Pilgrim Events in 1638.

This year Mr. Thomas Prince was chosen governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. William Bradford, Mr. Edward Winslow, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. John Alden, Mr. John Jenny, Mr. John Atwood, and Mr. John Brown, were chosen to be his assistants in government.

This year three men were executed for robbing and murdering an Indian near Providence, which, besides the evidence that came against them, they did in substance confess against themselves, and were condemned by legal trial. Some have thought it great severity to hang three English for one Indian; but the more considerate will easily satisfy themselves for the legality of it; and, indeed, should we suffer their murderers to go unpunished, we might justly fear that God would suffer them to take a more sharp revenge. By such arguments was the government of Plimouth moved by the government of the Massachusetts to do justice in the case. And here may be noted, that the Massachusetts refused this trial, as being committed in the jurisdiction of Plimouth; and they of Rhode Island, having apprehended them, delivered them to the aforesaid jurisdiction of Plimouth, on the same grounds.

This year, about the second of June, there was a great and fearful earthquake. It was heard before it came with a rumbling noise, or low murmur, like unto remote thunder. It came from the northward, and passed southwards. As the noise approached near, the earth began to quake; and it came at length with that violence as caused platters, dishes, and such like things which stood upon shelves, to clatter and fall down; yea, people were afraid of their houses; and it was so, as that some, being without doors, could not stand, but were fain to catch hold of posts and pales to prevent them from falling. About half an hour after, or less, came another noise and shaking, but not so loud nor so strong as the former. It was not only on the land, but at sea also; for some ships that were on the sea-coast were shaken by it. So powerful is the mighty hand of the Lord, as to cause both the earth and sea to shake, and the mountains to tremble before him. His way is in the whirlwind, and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet, the rocks are thrown down before him. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? Nahum i. 3–6.123

1639.

This year Mr. William Bradford was chosen governor of Plimouth. Mr. Thomas Prince, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. John Alden, Mr. John Brown, Mr. William Collier, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, and Mr. John Jenny, were chosen assistants.

This year Harvard College was erected at Cambridge, in New England, which was so called in remembrance of a worthy gentleman, who liberally contributed towards the charge of the erecting of it.124

This year the great sachem Woosamequen, sometimes called Massasoiet, and Mooanam his son, came into the court held at Plimouth, in New England, on the five and twentieth day of September, in their own proper persons, and desired that the ancient league and confederacy formerly made with the government of Plimouth aforesaid, wherein he acknowledged himself subject to the king of England, and his successors, may stand and remain inviolable. And the said Woosamequen, and Mooanam his son,125 for themselves and their successors, did faithfully promise to keep and observe the covenants and conditions therein expressed and contained, which, on their parts, are likewise to be kept and observed. And the said Woosamequen, and Mooanam his son, did then also promise to the whole court aforesaid, that he nor they shall or will needlessly or unjustly raise any quarrels, or do any wrong to other natives, to provoke them to war against him; and that he or they shall not give, sell, or convey any of his or their lands, territories, or possessions whatsoever, to any person or person whomsoever, without the privity and consent of the government of Plimouth, aforesaid, other than to such as the said government shall send or appoint. All which conditions the said Woosamequen and Mooanam his son, for themselves and their successors, did then faithfully promise to observe and keep. And the whole court, in the name of the whole government, for each town respectively, did then likewise ratify and confirm the aforesaid ancient league and confederacy. And did also further promise to the said Woosamequen, and Mooanam his son, and their successors, that they shall and will from time to time defend the said Woosamequen, and Mooanam his son, and their successors, when need and occasion shall require, against all such as shall unjustly rise up against them to wrong or oppress them unjustly.

1640.

Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of Plimouth. Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Mr. John Brown, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, and Mr. Edmund Freeman, were elected assistants.

1641.

This year Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, and Mr. Edward Freeman, were chosen assistants to him in government.

1642.

This year Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, Mr. William Thomas, and Mr. Edmund Freeman, were elected assistants to him in government.

In reference unto the three years last specified, although I have no special providence to take notice of, particularly to assign to each of them, save the continuance of God’s mercy and goodness in the annual election of godly and able magistrates in the jurisdiction of Plimouth, as is before noted; yet notwithstanding we are to take notice of the continued peace and plenty, with which not only these three years, restrictively considered, but also for many years together, both before and after them, New England was so marvellously gratiated. But that which is more, that about these times the Lord was pleased of his great goodness, richly to accomplish and adorn the colony of Plimouth, as well as other colonies in New England, with a considerable number of godly and able gospel preachers, who then being dispersed and disposed of, to the several churches and congregations thereof, gave light in a glorious and resplendent manner, as burning and shining lights. Which mercy and transcendent favour, had not sin and satan’s envy interposed, might have rendered them greatly happy and prosperous; it being observed, that where gospel dispensation flourisheth, there prosperity, in other respects, may usually be expected.

In reference unto the honour of God, and due respects unto such worthy instruments, I thought meet to nominate some of the specialist of them, namely:—

Mr. Charles Chauncy, Mr. William Hooke, Mr. Nicholas Street, Mr. John Laythrop, Mr. John Mayo, Mr. John Reyner, Mr. Ralph Partridge, Mr. Samuel Newman, Mr. William leverich, Mr. Richard Blinman, Mr. Edward Bulkly, Mr. John Miller, Mr. Marmaduke Matthews,126 with some others that might be named. These some of them staid not long ere they removed, some into the neighbour colonies, some into Old England, and others to their eternal rest, whereby the said jurisdiction was wanting, in a great measure, for some time, of such a blessing. Howbeit, the Lord hath since graciously raised up a supply to divers of the said congregations, and more may be expected according to his promises.

1643.

This year Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth; and Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, Mr. Edmund Freeman, and Mr. William Thomas, were chosen his assistants in government.

This year, about the eighteenth day of April, died Mr. William Brewster, the ruling elder of the church of Christ at Plimouth; concerning whom, I could say much of mine own knowledge; but I shall content myself only to insert the honourable testimony that Mr. William Bradford, deceased, hath left written with his own hand, concerning him.

Saith he, my dear friend, Mr. William Brewster, was a man that had done and suffered much for the Lord Jesus, and the gospel’s sake, and hath borne his part in weal and woe, with this poor persecuted church, above thirty-six years, in England, Holland, and in this wilderness; and done the Lord and them faithful service in his place and calling. And notwithstanding the many troubles and sorrows he passed through, the Lord upheld him to a great age; he was four score and four years of age when he died. He had this blessing added by the Lord to all the rest, to die in his bed in peace amongst the midst of his friends, who mourned and wept over him, and ministered what help and comfort they could unto him; and he again recompensed them while he could. His sickness was not long, and until the last day thereof, he did not wholly keep his bed; his speech continued until somewhat more than half a day before his death, and then failed him, and about nine or ten of the clock that evening he died without any pangs at all. A few hours before, he drew his breath short, and some few minutes before his last, he drew his breath long, as a man fallen into a sound sleep, without any pangs or gasping, and so sweetly departed this life unto a better.

I would now demand of any, what he was the worse for former sufferings? What, do I say worse? No, he was the better; and they now added to his honour. It is a manifest token, saith the apostle, 2 Thess. i. 5–7, of the righteous judgment of God, that we might be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which, we also suffer; seeing it is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you that are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. And if you be reproached, saith the apostle Peter, I Pet. iv. 14, for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God shall rest upon you. What though he wanted the riches and pleasures of the world in this life, and pompous monuments of his funeral? yet the memorial of the just shall be blessed, when the name of the wicked shall rot, Prov. x. 17, with their marble monuments. He was well educated in learning, as at inferior schools, so also at the university:127 and from thence went to the court, and there served Mr. Davison, a godly gentleman, and secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, and attended him on his embassage into Holland, and was employed by him in matters of great trust; as in keeping of the keys of the cautionary towns delivered up to him for her majesty, and things of the like nature. His master would always in private confer with him as a friend or equal. He afterwards lived in good esteem in his own country, and did much good, until the troubles of those times inforced his remove into Holland, and so into New England, and was in both places of singular use and benefit to the church and people of Plimouth, whereof he was; being eminently qualified for such work as the Lord had appointed him unto; of which, should I speak particularly, as I might, I should prove tedious; I shall content myself, therefore, only to have made honourable mention in general of so worthy a man.

And here I might take occasion to mention, with admiration, the marvellous providence of God, that notwithstanding the many changes and hardships that this people, namely, the first planters at New Plimouth, went through, and the many enemies they had, and difficulties they met withal, that so many of them should live unto very old age. It was not only this reverend man’s condition, but many more of them did the like; some dying before and about this time, and some living, who attained to sixty years of age, and to sixty five, divers to seventy, and some to more than eighty, as he did. It must needs be more than ordinary, and above natural reason that so it should be; for it is found in experience, that changing of air, famine, and unwholesome food, much drinking of water, sorrows and troubles, etc., all of them are enemies to health, causes of much diseases, consumers of natural vigour and the bodies of men, and shortness of life; and yet, of all these things they had a large and long part, and suffered deeply in the same. They went from England to Holland, where they found both worse air and diet than that they came from; from thence, enduring a long imprisonment in the ships at sea, into New England, and how it hath been with them here hath already been shown; and what crosses, troubles, fears, wants, and sorrows they have been liable unto, is easily to be discerned, so as in some sort they may say with the apostle, I Cor. xi. 26, 27, “They were in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of their own nation, in perils amongst the heathen, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils amongst false brethren; in weariness, in painfulness, in watching often, in hunger, in thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness.” What was it then that upheld them? It was God’s visitation that preserved their spirits; he that upheld the apostle upheld them, 2 Cor. iv. 9, “They were persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but perished not; as unknown, and yet known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed.”

God, it seems, would have all men behold such works of his providence, as these are towards his people, that they, in like cases, might be encouraged to depend upon him in their trials, and also bless his name when they see his goodness towards others. “Man lives not by bread alone.” Deut. viii. 3. It is not by dainty fare, peace, rest, and heart’s ease, in enjoying contentments and good things of this world only, that preserves health and prolongs life. God, in such examples, would have the world take notice that he can do it without them; and if the world will shut their eyes, and take no notice thereof, yet he would have his people to see and consider it. Daniel could be in better liking with pulse, than with the king’s dainties. Jacob, though he went from one nation to another people, and passed through famine, fears, and many afflictions, yet he lived unto old age, and died sweetly, and rested in the Lord, as many others of God’s servants have done, and still do, through God’s goodness, notwithstanding all the malice of their enemies, “When the branch of the wicked shall be cut off before his day, and the bloody and deceitful man shall not live out half his days.” Job xv. 32; Psal. Iv. 23.128

By reason of the plotting of the Narragansets, ever since the Pequot war, the Indians were drawn into a general conspiracy against the English in all parts, as was in part discovered the year before, and now made more plain and evident, by many discoveries and free confessions of sundry Indians upon several occasions, from divers places, concurring in one; with such other concurring circumstances as gave the English sufficiently to understand the truth thereof, and to think of means how to prevent the same. In which respect, together with divers other and more weighty reasons, the four colonies, namely, the Massachusetts, Plimouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, entered into a more near union and confederation, the nineteenth day of May, 1643. And the articles of the said confederation were signed by the commissioners of the said jurisdictions respectively, by which were authorized thereunto, namely :—

John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts, Thomas Dudley, Edward Winslow, William Collier, Edward Hopkins, Thomas Grigson, Theophilus Eaton, George Fenwick.129

The said articles at large, with sundry other particulars appertaining thereunto, together with the particulars concerning the plotting contrivements, menacings, and insolencies of the Narragansets against the English, together with the provision and preparation made by the English for an expedition against them, with the yieldings and compliance of the said Narragansets to the English, composition and articles of agreement made with them, etc., these are all to be seen as they are at large extent in the records of the commissioners for the united colonies of New England, whereunto I refer the reader.130

1644.

This year Mr. Edward Winslow was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. William Bradford, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, Mr. William Thomas, and Mr. Edmund Freeman, were elected his assistants in government.

This year Mr. John Atwood died. He was a godly man, singularly endowed with the grace of patience, and having a large estate, became a useful benefactor to the colony of New Plimouth. He departed this life expressing great faith in Christ, and a cheerful expectation of the restoration of his body at the general resurrection in glory.

This year many of the town of Plimouth by reason of some straits that were upon them, took up thoughts of removing to some other place, for their better accommodation, and for that end made a more exact and particular discovery of a place called by the Indians Nauset; which place being purchased by them of the Indians, divers of the considerablest of the church and town removed thither, and erected a town, which is now called by the name of Eastham.131

1645.

This year Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, and Mr. Edmund Freeman, were elected his assistants in government.

The commissioners of the united colonies of New England were called together this year, before their ordinary time of meeting,132 partly in regard of some differences between the French and the government of the Massachusetts, about their aiding of Monsieur Latore and Monsieur de Aulney, and partly about the Indians, who had broken their former agreements about the peace concluded the year before; as concerning such conclusions and determinations which passed in this meeting, in reference to the premises, I shall refer the reader unto the acts of the said commissioners for that year, as they are recorded at large.133

1646.

This year Mr. William Bradford was chosen governor of the jurisdiction of Plimouth; and Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, and Mr. Edward Freeman, were elected his assistants in government.

About the middle of May, this year, there came three men-of-war into Plimouth harbour, under the command of Captain Thomas Cromwell, who had taken several prizes from the Spaniards, by commission from the earl of Warwick. They were full of moneys, silks, and other rich goods, some of which they left behind them. They were a company of lusty, stout men, but very unruly and hard to govern; notwithstanding the care and vigilance both of such as were in authority of Plimouth, and also of their own commanders, who could hardly restrain them, especially from inordinate drinking and quarrelling. It proved fatal to one of them, who being quarrelling with one of their own company, and being commanded by their own captain to forbear, he giving very provoking language, and also attempting to draw upon his captain; he took his rapier from him, and struck him on the head with the hilt, of which wound, three or four days after, he died. The captain was tried by a council of war, and acquitted by the largeness of his commission.

This year Mr. Edward Winslow went for England, upon occasion that some discontented persons, under the government of the Massachusetts, sought to trouble their peace, and disturb, if not innovate their government, by laying many scandals upon them, and intended to prosecute against them in England, by petitioning and complaining to the parliament. Also Samuel Gorton and his company, made complaint against them; so as they made choice of Mr. Winslow to be their agent to make their defence, and gave him commission and instructions for that end, in which he so carried himself, as did well answer their ends, and cleared them from any blame and dishonour, to the shame of their adversaries. After this he fell upon other employment in England, which detained him there, so as he returned not again to New England any more, whose absence hath been much to the weakening of the government of New Plimouth, who had large experience of his help and usefulness amongst them in government, etc., of whom I have more to insert, in honour of so worthy a gentleman, in its more proper place.

1647.

Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. John Brown, and Mr. William Thomas, were elected his assistants in government.

This year the whole land, but more especially the church and town of Hartford on Connecticut, sustained a great and more than ordinary loss, by the death of that most eminent servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. Thomas Hooker, who, in the month of July in this year, changed this life for a better; concerning whose piety, learning, and singular dexterity in preaching the gospel with answerable success, the many souls wrought upon by his ministry, in both Old England and New, do give forth a large testimony; and withal, as an addition to the former, those learned and profitable works penned by him for the refutation of error, and guiding and confirming of the saints in the ways of Christ. In which respects, with others, his name will live and is embalmed; and doth remain, and will be as a precious ointment in the churches, and amongst the saints in present and future ages.

This special servant of Christ, as he served his master with great zeal, love, wisdom, and sincerity, so he ended his life with much comfort and serenity; so as it is rare that was said of him, that the peace which he had in believing, thirty years before his death, was firm, and not touched by the adversary, until the period of his life; and with much joy and peace in believing, he fell asleep in the Lord, and was honourably buried at Hartford on Connecticut.

In whose memorial, I shall here insert the funeral elegies of two eminent divines, written upon his death.

On my reverend and dear brother, Mr. Thomas Hooker, late pastor of the church at Hartford on Connecticut.

To see three things was holy Austin’s wish,
Rome in her flower, Christ Jesus in the flesh,
And Paul i’ the pulpit: lately men might see,
Two first, and more, in Hooker’s ministry.
Zion in beauty is a fairer sight,
Than Rome in flower, with all her glory dight:
Yet Zion’s beauty did most clearly shine
In Hooker’s rule and doctrine; both divine.
Christ in the spirit is more than Christ in flesh,
Our souls to quicken, and out states to bless!
Yet Christ in spirit brake forth mightily,
In faithful Hooker’s searching ministry.
Paul in the pulpit, Hooker could not reach,
Yet did he Christ in spirit so lively preach;
That living hearers thought he did inherit
A double portion of Paul’s lively spirit.
Prudent in rule, in argument quick, full;
Fervent in prayer, in preaching powerful;
That well did learned Ames record bear,
The like to him he never wont to hear.
’Twas of Geneva’s worthies said, with wonder,
(Those worthies three) Farell was wont to thunder;
Viret, like rain, on tender grass to shower;
But Calvin, lively oracles to pour.
All these in Hooker’s spirit did remain,
A son of thunder, and a shower of rain,
A pourer forth of lively oracles,
In saving souls, the sum of miracles.
Now blessed Hooker, thou art set on high,
Above the thankless world, and cloudy sky;
Do thou of all thy labour reap thy crown,
Whilst we here reap the seed which thou hast sown.

—J. C.134
A lamentation for the death of that precious and worthy minister of Jesus Christ, Mr. Thomas Hooker, who died July 7, 1647, as the sun was setting. The same hour of the day died blessed Calvin, that glorious light.

Come sighs, come sorrows, let’s lament this rod,
Which hath bereaved us of this man of God;
A man of God, who came from God to men,
And now from them is gone to God again.
Bid joy depart, bid merriment be gone;
Bid friends stand by, sit sorrowful alone.
But ah! what sorrow can be to suffice,
Though heaven and earth were filled with out cries,
The clouds were turned into drops of tears,
The mourning for to last an age of years?
’Twere all too little to lament his death,
Whose life so precious was for heaven and earth.
Job wish’d his day might quite forgotten be,
Which brought him forth this world’s light first to see.
O let not the day be numbered in th’ year,
That took this light out of our hemisphere.
A fatal day, a day of sad presage
To us survivors of this present age.
The hour of thy decease, when sun went down,
When light turn’d dark, when heavens began to frown;
’Tis ominous to us who saw his light,
That grace provok’d should turn our day to night;
And gospel’s light which shineth from on high,
Should clouded be, and darkened in our sky.
O happy days, when such lights shine on earth!
O bitter days, when they are hid beneath!
This is our grief, he who late shin’d on high,
Is hid in grave, and now beneath doth lie.
Let Hartford sigh, and say, I’ve lost a treasure;
Let all New England mourn at God’s displeasure,
In taking from us one more gracious
Than is the gold of Ophir precious.
Sweet was the savour which his grace did give,
It season’d all the place where he did live.
His name did as an ointment give its smell,
And all bear witness that it savoured well.
Wisdom, love, meekness, friendly courtesy,
Each moral virtue, with rare piety,
Pure zeal, yet mixt with mildest clemency,
Did all conspire in this one breast to lie.
Deep was his knowledge, judgment was acute,
His doctrine solid, which none could confute.
To mind he gave light of intelligence,
And searched the corners of the conscience.
To sinners stout, which no law could bring under,
To them he was a son of dreadful thunder,
When all strong oaks of Bashan us’d to quake,
And fear did Lebanus his cedars shake;
The stoutest hearts he filled full of fears,
He clave the rocks, they melted into tears.
Yet to sad souls, with sense of sin cast down,
He was a son of consolation.
Sweet peace he gave to such as were contrite;
Their darkness sad he turned to joyous light.
Of preaching he had learn’d the rightest art,
To every one dividing his own part.
Each ear that heard him said, He spake to me:
So piercing was his holy ministry.
His life did shine, time’s changes stain’d it not,
Envy itself could not there find a spot.
Had he survived to finish works begun,
’T had been a blessing to all Christendom.
Then should the world have known what God had show’d him,
And what themselves for all his works had ow’d him.
But this unthankful age is now cut short
Of that rich treasure, ’cause they car’d not for ’t:
O that his love may turn us, yet to prize
The blessings yet enjoyed; herein be wise;
Lest that which he not long ago foretold,
Be now in us fulfill’d as ’twas of old,
That wantonness of churches, would bereave
Them of their ministers, without their leave,
God plaguing this his messenger’s contempt,
With this soul ’stroying plague and punishment.
But whatsoever wrath doth us abide,
Whatever plague for sin doth us betide;
Yet thou, O blessed saint, art now at rest,
I’ th’ bosom of thy Christ, which is the best;
Bathing in rivers of divine pleasure,
Which is at God’s right hand, most sweet and pure;
Tasting the fruit of all thy labours spent,
To honour God, which was thy whole intent.
From God thou camest forth, who sent thee hither.
And now hath called thee back to live together.
Him didst thou serve while life and breath did last,
With Him now blest, while life and breath is past.
Sense of our loss would call thee back again.
But out of love, we bid thee there remain,
Till we yet left behind our course fulfil,
To meet thee on the top of Zion’s hill;
When thou and we shall both rejoice together,
So fast united as no death shall sever;
Both to sing praises to our heavenly king,
Who hath us saved from death’s poisonous sting,
And will restore our bodies from the grave,
Which them to dust of death consumed have;
Making them shine like brightness of the sun
With glory, ne’er to end when once begun.
Let heaven and earth, angels and men him praise,
Sounding his glory past all length of days.

—P. B.135
1648.

This year Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth; and Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, and Mr. William Thomas, were chosen assistants to him in government.136

1649.

This year Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, and Mr. William Thomas, were chosen his assistants in government.

This year Mr. John Winthrop, governor of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts, deceased, the twenty-sixth day of March, about ten of the clock. He was singular for piety, wisdom, and of a public spirit. He brought over a great estate into the country, and partly by his liberality, and partly by the unfaithfulness of his baily, spent the most part of it; so as when he died, he was but low in that respect; and yet notwithstanding, very much honoured and beloved of the most, and continued in the place of governor, for the most part, until his death, which was much lamented by many. He was a man of unbiased justice, patient in respect of personal wrongs and injuries, a great lover of the saints, especially able ministers of the gospel; very sober in desiring, and temperate in improving earthly contentments; very humble, courteous, and studious of general good. His body was, with great solemnity and honour, buried at Boston, in New England, the third of April, 1649.137

This year some part of the country was much troubled with innumerable hosts of caterpillars, which destroyed the fruits of the earth, in divers places, and did eat off the leaves of trees, so as they looked as bare as if it had been winter; and in some places did eat the leaves from off the pease-straw, and did not eat the pease. It pleased God to give them a check, and a rebuke, so as they hurt but in some places, and of his goodness in a short time removed them.

This year, August 25, that faithful and eminent servant of Christ, Mr. Thomas Shepard, died, who was a soul-searching minister of the gospel, and pastor of the church of Christ at Cambridge. By his death, not only that church and people, but also all New England, sustained a very great loss. He not only preached the gospel profitably and very successfully, but also hath left behind him divers worthy works of special use, in reference unto the clearing up the state of the soul to God ward; the benefit thereof, those can best experience, who are most conversant in the improvement of them, and have God’s blessing on them therein to their soul’s good. His body was honourably buried at Cambridge in New England.138

“Blessed are the dead, that die in the Lord, for their works do follow them.” Rev. xiii. 13.

This year there passed an act of parliament in England, for the promoting and propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ among the Indians in New England. In reference unto the furtherance and advancement of so good a work, a corporation of sixteen select men were appointed, consisting of a president, treasurer, and assistants, called by the name of the President and Society for the propagation of the Gospel in New England; to receive such sums of money, as from time to time was, or should be collected and raised, by the liberal contributions of such as whose hearts God was pleased to stir up to so glorious a work. And it was by the same parliament enacted, that the commissioners for the united colonies of New England, for the time being, by themselves or such as they shall appoint, shall have power and authority to receive and dispose of the said moneys brought in and paid to the said treasurer for the time being; or any other moneys, goods, or commodities, acquired and delivered by the care of the said corporation at any time; whose receipt or receipts of such person or persons so authorized by them, shall be a sufficient discharge to the said corporation and treasurer. The particulars of such orders and instructions, with which the said act is invested, the reader may be more amply satisfied in, by the perusal thereof, as it is extant, bearing date, July 27, 1649.

Moreover, let the reader take notice of the special favour of Almighty God, in moving the heart of the king’s majesty, since his restitution to his crown and regal dignity, particularly of his royal favour to countenance this work, and to secure what hath been, and what may be given toward this work, by a legal settlement, which before was wanting; so as the said glorious design hath been vigorously carried on, both in Old England and in New, by such active and faithful instruments as God hath raised up and improved therein, with some considerable success. The work coming on to such perfection, as that the Holy Bible is translated and printed in the Indian language, whereby the glad tidings of the gospel is, and may be communicated to them with the greater facility; some souls also of them being gained, as may be hoped, to believe on the Lord Jesus for life everlasting; and daily hopes of further and greater success in that behalf, for which unspeakable riches of his grace, let his holy name have all the praise throughout all ages.

The principal instruments improved in preaching the gospel of Christ unto the Indians, are, Mr. John Elliot, sen. Mr. John Elliot, jun., Mr. Thomas Mayhew, Mr. Pierson, Mr. Brown, Mr. James, and Mr. Cotton, besides divers of their own nation, whose names and number I know not.139

1650.

This year Mr. William Bradford was elected governor of the jurisdiction of New Plimouth. Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. Thomas Prince, Mr. William Collier, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, and Mr. William Thomas, were chosen assistants to him in government.

This year there was more than ordinary mortality in the country, especially about Boston, and mostly among their children. (New diseases the fruits of new sins.) Since which time, several diseases have been in the country more frequently than formerly; as namely, gripings in the bowels, with violent vomiting and purging, which hath taken away many; as also a disease in the mouth or throat, which hath proved mortal to some in a very short time; as also great distempers of colds, etc., which ought to be awakening dispensations, together with others, to cause us to consider and examine whether we have not provoked the Lord with some general and unwonted sins; inasmuch as he is pleased to exercise the country oftentimes with unwonted afflictions and punishments.

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123 “Between three and four in the afternoon, being clear weather, the wind westerly, there was a great earthquake. It came with a noise like a continued thunder, or the rattling of coaches in London, but was presently gone. It was at Connecticut, at Narraganset, at Piscat, and all the parts round about. It shook the ships which rode in the harbour, and all the islands. The noise and shaking continued about four minutes. The earth was unquiet twenty days after by times.”—Winth. Jour.

124 “After God had carried us safe to New England, and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship, and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for, and looked after, was, to advance learning, and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust; and as we were thinking, and consulting how to effect this great work, it pleased God to stir up the heart of one Mr. Harvard (a godly gentleman, and a lover of learning, there living among us) to give one-half of his estate (it being in all about one thousand seven hundred pounds) towards the erecting of a college, and all his library. After him another gave three hundred pounds. Others after them cast in more; and the public hand of the state added the rest. The college was (by common consent) appointed to be at Cambridge (a place very pleasant and accommodate), and is called (according to the name of the first founder) Harvard College.”—Hist. Coll., i. 242.

“A printing-house was begun at Cambridge, March, 1639, by one Daye. The first thing which was printed was the Freeman’s oath. The next year was an Almanack, made for New England, by Mr. Pierce, mariner; the next was the Psalms, newly turned into metre.”—Winth. Jour.

125 He that is here called Mooanam, is the same that, afterwards, was called Wamsutta; it being usual for the Indians to change their names.—M. He was afterwards called Alexander.

126 Mr. Chauncey preached to the Plymouth church for several years, and was afterwards president of Harvard College.

Of Mr. Hooke and Mr. Street, a full account may be found in The Taunton Ministry, vol. i. Mr. Hooke was their first pastor, and after seven years became pastor in New Haven, and afterwards returned to England, where he experienced the special favour of Cromwell. Mr. Street succeeded Mr. Hooke at Taunton, and also at New Haven. Dr. Bacon speaks of him as “pious, judicious, and modest, and no inferior preacher.”

Mr. Lathrop is afterwards spoken of in the Memorial; he was pastor at Southwark, England, and at Scituate in Plymouth colony, and removed with the church to Barnstable. (See notice of him under the year 1653.)

Mr. Mayo was pastor in Barnstable, and afterwards teacher in the second church, Boston.

Of Mr. Reyner an account is given in the notice of the Plymouth church, of which he was pastor.

Mr. Partridge was first pastor in Duxbury. Mather says, “we had been hunted like a partridge on the mountains, by the ecclesiastical settlers, and had no defence, neither beak nor claw, but a flight over the ocean.”

Mr. Newman was the first minister of Rehoboth, and was the author of a concordance, “which he revised by the light of pine knots.”

Mr. Blinman was minister of Marshfield, their first. He preached at several other places, and returned to England.

Mr. Miller and Mr. Matthews were both settled at Yarmouth.

Mr. Bulkley was settled at Marshfield after Mr. Blinman.

Biographies of these ministers are in the Magnalia, and Biog. Dict.

127 Elder Brewster had a considerable library. The books were appraised, after his decease, by Gov. Bradford, Mr. Prince, and Rev. Mr. Reyner. The whole number was two hundred and seventy-five, of which sixty-four were in the learned languages. They were valued at forty-three pounds. 

128 The editor here extracts from The View of Plimouth, and from Judge Davis’s note on the death of Elder Brewster, a list of names which exhibit the longevity of some of the first settlers of Plymouth, who arrived before the year 1631.

Time of
Decease.

1664
1664
1667
1668
1670
1672
1673
1673
1675
1675
1676
1678
1685
1687
1683
1689
1689
1691
1692
1697
1699
1704
1705
1710
1688
1682
 


William Brewster,
Julian Kempton (widow of Manasses),
Gabriel Hallowell,
John Downham (Deacon),
Alice Bradford (widow of the governor),
John Howland,
Thomas Prince,
Elizabeth Warren (widow of Richard),
Ann Tupper (Sandwich),
Dorothy Brown (Swanzey),
Thomas Tupper (Sandwich),
Edward Bangs (Eastham),
Nathaniel Morton (Secretary),
Robert Finney (Deacon),
Mary Carpenter,
George Watson,
Priscilla Cooper,
Thomas Cushman (Elder),
John Downham (son of the Deacon),
Thomas Clark (mate of the Mayflower),
Mary Cushman (widow of the Elder),
George Bonham,
Samuel King
Phebe Finney (widow of the Deacon),
Samuel Eddy,
Elizabeth Eddy, 

Age
80
81.
83
80
80
80
73
90
97
90
97
86
73
80
90
86
91
84
79
98
90
95
90
91
87
81 

We find a similar longevity among the first planters in Massachusetts, and of the other New England Colonies; a few instances will be mentioned.

In Massachusetts.


Richard Bellingham,
Ezekiel Chever,
Simon Bradstreet,
Rev. John Higginson,
Rev. John Elliot,
Rev. Thomas Mayhew,
Rev. Thomas Parker,
President Chauncey,
Rev. Nehemiah Walter,
Rev. John Ward,
Rev. Samuel Whiting,
Rev. John Woodbridge, Age
82
94
94
93
86
93
82
82
84
88
83
82 

In Rhode Island.

Roger Williams,
Samuel Gorton,
William Coddington 84
80
78 

In Connecticut.

Rev. James Fitch,
Major John Mason, 80
78 

In the succeeding generation, instances of greater longevity have occurred. Elder John Faunce, of the first generation from the first planters, died at Plymouth, in 1745, aged 99. His daughter, Patience Kempton, died at New Bedford, in 1779, aged 105 years and six months. Ephraim Pratt, grandson of Joshua Pratt, one of the first comers at Plymouth, died at Shutesbury, county of Worcester, in 1804, aged 116. Ebenezer Cobb, who was born in Plymouth, and died in Kingston in 1801, aged 107 years and eight months, was of the third generation.

129 A confederation of the New England colonies, for mutual aid and defence in matters of general concern, had been for several years in agitation before it was accomplished. It was not only domestic, but foreign enemies that induced this confederation, which may well be called the embryo of the Constitution of the United States. The names of the first commissioners from Plymouth, were Gov. Winslow and Mr. Collier. They met, at first, once a year, alternately at Boston, Plymouth, Hartford, and New Haven, but afterwards, once in three years. The articles of confederation may be seen in Hutchinson, vol. i. 118–119. It is said the union subsisted until 1686, when the charters of the colonies were vacated.

These commissioners were made the dispensers of the bounty of the Society for propagating the Gospel among the Indians; and the English government countenanced and encouraged both objects. The letters of Charles the Second take notice of this confederacy without any objection to its establishment.—Ibid. It seems to have been a kind of Congress: the representation was two from each colony.—Trumb. Hist. of Conn., i., p. 124; Winth. Jour.

130 See Acts of the Commissioners for the United Colonies of New England, Anno 1644, and 1645.—M.

131 This place was called Nauset, and the east side of the town still retains that name. The church having caused an exploration of the place, and made the purchase of the land of the natives, the court granted or confirmed to “the church, or those of them who go to dwell at Nauset, all the tract of land lying between sea and sea, from the purchased bounds of Namsheket to Heringbrook, at Billingsgate.” The first settlers were but seven families, of which Gov. Prince was one, and though the removal was much regretted by the church, it became the means of securing the friendship and improvement of the numerous Indians in the vicinity, so that they took no part in the subsequent wars against the English. The church at Eastham was the third from the Plymouth church.—Hist. East., 12,13.

132 This meeting was held the 28th of July, 1645.—M.

133 See Hutch. Hist. Mass., i. 120–127; winth. Hist. N. E., 267. For particulars relating to the interposition of the commissioners between the Narragansets and the Mohegans, see Hutch. Hist. Mass., i. 129, etc.

134 Mr. Hooker died at Hartford, of an epidemical fever, in the sixty-second year of his age. The elegiac lines, recited in the Memorial, were written by the Rev. John Cotton. A full account of Mr. Hooker is given in the Magnalia, with a tribute to his memory in Latin verse, by Mr. Elijah Corlet, an eminent schoolmaster at Cambridge. Mr. Hooker’s writings were in such repute, that Mr. John Higginson, says Dr. C. Mather, transcribed from his manuscripts nearly two hundred sermons, which were sent to England for publication: “But by what means I know not,” he adds, “scarce half of them have seen the light to this day.”— Magnal., iii. 57–68.

135 These initials, probably, were meant to indicate the Rev. Peter Bulkley, first minister of Concord.

136 The synod which was convened in 1646, and had continued its meetings, by adjournments, was dissolved in this year.. The Cambridge Platform of Church Discipline was composed and adopted by this assembly.

137 Gov. Winthrop died at the age of sixty-three. His life and character are ably delineated in the American Biography, vol. ii. 337–358. See Magnalia, ii. 13.

138 Mr. Shepard arrived at Boston in 1635, and succeeded Mr. Hooker, at Newtown (afterward Cambridge), on the removal of Mr. Hooker to Connecticut. He died in the forty-fourth year of his age. See Life of Shepard prefixed to his works, published by Cong. Board of Pub.

139 The reader will be interested to learn more fully the disposition and labours of these men in regard to the natives. Mr. Symonds, a gentleman of rank and influence, from Essex in England, addressed a letter to Gov. Winthrop in 1646, expressing what he regarded as the divine purposes in the settlement of New England, one of which was the conversion of the natives to the Christian faith and practice. Many good and benevolent men in this country and in England had been deeply impressed with the obligations expressed in the Massachusetts charter, to incite the natives of the country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Saviour of mankind, and the Christian faith. And Gov. Hutchinson regarded the long neglect of attempts in this direction as inexcusable. And the Indians themselves asked, “how it happened, if Christianity were of such importance, that, for six and twenty years, the English had said nothing to them about it?” But at length good men were impressed with a sense of their obligation in this matter, and this work was commenced and pursued with true Christian zeal and fidelity. And the history of these early Indian missions are instructive and suggestive in regard to the Aborigines remaining in the land.

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