First ineffectual attempts of the Plymouth company to settle
the country.... Settlement at New Plymouth.... Sir Henry
Rosewell and company.... New charter.... Settlements
prosecuted vigorously.... Government transferred to the
colonists.... Boston founded.... Religious intolerance....
General court established.... Royal commission for the
government of the plantations.... Contest with the French
colony of Acadié.... Hugh Peters.... Henry Vane.... Mrs.
Hutchinson.... Maine granted to Gorges.... Quo warranto
against the patent of the colony.... Religious
dissensions.... Providence settled.... Rhode Island
settled.... Connecticut settled.... War with the Piquods....
New Haven settled.
{1606}
The steps by which the first, or southern colony, advanced to a firm
and permanent establishment, were slow and painful. The company for
founding the second, or northern colony, was composed of gentlemen
residing in Plymouth, and other parts of the west of England; was less
wealthy, and possessed fewer resources than the first company, which
resided in the capital. Their efforts were consequently more feeble,
and less successful, than those which were made in the south.[47]
[Footnote 47: Robertson.]
{1607}
{1608}
{1614}
The first vessel fitted out by this company was captured and
confiscated by the Spaniards, who, at that time, asserted a right to
exclude the ships of all other nations from navigating the American
seas. Not discouraged by this misfortune, the company in the following
year dispatched two other vessels, having on board about two hundred
persons designed to form the proposed settlement. The colonists
arrived safely on the American coast in autumn, and took possession of
a piece of ground near the river Sagahadoc, where they built fort St.
George. Their sufferings during the ensuing winter were extreme. Many
of the company, among whom were Gilbert their admiral, and George
Popham their president, sank under the diseases by which they were
attacked; and the vessels which brought them supplies in the following
spring, brought also the information that their principal patron, Sir
John Popham, chief justice of England, was dead. Discouraged by their
losses and sufferings, and by the death of a person on whom they
relied chiefly for assistance, the surviving colonists determined to
abandon the country, and embark on board the vessels then returning to
England. The frightful pictures they drew of the country, and of the
climate, deterred the company, for some time, from farther attempts to
make a settlement, and their enterprizes were limited to voyages for
the purposes of taking fish, and of trading with the natives for furs.
One of these was made by captain Smith, so distinguished in the
history of Virginia. Having explored, with great accuracy, that part
of the coast which stretches from Penobscot to Cape Cod, he delineated
it on a map; which he presented to the young Prince of Wales, with
descriptions dictated by a sanguine mind, in which enthusiasm was
combined with genius. The imagination of the Prince was so wrought
upon by the glowing colours in which Smith painted the country, that
he declared it should be called New England, which name it has ever
since retained.[48]
[Footnote 48: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
The languishing company of Plymouth, however, could not be stimulated
to engage in farther schemes of colonisation, the advantages of which
were distant and uncertain, while the expense was immediate and
inevitable. To a stronger motive than even interest, is New England
indebted for its first settlement.
An obscure sect, which had acquired the appellation of Brownists from
the name of its founder, and which had rendered itself peculiarly
obnoxious by the democracy of its tenets respecting church government,
had been driven by persecution to take refuge at Leyden in Holland,
where its members formed a distinct society under the care of their
pastor, Mr. John Robinson. There they resided several years in safe
obscurity. This situation, at length, became irksome to them. Their
families intermingled with the Dutch, and they saw before them, with
extreme apprehension, the danger of losing their separate identity.
Under the influence of these and other causes, they came to the
determination of removing in a body to America.
{1618}
They applied to the London company for a grant of lands; and, to
promote the success of their application by the certainty of their
emigrating, they said, "that they were well weaned from the delicate
milk of their mother country, and inured to the difficulties of a
strange land. That they were knit together in a strict and sacred
bond, by virtue of which they held themselves bound to take care of
the good of each other, and of the whole. That it was not with them,
as with other men, whom small things could discourage, or small
discontents cause to wish themselves at home again." The only
privilege on which they insisted, was a license under the great seal,
to practise and profess religion in that mode, which, under the
impulse of conscience, they had adopted. This reasonable and moderate
request was refused. James had already established the church of
England in Virginia; and, although he promised to connive at their
non-conformity, and not to molest them while they demeaned themselves
peaceably, he positively refused to give that explicit and solemn
pledge of security, which they required. This, for a short time,
suspended their removal; but the causes of their discontent in Holland
continuing, they, at length, determined to trust to the verbal
declarations of the King, and negotiated with the Virginia company for
a tract of land within the limits of their patent.[49]
[Footnote 49: Robertson.]
{1620}
[Sidenote: Settlement at New Plymouth.]
In September, they sailed from England, with only one hundred and
twenty men, in a single ship. Their destination was Hudson's river;
but the first land they made was Cape Cod. They soon perceived that
they were not only beyond their own limits, but beyond those of the
company from which they derived their title; but it was now the month
of November, and consequently too late in the season again to put to
sea in search of a new habitation. After exploring the coast, they
chose a position for their station, to which they gave the name of New
at New Plymouth. On the 11th of November, before landing, a solemn
covenant was signed by the heads of families, and freemen, in which,
after reciting that they had undertaken to plant a colony for the
glory of God, and for the honour of their King and country, and
professing their loyalty to their sovereign Lord King James, they
combined themselves into a body politic, for the purpose of making
equal laws for the general good.[50]
[Footnote 50: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
Having thus formed a compact, the obligation of which all admitted,
they proceeded to the choice of a governor for one year; and to enable
him the better to discharge the trust confided to him, they gave him
one assistant. In 1624, three others were added; and the number was
afterwards increased to seven. The supreme power resided in, and,
during the infancy of the colony, was exercised by, the whole body of
the male inhabitants. They assembled together, occasionally, to
determine on all subjects of public concern; nor was a house of
representatives established until the year 1639. They adopted the laws
of England as a common rule of action, adding occasionally municipal
regulations. Some of the changes in their penal code strongly marked
their character and circumstances. While only a moderate fine was
imposed on forgery, fornication was punished with whipping, and
adultery with death.[51]
[Footnote 51: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
Misguided by their religious theories, they fell into the same error
which had been committed in Virginia, and, in imitation of the
primitive Christians, threw all their property into a common stock,
laboured jointly for the common benefit, and were fed from the common
stores. This regulation produced, even in this small and enthusiastic
society, its constant effect. They were often in danger of starving;
and severe whipping, administered to promote labour, only increased
discontent.
The colonists landed at a season of the year which was unfavourable to
the establishment of a new settlement. The winter, which was intensely
cold, had already commenced; and they were not in a condition to
soften its rigours. Before the return of spring, fifty of them
perished with maladies increased by the hardships to which they were
exposed, by the scarcity of food, and by the almost total privation of
those comforts to which they had been accustomed. The survivors, as
the season moderated, encountered new difficulties. Their attention to
the means of providing for their future wants was interrupted by the
necessity of taking up arms to defend themselves against the
neighbouring savages. Fortunately for the colonists, the natives had
been so wasted by pestilence, the preceding year, that they were
easily subdued, and compelled to accept a peace, on equitable terms.
The colonists were supported, under these multiplied distresses, by
the hope of better times, and by that high gratification which men
exasperated by persecution and oppression, derived from the enjoyment
of the rights of conscience, and the full exercise of the powers of
self-government. From their friends in England, they received
occasional but scanty supplies; and continued to struggle against
surrounding difficulties, with patience and perseverance. They
remained in peace, alike exempt from the notice and oppression of
government. Yet, in consequence of the unproductiveness of their soil,
and their adherence to the pernicious policy of a community of goods
and of labour, they increased more slowly than the other colonies;
and, in the year 1630, amounted to only three hundred souls.
Until the year 1630, they possessed no other title to their lands than
is derived from occupancy. In that year they obtained a grant from the
New Plymouth company, but were never incorporated as a body politic by
royal charter. Having received no powers from the parliament or King,
and being totally disregarded by the Plymouth company, they remained a
mere voluntary association, yielding obedience to laws, and to
magistrates, formed and chosen by themselves. In this situation they
continued undisturbed, and almost unknown, more tolerant and more
moderate than their neighbours, until their union with a younger, and
more powerful sister, who advanced with a growth unusually rapid to a
state of maturity.[52]
[Footnote 52: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
The original company of Plymouth, having done nothing effectual
towards settling the territory which had been granted to them, and
being unable to preserve the monopoly of their trade and fisheries,
applied to James for a new and more enlarged patent. On the 3d of
November, he granted that territory which lies between the 40th and
48th degrees of north latitude to the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of
Buckingham, and several others, in absolute property; and incorporated
them under the name of "the council established at Plymouth, for
planting and governing that country called New England;" with
jurisdiction and powers similar to those which had before been
conferred on the companies of south and north Virginia, and especially
that of excluding all other persons whatever from trading within their
boundaries and fishing in the neighbouring seas. This improvident
grant, which excited the indignation of the people of England, then
deeply interested in the fur trade and fisheries, soon engaged the
attention, and received the censure of parliament. The patentees were
compelled to relinquish their odious monopoly; and, being thus
deprived of the funds on which they had relied to furnish the expense
of supporting new settlements, they abandoned the design of attempting
them. New England might have remained long unoccupied by Europeans,
had not the same causes, which occasioned the emigration of the
Brownists, still continued to operate. The persecution to which the
puritans were exposed, increased their zeal and their numbers. In
despair of obtaining at home a relaxation of those rigorous penal
statutes under which they had long smarted, they looked elsewhere for
that toleration which was denied them in their native land.
Understanding that their brethren in New Plymouth were permitted to
worship their creator according to the dictates of conscience, their
attention was directed towards the same coast; and several small
emigrations were made, at different times, to Massachusetts bay; so
termed from the name of the Sachem who was sovereign of the country.
{1627}
[Sidenote: Sir Henry Rosewell and others.]
Mr. White, a non-conforming minister at Dorchester, formed an
association of several gentlemen, who had imbibed puritanical
opinions, for the purpose of conducting a colony to the bay of
Massachusetts, and rendering it an asylum for the persecuted of his
own persuasion. In prosecution of these views, a treaty was concluded
with the council of Plymouth for the purchase of part of New England;
and that corporation, in March 1627, sold to Sir Henry Rosewell and
others, all that part of New England lying three miles to the south of
Charles river, and three miles north of Merrimack river, and extending
from the Atlantic to the South sea. A small number of planters and
servants were, soon afterwards, dispatched under Endicot, who, in
September, laid the foundation of Salem, the first permanent town in
Massachusetts.[53]
[Footnote 53: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
{1628}
The purchasers perceived their inability to accomplish the settlement
of the extensive regions they had acquired, without the aid of more
opulent partners. These were soon found in the capital; but they
required that a new charter should be obtained from the crown,
comprehending their names, which should confirm the grant to the
council of Plymouth, and confer on the grantees the powers of
government. So seldom is man instructed by the experience of others,
that, disregarding the lessons furnished by Virginia, they likewise
required that the supreme authority should be vested in persons
residing in London. The proprietors having acceded to these
requisitions, application was made to Charles for a patent conforming
to them, which issued on the 4th day of March, 1628.
This charter incorporated the grantees by the name of "The governor
and company of Massachusetts bay in New England."
The whole executive power was vested in a governor, a deputy governor,
and eighteen assistants; to be named, in the first instance, by the
crown, and afterwards elected by the company. The governor, and seven,
or more, of the assistants, were authorised to meet in monthly courts,
for the dispatch of such business as concerned the company, or
settlement. The legislative power was vested in the body of the
proprietors, who were to assemble four times a year in person, under
the denomination of the general court; and besides electing freemen,
and the necessary officers of the company, were empowered to make
ordinances for the good of the community, and the government of the
plantation and its inhabitants; provided they should not be repugnant
to the laws of England. Their lands were to be holden in free and
common soccage; and the same temporary exemption from taxes, and from
duties on exports and imports, which had been granted to the colony of
Virginia, was accorded to them. As in the charter of Virginia, so in
this, the colonists and their descendants were declared to be entitled
to all the rights and privileges of natural born subjects.
The patent being obtained, the governor and council engaged with
ardour in the duties assigned them. To support the expenses of a fresh
embarkation, it was resolved that every person subscribing fifty
pounds, should be entitled to two hundred acres of land as the first
dividend. Five vessels sailed in May, carrying about two hundred
persons, who reached Salem in June. At that place they found Endicot,
to whom they brought a confirmation of his commission as governor. The
colony consisted of three hundred persons, one hundred of whom removed
to Charlestown.
Religion, which had stimulated them to remove from their native land,
became the first object of their care in the country they had adopted.
Being zealous puritans, they concurred in the institution of a church,
establishing that form of policy, which has since been denominated
independent. A confession of faith was drawn up to which the majority
assented; and an association was formed in which they covenanted with
the Lord, and with each other, to walk together in all his ways, as he
should be pleased to reveal himself to them. Pastors, and other
ecclesiastical officers, were chosen, who were installed into their
sacred offices, by the imposition of the hands of the brethren.[54]
[Footnote 54: Robertson.]
A church being thus formed, several were received as members who gave
an account of their faith and hope as Christians; and those only were
admitted into the communion, whose morals and religious tenets were
approved by the elders.[55]
[Footnote 55: Robertson.]
{1629}
Pleased with the work of their hands, and believing it to be perfect,
they could tolerate no difference of opinion. Just escaped from
persecution, they became persecutors themselves. Some few of their
number, attached to the ritual of the church of England, were
dissatisfied with its total abolition; and, withdrawing from communion
with the church, met apart, to worship God in the manner they deemed
most proper. At the head of this small number were two of the first
patentees, who were also of the council. They were called before the
governor, who, being of opinion that their non-conformity and
conversation tended to sedition, sent them to England. The opposition
ceased when deprived of its leaders.[56]
[Footnote 56: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
[Sidenote: Government transferred to Massachusetts bay.]
The following winter brought with it the calamities which must be
uniformly sustained by the first emigrants into a wilderness, where
the cold is severe, and the privations almost universal. In the course
of it, nearly half their number perished, "lamenting that they did not
live to see the rising glories of the faithful." The fortitude,
however, of the survivors, was not shaken; nor were their brethren in
England deterred from joining them. Religion supported the colonists
under all their difficulties; and the intolerant spirit of the English
hierarchy diminished, in the view of the puritans in England, the
dangers and the sufferings to be encountered in America; and disposed
them to forego every other human enjoyment, for the consoling
privilege of worshipping the Supreme Being according to their own
opinions. Many persons of fortune determined to seek in the new world
that liberty of conscience which was denied them in the old; but,
foreseeing the misrule inseparable from the residence of the
legislative power in England, they demanded, as preliminary to their
emigration, that the powers of government should be transferred to New
England, and be exercised in the colony. The company had already
incurred expenses for which they saw no prospect of a speedy
reimbursement; and although they doubted the legality of the measure,
were well disposed by adopting it, to obtain such important aid. A
general court was therefore convened, by whom it was unanimously
resolved "that the patent should be transferred, and the government of
the colony removed from London to Massachusetts bay." It was also
agreed that the members of the corporation remaining in England,
should retain a share in the trading stock and profits for the term of
seven years.[57]
[Footnote 57: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
{1630}
[Sidenote: Boston founded.]
Such was the effect of this revolution in the system of government,
that, early in the following year, fifteen hundred persons, among whom
were several of family and fortune, embarked, at an expense of upwards
of twenty thousand pounds, and arrived at Salem in July. Dissatisfied
with this situation, they explored the country in quest of better
stations; and, settling in many places around the bay, they laid the
foundation of several towns, and, among others, of Boston.
{1631}
The difficulty of obtaining subsistence, the difference of their food
from that to which they had been accustomed, the intense cold of the
winter, against which sufficient provision was not yet made, were
still severely felt by the colonists, and still carried many of them
to the grave; but that enthusiasm which had impelled them to emigrate,
preserved all its force; and they met, with a firm unshaken spirit,
the calamities which assailed them. Our admiration of their fortitude
and of their principles, sustains, however, some diminution from
observing the sternness with which they denied to others that civil
and religious liberty which, through so many dangers and hardships,
they sought for themselves. Their general court decreed that none
should be admitted as freemen, or permitted to vote at elections, or
be capable of being chosen as magistrates, or of serving as jurymen,
but such as had been received into the church as members. Thus did men
who had braved every hardship for freedom of conscience, deny the
choicest rights of humanity, to all those who dissented from the
opinion of the majority on any article of faith, or point of church
discipline.
{1633}
The numerous complaints of the severities exercised by the government
of Massachusetts, added to the immense emigration of persons noted for
their enthusiasm, seem, at length, to have made some impression on
Charles; and an order was made by the King in council, to stop the
ships at that time ready to sail, freighted with passengers for New
England. This order, however, seems never to have been strictly
executed, as the emigrations continued without any sensible
diminution.
{1634}
Hitherto the legislature had been composed of the whole body of the
freemen. Under this system, so favourable to the views of the few who
possess popular influence, the real power of the state had been
chiefly engrossed by the governor and assistants, aided by the clergy.
The emigration, however, having already been considerable, and the
settlements having become extensive, it was found inconvenient, if not
impracticable, longer to preserve a principle which their charter
enjoined. In the year 1634, by common consent, the people elected
delegates who met the governor and council, and constituted the
general court. This important improvement in their system, rendered
familiar, and probably suggested, by the practice in the mother
country, although not authorised by the charter, remained unaltered,
so long as that charter was permitted to exist.[58]
[Footnote 58: Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison.]
[Sidenote: Commission for the government of the plantations.]
{1635}
The colony of Massachusetts having been conducted, from its
commencement, very much on the plan of an independent society, at
length attracted the partial notice of the jealous administration in
England; and a commission for "the regulation and government of the
plantations" was issued to the great officers of state, and to some of
the nobility, in which absolute power was granted to the archbishop of
Canterbury and to others, "to make laws and constitutions concerning
either their state public, or the utility of individuals." The
commissioners were authorised to support the clergy by assigning them
"tithes, oblations, and other profits, according to their discretion;
to inflict punishment on those who should violate their ordinances; to
remove governors of plantations, and to appoint others; and to
constitute tribunals and courts of justice, ecclesiastical and civil,
with such authority and form as they should think proper;" but their
laws were not to take effect until they had received the royal assent,
and had been proclaimed in the colonies. The commissioners were also
constituted a committee to hear complaints against a colony, its
governor or other officers, with power to remove the offender to
England for punishment. They were farther directed to cause the
revocation of such letters patent, granted for the establishment of
colonies, as should, upon inquiry, be found to have been unduly
obtained, or to contain a grant of liberties hurtful to the royal
prerogative.[59]
[Footnote 59: Chalmer. Hutchison.]
From the first settlement at Salem, the colony of Massachusetts had
cultivated the friendship of their neighbours of New Plymouth. The
bonds of mutual amity were now rendered more strict, not only by some
appearances of a hostile disposition among the natives, but by another
circumstance which excited alarm in both colonies.
The voyages for discovery and settlement, made by the English and
French, to the coast of North America, having been nearly
cotemporaneous, their conflicting claims soon brought them into
collision with each other. The same lands were granted by the
sovereigns of both nations; and, under these different grants, actual
settlements had been made by the French as far south and west as St.
Croix, and, by the English, as far north and east as Penobscot. During
the war with France, which broke out early in the reign of Charles I.,
that monarch granted a commission to captain Kirk for the conquest of
the countries in America occupied by the French; under which, in 1629,
Canada and Acadié were subdued; but, by the treaty of St. Germains,
those places were restored to France without any description of their
limits; and Fort Royal, Quebec, and Cape Breton, were severally
surrendered by name. In 1632, a party of French from Acadié committed
a robbery on a trading house established at Penobscot by the people of
New Plymouth. With the intelligence of this fact, information was also
brought that cardinal Richelieu had ordered some companies to Acadié,
and that more were expected the next year, with priests, Jesuits, and
other formidable accompaniments, for a permanent settlement. The
governor of Acadié established a military post at Penobscot, and, at
the same time wrote to the governor of New Plymouth stating, that he
had orders to displace the English as far as Pemaquid. Not being
disposed to submit quietly to this invasion of territory, the
government of New Plymouth undertook an expedition for the recovery of
the fort at Penobscot, consisting of an English ship of war under the
command of captain Girling, and a bark with twenty men belonging to
the colony. The garrison received notice of this armament, and
prepared for its reception by fortifying and strengthening the fort;
in consequence of which Girling, after expending his ammunition and
finding himself too weak to attempt the works by assault, applied to
Massachusetts for aid. That colony agreed to furnish one hundred men,
and to bear the expense of the expedition by private subscription; but
a sufficient supply of provisions, even for this small corps, could
not be immediately obtained, and the expedition was abandoned. Girling
returned, and the French retained possession of Penobscot till 1654.
The apprehensions entertained of these formidable neighbours
contributed, in no small degree, to cement the union between
Massachusetts and Plymouth.[60]
[Footnote 60: Hutchison.]
{1636}
Two persons, afterwards distinguished in English annals, arrived this
year in Boston. One was Hugh Peters, the coadjutor and chaplain of
Oliver Cromwell; the other was Mr. Henry Vane, the son of Sir Henry
Vane, who was, at that time a privy councillor of great credit with
the King. The mind of this young gentleman was so deeply imbued with
the political and religious opinions of the puritans, that he appeared
ready to sacrifice, for the enjoyment of them, all his bright
prospects in his native land. His mortified exterior, his grave and
solemn deportment, his reputation for piety and wisdom, his strong
professions of attachment to liberty and to the public good, added to
his attention to some of the leading members in the church, won
rapidly the affections of the people, and he was chosen their
governor.
His administration commenced with more external pomp than had been
usual, or would seem to be congenial either with his own professions,
or with the plain and simple manners of the people whom he governed.
When going to court or church, he was always preceded by two sergeants
who walked with their halberts. Yet his popularity sustained no
diminution, until the part he took in the religious controversies of
the country detached from him many of its most judicious
inhabitants.[61]
[Footnote 61: Chalmer. Hutchison.]
Independent of the meetings for public worship on every Sunday, of the
stated lecture in Boston on every Thursday, and of occasional lectures
in other towns, there were frequent meetings of the brethren of the
churches, for religious exercises. Mrs. Hutchinson, who had been much
flattered by the attentions of the governor, and of Mr. Cotton, one of
the most popular of the clergy; who added eloquence to her enthusiasm,
and whose husband was among the most respected men of the country;
dissatisfied with the exclusion of her sex from the private meetings
of the brethren, instituted a meeting of the sisters also, in which
she repeated the sermons of the preceding Sunday, accompanied with
remarks and expositions. These meetings were attended by a large
number of the most respectable of her sex; and her lectures were, for
a time, generally approved. At length she drew a distinction between
the ministers through the country. She designated a small number as
being under a covenant of grace; the others, as being under a covenant
of works. Contending for the necessity of the former, she maintained
that sanctity of life is no evidence of justification, or of favour
with God; and that the Holy Ghost dwells personally in such as are
justified. The whole colony was divided into two parties, equally
positive, on these abstruse points, whose resentments against each
other threatened the most serious calamities. Mr. Vane espoused, with
zeal, the wildest doctrines of Mrs. Hutchinson, and Mr. Cotton
decidedly favoured them. The lieutenant governor Mr. Winthrop, and the
majority of the churches, were of the opposite party. Many conferences
were held; days of fasting and humiliation were appointed; a general
synod was called; and, after violent dissensions, Mrs. Hutchinson's
opinions were condemned as erroneous, and she was banished. Many of
her disciples followed her. Vane, in disgust, quitted America;
unlamented even by those who had lately admired him. He was thought
too visionary; and is said to have been too enthusiastic even for the
enthusiasts of Massachusetts.
The patentees, having no common object to prosecute, resolved to
divide their lands; and, in the expectation of receiving a deed of
confirmation for the particular portion which fortune should allot to
each, cast lots, in the presence of James, for the shares each should
hold in severalty. They continued, however, to act some years longer
as a body politic, during which time, they granted various portions of
the country to different persons; and executed under the seal of the
corporation, deeds of feoffment for the lots drawn by each member of
the company; patents of confirmation for which were solicited, but
appear to have been granted only to Gorges, for Maine. The charter was
surrendered by the company and accepted by the crown.[62]
[Footnote 62: Chalmer. Hutchison.]
{1637}
Charles, in pursuance of his determination to take the government of
New England into his own hands, issued a proclamation directing that
none should be transported thither who had not the special license of
the crown, which should be granted to those only who had taken the
oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and had conformed to the discipline
of the church of England. This order, however, could not be completely
executed; and the emigrations, which were entirely of non-conformists,
still continued. Those who were disgusted with the ceremonials rigidly
exacted in England, estimated so highly the simple frame of church
policy established in Massachusetts, that numbers surmounted every
difficulty, to seek an asylum in this new Jerusalem. Among them were
men of the first political influence and mental attainments. Pym,
Hampden, Hazlerig, and Cromwell, with many others who afterwards
performed a conspicuous part in that revolution which brought the head
of Charles to the block, are said to have been actually on board a
vessel prepared to sail for New England, and to have been stopped by
the special orders of the privy council.[63]
[Footnote 63: Hume.]
{1638}
The commissioners for the regulation and government of the plantations
having reported that Massachusetts had violated its charter, a writ of
_quo warranto_ was issued, on which judgment was given in favour of
the crown. The process was never served on any member of the
corporation; and it is therefore probable that the judgment was not
final. The privy council however ordered the governor and company to
send their patent to England to be surrendered. The general court
answered this order by a petition to the commissioners in which they
said, "we dare not question your Lordship's proceedings in requiring
our patent to be sent unto you; we only desire to open our griefs; and
if in any thing we have offended his Majesty or your Lordships, we
humbly prostrate ourselves at the foot stool of supreme authority; we
are sincerely ready to yield all due obedience to both; we are not
conscious that we have offended in any thing, as our government is
according to law; we pray that we may be heard before condemnation,
and that we may be suffered to live in the wilderness." Fortunately
for the colonists, Charles and his commissioners found too much
employment at home, to have leisure for carrying into complete
execution, a system aimed at the subversions of what was most dear to
the hearts of Americans.
To the religious dissensions which distracted Massachusetts, and to
the rigour with which conformity was exacted, is to be attributed the
first settlement of the other colonies of New England. As early as the
year 1634, Roger Williams, a popular preacher at Salem, who had
refused to hold communion with the church at Boston, because its
members refused to make a public declaration of their repentance for
having held communion with the church of England during their
residence in that country, was charged with many exceptionable tenets.
Among several which mark his wild enthusiasm, one is found in total
opposition, to the spirit of the times and to the severity of his
other doctrines. He maintained, that to punish a man for any matter of
conscience is persecution, and that even papists and Arminians are
entitled to freedom of conscience in worship, provided the peace of
civil society be secured. The divines of Massachusetts, in opposition
to this doctrine, contended that they did not persecute men for
conscience, but corrected them for sinning against conscience; and so
they did not persecute, but punish heretics. This unintelligible
sophism not convincing Williams, he was, for this, and for his other
heresies, banished by the magistrates, as a disturber of the peace of
the church, and of the commonwealth.
[Illustration: Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1622
_From the painting by W.L. Williams_
_Here, under Governor Bradford, who directed their destiny for a
precarious quarter of a century, the Pilgrim Fathers strove
desperately to maintain a foothold in America, and several times were
on the point of abandoning the enterprise. To such straits were they
reduced, in 1622, a year after the death of Governor Carter, that half
rations were doled out, and when, in May of that year, a ship arrived
from England bearing encouraging letters to the Pilgrims, but no
substantial supplies, Governor Bradford remarked bitterly: "All this
is but cold comfort to fill hungry bellies."_]
[Sidenote: Providence settled.]
Many of his disciples followed him into exile, and, travelling south
until they passed the line of Massachusetts, purchased a tract of land
of the Narraghansetts, then a powerful tribe of Indians, where, in
1635, they made a settlement to which they gave the name of
Providence. After fixing the place of their future residence, they
entered into a voluntary association, and framed a government composed
of the whole body of freemen. After the manner of Massachusetts, they
created a church by collecting a religious society; but, as one of the
causes of their migration had been the tenet that all were entitled to
freedom of conscience in worship, entire toleration was established.
The new settlers cultivated with assiduity the good will of the
natives, with whom a long peace was preserved.[64]
[Footnote 64: Chalmer. Hutchison.]
[Sidenote: Rhode Island settled.]
The banishment of Williams was soon followed by that of Mrs.
Hutchinson. She was accompanied by many of her disciples, who,
pursuing the steps of Williams, and, arriving in his neighbourhood,
purchased a tract of land from the same tribe, and founded Rhode
Island. Imitating the conduct of their neighbours, they formed a
similar association for the establishment of civil government, and
adopted the same principles of toleration. In consequence of this
conduct the island soon became so populous as to furnish settlers for
the adjacent shores.[65]
[Footnote 65: Chalmer.]
{1634}
[Sidenote: Connecticut settled.]
{1636}
Connecticut too is a colony of Massachusetts. As early as the year
1634, several persons, among whom was Mr. Hooker, a favourite minister
of the church, applied to the general court of Massachusetts for
permission to pursue their fortunes in some new and better land. This
permission was not granted at that time; and, it being then the
received opinion that the oath of a freeman, as well as the original
compact, bound every member of the society so as not to leave him the
right to separate himself from it without the consent of the whole,
this emigration was suspended. The general court, however, did not
long withhold its assent. The country having been explored, and a
place selected on the west side of the river Connecticut, a commission
was granted to the petitioners to remove, on the condition of their
still continuing under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, some few
huts had been erected the preceding year in which a small number of
emigrants had wintered; and, the fall succeeding, about sixty persons
traversed the wilderness in families. In 1636, about one hundred
persons, led by Pynchon, Hooker, and Haynes, followed the first
emigrants, and founded the towns of Hartford, Springfield, and
Weathersfield. There are some peculiarities attending this commission
and this settlement, which deserve to be noticed.
The country to be settled was, confessedly, without the limits of
Massachusetts; yet Roger Ludlow was authorised to promulgate the
orders which might be necessary for the plantations; to inflict
corporal punishment, imprisonment, and fines; to determine all
differences in a judicial way; and to convene the inhabitants in a
general court, if it should be necessary. This signal exercise of
authority grew out of the principle, solemnly asserted by the general
court of Massachusetts, that the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth
was binding, although the person should no longer reside within its
limits.
There were other difficulties attending the title of the settlers. The
Dutch at Manhadoes, or New York, claimed a right to the river, as its
first discoverers. In addition to this hostile title, Lord Say and
Seal, and Lord Brooke, with some others, contemplating a retreat in
the new world from the despotism with which England was threatened,
had made choice of Connecticut river for that purpose, and had built a
fort at its mouth, called Saybrooke. The emigrants from Massachusetts,
however, kept possession; and proceeded to clear and cultivate the
country. They purchased the rights of Lord Say and Seal, and Lord
Brooke, and their partners; and the Dutch, being too feeble to
maintain their title by the sword, gradually receded from the river.
The emigrants, disclaiming the authority of Massachusetts, entered
into a voluntary association for the establishment of a government,
which, in its form, was like those established in the other colonies
of New England. The principal difference between their constitution
and that of Massachusetts was, that they imparted the right of freemen
to those who were not members of the Church.[66]
[Footnote 66: All the powers of government for nearly three
years, seem to have been in the magistrates. Two were
appointed in each town, who directed all the affairs of the
plantation. The freemen appear to have had no voice in
making the laws, or in any part of the government except in
some instances of general and uncommon concern. In these
instances committees were sent from the several towns to a
general meeting. During this term, juries seem not to have
been employed in any case.]
These new establishments gave great and just alarm to the Piquods, a
powerful tribe of Indians on the south of Massachusetts. They foresaw
their own ruin in this extension of the English settlements; and the
disposition excited by this apprehension soon displayed itself in
private murders, and other acts of hostility. With a policy suggested
by a strong sense of danger, they sought a reconciliation with the
Narraghansetts, their ancient enemies and rivals; and requested them
to forget their long cherished animosities, and to co-operate
cordially against a common enemy whose continuing encroachments
threatened to overwhelm both in one common destruction. Noticing the
rapid progress of the English settlements, they urged, with reason,
that, although a present friendship subsisted between the
Narraghansetts and the new comers, yet all, in turn, must be
dispossessed of their country, and this dangerous friendship could
promise no other good than the wretched privilege of being last
devoured.
[Sidenote: War with the Piquods.]
These representations could not efface from the bosoms of the
Narraghansetts, that deep rooted enmity which neighbours, not bound
together by ligaments of sufficient strength to prevent reciprocal
acts of hostility, too often feel for each other. Dreading still less
the power of a foreign nation, than that of men with whom they had
been in the habit of contending, they not only refused to join the
Piquods, but communicated their proposition to the government of
Massachusetts, with whom they formed an alliance against that tribe.
Open war being resolved on by both parties, Captain Underhill was sent
to the relief of fort Saybrooke which had been besieged by the
Indians; and the three colonies, Massachusetts, Plymouth, and
Connecticut, agreed to march their united forces into the country of
the Piquods, to effect their entire destruction. The troops of
Connecticut were first in motion. Those of Massachusetts were detained
by the controversy concerning the covenant of works, and of grace,
which had insinuated itself into all the transactions of that colony.
Their little army, when collected, found itself divided by this
metaphysical point; and the stronger party, believing that the
blessing of God could not be expected to crown with success the arms
of such unhallowed men as their opponents in faith on this question,
refused to march until their small band was purified by expelling the
unclean, and introducing others whose tenets were unexceptionable.
While this operation was performing, the troops of Connecticut,
reinforced by a body of friendly Indians and by a small detachment
from Saybrooke, determined to march against the enemy. The Piquods had
taken two positions which they had surrounded with palisadoes, and had
resolved to defend. The nearest was on a small eminence surrounded by
a swamp near the head of Mystic river. Against this fort the first
attack was made. The Indians, deceived by a movement of the vessels
from Saybrooke to Narraghansett, believed the expedition to have been
abandoned; and celebrated, in perfect security, the supposed
evacuation of their country. About day-break, while they were asleep,
the English approached, and the surprise would have been complete, had
they not been alarmed by the barking of a dog. They immediately gave
the war whoop, and flew undismayed to arms. The English rushed to the
attack, forced their way through the works, and set fire to the Indian
wigwams. The confusion soon became general, and almost every man was
killed or taken.
Soon after this action, the troops of Massachusetts arrived, and it
was resolved to pursue the victory. Several skirmishes terminated
unfavourably to the Piquods; and, in a short time, they received
another total defeat, which put an end to the war. A few only of this
once powerful nation survived, who, abandoning their country,
dispersed themselves among the neighbouring tribes, and were
incorporated with them.[67]
[Footnote 67: Chalmer. Hutchison. Trumbull.]
This vigorous essay in arms of the New England colonists impressed on
the Indians a high opinion of their courage and military superiority;
but their victory was sullied with cruelties which cannot be
recollected without mingled regret and censure.
{1638}
Immediately after the termination of this war New Haven was settled.
[Sidenote: New Haven settled.]
A small emigration from England conducted by Eaton and Davenport,
arrived at Boston in June. Unwilling to remain where power and
influence were already in the hands of others, they refused to
continue within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts; and, disregarding
the threats at Manhadoes, settled themselves west of Connecticut
river, on a place which they named New Haven. Their institutions,
civil and ecclesiastical, were in the same spirit with those of their
elder sister, Massachusetts.
The colony was now in a very flourishing condition. Twenty-one
thousand two hundred emigrants had arrived from England; and, although
they devoted great part of their attention to the abstruse points of
theology which employed the casuists of that day, they were not
unmindful of those solid acquisitions which permanently improve the
condition of man. Sober, industrious, and economical, they laboured
indefatigably in opening and improving the country, and were
unremitting in their efforts to furnish themselves with those supplies
which are to be drawn from the bosom of the earth. Of these, they soon
raised a surplus for which fresh emigrants offered a profitable
market; and their foreign trade in lumber, added to their fish and
furs, furnished them with the means of making remittances to England
for those manufactures which they found it advantageous to import.
Their fisheries had become so important as to attract the attention of
government. For their encouragement, a law was passed exempting
property employed in catching, curing, or transporting fish, from all
duties and taxes, and the fishermen, and ship builders, from militia
duty. By the same law, all persons were restrained from using cod or
bass fish for manure.