Those Puritans who lived in the north of England were, on account of their dispersed state, divided, in the year 1606, into two distinct churches. With one of these was connected the celebrated John Robinson, who afterwards became its minister. Persecuted for non-conformity to the established church, he, with a part of his congregation, that they might worship God according to the dictates of their consciences, removed in 1607-8 to Amsterdam, in Holland, where religious toleration was then sanctioned by law; and soon after, (in 1609,) they went to Leyden, where they formed themselves into a church, according to the pattern prescribed, as they supposed, by the word of God. In that place they remained till their removal to America. "Their motives for this," (their removal,) "were to preserve the morals of their youth; to prevent them, through want of employment, from leaving their parents and engaging in business unfriendly to religion; to avoid the inconveniences of incorporating with the Dutch; to lay a foundation for propagating the gospel in the remote parts of the world; and, by separating from all the existing establishments in Europe, to form the model of a pure church, free from the admixture of human additions." What Lord Brougham, of England, has said of the North American colonies in general, is most strictly and emphatically true of these individuals in particular. "All idea of wealth or pleasure was out of the question. The greater part of them viewed their emigration as taking up the cross, and bounded their hopes of wealth to the gifts of the Spirit, and their ambition to the desire of a kingdom beyond the grave. A set of men more conscientious in their doings, or simple in their manners, never founded any commonwealth."
Such were the reasons which induced the founders of New England to leave all that was dear to them in England and Holland, and to remove to these then inhospitable shores; reasons sufficient to affect the minds, hearts, and conduct of some of the best men that ever lived. Speaking of them, Governor Stoughton remarked, "God sifted a whole nation that he might send choice grain over into this wilderness."
In accomplishing their object, "it was agreed by the English congregation at Leyden, that some of their number should go to America to make preparation for the rest. Mr. Robinson,[C] their minister, was prevailed on to stay with the greater part at Leyden; Mr. Brewster,[D] their elder, was to accompany the first adventurers, but these and their brethren remaining in Holland were to continue to be one church, and to receive each other to Christian communion without a formal dismission, or testimonial. Several of the congregation sold their estates and made a common bank, which, together with money received from other adventurers, enabled them to purchase the Speedwell,[E] a ship of sixty tons, and to hire in England the May Flower, a ship of one hundred and eighty tons, for the intended enterprise."[F]
The following graphic description of the attachment of the Pilgrims to each other, and of their pious views and feelings on the occasion of their separation, is found in Morton's New England Memorial.
"Being prepared to depart, they had a solemn day of humiliation, the pastor teaching a part of the day very profitably, and suitably to the present occasion; the text of Scripture was Ezra viii:21. The rest of the time was spent in pouring out of prayers unto the Lord, with great fervency, mixed with abundance of tears.—When they came to the place," (Delftshaven,) "they found the ship and all things ready; and such of their friends as could not come with them, followed after them, and sundry came from Amsterdam to see them shipped, and to take their leave of them. One night was spent with little sleep with the most, but with friendly entertainment, and Christian discourse, and other real expressions of Christian love. The next day, the wind being fair, they went on board, and their friends with them, where truly doleful was the sight of that sad and mournful parting, to hear what sighs, and sobs, and prayers did sound amongst them; what tears did gush from every eye, and pithy speeches pierced each other's heart, that sundry of the Dutch strangers, that stood on the quay as spectators, could not refrain from tears: Yet comfortable and sweet it was, to see such lively and true expressions of dear and unfeigned love.—Their reverend pastor falling down on his knees, and they all with him, with watery cheeks, commended them with most fervent prayers unto the Lord and his blessing; and then with mutual embraces and many tears, they took their leave one of another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them."
On the 6th of September, 1620, the adventurers sailed from Plymouth, in the May Flower, and, on the 9th of November, they arrived, after enduring a perilous voyage, in sight of Cape Cod. Having entered the harbor, they, on the 11th day of the month, after prayer and thanksgiving, subscribed a written instrument, by which they were made a body politic. The covenant entered into was signed by forty-one individuals, who, with their families, amounted to one hundred and one persons. Mr. John Carver was unanimously elected Governor of the colony for one year.[G] Though these adventurers undertook their enterprise under the authority and sanction of a royal charter, yet they commenced their political existence as a republic. December 22, 1620, they disembarked and went on shore. The place where they landed, called by the Indians Patuxet, they named Plymouth, after the town in England from which they last sailed.
Such was the origin of the settlement of the Plymouth colony.
Sentiments of high respect for the principles and character of the first settlers of New England have been cherished in every succeeding generation of their descendants. They have been eager to reward their inestimable service by commemorating their virtues and piety, and by preserving a recollection of their sufferings, resolution, and noble deeds, in so glorious a cause. In doing this they have been actuated by the dictates of nature, reason, and gratitude.
On January 13, 1769, when the storm of British oppression was gathering, and the time for open and decided resistance to the crown was at hand, an association called the "Old Colony Club" was formed at Plymouth, consisting of some of the principal men of that place and vicinity; and on December 22, of that year, the "Landing of the Forefathers" was first celebrated.[H] The Winslows, Watsons, and Howlands were among those who were the most prominent. Major-General John Winslow of Marshfield, who had been an eminent officer in the war between England and France, in 1754-1762, General Peleg Wadsworth, Colonel Gamaliel Bradford, and Hon. George Partridge of Duxbury, Hon. William Sever and General John Thomas of Kingston, Colonel Alexander Scammell, then a teacher of youth in Plymouth, and afterwards a distinguished officer in the American Revolution, were original or early members of the Society.
"In the year 1773 the Association was dissolved, in consequence of conflicting opinions existing among its members, in relation to the American Revolution," and two of the early members of the Club left the country, from attachment to the British government.