18 INTR. INTRODUCTION. The exordium being concluded, I shall come more nearer my intended purpose, viz. in reference unto the Church of Christ at Plymouth in New England, first begun in Old England, and carried on in Holland and at Plymouth aforesaid. CHAPTER I. OF THE FIRST BEGINNINGS OF THIS CHURCH AND PEOPLE. mis. WHEN, by the travail and diligence of some godly CHAP. and zealous preachers, and God's blessing on their labors, as in other places of the land, so in the north Impriparts, many became enlightened by the word of God, and had their ignorance and sins discovered by the word of God's grace, and began, by his grace, to reform their lives and make conscience of their ways, the work of God was no sooner manifest in them, but presently they were both scoffed and scorned by the profane multitude, and the ministers urged with the yoke of subscription,' or else must be silenced; and the poor people were so urged with apparitors and suivants and the Commission Courts, as truly their 2 pur persons, twelve of whom were 20 ORIGIN OF THE PILGRIMS. CHAP. affliction was not small. Which, notwithstanding, they I. bare sundry years with much patience, until they 1603. April. things by were occasioned, by the continuance and increase of "At the coming of King James out of Scotland into England, the new king," saith he, "found there estab suspected persons on their oaths, Puritans, i. 84, 274, 285; Hallam, i. 215. (4to ed.) I have inserted the words these and that from Prince, who quotes this passage from Bradford's MS. See his Annals, p. 100. At the famous Conference at Hampton Court, held Jan. 14, 1604, James declared, "I will none of that liberty as to ceremonies; I will have one doctrine and one discipline, one religion in substance and ceremony. I shall make them [the Puritans] conform themselves, or I will harry them out of the land, or else do worse. -If any would not be quiet, and show his obedience, he were worthy to be hanged."In his speech at the opening of his first parliament, March 19, 1604, he "professed that the sect of Puri THEY FORM A SEPARATE CHURCH. 21 lished the reformed religion, according to the reformed CHAP. religion of King Edward the Sixth, retaining or keeping still the spiritual state of the bishops, &c. after the old manner, much varying and differing from the Reformed Churches of Scotland, France, and the Netherlands, Emden, Geneva, &c., whose Reformation is cut or shapen much nearer the first churches, as it was used in the Apostles' times." 1 So many therefore of these professors as saw the evil of these things, in these parts, and whose hearts the Lord had touched with heavenly zeal for his truth, they shook off this yoke of antichristian bondage, and, as the Lord's free people, joined themselves, (by a 1602. covenant of the Lord,) into a church estate, in the fellowship of the Gospel, to walk in all his ways, made known, or to be made known unto them, according to their best endeavours, whatsoever it should cost them." tans or Novelists was not to be suffered in any well governed commonwealth." In a private letter written about the same time, he said, "I had rather live like a hermit in the forest, than be king over such a people as the pack of Puritans that overrules the lower house." He had previously written to his son in the Basilicon Doron, "Take heed, my son, to such Puritans, very pests in the church and commonwealth. I protest before the great God, that ye shall never find with any Highland or Border thieves greater ingratitude and more lies and vile perjuries than with these fanatic spirits." Barlow's Sum and Substance, pp. 71, 83, 92; Calderwood, Hist. Ch. Scotland, p. 478; Hallain, i. 332. In conformity with these views, on the 5th of March, 1604, he issued a proclamation, that the same religion, with common prayer, and episcopal jurisdiction, shall fully and only be publicly exercised, in all respects, as in the reign of Queen The Reformed Churches shapen 2 Prince says, "Governor Brad 22 22 JOHN ROBINSON'S CHURCH. CHAP. And that it cost them much pains, trouble, sorrow, I. affliction, and persecution, and expense of their estates, &c. this ensuing history will declare.' 1606. 2 These people became two distinct bodies or churches, in regard of distance of place, and did congregate severally, for they were of several towns and villages, some in Nottinghamshire, some in Lincolnshire, and some of Yorkshire, where they bordered nearest together. In the one of these churches, besides others of note, was Mr. John Smith,3 a man of able gifts, and a good preacher, who afterwards was chosen their pastor. But these afterwards falling into some errors in the Low Countries, there for the most part buried themselves and their names. But in this other church, which must be the subject of our discourse, besides other worthy men, was Mr. Richard Clifton, a grave and reverend preacher, who by his pains and diligence had done much good, and ford's History takes no notice of "These seem to be some of the 2 I have substituted Lincolnshire for Lancashire, on the authority of Prince. This is most likely to be the correct reading, as Lincolnshire borders both on Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, whilst Lancashire does not. Besides, Prince was remarkable for his accuracy, and is less likely to have made a mistake in deciphering and copying a word than Morton. He tells us, "In the passages relating to the Plymouth planters, I chiefly use Gov. Bradford's manuscript History of that Church and Colony, in folio; who was with them from their beginning to the end of his Narrative, which is now before me, and was never published." Annals, p. 99. 3 Some account of Smith, Clifton, and Robinson, is contained in Gov. Bradford's Dialogue, in a subsequent part of this volume; where will also be found a more extended memoir of Elder Brewster, also written by Gov. Bradford. |