10385-21. 245 12703.2.5 * A DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to witz District Clerk's Office. RE IT REMEMBERED, that on the thirteenth day of December, A. D. 1826, in the fifty first year of the Independence of the United States of America, the Pilgrim Society, by their Treasurer, Isaac L. Hedge, of the said District, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit: "New England's Memorial. By Nathaniel Morton, Secretary to the court, for the jurisdiction of New-Plimouth. Fifth edition. Containing, besides the original work, and the Supplement annexed to the second edition, large additions in Marginal Notes, and an Appendix; with a lithographic copy of an ancient Map. By John Davis, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Itur in antiquam sylvam. -" In Conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, intitled, “An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies, of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned;" and also to an act, intitled. "An act supplementary to an act. intitled, An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and eching historical, and other prints." JNO. W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. PREFACE TO THIS EDITION. THE plan and purpose, intended by Secretary Morton, in compiling the New-England's Memorial, and the laudable principles by which he was influenced, are fully displayed in the dedication prefixed to his work, and in his address to the reader. The scale, which he prescribed to himself, was a limited one. His education, manner of life, and connexion with the leading men in the arduous enterprize recorded in his history, qualified him to accomplish his task, though undertaken with much diffidence. George Morton, the author's father, came to Plymouth, with his family, in July 1623 He had been an inhabitant of the same village with Governour Bradford, Ansterfield, in the North of England, and was connected with him, by marriage-his wife Sarah, being a sister of the Governour. He died in June 1624, leaving a widow and four children, Nathaniel, John, Patience and Ephraim. The child last named was born on the passage from England. John, the second son, was an early settler in Middleborough. From him, it is believed, is descended Hon. Marcus Morton, late Lieutenant-Governour, now one of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Ephraim became a man of considerable distinction, in the Colony. He was, for many successive years, a member of the Council of War, and, with John Bradford, represented the town of Plymouth, in the first General Court, holden at Boston, after the union with Massachusetts. From this branch is descended Perez Morton, Esq. Attorney-General of Massachusetts. Patience Mor ton, married John Faunce, and was the mother of Elder Thomas Faunce. Nathaniel, the eldest child, was twelve years old, when his father died. Every member of the bereaved family, doubtless, received the kind attentions of Gov Bradford. There were, at the same time, three other orphan youths, under his charge, Thomas Cushman, son of his excellent friend Robert Cushman, Constant Southworth and Thomas Southworth, sons of Mrs. Bradford, by her first husband. It must have been highly gratifying to their worthy patron, to witness the virtuous deportment of these youths, all nearly of the same age, and the esti mation in which they were held in the community, in their maturer years. In 1635, Nathaniel Morton was admitted a freeman, and, in the same year, was married to Lydia Cooper. In 1645, he was elected Clerk, or Secretary, of the Colony Court. His immediate predecessor, in that office, was Nathaniel Southworth, of whom we have no exact account. His name is sometimes written Souther, probably in accommodation to the pronunciation. It is supposed that he was related to Mrs. Bradford's first husband. Secretary Morton continued in office until his death, June 28, 1685, and we are much indebted to him for the good preservation of the venerable Old Colony archives. He was scrupulously faithful, diligent, and exact, displaying exemplary observance of the divine Herbert's injunction, in his Church Porch, If studious, copy fair what time hath blurr'd; The Secretary also held the office of Town Clerk, in which he was succeeded by his nephew, Elder Faunce. In 1673, his wife died. His second wife who survived him, was Ann Templar, of Charlestown, a widow, at the time of her marriage with Mr. Morton. He had eight children, (all by his first wife,) two sons who died in childhood, and six daughters. All the daughters were married in his life time. Two of them, Mercy and Elizabeth, died before their father. The death of Elizabeth, the wife of Nathaniel Bosworth, of Hull, and her honourable burial, at Plymouth, are mentioned in the Colony Records. The first edition of the Memorial was published in 1669. It was a small quarto volume, printed at Cambridge, by Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson, who received, for that service, a grant of twenty pounds, from the Colony, and afterwards a small additional gratuity. A second edition was printed in 1721, at Boston, by Nicholas Boone. To this edition was added a Supplement by Josiah Cotton, Esq. then Register of Deeds for the county of Plymouth. A more copious supplement might have been expected, considering the ample materials in the keeping of Mr. Cotton; but, probably, as much was furnished as the public were disposed to encourage. In 1772, a third edition, copied from the second, was printed, at Newport, by Solomon Southwick. When another edition appeared to be demanded, it was thought desirable, that notes should be annexed, giving information in regard to many particulars, connected with the original narrative, that might, in a degree, meet the increased interest in the early history of our country. This was undertaken by the editor. Before the completion of his labours, which have been often interrupted, and for long intervals suspended, another edition of the Memorial and Mr. Cotton's Supplement has appeared, printed at Plymouth, by Allen Danforth, in a duodecimo volume, so that this enlarged edition, which, it was expected, would have been the fourth, is denominated the fifth. In executing the work, the first edition has been followed. Marginal Notes have been added as occasion appeared to require; original documents, of too great length to be inserted in the margin, and additional remarks, requiring considerable space, are placed in the appendix. These additions, constitute nearly one half of the volume. The Map of New-England, prefixed, though very rudely sketched, had some attractions, inducing the editor to procure it to be copied for the Memorial. It was particularly designed to illustrate Hubbard's "Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians." Such explanations of this ancient performance as appeared to be necessary, are given at the close of a note on Philips' war, in the appendix.* The marginal notes in the original work, are retained, in this edition, and are marked with the letter M, subjoined. Some of those notes, before we arrive, in the history, to the year 1616, were, probably, written by Gov. Bradford, to whose manuscripts, down to that date, Secretary Morton acknowledges himself to be principally indebted for his materials. The notes appended to the extracts from Mourt's and Winslow's Journals, in the first part of the Appendix, were copied, with those extracts, from the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. They were written by Rev. James Freeman, D. D., to whom the community are indebted for many valuable illustrations of the history and geography of our country. The reader will find Antient Vestiges and Historical Extracts, occasionally quoted. By these references, the manuscript collections of Samuel Davis, Esq. of Plymouth, are intended, whose thorough knowledge of the antiquities of the Old Colony, and familiar acquaintance with its records, enabled him to afford frequent and very acceptable aid to the editor in his inquiries. In quotations from the Historical Collections, the first series is intended, unless the second be expressed. The quotations from Winthrop's Journal are from the first edition, having been written before the publication of Mr. Savage's highly improved edition of that interesting work. Before Mr. Savage's publication, the Hartford edition was regarded as a treasure; but now, Cedite Graii-the editor's quotations are, probably, among the last notices it is to receive. In regard to dates, they are given without alteration. Most of them belong to the seventeenth century, and can, readily, be converted into New Style, by the addition of ten days; one day more to be added in the eighteenth century, in dates before the introduction of the New Style. p. 461. as The figure at the head of Mr. Morton's dedication, represents With these introductory notices, some explanation, or apology |