 | Tales of the puritans |  |
THE FAIR PILGRIM.
“In 1620, the same month the Puritans arrived on the
coast from England, James I. issued a charter to the
Duke of Lenox, Marquis of Buckingham, and others,
styling them the “Grand Council of Plymouth, for
planting and governing New England, in America.”
This patent granted to them the territory between the
40 ° and 48 ° of north latitude.”
“From the tranquility which the Brownists had en
joyed at New Plymouth, and the sufferings to which
those who held the same opinion were exposed in England,
an association was formed by Mr. White, a clergyman
at Dorchester, in England, for the purpose of
leading a new colony to that part of America where the
brethren were settled. They obtained from the Grand
Council of Plymouth, that part of New England which
lies three miles to the south of Charles river, and three
miles to the north of Merrimac river.
“As the patent of the Council of Plymouth conveyed
no powers of government, king Charles, by their urgent
solicitation, granted them these powers by charter.
The new adventurers were incorporated by the council
as the body politic; they were empowered to dispose of
their lands, and to govern the people who should settle
on them. The first governor and his assistants, were
to be named by the crown; the right of electing their
successors was vested in the members of the corporation.
In consequence of this alteration, seventeen vessels
sailed for America in 1629. When they arrived at
New-England, they found there the remains of a small
body of Puritans, who had left their country the year
before under Endicot; and uniting with these, they settled
at a place to which Endicot had given the name of
Salem. This was the first permanent town in Massachusetts.
better station, and laid the foundation of many towns,
among which were Boston and Charlestown.”
“On no part of the history of the United States, perhaps
we might say of the world, does the eye of the
philanthropist rest with more interest, than on the account
of this little devoted band, now commonly spoken
of under the touching appellation of the Pilgrims. They
possessed a much higher cast of moral elevation, than
any who had before sought the new world as a residence.
The hope of gain was the motive of former settlers,—
the love of God was theirs. In their character and in
their institutions, we behold the germ of that love of
liberty, and those correct views of the natural equality of
man, which are now fully developed in the American
constitution.”
—Willard's Republic of America. pp.
48, 51, 46.
“Gentlemen of ancient and worshipful families, and
ministers of the gospel, then of great fame at home, and
merchants, husbandmen, artificers to the number of some
thousands, did for twelve years together carry on this
transplantation. It was indeed a banishment rather than
a removal, which was undergone by this glorious generation,
and you may be sure sufficiently afflictive to men
of estate, breeding and conversation. As the hazard
which they ran in this undertaking was of such extraordinariness,
that nothing less than a strange and strong
impression from heaven could have thereunto moved the
hearts of such as were in it; so the expense with which
they carried on the undertaking was truly extraordinary.
Briefly, the God of heaven served as it were, a summons
upon the spirits of his people in the English nation;
stirring up the spirits of thousands which never saw the
faces of each other, with a most unanimous inclination
to leave all the pleasant accommodations of their native
country, and go over a terrible ocean, into a more terrible
desart, for the pure enjoyment of all his ordinances.”
“General Considerations for the Plantation of New
England.
“It will be a service unto the Church of great consequence,
to carry the gospel into those parts of the world,
and raise a bulwark against the kingdom of antichrist,
which the Jesuites labor to rear up in all parts of the
world.
“All other churches of Europe have been brought under
desolations; and it may be feared that the like judgments
are coming upon us; and who knows but God
hath provided this place to be a refuge for many, whom
he means to save out of the general destruction.
“What can be a better or nobler work, and more
worthy of a christian, than to erect and support a reformed
particular church in its infancy, and unite our
forces with such a company of faithful people, as by a
timely assistance may grow stronger and prosper; but
for want of it, may be put to great hazards, if not be
wholly ruined.
“If any such as are known to be godly, and live in
wealth and prosperity here, shall forsake all this to join
with this reformed church, and with it run the hazard of
a hard and mean condition, it will be an example of great
use, both for the removing of scandal, and to give more
life unto the faith of God's people in their prayers for
the plantation, and also to encourage others to join the
more willingly in it.”
—Mather's Magnalia, Vol. I. pp. 64, 65.
By copying the following extract we do not intend to
assert that the outline of this story is true, but merely to
show that the example of devotedness here exhibited, is
not unparalleled in the history of the Pilgrims.
“Being happily arrived at New-England, our new
planters found the difficulties of a rough and hard wilderness
presently assaulting them: of which the worst
was the sickliness which many of them had contracted
by these other difficulties. Of those who soon died after
their first arrival, not the least considerable was the lady
Arabella, who left an earthly paradise in the family of
for the entertainments of a pure worship in the house of
God; and then immediately left that wilderness for the
heavenly paradise, whereto the compassionate Jesus, of
whom she was a follower, had called her. The mortality
thus threatening of this new plantation so enlivened
the devotions of this good people, that they set themselves
by fasting and prayer to obtain from God the removal
of it; and their brethren at Plymouth also attended the
like duties on their behalf; the issue whereof was, that
in a little time they not only had health restored, but they
likewise enjoyed the special directions and assistance of
God, in the further prosecution of their undertakings.”
Mather's Magnalia, Vol. I. p. 71.
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