THE PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND.

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offending King James, they would have met with CHAP. public favor from the Dutch. In the disputes against Arminianism, Robinson was selected as the champi- 1617. on of orthodoxy, and disputed with a skill, which his friends, at least, considered triumphant.

But, notwithstanding the distinction, which was thus acquired, the desires of the company were unsatisfied. They were restless from the consciousness of ability to act a more important part on the theatre of the world. The career of maritime discovery had, meantime, been pursued with daring intrepidity and rewarded with brilliant success. The voyages of Gosnold and Smith and Hudson, the enterprize of Raleigh and Delaware and Gorges, the compilations of Eden and Willes and Hakluyt, had filled the commercial world with wonder; while weighty reasons, often and seriously discussed, inclined the Pilgrims to change their abode. They had been bred to the pursuits of husbandry, and in Holland they were compelled to learn mechanical trades; Brewster became a printer; Bradford, who had been educated as a farmer, learned the art of dying silk. The language of the Dutch never became pleasantly familiar; and their manners still less So. The climate was not grateful to the aged; and the close occupation in mechanical trades was detrimental to the young. The dissoluteness of the disbanded soldiers and mariners, who had grown licentious in the recent wars, filled the English with anxiety, lest their children should become contaminated; and they were moved by an enlightened de

CHAP. sire of improving their condition, and the honorable ambition of becoming the founders of a state.

VIII.

1617. 66

Dec.

15.

Upon their talk of removing, sundry of the Dutch would have them go under them, and made them large offers;" but the Pilgrims were attached to their nationality as Englishmen, and to the language of their line. A secret, but deeply seated love of their country led them to the generous purpose of recovering the protection of England by enlarging her dominions. They were They were "restless" with the desire to live once

ment of their native land.

more under the govern

Whither should they go to acquire a province for King James? The beautiful fertility and immeasurable wealth of Guiana had been exhibited in dazzling colors by the brilliant eloquence of Raleigh. But the terrors of the tropical climate, the wavering pretensions of England to the soil, and the proximity of bigotted catholics, led them rather to look towards Virginia; and Robert Cushman and John Carver repaired to England to obtain consent of the London company to their emigration. The envoys were favorably received; and a patent and ample liberties were cheerfully promised. Assured of the special approbation of Sir Edwin Sandys, they declined completing their negotiation, till they could consult the multitude, with whose interests they were entrusted. The Pilgrims, following the principles of democratic liberty, transmitted to the company their request, signed by the hands of the greatest part of the congregation. "We are well weaned," added

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VIII.

Robinson and Brewster, "from the delicate milk of CHAP. our mother country, and inured to the difficulties of a strange land; the people are industrious and frugal. We are knit together as a body in a most sacred covenant of the Lord, of the violation whereof we make great conscience, and by virtue whereof we hold ourselves straitly tied to all care of each other's good, and of the whole. It is not with us as with men, whom small things can discourage."

Jan.

27.

The messengers of the Pilgrims continued to be 1618. received with great kindness by the Virginia company; they also sought for the favor of the king. But in vain did they transmit an account of their principles; in vain was high influence at court exerted in their behalf. Even while the negotiations were pending, a royal declaration constrained the puritans of Lancashire to conform or leave the kingdom; and nothing more could be obtained for the wilds of America, than an informal promise of neglect. No public act of toleration could be wrung from the English monarch.

The bigotry of the English hierarchy was a great 1619. discouragement to the church at Leyden. The dissensions in the Virginia corporation occasioned further delay; but, as the influence of Sir Edwin Sandys, the friend of the puritans, prevailed, a patent was at length granted to the Pilgrims under the company's seal. It was taken in the name of one, who failed to accompany the expedition; and was never of the least service to those, who had obtained it with much toil and cost.

CHAP.

VIII.

One more negotiation remained to be completed. The Pilgrims were not possessed of sufficient capi1619. tal for the execution of their schemes. The reports

1620.

of Smith, the efforts of Gorges, the confidence in wealth to be derived from fisheries, had made American expeditions a subject of consideration with English merchants; and the agents from Leyden were able to form a partnership between their employers and men of business in London. The terms of the contract were deemed exceedingly severe. The whole company constituted a numerous partnership; the services of each emigrant were rated as a capital of ten pounds, and belonged to the company; all profits were to be reserved, till the end of seven years, when the whole amount, and all houses and lands, gardens and fields, were to be divided among the shareholders according to their respective interests. The London merchant, who risked one hundred pounds, would receive for his money ten-fold more than the penny less emigrant for his entire services. This arrangement threatened a seven years' check to the pecuniary prosperity of the community; yet, as it did not interfere with civil rights, or religion, it did not intimidate the Pilgrims.1

And now the English at Leyden, trusting in God and in themselves, made ready for their departure.

1 "Under the influence of this wild notion, the colonists of NewPlymouth, in imitation of the primitive Christians, threw all their property into a common stock." Robertson's America, b.

X.

One of the many errors, with which the volume of Robertson

teems. There was no attempt at imitating the primitive Christians; the partnership was a consequence of negotiations with British merchants; the colonists preferred the system of private property, and acted upon it, as far and as soon as was possible.

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The Speedwell, a ship of sixty tuns, was purchased CHAP. in London; the Mayflower, a vessel of one hundred and eighty tuns, was hired in England. These could hold but a minority of the congregation; and Robinson was therefore detained at Leyden, while Brewster, the teaching elder, conducted the emigrants. Every enterprize of the Pilgrims began from God. A solemn fast was held. "Let us seek of God," 1620. July. said they, "a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance." Anticipating their high destiny and the sublime doctrines of liberty, that would grow out of the principles, on which their religious tenets were established, Robinson gave them a farewell, breathing a noble spirit of Christian liberty, such as was hardly then known in the world.

"I charge you before God and his blessed angels, that you follow me no farther, than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no further than the instruments of their reformation. - Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. -I beseech you, remember it, 'tis an article of your church covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God."

The Pilgrims were accompanied by most of the