ELDER G BEEBE - HISTORY OF PROTESTANT PRIEST-CRAFT IN AMERICA AND EUROPE part 11

[Tom Adams]

Dear Brethren and Friends,

I again submit to you the next chapter from Elder Beebe's book entitled "The History of Protestant Priestcraft in America and Europe." 

A Sinner in Hope,
Tom

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THE HISTORY OF PROTESTANT PRIEST-CRAFT IN AMERICA AND EUROPE
Elder Gilbert Beebe
BANNER OF LIBERTY
1865


PART II

CHAPTER II

The most notable victim of the persecutions of the early Puritans of New England was Roger Williams, afterwards renowned as a most devoted champion in the cause of civil and religions freedom, – his services, and sufferings in which cause have elicited the admiration and gratitude of all good and intelligent men and embalmed his memory in the minds and hearts of all true lovers of liberty so fully that his name will be forever honored by the best and wisest men of all succeeding ages. After having endured several years of persecution for opposing the most absurd, unrighteous and oppressive dogmas and deeds of the Puritan hierarchy he was at length banished from Massachusetts, and was compelled to take refuge among the Indians in the then wilderness of Rhode Island, where he found the grim sons of the forest more charitable than his fellow Colonists who boasted as much piety and godliness as the ancient Pharisees. After effecting a settlement, he was followed thither by some of his former neighbors and friends, and a nucleus formed for the colony afterwards known by the name of Providence Plantations, in the charter obtained through his perseverance, and now constituting the State of Rhode Island. He here promulgated the principles of religious freedom and liberty of conscience, about the time that the Catholic Lord Baltimore did the same in the Colony of Maryland.

The personal history of so remarkable a man, intimately interwoven as it is with the history of priestcraft in America, cannot fail to be interesting; and we shall therefore devote this Chapter to the subject:

“It is a subject of regret,” says Mr. Knowles, “that of the early life of Roger Williams so little known. A few fact only have been preserved, and these do not rest on very certain evidence. It is remarkable that, in his numerous writings, there are no allusions to his parents, to the place of birth and education, and to other points relating to his early years. There are, in his letters and books, but two or three incidental references to events anterior to his arrival in this country; though his allusions to early occurrences after his emigration are very frequent.

“He was about 32 years of age when he reached our shores; a period of life when the energy of youth remains without its rashness, and the mind has acquired steadiness without the timid caution and fixed pertinacity of old age. It is a period, however, when the character of most men is already formed. Though new situations and difficult exigencies may develop unexpected powers, and give prominence to certain traits of character, yet the mind commonly remains unchanged in its essential qualities. It was long since said by Horace, that those who cross the ocean pass under a new sky, but do no acquire a new disposition. This was probably true of Mr. Williams; and if we could trace his early history, we should undoubtedly see an exhibition of the same principles and temper which distinguishes his subsequent career.

Of Roger Williams less is known than of some others, because no efforts were made by his early biographers to collect facts concerning him. His opponents were more disposed to obliterate his name, than to record his life. His contemporary friends were sharers in his sufferings, and were not at liesure to relate his story or their own. Even the records of the church which he founded at Providence contain no notice of him written earlier than 1775, when the Rev. John Stanford collected traditions concerning the origin of the church. These traditions state that Mr. Williams was born in Wales, 1599; the place of his birth, and the character of his parents, are now known.

It is said that the famous lawyer, Sir Edward Coke, observed him one day during public worship, taking notes of the discourse. His curiosity was excited, and he requested the boy to show him his notes. Sir Edward was so favorably impressed by the evidences of talent which these exhibited, that he requested the parents of young Williams to entrust their son to his care. He placed him, as the tradition runs, at the University of Oxford, where he drank deeply at the fountains of learning. His writings testify that his education was liberal, according to the taste of those times, when logic and classics formed the chief objects of study at the universities.

“He afterwards commenced the study of law, at the desire and under the guidance of his generous patron, who would naturally wish to train his pupil to the honorable and useful profession which he himself adorned. The providence of God may be seen in thus leading the mind of Mr. Williams to the acquaintance with the principles of law and government, which qualified him for his duties as legislator of his little colony.”¹

“With the details of his change of vocation, we can have no acquaintance, but all who have given any items if his history, agree in asserting, that in early life he was regularly admitted to orders in the Church of England, and preached from some time as a minister of that church, and that his preaching was highly esteemed, and his private character was revered.

“Possessing an ardent love for truth and liberty, he was led by his convictions to join the Puritans, and like others of them, emigrated to New England, which had been represented the home of piety and freedom. He arrived at Nantucket in February, 1631, and on reaching Boston, and finding the church there wielding a sceptre of civil power, at once declared himself dissatisfied with them, because they had not abjured those principles, on the ground of which they had been united to the established church of England. Then he broached the great doctrine, that civil governments, being constituted only for civil and secular ends, the magistrate hath no right to interfere in the affairs of conscience. He appears at that time to have fully matured the truth, that a church established by civil law, cannot be, as to its outward order, a true church of Christ; that so far as civil authority enforces religious duties, so far the church which allows it becomes a ‘kingdom of the world,’ and not the spiritual empire, of which Jesus Christ is the only sovereign. Giving offence to the rulers of Boston, by avowing opinions so adverse to their ecclesiastical polity, he went to Salem, where he was well received, and chosen teacher by the church. At this the court in Boston marveled much, and raised such an excitement against him, that in less than a year he removed to Plymouth, where he was associated with Mr. Ralph Smith, the Pastor, as an assistant teacher. We have the testimony of Governor Bradford, to the excellent character of his ministry, but his distinguished doctrine of human liberty, which was involved in his idea of the spirituality of the christian dispensation, was the cause of an opposition to him, which disposed him, in 1663, to listen favorably to a call from the church in Salem, to return to that place. Of all the churches in Massachusetts, that of Salem was most attached to the principles of independency, and maintained it most resolutely². The next year he was ordained their pastor, on which account the court in Boston manifested strong hostility to them, refusing even to hold intercourse with them touching matters of civil justice, until they retraced their steps. Thrice was he called before them to answer to several accusations. One was, impugning the justice of that patent by virtue of which the colony held her lands, inasmuch as it paid no regard to the rights of the Indians. Another was, calling the established church England antichristian. The third was, saying that an oath ought not to be enforced on an unregenerate man, which assertion, being based on the opinion that an oath is an act of worship, was defended by an argument remarkable for its simplicity and strength. But the worst of all was, declaring that ‘the magistrate ought not to punish the breach of the first table, otherwise than it did disturb the civil peace.’ His sentiments on this subject are thus expressed in his own words:³

“As the civil permission of all the consciences and worship of all men in things merely spiritual, is no ways inconsistent with true christianity, and true civility, so it is the duty of the magistrate to suppress all violences to bodies and goods of men for their soul’s belief, and to provide that not one person in the land be restrained from, or constrained to, any worship, ministry, or maintenance, but peaceably maintained in his soul (liberty) as well as corporal freedom.”⁴

In a few weeks after Mr. Williams’ arrival, he was invited by the church at Salem to become an assistant to Mr. Skelton, as teacher, in the place of the accomplished Higginson, who died a few months before. Mr. Williams complied with the invitation, and commenced his ministry in that town. But the civil authority speedily interfered, in accordance with the principle afterwards established in the “Platform,” that “If any church, one or more, shall grow schismatical, rending itself from the communion of other churches, or shall walk incorrigibly and obstinately in any corrupt way of their own, contrary to the rule of the Word; in such case, the magistrate is to put forth his coercive power, as the matter shall require.”

“Notwithstanding that the church at Salem had received Mr. Williams, he was not permitted to remain in peace. ‘Persecution,’ says Dr. Bentely, ‘instead of calm expostulation, instantly commenced, and Mr. Williams, before the close of summer, was obliged to retire to Plymouth.’ That this separation from the church at Salem was not a voluntary one, on her part or on his, may be presumed, from the fact asserted by the historian of Salem, just quoted, that ‘he was embraced with joy at Salem, and throughout all his life supported a high place in their affections as a truly good man.’ ‘He was freely entertained among us,’ says Mr. Prince, ‘according to our poor ability; exercised his gifts among us, and after some time was admitted a member of the church, and his teachings well approved; for the benefit whereof, I shall bless God, and am thankful for him ever for his sharpest admonitions and reproofs, so far as they agreed with truth.’

“his return to that town, by their invitation, two years after, is a satisfactory proof that the church there felt a confidence in his piety, and an attachment to his person and ministry.⁵

“At Plymouth, Mr. Williams was received with much respect, and became an assistant to Mr. Ralph Smith, the pastor of the church there. Governor Bradford speaks of Mr. Williams in honorable terms, and even Morton, who was not much disposed to speak favorably of him, acknowledges that he ‘was well accepted as an assistant in the ministry.’

“During Mr. Williams’ residence at Plymouth, Governor Winthrop, with Mr. Wilson, of Boston, and other gentlemen, visited the town. Winthrops’ account of the visit is so strongly illustrative of the manners of those times, that it may be properly inserted.

“In 1632, September 25, the Governor, with Mr. Wilson, pastor of Boston, and the two captains, &c., went aboard the Lion, and from thence, Mr. Pierce carried them in his shallop to Wessaguscus. The next morning Mr. Pierce returned to his ship, and the Governor and his company went on foot to Plymouth, and came thither within the evening. The Governor of Plymouth, Mr. William Bradford (a very discreet and grave man), with Mr. Brewer, the elder, and some others, came forth and met them without the town, and conducted them to the Governor’s house, where they were kindly entertained, and feasted every day at several houses. On the Lord’s day there was a sacrament, which they did partake in; and in the afternoon Mr. Roger Williams (according to their custom), propounded a question, to which the pastor, Mr. Smith, spake briefly; then Mr. William’s prophesied; and after the Governor of Plymouth spake to the question, and after him, the elder, then two or three more of the congregation. Then the elder desired the Governor of Massachusetts and Mr. Wilson to speak to it, which they did. When this was ended, the deacon, Mr. Fuller, put the congregation in mind of their duty of contribution; whereupon the Governor and all the rest went down to the deacon’s seat and put into the box, and then returned.”⁶

These minute details of the manner of conducting public worship in these early times, I have inserted for a two-fold purpose; first, to show the friendly relations which then subsisted between the head men of the two colonies and the man who so soon after was driven with unrelenting severity from the Massachusetts’ borders; and second to show the great simplicity, and, as I consider, primitive freedom maintained in their religious assemblies; and this was, probably, a fair specimen of the custom of those days.

“Mr. Williams continued about two years at Plymouth. While there, we may easily believe, he uttered his sentiments, on those points which had occasioned his removal from Salem, as well as on other subjects, in relation to which, his opinions were at variance with those of that age. They were not acceptable to the principal personages at Plymouth, though it does not appear that any public expression of disapprobation was made by the church. His heart was evidently drawn towards Salem, and being invited to return, to assist Mr. Skelton, whose declining health unfitted him for his duties, Mr. Williams requested a dismission from the church at Plymouth. Some of the members were unwilling to be separated from him, and accompanied him to Salem, after ineffectual efforts to detain him at Plymouth. But the ruling elder, Mr. Brewster, prevailed on the church to dismiss him and his adherents. Mr. Brewster, probably disliked his opinions, and feared that he would be successful in diffusing them at Plymouth. He, therefore, alarmed the church, by expressing his fears, that Mr. Williams would ‘run the course of rigid separation and anabaptistry which Mr. Smith, the Se-baptist, at Amsterdam, had done. Anabaptism was a spectre which haunted the imaginations of the early settlers. The word possessed a mysterious power of inspiring terror, and creating odium. It has, perhaps, been sometimes employed to justify measures which might else have wanted the appearance of justice and humanity. It was one of those terms, which, in the language of the most original writer, perhaps, of his age – himself liable to the charge of anabaptism⁷ – ‘can be made the symbol of all that is absurd and execrable, so that the very sound of it shall irritate the passions of the multitude, as dogs have been taught to bark at the name of a neighboring tyrant.’

--------------------------

Soon after the settlement of Mr. Williams in Salem, the ruling powers commenced those legal and vexatious measures, which, in a short time, resulted in the sentence of his banishment.

It may be well here to observe that all this time this persecuted man was a regular minister in the pædobaptist connection; conformed to all the rites and forms of the denomination, and that no difference appears to have existed between him and his brethren as to faith and practice, aside from those peculiar, those sacra-secular dogmas, which had respect to the affairs of the new location.⁸

And although fears were entertained that he would run the same course of rigid separation and anabaptistry which John Smith, of Amsterdam, had done; and, again, in one years’ time, in Salem, he had filled that place with principles of rigid separation, tending to anabaptism; yet up to the time of his banishment, nothing appears in Mr. Williams’ movements different from other Puritan reformers, who had solemnly abjured the errors and oppression of the hierarchy of the mother country; who had resolved to take the bible for their guide in all matters of faith and practice; and who had taken a firm and uncompromising stand in favor of the new, and many alarming principles of religious freedom; and were determined to carry them out to their legitimate consequences, in opposition to all remonstrances and denunciations from their friends, and the fearful predictions of those who could foresee nothing in them but calamity and downfall, as the certain destiny of the infant colony.

In this age, and, indeed, in many ages before it, in the old country, anabaptistry often had as much respect to the principles of religious freedom, and to the opposition of the union of church and state, with all the dangerous and oppressive consequences of that connection, as to any disputes about the mode of baptizing, as we have shown in another part of this work.

So open and undisguised was Mr. Williams in announcing and maintaining his opinions in opposition to the favorite views of the rest of his brethren, that from his first settlement in the county he was looked upon with jealousy and dread, on account of his commanding eloquence, his dauntless zeal, and his increasing popularity among the people.

“The grand doctrine of Liberty of Conscience was then a portentous novelty, and it wa the glory of Roger Williams, that he, in such an age, proclaimed it, defended it, suffered for it, and triumphantly established it.

“The principles of Roger Williams stood in the attitude of irreconcilable opposition to the system which the Pilgrims had established in New England. They could not blend with it. They came into collision with it, at every point. Mr. Williams was continually at variance with the government, because their measures were adjusted to their settle policy, but were repugnant to his great doctrine. There could be no peace between them, unless he yielded, or they abandoned their system. He was firm, and they were unconvinced. They possessed the power, and they banished him; not so much to punish him, as to remove from the colony a man whose doctrine they believed to be wrong, whose influence they feared, and whom they could neither intimidate, nor persuade to abandon his principles.

“The sin of the patents,” to use the language of the times or in other words, the doctrine that kings could dispose of the lands of the natives without their consent, was one of the most offensive positions maintained by Mr. Williams. On this subject he wrote a treatise, which, however, cannot be found.⁹

But the most obnoxious position, and indeed the heresy of all others the most dangerous and pestilential in the estimation of the Puritan fathers was, that the magistrate had no right to punish breaches of the first table; or to vary the expression, to legislate in matters of conscience and religion.

Other complaints, of minor importance were brought against him. But these two formed the substance of his indictments, and were the main points at issue before a tribunal secular in name, but in reality entirely under the influence of the ministers of religion, and swayed by the dictations of the church.

“These charges having been read, all the magistrates and minsters concurred in denouncing the opinions of Williams as erroneous and dangerous, and agreed that the calling him to office at that time, was a great contempt of authority. He and the church of Salem were allowed, until the next General Court, to consider of these charges, and then either to give satisfaction to the court, or else to expect sentence.

“Much warmth of feeling was exhibited in the discussion of these charges; and in the course of the debate, it seems the ministers were required to give their opinions severally. All agreed that he who asserted that the civil magistrate ought not to interfere in case of heresy, apostacy, &c., ought to be removed; and that other churches ought to request the magistrate to remove him. Nothing will give a better idea of the state of feeling on this occasion than the fact that, when the town at this time petitioned, claiming some land in Marblehead, as belonging to the town, the petition was refused a hearing, on the ground that the church of Salem had chosen Mr. Williams her teacher, and by such choice had offered contempt to the magistrates.

“The attendance of all the ministers of the Bay, at the next General Court, was requested. This was held in the month of November 1635. Before this venerable congregation of all the dignitaries of the church, Williams appeared and defended his opinions. His defense, it seems, was not satisfactory. They offered him further time for conference or disputation. This he declined, and chose to dispute presently. Mr. Hooker was appointed to dispute with him. But Mr. Hooker’s logic, seconded as it was by the whole civil and ecclesiastical power of Massachusetts, could not force him to recognize the right of the civil magistrate to punish heresy, or to admit that the king’s patent could of itself give a just title to the lands of the Indians. The consequence was, that on the following morning, he was sentenced to depart, within six weeks, out of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.

“Such were the causes of Mr. Williams’ banishment, and such the circumstances under which the decree was passed. He was a man who fearlessly asserted his principles, and practiced upon them to the fullest extent. Persecution could not drive him to a renunciation of his principles.

“Subsequently to his banishment, he was permitted to remain until spring, on condition that he did not attempt to draw others to his opinion.” But the friends of Williams could not consent to see their favorite pastor leave them, without frequently visiting him while they had an opportunity. In these interviews the plan of establishing a colony in the Narraganset country, where the principles of religious freedom (the assertion of which had been the chief cause of banishment) should be carried into effect. Was discussed and matured. It is also highly probable that he did not fail to do what he conceived to be the duty of a faithful pastor in other respects. At length the rumor of these meetings reached the ears of the civil authorities; and in January 1635, (O. S.), “The Governor and assistants,” says Winthrop, “met in Boston, to consider about Mr. Williams; for they were credibly informed, that he, notwithstanding the injunction laid upon him (upon liberty granted him to stay until sprint) not to go about to draw others to his opinions, did use to to entertain company in his house, and to preach to them, even of such points as he had been sentences for; and it was agreed to send him into England by a ship then ready to depart. The reason was he had drawn about twenty persons to his opinions, and they were intending to erect a plantation about the Narraganset bay, from whence the infection would easily spread into these churches, the people being many of them much taken with an apprehension of his godliness. Whereupon a warrant was sent to him to come presently to Boston to be shipped, &c. He returned for answer (and divers of Salem came with it) that he could not without hazard of his life, &c. Whereupon a pinnace was sent, with commission to Captain Underhill, &c., to apprehend him, and carry him on board the ship which then rode at Nantascutt. But when they came to his house, they found he had been gone three days, whither they could not learn.

“It thus appears that the object of the government, in directing his immediate apprehension at the time, was to prevent the establishment of a colony in which the civil authority should not be permitted to interfere with the religious opinions of the citizens.”

“Williams was in the thirty-seventh or thirty-eighth year of his age, at the time of his banishment. He fled to a wilderness inhabited only by savages. The two principle tribes – the Narraganset and Wampanoags – had but a short time before he entered their county, been engaged in open hostilities. The government of Plymouth had on one occasion, extended their aid to its early friend and ally, Massasoit, chief sachem of the Wampanoags. This interference had smothered, but not extinguished the flame. With these warring tribes, one of which (the Narragansets) was a very martial and numerous people, and exceedingly jealous of the whites. Williams was under the necessity of establishing relations of amity. He himself says he was forced to travel between their sachems, to satisfy them, and all their dependent spirits, of his honest intentions to live peaceably by them. He acted the part of a peace-maker among them, and eventually won, even for the benefit of his persecutors, the confidence of the Narragansets. It was through his influence, that all the Indians in the vicinity of Narraganset bay, were, shortly after his settlement at Mooshusick, united; and their whole force, under the direction of the very men who had driven him into the wilderness, brought to co-operate with the Massachusetts forces against the Pequots. See Winthrop’s Journal, and a Sketch of the Life of Roger Williams appended to the first volume of the Rhode Island Historical Collections, for the above extracts.¹⁰

For the sake of distant readers, who are not familiar with the geography of this country, I shall here give a brief description of the various localities referred to in these details. Salem lies 13 miles north-easterly from Boston, and about 50 miles from Seekonk or Rehoboth, to which he at fist repaired. His course was a south-westerly one. The distance, by railroad speed, is now traveled in about three hours. But by bridges, and various improvements, the distance is much shorter now than at the time when travelers had to go round by the head of the wide rivers, bays and inlets, which were then all in a state of nature. And, a further sweep than usual, was no doubt taken by Mr. Williams, to avoide discovery by his Boston opponents, whose watchful vigilance and exasperated feelings made them the object of terror and alarm.

Plymouth is above 50 miles at the south of Boston, and about the same distance from Seekonk. The lines from each place form a triangle whose sides are nearly equal.

Of this eventful journey, scarcely any details are given. It is a singular fact, and much to be regretted, that among all the writings of Mr. Williams so little has been said of the incidents of this perilous adventure, his devious travel by day, and lonely encampments by night, amidst savage men and beasts of prey.

All that can be gathered from his pen is contained in the following extract from a letter to Major Mason, of Conn., in 1670.

“First. When I was unkindly and unchristianly, as I believe, driven from my house, and land, and wife, and children, (in the midst of a New England winter,) now about thirty-five years past, at Salem, the ever-honored Governor, Mr. Winthrope, privately wrote to me, to steer my course to the Naraganset Bay and Indians; for many high, and heavenly, and public ends, encouraged me, from the freeness of the place from an English, claims or patents. I took his prudent motion as a hint, and voice from God; and waving all other thoughts and motions, I steered my course from Salem, (though in winter snow, which I feel yet,) unto these parts, wherein I may san Peniel, that is, I have seen the face of God.

Second. I first pitched, and began to build and plant at Seekonk, now Rehoboth, but I received a letter from my ancient friend, Mr. Winslow, then Governor of Plymouth, professing his own and others love and respect to me, yet lovingly advising me, since I was fallen into the edge of their bounds, and they were loth to displease the Bay, to remove but to the other side of the water, and then, he said, I had the country free before me, and might be as free as themselves, and we should be loving neighbors together.”¹¹

Judge Durfee, in his poem of “What Cheer?” of which our exile license, has extended the description in the following familiar manner:

“Morn came at last, and by the dawning gray,
Our founder rose, his secret flight to take;
His wife and infant still in slumber lay.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Mary! (she woke,) prepare my traveling gear,
My pocket compass, and my raiment strong,
My flint and steel, to yield the needful fire –
Food for a week, if that be not too long.

My hatchet too – it’s service I require,
To clip my fuel desert wilds among;
With these I go to found in forests drear,
A State where none shall persecution fear.

What! Goest thou Roger in this chilling storm?
Wait! Wait at least until its rage is o’er –
Its wrath will bar e’en persecution’s arm
From thee and me, until it fails to roar.”

But the prospect of transportation, as a felon, to his native land, was more terrible than all the perils of his lonely way –

“So forth he ventured” –
Leaving all endearments behind,
“In boundless forests now our founder trod,
And south-west far his doubtful course he took:”

His first night encampment, amidst the howling monsters of the wood, is thus described:

“Growling they come, and in dark groups they stand,
Show the white fang, and roll the bright’ning eye;
Till urged by hunger seemed the shaggy band,
Even the flames bright terrors to defy –
The ‘mid the group he hurled the blazing brand;
Swiftly the disperse and raise the scattered cry;
But rallying soon, back to the siege they came,
And scarce their rage paused at the mounting flame.”

In this situation Waban, a friendly Indian, whose lodge was near, attracted by his peril and the light of his fire, came to his assistance, and continued his friendly aid until his final settlement in Providence.

By this nimble-footed red man, he dispatched a hasty scroll to his wife, written on the inner bark of the pine, to allay her fears as to the danger of his exile.

Although some of his friends soon gathered around him after his settlement, yet there is no intimation that any of them were with him in his early movements.

The fourteen weeks which he spent in traversing the country, were employed in going to and fro among the Indian nations, in his visits to the different chiefs, and in adjusting matters for his final settlement.

All this time he was dependent on the natives for food and friendship; he lodged in their filthy and smoky holes, and was sustained by their rude and peculiar fare; and could truly say that he “did not know what bed or bread did mean.”

Under a mistaken apprehension as to the bounds of the Plymouth patent, his first location was on the wrong side of the river, on Seekonk plain, or prairie, as it would be called at the west, being an open field, about four miles in length, and two in width. Although the soil is generally much wanting in fertility, yet the case of cultivation probably induced him to make this selection.

Here he began to build and plant, and had the prospect, in some small degree, of the comforts of life in his exile. To his humble dwelling, also, his family had been removed, and all was full of promise for the future, when, all at once, new and unexpected trials burst upon his view.

In the course of the day one of the elders¹² of the Plymouth church, as a messenger from the ruling powers, came to him with the sad intelligence that all his labors were lost, that his Indian title was of no avail, but that all must be abandoned as a peace-offering to the persevering malignity of the rulers of the Bay. On this occasion, according the poem just quoted from, the following dialogue ensued: –

Williams.
“Just is my title here – the lands I took
Are part of Massanoit’s wide mountain,
And fairly purchased – mine they dearly are –
Make this to Plymouth known, and Plymouth must forbear.”

Elder.
“And didst think” the Elder cried, “to win
Of Pagan chief a title here secure?”

Williams.
“God made the Pagan, and to him he gave,
Breath of this air, drink from yon crystal tide,
Food from these forest lawns and yonder wave;
Yea, He ordained this region, far and wide,
To be his home in life – in death his grave –
Is thy claim better? Canst thou trace thy right
From one superior, to the God of might?”

Elder.
“As to our title, then we trace it thus:
God gave James Steward this, and James gave us.”

Williams.
“God gave James Stewart this? I marvel then!
Fain would I see the deed Omniscience wrote.”

These quotations give us an intelligent view of the reasonings of the times on this abstract and interesting subject.

But the elder’s exposition of the favorite doctrine of the superior power of the king over the original owners of the soil, and also,
“That saints alone are for dominion fit,”
were too powerful for the lonely exile; and soon he prepared for his removal beyond the claims of court or king, leaving his new-made house and growing crops all behind.

In a canoe, with five others, viz.: William Harris, John Smith, Joshua Verin, Thomas Angell, and Francis Weeks, he proceeded down the stream. “As they approached the little cove near Tockwotton, now India Point, they were saluted by a company of Indians with the friendly interrogation, “What cheer? a common English phrase, which they had learned from the colonists.¹³ At this spot they probably went on shore, but they did not long remain there.¹⁴ They passed around India Point and Fox Point, and proceeded up the river on the west side of the peninsula to a spot near the mouth of the Moshassuck river. Tradition reports that Mr. Williams landed near a spring, which remains till this day.¹⁵ At this spot the settlement of Roger Williams commenced.

“O, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod;
They have left unstained, what there they found,
Freedom to worship God.”¹⁶

“To the town here founded, Mr. Williams, with his habitual piety, and in grateful remembrance of ‘God’s merciful providence to him in his distress,’ gave the name of Providence.

“There has been much discussion respecting the precise period at which this memorable event occurred. There is a perplexing confusion in the statements of different writers. We shall be excused if we examine the subject with some minuteness. Callender, in his Century Sermon (p. 18), says that it was in the spring of the year 1634-35. Governor Hopkins, in his History of Providence¹⁷, places it ‘some time in the year 1634.’ Hutchinson (vol. i., p. 41) assigns the same year. Later writers have naturally been led into the same mistake. Backus, (vol. i., p. 70) states that in January, 1636, Mr. Williams left Massachusetts, which is the right date, according to the modern mode of computing time, though, by the style which then prevailed, it was 1635.

“But the period of his banishment is fixed decisively by the records of Massachusetts, and by Winthrop’s Journal. His sentence of banishment was passed November, 1635. In January following, according to Winthrop, (vol. I., p. 175,) the court resolved to send him to England, and the messengers found that he had departed from Salem, three days before their arrival.

In the letter to Major Mason, Mr. Williams says, ‘The next year after my banishment the Lord drew the bow of the Pequod war against the country.’ This war commenced in July 1635, with the murder of Oldham. This fact corroborates the preceding statement. The time of his leaving Seekonk, for Providence, cannot be accurately determined but we may approach very near the true date.

“Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, who advised him to leave Seekonk, entered in his official duties in March 1635-36. This was the only year he held the office of Governor between 1633 and 1644. Mr. Williams must, therefore, have been at Seekonk subsequently to the date of Governor’s Winslow’s accession to office.

“In Mr. Williams’ letter to Major Mason, he says that he began to build and plant at Seekonk.” He did not begin to plant, we may presume, till the middle of April, if so early. In the same letter, he speaks of his removal as occasioning his “lost of a harvest that year,” from which remark, we may reasonably infer, that the corn had attained a considerable growth before he left Seekonk, and consequently that that he did not cross the river till the middle, perhaps of June.

“On the 26th of July, a letter was received from Mr. Williams by Governor Vane, informing him of the murder of Mr. Oldham, by the Indians of Block Island. This letter was written at Providence, and it proves that Mr. Williams removed thither previously to the 26th of July.

“We may safely conclude that he left Seekonk not far from the middle of June, 1636. The exact day will never, it is probable, be ascertained.

“There is one circumstance which, perhaps, misled Mr. Callender and Governor Hopkins respecting the year of Mr. Williams’ arrival. In a deed signed by himself and wife, and dated 20, 1661, he used these words: ‘Having in the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-four, and in the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, had several treaties with Canonicus and Miantinomo, the two chief sachems of the Narragansets, and in the end purchased of them the lands and meadows upon the two fresh rivers, called Moshassuck and Wanaskatucket, the two sachems having, by a deed under their hands, two years after the sale thereof, established and confirmed the bounds of these lands.’

“The statement that he held several treaties with the Narranganset sachems, in 1634 and 1635, presents some difficulty. But we have already seen, that while at Plymouth and at Salem, he held some intercourse with these chiefs. In a manuscript letter, already quoted, he says:

“I spared no cost towards them, and in gifts to Ousamequin and all his, and to Canonicus and all his, tokens and presents, many years before I came in person to the Narraganset; and therefore, when I came, I was welcome to Ousamequin, and to the old prince Canonicus, who was my shy of English to his last breath.”

It is probable, therefore, that the “treaties” which he mentions, having been held in 1634 and 1635, were propositions concerning lands, made by him, perhaps, to the chiefs, through Indians, whom he saw at Boston, or Salem, and by whom he was in the habit of sending to them presents. We have already intimated a conjecture that for some time before his banishment, he had entertained the though of a settlement in the Indian country. If so, it was natural for him to enter into negotiations for lands. “But these propositions, whatever they were, were not concluded in the years which he mentions. He says, that ‘in the end,’ he purchased the land at Providence, and that the deed was dated two years after the purchase. We accordingly find that the deed was dated ‘at Narraganset, the 24th of the first month, commonly called March, in the second year of the plantation, or planting at Moshassuck, or Providence.’ The year is not mentioned in the instrument, but it is known to have been 1637-8. This deed corresponds with Mr. Williams’ statement, and refers to the year 1630 as the time of his actual purchase and also as that of his arrival.”

“We will add another fact to strengthen a position which has, perhaps, been sufficiently established. A parchment deed, now in the possession of Moses Brown, is dated the ‘14th day of the second month, in the 5th year of our situation, or plantation, at Moshassuck, or Providence, and in the 17th year of King Charles, &c., 1641.’ this deed also points to the year 1635, as the day of the first settlement of Providence.”

“In June of this year, the settlement of Hartford (Connecticut) was begun. Rev. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, who had been settled at Newtown (now Cambridge,) removed with their whole church, and founded the city of Hartford. A fort had been built the preceding year at Saybrook, at the mouth of the river Connecticut, and small settlements had been commenced at Weathersfield and Windsor.¹⁸

We have thus traced the progress of the founder of this State, to his fixed and permanent abode, where he afterwards lived upwards of forty years, and where he died, ina good old age.

And it is plain to be seen, the farther we are removed from the time of his labors, the ore prevailing is the disposition of all who are not bound in the chains of ecclesiastical despotism to favor and adopt the principle of religious freedom, which, with such heroic fortitude and untiring assiduity, he labored to establish and promote.

And although opposition to his favorite views knew no bounds, yet his moral conduct was above reproach, and his private character was always respected and revered.

In his new location he found that favor among the savages, which christians had denied him. Many of his friends and adherents soon repaired to his new habitation. All accounts agree that Mr. Williams had paid much attention to the Indian language while at Plymouth and Salem, some years before his banishment; this was done for purposes of benevolence merely, as his mind was much absorbed in plans for spiritual good of the natives, and in this way a foundation was laid beforehand – the elements of the barbarous dialects had been acquired, and now his daily intercourse, the best of all ways to gain facility in speaking a foreign tongue, enabled him to progress in a rapid manner.

The great advantage of his knowledge of their language is often referred to by Mr. Williams. In the business of treaties and trade, he could manage without an interpreter. And then again, the shy and ignorant princes with whom he had to deal, at once felt a confidence and friendship for a man who could thus address them, and it is not, probably too much to say that no settler among them on any part of our continent, not excepting the amiable and friendly Penn, had a more commanding influence over the savage tribes, then Roger Williams. This influence assisted him to soothe the irritated chiefs, and break up their confederacies against the English. And the first act of this kind was performed in favor of the colony from which he had been so cruelly banished.

Our first impressions would lead us to suppose that the powerful sachems, the lords of the soil, of whom his first purchases were made, were found upon the spot. But this is not the case. The residence of Miantinomy, the monarch of the Narragansets, is said by Gookin, to have been the island of Canonicut, and the territory now ceded to Mr. Williams was remote from his dwelling about thirty miles.

“The first deed which he obtained of his lands, or at least the first which is now extant, bears date the same day with that of Aquidneck, and was given two years after his settlement at Providence. It runs in the following style:

“At Nanhiggansick (Narraganset), the 24th of the month, commonly called March, in the second year of our plantation, or planting at Mooshausick, (Moshassuck), or Providence. Memorandum: That we, Caunannicus, (Canonicus) and Miantinomu, (Miantonomo) the two chief Sachems of Narraganset, having two years since, sold unto Roger Williams, the lands and meadows upon the two fresh rivers, called Moshussuck and Wanaskatucket, do now, by these presents, establish and confirm the bounds of these lands, from the river and fields of Pawtucket, the great hill Neoterconkenitt, (Notaquoncanot) on the north-west, and the town of Mashapauge on the west. As also, in consideration of the many kindnesses and services he hath continually done for us, both for our friends of Massachusetts, as also at Quininkticutt, (Connecticut) and Apoum, or Plymouth; we do freely give unto him all that land, from those rivers, reaching to Pautuxett river; as also the grass and meadows upon Pautuxett river; in witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of,

The mark of ‡ Caunannicus,
The mark of ǁ Miantinomu,
The mark of † Seatach,
The mark of * Assotemewett.

“1639, Memorandum, 3d month, 9th day, this was all again confirmed by Miantinomu; he acknowledged this his act and hand; up the stream of Pautucket and Pautuxett without limits we might have for our use of cattle; witness hereof,
Roger Williams.
Benedict Arnold.”¹⁹

This deed must have comprehended all the county of Providence, or the north part of the state, and most of the county of Kent.

A few months after this purchase was made, Mr. Williams admitted as his associates the persons afterwards named by the following instrument:

“Providence, 8th of the 8th month, 1638, (so called,) Memorandum: That I, Roger Williams, having formerly purchased of Caunanicus and Miantinomu, this our situation or plantation of New Providence, &c., the two fresh rivers of Wanasquatucket and Mooshausick, and the ground and meadows thereupon; in consideration of thirty pounds and received from the inhabitants of said place, do freely and fully pass, grant, and make over equal right and power of enjoying and disposing of the same grounds and lands unto my loving friends and neighbors, Stukley Westcoat, William Arnold, Thomas James, Robert Cole, John Greene, John Throckmorton, William Harris, William Carpenter, Thomas Olney, Francis Weston, Richard Warman, Ezekiel Holliman, and such others as the major part of us shall admit into the same fellowship of vote with us: As also I do freely make and pass over equal right and power of enjoying and disposing of the lands and grounds reaching from the aforesaid rivers unto the great river Pautuxett, with the grass and meadows thereupon, which was so lately given and granted by the aforesaid sachems to me; witness my hand,
Roger Williams.”

The next who were admitted into this company, were Chad Brown, William Field, Thomas Harris, William Wickenden, Robert Williams, brother to Roger, Richard Scott, William Reynolds, John Field, John Warner, Thomas Hopkins, Francis Weeks, &c.²⁰

The following passage explains, in a very pleasing manner, Mr. Williams’ design in these transactions:

“Notwithstanding I had the frequent promise of Miantinomu, my kind friend, that it should be land that I should want about those bounds mentioned, provided that I satisfied the Indians there inhabiting, I having made covenant of peaceable neighborhood with all the sachems and natives round about us, and having, in a sense of God’s merciful providence unto me in my distress, called the place Providence, I desired it might be for a shelter for persons distressed for conscience; I then considering the condition of diverse of my countrymen, I communicated my said purchase unto my loving friends, John Throckmorton, and others, who then desired to take shelter here with me. And whereas, by God’s merciful assistance I was the procurer of the purchase, not by monies nor payment, the natives being so shy and jealous that monies could not do it, but by that language, acquaintance and favour with the natives, and other advantages which it pleased God to give me; and also bore the charges and venture of all the gratuities which I gave to the great sachems, and other sachems and natives round about us, and lay engaged for a loving and peaceable neighbourhood with them, to my great charge and travel; it was therefore thought fit that I should receive some consideration and gratuity.” Thus after mentioning the said thirty pounds, and saying “this sum I received; and in love to my friends and with respect to a town and place of succor for the distressed as aforesaid, I do acknowledge this said sum and payment a full satisfaction.”

He went on in full and strong terms to confirm these lands to said inhabitants, reserving no more to himself and his heirs, than an equal share iwith the rest; his wife also signing the deed.²¹

These details have extended over so much space, that we shall be able to do no more in the history of these early times and this distinguished man, than to give something of a chronological list of the most important events which transpired during Mr. Williams’ life, and a brief exposition of his all-important doctrine of liberty of conscience.

Sometime during the summer of 1643, Mr. Williams embarked at New York for his native land. A Dutch ship furnished him with a conveyance, which his own countrymen had denied him. Of the length and incidents of the voyage, we know nothing. The vessel, we may be sure, did not afford the sumptuous accommodations, nor pursue her course over the Atlantic with the celerity of the steam packet-ship of the present day.

Whilst on this voyage, that no time might be lost for laying posterity under obligations to him, when wrote the Key to the Indian Languages; this, together with his Bloody Tenent, were published on his arrival in England. Here, as agent for the colonies of Providence, Rhode Island, and Warwick, he obtained a charger of incorporation, signed by the Earl of Warwick, then Governor and Admiral of the English Plantations, and by his council. This instrument was dated March 14, 1643-4. It was obtained by the aid of Sir Henry Vane, at whose county seat Mr. Williams resided for a part of the time, at least, while he was in England.

Mr. Williams returned to America in the autumn of 1644; he landed at Boston, Sept. 17. He was emboldened to venture on this forbidden ground, by a friendly letter from several noblemen, and other members of Parliament, addressed to the magistrates of Massachusetts.

This letter procured for Mr. Williams permission to proceed unmolested to Providence, but it produced no relaxation of the policy of Massachusetts towards him.

“Mr. Williams’ return to Providence, was greeted by a voluntary expression of the attachment and gratitude of its inhabitants, which is one of the most satisfactory testimonies to his character. They met him at Seekonk, with fourteen canoes, and carried him across the river to Providence. This simple act of respect must have been highly grateful to his feelings. It does equal honor to him, and to his fellow-citizens, who thus showed themselves capable of estimating, in a manner worthy of freemen, the services of a friend and public benefactor.”²²

“Soon after this event, Mr. Williams had another opportunity to interpose his beneficent agency in favor of the colonists.” And by his own account, which is corroborated by other testimony, he had a principal hand in breaking up the war between the Narragansets and Mohegans, which had actually commenced, and bore a most alarming aspect to all the infant settlements. This war arose out of the melancholy death of Miantonomu, the favorite chief of the powerful Narragansets.

In 1651, serious difficulties having been raised in the colony, by Coddington’s procuring a charter which gave him almost unlimited authority over the islands of Narraganset Bay, Williams and Clarke were dispatched as agents of the coly to procure a revocation of it. This they effect, October, 1652. Williams returned in 1654, but Clarke remained in England, and procured the second charter of 1663. While in England at this time, Williams resided a principal part of the time at Belleau, a seat of Sir Henry Vane, in Lincolnshire; and on his return, brought a letter from him, recorded in the records of Providence, inviting the planters to a closer union with one another. This letter, aided by the urgent and constant solicitations of Williams, finally restored peace and union to the colony, which, during his absence, had been rent by many divisions. He was several times, both before and after this period, elected to the office of President or Governor of this colony, by the “free vote of the freemen.”²³

The following extracts from Rev. Mr. Hague’s Historical Discourse, supply a pleasing and correct summary of the character and closing labors of this interesting man:

“The character of Roger Williams is an interesting subject to study. The more we contemplate it, the more shall we be stuck with the rare combination of virtues which formed it; the more we shall admire the strength of his mind and the enlargedness of heart, the warm attachments which he felt for his own opinions, connected with a deep respect for the right of private judgment in others; the zeal with which he maintained his own mental independence, and his “Godly jealousy” for that of his neighbor; the frankness with which he avowed his sentiments, and the heroic fortitude with which he saw the bearings of a principle, and the unflinching fidelity with which he carried it out to its just conclusion.”²⁴

“It is remarkable, that notwithstanding all the hardships which Mr. Williams endured, he should have lived more than a half a century after his arrival in this country, and enjoyed a vigorous old age. Vigorous indeed it was, for it would seem that after he had completed threescore years and ten, his physical force had not abated, and his mind glowed with all the ardor of his youth. What an extraordinary object is presented to our attention, when we contemplate him at the age of seventy-three, embarking in a small boat, and plying the oar through that day and until the ensuing midnight, in order to reach Newport at the appointed time, to engage in a public discussion with George Fox, on those points of theology wherein they differed.

When near fourscore, we find that he was engaged in preaching to the Indians, and afterwards, amid great debility, he was employed by his fireside, writing out those discourses for circulation among them. He thus filled thirty sheets of manuscript, and then asked aid of his friends in Boston, to enable him to publish them, saying, ‘He that hath a shilling and a heart to countenance and promote such a soul-work, may trust the great paymaster for an hundred or one in this.’ Although he had opportunities of accumulating wealth, yet his sacrifices for the good of the colony were immense, and from the fact just mentioned, it seems that he died in a condition of honorable poverty. We are struck, in this case, with a view of the benevolence of his heart, and his untiring industry, which indeed can be no better proved than by the fact, that while in London, as agent of the colony, he earned his own support by teaching languages; contrived, when their funds failed, to pay their debts and maintain their credit; and at the same time living in unfriendly intercourse with Milton,²⁵ pursued with him a course of mutual instruction, in the knowledge of various tongues. Constantly employed in some pursuit of literature, or work of faith, or labor of love, he closed his earthly pilgrimage early in 1683, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and was interred in his own family burial ground, “with all the solemnity which the colony was able to show.”²⁶

Mr. Williams was the father of six children, viz., Mary, Freeborn, Providence, Mercy, Daniel, and Joseph; the descendants from whom at this time amount to many thousands.

As Mr. Williams’ favorite doctrine of religious freedom was much misrepresented in his day, and he was accused of carrying it so far as to neutralize all the functions of civil government, and exempt from punishment criminal offenders who set up a false plea of conscientious impulses, or scruples, for their wayward actions, we will here inset his own exposition of this important subject. It is contained in an Address to the town of Providence, in 1654:

“That ever I should speak or write a tittle that tends to such an infinite liberty of conscience, is a mistake, and which I have disclaimed and abhorred. To prevent such mistakes, I at present shall only propose this case: There goes many a ship at sea, with many hundred souls in one ship, whose weal and wo in common, and is a true picture of a commonwealth, or an human combination, or society. It has fallen out sometimes, that both Papists and Protestants, Jews and Turks, may be embarked into one ship. Upon which supposal I do affirm that all the liberty of conscience, that ever I pleaded for, turns upon these two hinges, that none of the Papists, Protestants, Jews or Turks, be forced to come to the ship’s prayers or worship; nor, secondly, compelled from their own particular prayers, or worship, if they practice any. I further add, that I never denied, that, notwithstanding this liberty, the commander of this ship ought to command the ship’s course; yea, and also to command that justice, peace, and sobriety be kept and practiced, both among the seamen and all the passengers. If any of the seamen refuse to perform their service, or passengers to pay their freight; if any refuse to help in person or purse, toward the common charges or defense; if any refuse to obey the common laws and orders of the ship, concerning their common peace or preservation; if any shall mutiny, and rise up against their commanders and officers; if any shall preach or write that there ought to be no commanders nor officers, because all are equal in Christ, therefore no masters nor officers; no laws nor orders; no corrections nor punishments – I say, I never denied but in such cases, whatever is pretended, the commander or commanders may judge, resist, compel, and punish such transgressors, according to their deserts and merits. This, if seriously and honestly minded, may, if it so please the Father of Lights, let in some light to such as willingly shut not their eyes. I remain studious of our common peace and liberty.²⁷
ROGER WILLIAMS.

He was born in Wales, in 1598, and was educated at Oxford University, England, under the patronage of Sir Edward Coke, and is supposed to have been a relative of Oliver Cromwell.²⁸

He landed in America in February 5, 1630-1, and was soon after called to the office of teacher, in Salem, Mass., in connection with Rev. Mr. Skelton.

On account of the opposition from the court in Boston, he soon removed to Plymouth, in the same State.

Two years after, he came back to Salem, in 1634.

He was banished from Massachusetts in Jan., 1635.

He settled in Providence in 1636.

In 1635, the same year of his banishment, by his interest with the Narragansets, he broke up the grand confederacy, or league between that powerful nation, the Pequods, &c., against the English, and so became the savior of all the infant colonies.

In 1639, he was baptized by Ezekiel Holliman, a layman who was appointed by the little company for the purpose. Then he baptized the rest of the company, and thus laid the foundation for the first Baptist church in Providence, and on the American continent.

His first visit to England, to obtain the first charter for his infant colony, was in 1643.

He returned, and landed in Boston, in 1644.

In 1645, he was instrumental in breaking up an alarming war between the Narragansets and Mohegans. The principal causes of his commanding influence over the natives, was his ability to converse with them in their own language, and his uniform kindness and justice towards them.

His second visit to England, was in 1651, in company with John Clarke, of Newport. He returned in 1654, leaving Mr. Clarke behind, who obtained the second charter, under Charles II., which was the foundation of the Rhode Island government, until a few years past.

He was President or Governor of Rhode Island from 1654 to 1657.

The principal sachems, or chiefs, with whom Mr. Williams had to deal in all his first operations, were, Ousamequin, sometimes called Massasoit, who was the father of the famous warrior King Phillip; he resided at Mt. Hope,²⁹ near the present town of Bristol, R. I., and claimed all the territory on the eastern side of the Narraganset Bay. The Womponoags were his subjects. This country was in the territory when claimed by the Plymouth colony.

On the Rhode Island side, the two principal chiefs, to whom a large number of smaller ones were tributary, were Canonicus and Miantinomy, uncle and nephew. Their residence was on the island of Conanicut, down the Narragansets Bay, about thirty miles from Williams’ first settlement.

Canonicus was an old man when Williams first came to his dominions, and the cares of his government devolved mostly on his nephew, who acted as his prime minister and assistant; and probably the Narraganset dynasty was the most powerful one in the country, and could of itself easily have crushed at once all the colonies of the pale-faced strangers.

With all these chiefs Mr. Williams was well acquainted, both at Plymouth and Salem, and they by turns had visited each other. The royal red men had experienced his hospitality and inviting gratuities, and he on his part had traveled among them, and had lodged in their smoky dwellings, for the sake of “diving into their language,” to use an expression of his own, for the sake of their future good.

They knew him as a public teacher before his banishment, “and therefore with them he was held as a sachem.”

Again Mr. Williams says, “I had the favor and countenance of that noble soul, Mr. Winthrop, whom all Indians respected.” This candid statement reflects the highest honor on the character of the illustrious ruler of the infant colony of the Bay, and affords a striking proof of the magnanimity of the injured exile.

The famous letter to Major Mason, of conn., the hero of the Pequod war, was written in 1670. In this letter is contained a number of interesting facts as to his own early history, nowhere else to be found. Had this kind of autobiography been continued, we should not have had to depend so much on the garbled and distorted statements of opponents, or the kind conjectures of friends, for the opinions and actions of this bold and successful Reformer.

Amidst abundant means of acquiring wealth, Mr. Williams, in the end was poor.

A large portion of the upper end of the State at first stood in his name; he had a store and large trading operations in the Narraganset country, where by the Indian wars and the non-intercourse acts of the Boston people, he suffered the loss of many thousand pounds, as he declares in his letter to Major Mason; and through life he was a man of great frugality and good calculations; yet, such was his generosity to all new comers, who were distressed “for conscience sake,” so much was he devoted to the public service at home and abroad, and so costly were his Indian gifts, and so much did he expend in the business treaties, negotiations, and daily intercourse with the natives, that he never arose above the level of mediocrity in his worldly affairs, and in honorable poverty, like many other philosophers and reformers, he closed his earthly career.

________________________________

1Knowles’ Life of Roger Williams, pp. 22-24.

2Upham’s Second Cent. Disc. p. 41.

3Hireling Ministry, p. 36.

4Hague’s Historical Discourse, pp. 16-19.

5Memorial, p. 151.

6Knowles’ Memoir, pp. 51, 52.

7Rev. John Foster in his Essay on the epithet Romanic, as quoted by Knowles, p. 54.

8As yet, immersion or affusion had but little to do with their disputes.

9At this late period I am not disposed to enter into an investigation of this subject, which then had important bearings on many interests besides the Indians, as we shall see in the affairs of Mr. Williams in his exile.
Mr. Williams’ policy on this point was steadily advocated from the beginning – with most others it was an afterthought, after the ignorant aborigines had parted with the extensive domains for the merest trifle; purchases were made with the toys and trinkets which the children had thrown away; a mile square was often purchased for a blanket or a knife, and this was considered a fair business transaction. Williams and Penn pursued an honest and manly course in all their dealings with the natives, which cannot be said of many others who acquired possessions of their territory.

10Durfee’s poem, ‘What Cheer?’ pp. 168-171.

11Knowles, p. 394.

12Elder is here used, not as with Papists, but in the Presbyterian sense of the term.

13Equivalent to the modern How do you do? – Knowles. p. 102.

14The land adjacent to this spot was called What Cheer, in memory of the occurrence.

15Tradition has uniformly stated the place where they landed to be the spring south-west of the episcopal church, at which a house has recently been built by Mr. Nehemiah Dodge. – Moses Brown.

16Mrs. Heman’s noble ode, “The landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.” This beautiful stanza applies with more literal truth to R. Williams and his companions than to all the Pilgrim Fathers. – Knowles.

17Published in the Providence Gazette, from January to March, 1765, and re-published in the 2 Mass. Hist. Col. 9.

18Knowles’ Roger Williams, pp. 102-105

19The Moohausick Rover empties into Providence Cove from the north, a little below the mill bridge; the Wanaskatucket is that which runs through Olneyville, a suburb of Providence. The Pawtucket river rises in, or near Rutland, in Worcester county, Massachusetts, and empties into the Narraganset Bay at India Point, Providence. The Pawtuxet rises near the borders of Connecticut, and falls into the bay, five miles below Providence.

20“Of these I find Williams (brother to Mr. Roger) among the Massachusetts freemen, but no more of their names upon those records. Perhaps most of them might have newly arrived; for Governor Winthrop assures us that no less than three thousand arrived this year in twenty ships; and Mr. Hubbard tells us, that those who inclined to the Baptists’ principles went to Providence; others went to Newport. Seven of the first twelve, with Angell, I suppose began the settlement with Mr. Williams, in 1638.” – Backus.

21Backus, vol. i., p. 94.

22Knowles, p. 202.

23Key, &c., p. 1.

24Hague’s Hist. Discourse, p. 87.

25In a letter from Mr. Williams to Mr. John Winthrop, soon after his second return form England, he gives an interesting account of his intimacy with this famous statesman and poet, who was then high in favor with the powerful protector, and of their learned pursuits together.
From this letter, it appears “that Mr. Williams was sufficiently versed in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Dutch, and French languages, to teach them.”

26Callender, Elton’s ed., p. 147. Knowle’s Life, &c., p. 265

27This clear description of the difference between civil and ecclesiastical affairs, and of the difference betwixt good government on the one hand, and tyranny or licentiousness on the other, confirmed by a correspondent practice through fifty years of incessant labors, are more than a sufficient balance to all the slanders that various parties have cast upon this ancient witness and advocate for the rights and liberties of men against the superstitions and enthusiasms of his day. – Backus, vol. i., p. 298.

28The place of his birth could never be ascertained. Mr. Jones, of New York, a zealous Welshman, has men now in his employ in his mother country, examining parish records with reference to this subject. But the Welsh travel backward and forward so much – David Jenkins and Jenkins David, and so of all the rest – that it is exceedingly difficult to make much progress in these inquiries. I have looked over Mr. Jones’ volumes of Welsh Heraldry and Genealogy, and the more I study them the more I am confused.

29Since the above was written, General Fessenden, of Warren, R. I., whose researches into all old matters of this kind are very laborious and extensive, has shown me a paper in which he maintains that the seat of Massasoit was at the lower end of the town of Warren, a few miles to the north of Mount Hope, and that here he dwelt when visited by Mr. Winslow, from Plymouth.
His arguments, which are very plausible, are worthy the attention of all antiquarian inquirers.