THE COMING OF THE PILGRIMS 19

Thus there was introduced into the colony a form
of representative government, though it is to be
noted that governor, assistants, and deputies sat
together in a common room and never divided
into two houses, as did the assemblies in other
colonies.

The settlement of Plymouth colony is conspicu-
ous in New England history because of the faith
and courage and suffering of those who engaged
in it and because of the ever alluring charm of
William Bradford's History qfPlimouth Plantation.
The greatness of the Pilgrims lay in their illus-
trious example and in the influence they exercised
upon the church life of the later New England
colonies, for to the Pilgrims was due the fact that
the congregational way of organization and wor-
ship became the accepted form in Massachusetts
and Connecticut. But in other respects Ply-
mouth was vastly overshadowed by her vigorous
neighbors. Her people, humble and simple, were
without importance in the world of thought,
literature, or education. Their intellectual and ma-
terial poverty, lack of business enterprise, unfavor-
able situation, and defenseless position in the eyes
of the law rendered them almost a negative factor
in the later life of New England. No great move-