General presented by these merchants was finally rejected, and the Mayflower commenced her voyage intending to proceed to the Hudson, is it improbable that steps may have been taken to frustrate their intention, and that arrangements may even have been made with the captain of that vessel, by Dutch agents in England, to alter her course, and land the cmigrants farther to the North ?
We are aware that one2 to whose judgment we have usually deferred has said, that, had the intelligence been early it would have been more certain. But every student of history knows that late intelligence is often more reliable and authentic than early; and if it be asked, from what . source did Morton obtain his information ? - we can only suggest that, up to 1664, New Netherland remained under the dominion of the Dutch, and the history of that colony was in a great measure secret to the English. But several of the prominent settlers of Plymouth had ere this removed to Manhattan, -as Isaac Allerton, and Thomas Willet, - and after the reduction of the country and its subjection to England, from these persons the late and certain intel- ligence may have been received, or from access to docu- ments which were before kept private.3
1 Moulton, and Brodhead, in their Hist's. of N. York, and Dr. Young, in Chron. PiL.
2 Young, in Chron. Pil., 102, note.
3 For further remarks on this sub- ject, see Appendix, Note B.
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1
CAPE COD HARBOR.
The harbor in which the Mayflower now lay is worthy of CHAP. a passing glance. It is described by Maj. Grahame, as "one
III. of the finest harbors for ships of war on the whole Atlantic 10:20. coast. The width and freedom from obstructions of every kind, at its entrance, and the extent of sea-room upon the land side, make it accessible to vessels of the largest class in almost all winds. This advantage, its capacity, depth of water, excellent anchorage, and the complete shelter it affords from all winds, render it one of the most valuable harbors upon our coast, whether considered in a commer- cial or a military point of view." 1
If to the advantages here enumerated could have been added a fertile soil, and an extensive back country, suitably furnished with timber and fuel, the spot to which this gallant bark was led would have proved as eligible a site for a flourishing colony as could possibly have been desired. But these advantages were wanting; and though our fathers considered it an " extraordinary blessing of God " in di- recting their course for these parts, which they were at first inclined to consider "one of the most pleasant, most healthful, and most fruitful parts of the world," longer acquaintance and better information abundantly satisfied them of the insuperable obstacles to agricultural productive- ness and commercial importance. 2
The Pilgrims were now ready to pass to the shore. But before taking this step, as the spot where they lay was without the bounds of their patent, and as signs of insub- ordination had appcared among their servants, an associa- tion was deemed necessary, and an agreement to " combine in one body and to submit to such government and gov- ernors as should by common cousent" be selected and chosen. Accordingly a compact was prepared, and signed before landing by all the males of the company who were
1 Exec. Doc., 25 Cong., Sen., also Mourt, in Chron. Pil., 118. 1837-8, No. 121, pp. 2, 13. See 2 Mourt, in Chron. Pil.
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THE COMPACT IN THE MAYFLOWER.
CHAP. of age; and this instrument was the constitution of the III. colony for several years. It was as follows :
1620. "In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign 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 advance ment of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mu- tually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together unto a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid, and by virtue hereof to enact, con- stitute and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, 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 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the 18th, and of Scot- land the 54th, A. D. 1620." 1
While, on the one hand, much eloquence has been ex- pended in expatiating on this compact, as if in the cabin of the Mayflower had consciously, and for the first time, been discovered in an age of Cimmerian darkness the true principles of republicanism and cquality ; on the other hand, it has been asserted that the Pilgrims were "actu- ated by the most daring ambition," and that even at this early period, they designed to erect a government abso-
1 Mourt, in Chron. Pil., 121; 1. 47-53. The signers were forty- Bradford, in Prince, 84-5; Morton's Mem., 15; Hubbard, 53, 62; Plym. Col. Laws, 18; N. Eng. Gen. Reg.,
one in number, so that there were probably fifty-nine women and chil- dren in the company.
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CHARACTER OF THIS COMPACT.
lutely independent of the mother country. But the truth CHAP. seems to be that, although the form of government adopted III. by the emigrants is republican in its character, and remark- 1020. ably liberal, at the same time its founders acknowledged suitable allegiance to England, and regarded themselves as connected with the land of their nativity by political and social tics, both endearing and enduring. Left to them- selves in a wilderness land, apart from all foreign aid, and thrown upon their own resources, with nonc to help or advise, they adopted that course which commended itself to their calm judgment as the simplest and best; and if, under such circumstances, their compact was democratic, it seems chicfly to intimate that self-government is naturally attractive to the mind, and is spontaneously resorted to in emergencies like the present. It is as unwise to flatter our ancestors by ascribing to them motives different from those which themselves professed, as it is unjust to prefer charges against them to which they are not obnoxious. They were honest, sincere, and God-fearing men; humble in their circumstances, and guided by their own judgment; but endowed with no singular prophetic vision, and claiming no preternatural political sagacity. They could penetrate the future no farther than to confide in the justice of God and the power of truth. The latter they knew must ulti- mately prevail, for the former was pledged to secure its triumph. 1
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The first care of the exiles, having established their pro- visional government, was to provide for their shelter. Cautiously, therefore, for fear of harm, on the same day Nov.11 that the compact was signed, fifteen or sixteen men, well armed, were set ashore at Long Point to explore the coun-
1 Comp. Webster's Bi-Cent. Ad- dress at Plym., p. 20 .- Chalmers, Am., 87, very justly says : "The association itself opposes the admis- sion of reasonings visionary and in-
dependent, and recognises England as their country; themselves as sub- jects ; and the King as their sover- cign lord."
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86
FIRST EXPLORING TOUR.
CHAP. try ; and returning at night with a boat-load of juniper, III. which delighted them with its fragrance, they reported that they had found " neither persons nor habitations."
Nov. 12. 1620. The stillness of the Sabbath was consecrated to wor- ship - the first, probably, ever observed by Christians in Nov. 13. Massachusetts -and on the morrow the shallop was drawn to the beach for repairs, and for the first time the whole company landed for refreshment. As the fitting of the shallop promised to be a difficult task, the adventurous, impatient of delay, were eager to prosecute a journey by land for discovery. "The willingness of the persons was liked, but the thing itself, in regard of the danger, was rather permitted than approved." Consent, however, was obtained, and sixteen were detailed under Capt. Standish,- their military leader, who had served in the armies both of Elizabeth and James,1- and Wm. Bradford, Stephen Hop- kins, and Edward Tilly, being joined with him as " advisers Nov. 15. and counsellors," the party debarked at Stevens' Point, at the western extremity of the harbor, and marching in single file, at the distance of about a mile five savages were espied, who, at their approach, hastily fled.
Nov. 16. Compassing the head of East Harbor Creek the next day, and reaching a deep valley, fed with numerous springs, the exhausted travellers, whose provisions consisted but of " biscuit and Holland cheese, with a little bottle of aqua vitæ," eagerly halted by one of these springs, and " drank their first draught of New England water with as much delight as ever they drunk drink in all their lives." Pass- ing thence to the shore, and kindling a beacon-fire, they proceeded to another valley, in Truro, in which was a
1 For the particulars of his life, sce Morton's Mem., Belknap's Biog., Young's Chron. Pilgrims, Winsor's Duxbury, &c., &c. He is supposed to have been born in Lancashire, England, and to have been heir ap-
parent to the estate of the Stand- ishes of Standish Hall ; but his early history is involved in some obscurity, and the correctness of these tradi- tions is yet undetermined.
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SECOND EXPLORING TOUR.
pond, " a musket shot broad and twice as long, near which CHAP. the Indians had planted corn. Further on graves were dis-
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III. covered ; and at another spot the ruins of a house, and 1020. heaps of sand filled with corn stored in baskets. With hesitancy - so scrupulous were they of wilfully wronging the natives-an old kettle, a waif from the ruins, was filled with this corn, for which the next summer the owners were remunerated.1 In the vicinity of the Pamet were the ruins of a fort, or palisade ; and encamping for the night near the Pond in Truro, on the following day they returned Nov. 17. to the ship, "weary and welcome," and their "Eschol " was added to their diminishing stores.2
Ten days after another expedition was fitted out, in Nov. 27. which twenty-five of the colonists, and nine or ten of the sailors, with Capt. Jones at their head, were engaged ; and visiting the mouth of the Pamet, called by them " Cold Harbor," and obtaining fresh supplies from the aboriginal granaries, after a brief absence, in which a few unim- portant discoveries were made, the party returned. Here a Nov.30. discussion ensued. Should they settle at Cold Harbor, or seek a more eligible site ? In favor of the former it was urged, that the harbor was suitable for boat's if not for ships ; the corn land was good; it was convenient to their fishing grounds; the location was healthy ; winter was approaching ; travelling was dangerous ; their provis- ions were wasting; and the Captain of the Mayflower was anxious to return. On the other hand, it was replied that a better place might be found ; it would be a hindrance to remove a second time ; good spring water was wanting; and lastly at Agawam, now Ipswich, twenty leagues to the
1 Baylies, Mem., 1. 54, unjustly,
2 Mourt, in Chron. Pil., 125-37 ; as we think, censures this act. In Bradford, in Prince, 74-5; Morton, the state in which the Pilgrims then 16-7; Hubbard, 55. were, we consider it perfectly excus- able ; and their honesty was evinced by their subsequent conduct.
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THIRD EXPLORING TOUR.
CHAP. north, was an excellent harbor, better ground, and better III. fishing. Robert Coppin, their pilot, likewise informed them 1620. of " a great and navigable river, and good harbor, in the other headland of the bay, almost right over against Cape Cod," which he had formerly visited, and which was called "Thievish Harbor." 1
Dec. 6.
A third expedition therefore was agreed upon ; and though the weather was unfavorable, and some difficulty was experienced in clearing Billingsgate point, they reached the weather shore, and there "had better sailing." Yet bitter was the cold, and the spray, as it froze on them, gave them the appearance of being encased in glittering mail. At night their rendezvous was near Great Meadow Creek ; Dec. 8. and early in the morning, after an encounter with the Indi- ans, in which no one was wounded, their journey was resumed, -their destination being the harbor which Coppin had described to them, and which he assured them could be reached in a few hours sailing. Through rain and snow they steered their course ; but by the middle of the after- noon a fearful storm raged ; the hinges of their rudder were broken ; the mast was split, the sail was rent, and the inmates of the shallop were in imminent peril : - yet, by God's mercy, they survived the first shock, and favored by a flood tide steered into the harbor. A glance satisfied the pilot that it was not the place he sought ; and in an agony of despair he exclaimed : "Lord be merciful to us! My eyes never saw this place before." In his frenzy he would have run the boat ashore among the breakers ; but an intrepid seaman resolutely shouted : " About with her ! or we are lost !" - and instantly obeying, with hard rowing, dark as it was, with the wind howling fiercely, and the rain dashing furiously, they shot under the lee of an island, and moored until morning.
Dec. 9. The next day the island was explored - now known as 1 Morton's Mem., 17-18.
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THE LANDING AT PLYMOUTH.
Clarke's Island - and the clothing of the adventurers was CHAP. carefully dried ; but, excusable as it might have been~ III. deemed under the circumstances in which they were placed to have immediately resumed their researches, the Sabbath was devoutly and sacredly observed.1
On Monday, Dec. 11th, O. S., a landing was effected Dec. 11. upon . FOREFATHER'S ROCK. The site of this stone was pre- 1620. served by tradition, and a venerable cotemporary of sev- eral of the Pilgrims, whose head was silvered with the frosts of ninety-five winters, settled the question of its iden- tity in 1741. Borne in his arm-chair by a grateful popu- 1711. lace, Elder Faunce took his last look at the spot so endeared to his memory, and bedewing it with tears, he bade it farc- well! In 1774, this precious boulder, as if seized with the 1774. spirit of that bustling age, was raised from its bed to be consecrated to Liberty, and in the act of its elevation it split in twain ! - an occurrence regarded by many as omi- nous of the separation of the colonies from England - and the lower part being left in the spot where it still lies, the upper part, weighing several tons, was conveyed, amidst the heartiest rejoicings, to liberty-pole square, and adorned with a flag bearing the imperishable motto : "LIBERTY OR DEATH!" On the 4th of July, 1834, the natal day of the July 4, freedom of the colonies, this part of the rock was re- 1531. moved to the ground in front of Pilgrim Hall, and there it rests, encircled with a railing, ornamented with heraldic wreaths, bearing the names of the forty-one signers of the compact in the Mayflower. Fragments of this rock are relics in the cabinets of hundreds of our citizens, and are sought with avidity even by strangers as memorials of a pilgrimage to the birth place of New England.2
On the day of the landing the harbor was sounded, and the land was explored ; and the place inviting settlement,
1 Morton's Mem., 19-21. er's Plymouth,29, 198, 199; Dwight's
2 Davis's Morton, 48, note; Thach-
8* Travels, 2. 110; &c., &c.
أحد المصيـ
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SETTLEMENT OF PLYMOUTH.
CHAP. the adventurers returned with tidings of their success ; the III. Mayflower weighed anchor to proceed to the spot ; and ere 1620. another Sabbath dawned she was safely moored in the Dec. 16. desired haven. Monday and Tuesday were spent in explor- Dec. 20. ing tours ; and on Wednesday, the 20th, the settlement at
Plymouth was commenced, - twenty persons remaining Dec. 23. ashore for the night. On the following Saturday the first Dec. 25. timber was felled ; on Monday their storehouse was com- Dec. 28. menced ; on Thursday preparations were made for the erec-
tion of a fort, and allotments of land were made to the Dec. 31. families ;1 and on the following Sunday religious worship was performed for the first time in their storehouse.2
For a month the colonists were busily employed. The distance of the vessel - which lay more than a mile from the shore - was a great hindrance to their work ; frequent Jan. 14. storms interrupted their operations ; and by accident their Feb. 9. storehouse was destroyed by fire, and their hospital nar- 1620-1. rowly escaped destruction. The houses were arranged in two rows, on Leyden street, each man building his own. The storehouse was twenty feet square ; the size of the pri- vate dwellings we have no means of determining. All were constructed of logs, with the interstices filled with sticks and clay ; the roofs were covered with thatch ; the chim- neys were of fragments of wood, plastered with clay ; and oiled paper served as a substitute for glass for the inlet of light.3
The whole of this first winter was a period of unprece- dented hardship and suffering. Mild as was the weather,4 it was far more severe than that of the land of their birth; and the diseases contracted on shipboard, aggravated by colds caught in their wanderings in quest of a home, caused
1 The records of this allotment may be seen in Hazard, Young, Baylies, Thacher, Russell, &c.
3 Young's Chron. Pil.
+ Dudley's Letter, and Wood's N. E. Prospect, speak of the mildness 2 Bradford, in Prince, 80 ; Mor- of this season. ton's Mem., 22-3.
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MORTALITY AMONG THE PILGRIMS.
a great and distressing mortality to prevail. In December, CHAP. six died ; in January, eight ; in February, seventeen ; and III. in March, thirteen : - a total of forty-four in four months, 1621. of whom twenty-one were signers of the compact.1 It is remarkable that the leaders of the colony were spared. The survivors were unwearied in their attentions to their companions ; but affection could not avert the arrows of the Destroyer. The first burial place was on Cole's Hill ; and as an affecting proof of the miserable condition of the sufferers, it is said that, knowing they were surrounded by warlike savages, and fearing their losses might be discov- ered, and advantage be taken of their weakness and help- lessness to attack and exterminate them, the sad mounds formed by rude coffins hidden beneath the earth, were care- fully leveled and sowed with grain ! 2
However rapidly we have sketched, in the preceding pages, the history of the Pilgrims from their settlement in Holland to their removal to America, no one can fail to have been deeply impressed with the inspiring lessons which that history teaches. As has been well said : " Their ban- ishment to Holland was fortunate; the decline of their little company in the strange land was fortunate ; the diffi- culties which they experienced in getting the royal consent to banish themselves to this wilderness were fortunate ; all the tears and heart breakings of that ever memorable part- ing at Delft-haven had the happiest influence on the rising destinies of New England. All this purified the ranks of the settlers. These rough touches of fortune brushed off the light, uncertain, selfish spirits. They made it a grave, solemn, self-denying expedition, and required of those who were engaged in it to be so too."
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