A Model of Christian Charity

In 1630, a group of English Puritans sailed aboard the Arbella toward the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England. On the voyage their leader, John Winthrop, gave a sermon urging the settlers to hold themselves to a stricter standard of faith and to cooperate closely with one another. He told them their community would be watched by the wider world, so any failure to honour their bargain with God would bring shame on them. The sermon also draws on biblical imagery to picture the colony as a shining example for others to see. Later American leaders have returned to this image when describing the nation's sense of purpose, which gives the short text an afterlife far beyond its original setting.