He once laid a similar trap for Mr. Johnson and his people at Emden,—which was their ruin. But though in that instance he managed to pluck his neck out of the collar, at last his foot is caught. No letters have arrived yet, as the ship Captain Argoll came in is still on the west coast; all that we hear is his report; it seems he came away secretly. The ship that Mr. Blackwell went in will be here shortly. What Mr. Robinson once said has come true: that we should hear no good of them. Mr. B. is not well; whether he will return to you or go north, I do not know. For myself I hope to see an end of this business ere I come, though I am sorry to be away from you. If things had gone straight forward, I should have been with you within these 14 days. I pray God direct us, and give us the spirit which is fitting for such a business. Thus having summarily pointed at things which Mr. Brewster I think has more largely written of to Mr. Robinson, I leave you to the Lord’s protection. Yours in all readiness, etc., ROBERT CUSHMAN. _London, May 8th, 1619._ A word or two, by way of digression, about this Mr. Blackwell. He was an Elder of the church at Amsterdam,—a man well known to most of them. He declined from the truth with Mr. Johnson and the rest, and went with them when they parted from the congregation in that woful manner, which brought such great dishonour to God, scandal to the truth, and ruin to themselves in this world. But, I hope, notwithstanding, through the mercies of the Lord, their souls are now at rest with Him in the heavens, and that they have reached the haven of happiness; though some of their bodies were thus buried in the terrible seas, and others sank under the burden of bitter afflictions. He, with some others, had prepared to go by way of London to Virginia. Being a private meeting—I take it a fast—in London, and being discovered, many of them were arrested, Mr. Blackwell being one; but he so glozed with the bishops, and either dissembled or flatly denied the truth which he had formerly maintained, and very unworthily betrayed another godly man who had escaped, so that he might slip his own neck out of the collar, that he won the bishop’s favour (but lost the Lord’s) and was not only acquitted, but in open court the Archbishop praised him highly, and gave him his solemn blessing to proceed on his voyage. But if such events follow the Archbishop’s blessing, happy are they that miss it; it is much better to keep a good conscience and have the Lord’s blessing, whether in life or death.