voice of an Indian saying: "Welcome, Englishmen." Looking up, they
saw a savage named Sam´o-set, who had boldly walked into their
village to greet them with words learned from English fishermen.
The Pilgrims received Samoset so kindly that he came back on
the morrow with Squanto, who told the colonists that the Indian
chief Mas´sa-soit wished to make friends with them. A meeting was
appointed, and when Massasoit appeared, a few days later, Standish
received him. The drums were beaten loudly, and the Pilgrim soldiers
gravely escorted the Indian chief to their principal log hut, where
Governor Carver was waiting for them.
Here all the choice articles of the Pilgrims had been gathered
together to make a fine show, and a rug and green cushion were laid
on the floor for Massasoit to sit upon.
After smoking the calumet, or "pipe of peace," together, the
Indian chief and the Plymouth governor--with the help of their
interpreters--made a treaty, whereby they promised not to harm but
to help each other, and to trade in a friendly spirit.
The Indians now walked freely in and out of the village, where they
ate and drank so much that the Pilgrims' scant stock of provisions
grew rapidly less. Edward Wins´low, one of the Pilgrims, therefore
took occasion, on returning Massasoit's visit, to tell him that
the Indians were to come to Plymouth only when they bore messages
from him. To make sure that the right Indians would always be well
treated, Winslow gave Massasoit a ring, which was to serve as
passport for his men.
Were you to read Winslow's description of his visit to the Indian
chief, you would be greatly amused. Massasoit had no provisions
in his wigwam, so he and his guests went to bed hungry. Besides,
Winslow and his men had to sleep side by side with the dirty chief
and his squaw, and they were so crowded by other Indians that they
were very uncomfortable indeed.
In April the _Mayflower_ went back to England; but although the
Pilgrims had suffered so sorely during the winter, they all wrote
brave letters to send home, and not one of them asked to go back.
After the _Mayflower_ had sailed away Governor Carver fell ill
and died, so William Bradford was elected to take his place. This
Bradford made so good a ruler that he was elected again and again,
and during the next thirty-six years he was head of the colony
nearly all the time.
Squanto soon became a great favorite with the Pilgrims. He played
with the children, taught the boys to trap game, and told the
settlers to plant their corn as soon as the leaves of the white oak
were as large as a mouse's ear. He also taught them to put a fat
fish in each hill, to serve as manure for the growing grain, because
the ground around there was very sandy.
The colonists now worked diligently, making their fields and gardens
over the graves of their dead companions, so that no hostile Indians
should ever find out how many had died, or dig up their bones. The
crops being all planted, the Pilgrims went on building, made friends
with nine Indian chiefs, and traded briskly with the savages for
furs.
But day by day the stock of provisions brought from England grew
less and less, until they finally saw with dismay that it would be
entirely exhausted long before their corn was ripe. So they were
put on such scant rations that it is said they sometimes had only
six grains of corn for a meal! As they were not good hunters or
experienced fishermen, they lived almost entirely on shellfish,
Elder Brewster piously giving thanks to God for supplying them with
"the abundance of the seas and the treasures hid in the sand."
Although the winter had been very damp, the summer proved so dry
that it soon seemed as if the Pilgrims' crops would perish for want
of rain. A day of fasting and prayer was therefore appointed, and
for nine hours the Pilgrims besought God to help them. Some Indians,
hearing that they were going to pray for rain, watched the sky
anxiously, and when it finally clouded over and a gentle rain began
to fall, they remarked in awe-struck tones that the God of the white
men had evidently heard their prayers.
Ten days of moisture which followed the day of prayer assured a
plentiful harvest, which was safely gathered. The Pilgrims were so
grateful for this mercy that they set a day in which to give thanks.
After a solemn service they held a great feast, to which Massasoit
and ninety other Indians were invited.
At this dinner they ate wild turkeys shot by the colonists, venison
supplied by the savages, and pies which the Pilgrim mothers made
from yellow pumpkins, as they had no apples. During the next three
days all the young people indulged in games and athletic sports,
in which the Indians also shared. After this "Thanksgiving Day,"
as the Pilgrims named it, a feast like it was kept every year in
New England. This custom gradually spread from there over the whole
country, until now the day is observed in all the states of our
Union. The President, who appoints the day, generally chooses the
last Thursday in November.
[Illustration: The First Thanksgiving Dinner.]
XXXI. THE SNAKE SKIN AND THE BULLETS.
As the Pilgrims were just in all their dealings with the Indians,
and honestly paid them for the corn taken when they first landed,
the natives became quite friendly. They not only brought back the
missing tools, but once found and carried home the mischievous
Billington boy, who had lost his way in the forest, near the pond
which still bears his name.
The Indians felt such respect for the Pilgrims that when Massasoit
fell ill he sent for Winslow right away. The latter went to the
chief's wigwam, where he found a crowd of Indians eagerly watching
the antics of the medicine man, who had come to drive away the
chief's disease.
After ordering all the Indians out of the wigwam, Winslow let in
some fresh air, cooled the sick Indian's hot brow and hands with
clean water, and gave him some medicine. Presently the savage chief
asked for chicken broth, which he had once tasted at Plymouth,
so Winslow sent a messenger to Plymouth for a fowl. Thanks to
Winslow's good nursing,--for fresh air and cleanliness are good
doctors,--Massasoit soon recovered, and ever after he was the white
men's firm ally.
All the Indians were not friendly, however. Ca-non´i-cus, chief
of the Nar-ra-gan´setts, an enemy of Massasoit, hated to see the
land occupied by the English, so he soon sent them a rattlesnake's
skin full of arrows. Governor Bradford looked at it wonderingly and
then asked Squanto what it meant. The Indian said it signified that
unless the white men crept away like serpents the Indians would
slay them all with their arrows.
Hearing this, Bradford coolly took the arrows out of the skin,
stuffed it full of powder and bullets, and silently handed it to
the messenger to carry back to Canonicus. The savage glided rapidly
away, and gave the skin to Canonicus, who, afraid of the powder,
passed it on to another Indian. The snake skin went thus from hand
to hand, but was finally sent back to Plymouth, with an offer of
friendship. The Indians, seeing that the English governor was not
afraid of them, now begged for peace, promising to bury the war
hatchet so deep that it could never again be dug up.
The fact is that powder at first seemed a very mysterious thing to
the red men. They were afraid of it, but at the same time longed to
have some. One Indian is said to have bought powder from a colonist,
who gravely told him that if he wanted any more he must plant the
black seed. The savage obeyed, but as nothing came up from it, the
shrewd Indian declared that he would pay the colonist only when the
powder grew!
The Pilgrims, fearing the Indians might attack them, built a log
meetinghouse on a hill, and used it as a fort, placing their cannon
on its flat roof. This place was also surrounded by a palisade, or
great fence of tree trunks, so that it could afford the colonists
a safe shelter in time of danger. Generally, however, it served as
a meetinghouse, for the Pilgrims were all very religious, and when
the drums beat on Sunday morning all came out of their houses and
marched in solemn procession to church.
At the door the men stacked their arms, leaving them in charge of a
guard, who was to give the alarm at the first sign of danger. In the
meetinghouse men and women sat apart, listening to the long prayers
and sermons, or slowly singing very sober hymns. The boys sat on the
pulpit steps, in full view of the congregation, to make sure they
would behave properly.
The sexton, armed with a long stick, rapped the boys on the head if
they proved unruly, or poked the men when they fell asleep. But if
the girls or women dozed, he gently tickled their cheeks with the
foxtail hanging at the other end of the same stick. Sometimes, too,
it was he who turned the hourglass when all its sands had run out,
for the minister was then only halfway through his two hours' sermon.
In the first fall the colony was increased by the arrival of more
Separatists; but it did not really prosper until the settlers
bought the shares of the English merchants, and, instead of holding
everything in common, began to work each for himself. They were so
industrious and thrifty that before long their debts were all paid,
and they had comfortable homes and good farms.
The Plymouth people were so strict that they would allow none but
church members to vote. Their colony therefore grew very slowly, and
at the end of ten years it numbered only about three hundred souls.
But other Puritans, who did not believe exactly as the Plymouth
colonists, came over to America and founded other colonies along the
New England coast.
[Illustration:
_G. H. Boughton, Artist._
Pilgrims going to Church.]
Thus, for instance, the first Mas-sa-chu´setts Bay colonists came
over in 1628. As their hope was to convert the Indians, they adopted
a seal on which there was an Indian, with the inscription, "Come
over and help us." They, too, were very strict. They said, "No idle
drone may live among us," and expected every one to work hard. They
settled at some distance from Plymouth (map, page 230), in a spot
which they called Sa´lem ("Peace"), because they hoped to live and
worship there in peace.
The principal man in the Massachusetts Bay colony was John
En´di-cott. He felt such intense horror for the Roman Catholic
religion that before he had been in America very long, he drew out
his sword and cut the cross right out of the English flag, saying
that Puritans could not look with respect upon such a popish emblem.
Besides, hearing that some English colonists had put up a Maypole on
Merry Mount, and danced there, he cut down the pole and scolded the
people for indulging in "the folly of amusements."
XXXII. THE BEGINNING OF BOSTON.
Besides Puritans, a few other men came over to New England. Among
these was Standish, who, as you know, proved very useful to the
Plymouth colony, and a learned man named Black´stone. The latter
tried at first to live with the Separatists at Plymouth, but when
he saw that they were not willing to let him do as he thought
right, and wanted to force him to think just as they did, he boldly
said: "I came from England because I did not like the Lord Bishops,
but I cannot join with you, because I would not be under the Lord
Brethren."
Having spoken thus, Blackstone left the colony, and withdrew to
a hill about forty miles up the coast, where he built himself a
comfortable house. Here he soon had a fine garden, where he grew the
first apples seen in New England; and his cow, wandering around in
search of pasture, made the first winding paths through the forest
in that part of the country.
Although the Plymouth settlers were, as we have seen, usually on
friendly terms with the Indians, there were some worthless settlers
where Weymouth (wā´mŭth) now is, who soon quarreled with them
(1623). Hearing that the Indians had planned to kill all the whites,
Captain Standish and his little force marched over to Weymouth.
Though small, he was very brave. He sent for the Indian chiefs,
and met them in a log hut. When one of them threatened his life,
Standish boldly attacked him. There was a terrible tussle, but the
white man finally killed his huge enemy. This act of daring made
other Indians respect Standish, whom they called the "big little
man."
While Standish was struggling with one Indian, two more were killed
by the other white men in the hut, and a few others were slain
afterwards. When this news reached Mr. Robinson at Leyden, he sadly
cried: "Oh, that they had converted some before they killed any!"
In 1630 the colonists of Massachusetts Bay were reinforced by the
arrival of seven hundred newcomers, "the very flower of the English
Puritans." Led by John Winthrop, a noble and clever man, some of
them came over in a ship which was called the _Lady Arbela_, in
honor of a delicate lady on board. But seventy-six days of sea
journey proved so trying to this frail woman that she died soon
after landing at Salem.
At first the newcomers tried to settle near Charles´town; but they
found the drinking water so bad there that they finally went to
Trimountain, or Tre´mont ("Three Hills"), where Blackstone had built
his house. Not liking to live so near a large colony of Puritans,
Blackstone sold them his house and land, and went to settle
elsewhere.
The land thus purchased was divided among the settlers, who,
for convenience' sake, built their houses along the paths made
by Blackstone's cow. Some people say that this accounts for the
crooked streets in old Boston, for such was the name this settlement
received soon after it was made (1630). Six acres, however, were set
apart as the Common, or pasture ground, for everybody. This part of
Blackstone's farm still bears that name, but it is now in the very
heart of the city of Boston, a beautiful, well-kept park, and no
longer a mere pasture ground.
The Boston colonists had brought tools, cattle, and seed in
abundance; but in spite of all their foresight and supplies, their
first winter proved very hard. It was very cold, and as they had to
go some distance for their fuel, many could not secure enough. We
are told that one man was even caught stealing wood from Winthrop's
pile. Now, the Puritans considered stealing almost as bad as murder,
and had the man been publicly accused, they would perhaps have
condemned him to death. But Governor Winthrop was so good and gentle
that he merely said he would cure the man of the habit of stealing,
and did so by sending the rascal all the fuel he needed until spring.
Like the Plymouth colonists, the Puritans were threatened with
starvation long before their ships could return. Winthrop then
generously supplied the people's needs from his own store, and
actually gave the last flour he had in his house to a poor man who
came to beg. But the good governor did not suffer on account of his
generosity, for that very day the returning ships sailed into port,
bringing plenty of provisions for all.
The colony now prospered greatly, and sent home such encouraging
letters that more and more people ventured across the ocean.
Winthrop sent for his wife, and a minister wrote to his friends that
"a sup of New England air is better than a whole draught of Old
England's Ale."
During the next ten years, more than twenty thousand
English-speaking persons came over to New England. There, in time,
they formed fifty parishes, or villages, connected by roads and
bridges. Some of these settlements were planted far inland, although
the Puritans at first declared they would never need more land than
what was inclosed in a circle drawn ten miles around Boston.
A governor was elected to rule over the colony, and each town ruled
itself. But the people also sent representatives to the General
Court, or Assembly, where public matters were discussed and laws
were made for the good of the whole colony.
The government being in the hands of the people, and the Puritans
wishing their children to be well educated, public schools were soon
provided in every village, and in 1636 the General Court started the
first college. It was located in a spot which was called Cam´bridge,
in honor of the great university town in England. Two years later,
a minister named Har´vard left his library of about two hundred and
fifty books and some money to the new college, which since then has
borne his name.
XXXIII. STORIES OF TWO MINISTERS.
At first, Harvard College had only a very few students, who were
to be educated for the ministry. All the colonists contributed to
the support of the institution, for those who were too poor to give
twelvepence in money were told to bring a measure of corn or some
fire wood. Four years after the college was founded, the first
English printing press was set up there, and began to print books of
psalms for the Puritan churches.
While the new college was training missionaries for the Indians,
the latter had found a good friend in John El´i-ot, who came over
to America in 1631. While preaching in Boston and Rox´bur-y, Eliot
learned the Massachusetts Indian language, and began to translate
the Bible into that tongue. It took him nearly thirty years of
patient work to do this, in the midst of all his preaching and
teaching. But his Bible was the first printed in America, and many
of his "praying Indians," as the converts were called, learned to
read in it.
Eliot was a sweet, simple, and very lovable man. He was so generous
that once, in paying him his salary, the parish treasurer tied it up
in the good man's handkerchief with several knots, so that he should
not be able to give it all away before reaching home. But Eliot,
unable to undo these hard knots when he met a poor woman, gave her
handkerchief and all, saying: "Here, my dear, take it; I believe the
Lord designs it all for you."
After years of faithful work among the savages, Eliot, the "Apostle
of the Indians," died, at the age of eighty-six. He tried harder
than any other Puritan to convert the red men, who lost their best
friend when he passed away. The Bible he worked so diligently to
translate still exists; but as there are no Massachusetts Indians
left, it is now of no use, except to remind us of Eliot's great
patience and perseverance.
As the soil was poor, hands few, and the harvests too scanty to
supply food for all, the colonists soon began to wonder how they
could earn money. Before long, they discovered that by sending
fish to England, they could get all the food they wanted. For that
reason they fished diligently, and soon used a huge codfish as an
emblem for the Massachusetts Bay colony. Next, the colonists built
a large ship called the _Blessing of the Bay_, in which they sent
lumber to the West Indies. In exchange for timber, they got sugar
and molasses, from which they made rum to ship to England. Thus
commerce was begun, and, increasing year by year, finally made the
Massachusetts Puritans both rich and independent.
The Puritans, as you have seen, left England because they were not
allowed to worship there as they pleased. But although they did
not like it when the English tried to make them obey the Anglican
Church, they now wanted to force all who came among them to think
just as they did.
One young man, Roger Williams, came to New England in 1631, and
preached for a while at Salem. But as he openly said that the
Puritans had no right to punish people for thinking differently
about religious matters, or for such trifles as smoking on the
street or laughing too loud, he soon displeased some of the
colonists.
They sent him away for a while, thinking he would change his mind;
but when Williams came back to Salem, he insisted harder than ever
that every man had a right to think just as he pleased, to worship
God as his conscience bade him, and to vote whether he went to
church or not. He also declared that the land around there belonged
to the Indians and not to the King of England. These opinions seemed
so wicked to the good Puritans that they called him up before their
Council to reprove him.
[Illustration: Williams Welcomed by the Indians.]
Finding that the Puritans would not let him live in peace in any
part of the colony, but intended to send him back to England to be
tried, Williams secretly escaped from Massachusetts, and went to
live among the Indians. As he knew their language, and had made
friends with them, he spent a very peaceful winter in their camp.
When spring came, Williams wanted to settle at See´konk; but as
the Plymouth people claimed that part of the land, he went farther
still, to a place which he called Prov´i-dence. Settling there, in
1636, on land he bought from the Indians, Williams was soon joined
by others who shared his opinions, and thus a colony was formed in
what is now Rhode Island, where all except Jews were allowed to
vote. This was considered very generous in those days, although it
now seems unfair to exclude anyone on account of religion.
Because Williams was so much broader-minded than many other people
of his time, he has often been called the "Apostle of Toleration"--a
word which means letting others alone, or allowing others to do as
they please. People of every belief came to settle in Williams's
neighborhood before long, and there was soon such a variety of them
that it was said if a man had lost his religion he would be sure to
find it again in Rhode Island.
XXXIV. WILLIAMS AND THE INDIANS.
One of the first important persons who followed Williams to Rhode
Island was Mrs. Anne Hutch´in-son. Soon after her arrival in
Massachusetts, in 1634, she began to hold meetings and to preach.
The Puritans, who did not believe in women's talking in public, told
her to be silent; but she refused to obey, and went on preaching
until she gained great influence over many people.
Indeed, when an Indian war broke out, her followers even refused
to go and fight unless she was allowed to talk just as much as
she pleased. But as soon as the war was over, Mrs. Hutchinson was
banished. Then she, too, went to Rhode Island (1637), where she
bought from the Indians the large island of that name. She gave them
only twenty hoes, ten coats, and forty fathoms of wampum in payment
for it, and near one end of it she began the town which is now the
beautiful city of New´port. Several Quakers, driven out of the
Massachusetts colonies by the Puritans, also came to live near her,
and her settlement prospered greatly.
Other colonies were also begun farther north. A short time after the
founding of Plymouth, Mason and Gor´ges received from the king a
grant of land. Coming over to America, they divided their land and
founded colonies, Gorges in Maine and Mason in New Hamp´shire. Among
the principal settlements thus made were the towns of Ports´moŭth
and Dover. Some years later, however, these places were added to
Massachusetts, to which colony New Hampshire was joined for about
thirty-five years.
In 1630, at the time when Boston was founded, some fishermen
reported that the Con-nect´i-cut River flowed between very fertile
banks. This news made Lords Say, Brooke, and others ask for a grant
of land there, which the king readily gave them. These owners then
prepared to found a new colony, which was called Say´brook, after
two of their number. But they very soon found that there was no time
to lose if they wanted to claim the land the king had given them,
for the Dutch had already built a trading station where Hartford now
stands, and were threatening to occupy all the Connecticut valley.
In spite of the fact that the Dutch got there first, Winthrop's son
was told to build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut, or Long
River, where he was soon joined by a colony of about fifty men.
These settlers suffered greatly from lack of food and proper shelter.
[Illustration: Carrying Mrs. Hooker to Hartford.]
Still, the white men spread rapidly in Connecticut, and in the
spring of 1636, Pastor Hooker, "the light of the western church,"
came there from Massachusetts, with about one hundred men, women,
and children. Walking through the woods, driving their cattle
before them, and carrying poor sick Mrs. Hooker on a litter, these
colonists came to settle on the banks of the Connecticut, where
they founded Hartford. They brought written laws with them, in
which, among other things, it was stated that a man need not be a
church member to vote.