The Pilgrim fathers of New England : $b a historyMartyn, W. Carlos (William Carlos)
History
The Pilgrim fathers of New England : $b a history
Martyn, W. Carlos (William Carlos)
Massachusetts -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)
Soon, however, he fell under suspicion at Massachusetts Bay. He
was suspected of living in concubinage with “a comely young woman
whom he had brought over with him,” and whom he called his cousin,
“after the Italian manner.” Being cited to answer these charges,
he decamped. Soon Winthrop received letters which showed that this
“knight” had “two wives living in London.”[741] An order was issued
for his apprehension. Eventually he took refuge at Plymouth. Here he
chanced to drop his diary; and in this was found a “memorial showing
what day he was reconciled to the pope and the church of Rome, and in
what university he took his scapula and such and such degrees.”[742]
So Bradford sent the unmasked Jesuit, with the unfortunate diary,
to Winthrop;[743] who, in his turn, presently sent him back “to the
two wives in Old England, that they might search him further.”[744]
On reaching the island, he was not restrained of his liberty, but
roaming at large, soon found out the enemies of the colonies; and he,
with Radcliff, actively engaged in intrigues to its prejudice.[745]
“So difficult was it,” observes Elliot, “to get away from the
wickedness of Satan, who, even in this virgin land, and among these
godly Puritans, would thrust himself in where his company was in
no way wanted. But now one more rascal was exported and sent home,
where, with his two wives and his ‘Italian manner,’ and his popery,
he would not poison Massachusetts.”[746]
Yet, spite of these isolated instances of riot, insubordination,
and disturbance, the Puritan settlements were in the main models
of industry, sobriety, and good order. “I have read,” says Cotton
Mather, “a printed sermon which was preached before ‘both Houses
of Parliament, the lord-mayor and aldermen of London, and the
Westminster assembly of divines,’ the greatest audience then in the
world; and in that sermon the preacher had this passage: ‘I have
lived in a country where, in seven years, I never saw a beggar, nor
heard an oath, nor looked upon a drunkard.’ That Utopia was New
England.”[747] Mather adds sadly: “But they who go hence now must
tell another story.”[748]
What was the secret of such prosperity? When Demosthenes was asked
what it was that so long preserved Athens in a flourishing state, he
replied, “The orators are men of learning and wisdom; the magistrates
do justice; the citizens are quiet, and the laws are kept among them
all.”[749] ’Twas a glorious record for the immortal city, and the
same secret gave the settlements of the Pilgrim fathers substantial
peace and happy order.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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