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• Memoir of Rev. John Robinson.
• Section I.: Mr. Robinson, a Puritan In Norfolk. (1575—1604.)
• Section II.: Mr. Robinson a Separatist At Scrooby. (1604—1608.)
• Section III.: Mr. Robinson an Exile At Amsterdam. (1608, 1609.)
• Section IV.: Mr. Robinson a Pastor At Leyden. (1609—1625.)
• Section V.: Mr. Robinson, His Character and Writings.
• The Preface.
• Prefatory Notice By the Editor.
• Chapter I.: Of Man's Knowledge of God .
• Chapter II.: Of God's Love.
• Chapter III.: Of God's Promises.
• Chapter IV: Of the Works of God, and His Power, Wisdom, Will, Goodness, Etc., Shining In Them.
• Chapter V.: Of Created Goodness.
• Chapter VI.: Of Equability, and Perseverance In Well-doing.
• Chapter VII.: Of Religion, and the Differences and Disputations Thereabout.
• Chapter VIII.: Of the Holy Scriptures.
• Chapter IX.: Of Authority and Reason.
• Chapter X.: Op Faith, Hope, and Love: Reason, and Sense.
• Chapter XI.: Of Atheism and Idolatry.
• Chapter XII.: Of Heresy and Schism.
• Chapter XIII.: Of Truth and Falsehood.
• Chapter XIV.: Of Knowledge and Ignorance.
• Chapter XV.: Of Simplicity and Craftiness.
• Chapter XVI.: Of Wisdom and Folly.
• Chapter XVII.: Of Discretion.
• Chapter XVIII.: Of Experience.
• Chapter XIX.: Of Examples.
• Chapter XX.: Of Counsel.
• Chapter XXI.: Of Thoughts.
• Chapter XXII.: Of Speech and Silence.
• Chapter XXIII.: Of Books and Writings.
• Chapter XXIV.: Of Good Intentions.
• Chapter XXV.: Of Means.
• Chapter XXVI.: Of Labour, and Idleness.
• Chapter XXVII.: Of Callings.
• Chapter XXVIII.: Of the Use and Abuse of Things.
• Chapter XXIX.: Of Riches and Poverty.
• Chapter XXX.: Of Sobriety.
• Chapter XXXI.: Of Liberality and Its Contraries.
• Chapter XXXII.: Of Health and Physic.
• Chapter XXXIII.: Of Afflictions.
• Chapter XXXIV.: Of Injuries.
• Chapter XXXV.: Of Patience.
• Chapter XXXVI.: Of Peace.
• Chapter XXXVII.: Of Society and Friendship.
• Chapter XXXVIII.: Of Credit and Good Name.
• Chapter XXXIX.: Of Contempt and Contumely.
• Chapter Xl.: of Envy.
• Chapter Xli.: of Slander.
• Chapter Xlii.: of Flattery.
• Chapter Xliii.: of Suspicion.
• Chapter Xliv.: of Appearances.
• Chapter Xlv.: of Offences.
• Chapter Xlvi.: of Temptations.
• Chapter Xlvii.: of Conscience.
• Chapter Xlviii.: of Prayer.
• Chapter Xlix.: of Oaths and Lots.
• Chapter L.: of Zeal.
• Chapter Li.: of Hypocrisy.
• Chapter Lii.: of Sin, and Punishment From God.
• Chapter Liii.: of Rewards, and Punishments By Men.
• Chapter Liv.: of the Affections of the Mind.
• Chapter Lv.: of Fear.
• Chapter Lvi.: of Anger.
• Chapter Lvii.: of Humility and Meekness.
• Chapter Lviii.: of Modesty.
• Chapter Lix.: of Marriage.
• Chapter Lx.: of Children and Their Education.
• Chapter Lxi.: of Youth and Old Age.
• Chapter Lxii.: of Death.
• Introductory Notice By the Editor.
• Preface.
• Chapter I.: Of Predestination.
• Chapter II.: Of Election.
• Chapter III.: Of Falling Away. Adversaries. (page 78.)
• Chapter IV.: Of Free-will.
• Chapter V.: Of the Original State of Mankind.
• Chapter VI.: Of Baptism. (pages 129—176.)

SECTION III.

mr. robinson an exile at amsterdam.
(1608, 1609.)

The year of our Lord 1608 is memorable in the history of the Separatists. It was the year of Mr. Robinson's arrival in Holland with the remainder of the Scrooby church. Neither allowed to remain peacefully in England, nor suffered quietly to depart, they escaped to a strange land, acting on the direction of the Saviour—” When they persecute you in one city, flee to another.” The removal of this church was happily not the extinction of the cause in Great Britain. Other Puritan communities, if not avowedly Separatist, existed in the northern and western parts of the kingdom. They maintained and suffered for the truth; they earnestly prayed for its diffusion and success; and many of their adherents lived to witness its triumphs, and to share in the victories it achieved. Few of the exiles returned to England: they had a vocation to discharge. The great Head of the church designed their perplexities and afflictions as a means of preparing them for better service. Truth travels with the exiles; and as they are “scattered abroad” by the providence of God, the gospel spreads, and hence they become blessings to the nations amongst whom they are driven. These wanderers doubtless proved blessings in the land of their sojourn, but more eminently so, in the far distant regions whither they ultimately went.

Desirous of spiritual instruction and communion, Mr. Robinson and his church united themselves with their former companions now in Amsterdam, and together they became one with the original members of the English church in that city, under the pastoral care of Johnson and Ainsworth.

Spiritual life was not all they needed. Their bodies must be fed and their families supported. How these were to be accomplished became a source of deep solicitude. The temporal circumstances of these new settlers,‘these pioneers of truth and freedom in distant lands, were sufficiently discouraging. They were poor and in distress. Two only had possessed property, and they had sacrificed all for Christ. They were for the most part hard-working weavers, artisans, and husbandmen. The latter were the most numerous class. Scrooby was an agricultural district, and the majority of the members had come thence to the Netherlands. “They were not,” says Bradford, “acquainted with the trades and traffic by which the country doth subsist, but had been used to a plain country life, and the innocent trade of husbandry. But these things did not dismay them, although they did sometimes trouble them, for their desires were set on the ways of God and to enjoy his ordinances.” They, however, cheerfully submitted to the will of God, and began to seek such occupation as the city and neighbourhood would supply. Some learned new trades. Brewster, Bradford, and others, accustomed to less laborious pursuits than their companions, learned the arts of printing, dyeing, and weaving for their support. The difficulty of procuring situations and employment may be judged of, by the fact, that even Ainsworth had been, if he was not at the time, only a porter in a bookseller's shop. Their industry and peaceableness as neighbours secured the good opinion of the residents of their adopted country. Measures were taken by the archbishop and other ecclesiastical functionaries in England, to excite the suspicions and jealousies of the Dutch against the exiles, both while in Amsterdam and when at Leyden. British agents were employed in this nefarious work, but in vain. They remained undisturbed, and pursued their daily labours with satisfaction and success.

Doubtless Mr. Robinson, having no pastoral charge, was obliged to betake himself to some secular occupation for support; and even after he became pastor at Leyden, it is not improbable that he did the same. However undesirable it may be, that ministers should engage in secular pursuits, it can be no disgrace, while the fact remains that Paul was a tent-maker, and, while discharging his apostolic duties, wrought at his trade “with his own hands,” and thus secured an honest livelihood.

The church at Amsterdam was much disturbed and distracted by the proceedings of Mr. Smyth and a few partisans. The society was in a perpetual broil.* Mr. Robinson's tender and loving spirit could not endure the angry recriminations of the brethren. He was a man of peace and a lover of concord. The members of his own church were like-minded, and resolved, after a residence of about a year, to remove from the tumultuous scene, and seek a quiet home at Leyden, though it might not prove so advantageous to their worldly interests.

[*]Vide an Account of the Exiled Churches, and the proceedings at Amsterdam. Vol. iii. App, ii.