Puritan sympathies were mingled with a desire for
gain, the little community procured the means to sail for "the northern
parts of Virginia." The Pilgrims were just as true to King James as the
settlers of Jamestown, but they did not intend to join that colony, whose
members were attached to the Established Church, so far as they had any
religion, and where dissenters would have been ill at ease. At the same
time the immigrants in the Mayflower did not intend to land so far north
as they did. The wearisome voyage, however, made them anxious to get on
shore, the land could not be more inhospitable than the winter sea, and
they had an abiding faith in God's goodness and providence which enabled
them to face with resolution the hardships and dangers of the northern
wilderness. The act which the men of the party signed on the Mayflower,
previous to landing, showed that they were determined to have an orderly
government. It was the first American constitution, and as such deserves
to be remembered: "In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are
hereunder written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King
James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King,
Defender of the Faith, etc., having undertaken for the glory of God and
the advancement of the Christian Faith, and honor of our King and
country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of
Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence
of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a
civil body politic for our better ordering and preservation and
furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact,
constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts,
constitution and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most
meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we
promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November (O. S.)
in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James of England,
France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth,
Anno Domini 1620."

The day of landing was, as already stated, December 11, or according to
the new style, December 22. The spot which the Pilgrims selected for
settlement was well-watered and promising, and they gave to it the name
of the haven where they had taken a final leave of their nati