“The details of the story are unknown to the mass of English readers, while across the Atlantic they are known to almost every child, and numerous are the works published about them and many are the Americans who visit Boston, Scrooby and Leyden, but these publications and researchers are all unknown in England and therefore this continuous narrative.”
THE PILGRIMS
WHO and what were the Pilgrims and in what way did they differ from the Puritans? They both were English and both lived in the same generation. The Pilgrims were a small band of staunch men, women and children who came to America for religious freedom. They were a part of a great movement. The Protestant Reformation, set on foot in England during the reign of Henry VIII, was finally accomplished in 1588 by the defeat of the Spanish Armada. It did not secure freedom of action or worship, however. There was no country then where such liberty was allowed; in fact, such a thing had never been thought of. The Reformation made the Sovereign, instead of the Pope, the head of the church in England, and there were changes in doctrine and ceremonials, but everyone was required to attend church whether he wished to or not and was also taxed to support it. The Bible had just been translated from Latin into English, and for the first time it was being generally circulated (1557-60).
Among the Protestant reformers there were many who were not satisfied with the doctrines and ritual of the English church. They wished to simplify the government of the church and drop some of the ceremonies. This they considered purifying the church, which gave them the name of Puritans. Most of them had no thought or intention of leaving the Established Church. They wished to stay and be a part of it, but to change it according to their ideas.
EDWARD WINSLOW, third Governor of Plymouth Colony. Great-grandfather of Edward Winslow, builder of The Mayflower Society House. Painted during a visit to England. Winslow is the only Pilgrim of whom there exists an authentic picture
Early in 1567 a number of ministers, despairing of getting the desired changes, made up their minds to separate from the church and hold religious services of their own. Robert Brown was one of them and went about the country advocating this policy of separation. Those who adopted it became known as Separatists or Brownists. They did not believe in having bishops rule over them. Some denied that the queen was head of the church. This was called treason. These were the people who became Pilgrims. The Puritans also questioned the spiritual authority of the bishops and claimed the right to worship as they saw fit, but they did nothing in particular about it.
The Separatists, or better, Independents, which describes them accurately, established a little church in the hamlet of Scrooby, near Lincoln, where a congregation listened to the eloquent preaching of John Robinson. English laws provided imprisonment for those who refused to attend the Established Church, or were present at unlawful assemblies, with the further penalties, that the convicted must conform within three months or leave the country. If he refused, he should be deemed a felon and put to death without the benefit of clergy. The little church at Scrooby could not continue under these conditions. Some of the Separatists had given their lives, some were in prison, and others were in exile. Brown had fled the country, and so its members determined to cross to Holland. Under existing laws a family could not migrate without a license, and they were denied one. It was as dangerous to remain as it was to attempt to leave secretly. Meetings were held, and Separatists from Scrooby, Bristol, Exeter, Boston, and sundry other places planned to flee.
In October 1607 they made their first attempt to leave from Boston in a chartered ship. They were seized, searched, and imprisoned. After a month all but seven of the principal men were released.