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The Great Controversy
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.”—George Bancroft, History of the United States of America,
pt. 1, ch. 12, par. 6. 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.”—J. G. Palfrey, History of New England, ch. 3, par. 43. Some
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
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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.”—Bancroft, pt. 1, ch.
12, par. 15.
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. God was
about to display His power in her behalf, to give to the world another
evidence that He will not forsake those who trust in Him. He had