Chapter II: Part 2

It comes to us at the time of the rejoicing of the English people at the sixtieth anniversary of a reign more crowded with benefit to humanity than any other known in the annals of the race. Upon the power of England, the sceptre, the trident, the lion, the army and the fleet, the monster ships of war, the all-shattering guns, the American people are strong enough now to look with an entire indifference. We encounter her commerce and her manufacture in the spirit of a generous emulation. The inheritance from which England has gained these things is ours also. We, too, are of the Saxon strain.

In our halls is hung
Armory of the invincible knights of old.

Our temple covers a continent, and its porches are upon both the seas. Our fathers knew the secret to lay, in Christian liberty and law, the foundations of empire. Our young men are not ashamed, if need be, to speak with the enemy in the gate.

But to the illustrious lady, type of gentlest womanhood, model of mother and wife and friend, who came at eighteen to the throne of George IV. and William; of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; the maiden presence before which everything unholy shrank; the sovereign who, during her long reign, "ever knew the people that she ruled;" the royal nature that disdained to strike at her kingdom's rival in the hour of our sorest need; the heart which even in the bosom of a queen beat with sympathy for the cause of constitutional liberty; who, herself not unacquainted with grief, laid on the coffin of our dead Garfield the wreath fragrant with a sister's sympathy,--to her our republican manhood does not disdain to bend.

The eagle, lord of land and sea,
Will stoop to pay her fealty.

But I am afraid this application might have had the fate of its predecessors but for our special good fortune in the fact that Mr. Bayard was our ambassador at the Court of St. James. He had been, as I said in the beginning, the ambassador not so much of the diplomacy as of the good-will of the American people. Before his powerful influence every obstacle gave way. It was almost impossible for Englishmen to refuse a request like this, made by him, and in which his own sympathies were so profoundly enlisted.

You are entitled, sir, to the gratitude of Massachusetts, to the gratitude of every lover of Massachusetts and of every lover of the country. You have succeeded where so many others have failed, and where so many others would have been likely to fail. You may be sure that our debt to you is fully understood and will not be forgotten.

The question of the permanent abiding-place of this manuscript will be settled after it has reached the hands of His Excellency. Wherever it shall go it will be an object of reverent care. I do not think many Americans will gaze upon it without a little trembling of the lips and a little gathering of mist in the eyes, as they think of the story of suffering, of sorrow, of peril, of exile, of death and of lofty triumph which that book tells,--which the hand of the great leader and founder of America has traced on those pages.

There is nothing like it in human annals since the story of Bethlehem. These Englishmen and English women going out from their homes in beautiful Lincoln and York, wife separated from husband and mother from child in that hurried embarkation for Holland, pursued to the beach by English horsemen; the thirteen years of exile; the life at Amsterdam "in alley foul and lane obscure;" the dwelling at Leyden; the embarkation at Delfthaven; the farewell of Robinson; the terrible voyage across the Atlantic; the compact in the harbor; the landing on the rock; the dreadful first winter; the death roll of more than half the number; the days of suffering and of famine; the wakeful night, listening for the yell of wild beast and the war-whoop of the savage; the building of the State on those sure foundations which no wave or tempest has ever shaken; the breaking of the new light; the dawning of the new day; the beginning of the new life; the enjoyment of peace with liberty,--of all these things this is the original record by the hand of our beloved father and founder. Massachusetts will preserve it until the time shall come that her children are unworthy of it; and that time shall come,--never.

ADDRESS

OF THE

HON. THOMAS F. BAYARD.

ADDRESS OF AMBASSADOR BAYARD.

Your Excellency, Gentlemen of the two Houses of the Legislature of Massachusetts, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Countrymen: The honorable and most gratifying duty with which I am charged is about to receive its final act of execution, for I have the book here, as it was placed in my hands by the Lord Bishop of London on April 29, intact then and now; and I am about to deliver it according to the provisions of the decree of the Chancellor of London, which has been read in your presence, and the receipt signed by me and registered in his court that I would obey the provisions of that decree.

I have kept my trust; I have kept the book as I received it; I shall deliver it into the hands of the representative of the people who are entitled to its custody.

And now, gentlemen, it would be superfluous for me to dwell upon the historical features of this remarkable occasion, for it has been done, as we all knew it would be done, with ability, learning, eloquence and impressiveness, by the distinguished Senator who represents you so well in the Congress of the United States.

For all that related to myself, and for every gracious word of recognition and commendation that fell from his lips in relation to the part that I have taken in the act of restoration, I am profoundly grateful. It is an additional reward, but not the reward which induced my action.

To have served your State, to have been instrumental in such an act as this, was of itself a high privilege to me. The Bradford manuscript was in the library of Fulham palace, and if, by lawful means, I could have become possessed of the volume, and have brought it here and quietly deposited it, I should have gone to my home with the great satisfaction of knowing that I had performed an act of justice, an act of right between two countries. Therefore the praise, however grateful, is additional, and I am very thankful for it.

It may not be inappropriate or unpleasing to you should I state in a very simple manner the history of my relation to the return of this book, for it all has occurred within the last twelve months.

I knew of the existence of this manuscript, and had seen the reproduction in facsimile. I knew that attempts had been made, unsuccessfully, to obtain the original book.

At that time Senator Hoar made a short visit to England, and in passing through London I was informed by him of the great interest that he, in common with the people of this State, had in the restoration of this manuscript to the custody of the State.

We discussed the methods by which it might be accomplished, and after two or three concurrent suggestions he returned to the United States, and presently I received, under cover from the Secretary of State,--a distinguished citizen of your own State, Mr. Olney,--a formal note, suggesting rather than instructing that in an informal manner I should endeavor to have carried out the wishes of the various societies that had addressed themselves to the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to obtain the return of this manuscript.

It necessarily had to be done informally. The strict regulations of the office I then occupied forbade my correspondence with any member of the British government except through the foreign office, unless it were informal. An old saying describes the entire case, that "When there's a will there's a way." There certainly was the will to get the book, and there certainly was also a will and a way to give the book, and that way was discovered by the legal custodians of the book itself.

At first there were suggestions of difficulty, some technical questions; and following a very safe rule, the first thought was, What is the law? and the case was submitted to the law officers of the Crown. Then there arose the necessity of a formal act of permission.

There could be entertained no question as to the title to the manuscript in the possession of the British government. There was no authority to grant a claim, founded on adverse title, and the question arose as to the requisite form of law of a permissive rather than of a mandatory nature, in order to be authoritative with those who had charge of the document.

But, as I have said, when there was a will there was found a way. By personal correspondence and interviews with the Bishop of London, I soon discovered that he was as anxious to find the way as I was that he should find it. In March last it was finally agreed that I should employ legal counsel to present a formal petition in the Episcopal Consistorial Court of London, and there before the Chancellor to represent the strong desire of Massachusetts and her people for the return of the record of her early Governor.

Accordingly, the petition was prepared, and by my authority signed as for me by an eminent member of the bar, and it was also signed by the Bishop of London, so that there was a complete consensus. The decree was ordered, as is published in the London "Times" on March 25 last, and nothing after that remained but formalities, in which, as you are well aware, the English law is not lacking, especially in the ecclesiastical tribunals.

These formalities were carried out during my absence from London on a short visit to the Continent, and the decree which you have just heard read was duly entered on April 12 last, consigning the document to my personal custody, to be delivered by me in this city to the high official therein named, subject to those conditions which you have also heard.

Accordingly, on the 29th of April last I was summoned to the court, and there, having signed the receipt, this decree was read in my presence. Then the Bishop of London arose, and, taking the book in his hands, delivered it with a few gracious words into my custody, and here it is to-day.

The records of those proceedings will no doubt be preserved here as accompanying this book, as they are in the Episcopal Consistorial Court in London, and they tell the entire story.

But that is but part. The thing that I wish to impress upon you, and upon my fellow countrymen throughout the United States, is that this is an act of courtesy and friendship by another government--the government of what we once called our "mother country"--to the entire people of the United States.

You cannot limit it to the Governor of this Commonwealth; nor to the Legislature; nor even to the citizens of this Commonwealth. It extends in its courtesy, its kindness and comity to the entire people of the United States. From first to last there was the ready response of courtesy and kindness to the request for the restoration of this manuscript record.

I may say to you that there has been nothing that I have sought more earnestly than to place the affairs of these two great nations in the atmosphere of mutual confidence and respect and good-will. If it be a sin to long for the honor of one's country, for the safety and strength of one's country, then I have been a great sinner, for I have striven to advance the honor and the safety and the welfare of my country, and believed it was best accomplished by treating all with justice and courtesy, and doing those things to others which we would ask to have done to ourselves.

When the Chancellor pronounced his decree in March last, he cited certain precedents to justify him in restoring this volume to Massachusetts. One precedent which powerfully controlled his decision, and which in the closing portion of his judgment he emphasizes, was an act of generous liberality upon the part of the American Library Society in Philadelphia in voluntarily returning to the British government some volumes of original manuscript of the period of James the First, which by some means not very clearly explained had found their way among the books of that institution.

Those books were received by a distinguished man, Lord Romilly, Master of the Rolls, who took occasion to speak of the liberality and kindness which dictated the action of the Philadelphia library. Gentlemen, I am one of those who believe that a generous and kindly act is never unwise between individuals or nations.

The return of this book to you is an echo of the kindly act of your countrymen in the city of Philadelphia in 1866.

It is that, not, as Mr. Hoar has said, any influence or special effort of mine; but it is international good feeling and comity which brought about to you the pleasure and the joy of having this manuscript returned, and so it will ever be. A generous act will beget a generous act; trust and confidence will beget trust and confidence; and so it will be while the world shall last, and well will it be for the man or for the people who shall recognize this truth and act upon it.

Now, gentlemen, there is another coincidence that I may venture to point out. It is history repeating itself. More than three hundred years ago the ancestors from whom my father drew his name and blood were French Protestants, who had been compelled to flee from the religious persecutions of that day, and for the sake of conscience to find an asylum in Holland. Fifty years after they had fled and found safety in Holland, the little congregation of Independents from the English village of Scrooby, under the pastorate of John Robinson, was forced to fly, and with difficulty found its way into the same country of the Netherlands, seeking an asylum for consciences' sake.

Time passed on. The little English colony removed, as this manuscript of William Bradford will tell you, across the Atlantic, and soon after the Huguenot family from whom I drew my name found their first settlement in what was then the New Netherlands, now New York. Both came from the same cause; both came with the same object, the same purpose,--"soul freedom," as Roger Williams well called it. Both came to found homes where they could worship God according to their own conscience and live as free men. They came to these shores, and they have found the asylum, and they have strengthened it, and it is what we see to-day,--a country of absolute religious and civil freedom,--of equal rights and toleration.

And is it not fitting that I, who have in my veins the blood of the Huguenots, should present to you and your Governor the log of the English emigrants, who left their country for the sake of religious freedom?

They are blended here,--their names, their interests. No man asks and no man has a right to ask or have ascertained by any method authorized by law what is the conscientious religious tenet or opinion of any man, of any citizen, as a prerequisite for holding an office of trust or power in the United States.

I think it well on this occasion to make, as I am sure you are making, acknowledgment to that heroic little country, the Lowlands as they call it, the Netherlands,--the country without one single feature of military defence except the brave hearts of the men who live in it and defend it.

Holland was the anvil upon which religious and civil liberty was beaten out in Europe at a time when the clang was scarcely heard anywhere else. We can never forget our historical debt to that country and to those people. Puritan, Independent, Huguenot, whoever he may be, forced to flee for conscience's sake, will not forget that in the Netherlands there was found in his time of need the asylum where conscience, property and person might be secure.

And now my task is done. I am deeply grateful for the part that I have been enabled to take in this act of just and natural restitution. In Massachusetts or out of Massachusetts there is no one more willing than I to assist this work; and here, sir [addressing Governor Wolcott], I fulfil my trust in placing in your hands the manuscript.

To you, as the honored representative of the people of this Commonwealth, I commit this book, in pursuance of my obligations, gladly undertaken under the decree of the Episcopal Consistorial Court of London.

ADDRESS

OF

HIS EXCELLENCY ROGER WOLCOTT.

ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR WOLCOTT.

On receiving the volume, Governor Wolcott, addressing Mr. Bayard, spoke as follows: I thank you, sir, for the diligent and faithful manner in which you have executed the honorable trust imposed upon you by the decree of the Consistorial and Episcopal Court of London, a copy of which you have now placed in my hands. It was fitting that one of your high distinction should be selected to perform so dignified an office.

The gracious act of international courtesy which is now completed will not fail of grateful appreciation by the people of this Commonwealth and of the nation. It is honorable alike to those who hesitated not to prefer the request and to those whose generous liberality has prompted compliance with it. It may be that the story of the departure of this precious relic from our shores may never in its every detail be revealed; but the story of its return will be read of all men, and will become a part of the history of the Commonwealth. There are places and objects so intimately associated with the world's greatest men or with mighty deeds that the soul of him who gazes upon them is lost in a sense of reverent awe, as it listens to the voice that speaks from the past, in words like those which came from the burning bush, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."

On the sloping hillside of Plymouth, that bathes its feet in the waters of the Atlantic, such a voice is breathed by the brooding genius of the place, and the ear must be dull that fails to catch the whispered words. For here not alone did godly men and women suffer greatly for a great cause, but their noble purpose was not doomed to defeat, but was carried to perfect victory. They stablished what they planned. Their feeble plantation became the birthplace of religious liberty, the cradle of a free Commonwealth. To them a mighty nation owns its debt. Nay, they have made the civilized world their debtor. In the varied tapestry which pictures our national life, the richest spots are those where gleam the golden threads of conscience, courage and faith, set in the web by that little band. May God in his mercy grant that the moral impulse which founded this nation may never cease to control its destiny; that no act of any future generation may put in peril the fundamental principles on which it is based,--of equal rights in a free state, equal privileges in a free church and equal opportunities in a free school.

In this precious volume which I hold in my hands--the gift of England to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts--is told the noble, simple story "of Pli[~m]oth Plantation." In the midst of suffering and privation and anxiety the pious hand of William Bradford here set down in ample detail the history of the enterprise from its inception to the year 1647. From him we may learn "that all great and honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courages."

The sadness and pathos which some might read into the narrative are to me lost in victory. The triumph of a noble cause even at a great price is theme for rejoicing, not for sorrow, and the story here told is one of triumphant achievement, and not of defeat.

As the official representative of the Commonwealth, I receive it, sir, at your hands. I pledge the faith of the Commonwealth that for all time it shall be guarded in accordance with the terms of the decree under which it is delivered into her possession as one of her chiefest treasures. I express the thanks of the Commonwealth for the priceless gift. And I venture the prophecy that for countless years to come and to untold thousands these mute pages shall eloquently speak of high resolve, great suffering and heroic endurance made possible by an absolute faith in the over-ruling providence of Almighty God.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

BY THE

BISHOP OF LONDON.

(Copy)

FULHAM PALACE, S.W.
Oct. 16, 1897.

DEAR SIR,

I would ask you to express to the Convention of the two branches of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts my grateful thanks for the copy of their resolution of May 26, which was presented to me by Mr. Adams.[A]

I consider it a great privilege to have been associated with an act of courtesy, which was also an act of justice, in restoring to its proper place a document which is so important in the records of your illustrious Commonwealth.

I am

Yours faithfully,
M. London.

H.D. COOLIDGE, Esq.
Clerk of the Convention.

OF PLIMOTH PLANTATION.

Of Plimoth Plantation.

And first of y^e occasion and ind[~u]sments ther unto; the which that I may truly unfould, I must begine at y^e very roote & rise of y^e same. The which I shall endevor to manefest in a plaine stile, with singuler regard unto y^e simple trueth in all things, at least as near as my slender judgmente can attaine the same.

1. Chapter.

It is well knowne unto y^e godly and judicious, how ever since y^e first breaking out of y^e lighte of y^e gospell in our Honourable Nation of England, (which was y^e first of nations whom y^e Lord adorned ther with, affter y^t grosse darknes of popery which had covered & overspred y^e Christian worled,) what warrs & opposissions ever since, Satan hath raised, maintained, and continued against the Saincts, from time to time, in one sorte or other. Some times by bloody death and cruell torments; other whiles imprisonments, banishments, & other hard usages; as being loath his kingdom should goe downe, the trueth prevaile, and y^e churches of God reverte to their anciente puritie, and recover their primative order, libertie, & bewtie. But when he could not prevaile by these means, against the maine trueths of y^e gospell, but that they began to take rootting in many places, being watered with y^e blooud of y^e martires, and blessed from heaven with a gracious encrease; He then begane to take him to his anciente strategemes, used of old against the first Christians. That when by y^e bloody & barbarous persecutions of y^e Heathen Emperours, he could not stoppe & subuerte the course of y^e gospell, but that it speedily overspred with a wounderfull celeritie the then best known parts of y^e world, He then begane to sow errours, heresies, and wounderfull dissentions amongst y^e professours them selves, (working upon their pride & ambition, with other corrupte passions incidente to all mortall men, yea to y^e saints them selves in some measure,) by which wofull effects followed; as not only bitter contentions, & hartburnings, schismes, with other horrible confusions, but Satan tooke occasion & advantage therby to foyst in a number of vile ceremoneys, with many unproffitable cannons & decrees, which have since been as snares to many poore & peaceable souls even to this day. So as in y^e anciente times, the persecutions[2] by y^e heathen & their Emperours, was not greater then of the Christians one against other; the Arians & other their complices against y^e orthodoxe & true Christians. As witneseth Socrates in his 2. booke. His words are these;[B] _The violence truly_ (saith he) _was no less than that of ould practised towards y^e Christians when they were compelled & drawne to sacrifice to idoles; for many indured sundrie kinds of tormente, often rackings, & dismembering of their joynts; confiscating of ther goods; some bereaved of their native soyle; others departed this life under y^e hands of y^e tormentor; and some died in banishm[=e]te, & never saw ther cuntrie againe, &c._

The like methode Satan hath seemed to hold in these later times, since y^e trueth begane to springe & spread after y^e great defection made by Antichrist, y^t man of si[=n]e.

For to let pass y^e infinite examples in sundrie nations and severall places of y^e world, and instance in our owne, when as y^t old serpente could not prevaile by those firie flames & other his cruell tragedies, which he[C] by his instruments put in ure every wher in y^e days of queene Mary & before, he then begane an other kind of warre, & went more closly to worke; not only to oppuggen, but even to ruinate & destroy y^e kingdom of Christ, by more secrete & subtile means, by kindling y^e flames of contention and sowing y^e seeds of discorde & bitter enmitie amongst y^e proffessors & seeming reformed them selves. For when he could not prevaile by y^e former means against the principall doctrins of faith, he bente his force against the holy discipline & outward regimente of the kingdom of Christ, by which those holy doctrines should be conserved, & true pietie maintained amongest the saints & people of God.

Mr. Foxe recordeth how y^t besids those worthy martires & confessors which were burned in queene Marys days & otherwise tormented,[D] _many (both studients & others) fled out of y^e land, to y^e number of 800. And became severall congregations. At Wesell, Frankford, Bassill, Emden, Markpurge, Strausborugh, & Geneva, &c._ Amongst whom (but especialy those at Frankford) begane y^t bitter warr of contention & persecuti[=o] aboute y^e ceremonies, & servise-booke, and other popish and antichristian stuffe, the plague of England to this day, which are like y^e highplases in Israell, w^ch the prophets cried out against, & were their ruine; [3] which y^e better parte sought, according to y^e puritie of y^e gospell, to roote out and utterly to abandon. And the other parte (under veiled pretences) for their ouwn ends & advancments, sought as stifly to continue, maintaine, & defend. As appeareth by y^e discourse therof published in printe, An^o: 1575; a booke y^t deserves better to be knowne and considred.

The one side laboured to have y^e right worship of God & discipline of Christ established in y^e church, according to y^e simplicitie of y^e gospell, without the mixture of mens inventions, and to have & to be ruled by y^e laws of Gods word, dispensed in those offices, & by those officers of Pastors, Teachers, & Elders, &c. according to y^e Scripturs. The other partie, though under many colours & pretences, endevored to have y^e episcopall dignitie (affter y^e popish ma[=n]er) with their large power & jurisdiction still retained; with all those courts, cannons, & ceremonies, togeather with all such livings, revenues, & subordinate officers, with other such means as formerly upheld their antichristian greatnes, and enabled them with lordly & tyranous power to persecute y^e poore servants of God. This contention was so great, as neither y^e honour of God, the commone persecution, nor y^e mediation of Mr. Calvin & other worthies of y^e Lord in those places, could prevaile with those thus episcopally minded, but they proceeded by all means to disturbe y^e peace of this poor persecuted church, even so farr as to charge (very unjustly, & ungodlily, yet prelatelike) some of their cheefe opposers, with rebellion & hightreason against y^e Emperour, & other such crimes.

And this cont[=e]tion dyed not with queene Mary, nor was left beyonde y^e seas, but at her death these people returning into England under gracious queene Elizabeth, many of them being preferred to bishopricks & other promotions, according to their aimes and desires, that inveterate hatered against y^e holy discipline of Christ in his church hath continued to this day. In somuch that for fear [4] it should preveile, all plotts & devices have been used to keepe it out, incensing y^e queene & state against it as dangerous for y^e co[=m]on wealth; and that it was most needfull y^t y^e fundamentall poynts of Religion should be preached in those ignorante & superstitious times; and to wi[=n]e y^e weake & ignorante, they might retaine diverse harmles ceremoneis; and though it were to be wished y^t diverse things were reformed, yet this was not a season for it. And many the like, to stop y^e mouthes of y^e more godly, to bring them over to yeeld to one ceremoney after another, and one corruption after another; by these wyles begyleing some & corrupting others till at length they begane to persecute all y^e zealous professors in y^e land (though they knew little what this discipline mente) both by word & deed, if they would not submitte to their ceremonies, & become slaves to them & their popish trash, which have no ground in y^e word of God, but are relikes of y^t man of sine. And the more y^e light of y^e gospell grew, y^e more y^ey urged their subscriptions to these corruptions. So as (notwithstanding all their former pretences & fair colures) they whose eyes God had not justly blinded might easily see wherto these things tended. And to cast contempte the more upon y^e sincere servants of God, they opprobriously & most injuriously gave unto, & imposed upon them, that name of Puritans, which [it] is said the Novatians out of prid did assume & take unto themselves.[E] And lamentable it is to see y^e effects which have followed. Religion hath been disgraced, the godly greeved, afflicted, persecuted, and many exiled, sundrie have lost their lives in prisones & otherways. On the other hand, sin hath been countenanced, ignorance, profannes, & atheisme increased, & the papists encouraged to hope againe for a day.

This made that holy man Mr. Perkins[F] crie out in his exhortation to repentance, upon Zeph. 2. _Religion_ (saith he) _hath been amongst us this 35. years; but the more it is published, the more it is contemned & reproached of many, &c. Thus not prophanes nor wickednes, but Religion it selfe is a byword, a moking-stock, & a matter of reproach; so that in England at this day the man or woman y^t begines to profes Religion, & to serve God, must resolve with him selfe to sustaine_ [5] _mocks & injueries even as though he lived amongst y^e enimies of Religion._ And this co[=m]one experience hath confirmed & made too apparente.

_A late observation, as it were by the way, worthy to be Noted._[G]

Full litle did I thinke, y^t the downfall of y^e Bishops, with their
courts, cannons, & ceremonies, &c. had been so neare, when I first
begane these scribled writings (which was aboute y^e year 1630, and so
peeced up at times of leasure afterward), or that I should have lived
to have seene or heard of y^e same; but it is y^e Lords doing, and
ought to be marvelous in our eyes! Every plante which mine heavenly
father hath not planted (saith our Saviour) shall be rooted up. Mat:
15. 13.[H] I have snared the, and thou art taken, O Babell (Bishops),
and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou
hast striven against the Lord. Jer. 50. 24. But will they needs strive
against y^e truth, against y^e servants of God; what, & against the
Lord him selfe? Doe they provoke the Lord to anger? Are they stronger
than he? 1. Cor: 10. 22. No, no, they have mete with their match.
Behold, I come unto y^e, O proud man, saith the Lord God of hosts; for
thy day is come, even the time that I will visite the. Jer: 50. 31.
May not the people of God now say (and these pore people among y^e
rest), The Lord hath brought forth our righteousnes; come, let us
declare in Sion the work of the Lord our God. Jer: 51. 10. Let all
flesh be still before the Lord; for he is raised up out of his holy
place. Zach: 2. 13.

In this case, these poore people may say (among y^e thousands of
Israll), _When the Lord brougt againe the captivite of Zion, we were
like them that dreame. Psa: 126. 1. The Lord hath done greate things
for us, wherof we rejoyce. v. 3. They that sow in teares, shall reap
in joye. They wente weeping, and carried precious seede, but they
shall returne with joye, and bring their sheaves, v. 5, 6._

Doe you not now see y^e fruits of your labours, O all yee servants of
y^e Lord that have suffered for his truth, and have been faithfull
witneses of y^e same, and yee litle handfull amongst y^e rest, y^e
least amongest y^e thousands of Israll? You have not only had a seede
time, but many of you have seene y^e joyefull harvest; should you not
then rejoyse, yea, and againe rejoyce, and say Hallelu-iah,
salvation, and glorie, and honour, and power, be to y^e Lord our God;
for true and righteous are his judgments. Rev. 19. 1, 2.

But thou wilte aske what is y^e mater? What is done? Why, art thou a
stranger in Israll, that thou shouldest not know what is done? Are not
those Jebusites overcome that have vexed the people of Israll so long,
even holding Jerusalem till Davids days, and been as thorns in their
sids, so many ages; and now begane to scorne that any David should
meadle with them; they begane to fortifie their tower, as that of the
old Babelonians; but those proud Anakimes are throwne downe, and their
glory laid in y^e dust. The tiranous bishops are ejected, their courts
dissolved, their cannons forceless, their servise casheired, their
ceremonies uselese and despised; their plots for popery prevented, and
all their superstitions discarded & returned to Roome from whence they
came, and y^e monuments of idolatrie rooted out of y^e land. And the
proud and profane suporters, and cruell defenders of these (as bloody
papists & wicked athists, and their malignante consorts) marvelously
over throwne. And are not these greate things? Who can deney it?

But who hath done it? Who, even he that siteth on y^e white horse, who
is caled faithfull, & true, and judgeth and fighteth righteously, Rev:
19. 11. whose garments are dipte in blood, and his name was caled the
word of God, v. 13. for he shall rule them with a rode of iron; for it
is he that treadeth the winepress of the feircenes and wrath of God
almighty. And he hath upon his garmente, and upon his thigh, a name
writen, The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, v. 15, 16.

Hallelu-iah.

Anno Dom: 1646.

But that I may come more near my intendmente; when as by the travell & diligence of some godly & zealous preachers, & Gods blessing on their labours, as in other places of y^e land, so in y^e North parts, many became inlightened by the word of God, and had their ignorance & sins discovered unto them, and begane by his grace to reforme their lives, and make conscience of their wayes, the worke of God was no sooner manifest in them, but presently they were both scoffed and scorned by y^e prophane multitude, and y^e ministers urged with y^e yoak of subscription, or els must be silenced; and y^e poore people were so vexed with apparators, & pursuants, & y^e comissarie courts, as truly their affliction was not smale; which, notwithstanding, they bore sundrie years with much patience, till they were occasioned (by y^e continuance & encrease of these troubls, and other means which the Lord raised up in those days) to see further into things by the light of y^e word of God. How not only these base and beggerly ceremonies were unlawfull, but also that y^e lordly & tiranous power of y^e prelats ought not to be submitted unto; which thus, contrary to the freedome of the gospell, would load & burden mens consciences, and by their compulsive power make a prophane mixture of persons & things in the worship of God. And that their offices & calings, courts & cannons, &c. were unlawfull and antichristian; being such as have no warrante in y^e word of God; but the same y^t were used in poperie, & still retained. Of which a famous author thus writeth in his Dutch co[=m]taries.[I] At the coming of king James into England; _The new king_ (saith he) _found their established y^e reformed religion, according to y^e reformed religion of king Edward y^e 6. Retaining, or keeping still y^e spirituall state of y^e Bishops, &c. after y^e ould maner, much varying & differing from y^e reformed churches in Scotland, France, & y^e Neatherlands, Embden, Geneva, &c. whose reformation is cut, or shapen much nerer y^e first Christian churches, as it was used in y^e Apostles times._[J]

[6] So many therfore of these proffessors as saw y^e evill of these things, in thes parts, and whose harts y^e Lord had touched w^th heavenly zeale for his trueth, they shooke of this yoake of antichristian bondage, and as y^e Lords free people, joyned them selves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a church estate, in y^e felowship of y^e gospell, to walke in all his wayes, made known, or to be made known unto them, according to their best endeavours, whatsoever it should cost them, the Lord assisting them. And that it cost them something this ensewing historie will declare.

These people became 2. distincte bodys or churches, & in regarde of distance of place did congregate severally; for they were of sundrie townes & vilages, some in Notingamshire, some of Lincollinshire, and some of Yorkshire, wher they border nearest togeather. In one of these churches (besids others of note) was Mr. John Smith, a man of able gifts, & a good preacher, who afterwards was chosen their pastor. But these afterwards falling into some errours in y^e Low Countries, ther (for y^e most part) buried them selves, & their names.

But in this other church (w^ch must be y^e subjecte of our discourse) besids other worthy men, was M^r. Richard Clifton, a grave and rever[=e]d preacher, who by his paines and dilligens had done much good, and under God had ben a means of y^e conversion of many. And also that famous and worthy man M^r. John Robinson, who afterwards was their pastor for many years, till y^e Lord tooke him away by death. Also M^r. William Brewster a reverent man, who afterwards was chosen an elder of y^e church and lived with them till old age.

But after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them. For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett & watcht night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and y^e most were faine to flie & leave their howses & habitations, and the means of their livelehood. Yet these & many other sharper things which affterward befell them, were no other then they looked for, and therfore were y^e better prepared to bear them by y^e assistance of Gods grace & spirite. Yet seeing them selves thus molested, [7] and that ther was no hope of their continuance ther, by a joynte consente they resolved to goe into y^e Low-Countries, wher they heard was freedome of Religion for all men; as also how sundrie from London, & other parts of y^e land, had been exiled and persecuted for y^e same cause, & were gone thither, and lived at Amsterdam, & in other places of y^e land. So affter they had continued togeither aboute a year, and kept their meetings every Saboth in one place or other, exercising the worship of God amongst them selves, notwithstanding all y^e dilligence & malice of their adverssaries, they seeing they could no longer continue in y^t condition, they resolved to get over into Holl[=a]d as they could; which was in y^e year 1607. & 1608.; of which more at large in y^e next chap.

2. Chap.

_Of their departure into Holland and their troubls ther aboute, with some of the many difficulties they found and mete withall_.

An^o. 1608.

Being thus constrained to leave their native soyle and countrie, their lands & livings, and all their freinds & famillier acquaintance, it was much, and thought marvelous by many. But to goe into a countrie they knew not (but by hearsay), wher they must learne a new language, and get their livings they knew not how, it being a dear place, & subjecte to y^e misseries of warr, it was by many thought an adventure almost desperate, a case intolerable, & a misserie worse then death. Espetially seeing they were not aquainted with trads nor traffique, (by which y^t countrie doth subsiste,) but had only been used to a plaine countrie life, & y^e inocente trade of husbandrey. But these things did not dismay them (though they did some times trouble them) for their desires were sett on y^e ways of God, & to injoye his ordinances; but they rested on his providence, & knew whom they had beleeved. Yet [8] this was not all, for though they could not stay, yet were y^e not suffered to goe, but y^e ports and havens were shut against them, so as they were faine to seeke secrete means of conveance, & to bribe & fee y^e mariners, & give exterordinarie rates for their passages. And yet were they often times betrayed (many of them), and both they & their goods intercepted & surprised, and therby put to great trouble & charge, of which I will give an instance or tow, & omitte the rest.

Ther was a large companie of them purposed to get passage at Boston in Lincoln-shire, and for that end had hired a shipe wholy to them selves, & made agreement with the maister to be ready at a certaine day, and take them and their goods in, at a conveniente place, wher they accordingly would all attende in readines. So after long waiting, & large expences, though he kepte not day with them, yet he came at length & tooke them in, in y^e night. But when he had them & their goods abord, he betrayed them, haveing before hand complotted with y^e serchers & other officers so to doe; who tooke them, and put them into open boats, & ther rifled & ransaked them, searching them to their shirts for money, yea even y^e women furder then became modestie; and then caried them back into y^e towne, & made them a spectackle & wonder to the multitude, which came flocking on all sids to behould them. Being thus first, by the chatch-poule officers, rifled, & stripte of their money, books, and much other goods, they were presented to y^e magestrates, and messengers sente to informe y^e lords of y^e Counsell of them; and so they were co[=m]ited to ward. Indeed y^e magestrats used them courteously, and shewed them what favour they could; but could not deliver them, till order came from y^e Counsell-table. But y^e issue was that after a months imprisonmente, y^e greatest parte were dismiste, & sent to y^e places from whence they came; but 7. of y^e principall were still kept in prison, and bound over to y^e Assises.

The nexte spring after, ther was another attempte made by some of these & others, to get over at an other place. And it so fell out, that they light of a Dutchman at Hull, having a ship of his owne belonging to Zealand; they made agreemente with him, and acquainted [9] him with their condition, hoping to find more faithfullnes in him, then in y^e former of their owne nation. He bad them not fear, for he would doe well enough. He was by appointment to take them in betweene Grimsbe & Hull, wher was a large co[=m]one a good way distante from any towne. Now aganst the prefixed time, the women & children, with y^e goods, were sent to y^e place in a small barke, which they had hired for y^t end; and y^e men were to meete them by land. But it so fell out, that they were ther a day before y^e shipe came, & y^e sea being rough, and y^e women very sicke, prevailed with y^e seamen to put into a creeke hardby, wher they lay on ground at lowwater. The nexte morning y^e shipe came, but they were fast, & could not stir till aboute noone. In y^e mean time, y^e shipe maister, perceiveing how y^e matter was, sente his boate to be getting y^e men abord whom he saw ready, walking aboute y^e shore. But after y^e first boat full was gott abord, & she was ready to goe for more, the m^r espied a greate company, both horse & foote, with bills, & gunes, & other weapons; for y^e countrie was raised to take them. Y^e Dutch-man seeing y^t, swore his countries oath, "sacremente," and having y^e wind faire, waiged his Ancor, hoysed sayles, & away. But y^e poore men which were gott abord, were in great distress for their wives and children, which they saw thus to be taken, and were left destitute of their helps; and them selves also, not having a cloath to shifte them with, more then they had on their baks, & some scarce a peney aboute them, all they had being abord y^e barke. It drew tears from their eyes, and any thing they had they would have given to have been a shore againe; but all in vaine, ther was no remedy, they must thus sadly part. And afterward endured a fearfull storme at sea, being 14. days or more before y^ey arived at their porte, in 7. wherof they neither saw son, moone, nor stars, & were driven near y^e coast of Norway; the mariners them selves often despairing of life; and once with shriks & cries gave over all, as if y^e ship had been foundred in y^e sea, & they sinking without recoverie. But when mans hope & helpe wholy failed, y^e Lords power & mercie appeared in ther recoverie; for y^e ship rose againe, & gave y^e mariners courage againe to manage her. And if modestie woud suffer me, I might declare with what fervente [10] prayres they cried unto y^e Lord in this great distres, (espetialy some of them,) even without any great distraction, when y^e water rane into their mouthes & ears; & the mariners cried out, We sinke, we sinke; they cried (if not with mirakelous, yet with a great hight or degree of devine faith), Yet Lord thou canst save, yet Lord thou canst save; with shuch other expressions as I will forbeare. Upon which y^e ship did not only recover, but shortly after y^e violence of y^e storme begane to abate, and y^e Lord filed their afflicted minds with shuch comforts as every one ca[=n]ot understand, and in y^e end brought them to their desired Haven, wher y^e people came flockeing admiring their deliverance, the storme having ben so longe & sore, in which much hurt had been don, as y^e masters freinds related unto him in their congrattulations.

But to returne to y^e others wher we left. The rest of y^e men y^t were in greatest danger, made shift to escape away before y^e troope could surprise them; those only staying y^t best might, to be assistante unto y^e women. But pitifull it was to see y^e heavie case of these poore women in this distress; what weeping & crying on every side, some for their husbands, that were caried away in y^e ship as is before related; others not knowing what should become of them, & their litle ones; others againe melted in teares, seeing their poore litle ones hanging aboute them, crying for feare, and quaking with could. Being thus aprehended, they were hurried from one place to another, and from one justice to another, till in y^e ende they knew not what to doe with them; for to imprison so many women & innocent children for no other cause (many of them) but that they must goe with their husbands, semed to be unreasonable and all would crie out of them; and to send them home againe was as difficult, for they aledged, as y^e trueth was, they had no homes to goe to, for they had either sould, or otherwise disposed of their houses & livings. To be shorte, after they had been thus turmolyed a good while, and conveyed from one constable to another, they were glad to be ridd of them in y^e end upon any termes; for all were wearied & tired with them. Though in y^e mean time they (poore soules) indured miserie enough; and thus in the end necessitie forste a way for them.

But y^t I be not tedious in these things, I will omitte y^e rest, though I might relate many other notable passages and troubles which they endured & underwente in these their wanderings & travells both at land & sea; but I hast to [11] other things. Yet I may not omitte y^e fruite that came hearby, for by these so publick troubls, in so many eminente places, their cause became famouss, & occasioned many to looke into y^e same; and their godly cariage & Christian behaviour was such as left a deep impression in the minds of many. And though some few shrunk at these first conflicts & sharp beginings, (as it was no marvell,) yet many more came on with fresh courage, & greatly animated others. And in y^e end, notwithstanding all these stormes of oppossition, they all gatt over at length, some at one time & some at an other, and some in one place & some in an other, and mette togeather againe according to their desires, with no small rejoycing.

The 3. Chap.

_Of their setling in Holand, & their maner of living, & entertainmente ther._

Being now come into y^e Low Countries, they saw many goodly & fortified cities, strongly walled and garded with troopes of armed men. Also they heard a strange & uncouth language, and beheld y^e differente ma[=n]ers & customes of y^e people, with their strange fashons and attires; all so farre differing from y^t of their plaine countrie villages (wherin they were bred, & had so longe lived) as it seemed they were come into a new world. But these were not y^e things they much looked on, or long tooke up their thoughts; for they had other work in hand, & an other kind of warr to wage & maintaine. For though they saw faire & bewtifull cities, flowing with abundance of all sorts of welth & riches, yet it was not longe before they saw the gri[=m]e & grisly face of povertie coming upon them like an armed man, with whom they must bukle & incounter, and from whom they could not flye; but they were armed with faith & patience against him, and all his encounters; and though they were sometimes foyled, yet by Gods assistance they prevailed and got y^e victorie.

Now when M^r. Robinson, M^r. Brewster, & other principall members were come over, (for they were of y^e last, & stayed to help y^e weakest over before them,) such things were [12] thought on as were necessarie for their setling and best ordering of y^e church affairs. And when they had lived at Amsterdam aboute a year, M^r. Robinson, their pastor, and some others of best discerning, seeing how M^r. John Smith and his companie was allready fallen in to contention with y^e church y^t was ther before them, & no means they could use would doe any good to cure y^e same, and also that y^e flames of contention were like to breake out in y^t anciente church it selfe (as affterwards lamentably came to pass); which things they prudently foreseeing, thought it was best to remove, before they were any way engaged with y^e same; though they well knew it would be much to y^e prejudice of their outward estats, both at presente & in licklyhood in y^e future; as indeed it proved to be.

_Their remoovall to Leyden._