Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery

by N. D'Anvers

For a time the sufferers enjoyed peace in the land of their exile. Their pastor, Brewster, and his able coadjutor, Robinson, administered the affairs of the little community with gentle wisdom. The names of Carver, Cushman, and Winslow stood out as those of burning and shining lights in a congregation where all were earnest and zealous. But, as in all human institutions, there came a change. Not suddenly, but gradually, almost imperceptibly, error crept in. The purity of the faith was threatened by foreign error. The young folks growing up, who had but a dim recollection of the native land where they had unconsciously borne witness for the truth, were showing an undue appreciation of the delights of the world.

After many a solemn consultation, it was resolved that the little church should be transplanted, if possible, to the virgin soil of America, where it would have room to grow and spread, unhampered by any of the restrictions by which it was, in the very nature of things, hedged in in Leyden.

In 1617, when Virginia had already been settled for several years, and the Dutch had successfully colonized a considerable portion of New England, Robert Cushman and John Carver were sent to England to try and obtain from James I. a patent, granting to the Scrooby Puritans lands in North Virginia, with the assurance of religious liberty. A whole year was consumed in unsatisfactory negotiations; and finally, the deputies from Holland were compelled to be content with a private message from James, that he would connive at the settlement in America of their brethren, though he could not give them his public sanction. On the strength of this, however, a patent was obtained from the Virginia Company in 1619, granting to a certain Mr. John Wincob—who was to be a kind of lay figure in the transaction, taking no active share in the matter—some lands on the Hudson. As the Dutch were already in possession on either side of that river, the Pilgrim Fathers endeavored to obtain, in addition, some sanction from them for their presence among them, but they were entirely unsuccessful; and it was finally agreed that one hundred members of the congregation, many of them women and children, should embark, under the care of Brewster as their spiritual pastor, and Carver as their civil governor, and, take their chance of finding a home in the New World. When they had done so, the remainder of their brethren, with the beloved Elder Robinson, were to join them.

Two vessels were chartered for this apparently humble enterprise—the Speedwell, which was to convey the pilgrims from Holland to Southampton, and the Mayflower, which was to await their arrival at the English port. On the 22d July, 1620, after a day of solemn humiliation and prayer, the advance guard of the deserted little church marched out among their brethren, and embarked on the Speedwell in Delft harbor, arriving in due course at Southampton, where the Mayflower lay at anchor.

A fortnight later, both vessels set sail for America; but, before much progress had been made, the Speedwell was compelled to put into Plymouth Harbor, being found utterly unseaworthy. This caused a delay of a month; and it was not until the autumn had begun that the Mayflower made her final and solitary departure from Plymouth, with all who remained faithful to their purpose on board. A stormy voyage of sixty-five days brought the now world-famous little vessel in sight of Cape Cod, and, after an unsuccessful attempt to bear southward for the mouth of the Hudson, anchor was cast opposite the low coast, which had already been the refuge of so many tempest-tossed wanderers to the West.

BIBLE BROUGHT OVER IN THE MAYFLOWER, IN PILGRIM HALL, PLYMOUTH.

On the 11th November, 1620, after a solemn agreement among all the pilgrims to hold to each other and submit to their governor, John Carver, the first landing was effected. Falling on their knees upon the beach, the emigrants now returned thanks to God for their merciful deliverance from the perils of the deep, and, this pious duty over, sixteen men, under the doughty Captain Miles Standish, were sent forth on a reconnaissance, while the women busied themselves in washing their travel-soiled garments, and making preparations for the general comfort.

The result of the reconnaissance was far from satisfactory. Standish and his men had to cut their way through dense underwood, and were unable to open any communication with the natives, who fled at their approach. A little maize which had been buried by the Indians as their store for the winter was all the wanderers brought back to the vessel from the promised land.