& if I heard of any that were in trouble of mind I usually went to comfort them; so that upon the bent of my spirit this way & the success I found of my endeavours, I gave up myself to the study of Divinity, & intended to enter into the ministry, if my friends had not diverted me.

But as I grew into employment & credit thereby; so I grew also in pride of my guifts, & under temptations which sett mee on work to look to my evidence more narrowly than I had done before (for the great change which God had wrought in mee, & the generall approbation of good ministers & other Christians, kept me from making any great question of my good estate,) though my secret corruptions, & some tremblings of heart (which was greatest when I was among the most godly persons) put me to some plunges; but especially when I perceived a great decay in my zeal & love, &c. And hearing sometimes of better assurance by the seale of the Spirit, which I also knew by the word of God, but could not, nor durst say that ever I had it; & finding by reading of Mr. Perkin's & other books, that a reprobate might (in appearance) attaine to as much as I had done; finding withal much hollowness & vaine glory in my heart, I began to grow very sad, & knew not what to do: I was ashamed to open my case to any minister that knew mee; I feared it would shame myself & religion also, that such an eminent professor as I was accounted, should discover such corruptions as I found in myself; & had in all this time attained no better evidence of salvation; & [if] I should prove a hypocrite, it was too late to begin anew: I should never repent in truth; having repented so oft as I had done. It was like Hell to mee to think of that in Hebr. 6. Yet I should sometimes propound questions afarre off to such of the most godly ministers as I mett, which gave mee ease for the present, but my heart could not find where to rest; but I grew very sad & melancholy; & now to hear others applaud mee, was a dart through my liver; for still I feared I was not sound at the root, and sometimes I had thoughts of breaking from my profession, & proclaim myself an hypocrite. But these troubles came not all at once but by fits, for sometimes I should find refreshing in prayer, & sometimes in the love that I had had to the Saints: which though it were but poor comfort (for I durst not say before the Lord that

I did love them in truth), yet the Lord upheld mee, and many times outward occasions put these fears out of my thoughts. And though I had knowne long before, the Doctrine of free Justification by Christ, & had often urged it upon my owne soul & others, yet I could not close with Christ to my satisfaction. I have many times striven to lay hold upon Christ in some promise, & have brought forth all the arguments that I had for my part in it. But instead of finding it to bee mine, I have lost sometimes the faith of the very general truth of the promise, sometimes after much striving by prayer for faith in Christ, I have thought I had received some power to apply Christ unto my soul: but it was so doubtfull as I could have little comfort in it, & it soon vanished.

LETTERS TO MRS. WINTHROP

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To Mrs. Marg. Winthrop, the elder, at Groton.

MY FAITHFUL AND DEAR WIFE, - It pleaseth God, that thou shouldst once again hear from me before our departure, and I hope this shall come safe to thy hands. I know it will be a great refreshing to thee. And blessed be his mercy, that I can write thee so good news, that we are all in very good health, and, having tried our ship's entertainment now more than a week, we find it agree very well with us. Our boys are well and cheerful, and have no mind of home. They lie both with me, and sleep as soundly in a rug (for we use no sheets here) as ever they did at Groton; and so I do myself, (I praise God). The wind hath been against us this week and more; but this day it has come fair to the north, so as we are preparing (by God's assistance) to set sail in the morning. We have only four ships ready, and some two or three Hollanders go along with us. The rest of our fleet (being seven ships) will not be ready this sennight. We have spent now two Sabbaths on shipboard very comfortably, (God be praised,) and are daily more and more encouraged to look for the Lord's presence to go along with us. Henry Kingsbury hath a child or two in the Talbot sick of the measles, but like to do well. One of my men had them at Hampton, but he was soon well again. We are, in all our eleven ships, about seven hundred persons, pas

sengers, and two hundred and forty cows, and about sixty horses. The ship, which went from Plimouth, carried about one hundred and forty persons, and the ship, which goes from Bristowe, carrieth about eighty persons. And now (my sweet soul) I must once again take my last farewell of thee in Old England. It goeth very near to my heart to leave thee; but I know to whom I have committed thee, even to him who loves thee much better than any husband can, who hath taken account of the hairs of thy head, and puts all thy tears in his bottle, who can, and (if it be for his glory) will bring us together again with peace and comfort. Oh, how it refresheth my heart, to think, that I shall yet again see thy sweet face in the land of the living!— that lovely countenance, that I have so much delighted in, and beheld with so great content! I have hitherto been so taken up with business, as I could seldom look back to my former happiness; but now, when I shall be at some leisure, I shall not avoid the remembrance of thee, nor the grief for thy absence. Thou hast thy share with me, but I hope the course we have agreed upon will be some ease to us both. Mondays and Fridays, at five of the clock at night, we shall meet in spirit till we meet in person. Yet, if all these hopes should fail, blessed be our God, that we are assured we shall meet one day, if not as husband and wife, yet in a better condition. Let that stay and comfort thy heart. Neither can the sea drown thy husband, nor enemies destroy, nor any adversary deprive thee of thy husband or children. Therefore I will only take thee now and my sweet children in mine arms, and kiss and embrace you all, and so leave you with my God. Farewell, farewell. I bless you all in the name of the Lord Jesus. I salute my daughter Winth. Matt. Nan. and the rest, and all my good neighbors and friends. Pray all for us. Farewell. Commend my blessing to my son John. I cannot now write to him; but tell him I have committed thee and thine to him. Labor to draw him yet nearer to God, and he will be the surer staff of comfort to thee. I cannot name the rest of my good friends, but thou canst supply it. I wrote, a week since, to thee and Mr. Leigh, and divers others.

Thine wheresoever,

Jo. WINTHROP.

From aboard the ARBELLA, riding at the Cowes, March 28, 1630.

I would have written to my brother and sister Gostling, but it is near midnight. Let this excuse; and commend my love to them and all theirs.

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ffor Mrs. Winthrop at her house in Boston.

SWEET HEART,- I was unwillingly hinderd from comminge to thee, nor am I like to see thee before the last daye of this weeke: therefore I shall want a band or 2: & cuffes. I pray thee also send me 6 or 7: leaves of Tobacco dried and powdred. Have care of thy selfe this colde weather, & speak to the folkes to keepe the goates well out of the Garden; & if my brother Peter hath not fetched away the sheep ramme, let them looke him up & give him meate, the green pease in the Garden &c are good for him: If any lettres be come for me send them by this bearer. I will trouble thee no further, the Lorde blesse & keepe thee my sweet wife & all our familye: & send us a comfortable meetinge, so I kisse thee & love thee ever & rest

Thy faithfull husband,

This 6th of the 9th, 1637.

Jo: WINTHROP

THOMAS MORTON

[Thomas Morton, though of no great importance as an author or as a man, affords a pleasing relief from the severity of most of the early New England writers. He was born in England about 1575, and became a lawyer of Clifford's Inn, London. He seems to have been in America at least four times, but the events of his expeditions are so confused in his own writings that the details of his career are hard to trace. It was on his second visit, in 1625, that he established himself at Mount Wollaston, or Merry (Ma-re) Mount. Here, with a few congenial companions, he traded with the Indians, and enjoyed life after his own fashion. His more austere neighbors charged, probably with truth, that he furnished spirits and firearms to the Indians, and that he was guilty of personal immoralities. It is probable, however, that their dislike for him arose in large measure from his ridicule of the Puritans, from his nominal adherence to the Church of England, and from his indulgence in abhorred English festivities, especially those about his famous May-pole, which he erected in 1627. Governor Bradford's account of his plantation, and of his arrest, has been given on an earlier page, and may be compared with his own story of the same occurrences in some of the selections that follow. After being sent to England he at once returned to plague the colonists, and in 1630 was again arrested and deported. It is probable that Morton was an undesirable citizen, but it is doubtful if he committed any serious offence punishable by English law. At all events he was not punished on either occasion when he was sent to England, but allied himself with the party that was working for the revocation of the Massachusetts charter, and succeeded in causing the colonists much trouble. On his fourth visit to America, in 1643, he was imprisoned at Boston for a year, ostensibly to wait for further evidence; but no further evidence was produced, and he was set at liberty. By this time the Puritan successes had destroyed the hopes of his party in England, and, broken in health and fortune, he retired to Agamenticus, Maine, and died there in 1646. His picturesque career has always appealed to students of early New England life, and has inspired more than one literary attempt. Especially notable are Motley's novel of "Merry Mount" and Hawthorne's tale, "The MayPole of Merry Mount."

Morton's only book was the "New English Canaan, or New Canaan." There has been considerable discussion regarding the history of this work, but it seems reasonably certain that it was written in 1634 or 1635, to create a prejudice against the Massachusetts Puritans at the time when their charter was attacked; and that it was first published at Amsterdam in 1637. To this foreign printing may be due the crudities and inaccuracies of the text, which is in many places obviously corrupt.

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