USA > New York > History of the state of New York Vol I > Part 14
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The Democratic element, which the controlling influ- ence of national circumstances, in spite of the individual leanings of many of the clergy, had thus, from the first, infused into the government of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, was its chief characteristic distinction from the Church of England.# But in almost every oth-
* " As for the ministers of God's word, they have equally the same power and authori- ty wheresoever they are, as they are all ministers of Christ, the only universal Bishop, and the only head of the Church."-Article XXXI. of the Confession of Faith of the Syn- od of Dort.
+ "The pastors are in Scripture called Stewards of God and Bishops, that is, overseers and watchmen, for they have the oversight of the house of God."-Liturgy of the R. D. C .: Form of Ordination.
# " There is witness enough of this in the late Synod of Dort. When the Bishop of Llandaff had, in a speech of his, touched upon episcopal government, and showed that
119
THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH CHURCHES SYMPATHETIC.
er respect, there was a remarkable and sympathetic simi- CHAP. IV. larity. Both adhered to Liturgies; both used the clerical gown ; both preserved the Creeds of the Apostles, of Nice, Sympathy 1619. and of Saint Athanasius. Christmas, Easter, Ascension, between the Dutch and En- and Whitsunday were high holidays, alike in the Dutch glish Churches. and the English Churches. Their Articles of Religion were nearly identical. Their almost only difference was prelacy ; for prelacy won no popular favor in tolerant but republican Holland. And to the present day, the same essential harmony in doctrine and in Liturgy continues to assimilate these two equally venerable Churches. Trans- planted to the New World, the " Reformed Protestant Dutch Church" and the "Protestant Episcopal Church" have both preserved their time-honored forms of worship, and their almost coincident Articles of Religion. Social circumstances always bound them closely together ; and they now differ in scarcely any important point, save the original disagreement respecting prelatic superiority .*
The refugee Puritans at Leyden, finding the Estab- Cordiality lished Church of Holland orthodox in its faith, and the tans. government of the Netherlands tolerant in its policy, seemed to have secured, without effort, a happy home. It is not surprising that they should have entered into a cordial communion ; and that Robinson himself should have declared " before God and men, that we agree so entirely with the Reformed Dutch Churches in the matter
the want thereof gave opportunities to those divisions which were then on foot in the Netherlands, Bogermannus, the president of that Assembly, stood up, and, in a good al- lowance of what had been spoken, said, 'Domine, nos non sumus aded felices,' ' Alas, my Lord, we are not so happy.'"-Bishop Hall, x., 151.
* The Reformed Dutch Church was the Mother Church of this state ; and a spirit of iberal courtesy early prevailed between its ministers and those of the Episcopal Church. The Reverend Mr. Vesey, the first Rector of Trinity church, in the city of New York, was nducted into office in December, 1697, in the Dutch church in Garden Street. On that occasion, two Dutch clergymen, the Reverend Mr. Selyns, the pastor of the church, and he Reverend Mr. Nucella, of Kingston, assisted in the services. Mr. Vesey afterward of- iciated for some time in the Garden Street church, alternately with the Dutch clergymen, until the building of Trinity church was completed. When the Middle Dutch church was desecrated by the British, during the Revolutionary war, the vestry of Trinity church passed the following Resolution, in 1779: "It being represented that the old Dutch church s now used as a hospital for his majesty's troops, this corporation, impressed with a grateful remembrance of the former kindness of the members of that ancient church, do offer them the use of Saint George's church to that congregation, for celebrating Divine worship." The courteous offer was frankly accepted.
of the Puri-
120
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. IV. of religion, that we are ready to subscribe to all and ev- 1619. ery one of the Articles of Faith of those churches, as they are contained in the Harmony of Confessions of Faith."*
The Puri- tans dissat- isfied in Holland.
But there were elements in Puritanism which were not
favorable to contentment. Its inflexible self-will sur- passed ordinary pertinacity ; its notions of religion and of government were, perhaps, beyond example dogmatical. Its own was the only standard of propriety. Rather than obey the law of their own land, the Puritans had endured its penalties. Beginning with opposition, they ended with authority. Persecution made them important in En- gland ; and persecution, in the end, elevated its subjects to the seats of their judges. In their asylum in Holland, the refugees enjoyed full toleration ; yet they were, com- paratively, unimportant and obscure. There they were treated with perhaps rather more consideration than were some other sects ; for their Calvinism accorded with that of the established Dutch Church. Still, even that Church, though they themselves had pronounced her faith to be thoroughly orthodox, came to be regarded by them as scarcely a pure Church; for she used a Liturgy, and clung to the memory of holy days, the observance of which the Puritans denounced as idolatrous. Sunday, too, was less austerely observed in Holland than they thought it should have been. And, indeed, the Dutch delegates to the Syn- od of Dort had themselves lamented this evil. The Pu- ritans, therefore, attempted to bring the Hollanders " to reform the neglect of observation of the Lord's day as a Sabbath," and other things " amiss among them." But it could hardly have been expected that censorious, though well-meaning foreigners, themselves enjoying full tolera- tion, should have had much encouragement in their self- imposed undertaking to modify the cheerful national hab- its of the warm-hearted people by whom they had been courteously sheltered. Few proselytes were made. The self-exiled Puritans began to grow "restless" and uneasy in their unmolested home. Time was thinning their num-
* Robinson's Apology, 6 ; Young, 40, 388, note ; Neal, i., 244.
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THE PURITANS PROPOSE TO EMIGRATE.
bers, and few came from England to strengthen them. CHAP. IV. The language of the Dutch was not their mother tongue. Fugitives from their native kingdom, they still cherished 1617. allegiance to the crown of Great Britain. Firm in their English nationality, they feared that a long sojourn in Holland would wear away their homogeneousness. Many of them had married Dutch wives, and, in a few genera- tions, their posterity would become Dutch. Their youth were already enlisting as soldiers and sailors in the Dutch service. Besides, they were moved by " a great hope and inward zeal" to advance the kingdom of Christ in the "re- mote parts of the world." They considered, said Winslow, " how hard the country was where we lived ; how many spent their estate in it, and were forced to return for En- gland ; how grievous to live from under the protection of the State of England ; how like we were to lose our lan- guage and our name of English ; how little good we did, or were likely to do, to the Dutch in reforming the Sab- bath ; how unable there to give such education to our children as we ourselves had received."*
Notwithstanding they were enjoying " much peace and The Puri- liberty"t in Holland, these considerations had great weight solve to tans re-
emigrate to
with the Puritans, and made them dissatisfied with their America. abode. The results of European discovery in America having now become generally known, they determined to seek another home in the New World. At first, they thought of going to Guiana, the fabulous wealth of which had been eloquently described by Raleigh. But upon ma- turer consideration, their desire was "to live in a distinct body by themselves, under the general government of Vir- ginia," as near neighbors of "the English which were there planted," but entirely independent of the colony at Jamestown, which, under Argall's rapacious administra- tion, was fast falling into disrepute. They were led to hope that the king would grant them, there, " free liber- ty, and freedom of religion." John Carver and Robert
* Bradford, in Young, 45-48 ; Winslow, 381 ; Morton's Memorial, 18-21 ; Neal's Puri- tans, i., 269.
t Winslow, ut. sup.
122 1
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1617. Negotia- tions in London.
CHAP. IV. Cushman were accordingly sent to London "to solicit this matter." They found the Virginia Company " very desirous to have them go thither," and willing to grant them an ample patent. But as to their suit with the king, " it proved a harder piece of work than they took it for." James, anxious enough to enlarge the dominions of England, consented to " connive at them, and not mo- lest them, provided they carried themselves peaceably." But he refused to tolerate liberty of religion " by his pub- lic authority under his seal ;" and Carver and Cushman returned to Leyden, to report that all efforts to overcome the scruples of the king had been vain.
February.
The report of their messengers damped for a time the ardor of the Puritans, and " caused some distraction." But further reflection led them to set a higher value on the king's informal promise of connivance. A royal charter of religious freedom need not be considered so essential, for "though they had a seal as broad as the house-floor, it would not serve the turn, for there would be means enough 1619. found to recall or reverse it." So Robert Cushman and William Brewster were sent on another mission to Lon- don, to make arrangements with the Virginia Company, and procure as good conditions as they could. But dis- sensions in the company hindered the agents' proceedings. At length, " a large patent" was granted them, under the company's seal, to settle themselves in the "northern parts of Virginia," southward of the fortieth parallel of latitude. By the advice of some friends, this patent was not taken in the name of any of their own company, but in that of Mr. John Wincob, "a religious gentleman, then belonging to the Countess of Lincoln, who intended to go with them." Wincob, however, never went. But the patent having been sent over to the Puritans at Leyden, "for them to view and consider," in connection with the propositions for their emigration made by Thomas Weston and others of London, they were "requested to fit and prepare them- selves with all speed."*
Patent from the Virgin- ia Com- pany.
* Bradford, in Young, 52-76 ; Winslow, 382, 383 ; Prince, 155.
THE PURITANS PROPOSE TO GO TO NEW NETHERLAND. 123
1620. Condition of the Puri- tans in Holland.
Meanwhile, the Puritans, discouraged at the various dif- CHAP. IV. ficulties which had embarrassed their negotiations in En- gland, had been entertaining serious thoughts of emigra- ting to America under the auspices of the United Provinces. Their Holland hosts had treated them, from the first, with constant kindness. "Although it was low with many of them, yet their word would be taken among the Dutch when they wanted money, because they had found by ex- perience how careful they were to keep their word, and saw them so painful and diligent in their callings, that they strove to get their custom and to employ them above others in their work, for their honesty and diligence." Nor did the state become "weary of them," or think of driving them out. It was "their own free choice and motion" which led them to seek a new home; and when the magis- trates of Leyden heard of their purpose, they bore spontane- ous testimony to the good conduct of their guests. "These English," said they, "have lived among us now this twelve years, and yet we never had any suit or accusation come against any of them."*
It is not surprising that the Puritans, thus treated with Their pur- good-will, toleration, and hospitality in the Fatherland, pose to go to New Nether- should have purposed to emigrate to New Netherland, if land. they could obtain sufficient encouragement from the Dutch government. Barneveldt was now dead, and one great obstacle in the way of the formation of a general Dutch West India Company was removed. But various ques- tions of detail embarrassed the States General, and pro- tracted the settlement of the question. The Amsterdam Trading Company, whose special charter had expired two years before, in the mean time continued to send their ships thither, and other merchants had begun to participate in the trade. Colonization, however, had been postponed, until the proposed powerful monopoly should be able to
* Bradford, 38, 39 ; Morton's Memorial, 21. Mr. George Sumner, in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxix., 42-62, labors to prove-what was clearly the case-that the condition of the Puri- tans at Leyden "was one of poverty and obscurity." But his attempt to exhibit the Dutch as wanting in hospitality and good-will, is not sustained by evidence, and is contradict- ory to the testimony of the Puritans themselves. See ante, p. 115, note.
124
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1620. The Puri- tans pro- pose to em- igrate to New Neth- erland.
CHAP. IV. undertake it with success. In this conjuncture, Robinson began to sound the Amsterdam merchants respecting the immediate formation of a colony on the North River. Be- ing " well versed in the Dutch language," he represented to them that he was himself favorably inclined to go and settle in New Netherland, and that over four hundred fam- ilies would go with him, not only from Leyden, but also from England, provided they could be assured that the government of the United Provinces would protect and de- fend them there from the assaults of other powers. They desired to go to New Netherland, said Robinson, "to plant there the true and pure Christian religion, to convert the savages of those countries to the true knowledge and un- derstanding of the Christian faith, and, through the grace of the Lord, and to the glory of the Netherlands govern- ment, to colonize and establish a new empire there, under the order and command" of the Prince of Orange, and the High Mighty Lords States General .*
The Am- sterdam merchants ake offe to the Puri- tans.
The Amsterdam Company gladly listened to these over- tures. They saw at once that so many families going in a body to New Netherland could hardly fail to form a successful colony ; and, accordingly, they made "large offers" to the Puritans, promising to transport them free of cost to the North River, and to furnish every family with cattle.t The political part of the question, however, the Dutch merchants could not decide. They were ready to expend their capital in conveying the emigrants to New Netherland, and in supplying them with necessaries; but they had no authority to promise that the Dutch govern- ment would afford to the colonists that special protection, after their arrival there, which Robinson required for his followers as an indispensable condition. They, therefore, determined to apply directly to the general government at the Hague.
The Prince of Orange was now at the zenith of his
* Holland Documents, i., 95 ; N. Y. Senate Documents, 1845, No. 111, pages 15, 16; Address before N. Y. H. S., 1844, Appendix, p. 54 ; O'Call., i., 84.
+ Bradford, in Young, 42; Winslow, 385.
125
MEMORIAL TO THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT.
power. To him, as stadtholder, the Amsterdam mer- CHAP. IV. chants accordingly presented a memorial, setting forth their first discovery of, and continuous trade to, New Netherland, "situated between New France and Virginia, to the in the latitude of from forty to forty-five degrees," and de- tailing the overtures which the " English preacher at Ley- den" had made to them to colonize that country with his Puritan followers, "provided that, by the authority and under the protection of your Princely Excellency and the High Mighty Lords States General, they may be defend- ed and preserved there from the attacks of other powers." The memorialists expressed their apprehension that the King of Great Britain would colonize New Netherland with English subjects, and " with violence render fruit- less the discoveries and possession" of the Dutch in that country, and probably surprise their ships then trading there. They, therefore, prayed that " the aforementioned preacher and four hundred families may be taken under the protection of the United Provinces, and that two ships of war may be sent to secure, provisionally, the said lands to this government, since such lands may be of great im- portance whenever the West India Company shall be or- ganized."*
The stadtholder expressed no opinion upon this memo- Views of rial ; he merely referred it to the States General. But General. the Twelve Years' truce with Spain had now nearly ex- pired ; and the statesmen of the Netherlands were med- itating too large and ambitious designs to allow them to listen with favor to the petition of the Amsterdam Com- pany. They had now in view the establishment of a grand commercial monopoly, whose concentrated capital and energy should not only direct the colonization of the Dutch discoveries in America, but should also assist the states in crushing the power of their hereditary enemy. To that company, when it should be organized, would properly belong the consideration of all the details con-
* Holland Documents, i., 95-99. The early New England chroniclers do not mention this application to the Dutch government, and its fate, though they speak of the "large offers" which were made to the Puritans in Holland.
the States
1620. 12 Feb. Application
, Dutch gov- ernment.
126
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1620. Views of the States General.
CHAP. IV. nected with emigration. Besides, the memorial which placed Robinson's views before the States General, brought officially to their knowledge-what, indeed, by this time, had perhaps become notorious-that James was disposed to colonize the northern regions of America with English subjects ; it also positively alleged, that he in- tended to dispossess the Dutch of their foothold in New Netherland. If such were really the king's intention, it would be folly for the States General to assist his design by aiding in the transportation thither of emigrants, whose liege services might soon be demanded by royal proclama- tion. The limits of New Netherland, as at first defined by the States General, extended from the fortieth to the forty-fifth parallel of latitude, from Virginia to Canada. There were unoccupied lands enough in Virginia, south of the fortieth degree, where the Puritans might settle themselves in peace and good neighborhood, between Jamestown and Manhattan, and thus preserve without inconvenience their national identity. But for them to occupy, under the express authority and with the formal protection of the Dutch government, any portion of New Netherland, might give rise to embarrassing international questions. And when that region should be colonized, it would be better that Dutch subjects, of undoubted loyal- ty, should themselves first plant there the laws and the venerated customs of the Fatherland.
The appli- cation for the Puri- tans re- fused. 26 Feb. 10 March. 10 April. 11 April.
Such were probably some of the arguments which weighed with the States General in their consideration of the memorial of the 12th of February, 1620. The sub- ject was several times before them during the two follow- ing months ; and, finally, after repeated deliberations and consultations with the Board of Admiralty and the stadt- holder, they resolved peremptorily to reject the prayer of the memorialists .*
New nego- tiations in England.
Thus the hopes of the Puritans were again disappointed. Refused the solicited assistance of their government, the Amsterdam merchants, who had made the "large offers," * Hol. Doc., i., 94, 100-103.
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THE PURITANS EMIGRATE FROM LEYDEN.
were not in a position to carry out by themselves the CHAP. IV. conditions demanded by Robinson, the zeal of whose fol- lowers to leave their home at Leyden was by this time 1620. quickened by a growing feeling of apprehension. Through- out Holland there was now "nothing but beating of drums and preparing for war." Fearful that "the Spaniard might prove as cruel as the savages of America,"* the Puritans once more turned their thoughts to England. About this time, they were informed, " by Mr. Weston and oth- ers," that James had determined to grant a large patent " for the more northerly parts of America, distinct from the Virginia patent, and wholly excluded from their gov- ernment, and to be called by another name, to wit, New England."" The proposed patent, however, was still in its preliminary stages ; but Weston and his associates in London urged the Puritans to go to New England, in hope of "present profit to be made by fishing on that coast." Embarrassments still hindered. Some of the London cap- italists were vexed that they " went not to Guiana ;" oth- ers would do nothing "unless they went to Virginia ;" while many, " who were most relied on, refused to ad- venture if they went thither." In the midst of these dif- ficulties, " they of Leyden were driven to great straits ;" and the New England patent " not being fully settled," they determined "to adventure with that patent they had" from the Virginia Company.#
But the means provided by their London friends were The Puri- not sufficient to convey them all at once. The congrega- Leyden. tion was, therefore, divided into two parts. The greater number and the least robust were to remain at Leyden with Robinson ; the younger and abler-bodied were to emigrate, as pioneers, under Brewster. After a solemn fast and a stirring discourse from Robinson, the selected emigrants were accompanied to Delft-Haven, two miles 21 July.
* Bradford, in Young, 51.
t Hubbard, in Young, 80. The royal warrant to the solicitor general is dated 23d July, 1620 ; the patent itself did not pass the great seal until 3d November, 1620 .- Lond. Doc., i., 8 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 4 ; Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 64 ; Hazard, i., 99, 103. # Hubbard, in Young, 81.
tans leave
128
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. IV. below Rotterdam, by "the brethren that staid at Ley- 1620. den." Embarking in the " Speedwell,"' a small vessel of sixty tons, they passed over to Southampton. There they found, " lying ready with all the rest of their company," a larger ship, the "Mayflower," of one hundred and eighty tons, which had come round directly from London. The two vessels, filled with passengers, soon set sail in com- pany. But the leaky Speedwell belied her name; and the expedition put back into Plymouth. Dismissing here her battered consort, which returned to London with Cush- man and a part of the company, the Mayflower recom- menced her lonely voyage across the Atlantic, crowded with one hundred emigrants, who, in tears and sadness, had left "that goodly and pleasant city which had been their resting-place near twelve years. But they knew they were Pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits."*
5 August.
The Pil- grims sail from South- ampton.
6 Sept.
From Plymouth.
Patent from the Virginia Company, under The patent with which the Pilgrims sailed for America was, as we have seen, the one which they had obtained which they from the Virginia Company. It authorized them to settle sailed. themselves in the northerly parts of Virginia, which ex- tended to the fortieth degree of latitude. North of that parallel, their grant would have availed them nothing. This they knew when they set sail; and they were also aware that the projected New England patent was yet un- der the advisement of the law officers of the British crown. With the proposed grantees of that patent they had not negotiated. After the government of the United Provinces had refused the prayer of the memorial, which had been presented in their behalf, they did not seem to have felt sufficiently encouraged to settle themselves, under Dutch authority, in New Netherland. Having by that memorial recognized and admitted the Dutch title to the territory, "situated between New France and Virginia," they would very justly have been considered as intruders, if they had
* Bradford, in Young, 77, 86-99 ; Winslow, 384, 396 ; Morton's Memorial, 21-32 ; Neal's Puritans, i., 269.
129
THE MAYFLOWER AT CAPE COD. -
deliberately undertaken to establish an independent foreign CHAP. IV. colony there, without the patronage of the States General, which they had solicited. But the geography of the Amer- 1620. ican coast, between Cape Cod and the Chesapeake, was, at that time, accurately known only by the Dutch, and by Dermer, whose accounts had not yet been made public. The intention of the Pilgrims, accordingly, seems to have Their des- been to sail, by the northern passage, directly to Manhat- tination. tan, where they could gain the exact information which they needed respecting the precise position of their future home. And so they left Europe, " on a voyage," as they themselves described it in their famous compact on board the Mayflower, " to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia," beyond the limits of New England, on the shores of Delaware or Maryland, and outside the then claimed southern frontier of New Netherland .*
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