The Pastor of the Pilgrims a Biography of John Robinson (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Pastor of the Pilgrims a Biography of John Robinson<br><br>The following pages give an independent study of the work of the Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers and those associated with him. Robinson and his companions loved England with a passionate love, yet they were compelled to leave the land of their birth to secure freedom to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. Two sentences from Robinson's writings will explain the position: "For the commonwealth and kingdom," as we honour it above all the States in the world, so would we thankfully embrace the meanest corner in it, at the extremest conditions of any people in the kingdom." Again he says, "For our country we do not forsake it, but are by it forsaken, and expelled by most extreme laws and violent prescriptions, contrived and executed by the prelates and on their own behalf." To say, as has recently been said, that it was their own intolerance which drove these pilgrims to Holland is a gross misinterpretation of the facts.<br><br>Besides the identification of the early home and the parentage of John Robinson, these pages throw a little fresh light upon the Southworths and Carvers and others connected with the Pilgrim Father movement. Gervase Neville is identified, and the anonymous opponent of Robinson in one of his earliest controversies is named. The history of the obscure Church in the western parts of England is unfolded, and an attempt made to settle the vexed question of the identity of John Smith. The Appendices give illustrative extracts from contemporary documents.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>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.