Pilgrims

a body of English Puritans. With the exception of a leader or two and their pastor who had been educated for the ministry, they were simple, industrious villagers. They lived chiefly in Scrooby and Austerfield in Nottinghamshire, not very far from Epworth, the home of the Wesleys, the source, in a way, at a later time of Methodism. These peasants refused to attend the services of the Church of England. They held secret meetings in their homes, an act strictly forbidden by King James and the authorities of the English Church. They were arrested, thrown into prison, fined, and harassed to such an extent that they made their way in 1607 by common agreement to Holland. In 1608 they were gathered at Amsterdam. The next year they migrated to Leyden. Frequent removals and sojourn in a strange land led Bradford, their historian, to call them Pilgrims. At Leyden they found employment as weavers, gardeners, twine spinners, stocking weavers, as carpenters and masons, as makers of pipes, clocks, and hats, and as bakers, coopers, and tailors. They were law-abiding people of small means. They lived at Leyden eleven years. They were much dissatisfied with their home. They were obliged to labor long hours to obtain bare food and clothing. They feared that their young people would learn the Dutch language, marry into Dutch families, and that their church would become extinct.

In 1620 the leaders resolved to migrate to the New World beyond the Atlantic of which they had heard. Arrangement was made with English merchants, whereby the latter agreed to advance money in return for services and future shipments of furs. A considerable portion of the church, including the aged pastor, John Robinson, and all who were considered too feeble to cross the Atlantic remained behind. The others crossed over to England and set out from Southampton in two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower. The Speedwell was reported unseaworthy. Both ships put back to the port of Plymouth. It was learned afterward that the crew of the Speedwell was desirous simply to avoid the hazard of the long voyage. September 6, 1620, the Mayflower set sail again, with forty-one passengers, their families, and fifteen male servants, in all 102 persons. Arrangements had been made for the colony to settle near the mouth of the Hudson, but, after a stormy passage of sixty-three days, the captain of the ship for some reason carried it far to the northward, coming to anchor in the harbor of Provincetown near Cape Cod.

While the ship was still rocking in the harbor the forty-one men met in the cabin of the Mayflower and drew up and signed an agreement promising "In the presence of God and of one another. . . all due submission and obedience" to such laws as they might find it necessary to enact. This document is known in history as "The Mayflower Compact." The forty-one signers are known as "The Pilgrim Fathers." December 21, 1620, the Pilgrims went ashore in a cove already known on the chart of Captain John Smith as Plymouth. They are said to have stepped from the boat to a large bowlder, the only one in sight. It is known as Plymouth Rock. In 1820 it was surmounted by a square granite canopy, resting on four pillars.

Although the Pilgrims built huts and a common dwelling house they suffered severely from cold and want of proper food. They were a stouthearted people. When spring came the Mayflower, which had wintered in the harbor, prepared to set sail. Although half of their original number lay in the little burying ground not a voice was raised in favor of returning to England. When reduced to shellfish and water for voice and gave thanks cheerfully that they food devout Elder Brewster still raised his were "permitted to suck of the abundance of the seas and of the treasures hid in the sands."

The Pilgrims held their meetings in a square log house, on the flat roof of which six small cannon were placed to repel possible attacks of the Indians. The building was surrounded by a stockade of timbers on end, thus serving both as a meeting house and as a fortification. The people were assembled to service by the tap of a drum and carried their guns with them. In the spring they were visited by Samoset and Squanto, Maine Indians, who had learned a little of the English language from fishermen who resorted to their coast. They served as interpreters between the governor and Massasoit, a friendly chief of the Wampanoags, who taught the Pilgrims "how to set their corne, wher to take fish, . . . and never left them till he dyed." From the Indians they learned also to place a fish in each hill of corn to enrich the soil. After many struggles the Pilgrims succeeded in making homes and in shipping enough furs to pay off the merchants to whom they were indebted.

The Plymouth colony was the second permanent English settlement in North America. As compared with the Puritan settlers who later arrived in Massachusetts Bay the Pilgrims were poverty stricken and, we may say, uneducated. The colony was never large, never wealthy, yet their influence in the affairs of New England justified Bradford's oft quoted saying: "Out of small beginnings great things have been produced; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone to many, yea, in some sort to our whole nation."

Aside from Plymouth Rock, which has been mentioned, there are still many mementos of the Plymouth colony. A Pilgrim museum was founded in Plymouth. Here and in the houses of the quiet old village, now the oldest town in America, James-town having disappeared, the tourist is shown Elder Brewster's chair and the chair of Governor Carver; the spinning wheel used by Governor Bradford's family; the Dutch cradle in which the first Plymouth child was rocked; a chest, a mortar, and a pewter plate belonging to Edward Winthrop; a huge iron kettle and pewter platter brought over by Miles Standish; quite a collection of spectacles, canes, a brass candlestick, a slipper, a cap, and many other articles owned by various members. There are samples of needlework, including a fragment of a quilt that once belonged to Rose Standish, the captain's first wife. The famous captain's sword, a Persian blade, is thought to date from the time of the Crusaders. It bears engraved figures of the sun, moon, and stars and inscriptions in Arabic. A society of Mayflower descendants was founded in New York City in 1894. In six years, it had enrolled 2,000 members.

See Carver; Standish; Bradford; White, etc.