A salty young sailor on the Mayflower gives the Puritan passengers all kinds of grief. He's forever swearing at and insulting them. He tells them, somewhat rudely, that he can't wait to see them die so he can dump their bodies into the ocean. Yet what goes around comes around, and the cheeky young jack-tar is suddenly stricken down with a mystery illness that kills him. His dead body is then the first to be buried at sea.
But there's more excitement in store on this tumultuous, epic voyage. Another young man—but a much nicer one this time—by the name of John Howland, is swept overboard during a storm. Yet miraculously he's able to clamber aboard. Once safely arrived in Massachusetts, he goes on to become a leading member of the Puritan community.
In both cases, Bradford sees the hand of God at work. He fervently believes that the two incidents show the Almighty protecting the elect and punishing the wicked.
Bradford first writes about a "very profane young man" who is one of the sailors on board the Mayflower. This sailor condemns the people who are sick and even tells them that he hopes to toss them overboard. During the voyage, he is taken sick with a "grievous disease," from which he dies. He is the first one thrown overboard, and Bradford sees the sailor's death as the work of God. Bradford also describes a storm in which a young man named John Howland is thrown overboard. Howland catches the topsail halyards and hangs onto them until he is hauled back to the boat and to safety. Though he is ill, Howland goes on to live and become a "profitable" member of the church and the community. Bradford also sees the work of God in Howland's salvation.
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