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Signers of the
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authority among
Mayflower Compact.
There	?	awthtng strange and elu-
sive about the fi :t that to little is known of Got. Carver. id jti from the outset lie lield the moat Important places of trust and
be Leyden Pilgrims.
One of the old -at of thla little band, lie moat hare acqui ed the traits of character that inspired ca fidence In hla ability, in soine broad field where education and the 1 friction of Inter ourae had developed him us til he	ruler of men.
?John Carver,' -Sonne of James Carrer, Lincolnshire, Ye4nan, called by je trace of God Governor oflour Colony, Dec. ye 10th, IrtSO, for one ytr,? came to the Leyden Colony onaonoudced, ao far aa the recorda place him; still, when it waa neccssary to nend as envoy England and the Weat Indian Company t,ne who would make their
ii.teresi* Ms owi he was the unanimous c?iolte, and the sequence showed that, for the meana at his command, he had requited their truat to the fullest extent The die was d^t. The I'ilgrims, weary with the wellii<^?6 that could not secure them peacc either of conscience or of mind, surrounded by foreshadowings of war in Holland, the da'ogntory intercourse with the people from many lands thrust upon their children, milst make for themselves a nerr home. [
For this there Was bnt a small fund, ami only by contract ?nith some'company, who would sorely claim their pound of flesh in return, could it b? made a possibility.
So John Csrr>.r >n(j Robert Cushman went forth arra^ w[th the authority to make terms, seel 0f the King ?freedom to worship their G4,<j unmolested in the New World, and of th? Virginia Company, which was eatablUhed iro6> a patent on which they might settle ??
t*IE KING.
That the Kins ghouid turn a doaf ear *o their petition ?e'.mej 0 matter of courae. Any liberty, evan that of thought. If It h*d 1>eon in hii.r-'We^ W0uld hare been denied them. T! ??"<h ^018-19 Carrer and Cushman were ? tiro. in i,on(lon. The patent ?ns not lssu.rd J.rectly to the separatist*,
i ot John Wlncob (or Wuikop). a memte, 0f the Earl o? Lincoln?* hoiijchokl. who intended to join thr emlgm-tioo la the iutnx0^ ^ut uever patent win nerer iilued.
The Virginia < ??panj( torn internal
JOHN CARVER, First Signer.
dissensions, the King only playing with their request, never willing to give them terms ?under his hand and seal,? the poor Pilgrims, weary and discouraged, were driren to bay.
They next pleaded their cause with the Dutch traders to Manhattan, but, as the result shows, all they did was to acquaint them with both plans and hopes, a ad as a return reap their reward in deceit and double dealing. What wonder that, discouraged on all sides, they turned to one Weston, who appeared on the scene expressing kind sympathy with the situation, offering his services and means for their benefit, that they should, aa the result of his counsels, place themselves in the hands of some seventy English merchants, known as the ?Merchant Adventurers.? and accept,
1	tnough they did it very unwillingly, their terns.
Robert Cushman was the one appointed for the negotiations, and John Carver saw to fitting the ship out.
The little all of the colony waa intruatcd to their care. The money, ao priceleaa from ita acarcity, they disbursed. ?Seven hundred pounds wss expended in the provisions and storea, and seventeen hundred pounds as the value of the trading venture they carried.?
The failure or success of the enterprise devolved wholly upon John Carver and Robert Cushman. No word of criticism haa ever been given of Carver?s conduct, but, when the Mayflower was finally fitted out and the requirements of the adventurers were known, a strong but Impotent spirit of rebellion was aroused.
Pastor Robinson bad never approved of Cushman'a connection with Carver, an<^ proclaimed that ?he was unfit to deal for other men by reason of his singularity, and as a man more facile in talk than faithful in service.?
His strictures seemed borne out by the terms, which bnrdly left the Pilgrims any personal control; still, there is something to be said in extenuation, when Cushman claims that it ?was one thing to settle matters among themselvea in Leyden, and quite another to make terms with the other aide in London.?
Robinson, writing at the time of the agreement between Cuahman and Weaton, was very conscious of tbs extortions agreed
upon, and says: ?He also claimed If tw unfit for such men as Deacon Csr+ff to serve a new apprenticeship of seven joif and not a day's freedom."
Showing, as this does, a knowledge o. Carver?s previous life, there seema somi hope that the present search and wrWng uj of the English guilds mny evolve a reliabV record concerning Gov. Carver.
So, with the proceeds of their own estate and the assiatance of the merchants ta whom they mortgaged their labor and tra& for seven years in return for their venture two vessels were provided, one in Hollas' of sixty tons, called the Speedwell, whre* was intended to transport some of then to America, and there remain for one ye* in their service for fishing and the natara usea of a new settlement; another, of 19 tona. called the Mayflower, chartered b; Mr. Cuahman In London, and aent t. Southampton, where Mr. Carver was wait ing to auperintend the equipment.
?A Governor and two or three aaaist ants were chosen from esch ship to orde-the people by the way and see to the dis penning of their possessions and such liki affairs.?
THE 8TART.
All preparations being mnde, the vessel pronounced rcsdy for sea. they sailed Aug ust 5, 1620. Before the start was fairly ninde the Speedwell was reported leaky This seemed but a trifle, and both vessel returned, the Speedwell was repaired, ant again, August 21, they put to sea. Theii troubles were not OTer; the history of th' Speedwell was repeated, and, though no d< fects were revealed on the second search the whole thing was attributed to gentra weakness, aud she was condemned as onfi for nse.
?Twenty of the passengers were pat oi shore, the others, with their woridly po* sessions, transferred to the Mayflower.? and *he start for me colony they were t< found made, with the knowledge that then must be no turning back.
Upon the defection of the Speedwell of fice sought Juhn Curvcr, and he >?as mad< Governor of the whole colony.
The day of the xi^-uing of the compact ot Cape Cod John Carver was confirmed i< bis office ot Governor, though both Yonni and Belknap atate that no oath of offio was required, and h? 'Titered upon his oO