At length the appointed time came, bringing with it unusual severity of cold and rain.  An unfrequented and barren heath, on the shores of Lincolnshire, was the selected spot, where the feet of the Pilgrims were to tread, for the last time, the land of their fathers.  The vessel which was to receive them did not come until the next day, and in the mean time the little band was collected, and men and women and children and baggage were crowded together, in melancholy and distressed confusion.  The sea was rough, and the women and children were already sick, from their passage down the river to the place of embarkation on the sea.  At length the wished-for boat silently and fearfully approaches the shore, and men and women and children, shaking with fear and with cold, as many as the small vessel could bear, venture off on a dangerous sea.  Immediately the advance of horses is heard from behind, armed men appear, and those not yet embarked are seized and taken into custody.  In the hurry of the moment, the first parties had been sent on board without any attempt to keep members of the same family together, and on account of the appearance of the horsemen, the boat never returned for the residue.  Those who had got away, and those who had not, were in equal distress.  A storm, of great violence and long duration, arose at sea, which not only protracted the voyage, rendered distressing by the want of all those accommodations which the interruption of the embarkation had occasioned, but also forced the vessel out of her course, and menaced immediate shipwreck; while those on shore, when they were dismissed from the custody of the officers of justice, having no longer homes or houses to retire to, and their friends and protectors being already gone, became objects of necessary charity, as well as of deep commiseration.

As this scene passes before us, we can hardly forbear asking whether this be a band of malefactors and felons flying from justice.  What are their crimes, that they hide themselves in darkness?  To what punishment are they exposed, that, to avoid it, men, and women, and children, thus encounter the surf of the North Sea and the terrors of a night storm?  What induces this armed pursuit, and this arrest of fugitives, of all ages and both sexes?  Truth does not allow us to answer these inquiries in a manner that does credit to the wisdom or the justice of the times.  This was not the flight of guilt, but of virtue.  It was an humble and peaceable religion, flying from causeless oppression.  It was conscience, attempting to escape from the arbitrary rule of the Stuarts.  It was Robinson and Brewster, leading off their little band from their native soil, at first to find shelter on the shore of the neighboring continent, but ultimately to come hither; and having surmounted all difficulties and braved a thousand dangers, to find here a place of refuge and of rest.  Thanks be to God, that this spot was honored as the asylum of religious liberty!  May its standard, reared here, remain for ever!  May it rise up as high as heaven, till its banner shall fan the air of both continents, and wave as a glorious ensign of peace and security to the nations!