Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: native name of Plymouth, had died of an extraordinary plague. They welcomed him cordially, dismissed him with kindness, and gave him a knife, a bracelet, and a ring. The next day he returned with five other
tall proper men. Both parties treated one another well, and
with many thanks given us they departed, with promises they would come again. On the twenty-first of March they had a meeting to conclude laws and orders for themselves. This had been attempted before, but twice broken up by the savages coming. So it happened a third time, and Captain Standish, with another, with their muskets, went over, afraid of an attack, but all these fears were groundless. On the twenty-third they attempted their public business again, but Samoset with Squanto appeared once more, and brought with them Massa- soit with sixty men. Quite a formal treaty was made, that neither party should injure the other, and that no visits should be made with arms. If this treaty was observed, King James
would esteem him as his friend and ally. On the fifth of April they sent back the Mayflower with Captain Jones, and she arrived in England after a passage of a month. Not one of the settlers abandoned the enterprise to return with her. But the winter had been severe for them. Carver, the governor, had died; his wife had died, Winslow’s and Bradford’s wives had died. Bradford’s entry is, Of a hundred persons, scarce fifty remain. The living scarce able to bury the dead, the well not sufficient to tend the sick, there being, in their time of greatest distress, but six or seven, who spared no pains to help them. Two of the seven were Mr. Brewster, their elder, and Mr. Standish, their captain. The like disease fell also among the sailors, so as almost half their company died before they sailed. The…
