Excerpt from The Fathers of New England: A Chronicle of the Puritan CommonwealthsLandholding classes, gentry and tenant farmers alike, were clamoring, the one for an increase of their landed estates, the other for freedom from the feudal restraints which still legally bound them. The land-hunger Of neither class could be satisfied in a narrow island where the law and the lawgivers were in favor Of the maintenance of feudal rights. The expectations Of all were aroused by Visions Of wealth from the El Dorados of the West, or Of profit from commercial enterprises which appealed to the cupidity of capitalists and led to invest ments that promised speedy and ample returns. A desire to improve social conditions and to solve the problem of the poor and the vagrant, which had become acute since the dissolution Of the monasteries, was arousing the authorities to deal with the pauper and to dispose of the criminal in such a way as to yield a profitable service to the kingdom. England was full of resolute men, sea-dogs and soldiers Of fortune, captains on the land as Well as the sea, who in times Of peace were seeking employment and profit and who needed an outlet for their energies. Some of these continued in the service Of kings and princes in Europe, others conducted enterprises against the Spaniards in the West Indies and along the Spanish Main, while still others, such as John Smith and Miles Standish, became pioneers in the work Of English colonization.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.