d him into several errors. But it is no very difficult task to
winnow the chaff from the wheat, and the result will amply repay the
labor. So far from having the sympathy of the Nonconformists or
Puritans, the Separatists were pursued by them with greater virulence,
in tracts, pamphlets, and larger publications, than by the bishops
themselves. The circumstance is not inexplicable. It has had its
parallel in every succeeding period, to the present day. The
Nonconformists of modern times--the evangelical clergy of the church of
England (for the _old_ word described those who remained _in_ the
church, but did not conform in all respects to its prescribed
ceremonies)--the men who put their own construction on the Prayer Book,
and explain away the plain meaning of the baptismal and other
offices,--have always been found the most bitter opponents of a
conscientious and consistent dissent. There are tendencies in human
nature, not of a very recondite order, on which the fact may easily be
accounted for.

This fact, in relation to the actual position of the exiles and
pilgrims, is too important to be overlooked. It is an additional
justification of their conduct. If the Nonconformists had sympathized
with them to any extent, on the ground of their agreement respecting
evangelical doctrine, they might have been induced to remain at home,
enduring the violence of the storm which beat upon their devoted heads,
in the hope that it might abate in time through their influence. But
when they found their bitterest foes were these very men, it seemed time
for them to seek a home elsewhere.

The remainder of the story of Robinson's life must be briefly told. He
passed to Amsterdam, with the third and last portion of the Scrooby
Separatists, in 1608; Smyth and Clyfton having preceded him with the two
other companies about two years before. Mr. Ashton narrated the event in
the following words:--

"Mr. Robinson was now left with the remnant of the flock. Month
after month rolled away, and no abatement of the fury of the
dominant party was visible. His church, with himself, resolved
on following their companions to the United Provinces, where
toleration, if not perfect freedom, was allowed to all natives
and foreigners. Thrice was the attempt made at expatriation
before they could succeed. They first resolved to sail from
Boston. They formed a common fund and hired a vessel. To avoid
suspicion