party. Loyalty to the existing order of things did not necessarily imply a belief in Episcopacy as an ideal form of ecclesiastical government under all circumstances, and Churchmen who had no sympathy with the congregational system in England might consistently befriend Nonconformists in their attempts to establish themselves in a new country. Sandys' father had been, as Archbishop of York, moderate and tolerant in his dealings with Dissenters. An elder brother now held the manor of Scrooby, and Sandys must have thus been personally acquainted with Brewster and other leading men in the Leyden church. The connexion, if it did not help to suggest the scheme of colonization, at least showed the easiest and most direct way of carrying it out. Doubts about the site for a colony. 2 Virginia was not the only country, probably not even the first, which the Puritans thought of for their new home. Some of them proposed to emigrate to Guiana, urging the fertility of the country where vigorous nature brought forth all things in abundance and plenty.' We read that the advocates of this scheme were none of the meanest,' and it is not unlikely that a land where slave labour could be employed, and where capital could be invested in large plantations, had attractions for the richer members of the community. Others dwelt on the unhealthiness of Guiana and the neighbourhood of the Spaniards. We may well believe, too, that a sounder judgment of the conditions needful for natural prosperity led them to prefer a country whose soil and climate would in some measure enable Englishmen to follow their accustomed industry and mode of life. The latter opinion prevailed, and negotiations were opened with the Virginia Company. To this end two influential members of the church, 2 Bradford, p. 18. 1 Hunter, p. 22. 1617 The seven Leyden THE LEYDEN ARTICLES. 49 Robert Cushman and John Carver, were sent over to England. It is clear that the Leyden church anticipated. opposition to their scheme, if not from the Articles. Virginia Company, at least from the King and the High Church party. To meet this they drew up seven Articles, setting forth their attitude towards the civil power. These are of great interest, as showing how large a share of the wisdom of the serpent pertained to the founders of New Plymouth. The articles can be better understood by a simple reproduction than by any explanation or analysis.2 They were as follows: 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 reformists as they are called), with whom also, as 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 whatsoever, but that in all things obedience is due unto him, either active, if the thing commanded be not against God's Word, or passive, if it be, except pardon can be obtained. 4. We judge it lawful for his Majesty to appoint bishops, civil overseers, or officers 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 account, and by them to be ordered according to godliness. 1 They are named in a letter from Sandys to Robinson and Brewster, Nov. 12, 1617. The letter is given by Bradford, p. 20. 2 These Articles are among the Colonial Papers, 1618. 5. The authority of the present bishops 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, class, convocation, or assembly of ecclesiastical officers has any power or authority at all, but as the same 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 that fear God, to have peace with all men what in us lieth, and wherein we are to be instructed by any. The Articles are signed by Robinson and Brewster. This was in all likelihood done merely in their official capacity as pastor and elder, nor is there any record as to the authorship of the document. Yet its character is so plainly written on the surface, and is in so many ways at variance with the special peculiarities of Puritanism, that we can hardly err in ascribing it to the conciliatory temper and undogmatic mind of Robinson. The Articles were manifestly framed to assure the Virginia Company that its new clients would not entangle it in any conflict with the civil power. On the surface they look like an unconditional acceptance of what by anticipation one may call Erastianism. They seem to contain a definite acknowledgement that all ecclesiastical authority must proceed from the civil power and be responsible to it. A careful inspection, however, shows that the more important concessions are qualified by distinct, though cautiously expressed, reservations. In the first article the acceptance of the confession of faith published by the Church of England is limited by the introduction of the reformed churches of Holland as partners in that acceptance. So the promise of obedience to the King's authority is modified by the condition that the thing commanded be not against God's word, a condition which might easily be so inter 1618 ATTITUDE OF THE KING TO THE EMIGRANTS. 51 preted as to nullify the general admission. Yet even if we presume the most favourable interpretation of these Articles, the fourth contained an admission of the right of the State to control religion, which seems strangely at variance with the recognized doctrines of the Nonconformist. In truth, we must look on these seven Articles not so much as an exposition of faith but rather as conditions of agreement. The followers of Robinson might feel that, though kings' hands are long, they could hardly reach an insignificant settlement across the Atlantic, and that when in America they might with safety assent to doctrines which it would have been not merely inconsistent but perilous to admit under the immediate authority of the King and the bishops. Attitude of the King These concessions on the part of the would-be emigrants were met by the King in a like spirit of compromise. There was, in truth, nothing in his attitude towards religious questions to make him hostile to the schemes of the Leyden Puritans. The saying, 'No bishop, no king,' expressed fairly enough the grounds of his ecclesiastical sympathies and antipathies. For James, unlike his son, the artistic and reverential associations of the English Church had no charm. Puritanism offended him on its political rather than its religious side, by its merits rather than its failings. His ideal of policy was despotism interpreted and administered by a doctrinaire, as the ideal of Elizabeth had been despotism wielded by a far-sighted, ambitious, and unscrupulous diplomatist. The institutions of the Puritan hindered the administrative details of such a system; the spirit of Puritanism made the system itself unpopular, and even impracticable. But from this point of view Nonconformity in America was widely different from Nonconformity in Lincolnshire. To a churchman of the school of Bancroft dissent was schism, and as such was an evil to be resisted and extirpated everywhere. But by the death of that primate and the appointment of Abbott in his stead this view had lost the support of the chief ecclesiastical authority. The King's resolution to 'harry them out of the land was not so much a declaration of war against Nonconformity for its own sake as the determination of a schoolmaster to get rid of a boy whose presence is fatal to good discipline. The friendship of Sandys for the Leyden Puritans secured them a valuable advocate at Court in one of the Secretaries of State, Sir Robert Naunton. The King took the trouble to inquire into their schemes, and when told that their main support was to be derived from fishing, declared with approval that it was the Apostles' own calling. He then suggested to Naunton that the emigrants should confer with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. The Puritans however, feeling perhaps that the scriptural precedent quoted by the King did not cover the whole question, avoided further inquiry and remained content with the royal approval.1 But though the King might connive at the scheme of Nonconformist emigration, he was not prepared openly and avowedly to acknowledge it. In answer to the petition for a charter the Puritans were told that they should not be molested so long as they behaved peaceably. At first the emigrants were discouraged. The wiser and more influential of them, however, judged that such tacit approval would be a guarantee against mischief. They shrewdly argued, too, that mere paper securities would be valueless, since, as they expressed it, if afterwards there should be a purpose or desire to wrong them, though they had a seal as broad as the house-floor it would not serve the turn, for there would be means enough found to recall or 1 Winslow, p. 383. |