The persons who objected to the established form of worship were of two classes. On the one hand were church members who believed in working for certain religious reforms without separating from the church. Their enemies nicknamed them Puritans. The Puritans argued something like this:
“We do not think our ministers should wear vestments. Neither do we believe it right to make the sign of the cross in baptism. Kneeling at sacrament is sinful in our eyes, also the use of the organ in church. These ceremonies are too much like those of the Roman church from which we have turned. But the established church is our church. She is our own dear mother and we will not forsake her. At the same time, while still remaining her children, we will try to lead her to a better, purer life.”
The Separatists went further than this. In turn, they argued:
“The church is corrupt and we will have nothing to do with her. We will form congregations of our own and worship according to our own consciences.”
It is easy to see that being a Separatist was a far more dangerous thing than being a Puritan. By remaining in the church, the Puritan was shielded to an extent. The Separatist, on the other hand, had no protection.
When James, the first Stuart king, came to the throne, he kept in mind the motto, “No bishops, no king.” For political purposes, he determined on a course of persecution. He said of all those who would not support the national church, “I will make them conform, or I will harry them out of the land.”
That is just what he did. A little band of Separatists, who were later to become world-famous, were glad to flee to Holland to escape persecution. It was no small thing, three hundred or more years ago, for any European country to shelter a people whose religion differed from that of the state church and we therefore like to think of the liberality of the Dutch. They and the English immigrants lived together like brothers for a period of years. A thriving settlement was founded at Leyden, and here, for about twelve years, the fugitives knew the meaning of peace and happiness. Many of them learned to speak and write the Dutch language, which one writer has called “the sister language nearest to the English.” There were certainly marriages between the two peoples and the English children were doubtless sent to the free Dutch schools for their education.
As Roger Williams was familiar with Dutch, it may be that he studied the language with the idea of making Holland his home. However that may be, such a plan was never carried out. At least once he had occasion to address King James, though what the occasion was, we are unable to guess. He merely referred to the monarch briefly as “King James, whom I have spoke with.”
Why did the English in Holland begin to long for still another home? Living so contentedly, why were they not satisfied to remain so? There seem to have been two reasons for their feeling as they did. To begin with, there was grave danger of their becoming a part of the Dutch nation. They were afraid of losing their speech, customs, religion—everything that made them English Separatists.
Then, too, when they had attempted to spread their doctrines by means of printing, King James had interfered and taken possession of the types. When such tyranny as this could exist even in kindly Holland, they thought it was high time to seek a home elsewhere.