Bishop Hurd (Vol. I. Serm. 13) relates, with evident approbation, how the royal reformation of the Church of England “advanced under the eye of the magistrate; by slow degrees;" nor does it appear to have offended Protestant Lord Spiritual, that "it was, more than once, checked and kept back by him.” There were, however, a small, though an increasing number, who, believing that they had got “ into a direct way from Babylon toward the city of God, held on in a good round trot, through thick and thin," as Dr. Henry More (Div. Dial. v. 25) says of Luther. Thus eagerly pursuing the road of reformation, they quickly outstripped the deliberate pace of the royal magistrate, and left both “ Lords Spiritual and Temporal" far behind.

Of these uncompromising reformers, called, in derision, *Puritans, a number, in the north of England, united to form a religious association, which they deemed a more 'Christian Church than that by law established.” of this Church, a leading member and the principal minister, Joho Robinson was commemorated in the late cclebratime.* Weary of the injuries they sustained from the hierarchy and the civil power, Mr. Robinson and his Church, in 1607 and 1608, removed, or rather escaped to Holland, t. asylum of the persecuted, wbere, as contrasted with Isgland, was exemplified, that great political maxim, so dicult for kings and parliaments to learn, but which a king (Frederic of Prussia) has, well expressed " Le fauszele 'est un Tyran qui dépeuple les Provinces. La Tolérance

* See Reformer, XI. 86. ED.

+ The case of these refugees was thus noticed at the time, in a MS. of Governor Bradford, one of the Fathers: “ 1607. This fall, “Mr. Robinson's Church, in the north of England, being extremely "harassed; some cast into prison, some beset in their houses, se (forced to leave their farms and families; they begin to fly over to Holland for purity of worship apd liberty of conscience."

“ 1608. This spring, more of Mr. Robinson's Church, through great difficulties from their pursuers, get over to Holland ; and, afterwards, the rest with Mr. Robinson and Mr. Brewster, who are of the last, haviug tarried to help the weakest over before them." See “ Chronol. Hist. of N. England, by Thomas Prince, MA." Boston, N. E., 1736, pp. 23, 24. There is a fine passage on "The Embarkation of the Pilgrims from Holland,” in “A Discourse delivered at Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1820, in Commemoration of the first Settlement of New England, by thé Hon. D. Webster.” See More Repos. (1822) XVII. 342.

est - une tendre Mère qui les rend florissantes.” Such is the concluding paragraph of the Mémoires de Brandenbourg.

After remaining a year at Amsterdam, Mr. Robinson and his Church removed to Leyden, a circumstance which Professor Everett improved into one of the finest sentiments expressed on the celebration. * * In 1617 they determined on emigration to America, a design which they began to accomplish in 1620: King James, as whose subjects they were still to be regarded, agreeing " not to tolerate them by his public authority,” but only that he would connivè at them, and not molest them, provided they carry peaceably.” July 21, 1620, a part of this Church (Mr. Robinson, and the remainder proposing to follow) depart from Leyden † for Southampton, there to be joined by some of their brethren who had remained in England. Sept. 6. The joint-company bid a final adieu to their native land in the May-flower, a ship of 180 tons; and Nov. 9, at break of day, after long beating the sea, they make the land of Cape Cod, After various attempts to find a spot on the coast for disembarkation, “ it was on the 11th of Dec., 1620," says Dr. "Holmes, (Amer. Ann. I. 170,) that the venerable Fathers of New England first stepped on that Rock which is sacredly preserved in memory of their arrival. A ponderous fragment of it,” he adds, " has been removed into the main street of Plymouth. The 22d day of Dec., N. S., corresponding to the 11th, O. S., has been long observed at Plymouth, and several years at Boston, as the anniversary of the landing of the Fathers."

* See Reformer, XI. 87. Ep.

it “Being accompanied by most of their brethren to Delph-Haven, where their ship lay ready, and sundry come from Amsterdam to see them shipped and take their leave; they spent that night in friendly entertaining and Christian converse. “And July 22, the wind being fair, they go aboard, their friends attending them. At their parting, Mr. Robinson, falling down on his knees, and they all with him, he, with watery cheeks, commends them with most fervent prayer to God; and then, with mutual embraces and many tears, they take their leave, and with a prosperous gale, come to Southampton. There 7001. sterling are laid out, and they carry about 1700 pounds' venture with them." Governor Bradford's MS. Prince, p. 70.

The number which landed was 101, too many of them destined to find in the New World little besides a grave, * The same number had embarked from England, but one had died on the passage ; and while the Niay-flower was on the coast, a child was born, named Peregrine, who witnessed through 84 years—for he lived till 1704--the daily inroads of art and industry on “ the wilderness and the solitary place."

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England.

“ Their dauntless hearts no meteor led

In terror o'er the ocean ;
From fortune and from fame they fed
To Heaven and its devotion."

An American Poet.
The breaking waves dash'd high

On a stern and rock-bound coast,'
And the woods, against a stormy sky,

Their giant-branches toss'd ;
And the heavy night hung dark

The hills and waters o'er,
When a band of exiles moor’d their bark

On the wild New-England shore.
Not as the conqueror comes,

They, the true-hearted, came;
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,

And the trumpet that sings of fame :
Not as the flying come,

In silence and in fear ;
They shook the depths of the desert's gloom

With their hymns of lofty cheer,
Amidst the storm they sang,

And the stars heard, and the sea;
And the surrounding aisles of the dim woods rang

To the anthem of the free.

* Dr. Holmes says, they lost “ half their number within the first three months.” Amer. Ann. I, 173,

The ocean-eagle soar'd. Piis

From his nest by the white-wave's foam,
And the rocking pines of the forest roar'd

This was their welcome home!

There were men with hoary hair

Amidst that pilgrim band,
Why had they come to wither there,

Away from their childhood's land ?

There was woman's fearless eye,

Lit by her deep love's truth;
There was manhood's brow serenely high,

And the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus afar ?

Bright jewels of the mine?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war ? a

They sought a faith's pure shrine !
Ay, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trod !
They have left undimm'd what there they found

Freedom to worship God.

An Address to a Redbreast which few into my Room in the
Month of October.

Lydiate.
Poor fluttering bird, a needless fear
- Disturbs thy crimson breast;
Compose thy wings, and safely here,

This evening, take thy rest.' .
Thou tremblest still, if I could speak

The language of the grove,
Which thou canst understand, I'd seek

Thy terrors to remove.
I'd tell how truly I detest .

The cruelty of those
Who pillage thy secluded nest ,
And weigh thee down with woes :

That here, no foes will do thee wrong,

No enemies will harm;
But friends desire to hear thy song,

And banish thine alarm,

The scatter'd food which I have brought

For thee, how large a store !
Is such as thou hast often sought

About my cottage door.
Now Autumn's with'ring breezes sweep

The verdure from the plains;
Behind them wintry tempests creep,

And famine in their trains.
Then, Redbreast, all thy fears dispel,

And plume thyself and sing;...
And here, in peace and safety, dwell

Contentedly till Spring.
And then thou shalt be free as wind,

Where'er thou wilt to rove;
And, welcome, here a shelter find,

When Autumn strips the grove.
Thou wilt not rest; thou dost not know

What mean the accents heard,
But think'st they from unkindness flow;

Mistrustful, timid bird !
Then, trembling songster, go thy way;

Now thou art free again ;
Though thou would'st not consent to stay,

Thy visit was not vain. '
God teaches us by whom he will;.

And I, by thee, am taught,
When he inflicts, to suffer ill,

As his dependents ought.

As on thy bosom, so, on znine,

Oppressing me, hath hung
A load of trouble, which, like thine,

From ignorance hath sprung.