Let us pause here a moment and reflect. In our contemplation of the present and concern for the future, we must not be unmindful of the past. It was not easy to make final decision in such matter as permanently breaking away from homes, relatives and friends, not to mention the material factors involved. Fortunately however for them and for us, this devout band was imbued with enduring faith. Faith fortified by grim determination.
Thus they planned and executed. They left the land of their nativity. They braved the perils of an unknown ocean and a still more unknown future that they might find a refuge free from religious bondage and where they might worship God according to their conscience. This they accomplished in the face of almost insurmountable hardships.
They made concord with the Indians, they builded homes, they framed laws and agreements in accordance with the time and the necessity. They established a governmental process sufficient for their needs, an outgrowth of the government of their religious life in which decisions were made by the will of the majority. They paved the way for future generations. They suffered much. They attained much. They left a heritage that must not be sacrificed.
We of today are faced with ominous problems. A re-dedication to the faith, vision and determination of our fathers, will be America’s salvation.
Love Scene, showing actual bridge and the Cloth Hall in Leyden, headquarters of the guild of woolen workers, of whom the Pilgrims were a part
CHAPTER III
Holland: An Alien Peace
They remained in Amsterdam about a year when for both material and spiritual reasons they decided to move to Leyden 22 miles distant. They had come into some contention with the church that had established itself before them which seemed difficult to settle to their satisfaction and their means of livelihood had become so restricted that they were threatened with poverty. “For these and some other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair and beautiful city. But being now here pinched, they fell to such trades and employments as they best could, valuing peace and their spiritual comfort above any other riches whatsoever; and at length they came to raise a competent and comfortable living, but with hard and continual labor.”