The Popham Colony : $b a discussion of its historical claims, with a bibliography of the subject — John Shaqi
The Popham Colony : $b a discussion of its historical claims, with a bibliography of the subjectPoole, William Frederick
History
The Popham Colony : $b a discussion of its historical claims, with a bibliography of the subject
Poole, William Frederick
Maine -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
He commences his theme by ridiculing the "Popham Memorial," the
"Vindication of Gorges," and some other publications; but without
attempting to reply to any part of them. He next goes on to tell us
that Mr. Patterson is a scholar, has been a Professor at Dartmouth
College, and is now a Member of Congress; and then commences his
onslaught by stating, that on that spot (Sabino) a colony of convicted
criminals landed in 1607, more than half of whom deserted the next
December, and the remainder left the next spring, after committing the
most shocking barbarities on the Indians; and refers to Williamson's
History of Maine, and Parkman's Pioneers,--neither of which
authorities justify any such statement; and, although trying to
ridicule some of Professor Patterson's sentiments, charges him with
branching off into a subject that has no relation to the question at
all.
Leaving the thirty odd pages of the Address without any remarks, he
attacks a letter, written as a reply to an invitation to be present on
that occasion, in which the writer notices the building of a ship by
the colonists, as a fact of some importance, which, all the writers on
that expedition say, took part of the colonists to England. But let us
follow him through his many wild and unsupported assertions relating
to that vessel. And here it may be proper to say, that the letter does
not endorse the authors of the Popham Memorial, or any part of their
theory, but at the outset expresses a dissent to many of the claims
made by those writers, and refers almost entirely to the ship and its
history. This reviewer, after some grand denunciations, finally
concentrates his arguments into three stately propositions.
First, that the vessel never was built, because there was not time,
and also that there was not over ten carpenters, or forty persons, in
all the colony to do it,--while we know that since that day vessels of
five times her size have been built with half that force, and in much
less time, in that immediate vicinity. Second, that there was no need
of a vessel; and third, that she was built of green pine, and no one
would wish himself in her; and so the idea that she made the voyage is
absurd. Now this is exactly the famous kettle argument over again,
with results just as conclusive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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