COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND.
CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS--THEY LEAVE ENGLAND--SOJOURN IN
HOLLAND--BREWSTER'S PRINTING PRESS--PURITANS EMBARK FOR AMERICA--THEIR
TRUST IN GOD--ROBINSON'S PROPHECY--PLYMOUTH FOUNDED--SUFFERINGS OF THE
COLONISTS--CONFLICT IN ENGLAND--PECULIARITIES OF THE PURITANS--HARVARD
COLLEGE FOUNDED--EXTENT OF SETTLEMENTS--FIRST CONFEDERATION.
"What constitutes a state?
Not high-raised battlements or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned,
Not bays and broad armed ports
Where, laughing at the storm, proud navies ride;
Not starred and spangled courts
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride;
No! Men, high-minded men,
With powers as far above dull brutes endued,
In forest, brake or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;
Men, who their duties know,
But know their rights; and knowing dare maintain."
The mind instinctively turns to the colonizing of New England as one of
the great landmarks of human history. A little more than two centuries
ago this land was covered with forests in which roamed various tribes
of Indians; and the rivers, which now give life to so much cheerful
industry, flowed uselessly to the sea. To-day this same land is covered
with cities, towns and villages, gardens, vineyards and orchards,
schools and palaces--a civilization surpassing, in some respects, that
of any other country on the face of the globe.
Whence came the men who wrought these mighty changes? What were the
circumstances that led them to abandon their {129} country and their
kindred, and all the sacred associations that link man to his native
land, to seek homes beyond the stormy Atlantic, in a wilderness then
inhabited only by savage beasts, and men still more savage; and above
all, that trained them in the principles of self-government and fitted
them to become the founders of a mighty empire?
At that time protestant princes, no more than popish, were willing that
their subjects should think for themselves. James I. had just ascended
the English throne. His was the head of a fool and the heart of a
tyrant. He was determined that every one of his subjects should observe
the rites and ceremonies of the Episcopal church. On the northern
border of Nottinghamshire stands the little town of Scrooby. Here were
some brave and honest people, to whom the ceremonies of the Episcopal
or Established church were an offense. They held their meetings
in secret, at the house of one of their number, a gentleman named
Brewster. They chose Mr. Robinson, a wise and good man, to be their
leader in spiritual things. But their secret meetings were betrayed to
the authorities and their lives were made bitter by the persecutions
that fell upon them. They resolved to leave their own land and seek
among strangers that freedom which was denied them at home.
They embarked with all their goods for Holland. But when the ship
was about to sail, soldiers came upon them, plundered them and drove
them on shore. After some weeks in prison they were suffered to
return home. Next Spring they tried again to escape. This time a good
many were on board, and the others were waiting for the return of
the boat, which would carry them to the ship. Suddenly soldiers on
horseback were seen spurring across the sands. The shipmaster weighed
his anchor and set sail with those whom he had on board. The soldiers
conducted the remainder back to prison. After a time they were set at
liberty. In little groups they made their way to Holland, and thus
they accomplished the first stage of the tedious journey from the old
England to the new. Here they remained for eleven years, and worked
with patient industry at their various trades. They gained a reputation
for honesty and skill in all their undertakings, and thus they found
{130} abundant employment. Mr. Brewster established a printing press
and printed books about liberty, which greatly enraged the foolish King
James. Meanwhile this little band received additions from time to time,
as oppression in England became more intolerable. Still they looked
upon themselves as exiles. The language and manners of the Dutch were
not pleasing to them. They did not wish to lose their identity. Already
their sons and daughters were forming alliances that threatened this
result. They therefore determined to go again on a pilgrimage, and seek
a home in the wilds of America; where they could dwell apart and found
a state, where all should enjoy civil and religious liberty.
They collected their little funds and procured two vessels, the
_Speedwell_, of sixty tons, and the _Mayflower_, of one hundred and
eighty. The _Speedwell_ was found to be unseaworthy and was abandoned.
They had not sufficient funds for all to come at once. Brewster was
placed in command of the company, which was composed of "such of the
youngest and strongest, as freely offered themselves." A solemn fast
was held. "Let us seek God," said they, "a right way for us, and for
our little ones, and for all our substance."
On a sunny morning in July, 1620, the pilgrims knelt upon the seashore
at Delfthaven, while their pastor, Mr. Robinson, prayed for the success
of their journey. Out upon the gleaming sea a little ship lay waiting.
Money was wanting and so only one hundred could depart. They left the
remainder with tears and fond farewells, to follow when they could.
Mr. Robinson dismissed them with counsels which breathed a pure and
high-toned wisdom. Some of the words which he then uttered, seemed to
have a prophetic import. This will be readily seen from the following
extract:
"The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His holy word.
Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet
they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. I beseech of you,
remember it, that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made
known to you."
Who will attempt to deny that God, through him, spake words pregnant
with a meaning that men at that age did not understand?
{131} A prosperous wind soon wafted them across the North sea and they
sighted the coast of England. After considerable delay at Southampton,
Dartmouth, and Plymouth, the _Mayflower_ started early in September
on her long and lonely voyage from the old world to the new. After a
boisterous voyage of sixty-three days they espied land, and in two days
more cast anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod.
How truthful the lines,
"The heavy clouds hung dark
The woods and waters o'er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On the wild New England shore!"
It was a bleak-looking and discouraging coast which lay before them.
Nothing met the eye but low sand-hills, covered with stunted trees
down to the margin of the sea. At first no suitable locality for a
settlement could be found; but at length they selected a spot where the
soil appeared to be good, with "delicate springs of water." On December
22, 1620, the pilgrims landed--stepping ashore upon a huge boulder of
granite, which is still preserved as a memorial of that event. The cold
was so excessive that the spray froze upon their clothes till they
resembled men cased in armor. They had been badly fed on board the
ship, which, together with exposure, caused sickness to prevail among
them. Every second day a grave had to be dug in the frozen ground. The
care of the sick and the burying of the dead, sadly hindered their
work; but the building of their little town went on. When Spring
arrived there were only fifty survivors, and these were sadly enfeebled
and dispirited. Upon an eminence beside their town they erected a
structure which served a double purpose. The upper story was used for a
fort, in which were placed six small cannon. The lower story served for
a meeting-house and school-house.
The pilgrims had already drawn up and signed in the cabin of the
_Mayflower_, a document forming themselves into an organized
government, to which they unanimously promised obedience. Under this
constitution they elected John Carver to be their first governor. It is
true they acknowledged King James, but they left no very large place
for his authority.
{132}
[Image: Landing of the Pilgrims.]
{133} They had experienced what despotism was, and they determined from
the first to be a self-governing people. In memory of the hospitalities
which they had received at the last English port from which they had
sailed, this colony took the name of Plymouth.
The years which followed the settlement of Plymouth was a time through
which good men found it bitter to live. Charles I., was upon the throne
of England. William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, was the king's
right-hand man for dealing out persecution. Whoever refused to perform
the religious ceremonies commanded by Laud was forthwith imprisoned. A
Scotch clergyman named Leighton, was publicly whipped, branded on the
cheek, had one of his ears cut off and his nostrils slit, for calling
Laud's ceremonies the inventions of men. Many others were treated in a
similar manner. Meanwhile John Hampden, the incorruptible patriot, was
arrested for not paying an unlawful tax. A greater than he--his cousin,
Oliver Cromwell--was leading his quiet, rural life at Huntington, not
without many anxious and indignant thoughts about the evils of his
time. He walked over his fields and along the streams,
"Pondering the solemn miracle of life
As one who, wandering in a starless night,
Feels momently the jar of unseen waves,
And hears the thunder of an unknown sea
Breaking along an unimagined shore.
And as he walked he prayed."
The weary victims of this senseless persecution looked to New England
for refuge. The pilgrims wrote to their friends at home; and every
letter was read with interest. They had hardships to tell of at first;
then they had prosperity and comfort; always they had liberty! Every
Summer a few ships were freighted for the settlements. At one time
eight ships lay in the Thames, with their passengers on board, when
the order was issued, that no one should leave without the king's
permission. The soldiers cleared the ships, and the poor emigrants were
driven back in despair to endure the miseries from which they were so
eager to escape. Among these were Hampden and Cromwell. Well would it
have been for the {134} king if he had let them go! But God had a work
for them to do. They were to be the instruments in His hand
"To hurl down wrong from its high seat,
To the poor and oppressed, firm friends and true."
The details of the long war between the king and the people we need
not here relate. The result was the death of the unhappy monarch,
and another step forward by the British people in the principles of
self-government.
Meanwhile the settlements in America continued to flourish. The virgin
soil yielded abundant harvests. From the fleece of their sheep, and
the flax of their fields they made a supply of clothing. They felled
the timber of their boundless forests, and built ships and sent away
to foreign countries, the timber, the fish and the furs which were not
required at home.
They were a noble people who had thus begun to strike their roots in
the great forests of the west.
Their peculiarities may indeed amuse us; as for example the strange
names they gave their children. Many of the boys bore names in memory
of some fortunate circumstance, or historical event, as "Rejoice in the
Lord," "Pillar of Fire," "Strength of Israel," "Praise God Barebones,"
etc.; while the girls rejoiced in such names as "Truth," "Temperance,"
"Patience," "Chastity," and "Love the Lord."
We may smile at these things; yet the most wise of all ages will admire
the purity and earnestness of this people. They brought with them the
love of learning. In a very few years schools began to appear. Such
means as could be afforded were freely given. Some tolerably qualified
brother was "entreated to become the schoolmaster." Soon a law was
passed that every township, containing fifty families, must have a
common school. Harvard College was established within fifteen years of
the landing. The founders of New England were men who had known at home
the value of books. Brewster carried with him a library of two hundred
and seventy-five volumes, and his was not the largest collection in
the colony. At that time books were very scarce and twenty times more
costly than they are now.
Twenty-three years after the landing of the pilgrims, the population of
New England had grown to twenty-four thousand. {135} Forty-nine little
wooden towns, with their wooden churches, wooden forts and wooden
ramparts, were dotted here and there over the land. There were then
four separate colonies: Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New
Haven. For mutual defense and protection these colonies united together
and thus formed the first confederation of states on the western
continent.