Y

THE SEVEN ARTICLES OF 1617 AND THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT OF 1620

A. The Seven Articles, 1617

This important declaration long remained forgotten among the documents of the State Paper Office at Westminster. It was at last brought to light by the historian, George Bancroft, and communicated by him to

I. Collections of the New York Historical Society, Second Series, New York, 1857; III. Pt. I. pp. 301, 302. It was reprinted by

II. Punchard, History of Congregationalism, Boston, 1867. III: 454, 455; III. Waddington, Congregational History, 1j67-/700, London, 1874, 206, 207; IV. Doyle, The English in America, The Puritan Colonies, London, 18S7, I: 49, 50; and

V. Goodwin, The Pilgrim Republic, Boston, 188S, p. 41.

Beside some brief comments in the works of Doyle, Goodwin, and Tunchard, and an important letter from Bancroft in communicating the document to the New York Society (Collections, as cited, 295-99), a few facts will be found in Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, pp. 30, 31 (ed. Boston, 1856), and a somewhat extended discussion in Bacon's Genesis of the New England Churches, New York, 1874, pp. 264-8.

B. The Brief Notes Of Explanation, 1618

These supplementary definitions are preserved for us by Bradford, Hist. Plym. Plantation, pp. 34, 35. They were copied from Bradford's manuscript by Nathaniel Morton into the records of the Plymouth Church, and may be found in Hazard, Historical Collections, Philadelphia, 1792, 1794, I: 364,365; and in Young, Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, pp. 64, 65, from that source. They are discussed by Bacon, Genesis of the N. E. Chs., pp. 267-269, and are given by Waddington.

C. The Mayflower Compact, 1620

Texts and Reprints. — Since the original manuscript is not known to be extant, we are dependent upon copies for our knowledge of this important document. Of these there are three which may claim about equal rank as original sources and are in substantial harmony.

I. In G. Mourt's (1. c. George Morton's1) A Relation or Iournall of the begin ning and proceedings of the English Plantation settled at Plimoth, etc., London, 1622, p. 3. Reprinted (among others) by Young, Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, Boston, 1841-4, p. 121; Geo. B. Cheever in partial fac-simile, New York, 184S, pp. 30, 31: Dr. Dexter, with introduction and notes, and in fac-simile, Boston, 1S65, pages 6, 7.

1 Dexter's reprint, introduction, xviii-xxxi. This portion of the Relation was probably by Bradfurd. (81)

II. In Gov. Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, long in manuscript. The compact was printed from this manuscript by Thomas Frince, A Chronological History of New England, etc., Boston, 1736, 1: 84, 85. Gov. Hutchinson again printed it, either from the manuscript or from Prince, in Tlu History of the Province of Mass. Bay, Boston, 1767, II. Appendix 455, 456. It may now be found also in the careful edition of Bradford's whole work issued by the Mass. Hist. Society, History of Plymouth Plantation, etc., Boston, 1856, pp. 8o, 90.

III. In Nathaniel Morton's (son of George) New England's Memoriall, etc., Cambridge, N. E., 1669, p. 15. (Fifth edition, John Davis, Boston, 1826, pp. 37, 38; Sixth, Boston, 1855, pp. 24-26). It was reprinted from Morton by Neal, History of New England, etc., London, 1720, I: 81, 82;' and by Hazard, Historical Collections, etc., Philadelphia, 1792, 1794, I: 119. Morton, as keeper of the public records of the Colony from 1645 to 1685, may well have had access to the original document. He alone gives the list of signatures.

Reprints of one or other of these forms, in addition to those already pointed out, are numerous. The following may perhaps be cited:

1. J. Belknap, American Biography, Boston, 1794-8, II: 190.

2. Baylies, Historical Memoir of the Colony of New Plymouth, Drake's ed.

Boston, 1866, p. 28.

269.

3.

4.

Hanbury, Memorials, I: 398.

Elliott, New England History, New York, 1857, I: 102.

5. Uhden, New England Theoeracy, Conant's translation, Boston, 1858, p. 57.

6. Palfrey, History of New England, Boston, 1859, I: 165.

7.

Punchard, History of Congregationalism, III: 411.

8. Waddington, Congregational History, 1567-1700, p. 222.

9.

IO.

II.

12.

Bancroft, History of the United States, ed. Boston, 1876, I: 243.

Windsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, Boston, 1884, III:

Goodwin, The Pilgrim Republie, Boston, 1888, p. 63.

Thwaites, The Colonies, 1492-1750, New York, 1891, p. 118.

13. Fisher, The Colonial Era, New York, 1892, p. 93.

THE documents thus far considered have been the product of

THE

church, the one now presented had

the London-Amsterdam church; the one now presented had for its source the Scrooby-Leyden-Plymouth company. Obscure as is the origin of the London church, the beginnings of the Scrooby congregation are yet more involved in darkness. But it seems certain that a Separatist congregation was gathered by the afterwards celebrated John Smyth, probably about 1602, at Gainsborough, a town some forty miles southeast of York and nearly half way between York and Boston. This church attracted members from the

1 Carelessly-three misreadings.

2 Possibly sixth, see Dexter, Cong, as seen, Bibl. 1986

3 With one transposition in the dating clause.

adjacent parts of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire.1 Hither came, not far from 1604, John Robinson, from his studies at Cambridge and several years of labor near Norwich, where his Congregational sentiments had attracted the unfavorable notice of his ecclesiastical superiors. But Gainsborough was distant from the residences of a number of the congregation, and, being a town of some size, the church was likely to bring down governmental censure, and, therefore, in 1605 or more probably 1606, a portion of the Gainsborough church organized separately and met statedly at the house of William Brewster, the postmaster at Scrooby, a station on the main road between London and Berwick, about ten miles from Gainsborough. In 1606 also the congregation remaining at Gainsborough removed, together with Smyth, to Amsterdam, where they united with and turmoiled the London-Amsterdam church for a time. Probably the Scrooby company now further perfected its organization, if it had not already done so, by the choice as officers of Richard Clyfton and John Robinson. But this church, too, soon found England a hard place in which to worship God after the Congregational fashion, and through much difficulty they, therefore, made their way to Amsterdam in 1607 and 1608. Here the major part of the church soon came to look with concern on the havoc which the well-meaning but unstable Smyth had already wrought in the always contentious London-Amsterdam church; and so, fearing lest their own brotherhood be drawn into like confusion, they emigrated in 1609 to Leyden. Clyfton preferring to

1 It seems not impossible that Bradford has given us the form, as well as the substance, of the covenant of this church. He tells us (Hist. Plym. Plant., o.) They shooke of this yoake of antichristian bondage, and as y• Lords free people, joyned them selves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a church estate, in y* felowship of y* gospell, to walkc in all his wayes, made known, or to be made hnown unto them, according to their best endeaours, whatsoever it should cost them, the Lord assisting them." [The italies are mine.] It is true that Bradford wrote at least a quarter of a century after the events he here describes, and therefore absolute identity is hardly to be affirmed. But the tone and form of this sentence-long covenant is very like that which we shall see used at Salem in 1629 and Boston-Charlestown in 1630, and some others which will be cited in connection with them.

2 Bacon, Genesis of the N. E. Chs., pp. 207, 230, 231, says that Clyfton was pastor and Robinson teacher at Scrooby. The greater age and long pastoral experience of Clyfton would make his choice as pastor of the new church probable; but it seems to me that the records do not warrant us in asserting positively that he held this office rather than that of teacher. Bradford is obscure. See his Hist. Plym. Plant., pp. 10, 16, 17.

remain at Amsterdam, Robinson' was now chosen to the pastorate, if not already in that office, and probably for want of a suitable candidate in the little company, the teachership was left vacant. The post of elder was now worthily filled by the selection of William Brewster.1 Here at Leyden all the company were to remain

1 John Robinson, the most celebrated member of the Leyden company, was born in 1575 or '76. probably in the neighborhood of Gainsborough, where we have seen Smyth gathering a Separatist church at a later period. In 1592 he entered Corpus Christi College in the great Puritan university of Cambridge, and here rose in 1598-9 to the dignity of Fellow. About 1600, it would appear, he went to the vicinity of Norwich, or to that city itself, and entered on religious work, probably as a curate. But here his Separatist views became so pronounced that, about 1604, he appears to have incurred censure from his bishop and to have left Norwich for the region of Gainshorough, where we have seen him joining himself to the Separatist church. His election as pastor of the Scrooby-Leyden body has already been noticed. At Leyden he made his home to the end of his days. Here, with others, he purchased a considerable property, more for the use of the church than his own comfort; and here he not only ministered to his flock, hut enjoyed the privileges of the University and participated in the controversies aroused by the followers of Anninius, taking the Calvinistic side with much earnestness. Here, too, he ministered to those of his congregation who did not cross the ocean, till his death in March, 1625; and here he was buried in lowly fashion indicative of a considerable degree of poverty; but with evidence of public estimate of his real worth on the part of the Dutch community. His numerous works are written in a sweet-tempered spirit, but are far from presenting the inclination toward so-called progressive thought in doctrinal matters, which has often been attributed to him. In regard to the polity of the church he looked upon change as not impossible in consequence of further study of God's word. Among the many sources of information regarding his life and labors I may c1te J. Belknap, American Biography, Boston, 1794-98, II: 151-178; Brook, Lives of the Puritans, II: 334-44: Hanbury, Memorials, 1: 185-463, passim (with much reference to his writings); Hunter, Collections Concerning the Church formed at Scrooby, London, 1854, pp. 90-99; Fletcher, History of independency in England, London, 1862, II: 249-III: So, passim; Punchard, History of Congregationalism, III: 300-344 (a summary of his writings); Bacon, Genesis of the N. E. Chs., passim; Dexter, Cong, as seen, 359-410. Dexter's Bibliography gives the titles of eleven separate writings of which Robinson is the author; ten of which may be found in R. Ashton's Worhs of John Robinson, etc., 3 vols., Ixmdon, 1851. A somewhat extended memoir, by the editor, may be found in the Works, I: xi-Ixxiv., and is reprinted in 4 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., 1: 111-164.

2 Bacon, Genesis, p. 232, makes this suggestion,

s That this event did not occur till the company reached Leyden is implied by Gov. Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, pp. 10, 17.

4 William Brewster, in whose house at Scrooby the church had gathered after its separation from the Gainshorough body, was one of the most eminent of the company in station and influence. His birthplace is uncertain, but was not improbably in the vicinity of Scrooby, and his life began some time between 1560 and 1564. He studied Latin so as to have a ready use of the language, had some knowledge of Greek, and was for a brief and uncertain period at the University of Cambridge. We next find him in the service of the Puritan, William Davison, Ambassador and Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth. With Davison, Brewster went on a mission to Holland in 1585, and doubtless may have cherished hopes of political advancement till the Queen dismissed Davison in disgrace, in 1587, as having been too zealous in procuring the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Thrown thus out of employment, Brewster went to Scrooby, and there succeeded his father as postmaster about the beginning of 1589. (His father, also named William Brewster, survived till the summer of 1590.) His office implied the furnishing of lodging and transport for government servants, as well as the forwarding of letters. In discharge of his duties he occupied a large "manor house," belonging to the Archbishop of York for centuries, and which, though in bad repair, gave ample room for the gathering of the Separatist church. He held office till Sept., 1607, just previous to his attempt to leave England for Holland in company with his brethren of the church. Settled at last in Leyden, he supported himself by teaching and printing. Here he was elected ruling elder, and when a portion of the church emigrated to Plymouth in 1620, he was the spiritual leader of the expedition. As the Plymouth company looked upon themselves as in a de

for eleven years and many for the remainder of their earthly lives. But, though settled in one of the most attractive cities of Europe, their life was hard and their circumstances uncongenial. As Englishmen they longed to be under English law. They would gladly live on English soil could they find a spot where they might worship God and train up their children in the institutions of the Gospel. Probably their type of Separatism was not so uncompromising as that of the London-Amsterdam Church, and certainly we have much evidence that the opposition of their pastor, Robinson, as he advanced in years, was more against the ceremonies of the Church of England than the doctrine of royal supremacy.1 They were anxious to go to America, and they were desirous of going as Englishmen and under an English charter. And so it happened that when they applied to the London-Virginia company, in 1617, for permission to settle somewhere on the wide stretch of American coast then known by the name of Virginia, the agents of the church, Deacon John Carver and Robert Cushman, carried with them to London the seven articles of belief which are here presented, designing them to serve as an assurance to the company or the king should doubt be cast upon their orthodoxy or loyalty. Of course, under such circumstances, the points of difference between them and the Church of England would be minimized. Yet that these differences

gree still part of the Leyden body and, while competent to act for themselves, as still under Robinson's pastorate, Brewster, though retaining the title of ruling elder, was practically the pastor of the Plymouth church in all save the administration of the sacraments for the ten years or thereabout which elapsed between the landing in 1620 and the beginning of the pastorate of Ralph Smith. Here he was noted as a vigorous and effective preacher and as possessed of much gift in prayer. He died in April, 1643 or 1644. His friend Bradford, and Morton in his Memoriall, give the former date; the Plymouth church records, from the hand of Morton, give the latter. His memory is that of a strong, earnest, spiritual-minded man. The facts of his life may be found in Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, passim, especially the biographical sketch on pp. 408-14. This memoir is also printed in Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, pp. 461-69, and in substance from the Plymouth Ch. records by Davis in his edition of Morton's Memorial (1826), 222–224. Belknap, American Biography, II: 252-266, has a sketch. Hunter, Collections concerning the Ch. formed at Scrooby, etc., (1854) 53-90, has many valuable facts. A life of Brewster was published by A. Steele, Chief of the Pilgrims, etc., Philadelphia, 1857. Bacon, Genesis of the N. E. Chs.,

passim. T. F. Henderson in Dict. National Biography, (1886,) vi: 304, 305. Deane has pub

lished a letter of Stanhope to Davison, of Aug. 22, 1590, throwing light upon the time when Bradford became postmaster. Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., May 1871, 98-103.

1 Dexter, Cong, as seen, pp. 392-397, notes and illustrates his gradual change from extreme Separatism to a position not far from that of the Puritans, a position which held that the English Church was unchristian in ceremonies and constitution, but not in a condition where reform was hopeless or Christian life within its fold impossible. This view seems to prevail in Robinson's, Iust and Necessarie Apologie, 1625, Works, III: 5-79. See also Cotton's testimony, Way of Cong. Churches Cleared, London, 1648, Pt. 1: pp. 8, 9.