That small, unknown ship was the _Mayflower;_ those men and women who
crowded her decks were that little handful of God's own wheat which had
been flailed by adversity, tossed and winnowed till every husk of earthly
selfishness and self-will had been beaten away from them and left only
pure seed, fit for the planting of a new world. It was old Master Cotton
Mather who said of them, "The Lord sifted three countries to find seed
wherewith to plant America."
Hark now to the hearty cry of the sailors, as with a plash and a cheer
the anchor goes down, just in the deep water inside of Long Point; and
then, says their journal, "being now passed the vast ocean and sea of
troubles, before their preparation unto further proceedings as to seek
out a place for habitation, they fell down on their knees and blessed the
Lord, the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious
ocean, and delivered them from all perils and miseries thereof."
Let us draw nigh and mingle with this singular act of worship. Elder
Brewster, with his well-worn Geneva Bible in hand, leads the thanksgiving
in words which, though thousands of years old, seem as if written for the
occasion of that hour:
"Praise the Lord because he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.
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