"Sam": or The history of mystery./ By C. W. Webber.

"' SAM:" OR, THE HISTORY OF MYSTERY.
Carver had been appointed Governor; at his first landing
he had lost a son; soon after the departure of the May Flower for England his health sunk under a sudden attack,
and his wife, broken-hearted, followed him in death.
William Bradford, the historian of the colony, was soon
chosen his successor. The record of misery was kept by the
graves of the governor and half his company." Was this
the hand of Providence? But let us hear more. "But if
sickness ceased to prevail, the hardships of privation and want
remained to be encountered. In the autumn an arrival of
new emigrants, who came unprovided with food, compelled the
whole colony, for six months in succession, to subsist on half
allowance only." "I have seen men," says Winslow, "sta,gger by reason of faintness for want of food." They were
once saved from famishing by the benevolence of fishermen
off the coast. Sometimes they suffered from oppressive exaction on the part of ships that sold them provisions at the
most exorbitant prices. Nor did their miseries soon terminate. Even in the third year of the settlement the victuals
were so entirely spent, that "they knew not at night where
to have a bit in the morning." Tradition declares that, "at
one time, the colonists were reduced to a pint of corn, which
being parched and distributed, gave to each individual only
five kernels; but rumor falls short of reality; for three or
four months together they had no corn whatever. When a
few of their old friends arrived to join them, a lobster or a
piece of fish, without bread or anything else but a cup of fair
spring water, was the best dish which the hospitality of the
whole colony could offer. Neat cattle were not introduced
till the fourth year of the settlement. Yet during all this
season of self-denial and suffering, the cheerful confidence
of the Pilgrims in the mercies of Providence remained unshaken."
Ho! ho! says Sam, with a laugh that makes the very
codfish stand upon their tails in wonder. "The living scarce
able to bury the dead! the well not able to take care of the
sick!" but seven were " able to render assistance." "Colonists
reduced to five grains of corn apiece!" this seems a bad business! What was the hand of Providence-of which they
are so fond of speaking familiarly-doing with these saints
about these times? Not exterminating them as unfit to
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