USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the colonial period. 1492-1692 v. I > Part 9
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Touching also is the story of the "long, cold, dreary
1 Bradford, in Prince, 95-104; 2 Baylies, 1. 69, 70; Holmes, 1. Smith, in 3 M. H. Coll., 3. 27; 168. Hubbard, 57.
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REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE PILGRIMS.
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CHAP. autumnal passage," in that " one solitary, adventurous ves- III. sel, the Mayflower of a forlorn hope, freighted with the 1621. prospects of a future State, and bound across the unknown sea." We behold it "pursuing with a thousand misgivings, the uncertain, the tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, and winter surprises them on the deep, but brings them not the sight of the wished for shore. The awful voice of the storm howls through the rigging. The laboring masts seem straining from their base ; the dismal sound of the pumps is heard ; the ship leaps, as it were, madly from billow to billow ; the ocean breaks, and settles with engulphing floods over the floating deck, and beats with deadening, shivering weight against the staggering vessel." 1
Escaped from these perils, after a passage of sixty-six days, and subsequent journeyings until the middle of De- cember, they land on the ice-clad rocks of Plymouth, worn out with suffering, weak and weary from the fatigues of the voyage, poorly armed, scantily provisioned, surrounded by barbarians, without prospect of human succor, without the help or favor of their King, with a useless patent, without assurance of liberty in religion, without shelter, and with- out means !
Yet resolute men are there ; - Carver, Bradford, Brews- . ter, Standish, Winslow, Alden, Warren, Hopkins, and others. Female fortitude and resignation are there. Wives and mothers, with dauntless courage and unexampled hero- ism, have braved all these dangers, shared all these trials, borne all these sorrows, submitted to all these privations. And there, too, is " chilled and shivering childhood, house- less, but for a mother's arms, couchless, but for a mother's breast."
But those sepulchres of the dead ! - where lie Turner, Chilton, Crackston, Fletcher, Goodman, Mullins, White, Rogers, Priest, Williams, and their companions, - these
1 Everett's Plym. Address.
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REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE PILGRIMS.
touch the tenderest and holicst chords. . Husbands and CHAP. wives, parents and children, have finished their PILGRIMAGE, III. n
and mingled their dust with the dust of New England ! 1621. Hushed as the unbreathing air, when not a leaf stirs in the mighty forest, was the scene at those graves where the noble and the true were buried in peace. Deeply as they sorrowed at parting with those, doubly endeared to them by the remembrance of what they had suffered together, and by the fellowship of kindred griefs, they committed them to the earth calmly, but with hope. "No sculptured marble, no enduring monument, no honorable inscription," marks the spot where they were laid. Is it surprising that local attachments soon sprung up in the breasts of the survivors, endearing them to the place of their refuge and sorrows ? They had come " hither from a land to which they were never to return. Hither they had brought, and here they were to fix, their hopes, and their affections." Consecrated by persecutions in their native land, by an exile in Holland of hardship and toil, by the perils of the ocean voyage and its terrible storms, by their sufferings and wanderings in quest of a home, and by the heart- rending trials of the first lonely winter, -by all these was their new home consecrated and hallowed in their inmost thoughts ; and forward to the future they looked, with con- fidence in God, and a cheerful reliance upon that beneficent Providence which had enabled them with patience to sub- mit to his chastenings, and, Phoenix-like, to rise from the ashes of the dead, and from the depths of the bitterest affliction and distress, with invincible courage, determined to subduc the wilderness before them, and to "fill this region of the great continent, which stretches almost from pole to pole," with freedom and intelligence, the arts and the sciences, flourishing villages, temples of worship, and the numerous blessings of civilized life, baptized in the fountain of the Gospel of Christ.
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CHAPTER IV.
INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS.
CHAP. IV. ALTHOUGH history is silent respecting the early events 1 of the lives of a majority of the Pilgrims, we have reason to think that but few of this band had been regularly trained to the profession of arms, and Standish is the only one who is certainly known to have served as a soldier. Thrown, therefore, upon the inhospitable shores of New England, and surrounded by savages whose enmity they feared, the experience of the first winter impressed them with the necessity of speedy military organization; and before spring Feb. 17, dawned, a meeting was held to consult upon measures of 1620-1.
defense, and Standish was chosen Captain, and entrusted with " authority of command in affairs." In the midst of their deliberations, two savages appeared upon a neighbor- ing eminence, - the advance guard of a greater body, the clamor of whose voices was heard by those sent to parley with them. 1
Feb. 21. Four days after the ordnance of the colony was mounted ; and March being ushered in with warm winds from the south, and the pleasant singing of birds in the woods, Mar. 16. about the middle of that month a second military council was convened, and a second aboriginal interruption occurred. A single savage, armed with his bow, marched boldly to their rendezvous, and in broken English bade them, " Wel- come !" This was Samoset, the " Sagamore of Moratig-
1 Chron. Pil., 180; Hubbard, 63.
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VISIT OF SAMOSET.
gon." 1 He had learned some English from the crews of CHAP. the vessels which fished at Monhegan, was a man " free IV. of speech, so far as he could express his mind," and dis- 1621. coursed with them openly "of the whole country, and of each province, and of their Sagamores, and of their num- ber of men and strength." Hc informed them that Ply- mouth - their place of abode - was called Patuxet by the natives ; that its inhabitants were dead ; and that " neither man, woman, or child " was left to dispute their possession. The " Massasoits," or Wampanoags, whose hospitality he was sharing, he represented as "sixty strong;" and the Nausites, who had attacked them in December, as " one hundred strong."
Remaining with them over night, on the morrow he left, Mar. 17. promising to return soon with some of the " Massasoits," to trade for beaver ; and true to his word, the next day he Mar- 18 made his appearance, accompanied by five others, clad in the Indian costume, who " made semblance of friendship, ate liberally of the English victuals, and sang and danced after their manner like antics : " but as it was the Sabbath, their overtures of trade were waived, and they left at nightfall - Samoset only remaining, under pretense of sick- ness, until the following Wednesday.
On the day of his departure a third military meeting was Mar- 21. held, and a third interruption occurred, -two or three savages appearing on Watson's Hill, " whetting and rub- bing their arrows and strings." Resuming their business the next day, they were interrupted a fourth time, by the Mar. 22. arrival of Samoset, with four others, one of whom was Tis- · quantum, or Squanto, who was brought home by Dermer, in 1619.2 Learning that Massasoit was near by, in about an
1 Possibly the " Somerset" seen Maine. MSS. in my possession, and by Capt. Levet, in Maine, in 1623. Indian deeds. Bancroft mistakes in saying he was of the Wampanoags. 2 Sce chap. 1. See 3 M. II. Coll., S. 170. One " Summerset," in 1623, deeded to John Brown a large tract of land in
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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY SETTLED.
CHAP. hour he made his appearance, with his brother Quade IV. quina, and about sixty of his warriors. Mutual distrust
1621. delayed an interview; but by the mediation of Squanto a hostage was sent them, and Massasoit with twenty of his men crossed the Town Brook, where they were received in military form, escorted to a new building then erecting, pre- sented to Gov. Carver, and after the exchange of friendly salutations, a league of peace -the first of its kind - was concluded, which was preserved inviolable for upwards of fifty years. By its terms, the parties were to abstain from mutual injuries ; to make restitution for offenses and deliver up the offenders ; to aid and defend each other in the event of external hostilities ; and in their interchange of hospi- talities arms were to be laid aside. The confederates of Massasoit were to be comprised in this league, and he was requested to inform them of its terms, and to solicit their consent to it. " All which he seemed to like, and at the same time acknowledged himself content to become the subject of King James, and gave unto them and their heirs all the adjacent lands." 1
Mar. 23.
On the day of the departure of Massasoit, the interrupted military arrangements were concluded, several "laws and orders " were passed, and, as they were about entering upon a new civil year, John Carver was unanimously elected Governor of the Colony. Thus four months from the date of the landing at Plymouth, the civil and military organi- zation of the colony was established, and a treaty of peace with the natives was concluded.
Spring having dawned, the attention of the Pilgrims, reduced by sickness and suffering from hunger, was turned to provisions for their future support ; and twenty acres of corn and beans were planted, and six acres of barley and peas. In these arduous labors - which were performed
1 Bradford, in Prince, 99; Mourt, in Chron. Pil., 180-96; Hubbard, 58-9 ; Morton's Mem., 23-4.
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PROVIDENCE AND THE PILGRIMS.
wholly by hand, for neither ploughs nor cattle were then to CHAP. be found - they were assisted by Tisquantum, who had IV. attached himself to their service, and who taught them the 1621. best mode of cultivating and manuring their crops.
We are aware that the claim of a " special providence " attending these exiles, is regarded by many as a relic of superstition, unworthy of credence in the present enlight- ened age ; and it must be admitted, that the doctrine itself is liable to many perversions, and that distorted applications are too often made of it. Yet, guarding ever so cautiously against the influence of imagination, - which should always be kept within rational bounds where history is the theme of discoursc,-we must at the same time acknowledge, that we cannot but regard it as a kind interposition in behalf of this fecble band in inclining the hearts of the Indians to peace, and in raising up friends to them among these undis- ciplined children of the forest. Those who see God only in the stupendous operations of nature, wheeling the planets and guiding the stars, without admitting His presence in its humbler walks, watching the sparrow and providing for the worm, may smile at the recognition of His hand stretched out to these exiles ; but for our part, no thought is more cheering than that He, who is greater than the greatest, and God over all, is yet a Father to his children, merciful in His dealings and bountiful in His provisions for their welfare and happiness.
" One adequate support For the calamities of mortal life Exists, one only ; an assured belief That the procession of our fate, howe'er Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being Of Infinite benevolence and power ; Whose everlasting purposes embrace All accidents converting them to good."
The trials of the colonists during the winter had been great ; but others were now added which impressed them
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98
DEPARTURE OF THE MAYFLOWER-DEATH OF CARVER.
CHAP. more fully with a sense of their dependence on God. Hith- IV. erto, though distant from the land of their birth, it was possible to return, for the Mayflower yet lay moored at Plymouth. But soon this last link connecting them with Apr. 5. the Old World was broken; for early in April, this frail 1621. bark, the precious memorial of their wanderings and suf- ferings, weighed her anchor, hoisted her sails, and, skirting the harbor towards the Gurnet, while the lone Pilgrims crowded the strand watching the lessening speck, gradu- ally vanished from sight, leaving them amidst the solitude of nature, shorn of half their strength, to encounter the mysterious perils of the future! To the honor of these men let it ever be remembered, that not one of their number fainted for weakness, or turned back faltering to the home of his childhood; but, with a loftiness of purpose which was ever theirs, and consecrating themselves anew to the work in which they had engaged, all resolutely remained, determined to abide the direction of God, and calmly to follow the leadings of His hand until summoned from earth to their heavenly home.
Apr. 6. The very day following the departure of the Mayflower one more, and the head of the band, received his summons ! Suddenly seized while at work in the field, and deprived of his senses in a few short hours, the spirit of Carver returned to the Giver, and the Pilgrims were bereft of their Gov- ernor and friend ! But severe as was the shock they were nerved for the worst ; and quelling the tumult of emotion in their breasts, a successor was chosen in the person of William Bradford, and to provide for the contingency of his removal by death, Isaac Allerton was chosen his As- sistant. 1
1 Bradford, in Prince, 104, 105 ; Morton's Mem., 30-1; Hubbard, 66-7. The latter speaks of Gov. Carver as " a gentleman of singular piety, rare humility, and great con- descendency ; one also of a public spirit, as well as of a public purse,
having disbursed the greater part of that considerable estate God had given him, for the carrying on the interest of the company, as their urgent necessity required." His wife died a few weeks after, of grief at his loss.
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99
EMBASSY TO MASSASOIT.
The first public act of the new administration was to fit CHAP. out an embassy to visit Massasoit, to discover the country, ~
IT. and to strengthen and establish the league which had been 1621. formed with him. Stephen Hopkins and Edward Winslow were the persons selected for this purpose, and Tisquantum accompanied them as guide and interpreter. Furnished with " a laced horseman's coat of red cotton " as a present to the monarch, and a signet chain of copper, they set out on Tuesday, at nine in the morning, and reached Namasket, July 3. now Middleborough, at three in the afternoon ; and feasting on " maizium, shad-spawn, and roasted acorns," which were luxuries with the natives, they proceeded on, and tarried over night at the fishing wear near Titicut, in Taunton. The next day they passed many places which had been July 4. formerly inhabited, where the bones of the dead lay bleach- ing upon the ground ; and reaching "Packanokick," the residence of Massasoit, they were received as hospitably as his circumstances permitted, though of food his provisions were exceedingly scanty, and his lodgings consisted but of planks, raised a foot from the earth and covered with mats. The poor messengers, tormented with " lice and fleas within doors, and musquitoes without," and with the wild singing of the Indians, lulling themselves to repose, were " worse weary of their lodgings than of their journey ;" and, faint from hunger and sleeplessness, the next day found them July 5. exhausted and famishing. " Two fishes like breams, but three times so big," were all that could be furnished for dinner for forty, and this meal only they had "in two nights and a day," so that, " had not one of them brought a partridge, they had taken their journey fasting."
On Friday, before sunrise, they started for home while July » they had strength to reach it; and leaving Tisquantum to " truck for them," and taking Tokamahamon, a new ally, they rested for the night at Titicut. About two in the morning, " arose a great storm of wind, rain, lightning, and
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TRIP TO NAUSET-CONSPIRACY OF CORBITANT.
CHAP. thunder," by which they were completely drenched ; but IV. pushing on, " God be praised, they came safe home that July 7. night, wet, weary, and surbated." 1
July, 1621.
Other expeditions were made during the summer. Some- time in July a party of ten visited Nauset, now Eastham, for the recovery of a son of John Billington, who had wandered five days in the woods, subsisting on berries. Reaching the residence of Iyanough, the Sachem of Cum- maquid -now Barnstable -" a man not exceeding twenty- six years of age, personable, gentle, courteous and fair conditioned, indeed, not like a savage save for his attire," they received " an entertainment answerable to his parts, with cheer plentiful and various," and perfected a league of friendship with his tribe.
Departing thence for Nauset, Iyanough accompanied them; and on reaching that place, Aspinet, the Sachem, came forth to meet them, bearing the boy "behung with beads," and " making his peace," they bestowed on him presents, and promised restitution for the corn taken from his granaries the previous winter.2
Hearing at Nauset that the Narragansets had seized Massa- soit, the adventurers hastened home, where a report was cir- culating that Corbitant, a petty sachem subject to Massasoit, had raised the standard of revolt. Upon this, Tokamahamon was sent to ascertain the truth of the report, and Tisquan- tum and Hobomok following him, and being discovered by Corbitant, he beset the house in which they were lodged, and took Tisquantum prisoner ; but Hobomok broke from his grasp, and escaped to Plymouth.
Both justice and policy demanded redress; and ten men Ang. 14. were sent to attack Corbitant and his faction, and rescue the prisoners. The day was stormy ; but reaching Namasket
1 Mourt, in Chron. Pil., 204-14 ; journey, who quotes from Bradford Bradford, in Prince, 106-7; Mor- and Morton.
ton's Mem., 31-2; Hubbard, 67. 2 Bradford, in Prince, 107; Mourt, We follow Prince in the date of this in Chron. Pil., 314-17.
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TRADING VOYAGE TO THE MASSACHUTETTS.
undiscovered, at midnight the assailants rushed upon the CHAP. wigwams, liberated Tisquantum and Tokamahamon, and IV. made several prisoners :- but Corbitant had fled ! March- 1621. ing the next day into the midst of the town, " thither came all whose hearts were upright," and proclamation was made that, though Corbitant had escaped, " there was no place should secure him and his, if he continued his threatening," and that, if Massasoit returned not safely, or if hereafter Corbitant rebelled against him, or offered him violence, it should be " revenged upon him to the overthrow of him and his."1 This resolute conduct had the desired effect ; and shortly after, a league of peace and submission was Sep. 13. drawn up, which was subscribed by nine of the principal sachems, most of whom visited Plymouth with assurances of friendship. 2
A few days later a trading expedition was fitted out to Sep. 18. the Massachusetts tribe, and Standish, with ten men, were entrusted with its execution. Leaving Plymouth on the floodtide, at midnight, late the next day 3 they reached the " bottom of the bay," probably in the vicinity of the penin- sula of Squantum,4 where they " lay in the shallop." Put- ting in for the shore in the morning, they landed near a cliff, Sep. 20. and placing two sentinels land-ward to secure the shallop, four of the company, and one of the guides, with Standish, went to seek the natives. Meeting a woman at a short dis- tance, she " told them where the people were," and Tis-
1 Bradford, in Prince, 110 ; Mourt, in Chron. Pil., 219-24; Hubbard, 68. Some of our authorities say fourteen men were sent to Namasket; but we prefer the smaller number, as Standish seldom took more than ten men with him, and besides, there were but nineteen men left in the colony, and it is hardly probable fourteen of them would be absent at once.
2 This league is in Morton's Mem., 29; Hubbard, 61, 68; Plym. Col. Laws, 305. We are of opinion that all the sachems did not sign at once, but that a part, at least, affixed their names at a later date. See farther on. 3 Not in the morning, as in Drake's Boston, 44. See Chron. Pil., 224-5. 4 See the valuable note of Mr. Drake, Hist. Boston, 44, with which we concur.
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EXPLORATION OF THE COUNTRY.
CHAP. quantum went to them,- the rest returning to the shallop. IV. The sachem of these parts was "Obbatinewat," whosc 1621. proper residence was at " Shawmut," now Boston.1 Being in fear of the Tarratines-a warlike tribe at the East- ward-and at enmity with the "Squaw-sachem " - who lived in his own neighborhood -he " durst not remain in any settled place," and was now a wanderer from his proper abode. Consenting to subscribe the league which others had signed the week before,2 he accompanied them to visit the squaw-sachem, and they "again crossed the bay," which is described as " large," and as embosoming " at least fifty islands." It was " night" 3 ere they reached Charlestown, and finding no one on shore, the voyagers " rid at anchor aboard the shallop."
Sep. 21.
The next day all but two landed, and marched up into the country, passing the late residence of "Nanepashemet," husband of the squaw-sachem, which was "a scaffold largely built, with poles and planks, some six foot from the ground, and the house on that, being situated on the top of a hill."+. Farther on, in a " bottom," they came to a "fort," of "poles some thirty or forty foot long, stuck in the ground as thick as they could be set one by another," and enclosing a "ring some forty or fifty foot over," with a " trench breast-high digged on each side," and an entrance on one side by a bridge. Within this Nanepashemet lay buried ; and a mile farther on was another fort, "on the top of a hill," where he was killed. Near this they held an interview with the natives, who were at first timid, but who gained courage as they found that no harm was in- tended. Tisquantum, as a requital for this confidence, pro-
1 Frothingham's IJist. Charles- at Boston, near Copp's hill, as Belk- town, 32.
2 See note 2, p. 101.
3 We infer from this expression, that some time was consumed in crossing' the bay; and hence it is improbable that the first landing was
nap and Young suggest. See the note of Mr. Drake already referred to.
+ Said to have been in Medford, on the borders of the Mystic. Lewis's Lynn, 47; Frothingham's Chas'n., 34.
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THANKSGIVING INSTITUTED.
posed to " rifle the salvage women and take their skins," CHAP. " for," said he, " they are a bad people, and have often IV. threatened you." But Standish indignantly replied : - 1621. " Were they never so bad, we would not wrong them, or give them any just occasion against us. For their words, we little weigh them ; but if they once attempt anything against us, then will we deal with them far worse than you desire."
Finally, the day being well spent, the party returned to the shallop; and provisions growing scarce, the wind com- ing fair, and having a light moon, they turned their faces homeward, and before noon on the following day safely Sep. 22. arrived, "with a considerable quantity of beaver, and a good report of the place," wishing they had settled there.1
In the fall, the FIRST HARVEST of the colonists was gath- ered. The " corn" yielded well, and the "barley " was " indifferently good," but the "peas" were a failure, owing to drought and late sowing. Satisfied, however, with the abundance of their fruits, four huntsmen were sent for fowl; and at their return, "after a special manner " the Pilgrims rejoiced together, feasting King Massasoit and ninety men for three days, and partaking of venison, wild- turkeys, water fowl, and other delicacies for which Now England was then famous. Thus the time-honored festival of THANKSGIVING was instituted :2-a festival, which, origi- nally confined in its observance to the sons of the Pilgrims and the State of Massachusetts, has now become almost a NATIONAL FESTIVAL, peculiarly appropriate as an expression of gratitude to God, and an acknowledgment of dependence upon Him for His bounties, and productive of a treasure of pleasing reminiscences, connected with the joys of our childhood, and the maturer but more exquisite delights of
1 Bradford, in Prince, 113; Mor-
2 Bradford, in Prince, 113; Wins- ton's Mem., 32 ; Hubbard, 68-9, low, in Chron. Pil., 231. 102.
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CONDITION OF THE PLYMOUTH SETTLEMENT.
CHAP. our own hearth-sides, where parents and children, brothers IV. and sisters, and all the loved objects of the family group 1621 renew, at the festive board, the vows of affection, exchange kind greetings, and revive recollections of the past to enliven the present ; while the pilgrimage of life is brigh- tened and sweetened by innocent amusements and healthful recreations, and a sense of obligation to the Giver of all good is implanted more deeply in the heart, sanctifying our trials and enhancing our blessings by a consciousness of the presence and protection of God !
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