150 LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. some graves, but left the arms and implements, which they found in them, undisturbed, "because they would not be guilty of violating the repositories of the dead. But when they found a cellar carefully lined with bark and covered with a heap of sand, in which four bushels of seed corn were well secured, after reasoning on the morality of the action, they took as much of the corn as they could carry, intending, when they should find the owners, to repay them to their satisfaction."* This intention was subsequently fulfilled, and to the providential discovery of this seed corn they attributed the ultimate preservation of the colony. During the absence of this exploring party, the wife of William White gave birth to a son, who, from the circumstances of his birth, was named Peregrine. He was the first Anglo-American born in New England. On the 6th of December, Carver, Bradford, Winslow, and Standish, with some seamen, embarked in a shallop, and sailed round the bay in search of a place for settlement. On landing they were saluted with a flight of Indian arrows; but a discharge of musketry speedily dispersed the assailants. A storm came on. The shallop lost its rudder, and was nearly shipwrecked. Reaching an island on the 9th, they reposed themselves and kept the Christian Sabbath with the usual solemnities. The next day a harbour was found, which they deemed commodious, and the surrounding country was pleasant and well watered. They returned with the agreeable intelligence to their friends, and the ship was brought into this harbour on the 15th. The 18th and 19th were passed in exploring the land; and on the 20th, after imploring the Divine guidance and protection, the people landed and commenced the settlement. This day is still celebrated by the descendants of the pilgrims as the anniversary of New England's birth. They gave the town the name of Plymouth, in remembrance of the hospitalities they had received at the last port in England from which they had sailed. Their first operations consisted in measuring out the land to the different families, * Belknap. DEATH OF GOVERNOR CARVER. 153 laying a platform for their ordnance, and erecting habitations. It was not till the 31st of December, that they were able to celebrate the Sabbath, with its appropriate exercises, in a house on shore. The hardships undergone by the people in exploring the bay and effecting a landing, sowed the seeds of fatal disease; their provisions were scanty; the winter was severe; and the Indians, remembering the kidnapping exploits of Hunt and others, were hostile. More than half the colonists, including John Carver, their governor, died before spring. Those who retained their strength were hardly sufficient to minister to the urgent wants of the sick and dying. In this employment, no one distinguished himself more than Carver, the governor. He was a man of fortune, who had spent all in the service of the colony, and readily sacrificed his life in discharging the humblest offices of kindness to the sick. He was succeeded by William Bradford, who was re-elected for many successive years, notwithstanding his remonstrance, that "if this office were an honour, it should be shared by his fellow citizens, and if it were a burden, the weight of it should not always be imposed on him." It appears that previous to the arrival of the pilgrims in New England, a sweeping pestilence had carried off whole tribes of natives, in the region where they had now settled. The traces of former habitation were apparent; but no Indians were found residing in their immediate vicinity. The spring, which restored health to the colonists, brought them also an agreeable surprise, in the visit of some Indians whose disposition was friendly. The visit of Samoset, whose previous intercourse with the English fishermen enabled him to salute them with "Welcome, welcome, Englishmen !" was followed by that of Massasoit, the principal sachem of the country, with whom the celebrated treaty was concluded, which was inviolably observed, for more than fifty years, and contributed, during that period, more than any other circumstance, to secure New England from the horrors of Indian warfare. This treaty with Massasoit was one of the most important events in the history of New England. It averted, in a great measure, from Massachusetts, the horrors of Indian warfare, for half a century. Another efficient means of preserving the colony from Indian hostility, was found in the courage, ability, and military experience of Captain Miles Standish. He was the hero of New England, says Dr. Belknap, as Captain Smith had been of Virginia. Though small in stature, he had an active genius, a sanguine temper, and a strong constitution. He had early embraced the profession of arms; and the Netherlands being, in his youth, the theatre of war, he had entered into the service of Queen Elizabeth, in aid of the Dutch, and, after the truce, settled with the English refugees at Leyden. He came over with the pilgrims, and on their arrival at Cape Cod, he was appointed commander of the |