s,
which they procured by the gun and the chase, were not sufficient to
supply the wants of the settlers, and famine--actual famine--stared
them in the face, and increased the violence of the pestilence. Many
sank beneath the accumulated evils of hardship, privation, and
sickness, and the number of the little settlement was sadly reduced
during the inclement months of January and February.

The constant care which was bestowed on Henrich at length proved
effectual in healing his wound, and partially restoring his strength;
and his parents had, eventually, the happiness of seeing that the a
anger was past, and their son was restored to them. They also had cause
to acknowledge, with gratitude, that the affliction had been blessed to
him as well as to themselves. The elders of the community, who acted as
the pastors of the infant colony, were unwearied in their attentions to
their weaker and more distressed brethren. They were, indeed, the
physicians both of their bodies and souls; and Henrich was not
neglected by them. The excellent and venerable William Brewster was the
intimate and valued friend of Rodolph Maitland and his wife. He had
been both their friend and adviser for many years of comparative peace
and prosperity; and now that he shared their troubles and adversities,
his ready sympathy, and active kindness, rendered him dearer to them
than ever.

Brewster was a man whose character and position in life naturally gave
him great influence with the Pilgrim Fathers. He had received a liberal
education, and possessed a far greater knowledge of the world than the
generality of his companions in exile, having been brought up as a
diplomatist under Davison, when he was Secretary of State to Queen
Elisabeth. He was devoted to the cause of religious liberty; and it was
he who had assisted his friend, John Robinson, in withdrawing his
congregation from the persecution that threatened them in England, to a
peaceful asylum in Holland. At the time of the emigration to America,
he was already in the decline of life; but his energies were in no
degree weakened, and his zeal for the glory of God, and the good of his
fellow Christians, was unabated.

He desired to spend all his remaining years in promoting the welfare of
the colony, and in proclaiming the Gospel to the heathen; and while he
was ever mindful of the wants, both spiritual and temporal, of the
flock ever whom he was appointed to preside, until their pastor
Robin