THE LEADING MEN.

55

CHAPTER II.

Progress of the Pilgrims from Holland to America.

P'D. III.

CH. II.

1. FROM Delft-Haven, the Pilgrims sailed to South- PÄT. I. ampton, in England. Among the leaders of the party was ELDER BREWSTER, who at this time was fifty-six, but sound in body, as in spirit. JOHN CARVER was Leading near his age, beloved and trusted, as he was good and men. wise. WILLIAM BRADFORD was strong, bold, and enduring; but withal, a meek and prudent Christian. Next these in honor, and superior in native endowments, was EDWARD WINSLOW. He was at this time twenty-six; Bradford was thirty-two. MILES STANDISH had been in the English army, and was a brave and resolute officer.

Final de

2. After remaining in Southampton a fortnight, the party put to sea. But misfortunes befalling, they re- Sept. 6, turned, left the Speedwell, and finally, to the number parture. of one hundred, they set sail from Plymouth, in the solitary May-Flower. On the 6th of September, they took their last, sad look, of their native shore. After a stormy and perilous passage, they made land, on the 9th of November, at Cape Cod.

3. The mouth of the Hudson had been selected as the place of their settlement, and they accordingly Nov. 9. steered southerly; but soon falling in with dangerous at Cape breakers, and all, especially the women, being impa- Cod. tient to leave the ship, they determined to return and settle on or near the Cape. The next day they turned the point of that singular projection, and entered the harbor, now called Provincetown.

4. They fell on their knees to thank the kind Power who had preserved them amidst so many dangers; and

CHAPTER II.-1. From Holland where did the Pilgrims next go? Name their leading men. What is said of the first named? The second? The third? The fourth? The fifth?· -2. What happened when they first put out to sea? From what place did they last depart? In what vessel? How many persons? What was the length and character of the passage? What the first land made? 3. On what place had they intended to settle? Why did they change their minds? 4. What was their first act on arriving?

-

56

OBEDIENCE ESSENTIAL TO THE COMPACT.

PT. I. then "they did," says Cotton Mather, "as the light of P'D. III. nature itself directed them, immediately, in the harbor, CH. II. sign an instrument, as the foundation of their future Compact and needful government;" solemnly combining themsigned in selves into a civil body politic, to enact all such ordithe cabin. nances, and frame all such constitutions and offices, as,

from time to time, should be thought most meet and convenient for the general good; all which they bound themselves to obey.

5. This simple, but august compact, was the first of a series, by which the fetters of a vast system of political oppression have been broken. Upon some parts of the old continent that system still remains; building upon the fiction, that sovereigns own the world and its inhabitants, having derived all from God; ant trans- and that the people are to have only such a measure act on. of personal freedom, and such possessions, as kings

Import

100 of the

may choose to bestow. Here was assumed for the first time the grand principle of a voluntary confederacy of independent men; instituting government, for the good, not of the governors, but of the governed.

6. There were the same number of persons on board the May-Flower as had left England; but one, a serPilgrims. vant, had died; and one, a male child, Peregrine White, was born on the passage. Carver was immediately chosen governor, and Standish, captain.

7. No comfortable home, or smiling friends, awaited the Pilgrims. They, who went on shore, waded through the cold surf, to a homeless desert. But a place to settle in must be found, and no time was to be lost. The shallop unfortunately needed repairs, and in the meantime a party set out to make discoveries by They go land. They found "a little corn, and many graves;" and in a second excursion they encountered the chilling blasts of a November snow storm, which laid in some, the foundation of mortal disease. The country was wooded, and tolerably stocked with game.

Nov. 11,

on shore.

4. What their next step? For what did they combine into one body? To what did they bind themselves?-5. What may be said of this compact? Upon what fiction are some governments founded? What was here assumed? -6. What number of persons arrived? What officers were chosen ?-7. What can you say of their first arrival? What had they to do? What excursions did they make ?

THE ROCK OF PLYMOUTH.

57

p›D. III.

CH. II.

Dec. 6,

party

set sail

8. When the shallop was finished, Carver, Bradford PT. I. and Winslow, with a party of eighteen, manned the feeble bark, and set forth. Steering along the western shore of Cape Cod, they made, in three days, the inner circuit of the bay. "It was," says one of the number, "very cold; for the water froze our clothes, and made them many times like coats of iron." They landed occasionally to explore; and at night, inclosed with only a slight barricade of boughs, they stretched themselves upon the hard ground.

in the

shallop.

Attacked

9. On the second morning, as their devotions closed, they received a shower of Indian arrows; when, sallying out, they discharged their guns, and the savages fled. Again they offered prayers with thanksgiving; and proceeding on their way, their shallop was nearly wrecked by a wintry storm of terrible violence. After Dec. 8, unspeakable dangers, they sheltered themselves under by the the lee of a small island, where, amidst darkness and Nausets. rain, they landed, and with difficulty, made a fire. In the morning, they found themselves at the entrance of a harbor. The next day was the Sabbath. They rested and kept it holy, though all that was dear to them depended on their promptness.

10. The next day, the pilgrims landed on the rock of Plymouth. Finding the harbor good, springs abundant, and the land promising for tillage, they decided to settle here, and named the place from that which 1620. they last left in England. In a few days they brought Dec. 14, Plythe May-Flower to the harbor; and on the 25th of mouth December they began building, having first divided the Rock. whole company into nineteen families, and assigned them contiguous lots, of size according to that of the family, about eight feet front, and fifty deep, to each person. Each man was to build his own house. Besides this, the company were to make a building of twenty feet square, as a common receptacle. This was

8. What party set sail in the shallop? What course did they take? What sufferings encounter?-9. What happened on the second morning? Recollect Capt. Hunt, and say if these Indians had any cause to dislike the English? Relate what further happened, and where the Pilgrims landed? How did they spend the Sabbath ?-10. On what day and year did the Pilgrims land on the rock of Plymouth? At what time commence building? How proceed with it? How divide the land?

58

VISIT FROM THE INDIANS.

PT.1. soonest completed, but was unfortunately destroyed by

fire. P'D. III. CH. III.

They

suffer,

11. Their huts went up but slowly; for though their hearts were strong, yet their hands had grown feeble, through fatigue, hardship, and scanty fare. Many were wasting with consumptions. Daily some yielded to sickness, and daily some sunk to the grave. Before spring, half of their number, among whom was the governor and his wife, lay buried on the shore. but re- Yet they never repined, or repented of the step they had taken; and when, on the 5th of April, the MayFlower left them, not one, so much as spoke of returning to England. They rather confessed the continual April 5, 1621. mercies of a "wonder-working Providence," that had carried them through so many dangers, and was making them, the honored instruments, of so great a work.

pine not.

CHAPTER III.

The Savages-Massasoit's Alliance-Winslow's Visit to the

Pokanokets.

1. THE Pilgrims had as yet seen but few of the natives, and those hostile, when Samoset, an Indian, who had learned a little English at Penobscot, boldly entered March their village, with a cheerful "Welcome Englishmen." First He soon came again, with four others, among whom visit. was Tisquantum, who had spread favorable reports of the English among his countrymen, and was afterwards of great service as an interpreter.

16,

2. They gave notice that Massasoit, the sachem of the Pokanokets, was hard by. He appeared on a hill, The re- with a body of attendants, armed, and painted with gaudy colors. The chief desired that some one should

ception.

11. What was their condition during this first winter? Did they repine and complain?

CHAPTER III.-1. Who was Samoset? Tisquantum ? -2. What notice did they give? Who was Massasoit? What did he do, and what desire?

WINSLOW'S VISITS TO MASSASOIT.

59

P'D. III.

be sent to confer with him. Edward Winslow, famed for PT.I. the sweetness of his disposition and behavior, as well as for his talents, courage, and efficiency, was wisely CH. II. chosen. Captain Standish found means to make a martial show, with drums and trumpets; which gave the savages wonderful delight.

3. The sachem, on coming into the village, was so well pleased with the attentions paid him, that he acknowledged the authority of the king of England, and entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, with the colonists, which remained inviolate for more than fifty years.

Alliance

with

Massa

soit.

4. In July, Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins, went on an embassy to Massasoit, at Montaup. The 1621. sachem was much pleased, with the present of a red July. coat, from Governor Bradford, who had succeeded Embassy Carver. The envoys obtained from him an engagement, that the furs of the Pokanokets should be sold to the colony.

Narra

gansetts

5. Massasoit feared the Narragansetts, and was doubtless, on that account, desirous of cultivating the friendship of the English. Canonicus, the old hereditary chieftain of that confederacy, perhaps offended at this intimacy, or regarding the whites as intruders, medi- threaten. tated a war against them. This he openly intimated, 1622. by sending to Governor Bradford, a bunch of arrows, tied with the skin of a rattlesnake. Bradford stuffed the skin with powder and ball, and sent it back; and nothing more was heard, at that time, of war.

Jan.

6. The next year, news came to Plymouth, that Massasoit was sick. Winslow taking suitable articles, went to Montaup. He found the Indians bewailing, and Winslow practising their noisy powows or incantations, around visits the the sightless chieftain. Affectionately he extended his hand and exclaimed, "Art thou Winsnow?" (He could not articulate the liquid 1.) "Art thou Winsnow? But, O, Winsnow! I shall never see thee

3.

2. What was done, and who chosen by the Pilgrims? What alliance made? 4. What visit was afterwards made? What trade secured?-5. What Indians was Massasoit afraid of? How did their chief threaten the Pilgrims? How did Governor Bradford reply?-6. Give an account of Winslow's second visit to Massasoit.

sick chief.