Pilgrims from Leyden via the new settlement of Salem, and later a
smaller number followed, but poorer and less capable, though worthy
persons all. This serious matter, resulting partly from the indiscretion
of friends, incurred an expense for transportation, new clothing and
considerable maintenance, to the amount of over five thousand dollars in
our money. The bulk of it was borne by several new partners in England;
yet Plymouth's share was equivalent to a thousand dollars or a little
more, which was never repaid to the Colony or even demanded back, and
became a chief cause of Plymouth's indebtedness during its first quarter
of a century. Commenting on this final extra burden from abroad,
Bradford thus expresses his wonder "that these poor people here in a
wilderness should, notwithstanding, be inabled in time to repay all
these ingagments, and many more unjustly brought upon them through the
unfaithfulness of some, and many other great losses which they
sustained, which will be made manifest, if y^e Lord be pleased to give
life and time. In y^e mean time, I cannot but admire his ways and workes
towards his servants, and humbly desire to blesse his holy name for his
great mercies hithertoo."
Even more than the intricacies of financial entanglements, the
responsibilities of diplomacy rested in large measure upon the colonial
leader. He had to deal not only with the unsympathetic home government
in England, but at one time with Dutch pretensions in New England, which
emanated from Fort Manhattan on the future site of New York City.
Perceiving clearly that they possessed a place of immense natural
advantage, the desire of these Hollanders was enlarged, to extend their
area, both commercially and politically, from this safe and promising
base. They therefore sent letters to Plymouth in its seventh year, the
year of the trading station's establishment near Buzzard's Bay on the
south.
Correspondence opened with this ample salutation as rendered in
English:
"Noble, honorable, wise and prudent Lords, the Governor and Councillors
residing in New Plymouth, our very good friends."
Bradford replied with an equally cordial tone, in which lay no lack of
sincerity:
"To the Honoured, &c.
"The Gov^r & Counsell of New Plim: wisheth, &c. We have received your
letters, &c. wherin appeareth your good wills & frendship toward us; but
is expressed with over high titls, more than belongs to us, or is meete
for us to receive. But for your good will, and congratulations of our
prosperitie in these smale beginings of our pore colonie, we are much
bound unto you, and with many thanks doe acknowledge y^e same; taking it
both for a great honour done unto us, and for a certaine testimony of
your love and good neighborhood."
After this modest beginning of his message, one discerns in the next
sentence, underneath its tenor of genuine amity, a deep note of well
disguised warning, that no open question exists in the matter of mutual
territorial relations. Thus the subordinate and latent inference is
couched, almost like some unintended meaning which nevertheless carries
more weight than with a studied significance; for Bradford's very
honesty itself was his constant safety:
"Now these are further to give your Wor^{pps} to understand, that it is
to us no smale joye to hear, that his majestie hath not only bene
pleased to confirme y^t ancient amitie, aliance, and frendship, and
other contracts, formerly made & ratified by his predecessors of famous
memorie, but hath him selfe (as you say) strengthened the same with a
new-union the better to resist y^e prid of y^t comone enemy y^e
Spaniard, from whose cruelty the Lord keep us both, and our native
countries."
Following the adroit but legitimate suggestion, that their harmony is
the more desirable in view of their natural foes, he concludes with this
reminder of their former happy concord in Holland:
"Now forasmuch as this is sufficiente to unite us togeather in love and
good neighbourhood, in all our dealings, yet are many of us further
obliged, by the good and curteous entreaty which we have found in your
countrie; haveing lived ther many years, with freedome, and good
contente, as also many of our freinds doe to this day; for which we, and
our children after us, are bound to be thankfull to your Nation, and
shall never forgett y^e same, but shall hartily desire your good &
prosperity, as our owne, for ever."
Notwithstanding these veiled admonitions, the Dutch sent further
epistles, asserting now a claim over English territorial and trade
rights, and declaring that they would defend the claim. Yet the Plymouth
Governor's versatile mind and ready tact were equal to this new crisis,
delicate as it was, and fraught with momentous possibilities. There was
considerable correspondence, and mutual insistence, though always with
conventional courtesy of language. Bradford preserved part of these
diplomatic communications in his Letter Book. He remained firm in the
English title, knowing the ground therefor, and requested the Manhattan
magistrates to refer to their own home government, while he deprecated
any future trouble to them from the British crown.
In the conclusion of one of his missives he offers this advice:
"We desire your Honours, that ye would take into your wise and honorable
considerations, that which we conceive may be a hindrance to this
accordation, and may be a means of much future evil, if it be not
prevented, namely, that you clear the title of your planting in these
parts, which his Majesty hath, by patent, granted to divers his nobles
and subjects of quality; least it be a bone of division in these
stirring evil times, which God forbid: We persuade ourselves, that now
may be easily and seasonably done, which will be harder and with more
difficulty obtained hereafter, and perhaps not without blows; so there
may be assured peace and good correspondence on all parts, and ourselves
more free and able to contract with your Honours. Thus commending our
best service to our most noble Lords, praying for the prosperous success
of your worthy designs, we rest your Lordships'
Most sincerely affected and bounden,
William Bradford,
Governour, &c.
Plymouth, Oct. 1, Anno 1627."
This seemed to be enough. They desisted from such designs as might not
be deemed "worthy" by the benevolent English Governor, and for which he
did not say he might pray. The unwarranted question was dropped, as to
the Dutch prerogative.
Nevertheless next year the Manhattan correspondent, Secretary Isaac de
Rasier, came to the Monumet station with trumpeters and a retinue, and
was conveyed to Plymouth by a boat sent to meet him. After several days'
entertainment, he returned to his ship under escort, having been
permitted to accomplish his unprofessed purpose, to observe the
condition of the fortified English Colony, of which he delivered a
description, still extant, to his superiors at New Amsterdam.
In 1633 Bradford also sustained the British claim in the Connecticut
valley above the Hollanders' holdings, sending a vessel up the river to
the navigable limits, past the threatening Dutch fort at Hartford, and
establishing a trading post at present Windsor. Both New Amsterdam and
Massachusetts had repeatedly encouraged them to do this, but repented.
This mercantile base was embarrassed by a wide-spread plague among the
Indians, most of whom were unfriendly. After this reverse it was taken
up by a party from Dorchester and, on Bradford's protest, only a
sixteenth share in it was returned to Plymouth. The matter caused some
feeling in the Old Colony toward its newer northern neighbor. Such
rivalries and questions of debate between the two English sections made
evident the need of the inter-colonial union which later arose. Harmony
was sought and usually prevailed.
Captain John Endicott, the new Governor of Massachusetts Bay residing at
Salem, proceeded promptly to recognize Plymouth's head in this truly
fraternal manner (his spelling modernized):
"To the worshipful and my right worthy friend, William Bradford, Esq.
Governor of New Plymouth, these.
"Right Worthy Sir,
"It is a thing not usual, that servants to one master and of the same
household should be strangers; I assure you I desire it not, nay to
speak more plainly, I cannot be so to you: God's people are marked with
one and the same mark, and sealed with one and the same seal, and have
for the main one and the same heart, guided by one and the same spirit
of truth; and where this is, there can be no discord, nay, here must
needs be sweet harmony; and the same request (with you) I make unto the
Lord, that we may, as Christian brethren, be united by an heavenly and
unfeigned love, bending all our hearts and forces in furthering a work
beyond our strength with reverence and fear, fastening our eyes always
on him that only is able to direct and prosper all our ways."
In the following summer of 1629 the sincere and cultured pastors at
Salem, Higginson and Skelton, though ordained clergymen, wished to be
set apart anew. To this religious assembly William Bradford and other
delegates from the Plymouth church were invited. Adverse winds delayed
their arrival by sail, and even the days of the stagecoach were then in
the future; but happily they were in time to give the right hand of
fellowship to their brethren of the Bay.
The closely allied civil and religious interests of the time were
further promoted between north and south, under Governor John Winthrop,
in his third year at Boston, the new and growing colonial seat. This
excellent man wished to visit his gubernatorial brother, Bradford, and
associates. There had been great sickness at Boston in its beginning, as
in Plymouth at first, though proportionately not so severe in the colony
which started with much better numbers. These Bostonians in their crisis
bought every available commodity from Plymouth, and for cattle they
exchanged horses. Thus by their very exigencies, a good degree of
commercial intercourse and brotherly regard was facilitated.
With Governor Winthrop went the Boston pastor, Reverend John Wilson, and
two other companions. Their journey was partly by water and latterly by
land. Informed of their coming, a party headed by Governor Bradford and
Elder Brewster hastened forth to meet them in the evening, and attended
them into the town. During their stay of some days, they received the
best entertainment that could be given them, at the executive residence
and other homes. And when they returned, they were accompanied for some
distance on their way, Bradford having his horse carry Winthrop.
The Boston chief dignitary, historian of Massachusetts Bay as Governor
Bradford was of Plymouth, wrote of the Sabbath which he and his comrades
spent with their Pilgrim brethren. At that time Roger Williams,
afterwards the devoted missionary and pioneer among the Rhode Island
Indians, was living at Plymouth for a couple of years, and was mentioned
by Winthrop in his narration, as was Reverend Ralph Smith, first pastor
there for a short time, a good but mediocre man. Thus the record reads,
in modern spelling:
"On the Lord's Day was a sacrament, which they did partake in; and in
the afternoon Mr. Roger Williams, according to their custom, propounded
a question, to which their pastor, Mr. Smith, spoke briefly. Mr.
Williams prophesied the topic he had submitted; and after, the Governor
of Plymouth spoke to the question; after him, the Elder; then some two
or three more of the congregation. Then the Elder desired the Governor
of Massachusetts and Mr. Wilson to speak to it, which they did. When
this was ended, the deacon, Mr. Fuller, put the congregation in mind of
the contribution, upon which the Governor and all the rest went down to
the deacon's seat and put into the bag, and then returned."
Edward Winslow also once described another feature of their worship:
"We refresht ourselves ... with synginge of Psalmes, making joyfull
melodie in our hartes, as well as with y^e voice, there being manie in
y^e congregation verie experte in musick."
V
THE GOVERNOR: LAST ACTS
_I venture the prophecy that for countless years to come and to
untold thousands these mute pages shall eloquently speak of high
resolve, great suffering and heroic endurance made possible by
an absolute faith in the over-ruling providence of Almighty
God._
Governor Roger Wolcott of Massachusetts, at the Bradford
History Presentation, May 26, 1897.
_Quae patres difficillime adepti sunt nolite turpiter
relinquere._
(_What the Fathers with greatest difficulty effected do not
basely abandon._)
Inscription on the monument of William Bradford
at Plymouth.
_Sicut patribus, sit Deus nobis._
(_As with the Fathers, so may God be with us._)
SEAL OF BOSTON.
In their personal visitation the colonial leaders had opportunity to
confer on matters of mutual interest, before there was any thought of
their respective territories becoming merged indissolubly into a noble
Commonwealth. In 1630 Bradford had received in his name a patent, which
ten years later the Plymouth court requested to have; but on his ready
compliance, it returned the same at once to him, to whom and his heirs
it had been made out by the authorities in England. This charter
specified the area of the Old Colony, which, under the jurisdiction of
Plymouth, extended from Scituate, considerably below Boston harbor, to
Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, with Cape Cod on the east. Not long
after this it included ten towns.
Soon a decided forward step was taken, toward unity. In September 7,
1643, a confederation was formed, composed of the colonies of
Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, and named The
United Colonies of New England. Probably this coalition was in the minds
of those who founded the United States of America. There are
similarities in the very constitutions of the two governmental
organizations, small and large. The four colonial sections were
associated on a basis of political equality. A federal congress was
formed, there being two representative delegates from every Colony, who
were called commissioners, with one of them presiding. William Bradford
was four times a commissioner from Plymouth; and twice he was chosen
president, the second time in 1656, the last full year of his life.
The preamble to this federal constitution thus commences: "Wheras we
all came into these parts of America with one and y^e same end and aime,
namly, to advance the kingdome of our Lord Jesus Christ, & to injoye y^e
liberties of y^e Gospell in puritie with peace; and wheras in our
setling (by a wise providence of God) we are further disperced upon y^e
sea coasts and rivers then was at first intended, so y^t we cannot,
according to our desires, communicate in one governmente &
jurisdiction;--"
This union was highly desirable, from considerations foreign and
domestic. The supreme home government was in a condition of uncertainty
suggestive of either radical change or revolution itself; and so it
would be less able to attend to its provinces in case of need. And need
might be at any time, with rival neighboring colonies under other
national flags, and with the growing realization of the savages that if
they wished for their former independence they must fight for it, soon
or never. These facts were plainly perceived in the English settlements,
with their loose and informal interconnection of only national and
religious sympathy.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony, beginning at Salem, had been powerfully
augmented at Charlestown and Boston in the summer of 1630, by the
arrival of its Governor John Winthrop and others who were soon followed
by the New England fleet of no less than ten more vessels carrying about
fifteen hundred colonists. The great natural facilities of Boston
harbor and its environments encouraged a steady and numerous
immigration, so that in 1643, the year of confederation, it is estimated
that five times as many were found there as in the Old Colony.
Connecticut comprised now about the same number as the latter, three
thousand, and New Haven half a thousand less. Numerically, therefore,
the English in New England were not yet strong. Yet they were constantly
growing in this and every respect, having now nearly fifteen thousand
acres of grain and a thousand acres in gardens and orchards, with two
thousand cattle and three thousand sheep.
The limited body of legislators in this confederation, was composed,
however, of truly representative men. And Bradford had much previous
experience in law. The first few and simple statutes of Plymouth were
revised and enlarged in 1636, when eight delegates, representing also
Duxbury and Scituate, co-operated with the Governor and his seven
assistants.
The seal of authority which he was accustomed to use was a double eagle.
He was Chief Justice, Speaker of the General Court, which granted him a
double vote, and Auditor of the Treasury, all these functions being,
however, on a scale so limited as to forbid what in larger setting would
seem an excess of prerogatives. The record of the 1621 meersteads are in
his hand, as was the lost register of early deaths, marriages and
punishments.
Bradford felt keenly the numerical loss of Plymouth colonists who went
out to form new communities. Everywhere the pioneer mood was for
expansion. In this way he was also deprived of a group of able men. Yet
they remained mostly in the Old Colony, except Edward Winslow, who
finally returned to England. In the year of colonial union Elder
Brewster passed away, who had been not only a most worthy and acceptable
preacher and virtual pastor at Plymouth, but a close adviser to the
Governor, even as he had been the counsellor of his youth. The efficient
military head, Myles Standish, was released by death from further
responsibilities in 1656; and Bradford survived him only into the next
year, having still the company of the public-spirited and helpful John
Howland, of the remaining Mayflower Pilgrims.
Many of the best people of England were leaving for America. Much alarm
was felt by the home government on this account, in whose eyes colonial
New England always represented protest. The former vacillated between
aggression and hesitating aloofness toward this uncomfortable element of
dissent, exceedingly vexed at such persistent survival and vigorous
increase, and yet recognizing its most promising contribution to the
strength of the realm. But always again, where royalty wavered, or on
the other hand in desperation leaped to violent opposition, the prelacy
was close behind it with an urgency which often bordered upon
dictation.
Of course the exception to this otherwise uniformly uncongenial
Anglo-American interrelation was the regime of the Commonwealth. Had
Cromwell sat on the throne of George IV, we would undoubtedly have been
a lower Canada for a period of time difficult to delimit. It has been
aptly stated that the Oriental idea of conquest was without
incorporation, the Roman idea was conquest with incorporation but
without representation, and the English idea of empire building was
incorporation with representation. This is eminently true as regards
England, to her credit be it said. And herein was her folly in forcing
the American Revolution, because at that time she fell from her own
ideals, which have so signally succeeded in the policy of practical
colonial autonomy, vastly promoting her beneficent power.
This happy principle of provincial administration was not yet developed
in the seventeenth century, which was a season of preparation for the
stupendous blunder of the eighteenth, perpetrated by a head-strong
despot without the sympathy of his own home people or a large part of
Parliament. The root of the trouble then was taxation without
representation, and England learned a valuable lesson after quite an
awkward experience. But regal antagonism found its provincial object in
religious dissent as early as 1634, when a warrant was issued to stay
several vessels about to sail for America. In King Charles' reign, three
ships were assigned to convey a governor and bishops to the west.
Massachusetts was greatly stirred up in regard to this, forts were
ordered built, and resistance was meditated. The program of absolutism
lagged. Nevertheless it looked like a critical juncture, before the
tension was relieved by the rise of revolution in Scotland, which
resulted in the monarch's dethronement and decapitation. The lords
accepted the colonists' petition, and gave forth that they did not
intend to curtail their liberties.
The New England Federation was an unprofessed Declaration of
Independence. Their virtual assertion of popular sovereignty was
temporarily smothered by imported tyranny in the shape of Sir Edmund
Andros. Yet the people's power slowly continued to grow, and the
erection of Harvard College was a mighty factor in the process before a
decade had passed in the Bay Colony. Thither Plymouth sent her youth of
promise.
The claim is presumably warranted, that the unsought but unchanging
popular choice of the chief executive, this cordial will of the Plymouth
people as a body, occasioned the later departure of individuals or small
groups of citizens who might wish to give exercise to political
aspirations, where fresh settlements offered more room for choice
without a solid constituency for any one favorite. The Plymouth voters
were the more ardent for their man, because he returned the patent
which, if strictly interpreted by the old English law, would make him
Lord of the Manor and the colonists his tenants. In the essential
democracy of the American community, he would be the last person to use
the anciently established privilege; but evidently because of the
technical possibility the Court finally requested him to surrender his
charter, and then, pleased at his ready compliance, as promptly restored
it. They knew him beyond all doubt, after that transaction of 1640 if
not before.
His long continued term is especially noteworthy when we reflect that he
was upheld as an ideal leader by a company of citizens who were
ethically most exacting. They were peers of the best in all human
society, and to satisfy such was indeed a compliment. At the same time,
men and women of their excellent type, speaking at least for those of
the church considered in their civic order, were too noble to need the
ordinary repressions incident to the task of governing. Except for the
necessary form and precedent, their moral grandeur required no governor.
Though he wrote against the sectaries with their sinister
politico-religious designs or wishes, he did not drive them out unless
actual treason developed. The Pilgrims realized they were themselves
exiles from intolerance. Yet there was a degree of intolerance after
Bradford passed out from Plymouth, and what bigotry was discoverable in
Boston then was felt somewhat at the older settlement. The successor of
Carver, like most of his associates, was also free from superstition,
placing no credence in the supernatural omens of comets and celestial
bodies.
It was his understood duty to entertain strangers, especially visiting
officials. The Jesuit Driulette spoke afterward of his kindness, noting
also that as host on Friday, he served an excellent dinner of fish.
At least seven orphans, but probably many more, at one time or another
found refuge beneath his roof. Robert Cushman, the Pilgrim agent who
died after valued services abroad, requested that his son Thomas might
receive a father's care from Bradford, and the latter brought him up
with such faithful training that eventually his charge became Elder
Brewster's successor. To cite one further instance of his kindness, in
1644 Bradford wrote to his wife's sister, Mary Carpenter, inviting her
to come to them though they had grown old, as he said. She accepted and
lived with them in such tranquillity, as a devout maiden lady, that she
survived till past ninety.