_Of their setling in Holand, & their maner of living, & entertainmente ther._
Being now come into y^e Low Countries, they saw many goodly & fortified cities, strongly walled and garded with troopes of armed men. Also they heard a strange & uncouth language, and beheld y^e differente ma[=n]ers & customes of y^e people, with their strange fashons and attires; all so farre differing from y^t of their plaine countrie villages (wherin they were bred, & had so longe lived) as it seemed they were come into a new world. But these were not y^e things they much looked on, or long tooke up their thoughts; for they had other work in hand, & an other kind of warr to wage & maintaine. For though they saw faire & bewtifull cities, flowing with abundance of all sorts of welth & riches, yet it was not longe before they saw the gri[=m]e & grisly face of povertie coming upon them like an armed man, with whom they must bukle & incounter, and from whom they could not flye; but they were armed with faith & patience against him, and all his encounters; and though they were sometimes foyled, yet by Gods assistance they prevailed and got y^e victorie.
Now when M^r. Robinson, M^r. Brewster, & other principall members were come over, (for they were of y^e last, & stayed to help y^e weakest over before them,) such things were [12] thought on as were necessarie for their setling and best ordering of y^e church affairs. And when they had lived at Amsterdam aboute a year, M^r. Robinson, their pastor, and some others of best discerning, seeing how M^r. John Smith and his companie was allready fallen in to contention with y^e church y^t was ther before them, & no means they could use would doe any good to cure y^e same, and also that y^e flames of contention were like to breake out in y^t anciente church it selfe (as affterwards lamentably came to pass); which things they prudently foreseeing, thought it was best to remove, before they were any way engaged with y^e same; though they well knew it would be much to y^e prejudice of their outward estats, both at presente & in licklyhood in y^e future; as indeed it proved to be.
For these & some other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair & bewtifull citie, and of a sweete situation, but made more famous by y^e universitie wherwith it is adorned, in which of late had been so many learned men. But wanting that traffike by sea which Amsterdam injoyes, it was not so beneficiall for their outward means of living & estats. But being now hear pitchet they fell to such trads & imployments as they best could; valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above any other riches whatsoever. And at lenght they came to raise a competente & comforteable living, but with hard and continuall labor.