better than some baskets of maize and a number of Indian graves buried in
the snow-drifts. At last they stumbled upon a little harbor, upon which
abutted a hollow between low hills, with an icebound stream descending
through it to the sea. They must make shift with that or perish. It was
the 21st of December.


That date is inscribed on the front page of our history, and the Pilgrim
Fathers and their wives and daughters are celebrated persons, though they
were only a lot of English farmers in exile for heresy. But no dreams of
renown visited them then; they had nothing to uphold them but their
amazing faith. What that faith must have been their conduct demonstrates;
but it is difficult to comprehend such a spirit; we remember all the
persecutions, all the energy of new convictions, and still it seems
miraculous. Liberty to think as they pleased, and to act upon their
belief: that was all they had to fight with. It seems very thin armor, an
ineffective sword: but what a victory they won!

Before they disembarked, a meeting was held in the cabin for the
transaction of certain business. Since then, whenever a handful of Yankees
have been gathered together, it has been their instinct to organize and
pass resolutions. It is the instinct of order and self-government, the
putting of each man in his proper place, and assigning to him his
function. This meeting of the Pilgrims was the prototype, and the
resolutions they passed constitute the model upon which our commonwealth
is based. They promised one another, in the presence of God, equal laws
and fidelity to the general good: the principles of a free democracy.

They disembarked on the flat bowlder known as Plymouth Rock and set to
work to make their home. With the snow under their feet, the dark, naked