Of course, so great and unexpected an accession of numbers added vastly to the embarrassment of the Pilgrims, and “amidst these straits, and the desertion of those from whom they had expected a supply, when famine began to pinch them sore they knew not what course to take.” But God stood behind the cloud, “keeping watch above his own.” One day a boat came into Plymouth, and brought word of a massacre in Virginia,[374] and gave a warning to the New England colonists. The kind sender of this message was captain of a fishing-smack then fishing off the Maine coast.[375]
When this boat returned, “the governor sent back a thankful answer, as was meet, and also despatched the shallop of the colony in its company, in which was Edward Winslow, whose object was to secure what provisions he could from the fishermen. He was kindly received by the mentor captain, who not only spared what he could of his own stock, but wrote others to do the same. By these means Winslow got some good quantity, and returned in safety; whereby the plantation had a double benefit; first, a refreshing by the food brought; and secondly, they knew the way to those parts for their benefit hereafter. Still, what was got and this small boat brought, being divided among so many, came but to little, yet, by God’s blessing, it upheld them till harvest.”[376] The daily allowance was a quarter of a pound of bread to each person; and this the governor doled out, for had it not been in his custody, it would have been eaten up and all had starved; but thus, with what eels they could catch, they “made pretty shift till corn was ripe.”[377]
The Pilgrims soon perceived the truth of Cushman’s estimate of the character of Weston’s colonists, and found, indeed, that “they were not the men for them.” In the lump they were a rude, profane, improvident, thievish set, and peculiarly unfit to be the founders of a state.[378] They ate of the bounty of their entertainers, wasted their corn, brought riot and profanity into the quiet, devout homes of the Pilgrims, and repaid kindness by backbiting and reviling.[379] Their coming was purely a business affair. It was a speculation. It was entirely destitute of every religious element, though it abounded with irreligious ones. Fearing neither God nor man, they hated the Puritans, and ought never to be confounded with the Forefathers.[380] They were, in fact,
“A lazy, lolling sort,
Unseen at church, at senate, or at court,
Of ever-listless loiterers, that attend
No cause, no trust, no duty, and no friend.”[381]
These godless drones remained at Plymouth most of the summer, until their ships came back from Virginia.[382] Then, under Weston’s direction, or that of some one whom he had set in authority over them, these pests removed into Massachusetts Bay, and selecting a spot called by the Indians Wessagusset, now Weymouth, they essayed to plant a settlement.[383] “Yet they left all their sickly folks with us, to be nursed and cared for,” says Bradford, “till they were settled and housed. But of their stores they gave us nothing, though we did greatly want, nor any thing else in recompense of our courtesy; neither did we desire it, for ’twas seen that they were an unruly company, having no good government,—sure soon to fall into want by disorder.”[384]
Such a colony “was not, nor could it come to good.” Mismanagement and lazy improvidence invited penury. Ere long they ran foul of the Indians; already the bane of the Pilgrims, they speedily became a pest among the savages, whom they robbed and swindled without conscience. In this way they exasperated the Indians, and by their bad courses were nigh bringing ruin on their neighbors as well as on themselves.[385] On one occasion they stood provisionless. They could expect no succor from the natives, and they had despoiled every Indian corn-field in their vicinity. In this extremity, Sanders, their chief man, sent to inform Bradford of his intention to get some corn from the Indians by force. The Pilgrims sent back a strong protest against the pillage; advised the new planters to make shift to live, as they did, on ground-nuts, clams, and mussels; and from their own well-nigh exhausted storehouse sent their disorderly and wasteful rivals a supply of corn.[386]
This stock was soon gone; then the Westonians desired the Pilgrims to unite with them in an expedition to the Indian settlements on the coast-line, in search of corn, beans, and other kindred commodities. They, not unwilling to assist the needy planters in all honest ways, assented, and terms of agreement were signed designating the division of the articles obtained.[387] Detachments from both colonies embarked in the “Swan,” the smaller of Weston’s vessels, and the shallop was also taken. Squanto accompanied the forage as interpreter.[388] The Indians were very shy and could hardly be approached. But finally the kindness and tact of Bradford and Standish thawed their icy reserve, so that the enterprise was crowned with success. Twenty-seven hogsheads of corn and beans were bought.[389] Owing to the stranding of the shallop, the Plymouth governor was compelled to foot it home, some fifty miles; but he “received all the respect that could be from the Indians on the journey.”[390]