Among the early records, we will mention, that “the governor, in consideration of the inconveniences which had grown in England by drinking one to another, restrained it at his table, and wished others to do the like.” And that the first baptisms registered in Boston Church are those of “Joy and Recompense, daughters of brother John Miles; and Pity, daughter of our brother William Balstone.”
Whilst a satisfactory form of government was being established, the colony received friendly visits from the principal surrounding Indian chiefs. The sagamore of the Mohegans from the banks of the Connecticut, invited the English to settle in his country; the Nipmucks besought aid against their enemies the Mohawks; the son of the old Canonicus sent presents; Miantonomoh, the grand warrior of the Narragansetts, the associate sachem with Canonicus, visited the governor, and attended with him divine service; and lastly from the river of the Pequods came the wily Uncas, who declared to the authorities that “his heart was not his own but theirs.”
In the second year of the colony, Governor Winthrop and Wilson, the minister of Boston, made a journey on foot to visit the brethren of the older colony at New Plymouth. There is something apostolic in the narrative of this visit. They arrived at Plymouth in the evening. “Mr. William Bradford, the governor, a grave and discreet man, with Mr. Brewster, the ruling elder, went forth to meet them outside the town, and conducted them to the governor’s house, where they were well entertained for several days. On Lord’s-day they partook of the sacrament, and in the afternoon a question was propounded by Roger Williams, which was spoken to by the pastor; then the preacher prophesied, and after that the governor of Plymouth, who was skilled in Hebrew and antiquities, spoke to the question, and after him the elder, a learned man, and others. Then Governor Winthrop and Mr. Wilson were asked to speak, which they did, and so the service of the Sabbath ended to the edification of all. On the following Wednesday, before daybreak, Governor Winthrop and his company left Plymouth, being accompanied by the governor of Plymouth, the minister and divers others, near half a mile out of the town in the dark.”
About the same time the colony of Virginia, now flourishing, sent a rich cargo of corn to Boston, and trade was commenced with the Dutch on the Hudson. The news of this increasing prosperity reached England, where persecution remained unabated, and renewed emigration was the consequence. The Griffin, after a long voyage, brought hither “a noble freight, of two hundred, amongst whom were the fathers of Connecticut, Hooker and Haynes, the latter a man of a heavenly mind, and the pious and learned Cotton.” The congregation to whom Hooker had ministered in England had already preceded him, and now thronged to meet and welcome him. “Now I live,” exclaimed he, embracing them, “if ye stand fast in the Lord.”
Spite of the growing prosperity of the colony, serious apprehensions were caused regarding its safety in consequence of reports made to the English government, by persons who at various times, for discordant sentiments or misconduct, had been expelled. The colonists were threatened by the privy council, strengthened by Laud, with the revocation of their charter. They resolved to defend themselves by force of arms if necessary, and fortifications were at once commenced in Boston harbour, at Charlestown, and Dorchester. Thus early were they prepared to assert their own independence.
In 1634, the settlement of Massachusetts having become much more numerous, extending thirty miles from Boston, it was found inconvenient for all the freemen to attend the general court; hence a change was made which altered their form of government from simple democratic to representative. The electors of each town chose two or three deputies to confer on public business and attend the court, vested with the full power of the freemen whom they represented. The mode of voting was also changed from show of hands to ballot. The whole body of freemen were, however, to elect the magistrates, and to these, and the deputies sent by each town, the legislative power was confided. A law against arbitrary taxation followed. “With the exception of the principle of universal suffrage,” says Bancroft, “the representative democracy was as perfect two centuries ago as at the present day.” The criminal code was based on the Mosaic laws. The meeting-house at Boston was at this time its house of representatives. Religion and government were kindred.
In 1635, no less than 3,000 persons suffering under the despotism of Charles emigrated to Massachusetts. “Godly people in England,” we are told, “beginning to apprehend a special hand of Providence in raising up this plantation, their hearts were stirred to go over.” The wilderness was planted with Christian churches; the forest rang with the sound of their psalms; “the poorest of the children of God in the whole world were resolved to excel in holiness.”
Among the new-comers of 1635 was Henry Vane the younger, a man of a pure and noble mind, and an ardent friend of religious liberty. The year after his arrival, so much had the youthful suavity and grace of his manner, his religious attainments and his political sagacity, wrought upon the people of Massachusetts, that he was elected governor in place of the excellent and long-tried Winthrop, a preference which they afterwards found cause to regret.
CHAPTER IX.
RHODE ISLAND; ROGER WILLIAMS AND ANNE HUTCHINSON.
On the 5th of February, 1631, the very ship which came like the herald of God’s mercy to the famishing people, changing their solemn fast and humiliation into a day of thanksgiving, brought with its other freight “a young minister, godly and zealous, having precious gifts,” a better freight even than bread to the famishing, but which at the same time might be regarded as its type. This was Roger Williams, one of the noblest spirits of an age which abounded in great men.