prison, others into the stocks, deprived of the means of livelihood, outlawed, famished, banned. Plainly their country was no place for them. After a few years of such work they resolved to establish themselves in Holland, where at least they hoped to find refuge and toleration.

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7. But it proved as difficult for them to quit the country. as to remain in it. Watched and hunted like gangs of coiners, forgers, or other felons attempting to flee from justice, set upon by troopers armed with bills and guns and other weapons,' seized when about to embark, pillaged and stripped by catchpoles, exhibited as a show to grinning country folk, the women and children dealt with like drunken tramps, led before magistrates, committed to jail, they were only able after attempts lasting through two years' time to effect their escape to Amsterdam." Then the wanderers were Pilgrims.

The Pilgrims

8. Their residence in Amsterdam was brief. To Leyden (li-den) they soon removed, and here for several years they "lived together in peace, and love, and holiness. But they feared that, if they continued there much longer, they would cease to be Engin Holland. lish, and would adopt all the manners and ideas and feelings of the Dutch. For this and other reasons," they decided to plant a colony in America, where, in the enjoyment of their religious rights, they would once more be under the government of their native land. The "embarkation" took place at Delft-Haven.

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9. Delft-Haven is an unimportant seaport on the long line of the Dutch coast; yet it is worthy of remembrance, for it marks the march of man toward the future, and toward freedom. On the morning of

1620

The Embarkation.

63

the 22d of July, of the year 1620, a few persons, on the quiet key, knew that a small bark of sixty tons, called the Speedwell, was preparing for a voyage; but whither The and for what? She was no merchantman bound Embarkation. for gain, no privateer for plunder, no holiday sail for pleasure, no explorer for new continents.

10. On that morning the living freight of that vessel gathered on her deck, men, women, and children, some old, but mostly young. They were English born, and English bred, though they had now lived in this foreign land twelve years. They did not forget the land of their birth, yet they thanked the Dutch for shelter when they were driven out from their homes and the places they loved so well. They had taken counsel of their hope and their fears 'to seek of God,' using their own words, a right way for us and our children.' They believed they had found the right way, and were now to go forward on it, leaving behind the larger part of their church and their minister, for all could not then go.

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11. The Pilgrims stood in groups, and the conversation, if brief and low, was earnest. Then Robinson knelt down on the deck, and with him knelt his friends and companions. He stretched out his hands, and cried to the Lord, and his words moved all hearts. It would be hard to say which were the more bereft; those who went, or those who stayed. As they on the shore watched the departing bark with streaming eyes, they were borne up by a living faith that liberty and righteousnes should one day prevail.

12. They sailed for Southampton, England, where awaited them another small ship, the Mayflower. The final arrangements having been made, the two ships stood out to sea. The passengers had hardly begun to arrange themselves to their new circumstances, when signals from the Speedwell told them that something was wrong-that evil threatened them. To turn back was the only alternative; and then to learn that the Speedwell was leaking badly was the unwel

come news. To old England, then, they must once more steer, and that without delay, for the water made fast, so that when they arrived at Dartmouth, they believed that in three hours more the ship would have sunk right down.'

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13. After eight days of delay, they again sailed, but, before long, the signals told of further trouble. The superstitious element was then rife in the land; and the habit of tracing every event to a special act of God led some to fear that these delays and rebuffs signified that God was displeased at the voyage. It was decided to put back to England -this time to Plymouth. Finally the Mayflower, with as many of the Pilgrims as could be accommodated on board, set sail for America, solitary and alone."

14. After a boisterous voyage of more than two months, the Mayflower dropped her anchor at noon, on a Saturday, in the harbor of Cape Cod. There, in the cabin of the little vessel, all the men, forty-one in number, agreed

Settlement

of to a form of government for their colony, by signing Plymouth. their names to a compact that had been previously prepared. With the same unanimity they chose John Carver governor for one year. "Having kept their Sabbath in due retirement, the men began the labors of the week by landing a shallop from the ship, and hauling it up the beach for repairs, while the women went on shore to wash clothes. While the carpenter and men were at work on the boat, sixteen others, armed and provisioned, with Standish for their commander, set off on foot to explore the country. only incident of this day was the sight of five or six savages, who, on their approach, ran away too swiftly to be overtaken. At night, lighting a fire and setting a guard, the party bivouacked at the distance, as they supposed, of ten miles from the vessel.

The

15. Proceeding southward, next morning, they observed marks of cultivation; some heaps of earth which they took for signs of graves, and the remains of a hut, with a great kettle, which had been some ship's kettle.' In a heap which

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1620

Settlement of Plymouth.

65

they opened they found two baskets containing four or five bushels of Indian corn, of which they took as much as they could carry away in their pockets and in the kettle. The second night, which was rainy, they encamped again with more precaution than before. On Friday evening, having lost their way meanwhile, and been amused by an accident to Bradford, who was caught in an Indian deer-trap, they returned to their friends.

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16. The succeeding week was spent in putting their tools in order and preparing timber for a new boat. During this time, which proved to be cold and stormy, much inconvenience was experienced from having to wade through the shallow water to the shore; and many took coughs and colds, which afterward turned to scurvy.' On Monday of the week next following, twenty-four of the colonists, in the shallop, which was now refitted, set out for an exploration along the coast. That day and the following night they suffered from a cold snow-storm, and were compelled to run into the shore for security.

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17. As soon as the state of the weather permitted, a party of ten, including Carver, Bradford, and others of the principal men, set off with eight seamen in the shallop, on what proved to be the final expedition of discovery. The severity of the cold was extreme. The water froze on their clothes, and made them, many times, like coats of iron.' Coasting along the cape in a southerly direction for six or seven leagues, they landed and slept at a place where ten or twelve Indians had appeared on the shore. The Indians ran away on being approached.

18. The next day, while part of the company in the shallop examined the shore, the rest, ranging about the country, found a burial-place, some old wigwams, and a small store of parched acorns buried in the ground. The following morning, at daylight, they had just ended their prayers, and were preparing breakfast at their camp on the beach, when they heard a yell, and a flight of arrows fell among them. The assail

ants turned out to be thirty or forty Indians, who, being

fired upon, retired.

ber of the arrows

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Neither side had been harmed. A numwere picked up, some whereof were headed with brass, others with hart's horn, and others with eagles' claws.'

19. Getting on board, they sailed along the shore in a storm of snow and sleet. In the afternoon, the gale having increased, their rudder was disabled, and they had to steer with oars. At length the mast was carried away, and they drifted in the dark with a flood tide. With difficulty they brought up under the lee of a small rise of land.' Here a part of the company, suffering from wet and cold, went on shore, though not without fear of hostile neighbors, and lighted a fire by which to pass the inclement night.

20. On Monday they sounded the harbor, and found it fit for shipping, and marched also into the land, and found divers cornfields and little running brooks, a place, as they supposed, fit for situation." And here they all landed, to the number of one hundred and two, on the 21st of December, 1620, a memorable day in the calendar. "A grateful posterity," says Bancroft, "has marked the rock on which they first trod. In memory of the hospitalities which the company had received at the last English port from which they had sailed, this oldest New England colony took the name of Plymouth.'

21. "The imagination," says Palfrey, "vainly tasks itself to comprehend the horrors of that fearful winter. The only mitigations were, that the cold was of less severity than is

The first winter at

usual in the place, and that there was not an entire want of food and shelter. The men carried

Plymouth. out the dead through the cold and snow, and then hastened back from the burial to wait on the sick; and as the sick began to recover, they took the places of those whose strength had been exhausted. Warm weather came at length, and the birds sang in the woods most pleasantly. Never was spring more welcome;" but death had carried to