Papers of the Winthrop Family, Volume 2

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John Winthrop and Others to——

27 October 1629

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Margaret Winthrop to John Winthrop

5 November 1629

John Maidstone to John Winthrop1

Maidstone, John Winthrop, John

1629-11-04

To the worshipfull his assured good vncle John Winthrop Esq: dddd

Good Sir,

reverenced, and much respected, I have adventured to presente vnto your veiw, some few lines, vpon occation of your intended voyage into the plantation, in the behalfe of our minister, Mr. Philips,2 who is fully resolved, to vndertake thee same with you, if god will. I have (I muste confes) broken thorow some oposition, (I say not little,) to enter vpon this presente, and private practise. For I well assure my selfe, that if notice weare taken, that I should bee a furtherer of Mr. Philips, in this iourney, which many doe so violently (yet I perceive but carnally) oppose, I should procure to my selfe much rebuke. Yet I am informed, of so much glory which is like to come to god in it, as for my parte allthough I know, and can easily make good, that noe man hath reason more vnwillingly, to parte with him than my selfe, yet I have so far denyed my selfe, as to bee well contented 165with this his voyage. Onely by way of intimation, I desire (without his advise, or littleeste privity, I sereously proteste) to give you a little notice of him. His exelency in matters of divinity is such (as I make noe question but experience will make good,) as that hee is inferiour to very few, if to any: for proofe wheareof, I stande not vpon mine owne slender conceipte, but refer my selfe to the iudgemente of all the eminenteste Christians that ever have exercised familiarity with him: of whome many are encouraged to goe for his sake, and others to follow, so soone as god shall so dispose: neyther doe I at all doubte, but your owne iudgemente (good sir) is so sounde and peircinge, as it will with shorte experience finde out the truth of this relation. If therefore I may bee so bolde, I desire that in the choyce of your pastor, you would bee mindefull of him, if your selfe shall see it meete. I seeke not any thinge herein (if my worde may bee credited) but the promotion of Christes cause. If I have done any thinge, that may savour of pride, or ignorance, I humbly crave that it may not bee imputed, commendinge all to your favorable acceptance, and consideration. So remembringe my service to your selfe, and prayinge, for the successe of your busynes, I sease, and remaine,

Your nephew, though a poore yet a faythfull well wilier to your intended voyage John Maidstone. Boxted Novem. 4. 1629 1.

W. Au. 36; 5 Collections , I. 190–91. John Maidstone, son of John Maidstone of Pond House, Boxted, co. Essex. His mother was Anne Clopton, sister to the second wife of John Winthrop. He was a member for Colchester in the Parliament of 1654 and rejected nominee to that of 1658–59; in the Parliament of 1656 his name was on one of the two indentures of return, but it does not appear that the contest was decided. Visitation of Suffolk, J. J. Howard, Ed., I. 131; Visitations of Essex, I. 447; Parliamentary Papers, 1878, LXII. pt. 1, 508; Essex Review, v. 207 (1896). His estimate of the career and character of Cromwell, made in a letter of 1659 to John Winthrop, Jr., has been often cited, e.g., in The Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Carlyle, Ed., (London, 1845), I. 27.

George Phillips (1593–1644), M. A. (Cambridge), curate of Boxted, minister of Watertown, Massachusetts, D. N. B. ; and Henry Wilder Foote's biographical essay, Proceedings , LXIII. 193–227. Some of his letters will be printed in a later volume of this series.