him Squanto, who, as has been mentioned, had been kidnapped and sold into slavery in Spain, had been freed, found his way to England, and finally home. They announced that Massasoit, the grand sachem of the Wampanoags, desired an interview. The chief and his retinue of warriors had taken their position on a neighboring hill. Squanto acted as interpreter. A treaty of friendship was made between the chief and the English, by which they promised to defend each other when attacked by enemies. For more than fifty years, till King Philip's war, this treaty was observed. The Pilgrims offered to pay for the baskets of corn they had found buried; this they did six months afterward when the owners appeared. A trade, very beneficial to the colony, commenced with the Indians, who promised to sell them all their furs.

Why not remember the humble services of Squanto? The Pilgrims looked upon him as a "special instrument of God sent for their good beyond their expectation." He taught them how to plant corn to put fish with it to make it grow, where to find the fish and how to take them. He was their interpreter and their pilot. Under his tuition they soon raised corn so abundantly as to have a surplus to exchange with the Indians for furs. By means of these furs they obtained from England the merchandise they wanted. He remained their friend till his death, and when dying asked the governor to pray that he might go to the "Englishman's God in heaven."

Massasoit desired the alliance with the Pilgrims as a protection against Canonicus, the chief of the powerful Narragansetts, who lived on the shores of the beautiful bay which bears their name. Canonicus was not, however, to be deterred from exhibiting his hostility. As a challenge he sent to Plymouth some arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. Bradford, who was now governor, sent back the same

skin filled with powder and shot. The Indians looked upon it as containing a deadly influence, to be exerted against the enemies of the English. In terror they sent it from tribe to tribe, none of whom dared either keep or destroy it. Finally, the skin and its contents were returned to the colony. Canonicus himself, in a short time, desired an alliance of peace; evidently more from fear than from good-will.

In trade the Pilgrims took no advantage of the ignorance of the Indians. They became involved in difficulties with them, however, through the improper conduct of others.

Thomas Weston, a merchant of London, who had invested money in the enterprise of founding the Plymouth Colony, now wished to engross the entire profits of the fur trade with the Indians. He obtained a patent for a small district, near Weymouth, on Boston harbor, and sent over about sixty men, chiefly indented servants. These men ill treated the Indians, stole their corn, and thus excited their hostility. The savage seeks redress by murdering those who do him wrong. The Indians did not distinguish between the honesty and good-will of the Pilgrims, and the dishonesty and evil acts of "Weston's men;" they plotted to involve all the white strangers in one common ruin. Massasoit was dangerously sick; Winslow kindly visited him; turned out of the wigwam the Indian doctors, who were making a great noise to drive off the disease, and relieved the chief by giving him medicine and quiet. The grateful Massasoit revealed the plot. The people were greatly alarmed; they had heard of a terrible massacre in Virginia, and they feared such would be their own experience. Not a moment was to be lost; they must act in self defense. Captain Standish hastened with eight men to the assistance of those at Weymouth. He arrived in time not only to prevent the attack, but

to surprise the Indians themselves. In the conflict, the principal plotting chief and some of his men were killed. This exploit taught the Indains to respect the English; many of the neighboring chiefs now sought peace and alliance. When the good pastor, Mr. Robinson, heard of this conflict, he exclaimed, "Oh, that they had converted some before they killed any!" One year saw the beginning and the end of this trading establishment at Weymouth. Apprehension of danger from the natives was now removed.

As "Thanksgiving" has now become a national festival, the manner in which it was first instituted has a peculiar interest. In the autumn of 1623, after the fruits of the harvest were gathered in, Governor Bradford sent out a company for game, to furnish dainty materials for a feast. God had blessed their labors, and this was to be a feast of Thanks-Giving. "So they met together and thanked God with all their hearts, for the good world and the good things in it."

The merchant partners in England complained of the small profits derived from their investments. They began to neglect the interests of the colony, and to manifest their displeasure in various ways. They would not permit Robinson and his family, with the remainder of the church at Leyden, to join their friends at Plymouth. They sold the colonists goods at enormous prices, and sent a ship to rival them in their limited fur trade. They outraged their feelings by attempting to force upon them one Lyford, a clergyman friendly to the Established Church. Lyford was expelled from Plymouth, not on account of his religious views, but, according to Bradford, for conduct injurious to the colony and immorality.

In time industry and frugality triumphed; the Pilgrims in five or six years were able to purchase the entire stock of those who were annoying them in this ungenerous manner. The stock and the land were

equitably divided, and the arrangement of private property fully carried out, each one becoming the owner of a piece of land.

Though the Pilgrims had no charter, they formed a government upon the most liberal principles. They had a governor, who was chosen by the people, and whose power was limited by a council of five. For more than eighteen years the whole male population were the legislators.

They were the pioneers of religious freedom-the openers of an asylum in the New World, to which the persecuted for religion's sake, and political opinions, have been flocking from that day to this. Says Governor Bradford, in his history of the colony: "Out of small beginnings great things have been produced, by His hand that made all things out of nothing; and as one small candle will light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone to many, yea, to our whole nation."

CHAPTER XI.

1624-1655

COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY

A Company Organized.-Settlement at Salem.-The Charter Transferred.-Boston and Vicinity Settled.-Encouragements.-Disputes.-Roger Williams; His Banishment; He Founds Providence.-Discussions Renewed.-Anne Hutchinson.-Settlement of Rhode Island.-The Dutch at Hartford; Disputes With.-Migrations to the Fertile Valley of the Connecticut; Hooker and Haynes.-Springfield.Fort at Saybrooke.-Pequods Become Hostile.-Expeditions Against Them; Their Utter Ruin.-Rev. John Davenport.-Settlement of New Haven.-Sir Ferdinand Gorges.-New Hampshire. The United Colonies.-The Providence Plantations.-Educated Men.-Harvard College. The Printing Press.-Common Schools.-Grammar Schools. Quakers; Persecution of.-Eliot the Apostle.The Mayhews.-Progress.

Persecution raged through the reign of James, and threatened to continue through the reign of his son and successor, Charles I.

The various accounts sent to England by the colonists at Plymouth, excited great interest, especially in the minds of the Puritans. They listened to them as to a voice from Heaven, calling upon them to leave their native land, and join their brethren in these ends of the earth. This was not wild enthusiasm, but the calm promptings of duty.

Pamphlets were published giving descriptions of the land of promise; it promised not wealth and ease, but only peace and quietness. There were many who preferred these, with toils and privations in the wilds of America, to religious persecutions in their own land.

The Rev. Mr. White, of Dorchester, was a controll