PLYMOUTH COLONY. 51 sent of the governed." John Carver was chosen by his associates to be the first governor of Plymouth. 79. The First Winter.-Then came a winter of bitter suffering, bravely borne. Wolves howled about the wretched cabins, and hunger was kept away only by hunting and fishing, which were not always successful. Governor Carver and half the little company died; but of the survivors no man nor woman thought of returning with the Mayflower. Early in the spring a strange voice was heard in the village, crying "Welcome, Englishmen!" It was that of Samoset, an Indian from beyond the Kennebec, who had learned some words of English from fishermen who visited the coast ($82). A neighboring chief, Massasoit, soon came, and made a treaty of peace which lasted fifty years. 80. The powerful Narragansetts were enemies of Massasoit, and a rattlesnake skin, stuffed with arrows, was sent as a challenge to the colonists. But when Governor Bradford, Carver's successor, filled the skin with gunpowder and sent it back, Canonicus changed his mind and begged for peace. Before the coming of the Pilgrims, a pestilence had swept away many hundreds of the Indians near Plymouth, so that the tribes, reduced to weakness and poverty, gave no trouble to the colonists. 81. For several winters food was scarce; but when, in 1623, each settler began to work for his own family instead of putting his earnings into the common stock, plenty came, and the white men were soon able to sell corn to the Indians. Though only forty miles distant from the richer and stronger settlements about Boston, and possessing no charter of its own, Plymouth remained independent until 1692, when it became part of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. 82. Maine. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, governor of Plymouth in England, was a man of great wealth and influence, and a chief promoter of colonization in New England. In partnership with John Mason, former governor in Newfoundland, he obtained a tract of land extending from the St. Lawrence to the ocean, and from the Merrimac to the Kennebec River; and, in 1623, sent out companies of emigrants to find homes where now stand the flourishing cities of Portsmouth and Dover, in New Hampshire. But though among the oldest towns in the United States, these places were little more than fishing stations for many years from their foundation; and, in 1642, the people between the Merrimac and Piscataqua annexed themselves by a free vote to the colony of Massachusetts Bay. 83. Conflicting Grants.--Many scattered settlements were formed along the coast of Maine, and so many conflicting grants were made by the crown that no lawyer could reconcile them. The noble rivers and safe harbors had attracted attention, as promising wealth through commerce. Few attempts were made at farming, for titles were insecure, and the nearness of the French threatened frequent hostilities. Moreover, furs could be taken from the forest and fish from the sea without leave asked of any company. So it happened that the English settlers were little more than scattered companies of adventurers. The "first court ever duly organized on the soil of Maine" was held at Saco, in 1636, by William Gorges, nephew of the proprietor. The land between the St. Croix and the St. Lawrence had been given by James I. to Sir William Alexander,' a Scottish poet, and it was called Nova Scotia, from his native land; but the French already occupied the same region, to the southern part of which they gave the name of Acadia, and it did not become a British possession until a much later date. Point out on Map No. 3, Cape Cod. Plymouth. Portsmouth. Dover. The boundaries of Gorges and Mason's patent (282). Saco. Casco Bay. The Penobscot. The Kennebec. The original boundaries of Nova Scotia (283). 1. The Puritans.-The term "Puritans" was first applied by way of derision, in 1564, to a large body of non-conformists in England who were not satisfied with the extent of the reformation in church affairs brought about by Henry VIII. They insisted upon a still further departure from the Church of Rome, and the introduction of purer forms of worship in the Established Church. They were loyal to the throne, and always had at heart the best interests of the Protestants. But they were rigid Calvinists, men of austere morality yet strong integrity,-and no civil power could make them yield a tithe of their convictions. They willingly suffered death at the stake for their principles. During the reigns of Edward VI., Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I., the Puritans gradually increased in numbers and influence. With Cromwell and the Commonwealth, they came into complete control of the government. 2. Pilgrims.-This name has been applied to such of the Puritans or Separatists as could no longer endure the interference of the national church in their spiritual affairs, and who for conscience' sake left their homes in England to seek lands where they might worship God after their own manner. Their wanderings give them their distinguishing name. They had been told that in Holland there was "freedom for all men." The first band of Pilgrims, under the direction of John Robinson and William Brewster, reached Amsterdam in 1608. The next year they removed to Leyden, and many followed them from various parts of England. Bancroft says of the Pilgrims: "They were Englishmen, Protestants, exiles for conscience, men disciplined by misfortune, cultivated by opportunities of extensive observation, equal in rank as in rights, and bound by no code but that of religion or the public will.” 3. The first landing of the "Mayflower" Pilgrims was November 11th, on Cape Cod, near the site of the present Provincetown. Captain Miles Standish, with sixteen men, went on shore and explored the dreary, narrow strip of sand. Some distance inland they had their first sight of Indians. On December 11th an exploring party of seventeen men landed at Plymouth, but it was two weeks later before the passengers generally disembarked upon "Forefather's Rock." Indeed, most of the women and children remained on board the vessel until a rude shelter was provided for them on the land. 4. This was December 21st according to our present calendar. In the seventeenth century the difference between Old Style and New Style was ten days. In England, however, the old style method of reckoning dates was continued until 1752, when, by act of Parliament, the error was corrected. By adding ten days to the dates given in the text regarding the movements of the Pilgrims, we get the true dates, new style. 5. This tract probably took its name, Maine (or the main-land), to distinguish it from the many islands along the coast. 6. New Hampshire was so named by Mason in remembrance of his old home, Hampshire, in England. 7. Sir William Alexander gained little, beside the subject of a rather dull poem, from his vast domain; his family afterward settled in New York, and his descendant and namesake, William Alexander, Lord Stirling, bore an honorable part in the war of American Independence. 8. Acadia was granted by King Henry IV. to the Huguenot, De Monts, in 1604. Besides the peninsula of Nova Scotia, it included all of New Brunswick and a part of Maine. De Monts was made lieutenant-general of the country, and at once sailed with a company to colonize his new possessions. Champlain and the Baron de Poutrincourt accompanied the expedition. They settled first upon the little island of St. Croix, in Passamaquoddy Bay, but a few weeks residence served to show the disadvantages of the location. Cruising along the coast of Maine they entered many of its noble bays and rivers, and were delighted with the land; but at all points they found the Indians hostile, and reluctantly returned to St. Croix. Thence, in a short time, they crossed the Bay of Fundy, and chose a place of settlement, to which the name Port Royal was given. The site was the same as the present town of Annapolis, Nova Scotia. The opening lines of Longfellow's beautiful poem, "Evangeline," are descriptive of the region of Acadia: "This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. . In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas, CHAPTER VII. MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, AND RHODE ISLAND. A. D. 1629. 84. Salem Colony.-Eight years and more after the settlement at Plymouth, five vessels, bearing two hundred English emigrants, entered the harbor of Salem,1 in Massachusetts Bay. Their governor, John Endicott," had preceded them, and had selected a place for their settlement a year before. The new-comers were Puritans, but not Separatists: they believed in the union of Church and State, and the authority of the civil government in matters of religion; but they availed themselves of their freedom to drop the usages of the Church of England, and there was little apparent difference between them and their neighbors at Plymouth. 85. The Charter. The next year seventeen ships brought a thousand more emigrants, with horses, cattle, and whatever was needed for prosperous farming. A royal charter3 for all the new settlements on Massachusetts Bay gave them leave to make their own laws and choose their own rulers, so long as they did nothing contrary to the statutes of England. Among them were men of wealth, influence, and high education, who, distrusting their king, thought to build up better homes for their children in the New World. Their chosen leader was John Winthrop, a man of noble character, who continued to be either governor or deputy-governor of the whole colony for twenty years, until his death. 86. Towns about Boston.-Reports of the peace and order to be enjoyed in Massachusetts, drew increasing crowds of colonists. Before 1640 many towns were planted: Roxbury, Dorchester, Lynn, Charlestown, Watertown, and others. |