MILES STANDISH 191 tered the school of our Saviour Christ or of John the Baptist." But his com- panions and associates seem not to have permitted the dissociation to have had special weight with them. They gladly welcomed Captain Standish and his wife, Rose, among the little company of exiles that set out from Delft Haven for Vir- ginia, and gave their names place on that memorable passenger list of the little schooner. Mayflower, which, leaving the harbor of old Plymouth, in England, in September, 1620, finally dropped anchor in the harbor of new Plymouth, in New England, in December following. From the outset of this novel " adventure " itself a turning-point in Ameri- can history this soldier of fortune was given place and prominence in the coun- cils of a community which seems to have enlisted his support, not so much on its religious as on its adventurous side ; and to this " dissenter from dissent " was intrusted the defence of a company of religious enthusiasts, sailing upon what they deemed a divine mission, only in the practical side of which did their mili- tary adviser find occupation or interest. The up-bringing of Miles Standish had been such as to fit him for leadership, and this he assumed early in the history of the enterprise. Even on the deck of the Mayflower, he was recognized as one whose counsels were wise and whose actions were inspiring, and when in the cabin of the Mayflower, in the harbor of Provincetown, the famous compact was drawn up, said to be " the first written constitution in the world," the bold signature of " Myles Standish " was the clearest of the forty-one Pilgrim autographs that were affixed to that famous document. It was Captain Standish who, with his sixteen " well-armed men," made a thorough exploration of the Provincetown peninsula ; he organized and headed the party of observation which, later, sailed the shallop and marched with watchful eyes along the shores of Cape Cod, seeking the best place for settle- ment ; and, on December 6th following, he sailed with a picked party across Massachusetts Bay and, in much peril and with many adventures, spied out the land and determined upon the harbor of Plymouth as the best spot for perma- nent settlement. It was to Captain Standish's knowledge as to the best locations and to his skill as a surveyor, that the colonists were indebted for the selection of their town site and the laying-out of their town ; as, later, the same skill came in play when were laid out the new towns that followed after the Plymouth begin- nings. Through all that dreary and dreadful first winter, when half their num- ber died, Captain Standish was their mainstay, as one whose word was ever reas- suring and whose arm was as ready for protection as was his brain for planning methods of defence. Though his wife, Mistress Rose Standish, was one of the early victims of that bitter winter of death, his courage never faltered, his vigi- lance never slackened. And when, in the midst of all the peril and suffering, in February, 1621, Miles Standish was appointed military captain of the colony, confidence was restored and courage renewed in the bosoms of that suffering but heroic and indomitable band ; so that when spring came and the Mayflower sailed for England, not one of the settlers returned in her, nor would desert the cause to which they had pledged themselves.
