FROM SCROOBY TO PLYMOUTH ROCK THE MEN OF THE MA YFL OWER HENRY JOHNSON ‘ , AUTHOR OF UNTRUE T O HI S TRUST ETC . LONDON T H E R EL I G I OU S TR A C T S OCI E TY ’ 5 6 PATERNOSTER Ro w A ND §5 ST P AUL S CHU RCHY ABD 1896 lflHNTED BY - S P OTTISWOODE AND CO . , NEW S TREET SQUARE LONDON P R E F A C E THI S b o o k traces the great movement in English History during the sixteenth an d seventeenth cen t urie s which culminated in the voyage o f the May did flower , and which so much to develop spiritual life E in ngland , and which laid broadly and well the h foundation of religion in New England . T e aim has been to set forth in full clearly and impartially the c s fa t . Recourse has been had all through to first hand authorities , and ample guidance is given for any readers who may wish to study these for themselves . C O N T E T S ORIGIN OF THE FREE CHURCH MOVEMENT CENTRES OF I NFLUENCE E"ILES IN HOLLAND THE VOYAGE OF THE MAYFLOWER LANDING AT NEW PLYMOUTH FOUNDING THE COLONY INDIAN ALLIES SELF - DEFENCE AND REORGANISATION D ESIGNS OF THE MERCHANT AD VENTURERS TRADE—SOCIAL AN D RELIGIOUS LIFE NEW COLONIES C ONFEDERATION—AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL ISM LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS SCROOB Y FROM THE RIVER B RIDGE AT GAINSB OROUGH ON SITE OF FORD WHICH PILGRIM FATHERS USED THE LD O H O S C O B O MAN R U E , S R O Y T B L O E OH OB SO M A . R V . J R . A ET F N IN N , ’ B D O S CO A S LD RA F RD TTAGE , U TERFIE C LLS G L LL B OS O E UNDER THE UI DHA , T N THE OW LL T N HA , LEYDEN ’ RO B INSON S FAREWELL ADDRESS L L C L O ROC K ANDING P A E , P YM UTH VISIT OF AN I NDIAN CHIEF THE RETURN OF THE MAYFLOWER THE FORT AT PLYMOUTH PLYMOUTH IN 1 627 THE EL S Y L I V S M , A E UN ER ITY FROM SCROOBY TO PLYMOUTH ROCK THE MEN OF THE MAYFLOWER CHAPTE R I ORIGIN OF THE FREE CHURCH MOVEMENT REED OM to worship God according to the direction of conscience was the principle for which the Pilgrim ther s . The in Ea persistently strove Word of God , r r ted t e p e to the conscience by the Holy Spirit , formed h their only test forfaith and conduct . T e authority — — o f men whether priests or kings in matters o f religion they repudiated , unless teaching and dogma coming from such a source seemed to be based o n a i correct understanding o f Scripture . Th s princi le of r was new to the d The W Church , as represented by pope and priests , had been regarded I o ORI GIN OF TH E F REE CH URCH M O VEM ENT S as supreme and final in all piritual concerns . Man , d Go . and not , was the infallible guide But the de sire for religious freedom had been growing fo r centuries . Often checked (and destroyed , as its opponents imagined) , it at length assumed definite shape and aims with the struggle and migration Of the Pilgrim Fathers . But those who were the first to lift their voice against papal tyranny , priestly pretension , and the repression of free thought in religion should no t be forgotten . The We s f es — 1 1 6 5 aver o Worc ter . As early as thirty weavers in the diocese o f Worcester sufiered sco urg ing, excommunication , and banishment because they chose to worship God free from the trammels of T ecclesiastical control . heir sentiments awoke an e echo in many hearts , but no strong force rous d England for nearly two centuries . ’ W m of ccam - Th illia O . e Invincible Doctor , born 1 270 at Occam , in Surrey , about , joined the Fran ciscan order , but was excommunicated and condemned n o f by Pope John ""II . for vindicati g the superiority the Scriptures to the claims and restrictions of the Church , and repudiating papal authority in secular ' f aflair s . The e fect of his writings was widespread , and he left an impression that helped to mould the thought o f the generation which followed him . m n — Lo n lan d o r Piers the Plow a . William g , Lang — land (1 332 1 400) wro t e th e Vi si on o f P i er s the P low ma n ’ at a period when men s minds were turning to reli u gion , partly from panic ca sed by the Black Death , ORI GI N OF THE FREE CH UR CH M O VEM ENT I I and partly from a desire to improve their social He condition . describes in allegorical form the vices o f o f . the age , and particularly those the Church Righteousness is set forth as the prime Object o f o f attainment , and the death and victory Christ are Th vividly depicted . e labouring and Oppressed classes eagerly read the Vision . It put into shape their vague aspirations for freedom from the galling yoke o f political and ecclesiastical tyranny , and forecast o f . It S the dawn brighter days influence was great , and it wrought powerfully in paving the way fo r the work o f the Reformation . n he L ds — i si on o Wyclif a d t ollar . Whilst the V f P i ers the P lo w ma n E was stirring ngland , John Wyclif was preparing at Lutterworth the first complete translation of the Bible in the vulgar tongue , thus giving an impetus o f incalculable force to the steadily growing desire to form religious belief direct from I n o f the Word o f Go d . many the pamphlets and e s rmons which he produced , he denied the doctrine f o f o transubstantiation , asserted the right man to appeal to God without priestly intervention , and demanded the liberation of conscience from the thral dom o f Rome . In order to spread his teaching he sent ’ ’ out a number of poor ‘ preachers (called ‘ Lollards ’ W E after yclif s death) , supplying them with the nglish - Bible , or portions of it , as their text book and guide . T hese men went all over the kingdom , declaring in the simplest language the leading truths Of the Gospel . In the open air and in churches crowds 1 2 ORI GI N OF TH E FREE CH URCH M O VEM ENT flocked to hear them , until at length their influence so greatly alarmed the priesthood and Parliament f that an Act for the burning o heretics was passed . The first martyr in England for religious Opin ions 1 4 1 suffered in 0 , and during the century and down — — to 1 534 the era of the Reformation many heretics were burned alive . Separatist Communities in the Reig ns of Mary and — Elizab eth Those who dissented from the Church o f E ngland , and worshipped apart from it , were called Separatists . After the Reformation , which was far from being a complete measure , the Separatists , from conscientious scruples , declined to conform to Of the Church , and to partake the communion from E f the hands of the clergy . ven during the reign o E . dward VI they were liable to be apprehended , and in one case the persons arrested confessed the o f o f cause their assembly to be for talk Scripture , not denying that they had refused communion (at the parish church) above two years upon very super ’ i st tio us and erroneous purposes . On the accession o f Mary the Separatists met in secretly in various parts of the country, as well as London , and many of their number perished at the Th o u . e stake community in London , of which John R gh was the pastor , commenced with about forty mem a d o f . bers , but fterwards consiste some two hundred Collections were made for the relief of the poor , and also for those of their brethren who were pri n er s N . so at ewgate, the Marshalsea , and other places ORI GI N OF TH E FREE CH URCH M O VEM ENT I 3 The w meetings ere held in private houses , in order 1 5 5 to avoid arrest ; but in 7 the pastor , and the e deacon , Cuthbert Sym on , with other members , were o u hurried o ff to gaol . R gh was burned at Smith fi ld S m so n e , and y , after being cruelly tortured , to compel him to divulge the names of his brethren , was also committed to the flames . But persecution n o t o f did cause the dissolution the community , and when Elizabeth came to the throne the meetings were still held , and sometimes openly . E lizabeth , professedly a Protestant , treated the — o r a no w Separatists Purit ns , as they were being called — with great cruelty , and a fine of twenty pounds a month was decreed for absence from the parish fo r church , and private meetings Scripture reading and religious conversation were also penal . In this reign there was an independent church in White chapel Street , over which Richard Fitz presided as - In E E Of c pastor .