But the Wessagusset men repaid the terribly taxed hospitality and courtesy of the Pilgrims by attempted thefts of corn and insolent demeanor while at Plymouth; then they provoked their heathen neighbors, with whom they competed in bad behavior; and finally their remnant accepted the guidance of Myles Standish to the fishing fleet off the Maine coast, whence they returned to England for the good of America.
It was in situations like these that the coolness of the Governor greatly helped to prevent the note of dismay, for the exasperated Massachusetts, in hope of exterminating every foreigner, sent far and near for concerted action of all tribes, and many joined in the conspiracy. In view of an uprising so wide-spread, it was natural that some in the little Colony should feel apprehensive, for the peril of extinction was real. Approximately between twenty-five and fifty thousand Indians occupied New England. Supported by limited artillery and musketry, the wooden palisade was hardly adequate against the firebrands, hatchets and arrows of bloodthirsty swarming thousands; yet it never came to the test. This is less surprising when we recall the fact that, in addition to showing an almost complete lack of organization, all the Atlantic coast natives were numerically weaker and socially inferior to the inland tribes. White immigrants to the Old Colony found them especially weak there; and in Patuxet, or Plymouth, they were extinct, except for friendly Squanto.
At this time the people revealed their trust in Bradford's judgment by leaving him to decide what measures should be taken in a crisis so acute, of which he informed them on the annual court day. Captain Standish was sent to Wessagusset, with only eight men, as more would excite suspicion; and they equipped the shallop for trading. But one day when two ringleaders and a couple of followers were in a hut with the whites, Standish gave the word, the door was shut and a struggle ensued, three red men being soon cut down, fighting to the last, while a fourth was taken alive and afterward hung. Three more warriors in the neighborhood were killed. This summary execution of only seven persons quickly prepared the way for finishing the disagreeable but necessary business without that further and abundant bloodshed, which would inevitably have ensued but for this stern action. A force of Indians who hastened to the scene were turned to flight without loss after a few shots, and the heart of opposition failed. The sudden collapse of warfare so carefully planned, is explained not only by the loose organization of those rude folk among themselves, but by the fact, as often in ancient history, that dependence upon leaders was extremely strong, and the fall of a hero caused consternation and despair. Also the terror of Standish, with his decisiveness and daring, was universal among all disaffected natives, who regarded him as invulnerable, for he had repeatedly escaped the plots of intending assassins; and he surprised his foes by his quick penetration of their deadly designs though covered by amicable professions.
This perception of sinister purposes was also well developed in Bradford, as the following instance will show, though out of chronological order; and it was well for the Colony that both men possessed such a faculty, the impetuous Captain and amiable Governor, who in their respective dispositions may fairly be compared with Christ's leading disciples, Peter and John. When the Massachusetts Bay Colony was at its full inception in 1630, there appeared the greatest threat of native opposition up to that time, considering its extent. It aimed at the annihilation of all New England settlements, north and south along the coast where they had obtained, or were securing, a firm footing. The older community was to be attended to first.
The scheme was to request another grand sporting festival at Plymouth, natives and whites together, such as had been allowed to Massasoit and his men in 1621, the year of the treaty. Though this pleasant precedent was shrewdly cited with all openness and apparent amity, Bradford refused the petition. Then the red men, realizing that they were understood, declared wrathfully and with unwonted boldness, "If we may not come with leave, we will come without."
They rallied near Charlestown, whose people were also warned by their constant native friend, Sagamore John. Therefore the English, including women and children, hastily erected earthworks and built a small fort on top of the town hill. But the slightly older settlement of Salem made use of what cannon it possessed, and the booming reverberations struck such panic in the dusky breasts, that they immediately abandoned their campaign, although, as later in New England's interior, it might, if once started, have proved no farce even against explosive weapons. Thus ended the troubles with aborigines of martial mind in William Bradford's time.
Within a year, lacking one day, after the Mayflower had cast anchor in Provincetown harbor, the Fortune had brought an accession of thirty-five souls, mostly men, who replaced the male losses of the first winter. They were somewhat heedless youth, with more of adventurous ardor than judgment, yet such as could be controlled, and useful in the shortage of masculine muscle and total absence of horses and oxen. They stood ready for work or warfare, in those uncertain years before colonial establishment. Then, just after the drouth of 1623, the Anne and the Little James arrived in August with sixty persons, some of whom, however, proved so undesirable that the Colony, financially burdened though it was, willingly sent them back at its own charge. The most of them, both Separatists and others, were very worthy and welcome; and they included women and children, who had been left behind until they could expect an assured settlement to occupy. Elder Brewster received his two daughters, Doctor Samuel Fuller and Francis Cooke rejoiced to greet their wives, and there were brides to be.
Besides these sixty, certain prospective planters were accepted who did not wish to join Plymouth's colonial organization bound in partnership with the company in England. Specifications regarding them were drawn up, and mutually agreed upon. The opening article was thus generous in its spirit:
"First, that ye Govr, in ye name and with ye consente of ye company, doth in all love and frendship receive and imbrace them; and is to allote them competente places for habitations within ye towne. And promiseth to shew them all such other curtesies as shall be reasonable for them to desire, or us to performe."
A letter came with these ships, from the general company in England, subscribed by thirteen names representing those who in that body were friendly toward the Pilgrims and were sending them this accession of people. The missive concluded in this tenor of sympathy and encouragement, which doubtless did the recipients much good: