On September 7, 1619 (N.S.), he writes: "Touching Brewster, I am now informed that he is on this side the seas [not in London, as before alleged]; and that he was seen yesterday, at Leyden, but, as yet, is not there settled," etc.
On September 13, 1619 (N.S.), he says: "I have used all diligence to enquire after Brewster; and find he keeps most at Amsterdam; but being 'incerti laris', he is not yet to be lighted upon. I understand he prepares to settle himself at a village called Leerdorp, not far from Leyden, thinking there to be able to print prohibited books without discovery, but I shall lay wait for him, both there and in other places, so as I doubt but either he must leave this country; or I shall, sooner or later, find him out."
On September 20, 1619 (N.S.), he says: "I have at length found out
Brewster at Leyden," etc. It was a mistake, and Brewster's partner
(Thomas Brewer), one of the Merchant Adventurers, was arrested
instead.
On September 28, 1619 (N.S.), he states, writing from Amsterdam:
"If he lurk here for fear of apprehension, it will be hard to find
him," etc.
As late as February 8, 1619/20, there was still a desire and hope for his arrest, but by June the matter had become to the King—and all others—something of an old story. While, as appears by a letter of Robert Cushman, written in London, in May, 1619, Brewster was then undoubtedly there, one cannot agree, in the light of the official correspondence just quoted, with the conclusion of Dr. Alexander Young ("Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers," vol. i. p. 462), that "it is probable he [Brewster] did not return to Leyden, but kept close till the MAYFLOWER sailed."
Everything indicates that he was at Leyden long after this; that he did not again return to London, as supposed; and that he was in hiding with his family (after their escape from the pursuit at Leyden), somewhere among friends in the Low Countries. Although by July, 1620, the King had, as usual, considerably "cooled off," we may be sure that with full knowledge of the harsh treatment meted out to his partner (Brewer) when caught, though unusually mild (by agreement with the authorities of the University and Province of Holland), Brewster did not deliberately put himself "under the lion's paw" at London, or take any chances of arrest there, even in disguise. Dr. Griffis has lent his assent (" The Pilgrims in their Homes," p, 167), though probably without careful analysis of all the facts, to the untenable opinion expressed by Goodwin, that Brewster was "hiding in England" when the SPEEDWELL sailed from Delfshaven. There can be no doubt that, with his ever ready welcome of sound amendment, he will, on examination, revise his opinion, as would the clear-sighted Goodwin, if living and cognizant of the facts as marshalled against his evident error. As the leader and guide of the outgoing part of the Leyden church we may, with good warrant, believe—as all would wish—that Elder Brewster was the chief figure the departing Pilgrims gathered on the SPEEDWELL deck, as she took her departure from Delfshaven.
Master Isaac Allerton and his family, his wife and three children, two sons and a daughter, were of the Leyden company and passengers in the SPEEDWELL. We know he was active there as a leader, and was undoubtedly one of those who bought the SPEEDWELL. He was one of the signers of the joint-letter from Leyden, to Carver and Cushman, May 31 (O.S.) 1620.
John Hooke, Allerton's "servant-lad," may have been detained at London or Southampton, but it is hardly probable, as Allerton was a man of means, consulted his comfort, and would have hardly started so large a family on such a journey without a servant.
Dr. Samuel Fuller was, as is well known, one of the Leyden chiefs, connected by blood and marriage with many of the leading families of Robinson's congregation. He was active in the preparations for the voyage the first signer of the joint-letter of May 31, and doubtless one of the negotiators for the SPEEDWELL. His wife and child were left behind, to follow later as they did.
William Butten, the first of the Pilgrim party to die, was, in all probability, a student-"servant" of Doctor Fuller at Leyden, and doubtless embarked with him at Delfshaven. Bradford calls him (writing of his death) "Wm. Butten, a youth, servant to Samuel Fuller." Captain Myles Standish and his wife Rose, we know from Bradford, were with the Pilgrims in Leyden and doubtless shipped with them. Arber calls him ("The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers," p. 378) a "chief of the Pilgrim Fathers" in the sense of a father and leader in their Israel; but there is no warrant for this assumption, though he became their "sword-hand" in the New World. By some writers, though apparently with insufficient warrant, Standish has been declared a Roman Catholic. It does not appear that he was ever a communicant of the Pilgrim Church. His family, moreover, was not of the Roman Catholic faith, and all his conduct in the colony is inconsistent with the idea that he was of that belief. Master William White, his wife and son, were of the Leyden congregation, both husband and wife being among its principal people, and nearly related to several of the Pilgrim band. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. White is duly recorded in Leyden. William Holbeck and Edward Thompson, Master White's two servants, he probably took with him from Leyden, as his was a family of means and position, though they might possibly have been procured at Southampton. They were apparently passengers in the SPEEDWELL. Deacon Thomas Blossom and his son were well known as of Pastor Robinson's flock at Leyden. They returned, moreover, to Holland from Plymouth, England (where they gave up the voyage), via London. The father went to New Plymouth ten years later, the son dying before that time. (See Blossom's letter to Governor Bradford. Bradford's Letter Book, "Plymouth Church Records," i. 42.) In his letter dated at Leyden, December 15, 1625, he says: "God hath taken away my son that was with me in the ship MAYFLOWER when I went back again."