GODDARD 
 
 An Address to the people of 
 Rhode Island . . . loV 
 
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 3225 
 1843 
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 ADDRESS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF RHODE-ISLAND, 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEWPORT, 
 ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1843, 
 
 IN PRESENCE OF THE GENERAL, ASSEMBLY, ON THE OCCASION OF 
 THE CHANGE IN 
 
 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT 
 
 OF RHODE-ISLAND, 
 
 BY THE ADOPTION OP THE CONST[TUTION, WHICH SUPERSEDED 
 THE CHARTER OF 1663. 
 
 BY WILLIAM G. GODDARD. 
 
 PROVIDENCE : 
 
 KNOWLES AND VOSE, PRINTERS. 
 1843.
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 NEWPORT, April 15, 1843. 
 
 DEAR SIR : At a numerous and respectable meeting of the citizens of 
 Newport, convened at the Town Hall in this place, on Friday the 14th 
 inst., the enclosed resolutions were unanimously adopted. In fulfilment 
 of the duty entrusted to us by our townsmen, and in compliance with 
 their unanimous wishes, we respectfully request that you will consent to 
 be the organ of their feelings and sentiments on the occasion referred to, 
 which your thorough acquaintance with our ancient and proposed sys- 
 tems of government so well qualifies you to perform. 
 We are, with great respect, your friends and fellow-citizens, 
 
 RICHARD K. RANDOLPH, 
 NATHANIEL S. RUGGLES, 
 C. GRANT PERRY, 
 WM. B. SWAN. 
 WH. G. GODDARD, ESQ., Providence. 
 
 At a meeting of the citizens of Newport, R. 1., convened at the Town 
 Hall on Friday evening, April 14, 1843, to take into consideration the pro- 
 priety of adopting measures to commemorate the approaching change in 
 the civil institutions of this State, the following resolutions were unani- 
 mously adopted : 
 
 Whereas, for more than two centuries since the settlement of our an- 
 cestors on this Island and Continent, the Colony and State of Rhode- 
 Island has enjoyed, under institutions framed by those venerable men, an 
 unequal degree of civil and religious liberty with few interruptions, 
 great worldly prosperity and all the other fruits of a wise and well or- 
 dered frame of government : And whereas, in the progress of things, 
 the time has now arrived, when the system which has hitherto so hap- 
 pily effected these objects, is about to be superseded by a new form of 
 government to which the people of this State, in a lawful and peaceable 
 manner, have given their full and free consent :
 
 Retained, That the occurrence of a change in our political system of 
 so important a character, under circumstances which have eminently de- 
 veloped the firmness, prudence, and prevailing good sense of our citi- 
 zens, is deserving of a respectful commemoration, and should be celebra- 
 ted in a spirit congenial to the temper which this trying and eventful 
 crisis has called forth. 
 
 Resolved, That S. Fowler Gardner, Richard K. Randolph, William B. 
 Swan, Christopher Grant Perry, and Nathaniel S. Ruggles be a commit- 
 tee to make the necessary arrangements for a proper commemoration of 
 the cessation of the old, and the installation of the new government; 
 and that they be authorized to invite some distinguished citizen of this 
 State to express our sentiments on the occasion as to the important 
 results to be deduced from this eventful era of our history. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be signed by the Chairman and Sec- 
 retary. 
 
 EDWARD W. LAWTON, Chairman. 
 
 JOHN W. DAVIS, Jr., Secretary. 
 
 PROVIDENCE, April 17, 1843. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 communication of the 15th instant, enclosing sundry resolutions, passed 
 at a meeting of the citizens of Newport on the evening of the 14th, in 
 relation to a respectful commemoration of the important change which, 
 under very peculiar circumstances, is about to take effect in the frame of 
 our civil government ; and likewise requesting me to be " the organ of 
 their feelings and sentiments," on an occasion which is intended to com- 
 memorate " the cessation of the old and the installation of the new gov- 
 ernment." 
 
 To be selected as the organ of the sentiments of the citizens of con- 
 servative Newport, upon an occasion designed to celebrate the triumph 
 of great conservative principles, I shall never cease to prize as a solid 
 distinction, of which any man, however unambitious, may well be proud. 
 While I signify my acceptance of the invitation which, in behalf of 
 your townsmen, you have tendered to me, allow me to thank you, per- 
 sonally, for the very courteous and obliging terms in which that invita- 
 tion is conveyed. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, with high respect, 
 
 Your friend and fellow-citizen, f 
 
 WILLIAM G. GODDARD. 
 To Messrs. 
 
 RICHARD K. RANDOLPH, 
 NATHANIEL S. RUGGLKS, 
 C. G. PERRV, 
 WILLIAM B. SWAN.
 
 NEWPORT, MAY 4, 1843. 
 
 DEAR SIR, We enclose a copy of a resolution passed by the General 
 Assembly, at its present session, in relation to the highly interesting 
 Address delivered by you on the third instant. 
 
 We have much pleasure in performing the farther duty assigned to us, 
 by requesting a copy of that Address for publication ; and we beg leave 
 to express a hope that you will comply with this request, as soon as your 
 convenience will permit. 
 
 We are, with sincere respect and regard, 
 
 Your friends and obedient servants, 
 ALBERT C. GREENE, 
 RICHARD K. RANDOLPH. 
 WILLIAM G. GODDARD, Eso,. 
 
 STATE OF RHODE-ISLAND AND 
 PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 
 In General Assembly, May 3d, A. D. 1843 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of this General Assembly be presented to 
 WILLIAM G. GODDARD, ESQ, for his very able and interesting Address 
 in commemoration of the change of government in this State, deliv 
 ered this day in presence of the General Assembly : and that Albert C. 
 Greene, and Richard K. Randolph, Esquires, be appointed a Committee to 
 communicate to Mr. Goddard a copy of this Resolution, and to request a 
 copy of said Address for publication ; and that they cause not less than 
 two thousand copies thereof to be printed, and draw upon the General 
 Treasury for the expense thereof. 
 
 True copy witness, HENRY BOWEN, Secretary. 
 
 NEWPORT, MAY 5, 1843. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, Acknowledging, with just sensibility, the honor con- 
 ferred upon me by the General Assembly, I hereby comply with the 
 request so courteously communicated to me in your note of yesterday. 
 Let me hope that I shall not too far presume upon the indulgence of the 
 General Assembly, by adding to the Address a few historical notes 
 which, from the limited time allotted to me, I have, thus far, been 
 unable to prepare. 
 
 1 have the honor to be, with sincere respect, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 WILLIAM G. GODDARD. 
 HON. ALBERT C. GREENE, 
 
 RICHARD K. RANDOLPH.
 
 NEWPORT, MAY 4, 1843. 
 
 SIB, The Committee of the citizens of Newport, tender to you their 
 thanks for the excellent Address delivered by you, yesterday. The 
 resolutions which have been adopted by the Legislature, respecting its 
 publication, have anticipated their wishes and intentions on the subject. 
 They can only second the invitation of that honorable Body, and express, 
 in behalf of their fellow citizens, their earnest hope that you will be 
 pleased to afford to the public generally an opportunity to participate in 
 the gratification experienced by the audience, yesterday. 
 We have the honor to be, your obedient servants, 
 
 RICHARD K. RANDOLPH, 
 NATHANIEL 8. RUGGLES, 
 C. G. PERRY, 
 WILLIAM B. SWAN, 
 
 Committee. 
 W. G. GODDARD, ES<I.
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 MEN OF RHODE-ISLAND : 
 
 WHAT means this gathering of the people ? What 
 stirs the deep sympathies of the general mind? Why 
 are the streets of this ancient Metropolis thronged 
 with eager and exulting crowds ? For what purpose 
 have we entered these sacred courts ? Why do 1 see 
 before me the chief Executive Magistrate of Rhode- 
 Island, the grave legislators of Rhode-Island, and a 
 brilliant corps of the citizen soldiers of Rhode-Island? 
 Have we all come hither to gaze at a captivating 
 pageant ; to exchange, in holiday humor, the con- 
 gratulations of this holiday season ; to celebrate, with 
 heated passions, a partisan triumph, and to waste, 
 amid pomp and festivity, the hours which should be 
 consecrated to freedom and to truth ? God forbid, 
 my fellow citizens, that such should be either our 
 duty or our choice ! God forbid, that, at such a 
 crisis as this, we should look away from the essen- 
 tial to the accidental from the permanent obliga- 
 tions of principle, to the fugitive interests of men 
 from the august cause of LIBERTY AND LAW, to the 
 poor and perishing concerns of ordinary political 
 parties ! I know you too well to think that, for any
 
 8 
 
 such purposes, you have come together, upon the 
 present occasion. Far nobler impulses than a mere 
 contest for political power hath ever created, now 
 agitate your hearts, and bid you to pour forth, from 
 all that is within you, the voice of deep and tranquil 
 joy, at our final deliverance from trouble ; and of sol- 
 emn thanksgiving to ALMIGHTY GOD for the signal in- 
 terpositions, in our behalf, of his watchful care and 
 his restraining power. We are here assembled to 
 commemorate the triumph of " the sovereign Law, 
 the State's collected will," over treasonable counsels, 
 and treasonable acts over the unchastened fervors 
 of the revolutionary spirit, and the actual perils ot 
 revolutionary strife. We are assembled, likewise, to 
 look, for the last time, and with reverent eyes may 
 it be, upon that venerable frame of civil government, 
 the work, and, under God, the protection of our fa- 
 thers, which embodies the seminal principles ot 
 civil and religious liberty ; and which, for nearly two 
 hundred years, has showered upon this our goodly 
 heritage the rich blessings of peace, prosperity, free- 
 dom and honor. And yet more, we have assem- 
 bled, fellow citizens, to witness the organization of 
 the government under that new Constitution, which 
 the people of Rhode-Island, in the exercise of their 
 sovereign power, have ordained and established 
 to the end that they might secure and transmit, un- 
 impaired, to succeeding generations, the civil and 
 religious liberty enjoyed under the Charter. 
 
 This, then, is a crisis without a parallel in the po- 
 litical history of Rhode-Island and without a par- 
 allel, it would not be too much to add, in the politi-
 
 cal history of any free government. How many 
 chords of solemn interest does it touch ! How closely 
 it links itself with the associations of the Past and the 
 destinies of the Future! What touching memories 
 does it awaken of the venerated and heroic dead, who 
 once adorned this ancient seat of wealth, and talent, 
 and social elegance,* and who now slumber amid these 
 scenes of placid and imperishable beauty ! How im- 
 pressively does it admonish us of the dangers to 
 which popular freedom is most exposed ; and with 
 what eloquent earnestness does it exhort us, by the 
 use of every instrumentality within our power, to save 
 from destruction what, next to Christianity, would 
 seem to be the great element of human progress ! 
 
 I do not mean, fellow-citizens, to dwell long amid 
 the depths of our early history. The generous sym- 
 pathies which animate all hearts, at the present hour, 
 would be somewhat impatient of the labors of mi- 
 nute and elaborate historical research. Without, 
 therefore, intruding upon the province of the histor- 
 ian, I shall glance only at those epochs in the early 
 history of Rhode-Island, which may serve to illus- 
 trate the principles of our fathers principles which 
 impressed themselves upon all the forms of their civil 
 polity, and which, so far as taste, habit, and opinion 
 are concerned, determined their whole system of 
 common life. 
 
 In 1636, Roger Williams and his associates in the 
 great work of founding a State upon the principles 
 of entire religious freedom, and of unmixed democ- 
 
 * Appendix, Note A. 
 9
 
 10 
 
 racy, commenced the settlement of that spot, to 
 which, in grateful remembrance of " God's merciful 
 Providence to him in distress," he gave the name of 
 PROVIDENCE. They transacted in town meetings, 
 monthly, the affairs of their infant colony ; but of 
 these meetings, unhappily, no record* has been pre- 
 served. That, at an early period, "the first comers" 
 regulated themselves, by some general rules, may, 
 however, be inferred, from the following simple cove- 
 nant, which is copied from the first book ol the re- 
 cordsf of the town. To this covenant no date is 
 affixed, but Knowles expresses a decided opinion 
 that it was drawn up by Roger Williams : 
 
 " We, whose names are here under, desirous to 
 inhabit in the town of Providence, do promise to 
 subject ourselves, in active or passive obedience, 
 to all such orders or agreements as shall be made 
 for public good of the body in an orderly way, by 
 the major assent of the present inhabitants, masters 
 of families, incorporated together into a town-fellow- 
 ship, and such others whom they shall admit unto them, 
 only in civil things." 
 
 This simple instrument, as is justly remarked by 
 Knowles, in his Memoir of Roger Williams, com- 
 
 * In March, 1676, Providence was attacked by the Indians, and twen- 
 ty-nine houses were burnt, in one of which the records of the town were 
 kept. To preserve them from the flames, the records were thrown into 
 a mill pond, from which they were recovered in a mutilated state. 
 
 i " That there existed some kind of an agreement between the first 
 settlers, * masters of families,' is apparent from the terms of these articles. 
 They are referred tc a i a town, as incorporated together into ' a town 
 fellowship.' And it is equally certain that the first agreement, whether 
 in writing or not, provided for obedience ' in civil things only,' other- 
 wise this would not have been so guarded." Staples's Annal*.
 
 11 
 
 bines the principles of pure democracy and unre- 
 stricted religious liberty. Only in civil things! 
 What a pregnant exception do these few words em- 
 body ! How emphatically do they recognise the great 
 principle of the entire sanctity of the conscience, 
 which our fathers were the first to establish, and 
 which their children, 1 trust, to the remotest genera- 
 tions, will be the last to abandon. It will not escape 
 remark, that no person could become a member of 
 this " town-fellowship," unless he had been admitted 
 to the rights and privileges of membership. In those 
 primitive days, the judgments and consciences of 
 men were not betrayed from all true estimates of 
 things, by the poor conceits of metaphysical politi- 
 cians. What would have been thought, two hundred 
 years ago, of the plea of a natural right, on the part 
 of every man over twenty-one years of age, to be 
 admitted a member of this memorable "town-fellow- 
 ship!" 
 
 In 1637-8, Clarke, Coddington, and their associ- 
 ates, commenced a settlement upon this beautiful 
 island,* which, says Callender, was in 1644, named 
 the isle of Rhodes, or Rhode-Island a name ulti- 
 mately given to the whole State. The adventurers 
 established " a body politic" under the following 
 simple compact, which marks a spirit of humble de- 
 pendance upon Almighty God, never more predomi- 
 
 *The northern part of the island was first occupied, and called Ports- 
 mouth. The number of colonists being increased during the summer, a 
 portion of the inhabitants removed next spring to the south-western part 
 of the island, where they commenced the town of Newport. Both towns,, 
 however, were considered as belonging to the same Colony. 
 
 Knowles's Memoir of Roger Williams.
 
 12 
 
 nant than amid the sublimities of primeval solitude, 
 and the rage of elemental war : 
 
 " We, whose names are underwritten, do swear 
 solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah, to incorporate 
 ourselves into a body politic, and, as he shall help us, 
 will submit our persons, lives and estates, unto our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of 
 lords, and to all those most perfect and absolute 
 laws of His, given us in His holy word of truth, to 
 be guided and judged thereby." 
 
 Under this compact, a government somewhat pe- 
 culiar, and in form not dissimilar to a theocracy, 
 was established. It did not, however, last long. Our 
 forefathers were too much wedded to democracy 
 and to religious freedom, to tolerate any institutions 
 to which those grand, moving principles of human 
 progress did not give their form and pressure. 
 
 In March, 1641-2, the first government establish- 
 ed upon this island was moulded into a truer practi- 
 cal conformity to the cherished sentiment of the first 
 settlers. At " a General Court of Election," it was 
 ordered and unanimously agreed that this govern- 
 ment was "a democracy, or popular government," 
 and that the power to make laws and to depute 
 magistrates to execute them, was " in the body of 
 freemen orderly assembled, or a major part of them." 
 At the same time, was passed a law for securing lib- 
 erty of conscience, in these memorable words : 
 " It is further ordered, by the authority of this pres- 
 ent court, that none be accounted a delinquent for 
 Doctrine, provided it be not directly repugnant to 
 the government or laws established." And, at the
 
 13 
 
 next court in September, 1642, it was ordered "that 
 the law of the last court, made concerning liberty 
 of conscience, be perpetuated. All these acts go to 
 show that the first settlers of Providence and the 
 first settlers of Newport were united, in opinion 
 and in feeling, upon the great leading principles 
 which have marked throughout, and so strongly, the 
 institutions and policy of this State. In this con- 
 nection, another example of the early legislation of 
 the settlers upon this island, ought to find a place. 
 In 1638, they "ordered that none shall be received 
 as inhabitants or freemen to build or plant upon the 
 island, but such as shall be received in by consent 
 of the body, and do submit to the government that 
 is or shall be established according to the words of 
 God." This is "law and order" in a nut-shell! 
 Little did these simple colonists these early demo- 
 crats in faith and in practice, dream of those licen- 
 tious and disorganizing doctrines which are broach- 
 ed by our modern demagogues, and which, if not 
 repudiated by the good men and true of all political 
 parties, will inevitably destroy the securities of tem- 
 perate freedom throughout the land ! 
 
 Under these simple compacts, suited to the con- 
 dition of pioneers in the march of civil and religious 
 liberty, our fathers continued to live and to prosper, 
 administering their civil governments upon the 
 true principles of democracy ; and, in all matters 
 of religious concernment, maintaining inviolate the 
 sacred rights of conscience. 
 
 o 
 
 In 1644, the towns of Providence, Portsmouth 
 and Newport, which had thus far been separate set-
 
 14 
 
 tlements or townships, were united under one gov- 
 ernment, by a Charter which Roger Williams, 
 through the aid of Sir Henry Vane, obtained from 
 the Parliament under the Commonwealth of Eng- 
 land. This Charter conferred upon the inhabitants 
 " full power and authority to govern and rule them- 
 selves, by such a form of civil government as by 
 voluntary consent of all or the greatest part of them, 
 shall be found most serviceable in their estates and 
 condition" provided such form of civil govern- 
 ment " be conformable to the laws of England, so 
 far as the nature and constitution of the place will 
 admit."* For reasons which, in the absence of au- 
 thentic history, we are left to conjecture, the gov- 
 ernment was not organized under this Charter, till 
 May 1647, when the first session of the first General 
 Assembly of Rhode- Island was held at Portsmouth. 
 Warwick was then admitted into the association, 
 with the same privileges as Providence.! The acts 
 of this session are perfectly accordant with the 
 principles of our fathers. They manifest a great 
 
 * The powers conferred by the Charter are exceedingly ample. No 
 form of government is prescribed, and the choice of every officer is left 
 to the inhabitants. In strict conformity, too, with the leading principle 
 of the settlements, it refers only to civil government. The inhabitants 
 are empowered to make " civil laws for their civil government." The 
 colonists had always contended that their right to perfect religious liberty 
 did not result from human laws. They could not, therefore, have ac- 
 cepted a grant of this from any human power, as that would be acknow- 
 ledging a right to withhold the grant, and to control the exercise of re- 
 ligious freedom. Staples's " dnnals of the Toicn of Providence." 
 
 t Warwick was settled in 1643, by a body of men unconnected with 
 the colonists of Providence, Newport and Portsmouth. Thus were es- 
 tablished in Rhode-Island, three distinct settlements, which, at the com- 
 mencement, were entirely independent of each other.
 
 15 
 
 jealousy of delegated power, a sacred regard for the 
 protection of individual right, and an unfaltering 
 attachment to the cause of religious liberty. " The 
 code of laws which was ordained for the govern- 
 ment of the Colony contains," says Mr. Justice 
 Staples, in his Annals of the Town of Providence, 
 "nothing touching religion or matters of conscience, 
 thus pursuing the same silent yet most expressive 
 legislation on the subject which was commenced in 
 the Charter itself." That portion of the code rela- 
 ting to offences is followed by a declaration, so sig- 
 nificant of the spirit which moved our fathers, and 
 so full of genuine eloquence, that its repetition can 
 never fall unheeded upon the ears of any of their 
 sons: 
 
 " These are the laws that concern all men, and 
 these are the penalties for the transgression thereof, 
 which, by common consent, are ratified and estab- 
 lished throughout the whole Colony ; and otherwise 
 than this, what is herein forbidden, all men may 
 walk, as their consciences persuade them, every one 
 in the name of his God. And let the Saints of the 
 Most High walk, in this Colony, without molesta- 
 tion, in the name of Jehovah their God, forever and 
 ever." 
 
 " This noble principle," says the biographer of 
 Roger Williams, " was thus established as one of 
 the fundamental laws, at the first Assembly under 
 the Charter. It is indigenous to the soil of Rhode- 
 Island, and is the glory of the State." Bancroft, 
 the distinguished Historian of the United States, 
 thus happily describes the internal condition of
 
 16 
 
 Rhode-Island, under the first Charter : " All men 
 were equal ; all might meet and debate in the pub- 
 lic assemblies ; all might aspire to office ; the peo- 
 ple, for a season, constituted itself its own tribune, 
 and every public law required confirmation in the 
 primary assemblies. And so it came to pass that 
 the little " democracie " which, at the beat of the 
 drum or the voice of the herald, used to assemble 
 beneath an oak or by the open sea-side, was famous 
 for its "headiness and tumults" its stormy town- 
 meetings and the angry feuds of its herdsmen and 
 shepherds. But, true as the needle to the pole, the 
 popular will instinctively pursued the popular inter- 
 est. Amidst the jarring quarrels of rival statesmen 
 in the plantations, good men were chosen to admin- 
 ister the government, and the spirit of mercy, of lib- 
 erality and wisdom was impressed on its legislation." 
 Every man was safe in his person, name and estate. 
 Such were the people of Rhode-Island two hundred 
 years ago. Time hath changed none of the essen- 
 tial elements of their character and condition. They 
 are not less anxious now than they were then, that 
 the laws should be respected ; that good men should 
 be elected to office ; that liberty should be enjoyed 
 without licentiousness; and that the spirit of mercy, 
 liberality and wisdom, should mark all the proceed- 
 ings of their government. 
 
 And now for the glorious OLD CHARTER, the much 
 abused royal Charter, which has been superseded, 
 not because it is old, and not because it is stigma- 
 tised as the grant of a King, but because, in the 
 order of Providence, it has done its office ! At
 
 17 
 
 the Restoration of Charles II., in 1660, the inhab- 
 itants of the Colony of Rhode-Island feared that 
 those rights which they had obtained from the Par- 
 liament, under the Commonwealth, when at war 
 with the father, would not be respected by the son. 
 They had also reason to fear that the exertions of 
 their neighbors for our neighbors, even then, thrust 
 their sickle into our corn to obtain the recal of the 
 Charter, would now be repeated, and with better 
 success. They therefore adopted wise precaution- 
 ary measures to avert the threatened danger. They 
 entrusted to John Clarke, the agent of the colony 
 in England, and a name illustrious in the annals of 
 Rhode-Island, a new commission, investing him with 
 full powers to take good care of their chartered 
 rights and liberties. The faithful labors of Clarke, 
 " our trusty and well-beloved friend," were not in 
 vain. On the 8th of July 1663, he obtained from 
 Charles II., that Charter under which, for nearly 
 two hundred years, Rhode-Island has exhibited the 
 model of a free, prosperous and happy common- 
 wealth. The Colonists welcomed, with no com- 
 mon joy, the arrival of " George Baxter, the most 
 faithful and happy bringer of the Charter." Here, 
 on this beautiful spot, on the 24th of November, 
 1663, the whole body of the people gathered to- 
 gether, " for the solemn reception of his Majesty's 
 gracious letters patent." The Charter, so says the 
 ancient record, k ' was taken forth from the pre- 
 cious box which held it, and was read by Baxter, in 
 the audience and view of all the people ; and the 
 letters, with his Majesty's royal stamp, and the broad 
 3
 
 18 
 
 seal, with much beseeming gravity, were held up on 
 high, and presented to the perfect view of the 
 people." The most humble thanks of the Colony 
 were directed to be returned to his Majesty " for 
 the high and inestimable, yea, incomparable grace 
 and favor ;" to the Hon. Earl of Clarendon, Lord 
 High Chancellor of England, for his exceeding 
 great care and love unto the Colony, and to the 
 modest and retiring Clarke, who during a residence 
 of twelve years in England, from 1651 to 1663, was 
 ihe devoted and indefatigable agent of the Colony.* 
 " How," says Bancroft, " could Rhode-Island be 
 otherwise than grateful to Charles II., who had 
 granted to them all that they had asked, and who 
 relied on their affections, without exacting even 
 the oath of allegiance !" "A very great meeting 
 and assembly " do I now see gathered on this spot, 
 to hail the adoption of a new Constitution, and to 
 pay a tribute of grateful reverence to that Charter 
 which our fathers, in 1663, welcomed with tokens 
 of general joy. Recreant should we be to the mem- 
 ory of those fathers, if we could take our leave of 
 this time-honored instrument, without a sentiment of 
 gentle regret, that it can no longer be rescued from 
 the operation of the great law of change. 
 
 My fellow-citizens : Quite too familiar are you 
 with the Charter, to require, at my hands, any ex- 
 act or formal statement of its provisions.! You need 
 not be told, that it was granted to the people, in an- 
 swer to their request ; that it was formally accept- 
 ed by a vote of the people ; that it established what 
 
 * Appendix, Note B. ' Appendix, Note C.
 
 Chalrhers, a writer devoted to regal principles, pro- 
 nounced, somewhat querulously, to be " a mere de- 
 mocracy, or rule of the people :'' and, finally, that 
 whatever changes, from time to time, it may have 
 undergone, have been ratified, not only by the silent 
 acquiesence, but by the positive sanction of the peo- 
 ple. And yet this is the frame of civil government, 
 which, at home and abroad, has been the theme of 
 so much vulgar obloquy, and so much flippant sar- 
 casm. This is the frame of civil government, which 
 has been, again and again, branded as a royal charter, 
 as a despotism and usurpation, under which a free 
 people should scorn to live !* 
 
 The professional skill with which the Charter is 
 draughted, though among its subordinate merits, de- 
 serves a passing comment. How dignified and per- 
 spicuous is its language ! What a choice specimen of 
 English undefiled ! How luminous is the arrange- 
 ment of its provisions ; how comprehensive and 
 unambiguous the terms in which it secures to the 
 people, not only perfect liberty of conscience, 
 in matters of religion, but likewise the almost un- 
 restricted power to govern themselves " in civil 
 things !" The chief glory, however of the old Char- 
 ter, is the ample security which it provides for relig- 
 ious liberty. To an assembly of Rhode-Island men, 
 I need not apologise, for repeating, on an occasion 
 like the present, the noble and ever memorable dec- 
 laration of the Charter. " No person within the said 
 
 * Vide Marcus Morton's letter, in answer to an invitation from " the 
 ladies of Woonsocket," to attend their "Clam Bake and Pic Nic," in 
 October last '
 
 20 
 
 Colony, at any time hereafter, shall be any wise mo- 
 lested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, 
 for any differences in opinion, in matters of religion, 
 who does not actually disturb the peace of our said 
 Colony ; but that all and every person and persons 
 may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, 
 freely and fully have and enjoy his own and their 
 judgments and consciences, in matters of religious 
 concernments, throughout the tract of land hereto- 
 fore mentioned, they behaving themselves peaceably 
 and quietly and not using this liberty to licentious- 
 ness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or out- 
 ward disturbance of others." It is grateful to know 
 that this memorable declaration, which indicates on 
 the subject of religion a catholic spirit quite in ad- 
 vance of the prevalent spirit of the age, was but a 
 response to the petition of our forefathers, in which 
 they "freely declared, that, it is much on their hearts 
 (if they be permitted) to hold forth a lively experi- 
 ment, that a most flourishing civil State may stand 
 and be best maintained, and that among our English 
 subjects, with a full liberty in religious concernments ; 
 and that true piety, rightly grounded upon Gospel 
 principles, will give the best and greatest security 
 to sovereignty, and will lay in the hearts of men the 
 strongest obligations to loyalty." 
 
 The principles of entire religious freedom on 
 which this State was founded, have impressed them- 
 selves upon all our institutions ; upon our religion, 
 our legislation, our politics, and upon the habits, 
 manners, and opinions of our social life.* No relig- 
 
 * Appendix, Note D
 
 21 
 
 lous sect has ever sought, through the operation of 
 law, to obtain pre-eminence ; and the various rival 
 sects, which exist among us, have seldom suffered 
 their differences of opinion to betray them into 
 very wide departures from true Christian liberality 
 and courtesy. Bishop Berkeley spoke from his own 
 experience of this place and people, when, in a let- 
 ter to a friend in Dublin, dated Newport, April 24th, 
 1729, (after mentioning the various sects which pre- 
 vailed,) he said, " Notwithstanding so many differ- 
 ences, here are fewer quarrels about religion than 
 elsewhere, the people living peaceably with their 
 neighbors of whatsoever persuasion." What was 
 true of Newport, more than a century ago, was not 
 less true, it is believed, of other towns in the Colony, 
 where similar differences of opinion prevailed. The 
 testimony of Berkeley would not be inapplicable to 
 Rhode-Island, at the present time ; for, nowhere in 
 this country are collisions between rival sects less in- 
 frequent ; nowhere is theological controversy less 
 suited to the public taste ; and nowhere are the gra- 
 cious interchanges of social intercoure so little inter- 
 rupted by sectarian differences of opinion. While, 
 in neighboring States, religious sects have allied 
 themselves to political parties, for political purposes, 
 here, in Rhode-Island, such connexions have never 
 been attempted, and, if attempted, would be discoun- 
 tenanced by some signal exhibition of public opin- 
 ion. No man among us has been excluded from 
 office, or elected to office, because he chanced to 
 belong to one religious sect or to another. The leg- 
 islation of the State, in respect to religious corpora-
 
 lions, has beeri strictly impartial. The privileges 
 which have been granted to one sect, have been 
 granted to all and those which may have been de- 
 nied to one, have been denied to all. The result has 
 been most auspicious. The State has never inter- 
 fered with religion, and religion has been left with- 
 out a pretext for interfering with the State. 
 
 The extraordinary prosperity which, with few in- 
 terruptions, the people of this State have enjoyed, 
 since 1663, evinces with what wisdom and equity 
 our Charter government has been administered. 
 Wholesome and equal laws, suited to the condition 
 of the community, have been enacted by a Legisla- 
 ture composed of men chosen directly by the peo- 
 ple, having a common interest with them-^-and hav- 
 ing, therefore, less temptation to impose oppressive 1 
 burthens or to usurp dangerous powers. Justice, 
 civil and criminal, has been promptly, cheaply and 
 impartially administered. Men of all classes, assur^ 
 ed that their rights were safe under the protection 
 of the law, have been busy in bettering their own 
 condition. The results are what might have been 
 anticipated. Since the reception of the Charter, 
 twenty-seven new towns have been incorporated > 
 the population of the State has increased from 2,500 
 to over one hundred thousand agriculture has de j 
 veloped the capacities of our soil ; commerce has 
 decorated our cities with its spoils ; and manufac-* 
 tures, and that too within the last thirty years, have 
 dotted our territory with thriving villages. Above 
 all, religion and letters have superadded to abundant 
 physical comforts ample means to carry forward this
 
 23 
 
 whole people in an elevated career of intellectual 
 and moral happiness. Exorbitant wealth may sel- 
 dom or never have been acquired ; but, what is far 
 better for the good of the whole, enterprise, frugali- 
 ty, sagacity and diligence, have been rewarded by 
 those moderate accumulations which are attended 
 with the least hazard to human virtue, which are 
 best suited to the genius of our republican institu- 
 tions, and which are less likely to be wasted in vi- 
 cious extravagance, or periled upon the issues of 
 mad speculation. 
 
 The government of Rhode-Island, under the 
 Charter, has been eminently a government of Law 
 and Order.* Antagonist political parties have min- 
 gled in hot strife ; but, amid all their struggles for 
 superiority, they have never laid a rude hand upon 
 the ark of constitutional freedom. The men who 
 governed the State owned the -State. This is the 
 grand secret of the genuine freedom and the extra- 
 ordinary peace and prosperity which the people 
 have enjoyed under the Charter. " Nowhere in the 
 world," says Bancroft, " have life, liberty and pro- 
 perty, been safer than in Rhode-Island !" Well may 
 we exclaim, in the somewhat quaint but expressive 
 language of one of our early colonial documents, 
 " we have long drank of the cup of as great liber- 
 ties as any people that we can hear of under the 
 whole heaven !" 
 
 Can we pass, my fellow-citizens, without emotions 
 allied to those of filial sorrow, from under the be- 
 neficent dominion of the old Charter the oldest 
 
 * Appendix, Note E
 
 24 
 
 constitutional Charter in the world ? Can we take 
 our leave of this ancient and excellent frame of 
 civil polity, without being penetrated with senti- 
 ments of gratitude for the rich blessings of which it 
 has been the parent to this State, through all the vi- 
 cissitudes of her being ? Can we ever lose the con- 
 viction that this Charter contains principles destined 
 never to perish ? Can we ever forget that it was 
 under the Charter, that Hopkins and Ellery affixed 
 their signatures to the immortal Declaration of 
 American Independence ; that, under the Charter, 
 " the Rhode-Island Line " stood foremost in fighting 
 the battles of liberty ; that, under the Charter, this 
 State joined the Confederacy established by the glo- 
 rious old thirteen ; and, finally, that it was under 
 the Charter, that Rhode-Island, by the adoption of 
 the American Constitution, added the last link to 
 that chain of more perfect union which binds these 
 States together? How inseparable, likewise, is the 
 Charter from all our memories, not only of the 
 deeds, but of the men of other times ! How viv- 
 idly does it recal to our minds distinguished politi- 
 cians, who, less than a quarter of a century since, 
 mixed themselves so largely with our counsels and 
 our strifes, and who, it is sad to think, have nearly 
 all departed ! How lively, at an hour like this, are 
 our recollections of the cultivated, vigorous, and 
 eminently practical mind of James Burrill ; the in- 
 flexible uprightness and varied attainments of Sam- 
 uel Eddy ; the extraordinary intellectual and politi- 
 cal ascendency, early acquired and to the last main- 
 tained, by Elisha R. Potter; and the searching
 
 25 
 
 analysis, the dialectic skill, the effective, but never 
 vehement eloquence, of Benjamin Hazard.* These 
 recollections of distinguished Rhode-Island men, who 
 are no longer among us, should not be permitted to 
 escape from our minds, without admonishing us of 
 the high duties which we owe to the State. Never, 
 perhaps, at any previous crisis in her history, has 
 Rhode-Island more needed the aid of wise and pat- 
 riotic and intrepid counsellors. She is about to em- 
 bark, under new auspices, in a new career. See 
 ye to it. Legislators and Men of Rhode-Island, that 
 this new career be commenced aright, upon princi- 
 ples which will stand the test, long after you and f 
 shall have been gathered unto our fathers ! The 
 ANCHOR of Rhode-Island hath clung through many a 
 storm ; her HOPE, " untaught to yield," has shed 
 light upon many a disastrous hour.f Surely, it can 
 never be that the future is destined to shame the 
 past that the halcyon days after the tempest are to 
 bring in aught but just, and wise, and magnanimous 
 counsels to be the crowning triumph of our noble 
 struggle in the cause of temperate and durable 
 freedom ! 
 
 In dismissing from our consideration, on the pres- 
 ent occasion, that excellent system of government, 
 which is fastened to our affections by so many ties, 
 I rejoice to be able to congratulate you, in all sin- 
 cerity, upon the establishment of a truly liberal Con- 
 
 * Appendix, Note F. 
 
 t At the May session of the General Assembly, in 1664, the seal of 
 the Colony was fixed, an ANCHOR, with the word HOPE over it. 
 
 4
 
 26 
 
 stitution, better suited, in some respects, than the 
 Charter, to the actual condition of things in Rhode- 
 Island a Constitution adopted by the people in their 
 sovereign capacity, and under the sanction, and 
 according to the forms of law. The Conven- 
 tion which framed the Constitution was constituted 
 upon a popular basis every male native citizen of 
 the United States, of competent age, being allowed 
 to vote for delegates, without other qualification than 
 a residence within the State sufficiently long to be 
 deemed evidence of some common interest in the 
 welfare of the State. Never in this, nor in any State 
 within this Union, has a grave deliberative body as- 
 sembled under circumstances so extraordinary, de- 
 manding more moral courage, more disinterested 
 patriotism, or a wiser application of the lessons of 
 practical political wisdom. This Convention, as you 
 well know, was composed of men, distinguished for 
 talent and character ; familiar with the interests of 
 Rhode-Island, and animated, in all their doings, by a 
 true Rhode-Island spirit. They addressed them- 
 selves to their work, with the determination to frame 
 a Constitution which should be adapted to the pe- 
 culiar condition of this State, and which should re- 
 flect, not the passions of excited masses not the 
 speculations of theoretical politicians but the sober 
 and deliberate judgments and wishes of the whole 
 people, upon matters of general and lasting con- 
 cern. This work they accomplished with eminent 
 success. The Constitution which they framed, and 
 submitted to the people, was adopted by a very de- 
 cided vote of the people ; and, at the recent elec-
 
 27 
 
 tion, its validity was practically acknowledged by a 
 more imposing manifestation of popular sentiment 
 than, in this State, was ever before seen.* To the 
 great value of some of its principal provisions, I beg 
 leave, for a few moments, to direct your attention. 
 
 The Constitution under which the government of 
 Rhode-Island has just been organized, abrogates the 
 freehold qualification, as an exclusive qualification, 
 and makes provision for an extension of the right of 
 suffrage, far more liberal than was either sought or ex- 
 pected, when the suffrage movement, as it is termed, 
 was begun.f Liberal enough it may not be, to suit 
 the notions of those who contend that every man in 
 Rhode-Island, twenty-one years of age, has a natu- 
 ral right to vote. Liberal enough it may not be, to 
 facilitate the plans of demagogues who seek, by in- 
 flaming the passions of concentrated masses, to 
 hold in their own hands the whole political power 
 
 * The whole number of votes given for General Officers, at the first 
 election under the Constitution, on the first Wednesday in April last, 
 was about 16,600. The average majority in favor of the "Law and Or- 
 der " candidates, was 1802. 
 
 t Suffrage, by the Constitution, is extended to every native citizen of 
 the United States, of the a<re of twenty-one years, who has had his resi- 
 dence and home in the State for two years, and in the town or city where 
 he offers to vote, six months next preceding the time of voting, whose 
 name shall be registered in the town where he resides, on or before the 
 last day of December, in the year next preceding the time of his voting, 
 and who has, within such year, paid a tax or taxes assessed against him, 
 in any town or city in the State, to the amount of one dollar, or has been 
 enrolled in a military company, been equipped, and done duty therein, 
 according to law, at least for one da}-, during such year. 
 
 Naturalized citizens are required to have a freehold, as heretofore, to 
 entitle them to vote. And no person can vote to impose a tax or to ex- 
 pend money, in any town or city, unless ho shall have paid a tax, within 
 the year next preceding, upon property valued at least at $134. Vidt 
 Constitution.
 
 28 
 
 of the State. No man among us, however, who 
 considers the extent of our territory, the peculiar 
 character of our population the concentration, in 
 four or five towns, of more than one half of the 
 whole number of our inhabitants the relative de- 
 cline of population in the agricultural, and its rapid 
 increase in the manufacturing districts, can, with 
 any just reason, utter a complaint, because the new 
 Constitution has not left the right of suffrage entire- 
 ly unrestricted. In States of large territorial extent, 
 where the agricultural interest is the predominant 
 interest, universal suffrage may encounter some 
 practical and efficient checks upon its otherwise in- 
 evitable tendencies to work mischief. In Rhode- 
 Island, however, such salutary checks are not and 
 never can be found. A wholly unrestricted suffrage 
 would, therefore, be pregnant with incalculable evils 
 to the State. It would jeopard the rights of prop- 
 erty and the principles of liberty. If all history be 
 not a lie, " there is a tendency in the poor to covet 
 and to share the plunder of the rich ; in the debtor, 
 to relax or avoid the obligation of contracts ; in the 
 majority to tyrannize over the minority, and trample 
 down their rights ; in the indolent and profligate to 
 cast the whole burden of society upon the industri- 
 ous ; and there is a tendency in ambitious and wick- 
 ed men to inflame these combustible materials."* 
 If, my fellow-citizens, you desire to know how alarm- 
 ing are the mischiefs which universal suffragef en- 
 
 * Chancellor Kent's Speech on the elective franchise in the New- 
 York Convention, 1821. 
 
 t Rufus King, who was likewise a member of the New- York Conven- 
 tion in 1821, was not less decided in his opposition to universal suffrage. 
 In his opinion, " no government, ancient or modern, could endure it.'
 
 29 
 
 tails upon a community, look at the great city of 
 New York. The prophecy of Mr. Van Buren has 
 been well nigh fulfilled. The character of her voters 
 is such as to render her elections " rather a curse 
 than a blessing," and to " drive from the polls all 
 sober-minded people."* The Empire State, if not 
 destined to govern the country, is destined to exert 
 a mighty influence upon the country. In less than 
 a century, the city of New York, with the operation 
 of universal suffrage, and under skilful direction, 
 will govern the State of New York ! Let not this 
 impressive example, my fellow-citizens, be lost 
 upon us. Let us adhere, and steadfastly adhere, to 
 the provisions relative to suffrage established by the 
 Constitution, if we would preserve to ourselves the 
 blessings of good government ; if, in the language 
 of Washington, we would " make the public ad- 
 ministration not the mirror of the ill-concerted and 
 incongruous projects of faction, but the organ of 
 consistent and wholesome plans, digested by com- 
 mon counsels and modified by mutual interests." 
 
 In the constitution of the legislative department, 
 are likewise to be observed a wise adaptation to the 
 peculiar conditions of our society, and at the same 
 time, practical illustrations of a cardinal maxim of 
 political philosophy. The House of Representatives 
 is constructed upon the basis of population. Thus 
 is redressed that inequality of representation, of which 
 some of the towns have long complained ; and thus, 
 too, is given to mere numbers quite as much power 
 
 * Mr. Van Buren's Speech on the elective franchise, in the New- 
 York Convention, 1821.
 
 30 
 
 over the legislation of the State, as, consistently with 
 the good of the whole, can to mere numbers be safely 
 entrusted. The Senate, in order that it may prove 
 an efficient check upon the House, when checks 
 are most needed, is constituted upon very different 
 principles. Each town, whatever may be its popu- 
 lation, is entitled to elect one Senator and no more. 
 Thus, while the city of Providence, with her 25,000 
 inhabitants, will, in the House, wield one-sixth of the 
 whole legislative power of the State, she will, in the 
 Senate, be entitled to exert no more power than the 
 town of Jamestown, with less than four hundred 
 inhabitants. A Senate, thus organised, may by theo- 
 retical politicians, be esteemed a monstrous anomaly. 
 Government, however, it should be recollected, is 
 a practical matter. It cannot be fashioned in exact 
 accordance with abstract theories. It is meant to 
 operate upon actual existences upon man as he is 
 upon positive and mixed interests upon the various 
 and perchance conflicting passions and aims of hu- 
 man society. Were the Senators and Representa- 
 tives, who compose the Legislature of Rhode-Is- 
 land, elected upon the same basis of population, the 
 legislative department would be without check or 
 balance.* The government, however popular might 
 be its form, would, in effect, be a despotism. The 
 whole legislative power would be exercised by the 
 representatives of mere numbers. What check would 
 there be upon factious majorities " who are united 
 
 * " The only effectual safeguard to the rights of the minority, must be 
 laid in such a basis or structure of the government itself, as may afford 
 to a certain degree, directly or indirectly, a defensive authority in behalf 
 of a minority having right on its side." Vide Mr. Madison's Speech in 
 the Virginia Convention, 1629-30. Debates, pp. 537-38.
 
 31 
 
 and actuated by some common impulse of passion 
 or of interest adverse to the rights of other citizens, 
 or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the 
 whole?"' We have reason, my fellow-citizens, to 
 be grateful that our Senate is just such a Senate as 
 Rhode-Island needs ; justsuchaSenateaswillbe com- 
 petent to restrain precipitate or oppressive legisla- 
 tion, should the House ever be swayed from its duty, 
 under temporary inflammations of the popular mind 
 just such a Senate, in fine, as will maintain unim- 
 paired the equal rights of every section of the State, 
 and prevent any one interest from engrossing a dan- 
 gerous portion of political power. The people of 
 Rhode-Island look to the Senate, with entire confi- 
 dence that, upon all occasions, it will fearlessly as- 
 sert and maintain its constitutional rights. In the 
 distribution of powers, they have made no distinc- 
 tion between the Senate and the House. These 
 branches are, by the Constitution, in all respects, 
 co-equal. It is as competent for the Senate to origi- 
 nate a bill as for the House it is as competent for 
 the Senate to negative a bill as for the House. Con- 
 stituted as one branch of our Legislature is upon 
 the basis of population ; and constituted as is the 
 other upon a different and somewhat arbitrary prin- 
 ciple, it would not be strange if, in the progress of 
 the government, the constitutional exercise of the 
 
 O ' 
 
 power of the Senate, in negativing a bill passed by 
 the House, should be stigmatised as an attempt, on 
 the part of an oligarchy, to defeat the legitimate 
 operation of the popular will. Let no such clamor 
 
 "Federalist, No. X., by Mr. Madison.
 
 31 
 
 be heeded. The issue thns sought to be made, 
 would be a false issue. Whenever the Senate may 
 see fit to check the power of the House, it will, in 
 so doing, carry out the will of the people, as solemn- 
 ly expressed in that Constitution which they have 
 just ordained and established. Never let it be said, 
 that the House is the representative of the people, 
 rather than the Senate, because the former is con- 
 stituted upon the basis of population, and the latter 
 is not. The Constitution recognises not this dan- 
 gerous distinction, and the people ought never, for 
 one moment, to tolerate it, unless, by the irregular 
 action of public sentiment, they are resolved to neu- 
 tralize the most valuable conservative element in their 
 whole system of government. 
 
 The increased stability given by the new Consti- 
 tution to the judicial department of our government,* 
 deserves a more extended commentary than would 
 be suited to the genius of the present occasion. Un- 
 der the Charter, the Judges of all the courts were 
 annually elected by the Legislature, and the com- 
 
 * " The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the two 
 Houses in grand committee. Each Judge shall hold his office until his 
 place be declared vacant by a resolution of the General Assembly to 
 that effect ; which resolution shall be voted for by a majority of all the 
 members elected to the House in which it may originate, and be concur- 
 red in by the same majority of the other House. Such resolution shall 
 not be entertained at any other than the annual session for the election 
 of public officers : and in default of the passage thereof at said session, 
 the Judge shall hold his place as herein provided. But a Judge of any 
 court shall be removed from office, if, upon impeachment, he shall be 
 found guilty of any official misdemeanor. 
 
 " The Judges of the Supreme Court shall receive a compensation for 
 their services, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in 
 office." Vide Constitution.
 
 pensation for their services might, at any time, 
 be diminished by the Legislature. No system, if 
 system it deserves to be called, could, in theory, be 
 worse than this. While, however, the political 
 power of the State was limited to freeholders, the 
 evils of so pernicious a tenure of the judicial office 
 were seldom, to any serious extent, experienced. A 
 sound public opinion, especially of late years, has se- 
 cured the State from the evils incident to a constitu- 
 tion of the judicial department of the government 
 so utterly hostile to all just principles of popular 
 freedom. The Judges of the Supreme Court, of 
 late, have been exempted from the fate which, at 
 every change of parties, inevitably befalls all other 
 officers who owe their places to an annual legis- 
 lative appointment. The salutary effects of this 
 practically stable tenure of office have been seen in 
 the elevated character which our Supreme Court 
 has acquired, and in the increased confidence which 
 is felt by the people in the wisdom of its decisions, 
 and the rectitude of its administration. The framers 
 of the new Constitution, when they made provision 
 for a wide extension of the elective franchise, would 
 have been false to their high trust, had they not 
 armed the Judiciary with some corresponding power 
 to protect individuals, and especially minorities, 
 against encroachments from the Legislature ; and, 
 likewise, to secure to every man, whether humble or 
 elevated, whether enjoying the favor of the people, 
 or, for any cause, exposed to their displeasure, 
 the full and undisturbed possession of his constitu- 
 tional rights. In the Constitution, which you, my
 
 34 
 
 fellow -citizens, have adopted, you have declared that 
 certain essential rights and principles shall be estab- 
 lished, maintained, and preserved, and shall be of 
 paramount obligation in all legislative, judicial and 
 executive proceedings. Without a Judiciary essen- 
 tially independent, of what avail for the security of 
 popular freedom would be this grave declaration of 
 constitutional rights and principles? Why subject 
 the executive power and the legislative power to 
 restrictions, if the Judiciary be left powerless to en- 
 force them ? Why solemnly reserve to yourselves 
 the rights of freemen, if, either through the timidity 
 or the corruption of your courts, those rights can- 
 not, whenever they are invaded, be intrepidly and 
 effectually protected ? In truth, my fellow-citizens, 
 without a Judiciary which feels itself to be independ- 
 ent of the legislative power, no Constitution is 
 worth the parchment upon which it is engrossed. 
 Without such a Judiciary, there can be no freedom 
 under a popular government. Without such a Ju- 
 diciary, civilization, in its higher forms, can make 
 no advance. Beware, then, Men of Rhode-Island, 
 of that political man or of that political party, who 
 may hereafter seek to inflame you with a jealousy 
 of that department in your government, which, 
 from the very nature of its functions, is least danger- 
 ous and which, so long as the administration of 
 justice is the chief end of government, you are most 
 interested to cherish and to defend. In a monarchy, 
 the king who is impatient of restraint upon his will, 
 tolerates no Bench competent to shield the subject 
 against the power of the throne. In republics like
 
 36 
 
 our own, the case is essentially the same. No 
 strangers to the impulses which animate royal bo- 
 soms, are the majority, which seeks to oppress the 
 minority, and the demagogue, who hates every in- 
 stitution in the State which he cannot make tribu- 
 tary to his aims.* When have not factious majori- 
 ties and profligate demagogues sought to persuade 
 the people that an independent Judiciary is their 
 master, and not their shield ? When have they not 
 affected to believe that learned and upright Judges, 
 who dispense no patronage and exercise no politi- 
 cal power who are endowed with no spontaneous 
 energy to arrest the operations of the executive 
 or of the legislature, and whom it is never difficult 
 to remove for malfeasance in office, are intrenched 
 in some strong hold, which the people should watch 
 with a jealous eye ? Easily indeed must that peo- 
 ple be duped, who suffer such morbid apprehen- 
 sions to trouble their peace. Need I tell you, fellow- 
 citizens, that the danger all lies in another quarter 
 in the occasional excesses of popular passion in 
 the artifices of the demagogue, who makes him- 
 self hoarse in proclaiming the wisdom of the peo- 
 ple, and in declaring his marvellous love for the 
 people in the tendencies of majorities to oppress 
 minorities in the desires of the vicious and idle to 
 make spoil of the accumulations, whether ample 
 or limited, of industry, honesty and enterprise. 
 These are among the dangers most formidable to 
 constitutional rights and popular freedom, and these 
 are the dangers which render a learned and uncor- 
 
 * Appendix, Note G.
 
 36 
 
 nipt Judiciary an essential component part of every 
 free government. 
 
 From this brief and necessarily imperfect com- 
 mentary upon the practical effect of some of the 
 leading provisions of the new Constitution, the ar- 
 ticle relating to amendments is too important to be 
 excluded. The people of Rhode-Island, having de- 
 termined to establish a Constitution which, as far as 
 practicable, should perpetuate the institutions trans- 
 mitted to them by their fathers, have wisely guarded 
 that Constitution against the dangers of precipitate 
 and disastrous innovation. They have placed no 
 insurmountable obstructions in the way ot such re- 
 forms as experience may indicate to be necessary. 
 They have, however, rendered it somewhat difficult 
 for any faction, however cunning or however turbu- 
 lent, to break down any of the essential conserva- 
 tive provisions of the Constitution. The danger of 
 all precipitate action, on the part of the Legislature, 
 is excluded, and no organic change can be consum- 
 mated, without the consent of a majority of three 
 fifths of the people, voting thereon in their primary as- 
 semblies thus ensuring the consent of an actual ma- 
 jority of the whole people.* These wise and salu- 
 
 * The article on amendments is as follows : " The General Assembly 
 may propose amendments to this constitution by the votes of a majority 
 of all the members elected to each House. Such propositions for amend- 
 ment shall be published in the newspapers, and printed copies of them 
 shall be sent to the Secretary of State, with the names of all the mem- 
 bers who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, to all the 
 town and city clerks in the State. The said propositions shall be, by 
 said clerks, inserted in the warrants or notices by them issued, for warn- 
 ing the next annual town and ward meetings in April ; and the clerks 
 shall read said propositions to the electors when thus assembled, with 
 the names of all the Representatives and Senators who shall have voted
 
 37 
 
 tary provisions will protect our State against fierce 
 political controversies touching the very foundations 
 of the government under which we live. Under 
 free institutions, the people must be expected to dif- 
 fer about men and measures of policy ; but the whole 
 social order is in danger, the securities of life, lib- 
 erty and property are in danger, whenever it be- 
 comes the fashion of the day to project changes in 
 the fundamental law, and to effect those changes, by 
 inflammatory appeals to the passions and interests 
 of political parties. 
 
 MEN OF RHODE-ISLAND 1 should be heedless of 
 the sympathies of the hour, and of the pleasant stir 
 which animates the whole population now assembled 
 in this ancient town, did I, in behalf of all the men, 
 women and children of Rhode-Island, neglect to 
 thank the framers of the Constitution for preserving 
 essentially untouched, the venerable ordinance and 
 custom of our fathers, relative to the time and place 
 of holding the General Election. By the old Charter 
 was it established and ordained, that "yearly, once 
 in the year forever hereafter, namely, on every first 
 Wednesday in the month of May, a General Assem- 
 bly should be held at Newport, then and there to con- 
 sult, advise, determine in and about the affairs and 
 business of the Governor and Company of the En- 
 
 thereon, with the yeas and nays, before the election of Senators and 
 Representatives shall be had. If a majority of all the members elected 
 to each House, at said annual meeting, shall approve any proposition 
 thus made, the same shall be published and submitted to the electors in 
 the mode provided in the act of approval ; and if then approved by three 
 fifths of the electors of the State present, and voting thereon in town 
 and ward meetings, it shall become a part of the constitution of the 
 State."
 
 38 
 
 glish Colony of Rhode-Island and Providence Plan- 
 tations." Year after year, has this ancient custom 
 and ordinance been observed by the good people of 
 Rhode-Island. Year after year, have young and 
 old, men and women, looked forward with pleasure 
 to this festival season, as an occasion for renew- 
 ing most grateful associations with the mighty and 
 solemn past ; and likewise for infusing ah element 
 of fresh and innocent joy into the cares and occu- 
 pations of common life. Year after year, have mul- 
 titudes come hither, from island and from main, to 
 witness the time-honored ceremonies of a Rhode- 
 Island General Election ; to behold the emerald 
 isle arrayed, at this season of vernal loveliness, in 
 her most beautiful garments ; to repose amid her 
 haunts of gentle beauty, or to hush their spirits into 
 awe amid the sublimities of her ocean scenes. Un- 
 affected by a rage for capricious innovation, and 
 alive to the truth, that the moral power of any gov- 
 ernment depends, essentially, upon those sentiments 
 of reverence and affection which are fastened in the 
 general heart, the framers of our Constitution left 
 the provisions of the Charter, in this matter, essen- 
 tially unchanged. Much do I regret that it seemed 
 necessary to change them at all. Much do I regret 
 that the generous sympathies of this people, which, 
 for so many generations, have flowed forth sponta- 
 neously on the first Wednesday in May, must, here- 
 after, be awakened on the first Tuesday of May. 
 This, however, will ultimately prove no serious detri- 
 ment to the enjoyment of the occasion. In an age, 
 too, so eminently practical as the present, it is quite
 
 39 
 
 too much to expect that the positive utilities of so- 
 ciety should be postponed for the indulgence of 
 those higher sympathies and tastes which are, in 
 some sort, the grace and the ornament of our com- 
 mon nature. Grateful ought we to be that the Gen- 
 eral Election is still to be held here and that the 
 Election Day, though changed from what it was, still 
 comes in the first week of this beautiful and merry 
 month of May. 
 
 Fellow-citizens : The purposes for which we are 
 assembled seem to require an unambiguous and fear- 
 less statement, though not with legal precision, and 
 in consecutive order, of some of the mighty princi- 
 ples which we have perilled so much to maintain, 
 and which, with the blessing of Almighty God upon 
 our struggles, we have at last established. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, the real merits of THE 
 RHODE-ISLAND QUESTION are imperfectly under- 
 stood abroad. Many have, by the grossest and most 
 systematic misrepresentations, been betrayed into 
 the belief, that our controversy was a controversy 
 between adverse political parties, for political power, 
 and that our triumph, therefore, can claim no higher 
 distinction than what belongs to a mere partisan tri- 
 umph. You all know, my fellow-citizens, that for 
 such a belief there is no foundation. You all know, 
 that, in this great battle for constitutional freedom, 
 no rival partisan banners were unfurled to the breeze ; 
 and you all feel, now that the battle is over, not 
 that either this party or that has lost or won, but 
 that the State which you love and honor has been 
 rescued from the evils of revolutionary anarchy.
 
 40 
 
 This is the secret of your deep and thoughtful joy 
 this is the crowning glory of your moral triumph ! 
 
 Multitudes have, likewise, been betrayed into the 
 belief that the question of Free Suffrage was mixed 
 with the great issues which the people of Rhode- 
 Island have recently decided. This misrepresenta- 
 tion, which prevails somewhat extensively abroad, 
 has more effectually, than any other cause, opened 
 for the revolutionary party " the source of sympa- 
 thetic tears." It should, therefore, be known that 
 the freeholders of Rhode- Island had agreed to a sys- 
 tem of almost unrestricted Suffrage, before any at- 
 tempt was made to overthrow, by force, the existing 
 government. Thus, was forever withdrawn from 
 the catalogue of popular grievances even this poor 
 apology for Revolution ! 
 
 We have throughout contended for those princi- 
 ples of constitutional reform which are recognised 
 by the Constitution of the United States, and which 
 were recognised by our sister States, in forming their 
 Constitutions, as essential to constitutional freedom. 
 We have never denied any of the fundamental doc- 
 trines of popular right set forth in the Declaration of 
 American Independence, and in the Constitutions of 
 the several States ; but we have repeatedly and une- 
 quivocally affirmed them. Never have we denied the 
 right of the people to make and alter their constitu- 
 tions of government a right which " constitutes the 
 basis of our political systems." We have, however, 
 contended that, where the people have adopted a 
 Constitution which contains a provision for its own 
 amendment, such Constitution must be amend-
 
 41 
 
 ed or changed according to the mode established by 
 itself. We have, moreover, maintained that where 
 a Constitution provides no mode of* amending itself, 
 the people must effect the desired reform, through 
 the agency of the Legislature, the representatives 
 and the agents of the people. No other mode of 
 changing constitutions of government can we 
 admit to be " an explicit and authentic act of the 
 whole people." No other mode of changing them 
 can be rescued from the reproach of being revolu- 
 tionary in its character transcending, consequently, 
 all law ; and subjecting to the worst perils all the in- 
 terests of a State, and all the safeguards of regulated 
 liberty. The doctrine that the people, after having 
 once embodied their will in a Constitution, or in a 
 fundamental law, may alter or abolish such Con- 
 stitution, or such fundamental law, "without law 
 and against law," would, in its practical application, 
 be fatal to popular liberty. It would leave the peo- 
 ple without adequate means of resisting a factious 
 majority, for even majorities may be factious, which 
 might meditate the overthrow of the existing gov- 
 ernment. Nay more, it would leave them to the 
 tender mercies of a factious minority, who might 
 vote themselves to be the people, and who, with arms 
 in their hands, might easily control the legitimate 
 expressions of the general will, and substitute for the 
 voice of the law the voice of the mob. Once aban- 
 don the forms of law in this grave matter of making 
 and altering constitutions of government, and you 
 abandon all the principles of true constitutional re- 
 form. You precipitate yourselves into the vortex of 
 6
 
 42 
 
 revolution, to maintain a doubtful struggle with the 
 exasperated passions, and with the distempered en- 
 ergy of revolution. 
 
 At the commencement of the popular movement 
 in this State, which ultimately terminated in a resort 
 to force, the question of suffrage was drawn largely 
 into discussion. We maintained then, and we main- 
 tain now, that the right of suffrage is a political and 
 not a natural right ; and that this important political 
 right is to be established and regulated by the per- 
 sons composing the body politic, and possessing the 
 right to exercise political power, and according to 
 their judgment of what the general welfare may de- 
 mand. It will be seen, that, under the Charters of 
 1644 and 1663, the people of this State agreed to 
 form one body politic. Neither of these Charters 
 regulated the right of suffrage, or the admission of 
 persons into the body politic. They left all power 
 over this matter to be exercised by the representa- 
 tives of the people. More than a hundred years 
 ago, the people of this State, by their representa- 
 tives, in the General Assembly, provided that none 
 but freeholders should be entitled to the right of suf- 
 frage, or should be admitted members of the body 
 politic, with the right to exercise political power. 
 Those who admit the sovereignty of the people are 
 bound to admit the right of the people of this State 
 so to make and constitute this portion of their fun- 
 damental law. We have contended, and we con- 
 tend still, that those only who possessed political 
 power according to the provisions of this fundamental 
 law, were, in a constitutional sense, the people of
 
 43 
 
 Rhode-Island ; that no other persons had a right to 
 change the law, in this respect, or to exercise those 
 constitutional powers which belong to the people. 
 It was the people, in this sense, who, through their 
 delegation in Congress, declared the independence 
 of this State, in 1776. It was the people, in this 
 sense, who in the year 1790, ratified, through their 
 delegates assembled in Convention, the Constitution 
 of the United States. Under all these circumstan- 
 ces, and after the lapse of half a century, it was 
 reserved for sage politicians in 1841, to discover 
 that Rhode-Island had not a republican form of gov- 
 ernment,* but was an aristocracy so oppressive as to 
 justify a Revolution .'f A Revolution by whom ? Had 
 those who by the fundamental laws of the State had 
 no right to the exercise of political power, a right 
 to destroy the body politic, that they might erect 
 another upon its ruins ? Whence did they derive 
 this right ? Not certainly from the law. The so- 
 cial compact makes no provision for such a right, 
 and cannot recognise such a right. The law de- 
 nies to all those who are not the legal people, the 
 
 * "The essential criteria of a government purely republican," says Alex- 
 ander Hamilton, " are that the principal organs of the executive and legis- 
 lative departments shall be elected by the people, and hold their offices, 
 by a responsible and temporary or defeasible tenure." In Rhode-Island, 
 under the Charter Government, not only were the Governor and both 
 branches of the Legislature elected by the people, but the members of 
 the House of Representatives were elected once in every six months ! 
 
 t"That is revolution,' says Daniel Webster, "which overturns or controls, 
 or successfully resists the existing public authority ; that which arrests 
 the exercise of the supreme power; that which introduces A NEW PARA- 
 MOUNT AUTHORITY into the rule of the State." It will hardly be denied, 
 that this was the precise object of those men who took up arms for the 
 purpose of establishing the so called People's Constitution.
 
 44 
 
 right to exercise any political power in the State. It 
 must, therefore, a fortiori, deny their right to revolu- 
 tionize the body politic. Have the members of the 
 body politic the right to destroy the body politic ? 
 From whence do they derive it ? Not certainly from 
 the law not from the social compact, for this is 
 sacredly obligatory upon all, until changed, in some 
 mode which can be recognised as the " authentic act 
 of the whole people." 
 
 Upon what is the right of revolution founded? 
 Can aught save " a long train of abuses and usur- 
 pations," justify a resort to revolution ? A majori- 
 ty of those who possess the political power may op- 
 press the minority, but it is preposterous to claim 
 for the majority in a free State, the right of revo- 
 lution. Whatever grievances they may chance to 
 suffer, can be redressed at the ballot-box, and hence 
 the ground of necessity j upon which alone such a 
 revolution, as is here contemplated, can be justified, 
 is excluded. In the late revolutionary movement 
 which convulsed this State, were engaged men who, 
 under the laws of the State, had no right to the ex- 
 ercise of political power. They endeavored to 
 compel the body politic to receive them as members. 
 Among these men were persons born in this State, 
 and persons who came hither from abroad. What 
 rights had the latter, beyond those which belong 
 to an invader ? In this same revolutionary move- 
 ment were, likewise, engaged persons who were 
 members of the body politic, and who sought to 
 make themselves a majority of the people, accord- 
 ing to the widest signification of that term, by an
 
 45 
 
 alliance with those who had no legal right to politi- 
 cal power. By this course, they could lawfully gain 
 no political rights. As a minority of the people, 
 what right had they to condemn the lawful action of 
 the majority, because they might be unwilling to 
 change their fundamental law ? By seeking the al- 
 liance, and for such a purpose, of strangers and so- 
 journers, they did violence to the laws and constitu- 
 tion of the State, and involved themselves in the 
 guilt of rebellion and treason. 
 
 We have contended, and we still contend, that 
 the People's Constitution had no validity, even ad- 
 mitting that it received the votes of 14,000 persons. 
 Those who had no right to vote, could not gain a 
 legal right by their own unlawful act. The votes, 
 therefore, of all such persons, should be deducted 
 from the aggregate of 14,000. Those who had a 
 right to vote, had no right to vote but in conformity 
 to the laws. Their action, being without law, could 
 by no law be authenticated and made valid. But 
 they acted against law, as well as without law, and 
 conspired to overthrow the government. Such a 
 course of illegal proceeding resulted, as was fore- 
 seen, in overt acts of treason and civil war. 
 That we have been saved from the terrific calami- 
 ties incident to a state of anarchy, demands ascrip- 
 tions of devout praise to Him who ruleth the spirit 
 of man, and stilleth the tumult of the people. 
 
 I have thus attempted to set forth some of die 
 most essential principles involved in the decision of 
 THE RHODE-ISLAND QUESTION. They lie, as we be- 
 lieve, at the very foundation of all our systems of
 
 46 
 
 popular government. Unless they can be sustained, 
 and triumphantly sustained throughout these States, 
 the day is not far distant when the American people 
 will be summoned to such a conflict between REVO- 
 LUTION and LAW, as will make the whole land turn 
 pale ! These principles are worth voting for ; they 
 are worth fighting for ; if need be, they are worth 
 dying for ! How disastrous to this State would have 
 been our failure to vindicate them ! Under the rule 
 of a revolutionary government, what interest or in- 
 stitution would have been safe from aggression ? 
 What confidence would have been felt, at home or 
 abroad, in the stability of a government established 
 without law and against law ? What could have 
 rescued the State from the dominion of successive 
 factions? Under the unmitigated popular despo- 
 tism which was sought to be fastened upon us, how 
 inevitable would have been the decline of all public 
 spirit, and of all manly independence in individual 
 character ! If, fellow-citizens, the men who sought, 
 by force of arms, to overthrow the legal govern- 
 ment of Rhode-Island, had consummated their pur- 
 pose, we should have been not only oppressed, but 
 dishonored. In what bitterness of spirit should we 
 have deplored the baleful triumph of popular licen- 
 tiousness and misrule ? Where, then, would have 
 been " that proud submission, that dignified obedi- 
 ence," which a free citizen delights to yield to a 
 government founded upon law, and devoted to the 
 cause of rational liberty ? Who of us, in fine, 
 would not then have felt that Rhode-Island had ceas- 
 ed to be his home that his affections were fastened
 
 47 
 
 to her only by those glorious recollections which 
 give an undying interest to the past ? 
 
 MEN or RHODE-ISLAND Much do we all love 
 this pleasant land where our fathers sought and 
 found "freedom to worship God" and where, 
 through all the stages of her history, has been ex- 
 hibited the most perfect pattern of an unmixed and 
 orderly democracy, which the world hath yet seen. 
 How much more should we love her, for the great 
 tribulations through which she has, at last, reached 
 the vantage ground of peace and liberty and honor ! 
 Not a year since, and our little State was convulsed 
 to its centre. How dark and wild was the tumult 
 of revolutionary passions ! How many thoughtful 
 spirits brooded in sadness over the woes which 
 threatened to fall upon us ! In how many noble 
 bosoms was formed the stern resolve to maintain, at 
 whatever cost of treasure and of blood, the suprem- 
 acy of the laws ! When, before this uproar of all 
 our social elements, have any portion of our fellow- 
 citizens been seduced from their allegiance to the 
 government which protected them ? When, before 
 this, my fellow-citizens, in the whole history of civil 
 society, have demagogues so inflamed the passions 
 of the people, that a reproach upon landholders has 
 been welcomed as a sign wherewith to conquer ? 
 Not for a single moment, could the men of Rhode- 
 Island brook the thought of surrendering this inher- 
 itance of freedom, derived from heroic sires, to be 
 trampled in the dust by lawless feet ! Not for a 
 single moment, could they pause in their career, till 
 the battle for Liberty and Law was won ! How de-
 
 48 
 
 termined was the spirit of patriotic resistance, even 
 among the peaceful dwellers upon this island ! How 
 fixed their purpose, that the soil which embosoms 
 all that was mortal of the patriot Ellery and the gal- 
 lant Perry,* should never be pressed by a rebel foot! 
 that these shores, which once listened to the philo- 
 sophic wisdom of Berkeley, and woke to deep and 
 eloquent rapture, the soul of Channing,f should nev- 
 er give back the shouts of a rebel host ! Never can 
 the scenes of the last year fade from our recollec- 
 tions ! Never can we forget those memorable days 
 which stirred, to their very depths, the spirits of this 
 whole people when the men of Rhode-Island, for- 
 saking all common occupations, and banishing all 
 common cares, rushed to the support of their gov- 
 ernment and the defence of their firesides. 
 
 " High hung the rusting scythe awhile, 
 
 And ceased the spindle's roar ; 
 The boat rocked idly by the isle, 
 
 And on the ocean shore ; 
 The belted burgher paced his street, 
 
 The seaman wheeled his gun ; 
 Steel gleamed along the ruler's seat, 
 
 And study's task was done !" 
 
 " Old Narragansett rang with arms, 
 
 And rang the silver bay; 
 And that sweet shore whose girdled charms 
 
 Were Philip's ancient sway ; 
 And our own island's halcyon scene 
 
 The black artillery sent ; 
 And answered from the home of Greene, 
 
 The men of dauntless Kent !"J 
 
 Thus, in strains worthy of his theme, sung one of 
 our own poets. These spirit-stirring scenes have 
 
 * Appendix, Note H. t Appendix, Note I. J Appendix, Note J.
 
 49 
 
 passed away. The tempest, which blackened our 
 whole horizon, has left it to be spanned by the bow 
 of promise, and to reflect the glories of an untroubled 
 sky. Let us not forget, however, in this season of 
 our joy, the solemn lessons taught us in the day of 
 our calamity. How impressively do the events of the 
 last year admonish us of the great danger to be ap- 
 prehended from visionary theories, which, though 
 ostensibly addressed to the understandings of the 
 people, take the strongest hold of their passions, and 
 which ultimately lead the people to the grossest 
 misconceptions of their constitutional rights and 
 social duties. Strange as it may seem, no inconsid- 
 erable portion of our fellow-citizens were deluded by 
 wretched sophistries into a conviction that, in all 
 their efforts to establish the People's Constitution, 
 they were sustained by the example of our revolu- 
 tionary fathers, and by the eternal principles of 
 natural justice. The delusion did not expend itself 
 upon their understandings. From the lips and the 
 pens of false teachers, multitudes learned the capti- 
 vating texts of sedition their passions supplied the 
 inferences. And yet more in order to impart addi- 
 tional energy and ardor to the popular passions, 
 demagogues, educated and uneducated, were inces- 
 sant in the work of exasperating them by appeals 
 the most artful and fervid. Thus did it come to 
 pass, that, in Rhode-Island, where no man hitherto 
 had dreamed of oppression, or meditated resistance 
 to the laws, multitudes were persuaded to think 
 themselves oppressed, and to rush madly for redress 
 upon the portentous issues of a Revolution. The 
 7
 
 60 
 
 sad experiences of the last year should, likewise, 
 teach us not to confound the love of freedom, which 
 never exists without producing the happiest effects, 
 with that morbid ambition for uncontrolled political 
 power which, whether raging in the breasts of indi- 
 viduals or of masses, threatens, especially in seasons 
 of excitement, the worst evils to a State. The for- 
 mer, as has been justly remarked by a philosophical 
 historian, will produce disturbances only when real 
 evils are felt ; the latter frequently produces convul- 
 sions, independent of any real cause of complaint ; 
 or, if it has been excited by such, it continues after 
 it has been removed. " The one complains of 
 what has been felt ; the other anticipates what may 
 be gained ; disturbances arising from the first, sub- 
 side, when the evils from which they spring are re- 
 moved; troubles originating in the second, mag- 
 nify with every victory which is achieved. The 
 experience of evil is the cause of agitation from the 
 first ; the love of power the source of convulsions 
 from the last. Reform and concession are the rem- 
 edies appropriate to the former ; steadiness and re- 
 sistance the means of extinguishing the flame arising 
 from the latter."* 
 
 The dangers, fellow-citizens, through which we 
 have passed, should also impress more strongly upon 
 every mind the conviction that those are the worst 
 enemies of the people, who, under captivating names 
 and false pretexts, violate the essential principles of 
 all popular freedom. Without Law, and without a 
 reverence for Law, a Democracy cannot exist ; 
 
 * Vide Alison's History of Europe.
 
 51 
 
 there can be no security for equal rights ; there can 
 be no protection for the weak against the strong ; 
 there can be nothing to save the few from the ty- 
 ranny of the many ; nothing to shelter from the 
 rapacious and the idle, the accumulations of honest 
 industry nothing, in short, to arrest the tendencies 
 of society towards either the barbarism of savage 
 life, or the repose of sullen despotism. Law and a 
 reverence for Law are bound up in all our hopes of 
 the future triumphs of the democratic principle. 
 The friends and the foes of the existing forms of 
 civil government in Europe, look, with intense so- 
 licitude, to the results of the mighty experiment now 
 making in this country. This experiment, perhaps 
 the grandest which, in the progress of society, hath 
 ever been witnessed, will fail, if it be destined to 
 fail, from a perversion of the true notions of liberty ; 
 from the relaxation, among the people and in 
 their rulers, of those conservative principles, without 
 which, in the absence of physical force, there can 
 be neither freedom nor civilization. Be it our duty, 
 therefore, Men of Rhode-Island, to discharge, faith- 
 fully, the sacred trust confided to our hands. The 
 lines are fallen to us in pleasant places. We inhabit 
 a territory which is unrivalled for salubrity and 
 which, in its physical characteristics, supplies the 
 most ample facilities for a progressive advancement 
 in social refinement. Numerous and densely peo- 
 pled towns concentrate within themselves the means 
 of high intellectual improvement our rivers, ere 
 they finish their course, furnish the motive power 
 for extensive manufactures and our bay, while it
 
 52 
 
 facilitates the operations of commerce, embosoms 
 islands of extraordinary agricultural capacity, and 
 which recal to classic memories the far-famed beau- 
 ty of the Grecian Isles. 
 
 Let not these benefits and blessings be lost upon 
 us. While we gird ourselves for any fresh service 
 in the cause of constitutional freedom to which we 
 may be summoned, let us constantly aim to multiply 
 for ourselves, and to spread far and wide, the means 
 of increasing physical happiness ; to secure to 
 every man, by the strongest tenure, his rights under 
 the Constitution and the laws ; and to place within 
 every man's reach the transcendant blessings of edu- 
 cation and religion. Above all, let us beware how, 
 amid the conflicts, and in pursuit of the objects, of 
 party, we countenance any of those levelling or anti- 
 social principles, which it is sad to think are propa- 
 gated from high places in the land. Let us remem- 
 ber that, if we would walk abroad in the light of an 
 exalted freedom, we must cultivate the spirit of an 
 exalted freedom ; that vain will be our HOPE IN 
 GOD, unless, as politicians and as men, we ANCHOR 
 ourselves in the immutable and all-prevailing princi- 
 ples of His MORAL GOVERNMENT.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [Note A Page 9.] 
 
 In this language there is no exaggeration. Bishop Berkeley, soon 
 after his arrival at Newport, in the year 1729, spoke of Newport, in one 
 of his letters to a friend in Dublin, as then containing " about six thou- 
 sand souls, and as the most thriving place in all America, for bigness." In 
 1774, according to the census, taken by authority of the government, the 
 population was 9,20!), of which 1,246 were blacks. The number of per- 
 sons, however, actually belonging to the town, at that time, is believed, 
 and not without reason, to have been nearly or quite 11,000. This belief 
 is founded on the fact that, in the British mode of taking a census, as 
 then and now practised in the United Kingdom, temporary residents, 
 strangers, &c., were excluded from the enumeration, which was confined 
 to permanent settlers. This belief is also corroborated by the additional 
 fact, that the colonial government was interested in bringing the popu- 
 lation within the lowest limits, in order to reduce the requisitions in men 
 and money, which, in time of war, were proportioned to the numbers 
 returned. Of the 184 vessels which cleared at the Newport Custom 
 House, from January 1, 1763, to January 1, 1764, on foreign voyages, 
 and of the 352 in the coasting trade, two thirds, if not three quarters, 
 belonged to Newport. These, with the fishing vessels, required a force 
 of 2,200 seamen. Her merchants were princes. One of them, Mr. 
 Aaron Lopez, of the Hebrew persuasion, owned, at one time, more than 
 thirty sail of vessels, of different descriptions. The commercial pros- 
 perity of Newport was at its zenith, in 1769, or shortly before that period. 
 The manufactures of Newport were, at the same period, quite exten- 
 sive. Besides numerous distilleries, there were, in the town, sixteen 
 manufactories of sperm-oil and candles ; five rope-walks ; four sugar 
 refineries, &c. The manufacture of sperm-oil was introduced into New- 
 port by the Colony of Jews which arrived there, between the years 1745 
 and 1750. These Jews were all emigrants from Portugal. 
 
 The venerable Dr. Waterhouse, himself a native of Newport, in a 
 newspaper article published in 1824, says : " The island of Rhode-Island, 
 from its salubrity and surpassing beauty, before the Revolutionary War
 
 64 
 
 so Badly defaced it, was the chosen resort of the rich and philosophic 
 from nearly all parts of the civilized world. In no spot of the thirteen, 
 or rather twelve colonies, was there concentrated more individual opu- 
 lence, learning and liberal leisure." The Redwood Library is still a 
 beautiful monument of the former wealth, learning and public spirit of 
 Newport. This library owes its origin to a literary and philosophical So- 
 ciety established in Newport, in the year 1730. This Society was com- 
 posed of the most eminent men of Newport, and in its discussions, 
 Berkeley, the intimate friend of some of its members, was accustomed to 
 participate. 
 
 Among the former inhabitants of Newport, were about three hundred 
 of the children of Abraham, embracing some of her most enterprising 
 and opulent merchants. "Newport," says Dr. Waterhouse, "was the only 
 place in New-England, where the Hebrew language was publicly read 
 and chanted by more than three hundred of the descendants of Abra- 
 ham." Their synagogue, built in 1762, remains, but not a solitary wor- 
 shipper is left behind. 
 
 In the vicissitudes of human affairs, Newport has declined from her 
 ancient wealth and splendor ; but, within her and around her, are left 
 sources of enjoyment, which mock the power of time and of change 
 the living spirit of beauty which pervades her hills and vales the eter- 
 nal sublimities which dwell around her shores ! 
 
 [Note B Page 18.] 
 
 Dr. John Clarke was born Oct. 8, 1609, and, as is believed, in Bedford- 
 shire, England. Before he came to New-England, he was a practising 
 physician in London. He was the original projector of the settlement 
 on Rhode-Island, in 1638, and was subsequently one of its ablest legis- 
 lators. In 1644, he formed a church in accordance with the principles of 
 the Baptists, and, uniting the professions of a clergyman and physician, 
 he continued to perform the duties of pastor of that church, till 1651, 
 when he was despatched, with Roger Williams, to England, to procure 
 the abrogation of the Charter which Mr. Coddington had obtained, and 
 which gave him the control of the island. After they had accom- 
 plished this object, Roger Williams returned to Rhode-Island, leaving 
 Mr. Clarke sole agent of the Colony in England. He was present at the 
 Restoration of the Stuarts, and so far as any one, this side of the Atlan- 
 tic, was instrumental in procuring the Charter of 1663, Clarke, it 
 would seem, must have been the man to whom that honor is fairly due. 
 He was a learned man, and if he did not himself draught that Charter, he 
 probably sought and obtained the best legal assistance in preparing an 
 instrument which was to pass the great seal. After his return from 
 England, in 1663, he was elected, three years successively, Deputy- 
 Governor of the Colony. He is stated to have been the first regularly
 
 55 
 
 educated physician who ever practised in Rhode-Island ; and all the rec- 
 ords of his life show him to have been an able, pious and disinterested 
 man. He maintained his pastoral relation to the church which he found- 
 ed, till he died, April 20, 1676, aged 66 years. He was buried on his 
 own lot, on the west side of Tanner street, in Newport. 
 
 [Note C Page 18.] 
 
 This venerable document may be found prefixed to every digest of the 
 statute laws of Rhode-Island, and is embodied in every collection of the 
 Constitutions of the several States. It empowered the people of Rhode- 
 Island to choose all their officers, legislative, executive and judicial, and 
 invested in them or in their delegates, all the high powers of legislation 
 and government. So democratic was the Charter deemed to be, both in 
 its letter and spirit, that doubts were entertained in England, whether the 
 king had a right to grant it ! In a very able Report on the subject of 
 an Extension of Suffrage, submitted to the Legislature of this State in 
 June, 1829, by tho late Benjamin Hazard, Esq., the merits of the Char- 
 ter are made the theme of the following just and animated encomium, 
 which will meet a response from the heart of every true Rhode-Island 
 man : " It is not the less our Constitution, because its name furnishes a 
 theme for cavillers. The people have always held it as their Constitu- 
 tion ; and have more than once manifested their satisfaction with it. It 
 was framed and agreed upon, as it purports to have been, by tho purcha- 
 sers, proprietors and settlers of the State ; and its character, as their 
 work, was not at all changed by its having been put into the form of a 
 charter. At that time, the people, being colonists, could not avoid sub- 
 mitting to have the usual reservations expressive of the royal preroga- 
 tive, engrafted into it ; but, independent of these appendages, it was 
 wholly the work of the people, and was purely republican. The whole 
 power of self-government was in their own hands. No Constitution, 
 before or since the Revolution, has been framed, none can be framed, 
 more free and popular. Our separation from the mother country per- 
 fected this Constitution, by cancelling the conditions and reservations 
 under which we held it, and leaving the work of the people entire. Let 
 strangers, if they please, treat this instrument with levity, and hold it up 
 as a reproach to the State, for the sage reason that it was originally a 
 charter ; but let us continue to be proud of it, as a lasting monument of 
 the free, manly and enlightened spirit of our fore-fathers, who could, at 
 so early a day, and while colonists, frame, adopt and obtain the confir- 
 mation of a constitution of self-government so perfectly republican ; and 
 by which all the natural, civil and political rights and privileges of them- 
 selves and their posterity were so amply and completely asserted and 
 secured."
 
 56 
 
 [Note D. Page 20.] 
 
 The Charter granted, in 1764, by the General Assembly oi the Colony 
 of Rhode-Island to Rhode-Island College, now Brown University, al- 
 though it secures to the Baptists the control of the College, recognises, 
 repeatedly, and in the most unequivocal terms, the grand principles of 
 religious freedom, for which Rhode-Island, through every stage in her 
 social progress, has resolutely contended. This Charter not only forbids 
 all "religious tests," but it guarantees to every member of the University 
 " full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience." It also 
 enjoins that " the sectarian differences of opinion shall not make any part 
 of the public and classical instruction ; although all religious controver- 
 sies may be studied freely, examined and explained by the President, Pro- 
 fessors and Tutors, in a personal, separate, and distinct manner, to the 
 youth of any or each denomination." The Statutes of the College are 
 framed in accordance with the spirit of the Charter. So long ago as 1783, 
 those students who regularly observed the seventh day as the Sabbath, were 
 exempted from the operation of the law which required every student, as 
 a moral duty, to attend public worship on the first day of the week. Those 
 who statedly attended the Friends' meeting were expressly " permitted 
 to wear their hats within the College walls," &c., and "young gentle- 
 men of the Hebrew persuasion," were formally exempted from the oper- 
 ation of the law which commanded, on penalty of expulsion, that no 
 student should deny the divine authority of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment. And yet more in 1770, the Corporation of the College declared, 
 as would appear from their Records, that " the children of Jews may be 
 admitted into this Institution, and entirely enjoy the freedom of their own 
 religion, without any constraint or imposition whatever." Although 
 these provisions of the Charter, and of the Statutes of the College, may 
 fall somewhat short of that " full liberty in religious concernments," for 
 which Roger Williams contended, yet they manifest a delicate regard for 
 the rights of conscience, for which, it is believed, hardly a parallel can be 
 found in the history of similar Institutions. 
 
 [Note E. Page 23.] 
 
 It cannot fail to be regarded as a somewhat significant fact that the 
 revolutionary spirit which, during the last year, threatened this State 
 with anarchy, was confined mainly to the county of Providence, and to 
 those towns in that county where extensive manufacturing establishments 
 had concentrated masses of people, many of them not natives of lihode- 
 Island, and most of them especially liable to become the dupes of design- 
 ing politicians. The agricultural town of Foster, throughout the whole 
 agitation, was sound to the core ; and Scituate, though subjected to many 
 trials, maintained her integrity to the last. The county of Kent, as the
 
 57 
 
 result proved, was found eminently faithful to the laws. The fidelity of 
 her agricultural townships was never even doubted. In the counties of 
 "Washington, Newport, and Bristol, where the agricultural intrrest is not 
 overborne by a fluctuating manufacturing population, the standard of in- 
 surrection found comparatively few recruits. These portions of the State 
 are inhabited almost exclusively by Rhode-Island men, born and bred 
 upon the soil which they both know how to cultivate and to defend. 
 
 [Note F Page 25.] 
 
 These eminent citizens sustained, for so many years, an intimate rela- 
 tion to the Charter government, that the following biographical memo- 
 randa respecting them, will not, in the present connexion, be deemed 
 inappropriate. 
 
 HON. JAMES BURRILL, LL. D., was born in Providence, April 25, 1772. 
 He was graduated at Rhode-Island College, in 1788, when only sixteen 
 years old, and having obtained his professional education under the late 
 Hon. Theodore Foster and David Howell, commenced, at the early age 
 of nineteen, the practice of the law in his native town. In 171)7, at 
 the age of twenty-five, he was elected, by the Legislature, to the office of 
 Attorney-General, vice the Hon. Ray Greene, appointed a Senator in 
 the Congress of the United States. So decided were his professional 
 merits, and so strong was his hold upon the public favor, that, amid all 
 the competitions of party, he was annually re-elected Attorney-General, 
 till, after a Laborious service of about sixteen years, he was compelled, by 
 delicate health, to retire from office, in the year 1813. With the law of 
 the State which requires the Attorney-General to " give his attendance 
 at the General Assembly," Mr. Burrill never failed punctually to com- 
 ply. By him were draughted many of the most important statutes which 
 were enacted by that body, while, in virtue of his office, he participated, 
 to a certain extent, in the legislative counsels of the State. In June, 
 1813, he was returned as one of the four Representatives in the General 
 Assembly from the town of Providence ; and, in May 1814, he was elect- 
 ed Speaker of the House of Representatives, the duties of which office 
 he discharged with distinguished ability. In 181G, he was elected Chief 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode-Island ; and, a few months after- 
 wards, a Senator in Congress. He attended only four sessions of that 
 body, his valuable life having been prematurely terminated by a pul- 
 monary disease, December 25, 1820, in the forty-ninth year of his age. 
 His remains were interred at Washington, in the cemetery appropriated 
 to members of Congress, &c. His death created a sensation of profound 
 regret among his constituents; and, at the request of the Providence 
 Bar, the Hon. Tristam Burges pronounced a Eulogy upon the life and 
 character of their eminent associate. Rhode-Island has given birth 
 
 8
 
 58 
 
 to few men so distinguished as was Mr. Burrill, for intellectual gift* 
 and acquirements. A more able and successful advocate, our courts, it 
 is believed, have never known ; and the high reputation which he was 
 not slow to acquire at Washington, may be deemed no unequivocal proof 
 of his talents as a statesman and as a parliamentary debater. Mr. Bur- 
 rill, however, did not confine himself either to law or to politics. Hi 
 reading was various and extensive, especially in the department of ele- 
 gant literature ; and so retentive was his memory, that he seemed able to 
 command, at pleasure, even the acquisitions of his desultory hours. No 
 man enjoyed, with keener relish, the characteristic beauties of the litera- 
 ture of England ; and no man, in ordinary conversation, brought to bear 
 upon whatever topic might happen to be introduced, a greater variety of 
 interesting facts, or unambitiously poured himself out in a strain of more 
 instructive remark. Like many distinguished lawyers, he seldom or 
 never used his pen, except in the discharge of his ordinary professional 
 duties. Hence he neglected, perhaps, the most efficient means of trans- 
 mitting to posterity those impressions of intellectual power which emi- 
 nent men leave upon the minds of their contemporaries. 
 
 The Hon. SAMUEL EDDY, LL. D., was born in Johnston, R. I., March 
 31, 1769. He was a graduate of Brown University, in 1787, and was a 
 classmate of Dr. Maxcy, subsequently the President of that Institution, 
 with whom he maintained a long and cordial friendship. He read law 
 with the Hon. Benjamin Bourne, and was afterwards his co-partner 
 in the practice of the law, in Providence. In 1790, he was chosen, 
 by the General Assembly, Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for the 
 county of Providence, to which office he was annually re-elected for three 
 years. In December, 1797, he was elected, by the General Assembly, 
 Secretary of State, in the place of Henry Ward, Esq., deceased ; and to 
 that office he was annually re-elected, by the people, without opposition, 
 till May, 1819, when he declined a re-election. On his retirement from 
 the Secretaryship of State, the General Assembly unanimously voted 
 their thanks to him, " for his distinguished talents and ability manifest- 
 ed in the discharge of the duties of said office, for more than twenty 
 years." 
 
 This long term of official service embraced a period of extraordinary 
 excitement in the politics of the country, and of the State. To the 
 praise of Mr. Eddy, however, and not less to the credit of the people, it 
 should be remembered that no attempt was ever made to remove him from 
 an office, the duties of which he performed with signal ability, and, amid 
 all the changes of party, with an impartiality which disarmed opposition. 
 While his distinguished contemporary, James Burrill, the Attorney-Gen- 
 eral, attended, year after year, the sittings of the General Assembly, 
 occupying, according to usage, a seat near the Chair of the Speaker of 
 the House, Mr. Eddy being considered, in virtue of his office, as Secre-
 
 59 
 
 tary of the Senate, likewise attended, year after year, the sittings of the 
 Assembly, and was seated at the same Board with the Governor and 
 Senate. This duty sometimes involved something beyond the mere ex- 
 ercise of clerical skill and quiet diligence. The Senate being composed, 
 nearly at all times, of gentlemen not bred to the law, some imperfections 
 in statutes, whether originating in the Senate, or passed by the House, 
 might very naturally be expected to escape detection. The clear dis- 
 cernment and the professional knowledge of the Secretary were, however, 
 always at their command; and, though never obtrusively tendered, they 
 were never perversely withheld. 
 
 On the occasion of his relinquishing the office which he had so long held, 
 Mr. Eddy made the following interesting private record : " May 5, 1819. 
 This day terminated my duties as Secretary of the State. I have the sat- 
 isfaction to believe that, in the discharge of my official duties, I have 
 been free from partiality. I have never knowingly received mere than 
 my lawful fees, and no man's business has been refused, or left undonei 
 for want of money." 
 
 At the August election, in 1818, Mr. Eddy was elected one of the two 
 Representatives in Congress, from Rhode-Island. To this station he was 
 twice re-elected, and was hence a member of the national councils for six 
 years, from 1819 to 1825. 
 
 In May, 1827, upon the re-organization of the Supreme Court, he was 
 appointed Chief Justice, and was annually re-elected till June, 1835, 
 when sickness compelled him to retire forever from public life. 
 
 Judge Eddy, throughout his long and useful life, was diligent in the 
 cultivation of his intellectual powers. At one period in his career, his 
 attention was almost exclusively directed to studies connected with the 
 evidences, doctrines and duties of religion. Few laymen more carefully 
 investigated these high matters, or acquired, respecting them, a larger 
 amount of valuable learning, both practical and critical. At a subse- 
 quent period, he devoted no small portion of his leisure hours to the ac- 
 quisition of some of the physical sciences. With youthful ardor, he pur- 
 sued the study of geology, mineralogy, and more especially of conchology, 
 and the collections which he made to illustrate those sciences are credi- 
 table to his industry, taste and knowledge. 
 
 Judge Eddy was no debater, but he was an excellent writer. He loved 
 the English language, in all its Saxon vigor, and purity, and expressive- 
 ness ; and in practice he was careful to exclude those innovations which 
 the modern taste seems inclined to countenance. 
 
 Last of all, Judge Eddy was a Rhode-Island man, "after the straitest 
 of the sect." No man was more firmly attached to the principles of 
 Roger Williams, in relation to religious concernments ; and no man waa 
 more familiar with the history of the State, or more highly prized the 
 blessings of regulated liberty, enjoyed under the Old Charter. He died 
 at his mansion house, in Providence, February 3, 1839, aged 69 years.
 
 60 
 
 The Hon. ELISHA REYNOLDS POTTZR was born at Little-Rest, no.w 
 Kingston, in the town of South-Kingstown, (R. I.) November 5th, 1764. 
 In the year 1778, when only sixteen years of age, he enlisted, as a 
 private soldier, for the purpose of joining the Expedition command- 
 ed by General Sullivan. Before, however, he was called into active ser- 
 vice, Rhode-Island was evacuated by the American troops. Mr. Potter 
 was a self-made man, and, throughout his long life, he exhibited those 
 striking characteristics which are most strongly developed in those who 
 are obliged to carve their own way to distinction. Early in life, he be- 
 came an apprentice to a blacksmith, and worked at that useful occupation 
 sufficiently long to become somewhat expert in its various labors. This 
 occupation, however, was not destined to be the business of his life. His 
 academical education, like that of most men who, at that period, entered 
 into life, under similar circumstances, was far from complete. Some of 
 the elementary studies he pursued, for a time, at Plainfield, (Conn.) under 
 the instruction of Mr. Dabol, whose arithmetic, forty years ago, was a fa- 
 vorite text-book in our common schools. For the exact sciences he had 
 quite a taste, and in some of the less difficult branches, he made, con- 
 sidering his opportunities, respectable proficiency. 
 
 That portion of his professional education which Mr. Potter did not owe 
 to himself, he acquired under Matthew Robinson, a celebrated lawyer, 
 who removed from Newport to Narragansett, in 1750, and there resided 
 till his death, in 1795. He continued to practise law, till he reached the 
 age of about forty years, when the fascinations of political life withdrew 
 him from the business of the Courts. As an advocate, he was successful, 
 although he was often obliged to contend with Robinson and Bourne, 
 and Bradford, then distinguished practitioners at the Rhode-Island Bar. 
 Mr. Potter's last forensic effort was before the Supreme Court of the Uni- 
 ted States, at Washington, not many years before his death, when he 
 made the opening argument in a case of his own, and was followed by Mr. 
 Wirt, in the close. Most of this argument he committed to writing. 
 
 In April, 1793, Mr. Potter was first elected a Representative to the 
 General Assembly destined to be, with few interruptions, the scene upon 
 which he was to exhibit his extraordinary powers, for more than forty 
 years. He continued to represent his native town in the Legislature, till 
 October 1796. In November of that year, he was elected a Representative 
 in the 4th Congress, in the place of Judge Bourne, who had resigned his 
 seat. He was, at the same time, chosen to the 5th Congress, in the place 
 of Judge Bourne, who had been elected, and had declined. M r. Potter 
 likewise resigned his seat, before his term of service had expired, and 
 returned home. Hon. Christopher G. Champlin was his colleague. 
 
 In August 1798, he was again returned to the General Assembly from 
 South Kingstown, and there he remained, till in 1809 he was again 
 elected a Representative in Congress. He continued in Congress, with 
 his colleague, the late Hon. Richard Jackson, for six years, when they 
 both declined a re-election.
 
 61 
 
 In August 1816, Mr. Potter was again elected a member of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly ; and, thenceforward, he was re-elected semi-annually till 
 his death, except in April 1818, when, being a candidate for the office of 
 Governor, he could not become a candidate for the inferior office. Al- 
 though he lived in times of high political excitement, and, as a politician, 
 was never required to define his position, yet so prevailing was his per- 
 sonal influence, that he was never opposed but twice, as a candidate for 
 the Legislature. In both of these contests, which were extremely ar- 
 dent, he succeeded by decided majorities. During his long term of ser- 
 vice in the General Assembly, Mr. Potter was five times elected Speaker 
 of the House in October 171)5, May 17%, October 1796, May 1802, and 
 October 1808. 
 
 Perhaps no political man in this State, ever acquired or maintained, 
 often amid many adverse circumstances, a more commanding influence. 
 This influence was the result, mainly, of his powers and qualities as a 
 man ; of his rare natural endowments his intuitive perception of char- 
 acter his large acquaintance with the motives, principles and passions 
 which belong to human nature, and determine the conduct of men. He 
 was not a favorite of the mass of the people, for, politician though lie 
 was, he neglected many of the most effective means of winning populari- 
 ty. Over the minds, however, of those, whether friends or foes, to whom 
 in political concernments the people are wont to look for direction, he 
 always exerted an extraordinary influence. When a member of Con- 
 gress, from 1809 to 1815, he did not, like most members of his party, 
 during that stormy period, sever himself from all familiar associations 
 with his antagonists. On the contrary, he mingled freely with them, 
 and though he never exposed to suspicion his fidelity as a politician, he 
 won them to an easy and generous confidence in the virtues of the man. 
 
 After his retirement from Congress, Mr. Potter maintained an exten- 
 sive correspondence with those leading politicians at Washington, whose 
 political sympathies were in harmony with his own. He seldom wrote 
 for the newspapers, except under his own signature ; but at different 
 times he put forth pamphlets intended to influence the politics of the 
 day in Rhode-Island. Though he was unskilled in the art of composi- 
 tion, yet he always expressed himself with clearness and vigor ; causing 
 the strong conceptions of his strong mind to fall with decided effect 
 upon the minds of others. 
 
 During his long legislative career, Mr. Potter seldom or never made 
 speeches which were the work of premeditation. He never spoke, 
 however, without finding willing listeners and producing a strong ef- 
 fect. He was always forcible, and at times he was eloquent. When, 
 more especially, the warm current of his kindly emotions had acquired a 
 quicker flow, by some appeal to his sympathies as a man, his gigantic 
 frame would almost tremble with agitated sensibilities. When the unfor- 
 tunate asked for relief, or when the guilty sued for pardon, the states- 
 man was lost in the man. On such occasions, he hns been known to pour
 
 62 
 
 forth a strain of uncultivated and powerful eloquence, which came from 
 the heart and went to the heart. 
 
 Although Mr. Potter was, for so many years, an active and prominent 
 politician, yet he was not unaccustomed, at intervals, to look for pleasure 
 and instruction to some of the master spirits of English literature. Of 
 Shakspeare, he was particularly fond, attracted, doubtless, by the mar- 
 vellous knowledge of the springs of human action, which is discovered by 
 that unequalled dramatist. 
 
 Mr. Potter loved his native State with genuine ardor, and no man was 
 more indignant when either her rights were invaded or her honor assailed. 
 Had he lived to witness the trials through which she has just passed un- 
 hurt, he would have put forth all the energies of his mind, and all his in- 
 fluence as a politician, in vindication of the majesty of the laws and the 
 rights of the people. 
 
 Mr. Potter departed this life at his residence, in Kingston, September 
 26, 1835, aged 70 years. 
 
 HON. BENJAMIN HAZARD was born in Middletown, the town which ad- 
 joins Newport, Sept. 18, 1770. He was graduated at Brown University, 
 in 1792. After studying law with the late Hon. David Howell, at that 
 time a distinguished practitioner in Providence, he was admitted to the 
 Bar, in the year 1796, and commenced the practice of his profession in 
 the town of Newport. For several years, Mr. Hazard did not occupy 
 himself seriously with the business of the courts, but he failed not in the 
 end to acquire, and he maintained to the last, a distinguished rank at the 
 Bar of his native State. At the August election, in 1809, he was first 
 elected a Representative from the town of Newport, a vacancy having 
 been created in the delegation, by the election to the Senate of the Uni- 
 ted States, of the late Hon. Christopher Grant Champlin. Mr. Hazard's 
 colleagues from Newport, were at that time, George Gibbs, William 
 Hunter, John P. Man, John L. Boss, Stephen Cahoone none of whom, 
 except Mr. Cahoone, the present General Treasurer, and Mr. Hunter, 
 the American Ambassador at Brazil, are now among the living upon 
 earth. The duties of this station, he continued to discharge with eminent 
 ability, for the term of thirty-one successive years. From Oct. 1816, to 
 May 1818, he presided over the deliberations of the House. At the Au- 
 gust election, in 1840, he declined a re-election, and retired from public 
 life. In accordance with a provision of the royal Charter, so democratic 
 as to be without precedent, the election of Representatives to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly was required to be made twice in every year. Thus was 
 Mr. Hazard subjected, in the course of his public life, to the ordeal of 
 sixty-two popular elections ! The confidence which his townsmen early 
 reposed in him, was never withdrawn. Amid all the fluctuations of 
 party, he was re-elected, generally, though not in all cases, without op- 
 position. Rarely, in New-England, is it the fortune of a public man to 
 command, from the same constituents, and under similar circumstances,
 
 63 
 
 & confidence so long and so uninterruptedly continued ! Mr. Hazard 
 felt himself at home in the General Assembly. There, and not in our 
 courts or primary assemblies, did he put forth with the most effect the 
 uncommon powers with which he was gifted. His talents for debate 
 would have won for him no mean rank, even in the highest deliberative 
 body in our country. The tricks of oratory the artificial embellish- 
 ments of rhetorick he seemed to scorn but, if his aim were either to 
 support or to defeat a measure, no man was a more skilful master of the 
 language and of the style of argument required for his purpose. No 
 man more clearly comprehended, and at times more ably defended, the 
 true merits of a public question. No man, too, it should be added, better 
 knew how to perplex his adversaries by subtle objections, or to wither 
 them by caustic sarcasm. Mr. Hazard was fond of reading. In my last 
 interview with him, not many months before his death, he spoke, with 
 great animation and emphasis, of his relish for Shakspeare, Sir Walter 
 Scott, and Dean Swift. His predilection for the latter, will not surprise 
 those who recal to memory the celebrity of Swift, as a politician, and the 
 wonderful influence which, by the peculiar character and direction of 
 his intellect, he obtained over the popular mind. Mr. Hazard could boast 
 a true Rhode-Island lineage, and he was, in spirit, a genuine Rhode- 
 Island man attached to the old Charter, and to all the institutions which 
 grew up under it. The Report on the Extension of Suffrage, made by a 
 Committee of which he was Chairman, in the year 1820, is characterised 
 by unusual ability. It is among the very few productions of his pen to 
 which he attached his name, and, in style and argument, may, perhaps, 
 be deemed one of the best specimens of his peculiar powers. He died 
 at Newport, March 10, 1841, aged 6'J years. 
 
 [Note G Page 35.] 
 
 In connexion with these topics, I must be pardoned for introducing 
 the following passages from an admirable Address, delivered in July 1841, 
 before the Literary Societies of William and Mary College, in Virginia, 
 by Judge Upshur, the present Secretary of the Navy. If every public 
 man uttered such sentiments, there would be less reason for solicitude in 
 regard to the coming destinies of the Republic : 
 
 " It is the very object and purpose of a constitution of government to 
 secure the rights of all ; so to surround them with guards and protections 
 that every class and every individual may be safe from the encroach- 
 ments of others. This, then, is the principle of free government. When 
 the equal rights of all men arc thus brought within the protection of the 
 constitutional charter, the next step is to provide the requisite power for 
 ensuring that protection. And here it is, that the true claim of the ma- 
 jority is found. It is by their will that the powers of government are to 
 be wielded ; but rights are in the frame of government itself, and so
 
 64 
 
 Jong as that frame is permitted to stand, those rights are secured in every 
 individual against, not a majority only but against all the other mem- 
 bers of the community. We should be careful then to distinguish be- 
 tween the rights and the powers of government. The first are as per 
 feet and as sacred in the individual as in the aggregate whole; the sec- 
 ond, only, are yielded to the majority. But they are not yielded to the 
 arbitrary discretion of that majority, for this would be in effect, to con- 
 cede the right along with the power. The majority are merely the de- 
 positaries of the power of the whole, to execute the will of the whole, as 
 that will is expressed in the frame of the government. To this extent, 
 the will of the majority ought to prevail : and whatever it does beyond 
 this, is of the nature of usurpation and tyranny." 
 
 44 This claim of absolute and unlimited power in the majority, is the 
 first step in the downward progress of liberty. It is a claim which the 
 unreflecting are very apt to allow, because it is preferred in the very 
 name of liberty. There is something generous and self-sacrificing in 
 yielding to the will of the greater number. We do so from impulse, 
 without pausing to reflect on the grasping character of power and the 
 fatal tendencies of a principle which submits the rights of social man to 
 the caprices of the multitude. From this source has sprung agrarian- 
 ism, that seeks to give idleness and vice the hard earnings of industry 
 and virtue ; the levelling principle, which seeks to bring down all that is 
 good and wise to the grade of ignorance and profligacy; the natural 
 rights doctrine, that overlooks all social obligations, denies the inherita- 
 ble quality of property, unfrocks the priest and laughs at the marriage 
 tie. As soon as you have conceded the powers of government, the rights 
 are claimed also. The majority are admitted to possess the power of 
 moulding the government at their will ; those who imposed restraints 
 may take them away. True, there is a form in which alone, this can be 
 legitimately done ; a process that requires time, and which may thus 
 cool the ardor of innovation, and give wisdom a chance to arrest the 
 career of folly. But forms, also, are claimed to be within the absolute 
 power of the majority. They soon come to be regarded as obstacles to 
 the fair course of the popular will, and are swept away as the mere em- 
 barrassments of freedom. The people are taught to think that, as all 
 power is with them, they have a right to do directly, what they have a 
 right to do indirectly ; and that as the forms of government are but the 
 channels through which their will is expressed, it is enough that their 
 will is known ; and forms are therefore unnecessary. The facility thus 
 afforded, invites into action all the vices which the restraints of govern- 
 ment held in check ; and the first objects of their attack are the virtues 
 which put them to shame. The numerical majority assert the kingly 
 prerogative, and by virtue of their royal and absolute power, strike down 
 the rights of property, legalize rapine, overturn all government, and 
 drink health to confusion ! The Jack Cade with many heads, reeling in
 
 65 
 
 the intoxication of power, and striding over every prostrate right, issues 
 his royal edict, that " there shall be no law when he is king ! ! !" 
 
 " The worst enemy of rational liberty is the demagogue. He is, and 
 ever has been, the bane of free States. He begins by flattering the peo- 
 ple, and ends by betraying them. It is from him, that they learn to 
 despise all the restraints which they themselves have imposed. He per- 
 suades them to think that their voice is the voice of God, and that their 
 power can secure the blessings of a sober and chastened liberty, amid the 
 riot of a licentious freedom. If they do not die in this delusion, they 
 wake from it, in slavery and chains. The voice of the people is the 
 voice of God, only when it echoes back the precept which stays the arm 
 of violence, and covers with the shield of divine justice, the rights of so- 
 cial man." 
 
 [Note H Page 48.] 
 
 William Ellery, one of the illustrious signers of the Declaration of 
 American Independence, was born in Newport, Dec. 22, 1727. There he 
 passed the whole of his long life, except when absent in the public ser- 
 vice ; and there he died, Feb. 15, 1320, in the 93d year of his age. His 
 grave is not among the least interesting memorials of by-gone times to be 
 found at Newport. 
 
 Oliver Hazard Perry, who at the age of 27 years, achieved the victory 
 of Lake Erie, was born at South-Kingstown, Aug. 23, 1785. He died at 
 Port Spain, Trinidad, Aug. 23, 1819, aged 34 years. His remains were 
 conveyed to his native land, in a ship of war, according to an act of Con- 
 gress, and were interred at Newport, which had long been his home, 
 Dec. 4, 1826. A neat granite monument, bearing an appropriate inscrip- 
 tion, has been erected by the State of Rhode-Island, to indicate the spot 
 where sleep the ashes of one of the most heroic of her sons. 
 
 [Note I Page 48.] 
 
 The celebrated GEORGE BERKELEY, D. D., Dean of Derry, and after- 
 wards Bishop of Cloyne, was born in Ireland, in the year 1684. Intent 
 on the conversion of the American savages to Christianity, by the estab- 
 lishment of a College in the Bermuda Islands, he arrived at Newport, 
 with his family and several literary and scientific gentlemen, January 23, 
 1729. In a short biographical sketch of Bishop Berkeley, prefixed by 
 the Rev. Dr. Elton, of Brown University, to his edition of Callender'a 
 Century Sermon, may be found the following interesting particulars con- 
 cerning the Bishop's residence on Rhode-Island : " Soon after his arrival, 
 the Dean purchased a country seat and farm about three miles from New- 
 port, and there erected a house which he named Whitehall. He was ad- 
 mitted a freeman of the Colony at the General Assembly in 1729. He 
 
 9
 
 66 
 
 resided at Newport about two years and a half, and often preached at 
 Trinity Church. Though he was obliged to return to Europe, without 
 effecting his original design, yet his visit was of great utility in imparting 
 an impulse to the literature of our country, particularly in Rhode-Island 
 and Connecticut. Daring his residence on the island of Rhode-Island, he 
 meditated and composed his JHciphron, or Minute Philosopher, and tra- 
 dition says, principally at a place, about half a mile southerly from 
 Whitehall. There, in the most elevated part of the Hanging Rocks, (so 
 called,) he found a natural alcove, roofed and opening to the south, com- 
 manding at once a beautiful view of the ocean and the circumjacent is- 
 lands. This place is said to have been his favorite retreat." 
 
 The learned Dean repeatedly visited Narragansett, and so enraptured 
 was he with the prospect from Barber's heights, in North Kingstown, 
 that he expressed a desire to select it as the site for his projected College. 
 Failing in his favorite plan, he returned to England, in 1733, and died at 
 Oxford, in 1753, in the 73d year of his age. 
 
 The organ presented by him to Trinity Church, Newport, after his re- 
 turn, is still in constant use, and is among the most interesting objects in 
 that venerable edifice. 
 
 WILLIAM ELLERY CHANGING, D. D., was born in Newport, in the 
 year 1780. There he passed the scenes of his early boyhood, and there, 
 or rather at a beautiful retreat only a few miles distant from the town, 
 he was accustomed, in his riper years, to seek health and repose, dur.ng 
 the heats of summer. The influences of the scenery of the island, in 
 moulding the spirit of Dr. Channing, are most eloquently described in 
 the following passage from a Sermon on "Christian Worship," preached 
 by him at the dedication of a Church, in Newport, July 27, 1836 : 
 
 " As my mind unfolded, I became more and more alive to the beautiful 
 scenery which now attracts strangers to our island. My first liberty was 
 used in roaming over the neighboring fields and shores ; and amid this 
 glorious nature, that love of liberty sprang up, which has gained strength 
 within me to this hour. I early received impressions of the great and 
 beautiful, which I believe have had no small influence in determining my 
 modes of thought and habits of life. In this town I pursued, for a 
 time, my studies of theology. I had no professor or teacher to guide 
 me ; but I had two noble places of study. One was yonder beautiful ed- 
 ifice, [the Redwood Library,] now so frequented, and so useful as a pub- 
 lic library, then so deserted that I spent day after day, and sometimes 
 week after week, amidst its dusty volumes, without interruption from a 
 single visitor. The other place was yonder beach, the roar of which has 
 so often mingled with the worship of this place, my daily resort, dear to 
 me in the sunshine, still more attractive in the storm. Seldom do I visit 
 it now without thinking of the work, which there, in the sight of that 
 beauty, in the sound of those waves, was carried on in my soul. No spot
 
 67 
 
 on earth lias helped to form me so much as that beach. There I lifted 
 up my voice in praise amidst the tempest. There, softened by beauty, I 
 poured out my thanksgiving and contrite confessions. There, in rever- 
 ential sympathy with the mighty power around me, I became conscious 
 of power within. There struggling thoughts and emotions broke forth as 
 if moved to utterance by nature's eloquence of the winds and the waves. 
 There began a happiness surpassing all worldly pleasures, all gifts of for- 
 tune, the happiness of communing with the works of God. Pardon me 
 this reference to myself. I believe that the worship, of which 1 have this 
 day spoken, was aided in my own soul by the scenes in which rny early 
 life was passed. Amidst these scenes, and in speaking of this worship, 
 allow me to thank God, that this beautiful island was the place of my 
 birth." 
 
 This pure and highly gifted man died, while on an excursion for the 
 benefit of his health, at Bennington, Vermont, October 2, 1842, aged 62 
 years. 
 
 [Note J Page 48.] 
 
 The whole of the beautiful and spirited lyrical effusion, from which I 
 have quoted two stanzas, deserves to be embodied in a form less epheme- 
 ral than the pages of a newspaper. It was first published in the Provi- 
 dence Journal, of July 15, 1842, and is from the pen of the Rev. GEORGE 
 BURGESS, A. M., a native of Providence, (R. I.) and now Rector of 
 Christ's Church, (Hartford, Conn.) The Notes which I have added, are 
 intended to explain allusions which might otherwise be obscure to people 
 abroad. 
 
 O gallant, land of bosoms true, 
 
 Still bear that stainless shield ! 
 That anchor clung, the tempest through ; 
 
 That hope, untaught to yield ! 
 Fair city, " all thy banners wave," 
 
 And high thy trumpet sound ! 
 The name thy righteous father gave, 
 
 Still guards thee round and round ! 
 
 No thirst for war's wild joy was thine, 
 
 Nor flashed one hireling sword : 
 Forth, for their own dear household shrine, 
 
 The patriot yeomen poured ; 
 There, rank to rank, like brethren stood, 
 
 One soul, and step, and hand ; 
 And crushed the stranger's robber-brood, 
 
 And kept their father's land.* 
 
 * The first and second stanzas refer to the noble determination of the 
 citizen soldiers of Providence, and of the gallant yeomen who came to 
 their aid, to rescue that city from the ignominious and most calamitous 
 fate, which would have befallen her, had the forces of the Insurgents, 
 embodied at Chepaohet, been triumphant.
 
 68 
 
 High hung the rusting scythe awhile, 
 
 And ceased the spindle's roar, 
 The boat rocked idly by the isle, 
 
 And on the ocean shore ; 
 The belted burgher paced his street ; 
 
 The seaman wheeled his gun ; 
 Steel gleamed along the ruler's seat, 
 
 And study's task was done ' 
 
 Old Narragansett rang with arms, 
 
 And rang the silver bay, 
 And that sweet shore whose girdled charms 
 
 Were Philip's ancient sway ; 
 And our own island's halcyon scene 
 
 The black artillery sent ; 
 And answered, from the the home of Greene, 
 
 The men of dauntless Kent !* 
 
 Can freedom's truth endure the shock 
 
 That comes in freedom's name ? 
 Rhode-Island, like a Spartan rock, 
 
 Upheld her country's fame ! 
 The land that first threw wide its gates, 
 
 And gave the exile rest, 
 First arms to save the strength of States, 
 
 And guards her freedom best. 
 
 O ever thus, dear land of ours, 
 
 Be nurse of steadfast men ' 
 So, firmer far than hills and towers, 
 
 Or rocky pass and glen ! 
 For peace alone, to dare the fight ; 
 
 The soldier for the laws ; 
 Thine anchor fast in Heavenly might, 
 
 Thy hope, an holy cause ! 
 
 * The third and fourth stanzas are exactly descriptive of the state of 
 things in Rhode-Island, during the last week in June 1842. All the com- 
 mon occupations of life were suspended ; and troops, composed of infan- 
 try and artillery, promptly repaired to Providence, from the county of 
 Washington, (Old Narragansett) and from the counties of Newport, 
 Bristol and Kent. Sentinels were stationed in the most frequented 
 streets of Providence ; an efficient company of seamen, the " Sea Fen- 
 cibles," was organized ; the Legislature adjourned, for the purpose of 
 allowing the members to proceed to the scene of conflict; and such con- 
 fusion reigned in the city, that the studies in the University were sus- 
 pended, till Commencement. 
 
 HISTORICAL MEMORANDA. 
 
 Our ancestors, when they settled in this State, incorporated themselves 
 into a body politic, and, by unanimous agreement, ordained and declared 
 their government to be a " democracie," or popular government. They, 
 at the same time, adopted a resolution that " none should be received as 
 inhabitants or freemen, but by consent of the body." Of those who came 
 hither from abroad, they admitted such as " upon orderly presentation 
 were found meet for the service of the body, and no just exception found 
 against them." None but those who were regularly admitted freemen
 
 69 
 
 were allowed to take any part in the affairs of the government ; although 
 it is certain that many of the inhabitants were not freemen, or qualified 
 electors. It appears from the early colonial records, that persons were 
 not unfrcquently " disfranchised of the privileges and prerogatives be- 
 longing to the body politick," and that, in some cases, they were 
 "suspended their votes till they had given satisfaction for their offences." 
 The persons thus disfranchised were not unfrequently, re-admitted, and 
 the early records likewise show that the " censure of suspension" was 
 not perpetual. 
 
 The Charter of King Charles II. contains no provision defining or reg- 
 ulating the right of suffrage. It simply empowered the General Assembly 
 to choose such persons as they should think fit "to be free of the said 
 Company and body politick, and them into the same to admit." This 
 power the General Assembly continued to exercise, until, in 166G, they 
 granted it to the towns, to be exercised by them in town meeting. 
 
 In 1663-4, all persons, were required to be of " competent estates," 
 in order to be admitted to vote. This qualification was re-enacted in 
 1665. In 1723-4, was enacted the statute which provided that no per- 
 person could be admitted a freeman of any town, unless he owned a 
 freehold estate of the value fixed by law. In 1798, the value of such 
 freehold estate was required to be, $134, and thus it remained till the 
 adoption of the Constitution. The main provisions of the act of 1723 4 
 have been, again and again, enacted. No material change has ever been 
 made in the amount originally prescribed and that act has invariably 
 been considered by the General Assembly, and by the people, in the light 
 of a fundamental law. 
 
 The Charter of 1663, provided that the towns in the State should be rep- 
 resented by " not exceeding six persons, for Newport, four persons for 
 each of the respective towns of Providence, Portsmouth and Warwick, 
 and two persons for each other town." In process of time, owing to the 
 increase of population in some towns, and to its decrease or slow growth 
 in others, the representation from the towns became very unequal. This 
 inequality, however, though often made a topic of complaint, was never 
 felt, even by tlw towns, who were inadequately represented, as a serious 
 practical grievance. The Senate, consisting of the Governor, Lieutenant 
 Governor and ten Senators, was chosen annually by general ticket, and 
 was, therefore, under the Charter government, that branch of the Legisla- 
 ture which reflected, fully and impartially, the sentiments of the people. 
 
 Within about twenty years, four attempts have been made, under the 
 sanction of acts of the General Assembly, to form a Constitution for this 
 State, all of which attempts, except the last, failed. The first was made 
 in the year 1824. The Constitution, which was then framed and submit- 
 ted to tho people, corrected to a very considerable extent, the alleged evil 
 of an unequal representation. It, however, left untouched the freehold 
 qualification, rejecting, almost unanimously, a motion to extend the elec- 
 tive franchise to non-freeholders Had this Constitution been judged
 
 70 
 
 according to its merits, it would have met a better fate. The people, not 
 yet ripe for a change, rejected it by a very decided majority. Total of 
 votes for the Constitution, 1668 against it, 3,206 ; majority against it, 1538. 
 
 In 1834, another Convention for the purpose of framing a Constitution 
 dissolved, for want of a quorum, and without submitting a draught of a 
 Constitution to the suffrages of the people. A motion to extend the elec- 
 tive franchise to non-freeholders obtained, in this Convention, only seven 
 votes, but four more than were obtained in 1824. In this Convention, 
 seven towns, out of thirty-one, were unrepresented an indication that, 
 up to that time, the desire to part with the Charter government, or to 
 change any of its essential provisions, was far from universal. 
 
 In 1836, the Election Law again underwent a revision by the General 
 Assembly, then composed of a decided majority of the democratic party. 
 The exclusive freehold qualification, being deemed a part of the funda- 
 mental law of Rhode-Island, was, however, retained. Only two mem- 
 bers voted in favor of changing it ! 
 
 In March 1840, the Rhode-Island Suffrage Association was formed, 
 having in view " a liberal extension of suffrage to the native white male 
 citizens of the United States resident in Rhode-Island." At that time, 
 universal suffrage was, by the members of this association, very generally 
 repudiated. Suffrage associations, auxiliary to the parent body, were 
 subsequently formed in various parts of the State. 
 
 In January 1841, printed petitions, signed by about 600 persons in all, 
 were presented to the Legislature, praying for " the abrogation of the 
 Charter, and the establishment of a Constitution which should more ef- 
 fectually define the authority of the executive and legislative branches, 
 and more strongly recognise the rights of the citizens." The signers of 
 these petitions suggested the propriety of an extension of suffrage " to a 
 greater portion of the white male residents of the State," than were per- 
 mitted by the then existing laws to exercise the elective franchise. At 
 the same session of the General Assembly, a memorial was presented 
 from the town of Smithfield, setting forth " the extreme inequality of the 
 representation from the several towns," and asking legislative interposi- 
 tion for the correction of the alleged evil. The result of these applica- 
 tions to the Legislature, was the passage of resolutions requesting the 
 people to elect delegates to a Convention to be held at Providence, in 
 November 1841, to frame a new Constitution for this State, in whole or 
 in part. At the session in June 1841, a resolution was adopted, constitu- 
 ting the proposed Convention more strictly upon the basis of population. 
 The Legislature, however, refused to extend the right of electing dele- 
 gates to the Convention, to persons who were not qualified electors by the 
 fundamental laws of the State. Notwithstanding the disposition of the 
 General Assembly to act, in this matter, in accordance with popular 
 sentiment, measures were taken, before the June session, by the friends 
 of the suffrage movement, to organize a Convention by their own au- 
 thority.
 
 71 
 
 In May, 1841, at a mass meeting held in Newport, under the auspices of 
 the Suffrage Association, measures were taken for calling a convention of 
 the people, without any regard to the fundamental laws of this State, 
 which, for more than one hundred, years, had required the possession of a 
 freehold, to entitle a person to be admitted to the exercise of political 
 power, and to be a member of the body politic and corporate. A portion 
 of the people responded to the call of this unauthorized body, and met 
 in the several towns to choose delegates to a Convention to form a Con- 
 stitution for this State, to be holden at Providence, October 9th, 1841. 
 
 This was in anticipation of the lawful Convention which was to meet 
 on the first Monday of November, 1841 
 
 The unauthorized Convention assembled in Providence, at the time 
 appointed. They were the delegates of a minority of the people, in 
 whatever sense the word people may be understood. A small portion of 
 the freeholders joined in this irregular election, and although all persons 
 were admitted to vote who chose, not more than about seven thousand 
 two hundred votes, gave any appearance of sanction to this Convention. 
 The number of white male citizens of the United States, resident in this 
 State, over 21 years of age, exceeds 22,000. Inasmuch as this Conven- 
 tion assumed the authority which, under the laws of the State, was to be 
 exercised by another Convention, chosen by the freemen for that purpose, 
 they acted in opposition to the law under which the lawful Convention 
 was called, and in violation of the right which belonged to the legally 
 qualified electors, to make a Constitution for this State. 
 
 This unlawful Convention, elected by a minority of the people, pro- 
 ceeded to the solemn work of forming a Constitution to be proposed to 
 the people of this State, and also exercised one of the most important 
 powers of sovereignty ; of their own authority they decided what por- 
 tion of the people should, and what portion should not, vote upon the 
 adoption or rejection of the Constitution. At meetings holden under 
 their authority, their Constitution was submitted to those whom they 
 pleased to recognise as the people. It was voted for, during three days, 
 in open meetings, and three days by votes collected from all quarters, by 
 any person or persons, and brought to the pretended Moderator, and 
 with no opportunity for detection of frauds. Votes thus collected and 
 counted by their own mode of computation, they declared to have been 
 given by a majority of the people, and by the same pretended authority, 
 they proclaimed their Constitution to be the supreme law of this State. 
 
 By the "People's" Constitution, "every white male citizen of the 
 United States of the age of 21 years, who has resided in this State for one 
 year, and in the town where he votes for six months," was permitted to 
 vote. 
 
 The lawful Convention assembled at the appointed time, the first 
 Monday in November, 1841. The result of their deliberations was a Con- 
 stitution, extending the right of suffrage to every white male natite citizen 
 of the United States, of the age of ^1 years, who had resided two years in
 
 (he State. In reference to naturalized citizens, the freehold qualification 
 was retained. 
 
 On the 21st, 22d and 23d March, 1841 , the legal Constitution, by an act 
 of the Legislature, was submitted to all persons, who by its provisions 
 would be entitled to vote under it, after its adoption, for their ratification. 
 It was rejected by a majority of 676, the number of votes polled being 
 16,702 for the Constitution, 8013 against it, 8689. Many freeholders 
 voted against it, because they were attached to the old form of govern- 
 ment. Both parties used uncommon exertions to bring all their voters to 
 the polls. Yet, under the scrutiny of opposing interests, in legal town 
 meetings, the friends of the People's Constitution brought to the polls 
 probably not over 7000 to 7500 votes. If 1000 be allowed as the numbei 
 of freeholders who voted against the legal Constitution, because they 
 were opposed to any Constitution, it would leave the number of the 
 friends of the People's Constitution 7600, or one third of the voters of 
 the State under the new qualification proposed by either Constitution. 
 
 The whole number of persons claimed to have voted for the People's 
 Constitution, was 13,996. The number claimed by the suffrage party, 
 as being entitled to vote, was 23,542. At the first election under the 
 People's Constitution, held while the excitement on the subject of suf- 
 frage was unabated, only 6,417 persons voted a reduction of 7,449, from 
 the alleged vote for the Constitution ! In the town of Newport, 1,207 
 votes were claimed for the People's Constitution. Only three months 
 afterwards, in March 1842, the vote was taken upon the legal Constitu- 
 tion, and every person who had resided in the State two years, was ad- 
 mitted to vote, and only foreigners and the transient population exclu- 
 ded. The suffrage party, after the most strenuous exertions, could ob- 
 tain only 361 votes against it ! The aggregate vote of both parties, given 
 at this same town meeting, was only 1091 votes ! These facts cannot 
 easily be explained away. What frauds were committed in other towns, 
 the people were not permitted to ascertain. The People's Convention, 
 in January 1842, by resolution, authorized their Secretaries to copy any 
 part of the registry of the votes, or the votes themselves, upon the 
 application of any person. Foreseeing what would be the inevitable re- 
 sult of a rigid examination of the registry, the Suffrage Association 
 countermanded the orders of the People's Contention, and prohibited any 
 further copies from being taken ! 
 
 On the 4th of May 1842, the Charter government was organized, as 
 usual, at Newport. The suffrage party, having also elected a Governor 
 and a Legislature, under the so-called " People's Constitution," organ- 
 ized a government, under the protection of an armed force, May 3d, 1841, 
 at Providence. 
 
 On the 18th of May 1842, an attempt was made by an armed force, 
 commanded by the Governor under the People's Constitution, to cap- 
 ture the State's Arsenal in Providence. The military force assembled on 
 that occasion, was, in the language of the " People's Governor," " not
 
 73 
 
 iess than 400 men, whose port and spirit indicated that they were ready, 
 in the last resort, to sustain the People's Constitution, and the govern- 
 ment duly elected under it, by all necessary mans /" The result of this 
 most atrocious enterprise has become matter o( history. 
 
 In the third week of June 1842, the General Assembly passed an act 
 providing for another Convention to form a Constitution, to be held in 
 September, and to be composed of delegates chosen by persons having 
 three years' residence in the State, neither property, taxation, nor military 
 service being required as a qualification. 
 
 In the last week of June 1842, another desperate effort was made to 
 overthrow, by force of arms, the regular government of Rhode-Island, 
 and to establish the " People's Constitution" upon its ruins. The 
 result of this effort, which has given to Chepachet and to the Insurgents 
 who there assembled, so unenviable a celebrity, has likewise become 
 matter of history. 
 
 The Convention provided for by the act of the General Assembly in 
 June, assembled at Newport, in September 1842. The Constitution 
 under which the government of Rhode-Island has just been organized, 
 was draughted by this Convention, and by them was submitted to the 
 people, for adoption or rejection, on the 21st, 22d and 23d days of No- 
 vember 1842. The people adopted it by a very decided vote ; for the 
 Constitution, 7,032 against it, only 59. The suffrage party formally 
 protested against the adoption of the legal Constitution, and declined 
 even to vote against it ! They, however, subsequently determined to 
 register their names, according to its provisions ; and, at the recent elec- 
 tion, by voting under it, they, in a legal sense, fully acknowledged its 
 VALIDITY ! 
 
 NOTE. Vide Report of the Committee on the action of the General As- 
 sembly, on the subject of the Constitution, March Session, 1842. Haz- 
 ard's Report on the Extension of Suffrage, June Session, 1829. Statement 
 submitted by John Whipple, John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter 
 to the President of the United States, 1842. Considerations on the 
 Rhode-Island Question, by Elisha R. Potter, 1842. Frieze's " Concise 
 History" of the Suffrage Movement, 1842. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE WORD PROX." 
 
 At the recent election in this State, one of the " tickets" on which was 
 placed the names of candidates for General Officers, was denominated 
 Rhode-Island " Prox." As the Constitution cannot give law to language, 
 this word, so long associated with institutions under the Charter govern- 
 ment, is likely to be retained in use. The following account of its mean- 
 ing and derivation, is, therefore, not unworthy of preservation. It was 
 published originally in the Rhode-Island American for August 1, 1817, 
 and was written, in the presence of the Editor, currente calamo, by the 
 late Hon. James Burrill : 
 
 " We use the word Prox in the sense of a ticket or list of candidates for 
 the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Senators. The origin 
 
 10
 
 74 
 
 of this singular use of the word is, it is believed, as follows : Under the 
 Charter of Charles II. to the Colony of Rhode-Island and Providence 
 Plantations, the freemen, after having elected their Representatives at 
 home, went in person to Newport to vote for " Governor, Lieutenant 
 Governor and Assistants." At a later period, this mode being found in- 
 convenient, the General Assembly passed a law permitting the freemen 
 to vote in the April town meeting for General officers, and the votes thus 
 given in were and are now by law, called Proxy votes, because they were 
 to have the freeman's name written on the back of the vote, and were to 
 be sent to the General Assembly by one of the members, who was thus 
 considered as the Proxy of his constituent and the member himself 
 might, as might also any other freeman who did not vote in April, give 
 in his vote personally at the General Election in May. When an election 
 was likely to prove "close," as the phrase was, the friends of the candi- 
 dates collected all such freemen as had not voted in town meeting, and 
 carried them to Newport to vote at the General Election. This system 
 being obviously calculated to promote bribery and corruption, and being 
 also productive, as experience proved, of riots and tumults at the General 
 Election, was altered many years ago ; and the freemen, as in other 
 States, now give their suffrages in their respective town-meetings. So 
 late, however, as 1798, a Representative in the Assembly, who had not 
 voted at home, might vote on the Annual Election Day at Newport. 
 
 " Though the reason for the singular use of this word among us has long 
 ceased, the word, as is often the case in other instances, remains in use. 
 And our statutes call the votes given in for " GeneAl Officers," proxy 
 cotes, and in common parlance the vote is called a prox, or in the plural, 
 proxies." 
 
 RECEPTION OF THE CHARTER OF CHARLES II. 
 
 The following extracts from the Colony Records, show how cordial and 
 diffusive was the joy felt by our ancestors, at the reception of the Char- 
 ter of Charles II. 
 
 THE PROCEEDS OF A COURT OF COMMISTIONERS AT 
 
 NUPORT, NOVEMBER 24: 1663. 
 
 Votted that Captayne George Baxter be desiered to bring forth and pre- 
 sent the Charter to this Court. 
 
 Votted that this Court be adiourned vntill to morrow morning eight of 
 the clocke to give way for the Charter to be read. 
 
 Att a very great Metting and Asembly of the Freemen of the Collony 
 of Providence Plantations at Nuport one Rhod-Iland in New England 
 November 24: 1663. 
 
 The abovesayd Asembly beinge legally called and orderly mett for the 
 Sollome Reseption of his Maiestyes gratious Letters patients vnto them 
 sent and having in order therto chosen the Presedent Benidick Arnold 
 Moderator of the Asembly,
 
 75 
 
 It was ordered and voted Nemene Contradecente. 
 
 Voted 1. That Mr. John Clarke the Collony Agents Letter to the Pres- 
 edent Asestants and freemen of the Collony be opened and Read which 
 accordingly was done with good delevery and atention 
 
 Voted 2. That the box in which the King's gratious Letters weare in- 
 closed be opened and the Letters with the Broad Scale thereto affexed be 
 taken forth and Read by Captayne George Baxter in the audiance and 
 vew of all the people : which was accordingly done and the sayd letters 
 with his Maiestyes Royall Stampe and the broad Scale with much besem- 
 ing gravity held up on hygh and presented to the parfitt vew of the peo- 
 ple, and soe Retorned into the box and locked vp by the Governor in 
 order to the safe keping it. 
 
 [Here follow votes of thanks to King Charles II., to Lord Clarendon, 
 and to Dr. Clarke.] 
 
 Voted 8. That Captayne George Baxter shall have five and twentye 
 pound starling in Corrant pay given him as a token from the Collony of 
 ther Thankfull Resentment of the Charter of which hee was the most 
 faythfull and happie bringer and presenter by our Agents order vnto this 
 Asembly besids the Charge of his being in and cominge irom Boston 
 therv/ith to be alsoe defrayed and the sd 25 pound to be payd him with 
 all conveniante speed. 
 
 Votted 9. That all the above sayd Votts be Recorded by Joseph Torrey 
 Gennerall Recorder and soe the Asembly is disoulfed in order to the 
 aecquiseing his Maiestyes order and Commands in the Charter." 
 
 Colony Records, pp. 232-234. 
 
 LAST DAYS OF THE CHARTER LEGISLATURE, AND THE 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The General Assembly under the Charter, convened at the State 
 House, in Newport, on Monday, May 1, 1843, agreeably to a vote of ad- 
 journment, passed at the session in January. A quorum of both Houses 
 being present, the session was opened at 3 o'clock P. M., by Prayer, by 
 the Rev. Francis Vinton, Rector of Trinity Church, Newport. The two 
 Houses, in Grand Committee, then adopted the following Resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That Messrs. Lawton, Fenncr, Potter, Harris and Bosworth, 
 of the Senate, and Messrs Cranston, Branch, Updike, Remington and 
 Hall, of the House, be a committee to be present at, and witness the or- 
 ganization of the government under the Constitution adopted by the peo- 
 ple of this State, in November last ; and that said committee make report 
 to this General Assembly, as soon as said organization shall be completed 
 in conformity to the provisions of said Constitution, in order that this 
 General Assembly may know when its functions shall have constitu- 
 tionally passed into the hands of those who have been legally chosen by 
 the people, to receive and exercise the same." 
 
 The Grand Committee then adjourned, till 5 o'clock, the next day, 
 Tuesday, May 2, 1843.
 
 7t> 
 
 The General Assembly, under the Constitution adopted by the people, 
 in November, A. D. 1842, convened at the State House, in Newport, on 
 the first Tuesday of May, 1843, agreeably to the provisions of that in- 
 strument, at 11 o'clock A. M. 
 
 The members of the new Senate and House assembled in separate 
 chambers, for the purpose of organizing the government. His Excel- 
 lency, Samuel Ward King, the last Governor under the Charter of 1663, 
 presided in the organization of the new Senate ; and the senior member 
 from the town of Newport, the Hon. Henry Y. Cranston, and the Cleiks 
 of the old House, acted as officers of the new House, until it was or- 
 ganized. 
 
 In the Senate, thirty-one Senators, the whole number, were found to 
 be present. After receiving their certificates of election, the Secretary 
 of State, the Hon. Henry Bowen, administered the oath prescribed by 
 the Constitution. 
 
 In the House, after the observance of the customary formalities, the 
 Secretary of State administered the oath to the members, a large majority 
 of whom were found to be present. Hon. Alfred Bosworth was then 
 elected Speaker, for the year ensuing; and Thomas A. Jenckes and 
 Joseph S. Pitman, Clerks, for the year ensuing. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Senate then joined 
 
 the House, in Grand Committee, for the purpose of receiving the votes 
 
 for General Officers, and of appointing a committee to count the same. 
 
 The session of the General Assembly was then opened by Prayer, by 
 
 the Rev. Francis Vinton. 
 
 After receiving the ballots from the Secretary of State, the Grand 
 Committee appointed a committee to count them, consisting of one 
 Senator and three Representatives from each county. To this committee 
 were then added the Secretary of State and the Clerks of the House. 
 
 The Grand Committee then adjourned till five o'clock in the afternoon 
 of the same day. 
 
 The Grand Committee met at five o'clock, His Excellency Governor 
 King in the Chair. 
 
 The committee appointed to count the votes for General Officers made 
 report as follows : 
 
 Whole number of votes for Governor, 16,520 
 
 For James Fenner, 9,107 
 
 Thomas F. Carpenter, 7,392 
 
 Scattering, 21 
 
 Majority for Fenner, 1,694 
 
 Whole number of votes for Lieutenant Governor, 16,612 
 
 For Byron Diman, 9,212 
 
 Benjamin B. Thurston, 7,398 
 
 Scattering, 2 
 
 Majority for Diman, 1,812 
 
 Whole number of votes for Secretary, 16,594 
 
 For Henry Bowen, 9,212 
 
 Dexter Randall, 7,378 
 
 Scattering, 4 
 
 Majority for Bowen, 1,830 
 
 Whole number of votes for Attorney General, 16,591 
 
 For Joseph M. Blake, 9,217 
 
 Samuel Y. Atwell, 7,372 
 
 Scattering, 2 
 
 Majority for Blake, 1,843 
 
 Whole number of votes for General Treasurer, 16,598 
 
 For Stephen Cahoone, 9,215 
 
 Josiah S. Munro, 7,333 
 
 Majority for Cahoone, 1,832
 
 77 
 
 " The foregoing Report being read and accepted, it was thereupon Re- 
 solved, that the said James Fenner be declared elected Governor ; Byron 
 Diman, Lieutenant Governor ; Henry Bowen, Secretary of State ; Joseph 
 M. Blake, Attorney General ; and Stephen Cahoone, General Treasurer, 
 who were severally engaged according to the p v ovisions of the Constitu- 
 tion." Governor King, who, during the ceremony, was seated in the 
 identical oaken chair, in which, one hundred and eighty years ago, Gov- 
 ernor Arnold received the Charter, immediately resigned his seat to his 
 successor, while the Speaker of the House called out, as usual, " Sheriff, 
 clear the way Sergeant make proclamation that his Excellency James 
 Fenner is elected Governor, Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief 
 of the State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations for the year 
 ensuing." The crowd gave way, and the Town Sergeant of the town of 
 Newport, made the customary proclamation of the election of Governor 
 to the people, from the balcony of the State House. After proclaiming 
 the other General Officers, in a similar manner, the Sergeant added, ac- 
 cording to the pious formality observed by our ancestors : " God save the 
 State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations.'' The roar of artil- 
 lery and the shouts of the people, followed the proclamation made by 
 the Sergeant. 
 
 The two Houses then separated. 
 
 The following joint Resolution passed both Houses on the same day : 
 
 " Resolved, by this General Assembly, that Messrs. Cranston and 
 Chace, of Newport, Ames and Branch, of Providence, Hazard and Bar- 
 ber, of Washington, Whipple and Brayton, of Kent, Hall and Cole, of 
 Bristol, with the Senators from Providence, Little Compton, Westerly, 
 Warwick and Warren, be a committee to wait upon the General Assem- 
 bly under the Charter here legally convened, and announce to said Gen- 
 eral Assembly in Grand Committee assembled, that the Government 
 under the Charter is duly organized." 
 
 The House then adjourned till 10 o'clock, A. M., the next day ; and 
 the Senate till 3 o'clock, P. M., the next day. 
 
 After the adjournment, (on Tuesday,) of the General Assembly under 
 the Constitution, the General Assembly under the Charter convened in 
 Grand Committee, Governor King in the Chair. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the General Assembly under the Consti- 
 tution, appeared and made report, through their Chairman, the Senator 
 from Providence, that the Government under the new Constitution, was 
 legally organized. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the Grand Committee on Monday, to 
 witness the organization of the new Government, made the following re- 
 port : 
 To the Honorable General Assembly of the State of Rhode-Island, &c., 
 
 now assembled at Newport, under the Charter of this State. 
 
 The subscribers, appointed by this Honorable Body, a Committee to bo 
 present at the organization of the new General Assembly under the Con- 
 stitution recently adopted by the people of this State, respectfully report, 
 that they bave attended to the duty assigned to them ; that the Senate and 
 House of Representatives under the Constitution have been duly or- 
 ganized according to the provisions of said Constitution, and the act 
 passed at the last January Session of the General Assembly, regulating 
 their organization, and that, therefore, according to the provisions of said
 
 78 
 
 Constitution, the power of the Government as organized under the 
 Charter has ceased. 
 
 EDWARD W. LAWTON, 
 ELISHA HARRIS, 
 ELISHA R. POTTER, 
 HEZEKIAH BOSWORTH, 
 HENRY Y. CRANSTON, 
 WILKINS UPDIKE, 
 BENJAMIN HALL, 
 BENJAMIN F. REMINGTON, 
 STEPHEN BRANCH. 
 Newport, Tuesday, May 2, 1843. 
 
 Whereupon the following resolution was adopted : 
 
 IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ) 
 
 Tuesday, May 2d, 1843. ) 
 
 Resolved, That the foregoing Report be accepted, and that this Gene- 
 ral Assembly be and the same is hereby declared to be dissolved. 
 
 With the passage of this Resolution, the last General Assembly under 
 the Old Charter ceased to exist. 
 
 CELEBRATION OF THE CHANGE IN THE CIVIL GOVERN- 
 MENT OF RHODE-ISLAND. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 3d of May, 1843, this memorable event was cele- 
 brated by the people of Rhode-Island, at Newport. The arrangements 
 for the celebration were made by the citizens of that town, who invited 
 the Hon. General Assembly, and their fellow-citizens of the State, to 
 join with them in the performance of the ceremonies on that occasion. 
 
 At 11 o'clock A. M., a procession was formed in front of the State 
 House, according to the following order, and marched through some of 
 the principal streets, to the North Baptist Church. 
 
 MILITARY ESCORT. 
 
 Newport Artillery, Lieutenant Col. Coggeshall. 
 [Under the command of Col. Swan.] 
 
 CIVIL ESCORT. 
 
 Town Marshal. 
 
 Citizens of Newport. 
 
 Orator and Chaplain of the Day. 
 
 Governor of the State and Staff, 
 
 [Preceded by the High Sheriff of Newport.] 
 
 Lt. Governor and Senate. 
 
 Speaker, Members, and Officers of the House of Representatives. 
 Secretary, Attorney General, and General Treasurer. 
 
 Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court. 
 [Here follow Officers of the Government under the Charter of 1663, viz :] 
 
 Marshal. 
 
 His Excellency SAMUEL W. KING and Staff. 
 
 Members and Secretary of the Governor's Council. 
 
 His Honor Lieut. Governor Bullock. 
 
 Members of the Senate. 
 
 Speaker, Members and Officers of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Secretary, Attorney General and General Treasurer. 
 
 Former Governors of the State now living. 
 
 Town Sergeant of Newport.
 
 79 
 
 President and Members of Town Council of Newport and Town Clerk. 
 
 Reverend Clergy of Newport. 
 
 President and Members of the Rhode-Island Historical Society. 
 President and Officers of Brown University. 
 
 Mayor of the City of Providence. 
 
 Members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
 Judge of the U. S. Circuit Court and Judge of the U. S. District Court. 
 
 U. S. District Attorney, Marshal and Clerk of District Court. 
 
 Former Senators and Representatives in Congress. 
 
 Surviving Officers and Soldiers of the Revolution. 
 
 Surviving Officers of the Battle of Lake Erie. 
 
 Civil Officers of the U.S. 
 Major General of the Militia of Rhode-Island and Staff. 
 
 Brigadiers General of Rhode-Island and Staff. 
 
 General Staff, viz : Adjutant General, Quartermaster General, Commis- 
 sary General and Purveyor General of the Military Hospital. 
 Citizens of the State of Rhode-Island. 
 Military of other States. 
 Citizens of other States. 
 Marshal. 
 
 The Exercises at the Church were performed in the following order : 
 ANTHEM " o PRAISE YE THE LORD!" 
 
 O praise ye the Lord ! prepare your glad voice, 
 
 His praise in the great assembly to sing ; 
 In their great Creator let all men rejoice, 
 
 And heirs of salvation be glad in their King. 
 And heirs, &c. 
 
 Let them his great name devoutly adore ; 
 
 In loud swelling strains his praises express, 
 Who graciously opens his bountiful store, 
 
 Their wants to relieve, and his children to bless. 
 Their wants, &c. 
 
 With glory adorned, his people shall sing 
 
 To God, who defence and plenty supplies: 
 Their loud acclamations to him, their great King, 
 
 Thro' earth shall be sounded, and reach to the skies. 
 Thro' earth, &c. 
 
 Ye angels above, his glories who've sung, 
 
 In loftiest notes, now publish his praise ; 
 We mortals, delighted, would borrow your tongue ; 
 
 Would join in your numbers, and chant to their lays. 
 Would join, &c. 
 
 P R A Y E R By REV. MR. LEAVER, of Newport. 
 
 ORIGINAL ODE. 
 
 Music, awake thy loftiest strain, 
 
 In praise of Heaven's eternal Lord, 
 Let Ills salvation be the theme, 
 
 And ever be His name ador'd ! 
 
 To Him, whose kind paternal hand, 
 
 Directed in our darkest hour, 
 When clouds of gloom o'erspread our land, 
 
 Our gladsome nearta their praise outpour
 
 W3 
 
 Within thy Temple, Sovereign Lord, 
 Rhode-Island's sons their offerings bring 
 
 Guide us, protect and ever guard, 
 Under the shadow of Thy wing. 
 
 Our motto is " In God we hope" 
 
 And may it ever be the same ; 
 They ne'er shall fail a certain prop, 
 
 Who trust His great and glorious name. 
 
 A D D R E S S by WM. G. GODDAHD, Esa. of Providence. 
 
 PSALM 101 : Tune " OLD HUNDRED." 
 Mercy and judgment are my song, 
 And since they both to thee belong, 
 My gracious God, my righteous King, 
 To thee my songs and vows I'll bring. 
 
 If I am rais'd to bear the sword, 
 I'll take my counsels from thy word ; 
 Thy justice and thy heavenly grace 
 Shall be the pattern of my ways. 
 
 Let wisdom all my actions guide, 
 And let my God with me reside : 
 No wicked thing shall dwell with me, 
 Which may provoke thy jealousy. 
 
 No sons of slander, rage and strife, 
 Shall be companions of my life ; 
 The haughty look, the heart of pride, 
 Within my doors shall ne'er abide. 
 
 In vain shall sinners hope to rise 
 By flattering or malicious lies : 
 And while the innocent I guard, 
 The bold offender sha'n't be spared. 
 
 The impious crew, that factious band, 
 Shall hide their heads, or quit the land ; 
 And all that break the public rest, 
 Where I have power, shall be suppress'd. 
 
 BENEDICTION. 
 
 The Procession then returned to the Parade in front of the State House, 
 and was dismissed by the Chief Marshal. 
 
 The original Charter of 1663, was borne in the procession by the ven- 
 erable Captain David M. Coggeshall, of Newport. During the perform- 
 ance of the ceremonies, this venerated instrument was, for the last time, 
 " presented to the perfect view of the people," being suspended from 
 the front of the pulpit, while the box in which it was brought from 
 England to Rhode-Island, by the faithful Captain Baxter, occupied a 
 place on the cushion at the right hand of the Orator. The Charter is 
 beautifully engrossed on three sheets of parchment, which have become 
 somewhat worn and decayed by the lapse of a hundred and eighty years. 
 A part of the seal has been broken off, but is preserved with the rest.
 
 001 308947 9 
 
 
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