New Englands Plantation: With The Sea Journal and Other Writings
9781465683632
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
“New Englands Plantation,” a tract published in London early in 1630, contains the earliest printed account of the colony established by Endecott in 1628, at Neihum kek, now Salem. A description of the natural conditions surrounding the new settlement is also preserved, the narrative presenting, in the quaint phrase of the original, “a short and true description of the commodities and discommodities of that countrey.” The tract was written by the Reverend Francis Higginson, who came in the emigration following Endecott, and who was eminently fitted, both by education and profession, to prepare for the friends in England a faithful account of the life in the new country, not only to gratify a natural curiosity, but also to attract a further emigration. Francis Higginson probably was born in Claybrooke Parish, Leicester, England, in 1587 88. He received his degree of M.A. in 1613 at Jesus College, Cambridge, and two years later he was settled over Claybrooke Parish, where he preached with distinction until at last his nonconformity brought him into danger of imprisonment. About that time “The Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England” obtained a charter from Charles I, and Higginson was invited to join the party which was being organized to make the first settlement in the new country. As minister he was to have equal political authority with the members of the governing council. He accepted the invitation, and with his family landed safely at Neihum kek, now Salem, Massachusetts, on June 30, 1629, and on the 6th of August following, was ordained teacher of the church, with Samuel Skelton as pastor. By virtue of his office he became not only a spiritual guide but a leader among his people, more especially during the trying winter and spring following the arrival of the ships. The exposure and the privations endured during that time proved too severe, and consumption laid hold upon him. He died August 6, 1630, “in the prime of his life and on the threshold of a great career,” leaving a widow and eight children, one of whom also became a minister and served the Salem church for nearly fifty years. The manuscript of “New Englands Plantation” probably was sent home to England upon the return of one of the vessels that had brought over the planters. It was received in London before November 20, 1629 (see Young’s “Chronicles of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay,” pp. 107, 242). Higginson had not expected that it would be printed, as it was written for “the satisfaction of loving friends” who had requested a letter upon his arrival, giving some account of the voyage across the Atlantic and of the newly settled country. Only the latter part of this letter was printed, the earlier portion, describing the voyage, not being deemed of sufficient importance to be thus preserved. Three editions were published, all bearing date of 1630. The author’s name appears on the title pages of the second and third editions. In 1634 was published William Wood’s “New Englands Prospect,” which gave much detailed information regarding the country and the settlements in the Massachusetts Bay. This superseded the earlier account by Higginson, and the latter dropped out of sight and in time became very rare. In 1792 it was reprinted in the Massachusetts Historical Collections. In 1836 it was included in Force’s “Tracts,” and in 1846 in Young’s“Chronicles of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay.”
