the weather; but still the trials of the Pilgrims were
by no means over, and their need of faith in the good providence of
God, and of persevering resolution in the path which they had chosen
for themselves, remained as great as ever.

Deeply was the less of their first President felt by the colony, for
every individual mourned him as a private friend, as well as a wise end
benevolent ruler. But the blow fell with more crushing power on her who
had shared his checkered life of joy and sorrow for many years in
Europe, and had accompanied him into exile, with the devoted feeling
that his presence would make the wilderness a home. His sudden removal,
and the cheerless blank that succeeded, were more than the strength of
his afflicted widow could endure; and in six weeks she followed him
the grave. From that time, it appeared as if the severity of the
scourge that had ravaged the infant settlement was exhausted, for
scarcely any more deaths occurred during that year; and many who had
hitherto suffered from the effects of disease, regained their usual
strength, and lived to a remarkably advanced age.

William Bradford was the individual selected by the community to fill
the arduous and responsible office that had been held so few months by
Carver; and the choice was a most judicious one, for he was a man well
suited to be the leader of a colony exposed to the peculiar
difficulties that surrounded the Puritan exiles. His uncommon sagacity
and penetration of character, and his undaunted resolution in times of
danger, caused him to be regarded as the very prop and support of the
settlement; and his worth was so generally acknowledged, and so highly
appreciated, that he continued to be annually elected Governor for
twelve succeeding years: and never did he disappoint the confidence
thus reposed in him. His treatment of the Indians was one point on
which he showed both the correctness of his judgement, and the right
feelings of his heart. He ever acted towards them with true Christian
benevolence and equity; and, at the same, he preserved that authority
and superiority over them which were necessary to the safety and well-
being of the colony; and he also carefully kept from them those
European weapons, the possession of which might render them dangerous
to the settlers, and aggravate the frequent hostilities among their own
rival tribes. Unhappily, a different course was afterwards pursued by
the leaders of the colony of Massa