man’s corruption, and nothing to the philosophy _per se_. Yes; but since all men have this corruption in them, God in his wisdom saw another course fitter for them.”[441] When the Pilgrims had finished planting, they knew that many weary weeks must elapse ere they could reap what they had sown. Meantime “all their victuals were spent, and they rested on God’s providence alone, many times not knowing at night where to get a bit of any thing the next day; so that, as has been well said, they, above all people in the world, had occasion to pray God to give them their daily bread.”[442] As the colonists had “but one boat left, and she not over-well fitted, they were divided into gangs of six or seven each, and so went out with a net they had bought, to take bass and such like fish by course, each company knowing its turn. No sooner was the boat discharged of what she had brought than the next gang took her. Nor did they return till they had caught something, though it were five or six days before; for they knew there was nothing at home, and to return empty-handed would be a great discouragement to the rest. Yea, they strove which should do best. If the boat was gone over-long or got little, then all went to the shore to seek shell-fish, which at low water they dug from the sand. They also got now and then a deer, one or two of the fittest being appointed to range the woods; and the meat thus gotten was fairly divided. All these wants were borne with great patience and alacrity of spirit.”[443] God was thanked for what he gave, and for the rest all hoped. The unusually large corn-crop just planted led the Pilgrims to believe that the approaching harvest would definitively stop the hungry mouth of their necessities; but, alas, this expectation seemed about to be blasted. A severe drought met them in the opening months of the summer. From the middle of May to the middle of July there was no rain. All nature seemed to pant with thirst. The streams dwindled, and ceased to laugh. The summer foliage seemed in the “sear and yellow leaf” of autumn. The flowers held out their parched and shrivelled tongues. The sprouting corn began to wither in the blade. Famine seemed inevitable. In this emergency, the devout Pilgrims resorted to the “mercy-seat,” and besought Him who had so often appeared to succor them to aid them now. A special day of fasting and prayer was appointed; and we may still “hear the Pilgrims’ peaceful prayer Swelling along the silent air, Amid the forest wild.” It has been well said, that answers to prayer do not generally come with _observation_. They are often sent in a way which is hid from most persons, and frequently even from those who receive them. There are, however, instances in which these answers are so striking as to be visible to all. Some instances of this kind may be found in the early history of New England.[444]