Good Newes from New England

Summary

Edward Winslow’s Good Newes from New England, printed in London in 1624, is a sequel to Mourt’s Relation and a report of the next years at Plymouth, from the arrival of new colonists through 1623. The hosted text follows Young’s 1841 Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers as transcribed in Project Gutenberg ebook 66332. Winslow writes as a participant, not as a later historian, and he uses the names he heard: the sachem is Massassowat; the interpreter is Tisquantum, not the later nickname Squanto. The book is valuable because it will not flatten the first years into a single feast. Winslow records a false alarm in which Tisquantum, as Winslow judges the matter, hoped to provoke a march against Massassowat, “especially because of the continued peace between Massassowat and us.” Hobbamock, the sachem’s champion, “said flatly that it was false, assuring us of Massassowat’s faithfulness.” The governor, having tested the report, “sharply reproved” Tisquantum, yet still found him necessary as an interpreter. Students should take this as Winslow’s account of a strained friendship, not as a final verdict on every person named. The most memorable chapter is the visit of March 1623, when news came “that Massassowat was like to die.” Winslow went to him, in what he calls the Indians’ “laudable custom” of visiting a friend in extremity. The sachem, barely able to speak, said, “O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.” After washing his mouth and giving him conserves and broth, Winslow writes, “Never did I see a man so low brought, recover in that measure in so short a time.” Massassowat later said, “Now I see the English are my friends and love me; and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they have showed me.” The same book also tells of Master Weston’s struggling colony at Wessagusset, of hunger, of plans to take corn by force which Plymouth would not approve, and of Captain Standish’s later expedition, in which Wituwamat and others were killed. That episode should be read with the same care as the illness narrative: it is part of the record, and it is not the whole of the relationship. Good Newes belongs beside Mourt’s Relation and Bradford’s history, and beside Winthrop’s Model of Christian Charity as another early New England reckoning with friendship, fear, and providence.

Plot or Argument

• After the first harvest

  Winslow reports the years after 1621: new arrivals, want, trade, and a relationship with Massassowat that is still a peace, but no longer only a feast.

• Tisquantum’s false alarm and Hobbamock’s answer

  He records a report of a planned attack, Hobbamock’s flat denial and assurance of Massassowat’s faithfulness, and his own judgment that Tisquantum raised a false alarm.

• The visit to a dying sachem

  In March 1623, hearing that Massassowat was like to die, Winslow visited him, treated him, and heard him, after recovery, call the English his friends.

• Wessagusset and a hard ending

  He also tells of Weston’s hungry colony, of a plan to take corn by force which Plymouth would not approve, and of Standish’s later expedition in which men were killed.

Characters

• Edward Winslow, author and visitor to Massassowat

  The narrator, who goes to the sick sachem, reports the false alarm, and later describes the trouble at Wessagusset.

• Massassowat, Wampanoag sachem

  The sachem of the earlier peace, here seen in suspicion, in sickness, and in a speech of friendship after his recovery. Winslow uses this spelling.

• Tisquantum, interpreter

  The interpreter whom Winslow, in this book, accuses of raising a false alarm; the governor reproves him and still finds him necessary.

• Hobbamock, Massassowat’s champion

  A pniese, or man of valor, who denies the false report and answers for his sachem’s faithfulness.

• Miles Standish, the Captain

  The colony’s military captain, sent to Manomet and later to Wessagusset, where Winslow records a deadly expedition.

Lessons

• Do not stop at the harvest letter

  Good Newes is the sequel to Mourt’s Relation. It shows friendship under strain: a false alarm, a visit to a sick sachem, and a later killing. The first feast is not the whole story.

  • What does Hobbamock say when the alarm is raised?
  • How does the visit to Massassowat change, or not change, the earlier covenant of peace?

• Winslow is a witness, not an umpire of every soul

  When Winslow says Tisquantum raised a false alarm, he is giving his own judgment. Students should be able to repeat that judgment and still know it is one man’s account.

  • What motive does Winslow attribute to Tisquantum?
  • What would it mean to read this fairly without pretending to know more than the source tells us?

• Wessagusset belongs in the lesson

  The book also records hunger at Weston’s colony, a rejected plan to take corn by force, and Standish’s later expedition, in which Wituwamat and others were killed. Discernment means facing that episode, not hiding it and not reducing the whole relationship to it.

  • What course did Plymouth refuse to approve when Weston’s people were hungry?
  • Why would it be untrue to tell only the illness story, or only the expedition?

Context

By 1623 Plymouth was still a small English plantation living by a peace with Massassowat, receiving new and sometimes disorderly colonists, and hearing rumors of wider Native alliances. Winslow wrote for English readers who had already seen Mourt’s Relation.

Composition

Printed at London in 1624. The hosted text follows Alexander Young, Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers (1841), as transcribed in Project Gutenberg ebook 66332. Young’s 1841 footnotes are omitted; occasional bracketed insertions and sidenotes remain. Winslow’s own spellings, including Massassowat and Tisquantum, are kept.

Reception

The book has long been read for the visit to the sick sachem, one of the most detailed early accounts of English and Wampanoag friendship. Honest teaching also requires the false alarm and the Wessagusset expedition, which the same volume contains.

Comparisons

• Mourt's Relation

  The 1622 journal, which Winslow also helped to write, ends with the harvest letter; this 1624 book is the sequel that letter cannot replace.

• Of Plymouth Plantation

  Bradford’s later history covers some of the same years in a governor’s voice and in original spelling; Winslow writes as the man who went to Massassowat’s bedside.

• The Mayflower Compact

  The civil compact of 1620 is the earlier political frame; Good Newes shows how fragile peace and policy had become only two or three years later.

• A Model of Christian Charity

  Winthrop’s 1630 sermon is another early New England reckoning with Christian community, written as a larger and later colony was beginning.

• The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson

  Rowlandson’s later captivity narrative is a different war and a different generation, but it is another primary source in which English and Native lives are bound together under providence.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The news that Massassowat was like to die, and why Winslow went to him.
• The sachem’s words, “O Winslow, I shall never see thee again,” and his later speech about English friends.
• Hobbamock’s flat denial of the false alarm.
• Plymouth’s refusal to approve taking corn by force, and the later expedition at Wessagusset.

Key terms and names

Massassowat

Winslow’s spelling of the Wampanoag sachem usually written Massasoit in later English.

Tisquantum

The interpreter, called Squanto in Bradford, whom Winslow in this book accuses of raising a false alarm.

Hobbamock

A pniese, or champion, of Massassowat, who denies the false report and answers for his sachem’s faithfulness.

Wessagusset

The site of Master Weston’s struggling colony, and of Standish’s later deadly expedition.

Laudable custom

Winslow’s name for the Native practice of visiting a friend who is dangerously sick.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension What news came to Plymouth about Massassowat, and what custom did Winslow say they were honoring by going to him?
2. Comprehension What did Massassowat first say to Winslow, and what did he say after his recovery?
3. Comprehension What did Hobbamock say about the alarm, and what course at Wessagusset did Plymouth refuse to approve?
4. Interpretation How does Winslow try to explain Tisquantum’s false alarm, and what limits should a reader keep on that explanation?
5. Interpretation Why does the illness narrative, by itself, give an incomplete picture of this book?
6. Big Question How should a Christian reader tell a story of friendship, healing, suspicion, and killing without making any one chapter the whole truth?

Faith Connections

• Matthew 25:35–36 (Scripture)

  The Lord’s words about visiting the sick may be set beside Winslow’s journey to Massassowat, as a measure, not as a claim that the visit settles every later deed.

• Psalm 41:1–3 (Scripture)

  The psalm’s blessing on the one who considers the poor and the sick can frame a discussion of the March 1623 visit, while leaving Wessagusset in view as well.

• Mourt's Relation and Of Plymouth Plantation (Great Conversation)

  The 1622 harvest letter and Bradford’s later history are the necessary companions to this 1624 report.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because friendship had been professed, Winslow goes to Massassowat in sickness, and because peace can be strained by rumor, hunger, and fear, the same book must also record a false alarm and a later shedding of blood.

Rhetorical device: first-person witness. Winslow’s “Never did I see a man so low brought, recover in that measure” and his later narrative of Wessagusset both depend on the authority, and the limits, of a man who was there.

Debate: Resolved: that Good Newes from New England should be taught as a whole book, not as a single chapter of healing.

Memory Work

“O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.”

Now I see the English are my friends and love me; and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they have showed me.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Write an essay that follows Winslow from the false alarm through the visit to Massassowat and on to Wessagusset. Show what changes, and what, in his telling, does not.

Comparison with Mourt's Relation: Compare this book with the harvest letter in Mourt’s Relation. What would a reader miss if he had only the letter, or only the illness chapter of Good Newes?

Medical Lens

The chapter on Massassowat’s sickness is a first-person account of a visit, a fouled mouth and swollen tongue, conserves and broth, and a rapid recovery as Winslow saw it. It is not a modern diagnosis. The Wessagusset pages also describe hunger in Weston’s colony.

• March 1623, the visit to Massassowat

  Winslow finds the sachem barely able to speak or swallow, washes his mouth, scrapes his tongue, gives conserves and later broth, and reports a recovery he had never seen in so short a time.

  Fever Infection Nursing Caregiving Death Dying
• Weston’s colony at Wessagusset

  Winslow describes a company that has spent its bread and corn, is tempted to take food by force, and is in great want before the later expedition.

  Starvation Nutrition

Creative Prompts

• Essay

  Explain how Good Newes can record both Massassowat’s words of friendship and Winslow’s later account of bloodshed at Wessagusset. Use exact phrases from both parts of the book.

• Classroom

  Make a timeline from Mourt’s harvest letter through the false alarm, the March 1623 visit, and the Wessagusset expedition. Label each item with a short quotation.

• Dialogue

  Write a conversation between Winslow and Hobbamock after the false alarm, staying within what the book actually says about faithfulness, suspicion, and peace.

Further Reading

• Mourt's Relation, William Bradford and Edward Winslow

  The 1622 journal and harvest letter to which this book is the sequel.

• Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford

  Bradford’s later history of the same colony, in original spelling.

• The Mayflower Compact, The Mayflower company

  The 1620 civil agreement that precedes the years this book records.

• Edward Winslow, Great Lives

  A short life of the author, diplomat, and visitor to the sick sachem.

• Massasoit (Ousamequin), Great Lives

  A short life of the sachem whose illness, recovery, and later friendship Winslow records.

• Tisquantum (Squanto), Great Lives

  A short life of the interpreter whom, in this book, Winslow accuses of raising a false alarm.