[Illustration: Brewster's and Standish's Swords.]
THE ENGLISHMEN WHO SETTLED IN NEW ENGLAND. PURITANS AND SEPARATISTS. THE SEPARATISTS ESCAPE TO HOLLAND. THE PILGRIMS LEAVE HOLLAND FOR AMERICA. DIFFICULTIES IN THEIR WAY. THE VOYAGE OF THE MAYFLOWER. MILES STANDISH MADE MILITARY LEADER. THE STOUT-HEARTED CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH. THE GRIM PILGRIM SOLDIERS. CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH HEADS A SECOND EXPLORING PARTY. INDIAN MOUNDS; BRADFORD IN THE DEER-TRAP. A DANGEROUS EXPEDITION. A NIGHT IN THE WOODS; INDIANS. A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE ON THE STORM-SWEPT SEA. A SUITABLE PLACE FOR SETTLEMENT. LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS AT PLYMOUTH. THE BUSY BUILDERS OF LOG-HOUSES. IN THE HOMES OF THE PILGRIMS. THE SUFFERING PILGRIMS. SAMOSET; SQUANTO; MASSASOIT VISITS THE PILGRIMS. A THANKSGIVING FEAST. INDIAN ENEMIES. THE PILGRIMS AT CHURCH SERVICES. THE MEETING-HOUSE. DEATH OF CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH.
1. What do you admire in the character of Miles Standish, and what did he do for the Pilgrims at Plymouth?
2. Trace on the map the wanderings of the Pilgrims.
3. Write an account of the "Dangerous Expedition" of the ten picked men who set out on December 16th, in search of a place for settlement. Picture to yourself the following: the party lying by the big fire under the trees with the barricade about them; the Pilgrims on their way to church; and Massasoit entertained by Governor Carver.
4. Describe a Pilgrim dwelling and its furniture.
5. Compare the Pilgrims with the Jamestown settlers.
For years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth (1620) their number grew so slowly that by 1630 the population was only three hundred. After that year they began to increase more rapidly, by reason of neighboring settlements made by the Puritans at various places on the Massachusetts coast.
We have already seen that the Puritans in England were dissatisfied with the English Church, and that they wished to purify some of its forms and beliefs. But they did not succeed in their purpose because the Stuart Kings of England, James I. and Charles I., bitterly opposed the Puritan movement. For a long time the Puritans held their meetings secretly in such out-of-the-way places as private houses and barns. At length, encouraged by the success of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, they decided to leave their homes in old England and try to form a new England across the Atlantic.