USA > Massachusetts > The landing at Cape Anne; or, The charter of the first permanent colony on the territory of the Massachusetts company > Part 4
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I The council's grant of Massachusetts was by "indenture; " so recited in that of March 4, 1628-9. The abbreviations and orthography of the original have been retained as far as the modern type will allow. The reader will be enabled to detect any discrepancies, by consulting the fac-simile.
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SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, HOSPITALS.
said Bay And free liberty,1 to ffish, fowle, hawke, and hunt, truck, and trade in the Lands thereabout, and in all other places in New England aforesaid; whereof the said Lord Sheffeild is, or hath byn possessed, or which haue byn allotted to him the said Lord Sheffeild, or within his Jurisdiccon (not nowe being inhabited, or hereafter to be inhabited by any English) Together also with ffyve hundred Acres of free Land adioyning to the said Bay to be ymployed for publig vses, as for the building of a Towne, Scholes,2 Churches, Hospitalls, and for the mayn- tenance of such Ministers, Officers, and Magistrats, as by the said undertakers, and theire Associats are there already appointed, or which hereafter shall (with theire good liking,3 reside, and inhabitt there And also Thirty Acres of Land, over and beside the flyve hundred Acres of Land, before menconed To be allotted, and appointed for every perticuler person,4 Young, or old (being the Associats, or servants of the said vndertakers or their successors that shall come, and dwell at the aforesaid Cape Anne within Seaven 5 yeares next after the Date hereof, which Thirty Acres of Lande soe appointed to every person as aforesaid, shall be taken as the same doth lye together vpon the said Bay in one entire place, and not stragling6 in dyvers, or remote parcells not exceeding an English Mile, and a halfe in length on the Waters side of the said Bay Welding and Paying for ever yearely vnto the said Lord Sheffeild, his heires, successors, Rent gatherer, or assignes for every Thirty Acres soe to be obteyned, and possessed by
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1 This and all the provisions of this charter are carefully conformed to the charter of the Council of New England, and of the " Platform " of 1622. There is a remarkable resemblance between most of the early charters.
2 Here is the embryo of New England - schools, churches, hospitals - laws and elections, controlled by the people - to be only " with theire good liking," that is, " a major part of them." The first in order as in importance are the schools, sup- ported and controlled by the public; not separate, not dissentient, not sectarian, free, open to all, secular ; the benefits and the burdens to be shared alike by all - this is necessary to the perpetuity of the rest. " For such as are truly pious, shall find here the opportunity to put in practice the works of piety, both in building of churches, and raising of colleges for the breeding of youth, or maintenance of divines and other learned men." - The Council's " Brief Relation," etc. 1622.
3 The germ of a Republic.
4 Every man a landholder.
5 This was the time named in Gilbert's and other charters, within which the patentees must avail themselves of their privileges.
6 The intent was " the building of a towne," a compact population, thus avoiding many of the evils incidental to a thinly scattered population in a new country.
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TENURE. - POWERS OF GOVERNMENT.
the said Robert & Edward theire heires, successors, or Associats Twelve Pence of lawfull English money At the ffeast of St. Michaell Tharchaungell only (if it be lawfully demaunded) The first payment thereof To begynne ymediatly from and after thend and expiracon of the first Seaven yeares next after the date hereof And the said Lord Sheffeild for himself his heires, successo", and assignes doth Covenant, promise, and graunt to and with the said Robert Cushman, and Edward Winslow their heires, associats, and assignes That they the said Robert, and Edward, and such other persons as shall plant, and contract 1 with them, shall freely and quyetly, haue, hold, possesse, and enioy All such profitts, rights, previlidges, benefits, Comodities, advantages, and preheminences, as shall hereafter by the labor, search, and diligence of the said Vndertakers their Associats, servants, or Assignes be obteyned, found out, or made within the said Tract of Ground soe graunted vnto them as aforesaid ; Reserving vnto the said Lord Sheffeild his heirs, successors, and assignes The one Moyety of all such Mynes as shall be discovered, or found out at any tyme by the said Vndertakers, or any their heires, successo", or assignes vpon the Grounds aforesaid And further That it shall and may be lawfull to and for the said Robert Cushman, and Edward Winslowe their heires, associats, and assignes from tyme to tyme, and at all tymes hereafter soe soone or they or their Assignes haue taken possession, or entred into any of the said Lands To forbyd, repell, repulse and resist by force of Armes2 All and every such persons as shall build, plant, or inhabitt, or which shall offer, or make shew to build, plant, or inhabitt within the Lands soe as aforesaid graunted, without the leave, and licence of the said Robert, and Edward or theire assignes And the said Lord Sheffeild doth further Covenant, and graunt That vpon a
1 This as well as other parts of the instrument provide for the admission of new associates, or even of the assignment of the charter. The Dorchester Company may have " held " of the Plymouth people in either manner; perhaps the latter mode may be conjectured from the fact that the charter was in the possession of a Massachusetts Governor, the son of a Governor, and principal founder of the State.
2 Under this prerogative of sovereignty Governor Conant would have ample authority to repel the invasoin of his territory. See chap. v. This authority is con- tained in Gilbert's charter, 1578; it is also in the royal charter, which authorizes the Colonial Governors "to encounter, expulse, repel and resist by force of arms as well by sea and land " all persons not licensed to inhabit there. Here, as in all the authority granted, Lord Sheffeild has conformed his charter to the language and authority of the royal charter, and no where exceeds it.
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35 POPULAR LEGISLATION. - ELECTIVE OFFICERS.
lawfull survey 1 hadd, and taken of the aforesaid Lands, and good informacon gyven to the said Lord Sheffeild his heires, or assignes, of the Meats, Bounds, and quantity of Lands which the said Robert, and Edward their heires, associates, or assignes shall take in and be by them their Associats, Servants, or Assigns inhabited as aforesaid ; he the said Lord Sheffeild his heires, or assigns, at and vpon the reason- able request of the said Vndertakers, or theire Associats, shall and will by good and sufficient Assurance in the Lawe Graunt, enfeoffe, confirm and allott vnto the said Robert Cushman and Edward Winslowe theire Associats, and Assigns All and every the said Lands soe to be taken in within the space of Scaven yeares next after the Date hereof in as larg, ample, and beneficiall manner, as the said Lord Sheffeild his heires, or assignes nowe haue, or hereafter shall have the same Lands, or any of them graunted unto him, or them ; for such rent, and vnder such Covenants, and Provisoes as herein are conteyned (mutatis mutandis) And shall and will also at all tymes hereafter vpon reason- able request made to him the said Lord Sheffeild his heires, or assignes by the said Edward and Robert their heires, associats, or assignes, or any of them graunt, procure, and make good, lawfull, and sufficient Letters, or other Graunts of Incorporacon2 whereby the said Vnder- takers, and their Associats shall haue liberty and lawfull authority from tyme to tyme to make and establish Lawes, Ordynnces, and Consti- tucons for the ruling, ordering, and governing of such persons as now are resident, or which hereafter shalbe planted, and inhabitt there And in the meane tyme vntill such Graunt be made It shalbe lawfull for the said Robert, and Edward theire heires, associats and Assignes by consent of the greater part3 of them to Establish such Laws, Provisions
1 The royal charter, 1620, provides for " a commission of survey and distri- bution " of the lands.
2 " It is likewise provided, that all the cities in that territory, and other inferior towns where tradesmen are in any numbers, shall be incorporate and made bodies politic, to govern their affairs and people as it shall be found most behoveful for the public good of the same." - Council's " Platform of the Government." 1622. This is in exact conformity with the ample provisions of their charter. 1020.
3 " And for that all men by nature are best pleased to be their own carvers, and do most willingly submit to those ordinances, or orders whereof themselves are authors, it is therefore resolved, that the general laws whereby that State is to be governed, shall be first framed and agreed upon by the general assembly of the States of those parts, both spiritual and temporal." -- Ibid.
" And there is no less care to be taken for the trade and public.commerce of merchants, whose government ought to be within themselves, in respect of the several occasions arising between them, the tradesmen and other the mechanicks,
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SUBORDINATION TO THE CROWN AND COUNCIL.
and Ordynnces as are or shalbe by them thought most fitt, and con- venient for the governement of the said plantacon which shall be from tyme to tyme executed, and administred by such Officer, or Officers, as the said Vndertakers, or their Associats or the most part of them shall elect,1 and make choice of Prounded allwaies That the said Lawes, Provisions, and Ordynnces which are, or shall be agreed on, be not repugnant to the Lawes of England, or to the Orders, and Constitucons 2 of the President and Councell of New England Pro- unded further That the said Vndertakers theire heires, and suc- cesso's shall fore" acknowledg the said Lord Sheffeild his heires and successors, to be theire Chiefe Lord,3 and to answeare and doe service vnto his LoPP or his Successors, at his, or theire Court when upon his, or theire owne Plantacon The same shalbe established, and kept Kit wptnes whereof the said parties to these present Indentures Inter- chaungeably have putt their Hands and Seals The day and yeares first aboue written.
SHEFFEYLD.
********* Seal pendent. *********
On the back of the parchment is the following attes- tation : "Sealed 4 and del'd in the presence of JOHN BULMER, THO : BELWEELD, JOHN FOWLLER," - an exact copy of which is inserted in the left-hand margin of the fac-simile of the charter.
The strip of parchment at the foot of the instrument, to which the seal was pendent, yet remains as represented
with whom they have most to do, and who are generally the chief inhabitants of great cities and towns in all parts." - Ibid.
1 Their officers or ministers, whom they employ, and whom they may be bold to question or displace, as to themselves shall seem most fitting." - Ibid.
2 This is a recognition of the Council, as the original source of the title, and as an appellate power, agreeably to the plan of the Council, as published in 1622.
3 " These lords of counties may of themselves subdivide their said county into manors and lordships, as to them shall seem best, giving to the lords thereof power of keeping of courts, and leets, as is here used in England," etc. - Ibid. 1622.
4 All the ancient legal formulas were here complied with. Blackstone, Book II, chap. 2).
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CAPE ANNE OCCUPIED UNDER THE CHARTER.
in the fac-simile. By the law and usage of that day the original instrument was executed by the grantor only, which accounts for the omission, on this parchment, of the names of the grantees whose signatures would be affixed to the counterpart remaining in the hands of Sheffeild.1
Mr. Winslow returned to Plymouth in March, in the ship Charity,2 after an absence of about six months. Among the abundant supplies for the colonists, brought in this ship, were several Devonshire cattle, perhaps the first introduced into New England, unless the colonists in Maine and New Hampshire had imported them.
To us the most interesting result of Winslow's mission was the charter for Cape Anne, with the new company and materials for the colony there. The ship was soon discharged at Plymouth, and was sent thence to Cape Anne,3 taking a few Plymouth planters to aid in building fishing stages. They erected " a great frame house " for the various purposes of the fishery, and during the sum- mer of the next year made further improvements.
New Plymouth, in the fourth year of her settlement, having a population of about one hundred and eighty persons, extended the limits of her commercial enterprise, and endeavored to found a new plantation, a scion from the parent colony, a visible aggression of the Anglo Saxon race on American soil ; perhaps the first instance of our territorial expansion - " annexation."
From this acquisition, so full of promise, Plymouth reaped only bitter disappointments and reverses; their
1 Blackstone, Book II. ch. 20, § 1.
2 Judge Davis thinks that Winslow and Lyford came in the Ann, though Prince says he came in the Charity. Winslow went to England in the Ann the 10th of September before. Davis' Morton, 111; Prince, 146, 147.
3 Prince, 146, 147.
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PLYMOUTH AND CAPE ANNE IN 1624.
agent proved inefficient, the salt works were injured, the house burnt, and a series of difficulties embarrassed the enterprise. The disastrous loss of property sundered the only bond of interest between the Pilgrims and the "mer- chant adventurers " in London, who dissolved their asso- ciation and discontinued their assistance to the Plymouth Colony. But a portion of the members, either with some lingering interest in the settlement, or, more probably, with the hope of retrieving their losses, wrote to the colo- nists, encouraging them that they were "the people that must make a plantation in those remote parts when all others failed,"1 and consigned to them another cargo of goods, but at unreasonable and oppressive prices.2
At the very time of these occurrences, the summer of the year 1624, Christopher Levett, Admiral of New Eng- land, was on this coast, and from him we have the obser- vations of a mere looker-on. He says, " neither was I at New Plymouth, but I fear that place is not so good as many others ; for if it were, in my conceit, they would content themselves with it and not seek any other, hav- ing ten times so much ground as would serve ten times so many people as they have now amongst them. But it seems they have no fish to make benefit of, for this year they had one ship fish at Pemoquid and another at Cape Ann, where they have begun a new plantation, but how long it will continue I know not. * * I fear there hath been too fair a gloss set on Cape Ann. I am told there is a good harbor which makes a fair invitation, but when they are in, their entertainment is not answerable, for there is little good ground,3 and the ships which fished
1 Prince, 146, 147, 148 ; Ibid. 133.
^ During the earlier years these merchants advanced goods at an interest of 30 to 50 per cent. Holmes' Aunals, i. 190, note 1.
3 The Gloucester records fix the exact locality of the settlement, and from per-
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THE FISHING BUSINESS.
there this year, their boats went twenty miles to take their fish, and yet they were in great fear of [not] making their voyages, as one of the masters confessed unto me who was at my house."1 The conclusion of this attempt to colonize Cape Anne, and the tracing of the current of events to the establishment of a colony under Mr. Roger Conant, will occupy the next chapter.
sonal examination, I can testify to the accuracy of Levett's description ; there is a " little good ground " surrounded by barren granite hills, covered with clumps of pine : it is now cultivated as a farm. See Appendix V.
1 In Maine Hist. Coll. ii. 98, 99.
CHAPTER V.
PURITANISM IN ENGLAND - BISHOP LAKE AND REV. JOHN WHITE FAVOR NEW ENGLAND -REASONS FOR COLONIZING -THE DORCHESTER COM- PANY - THEY ESTABLISH A COLONY AT CAPE ANNE UNDER THE SHEF- FEILD CHARTER - ROGER CONANT APPOINTED GOVERNOR - HOSTILITY OF LONDON MERCHANTS - THEIR AGENT HEWES MAKES REPRISALS OF PLYMOUTH PROPERTY AT CAPE ANNE - GOV. CONANT EFFECTS PEACE.
THE Puritan portion of the Church of England, opposed to the court maxim of unlimited power, and to the grow- ing favor to its natural ally - Popery - began to feel the heavy pressure of its discipline. The law was claimed and administered by the court hirelings. The friends of civil and religious liberty were execrated as rebels and traitors, and their cause made the occasion of derision and reproach.
One of the prelates, Arthur Lake, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and his friend, the Rev. John White, before re- ferred to, men of quiet and excellent lives, were of this party. They looked towards New England as a refuge from the impending storms of persecution. The venera- ble dignitary professed to Mr. White, that but for the infirmities of age he would go thither with him.1
1 The fact that a Prelate of the Church of England was one of the earliest friends of New England, has been, I believe, hitherto unnoticed. Hugh Peters' " Last Legacy to his Daughter." Boston, 1717, p. 77. Bishop Lake was born at South- ampton, son of Almeric Lake or du Lake, and brother of Sir Thomas, Secretary of
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REASONS FOR COLONIZING NEW ENGLAND.
The advantages of a permanent settlement on the coast of New England were early brought to the attention of those engaged in the western fisheries,' but without any effect, for the reason, it may be, that they were the sug- gestions of men of liberal pursuits who would contemplate the ultimate results of colonization, not less than the im- mediate gains of trade. In the year 1585, a " student of the middle temple," Richard Hackluyt, wrote a tract on the subject; it was urged by Edward Hayes,2 in the year 1602, and by Edward Winslow, in a pamphlet, entitled " Good Newes from New England," published in the year 1624. He says, "what may the planters expect when once they are seated, and make the most of their salt there, and employ themselves at least eight months in fishing ; whereas the others fish but four, and having their ship lie dead in the harbour all the time, whereas such shipping as belong to plantations may take freight of passengers or cattle thither, and have their lading pro- vided against they come."
These views commended themselves to Mr. White.3
State, elevated to the See of Bath and Wells in 1616, and died in 1626. A thick folio volume of his sermons was published in 1629. Laud was his immediate successor in his bishopric. Rev. John White, A. M., born at Stanton, St. John, in Oxford- shire, 1576, was Rector of Trinity Church, in Dorchester, 1606 - 1648, with little interruption. The Prelate Laud persecuted him for preaching against popish cere- monies. Prince Rupert plundered his house, and robbed him of his library. Ile was eminent in the assembly of divines. He died July 21, 1648, aged 72, and lies buried in the porch of St. Peter's Church, Dorchester, but, proh pudor! without any monumental inscription. " By his wisdom and ministerial labors," says Fuller, " Dorchester was much enriched with knowledge, piety, and industry." He was called the " Patriarch of Dorchester." Brook's Lives, iii. 89, 90.
1 In 1620, the Virginia Company had expended £6000 on the fisheries at Cape Cod. Stith's Virginia, 185.
2 In 1620, Captain Richard Whitbourne, of Exmouth, published " A Discourse and Discovery of New-found-land, with many reasons to proove how worthy and beneficiall a Plantation may there be made." A copy of this rare volume is in Charles Deane, Esq.'s Library.
3 Hubbard, 106.
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THE DORCHESTER COMPANY FORMED.
Some of his parishioners and friends, merchants of that town and the vicinity, had prosecuted the cod fisheries and beaver trade on these shores for several successive years. The fishermen being usually upon their voyages nine or ten months, during which time they were without religious instruction, Mr. White suggested to the mer- chants that it might benefit their own men, as well as others frequenting these coasts, to maintain a minister here. He further suggested that a colony on this coast would facilitate their business by employing many hands during the fishing season, a portion of whom could be left in the country until the next season, and in the mean time might employ themselves in building houses and planting corn, which, with the fish, fowl, and venison, would afford them abundant occupation and support. Upon these considerations the merchants organized them- selves into a joint stock company, with a capital of more than £3000,1 to be paid in by assessments in the course of five years, appointed John Humphrey,2 brother-in-law of the Earl of Lincoln, their treasurer, and were known as the DORCHESTER COMPANY. During this time, the honest chronicler, Captain John Smith, was preparing his account of " New Plimouth," in which he says, " there hath beene afishing this yeere vpon the Coast, about 50. English ships : and by Cape Anne, there is a Plantation a begin- ning by the Dorchester men, which they hold of those of New Plimoth, who also by them haue set vp a fishing worke ; some talke there is of some other pretended Plan- tations, all whose proceedings the eternal God protect and preserve." 3
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The Dorchester merchants, in their fishing business,
' Planters' Plea, chap 7, 8.
% Hubbard, 106.
3 .. Generall Historie," 247 ; Prince, 151,
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42 CAPE ANNE " HELD OF THOSE OF NEW PLYMOUTH."
may or may not previously have had stages on Cape Ann, but this their first attempt to plant or colonize, coincident in time and place with the Plymouth " patent " and plan- tation, corroborates beyond any reasonable doubt, Captain Smith's accuracy, that they " held of those of New Ply- mouth," whose charter, as we have seen, authorized the residence at Cape Anne of any planters, being the " asso- ciates " of the patentees, " or their successors," and of any ministers, officers, or magistrates, whom the patentees might approve of.
The Plymouth planters being in possession of Cape Anne, under a legal title, would admit to its occupa- tion only those who acknowledged their right; and this affords a legal presumption that any others in the peaceable enjoyment of its privileges, were so by agree- ment with them under their charter, for it seems to have been drawn with the most liberal views as to the admission of future parties to its benefits.
The statement of Captain Smith that the Dorchester Company " held of those of New Plymouth," is made in the folio edition of his General History, first pub- lished in 1624 ; it is under the head of " the present estate of the plantation at New Plimoth, 1624," which occu- pies less than a page and a half on the last leaf of his book - and this information he doubtless obtained in England, the very latest accounts he could collect before sending his concluding sheet to the press; to this it may be added, that the author's personal knowl- edge of New England, and his prominence and zeal in promoting colonial enterprises, involved an intimacy with the leading adventurers and colonists, which pre- cludes doubt of the responsible source of his information.1
" The learned and discriminating historian of Virginia, Stith, whose judgment of Smith is valuable beyond that of any other writer, says he is of " unquestionable
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COLONY ESTABLISHED AT CAPE ANNE.
The history of this, the first permanent colony on the territory, afterwards included in the Massachusetts grant, is for the first two or three years, drawn chief- ly from Hubbard, who, without doubt, obtained his knowledge from Governor Conant's own lips.
Having concluded the agreement with the Plymouth colonists, the Dorchester Company adopted immediate and efficient measures for the establishment of a plan- tation. A company of husbandmen was sent to Cape Anne, well furnished with the implements of farming, and supplies for the new settlement. They selected the lands within the bosom of the Cape,1 the site of the present town of Gloucester. The spring and sum- mer of the year 1624 were diligently employed in prepa- ration for those who should pass the next winter there, fourteen in number.2 The plantation was stocked with cattle, a house was built, salt works, stagings, and the structures usually pertaining to the fisheries were erect- ed.
They appointed Mr. Thomas Gardner overseer of the plantation, and Mr. John Tylly to manage the fisheries. Mr. John Woodbery, of Somersetshire, was also one of the principal men of the settlement. About the close of the first year,3 Mr. White received such favorable information about Mr. Roger Conant,4 named in the
authority for what is related while in the country, and I take him to have been a very honest man, and a strenuous lover of truth." Stith's Virginia. Williams- burg, 1747. Preface, iv.
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