LEGISLATION OF THE COLONY-PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT. 147 16410. as this was in the name of William Bradford and his asso- CHAP. V. ciates, on the 2d of March, 1640, Governor Bradford, with n great magnanimity, surrendered the instrument to the people, only reserving to himself three tracts of land, one of which was particularly designed for the benefit of the Indians.2 3 In 1636, the Laws of the Colony were for the first time 1636. revised, the foundation of the government was established on a permanent basis, and the powers of the Governor and Assistants were specifically defined ; and in 1638, the pow- 1638. ers which had been lodged in the whole body of the freemen, were vested in deputies from the several towns, who assembled in June, 1639, and annually afterwards. The 1639. towns settled in this colony before 1643, besides Plymouth, 1643were Duxbury, Scituate, Taunton, Barnstable, Sandwich, and Yarmouth. The progress of settlement was far less rapid here than in the Massachusettss Colony. The Pilgrims were poor, and belonged to the laboring classes. Not blessed with wealth, they were unable to extend their operations with flattering facility. But their poverty was no crime, however great its disadvantages. It fostered a spirit of humility, and was, at the same time, favorable to the development of industry and prudence. Quietly and noiselessly they pursued their way, asserting their rights with dignity and calmness, yet fearlessly and firmly maintaining and defending them. Peaceably disposed, they fomented no quarrels. And there was a simplicity, a freshness, a cordiality, and a whole-heartedness which characterized their course, which were distinguishing qualities in their early history. The Patent is in Plym. Col. Laws, 21-6, and Hazard, 1. 298303. Hubbard and others mistake in saying a Charter was obtained from the King. The Plymouth people never had a Charter. 2 The Deed of Surrender is in Plym. Col. Laws, 305-7. 4 Plym. Col. Laws, 36-57. 148 CHAP. V. THE MISSION OF THE PILGRIMS. Their legislation was without show, for the community was moral, and a multiplicity of laws was wholly unnecessary. Penalties were annexed to principal offenses, and a few crimes were capital; but the occasions which called for the interference of the magistrates were comparatively rare. Many of their laws were sumptuary; most of them were civil, providing for the allotment of lands, and the management of the fisheries, and consisting of such municipal regulations as are requisite to the safety of every community. The first printed edition of their Statutes, issued in 1671. 1671, is exceedingly scarce; so much so that neither Hutchinson, the Historian of the Province, nor Baylies, the Memorialist of the Colony, seem ever to have seen a copy. The author is the fortunate possessor of one of these rarities. We shall have occasion hereafter to speak farther of the legislation of the colony, in the continuance of our sketch. As we look back upon the career of the Pilgrims, traced in their annals, we are impressed with the magnitude and the importance of their mission. With no outward pomp, with no gorgeous ceremonies, with no popular applause, with no acclamation of multitudes, was the foundation of their humble settlement laid. Favored by no royal protection did they prosecute their enterprise. For all that was achieved the honor is theirs. And of them may it be truly said, that they laid the corner stone of our beloved Commonwealth, and were instruments, in the hand of God, of initiating that work, which has scattered broad cast over the surface of our country the seeds of great principles, destined, by their development, to confer upon us still greater blessings, and to multiply the fruits which have already abounded, from their unwearied and unmurmuring labors and struggles. CHAPTER VI. THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY. VI. 1624. to In the preceding pages, we have sketched the history CHAP. of the Plymouth, the primitive Colony of our State, from its inception to its peaceful and permanent establishment; and we are now prepared to turn our attention to a similar 1626. view of the Massachusetts Colony, which, though subsequent in its origin, and several years the junior, soon took the lead upon the theater of action, and, owing to the superior advantages attending its advent, was more rapid in its growth, and more prosperous in its enterprises. In one respect, both colonies sprung from the same source, religious persecution having ushered them into life, and a desire to rear an asylum, a refuge for the oppressed, dissenting from the views and policy of the Anglican Church, being the groundwork or foundation upon which they were built. But, though both were the offspring of religious persecution, in other respects there was a striking and an inherent distinction in the views, the rank, the talents and the resources of the two; a distinction which, as it marked their beginnings, so it influenced, moulded, and determined their destiny. The Pilgrims were Separatists, having openly withdrawn from the communion of the National Church. Few of them had been reared in opulence or luxury. Few had enjoyed extensive opportunities for literary culture. Early inured to hardship and toil, unaccustomed to the ease and the refinements of wealth, simple in their habits, and moderate in 150 VI. 1624. to CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS. CHAP. their desires, they were eminently fitted as pioneers to New England, preparing the wilderness for the possession and occupancy of succeeding generations. Men of unwavering 1036. faith and of exemplary morals, with a profound reverence for God and his word, they were "the servants of posterity," "instruments to break the ice for others," and, though cast into the shade by the success of the second Colony, they are entitled to the honor which springs from true worth, and their magnanimous spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion, will ever endear their memories to all capable of appreciating their virtues and comprehending their excellencies. The Massachusetts Colonists were Puritans, connected with the National Church, though not fully conforming to its service and ritual. Their ministers were men of standing and influence. Receiving a finished education at the leading universities, their talents, which were conspicuous, were acceptably exercised until their zeal for reform and opposition to ceremonies induced the censure of the bishops and expulsion from their parishes. Of the laity, many were well versed in public affairs, possessed fortunes, accumulated or inherited, and lived in the enjoyment of the external comforts which wealth can command. A few moved in the higher circles of society, bore titles of nobility, and were genuine representatives of the conventional dignity of the mother country. Able of themselves abundantly to furnish both followers and funds, and exempted from the necessity of depending upon others, they could easily equip, not one bark but a fleet, and send, not one hundred but many hundreds, to inhabit the territory selected for their residence. More fortunate than the Pilgrims, who acted worthily their part, their fortune and rank enabled them to obtain what was wanting to the former,a charter from the crown, with privileges greater than could be derived from a subordinate patent. Hence the CHARLES THE FIRST AND ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 151 VI. history of the second Colony, though not destitute of inci- CHAP. dents of hardship and suffering, is of a stamp very different Its enterprises were prosecuted from that of the first. The colony at Plymouth was commenced during the reign of James I., who ascended the throne in 1603, and died in 1603. 1625. On the accession of Charles I., who inherited his 1625. father's political theories, the government of the National Church, not yet divested of its persecuting spirit, was entrusted to men of arbitrary principles and papistical proclivities. Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury, too lenient to subserve the rigorous views of the Court, was suspended from his office, and the notorious Laud,1 zealous to promote uniformity in religion, became the head of the Church, and the instrument to forward the purposes of the King. From this period, the Monarch surrendered himself to the perversities of his humor, and, with Strafford and Laud as his temporal and spiritual advisers, both in the civil and in the ecclesiastical administration of the realm, a system of insolent invasion of every right most valued by freemen and revered by Protestants was deliberately pursued, with a stubbornness and cruelty which finally exhausted the patience of the people. Three-fourths of the clergy were at this time Calvinists; but Charles and Laud having sympathy with the Arminians, an edict was issued prohibiting the promulgation of the former tenets under the severest penalties; 1 See Burnet's character of Laud, Hist. Own Times, 1. 49. |