The Greatest Works of Charles Carleton Coffin. Charles Carleton Coffin
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do? The question confronted them. They could not go back to England without conforming to the ritual of the Church; that they would not do. Why not emigrate to America? But how could they get there? They were poor. William Brewster was trying to earn a living by working in a printing-office; one laid bricks, another was a carpenter; one was a blacksmith, another a tailor.
They learned that there were men in England ready to help them. The Plymouth Company of merchants, who had obtained the grant of land between Long Island and Nova Scotia, wanted the country settled. They were anxious to obtain furs, and, as they were ready to venture their money, were called “adventurers.” One of the number was Thomas Weston, of London, who heard that the Pilgrims were ready to go to America, and went to Holland to see them.
“I will help you. I will lend you money and obtain ships,” he said, thinking the while how good a bargain he might make.
A plan was agreed upon. The “adventurers” were ready to supply money and ships; the Pilgrims were to go as planters. The Pilgrims formed themselves into a company, fixing the shares of stock at fifty dollars. Every settler sixteen years old was to be equal to one share. Every man who furnished an outfit worth fifty dollars was to have an additional share, and children between ten and sixteen years of age were to be counted as half a share. All the settlers bound themselves to work together for seven years, their labor to go into a common fund, and all to be supported from it. At the end of that period the property was to be divided according to the shares. For seven years they were to put all their hardships, dangers, and work on an equality with the money advanced by the merchants, who would thus be enabled to speculate on their toil. The conditions were hard, yet, for the sake of bringing up their children in the principles that were dearer than all things else, they would accept them.
On the 22d of July, 1620, the Pilgrims met for the last time at the house of John Robinson in Leyden, to spend the morning in prayer, and to hear the parting words of their beloved pastor. After the sermon they ate together and sung a psalm. Their ship, the Speedwell, was lying at Delftshaven, fourteen miles from Leyden, whither they went, accompanied by their pastor and friends, and where they spent the night. Morning came, the wind was fair, and the captain in haste to be gone. They kneeled upon the deck, the minister offering a parting prayer. The farewells were spoken, the vessel swung from her moorings, the sails caught the breeze, and swept them out upon the ocean and across the Channel to Southampton, where the Mayflower was waiting.
“They passed the frowning towers of Breil,
The ‘Hook’ of Holland’s shelf of sand,
And grated soon with lifting keel
The sullen shore of Father-land.”
How hard it is to tear things up by the roots — to leave home, friends, things we love, around which our affections are entwined! It was not a hard thing for the scapegraces of London to cross the Atlantic in search of adventure in Virginia. They pulled nothing up by the roots; they had no roots. Gamblers, spendthrifts, vagabonds, who do nothing for the world, who give nothing to society, never can have any roots.
The Pilgrims were exiles. England was no longer their home; but their friends were still living in the dear old land. While they were in Holland, they could hear from them often; but now they were going far away, to make their homes in the wilderness. Never more would they gaze upon the green fields, or meet face to face those most dear; but, in obedience to their convictions of what was true, just and right — of what they owed to God rather than man — calmly and unflinchingly they could pull all up, and make their homes in the wilderness.
Thomas Weston was at Southampton. He was a grasping, avaricious man, and wanted to change the agreement, making it still harder for the Pilgrims. But they would not change, whereupon he refused to pay one hundred pounds, which, according to agreement, he ought to pay.
“I’ll let you stand on your own legs!” he said, and left them.
The Pilgrims would not leave England with a debt hanging over them, and to pay it sold eighty firkins of butter, resolving to do without butter on their bread rather than to be beholden to Weston, or in debt to any man.
They were men who loved order. They knew it was necessary to have some one in authority on shipboard. They cast their votes for a governor, electing John Carver. Let us not forget that they elected him. He was not appointed by the king, but chosen. It was the beginning of a new order of things.
The ship sailed from Southampton; but almost before they were out of the harbor the Speedwell was found to be leaking, and they put into Dartmouth for repairs. Two weeks passed, and they sailed again; but the captain of the Speedwell declared that the vessel was not sea-worthy, and they put into Plymouth. Some of the Pilgrims were discouraged, but others were not. They had no money to obtain another vessel, and all who were anxious to go crowded into the Mayflower — one hundred in all.
Again, on the 16th of September, they bade farewell to friends — to the land that gave them birth, from which they had been exiled.
“No home for them! too well they knew
The mitred king behind the throne;
The sails were set, the pennon flew.
And westward ho! for worlds unknown.”
On the 21st of November, 1620, the Mayflower dropped anchor in the calm waters of Provincetown harbor, Cape Cod. While on the voyage, Mrs. White gave birth to a babe, whom they named Peregrine.
Among the men sent out by the merchants was John Billington; he was not one of the Pilgrims, but a servant, who gave out word that he should do as he pleased when he reached land; that no one should have any authority over him, for John Carver had no commission, nor had the Pilgrims any charter from the king.
The Pilgrims had ruled themselves as a church, but had been subject to the laws of Holland; they saw that they must organize themselves into a State, make their own laws, and execute them. They met in the cabin of the Mayflower, signed their names to a paper, organizing as a body politic, agreeing to obey the laws which they might make, and the governor whom they might elect.
The world never before had seen such a paper. It was a constitution formed by the people — the beginning of popular government.
It was Saturday, and the women went on shore, kindled fires, and washed their clothes. At night they returned on shipboard, and on Sunday prayed and sung as they had done through the voyage.
During the following week, Captain Miles Standish and sixteen men marched along the shores, and came upon some Indians, who quickly fled. They found some corn, which they took, intending to pay the Indians if they ever saw them.
On the 16th of December, Captain Standish and a party, with Thomas Clark, the mate of the vessel, started in a boat to find a suitable place to make a settlement, camping at night on shore. While they were cooking their breakfast the next morning, they heard a strange cry, and arrows fell around them; but a volley from the muskets of the Pilgrims put the Indians to flight. They came near losing their lives in a cold storm, but landed, kindled a fire, and saved themselves from freezing. In the morning they discovered that they were on an island, which they named Clark’s Island, for the mate. The next day was Sunday, but they regarded it as holy, and remained where they were. On Monday they pulled to the main-land, climbed a high hill, and beheld a charming prospect. Under the brow of the hill was a brook and a spring of fresh water. It was so delightful that they decided to recommend it to those on the ship as the place for the building of their town. They returned to the vessel, and on Sunday, William Brewster, whom they had chosen to be their minister, preached his last sermon on shipboard. The next morning the Mayflower sailed across the bay and came to anchor. The men went on shore and examined the place once more, and, after praying God to direct them wisely, took a vote as to where they should build their houses. It was the first town meeting ever held in America. The majority decided affairs, and the new State, the new order of things — self-government — had begun.
On the morning of the 22d the long-boat of the ship, filled with men, women, and children, glided over the still waters to a rock that made a convenient landing. They stepped from the boat upon the rock, and the new State was in possession of its future