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Biographical Sketches of the Fathers of New England
Biographical Sketches of the Fathers of New England Author:Mary Clark Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: presence. This event proved the dissolution of the church over which he had presided at Leyden. Some of them removed to Amsterdam, some to other parts of the Net... more »herlands, and others came to New England ; among whom were his wife and children. His son Isaac lived to the age of ninety, and left posterity in the county of Barnstable. JOHN CARVER. Nothing is known of Mr Carver, previous to his appointment as agent of the English Congregational Church at Leyden, in 1618. At that time he was in high repute as a grave, pious, prudent, judicious man, and sustained the office of deacon. The Virginia Company wrote to Mr. Robinson, that the agents [Mr. Carver and Mr. Cushman,] "carried themselves with good discretion." The business of the agency was long delayed by discontents and factions in the Virginia Company, but at length a patent was obtained under the Company's seal. This patent and the proposals of Thomas Weston, merchant, and other persons who appeared friendly to 'the design, was carried to Leyden in 1619, for the consideration of the people. At the same time a plan was forming for a new council in the west of England, to superintend the plantation and fishery of North Virginia, the name of which had been changed to New England. Weston and the other merchants favored this plan, from the hope of gain by the fishery. This caused some embarrassment, and a variety of opinions among the congregation at Leyden; but considering that if they should wait for the new council to be incorporated, they might be detained another year, during which time the war be- Patent, s.; a writ conferring some exclusive right or privilege.—Incorporate, v. a. ; to invest with certain powers. tween Holland and Spain might be renewed, the majority concluded to take the patent already obtained, and...« less