ON THE ATLANTIC

“Come to me, children,” said Mrs. Bradley invitingly; “I will be a mother to you, my darlings. You shall not be a burden to the community, but I will take care of you myself.”

Having said this, she seized the little boy and his sister and pressed them to her heart, while tears trickled down her full, rosy cheeks.

“Now you little sweethearts,” she said soothingly, “you must not be afraid of me. Let me wipe your tears, and then you will come with me to my quarters, and I will give you something very, very good to eat. But by all means don’t cry anymore.”

The children snuggled up to her and she took them by their hands, away from the crowd which had frightened them by their curious stares. There was a sigh of relief when the woman had promised to take care of them, for all on shipboard were glad that the two orphans had found a protector.

“God bless thee, Sister Clara,” said the minister; “the Lord will reward thee, after thy goodness, both here and hereafter. Nor will He ever forsake or leave thee with the extra burden imposed on thee.”

“The children are no burden,” the woman replied; “but rather a godsend, for both my husband and I have longed for two little angels like these long ago. How they will comfort our hearts in those weary hours of winter when the days are so short and the nights so long! And, please you, sir, there will be enough for us to eat, for the good Lord has blessed us abundantly. But I must not delay to attend to them; so kindly excuse me, I must go.”

The minister looked after her with grateful eyes, and then turned to the men and women standing around him.

“A pious woman she is,” he said; “a rich reward will be hers for her great kindness.”

Then the congregation dispersed, each family departing for the cabins and quarters where they lodged during the long, long voyage over the Atlantic.

Traveling at that time was not as comfortable as it is now, for the conversation that we just related took place just three hundred years ago, to be exact in the year of our Lord 1630.

Since that time many and great changes have taken place in the world, and should the people of that time rise from their graves, they would be amazed at the transformation that has taken place.

At that time the voyage across the ocean was slow and dangerous; the ships were small and propelled by the wind, so that when the weather was contrary, it took the emigrants a long time to reach America. Usually the food was poor, and quite often the water gave out, so that the people on shipboard suffered extremely. At the time of our story there were many who wished to settle in America, and in consequence the vessels were usually crowded to the utmost of their capacity. The result was that sickness spread among the passengers, and many did not reach the country where they hoped to find liberty of conscience.

Among these was the mother of the two children, of whom we just spoke. The boy’s name was Fred, and he was eight years old; the name of his sister was Agnes, and she was seven.

They were strong and healthy children, but their frail mother could not stand the hardships of the voyage. For six years she had lived in anxiety, for in 1624 her husband had left England to settle in the plymouth Colony, which the Pilgrims had established in 1620. He was very sincere in his faith, and rather than stay in good old England and do what his conscience forbade him, he joined the sturdy emigrants who left their homes for the Lord’s sake, as they were fully convinced.

He arrived safely in Plymouth Colony and at first sent cheering letters to his wife. But suddenly these ceased, and she worried day and night over her far-away husband. She toiled diligently, so that her children did not suffer for lack of bread, but the worry broke her heart, and when she had saved a little sum of money, enough to pay for her voyage, she left England and joined the colonists who in ever larger numbers sought the land of freedom across the sea.

She did not live to set her foot on that strange, unknown land, but the good Lord called her out of all trouble, and she was buried in the sea.

Fred was old enough to realize what the death of his beloved mother meant, and Agnes, too, wept bitterly when they took away her mother and softly and slowly laid her away in the rolling waves.

The little band of emigrants at first worried considerably about what to do with the children. The majority of them were poor and blessed with large families so that they did not have any food to spare. Hence their joy was great when Clara Bradley volunteered to adopt the children as her own.

She herself was on the way to meet her husband, who two years before, in 1628, had left England with the Puritans to settle in the new territory granted by the King to the Massachusetts Company. The Puritans, as you know, differed from the Pilgrims in many respects; in consequence, they wished to establish their own settlements far enough away from the Plymouth Colony to avoid misunderstanding and trouble.

As soon as Mr. Bradley had arrived in the new settlement he wrote a long letter to his wife in which he described the wonderful country in which he had found a new home. But he begged her to wait for some time until he had built a house, cleared a small piece of land, and made other preparations to welcome his young and beautiful wife.

In England Mr. Bradley had been a merchant, and his wife came from a rich family so that he did not care to burden her with the hardships of primitive pioneer life. But she was a sensible woman, who was not afraid to work, and since she loved her husband dearly, she insisted that she would come and share with him the woe and weal of his life.

When, therefore, in 1630, the Massachusetts Company gave the people in the Colony the right to govern themselves, and in consequence, thousands of Puritans were willing to go to America, she would stay in England no longer, but sold her property, collected her belongings, and sailed with the first band of emigrants, in whose midst was also John Winthrop, the new governor.

It was by accident that she met the poor mother with her two little children, and when she heard her story, she pitied her very much. She, too, made friends with the children, and later when their mother was confined to her cabin, she took them on deck and told them many interesting stories of land and sea, and of kings and queens, and of the Indians that roved in the forests of their new country.

As she was blessed with sufficient funds, she had richly provided herself with special and delectable food so that the children received many a dainty morsel which they had never tasted in their lives.

In this way the children very soon became attached to the strange, fine lady, who wore such rich clothes and had such winning ways; and while she could never take the place of their mother, they nevertheless were comforted when their mother grew so ill that they were not allowed to see her.

When finally she died, they clung with cordial confidence to their new friend, who now taught them to call her mother.

At night Mrs. Bradley would point them to the heavens, when the skies were clear, and told them of the blessedness of their mother who was now with the holy angels and beheld the glory of the Lord Jesus.

“You see the beautiful stars up there?” she asked them. “Oh, how many there are! When I was young my mother told me that each was a window in heaven through which the angels looked to see whether all was well with God’s people. Every time a star twinkled, she said, an angel looked down, and it was the glory of his face that shone so brightly.”

“But is that true?” Fred asked, for he was well instructed, as all Puritans were, in the Bible. “Our teacher told us that the angels are ministering Spirits. That is what the Bible says, and we must not add thereunto.” He said it almost sternly and quite reprovingly, for the Puritans were very religious and followed the Bible closely. Mrs. Bradley had been raised in a rich home, and although her parents had joined the Puritans, they remained much more genial than were their sterner brethren.

“Well, yes,” the lady admitted; “perhaps you are right, but isn’t it a good story, nevertheless? I love to think of the stars as being so many messengers of God watching over me in this poor life. But the angels are much nearer to us than the stars, and our Lord is still much nearer than they.”

“Is He here on the ocean, too?” asked little Agnes who was a bright girl and very mature for her age. “It seems to me that we are here all, all alone with nothing but water around us, and it never ends, never!”

“Yes,” said the good woman, “Jesus is here, too, though we cannot see Him. He is here at our services and prayer meetings, and He is in our hearts. When we pray, He hears us, and when we sing, our songs rise up to His throne. Every thought in our heart He knows. So we need not fear, my dear children.”

Then she would kiss them tenderly, and give them a piece of ginger bread or some other dainty, so that they would forget all their sorrows and troubles.

On board the ship her solicitude for the children was soon noticed by everybody, and even Governor Winthrop at times turned to Mrs. Bradley and spoke to her about the children.

“You are doing very well as a mother, Mrs. Bradley,” he teased her; “the children are very happy under your care, and they are not a whit sorrowful any more. The Lord bless you for your kindness! It is cheering to know that we have such pious folk in our company. God bless us all that His name may be glorified.”

Mrs. Bradley blushed deeply when she perceived that her good work was thus graciously acknowledged. She cared for no praise, and insisted that the children were only a blessing sent to her by the Lord to comfort her and assign to her a worthy task.

As often as the emigrants gathered for worship, she was present with the children, and joined in the singing, for she had a fine, melodious voice. There was no organ on board the ship, neither did the colonists have musical instruments. Yet they sang so wondrously that it was a pleasure to listen to them. The hymns were learned by heart, not only by the older members, but also by the children, who joined their clear young voices with those of their fathers and mothers. So also they learned the Bible, and while not all had copies of that holy Book, the majority of them knew whole portions by heart; especially the psalms which they sang every day. Furthermore, there was instruction in the Catechism each day, so that the children were well occupied, as were also their elders. For when they were not worshiping God by song and prayer, they served Him by doing useful work, of which there was much to do.

The colonists, knowing that they would settle in a primitive country, had brought plenty of wool, which the women spun into cloth from which to make garments. At that time there were no readymade clothes. Everything had to be made at home. This kept the women busy almost all day, and kept them from brooding over their trials and difficulties.

After all, it was not easy for them to leave their homes and settle in a new, uncivilized country. There, as they knew, the winters were much longer and harder; the woods were filled with Indians, who at times were hostile, and before the soil could be tilled, trees had to be cut down and stones had to be removed. The future, therefore, was not promising. The life that awaited them, was not one of ease. Yet they were resolved to carry out their plan and secure a home in inhospitable America, where at least they were not persecuted on account of their religious beliefs.

But also the men were busy in various ways. Some of them were skilful in weaving and spinning, and these helped the women in providing necessary garments. Very often father and mother with their children labored at one piece of work, and there was much jollity, as the parents related many a good story to their children. Others who were skilled in carpentering, made implements which could be used on the farm, in the woods, or in the homes. Others again attended to the sick, of whom there were many at all times, while still others joined in instructing the young.

In short, each emigrant was given some task to do, and the whole activity was superintended by Governor Winthrop, who led the men in wisely employing their time.

He was genial and affable, and even the humblest could go and speak to him. Though he was still a young man, yet he was like a father to every one. In spite of storms and many unpleasant things, the voyage was not altogether dreary, and when the emigrants finally landed, they thanked God heartily for the innumerable blessings bestowed upon them.

Yet they were glad when land was in sight and when the ship passed out of the region of tumultuous waves into the quiet and peaceful harbor of Massachusetts Bay.