church, being supported by the
civil authority, would permit no dissent from her forms. Attendance upon
her service was required by law, and unauthorized assemblies for religious
worship were prohibited, under penalty of imprisonment, exile, and death.

At the opening of the seventeenth century the monarch who had just
ascended the throne of England declared his determination to make the
Puritans "conform, or ... harry them out of the land, or else worse."(431)
Hunted, persecuted, and imprisoned, they could discern in the future no
promise of better days, and many yielded to the conviction that for such
as would serve God according to the dictates of their conscience, "England
was ceasing forever to be a habitable place."(432) They were at last
determined to seek refuge in Holland. Difficulties, losses, and
imprisonment were encountered. Their purposes were thwarted, and they were
betrayed into the hands of their enemies. But steadfast perseverance
finally conquered, and they found shelter on the friendly shores of the
Dutch Republic.

In their flight they had left their houses, their goods, and their means
of livelihood. They were strangers in a strange land, among a people of
different language and customs. They were forced to resort to new and
untried occupations to earn their bread. Middle-aged men, who had spent
their lives in tilling the soil, had now to learn mechanical trades. But
they cheerfully accepted the situation, and lost no time in idleness or
repining. Though often pinched with poverty, they thanked God for the
blessings which were still granted them, and found their joy in unmolested
spiritual communion. "They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on
those things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest country,
and quieted their spirits."(433)

In the midst of exile and hardship, their love and faith waxed strong.
They trusted the Lord's promises, and He did not fail them in time of
need. His angels were by their side, to encourage and support them. And
when God's hand seemed pointing them across the sea, to a land where they
might found for themselves a state, and leave to their children the
precious heritage of religious liberty, they went forward, without
shrinking, in the path of providence.

God had permitted trials to come upon His people to prepare them for the
accomplishment of His gracious purpose toward them. The church had been
brought low, that she might be exalted. Go