Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation' Part 1

Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation'

by William Bradford.

INTRODUCTION.

To many people the return of the Bradford Ma.n.u.script is a fresh discovery of colonial history. By very many it has been called, incorrectly, the log of the "Mayflower." Indeed, that is the t.i.tle by which it is described in the decree of the Consistorial Court of London.

The fact is, however, that Governor Bradford undertook its preparation long after the arrival of the Pilgrims, and it cannot be properly considered as in any sense a log or daily journal of the voyage of the "Mayflower." It is, in point of fact, a history of the Plymouth Colony, chiefly in the form of annals, extending from the inception of the colony down to the year 1647. The matter has been in print since 1856, put forth through the public spirit of the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society, which secured a transcript of the doc.u.ment from London, and printed it in the society's proceedings of the above-named year. As thus presented, it had copious notes, prepared with great care by the late Charles Deane; but these are not given in the present volume, wherein only such comments as seem indispensable to a proper understanding of the story have been made, leaving whatever elaboration may seem desirable to some future private enterprise.

It is a matter of regret that no picture of Governor Bradford exists.

Only Edward Winslow of the Mayflower Company left an authenticated portrait of himself, and that, painted in England, is reproduced in this volume. In those early days Plymouth would have been a poor field for portrait painters. The people were struggling for their daily bread rather than for to-morrow's fame through the transmission of their features to posterity.

The volume of the original ma.n.u.script, as it was presented to the Governor of the Commonwealth and is now deposited in the State Library, is a folio measuring eleven and one-half inches in length, seven and seven-eighths inches in width and one and one-half inches in thickness.

It is bound in parchment, once white, but now grimy and much the worse for wear, being somewhat cracked and considerably scaled. Much scribbling, evidently by the Bradford family, is to be seen upon its surface, and out of the confusion may be read the name of Mercy Bradford, a daughter of the governor. On the inside of the front cover is pasted a sheet of manilla paper, on which is written the following:--

"_Consistory Court of the Diocese of London_

In the matter of the application of The Honorable Thomas Francis Bayard, Amba.s.sador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in London of the United States of America, for the delivery to him, on behalf of the President and Citizens of the said States, of the original ma.n.u.script book ent.i.tled and known as The Log of the Mayflower.

Produced in Court this 25th day of March, 1897, and marked with the letter A.

HARRY W. LEE Registrar.

1 Deans Court Doctors Commons"

Then come two manilla leaves, on both sides of which is written the decree of the Consistorial Court. These leaves and the manilla sheet pasted on the inside of the front cover were evidently inserted after the decree was pa.s.sed.

Next comes a leaf (apparently the original first leaf of the book), and on it are verses, signed "A. M.," on the death of Mrs. Bradford. The next is evidently one of the leaves of the original book. At the top of the page is written the following:--

This book was rit by govener William bradford and given to his son mager William Bradford and by him to his son mager John Bradford. rit by me Samuel bradford mach 20, 1705.

At the bottom of the same page the name John Bradford appears in different handwriting, evidently written with the book turned wrong side up.

The next is a leaf bearing the following, in the handwriting of Thomas Prince:--

TUESDAY, June 4--1728

Calling at _Major John Bradford's_ at Kingston near Plimouth, son of Major Wm. Bradford formerly Dep Gov'r of Plimouth Colony, who was eldest son of Wm. Bradford Esq their 2nd Gov'r, & author of this History; ye sd Major John Bradford gave me _several ma.n.u.script octavoes_ wh he a.s.sured me were written with his said Grandfather Gov'r Bradford's own hand. He also gave me a _little Pencil Book_ wrote with a Blew lead Pencil by his sd Father ye Dep Gov'r. And He also told me yt He had lent & only lent his sd Grandfather Gov'r Bradford's History of Plimouth Colony wrote by his own Hand also, to judg Sewall; and desired me to get it of Him or find it out, & take out of it what I thought proper for my New-England Chronology: wh I accordingly obtained, and This is ye sd History: wh I found wrote in ye same Handwriting as ye Octavo ma.n.u.scripts above sd.

THOMAS PRINCE.

N.B. I also mentioned to him my Desire of lodging this History in ye New England Library of Prints & ma.n.u.scripts, wh I had been then collecting for 23 years, to wh He signified his willingness--only yt He might have the Perusal of it while He lived.

T. PRINCE.

Following this, on the same page, is Thomas Prince's printed book-mark, as follows:--

This Book belongs to The New-England-Library, Begun to be collected by Thomas Prince, upon his entring Harvard-College, July 6 1703; and was given by

On the lower part of a blank s.p.a.ce which follows the word "by" is written:--

_It now belongs to the Bishop of London's Library at Fulham._

There are evidences that this leaf did not belong to the original book, but was inserted by Mr. Prince.

At the top of the first page of the next leaf, which was evidently one of the original leaves of the book, is written in Samuel Bradford's hand, "march 20 Samuel Bradford;" and just below there appears, in Thomas Prince's handwriting, the following:--

But major Bradford tells me & a.s.sures me that He only lent this Book of his Grandfather's to Mr. Sewall & that it being of his Grandfather's own hand writing He had so high a value of it that he would never Part with ye Property, but would lend it to me & desired me to get it, which I did, & write down this that sd Major Bradford and his Heirs may be known to be the right owners.

Below this, also in Thomas Prince's handwriting, appears this line:--

"Page 243 missing when ye Book came into my Hands at 1st."

Just above the inscription by Prince there is a line or two of writing, marked over in ink so carefully as to be wholly undecipherable. On the reverse page of this leaf and on the first page of the next are written Hebrew words, with definitions. These are all in Governor Bradford's handwriting. On the next page appears the following:--

_Though I am growne aged, yet I have had a long- ing desire, to see with my own eyes, something of that most ancient language, and holy tongue, in which the Law, and oracles of G.o.d were write; and in which G.o.d, and angels, spake to the holy patriarks, of old time; and what names were given to things, from the creation. And though I canot attaine to much herein, yet I am refreshed, to have seen some glimpse here- of; (as Moses saw the Land of canan afarr of) my aime and desire is, to see how the words, and phrases lye in the holy texte; and to dicerne some- what of the same for my owne contente._ ------- ----- --- J

Then begins the history proper, the first page of which is produced in facsimile in this volume, slightly reduced. The ruled margins end with page thirteen. From that page to the end of the book the writing varies considerably, sometimes being quite coa.r.s.e and in other places very fine, some pages containing nearly a thousand words each. As a rule, the writing is upon one side of the sheet only, but in entering notes and subsequent thoughts the reverse is sometimes used. The last page number is 270, as appears from the facsimile reproduction in this volume of that page. Page 270 is followed by two blank leaves; then on the second page of the next leaf appears the list of names of those who came over in the "Mayflower," covering four pages and one column on the fifth page. The arrangement of this matter is shown by the facsimile reproduction in this volume of the first page of these names. Last of all there is a leaf of heavy double paper, like the one in the front of the book containing the verses on the death of Mrs. Bradford, and on this last leaf is written an index to a few portions of the history.

For copy, there was used the edition printed in 1856 by the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society. The proof was carefully compared, word for word, with the photographic _facsimile_ issued in 1896 in both London and Boston. The value of this comparison is evident in that a total of sixteen lines of the original, omitted in the original first copy, is supplied in this edition. As the work of the Historical Society could not be compared, easily, with the original ma.n.u.script in London, these omissions, with sundry minor errors in word and numeral, are not unreasonable. The curious will be pleased to learn that the supplied lines are from the following pages of the ma.n.u.script, viz.: page 122, eight lines; page 129, two lines; the obverse of page 201, found on the last page of Appendix A, two lines; page 219, two lines; pages 239 and 258, one line each. The pages of the ma.n.u.script are indicated in these printed pages by numerals in parentheses.

There are several errors in the paging of the original ma.n.u.script. Pages 105 and 106 are marked 145 and 146, and pages 219 and 220 are marked 119 and 120, respectively. Page 243 is missing.

Such as it is, the book is put forth that the public may know what manner of men the Pilgrims were, through what perils and vicissitudes they pa.s.sed, and how much we of to-day owe to their devotion and determination.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

LEGISLATURE.

JOURNAL OF THE SENATE.

MONDAY, MAY 24, 1897.

The following message from His Excellency the Governor came up from the House, to wit:--

BOSTON, May 22, 1897.

_To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives._

I have the honor to call to your attention the fact that Wednesday, May 26, at 11 A.M., has been fixed as the date of the formal presentation to the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Bradford Ma.n.u.script History, recently ordered by decree of the Consistory Court of the Diocese of London to be returned to the Commonwealth of Ma.s.sachusetts by the hands of the Honorable Thomas F. Bayard, lately Amba.s.sador at the Court of St. James; and to suggest for the favorable consideration of your honorable bodies that the exercises of presentation be held in the House of Representatives on the day and hour above given, in the presence of a joint convention of the two bodies and of invited guests and the public.

ROGER WOLCOTT.