A SERMON PREACHED AT VVHEREIN IS SHEVVED the danger of felfe-loue, and the fweetnelle of true Friendship. TOGETHER VVITH A PREFACE, ROM. 12. 10. Be affectioned to loue one another with brotherly lone. Written in the yeare 1621. LONDON Printed by I. D. for IoHN BELLAMIE, and are to be fold at his hop at the two Grey. hounds in Corne-hill, neere the Royall Exchange, 163& selfe before he came. But all proved but wind, for he was the first and only man that forsooke them, and that before he so much as heard of the returne of this ship, or knew what was done; (so vaine is the confidence in man.)1 But of this more in its place. A leter in answer to his write to Mr. Carver, was sente to him from the Gov[erno]r, of which so much as is pertenente to the thing in hand I shall hear inserte. SIR, Your large letter writen to Mr. Carver, and dated the 6. of July, 1621, I have received the 10. of Novemb[e]r, wherin (after the apologie made for your selfe) you lay many heavie imputations upon him and us all. Touching him, he is departed this life, and now is at rest [68] in the Lord from all those troubles and incoumbrances with which we are yet to strive. He needs not my appologie; for his care and pains was so great for the commone good, both ours and yours, as that therwith (it is thought) he oppressed him selfe and shortened his days; of whose loss we cannot sufficiently complaine. At great charges in this adventure, I confess you have beene, and many losses may sustaine; but the loss of his and many other honest and industrious mens lives, cannot be vallewed at any prise. Of the one, ther may be hope of recovery, but the other no recompence can make good. But I will not insiste in generalls, but come more perticulerly to the things them selves. You greatly blame us for keping the ship so long in the countrie, and then to send her away emptie. She lay. 5. weks at Cap-Codd whilst with many a weary step (after a long journey) and the indurance of many a hard brunte, we sought out in the foule winter a place of habitation. Then we went in so tedious a time to make provission to sheelter us and our goods, aboute which labour, many of our armes and leggs can tell us to this day we were not necligent. But it pleased God to vissite us then, with death dayly, and with so generall a disease, that the living were scarce able to burie the dead; and the well 1 "Private purses are cowld compfortes to adventurers, and have ever been founde fatall to all enterprices hitherto undertaken by the English, by reason of delaies, jelocies, and unwillingness to backe that project which succeeds not at the first attempt." Reasons or Motives for the raising of a publique stock, 1607-08. The entire paper will be found in Neill, Virginia Vetusta, 27. not in any measure sufficente to tend the sick. And now to be so greatly blamed, for not fraighting the ship, doth indeed goe near us, and much discourage us. But you say, you know we will pretend weaknes; and doe you think we had not cause? Yes, you tell us you beleeve it, but it was more weaknes of judgmente, then of hands. Our weaknes herin is great we confess, therfore we will bear this check patiently amongst the rest, till God send us wiser men. But they which tould you we spent so much time in discoursing and consulting, etc., their harts can tell their toungs, they lye. They cared not, so they might salve their owne sores, how they wounded others. Indeede, it is our callamitie that we are (beyound expectation) yoked with some ill conditioned people, who will never doe good, but corrupte and abuse others, etc. The rest of the letter declared how they had subscribed those conditions according to his desire, and sente him the formeraccounts very perticulerly; also how the ship was laden, and in what condition their affairs stood; that the coming of these [69] people would bring famine upon them unavoydably, if they had not supply in time (as Mr. Cushman could more fully informe him and the rest of the adventurers). Also that seeing he was now satisfied in all his demands, that offences would be forgoten, and he remember his promise, etc. After the departure of this ship, (which stayed not above 14. days,) the Gove[rno]r and his assistante haveing disposed these late commers into severall families, as they best could, tooke an exacte accounte of all their provissions in store, and proportioned the same to the number of persons, and found that it would not hould out above 6 months at halfe alowance, and hardly that. And they could not well give less this winter time till fish came in againe. So they were presently put to half alowance, one as well as an other, which begane to be hard, but they bore it patiently under hope of supply.1 1 The actual situation of the settlers did not agree wholly with the glowing report Sone after this ships departure, the great people of the Narigansets, in a braving maner, sente a messenger unto them with a bundle of arrows tyed aboute with a great sneak-skine; which of William Hilton, a passenger in the Fortune. Writing in November or December, 1621, he said: “At our ariuall at New Plimmoth in New England, we found all our friends and planters in good health, though they were left sicke and weake with very small meanes, the Indians round about vs peaceable and friendly, the country very pleasant and temperate, yeelding naturally of itself great store of fruites, as vines of diuers sorts in great abundance; there is likewise walnuts, chesnuts, small nuts and plums, with much varietie of flowers, rootes, and herbs no lesse pleasant then wholsome and profitable: no place hath more goose-berries and straw-berries, nor better. Timber of all sorts you haue in England, doth couer the Land, that affoords beasts of diuers sorts, and great flocks of Turkies, Quailes Pigeons and Patriges: many great lakes abounding with fish, fowle, Beuers and Otters. The sea affoords vs as great plenty of all excellent sorts of sea-fish, as the riuers and Iles doth varietie of wilde fowle of most vsefull sorts. Mines we find to our thinking, but neither the goodnesse nor qualitie we know. Better grain cannot be then the Indean corne, if we will plant it vpon as good ground as a man need desire. We are all free-holders, the rent day doth not trouble vs, and all those good blessings we haue, of which and what we list in their seasons for taking. Our companie are for most part very religious honest people; the word of God sincerely taught vs every Sabbath: so that I know not any thing a contented mind can here want. I desire your friendly care to send my wife and children to me, where I wish all the friends I haue in England." Smith, New Englands Trials, 13. Pratt laid the blame on the letters received from New England. "Som Indescret men, hoping to incoridg thayr freinds to Come to them, writ Letters Conserning the great plenty of Fish fowle and deare. . . . The Adventvrers, willing to saf thayr Monys, sent them weekly provided of vicktualls, as Many moor after them did the lyke; and that was the great Cause of famine." Narrative, 4 Mass. Hist. Collections, IV. 477. Winslow said the same of the scant supply of provisions sent by the Fortune. "Neither were the setters forth thereof altogether to be blamed therein: but rather certain amongst ourselves, who were too prodigal in their writing and reporting of that plenty we enjoyed." Good Newes,*11. Winslow himself had not been without blame in the glowing accounts of plenty at hand. He now explained that everything must be their interpretours tould them was a threatening and a chaleng.1 Upon which the Gov[erno]r, with the advice of others, sente them a round answere, that if they had rather have warre then peace, they might begine when they would; they had done them no wrong, neither did they fear them, or should they find them unprovided. And by another messenger sente the sneake skine back with bulits in it; but they would not receive it, but sent it back againe.' But expected in its proper season, and had not the settlers been in a place when shell-fish could be taken with the hand, they would have perished. The months of their extremities were May and June. Such favorable reports were not confined to New England. Virginia in her early days suffered from the same cause, and one of the charges made against the Sandys faction was "the practice of sending 'double and contradictory letters' from the chief officers of the Colony to the Company, those sent officially giving 'assurance of abundance,' and those sent privately asking for ‘large supplies,' so that many persons were 'allured to go over' on false pretences. The spreading of false rumors, and publication of letters, books, and ballads describing the 'happy estate of the Plantation, which was most unreasonably put in practice this last Lent, when the colony was in most extreme misery.' " Hist. Mss. Com., viii. pt. II. 43. 1 This message was sent by Canonicus, the great sachem of the Narragansetts, by an Indian, who was accompanied by the friendly Indian Tokamahamon. As both Tisquantum and Hobbamock were absent when this messenger arrived at Plymouth, the Governor determined to hold him against their return, and in the mean time entrusted him for safe-keeping to Standish, who hoped to extract from him the meaning of the sending. Tokamahamon could only say that he thought, but could not certainly tell, that it meant hostilities. Standish and Hopkins succeeded in allaying the fears of the messenger and learned "that the messenger which his master [Canonicus] sent in summer to treat of peace, at his return persuaded him rather to war; and to the end he might provoke him thereunto, (as appeared to him by our reports,) detained many of the things [which] were sent to him by our Governor, scorning the meanness of them both in respect of what himself had formerly sent, and also of the greatness of his own person; so that he much blamed the former messenger, saying, that upon the knowledge of this his false carriage, it would cost him his life, but assured us that upon his relation of our speech then with him to his master, he would be friends with us." Winslow, Good Newes, *2. It was Tisquantum who interpreted the message intended by the arrows and skins. Hubbard calls attention to a similar message of arrows sent by the Scythians to Darius. History, 69. 2 In reply Bradford sent a defiant message with the powder and shot, assuring Canonicus "if he had shipping now present, thereby to send his men to Nanohiggan |