William Bradford

“ I shall esteem myself the happiest of men if I can be instrumental [xl] in restoring an entire esteem, confidence and affection, or, in better words, the old good-nature and the old good-humor between people who, though separated by an ocean and under different governments, have the same language, a similar religion and kindred blood. ”

“ When I went abroad I determined to visit the locality, on the [xlvi] borders of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, from which Bradford and Brewster and Robinson, the three leaders of the Pilgrims, came, and where their first church was formed, and the places in Amsterdam and Leyden where the emigrants spent thirteen years. But I longed especially to see the manuscript of Bradford at Fulham, which then seemed to me, as it now seems to me, the most precious manuscript on earth, unless we could recover one of the four gospels as it came in the beginning from the pen of the Evangelist. ”

“ If it be a sin to long for the honor of one's country, for the safety and strength of one's country, then I have been a great sinner, for I have striven to advance the honor and the safety and the welfare of my country, and believed it was best accomplished by treating all with justice and courtesy, and doing those things to others which we would ask to have done to ourselves.
When the Chancellor pronounced his decree in March last, he cited certain precedents to justify him in restoring this volume to Massachusetts. ”

“ There are places and objects so intimately associated with the world's greatest men or with mighty deeds that the soul of him who gazes upon them is lost in a sense of reverent awe, as it [lxxii] listens to the voice that speaks from the past, in words like those which came from the burning bush, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." ”

“ English people at the sixtieth anniversary of a reign more crowded with benefit to humanity than any other known in the annals of the race. Upon the power of England, the sceptre, the trident, the lion, the army and the fleet, the monster ships of war, the all-shattering guns, the American people are strong enough now to look with an entire indifference. ”

“ And as we our selves stand ready to imbrace all occasions that may tend to ye furthrance of so hopefull a work, rather admiring of what is, then grudging for what is not; so it must rest in you to make all good againe. And if in nothing else you can be approved, yet let your honestie & conscience be still approved, & lose not one jote of your innocencie, amids your crosses & afflictions. And surly if you upon this allteration behave your selves wisly, and goe on fairly, as men whose hope is not in this life, you shall need no other weapon to wound your adversaries ”

“ We still are perswaded you are ye people that must make a plantation in those remoate places when all others faile and returne. And your experience of Gods providence and preservation of you is such as we hope your harts will not faile you, though your freinds should forsake you (which we our selves shall not doe whilst we live, so long as your honestie so well appereth) . Yet surly help would arise from some other place whilst you waite on God, with uprightnes, though we should leave you allso. ”

“ Gods people are all marked with one and ye same marke, and sealed with one and ye same seale, and have for ye maine, one & ye same harte, guided by one & same spirite of truth; and wher this is, ther can be no discorde, nay, here must needs be sweete harmonie. And ye same request (with you) I make unto ye Lord, that we may, as Christian breethren, be united by a heavenly & unfained love; bending all our harts and forces in furthering a worke beyond our strength, with reverence & fear, fastening our eyse allways on him that only is able to directe and prosper all our ways. ”

“ Poore William King & my selfe doe strive [AD] who shall be meate first for ye fishes; but we looke for a glorious resurrection, knowing Christ Jesus after ye flesh no more, but looking unto ye joye yt is before us, we will endure all these things and accounte them light in comparison of yt joye we hope for. Remember me in all love to our freinds as if I named them, whose praiers I desire ernestly, & wish againe to see, but not till I can with more comforte looke them in ye face. The Lord give us that true comforte which none can take from us. ”

“ The good Lord give us all grace to search our harts and trie our ways, and turne unto ye Lord, and humble our selves under his mightie hand, and seeke atonemente, &c. Dear freinds, you may know yt all your beaver, and ye books of your accounts, are swallowed up in ye sea; your letters remaine with me, and shall be delivered, if God bring me home. But what should I more say? Have we lost our outward estates? yet a hapy loss if our soules may gaine; ther is yet more in ye Lord Jehova than ever we had yet in ye world. ”

“ Gods providence yt place fell to your lote, let it be accounted as your portion; and rather fixe your eyes upon that which may be done ther, then languish in hops after things els-wher. If your place be not ye best, it is better, you shall be ye less envied and encroached upon; and shuch as are earthly minded, will not setle too near your border. [BC] If ye land afford you bread, and ye sea yeeld you fish, rest you a while contented, God will one day afford you better fare. And all men shall know you are neither fugetives nor discontents. ”

“ Goe on, good freinds, comfortably, pluck up your spirits, and quitte your selves like men in all your difficulties, that notwithstanding all displeasure and threats of men, yet ye work may goe on you are aboute, and not be neglected. Which is so much for ye glorie of God, and the furthrance of our countrie-men, as that a man may with more comforte [137] spend his life in it, then live ye life of Mathusala, in wasting ye plentie of a tilled land, or eating ye fruite of a growne tree. ”

“ So they caled ye company togeather, and conferred with them, and came to this conclusion, that ye trade should be managed as before, to help to pay the debts; and all such persons as were above named should be [259] reputed and inrouled for purchasers; single free men to have a single share, and every father of a familie to be alowed to purchass so many shares as he had persons in his family; that is to say, one for him selfe, and one for his wife, and for every child that he had living with him, one. ”

“ Whether any larned man will come unto you or not, I know not; if any doe, you must Consiliū capere in arena. Be you most hartily saluted, & your wife with you, both from me & mine. Your God & ours, and ye God of all his, bring us together if it be his will, and keep us in the mean while, and allways to his glory, and make us servisable to his majestic, and faithfull to the end. ”

“ Now forasmuch as this is sufficiente to unite us togeather in love and good neighbourhood, in all our dealings, yet are many of us further obliged, by the good and curteous entreaty which we have found in your countrie; haveing lived ther many years, with freedome, and good contente, as also many of our freinds doe to this day; for which we, and our children after us, are bound to be thankfull to your Nation, and shall never forgett ye same, but shall hartily desire your good & prosperity, as our owne, for ever. ”

“ Wheras very many of our subjects, & of our late fathers of beloved memory, our sovereigne lord James, late king of England, by means of licence royall, not only with [541] desire of inlarging ye teritories of our empire, but cheefly out of a pious & religious affection, & desire of propagating ye gospell of our Lord Jesus Christ, with great industrie & expences have caused to be planted large Collonies of ye English nation, in diverse parts of ye world altogether unmannred, and voyd of inhabitants, or occupied of the barbarous people that have no knowledg of divine worship. ”

“ Ther was a company of people lived in ye country, up above in ye river of Conigtecut, a great way from their trading house ther, and were enimise to those Indeans which lived aboute them, and of whom they stood in some fear (bing a stout people) . About a thousand of them had inclosed them selves in a forte, which they had strongly palissadoed about. 3. or 4. Dutch men went up in ye begining of winter to live with them, to gett their trade, and prevente them for bringing it to ye English, or to fall into amitie with them; but at spring to bring all downe to their place. ”

“ Nay, had you not taken this course, I doe not see how you should accomplish ye end you first aimed at, and some others indevored these years past. We know it must keep us from ye profite, which otherwise by ye blessing of God and your indeaours, might be gained; for most of those that came in May, & these now sente, though I hope honest & good people, yet not like to be helpfull to raise profite, but rather, ney, certaine must, some while, be chargable to you & us; at which it is lickly, had not this wise & discreete course been taken, many of your generalitie would have grudged. ”

“ Some say you are starved in body & soule; others, yt you eate piggs & doggs, that dye alone; others, that ye things hear spoaken of, ye goodnes of ye cuntry, are gross and palpable lyes; that ther is scarce a foule to be seene, or a fish to be taken, and many such like. I would such discontented men were hear againe, for it is a miserie when ye whole state of a plantation shall be thus exposed to ye passionate humors of some discontented men. And for my selfe I shall hinder for hearafter some yt would goe, and have not better composed their affections ”

“ If we must warr at law for it, doe not you expecte from me, nether will I from you, but to cleave ye heare, and then I dare say ye lawyers will be most gainers, &c. Thus let us set to ye worke, one way or other, and end, that I may not allways suffer in my name & estate. And you are not free; nay, ye gospell suffers by your delaying, and causeth ye professors of it to be hardly spoken of, that you, being many, & now able, should combine & joyne togeather to oppress & burden me, &c. Fear not to make a faire & reasonable offer ”

“ About ye later end of June came in a ship, with Captaine Francis West, who had a comission to be admirall of New-England, to restraine interlopers, and shuch fishing ships as came to fish & trade without a licence from ye Counsell of New-England, for which [170] they should pay a round sume of money. But he could doe no good of them, for they were to stronge for him, and he found ye fisher men to be stuberne fellows. And their owners, upon complainte made to ye Parlemente, procured an order yt fishing should be free. ”

“ The first messengers were dismissed without answer; with ye next we had diverce dayes conferance, and taking ye advice of some of our ministers, and seeking the Lord in it, we concluded a peace & freindship with them, upon these conditions: that they should deliver up to us those men who were guilty of Stones death, &c. And if we desired to plant in Conightecute, they should give up their right to us, and so we would send to trade with them as our freinds (which was ye cheefe thing we aimed at, being now in warr with ye Dutch and ye rest of their neigbours) . ”

“ I conceive yt a magistrate is bound, by carfull examenation of circomstances & waighing of probabilities, to sifte ye accused, and by force of argumente to draw him to an acknowledgment of ye truth; but he may not extracte a confession of a capitall crime from a suspected person by any violent means, whether it be by an oath imposed, or by any punishmente inflicted or threatened to be inflicted, for so he may draw forth an acknowledgmente of a crime from a fearfull in̅ocente; if guilty, he shall be compelled to be his owne accuser, when no other can, which is against ye rule of justice. ”

“ Now if you be of ye mind yt these men are, deale plainly with us, & we will seeke our residence els-wher. If you [146] are as freindly as we have thought you to be, give us ye entertainment of freinds, and we will take nothing from you, neither meat, drinke, nor lodging, but what we will, in one kind or other, pay you for, &c. I shall leave in ye countrie a litle ship (if God send her safe thither) with mariners & fisher-men to stay ther, who shall coast, & trad with ye savages, & ye old plantation. It may be we shall be as helpfull to you, as you will be to us. ”

“ I cannot but here take occasion, not only to mention, but greatly to admire ye marvelous providence of God, that notwithstanding ye many changes and [494] hardships that these people wente throwgh, and ye many enemies they had and difficulties they mette with all, that so many of them should live to very olde age! It was not only this reved mans condition, (for one swallow maks no summer, as they say,) but many more of them did ye like, some dying aboute and before this time, and many still living, who attained to 60. years of age, and to 65. ”

“ Goe buy us food, that we may live and not dye. Gen. 42. 2. and 43. 1, that the famine was great, or heavie in the land; and yet they had such great herds, and store of catle of sundrie kinds, which, besids flesh, must needs produse other food, as milke, butter & cheese, &c., and yet it was counted a sore affliction; theirs hear must needs be very great, therfore, who not only wanted the staffe of bread, but all these things, and had no Egipte to goe too. But God fedd them out of ye sea for ye most parte, so wonderfull is his providence over his in all ages; for his mercie endureth for ever. ”

“ Then we may reason from ye less to ye greater, what greevous sin in ye sight of God it is, by ye instigation of burning lusts, set on fire of hell, to proceede to contactum & fricationem ad emissionem seminis, &c., & yt contra naturam, or to attempte ye grosse acts of unnaturall filthines. Againe, if yt unnaturall lusts of men with men, or woman with woman, or either with beasts, be to be punished with death, then a pari naturall lusts of men towards children under age are so to be punished. ”

“ I have but touched these things breefly, because they have allready been published in printe more at large.
This was ye end of these that some time bosted of their strength, (being all able lustie men,) and what [160] they would doe & bring to pass, in comparison of ye people hear, who had many women & children and weak ons amongst them; and said at their first arivall, when they saw the wants hear, that they would take an other course, and not to fall into shuch a condition, as this simple people were come too. But a mans way is not in his owne power; God can make ye weake to stand ”

“ We veryly beleeve & trust ye Lord is with us, unto whom & whose service we have given our selves in many trialls; and that he will graciously prosper our indeavours according to ye simplicitie of our harts therin. [42]
2ly. We are well weaned from ye delicate milke of our mother countrie, and enured to ye difficulties of a strange and hard land, which yet in a great parte we have by patience overcome.
3ly. The people are for the body of them, industrious, & frugall, we thinke we may safly say, as any company of people in the world. ”

“ John Peirce to assigne over ye grand patente to ye companie, which he had taken in his owne name, and made quite voyd our former grante. I am sorie to writ how many hear thinke yt the hand of God was justly against him, both ye first and 2. time of his returne; in regard he, whom you and we so confidently trusted, but only to use his name for ye company, should aspire to be lord over us all, and so make you & us tenants at his will and pleasure, our assurance or patente being quite voyd & disanuled by his means. ”