The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-11-11
A Centennial Romance.

mance, which found room, budded ant
| blOSSOmed in the heart of one of MaSSa
/ chusettS's earliest Governors, proving
that no matter how full and earnes
may be the purpose that inspires tht
heart and life of the most Jealous, The
"tlny god" can ever find room to Sc
up his banner, on which is Transcribed
in letters of light, "Veni, Uidi, Uici."
William Bradford, who became sec
ond Governor of Massachusetts, after
the melancholy death of Governor Car
yer (who soon slept by the side of his
wife and only child), was born at Ans.
terfield, Yorkshire, England, March
1888. His father and mother died wher
he was quite young. He was tenderly
cared for by his grandparents, and sub
sequently by an uncle. His family was
among the yeomanry of England, and
veIy respectable. He was reared to
agriculture. When quite young he as
sumed the care of his own landed es-
tates, and enjoyed his occupation in
cultivating and beautifying them; and,
though much of his time he was busy
with his men in the field, he still found
opportunity to be quite a student. He
became proficient in the Latin, Greek
and Hebrew languages, and was IA
miliar with the German and French,
which he spoke fluently. He had en-
Draced the faith of the Puritans, and at
seventeen years of age was one of the
company who made an effort to escape
to Holland in search of religious liberty,
but was unsuccessful, having been be-
trayed and was for a season confined in
prison at Boston, Lincolnshire (from
which the city of Boston received its
name). But though religion and other
mCmentOuS subjects claimed his atten-
ton and seemed to engross all his mind,
there was one less grave, but not less
potent, that permeated his whole being,
and gave to his life halo of brightness.
Love had taken possession of the
heart of young Bradford; and often,
when he seemed most engrossed in his
books, the golden curls and soft blue
eyes of Alice Carpenter were all he saw.
His lands joined to her fathers, and
they had been playmates and compan-
ions in childhood, he being but a few
years her senior. As time passed rapid
ly away and she grew into womanhoOd,
her sunny curlS turning to a soft chest
nut brown, she only became to the earn
est, honest heart of William Bradford
more dear and more beautiful; and yet
he said nothing to her of the deep and
earnest passion which he never forgot,
even in his sleep, till one evening in au-
tumn they had been enjoying a long and
pleasant compensation, leaning over the
hedge that divided their lands, when
Alice told him she was soon to 90 to
London to reside with a relative. This
was a very sad announcement to him.
The Carpenter family had in former
times received the title of knighthoOd,
but they were comparatively poor, and
William determined to know his fate
and ask Alice of her naughty old father,
hoping his own worth and broad lands
might induce the father to accept him
as a suitable match for his pOrtiOnless
daughter. But he was mistaken. He
had never before had occasion to fathOm
the pride of the strange old man. His
religious belief alone would have been
a sufficient barrier had there been no
other, and he was haughtily dismissed.
There was last sad meeting of the low
ers across the hedge that night, and the
moon looked down on two heavy hearts
and two fearful faces as they both turn
ed to their homes, the one to wet the pill
low with her tears, the other to walk his
room in bitter repinings at the fate
which seemed settling on his life in
G. couds and thick darkness, forgetting
for the time to listen to the still small
voice which was whispering, "Come
unto me, all ye that are heavy laden,
and | will give you rest"
Alice was hurried off to London, and
after few years was married to Mr..
Southworth, a man of wealth and honor.
Mr.. Bradford sought alleviation from
his disappointment in his books and
farm, and subsequently married Do
rothy May, woman of his own rank
and persuasion, who proved a genial
and faithful companion. After few
years we find them abandoning their
pleasant home, for he was one of the
first advocates for the removal of the
little band of Puritans to America; and
next we see them upon the tempestuOus
ocean. in the cabin of the MayflOwer.
After arriving in Cape Cod Harbor, Mr..
set out with a small party to
explore the coast, and on returning was
oained and afflicted to find that during
MS absence his wife, Dorothy, had fallen
rom the ship and was drowned. He
leeplv mourned her loss, for she had
proven a good wife, and they were
mutually attached. He bore this sec
md disappointment of his life with
Christian fortitude. He had no leisure
% sit and brood over his grief, for life
With him was now warfare with cold
and hunger, for he shared in all that the
,olonists suffered. 1t is well known to
lnv child of history how they struggled
with disease and savage enemies.
Mr.. Bradford was now over thirty
years of age, a man of rare piety and
dignity of manner; and a few months
after their arrival, Governor Carver dy-
NO, he was elected Governor of the lit
lie colony, a position which he ably
illed for more than thirty years. And
while with fatherly care he ten
lerly watched all the interests
IF the little colony, there
vas blank in his household, and none
Knew better than himself how he real
zed the need of woman's ready sympa-
hy, and he was often annoyed at his
inability to keep his thoughts from
across the "deep blue sea-"
The love he had cherished for Alice had
never died out of his heart. True, it
lad been sleeping, and while the hus-
,and of another had never wished HIM
elf other than he was; but now they
we're both free-for Alice, too, was left
llone-he often said to himself, 81
Wonder if she remembers the love of her
-outh; and even if she did, would she
lot think it too great sacrifice to share
lis fortune in the wilderness"
Men are not like women, and will not
yait a lifetime without knowing their
ate when it can be decided by a single
word. So he resolved to write and ask
Alice, and in the spring of 1923 the let
er was sent across the Atlantic. He
set before her all the priva-
ions and sacrifices she would be called
Ipon to endure, saying as an equivalent