Being thus setled (after many difficulties) they continued many years in a comfortable condition, injoying much sweete & delightefull societie & spirituall comforte togeather in ye wayes of God, under ye able ministrie, and prudente governmente of Mr. John Robinson, & Mr. William Brewster, who was an assistante unto him in ye place of an Elder, unto which he was now called & chosen by the church. So as they grew in knowledge & other gifts & graces of ye spirite of God, & lived togeather in peace, & love, and holines; and many came unto them from diverse parts of England, so as they grew a great congregation. And if at any time any differences arose, or offences broak[13] out (as it cannot be, but some time ther will, even amongst ye best of men) they were ever so mete with, and nipt in ye head betims, or otherwise so well composed, as still love, peace, and communion was continued; or els ye church purged of those that were incurable & incorrigible, when, after much patience used, no other means would serve, which seldom came to pass. Yea such was ye mutuall love, & reciprocall respecte that this worthy man had to his flocke, and his flocke to him, that it might be said of them as it once was of yt famouse Emperour Marcus Aurelious,11 and ye people of Rome, that it was hard to judge wheather he delighted more in haveing shuch a people, or they in haveing such a pastor. His love was greate towards them, and his care was all ways bente for their best good, both for soule and body; for besids his singuler abilities in devine things (wherin he excelled), he was also very able to give directions in civill affaires, and to foresee dangers & inconveniences; by wch means he was very helpfull to their outward estats, & so was every way as a commone father unto them. And none did more offend him then those that were close and cleaving to them selves, and retired from ye commōe good; as also such as would be stiffe & riged in matters of outward order, and invey against ye evills of others, and yet be remisse in them selves, and not so carefull to express a vertuous conversation. They in like maner had ever a reverente regard unto him, & had him in precious estimation, as his worth & wisdom did deserve; and though they esteemed him highly whilst he lived & laboured amongst them, yet much more after his death, when they came to feele ye wante of his help, and saw (by woefull experience) what a treasure they had lost, to ye greefe of their harts, and wounding of their sowls; yea such a loss as they saw could not be repaired; for it was as hard for them to find such another leader and feeder in all respects, as for ye Taborits to find another Ziska. And though they did not call themselves orphans, as the other did, after his death, yet they had cause as much to lamente, in another regard, their present condition, and after usage. But to returne; I know not but it may be spoken to ye honour of God, & without prejudice [14] to any, that such was ye true pietie, ye humble zeale, & fervent love, of this people (whilst they thus lived together) towards God and his waies, and ye single hartednes & sinceir affection one towards another, that they came as near ye primative patterne of ye first churches, as any other church of these later times have done, according to their ranke & qualitie.
But seeing it is not my purpose to treat of ye severall passages that befell this people whilst they thus lived in ye Low Countries, (which might worthily require a large treatise of it selfe,) but to make way to shew ye begining of this plantation, which is that I aime at; yet because some of their adversaries did, upon ye rumore of their removall, cast out slanders against them, as if that state had been wearie of them, & had rather driven them out (as ye heathen historians did faine of Moyses & ye Isralits when they went out of Egipte), then yt it was their owne free choyse & motion, I will therfore mention a perticuler or too to shew ye contrary, and the good acceptation they had in ye place wher they lived. And first though many of them weer poore, yet ther was none so poore, but if they were known to be of yt congregation, the Dutch (either bakers or others) would trust them in any reasonable matter when yey wanted money. Because they had found by experience how carfull they were to keep their word, and saw them so painfull & dilligente in their callings; yea, they would strive to gett their custome, and to imploy them above others, in their worke, for their honestie & diligence.
Againe; ye magistrats of ye citie, aboute ye time of their coming away, or a litle before, in ye publick place of justice, gave this comendable testemoney of them, in ye reproofe of the Wallons, who were of ye French church in yt citie. These English, said they, have lived amongst us now this 12. years, and yet we never had any sute or accusation came against any of them; but your strifs & quarels are continuall, &c. In these times allso were ye great troubls raised by ye Arminians, who, as they greatly mollested ye whole state, so this citie in particuler, in which was ye cheefe universitie; so as ther were dayly & hote disputs in ye schooles ther aboute; and as ye studients & other lerned were devided in their oppinions hearin, so were ye 2. proffessors or devinitie readers them selves; the one daly teaching for it, ye other against it. Which grew to that pass, that few of the discipls of ye one would hear ye other teach. But Mr. Robinson, though he taught thrise a weeke him selfe, & write sundrie books, besids his manyfould pains otherwise, yet he went constantly [15] to hear ther readings, and heard ye one as well as ye other; by which means he was so well grounded in ye controversie, and saw ye force of all their arguments, and knew ye shifts of ye adversarie, and being him selfe very able, none was fitter to buckle with them then him selfe, as appered by sundrie disputs; so as he begane to be terrible to ye Arminians; which made Episcopius (ye Arminian professor) to put forth his best stringth, and set forth sundrie Theses, which by publick dispute he would defend against all men. Now Poliander ye other proffessor, and ye cheefe preachers of ye citie, desired Mr. Robinson to dispute against him; but he was loath, being a stranger; yet the other did importune him, and tould him yt such was ye abilitie and nimblnes of ye adversarie, that ye truth would suffer if he did not help them. So as he condescended, & prepared him selfe against the time; and when ye day came, the Lord did so help him to defend ye truth & foyle this adversarie, as he put him to an apparent nonplus, in this great & publike audience. And ye like he did a 2. or 3. time, upon such like occasions. The which as it caused many to praise God yt the trueth had so famous victory, so it procured him much honour & respecte from those lerned men & others which loved ye trueth. Yea, so farr were they from being weary of him & his people, or desiring their absence, as it was said by some, of no mean note, that were it not for giveing offence to ye state of England, they would have preferd him otherwise if he would, and alowd them some publike favour. Yea when ther was speech of their remoovall into these parts, sundrie of note & eminencie of yt nation would have had them come under them, and for yt end made them large offers. Now though I might aledg many other perticulers & examples of the like kinde, to shew ye untruth & unlicklyhode of this slander, yet these shall suffice, seeing it was beleeved of few, being only raised by ye malice of some, who laboured their disgrace.
4. Chapter
Showing ye reasons & causes of their remoovall.
After they had lived in this citie about some 11. or 12. years, (which is ye more observable being ye whole time of yt famose truce between that state & ye