r having
set in with more than common severity, they felt that no more time
could be wasted in seeking for a better spot, on which to build their
first American habitations. Sickness also had begun to show itself
among the little band of men, women, and children who were all
unaccustomed to the hardships and confinement of a long voyage; and it
was necessary to disembark with all possible speed, and erect huts to
shelter them from the daily increasing inclemency of the weather. For
this purpose, the forests of oak, pine, juniper, and sassafras, that
had grown undisturbed for centuries along the coast, furnished them
with abundant materials; and the woods soon echoed to the unaccustomed
sound of the hatchet and the saw, at which all the men, of every rank
and condition, labored unremittingly, while the women and children
gathered up the great muscles, and other shell-fish, which abounded on
the shore, and collected dry wood for firing.

But before we follow the settlers in the detail of their sufferings and
trials, and of their ultimate success and prosperity, it will be
needful to go back a few years, and consider the motives that led these
brave men to expose themselves and their families to such severe
hardships, and to abandon their home and their kindred. A brief glance
at their previous history will suffice for this purpose.

It is well known that the Puritans were greatly dissatisfied with the
state of the Church in England at the time when James the First
ascended the throne of this country. From him they hoped for protection
and encouragement; but in this expectation they were grievously
disappointed. The conference at Hampton Court proved how little
sympathy he entertained for their party; and the convocation which was
held soon after utterly all their hopes. Already a considerable number
of these dissenters had joined themselves into what they called a
_'Church Estate,_ pledged to walk in God's ways,' and to renounce the
evil passions of the world. They had protested against the episcopal
form of church government, and declared their approval of the
discipline and the forms adopted by the Church of Geneva, and also of
that established in the Netherlands. In order to enjoy the liberty in
ecclesiastical matters which they so greatly desired, they made up
their minds to retire to Amsterdam, under their excellent and respected
pastor, John Robinson; and this project was effected by the greater
number of their pa