_Background_
The coming of the Pilgrims and their establishment of the Plymouth
Plantation is one of the great adventures in the American experience.
This book is the earliest published account of that adventure, a
day-by-day journal written in a simple forceful manner by men who took
part in it. The story is familiar[1]—deceptively familiar, in that
portions of it have undergone a complex process of transformation and
emerge as modern myths in our national folklore. Still it is a story
full of glory, and of tragedy, which deserves a wider public.
The glory, as usual, exists mostly in retrospect. The Separatists had
already shown the courage of their convictions in defying both Church
and State by worshiping in their own way in England. They had finally
been driven to take refuge in Holland, the only European nation where
they could then enjoy complete religious tolerance. After twelve years
of poverty and social isolation in Amsterdam and Leyden, the self-styled
“Saints”[2] sought the New World largely as a land of economic
opportunity where they hoped to start afresh. Similar motives
undoubtedly moved the “Strangers,”[3] the motley group of fellow
travelers who joined the party at Plymouth, England, and doubled their
numbers. The “Strangers” were loyal to the Church of England, as were
the few indentured servants and hired men, who soon comprised a
dissident faction. They cared no more for freedom of conscience than did
the “merchant adventurers,” a joint stock company of about seventy
London businessmen who sponsored the plantation only as a commercial
venture likely to yield high profits.
Some have read the “Mayflower Compact” as the glorious cornerstone of
American democracy, but it seems hardly revolutionary in context here
where it first appeared in print. The fact that the Pilgrims enjoyed
warm relations with some Indians is also much to their credit, but it
may reflect the charity of the Indians at least as much as their own
benevolence. Still one cannot belittle the achievement of these simple
people. They consistently showed resourcefulness in coping with new
problems, and courage in the face of danger. The greatest glory of the
Pilgrims may well have been the ardent faith and dogged persistence
which saw them through great tragedy.
Although there is little talk of tragedy in this volume, we know that
more than half of the original party died during the first year at
Plymouth. Considering their primitive living conditions, it is a wonder
that so many did survive the “general sickness” while wading to and from
the shallop, and working hard to develop new skills in the harsh and
alien environment of a strenuous New England winter. Another tragedy is
only presaged here, in the white man’s facile rationalization of his
usurpation of lands which had long been used by Indians. Within the span
of a single lifetime, the indigenous peoples were dispossessed, and
their way of life did not long survive after the mutually debilitating
“King Philip’s War.” The tragedy and the glory of Pilgrims and Indians
alike emerge in a careful reading of this journal.
_About the Book_
Any good book must mean many things to many readers, and this journal
offers more than just reflections of past glories and intimations of
great tragedy. It is a primary source for American history in that
critical period when a beach-head of Anglo culture was established in
the New World. In this volume are the earliest accounts of the
“Mayflower Compact,” the establishment of a community which has become
focal in our national heritage, the signing of this country’s first
mutual security pact, and the famous first Thanksgiving. There is no
question of the book’s essential authenticity, and most of it has the
flavor of having been written on the spot at the time.
This sense of immediacy also enhances the value of the journal as a well
written story of true adventure. The protagonists quietly suppressed an
impending mutiny, even before they landed. While exploring the unknown
wastes of Cape Cod, they conducted archeological excavations before they
had a roof over their heads. They were attacked by Indians, and yet
persisted, built their homes in a foreign land, and soon traveled freely
among the natives. This is high adventure indeed!
Political implications are of some importance too. The passengers on the
_Mayflower_ are famous for their founding of “a civil body politic ...
to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances,
acts, [and] offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and
convenient for the general good of the colony.” Within less than a week
of their first conversation with an Indian, the Pilgrims signed an
enduring peace treaty with Massasoit, a leader of the neighboring
Wampanoags. A year later, they enjoyed trading relations and military
alliance with many other Indian groups.
The journal may also be viewed as a valuable ethnographic document.
Although previous sporadic contacts by explorers and traders had yielded
some impressionistic descriptions, the Pilgrims were the first Europeans
to be in close and sustained contact with the Indians of southern New
England. At first they expected only hostility from the “savages,” but
it was not long before they found valuable helpers in Squanto and
Samoset, both of whom had learned already some English when they were
kidnapped and sold as slaves by English traders. The Pilgrims were
obliged to work out a modus vivendi with these “tall and proper men”
whose dress seemed outlandish, whose foods were strange, and whose
customs were curious enough to deserve description. We are indebted to
the authors of this journal for a wealth of information about such
patterns during the brief period before they disappeared forever. There
are many aspects of the native ways of life of which the Pilgrims were
unaware, and others which they treated with only tantalizing brevity,
but a wealth of irreplaceable ethnographic data in this volume serves to
illuminate our fragmentary understanding of coastal Algonquian cultures.
Just as we can learn much about the Indians from this book, we can also
gain rich insights into the character of the Pilgrims themselves.
Mention of the threat of mutiny explodes the hoary myth of dedicated
unity of purpose among all members of the party. The bravery of the
Pilgrims emerges in bold relief, as does their readiness to rob the
graves of Indians. In light of this text, their industriousness cannot
be doubted. Flashes of humor occur, and their strong sense of being a
“chosen people” is clearly manifest in recurrent references to a
felicitous “divine providence.”
“Human interest” is not lacking either. We can imagine the chagrin of
William Bradford unwittingly caught up in a deer snare, just as we can
sympathize with the consternation created when a prankish boy fired his
father’s musket in a ship’s cabin where open kegs of gunpowder lay
about. It is easy to feel for the “old [Indian] woman whom we judged to
be no less than a hundred years old” who wept because “she was deprived
of the comfort of her children in her old age” when Capt. Hunt kidnapped
her three sons. And how his playmates must have envied the boy who was
lost on Cape Cod, and was returned by the Nauset Indians, “behung with
beads”!
Within this brief but diverse book there is also a pervasive mystery,
for no one knows who wrote it. The book has become known as _Mourt’s
Relation_, but it is not the unitary effort of a single man. Five of the
ten “chapters” have bylines, and Mourt’s contribution is almost the
briefest of the ten. The mystery deepens when we confess not knowing
much about the man named Mourt. Perhaps the most fruitful way to
approach the problem is through a discussion of the several components
of the book.
It opens with a dedicatory letter of transmittal “To his much respected
friend....” This is a form of profuse and discursive acknowledgment
typical of the time. It seems to have been appended by an associate of
the settlers, whose concern was “... but the recommendation of the
relation itself,” to a distinguished member of the “merchant
adventurers” who had sponsored the _Mayflower_ voyage. The dedication is
signed _R.G._, which I assume to be a misprint for the initials of
Robert Cushman. The only member of the party at Plymouth with initials
R.G. was Richard Gardiner, an undistinguished “Stranger” who stayed only
briefly and took little part in the venture. The fact that misprints are
frequent throughout the rest of the book suggests the possibility of
reference to Cushman, who is a person most likely to have drafted such a
letter. As a deacon of the Leyden congregation who also served as their
business agent, he was instrumental in securing English permission for
removal to the New World, and, after having had to turn back on the
unseaworthy _Speedwell_, he continued negotiations with the “merchant
adventurers” while the _Mayflower_ sailed on to Plymouth. Visiting the
plantation on the second ship, _Fortune_, he delivered the patent which
confirmed their legal right to settle there, together with a stringent
contract from the sponsors, which he finally induced the Pilgrims to
sign, after preaching a pointed sermon on “The Dangers of Self-Love.”
The manuscript of the relations must have been carried back to England
with him on the _Fortune_ in December of 1621.
Appended at the end of the volume is another chapter which I attribute
to Cushman. A long exposition of “Reasons and considerations touching
the lawfulness of removing out of England into the parts of America,”
signed _R.C._, is a thinly veiled promotional tract organized like a
sermon, which cites Scripture to justify the plantation and to persuade
others to follow.
Among the prefatory letters is one containing “Certain useful
advertisements ...” and signed _I.R._. We are told that this letter of
advice concerning man’s proper relation with God and with his fellow men
was “... written by a discreet friend unto the planters in New England,
at their first setting sail from Southampton.”[4] This “unfeigned
well-willer” is most likely John Robinson, pastor of the expatriate
Separatist congregation in Leyden, and hence understandably solicitous
for the welfare of the Pilgrims, and also in a position to proffer such
counsel. The letter may have been appended to this book especially to
serve as a model of morality for those “Strangers” who might hopefully
be induced to emigrate and join the party at Plymouth.
Five “relations” constitute the major portion of the book, and none of
these is signed. The first and longest, on “The proceedings of the
plantation ...,” begins with the departure from Plymouth, England, and
recounts events of the next six months, including the voyage, the
signing of the “compact,” the several “discoveries,” the choice of a
site and the building there, as well as early contacts with the Indians,
culminating in the signing of a peace treaty with Massasoit. A second
deals with “A journey to Pokanoket ...” and describes further friendly
dealings with the Wampanoag Indians. The next treats “A voyage ... to
the Kingdom of Nauset, to seek a boy that had lost himself in the
woods....” An account of “A journey to Nemasket ...” shows how the
Pilgrims sought to defend their Indian allies against the hostile
Narragansets, and “A relation of our voyage to the Massachusets ...”
describes the expansion of trade relations to the north.
According to the dedicatory letter, these vivid reports were “... writ
by the several actors themselves, after their plain and rude manner.” It
is almost certain that the principal author was Edward Winslow, although
it is generally believed that William Bradford also had a hand in the
effort. Both of these men were among the few who were prominent in the
affairs of the plantation, and they two are the only ones of the first
party who obviously enjoyed writing. Winslow’s _Good News from New
England_ (London, 1624), continued the narrative of the plantation from
the time when this volume left off, and is markedly similar in style. In
his _Good News_ ..., Winslow mentions descriptions of aspects of Indian
culture which were prepared by “... myself and others, in former
letters, (which came to the press against my will and knowledge) ...”; I
know of no publication other than _Mourt’s Relation_ to which this could
refer. Bradford’s manuscript history _Of Plymouth Plantation_ (first
published in Boston, 1856) has become the principal source on the
Pilgrim experience, although he could hardly be said to claim priority
when he “... first began these scribbled writings (which was about the
year 1630 and so pieced up at times of leisure afterward).” His
treatment of the first year at Plymouth is a curious combination,
consisting largely of passages identical with those in _Mourt’s
Relation_, together with discursive classical allusions and philosophic
ruminations. Bradford’s style generally tends to be more analytic than
descriptive, and the specificity of detail which makes this text such a
rich source material for the historian and ethnographer rarely occurs
elsewhere in Bradford’s work. It is entirely within the realm of
possibility that he may have incorporated in his manuscript the work of
others as it had appeared in _Mourt’s Relation_; he freely adopted
material from other sources.
The ensuing “Letter sent from New England ... setting forth ... the
worth of that plantation ...,” follows the five narrative relations
closely in style, and is signed by _E.W._. It is almost certainly
Winslow who here sounds vaguely like a twentieth-century Florida real
estate agent when he describes the first Thanksgiving as indicating the
richness of the land: “I never in my life remember a more seasonable
year than we have here enjoyed and if we have once but kine, horses, and
sheep, I make no question but men might live as contented here as in any
part of the world.” He also includes some very specific suggestions
concerning the practical needs of those who might choose to come.
And what was Mourt’s contribution to the book which has been linked with
his name by historians, librarians, and bibliographers since Prince[5]
first invented the convenient title, _Mourt’s Relation_, as a substitute
for the cumbersome original? A brief foreword, or introduction, “To the
reader,” is all that we must credit to the signer, one _G. Mourt_. It
may have been he who was responsible for bringing to press this
collection of papers, “... hoping of a cheerful proceeding, both of
adventurers and planters.” He explicitly denied authorship of the
narratives: “These relations coming to my hand from my both known and
faithful friends, on whose writings I do much rely, I thought it not
amiss to make them more general....” But scholars still do not know who
he was!
It is suggested that he had at some time been associated with the
authors of the relations, whom he called “my both known and faithful
friends.” It is also suggested that he had long hoped to emigrate to the
New World, “... as myself then much desired, and shortly hope to effect,
if the Lord will, the putting to of my shoulder in this hopeful
business.” These criteria clearly apply to Robert Cushman, who, as we
have seen, was a person who might appropriately have introduced such a
book.
The specifications also apply to another member of the Leyden
congregation who was active in negotiating with the “merchant
adventurers” until he did sail to Plymouth, on the first ship bound for
the plantation after the book was printed. If no more than the initials
had been given in the signature to the introduction—as was the case in
every other portion of the volume—there would be little hesitation to
identify the author as George Morton.
As it is, however, one must attempt to account for the discrepancy in
name if he suggests that it may have been Morton who wrote it. It is
easy to suggest that the use of “Mourt” for “Morton” could have been
merely another of the many misprints in the book. At least as plausible,
however, is the suggestion that it may have been a pseudonym. It is not
difficult to imagine why there might have been some attempt to conceal
the fact _if_ Morton had been intimately involved in the preparation and
promulgation of the book. A printer might have been reluctant to
“publish” a document written by Separatists unless it carried an
introduction by an apparently disinterested party. In a period of strict
royal control of the press in England, William Brewster of the Leyden
congregation had already incurred the wrath of King James by printing an
outspoken opposition tract, _Perth Assembly_ (Leyden, 1619), so that any
writings by his friends and associates might logically also be suspect.
Furthermore, the fact that _Mourt’s Relation_ is essentially a
promotional effort is clearly implied in the phrasing of the original
title, describing the “safe arrival” of the “English planters,” and
“their joyful building of, and comfortable planting themselves in the
now well defended town of New Plymouth.” In such an effort to excite
more prospective settlers, it would have been sound public relations to
minimize the degree of identification between the plantation and the
“Saints,” who were popularly scorned as heretics and criminals.
Another possibility must be mentioned. I am only half-joking when I
suggest that at least this portion of _Mourt’s Relation_ may actually
have been written by someone named G. Mourt, of whom we know nothing
else. One of the delights of historical research is the fact that one
always raises more questions than he can answer. The mystery remains.
_Mourt’s Relation_ is clearly a book which offers different meanings to
every reader. I hope that this edition may reach a broad audience and
increase popular understanding of a neglected portion of the American
experience.
_A Note on This Edition_
My intention is to provide the contemporary reader with an appreciation
of this exciting book as it was received by an eager and curious public
when it was first published almost three and a half centuries ago. In
keeping with this aim, the entire text is included here, in the order of
the original.[6] So that the authors may speak forcefully and directly
to the reader of today, I have introduced only uniform spelling,
punctuation, and paragraphing, structural niceties which were of no
concern to authors or printers until late in the eighteenth century. The
eloquent English language of the period is familiar to us all, through
the King James version of the Bible or the works of Shakespeare, and I
have scrupulously left each word intact. The text, then, is reproduced
verbatim, including marginalia, chapter headings, and running heads,
altered only by the use of modern orthography for the sake of clarity.
I have deliberately avoided distracting the reader from the original
text, by introducing a minimum of footnotes. Some annotation seems
indispensable for understanding the work of another age, but this
edition does not bear the tender burden of scholarly disquisition.
Modern equivalents are given for archaic words and place-names, and I
have offered brief explanations of a few outdated allusions. Dates are
retained as in the original, so that ten days must be added to any date
given in the text in order to fit it into the modern Gregorian calendar,
which was not adopted by England and her colonies until 1752.
In the exacting task of collating this text with the original, I was
helped by my friend and colleague, Anna Mae Cooper. We worked in the
John Carter Brown Library where Thomas R. Adams kindly put excellent
facilities at our disposal, including the library’s copy of the first
edition of the book, as well as the Smith and Champlain maps. Lucille
Hanna first introduced me to the excitement of history, and J. L.
Giddings pointed out the ethnographic value of _Mourt’s Relation_. Miss
Rose T. Briggs, Director of Pilgrim Hall, shared her enthusiasm and
broad knowledge of the Pilgrims. E. Lawrence Couter, David Freeman,
Arthur G. Pyle, Muriel Stefani, and the entire staff of Plimoth
Plantation were helpful in many ways, and the corporation generously
provided the photographs. The title page, ornamental letters and
top-page designs are reproduced from a copy of the original, now in
possession of the Rhode Island Historical Society. Mrs. N. Mac Donald
typed from a difficult manuscript.
An adventure such as this rightfully belongs to all who would chase
rainbows!
DWIGHT B. HEATH
_Brown University
Providence, R. I._