duly executed by twenty four heads of families, in behalf of themselves and families, and by seventeen single men, being in the whole one hundred and one, they proceeded to elect Mr. John Carver as their governor for one year. Thus having organised their little republic, they proceeded to explore the coast in quest of a permanent residence. Upon their first landing on the shores of the New World, they fell on their knees, poured out their souls in prayers and praises, with thanksgiving, and dedicated their hearts, their lives, and all that they possessed, to God their protector and deliverer, and renewedly committed themselves to his most holy keeping.

To detail the distresses of a long, tempestuous, and distressing sea-voyage, the painful feelings occasioned by the death of one of their number, or the joys of an infant born on the voyage, will make no part of a narrative, designed only to shew the wisdom, and goodness of God, in planting his pure church, in this wilderness of the west. When they had celebrated the first sabbath in their little colony, and thus rendered the shores of the howling wilderness, vocal with the praises of their God, they commenced the labours of the week in exploring the coast, in their shallop, and the forest, with an armed party, to spy out the land, and discover the face of the country, in quest of a permanent residence. In all their several attempts, to explore the forest, they discovered the savages, who sometimes fled at their approach, at others annoyed them with showers of arrows, and the horrors of their savage yells; but the report of their fire-arms awed them into submission, or held them at bay.

On the 17th of December, they discovered a site at the bottom of a spacious, and delightful bay, which attracted their attention, as being best adapted to their necessities, for a permanent residence. There they planted their little colony, and called it Plymouth, in honor of the

place which witnessed their last adieu to the land of their fathers. Here they erected their dwellings, which formed the first village in New-England, a village of log-huts; here they again celebrated the sabbath, and again the wilderness became vocal with the praises of their God. Thus planted down upon the borders of an unbounded forest, at the commencement of a New-England winter ; without support, excepting the scanty supplies which remained from the voyage; without friends to succour, or protect them; before them was the wilderness full of the habitations of cruelty; behind them that ocean, with its boisterous and tempestuous billows, which had borne them to these remote regions; in their dwellings a mortal sickness arose, that raged through the winter, and swept away forty-six of their number. To add to this, and other calamities, their store-house took fire, and consumed much of their valuable effects. Here was a picture of distress, that opened a field for the display of the virtues of that religion, which they had forsaken fathers, and mothers, houses and lands, and even their dear native country, the land of their fathers, and thus jeoparded their lives upon the ocean, and in the wilderness, to secure, and enjoy. This field of distress, became to them a field of delight; in the midst of their sufferings, their hearts were unappalled, they trusted in God, and he was their deliverer.

In the midst of their distresses, a friendly Indian, who spoke English, came into their village, and proffered his services.* By this Indian they learnt the geography of the country, the names and number of the tribes in this region, and particularly, that the tribe of Patuxet, which had possessed the section on which they had settled, had

* This Indian, whose name was Squanto, had been taken from the Patuxet tribe, by a Captain Hart, and carried to Spain; from thence he went to London, where he learnt the English, and from thence returned to his tribe in America, where he found himself the only survivor.

shortly before been cut off, by a mortal sickness, which left not one soul behind. Through the instrumentality of this Indian, a friendly intercourse was opened with the neighbouring tribes, and a friendly conference introduced with the principal chiefs; he taught them also how to cultivate the Indian corn. Thus we see how God their preserver, became their protector and deliverer.

This friendly intercourse excited a jealousy in the Naragansets, and other tribes, yet more remote, which produced some collisions with the friendly tribes; but these the colony soon quelled by the terror of their fire-arms.

In the midst of these scenes died Governor Carver, April, 1621, who was succeeded by Governor Bradford. This year they continued to explore the country, cultivate the ground, and maintain upon just and equitable terms, their friendly intercourse among the Indians; and in autumn they were blessed with plentiful supplies for the approaching winter. At this time a ship from England, with thirty-five passengers, arrived at Plymouth, by which they learnt the distracted state of their country; amidst the trying scenes of privilege and prerogative, and rejoiced in the God of their comforts, who had given them a peaceable habitation, amidst the savages of the forest, where they might enjoy the religion of their hearts.

Although trifling collisions often interrupted their friend> ly intercourse with the natives, and gave them frequent alarms, yet all these were managed by the governor, with such prudence, that he preserved the general peace; negotiated treaties, and purchased lands, and even supplies of corn, when the necessities of the colony required.

During the administration of Gov. Bradford, a Patent for the Plymouth Company, was obtained from King Charles 1. in the name of William Bradford, his heirs, associates, and assigns, which defined the limits of New-Eng

land, and confirmed their former title,* against all encroachments from the crown, or foreign adventurers; and gave them the right of holding the country either by purchase or conquest. This patent gave strength and confidence to the colony, and opened a commercial intercourse with England, in their fur trade, which proved useful, and profitable to the parties.

*Before the company left Holland, they had obtained a patent from the Virginia Company, which, as it was never improved, was omitted in its place. On the 3d of November, 1620, King James granted a patent to the Earl of Warwick, and others, to the number of about forty, and their successors, stiling them the Council of Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering, and governing of New-England, in America. This charter included all that part of America, that lies between the 40th and 48th degrees of north latitude.

CHAPTER X.

ADVENTURES OF THE PILGRIMS CONTINUED.

In the midst of these distressing scenes, through which these pilgrims were called to pass, died James the first, who was succeeded by his son Charles the first, March 1625. That fire of civil and religious controversy, which distracted the reign of James I. was kindled into a flame in the reign of Charles I. by the madness of the king, his ministers and prelates; at the head of whom stood the Duke of Buckingham, and Bishop Laud. That spirit of civil and religious zeal, which led the pilgrims of New England into voluntary exile, had now become general throughout the nation; and the Parliament itself had caught the fire. This opened afresh the contest of privilege and prerogative, which raged with unparalleled bitterness, until Buckingham was disgraced, the Earl of Strafford sacrificed, and even arch-bishop Laud, and the king themselves, brought to the block to appease the rage of popular fury. These distressing scenes in England, opened the way for the perma'nent enjoyment of that civil and religious liberty, which became so conspicuous in the commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. These scenes of distress, drove into voluntary banishment, many of those sons of liberty and virtue, which increased the colony of Plymouth, and augmented their strength. Even this refuge of the pilgrims, in the wilds of America, became the assylum for the church of Jesus Christ, during these long and distressing persecutions. Some of the best blood of the nation, looked to the wilds of America for a retreat, and actually obtained patents from the crown, to accomplish their designs. In the year 1527, king Charles I. granted a patent to Henry Roswill, and others, constituting them a body politic, under the name of "The Governor and Company of the Massachu