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Excerpt from Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers The Brownist emigration, known to Americans as the "Sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers," was a little part of a great movement towards independence of judgment in spiritual affairs. The great movement began in the latter half of the sixteenth century in many parts of England. The little part of it which concerns us began in the early years of the seventeenth century in the country about the borders of the three counties of Nottingham, Lincoln and York. The Separatists were members of the lower and middle classes, who accepted the ruling of the Church of England in articles of faith, but refused her judgment in points of discipline. They held (in opposition to the Church) that the priesthood is not a distinct order, but an office temporarily conferred by the vote of the congregation. Their attitude and action have been thus described by one of their number: "They entered into covenant to walk with God and one with another, in the enjoyment of the Ordinances of God, according to the Primitive Patern in the Word of God. But finding by experience they could not peaceably enjoy their own liberty in their Native Country, without offence to others that were differently minded, they took up thoughts of removing." One party of them, under Pastor John Smyth, "removed" from Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, to Amsterdam, in the year 1606. Another party organized in that year in the district of Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, about ten miles west from Gainsborough, began to make itself obnoxious to the country authorities. This second party contained two prominent men, William Brewster, the chief layman, and John Robinson, one of the two ministers. The members of the party were accustomed to meet together "to worship God in their own manner." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.