The Pilgrims of New England

The Pilgrims of New England - A
Tale Of The Early American
Settlers

Project Gutenberg's The Pilgrims of New England, by Mrs. J. B. Webb
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Title: The Pilgrims of New England A Tale Of The Early American
Settlers
Author: Mrs. J. B. Webb
Release Date: November 23, 2003 [EBook #10222]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
PILGRIMS OF NEW ENGLAND ***

THE PILGRIMS OF NEW ENGLAND:
A TALE OF THE EARLY AMERICAN SETTLERS.
BY
MRS. J. B. WEBB, AUTHOR OF “NAOMI,” “JULAMERK,” ETC.

PREFACE
In the following story, an attempt has been made to illustrate the
manners and habits of the earliest Puritan settlers in New England, and

the trials and difficulties to which they were subjected during the first
years of their residence in their adopted country. All the principal
incidents that are woven into the narrative are strictly historical, and are
derived from authentic sources, which give an impartial picture both of
the virtues and the failings of these remarkable emigrants. Unhappily,
some of these incidents prove but too clearly, how soon many of these
exiles 'for conscience sake' forgot to practice those principles of
religious liberty and toleration, for the preservation and enjoyment of
which they had themselves abandoned home and kindred, and the
church of their forefathers; and they tend to lessen the feelings of
respect and admiration with which their piety, and their disinterested
spirit, must necessarily inspire us. We cannot but regret to find how
early, in many of the Puritan communities, that piety became tinged
with fanaticism, and that free spirit degenerated into bigotry and
intolerance in their treatment of others, who had an equal claim with
themselves to a freedom of private judgement, and to the adoption or
rejection of any peculiar forms or mode of discipline.
It is hoped, that a story founded on the history of these admirable, but
sometimes misguided, men, may prove interesting to many who have
hitherto been but slightly acquainted with the fate of their self- exiled
countrymen; and may tend to remove the prejudice with which, in
many minds, they are regarded: for, while we remember their errors
and infirmities, we should also remember that their faults were
essentially those of the age in which they lived, and the education they
had received; while their virtues were derived from the pure faith that
they possessed, and which was dearer to them than aught on earth
beside.
KING’S PYON HOUSE, HEREFORD

THE PILGRIMS OF NEW ENGLAND.

CHAPTER I
.
‘The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-hound coast:
And the woods against a stormy sky, Their giant branches tost. And the
heavy night hung dark The hills and waters o'er, When a hand of exiles

moored their bark On the wild New England shore.’ HEMANS.
It was, indeed, a ‘stern and rock-bound coast’ beneath which the gallant
little Mayflower furled her tattered sails, and dropped her anchor, on
the evening of the eleventh of November, in the year 1620. The shores
of New England had been, for several days, dimly descried by her
passengers, through the gloomy mists that hung over the dreary and
uncultivated tract of land towards which their prow was turned; but the
heavy sea that dashed against the rocks, the ignorance of the captain
and his crew with regard to the nature of the coast, and the crazy state
of the deeply-laden vessel, had hitherto prevented their making the land.
At length the ship was safely moored in a small inlet, beyond the reach
of the foaming breakers; and the Pilgrim Fathers hastened to leave the
vessel in which they had so long been imprisoned, and, with their
families, to set foot on the land that was henceforth to be their home.
Cold, indeed, was the welcome which they received from their adopted
country; and cheerless was the view that met their gaze, as they landed
on a massy rock of granite, at the foot of a precipitous cliff, and looked
along the barren, inhospitable shore, and over the dark waters which
they had so lately crossed.
But hope was strong in the hearts of these exiles; and the faith that had
led them to seek these untrodden shores, had not deserted them during
their long and tempestuous voyage; and they looked upward through
the gloom and dreariness that surrounded them, and fixed their trusting
eyes on Him who had guided them in safety over the great deep, and
brought them at length to a