I knew him to be one Master Jeremy Sparrow, a minister brought by the Southampton a month before, and as yet without a charge, but at that time I had not spoken with him.

Without word of warning he thundered into a psalm of thanksgiving, singing it at the top of a powerful and yet sweet and tender voice, and with a fervor and exaltation that caught the heart of the riotous crowd.

The two ministers in the throng beneath took up the strain; Master Pory added a husky tenor, eloquent of much sack; presently we were all singing.

The audacious suitors, charmed into rationality, fell back, and the broken line re-formed.

The Governor and the Council descended, and with pomp and solemnity took their places between the maids and the two ministers who were to head the column.