r time. In religious matters,
however, they were not all of one mind. Some of them wished to make only
a few changes in the Church. These were called Non-Conformists. Others
wished to make so many changes in religion that they could not stay in
the English State Church. These were called Separatists. The settlers of
Plymouth were Separatists; the settlers of Boston and neighboring towns
were Non-Conformists.

[Sidenote: The Scrooby Puritans. _Higginson, 55-56; Eggleston_, 34.]

[Sidenote: They flee to Holland.]

[Sidenote: They decide to emigrate to America.]

43. The Pilgrims.--Of all the groups of Separatists scattered over
England none became so famous as those who met at Elder Brewster's house
at Scrooby. King James decided to make all Puritans conform to the State
Church or to hunt them out of the land. The Scrooby people soon felt the
weight of persecution. After suffering great hardships and cruel
treatment they fled away to Holland. But there they found it very
difficult to make a living. They suffered so terribly that many of their
English friends preferred to go to prison in England rather than lead
such a life of slavery in Holland. So the Pilgrims determined to found a
colony in America. They reasoned that they could not be worse off in
America, because that would be impossible. At all events, their children
would not grow up as Dutchmen, but would still be Englishmen. They had
entire religious freedom in Holland; but they thought they would have
the same in America.

[Illustration: BREWSTER'S HOUSE AT SCROOBY. The Pilgrims held their
services in the building on the left, now used as a cow-house.]

[Sidenote: The voyage of the _Mayflower_, 1620.]

[Sidenote: The _Mayflower_ at Cape Cod.]

44. The Voyage across the Atlantic.--Brewster's old friend, Sir
Edwin Sandys, was now at the head of the Virginia Company. He easily
procured land for the Pilgrims in northern Virginia, near the Dutch
settlements (p. 41). Some London merchants lent them money. But they
lent it on such harsh conditions that the Pilgrims' early life in
America was nearly as hard as their life had been in Holland. They had a
dreadful voyage across the Atlantic in the _Mayflower_. At one time it
seemed as if the ship would surely go down. But the Pilgrims helped the
sailors to place a heavy piece of wood under one of the deck beams and
saved the vessel from going to pieces. On November 19, 1620, they
sighted land off the coast of Cape