|%esfTtS?SprS~«= '=* »*E-».fJ>V Yale University Library ' VJ JH5,^ ( ) llfll'llilliiffllflfl ^rMTXU -- ill 11 111 1111 III iiiiiiiiiiii" /lijlj 1 M 39002013462099 -^ ^^ ^^ m, .m m CHARLES STEDMAN HANKS YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 1950 H AO OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS THE REAL FOUNDERS OF OUR REPUBLIC BY CHARLES STEDMAN HANKS Author of "Hints to Golfers," "Camp Kits and Camp Life," etc. PUBLI^ED BY THE AUTHORS' PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION (INC.) BOSTON, MASS. Copyright, 1907 By Charles Stedman Hanks Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, England All rights reserved Published, 1907 To the memory of my father who devoted to his fellow- men a long life of earnest labor, and who left as an inheritance to his children a rare example of an upright, progressive man guided by a New England conscience. It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Hon. William T. Davis, of Plymouth, Massachu setts, and to W. P. Greenla-w, Esq., the librarian of the New England Historical Society, for correcting the manuscript of this book, — ^two men -who have made as thorough a study of the daily lives of our Plymouth forefathers as any historians now living. I wish also to acknowledge my indebtedness to Ed mund H. Garrett, who has given much time to study ing from the view-point of an artist the section of country where our forefathers lived, and who has ¦visited with me raany of the localities which he has illustrated. I wish also to acknowledge my indebted ness to Charles Scribner's Sons in allowing me to use the illustrations on pages 119, 151, 158, 171, and 210; to Houghton, Mifflin & Co. for the illustrations on pages 244 and 245; to Little, Brown & Co. for the illustrations on pages 137 and 200; and to the John A. Lowell Company for the illustration on page 54. Charles Stedman Hai^ks. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The English Separatists II. Congregationalism ni. The Pilgrims tn Holland .... rV. 1620 — The Settlement at Pl-ymotjth . . . V. 1621 — ^The Beginning op New England . VI. 1622— The Scarcity of Corn . . . VH. 1623 — ^The First Indian Conspiracy VIH. 1624 — The First Allotment of Land IX. 1625 — ^The Colony abandoned by the London Stockholders . . .... X. 1626 — Fur-trading along the Maine Coast XI. 1627 — ^Trading Post on Buzzards Bay . . . Xn. 1628 — ^The Second Allotment of Land Xni. 1629 — ^Trading Post on the Penobscot River XIV. 1630 — ^The Puritan Settlement at Boston XV. 1631 — ^Astonishing Prosperity op the Colony . XVI. 1632 — The Spreading out of the Colony . . . XVII. 1633 — ^Trading Post on the Connecticut River, XVIII. 1634 — The Beginning of English Interference, XIX. 1635 — ^The Penobscot Trading Post Lost XX. 1636 — The Enactment of a Code of Laws XXI. 1637— The Pequot War . . . XXn. 1638 TO 1643— The Colony at its Lowest Ebb . . . ... XXin. 1643 — The New England Confederacy XXIV. 1644 TO 1676 — Death op Winslow, Standish, and Bradford. King Philip's War XXV. 1676 to 1776 — Pl-jtmouth's Refusal to be the Sla-ve of any Nation . . . XXVI. CoLONLVL Life prom 1620 to 1776 . . XXVII. A People of Destiny PAGE 1 19 35 5468 85 94 119 132138 142 152 159 165 172 177 181 186 191196 201 211 218224 260285 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Our First Thanksgiving Day Frcmtispiece Yeoman of the Guards 1 Henry VIII 5 Edward VI 10 Queen Mary 11 Queen Elizabeth 12 The Brewster House ... 19 Lady Rose Hickman ... 20 The Brewster House (East side) . 21 Ground Plan of the Scrooby Buildings 23 The Scrooby Stable 25 James I. . . 28 MoLUE Brown's Cq-ve 31 Robinson's House 35 Alley leading from Barndesteeg Strasse 38 Alley le-^ding from AcHTERBURGW.'iL Str.^sse 39 The Embarication from Delft Haven 52 The May Flower . . 54 The First Exploring Expedition 59 The Second Exploring Expedition 60 The Third Exploring Expedition 65 The Departure op the May Flower 68 Myles Standish 85 The Pioneer Settlement 87 At Standish's Fireside 93 A Cape Cod Indi.^n 94 The Plymouth Settlement, 1623 114 A Shallop 119 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Trial op Ltfobd 126 Charles 1 132 Oldham put under Arrest 137 The Robinson Tablet at Leyden 138 Thoughts of Old England 141 Off Cape Cod 142 Wampum Belt 151 John Endicott 152 English Morions 158 Archbishop Laud 159 John Winthrop .... 165 The First Church in Boston 171 The Myles Standish House 172 Copp's Hill, Boston 177 Edward Winslow 181 Exploring the Connecticut River Valley 185 Thomas Prence's Signature . 186 Fleet Prison . 190 The Arrival of Bay Settlers in Connecticut 191 The Fort at Pemaquid 195 The Major Bradford House 196 Relics of By-gone Days 200 Pequot Indian 201 The TERRrroRY op the Diffebent Indian Tribes . . . 202 Route of Mason's Expedition 206 Williams' Compass and Dial 210 Charles Chauncy 211 The Laying on of Hands 217 William Brewster's Signature 218 Oliver Cromwell . . 224 Charles H 229 Facsimile Copy op Letter notifying Boston op Attack ON Swanzey . ... 233 Battle with the Narragansetis . 236 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Thanksgiving Services when the Colonists learned op THE Death of King Philip 241 James II 242 Sm Edmund Andros 244 Whaiam hi 244 Sm WiLLLAM Phips 245 Queen Anne 245 George I 246 George H 246 George HI 247 Andros a Prisoner in Boston 259 Site of the Old Fort 260 The First Washing Day 284 National Monument to our Plymouth Forefathers . . 285 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS THE REAL FOUNDERS OF OUR REPUBLIC CHAPTER I THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS For conscience' sake the Pilgrim Fathers gave up their homes in England, their kindred and the friends of a lifetime, and settled in Holland, that they might worship their God according to their interpretation of the Gospels. For conscience' sake, twelve years later, they deliberately separated themselves from the past of their race, and emigrated to Amer ica in order to devote all their ener gies to carrying out their ideals, hoping that in a new country their own form of worship would be firmly established and the world be bene- ¦^''°'?,\'! °^ ^"^ fitted. It was this irapetus of religion which was behind everything they did, their faith, piety, and confident trust in a superintending Provi dence making them the type of men they were. At the time they sought an asylum in Holland, England had just passed through a great convulsion, 2 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS brought about by the Protestant Reformation,— the greatest and most beneficial movement that Europe had ever known, — and this, with the invention of movable type for printing, had brought into prom inence that heretofore non-essential factor, the peo ple, who for centuries had allowed others to do their thinking. Some of these religious reformers, unwilling to accept with the mother country the English Church as a substitute for the gorgeous ness of Popery, had taken a further step in the pro gressive movement, and demanded the right to wor ship as they believed the Bible taught. They were few in number, but their intensity of purpose was so strong that they were persecuted for non-conform ity. Their fundamental principles of Christianity differed but little from the Christianity of the Estab lished Church, although in ecclesiastical government, and in the personal relation that they believed existed between God and man, they were far apart, those of the Established Church believing that their Church was indissolubly connected with the State which was its head, and the reformers believing that the Church was independent of the State on the ground that a personal communion existed between God and any who came together in Christ's name, whenever and wherever they met. This doctrine of Christian ity, which was far-reaching in its logical results, finally became the basis of Congregationalism. The founda tion of their creed was their interpretation of that THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 3 passage of the Scriptures which said, ''Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." To them this meant that there should be no bishops, no authority of one body of men over others, and no dogmas to haraper freedom in religious thought or religious worship. Together with this belief in a simple outward form of worship there was also the spiritual side, which was an abso lute faith that through the Holy Spirit all who fol lowed Christ's doctrines, as expounded in the Scrip tures, would be guided and protected. Because they had insisted upon this form of worship, they had fled to Holland, where they established a democratic church, and, because of the spiritual belief which went with it, they later emigrated to America, where they became the real founders of a great Republic. Two hundred years before this time the seed of Protestantism had been sown in England when John Wyclif, an Englishman as conspicuous for his courage as his learning, claimed that every man had not only a right to an individual judgment in theological matters, but also a right to question the most cherished dogmas of the Church of Rome. For boldly proclaiming that the Church, in granting temporal power, was going beyond her rights and jeopardizing her influence, for denying transubstantiation, for disapproving auricular confession, for opposing the payment of Peter's pence, for teaching that kings should not be subject to prel ates, and for translating the Bible and circulating it 4 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS among the people, Wyclif had been excommunicated by the pope, and his foUowers became known as Lol lards, or "babblers." For a century after this there was no outward sign in England of any organized movement in ecclesias tical reform, as the people, who had been disciplined for ages to mistrust their own faculties in religious thinking, were slow to give up what seemed to them a safe anchorage for the unauthorized guidance of un conventional reformers. On the Continent, however, the seed sown by Wyclif had fallen on fertile ground, and in 1415 and 1416 John Huss, of Bohemia, and his coadjutor, Jerome, of Prague, (made reformers by reading Wyclif's books) paid the penalty of advo cating his doctrines by being burned at the stake. Their testimony had resounded throughout Europe, and before the century ended Savonarola, the Floren tine monk, had become another mart}T at the stake with the result that his beliefs soon afterwards became the basis of the doctrines of Martin Luther, of Wittenberg, of John Knox, of Edinburgh, and of John Calvin, of Geneva. In Germany ^Martin Luther had demanded a refor mation in ecclesiastical government, and had finally succeeded in overthrowing Popery. In consequence his followers had been given the name of Protestants. The same wave of purification soon reached England, and Protestantism, becoming a political factor, was made the religion of the country. This had not been THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 5 done from any religious sentiment, or because of any protest against the scandals in the Church of Rome, but because Henry VIIL, who was then king, saw that by denying the authority of the pope, and making the State the head of the Church, would be able, not only to divorce himself from Cather ine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, but also to get possession of the vast wealth of the monasteries then flourish ing in all parts of his kingdom. ^^^^"^ vm. Although a large majority of the people were still Roman Catholics, the king was able to carry his diplo matic Protestantism through Parliament; for, the country having hardly recovered from the War of the Roses, there was still a fear that, as Catherine of Aragon was the king's deceased brother's widow, his issue by her might be considered illegitimate, and cause the country to be again plunged into a civil war. Only one reign separated the people from the desolat ing War of the Roses, and the Royal Council, being convinced that it was its first duty to guard against another civil war, believed the danger of separating from Rome preferable to the disasters that might fol low if the king should die with heirs whose legitimacy the nation could question. It was this feeling that 6 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS made a large body of the Roman Catholics in Parlia ment willing to vote to throw off the yoke of Rome. The others who favored this political makeshift were a body of men who had long been opposed to the grow ing arrogance of the Roman prelates, and were ready, now that the words of the Bible were becoming known to them, to vote for the change on religious grounds. For different reasons, therefore, Roman Cathohcs and Protestants voted together, the Act of Supremacy becoming a law, and England practically a Protestant country, in 1534. Making the king the head of the Church had brought with it no changes in the doctrines of Christianity, and only a few in the elaborate ceremonials and the gor geous vestments of the Roman service. It was merely Papacy with the pope left out. Neither had it given to the people a better clergy, for the king, in carrying out his pious design of abolishing the monasteries and sequestering the revenues, often aUowed a Roraan Catholic prelate to accept a bishopric, and often turned these wealthy possessions over to his favorites, leaving it to them to look after the religious instincts of his subjects. The result was that in many parishes no rehgious services were held, while in others were clergy who, not having been educated for rehgious work, were incompetent to have charge of parishes. In making the change to Episcopacy, the king had been obhged to make concessions to both Romanists and Protestants : to conciliate the Roman Catholics, he THE EiSGLISH SEPARATISTS 7 prohibited the teaching of all Lutheran doctrines: to conciliate the Protestants, he ordered the Bible to be translated and a copy placed in every parish house in England. Under this new order of things, men now found them selves in a strange dilemma, it being as dangerous to believe too much as too little, since Protestants were dragged to execution for refusing to believe in the tran substantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, Catholics for denying the king's supremacy. The change, however, brought with it one great privilege — the free use of the Bible by all; but, in making the leaders in the Church dependent for support and preferment upon the king and subse quently upon Parliament, it encouraged servility, and undermined that independence of spirit which was essential if the Church was to have any real force and influence in the land. Opposed to this new form of ecclesiastical govern ment were scores of honest Roman Catholics who still refused to change the religion under which they had been brought up, and scores of honest Protestants who were trying to bring to the front a real reformation in religious doctrines. It was these latter people who were known as " Puritans," a narae given to them by the Roman Catholics, who slurringly said that these people thought themselves like the Novatian sect of old, who had called themselves Puritans because they prided themselves upon being more godly and 8 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS more pure than other people. Most of these Puritans were yeomen, who, finding they could not bring the Church to their views, had no scruples in ac cepting the union of Church and State and a partial reformation and bishops. There was also in England a few who neither shared the hopes nor approved the methods of the conforming Puritans. This party despaired of bringing the Church to thoroughgoing Protestantism, and repudiated the interference of the State in Church affairs. It was these people who later became known as Separatists. All were originally Puritans whom nothing but the strongest convictions of duty would have impelled to break with the Na tional Church. In their protest against sacerdotalism, in their non-conformity and in their theology, they were both alike. The fundamental difference be tween them was that the Puritans advocated a na tional reformation while the Separatists believed that only through individuals could the nation be reformed. This difference was because the Puritans looked upon the Church as a national institution, while the Separatists maintained that any society of men who believed and obeyed the words of Christ be came a Church of Christ, and that for the national well-being there must be within the State self-regulat ing Christian coraraunities without civil power. Hence there were, in England, at this tirae four sects: the Catholics or adherents to the Church of Rorae who were still powerful in many localities, and the THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 9 three different sects of Protestants ; namely, the Angli cans, or conformists, who believed in the Established Church, the Puritans or non-conformists who differed from the Anglicans in not believing in the spiritual rites and observances of the Church, and the Inde pendents or Separatists who refused to sanction the founding of a national church on the ground that it was contrary to the word of God. During these days of religious upheavals, when a few men in England were contending for what the Puritans afterwards loved to call "The Crown Rights of Jesus," there were really no great leaders, like Luther and Knox and Calvin, but there was one dauntless preacher, Hugh Latimer, under whose stern rebuke the head strong Henry VIII. quailed. Under the impetus of Latimer's teachings there came a silent working towards a simpler faith, based upon the teachings of the New Testament without any additions by bishop and clergy, and with it the hope that there would be a simpler policy in church government, which should do away with the institution of ecclesiastical courts, canons, and ceremonials. To these men the Bible had now become the charter of their religious beliefs, and in their interpretation of it neither church nor priest held exclusive rights or privileges. Christianity with out coercion and persecution, and with individual freedom of mind and conscience, now became the watchword of thousands of Protestants upon whom the light of the Reformation was dawning, the question, 10 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS at issue being "How does Christ make known His will, — in historic institutions or in the consciences of individual believers .'' " If the answer be, " In both," then came the question, "When the two are antag onistic, must man give way to the institution or the institution to man ? " In answering it, many ignored the superstitions of the times, and rejecting the binding authority of the Church, as Luther and Knox and Calvin had already done, determined to walk in the ways of Christ as they had interpreted the Bible. The result was that there were in many different places secret gatherings, in order, as the Pilgrim Fathers afterwards said, "to see further into things by the light of the word of God." Soon there was an organized separation from the Estab lished Church, and meetings were held in different homes to worship according to the tenets and doctrines that these people had laid down for themselves. Upon the death of King Henry VIII. in 1547, his son by his wife Jane Seymour came to the throne as Edward VI. , "the boy king." During his reign the Bible, as translated by Tyndale and Coverdale, became familiar to the English people, and brought about a new awaken ing of spiritual life. When this wealth of Hebrew EDWARD VI. THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 11 literature became implanted in the English mind, the Latin Mass was abolished for the English Prayer Book. Upon the death of Edward in 1553, after a reign of six years, Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII. by Catherine of Aragon, became queen. She was a firm Roman Catholic, and during her reign of five years all her persuasive influence was used to bring the coun try back to Roman Cathol icism. Up to this time the spiritual principles of Protes tantism had been obscure, but, with the issue now fairly made, men took sides for the de cision of the real question. This resulted in a reaction in favor of the old form of wor ship, for a majority of the «^"^'='' '¦"^^ people had never at heart given up their old cere monial religion, and the reformation of Henry VIII. had brought so many scandals into the Church that nearly every one was anxious to get back to the rule of Rome in church affairs. Not only was the Bible now taken from the English churches and English homes, but a cruel persecuting policy was carried on against all Protestants, whether Con formists or Non-conformists; many were driven into exile to the Continent, hundreds were thrown into prison to languish for months, perhaps for years, 12 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS during which time they were unheard and unconvicted, while other hundreds died on the gallows. But when a number of Essex men were burned at one time at the stake in Smithfield, and the people found that they had a queen who believed Roraan Catholicism taught her to burn her subjects, the English blood was stirred, and the martyr fires which she kindled raade England again a Protestant country. The people as a nation now accepted the English Church as a reality. In France the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day — when a Roman Cath olic mob was let loose upon the Protestant Huguenots — had just occurred, and it had produced in England such a profound sensation that the hatred of Popery increased a thousand-fold. The Puritans within the Church were now advocating the abolition of every Romanist practice and a clean sweep of all sacerdotal vestments. During this trend of thought, Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, became queen in 1558, and, seeing the uselessness of opposition, adopted the policy of reconcil ing, so far as possible, her Catholic subjects to the Estab lished Church, and of making that Church politically strong rather than religiously pure. Under the bold and rigorous policy of John Whitgift, her archbishop. QUEEN ELIZABETH THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 13 all again had now the privilege of hearing and reading the Bible, but all who did not accept the doctrines of the Church of England, as set forth in his three famous articles published in 1584, were vigorously persecuted. Because those of the clergy who did not subscribe to these tenets were suspended, loyalty to the Church meant to many, intellectual dishonesty. Honesty of conscience therefore often raeant a sacri fice of homes and the means of a livelihood, and suspensions, in nearly every case, meant men of intel lectual ability. The men who carried on this persecuting policy were themselves Protestants, many of whom had suffered persecution under Queen Mary, and some of the laws which they were forced to carry out — although origi nally aimed against the Roman Catholics — were so sweeping that they included all forms of worship except those in the Prayer Book. The most radical reformers, inflamed by these persecutions, now became Separa tists, and, flatly denying the royal supremacy, asserted the right to set up churches of their own with pas tors and elders, independent of queen and bishop. Others, who had previously been wiUing to accept from the clergy their interpretations of the Scriptures, now began to read and interpret it for themselves, and in many an honest mind this meant that a doubt arose whether the ceremonies and practices of the Estab lished Church conformed to the teachings of the New Testament. 14 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS As early as 1576 the Separatists had become a rec ognized sect. This had been largely brought about by Robert Browne, one of the most advanced defenders of religious liberty in his time. He came of a wealthy and powerful family, and, when graduated from Cam bridge in 1570, began preaching " to satisfy his duty and his conscience," as he said. From his reading of the New Testament he had become convinced not only that the Christianity of Christ and His Apostles was a simpler religion than that of the Established Church, but that it was the right of any Christian people to propagate the Christian faith in their own way. Es tablishing himself in Norwich, he began an energetic campaign for the New Testaraent principles, which he believed he had rediscovered, and, as this resulted in persecutions, his little church in Norwich emigrated to Holland. From there Browne and some of his fol lowers went to Scotland, which they found almost as hostile to them as England. Afterwards Browne re turned to England, where he was for a time imprisoned. Later he becarae reconciled to the Established Church, and was made the rector of a small parish church, where he remained until his death. To the men who followed his doctrines the name of " Brownists " was given, and, because of the problems which he discussed in his pamphlets on reformation, he became the founder of Congregationalism. The principles for which he argued he had expounded forcibly, and had appealed to the people not to wait for THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 15 civil power or ecclesiastical rulers to authorize a reforma tion, but to begin it themselves wherever they were. "The Kingdom of God," he wrote, "was not to be begun by whole parishes, but rather by the worthiest, and that to compel religion, to plant churches by power, to force a submission to ecclesiastical government by laws and penalties did not belong to the Commonwealth, nor yet to the church," his sharpest arrows being turned against those clergy who would not take any respon sible step without the consent of the civil governraent. To the majority of the Puritans many of his doctrines seemed too radical, and as their aim was not to leave the Church, but to remain in it and control it, they looked with dread and disapproval upon this extremist who seemed likely to endanger their success by forcing them into opposition to the Crown. Had the Church of England listened to his oracles, she would have been spared many bitter humiliations and many dark pas sages in her history, yet for this young prophet she had no answer but prison walls. The desire for freedom of worship was now spreading throughout the kingdom with startling rapidity, espe cially through the eastern counties. This was partly attributable to the influence of the Walloons, or the Protestant cloth -weavers, who had been induced to come over from the Netherlands a few years before this time on account of their skill in weaving, and had settled in Canterbury, Colchester, Norwich, and vicinity. Everywhere now men and women were separating 16 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS themselves from the church of their fathers for the sake of this more simple faith. Because so many were unwilling to assent to creeds and articles which they only partially believed, because they would not promise to observe rubrics which they habitually ignored and because they would not vow allegiance to an " ordinary" which they had no intention of fulfilling, the parish churches became deserted, and so many "conventicles," or secret gatherings, were held that, when Parhament assembled in 1586, Sir Walter Raleigh startled the House by declaring that he believed there were "near twenty thousand Brownists in England." The pamphlets of Robert Browne were still in cir culation, and the Separatists now had a champion in a man less briUiant, but with greater strength of character. This man, Henry Barrowe, who defended the principles of Separatism by the final argument of martyrdom, was also a man of high social standing. In his college days at Cambridge he had led a reckless life, and after graduation had turned his attention to the law. One Sunday he had gone with a companion to hear a well-known Separatist, John Greenwood, preach the doctrine of Separatism, and the words which he had heard so impressed themselves upon him that new thoughts began to rankle in his mind. Impet uous by nature, this libertine youth, who was well known both in London and abroad, changed at once his course of life, and began a preciseness of living which was commented upon with wonder by all his acquaintances. THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 17 His study of the New Testament carried him be yond the doctrines of Robert Browne, and soon he was openly advocating the principle that the doctrine of toleration was the logical sequence of Separatism. It was a new doctrine, and the leaders of thought were not slow to see that in the development of the liberties of the people it was of the greatest importance to have ecclesiastical power separated from civil authority. Not long afterwards Greenwood was arrested for ex pressing his Separatist views, and Barrowe on visit ing him was also locked up without even the for mality of a warrant, his name and character being too well known for the officers to allow him to escape because of a mere technical breach of the law. For five years both men were imprisoned, but during that tirae they succeeded in writing a large amount of manu script, which was printed surreptitiously by their friends. They well knew the risk they were taking, but religious convictions had become dearer than life, and in 1593 both gave proof of these convictions on the gallows. Two months after their raartyrdom another well- known Separatist, John Penry, died the same death for the same cause. He had been brought up a Roman Catholic, and educated at both Cambridge and Ox ford. Because the spiritual condition of his native country of Wales had kindled his indignation, he made a scathing condemnation of non-resident clergy, de claring that a clergyman who never preached was 18 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS not a true minister of Christ. Later he became a Separatist, and not only fearlessly preached his beliefs, but with a private printing-press printed the doctrines of Separatism. At this tirae, from some unknown quarter, tracts suddenly began to appear, showing the abuses of the Church and the oppressions of the day. They were full of personalities, their impertinences were grotesque, and the scandals of the Church were broadly portrayed. Every one was reading them, — the court, the politicians, and the peasants. The scholars of the university, concealing them under their gowns, laughed over them in secret. Each was signed " Martin Marprelate," and John Penry was believed to be the author, it being known that he had a printing- press, and that he had long been spreading broad cast religious literature which had a burn and a glow. Thus, while the bishops were pursuing their grim policy of persecution for the eradication of dissent, and were crowding the jails with Separatists and Non conformists, — the jail being the one weapon at their command, — they became conscious that the people of the land were laughing at them. In their dilemma they were forced to make an example of somebody, and Penry died on the gallows for advocating liberty of worship and the freedom of the press. In this struggle against ecclesiastical tyranny Barrowe, Greenwood, and Penry had been making English history, and with their deaths Congregationalism received its first great impetus. CHAPTER II CONGREGATIONALISM The martyrdom of Barrowe, Greenwood, and Penry had made more than one Englishman ponder over a religion that made men willing to vindicate its principles with their lives, and, as a conse quence, many Puritans in Lon don and in the eastern and southern coun ties became converts to the advanced doc- trines and formed Sepa ratist churches. Soon afterwards the Separatists in northern Eng land organized, and in 1605 a church was founded in Gainsborough, which was the centre of a strong Puritan faction in that section. Here, under the pastorate of John Smith, a graduate of Cambridge and a gifted preacher, services were held in a hall in the manor house of William Hickman, whose wife, Rose Hickman, had become an ardent Sepa- THE BREWSTKR HOUSE 20 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS ratist. Later, probably in 1606, because of perse cution, John Smith and his church fled to Hol land, where civil and religious liberty was being hammered out at a time when the clang of the anvil was scarcely heard in any other part of Europe. That same year William Brewster, who lived in Scrooby, and William Bradford, of Auster- field, a small village just north of Scrooby, formed a church at Scrooby, where they wor shipped in Brewster's house, the congregation soon becom ing so large that the service had to be held in the stable near by. It was this church which, outliving all persecu tions, became the church from which the Congrega tional churches of to-day have sprung, and it was these Scrooby worshippers who later became known as our Pilgrim Fathers, and the real founders of our republic. As the Brewster house was on the outskirts of the village, just off the Great North Road, it was particu larly adapted for secret gatherings. It was on the bank of a little stream and so surrounded on the three other sides by a moat that it could only be reached by a drawbridge which led to the village, the house being a part of the manor estate of the Archbishop of Y^ork. LADT ROSE HICKMAN THE BREWSTER HOUSE (East Side) 22 OUR PLYMOUTH FOREFATHERS Within this moat, which enclosed four acres of land, there was also an ancient palace, a massive building of great antiquity, which was abandoned and fast going to decay. This palace "was a grete manor place within a mote all bylded of tyrabre, saving the front of the haulle that is of brick. The juner conite bylding is of tymbre and is not in compace past the 4 part of the utter conite." In earlier days it had been used by the different archbishops of Y'ork in going from one part of this diocese to another with their splendidly equipped retinues. Here Cardinal Wolsey, when Archbishop of Y'ork during the reign of Henry VIIL, found shelter after he was disgraced by his king whora he had served so long, and here later the king himself once spent a night on his way north. Adjoining this palace was the house in which Brewster Vvas living at this time, and, being a newer building and still in good condition, it became the manor house of the estate now that the palace had gone to decay. For many years it had been also used as one of the government post-offices for official business, and, be cause it was on one of the four great highways of the kingdom, the bailiff was brought into frequent con tact with distinguished persons travelling on affairs of state. Here Brewster's father had been government postmaster and bailiff, and here, soon after Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, Brewster was born and spent his boyhood. After studying for a time at Cam bridge, he received under William Davison, Queen GARDEN H FI FIELD 16 20 17 (9 STABLE YARD ENTRANCE MOAT ^<-50YDS-»7 TdT GROUND PLAN OF THE SCROOBY BUILDINGS I. Hennery. 2. Passageway. 3. Store Room. 4. & 7. Wash Room. 5. Scullery. 6. Pantry. 8. & 9. Kitchen. 10. Carriage Shed. II. Milk Pantry. 12. & 13. Rooms. 14. Entrance Hall and Stairs. 15. Living Room. 16. Horse Stalls. 19.