stood on the bank of a small stream that emptied into the bay. It was in the month of April, 1638, and the leaves were not far forth, but under that canopy the first sermon ever heard in that region was preached. This famous tree stood for more than a hundred years after, and when it fell a tablet was placed on a near-by building to show succeeding generations where the forefathers first met for public worship.

A compact was made with the Indians, and the town was laid out by John Brockett, a civil engineer, whose love of a Puritan maiden had led him to abandon brilliant prospects of preferment and cross the seas. First, a large tract was apportioned for a market-place, then the streets were plotted in regular squares surrounding it. The dwellings ranged from mere huts to mansions of grand proportions. Eaton's house contained nineteen fireplaces, and was one of the few houses in the country where sufficient books were found to form a library.

Romance soon gave place to tragedy. An Englishman was found murdered in the neighboring woods, and an Indian so near as to invite suspicion. He was arrested and brought to the market-place. No laws had been framed,

but an agreement had been made soon after landing, that all disputes should be settled according to Scripture. An inquiry established the Indian's guilt, but there was doubt as to the Scriptural text to apply. The Old Testament rule, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed," made the outlook gloomy for the prisoner, while he saw hope in the more recent dispensation, "Go and sin no more." The Puritan forefathers leaned to the conservative view of the case, laid the Indian over a log, chopped off his head, and "pitched it upon a pole in the market-place."

The first public building to be erected, as might have been expected, was a meetinghouse. This was built near the centre of the market-place, and the present edifice stands to-day on nearly the same spot. The meetinghouse was not merely a place for public worship, but town-hall, voting-booth, court-room and forum as well. In summer it was a pleasant place in which to sit, with bird-songs and odor-laden breezes floating in through the open windows, and the long-drawn, monotonous drone of the parson's voice lulling to dreamy drowsiness. But in winter, with the mercury

twenty degrees below zero; with tingling ears and aching nose; with shivering frames and feet like cakes of ice, and every man's breath showing white on the frosty air, hell-fire seemed less terrible than the preacher would have it

appear.

There were means, however, of getting periodically thawed. Those who lived in town. could repair to their homes at the intermission, while the farmers sought their "sabbada-housen" (Sabbath-day houses). These were small huts, each containing a chimney and rude fireplace, and were grouped irregularly about the meeting-house. Here the stiffened limbs were rubbed and toasted, and the creature comforts of pies and cakes and home-brewed ale were enjoyed. Stern times were those, and many a mother saw her tender child laid away in the little burying-ground, chilled to death by the bitter cold of the meeting-house.

While the hearts of these early Puritans beat warmly, their rigid views of life and duty sometimes led to acts of great severity. Public whipping was resorted to, not only as a punishment supposed to be fit for the culprit, but as a warning and a deterrent. It is hard

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to imagine a father handing a child over to the courts for public humiliation, yet Richard Malbon, a magistrate, sat at the trial of his daughter Martha, and condemned her to be flogged at the whipping-post. The shameful performance took place on the northwest corner of the market-place, close by the schoolhouse, so that the youthful mind need not fail to understand that the way of the transgressor was hard.

The "Witch Trial" created some excitement in the early days. Elizabeth Godman was the town scold, and kept her neighbors in a state of perpetual worry. Her chief delight was in creating and perpetuating feuds. She had been warned by the magistrates that her way of life was objectionable and might lead to trouble. One day, in spite of the judicial warning, she called at Mistress Hooke's and asked for home-brewed beer. A mug was given her, but she used only part of it. The next day the whole barrel of "beare" was found to be sour. Here were symptoms of witchcraft! Soon after one of Goody Thorpe's chickens died, and when they opened it they found its gizzard full of water and worms! Suspicion began to turn to certainty. This