FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   >>  
s and preparedness of the possessor. A fragment of it was discovered in a Halifax grocery, and published by the Massachusetts Historical Society. Six of these letters found were written by Bradford alone, and three jointly. They were mostly official. Appended to this correspondence file was the Governor's interesting description and short historical review of New England, written in metre and rhyme. Though we who speak of William Bradford as our Forefather should not be moved by pride, as no man is responsible for his own birth, it causes in us profound gratitude that we can affirm our relationship to one who has been called the first great American. Men of renown before his day, a few of them, had a touch with this country, as the very conspicuous connections of famous discoverers; but the epithet applies to him as a continuous resident of the land. His life and labors were permanently given to it as his adopted abode, for he never left it from the day of his coming in the prime of his manhood. In what, let us ask, did his greatness consist? Others shared in heroic faithfulness, to the limit of their powers or opportunities. His was the magnitude of an immovable fidelity joined with marked ability, though, as with Washington, his mental genius was not the most brilliant. But he carried well and long exceedingly weighty responsibilities. When has a combination of so many most critical problems confronted a magistrate? Weakened by disease which threatened utter extermination, the Colony encountered a tedious period of famine; it was menaced by hostile savage tribes stronger than the friendly natives; the malevolence of foreign persecution plotted the overthrow of its chosen religious order; treason sprang up in its midst; a staggering weight of financial obligations, made heavier by accidents and outrageous injustice, lay upon them for a quarter of a century; and the seventh problem, which stayed by the Governor till his final release, was that presented by the frequent loss of citizens attracted by new settlements, a circumstance so serious that the question of moving the whole Colony was raised as late as 1644. In all the arduous activities occasioned by these facts, he possessed the quality of steady endurance. His soul was reposeful in energy, while his underlying faith made him an optimist but not a visionary, and lent both basis and balance in his working. To Bradford also belongs the singular honor of being t
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   >>  



Top keywords:
Bradford
 

Governor

 

Colony

 

written

 

weighty

 
responsibilities
 
exceedingly
 

overthrow

 
combination
 

chosen


plotted

 

religious

 
staggering
 

brilliant

 
weight
 

carried

 
persecution
 
treason
 

sprang

 

malevolence


tedious

 

period

 

famine

 

menaced

 

magistrate

 

encountered

 

extermination

 

disease

 

Weakened

 

hostile


savage

 
friendly
 

natives

 

threatened

 

critical

 
confronted
 

problems

 
tribes
 

stronger

 
foreign

stayed
 

endurance

 
reposeful
 
energy
 

underlying

 

steady

 
quality
 

activities

 
arduous
 

occasioned