The model of the Government established by this "Act of Court," consisted of a Governor, and twelve persons as a Council, styled "The Governour and Council of London's Plantation in the Mattachusetts Bay in New England." They were to elect a Deputy-Governor, for the time being, from among their number; were authorized also to choose a Secretary and other needful officers. They were empowered to fill vacancies in their body, occasioned by death or otherwise. The Governor, or in his absence the Deputy, might call Courts at pleasure, and they had power to establish any laws not at variance with those of England; "to administer justice upon malefactors, and inflict condign punishment upon all offenders." To make an act valid, the Governor or his Deputy was always to vote with the majority. A form of oath was sent over at this time to be administered to Mr. Endecott as Governor, and one also for the other officers of the government. He took the oath and was inducted into office. Here, then, we conceive, is direct and incontrovertible testimony that Endecott was appointed the first Governor of Massachusetts under its Colonial Charter from the King. It is so stated by Joselyn, Hutchinson, and Prince. He received the Charter, and the documentary evidence of his constitutional authority as Governor, both at the same time. To Mr. Endecott was given, to act under it, all the powers which his immediate successors ever exercised. They were conferred upon him too, by the same body who subsequently elected Mr. Winthrop to that office. The abolishment of the board of control in England, and the transfer of "the government of the plantation to those that shall inhabit there," and instead of choosing the Colonial Governors in Old England by members of the Company there, to choose them by members of the same Company who were in New England, could not weaken the validity of his claim to be considered the first Governor of the Massachusetts Colony.
It was well for Mr. Endecott that he possessed an ardent and sanguine temperament, which nothing could daunt, otherwise the innumerable discouraging circumstances which met him in this, his new abode, in every form, amid sickness, death, and privations of every kind, well suited to appal the stoutest hearts, would no doubt have wrought their effects upon him, to the prejudice of the whole plantation. But such was the energy and firmness of his character, aided, no doubt, by a religious enthusiasm, which induced the belief that it was the purpose of God to give them the land of the heathen as an inheritance, that neither his faith nor confidence in the ultimate success of the undertaking ever for a moment forsook him. In every crisis, this little band looked to him, as the weather-beaten and tempest-tossed mariner looks to his commander, next to God, for encouragement and support; and they did not look in vain. Such was the great mortality among them, during the first winter after their arrival, arising from exposure to the rigors of an untried climate, and their being badly fed and badly lodged, that there were scarcely found in the settlement well persons enough to nurse and console the sick. To enhance their distress, they were destitute of any regular medical assistance. In this painful dilemma a messenger was despatched by Mr. Endecott to Gov. Bradford, of the Plymouth settlement, to procure the necessary aid; and Doctor Samuel Fuller, the physician, who was a prominent member and deacon of the Plymouth Church, was sent among them. During his visit, Mr. Endecott was called by Divine Providence to suffer one of the heaviest of earthly afflictions, in the death of his wife, the partner of all his sorrows, who had forsaken home, kindred, and the sympathy of friends, and consented to share with him the cares and privations incident to a new settlement. Surrounded by savages, and from the circumstances of the case, placed in a great degree beyond the pale of civilized society, her sympathy and counsel must necessarily have been very dear to him. She must have entwined herself about his affections, as the tender ivy winds itself round the lordly oak. Her slender and delicate frame was not proof against the rigors of a New England climate. Born and nurtured in the midst of luxury and ease, she could not withstand the privations and hardships of her new home, and she fell a victim to her self-sacrificing disposition. Painful indeed must have been the parting, and severe the trial to Mr. Endecott. Under the influence of the feelings which this affliction produced, he wrote the following letter to Gov. Bradford:—
"Right Worshipfulle Sir,—
"It is a thing not usual that servants of one Master, and of the same household, should be strangers. I assure you I desire it not; Nay, to speak more plainly, I cannot be so to you. God's people are all marked with one and the same mark, and have for the main one and the same heart, guided by one and the same spirit of truth; and where this is there can be no discord, nay, here must needs be a sweet harmony; and the same request with you, I make unto the Lord, that we as Christian brethren be united by an heavenly and unfeigned love, binding all our hearts and forces in furthering a work beyond our strength with reverence and fear, fastening our eyes always on Him that is only able to direct and prosper all our ways. I acknowledge myself much bound to you, for your kind love and care in sending Mr. Fuller amongst us, and rejoice much that I am by him satisfied, touching your judgment of the outward form of God's worship: It is as far as I can gather no other than is warranted by the evidence of truth, and the same which I have professed and maintained ever since the Lord in mercy revealed himself unto mee, being far from the common report that hath been spread of you in that particular; but God's people must not look for less here below, and it is a great mercy of God that he strengtheneth them to go through it. I shall not need at this time to enlarge unto you for (God willing) I propose to see your face shortly; in the mean tyme, I humbly take my leave of you, committing you to the Lord's blessing and protection, and rest.
Your assured loving friend,
Jo: Endecott.
Naumkeag, May 11, 1629."
The foregoing epistle is alike honorable to the head and heart of Mr. Endecott. Humble, devout, and chastened feelings pervade it throughout. It speaks a mind sensibly alive to religious impressions. The sentiments here expressed cannot fail to find a response in the hearts of all reflecting men, in this and succeeding generations. The magnitude of the undertaking in which they were engaged, the necessity of union in their efforts, and the impossibility of success without direct divine assistance, are here represented in language appropriate and devout.
Whether Mr. Endecott carried into execution his design intimated in this letter, of making Gov. Bradford a visit "shortly," is uncertain. On the 27th of May, 1629, in a communication to the authorities at home, he complained that some persons in his jurisdiction disregarded the law of 1622, for the regulation of trade with the Indians, and "desiring the Company would take the same into their serious consideration, and to use some speedy means here for reformation thereof." A petition was in consequence presented to the King, who in compliance therewith issued a new proclamation, forbidding such disorderly trading. These steps were no doubt taken in reference to the associates of one Thomas Morton, whose residence at Mount Wollaston, or Merry Mount, now Quincy, he visited shortly after his arrival in this country. This man and his associates had alarmed all the well-disposed settlers, from Piscataqua to Plymouth, by selling arms and ammunition to the Indians, indulging themselves in dissipation, and otherwise endangering the peace and welfare of New England. The object of Mr. Endecott's visit was to rectify abuses among the remaining confederates, Morton himself having been already apprehended, and sent home to England for trial. He went there, we are told, in the "purefying spirit of authority," and caused their May-pole to be cut down, to which they had been in the habit of affixing pieces of satirical composition against those who opposed their wishes and practices, and "rebuked the inhabitants for their profaneness, and admonished them to look to it that they walked better." He also changed the name of the place, and called it Mount Dagon. The precise period of this visit is not known, and it is not improbable that Mr. Endecott extended his journey at the time to Plymouth Colony. However this may be, a warm friendship soon grew up between Gov. Bradford and himself, which continued without interruption for the remainder of their lives.
As yet no steps had been taken in the Colony towards the establishment of a reformed Church for propagating the gospel, which they professed above all to be their aim in settling this Plantation. June 30th, 1629, the Rev. Francis Higginson arrived at Naumkeag, and the Rev. Mr. Skelton, the early friend and spiritual father of Mr. Endecott, arrived about the same time. They had been sent over by the home government. Mr. Higginson thus speaks of his reception by Mr. Endecott: "The next morning (30th) the Governor came aboard to our ship, and bade us kindly welcome, and invited mee and my wiffe to come on shore and take our lodgings at his house; which we did accordingly." The settlement, we are told, then consisted of "about half a score of houses, with a fair house, newly built, for the Governor. We found also abundance of corne planted by them, very good and well liking. Our Governor hath a store of green pease growing in his garden, as good as ever I eat in England. * * * * Our Governor hath already planted a vineyard, with great hopes of increase; also mulberries, plums, raspberries, currants, chesnuts, filberts, walnuts, small nuts, hurtleberries, and haws of white thorn, near as good as our cherries in England—they grow in plenty here."
Shortly after the arrival of Mr. Higginson and Mr. Skelton, the necessary measures were taken preparatory to the settlement of a religious congregation in accordance with the views of the Puritans. In this they were aided by Mr. Endecott, and the most intelligent of the colonists. Having first concluded a satisfactory form of church government and discipline, which was submitted to Mr. Endecott for approval, the 6th of August, 1629, just eleven months after his arrival, was the time selected for this "little band of devout Pilgrims to enter into solemn covenant[7] with God and one another, and also for the ordaining of their ministers." By Mr. Endecott's order, a solemn day of "humiliation" had been held on the 20th of July preceding, for the choice of pastor and teacher. An important step was about to be taken—a new priesthood was about to be established—all allegiance to, or alliance with, any other church on earth was about to be dissolved! It was a subject of momentous concern with the Colonists, and called into exercise all their moral heroism and spiritual courage. Mr. Bradford, the Governor of the Plymouth Colony, came here by sea, and arrived just in season to give the right hand of fellowship. Of all that little band, gathered together on this occasion, none felt a deeper interest, or took a more responsible part, than the subject of this Memoir.[8]