William Bradford of Plymouth

Copyright by A. S. Burbank, Plymouth, Mass. BIRTHPLACE OF WILLIAM BRADFORD. AUSTERFIELD, ENGLAND.
WILLIAM BRADFORD OF PLYMOUTH BY ALBERT H. PLUMB
BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS
Copyright, 1920, by Richard G. Badger
All Rights Reserved
Made in the United States of America
The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
TO ALL DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM BRADFORD AND TO ALL WHO ADMIRE THIS LEADER OF NEW ENGLAND'S FOUNDERS THIS CONCISE AND UNPRETENTIOUS RECORD OF HIS LIFE AND ACTS IS DEDICATED IN THE HOPE THAT BY HIS EXAMPLE WE MAY BE INSPIRED AND STRENGTHENED, THE BETTER TO DO OUR OWN PART IN NOBLE LIVING AND IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC ACHIEVEMENTS
It is a pleasing task to record afresh the life course of one of those whom the poet Whittier characterized as the noblest ancestry that ever a people looked back to with love and reverence.
The leading authorities, particularly the Pilgrim narrators themselves and those more nearly contemporary with them, have contributed to this biography. Though early Plymouth events and the career of Bradford are inseparably connected, the colonial history is here limited and made subservient to the personal consideration, with regret that there do not appear more obtainable data of this nature. Undoubtedly the Governor's modest reticence largely accounts for this. We can only be thankful that we have what we have.
Albert H. Plumb.
Earth's transitory things decay, Its pomps, its pleasures pass away; But the sweet memory of the good Survives in the vicissitude.