Chapter VII

       The Pilgrims

       Table of Contents

      In England, Holland, France, and Germany there was a great difference of opinion in matters of religion. Men everywhere were thinking for themselves, instead of accepting the opinion of pope, bishop, or priest. In England the people were nearly all Protestants; in France the majority were Catholics; in Holland they were nearly equally divided. In England the Protestants would not tolerate anybody who did not accept the Church which Henry VIII. had set up; in France the Catholics were ever ready to persecute the Protestants; in Holland men could be Catholic or Protestant as they pleased. So it came about that the men and women of Scrooby, when persecuted for separating themselves from the Church of England, and meeting in William Brewster’s house on Sunday for worship, fled to Holland, as the place where they could think and act for themselves. They settled at Leyden, working hard to keep the wolf from the door. They were industrious, and so honest, minding their own business, that the Dutch treated them with great respect. Instead of frequenting the beer-houses, and taking part in the Dutch revelries, they remained quietly at home when their days’ work was done; and instead of carousing on Sundays, they met in the house of John Robinson for worship. They used no prayer-book, nor had they any particular form of worship. They organized themselves into a Church with Christ as their head. All were equal. They elected their deacons, who were to be their servants. It was a Church in which the rights of every person was respected. They believed that Christ and the apostles organized just such churches; that a bishop, instead of having any authority to rule them, should only be their minister or servant; that they had authority from Christ to rule themselves. Ruling themselves! Let us not forget it. When men rule themselves there will be the largest freedom; they will respect the rights of their fellow-men, for only by so doing can they have their own rights.

      Through all the centuries, presbyters, priests, bishops, and popes had ruled in religious matters; but these men of Scrooby rejected all such authority, and made their declaration to the world —

      The people alone have the right to rule!

      Ten years passed. No one molested them in their religious opinions; none disturbed their worship; but Holland was divided into two great political parties— Prince Maurice being at the head of one, and John of Barneveld, before whom Captain Block laid his map of Hudson River, and of the coast along which he sailed in the Onrust, was at the head of the other.

      James of England, Louis of France, and Philip of Spain, all were interfering in the affairs of Holland. Civil war broke out, armies were on the march, and the whole country was disturbed.

      It was a terrible scene which the people at the Hague beheld at sunrise on May 13th, 1619 — John of Barneveld, seventy-two years old, kneeling on a wooden scaffold in front of the Binnenhof. All the morning the drums had been beating, the trumpets sounding, and soldiers marching. A great crowd had gathered. The old man drew the black cap over his white locks, and kneeled with his face toward his own house, a little distance away. One blow, and the head of the true-hearted patriot rolled upon the planks, and the crowd, scrambling upon the scaffold, dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood, to keep as souvenirs of his death. So Holland’s great statesman died, at the hands of those who hated him, because he was so great. He had done grand things for his country, but intrigue, political faction, and jealousy could not be content till he was in his grave.

      The men who had fled from Scrooby to find a home in Holland loved peace. They stood aloof from wrangling. Their true-hearted pastor, John Robinson, taught them to love all men. They could find no comfort amidst such scenes. What should they do? The question confronted them. They could not go back to England without conforming to the ritual of the Church; that they would not do. Why not emigrate to America? But how could they get there? They were poor. William Brewster was trying to earn a living by working in a printing-office; one laid bricks, another was a carpenter; one was a blacksmith, another a tailor.

      They learned that there were men in England ready to help them. The Plymouth Company of merchants, who had obtained the grant of land between Long Island and Nova Scotia, wanted the country settled. They were anxious to obtain furs, and, as they were ready to venture their money, were called “adventurers.” One of the number was Thomas Weston, of London, who heard that the Pilgrims were ready to go to America, and went to Holland to see them.

      “I will help you. I will lend you money and obtain ships,” he said, thinking the while how good a bargain he might make.

      A plan was agreed upon. The “adventurers” were ready to supply money and ships; the Pilgrims were to go as planters. The Pilgrims formed themselves into a company, fixing the shares of stock at fifty dollars. Every settler sixteen years old was to be equal to one share. Every man who furnished an outfit worth fifty dollars was to have an additional share, and children between ten and sixteen years of age were to be counted as half a share. All the settlers bound themselves to work together for seven years, their labor to go into a common fund, and all to be supported from it. At the end of that period the property was to be divided according to the shares. For seven years they were to put all their hardships, dangers, and work on an equality with the money advanced by the merchants, who would thus be enabled to speculate on their toil. The conditions were hard, yet, for the sake of bringing up their children in the principles that were dearer than all things else, they would accept them.

      On the 22d of July, 1620, the Pilgrims met for the last time at the house of John Robinson in Leyden, to spend the morning in prayer, and to hear the parting words of their beloved pastor. After the sermon they ate together and sung a psalm. Their ship, the Speedwell, was lying at Delftshaven, fourteen miles from Leyden, whither they went, accompanied by their pastor and friends, and where they spent the night. Morning came, the wind was fair, and the captain in haste to be gone. They kneeled upon the deck, the minister offering a parting prayer. The farewells were spoken, the vessel swung from her moorings, the sails caught the breeze, and swept them out upon the ocean and across the Channel to Southampton, where the Mayflower was waiting.

      “They passed the frowning towers of Breil,

       The ‘Hook’ of Holland’s shelf of sand,

       And grated soon with lifting keel

       The sullen shore of Father-land.”

      How