Chapter 40

256. Mr. Williams commonly employed the numerical mode of referring to the month and day of the week. He usually added to the date the words (so called) or (ut vulgo), intimating some dissent from the common computation of time; but what his own views were does not appear. The pertinacity with which he adhered to this practice is characteristic of his punctilious regard to trifles, when he thought truth was concerned.

257. Holmes, vol. i. p. 279.

258. A vote passed, granting Mr. Williams “leave to suffer a native to kill fowl at Narraganset, and to sell a little wine or strong waters to some natives in sickness.”

259. In some considerations respecting rates, written in 1681, Mr. Williams says: “No charters are obtained without great suit, favor, or charges. Our first cost one hundred pounds, (though I never received it all,) our second about a thousand, Connecticut about six thousand.” Mr. Williams was afterwards accused by Mr. Coddington, as a hireling, who, for the sake of money, went to England for the charter! See Coddington’s letter, at the end of New-England Firebrand Quenched.

260. A sachem of the Nianticks, a branch of the Narraganset tribe. Ninigret’s principal residence, and the centre of his dominions, was at Wekapaug, now Westerly, Rhode-Island. It was formerly a part of Stonington, Connecticut. Thatcher’s Indian Biography, vol. i. p. 212.

261. Backus, vol. i. p. 204, &c.

262. Journal, vol. ii. 220. Mr. Savage says, in a note, “I rejoice in the defeat of this futile claim by Plymouth, and equally rejoice in the ill success of the attempt by our own people.”We may appropriately introduce here a remarkable document, found in the Massachusetts Records, vol. 3, p. 47:“Sir, we received lately out of England a charter from the authority of the High Court of Parliament, bearing date 10 December, 1643, whereby the Narraganset Bay, and a certain tract of land wherein Providence and the Island of Aquetneck are included, which we thought fit to give you and other of our countrymen in those parts notice of, that you may forbear to exercise any jurisdiction therein, otherwise to appear at our next General Court, to be holden the first fourth day of the eighth month, to show by what right you claim any such jurisdiction, for which purpose yourself and others, your neighbors, shall have free liberty to come, stay and sojourn, as the occasion of the said business may require.“Dated at Boston, in the Massachusetts, 27th 6mo. 1645.“To Mr. Roger Williams, of Providence. By order of the Council.INCREASE NOWELL, Secretary.”No notice of this charter has been found in Winthrop, Hutchinson, or Holmes’ Annals. Mr. Williams, in his letter to Major Mason, says:“Some time after the Pequod war, and our charter from the Parliament, the government of Massachusetts wrote to myself (then chief officer in this colony) of their receiving of a patent from the Parliament for these vacant lands, as an addition to the Massachusetts, &c. and thereupon requiring me to exercise no more authority, &c. for they wrote, their charter was granted some weeks before ours. I returned what I believed righteous and weighty to the hands of my true friend, Mr. Winthrop, the first mover of my coming into these parts, and to that answer of mine I never received the least reply; only it is certain, that at Mr. Gorton’s complaint against the Massachusetts, the Lord High Admiral, President, said openly, in a full meeting of the Commissioners, that he knew no other charter for these parts than what Mr. Williams had obtained, and he was sure that charter, which the Massachusetts Englishmen pretended, had never passed the table.”This whole transaction is somewhat mysterious. The rulers in Massachusetts were too upright to assert the existence of such a document, if they had it not in their possession. They were too honest and too politic to forge one, the spuriousness of which could easily be detected. There was, undoubtedly, some mistake, and the silence of the historians corroborates the representation given above by Mr. Williams.

262. Journal, vol. ii. 220. Mr. Savage says, in a note, “I rejoice in the defeat of this futile claim by Plymouth, and equally rejoice in the ill success of the attempt by our own people.”

We may appropriately introduce here a remarkable document, found in the Massachusetts Records, vol. 3, p. 47:

“Sir, we received lately out of England a charter from the authority of the High Court of Parliament, bearing date 10 December, 1643, whereby the Narraganset Bay, and a certain tract of land wherein Providence and the Island of Aquetneck are included, which we thought fit to give you and other of our countrymen in those parts notice of, that you may forbear to exercise any jurisdiction therein, otherwise to appear at our next General Court, to be holden the first fourth day of the eighth month, to show by what right you claim any such jurisdiction, for which purpose yourself and others, your neighbors, shall have free liberty to come, stay and sojourn, as the occasion of the said business may require.

“Dated at Boston, in the Massachusetts, 27th 6mo. 1645.

“To Mr. Roger Williams, of Providence. By order of the Council.

INCREASE NOWELL, Secretary.”

No notice of this charter has been found in Winthrop, Hutchinson, or Holmes’ Annals. Mr. Williams, in his letter to Major Mason, says:

“Some time after the Pequod war, and our charter from the Parliament, the government of Massachusetts wrote to myself (then chief officer in this colony) of their receiving of a patent from the Parliament for these vacant lands, as an addition to the Massachusetts, &c. and thereupon requiring me to exercise no more authority, &c. for they wrote, their charter was granted some weeks before ours. I returned what I believed righteous and weighty to the hands of my true friend, Mr. Winthrop, the first mover of my coming into these parts, and to that answer of mine I never received the least reply; only it is certain, that at Mr. Gorton’s complaint against the Massachusetts, the Lord High Admiral, President, said openly, in a full meeting of the Commissioners, that he knew no other charter for these parts than what Mr. Williams had obtained, and he was sure that charter, which the Massachusetts Englishmen pretended, had never passed the table.”

This whole transaction is somewhat mysterious. The rulers in Massachusetts were too upright to assert the existence of such a document, if they had it not in their possession. They were too honest and too politic to forge one, the spuriousness of which could easily be detected. There was, undoubtedly, some mistake, and the silence of the historians corroborates the representation given above by Mr. Williams.

263. Backus, vol. i. p. 194–5.

264. This letter has no date, nor direction; but it was evidently written to Mr. Winthrop, not long after the preceding letter.

265. This letter has no date. It was probably written near the first of December, 1648. It is endorsed, by Mr. Winthrop, “rec’d. Dec’r.”

266. This letter is without a date. It was, perhaps, written in March or April, 1649.

267. “Concerning.” Though the original of this letter is much torn, the blank following the above word is the only one which I was not able satisfactorily to make out or supply. The fragments of a few letters look more like parts of the word “Nenekunat” (Ninigret) than any other. Between that sachem and Wequashcook, as appears from another letter of Roger Williams, there was a misunderstanding.G.

268. Vol. i. p. 207.

269. Providence Records.

270. Rev. Mr. Clarke was the founder and pastor of the first Baptist church in Newport. Mr. Holmes was, a short time before these transactions, presented by a grand jury to the General Court at Plymouth, because he and a few others had set up a Baptist meeting in Seekonk. He removed to Newport, and after Dr. Clarke’s death, was his successor, as Pastor. He had, at the time he was imprisoned and whipped, a wife and eight children.

271. Backus, vol. i. p. 215.

272. Benedict, vol. i. p. 367.

273. Mr. Winthrop had considerable skill in medicine. The benevolent zeal of Mr. Williams for the welfare of the Indians, shows itself on all occasions.

274. Mr. Hazel was an old man of threescore years. He was one of Mr. Holmes’ brethren, from Seekonk, and had travelled fifty miles to visit him in prison. The old man died before he reached home.

275. Benedict, vol. i. p. 377.

276. Mr. Neal (vol. iv. ch. 1) says, that after the death of Charles I. the House of Commons assumed the government, “the House of Lords was voted useless, and the office of a king unnecessary, burdensome and dangerous. The form of government for the future was declared to be a free commonwealth, the executive power lodged in the hands of a Council of State of forty persons, with full power to take care of the whole administration for one year. New keepers of the great seal were appointed, from whom the judges received their commissions. The oaths of allegiance and supremacy were abolished, and a new one appointed, called theengagement, which was, to be true and faithful to the government established, without King or House of Peers.”As great a change took place in ecclesiastical affairs. Episcopacy was abolished, by law, in 1646; a Directory was substituted for the Liturgy, a large part of the livings were distributed among the Presbyterian clergy, and finally, in 1649, Presbyterianism was declared, by act of Parliament, to be the established religion. The Presbyterians were fully as tenacious of thedivine rightof their polity as the Episcopalians were of theirs; and Dissenters were treated with nearly as much rigor under the Presbyterian rule, as they were by the Prelates. The Presbyterians refused to grant toleration to the Independents, and insisted on their submission. A number of the Presbyterian ministers and elders in London published a piece, in 1649, “in which they represent the doctrine of universal toleration as contrary to godliness, opening a door to libertinism and profaneness, and a tenet to be rejected as a soul poison.” The ministers of Lancashire published a paper, in 1648, in which they remonstrated against toleration, “as putting a cup of poison into the hands of a child, and a sword into that of a madman; as letting loose madmen, with firebrands in their hands, and appointing a city of refuge in men’s consciences for the devil to fly to; and instead of providing for tender consciences, taking away all conscience.” Neal, vol. iii. p. 313. The Presbyterians might well dislike Cromwell, who curbed their intolerant spirit. They had time for reflection, when, at the restoration, the Episcopal clergy expelled thousands of them from their livings, and treated them as they had treated their Independent brethren.

As great a change took place in ecclesiastical affairs. Episcopacy was abolished, by law, in 1646; a Directory was substituted for the Liturgy, a large part of the livings were distributed among the Presbyterian clergy, and finally, in 1649, Presbyterianism was declared, by act of Parliament, to be the established religion. The Presbyterians were fully as tenacious of thedivine rightof their polity as the Episcopalians were of theirs; and Dissenters were treated with nearly as much rigor under the Presbyterian rule, as they were by the Prelates. The Presbyterians refused to grant toleration to the Independents, and insisted on their submission. A number of the Presbyterian ministers and elders in London published a piece, in 1649, “in which they represent the doctrine of universal toleration as contrary to godliness, opening a door to libertinism and profaneness, and a tenet to be rejected as a soul poison.” The ministers of Lancashire published a paper, in 1648, in which they remonstrated against toleration, “as putting a cup of poison into the hands of a child, and a sword into that of a madman; as letting loose madmen, with firebrands in their hands, and appointing a city of refuge in men’s consciences for the devil to fly to; and instead of providing for tender consciences, taking away all conscience.” Neal, vol. iii. p. 313. The Presbyterians might well dislike Cromwell, who curbed their intolerant spirit. They had time for reflection, when, at the restoration, the Episcopal clergy expelled thousands of them from their livings, and treated them as they had treated their Independent brethren.

277. The application was signed by sixty-five inhabitants of Newport, who are said to have been, at that time, almost all the free male inhabitants. Forty-one of the inhabitants of Portsmouth signed a like request. Backus, vol. i. p. 274. These facts imply, that Mr. Coddington’s party was not very large, and that his conduct was unjustifiable.

278. In a letter, written in 1677, he says, that “he gave up his trading house at Narraganset, when he last went to England, with one hundred pounds profit per annum.”

279. This reason was, his banishment from Massachusetts. There was much delicacy in thus slightly referring to a measure, in which Mr. Winthrop’s father was, from his official relations, concerned.

280. Backus, vol. i. p. 272.

281. Providence Records. This letter was written, apparently, in accordance with the following act, passed on the 3d of June preceding: “Whereas we have received divers loving letters from our agent, Mr. Roger Williams, in England, wherein the careful proceedings are manifested unto us concerning our public affairs, and yet no answering letters of encouragement have been sent unto him from this colony; therefore the town doth take it into consideration, and orders to make arrangements for a committee of the two towns of Warwick and Providence to write to him.”

282. Vol. i. p. 279.

283. Sir Henry Vane was born in England. He was a non-conformist, and he came to New-England in 1635. The next year he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, though he was only twenty-four years of age. He became a follower of Mrs. Hutchinson, and was soon superseded by Governor Winthrop. He returned to England, where he took a decided part against the King, and opposed Cromwell. After the restoration, he was executed for high treason, June 14, 1662, aged fifty years. He died with great firmness and dignity. He appears to have been an able man, sincerely pious, and a true friend of liberty.

284. Backus, vol. i. pp. 285–8.

285. Backus, vol. i. p. 288.

286. Mr. Winthrop had married a daughter of the Rev. Hugh Peters.

287. It appears, that while Mr. Williams was in England, he was obliged to provide for his own support, while his large family, we may presume, were injured by his absence. The General Assembly of the towns of Providence and Warwick, expressed in a letter, their regret, that they could not send him money, in consequence of their domestic trials, but informed him that they meant to aid his family. In his “Bloody Tenet made more Bloody,” he mentions his exertions to supply the poor in London with fuel, during the civil wars; to which service he was led, probably, by his benevolent and active temper, as well as by the desire to obtain a subsistence. He says: “I can tell, that when these discussions were prepared for the public in London, his time was eaten up in attendance upon the service of the Parliament and city, for the supply of the poor of the city with wood, during the stop of the coal from Newcastle, and the mutinies of the poor for firing [for which service, he adds in a note, through the hurry of the times and the necessity of his departure, he lost his recompense to this day.] It is true, he might have run the road of preferment, as well in Old as in New-England, and have had the leisure and time of such who eat and drink with the drunken, and smite with the fist of wickedness their fellow-servants.” (p. 38.) In his letter to the town of Providence, in 1654, he says, “I was unfortunately fetched and drawn from my employment, and sent to so vast distance from my family to do your work of a high and costly nature, for so many days, and weeks, and months together, and there left to starve, or steal, or beg, or borrow. But blessed be God, who gave me favor to borrow one while, and to work another, and thereby to pay your debts there, and to come over with your credit and honor, as an agent from you, who had in your name grappled with the agents and friends of all your enemies round about you.” Few stronger examples of disinterested patriotism could be found in any age or country.

288. The names of the commissioners, are preserved by Backus, vol. i. p. 296, copied from the Providence records.

289. There is a slight anachronism here. It was in May, 1664, that the General Assembly “ordered, that the seal with the mottoRhode Island and Providence Plantations, with the wordHopeover the anchor, be the present seal of the colony.” The seal adopted in 1647, when the government was organized under the first charter, bore simply an anchor.

290. Ninigret returned a haughty answer to a message from the commissioners. He said, that he attacked the Long-Island Indians, because they had killed a sachem’s son, and sixty of his men, and he would not make peace with them. He asked of the commissioners, in a tone, which showed that he considered the Narragansets as a perfectly independent nation: “If your Governor’s son was slain, and several other men, would you ask counsel ofanother nationwhen and how to right yourselves?”

291. Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 172.

292. Governor Winthrop died, at Boston, on the 26th of March, 1649, in the 62d year of his age. He was born in Groton, Suffolk, (Eng.) January 12, 1588. He was a justice of peace at the age of eighteen. He had an estate of six or seven hundred pounds a year, which he turned into money, and embarked his all to promote the settlement of New-England. He was eleven times chosen Governor of Massachusetts, and spent his whole estate in the public service. His son and grandson were successively Governors of Connecticut. He was a great and good man. His Journal is a monument to his memory—“ære perennius.” He was a sincere friend of Roger Williams, though he disapproved his principles, and Mr. Williams always spoke of him with strong affection.

293. Cromwell.

294. This name is spelled in several different ways.

295. Backus, vol. i. p. 302. George Fox digged out of his Burrowes, p. 14.

296. The General Assembly voted, that Mr. Williams should keep Cromwell’s letter and the charter in his possession, in behalf of the colony.

297. Winthrop, vol. ii. p. 172, after stating, that an application from Newport, for powder and other ammunition was rejected, says, “it was an error, (in state policy at last) not to support them, for though they were desperately erroneous, and in such distractions among themselves as portended their ruin, yet, if the Indians should prevail against them, it would be a great advantage to the Indians and danger to the whole country.” About the year 1655, Mr. Clarke sent over from England four barrels of powder, and eight of shot and bullets, which were consigned to Mr. Williams, and left, by order of the General Assembly, in his possession. While provision was thus made for defence against the Indians, measures were adopted to prevent hostilities. At a town meeting in Providence, June 24, 1655, at which Mr. Williams was moderator, it was voted, that if any person should sell a gallon of wine or spirits to an Indian, either directly or indirectly, he should forfeit six pounds, one half to the informer, and the other half to the town. Among the measures adopted for defence, was the following order, passed in town meeting, March 6, 1655–6: “Ordered, that liberty is given to as many as please to erect a fortification upon the Stamper’s Hill, or about their own houses.”

298. This religious society, says Hannah Adams, “began to be distinguished about the middle of the seventeenth century. Their doctrines were first promulgated in England, by George Fox, about the year 1647, for which he was imprisoned at Nottingham, in the year 1649, and the year following at Derby. The appellation ofQuakers, was given them by way of contempt; some say, on account of theirtremblingsunder the impression of divine things; buttheysay it was first given them by one of the magistrates, who committed George Fox to prison, on account of his bidding him and those about him totrembleat the word of the Lord.” They have since called themselves Friends. The wild fanaticism of some of the early adherents of the sect, no more resembles the quiet demeanor of the pious Friends of the present day, than the policy of Massachusetts in 1656, was like the spirit of our own times.

299. “At Boston, one George Wilson, and at Cambridge, Elizabeth Horton, went crying through the streets, that the Lord was coming with fire and sword to plead with them. Thomas Newhouse went into the meeting-house at Boston with a couple of glass bottles, and broke them before the congregation, and threatened, ‘Thus will the Lord break you in pieces.’ Another time, M. Brewster came in with her face besmeared, and as black as a coal. Deborah Wilson went through the streets of Salem, naked as she came into the world, for which she was well whipped.”—Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 187.

300. Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 454.—The letter is signed by Benedict Arnold, President; William Baulston, Randall Houlden, Arthur Fenner, and William Feild.

301. Backus, vol. i. pp. 313–316.

302. In his “George Fox digged out of his Burrowes,” (p. 20,) Mr. Williams says of Mr. Harris, his “facts and courses others (of no small authority and prudence among us, with whom I advised) saw to be desperate high treason against the laws of our mother England, and of the colony also.” He then inquires, “was it my fury (as you call it) or was it not honesty and duty to God and the colony, and the higher powers then in England, to act faithfully and impartially in the place wherein I then stood sentinel?”

303. The origin of this unhappy quarrel is unknown. There were, probably, faults on both sides. They both used very angry and unjustifiable language towards each other. It appears that Mr. Williams so disliked Mr. Harris, that he would not write his name at length, but abbreviated it thus, “W. Har:” This mode of writing is seen in the fac simile prefixed to this volume. It seems evident, that Mr. Harris had, for some cause, a remarkable aptitude to get into difficulties. A letter of the town of Providence, to the “Honored Governor and Council at Newport on Rhode-Island,” dated August 31, 1668, and signed “Shadrach Manton, town clerk,” accuses him of turbulent conduct. In 1667, there was a great disturbance at Providence, excited, as it appears, by him. Two town meetings were held, and two sets of deputies chosen to the General Assembly, among whom was Mr. Harris. He was, however, expelled from the General Assembly, and fined fifty pounds, which fine was remitted the next year.—Backus, vol. i. p. 457. We may hope, that Mr. Harris, though he doubtless had faults, was less culpable, than his contemporaries thought him. It was an unquiet time, and few public men escaped censure.

304. In the records of the town of Providence, is the following act: “June 2, 1657. Ordered, that Mr. Roger Williams be accommodated with two acres and a half of land amongst the rest of the neighbors, at the further Bailey’s Cove, he laying down land equivalent to it, in the judgment of the town deputies.”

305. Pope (Essay on Man, Ep. iv. l. 284,) has aided in confirming the prejudice against Cromwell, by his famous line:“See Cromwell damned to everlasting fame.”Pope sometimes sacrificed truth to a brilliant couplet. The two lines which immediately precede the one just quoted are a specimen:“If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shined,The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind.”Public opinion now does not sustain the poet, in stigmatizing the great Bacon as the “meanest of mankind,” but views him as more sinned against than sinning. We may learn from these examples, how great is the responsibleness of popular authors. By a single line they may perpetuate calumny. They may poison the wells of knowledge.

305. Pope (Essay on Man, Ep. iv. l. 284,) has aided in confirming the prejudice against Cromwell, by his famous line:

“See Cromwell damned to everlasting fame.”

Pope sometimes sacrificed truth to a brilliant couplet. The two lines which immediately precede the one just quoted are a specimen:

“If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shined,The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind.”

“If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shined,

The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind.”

Public opinion now does not sustain the poet, in stigmatizing the great Bacon as the “meanest of mankind,” but views him as more sinned against than sinning. We may learn from these examples, how great is the responsibleness of popular authors. By a single line they may perpetuate calumny. They may poison the wells of knowledge.

306. Examples might be cited, of language like this, in American authors. They show the effect of a discreditable deference to foreign writers. But all American authors are not disposed to echo the infidel and tory opinions of England. Dr. Stiles, in his History of the Judges, defended Cromwell; and a writer in the Christian Spectator, for September, 1829, has vindicated the character of the Protector, with ability and eloquence.

307. History of England, chapter lxi.

308. Works, Orme’s edition, vol. i. p. 153.

309. Works, vol. i. p. 149.

310. Neal, vol. iv. p. 101.

311. The Protector’s exertions to relieve and protect the unhappy Waldenses, who were at that time suffering a merciless persecution, claim for him the gratitude of every friend of religion and liberty. He appointed a day of national humiliation and prayer throughout all England and Wales, and ordered that a collection should be made in all the houses of worship, for the relief of the sufferers. He himself headed a subscription, with the liberal donation of two thousand pounds, and in a short time the large sum of nearly forty thousand pounds was raised and transmitted. Not contented with this measure, he sent letters to the Duke of Savoy, the inhuman persecutor, and to several of the princes of Europe, for the purpose of procuring deliverance for the miserable remnants of the Waldenses. The potent voice of the formidable Protector, which none of the monarchs of that day ventured to despise, uttered, as it was, by the powerful pen of Milton, the Latin Secretary, had some effect, though less than he hoped, to soften the rage of bigotry and persecution. The following sonnet was written by Milton on this occasion:“On the late Massacre in Piedmont.Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bonesLie scatter’d on the Alpine mountains, cold;E’en them, who kept thy truth so pure of old,When all our fathers worship’d stocks and stones,Forget not; in thy book record their groans,Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient foldSlain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roll’dMother and infant down the rocks. Their moansThe vales redoubled to the hills, and theyTo Heaven. Their martyr’d blood and ashes sowO’er all th’ Italian fields, where still doth swayThe triple tyrant; that from these may growA hundred fold, who, having learned thy way,Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”

“On the late Massacre in Piedmont.Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bonesLie scatter’d on the Alpine mountains, cold;E’en them, who kept thy truth so pure of old,When all our fathers worship’d stocks and stones,Forget not; in thy book record their groans,Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient foldSlain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roll’dMother and infant down the rocks. Their moansThe vales redoubled to the hills, and theyTo Heaven. Their martyr’d blood and ashes sowO’er all th’ Italian fields, where still doth swayThe triple tyrant; that from these may growA hundred fold, who, having learned thy way,Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”

“On the late Massacre in Piedmont.

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bonesLie scatter’d on the Alpine mountains, cold;E’en them, who kept thy truth so pure of old,When all our fathers worship’d stocks and stones,Forget not; in thy book record their groans,Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient foldSlain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roll’dMother and infant down the rocks. Their moansThe vales redoubled to the hills, and theyTo Heaven. Their martyr’d blood and ashes sowO’er all th’ Italian fields, where still doth swayThe triple tyrant; that from these may growA hundred fold, who, having learned thy way,Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones

Lie scatter’d on the Alpine mountains, cold;

E’en them, who kept thy truth so pure of old,

When all our fathers worship’d stocks and stones,

Forget not; in thy book record their groans,

Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold

Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roll’d

Mother and infant down the rocks. Their moans

The vales redoubled to the hills, and they

To Heaven. Their martyr’d blood and ashes sow

O’er all th’ Italian fields, where still doth sway

The triple tyrant; that from these may grow

A hundred fold, who, having learned thy way,

Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”

312. Judging from the rapid progress of free principles in England, it would not be surprising if Cromwell should, ere long, be recognised as one of the great leaders in the struggle for freedom. Mr. Ivirney, in his life of Milton, (p. 131,) says of Cromwell, “for whose statue I venture to bespeak a niche among the illustrious dead in Westminster Abbey; not doubting, from recent events, but the time will come, when the governors of the nation will be so sensible of the obligations of Britain to that illustrious ruler and his noble compatriots, as maugre the mean power of ignorance and prejudice, will decree him a monumental inscription in the sepulchres of our kings.”

313. The colony of Rhode-Island adopted an address to Richard Cromwell, of which the following is an extract. The address was never presented:“May it please your Highness to know, that this poor colony of Providence Plantations, mostly consists of a birth and breeding of the Providence of the Most High, we being an outcast people, formerly from our mother nation, in the bishops’ days, and since from the New-English over-zealous colonies; our whole frame being like unto the present frame and constitution of our dearest mother England; bearing with the several judgments and consciences each of other in all the towns of our colony, which our neighbor colonies do not, which is the only cause of their great offence against us. Sir, we dare not interrupt your high affairs with the particulars of our wilderness condition, only beg your eye of favor to be cast upon our faithful Agent, Mr. John Clarke, and unto what humble addresses he shall at any time present your Highness with in our behalf.”—Backus, vol. i. pp. 316–17.

313. The colony of Rhode-Island adopted an address to Richard Cromwell, of which the following is an extract. The address was never presented:

“May it please your Highness to know, that this poor colony of Providence Plantations, mostly consists of a birth and breeding of the Providence of the Most High, we being an outcast people, formerly from our mother nation, in the bishops’ days, and since from the New-English over-zealous colonies; our whole frame being like unto the present frame and constitution of our dearest mother England; bearing with the several judgments and consciences each of other in all the towns of our colony, which our neighbor colonies do not, which is the only cause of their great offence against us. Sir, we dare not interrupt your high affairs with the particulars of our wilderness condition, only beg your eye of favor to be cast upon our faithful Agent, Mr. John Clarke, and unto what humble addresses he shall at any time present your Highness with in our behalf.”—Backus, vol. i. pp. 316–17.

314. An interesting account of the fruitless endeavors of the Presbyterians to effect this object, is given in Orme’s Life of Baxter, chapter vii.

315. August 23, 1659, a rate of fifty pounds was voted for his use, of which Newport was to pay twenty, Providence eleven, Portsmouth ten, and Warwick nine. May 21, 1661, two hundred pounds sterling were voted, of which Newport was to pay eighty-five, Providence forty, Portsmouth forty, and Warwick thirty-five. Subsequent appropriations, to the amount of three hundred and six pounds, are found on the records. The relative size of the towns may be inferred from the above apportionment. Newport was more than twice as large as Providence. A record of the names of the freemen in the several towns, in 1655, states the numbers thus: Newport, eighty-three; Portsmouth, fifty-two; Providence, forty-two; Warwick, thirty-eight—total, two hundred and fifteen.

316. R. I. Lit. Rep. for March, 1815, p. 638.

317. A document exists, purporting to be an act of the town, with a preface, signed by Gregory Dexter, and entitled “An instrument, or sovereign plaster, to heal the manifold sores in this town or plantation of Providence, which do arise about lands.” This document says: “1st. That act, to divide to the men of Pawtuxet twenty miles, is hereby declared against as unjust and unreasonable, not being healthful, but hurtful. 2. Whereas great and manifold troubles have befallen both ourselves and the whole colony, by reason of that phrase, “up streams without limits, we might have for the use of our cattle,” for preventing future contention, we declare that our bounds are limited in our town evidences, and by us stated, about twenty years since, and known to be the river and fields of Pawtucket, Sugar Loaf Hill, Bewett’s Brow, Observation Rock, Absolute Swamp, Oxford and Hipe’s Rock. **** No other privilege, by virtue of the said phrase, to be challenged by this town, viz. that if the cattle went beyond the bounds prefixed in the said deed granted to him, [Mr. Williams] then the owners of the cattle should be no trespassers, the cattle going so far in one day to feed as they might come home at night. 3. And whereas some of us have desired of the colony leave to purchase for this town some enlargement, which was granted, and by the great diligence of our said neighbor, Williams, with the natives, more land is bought, adjoining your said bounds,” &c.

318. In 1659, Mr. John Winthrop, Major Humphrey Atherton, and associates, purchased of the Narraganset sachems two tracts of land, joining to the Bay, one lying to the southward of Mr. Smith’s trading-house, and the other to the northward of it, and settled it with inhabitants. 1 His. Col. v. p. 217.In 1657, Mr. William Coddington and Mr. Benedict Arnold purchased, of the same sachems, the island Canonicut, which, in 1678, was incorporated as a township, by the name of Jamestown. Ibid.In the same year, Mr. John Hull, Mr. John Porter, and three persons more, purchased a large tract of land, in the southern parts of the Narraganset country, and called Petaquamscut Purchase. Ibid.

In 1657, Mr. William Coddington and Mr. Benedict Arnold purchased, of the same sachems, the island Canonicut, which, in 1678, was incorporated as a township, by the name of Jamestown. Ibid.

In the same year, Mr. John Hull, Mr. John Porter, and three persons more, purchased a large tract of land, in the southern parts of the Narraganset country, and called Petaquamscut Purchase. Ibid.

319. Hubbard, chap. lxiv.

320. Hawes’ Tribute to the Memory of the Pilgrims, p. 149.

321. Dr. Wisner’s Historical Discourses, p. 10.

322. Hawes’ Tribute to the Memory of the Pilgrims, p. 150.

323. A resolution to alter the third article of the Constitution of Massachusetts, as a preparatory step towards the repeal of the laws for the support of religion by taxation, has been adopted by the people, since the text was written. It will, undoubtedly, be followed by a repeal of the laws.

324. It is an honorable proof of steadiness of character in the people of Rhode-Island, that they have continued to prosper under this charter for one hundred and seventy years. No interruption of the government has occurred during this long period, and no attempt has been made to resist it. No community ever enjoyed more perfect freedom, and yet none was ever more quiet and obedient to the laws. It is a gratifying evidence, that a truly free government is more stable than any other. The growth of the State has made some provisions of the charter operate unjustly. Providence, for example, with sixteen thousand inhabitants, sends only four representatives to the General Assembly, while Portsmouth, with seventeen hundred inhabitants, sends four, and Newport, with eight thousand, sends six. An attempt was made, a few years since, to obtain a new Constitution, but it did not succeed.

325. See the charter, Appendix, G.

326. It is worthy of notice, that on May 9, 1663, the town of Providence voted, that “one hundred acres of upland and six acres of meadow shall be reserved for the maintenance of a school in this town.”

327. At this session, Captain John Cranston was licensed to practise physic, with the title of “Doctor of Physic and Chirurgery.”

328. Mr. Williams felt a great esteem for Mr. Clarke. In the library of Brown University, is a copy of “The Bloody Tenet yet more Bloody,” bequeathed to the library by the Rev. Isaac Backus. On a blank leaf are these words, in Mr. Williams’ hand writing: “For his honored and beloved Mr. John Clarke, an eminent witness of Christ Jesus, against the Bloody Doctrine of Persecution, &c.”

329. For documents on the subject of boundaries, see 1 His. Col. v. pp. 216–252. See also, 2 His. Col. vii. pp. 75–113, Rhode-Island State Papers, furnished by the Hon. Samuel Eddy.

330. Political Annals, b. i. c. xi. pp. 276, 279.

331. Holmes’ Am. Annals, vol. i. p. 336.

332. Walsh’s “Appeal from the Judgments of Great Britain,” pp. 427–435.

333. This was the Rhode-Island doctrine and practice from the beginning. It was deeply rooted in all hearts. Among the deputies to the General Assembly, in 1675, the name, “TolerationHarris,” occurs.

334. He says, in this year, that Rhode-Island colony “has been a colluvies of Antinomians, Familists, Anabaptists, Antisabbatarians, Arminians, Socinians, Quakers, Ranters, every thing in the world butRoman Catholicsand true Christians—though of the latter, I hope, there have been more than of the former among them.”—Magnalia, b. vii. c. iii. s. 12.

335. Magnalia, b. vii. c. ii. §8.

336. In thus living disconnected with any church, he followed the example of Milton and Cromwell. Of Milton, Toland says: “In his early days, he was a favorer of those Protestants, then opprobriously called by the name of Puritans. In his middle years, he was best pleased with the Independents and Anabaptists, as allowing of more liberty than others, and coming nearest, in his opinion, to the primitive practice; but in the latter part of his life, he was not a professed member of any particular sect among Christians; he frequented none of their assemblies, nor made use of their peculiar rites in his family.” Ivirney’s Life of Milton, p. 251.

337. In a letter, dated May 8, 1682, he requests Governor Bradstreet, of Boston, to assist him in printing some “discourses, which (by many tedious journies) I have had with thescattered Englishat Narraganset, before the war, [Philip’s war, of 1675–6] and since.” 2 His. Col. viii. p. 197.

338. Mr. Williams says, that Mr. Eliot promised a suit of clothes to an old Indian, who, not understanding him, asked another Indian, what Mr. Eliot said. This reminds us of the well known anecdote respecting his translation of the Bible:—While Eliot was engaged in translating the Bible into the Indian language, he came to the following passage in Judges, 5:28: “The mother of Sisera looked out at the window, and cried through thelattice,” &c. Not knowing an Indian word to signify lattice, he applied to several of the natives, and endeavored to describe to them what a lattice resembled. He described it as frame work, netting, wicker, or whatever occurred to him as illustrative, when they gave him a long, barbarous and unpronouncable word, as are most of the words in their language. Some years after, when he had learned their dialect more correctly, he is said to have laughed outright, upon finding that the Indians had given him the true term foreel-pot. “The mother of Sisera looked out at the window, and cried through theeel-pot.” Bigelow’s History of Natick, p. 84. This anecdote illustrates the difficulties of translating, and may suggest a useful caution to translators.

339. “February 19, 1665. Ordered, That Roger Williams shall have his first choice, after William Hawkins and John Steere, of the fifty acres of land on the east side of the north line, which beginneth seven miles from Fox’s Hill, west.”“June 4, 1666. It is granted unto Roger Williams, that he may change three acres of land lying in the neck, and take it up somewhere about the third lake, if it may, with conveniency, without damage to the highways, or other men’s lands, which are already laid out.”September 30, 1667, he was allowed to change three acres of land, which was laid out to him, in addition to his house lot, and take it up in any part of the common which is not prohibited.May 2, 1667, there were laid out to him “fifty acres between the seven mile and the four line.” This four mile line seems to have been the original line, about four miles west from Fox’s Hill. Additional land being purchased of the Indians, the seven mile line was established, June 4, 1660, beginning seven miles west of Fox’s Hill, and running north to Pawtucket river, and south to Pawtuxet river.

“June 4, 1666. It is granted unto Roger Williams, that he may change three acres of land lying in the neck, and take it up somewhere about the third lake, if it may, with conveniency, without damage to the highways, or other men’s lands, which are already laid out.”

September 30, 1667, he was allowed to change three acres of land, which was laid out to him, in addition to his house lot, and take it up in any part of the common which is not prohibited.

May 2, 1667, there were laid out to him “fifty acres between the seven mile and the four line.” This four mile line seems to have been the original line, about four miles west from Fox’s Hill. Additional land being purchased of the Indians, the seven mile line was established, June 4, 1660, beginning seven miles west of Fox’s Hill, and running north to Pawtucket river, and south to Pawtuxet river.

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