Mistress Bradstreet (42 page)

15. Shepard, “The Autobiography,” in McGiffert,
God’s Plot,
53.
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16. John Smith, quoted in Norton,
Founding Mothers and Fathers,
115-16
.
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17. John Brereton,
A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia
(London, 1588), quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
2. For Smith’s renaming strategy, see Cressy,
Coming Over,
6.
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18. Bradstreet, “Autobiography,” in
Works,
241.
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19.
State Papers Domestic, Charles I,
vol. 72, no. 36,
Calendar of State Papers, Venetian—Charles I,
1626-28
, 119, quoted in White,
Anne Bradstreet,
87-88
, 81.
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20. R. C. Winthrop,
Life and Letters of John Winthrop,
vol. 1 (Boston, 1869), 304, quoted in ibid., 94.
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21. Francis Higginson, ‘New Englands plantation’ (London, 1630), quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
12.
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22. Johnson,
Wonder-Working Providence of Sion’s Savior in New England
(London, 1654), in Miller,
American Puritans,
29-30
.
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23. John Pory, Emmanuel Altham, and Isaak de Rasieres,
Three Visitors to Early Plymouth: Letters about the Pilgrim Settlement in New England During Its First Seven Years,
ed. Sydney V. James Jr. (Plymouth, Mass.: 1963),
6-17
; William S. Powell,
John Pory,
1572-1636
: The Life and Letters of a Man of Many Parts
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1977),
83, 93, 96,
quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
7-8
.
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24. For the Sagadahoc, Maine, experiment, see Charles Andrews,
The Colonial Period in American History,
4 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,
1934-38
), vol.
1, 78-97
, quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
3-4
.
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25. William Alexander,
The Mapp and Description of New England
(London, 1630), 30, quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
9.
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CHAPTER SIX:
Preparedness

1. William Bradford,
History of Plymouth Plantation
1620-1647
, vol. 1 (Boston, 1912), 56, quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
147.
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2. Ibid.
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3. Bradstreet, “The Flesh and the Spirit,” in
Works,
215, lines
14, 16-17, 20-21.
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4. Bradstreet, “A Dialogue between Old England and New,” in
Works,
179-81
, lines
31-32
.
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5. Quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
92.
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6. Ibid., 147.
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7. Ibid., 121.
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8. White,
Anne Bradstreet,
98. For more information on the costs of passage, see Cressy,
Coming Over,
119.
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9. Cressy,
Coming Over,
112-13, 115-16
. The list of supplies is taken from the contemporary lists Cressy provides.
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10. Bradford,
History of Plymouth Plantation,
quoted in ibid., 107.
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11. Hutchinson,
Hutchinson Papers,
vol.
1, 54
.
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12. Cressy,
Coming Over,
43-44.
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13. Higgenson,
Hutchinson Papers,
vol.
1, 53
.
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14. Dudley, “Deputy Governor Dudley’s Letter to the Countess of Lincoln,” in Young,
Chronicles,
324-25
, quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
45.
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15. Cressy,
Coming Over,
85.
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16. For a fuller exposition of Dudley’s views on emigration, see Dudley, “Deputy Governor Dudley’s Letter to the Countess of Lincoln,” in Young,
Chronicles,
324-25
. Aware of the stringent requirements that Dudley, and even the more gentle Winthrop, placed on all applicants, those who wrote recommendations for prospective emigrants sounded the interrelated themes of prudence, work, piety, and plenty, with the implication that those who labored diligently and well were probably among the righteous or could be converted into faithful Puritans. The minister Nathaniel Ward, a future close friend of Anne and Simon’s in the New World, begged Winthrop “to reserve room and passage in your ships for two families, a carpenter and a bricklayer, the most faithful and diligent workmen in all our parts. One of them hath put off a good farm this week and sold all, and should be much damaged and discouraged if he finds no place amongst you; he transports himself at his own charge.”
Winthrop Papers,
vol. 2 (Boston,
1931-47
), 192, quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
47.
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17. One such letter was Robert Parke’s to Winthrop: “I would desire you to give me directions what household I shall take with me, and for how long we shall victual us.” Cressy,
Coming Over,
111-12
.
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18. Quoted in Morgan,
Puritan Dilemma,
41.
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19.
Winthrop Papers,
vol.
4, 218
, quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
93.
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20. The unpredictable tidal water of the Witham was the main reason for the flood steps that most of the town dwellers had built to protect their homes; during storms it periodically washed through the town, although it could sometimes dry to a trickle during the summer.
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21. Mercy would also repeat the crossing, but not through her own choosing. Her husband, John, felt he had to fulfill his mission to serve God in England during the civil war, and so, at last she joined him and stayed in England with him for sixteen years. See chapters
17, 18
.
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CHAPTER SEVEN:
Our Appointed Time

1. This conception was popularized by the playwright Ben Jonson, who had created a ridiculous caricature of Puritans with a character named “Zeal-of-the-land-Busy” in his play
Bartholomew Fair.
In this wildly popular drama, “Busy” distinguished himself by traveling from stall to stall of the fair, destroying toys, trinkets, and gingerbread men (all of which he called “a flasket of idols”) because he was “moved in spirit” against the “peeping of popery.” In
Ben Jonson’s Plays and Masques,
ed. Robert M. Adams (New York: Norton, 1979).
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2. “Groups of traveling puritans often walked together for several hours on their way to and from worship, discussing sermons, singing psalms, and cementing the ties that linked them together as ‘friends in the Lord.’ As a result, gadding played an important part in fostering the social cohesion of local puritan networks and providing them with opportunities for the defiant flaunting of their lifestyles before their ungodly neighbors.” Durston and Eales, eds.,
Culture of English Puritanism,
20.
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3. Quoted in O’Toole,
Money and Morals,
at www.c-span.org/guide/books/booknotes/chapter/fc081698.htm.
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4. Ibid.
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5. Quoted in Morgan,
Puritan Dilemma,
30.
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6. Winthrop, “Anno Domini 1630, March 29, Monday,” in
Journal of John Winthrop,
ed. Dunn and Yeandle,
13-14
.
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7. Cressy,
Coming Over,
127-28
; White,
Anne Bradstreet,
105. Although many scholars suggest that it was not until the eighteenth century that people understood that citrus was a vital preventative agent against scurvy, there is actually ample evidence that the Puritans were well aware of the curative power of lemons in particular. Winthrop, for example, wrote home urging his wife to remember to bring this fruit with her on her voyage to America. See Cressy,
Crossing Over,
171.
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8. Richard Mather and Edward Taylor, quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
152. Cressy reports one traveler, Robert Cushman, as saying, “Our victuals will be half eaten up, I think, before we go from the coast of England.” Ibid., 155.
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9. Ibid., 157. Cressy writes, “Errors of navigation, achievements of seamanship and the fickleness of the weather could all be seen as manifestations of divine will.”
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10. Quoted in ibid.
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11. “The fact is that there was no uniform puritan identity or plan. Men and women from different parts of England had varied experiences of what constituted godly communities and how they were to be governed.” Bremer,
Winthrop,
182.
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12. Cressy,
Coming Over,
155. Cressy writes, “Some [passengers] diverted themselves in taverns, and felt the censure of their more sanctimonious fellow travelers.”
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13. Cotton Mather,
Sailours Companion and Counsellor
(Boston, 1709), vi, quoted in ibid., 165.
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14. Cressy states, “A few consulted dockside astrologers who sold them prognostications for the voyage.”
Coming Over,
155. For a more complete discussion of the retention of medieval beliefs and folk customs in the Puritan mind, see David Hall,
Worlds of Wonder,
chaps. 1 and 2.
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15. Historians are not sure of the date of Cotton’s sermon. Francis Bremer writes: “There was a Thursday lecture at [the Church of the] Holy Rood, and Cotton and Winthrop might have been guests on such an occasion, or the church might have been made available on a different day.” Bremer,
Winthrop,
431n1.
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16. 2 Sam.
7:10
(Geneva version), quoted in Morison,
Builders,
71.
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17. Cotton said, “Even ducklings hatched under an henne, though they take the water, yet will still have recourse to the wing that hatched them: how much more should chickens of the same feather, and yolke.” Ibid., 72.
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18. Cotton promised the settlers “firm and durable possession” by suggesting that God had “drive[n] out the heathen before them.” John Cotton, “God’s Promise to His Plantations,” in Heimert and Delbanco,
Puritans in America,
76, 79
. Andrew Delbanco, however, argues that this identification of New England with Canaan, or the promised land, happened later and originated in old England. He writes, “It was to be a very long time before New England came to think of itself as more than ‘ordinary’ in this sense.” Delbanco,
Puritan Ordeal,
93. Although Delbanco’s point may well be true for the vast majority of emigrants, Anne’s poetry, particularly, “A Dialogue between Old England and New” suggests that she had made this symbolic leap at least by the mid-1640s.
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19. Cotton, “God’s Promise,” 80.
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20. Bremer writes that this sermon “was not delivered on board the
Arbella
” as historians had once thought. He believes that Winthrop preached to a larger audience than was available once they were onboard. He writes, “If delivered on shipboard it would only have been heard by that portion of the emigrants who were on the
Arbella
and thus had a smaller impact.” Bremer,
Winthrop,
431n9.
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21. Peter Gomes, the current resident minister at Harvard College, has reflected that Winthrop’s sermon was the most important address of the millennium. Andrew Delbanco writes that the speech has become a “kind of Ur-text of American literature.” Quoted in Bremer,
Winthrop,
174; Peter Gomes, “Best Sermon: A Pilgrim’s Progress,”
New York Times,
April
18, 1999
, late edition, sec.
5, 102
; Delbanco,
Puritan Ordeal,
72.
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22. Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity,” in Baym et al.,
Norton Anthology of American Literature,
3rd ed.,
40-41
.
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23. Ibid., 41.
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24. Winthrop, “Thursday, 8 [April],”
Journal of John Winthrop,
ed. Dunn and Yeandle, 15.
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25. Quoted in Cressy,
Coming Over,
264.
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26. McGiffert,
God’s Plot,
63.
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27. This was actually a repeat performance on Winthrop’s part; one contemporary reported that Winthrop “at a solemn feast among many friends a little before their last farewell, finding his bowels yearn within him, instead of drinking to them, by breaking into a flood of tears himself, set them all aweeping . . . while they thought of seeing the faces of each other no more in the land of the living.” William Hubbard,
A General History of New England,
Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2nd ser. 5 (1815), 125, quoted in Bremer,
Winthrop,
170.
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