ART. IV.-EARLY ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH.

CHAPTER II. 1609-1610.

It is the boast of the Puritans of the Modern School, that their forefathers were driven to the American Continent, by the persecutions of the English Church. The glory, which they deserve for enduring such hardships, will appear, when we remember, that overtures were first made by the London Company to the Puritans then dwelling peaceably in Holland, to join them in the settlement of Virginia, and that Sir Edwin Sandys, Sir John Wolstenholme and Archbishop Abbot, members of the Virginia Council, together with many other prominent Churchmen, used all their influence to secure such a partnership. This was finally agreed upon, under the promise of the king, "that he would connive at them, and not molest them, provided they carried themselves peaceably." This promise was so satisfactory to the Puritans, that in spite of the tempting invitations of the Dutch, to settle in some of their plantations, they resolved to accept the terms of the London Company, and the word of the King, that they should not be disturbed in their religion. Indeed, such (in their own language) was "their great desire to live under the protection of England, and to retain the language and the name of Englishmen," that they assure the Company " the oath of Supremacy we shall willingly take if it be required of us."* They finally sailed from Leyden, with a charter granted under the seal of a Company of Churchmen, with the intention of settling in the territory over which they had entire control. It turned out, however, that a Dutch Pilot carried them further North than they intended to go, and within the limits of the Plymouth Company, where they had no right whatever. There they remained, however, and three years after, received a Charter from this Company, the members of which also belonged

*Life and Times of Brewster, p. 198.

to the Church of England.-This is the true version of the story concerning the Puritans being "driven to the wilds of America by religious persecution," which should no longer delude an intelligent people. It is a pity, to be sure, that so much poetry and romance should be destroyed. It is a pity, that the whole staple of New England dinner speeches, and anniversary orations, can be no longer available to those who have any regard for historic truth; but still, it is high time that Americans of common intelligence, concerning the history of their own country, had ceased to believe this fable."

*The reader, who wishes for further information on this point, will find it in a. multitude of writers, of the highest authority. The history of the negotiations. between the Puritans and the London Company, will be found briefly told in the "Life and Times of Elder Brewster," by the Rev. Ashbel Steele, of Washington,. D. C. This work gives the copies of several letters which passed, and also the Seven Articles of the Leyden Church, which were sent to the Council of Virginia,. by Robinson and Brewster.* These articles are of such interest and importance. in shewing the position the Puritans then occupied, in reference to the Church.of England, that we give them entire.

1. "To the Confession of Faith published in the name of the Church of England, and to every Article thereof we do, with the Reformed Churches where we live, and also elsewhere, assent wholly.

2. As we do acknowledge the doctrine of faith there taught, so do we the fruits and effects of the same doctrine, to the begetting of saving faith in thousands in the land, (conformists and re-conformists,) as they are called, with whom, as also with our brethren, we do desire to keep spiritual communion in peace, and will practise, in our parts, all lawful things.

3. The king's majesty we acknowledge for Supreme Governor in his Dominion, in all causes, and over all persons, and that none may decline or appeal from his authority or judgment, in any cause whatever, but that in all things, obedience is due unto him, either active, if the thing commanded be not against God's word, or pas-sive, if it be, except pardon can be obtained.

4. We judge it lawful for his majesty to appoint Bishops, civil overseers, or offi-cers in authority under him, in the several Provinces, Dioceses, Congregations or Parishes, to oversee the Churches and govern them civilly, according to the Laws of the Land, unto whom they are in all things to give an account, and by them to be ordered according to godliness.

5. The authority of the present Bishop in the land we do acknowledge, so far forth as the same is indeed derived from his majesty unto them, and as they proceed in his name, whom we will also therein honour in all things, and him in them. 6. We believe that no Synod, Classes, Convocation or Assembly of Ecclesiastical

* These Articles may also be seen in the 3d. Vol., 2d Series, of the N. Y. Historical Society's Collection, with an introductory note by Mr. Bancroft.

We have no such boast, either true or false, to make in behalf of those early enterprises, that brought to this country the reformed and Catholic Faith of the Church of England. They who first illuminated these shores with that Faith, were

Officers, hath any power or authority at all, but as the same is by the magistrate given unto them.

7. Lastly, we desire to give unto all superiors due honour, to preserve the unity of the Spirit, with all the fear of God, to have peace with all men, what in us lieth, and, wherein we err, to be instructed by any."

As a further indication of the feelings of the Puritans toward the Church of England, we have the following confession of Robinson, the Pastor. "For myself, (he says,) 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 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 one mystical body of Christ, scattered far and wide throughout the world."

The assertion, then, that the Puritans were driven to this country by persecution, is utterly groundless. They were dwelling in peace and prosperity in Holland, far out of the reach of the English Church, and finally entered into partnership with the London Company, with the consent and approbation of the king, and started to this country, to settle in the Colony of Virginia, then under the entire control of Churchmen.

In addition to these facts of history, it may not be amiss to give here the testimony of Morton himself, the Secretary to the Plymouth Court, and of course a zealous Puritan. He says, in his "Memorial of New England," after giving five reasons for the removal of the Puritans to this country, none of which even hint at persecution-'these, and such like, were the true reasons of their removal, and not, as some of their adversaries did, upon the rumour thereof, cast out slanders against them, as if the State were weary of them, and had rather driven them out, (as heathen histories have feigned of Moses and the Israelites, when they went out of Egypt,) than that it was their own free choice and motion."-Morton's Memorial, p. 21.

In corroboration of the statement, that overtures were first made to the Puritans by the members of the London Company, we have the testimony of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the President of the Plymouth Council, who was under no temptation to mis-state, and whom the House of Commons pronounced "a gentleman of honor and worth." He says, in his Description of Virginia,—“ The Virginia Company were forced, through the great charge they had been at, to hearken to any proposition that might give ease and furtherance to so hopeful a business. To that purpose it was referred to their consideration, how necessary it was, that means might be used to draw into those enterprises some of those families, that had retired themselves into Holland for scruple of conscience, giving them such freedom and liberty as might stand with their likings. This advice being hearkened unto, there were that understood the putting it in practice, and, accordingly, brought it to effect."-See Mass. Hist. Soc. Col. Vol. VI, 3d Series, 66, 67.

neither fugitives from religious persecution, nor yet mere adventurers in the interests of trade and commerce. They were men of high character and distinction, in Church and State, who willingly forsook all the endearments of refined homes, and cultivated society, while they undertook one of the most forbidding and self-sacrificing missions, to which the messengers of the Gospel have been sent forth in any age of the Church.

In a previous chapter, we have given a sketch of the early steps in this work, down to the year 1609, which marks a very important change in the history of the Virginia Colony. The ill success, which had so far attended the efforts toward planting a permanent settlement in America, induced those who were interested in this enterprise, to apply to the King for a new Commission, with increased powers and more extended influence. Their petition was answered by the issuing of a New Charter, in May, 1609, which recited and confirmed the first, adding greatly enlarged powers and privileges. This Second Company was incorporated under the name of "The Treasurer and Company of the City Adventurers, of the City of London, for the first Colony of Virginia." Its history is so intimately and essentially connected with the early Missionary efforts of the Church of England in this country, and its instrumentality was so signal in arousing in the English nation the love of Constitutional liberty, and in planting and nourishing the same virtue in the breasts of the first American Colonists, that the nature of its Charter and the character of its prominent members, require special notice in this connection. We have already referred to Bancroft's admission, that "the London Company merits the praise of having auspicated liberty in America, and that they were careful to connect popular freedom inseparably with the life, prosperity, and state of society in Virginia." But all our popular and familiar histories have so studiously concealed this fact, that we are compelled to repeat it again and again, in order to arrest attention.

Burk, in his history of Virginia, says of the London Company:

"Whether we consider the number and character of its members, or the very conspicuous part they were called on to act, it is one of the most singular associations, which has been recorded in history. Independent of a crowd of gentlemen, barons, viscounts, and earls, many of whom were the most prominent and conspicuous members of the British Parliament, it contained almost all the subordinate Corporations of London. Invested, by their charter, with the government and the property of a large territory, they united the character of legislators and proprietors. All the gradations of rank were forgotten at their meetings, and their elections were conducted on the natural and equitable principle of equality. It is not surprising, then, that their government, as well as their forms, should finally become democratical, a vice of which they were afterwards accused by the king, and which was the principal, if not the only cause, of their dissolution. The meeting of this singular Company presented the appearance of an august popular assembly, invested with the government of a nation. And though they had an executive council, which were presumed to be always in session, the love and jealousy of liberty, and, perhaps, the seducing circumstance of dominion, (for here each member was a ruler,) suggested the propriety of frequent and more popular meetings. Monthly or inferior Courts were holden once a month, whilst in their great Courts, which sat four times in the year, were debated questions of a higher nature, with all the animation, the ability, and sometimes the tumult, of democratical assemblies. At the time when the first settlement was made at Jamestown, the extent of the royal prerogative was not precisely known; and, although a free spirit was manifestly rising in the nation, and the Parliament went so far as to speak (though in respectful and modest terms) of their privileges, yet the range of royal discretion was a circle, whose periphery was not exactly measured; in the opinion of some, was too vast to be measured. The doctrines of the house of Tudor were transmitted, a fatal bequest, to their successors of the Stewart line. But the dawning genius of the age, and the expansive feelings and spirit which literature creates, recoiled against the insolent assumption and exercise of power, which could boast no other title than precedent and prescription."

"It was to be expected that the London Company, composed of such characters as have been described, would not have been exempt from feelings which agitated, in some degree, all persons in the nation. And we find them, accordingly, in defence of their chartered rights and privileges, seconding the national impulse, by manly and spirited exertions, whilst the walls of their assembly-rooms responded to the House of Commons, in the flights and sallies of fancy, in the bold invective, the spirited and poignant sarcasm, and the more lasting and impressive sounds of connected, profound, and deliberate eloquence. It may be safely pronounced, that the London Company possessed a stronger relish for the beauties of liter: ture than any other association in the nation, not even excepting the House of Commons itself. And when we consider the solicitude they discovered for the propagation of knowledge in Virginia, by the endowment of schools, and the establishment of an University, this conclusion receives fresh confirmation. The Earl of Southampton, at one time their Treasurer, Sir Edwin Sandys, Sir Dudley Diggs, Sir John Saville, with several other members of the London Company, were considered the most elegant scholars, and the most eloquent speakers in the Nation.

It was at this fortunate crisis, when the morals of the people were tolerably free