They began to conceive well of him again after his repentance, and admitted him to preach amongst them as before; and Samuel Fuller, a deacon, and some other tender-hearted men amongst them, were so taken in by his signs of sorrow and repentance, that they said they would fall upon their knees to have his sentence repealed.
But what amazed them all in the end, and will amaze all others who come to hear of it,—for a rarer precedent can hardly be shown,—was, that after a month or two notwithstanding all his former convictions, confessions, and public acknowledgments, both in the face of the church and the whole company, with so many sad tears and censures of himself before God and man, he should try again to justify what he had done.
For he secretly wrote a second letter to the adventurers in England, in which he justified all his former writings,—except as regards some things in which he had disparaged them,—which, as it is briefer than the former, I will here insert:
John Lyford at New Plymouth to the Adventurers in England:
Worthy Sirs,
Though the filth of my own doings may justly be cast in my face, and with blushing cause my perpetual silence, yet that the truth may not hereby be injured, yourselves any longer deluded, nor injurious dealings be continued, with bold out-facings I have ventured once more to write to you. First I freely confess I dealt very indiscreetly in some of my particular letters which I wrote to private friends, concerning the motives in coming here and the like, which I do not seek to justify, though I was stirred up to it by seeing the indiscreet courses of others, both here and with you there, for effecting their designs. But I am heartily sorry for it, and do to the glory of God and my own shame acknowledge it. The said letters having been intercepted by the Governor, I am under sentence of banishment; and but for the respect I have for you, and some private matters, I should have returned by the pinnace to England, for here I do not intend to remain, unless I receive better encouragement from you than from the church (as they call themselves) here. I expected to undergo some hardships before I came, so I shall try cheerfully to bear with the conditions of the place, though they are very poor; and they have changed my wages ten times already. I suppose my letters,—or at least copies of them,—came into your hands, as they here report. If so, pray take notice of this: that I have written nothing but what is certainly true, and could prove it to any indifferent man. My object was not to make myself important, but to help several poor souls here, the care of whom in part belongs to you, and who are destitute of the means of salvation. The church itself is well provided for, the members forming the minority of the colony, and monopolizing the ministry, believing that the Lord has not appointed any ministry for the conversion of those outside the church, so that some of the poor souls have with tears complained of this to me, and I was censured for preaching to all in general; though, in reality, they have had no ministry here since they came, but such as might be performed by any of you, whatever pretences they make; but they equivocate about this, as about many other things. But I exceed the bounds I set myself; therefore, awaiting further from you, if it come within the time limited me, I rest, etc.
Remaining yours ever,
JOHN LYFORD, Exile.
Aug. 22nd, 1624.
They made brief answer to some things in this letter, but referred chiefly to their former one to this effect: That if God in His providence had not brought all this to their notice, they might have been traduced, abused, calumniated, overthrown, and undone; and never have known by whom or for what. They desired but this just favour; that the adventurers would be pleased to hear their defence, as well as his accusations, and weigh them in the balance of justice and reason, and then censure as they pleased.
I have been longer on this subject than I desired, but not longer than was necessary. But I will revert to other things.