History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 15

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

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But in the onward movement of Separatism it may be asked, What was the attitude of Puritanism ? It must not be supposed because Separatists were Puri- tans that Puritans were Separatists, or that there was the slightest sympathy or friendship between the two. The Puritans adhered to the church, protesting only against some of its objectionable forms, and denonne- ing Separatism as a schism and a sin,-the Separatists pushed to the extremcs of reform, and denounecd those who tarried by the way. Indeed, in the Parliament of 1593, in which the Puritan clement predominated in the Commons, a law was passed so qualifying the act of 23 Elizabeth, intended to apply to Papists only, as to impose tho punishment of banishment on all who were guilty of writing or speaking against the

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bishops, as well as those who published seditious mat- ter against the crown. It was this law, sustained as rigorously by the Puritans as by ecclesiastical au- thority. which swelled the tide destined to sweep Sepa- ratism out of England. The Puritans could not tolerate any opposition to the old idea of ecclesiastieal unity, and believed that the national church. though perhaps unscripturally organized, contained within itself the true Church of Christ. They believed, therefore, that Parliament might rightfully enact laws for ecclesiastical government and for the punishment of ecclesiastical offenders. Their approval, therefore, of this law was entirely consistent with their attitude of hostility to the Separatists. and should always be borne in mind as measuring the distinction between two bodies of reformers, which have been persistently and ignorantly mingled and confounded.

The next independent church established in Eng- land was that of John Smith, organized at Gains- borough in 1602. In early life Smith had been a pupil of Francis Johnson, and was at one time eon- nected with the Southwark Church. He removed to Amsterdam with his congregation ; afterwards became a Baptist, removing with his followers to Ley, where he embraced the views of Arminius, which he ably defended in a book answered by John Robinson in 1611. The date of the formation of the Pilgrim Church at Scrooby has been stated incorrectly by Na- thaniel Morton. in " New England's Memorial," to have been 1602. The discovery of Bradford's history has exposed this among other errors, and fixed the year 1606 as the true date. It is known that the de- parture of the congregation for Holland took place in the early part of 1608. Bradford says, " So after they had continued together about a year they resolved to get over into Holland, as they could, which was in the year 1607-8." He further says that Brewster died in 1643, and " that he had borne his part in weal and woe with this persecuted church above thirty-six years in England, Holland, and this wilder- ness."

The founder of this church was William Brewster, one who, in the language of an English antiquarian, " was the most eminent person in the Pilgrim move- ment, and who, if that honor is to be given to any single person, must be regarded as the father of New England." He was the son of William Brewster, of Scrooby, who hold the position of postmaster for many years. He was born in 1560, and having spent four years in the University of Cambridge, entered in 1584 the service of Sir William Davison, then starting on an embassy to the Netherlands to prepare the way for such substantial aid from England as might reseue

that country from the despotism of Catholic Philip of Spain. Brewster attended him as secretary, and when the port of Flushing, with important fortresses in Holland and Zealand were transferred to Elizabeth as security for men and money loaned, the keys of Flushing were placed in the hands of Brewster, and held by himu until the arrival of Sir Philip Sidney, who was appointed to its permanent command. On the return of Davison to England he was made a secretary of state and one of the Privy Council, and Brewster continued to act as his secretary. The un- fortunate death of Mary, Queen of Scots, involving a misunderstanding between Elizabeth and her secre- tary of state concerning the issue of the death war- rant, terminated the official career of Davison and threw Brewster out of employment. Queen Mary was executed on the 8th of February, 1586/7, and Davison was committed to the Tower six days after- wards. Brewster probably removed to Scrooby about the year 1588, to take charge of the business of his father, who was in poor health. It is known that his father died in the summer of 1590, and that he then claimed in his application for the appointment to fill the vacancy that he had performed the duties of the office for a year and a half. Through some misunder- standing Sir John Stanhope, who was appointed post- master-general June 20, 1590, and knew little of the eireumstanees of the case, made another appointment, from which, however, he sooner or later receded at the urgent solicitation of Davison, who, notwithstand- ing his apparent disgrace, seems to have retained in- fluenee at court. It is known that on the 1st of April, 1594, William Brewster was in full possession of the office, and remained its ineumbent until Sept. 30, 1607.

- To Scrooby then in 1588 William Brewster went, a small village on the borders of Nottinghamshire, about three miles from Austerfield, in Yorkshire, with the river Idle flowing between. He occupied the old manor-house of the bishops, which as far back as William the Conqueror had been a possession of the archbishops of York. Here he lived, as Bradford says, " doing mueh good in promoting and furthering religion, not only by his practice and example, but by procuring good preachers to all places thereabouts, and drawing in of others to assist and help forward in such a work, he himself most commonly deeply in the charge, and sometimes above his ability." Here he remained a mild non-conformist at first, and, as Bradford again says, " doing the best good he could, and walking according to the revealed light he saw until the Lord revealed further unto him." Finally, the increasing demands of the bishops determined

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him to throw off all allegiance to the church, and or- ganize an independent congregation. Sabbath after Sabbath they met in the manor-house, at first under the ministrations of Richard Clyfton, and afterwards of John Robinson. Clyfton had been vicar of Marn- ham, and afterwards rector of Babworth, and when deprived of his living on account of non-conformity, he took charge of the little congregation at Scrooby. He went with them to Holland in 1608, but remained in Amsterdam when they removed to Leyden, and died in 1616.

Soon after the pastorate of Clyfton began, John Robinson became associated with the Scrooby Church. Born in Lincolnshire in 1576, Robinson entered Emanuel College in 1592, took the degree of M.A. in 1600, and B.D. in 1607. He began his minis- terial labors in Mundham, where, on account of his Puritan tendencies, he was at length suspended from his functions. He afterwards retired to Norwich, where, after laboring for a short time with a small congregation of Puritans, he at last renounced all communion with the church. While at Norwich he was spoken of as "a man worthily reverenced of all the city for the grace of God in him." Robinson himself said "that light broke in upon him by de- grces, that he hesitated to outrun those of his Puritan brethren who could still reconcile themselves to re- main in the Establishment," but that continual per- secution drove him to the extremes of separation. Baillie, in his writings, though an opponent of Sepa- ratism, called him "the most learned, polished, and modest spirit that ever the sect enjoyed."

William Bradford was another of the Scrooby Church. His grandfather, William Bradford, was living at Austerfield in 1575, the father of three sons,-William, Thomas, and Robert,-of whom William, the father of Governor Bradford, married Alice, the daughter of John Hanson, William Brad- ford, afterwards the Governor of the Plymouth Col- ony, was born in 1589, and was consequently about seventeen years of age at the time of the formation of the Scrooby Church. His father died in his infancy, and he was reared and educated under the direction of his uncle Thomas. Though springing from the ranks of the yeomanry, he became a man of learning, and while in Holland not only became master of the language of the country, but added a knowledge of French, Latin, Greek, and even Hebrew, which he studied, as he said, " that he might see with his own eyes the ancient oracles of God in all their native beauty." Though a young man, he resisted the opposition of his uncle and guardian, and joined the outlawed church of the Pilgrims, answering to all

remonstrances that "to keep a good conscience and walk in such a way as God has prescribed in His word is a thing which I shall prefer above you all, and above life itself." Such was the man who in his youth displayed qualities of mind and heart which, when fully matured, were for many years in later life the staff and support of the Plymouth Colony. With such men as Brewster, Robinson, and Bradford as a part of its ingredients, it is surely not to be wondered that the colony was led courageously and safely through the perilous paths which it was destined to tread, and finally planted on permanent foundations in the wilderness of the western world.

Among the members of the Scrooby Church, after- wards associated with the settlement of Plymouth, it may be possible to number George Morton, William Button, and the Southworths and Carpenters. The baptism of a George Morton is recorded in the registry of the Austerfield Church, under date of Feb. 12, 1598. It does not seem probable that this could have been the George Morton who was the father of the Secretary Nathaniel Morton, and who came to New England in the " Ann" in 1623, for his mar- riage-record exists in Leyden under date of 1612, in which he is described as George Morton, of York, in England, merchant. It is possible, however, that at the time of his baptism he may have been some- what advanced in childhood, and that he may have left his native place to settle in York, the place from which he afterwards hailed. The baptism of William Butten, son of Robert Butten, is also recorded in the Austerfield registry, under date of Sept. 12, 1589, and that of William, son of William Wright, under date of March 10, 1589. Butten was probably the servant of Samuel Fuller, who started in the " May- flower," and was drowned on the passage. It is not improbable that Wright was the William Wright who came to New England in the " Fortune" in 1621, and that both Butten and Wright were mem- bers of the Scrooby Church. The Carpenters and Southworths are so intimately connected by marriage with different members of the Pilgrim Colony that we find it difficult to eliminate them from the band of worshipers at Scrooby. George Morton, William Wright, Samuel Fuller, and Edward Southworth all married daughters of Alexander Carpenter, while Richard Cooper, another early settler of Plymouth, married the widow of William Wright; and Gov- ernor Bradford, after the loss of his first wife, mar- ried the widow of Edward Southworth. There is a tradition, too, that -Bradford in early manhood had become attached to Alice (Carpenter) Southworth before her first marriage, but was opposed by her

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

friends. The fact that after the loss of his wife, who was drowned in Cape Cod harbor, he proposed to her anew by letter soon after she became a widow, rc- inforces the tradition, and so mingles the Bradford and Carpenter families as to strengthen the prob- ability of their common local origin and residence.

Of course, it was impossible for the church at Scrooby to remain long undisturbed. A longer resi- dence in England was neither compatible with safety, nor adapted to a free enjoyment of their worship, and consequently a removal to Holland was determined on. In the winter of 1607-8 they made an attempt to embark from Boston in Lincolnshire, which resulted in failure, owing to the treachery of the captain who was to take them on board his vessel, and many of their number were arrested and temporarily im- prisoned. Why their departure should have been in- terfered with, when the penalty for separation was banishment, has been a common inquiry. But King James had issued a proclamation against emigration to the English colony of Virginia without a royal license, and a suspicion was entertained, either real or feigned, that such was the destination of the Scrooby band. During the spring of 1608 they succeeded in making their escape from England, and after vexatious delays and annoyances reached Amsterdam in safety. It was intended at first to make Amsterdam their home, but dissensions between John Smith and Fran- cis Johnson, English Separatists already settled there, induced them to remove, in the spring of 1609, to Leyden, twenty-two miles distant ; and that place for nearly twelve years they made their residence.

In Leyden, then, from 1609 to 1620 the Pilgrims lived, joined at various times by William White, Isaac Allerton, Samuel Fuller, Degory Priest, and Edward Winslow from London, Robert Cushman from Canterbury, George Morton from York, and John Carver and other exiles from various parts of England. Of these, Winslow, a man, if not of uni- versity education, at least of liberal culturc, the son of Edward Winslow of Droitwich, in Worcester, joined the Pilgrims not many years before their em- barkation for New England. He married in Leyden, in 1618, Elizabeth Barker, of Chester, England, and became, as is well known both as Governor and at all times a wise and trusted counselor, one of the chief staff and supports of the Plymouth Colony.

Miles Standish also joined the Pilgrims in Leyden, not perhaps on account of any religious affinity, but because his bold and adventurous nature was tempted by the enterprise on which they were about to embark. His great-grandfather was a younger brother of the Standish family, of Dokesbury Hall, of which it is

believed John Standish, knighted by Richard the Second, was founder. He had served with the troops sent by Elizabeth to assist the Dutch against the armies of Spain, and during the armistice, which be- gan the year of the arrival of the Pilgrims in Leyden, he had fallen in with some of their number and cast in with them his lot. The hand of Providence, which seems to have guided every step of the Pilgrims with a clearer design than is apparent in most events in history, in attaching these men to the Pilgrim band, brought to it ingredients which it needed, if it needed anything, to make it a comprehensive, symmetrical organization, like an orchestra complete in all its parts, and wanting nothing to produce harmonious results. Without Winslow they were a body of religionists, circumscribed in their boundaries, keeping themselves unspotted from a world with which after all they must finally mingle and negotiate. With him the states- man, the scholar, the man of affairs, they had an am- bassador in whose diplomacy they might trust, and the fruits of whose wisdom they would be sure to reap. Without Standish they would have gone into undertakings the dangers of which had not even haunted their dreams, like soldiers in battle with neither armor nor arms. With him the complement of their trust in God would be contributed to their enterprise,-a trust in their own right arm, a valiant spirit, an indomitable physical courage, without which trust in God would have been weak and powerless.

Richard Clyfton having concluded to remain in Amsterdam, John Robinson was chosen pastor, and at his house on Clock Alley, in the rear of St. Peter's Church, the congregation probably met on the Sabbath. Here Robinson lived from the 5th of May, 1611, the date of the deed of the premises, until his death, in 1625. The records of the church of St. Peter's show that he was buried under its pavement, and that the sum of nine florins was paid for the right of burial. This sum only secured a place of deposit for the term of seven years, and it is probable that at the end of that time, either his coffin was removed to an unknown grave, or his ashes were scattered in the burial of others. During the residence of the Pil- grims at Leyden Robinson was connected with the University of Leyden, and in the discussion with Episcopius he was selected as a man of recognized ability and learning to defend the tenets of Calvinism. In addition to ministrations in his church he engaged in the labors of authorship. He published in 1610 " A Justification of Separation from the Church ;" in 1614, a book on religious communion ; in 1619, "Apologia Justa et Necessaria," and in 1624, the year before his death, " A Defence of the Doctrine of the

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

Synod of Dort." His posthumous publications were " Essays and Observations Divine and Moral" in 1628, and a " Treatise on the Lawfulness of Learning of the Ministers in the Church of England" in 1634. A sweet and liberal spirit pervaded his life, full of charity, toleration, and love, and to his teachings was doubtless mainly due the freedom from bigotry which always characterized the Pilgrims, but for which, from the ignorant who have always confounded them with the Puritans, they have failed to receive credit.

William Brewster, obliged to seek some occupation for a livelihood, at first engaged in teaching the Eng- lish language to students in the university, and after- wards opened a publishing house, assisted with capital by Thomas Brewer, an Englishman, who was a mem- ber of the university. In 1616 he published a com- mentary in Latin on the Proverbs of Solomon, by Cartwright, with a preface by Polyander, and in 1618 a " Confutation of the Remish Translation of the New Testament," by the same author. A treatise in Latin on the truc and genuine religion, and Ames' reply to Grevinchovius on the Arminian controversy (also in Latin) followed, and other works, which fully occupied his time until his departure for New Eng- land.

The appearance of these works caused King James to give orders to Sir Dudley Carleton, English am- bassador at the Hague, to prevent their further pub- lication, and if possible secure the arrest of the pub- lishers. Brewster was sought for, but was at that time in England, engaged in negotiations with the Virginia Company, and could not be found. Brewer was arrested, but, as under the charter of the univer- sity he was exempted from the liability of being sent to England, the university only consented to his going on the condition that he should not be treated as a prisoner, and should, after his examination, be returned without charge to himself. He was afterwards dis- charged, and it is probable that the abandonment by Brewster of his business, in anticipation of his departure, prevented further trouble.

Nor was Brewster alone in earning a livelihood. The other members of the Pilgrim Church had, doubtless, either disposed of or abandoned their worldly goods on leaving England, and were forced to engage in occupations far from indicative of their social condition before they became exiles, as refugees from the Old World, men of culture and high social standing, in our own country and time engage in pur- suits often the most menial to maintain themselves and families. It is recorded at Leyden that William Bradford was a fustian-inaker or maker of cotton cloth ; that Robert Cushman and William White were

wool-carders ; Samuel Fuller and Stephen Tracy, say or silk-makers; that John Jenney was a brewer's man; that Edward Winslow was a printer, and Degory Priest a hatter. It was evident that they were determined to keep the promise made by them when they took up their residence in Leyden. Be- fore leaving Amsterdam a letter was addressed to the burgomaster of Leyden, representing that John Rob- inson, a minister of the divine word, and some of the members of the Christian reformed religion, born in the kingdom of Great Britain, to the number of one hundred persons or thereabouts, men and women, werc desirous of going to live in that city, and to have the freedom thereof in carrying on their trades " without being a burden in the least to any one." This request, the records of Leyden say, was granted. How well their promise was kept is shown by the re- gret expressed by the authorities of the city at their determination, after eleven years' residence, to leave a city to whose inhabitants they had furnished an ex- ample of industry, frugality, and virtuous living.

There is no exact record of the number of the Pilgrim congregation under Robinson. Bradford's " Dialogue" states that before 1620 accessions to the church had increased its number to about three hun- dred. Bradford further says that the church of Johnson, before their division, contained about " three hundred communicants," " and for the church in Leyden there were sometimes not much fewer in number nor at all inferior in able men." Edward Winslow says, also, " These things being agreed, the major part stayed, and the pastor with them for the present, but all intended (except a few who had rather we would have stayed) to follow after. The minor part, with Mr. Brewster, their elder, resolved to enter upon the great work (but take notice the difference of number was not great)." We know that one hundred and twenty set sail in the " May- flower" and " Speedwell," and they being " the minor part," it is probable that one hundred and fifty or more remained. It is known, also, that one hundred and two finally sailed in the " Mayflower" in 1620, thirty- six in the "Fortune" in 1621, sixty in the " Little James" and "Ann" in 1623, thirty-five (with their families) in the "Mayflower" in 1629, and sixty in the " Handmaid" in 1630, making in all three hun- dred or more as the probable number of the Pilgrim Church after twelve years' residence in Holland. Notwithstanding the occupations in which they were engaged in Leyden, the probable fact that Robinson, Brewster, Bradford, Winslow, White, Fuller, Allerton, and Cushman were educated men leads to the con- clusion that the Pilgrim community represented all

MANOR HOUSE, SCROOBY.

VIEW OF SCROOBY.

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

the different classes of English life, outside of the circle of nobility and of the hangers-on and depend- ents of court and fashionable life. Differences of social and intellectual condition there undoubtedly were among them, and between those of the highest and lowest these differences were extreme, but their common religious faith was a bond of union which it was not possible for any outward and worldly condi- tion to break. Thus constituted the Pilgrim congre- gation was like an island in the sea, and became neces- sarily a democratic community, surrounded as it was by a population of strange habits, a strange language, and strange methods of thought, which served to make it more compact and harmonious. Thus was the seed of a trne democratic spirit planted, which finally ger- minated and found its full flower and perfect fruit in the soil of New England.

And more than this, the life of the Pilgrims in Holland, by the inscrutable wisdom of Providence, was a period of probation, which they were destined to serve before the great work of their lives began. They left England simply religious devotees; they finally left Holland trained, disciplined, practical men. They crossed the German Ocean, in 1608, full of religious zeal and trust in God; they crossed the Atlantic, in 1620, equally full of self-reliance and trust in themselves. They left their English homes bound together, it is true, by the bond of Christian sympathy and love, but still recognizing the distinc- tions of social and civil rank. Their life in Holland, under the pressure of common necessities, of common burdens, and at last of a common destiny, moulded them into a community in which labor became the foundation on which was reared that equality of rights and powers which became the recognized law. Without this period of probation their efforts at colonization would have been a failure,-or, if not a failure, would have planted the seed of an autocratic government on these shores, from which it is hardly possible that the majestic tree could have sprung under which are now gathered in our land fifty millions of liberty-loving and liberty-enjoying men.

But the Pilgrims were not destined to remain in Holland. The period of their probation had ended ; they were now ready for the work which God had given them to do. The precise motives which influ- enced them in considering the question of a removal, it is difficult to state. Their residence in Holland began at the beginning of the twelve years' truce be- tween that country and Spain, and the period of the truce was rapidly coming to an end. They may not have unreasonably feared that a renewal of hostilities might result in the triumph of Philip, and in a per-

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 15

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706