This little group of men and women landed on
territory that had been granted to the New Eng-
land Council and they themselves had neither
patent for their land nor royal authority to set
up a government. But some form of government
was absolutely necessary. Before starting from
Southampton, they had followed Robinson's in-
structions to choose a governor and assistants
for each ship "to order the people by the way";
and now that they were at the end of their long
voyage, the men of the company met in the cabin
of the Mayflower, and drew up a covenant in ac-
cordance with which they combined themselves to-
gether into a body politic for their better ordering
and preservation. This compact, signed by forty-



THE COMING OF THE PILGRIMS IS

one members, of whom eleven bore the title of
"Mister," was a plantation covenant, the political
counterpart of the church covenant which bound
together every Separatist community. It pro-
vided that the people should live together in a
peaceable and orderly manner under civil authori-
ties of their own choosing, and was the first of
many such covenants entered into by New Eng-
land towns, not defining a government but bind-
ing the settlers to unite politically as they had
already done for religious worship. John Carver,
who had been chosen governor on the Mayflower,
was confirmed as governor of the settlement and
given one assistant. After their goods had been
set on shore and a few cottages built, the whole
body "inette and consulted of lawes and orders,
both for their civil and military governmente,
still adding therunto as urgent occasion in severall
times, and as cases did require."

Of this courageous but sorely stricken com-
munity more than half died before the first winter
was over. But gradually the people became ac-
climated, new colonists came out, some from the
community at Leyden, in the Fortune, the Anne,
the Charily, and the Handmaid, and the numbers
steadily increased. The settlers were in the



14 THE FATHERS OP NEW ENGLAND

main a homog eneous body, both as to social class
and to religious views and purpose. 