Objec. xi.The sheep of Christ'hear his voice,' but 'strangers' they will not hear.'"-Ans. Christ doth not there speak of the outward hearing; but of the hearkening unto, that is, as he expressed himself, of the knowing and believing of his voice, and following it. So John ix. 27, I told you before, and ye did not hear;' that is, not believe: And, God hears not sinners,' ver. 31, that is, approves not of them and their prayers, &c. ...

"Objec. xii. The Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, warn God's people of false prophets; which the Ministers of that Church are, having an unlawful calling.'-Ans.: They warn not to hearken' unto them, nor to believe' them, but to try them ;d which, without our hearing them, cannot be done. Not that all false prophets' are to be heard by all, that they might try' them; for that were to tempt God... No man's unlawful outward calling, makes him a false prophet; nor his outward lawful calling, a true; but his true or false doctrine only, makes him a true or false prophet... And to 'prophesy,' in our sense, is nothing else but to speak to edification, exhortation, and comfort.'. . It were good, if they in whose mouths the challenge of false prophets' is rifest, would better weigh how themselves expound and apply the Scriptures, in their prophesyings! lest, notwithstanding any outward lawful church-state, they be deeper wounded by the rebound of their own accusations this way, than their adversaries!

Objec. xiii. The Lord forbids Judah going to Gilgal, or to Bethel. Ans.: .. The Scriptures, everywhere, forbid the going or coming, to such places or persons, as in or by which some evil is done; to wit, of any thing evil or unlawful in, or with, them.

66

Objec. xiv. They that eat of the sacrifice, partake of the altar; s so they that receive the Word from an unlawful officer' partake' with his office. Ans.: I deny the consequence. The office' is not to the Word, as the altar' is to the sacrifice. .. The altar sanctifieth the gift; but so doth not the 'office' make that to become the Word of God which was not so actually before... No sacraments may now be eaten but in the church; whereas the Word may be preached to any, as well out of the church as in it.

"Objec. xv. The places called temples and churches, having been built for idolatry, should be demolished; and, therefore, are not to be frequented specially being accounted, and made, holy places.'_ Ans: No place now, is holy or unholy, as then. Suppose it be the magistrate's duty to destroy them, of which, I now dispute not, nor, how far he should proceed therein,-yet I deny the consequence; and, that I may not use that lawfully, which he ought to destroy... I know no law in force, nor doctrine received, in the Church of England, that ascribes any holiness to the places; and for errors and abuses

h Matt. xxiii. 19. i Deut. xii. 3.

c Deut. xiii. 3.

f Hos. iv. 15.
[1 Kings xii. 29.

k Richard Hooker wrote, in 1597," Manifest.. it is, that the very majesty and holiness of the place where God is worshipped, hath in regard of us great virtue,

personal, they rest in the persons so erring... I have no more religious use of the place in which I hear publicly, than in which I pray pri. vately in my house or chamber! a

66

Objec. xvi. Seeing whatsoever is not of faith is sin;' what Word of God, and so of faith, is there for this practice?'—Ans.:.. As few or no good things, of any kind, are so well used by some, but others as much abuse them; so is it to be feared that there will not want who will change their lawful liberty this way, into lawless licentiousness, and so take up, instead of all other religious exercises, a hearing course only. And those specially of them, who, disliking the present Church-state in England, yet want due zeal, and love to that which themselves approve not: . . I demand of such, What is this course of Hearing such Ministers, as whose state of ministry they approve not? Is it any particular ordinance left by Christ, and enjoined all Christians in all ages and places? Verily, no!.. It is lawful to use it upon occasion, as it is to borrow of other men; but to make it our course, is to live by borrowing, which no honest man, that can do otherwise, possibly would do. Yea, what differs it from a kind of spiritual vagabondry, in him that can mend it, though with some difficulty, to live in no certain church-state, and under no church-order and government... If we continue therein [in God's Word] as we ought; in good conscience towards God; zeal for his ordinances; modesty in ourselves, and charity towards other men, specially towards them with whom God hath joined us in the most and best things; taking heed lest by any uncharitable either judgment of, or withdrawing from, their persons, for such human frailties as unto which, into one kind or other, all Adam's sinful posterity are subject; we sin not more, by our course held against them; than they, by theirs in them; which God forbid.

To conclude. For myself, thus I believe with my heart before God; and profess with my tongue, and have, before the world; That I have one and the same Faith, Hope, Spirit, Baptism, and Lord, which I had in the Church of England, and none other. That, I esteem so many

force, and efficacy, for that it serveth as a sensible help to stir up devotion; and in that respect, no doubt, bettereth even our holiest and best actions in this kind." Eccles. Polity, bk. v. sect. 16.

a "We hold with J. Rainolds, That unto us Christians no land is strange, no ground unholy; every coast is Jewry, every town Jerusalem, every house Sion; and every faithful company, yea every faithful body, a Temple to serve God in. Conf. with Hart, 1585, ch. viii. The contrary opinion Hospinian rejecteth as favouring Judaism,-alligat enim religionem ad certa loca: De orig. Temp. lib. iv. cap. 2. Whereas the presence of Christ among two or three gathered together in his Name, Matt. xviii. 20, maketh any place a Church, even as the presence of a king with his attendants maketh any place a Court." Geo. Gillespie's "Dispute against the English-Popish Ceremonies. 1637." Edit. 1660. 4to. Pt. iii. ch. i. sect. 9. p. 123." It is a church or temple also, that glittereth with no marble, shineth with no gold nor silver, glistereth with no pearls nor precious stones, but with plainness and frugality; signifieth no proud doctrine nor people, but humble, frugal, and nothing esteeming earthly and outward things, but gloriously decked with inward ornaments; according as the Prophet declareth, saying, The king's daughter is altogether glorious inwardly.' Homily XIVth of the Church of England: Against Peril of Idolatry. 1563. h P. 25-57. c P. 62.

in that Church, of what state or order soever, as are truly partakers of that Faith, as I account many thousands to be,-for my Christian brethren; and myself a fellow-member with them, of that mystical Body of Christ scattered far and wide throughout the world. That, I have always, in spirit and affection, all Christian fellowship and communion with them; and am most ready, in all outward actions and exercises of religion, lawful, and lawfully done, to express the same. And withal, That I am persuaded the Hearing of the Word of God there preached, in the manner and upon the grounds formerly mentioned, is both lawful and, upon just occasion, necessary for me and all true Christians withdrawing from that Hierarchial Order of churchgovernment and ministry, and the appurtenances thereof; and uniting in the Order and Ordinances instituted of Christ, the only King and Lord of His church, and by all his disciples to be observed. And, lastly, That, I cannot communicate with, or submit unto, the said Church-order and ordinances there established, either in state or act, without being condemned of my own heart; and, therein, provoking God, who is greater than my heart, to condemn me much more. And, for my failings,-which may easily be too many one way or other,of ignorance herein; and so for all my other sins, I most humbly crave pardon first and most at the hands of God; and so of all men whom therein I offend, or have offended, any manner of way; even as they desire and look that God should pardon their offences."a

Here we should close our account of the admirable Robinson, but that so much interest attaches to him, that we cannot withhold what follows, derived, as was Secretary Morton's account already given, by another hand, from Governor Bradford's Manuscripts; and though it may seem to be travelling over some of the same ground, the additional circumstances add materially to our estimate of the characters of Robinson and his companions.

P. 63, 64.-The question discussed in the above Treatise, was revived and further handled in "A Case of Great and Personal Use: Whether we may lawfully hear the now Conforming Ministers who are re-ordained [enjoined in the Act of Uniformity], and have renounced the Covenant; and, some of them, supposed to be scandalous in their lives? Considered, and Affectionately Resolved. By a late Eminent Congregational Divine. London, 1677." 16mo. Pp. 26. We avail ourselves of a passage in p. 21. "Ordination is not so necessarily connexed with Preaching, either by God or man: Scripture light mentions Preaching and Hearing as duties, Rom. x.; whereas yet there could be no Ordination: nor are they so inseparably joined by our Laws. But if they were, it is sufficient to my conscience. That God hath not so joined them. Our actings, and the reasons or grounds of them, are not to be interpreted, in church-matters, by human laws: If they were, it would be difficult to inhabit some Commonwealths with a good conscience! Our living within the precincts of such a Parish, our laws interpret, a being of the same particular church with them for all church-ordinances: but this, being man's law only, we judge ourselves not so necessarily involved by our habitation. A church, according to Scripture, is a Spiritual Body, The limits are part of the essence and constitution of such a Body, and therefore ought to be Spiritual and of the same nature; and not merely human, as is the division of Parishes."

b See back, p. 390.

The New England Chronology. Part I. From the beginning of the British Monarchy in the Accession of King James, the first monarch of Great Britain, Mar. 25, 1602-3: To the beginning of the New English Colonies in the Set

"1606. Oct. The purely reformed church in the north-east] of England, by reason of the distance of their habitations, are obliged to assemble in two several places, and become two distinct churches. In one, besides several of note, is Mr. John Smyth, a man of able gifts and a good preacher, who is chosen their pastor; but these afterwards going over into the Low Countries, and falling into errors, there, for the most part, bury themselves and their names. But in the other church, besides several worthy men, is Mr. Richard Clyfton, a grave and reverend preacher, and the famous Mr. John Robinson who is afterwards their pastor,.. as also Mr. William Brewster, a reverend man who afterwards is chosen Elder...

"1607. This fall, Mr. Clyfton's and Robinson's church, in the north-east] of England, being extremely harassed, some cast into prison, some beset in their houses, some forced to leave their farms and families, begin to fly over to Holland, with their Rev. Pastor, Mr. Clyfton."

"1608. Feb. This Spring, more of Mr. Robinson's church, through great difficulties from their pursuers, got over to Holland; and afterwards the rest, with Mr. Robinson and Mr. Brewster, who are of the last, having tarried to help the weakest over before them. They first settle at Amsterdam, and stay there a year, where Mr. Smyth and his church had gotten before them.

"1609. Mr. Robinson's church having stayed at Amsterdam about a year, seeing Mr. Smyth and his company were fallen into contention with the church that was there before him, and that the flames thereof were like to break out in that ancient church itself—as afterwards lamentably came to pass-which Mr. Robinson and his church prudently foreseeing, they think it best to remove in time, before they were any way engaged in the same; though they knew it would be very much to the prejudice of their outward interest, as it proved to be; yet valuing peace and spiritual comfort above other riches, they therefore with Mr. Robinson remove to Leyden about the beginning of the twelve years' truce [Apr. 9th] between the Dutch and Spaniards: [they] choose Mr. Brewster assistant to him, in the place [or office] of an Elder, and there live in great love and harmony both among themselves and their neighbour citizens for above eleven years... But the Rev. Mr. Clyfton stays at Amsterdam, and there dies.d

tlement of the First at Plimouth, Dec. 31, 1620. Being a brief Account of Matters relating to those new-discovered Countries while settled only by the Aboriginal Natives: Reciting the several Voyages from England thither; with the most material Affairs, especially of Great Britain, that led the way to their Settlement by the English Inhabitants." 12mo. pp. 254. No place or date; but the Dedication is subscribed, "Boston, Nov. 24th, 1736, Thomas Prince " We have seen the same impression, with another title-page, beginning, “ A Chronological History," &c. and called Vol. I.. but no second volume has appeared. b Ibid.

a Vide, Prince, p. 254.

"By this it appears that both Baylie, and Hornius [Historia Eccles. et Politica.] are mistaken in representing that Mr. Smyth set up his church at Leyden; when it was to avoid him and his company that Mr. Robinson and his church removed from Amsterdam to Leyden. And by several passages in Governor Bradford's MS. it seems as if they began to remove to Leyden at the end of 1608." Note, by Prince. Ut. sup. p. 254.

"1610. Dec. 31st... About this time, and the following years, many came to his church at Leyden from divers parts of England, so as [that] they grow a great congregation.

"1612. Aug. In these times are great troubles raised by the Arminians in Holland. In Leyden especially, there are daily and hot disputes in the schools about the Arminian doctrines, the two Divinity professors being divided, -Episcopius teaching for them, Polyander against them, and the contention grows to that pass, that few of the disciples of the one will hear the other. But Mr. Robinson, though he preaches thrice a week, and writes sundry books, besides his other manifold labours, yet goes constantly to hear them both. Whereby he is grounded so well in the controversy; sees the force of all their arguments; knows the shifts of the Arminians; and, being himself otherwise very able, none is fitter to engage them, as appears by sundry disputes, so as he begins to be terrible to the Arminian party.

"1613. And about this year, it seems that Episcopius sets forth sundry Arminian theses, at Leyden, which he would defend against all opposers. Upon which, Polyander and the chief preachers of the city desire Mr. Robinson to dispute against him; but being a stranger, he is loth to engage. Yet the others telling him, that such was the ability and expertness of the adversary, that the truth is in danger to suffer, if he would not help them, are so importunate as at length he yields; and when the day comes, he so defends the truth and foils the opposer, as he puts him to an apparent non-plus in this great and public audience. The same he does a second or third time, upon the like occasions; which as it causes many to give praise to God that the truth had so famous a victory, so it procures Mr. Robinson much respect and honour from those learned men and others: and it is said by some of no mean note, that were it not for giving offence to the State of England, they would prefer [advance] him otherwise, if he pleased, and allow his people some public favour.

“ 1617. This year, Mr. Robinson and his church begin to think of a remove to America, for several weighty reasons: as, 1. The difficulties in Holland, discouraged many from coming to them out of England, and obliged many to return. Many who came to them and desired to be with them, could not endure the great labour and hard fare, with other inconveniences which they endured; but though they loved their persons, approved their cause, and honoured their suffering, yet they left them as it were weeping; as Orpah did her mother-inlaw Naomi, or as those Romans did Cato in Utica, who desired to be excused and borne with, though they could not all be Cato's. For many, though they desired to enjoy the ordinances of God in their purity, and the liberty of the Gospel, with them; yet, alas! they admitted of bondage with danger of conscience, rather than to endure these hardships; yea, some preferred the prisons in England, rather than this liberty in Holland with these afflictions.-2. By reason of these difficulties, with the licentiousness of the youth, and temptations of the place, many of their children left their parents; some becoming a Vorstius had been ordered to retire, Nov. 1611.-Prince, in loco.