when the more irreconcilable Puritans would be compelled to leave his inner Chamber, "If this bee all," quoth he, "that they tion of time haue to say, I shall make the [them] conforme themselues, or I will harrie them out of the land, or else do worse." William Barlow, The Summe and Substance of the Conference at Hampton Court. Ianuary 14. 1603 (London, 1604), 78-83 passim. 15. Settlement of Plymouth (1620) A England. By GOVERNOR (1590-1657), the Scrooby member of congregation, silk manufacthe sojourn turer during at Leyden, and later Plymouth. tory" not chief source only is the FTER some houres sailling, it begane to snow, & raine, & about ye midle of ye afternoone [Dec. 8, 1620], ye wind Increased, & ye sea became very rough; and they broake their rudder, & it was as much as .2. men could doe to steere her with a cupple of oares. But their pillott bad[e] them be of good cheere for he saw ye harbor, but ye storme Increasing, & night drawing on, they bore what saile they could to gett in, while they could see; but herwith they broake their mast in .3. peeces & their governor of saill fell ouer bo[a]rd, in a very grown sea, so as they had like to haue been cast away; yet by gods mercie they recouered them selues, & hauing ye floud [flood-tide] with them struck into ye harbore. But when it came too [to], ye pillott was deceiued in ye place, and said ye Lord be mercifull vnto them, for his eys neuer saw yt [that] place before; & he, & the m' [master] mate would haue rune her a shore, in a coue full of breakers before ye winde but a lusty seaman which steered, bad[e] those which rowed if they were men, about with her, or ells [else] they were all cast away; the which they did with speed, so he bid them be of good cheere, & row lustly for ther was a faire sound before them, & he doubted not, but they should find one place or other, wher they might ride in saftie. And though it was very darke, and rained sore; yet in yo end they gott Nos. 49, ynder y lee of a smalle Iland and remained ther all y night 97-100, 117. on the early history of Plymouth, edly ranks as a classic literature. but deserv in historical For other extracts from Bradford, see Old South Leaflets, Nos. 48,49; American History Leaflets, No. And though poraries, 1, Contem 29; I, After the Mayflower anchor in Province town harbor, this exploring party was in saftie. But they knew not this to be an Iland till morn had dropped ing, but were deuided [divided] in their minds, some would keepe ye boate for fear they might be amongst ye Indians; others were so weake and could [cold], they could not endure, but got a shore, & with much adoe got fire (all things being so wett) and ye rest were glad to come to them, for after midnight ye wind shifted to the north-west, & it frose hard. But though this had been a day, & night of much trouble, & danger vnto them; yet god gaue them a morning Plymouth as of comforte & refreshinge (as vsually he doth to his chil sent out; it coasted along the shore, and finally selected a site for a settlement. The island of refuge was Clark's Island. dren) for ye next day was a faire sunshinīge day, and they found them sellues [selves] to be on an Iland secure from ye Indeans; wher they might drie their stufe [stuff], fixe their peeces, & rest them selues, and gaue god thanks for his mercies, in their manifould deliuerances. And this being the last day of ye weeke, they prepared ther to keepe ye Sabath; on munday they sounded ye harbor, and founde it fitt for shipping; and marched into ye land, & found diuerse cornfeilds, & litle runing brooks, a place [(as they supposed) fitt for situation, at least it was ye best they could find, and ye season, & their presente necessitie made them the first land- glad to accepte of it. So they returned to their shipp againe with this news to ye rest of their people, which did much comforte their h[e]arts. Observe that Mary Chilton was born on the Mayflower at Provincetown, before ing at Plymouth. I.e. Plymouth. On yo .15. of Desem? they wayed [weighed] anchor to goe to ye place they had discouered, & came within .2. leagues of it, but were faine to bear vp againe, but ye .16. day ye winde came faire, and they arriued safe in this harbor. And after wards tooke better veiw of ye place, and resolued wher to pitch their dwelling; and ye .25. day begane to erecte ye first house, for comōne vse to receiue them, and their goods. In these hard & difficulte beginings they found some discontents & murmurings arise amongst some, and mutinous speeches & carriag[e]s in other; but they were soone quelled, & ouercome, by ye wisdome, patience, and Iust & equall carr[i]age of things, by ye Gou! [Governor] and better part weh claue [clave] faithfully togeather in y maine. But that which was most sadd, & lamentable, was, that in .2. or .3. moneths time halfe of their company dyed, espetialy in Ian: & February, being ye depth of winter, and wanting houses & other comforts; being Infected with ye Scuruie [scurvy] & and other diseases, which this long vioage [voyage] & their Inacomodate condition had brought vpon them; so as ther dyed some times .2. or .3. of a day, in ye foresaid time; that of .100. & odd persons scarce .50. remained: and of these in ye time of most distres ther was but .6. or .7. sound persons; who to their great comendations, be it spoken, spared no pains, night nor day, but with abundance. of toyle and hazard of their owne health, fetched them wood made them fires, drest them meat, made their beads, washed ther lothsome cloaths, cloathed & vncloathed them In a word did all ye homly, & necessarie offices for them, wch dainty & quesie stomacks cannot endure to hear named and all this willingly & cherfully, without any grudging In ye least, shewing herein their true loue vnto their freinds & bretheren; A rare example & worthy to be remembred. tow [two] of these .7. were Mr William Brewster ther reuerend Elder, & Myles Standish their Captein & military comander, (vnto whom my selfe, & many others were much beholden in our low, & sicke condition) . . . And what I haue said of these, I may say of many others who dyed in this generall vissitation & others yet liuing; that whilst they had health, yea or any strength continuing they were not wanting to any that had need of them; And I doute [doubt] not but their recompence is with ye Lord. William Bradford, History of the Plimoth Plantation (facsimile from the original manuscript, with an introduction by John A. Doyle, London and Boston, 1896), 52–55 passim. John Carver, the following April; he who died in was suc ceeded by Bradford. Written in earnest mis- He was the first Roman Catholic priest in what is now the State of New York.- No. 40. York, see be- Old South Leaflets, No. 69; Contemporaries I, ch. xxiii. On Dutch relations with New Eng land, see 16. Settlement of New Amsterdam (1615-1644) [EW HOLLAND, which the Dutch call in Latin Novum Belgium in their own language, Nieuw Netherland, that is to say, New Low Countries - is situated between Virginia and New England. The mouth of the river, which some people call Nassau, or the Great North River, to distinguish it from another which they call the South River, and from some maps that I have recently seen I think Maurice River, is at 40 deg. 30 min. The channel is deep, fit for the largest ships, which ascend to Manhatte's Island, which is seven leagues in circuit, and on which there is a fort to serve as the commencement of a town to be built here, and to be called New Amsterdam. The fort, which is at the point of the island, about five or six leagues from the mouth, is called Fort Amsterdam; it has four regular bastions mounted, with several pieces of artillery. . . . Within the fort there was a pretty large stone church, the house of the Governor, whom they call Director General, quite neatly built of brick, the storehouses and barracks. On the Island of Manhatte, and in its environs, there may well be four or five hundred men of different sects and Contempora- nations: the Director General told me that there were men ries, I Nos of eighteen different languages; they are scattered here and there on the river, above and below, as the beauty and convenience of the spot invited each to settle . . . 95, 117, 170. North River = the Hudson. Fort Amster- New York. ... The river, which is very straight, and runs due north and south, is at least a league broad before the fort. Ships lie at anchor in a bay which forms the other side of the island, and can be defended from the fort. . . . No religion is publicly exercised but the Calvinist, and orders are to admit none but Calvinists, but this is not observed; for there are in the Colony besides the Calvinists, Catholics, English Puritans, Lutherans, Anabaptists, here called Mnistes, &c., &c. When any one comes to settle in Le. Mennonites, from the country, they lend him horses, cows, &c.; they give him their chief provisions, all which he returns as soon as he is at ease; expounder, and as to the land, after ten years he pays to the West India Menno Company the tenth of the produce which he reaps. (1492-1559). Simonis necticut. This country is bounded on the New England side by a river which they call the Fresche river, which serves as a The Conboundary between them and the English. The English, however, come very near to them, choosing to hold lands under the Hollanders, who ask nothing, rather than depend on English Lords, who exact rents, and would fain be absolute. On the other side, southward, towards Virginia, its limits are the river which they call the South river, on The Delawhich there is also a Dutch settlement, but the Swedes have one at its mouth extremely well supplied with cannons and men. ... It is about forty years since the Hollanders came to these parts. The fort was begun in the year 1615; they began to settle about twenty years ago, and there is already some little commerce with Virginia and New England. The first comers found lands fit for use, formerly cleared by the savages, who had fields here. Those who came later have cleared the woods, which are mostly oak. The soil is There are good. Deer hunting is abundant in the fall. The climate is very mild. Lying at 403° there are many European fruits, as apples, pears, cherries. I reached there in October, and found even then a considerable quantity of peaches. Ascending the river to the 43d degree, you meet the second Dutch settlement, which the tide reaches but does ware. Fort Christiana (Wilmington). 40° 42′ 43′′ actually. |