921.73 W589w.pdf - Mesa FamilySearch Library

Rev. Xarnuel Whiting. 3 I
would not yield to the dictation of the bish-
ops, and, though brave as the fiercest warrior
who burns to grapple with his foe in mortal
combat, would not, and could not, as disciples
of Jesus, shed human blood, even in the
holiest cause.
In x62o, the year in which Mr. Whiting was
graduated, the Pilgrim Fathers left their native
land to seek for freedom to worship God
according to the dictates of their conscience.
Though none of them are now known to have
gone from Boston, their emigration was even
then looked on as a momentous event, and was
not without its influence upon thousands who
subsequently followed them. The handful of
Christian pioneers who landed at Plymouth
demonstrated, as it was believed, that for all
conscientious and high-spirited Englishmen
there was an alternative which neither com-
pelled them to submit to the tyranny of the
Church, nor to shed innocent blood, since a
way opened for them to depart in peace. This
way, though rough and dangerous, was remem-
bered in their trials, and was subsequently