Of Plymouth Plantation: Historical Account. William Bradford
gape, which was some 3. or 4. score firkins of butter, which comoditie they might best spare, haveing provided too large a quantitie of yt kind. Then they write a leter to ye marchants & adventures aboute ye diferances concerning ye conditions, as foloweth.
Aug. 3. Ano: 1620.
Beloved freinds, sory we are that ther should be occasion of writing at all unto you, partly because we ever expected to see ye most of you hear, but espetially because ther should any differance at all be conceived betweene us. But seing it faleth out that we cannot conferr togeather, we thinke it meete (though brefly) to show you ye just cause & reason of our differing from those articles last made by Robart Cushman, without our comission or knowledg. And though he might propound good ends to himselfe, yet it no way justifies his doing it. Our maine diference is in ye 5. & 9. article, concerning ye deviding or holding of house and lands; the injoying wherof some of your selves well know, was one spetiall motive, amongst many other, to provoke us to goe. This was thought so reasonable, yt when ye greatest of you in adventure (whom we have much cause to respecte), when he propounded conditions to us freely of his owne accorde, he set this downe for one; a coppy wherof we have sent unto you, with some additions then added by us; which being liked on both sids, and a day set for ye paimente of moneys, those of Holland paid in theirs. After yt, Robart Cushman, Mr. Peirce, & Mr. Martine, brought them into a better forme, & write them in a booke now extante; and upon Robarts shewing them and delivering Mr. Mullins a coppy therof under his hand (which we have), he payd in his money. And we of Holland had never seen other before our coming to Hamton, but only as one got for him selfe a private coppy of them; upon sight wherof we manyfested uter dislike, but had put of our estats & were ready to come, and therfore was too late to rejecte ye vioage. Judge therfore we beseech you indiferently of things, and if a faulte have bene com̅ited, lay it wher it is, & not upon us, who have more cause to stand for ye one, then you have for ye other. We never gave Robart Cushman comission to make any one article for us, but only sent him to receive moneys upon articles before agreed on, and to further ye provissions till John Carver came, and to assiste him in it. Yet since you conceive your selves wronged as well as we, we thought meete to add a branch to ye end of our 9. article, as will allmost heale that wound of it selfe, which you conceive to be in it. But that it may appeare to all men yt we are not lovers of our selves only, but desire also ye good & inriching of our freinds who have adventured your moneys with our persons, we have added our last article to ye rest, promising you againe by leters in ye behalfe of the whole company, that if large profits should not arise within ye 7. years, yt we will continue togeather longer with you, if ye Lord give a blessing.24 This we hope is sufficente to satisfie any in this case, espetialy freinds, since we are asured yt if the whole charge was devided into 4. parts, 3. of them will not stand upon it, nether doe regarde it, &c. We are in shuch a streate at presente, as we are forced to sell away 60li. worth of our provissions to cleare ye Haven, & withall put our selves upon great extremities, scarce haveing any butter, no oyle, not a sole to mend a shoe, [39] nor every man a sword to his side, wanting many muskets, much armoure, &c. And yet we are willing to expose our selves to shuch eminente dangers as are like to insue, & trust to ye good providence of God, rather then his name & truth should be evill spoken of for us. Thus saluting all of you in love, and beseeching the Lord to give a blesing to our endeavore, and keepe all our harts in ye bonds of peace & love, we take leave & rest,
Yours, &c.
Aug. 3. 1620.
It was subscribed with many names of ye cheefest of ye company.
At their parting Mr. Robinson write a leter to ye whole company, which though it hath already bene printed, yet I thought good here likwise to inserte it; as also a breefe leter writ at ye same time to Mr. Carver, in which ye tender love & godly care of a true pastor appears.
My dear Brother,—I received inclosed in your last leter ye note of information, wch I shall carefuly keepe & make use of as ther shall be occasion. I have a true feeling of your perplexitie of mind & toyle of body, but I hope that you who have allways been able so plentifully to administer comforte unto others in their trials, are so well furnished for your selfe as that farr greater difficulties then you have yet undergone (though I conceive them to have been great enough) cannot oppresse you, though they press you, as ye Aspostle speaks. The spirite of a man (sustained by ye spirite of God) will sustaine his infirmitie, I dout not so will yours. And ye beter much when you shall injoye ye presence & help of so many godly & wise bretheren, for ye bearing of part of your burthen, who also will not admitte into their harts ye least thought of suspition of any ye least negligence, at least presumption, to have been in you, what so ever they thinke in others. Now what shall I say or write unto you & your goodwife my loving sister? even only this, I desire (& allways shall) unto you from ye Lord, as unto my owne soule; and assure your selfe yt my harte is with you, and that I will not forslowe my bodily coming at ye first oppertunitie. I have writen a large leter to ye whole, and am sorie I shall not rather speak then write to them; & the more, considering ye wante of a preacher, which I shall also make sume spurr to my hastening after you. I doe ever com̅end my best affection unto you, which if I thought you made any doubte of, I would express in more, & ye same more ample & full words. And ye Lord in whom you trust & whom you serve ever in this bussines & journey, guid you with his hand, protecte you with his winge, and shew you & us his salvation in ye end, & bring us in ye mean while togeather in ye place desired, if shuch be his good will, for his Christs sake.
Amen.
Yours, &c.
Jo: R.
July 27. 1620.
This was ye last letter yt Mr. Carver lived to see from him. The other follows.
25Lovinge Christian friends, I doe hartily & in ye Lord salute you all, as being they with whom I am presente in my best affection, and most ernest longings after you, though I be constrained for a while to be bodily absente from you. I say constrained, God knowing how willingly, & much rather then otherwise, I would have borne my part with you in this first brunt, were I not by strong necessitie held back for ye present. Make accounte of me in ye mean while, as of a man devided in my selfe with great paine, and as (naturall bonds set a side) having my beter parte with [40] you. And though I doubt not but in your godly wisdoms, you both foresee & resolve upon yt which concerneth your presente state & condition, both severally & joyntly, yet have I thought it but my duty to add some furder spurr of provocation unto them, who rune allready, if not because you need it, yet because I owe it in love & dutie. And first, as we are daly to renew our repentance with our God, espetially for our sines known, and generally for our unknowne trespasses, so doth ye Lord call us in a singuler maner upon occasions of shuch difficultie & danger as lieth upon you, to a both more narrow search & carefull reformation of your ways in his sight; least he, calling to remembrance our sines forgotten by us or unrepented of, take advantage against us, & in judgmente leave us for ye same to be swalowed up in one danger or other; wheras, on the contrary, sine being taken away by ernest repentance & ye pardon therof from ye Lord sealed up unto a mans conscience by his spirite, great shall be his securitie and peace in all dangers, sweete his comforts in all distresses, with hapie deliverance from all evill, whether in life or in death.
Now next after this heavenly peace with God & our owne consciences, we are carefully to provide for peace with all men what in us lieth, espetially with our associats, & for ye watchfullnes must be had, that we neither at all in our selves doe give, no nor easily take offence being given by others. Woe be unto ye world for offences, for though it be necessarie (considering ye