England in America, 1580-1652 Part 28

[Footnote 16: Palfrey, _New England,_ II., 47.]

[Footnote 17: _Ma.s.s. Col. Records,_ II., 9.]

[Footnote 18: Ibid., 203.]

[Footnote 19: Ibid., I., 183.]

[Footnote 20: Ibid., 253.]

[Footnote 21: Weeden, _Econ. and Soc. Hist., of New England_, I., 282, II., 861.]

[Footnote 22: Weeden, _Indian Money as a Factor in New England Colonization_ (_Johns Hopkins University Studies_, II., Nos. viii., ix.).]

[Footnote 23: _Ma.s.s. Col. Records_, 110; _Conn. Col. Records_, I., 8.]

[Footnote 24: _Ma.s.s. Col. Records_, IV., pt. i., 84, 118.]

[Footnote 25: Howe, _Puritan Republic,_ 102, 110, 111.]

[Footnote 26: Bradford, _Plimoth Plantation,_ 459.]

[Footnote 27: Tyler, _American Literature,_ II., 87.]

CHAPTER XX

CRITICAL ESSAY ON AUTHORITIES

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AIDS

Four special bibliographies of American history are serviceable upon the field of this volume. First, most searching and most voluminous, is Justin Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History of America_ (8 vols., 1888-1889). Mr. Winsor has added to the study of the era of colonization by the writers of his co-operative work the vast wealth of his own bibliographical knowledge. The part of Winsor applicable to this volume is found in vol. III., in which most of the printed contemporary material is enumerated. The second bibliography is the _Cambridge Modern History,_ VII. (1903); pages 757-765 include a brief list of selected t.i.tles conveniently cla.s.sified. J.N. Lamed, _Literature of American History, a Bibliographical Guide_ (1902), has brief critical estimates of the authorities upon colonial history.

Channing and Hart, _Guide to the Study of American History_ (1896), contains accounts of state and local histories (-- 23), books of travel (-- 24), biography (-- 25), colonial records (-- 29), proceedings of learned societies (-- 31), also a series of consecutive topics with specific references (---- 92-98, 100, 101, 109-124). For the field of the present volume a short road to the abundant sources of material is through the footnotes of the princ.i.p.al secondary works enumerated below. The critical chapters in _The American Nation,_ vols. III. and V., contain appreciations of many authorities which also bear on the field of vol. IV.

GENERAL SECONDARY WORKS

The "Foundation" period, from 1574 to 1652, is naturally one of the most interesting in the annals of the American colonies. The most important general historians are George Bancroft, _History of the United States_ (rev. ed., 6 vols., 1883-1885); J.A. Doyle, _English Colonies in America_ (3 vols., 1882-1887); Richard Hildreth, _History of the United States_ (6 vols., 1849-1852); George Chalmers, _Political Annals of the American Colonies_ (1780); Justin Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History of America_ (8 vols., 1888-1889); John Fiske, _Discovery of America_ (2 vols., 1892), _Old Virginia and Her Neighbors_ (1900), _Beginnings of New England_ (1898), _Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, New France and New England_ (1902).

Among these writers three have conspicuous merit--Doyle, Winsor, and Fiske. Doyle's volumes manifest a high degree of philosophic perception and are accurate in statement and broad in conclusions. Of his books the volumes on the Puritan colonies are distinctly of a higher order than his volume on the southern colonies. The chief merit of Winsor's work is the critical chapters and parts of narrative chapters, which are invaluable. John Fiske is not wanting in the qualities of a great historian--breadth of mind and accuracy of statement; but his great charm is in his style and his power of vivifying events long forgotten. He has probably come nearer than any one else to writing real history so as to produce a popular effect.

COLLECTIONS OF SOURCES

The main contemporary collectors of materials for the history of the early voyages to America were Richard Eden, Richard Hakluyt, and Samuel Purchas. Eden's _Decades of the New World or West Indies_ (7 vols., 1555) consists of abstracts of the works of foreign writers--Peter Martyr, Oviedo, Gomara, Ramusio, Ziegler, Pigafetta, Munster, Bastaldus, Vespucius, and others. Richard Hakluyt first published _Divers Voyages_ (1582; reprinted by the Hakluyt Society) and then his _Princ.i.p.al Voyages_ (3 vols., folio, 1589; reissued 1600). Samuel Purchas's first volume appeared in 1613 under the t.i.tle, _Purchas: His Pilgrimage of the World, or Religions Observed in all Ages and Places Discovered, from the Creation unto this Present_. The four subsequent volumes were published in 1623 under the t.i.tle, _Hakluytius Posthumous, or, Purchas: His Pilgrimes._

Among these three compilers Hakluyt enjoys pre-eminence, and the Hakluyt Society has supplemented his labors by publis.h.i.+ng in full some of the narratives which Hakluyt, for reasons of accuracy or want of s.p.a.ce, abbreviated. _The Historie of Travaile into Virginia_, by William Strachey, secretary to Lord Delaware, was published by the Hakluyt Society in 1848, and this book contains excellent accounts of the expeditions sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to Roanoke, the voyages of Bartholomew Gosnold and George Weymouth, and the settlement made under its charter by the Plymouth Company at Sagadahoc, or Kennebec.

The only official collection of doc.u.mentary materials that covers the entire period is the _Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, 1574-1696_ (9 vols., 1860-1903). George Sainsbury, the editor, was a master at catching the salient points of a ma.n.u.script. Many of his abstracts have elsewhere been published in full.

The princ.i.p.al private collectors are E. Hazard, _State Papers_ (2 vols., 1792-1794); Peter Force, _Tracts_ (4 vols., 1836-1846); Alexander Brown, _Genesis of the United States_ (2 vols., 1891); Albert Bushnell Hart, _American History Told by Contemporaries_ (4 vols., 1898-1902); Maryland Historical Society, _Archives of Maryland_; and the series called _Doc.u.ments Relating to the Colonial History of New York_, edited by John Romeyn Brodhead. Two convenient volumes embodying many early writings are Stedman and Hutchinson, _Library of American Literature_, I. (1888); Moses Coit Tyler, _History of American Literature During the Colonial Time, 1607-1676_, I. (1897).

VIRGINIA

The standard authorities for the history of Virginia are Robert Beverley, _History of Virginia_ (1722) (extends to Spotswood's administration); William St.i.th, _History of Virginia_ (1747) (period of the London Company); John D. Burk, _History of Virginia_ (4 vols., 1805); R.R. Howison, _History of Virginia_ (2 vols., 1846); Charles Campbell, _History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia_ (1847); and Jonn Fiske, _Old Virginia and Her Neighbors_ (1900). For the period St.i.th is by far the most important. His work covers the duration of the London Company, and as he had access to ma.n.u.scripts now destroyed the history has the value of an original doc.u.ment. As president of William and Mary College St.i.th was an accomplished scholar, and his work, pervaded with a broad, philosophic spirit, ranks perhaps first among colonial histories. As a mere collection of facts upon the whole colonial history of Virginia Campbell's work is the most useful. The greatest collection of original material bearing upon the first ten years of the colony's history is in Alexander Brown, _Genesis of the United States_ (2 vols., 1890). This remarkable work contains an introductory sketch of what has been done by Englishmen prior to 1606 in the way of discovery and colonization, and a catalogue of charters, letters, and pamphlets (many of them republished at length) through which the events attending the first foundation of an English colony in the New World are developed in order of time. Dr. Brown's other works, _The First Republic in America_ (1898), and _English Politics in America_ (1901) make excellent companion pieces to the _Genesis_, though the author has made a great mistake in not supporting his text with foot-notes and references.

Among the contemporary writers, John Smith, _Works_ (1884), edited by Edward Arber, is a compilation rather than a history, and in spite of its partisan coloring contains much that is valuable regarding Virginia affairs from 1607 to 1629. For matters from 1619-1624 we have the sure guide of the London Company's _Journal,_ in Virginia Historical Society, _Collections_, new series, VII. After that time the main dependence, apart from the _Calendar of State Papers,_ is Hening, _Statutes at Large of Virginia_ (13 vols., 1823). The leading incidents in Virginia connected with Lord Baltimore's colony of Maryland and the Puritan persecution are set forth by J.H. Latane, _Early Relations of Maryland and Virginia_ (_Johns Hopkins University Studies,_ XIII., Nos. iii., iv.) Many doc.u.ments ill.u.s.trative of this period may be read in Force, _Tracts,_ and Hazard, _State Papers;_ Virginia history is illuminated by many original doc.u.ments printed in the _Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_ (11 vols., 1893-1903); and the _William and Mary College Quarterly_ (12 vols., 1892-1903). The works of Edward D. Neill are also of a doc.u.mentary nature and of much value. Those which bear upon Virginia are _The Virginia Company_ (1868), _Virginia Carolorum_ (1886), _Virginia Vestusta_ (1885), and _Virginia and Virginiola_ (1878). Many tracts are cited in the foot-notes.

MARYLAND

The standard authorities for the history of Maryland are J.V.L.

McMahon, _Historical View of the Government of Maryland_ (1831); John Leeds Bozman, _History of Maryland_ (2 vols., 1837, covering the period of 1634 to 1658); James McSherry, _History of Maryland_ (1849); J.T. Scharf, _History of Maryland_ (3 vols., 1879); William Hand Browne, _History of Maryland_ (1893), and _George and Cecilius Calvert_ (1893); Edward D. Neill, _Founders of Maryland_ (1876), and _Terra Mariae_ (1867). Of these Bozman's work is an invaluable magazine of information, being, in fact, as much a calendar of doc.u.ments as a continuous narrative. William Hand Browne's books show great familiarity with the story of Maryland and its founders, but his treatment of the subject is marked by strong bias and partisans.h.i.+p in favor of Lord Baltimore and his government. Neill's books, on the other hand, argue strongly in favor of the Puritan influence on the history of Maryland. There are many interesting pamphlets relating to Maryland in the series of _Johns Hopkins University Studies_, such as Edward Ingle, _Parish Inst.i.tutions of Maryland_, I., No. vi.; John Hensley Johnson, _Old Maryland Manors_, I., No. vii.; Lewis W.

Wilhelm, _Maryland Local Inst.i.tutions_, III., Nos. v., vi., vii.; D.R.

Randall, _The Puritan Colony at Annapolis, Maryland_, IV., No. vi.; J.H. Latane, _Early Relations of Virginia and Maryland_, XIII., Nos.

iii., iv., and Bernard C. Steiner, _The Beginnings of Maryland_.

The doc.u.mentary material of Maryland is very extensive, as the State has been fortunate in preserving most of its colonial records. _The Archives of Maryland_ (23 vols., 1889-1903), published by the Maryland Historical Society, is composed of the proceedings of the council, legislature, and provincial court. The _Fund Publications_ of the society (36 nos. in 4 vols., 1867-1900), are also valuable in this respect, and contain among other things _The Calvert Papers_ (_Fund Publications_, No. 34). A complete list of all these publications can be found in the annual report of the society for 1902.

For the controversy between Lord Baltimore and the Puritans the chief authorities are Winthrop, _History of New England_ (2 vols., 1790-1853); _Lord Baltimore's Case Concerning the Province of Maryland_ (1653); _Virginia and Maryland, or Lord Baltimore's Case Uncased and Answered_ (Force, _Tracts_, II., No. ix.); Leonard Strong, _Babylon's Fall in Maryland, a Fair Warning to Lord Baltimore_; John Langford, _A Just and Clere Reputation of Babylon's Fall_ (1655); John Hammond, _Leah and Rachel_ (Force, Tracts, III., No. xiv.); _Hammond versus Heamans, or an Answer to an Audacious Prophet;_ Heamans, _Brief Narrative of the Late b.l.o.o.d.y Designs Against the Protestants._ The battle of the Severn is described in the letters of Luke Barber and Mrs. Stone, published in Bozman, _Maryland_, II., 688.

PLYMOUTH AND Ma.s.sACHUSETTS

The standard authorities for the history of these two colonies are Thomas Hutchinson, _History of the Colony of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay_ (3 vols., 1795-1828); John G. Palfrey, _History of New England_ (3 vols., 1858-1890); J.S. Barry, _History of Ma.s.sachusetts_ (3 vols., 1855-1857). Very lively and interesting are Charles Francis Adams, _Ma.s.sachusetts: Its Historians and Its History_ (1893); _Three Episodes of the History of Ma.s.sachusetts_ (2 vols., 1895). The best account of Plymouth is J.E. Goodwin, _The Pilgrim Republic_ (1888).

The chief original authority for the early history of the Puritan colony of New Plymouth is William Bradford, _Plimoth Plantation_ (several eds.); and for Ma.s.sachusetts, John Winthrop, _History of New England_ (several eds.), which is, however, a journal rather than a history. Edward Arber, _Story of the Pilgrim Fathers as Told by Themselves_ (1897), is a collection of ill-arranged sources. The doc.u.mentary sources are numerous. Hazard prints many doc.u.ments bearing upon the early history of Ma.s.sachusetts, and much valuable matter is found in the _Records of Plymouth_ (12 vols., 1855-1859), and the _Records of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay_ (5 vols., 1853-1854). Then there are the published records of numerous towns, which throw much light upon the political, social, and economic condition of the colonies. The publications of the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society and of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society contain much original matter and many interesting articles upon the early history of both Plymouth and Ma.s.sachusetts. Special tracts and doc.u.ments are referred to in the foot-notes to chaps, ix.-xiii., above.

RHODE ISLAND

The general histories are J.N. Arnold, _History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation_ (2 vols., 1878), and Irving B.

Richman, _Rhode Island, Its Making and Meaning_ (2 vols., 1902). The chief original authorities for the early history of Rhode Island are John Winthrop, _History of New England_, and the _Colonial Records_, beginning in 1636. The publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society consist of _Collections_ (9 vols.), _Proceedings_ (21 numbers), and _Publications_ (8 vols.). In all of these important material for history is preserved. The Narragansett Club, _Publications_ (6 vols.), contain Roger Williams's letters; and there is some important matter in S.S. Rider, _Rhode Island Historical Tracts_ (1877-1895), in the _Narragansett Historical Register_ (9 vols.), and the _Newport Historical Reports_ (4 vols.).

CONNECTICUT AND NEW HAVEN

For Connecticut the standard authority is Benjamin Trumbull, _History of Connecticut_ (2 vols., 1818). Other general histories are by Theodore Dwight, G.H. Hollister, and W.H. Carpenter. Original material is found in the _Colonial Records_, edited by J.H. Trumbull and C.J.

Hoadly; Winthrop, _History of New England_; Connecticut Historical Society, _Proceedings_, which contain Hooker's famous letter to Winthrop; and Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society, _Collections_.

For New Haven the reader should consult Edward E. At.w.a.ter, _History of New Haven_ (1881); Charles H. Levermore, _Republic of New Haven_ (1886); and the publications of the New Haven Historical Society and the _Records of the Colony of New Haven_, in which the doc.u.mentary material is chiefly printed. In connection with this volume the records of Hartford and of Southold are important. Special authorities are cited in chaps, xiv., xv. above.

NEW HAMPs.h.i.+RE AND MAINE