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This grant is the broad basis on which stand all the other grants made to the colonies in New-England. This prepared the way for future grants and the immediate settlement of New-England. On the 19th of March, 1628, the Plymouth company granted unto Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, knights, Thomas Southcoat, John Humphry, John Endicott and Simon Whitcomb, their heirs and assigns forever, all that part of New-England in America, which lies and extends between Merrimack river and Charles river, in the bottom of Massachusetts bay, and three miles to the north and south of every part of Charles river, and three miles south of the southernmost part of said bay, and three miles to the northward of every part of Merrimack river, and "all lands and hereditaments whatsoever lying within the limits aforesaid north and south, in latitude and breadth; and in length and longitude, of and within all the breadth aforesaid throughout the main lands there, from the Atlantic sea and ocean on the east part, to the south sea on the west part."

On the 4th of March, 1629, king Charles the first confirmed this patent under the great seal of England. This was the patent of Massachusetts bay, under which the settlement of that colony immediately commenced.

At this time, liberty of conscience could not be enjoyed in the parent country. No indulgence was granted even to the most pious, loyal, and conscientious people, who would not strictly conform to the habits, ceremonies, and worship of the church of England. All non-conformists were exposed to fines, imprisonments, the ruin of their families, fortunes, and every thing which ought to be dear to men. The most learned, pious, orthodox, and inoffensive people, who did not conform to the church of England, were treated, by the king and his bishops, with far greater severity, than drunkards, sabbath breakers, or even the most notorious debauchees. They were condemned, in the spiritual courts, without juries; without having the witnesses against them brought into court, to depose face to face; and, sometimes, without knowing the crime alleged against them, or who were the witnesses by whom it was to be proved. Many of the pious people in England, were so harassed and persecuted for their non-conformity, that they determined, if possible, rather to make settlements in a dreary wilderness, at the distance of three thousand miles from their native country, than endure the persecution and sufferings, to which they were constantly exposed from the hands of those who ought to have cherished and defended them. This cruel treatment of our venerable ancestors, was the cause of the settlement of the New-England colonies and churches. It will ever be the distinguishing glory of these colonies, that they were not originally formed for the advantages of trade and worldly emolument, but for the noble purposes of religion, the enjoyment

of liberty of conscience in the worship and ordinances of God. The pious fathers of these colonies wished to enjoy the uncorrupted gospel, administered in all its ordinances in purity and power, and to transmit the invaluable blessings of civil and religious liberty to their remotest posterity. With these views they left their native country, their pleasant seats and enjoyments in Europe, and made settlements in the wilds of America.

The same year in which the patent of Massachusetts received the royal confirmation, Mr. John Endicott was sent over, with about three hundred people, by the patentees, to prepare the way for the settlement of a permanent colony in that part of New-England. They arrived at Naumkeak on June 24th, and began a settlement, which they named Salem. This was the first town in Massachusetts, and the second in New-England.

About a hundred of the planters who came over with Mr. Endicott, removed very soon to Mishawam, and began a plantation at that place. Here they erected a very spacious house, and made other preparations for the accommodation of those who were expected from England the next year. They called their settlement Charlestown.

At a meeting of the company for the planting of the Massachusetts, in England, August 29th, it was voted, that the patent and government of the plantation be transferred to New-England.1

The next year, therefore, seventeen ships were prepared, with all necessaries for the settlement of a colony. Eleven or twelve of these ships made a safe arrival in New-England by the middle of July, and they all arrived before the close of the year. In these came over governor Winthrop, and the magistrates of the colony, who had been previously chosen in England. With them also came a number of ministers, to illuminate the infant churches, and preach in the wilderness the glad tidings of salvation.

On the 10th or 12th of July, governor Winthrop arrived at Charlestown, with about fifteen hundred people. They encamped in cottages, booths, and tents, upon Charlestown hill. Their place of public worship was under a large spreading tree. Here Messrs. Wilson and Phillips preached their first sermons to these pious pilgrims. In the ships which arrived this year, there came over about seventeen hundred people. In this and the last year, there came into New-England two thousand planters. These settled about nine or ten towns or villages. A considerable number settled at Boston and Charlestown. Many of the principal characters fixed their abode in these towns. Governor Winthrop lived in the great house, which had been erected the preceding year at Charlestown. Mr. Isaac Johnston, who married the lady Arabella, sister of the earl of Lincoln, and who had the best estate 1 Prince's Chron. p. 192. ? Ibid. part ii. p. 10. 3 Ibid. p. 240

of any of the company, fixed his residence at Boston. He was the great promoter of the settlement of the capital of the Massachusetts. Sir Richard Saltonstall, who was another of the magistrates, with his company, settled at Watertown. They made choice of Mr. Phillips for their pastor. Mr. Pyncheon, and another company, began a settlement at Roxbury, and the famous Mr. John Elliot and Mr. Weld, who came into New-England the next year, were elected their ministers. Other companies settled Medford and Weymouth. Boston and Charlestown, the first year, considered themselves as one company, and chose Mr. Wilson for their pastor.

In one of the first ships which arrived this year, came over the Rev. Mr. John Warham, Mr. John Maverick, Mr. Rossiter, Mr. Ludlow, Mr. Henry Wolcott, and others of Mr. Warham's church and congregation, who first settled the town of Windsor, in Connecticut. Mr. Rossiter and Mr. Ludlow were magistrates. Mr. Wolcott had a fine estate, and was a man of superior abilities. This was an honourable company. Mr. Warham had been a famous minister in Exeter, the capital of the county of Devonshire. The people who came with him, were from the three counties of Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and Somersetshire.

Some time before the 20th of March, just as they were about to embark for New-England, upon a day of solemn fasting and prayer, they were formed into a congregational church, in the new hospital at Plymouth, in England. They then made choice of Mr. Warham and Mr. Maverick to be their pastor and teacher, and they were ordained, or re-installed to the care of this particular church. The famous Mr. White, of Dorchester, preached and assisted on this occasion.2

They sailed from Plymouth, in England, on the 20th of March, in the ship Mary and John, of 400 tons, and arrived at Nantasket on the Lord's day, May 30th. The next day, captain Squeb, master of the ship, put them and their goods on shore, at Nantasket point, and, in this situation, left them to shift for themselves.3 But, by the assistance of some of the old planters, they obtained a boat, and proceeded up Charles river, to the place since called Watertown. Here they landed their goods, and erected a shelter to cover them; but as they had many cattle, and found a neck of land at Mattapan, affording good accommodations for them, they soon removed and began a settlement there. They named their town Dorchester.

Sir Richard Saltonstall's people, who settled at Watertown, were the first settlers of Weathersfield, in Connecticut. Mr. Phillips, who was elected their pastor, at Watertown, had been min? Ibid. p. 200. Ibid. p. 207. Captain Squeb was, afterwards, obliged to pay damages for this conduct.

'Prince's Chron. part ii. sect. 2, p. 2.

ister at Boxford, in the county of Essex. Most of them were, probably, the people of his former charge, and from the same county.

The emigrants who came into New-England with Mr. Endicott and governor Winthrop, soon after their arrival, were visited with uncommon sickness and mortality. Of the company who came with Mr. Endicott the last year, eighty were in their graves before governor Winthrop arrived. He found the colony in very miserable circumstances. Many of those who were yet living, were in a weak and sickly condition. The people had scarcely a sufficiency of provisions for their subsistence fourteen days. Besides, they had sustained a capital loss in their servants. They brought over with them a hundred and eighty. These cost them more than three thousand pounds sterling. But they were so straitened for provisions, that they were necessitated to give all those who survived the sickness, their liberty, that they might shift for themselves.1

Many of the ships which arrived this year, had a long passage of seventeen or eighteen weeks; in consequence of which, numbers had the scurvy, and came on shore in a sickly condition. By reason of wet lodgings, in cottages and miserable huts, for the want of fresh food and other conveniences, this sickness increased. Other diseases also, soon attacked them with violence; so that, in a fortnight or three weeks, the sickness became general. In a short time, so many fell sick, that the well were not sufficient properly to attend them, and bury the dead. Great numbers died, and were buried on Charlestown hill.2 The sickness and mortality greatly retarded the necessary labours and affairs of the colony; so that many of the people were obliged to lie in tents, or miserable huts, during the winter. By the next spring, a hundred and twenty, or more, were among the dead. Of this number were Mr. Johnson and Mr. Rossiter. The charming lady Arabella, celebrated for her many virtues, died before her husband. She was sister to the earl of Lincoln; and, for the sake of religion, came from a paradise of ease, plenty, and delight, in the house of a renowned earl, into a wilderness of toil, disaster, and misery.

About a hundred of the people were discouraged, and returned to England; two hundred were dead, and some went to Piscataqua. About seventeen hundred remained; a little more than a hundred and eighty persons, or thirty families; on an average, to each town. The greatest numbers fixed themselves at Boston and Watertown. In these towns, there were, probably, nearly sixty families: in Charlestown and Dorchester, about forty; and in the other towns, not more than fifteen or twenty families.3 In addition to all the other calamities, with which these planta2 Ibid. p. 242.

1 Prince's Chron. p. 209, 210.

3 Ibid. part ii. p. 1 and 31.

tions had been visited, they, this year, experienced the distress of famine. By the beginning of February, bread failed in every house, except the governor's, and even in this the family were reduced to the last loaves. Such were the necessities of the people, that they fed on clams, muscles, ground-nuts, and acorns. Indeed, in the winter season, it was with great difficulty that the people procured these poor articles of subsistence. The governors foreseeing, in the fall, that they should want provisions, dispatched a ship to Ireland to procure them a supply. Her happy arrival on the 5th of February, prevented their perishing with famine. The return of health in the spring, the arrival of other vessels, with provisions, afterwards, and a plenteous harvest, gave the affairs of the colony a more prosperous appearance.

While affairs were thus transacting in the colony, the violent persecution of the puritans in England made great numbers look towards America as the only safe retreat from the impending storm. This, annually, occasioned a large accession of new planters to the settlements in New-England.

In 1630, the Rev. Mr. Thomas Hooker, a gentleman of great abilities, and a famous preacher, at Chelmsford, in the county of Essex, was silenced for non-conformity. To escape fines and imprisonment, he fled into Holland. He was held in such high and universal esteem among his acquaintance, that forty-seven ministers, in his vicinity, petitioned the bishop of London in his favour. These were all conformists, and witnessed for Mr. Hooker, that they esteemed him, and knew him "to be, for doctrine orthodox, for life and conversation honest, for disposition peaceable, and no wise turbulent or factious." However, as he was a non-conformist, no personal or acquired excellencies, no testimonials of his good conduct, nor prayers of his friends, could save him from prosecutions and deposition.

He was so esteemed as a preacher, that not only his own people, but others, from all parts of the county of Essex, flocked to hear him. The noble earl of Warwick, though he resided at a great distance from Chelmsford, was so delighted with his public performances, that he frequently attended them. Great numbers not only attended his ministry, but experienced its salutary effects, and found themselves willing to emigrate into any part of the world, to enjoy the happiness of such a pastor. No sooner, therefore, was he driven from them, than they turned their eyes towards New-England. They hoped that, if comfortable settlements could be made in this part of America, they might obtain him for their pastor. Therefore, in 1632, a large body of them came over and settled at Newtown, since called Cambridge, in Massachusetts. Numbers of them, it seems, came over at an earlier period, and began to settle at Weymouth, but, this year, they all removed to Newtown. They had expressed their earnest desires to Mr.

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