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seenied the taost eligible mode of escaping from the penalties of noncompliance . The accession of Elizabeth had , it is true , " quenched the fires of Smithfield , and put an . end to the easy acquisition of the crown of martyrdom . Her long reign had established the Reformation , but toleration was a virtue beyond her
conception and beyond the age . She left no example of it to her successor ; and he was not of a character which rendered it probable that a sentiment either so wise or so liberal should originate with him . At the present period it seems incredible ,
that the learned , accomplished , unassuming and inoffensive Robinson should neither be tolerated in his own peaceable mode of worship , in his own country , nor suffered quietly to depart from it . Yet such was the fact . He left his
country by stealth , that he might elsewhere enjoy those rights which ought to belong to men in all countries . The embarkation of the Pilgrims for Holland is deeply interesting , from its circumstances , and also as it marks the character of th-e times ; independently of its connexion with names now incorporated
with the history of empire . The embarkation was intended to be in the night , that it might escape the notice of the officers of government . Great pains had been taken to secure boats , which should come undiscovered to the shore , and receive the fugitives ; and frequent
disappointments had been experienced in this respect . At length the appointed time came , bringing with it unusual severity of cold and rain . An unfrequented and barren heath , on the shores of Lincolnshire , was the selected spot , where the feet of the Pilgrims were to tread , for the last time , the land of their fathers .
" 'inc . vessel which was to receive them did not come until the next day , and in the mean time the * little band was collected , and men and women and children and baggage were crowded together , in melancholy and distressed confusion . The sea was rough , and the women and children already sick , from their passage down the river to the place of embarkation . At length the wished-for boat silently and fearfully approaches the shore ,
and men and women and children , shaking with fear and with cold , as many as the . small vessel could bear , venture off on a dangerous sea . Immediately the advance of horses Is heard from behind , armed men appear , and those not yet embarked are seized , and taken jnto custody . I" the hurry of the moment , there had been . no regard to ( lie keeping together of families , in the first cinbarkatiou .
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and on account of the appearance of 4 ^ horsemen , the boat never returned Ujt the residue . Those who had got a ^ ay , and those who had not * were in equal distress . A storm , of great violence and long duration , arose at sea , which not only protracted the voyage , rendered distressing by the want of all those
accommodations which the interruption of the embarkation had occasioned , but also forced the vessel out of her course , and menaced immediate shipwreck ; while those on shore , when they were dismissed from the custody of the officers of justice , having no longer homes or houses to retire to , and their friends and protectors being already gone , became objects of necessary charity as well as of deep
commiseration . " As this scene passes before us , we can hardly forbear asking , whether this be a band of malefactors and felons tiyiag from justice ? What are their crime * , that they hide themselves in darkness ? what punishment they exposed
—To are , that , to avoid it , men and women and children thus encounter the surf of the Nortli Sea and the terrors of a night . storm ? What induces this armed pursuit , and this arrest of fugitives , of all ages and both sexes ?—Truth does not allow us to answer these inquiries in a manner that does credit to the wisdom
or the justice of the times . This was not the flight of guilt , but of virtue . It was an humble and peaceable religion , flying from causeless oppression . It was conscience , attempting to escape from the arbitrary rule of the Stuarts , it was Robinson and Brevvster leading off their little band from their native soil , at first to find shelter on the shores of the
neighbouring continent , but ultimately to couw hither ; and having surmounted all difficulties , and braved a thousand danger . * , to find here a place of refuge and of rest . Thanks be to God , that this spot was honoured as the asvlum of religious liberty .
May its standard , reared here , remain for ever 1—May it rise up as high as heaven , till its banner shall fan the aii of both continents , aud wave as a g lorious ensign of peace and security to the nations !"—Pp . 18—25 .
Having- looked with the eye of a philosopher at the design and the effect of colonies , ancient and modern , the orator proceeds : " Different , indeed , most widely dif ferent , from all , these instances ot emigration and plantation , were the cpodi * tion , the purposes and the prospects < h our fathers , when they established tte | L infant coloiiv . 110011 tllifl spot . They cajutt
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3 ft 2 Commemoration 0 / the First Settlement of New Emgiund :
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1822, page 342, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2513/page/22/
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