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The standard for estimating a man's religion should not be his connection with any church, for "A man hath, in truth, so much religion, as he hath between the Lord, and himself, in secret, and no more, what shows soever he makes before men." But there is a strain of the practical in Robinson, which was to appear later in our philosophy relative to the service of man. As he expressed it, God does not regard that "church, and chamber religion towards him, which is not accompanied, in the house, and streets,
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with loving-kindness, and mercy and all goodness towards men."
He sadly comments that in his day they who plead for toleration in matters of religion are those in the minority: Protestants living in Catholic countries and Catholic in Protestant. No group is so truly Christian that it does not contain some who are plainly anti-Christian nor hardly any so anti-Christian but that within it there are those with the spirit of Christ in their persons, and "so true members of his mystical body. With whom to deal rigor- ously for some few aberrations of ignorance, or infirmity, were more to please Christ's enemy than Christ." The fairer and friendlier attitude of the Plymouth Colony towards contrary opinion and practice in religious matters is proof conclusive of the skill with which this great leader sowed this then radical thought.
Robinson's Essays repeatedly show his tendency to take large views of life and to consider all sides of a question. One instance of this is the rule he lays down for judging the value of a man's life and work. "We are not, therefore, to measure a person's state by some one, or few acts, done, as it were, by the way, and upon instance of some strong temptation, but according to the tenor, and course of his life. Else, what wise man should not be a fool also? Or what fool should not be a wise man?"
John Robinson never saw America, but his spirit came when the Pilgrims landed. Their story needs no retelling and as we remember the courage and devotion with which they laid the cornerstone of a free church and a free society we meet the proof of the significance of his life. Today the love we bear for democracy and its freedoms is a memo- rial to the great Pilgrim minister, and that that memorial
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shall be imperishable may we also remember a great truth that he spoke: "It is the first duty of man to inform his conscience aright: and then to follow the direction that it gives."
2. THE MAN WHO TAUGHT THE PILGRIMS
BY J. ELLSWORTH KALAS
WHEN THE CUSTOMARY TRIBUTES are paid the Pilgrims, it is to be hoped that someone will remember to say a word for the man who could justifiably be called the greatest of them all - John Robinson. Yet that may be too much to hope for. For after all, John Robinson never actually reached the shores of America. In fact, he never even embarked. So in the strict sense he is probably not a Pil- grim. And since he never came to the New World, most American history books have chosen to ignore him.
But the America of our day owes John Robinson a tre- mendous debt. Our America, where some 250 denomina- tions manage to get along next door to one another, and even talk occasionally of coming together into some sort of co-operative fellowship, might conceivably not know this tolerant broad-mindedness had it not been for John Robin- son. And our America, which currently worries over Mc- Collum cases, Barden bills and the wall between church and state, might not enjoy such religious freedom had
Reprinted by permission from The Christian Century, LXVI, No. 46, November 1949, pp. 1356ff.
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some other man - say Francis Johnson - served as pastor of the Leyden church.
James Truslow Adams declared that in the principle of tolerance, John Robinson was as far ahead of the English Puritans as Roger Williams was ahead of the Massachusetts Puritans. Of course that might only prove that Adams carried no brief for the Puritans. But the case for his statement is strong. John Robinson, pastor of the Pilgrims, was an extraordinary man.
No one is quite sure, but it is generally believed that Robinson was born about 1575 in Gainsborough-upon- Trent, Lincolnshire. In 1592 he entered Corpus Christi (Benet) College, Cambridge, where Puritanism was already getting a toehold. Perhaps it was for this reason that Robinson chose Cambridge over Oxford, since his family are believed to have been dissenters.
Robinson must have made a good record during his seven years at Corpus Christi, for he received one of the school's twelve fellowships at the completion of the term. It is likely that he began his ministry shortly after at Nor- wich as a Church of England clergyman. But some time in 1604 he broke from the established church, feeling that his place was with the Separatists. Gradually he became associated with the group meeting in William Brewster's house in Scrooby, joining with that company in their mi- gration to Holland in 1607-8.
Ministry at Leyden
The Scrooby group finally settled in Leyden, where Robinson remained until his death in 1625. As the seat of a university, Leyden was embroiled in a discussion be-
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JOHN ROBINSON: TWO MODERN STUDIES
tween Arminians and Calvinists; and although John Robinson was a hearty Calvinist, Bradford notes that he "heard ye one as well as ye other." That was an ex- ceedingly broad-minded act for the early seventeenth cen- tury.
Robinson's spirit continued to mellow through the years at Leyden, as his writings indicate. By the time of his death he had become so endeared to the whole com- munity that some of the leading Hollanders felt "that all the churches of Christ sustained a loss by the death of that worthy Instrument of the Gospel." Even that most violent enemy of Puritans and Separatists, Baillie, hailed him as the most polished, learned and modest spirit of the lot.
But Robinson's fellow Separatists at Amsterdam did not look upon his liberalism so kindly. The Amsterdam Separa- tists considered the Leyden group fence-sitters because of Robinson's increasingly charitable attitude toward other sects, and finally disposed of them as "ignorant idiots, noddy Nabalites, dogged Doegs, fairfaced Pharisees, shameless Shimeites, malicious Machiavellians." After we recover from the assault of this astounding alliteration, we can deduce that the Amsterdam folk didn't exactly approve of John Robinson.
Preparing for America
When the Leyden group decided to migrate to America, Robinson was all for going with them. But it developed that a larger share of his rapidly growing church would remain in Holland at this time, so it was decided that his responsibility lay with the larger group.
It was at the time of the Pilgrims' departure for America
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that Robinson made his most significant and controversial remarks about tolerance and religious liberty. These re- marks may have been included in his farewell sermon of Thursday, July 20, 1620, based on Ezra 8:21, or perhaps they were a part of the "Christian discourse" he delivered in Delftshaven the evening before the Speedwell sailed. They were recalled twenty-six years later by Edward Wins- low in his book Hypocrisie Unmasked. Winslow had been a member of Robinson's church for three years before departing for America.
ยท amongst other wholesome Instructions and Exhorta- tions [said Winslow] hee used these expressions, or to the same purpose; We are now ere long to part asunder, and the Lord knoweth whether ever he should live to see our faces again: but whether the Lord had appointed it or not, he charged us before God and his blessed Angels, so to follow him no further than he followed Christ. And if God should reveal anything to us by any other instrument of his, to be as ready to receive it, as ever we were to receive any truth by his Ministery. For he was very confident the Lord had more truth and light yet to breake forth out of his holy Word.
Robinson then dwelt at some length on the state of the reformed churches, and particularly on the Lutherans and Calvinists, who, he felt, "were come to a period in Re- ligion, and would goe no further than the instruments of their Reformation." He bewailed the fact that these groups would "rather die" than go a step beyond what their founders had taught. This was especially grievous to Robinson since he felt that Luther and Calvin, "precious shining lights in their times," had not received God's whole truth. "And if they were now living," Robinson reasoned, "they would bee as ready and willing to em-
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brace further light, as that they had received." Winslow's account continues :
Here also he put us in mind of our Church Covenant (at least that part of it) whereby wee promise and covenant with God and one with another, to receive whatsoever light or truth shall be made known to us from his written Word: but withall exhorted us to take heed what we received for truth, and well to examine before we received it; For, saith he, It is not pos- sible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick Antichristian darknesse, and that full perfection of knowledge should breake forth at once.
Robinson also urged his hearers to rid themselves of the name "Brownists," "a meer nick-name and brand to make Religion odious." Further, he suggested that they take with them some godly minister, even if he were not a Separatist - which would have been nothing short of heresy to Francis Johnson's group at Amsterdam.
And so advised us by all means to endeavour to close with the godly party of the Kingdome of England, and rather to study union than division; viz. how neare we might possibly, without sin close with them, then in the least measure to affect division or separation from them. And be not loath to take another Pastor or Teacher, saith hee, for that flock that hath two shepheards is not indangered, but secured by it.
Such a philosophy was almost unheard-of in that day, and many scholars have found it hard to accept this fare- well speech of John Robinson's as fully authentic, par- ticularly since it was not recorded by Winslow until a quarter of a century later. But if one reads Robinson's other works one will not find it hard to accept these words as authentic.
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Separation of Church and State
Gradually Robinson began to call for the separation of church and state, insisting that "magistrates are kings and lords over men properly and directly, as they are their subjects, and not as they are Christ's." Then he appealed for "civil tolerance of error," urging that the state should not adjudicate in questions of doctrine or heresy. In his seventh essay, he argued that the state should not enforce church attendance,
considering that neither God is pleased with unwilling wor- shippers, nor Christian societies bettered nor the persons them- selves neither, but the plain contrary in all three. . .. by this cause of compulsion many become atheists, hypocrites, and familists, and being at first constrained to practise against con- science, lose all conscience afterwards. Bags and vessels over- strained break, and will never after hold anything.
When the Leyden group prepared to leave for the New World, Robinson composed a letter of final instructions for them. Among other things, he called again for the separation of church and state. It was to their best in- terest, he felt, that they become "a body politik, using amongst your selves civill governments." If the Mayflower group had been entirely Pilgrim, such a statement might have meant nothing more than a subtle call for a Separa- tist theocracy. But only 17 of the 41 men who signed the Mayflower Compact were Separatists. A "civil govern- ment" could well be the death warrant for the New World Separatist church.
Nevertheless, the Leyden men were faithful to the coun- sel of their pastor. When the Mayflower Compact was
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written, it included in the opening paragraph the declara- tion that they were combining themselves into a "civil body politic."
Praise Due to Robinson
History has a great deal to say about the heroic way the Pilgrims withstood the first winter at Plymouth. Their unity and loyalty have been praised for three hundred years. It seems entirely fair now to pass on part of this praise to John Robinson. And we might ask, as some dis- cerning historians have done, what would have happened at Plymouth if it had been settled by the cantankerous, divisive Amsterdam Separatists rather than by the fol- lowers of Robinson.
It was eight years after the Pilgrims landed that Higgin- son led a group of Puritans to Salem, only a few miles from Plymouth. In England the Puritans hated the Separa- tists even more - if possible - than they hated the Church of England, and Higginson's remarks upon departing from England indicated that he was ready for a pitched battle with the Pilgrims as soon as he hit the American beach- head. But the Pilgrims displayed the spirit of their beloved pastor (by this time deceased) in welcoming the Puritans, and Higginson responded with remarkable good feeling. In fact, he proceeded very shortly to set up his church on the pattern displayed by the Plymouth Pilgrims.
When the Quakers became numerous and obnoxious a little later in the seventeenth century, a rash of persecution broke out in New England. It is not a very pretty chapter in American history, yet by contrast it adds a few more laurels to John Robinson. For according to Cotton's Ac-
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count of the Plymouth Church, the Pilgrims "never made any sanguinary or capital laws against that sect as some of the colonies did." Evidently Robinson's two colleagues, William Brewster and William Bradford, had faithfully carried on their pastor's teachings. And when persecution erupted in the area where Isaac Robinson, Pastor John's son, had settled, young Robinson allowed himself to be disfranchised rather than be a party to persecution.
III The Pilgrims and Early Plymouth
BY HENRY W. ROYAL
CALVIN COOLIDGE, in one of his rare poetic moments, said of the Pilgrims, "They came not merely from the shores of the Old World. It will be in vain to search among re- corded maps and history for their origin. They sailed up out of the infinite."
Arthur Lord, speaking along the same lines but in less poetic language, said of the Pilgrim movement, "Looking at it broadly it was part of a great world movement and its relation to that movement must be considered in order to understand its meaning and appreciate its results."
The New World, separated as it was from the other by a waste of ocean, made it possible to break old traditions, re- vise old institutions, and to think out a new philosophy to fit an infant society.
The religious movement which was taking shape in England at the time was the natural and almost inevitable result of the translation of the Bible into English and its publication for general circulation. The Genevan version,
Reprinted from a publication of the Pilgrim Society (Plymouth, Massa- chusetts) .
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printed in 1557-60, was the one commonly used by the Pilgrims.
These were the conditions which profoundly influenced the Pilgrims of Scrooby, Leyden, and Plymouth.
The Puritan body first took form in 1564. The Puritans did not differ from the essential doctrines of the Estab- lished Church. They objected to many of its forms and ceremonies, but they were "ever in and of the Church." The Pilgrims were a part of this movement but they were not Puritans, although much time has been spent in argu- ing that they were. As in the case of the Puritans, their fundamental principles differed very little from those of the Established Church, although in church government and in the personal relationship which they believed to exist between God and man they were far apart. They interpreted literally the passage of Scripture which says, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." They questioned the spiritual authority of the bishops and claimed the right of any group to worship as it saw fit, with nothing to hamper freedom in religious thought or worship. The term "Sepa- ratists," which was sometimes applied to them, describes them with sufficient accuracy.
The laws of England at the time provided for imprison- ment without bail for those who obstinately refused to attend Church services or were present at any unlawful assemblies contrary to the laws and statutes, with the fur- ther penalties that the convicted offender, if he did not conform within three months, should depart from the realm. If he refused to do so he should be deemed a felon, and the penalty was death without benefit of clergy.
The little church which had gathered at Scrooby, having
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no hope of living peacefully in their own land under these conditions, determined to cross to Holland, where there was religious freedom for all. Again they ran into trouble as it was impossible, under the existing law, for a family to migrate without license from the authorities, and this license they were unable to obtain. To remain or to go was equally perilous, and their only hope was to get away secretly. In October, 1607, they made their first attempt to sail to Boston, in a ship which they had char- tered, but they were seized, searched and imprisoned. After a month most of them were released, but seven of the principal men were held for the higher court.
The next year they arranged for a Dutch ship to meet them at a port near Grimsby, but here again they were seized by the sheriff and his men. Those of you who at- tended the pageant in 1921 will perhaps remember that this was one of the scenes represented, and you saw the sheriff and his horsemen herd together the women and children and march them away.
After this there seems to have been no mass effort to get across to Holland, but after many difficulties all got over, some at one time and some at another. After a short stay in Amsterdam they decided to make their way to Leyden. From 1609 to 1620 they made their home in that "fair and beautiful city," where, as Bradford describes it, "They made a competent and comfortable living, but with hard and continuous labor." Brewster became a printer and Robinson entered the famous University. The other mem- bers of the company engaged in different occupations and the years passed peacefully. They found in Holland that "freedom of religion" which they had sought and for which they had left their English homes, but as the slow years
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passed there were many factors which made them consider seriously the question of removal from Holland. They longed for the protection of the English flag; they were losing the English language and their English names; they missed for their children the education which they had received in their English homes; and lastly as Bradford says, "They were inspired with a great hope and inward zeal for the propagation of the gospel in the remote parts of the world, a mighty work in which they might be the stepping-stones for those who might follow in the paths where they had led."
After careful consideration they decided that Virginia offered the best opportunities. Because of their separation from the Established Church, the King was unwilling to give them permission to live in America under his protec- tion and enjoy liberty of conscience. He was ready how- ever to agree not to molest them, and under this arrange- ment they obtained a patent from the Virginia Company. The patent having been obtained, it was necessary to se- cure financial aid and this was obtained from a group of London merchants, known as the Adventurers, who fur- nished the necessary capital. The details of this agreement are not material to this brief summary, but the contract was on the whole a burdensome one and became more so as the little colony built its houses along the first street. Under the arrangement it was provided that for seven years the income of the colony should go into a common fund, and from this fund the colonists should get their living. At the end of the period the original investment and the accumulated capital should be divided between the Ad- venturers and the colonists - but more of this later.
On August 1, 1620, the members of the Pilgrim Com-
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pany sailed from Delfthaven for Southampton, and two weeks later the Mayflower and the Speedwell left South- ampton Water for the New World. Before they were out of the English Channel the Speedwell began to leak and it was necessary to run into Dartmouth for repairs. On September 2 they made their second start, but trouble developed again and the Speedwell was leaking so badly that both ships had to return to England, this time to Plymouth. Here it was found necessary to reorganize the expedition; the Speedwell was left behind and some of her passengers were taken on the Mayflower while others were left in England. On the 16th of September the May- flower sailed again;
"Then, the sea's wide blue! 'They sailed,' writ one, 'and as they sailed they knew That they were Pilgrims.'"
Nearly ten weeks later they came to anchor in Cape Cod harbor after a voyage that was filled with hardship and perils. Not all the passengers on the Mayflower were mem- bers of the Leyden congregation; the efforts of the Mer- chant Adventurers, the love of adventure, and the hope of gain had brought together many strangers and there were mutterings of discontent from these strangers. When the Cape was sighted it was decided to sail south and find some place near the Hudson River for their permanent home. Before the day was over, however, they found them- selves among dangerous shoals and roaring breakers and they decided to turn back. The abandonment of their plan to settle within the limits of their patent led to open declarations from the malcontents that when the voyage had ended and a landing had been made outside the limits
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of their patent there would be no authority to restrain their liberty. It became evident, therefore, that some practical means must be devised at once to maintain law, order, and discipline. To accomplish this the members of the Pilgrim Company met in the cabin of the Mayflower, off the shores of Cape Cod, on November 11, 1620 (O.S.) , and bound themselves together by that famous document known later as the Mayflower Compact.
This is the substance of the Compact: For the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, and honor of their King and Country, they came to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; they combined themselves into a civil body politic, for their better order- ing and preservation, and by virtue thereof to enact such just and equal laws as should be thought most meet and convenient for the good of the Colony; and unto these laws they promised all due submission and obedience. This action can be seen in its true perspective only when we recall that at the time the Compact was framed, in no part of the world did there exist a government of just and equal laws.
They promised obedience to the laws, for they realized that the consent of the governed is one of the essentials of a just government. This was to be proclaimed more than a hundred and fifty years later in the Declaration of Independence, as a self-evident truth, that all governments must derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed."
On June 1, 1621, the Pilgrims obtained a new patent from the Council for New England, and the usefulness of the Compact, except as a symbol, came to an end. The elementary principles which it proclaimed, however, fore-
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shadowed the Declaration of Independence and the Con- stitution of the United States, and our composite nation of today is interwoven with the ideals of that band of Pilgrims who founded their little community at Plymouth in 1620. We overlook too often the great contribution which they made to civil liberty and democracy. They knew how to found a colony for free men; earlier English attempts at colonization had ended in disaster; it remained for religious enthusiasm and civic ideals to triumph where commercial enterprise and the spirit of adventure had failed.
The Mayflower arrived in Cape Cod harbor on Novem- ber 21, 1620, and the landing at Plymouth of the exploring party in the shallop was exactly one month later. This party of eighteen men had left the ship on December 16 to coast along the shores of Cape Cod bay. They ran into rain, snow and increasing winds; their mast was carried away and they were obliged to take to their oars. In the darkness of the December night they landed on what is now Clark's Island. The next morning was fair and in the warmth of the December sun they dried their clothes, rested themselves, and gave thanks to God for His mercies, in their manifold deliverances. "And this being the last day of ye weeke," wrote Bradford, "they prepared ther to keepe ye Sabath." Of that Sabbath, their historian wrote simply yet eloquently: "On the Sabboth day wee rested." Much has been said about the observance of that famous Sunday, but the two quotations given above comprise all that is known about it.
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