afterward named, in honor of that Lincolnshire Boston from which many
of the emigrants came). There were already a few settlers there, who
had come in from various motives, and one or two of whom were inclined
to assert squatter sovereignty. The rights of the Indians were
respected, in accordance with the injunctions of the Company; and
Sagamore John, who asserted his rights as chief over the neck of land
and the hilly promontory of the present city, was so courteously
entreated that he permitted the erection of a house there, and the
laying out of streets. While these preparations were going forward, the
bulk of the first emigration, numbering two hundred persons, with
servants, cattle, arms and other provisions, entered the harbor. They
had had a prosperous and pious voyage, being much refreshed with
religious services performed daily; and it may be recorded as perhaps a
unique fact in the annals of ocean navigation that the ship captain and
the sailors punctuated the setting of the morning and noon watches with
the singing of psalms and with prayer. This sounds apocryphal; but it
is stated in the narrative of "New England's Plantation," written and
circulated by Mr. Higginson soon after their arrival; and it must be
remembered that the ship carried a supply of personages of the clerical
profession out of proportion to the number of the rest of the
passengers. But palliate the marvel how we may, we cannot help smiling
at it, and at the same time regretting that the Puritans themselves
probably had no realization of the miracle which was transacting under
their noses. They doubtless regarded it as a matter of course, instead
of a thing to occur but once in a precession of the equinoxes.
And now, it might be supposed, began the building of the city: the
clearing of the forest, the chopping of wood, the sawing of beams, the
digging of foundations, the ringing of hammers, and the uprising on
every side of the dwellings of civilization. And certainly steps were
taken to provide the company with shelter from the present summer heats
and from the snows of winter to come; and they had brought with them
artisans skilled to do the necessary work. But though the Puritans
never could be called remiss in respect of making due provision for the
necessities of this life, yet all was done with a view to the
conditions of the life to come; and in the annals of the time we read
more of the prayers and fasts, the choosing of ministers, and the
promotion and practice of godliness in general, than we do of any
temporal matters. Men there were, like Endicott, who united the
strictest religious zeal with all manner of practical abilities; but
there were many, too, who had been no more accustomed to shift for
themselves than were the gentlemen of Jamestown. They differed from the
latter, however, in an enlightened conception of the work before them,
in enthusiasm for the commonweal, and in determination to familiarize
themselves as soon as possible with the requirements of their
situation. The town did not come up in a night, like the shanty cities
of our western pioneers; nor did it contain gambling houses and liquor
saloons as its chief public buildings. These men were building a social
structure meant to last for all time, and houses in which they hoped to
pass the years of their natural lives; and they proceeded with what we
would now consider unwarrantable deliberation and with none too much
technical skill. They sought neither wealth nor the luxuries it brings;
but, rather, welcomed hardship, as apt to chasten the spirit; and never
felt themselves so thoroughly about their proper business as when they
were assembled in the foursquare little log hut which they had
consecrated as the house of God. Boston and Salem grew: they were
larger and more commodious at the end of the twelvemonth than they had
been at its beginning; but more cannot be said. Sickness, misfortune,
and scarcity handicapped the settlers; many died; the yield of their
crops was wholly inadequate to their needs; servants whose work was
indispensable could not be paid, and were set free to work for
themselves, and the outlook was in all respects gloomy. If the
enterprise was to be saved, the Lord must speedily send succor.
The Lord did not forget His people. A great relief was already
preparing for them, and the way of it was thus.--
The record of the former chartered companies had shown that conducting
the affairs of colonists on the other side of the ocean was attended
with serious difficulties on both parts. The colonists could not make
their needs known with precision enough, or in season, to have them
adequately met; and the governing company was unable to get a close
knowledge of its business, or to explain and enforce its requirements.
Furthermore, there was liable to be continual vexatious interference on
the part of the king and his officers, detrimental to the welfare of
colonists and company alike.
The men who constituted the Massachusetts Company were not concerned
respecting the pecuniary profits of the venture, inasmuch as they
looked only for the treasures which moth nor rust can corrupt; their
"plantation" was to the glory of God, not to the imbursement of man.
Nor were they anxious to impose their will upon the emigrants, or
solicitous lest the latter should act unseemly; for the men who were
there were of the same character and aim as those who were in England,
and there could be no differences between them beyond such as might
legitimately arise as to the most expedient way of reaching a given
end. But the Company could easily apprehend that the king and his
ministers might meddle with their projects and bring them to naught;
and since those affairs, unlike mercantile ones, were not of a nature
to admit of compromise, they earnestly desired to prevent this
contingency.
Debating the matter among themselves, the leaders of the organization
conceived the idea of establishing the headquarters of the Company in
the midst of the emigrants in America: of becoming, in other words,
emigrants themselves, and working side by side with their brethren for
the common good. This plan offered manifest attractions; it would
remove them from unwelcome propinquity to the Court, would be of great
assistance to the work to do which the Company was formed, would give
them the satisfaction of feeling that they were giving their hands as
well as their hearts to the service of God, and, not least, would give
notice to all the Puritans in England, now a great and influential
body, that America was the most suitable ground for their earthly
sojourning.
These considerations determined them; and it remained only to put the
plan into execution. Twelve men of wealth and education, eminent among
whom was John Winthrop, the future governor of the little commonwealth,
met and exchanged solemn vows that, if the transference could legally
be accomplished, they would personally voyage to New England and take
up their permanent residence there. The question was shortly after put
to the general vote, and unanimously agreed to; a commercial
corporation (as ostensibly the Company was) created itself the germ of
an independent commonwealth; and on October 20th John Winthrop was
chosen governor for the ensuing twelvemonth; money was subscribed to
defray expenses; as speedily as possible ships were chartered or
purchased; the numbers of the members of the Company were increased,
and their resources augmented, by the addition of many outside persons
in harmony with the movement, and willing to support it with their
fortunes and themselves; and by the early spring of 1630 a fleet of no
less than seventeen ships, accommodating nearly a thousand emigrants
representing the very best blood and brain of England, was ready to
sail.
At the moment of departing, there was a quailing of the spirit on the
part of some of the emigrants; but Winthrop comforted them; he told
them that they must "keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace"; that, in the wilderness, they would see more of God than they
could in England; and that their plantation should be of such a quality
as that the founders of future plantations should pray that "The Lord
make it likely that of New England." These were good words.
Nevertheless, there were not a few seceders, and it was not till the
year had advanced that the full number of vessels found their way to
the port of Boston. But eleven ships, including the Arbella which bore
Winthrop, sailed at once, with seven hundred men and women, and every
appliance that experience and forethought could suggest for the
convenience and furtherance of life in a new country. Their going made
a deep impression throughout England.
And well it might! For these people were not unknown and rude, like the
Plymouth Pilgrims; they were not fiercely intolerant fanatics, whose
sincerity might be respected, but whose company must be irksome to all
less extreme than themselves. They were of gentle blood and training;
persons whose acquaintance was a privilege; who added to the richness
and charm of social life. That people of this kind should remove
themselves to the wilderness meant much more, to the average mind, than
that religious outcasts like the Pilgrims should do so. For the latter,
one place might be as good as another; but that the others should give
up their homes and traditions for the hardships and isolation of such
an existence seemed incomprehensible; and when no other motive could be
found than that which they professed--"the honor of God"--grave
thoughts could not but be awakened. The sensation was somewhat the same
as if, in our day, a hundred thousand of the most favorably known and
highly endowed persons in the country were to remove to Chinese Tartary
to escape from the corruption and frivolity of business and social
life, and to create an ideal community in the desert. We could smile at
such a hegira if Tom, Dick and Harry were concerned in it; but if the
men and women of light and leading abandon us, the implied indictment
is worth heeding.
The personal character and nature of Winthrop are well known, and may
serve as a type for the milder aspect of his companions. He was of a
gentle and conciliating temper, affectionate, and prizing the affection
of others. There was a certain sweetness about him, a tendency to mild
joyousness, a desire to harmonize all conflicts, a disposition to think
good, that good might come of it. He was indisposed to violence in
opinion as much as in act; he believed that love was the fulfilling of
the law, and would dissolve opposition to the law, if it were allowed
time and opportunity. His cultivated intellect recognized a certain
inevitableness, or preordained growth in mortal affairs, which made him
sympathetic even toward those who differed from him, for did they not
use the best light they had? He conformed to the English church, and
yet he absented himself from England, not being willing to condemn the
orthodox ritual, yet feeling that the Gospel in its purity could be
more intimately enjoyed in America. He was no believer in the theory of
democratic equality; it seemed to him contrary to natural order; there
were degrees and gradations in all things, men included; there were
those fitted to govern, and those fitted to serve; power should be in
the hands of the few, but they should be "the wisest of the best." He
had no doubts as to the obligations of loyalty to the King, and yet he
gave up home and ease to live where the King was a sentiment rather
than a fact. But beneath all this engaging softness there was strength
in Winthrop; the fiber of him was fine, but it was of resolute temper.
Simple goodness is one of the mightiest of powers, and he was good in
all simplicity. He could help his servants in the humblest household
drudgery, and yet preserve the dignity befitting the Governor of the
people. He was not a man to be bullied or terrified, but his wisdom and
forbearance disarmed an enemy, and thus removed all need of fighting
him. He dominated those around him spontaneously and involuntarily;
they, as it were, insisted upon being led by him, and commanded him to
exact their obedience. His influence was purifying, encouraging,
uplifting, and upon the whole conservative; had he lived a hundred
years later, he would not have been found by the side of Adams, Patrick
Henry, and James Otis. Sympathy and courtesy made him seem yielding;
yet, like a tree that bends to the breeze, he still maintained his
place, and was less changeable than many whose stubbornness did not
prevent their drifting. His insight and intelligence may have enabled
him to foresee to what a goal the New England settlers were bound; but
though he would have sympathized with them, he would not have been
swayed to join them. As it was, he wrought only good to them, for they
were in the formative stage, when moderation helps instead of
hindering. He mediated between the state they were approaching, and
that from which they came, and he died before the need of alienating
himself from them arrived. His resoluteness was shown in his resistance
to Anne Hutchinson and her supporter, Sir Harry Vane, who professed the
heresy that faith absolved from obedience to the moral law; they were
forced to quit the colony; and so was Roger Williams, as lovely as and
in some respects a loftier character than Winthrop. In reviewing the
career of this distinguished and engaging man, we are surprised that he
should have found it on his conscience to leave England. Endicott was
born to subdue the wilderness, and so was many another of the Puritans;
but it seems as if Winthrop might have done and said in King Charles's
palace all that he did and said in Massachusetts, without offense. But
it is probable that his moderation appears greater in the primitive
environment than it would have done in the civilized one; and again,
the impulse to restrain others from excess may have made him incline
more than he would otherwise have done toward the other side.
But tradition has too much disposed us to think of the Puritans as of
men who had thrown aside all human tenderness and sympathy, and were
sternly and gloomily preoccupied with the darker features of religion
exclusively. Winthrop corrects this judgment; he was a Puritan, though
he was sunny and gentle; and there were many others who more or less
resembled him. The reason that the somber type is the better known is
partly because of its greater picturesqueness and singularity, and
partly because the early life of New England was on the whole militant
and aggressive, and therefore brought the rigid and positive qualities
more prominently forward.
It would be difficult to exaggerate the piety of the dominating powers
in Massachusetts during the first years of the colony's existence. It
was almost a mysticism. That intimate and incommunicable experience
which is sometimes called "getting religion"--the Lord knocking at the
door of the heart and being admitted--was made the condition of
admission to the responsible offices of government. This was to make
God the ruler, through instruments chosen by Himself--theoretically a
perfect arrangement, but in practice open to the gravest perils. It not
merely paved the way to imposture, but invited it; and the most
dangerous imposture is that which imposes on the impostor himself. It
created an oligarchy of the most insidious and unassailable type: a
communion of earthly "saints," who might be, and occasionally were,
satans at heart. It is essentially at variance with democracy, which it
regards as a surrender to the selfish license of the lowest range of
unregenerate human nature; and yet it is incompatible with hereditary
monarchy, because the latter is based on uninspired or mechanical
selection. The writings of Cotton Mather exhibit the peculiarities and
inconsistencies of Puritanism in the most favorable and translucent
light, for Mather was himself wedded to them, and of a most
inexhaustible fertility in their exposition.
Winthrop was responsible for the "Oath of Fidelity," which required its
taker to suffer no attempt to change or alter the government contrary
to its laws; and for the law excluding from the freedom of the body
politic all who were not members of its church communion. The people,
however, stipulated that the elections should be annual, and each town
chose two representatives to attend the court of assistants. But having
thus asserted their privileges, they forbore to interfere with the
judgment of their leaders, and maintained them in office. The possible
hostility of England, the strangeness and dangers of their surroundings
in America, and the appalling prevalence of disease and mortality among
them, possibly drove them to a more than normal fervor of piety. Since
God was so manifestly their only sword and shield, and was reputed to
be so terrible and implacable in His resentments, it behooved them to
omit no means of conciliating His favor.
Winthrop found anything but a land flowing with milk and honey, when he
arrived at Salem, where the ships first touched. As when, twenty years
before, Delaware came to Jamestown, the people were on the verge of
starvation, and it was necessary to send a vessel back to England for
supplies. There were acute suffering and scarcity all along the New
England coast, and though the spirit of resignation was there, it
seemed likely that there would be soon little flesh left through which
to manifest it. The physical conditions were intolerable. The hovels in
which the people were living were wretched structures of rough logs,
roofed with straw, with wooden chimneys and narrow and darksome
interiors. They were patched with bark and rags; many were glad to
lodge themselves in tents devised of fragments of drapery hung on a
framework of boughs. The settlement was in that transition state
between crude wilderness and pioneer town, when the appearance is most
repulsive and disheartening. There is no order, uniformity, or
intelligent procedure. There is a clump of trees of the primeval forest
here, the stumps and litter of a half-made clearing there, yonder a
patch of soil newly and clumsily planted; wigwams and huts alternate
with one another; men are digging, hewing, running to head back
straying cattle, toiling in with fragments of game on their shoulders;
yonder a grave is being dug in the root-encumbered ground, and hard by
a knot of mourners are preparing the corpse for interment. There is no
rest or comfort anywhere for eye or heart. The only approximately
decent dwelling in Salem at this time was that of John Endicott.
Higginson was dying of a fever. Lady Arbella, who had accompanied her
husband, Isaac Johnson, had been ailing on the voyage, and lingered
here but a little while before finding a grave. In a few months two
hundred persons perished. It was no place for weaklings--or for
evil-doers either; among the earliest of the established institutions
were the stocks and the whipping-post, and they were not allowed to
stand idle.
Winthrop and most of the others soon moved on down the coast toward
Boston. It had been the original intention to keep the emigrants in one
body, but that was found impracticable; they were forced to divide up
into small parties, who settled where they best could, over an area of
fifty or a hundred miles. Nantasket, Watertown, Charlestown, Saugus,
Lynn, Maiden, Roxbury, all had their handfuls of inhabitants. It was
exile within exile; for miles meant something in these times. More than
a hundred of the emigrants, cowed by the prospect, deserted the cause
and returned to England. Yet Winthrop and the other leaders did not
lose heart, and their courage and tranquillity strengthened the others.
It is evidence of the indomitable spirit of these people that one of
their first acts was to observe a day of fasting and prayer; a few days
later the members of the congregation met and chose their pastor, John
Wilson, and organized the first Church of Boston. They did not wait to
build the house of God, but met beneath the trees, or gathered round a
rock which might serve the preacher as a pulpit. There was simplicity
enough to satisfy the most conscientious. "We here enjoy God and Jesus
Christ," wrote Winthrop: "I do not repent my coming: I never had more
content of mind."
After a year there were but a thousand settlers in Massachusetts. Among
them was Roger Williams, a man so pure and true as of himself to hallow
the colony; but it is illustrative of the intolerance which was from
the first inseparable from Puritanism, that he was driven away because
he held conscience to be the only infallible guide. We cannot blame the
Puritans; they had paid a high price for their faith, and they could
not but guard it jealously. Their greatest peril seemed to them to be
dissension or disagreements on points of belief; except they held
together, their whole cause was lost. Williams was no less an exile for
conscience' sake than they; but as he persisted in having a conscience
strictly his own, instead of pooling it with that of the church, they
were constrained to let him go. They did not perceive, then or
afterward, that such action argued feeble faith. They could not, after
all, quite trust God to take care of His own; they dared not believe
that He could reveal Himself to others as well as to them; they feared
to admit that they could have less than the whole truth in their
keeping. So they banished, whipped, pilloried, and finally even hanged
dissenters from their dissent. We, whose religious tolerance is perhaps
as excessive as theirs was deficient, are slow to excuse them for this;
but they believed they were fighting for much more than their lives;
and as for faith in God, it is surely no worse to fall into error
regarding it than to dismiss it altogether.
In a community where the integrity of the church was the main subject
of concern, it could not be long before religious conservatism would be
reflected in the political field. Representative government was
conceded in theory; but in practice, Winthrop and others thought that
it would be better ignored; the people could not easily meet for
deliberations, and how could their affairs be in better hands than
those of the saints, who already had charge of them? But the people
declined to surrender their liberties; there should be rotation in
office; voting should be by ballot instead of show of hands. Taxation
was restricted; and in 1635 there was agitation for a written
constitution; and the relative authority of the deputies and the
assistants was in debate. Our national predisposition to "talk
politics" had already been born.
Among these early inconsistencies and disagreements Roger Williams
stood out as the sole fearless and logical figure. Consistency and
bravery were far from being his only good qualities; in drawing his
portrait, the difficulty is to find shadows with which to set off the
lights of his character. The Puritans feared the world, and even their
own constancy; Williams feared nothing; but he would reverence and obey
his conscience as the voice of God in his breast, before which all
other voices must be hushed. He was not only in advance of his time: he
was abreast of any times; nothing has ever been added to or detracted
from his argument. When John Adams wrote to his son, John Quincy Adams,
"Your conscience is the Minister Plenipotentiary of God Almighty placed
in your breast: see to it that this minister never negotiates in vain,"
he did but attire in the diplomatic phraseology which came naturally to
him the thought which Williams had avouched and lived more than a
century before. Though absolutely radical, Williams was never an
extremist; he simply went to the fountain-head of reason and truth, and
let the living waters flow whither they might. The toleration which he
demanded he always gave; of those who had most evilly entreated him he
said, "I did ever from my soul honor and love them, even when their
judgment led them to afflict me." His long life was one of the most
unalloyed triumphs of unaided truth and charity that our history
records; and the State which he founded presented, during his lifetime,
the nearest approach to the true Utopia which has thus far been
produced.