Chapter I: Part 1

A Journal of the
Pilgrims at Plymouth

MOURT’S RELATION
A RELATION OR JOURNAL
of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in New England, by certain
English adventurers both merchants and others.

Edited from the original printing of 1622,
with introduction and notes, by
Dwight B. Heath

CONSULTING EDITOR: HENRY BAMFORD PARKES

CORINTH BOOKS
NEW YORK

DWIGHT B. HEATH has done extensive ethnographic field work among various Indian tribes in Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States, in the course of earning his A.B. at Harvard College and Ph.D. at Yale. As Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University, one of his subsidiary interests is ethnohistory, analyzing historical sources from anthropological perspectives.

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 62-17660
Copyright © 1963 Dwight B. Heath

The cover illustration, “Pilgrims Going to Church” by George H. Boughton (1867), is from the Robert L. Stuart Collection of the New York Historical Society and reproduced with their kind permission.

THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE SERIES
Published by Corinth Books, Inc.
32 West Eighth Street, New York 11, N. Y.
Distributed by The Citadel Press
222 Park Avenue South, New York 3, N. Y.

_Printed in U.S.A. by_
NOBLE OFFSET PRINTERS, INC.
NEW YORK 3, N. Y.

CONTENTS

Editor’s introduction vii

_MOURT’S RELATION_
To His Much Respected Friend, Mr. I. P. 3
To the Reader. 6
Certain Useful Advertisements sent in a Letter written by a
Discreet Friend unto the Planters in New England, at their
first setting sail from Southampton, who earnestly
desireth the prosperity of that, their new plantation. 9
A Relation or Journal of the Proceedings of the Plantation settled
at Plymouth in New England. 15
A Journey to Pokanoket, the habitation of the great King
Massasoit; as also our message, the answer and
entertainment we had of him. 60
A Voyage Made by Ten of Our Men to the Kingdom of Nauset, to seek
a boy that had lost himself in the woods; with such
accidents as befell us in that voyage. 69
A Journey to the Kingdom of Nemasket in defense of the great King
Massasoit against the Narragansets, and to revenge the
supposed death of our interpreter, Squanto. 73
A Relation of Our Voyage to the Massachusets, and what happened
there. 77
A Letter sent from New England to a Friend in these parts, setting
forth a brief and true declaration of the worth of that
plantation; as also certain useful directions for such as
intend a voyage into those parts. 81
Reasons and Considerations touching the Lawfulness of Removing out
of England into the parts of America. 88

ILLUSTRATIONS

Photographs from Plimoth Plantation
1. The _Mayflower_.
2. The shallop.
3. Indian wigwam.
4. Constructing a house at Plymouth.
5. Pilgrim house in winter.
6. A Pilgrim family.
7. The first Thanksgiving.
8. Pilgrims going to church.
Samuel de Champlain’s Map of Plymouth Harbor xix
Captain John Smith’s Map of New England xxiii
Facsimile of original title page xxvii

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

_Background_

The coming of the Pilgrims and their establishment of the Plymouth Plantation is one of the great adventures in the American experience. This book is the earliest published account of that adventure, a day-by-day journal written in a simple forceful manner by men who took part in it. The story is familiar[1]—deceptively familiar, in that portions of it have undergone a complex process of transformation and emerge as modern myths in our national folklore. Still it is a story full of glory, and of tragedy, which deserves a wider public.

The glory, as usual, exists mostly in retrospect. The Separatists had already shown the courage of their convictions in defying both Church and State by worshiping in their own way in England. They had finally been driven to take refuge in Holland, the only European nation where they could then enjoy complete religious tolerance. After twelve years of poverty and social isolation in Amsterdam and Leyden, the self-styled “Saints”[2] sought the New World largely as a land of economic opportunity where they hoped to start afresh. Similar motives undoubtedly moved the “Strangers,”[3] the motley group of fellow travelers who joined the party at Plymouth, England, and doubled their numbers. The “Strangers” were loyal to the Church of England, as were the few indentured servants and hired men, who soon comprised a dissident faction. They cared no more for freedom of conscience than did the “merchant adventurers,” a joint stock company of about seventy London businessmen who sponsored the plantation only as a commercial venture likely to yield high profits.

Some have read the “Mayflower Compact” as the glorious cornerstone of American democracy, but it seems hardly revolutionary in context here where it first appeared in print. The fact that the Pilgrims enjoyed warm relations with some Indians is also much to their credit, but it may reflect the charity of the Indians at least as much as their own benevolence. Still one cannot belittle the achievement of these simple people. They consistently showed resourcefulness in coping with new problems, and courage in the face of danger. The greatest glory of the Pilgrims may well have been the ardent faith and dogged persistence which saw them through great tragedy.

Although there is little talk of tragedy in this volume, we know that more than half of the original party died during the first year at Plymouth. Considering their primitive living conditions, it is a wonder that so many did survive the “general sickness” while wading to and from the shallop, and working hard to develop new skills in the harsh and alien environment of a strenuous New England winter. Another tragedy is only presaged here, in the white man’s facile rationalization of his usurpation of lands which had long been used by Indians. Within the span of a single lifetime, the indigenous peoples were dispossessed, and their way of life did not long survive after the mutually debilitating “King Philip’s War.” The tragedy and the glory of Pilgrims and Indians alike emerge in a careful reading of this journal.

_About the Book_

Any good book must mean many things to many readers, and this journal offers more than just reflections of past glories and intimations of great tragedy. It is a primary source for American history in that critical period when a beach-head of Anglo culture was established in the New World. In this volume are the earliest accounts of the “Mayflower Compact,” the establishment of a community which has become focal in our national heritage, the signing of this country’s first mutual security pact, and the famous first Thanksgiving. There is no question of the book’s essential authenticity, and most of it has the flavor of having been written on the spot at the time.

This sense of immediacy also enhances the value of the journal as a well written story of true adventure. The protagonists quietly suppressed an impending mutiny, even before they landed. While exploring the unknown wastes of Cape Cod, they conducted archeological excavations before they had a roof over their heads. They were attacked by Indians, and yet persisted, built their homes in a foreign land, and soon traveled freely among the natives. This is high adventure indeed!

Political implications are of some importance too. The passengers on the _Mayflower_ are famous for their founding of “a civil body politic ... to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, [and] offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony.” Within less than a week of their first conversation with an Indian, the Pilgrims signed an enduring peace treaty with Massasoit, a leader of the neighboring Wampanoags. A year later, they enjoyed trading relations and military alliance with many other Indian groups.

The journal may also be viewed as a valuable ethnographic document. Although previous sporadic contacts by explorers and traders had yielded some impressionistic descriptions, the Pilgrims were the first Europeans to be in close and sustained contact with the Indians of southern New England. At first they expected only hostility from the “savages,” but it was not long before they found valuable helpers in Squanto and Samoset, both of whom had learned already some English when they were kidnapped and sold as slaves by English traders. The Pilgrims were obliged to work out a modus vivendi with these “tall and proper men” whose dress seemed outlandish, whose foods were strange, and whose customs were curious enough to deserve description. We are indebted to the authors of this journal for a wealth of information about such patterns during the brief period before they disappeared forever. There are many aspects of the native ways of life of which the Pilgrims were unaware, and others which they treated with only tantalizing brevity, but a wealth of irreplaceable ethnographic data in this volume serves to illuminate our fragmentary understanding of coastal Algonquian cultures.

Just as we can learn much about the Indians from this book, we can also gain rich insights into the character of the Pilgrims themselves. Mention of the threat of mutiny explodes the hoary myth of dedicated unity of purpose among all members of the party. The bravery of the Pilgrims emerges in bold relief, as does their readiness to rob the graves of Indians. In light of this text, their industriousness cannot be doubted. Flashes of humor occur, and their strong sense of being a “chosen people” is clearly manifest in recurrent references to a felicitous “divine providence.”

“Human interest” is not lacking either. We can imagine the chagrin of William Bradford unwittingly caught up in a deer snare, just as we can sympathize with the consternation created when a prankish boy fired his father’s musket in a ship’s cabin where open kegs of gunpowder lay about. It is easy to feel for the “old [Indian] woman whom we judged to be no less than a hundred years old” who wept because “she was deprived of the comfort of her children in her old age” when Capt. Hunt kidnapped her three sons. And how his playmates must have envied the boy who was lost on Cape Cod, and was returned by the Nauset Indians, “behung with beads”!

Within this brief but diverse book there is also a pervasive mystery, for no one knows who wrote it. The book has become known as _Mourt’s Relation_, but it is not the unitary effort of a single man. Five of the ten “chapters” have bylines, and Mourt’s contribution is almost the briefest of the ten. The mystery deepens when we confess not knowing much about the man named Mourt. Perhaps the most fruitful way to approach the problem is through a discussion of the several components of the book.

It opens with a dedicatory letter of transmittal “To his much respected friend....” This is a form of profuse and discursive acknowledgment typical of the time. It seems to have been appended by an associate of the settlers, whose concern was “... but the recommendation of the relation itself,” to a distinguished member of the “merchant adventurers” who had sponsored the _Mayflower_ voyage. The dedication is signed _R.G._, which I assume to be a misprint for the initials of Robert Cushman. The only member of the party at Plymouth with initials R.G. was Richard Gardiner, an undistinguished “Stranger” who stayed only briefly and took little part in the venture. The fact that misprints are frequent throughout the rest of the book suggests the possibility of reference to Cushman, who is a person most likely to have drafted such a letter. As a deacon of the Leyden congregation who also served as their business agent, he was instrumental in securing English permission for removal to the New World, and, after having had to turn back on the unseaworthy _Speedwell_, he continued negotiations with the “merchant adventurers” while the _Mayflower_ sailed on to Plymouth. Visiting the plantation on the second ship, _Fortune_, he delivered the patent which confirmed their legal right to settle there, together with a stringent contract from the sponsors, which he finally induced the Pilgrims to sign, after preaching a pointed sermon on “The Dangers of Self-Love.” The manuscript of the relations must have been carried back to England with him on the _Fortune_ in December of 1621.

Appended at the end of the volume is another chapter which I attribute to Cushman. A long exposition of “Reasons and considerations touching the lawfulness of removing out of England into the parts of America,” signed _R.C._, is a thinly veiled promotional tract organized like a sermon, which cites Scripture to justify the plantation and to persuade others to follow.

Among the prefatory letters is one containing “Certain useful advertisements ...” and signed _I.R._. We are told that this letter of advice concerning man’s proper relation with God and with his fellow men was “... written by a discreet friend unto the planters in New England, at their first setting sail from Southampton.”[4] This “unfeigned well-willer” is most likely John Robinson, pastor of the expatriate Separatist congregation in Leyden, and hence understandably solicitous for the welfare of the Pilgrims, and also in a position to proffer such counsel. The letter may have been appended to this book especially to serve as a model of morality for those “Strangers” who might hopefully be induced to emigrate and join the party at Plymouth.

Five “relations” constitute the major portion of the book, and none of these is signed. The first and longest, on “The proceedings of the plantation ...,” begins with the departure from Plymouth, England, and recounts events of the next six months, including the voyage, the signing of the “compact,” the several “discoveries,” the choice of a site and the building there, as well as early contacts with the Indians, culminating in the signing of a peace treaty with Massasoit. A second deals with “A journey to Pokanoket ...” and describes further friendly dealings with the Wampanoag Indians. The next treats “A voyage ... to the Kingdom of Nauset, to seek a boy that had lost himself in the woods....” An account of “A journey to Nemasket ...” shows how the Pilgrims sought to defend their Indian allies against the hostile Narragansets, and “A relation of our voyage to the Massachusets ...” describes the expansion of trade relations to the north.

According to the dedicatory letter, these vivid reports were “... writ by the several actors themselves, after their plain and rude manner.” It is almost certain that the principal author was Edward Winslow, although it is generally believed that William Bradford also had a hand in the effort. Both of these men were among the few who were prominent in the affairs of the plantation, and they two are the only ones of the first party who obviously enjoyed writing. Winslow’s _Good News from New England_ (London, 1624), continued the narrative of the plantation from the time when this volume left off, and is markedly similar in style. In his _Good News_ ..., Winslow mentions descriptions of aspects of Indian culture which were prepared by “... myself and others, in former letters, (which came to the press against my will and knowledge) ...”; I know of no publication other than _Mourt’s Relation_ to which this could refer. Bradford’s manuscript history _Of Plymouth Plantation_ (first published in Boston, 1856) has become the principal source on the Pilgrim experience, although he could hardly be said to claim priority when he “... first began these scribbled writings (which was about the year 1630 and so pieced up at times of leisure afterward).” His treatment of the first year at Plymouth is a curious combination, consisting largely of passages identical with those in _Mourt’s Relation_, together with discursive classical allusions and philosophic ruminations. Bradford’s style generally tends to be more analytic than descriptive, and the specificity of detail which makes this text such a rich source material for the historian and ethnographer rarely occurs elsewhere in Bradford’s work. It is entirely within the realm of possibility that he may have incorporated in his manuscript the work of others as it had appeared in _Mourt’s Relation_; he freely adopted material from other sources.

The ensuing “Letter sent from New England ... setting forth ... the worth of that plantation ...,” follows the five narrative relations closely in style, and is signed by _E.W._. It is almost certainly Winslow who here sounds vaguely like a twentieth-century Florida real estate agent when he describes the first Thanksgiving as indicating the richness of the land: “I never in my life remember a more seasonable year than we have here enjoyed and if we have once but kine, horses, and sheep, I make no question but men might live as contented here as in any part of the world.” He also includes some very specific suggestions concerning the practical needs of those who might choose to come.

And what was Mourt’s contribution to the book which has been linked with his name by historians, librarians, and bibliographers since Prince[5] first invented the convenient title, _Mourt’s Relation_, as a substitute for the cumbersome original? A brief foreword, or introduction, “To the reader,” is all that we must credit to the signer, one _G. Mourt_. It may have been he who was responsible for bringing to press this collection of papers, “... hoping of a cheerful proceeding, both of adventurers and planters.” He explicitly denied authorship of the narratives: “These relations coming to my hand from my both known and faithful friends, on whose writings I do much rely, I thought it not amiss to make them more general....” But scholars still do not know who he was!

It is suggested that he had at some time been associated with the authors of the relations, whom he called “my both known and faithful friends.” It is also suggested that he had long hoped to emigrate to the New World, “... as myself then much desired, and shortly hope to effect, if the Lord will, the putting to of my shoulder in this hopeful business.” These criteria clearly apply to Robert Cushman, who, as we have seen, was a person who might appropriately have introduced such a book.

The specifications also apply to another member of the Leyden congregation who was active in negotiating with the “merchant adventurers” until he did sail to Plymouth, on the first ship bound for the plantation after the book was printed. If no more than the initials had been given in the signature to the introduction—as was the case in every other portion of the volume—there would be little hesitation to identify the author as George Morton.

As it is, however, one must attempt to account for the discrepancy in name if he suggests that it may have been Morton who wrote it. It is easy to suggest that the use of “Mourt” for “Morton” could have been merely another of the many misprints in the book. At least as plausible, however, is the suggestion that it may have been a pseudonym. It is not difficult to imagine why there might have been some attempt to conceal the fact _if_ Morton had been intimately involved in the preparation and promulgation of the book. A printer might have been reluctant to “publish” a document written by Separatists unless it carried an introduction by an apparently disinterested party. In a period of strict royal control of the press in England, William Brewster of the Leyden congregation had already incurred the wrath of King James by printing an outspoken opposition tract, _Perth Assembly_ (Leyden, 1619), so that any writings by his friends and associates might logically also be suspect. Furthermore, the fact that _Mourt’s Relation_ is essentially a promotional effort is clearly implied in the phrasing of the original title, describing the “safe arrival” of the “English planters,” and “their joyful building of, and comfortable planting themselves in the now well defended town of New Plymouth.” In such an effort to excite more prospective settlers, it would have been sound public relations to minimize the degree of identification between the plantation and the “Saints,” who were popularly scorned as heretics and criminals.

Another possibility must be mentioned. I am only half-joking when I suggest that at least this portion of _Mourt’s Relation_ may actually have been written by someone named G. Mourt, of whom we know nothing else. One of the delights of historical research is the fact that one always raises more questions than he can answer. The mystery remains.

_Mourt’s Relation_ is clearly a book which offers different meanings to every reader. I hope that this edition may reach a broad audience and increase popular understanding of a neglected portion of the American experience.

_A Note on This Edition_

My intention is to provide the contemporary reader with an appreciation of this exciting book as it was received by an eager and curious public when it was first published almost three and a half centuries ago. In keeping with this aim, the entire text is included here, in the order of the original.[6] So that the authors may speak forcefully and directly to the reader of today, I have introduced only uniform spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing, structural niceties which were of no concern to authors or printers until late in the eighteenth century. The eloquent English language of the period is familiar to us all, through the King James version of the Bible or the works of Shakespeare, and I have scrupulously left each word intact. The text, then, is reproduced verbatim, including marginalia, chapter headings, and running heads, altered only by the use of modern orthography for the sake of clarity.

I have deliberately avoided distracting the reader from the original text, by introducing a minimum of footnotes. Some annotation seems indispensable for understanding the work of another age, but this edition does not bear the tender burden of scholarly disquisition. Modern equivalents are given for archaic words and place-names, and I have offered brief explanations of a few outdated allusions. Dates are retained as in the original, so that ten days must be added to any date given in the text in order to fit it into the modern Gregorian calendar, which was not adopted by England and her colonies until 1752.

In the exacting task of collating this text with the original, I was helped by my friend and colleague, Anna Mae Cooper. We worked in the John Carter Brown Library where Thomas R. Adams kindly put excellent facilities at our disposal, including the library’s copy of the first edition of the book, as well as the Smith and Champlain maps. Lucille Hanna first introduced me to the excitement of history, and J. L. Giddings pointed out the ethnographic value of _Mourt’s Relation_. Miss Rose T. Briggs, Director of Pilgrim Hall, shared her enthusiasm and broad knowledge of the Pilgrims. E. Lawrence Couter, David Freeman, Arthur G. Pyle, Muriel Stefani, and the entire staff of Plimoth Plantation were helpful in many ways, and the corporation generously provided the photographs. The title page, ornamental letters and top-page designs are reproduced from a copy of the original, now in possession of the Rhode Island Historical Society. Mrs. N. Mac Donald typed from a difficult manuscript.

An adventure such as this rightfully belongs to all who would chase rainbows!

DWIGHT B. HEATH
_Brown University
Providence, R. I._

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN’S MAP OF PLYMOUTH HARBOR

Although the Pilgrims were the first Europeans to establish a permanent colony in northeastern North America, they did not come to an unknown land. As early as 1605, Samuel de Champlain had mapped Plymouth Harbor, in the course of a three-year expedition during which he explored the coast from Nova Scotia to Martha’s Vineyard. The quality of his detailed and accurate observations on the land and people appears in this map, and in his notes on the visit: “There came to us two or three canoes, which had just been fishing for cod and other fish which are found there in large numbers. These they catch with hooks made of a piece of wood, to which they attach a bone in the shape of a spear and fasten it very securely. The whole has a fang-shape, and the line attached to it is made out of the bark of a tree. They gave me one of their hooks, which I took out of curiosity. In it the bone was fastened on by hemp, like that in France, as it seemed to me, and they told me that they gathered this plant without being obliged to cultivate it, and indicated that it grew to the height of four or five feet. This canoe went back on shore to give notice to their fellow inhabitants, who caused columns of smoke to arise on our account. We saw eighteen or twenty savages, who came to the shore and began to dance. Our canoe landed in order to give them some bagatelles, at which they were greatly pleased. Some of them came to us and begged us to go to their river. We weighed anchor to do so, but were unable to enter on account of the small amount of water, it being low tide, and were accordingly obliged to anchor at the mouth. I went ashore, where I saw many others, who received us very cordially. I made also an examination of the river, but saw only an arm of water extending a short distance inland, where the land is only in part cleared. Running into this is merely a brook not deep enough for boats except at full tide. The circuit of the bay is about a league. On one side of the entrance to this bay there is a point which is almost an island, covered with wood, principally pines, and adjoins sandbanks, which are very extensive. On the other side, the land is high. There are two islets in this bay, which are not seen until one has entered, and around which it is almost entirely dry at low tide. This place is very conspicuous from the sea, for the coast is very low, excepting the cape at the entrance to the bay. We named it the Port du Cap. St. Louis...”.

Reproduced is a copy from a first edition of _Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain_ (Paris, 1613), now in possession of the John Carter Brown Library.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH’S MAP OF NEW ENGLAND

The Pilgrims were familiar with Capt. John Smith’s account of a voyage in which he had surveyed the coast from Cape Cod to Penobscot Bay in 1614. He had even offered his services as guide and military captain, but Myles Standish got the job. Undoubtedly they did bring with them his _Description of New England_ (London, 1616), in which the following map was published.

Capt. Smith, who had already gained some fame and fortune in Virginia, dedicated to Prince Charles this effort in which the term “New England” first appeared: “... it being my chance to range some other parts of America, whereof I here present your highness the description in a map, my humble suit [in original, “sure”] is you would please to change their barbarous names for such English, as posterity may say Prince Charles was their godfather.” Several English place-names were incorporated in the map, but posterity disregarded most of them, a noteworthy exception being “Plimouth.” Smith notes that the Indians called the site “... Accomack, an excellent good harbor, good land, and no want of any thing but industrious people,” recalling that “After much kindness, upon a small occasion we fought also with 40 or 50 of those [Indians]; though some were hurt and some slain, yet within an hour after, they became friends.”

The map was subsequently reissued in several other works by Smith, additions being made on the engraved copper plate from time to time, to indicate more recent discoveries and settlements. The copy reproduced here is from a first edition, now in possession of the John Carter Brown Library; obviously the representations of European-style buildings were as inappropriate as were the illustrations of monsters, introduced by imaginatively artistic cartographers. (The note concerning Smith’s death was written in ink by a previous owner of this copy.)

A
RELATION OR
Journal of the beginning and proceedings
of the English Plantation settled at _Plymouth_ in New England, by
certain English adventurers both merchants and others.
With their difficult passage, their safe arrival, their joyful building
of, and comfortable planting themselves in the now well defended town of
New Plymouth

AS ALSO A RELATION OF FOUR
several discoveries since made by some of the same English Planters
there resident.

I. _In a journey to _Pokanoket_, the habitation of the Indians’ greatest King _Massasoit_: as also their message, the answer and entertainment they had of him._

II. _In a voyage made by ten of them to the Kingdom of _Nauset_, to seek a boy that had lost himself in the wood: with such accidents as befell them in that voyage._

III. _In their journey to the Kingdom of _Nemasket_, in defense of their greatest King _Massasoit_, against the _Narragansets_, and to revenge the supposed death of their Interpreter _Squanto_._

IIII. _Their voyage to the _Massachusets_, and their entertainment there._

With an answer to all such objections as are any way made against the
lawfulness of English plantations in those parts.

LONDON,
Printed for _John Bellamie_, and are to be sold at his shop at the Two
Greyhounds in Cornhill near the Royal Exchange. 1622.

TO HIS MUCH
respected friend, Mr. I. P.[7]

Good Friend:

As we cannot but account it an extraordinary blessing of God in directing our course for these parts, after we came out of our native country, for that we had the happiness to be possessed of the comforts we receive by the benefit of one of the most pleasant, most healthful, and most fruitful parts of the world; so must we acknowledge the same blessing to be multiplied upon our whole company, for that we obtained the honor to receive allowance and approbation of our free possession and enjoying thereof, under the authority of those thrice honored persons, the President and Council for the Affairs of New England, by whose bounty and grace, in that behalf, all of us are tied to dedicate our best service unto them,[8] as those under his Majesty, that we owe it unto, whose noble endeavors in these their actions the God of heaven and earth multiply to his glory and their own eternal comforts.

As for this poor relation, I pray you to accept it, as being writ by the several actors themselves, after their plain and rude manner; therefore doubt nothing of the truth thereof. If it be defective in any thing, it is their ignorance, that are better acquainted with planting than writing. If it satisfy those that are well affected to the business, it is all I care for. Sure I am the place we are in, and the hopes that are apparent, cannot but suffice any that will not desire more than enough. Neither is there want of aught among us but company to enjoy the blessings so plentifully bestowed upon the inhabitants that are here. While I was a-writing this, I had almost forgot that I had but the recommendation of the relation itself to your further consideration, and therefore I will end without saying more, save that I shall always rest

Yours in the way of friendship,

R. G.[9]

From Plymouth, in New England.

To the Reader

_Courteous Reader, be entreated to make a favorable construction of my forwardness in publishing these ensuing discourses. The desire of carrying the Gospel of Christ into those foreign parts, amongst those people that as yet have had no knowledge nor taste of God, as also to procure unto themselves and others a quiet and comfortable habitation, were, amongst other things, the inducements (unto these undertakings of the then hopeful, and now experimentally known good enterprise for plantation in New England) to set afoot and prosecute the same. And though it fared with them, as it is common to the most actions of this nature, that the first attempts prove difficult, as the sequel more at large expresseth, yet it hath pleased God, even beyond our expectation in so short a time, to give hope of letting some of them see (though some he hath taken out of this vale of tears)[10] some grounds of hope of the accomplishment of both those ends by them at first propounded._

_And as myself then much desired, and shortly hope to effect, if the Lord will, the putting to of my shoulder in this hopeful business, and in the meantime, these relations coming to my hand from my both known and faithful friends, on whose writings I do much rely, I thought it not amiss to make them more general, hoping of a cheerful proceeding, both of adventurers and planters, entreating that the example of the honorable Virginia and Bermudas Companies, encountering with so many disasters, and that for divers years together, with an unwearied resolution, the good effects whereof are now eminent, may prevail as a spur of preparation also touching this no less hopeful country, though yet an infant, the extent and commodities whereof are as yet not fully known, after time will unfold more. Such as desire to take knowledge of things, may inform themselves by this ensuing treatise, and, if they please, also by such as have been there a first and second time.[11] My hearty prayer to God is_ _that the event of this and all other honorable and honest undertakings, may be for the furtherance of the kingdom of Christ, the enlarging of the bounds of our sovereign lord King James, and the good and profit of those who, either by purse or person or both, are agents in the same, so I take leave, and rest_

_Thy friend_,

_G. Mourt_.[12]

CERTAIN USEFUL
ADVERTISEMENTS SENT
in a Letter written by a discreet friend unto the Planters in New
England, at their first setting sail from Southampton, who earnestly
desireth the prosperity of that their new Plantation.

Loving and Christian friends. I do heartily and in the Lord salute you all, as being they with whom I am present in my best affection, and most earnest longings after you, though I be constrained for a while to be bodily absent from you; I say constrained, God knowing how willingly and much rather than otherwise I would have borne my part with you in this first brunt, were I not by strong necessity held back for the present. Make account of me in the meanwhile, as of a man divided in myself with great pain, and as (natural bonds set aside) having my better part with you.

And though I doubt not but in your godly wisdoms you both foresee and resolve upon that which concerneth your present state and condition, both severally and jointly, yet have I thought but my duty to add some further spur of provocation unto them who run already, if not because you need it, yet because I owe it in love and duty.

And first, as we are daily to renew our repentance with our God, special for our sins known, and general for our unknown trespasses, so doth the Lord call us in a singular manner upon occasions of such difficulty and danger as lieth upon you, to a both more narrow search and careful reformation of our ways in his sight, lest he, calling to remembrance our sins forgotten by us or unrepented of, take advantage against us, and in judgment leave us for the same to be swallowed up in one danger or other; whereas on the contrary, sin being taken away by earnest repentance and pardon thereof from the Lord, sealed up unto a man’s conscience by his Spirit, great shall be his security and peace in all dangers, sweet his comforts in all distresses, with happy deliverance from all evil, whether in life or in death.

Now next after this heavenly peace with God and our own consciences, we are carefully to provide for peace with all men what in us lieth, especially with our associates, and for that end watchfulness must be had, that we neither at all in ourselves do give, no, nor easily take offense being given by others. Woe be unto the world for offenses, for though it be necessary (considering the malice of Satan and man’s corruption) that offenses come, yet woe unto the man or woman either by whom the offense cometh, saith Christ, Matt. 18:7. And if offenses in the unseasonable use of things in themselves indifferent, be more to be feared than death itself, as the Apostle teacheth, 1 Cor. 9:15, how much more in things simply evil, in which neither honor of God, nor love of man is thought worthy to be regarded.

Neither yet is it sufficient that we keep ourselves by the grace of God from giving offense, except withal we be armed against the taking of them when they are given by others. For how unperfect and lame is the work of grace in that person, who wants charity to cover a multitude of offenses, as the Scriptures speak. Neither are you to be exhorted to this grace only upon the common grounds of Christianity, which are, that persons ready to take offense, either want charity to cover offenses, or wisdom duly to weigh human fraility; or lastly are gross, though close hypocrites, as Christ our Lord teacheth, Matt. 7:1,2,3, as indeed in mine own experience, few or none have been found which sooner give offense, than such as easily take it; neither have they ever proved sound and profitable members in societies, which have nourished in themselves that touchy humor.

But besides these, there are divers special motives provoking you above others to great care and conscience this way: as first, you are many of you strangers, as to the persons, so to the infirmities one of another, and so stand in need of more watchfulness this way, lest when such things fall out in men and women as you suspected not, you be inordinately affected with them, which doth require at your hands much wisdom and charity for the covering and preventing of incident offenses that way. And lastly your intended course of civil community will minister continual occasion of offense, and will be as fuel for that fire, except you diligently quench it with brotherly forbearance. And if taking offense causelessly or easily at men’s doings be so carefully to be avoided, how much more heed is to be taken that we take not offense at God himself, which yet we certainly do so oft as we do murmur at his providence in our crosses, or bear impatiently such afflictions as wherewith he pleaseth to visit us. Store we up therefore patience against the evil day, without which we take offense at the Lord himself in his holy and just works.

A fourth thing there is carefully to be provided for, to wit, that with your common employments you join common affections truly bent upon the general good, avoiding as a deadly plague of your both common and special comfort all retiredness of mind for proper advantage, and all singularly affected any manner of way; let every man repress in himself and the whole body in each person, as so many rebels against the common good, all private respects of men’s selves, not sorting with the general conveniency. And as men are careful not to have a new house shaken with any violence before it be well settled and the parts firmly knit, so be you, I beseech you brethren, much more careful, that the house of God which you are and are to be, be not shaken with unnecessary novelties or other oppositions at the first settling thereof.

Lastly, whereas you are to become a body politic, using amongst yourselves civil government, and are not furnished with any persons of special eminency above the rest, to be chosen by you into office of government, let your wisdom and godliness appear not only in choosing such persons as do entirely love, and will diligently promote the common good, but also in yielding unto them all due honor and obedience in their lawful administrations, not beholding in them the ordinariness of their persons, but God’s ordinance for your good, nor being like unto the foolish multitude, who more honor the gay coat than either the virtuous mind of the man or glorious ordinance of the Lord. But you know better things, and that the image of the Lord’s power and authority which the Magistrate beareth is honorable, in how mean persons soever. And this duty you both may the more willingly, and ought the more conscionably to perform, because you are at least for the present to have only them for your ordinary governors which yourselves shall make choice of for that work.

Sundry other things of importance I could put you in mind of, and of those before mentioned in more words, but I will not so far wrong your godly minds as to think you heedless of these things, there being also divers among you so well able to admonish both themselves and others of what concerneth them.

These few things therefore, and the same in few words I do earnestly commend unto your care and conscience, joining therewith my daily incessant prayers unto the Lord, that he who hath made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all rivers of waters, and whose providence is over all his works, especially over all his dear children for good, would so guide and guard you in your ways, as inwardly by his Spirit, so outwardly by the hand of his power, as that both you and we also, for and with you, may have after matter of praising his name all the days of your and our lives. Fare you well in him in whom you trust, and in whom I rest

An unfeigned well-willer
of your happy success
in this hopeful voyage,

I. R.[13]

A RELATION OR JOURNAL
OF THE PROCEEDINGS
OF THE PLANTATION
settled at Plymouth in New England.

Wednesday, the sixth of September, the wind coming east-north-east, a fine small gale, we loosed from Plymouth, having been kindly entertained and courteously used by divers friends there dwelling, and after many difficulties in boisterous storms, at length, by God’s providence, upon the ninth of November following, by break of the day we espied land which we deemed to be Cape Cod, and so afterward it proved. And the appearance of it much comforted us, especially seeing so goodly a land, and wooded to the brink of the sea. It caused us to rejoice together, and praise God that had given us once again to see land. And thus we made our course south-south-west, purposing to go to a river ten leagues to the south of the Cape,[14] but at night the wind being contrary, we put round again for the bay of Cape Cod. And upon the 11th of November we came to an anchor in the bay,[15] which is a good harbor and pleasant bay, circled round, except in the entrance which is about four miles over from land to land, compassed about to the very sea with oaks, pines, juniper, sassafras, and other sweet wood. It is a harbor wherein a thousand sail of ships may safely ride. There we relieved ourselves with wood and water, and refreshed our people, while our shallop was fitted to coast the bay, to search for a habitation. There was the greatest store of fowl that ever we saw.

And every day we saw whales playing hard by us, of which in that place, if we had instruments and means to take them, we might have made a very rich return, which to our great grief we wanted. Our master and his mate, and others experienced in fishing, professed we might have made three or four thousand pounds’ worth of oil. They preferred it before Greenland whale-fishing, and purpose the next winter to fish for whale here. For cod we assayed, but found none; there is good store, no doubt, in their season. Neither got we any fish all the time we lay there, but some few little ones on the shore. We found great mussels, and very fat and full of sea-pearl, but we could not eat them, for they made us all sick that did eat, as well sailors as passengers. They caused to cast and scour,[16] but they were soon well again.

The bay is so round and circling that before we could come to anchor we went round all the points of the compass. We could not come near the shore by three quarters of an English mile, because of shallow water, which was a great prejudice to us, for our people going on shore were forced to wade a bow shot or two in going a land, which caused many to get colds and coughs, for it was nigh times freezing cold weather.

This day before we came to harbor, observing some not well affected to unity and concord, but gave some appearance of faction,[17] it was thought good there should be an association and agreement that we should combine together in one body, and to submit to such government and governors as we should by common consent agree to make and choose, and set our hands to this that follows word for word.[18]

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant, and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names; Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord King James, of England, France and Ireland eighteenth and of Scotland fifty-fourth, Anno Domini 1620.[19]

The same day, so soon as we could we set ashore fifteen or sixteen men, well armed, with some to fetch wood, for we had none left; as also to see what the land was, and what inhabitants they could meet with. They found it to be a small neck of land, on this side where we lay is the bay, and the further side the sea; the ground or earth, sand hills, much like the downs in Holland, but much better; the crust of the earth a spit’s[20] depth excellent black earth; all wooded with oaks, pines, sassafras, juniper, birch, holly, vines, some ash, walnut; the wood for the most part open and without underwood, fit either to go or ride in. At night our people returned, but found not any person, nor habitation, and laded their boat with juniper, which smelled very sweet and strong and of which we burnt the most part of the time we lay there.

Monday, the 13th of November, we unshipped our shallop[21] and drew her on land, to mend and repair her, having been forced to cut her down in bestowing her betwixt the decks, and she was much opened with the people’s lying in her,[22] which kept us long there, for it was sixteen or seventeen days before the carpenter had finished her. Our people went on shore to refresh themselves, and our women to wash, as they had great need. But whilst we lay thus still, hoping our shallop would be ready in five or six days at the furthest, but our carpenter made slow work of it, so that some of our people, impatient of delay, desired for our better furtherance to travel by land into the country, which was not without appearance of danger, not having the shallop with them, nor means to carry provision, but on their backs, to see whether it might be fit for us to seat in or no, and the rather because as we sailed into the harbor there seemed to be a river opening itself into the main land. The willingness of the persons was liked, but the thing itself, in regard of the danger, was rather permitted than approved, and so with cautions, directions, and instructions, sixteen men were set out with every man his musket, sword, and corslet, under the conduct of Captain Miles Standish, unto whom was adjoined, for counsel and advice, William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins, and Edward Tilley.

Wednesday, the 15th of November, they were set ashore, and when they had ordered themselves in the order of a single file and marched about the space of a mile, by the sea they espied five or six people with a dog, coming towards them, who were savages, who when they saw them, ran into the wood and whistled the dog after them, etc. First they supposed them to be Master Jones, the master, and some of his men, for they were ashore and knew of their coming, but after they knew them to be Indians they marched after them into the woods, lest other of the Indians should lie in ambush. But when the Indians saw our men following them, they ran away with might and main and our men turned out of the wood after them, for it was the way they intended to go, but they could not come near them. They followed them that night about ten miles by the trace of their footings, and saw how they had come the same way they went, and at a turning perceived how they ran up a hill, to see whether they followed them. At length night came upon them, and they were constrained to take up their lodging, so they set forth three sentinels, and the rest, some kindled a fire, and others fetched wood, and there held our rendezvous that night.

In the morning so soon as we could see the trace, we proceeded on our journey, and had the track until we had compassed the head of a long creek, and there they took into another wood, and we after them, supposing to find some of their dwellings, but we marched through boughs and bushes, and under hills and valleys, which tore our very armor in pieces, and yet could meet with none of them, nor their houses, nor find any fresh water, which we greatly desired, and stood in need of, for we brought neither beer nor water with us, and our victuals was only biscuit and Holland cheese, and a little bottle of aquavitae, so as we were sore athirst. About ten o’clock we came into a deep valley, full of brush, wood-gaile, and long grass, through which we found little paths or tracks, and there we saw a deer, and found springs of fresh water, of which we were heartily glad, and sat us down and drunk our first New England water with as much delight as ever we drunk drink in all our lives.

When we had refreshed ourselves, we directed our course full south, that we might come to the shore, which within a short while after we did, and there made a fire, that they in the ship might see where we were (as we had direction) and so marched on towards this supposed river. And as we went in another valley we found a fine clear pond of fresh water, being about a musket shot broad and twice as long. There grew also many fine vines, and fowl and deer haunted there; there grew much sassafras.[23] From thence we went on, and found much plain ground, about fifty acres, fit for the plow, and some signs where the Indians had formerly planted their corn. After this, some thought it best, for nearness of the river, to go down and travel on the sea sands, by which means some of our men were tired, and lagged behind. So we stayed and gathered them up, and struck into the land again, where we found a little path to certain heaps of sand, one whereof was covered with old mats, and had a wooden thing like a mortar whelmed[24] on the top of it, and an earthen pot laid in a little hole at the end thereof. We, musing what it might be, digged and found a bow, and, as we thought, arrows, but they were rotten. We supposed there were many other things, but because we deemed them graves, we put in the bow again and made it up as it was, and left the rest untouched, because we thought it would be odious unto them to ransack their sepulchres.