V.-GOVERNOR EDWARD WINSLOW: HIS PART AND PLACE IN

PLYMOUTH COLONY,

By Rev. WILLIAM C. WINSLOW, Ph. D., D. D., LL. D.

GOVERNOR EDWARD WINSLOW: HIS PART AND PLACE IN

PLYMOUTH COLONY.

By Rev. WILLIAM C. WINSLOW, PH. D., D. D., LL. D.

Each of the four great leaders of Plymouth Colony filled an indispensable place and performed a heroic part in the birth and development of the little Pilgrim Republic. Of the opening era at Plymouth, when the issue was between life and death itself to the infant State, Francis Baylies said:

It was only by the consummate prudence of Bradford, the matchless valor of Standish, and the incessant enterprise of Winslow that the colony was saved from destruction. The submissive piety of Brewster, indeed, produced a moral effect as important in its consequences as the active virtues of the others.

This united leadership, without a parallel in the history of combined leadership, is far more admirable to contemplate, I think, than if the Mayflower, that ocean-tossed casket, contained a single jewel of inestimable value, instead of several of great price, and others of lesser ray, destined to shine in history and in poetry.

The piety of Brewster, the wisdom of Bradford, the diplomacy of Winslow, the bravery of Standish, each so essential, reflect a unique glory when aptly combined and justly portrayed in a history of Plymouth. Because of those who have dipped their pens in ink tinted with the notion that one of the Pilgrims-perhaps their own ancestor-far outshone another, or all others, in gifts or achievements, I emphasize the beauty and the grandeur of this united leadership, which lay at the foundation of an English-speaking nation in North America. Ancestor worship among the Egyptians, the Arabs, or the Indians of to-day may point some moral; but in the delineation of the great actors on the historic stage-perhaps of Boston See notes at end of this paper.

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or of Plymouth-it may sometimes, and unconsciously, color the statement of facts with the wish of the heart."

But biography selects an actor on the historic stage, and with us now it is one of a group of four leaders, to describe whose part and place in the Pilgrim evolution but discloses better the character of the other three personalities. Each solo in turn but clearer proclaims the merit of a quartet; a study of Winslow deepens our respect and reverence for Bradford; of Bradford, our admiration for Winslow; the piety of Brewster shines brighter because of the flashing sword of Standish.

The distinct role of Edward Winslow in the Pilgrim economy, as fully established by 1625; a few distinctive transactions, chiefly diplomatic and gubernatorial, in his varied career, are all that it is possible for me to now present.

In writing of Winslow, whom he calls "one of the chief staff and support of the Plymouth colony," Hon. W. T. Davis, the most distinguished living historian of Plymouth, remarks of the Pilgrims:

Without Winslow they were a body of religionists, circumscribed in their boundaries, keeping themselves unspotted from the world with which they must all finally mingle and negotiate. With him, the statesman, the scholar, the man of affairs, they had an ambassador in whose diplomacy they might trust, and the fruits of whose wisdom they would be sure to reap. (History of Plymouth County, 65.)

October 18 last saw the three hundredth anniversary of the birthday of Edward Winslow, whose family may probably be traced back to the time of " Walter de Wynslaive, esq. (gentleman at arms), summoned from the county of Buckingham to perform military service in person against the Scotts," as the parliamentary record of 1322 reads. Dr. Young says that "with the exception of Winslow and Standish, the first settlers of Plymouth colony were, in point of family and prop erty, much inferior to those of Massachusetts." (Chron. of Pilgrims, 4.) Hutchinson, whose first mention of the May flower company is that of "Mr. Edward Winslow, one of the principal undertakers," refers to him as "a gentleman of the best family of any of the Pilgrim planters" (I, 13).

Winslow passed his twenty-fifth birthday in mid ocean, bu a momentous birthday arrived-that of the birth of popula government in the New World-when the Mayflower compac was drawn up and signed. Who shall follow after the gov

ernor in signing? Surely those who for years have stood next to Robinson and Brewster in the councils of the Church. Winslow will be halfway down the list; perhaps precede his brother Gilbert, who, as it turned out, was 31 in a list of 41.

Bradford, whose talents and worth have impressed themselves on the congregation, properly follows the governor. Why is Winslow asked to register next? Of the reasons why,

I give one that I have never seen given. It is that he materially aided in drawing up the compact, which, with his gifts of speech (for which in after years he was peerless among his associates), led those about him to place him second on the list next to Carver. We can never know the author or writer of that immortal paper; but in all probability Carver called on Brewster and Bradford to unite in its composition; Winslow, from his intelligence and rank, was asked to participate, also being the youngest, he acted as scribe for the committee. As Young intimates, Bradford and Winslow "were among the most active and efficient leaders among the Pilgrims; * they were also the only practiced writers among them" (115). That the document was framed without the essential aid of these two men is a moral impossibility. At any rate, there stands the signature of the youthful Winslow, who had been but three years with the company, before that of Allerton, Fuller, Brewster, Standish, and others.

The 22d of March added another "day of days" to the evolution of New England. The great Massasoit was at hand with his chiefs and chosen warriors. Did he mean peace or war?

"We were not willing to send our governor to them, and they were unwilling to come to us; so Squanto went again unto him (Massasoit), who brought word that we should send one to parley with him, which we did, which was Edward Winsloe." (Bradford and Winslow's Journal, 192.)

"Winslow and Massasoit on Watsons Hill! That interview saved the colony in its infancy, and therefore it has grown into manhood," exclaimed the president of the Pilgrim Society at the celebration in Plymouth in 1853.

The results of that interview, culminating in the treaty with Massasoit by Carver, lay at the very foundation of Plymouth's life, and vastly more. If Plymouth had failed, France would have probably occupied New England.

The initial embassy to the Indians, including the first exploration of the interior and the expedition down the coast of