Neill States,
And There Is Abundant Proof, That "The Earl Of Warwick And Gorges Were In
Sympathy," And Were Active Coadjutors, While It Is Self-Evident That Both
Would Be Anxious To Accomplish The Permanent Settlement Of The "Northern
Plantations" Held By Their Company.
That they would hesitate to utilize
so excellent an opportunity to secure so very desirable a colony, by any
means available, our knowledge of the men and their records makes it
impossible to believe, - while nothing could apparently have been easier
of accomplishment.
It will readily be understood that if the
conspirators were these men, - upon whose grace the Pilgrims must depend
for permission to remain upon the territory to which they had been
inveigled, or even for permission to depart from it, without spoliation,
- men whose influence with the King (no friend to the Pilgrims) was
sufficient to make both of them, in the very month of the Pilgrims'
landing, "governors" of "The Council for New England," under whose
authority the Planters must remain, - the latter were not likely to voice
their suspicions of the trick played upon them, if they discovered it,
or openly to resent it, when known. Dr. Dexter, in commenting on the
remark of Bradford, "We made Master Jones our leader, for we thought it
best herein to gratifie his kindness & forwardness," sensibly says,
"This proves nothing either way, in regard to the charge which Secretary
Morton makes of treachery against Jones, in landing the company so far
north, because, if that were true, it was not known to any of the company
for years afterward, and of course could not now [at that time] impair
their feelings of confidence in, or kindness towards, him. Moreover,
the phraseology, "we thought it best to gratifie," suggests rather
considerations of policy than cordial desire, and their acquaintance,
too, with the man was still young. There is, however, no evidence that
Jones's duplicity was suspected till long afterward, though his
character was fully recognized. Gorges himself furnishes, in his
writings, the strongest confirmation we have of the already apparent
fact, that he was himself the prime conspirator. He says, in his own
"Narration," "It was referred [evidently by himself] to their [the London
Virginia Company's] consideration, how necessary it was that means might
be used to draw unto those their enterprises, some of those families that
had retired themselves into Holland for scruple of conscience, giving
them such freedom and liberty as might stand with their liking." When
have we ever found Sir Ferdinando Gorges thus solicitous for the success
of the rival Virginia Company? Why, if he so esteemed the Leyden people
as excellent colonists, did he not endeavor to secure them himself
directly, for his own languishing company? Certainly the "scruple of
conscience" of the Leyden brethren did not hinder him, for he found it no
bar, though of the Established Church himself, to giving them instantly
all and more than was asked in their behalf, as soon as he had them upon
his territory and they had applied for a patent. He well knew that it
would be matter of some expense and difficulty to bring the Leyden
congregation into agreement to go to either of the Virginia grants, and
he doubtless, and with good reason, feared that his repute and the
character and reputation of his own Company, with its past history of
failure, convict settlers, and loose living, would be repellent to these
people of "conscience." If they could be brought to the "going-point,"
by men more of their ilk, like Sir Edwin Sandys, Weston, and others, it
would then be time to see if he could not pluck the ripe fruit for
himself, - as he seems to have done.
"This advice," he says, "being hearkened unto, there were [those] that
undertook the putting it in practice [Weston and others] and it was
accordingly brought to effect," etc. Then, reciting (erroneously) the
difficulties with the SPEEDWELL, etc., he records the MAY-FLOWER'S
arrival at Cape Cod, saying, "The . . . ship with great difficulty
reached the coast of New England." He then gives a glowing, though
absurd, account of the attractions the planters found - in midwinter
- especially naming the hospitable reception of the Indians, despite the
fact of the savage attack made upon them by the Nausets at Cape Cod, and
adds: "After they had well considered the state of their affairs and
found that the authority they had from the London Company of Virginia,
could not warrant their abode in that place," which "they found so
prosperous and pleasing [sic] they hastened away their ship, with orders
to their Solicitor to deal with me to be a means they might have a grant
from the Council of New England Affairs, to settle in the place, which
was accordingly performed to their particular satisfaction and good
content of them all." One can readily imagine the crafty smile with
which Sir Ferdinando thus guilelessly recorded the complete success of
his plot. It is of interest to note how like a needle to the pole the
grand conspirator's mind flies to the fact which most appeals to him
- that they find "that the authority they had . . . could not warrant
their abode in that place." It is of like interest to observe that in
that place which he called "pleasant and prosperous" one half their own
and of the ship's company had died before they hastened the ship away,
and they had endured trial, hardships, and sorrows untellable, - although
from pluck and principle they would not abandon it. He tells us "they
hastened away their ship," and implies that it was for the chief purpose
of obtaining through him a grant of the land they occupied. While we
know that the ship did not return till the following April, - and then at
her Captain's rather than the Pilgrims' pleasure, - it is evident that
Gorges could think of events only as incident to his designs and from his
point of view. His plot had succeeded.
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