The settlers had indeed laboured hard and not in vain, for a definite grant of their territory was issued by the New England Company, and there was now no fear of their log-fort, their houses, or their twenty-six acres of cleared ground being seized by the original members to whom the land had been granted by James I. The little plot of ground thus carefully tended seems to have been a real oasis in the wilderness. An eye-witness, Edward Winslow, has drawn an ideal picture of the settlement. "Here are grapes, white and red, and very sweet and strong also; strawberries, gooseberries, raspas, etc.; plums of three sorts, white, black and red, being almost as good as a damson; abundance of roses, white, red and damask; single but very sweet indeed. The country wanted only industrious men to employ."[108] With such a tempting account it is not surprising that thirty-five new settlers went out in 1622. The communal principle gradually began to break down. The younger men did not care to work so hard and find that they gained no more than the weak and aged; nor were the married men pleased with the idea of their wives cooking, washing, and sewing for the bachelors. As early as 1623, signs of the disappearance of the system were beginning to show themselves; and by 1627 its break up was completed when the interests of the London partners were transferred to six of the chief settlers with a general division of land and live stock. The government of the settlement was now placed on an assured footing; the laws were passed by the whole body of freemen, who had also the double right of electing the governor and a committee of seven assistants. Under the new methods the colony throve apace, and three years after the change, two new townships were formed and these sent delegates to an assembly which was primarily composed of the whole body of freemen, but which, owing to the existence of these delegates, gradually developed, until in New Plymouth there was a proper bicameral legislature with a governor at its head. The Plymouth colonists set "the example of a compact religious brotherhood."[109] In 1636 they passed a code of laws which in no way clashed with those of England, but applied more especially to the style of life which they had adopted. The brotherhood extended its bounds year by year, and hardly a score of years had passed since their first landing before eight prim, clean, and comfortable towns had been built, containing a population of about 3000 inhabitants. By this time the Civil War had broken out in England, but the settlers were little affected by it, for they lived their own quiet lives and went on their way, filled with religious fervour and working hard to support themselves.