SOURCE: Duyckinck, Evert A. and George L. Duyckinck. “Thomas Morton.” In Cyclopaedia of American Literature, edited by M. Laird Simons, Vol. I, pp. 33-5. Philadelphia: William Rutter & Co., 1877.

In the following essay from a work first published in 1856, the critics present an overview of Morton's experiences in New England, using details presented in New English Canaan, a work they find to be humorous if not entirely factual.

The readers of Nathaniel Hawthorne cannot fail to remember “the May-pole of Merry Mount.” The sketch, in its leading features, is a faithful presentation of a curious episode in the early history of New England. It has been narrated by the chief actor in the scene, “Mine Host of Ma-re Mount” himself, and his first telling of the “twice told tale” is well worth the hearing.

Thomas Morton, “of Clifford's Inn, gent.,” came to Plymouth in 1622, with Weston's party. Many of...