l. There was a
scarcity of all sorts of provisions, and not corn enough for a
fortnight's supply after the arrival of the fleet. "The remainder of a
hundred eighty servants," who, in the two preceding years, had been
conveyed over at heavy cost, were discharged from their indentures, to
escape the expense of their maintenance. Sickness soon began to spread,
and before the close of autumn had proved fatal to two hundred of this
year's emigration. Death aimed at the "shining mark" he is said to love.
Lady Arbella Johnson, coming "from a paradise of plenty and pleasure,
which she enjoyed in the family of a noble earldom, into a wilderness of
wants," survived her arrival only a month; and her husband, singularly
esteemed and beloved by the colonists, died of grief a few weeks after.
He was a holy man and wise and died in sweet peace.

Giving less than a week to repose and investigations at Salem, Winthrop
proceeded with a party in quest of some more attractive place of
settlement. He traced the Mystic River a few miles up from its mouth,
and, after a three days' exploration, returned to Salem to keep the
Sabbath. When ten or eleven vessels had arrived, a day of public
thanksgiving was observed in acknowledgment of the divine goodness which
had so far prospered the enterprise.

After a sufficient pause for deliberation and conference concerning the
forms of organization of the new society, the subject of an
ecclesiastical settlement was the first matter to receive attention. On
a day solemnized with prayer and fasting, the Reverend Mr. Wilson, after
the manner of proceeding in the year before at Salem, entered into a
church covenant with Winthrop, Dudley, and Johnson. Two days after, on
Sunday, they associated with them three of the assistants, Mr. Nowell,
Mr. Sharpe, and Mr. Bradstreet, and two other persons, Mr. Gager and Mr.
Colburn. Others were presently added; and the church, so constituted,
elected Mr. Wilson to be its teacher, and ordained him to that charge at
Mishawum. At the same time Mr. Nowell was chosen to be ruling elder, and
Mr. Gager and Mr. Aspinwall to be deacons. From the promptness of these
measures, it is natural to infer that they had been the subject of
consideration and concert before the landing. But there was some
lingering scruple respecting the innovation on accustomed forms; and
either for the general satisfaction or to appease some doubters, "the
imposition of hands" was accompanied with "this