Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation': From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to MassachusettsBradford, William
History
Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation': From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to Massachusetts
Bradford, William
Massachusetts -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
_Of their setling in Holand, & their maner of living, & entertainmente
ther._
Being now come into y^e Low Countries, they saw many goodly & fortified
cities, strongly walled and garded with troopes of armed men. Also they
heard a strange & uncouth language, and beheld y^e differente ma[=n]ers
& customes of y^e people, with their strange fashons and attires; all so
farre differing from y^t of their plaine countrie villages (wherin they
were bred, & had so longe lived) as it seemed they were come into a new
world. But these were not y^e things they much looked on, or long tooke
up their thoughts; for they had other work in hand, & an other kind of
warr to wage & maintaine. For though they saw faire & bewtifull cities,
flowing with abundance of all sorts of welth & riches, yet it was not
longe before they saw the gri[=m]e & grisly face of povertie coming upon
them like an armed man, with whom they must bukle & incounter, and from
whom they could not flye; but they were armed with faith & patience
against him, and all his encounters; and though they were sometimes
foyled, yet by Gods assistance they prevailed and got y^e victorie.
Now when M^r. Robinson, M^r. Brewster, & other principall members were
come over, (for they were of y^e last, & stayed to help y^e weakest
over before them,) such things were [12] thought on as were necessarie
for their setling and best ordering of y^e church affairs. And when they
had lived at Amsterdam aboute a year, M^r. Robinson, their pastor, and
some others of best discerning, seeing how M^r. John Smith and his
companie was allready fallen in to contention with y^e church y^t was
ther before them, & no means they could use would doe any good to cure
y^e same, and also that y^e flames of contention were like to breake out
in y^t anciente church it selfe (as affterwards lamentably came to
pass); which things they prudently foreseeing, thought it was best to
remove, before they were any way engaged with y^e same; though they well
knew it would be much to y^e prejudice of their outward estats, both at
presente & in licklyhood in y^e future; as indeed it proved to be.
_Their remoovall to Leyden._
For these & some other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair &
bewtifull citie, and of a sweete situation, but made more famous by y^e
universitie wherwith it is adorned, in which of late had been so many
learned men. But wanting that traffike by sea which Amsterdam injoyes,
it was not so beneficiall for their outward means of living & estats.
But being now hear pitchet they fell to such trads & imployments as they
best could; valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above any other
riches whatsoever. And at lenght they came to raise a competente &
comforteable living, but with hard and continuall labor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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