will minister continual occasion of offence, and will be as fuel for that fire, except you diligently quench it with brotherly forbearance. And if taking of offence causelessly or easily at men's doings be so carefully to be avoided, how much more heed is to be taken that we take not of fence at God himself, which yet we certainly do so oft as we do murmur at his providence in our crosses, or bear impatiently such afflictions as wherewith he pleaseth to visit us. Store we up therefore patience against the evil day, without which we take offence at the Lord himself in his holy and just works.

A fourth thing there is carefully to be provided for, to wit, that with your common employments you join common affections truly bent upon the general good, avoiding as a deadly plague of your both common and special comfort all retiredness of mind for proper advantage, and all singularly affected any manner of way; let every man repress himself and the whole body in each person, as so many rebels against the common good, all private respects of men's selves, not sorting with the general conveniency. And as men are careful not to have a new house shaken with any violence before it be well settled and the parts firmly knit: so be you, I beseech you brethren, much more careful, that the house of God which you are and are to be, be not shaken with unnecessary novelties or other oppositions at the first settling thereof.

Lastly, whereas you are to become a body politick, using amongst yourselves civil government, and are not furnished with any persons of special eminence above the rest, to be chosen by you into office of government: let your wisdom and godliness appear, not only in choosing such persons as do entirely love, and will diligently promote the common good, but also in yielding unto them all due honour and obedience in their lawful administrations; not beholding in them the ordinariness of their persons, but God's ordinance for your good; nor being like unto the foolish multitude, who more honour the gay coat, than either the virtuous mind of the man, or glorious ordinance of the Lord. But you know better

things, and that the image of the Lord's power and authority, which the magistrate beareth, is honourable, in how mean persons soever. And this duty you both may be more willingly, and ought the more conscionably to perform, because you are at least for the present to have only them for your ordinary governours, which yourselves shall make choice of for that work.

Sundry other things of importance I could put you in mind of, and of those before mentioned in more words, but I will not so far wrong your godly minds, as to think you heedless of these things, there being also divers among you so well able to admonish both themselves and others of what concerneth them. These few things, therefore and the same in few words I do earnestly commend unto your care and conscience, joining therewith my daily incessant prayers unto the Lord, that he who hath made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all rivers of waters, and whose providence is over all his works, especially over all his dear children for good, would so guide and guard you in your ways, as inwardly by his Spirit so outwardly by the hand of his power, as that both you and we also, for and with you, may have after matter of praising his name all the days of your and our lives. Fare you well in him in whom you trust, and in whom I rest An unfained well willer of your happy success in this hopeful voyage,

I. R.*

*JOHN ROBINSON. This letter was written July, 1620. It is published in the New England's Memorial, and in Neal's History of New England, and is inserted, with some variations, in the records of Plymouth First Church.

A Relation or Journal of the proceedings of the Plantation settled at Plimoth, in New England. Abridged in 8 Mass. Hist. Coll. p. 203.

[DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION AND THE

Note. The paragraphs are not numbered in the original; the numbers in the Hist. Coll. will be used here only for references.]

From No. 1. to No. 6. inclusive, is correctly transcribed (except the spelling which is modernized.)

Nos. 7. to 12. inclusive, form in the original but one paragraph; No. 9. is divided from No. 10. only by a semicolon (;).

No. 12. wants at the end what here follows:

to make them large satisfaction. "This was our first discovery, whilst our shallop was in repairing: our people did make things as fitting as they could, and time would, in seeking out wood, and helving of tools, and sawing of timber, to build a new shallop; but the discommodiousness of the harbour did much hinder us; for we could neither go to, nor come from the shore, but at high water, which was much to our hinderance and hurt; for oftentimes they waded to the middle of the thigh, and oft to the knees, to go and come from land; some did it necessarily, and some for their own pleasure; but it brought to the most, if not to all, coughs and colds, the weather proving suddenly cold and stormy, which af terwards turned to the scurvy, whereof many died."

Nos. 13. 14. and 15. make but one paragraph.

At the end of No. 14. what follows is to be added:* for we had eaten little all that day; "our resolution was next morning to go up to the head of this river, for we supposed it would prove fresh water: but in the morning our resolution held not, because many liked not the hilliness of the soil and badness of the harbour; so we turned the other creek, that we might go over and

*Note, p. 214. Collections, 1. 9. for "three geese" write "three fat geese."

look for the rest of the corn that we left behind when we were here before. When we came to the creek, we saw the canoe lie on the dry ground, and a flock of geese in the river, at which one made a shot, and killed a couple of them, and we launched the canoe and fetched them, and when we had done, she carried us over by seven or eight at once. This done, we marched to the place where we had the corn formerly, [Continue No. 15. to the end, and begin a new paragraph with what follows:

"The next morning we followed certain beaten paths and tracks of the Indians into the woods, supposing they would have led us into some town or houses; after we had gone a while, we light upon a very broad beaten path, well nigh two foot broad; then we lighted all our matches, and prepared ourselves, concluding we were near their dwellings: but in the end, we found it to be a path made to drive deer in, when the Indians hunt, as we supposed; when we had marched five or six miles in the woods, [Continue No. 16. and at the end add as follows:]

nor any thing else but graves. "There was variety of opinions amongst us about the embalmed person; some thought it was an Indian lord and king: others said, the Indians have all black hair, and never was seen with brown or yellow hair; some thought it was a christian of some special note, which had died amonst them, and they thus buried him to honour him; others' thought they had killed him, and did it in triumph over him.” Whilst we were thus ranging and searching, [Continue 17. to the end, and add what follows:]

No

and left the houses standing still as they were; it growing towards night, and the tide almost spent, we hasted with our things down to the shallop, and got aboard that night; intending to have brought some beads and other things, to have left the houses, in sign of peace, and that we meant to truck with them, but it was not done, by means of our hasty coming away from Cape Cod; but so soon as we can meet conveniently with them, we will give them full satisfaction. Thus much of our second discovery.

Having thus discovered this place, it was controversial amongst us, what to do, touching our abode and settling there; some thought it best, for many reasons to abide there;

As first, that there was a convenient harbour for boats, though not for ships.

Secondly, good corn ground ready to our hands, as we saw by experience in the goodly corn it yielded, which would again agree with the ground, and be natural seed for the same.

Thirdly, Cape Cod was like to be a place of good fishing; for we saw daily great whales of the best kind for oil and bone, come close aboard our ship, and in fair weather swim and play about us; there was once one, when the sun shone warm, came and lay above water, as if she had been dead, for a good while together, within half a musket shot of the ship, at which two were prepared to shoot, to see whether she would stir or no; he that gave fire first, his musket flew in pieces: both stock and barrel; yet thanks be to God neither he, nor any man else, was hurt with it, though many were there about; but when the whale saw her time, she gave a snuff and away.

Fourthly, the place was likely to be healthful, secure and defensible.

But the last and special reason was, that now the heart of winter, and unseasonable weather, was come upon us, so that we could not go upon coasting and discovery, without danger of losing men and boat; upon which would follow the overthrow of all, especially considering what variable winds and sudden storms do there arise. Also cold and wet lodging had so tainted our people (for scarce any of us were free from vehement coughs) as if they should continue long in that state, it would endanger the lives of many, and breed disease and infection amongst us. Again we had yet some beer, butter, flesh and other such victuals left, which would quickly be all gone and then we should have nothing to comfort us in the great labour and toil we were like to undergo at the first; it was also conceived, whilst we had competent victuals, that the