CHAPTER II.

THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY.

AFTER the death of James I., in 1625, his son Charles I., succeeded to the throne. He cherished the political theories of his predecessor, showed only small respect for Parliaments, to whom he granted "liberty of counsel, but not of control," and did not hesitate to invade the rights and religious scruples of his people. One of his earliest and most obnoxious acts was to depose the lenient Abbott, and to place the infamous Laud at the head of ecclesiastical affairs. As a result of this proceeding, the severest penalties were imposed upon all those who refused to become members of the Established Church. The commotions in church and state bore heavily upon the Puritans, who now began to look around them for some safe retreat. Already the good reports from the Plymouth colony had awakened their attention; and to America they also dared to turn "for the tranquil and peaceful enjoyment" of their rights.1

The Dorchester Company, which, as has been related in the previous chapter, established a colony at Cape Ann in the autumn of 1623, was dissolved in 1626. Mr. Roger Conant, who had been placed in charge of the colony, soon became dissatisfied with the location, and removed to "a fruitful neck of land" at Naumkeag, now Salem, "secretly

1 Barry, i. 153. Parl. Hist. Eng., ix. 69, seq.

conceiving in his mind that in following times it might prove a receptacle for such as, upon the account of religion, would be willing to begin a foreign plantation in this part of the world, of which he gave intimation to his friends in England." Although the colony which was presided over by this excellent man was exceedingly diminutive, bering, perhaps, not more than fifty persons, still it should always be remembered as having been the germ of the renowned Massachusetts colony.

--

num

Mr. Conant lost no time in informing the Rev. John White, the father of the Cape Ann colony, and "under God one of the chief founders of the Massachusetts colony," of his new project. The latter immediately wrote back, saying that, if Mr. Conant should, together with John Woodbury, John Balch, and Peter Palfreys, remain at Naumkeag, he would obtain for them a patent, and forward men and supplies. The companions of Mr. Conant at first refused to enter into this engagement, preferring rather to remove to Virginia. They were persuaded, however, to tarry; and in consequence of this resolution, their names have descended to the present generation as "the sentinels of Puritanism on the Bay of Massachusetts."2 Faithful to his promise, Mr. White obtained a patent, in 1628, conveying to six individuals, Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir John Young, John Humphrey, Thomas Southcote, John Endicott, and Simon Whetcomb, "that part of New England lying between three miles to the north of the Merrimac and three miles to the south of the Charles River, and of every part thereof, in the Massachusetts Bay; and in length between the described breadth, from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea." 3

1 Hubbard, Hist., 102-107. Bancroft, i. 339.

3

Hubbard, 108. 3 M. H. Coll., iii. 326, seq.

This patent having been secured, Mr. White labored hard to advance the enterprise still farther. It required all the eloquence and argument at his command to interest others in the undertaking. After some delay, Rosewell, Young, and Southcote withdrew, and the rest, having entered into a partnership with certain London merchants, assumed all rights by purchase, and formed themselves into an organization known as the Massachusetts Company, of which John Endicott was chosen a leading representative, and was commissioned "to carry on the plantation of the Dorchester agents, and to make way for the settling of another colony in the Massachusetts."1 In June, 1628, Endicott, with a small company of emigrants, left England, and in the same year arrived safely at Naumkeag, where the former at once "entered upon the duties of his office as magistrate and governor."2 At the close of the year, the colony numbered about one hundred persons, who had come hither mostly "from Dorchester and some places adjoining."

In the following year the colony was largely increased by new arrivals, and arrangements were set on foot for the establishing of a local government, to be styled "The Governor and Conncil of London's Plantation in the Massachusetts Bay, in New England." Thirteen members were chosen to constitute this government. John Endicott was appointed governor; and John Browne, Samuel Browne, Samuel Sharpe, Thomas Graves, and the three ministers, constituted his council. "These eight chose three others, from among the new emigrants, or those of the previous year, at their option, and the old planters,' two more, making, with the governor, thirteen in all. This government was strictly subordinate to the company in England;

6

Chron. Mass., ch. xvii.