Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1885-06-13

of mind, to which the austeritv of the
Puritans seems to have rendered some
of them peculiarly liable. i am CON
fronted, however, with the assertion of
this writer, as well as with the inherent
proof of the assertion, that he was one
of many witnesses. It's, indeed, an
interesting problem, and the difficulty
OF reconciling an account that must be
accepted as truthful history with the
fact that it must be denied as a physi-
cal possibility makes the task fascina-
ting
Doubtless Prof. observed that
he had awakened a pleasing interest in
me. Indeed,I took no pains. to conceal
it, and told him that / would gladly
hear the story that had so puzzled him.
He at once unrolled the manuscript.
s'This appears said he, s.to have
been written by the Rev Dr.. Prentice,
and in the year 1850. Judge it was
letter to a friend, although the ravages
of time have made the first few sem
fences illegible. | have other manu-
scripts of this clergyman, a few SER
mons, and having thus been enabled to
make comparisons, [ find the handWrit-
ing of all to be Identical I will not
read it in full, and will paraphrase some
formal manner of that day, many of the
words found in it being now obsolete.
g There had come, began the Pro-
fessor, upon the tradesmen and those
engaged in commere a season of adyer-
sity in the year 1916 such as they had not
known even in the earliest days of the
settlement of the New Haven colony
The vessels lay idle in the harbor, trade
with the other colonies languished, and
and as the New Haven colonists were
familiar with commerce rather than
agriculture, they were embarrassed
even for the necessaries of life. But for
the energy and determination of some
of the men of character, the colony
must have found it's existence imper-
lied, for many had determined to
depart, some even making arrange
ments to emigrate to Ireland. A less
courageous and tenacious race must
have succumbed. 1t was determined
as a last resort to build a ship large
enough to cross the ocean, freight her,
and send her to England in the hope
that the disheartening losses would be
retrieved by the development of COM
merce with the mother country. Over
coming great obstacles they built ship
in Rhode Island colony.
The frost had closed the smaller
streams, and the ground was whitened
with snow when the ship entered New
Haven harbor There was great re-
ioicing at the sight of her, and her size,
being fully $50 tons measurement, was
a cause for wonder, for such monster
had never been seen before in that har-
Dor. With her sails all set and her
colors abroad, she came up to her
anchoring place with such grace and
speed as greatly delighted the people
who had assembled at. the waters edge
to greet her. Courage was revived by
the sightsof her, and the people said,
sNos we shall again have plenty and
add TO ourposscssions, flood be willing.
ssFhc master of the ship, Mr. Lamber-
ton, was found to be somewhat gloomy,
and DR.. Prentice records that Lambert
ton told him in confidence that, though
the ship was of fine model and a fast
sailer, yet she was SO Wilty-meaning
thereby of such disposition to roll in
rough Water-that he feared she would
prove the grave of all who sailed in her.
However, he breathed his suspicious to
no one else. The ship was laden and
ready for departure early January. 1647.
THE cold thatprevailed for five days
and nights before the time fixed for
clearing for London was such as the
people had never before known. 1t
must have remained many degrees be-
low zero, for the salt water was frozen
far down the harbor, and the ship was
rivited by the ice as firmly as though
by many anchors. There was no lazy
bones among the people, and with
prodigious industry the men out canal
through the ice forty feet wide and five
miles long to the never-freezing waters
of the Sound. The vessel was frozen
in with her bow pointing toward the
shore, and itwss necessary to propel
her to clear water stern foremost.
. This was an unlucky omen Capt.
Lamberton avoWcd that the sea and the
conflict. G powers that struggled for
its maste y wore controlled by whims
and freaks, which would be sure to be
eNcied by such an insult as that of a
ship entering the water stern first. An
old sailor, too, informed them all that
ship that sailed stern first always
returned stern first, meaning by that
she never came back to the harbor from
which she thus departed.
''You willobserve,' said the Professor
putting down the manuscript for a
moment, ''that in these gloomy fore
bodings are to be detected traces of the
NEUROLOGICAL conception of the mystery
Of the sea, with which all sailors, even
to the present time, are more or less
tinctured. am especially impressed
with the manner in which these colon
lists acted. Believing in predestination
in spiritual matters, their lives in.
worldly affairs conformed more or less
thereto. So, in splits Of these omens,
there was no thought of delay They
had fixed the time for sailing, and they
meant to sail. So cody man as the
Rev. Mr.. Davenport expressed this feel
ing in his prayer, as reported by this
writer: Mr.. Davenport, as the ship
began slowly to move, used these words:
Lord, if it be Thy pleasure to bury these
our friends in the bottom of the sea,
they are Thine Save them!'
s.Men less completely under the DOM
nation of their religious belief would