allow jealousies perhaps of an evill affected minde, and it may be ignorant either of the persons whom it censures, or manner of their carriage, suspecting and designing evill and dangerous resolutions in the undertakers, to sway against the joynt asseveration of so many godly men of good estimation, (who are privie to their owne intentions,) that affirme the contrary? Love (saith the Apostle) thinketh no evill, that is, without ground; nay it hopeth all things, though there be some appearance to the contrary; and beleeveth all things, easily and willingly, when they are cleared and made manifest. But if the words and protestations of men carrie no credit with us, let us a little scanne the probabilities which might informe our judgement, and give light unto their intentions.

1. Presumption.

The first thing which I would tender unto men of indifferent mindes, is the carriage of these persons in their owne Country in former times. The men are knowne, and the places of their dwellings: Have they heretofore while they dwelt among us appeared to be men of turbulent or factious dispositions, impatient of the present government? Where or how have they beene convinced, and in what of any such crime? Have they separated from our Assemblies, refused our Ministery, or the joyning with us in the worship and service of God? let the men be produced and named. Now if their conversation have becne peaceable in times past, how are they become factious upon a sodaine? if there have beene unity among us heretofore, what hath stirred up the spirit of division? It were an unreasonable taske to undertake the defence of every one, it is not easie to finde twelve Disciples without one Iudas; and yet if some one or two, or ten should be found in this number factiously enclined, it were hard measure to condemne a whole Society for ten mens sakes that are mixed with them. Suppose wee should finde ten drunkards in the company, as I make no question wee may easily finde more, were it charitie to cast a scandall upon all the companie, that they are an assembly of drunkards? I perswade my selfe there is no one Separatist knowne unto the Governours, or if there be any, that it is as farre from their purpose as it is from their safety, to continue him amongst them.

OBIECTION.

Yea but if they doe not separate, yet they dislike our discipline and ceremonies, and so they will prove themselves semiseparatists at least, and that is their intention in removing from us, that they may free themselves from our government.

ANSWER.

I conceive we doe and ought to put a great difference betweene Separation, and Non-conformity; the first we judge as evill in it selfe, so that whosoever shall denie us to be a Church either of our owne men, or strangers of another Nation, we cannot beare it: but other Churches that conforme not to our orders and ceremonies we dislike not, onely we suffer it not in our owne; not that we adjudge the disusing of ceremonies simply evill, but onely evill in our owne men, because wee conceive it is joyned with some contempt of our authority, and may tend to a rent in the Church: But yet neither can this imputation be charged justly on our New-England Colonie; If the men were well scanned, I conceive it may be with good assurance maintained, that at least three parts of foure of the men there planted, are able to justifie themselves to have lived in a constant course of conformity unto our Church government and orders. Yea but they are weary of them now, and goe over with an intention to cast them off? Intentions are secret, who can discover them; but what have they done to manifest such an intention? What intelligence have they held one with another to such purpose? There passed away about 140 persons out of the western parts from Plimmouth, of which I conceive there were not sixe knowne either by face or fame to any of the rest. What subscription or solemne agreement haue they made before hand to binde themselves unto such resolution? If that were forborne for feare of discovery, yet it concerned those who had such an intention to be well assured of a Governour that might effectually further their purposes: Mr. Io. Winthrop, whom they have all chosen, (and that not the multitude, but all the men of best account amongst them) is sufficiently knowne in the place where he long lived, a publicke person, and consequently of the more observation to have beene every way regular and conformable in the whole. course of his practise. Yea but they have taken Ministers. with them that are knowne to be unconformable, and they are the men that will sway in the orders of the Church? Neither all nor the greatest part of the Ministers are unconformable. But how shall they prevent it? What Minister among us well seated in a good living, or in faire expectance of one, will be content to leave a certaine maintenance, to expose himselfe to the manifold hazards of so long a journey, to rest upon the providence of God, when all is done, for provision for himselfe and his family? Pardon them if they take such Ministers as they may have, rather than none at all. Hath

any conformable Minister of worth, and fit for that employment, tendred his service, whom they have rejected? No man can affirme they have taken such out of choise rather than necessity, unlesse it be manifested where they have refused others whom they might have had. But there are some unconformable men amongst them, yea and men of worse condition too? And if there were no drunkards nor covetous persons nor vicious any way, it would and might justly move all the world to admiration. But there is great oddes betweene peaceable men, who out of tendernesse of heart forbeare the use of some ceremonies of the Church, (whom this State in some things thinkes fit to winke at, and it may be would doe more if it were assured of their temper) and men of fiery and turbulent spirits, that walke in a crosse way out of distemper of minde. Now suppose some of those men that (knowing the disposition of their owne mindes, how unable they are to bring their hearts to answer the course of our Churches practise in all things) consider that their contrary practise gives distaste to government, and occasions some disturbance unto the Churches peace, upon that ground withdraw themselves for quietnesse sake: Would not such dispositions be cherished with great tendernesse? And surely, as farre as guesse by circumstances may leade us, we have more cause to thinke that they are so minded than otherwise; because this will certainely be the consequent of their going out from amongst us, which they cannot but foresee: and if they had meant otherwise, their way had beene to remaine in the midst of us as thornes in our eyes, and prickes in our sides, and not to depart from us seeing wee know it is the remaining of the thorne in the midst of the flesh which torments; the plucking it out, and casting it away breedes ease and quiet

nesse.

I should be very unwilling to hide any thing I thinke might be fit to discover the uttermost of the intentions of our Planters in their voyage to New-England, and therefore shall make bold to manifest not onely what I know, but what I guesse concerning their purpose. As it were absurd to conceive they have all one minde, so were it more ridiculous to imagine they have all one scope. Necessitie may presse some; Noveltie draw on others; hopes of gaine in time to come may prevaile with a third sort: but that the most and most sincere and godly part have the advancement of the Gospel for their maine scope I am cōfident. That of them, some may entertaine hope and expectation of enjoying greater libertie there than here in the use of some orders and Ceremonies of our Church it seemes very probable. Nay more then that, it is not improbable, that partly for their

sakes, and partly for respect to some Germans that are gone ouer with them, and more that intend to follow after, euen those which otherwise would not much desire innovation of themselves, yet for the maintaining of peace and unitie, (the onely soder of a weake unsetled body will) be wonne to consent to some variation from the formes & customes of our Church. Nay I see not how we can expect from them a correspondence in all things to our State civill or Ecclesiasticall: Wants and necessities cannot but cause many changes. The Churches in the Apostles & in the setled times of peace afterwards were much different in many outward formes. In the maine of their carriage two things may moue them to vary much from us: Respect to the Heathen, before whom it concernes them to shew much pietie, sobrietie, and austeritie; and the consideration of their owne necessities will certainely enforce them to take away many things that we admit, and to introduce many things that wee reject, which perhaps will minister much matter of sport and scorne unto such as have Relations of these things, and that represented unto them with such addisions as fame usually weaves into all reports at the second and third hands. The like by this their varying in ciuill Conversation, wee may expect of the alteration of some things in Church affayres. It were bootlesse to expect that all things will or can be at the first forming of a rude and incohærent body, as they may be found in time to come; and it were strange and a thing that never yet happened, if wee should heare a true report of all things as they are. But that men are farre enough from projecting the erecting of this Colony for a Nursery of Schismatickes, will appeare by the ensuing faithfull and unpartiall Narration of the first occasions, beginning, and progresse of the whole worke, layd before the eyes of all that desire to receive satisfaction, by such as have beene privie to the very first conceiving and contriving of this project of planting this Colony; and to the severall passages that have happened since, who also in that they relate, consider they have the searcher of all hearts and observer of all mens wayes witnesse of the truth and falsehood that they deliver.

About ten yeares since a company of English, part out of the Low-Countryes, and some out of London, and other parts, associating themselves into one body, with an intention to plant in Virginia in their passage thither being taken short by the winde, in the depth of Winter the whole ground being under Snow, were forced with their provisions to land themselves in New-England upon a small Bay beyond Mattachusets, in the place which they now inhabit and call by the name of New

Plimmouth. The ground being covered a foote thicke with snow, and they being without shelter, and having amongst them divers Women and Children, no marvell if they lost some of their company, it may bee wondered how they saved the rest. But notwithstanding this sharpe encounter at the first, and some miscarriages afterward, yet, (conceiving Go DS providence had directed them unto that place, and finding great charge and difficultie in removing) they resolved to fixe themselves there; and being assisted by some of their friends in LONDON, having passed over most of the greatest difficulties that usually encounter new Planters, they beganne to subsist at length in a reasonable comfortable manner; being notwithstanding men but of meane and weake estates of themselves. And after a yeares experience or two of the Soyle and Inhabitants, sent home tydings of both, and of their well-being there, which occasioned other men to take knowledge of the place, and to take it into consideration.

About the yeare 1623. some Westerne Marchants (who had continued a trade of fishing for Cod and bartering for Furres in those parts for divers yeares before) conceiving that a Colony planted on the Coast might further them in those employments, bethought themselves how they might bring that project to effect, and communicated their purpose to others, alledging the conveniency of compassing their proiect with a small charge, by the opportunitie of their fishing trade, in which they accustomed to double-man their Ships, that (by the helpe of many hands) they might dispatch their Voyage, and lade their Ship with Fish while the fishing season lasted, which could not be done with a bare sayling company. Now it was conceived, that the fishing being ended, the spare men that were above their necessary saylers, might be left behind with provisions for a yeare; and when that Ship returned the next yeare, they might assist them in fishing, as they had done the former yeare; and, in the meane time, might employ themselves in building, and planting Corne, which with the provisions of Fish, Foule, and Venison, that the Land yeelded, would affoord them the chiefe of their foode. This Proposition of theirs tooke so well, that it drew on divers persons, to joyne with them in this project, the rather because it was conceived that not onely their owne Fishermen, but the rest of our Nation that went thither on the same errand, might be much advantaged, not onely by fresh victuall, which that Colony might spare them in time, but withall, and more, by the benefit of their Ministers labours, which they might enjoy during the fishing season; whereas otherwise being usually upon those Voyages nine or ten moneths