--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Ralph V. Chamberlin collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 24 number: 8 published: 1921-06 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Ralph V. Chamberlin, "William Brewster and the Pilgrim Motive," *Improvement Era* 24, no. 8 (June 1921): 681–694.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2408unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2408unse start_page: 681 end_page: 694 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1921-06) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2408unse publication_year: 1921 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1921, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # William Brewster and the Pilgrim Motive William Brewster and the Pilgrim Motive By Ralph V. Chamberlin, of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. (Concluded from page 594, May number) At Leyden Brewster was formally chosen Ruling Elder of the church, which had now become fully organized and in which the members, in the Congregational manner, had "joined themselves, by a covenant of the Lord, into a Church estate in the fellowship of the gospel to walk in all his ways made known or to be made known." The importance of the move to Leyden cannot be overestimated in that it secured greater freedom from schismatic influences and assured and strengthened this bond and integrity of the congregation. Brewster had a large family and felt the strain on his resources, now apparently reduced almost to nothing by the expenses, sacrifices and confiscations to which he had been subjected in leaving England and establishing himself in the new land. At Leyden, less adapted than the others to manual employment, he in time secured a good income by teaching, for, through his thorough knowledge of Latin, he was able to teach many foreign students English. "By his method they acquired it quickly and with great fluency, for he drew up rules to learn it by after the manner of teaching Latin." Many Germans and Danes came to him, some of them being young men of distinguished parentage. Toward the latter part of the Pilgrims' sojourn in Holland, Elder Brewster was able, through the financial aid of friends, to set up a printing business at Leyden, which he did in partnership with Thomas Brewer, an exile of a prominent family in Kent. Between October, 1616, and June, 1619, fifteen or more books were issued from this press, most of these being books in which the Separatist sentiments were stated and defended. Part of these books were popular and in English, others more erudite and in Latin. Some of these works were edited by Brewster himself. They were of a kind not permitted to be published in England at the time, for circulation in which country, however, they were destined. Hence they must be smuggled into England and circulated privately. It is said that the press at Leyden was offered the work of printing many more books of this kind than it was possible to handle. One book in particular, wrongly attributed to the Brewster press, aroused the ire of King James, who immediately instructed his 682 IMPROVEMENT ERA ambassador in Holland to take steps toward the suppression of this enterprise and the arrest of the publishers, actions which his relations with that country at the time made possible of accomplishment. Brewster was arrested and the type seized; but, for some reason, Brewster was never detained, perchance because he was then in England taking the first steps in forwarding a plan for emigration to America. THE GUILDHALL IN OLD BOSTON Here the Pilgrims were brought before the magistrates and Brewster and six other leaders were imprisoned during the first effort to escape to Holland. WILLIAM BREWSTER AND THE PILGRIM MOTIVE 683 At Leyden the Pilgrim church had become well settled and self-supporting,though the labors of the members were often pitifully hard. Land had been purchased and a group of comfortable buildings erected after a plan later to be duplicated in New Plymouth. They gained formal possession of this property on May 1, 1912, May 1 being the long respected Dutch moving day and now more or less of an American institution. The younger people had learned the Dutch language, it being well known that Bradford and Winslow could speak and write this tongue. The Pilgrims had come to be on excellent terms with the Dutch, who would trust even the poorest of them for any reasonable amount. On one occasion the magistrates of the city had said: "These English have lived among us these twelve years, and yet we have never had any suit or accusation against any of them." And so, as their own historian tells us, "they grew in knowledge and other gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, and lived together in peace and love and holiness; and many came to them from different parts of England, so that they grew up a great congregation." The spirit which animated the church here, and the ideals which led them to effort toward what they thought the type of the primitive and therefore Christian community, are indicated by these words of their historian referring to this part of their history: "I know not but it may be spoken to the honor of God, and without prejudice to any, that such was the true piety, the humble zeal, and fervent love, of this people, whilst they thus lived together, towards God and his ways, and the singleheartedness and sincere affection of one towards another, that they came as near the primitive pattern of the first churches as any other church of these later times has done." But difficulties began to grow. Leyden had now become rife with religious contentions from which the Pilgrims could not keep free. The Church at Leyden had tended from the first to become more and more democratic; and this in a meas- — — ure came to mean a contingency not foreseen the right of each member to make up his mind on the interpretation of scriptural passages. Schisms such as had rent the congregations in Amsterdam loomed in the minds of the leaders as possibilities; and it was felt that they must get away from the atmosphere of controversy, if they were to preserve their integrity and continue to grow and thus to fulfil the mission they felt they were inspired of God to undertake. Other dangers threatened as well. Some of the people had yielded to the lures of a city where temptations were great; and some of the boys had left the community to become sailors or soldiers, or to inter- 684 IMPROVEMENT ERA COURT ROOM OF THE GUILDHALL Where the Pilgrims were brought before the magistrates. marry with and be lost in a foreign race. Then, too, it was realized that the severity of the economic struggle had kept many less staunch men, one with them at heart, from joining them, or remaining with them after a brief trial. Finally, the twelve years' truce between the Netherlands and Spain was soon to end, and added difficulties and trials might come to them upon the resumption of hostilities. WILLIAM BREWSTER AND THE PILGRIM MOTIVE 685 Therefore, after several years of deliberation, it was decided to emigrate to some part of America. This decision was not arrived at lightly nor without much opposition from part of the congregation. To the objectors it was answered "that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both met and overcome with answerable courage. It was granted that the dangers were great but not desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible; for many of the things they feared might never befall; others by provident care and the use of good means might in a great measure be prevented; and all of them, through the help of God, by fortitude and patience, might either be borne or overcome. True it was that such attempts were not to be undertaken without good ground and reason, rashly or lightly; or, as many had done, for curiosity or hope of gain. But their condition was not ordinary; their ends were good and honorable; their calling lawful and urgent; therefore they might expect the blessing of God on their proceedings. Yea, though they should lose their lives in this action, yet might they have the comfort of knowing that their endeavor was worthy." The question of establishing colonies in America, both as a commercial and political and as a religious problem, was at this time being much discussed among the Dutch. The Dutch were prevented, for the time, from any active attempt in this direction by the truce with the Spanish, who laid claim to North America and who would regard any colonizing enterprise in that country as a hostile act. Truce was nearly concluded, however; and such was the esteem in which the Pilgrims were held that when the purpose of this body became known among the Dutch, "sundry of note and eminence of that nation would have had them come under them [i. e., establish the colony under the Dutch flag], and for that end made them large offers." Among other things it was proposed not only to pay the expense of the removal thence but also to provide every family with cattle. However, Holland could not then guarantee protection against Spain, and consequently the proposal fell through. Moreover, the Pilgrims were Englishmen, who regarded themselves while in Holland as exiles; and they decided instead to seek a charter from the English government and thereby regain the opportunity of living under the English flag, and to "sue His Majesty that he would be pleased to give them freedom of religion." It was here that Brewster's experience at court, and his friendships and acquaintances made there, were to prove invaluable, although the open suit for freedom of religion was no easy undertaking. A well known English antiquary has said : 686 IMPROVEMENT ERA that the connections Brewster had formed in England were sufficient tomake him an object of historical interest apart from his participation in the Pilgrim movement. It is needless here to detail the efforts to secure a patent from the Virginia company together with the king's approval of their project. The patent, though destined never to be used, was granted; but they did not succeed in gaining religious toleration by the public approval of the king, who confined himself to a verbal promise that he would not molest them in their undertaking if they carried themselves peaceably. John Carver and Robert Cushman were the agents, or messengers, between Brewster and Robinson at Leyden and the authorities in England. The Pilgrims could not move until they had secured financial backing for their enterprise. In the end support for the undertaking was guaranteed by a company of London merchants and investors. Though the terms exacted by this company, called the Merchant Adventurers, were severe, they were finally agreed to, no other way offering. After some delay, pending Brewster's adjustment of his difficulty with the government due to the charge of publishing objectionable books, preparations for the journey went forward. Only a minor number of the four hundred families at Leyden decided to go at first, with Elder Brewster in charge. Their pastor, John Robinson, remained at Leyden with the major portion of the congregation, intending to go with them later but never living to do so. There was much misgiving as to the venture, the dangers and difficulties being fully realized. In response to some doubts raised in England as to their fitness for the undertaking, Brewster and Robinson had written a letter to Sir Edwin Sandys, a strong personal friend of Brewster, who in consequence aided the Pilgrims financially and otherwise both at Leyden and later at Plymouth. In this letter these words occur We verily believe and trust that the Lord is with us (unto whom and whose service we have given ourselves in many trials), and that he will graciously prosper our endeavors according to the simplicity of our hearts therein. * * * We are knit together, as a body, in a most strict and sacred Bond and Covenant of the Lord; of the violation whereof we make great conscience, and by virtue whereof we do hold ourselves straitly tied to all care of each other's good and of the whole by everyone, and so mutually. It is not with us as with other men whom small things can discourage or small discontentment cause to wish themselves home again. Weknow our entertainment in England and in Holland. Weshall much prejudice both our arts and our means by removal. If we should be driven to return, we should not hope to recover our present helps and comforts; neither, indeed, look ever, for ourselves, to attain unto the like in any other place during our lives, which are now drawing towards their periods. WILLIAM BREWSTER AND THE PILGRIM MOTIVE 687 The story of the discouragements met in getting away from England, after the company of the younger and stronger members, who had volunteered to make the first venture, had sailed in the Speedwell, from Delftshaven to Southampton, of the final abandoning of the Speedwell and the sailing alone of the Mayflower from Plymouth, need not be dwelt upon. We may men- — tion a circumstance of much consequence, however, the joining with them in England of some friends and sundry hired laborers and others thrust upon them who had not been at Leyden. John Alden, a young cooper, was engaged by them at Southampton. It was intended to land in the Hudson region, then included in what was known as North Virginia; but they sighted land first at Cape Cod, whether by lack of familiarity with the region and the effects of the current of the Gulf Stream, or by intrigue between the captain and the Dutch to keep the company away from the Hudson region, or, on the other hand, as seems more probable, by complicity with the English proprietors interested in planting a colony in New England, is uncertain; but the event was to prove of far-reaching importance. When it had been decided to abandon the effort to make the trip around Cape Cod, dangerous at the season for a vessel such as the Mayflower, a number of the laborers and sailors, some of whom were, no doubt, scoundrels of a dangerous type, gave indication of lawlessness. It was evident that steps for government must be taken immediately. The liberal patent secured for them by Sir Edwin Sandys permitted them to make all needful laws and to establish necessary forms of authority, so long as they held loyally to the sovereign of England and were not contrary to the laws of the realm. It was necessary to draw up an agreement which the majority would support and to which any dissenting minority must submit. Those who had been at Leyden were already bound to harmony and cooperation by their Church Covenant; but there were now various others in the company. Hence the Mayflower Compact. This Compact, drawn up, it is believed, by William Brewster, the Ruling Elder, and a man of political and business experience as well, is simply the Church Covenant modified to bring in the newcomers in the party and to adapt it more broadly to civil needs. It was an obvious adaptation of the Church Covenant as adhered to by the Leyden congregation but also similar to those of various other Protestant churches; and these covenants, in turn, probably were based upon the covenants or constitutions of certain essentially democratic trade guilds. It is a noteworthy historical fact that, while such issue was not intended or foreseen, democracy in the church has invariably 1 i * a 5 a Q 5 -9 Z .a 1 ga w < 1 5, k -J m 5 —1 5j k' O k2 "S 5 H-l 60 — a a s S k a 5 > h ae k5b < e s k BBj s en 5 '— i S 1 9 k k <*, CQ a C ft, k J 5 a a H 'a < so a 5P»a k- J" V «JS sr k w 3 k a e 2 • Q a ifs W e aw § k So o *a -a B k w 'S. "3 s Q k ffiO k i £ H 5j Z § ib **- s en © k 2 2 H 1 s1 03 15 1 1 5-; J a 53 QJ S s 1k jja w -= a J! w .5f> - t a a k § a a zb 11 a o a5 k a. «a k B3 < fee a. 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Hence Mrs. Hemans was historically incorrect in writing: "When a band of exiles moored their bark On the wild New England shore." The basic motive of the Pilgrims is indicated clearly in the opening words of the Mayflower Compact: "Having undertaken, for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our king and country, a voyage," etc. Their purpose was to found a Christian community in which the gospel could be lived in its purity and which might become a center for the growth and propagation of true religion, which they firmly believed they had. They had believed from the very beginning that they were inspired and led of God, whose will as already revealed they were striving to do, and who, they confidently believed, had still other truth yet to be brought forth. They hoped to be ready to receive this new truth as God might be pleased to reveal it. They held with Milton that "a commonwealth ought to be a Christian personage, onemighty growth and stature of an honest man, as compact of virtue as of body." The civil government was only a means to an end; it was theoretically and actually subordinate to the religious government. Ten years "after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, when their enterprise had proved a success, Puritans came over in much larger numbers to the colony in Massachusetts Bay, a colony founded with purposes at first somewhat commercial. These Puritans came largely, however, to escape persecution in England; and they ceased to come in considerable numbers as soon as oppression ceased in England. The Puritans did not come as Independents; they at first retained connection with the Church of England, and showed corresponding shades of difference in religious belief from the Pilgrims. But these differences soon disappeared; and as a matter of fact the churches at Salem, Charlestown and Boston were, almost from the be- 6 90 IMPROVEMENT ERA ginning, congregational churches after the Plymouth pattern. One of their early pastors well expressed the motive which dominated these zealous Christians: "New England's design in this vast undertaking is to set up the Kingdom of Christ in whole communities. His Kingdom must come and his will be done. Only in so far as his Kingdom comes can his will be done. This Kingdom must be set up in a public and an openly prevailing manner. It is in the commonwealth that it must be established." Those who do not realize how intimate, in consequence of this motive, church and state were, in the early days of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, should try to disentangle the two in early legislation. The Bible was a civil as well as a religious constitution; and a successful appeal to it in the law courts was always final. Men were often tried and even punished by death in accord with Old Testament laws. The civil authorities sought and always welcomed advice and admonition from the pastors and other churchmen. These Pilgrims and Puritans were seeking to establish what they thought the truth as to God's will, not to found a commonwealth in which state and church should be separate or in which there should be civil — freedom as we understand it, their highly restricted suffrage and their indentured servants sufficiently show that. They did not have in mind to establish religious tolerance; on the other hand, they believed in all sincerity that they knew what God's will was and were determined above all things to keep the church pure and in accord with that will. To be sure, Plymouth Colony was in the beginning notably more liberal than Massachusetts Bay; but with the coming of the second generation this difference had largely disappeared. It was from Plymouth Colony, for example, that a son of the beloved Leyden pastor, John Robinson, was sent from the colony and kept in exile till he was an old man, for no other cause than reporting, after he had been duly assigned to investigate the matter, that he thought the Quakers were sincere and ought to be allowed to follow their consciences in worship. The heresies of this sect seemed too dangerous to the purposes to which the Pilgrims were devoted to be tolerated among them. These men of early New England felt that they must keep the religious life of the community right; all else was subordinate to that purpose. Today we sometimes hear expressed doubt as to whether religion and government can, after all, be kept so entirely apart as has been supposed; actual steps are being taken in legislation in line with the belief that morals are not private matters; and community churches are being much discussed. When people give their minds to these things they are in a measure putting WILLIAM BREWSTER AND THE PILGRIM MOTIVE 691 themselves in an attitude in which they can appreciate the problems and beliefs so vital to the Pilgrims. The clergy were in a real sense the pillars of the state as ARTICLES THAT BELONGED TO ELDER BREWSTER The chair is now at Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Mass., the sword and scabbard at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, and the chest at the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Conn. 692 IMPROVEMENT ERA well as the church. We sometimes think of these early New Englanders as narrow or bigoted; but their fundamental principle of free discussion carried the cure for this. John Fiske truly writes that there never has been a society in the history of the world in which theological questions were so seriously and persistently discussed as in colonial New England. Everyone was taught from early childhood to read and understand the Bible; and doctrinal points were earnestly debated in every household. The belief was that the individual must hold his personal opinions on these matters at the risk of his eternal future. In time schisms followed; for, as differing views came to be held by some of the congregation — each congregation — being a unit independent of all others those holding them would have to form a new church in harmony with their convictions. Hence it is that the traveler in New England must so often marvel at the number of church spires rising in towns scarcely large enough to support one congregation. Out of the suffrage of the New England congregational churches in time — grew a general civil suffrage, the state grew out of the church. The dissenting spirit, after generations of struggle, led inevitably into the democracy expressed in the Constitution of the United States. William Brewster, who had given his life so utterly to the Pilgrim enterprise and purposes, lived to see that he had not given in vain. In Plymouth Colony he was from the first one with the humblest member; he shared every hardship and, like the rest, had built his house with his own hands. As their Ruling Elder, he was first in power in the colony. For many years also he acted as Pastor, no other being appointed until the death of John Robinson removed the expectation that he might come to Plymouth. Elder Brewster was a finely trained scholar, the depth and fulness of whose learning and wisdom grows upon one the more his life is studied. Competent judges regard him as the ablest man among the first generation of New England colonists. He kept abreast of the times, receiving yearly new consignments of books as they were published in Europe. He left a library of four hundred volumes in Latin and English, which constituted the best collection of exegetical literature found in New England during the first quarter of a century. For forty years or more he had devoted himself "constantly, utterly and superbly" to a purpose, and to the people who had held it with him, and had been with his fellow-sufferers in all the hardships met in cleaving to that purpose. He was always their close companion in danger, sorrow and trial, asking none to go or do where he did not set the example. It is no wonder that he was regarded with love and reverence al- : WILLIAM BREWSTER AND THE PILGRIM MOTIVE 693 most akin to worship throughout the towns that grew up in Plymouth Colony. We may well quote from the touching tribute by Governor Bradford, who owed so much to the training, guidance and companionship of the beloved Elder: "He labored in the fields as long as he was able; yet when the Church had no other minister he taught twice every Sabbath and that both powerfully and profitably, to the great edification and comfort of his hearers, many being brought to God by his ministry. He did more in this way in a single year than many who have their hundreds do in all their lives. * * He was wise and discreet and well-spoken, having a grave and deliberate utterance, with a very cheerful spirit. He was very sociable and pleasant among his friends, of an humble and modest mind and a peaceable disposition, under-valuing himself and his own abilities, and sometimes over-valuing others. He was innocent in his life and conversation, which gave him the love of those without, as well as those within; nevertheless he would tell them plainly of their faults, both public and private, but in such a way that it was generally well taken. He was tender-hearted and compassionate with those in misery. * * * When preaching, he deeply moved and stirred the affections, and he was very plain and direct in what he taught, being thereby the more profitable to his hearers. He had a singularly good gift of prayer, both public and private. * * * He always thought it better for ministers to pray oftener and divide their prayers, than be long and tedious." When, in 1644, at the age of nearly eighty years, he "so sweetly departed this life unto a better," we can well understand that the people "did all grievously mourn his loss as that of a dear and loving friend." The ideals of the men of Scrooby, Leyden and Plymouth were in fundamentals largely the same as those that led to the Puritan Revolution in England under Cromwell; and in the triumph of that cause they saw their own deeply cherished hopes for the time realized, as is well shown by the exulting words of Bradford, added on the reverse side of a page of his history "Do you not now see the fruits of your labors, all ye servants of the Lord that have suffered for his truth, and have been faithful witnesses of it, and ye little handful among the rest, the least among the thousands of Israel? You have not only had a seed-time, but many of you have seen the joyful harvest. Should you not rejoice, then, yea and again rejoice, and say hallelujah, salvation, and glory and honor, and power be to the Lord our God, for true and righteous are his judgments. * * * The tyrannous bishops are ejected, their courts dissolved, their cannons force- ceremonies useless and despised. * * *" less, their service cashiered, their The ardent patriots who fought under Cromwell, among whom were some who returned from New England for that purpose, felt that God's will had been revealed to them and that they were establishing a government in accord with that will. As indicated in the words just quoted, the triumphant Parliament proceeded to repress the forms and practices in worship that they felt to be popish and of the devil. Their triumph was complete, but it was brief. The government of — 694 IMPROVEMENT ERA Parliament came to an early end, primarily because England was not prepared for a republic in its prevalent property laws, jurisprudence, or educational system; but also partly because the excesses of repression which the Puritan leaders carried on led to a reaction that was their undoing. And thus it came about that the churches in New England were largely destined to save the best fruits of Puritanism not only for themselves but for England and the world as well. The Pilgrims were guided by the light of a faith and upheld by a resolve through which they were destined in time to free mankind in a way they did not foresee. We now recognize that "Plymouth Rock does not mark a beginning or an end. It marks a revelation of that which is without beginning and without end, a purpose shining through eternity with a resplendent light, undimmed even by the imperfections of men, and a response, an answering purpose from those who, oblivious, disdainful, of all else, sailed hither seeking only for an avenue for the immortal soul." ye who boast In your free veins the blood of sires like these, Lose not their lineaments. Should Mammon cling Too close around your heart, or wealth beget That bloated luxury which eats the core From manly virtue, or the tempting world Make faint the Christian purpose in your soul, — Turn ye to Plymouth beach and on that rock Kneel in their footprints, and renew the vow They breathed to God. Lydia H. Sigourney. miira M$&r -*/ Signatures of Elder Brewster and other prominent Pilgrims.