DEPRECIATION OF THE CURRENCY.—INTRODUCTION OF THE SPINNING-JENNY.—BITTER OPPOSITION TO THE FEDERAL UNION.—RHODE ISLAND FINALLY ACCEPTS THE CONSTITUTION.
The question of finance meets us at every turn, and in every phase bears fatal witness to the demoralizing effects of paper money unsustained by hard money capital. At the Spring election of 1786, the triumph of the paper money party was complete. A new bank was established of a hundred thousand pounds. And soon a Forcing Act became necessary to give the bills currency under heavy penalties. A complete stagnation of business presently followed. The old hostility between town and country revived. Commerce was suspended. Shops were closed. The farmers who had mortgaged their farms for the bills, found that they had got nothing but bits of paper in return for fruitful acres. To retaliate upon the tradesmen they refused to bring their produce to market. The necessaries of life fell short and much suffering ensued. In Providence a town meeting was held to devise a remedy, and it was resolved that the farmers should be left to maketheir own bargains, and that to relieve the immediate demand five hundred dollars should be borrowed and sent abroad to buy corn for the sufferers. At Newport an attempt was made to force the bills upon the grain dealers, which led to a riot. At a meeting in South Kingstown farmers were advised to break off their intercourse with the merchants.
A convention of the country towns of Providence County was held at Scituate and adjourned to meet the State convention at East Greenwich. Sixteen towns were represented and resolved “to support the acts of the General Assembly,” and enforce the penal acts in favor of paper money. Providence was represented by five of its best and most popular men, but they were powerless against the torrent.
When the question came before the Assembly a new Forcing Act was passed, in which the right to trial by jury was withheld and all the common forms of justice violated. The protest of the indignant minority was refused a place on the records; and pushing their recklessness to the utmost, the triumphant majority enacted that the arrears of Continental taxes might be paid in the new bills, and proposed a system by which all trade was to be carried on by a committee in the name of the State. This, however, was a step too far even for these wild schemers, and when the Force Act was brought to trial, it was condemned by a full bench as unconstitutional.
But the Assembly persevered, summoned the judges to answer fofr their interference, and under the name of Test Act passed a new Forcing Act more outrageous than the last. It was something like a pause in this reckless career that the new act was referred to the towns for discussion. Only three towns accepted it. An attempt at conciliation failed.
The lowest deep of financial degredation was reached when the treasurer was ordered to pay one-fourth part of the State debt in the bills received for taxes. Never had party spirit assumed so dangerous a form. Among the bad doings of the Assembly was the resumption of the charter of Newport.
It was at this critical moment, when rents were paid in corn and trade seemed about to return to its original form of barter, that the first spinning-jenny in the United States was constructed by Daniel Jackson, of Providence, and the foundations of Rhode Island’s manufacturing prosperity securely laid. History is full of compensations.
We reach the beginning of a still greater struggle. The convention that was to transform the Confederation into a Union was to meet in May. Should Rhode Island be represented in it? Those who had faith in the Confederation, and there were many such, believed that with some amendments it might be made to answer all the purposes of a stable government. Those whowere more impressed with its weakness called for a thorough and radical change. The first, who in the sequel were known as States Rights men, were also the advocates of paper money. The second, the Federalists of a later day, were in favor of hard money. The motion to send delegates was lost, and another step taken towards repudiation. “All holders of State securities were required to present them to the treasurer within six weeks and receive five shillings in the pound thereupon, or to forfeit that amount, and interest was to cease immediately upon the rising of the Assembly. The paper was now passing at the rate of six dollars in paper for one in silver.” Never had the honor of the State been so imperilled. Fortunately, though, the Assembly was divided, the courts were firm, and it was only by removing four judges out of five that a decision in favor of paper payments was obtained. Meanwhile the bills continued to fall, and soon reached eight for one. But the moral sense of the community was not altogether stifled. Some churches refused to receive as communicants men who paid their debts in paper.
But soon all questions became absorbed in the question of the acceptance or rejection of the Convention. In the Senate it was voted to send delegates, but the bill was lost in the House, whose action was defended by a State Rights letter, setting forth the doctrine of popular sovereignty and “the entire subserviency of thelegislature to the public will.” None but the people could send delegates to a convention.
Meanwhile, the Convention, with Washington at its head, and Franklin, Hamilton and Madison among its working members, had reached the end of its arduous labors. The next step was to submit it to the people. The Assembly met and a bill was introduced for printing it for distribution, and appointing delegates as recommended by the Convention itself. The last was voted down by a large majority. The fruit was not yet ripe. But a resolve to print a thousand copies for distribution was agreed to, and thus the question was brought squarely before the people.
And now for three years it was the chief question in all public meetings, and was sure to come in either directly or indirectly wherever two or three met together for business or for pleasure. The merchants accepted it cheerfully, for they saw progress and development and protection in it. But it was opposed by the farmers, who saw in it a sacrifice of the rights of the State. Rhode Island had stood alone so long, had been so firm and self-reliant through the dark days of her long contest with Massachusetts and Connecticut, that she failed to see how completely the relations of the colonies to each other were changed, when from colonies they became states. There was no place for independent states in the domain occupied by a Federal Union.
The first to accept the Constitution was Delaware. Pennsylvania came next, and then NewJersey. The opening of 1788 was marked by the accession of Georgia. Connecticut followed close. In Massachusetts the contest was long and bitter. In June New Hampshire gave in her adherence.
We have seen in what a dark hour Rhode Island first turned her attention to cotton spinning. In this hour of even deeper gloom she first opened a direct trade with India. About the same time a rolling and a slitting-mill was established near Providence. Women of all classes met together to spin flax, and men of all classes took pride in wearing homespun. Nor was the promise of navigation less. Providence already counted a hundred and ten sail in her waters, exclusive of river craft. In spite of all her errors her faith in the future was unimpaired.
Meanwhile the contest continued. Town was arrayed against country, the States Rights men still holding the majority in the Assembly, although in Providence the Federalists were strongest. The tidings of New Hampshire’s acceptance was received with exultation. The Constitution was sure. In Providence it was resolved to unite the celebration of the Fourth of July with that of the completion of the National Union. The States Rights men took this for an intentional insult and marched upon the town. Nothing but the good sense of the leaders prevented a bloody collision. The rejoicings it was agreed, were for the Declaration of Independence, not for the Declaration of the Union. Then from five to six thousand peoplesat down in a tent a thousand feet long to feast upon a sumptuous banquet, the most attractive part of which was an ox roasted whole. On the very next day came tidings from Virginia. She also had accepted the Constitution. New York followed and then North Carolina, and the warmest enthusiasm welcomed each new declaration of acceptance. But a bitter party spirit still held Rhode Island back.
Thus month followed month. New assemblies and new town meetings came together and fought over the same ground. In all the other states of the old thirteen the Constitution had been accepted, and was in successful operation. It was clear that Rhode Island could not long preserve her insulation. She was already compelled to ask vital favors of the Union, and petition Congress to exempt her commerce from paying duties in Union ports. For a while Congress bore with her and granted her prayer. Slowly but surely the decisive day drew nigh. All the artifices of parliamentary tactics were brought into play. In the midst of intense excitement and by the casting vote of Governor Collins, it was decided on the Sabbath morning of January 17th, 1790, to call a convention. But even in the convention the friends of the Constitution were in a minority. The familiar ground was to be fought over again with no less bitterness than in the beginning. Loud murmurs came from Congress. Shall this little strip of land prevent us from completing aunion so full of promise? Louder still were the murmurs from the seats of commerce—Providence and Newport. We will break away from these impracticable men and go into the Union alone with our ships and our spinning-jennies. A coalition ticket was formed. So great was the eager crowd, in which each man had his opinion, that the State House was found too small to hold them, and the convention was compelled to adjourn to the Second Baptist Church. It still took three days more before a vote was reached; and then, at five o’clock of Saturday afternoon, on the 29th of May, 1790, Rhode Island declared her adhesion to the Union.
MODE OF LIFE IN OUR FOREFATHERS’ DAYS.
We have followed with as much detail as our limits would permit, the history of Rhode Island through the various phases of her colonial life. Before we enter upon the story of her development as a member of a great Union, we propose to bring together a few facts from the imperfect record of her social and domestic life, and endeavor to form for ourselves some idea of what manner of men and women our fathers and mothers were, and what kind of lives they led. Incomplete as our materials for such a picture are, there is still enough to be found in those sources from which history loves to draw to bring us very near to the life of those days.
And to begin with the soil; the inland in the beginning of English colonization was a vast forest, dotted with ponds of fresh water and watered by numerous rivers. In this forest the natives themselves had begun the work of clearing, and drawn between it and the sea a belt of arable land from eight to ten miles in depth, on which they planted their favorite food—the nutritious maize. The waters abounded with fish, thewoods with game. The animals most to be feared were the wild-cat and the wolf—the most sought after by the hunter, the deer. In the earliest commercial intercourse of Indian and white man, the medium was maize.
There were no carriages nor carriage roads. All traveling was on foot or horseback, and when the first English settlement began, in almost every twenty miles you would find an Indian village.
As the soil came under more skillful cultivation and the colonist took the place of the Indian in field work, the harvests became more abundant, and the rich grasses which grew as high as the tops of the fences, became very valuable as butter and cheese. Thus farming was carried on on a large scale, and dairy farms gave employment to many hands. The Stanton farm was four miles long by two miles wide, and was cultivated by forty horses and forty slaves. The Champlin farm was a tract of a thousand acres, feeding thirty-five horses, fifty-five cows, from six to seven hundred sheep, and slaves enough to tend and utilize them all. Robert Hazard owned sixteen hundred acres on Boston Neck, and several thousand on the west side of the Pettaquamscot River. On one of these farms grazed a hundred and ten cows, two hundred loads of hay were cut, thirteen thousand pounds of cheese were made, and from seventy to eighty pounds of butter. The products on which all this labor was bestowed, were corn, tobacco, cheese and wool. The work was done by slavesand Indians. The cheese resembled in flavor and color the rich Cheshire cheese of England. Some attention was also given to fattening bullocks and raising horses, and cutting hay and grain for the West Indies.
On Isaac P. Hazard’s farm twelve negro women were employed in making cheese, each woman having a girl under her and making from twelve to twenty-four cheeses a day. So rich and luxuriant was the grass that his hundred and fifty cows gave double the quantity of milk that cows give on the same farms now. Four thousand sheep furnished the materials for the woolen cloths of his numerous household, and extensive hemp fields the linen, both being woven in his own looms. This Hazard, when years came upon him, gave over the management of his estate into the hands of his children, and congratulated himself that he thenceforth had only seventy mouths to provide for between parlor and kitchen.
Traveling, as I have already stated, was on horseback, and a servant well mounted always went with the master to open the gates. The roads were mere driftways. A generous hospitality left the inns to justices’ courts, town councils and tipplers. The guest chamber was seldom empty, and the fireside all the more cheerful for the face of a stranger.
Public provisions for education were insufficient. Their place was supplied for boys by private tutors, or by board in the family of alearned clergyman to prepare them for college. The girls were sometimes sent to Boston to study accomplishments. They loved reading, each generation having its favorite in verse and in prose. Of those nearest to us Pope was the poet. Private libraries were numerous and well selected, though not large.
Amusements took their character from country life. The young men loved races on the beach with their Narragansett pacers, and a silver tankard for the winner. They all loved quahaug roasts on the shores, where deep beds of shells still remain to bear witness to their festivities. They loved to hunt the fox and the deer with hound and horn, and exercise their skill in starting and following up the partridge and woodcock and quail. They would lie on the frozen ground in the cold winter dawn to get a shot at a duck or a wild goose and trap the timid rabbit in snow. No hardship was too great that brought them to their game. In May they went in merry parties to Hartford to eat bloated salmon.
In such a state of society weddings were great festivals, and more especially for the display of dress. The bride came robed in stiff brocade with towering head dress and high heeled shoes. The bridegroom, in scarlet coat, his limbs clad in small-cloths and silken hose, with laced ruffles on his wrists, and brilliant buckles on his shoes, and his hair curled and frizzled, or suspended behind in a queue. Friends and kindred came from farand near, sometimes as many as six hundred being gathered to witness the nuptial rites and join in the wedding dance.
But the great pastime for young and old, for matron and maid and for youth just blushing into manhood, was the autumn husking, when neighbors met at each other’s corn-yards to husk each other’s corn; sometimes husking a thousand bushels in a single meeting. Husking had its laws, and never were laws better obeyed. For every red ear the lucky swain could claim a kiss from every maid; with every smoot ear he smooched the faces of his mates amid laughter and joyous shoutings; but when the prize fell to a girl she would walk the round demurely, look each eager aspirant in the face, and hide or reveal the secret of her heart by a kiss. Then came the dance and supper, running deep into the night and often encroaching upon the early dawn.
I have spoken of slavery and the repeated attempts Rhode Island made to shake it off. The number of slaves was not large, and for the most part they were treated kindly. Still servitude implied degradation, and the habit of looking down upon human beings could not but react unfavorably upon the character and habits of the masters themselves. It was a softening of their lot that in the regular festivals the negroes had their share, their dances and their suppers, and even their elections, when they elected and installed their governor, and feasted luxuriously at the expense of their masters.
COMMERCIAL GROWTH AND PROSPERITY OF RHODE ISLAND.
Rhode Island came well prepared to her new duties. She had worked out in her own experience the most important problems of civil organization, rendering “unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” Her legislation was the reflection of her culture, and her statute book the record of her progress in the science of self-government. Her colonial life had been a constant struggle with jealous neighbors who coveted her beautiful bay and detested her “soul liberty.” Out of this struggle she came stronger and more resolute for the discipline it gave her, yet not without some marks of the strife. She had learned to apprehend danger from afar off and cultivate jealousy as a safeguard, and hence she sometimes as in her refusal to grant the impost duty, was guided by a keen sense of her rights as a sovereign state, rather than a deep conviction of her obligations as member of a confederation. Hence also, she had hesitated three years on the borders of union, and seen her sister states enter it one by one before she could bring herself to make over toa central government even those portions of authority which a central government could administer so much more in her interest than she. But she was wiser for the struggle, and full of resolution and hope entered boldly upon her new career.
We have seen that Rhode Island began very early to seek her fortune on the water. Ship building was one of the earliest forms which her enterprise assumed. Already in March, 1790, the shipping of Providence alone consisted of nine ships, thirty-six brigs, forty-five sloops and twenty schooners, forming in all a tonnage of ten thousand five hundred and ninety. To man this commercial fleet the same town had a population of six thousand three hundred and eighty to draw from. Newport, though no longer holding the same position which she held before the war, was still an active seaport. The population of the whole State had risen to sixty-eight thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
The most active commerce had been that of the West Indies. But with peace a wider field was opened, and ships sent directly to the East Indies. Raw material of various kinds was sent to Europe, and European manufactures brought back in return. It was soon evident that the new State would profit England more by equal commerce than by dependence. Yet it was not all at once that the financial errors of the Revolution could be repaired, or the bitterness engendered by civilwar assuaged. A deep rooted hostility to England had taken hold of many minds, to bear its fruits when republican France claimed sympathy as a sister republic.
We have already registered the birth of manufactures. Circumstances favored their growth and prepared the way for a development which has made the smallest one of the richest states of the Union. A great river runs through it, widening at its mouth into a spacious bay. Deep ponds of pure water dot its surface, and limpid streamlets which swell with every rain send from every upland their tributes to the bay. How should these waters be subjected to the will of man? Samuel Slater, a native of Derbyshire, had served an apprenticeship to Jedediah Strutt, the partner of Arkwright, and learned the secret of the new method of spinning cotton. Heavy penalties were affixed to the exportation of the new machinery. But Slater had made himself master of the theory as well as the practice of the art, and seems to have been casting about him for a way of turning his knowledge to account, when he learned that the State of Pennsylvania had offered a bounty for the introduction of it. Thus American manufactures owe their birth to protection. The story was a simple one. Slater came to America bringing the secret with him. In Moses Brown, of Providence, he found a judicious counselor, in William Almy and Smith Brown enterprising capitalists. On the 21st ofDecember, 1790, and on the Pawtucket River, the first factory went into operation. On that day and by the hand of Samuel Slater, the destiny of Rhode Island was decided.
In these days of mingled hope and fear, on the 19th of July, 1785, closed the long and useful career of Stephen Hopkins, whose name is closely interwoven with all that is greatest and best in Rhode Island history; an astronomer of no mean pretensions, a statesman of broad views and deep penetration, a supreme executive, prompt, energetic and fearless, a genial companion when wise men relax from care, and a trusty counselor when the duties of life bear heaviest on the scrupulous conscience.
The tranquil growth of manufactures affords few materials for general history, in which it appears by its results rather than by its processes. Statistics take the place of narrative, and except in controlling and inventive minds the story of man himself is the story of a machine.
Meanwhile another seed was sown in this fruitful ground, and another name was associated with a great public benefaction, the name of John Howland, a native of Newport, but from his ninth year a resident of Providence and a barber by trade, became, in 1799, the father of the free school system of Rhode Island. Not all at once was this good work done, but slowly and in spite of much opposition, chiefly from the poor who were to profit most by it. Years were yet to passbefore the pride as well as the consciences of the people became enlisted in its behalf.
In the commercial history of the State the foundation of the Providence Bank, in 1791, was an event of great importance, to be followed at intervals by others with various degrees of success. But among them all not one bore so directly upon the moral growth of the community as the Providence Institution for Savings, founded in 1819.
Great hopes were founded on a canal connecting the tide-water of Providence River with the north line of the State. A company for this purpose was formed in 1796, and so great was the confidence which the undertaking inspired, that John Brown, a leading merchant of Providence, subscribed forty thousand dollars to the stock. The project failed, and though enthusiastically renewed in 1823, failed again and forever.
The yellow fever belongs to our record, and Rhode Island came in for a full share of the destruction occasioned by the September gale of 1815. Most towns hand down from generation to generation the story of some great fire which swept over it in its young days, leaving ruin and desolation in its path. The “great fire” of Providence was the fire of 1801, the memory of which still lives in the traditions of our own generation.
Pleasant memories also belong to our record. When Washington made his first visit to theEast as President, Rhode Island had not yet entered the Union. When she did he made a second visit to the East in recognition of her accession, and was enthusiastically welcomed. He had already been there under very different circumstances during the war.
We have spoken of John Howland as a public benefactor. Another of these benefactors of their race was Ebenezer Knight Dexter, founder of the Dexter Asylum, who having amassed a large fortune in honorable commerce, gave sixty thousand dollars of it to the support of the poor. A still more important movement was made in the interest of the poor, when the first temperance meeting was held in Providence in 1827.
We saw how a charter had been granted to Newport and taken from her. In 1829 an attempt was made to obtain a charter for Providence and failed. Two years later a serious riot occurred in which some property was destroyed and some lives were lost. It became evident to the friends of good order that a more efficient government was required to hold in check a population of sixteen thousand eight hundred and thirty-two souls; for to that number had Providence risen in 1830. A charter was applied for and easily obtained, and on the 22d of November, 1832, the Town of Providence became a city. Samuel W. Bridgham was the first Mayor.
Though never the seat of war during the war of1812, the name of Rhode Island is closely connected with it, through Oliver H. Perry, one of the greatest of naval commanders. She bore her part also in the sufferings occasioned by the embargo, and the other rash measures of a government which rushed headlong and wholly unprepared into a war with the most powerful nation on earth. Fully sharing also in the just discontent of the Eastern States, she sent four delegates to the much maligned Hartford Convention.
THE DORR REBELLION.
We have seen that the relation of the citizen to the State became the subject of attention and experiment at an early period in the history of Rhode Island. Although an avowed democracy, she regarded suffrage not as an inherent right, but as a privilege dependent upon the fulfillment of certain specified conditions. Inequality of representation was a natural consequence of the unequally increased population; some towns growing faster than others, but having no more voice in legislation than they had had at the beginning of their civil existence. The right to vote was held to be an important right, and great pains were taken to secure purity at the polls. But it was evident that all the tax-payers would sooner or later claim to be voters. This question recurs from time to time in all its ramifications, and though long deferred, became at last the chief question of Rhode Island politics.
For more than two-thirds of a century she had lived under the Charter of Charles II., first as a Colony and lastly as a State. This Charter was framed in the broad and liberal spirit of Roger Williams and John Clarke, and left room forlarge developments in every department of legitimate thought and action.
Unfortunately what might have been brought about by peaceful discussion was gradually fanned into the fiercest flame. Providence had entirely outgrown her old rival, Newport, and yet Newport had a representation of six in the Assembly, and Providence of only four. In other towns the disproportion was equally great. The property qualification also, a freehold of a hundred and thirty-four dollars, was bitterly opposed by those who had no freehold. In 1840 seventy-two representatives were chosen. Thirty-eight were chosen from towns having only twenty-nine thousand and twenty inhabitants and two thousand eight hundred and forty-six voters, and the remaining thirty-four came from towns which had only seventy-nine thousand eight hundred and four inhabitants, and five thousand seven hundred and seventy-six voters.
Equally irritating to those who had no share in it was the right conferred by primogeniture.
For many years these questions were prominent subjects of discussion, and were even brought forward as the most important objects of legislative action. But no relief could be obtained from the Assembly, for the Assembly itself was chiefly composed of the privileged classes. From the Assembly there was but one appeal—the appeal to the people, and upon the form of this appeal lay the choice between reform and revolution.This is the event known in Rhode Island history as the Dorr Rebellion.
The first step towards action was the formation of suffrage associations, by which the public mind was excited and the popular will roused to exertion. All through the last weeks of 1840 and the first weeks of 1841, these associations were busy in guiding, kindling and stimulating the popular mind, and preparing it for decisive action. All classes were roused, for the contest was at every door, and every citizen was equally interested in the result.
The suffrage associations did their work actively and well. By the 5th of July, 1841, a mass convention was held in Providence, and the State Committee was authorized to call a convention for the formation of a Constitution. Confident of their strength the committee set themselves to their task. On the 28th of August delegates were chosen, and on the 4th of October the convention met. In this convention a Constitution was framed, and in December sent out to the people as the People’s Constitution. Fourteen thousand voters, a majority, it was claimed, of all the male adult voters in the State, cast their votes for it. It claimed to be the will of the people authoritatively expressed. There was one more step to take, the consequence and complement of all that had hitherto been done, to complete the organization by the election of officers. The 18th of April, 1842, was fixed upon for this gravestfunction of freemen, and Thomas Wilson Dorr, of Providence, was chosen Governor.
Votes had done all that the mere expression of opinion could do. But underlying every lawful vote was the law which gave it validity, and this law had prescribed the form and manner in which these votes became effective. It had said that while the source of all power was in the people, the people themselves in order to secure progress and guard against revolution had set limits to their authority, and told when, where and for what it should be employed.
And now it was seen that there was another government which claimed to be in sole possession of this power, and the moment that the new government attempted to perform its executive functions it found itself face to face with the old. It was evident that one of the two parties must give way or there must be a collision and bloodshed.
The first attempt of the Suffragists to organize was made at Providence on the 3d of May, and was repelled. The moral strength was with the charter government which had the chartered companies, the organized militia and a strong body of volunteers at its control. It had also the strong moral support of that clause in the Constitution of the United States which guarantees to every state a republican government and protection against internal violence. Should Federal intervention become necessary, the time and the form of it had been provided for. Butit was not needed. We have seen that on the 3d of May the government of Governor, Dorr had attempted to displace the government of Governor King, and failed. On the 18th an attempt was made to seize the Arsenal, which also failed. Men who had grown up side by side in peaceful intimacy, had seized their arms under a strong political excitement, but when the moment for using them came, shrank from the fearful responsibility. Hundreds would have fought gallantly, but no one was prepared to begin. And thus when on the 25th of June an attempt was made to make a stand at Chepachet, the Suffragists gave way at the approach of the State troops, and returned to their homes without shedding a drop of blood. By the 28th of June all was over. The great body of the insurgents went quietly back to their stores and their farms. Their leader was tried for treason and condemned to imprisonment for life. But Rhode Island was not a place where so severe a punishment could be meted out to such an offence. In 1847 an act of general amnesty set him free, and in 1851 he was restored to his political and civil rights. Forgiveness went still further, and his sentence was reversed as illegal and unjust. But the Supreme Court refused to sustain this reversal as an assumption of judicial authority by the Legislature. Dorr’s early death left him no time for new aspirations.
Meanwhile a new convention for the framing of a new Constitution had been called by theregularly constituted authorities, and a new draft submitted to the people. But this also was rejected. Another attempt was made, another convention called. Argument and discussion were exhausted. The popular mind was prepared for decision. The popular will called for it. The last day of the old Charter was come. At an adjourned meeting of the convention, held at East Greenwich on the 5th of November, a final decision was reached and a Constitution unanimously agreed upon. On the first Tuesday in May, 1843, it went into operation.
And thus Rhode Island, while she adhered firmly to the principle of freedom of opinion, adhered no less firmly to the principle of law and order. The Dorr Rebellion was the resistance of law to revolution, of order to the arbitrary assumption of power. Rhode Island had begun her career by a practical profession of freedom of thought and freedom of speech. She had struggled long and hard to secure them both, and now the day of reward was at hand. Henceforth the industries of peace will bring her wealth from the land and the sea, the salubrity of her climate will raise up on her inland and on her shores a thriving and vigorous population, and while in some things she will take the lead of her sister states, in no thing will she fall far behind.
LIFE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.—THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.—THE CENTENARY.
With the adoption of the new Constitution business returned to its natural channels. Party animosities lost somewhat of their bitterness as the various forms of industry revived, and old friends were again brought into daily communication under the healing influence of common interests and common pleasures. The story of these calm pursuits brings out in pleasant relief the every-day virtues of domestic life and the higher qualities of combination and invention, but it seldom addresses itself to the imagination, or excites and surprises by glowing appeals to the passions. The happiest periods of history are those which are the most barren of incident.
Meanwhile one of the great epochs of our history was at hand, and Rhode Island was again called upon to furnish the materials for battles which were to be fought at a distance from her own soil. The war of secession found her, like her sisters, unprepared for the great struggle in which humanity had so much at stake, and which soon made it manifest that industrious peace is the best of preparations for a war of principle. Within three days after President Lincoln issuedhis proclamation calling for troops for the defence of Washington, a body of Rhode Islanders, well armed and equipped, was on its way thither. As the war continued she still met its increasing demands, till the sum-total of her contributions amounted to twenty-four thousand and forty-two, upon a population of one hundred and eighty-four thousand nine hundred and sixty-five. Of these, two hundred and fifty-five were killed; one thousand two hundred and sixty-three died of wounds or disease; one thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded.
As some readers may wish for more detail, I give the following statement, for which I am indebted to the politeness of Adjutant-General Heber Le Favour:
“There went into the field from Rhode Island during the late rebellion, twenty-four thousand and forty-two men; of which the infantry numbered ten thousand three hundred and eighty-two; cavalry, four thousand three hundred and ninety-four; heavy artillery, five thousand six hundred and forty-four; light artillery, two thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven; navy, six hundred and forty-five. This number is in excess of the actual number of persons furnished by the State, as many of them appear several times on the record under the head of promotions or re-enlistments after discharge from their three months, nine months, or three years terms of service.Two hundred and fifty-five were killed, one thousand two hundred and sixty-five died ofwounds or disease, and one thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded. There were eight regiments of infantry, of which three were for three months and two for nine months. There were three regiments of cavalry for three years, and one squadron for three months. There were three regiments of heavy artillery. There was one regiment of light artillery, composed of eight light batteries, and there were also two light batteries for three months service. One company of infantry was stationed at Portsmouth Grove as Hospital Guards.”
“There went into the field from Rhode Island during the late rebellion, twenty-four thousand and forty-two men; of which the infantry numbered ten thousand three hundred and eighty-two; cavalry, four thousand three hundred and ninety-four; heavy artillery, five thousand six hundred and forty-four; light artillery, two thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven; navy, six hundred and forty-five. This number is in excess of the actual number of persons furnished by the State, as many of them appear several times on the record under the head of promotions or re-enlistments after discharge from their three months, nine months, or three years terms of service.
Two hundred and fifty-five were killed, one thousand two hundred and sixty-five died ofwounds or disease, and one thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded. There were eight regiments of infantry, of which three were for three months and two for nine months. There were three regiments of cavalry for three years, and one squadron for three months. There were three regiments of heavy artillery. There was one regiment of light artillery, composed of eight light batteries, and there were also two light batteries for three months service. One company of infantry was stationed at Portsmouth Grove as Hospital Guards.”
On the 4th of July, 1876, the United States of America ended the first century of their national existence; a century of marvellous experiences throughout the civilized world; of experiences in the science of government, which bear directly upon the moral development of man and experiences in the physical sciences which minister directly and indirectly both to his material wants and to the demands of his intellectual nature. Civilization had reached in those hundred years a height and a completeness which it had never reached before.
Proud of what they had done, confident of what they could do, they invited the other civilized nations, their elders by centuries, to bring the choicest productions of their art and industry and set them side by side with those of the young republic. In this comparison how well Rhode Island bore her part the following list will show:
Rhode Island was conspicuous at the Exposition for the excellence of her products in the following departments:[A]
First—Machinery, including new inventions.
Second—Cotton fabrics, including sheeting and shirting, calico, fine muslins, jeans, drillings, etc.
Third—Woolen fabrics, broad cloths, cassimeres, shawls, worsteds, etc.
Fourth—Wood screws. (American Screw Co., Providence.)
Fifth—Fire-arms, rifles, carabines chiefly. The Peabody-Martini rifle furnished the Turkish government an arm of great excellence. (Providence Tool Co.)
Sixth—Fabrics of India rubber. (The Bristol Works.)
Seventh—Silver and plated ware. (Gorham’s.)
Eighth—Steam engines.
Ninth—Hair cloth. (Various companies in Pawtucket.)
Tenth—Files and mechanics’ tools.
Eleventh—Stoves and furnaces. (Chiefly the product of the Barstow Works.)
Twelfth—Chemical manufactures.
[A]For the above list I am indebted to my friend, Hon. J. R. Bartlett, to whom Rhode Island is indebted for the preservation and publication of her Colonial Records.
[A]For the above list I am indebted to my friend, Hon. J. R. Bartlett, to whom Rhode Island is indebted for the preservation and publication of her Colonial Records.
[A]For the above list I am indebted to my friend, Hon. J. R. Bartlett, to whom Rhode Island is indebted for the preservation and publication of her Colonial Records.
And here I stay my hand. I have spoken kindly of the State of my birth, but mindful of the historian’s first duty, I have striven in every thing to speak truthfully. It is an unvarnished tale, and yet there is a moral grandeur in it far beyond the grandeur of battle-fields and thrones. By deep and earnest convictions, by unwavering faith and unshaken resolution, Rhode Island has worked out for herself and for mankind one of the grandest problems of civilization.
It is the privilege of history that it teaches by examples. It is good for man that such men as Roger Williams and John Clark, should have lived. It is for the glory of Rhode Island that men like these, searching for a spot whereon they might build and live with unfettered consciences, should have chosen her for their dwelling place.
(Referring toPage 196.)
This is not strictly accurate. It was in honor of Nicholas, not John Brown, and several years after its removal from Warren to Providence, that the name of Rhode Island College was changed to Brown University.
Map of the State of Rhode Island
July 8, 1663, and in force until the adoption of the Constitution, November, 1842.
Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Whereas, we have been informed, by the humble petition of our trusty and well-beloved subject, John Clarke, on the behalf of Benjamin Arnold, William Brenton, William Codington, Nicholas Easton, William Boulston, John Porter, John Smith, Samuel Gorton, John Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, Gregory Dexter, John Coggeshall, Joseph Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, Samuel Wildbore, William Field, James Barker, Richard Tew, Thomas Harris, and William Dyre, and the rest of the purchasers and free inhabitants of our island, called Rhode Island, and the rest of the Colony of Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New England, in America, that they, pursuing, with peaceable and loyal minds, their sober, serious, and religious intentions, of godly edifying themselves, and one another, in the holy Christian faith and worship, as they were persuaded; together with the gaining over and conversion of the poor ignorant Indian natives, in those parts of America to the sincere profession and obedience of the same faith and worship, did, not only by the consent and good encouragement of our royal progenitors, transport themselves out of this kingdom of England into America, but also, since their arrival there, after their first settlement amongst other our subjects in those parts, for the avoiding of discord, and those many evils which were likely to ensue upon some of those our subjects not being able to bear, in these remote parts, their different apprehensions in religious concernments, and in pursuance of the aforesaid ends, did once again leave their desirable stations and habitations, and with excessive labor and travel, hazard and charge did transplant themselves into the midst of the Indian natives, who, as we are informed, are the most potent princes and people of all that country; where, by the good Providence of God, from whom the Plantations have taken their name, upon their labor and industry, they have not only been preserved to admiration, but have increased and prospered, and are seized and possessed, by purchase and consent of the said natives, to their full content, of such lands, islands, rivers, harbors and roads, as are very convenient, both for plantations, and also for building of ships, supply of pipe-staves, and other merchandize; and which lie very commodious, in many respects, for commerce, and to accommodate our southern plantations,and may much advance the trade of this our realm, and greatly enlarge the the territories thereof; they having by near neighborhood to and friendly society with the great body of the Narragansett Indians, given them encouragement of their own accord, to subject themselves, their people and lands, unto us; whereby, as is hoped, there may, in time, by the blessing of God upon their endeavors be laid a sure foundation of happiness to all America: And whereas, in their humble address, they have freely declared, that it is much on their hearts (if they may be permitted) to hold forth a lively experiment, that a most nourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained, and that among our English subjects, with a full liberty in religious concernments; and that true piety rightly grounded upon gospel principles, will give the best and greatest security to sovereignty, and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations to true loyalty: Now, know ye, that we, being willing to encourage the hopeful undertaking of our said loyal and loving subjects, and to secure them in the free exercise and enjoyment of all their civil and religious rights, appertaining to them, as our loving subjects; and to preserve unto them that liberty, in the true Christian faith and worship of God, which they have sought with so much travail, and with peaceable minds, and loyal subjection to our royal progenitors and ourselves, to enjoy; and because some of the people and inhabitants of the same colony cannot, in their private opinions, conform to the public exercise of religion, according to the liturgy, forms and ceremonies of the Church of England, or take or subscribe the oaths and articles made and established in that behalf; and for that the same, by reason of the remote distances of those places, will (as we hope) be no breach of the unity and uniformity established in this nation: Have therefore thought fit, and do hereby publish, grant, ordain and declare, That our royal will and pleasure is, that no person within the said Colony, at any time hereafter, shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said Colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves peaceably and quietly, and not using this liberty to licentiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others, any law, statute, or clause therein contained, or to be contained, usage or custom of this realm, to the contrary hereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. And that they may be in the better capacity to defend themselves, in their just rights and liberties, against all the enemies of the Christian faith, and others, in all respects, we have further thought fit, and at the humble petition of the persons aforesaid are graciously pleased to declare, That they shall have and enjoy the benefit of our late act of indemnity and free pardon, as the rest of our subjects in other our dominions and territories have; and to create and make them a body politic or corporate, with the powers and privileges hereinafter mentioned. And accordingly our will and pleasure is, and of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we have ordained, constituted and declared, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do ordain, constitute and declare, That they, the said William Brenton, William Codington, Nicholas Easton, Benedict Arnold, William Boulston, John Porter, Samuel Gorton, John Smith, John Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, Gregory Dexter, John Coggeshall, Joseph Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, William Dyre, Samuel Wildbore, Richard Tew, William Field, Thomas Harris, James Barker, —— Rainsborrow, —— Williams, and John Nickson, andall such others as now are, or hereafter shall be, admitted and made free of the company and society of our Colony of Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New England, shall be from time to time, and forever hereafter, a body corporate and politic, in fact and name, by the name of the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, in America; and that, by the same name, they and their successors shall and may have perpetual succession, and shall and may be persons able and capable, in the law, to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to answer, and be answered unto, to defend and to be defended, in all and singular suits, causes, quarrels, matters, actions, and things, of what kind or nature soever; and also to have, take, possess, acquire, and purchase lands, tenements or hereditaments, or any goods or chattels, and the same to lease, grant, demise, aliene, bargain, sell and dispose of, at their own will and pleasure, as other our liege people of this our realm of England, or any corporation or body politic, within the same, may lawfully do. And further, that they the said Governor and Company, and their successors, shall and may, forever hereafter, have a common seal, to serve and use for all matters, causes, things and affairs, whatsoever, of them, and their successors; and the same seal to alter, change, break, and make new, from time to time, at their will and pleasure, as they shall think fit. And further, we will and ordain, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do declare and appoint that, for the better ordering and managing of the affairs and business of the said Company, and their successors, there shall be one Governor, one Deputy-Governor and ten Assistants, to be from time to time, constituted, elected and chosen, out of the freemen of the said Company, for the time being, in such manner and form as is hereafter in these presents expressed, which said officers shall apply themselves to take care for the best disposing and ordering of the general business and affairs of and concerning the lands, and hereditaments hereinafter mentioned to be granted, and the plantation thereof, and the government of the people there. And, for the better execution of our royal pleasure herein, we do, for us, our heirs and successors, assign, name, constitute, and appoint the aforesaid Benedict Arnold to be the first and present Governor of the said Company, and the said William Brenton to be the Deputy-Governor, and the said William Boulston, John Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, John Smith, John Greene, John Coggeshall, James Barker, William Field, and Joseph Clarke, to be the ten present Assistants of the said Company, to continue in the said several offices, respectively, until the first Wednesday which shall be in the month of May now next coming. And further, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do ordain and grant that the Governor of the said Company, for the time being, or, in his absence, by occasion of sickness, or otherwise, by his leave and permission, the Deputy-Governor, for the time being, shall and may, from time to time, upon all occasions, give order for the assembling of the said Company, and calling them together, to consult and advise of the business and affairs of the said Company. And that forever hereafter, twice in every year, that is to say, on every first Wednesday in the month of May, and on every last Wednesday in October, or oftener, in case it shall be requisite, the Assistants and such of the freemen of the said Company, not exceeding six persons for Newport, four persons for each of the respective towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and Warwick, and two persons for each other place, town or city, who shall be, from time to time, thereunto elected or deputed by the major part of the freemen of the respective towns or places for which they shall be so elected or deputed, shall have a general meeting or assembly, then and thereto consult, advise and determine, in and about the affairs and business of the said Company and Plantations. And, further, we do, of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, give and grant unto the said Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, in America, and their successors, that the Governor, or, in his absence, or, by his permission, the Deputy-Governor, of the said Company, for the time being, the Assistants, and such of the freemen of the said Company as shall be so as aforesaid elected or deputed, or so many of them as shall be present at such meeting or assembly, as aforesaid, shall be called the General Assembly; and that they, or the greatest part of them present, whereof the Governor or Deputy-Governor, and six of the Assistants, at least to be seven, shall have, and have hereby given and granted unto them, full power and authority, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, to appoint, alter and change such days, times and places of meeting and General Assembly, as they shall think fit; and to choose, nominate and appoint, such and so many other persons as they shall think fit, and shall be willing to accept the same, to be free of the said Company and body politic, and them into the same to admit; and to elect and constitute such offices and officers, and to grant such needful commissions, as they shall think fit and requisite, for the ordering, managing, and dispatching of the affairs of the said Governor and Company, and their successors; and from time to time, to make, ordain, constitute or repeal, such laws, statutes, orders and ordinances, forms and ceremonies of government and magistracy, as to them shall seem meet, for the good and welfare of the said Company, and for the government and ordering of the lands and hereditaments, hereinafter mentioned to be granted, and of the people that do, or at any time hereafter shall, inhabit or be within the same; so as such laws, ordinances and constitutions, so made, be not contrary and repugnant unto, but as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of this our realm of England, considering the nature and constitution of the place and people there; and also to appoint, order and direct, erect and settle, such places and courts of jurisdiction, for the hearing and determining of all actions, cases, matters and things, happening within the said Colony and Plantation, and which shall be in dispute, and depending there, as they shall think fit; and also to distinguish and set forth the several names and titles, duties, powers and limits, of each court, office and officer, superior and inferior; and also to contrive and appoint such forms of oaths and attestations, not repugnant, but as near as may be agreeable, as aforesaid, to the laws and statutes of this our realm, as are convenient and requisite, with respect to the due administration of justice, and due execution and discharge of all offices and places of trust by the persons that shall be therein concerned; and also to regulate and order the way and manner of all elections to offices and places of trust, and to prescribe, limit and distinguish the numbers and bounds of all places, towns or cities, within the limits and bounds hereinafter mentioned, and not herein particularly named, who have, or shall have, the power of electing and sending of freemen to the said General Assembly; and also to order, direct and authorize the imposing of lawful and reasonable fines, mulcts, imprisonments, and executing other punishments, pecuniary and corporal, upon offenders and delinquents, according to the course of other corporations within this our kingdom of England; and again to alter, revoke, annul or pardon, under their common seal, or otherwise, such fines, mulcts, imprisonments, sentences, judgments and condemnations, as shall be thought fit; and to direct, rule, order and dispose of, all other matters and things, and particularly that which relates to the making of purchases of the native Indians, as to them shall seem meet; whereby our said peopleand inhabitants in the said Plantations, may be so religiously, peaceably and civilly governed, as that by their good life and orderly conversation, they may win and invite the native Indians of the country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Saviour of mankind; willing, commanding and requiring, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, ordaining and appointing, that all such laws, statutes, orders and ordinances, instructions, impositions and directions, as shall be so made by the Governor, Deputy-Governor, Assistants and freemen, or such number of them as aforesaid, and published in writing, under their common seal, shall be carefully and duly observed, kept, performed and put in execution, according to the true intent and meaning of the same. And these our letters patent, or the duplicate or exemplification thereof, shall be to all and every such officer, superior or inferior, from time to time, for the putting of the same orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, instructions and directions in due execution, against us, our heirs and successors, a sufficient warrant and discharge. And further, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby, for us, our heirs and successors, establish and ordain, that yearly, once in the year, forever hereafter, namely, the aforesaid Wednesday in May, and at the town of Newport, or elsewhere, if urgent occasion do require, the Governor, Deputy-Governor and Assistants of the said Company, and other officers of the said Company, or such of them as the General Assembly shall think fit, shall be, in the said General Court or Assembly to be held from that day or time, newly chosen for the year ensuing, by such greater part of the said Company, for the time being, as shall be then and there present; and if it shall happen that the present Governor, Deputy-Governor and Assistants, by these presents appointed, or any such as shall hereafter be newly chosen into their rooms, or any of them, or any other the officers of the said Company, shall die or be removed from his or their several offices or places, before the said general day of election, (whom we do hereby declare, for any misdemeanor or default, to be removable by the Governor, Assistants and Company, or such greater part of them, in any of the said public courts, to be assembled as aforesaid,) that then, and in every such case, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Governor, Deputy-Governor, Assistants and Company aforesaid, or such greater part of them, so to be assembled as is aforesaid, in any of their assemblies, to proceed to a new election of one or more of their Company, in the room or place, rooms or places, of such officer or officers, so dying or removed, according to their discretions; and immediately upon and after such election or elections made of such Governor, Deputy-Governor, Assistant or Assistants, or any other officer of the said Company, in manner and form aforesaid, the authority, office and power, before given to the former Governor, Deputy-Governor, and other officer and officers, so removed, in whose stead and place new shall be chosen, shall, as to him and them, and every of them, respectively, cease and determine:Provided always, and our will and pleasure is, that as well such as are by these presents appointed to be the present Governor, Deputy-Governor and Assistants of the said Company, as those that shall succeed them, and all other officers to be appointed and chosen as aforesaid, shall, before the undertaking the execution of the said offices and places respectively, give their solemn engagement, by oath, or otherwise, for the due and faithful performance of their duties in their several offices and places, before such person or persons as are by these presents hereafter appointed to take and receive the same, that is to say: the said Benedict Arnold, who is hereinbefore nominated and appointed the present Governor of the said Company, shall give the aforesaid engagement before William Brenton, or any two of the said Assistants of the said Company; unto whom we do bythese presents give full power and authority to require and receive the same; and the said William Brenton, who is hereby before nominated and appointed the present Deputy-Governor of the said Company, shall give the aforesaid engagement before the said Benedict Arnold, or any two of the Assistants of the said Company; unto whom we do by these presents give full power and authority to require and receive the same; and the said William Boulston, John Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, John Smith, John Greene, John Coggeshall, James Barker, William Field, and Joseph Clarke who are herein before nominated and appointed the present Assistants of the said Company, shall give the said engagement to their offices and places respectively belonging, before the said Benedict Arnold and William Brenton, or one of them; to whom respectively we do hereby give full power and authority to require, administer or receive the same: and further, our will and pleasure is, that all and every other future Governor or Deputy-Governor, to be elected and chosen by virtue of these presents, shall give the said engagement before two or more of the said Assistants of the said Company for the time being; unto whom we do by these presents give full power and authority to require, administer or receive the same; and the said Assistants, and every of them, and all and every other officer or officers to be hereafter elected and chosen by virtue of these presents, from time to time, shall give the like engagements, to their offices and places respectively belonging, before the Governor or Deputy-Governor for the time being: unto which said Governor, or Deputy-Governor, we do by these presents give full power and authority to require, administer or receive the same accordingly. And we do likewise, for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors, by these presents, that, for the more peaceable and orderly government of the said Plantations, it shall and may be lawful for the Governor, Deputy-Governor, Assistants and all other officers and ministers of the said Company, in the administration of justice, and exercise of government, in the said Plantations, to use, exercise, and put in execution, such methods, rules, orders and directions, not being contrary or repugnant to the laws and statutes of this our realm, as have been heretofore given, used and accustomed, in such cases respectively, to be put in practice, until at the next or some other General Assembly, special provision shall be made and ordained in the cases aforesaid. And we do further, for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors, by these presents, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Governor, or, in his absence, the Deputy-Governor, and major part of the said Assistants, for the time being, at any time when the said General Assembly is not sitting, to nominate, appoint and constitute, such and so many commanders, governors and military officers, as to them shall seem requisite, for the leading, conducting and training up the inhabitants of the said Plantations in martial affairs, and for the defence and safeguard of the said Plantations: and that it shall and may be lawful to and for all and every such commander, governor and military officer, that shall be so as aforesaid, or by the Governor, or in his absence, the Deputy-Governor, and six of the said Assistants, and major part of the freemen of the said Company present at any General Assemblies, nominated, appointed and constituted, according to the tenor of his and their respective commissions and directions to assemble, exercise in arms, martial array, and put in warlike posture, the inhabitants of the said Colony, for their special defence and safety; and to lead and conduct the said inhabitants, and to encounter, expulse, expel and resist, by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, and also to kill, slay and destroy, by all fitting ways, enterprises and means, whatsoever, all and every such person orpersons as shall, at any time hereafter, attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance of the said inhabitants or Plantations; and to use and exercise the law martial in such cases only as occasion shall necessarily require; and to take or surprise, by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such person and persons, with their ship or ships, armor, ammunition or other goods of such persons, as shall, in hostile manner, invade or attempt the defeating of the said Plantation, or the hurt of the said Company and inhabitants; and upon just causes, to invade and destroy the native Indians, or other enemies of the said Colony. Nevertheless, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby declare to the rest of our Colonies in New England, that it shall not be lawful for this our said Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in America, in New England, to invade the natives inhabiting within the bounds and limits of their said Colonies, without the knowledge and consent of the said other Colonies. And it is hereby declared, that it shall not be lawful to or for the rest of the Colonies to invade or molest the native Indians or any other inhabitants inhabiting within the bounds and limits hereafter mentioned, (they having subjected themselves unto us, and being by us taken into our special protection,) without the knowledge and consent of the Governor and Company of our Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Also our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby declare unto all Christian Kings, Princes and States, that if any person, which shall hereafter be of the said Company or Plantations or any other, by appointment of the said Governor and Company for the time being shall at any time or times hereafter, rob or spoil, by sea or land, or do any hurt or unlawful hostility to any of the subjects of us, our heirs or successors, or any of the subjects of any Prince or State, being then in league with us, our heirs or successors, upon complaint of such injury done to any such Prince or State, or their subjects, we, our heirs and successors, will make open proclamation within any parts of our realm of England, fit for that purpose, that the person or persons committing any such robbery or spoil, shall, within the time limited by such proclamation, make full restitution, or satisfaction of all such injuries, done or committed, so as the said Prince, or others so complaining, may be fully satisfied and contented; and if the said person or persons who shall commit any such robbery or spoil shall not make satisfaction, accordingly, within such time, so to be limited, that then we, our heirs and successors, will put such person or persons out of our allegiance and protection; and that then it shall and may be lawful and free for all Princes or others to prosecute with hostility, such offenders, and every of them, their and every of their procurers, aiders, abettors, and counsellors, in that behalf:Provided also, and our express will and pleasure is, and we do, by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, ordain and appoint that these presents, shall not, in any manner, hinder any of our loving subjects, whatsoever, from using and exercising the trade of fishing upon the coast of New England, in America; but that they, and every or any of them, shall have full and free power and liberty to continue and use the trade of fishing upon the said coast, in any of the seas thereunto adjoining, or any arms of the seas, or salt water, rivers and creeks, where they have been accustomed to fish: and to build and to set upon the waste land belonging to the said Colony and Plantations, such wharves, stages and work-houses as shall be necessary for the salting, drying and keeping of their fish, to be taken or gotten upon that coast. And further, for the encouragement of the inhabitants of our said Colony of Providence Plantations to set upon the business of taking whales, it shall be lawful for them, or any of them having struck whale, dubertus, or other great fish, it or them, to pursue untoany part of that coast, and into any bay, river, cove, creek, or shore, belonging thereto, and it or them, upon the said coast, or in the said bay, river, cove, creek, or shore, belonging thereto, to kill and order for the best advantage, without molestation, they making no wilful waste or spoil; anything in these presents contained, or any other matter or thing, to the contrary, notwithstanding. And further also, we are graciously pleased, and do hereby declare, that if any of the inhabitants of our said Colony do set upon the planting of vineyards (the soil and climate both seeming naturally to concur to the production of wines) or be industrious in the discovery of fishing banks, in or about the said Colony, we will, from time to time, give and allow all due and fitting encouragement therein, as to others, in cases of like nature. And further, of our more ample grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, we have given and granted, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto the said Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New England, in America, and to every inhabitant there, and to every person and persons, trading thither, and to every such person or persons as are or shall be free of the said Colony, full power and authority, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, to take, ship, transport and carry away, out of any of our realms and dominions, for and towards the plantation and defence of the said Colony, such and so many of our loving subjects and strangers as shall or will willingly accompany them in and to their said Colony and Plantation; except such person or persons as are or shall be therein restrained by us, our heirs and successors, or any law or statute of this realm: and also to ship and transport all and all manner of goods, chattels, merchandizes and other things whatsoever, that are or shall be useful or necessary for the said Plantations, and defence thereof, and usually transported, and not prohibited by any law or statute of this our realm; yielding and paying unto us, our heirs and successors, such the duties, customs and subsidies, as are or ought to be paid or payable for the same. And further, our will and pleasure is, and we do, for us, our heirs and successors, ordain, declare, and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors, that all and every the subjects of us, our heirs and successors, which are already planted and settled within our said Colony of Providence Plantations, or which shall hereafter go to inhabit within the said Colony, and all and every of their children, which have been born there, or which shall happen hereafter to be born there, or on the sea, going thither, or returning from thence, shall have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects within any the dominions of us, our heirs or successors to all intents, constructions and purposes, whatsoever, as if they, and every of them, were born within the realm of England. And further, know ye, that we, of our more abundant grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have given, granted and confirmed, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give, grant and confirm, unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors, all that part of our dominions in New England, in America, containing the Nahantic, and Nanhyganset, alias Narragansett Bay, and countries and parts adjacent, bounded on the west, or westerly, to the middle of a channel or river there, commonly called and known by the name of Pawcatuck, alias Pawcawtuck river, and so along the said river, as the greater or middle stream thereof reacheth or lies up into the north country, northward, unto the head thereof, and from thence, by a straight line drawn due north, until it meets with the south line of the Massachusetts Colony; and on the north, or northerly, by the aforesaid south or southerly line of the Massachusetts Colony or Plantation, and extending towards the east, or eastwardly,three English miles to the east and north-east of the most eastern and north-eastern parts of the aforesaid Narragansett Bay, as the said bay lyeth or extendeth itself from the ocean on the south, or southwardly unto the mouth of the river which runneth towards the town of Providence, and from thence along the easterly side or bank of the said river (higher called by the name of Seacunck river) up to the falls called Patuckett Falls, being the most westwardly line of Plymouth Colony, and so from the said falls, in a straight line, due north, until it meet with the aforesaid line of the Massachusetts Colony; and bounded on the south by the ocean; and, in particular, the lands belonging to the towns of Providence, Pawtuxet, Warwick, Misquammacok, alias Pawcatuck, and the rest upon the main land in the tract aforesaid, together with Rhode Island, Block Island, and all the rest of the islands and banks in the Narragansett Bay, and bordering upon the coast of the tract aforesaid, (Fisher’s Island only excepted,) together with all firm lands, soils, grounds, havens, ports, rivers, waters, fishings, mines royal, and all other mines, minerals, precious stones, quarries, woods, wood grounds, rocks, slates, and all and singular other commodities, jurisdictions, royalties, privileges, franchises, preheminancies, and hereditaments, whatsoever within the said tract, bounds, lands and islands aforesaid, or to them or any of them belonging, or in anywise appertaining;to have and to holdthe same, unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors, forever, upon trust, for the use and benefit of themselves and their associates freemen of the said Colony, their heirs and assigns, to be holden of us, our heirs and successors, as of the Manor of East Greenwich, in our county of Kent, in free and common soccage, and not in capite, nor by knight service; yielding and paying, therefore, to us, our heirs and successors, only the fifth part of all the ore of gold and silver which, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, shall be there gotten, had or obtained, in lieu and satisfaction of all services, duties, fines, forfeitures, made or to be made, claims and demands whatsoever, to be to us, our heirs or successors, therefor or thereout rendered, made or paid; any grant, or clause in a late grant, to the Governor and Company of Connecticut Colony, in America, to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding; the aforesaid Pawcatuck river having been yielded, after much debate, for the fixed and certain bounds between these our said Colonies, by the agents thereof; who have also agreed, that the said Pawcatuck river shall be also called alias Norrogansett or Narrogansett river; and, to prevent future disputes, that otherwise might arise thereby, forever hereafter shall be construed, deemed and taken to be the Narragansett river in our late grant to Connecticut Colony mentioned as the easterly bounds of that Colony. And further, our will and pleasure is, that in all matters of public controversy which may fall out between our Colony of Providence Plantations, and the rest of our Colonies in New England, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Governor and Company of the said Colony of Providence Plantations to make their appeals therein to us, our heirs and successors, for redress in such cases, within this our realm of England: and that it shall be lawful to and for the inhabitants of the said Colony of Providence Plantations, without let or molestation, to pass and repass, with freedom, into and through the rest of the English Colonies, upon their lawful and civil occasions, and to converse, and hold commerce and trade with such of the inhabitants of our other English Colonies as shall be willing to admit them thereunto, they behaving themselves peaceably among them; any act, clause or sentence, in any of the said Colonies provided, or that shall be provided, to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding. And lastly, we do, or us, our heirs and successors, ordain and grant unto the said Governor and Company and their successors by these presents that these our letters patent shall be firm, good, effectualand available in all things in the law, to all intents, contents, constructions and purposes whatsoever, according to our true intent and meaning hereinbefore declared; and shall be construed, reputed and adjudged in all cases most favorably on the behalf, and for the best benefit and behoof of the said Governor and Company, and their successors; although express mention of the true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or any of them, or of any other gifts or grants, by us, or by any of our progenitors or predecessors, heretofore made to the said Governor of the Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, New England, in America, in these presents is not made, or any statue, act, ordinance, provision, proclamation or restriction, heretofore had, made, enacted, ordained or provided, or any other matter, cause or thing whatsoever, to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. In witness, whereof, we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness ourself, at Westminister, the eighth day of July, in the fifteenth year of our reign.