PLYMOUTH. 136 PLYMOUTH ROCK. PLYMOUTH. A to«ii and one nf the county- w;it« of (Jraflon County, X. H.. .51 miles north by west of L'onrord; on the Peniif,'e» asset and Baker rivers, and on the Boston and .Maine Rail- road (.Map: Xew Hampshire. H 7). Situated in a region noted for its scenic attractions, Ply- mouth is a popular summer resort. It is the seat of the St«te Normal School, and has the Holderness School for Boys and a public library. There are manufactures of slioe peys, buckskin gloves. s|>ortinfr po"'!*- lumber, veneer goods, and butter. Nathaniel Hawthorne died here, and the old court-liouse is famous as the scene of Daniel Webster's lirst appearance as a lawyer. Popula- tion, in IS'.lll. 18.i2; in 1900, 1972. PLYMOUTH. A town and the county-seat of Washington County, N. C, 162 miles east of Haleigh ; on the Roanoke River, near .lbemarle Sound, and on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (.Map: North Carolina, F 2). It has a State normal school (colored), and is the trade centre for a fertile section, the chief products of which are cotton, peanuts, tobacco, rice, farm produce, and lumber. Population, in 1890, 1212; in 1900, 1011. PLYMOUTH. A borough in Luzerne County, Pa., lour miles west of Wilkesbarre; on the Susquehanna River, and on the Delaware, Lacka- wanna and Western Railroad (ilap: Pennsyl- Tania, E 2). It is interested principally in coal- mining and in the coal trade, being situated among the rich anthracite fields of the State. There are also some manufactures, the chief prod- ucts including mining drill machines, miners' squibs, hosiery, silk. etc. Plymouth was settled in 1708 by the Susquehanna Company, and until the close of the Pennamite-Yankee War in 1790 was claimed by both Connecticut and Pennsyl- vania. Population, in 1890, 9.344: in 1900, 13,- 049. Consult Wright. Hifilorical Sketches of Plymouth, PciuiKiilinnia (Philadelphia, 1873). PLYMOUTH BRETHREN. A religious sect which sprang into existence in the Briti.sh Islands during the first half of the nineteenth century, and has extended itself throughout the British dominions and in certain parts of the Continent of Europe, particularly among the Protestants of France, Switzerland, and Italy, and in the United States of .merica. They do not use the name themselves, preferring to bo called simply Believers. Christians, or Brethren. Their origin seems to have been due to a reac- tion against exclusive high-church principles in the Church of England and similar tendencies in other churches, and against a dead formalism associated with "unevangelical' doctrine. While several communities appeared almost simultane- osuly in various places, the foundation of the body is generally ascribed to the labors and in- fluence of .John Nelson Darby, from whom on the Continent of Europe they are commonly known as Darbyites. Darby was born in London in 1800; he was graduated B..-. at Trinity College. Dub- lin, in 1819, and was called to the Irish bar in 1825. He withdrew from the Church of Ireland because of conscientious scruples regarding the Rcripturalness of church establishments: he also believed that denominational distinctions and a regular ministry should be discarded. He found others who shared his views, notably . thony Norris Groves, a student at Trinity College, and an association was formed in Dublin in 1828. . other was soon organized in Plymouth, and the fact that Providence Chapel in that town was the first regular place of meeting gave rise to the name Plymouth Brethren in 1830. Darby continued to labor as an evangelist, vniconnected with any Church, in England and on the Conti- nent, until his death in 1882. He preached in English. French, and German, wrote voluminous- ly, and edited a quarterly periodical. The Chris- I ti(in Witness, which for a number of years was i the oHicial organ of the Brethren. His collected writings have been published in 32 volumes (London, 1867-83). The doctrines of the Plymouth Brethren are Calvinistic. They emphasize original sin, pre- destination, the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice, the merit of His obedience, the power of His inter- cession, the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification. Mil- Icnarian views are also generally entertained. They ])ractice the baptism of adults without re- gard to previous infant baptism. They hold meet- ings for Bible study and prayer, and observe the Lord's Supper weekly on Sunday. Their most distinctive peculiarity is their refusal to recognize any form of Church government or any office of the ministry; they insist on the equal right of every male member of the Church to prophesy or preach. They do not build churches, but meet in halls or private houses. A great schism took place among them during Darby's lifetime because of doctrines preached at Ply- mouth and Bristol concerning the human nature of Christ, and they have been frequently divided on narrow lines. There are four divisions in the United States (consult Carroll, The Reliyious Forees in the United fftates. New York, 1893). They numljcr alx)ut 300 meetings in the United States and 100 in Canada. Consult the biogra- phies of eminent members of the sect, as that of .. N. Groves (by his widow, London. 18,56) ; Henry Craik (by Taylor, ib.. 1806) ; the writings of B. W. Newton and W. Kelly : Guinness, Who Are the Phimouth Brethren* (Philadelphia, 1861) ; Dorm'an. ^c Close of 28 Years of Asso- ciation nith J. X. Darby (London. 1806); Henry Groves, Darbyism, Its Rise and Develop- ment (ib., 1806). For hostile criticism, con- sult Carson, The Heresies of the Plymouth Brethren (ib., 1862); Reid, Plymouth Breth- renism Vnveilrd and if rfi/ferf (Edinburgh, 1875) ; Croskery, Plymouth Brethrenism. a Refutation of Its Principles and Doctrines (London, 1879). Consult also Teulon. The History and Teaching of the Plymouth Brethren (ib., 1883) : Neat- ley. .4 History of the Plymouth Brethren (ib., 1901). PLYMOUTH CHURCH. The church in Brooklyn, N. Y., made famous bj' the long pas- torship of Henry Ward Beecher, which lasted from 1847 until his death, forty years later. The original building was burned in 1849. when the present plain brick church was erected, seating 2800 people, and containing one of the largest organs in .America. PLYMOUTH COLONY. See Massachu- setts. PLYMOUTH ROCK. A ledge of rock in Ply- moulli harbor, ilassachusetts. on which the Pil- grims are said to have stepped when disembark- ing in 1620. It is looked upon with veneration and celebrated in literature as a symbol of New
