[Illustration: EDWARD WINSLOW, third Governor of Plymouth Colony. Great-grandfather of Edward Winslow, builder of The Mayflower Society House. Painted during a visit to England. Winslow is the only Pilgrim of whom there exists an authentic picture] Early in 1567 a number of ministers, despairing of getting the desired changes, made up their minds to separate from the church and hold religious services of their own. Robert Brown was one of them and went about the country advocating this policy of separation. Those who adopted it became known as Separatists or Brownists. They did not believe in having bishops rule over them. Some denied that the queen was head of the church. This was called treason. These were the people who became Pilgrims. The Puritans also questioned the spiritual authority of the bishops and claimed the right to worship as they saw fit, but they did nothing in particular about it. The Separatists, or better, Independents, which describes them accurately, established a little church in the hamlet of Scrooby, near Lincoln, where a congregation listened to the eloquent preaching of John Robinson. English laws provided imprisonment for those who refused to attend the Established Church, or were present at unlawful assemblies, with the further penalties, that the convicted must conform within three months or leave the country. If he refused, he should be deemed a felon and put to death without the benefit of clergy. The little church at Scrooby could not continue under these conditions. Some of the Separatists had given their lives, some were in prison, and others were in exile. Brown had fled the country, and so its members determined to cross to Holland. Under existing laws a family could not migrate without a license, and they were denied one. It was as dangerous to remain as it was to attempt to leave secretly. Meetings were held, and Separatists from Scrooby, Bristol, Exeter, Boston, and sundry other places planned to flee. In October 1607 they made their first attempt to leave from Boston in a chartered ship. They were seized, searched, and imprisoned. After a month all but seven of the principal men were released.