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THE
PURITAN COMMONWEALTH.
AX
HISTORICAL REVIEW
OF THE
/
PURITAN GOVERNMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS
IX ITS
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL EELATIONS
FROM ITS PaSE TO THE
ABROGATION OF THE FIRST CHARTER.
TOGETHER WITH SOME GEXERAL REFLECTIONS OX THE ENGLISH
COLONIAL POLICY, AND OX THE CHARACTER
OF PURITAXISM.
BY THE LATE
PETER OLIVER,
OF THE SUFFOLK BAR.
BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY.
M.DCCC.LVI.
ihC^ : :;•..:•; .-. :-
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
F. E. Oliver,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
Riverside, Cambridge,
Printed by H. O. Houghton i^ Co.
PREFACE.
*®^5®*^**
" The following pages have been wrought, at no
little expense of time and labor, out of the mate-
rials at the author's command. The early history
of New England, the stately commonwealth that
sprang up under the shadow of the Puritan Church,
the extraordinary virtues that were called into life
by a colonization such as the world has seldom or
never before witnessed, and the moral and political
results of a new experience in a new world and in
a superstitious age, are subjects of great interest,
and which will well repay the inquirer.
" I have entered upon this study con amore^ and
have found fresh interest at every step. The sub-
ject grew formidable, at last, from its variety; but
doubts had arisen whether the whole truth had ever
been spoken, and I determined to satisfy myself
whether they were well founded. The result is
before the reader.
" I am aware that I have entered upon a field only
partially explored. The labor was difficult, because
it was obscure ; for it has been the fashion to bury
the errors of our forefathers beneath their many vir-
tues, and to conceal the whole truth by expressing
but a part. Every writer, from the earliest times,
IV IMll'.FACE.
has (lone somctliin^ to liidc from our p:aze those
faults which Would lead us to doubt the entire vir-
tue of our ancestors ; and so great have been the
consequent mistakes, that the ridiculous proposition
has been maintained, by both judges and historians,
that the Puritans were lovers of religious freedom,
and that civil liberty was a principle first understood
upon the shores of Massachusetts Bay.
" To question such doctrines is forbidding to those
who write not so much to instruct, as to win popu-
larity ; and perhaps a certain degree of moral cour-
age is necessary, to encounter public opinion on a
point where it is especially sensitive. It would be
egotistical in me to claim more of this virtue than
belongs to persons in general ; at the same time
that I do not, in this instance, shrink from the per-
formance of a duty."
The above forms a portion of a preface but par-
tially completed, which was found among the man-
uscripts of the author. The work to which it was
designed to be an introduction, and the substance
of which is contained in the present publication,
was originally written during the leisure hours of a
commencing professional life, for the pages of a
review. But the author had determined to revise
the whole, and prepare it for the press in a separate
form, and was engaged in this undertaking when
he was interrupted by death. The fact that he was
unable to carry out his design, will explain to the
reader the controversial tone of the work, and an
occasional warmth of expression, which may be
thought better suited to the character of periodical
literature than to the more sustained dignity of his-
torical composition.
PREFACE. V
The work is divided into chapters, and several
of the chapters are subdivided into parts. Each
chapter is distinct by itself, and independent of the
others.
The first is taken up with the history of the
charter of The Massachusetts Bay Company ; its
nature, the ends it was intended to subserve, and
its fraudulent transfer to Massachusetts.
The subject of the second chapter is " The Pu-
ritan Commonwealth ; " its construction, its failure
to accomplish the end of all government, in the
preservation of good order and the prevention of
immorality, and its aggressive spirit toward the
aboriginal tribes.
The third chapter discusses "The Puritan Church;"
its construction, its intolerance, as shown in. the per-
secution of the Familists, Quakers, and Baptists,
and its missionary claims, as compared with those
of the Church of England and the Church of
Rome,
The fourth chapter is political in its character,
and shows the spirit of discontent and rebellion
that actuated the colonists from the first.
The fifth, commencing with a succinct history
of the Church down to the time of the Reforma-
tion in England, asserts the gradual degeneracy of
the Puritans, after their separation from the great
Catholic body.
The sixth, and last, contains reflections on the
English colonial policy, and on the general charac-
ter and tendencies of Puritanism.
It is believed that, in the treatment of his sub-
ject, the author has brought to light many facts
which have been hitherto passed over in silence by
VI PHEFACE.
the historian, and has presented others, more fami-
har to the general reader, in a way to excite new
interest and attention. At any rate, the cause of
trutli can never suffer from discussion and inquiry ;
and it is in this confidence that the editor, in exe-
cuting a trust which circumstances seemed to have
imposed upon him, submits the following pages to
the candor of an impartial and discriminating
public. F, E. o.
Boston, July 23, 1856.
CONTENTS.
— o©^—
CHAPTER I.
The Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company and King
Charles the First.
Grant of James I. to the Colonial Companies of London and
Plymouth • 7
The Northern Company but partially successful 8
Obtains a fresh Grant 9
But again fails 10
Formation of a new Company, which likewise fails 10
Rise of a Missionary Spirit 11
Which leads to a new Organization 12
Eji^ecQtt appointed Superintendent 12
|The Company obtains a Royal CEarfef-— 13
TCrpdods-first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company 13
Effdecott becomes a Brownist 16"
Persecutes the Brownes 17
Transfer of the Charter proposed 20
Decided upon 21
Objects of this Measure 22
True Character and Object of the Charter 23
The Puritan State charged with Disloyalty, and with violating the
Rights of the King's Subjects 34
Sir Christopher Gardiner 35
Thomas Morton 37
Philip Ratclinr 39
The Council orders an Investigation 40
Further Complaints against the Puritan State 41
Cradock ordered to exhibit the Charter 41
Appointment of a Royal Commission 44
Which directs its Attention to the Transfer of the Charter 45
Orders the Transmission of the Charter to England 48
The Order not complied with 48
Vindication of Charles I. 49
CHAPTER n.
The Puritan Commonwealth.
Part I.
Nature of the Corporation Government 52-
The Magistrates assume to be an Oligarchy 53
Vlll CONTKNTS.
The Freemen claim to be a privileged Body 56
Struggle between the Aristocratic and Liberal Parties 57
'Ihe CJeneral Court becomes a Legislature 60
The \Ligistrates call the Klders to their Support 61
The Klders establish a Council for Lite 63
They erect the Magistrates into a Senate 66
The Judicial Authority conferred by the Charter 76
The Puritan State claims the Common Law 78
The Assistants claim to be Judges 80
The Freemen demand a Body of Laws * -it
The Criminal Code of the Puritan State 83
The Moral Influence of the Puritan State 90
^ Part H.
Moral Character of the Government of the Puritan State 99
As illustrated by its Treatment of the Aborigines 100
The Pequods. • • • • 106
The Murder of John Oldham 108
Leads to an Invasion of the Pequod Territory no
The Pequods seek Alliance with the Narragansetts 112
Who enter into a Treaty with Massachusetts 113
Total Destruction of the Pequods 114
Fate of the Leaders of this Expedition, an Instance of Divine Retri-
bution 116
The Narragansetts 118
Intrigue of the Mohegans 120
Defeat and Capture of Miantonimo 122
H is Fate 124
The Narragansetts seek the Aid of Massachusetts, to avenge his Death- 126
But without Success 127
The Treatment of their Deputation 129
Desperate Condition of this Tribe 130
-A new Treaty extorted from them 131
Their Lukewarmncss in its Observance, a Cause of Alarm 132
Preparations for War - 132
Destruction of the Narragansetts 133
Heroism of Canonchet 133
The Wampanoags 1 35
Treachery and Death of Sausamon 139
Which leads to War 140
Fall of Philip 144
War with the Tarranteens •_• 146
The Puritans seek the Alliance of the Mohawks 148
Defeat of the Allies 149
Terrible Effects of the Puritan Wars 150
CHAPTER in.
The Puritan Church.
Part L
The Fundamental Principle of Independency 155
CONTENTS. IX
The Puritans avow the Doctrines of Independency, but are false to
its Principles 156
Peculiar Position of the Elders • 157
Practical Inconveniences of the Contract System 159
To remedy which, the Covenant is devised 162
Want of Unity and Vitality in the Church = 165
The Antinomian Heresies 169
Condemned by a Synod 17S
Banishment of the Antinomian Leaders 180
Subsequent Condition of the Puritan Church 182
Divisions on the Subject of Baptism 1 84
Part II.
Intolerant Spirit of the Puritan Church ' 191
Rise of the Familists 1 94
Persecution of Gorton 195
The Quakers 205
The Anabaptists 219
Persecutions in Massachusetts, Violations of the Charter and of the
Laws of England • 227
Inconsistent with the avowed Claims of Puritanism 22S
Part III.
Mode of Conducting the Puritan Missions 234
Thomas May hew 235
John Eliot 237
Results of these Missions 242
Causes of their Failure 244
The Puritan Church not entitled to the Credit of their Establishment -249
The Missions in New England contrasted with those of Virginia- • • •251
With the Jesuit Missions in New France 253
CHAPTER IV.
The Elders Conspire against the Crown.
Part I.
The Elders and Magistrates feel the Insecurity of Puritanism in Mas-
— ^achusetts, in Consequence of its Illegality 261
Freeman's Oath 262
The Cross of St. George removed from the English Flag 264
The Civil Wars 267
The Long Parliament encourages the Trade of Massachusetts, and
enlists the Puritan State in its Cause 269
lassachusetts openly renounces her Allegiance to King Charles 270
Acknowledges that she is represented in Parliament by the Knights
and Burgesses of the Manor of East Greenwich 270
Makes it a capital Offence to side with Charles, and sends Soldiers
to join the English Rebels 272
Confederates with the other New England Colonies 273
CONTENTS.
Olijccis sought by this Union 277
I" rust rat I'll by Parlianicnt 279
Parliament asserts Authority over the Colcjuics, by attacking their
'Iraiie. ..•••.••• 280
Massachusetts ordered to surrender her Charter 280
JVtitions Parliament and Cromwell 280
Considers herself an Ally of Cromwell only 283
Kllect of Cromwell's Death 283
Massachusetts refuses to acknowledge Charles II. 285
Reaction in the Colony 286
The Elders and Magistrates dissatisfied with the Answer of the King- 288
Part II.
Declaration f)f Rights 289
Charles 1 1, proclaimed 291
Special Mission to P^ngland 292
Agreeable Disappointment of the Agents 293
Ingratitude of IVlassachusetts towards the Agents 295
The two Parties of Prerogative and Freedom 296
King's Letter disregarded 296
The General Court secretes the Charter 298
The Royal Commissioners 299
—The General Court again refuses to accede to the Royal Demands- - • -301
Again addresses the King 302
Superstitious Fears of the Colonists 303
The Confederacy broken up by the Commissioners 304
III Success of the Commission 305
Objections to the Legality of the Commission answered 314
Third Royal Letter to Massachusetts 315
The General Court again disobeys the King 316
The Policy of Massachusetts during the Wars with France and Hol-
land 317
Rapid Advance of Massachusetts in Wealth and Population 318
Fourth Royal Letter to the Colony 319
Conflicting Emotions of the Folders 327
Judgment against the Charter 330
Death of the King 332
Effect of the Judgment against the Charter 333
Part III.
Fears concerning a Royal Governor 334
Colonel Kirk 334
Dudley's Commission 337
Its Reception by the General Court 338
Intrigues against the Commission 339
The mild Nature of the Commission and its Government 339
Colonial System of James II. 341
Its Merits examined 342
The Arbitrariness of James compared with the Tyranny under the
Charter. 24.3
—Arrival of Sir Edmund Andros 346
'"Character of his Adininistration 347
—Restraint upon Marriages 347
CONTENTS. XI
Fees for Quitrents to Crown Lands 348
Levying of Taxes 350
Other arbitrary Acts of Andros 35 i
Causes of his Unpopularity 352
The Colonists petition the King 354
Jlenewed War with the Eastern Indians 356
The humane Policy of Andros, frustrated by the Outrages of the
Charter Government 357
Andros, kind as a General 358
The Elders excite Rebellion against him 359
Political Struggles between the Liberty and Prerogative Parties 361
Andros acquitted by King William 362
Conclusion. 363
CHAPTER V.
Progress of the Elders from Schism to Sectarianism.
• Part L
itical Religionism 365
The New England Puritans, Politico-Religionists 367
â– The Charter, not Puritan in its Character 368
Antiquity of the Church of England 370
The Saxon Church 371
Its Relation to the See of Rome 372
Its happy Influence 373
Effect of the Danish Invasions 375
Fall of the Scaldic Mythology 376
Condition of the English Church at the Time of the Norman Con-
quest. 377
Rise of the Papal Supremacy 378
The Papal Dominion, a System of Spiritual Feuds 380
Introduced into England 380
True Claims of the English Church 382
Iniquitous Character of English Dissent 383
Absence of any reasonable Ground for Complaint 384
Dissent, private Reasoning, in Opposition to Authority 385
Penal Laws, levelled at Railing, not at Honest Difference of Opinion. .386
The Conference at Hampton Court 389
\ Frustrates the Designs of the Puritans 392
\ Absurdity of Puritan Arguments 392
I Ecclesiastical Policy of James 1 393
/Causes of the Increase of Puritanism 395
It begins to embarrass the Government 396
Causes the arbitrary Acts of Charles 1 397
Develops rapidly under Abbot's Protection, during the King's Con-
tests with Parliament 398
Growth of Republicanism 399
Policy of the Royal Government 399
Part II.
Motives of the Puritan Emigration 402
â– Grief manifested at leaving England 404
The " Humble Request" from Yarmouth 405
Xll CONTENTS.
Ainhieuity (>( the larcwcll 408
Assertion by the- Puritans of a Catholic Ministry 409
Their rapid Assiniihition w ith the Independents 410
Renounce Catholic Orders as sinful 412
Growing Knniitv to the Knglish Church, aided by Superstition 413
Promoted bv Legislation 415
Influence ot Harvard College 416
Samuel Maverick 41 S
Robert Child 420
CJross Tyranny of the Magistrates. . . . , 421
Child and Maverick, with others, petition 422
Trial of the Petitioners, for Sedition 428
The Petitioners denounced by tlie Elders for appealing • . .429
Church I'eeling in Massachusetts at the Restoration 431
Alarm of the Klders at the Restoration of the Church 432
They assert the Divine Right of Puritanism 433
Refuse to allow the Use of the Common Prayer 434
Again refuse to allow Churchmen Liberty of Conscience 435
Randolph opens the Way for the Church 438
Presses for able and sober Ministers « 440
Obstacles in the Way . .440
Arbitrary Proposals of Randolph 442
Arrival of Robert Ratcliffe 443
Formation of the Parish of King's Chapel 444
Opposition of the Elders 444
Dirticulties of Randolph 445
Andros entreats the Elders in Behalf of the Church 446
Arbitrary Act of Andros 447
Loyalty of the Church Party 449
CHAPTER VI.
Some General Reflections on the English Colonial Policy,
AND ON the Character of Puritanism.
Erroneous Spirit of popular Historians 453
Rise of the English Colonies 454
Classes of Colonies 455
Conflict of Interests between the Crown and Charter Colonies 456
Commercial Policy of Charles I. 458
The Ordinance of 165 1 459
Cromwell's Policy 464
The Navigation I-aws of Charles H. 465
Their Fourfold Object 468
How received by the Colonies 468
Character of the restrictive System 470
Contrast between Virginia and Massachusetts 477
How accounted for 47 8
"Character of Puritanism 484
Protestantism, the Triumph of Reason over Faith 485
-Puritanism, the Protestantism of England 486
Eminently superstitious 486
Unfriendly to Literature 488
Hostile to Civil and Religious Liberty 489
Advocates the indiscriminate Use of the Bible 490
Which causes its Decline 492
CHAPTER I.
CHARTER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY,
AND KING CHARLES THE FIRST.
Grant of James I. to the Colonial Companies of London and Plymouth —
Northern Company unsuccessful — Obtains a fresh Grant — Formation
of a new Company, which likewise fails — Rise of a Missionary
Spirit — Which leads to a new Organization — Endecott appointed
Superintendent — The Company obtains a Royal Charter — Cradock,
the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company — Endecott
becomes a Brownist — Persecutes the Brownes — Transfer of the Char-
ter proposed — Decided upon — Objects of this Measure — True Char-
acter and Object of the Charter — The Puritan State charged with
Disloyalty, and of violating the Rights of the King's Subjects — Sir
Christopher Gardiner — Thomas Morton — Philip Ratcliff — The
Council orders an Investigation — Further Complaints against the Puri-
tan State — Cradock ordered to exhibit the Charter — Appointment of
a Royal Commission — Which directs Its attention to the transfer of
the Charter — Orders the transmission of the Charter to England —
The Order not complied with — Vindication of Charles I.
When King Charles, the Martyr, bestowed a franchise chai'
upon a company, mercantile in character but missionary ^^-.-^
in design, he little thought that he was planting the germ
of Republicanism in the New World. Beholding, with
the favor of a truly Catholic mind, the project that was
then forming in the English Church to extend Her bor-
ders over his dominions in the West, he willingly added
the weight of his prerogative to an enterprise which, it
seemed, must draw down a benediction from Heaven.
Had he foreseen that his gift would be perverted to a
disloyal purpose, that in a few years the parchment whicli
: CIIARTKU Ol Tin: MASSACIIISKTTS HAV COMPANY,
cilAl'. (•(iMtaiiu'd iiuTclv aii act of incDijjoratioii would he sold
^-^-^-^ into the hands (d* liis cnciuii's, and, Ixinic (iver the
orcaii into the \\ ildciiicss, he srt iij) as the constitution
of an independent state, he would liave hesitated ere he
allowed the <ireat seal of England to stani]) it into life.
But could he have looked further into futurity, and heheld
the risinfj- England of the New World perpetuating the
glories of the mother country, protected hy the laws of
the Saxons, the Danes, and tlie Normans, and enlight-
ened hy the religion which St. Augustine professed,
doubtless the pious monarch would have furthered the
schemes of the uneasy Puritans, and rendered their secret
intrigues unnecessary.
We, who are in a transition state, can see how good
is finally to come out of evil. The Church is grasping
in her embrace the great empire of the West, and her
garments are unstained by the blood of the aborigines,
while her reputation is untainted with the guilt of disloy-
alty. Puritanism has been working for her advantage.
Fraud, violence, and cunning ; enterprise, daring, and
self-sacrifice ; the vices and virtues of the Puritan pil-
grims, have prepared the way for the nobler, the only
true Christianity. From the bigotry of a few have
arisen the blessings of the many. The guiding wisdom
of Omnipotence is now discernible beneath the shallow
surface of human fanaticism. Regeneration, the voice
that waked the pagan slumbers of the Old World, was
to be the genius of a new creation here. The painted
savage was no longer to tread his forests in the simple
majesty of his nature and strength. His shrill war-
whoop was to be echoed back by the thunder of cannon,
and his native cunning was to become powerless before
the art of civilization. His woods were to be prostrated,
liis game annihilated, and his \vigwam deserted; and he
AND KING CHARLES THE FIRST.
himself was to be driven before a power he understood chap.
not, further and further towards the setting sun, until -^ — < —
the waves of the Pacific received the last remnants of
his race, and his existence had become but a name. A
new day was to da^vii upon the West, a day carrying
with it all the blessings of Christianity. There was to
be there a new heaven and a new earth, and the cross
of a true faith was to be erected upon every spire, and
reflected back to the sky by every lake and stream.
Such is the philosophy taught by the true understand-
ing of the past. We search in vain for a reason for the
bloody traces of civilization, unless it can be found here.
The greatest achievement of art is but a poor equivalent
for the happiness of a single family of savages, if it
reaches no further than the external and material world.
A civilization, crimson with blood and reeking with
fraud, would be but little worth, if it comprehended
nothing beyond the creations of steam and the magic of
the telegraph.
We propose to make some inquiry into the origin of
the most energetic colonization the world ever beheld,
that of Massachusetts Bay. That this subject has been
curiously distorted alike by doctors of law and history,
the sequel will show ; and we think that our examination
of the original authorities will prove that we are indebted
for the groundwork of this fair New England picture,
not to the magnanimity of Puritanism, but to the zeal of
the English Church. Of the historians who have dealt
with this subject, Grahame and Bancroft occupy the most
false and partisan attitudes. Grahame, educated in the
narrow school of the Scottish Kirk, possessed a mind so
warped by prejudice and so infected with bigotry, that
his prolix history is false alike in fact and principle. He
beheld the world through a Calvinistic mist. The most
^ (lIAllTKil OF Tin: MASSACIILSETTS BAY COMTANV,
<"HAi'. (Icnravcd cxliiMtioiis of Protestantism had attractions for
1. '
— < — him, and, witli incrcchhlc assurance, he can assert that
those fanatics, the Brownists, were the most loyal of the
Enfrlish people, as well as the most pious, virtuous, and
courageous.^ He magnifies the virtues of the liardy pil-
grim, and distorts, with equal complacencVr the faults of
the government towards which the pilgrim displjiyed not
disloyalty merely, but rancor and malice. He sneers, in
execrable taste, at James I., for assuming the style of
" sacred majesty ; " forgetting the anointed character of
the princes who then sat uj)on the throne of England ;
and, also, that not a successor of John Knox " beats the
drum ecclesiastic " in his beloved kirk, who does not
appropriate to himself with scrupulous care the title of
" reverend." He carps at such " heathenish customs "
as the drinking of healths, but passes over the atrocious
crimes of Puritanism with gentle rebukes. He sees
nothing excellent but in some form of dissent. He
belongs to that class of Protestant writers who consider
worldly prosperity as a sign of heavenly benediction.
He fully believed in Cromwell's maxim, that the Lord's
people are to be the head and not the tail, and that any
means are justifiable to obtain this headship. A malig-
nant hater of the Stuarts, a bigoted enemy of the church,
a zealous apologist for the crimes of Puritanism, and,
with all this, neither an impartial, nor thorough, nor truth-
ful relator of facts, he was totally unfit for the high office
he assumed, of teaching the world by examples. He
wrote not for the world, but for New England ; not for
the New England of the present, but for that which has
long since passed away. And he had the bitter mortifi-
cation of living to see the America he so much wor-
1 Vol. i. p. 1 80, 2d edition.