THE return of "the end of the harvest" awakens thought to the multiplied occasions for thanksgiving and joy, and to every son and daughter of the Puritans it cannot fail also to bring a lively remembrance of the heroic spirit of those brave pioneers who faced every hardship and hazard that they might rejoice in "freedom to worship God."
After the unnumbered trials of the first winter, the long treasured seed was sown in the little acres upon the Plymouth hillsides, and being blessed with the sunshine and rain these brought forth such a bounteous yield that the hearts of all were lifted up, their courage reestablished. The narrative tells us of the fields that were "full of corn" and of the forests that "swarmed with game," and when the new home-land had arrayed itself in an autumnal glory, such as "had never been seen before," and all was promising for their future, gladness and gratitude shaped the councils of the little band and they inaugurated that "harvest festival" which became the progenitor of our Thanksgiving day.
"Our harvest being gathered in," so reads the quaint old chronicle, "our governor sent foure men out fowling, that so we might after a more speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labors; they foure in one day killed as much fowle as with a little helpe beside served the company almost a weeke.... And although it is not alwayes so plentyful, yet by the goodnesse of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie" (Mourts Relation, p. 133). The generous, all-including atmosphere of good cheer and good fellowship which marked this first feast of rejoicing is witnessed to by the fact that Massasoit and ninety of his braves were entertained by the colonists for three days, during which there was provided an abundance of food and fun for all.
