102 



FREE school; and in 1071, under John Morton as teacher, and Thomas 

 Hinckley as steward of the fund, such ;i school was opened in tlie 

 colony. This is a most interesting incident: the C?,pe which aflfbrded 

 the first shelter to the fathers, supported the first public seminary for 

 the education of the cljildren! 



Morton, who was a nephew of the secretary of the colony, proposed 

 merely to teach the youth of one town "to read, write, and to cast ac- 

 counts." But a gi'ammar-school was soon established in Plymouth; 

 and several were actually in operation in other places as early as the 

 year IGSO. 



The fisheries, I conclude, were considered public property, and were 

 generally leased to individuals for the benefit of the colon}', or of par- 

 ticular towns. The subject of "rents" and of "profits" is continually 

 referred to in the records, and orders to grant leases to petitioners, or 

 to protect lessees in the enjoyment of the privileges stipulated in the 

 covenants with ihem, are of frequent occurrence. An ordinance of the 

 latter description of e?vtreme severity was passed in 167S — the court 

 directing that all fishing vessels not "belonging to the colony should be 

 seized for public use by warrant from the governor, or one of his as- 

 sistants, and that the lessees of the colony fisheries should be entitled 

 to damages, to be paid them out of the proceeds of the vessels seized 

 and confiscated. The people of Massachusetts w^ere alone exempted 

 from the penalties of this extreme measure. 



Randolph, the first collector of the customs of Boston, gave a general 

 account of the different New England colonies at this period, and said 

 of "New Plymouth" that the people were principally "farmers, gra- 

 ziers, and fishermen ;" that there were "very few merchants, they being 

 supplied with all l()reign comraodoties from Boston;" and that "they 

 have no ships of burden, but only small ketches and burkes, to trade 

 along the coast, and take fish." 



The colony of Plymouth was united witli Massachusetts b}"- the 

 charter of William and Mary in 1G92, and a separate notice of its fish- 

 eries accordingly ceases at that date. 



John Aid en, the last of the Pilgrim band, died only five years pre- 

 viously. He lived in America sixty-seven years ; and in every admin- 

 istration during the whole time he participated in public afiiurs. 



To regard his connexion with our subject as merely official, his re- 

 lations commenced with the first, and terminated only \\'ith the last, of 

 the incidents that I have here recorded. But we know, besides, that 

 his private interest in the " wealth of seas " and in general trade was 

 often extensive. 



Sufficienl has now been said to show the general course of affairs 

 among our fiithcrs, and to connect the branch of industiy under notice 

 with some of the most hallowed names in our annaL;. Alark Antony,* 



* The Romans, like the Egj-ptians, carried the art of rearing fish to great perfection ; and 

 atmoKt every rich citizen had a tish-pond. At some of their feasts a thousani) of the choicest 

 fi«l.:es were set upon Uicir tallies; iiud at a 8upi>cr jjivcn to Vitellius by his brother, tli(;re was 

 double tliat number jirovided lor the gtiests. It was a cu.-^toni, at one time, to carry the dol- 

 phin to their eating-rooms alivt% in order to i(h)t their eyes with the changes of its et>lor when, 

 dying. They were, perhaps, the most sensual and luxurious people who have ever lived- 

 Their gormaudizing habits may be seeu from the clrcuuLstauce of Jiiliiw Caisai-'s having takea 



