Thomas Morton
his calling from England (and thus the Church of England) as “hereticall and papisticall” (118) and he refuses, the “brethren” manufacture a scandal about Master John Layford to “conclude hee was a spotted beast” (119). They rid themselves of another Anglican minister, John Oldam, by declaring him to be too passionate and moody (119). Morton makes good sport of a new minister, whom he names Master Bubble. This man makes such use of his profound oratory gifts, his whole audience was fast asleep (122). When Bubble takes up residence with a man at Passonagessit, he says grace so lengthily that the meat turns cold (123). He proves ineffective in helping his host hunt for fowl because by the time he “paddles out like a cow in a cage,” all of the ducks have departed and escaped (124). Chapter 12 relates the deceitful actions of Master Bubble, master of ceremonies, who takes some guides with him on his hunt for beaver. In the night, Bubble leaves behind his sack with all his provisions and his shoes and makes his way out into the forest with his pants over his head to shield his head from imaginary arrows. The next day, his guides, bewildered by his absence, consult the English, carrying Bubble’s effects intact. The English are at fi rst inclined to believe their tale of Bubble’s mysterious disappearance but suspect something when they notice that he left without his shoes. The English threaten to kill the natives’ wives and children unless they give Master Bubble back, alive or dead. When they discover the “maz’d man,” he spins a tale of his travels and “perilous passages” that Morton deems them worthy of “knight errant, Don Quixote” (128). Morton closes this chapter, urging the reader to “observe whether the savage people are not full of humanity, or whether they are a dangerous people as Master Bubble and the rest of his tribe would perswade you” (128).
For Discussion or Writing 1. Compare the vision animating Morton’s work with that of his nemesis, WILLIAM BR ADFORD. How central is the depiction of American Indians to each man’s vision of the “New World”?
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2. Morton’s tale seems similar to JOHN SMITH’s because both men are early settlers whose central concerns were fortune and fame rather than fi nding a safe haven for religious tolerance. What or who becomes the higher authority for these authors instead of God? How do they imagine religion’s role in America? 3. Morton’s narrative marks itself as different because of its inclusion of poetry mixed in with ethnography, history, and personal narrative. Consider how this mixture of genres aids or detracts from Morton’s tale. How does his mixture of genres compare with Á LVAR NÚÑEZ CABEZA DE VACA’s?
FURTHER QUESTIONS ON MORTON AND HIS WORK 1. Not much is known about the life of Thomas Morton, aside from New English Canaan and Bradford’s treatment of him in Of Plymouth Plantation. What details or aspects of his life can you glean from reading New English Canaan? 2. As a gadfly, Thomas Morton might provide readers with more insight into the reality of Puritan life. What aspects of Puritan culture does Morton address or defy most directly? What conclusions might you draw about Puritan life and culture in early America from Morton’s outsider perspective, and how do these conclusions compare with those of early writers within the Puritan culture such as William Bradford and JOHN WINTHROP? WORKS CITED AND A DDITIONAL R ESOURCES Connors, Donald Francis. Thomas Morton. New York: Twayne, 1969. ———. “Thomas Morton of Merry Mount: His First Arrival in New England.” American Literature 11, no. 2 (1939): 160–166. Dempsey, Jack. Thomas Morton of “Merrymount”: The Life and Renaissance of an Early American Poet. Scituate, Mass.: Digital Scanning, 2000.