Lecture.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2984, 7 September 1878, Page 4

Lecture.

The lecture on the " Pilgrim Fathers " was given on Thursday night by Rev. E. Laishley in the Congregational Church to an audience of above 200. The chair was taken at 8 o'clock by W. Davies, Esq., and after prayer by the Rev. R. S. Bunn, and an anthem by the choir —" Thine, O Lord, is the greatness "—the Chairman made a few remarks,-and introduced the lecturer.: The lecturer commenced by Baying that the period to which he would take them .was as far back as 250 years ago, at the time of James 1., in whom the • Puritans had hoped to gain a more .tolerant, sovereign; but they were ■orely disappointed, for they were" harassed more than ever by this tyrannical monarch. Persecutions drove, them to the determinationtoeiribark froth Boston, for America. The fate of the Puritan pilgrims was then traced by the lecturer, who ( shpyred, that the?firstrimmigrants had with iriet^gretot Maticltia, and .were in some cases imprisoned and. impoverished on reaching their destination'; In one case a portion of a batch of immigrants —the wives of a number of those" who left their native country -r- wereppurt r ashore/^h^'their husbands 'taken away against their wills, aud we^e separated for a considerable time. ThY lecture ' elo-' quently expatiated on the tyranny of Phillip 11. of Spain, and of the Spanish Armada celebrity, in conjunctipn,.with.tho people ol Amsterdam, who. had lalsb embraced the reformation. The voyage of the two little ships, the May Flower and( Speedwell, was commented on, and the Bufferings of the voyagers, jrho c were" much delayed, and subjected to unspeakable miseries on account of .the^smallness of the vessels Cone was 180 tons, arid contained over 100 persons). In September 1620, the pilgrims arrived in America, and the lecturer gave - a good account of the difficulties that had to be overcome in building habitations and cultivating. The lecturer here referred to the pretty song that had been* composed on the landing of the pilgrims (so named), and he here called upon, Mr Addey to.sing "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers." The severe winter, the lecturer went on to say, played sad havoc with the pilgrims, and more than one-half of them fell victims to their trials,-their constitutions having been undermined by the adversities they had undergone. But -when summer came and things;looked brighter they began to like their new . homes better; A long reading from Longfellow —a passage! in the history 'of Miles Btandish, and that hero's celebrated love affair—which took well, was then given. In conclusion the lecturer referred to the reasons which he considered had justified the Pilgrim Fathers in leaving; their.| nativeiland for' America, 'where, he said, j their early efforts had given a character to the 'America of ;to day,; both; in.its religious and'political institutions. They (the fathers) had desired freedom to worship God as they wished; and they succeeded, 1 arid also in establishing a'govern- i ment which, had not been equalle^.in i.ts kind in the world, the lectured Was listened to ; attentively, !and applauded.. A votej of thanks, moved by■''M^ i •'iH■^'''lPriyer,"^and';se'con'ded by Mr iNodder, to the lecturer and'all who had taken part in the evening's entertainment, was carried by acclamation. . Mrs' A'ddey played. (I thei accompaniments on,,a, piano that was kindly lent by Mr Lamb» for the occasion. ■ t ••, <: ,-, ( -,- f , ',- f