King Charles and the Five Fugitive Birds

King Charles I's relationship with the Puritans in Parliament fragmented as they unceasingly demanded religious reform. His marriage to the French Catholic Queen further aggravated his rift with the radical Protestants. When he heard rumors that Parliament members encouraged Scotland to rebel against his religious authority, Charles was incensed. On January 3, 1642, the king’s Attorney General read articles of impeachment against five elected officials. Since no one in Parliament supported the charges, the king himself marched to the House of Commons the following day with dozens of armed guards to arrest the five men. 

Taking over the speaker’s chair, the king called out the names of the suspects, one by one, but no one responded. Charles looked to Speaker William Lenthall for help, but Lenthall merely bowed and said he could only reply as directed by the House of Commons, and he "cannot give any other answer than this."

Realizing his enemies had slipped away, the King said, "I see the birds have flown," and he stomped out. London's officials also refused to help the King hunt down the wanted men. When rumors circulated that Charles was sending soldiers into the city to force cooperation, men poured in to defend London against the King's army, fueling the fire for an approaching civil war and royal execution. 

Charles' actions triggered a wave of unrest that rippled across the Atlantic to the American colonies, spurring greater economic and political autonomy, and a thirst for independence from the English crown. 

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“He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”

(Luke 1:52; 1599 Geneva Bible)

The Legacy of Elizabeth Peabody

A few years after they married, Mayflower passengers John and Priscilla Alden became parents to Elizabeth, perhaps the first European female born in New England. Two decades later they witnessed her marriage to William Peabody on December 26, 1644. The newlyweds settled north of Plymouth in William’s home of Duxbury, Massachusetts. 

Elizabeth was described as tall, beautiful, dignified, and “a woman of great character and fine presence." William was a respected church leader, as well as surveyor and town clerk. 

When the last of their thirteen children left home, the Peabodys moved to Little Compton, Rhode Island, which was then part of Plymouth Colony. William became their first town clerk, keeping that position so long into his old age that they hired an assistant to ensure that he kept accurate records. 

Ten years after William was gone, Elizabeth also died. She was one of very few colonial women to have a published obituary, confirming her importance in the community. A Boston newspaper praised her as "exemplarily virtuous and pious, and her memory is blessed." She had at least eighty grandchildren when she died, and over 550 great-grandchildren. Living into her early nineties, Elizabeth saw so many new generations in her family that, before she died, one of her own granddaughters became a grandmother. 

Among the several writers who were inspired by Elizabeth’s family is her own descendant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote of the romance of Elizabeth’s parents in the classic American poem, “The Courtship of Miles Standish.” 

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"Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel."

(Psalms 128:6; 1599 Geneva Bible)

"Also I will cause thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed"

(Genesis 26:4; 1599 Geneva Bible)

The Christmas Controversy

 As the Plymouth colonists were busy at work with their morning communal tasks, Governor Bradford saw something disturbing. Several young men (new arrivals to the colony) stood about doing nothing. Clearly, they lacked the customary work ethic of the original colonists. When he encouraged them to go work, they refused. They said it went against their conscience to work on Christmas Day. This was December 25, 1621, one year after the Pilgrims began building their community. Governor Bradford reluctantly allowed them to set aside work until they were better informed. 

Later that day, Bradford found those same young men gleefully playing ball in the streets. He confiscated their sporting equipment, saying that, while it may go against their conscience to work on Christmas day, it also went against the whole town’s conscience for them to play as everyone else was working. It was one thing to keep Christmas as a day of devotion in their homes, but quite another to use it as an excuse for laziness and public revelry. 

Puritans and Separatists did not observe holidays like Christmas or Easter because they were not commanded by God, but believed they were from Catholic or pagan origins. They also disapproved of the “dishonorable” theatrical plays, gambling, and dancing associated with Christmas celebrations. 

In 1647, the Puritan dominated English Parliament voted to abolish Christmas, and in 1659 the Puritan colony of Massachusetts Bay did the same, adding a five shilling fine to anyone caught observing the holiday of Christmas. 

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“This man esteemeth one day above another day, and another man counteth every day alike: let every man be fully persuaded in his mind. He that observeth the day, observeth it to the Lord: and he that observeth not the day, observeth it no1t to the Lord.”

(Romans 14:5-6; 1599 Geneva Bible) 

Uncontrollable Church Protests

England in the 1640s endured unprecedented religious fracturing. The momentum for religious freedom spread like wildfire, fueling the political divide in a nation at war with itself. Even the Sunday morning church service was not immune to the conflict as religious protesters disrupted sermons with angry outbursts, shouting out messages with all the fury of ancient prophets. Filled with righteous indignation, Quakers, Levelers, Anabaptists, Separatists, and others burst into church gatherings to challenge the doctrines of their ministers. This happened so often that on December 22, 1646 the House of Lords ordered local authorities to arrest anyone “who shall disturb any minister in holy orders” while he is “exercising his public calling.” 

The church protests eventually spilled overseas as religious rebels continued pouring into New England colonies, and even Harvard College was not immune. The school, which began as a training center for Puritan ministers, held regular services on their campus. In July of 1654, during an infant baptism ceremony, one man entered the chapel to stop the service and instruct them of their errors. If his objections were more academic than other church protests, it was because the protester was none other than the college president himself. The views of Henry Dunster, Harvard’s first college president, had moved away from Puritan orthodoxy toward the Anabaptist practice of adult baptism. He was soon dismissed from his office at the college, taken to court, exiled from Boston, and his last few years were spent as a preacher in Plymouth Colony. 

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“So the Priests, and the Prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the House of the Lord. Now when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking..., and all the people took him, and said, Thou shalt die the death.”

(Jeremiah 26:7-8; 1599 Geneva Bible)

See: The Life of Henry Dunster (1872) in Google Books.

A Dreary Inspection of Their New Home

On December 21, 1620, passengers who had been onboard the Mayflower for months could finally visit the future site of their colony. With a violent storm lashing the coastline, only a few determined souls took that chance. After years of praying and planning, they would wait no longer to see their new homesite. 

The shallop’s sail struggled against the harbor winds, and the waves tossed them like driftwood. Once on land, it soon became clear that the squalls and angry waters would forbid them from going back to the ship. There was no choice; they were forced to endure through the night. A makeshift shelter would be crucial, but there was not enough time to construct one under the already darkened skies. This was the winter solstice – the darkest time of the year. A long, wet, and trembling night lay ahead for those who were brave enough to go ashore. 

With hunger and illness crouching in every corner, the outlook for those who stayed on the ship was no better. On the day they had looked forward to for years, the coughing and crying was inescapable. And there was no sympathy from sailors who much preferred to haul wood and wine than a boatload of sickly immigrants. 

As the storm battered outside the ship and sickness and stench filled the inside, one more passenger was lost. After five deaths already, Richard Britteridge was the first to slip away after they reached Plymouth Harbor, and the worst was yet to come.  

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“God is our hope and strength, and help in troubles, ready to be found. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains fall into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof rage and be troubled, and the mountains shake at the surges of the same..” 

(Psalms 46:1-3; 1599 Geneva Bible)

They Chose Plymouth

Exhausted from two months at sea and weeks of waiting along the coast in the cramped and stinking ship, the Pilgrims were desperate to get on land, but first they had to choose a home. Adding urgency to their decision was the pressure from the Mayflower’s crew. The sea-beaten sailors were already agitated at the long delays and weeks of futile searching along the coast for an ideal location that may not exist. After all, their ship was blown hundreds of miles north of their destination. 

Recent history made the Pilgrims extra cautious in their choice. To the south was Jamestown, the struggling colony that seemed always on the verge of collapse. And the chilling tale of Roanoke, the village that disappeared without a trace, haunted their memories.

After weeks of wintry exploration, one location looked most promising. Named by English explorer John Smith, Plymouth offered fresh water springs, abundant fish and fowl, and endless trees for lumber. With a hilltop location that gave them security and a natural protective harbor, the Pilgrims chose Plymouth for their fledgling colony on December 20, 1620. 

Additionally, with all the other benefits, the land was already cleared off and prepared for fresh crops and new homes. It seemed as if Plymouth was a gift from God. Later they learned the real reason why the land was ready for habitation. A few years earlier the thriving village of Patuxet stood there, but the population was decimated by the diseases brought over from Europe.  

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“Joshua and Caleb “spake unto all the assembly of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we walked through to search it, is a very good land. If the Lord love us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us, which is a land that floweth with milk and honey.” 

(Numbers 14:6-8; 1599 Geneva Bible)

“According to the grace of God given to me, as a skillful master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon: but let every man take heed how he buildeth upon it.” 

(1 Corinthians 3:10; 1599 Geneva Bible)

Churches Created by Divorce

Henry wanted a divorce. Since Queen Catherine could not bear him a son, his heart was set on the beautiful Anne Boleyn. But the Catholic Church, which regulated marriage in Western Europe, would not allow it. Therefore, on December 18, 1534, King Henry VIII severed England's ties with the Pope and declared himself Supreme Head of the newly established Church of England. Henry’s self-proclaimed religious authority provided him the freedom to divorce or marry whenever he wished, renewing his hopes for a son – a male heir who would ensure political stability for both England and Henry’s dynasty. 

Then the king soon became disenchanted with his new marriage. After several moral and criminal accusations were made against Anne, Henry had her beheaded, making way for another wife, and yet another, finally totaling six successive wives and three surviving children. His young son, Edward VI, was crowned king after Henry’s death, but when the teenager died, it opened the royal door for Henry’s militantly Catholic daughter, Mary Tudor. At Mary’s death, Henry’s last surviving child, Elizabeth I, took the throne, securing the kingdom for a more moderate style of Protestant faith – one that required less bloodshed. 

Henry could not have anticipated how his divorce and severing ties with Catholicism would lead to endless religious divisions, even within his own Church of England. It was these fractures that eventually led to the emergence of Puritans, Separatists, and Quakers, who would cross the ocean a century later, establishing new religious colonies on the American continent. 

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“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it..., So ought men to love their wives, as their own bodies: he that loveth his wife, loveth himself.... Therefore everyone of you, do ye so: let everyone love his wife, even as himself, and let the wife see that she fear her husband.” 

(Ephesians 5:25, 28, 33; 1599 Geneva Bible)